The Changing of the Guard

Chapters

Chapter One: Resignation
Chapter Two: Reflection
Chapter Three: Reluctance
Chapter Four: Resolution
Chapter Five: Renewal
Acknowledgements

Chapter One: Resignation

“The Changing of the Guard”

Chapter 1: Retirement

I have often dreamed
Of a far off place
Where a Hero's welcome
Will be waiting for me

To most of the ponies of Canterlot, it was a day much like any other.

Above the city, Celestia’s Sun hung high in the sky, its golden visage glowing warmly in the sapphire blue sea that surrounded it without a single cloud marring the perfection; surely it was a point of pride for the Canterlot weather teams to make a day such as this. All about the Capital of Equestria, ponies went about their daily business doing whatever it was that ponies of such high importance did. Some surely were on their way to or from their work while others were simply out socializing or showing off their latest purchases to fellow status seekers. Others still were simply enjoying a gorgeous summer day without a care in the world.

For one stallion, however, the majesty of the day was irrevocably lost.

His name was Shining Armor, husband of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard amongst a smattering of other titles; a minor noble by birth, a prince by marriage and one of the most respected of all stallions in Canterlot.

On any other day, he would have been out enjoying the weather with his family or find himself busy on the drilling field with his fellow guards. Perhaps he and Cadence would be having lunch while their children talked about their latest adventures or he would be teaching his newest recruits the proper way to hoof a spear or take down an enemy bare-hoofed. Perhaps he would share some fresh juice with one of his lieutenants after training while they shared stories of their various battles and the scars they took from them. Yes, on any other day, such things would be in his thoughts, happy but focused and ready to do his duty both as friend and captain.

But today was not any other day and it was not a day for happy thoughts and reflections. Today was a day that demanded solitude, because it marked the final day of something that he had been putting off until the very last minute of its passing and now found he could put off no longer. Today, despite the protests of his wife and others, he wanted to be alone and as far from any familiar company as he could be; ironic considering his destination.

Looming before him, gleaming gold and white in the afternoon sun lay the towers of the Guard Headquarters. Normally, he would have found comfort here, for he knew the building and its surrounding grounds like the back of his own hoof. Quite literally, he reflected, the building was his home away from home as he had spent the better part of his life there in one capacity or another. There was not an alcove he had not laid eyes on nor room or hallway within that he had not spent at least a few minutes inspecting. No, the most well built and fortified building in all of Equestria – only the Royal Palace rivaled it in terms of defensive enchantments – held no secrets from him any longer.

That thought should have been a comfort to him. The first thing he should do would be to stride into the parade grounds with all the confidence of years of experience while he watched the recruits perform their chores and inspected the seniors – so close to graduation and their coveted armor! – as they performed drill after drill until they were as perfect as could be beneath his critical gaze. After that, perhaps he would take a stroll through the hallways looking for stragglers and lollygaggers; perhaps finding a young couple who had thought to skip out of drill for some “quiet time” in an empty room. That last thought made him chuckle despite his melancholy; memories of similar interludes shared with his wife causing his lips to curl into a wane smile as his fur bristled slightly. But as quickly as the thoughts appeared, they faded when he stepped through the gatehouse and surveyed the scene before him.

Sure enough, all around him cadets sparred and trained, shouting at practice dummies and each other, some armed, some not while veterans called out orders and critiqued performances. Everypony that spotted him raised their hoof in salute and he returned their gestures before moving forward, the soft click-clack of his hooves upon familiar flagstones like a formal marching drum as he approached the double doors which separated the parade ground from the interior. For so many years, when those doors opened to reveal the short, darkened hallway within what waited to receive his return like the legs of an old friend's embrace or the softness of a warm blanket on a cold day.

Today, it felt more like the approach to a morbid gallows that would strangle the life from his body.

Approaching the steps, he paused for a moment, his keen mind blocking out the sounds around him as he stared at those doors. Every member of the Equestrian Royal guard passed through those doors hundreds – if not thousands – of times in their tenure, but they were not merely a physical barrier for the protection of those inside; far from it. Called The Thirty Steps into Shadow, it was the last test every guard was required to pass before receiving their armor.

So-named because it took exactly thirty steps to complete, the test began with the recitation of the Passage of Service and ended when the pony stepped out from under the sun and into the darkened corridor beyond. Of course, the test was purely symbolic and made use of the hundred hooves long, windowless hallway beyond the doors to allude to the darkness that all guards were required to face in order to keep Equestria safe. No pony knew exactly how the tradition had started, but according to what they had all been told, if their hearts were not dedicated to the guard or if they faltered in either the oath or their steps, the darkness would expel them from the keep and never again allow them entrance.

Like all guards, Shining Armor, had no idea if such a curse was real or not as he had never witnessed such an expulsion, but he recalled his own trail as if it had happened only yesterday but tried not to think about the one he would face later on. The great doors sung both ways, after all, and thus as there was a trial of entering, so too was there a trial of leaving. Placing his hoof upon his chest, he closed his eyes and spoke clearly.

“I, Shining Armor of House Sparkle, stand before you a colt with hopes of becoming a Stallion. Let those who stand by my side now bear witness to this, my last trial as a cadet and my first steps as a guard of Equestria and of the Royal Line. These thirty steps I now ascend. By the Strength of the Sun and the Grace of the Moon, I now ask you judge me worthy. To the Royal Guard of Equestria, I pledge this day my service, my life, my honor and should it be required, my death as well. In the name of the Princesses, let me always be true.”

The words fell from his tongue as readily now as they had then, and as he began to slowly climb upwards, he found he could no longer see the doors, but rather only what had lead him there once more.

------Five Weeks Earlier------

The room into which he entered was one that every guard knew of and yet one they all refused to speak about except in the most hushed whispers.

To hear the words bantered about by recruit and veteran alike, it was a room not unlike the pits of Tartarus themselves. A room whose walls were saturated by the smell of brimstone, where pony sat in judgment of pony and ancient devices from the Discordian War waited in plain view to slay both the body and soul of anypony found wanting by their accusers. A room of bloodstained walls serenaded by the tortured screams of traitors and heretics.

Or so the legends said.

In truth, it was none of these things; just another room high in the Southern most tower of Canterlot Castle at the top of a spiral staircase consisting of one-hundred evenly spaced steps of white marble. Inside were not the pits of Tartarus, but rather a simple room decorated in red velvet carpeting and adorned with banners depicting the three tribes of Equestria; each one hundreds of years old but as pristine as they day it was woven. The images depicted were so life-like, that it almost made it appear as if six ponies, not three, waited patiently around their table of polished Everfree darkwood.

To his left, a violet-eyed earth pony mare with faded blue fur and a mane turned almost snow-white with age, her cutie mark depicting an open book with a quill poised to begin writing.

To his right, a unicorn stallion of burnished gold fur with a mane of deep crimson streaked with grey, his cutie mark a mortar and pestle whose deep brown eyes seemed to bore into him.

In the center, a grey furred Pegasus stallion with a mane even whiter than the mare’s and thick rim glasses that all but obscured his eyes and by the look of his wings, he had not seen flight in decades. He was the only one whose cutie mark was not visible.

Taking hold of the doorway with his magic, Shining Armor pulled it closed and let the crystalline aura from his horn fade as he trotted before the table and gave his best salute before standing at ramrod straight attention, head high as he removed his helmet and tucked it gingerly beneath his left foreleg. The silence in the room stretching out for what seemed like an eternity as the Chancellors studied him.

They were critical to be sure, but no more so than he was already used too. True, he was no longer the spring stallion he once was, but he was by no means a broken old nag either and had kept himself in perfect shape over the years. His limbs were as strong as ever and his trunk still hardened muscle from years of training and discipline, his eyes sharp and his ears folded back patiently. Truthfully, the only signs of his approaching age that anypony could seem to find were the slight dulling of his once pristine white coat and the slight fading at the bases of his proud blue mane and tail.

Finally, the pegasus stallion cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Shining Armor of House Sparkle, Prince of the Crystal Kingdom and Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard,” he began. “We, the Royal Equestrian Advisory Council, by the the grace of the Princesses of the Sun and Moon welcome you before us this day. Please, be seated, captain.”

“With Respect, Chancellor Skylark, I would ask that I be allowed to stand.” He countered.

“As you wish, Captain Armor,” He said in response. “You are aware of why we have called you there today?”

“I am,” he replied.

The Three of them looked to each other and nodded, the Earth Pony reaching to the side and pulling a small satchel onto the table from which she removed a scroll and began to read.

"Captain Shining Armor, graduate of the Royal Military Academy at fourteen summers of age. Top of your class upon graduation and cited by multiple instructors, sergeants and lieutenants for exceptional prowess in defensive and offensive magic as well as hoof-to-hoof combat techniques. Recipient of the Bronze Horseshoe, the Silver Horn, Distinguished Service Medallion and the Crystal Wing amongst others," she read aloud. "Also, the recipient of the Order of the Tilled Field, the Order of the Hurricane and the Order of the Platinum mantle... making you the only pony in the history of the Royal Guard to ever receive all three of the Founders Medals."

She looked up to him for a moment as she read these achievements but when he said nothing, she continued.

“According to our records, you have served the Equestrian Royal Guard for almost fifty years and have spent over forty of those years as Captain, which also makes you the youngest in its history. Further more, you have served with exceptional distinction far beyond even the citations I have stated and the list goes on for quite some length of parchment. But you know all this better than I do, Captain. In all my years, truly, I have never seen such an impressive record as this.”

“Thank you, Chancellor Bookkeeper.” He replied but otherwise kept silent and still. He knew very well were this was going.

She nodded to him as the Unicorn inclined his head towards Shining Armor and began to speak his own piece. “Captain, there is much to respect about you and your career and it would do you a great disservice to sugarcoat the reason for this meeting, so let us speak plainly. In four weeks, you will be sixty-five summers of age and by both Celestial and Lunar laws, the mandatory retirement age of all royal guards is sixty summers of age. Captain, we have bent the rules for you for nearly five summers in hopes that you would step down voluntarily and appoint your successor as you were so appointed, but that has obviously not happened. We have done this for several reasons, the least of which is to honor your achievements and to prevent ourselves from depriving the guard of a beloved commanding officer; but, having said that, Captain, we cannot bend the rules any longer.” He paused for a moment to catch his breath before adding, “Do you wish to say anything before I continue, Captain?”

The moment that he both dreaded and desired fell upon him in that instant, the time he could lay out his case and hopefully convince – or plead – for more time, if only just a little. He had rehearsed the words he would say with his wife and sister, had practiced them in front of the mirror for weeks, but now found he could not speak them. The words sounded hollow, flat and unimportant, the very thought of them leaving a taste not unlike soot in his mouth as they refused to be articulated. After a long pause to gather his thoughts, he simply shook his head.

“I have nothing to say, Chancellor Arcanix, other than 'thank you,' for what you have done for me these past years.”

“That is… well… unexpected, and very noble of you, Captain Armor,” Bookkeeper said slowly, a hoof whipping an unbidden tear from her eye as she did so. “Most ponies who come before us…” she shook her head, unwilling to continue.

Chancellor Arcanix nodded. “We thank you for your candor and for your service to Equestria Captain Armor, but as I said, we can bend the rules no longer. You stand before us in perfect health and with all of your faculties still your own, we recognize that, but time waits for nopony and we cannot take the risk that you will become a liability for your troops because of your age. Especially not after the exemplary care you have given in your tenure. Thus, it is with my deepest condolences and regrets, that I must ask for your resignation.”

Such a simple statement it was, composed in essence of only six words in its entirety. But each of those words carried wtih it weight than a thousand battering rams and he felt each one slam into him with a force he could scarcely imagine. The Chancellors did not see it – at least he thought they didn’t – but his body tensed ever so slightly at the words. Those six words echoed in his mind for what felt like hours as they simple phrase strove to rob him of his life's purpose. He had expected them, feared them, even welcomed them on some level, but to hear them said so plainly left him momentarily dumfounded. When he could finally speak again, he could see in their eyes that his response was not what they had expected.

“Will I be permitted to appoint my successor, as per Guard tradition, Chancellors?”

Momentarily taken aback, the chancellors looked to each other for a few heartbeats before finally, Skylark nodded. “Of course, Captain. We would not dare interfere with such a tradition when there is no cause for doing so and would welcome you to perform the Changing of the Guard as is your right. Do you have somepony in mind?”

“I do, Chancellor,” he said. “Lieutenant Ocean Mist, a Pegasus pony from the second company. She has proven both her competence and judgment on multiple occasion and I believe her to have the respect of all the ponies under her command. I would thus nominate her to ascend to captaincy upon my… resignation." The last word almost made him choke, and the formal speech made his throat burn, but he would show them nothing less than the perfect soldier.

“Your nomination is duly noted, Captain Armor, we will of course perform the standard competency investigation, but we are certain that your recommendation and judgment are sound. How long will you require for this action, Captain?”

With a deep breath, he steeled himself before speaking. “I would ask, Chancellor, that I be allowed to retain my position Captain until after my fifty-fifth birthday. If it is permissible, I would like to perform the Changing thirty-five days from now.”

“You’re asking us to make another exception?”

“No, Chancellor, I’m asking that you do me one last honor and let me leave the guard in celebration of my life, rather than anticipation of an unknown future.”

Before Skylark could speak, Bookkeeper turned to him and nodded. “You make a reasonable request, Captain. I believe I speak for all of us here when I say, we will have no trouble granting this to you for your years of loyal service.”

“Thank you, Chancellor Bookkeeper.”

“Have you anything else to say, Captain?” asked Skylark.

“No, Chancellor.”

“Then you are dismissed, Captain. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Thank you Chancellor."

Replacing his helmet, Shining Armor saluted smartly once again and departed. The soft whisper of "so do I" unheard by the Chancellors as the click of his hooves drowning out his words.

------Present Day------

When he left the room, the words had echoed in his mind worse than when he had heard them and had haunted him ever since that day and it seemed like so much had happened in a time span too short to contain it all. His birthday had come and gone as it did every year and was celebrated by both friends and family alike. He had spoken to Ocean Mist and sat on the review board with the chancellors that verified his recommendations of her competence. Veterans had asked him to stay, his family had talked about getting him a position as a chancellor on the advisory council, his wife had talked about taking a trip to get his mind off of things and many other such ideas had been bantered around. No matter what happened though, he could not get the words of the Chancellors to leave his mind.

The words that had, effectively, stripped him of his purpose in life.

That meeting had been five weeks ago but it may as well have been a lifetime and as the memory bled away to the present situation, he found himself standing outside the door to his office, his name written upon its nameplate in gilded lettering. Apparently muscle memory had brought him there as he mused over his fate. It was not an uncommon way for him to travel during trouble and so he usually thought nothing of it, but under the circumstances, it felt as if even the Keep itself was trying to hasten his departure.

With a sigh, he took hold of the door with his magic and swung it open, trotting forward with his head low and his ears folded back.

“Let’s get this over with…” he said to himself as his magic pulled the door closed behind him.

Where the crowds will cheer
When they see my face
And a voice keeps saying
This is where I’m meant to be.

Chapter Two: Reflection

"A Changing of the Guard"

Chapter 2: Reflection

I'll be there some day
I can go the distance
I will find my way
If I can be strong

Like most things in the Headquarters, the door to his office was made of a richly polished oak that was both sturdy and pleasant to look at; heavy enough to deflect blows should enemies invade but light enough that young hopefuls could push it open without undo effort. He had, he reflected, always had an open door policy with his subordinates, both officer and enlisted alike, and had always conducted all meetings informally except when absolutely necessary to do otherwise. It was then somewhat ironic that he wanted to lock the door now and hide behind it as his magic released its grip and let the heavy portal swing closed without a sound. His mood bleak, his shoulders tense and his head hung low, Shining Armor crossed the threshold into his office in the same daze which he had arrived, but in the end, he didn't lock it and instead slowly raised his head to look around.

Contrary to the popular belief of many a tabloid journalist, life at the top of any organization was not purely glamor, riches and fame, nor was its accouterments platinum floors, gilded walls or diamond chandeliers that dripped hundred year old wine into crystal goblets. In fact, should any journalist have ever actually be granted access to the Captain's office they likely would have been disappointed at it's overall plainness. Like the rest of the tower, its walls and floor were beautifully veined marble slabs accented in bands of precious metal or richly colored hardwood, but that was were the opulence of construction ended. Thirty-Five hooves wide by twenty-four deep and twelve in height, the office was in fact only slightly larger than any of the others that dotted the inside of the building.

To his right lay the solid wall that separated the office from the rest of the rooms in the wing, its entire width covered by eight hoof tall, built-in book cases containing both his personal library and that of previous captains; books on everything from tactics and drills to donated journals and financial ledgers inter spaced with nicknacks and trophies he had added over the years. To the left, two floor-to-ceiling windows of nigh-unbreakable Silverglass looked out onto eastern parade ground and filed the room with light from the noon-day sun. In front of him, the back wall was dominated by a pony-sized fireplace -- the source of numerous jokes amongst the guard about "roasting" ponies that had gotten in trouble -- its charred black from centuries of warmth glared at him like the maw of some great beast and on either side of it, rows of pictures dotted the wall, each one depicting a former Captain in their prime. His own picture hung in the corner closest to the window on a line all its own, the eyes that looked back at him proudly frozen in time beside his freshly polished captain's armor and service blades.

To any non-guardpony, it was simply another room and to any guard pony it as a place that they came to receive their orders, accolades or reprimands as was appropriate.

To him, it was a second home and he paused for a moment to take in not only the sight of it, but the scent as well.

The scent of the office had always intrigued him, because it was not simply the mixture of scents that filled it but their underlying meanings as well. The rich scent of inks and parchment that spoke of hard days filling out requisitions, fielding letters and dispatching orders. The slight tang of lamp oil and wood smoke tasted of long night spent in solitude to contemplate strategies and assignments while gazing longingly towards where his home waited for him. The slight musk of male and female pony alike sang of understanding when an answer was needed, repentance when there was chastisement and camaraderie on special -- or everyday -- occasions. Put bluntly, the room smelled like discipline, duty and above all, purpose.

"You're turning into a philosopher in your old age, Shining Armor..." he said queitly to himself.

Like all captains, one of his first duties had been to decorate the room to his liking and he had done so with the same pragmatism that he had approached most of his life with, but all of that was gone. The crimson rug that had filled most of the room along with the writing desk that his sister had given him had long since been packed away and carted off along with the cushions that he had insisted be scattered around for anypony who needed to come and talk to him. Only the massive desk of Everfree darkwood, polished weekly to a glow-like sheen and the previously observed personal touches remained. It was, he reflected, strange to see the desk empty instead of covered in paperwork he hadn't had the time to get to yet. In their place where the half dozen packing crates and bubble wrap rolls he had requested so that he could do the last of his packing alone.

Most likely he wouldn't need all of the boxes by the time he was finished as most of his mementos were small, but it was best to be safe. Letting his gaze sweep over the room once more as he tried to pick out the best place to start, but in doing so, he found he couldn't move. The room suddenly seemed so much bigger.

"Celestia's mane..." he whispered aloud. "How is any pony expected to just... just pack their life away!?"

But that was fleeting, rhetorical question designed to waste time, and he only had a few hours to till sunset, which was when he had scheduled the Changing and he would be a poor captain indeed if his last duty was performed late. His last duty... the thought made him shudder as he stepped up to the bookcases and let his eyes fall upon a portrait of his little sister and himself that he wrapped up in his magic and brought to eye level, his hoof reaching out to touch it lightly. They both looked so young in it.

To listen to Twilight, they had been perfectly complimented growing up and though it was true that they had never had an actual fight, neither had they really gotten away without a single argument; sibling rivalry was, sibling rivalry after all. But she had been his first protectorate and the reason he had known that he wanted to spend his life protecting others. That was how he had earned his cutie mark, protecting her and her precious little Smarty-Pants doll from a group of bullies who had a problem with 'privileged' nobility no matter how minor they may have been.

He smiled as he thought to that day...

It had been summer then, only a month after the celebration commemorating Celestia's rule.

He had been ten years old and ready to take his guard's entrance examination. Twilight had been six and already considered smart enough to take the exam for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. His parents had wanted him to go there and become a councilmen or a mage, maybe a lawyer or something similar, but they had named him Shining Armor, not Written Law and after months of waiting it had finally been time.

"Shining Armor, you know you can still back out of this right? I have enough pull amongst the administration that I can get you an entrance exam the same as your sister." His mother said, worry etched across her light violet features.

"Mom... you said that I could apply as soon as I got my cutie mark... well, i've got it and this is what I want to do with my life."

she had been about to protest -- or plead -- a little more when his father had returned with the camera and tripod, twilight bouncing happily around him like she always did when she was excited. His mother relented and put the two siblings together as close as possible, both of them looking back and forth at each other and the rest as their father tried to get the perfect angle for the shot. The more he tried though, the more restless they got and the harder it was to keep still.

"Hold still you two! Ponyfeathers if you don't calm down you'll both look a fright for your entrance marks!"

"Mom! We look fine, just take the picture already would you?" He had said.

"Yeah! Hurry up mom! We don't want to be late!"

"And we weren't late, were we Twily?" he said. "You came home with your cutie mark and an endorsement by the ruler of Equestria herself. I came home with a writ of acceptance and my bronze cadet armor."

It had been one of the happiest days of his life and he could not have been prouder, either for himself or his sister, but now it was just a memory of a time long ago that he was being forced to hide away until he could find another place to display it. Wrapping it carefully, he placed the picture into the closest crate and moved on, picking up various objects and packing them with a kind of pragmatic reverence. The small sliver of bronze that had been cut off of his cadet armor by a manticore on his first out-of-base sortie. A picture of himself and cadence asleep on the couch after an exhausting day of studying for exams. A gryphon claw from a battle in the northern highlands after his promotion to Corporal. Pictures of him and his friends in various stages of training. A broken chalice he'd recovered for his commander after a particularly dangerous ambush. Small figures he had carved from various stones as a child and more. So many memories and each one had their own special place in his heart.

Each one reminded him of what he was or had been. Memories of battles hard won, friendships come and gone, training till he could barely move or festivities till he couldn't see straight from the celebrations. These were the things that made a pony who they were, but always it had been with a sense of duty and purpose that it would never end. He was so caught up in the reverie that he didn't hear the door open and when he heard the clearing of a throat behind him, he very nearly jumped as he spun around, rearing onto his hind legs in response to the expected attack.

But the attack never came; for behind him stood the vision of beauty that was his wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadence as she preferred to be called. She had long ago forsaken her immortality to be with him as a normal pony despite her status as an alicorn and her flowing mane had darkened along with her fur over the years in defiance of her age. Her crystal-blue eyes, however, held the same love for him now that they had always held since they met. Where it any other day, he would have smiled for her and rushed forward to embrace her in greeting. But today was not any other day, and he saw something in those beautiful eyes that he did not want to see.

He saw pity.

"Hello, Cadence..." he said stiffly, looking away as his ears pinned back lightly, the words coming out quietly but with a venom he had not intended.

"Hello, Shining Armor," she responded.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can't a mare come to help out her stallion in his time of need?"

He didn't answer immediately and an awkward silence descended between the two of them, but he could not bring himself to face her. Deep down, he knew that simple action cut more deeply than any blade ever could and it was not a wound she deserved. Cadence had stood beside him for years when she didn't have to, fought beside him as his shield maiden and birthed three of the most beautiful foals in all of Equestria for him. But today... today he could not face her.

"Shining Armor, look at me." she whispered quietly, only for him to shake his head silently in response.

Sensing the new turmoil that filled him, the empathic princess tried a different tactic and fell silent as well before trotting forward and nuzzling him gently with her cheek against his own. It was a simple gesture really, but one that allowed a communication far beyond that of mere words. She knew he wanted to push her away, wanted to be alone and do this alone, but instead he raised his left foreleg and gently wrapped it around her shoulders, returning the nuzzle gently before tilting his head so that their banded horns touched each other lightly, the golden rings letting out a soft chime of power as they did so. For the moment, it was enough and he felt his anger slip.

"I'm worried about you, my Shining Armor..." she whispered.

"I know, Cadence," he said. "And I'm sorry... I didn't mean to sound angry at you, you're just trying to help."

Again, they fell into an awkward -- but this time companionable -- silence as they simply held each other, Cadence's left foreleg rising to gently wrap around his shoulders in a loving embrace as the took comfort in each others familiar warmth. It could not last, of course, there was too much to do and too little time to do it, but for a moment, it was what they both wanted more than anything.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"For what?"

"For... for the pity... earlier. I know that's not what you wanted to see and it should never have been there... but I'm worried about you, Shining Armor. You've grown more and more distance with every day that's led up to this and it breaks my heart that I can't give you the strength that you've always given me. I can feel in your heart what this is doing to you but I can't know it without you telling me. Please... just talk to me."

He wanted to talk to her of course, had wanted to talk to her for weeks, to take comfort in her presence and her wisdom as much as her love. But how could he do that? It was one thing to share the burdens that they had shared over the years when it was burdens that they had chosen or even been forced to take on because of their positions, but this was different. At least in his eyes it was and he did not know how to talk to her about it. Try as he might, the words simply wouldn't come out.

Cadence was not so easily dissuaded, however, and continued to gently and lovingly chip away at his shield. "My Shining Armor, you've been so distance... its like you've been a stranger to me and to yourself... I know you are hurting, I can feel it, the children can feel it. We all want to help you but you're pushing us away... you've always put the well-being of others ahead of yourself, but just this once... be selfish."

"I don't mean to..." he said. "I'm... Cadence... I'm scared."

"Scared?" she replied, but to her credit did not pull away. "Shining Armor, you've faced down changeling queens, angry gryphons, renegades, creatures of shadow and things I can barely even pronounce. You've faced them head on without so much as a concern for yourself. I could fill a book with your accomplishments and still have room for a second volume... the unknown has never bothered you before, why does it bother you so now?"

He sighed softly and pulled away from her, trotting slowly towards the window and looking out across the grounds where his troops continued their daily routines either ignorant or unconcerned about the turmoil afflicting their Captain. Shaking his head quietly, he spoke slowly, as if the words burned his mouth -- and, Cadence reflected, they probably did -- to say them.

"Because up until now, everything has had a purpose, Cadence... maybe it was vanity or bravado at first, maybe it was courage later on or maybe I was just a stubborn mule the whole time, I don't know and I don't care. Everything I did was to protect someone else, to help someone else. I was saving lives and keeping ponies safe because that was my purpose, my talent. But now, ponies who have never had to face things like death and danger are telling me that because I'm fighting something I can't win against, that my talent doesn't count anymore and that the purpose I've defined myself by all these years isn't enough anymore. But I feel like I gave up to easily, like I ran away instead of standing and facing what I was afraid of and it makes me sick to my stomach. Ever since I walked out of that meeting with the Chancellors I've wanted to take it back and go back there, scream, plead and fight for my purpose and tell them to Tartarus with their rules! But I can't do that... because they're just following the rules that I swore to uphold."

Turning slightly, he looked into her loving eyes once more and continued. "But it's more than that... I didn't choose this for myself. I did, but I didn't. I did choose it because I didn't argue with them and because I knew it wouldn't do any good if I did because the were just upholding the same laws that I swore to uphold. But I didn't choose it because I didn't ask to get old. Cadence I want to know if this has all even been worth it!"

"What do you mean, my love?"

"Cadence... there is one thing in this world I'll never regret and that is marrying you. You've given my life more than I can ever hope to describe. But can i move forward with my life regretting what I've done with it? When I look at what's happening, I have to ask myself did I make any kind of difference? Did it mater if I can be forced to leave something behind that defines me just because I'm old, did anything I do in that duty ever really have any meaning to begin with if time can just wash it away? You... you'll always be a princess no matter what, you'll always have your talent to bring love to others and mend broken hearts like new, what am I without that purpose?"

He hadn't meant to say the last part, hadn't meant to shift blame on her in any way, but it was too late to take the words back and he looked away in shame. But she did not throw them back at him and instead once again moved forward, this time resting against his flank rather than embracing him and letting her slender neck drape against his own. Her heartbeat, he was sure, was beating in time with his own whether by magic or simply by the love they had shared for so long. He stiffened slightly as her familiar perfume filled his nostrils and finally let his head relax against her own.

"Shining Armor, my Shining Armor, you will always be the colt that I fell in love with and the Stallion that I married. Purpose does not go away simply because duty comes to an end... you yourself have, in fact, said that the duty of an Equestrian Royal Guard is never ending for even in death, the spirit serves to strengthen others. Did you make a bad decision to not fight against this resignation that has been imposed on you? I don't think so. I think you played the cards you were dealt as best you could and chose dignity over disgrace. I think that it's not so much that you are scared of your choice, but rather that you don't understand why you made it yet. What is it that you have always said hmmm? Think carefully."

His ears twitched lightly, wondering what it was she was alluding to. He had become something of a philosopher over the years as was often the case of anyone who faced death on a regular basis, but he was unsure of what it was that she meant. Or didn't he? No... he knew what it was she was speaking about when he stopped to think.

"Always think well upon your special talent," he whispered. "Because one day you will have to ask yourself, do you define your talent, or does your talent define you?"

She nodded silently. "My shining Armor... you may wonder what you've done with your life and whether it had meaning... but that is something that every pony must ask themselves eventually, even a princess has to ask herself that. You have saved lives, protected others and taken burdens on yourself so that others would not have to. Be proud of that."

"I am... but I couldn't save everypony, Cadence... and I worry that eventually I'll be defined by what I didn't do, rather than what I did. I don't want to be... that."

"You won't be..." she whispered, leaning up to nuzzle his ear lightly. "My love, you have always been your own stallion, you have always found a way through anything and you know in your heart that you could never have saved everypony. But you are beloved not just be me, but by all of your guards. Would you feel better if they were in here pleading with you to reverse your decision rather than training as you've always shown them? Would you rather they collapse because somepony they respect and admire is leaving instead of marshaling their will and moving forward as you always have? Think carefully, Shining Armor, for I think they are answering your question more fully than anypony else could..."

He chuckled humorlessly as she spoke and nodded lightly against her. A couple did not stand by each other for over thirty years without knowing each other on multiple levels and he knew that although she was being kind with her words, she was telling him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear.

"You're right, Cadence...." he whispered. "You're right...."

I'll know every mile
Will be worth my while
when I go the distance
I'll be right were I belong.

Chapter Three: Reluctance

"A Changing of the Guard"

Chapter 3: Reluctance

Down and unknown road
To embrace my fate
Though that road may wonder
It will lead me to you

Although he would have liked nothing better than to remain with his wife for the rest of the day -- and forget the day was happening all together -- Shining Armor and Cadence eventually parted and began to work on packing up a few more of his mementos, Shining wrapping them while Cadence tucked them carefully into the boxes, the two working silently until half the crates were full and his wife declared she needed a short break from the work. He nodded to her as he closed the most recently filled box and stepped away as she lifted them with her magic before heading towards the door. Despite her many years of visits, Cadence had not yet mastered the ability to open the office door in near total silence as he had and the sound of its movement felt like an explosion in the otherwise silent office. Turning fully away, he gazed out the window when the familiar tang of her magic brushing against his own senses as she carried the first of his crates out for him.

The soft click-clack of her gilt-shod hooves echoed slightly before the door closed but he did not turn to look at her as she departed; not because he didn't want to -- Cadence was as lovely now as she had been years ago and though he was getting old, he wasn't dead by a long shot! -- but because his earlier breakdown had left him a little too embarrassed to say more than he had earlier.

Ever since he was a colt, Shining Armor had had a great respect for mares, instilled partially by his parents, but also by Celestia herself and he did not consider himself a chauvinistic stallion by any means, but he was a stallion who was used to being the one who gave comfort and security to others and the brief role reversal had been a blow to his already damaged ego. Catching sight of himself in the polished glass, however, he had to admit that even though the talk with Cadence had not actually cheered him up, it had in some ways lifted at least some of the melancholy to the point he no longer felt in danger of being crushed by it. It had felt good to get his worries out in the open, even if only briefly and he was grateful beyond words that his wife always seemed to know exactly what was needed to be said.

But it also left him drained emotionally as well as mentally and he felt his head tipping forward to rest against the window, the sun-warmed glass brushing just below his horn as his blue eyes gazed into the outside world and the utter... normalcy... of it all. The sight which greeted him was one he had seen a thousand times over and more; the eastern training yard filled with various guard ponies both young and old going through their daily routines. In a way, he had to admit that Cadence had hit the metaphorical nail on the head because it made his heart swell with pride that the guards -- his guards -- were doing what they were supposed to in spite of his own dilemma and a years old conversation with his own captain came back to him unbidden.

"Tell me what you see out that window, Shining Armor." he had said.

"I see ponies training, sir."

The chuckle behind him caused him to turn his head slightly to look at Captain Dust Storm who was sitting at the desk doing his daily requisition forms -- something Shining despised helping with, but never turned down because he enjoyed spending time with the captain -- and not looking up. Dust Storm was one of the few earth ponies to ever ascend to the rank of captain and was perhaps one of the most dependable and straight forward to grace the guard in years, he refused to play politics and lived his life and carrier by simple sensibilities of his upbringing. Whether or not he was actually liked by individual guardponies depended on who was asked, but he was almost universally respected.

"You're looking, Shining Armor, you're not seeing."

"I don't understand, sir."

The captain chuckled again and pushed his bench back, strong hooves sending light thunder rolls as he moved to stand by the younger stallion. Like Shining, he was clad in his guard armor but had forgone his helmet while in the office which allowed his natural deep blue coat and fire red mane to be seen for its true appearance. Normally it would have been the same pristine white as any other Celestial guard's but the private setting was more casual than outside and being able to be himself was a rare privilege for the captain that he shared with only a few ponies whom he trusted completely; something Shining Armor felt honored to be privy to and it made him smile.

"Something funny, Lieutenant?" the captain asked.

"No sir, just thinking about how everypony is so easily fooled by the guard armor."

They both laughed at this for a moment and nodded to each other. It was no secret that, aside from obvious differences in breed and stature differences brought on by gender, royal guards all looked alike to the general public of Equestria. What most of them didn't know was that the coloration was actually part of the guard "uniform" rather than being a requirement of enlistment and anypony who ever saw the cadet classes in training would be treated to a field of polychromatic ponies just as diverse as anywhere in Equestria.

That all changed when they received their armor, however, as it had long ago been determined that circumventing a guard's oaths and attempting bribery was far more difficult if a potential deviant was unaware of what guard they were dealing with and having one easily pass for another made for easy changes to accommodate injuries and illnesses considering the armor even covered a pony's cutie mark. Shining Armor had been fortunate to be possessed of a natural ivory coat and blue mane that did not necessitate the glamor enchantments of his armor to make him appear "in uniform" the way most of his fellow guardponies did except when he drew night duty and made use of it to turn himself dusk grey.

"True enough, true enough," came the response. "But that's beside the point, take another look out the window and tell me what you see."

Try as he might, Shining Armor saw nothing different than what he did before and said as much.

Dust Storm shook his head silently and raised his hoof to point. "You're still looking, Shining Armor, you're not seeing."

"I'm not sure I understand the difference, sir."

"When I look out there, I see the ponies, yes, but beyond that I see wills, discipline and drive. They may not want to be running endless drills, truth be told most of them don't, but they do it anyway because they want to prove something, either to families, to each other or to themselves. That is the essence of what a guard is, doing what needs to be done even if you don't' really want to do it. The guard isn't a brotherhood or a sisterhood, it's a family, and family does what needs to be done to help family. And that's what I see when I look out that window, I see family helping family move forward in spite of their own hardships and missteps."

He turned to look at the young lieutenant and smiled to him before asking, "Understand a little better now?"

He hadn't understood it at the time, hadn't really seen what his captain was alluding too but rather than lie and hope to get away from a lecture, he had fessed up and shaken his head which Dust Storm had appreciated; years later, after his own promotion, he had finally understood the lessen and had sought out his old captain to tell him as such.

Turning slightly, he laid eyes on one of the pictures still on the shelf and wrapped his magic around it to levitate it over to him, one hoof raised to rest lightly on the frame. In it was a picture of himself and Dust Storm, the older pony's coat having long turned grey and his fiery mane little more than a faded tan, but they looked happy in the picture as they shared a mug of hot cider and reminisced about old times, the two no longer needing to be formal with each other. Pinned to the frame was one of the old style Merit ribbons that Dust had given Shining as a good luck charm just prior to the old ponies death. He had told him at the time that the ribbon was over four hundred years old and had been passed from guard to guard for decades and that one day Shining would pass it on to another pony for the same reason; but of course he'd never done that nor found a pony that he could give it to.

"You always had a way of making the lesson stick, didn't you sir?" he asked the photograph. "Even if it was years later that we finally figured it out." He still remembered the send off for the old captain during his own Changing of the Guard when nearly half of the active duty guard had come to see him off with a final salute. Briefly, he wondered if he would receive the same but shook his head so as not to contemplate it and instead wrapped the picture reverently before placing it in the crate and turning back to the window to look out at his ponies once more.

It was an interesting sight to say the least.

As always, the field was full without being crowded with both mares and stallions -- some armored, some bareback, others dealing with Bronze Cadet armor to toughen them up -- went through whatever drills their sergeants had on the menu for the day and cross training was rampant. In the air, on the thin layer of clouds above the field and on the field itself, pegasai, earth pony and unicorn alike trained with each other in hoof to hoof combat, air to ground tactics and vice versa, dodged magic and weapons, lifted weights and all manner of other exercises regardless of their breed; Shining Armor did not believe in segregation by breed and had almost from day one of his captaincy developed training regimes which would work every pony to their fullest while showing favoritism to none. It was, of course, impossible to keep up morale without recognizing exceptional individuals and rewarding those who went to lengths above and beyond the call of duty, but having everypony on semi-equal footing always made sure that no matter how the pony came to the guard, they left as the best they could be.

He chuckled softly as he thought about it, because he had even worked that bit into his recruitment/welcoming speech for the cadet hopefuls and for a heartbeat he felt like saying it again once last time for no other reason than to do so. The slight rapping of a hoof upon the oaken door, however, made him think otherwise. Beckoning the visitor in with a slightly gruff "enter" he did his best to scowl as a familiar magenta aura wrapped itself around the door and pushed it open with an elegant silence as an equally familiar mare crossed the threshold to stand before him as she magically swung the door closed in her wake.

"Captain Armor," she said formally.

"Archmage Sparkle," he replied.

Had anypony walked in and looked at their stony expressions, they would have sworn that a tension existed between the siblings that could not be quantified by mere words; likely the result of some wedge driven between them in the past over some slight. No such thing had occurred though and this exchange had, over the course of nearly thirty-odd years, become something of a game between them. In the grand tradition of younger siblings everywhere, upon her promotion to a rank that equaled his own, Twilight's first action had been to politely rub it in her brother's face that he was "no longer the boss of her" and it had been his responsibility to remind her that she would always be under his hoof as he was older and arguably wiser. The argument had lasted all of about four seconds before neither of them could hold in their laughter any longer.

Today, it was Shining Armor who lost the stare down first and cracked a smile before laughing softly and trotting forward to hook on foreleg around his little sister's shoulders to receive a fierce two-foreleg embrace in return.

Twilight Sparkle, had changed as little as he and Cadence over the years in terms of appearance and was still the lean, lightly muscled mare she had been throughout most of her adult life. Her coat was still the same rich shade of lavender it had always been and her aura of magic had only grown stronger with the passage of time. Truthfully, the only signs of her approaching age were the way the pink highlight in her mane had faded to an almost colorless white and the addition of a pair of small rimmed glasses that set perched on her nose; the consequences of eye strain caused by decades of late night reading. Beyond these, the most glaring change was that she no longer went unclothed the way most ponies preferred and instead wore a simple cobalt blue robe lightly embroidered with stars and decorated with two dozen golden bells, though today a small black box also lay across her back.

"I wasn't sure you'd want to do that old gag today or not..." Twilight said quietly as they broke their embrace to give each other room.

"If you had come in an hour ago, I probably wouldn't have," he leaned forward and hugged her lightly once more. "It's good to see you, Twily."

"You too BBBFF," she replied. "I was hoping to get here sooner, but I ran into Cadence on the way in and she said you two had talked a little bit."

He nodded to her politely as they stepped a bit further away, slumping his shoulders a little but keeping his head up this time. "Yeah, she always did know what to say to me... and I apologized for being distant to her. I suppose I owe you an apology too on that regard. Things... things have just moved to fast, Twily. Five weeks ago everything made sense and today seemed like it was another world that I'd never get to. But now that it's actually here I just..." He shook his head and Twilight nodded in return.

"Shining Armor, there's nothing I can really say that'll cheer you up, I know that up here," she pointed to her head. "But you're still my BBBFF and I want to try if you'll let me."

"You picked a hay of a time to try your new psychology textbooks out, kiddo," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"That's Archmage kiddo to you, mister." she replied, but frowned when it failed to produce the smile she had been hoping for as he turned away to look out the window once more and she trotted up to stand beside him, the bells of her robe jingling lightly as she did so.

"Is that my uniform?" He asked, not looking at her but nodding to the box atop her back and she nodded in return.

"Yeah, I picked it up just a few minutes ago from Rarity, she said to take better care of it in the future cause she won't always be around to fix the rips."

Contrary to the way she would tell the story of their younger days, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle had argued just as much as any siblings anywhere in Equestria. True, they had never had an actual fight until his wedding rehearsal and in his defense, that hadn't really been his fault, but their heated exchanges and desire to one up each other had been legendary around their neighborhood. He could tell by the way she tensed up that she was expecting him to say something, maybe a joke, maybe a bit of an insult, maybe a combination of the two when it came down to it, but he found that his mind was completely blank and he could think of nothing to say. The look of worry in her eyes when she turned to face him was almost as bad as the look of pity Cadence had given him, but strangely it didn't hurt as much. Rather than speak, however, he took hold of the box in his cerulean colored magic and turned away to levitate it to the desk.

The Guard always appeared in armor for most situations, but what was not known to most was that officers all had dress uniforms for formal occasions when armor would have been considered gouache and inappropriate. Opening the box revealed his own dress uniform, crimson red and decorated in gold and white trim that he had been married in all those years ago but had not actually looked at in over twenty years and looking at it now made his heart sink once more. Letting his magic dissipate, he turned away to walk up to his picture on the back wall.

"Shining Armor...?"

"I know you're worried about me, Twily... but I"m okay, really."

She regarded him for a moment before speaking quietly. "You're a terrible liar, Shining..." she whispered. "And it's not just me... Cadence, Oak Heart, Crystal Night, Bright Glow... hayseeds, even Quill is worried about you, these last few weeks you've shut everypony out and I don't care what Cadence said to me a few minutes ago I know you're still hurting. I know you're going to be hurting for a long time, but you need to get out of this funk somehow."

Hearing her list off his -- now grown -- foals made him wince slightly and if even Twilight's thick-headed husband had noticed his mood, then things had gotten worse than he feared. But what was more, he didn't know how to open up further and tell his story again or fess up that he was hurting more than he cared to admit. There was a time he had shared everything with Twilight but he could not bring himself to say to her what he had said to Cadence, even though he was sure his wife had already told her about it. In the end, all he could do was change the subject and hope that his sister caught the message.

"Just..." he began before looking back to his portrait, then back to the neatly folded uniform atop his desk. "The uniform really brings out the best in me, doesn't it, Twily?"

She nodded slowly, following his gaze. "Big Brother," she whispered, leaning in to give him an affectionate nuzzle before stepping back a little to give him some space. "Cadence told me what you talked about... you don't have to repeat it. I know you're hurting more than you're letting on and I know it's because you are being forced into this decision; so few things in Equestria have a mandatory retirement age it's almost ridiculous to make this one of them. But horseapples, don't question your life over this."

"How can I not, Twily?" He asked. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Cadence... when a pony can just be brushed aside because he can't fight time, did anything he did really matter in the grand scheme of things?"

"It did, Shining Armor, you've helped so many ponies I can't even count them all, both in the guard and out of it. You've pulled victory out of defeat in more campaigns than I can remember, and that's saying something with my memory. Your record speaks for itself, but you're dwelling on the things you didn't do rather than the things you did. Chancellor Bookkeeper was right when she said that most ponies who get summoned to a council meeting beg and plead when they know it won't do any good. But you didn't do that, you're a stallion who's always known what was best and you've looked for the best in all situations. I don't want you to start questioning yourself now... don't let that confidence you've gone through life with fade out now."

"How did you know what Bookkeeper said?" he asked, almost incredulously and the irony that out of all the things she had just said, that that tidbit should be the one that stood out was not lost on either of them.

"She and I have tea together twice a week while we go over translations of old scrolls," she said. "But that's not important right now and don't change the subject."

"Sorry," he replied. "But Twily I didn't do all this alone. Seriously, in the grand scheme of things I made the decisions but my troops are the ones that carried them out and its them that made me look good. I... I guess in the end all I ever wanted to do was do right by them. I never wanted to be a hero or anybody's role model, I just wanted to protect the ponies I love. Being Captain let me do it a little easier, but at the same time it made things that much harder. Do you know how many ponies I've lost over the years? How many friends I watched die when I couldn't get to them in time? How many families I had to go to to tell them that... that their wife or husband or foal wasn't coming back!? Celestia's mane, Twilight! You and Cadence... tartarus!... all of Equestria makes me out to be some kind of larger than life hero like you and the other Elements of Harmony! But I'm not, I'm just a guard pony that's tried to do the best he can and in the end all it's gotten me is a lot of headache, heartache and a lot of lost years!"

"You want some cheese with that wine?"

He blinked. "What?"

"You're whining, Shining Armor," she said with a smug grin.

"I am not whining, Twilight Sparkle... fashionistas whine... royal guards brood, complain and rant, but we do not whine!"

The smug grin did not disappear from her face, but rather it turned into an understanding smile as he felt his anger dissipate with her joke and he chuckled ruefully. "I walked right into that one didn't? What did I do to get a sister and a wife that know just what to say and when to say it?"

"You were always just yourself, BBBFF." she replied. "Shining Armor, you can think what you want, but the lives that were lost and the lives that you saved are mutually exclusive, they can't balance each other out. I've been there too you know, I was with you when we marched against the changeling hives... I was there with you when the Trogs invaded and more. I saw ponies die, Shining Armor, and every time I felt guilty and thankful because it wasn't me. You're right, your not whinig, but you're letting all of this be an excuse to let out guilt that you don't deserve."

"Psychology one-oh-one?"

"Something like that, so I'll tell you the same thing you told me when you found me crying in my tent that one time." She cleared her throat and placed her hoof against her chest, assuming a soft scowl and looking him squarely in the eye. "No matter what you might think, you're in a war, and there are two ironclad rules when it comes to a war. Rule number one, is that good ponies die in war... and rule number two is that nopony can ever change rule number one."

He looked at her sternly as she used his own words against him, remembering vividly the incident that she spoke of and regarded the memory as one of his darkest. It was the first battle in which the Elements of Harmony had been needed to participate in, first as ambassadors and then as soldiers. In the end, it was Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack who had been in the thick of it, but Twilight had gotten the worst of it when a guardpony had taken a changeling blast for her and died of his wounds while she tried desperately to save his life. He had never wanted her or her friends to witness the horrors of war, but the world was not always sunshine and rainbows and he had used those words to comfort her, appealing to the logical side of her mind to ease the emotional turmoil. It was somewhat fitting that she was doing the same to him.

"What do you want me to do, Twily?" He asked after a short pause.

She smiled to him softly. "I want you to realize you did the best you could, Shining Armor, and that you're not being brushed aside. You've paid your dues a thousand times over and now you're square with the house again, hold onto the dignity that you've always had and realize that there are things you can't control. This is one of those things, I know it hurts, but you have ponies who want to help you deal with it if you'll just let them."

"In other words... buck up and deal with it, hmm?" He sighed. "I know in my head you're right, Twily, it's my heart that needs convincing. I guess... I guess if I'd chosen this path myself it would be easier, but it's the fact that I can't control it that makes things harder. I guess I feel like I'm abandoning my ponies when it comes down to it because I didn't argue for the job."

She shook her head. "No, shining Armor, that's not what I meant at all." she sighed softly. "In another ten years I'll be in the same situation you're in right now, I'll have give up my position or be forced to give it up. Maybe I'll go on to be a researcher, maybe Quill and I'll move back to Ponyville or something, I don't know, but when I'm in your position, I hope you'll tell me the same thing I'm about to tell you."

"And that is?"

"Face your problems that way you've lived them. Don't "buck up" as you put it... but be the Equestrian Royal Guard that you've always been." She smirked. "Just in my case, say 'Archmage' instead of guard."

He regarded her quietly for several long breaths, letting her words sink in and mulling them over as her amethyst gaze met his sapphire one, the two of them locked in an unconscious battle of wills between logic and emotion. It was a battle both wanted to win but in the same time both wanted to lose and on some fundamental level he knew that. But like with his wife earlier, he found that he could not stand up against his sister's words and in the end, his gaze softened lightly.

"Thanks, Twily... want to help me get the rest of this stuff boxed up so I can get dressed?"

"I'd be honored, Shiny."

And a thousand years
Would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime
But somehow I'll see it through

Chapter Four: Resolution

"A Changing of the Guard"

Chapter 4: Resolution

And I won't look back
I can go the distance
And I'll stay on track
No I won't accept defeat

Organization was a strange and -- in some ways -- unnatural thing, especially were ponies were concerned and for what it was, it had very little sense in and of itself. As Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor could organize his troops, plan demonstrations and tactics and balance his budget and supplies with efficiency that rivaled the most innovative of machines; trying to keep his home and worse, his office, however, had always been beyond him. Thus it was almost unnerving to see the office nearly spotless as it was packed away. Cadence had been helpful to begin with and had made the early part of the unpleasant deed pass quickly, but even her skills paled in comparison to those of his sister. With her help, the siblings had the entirety of his remaining possessions wrapped, packed and sealed with over two hours to spare.

Shining Armor would have liked nothing better at that moment than to send his sister away with the crates and spend the last two hours of his time as Captain somewhere else; maybe getting in some last minute drills or simply wandering the halls of the Keep once more before his successor arrived. He had even suggested such a thing to Twilight -- even offered up a Pinkie Pie Promise to not get depressed again -- but she would have nothing of it. As such, he had been forced to spend most of the last hour and a half standing at attention in front of a magically conjured mirror as twilight fumed, fused and otherwise hovered over him like a mother hen.

"It's missing something," she said absentmindedly, "And I still say it looks tight around the middle."

"And I'm telling you that it's fine, Twily! I haven't put on that much weight in my old age!" He countered.

"No but it just... it doesn't look right, something's missing."

"Twily," he began, trying again to diffuse the situation. "I look fine... I'm passing on my title, not getting married again."

of course, he realized too late that he had said exactly the wrong thing and received a death-glare from Twilight that caused him to back up slightly. "Don't you dare talk to me about 'again,' mister! I've salvaged not one, but nineteen ceremonies now, not the least of which being on account of changeling invasions, cold hooves on the part of two brides and three grooms, helped organize a crystal fair that hadn't been performed in a thousand years, managed to ..."

He cut her off with his hoof against her lips. "I get it, sorry."

He gave her a reassuring smile and she folded slightly, smiling back to him but still shook her head. "It's just... I want you to look your best, BBBFF, and just something about this doesn't look right, it's missing something."

He regarded himself in the reflective magic silently, taking in his image and he felt his ears twitch as a frown began to tug at the corners of his mouth. It was true that he hadn't used the old red dress uniform much in recent years, but what he had said to Twilight earlier was true; he always felt he looked his best when he was in uniform and the deep crimson of his dress-shirt stood out magnificently against his white fur and blue mane. But, he had to concede that Twilight was right and that something did in fact seem to be missing.

"Maybe I should put on Grandpa's valor ribbon... like I did at the wedding?" He asked at length and he saw his sister's eyes light up.

"That's it! You're medals!" she exclaimed before turning back to crates and pulling open the top one with her magic, multiple objects raising out simultaneously before finding the one she wanted. Opening it, she revealed three medallions of pristine gold, platinum and silver attached to richly embroidered silk ribbons and carved with the symbol of one of the founding tribes of Equestria; his Founders Medals.

"Twily, you sure that these are... appropriate?" he asked, swallowing hard.

Her answer was to nod to him and pin the three awards to his uniform in the order he had received them with the Order of the Platinum Mantle being the last to be pinned on. Despite himself, as he looked at the medals gleaming on his chest, he felt a tear work its way to the corner of his eye as he remembered the circumstances leading up to each of them; none of which had been happy despite the honor he was awarded. Founder's Medals were exceedingly rare and being awarded one of them was considered the highest honor a guard could ever achieve. The fact that he had been awarded all three spoke more loudly of his accomplishments than a dozen biographies. But still, the uniform looked incomplete and he cast his eyes to one of the earlier crates.

"Shining Armor?"

He didn't answer her, and instead opened the crate to withdraw the picture of him and his former Captain that he had been looking at earlier, the old style service ribbon seeming to stare at him strangely as he removed it from the frame with his cerulean magic and fitted it just above the founders medals. Re-wrapping the picture, he let it rest inside the crate once more before sealing the box shut.

"There... that's perfect." He said.

Twilight regarded him for a long moment, the conflict on her face evident. The historian and scholar that was his little sister knew without a doubt that by placing the old award above the Founders Medals he was risking a benign, but intentional, insult to the lofty status of the citations, but by the same bit, she knew that the old good luck charm meant more to him than any award he had ever received. The look on her face told him that she understood this and despite her misgivings would accept it as the flaw that made the masterpiece of his uniform. Finally, after a long pause, she stepped forward amidst the soft ringing of bells from her robe and hugged him gently with her foreleg.

"You're right, Shiny... the uniform really does make you look your best."

He smiled and hooked his own foreleg around her shoulders, taking comfort in her friendship and love before the sound of a hoof striking the door broke the moment of reverie once more.

Through the thick wood, a feminine voice called out, "Captain Armor, Sir! Lieutenant Ocean Mist requesting permission to enter, Sir!"

He smiled and shook his head slightly, nodding to Twilight who stepped to the side and opened the door with her magic as he moved to stand in front of it. "Permission granted!" he called.

On queue, a pegasus mare stepped through the opening to stop just a few paces ahead of her captain and salute smartly, wings flaring before snapping to her sides. The mare was sea foam green with a two-tone mane of platinum and gold and a cutie mark of the full moon partially hidden by a cloud of mist. She wasn't wearing her golden armor, but the demeanor and bearing of a life-time royal guard was undeniable. Shining Armor returned the salute before nodding.

"At ease, Lieutenant," he said. "No need to be so stiff, I won't be your captain for much longer."

"With respect, sir," she said quietly. "You are still my captain until ceremony dictates otherwise and it is improper for a subordinate to act overly familiar at this time, sir!"

The words were spoken with military perfection and Shining Armor could not help but smile. Ocean Mist had been a guard for nearly twenty five years and was considered one of the most by the book ponies every to enlist; at least in public. In private, she was very laid back, easy to approach and had a very keen insight into the emotions and attitudes of others; her tactical prowess was nothing to sneeze at either. These added up to the reasons why he had chosen her over the other possible candidates to replace him. Shining was about to speak when a small giggle sounded on one side and both ponies jumped.

"A-Ar-Archmage Sparkle! I'm sorry, ma'am! I didn't see you there, ma'am!" Ocean Mist responded, snapping off a second salute that Twilight nodded to.

"I'll leave you two to guard business, I'll see you later, Shining Armor," she said, starting to trot away, but Shining Armor did not miss the look of... something... that passed between his sister and the Captain-to-be. Before he could comment on it though, Twilight stumbled amidst a muffled mmph and a surprised squee mixing together as she stepped back to reveal a small pegasus filly with a magenta coat and dusk grey mane. He narrowed his eyes slightly as Twilight apologized to the filly before excusing herself.

He was about to ask who the filly was but was interrupted by her slightly squeaky voice. "M-M-Miss Mist? Can I come in yet or do I still need to wait in the hall?"

The mare facehooved and groaned at the same time, looking up at Shining Armor apologetically before motioning the filly forward and nodding for her to close the door, which she did with some difficulty.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

The filly trembled slightly and trotted forward, giving a clumsy but passable salute to him before speaking. "C-C-C-cadet H-hopeful Dawn S-Scout, C-Captain Armor, Sir!"

"At ease, soldier," he said, lightly chuckling as the filly exhaled heavily. Cadet Hopefuls were fillies and colts who joined what amounted to a combination of a day camp and woodspony club in hopes of preparing them for the oft-times brutal entrance exams necessary to join the royal guard, usually not long after they received their cutie marks. As Scout didn't have her cutie mark yet, he would guess her to be probably around seven or eight and just having entered the group. He smiled to her reassuringly before they both turned to look at a slightly red-faced Ocean Mist.

"Um... this is my friend's kid, Captain. You probably don't know her but you know her father, Cold Steel?"

He smiled and looked back down at the filly, noting the familiar steel grey eyes that looked up to him now that he took a closer look and nodded. "I see the resemblance now... you've got your grandfather's eyes. What can I do for you, Cadet Hopeful?"

"Y-you really know my, daddy, sir?"

He nodded. "Your grandfather and I were in the same class together at the Academy, I've known your dad since he was a colt. Best weapon smith we ever had and still is. You thinking of following in his hoofsteps?"

She nodded vigorously and bounced a little as she did so. "Y-yes sir I am, Imma apply as soon as I get my cutie mark! Daddy said you were really nice and really good to everypony no matter there breed and I wanted to meet you and maybe see if I could help today in the ceremony."

He raised his eye to that and looked to Mist who chuckled lightly. "I um... I may have let slip when I was over at there place the other night that you didn't have a helmet barer for the day selected yet and thought... maybe..." she shrugged a little and Shining Armor chuckled, shaking his head. Of course he had forgotten one detail in the midst of everything.

"I'll consider it... but for the moment, I need to talk to Lieutenant Mist alone, sweetie... can you wait outside?"

The filly bit her lip slightly and swallowed nervously, but Ocean Mist's nod prompted her to canter out of the room quickly, Shining Armor opening the door with his magic before she barreled into it and closed it behind her before turning all his attention to the pegasus before him. It was still a good forty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to take place and his blue eyes bore into her teal ones for a long moment as he fancied he could see her starting to sweat, the mare swallowing hard as her feathers ruffled slightly, discipline starting to crack under her Captain's stern gaze.

"C-Captain..." she began, ears pinning back and eyes looking away as if embarrassed. "Captain... Sir... I mean um... S-shining Armor, Sir... I mean..."

"Spit it out, Mist," he said. "It's okay to be a little nervous but don't lose it before you've even got it."

She took a deep breath, ostensibly to calm herself, her chest puffing up slightly before, with a heavy exhale, she practically screamed, "Captain Armor I'm so so so sooooo sorry sir I never wanted this to happen to you yes I wanted to be a captain and hoped to achieve this rank some day but not at your expense sir this is wrong and you know its wrong and I'm not going to take the captaincy from you like this I can't do it sir I'm sorry but I just can't I'm not ready for this and I can't ever be the captain you are so please captain for the love of Celestia on high don't make me take your rank from you today I don't want it I really don't not like this let me march out there with you and tell the princesses that you're still the captain and that you're going to be till you say otherwise oh please Shining Armor stay on please you know this is wrong you're a great commanding officer and this is just wrong of you to be shuffled aside like this!"

He blinked as every trace of discipline vanished from the mare's persona, her eyes going wide and wings snapping open as she quickly covered her mouth with her hooves, her body trembling in near panic. He wondered briefly how many times she had practiced that speech at normal speed to say it so quickly without stumbling over any of the words despite the speed in which they were presented. With a light chuckle, he looked her squarely in the eye and said, "Once more with punctuation and grammar, Lieutenant... a breath or two between sentences probably wouldn't hurt either."

Looking thoroughly embarrassed, Mist moved her hoof away from her muzzle and lightly scratched the back of her head, mussing her mane in the process and causing her to shake it out quickly. "Captain... s-sorry, sir..." she began. "But... okay I won't go into rant mode again. But we both know this is wrong, sir, you're being shuffled aside and I can't be a replacement for you... you're too good of a commander for me to just... just step up like this. I don't think I can do it sir, I don't think I can march out onto that parade ground today and do this."

"Stop right there, Mist," he said quietly. "You're nervous, I get that and I knew it from the look in your eyes before you ever started talking. I felt the same way when I took over for Dust Storm. What you're about to go through is a scary prospect. Going from a scale to a lance or even to a company is scary enough, being put in charge of several thousand ponies is almost mind boggling. But I wouldn't have chosen you for this if I didn't think you deserved it. If anything, you shouldn't be apologizing to me for what the council did, I should be apologizing to you for what I haven't done."

The look of confusion on her face would have been hilarious if the situation had been more lighthearted.

"A-apologize to me, sir? For what?"

"When I was told that my resignation was necessary, it was like the world dropped out from under my hooves... I like to think I took it like a stallion but the truth is, I folded up like a house of cards. I questioned everything, was angry at everything and I took it out on the ponies that least needed or deserved my anger. My wife and my sister... and believe it or not you and Scout out there really and finally made me realize that today. I've been so wrapped up in my own misery and dejection that I've done you a disservice I can never take back, even though I'd give almost anything to take it back, but I can't change time. I should have been here for you these last few weeks to help you ease into the position you're taking. I should have helped you prepare for it and answered your questions so you're not as nervous as you are now; that's what a captain is supposed to do, he's supposed to be there for his troops when they need him. I haven't done that and I can't express how ashamed I am because of it." he turned to her and searched her eyes momentarily before continuing. "What I am saying, Ocean Mist, is that I'm sorry."

He sighed softly and motioned her towards the window, the mare turning with him and stumbling slightly at the sight of the captains armor waiting on its stand, but Shining Armor did not take her to it, not yet, and instead trotted over to the window to look out over the practice field once more.

It was empty now and he sighed softly.

"Sir..."

"Shining Armor."

She cleared her throat. "Shining Armor, I don't think an apology is necessary, but I'll accept it on one condition."

"Name it," he said.

"Tell me why you picked me, sir. I mean seriously, there are more experienced guards than myself."

"That's not an easy question to answer... but I think I can say it like this." He looked back to her and then back to the field before speaking once more. "Experience counts for a lot, yes, but there is also something else that means more. I've known you since you were just a filly... not much older than your little friend outside... and I've watched you work your way through the ranks honestly and faithfully. You've never asked for special treatment and you've never wanted it. You're a shrewd commander, a talented fighter and an all around good pony. To fall back on a House Sparkle trade secret and add a little mysticism into the mix... you've just got that spark that makes me think you're going to be an excellent Captain."

She turned away from him to look out over the lengthening shadows outside, she let out a rich, almost musical laugh. Despite everything, he laughed as well and looked out over the practice field as she fell silent beside him, the two of them taking in the golden hues of afternoon that painted the flagstones and marble walls. A companionable silence between them seeming to stretch on into eternity. Finally though, she nodded to him.

"I can appreciate that answer, Capt... er... Shining Armor, I really can and I thank you for your words. I'm going to match your expectation and then I'm going to try and exceed them, I just hope I can measure up; and I'm saying that honestly, not out of some kind of false humility, because I happen to think I'm a damned good soldier." She smiled to him sadly. "But I want to go on record as saying that what has been done to you isn't right. You are the best of us and you inspire the rest of us to be the best we can be. It has been more than an honor, it's been a privilege to serve with you and fight beside you these last twenty years. You don't deserve to be replaced just because you're getting old, the council should have realized that and let you do this on your own time."

He smiled softly, his eyes tearing slightly from the heartfelt words she spoke. "Mist... I appreciate the sentiment, but I've come to realize something today... you're not replacing me."

"I'm not?"

"No... you're succeeding me and taking over where I'm leaving off. I've had a lot of time to think and I've realized some things today that I didn't before. My duty isn't really over... maybe my duty to Equestria will end when I walk out of this building today, but I still have duties, still have a purpose to my wife and my family. I"ll find my way again, because when it boils down to it, I'll always be a guard pony and a guard pony's duty never really ends because even in death, our spirit strengthens the others."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, I don't care of Discord himself tries to beat me down, I'm going to walk out of here today with my head held high." He took a deep breath and added "Whether I agree with their decision or not, I have done the best I can in this position and no guard can ever do more than that."

She smiled to him in return and stepped back, the fading sunlight turning her fur a brilliant sheen as she saluted him smartly once more. "It will be my honor, to stand with you one last time, Captain shining Armor, Sir." she said.

"And it will be my honor to stand with you as well, Captain Elect Ocean Mist. But for the moment, call your little friend back in here."

She nodded and trotted over to the door, Shining's eyes sweeping across the office one last time before resting on his captains armor, the ancient artifact almost as old as the guard itself. The canter of small hooves though brought him back to reality as he turned to face the two of them and knelt down on one foreleg so that he could more closely look into Scout's eyes.

"You wish to be my helmet bearer today, Cadet Hopeful Dawn Scout?" He asked.

The filly saluted once more. "Yes C-Captain, I'd like that very much, sir."

He nodded. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that."

Ocean Mist's eyes went wide as she inhaled sharply, the little filly's body going rigid as her tiny wings flared, a half sob, half pleading whine escaping her throat as she tried to form a coherent argument before Shining Armor rested a soothing hoof on her main. Reaching out with his magic, he took hold of a small square of white cloth from his breast pocket and levitated it forward, wrapping it around the filly's neck and shoulders as if it were a tiny cloak before taking hold of the service ribbon and pinning it to the wrapping.

"Dawn Scout, this ribbon is very special to me, it was giving to me by my Captain and to him by his own. It is not an official tradition within us and this service ribbon hasn't been awarded in some four hundred years, so it's not an official citation any longer. But, looking at you right now, something tells me you are destined for great things in the future, so i am giving this to you first as a good luck charm for your chosen path, and second because it will signify and make real what I am about to say to you." He paused to pull up this full height while the filly craned her neck to look at the ribbon.

"I cannot presently allow you to do as you request, Cadet Hopeful, because by tradition, only full fledged cadets, active and reserve guards may participate in Royal Guard ceremonies and presentations. That being said, as one of my last official duties as Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I grant to you, Dawn Scout, the temporary rank of Cadet from now until sunset for the sole purpose of fulfilling the duty you have requested of me this day."

The filly's eyes were wide as dinner plates, small droplets of tears collecting beneath them as she let out a small hiccup and looked down at the ribbon that had been pinned to her once more before looking back to him, her ears twitching wildly.

"Cadet Dawn Scout, I would be honored, if you would serve Captain Elect Ocean Mist and myself, as helmet bearer in the Changing of the Guard. Do you accept this honor, Cadet?"

The filly stared between the two older ponies, back to the service ribbon and back to Shining Armor before pulling herself into an awkward, but crisp attention and saluted him proudly.

"This Cadet accepts this honor, Captain Shining Armor, Sir!"

It's an uphill slope
But I won't lose hope
Till I go the distance
And my journey is complete

Chapter Five: Renewal

"A Changing of the Guard"

Chapter 5: Renewal

But to look beyond the Glory
is the hardest part
For a hero's strength is measured
by his heart

Life, it seemed was an endless series of rituals, both great and insignificant, everypony and every organization had them to one degree or another; the Royal Guard was no exception. In truth, as with most things that had the term "royal" associated with them, such rituals were almost always needlessly complicated, but they were adhered to out of tradition. Shining Armor, of course, had never been one for exacting tradition and had liked to put his own spine on just about everything during his captaincy.

As such, why should the Changing of the Guard be any different?

The first order of business was to find a set of bronze cadet armor that would fit his helmet bearer, but that had thankfully taken only a few minutes and once settled upon her small frame, the deep, rich color of the metal had been perfectly set off by her magenta colored fur. Normally, she would also be wearing a helmet, but her rank was purely ceremonial -- and temporary -- so only the breastplate had been issued and even that was a bit to large, requiring the two adults to make some quick alterations to the item so that it didn't look ridiculously over-sized on the filly. The pure joy on the Dawn Scout's face was worth it though as the cushion was fixed to her saddle pad and the violet hued captains helmet placed reverently atop it. To her credit, she managed to stand still throughout the entirety of the process despite the look in her eyes that said she wanted to jump for joy until she had no strength left to do so.

Ocean Mist on the other hoof was slightly more problematic.

"Captain! I'm telling you this isn't going to work! My wings will never fit through those notches, not and still be able to fly!"

"And I'm telling you, captain elect that it will if you'll just put the Tartarus damned piece of armor on and quit complaining!"

Like all Pegesai, Ocean Mist's wings were extremely sensitive; touching them was considered an intimate gesture and restricting them was tantamount to butchery, so Pegasus guard armor had to be made to even more exacting specifications than normal guard armor. As the Captain's Armor had been worn by a unicorn for more than forty years, it no longer bore wing slits except for the barest gap just below the saddle plate. The two ponies faced off against each other stubbornly, glaring as only long time comrades or friends could glare at each other and it seemed that neither would give ground despite the rapidly dwindling window of time to prepare.

"Mist, the armor is an artifact, I don't know how it works, I just know that it works, Dust was an earth pony for Celestia's sake! Do you think I had half his muscle?!"

"Captain, be reasonable! Lets just take a little bit of time and get it fixed so that its.... Scout, why are you smiling like that?"

The pair looked to the temporary Cadet who had a look halfway between embarrassment at being caught and superiority at knowing something the adults didn't know. But she kept silent and looked upwards, giving the most innocent expression she could muster that succeeded only in making her look that much more guilty. Her body trembled with barely contained laughter until Shining armor cleared his throat.

"Your captain elect asked you a question, cadet."

"She's stalling," Scout answered honestly.

"Scout!" Mist shouted.

"Well you are!" The filly countered.

Shining Armor watched the exchange for a few seconds before letting out a deep, and much needed, belly laugh that almost sent him to his knees before finally bringing it under control as Mist looked at him warily.

"I should have seen it... I must be getting old if I missed that old ploy... you use the same trick on your troops when you disagree with their assessment of a situation."

Sheepishly, Mist looked to floor. "Guilty."

"So I see... shall we try this again?" he asked.

Wisely, the captain elect stayed silent and merely nodded her consent as Dawn Scout giggled lightly from the side. Coming to attention, the pegasus pony did her best not to bristle her feathers as Shining Armor raised the armor with his magic and set it across her back, the mare tensing up as the heavy Starsteel plates came to rest across her wings and pinned them to her sides. The armor was easily two sizes to big for her and felt as if it would buckle her legs at any second as Shining Armor released his hold upon it.

" By the Grace of the Moon and the Strength of the Sun do I pass to you the mantle of Captain, may it protect you as it has protected those whose legacy you choose to uphold."

The words came out strangely, as if he were speaking through a voice-changer of some sort, their inflection carrying an almost metallic tone and they seemed to echo around both of them, Shining Armor standing a little straighter even as Ocean Mist struggled to keep upright. But as the reverberation of the words died down, she felt the armor lightening and shifting, magical energy running in light static pinpricks across her muscles as the armor rearranged itself, pulling in tight against her flanks as small slits opened in the sides through which her wings immediately stretched through on pure reflex. The effect made the armor almost like a second skin and though she knew deep down it would turn aside all but the most deadly of weapons, it felt no heavier than silk against her.

"It's..." she started, bending her neck a little to look at the way the armor formed to her. "I... it's hard to describe, Captain... it's like... it feels like I'm not wearing anything but I know I am... and I feel stronger, lighter in a way and that's saying something!"

He nodded to her. "That's the power of the Armor, it magnifies the natural abilities of the one that wears it and moves with them rather than against them the way normal armor does. It's a relic of the Discordian War, and is said to have been blessed by the Founders as well as the original Council of Alicorns. Stay true to your duty, and it will always protect you, forsake your duty, and it will never help you again." He shivered a little as he said that. "And, remember the words I spoke to pass it on to you, that is the magic that gives it to another. You can only say them once in your lifetime, and I'll never be able to say them again."

She nodded to him silently, still looking herself over for a few more seconds before standing at attention and snapping off a firm salute. Returning the salute, he nodded and motioned to Scout to be ready. Without further word, he took hold of the door with his magic and swung it open, the three of them stepping out into the hallway as he pulled it closed behind them.

Once outside, Shining Armor began to walk forward slowly, Ocean Mist taking up position on his right as Dawn Scout took up position on his left. As a group, they moved through the long hallways of the Keep and Shining Armor found his hoof steps slowing as his eyes began to wander and his ears pinned back, the soft clip-clop of his hooves against the immaculately polished tiles echoing in an arrhythmic symphony as he took in the artifacts that lined the hallways. In one alcove, an old blade recovered from a battlefield near the Gryphon highlands filled a glass case as if waiting to be taken up once more. Below a banner, a suit of midnight blue armor -- a hole punched cleanly through its breastplate -- stood in mute tribute to its fallen wearer. It was often joked by visitors that the Keep was as much a museum as it was a headquarters, but the glares earned from such words always silenced the offender quickly. Reminders such as the armor and blade, a broken spear tip, a jeweled hoof ring and more lined every hallway as silent tribute to the guards who had come before them; and quiet reminders to the ones that would follow of the legacy they had to live up to.

It always fell upon new cadets -- and as punishment for those of higher rank -- to polish these treasures and to learn the names and stories behind each one. Shining Armor felt as if he had polished every one of them at least once during his tenure as a cadet, and had often spent afternoons helping his own cadets with their work if only to forge a deeper bond with the new blood. On any given day, there should have been dozens of raw stallions and mares working on them, but today there were none to be found; a thought that was both eerie and a little disheartening.

"It must be about dinner time," he thought to himself. "That's probably where they're all at since the practice field was empty and I guess that's for the best..."

The unbidden thought quickly shattered the mood that had been slowly brightening throughout the day and his mind wandered for a moment to the former captains who had taken this, the longest of all walks, before him as questions began to fill his mind. So many questions in fact that he felt as if he might collapse under their weight and as the light through the stained glass windows began to dim to the marble and granite bastions that surrounded the Shadow Steps came into view he felt his gait slow as his body trembled ever so slightly; before finally coming to a halt a few steps before the doors.

Had the other captains tried to avoid the comfort of others as he had? Did they try to go it alone and succeed? Did they take the easy way out and simply lean on the younger generation? He tried to recall how Dust Storm had left but found that he could remember it in only vague details. The Third and Fifth Companies -- Shining Armor having ascended from the Fifth and Dust having been part of the Third -- had seen the old stallion off with a salute and one last hurrah, and one or two of the guard companies would do the same for him, but who had Ocean Mist selected for the honor guard? The Second Company, from which she was ascending seemed the logical choice, but he didn't know and that thought was unsettling; he used to know every move used in a ceremony

Dimly, he heard Mist speaking to him, but the words were distant and indistinct, impossible for him to make out.

The tremors felt as if they were worsening, his legs felt like jelly and his spine felt as if it would break at any second. He wasn't ready for this and he knew it, despite everything that had been said earlier, despite all the reassurances, he was not ready. No amount of consolation, no words would change the fact that very soon his career -- his life! -- would be over only a few moments after he departed the ancient building. He could walk through the doors again of course, visit friends and old subordinates, but he would never be a Captain again, never hold any authority or place amongst them; from this point forward he would always be an outsider looking in.

Those who looked at the outside of the doors rarely saw the golden Orichalcum and polished Moonsilver bands that girded the doors. Never saw the thousands of intricate runes carved into their inner facade that filled the wood with magic so powerful it would take Celestia herself to shatter them. They did not offer him any security now, but rather seemed to mock and taunt him like some great beast ready to swallow him whole.

For the first time in a very, very long time, he felt fear running through him.

His mind screamed at him once more, telling him he still had time, that he could still change his decision. He could fight the council, demand to be allowed to remain until he could not longer bear the weight of his armor. He could call upon his relationship with Cadence, force the chancellors to make an exception, surely they would do that! All he had to do was back up. All he had to do was...

Run!, he thought.

The word echoed in his mind like the taunt of a demon or a changeling and it made his stomach knot painfully. It was a word he never used unless he had no other choice and even then he hated it. It sounded synonymous with coward and though he was many things, he was not a coward. Slowly, the haze began to fade and the weight began to lift, the words of his escort starting to cut through his mind as he looked down to see Scout looking up at him expectantly.

"Y-yes?" He stammered.

"You... kind of zoned out there for a moment, Captain... are you okay? Need to sit down for a minute?" The filly's words were filled with genuine concern, and the sentiment galvanized his resolve. He had said he would leave with his head held high and he intended to do just that.

"Yes... just, had to take a minute to collect my thoughts and... and convince myself this really was real."

"Captain, we can put this off for a few more minutes... you don't have to..."

"No... No... we have to do this now, Mist... if I wait any longer I may... no... I will regret it, we all will."

The two girls looked at each other for a moment and then nodded, falling back in step behind him as he marched forward, the hallway feeling claustrophobic and stifling as he reached out to the doors with his magic and threw them open to banish the darkness with the rays of Celestia's afternoon sun. Momentarily blinded, he walked forward with his eyes closed and luxuriated in the feel of warmth against his face and the gentle bristling of wind against his exposed fur, a light puff of air whipping his main slightly. This was his last obstacle, and he had overcome it, pounded down the fear and risen to the occasion once more. In many ways, it was a liberating feeling, his melancholy fading away as he opened his eyes.

And he felt his heart catch in his throat at the sight that greeted him.

Had he not seen it with his own blue eyes, he would not have believed the parade ground could hold so many ponies at one time without bursting. Arrayed in neat rows stretching twenty ponies wide and dozens of rows deep, stood the seven great companies of the Royal Guard in their full regalia and glory.

To the East, the First, Third and Fifth companies, the Solar Guard, in alternating rows of pristine white and deep brown beneath sun-golden armor. To the West, the Second, Fourth and Sixth companies, the Lunar Guard, in alternating rows of dusk grey and jet black beneath nightshade violet armor. In the center, the Seventh Company, stood as an equal mix of Lunar and Solar Guard in alternating rows.

In each company, ponies resplendent in their armor stood shoulder to shoulder with unarmored veterans and bronze-clad cadets.

But it was more than just his guards, for before each great company stood one of the Bearers of Harmony, the mares flanked by their respective mates and honor guards. Each dressed in their royal finery or robes of office, their Element proudly displayed for all to see and gleaming in the evening light. His own foals and the young dragon Spike, took the place of honor before the seventh company while at the head of all those gathered stood Celestia, Luna and Cadence, their heads high and their wings stretched out as they waited for him to descend towards them.

For the second time of the day, he felt that his courage fail him. He had expected two companies at most with one of the Princesses presiding over the ceremony, not the full war host of the guard, and felt dumbstruck by the spectacle. Recalling his sister's advice, however, he squared his shoulders and descended the steps one by one in a practiced trot, Ocean Mist and Dawn Scout following behind him silently until he reached the bottom and knelt before the rulers of Equestria.

"Rise, Captain Shining Armor," Celestia said.

"Your Highness," he replied, his head still bowed even as he came to his hooves once more, his next words escaping his mouth before his mind could stop them. "What is all this...?"

Rather than answer him directly, Celestia smiled the warm, motherly smile she was known for, her voice carrying across to all those assembled as she spoke, "It is a rare occasion when the whole of the Equestrian Royal Guard, both old, new and yet to come, stand beside each other as one. Rarer still is it to find a Captain whose guard not only chose, but demanded, to stand in honor for their departure. In truth, I cannot remember a time when the reaction to a Changing of the Guard has ever been so concise and unanimous. It is therefore my honor and privilege to stand before you this day as we honor you, Captain Shining Armor."

As she fell silent, Luna's voice rang out in turn. "Look well around thee, Captain Shining Armor, thou hast done more in thy life than most ponies doth achieve in a dozen lifetimes and thou hast achieved a greatness that cannot be measured in awards or riches. What thou doth see here this day transcends the common definitions of loyalty and respect. It is a thing that cannot be forced or bought, but one that can only be earned and thou hast earned it a thousand times over. This, we say, is admiration of the highest order and we know that there is no pony upon this field who wouldst not lay down their life for thee, for they know thee wouldst do the same for them without hesitation."

"Shining Armor," Cadence added, stepping forward to touch her horn to his. "You asked me today if your life has had meaning. You asked if you have made a difference if what you have accomplished can be swept aside so easily. You were on your way to finding that answer yourself, but I think you have a better answer, now, than anypony could hope for. A leader's greatness is measured in the greatness they inspires in others. Looking at those gathered before you, I would say that you have done so. Every pony here has been inspired by you in some way, great or small. As proof of this, I say without exaggeration that no pony here was given orders to attend this ceremony; every one of them is here by their own choice."

As his wife stepped back, he found that he could not speak for the lump in his throat, nor could he fight the tears that collected in the corners of his eyes. Fortunately, he was saved from having to speak as Ocean Mist snapped to attention and called out.

"Royal Guard! Attention!"

As one, the assembled ponies snapped to attention, their relaxed postures taking on military perfection in an instant.

"Recite... Creed!"

By the Strength of the Sun!
By the Grace of the Moon!
Let our honor be beyond reproach.
Let our lives be lived in service to others.
Let our spirits give hope in times of hopelessness.
Let our deaths have meaning.
Even as we stand apart, we stand as one!
By the Strength of the Moon!
By the Grace of the Sun!
So say we all!

The words echoed across the grounds with such conviction, it would have sent a rampaging dragon into a fearful withdraw and Shining Armor found himself speaking the Guard Creed along with them. As the echo receded, he found himself smiling as he shed tears that only near bursting joy could bring forth, no longer caring about appearing strong before such a display and he raised his foreleg in a precision military salute that was returned a thousand times over in perfect synchronization.

Steeled, but lightened, he lowered his hoof and turned to face the setting sun, motioning for Ocean Mist to stand before him.

"Lieutenant Ocean Mist," he stated proudly. "As my final duty as your Captain, I proclaim this to be the Changing of the Guard. To you, I offer the title, office and rank of Captain and the leadership of the host of the Equestrian Royal Guard. In my eyes, I find you worthy of this. Under the witness of your fellow guards, the Bearers of Harmony and the Princesses of Equestria, do you accept this which I offer?"

"I, Ocean Mist," she replied, her voice equally proud. "Do hereby accept the rank, responsibility and burden that you place before me, Captain Shining Armor. May I wear it with the same grace and honor that you have these many years."

Nodding silently, he turned to Dawn Scout, motioning for the filly to step forward and as she did so, she sank to her knees in one smooth motion, lowering her head respectfully to expose the Captain's helmet fully to view. Reaching out, he took hold of it not with his magic, but with his hooves and lifted it from the pillow atop the cadet's back. Raising it over Mist's head, he lowered the object slowly as he spoke his final lines.

"I, former Captain Shining Armor, accept your words and find them true. It is my honor, to name you, Ocean Mist, as Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard."

As the helmet, already sized in the same fashion as the armor, came to rest upon the younger mare's head, a swift flash of light surrounded her, changing her coat from white, to brown, to grey, to black and finally back to her own seafoam green as she saluted Shining Armor smartly. Flaring her wings as she lowered her hoof, the new Captain turned to her assembled guards and stepped forward to meet with a thunderous applause.

"Royal Guardponies of Equestria! Princesses of the Sun, Moon and Love, Bearers of Harmony and your families, under the tenure of your former Captain, much was changed in the structure of the Guard, we have grown and adapted in ways previously undreamt of and it is my hope that we will continue to do so for many years to come. When we come into this family, we leave behind who we were and become something greater, and yet we never forget the roots from which we are born. I will not forget the lessons that I have been taught, nor the honor that you have all shown this day. The duty of the guards are sometimes thankless, but they are never forgotten, for our duty is to Equestria and that duty never truly ends."

Shining Armor moved to step away during the next round of applause, but stopped as Ocean Mist raised her foreleg, signalling him to wait before calling for silence as she began to speak once more.

"A moment, Shining Armor," she called, earning a few murmurs amongst the ranks but a warm smile from the Princesses. "Step back please."

He blinked but moved back to his former position as she turned to him.

"Shining Armor," she said. "I find that in your wake, I have exceptionally large horseshoes to fill... and despite my oath and your faith in me, I know in my heart of hearts that I am not yet ready to do this alone." At his confused expression, she nodded to Celestia who, smiling, stepped forward.

"Shining Armor, it is known to all of us that the path you now stand upon was not chosen by you, bur rather for you because of laws which are as old as the guard and to break them now would set a bad precedent, even for one so beloved as yourself. However, in the case of your resignation, the age restrictions placed upon you applies only to active duty guards who, as you know, are the only guards who hold any official rank within the organization."

At her words, the murmurs completely faded away until the only sound was the warm breeze that lightly wafted across the grounds, ruffling manes and fur as the implications of what was said began to sink in to all those gathered. With a nod, the Princess of the sun stepped back to let Ocean Mist continue.

"Shining Armor, you have given more to the Guard than can easily be quantified during your tenure, and with the help of the Bearers of Harmony and by the will of the Princesses of Equestria, I would like to give something back to you in return." She paused to take a deep breath and he saw worry in her eyes as she continued. "It has been my honor to stand by your side as subordinate and friend these past twenty years and I would be privileged if you would now do me the honor of allowing me to refuse your resignation, and instead place you on inactive status so that you may serve as my adviser, until such time as you, yourself see fit to retire permanently."

"M.... Captain Ocean Mist, this... nopony has ever done this before," He said.

"Funny you should say that, as it seems that nopony ever thought to ask if there was a loophole in the age restrictions before."

As he listened, he saw the newly anointed captain nod towards Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor could feel his eyes widen with each word as panic -- liberally mixed with both hope and trepidation -- rushed through him like a tidal wave, his gaze sweeping across the gathered ponies who watched him expectantly. This was something he had never once expected and although it was not unheard of for retiring captains to find other jobs in the government, to be allowed to remain in the guard itself was unheard of until now. In some ways, it felt like it was breaking every rule of conduct for the organization, but at the same time, it felt as if every door he feared shut was opening once more.

In the end, he could say only one thing.

"Captain Ocean Mist, I would be proud to serve as your adviser, ma'am."

Smiling to him warmly, the worry fading from her eyes, she turned to her troops and nodded, calling for a presentation of arms as, like a wave, the Seventh company parted down its middle to reveal the path leading to Canterlot proper beyond, Shining Armor smiling as he trotted forward to stand beside Cadence.

"I expect you here on Monday at sunrise, Adviser." Ocean Mist said, grinning slightly.

He nodded to her and, falling in step with his wife, trotted forward through the ranks as one by one, the ponies on either side of him saluted his passing, pride swelling in his chest as his fears and worries melted away for the last time. No words seemed to come to him, for nothing seemed strong enough, but as he reached the far end of the grounds, he paused to turn and look at the assembled guards, no longer his, but still his family.

As the Bearers of Harmony stepped along the opened pathway to come to stand beside the royal couple, Shining Armor turned to each of them and smiled, his gaze lingering on his little sisters proud expression before he was able to find his voice once more.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you all."

The words were as simple as they were heartfelt, but in years to come, the cheer they inspired would be said to have been heard all across Equestra.

The Guard had changed in more ways than one -- for better or worse, none could yet say -- and though it was time for the old guard to rest, it would not be one of any great length. Laws could tell a pony when they're service or careers were over, but nothing could ever tell a pony whether or not their duty had come to an end, for only a pony could truly decide such a fate for themselves.

And for a pony of the Royal Guard, their duty was never truly over.

Like a Shooting Star
I will go the distance
I Will search the world
I will face it's harms
I don't care how far
I can go the distance
Till find my hero's welcome
waiting in your arms...

Acknowledgements

A big and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this endeavor.

The Changing of the Guard was not only my first foray into the world of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic fanfiction, but it is the first actual piece of prose I've written to completion in over five years and the first fanfic I've written in almost twelve. To everyone who has taken the time to read it, I can only echo Shining Armor's words and say "Thank you, all of you." with an extra thanks to everyone whose given me words of encouragement throughout the story.

I hope it was worth your wait and that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!