Damn, his side hurt. Long Jump limped down the wide street, trying to keep in step with Red Ink. He was failing. The unicorn might as well be bouncing with excitement at being back in Canterlot, though Long Jump couldn’t really share in his glee. The pegasus needed to return to the barracks, since he was incredibly late with his report. Bulwark probably thought he was dead, or worse, that he’d intentionally deserted. He had his pride as a soldier to think about, on top of letting everypony know he could no longer be part of the flyover squad (which he shouldn’t be on to begin with, since 1st year as a lieutenant was supposed to be palace duty). The protection of Equestria came first, even over temporarily moving in with the bouncy unicorn.

However, he still needed Red Ink’s help with something. The enchanted Royal Guard armor couldn’t be worn at the moment thanks to a few bangs, and he bet the unicorn knew someone who could fix it. He didn’t want to bring it directly to the Guard blacksmiths, since once he started that way he needed to immediately report for duty reassignment. They’d found his report log and map, and he’d technically been successful in scouting some of the area, even if that had been constrained to a small cabin and the surrounding woods for a few weeks. Nothing had invaded; he could count this whole endeavor as a partial success.

“I can float you up the stairs, if you’d like,” Red Ink said.

Long Jump shook his head to pull himself back to the present. He stood at the base of a spiral stone staircase, wide enough for two ponies to walk flank-to-flank. However, though the injured pegasus had been able to master a few stairs, this looked daunting.

“I can do it,” he said. If he was going to continue to be a guard, stairs weren’t going to conquer him.

“Alright,” Red Ink said, and continued up the staircase. Their luggage floated above him, which included Long Jump’s notebook. He needed to bring all of his military supplies with him, even if the armor might not fit as well as it should.

Climbing the stairs was slow going. Every few steps he needed to stop, re-balance, and take a deep breath. The pain suppression collar might be working wonders, but it didn’t seem to be able to cut out the pain entirely when he pulled something or leaned the wrong way. Up until now, it had only been a nudge, or a slight incline that his joints needed to work against; apparently a staircase was too much to ask.

When he made it to the top of the stairs, he looked down the long hall, sighed, and limped along. Only one of the large oak doors was open and he could hear Red Ink singing something obscene. He made it past the doorway before he needed to slouch down and take a deep breath. At least he wasn’t where anyone but Red Ink could see him.

From what the unicorn had described, Long Jump had expected his place of residence to be a bit more… grandiose. Sure, the couch against the far wall looked expensive, and the large kitchen certainly looked new, but there were no giant sculptures, fountains, or anything gilded; just more books, piled in corners, weighing down shelves, and even stacked on the kitchen counter. Most looked old and heavy, but smaller adventure and romance books dotted the floor closer to the couch. It was like he knew he needed to read the heavy books for his job, but the smaller ones were for enjoyment.

“Do you want a glass of water?” Red Ink asked as he walked into the pegasus’s line of sight. “Or I could get you a glass of wine? Or a stretcher?”

“I’m fine,” Long Jump said, and heaved himself upright. Now was not the time to be weak. He needed to report. He needed to get his armor strapped on.

The pegasus swung his saddlebag off his side, and unloaded his armor. A few pieces, like his helmet, were probably beyond saving, but he could definitely wear the barding and even keep his bandages intact. Well, assuming that gaping hole in the side could have its rough edges polished off and that dent on the flank could be repaired. Overall, though, it didn’t look too bad.

“I assume you want to wear your beat-up armor down to the barracks,” the unicorn said. Long Jump nodded as he fought with getting his traveling cloak off.

A bright glow encompassed the armor, and Long Jump took a step back. He watched as the jagged edges of metal smoothed out, and then the dented sections popped back into place. It still looked destroyed, but at least he could wear it without causing further injury. Finally, the full set of armor floated up over him, and then settled over, withers to dock. He felt the buckle around his barrel click closed. The shoes still sat on the hardwood floor, waiting for him to step into them.

“The helmet is too heavily enchanted for me to repair completely,” Red Ink said. The pegasus watched as the unicorn tied his helmet to a strap over his chest, leaving it bouncing lightly against his armor. “There. Should be good enough.”

“The uniformity enchantments won’t work if I don’t wear the helmet,” Long Jump said.

“They also won’t regrow your wing,” Red Ink said, then gave him a kiss. “Besides, if you look like every other guard, how will your CO know it’s you checking in?”

“But…” There was a point to that. “Fine. I’m leaving now.”

“Meet me at the Boggle Bakery when you’re through,” Red Ink said. “We can get a late bite to eat.”

“Alright, but I don’t know how long debriefing will be. I’ll send someone to let you know if I’m going to be excessively late.” Long Jump said, and started back out the door. Hopefully walking down the stairs would be easier than walking up them.

• • •

A strange sight greeted the pegasus when he finally made it to the barracks. It had been slow going, even if the Royal Guard armor caused the crowd to part somewhat for it. With his slate-blue coat, he didn’t fit the image of a guard, but the shine off the armor was apparently enough. He was wheezing by the time he made it to the barracks, and the two Earth ponies stationed near the gates looked shocked at his appearance. He couldn’t blame them; his armor could only look worse if it had gone through a wood chipper while he was still wearing it. Besides that, those guards looked identical; he could be any schmuck in a stolen set. However, one of the guards looked a lot more concerned than the other.

“Is that you, Long Jump?” he asked.

“I’m here to report in,” Long Jump said, and started walking past them. Neither stopped him.

“There have been rumors…” the Earth pony said, but then trailed off. Well, Long Jump didn’t care much for rumors. Besides, if there were rumors about him, he could squash them right now by simply walking through the barracks and showing himself to Bulwark. The other pegasus might be mad at him, but that was no reason to be unprofessional right now. After all, Long Jump had survived the trip.

Guards peeked out of doors, turned to look at him as they walked by, and generally just seemed very curious at his presence. What was happening? Surely one guard returning from a mission out in the boonies didn’t warrant this kind of attention. He didn’t really like being noticed to being with – in his mind, he did his job best when people didn’t know he was there. Why were all these cadets taking a sudden interest in him? His helmet clanked against his armor, but that wasn’t that strange when a pony was off-duty, especially if they stayed on base. There must be something else going on.

“…Bulwarks’ been claiming he deserted for days…”

“…he looks awful…”

“What happened to his armor?”

“You think he’s going to be thrown in jail for doing that to himself?”

Long Jump figured the last questioner must have assumed he’d gotten into a fight, or destroyed his armor through a poor decision of his own instead of a freak accident. Well, he really hoped that Bulwark believed his story, especially considering it was true. Dozens of pairs of eyes followed his hoofbeats, but most of the muzzles pointed at him remained silent. That worried him. Guards talked. Guards gossiped. Most of all, guards shared a camaraderie not seen in other jobs. A guard respected his fellow guard, no matter if they originated from Canterlot, Manehattan, Cloudsdale. If they shot magic or flew through the sky or thundered across the plains. Maybe his wings not showing freaked those who knew him. His armor did have opening for his wings, and neither showed at the moment; they might be assuming he was completely clipped.

“Long Jump!” a voice boomed into front of him. The pegasus nearly reared up, but fought back the urge. Bulwark’s voice could probably carry across entire continents.

Bulwark did not like him, and that was a fact Long Jump had learned to deal with, but he’d never seen the other pegasus so angry. He was already large, and now, with his wings spread out and his nostrils flaring, he looked more like a wild beast than a respected military commander. He snorted, and Long Jump needed to stop from bolting. Twenty yards away, and his superior officer could scare away a ghost. His silver coat gleamed in the harsh sunlight, which made him appear even more ethereal. Maybe Long Jump could talk some sense into him, but his expression said otherwise.

“Sir, I’m here to…” Long Jump started, but he didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence.

In a move almost too fast for Long Jump to react, Bulwark charged at him. In seconds his shoulder impacted the injured pegasus’s side, sending him flying backward. Rather than trying to get between him and the enraged commander, the cadets scattered, taking up places behind crates, around corners, and inside tents, but always with their heads poking above cover. They must have wanted to see this, Long Jump thought bitterly, even as pain rocked down his good side and he sprawled across the dirt path. Bulwark lunged at him, and Long Jump just didn’t have the force of will to fight him; there was no coming back from striking a superior officer.

“You’re under arrest, maggot,” Bulwark said.

“Sir, I…” he started, and Bulwark struck him across the muzzle. His teeth shook. Alright, so Bulwark didn’t want to hear his story. Maybe he could tell it to someone else, once he could talk again; he’d bitten his tongue.

“Drag this maggot to the brig. I’ll deal with him tonight,” Bulwark ordered, “and muzzle him. I don’t want any of you weak willed types being swayed by any of his lies.” Two Earth ponies as big as the commander moved forward. One lifted Long Jump and draped him over the other’s back. Finally, he wrapped a set of shackles and chains around the pegasus’s forehoofs and another set around his ankles, leaving him practically helpless with the addition of being muzzled. The Earth pony then patted down his side, probably checking his wings. The hoof paused when he found nothing on the right side, but didn’t alert Bulwark to the missing wing. The second Earth pony then began walking deeper into the base, and Long Jump closed his eyes. It was going to be a long while in the brig, and he had no way to tell Red Ink what had happened. Hopefully the unicorn could get by without him for a while.

Author's Note

Revision 1