chains of the heart

Chapters

the stallion with the chains
The stallion behind the iron bars
the stallions new assignment

the stallion with the chains

The Stallion With The Chains

Strong Hoof looked out the window next to his cot at the light representing the beginning of another day, the light crept over canterlot castle and touched the tip of the confinement barracks where he currently resided, it had been three and a half years since he had joined the royal guard but it had been four long years since he had known a good nights sleep, this night had been no different, another night of the dreams, another night of tossing and turning, and finally another night that would no doubt end in him waking up in a cold sweat followed by him sitting starring out the window waiting for the inevitable dawn to come. He glared at celestias glorious sun trying to recall a time when it had meant more to him than just a blinding ball of fire a time when he had played as a carefree colt before the events that lead him down the road that had scene him to this dawn. Today did not promise to end well, he had an early meeting with the captan of the royal guard, it wasn't the first time that he had been reprimanded by his superiors but he had never been sent to speak with captan shining armor himself, Strong Hoof had a bit of a short fuse that would more than often end in him exploding into a flurry of rage sending somepony to the medical ward battered and bloody for the medicalponys to patch up. The barracks he found himself in had become his unofficial new homes as he found himself hear more often than his regular barracks room, it was one long room lined with single cots no blankets no pillows one barred window and a locked cell door. he sat on his honchos at the edge of the cot looking with cold eyes as the morning sun shined on the two chains that formed an X for his cutie mark and recalled the events of the day prior that had brought him to his temporary home.

My Name Is Strong Hoof

The day began like anyother Strong Hoof woke up in his usual pool of ice cold sweat and proceeded to inch his way to the edge of his twin sized bed humbly adorned with a plain white sheet that now was damp, the same could be said of his plain white pillow and proceeded to take long deep breaths trying to slow his racing heart beat. A moment passed then two after a minute more he regained his composure and gazed up at his wall clock, it was early, celestia wouldn't be raising the sun for at least another three more hours but he knew that trying to fall back to sleep would be both pointless and a dread to him, he rose to his hoofs and made his way to the fridge in his common area his throat was dry.

He passed the short wood desk next to his bed the top of which was littered with open bottles of potions and herbs prescribed to him by the local medicalpony to help with his "sleep issues" but as always none of them helped to give him what they promised. Nothing he tried in the passed four years had helped to stop "her" from showing up in his dreams or those sweet words she told him every night. Sometimes he even dared to think that he didn't want the dreams to stop. He retrieved a glass of cold water and downed it in one quick gulp whipping his muzzle with his foreleg he slumped his way to his bathroom depositing the glass into the sink next to the door and flicked on the lantern on the wall illuminating the small latrine with faux fairy light the initial burst of which blinded his eyes which were not quite adjusted to the light in his drowsy state. staring coldly the reflection of a dark brown earth pony stared just as coldly back at him. His main was cut to a short almost flat cut that resembled a low mohawk his grey eyes looked tired with dark almost black bags under them. splashing his face with cold water from the tap to wake himself up he figured since sleep was out of the question he would get a work out in before breakfast and daily guard duties started. He dried his face with a wash cloth and made his way out the door to his room stoping for a moment to gaze quietly at the framed picture he had laid face down years ago on the simple wood table in his entryway a thought crosed his mind that he may never bring himself to look at its image again.

Outside the morning air was crisp and refreshing Strong Hoof liked early morning exercises. it was dark, quiet, and still nopony to make him feel awkward or uncomfortable the other guards would sometimes scoff at his well simple physique. Contrary to his name Strong Hoof did not appear as toned as his name implied he was not scrawny by any means but he also was not as physically toned as his fellow guards but his father hadn't named him Strong Hoof for nothing for what he lacked in physique he made up for in raw power. As a young colt he and the other earth ponies would have tests of strength taking wide planks of wood they would tie them with rope and stack rocks on them, the point of which was to see which colt could pull the most rocks the fastest and the furthest. Each colt would boast that they were the strongest and exert themselves greatly trying to pull the rock sled as fast as they could for the longest distance Strong Hoof had impressed and made some colts insanely jealous at how much he could pull and the speed at which he did so, taking off at almost a full gallop for sometimes a good four minutes straight he seemed to have almost unending stamina while playing with the other little ones in the grass and fields outside canterlot.

The earth pony games would go on like this until the sun threatened to bed down for the night at which time the young colts would gallop home for supper, a small smile crept across Strong Hoofs muzzle as he remembered it was at the end of one such day that his mother and father told him they had "good news". His smile faded, "That was a long time ago" he muttered to himself flatly bringing himself back to equestria, its was time to sweat. He started out with his regiment of hoof-ups starting at one he started the motions a repetitive up and down cycle, forty minutes later he was up to four hundred and eight, next he moved onto sit-ups placing his hoofs behind his head he started in a brisk pace tell he had reached another four hundred and eight his abdomen muscles burning from lactic acid telling him it was time to stop. Next he decided to do some stretching, rotating his shoulder he listened for the various pops and cracks in his joints, he moved onto the other shoulder repeating the motion he then moved into an extended flex arching his back and bowing low feeling the muscles in his abdomen stretch he winced in slight pain at the pulling and soon returned to his upright position. He was nice and limber now and ready for a good long gallop around the castle grounds, workouts did help in a small way to clear Strong Hoofs mind and the quiet helped him to feel somewhat calm in the stillness of the early morning dark it seemed as though all of canterlot were still asleep leaving the royal city to Strong Hoof as his private city, he made his way around the long curving bend of the castles outer wall going now at full speed Strong Hoof imagined himself flying up into the sky and thought this is what a Pegasus must feel like.

The freedom of an open sky and no ground obstructions to stop you from going wherever you want as fast as your wings could take you, Strong Hoof let his eyes close for an instant when a sharp jolt struck the muscle in his right leg he jolted his eyes open in time to catch himself from crashing face first into the path in front of him. He corrected himself and trotted on, limping slightly from the slightly pulled leg muscle, coming to a halt he panted slightly whipping away the hefty amount of moisture that had gathered on his brow. Gazing up he now could make out the glow of the sun goddess's burning orb as it began its daily trek across the sky, canterlot castles top spires sparkled as light reflected off of their golden surfaces sending a mosaic of twinkling lights onto the shaded grass and dirt path he stood on. Trotting on the pain in Strong Hoofs leg subsided and he began to take in his surroundings to his right he beheld the titan that was the mountains that supported all of canterlot stretching up to the heavens like fingers of a massive hand, he shifted his gaze to the left to see the outer wall of canterlot castle as it stretched long and wide and tall as if to say that inside it housed the most important ponies in all of equestria, bringing his gaze along the length of the wall his eyes caught sight of a large domed gate that he didn't recall seeing in his past gallops around the castle he walked slowly up to the gate, partly out of curiosity.

From the path he peered into the opening to reveal one of the castles many gardens used no doubt in one of the cities frequent garden parties, the guardian had a wide variety of multi colored flowers and one or two short slender trees abundant in green leafs, sudenly something caught Strong Hoofs attention, and in the instant he caught sight of it he was frozen with shock, in that instant he swore to celestia he was seeing a ghost, on a plain stone bench sat an all white mare gazing blankly up at the morning sky. Strong Hoof felt his legs get weak and tears, yes tears threatened to come spilling out for the first time in years, he slowly moved in the direction of the ivory mare mouthing silently a name he hadn't spoken for a long time now afraid that breaking the silence of the early dawn would cause the apparition before him to disappear like a snowflake in a breath. but all at once he just as quickly snapped himself out of his own daze sniffing hard to choke back the tears that loomed, he realized that this mare was a unicorn obvious from her sparkling white horn.

The mare snapped out of whatever daze she was in and caught sight of the stallion that stood a few ponies lengths away from where she sat in the garden, the first thing that struck her was how fierce he looked in the creeping morning light, cold eyes that seemed angry and sad all at once he was slimmer than most colts she had seen but that hadn't been many in her life and he was covered in what she could only guess was sweat from some sort of physical exertion. For some time they held this silent moment tell slowly the white mare began a shy smile and raised her hoof slowly in a sign of greeting. Strong Hoof mentally told himself that he never wanted to see this mare again and quickly spat the taste of iron from inside his mouth before galloping at a quick pace on down the path and back to the barracks wanting to put as much distance between himself and the ghostly mare as he could.

The white mare sat in a perplexed daze as the mysterious stallion spat on the ground and galloped off without a word of goodbye, why had he spat before departing? maybe it was some earthpony custom she was unaware of. Before he galloped off she had caught a brief glimpse of his cutie mark, it resembled two chains forming an X on his flank, she made a mental note of the mark and told herself that if the next time she got away, she were to run into this mysterious stallion she would ask him about his strange custom and maybe even inquire about his interesting cutie mark, this trip to canterlot was turning out to be more interesting than she had originally thought

The stallion behind the iron bars

The mornings run had ended without Strong hoof running into aneypony els. The image of the white unicorn briefly floated through his thoughts as he approached the long light stone building that was the chow hall for the royal guard. At its apex sat the stone figure of a pegasus pony silently keeping guard over those that entered its wings proudly extended outward in a show of how impressive he was.

For a moment he wondered if he had acted to inappropriately in front of the sweet looking mare but quickly discarded the thought, Strong hoof had no mind for the social implications of his attitude. He felt only apathy for the cares and concerns of canterlots snooty stuck-up aristocratic residence trotting about without a care in the world, wallowing in their bits and scoffing at the plights of the meager, with that kind of attitude one might assume that Strong hoof made for a terrible addition to the royal guard. Wrong, while it was true that he did have a low opinion toward the majority of the ponies that called canterlot home he would never abandon them when in need, when he was inducted into the royal guard he and his fellow cadets stood before princess Celestia, bowing low and in unison they vowed three things, blood, honor, and loyalty and Strong hoof was a stallion of his word, or at least now he was.

Ouch! he exclaimed feeling a jolt of pain hit him in his temple signifying another oncoming migraine. Third one this week, he thought to himself. Luckily he had an herb in his room that would help to subside it but first he needed food. The chow hall at this time of the morning was noticeably less occupied. Latter on it would be filled with guardponies cluttering and bringing with them a cacophony of chatting, laughing and the like, ponies would be packed flank to flank at the long wood tables giving Strong hoof no peace and he liked quiet when he ate. Other than the cookponies their was only a small group of stallions sitting at one of the wood tables next to the serving line.

The smell of hot oats and fresh apples hung in the air making its way to Strong hoofs snout, his stomach moaned and he realized just how hungry he was. Passing the other ponies on his way to the serving line he grabbed a metal tray from the stack at the serving lines beginning and proceeded to the first cookpony for some oatmeal, the cookpony in his all white uniform globed a scoop of the oats on his tray and continued to place an apple on the tray as well, the next pony an angry looking stallion placed a serving of hay on the tray without so much as looking up at the stallion he was serving. Strong hoof poured himself a glass of water and placed it on the tray as well picking the tray up with his mouth he walked over to his usual eating spot in the corner of the chow hall next to one of the windows.

Passing the other guards at their table a snicker floated above the group followed by a phrase obviously meant for Strong hoof as he passed, "dirt hoof" a phrase he had heard manny times in his life most times sending Strong hoof into one of his famous fits of "white hot rage". "Dirt hoof" a derogatory term commonly used by unicorns and pegasus ponies to belittle and insult earth ponies. Strong hoof bite down hard on the metal tray in his mouth pausing for a moment but quickly realizing he was to hungry and tired to deal with this right now, im going to eat go change into my armor then go to duty he told himself but after, when the day was at its end he would wait for the group to return for dinner, then he would re address their choice of words where all could se what happens when you make the mistake of addressing an earth pony the wrong way.

sitting at his table he didn't even bother to look up at the group of ponies at the table across the hall. Strong hoof looked on instead at the meal in front of him and immediately began to eat. first he scarfed down the helping of hay which was as always dry and a little crispy, and soon moving onto the red apple, he gorged on the juicy fruit tell only the core was left, taking a long sip on his glass of water something out of nowhere caught his attention it was a smell, coming from the oatmeal on his tray, it was sweet and nostalgic somehow. He stared at the lump of oats trying to remember the smell and its relevance to what he was trying to remember. "Oh of course" he said softly to himself, the sweet smell was vanilla, one of the cookponies must have added the extra ingredient to todays breakfast and all at once memories came at him as lightly as the aroma of the warm oats and Strong hoof was lost in a wash of happy nostalgia from what seemed like a lifetime ago and again a small smile crept across his muzzle and a slight chuckle even escaped his chest.

just as he was about to start in on the warm sweet smelling oats the tray suddenly began to jitter wildly, Strong hoof flinched slightly at the unexpected movement of the inanimate object, the tray flew to his right held by an aura of grey magic slamming into the stone wall with a loud clang of metal on stone followed by another clang as the tray hit the cold stone floor oats were splattered all over the wall dripping slowly off the lump of splattered oats. His sweet nostalgic moment now splattered across the wall Strong hoofs eyes took on a cold angry glare and his brow furrowed tight giving him a savage primal beastly appearance. Slowly he shifted his gaze from his breakfast now feeding nopony except the wall to the pony who had dared to take him out of his memories.

Before him stood the pony responsible, he was tall maybe a good two or three inches taller than Strong hoof, he was broad and muscular his black coat shined in the light and was in contrast to his flowing blond mane and tail atop his heat rested a black horn below which sat green smug eyes gazing down with a sense of superiority at the earth pony he intended to humiliate. "Sorry about that little DIRT HOOF, guess you cant eat that now huh but hay, theirs some nice grass growing outside, dirt hoofs like that don't they?" His friends erupted into a bout of laughter and snickers from their table across the hall all of them unicorns. Strong hoof simply stared forward coldly as the unicorn and his friends continued to laugh and jeer, "Remember that next time you decide to ignore me dirt hoof." The unicorn proceeded to trot victoriously back to his friends at there table but this was far from over this pony had crossed the line and that in Strong hoofs book meant blood.

"You seam to be mistaken." Strong hoof stated to the unicorn stopping him in mid trot, the unicorn looked over his shoulder with an amused smirk and watched as Strong hoof rose to his hoofs and moved around the table to face him. "Oh really and how am I mistaken? If you don't mind me asking." Strong hoof approached the black unicorn keeping him locked in his cold gaze until he stood well in spitting distance looking up at the taller stallion. Silence fell in the chow hall to the point that one could hear a pin brop, "that is not my name." Strong hoof stated to the unicorn as he stood ready for what was to come.

"Oh, and what are you going to do to make sure that i remember whatever your dirt hoof name is?" Grinning an evil grin at the unicorn he simply stated "I'm going to break your nose." Taking on a look of surprise at the bluntness of the earth pony in front of him the unicorn leapt backwards a good five paces away from Strong hoof his horn glowing to life with an aura of gray magical energy and Strong hoof took a battle ready position in anticipation of the first strike.

Lightning erupted from the black unicorns horn almost striking Strong hoof just as he leapt out of the way and began galloping toward his target, a second larger bolt of lightning lashed out at him, Strong hoof leapt to his right barley dodging the bold before it struck the stone floor cracking it and sending a puff of smoke into the air. He had played right into Strong hoofs hoof that last bolt had allowed him a chance to leap so that now he was directly in front of his target, he bucked his back legs launching himself headfirst into the black unicorns head their skulls crashing together in a loud thud that knocked out the unicorns magic and sending the stallion cartwheeling backwards.

Landing on his back the wind was literally knocked out of the unicorn, thrashing his limbs now he tried to find a way back onto his hoofs but it was no use for in an instant Strong hoof was on him. Looking up at the earth pony the unicorn was about to plead for forgiveness but instead was met with a hoof across his muzzle the next landed square on his left eye followed by a right hoof across the other side of his muzzle. Blood and loud whimpers escaped the increasingly pulverized unicorn as lefts and rights landed on and across his face. Strong hoof joined his hoofs together now and raised them above his head bringing them both down on the bloody stallions nose, a loud crack came from inside the unicorns muzzle. Standing now sweaty and out of breath Strong hoof looked down at the art he had wrought, the once beautiful unicorns face was now a mass of swollen flesh and black eyes blood covered his muzzle and ran freely from his nasal cavity which was now misshapen, the stallion coughed and whimpered like a little filly.

With cold gray eyes and his dark brown coat now streaked with his opponents blood Strong hoof felt now was the perfect time to tell the unicorn the name he would not soon be forgetting. Bringing his face close down to the now battered unicorn he simply uttered, "My name is Strong hoof, you will remember it now right?" The unicorn flinched. Trembling now in fear of the earth pony that had turned him into a whimpering filly he nodded his head as best he could in his pained stat.

The unicorns friends looked on in utter shock at the fight and beating they had just seen, they had all heard of how savage earth ponies could be but what they had just seen was sheer brutality. Strong hoof whipped blood from his face with a four leg and looked over at the unicorns sitting at the table still, all in shock at the onslaught just witnessed. He cast them a challenging gaze but none of them made a move just as he had thought, in his experience unicorns like them were quick to puff out their chest and even quicker to cower when faced with the prospect of fighting somepony they knew they couldn't beat.

Strong hoof left the chow hall behind him the black unicorn still on the floor bloody and now sobbing. The sun shined bright in his eyes blinding him for a moment before he noticed the two bulky armored pegasus ponies that now blocked his path running around them two medical ponies bolted into the chow hall no doubt to tend to the battered stallion on the hard stone floor. "Corpral Strong hoof for assaulting a fellow member of the royal guard and a subject of our ruler princess Celestia you are herby to be detained until a time when your crimes can be reviewed by your commanding officer. Will you come quietly?" The armored guard pony concluded both of them taking one step forward ready to subdue him should he resist. Strong hoof sighed a deep sigh and nodded dejectedly, he knew the drill by now "lets get this over with." He stated flatly as the three made their way to the confinement barracks a short ways from where they departed. Home sweet home Strong hoof said to himself as the metal cell door clanged behind him.

next chapter: Strong hoofs fate is decided

the stallions new assignment

The stallions new assignment

Strong hoofs head still throbbed from the untreated migraine that remained untreated since yesterday morning not helped from the fierce head but he had given one bad mannered unicorn the day before. The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky outside the one bared window in the confinement barracks, meaning it would soon be noon, before the guards had brought him his breakfast one had told him that he would be speaking with none other than shining armor himself.

Strong hoof was taken back by this news. Had his crime been that severe to garner the attention of the captain of the royal guard? Had beating one raciest unicorn been such a bad offense? Then it hit him, "Of course, the captains a unicorn to, obviously he's going to get retribution against an insolent earth pony." But all of this was irrelevant now, he was just going to half to see where this went, if he was to be given fifty lashes or thrown out of the royal guard then their was nothing he could do. "Corporal Strong hoof!" bellowed a golden armor clad guard pony through the iron bars of the one door. "It is time, the captain will see you now." Time to face the music Strong hoof thought to himself as the guard pony opened the squeaky iron door and Strong hoof stepped outside for the first time in the last twenty-four hours the sun shining warmly on his face. The guard pointed the end of a silver spear at his back and Strong hoof noticed for the first time who the guard was.

His armor had obstructed strong hoof from noticing his face but now their was no bought, it wasn't his shinny black coat or the horn that emerged from the top of his helmet no, what gave it away was the white bandage dotted with red that was taped over the spot where his nose was.

Strong hoof fought hard to keep from laughing out loud at both the irony and the unicorns appearance. "Hows the nose?" Strong hoof asked in an amused tone. The guard growled in anger contemplating for a moment spearing the insolent earth pony through the throat and telling the other guards that he tried to run. But their was no need, this little dirt hoof would get what was coming to him by captain shining armor. Yes death was to good for this little worm, the black unicorn thought to himself. "March!" he bellowed as Strong hoof began to trudge in the direction of canterlot castle proper a little worried about what his fate was, waiting just inside the jewel of equestria.

Opening the drawer of his oak wood desk and peering inside at the gold ring incrusted with three diamonds within, a ring that had taken him four whole hours to decide on finally, at the growing impatience of the pony that owned the jewelry store. He wondered if it was to much, or maybe it was to little, what if she didn't like it? What if she said no? When should he finally pop the big question? All these things swirled inside shining armors head as he closed the drawer for the twenty-fifth time today. He returned to the stack of orders on his desk with a heavy sigh while flipping back his main of blue hair from his eyes. "When am I supposed to find the time to ask her anyway?" He mumbled to himself using his magic to pick up the next scroll on his desk going over it and stamping it with an inked hoof. Not only was he busy with his own work but now he had to contend with VIP's visiting canterlot and one of them needing somepony to watch them like a hawk, a job that was seaming to be to difficult for even his best guard ponies, and on top of everything one of his own corporals was now in trouble for fighting one of his lieutenants apparently breaking his nose yesterday in the chow hall. Now shining armor had to come up with someway of punishing one of his own guards and finding a pony capable of keeping track of one of equestrias greatest escape artistes. Just then a cloud parted and a bolt of lightning struck shining armor, Of course! He thought kill two cockatrice with one stone, it was perfect. "Knock knock" the abrupt sound brought shining armor out of his epiphany and back to his office it was time to speak with corporal Strong hoof, shining armor cleared his besk and sat behind it with the poise of a commanding officer.

"Enter!" Shouted the voice of captain shining armor from behind the massive wooden double doors that no doubt lead to the captains office. Before Strong hoof could open the door the black unicorn snickered behind him, "good luck" he sneered. Strong hoof smiled to himself, "watch the door" he uttered before he flung the door open at full speed slamming the heavy wood into the unicorns nose cracking it once moor. Strong hoof quickly steeped inside the office closing the door behind him before the captain could see the stallion on the other side wallowing in pain on the palace floor.

The captains office was modestly decorated, the floor was dressed in a dark red carpet, a full wall book shelf with manny old military manuals sat to his left, a long couch laid to his right that matched the carpet above which on the wall hung two medium sized wood framed pictures. The first picture was of the captain and a purple unicorn with a pink streak through her main, judging from the appearance of the photo Strong hoof assumed the mare must have been a family member or his mare friend. The other picture depicted a pink alicorn he instantly recognized as princess mi amore cadenza. This slightly puzzled Strong hoof as their were no photos of princess celestia to accompany it but he thought it nothing moor than the captain must have been one of the princesses many "fans".

Standing a ponies length from the captains oak wood desk Strong hoof brought his hoofs together causing them to click before raising his right hoof up in a salute. "Corporal Strong hoof reporting sir!" he proclaimed keeping in the regulation when addressing an officer. "At ease corporal" the white unicorn stated leaning forward on his desk. "You know why your hear corporal and Im not one to beat around the bush so ill get right to the point"

shining armor explained with heavy authority in his voice.

"This is the sixth time you have been hemmed up for getting involved in an altercation, the only difference is that this time you threw the first hoof. By all right I could order sixty lashes and have you thrown not only out of the royal guard but from canterlot completely." Anger grew in shining armors voice without him razing it above more than a talking volume, a skill he had developed over years of serving in the guard. "But I also have read that in every instance their was some sort of justifiable reason for your actions, I particularly liked the one where you pummeled a considerably "well built" Pegasus for allegedly taking a candy apple from a filly at last years summer sun celebration." Shining armors voice took on an amused tone as he recited the last incident. "It was only because the filly wouldn't stop crying sir, I coulden't stand the noise sir." Strong hoof stated flatly not wanting the captain to get the wrong idea.

"I see" shining armor said gazing slightly to Strong hoofs flank taking note of the chains that formed an X their. The captain of the royal guard rose from his desk strolling to the other side and up to the picture of himself and the purple mare that hung on his wall. "Thats an interesting cutie mark you have corporal, would you like to hear how I got mine?" Shining armor asked the earth pony, who still stood in front of his desk not yet ordered to move, but glancing for a moment at the white unicorns own cutie mark of a shield with a purple sparkle on it. "Sir?" he asked somewhat confused by the captains question.

"One day my little sister came home in tears because some bullies were harassing her, you see she has always been gifted in magic and that garnished her contempt from the other fillies in her class." Strong hoof gazed downward in silence as the story went on. "So one day I went to her school and... well lets just say that they didn't bother her from then on, this shield means i was destined to protect. Not just my little sister but all those who need protection. So now, let me ask you Strong hoof, what do those chains represent? What is your destiny? Hmmm corporal?"

Still gazing downward at the red carpet Strong hoof now turned to face his commanding officer who was now facing him as well. "That i am a slave" is what Strong hoof wanted to tell the unicorn in front of him but instead he simply stated, "I don't know sir I wasn't thinking clearly when it appeared, i don't even fully remember when it appeared." Shining armor rubbed his chin with a hoof contemplating the earth ponies answer. "Well in any case Iv'e thought about what to do about your punishment." Shining armor moved now to the left side of his desk retrieving a folder with an aura of magic and placing it on the desk in front of him.

"Are you familiar with Lord petal corporal?" Shining armor asked a small grin forming on his muzzle as he asked. "I believe he's a high status member of the royal court if im not mistaken sir." Strong hoof explained not sure where this was going or what it was going to have to do with him. "His daughter rose petal owns the largest landscaping company in all of equestria mostly dealing in flowers and trees, canterlot has a big contract with her and as of two days ago she is now visiting canterlot to oversee the re planting of a new garden on the castle grounds. Shining armor explained and Strong hoof began to get a good idea of what his "punishment" was going to entail.

"Am i to understand that im going to be a body guard for miss rose petal sir?" Strong hoof asked feeling apprehensive toward the prospect of becoming a lowly body guard for some rich spoiled mare while she makes sure her trust fund doesn't run dry. Shining armor looked confused for a moment before blurting out a few chuckles signifying that Strong hoof was mistaken in his assumption. "Oh no corporal, i already have her guard detail assigned. You see in the past madam petal would come to canterlot alone but this time she has brought her daughter, Lilly petal, she is your new assignment corporal."

Strong hoof was in shock at what he had just heard, as if being a body guard wouldn't have been bad enough but now he was to become a foul sitter?!

Strong hoof cleared his throat, his commanding officer staring at him with a sort of anticipation on his features at Strong hoofs response. "Sir surly theirs somepony more qualified to sit for some filly than myself." "Filly?" shining armor asked a bit puzzled at Strong hoofs view of his new assignment. "Don't be silly corporal, no offense but you're a bit to "rough" to sit for a filly, why Lilly is only two years younger than yourself, and not to hard on the eyes if you know what I mean." That doesn't count for much, Strong hoof thought to himself. He himself was only twenty-one and hadn't even had his first mug of hard cider yet. "Sir with all due respect, I am a member of the royal guard, you cant expect me to lower myself to following around some spoiled mare while she gushes over stallions and shops for dresses can you?" Shining armor took on a stern look now and moved to stand directly in front of Strong hoof.

"No corporal, I expect you to follow my orders." shining armor stated harshly to the earth pony that stood before him. "You forget your place corporal iv given you this assignment as a second chance, or i could order sixty lashings and recommend you for exile, you are in no condition to complain about your punishment do I make myself clear corporal?" Strong hoof slapped on his poker face, he didn't fear pain but exile was a dishonor he couldn't bear, not added to the large pill of his past failures. "Yes sir!" He proclaimed resigning himself to his now inescapable fate. Shining armors expression became more relaxed even resuming the smile he had before. "Thats more like it. But remember corporal it is not lightly that I give you this assignment." Shining armor explained returning to the file he had pulled out earlier and flipping through the various reports that made up its body. "Since lady petal and lilly arrived in canterlot none of the other guards assigned to her have been able to keep her under hoof for more than an hour or two at best. And this creates a major breach in our security. If lilly were to get abducted lord petal would have to abandon his duties to the royal court to aide in the search for his missing grand daughter, the princess would half to get involved and canterlot or even all of equestria would suffer the repercussions. In short corporal, don't lose her."

Keeping to his poker face Strong hoof now stood up straight ready for the details of his new assignment. "When am I to start sir?" Strong hoof asked wanting now to just get this whole thing over with. "Immediately corporal, in fact lilly is waiting in the study just down the hall. Walk with me and ill introduce you two." Shining armor explained in a cheery tone. "Oh and one more thing corporal, I hope that this assignment helps you find out what the true meaning of that interesting cutie mark of yours is." Strong hoof looked with searching grey eyes at his commanding officer before following him out of the office and down the hall to meet his new charge.

The two stallions made there way down the hall and up to the door where inside Strong hoofs new assignment waited. Shining armor opened the door and both of them entered the brightly lit room. As Strong hoof looked around the room what he saw next made his heart drop down to the pit of his stomach and for a moment he felt like he couldn't breath. Before him perched on her back hoofs trying to read the title of a book placed on a shelf just out of reach stood an all white mare with a sparkling white horn on the top of her head her long flowing well groomed mane shined like silver as it cascaded down her back, her tail being of the same length and color, and on her flank the image of a white lilly with one petal broken off and away from the main flower was her cutie mark.

The white mare came down to her hoofs and turned around to see who had entered. She first noticed shining armor but soon rested her gaze on Strong hoof. Her expression soon went from one of neutrality to one of surprise and excitement, a big smile spreading on her young features and her eyes lit up like a little filly seeing a new toy. "Afternoon lilly I have somepony hear id like you to meet." Lilly darted over to the two stallions stoping a ponies length away from where Strong hoof stood with a look of annoyance on his muzzle.

The mare reared her head back and spat a wad of saliva onto the floor to her right immediately after looking to Strong hoof with a look of anticipation in her eyes.

"Um lilly what are you doing?" shining armor asked after her out of character action. Lilly looked to shining armor, a puzzled look to her now. "Isn't that some sort of earth pony custom?" the white mare asked a little confused and worried that she had done it wrong somehow. Shining armor looked to Strong hoof then back to lilly a bit perplexed. "OOOOOk, well anyways, lilly this is corporal Strong hoof, he is going to be your escort for the remainder of the time you will be staying hear in canterlot." Lilly's eyes lit up anew with excitement to the news that her new escort was now a young stallion. "All right I knew that id see you again after the last time i saw you!" Shining armor looked back and fourth from lilly to Strong hoof in puzzlement. "Oh you two have met already?" Lilly hopped up in the air like a little filly as she regaled shining armor of the early morning where Strong hoof had passed her during his morning gallop recounting every detail, not leaving out his sweaty appearance or his spitting custom before he galloped off. "Well then it looks like i leave my corporal in good hoofs, you will take good care of him for me right lilly?" Lilly beamed a big smile throwing up her right hoof in a salute.

"Sir yes sir!" She stated cheerfully before shining armor turned to leave the room stopping when he was close enough to Strong hoofs ear. "Don't let her out of your sights corporal." He whispered so lilly wouldn't hear. "And try to have fun." The latter message sounding more cheery than the first message he gave. Alone now with the grinning mare Strong hoof sighed deep realizing that it was going to be a long month. "Sooooo Strong hoof was it? If you don't mind me asking, do you have a mare friend?" lilly asked a big grin on her face matching the bright shimmer in her eyes and a touch of pink in her cheeks. A very long month.

Next chapter: Strong hoof and lilly. tell then :)