When you are around somebody, you eventually learn how to pick up on things. You notice when they’re happy, sad, and when they’re trying to hide their feelings from everyone else. This is true when you’re protecting somebody, maybe even more-so. That is why I knew that there was something wrong with Her Majesty when she got a letter from her student.
Nice filly, maybe a little too high-strung, but nice student nonetheless. Perhaps there would be a future for her as a teacher. For now, though, Miss Twilight Sparkle was just going to be there to learn everything that Her Majesty was there to teach her.
That was what a personal protege did, after all.
All of that aside, it took a lot of effort to get access to that letter. When I did, there was something about it that didn’t ring true. The Mare in the Moon, that was something that I didn’t know anything about. Maybe that’s something that scared me even more. I should know these things, especially if they freak out Her Majesty as much as this obviously did.
She didn’t want to show it, but this obviously unnerved her.
Something about the fabled Nightmare Moon shook her to her core.
I’m going to have to figure out what that is, where I have to be to make sure that nothing happens. Normally, a job to protect the princess is simply a job to make sure that she doesn’t have to defend herself. I saw the look in her eyes, though, and I know that there’s something stirring. This might not be something that she can take care of on her own. This might be something that I have to prepare to take care of myself.
That though, more than anything else, really scares me.
Before tonight, though, I have something else that I have to focus on.
“Don’t react to everyone else, Sergeant Armor, you have to make sure that you get the upper hand as quickly as you can. A fight doesn’t have to last long if you know exactly what to do.”
“I know, sir, but I’m much better at... watching and waiting. You know better than anypony that I’m second to none when it comes to defending myself.”
If he was going to take up my mantle after I retire, he was going to have to learn to do a lot better. I was looking at him, our regular spar would always end the same way. This time, though, something else was going to happen. Sergeant Armor would make an excellent Captain one day, but that day wasn’t likely going to be coming for a few years. By the time that I retired, I would have to make sure that he would be ready to take over for me.
He wasn’t yet.
I’ve trained him for years, I know that his shield is almost impenetrable. I also know something that I’ve been working on for years. If somepony wanted to hurt Her Majesty, I would have to be prepared to take them down. Any assassin worth the effort would likely be well versed in magic. Not only that, but my job was always to make sure that assassins didn’t get a second attempt. That was why Sergeant Armor was going to see firsthand a spell that I had been working on.
The predictable shield went up, just as he saw my horn light up.
“Afraid that won’t work this time.” I knew what I had to do. A quick beam, almost a tiny speck in comparison to some other attempts, raced toward the barrier. The thing that really made Sergeant Armor worried, as was the goal, was when it pierced through and slammed into his horn. I hadn’t been trying to kill him, obviously, or there would be more force put into it. All it did was push him down. Perhaps that would be enough to make sure that he finally learned a lesson.
The bad guys wouldn’t be so kind.
“You have to think on your feet, Sergeant Armor. Some things, you just can’t block.” I looked at him as he got back onto his hooves, a shocked look on his face. “After all, you’re going to have to take after me in a few years. It’ll be great to see my family more.”
“You can’t retire, sir, and you know it. You’d miss us too much.”
“I guess that there might be some things, but...” I looked up, trying to think of how I was going to finish the sentence. I wasn’t much of a family stallion, but the idea of becoming one seemed like a good idea. It seemed like the best idea I could have. Only a few years from now, I would be just like any other pony.
That was scary.
Even if that was going to happen, though, there was still a lot to do in the meantime. I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to be able to retire, and maybe that was something I needed to get done quickly. I still didn’t have much of a plan for tonight, aside from tailing the Princess. “I hate to cut this short, Sergeant, but I’m supposed to meet up with the Princess to go over some details about the celebration later tonight. Apparently, she’s going to some backwater town this year.”
“Ponyville. My little sis told me all about it.”
“That’s the place.” I didn’t know much about the town, it didn’t matter, My job was to protect Pricess Celestia, not learn about every small town in Equestria. “If I can get Her Majesty to get you to protect her in that town, I’ll do it. It’s a good idea to get to know the Princess before you become Captain, after all.” I couldn’t give him any time to say anything back, or ask the question about why I wouldn’t, and so I simply walked away and toward the castle.
I had to think.
-Later that night-
It had taken me all day to figure out that I had no real plan. Princess Celestia had told me that everything was going to be alright, but I knew something was up. I tailed her, from a distance, to find myself near the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t the type of place that I really wanted to go to, but my wants were far less important than what needed to be done.
Something was going to happen tonight, I could feel it.
Hours passed, nothing was happening.
Actually, there was only an hour before the sun was going to rise. Maybe my instincts had grown cold, maybe there wasn’t anything wrong. Maybe I had read her expression wrong. A thousand doubts started to pour into my head, just in time for there to be something wrong.
It happened just in time for my coldest fears to come true.
From the forest, there was a strange mist. It wasn’t normal, obviously magical in nature. This was similar to something that I had seen her Majesty do before. This was something that could be used to escape crowds, to make sure that not many ponies saw you. If I hadn’t been watching for something, I wouldn’t have seen it either. I didn’t know if this was the thing that she was worried about, but something in the pit of my stomach told me that I should be worried.
My job didn’t give me that luxury, though.
My job gave me a means to deal with this, and I would.
My horn started to glow, my own special way of dealing with these things would soon help me end this threat. A thin beam, similar to the other in size alone, shot into the mist. This time, however, it enveloped it. Though it hadn’t been expected, the magical mist fought back for a moment. Perhaps it was only the element of surprise that brought this threat out of hiding, or maybe it was something else entirely.
Maybe I had just messed up big time.
When the mists dissipated, I saw her. It couldn’t be true, this had to be some sort of trick. The stories were told to children, they were just stories to scare them. A holiday was made to get candy, and then to give it over to the menace of Nightmare Moon. Her face was known by all, there was no mistaking the mare that was in front of me.
This had to be a hoax.
Eyes of murder stared into my own, and I tried my best to stay calm. This was the type of thing that my training was meant to take care of. This was the type of thing that I trained to get rid of. If this was really some mythical monster, I had to get rid of it. Once again, I charged up my horn, this time I would make sure that it would be more than a way of stopping her from getting away.
She had to be dealt with.
A white beam, all of my strength, poured toward the target. This one didn’t have the element of surprise, though. This one was expected, dealt with in the way that I didn’t expect. I saw it, her horn quickly charged. Her own beam shot out, and met mine in midair. To say that it was a brilliant display would have been the understatement of the century.
It also wouldn’t have done my opponent any justice.
I have been Celestia’s Captain for a few decades. I have trained, I have fought, I have become the spear that kept her safe. I have fought everything that came to threaten Equestria. While I may not be the most gifted, or be able to perform the most spells, I’m focused. Even with that, I would have wagered that I could take down almost any unicorn in the Kingdom.
Yet, within the span of a few seconds, it was all proven to be pointless.
When our magic met, it wasn’t some grand struggle. For a fraction of a second, my will met hers at a stalemate. After that, however, it was all over. I was met with almost enough strength to kill me. If it hadn’t been for my own efforts, my own attack, it would have. The worst part, though, was that she seemed to have put almost no effort into it at all. I didn’t know what to do, aside from lay there bloodied and broken.
It hadn’t even taken her five minutes to take me down.
I heard something, it might have been her talking. It didn’t matter to me, not at this point. even if it did, I was in far too much pain to really be listening. Still, I was going to stand and do my duty. The only thing stopping me was my legs, they refused to move. I didn’t stop glaring at her, though, as she started to walk over to me.
It was at this point that I realized something, this was my final action.
I was not going to fail the Princess.
Adrenaline shot through my veins, and my legs started to move. I wobbled up, and did my best to charge at her. Magic wasn’t going to work, but a unicorn horn might actually cause some damage. All I had to do was stab her side.
She saw that coming. Even with her size, she was able to quickly move out of the way.
Then I felt my side get stabbed, by her horn.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.
The force of her slamming into me was enough to cause me to go to the side. Even if she hadn’t stabbed anything vital, the tree that I hit didn’t do any favors. If I had been broken and bloodied before, I was definitely not moving now. I still did my best to stare at her, try to figure out what my last few breaths could provide for Her Majesty. At the same time, though, my mind was starting to fade.
That wasn’t all, my vision seemed to be following closely behind.
There wasn’t anything I could do, sadly. The only thing I could think to do was try to charge up another spell, but I couldn’t even focus enough to do that. With my vision fading, my mind going blank, the only thing I could do was welcome my death with as much dignity as I had left. It was a shame that it didn’t involve any more fighting, but that was just the way that everything had turned out.
A flash of light, I didn’t know what to think of it when I saw it. Celestia’s flank, that wasn’t a sight that I had sen often. Why was she here? If she was here, then Sergeant Armor wasn’t protecting her anymore. I hoped that, after this was all over, he would be the Captain that I knew he could be. After all, as the remainder of my blood continued to flow out, he didn’t really have a lot of choice in the matter.
That was, of course, if my death wasn’t in vain.
Doubt crept into my mind, one last time.
Then it was over.
