The Princesses' Quill

Chapters

Prologue: The Abyss
Chapter 1: The First Day
Chapter 2: Destiny
Chapter 3: O Discordia
Chapter 4: No Quarter
Chapter 5: The Demons Within
Chapter 6: Welcome to the Lunar Guard

Prologue: The Abyss

Prologue

The Abyss

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

He had found his salvation at the bottom of a bottle. Gazing down into the abyss that Canterlot Castle overlooked, he could feel it piercing his soul, twisting and warping it into something beyond evil and ugly. But, he considered, perhaps it was already like that and this darkness only revealed his true nature.

He had used the last of his funds to come here tonight. For it was the fateful night of the Grand Galloping Gala and he wanted to see his sister play her cello one last time. She had not known of his presence, but for this he was quite, not happy no, not so foreign an emotion, but he was relieved of some of the burden. She would live none the wiser that she had been the last thing her lost brother cared about losing, before he had lost himself to the crutch that had fueled his life in recent months.

The mellow sound of the cello reverberated in his ears as he continued to peer downward, reflecting. He quietly began to sing a song he and his sister had shared when they were much younger. After he finished, he knew he would jump.

The Princess of the Night stood on her balcony, gazing up at her night sky. Ever since she had returned from her exile as Nightmare Moon, she had weaved a night more beautiful than anything her sister had created. This was truly her domain and no one could fill that void entirely like she could.

She had not felt up to going to the Grand Galloping Gala that night she was still wary of the ponies which she governed and they returned the sentiment. Nonetheless she had been quite amused to hear from her sister what a disaster the entire event had been. Truly there was nothing better than causing the always proper nobles great distress.

Interrupting the silence of the cool night at Canterlot Castle, she heard a few quiet notes drift up from the edge. She listened intently as the song commenced.

You and I used to be so close
Now we're here and I'm on my own
But even though these years
Have gone so poorly
I know that we wont ever truly
Be apart

Luna gasped as she listened closer. She knew this song! But it was ancient, even greater than her years, a remnant of a lost civilization well before the establishment of the Royal Pony Sisters.

Why'd you have to bring her down?
You were supposed to be her friend?
There was nothing for her, in the end
In that backwards town, you pushed her around
And now the world is crumbling down

She could hear the oppressive sadness of the singer, almost as if he were not merely singing a song, but telling his own life story. And hers. The song spoke so greatly to what she had felt during her imprisonment. Luna could feel that something was wrong here, why would someone be singing and sound so defeated this close to the edge of the castle. She began to race towards the voice fearing the worst.

So here we stand, on the edge of society
Looking in and seeing who you'd be
And it thrills our heart to see you smile
If only we had the courage to hang
With you for a while

The Princess of the Night arrived at the edge of Canterlot castle, just in time to hear the last five words sung. A gray unicorn stallion stood on the edge, looking down. All around him, on the balcony were multiple bottles, though Luna could not see them clearly, she could guess what they were.

She paused briefly, unsure how to approach the stallion before her. Little choice was left in the matter, when the stallion took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped.

Time seemed to slow down for the Princess of the Night. One of her subjects, a stallion obviously in great distress, had just committed suicide in front of her.

A single anguished cry ripped through the Canterlot night, booming off the mountain and waking nearly the entire city.

“NO!”

Without a thought, without any idea what she was doing, Luna dove straight over the side of the balcony after the stallion.

With you for a while

As he sang the last line of the song, he thought briefly of all those who he truly wished were here. He did not hear the Princess come up behind him. He did not stop to reconsider his course, or what happened after death.
The only thing he considered was the irony of his name, Gallant Quill. There was nothing gallant about this.
He took a deep breath that he didn’t notice and jumped.
The world went black, and the abyss swallowed him.

“Luna who is….”
“… saved him”
“Tia… scores, he is…”
“…criminal, a smuggler…”
“worth… doesn’t deserve…”

Gallant Quill awoke with a start.

His first thought was that he was in heaven, thanks largely in part to the opulent bed in which he was laying. Then he observed the vomit that stained the side of bed. He had failed. He was alive, somewhere, for whatever reason. He was a failure in every aspect of his life. The thought crushed him down harder than ever before.

Or at least it would have, had the reason for his failure not spoken up.

“So thine hast finally decided to join us?” Gallant’s head swiveled towards voice, realization dawning on him that he was not alone. His eyes widened briefly as he beheld the Princess of the Night.

He did not speak his answer, merely giving a nod. Words were beyond him at this point.

“Why?” The single question asked to him was simple. And so very complex at the same time. The answer bore the weights of countless years of negligence and failure.

He did not answer at all this time. He could not. Sensing this, Luna spoke again, “Whatever thy reasons, thine life is worth more than death. Of that, we… I can assure thou.”

He still did not speak for a long time, instead merely staring off into space, considering the room and the world around him. Luna stayed with him in silence, thinking of what had been so bad as to have driven the stallion before her to try to take his own life. She looked towards to find him simply staring at her. Her eyes softened with pity.

She finally got a true response out of him, as his expression took on the form of rage.

“Don’t pity me. Don’t you dare pity me.” His voice was deep and gravelly, almost certainly still recovering from the binge drinking of the night before. He could see that the Princess cared and he was determined to turn that against her for having the gall to pity him.

“You want to know why I did it? Because I have nothing, because your guards-“ Luna cut him off with a single raised hoof. Despite his anger, and to his surprise, he obeyed, feeling like he was in school once again.

“We are aware of thine incident with the guards, thou was a smuggler, moving illegal goods free of taxation and government influence. But thou couldst have been so much more. We have seen thy test scores, top of the country in nearly every category, but bottom of thy class. Why didst thou not pursue higher education?”

Gallant was not surprised that she knew of his run in with the guards, but the questions about his schooling were more than a little surprising. He hardened his face back into a stoic mask. “I couldn’t afford college after I left home. How do you know about my scores?”

Luna nodded at the first thought, confirming what she had already guessed, “Thou has been unconscious for three days, we have reviewed thine records in that time. Thy art heavily in debt from the attempt thou didst have at school. We see that thou tried to join the Equestrian military, but thou were denied due to medical reasons. Why didst thou want to join the military?”

Realizing that the Princess had snooped through his files , probably learning a great deal about him, angered Gallant greatly. “You had no right to look through those records!”

Understanding immediately the misdirection in his anger, Luna shook her head before replying, “We did not look at anything personal, merely at those numerical values which showed the potential that thou hast. We ask again, why did you want to join the military?”

This calmed Gallant down enough for him to give a proper response, “I wanted to give myself a purpose in life, some sort of directive. When that failed, I turned to smuggling, thinking I could outsmart the guards and make decent money for the first time in my life.”

“What if we could give thou a direction in life?” Luna gazed solemnly at the stallion before her. His anger at her pity had impressed her slightly. Here was a stallion that refused to allow others to look down on him. That one could have pride even when faced with what she was sure he viewed as a shameful failure, was astounding. He would not allow himself to be defined as anything other than exactly who he was.

For his part, Gallant was both surprised and suspicious of Luna’s question, “What exactly do you mean ‘a direction’?”

“Thou has given the guards more trouble than any smuggler has ever given them before, we have seen Shining Armor’s reports on thy actions. Thou hast moved goods right underneath the guard’s noses, and even in plain sight of my sister and Shining. It took nearly a year for the guardsponies to find a way to catch thou, relying on the betrayal of a few of thy supposed allies and a sting operation involving nearly every guard in Canterlot. There has never been a smuggler who moved the nearly value and quantity of goods that thou didst.” Was that… was she praising him? He had been a thief and had essentially stolen vast amounts of money directly out of the royal treasury. At last his stoic mask broke, and he allowed himself a small smile at the effort the guards had gone to in order to take him down.

Luna noticed his smile, but declined to comment, finding it amusing that praise of his criminal activity had been what broke the mask, “What we are offering to thou is simple, become a guardspony.” Gallant snorted in incredulity at this, but stopped when Luna again held up a hoof, “Not just any guardspony, we wish thou to be a member of our guard, the Lunar Guard. Thou canst face trial for thy actions as a smuggler, or thou can join the Lunar Guard.”

Finding himself back into a corner, Gallant had no other option, “Fine, I’ll become a Lunar Guard.”

“Excellent! We know thou will make a fine guard.” Gallant once more balked at the thought of himself becoming a guard, but nonetheless knew it was an opportunity that he could not pass up.

“So when do I start?”

“Right the hell now.” A jet black bat pony with piercing yellow eyes stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, “Recruit Quill, I am Gunnery Sergeant Spectre. For the next 6 months you belong to me. We’re gonna turn your candy criminal ass into a hard warrior for the Princess, do I make myself clear?”

Ignoring the feeling in his stomach, Gallant shot out bed, partially in surprise, partially in fear, “Yes sir!”

“Don’t call me sir, Recruit! I work for a living! From this day forward until I see it fit that you can join my beloved Guard, you will speak only when spoken to, and you will answer every question with ‘Yes, drill Sergeant!’” The bat pony clearly meant to intimidate Gallant into submission, but the defiant side of the new recruit would not be suppressed entirely.

“What if someone other than you asks me a question?” The small smirk on the gray stallion’s face was quickly replaced by a look of pain. Sergeant Spectre had jabbed him in the side hard enough to leave him gasping for air. “Any more shit questions like that and I’ll make sure the next six months of your life are hell enough where you’re gonna wish you hadn’t survived.”

Without any warning the gray stallion teleported to Spectre’s blind spot moving to strike quickly at his unprotected side. He was easily blocked by the hardened military veteran. Undeterred, Gallant rapidly teleported to another location attempting to hit the bat pony. He was blocked again, this time with what looked to be slightly more effort. Again and again, the gray stallion teleported around the sergeant only to be blocked at every turn. Finally when it looked like a strike was going to hit the sergeant, he simply turned, grabbed Gallant’s outstretched hoof, and pinned him against the ground, breaking his concentration and not allowing him to cast spells.

“Looks like you’re not as much of a weakling as I thought, maybe in a few years you’ll actually hit me! Stay outside and wait while I talk to the Princess.” With that he threw Gallant through the doors to the bedchamber, who lay in the hallway for a moment, stunned that he had been bested so easily.

Spectre turned to face Luna once more. “He’ll be good, maybe one of the best, he’s faster than Shining already.”

Luna quickly smiled at this, but frowned once more as she considered Gallant, “Mold him Sergeant, make him loyal, but do not break him. There is a mind there greater, we think, than any of us are aware of. We have great plans for him; bring him to us as a leader.”

“You wish is my command, my lady.”

“And Dark, do try to refine that fighting style of his, we would see him greatly improved if he could actually hit his target.”

Chapter 1: The First Day

Chapter 1
The First Day

“Your first mistake was underestimating me, you’ll never get a chance to make the second.”

A tall gray unicorn stallion sat quietly strumming a guitar. He played nameless blues progession, merely allowing the music to flow and shift as he continue to play. Nearby two young foals sat watching the stallion play. One was a gray unicorn colt with a streak of white through his coal black mane, and the other was an even smaller filly who could’ve passed for the colt’s twin, had she also had a horn. These two were brother and sister and they were absolutely entranced by the stallion sitting before them. The young filly was in awe of the instrument itself, but the colt, he was viewing his hero. The instrument itself did not matter to him, only that this stallion, his father, was playing for them.

But then the song stopped, and the stallion put down the guitar with a sad smile on his face. He looked at his children, beaming at them widely. His eyes told a different story, he was rapidly blinking and couldn’t meet the eyes of his children.

“I want you both to know, I love you very much. And no matter what, I’ll always be by your side.” He then looked his son in the face, as if seeing him for the first time, “Gallant, protect your sister, never leave her side, no matter what, promise?”

“Dad what’s-”

“Promise me Gallant.”

“I promise.”

The older stallion then turned to his younger daughter, “My darling, you be sure to listen to your brother, he will care for you when I’m not around.” The young filly didn’t quite understand, mewing happily at the attention from her father.

The colt was not so easily placated however, “Dad what is going on?”

“I’m sorry son, but I have to go now, the abyss calls.”

Wait thats not right, he didn’t say that.

The stallion morphed and shifted into a terrifying monster made of shadows that struck Gallant aside with a single blow. His sister was screaming somewhere in the distance, blades came from the shadows reaching for his neck as he scrambled to get away. Looking up into monster he saw himself reflected, though twisted and deformed.

Gallant Quill, the smuggler turned guardspony recruit woke in cold sweat. His coal black mane was plastered to his body. Today was to be his first day of guardspony training, and he had woken up from a nightmare nearly two hours early. He had heard stories that guardspony training was brutal the first days, so he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Each time he closed his eyes the image of the monster from his dream surfaced. So for two hours, Gallant laid in bed, waiting for the time when new recruits are woken up.

Gallant had been “fortunate”, he was told, to have been enlisted on the day before the next group of recruits had begun training. However, because there were very few Lunar Guard recruits, Gallant was going to be doing his initial training with the Royal Guard, before moving to being trained by actual Lunar Guards in what protecting the night meant. Thus, they were woken up by Sergeant Spectre with a brisk hour long run around the city. After that they had been allowed to have breakfast, which consisted of oatmeal and mush. High in calories and nutrients, it was as tasty as it sounded.

Given that the other recruit had some time to bond the train as they were arriving, Gallant found himself searching for a spot to eat alone at. As he passed by a table, one of the other recruits noticed his cutie mark, and spoke up, “Hey! Are you Hidden Quill?”

It seemed that Gallant’s reputation as a smuggler and someone who could get things, was known even here.
“That depends who’s asking.” Calm and collected Gallant masked himself in his usual business face, best not to step on any toes yet.

“The name is Thunder Flicker, and I’ve heard you’re a pony who can get things.” His blatant stupidity at revealing his actual name left a bad taste in Gallant’s mouth. He would not do anything for this pony even if he hadn’t been attempting to turn over a new leaf.

“I’m not in that line of work anymore. You’re wasting your time.” With that, Gallant turned to leave, carrying the metal tray of his breakfast with magic while he studied the floor.

From just within earshot, he heard Thunder Flicker turn to his buddies around and say with a sneer, “I heard he tried to off himself, thats the only reason he’s even here, they should call him Broken Quill, just like his father, what-” He never got a chance to finish his sentence, as Gallant’s metal tray slammed into his face, knocking him off the bench and onto the floor. It was quickly followed by Gallant himself, driving his fore hooves into Thunder’s unprotected stomach.

Thunder had been initially surprised by the ferocity of Gallant’s attack, but the unicorn stallion’s smaller size, lack of sleep, and developing withdrawal symptoms, weakened the strength of his blows. The pegasus stallion easily threw the unicorn off him and rose to his feet. The burning anger that had lit Gallant’s eyes during the initial attack. In it’s place had come the cold hardened stare of one who had fought many opponents of greater size and strength. His once mirthful and cheery blue eyes had become the steel blue for which he was famed. Those who didn’t know him were not aware of how ruthless he could be. His days as a smuggler had given him a street fighting knowledge none of the other recruits could match, even if they were physically stronger than him.

But even the best fighter knows when the odds are against him, and as the pegasus stallion’s gang surrounded him, Gallant was face with several options.

He could run, but that would most likely lead to having more trouble later on. The next option, would be to stand and fight them, which would probably not work out too well for him. The tird, and the only realistically available option, was to turn and attempt to take out Thunder Flicker, the obvious leader of the group, and end it right here.

Gallant considered all of this in less than a second. He chose. Teleporting immediately above Thunder Flicker, he used the momentary confusion caused by his disappearance to drop all of his weight down one forehoof, and into the pegasus stallion’s left wing. The pegasus staggered and let out a sharp cry of pain, only for the gray unicorn to repeat the same move on his right wing. Feeling his grip on his magic slipping, Gallant teleported one last time behind the pegasus, and bucked him in the back of the head. Thunder flew forward to be caught by one of his friends, as Gallant vomited over the mess of his spilled food tray. He had almost certainly given the pegasus a concussion, and at had probably fractured at least one wing bone.

Gallant regretted it, but knew it had been necessary, after his initial outburst at the pegasus’ derogatory name for him and the insult to his father, there had been no turning back. At least now the recruits would leave him in peace.

The gray unicorn turned to the group behind him, fixing them with a stare that made them shiver with fear, he remarked, “Don’t ever call me Broken Quill.”

With that he turned away taking a little food of the other’s plate left alone on the table. Truthfully, it was insult to his father that had sent him over the edge, but he wanted to give the perception that something so little could set him off. They would fear him, and that was good. In time, they would respect him too, but they would never, ever challenge him.

Gallant knew the drill sergeants would come down hard on him. And they did. He was subjected to very forceful shouting from Sergeant Spectre as he was forced to do hours and hours of push ups. In true military fashion, it began to rain as Gallant was nearing his fourth hundred set of ten push ups. Not once in the four hours that he had been out next to the Equestrian flag pole did Spectre stop his tirade of insults and slander. Remembering how weak he was from various circumstances, as well as Spectre’s utter beatdown of him the day before, Gallant was not inclined to turn on the sergeant even when a barrage of insults regarding his father were thrown at him.

Very few were aware of who Gallant’s father actually was, though the information was not kept a secret. In actuality, many ponies simply never made the connection that the two could actually be related, considering he was a what appeared to be a common street pony, and his father was most certainly not.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sun beginning to set on the horizon, “Alright recruit, get your flank inside, get some food. You fight like a street pony, and anybody trained is going to wipe the floor with you! You pull any shit like this again in my mess hall, I will personally throw you out of my Lunar Guard. You got an anger problem colt, it’s high time you get that under control, or one day you’re gonna run across someone you just shouldn’t have fucked with. Get the hell out of here.”

Breathing shakily as he limped towards the mess hall, Gallant could not help thinking, It was worth it.

Luna was just waking from her daily rest when there was a knock on the door of her bedchambers. Looking at the clock, she realized she had slept a little late and it was now time for Dark Spectre to bring his weekly report on the happenings of the Guard Academy, and more importantly, on what their new recruit was doing. Opening the door, the highly greeted her with a crisp salute.

“At ease Dark,” She said with a giggle, “There is no need to be so formal here, thou art one of our most trusted advisors, after all. Please, do come in.”

Clearly uncomfortable with not having formalities, Spectre nonetheless acquiesced to the Princess’ wishes. “Er right, so you wanted to hear about how Gallant Quill is doing?”

She gave a small smile at the mention of Gallant, “Yes, tell us what went on today.”

“He got pissed off, got in a fight, nearly killed the other pony, and regretted nothing.” Spectre said flatly, waiting to see Luna’s reaction to the news.

She did not appear even remotely trouble by the possible death of the guard, “Why exactly did he attack the other pony?”

“He had made a comment regarding Gallant’s attempted suicide, as well as making some sort of remark relating Gallant to his father. Um, if I may speak freely your majesty?” Spectre was slightly hesitant to say what was on his mind.

“Of course, Sergeant, go ahead.”

Spectre hesitated, choosing his words carefully so that he could say exactly what he meant, “Gallant is brutal, cold, calculating, and downright unforgiving. But he isn’t an angry pony, not by nature, something has to set him off, and it might seem small to us, but huge to him. He acted rashly in starting that fight, but he damn sure finished it. We were lucky that we didn’t have to send that pegasus home in a body bag, as it stands, Gallant didn’t break anything, and the pegasus will be able to continue his training. Unfortunately, Thunder Flicker is a distant cousin of Prince BlueBlood, which will surely mean trouble for us in the long run.”

Princess Luna, despite her years away, still knew how to deal with angry nobles upset over some trivial matter, “Leave that to us, Spectre, we will circumvent any attempts at retaliation. We can’t have our star recruit being knifed in the back before he even manages to graduate. When will Gallant be allowed a visit to the outside world?”

Chuckling slightly at the dig on the isolated nature of basic training, Spectre replied, “Not until he graduates from basic. In about nine weeks.”

The small smile she had worn when first talking about Gallant was back, “Good, good, make sure he visits us during his free time, we will have much that must be discussed then.” She gestured towards the outside where there was almost complete darkness, but the moon had not yet risen. “We must perform our duty, go and we shall see you again next week.”

It was nearly 10 o’clock in the evening before the recruits were allowed to sleep. Gallant stumbled to his bunk and almost immediately passed out, but not before his bunkmate peeked his head down from the top bunk, “Hey you awake?”

Groaning Gallant replied, “Unfortunately, and you’re keeping me that way, what do you want?”

Ignoring his discomfort, the pony responded, “I’m Rogue Scholar, I saw what you did today and that was awesome man, I’m glad you took that asshole down. Get some rest, I heard day two is even harder.”

“Great, thats awesome.” And he passed out. Gallant had unknowingly made his first friend at basic training.

Chapter 2: Destiny

Chapter 2
Destiny

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

“A guitar?! No daughter of mine will play something so common and unrefined as the guitar, why the very thought is appalling. No my dear, you shall play the cello, and you will be the type of pony everypony should know.” Her mother’s stern voice caused the young gray filly to cringe a bit in fear, but she was determined to change her mother’s mind.

“But Gallant plays the guitar...” Her mother’s changing facial expression indicated that this was absolutely not the right thing to say.

“And Gallant is a bad influence on you, he’ll turn out no better than his father. You mark my words.” Realizing she could not win this fight now, the filly turned away and went back to continue her studies in her room.

Later...

“Gallant?” The filly questioned her older brother from the doorway to his room, he was occupied in writing something.

“Hmm?” He was distracted, not fully noticing her for a few seconds, before realizing she spoke, meeting her magenta eyes with his steel blue ones, “Oh hey, what’s up, is something wrong?”

The filly giggled at her brother’s absorbion in his work, before frowning again, “Mom says you’re a bad influence... And that you’ll turn out no better than your father.”

Gallant Quill was visibly saddened by his sister’s words as he sat down on the bed, “Don’t listen to her okay? Do you think I’m a bad influence?” She giggled climbed up next to him and shook her head no, “See that's settled then, and he’s your father too.”

“I know, but where is he Gallant?” She questioned him, curiosity lighting her eyes in reference to her lost father.

“That’s... complicated. You’ll understand when you’re older and I promise I’ll tell you the whole story. Besides, you’ve got me and I’ll always be by your side.” This answer seemed to content her and she smiled, eyes clearly showing tiredness.

“Thanks big brother,” She paused, attempting to phrase the next question properly, “Do you think I’m destined for greatness?”

Gallant gave a wide and true smile at her, “Of course, we both are!”

She was falling asleep next to him, “Okay. That sounds nice.”

He threw a blanket over the both of them and laid down next to her, “It does, doesn't it? Goodnight Tavi.”

Gallant awoke promptly as Reveille played, as he had done everyday for the past eight weeks. He got out of bed, neatly making it with magic as he stood and waited for the Drill Sergeants to inspect his area. After a few moments, he realized that they weren’t coming to inspect. Instead they were standing at the end of the bunks.

The often absent but still very much in charge Sergeant Spectre spoke first, “Gentlemen, today is the day of your graduation, today you become guards in the service of the Princesses. At present time, we are not at war.” The bat pony’s golden eyes seemed to pierce each of the recruits individually as he gazed over them. “But we may be some day and it’s important for you to remember that some of you will not make it, that some of you will not come home. It's what we have prepared you for. It is not easy. It is never right, but it is the way of the world. Today you are all proud guards, and I am proud of you. PFC Quill, lead your men to graduation.” The Lunar Guard saluted Gallant directly with his right forehoof. Today, Gallant noticed, Sergeant Spectre had strapped to his right arm a rather large blade, and was wearing ceremonial black plate armor, as opposed to his standard functional black hooded leather armor. A look passed between the various Drill Instructors that did not go unnoticed by Gallant. Something about the salute was different than normal, though Gallant could not place it.

Regardless, it was time to begin.

As he admired the look of the royal guard armor on him, Gallant was greeted by the familiar form of his bunkmate and comrade for most of basic training, Rogue Scholar. The light green pegasus stallion with the cutie mark of crossed swords over a book, was wearing his usual cocky grin. They had gone through thick and thin when the Sergeants had seen fit to throw even more work at Gallant, forcing not only him, but Rogue as well, into even more difficult situations. Time and time again they had proven an effective unit. Unfortunately, as is the way things worked, they would be going their separate ways.

“Congratulations on making PFC Gallant.” Rogue held out his hoof to his friend and leader.

Arrogance had been beaten out of Gallant through rigorous training, and though he was still proud, he recognized the contributions that Rogue had brought, “I couldn’t have done it without you, I mean that.”

“Hey man, don’t get mushy on me.” The few heartfelt words from Gallant was the single largest display of affection that he had ever seen the gray unicorn exhibit.

Whether from the harsh training or from his nature, Rogue wasn’t sure, but he knew that Gallant Quill did not smile. Ever. So when he shook his hoof with a smile and said, “My friend I wouldn’t dream of it, go on, your family is waiting. We’ll meet again someday, just look me up whenever you’re back in Canterlot.”

Rogue Scholar grinned, “Is that an order?”

Gallant laughed, another foreign sound to Rogue, “No, Rogue, just a request. Now go, your parents are waiting. That is an order.”

Rogue mock saluted Gallant and gave a wave disappearing to speak to his parents.

Gallant let the smile drop from his face, as he once again resumed the serious demeanor. He had several days off before-.

“Gallant Quill!” Gunnery Sergeant Spectre’s voice was easily recognized among the myriad of voices of the surrounding ponies.

Sighing, Gallant turned to the Sergeant, and saluted, “Yes Sergeant?”

Spectre returned the salute with his left hoof, “Princess Luna would like to see you regarding the next phase of your training. Report to her at once.”

With another sigh at having his time off stripped from him so quickly, Gallant did as requested without hesitation.

When Gallant knocked on the door of Princess Luna’s chamber,s he was not prepared for the sight that greeted him when he was given permission to enter. There, facing the window, at an unusually early hour for her, was Princess Luna. But she was wearing the same kind of blade that Spectre had been wearing earlier, and had saluted Gallant with. Along with that, Luna was wearing purple hooded armor, with leather straps that criss-crossed over her chest. Metal armor that appeared to be of the same unique substance as the blade covered her shoulders, flank, and legs. Her wings were tucked neatly at her side, with her long starry blue mane billowing behind her.

She looked positively beautiful, in the eyes of Gallant Quill. Gone was the mare who had at times seemed insecure, in her place was a confident and capable leader wearing her traditional armor.
Gallant was unfortunately given little time to admire the Princess, as she teleported next to him in an instant, bringing the blade strapped to her foreleg to his neck. Distracted as he had been by the Princess’ form, he had not reacted in time to realize her movement until she was already next to him.

“What?” Gallant himself teleported rather quietly and rapidly, but this was on another level. There had been no gathering of magic, she simply was at the window one moment, and beside him in the next.

“Thou are slow, though perhaps thou were too busy staring at us to notice we had a blade at thy throat.” Luna spoke playfully, masking whatever intent this meeting was for.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Gallant ignored the jab at his actions, and got right to the heart of what was on his mind.

“Today, Gallant Quill, thou begins the training to become a Lunar Guard. From this day forward, every other day, thou will train with me in the art of magic. Thou will learn how to hide in plain sight, how to teleport across entire nations without so much as a sound, how to cast combat spells, how to create wings for oneself, and most importantly, how to become one with the night. On each of the remaining days, thou will train in bladework with Sergeant Spectre and in strategy with Corporal Stand, on alternating days.” Luna removed the blade from his neck. Gallant had a feeling that she would be a harsh teacher. The Princess of the Night had kept herself in remarkable condition during her exile, which along with her immortality, granted her enormous strength, easily capable of putting Gallant to shame. With that in mind, Gallant was surprised when she threw him a set of leather straps, matching those of the blade on her leg.

“What’s this for?” Gallant was puzzled why she would give him a blade holster without the actual blades.

Luna giggled, sending Gallant’s brain into temporary shutdown from shock, “This, is your graduation present. I am actually proud of you for graduating, especially so highly recommended by your drill instructors.”

“Uhhh, Luna, I mean no disrespect, but what use am I going to get out of a blade holster?”

“None,” Gallant snorted at the response, but Luna continued before he could express his incredulity, “which is why you’re going to make the blade.”

This did nothing to quell his confusion in the slightest, “But I am not a blacksmith, I don’t know how to make blades...”

“That is why we will teach thou. The blade thou make for thyself will be an integral part of thou for a very long time, it needs the love and care that only it’s rightful creator and owner can give to it. That is why we make our own, because they serve us well, and it is only right that we do not do them a disservice by making cheap or of poor quality.” Luna smiled as realization dawned on her protege, and she could not help a feeling of pride as he looked eager to begin.

Lunar Guards have a long history of making their own blades. Generally, in recent years, because Princess Luna was not around, the blade-making was diminished in the scope of the metals they were capable of using. Many of the secrets of the master blacksmiths who had forged the adamantine and mithril blades of past guards were lost to the flow of time, and the metal itself drifted into obscurity. But, Luna not only remembered the secrets to bending these metals to her will, but she also knew where great stashes had been hidden centuries ago. Luna did not mention these as a possibility to Gallant as being something he could use for his blade however, as teaching an ordinary pony to work with them would be nigh impossible.

But this was Gallant Quill, who was one of the few ponies well aware that steel was not the strongest metal available to them. Thus, when Luna questioned what he wanted to make the blade out of, a request for a hybrid blade should not have surprised her.

“Luna, I know it will be difficult, but you said that it was to be my companion, mine and mine alone. Steel and iron break. Adamantine does not, and mithril can be used to channel my magical energy. Combining the two is logical.” Gallant was vainly attempting to get his point across to his Princess and teacher.

“We know that, but the time it will take for thou to finish the blade correctly is far too long.” Luna’s own blade was actually made of an adamantine, mithril hybrid alloy, in fact all the unicorn Lunar Guards had one like that.

“How long should it take?”

“Give or take, two months. It will cut too far into thine training. At most we would give thou three weeks, one metal or the other, combining both is a tremendously difficult task.” Luna attempted to discourage her headstrong apprentice once more, but the tenacious stallion would challenge her notions, and not for the last time.

“Then I shall do it in three weeks, show me how.”

True to his vision, Gallant forged ahead with the making of the blade. Where Luna had said it would take two months, he really was able to do it in three weeks. Spending countless hours refining, folding, and shaping the blade, slowly it came to match the one that Luna wore. Working nearly around the clock, the Lunar Forge in which he was making the blade became like a second home, and each day, he would simply pass out on a small cot in the corner, and rise to continue working.

On the last day that he had been allotted, Gallant could feel himself getting too tired to continue. He had been working feverishly on his blade for nearly twenty-five straight hours, with only a few hours in between used to eat and keep himself alive. It was so close to completion, he could not help but working at a blinding pace. Luna had long since left him to his own designs while she took care of royal business, occasionally checking up on him to find that he was indeed still working.

With the final hammerstroke on the completed blade, Gallant set it to cool, went to hang up the hammer on the wall of the Lunar Forge, and promptly passed out. There he would remain dead to the world for the next sixteen hours, but his blade was complete. And that was all that mattered.

Luna had watched as he smote the metal for the last time, finally completing the blade. Gallant had not known she was there, given his state of mind and exhaustion, that was not altogether that surprising.

Smiling to herself as the unicorn stallion passed out, she reflected that he had done exactly what he had said he would do. Luna picked up the now cool blade, examining it. It was longer than her blade, though Gallant himself was around the same height as her. The blade itself was exquisite, Gallant had followed her teachings to the letter. Though the design itself was rather simple, as many of the Lunar Guard’s blades were, it was sharp and strong, and hummed with the magic of the Lunar Forge. Gallant had not, and could not have known that weapons created in the Lunar Forge took on the strength of the moon, aiding those who fight in darkness.

For all her doubts about the validity of Gallant’s vision of completing the blade in three weeks, he had defied the odds and done it. Now his body just had to survive until he could actually learn to use the blade correctly.

Chapter 3: O Discordia

Chapter 3
O Discordia

I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us are. It's very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad.

For the first time in years, Gallant Quill slept dreamlessly. No memories of his past haunted him, no faces of the ponies he had to strike down. No accusatory faces of the loved ones of junkies. Nothing. It felt like pure bliss. Which is why, when he stepped outside of the Lunar Forge to find Equestria covered in cotton candy clouds and raining chocolate milk, he promptly turned to go back inside.

You know what, I don’t want to deal with this today. I'd thought, ya know, maybe for once, I'd have a normal nights sleep. But no. I get this. Well at least I'm aware. I mean, that's good right? Wait... I know how this works. I think it's all normal, it's all fine, and then out of nowhere, I meet someone and then they turn into a sludge monster and try to kill me. I'm just, I'm gonna go back to bed. Maybe I can hide there."

Unfortunately for the skeptical stallion, he ran directly into Princess Luna. “Gallant! Come with us quickly, we must hurry!” The urgency in the Princesses voice was interpreted by Gallant’s brain as being entirely unimportant, much like the Princess herself. She was most likely going to turn into a giant tentacle monster and try to eat hamsters or something along those lines.

Gallant simply stared at the Princess, waiting for her to change. As she walked away, obviously expecting him to follow, Gallant admired her body. He felt lucid and in control, unusual, but again, not entirely unheard of for him. He gave credit to his subconscious for construction such a beautiful replica of Luna, it was almost as if she were the real deal.

“Gallant! We do not have time for this! Thou must come now!” Again that urgency, why did she want him to move so badly? And why did her face show such a mixture of frustration and fear? Was she fearful of him? Gallant looked himself over. Everything seemed okay. In fact he seemed relatively normal compared to everything around him.

Luna stepped close to him, peering into his eyes, attempting to discern what the issue with him was. As she leaned into him, looking deep into his steel blue eyes, Gallant’s own gaze was drawn to her lips. Luna sighed, getting no sign of recognition from Gallant, who merely observed her as if she was a passing curiosity. She did not notice that their noses were nearly touching at this point. She did notice , however, when Gallant leaned a little closer to her and kissed her. She was surprised into allowing the kiss to continue for a few more seconds, before realizing what was happening. A series of emotions went through her: anger, hurt, outrage, and just slightly, a bit of pleasure. It had been more than a thousand years since any stallion had come near her in this way, after all. However, the instinct of keeping her distance from other ponies won out, and she backhoofed him through two walls.

That hurt... HOLY SHIT THAT HURT THIS ISN’T A DREAM, Gallant panicked when he realized what he had done. Before he had time to come to grips with the scope of what he had done, a chimeric beast appeared in front of him.

“Bahahaha, what a riot! You’re lucky I cushioned you there, kid. She hit you hard enough to throw you through two walls of this castle. You successfully caused more chaos for our pwecious wittle Woona than I ever could.” The draconequus continued his hysterical laughing, much to the chagrin of Gallant.

“What the hell did you do, what the buck is going on?” Rising shakily to his feet, Gallant stood to challenge the draconequus before him.

“Relax, I’m just having a bit of fun, why don’t you take seat?” A chair appeared from thin air and swept Gallant off his feet. “And have some fun! After all, you’re the most chaotic creature here, besides me that is!”

The gray unicorn could feel the bruising on his ribs from the collision with the walls as he struggled off the chair, “What, what do you mean by that?”

“Oh come now boy, don’t try to tell me you haven’t noticed! Your sister, your mother, dear old dad, all your schoolfriends, Thunder Flicker, and even now with Luna! You are a harbinger of chaos and discord, where you go, it follows! Isn’t it glorious?! Bwahahahah! Now go on, go pway with wittle Woona, I have an appointment in Ponyvillle to keep! Ta ta!” The draconequus seemed to swirl into his own eye, disappearing with a pop.

The fact that chimeric god-like being was gone, did not even register with Gallant Quill. He had fallen to his knees at the creature’s words. He spoke softly to himself, oblivious to the increasing chaos of the world around him, “Do I really bring discord to those around me? I can’t be... can I?”

“Gallant?!” Luna stepped through the hole in the wall that she had made. After recovering from the shock of the stallion’s kiss, she had attempted to reach the spot where he had been thrown. A barrier impeded her progress, and as she saw Discord appear before the fallen Gallant, she began a furious attempt to break the barrier, to no avail. When Discord had disappeared, so too had the barrier, finally letting Luna reach her friend.

“Praise our Mother, thou art safe.” Her smile faltered when she realized her words had no impact on the unicorn slumped before her. “Gallant?”

He finally acknowledged her presence, looking into her face. His normally steel blue eyes had dulled and grayed, and he looked like a foal lost in the market. “Am I really a harbinger of chaos? Everyone around me gets hurt... Is it really me? Luna tell me, is he right?”

“Why wouldst thou think him to be correct?” Words of comfort would do him no good, he needed to see the lies of Discord for himself to be free of them.

“Do you know what my dad said to me? Before he killed himself?” Luna shook her head, wishing for him to continue, “He said ‘Long you live and high you fly, And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry, And all you touch and all you see, Is all your life will ever be.’ Thats it. There’s no grand purpose to life. It simply is. Well I want a bucking purpose!” He rose to his feet in anger, ignoring the pain of the action.
“I want a reason to live, and here I’ve been for all these years just bucking up everyone’s life, and then I meet you. And you actually give me something bigger than myself. And you know what I do? I ruin it. Cause thats what I do. I ruin things. And as much as I want to believe he was wrong, he wasn’t. He bucking wasn’t. Life simply is. There is no grand purpose. It’s cause and effect, and my effects are to hurt EVERY. SINGLE. PONY. That I care about. So buck me right? Buck the poor fool who dared to want something more. Because even if I get that, I can’t hold on to it.” Luna was floored. The amount of anger and rage coming out of the normally stoic Gallant Quill was astounding. His rant didn’t entirely make sense, but she believed it was a side effect of the years of pent-up frustrations being released in one torrent.

“Thou did not hurt us.” Luna heard the words leave her mouth before she could consider them. She felt small next to the white-hot rage of the gray unicorn stallion. However, to her great surprise, she found that her words calmed the raging stallion slightly.

“What.” The flat response was not encouraging, but nonetheless, Luna continued.

“What happened between us, it did not hurt us, that was not thy doing in any case. The trickery of Discord blind thou to the world. Thou could not have known the consequences of thy actions. Perhaps, had we rejected thee entirely, we would not have come after thou. But consciously thou had no previous knowledge of our reaction. It was not thy doing. Thou did not hurt me.” By the time Luna had said her piece, Gallant’s anger had entirely subsided; however, his eyes were once again lit up, giving the impression of cold steel which Luna had grown familiar with.

“I am, I’m glad to hear that. I thought my actions would’ve driven you to do something rash, like throw me through a wall or something.” Luna had the propensity to look guilty at the thought, until she noticed the wry smile Gallant had on.

“Thy wit is nearly as dull as thy blade, Gallant Quill.” Luna could return the joke just as easily.

“Hey! My blade is perfectly fine, thanks. And besides, aren’t you my teacher? Where is my blade anyway?”

“We are thy teacher in magic and crafting, not in poor jokes. And we may reconsider that if our star pupil cannot even keep track of his blade.” Luna savored his downcast face, before relieving his anxiety, “We jest, we jest, we took thy blade and carved it with the traditional runes of the Lunar Guard. It is thy own decision what name the blade shall have, but the runes will protect it against dirt, rust, dulling, and damage. Though the metal thy used already did this, bear in mind that if things can go wrong, they will, and at the worst possible moment. These runes offer some sort of protection against that.”

“I am honored, Princess. Where is the blade now, if I may ask?” Gallant wanted to see it for himself.

She retrieved the blade from what to be a pocket dimension inside the pocket of her royal garb. “We have it here for thou, but thou should admire it later because we must travel... to... Ponyville... and......” Luna’s speech slowed down as the world around them returned to normality.

Gallant fixed her with a deadpan stare, “Job well done Princess, we should be proud of ourselves. To the bar to celebrate?”

Still somewhat stunned by the sudden change of events, Luna simply nodded, and allowed herself to be lead away by the gray stallion.

Luna had not had a drink in over a thousand years.

Gallant had been a very heavy drinker after the loss of his smuggling business.

Luna was a princess.

Gallant was a former criminal.

So when Gallant Quill found himself being completely obliterated by the sheer volume of alcohol that Luna took in, he was more than a little surprised. The mare, for all her mannerisms and customs left over for the past, could out drink him.

They passed the time telling stories of the past, Luna about her and her sister fighting monsters, saving ponies, and being pissed off at each other for various reasons. Gallant told about his smuggling days and the many times he had successfully outwitted the Royal Guard. Luna was amused by the ineptitude that Gallant’s account gave as picture of the Royal Guard. Few members, Shining Armor among them, treated the Princess of the Night with the same respect as her sister.

They drank well into the night, celebrating Discord’s defeat and toasting whenever they felt like it. It was a night of joy across all of Equestria. Leaving the bar, Luna leaned against Gallant as they clumsily walked down the street, trying to keep their bearings. After what seemed like an eternity of stumbling and laughing at various things for no reason in particular, the found themselves in front of Luna’s bedchambers. The two bat ponies who were guarding the doors looked at the pair with mild interest, but otherwise did not say a word.

Luna turned to face Gallant, “We wish, to thank thou.”

“What for?”

“For this, for today and this night. It may not seem like all that much to thou, but it is of great importance to us.” She leaned forward and kissed Gallant on the cheek. Smiling coyly, she disappeared into her room before the young stallion could react. He never did react, he simply stared in amazement for several minutes, until one of the door guards poked at him. He fell over, completely asleep and snoring loudly on the floor outside Luna’s bedchambers.

After a few moments:

“Dibs on not telling Celestia.”

“What? No aw come on don’t make me do that.”

“I got dibs.”

“I bucking hate you.”

“And I relish your hatred.”

Author's Note

Discord's a prick isn't he?
Please feel free to comment below, if you liked it, tell me why, if you hated it, tell me why. I'm always looking to improve.

Chapter 4: No Quarter

Chapter 4

No Quarter

“Once a pony has seen society's black underbelly, he can never turn his back on it. Never pretend, like you do, that it doesn't exist.”

“Gallant, you have to learn a real spell if you want to pass graduation.” Octavia sighed at her older brother. He had thus far refused to learn any spells other than basic telekinesis that was inherent to any unicorn. As she was an earth mare, she wasn’t exactly qualified to help him.

“Why? I don’t need magic to play guitar! I l don’t need spells for anything!” Holding stubbornly to his argument, Gallant and Octavia walked home from school. She, a freshman and he, a senior they made an odd pair, in personality if not in looks.

Wind swept the tidy streets of Upper Canterlot, nearly overbalancing the earth mare carrying a cello on her back.

“Whoa, you alright ‘Tavi?” Gallant had caught the cello in his magic, keeping his sister from falling over.

“I’m alright, thank you. And I’m serious about this. I got you this book, it details the teleportation spell and its uses and how to perform it. I thought you might get the most out of that spell.” Octavia sheepishly removed a book from the saddlebag at her side. He didn’t like spells, and he certainly wouldn’t want to read about them, despite being an avid reader.

Nonetheless, Gallant was touched by the gesture. He took the book from her, opening it and skimming the front page briefly. As he got to the last line, something caught his eye, one sentence.

Teleportation is essentially wishing you were somewhere else, then putting magic into that wish.

He stared long and hard at the sentence, not realizing he had stopped in the middle of the street. Octavia stared at him, wondering what had frozen the unusually silent unicorn. “Gallant?”

“Hmm, what?” He broke out of his entrancement to grin embarrassedly at his sister, “Sorry, got distracted, thank you for the book. You’re the best!” He shut the book and turned back towards their home, beckoning his sister. His encouragement and Octavia’s bliss at Gallant’s favor of the gift served to remove the awkward moment from her memory.

But the words he had read reverberated in his mind, filling him with hope.

The day after Discord’s defeat by the Elements of Harmony found Gallant Quill to be restless. The events of the previous day turned over and over in his head. The normally closed-off Gallant had spoke in great length about his past and his frustrations. More than that, I kissed Princess Luna, the thought floored him that he would step so far past the boundaries of their relationship, whether in his right mind or not.

He had yet to open his eyes as he was contemplating all of this, thus not realizing that he was still lying outside the door to Luna’s bedchambers.

“Why hello my little pony, it seems my guards were accurate after all.” Gallant’s eyes shot open to behold the regal form of Princess Celestia towering over him. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Many times in the past, Gallant had been surprised in his sleep by one thing or another. While most turned out to be harmless, several times he had been less fortunate. Thus, he had trained himself to react the same way every time. Closing his eyes to feign a return to sleep, Gallant instantly teleported away, decided to forego whatever it was that Celestia wanted.

Gallant sighed in relief, safe in the Lunar Forge that he had grown so accustomed to over the past few weeks. His head was pounding and he knew movement would cause a wave of nausia to overtake him. Unfortunately he had not actually ever been shown to the room that was allotted to members of the guard, having been tirelessly working since his graduation. His reflection on his current hangover was abruptly cut short as he heard a giggle above him.

Gallant’s fears were confirmed when he opened his eyes to find the form of the princess still over him. He had not moved from his original spot.

“How did it fail? It never fails...” Gallant had never before failed to teleport away from danger.

“Do not fret, your exceeding skill at that spell is quite intact. It’s just not enough to get away from us. My sister warned me that you might blink away when startled, much like a squirrel.” Celestia’s eyes twinkled with mirth as she gazed down at the hungover Lunar Guard. “Get up, and follow me. I think you and I have much to discuss.”

She was definitely angling towards something, Gallant surmised, and it was probably not good for him, whatever it was. Finding himself at a disadvantage, he nonetheless obeyed the Sun Princess and stood to follow her. He was immediately dropped to the floor again by nausea, but under the stern gaze of Celestia, fought off the urge to throw up. Quickly following her through the richly adorned but sparsely populated hallways of the royal castle, Gallant was using his magic to feel out the dampening field Celestia held on him.

She had more raw magical power than any pony he’d ever met before, as well as millennia of experience with it. He knew immediately that overpowering the field would be impossible, he possessed neither the raw magical aptitude for it, nor the skill to know how to do so. Gallant had read before, however, that a dampening field required a small amount of concentration in order to keep it strong and stable.

Gathering his courage and offering a silent prayer, Gallant smacked Celestia on her rump. She jumped and yelped loudly. Gallant felt the field around him vanish as the magic coalesced around his throat in anger. Swearing to himself, Gallant seized the opportunity to blink to safety before the Princess’ wrath could be brought to bear on him.

He found himself in the Lunar Forge, his original destination before he realized Celestia’s hold on him. Luna had told him that this place was safe from unwanted entrance from everyone except herself. She had placed spells around it that allowed the occupants to keep themselves hidden from magic probing and to keep the entrance from being revealed. Though Celestia would almost certainly know where he was, she would not be able to enter; Luna had wanted a place to keep away from her sister, in case things got a little hot-headed between them.

Gallant laid down on the small cot, attempting to get some sleep before Luna inevitably came to question him about the morning’s event.

“Thou art incredibly foolish. To treat our sister in such a disgraceful way, did thou think that we would not hear of it? What sayeth thou?” Luna had arrived, exactly as Gallant had predicted.

The Lunar Princess had not heard of the morning events until she awoke from her slumber around noon. While Celestia had wanted to tell Luna about her unscrupulous protege, the daily court had come first. Thus, Luna had quite a nice conversation with her sister over lunch. In the meantime, Gallant had been sleeping off his hangover, and was more prepared to deal with the inevitable arrival of Luna.

Despite this, and indeed having prepared a response to this very question, Gallant decided to be blunt, “I knew you’d hear about it, but I was thinking of myself only. I didn’t want to talk to Celestia, she was dampening my magic, so I broke her concentration. I believe the phrase is, ‘worth it’.”

Luna stared hard into the eyes of the unicorn before her, before breaking into a small smile, “Oho it seems we have chosen wisely in finding thou! We were amused by our sister’s tale, it is not often that somepony gets the better of Celestia, to have it be our own apprentice makes it doubly amusing.”

“Wait what? You’re not mad?” Gallant was dumbfounded for a moment.

“Neigh, thou escaped from harm, and thou hast brightened our day already. Thou should be wary of Celestia, but her anger will subside. Eventually.” Luna dragged him with her magic off the cot and onto his hooves. “It is time for thou to begin learning the magic of the Lunar Guards, as well as some of the history. Thou must learn to focus on multiple events at the same time, this magic must become second nature. Thou hast already mastered this with teleportation, now thou must master invisibility as well. Let us begin.”

Gallant and Luna spent the remainder of the day working on the invisibility spell. Luna added small pieces of history and background about the spell where she could. The invisibility spell used by the Lunar Guards, was really more like a light bending spell. It was developed by Luna after she observed the workings of a collapsing star. She had not realized when she created them, what would happen if a star died. In observing the black hole created by the death of a star, she found that she could not directly see them, noting their presence only by the light bending around them. The same principle was applied with magic instead of gravitational force, and the signature ability of the Lunar Guard was born.

While the majority of the intricacies behind the spell went over Gallant’s head, he had no idea what a black hole was for example, he understood the basic principle. Bend light around you, and you can’t be seen. It was easier said than done however. The average pony has a rather large surface area, and in order for the spell to be effective, each and every inch had to have the light bent away from it, shaped around Gallant, and then replaced in the exact location it should be as if he weren’t there. He could only imagine how difficult the spell was the create in the first place, as the effort required to sustain even a partial bending of the light for a small amount of time, exhausted his entire reserve of energy. After six hours of first getting the steps to cast the spell down and memorized, Gallant was only able to actually use a weakened form of the spell for fifteen minutes.

Collapsing in exhaustion as the spell ran out, returning him from a semi-visible state to fully visible, Gallant moaned, “Holy...buck...how...is...that...useful?”

“In time, thy stamina will be greater. Thou wilt surely last longer. For now, we think thou should rest. For at one in the morning, thou wilt begin thy blade training with Sir Spectre.” Luna turned on her heel and began leaving the forge.

“Wait, what?!” Gallant had caught his breath and looked at Luna’s retreating backside in horror. “I don’t even know where my room is yet!”

That caught Luna’s attention, and she turned around to stare at him quizzically, “Thou dost not know where thy own room is? Come, we shall show thou where thine accommodations are located.” Luna again turned towards the exit.

Sighing inaudibly, Gallant dutifully followed.

On their way towards the place where Gallant would be staying, he couldn’t rightfully call it a room as he had no idea what they actually gave to Lunar Guards, he and Luna passed by the dining hall, where Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance were taking their evening meal. Smelling the food, Gallant’s mouth began to water against his will. He prayed Luna wouldn’t notice his hunger, lest she decide to have them eat with her sister, an act he would have very much liked to avoid. Sadly, his stomach betrayed him, letting out a rumble which could not have been missed by Luna.

Sure enough, “Gallant? When was the last time thou ate?”

Truthfully, Gallant had not eaten the entire day, having made his escape from Celestia, he had never taken the time to eat before he began learning the invisibility spell with Luna. He appeared to ponder the question for a moment, hoping to delay the inevitable. Alas, it was for naught, as Luna prodded him with a midnight blue wing when he appeared to space out. “Um, ahem, when did we eat yesterday?”

“We had dinner at seven in the evening... Then was the last time thou ate? It’s near eight now.” She sighed to herself, praying to her mother that her pupil would not be so absent-minded as her sister’s. “Well we surmise now is as good a time as any. We see our sister is dining with our dear niece and her fiance, we shall join them.” Gallant worked to hide the fear written across his face. “Oho, now we see why thou didst attempt to dodge our question, thou art afraid of Celestia.”

As tough and stoic as he attempted to appear, Gallant actually was mortally afraid of offending a goddess, namely because he feared for his own mortality.

“You can see why I may not want to eat with Princess Celestia and the Captain of the Guard, I’m not particularly fond of court marshals, or dying.”

“Hmm, thy fear may be warranted... but we shall ask thou, would thou ask for quarter?”

“No.” His answer was swift and immediate, “I will never ask for mercy. Mercy is for the weak, the only mercy given to my enemies is a coup de grâce."

Luna studied Gallant for the moment, carefully considering his words. They stayed like this, master studying student, judging him, student looking defiantly, daring anyone to challenge him, for several moments. At last Luna broke into a smile, an act that was becoming more frequent since she had met Gallant. “We have indeed chosen well, thy words are well said and heartfelt. We agree that mercy is for the weak, but never forget that the weak are often the ones we are sworn to protect. Never forget that thou art sworn to serve the people of Equestria. Do not worry, we shall protect thou from our sister’s wrath so that we may eat in peace.”

With that, she turned away and led the tired unicorn stallion, who was feeling very confused and very much like he had just passed a test of some sort, into the dining hall.

Elsewhere

A griffon ran through the brush of the woods as quickly as possible. He felt his wings and bemoaned that he could not fly. Whatever they had done to him, it had changed him. He was stronger, faster, bigger, but he could not fly. No. No it had not been that, but the other thing they did... He remembered suddenly, They clipped them, so that I could not get away. So that this could not happen.

But he did get away. They had allowed him some time out in the common area, where he could stretch his wings and flap them a bit. He was not expected to last long. They thought he had been starving himself, that the depression of his condition was slowly killing him. He would not have been the first.

He had been eating though. He had been sneaking food when the doctors weren’t looking. Exercising late at night when all others were asleep. They had underestimated him. It had cost them dearly. He was gone in seconds flat, barreling out in the main lobby and smashing his hefty frame through the steel and plate glass entrance as if it were paper. The cuts covering his body reminded him that it was not paper.

Returning his focus to his current situation, he knew had to find a place to hide. Spying a ranch house in the distance, he bounded to it as fast as possible, they would catch up with him within minutes. Knocking frantically on the front door, he was greeted by the sight of an old earth pony mare with white eyes. She’s blind! he thought with a small amount of shock. In the griffon kingdoms, very few griffons with a weakness lived long, though those that did were often very powerful leaders. It always surprised the griffon how much different pony society was.

“Hello? Who’s there? Speak up I can’t hear you!” The mare spoke with the kind voice of one well seasoned in years, but who also wanted the colts and fillies away from her flowerbed.

“Hello ma’am, there isn’t much time to explain but some very bad people are after me and I need a place to hide.”

“Hmph, you know you wouldn’t be the first to say something like that. People think because I’m blind, I can’t see them. I can see you, young griffon, you heart is worried and you are scared. Hmph, and you’re bleeding on my good welcome mat.” The griffon hung his head in shame, she would not let him in. “Well what are you waiting for, come in, come in. Turn over that mat before you do, I’m sure whoever is after you would notice the blood.”

The griffon quickly did as he was told and slipped into the house. He noticed a still steaming cup of tea on a small table in front of a small sofa. The walls were painted pink with white stripes, and pictures of a couple of elderly ponies adorned the walls. A large fireplace dominated the front room and the mantle was covered in models of old naval vessels and airships. Small dark mahogany dining table sat in the far back of the room, with four white lace placemats and four matching high-back chairs. The elderly mare gestured to a small doorway near the dining table. “Go through there, take the first door on the right, and head down the stairs. Do not come out or make a noise until I give the all-clear.”

The griffon wasted no time in doing as he was bid and soon found himself in a small, bare cellar. He could hear the elderly mare moving around above him. Not two minutes later, a knock came at the door. He stood as still as possible in the darkness, silently praying to any god that he would not be found.

“Excuse me ma’am, I’m with the guard and there’ve been reports of a dangerous creature rampaging through these parts. You haven’t seen anything like that have you?”

The griffon could hear the old mare snort, “Sonny, I aint see much of nothin no more.” When did she get an accent?

The stallion, as the voice sounded to him to be, was clearly embarrassed at his gaffe, “Err, right sorry. Um, is it alright if I take a look around? The creature may have taken refuge in here without your knowledge.”

Her voiced changed, becoming the voice he had heard earlier, “No, I don’t think so. It wouldn’t get past me.”

“Ma’am I’m just doing my-” The sound of metal scraping against wood cut the guard off.

“I assure you, it would not get past me.”

“Right you are, sorry to bother you.” Whatever she had done had convinced the pony thoroughly that he was not there. “Who’s like us?” The stallion added as an afterthought.

“Not you.” And the mare shut the door. He heard hoofsteps retreat off the porch and into the night. After a few moments the door to the cellar was opened. “Well, come on out, he’s gone.”
The griffon walked slowly upstairs, wary of whatever the mare had done to scare off the guard. At the kind look on her face, however, the griffon's fears subsided. He had to trust somepony after all.

“First things first, what’s your name? My name is Sky Shadow.”

“My name is Valor de Bastion, I am pleased to meet you, Sky Shadow”

“Then let us talk Valor. We have much to discuss. Start with how you came to Equestria.”

“It’s a long story... But alright.”

Author's Note

This took a long time, but I finally got the ball rolling enough to finish the chapter. Bonus points to anyone who knows where that quote is from.

Chapter 5: The Demons Within

Chapter 5

The Demons Within

The demons within are often the most dangerous, and they will invariably attack whenever you are weakest.

-Excerpt from the Journal of Gen. Gallant Quill

He allowed himself to be led into the dining hall. He saw Celestia smile at her sister, then felt the temperature drop as the Sun Princess’ gaze shifted to him. He could see rivulets of frost forming on the windows, and the steam from the food was fading rapidly. Gallant felt his heart slamming against his ribcage at a breakneck speed; all the world became lost as the eyes of Celestia pierced his soul.

This darkness, what is this place? She couldn’t have killed me with a single glance... Right? No... I am here. But where is here?

You are within your mind, young Gallant.

Who are you? Celestia?

Ah, so you are not as daft as you appeared to be. Hmm, what interesting memories you have. What's this? Your father, oh he was THAT Quill.

What do you want? Why are you here?

Perhaps I am angry at you. Furious even. You disrespected me in a way that nopony dares to. You usurped my authority, assaulted me, and now you have the nerve to dine with me? Why should I respect your wishes?

My wishes? You misunderstand. I question you being here, not for my safety, but for yours. To play with my mind inside of yours is one thing. To come on my turf is entirely different.

A crimson star revealed two ponies. One, a white alicorn with pink hair. The other, a gray stallion, marred by shadows. Only his mouth was visible to the Sun Princess. But it was what caused the shadows that sent a shiver down Celestia’s spine.

Massive black creatures, who had no visible faces or limbs, dwarfed the stallion before her. And surrounded her.

You may be a goddess, but this is my kingdom, my land. I will ask you but one time, leave here and do not return. I cannot keep these creatures at bay for long. They know they cannot harm me now, but you? You are just a plaything, and they will tear you apart. Go.

Celestia recoiled, her eyes shifting away from Gallant, returning herself to her food. Luna look questioningly at Gallant, seeing at first his eyebrows furrowed and then his eyes beginning to water. The unicorn trembled and a visible shiver went through him, before he looked up at Luna, his stomach rumbling once more.

“I apologize, Princess Luna. I seem to be hungrier than I had thought.” His weak excuse was not missed by Luna, but she allowed the matter to drop.

“It appears so, thou seems to have lost thyself in thy mind. But no matter, sit beside us here.” She led them to a place across from Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, the only other occupants of the hall besides themselves and Celestia.

“Captain Armor.” Gallant acknowledge the captain with a nod of his head but did not move to salute.

“Private Quill.” Cadance looked between the two briefly before sighing.

“I’m Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and I’m pleased to meet you...?” She introduced herself, giving Gallant and Shining something to focus on other than their hatred of each other.

“Err, Gallant Quill, Princess. Private First Class in the Lunar Guard.” Gallant fidgeted in his chair, shifting around.

“Former smuggler and criminal and who was supposed to be sentenced to a very long time in prison.” Both Luna and Cadance shot Shining a disapproving glare.

Cadance spoke in hushed whisper to her fiance, “Honestly, we’re eating, please just let it go. I know it was important to you, but please? For me?” His cheeks inflamed at the scolding, Shining gave a tiny nod.

“If I may interject, and I do hope I’m not interrupting your lovers quarrel,” All eyes turned to Gallant, who, along with both of the Princesses, had heard what Cadance said. “It’s not like I’m in a favorable position either. Everyone I knew would not hesitate to put a blade in my back now. You still got everyone else you rounded up, I may have been the big pony, but I wasn’t the only pony. Not only that, I’m sure they will send for me to be removed. They will come. I will end them. I serve Equestria now. For good or worse. Is that enough for you?” Gallant’s point made, he turned away from the Captain across from him and began to discuss with Luna what kind of foods were available and what was good.

Princess Celestia was determined to get the last word in however, “Oh and this morning’s events were what you call “Serving Equestria”?

Without missing a beat, “Well I suppose one could take it that way, depending on how long it’s been.”

Gallant studied a menu on the table quickly before placing his order with a servant who had just walked up next to him. Around him, the other ponies were desperately trying to hold back their laughter and Celestia’s cheeked were flushed at the implications of his words.

“I suppose so, but it wasn’t my room you were sleeping in front of last night was it? How long has it been Lu-Lu?” Celesta grinned widely at the pair, raising her eyebrows.

It was Luna’s turn to be embarrassed as she looked away and focused on the table before her. As she did so she noticed the blade strapped to Gallant’s right foreleg slide down from it’s place above his knee and into a fighting position. She could not see his face, but could see his muscles tensed and his jawline set. She placed a hoof on his shoulder. He turned to her questioningly, and she smiled at him and shook her head. He instantly relaxed and the blade moved into it’s previous position.

How far wouldst this stallion go for us? To fight our sister, in the castle... Gallant thy loyalty is stronger than even thou knows. Luna reflected on her protege as she ate in silence. After the exchange of teasing insults, the Lunar pair kept to themselves.

The room given to Gallant was a large suite located next to Princess Luna’s room in the living quarter of the castle. He and Shining Armor had rooms across from each other and Luna explained to Gallant that he was given this room because the diarchs preferred that their personal students lived close by, except in the case of Celestia’s current student, who lived in the middle of nowhere. He suspected that was not entirely the reason that he had been given a room so close to the Princess, and that it was perhaps to keep his leash short that Luna (or more likely Celestia and Shining Armor) had him live there.

The room itself opened up to a spacious living area, with two couches, a small table, and large window overlooking the gorge below the city. Whoever had designed the room had obviously assumed someone familiar with Princess Luna would stay there, if the midnight theme was any indication. Navy blue, royal purple, and jet black dominated the overall color scheme of the decorations, and the bedroom was no different.

Nostalgia overwhelmed him as he entered the bedroom with Luna shortly behind him to find a few of the knickknacks that had been confiscated from his apartment in Lower Canterlot. A small box containing a program and a ticket from each of Octavia’s concerts, he had never missed one; A Princess Luna plush toy; a picture of his family when his father was still alive; and the two guitars he had found in his family’s attic the day before he left home. A set of black clothing had been left for him on the bed, evidently it was his uniform as a member of the Lunar Guard.

Luna walked over to the few things that Gallant held dear,picked up the plushie of herself, and shot a questioning glance at the unicorn stallion. He turned his head and looked away, pretending not to notice what she had found, praying that she wouldn’t ask about it.

“Gallant?” No such luck then, he sighed internally, “What is this?”

“Well it’s a stuffed toy...” He looked at it and her for the first time since she had picked it up.

“We are aware of that, why dost thou have it? Was perhaps our sister right in thy affections for us?” She smirked down at the stallion, as his cheeks began to flush and he pushed at the ground with his hoof.

“NO!” He exclaimed, causing Luna’s smile to fall a bit. He quickly corrected himself, “I mean err, It’s not that, er, it was given to me. And it’s one of the few things I hold dear.”

“Oh, and who gave it to thou? A mare perhaps?” Luna’s smile was slightly too wide, and her tight jaw line betrayed her true thoughts.

Gallant, did not notice however, “Yes... In a manner of speaking.”

Luna frowned slightly, “What dost thou mean?”

Gallant sighed, feeling his throat growing dryer by the moment, recalling the memory, “It was a couple weeks before my arrest, hah, I remember seeing this pony, selling these on the street, and this little filly going up and buying one. She was no more than five years, the cutest thing. She was all alone, and it was a rough part of town, but she wanted it so bad. And she was so very happy to get it, she didn’t notice them come out of the alley and start following her. Two of them. Big dirty pegasi. But I noticed. I followed them from the rooftops praying to every god I could think of that they would just go away. They didn’t. When she passed by an alley, they moved quickly, pushing her in where nopony could see her. I moved as quick as I could, teleporting directly over them. I was almost too late. I dropped out of the sky, breaking one’s back instantly. I bucked the other in the head, bouncing him off the wall and knocking him out. I grabbed the little filly and we teleported on top of the building. I told her to wait for me. I teleported back down, and made sure the two pegasi would never fly again. I grabbed the filly and took her home. When we reached her house, her mother was so relieved. She had come all the way from Upper Canterlot for the stupid plush toy. On her own. I mean, what kind of foal does that? What kind of parent lets their kid roam like that? Anyway, she hugged me and gave me this. The stupid toy. Why couldn’t she have just stayed where it’s safe?” Gallant’s head was lowered, and tears dripped onto the floor.

“We- No, I do not understand your sadness. She was okay, was she not?” Luna questioned the sobbing unicorn.

Gallant collected himself, before answering her, “No. They worked for someone, I never found out who. I got arrested before I could track them down. But they found the filly. And they burned the house down. They whole family died. The stupid foal. All for a bucking toy. I went to the funeral. I was drunk. They wouldn’t let me in. I wanted... I wanted to put it in her casket... So it would be with her. So that she had the thing she wanted so much.” He sighed, running a hoof through his mane, and looked up at Luna. “Sorry Princess, I bet I don’t look much like a Lunar Stallion right now huh?” He laughed weakly.

To his great surprise, Luna wrapped him in a hug, “On the contrary, thou looks to be even more of a Lunar Guard than ever before.” She released him, stepping back into the doorway. “We suggest thou rests before Sergeant Spectre visits for thy training.” She turned away, but as she reached the door to the castle hallway, she called over her shoulder, “Oh and Gallant, we will never think less of thou, for thy emotions. That is a promise. Goodnight.” With that, she exited the room.

Sighing once more and rubbing his eyes, Gallant turned to inspect the uniform on the bed, and hoped he would be able to get to sleep. He could feel the old demons of depression, self-doubt, anxiety, and regret clawing at his soul. He resolved himself to not let them win again, for the sake of that young filly.

Chapter 6: Welcome to the Lunar Guard

Chapter 6

Welcome to the Lunar Guard

“There was never any group of ponies quite like squad alpha. They were talented, argumentative, divisive, and the closest of friends. Is it any wonder so many heros came from them?”

-Excerpt from the journal of Gen. Shining Armor

A beautiful grey mare in a pink bowtie sighed as she looked out onto the crowd. Mom isn’t here, no surprise, but where’s- A hoof wrapped around her from behind.

“Hey, don’t look so glum, did you think I’d break my promise already?” The stallions familiar voice eased the tensions she’d been feeling.

“Gallant! You’re late!” She huffed indignantly, but smiled out of his view.

“Hey now, I said I’d always be there, I didn’t say I’d always be on time. Go on, the show’s about to start.” He pushed her laughing towards the back where the other musicians were waiting.

They walked home later after the concert. It had been a small school thing, with only parents and a few friends attending. But Octavia had played brilliantly, and Gallant could see she was fast growing to love the stage. She’s just like Dad, she loves the music, loves the stage, and loves the spotlight. He grinned at the recollection of her numerous bows after her solo.

“Hey what’s got you so happy?” Octavia cocked her head in questioning at the elder unicorn.

“Hmm, oh it’s nothing really.”

“Come on! You never smile anymore, tell me! Is it a mare?!” She jumped excitedly, trying to divine the secrets of Gallant’s mind.

He laughed, “No, silly, it’s a not a mare... Well it is, but not like that. Just thinking about how you’re a lot like Dad is all.”

She grimaced, “Oh. Well thanks.” Octavia poked at the ground with her hoof as she walked, not looking at her brother.

“Hey, don’t be like that. All I meant was that Dad loved music and the stage, you do too.” She still wouldn’t look at him, and he sighed.

There was silence between them for a time while they walked.

“What was he like Gallant?” The sudden question surprised him.

“Uh, well, he was a lot like you. He loved music and he loved the stage.” He paused briefly, “He loved us too. I promise you. Whatever our mother told you, he did love us.”

She was taken back by the conviction of his words. “Then why’d he... you know?”

Gallant frowned, focusing off into the distance, “I’m not sure. It wasn’t us. But I don’t know what it was.” He stopped suddenly, still looking at some far off object.

“Gallant?”

“Promise me something okay?” He fixed Octavia with a hard stare, eyes appearing to glisten. No it must be the glare from the sun, Gallant doesn’t cry.

“Uh sure?” She furrowed her brow, frowning slightly.

“Promise me that you’ll never quit, alright? No matter how tough it gets, promise me. Even if I’m gone, you have to keep going, okay? Promise?” His coat was moist with tears, his face was constricted as he wrapped his hooves around Octavia.

“Gallant what’s going on? Why are you asking me to promise that?” His mood was infectious and she was starting to get anxious as well.

“I can’t tell you, I really can’t. I’m sorry. I’ll always be around though okay? Even if you don’t know it. Please promise me you won’t give up?” The tears had stopped, he stepped away from her, once more fixing her with a pleading look.

“Alright. I promise.” She hugged him again to reassure him.

He smiled against her mane, “Let’s go home.”

“UP AND AT EM PRIVATE! LET’S GO!”

Gallant dove out of bed, snapping to a salute immediately. “I’M AWAKE.”

Spectre chuckled, “That’s not what it looked like, Quill. At ease.”

Gallant relaxed, dropping his salute and turning to the uniform that he had placed on a small desk in the room earlier. “What are we doing today Sarge?”

“We’re going to the Lunar Barracks today, it’s gonna be quite a run, since you can’t fly there. I suggest you get some food, but remember you gotta keep pace with me. It’s about...” He checked a nearby clock, “Oh-one-fifteen. I expect you in front of the castle no later than oh-one-forty-five.” Spectre saluted with his left foreleg and walked out, leaving Gallant to his own devices.

The uniform Gallant had been given was very simple black leather armor. It covered his chest and shoulders. A heavy black cloak was also given to him, apparently for cold weather assignments. It was a bit simpler than Spectre’s typical armor, but it clearly marked them as being part of a specific group. He got it on as quickly as possible and went out into the main room. There was a small kitchenette that he hadn’t noticed before to his left before the door into the quarters. Walking inside, he noticed that a sandwich wrapped in wax paper had been left on a counter. Eating the meal quickly, Gallant rushed out the main door-

WHAM!

Gallant ran straight into Sergeant Spectre, bowling the larger bat pony over in his haste.

“What the buck, Quill!” He threw the unicorn off him, standing him to brush himself off with his wings.

“Err, sorry I thought you’d be down at the entrance.” Gallant stood rigidly at attention, praying no punishment would come his way.

“And I thought you’d walk around like a normal pony. And for the love of Celestia at ease. You’re not a bucking recruit anymore. Anyway I came to get you because I wasn’t sure if you knew the way out of here or not.”

Gallant looked away, “Uh... yeah...”

Spectre sighed, “Come on let’s go.”

They quickly walked through the castle and out the front gate. The large bat pony wordlessly gestured to the road and took off at gallop. Gallant doing the same, they started through Canterlot just as it’s nightlife was beginning to roar. They passed multiple nightclubs with long lines, including one club playing music where they could still feel the bass for several blocks. Gallant noticed that not a single pony even glanced in their direction as they ran.

Venturing entirely through Upper Canterlot, they emerged on the northern side of the city where the entrance to the mines was. Spectre led them on the road towards the mines, but then diverted to a very old stone path that led up the mountainside. It wrapped around the mountainside leading upward into the clouds that cloaked the Mountain of Dawn at night, perpetually kept in their place by pegasi. Spectre gestured for them to stop, evidently the climb could not be at the same pace they had been traveling at.

“Ours is a very old order, founded by Princess Luna herself as a means of defending the kingdom in ways that the army was unable to do. We run black ops, that is our primary purpose, to take the dirty little secrets of Equestria and dispose of them. We do not hesitate to kill those that would stop us, and we also do not hesitate to help those in need. To be a Lunar Guard means more than just guarding Luna, it means guarding Equestria, guarding everything. Do you understand?”

Gallant nodded silently.

“Good. If you’re wondering about the leadership, well we don’t have any. Right now I’m the highest ranking member of the guard, and thats only because I happened to be a Sergeant when Princess Luna recruited me. So what I say goes, got it? Everyone else is either fresh out of basic like you, or were low-ranking guards noticed by the Princess for whatever reason.”

“And me?” Gallant queried the grizzled leader beside him.

“You are different.” Gallant frowned at the non-answer.

“How-” Spectre held up a wing to silence him.

“Not my place. Not the time.”

Sighing, Gallant let the matter drop. But he thought of another thing that bothered him, “So why do you rarely salute with your right foreleg, the one with the blade?”

Out of the unicorn’s sight, Spectre grimaced, “In the Lunar Guard, to salute someone with your blade is the highest of honors. The blade is your constant companion, you can always count on it to be by your side. To salute someone, equates that honor on them as well, that they are worthy of the same trust that you place in your blade.”

“So when at my graduation-” Spectre cut him off again.

“I was, as I am now, proud of you. Speak no more on the subject.” With that, they walked in silence until they reached the cloud layer. A small balcony right before the clouds overlooked the city of Canterlot. It’s lights twinkled and shone brightly like the stars above; the dull roar of the city's nightlife could be heard below. But waiting on that small balcony was a tall alicorn with a navy blue coat and a mane like the night sky. Princess Luna turned to greet the two Lunar Guards, smiling softly.

“Hello gentlecolts, isn’t Canterlot lovely at night?” She gestured to the expanse of light below them. “Now, we must be down to the business at hand. When thou dost travel through the clouds, Gallant Quill, thou art entering the sanctuary of the Lunar Guard. This is thy chance, thou may turn back now. Death begets corruption begets death. To be one of us is to not only stare into the abyss, but to embrace it, to be of the abyss and be the very thing that others may try to destroy. Choose thy destiny.”

Gallant stood for what seemed like an eternity, glancing between the clouds, Luna and Spectre. He took one contemplating step forward, and then another. Smiling, he walked confidently through the clouds and into the Lunar Guard.

“You owe me two bits.”

“Awww buck you.”

Coughing at the accidental inhalation of moisture, Gallant cleared the clouds to find a group of ponies watching him. “Hello.”

He took in the surroundings quickly, they were standing underneath a large stone arch that served as the gate to the cloud layer. Beyond that was what appeared to be a track and numerous other ponies who were in the midst of sparring with each other. In the distance on the left side of the track was the peak of the mountain and carved into its side was a large doorway. Gallant wondered briefly if that was where the barracks were, and where he would most likely sleep if Celestia managed to kick him out of the castle.

Snapping him from his thoughts, a bat pony mare with piercing yellow eyes giggled at him, “Hi! I’m glad you decided to join, I’m Midnight Lilly!” She giggled again, bouncing around like a filly.

“Can you chill out? For once?” A white pegasus with a very well kept and groomed blonde mane glared at the bat pony, then his light blue eyes softened when she looked down guiltily. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

She bounced up again looking as though she were never upset, “And this party pooper here is Cloud Shadow.” The pegasus waved a hoof distractedly towards Gallant, focused on the bat pony who had won the money off him. “Well don’t the rest of you be shy, come on!”

A light-blue unicorn mare smiled shyly at him, “H- Hi, I’m Morning Star.” Her mane was short and colored a dark purple, and Gallant noticed her eyes were a very light blue, almost appearing to be white.

Next, a tall red earth pony, whose eyes burned a deep crimson, stepped forward, “And I’m Stark Fields.”

Just as another bat pony with dull copper eyes stepped forward to introduce herself, Sergeant Spectre came through the clouds. “Yeah, yeah, yeah there will be plenty of time for introductions later. Here’s the short, Gallant needs to learn quick. Gallant this is your squad. They will train with you. You’re all a part of platoon Night-Watch. Lance Corporal Fields, you’re in charge.” He stopped, watching with the others as Cloud Shadow continued to glare daggers at the energetic bat pony.

“LET’S GO FILLIES, WE DON’T HAVE ALL NIGHT.” The thundering voice of the Sergeant sent them packing, with a calm, though somewhat confused Gallant in tow. “Hehe, still got it.”

The training area they were in was situated near the top of the mountain, with a huge track surrounding a vast field of dirt, which was filled on one half with a number of rings outlined by stone. It was in these rings, where most of their individual training would take place. Here they would work purely on fighting skills while in the other half of the area, squad exercises would take place. Typically pitting one squad against another, squad activities ranged from actual combat, to team sports such as hoofball.

Gallant spent his first training session sparring against Morning Star, the light blue unicorn form before. He never been given such a difficult workout. What she lacked in strength, Star more than made up for in speed. She was matching his blinks, blow for blow, effectively turning the fight into a match to see who could land a hit. Before the fight, Star had blunted each of the squad member’s blades with a spell, effectively allowing them to fight as the would in an actual confrontation.

It started off slow at first, with Gallant blinking next to her to land a strike at her back, only for her to fade away, leaving a trail of dust that shot away from him. She reappeared on the other side of the duel ring, only to fade away again. Hearing only two hoofsteps before the dust settled next to him, Gallant blinked to the right, quickly turning and stabbing left, to hit only air. He grunted in frustration before blinking after her, not letting her get a moments rest. They began moving faster and faster with Gallant ever on the attack, until Star parried one of his strikes.

CLANG!

The sound of metal smacking metal away filled the air, and suddenly Gallant found himself on the defensive. And still their pace was ever increasing. Gallant stopped for a split second, letting her through a strike towards his foreleg, before sliding his own blade underneath hers and lifting it away. She had been prepared for this however and brought her left foreleg up in a hook, crashing into his face, while his blade impacted into her side, but thanks to the counter-momentum from her punch it did not hit hard enough to give her more than a cut even had it not been dulled. They broke apart briefly appearing on opposite sides of the ring, before blurring again and clashing in the center multiple times.

Gallant could feel his body wearing out, and as he met Star in the center once more, he attempted an overhead strike, only to have his leg knocked away. His eyes went wide as the mare’s blade came up from her side, and poked his forehead.

Morning Star smiled softly, “Y- You did really well.”

“Thanks...” He was breathing heavily and she didn’t even appear to be fazed. “How are you that fast?”

Star shifted dirt around with her hoof, looking away. “I- I just am... It was a spell taught to us. And I- I learned it really well.”

Hoofsteps sounded around the pair as they looked up to see the rest of their squad standing there. An orange pegasus sporting an electric blue mane streaked with white stepped forward, “I can’t believe you went toe to toe with Morning Star! Thats some sick sh-” He was interrupted by Fields hitting him on the back of the head, causing his sea green eyes to glaze over momentarily.

“Watch your language kid!” He turned to Gallant, “Sorry, that’s Storm Breaker, kind of a loud-mouth but he is right. Star is the fastest pony in the Lunar Guard short of Spectre. I mean she beat you pretty easily, but you lasted longer than a lot of ponies do. Not bad for your first day.” He trotted back to his own training area as did the rest of the squad, now that the show was over.

“Hey, Star?” Gallant questioned his training partner, somewhat disappointed that after that workout, they were not even close to being done for the day.

“Yes? Is something wrong?” She looked at him worriedly.

“No, no. Nothing like that. I was just wondering, if you could show me how you blocked me all those times.”

Morning Star giggled, “Sure, now stand across from me and try the same attack as before...”

The rest of the morning was spent training and sparring and going over tactics that they used against each other. When it was over, Gallant teleported back into his room at Canterlot Castle and crashed into bed, grateful to finally get some rest.