• Member Since 17th Nov, 2014
  • offline last seen Nov 6th, 2023

Anzel


"The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right but to get it written." -John Dufresne. Please send corrections via PMs. The Blade of Quill & Blade

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Source

This story is a sequel to Secrets of a Royal Guard


Duty, honor, and loyalty above all else. That was what Silent Knight had been told ever since he was a colt. They had guided him all his life and he was more than ready to follow in his father’s hoofsteps by dedicating himself to the Royal Guard. Then he discovered something else he had never expected: friendship and love. He learned that he owed these values not just to his job, but to his wife, his friends, and his family. Unfortunately, he learned that too late.

War has broken out between the gryphon kingdoms and Equestria is stuck in the thick of it trying to protect their ally, Nordanver. As Silent marches off to war, he must contend with the guilt that battles within him. He played right into the claws of Sudramoar's sovereign, and now he must leave his newlywed wife behind so that he can pay the price for his foolish actions.

Knowledge of the Quill & Blade AU is recommended to understand this story. It is a direct sequel to Secrets of a Royal Guard.

Chapters (65)
Comments ( 3825 )

Eeeeeeee! I've been waiting for this!!

YES!!!! !ITS OUT!!! now to read it after classes.

Hahahaha! Oh, yeah! SK is back, baby. :pinkiesmile:

6984211 Me too. The break did me a lot of good and the stories direction is going to be a heck of a lot of fun!

6985487 On leap day no less! I'm thrilled to be back =D

6985524 Yes he is! Serious business time.

6985553 Me too. I'm thrilled with how it came out.

A promising start. I love how much effort and care has been put into this story and this chapter is indicative of that same level of dedication. The road ahead to end the war and re-establich peace looks to be a rocky, winding one and, with you at the helm, I wouldn't have it any other way.

To speak of things I didn't expect... First was that King Ranald would take the time to share a moment with SK. Alton was a favorite of mine as well so this bit meant a lot to me and much more to SK. Second, Clement's request. I'm interested to see if this relationship gets into deeper personal waters.

Thank you for this continuation, and the best of wishes as you continue on leading this journey.

6985563 Thank you for the kind words AAM! I really do appreciate them. I wanted Alton to matter more too. That is probably a tweak I'll make in Secrets in the 2E. Bringing him back in and showing a bit of the king was important to me. There will certainly be a different tone in this story and I wanted to set it off right! Thanks again ^_^

I'm not sure if I'll like the war thing Anzel but I promise I will not be biased by it and simply follow the story of my favorite characters and their fight to do good. :twilightsmile:

Damn, so much Military stuff!

It's JOHN CENA... oh, wait. It's 'just' Silent Knight.

I've been waiting for this sequel to come out, I expect great things from it so you'd better deliver, Anzel! :pinkiehappy:

Also, like number 42! Woohoo! :yay:

6985589 Don't worry, I think if you liked Memoirs and Secrets you'll like this story too even if War Tales aren't necessarily your thing. There is going to be something for everyone!

6985619 We've got to kick off a war ;)

6985637 Very different people!

6985649 I'll do mah best! I'm going to be working this one less like a serial and more like a complete story anyway so I think we'll see some great results.

Well this is a very nice setting to begin this story! Not more than one chapter in and Silent Knight is already deployed and working with a relative that he does not really appreciate. Plenty of action and drama to follow of that I am sure. This story is gonna be an interesting ride.
lovepirate77.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/img_0991.jpg

that cover art is epic! I've been practically vibrating in anticipation for this!

Eeeeee! It's here at last! SK is back! Can't say I'm eager to see the war...but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where this story takes us! This is gonna be a heck of a journey!

Congrats on having this and Secrets of a Royal Guard in the feature box at the same time!

I think I'm going to save reading quill and blade stories for the break. This is going to be a hectic two weeks, and I'm going to need something to relax with after it, not to mention I barely have time to read. See you on the 13th! :pinkiesad2::pinkiesmile:

:eeyup:ROUND 3 FIGHT:eeyup:
glad to see SK back :)

Well, this series is an institution now, isn't it? Congratulations on that.

Following.

:yay: Part 3 and i see you named the griffon kingdoms and that confused me for a bit.

6985650 Okay, I Got throught the chapter. At first I misread "Cement Knight" and lol'd At the level of army blockhead It would be.

And we have a war of Nordling Griffons defending against Arabic Griffons. Or so I imagine their colour palette so by an ignorant judging their names.

6985729 I'm guessing it's just 'North Griffon-Land' and 'South Griffon-Land' in griffon.

Tev

Awesome start to what I know will be an AWESOME story. I am very excited for more.

We meet again, Silent Knight...

SK's got the right idea to not be like his (grand)father, it's so good to see his growth as a character in that regard.

I fear that it will only go downhill from here, this is a war afterall. Nonetheless I'm excited.

Huzzah! Let there be much prasie for thee.

6985679 Indeed. I thought Clement would a nice early hook. Plus it was planned and hinted at all along. If anyone wants extra credit go look at the funeral and the wedding. It is alluded to that he is missing in both :D

6985682 Thank you! I agree. I was really pleased with the outcome. Magica is fantastic!

6985691 I'm glad to welcome you back. Stick with me ;) I promise this isn't just a "war story." There just happens to be a war going on.

6985703 Thank you kindly =D

6985709 I understand. There will be a decent build up by then. You'll be missed.

6985712 Oh there may be some fighting for sure!

6985723 Well, it has been well-received thanks to the fans. I'm not sure it is an institution but I'm glad it is something folks appreciate. Welcome :)

6985729 Indeed I did. It is a little classier that way. Easier for folks to work with going forward.

6985744 Not really my intent to assign real world correlations to Europe/Africa here.

6985777 Thank you very much :D I hoped to start strong and stay that way. Chapter two is pretty fun I'd say.

6985789 Indeed you do! This Silent Knight knows what he wants too :D

6985849 Yes, it seems he might finally have his goals figured out. Now we just have to see how he gets to them!

6985851 Thank you very much ^_^

6985859 I learned It the painful way ^^'

6985859

Does he know? Let him prove it. :twilightsmile:

6985859

I think you might have been to subtle about Clement at the wedding. I may have missed it but the only thing I found that I think could hint is this line:

In the front row on my side was my mother. There were two empty chairs next to her. Then it was Princess Luna.

On my initial read-through I discarded it as important and thought it was some security measure because the same two empty spots are left between Princess Celestia and the ponies in the next row. Two empty seats are also mentioned a third time elsewhere soon after.

Am I clear?”
“Crystal, sir!”

That line amused me far more than it should. Was it intentional?

6985955 Yes it was ;D

6985938 Certainly likely. I wanted it to be more of a retrospect thing than an in the moment. The one at the funeral was far more obvious.

6985911 And prove it he shall!

6985967

It was almost sad that it was only the three of us. There were a lot of ponies that respected my father but he didn’t really have friends.

Was that it? The next line made it seem that it was the total lack of anyone showing up that was sad, not someone specific missing. I think you have to much Maya Val in you or I am simply terrible at reading subtext. :rainbowlaugh:

This may be personal, but do you actually know anyone with personal soldier experience to help give you ideas for this kind of writing? Just asking since my best friend's brother has served and in fact he's being deployed again this Thursday to Cuba.

6986000 Indeed it does! There is going to be a lot for us to see ^_^

6986017 I was referring to this:

“I’ve already said mine and it is time I head home. It has been good spending so many days with you, Winterspear. It was a shame we couldn’t all be here together. You’ll come visit me more often, I hope. I miss our lunches.”

6986031 Well, I have my half decade of military contractor experience that occurred during the Iraq/Afghan wars. The fact I grew up in a military town, worked on a base, and such. Then there is my one buddy who suffered from PTSD or other that had a humvee blown out from under him. I feel reasonably comfortable writing this kind of story.

Clement's gonna die. The only question is how many days away from retirement is he?

6985859
I will. I've been with SK since the late beginning/early middle of Memoirs...I'm NOT about to leave now!

6986059
How was your existence as a contractor?
What does the military need/want contractors for anyhow?

6986094 It was some of the best, most rewarding work of my life. I loved it. The only downside was that I traveled for 4-6 months at a time and sometimes with only a few days notice. That is the nature of the beast though.

I'm not exactly sure how to answer what the military would need contracts for. If you're unfamiliar, the US military uses scores upon scores of contractors and we do almost everything from serving food in the chow hall, to communications, to combat roles. If the leadership feels something will be cheaper/easier privatized they hire contractors to do it. In my case, I worked in a specialized kind of communications that they didn't have a lot of experts for AND (and this is important) I could be trusted. It led to interesting work.

6986090 Huzzah! I'm glad =D Your presence would be missed.

6986084 He's only 3.5 minutes away from retirement!

6986112
Should I feel flattered you'd miss my presence? From the moment I saw Memoirs in the feature box, I was hooked. No turning back for me! I've come this far, might as well finish the journey.

Not quite what SK expected, but it works. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

Congrats on the launch, Anzel. I don't think there is any doubt it will be successful.

Great start! So, like SK said, we're back to zero. Almost. His relationship with his grandfather is interesting. It's like he only heard about him and is forming a relationship with him like with any other stranger he just met. Except, it's military style relationship. I'm looking forward to a short(it's war after all) but probably interesting conversation between SK and Val. Keep it up :twilightsmile:

/edit
And, yeah, cover art is pretty awesome :rainbowdetermined2:
/edit2
His right wing, though. Has internet corrupted me too much?! :raritydespair:

Thus begins a new chapter in Silent's life...
I have to say, I kind of like seeing what is more or less a warfic from this perspective. Most stories of this nature tend to focus on the action and emphasizes the bloody bits. Few, if any, show the logistics and planning side. It's a wonderfully new perspective. Granted, we are only at the very first chapter of this story and I have no doubt that Silent will see plenty of fighting up close, but I believe this story will be more about brains than muscles.

Still, I am certain that Silent will come face to face with King Kronson. After all, Silent did kill his son, so that's way too good of a storyline to ignore.

Thing is, I have a bad feeling about Silent and his grandfather, Clement. All his life Silent has resented his father and grandfather for not caring about their families. He is fully determined to be a much better father to his kids. However, life rarely works out that way. What if this war turns nasty and Silent realizes what his father and grandfather really went through? What will happen if (when) he understands why they became such distant ponies? It could happen. Although I doubt Silent will change for the worse. He might get a new perspective on things but with all the friends around him as well as his wife, Crystal, Silent will remain the pony we all know and love.

6986059

Yep, I just don't do the subtext. Even going back through and looking specifically for what it could be I passed that over as Winterspear/Silent Knight being in a different city than Wallflower and Winterspear/Silent Knight not bunking together anymore.

Give me flashing billboards. :rainbowlaugh:

But there's one pressing question everyone's forgetting!

When will the Displaced character show up and god-mode everyone? :trollestia:

On another note... this is... quite good writing. I just don't think it'll be my thing. It's too grim for Pony. This feels more in line with a world similar to "The Last Unicorn" than one of pastel ponies with butt stamps.

I cannot see any pink ponies in this world.

Let's do this... LeeeeeRoy Jenkinnnnns!

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