//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Few, The Proud 
// by IC1s5 
//------------------------------//

    The train lurched to a halt. Shining Armour levitated his bag from the rack above him. Behind him he could hear the soft tears of parents who accompanied their foals, and from some of his fellow cadets as well. Two hours since he had waved goodbye to his family, the weight of how much he missed them hit hard.

 Well, he thought, I’m here.

His family had seen him off from the station. It had been pandemonium, as cadets scrambled aboard and families struggled to part. His mother had her hoof on Twilight to keep her from running along the platform as the train left the station. Shining had waved from the train. As Canterlot receded from view, and the Equestrian countryside sped past, he realized for the first time he was committed in a way he had not been in his entire life. His eyes were itchy from his country allergies. That was his story and he was sticking with it.

Hidalgo Springs’ railway station was small and today it was overwhelmed. Dozens of blue coated ponies, pegasi and unicorns being the majority, swarmed the platform. Some senior members of the academy were present, studying the new arrivals.They barked at the new arrivals to go here, wait and tried to keep up with the swarm. In a couple of years Shining would be one of them, trying to keep his brood in line. It was like trying to herd chickens during an earthquake.

For the first time Shining was all by himself. It was a very strange feeling. Naturally, anxiety gnawed within his chest. A tiny fire of pride was burning as well, the two emotions not strong enough to overwhelm each other. This was not what he expected to feel at this moment. He thought he would feel prouder.

Maybe he had used up his pride in the weeks and days before he arrived. Those days were a swirl of activity: catching up with this or that of bureaucratic nonsense, being fitted for his uniform. He remembered modeling it for his parents, Twilight, and, of course, Cadence.

Cadence, who laughed when she first saw him dressed up in it. Unfortunately her duties and schooling kept her from bidding him a fond farewell. He saw her last the day before he left. They enjoyed a pleasant walk through the castle gardens, and she promised to write him regularly. It would be eight weeks before they saw each other again.

The reminder immediately cheered him. When he got back she would be doubly proud to see him again. He gave a goofy smile.

He only noticed the sophomore cadet after half a minute of standing there. My, those were some large eyes.

“Why hello there,” the sophomore said. He was a cream coloured unicorn, his uniform a brighter shade of blue than Shining’s.

“H…hello.”

“I’m your section leader, your proctor, and as of today your new best friend. Name?”

“Shining Armour.”

The sophomore manipulated a scroll and a quill and slashed Shining’s name off of it. He grumbled at having received all the latecomers and airheads.

“You were supposed to immediately identify yourself to the formation leader, you may recall.”    

“Sorry.”

The sophomore grunted. Shining never wanted to hear that grunt ever again.

“I’ll do better next time…sir.”

The sophomore stopped, and mentally counted to three very slowly. Shining dreaded what would happen when he 
stopped.

“Thundering Hearts,” he patiently explained. “My name is upper cadet Thundering Hearts.”

“Good to know.” Shining smiled, which did not appear to please Thundering Hearts.

“We’re moving.” The sophomore’s voice was gentle and soft, which only underscored both the authority of his command and the unfortunate fact Shining was trying his limited patience. With a gesture of his head he indicated the fellow cadets being arranged in formation.

“Oh,” Shining said. Immediately he began to telekinetically raise his bag.

The sophomore placed a gentle but firm hoof on his bag. Just like a tree that bent in the wind but ultimately was too stubborn to fall over. “We’re going to be doing this non-magic, you may recall. Builds character.”

“Yes, yes of course.”

Shining gripped the bag with his mouth and threw it over his shoulder.
“Well?”

“Sorry?” Shining asked.

The sophomore leaned in and whispered into Shining’s ear: “Move.”

At a more forceful trot Shining began to join the rest of the throng. It was a more aggressive trot than Shining realized. Soon he was well within the group, shuffling and moaning as one as the trek from the academy turned from pleasant work to unacceptable ordeal.     

Eight weeks, he reminded himself. Eight years would pass more quickly.

“Formation…move!”

With one jerking movement the cadets began to stagger towards the academy. Proctors struggled to keep the formation reasonably fluid. The ponies struggled to remember their time in the cadets, feeling like the pressure had suddenly doubled without warning.

Shining was making good time, he felt.

“Hey pretty boy! Move!”

An annoyed looking earth pony was directly behind Shining, his expression growing more fierce. “Mind picking up your hooves a little?”

“We’re supposed to be at a…”

The earth pony snorted. He pulled ahead at a good pace, savouring the ease which Shining struggled to match. He seemed to enjoy meeting or exceeding Shining’s pace. Two could play at that game. Shining met his pace, stride for stride. The earth pony didn’t quite know what to think then.

Shining smiled. He sure showed him.

The earth pony’s expression had not changed. Unlike the majority of these ponies, he had pulled hard marches in the San Palomino with a full pack.

The gates of the academy were wide open. A stage was prepared before the entrance to the academy. One banner, prepared by old cadets clearly, straddled the gates: CELESTIA CAN’T SAVE YOU NOW.

#

Chancellor Striking Iron adjusted his spectacles. The courtyard was full of about a hundred incoming ponies with a smattering of their families. The sun was overhead and Dean High Tower was finishing his speech. He arranged the notes for his speech. Were the letters large enough for him to see? He could remember some of the speeches he used to give: this wouldn’t be that hard.

“Welcome, our newest class of the Royal Equestrian Guard College.”

Pride began to outwrestle anxiety in Shining’s heart. It was like getting his cutie mark all over again. Graduation Day would feel like being invested as Prince of Equestria.

“Welcome, to those who have joined straight from active service----”

Rock Hard puffed his chest out triumphantly.

“And for those who participated in the guard cadets.”

The chancellor took a sip of water. He forgot for a moment a paragraph of his speech so he decided to improvise. Perhaps a helpful anecdote would suffice.

“In battle,” wheezed the chancellor, “you will employ these lessons, and die by them as you have lives by them.”

The cadets began to through the periphery of their eyes at each other. They were hearing the same thing, right?

“He’s a little past his prime,” the unicorn to Shining’s right said.

“Tell me about it.”

Shining’s acceptance letter had been fourteen pages long, much of it spent arguing the tactics of the Changeling incursion, with his acceptance itself being a paragraph long and written in different handwriting.

“Shining Armour.”

“Luminous Fog.”

“Forgive me for not offering a hoof bump.”

“Apologies accepted.”

One of the sophomores glared at them. Immediately their gaze focused on the stage as Striking Irons wildly gesticulated. Apparently he was re-enacting the brutal hoof-to-hoof combat that he had engaged in during the Changeling wars, which was somehow pertinent to his speech.

“Is he going to keep up with that?”

“This is nothing,” Shining whispered. “Apparently last year’s speech was a lot more…explicit.”

“But despite the death around you, despite the carnage….”

“Chancellor Iron,” interrupted Dean Tower.

“Your suffering will not be forgotten, your deaths will not go unforgotten.”

“Chancellor Iron.”

“Through your sacrifices in blood, Equestria….”

“Chancellor Iron?”

“Eh?”

“Your service is most commendable, and your tales of past adventures interesting, but the cadets would appreciate you sharing the history and the traditions of the academy.”

The applause was thunderous. Dean Tower was pleased that at least the digression hadn’t lasted too long this year and wasn’t as explicit as the last two. The cadets smiled, their tension melting away. So the cadets were marched off to the orientation.

“See you around.”

“Yeah, you too,” Shining said.

He headed to orientation after stowing his gear. He watched an earth pony, the same one who scolded him during the parade, dart past. Remember: you have to share this room. Privacy was now a treat. He sighed at the sudden realization that his time outside the  academy gates was going to be strictly rationed. Like it or not, he was going to have to accept his new life.

#

Well, the food lived up to its reputation. Rock stirred it with a spoon. This stew was so bad it deserved to be endured. A test of character in its own right. All the new cadets were spread across the dining hall with the older cadets in their impenetrable groups. Some first years found companionship, others were still isolated.

“Can I sit here?”

Rock Hard looked up to see Shining Armour. He kept his tray suspended in the air. A friendly smile was on his face.

Rock shrugged. “Can’t stop you.”

“Thanks. Didn’t get the chance to introduce myself during the parade over. We room together, right?”

“Room 411?” Rock asked. He had thrown his bag in the room, only catching a glimpse of Shining as he went over to the dining hall. So he was saddled with the pretty boy. Thank you, fate.

Shining nodded. “Shining Armour.”

“Rock Hard.”

They did a hoof bump. It was a hard one.Shining took his first bite of the stew. He nearly retched.

“Like mud and glue,” Shining said. He rested his fork on the plate.

“Like home cooking.”

“I don’t know what kind of parents you had if you ate this regularly.”

Nor will you. Rock’s brother was probably the better cook, though he had been insistent on fresher ingredients that Rock had. Pricey, but worth it.

“Luminous!”

A unicorn was walking by with a tray. He smiled and slid in next to Shining.

“Who’s this?”

“Rock Hard,” Rock said before shovelling more food in his mouth.

“Luminous Fog. We met at the speech.”

“Delighted.”

The two made a mutual hoof bump.

“So,” Shining said, “Three new cadets, enjoying their first meal!”

For Celestia's sake! A couple of spoiled Canterlot dolts thinking they were tough. Drop them in the San Palomino, or threaten them with that awful fate, and we‘ll see, Rock thought.

“What made you decide upon the Guards?” Rock asked. Small talk would satisfy Shining a heck of a lot more than Rock. Even if it was hollow at least it killed the time.

“I’ve always felt I’ve belonged in the guard.” Shining Armour took a good look around the room. Strong wooden beams balanced a firm roof. For a moment he felt more at home than when he was at home. “I’ve admired the pride, the dignity, the dedication.”

“Every pony does. Not every pony has it was it takes to live up it.”

“True,” Shining said, “but I’ve never been afraid of standing up for my little sister when she got bullied.”

“What about Luminous here?” Rock asked.    

“I’ve always admired the guards and, well, cutie mark and all that.”

Rock glanced at it.

“Nice,” he said. Glitzy as all heck.It looked like a diamond shaped like a shield. 

“You know what it is?” Luminous asked. Rock and Shining shook their heads. “Topaz.”

“Topaz?” Rock asked. Shining seemed to recall Twilight mentioning something about Topaz at some point, though it was buried under the weight of everything else his sister had an interest in.

“Only thing harder than Topaz is Diamond,” Luminous said. “It means I can bear almost anything.”

“Interesting name to go with it,” Rock said. “I mean, Fog?”

“My parents had different aspirations, I think,” Luminous said. His mother had been a romantic, and she said (one afternoon following a particularly brutal teasing session at school) that it would be heraldic of a sensitive and romantic soul.

“Well,” Rock shrugged, “such are families, I guess.”

Shining noticed the patch on his shoulder which neither he nor Luminous had. Only students recruited from within the guard were permitted them as a reminder of their service.

“You were recruited from within the service?”

“36th Earth Pony, the Steel Spurs. Earth pony corps.”

“Where are you from?” asked Luminous.

“Manehattan.” No need to go into detail: all he needed to say was Manehattan.

“That city must nickel and dime you,” Luminous said. He remembered family vacations to the Big Orange. Thank goodness great-granddad struck that jewel vein! Those were fun times, even if luxury hotels were not always fun places for an energetic colt.    

"You don’t know the half of it,” Rock said. The kid probably had someone to chew his own food for him. “And what about yourself?”

“I’m from Canterlot,” Luminous said.

Really? Rock thought. I thought you were from the moon. I simply had no idea.

“So why the guard?” asked Shining.

“I wanted out of the jewel trade, and to actually contribute something to Equestria.”

“That’s a good attitude,” Shining said.

“The higher I go,” Luminous said proudly, “the better.”

“Your parents must have been pleased.”

“Not at first,” Luminous admitted. “They accepted it, at least.”

Rock raised an eyebrow.

“They think that I’d be wasting my time. They didn’t think there would be a future within the guard.”

Rock held a sliver of hope for him.

“Well, how else does the ceremonial armour get all twinkly? It’s the ponies wearing them as much as the jewels!”

All the same, the Canterlot ponies. Every last one of them.

“You think you could make captain?” Rock asked.

“I’d like to,” Shining replied. He gave a solid nod; this wasn’t an errant wish. He seriously believed it. If he was of a less cynical constitution, Rock would too.

He did have a tiny blue streak of ribbon on his yellow sash. Awards won during his cadet service. Rock peered in close: Shining was certainly committed, and he had a couple of other ribbons for physical fitness, courage and…oral hygiene? Well, only in Canterlot, he supposed.

“You probably would,” Rock said.

Shining perked up at the endorsement. Being in active service may have given Rock a source of insight into his devotion and talents. Praise from him would have come from a discerning pony.

“You’re a unicorn, which helps a lot.”

“How so?”

“Anyone, really, with a horn could do. Its amazing you aren‘t captain right now.”

Shining’s brow wrinkled. “That’s glib.”
“We don’t do diplomacy in the 36th.” They also were very good at counter-teleportation and counter-telekinetic combat. Rock could have Shining’s horn off in ten seconds if he wanted to.

“Well, unicorns don’t go down easily,” Luminous.

“Death is immediate,” Rock said. He remembered lessons on fighting a unicorn: There are several ways to bludgeon, shatter, wrench or pummel a horn unaided. Bite, gouge, strangle, punch, stomp. Get them by the horn, dominate the fight.

“What made you choose the guard?” Luminous asked, polite enough to note that it was not typically a position sought 
by earth ponies.

“I’m that good of a soldier,” Rock said. He didn’t have the colourful ribbons to dazzle them, but he made it here, and how many earth pony cadets did they see? Point made.

“Any thoughts about the guard?” Shining asked.

“There are aspects of Equestrian defence doctrine that, frankly, need to change. At some point,” Rock said, “we might find someone who won’t be troubled by the Elements of Harmony. We need to have soldiers ready for that possibility.”

Shining shook his head. “Impossible. Nobody’s stronger than the princess.”

“That we know of,” Rock said. “That may change.”

“I hope not,” Shining chuckled. Luminous smiled.

“Let’s agree to disagree,” Rock said.

Shining shrugged and turned his attention back to his meal. It passed, spoonful after wretched spoonful. Eventually he finished enough of it to satisfy his hunger until breakfast, which would come soon enough---and, he was warned, would be well earned.Shining telekinetically deposited the train on the used dishes rack. His first care package from home couldn’t arrive fast enough.

“See you back at the room.”

“See you later,” Rock said.
Rock was his roommate---fate was fickle like that. He lived up to his name, but maybe he could get through to him. It wasn’t like he could kill him or anything.

So ends the first day Shining thought. Who knew what would come tomorrow?


#

Deep in the mountains the chattering began. It started as whisper but built to a torrent. It had been quiet in the caverns for several years. Now the caverns echoed with gremlin song.

The gremlins massed around Mossy rock. After a long hibernation the Gremlins were beginning to stir. It had been a long time since they were last active---and the last time they had been active had been cut short unfairly soon.

Well, not this year.

This year was going to be the best year of mischief yet.

What’s more things were definitely going to be different. They weren’t going to go back to sleep when they were done. The king had found a way around hibernation and the pony’s tricks.