The first week did not start off so well for Shining. Day two he took too long in the shower, and following his first surprise inspection Thundering Hearts made it clear this would be the first, last and only time Shining would keep his bed just like he kept it at home. Thundering had peered in so close their corneas had almost fused.
Getting up at the break of dawn was not something he would ever like. Morning exercises were not helped by the fact they were before breakfast. The less said of the twenty mile marches, the better. Aspiring to live up to the academy’s traditions in academics, athletics and leadership was not as simple as it seemed. Perhaps his cutie mark had deceived him. Perhaps this wasn’t where his talents lay.
Classes, at least, were a rhythm he could get into. Particularly magical and quasi-magical creatures of Equestria, starting with the gremlin. Having Twilight as a sister was almost an unfair advantage. He was pretty sure she had told him ages ago about every living thing in Equestria with a shred of magic in its veins.
The instructor walked down the rows of desks, lecturing as he went. He cycled through different slides of the gremlin, in captivity and in its natural habitat. They had covered the origins and historical distribution of gremlin populations within Equestria.
“Something should become obvious immediately,” the instructor said. Hidalgo Springs was smack dab into a thick blob of orange, representing the range of the western mountain gremlin. He would leave this fact unspoken for now.
Gremlins were roughly pony high, green and had a horn some of the time. Their magic capabilities were weak but they existed. Limited to low level telekinesis with conjectural instances of extreme short range teleportation demonstrated. Their only reason to exist, so far as anypony cared, was to cause problems for the other races of Equestria. So far all he had learned all that in grade school.
“Gremlins have regular hibernation cycles between eight and ten years. This enables them to maximize their activity at a minimum of risk. By the time they’re finished, they’re asleep, giving us ample time to recover. When they do wake up, they form around one strong leader, on the basis of intimidation. There have been no recorded instances of a pack of gremlins developing into a larger entity. They are simply too unstable for that.”
It was like watching Twilight gave an impromptu presentation. In fact, it reminded him, verbatim, of a presentation Twilight had made in grade school. He could hear the entire lecture in Twilight’s voice. Yeah, this class was going to be a breeze.
His mother did want Shining to clarify that Twilight was not going to write any of his term papers. She had been very insistent at volunteering herself for the responsibility.
“Gremlins do not manufacture or develop equipment or resources of their own: they use the more ‘advanced’ cultures of Equestria to that end. The gremlins prefer to enrich themselves at the expense of ponies, or any other advanced creature.”
The next slide showed academy students standing amidst piles of stunned gremlins. The gremlins were being stacked onto carts. They had goofy expressions on their faces as if falling asleep mid laugh.
“Hidalgo Springs has the worst gremlin infestation in Equestria. On a regular ten year interval, the gremlins emerge from hibernation to cause a ruckus. And every ten years the students of the academy dutifully put them down. As you are all recent additions to the academy, congratulations! Consider it your first assignment.”
The next slide showed the gremlins being placed onto the floor of a cave. They were stacked into small piles, blissful expressions on their faces. The cave entrance was barricaded for another hibernation cycle.
“We just stun them with the paralysis spell (you’ll learn that by the end of the semester, don‘t worry) and they go to sleep for another decade. No fuss at all.”
The lights switched back on. For a moment Shining’s eyes reeled from the charge from dimness to brightness. He rubbed his eyes as the class moaned in unison.
“The gremlin is anything but a national security threat. An inconvenience, if even that. If they were more formidable than what cadets could deal with, we wouldn’t send you up against them.”
“What would you recommend?” a voice from the back asked. “Magic or non-magic responses?”
“Whatever works, works. Remember: gremlin magic is formidable, but hardly on the same level of pony magic. If all the adversaries you faced were as weak as the gremlin, you would enjoy a much smoother ride at the academy.”
Rock nodded. He had cut his teeth chasing after Changelings through the Everfree. This would be a snap. A waste of his time, even.
The bell rang. The cadets rose, scrambling for books and notebooks.
“Dismissed.”
Shining gathered his books and made a beeline for the administration building. End of the week meant the first mail call. Plain white envelope from his parents, purple from Twilight, and a bright pink letter from Cadence! Shining almost bounced in place in the line for mail. Whoever was responsible for organizing it was taking their sweet time.
“Cadet…Shining Armour?”
“Present!”
The old mare behind the counter grimaced and handed Shining his letters. He smiled and walked off excitedly. Luminous was standing to one side, reading his only letter.
“How is your family?” Shining asked.
“Great,” Luminous said, returning to his letter. Nice and short, as was his family way. Most of it spent explaining what was sold, in what numbers and for how much as if somehow he was supposed to be impressed or this somehow mattered to his time at the academy.
Business was good. Business was always good. It’s not too late to change your mind his mother added at the end of her message. Cutie marks could be difficult to interpret. Luminous grimaced. At some point his destiny would sink in with them, hopefully before he died of old age.
He had three siblings who were more interested in the jewel trade than he was. Didn’t thank account for anything? Sometimes he wondered if it had ever sunk in that he wasn’t a blank flanked foal anymore. He was fully grown, and now had a destiny. Whenever he forced the issue with his parents, they just looked at him as if they could will the issue to change.
Shining made his way to his room. He sprawled on his bed opening Cadence’s letter first. He found himself giggling with delight. Rock, from the bed opposite him, gave a half-hearted glance upwards from his book. Classes were dull for him because they were all the stuff he learned on Poseidon Island. He was getting a leg up on the work to come.
“Good news?” he asked.
“Well, news. News from home.” She missed him so much.
Rock’s eye drifted to the photographs Shining festooned his half of the room with: his parents, his sister, and, surprisingly, Princess Mia Amore Cadenza. Some ponies got all the luck.
“Princess Mia Amore Cadenza is a friend of yours?”
“Used to foal sit my kid sister.”
“So,” Rock asked, flipping a page, “you have a member of the royal family for your girlfriend?”
Shining blushed. Not exactly…well, yes they were friends. Maybe more than friends but they never discussed how much more. She never disagreed that he was special to her, and likewise, but exactly how special was up in the air---but she was special.
“My family is reasonably high on the social ladder. I mean, not royal family, but we’re reasonably well known in Canterlot. Magic runs very strong in my family.”
“Sounds nice,” growled Rock. Having connections to someone important---the most unreasonable landlord in Manehattan did not count.
“Its going to be great to see her again in a few weeks. I mean, I’d like it if she came here but royal duties…”
“Just leave a towel on the door if you’re, shall we say, sullying the royal bloodline.”
“We’re not that far yet!”
“You can push the beds together if you like,” Rock continued, “but clean up after yourselves: I don’t want to marinate in the smell of your congress for the rest of the semester.”
Shining finished the letter again before reluctantly setting it aside to read the other letters. Twilight’’s was next. She was bursting with excitement with her lessons, and missed her brother very, very much. Having the house almost to herself had been fun at first but without her big brother it felt smaller and emptier.
His parents were proud of him. Nothing he didn’t already know.
Maybe he should start writing back before the absence of his loved ones gnawed at him. So he manipulated a quill and parchment off the table.
“Get anything?”
“Hmm?”
“At mail call. Anyone write you?”
“Like who?” Rock asked.
“Guard buddies?”
“Colleagues,” Rock clarified. Personnel rotated frequently according to their assignments. Since he was destined for the academy that put a wedge between him and some of the others. Well, here he was, and they were not.
“Well, colleagues?”
“Not yet.” A flat no would not be what Shining would want to hear.
“I hope they do soon,” Shining said.
“Yes.” Rock put the book down. He got a quill and parchment of his own. He wouldn’t write but he could sketch. Studies in watching my roommate getting chewed out.San Palomino landscapes were his speciality. He sketched a desert scene from memory. It was either his chair or lovesick roommate. Good gravy, he felt queasy just looking at him.
Shining wrote it was fantastic to hear from Cadence, explaining that his new duties were “challenging” and the academy had been an adjustment. He missed her, hoped she was well, encouraged her to write more. He told Twilight it was actually possible to get things done now that he wasn’t around her, and she shouldn’t lose sleep over writing him. Nana Nana Boo Boo.
“Attention!”
Shining looked up to see Thundering Hearts at the door, and Rock standing in perfect attention. Shining scrambled, and saluted. Thundering did not look amused.
“We’ve spoken about the importance of proper salutation, you may recall.”
“Yes sir.”
Thundering’s gaze narrowed. “Walk with me cadet.”
His roommate walked out and to his fate. Rock shook his head and started the chapter over. Celestia willing the poor fool would learn quickly.
#
Several days had passed since the king had woken up.
It was warm. The horde was stirring. Moaning and groaning filled the chamber, followed by curses as limbs fought to untangle themselves. A few sharp yelps as shoving turned to biting. Fury reigned for a moment, and then the horde began to move out of the cave in search of food.
Their king was not happy. Ever since he was a hatchling, it was the same routine: wake, a few days of pleasure and then the next thing he remembered was waking up in a rocky cave.
The last thing he remembered was facing down a turquoise unicorn. He remembered the smug look on it’s face, then suddenly the king was on the ground, the unicorn standing over him and calling to his comrades. “Got the last one, I think!”
The gremlin king had been through this twice. Struggling to wake, his limbs feeling as heavy as rocks thanks to the effects of the pony’s spells. He lay somewhere in a heap in a shallow cavern a good walk from the pony’s town. Every time that were put to sleep the ponies tried to find somewhere farther to hide them.
The gremlin king was the first to stagger out of the cave. Frustration brewed within him: to the ponies a decade may have passed, but all of his defeats appeared to occur within the same evening. He growled in anger. He kicked a rock down a cliff face.
While the other gremlins howled in frustration, at least he was lucid enough to see what the problem was: the spells the ponies used. The gremlins were a furious, uncontrollable horde that always swarmed the ponies, and every time the ponies put them down with a blast from their horns. They laughed when they did that! Laughed!
The gremlin king spat. He had been strong enough to fight off several contenders, though currently not strong enough to impress his will onto the horde entirely. If an order was not understood well enough it was not obeyed.
Which was to the detriment of his horde: he needed to find a way around the ponies’ spells if his horde was going to thrive. No way around it, no matter how much his inferiors cackled. He had eaten the last gremlin to call him an aspiring pony, meaning he had to put up with grumbles as opposed to mocking laughter.
The gremlin king sat on a log. He had his head in his hands. Hopefully, if they were careful (and they never were) they could last a couple of weeks at best.
A rock bounced off his head. He roared in anger: a couple of hatchlings laughed. With a couple of snarling bites the king filled his stomach. Too young, too gamey.
The hatchlings’ sire roared. It stamped out of the cave, babbling.
The gremlin king picked up a rock from the ground. It was orange and dusty. Similar to many, many rocks in the tunnels that the ponies had left, and typically ignored for their commonness. The gremlin king hurled it at the offending gremlin, smacking it right between the eyes.
The rock left a cloud of dust that settled on the gremlin’s horn. The gremlin, face contorted into anger, snarled. He tried to grip a rock with his telekinesis, but it wobbled as it took flight. It made a couple of feet off the ground before the spell was broken and it fell.
The gremlin king was intrigued. The furious gremlin tried again, and the rock failed to move more than couple of inches. He gripped his horn. He yelped in confusion.
The gremlin king fired another bolt of anger at him. He managed to knock the gremlin back a few steps, but so far had not knocked him out. Interesting: the orange dust retarded the creation of and effect of magic. Maybe not as much as the king would have liked, but so far he was pleased with what he saw.
The hatchling’s sire was easy to defeat. It was resigned to his fate, or should have been. When the king was finished he rose, a sense of purpose taking hold. The gremlin king smiled. Perhaps things were not as dire as he had supposed. He bellowed for the horde to come to him and learn.
#
Rock found himself with little to do. After completing his studies he found himself restless. Unless he wanted to watch Thundering Hearts watch his roommate salute every squirrel, bird and rabbit that came within range until he got it right, he needed something to occupy his mind. Best of luck to you, Rock thought. It took Rock a lot less time to learn, though there was a fifteen push-up penalty following every failed attempt.
Rock walked into Hidalgo Springs. He was permitted a short excursion if he had nothing to do at the academy. He glanced back at the hill to see how badly Shining was doing.
“Again!”
“But…” Shining protested, certain that he got it right that time. Not that the chipmunk would have cared.
“Again!” Thundering roared. “We’re getting this right!”
Within a minute a sparrow had landed within several paces. Shining immediately snapped into a salute.Please let me get it right this time. He closed his eyes and hoped dearly he did it right. Thundering’s snort destroyed that illusion.
“Do you know how long we’ve been at this, cadet?”
“No, sir!”
“Two hours. Two whole hours and you haven’t gotten it right.”
“I’m…I’m sorry, sir.”
Thundering sighed, shaking his head. An idea entered his head. Something an older cadet had offered him back when he was in Shining’s position, an offer he never accepted but always thought about from time to time.
“Tell you what,” Thundering said, “let’s make a deal.”
“Go on.” Shining knew on some level this would be a bad idea, but curiosity was propelling him along. After all this work he was getting interested in a shortcut.
“Go to The Mare and get me a coaster,” Thundering said, a wicked smile on his face. “I’ll overlook the more serious of your indiscretions.”
Shining vaguely remembered reading a pamphlet regarding the academy’s stance on hazing. Snipe hunts were discouraged. Then again after two hours anything was starting to look good.
“For real?”
“Why not? Figuring since you’re doing everything else right…”
A rabbit bounded out from behind a bush. “Attention!”
Shining saluted the rabbit, who wriggled its nose curiously before bounding off in the direction of the Everfree.
“Well? You’re not getting any better at it!”
Rock turned his back and walked on. Another disappointing mail call and he felt he needed to clear his head. Burying it in a book hadn’t bought the peace he hoped for. Too many memories of Thunder.
Thunder encouraged him to try for the guard college. He gave him a hearty brohoof and ordered him to do him proud when Rock got the news he was accepted. That was before Thunder went to go deal with a flock of Hydra, leading eight ponies in and ensuring six made it back.It was his finest work and a fitting legacy. Celestia’s statement concluded with “may all soldiers of Equestria regard him as fearless example.”
Would Thunder have made it as far as he had? Sometimes Thunder had talked about the academy. A difficult question to ask because the dead could have done anything. Rock didn’t consider himself beholden to his brother, well, no more than after getting him through a difficult colthood.
Rock walked back towards the academy. “Attention!”
Rock looked back to see Shining standing rock solid at attention, saluting him. Thundering walked slowly around the cadet, scrutinizing his performance.
“At ease, cadet,” Rock said.
Shining didn’t know what to do for the fraction of a second. Thundering’s glare turned murderous. “Well?” he barked.
“Well?” Shining asked, immediately regretting it.
“At ease!” demanded Thundering.
Shining slapped into position. Thundering, for the millionth time that day, sighed in frustration.
“Again!” Thundering roared.
Rock smirked. Things weren’t all bad.
#
The first field exercise, in principle, was simple: get from one point to the other, demonstrating the skills taught in the classroom. They were broken into teams and given a compass and map. Through his classroom participation and demonstrated talent, Shining was made team lead.
“Naturally,” Rock said. Rock had hauled his rear through the worst of the San Palomino; this was a charming stroll by comparison. Pretty Boy, naturally, got the job.
Shining ignored the comment as he plotted the route. He mumbled to himself, thinking that this would be no different that when he was in the Canterlot scouts. It was a short obstacle course between several sections. A proctor cadet would be stationed at each one to monitor their progress and ensure there was no cheating. Now they were to employ their lessons.
Easy as pie, Shining decided. They’ll probably even be the first group to finish.
“Okay, Rock,” Shining said, “you’re on compass duty.”
“Understood,” he said, accepting the compass from Shining. They knelt down to plot their route. Shining took a marker and, after studying the map carefully, began to plot their course.
“What do you think?” Shining asked.
“It looks erratic.”
“It’s quick.” Shining used the marker to point how their path looped around, passing through each checkpoint in turn. The paths he selected were unconventional, but permitted. Rock and Luminous weren’t so sure: Shining had misjudged the steepness and distance in his quest for efficiency.
Shining looked around: they were in the valley just behind the academy. “All right,” he declared, “let’s get started.”
The three ponies got to their hooves. He pointed down the path. “We need to go that way for half a click.”
Luminous sauntered; Rock kept a purposeful trot. Luminous walked as if he expected candy and rainbows at the destination. Rock could only snort derisively. Shining asked for bearings every few paces, his focus on the map.
He led them on past the starting checkpoint and onto the main path. It would be a long way to the first marker. It had gotten surprisingly hot today. Shining took it as a challenge to get it done quickly.
If they stuck to the path they should be all right. It would loop around the foot of a large hill and follow the hill’s contours to the midpoint. A nice easy start to the assignment.
“Judging by the map, the marker should be located in somewhere with a lot of quartz,” Luminous said.
“How is that pertinent?” Rock asked.
“Well, if we’re near more quartz we’re on the right track.”
“We’re not treasure hunting,” Rock grumbled. “And how, precisely, are we to know when we are near quartz, anyway?”
“I’m trying to use knowledge of the environment to our advantage!”
“Well, we don‘t all think like jewel merchants, do we?”
Luminous looked angry. Shining stepped in: “Let’s work the problem. Sooner it gets done, sooner it gets done.”
“Sounds nice to me,” Luminous growled.
The made it to the place where Shining thought the marker was. It was not. They spent a minute standing around, checking to make sure that a devilish prank was not part of the exercise. Sure enough, they were in the wrong area.
“We should be almost there,” Shining said. He double checked the map to ensure that he had screwed up as badly as he had feared. Apparently he had. The appropriate fork in the road was nearly a mile behind them; he had lead them down the wrong path.
“Where?” Luminous asked. His head darted from side to side. He expected to be right on top of it from where it was located on the map.
“You can’t miss it,” Rock said, “it twinkles.”
“What exactly are you getting at?” Luminous asked.
Shining snorted. “Come on! I can see it!”
It was just slightly below them. No problem: they just backtracked a little. It turned out that they had to backtrack a lot, since the path made several sharp swings along the side of the hill. They made it, the third of fourth group to do so.
The cadet at the station crossed them off his list. Finally they could search for the second marker. Shining led them off the path…and down a gully. They staggered back onto the main path, filthy as could be.
“What the heck!” Luminous exclaimed.
“Its called dirt: those of us who don’t live in Canterlot see it a lot,” Rock said. “Don’t worry: contact on your body won’t kill you.”
“It could have been worse!” Luminous protested. Hidalgo Springs had been a significant mining region, until the valuable ore ran out and all that was left was Fool’s Iron. Disused mining shafts still littered the landscape. They were hard to see, and if they continued to blunder around the mountain they would almost certainly plummet down one.
They got back onto the path. Shining called for the map and compass and began to plot their next move. It would be a bit of a challenge. After the first marker it couldn’t have been that hard---though Shining knew he was probably tempting fate by thinking that.
“According to the map, the quartz is giving way to granite.”
“How will that help us?” Rock asked.
“We’ll be higher on the mountain: we can use that as a landmark.”
“Great. Because using our eyes to check for any other more useful landmark wouldn’t work, right?” Rock asked.
“Like I said, I’m using my knowledge of the environment to our advantage.”
“We know we’re on a giant rock,” Rock replied. “I think the information we need is how to get down.”
“Find a ledge and jump,” Luminous suggested.
Any minute now the marker would come within sight. There on the horizon…horizon? Where were they? Shining led his group back to the appropriate path.
Immediately they had to check their map again. Shining had misread a suitable path: instead of being a firm path it was a rocky meander, suitable to goats and mules, not ponies. “Okay,” he said. “We can get through this.”
“We’re nearly four clicks off course,” Rock pointed out.
Shining sighed. “All right,” he said, “give me a bearing.”
They reached the second to last checkpoint. One more to go, at long last. It would prove to be the hardest to get to, if the twisted course on the map was anything to go by. Shining frowned: if he had read this map right, the approach would be slow and narrow.
“Okay,” he admitted, “this one is going to be a problem.”
“Are we going to be doing this all day?” Luminous moaned.
“You could magic your way to the checkpoint if you wanted, your highness,” Rock growled.
“I’m not that skilled with magic. We don’t all get to be Celestia’s student, after all,” Luminous countered.
“Apparently you don’t all get to be competent, either.”
Shining needed to make a plan, now, if his team stood a chance at surviving. The long they stood around lost the more likely they would come to fighting. They needed to get moving again, transfer some of their hostility into the task at hoof.
“Okay,” Shining took out the map. “Compass?”
Rock put the compass on the map. Shining thought quickly: they had to make up for lost time. From the looks of things it wouldn’t be too hard provided they hoof it and go straight for it. Uncomfortable but necessary.
“Okay, we’re taking a left at the path and following a rise in the hill.”
“Are you nuts?” Rock asked. Judging by the path Shining had chosen they stood a perilously close chance of making it past the tree line. No bounds had been set for the exercise because the instructors were certain nobody would be stupid enough to do that.
“C’mon,” Shining said, “it’s the quickest route.”
“It may not be the most survivable,” Rock countered.
“We’re expected to be pathfinders, not mount climbers,” Luminous added.
“We’ll make it. Believe me.”
Luminous and Rock looked at each and shook their heads in agreement of the only thing they could agree upon today. It took a moment for Shining to realize that the path he had chosen was almost totally vertical. So high…why was it so high?
Luminous had spoken the truth when commented about the quality of the rock: it was hard underfoot. The angle of approach was so skewed as to be exceptionally difficult but Shining persevered. He had to prove he could take it. He had to take it. Shining just wanted today to be over with. One hoof before the other, each one taking him a step closer to the
end of the painful exercise.
“The marker!” In the distance it beckoned ahead. It fluttered majestically in the breeze. “Come on! Its not the far!”
A few sudden lurches nearly resulted in the group tumbling down the mountain. The marker remained in sight, as if wondering what was taking them so long. It seemed to get playfully further away from them with each step.
Shining’s legs gave out from under him. He gasped, certain that it would be his terminal breath.Celestia…guide me to the next life. With the last of his strength he made it to the marker and collapsed.
A shadow darkened Shining’s head. A senior cadet looked down at Shining, glaring at him. “May I help you?”
Shining smiled. “Group 4, reporting, sir.”
Shining felt relief: they had made it. The last ones to make it, but they made it at all. Even the smallest victory was still a victory.
The senior cadet rolled his eyes. He checked them off his list. “You know,” the cadet said calmly, “you could have taken the lesser path.”
He gestured with his head to a small path to his right. The second to last group of cadets had started their way down. From behind him Rock and Luminous wheezed in despair.
“A for effort. Effort---not intelligence,” the cadet said. “Hoof it back to the academy.”
The began the trudge back to the academy. Shining could hear the snickering behind his back and could feel the contempt his squad mates were glaring at him. He just wanted to sink into bed and let the profitless day fade from memory.
#
Shining took his place in the formation. From across the field waited the other team, the abhorred red and greens. He gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the blast of the referee’s whistle. The referee was taking his time, adjusting his sunglasses and gingerly taking the whistle out of his pocket and rubbing it against his shirt.
Shining felt each individual drop of sweat leave it’s pore and run down his face. Both sides looked ready to burst.The referee, finally, put the whistle in his mouth and counted down another five seconds. Then he blew it. Both teams thundered towards the ball at that moment.
The objective of the game was to get the ball through the various hoops, each of different heights and sizes, with points afforded according to difficulty. Two pegasi from each team circled overhead, ready to deflect any shots or make any scores.
Shining struggled to keep up. The ball was furious passed between players. It arced overhead, through the two point hoop for Shining’s side. The opposing team roared in triumph.
Snorting in disgust, Shining’s team reformed on the scrimmage line. Within seconds the ball sailed through the two point hoop again. The best the blue and yellows could do was hurling the ball a couple of times through the one point hoops.
For the rest of the game the best the blue and yellows could do was stonewall them. The ball rapidly passed from team-mate to team-mate; the blue and yellows kept moving, trying to charge through a formidable defence.
“Shining!” Rock called. “Head’s up!”
The ball bounced off of Shining’s face. The opposing team laughed as the referee whistled and the teams reformed.
Time was running out.
“I’ve got an idea,” Shining said.
“Great,” Rock said. “Let’s hear it.”
Luminous’ hooves scrambled for purchase as Shining levitated him off the ground. Both Rock and both teams stood still in bemusement. Luminous stopped scrambling for cover and froze in the air.
“Are you kidding me?” Rock yelled.
“Objection!” a pony called. “Holding!”
“The ball or the player?” another player asked. “Is there a difference?”
The referee pursed his lips. “Gonna need to check the book…”
“Shining, are you out of your mind?” Rock demanded. Luminous was studying him with anxious eyes, hoping Rock had a plan he had been keeping secret. Rock could only reflect his best wishes.
“Trust me,” Shining said.
“Doing that hasn’t ended well lately,” Rock replied.
“Do I get a say in this?” Luminous asked weakly.
“Aim for the three point hoop,” Shining said.
“I have rights! Luminous yelled.
Shining took a step back. He aimed carefully; the opposing team was snapped out of their trance and was stampeding towards Luminous, murder in their eyes.
“Ready?”
“Sort of.”
“Here we go!”
Luminous flew through the air. The ball flew through the three point hoop. That put his team over the edge. Both teams stood in silence for a moment. The captain of the red and green stomped over to the referees: “This isn’t fair!”
The referees went back to their rulebooks. They shrugged.“Looks legit to us.”
Luminous staggered to his feet. He shook his head, trying to come back to earth. He shuffled off towards his team’s side. The referees blew their whistles for the last time. Apparently they had won.
The red and greens shuffled off the field, fury on their faces. The blue and yellows were happy, though confused.
An instructor eyed Shining as he made his way off the field.
“A word, Shining Armour?”
Shining trotted over.
“That was very novel.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“It was also very stupid.”
Shining felt stunned.
“You didn’t put much thought into the welfare of that pony, did you?”
“No, sir,” Shining admitted.
“So,” he asked, “what exactly were you thinking?”
“We won, sir. I did what we need to do.”
“I did what I had to do is the first words out of any pony’s mouth when they screw up royal.” He sighed. “There’s being daring, there’s doing what you must do, and there’s being just plain stupid. An officer in the guard knows the difference.”
Shining said nothing.
“At some point you may have to order somepony to their death. Which means you treat the welfare of your ponies with gravity. We clear?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good,” the instructor said. “Clean yourself up.”
Shining plodded towards the locker room. His team mates politely gave their thanks for winning the game. They won, unconventionally, but a victory was a victory. Luminous kept his mouth shut. He felt a little hurt, a little angry, but nothing he wanted to say to Shining’s face.
“Good game?” Shining asked.
“Yeah,” Luminous replied. He accepted the offered hoof bump and left. Shining watched him leave, certain that Luminous probably hated him a little.
#
First leave finally came. The train ride home passed uneventfully. Shining’s thoughts were of Cadence and his family, which were enough to kill a train ride. Shining almost bolted into the air when he finally saw them. Twilight raced up to him the second he got off the train. They embraced, both babbled at the same time about how much they missed each other. It was so nice to see his parents again, and they complimented him by mentioning how much more of a stallion he had become.
He made plans to meet Cadence, the only thing that kept him sane during the gruelling exam period before leave time. Half of his letters to her were filled with notes about Equestrian military history, tactics and other esoteric things that a princess found most confusing.
She invited him to a banquet, one of many that was as frequent to Canterlot as rain to other parts of Equestria. They would meet in the palace gardens. The workday had ended and a few of the palace staff were unwinding in the peaceful gardens. The banquet itself had yet to begin; some guests were chatting in the gardens.
Shining looked around for Cadence.Please don’t be late. Did Cadence swing by his house to see if he was there? Should he dash back?
“Shining?”
Cadence appeared in a swirl of colourful fabric. Shining smiled and rushed over to her. “Good to see you,” he said.
“You too.”
“How was the ride home?” Cadence asked.
“Pleasant,” Shining said. “I’m just glad exam time is behind me.”
“Shall we?” Cadence asked.
Shining nodded. “I’d prefer if I wasn’t referred to as your escort when we walk in: it makes me feel like you’re paying me by the hour.”
“Considering how tedious these things can be,” Cadence laughed, “I feel like I should.”
Having a regular caller no doubt came as a comfort to the palace. As she walked past with Shining, more than a few ponies sighed in relief. Aunt Celestia had made it clear to her niece that zapping feelings into possible suitors was out of bounds. That was a phase that all of Canterlot was glad had passed.
Cadence frequently heard snickering from the court pages, taunting, “So when’s the wedding?” Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed a couple of repeat offenders, smug smiles on their faces, chuckling as they walked past. She glared at them as they walked out of sight.
Shining stressed to his parents they weren’t, technically, officially dating. “She’s a nice girl,” his mother always said, before going on a lecture about the importance of respecting her feelings; and he almost had to fight his father over the anecdotes of the time he was courting his mother, which his son would do well to follow. It was enough to make him scream. All he knew was that enjoyed spending time with Cadence. Very, very few things in his life would meet, let alone exceed, the pleasure of an evening of her company.
“Princess Cadence...and, escort.”
From across the room Celestia noted the two ponies enter. Shining gave a respectful nod, which Celestia returned. She studied them with a knowing eye. She continued making small talk with various nobility and dignitaries, sparing her niece the embarrassment of being singled out by the princess of Equestria. In due time, Celestia felt, the two would become inseparable, and she felt happy for her niece.
“Why did you want to see me in my uniform?” Shining asked. “I’ve plenty of formal wear?”
“So they can admire a handsome young cadet,” she said.
She leaned into his ear: “You very much are, you may recall.” She was puzzled why he flinched.
The banquet itself would not start until some fashionably late time, and all the guests were expected to make banter and ignore their growing hunger. Cadence sighed: just the court gossip going through the palace, which she had heard three times over. Thank goodness for Shining.
A couple of guards stood at attention. Cadence nodded and they relented. They eyed Shining as he walked past: as a cadet he wasn’t obligated to perform anything specific to show respect, but he felt they deserved something. Shining was nearly three and a half years away from joining them. So close and yet so far.
“Sorry if I’m not the most deferential to her royal highness.”
“Its not a problem,” she said. “The guards are like that. You‘ll get used to it. You should be a little more formal, though. I’m very disappointed in you. Drop and give me twenty.”
“I’m on break.”
She chuckled. “You’re off the hook this time.”
They walked along. It was a pleasant evening.
“You did get appointed to squad leader for an excercise. Your first taste of serious leadership!”
Shining sighed in despair. “They haven’t murdered each other in their sleep yet. Maybe they want to get rid of me first. I made sure we survived each other. Trust me when I consider that a job well done.”
“You’ll get the job done. Believe me when I say that you’re a natural leader. Remember the weekend your parents were away and Twilight got the flu?” Cadence asked.
“How can I forget?” There were several bowls and buckets at home that gave Shining the creeps, remembering Twilight’s head perched over them.
“I remember you acted as if you were trying to turn back the hordes?”
“Hey, I was! My sister was sick.”
Cadence chuckled. “Such a responsible stallion. How is she doing?”
“She’s loving her time with Celestia,” Shining said. “She’s looking forwards to learning how to tesseract.’
“Oh, I do miss her. I just wish…if I could find a moment to see her again.”
“We’ll find a time,” Shining, “she won’t run away from us. We‘re the ones who are going to buried under all the things we‘ll be expected to do. We‘re the problem, not her.”
Shining wouldn’t have had it any other way but from time to time he got nostalgic of the simpler times. Times that, naturally, were never that simple. Over time his responsibilities at the academy would pile up. That weighed on his mind. Goodness knew what Cadence’s problems were. Being royalty, no doubt long and very, very tedious.
“You chose them, and I admire you for that,” Cadence said, “I was born into them. I don‘t have the freedom you enjoy. I had to inspect a guard regiment recently.”
“How did that go?” Shining asked.
“I really wish I could have taken their word for it,” she sighed. It was a long afternoon spent walking up a long row of identical stoic ponies. They took their sweet time marching past too. It was very hot that day.
Her problems were the sort of ceremonial nonsense requiring a member of the royal family to be present. Granted the guard had a lot of that coming out of their ears: inspections, parades, and the like as they were indoctrinated with a sense of duty and tradition. Outside of the academy Shining doubted it would have any impact on Equestria.
“Its still really hard, and I don‘t always know what to do,” he said.
Cadence laughed. “You’re asking the wrong pony for help. Half the time I think you might have a better head on your shoulders than I do. Thank goodness I could find someone who understands.”
She kissed him. It felt like Shining was walking on air. Cadence took a step forward, hoof on his shoulder before he could test the feeling.
“ Come on,” she said. “I’d like to have an evening with my own personal cadet.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
It was evening definitely worth the wait and all the suffering involved. If this was chief benefit from being in the guard, all his burdens would be worth it. Now he could go back to the academy with renewed strength.