The waxing moon was bright as Hestaria took her place in the Lunar Building. The building on the interior was only a gym, but since no pony used the gym this early in the morning. Four long tables lined up in two rows with three packs set on them. She sat with nine other ponies in the dim lighting of the gym. She sat in the center of the room and waited for Nexus to begin.

Looking at the other ponies chosen for this program, Hestaria saw three Earth ponies, three unicorns and two other Pegasi. All dark colored accept for White Knight. ‘Why is he here?’ It was 0303 when a blood red unicorn with black stripes entered the room.

‘Hold it, stripes? What idiot made that thing in the OC generator?’ she thought to herself.

“Nice of you to finally join us Private. Please, take a seat.” Commander Nexus said motioning towards the desks.

With great hesitation, the dark red striped pony approached the tables and sat down at the far right corner.

“Now we can begin.” Nexus began. “I would like to be the first to welcome all of you to the first day of training for the Evening Guard. I am Commander Nexus, and will address me as such. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir Commander Nexus, Sir!” all but the striped pony shouted.

“Good. Now this isn’t going to be anything like what they told you in orientation. In fact, forget everything that the teachers have told you. From this day on, you all will be trained to counter anything that is thrown at you. Form every counter spell you can learn to how to work your equipment. Unlike the Celestian Guard, we have weapons, ranging from the Lightning Lance, to the standard issue Iron Icarus Mk. III that are sitting in front of you.

“For all but three of you, this will be your main piece of equipment. You will learn how to take every little component out of that pack and put it back together backwards. And that is after a ten mile run. For the unicorns here, I will be teaching you spells you’ve never even heard of; spells that no soldier will be able to counter. You will learn to bring out a ponies greatest fears and have hoofs as deadly as your horn. And that last part goes for all of you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir, Commander Nexus Sir!”

“Good. You will all report here at the same time every day for the next two months. In the top flap of the Iron Icarus, there is a schematic of it. You will learn it and will also be ready to use it by the time. Now, line up five by five at the doors and wait for my go. Ten miles is a long run!”

“Yes Sir, Commander Nexus, Sir!”

The Commander wasn’t kidding either, the run took until dawn to complete the ten mile journey. When they returned, the pegasus were given a break while the unicorns and earth ponies were sent back to the gym to start work on their Iron Icarus’. After about an hour, the group was split into two groups, pegasus went to learn basic fighting with the Lightning Lance that Hestaria had already proven herself with earlier that night with Commander Nexus.

She surpassed everypony she went against and knocked the instructor off his hoofs. After an hour of training she was taken with the rest of the Pegasus to show them how to use the Lunar Guard’s bomblet dispensers. That lesson only lasted a few minutes and then they took a break for lunch. Hestaria was amazed that the Lunar Guard got their own tables. After grabbing her gruel and a mango at special request, she sat next to the striped unicorn. He was a lot stranger up close, especially the eyes, his blue-purple eyes looked like hers. Serpent-like.

“Hey.” She said to the unicorn. “I’m Hestaria.”

He looked up from his tray with a tired look in his eyes.

“Ephialtes. Just call me Ephi.” he said with a low voice.

“He doesn’t talk much.” White Knight said. “So what was with that little escaped you had the other night?”

“The Commander booted me from the Royal Guard and then before he could recruit me for the Evening Guard, I flew off the handle and then, well, flew off.”

“Well, that’s a short ass story. What about the Commander though. His legs.”

“I heard he’s from the future.” a bright red unicorn said.

“You’re an idiot. What do you think Ephi?”

Hestaria rolled her eyes and looked over to Ephialtes. “Hey, Ephi.” White Knight said, elbowing Ephialtes in the ribs. “You hear me?”

“Hu? Oh, no I was just thinking about something.” Ephialtes replied.

“How do you think The Commander ended up like he did?”

“I’d rather hear what you guys think.”

“Okay, I think he’s the son of the C.E.O. of Lunarus Industries and that he was run over by a train.” Hestaria said leaning in like it was some big secret.

“That’s stupid Hestaria. I heard he had a heart attack so strong it caused his legs to explode.” the black earth pony said.

“And you say I’m stupid?” Hestaria said shaking her head.

“I agree Hestaria’s theory, but I think he was kidnapped by marauders and held for ransom. As punishment for not delivering on time, they chopped off his legs and mailed them to his father everyday he was late.” White knight unicorn said.

“What about you Ephi?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been here for three days and only talked to him twice.”

“Maybe he just thought they looked cool.” Commander Nexus said standing right behind the black earth pony.

He suddenly went ridged as Commander Nexus went to the head of the table.

“How’d he do that?” Hestaria whispered to Ephialtes.

“Quiet Private Hestaria!” Nexus shouted. “Now I don’t want to hear anymore of these conspiracy theories, or all of you will go hungry tonight. Saddle up, time for combat training.”

“Yes Sir, Commander Nexus Sir!” everypony, including Ephialtes said getting up from the table.

Once again, lined in two by two, they trot into the forest. Commander Nexus was silent and forced them to keep their eyes forward under threat of going hungry. After nearly an hours trot, Hestaria looked over her shoulder and saw Commander Nexus was nowhere in sight

“You want to know how I did what I did back in the chow hall?” Commander Nexus asked from the right side of the trail. “How a pony with metal strapped to fifty percent of his body could be so stealthy?” he asked from the left side this time.

The entire squad began looking around for him as his voice continued to emanate from all around them.

“It’s called The Art of the Shadow. Pioneered by zebras in the time before the Great Twilight War and was first used in combat against Celestia by the Evening Armada during the war. It was very effective against the forces of Celestia. If you want to be one of us, you have to master this art. And I suggest that you don‘t…blink.”

Suddenly Commander Nexus was standing amongst them with a smirk on his face. As soon as Ephialtes saw him, he swung himself around and tried to hit Nexus with a wide swinging kick. Nexus was quick and blocked the fast moving strike from Ephialtes. Nexus deflected the kick and pulled Ephialtes into another headlock. Ephialtes looked up and slid his head out of Nexus’ grasp. As he dropped down, he swiped Nexus’ legs out from under him and attempted to take hold of his left foreleg. Before Nexus even hit the ground, he had maneuvered himself away from Ephialtes. He rolled out of the formation and stood with his wings extended.

“I see somepony’s studied The Art of the Shadow before.” Nexus said glaring at Ephialtes. “We start with hoof-to-hoof combat then we move onto combat maneuvers. Sergeants!”

From behind the rest of the group, a black Pegasus mare and a gray earth pony stallion emerged from the bushes surrounding the path.

“Sergeant Midnight and Lumen here will be assisting in flight maneuvers for the Pegasi and combat maneuvers for the rest of you. The unicorns will be with me for Macabre Magic 101. You will listen to them as well as you listen to me or you’ll be working tomorrow night.”

“Commander Nexus, permission to speak freely, Sir?” Hestaria asked.

“Granted.”

“What’s tomorrow, Sir?”

“Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. As with the Summer Solstice, those under the employ of Luna are given the day off unless otherwise told by the Captain of the Guard. So, unless you want to be cleaning barracks all day tomorrow, I suggest you do as I say. We’ll start with hoof-to-hoof combat then I’ll split you off into your separate groups. Form up, forward, march!”

They did as they were told with a Yes Sir, Commander Nexus, Sir!. It was another ten minute trot until they reached the fighting arena. It was a large stone smoothened down into a table with no legs. In white chalk, a circle running the entire circumference of the stone table and a white line splitting it down the middle. The top was smooth though still had some dips in the stone where others before them must have been slammed down repeatedly.

“This will be your training ground. We’ll be starting with holds and how to break them. Sergeant Midnight, if you would be so kind as to join me in the arena.”

“Yes, Commander.” Midnight replied stepping into the center of the stone table with Commander Nexus.

“Basic hold Sergeant Midnight.”

“Yes Commander.”

The Pegasus approached Commander Nexus and proceeded to force him to his hindlegs and put his right hoof behind his back from over his shoulder. Not only did this look extremely painful, but the fact that Sergeant Midnight didn’t restrain from pulling Nexus’ foreleg back stunned Hestaria. Did Nexus even feel it was the pain question. He didn’t show any pain on his face. Or was that part of the training too?

“From this hold, the easiest thing to do is to use their leverage against them. From this position you can do one of two things; you can toss them over your shoulders, or…”

Nexus bent his knees slightly, then, using Sergeant Midnight as a counter weight, vaulted himself over the Sergeant and touched down behind her with the Sergeant’s hoof still holding his.

“You could reverse the hold and turn the tables. Any questions?”

No pony spoke up as Nexus held the Sergeant in the same hold he had once been trapped in. While watching this display, Ephialtes noticed that the Sergeant wasn’t showing any pain either.

“Now, when you’re putting someone in this hold, you can force them to the ground by knocking their legs out from under them, or you can force them to their knees. It’s all dependent on preference. I like shoving their face into ground.”

He showed his preference by kicking the Sergeant’s legs out from under her and planting the side of her face firmly into the stone.

“Any Questions so far?” Commander Nexus asked once again. And when no one answered, “Good. Pair up and get to work. Start by throwing the other over your shoulder. I know there are eleven of you, so Sergeant Lumen will pair with the straggler. Sergeant Midnight, keep an eye on them. I need to report in with the Princess. I’ll be back in ten minutes max.”

“Yes Sir, Commander Nexus, Sir!” Sergeant Midnight said.

Without another word, Commander Nexus spread his wings and took off from the clearing. Ephialtes was, unwillingly, paired with Hestaria. She didn’t hold back as she put him in the most basic hold in The Art of the Shadow. Something he had practiced with his father a long time ago.

“I hope that because I’m a lady that you don’t thing I’ll let you take it easy on me.” Hestaria said in his ear.

“I would certainly hope not.” Ephialtes said jumping over her and locking her in the basic hold. “’Cause I studied this since before you were out of diapers.”

Out of udder annoyance, Hestaria pushed her hips back and threw Ephialtes over her shoulders and into the dirt with a giggle. In between holds, Hestaria struck up conversation with Ephialtes. It turned out he was part zebra and he use to live in the Haystead Swaps but had to move for reasons that he wasn’t willing to go into. She could understand having a dark past. She even shared her experience with the changeling queen. Ephi seemed to get a bit more “interment” with her. She had cracked the shell of steel around this strange pony.

Around an hour later, Commander Nexus returned and split them up by race.
Hestaria was taken to learn how to push her limits when it came to her flying. The next day she couldn’t move. That didn’t stop Nexus from putting her, White Knight and Ephialtes on guard duty during the Winter’s White Moon Festival in Canterlot.