The alarm rang loud as Nexus' eyes shot open followed by a gasp of surprise. He sat up fast and felt the blood rush to his head as his heart beat started to go down. He looked over to the closet and saw Dust doing her makeup and was confused.

"A.L.I.S., snooze." Nexus said rolling out of the bed.

The buzzing of the alarm stopped as A.L.I.S. came on over the speaker system. "Yes Commander. It's time to get dressed. The guests are already arriving in the castle."

"I know. We live here, there's no need to be on time."

"Just get dressed and please comb your mane!"

"Dust, calm down. I'll be ready in minute." Nexus replied kissing his fiancé. "Just put on the dress you bought and I'll go get my uniform."

"Alright. Just hurry. We might be late."

Nexus was quick to get into his uniform. Like everything else he had learned in the military, it all could be done on auto pilot with zero mistakes; iron shirt, run a lint brush over jacket, place ribbons in correct spots, make sure ribbons are in order, button up shirt, throw on jacket, button up jacket. Fast and easy. Dust insisted on Nexus combing his mane and tail, but those weren't really important. That didn't stop her from doing it while he was ironing her. Nexus looked to the coffee table where Goldenchord's medal sat rolled up in his handkerchief.

He sat down at the couch and levitated Goldenchord's medal out of the cloth and folded it up into his breast pocket. Then he turned his attention to the medal. He wasn't sure if he could even legally wear it. He was the Element of Honor and it was a Medal of Honor. So technically he could wear it, but it hadn't been awarded to him. So he wasn't lawfully deserving of it. It was the only Armada medal that had ever been in recorded existence so nopony but Luna could call him out on it. But did he really want to look that pretentious? To wear a medal that he had yet to even earn? It was the equivalent to wearing a rank that you weren't; you just don't do it.

Nexus slid the medal into his right pocket and did the same with Goldenchord's log. He didn't want to risk leaving it around for somepony to find. As soon as he buttoned the pockets shut, Dust came trotting down the stairs in a long black dress with red ruby earrings and a pearl necklace from her mother. Her mane was hanging freely, as opposed to its usual ponytail, and was curled. She wore little makeup but enough to look proper.

Nexus let out a low whistle as she twirled in front of him. "What'd you think? You think somepony can tell I'm-"

"It's only been two months. Nopony will notice. I promise. Let's go." Nexus interrupted putting his right mechanical wing over her.

He could smell her honey suckle perfume as they started to the balcony.

"I still don't understand why we have to take the front door." Nexus said.

"This is the first time I've not had to work on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, and there's no way I'm just going to go in without taking the grand entrance. I want the whole experience! Please? For me?"

"Ugh. Only for you Dusty."

Dust Strom squealed happily and leapt from the balcony with Nexus right behind her. Nexus loved coming down from the tower like this. It gave him a light adrenaline rush. The wind in his mane, the sound of the wind; it was hard not to like flying. Dust took it a bit easier then Nexus but landed just after him. They had landed next to a precession of ponies in their best dress cloths on their way into the castle. Dust and Nexus fell in and followed the line into the main foyer of the castle.

Dust walked with the elegance that her parents had pounded into her and Nexus moved as the proud soldier that he was; back straight, eye front, head titled back slightly. Nexus didn't know where anything was going to be happening so he figured he would just take the greeting from the princess and just make his way to the court yard. The precession turned into an orderly line as Princess' Celestia and Twilight stood at the top of the first set of stairs greeting the ponies as they went in. Nothing fancy, just a simple hello, hoof shake and move on.

"Good evening Captain Nexus." Celestia said with a smile.

"Nice to see you again Captain." Twilight said with the same demeanor.

"Princess'." Nexus said nodding to the two of them.

"And this must be Dust Storm." Celestia said trying to hold back a giggle.

"Good evening Princess." Dust said bowing.

"So you're the exception to rule 12." Twilight said doing the same.

"I'm what now?" Dust replied turning her attention to her date.

"Hey! Let's go over here. You two have a good evening!" Nexus said rushing Dust up the right stair case.

"You too." Celestia shouted after them.

As soon as Nexus was around the corner and away from the Princess', he sighed in relief; that is until dust shot a glare at him.

"Oh come on! It's not a bad thing."

"What's rule 12?"

"Uh…N-Never date a co-worker."

Dust raised an eyebrow at Nexus as they continued towards the ball room and courtyard.

"Oh, do you regret breaking that rule?" Dust asked putting fake hostility into her voice.

"Uh… No?"

Dust could hold the act anymore; she let out a giggle and leaned on Nexus. "You're cute when you're nervous."

"You're the only pony that can make me nervous."

"Am I?" Dust asked putting her right foreleg with Nexus' left.

Nexus' cheek suddenly turned red as they stopped. The last time she'd done that they-

"Metal head!" a voice called out from Nexus' past.

Under normal circumstances, Nexus would turn and run, but he'd just saved him from making himself look like an idiot. "Smokey!" Nexus said turning around to see a gray earth pony in a fancy suit trotting over to him with a yellow earth pony in a red dress in tow.

Smoke n' Mirrors hadn't changed much since the last time he'd spoken to him. He'd gotten a little tubbier but other than that he looked normal. Lea, the yellow earth pony, hadn't changed a bit. Nexus and Mirrors had a quick high hoof and he and Lea had a quick hug.

"You go the tickets." Nexus said.

"Yeah we did! This place is much bigger on the inside."

"Yeah it is. You should try walking around this place."

"How've you two been?" Lea asked.

"We've been great. Guess what?" Dust said with an exited smile on her face.

"Oh my Faust, he didn't!"

"He did!"

The two squealed in delight as both Nexus and Mirrors rolled their eyes. "Engaged?"

"Ay'up." Nexus replied.

"Dibs on best man."

"Go ahead."

"Oh my gosh! How long?" Lea asked.

"Two months. And that's not all."

"You're not!"

"I am!"

"Pregnant?" Mirrors asked.

"One and a half months."

"That must have been fun."

"Stick it Smokey. Alright! Now that we're all caught up, what's say we find either the dance floor or the food table. I'm starved."

"I hear that! Woo!"

Lea whispered something to Dust and they both giggled uncontrollably.

"What?" Mirrors asked.

"Nothing sweet heart. Let's go have some fun." Lea answered as she started taking her husband down the hall.

"What was so funny anyways?" Nexus asked as they started following.

"I'll tell you later. For now, let's see if I can find a dance floor to drag you out on."

Nexus groaned at the mention of a dance floor. True, he wore the most advanced set of legs known to pony kind and some dolphins; but he could dance if his life depended on it. He knew how to waltz, but that's about it. Every chance she got, Dust would drag him out onto a dance floor and make him look like an idiot. That wouldn't be a bad thing if he were a normal pony. Hell, even if he still had the legs it wouldn’t be as bad. It was because he was in a position of power that he felt like that out in public, he had to act proper; especially in Canterlot.

He and Dust Strom caught up with Lea and Mirrors as they found the court yard where a few hundred ponies mingled as string music played. A few were playing croquette as the rest chatted. There were a couple of stands and tables with various foods that didn't looked that appetizing, considering they were all appetizers. Crappy little finger foods were one reason Nexus hated high society. Then a heavenly aroma caught his attention. Off to the side of the croquette game, a stand with stacks upon stacks of pies and fritters stood with a small line.

"Finally! They get somepony with good cooking out here." Mirrors said walking around the game in progress.

"I'll go with 'im to make sure he doesn't buy out the whole thing." Nexus said trotting after him as his stomach growled.

"Get me a slice of pie!" Dust shouted after him.

Nexus chuckled that she'd shouted that. Nexus came up behind Smoke n' Mirrors just as he finished asking for what he wanted.

"…and a diet cider." Mirrors said to the orange mare behind the stand.

Despite everything else he'd seen around Canterlot, she stuck out the most. Her dress wasn't really a dress; it was more like a pair of fashionable overalls and cowgirl boots. Her long blond mane was braided under her cowboy hat and she wore almost no makeup.

"Alright then. Fifteen bits." she said in a thick country accent.

Mirrors paid the sum and walked off with a plate of fritters in his teeth and a bottle of diet cider balanced on his head.

"What 'bout you? We got apple pie, apple fritter, apple cider, apple whisky-"

"A fritter, a slice of pie and a bottle of cider." Nexus said cutting her off before she went on for hours about apples and every way they could be made. "Just that. Have we met before? You look familiar."

"Ah think I'd remember somepony that looked like you. That'll be twenty five bits. You're in the Guard?"

"Uh yeah." Nexus replied taking out the gold coins.

"What'd you do there?"

"Captain of the Guard."

"I thought that was Shining Armor?"

"Wrong Guard. I'm Captain of the Evening Guard; Luna's."

"Oh. Y're the one that Twilight mentioned."

"I guess so." Nexus said dropping the bits into the box.

He levitated the plates of food and tried not to drool with hunger. "Well, from what she said y're a good fella. So keep up the work and enjoy the food."

Nexus waved and made his way around the croquette game once again with the apple themed foods in his magical grasp. Dust looked at him funny as he approached.

"What? I got you your pie." Nexus said hovering the pie and fork to her.

"Mirror's didn't take nearly as long as you did."

Nexus let out a chuckle. “Don’t be jealous Dusty. That’s my job. Pie?”

Dust took the plate in here teeth with a looked of discontent. Nexus chuckled knowing that he was tapping a few buttons that he shouldn't have. They caught up with Lea and Mirrors inside where they tolerated the classical music. Nexus could see DJ-Pon3 setting up behind them so the party would kick into gear any minute now. Nexus pulled out a chair for Dust and set his dinner in the seat next to hers.

"What took you two so long?" Lea asked stealing one of Smoke n' Mirrors' many fritters.

"Nexus had to stop and flirt with the girl at the stand." Dust said taking an annoyed bite of her pie.

"I wasn't flirting. She asked me if I was a soldier and I told her what I did."

"And that requires you to have to talk to her about it? You couldn’t just tell her and be done with it?"

"She thought that Shining Armor was still Captain of the Guard."

"I hope your corrected her." a deep and slightly rough voice said from behind.

Nexus grinned and turned to meet the pony. The dark red unicorn with a blond mane was about his height in a similar dress uniform. The smiling flame cutie mark was a dead giveaway.

"It's been a while Brandy." Nexus said taking a sip of his apple cider.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Firebrand said annoyed.

"Never. What's new with you?"

"Well, Celestia is royally pissed that you had security details during the ceremony yesterday. No pun intended."

"Sure it wasn't. And she can shove it up her ass. She doesn't have any power to tell me what to tell my troops."

"She kind of does Nexus. She's asking me if I still trust you."

"And?"

"And I don't know. You're unpredictable and brash. It puts a lot at risk around here."

"Why? All I did was put extra security on the coronation. It's not like I waged war on her."

"Look, as Captain of the Guard, I need you to stop going against Celestia. And as your friend I ask you to watch where you tread. If it continues, I might have to arrest you."

"Brandy, I know I'm well within my rights. I haven't done anything that is illegal. So long as I don’t disobey a direct order from her I'm in the clear. You and I both know that."

"Nexus-just be careful with this. I don’t want to see your face on another wanted poster."

"No promises Brandy."

Firebrand looked over towards the hall and nodded. Nexus followed his gaze and saw White Knight motioning for him. "I have some minor business to attend to with the Princess. I'll see you around." he said walking away from the table.

"See-ya."

"He seems nicer than the last time I saw him." Mirrors said.

"Who you saw last time wasn't him. It's complicated, so don't ask."

The classical music came to a slow end and the beat of modernized swing music vibrated throughout the room. DJ-Pon3 banged her head to the beat as Lea dragged Mirrors out onto the dance floor along with a a few dozen other ponies.

"Oh! I love this song! Let's go." Dust said grabbing Nexus' right foreleg. She suddenly didn’t seem so mad at him.

"Hormones." Nexus thought to himself.

Nexus didn’t bother protesting as tried his best to mimic dance steps he'd seen at other parties in the past. He noticed however that as he danced, the residences of the richer side of Canterlot were staring at him sideways as he did his best to look like he had some idea of what he was doing. It was a feeling that he hated more than anything. He knew that they thought he wasn't civilized or had any class. They thought he'd just passed basic and had no ability to perform advanced tasks. He hated to show them that they were dead wrong.

After the first two songs, Dust let him pull her off of the dance floor and back to their table.

"What's wrong Lunar?" She asked sitting down. "You looked like you were having fun."

"No. I did, but I could see all of them starring at like I was some kind of country bumpkin."

"What's wrong with that?"

"They all assume that since I'm in Canterlot that I'm as prim and proper as the ones from the high society. And anypony that isn't like them on the first look, they think you're some barbarian. I hate them for it."

"My parents adore you and they're from uptown Canterlot." Nexus raised an eyebrow at her when mentioning her parents. "Okay Mom does but Dad knows you mean well."

"He still doesn't think I'm capable. He thinks I'm some jar head straight out of boot. He doesn't believe that I'm Captain of the Evening Guard."

“Well… Okay I don’t know what to tell you. I love you and that’s all that matters right?”

Nexus smiled and kissed Dust on the cheek. “Yeah. But I would love for your dad to stop glaring at me every time I come to dinner.”

“Shall I banish him for you?” Luna said as she approached the table.

She wore a translucent, but thick enough to not show anything, dark blue and purple dress. Her mane was curled and pinned over to one side by a crescent moon beret.

“Good evening Princess.” Dust said nodding to Luna.

“Hey, Luna. Cool dress.” Nexus said with a smile.

“Thank you. I couldn’t help but over hear what you said about Canterlot.”

“It’s nothing personal Luna. It’s just that I don’t like being looked at like I’m some kind of circus side show.”

“Pay no mind to them. You know what you are and that is all that should matter.” Luna looked down to Nexus’ pocket and stopped when she saw a the brown leather book sticking out. “What is that?” Luna asked pointing to the log.

Nexus looked down and nearly snapped the pocket shut until he remembered who he was sitting with.

“It’s a log. I…I found it in the Everfree Ruins.” Nexus said.

“Who’s would it be?”

“Did you know anypony by the name of Goldenchord?”

All of the color suddenly left Luna’s face at the mention of the former General. “So you learned of him?”

“What little the book was telling me. I’ve only gone through the first few pages of his log though.”

“Was there anything else there?”

“There was.” Nexus slid the medal out of the same pocket and set it on the table with the log. “He left them in the private study.”

Luna noticed the small sliver of paper sticking out of the log and started to slide it out. Then a powerful explosion rocked the entire castle. Ponies screamed and ran in all directions and chunks of the ceiling rained down from the shockwave and the glass in the windows shattered. Nexus looked out into the gardens and saw a massive smoke cloud rising from the opposite side of the castle. From the rubble was now the east wall of the foyer, a changing stepped out wearing blood red armor. Nexus looked up to the sky and saw a few hundred red dots descending on the castle. His heart rate quadrupled as he looked back to Luna and Dust.

“Get to the bunker! Both of you! Now!” Nexus commanded.

Luna didn’t hesitate to grab Dust and levitated the log and metal before teleporting away. Nexus spread his mechanical wings launched himself towards the changeling standing in the smoke. The creature didn’t notice him as his forelegs slammed with full force against its armored head and neck. The changeling let out a yelp before its head snapped back like a Pezz dispenser. The two flew backwards into the foyer and Nexus slammed it into the wall, crushing its skull. Another come from behind him and was about to dig its teeth into his unprotected neck when a column of fire turned it to ashes.

“Man I hate these things!” Firebrand shouted in anger.

He still wore his dress uniform but he now had a helmet on. He had an Evening Guard helmet under his left foreleg as he ran to Nexus.

“Canterlot’s under attack.” He said calmly.

“I can see that Brandy. Hand it over.” Nexus said holding out his hoofs.

Firebrand handed Nexus the dark blue helmet. “So what’d you want to do?”

“Kick ass. What else?” Nexus said putting the helmet on. “Get all of your troops up and let’s throw these changelings back to the Badlands.”

“I hear that.” Firebrand said heading up the stairs and to the left towards the armory.

Nexus flew through the hole again and flew above the buildings of the castle. His horn glowed a bright blue as he summoned his royal Canterlot voice.

“ATTENTION! THIS IS COMMANDER NEXUS; THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL TROOPS, MOBILIZE AND FIGHT FOR YOUR PRINCESS’. THEY WANT TO INVADE YOUR CITY? LET’S SHOW THEM EQUESTRIAN HOSPITALITY!” Nexus shouted to all of Canterlot as changeling slammed into him.

The two of them tumbled as it tried biting his neck but was met with the angles of the new armor. Nexus twisted in the grip of the changeling as they fell faster and faster. He eventually was able to get face to face with the changeling and aimed the changeling down as they fell. It fought his grip but was unsuccessful in escaping as Nexus brought his full weight down on the changeling’s body with the added force of the fall.

Nexus stepped out of the small crater he created and shook the green blood from his hoofs. He didn’t waste any time spouting cool action lines, he immediately jumped into the action in front of him. A young bat pony mare wearing a tattered red dress stood in the center of a circle of changelings swinging two Lightning Lances like it was a tooth pick. Nexus leapt over them and landed behind her.

"How's your evening, Captain?" Hestaria asked swinging the lance in her right hoof into a changeling that leapt at her.

"Could be better. Spare a lance?"

Hestaria swung the lance in her left hoof around and hit a changeling in Nexus' blind spot and Nexus pulled it from her grip and started swinging on his own.

"You owe me a new dress." She complained running her lance through a line of three changelings and using them to beat more back.

"I'll add it to your next check. You feeling a bit crowded?"

"A bit."

"Then duck."

Hestaria dropped do her knees as Nexus' horn glowed dark blue. There was a mighty flash as bolts of lightning shot out in all directions, tearing through the armored changelings like they were butter. All of the changelings around them were now just piles of armored dust on the ground.

"Open with that next time." Hestaria said standing up.

"Kind of a hard one to pull off. Magic needs to recharge. Go help the rest of the troops and ask Brand Fire if the princess' and Dust made it into the bunker okay."

"Yes, Sir!" she said spreading her bat wings and flying off towards the pegasus hangers in the side of the mountain.

Author's Notes:

Nexus: Finally! A Fight scene! Not your best but it's a fight scene that I kick ass in!
Me: Dude, calm down. Ever since you won Republic Deathbattle you've had a huge head.
Nexus: Rightfully so! I'm-
Me: OP.
Nexus: Am not.
Me: You turned a changeling to dust. That's OP.
Nexus: So you're OP?
Me: Just wait a few chapters. I'll be rectifying this comparison between us.
Nexus: What are you talking about?
Me: You'll see. *rubs hoofs together sinisterly*
Nexus: You have hoofs?
Me: Hey look, Hestaria's kicking ass in the next chapter!
Nexus: Where!?