"Okay, I get why I have to stay here, but why keep the rest waiting?!"

Under Celestia's orders, Alex was apparently supposed to stay in Canterlot for a while longer for training so he wouldn't get his ass handed to him like his last scuffle with the Inquisitors. He understood why he had to remain, but what he didn't get was why everyone else had to stay as well.

"If you really must know, I can't always be around to save you, or your little brigade. You already know that the first years couldn't be around, so here we are." Raven replied calmly, but with a hint of annoyance.

Alex and Raven were inside a Royal Guard training room, complete with it's own sparring ring. The Guards would usually use this to keep themselves in shape for the defense of the country. Alex, on the other hand, was going to use this to sharpen his senses, for his aim left something to be desired, in spite of all that time he spent around firearms.

Not to mention that he only trained for one week.

"Gotcha, what's the plan?" Alex asked, turning to the Inheritor/Huntress.

"Simple enough, we're just going to get your baseline physical fitness in so we know where to start." Raven nodded in reply.

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

Raven leaped to the sparring ring, put on her mask, and drew her weapon.

"Attack me."

Alex was thunderstruck.

"What?!"

"Did I stutter?" Raven asked.

"Don't you remember what happened last time, with the 'Disablers' and the 'Blade Gun'?"

"Yes. Now attack."

Alex casually unsheathed Electric Fury, the once-elegant craftsmanship now scarred and maimed by almost constant abuse and weeks without cleaning or repair.

"You sure about this? You don't want me crippled before I even go out on the field, do you?" Alex asked

"I don't. Attack."

Alex summoned the Overcharge armor, fitting on to him with perfect conformity. Sure, the flight was disabled and that the armor itself was maimed so badly that most of the casing and some of the mechanics would have to be replaced, but it's Aura Enhancing features and HUD was still in proper shape, that plus Iris was now able to monitor his technique and inform him when it was safe to stop.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Alex nodded, leaping on the other end of the sparring pit.

The Pit was a solid 60 meters in diameter, with seats above for viewing purposes, now empty on account that most of the Guards were fighting in Dodge City. Other than that, it was essentially a dome littered with sand.

Alex readied in his fighting stance, feet shoulder-width apart, left side facing his opponent, sword over the right shoulder with both arms wrapped tightly around the handle.

Getting a closer look at his opponent, Raven's weapon was not exposed. It was still sheathed, but her hands gripped the handle, Raven was watching his every move through the slits in the mask.

'Let's see... How do I do this...' Alex pondered to himself.

He could go in, sword swinging, and hopefully catch her off guard and get the K.O early on.

Or maybe he could use his enhanced jumping ability and get behind her before she could so much as blink and distract her.

Who said it even had to be a jump!

"I'm waiting!" She announced, annoyed.

Before Raven could even finish the sentence, Alex's blade met her's, both locked together.

"Let's see... Impressive build, you definitely have the raw power, but you're missing one crucial detail." Raven said.

"And what's that?"

Alex stumbled forward, surprised by the sudden disappearance of his mentor.

Where-?

Raven seemed to reappear directly behind Alex before even finishing the thought, slashing his back and legs before he could even utter a word.

"Your apparent lack of focus. You have the attention span of a gnat." Raven replied.

"Do I?" Alex asked, picking himself up and swinging the blade in his hand, each time connecting with Raven's sword.

"Where did you learn your sword-fighting techniques? Aim for the person, not the blade." She scolded, catching him right in the arm before he could correct his attacks.

Gripping his arm in surprise, Alex swung the blade again, aiming right for Raven's sword hand. Blocking it, her blade slid down Alex's sword and nicked him in the fingers.

Infuriated, Alex spun completely, bringing the blade towards the midsection, connecting perfectly and causing the inheritor to fall to one knee.

Alex didn't waste any time afterwards, kicking and swinging the sword.

That is, until Raven blocked one of his attacks, hit him in the throat, and fired a red-tinted blade towards his chest.

Alex was lying flat on his back now, coughing loudly and staggering up.

"Good. You learn quickly." She nodded.

By this point, Alex was standing up, albeit still grasping his chest in pain.

"For an Entry-Level Inheritor, you're okay. I'd say you can take on five lower-ranked Inquisitors or two Higher-ranked." Raven nodded.

"What does that make you?" Alex gasped.

"I scare most Inquisitors by merely glancing in their direction." She replied.

"I gotta ask, how are they ranked? I took on four at once after we first met and won. Why couldn't I beat five now?" Alex asked.

"I got their I.Ds. You dealt with a few of the lower level Shadows then, Entry level to 2 years. Shadow-Hunters are more along the lines of Sigma's or Epsilon's caliber, 3 to 9 years. Shadow-Killers are higher level Inquisitors like Beta and Gamma, a solid 10-15 years at least. Then there's the Alpha. You'd have to be a Shadow-Killer for some ridiculous amount of time to even be considered, even after that, you won't be in the running until the old Alpha dies." Raven explained.

"They really work at this, don't they?" Alex asked.

"They're an Inter-dimensional fraternity of highly trained mercenaries. So I would say so."

"Alright. Thanks, Raven." Alex nodded.

"Anytime. Back to training." Raven immediately hardened, back in that stance, ready to fight.

Alex spun his sword in a flourish before it collided with Raven's. He leaped over Raven and spun around 180 degrees, slashing her in the back and unleashing wave upon wave of lightning. The Inheritor face-planted and regained her composure as quickly as she lost it.

She turned around to face him, emotion undiscernible through the expressionless mask.

"So we're going all the way, hm?" She asked.

"For god sakes, that sounds terrifying." Alex shrank back at the thought of another motorcycle accident type deal.

Another blade was fired in Alex's general direction. Alex dodged it, deftly crouch-sliding beneath it and rearing up for a huge spinning attack.

Raven completely disappeared when Alex finally looked again.

"What the?"

Alex was knocked on his back before he could finish his thought.

"Next time, don't make it so I know your attacks before you finish." Raven nodded, grasping his hand and pulling him up.

"Ok, now what?" Alex asked.

"I asked the other Elements and the Scratchbolts to assist with your training." Raven said.

Eight ponies trotted inside the pit, armor covering them head to hoof. Some of the nicer ponies waved hello, and the others just nodded their greetings to the boy.

"How are they going to help?"

"They'll be helping me knock you out. If you last three minutes, you win." Raven replied.

"What?!" Alex backed up in surprise, he couldn't take them all on!

Rainbow, Cloudchaser, and Flitter flew high above Alex, circling above his head akin to vultures over a dying animal in the desert.

Twilight, Rarity, Vinyl, and Raven walked around him, their weapons and horns gleaming in the low-light.

Applejack and Pinkie stood to his front and back, AJ's back legs were pointed at Alex, and Pinkie... Well.

Pinkie was juggling grenades.

And Fluttershy was backed into a corner, so far in that if she were any closer to the wall, she would simply fall right through it.

Alex held Electric Fury tightly, looking at his each and every opponent.

"Ourfatherwhoartinheaventhyhallowedbethyname..." He whispered to himself, horrified.

Eight horses and his temporary master were upon him, swords swinging, horns firing magic, hoof slamming hard into armor, and Fluttershy still buried deep into the corner, weeping softly.

----

"You couldn't handle the little ponies for three minutes?!"

Alex had told his embarrassing little tale to his comrades, Vanoss and crew, Kat, and Mako.

A mistake he would likely never repeat.

"Wow! I knew the ponies were tough, but Jesus!" Vanoss held back his laughter out of respect for Alex, but to little effect.

"Yeah! 'My little pony, my little pony, can beat the shit out of you!'" Delirious sang before breaking out in laughter.

"Come on, it's not that funny," Mako rolled her eyes, "I mean, sure, Alex got his ass handed to him on a silver platter, but then again, Raven was carrying the team on her shoulders."

"Actually, it's f**king hilarious." Mini chuckled, calming down.

"The ponies targeted Alex for termination, he only lasted about a minute and a half. Yaugh." Terroriser said in his Arnold voice.

Wildcat, of course, was still laughing his ass off.

"Oh, my god. That was a solid minute of me laughing without noise!" He continued laughing.

"You guys suck." Alex groaned, still sore from getting bucked straight in the stomach, and then blasted with three spells at once, and stabbed.

"You need me to bring you your bedpan yet, Alex?" Kat asked.

The whole room was then filled in an uproar of laughter.

Alex, of course, was not amused in the slightest.

"At least I didn't piss myself, like Mr. Hock-a-dookie over here." Alex said, staring straight at Nogla.

"Oh, fock you, Alex! I'm wearing an adult diaper, so it's fine!" Nogla fruitlessly defended.

Vanoss turned his laughter to Nogla.

"Wait, do you even change that thing?!" Moo asked.

Nogla merely stared as the sudden realization fell upon him.

"Mm hmm." He lied.

"Ew." Mako groaned, disgusted.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. One bedpan and one extra-extra large adult diaper coming up!" Kat smiled.

Everyone then began laughing again, as Kat not only insulted Nogla, twice, but Alex as well.

Raven stalked inside the hospital room, everyone immediately silenced themselves.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to speak with Alex. Alone, if you'd please."

Everyone piled out of the room, many holding in their laughter.

"What do you need?" Alex asked politely.

"Couple things. One, here are the results of the training session I held earlier today." Raven handed him a piece of paper. He was being graded?!

Subject: Alex G. Walker

Mentor(s): Raven Branwen, Yang Xiao Long

Fighting Forms: Standard Atlesian Arcamida/ Standard Vytalian Vokaira

Training Exercise 0-3: Sparring II: Multiple opponents; Introduction

Time: 1:38

3:00-2:30: Mastery

2:30-2:00: Proficient

2:00-1:30: Average

1:30-1:00: Needs Improvement

1:00-0:30: Weak

0:30-0:00: Defenseless

Mentor's Notes:

Walker has improved greatly these past weeks. He is powerful, energetic, and conscientious in his combat. Though he is not without fault. He is predictable and slow in his combat tactics. He leans more towards the powerful and brutish Arcamida over the swift and unpredictable Vokaira he selected at Beacon. He may soon be ready for missions in Dodge City once he recovers.

Alex blinked. that was considered Average?!

"What else?" Alex asked

"Your combat team has been selected once you start fighting at Dodge City. Here you are." Raven handed Alex another slip of paper.

Canterlot Military Command: Royal Guard

Unit name: Task Force Lightning

Acting Commander: Alex G. Walker

Second-In-Command: Rainbow Dash

Personnel:

Blast Radius

Burning Ember

Haunting Horseshoe

Skirmish Sentinel

H2O Delirious

I AM WILDCAT

Vanoss

"I have to ask, how did Rainbow get to be my #2? I would think she'd be with Twilight." Alex wondered.

"I heard she volunteered." Raven nodded.

"What of Team RWBY?" Alex said.

"They still have a lot they need to do. Give it time." She said.

"Sure, when do we head out?" Alex asked.

"Tomorrow, 0900 hours. What you do then is your own decision." Raven said.

A Pegasus in royal guard armor walked outside the hospital door, he had an orange coat with a red and black mane, from what Alex could tell.

"I heard our CO was in here, team. Remember, this guy might have been through a lot if he's our commander at 15." He whispered, turning behind him.

"I think they're with you. I'll be on my way." Raven nodded her goodbyes and exited the room.

"Pardon me... Gentlecolt, I think." Raven shrugged.

"Thank you, Ma'am." The guard nodded.

Once Raven was out of sight, he and three other guards walked in, the second guard was a slightly darker orange Unicorn with a gray mane that fringed black at the edges, a mare, if he was right.

The third guard was a light grey Earth Pony stallion with messy grey-green hair, the colt's most distinguishing features were his eyes, both pure black around the near-invisible pupil, in addition to the numerous scars on his face.

The fourth guard was a royal blue Pegasus with orange hair that was tied into a single braid, the mare looked a bit more stoic, in spite of her slightly smaller stature.

The first stallion cleared his throat, "Are you Commander Walker?" He asked, seemingly trying to retain confidence.

"Chill out, Blast. You scared of a little colt?" The third guard scoffed.

"Shut it, Haunt. I'm sure he is, though." The second sighed, annoyed.

"I'm assuming you're the rest of my squad." Alex nodded in reply.

"Yes, Sir. Lance Corporal Skirmish Sentinel." The fourth held a hoof out. Alex politely shook it, and gestured to the others.

"Private First Class Haunting Horseshoe, reporting for duty." The third grunted, as if he had other things to do.

"Sergeant Burning Ember. Been on the guard for 4 years." The second stood firm, demanding respect from her compatriots.

"Wonderful introduction as always. Blast Radius. Corporal." The first chuckled.

"Well, nice meeting you all, look forward to working with you." Alex smiled.

"With all due respect, sir. Can I ask what happened to where you're in a hospital bed?" Ember asked.

Skirmish walked over to a nightstand to his right, grabbing his grades.

"A graded training session from a Mrs. Raven Branwen and a Mrs. Yang Xiao Long."

"Actually, it's Ms. Xiao Long, as far as I know. Not sure about Raven, though." Alex replied.

Haunting took the note.

"Says here he lasted a minute-thirty-eight in a Pit Match against multiple opponents, that's just sad." Haunting scoffed.

"There's a back side to it." Ember noticed, reading it before gasping in surprise.

"You fought against the Elements of Harmony, the Scratchbolts, and this 'Raven'?" She asked in awe.

"And got my ass handed to me." Alex sighed.

"Pony feathers, I think he might be a better fighter than Haunting if he can last a minute against those psychos!" Blast cringed.

"I resent that." Haunting scoffed.

"If I am, it's only because I had to." Alex sighed.

"Come again?" Skirmish asked.

Alex told them all about him, everything that happened to him in these past months, once he was done, they all smiled.

"Wait, what?!" Alex asked upon noticing their reactions.

"I figured that Celestia'd pick you to command us!" Ember nodded.

"We've all been there. I was once held in a Diamond Dogs' lair for two months, had to kill my way out with a sharp piece of amethyst." Skirmish recollected.

"I was hunted in vampony territory, sharpened a stick and, well, un-alived them all. Took a month and a half." Haunting gestured to a scar on his foreleg.

"Had to fight off a manticore and a chimera at once, you ever deal with those things?!" Blast whistled.

"That's nothing. You remember the botched wedding in the Castle,right? I boxed myself in the kitchen and used every last fork, knife, and spoon in there. I killed 26 of those flying bugs." Ember scoffed.

'Holy hell, these ponies are psychos' Alex thought to himself.

Ember of all ponies seemed to notice his reaction.

"Ahem, anyways. It was a pleasure meeting you, I guess we should meet up with Ms. Dash and the others." She said.

"F**king finally!" Haunting sighed loudly in relief.

"Sure. See you on the field." Skirmish smiled.

"Bye, sir!" Blast yelled before being silenced by Haunting.

Once they left the room, he reviewed their psych profiles again. What they said was all true, according to Celestia. These ponies had been involved in some of the messiest battles in Equestria's history. And that was actually saying something, Equestria was mostly peaceful!

It was also worth noting that these particular four had worked together before, they were often called the 'Doom Bringers' by other species, even Griffins were afraid of them.

How they would be around Vanoss, Delirious, and Wildcat was not a question he wanted answered. He suspected that, considering their often aloof behavior and indifference to bloodshed, they would fit right in. Rainbow would probably be horrified, seeing as how, like the other Elements, had seen disappointingly little combat, and they were probably the most sociopathic ponies out there, but that isn't to say they weren't nice ponies, most of them, with the exception of Haunting, were pretty casual and collected.

And if Team RWBY were to actually show up, how would they react?

Alex knew Yang likely wouldn't care, as long as they were willing to help out once or twice a week. As for the others, he didn't know. He hadn't gotten to know them personally, but he did respect them to some extent.

All Alex knew for sure was that he was going to Dodge City with the Elements, Vanoss's crew,The Scratchbolts, Kat, Mako, and their squads to fight the Red Star, and Team RWBY would arrive later, maybe with reinforcements, maybe not.

Regardless, things were back to normal for the most part...

... And using the loosest definition of 'normal' ever.

Author's Notes:

Well, another Saturday, another chapter to this fan fiction.
I took the effort of making more OCs, as apparent in the chapter. No, I can't get cover art or anything because I can't art!

See you all next Saturday! Peace!