I laid on a small comfortable medical bed while a horned White Guard waved a staff over me. When I had been admitted they had made me take off most of my clothes which showed all of us the extent of my injuries. Despite my clothes having been unharmed my skin did not get off scot free. Thankfully it was nothing as third degree burns and the when they had started working their magic most of the bruises had started disappearing. But it was still shocking to see my own body be turned into a tie dye of purple, red, and blue.

“Well that should take care of most of your injuries. But I would still recommend that you try and limit yourself.” One of the medics said, at least I assume that’s what the blinding white armor means. Like I said the armor was primarily white with a few red crosses on the shoulders and highlighted by light blue. If I had to hazard a guess the light blue was to indicate they were the night shift medics.

“Hey Fix Minder you done with your patient yet? I got done with mine a while ago.” Another medic walked in pulling back the curtain.

“Almost,” the now name Fix Minder said before turning back to me. “As I was saying you shall stay here the rest of today until we can give you another checkup.” My clothes were brought over to me by surrounded by a light blue glow. Grabbing them I was quick to put them on. Years of changing in gym classes paying off. “Is there anything I can get for you while you're stuck here?”

“Yeah could I get a few books? You know to pass the time?” Please I need to know what is going on in this world.

“I’ll see what I can do.” And just like that Fix and the other unnamed guard left. Seeing as they were gone, I settled myself down on the cot.

Hearing a sigh, I turned and saw my neighbor, Lightning dust curled up on her bed facing away from me. Whelp this was awkward. Hopefully I could get away with just ignoring her, like she obviously was with me. So, we sat in silence for a while content in our own thoughts.

“So, what was green, red charge move called?” Hermes damn it mouth. “I was thinking Hearts Warmth.” My med bay neighbor mumbled something barely audible. “Sorry you’re going to have to speak up. Oh, another name, Heat Wind Charge.”

“It’s called Burning Wind Trail!” She shouted turning to glare at me. Whereas I had a nice padding of bandages below my clothes she didn’t seem to have even one. No wait I saw one near her throat near where I had pointed Demon Slayer.

“And the red and yellow, wait let me guess. Shock Volt, no even better Lighting Flare?”

“Shocking Flame Blitz.” Wow she was getting annoyed. Well time to see if I could get more of a reaction maybe even start of a conversation. I know really pushing my luck and skills.

“Do you have a blue and red one cause I just thought of a kickass name.” Her gaze focused on me and upon receiving no answer I proceeded. “Steam Engine.” She gives a thoughtful hum as if considering it over. “Or how about blue and yellow for Electric Stream?” Again, all I got was a hum for a response

“What would you call a blue and green attack?” Seems she’s finally getting into the spirit of the conversation.

I hummed for a few seconds before responding, “Monsoon Wrath.”

Lightning fell into silence for a bit. “What was that attack you used on me?”

“Which one?”

“Both, but start with the sword slash.” Good seemed we got a dialog going. That is a step in the right direction. I think, been awhile since I talked to anyone this long besides my family.

“Terra Bane,” I licked my lips trying to think how to say the next part without sounding a little bit crazy. “It’s a skill that that lets me turn one slash into three powerful slashes.” Seeing her look I continued on. “The Bolt spell allows me to launch an aura spear to pierces the enemy’s defenses to land a nice hit.” My gaze had turned to the ceiling now as my mind started wondering. “Though I guess it never encountered something like your barrier before. Hell, Terra Bane is just a bunch of sword slashes how the hell did it hitting your magic result in such a strong explosion?”

“Don’t know, I’m sure Sunset is tearing her hair out trying to figure it out.” I returned my gaze to Lightning who let out a shallow chuckle. “She probably already wrote up several pages about both of those skills.”

“Seems we got off on the wrong foot. Names Oz, nice to meet you.” I said extending my hand.

“Lightning Dust,” She took my hand and gave it a firm shook before pulling on it and nearly making me fall of my bed.

“What was that for?” I yelped pulling my hand back. Unfortunately, Miss Dust hadn’t let go so it just resulted in the start of a tug of war between us.

“I will not be beaten by you again.” This woman had problems. Now the resizable thing to do would be to let her ‘win’. Well screw that. I started pulling with whatever strength I could trying to win whatever game this was. This of course resulted in Lightning giving a smirk as she pulled on her advantage.

“Well what’s going on here?” A voice asked behind me. Turning my head, I felt another pull and my head meet the floor.

“Thanks for the assist Zap.” Lightning chirped above me. Screw you!

A sigh sounded above me as two hands pulled me back up to bed. “Mister Oz what did I say about limiting yourself.”

“She started it.” I weakly waved an arm at the triumphant looking Lightning who was now sitting on her bed.

“I swear everyone on this ship are a bunch of children.” The doctor said waving the staff over my head. “Thank god your thick headed.” Pulling the staff back I rolled my head to alleviate whatever ache might still exist. On the previous empty table were a pile of books. “Sorry but the only books on the ship were those given to Shining from his sister. So, you’ll have to give them back.”

“If what Sunset says about Twilight is true then those will put you sleep.” I’m guessing Zap said walking into my vision. “So good choice.” I could tell she was smiling behind her helmet.

“Miss Zap I must inform you that despite being a Night Guard the visiting hours are still the same.” The medic stated firmly while now waving his staff over the still smiling Lightning. Though she seemed to smile bigger when I was looking.

“Man, Sunset will not be happy about that.” Zap jokingly said while taking a seat on my bed. Whelp time to get some reading done. Plus, it should annoy anyone trying to talk to me.

A Brief History of Equestria was proudly written on the hard cover. ‘Brief my ass this could be used as an offense weapon in underground librarian pit fights!’ Well no time like the present to start my reading. Huh, it’s a comic book, weird.

*****

Shining Armor sat on his bed rolling a communication stone back and forth in his hand. One of the medics had stopped by not that long ago. He was looking for books, said that Oz wanted something to read while he was stuck in the med bay. Having Twily for a sister he had a large number of books that he hadn’t gotten around to reading yet. Don’t get him wrong he loved his little sister but not everyone had her reading speed.

Placing the stone, the mirror it fell into a little circle. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Canterlot Castle.” Shining spoke clearly as the mirror fogged over for thirty seconds before clearing to show him the one who his heart belongs to.

“Shiny I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.” Her voice soothed part of him.

“Yeah, something's happened. Nothing bad,” Shiny fell back onto his bed, “just confusing very confusing.”

“Well tell me. I might not be in the army but I am your girlfriend.” Shiny could swear he felt her hands on his. Any tension he once held quickly fled from his body.

“Well it started when my team caught up with Sunset’s team. They were being overrun by undead. We were quick to rush in and help but that’s when we came across two unexpected elements.” Shining said as his memory returned to what happened yesterday. “Sunset was fighting a mutated undead the likes of which at the point hadn’t been seen.” That was a report to file. The body of it had been examined as best it could before they had to leave. It was estimated to be four times strong than most Fighters and as sturdy as a Paladin.

“Oh no is she okay?” Worry traced across Candace's face.

“She had managed to do some heavy damage to it with her Holy Fire but it’s skin was fire resistant. Add to it the undead's endurance made it more than she could deal with by herself. Me and the main squad were doing our best fighting against the hoard and probably wouldn’t had made in time. Thankfully she was saved by a still unknown fighter.”

“Unknown? Do you mean he left after helping Sunset?” God her face was so cute when it was scrunched up in confusion. Shining so rarely go to see it that he always made sure to savor any moment he could.

“No, he’s with us right now. He managed to cut open part of the super undead’s back which Sunset used to pour her Holy Flames into. Seeing a chance, the, at the time, unnamed warrior unleashed a powerful skill to kill the weakened undead.” Shining took a deep breath before continuing. “It was at that point we managed to break through the rest of the hoard. So, I approached the warrior and asked him to come with me. He was surprisingly cooperative.”

Cadence had leaned into like she was watching an intriguing play. “Let me guess you charged him with trespassing in a dangerous and closed dungeon.”

“Yes.” Why did everyone tease him about it. The law was the law, and it was his duty to uphold and enforce it. “Though after integrating him I learned his name was Oz and that he had been teleported into there by a mugger.”

Cadence let out a small groan. “I thought we had cracked down on that thirty years ago.” Shining felt for his beloved. Learning that Oz was the victim of a crime that had unintentionally led to the death of hundreds of different people over the years was slightly unnerving.

“Yeah that's what I thought to when we caught somebody doing it two years ago.” That story was one he never wished to touch or remember again. “So, since we were already going back to Canterlot to deliver Sunset and her team to Celestia for the Grand Galloping Gala we brought Oz along.” The fact that he was bringing him for a trail left unsaid. “This where thing get… well confusing.” Cadence leaned in waiting to hear the next part.

“It was around the Guard Shift when Oz finally came top side and was invited by Lemon Zest into a circle. I joined not long after. He apparently held no ill will for me doing my job but before I could try talking to him, he shifted to asking if we had heard some story.” At this part he looked at his, hopefully soon, to be fiancée. “He told us the tale of a necromancer named Darth Plagueis who would keep those he loved alive only for him to be killed in his sleep by his trusted apprentice.”

“That’s… dark. Fitting for a necromancer I guess.” Cadence said slowly reclining in her favorite chair. “I’ll have to ask my aunties but I don’t recognize the name. So, what happened next?”

“I asked him about the apprentice, see if he knew something else about the tale. He just said he got the story from some guy named Sidious. Then before I could ask him anything else, he tried to head to bed. Only for Lightning Dust to hit him knocking him back.”

“Who?” Again, with that adorable confused look.

“You know that member of Sunset’s team that challenges me to a fight every chance she gets.”

“Oh, you know I almost forgot about her. So, after knocking down Oz did, she challenge you again.”

“No, she challenged Oz after he,” Shining’s face started to become a little flushed at this next part. “Well, he asked if anybody got… the numbers of Lightning Dust.”

Cadence started at him for a few seconds before nearly falling out of her chair laughing. “He actually asked if anyone had Lightning’s measurements? Why?”

Shining’s mind tried to think of a reason for Cadence’s question. “You know, I have no idea.” Shaking his head to clear any errant thoughts he counted on. “So, to help teach him a lesson and see if I could go one trip without Lightning trying to pick a fight with me, I let her go at Oz.”

“Let me guess Oz won?” He loved how smart she was.

“Yeah but she had him in a few spots. At the beginning it really seemed that she had him in a corner only for him to push back. But what really caught my interest was what happened when he tried to use an energy attack against her.” Waiting a bit, he continued. “It seems Sunset modified her team's armor.”

Cadence let out a small groan of annoyance. The Guard’s armor was made special by a group of Enchantress with each one tested and approved by the Head Enchanter. Modification were allowed to be made to the armor as long as it was approved by at least on captain or higher along with a royal enchanter. “What did she do?”

When Sunset was given her team around two years ago only members of the royal guard were allowed to join. All was fine till the last update six months ago. Sunset had decided she was ready to lead a new team. A team she would pick.

Princess Celestia reluctantly agreed to her terms on the condition that updates were held every month instead of the previous three months. Many applicants were quick to rush in. Not only at the chance to explore dungeons but also the immediate promotion to royal guard. Though it was fun to see Sunset tear apart more than one stuck up noble who thought they should get in just because of their blood. The result was Sunset’s new team composed of people she saw fit to journey with her into ancient areas of Equestria.

“Do you know how and when she modified them?” Cadence mumble trying to figure out how to let Celestia know what one of pupils did.

“Well last time me or one of my men indulged Lightning in a spar was more than four months ago and it was out of armor. So, who knows. The modifications she made lowers the durability of the armor in exchange for increased defense. The armor is now in storage until the self-repair activates.” Shining finished before letting out a small yawn.

“Seems these events are really starting to take it out of you.” He tried to protest only for the one who holds his heart to continue on. “Get some sleep my brave knight, the sooner you get here the sooner you can tell me that news you keep hinting at.” Cadence teased.

“Fine, just let the Princess know.” Shining didn’t protest knowing he would only lose it. So, he chose a tactical retreat.

“I will, good night Shining.”

“Night Cadence.” As he laid down the mirror fogged over again before returning to its reflective surface. Shining laid down on his rock-hard bed as his mind went over what to tell her Highness.

Author's Notes:

Heads up I might not being uploaded as frequently as before. I know I'm just as eager as you guys to get to the main plot, aka The Grand Galloping Gala, but all I got is a chapter before we get there and I open up this story for Crossovers. I know I'm exited to, so like I said I'm hard at work on getting it done but... Exposition is so boring to write :(. So look forward to whenever I publish that and Finally give you some back story on this world. Not a lot mind you sense I'm trying to keep to Canon. Well as usual Have a Great Day and thanks for reading.