A steady breath. Mind clear of thoughts. Focus on the movement, his own and his opponent's. A sword begins its movement, and another answers. Evasion, feinting, blocking, dodging. Always the same, always different.

Body is nothing, skill is everything. A damaged leg can be an advantage if used right. Make the enemy think he's weak, but then he strikes from his weakness, turning it into strength. There is no weakness, only a choice between continuing to victory or giving up and allowing the opponent to prevail. A choice between life and death.

A clash of steel, a clash of wills. Always improving, always facing new challenges. Quickly, precisely, and without thought. Thought comes later, an analysis of the result. But when fighting, one must not think but act. Thoughts are slower than actions. Actions bring victory, and thoughts can be saved for later.

Fight is like a dance with a partner who wants to outdance you. Neither know what to expect, but both need to react accordingly, otherwise it results in failure.

A sword passes defense, strikes the target. Victory.

Sirius came back to reality after yet another training. In the training hall of his mansion, he fought different fighters, learning from their strengths and understanding their weaknesses. The magic crystal providing him a sparring partner was programmed to learn, and so each day, Sirius learned as well. He couldn't stop learning, for it would result in his death in a real fight. This time, he came out victorious, but that wouldn't always be the case.

His damaged leg buzzed from exhaustion, adrenaline left him, and only tiredness remained. He breathed heavily and sat down, sheathing the training sword and placing it in the rack with others.

"Sirius, dinner's ready!" the voice of his beloved reached him from the kitchen. She was always at his side, ready to do what he couldn't. A smile played its way on his lips as he recounted the times they shared moments of love. Neither had any duties to uphold, but an unspoken agreement sparked between the two: Sirius protects her and others, and she makes sure he can continue do that without going mad. It was a vague agreement, of course, but it was enough. The rest was simple love that required nothing but the consent of the two to act on it.

Sirius inhaled deeply and stood up. He would always replenish his strength and come back for more, for there was a great many challenges ahead. The life of a Royal Guard wasn't easy, and his goal was to prepare for it mentally and physically. Daily training was nothing new for him; discipline was what allowed him to achieve his strength. He knew he had much to learn – there were always things to learn regardless of what one already knew.

But learning is taxing on the mind and body, so it was good time to grab a bite. Sirius had been getting more meat than usually, and his muscles finally began to grow, covering his thin body. In fact, he was now healthily thin, and his muscles were defined rather well. It was still a long way for him to go, especially to the standards of the Royal Guard, but he was a long way ahead of how he started.

The size of his muscles didn't concern him, however. It is how he used them; mobility, flexibility, and strength were what mattered to him. The size and mass, if anything, would be entirely detrimental to his efforts in all things but the raw hoof to hoof combat. Even then, he could manipulate the mass of his opponent to his advantage. All in all, there were things he needed, and there were things he had to keep in mind. Just in case.

He limped to the exit of the training hall and headed to the kitchen, his nostrils already catching the smell of food. Iclyn was never a bad cook, and her skills always improved just like his did with the sword. She even learned to cook different meats, helping him a great deal.

This time, it was a scent of rice, some vegetables, and fish – the food of coastal cities and settlements. In his life, Sirius rarely tried Japanese cuisine, but he was more than glad to be able to do so now. It wasn't quite Japanese, but rather close, and definitely tasty.

"I see you're doing really well," Iclyn commented, glancing at Sirius' sweaty body, "Really taking that training seriously, aren't you?"

"It makes me better, so yeah," he replied, taking a seat at the table, "Your food smells delicious, Icy. Can't wait to try it!"

"You always say that," she let out a short laugh.

"Because it's always delicious," he replied with a stupid grin on his face, "Anyway, I'm ready. And I'm going to wash the dishes today."

"Well, if you're not too tired, then alright," Iclyn said and then grasped the handle of a pan with her teeth. In a moment, she placed it on the table, allowing Sirius to see the cooked fish, "You've been training a lot, so you do need a lot of rest, too."

"Thanks, but I'm fine," he assured her, "I'd be sleeping if I were tired, you know."

"Maybe," she half-agreed, "Anyway, enjoy the food! I know I will."

The two ate in a pleasant silence, enjoying each-other's presence and the taste of the food. Same thing every day, but neither of them minded it; it was peaceful, the food was good, what else was there to want? In truth, Sirius indeed had everything he could ever desire, and so did Iclyn. Their future was assured; the stallion just wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

He was young, many years were still ahead of him. Until recently, he had no idea he would live as long as he did, and now it looked like a whole eternity was waiting for him. He would grow old with his love, and hopefully, depart to a peaceful non-existence. But before he would reach that point, he still had years upon years. And he intended to spend these years the best way possible, which included making sure that his new home would remain at peace. He suspected it wouldn't be easy, but then was there ever lasting peace without conflict? In the grand scheme of things, he was unlikely to contribute a lot, but this theory flew out the window when he defeated Chrysalis during the Canterlot Wedding Invasion. He had proven that he was larger than he thought. Of course, he was still just one person, but even one person could bring change, no matter how little. That is why nothing was going to stop him now.

He expected more Chrysalises to come, more invasions to happen, and he would be happy if he could prevent or solve even one problem. He didn't care about being remembered, but he knew he would be – his deeds couldn't be purged now. Perhaps, he was overly positive, but it was better than being overly negative. After all, he was still prepared and working on himself, perfecting his skills and body. He was a notable figure in modern Equestrian history, and so he could start something more, something even larger than him.

Young colts, as he found out, admired him. To him, he was the very definition of a knight in shining armor, someone who was always ready to lay down his life for others. Of course, it was a simplified image of him – the truth was much more complex. The colts would grow, however, and they would shed the simplification in time. Sirius saw how they trained, how swordsmanship clubs had a surge of new applicants desiring to be just like him. They would never be just like him, of course, but they would certainly find value in the training he did. The past month, he was offering advice for beginners and training them along with Pride Fight, his own teacher that still had things to offer. The aging stallion was like battered, scratched, slightly rusted steel – old and weathered, but still standing in the face of danger and willing to teach the younger generation.

Some ponies left the training, finding it too difficult for them. But that didn't matter – quality trumped quantity. Those who stayed offered way more than those who left. Day by day, they improved, and their understanding of swordsmanship evolved from stick-bashing to proper form and understanding of the double-edged blade.

Iclyn had been training as well, though not nearly as often as Sirius. Spear is one of the easiest weapons to learn to use, for it offers a massive advantage in reach over many other weapons. As the pegasus found out, she could use her legs to turn the spear almost as fast as unicorns could. All in all, she became a decently-capable fighter and would be able to defend herself if the need arose.

Sirius finished his meal first and went to wash it right away, singing a song to himself. It was one of his old favorite tunes from days past, and he didn't even remember what the song's name was. However, there was something about it that he liked, and so it was one of the very few things he kept from his human life. As he hummed the song, he poured the soap on the dishes and began scrubbing them, making sure not a spot was left. Proper discipline in everything assured the best results, and although Sirius wasn't a fan of doing such work, he enjoyed the results nevertheless, making this work worth it.

Iclyn finished her own meal soon, and the stallion gladly took the dishes to wash them. A dab of soap, and then scrubbing with a sponge. Nothing difficult, but the results were nice. Soon, all the kitchenware was properly cleaned and placed where it belonged.

"I'm going to shower now," Sirius said, heading upstairs.

"Don't mind if I join," Iclyn smirked and followed him.

Sometimes, it was sexual. Sometimes, they simply washed each-other and played in the water. Anything they did was done in happiness and agreement. The stallion especially enjoyed it – he had never experienced such peace before. And it only hardened his resolve to join the Royal Guard. After all, such peace needs to be cherished and protected; there were many who would want to take it away from them for one reason or another. Or, sometimes, for no reason at all. It didn't matter the reason, however – the result would be the same.

Sirius enjoyed the warm water just as he enjoyed cold showers that he took to wake up. Each served their purpose: the warm one to relax after hard training, and the cold one to get ready for the day and bring the mind to work. And this time, he was enjoying lazily swimming in the pool along with Iclyn. She could keep herself afloat easily, just staying in place like a duck. That had something to do with her much lighter weight due to her being a pegasus, Sirius thought. She could probably fall asleep in that position and stay afloat for a long time.

As for him, he swam despite his damaged leg. It didn't hinder him at all, and the swimming allowed him to relax and also tone his muscles when he put effort into it. Of course, his leg buzzed after any substantial exertion, but he learned to ignore it. And maybe one day, he would be able to fix it and walk properly. But until then, he could use his weakness to turn it into strength. As long as he was aware of the flaw, he could circumvent it, at the very least.

Most importantly, he had money. His pension was rather great, and it would allow him to buy many extravagant things. However, he didn't need them: he didn't need fancy carriages, golden statuettes, nothing of the sort. He was content with what he had, for it was more than he had ever had before in his life. So, instead of showing off his money, he put the money elsewhere – into research. Of course, the royalty already poured plenty into it, but he thought that it would still be a better use for his money than buying anything else or simply storing it somewhere. Maybe one day, they would discover how to cure such extensive leg injuries.

Sirius sighed quietly. Some time had passed since he received it, and every single day was a reminder that he might never walk properly again. Princess Luna promised to look into solutions, but so far, no results were yielded, and it was uncertain if, let alone when, they would. He could do nothing but wait, hoping that his money helped the research, and hoping that Princess Luna would push it even further.

Sirius' depression is gone now, but there are certain issues he still faces, mostly centering around his injury. He's trying to convince himself that it didn't matter, that his skill would turn it into a strength of its own, but at the end of the day, everything he did would be better if he still had a healthy leg.