Chapter 55

“So…” Twilight tapped her chin. “Dave is engaged to you whilst in a relationship with Princess Luna”

Dave nodded, “Yeah, so far so good!” He smiled as Applejack leaned forward

“And that Odio fella isn’t controlling anypony or possessing Dave?” The earth pony waited for Dave to nod before sitting back again

“Congratulations everypony!” Dave cheered. “We have finally gotten through this without too much difficulty”

Rainbow Dash placed her hooves on the long dining table as she frowned at Dave, “I thought you hated harems!”

“I do but…” Dave smiled to Celestia as he reached out and held her hoof. “I love Celestia and Luna more”

Rarity smiled as she sipped the tea that was laced in front of her. “Well if you are all happy then I don’t see what problems could occur”

“Don’t say that,” Dave groaned. “It sounded like ‘nothing can go wrong’ and we all know how well that phrase has helped me”

“Well you did seem to attract a lot of attention and problems without needing any help,” Rarity responded with a smirk, leaving Dave with a small frown that slowly changed into a smile

The human shrugged as he felt a tug on his coat, he looked down to see Spike smiling up at him. “Hey Spike, what’s up?”

“Hey Dave, I figured that you would want to talk with the others so I was wondering where Nox is,” the baby dragon rubbed his claws together as Dave hummed

“Well if he isn’t being pumped full of nonsense by Odio then he is probably in the barracks with his cheerful grandpa,” Dave’s eyes popped open as he turned to Celestia. “Will Nox have to go through military training?”

Celestia almost spat her tea out as she frowned at Dave, “No! Why would I force my son to go through the guard training regime?”

“I’m from England, we had a royal family and some of the males went into some kind of military training,” Dave sipped his drink as he hummed. “Different place, different traditions I suppose”

Spike glanced at Twilight before shrugging, “I’ll just look around”

Meanwhile…

Lieutenant Night Stalker sat polishing his dark armour as the barrack doors swung open and a sweaty Matrix limped in, collapsing after a few steps into the room. The night guard glanced at the other guards and rolled his eyes as he was the closest one to the exhausted hybrid

“Do you have the strength to take yourself to your bunk?” Night Stalker frowned as he was responded with a loud groan, signalling that his assistance was required. “Would you like some help?”

Matrix lifted his head, his mane drenched in sweat, “Yes please!”

“Had the energy to say that,” Night Stalker mumbled angrily as he placed his armour polish down and walked over to the panting Pegasus. He used one of his charcoal black wings to scoop under the black and yellow body of the trainee to support some of his weight

“Thanks, the other guys decided to abandon the training,” Matrix sighed. “Will I get kicked out for not working as a team?”

Night Stalker began to help Matrix towards the sleeping quarters, “no you will just get advanced into the next stage”

“Wait… what?” Matrix suddenly hopped away from the lieutenant his eyes wide as a large smile spread across his face. “I-It was a test? And I-I passed?”

“Well… all trainees start as groups of three,” Night Stalker sat down at one of the small tables around the barracks and waited for the recruit to sit opposite him. “As the training increases in difficulty then some leave, eventually leaving one guard that follows orders and will give everything to prove himself as a good guard”

Matrix’s smile lessened as he used a hoof to sweep aside his damp mane, “your said ‘himself’, does that mean that mares aren’t allowed to join the guards?”

“One joined years ago, according to rumour,” Night Stalker lowered his voice. “My advice is to not bring it up”

“Why not?” the striped Pegasus looked around the barracks. “Is there a conspiracy?”

Night Stalker shook his head, “No, all you need to know is that mares can join, but they don’t”

“That’s fair enough I guess,” Matrix tapped his striped hooves on the table before he heard the barrack doors open and a frowning Strong Shield stepped in, glaring at some paperwork that levitated in front of him

“Who ordered the rookie to sit down?” Strong Shield barked as he glanced at Matrix, waiting for somepony to answer his question. “Nopony? Well why is he sat down rather than outside with the rest of the trainees?”

Matrix groaned as he slid off his chair and stood to attention as best he could, “Sorry sir, Rich Kid and Tough Heart both left”

“You mean your squad failed to run around the city ten times?” Strong Shield glared at the yellow and black Pegasus

“I-I managed to do the task but the others…” Matrix was silenced as Strong Shield slammed his documents onto the table and marched over to the trainee

“You may have passed but your squad failed,” Strong Shield snorted as Matrix avoided his gaze. “I see that you require more training in working as a unit, but unfortunately I can’t let you progress because you are a single trainee with no squad”

Matrix looked up at Strong Shield as his jaw dropped slightly, “So I… failed?”

“You can’t be a trainee…” Strong Shield’s horn glowed as he levitated over a single sheet from his stacks of paper, placing in on the table. “Place your hoofprint in the box at the bottom,” Strong Shield pointed to the large box large enough for one hoofprint

Matrix shuddered as he read the small writing beside the box, “Hoofprint required to discontinue training in the royal guards… is there nothing I can do?” he looked at Strong Shield, almost pleading for another chance

“No, now place your hoofprint in the box,” Strong Shield glared until Matrix slammed his hoof into the box, leaving an indent in the paper. “Good, now lieutenant Night Stalker, please take Private Matrix to the armoury for some decent armour before your patrol in an hour”

Matrix’s eyes popped open as he looked between the two dark ponies, “Did you call me Private Matrix?”

“Yes, I can’t train you anymore without you becoming an official guard,” Strong Shield snorted as he placed the stamped paper back onto the stack beside him. “Lieutenant Night Stalker will be your handler for a few days, his word is law to you”

“Will Matrix be joining the Noire Wings?” Night Stalker sighed as he stood up from his seat

Strong Shield looked over the newly recruited private and shook his head, “Probably not, you may take him out for night patrols or any other reason but he gets to decide whether he join the night guards or day guards”

“What are the Noire Wings?” Matrix asked, his curiosity helping to keep his excitement from bubbling over

Night Stalker sighed as he looked at the grinning Pegasus, “the Noire Wings are the night guards that are responsible for the protection of Princess Luna during special events”

“Basically Princess Luna’s personal bodyguards,” Strong Shield picked out another sheet of paper from his pack and passed it to Matrix. “This is the requisition order for your new armour and your new bunk room”

Matrix used a wing to hold the sheet as he read through the list, “One full set of golden armour, four tins of armour polish, one standard issue hoofcuffs, one standard issue wingcuffs, and one magical dampener”

“Everything a guard needs to make an arrest,” Strong Shield tapped his documents against the table before he looked over at the two pegasi. “You are both partners for now, get used to it or figure out how to get Matrix promoted fast… don’t forget to salute rookie”

Matrix stood to attention as he saluted Strong Shield, “Thank you sir!”

Strong Shield gave a small salute before walking off towards the captain of the guard’s office. Night Stalker held his hoof out to Matrix and they shook hooves, “Congratulations you passed the first test”

“Thanks I… first test?” Matrix groaned as the ache in his muscles returned. “Can we take a break first?”

“Probably not, we can get your equipment and we can rest while you polish your armour,” Night Stalker looked at the sheet of paper that was handed to him. “It looks like we will have some time before we go on the sunset patrol, should be easy for your first patrol”

Matrix chuckled, “So long as I have my partner I should be fine”

“Don’t call me that, use my name like everypony else,” Night Stalker frowned his new team-mate still smiled as he looked down at his requisition order

Meanwhile…

Strong Shield knocked on the door and stepped into Shining Armour’s office, a few pieces of paper were strewn around the large desk and the ex-guard sorted them out due to habit. He looked up to see the white unicorn sat at his desk with a shocked expression on his face

“Hey Strong Shield… what are you doing?” Shining moved his hooves from under the desk to on top as he took the stack of papers that Strong Shield passed him. “What are these?”

“I sorted the reports since my… dismissal,” Strong Shield tapped the front document. “This is a basic summary of all the guard’s actions in the last four months, with improvements, funds and timetable of events”

Shining nodded as he looked through the sheets and pushed them aside, “That’s great, thanks for helping out”

“Also I have your newest private ready to start doing patrols, I have left him in Lieutenant Night Stalker’s care…” Strong Shield looked down at the desk between him and the captain of the guard. “How are you Princess Cadence?”

Shining’s eyes looked down as a small tapping noise came from under the desk. Strong Shield rolled his eye before leaving the room, allowing Cadence to peek out from under the desk

“Did he know I was there the entire time?” the princess of love looked up at her husband

“I-I don’t want to know,” Shining sighed as he looked back down at his wife. “I’ll lock the door”

Meanwhile…

Spike walked down the corridor as he continued his hunt for Nox, his attention was brought to the corner he was about to reach, the sound of something dragging against the stone floor made him jog to look around

Unfortunately for Spike he ran straight into an orange chest, the baby dragon looked up to see the teen dragon looking down at him. “Oh hey…” Spike smiled as he slowly walked backwards

“Hey! It’s the dweeb!” Garble appeared from behind the orange dragon and grabbed Spike, holding him by his head as he snorted smoke into his face. “Try and run away now”

“Just put him down,” the orange dragon sighed. “Adamas said we had to meet him on the runway

“Shut up Blaze, I am just gonna have a little fun!” Garble smirked as he threw Spike in the air and caught him at the last moment

The final dragon appeared and tapped her chin as she saw the baby dragon being thrown in the air. “You know, I always wondered if baby dragons could survive falling from the top of the mountain”

“We have a mountain outside, we can try it!” Garble smirked at Spike as the baby dragon’s attempts at wiggling free were futile. “Do you want to drop him Blaze?”

“No,” the orange dragon snorted. He pushed past the other two dragons as he walked down the corridor. “Put him down or I will tell Adamas”

Garble gave a sarcastic gasp, “Oh no, not Adamas the gentle dragon!”

“Yeah, just because you want to be magical doesn’t mean the rest of us do,” The female dragon glared as she snatched Spike from Garble’s claws

The three teen dragons glared at each other but were interrupted as they head hoovesteps approach. “Hey!” Nox yelled. “Put Spike down!”

The black teen laughed as she saw the small alicorn, “Aww look, a baby alicorn, who are your parents?”

“My mum is Princess Celestia and my dad is Dave!” Nox growled. “Now put Spike down! Last warning!”

Garble and the female dragon gasped, “Dave is your dad?”

“I warned you!” Nox’s horn glowed an the two bullies levitated to the ceiling, Spike fell from the dragon’s clutches and fell into Blaze’s arms. “You ok Spike?”

Spike nodded as he jumped to the ground and looked up at the two dragons that were pinned to the ceiling. “What did you do?”

“Changed gravity around them… or placed a black hole behind them,” Nox hummed. “Either way they shouldn't get hurt… I hope”

Blaze smirked as the grey alicorn and baby dragon left. “So would you like me to get Adamas the gentle dragon to help you?”