Shining Armor looked himself over in the mirror. "Not bad lieutenant. Not bad." He had been calling himself by his new rank all day. He could tell that he was getting on the nerves of his fellow guards, but he didn't entirely care. He smiled at

himself and took a stance as if he were about to attack. "Hold it right there villain! You're going down, or my rank isn't lieutenant." He stared at his reflection for a moment, gritting his teeth.

A knock brought him back to reality and Shining spun around to find Captain Hoofguard standing in the doorway. Shining smiled. "Captain! Umm..." He glanced at the mirror and then back to his commanding officer.

Hoofguard smiled. "I did the same thing when I became an officer. It seems that cockiness comes with the position."

Shining chuckled and walked towards the captain. "I was just trying the name on for size. I promise I'll be more serious."

Hoofguard nodded. "If I didn't think you could be serious, I wouldn't have promoted you." They shared a laugh and walked out of the room.

The only drawback to an officer rank for Shining was that he didn't sit with his friends during meals anymore. Most of them were regular guards and sat at their own tables while the officers sat at the far edge of the mess hall. Shining sat down next to another lieutenant and bean to eat his lunch. He listened to the various conversations at the table. They ranged from training techniques to a bet placed on which officer would get a date first for Friday. He ate in silence, enjoying being the bystander.

When his hay sandwich was gone, Shining stood up and left the hall, trotting towards the training area. He knew he wasn't required to be there today, but he enjoyed the exercise. He found a sparring dummy set up on the side of the field. He levitated it towards him and set it down on the grass. Shining began to pace around the dummy, visualizing an opponent; big, strong, armor plating similar to a guard's. Shining smiled as he imagined the enemy advance. With a swift rear kick, he began his attack.

The barrage went on for several minutes as Shining used every move in his arsenal. Even though his specialty was focused towards his magic, he enjoyed learning to fight like the pegasi and earth ponies. Unicorns learned basic fighting, but not to the extent that Shining had. He had opted to learn as much as he could in both the physical and the magical.

Shining dealt his final blow and sat down. His heartbeat was pounding at the back of his head. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He stood up and began to walk away. Two hoofsteps later he was knocked forward onto the grass. Shining lifted his head, a few blades of green stuck to his cheek, and looked behind him. The dummy was standing behind him. Shining shook his head. "Nah. It couldn't be." He stood up and brushed himself off.

'WHAM!!'

Shining lifted his head from the grass again. He growled and jumped up, spinning around to face his opponent. The dummy stood there, a purple aura shimmering around it. What was going on? Shining looked around the training area, but could see nopony. His search nearly caused him to get hit again. The dummy charged forward, but Shining spotted it just in time. He jumped over the dummy and the battle began. Shining couldn't help but smile. The dummy was using all his own moves against him. It made for a real challenge. And Shining loved it!

The fighting lasted for a minute before the dummy went limp. Shining stood over his fallen enemy, sweat running down his cheek. "Nice moves for a dummy." He nudged the body and waited. Nothing. How had the dummy-?

"Shiny!"

Shining Armor turned around to see his little sister running towards him. Princess Celestia followed behind at a slower pace. Before Shining could bow to Celestia, Twilight tackled him with a hug.

She gave him a big grin. "I heard you were made a lieutenant! Congratulations!"

Shining smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks Twili." He nodded to Celestia. "Princess."

She returned the nod. "Shining Armor. Congratulations on the promotion. When Twilight found out, she insisted on coming to see you. So we took a break from our lesson."

Shining smiled. The princess was such a kind leader and it was obvious that she cared for his sister.

Twilight finally released him from their hug and she bounced around her brother. "What did you think of my dummy?"

Shining froze and stared at his sister. "Your dummy?!"

Twilight nodded. "Celestia taught me a 'come to life' spell today. She suggested I try it out on the dummy."

Celestia chuckled. "Of course I did all the fighting, but Twilight cast the basic spell."

Shining looked from his sister to the princess. "So...you were testing my sister?"

Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. "I was testing both of you. Twilight's magic and your physical ability. I must say I was very impressed with the skills I saw just now."

Twilight beamed at her brother. "You were amazing!" Shining lowered his head in embarrassment, hiding his smile from the princess's praise.

Celestia turned to Twilight. "Why don't you put the dummy back and head for the study. I'd like to speak to your brother for a minute." Twilight odder and ran off with the dummy levitating behind her. Celestia chuckled. "Your sister is a fine mare. Talented too." Shining nodded in agreement.

He glanced at Celestia from the corner of his eye. "What did you want to speak to me about?" The princess smiled. "Walk with me." She began to walk off. It took shining a few moments to process the command before he joined his leader.

Soon the two ponies were walking around the gardens of Canterlot Castle. Shining took every flower in. Celestia sighed in contentment. "Such a beautiful day." She looked at Shining. "You're very much like your sister. You are both determined unicorns. When I heard you had joined the Guard, I watched your progression with interest. You surpassed the expectations of all your commanding officers. And now you've shown yourself to be worthy of an officer's commission. I won't be surprised if you became Captain of the Guard one day." Shining's eyes grew wide at the statement. "Th-thank you." Celestia smiled and continued to walk.

As they came to the entrance of the caste, Celestia paused once more. She turned to Shining, now with a serious look. "I have decided to have you lead a mission for me." Shining felt his knees go weak for a moment. He sat down to steady himself, but quickly stood up oping the princess didn't think him lazy. She smiled. "I know it's a big task for a new officer, but I am confident that you are the one I need for this assignment. The Summer Sun Celebration is approaching, but there is another commitment that needs to be honored as well. I would gladly handle the other commitment, but this is the 1000th Celebration and I will be expected to help prepare and attend."

Shining stood up straight and nodded. "You want me to handle your other priority?"

The princess nodded. "Exactly. You will be an escort on a journey to the North. It has not been dangerous in the past, but I feel that is about to change for some reason."

Shining gave a curt nod, doing his best to keep his guard-face on. "And protection will be required. I would be glad to accept the assignment."

Celestia smiled and bowed her head. "Thank you lieutenant. I will inform the princess of your acceptance."

Shining became confused. "The princess?"

Celestia nodded. "I believe you remember Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

Shining's eyes went wide again. "Cadence?" Next Chapter: The Wonderbolt Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes