“Here’s to ol’ Riot!” the break room cheered. “Hoo-rah!”

Riot Shield had to blink back tears as the praise washed over him, the purple-armored, medium-grey unicorn rocking side to side as his shoulder was shaken playfully.

“You guys,” he said, smiling. “You didn’t have to do this!”

“Come on, Cap,” another armored grey unicorn cheered. “What’s a retirement without a sendoff?”

Riot Shield rubbed a foreleg with his other foreleg subconciously, and grimaced. “I dunno if you can call it a retirement,” he muttered sourly. “I think that’s a bit generous.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sour guts,” groused the almost-identical stallion next to Riot. “Let these boys give you the sendoff they think you deserve, eh? Last day on the job and all, let’s make it fun, huh?”

“You’re right,” Riot nodded. “Night Guard, work hard!”

“Party hard!” the room cheered back, reciting the second half of the unofficial motto of the newly-returned Princess Luna’s Night Guard.

With that, the break room broke into quiet burbling as the guards on break began to dig out the party food; cakes, muffins and other treats were all on display, and smiles were being worn on all the identical guard faces.

“These disguise enchantments still freak me out, you know that?” Riot muttered, using his magic to remove his helmet. With a ripple, his coat changed from the uniform medium grey to a more natural red, and he shook out a green mane as he set the helm on a nearby table.

“All part of the job,” his companion cajoled, taking off his own helmet to reveal a brick-orange coat with a short-cut, grubby-pink mane atop his head.

“You’d think after a couple of years, I’d get used to it, Claystone,” Riot grumbled, helping himself to a cupcake from across the room.

“Well, I think it’s certainly served its purpose,” Claystone argued, nodding at Riot’s foreleg. “It certainly covered that up until now.”

Riot looked down, and saw a familiar sight, even if it was another thing he’d not get used to. A wooden peg-leg from just above his knee, downwards.

“I wish I didn’t have to go,” Riot muttered. “Retirement. They’re too kind, I’m being cut loose. Even Luna couldn’t keep making excuses for me.”

“There’s no shame in it,” Claystone said simply. “You lost that leg honorably, and practically demanded that Luna let you keep serving, without telling a soul.”

“Yeah, well...” Riot chewed the cupcake thoughtfully, and swallowed. “At least I know the Guard’s in good hooves, eh?”

“Naturally,” Claystone said, polishing a horseshoe on his chest and fluffing his wings proudly. “I always was the better guardspony, you know. You just got lucky because Luna took a shine to you at the interview.”

The two laughed - an old bone of contention, the two officers had started off rivals, continually one-upping each other, only ceasing their rivalry when Luna dashed Claystone’s hopes by promoting Riot Shield to ranking officer.

There was a flash of moonlight in front of Riot Shield, and he reflexively caught the missive that fell from the burst, setting what was left of his cupcake down and unfurling the message.

As he did so, Claystone leaned over his shoulder, to the point where he was infringing quite considerably on Riot’s personal space, which caused the three-legged senior to give him a look.

“Do you mind?”

“Who’s it for?” Claystone asked, complying and leaning back a bit. “Is it for me? I know how sometimes Luna sends you things meant for me when we stand next to each other.”

“By the moon, Clay,” Riot huffed. “Would it kill you to just wait?”

“Yes?”

Riot rolled his eyes, and scanned the header. “It’s for me,” he reported. “Captain of the Guard.”

“Hey, that’s me,” Clay protested.

“Not ‘til sunup,” smirked Riot. “This one’s mine.”

“What is it?” Clay pressed.

“Nothing,” Riot said, showing Claystone the scroll. “Just says to report to her chambers, pronto.”

“Oooh,” Clay grinned. “Someone’s getting a severance package~!”

“Shut up,” Riot thumped Clay in the shoulder with his good hoof. “Make yourself useful, and sort out the new patrol roster or something, would you?”

Clay chuckled, and slipped his helmet back on, his features returning to the Night Guard uniform, and fluttering his new bat-wings. “Yeah, yeah, make the most of it. Come sunup, I’ll be bossing you around. Don’t worry, I’ll only make you clean the toilets a little.”

“You’re too kind,” Riot drawled, pulling on his own helmet, and focusing with his horn. There was a flash of light, and he was gone.

======

The guardspony re-materialized outside the throne room’s doors. Being the middle of the night, Luna was holding court -- or she should have been, at any rate. With the doors closed, guards absent and the usual line of petitioners cleared away, something was up.

Riot Shield approached the doors tentatively, his gait a little stiff, every other step punctuated with a muted click of unseen peg on hallway runner. As he drew near the door, he heard faint wailing, and muffled cooing.

It got a raised eyebrow out of him, but he pressed onwards, pushing the doors open properly, and entering the Canterlot Castle throne room.

The large chamber was filled with the sounds of a foal crying for it’s mother, and he grimaced as he closed the doors behind him, and approached the throne.

Luna was sitting in the throne, an expression of mild confusion and panic on her face as she rocked a small bundle back and forth at hoof’s length with her magic, face scrunched up as she tried to think of nursery rhymes.

“You summoned me, Princess?” Riot asked.

“Captain Riot, good to see you -- here, hold this for me, would you? Don’t drop it.”

With a haze of magic, the bundle floated over to Riot, and he took it, feeling a heavy mass inside all the swaddling. Surprisingly, the bundle stopped wailing.

“Don’t tell me somepony tried to stork you, Princess,” he joked.

“That’s not far from the truth, actually,” Luna replied, “Look.”

Riot brought the bundle closer to him, and gasped involuntarily as he saw the squashed, round face looking back at him, eyes red from crying and face caked in dried salt and grime.

“Sweet-” Riot looked up at Luna, and blushed. “I mean, by the moon, what the hay is it?”

“I would guess it is some sort of foal,” Luna stated, rummaging around in a bag. “Something’s offspring.”

Riot examined the child again, and grimaced. “Doesn’t half smell.”

“Poor thing was sitting in it’s own filth for what looked like a day or so,” Luna muttered, finding what she was looking for. “Please remove it’s swaddling.”

Riot obliged, walking closer to the throne as he removed the grubby blanket that encased the baby, and revealed a strange, hairless body. Four stubby little limbs, each one with a number of smaller tentacles that grasped and wriggled upon exposure to the air. About the only familiar thing on the alien creature was the diaper around what Riot guessed was it’s groin.

“Thank you, Riot,” Luna nodded, using her magic to cut away the diaper, and remove it; the hardened guardspony gagged a little at the smell, and averted his gaze from the groin and exposed genitalia of the child.

“It’s a colt,” he grunted.

The child burbled as Luna used her magic to clear away the excess poop, and placed a fresh diaper on him, fastening it with a pair of pins.

“There,” Luna nodded. “Thank you, Riot. I can take it from here.”

“Sure.” Riot handed the baby back to Luna’s magical grip, and almost instantly, the child began to cry.

Luna frowned, and regarded the crying infant. “Riot, if you would humor me, take hold of the child again?”

“Sure.” Riot took the child once more, and like a switch, the crying stopped. Luna frowned.

“I see,” she muttered. “The child likes you.”

“That’s great,” Riot said sarcastically. “What do you want me to do with it?”

“It is the offspring of some sort of alien,” Luna said. “It fell from the sky in a metal box, all alone. It looks like it has travelled from beyond the stars. I sensed its fall, and recovered the child before the pod hit the ground.”

“Beyond the stars, huh?”

“Indeed,” Luna nodded. “Even I do not know what lies between them. In any case, I believe that one day, more pods will fall from the sky, and this little one will need to be returned to it’s own kind. I had planned to look after the child until such a time, but...”

“He doesn’t like you,” Riot muttered.

“Exactly.” Luna nodded. “But he seems to like you...”

“Must be my rugged good looks?” Riot suggested.

“What looks?”

“Ouch, Princess,” Riot said, feigning a hurt expression. “Right to the bone.”

Luna cleared her throat. “Tonight is your last night with the Night Guard, is it not?”

“It is, Princess,” Riot admitted.

“Would you continue to serve the Crown of Equestria if you could?”

“Without hesitating,” Riot declared. “If you’d have me, of course.”

“That is a given,” Luna nodded. “I have a proposal for you. One last mission. It may take mere days, it might take months, it might never finish, and it could be crucial to the security of Equestria. Are you interested?”

“What kind of mission?” Riot asked.

Luna pointed a hoof at the child, who had been making attempts to grab Riot’s horn with stubby forelimbs while the diarch and guardspony had been talking.

Riot got the point. “Oh no, you want me to look after this kid?”

“Only until something comes for him,” Luna assuaged. “Care for him, keep him happy and healthy.”

“Princess,” Riot coughed. “You’re talking to the wrong stallion. I’m a bachelor. A kid was never on my horizon to start with, and I can barely look after myself, let alone an alien colt.”

Luna sighed, exasperated. “I guess you’re right. I never should have asked, I’ll just get Claystone to do it, tell him how you couldn’t...”

Riot’s ear twitched and he gritted his teeth. If she went to Claystone with the mission, he’d never hear the end of it, another invisible notch of superiority in their long-running competition.

No.

“Alright, alright,” Riot held up a hoof plaintively. “I’ll do it. Somehow. The kid’s as good as looked after.”

“Very good, Captain,” Luna smiled. “I trust the child will be safe in your hooves, and that you will protect him as you would protect me.”

“Count on it,” Riot grunted, adjusting his grip on the child as it squirmed and redoubled efforts to suck on his horn.

“You will be compensated, naturally,” Luna went on. “Mission pay, in addition to your disability benefit.”

“You know,” Riot said. “I don’t care about the mission pay.”

“I cannot ask you to do this for free,” Luna argued. “I must reward you for your work.”

“I want a new leg.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “A new leg?”

“Yeah,” Riot nodded. “I’ll waive whatever money you wanted to give me, if you can just give me my leg back.”

It was Luna’s turn to bite her lip. “You know as well as I that your leg is unhealable, even by me...”

“All I ask is that you try and find a way,” Riot asked. “Just...please look. I’m sure there’s been advances in medical magic since you last read.” Riot waggled a stiff leg. “I just want my leg back.”

Luna nodded. “It is a fair price, then. I shall do all I can, as long as you do all you can to make sure that colt grows and thrives.”

“I still don’t know if I’m the right stallion for this job,” Riot muttered. “Why not get Ridgeback to do it? She’s a mare, she’s probably good with kids.”

“In that, you would be wrong,” Luna muttered. “Sergeant Ridgeback may be female, but she is best suited to direct combat and her current posting in Wyrmcast -  definitely not accustomed to small children. No, I believe you are the best suited and most trustworthy for the job.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one, you seem to be a natural at getting him to sleep.”

Riot looked at the child, and his jaw went slack. The alien had gone to sleep in his grip, eyes shut and content as he hovered in the air. Riot looked up at the child, and despite how alien it looked... felt a twinge of affection.

Captain Riot Shield of the Night Guard sighed, and looked at his newest charge. “Looks like it’s going to be you and me, kid,” he muttered.

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