A Second Life chapter 10

>You were stirred from your  sleep the next morning from the noise Luna made upon nearly busting your door down.
>”Anonymous, wake up.”
“What time is it?”
>”Time to get up. Celestia called a meeting about Discord and she wants you there!”
>Well your jimmies just went from 0-60 in the drop of piss.
“Why me? Does she think I had something to do with his release?”
>”I don’t know Anonymous.”
>Luna looked back, closing the door with her magic and continuing in English.
>”I think it would be best if we didn’t tell her about you seeing Discord in your dreams, or making deals with him in Tartarus.”
“That I think I agree to. What about the night before, when he attacked us?”
>”Possibly… it would probably help your case if she suspects you, knowing that you fought Discord.”
“True…”
>”Just let me do the talking, hopefully nothing will come of this.”
>You nodded in understandment, getting up out of bed, stretching your sore body.
>”How are your wounds?”
“Sore, a bit painful.”
>Luna frowned, nuzzling against your neck.
“We should go before Celestia gets suspicious.”
>With a nod, she led you out into the hall and to the throne room, a pair of Unicorn guards uncrossed their spears in front of you and opening the doors.
>Shining Armor and a few more Unicorn guards stood before Celestia who remained poised at her throne.
>”Nice of you to join us Anonymous.” Shining Armor smiled, stepping aside for Luna and yourself.
>He was always a decent guy toward you, treating you fairly even when Celestia thought you were a demon.
>Turns out he was the p0ny who ordered the guards to bandage you upon your arrival from Tartarus.
“I apologize for being late; I forgot to set my alarm for this meeting.”
>”This is not a time for your humor Anonymous. There is a serious threat to Equestria.”
“Princess Luna has brought me up to speed on the situation. This… Discord.”
>Luna interrupted you quickly, glaring at you. “I told him Discord escaped, and that he was chaos incarnate.”
>Right, you were supposed to let her do the talking.
¬>”Yes… anyway, Discord has been an issue in my land for a very long time. Do you have any idea how he got out?”
>”Anon was with me all day yesterday and the night before, he had nothing to do with Discord’s escape.” Luna was already defending you, her voice sharp. Damn this mare would do anything for you.
>Celestia stared blankly at her sister, “Luna, I didn’t say he did. And how do you know it didn’t occur last night?”
>Luna’s eyes widened, realizing she jumped to conclusions too soon. “Uh…”
“He attacked us both while we were outside of the city.”
>”And you didn’t stop him!?”
“We did our best, but he mopped the floor with us. We had to head to Canterlot to aid in its defense.”
>Celestia narrowed her eyes, steeping down from her throne and meeting you at eye level. “How did you know Discord was evil?”
>Brain, need a solution, and now.
“I fought him in Tartarus.”
>Nice work brain, that’s a step above your normal work.
>”Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I didn’t think it was necessary. He was stuck in Tartarus for all I knew.”
>”Then why, did he come to you once he was released?”
“Maybe he wanted to get back at me. I don’t know.”
>”I see… I admit, I suspected you had something to do with this Anon. But I believe you.”
>”So what’s the plan, your highness?” Shining Armor turned to Celestia, awaiting his orders.
>”I know Discord, it doesn’t matter what we do, whatever his plan is. He’ll find a way to pull it off.”
>”How do we plan a defense against something, when we don’t know what the something is.”
>There was a long silence, the three p0nies around you looking at each other in hopes the other would speak.
“You’ve defeated him before haven’t you?”
>Now all eyes were on you, waiting on your proposal.
“Don’t worry about stopping his plan. Just focus on stopping him; however you did it last time. Whatever he decides to do won’t succeed without him. Keep the guard on its toes, ready to mobilize in a minutes notice.”
>Silence retuned to the room, Shining Armor looking back and forth between Princess Celestia and you.
>”I have to admit, I can’t think of a plan that would work better against anything Discord throws at us.”
>”Very well, I’ll trust your judgment Captain. As for you Anonymous, I’m glad I asked you to this meeting.”
“It didn’t feel like I was really asked, being drug out of bed in the early morning.”
>Celestia ignored your comment, continuing. “I may keep you around as an advisor for the guard. Provided Captain is ok with it.”
>”I don’t see the harm in it.”
>”Then I suppose this meeting is adjourned. Go about your business everyp0ny, and Anonymous.”
>You, Luna, and Shining Armor made your way out of the throne room, allowing Luna to exit first, being the gentlemen/colt you two were.
“By the way Captain, congratulations on the wedding. Sorry I couldn’t make it.”
>”It’s fine Anonymous, I heard you were in the hospital. How are you feeling?”
“A little scratched up, a bit bruised, but as we say where I come from, ‘what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger’.”
>”Interesting attitude.” The two of you looked over to a impatient looking Luna, facing you both.
“I’ll see you around Shining Armor.”
>You gave a crisp salute, and parted ways with him and approached Luna.
“Something on you mind, love?”
>“Just wondering who you are, and what have you done with Anonymous. Are you a changeling?”
“I’m lost… what did I do?”
>”You never speak that well, or that firm. But when you gave advice to the Captain and Celestia… you seemed to change. More of a leader than a guard.”
“I guess I just felt that was more in my area of expertise. Now, I believe you owe me a story on how the party went last night.”
>Luna reared up on her hind legs, flapping her wings to hold herself steady and planted a small kiss, then turned to walk with you back to your room.
>The party had been fairly uneventful according to Luna, sounding a bit like a regular reception back on Earth.
“Sounds dull. I’m glad I didn’t have to go.”
>”And I’m annoyed you made me go.” Luna softly prodded your ribcage with her hoof, watching as you sat back on your bed.
>You woke up in a start, unsticking your face from the wooden desk slowly.
>Despite feeling like hammered shit, you gabbed your list and headed to see Celestia to get it approved, being sure to fold up Luna’s cloak and tuck it neatly under your arm.
>If you had to guess, it was probably around 0800 or 0900, you went to sleep pretty early.
>Luck had smiled upon you already, as you immediately came across the two princesses returning from the garden to swap the moon out for the sun.
>”Good morning Anonymous, sleep well?” Luna smiled, though kept her composure in front of her sister.
“I slept in a library with my head on a wooden table. But thank you for the cloak, I’m sure it helped me sleep.”
>Luna magiced her cloak from your hand, placing it on her self.
“Celestia, I have the list of promotions ready, do you wish to see it?”
>”No Anonymous, I’m sure you chose the p0nies you thought best. You seem to have a knack for this stuff.”
“Very well, I suppose I should get going. I need to track down these guards.”
>delivering a crisp salute, you made your way into the court yard and over to the barracks.
>The guards inside were doing what any group of guards were doing on their down time.
>Sleeping, playing cards, just general bull shitting.
>One guard looked up from the book he was reading his eyes going wide at the sight of you.
>His mouth opened, but no words came out.
“What’s the matter guard? Something on my shirt, or do you think I’m pretty?”
>Your voice drew the attention of the other guards, who gave similar expressions.
>”Sir, the captain’s never came in here...”
“I’m not the captain. And I have good news for a hundred and ten of you. You’re being promoted.”
>Looks of confusion, all around. “How are we going to have a hundred and ten captains?”
“I made some new ranks, none of you will be equal to Shining Armor. Ten will become Lieutenants, the rest Sergeants. This is a list of the p0nies being promoted, I want them all in a formation after lunch.”
>”Yes sir. I’ll spread the word.”
“What’s your name?”
>”Sherm, sir.” You checked the list, confirming your suspicions.
“Congratulations. You’ve been promoted to Lieutenant.”
>you stuck the list to the wall with your knife you kept from Tartarus.
“I want my knife back Sherm”
>”Yes sir.”
>You made your way out of the barracks, and went out to the city to check how the guards on duty were doing.
>Didn’t Luna want to talk to you about something?
>It can wait brain, we got STD.
>Wat.
>Shit to do. You know that acronym brain.
>Right…
>You made your way through the city, searching for the guards on patrol already.
>It was fairly easy right now, with breakfast already over, and it being too early for lunch, the guards were the majority of the presence on the street.
>Well, they were even at the busiest of times it seemed, since they were all actively patrolling at once.
>You mentioned the list in the barracks to each patrol you encountered, hoping to get every p0ny present on one formation.
>The bell tower rang, signaling noon.
>The formation would be in an hour, and you had yet to eat.
>At least you were close to Joe’s donut shop, and you had a pocket full of bits.
>You grabbed a donut from the shop, eating it as you walked back to the castle.
>Just as you walked through the main gates of the castle grounds, a herd of guards ran toward the steps of the castle, rushing to formation.
>Well, not so much of a formation, more like a cluster fuck.
>You took a position on the steps, looking over the gaggle in disgust.
“Do you p0nies even know what a formation is? Give me five rows so I can figure out how many of you showed up.”
>You waited as the guards shuffled around  until they formed a rectangular shape, 5 rows deep, 22 columns wide.
>Time to math. That meant there was… holy fuck everyone was here. All 110.
“Alright, where is Sherm?”
>Somewhere from the midst of the formation, you heard a lone voice sound off.
“Front and center.”
>Thankfully you didn’t have to explain what you meant, and Sherm ran up to you.
“I want my knife and my list.”
>He drew both from a slot in his armor with his horn, handing both over to you.
>You called out the names of the other nine officers, having each one come up alongside Sherm.
“As of now you ten are promoted to Lieutenant, second in command to Captain Shining Armor. Give these men some applause.”
>The rest of the formation stomped their fore hooves, waiting to be told the reason they were out here as well.
“The rest of you will be given the rank of Sergeant, a position which you will support your Lieutenant and act as a role model to other guards.”
>That seemed to go over pretty well.
“Lieutenants, what I need you to do now is pick ten sergeants to serve under your command. Try to pick ones that are already in your shift but realize that some of you will be reassigned to other shifts after tonight.”
>The ten of them nodded, and turned to the formation once they were dismissed to begin picking their NCO’s
>You watched what seemed to be similar to kids picking teams for a game of kickball, though a bit more dignified.
“Excellent, now make ten separate formations with your new companies.”
>More waiting as p0nies scurried about, forming into smaller rectangles.
>The whole ordeal was making quite a sight, several weather p0nies, landscapers, and even Princess Celestia was looking down from her tower at the formations.
>You went down the line, figuring out which shift each company would be assigned.
The way you figured, there was three 8 hour shifts, and ten companies.
>2 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd. left four companies un-used.
>Plus three extra companies for a new position you were going to create by tomorrow.
>That gave a company a week off once every ten weeks.
>Much better than the current schedule of four companies on duty during first and second shift respectively and two at night.
>You explained the new schedule to the guards, and how it would rotate every week.
“One more thing before I let you return to whatever you were doing. Sergeants, choose ten guards to be placed under your command, and do your best to explain the changes about to take place. Keep it balanced between Unicorns and Pegasus if you can. Next formation will be…”
>You paused a moment, thinking it over.
“Same time tomorrow, for only you all. Ensure you have a full company by then. Dismissed.”
>The formation broke apart, and the new found officers and NCO’s returned to their day.

>You laid back once more, letting your body rest and heal, your mind wandering to Shining Armor and Cadenza or whatever her name was.
>Luna floated over you, laying on the bed next to you and looking over at you.
>”Is something on your mind?”
“Somewhat.”
>”Do you want to talk about it?”
>You thought a moment, and looked over at Luna.
>You really loved her. More than any girl you had ever been with in your life.
>In either life for that matter, though Luna had been your only one in this life.
“Have… no. Maybe another time, but not now.”
>”Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
>Luna stood, making her way toward the door. “Well, let me know if you change your mind. See you around Anon.”


>It was a few days later, your wounds had done little to heal, but that didn’t stop you from continuing some degree of PT.
>Today was another run day; 3 miles in your boots along the castle perimeter wall.
>You approached the steps of the castle, ready for a nice long shower that awaited you in your room.
>”Anonymous! Glad I caught you.” Shining Armor walked over to you from the castle doors, a tired smile across his face.
“What can I do for you Captain?”
>”Heh, two stallions can’t just stand around and talk?”
“They can, but we both know neither of us are that type of… stallion.”
>”Got me there Anon. Listen, Cadence is a bit aggravated that we’ve been married almost a week now, and we haven’t been able to go on our honeymoon. And you were a guard back home…”
“What in Equestria are you getting at Captain?”
>”Look, I need someone I trust to take command over the defense of Canterlot while I’m gone. After the other day in the throne room, I think it should be you.”
“Look Captain I’m flattered, but part of being leader is being respected and somewhat liked among the guards.”
>”Come on Anon don’t give me that. You went into Tartarus twice to save Princess Luna and a handful of other p0nies.”
“Ok, so I did a few acts of heroism. I never had this many guards under my command.”
>”Come on Anon, I’ll owe you one.”
>You paused, contemplating the offer.
“Tell you what; you owe me a favor and a bottle of Apple Whiskey. And I want the bottle before you go, because I have a feeling I’ll need it.”
>”I’ll drop it by your room tonight. You’ll take command tomorrow at noon.”
>You snapped the Captain a salute, and made your way to your room.
>What shenanigans were in store for you tomorrow?
>Later that night, you heard a knock at your door, and you quickly opened it.
“Oh, Luna. Good evening.”
>”Expecting someone else Anon?”
“Yes actually, but come on in.”
>Luna walked in, collapsing on your bed in a sigh.
“Rough day?”
>”Exhausting. Can I get a massage?”
>You chuckled a little, watching as Luna shifted so that she was lying on her stomach instead of her side.
“I didn’t say I was going to give you a massage.”
>”But Anonnnnnnnnnn” Luna whined, looking back at you, a pouty expression on her face.
“Fine…”
>You smiled, walking over and placed your hands on Luna’s backside, beginning to work her back muscles.
>Almost immediately you were rewarded with a soft sigh, before being interrupted by another knock at your door.
>You left Luna on the bed, opening the door.
>”Hey Anon, here’s your Apple Whiskey.”
“Thanks Captain. When’s first formation tomorrow?”
>”Just be on the castle steps around 10.”
“Anon? Who’s at the doo- oh, hello Captain.”
>Shining Armor’s pupils went small, a small blush came across his face.
>”Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“No worries Captain, you didn’t disturb us. I’ll see you tomorrow at 10.”
>You closed the door, turning to the blushing Princess.
“What, it’s not like everyp0ny in the castle doesn’t know we’re together anyways.”
>”I know, I guess I’m just not used to being seen here anymore, without a guard posted at your door and such.”
“Come on, I still owe you a massage.”
>Luna laid back down on the bed, allowing you to climb on her back and continue the massage.
>A few minutes passed by, little snores were escaping the Princess’ throat making you silently d’aw.
>Snuggling up with your princess, you drifted off to sleep.
>You stretched your arms, feeling a sensation of warm mist wrap around your body along with weightlessness.
“Luna did you leave the door open? It feels drafty in here.”
“You slowly opened your eyes, looking up into the clear blue sky.”
>Sky?
>Where the fuck was your roof?
>Where the fuck was your bed?
>You looked down at the sheer 100 foot drop directly below you.
“WHOAHOLYSHIT!”
>You scrambled around in the air, desperately trying to grab onto something.
>Luna pulled you back to the balcony, setting you down before she lost her grip over you from laughing to hard.
“Not funny!”
>”You didn’t… see… the look… on your face!”
>Fucking Trolluna.
>You walked back inside your room, grabbing your nicest outfit to wear to the changing of command ceremony.
>Golden armor it was not, but you were still going to dress your best at least for this day.
>After a small breakfast with Luna, and a quick lesson to figure out words such as platoon, company, and others you would potentially need, you set out to the main entrance of the castle
>Shining Armor would be meeting you soon, and there was no way you were going to be late on your first day of work.
>Shining was walking around amongst his guards when you stepped out, probably saying his goodbyes.
>You stood there a full minute before any of them noticed you, one of the guards nudging Shining Armor to get his attention.
>”Anonymous! You’re early!”
“Better early than late. Anything I can help with right now?”
>”No thanks Anon, I should probably get out of here though.”
“Isn’t there a changing of command ceremony or something?”
>”Oh, right.” Shining Armor climbed to the top of the stairs and looked over his guards before continuing.
>“Everyp0ny, Anonymous will be taking over command of the guard while I’m away. Show him respect and do as he says. They’re all your Anon.”
>THAT was the changing of command ceremony?
>He may as well call you a baby sitter with that.
>Shining Armor trotted off into the castle, leaving you alone in front of a sea of golden armor.
“Uh, hi. Who’s in charge here?”
>There was a moment of silence, before a lone guard cocked his head in response. “You are sir.”
“No, I mean, whose below me?”
>”We all are.”
>Facepalm. This is going to be harder than you thought.
“What is your chain of command?”
>”Captain Shining Armor, and then us.”
>Holy shit. Their chain of command consisted of two ranks?
“Alright then, just…  Spread out in teams of three; cover the city as best you can. It seems I have my work cut out for me.”
>You withdrew back into the castle heading to the throne room as quickly as you could.
>History in the making right here, the first time you ever came to Celestia without her summoning you first.
>After a brief search of the castle, you found her sipping tea quietly in the garden, staring a hole through the spot where Discord’s Statue usually sat.
“Princess, do you have a moment? I have some issues with the guards.”
>”Oh? Didn’t you take command just an hour ago?”
“Not even that. Your guard has no chain of command, no usual tactic for defending the streets save for flooding them with their presence. The citizens will get worried if the patrols don’t lessen up.”
>”We can’t afford to lower our defenses. I already dislike letting Shining Armor leave in a time like this.”
“The guard can’t continue to operate at full strength and then expect to be combat ready after long shifts that you’ve kept them on.”
>Celestia glared at you. “I will not risk the safety of Canterlot.”
“Celestia, just trust me on this. I want to reform the guard, make it more efficient, while easing the stress on the guards and ease the minds of the people.”
>The princess returned her glare to the missing statue, turning over the thoughts of reforming the guard at a time like this.
>”Very well, but I want a daily report on what you’ve done, and what you plan to do the next day.”
“Fair enough, can you promise full power to do what I need?”
>”As long as you can explain the reasoning to me.”
“Very well.”
>Celestia stopped you before you could turn to leave. “What’s the first idea?”
“I need a list of every guard in Canterlot, and how long they’ve served.”
>”Very well. There should be records in the library. What’s this for?”
“Depending on the size of the guard-
>”A thousand. There are a thousand royal guards.”
“I plan on promoting ten guards to officer positions, and-”
>”How is a guard supposed to function with that many leaders!?”
“Each officer will be in charge of a hundred guards, while Shining Armor will be in charge of those officers when he returns. I also plan on promoting a hundred to sergeant.”

>”And what is… sergeant?”
“A non-commissioned officer… er…”
>Celestia didn’t understand what that meant, and awaited a better explanation.
“Each officer will have ten sergeants under their command, who will help distribute orders to the ten guards under their command.”
>”Is there a point to this?”
“It helps with organization, helps the flow of communication, and in case something was to happen to an officer or Shining Armor, there would still be a guard in charge to keep order.”
>Celestia thought a moment, and then nodded her head. “Very well, you have my permission. You do realize you’re only in command for a week?”
“All the more reason to get started.”
>You gave a salute to Celestia, turned around and began to walk away.
>”Anon, what IS that gesture? You’ve done it so many times… I always wondered what it meant.”
“A salute, where I come from its similar to bowing, a sign of respect to those in superior positions.”
>”I see… Carry on Anonymous, good luck.”
“Thank you Princess.”



>Finding the files had been easy enough, with the help of the librarian.
>Even reading through them wasn’t necessarily HARD.
>Just one royal pain in the ass.
>Three hundred personnel… p0nyennel? Whatever. You read three hundred of them so far, starting with Shining Armor as a basis to judge the others.
>So far, no p0ny came even close to his record, his entry exam.
>As far as you could tell on paper, Shining Armor was a damn super soldier.
>A familiar sensation rubbed across your cheek as Luna nuzzled you from behind.
>”Anonymous, you’ve been in here all day. Maybe you should come out for some lunch. Take a break.”
“I don’t have time for breaks Luna. I still have seven hundred of these things to read, and then decide who I’m promoting.”
>”Anything I can help with?”
“No, I think it’d be best if I left the entire decision to myself, rather than have two minds decide over the whole thing.”
>”I see… I can bring you some lunch. You have to be hungry.”
>Just as you were about to turn down Luna’s offer, your stomach rumbled in protest, answering Luna’s question for you.
“Something small and quick to eat. Nothing fancy.”
>”Very well, I’ll return soon.”
>You went back to reading the files, marking each one with a score.
>Shining Armor being the standard, his file was labeled 10/10, while all around you sat piles of 5/10, 6/10, and one 7/10 that you considered for sergeant, or officer if there weren’t enough 9/10 and 8/10.
>Luna came back shortly with an egg sandwich for you, which you scarfed down in minutes and resumed reading.
>”Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something.”
“Can it wait until I’m finished Luna? I already have a lot on my mind.”
>You didn’t even look up to see the worried look on her face, keeping your nose buried in the folder in front of you.
>“It’s somewhat important…”
“Later Luna. If I work quick I might get done by tonight, and then we can talk.”
>”…Can I help?”
“We just discussed this not even an hour ago.”
>”No, I could read to you. I read faster than you and it would give your eyes a rest.”
“…That could help out a bit. Just read me their entrance exam scores, how long they’ve been in, and any comments.”
>Luna nodded, picking up the first folder and looking through it, reading you the stats and then handing it to you for you to grade.
>She was right, this was going faster, though after a few hundred more folders, she too was struggling to concentrate.
>Luna looked up through the nearby by window, at the setting sun.
>”I need to go raise the moon, so the guards will have enough light to see.”
>Shit, the guards… did they know when their shift ended, and did their replacements no when to take over?
“Do the guards have a set process for changing shifts?”
>Luna nodded. “Night guards are always on duty by the time the sun sets and until sun rise.”
“That works… thank you for your help Luna.”
>”You’re welcome Anon, I’ll bring you some dinner after I raise the moon.”
>Luna trotted out of the library to attend to her duty, leaving you to read over the last hundred files alone.
>With a fresh set of eyes, you burned through the files relatively quick, leaving you with four 9/10 profiles, a fairly large stack of 8/10, maybe forty or so, and close to a hundred 7/10.
>All of which was in no particular order.
>On a scrap piece of paper, you quickly used the remainder of your ink to scratch down the names of the ten officers, picked from the 9/10s the first six 8/10 you came to.
>The remainder of the 8/10 along with a chunk of the 7/10 would be promoted to sergeant.
>So much reading… so much writing.
>Just rest your eyes a moment, before putting all of this crap up.
>Luna trotted back in, a bit later than either of you had anticipated, finding you fast asleep at the desk surrounded by mountains of paperwork.
>She placed a sandwich beside  you on the table and draped her cloak over you as a blanket.
>She was getting stronger, but she lacked the strength to carry something as heavy as you still
>After placing the files back in their respective places, she left the library, leaving you to sleep.
>You woke up in a start, unsticking your face from the wooden desk slowly.
>Despite feeling like hammered shit, you gabbed your list and headed to see Celestia to get it approved, being sure to fold up Luna’s cloak and tuck it neatly under your arm.
>If you had to guess, it was probably around 0800 or 0900, you went to sleep pretty early.
>Luck had smiled upon you already, as you immediately came across the two princesses returning from the garden to swap the moon out for the sun.
>”Good morning Anonymous, sleep well?” Luna smiled, though kept her composure in front of her sister.
"I slept in a library with my head on a wooden table. But thank you for the cloak, I’m sure it helped me sleep.”
>Luna magiced her cloak from your hand, placing it on her self.
“Celestia, I have the list of promotions ready, do you wish to see it?”
>”No Anonymous, I’m sure you chose the p0nies you thought best. You seem to have a knack for this stuff.”
“Very well, I suppose I should get going. I need to track down these guards.”
>delivering a crisp salute, you made your way into the court yard and over to the barracks.
>The guards inside were doing what any group of guards were doing on their down time.
>Sleeping, playing cards, just general bull shitting.
>One guard looked up from the book he was reading his eyes going wide at the sight of you.
>His mouth opened, but no words came out.
“What’s the matter guard? Something on my shirt, or do you think I’m pretty?”
>Your voice drew the attention of the other guards, who gave similar expressions.
>”Sir, the captain’s never came in here...”
“I’m not the captain. And I have good news for a hundred and ten of you. You’re being promoted.”
>Looks of confusion, all around. “How are we going to have a hundred and ten captains?”
“I made some new ranks, none of you will be equal to Shining Armor. Ten will become Lieutenants, the rest Sergeants. This is a list of the p0nies being promoted, I want them all in a formation after lunch.”
>”Yes sir. I’ll spread the word.”
“What’s your name?”
>”Sherm, sir.” You checked the list, confirming your suspicions.
“Congratulations. You’ve been promoted to Lieutenant.”
>you stuck the list to the wall with your knife you kept from Tartarus.
“I want my knife back Sherm”
>”Yes sir.”
>You made your way out of the barracks, and went out to the city to check how the guards on duty were doing.
>Didn’t Luna want to talk to you about something?
>It can wait brain, we got STD.
>Wat.
>Shit to do. You know that acronym brain.
>Right…
>You made your way through the city, searching for the guards on patrol already.
>It was fairly easy right now, with breakfast already over, and it being too early for lunch, the guards were the majority of the presence on the street.
>Well, they were even at the busiest of times it seemed, since they were all actively patrolling at once.
>You mentioned the list in the barracks to each patrol you encountered, hoping to get every p0ny present on one formation.
>The bell tower rang, signaling noon.
>The formation would be in an hour, and you had yet to eat.
>At least you were close to Joe’s donut shop, and you had a pocket full of bits.
>You grabbed a donut from the shop, eating it as you walked back to the castle.
>Just as you walked through the main gates of the castle grounds, a herd of guards ran toward the steps of the castle, rushing to formation.
>Well, not so much of a formation, more like a cluster fuck.
>You took a position on the steps, looking over the gaggle in disgust.
“Do you p0nies even know what a formation is? Give me five rows so I can figure out how many of you showed up.”
>You waited as the guards shuffled around until they formed a rectangular shape, 5 rows deep, 22 columns wide.
>Time to math. That meant there was… holy fuck everyone was here. All 110.
“Alright, where is Sherm?”
>Somewhere from the midst of the formation, you heard a lone voice sound off.
“Front and center.”
>Thankfully you didn’t have to explain what you meant, and Sherm ran up to you.
“I want my knife and my list.”
>He drew both from a slot in his armor with his horn, handing both over to you.
>You called out the names of the other nine officers, having each one come up alongside Sherm.
“As of now you ten are promoted to Lieutenant, second in command to Captain Shining Armor. Give these men some applause.”
>The rest of the formation stomped their fore hooves, waiting to be told the reason they were out here as well.
“The rest of you will be given the rank of Sergeant, a position which you will support your Lieutenant and act as a role model to other guards.”
>That seemed to go over pretty well.
“Lieutenants, what I need you to do now is pick ten sergeants to serve under your command. Try to pick ones that are already in your shift but realize that some of you will be reassigned to other shifts after tonight.”
>The ten of them nodded, and turned to the formation once they were dismissed to begin picking their NCO’s
>You watched what seemed to be similar to kids picking teams for a game of kickball, though a bit more dignified.
“Excellent, now make ten separate formations with your new companies.”
>More waiting as p0nies scurried about, forming into smaller rectangles.
>The whole ordeal was making quite a sight, several weather p0nies, landscapers, and even Princess Celestia was looking down from her tower at the formations.
>You went down the line, figuring out which shift each company would be assigned.
The way you figured, there was three 8 hour shifts, and ten companies.
>2 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd. left four companies un-used.
>Plus three extra companies for a new position you were going to create by tomorrow.
>That gave a company a week off once every ten weeks.
>Much better than the current schedule of four companies on duty during first and second shift respectively and two at night.
>You explained the new schedule to the guards, and how it would rotate every week.
“One more thing before I let you return to whatever you were doing. Sergeants, choose ten guards to be placed under your command, and do your best to explain the changes about to take place. Keep it balanced between Unicorns and Pegasus if you can. Next formation will be…”
>You paused a moment, thinking it over.
“Same time tomorrow, for only you all. Ensure you have a full company by then. Dismissed.”
>The formation broke apart, and the new found officers and NCO’s returned to their day.
>You went to your room for some peace and quiet so you could focus on your next task
>Figuring out how to train a company to become a QRF.
>Quick Reaction Force.
>As of now, the guards on patrol were merely just sentries; you didn’t expect them to fend off an attack.
>Not for long at least.
>No, they would alert the QRF, which would consist of one company of chariots.
>The only question was if you should try and teach each company, or trust the NCO’s to do it.
>You could just supervise, watch the training from a distance and step in when needed.
>That would make for some long days though.
>You were pulled from your thoughts by a knocking at your door.
“Who the hell could that be?”
>You made your way to the door, fully expecting Luna.
>It was Celestia.
“Oh. Hello Princess, I wasn’t expecting you.”
>”Yes, I just wanted to drop by and see how things are going with the guard. I noticed the rectangular things you made them do.”
“Formations. It helps me know how many guards were there. Shows discipline as well. Do you want to come in? I hate to make you stand.”
>”It’s fine Anonymous, I won’t take too much of your time. You seem to be very good at managing the guard.”
“Thank you Princess.”
>”I know it’s all so sudden, but would you consider a permanent position as a member of the guard? Shining Armor could use the help.”
“No, I’m done fighting.”
>”You wouldn’t need to fight, I could make you an advisor. You’d be doing what you’re doing right now.”
“Well…”
>”A training instructor perhaps? You have some unique skills you could teach the new recruits.”
“Alright, I’ll think about it. But I still reserve the right to say no.”
>”All I ask is that you think on it for a bit. Take care Anonymous.”
“You too Princess.”
>You walked back to your desk, and began to think again.
>Great, now two big questions on your mind.
>How to train a QRF.
>And if you wanted to become a drill sergeant
>The easiest way for you would be to teach the leadership, and let them teach the soldiers below them.
>Plus it would help the guards bond with their superiors.
>As for the training instructor, you really didn’t want that kind of job.
>You remembered how the drill sergeants in basic were up before you and went to bed after you.
>Do not want.
>Though it would be pretty fun…
>Just then Luna came in without knocking, making you fall back in the chair you had made.
“Hi Luna, come on in!”
>”Sorry, I just need to talk to you…”
“About what?”
>Ok, that may have come off a bit more sharp than you intended.
>Luna stopped in her tracks, a hurt look on her face.
>”Never mind, sorry I disturbed you…”
“Luna wai-“
>You didn’t even finish your sentence before Luna went out the door, fighting back tears.
“What’s her deal?”
>The rest of the day went along slowly, you were left to your thoughts with nothing to do but occasional check on the guards.
>What was getting to Luna? She never cried like that before, save for the time you hit her.
>Before you knew it, you drifted off to sleep in your bed, with day two of your command a rather big success.
>Day three of your week in command of the guard.
>So far you managed to organize them into companies, Alpha through Juliet.
>Promote ten company commanders
>Promote a hundred squad leaders.
>And today, you were going to teach them how to mount a proper QRF force.
>In front of you stood nine companies, lined up in ten separate formations that filled up the court yard.
>There was one company, Charlie Company, that stayed on guard at the edges of Canterlot, just in case of an attack.
>Fuck, public speaking was not your thing, and you had never even stood in front of this many people. O p0nies. Time to sound off like you got a pair.
“Can you hear me way out there?”
>The farthest company, Juliet, sounded off with a yes sir, signaling you to continue.
“Alright mares, today is going to be a busy day for all of us. Today we are all going to learn about something called a quick reaction force, and it’s only going to take about an hour if everything goes along smoothly.”
>You continued on, explaining the schedule of the day, when each company was going to train, and for how long.
>You were hoping for an hour for each company, but you allowed yourself two just in case.
>Two hours per company, ten companies, meant twenty hours of training.
>Yeah, definitely going to allow two days for this.
“Alpha company, you have exactly fifteen minutes to be at the chariot pool, once I release this formation. Bravo, I expect you be waiting outside before they leave. Dismissed.”
>Thousands of hooves stomped around as the companies went about their business, and you made your way to the chariot depot alongside the guards of Alpha Company.
 “Alright, listen up because I’m only going to say this once per company. Gather around me so you can see.”
>With everyp0ny gathered around you, you began the class.
>It was pretty basic, how the whole process worked.
>A unicorn near the city limits would send up an illumination spell, designating which general direction the possible threat was.
>From that signal, the QRF would have a minute to mount up in the chariots and get in the air.
>It seemed a bit difficult on paper, but when the drills started, and you started the stopwatch, it seemed down right impossible.
>p0nies scrambled every which way, tripping over each other, running into other chariots.
“Whoa whoa whoa! Stop the madness! Alright listen up. Those of you closest to the chariots, quit being lazy and run to the farther chariots. Unicorns, help the Pegasus get hooked up to the chariots. Try it again.”
>You started the timer again, watching the guards scramble around once more to their chariots.
>More organized, but still slow.
>You made them do it over.
>And over
>And over
>You were right, after an hour and half of training, they finally had hooked up and climbed into the sky, circling the city and sweeping down into the staging area.
“About time, get out of here, get some rest.”
>YFW you had to do this nine more times.
>Day 6 of your command.
>Shining Armor was supposed to be back tomorrow.
>Thank Celestia, Luna, and the hair of your ass, because you were sick of this job already.
>Sure it was fun at times, but you were no Shining Armor.
>He had a charismatic atmosphere, a good conversational partner when he wanted, and in front of the guard.
>You kept a somewhat gruff attitude towards them, keeping conversations short and to the point.
>Today, you took a walk through the city, mostly to try and relax, partly just to ensure the guards were doing ok.
>How did SA do this shit everyday?
>Ha, SA.
>Sounds like esse.
>Which was Spanish for something like friend or brother.
>Fucking laugh brain.
>Out to lunch, be back in 15 minutes.
>Fuck you too.
>You reached the city outskirts, walking along checking on each of the guards.
>Far off to what you assumed to be north, you could make out a single black speck.
“Guard, can you tell me what’s out there?”
>You raised a hand to shield your eyes from the sun, squinting to see what was approaching to no avail.
>”I can’t make it out sir, but the rate its approaching, I think we’ll know soon.”
“Ready a spell, my jimmies are starting to rustle.”
>”Sir?”
“Ready a spell guard, to alert the reaction force.”
>The Unicorn’s horn glowed brightly as he charged up a spell, holding it until you gave the order.
>Minutes went by, the black silhouette growing larger and larger.
“Send the spell.”
>”Sir, how can you make out what that is from here?”
“Call it a hunch, but I think that’s a dragon.”
>”A dragon? How the buck are we going to take down a dragon?”
>His horn grew dim as his pupils shrank in fear, and he slowly backed away. You promptly snatched him by his armor.
>Time for motivational speeches, your specialty.
“Now listen up! You had your chance to be afraid before you joined the royal guard. But to guide back to the true path, I brought this motivational device!”
>You pointed to another unicorn, who shot a signal into the air
“Our big gold style, cannot be defeated!”
>Just as you finished, the QRF soared overhead, soaring head on at the dragon.
“Pegasus! Take flight! Show that dragon what it’s made of!”
>Guards took to the skies in wake of the QRF, leaving you to rally the Unicorns around you.
>”Sir, what do we do if we’re all the way out here?”
“Ready whatever the most powerful spell you have, and when or if it gets close enough, fire. Short, sweet, and simple. Just how I like my mares.”
>A chariot landed alongside you, the Lieutenant of the QRF no doubt.
>Before he could even speak, you stepped inside the chariot.
“Lieutenant, you’re in charge of this firing line, if that dragon comes in range, light it up.”
>”Sir, you have no wings, you have no magic. What in Equestria are you doing?”
>He had a point, you didn’t know what you were doing, but you drew your knife, showing it to him.
“Pegasi, fly me close, I want to hit him with my knife.”
>The chariot shot off, into the sky, and toward the red dragon.
>Pegasi swarmed around it, kicking the random parts of its body in efforts to bring the dragon down.
>Flying alongside the dragon were chariots pulling unicorns, blasting the sides of it with magic bursts
>Brain: Dude, you’re armed with a knife.
>Ah, brain, nice of you to wake up from your nap. Or were you at lunch?
>WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY BITCH
>Don’t worry, I think I saw this in a movie once.
>WE ARE GOING TO DIE.
“Fly over top of the dragon!”
>The pegasi nodded, straining their wings to pull up ahead of the dragon
>Closer…
>Closer…
>When it looked safe, safe being a very relative term, you leapt from the back of the chariot, knife in hand.
>you pivoted in the air, bringing the knife down with all your weight.
>the blade alone was 11 inches in length, but it sank only and inch in.
“I immediately regret this decision!”
>with your free hand you began pounding the bottom of the knife, hoping to make it sink deeper into the dragon’s body.
>Each pound seemed to strike a nerve, resulting in a loud screech from the dragon.
>Realizing it had a hijacker on board, it began twisting and turning in a desperate attempt to shake you away.
>A wave of heat washed over you, bringing your attention to the massive wave of energy bolts coming from the firing line of Unicorns.
>The dragon let another screech out, the shockwave knocking it out cold.
“Alright, that’s what I’m talking about! Wait… Shit.”
>Call your dumb ass Jamal, because you were about to go down with the dragon you worked so hard to hijack.
>The green landscape below you came closer every second, flashbacks of your jump training came through your mind.
“I came back to life for this?”
>The dragon impacted the ground, sending a plum of dirt high enough it was visible from the castle.
>Hospital lights.
>Yep, those  were definitely hospital lights.
>And they made your eyes burn like they had been hit by a shroud of tear gas
>”Your finally up.”
>You looked over to your side, your vision blurred still.
>You recognized that voice though.
“Shining Armor, weren’t you supposed to come back tomorrow?”
>”Heh, I came back yesterday. You’ve been out cold for a while now.”
“I see. Not to be rude, but there are other p0nies faces that I’d rather wake up to. What are you doing here?”
>”Just came to check on you, I only been here a few minutes.”
“Ah… How was the honeymoon?”
>”Great, although I couldn’t help but worry about Canterlot. Seems I left it in good hands though.”
“I did my best, hope you like the redecorating.”
>”You did great, this system is really efficient. Anyways, I need to get going. When you get out, you should try to talk to Princess Luna.”
“Right, she’s wanted to talk to me for a while now, I’ve just been so busy with the guard though.”
>”Anon, you shouldn’t throw all of your energy into your work. It can ruin a relationship. It almost did mine.”
“I’ll keep that in mind… See ya around Shiny.”
>SA gave a small chuckle at your short name for him, and made his way out of the room.
>Time for a systems check.
>You wiggled your fingers and toes, and then sat up slowly.
>That dragon had mostly taken the brunt of the fall, leaving you without any apparent broken limbs.
>You pulled the wires away from your skin, making the EKG flat line.
>A panicked nurse rushed in in hopes to save you, but stopped in her tracks, seeing the large hairless ape crawl out of the bed.
“Excuse me ma’am, just packing my things.”
>”Do you want some help?”
“No, I feel fine. Thank you.”
>The nurse nodded, returning to her post at a desk out front.
>You dressed in the clothes you were wearing when you took your hijacked dragon, making your way slowly out the door.
>The journey back to the castle was long and very awkward as it seemed almost every p0ny was staring at you.
>A few made comments to you. “good to see you” “glad you’re ok” and “you’re awesome!”
>Guess they heard you fell 200 feet to the ground while fighting a dragon.
>You really need to take it easy… maybe you could ask Luna if marriage was out of the question.
>It’d be nice to settle down, an experience you couldn’t seem to recall from Earth.
>Funny, the longer you stayed here, the more distant that life became.
>You made your way into the castle, stopping only to get a quick shower and groom before heading to Luna’s room.
>You knocked and waited for a brief moment for a answer.
>Maybe she was doing something else somewhere in the cas- oh, never mind.
>Luna glared daggers at you, her face filled with so many emotions it was impossible to read.
>”Now you have time for me?”
“I’m so-“
>”I’ve needed to speak to you for over a week now, about a matter of the utmost importance!”
“I-“
>”And yet, you didn’t care, you never sought me out when you were done training.”
“Luna…”
>”When you weren’t doing anything, you became hostile to me-“
“Luna!”
>”DO NOT INTERUPT ME!”
>Luna’s went inside her room, leaving the door open for you to come inside.
>Just as you passed through, the door slammed, forcing a small gust of wind over you.
>”And to top it all off, you pull that little stunt, jumping on a dragons back! You could have died when I needed you most!”
>Luna turned at you, thrusting a hoof at your face and catching you off guard, sending you to the ground.
>Ok, you probably deserved that, but you wanted an explanation.
>You rubbed your cheek, waiting for Luna to explain her outburst, or at least calm down.
>Seems hitting you was all she needed, because the next thing you knew her body was overtop of yours, nuzzling the spot she hit, and tears streamed from her eyes.
“Ssshhhh… It’s ok, come on.”
>You drew her closer, holding her tight and ran a hand through her mane.
>“I’m in so much trouble...” Luna had switched to your native tongue, and you knew shit was about to go down.
>”I’m… with child…”
>Wat.