My Little Pony: The Rise of a Sentry

Chapter 7: Training

After a few hours, the train had finally arrived at The Crystal Empire, and Princess Luna and all the guards jumped out of the train as it started leaving the station, and then waiting in front of them, Flash saw a Unicorn who had some sort of shield as a Cutie Mark, and judging by his badge, it looked like he was the captain of the Royal guard, it was none than Shining Armor.

"Hey there, my name is Shining Armor, Captain of the royal guard, what's your name Stallion?"

Flash Sentry couldn't believe he was talking to Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard and husband of none other than Princess Cadance.

"Flash, Flash Sentry sir"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Flash, and i'm glad you accepted the role of being our new castle guard member, let's head inside the Crystal Palace"

All the ponies then walked a little distance as Flash looked around the Crystal Empire, he noticed that everything was bright and shiny, along with a few sculptures.

"Wow, this place is really cool!"

"I'm glad you like it, this place is where me and my wife now live in"

After a while, they finally arrived inside the Crystal Palace, and there to greet them, there was Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance waiting to greet them, Flash was flabbergasted that he was in the presence of not one, not two, but three Alicorn Princesses now, Princess Celestia was the first one to greet.

"Welcome back my sister, Shining, is this the new castle guard member for the Crystal Empire?

"He sure is, this is Flash Sentry, he lived in Canterlot"

"N-N-Nice to meet you your majesty.

Flash Sentry then bowed before all the Princesses.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, glad you could come and accept the job"

"Yeah, ever since most of our old.guards have retired, it's good to see some other new ones step up"

"Well, i'm glad I can be here, what do I have to do?"

"Shining Armor will explain to you"

Shining then started drilling Flash on what he needed to know.

"So, Flash, since you are now a Castle guard member, you will need to wear a proper Guard Suit and Attire, and you need to keep on the lookout for things that could be suspicious, make sure nothing around here slips by us, you will be taking the Morning Shift starting tomorrow, and while you are in your shift and in your Attire, you cannot and aren't allowed to show any signs of emotion in any situation regardless of how it is, I know it's easier said than done, but I first you that you can handle and manage that"

"Oh, Yes, absolutely sir"

"Great, I'll train you on how to act and what to do later, but for now, you can chill in your room on the second castle floor"

"Wait? I get to have my own room?"

"Yep, all guards get their own room, and don't worry, food expenses will be taken care of too, so you can use your bits you earn for other things"

Flash Sentry was very happy to hear this news.

"That's Awesome! Thank you very much"

"Your most welcome Flash, oh, and one more thing, sorry for the rushing of the training, it's just because in three days, my sister, our fourth and new Princess of Equestria, is coming with her friends to visit this place to discuss some new important matters, i'm sure you heard about the coronation not long ago right?"

"Well, I have heard it happened, but I wasn't there when it happened, I was busy working at-Oh Shit!"

"What's the matter Flash?"

"I forgot to resign and quit from my old workplace, my boss would be pretty pissed about it"

Princess Celestia than assured Flash that he had nothing to worry about.

"Don't worry about that, my sister will let your boss know exactly what's going on"

"Phew! Thanks, anyway, mind if I know what this new princesses' name is?"

"Sure, it's Princess Twilight Sparkle"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, got it!"

"Great, now go to your room and relax for a bit, training like or being a guard is not an easy job to take or handle"

"Oh, Trust me, I can handle it, nothing has gone easy in my life so far"

Flash then went to the second castle floor and found his room, and it had a Bed, a mini radio for communications, a shower, and of course, his castle guard suit and attire perfectly set up in his wardrobe, Flash then decided to rest on his new bed.

"Ahhh! This is so comfortable!"

Flash then started thinking about how surreal this is, that he is now in the presence of the ruler's of Equestria, and that he now works as a castle guard member.

"This is really all I've ever dreamed of"

Once Flash was done resting, he put on his new suit of Armor and met up with Shining Armor for training exercises.

"Alright! Are you ready for training Flash?"

"Ready as I'll ever be sir!"

Shining Armor then drilled and trained Flash Sentry as a guard, and much to his delight, Flash was quick learner, and quickly adapted to the customs of being a castle guard member, after a few hours of training and drilling, Shining was pretty satisfied with how things went smoothly.

"Okay, it's nighttime now, and I think we've pretty much covered all of the necessary training, why don't you join all the other castle guard members for dinner, I believe they're waiting already, also, I won't be able to stay here for a while"

"Why is that?"

"I got a message from the Duke of Maretonia, and basically he said that my services are required there for a week, to make sure no fights break out during a delegation meeting. Anyway, go ahead and join the other guards on the first floor"

"Oh, Okay, thanks for the training!"

Flash then headed to the 1st Floor, and sure enough, he found all of the other castle guard members, by the table, about to have their meal, but what Flash immediately realized was that he felt out of place, all the other castle guard members had a completely different coat and mane color to him, and theirs all looked very similar to each other, he was the only yellow coated Pegasus in that room it seemed, but that didn't seem to bother him too much as he sat down at the only remaining chair left, and a few of the other guards greeted him.

"Hey, are you new around here young Stallion?"

"Oh, Yeah, so, how have things been going around here?"

For some reason, none of the guards seemed to be in a relatively chatty mood, as a matter of fact, they looked and seemed a little depressed.

"Come on guys, there has to be SOMETHING here that gets you guys excited about?"

But all the stories that the guards told Flash Sentry, were Painful, Depressing, And Overall pretty disturbing and disappointing.

"Look, I don't mean to bring your spirit down kid, but being a castle guard member, isn't as fun or exciting as it sounds or seems to be"

After those words, Flash was in a relatively bad mood for the rest of that night, and he wasn't exactly like his normal self where he could be satisfied and overall happy, as Flash finished his dinner, went into his room, turned off the lights and went to bed, he began to wonder and have second thoughts on if being a castle guard member was as exciting or satisfying as it seemed to be.