Back to Work (open)

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam surveyed the broken, rubble-strewn expanse that had once been his home city with unease and distress churning his stomach. He'd thought about Canterlot being attacked, of course, but the idea had simply been that...an idea. Canterlot was the home of their Princess, the notion that it might be shattered and broken was nothing more than the ludicrous fantasy of their most foolish opponents.

It wasn't supposed to be REAL.

...A quiet night with the huddled, evacuated masses in the crystal caverns under Canterlot had done wonders for his concussion. Gleam's mind was clear again. That, arguably, made coming back into what was left of Canterlot that much worse.

Gleam knew he should be finding the rest of his Slayer trainee group, or an officer to report to for duty. Instead, he'd taken advantage of the confusion as the civilians were brought back to the surface to head for a very specific part of Canterlot. The buildings in this area were closer to the castle, and more richly decorated than the lower parts of Canterlot. Some of them had been empty for months now, their residents opting to spend the war in far-off manors surrounded by their personal guards. Whether that was a good idea or not was hard to say now.

The Lucre mansion had been empty for a while as well. Mother had moved back to their family home at the Mine for her pregnancy (had she given birth to her replacement heir by now? Probably.) and Gleam himself couldn't live here while he was training.

As he approached the broken mansion, Gleam spotted two ponies trying to move a pile of rocks and rubble to uncover the front door. For a moment he feared the worst of the situation...and then Gleam relaxed when he realized that he recognized the pair.

"Prim! Proper!"

Prim and Proper, the Lucre family's twin housekeepers, turned their heads in surprise at his shout.

"...Master Gleam!" Proper exclaimed, leaving the rocks to her sister and trotting to meet him, "You're alive!"

"So are you two," Gleam said, returning Proper's hug.

"And you're filthy!" Prim gleefully exclaimed, bouncing over to share in the hug.

"As are you!" Gleam retorted, pausing a moment before he added, "...Well, maybe Proper isn't."

"She spent all night trying to dust those caves we were hiding in," Prim nodded.

Proper sniffed, Prim giggled, and Gleam smiled. It was a sight that would've confused everypony back at boot camp and in Slayer training, the normally stiff and quiet pony relaxing and joking.

"We were trying to see what we could rescue," Prim explained, waving a hoof at the offending pile that blocked their way into the wrecked mansion, "But we can't get in!"

"You didn't want to wait for the repair crews to get here?"

"This house is OUR responsibility, Master Gleam," Proper retorted, "Though...help certainly would be appreciated."

Gleam rolled his eyes. Proper was never one to ask for help. And while helping Prim and Proper shift rocks around was probably going to make Gleam late for meeting back up with the others...this was his home. So he would definitely help Prim and Proper dig it out.

Shifting giant rocks was a vacation compared to Slayer training, and Gleam quickly began losing track of time as he worked.

[Red Charge]

"Gleam? Gleam? Hello?" Gleam heard the familiar voice of Birch Bright calling around, "I swear she told it me he was around here." As Birch Bright rounded the corner he caught sight of Gleam's private moment with Prim and Proper and in typical Birch Bright fashion, completely ignored the mood and galloped forwards.

"Dude, dude... DUDE." He said, then noticing the two, "Oh hello there, ladies..." And then shook his head, "Dude, they're calling us back, they wanna do something with us some sort of award or whatever. Dude I heard them talking about... maybe making us Shield Walls!"

"I'm not even joking, I saw General Gallop talking to the Princess, come on and uh, why don't you bring those two along? ... you know, to uh..." He looked at the two of them, "Tell your family?"

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam had halfway hoped he'd imagined Birch Bright's voice, but it turned out to be the real thing. Prim snickered and Proper made a face at the sight of Birch Bright - he was just as unkempt as Gleam was. Proper's hooves were inching their way toward her feather duster already.

Gleam's amusement at that was replaced by shock when Birch Bright explained further. A meeting with Princess Luna and General Gallop? An award? SHIELD WALLS?!

Okay, so Shield Wall was what Gleam had hoped for in the past, that was alright, but this was sudden! It was shockingly sudden...and right now they were standing around and keeping those Very Important Ponies waiting on them!

"You want us to meet one of the Princesses? Like this!? But - but I'm in no state to be seen by royalty!" Proper exclaimed, distracting Gleam from galloping off the way Birch Bright had come.

Prim looked at her sister, whose uniform was crisp and completely immaculate despite them digging through a pile of rocks and rubble just moments ago. Prim's uniform was dusty and wrinkled, and she groaned.

"Proper, you're fine! Uh, that is...do you want us to come along?" Prim asked.

Gleam blushed. Well, now that she mentioned it...

"...Yes?" he replied.

"Okay! Lead the way, Mister...Army-Pony-Friend-of-Master-Gleam," Prim said.

...It wasn't going to be weird having his family's servants around, was it? Gleam worried even as he waved a hoof at Birch Bright to tell him to lead the way. He'd managed to completely overlook the fact that unlike him, the rest of his Slayer team was probably not from a wealthy or noble background. The subject hadn't even come up.

Granted, they did know he was from Canterlot, but he'd neglected to mention which part...

((In case you're wondering, Prim and Proper are two female Earth ponies. Prim is pink with a green mane and Proper is green with a pink mane. They're technically not maids, but they probably look like it.

...Sorry if adding them into this thread is a weird thing.))

[Red Charge]

Birch Bright led Gleam through the rubble of Cantlerlot, skipping and hopping over destroyed buildings with ease. Then again, after Big Axe's obstacle course, Gleam wouldn't be surprised if they could climb the castle wall vertically without scaling equipment. Has it really been that long since he started Slayer training? Every day seemed like forever when he was training but now it seemed to have gone by so fast. He knew that Birch Bright celebrated, well, not really celebrated but had a birthday occur while in training. But he really didn't imagine it being more than a month... wait, how long was it in weeks?

While these thoughts troubled him, he saw he was effortlessly navigating the destroyed buildings and debris filled walkways as they approached one of the larger tents set up near the palace. He could see Lightning Dust looking out for them in the air as the rest probably waited for them. He was surprised to find their trainer there, as well as Big Axe and the terrifying Slayer Headquarters Commander. He also noticed some familiar faces, well, sort of familiar. One of them looked exactly like the Hammer Twins and the other wore almost identical armor to that of Colonel Bitter. Gleam could only assume the one looking like the twins was the third member of the triplet, General Heartland, wearing the same kind of armor as the hammer twins and using the exact same kind of hammer, both made out of red steel. While General Bitter was using and wearing an exact replica of his brother's armor, shield and weapon, but gold plated. Or was it more correct to say his brother was wearing a replica of his?

"Ah," Said Heartland, as Lightning Dust landed softly next to the rest, Nova and Sun Spire were already waiting patiently. "It looks like they're here."

"Good," Said General Bitter, "Then I will, if you will allow me, begin. We both wanted to be here in person for this, but unfortunately we are both otherwise preoccupied, so this hologram spell will have to do for now. We owe you our thanks, not only for saving our siblings, both from themselves and from your own capable hooves, but also for saving our friends, General Gallop and Scimitar Razorwing, as well as the rest of Canterlot. Of course, what happened after your bold defense was impossible to prevent so don't let yourselves feel down. We must be off now, but we'll have you know, both us, Gallop, Razorwing and your commanders put forth a recommendation that you become military elites. I'll let you take it from here Commander." At the end of the short speech, both Heartland and Bitter faded into nothingness.

Big Axe nodded, "As the General said, we have all placed our recommendations that you be put into more advanced, elite, training programs. You, mere slayers in training single hoofedly (for the most part) took down a Colonel, two of his elite bodyguards and the leader of the Nightmare Invasion in a non-lethal manner, saving their lives and allowing us to interrogate them and confine them. This was NOT an easy thing to do. Colonel Bitter alone was a slayer himself, quite in fact, he was the founder of the original Slayer program and the one who trained me, personally."

"As far as we're concerned," The commander spoke out, her voice easily drowning out the background noise of construction and debris clearing, even though she was not at all being loud, possibly it was the authority in her voice. "You have all graduated the slayer program. But it appears you beat us to the punch. Take a look at your flanks." Of course, Birch Bright's gaze immediately went to Lightning Dust's flank, some things never change. But Gleam noticed it too, her cutie mark... changed? In addition to the lightning on her flank she now had the helmet and two heavy steel horseshoes on it, as though to exemplify her mastery of the weapon. Birch Bright also twirled around to observe his own flank, finding a mace on it. Nova had his own cutie mark enhanced by a large explosion, representing his Nova Blast. Sun Spire's remained hidden under his armor.

"Nova Blast, we have spoken to Red Charge and he would welcome you eagerly to join his Battlemages. Sun Spire, the Yellow Flashes placed a dib on you, feeling your skills would benefit with their training the most." Big Axe said to the unicorns, both of which gave a silent and calm brohoof to each other.

"Lightning Dust, with the fall of the Red Barons, the Stars, or should I say, the Sky Titans, will need as many ponies as they can get. Once Percheron recovers, you will join them in Cloudsdale." The commander said to Lightning Dust who nearly exploded with excitement.

"Aww yeah! Take that stupid Wonderbolts!" She hoof pumped in the air.

"And last, but not least, Gleam Lucre and Birch Bright, ah, I see you brought some company, good. Both of you have been accepted into Field Marshal Hightower's Shield Walls and will begin your training as soon as he returns from his latest assignment. It breaks my heart to split such an explosive team, but you've earned your place, all of you. Do you have anything you want to say? Before we officially release you from the Slayer Program?"

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam kept an eye out for how Prim and Proper were doing even as he followed Birch Bright. They had no idea that Big Axe (and the most evil obstacle course in world) even existed, and thus they had to navigate around the buildings instead. Of course, Prim and Proper had the benefit of not wearing armor, so they were still moving fast enough to keep up.

And then they reached the meeting place. Gleam didn't see any princesses around when he checked, but he stopped checking once he got a look at the other Very Important Ponies waiting for them. For a moment his stomach twisted and churned - Celestia's flowing wig, had those monster ponies they'd defeated come back for a rematch!? - before logic and reasoning provided the obvious answer.

...Privately, Gleam was sincerely wishing that General Heartland hadn't brought his war hammer...it kept reminding him of what taking one to the head had been like.

And then the ceremony, such as it was, began.

Hearing General Heartland, the sibling of the pony that, apparently unbeknownst to anypony else Gleam had honestly tried to kill, thank them for sparing the pony's life made his stomach churn even more than seeing the General's version of the Hammer Twin's war hammer had.

That feeling was shoved aside as the rest of the news came pouring down on them. Graduating from Slayer training was the biggest shock. Even if he'd really hoped it was true, Gleam hadn't put much faith in what Birch Bright said earlier. But when Gleam checked his flank, there it was - a tiny copy of his sword now overlay Gleam's cutie mark. He was dumbstruck. When had that appeared?

...Hearing that they were being assigned to different units now that they were graduated Slayers shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was to Gleam. He mentally facehoofed - of course it made sense, their apparent talent best served Equestria in as many different areas as possible. And having the rest of them tag along as Nova Blast joined the Battlemages or Sun Spire with the Yellow Flashes would be silly at best. And with Lightning Dust joining the Stars - who were apparently being renamed the Sky Titans, Gleam would have to find out the story behind that later - she didn't need a whole herd of non-pegasus ponies tagging along.

"And last, but not least, Gleam Lucre and Birch Bright, ah, I see you brought some company, good. Both of you have been accepted into Field Marshal Hightower's Shield Walls and will begin your training as soon as he returns from his latest assignment..."

It was probably lucky that Prim (with a squee of excitement) immediately hugged him, or Gleam might've lost control completely and done the same to Birch Bright. There it was. There it was! Gleam was going to be a Shield Wall!

"Prim!" Proper hissed, completely mortified as she dragged her sister back.

And then the commander finished up by asking if anypony had questions. Gleam surprised himself by finding his had one.

"What about the other Slayer trainees?"

They...really hadn't seen anypony else from the program since before going after That Thing in the forest, had they? Gleam very deliberately tried NOT to think of Lightning Crackle, even though he just knew that Lightning Dust and Birch Bright were giving him those looks now. Gleam had...several perfectly good reasons for the question. Totally valid ones, even!

He'd think them up later.

[Red Charge]

Birch Bright had been hoping to obtain a hug from one of the servant sisters himself, or at least a peck on the cheek. He was a hero after all! When neither came the pony's face fell into a frown, quickly broken by surprise as Lightning Dust tackle hugged him into the ground. "We made it!" She screamed in his ears, quickly getting off of him and running in place. "I am SO ready."

When Gleam asked his questions, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to him. "We have had some casualties among the trainees, I'm afraid. Some MIAs, some we already know won't be coming back. Not as many as you'd think. Most seemed to be smart enough to stick to their trainers. Overall out of the entire Slayer trainees only two ponies are confirmed to have perished, four are missing in action." Big Axe said, "So far we're assuming they're lost in the caves, if they're not there, well, we can just assume the worst." The commander said, her voice steady but her eyes distressed. She did not like her soldiers dying or disappearing, that much was clear. She may have worked them through to the ground, but she cared about their well being, not just about their statistics, that much was obvious to Gleam.

"If you're concerned about your friend Lightning Crackle, she's fine, bruised, wounded, yes, but fine." Big Axe added giving Gleam a knowing look, "Well then, if that's all, I, Iron "Black Baron" Cross, declare the trainees - Nova Blast, Birch Bright, Lightning Dust, Gleam Lucre and Sun Spire, by order of Princess Luna, having graduated the heavy support 'Slayer' program, Slayers for all accounts and purposes. I award them these graduation papers," The commander drew several rolled up parchments enclosed by a ribbon sealed by the Slayer Emblem, "And merits," The commander pulled out several collar lapel badges bearing the slayer emblem, "May you find the opportunity to serve Equestria as loyally and as fearlessly as you have already proven to us you can. Commander, if you please."

The commander stepped forwards, smiling at the group, "You have been through a long painful journey, cut short due to circumstances none of us were expecting. Instead of a mid-trial in controlled environment, you got a trial by fire against an enemy you could not destroy and had found it within yourself to find the alternative and battle onwards. You did not accept the odds, you did not accept the possibility of losing, despite grievous injuries you fought on, achieving great victory on the field. Although it saddens me that you are to leave me so soon, I am proud to have called you my soldiers. You came from different backgrounds, with vastly different personalities. Some of you were timid and quiet, some loose cannons, some trying to repent for past failures and some whose motivations are unknown... but you melted together into a single unit, something beyond our expectations of mere trainees and you prevailed. I wish you luck in all of your future endeavors and release you from my command."

Big Axe took the reins again, "Alright, you're all free to do whatever you want until you're summoned again, but don't leave Canterlot. Anything you want to say, better do it now before we return to the Slayer Training Headquarters."

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam's ears flattened and his face flushed despite himself. What the - even Big Axe immediately thought that he had some kind of ludicrous crush on Lightning Crackle? It made no sense, even if Gleam felt that way about her the mare had made it very clear she hated Gleam's guts! One of the good things about this promotion was that Gleam wouldn't be nearby when Crackle found out about it. If she'd thought she hated him before, this news would make her previous scorn seem lighthearted in comparison.

He still wasn't sure why she hated him so specifically, even if Crackle also wasn't fond of anypony else in their little group that wasn't named Nova Blast either.

Gleam pushed his embarrassment and confusion aside for later as their commanding officers gave him and the others the parchment scrolls and merits that further proved their graduation as Slayers. And to hear tell of how they had improved was a relief to hear: Gleam had wondered, sometimes, if Slayer ponies all turned out to be as cruel and ruthless as their trainers had appeared. It was nice to know that the Commander was a nice pony on the inside.

...Way, way down on the inside, maybe, and there was no way they'd ever see this side if they were still trainees, but that was besides the point! Maybe Gleam making a hard decision in battle (and the wrong one) didn't mean he'd become a horrible pony himself someday.

Gleam didn't have much of anything to say at the end. 'Good luck with the other trainees' sounded both trite and a little insulting, and he didn't have anything better in mind.

His ears did twitch when he heard Prim and Proper whispering (none too quietly either) about 'lunch for Master Gleam's friends' and 'didn't we get groceries just yesterday' and one protest of 'Prim, we still have to dig out the kitchen!'

[Red Charge]

Once Lightning Dust released him, Birch Bright went over to Gleam casually, being as discreet as he could be and nudged him on the shoulder, gesturing with his head at Prim and Proper as he talked. "Uh, Gleam... aren't you going to help a bro out here..?"

Seeing they had nothing to add, Big Axe and the commander took their leave, Gleam had a feeling it would probably be one of the last times he ever saw them, if he ever would again. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to and Equestria would remain safe. Who knows, maybe one day he'll go back to the slayer program as an instructor. As it was now, he was a Shield Wall, if only all of the ponies who made fun of him at bootcamp could see him now...

He was going to train under the Fieldmarshal Hightower, the LEGENDARY Fieldmarshal Hightower, the same pony who defeated the Void Dragon Telos, the same pony who FOUNDED the Shield Walls and fought in both the Dragon and Prism Wars. The same pony who could punch a mountain into submission and hold back a pride of manticores single hoofedly. One of the only two Fieldmarshals in Equestrian history and one of the longest living ponies in Equestria outside of the Princesses and the royal advisor. This pony was more than a living legend, he was a living myth and Gleam was going to train under him.

It was said that a line of Shield Walls was better than a 30 foot thick wall and far more dangerous, that each of them could crush boulders in their hooves into dust and cause earthquakes with each blow. What would Gleam's family think of him now? Heck, when he retired he could probably work in the mines as a one pony detonator... without using any explosives. The possibilities seemed endless at this point in time, his hard determination and grit got him through it. But the next part would be the hardest of them all, if he thought Iron Cross was bad, "Iron Shoes" Hightower was probably ten times as bad.

At least he wasn't going to be alone there, he was going to go with Birch Bright... who was still giving him expectant looks and gesturing at his two maids.

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam felt his legs threaten to turn rubbery as Big Axe (even if his name apparently was Iron Cross, Gleam would always remember him by that mental nickname) and the commander left and the implications of what was about to happen started to really sink in. Being a Shield Wall and training under the direct command of THE Hightower. The same legendary Fieldmarshal that Gleam had read about as a foal!

Rumor in bootcamp said that Hightower ate freshly laid dragon eggs for breakfast every morning, but there was no real consensus on whether he had them soft-boiled, scrambled, or sunny-side up.

Thank goodness for Birch Bright and his amazing ability to derail a conversation. Gleam stared at his friend, then looked over at the two mares Birch Bright was nodding and gesturing at...then stared at Birch Bright again.

"Them?" Gleam questioned, looking at Birch Bright like the latter had grown a second head. "...Why?"

Prim and Proper were pretty enough mares, Gleam supposed, but they were his family's housekeepers. You didn't do that sort of thing with the help. Nopony he'd grown up with would've considered it for long, unless they were the highly unsavory type anyway, and...

...Birch Bright was not one of those ponies he'd grown up with, Gleam remembered a little too late.  Ugh...open mouth, insert hoof.

"...I'd ask them yourself when they're off-duty," Gleam suggested, trying to cover for the moment of stupidity on his part.

"Master Gleam!"

Prim chose that moment to bounce over. If she or Proper had heard a word of the exchange, they kept it to themselves with professional skill.

"We were thinking we'd make you all a nice lunch to celebrate your promotions!" Prim said, smiling at the rest of the ponies, "The kitchen should be alright if we can get it un-buried."

"Which we can't do very easily by ourselves," Proper added dryly from behind Prim.

Proper looked far more relaxed now that the Very Important Ponies had all gone.  Which wasn't to say that Proper ever looked relaxed, but she wasn't inching a hoof toward her featherduster and eying the nearby rubble disapprovingly anymore.

~X~x~X~x~X~

With five extremely strong ponies at work, the kitchen was very easily unearthed from the wreckage of the Lucre family mansion. As promised, the food was fresh and it was easily prepared into a good meal. Gleam found the image of them eating from the fine dishes while sitting on broken pieces of building to be an odd, but interesting image.

He hadn't missed the raised eyebrows or sidelong looks from the others when the fact that this was his house became undeniable.

"...Prim, Proper, these are my friends and fellow trainees," Gleam said once the lack of introductions became a problem, "Everypony, this is Prim and Proper. They keep the place running while the rest of the family is away."

[Red Charge]

"Wait, you.... you have SERVANTS?" Lightning Dust asked, "You're RICH?" her mouth fell agape. "Look at the fancy pants we have here! From now on, you're buying our ciders!" She said, nudging Gleam hard in the side.

"I knew." Sunspire said with a shrug, causing the others to stare at him. "I was Rainlock Security, I knew all the big families in Equestria. Lucres owns a lot of natural resources. I think the Lady Rainlock buys gems regularly from your family, for her own purposes."

"Well that's not surprising, you always seemed like you were new to the army stuff." Nove Blast said, "Always presumed you were from here, but rich... well I didn't see that coming."

"Moneybags here's been stringing us along all the time." Birch Bright said with a smile, then glancing at the two servants, "But I won't hold that against him, bet he didn't want to get any special treatment, didya?" Birch asked, patting Gleam on the back.

"Oh he's gonna get the special treatment alright, he's gonna be treating me whenever we're out for lunch." Lightning Dust laughed, smacking the pony on the shoulder roughly before digging into her food again.

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam looked back and forth at the others, dismayed.

"I wasn't...I wasn't 'stringing' anypony along," Gleam protested, "It's...well, nopony asked."

Really, what was he supposed to say? Only complete bores introduced themselves with 'and I have this title, and I own this land', and so on.

Prim and Proper both sighed.

"You'll have to forgive Master Gleam, he's a good pony but he's not very sensible sometimes," Prim said, leaning in closer to the nearest pony - which, to no-doubt Birch Bright's delight, was him - and adding, "He hasn't been too much trouble, has he?"

Gleam sighed. That was not helping.

"My boot camp was local, most of the ponies knew what part of Canterlot I was from even if they didn't know who I was," Gleam said, frowning, "I had enough trouble working with them..."

Though he had no problems treating his friends to lunch and cider sometimes (and Gleam idly wondered when he'd made the mental transition of 'fellow soldiers in my group' to 'my friends', it seemed to have snuck up on him), the prospect of them draining his wallet dry didn't sound too fun.

"My family being well-off can't be that strange or interesting anyway," Gleam added, looking from face to face, "...Can it?"

[Red Charge]

"Don't look at me, I've been working for one of the richest ponies in the world." Sunspire said, taking a sip of his drink, "You can spot the type a mile away when you do that kind of work for so long."

"Strange? I dunno, rich ponies don't usually enlist... well except the Razorwings, but they're a whole other story. Even if they do enlist, it's usually for cushy jobs in Fillydelphia or Canterlot, nothing like Heavy Support." Lightning Dust said, "Sides, you should have said something, I bet Lightning Crackle would be all over you if you did." She grinned maliciously, "Hard to resist a rich AND handsome pony." She said in an ambiguous tone.

"Gleam?" Birch Bright asked Prim, also leaning closer, "Plenty. His ideas got me more broken bones than I could count, but he's a brave pony. When we were fighting the Nightmares he took a war sledgehammer to the face, didn't even flinch. Well, maybe passed out, but luckily I was there to snap him out of it."

"Hey at least he has a thick head." Lightning Dust said, overhearing the conversation. "You two make a good tag team, you should totally get together or something." She said teasingly.

Birch Bright rubbed his face with a hoof, wondering if Lightning Dust hated him.

[Gleam Lucre]

"Don't look at me, I've been working for one of the richest ponies in the world. You can spot the type a mile away when you do that kind of work for so long."

Gleam nodded. Still, compared to the Rainlocks and the Bluebloods, the Lucre family was still grubbing around on a rock farm. The comparison seemed a little unfair.

"Sides, you should have said something, I bet Lightning Crackle would be all over you if you did."

He could feel a twitch developing in one eye. Celestia-dammit, WHY did everypony seem so Dang determined to hitch him and Lightning Crackle?!

"Hard to resist a rich AND handsome pony."

And...that was not a word he ever expected Dust to use.

"Handsome? You must have been struck blind from our training sessions if you think that's the case," Gleam couldn't help but snark back at her.

Prim and Proper both gasped as Birch Bright relayed Gleam taking a war sledgehammer to the face.

"You fought one of those monsters?!" Proper exclaimed, horrified.

"Oh, that must have been awful!" Prim agreed, "But thank you for protecting Master Gleam, Mister Birch Bright. Thank you so much!"

Impulsive as ever, Prim hugged Birch Bright. Gleam could hear the cogs rattling in his friend's head already. Well, at least Prim seemed to like him.

Hoping to change the subject, Gleam pointed out "It's not like I know much about what you all did before enlisting either. Care to share?"

[Red Charge]

"There's a thing called sarcasm, you know?" Lightning Dust mocked the earth pony. "Eh, you're not bad, nowhere near Birch here though." She said, turning to Birch Bright, who seemed Dang pleased with himself with the attention he was getting.

At Prim and Proper's question, Birch replied, "We've fought all sorts of monsters, but yeah the Nightmares too. We took down what, six of them? There were the one when we arrived, the one at the store and then those four at the last tower... Who by the way, were able to overtake General Gallop and Scimitar Razorwing. They were all elite soldiers and the leader of the invasion was there too. Two of them were huge, easily big enough to tear a hole through any castle wall with giant war hammers, enough muscles to throw a boulder all the way to Appleloosa and there was this vicious knight, armored and armed to the teeth in bloody plates and a sword long enough to reach from one side of the table to the other and then there was the leader, a fierce thing with a metallic skull mask and more tricks up his sleeves than coyote himself. All downed by us." Gleam described, "We thought they were going to crush us at first but we pulled through and wiped the floor with them, caught them all alive so they can be de-corrupted."

When Gleam asked about what they did before they enlisted Lightning Dust shrugged, "You know my story, I went to Wonderbolt Academy and got thrown out. Reckless they said. So in the middle of the race I made a huge tornado that may or may not have caused some ponies to get injured... big deal! If they were going to be Wonderbolts they should have been able to handle it!"

When the others were looking at him, Nova waved a hoof, "Classified."

Sunspire shrugged, "I was a Rainlock Security Internal Affairs officer. The one who makes sure all of our ponies stay in line, nothing too exciting, you get to meet the important ponies, see the Lady do business, throw the book at a guard or two going overboard. I needed something more and The Lady always wanted one of her own to make it into the Elite squads."

When it was Birch Bright's turn he began to tell, "Well, I was a lumberjack, for the most part. Our family is in charge of getting construction wood to make houses. I bet we get a lot of work now... We do furnitures, construction wood, firewood, all sorts. I'm used to carrying around heavy trunks and piles of lumber, but I always felt like I wasn't doing my part. I saw my friends go off to the army one summer after the other and well, I wanted to give more. I felt people take for granted that we have the Princesses taking care of us... When the monster attacks started becoming more brutal and more frequent during the Eclipse Crisis one of our shipments was attacked. No one was hurt and we drove the monster off, but I felt like I couldn't stand not doing anything anymore, so I enlisted. Besides, I think it was at least worth it to meet such beautiful ladies." He winked at Prim and Proper.

[Gleam Lucre]

Prim was wide-eyed and listening with rapt attention as Birch Bright spun the tale of their battle against the Nightmares. Gleam thought some of the details were a bit off, but...well, Birch Bright was having fun.

Hearing Birch Bright's story reminded Gleam of his own foalhood. Not remotely the same circumstances, but the drive to help was similar. A strange coincidence? Either way, hearing all of those stories - or lack thereof, in Nova Blast's case - prompted Gleam to share his own.

"I was originally training to inherit our family mines," Gleam explaining, before shrugging.

"But I decided I would enlist back when I was a foal. I've always wanted to help protect Equestria. It's...sort of my cutie mark story, too," Gleam added.

...That sounded painfully sappy.

"Well, Mother should have replaced me as heir by now..." Gleam mused aloud, looking to Proper.

"Your sister should be born in a few weeks, Master Gleam," Proper promptly replied, "Or so the last letter we got from the mines said."

A filly? Gleam nodded, thinking about it. He'd have to see if he could get leave to visit after she was born. Hopefully he could make time to meet his baby sister.