The Royal Protector
Chapter 23
It only took J and Gear a good five minutes to walk out to the clearing where the camp had been set up. Once they approached, they saw that the camp had been finished and the soldier were talking amongst one another. J had spotted Shining and Blackout amongst the crowd.
"Everything went quite well from the looks of it." J said looking around. The once empty clearing had been transformed into a sea of big tents and soldiers.
"Everypony was eager to set up and get started." Shining said with a proud smile.
"Well that and we promised some extra leave to the group hat could set their tent up the quickest." said Blackout.
J raised an eyebrow, "Who won?"
"It was tent seven, mostly comprised of rookies that had graduated already. They set up in one minute flat. Something I doubt even Twilight's friend Rainbow Dash could do." Said Shining.
"What about meals for the troops, is all of that taken care of?" asked J
Shining nodded, "The troops have a choice of eating in Ponyville or eating the food we prepare here."
"Good." Said J as he turned to address the troops behind him.
"Listen up, I have several announcements to make." J yelled.
All the troops stopped talking and gave him their full attention.
"We are going to be here for two weeks. In that period of time, I want everypony to push themselves. I want everypony to leave here better, stronger, and faster then when they arrived. We also might have some more ponies join us later in the week so I want all of you to welcome them. Now about food, you have a choice of going into Ponyville for your meals or eating the food provided here. If you don't feel like wasting your bits, just eat here. On a lighter note, I was told that tent seven had won the little contest you had for setting up and you will be allowed a couple extra hours of leave."
J could hear some of the troops in the crowd cheering that they had won. He waited it to quiet down before continuing.
"That's all for now. I want everypony back in this spot by 9:00 tomorrow morning, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir!" yelled everypony in the crowd.
"Good, all of you get some rest, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." said J as he dismissed the soldier and watched as they walked to their tents. Once they were all gone, J turned to Shining.
"Where will we be staying?" he asked.
"Follow us, we stay in the officers tent in the middle of the camp. I think everypony is already in there." said Shining and Blackout to a huge tent in the middle of the camp.
Once inside, J saw Order and Connor in the corner playing chess, Connor looked like he was losing and quite frustrated. Gear, who J had lost track of when he met up with Shining, was sitting to the side studying the game intensely. Cadance was sitting on one of the cots reading a large book. They all eventually noticed J, Shining, and Blackout and greeted them. Shining went over to Cadance and Blackout literally laid down on his cot and went to sleep. J walked over to the chess game that was currently happening.
Connor was getting beaten terribly. Order was apparently so good that he wiped out most of Connor's pieces with nothing but his pawns.
"This game is bullshit." Connor exclaimed moving his only remaining piece, his king, away from the advancing army of pawns. "How are you using nothing but your pawns?"
"It's quite simple Connor, it's a combination of strategy and being able to predict the enemies moves." said Order calmly as he moved his pawns slowly, one-by-one, until he trapped Connor's king in the corner. "Checkmate." he called while knocking his king over with his magic.
"This is stupid, if it were me, I would have just entered the castle undetected and assassinate him in his sleep." Connor said while he crossed his arms.
"Strategy is key when going into battle." began Order. "Without it, you would fall as quickly as you entered."
Connor rolled his eyes, "You've told me that for the past three games. I'm starting to get tired so I'm getting some sleep."
Connor then walked over to one of the nearby cots and laid down, facing away from the chessboard. Order reset the board and watched as Gear jumped into the other seat. J looked at both of them.
"You two should get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow."
"No need." said Gear. "Changelings don't need to sleep as much as ponies. We only have to sleep once every couple days and seeing that I did that yesterday, I'll be fine."
J turned to Order and waited for his response.
"I've been stuck in that stone prison too long to just sleep my time away. Don't worry, I'll be fine as well."
J looked in between the two and nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you two in the morning." he said as he approached the cots ad laid down.
He shut his eyes and drifted off into sleep.
Morning arrived quickly. J sat up on his cot and saw that Gear and Order were still playing chess.
"Are you two still play?" J asked as he approached.
"Yes, Gear is a very formidable opponent and an expert strategist. Out of the fifty games we have played, he has won 37 of them."
J chuckled lightly, "Well finish it up, I'm going to address all of you before we leave."
Gear and Order nodded and went back to their game. J turned and saw the others. Blackout was all curled up in his cot still sleeping. Shining, Cadance, and Connor must have already been up because there was a tray filled with fruits and pastries of all kinds.. In the corner of the tent was Earth Turner, Sunspot, and Furybolt still asleep as well. J went over to Blackout and pulled his off of his cot and onto the ground. He twisted and turned like he was being held down. He stood up and looked at J.
"I thought you agreed to stop that after I helped you with those manticore." he said looking a little irritated.
"I needed you up quickly, it was the only thing I could think of that was quick." J said.
Instead of arguing, Blackout just rolled his eyes and walked over to the tray, took some of the fruit and joined the others at the middle of the tent. Next was Earth Turner, Sunspot, and Furybolt. J stood over the three, who's cots were right next to each other. He kicked each cot and gave a firm "Wake up, it's time to start the day."
The three instructors got up slowly and trotted to the middle where everypony was already gathered. J approached them started to talk.
"Alright, now that everypony is up, I have several things to tell all of you. By now, the soldiers will be finishing breakfast and making their way back to the meeting point. Today, I will assign groups that you will be in charge of during our time here. All Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns will train with Earth Turner, Sunspot, and Furybolt to better their endurance and strength. I want you three to push them to their breaking points and I mean it. Make them do whatever you think will make them stronger."
The three instructors nodded and J looked towards Shining and Blackout.
"After that is done, Shining, I want you to take about five or six unicorns and teach them everything you know about barriers."
J had heard stories of the barrier that Shining managed to keep up during his own wedding. This made him the ultimate choice for training defense specialist
"Blackout, after the initial exercise, I want you to take the Pegasi and train them in air combat, both attacking ground targets and other air target."
Even though Blackout was seen as lazy, there is a reason he is the Lunar Knights captain. He is one of the best air fighters Celestia and Luna have other than the Wonderbolts, who are primarily for show. J watched as both Shining and Blackout nodded, understanding their task.
J then turned to the next two beside Shining and Blackout, Cadance and Order.
Order, Cadance, since you are both Alicorns, I want you to take the rest if the Unicorns and help them control their magic better. Also train them to learn any spells you think would be useful."
They both nodded and J moved on to Connor and Gear.
"Connor, I want you to take the Shadow Strikers and do as I told you, train them like the White Circle trained you."
Connor nodded and J looked down at Gear wondering what to do with him.'
"If you are having trouble coming up with a task for me, let me make a suggestion. Changeling are incredibly good infiltration experts but that's not the only thing we are good at. We are very good barrier breakers as well. I could take a small group of Pegasi or Unicorns and teach them the best ways to break barriers."
J thought for a moment and agreed with Gear. "Take six, three Pegasi and three Unicorns."
J finished addressing the other and started to wrap up.
"I will be doing a mix of things after the initial exercise. I will be helping with Order, Shining, or Cadance if my help is needed. Otherwise, I will be splitting my time between preparing Isabel and training The Reapers. Any questions before we continue with the day."
J looked around and saw that they had no questions or complaints.
"Alright, Lets get to the meeting point." J said as he started to lead the group away from the tent and to the meeting place. Blackout, Connor, Gear, Earth Turner, Sunspot, Furybolt, and Order went ahead to make sure that the soldiers were all ready. This left J, Shining, and Cadance slowly walking along the edge of the camp. They were closing in on the meeting point when J heard somepony shout his name.
"J!" he heard.
J looked around him to see who was calling for him but spotted nopony.
"J!" he heard again.
This time he looked up and saw a small dot headed right towards him. Instantly knowing who it was, J braced himself and waited for the dot to get closer. It got closer and closer until it had gotten close enough to see. Before anypony could see it, the small dot hit J directly in the chest send both the dot and J back 10 or so feet. The dust cleared reveling one extremely happy Scootaloo hugging his neck.
"J, you're back!" She shouted while smiling.
"Yes you're finally back." J heard in front of him.
He moved Scootaloo slightly and saw Twilight, her friends, and Isabel standing there.
"It feels good to be back." said J as he looked over the group.
As he scanned the group, J noticed that Rainbow Dash was blushing incredibly. Because of this, J remembered what Isabel had told he about the dare she gave Rainbow Dash. J made a mental note to watch Rainbow Dash and continued.
"Twiley, it's good to see you." said Shining as he hugged his sisters neck.
Cadance joined in, "Yes, it's been so long since we've last seen each other."
"I've missed you both too!" Twilight exclaimed as she hugged them back and let go. She looked over and stared at J sternly. "Why did you leave without telling us goodbye. You had Isabel worried sick."
J looked over at Isabel to see her reaction but she was still looking at Rainbow Dash with a huge grin on her face.
"Sorry for leaving so suddenly but I had some things that needed to be done in Canterlot. One of which you can see before you." J said as he looked back at Twilight.
"Yeah, I've wondered what all of this is about." asked Twilight.
"How did you find out about this?" J asked.
"I noticed the massive number of Royal Guards and Lunar Knights in Ponyville so I asked them what they were doing here. They told me they were here on a training exercise. I thought nothing of it until I received a letter from the Princess telling me that you were back in Ponyville. So I gathered the girls and Scootaloo."
J nodded and then something hit him, Twilight and her friends were right in front of him. J looked over to Shining who gave him a nod, exactly knowing what J was hinting towards.
"Scootaloo." began Shining. "Why don't you follow Cadnace around for a while. J and I need to talk to Twilight and her friends privately."
Scootaloo wanted to argue but eventually gave in and follow Cadance as they walked off. Once they were both gone, Twilight spoke up.
"What did you mean Shining? Why do you have to talk to use?"
Shining didn't answer, instead, he let J answer. J turned and pointed towards the officers tent that J had stayed in the night before.
"Twilight, you and your friend go wait for us in the officer's tent over there. We will be there shortly.
As J turned back around, his field of view was filled with a certain rainbow colored mare getting close to his face. On instinct, J reached up and closed Rainbow's mouth shut with his hand.
"Isabel told me all about your little game of truth and dare." J said in a whisper. He decided that he was going to tease her a bit to see what her reaction would be.
"To let you know, I like mares that stay true to their word. It's rather sexy if you ask me."
That's all J had to say and Rainbow's face turned a deeper shade of red. She pulled away from J's grasp and flew straight to the tent that J had pointed to. J gave a loud chuckle and motioned the other girls.
"You all go follow Rainbow Dash, we will be there shortly."
Twilight nodded and quickly led her friends, and Isabel, into the tent. Once out of sight, Shining looked up at J.
"J, are you sure it's a good idea to involve them in this mess as well. I mean, we're talking about my sister here." he said worryingly.
"No need to worry Shining, in no way do I plan on them fighting an actual battle. We need them because the Elements will help us in the long run. Plus, I'm pretty sure they can handle themselves."
"If you think so." Shining said as he stared at the tent.
There was a pause before Shining spoke up again.
"What are you going to tell them?"
J looked down at Shining and then back to the tent.
"Everything." he said.
Shining sighed lightly. "Alright, let's get this over with, we have soldiers waiting."
Without saying anything, J and Shining walked to the tent and slowly entered.
"Are your troops ready." asked the corrupt griffin king as he stared at the changeling queen.
"Yes my lord, it will take us five days to get there. What are your orders for when we arrive?" asked Chrysalis.
"J has a camp set up I the clearing north of Ponyville. You and your troops are to kill him."
Chrysalis bowed, "As you command my lord." She then turned to the changelings that had amassed behind her. She looked over the twenty changelings before her and gave one order. "Let's move."
Chrysalis and her changelings flew out of the hive and towards Ponyville. The corrupted Griffin King watched as Chrysalis and her troops flew away. He knew they wouldn't be able to kill J. The Corruption doubted he could do it. Chrysalis had out served her purpose and is being used to test J's power. The corrupted Griffin King turned slowly and walked deeper into the hive. Planning his next move against J. Time was working against both of them and J was gaining the upper hand, but not for long.
Here's Chapter 23 for everypony, enjoy.
The story is about to pick up so expect a super awesome fight scene in the upcoming chapters.
Feel free to leave a comment or review. Tell me what you like or what you hated. Why not both?
See everypony next Thursday