After he left me to my own world I sat down and watched how the other guards trained. I found that the Pegasus preferred hit and run tactics, the earth ponies preferred to overwhelm their opponents, and the unicorns preferred long-range controlled battles. There was probably only one or two from each race that didn't fight like all the others did. I will say that I hoped that the selection process for the new guard went good and hoped that there were competent guards to watch over Princess Twilight. Ones I could trust to watch over her at least.
After sitting out there for an hour just watching how they all trained I got up and walked over to the locker room and walked in. I quickly got my armor back on and my katana back to my side as I gave a small sigh knowing I would be arguing with the princess about her not having any guards with her when I was told she would have a few with her. After I made sure all of my straps were on tightly and that my katana was secure on my left side I exited the locker room and into the halls. I walked past a guard as he seemed to watch me. "Sir Hanzo." I paused mid-step and turned to the side to get a look at the guard. "your presence is requested by Princess Twilight in her room." I gave him a nod as he went back to looking straight as I walked away with a smile. At least one guard took his job seriously.
After a few minutes of walking, I soon reached the room she was staying in and found to my surprise 4 guards in the long hallway. Two were on her door and the other two were walking up and down the large hall. Noticing me they watched me with their eyes as I approached the door.
One knocked on the door as I stopped next to them and opened it slightly. "Princess Twilight. Your guard has returned from his lollygagging." I glared at the back of the guards head but quickly brought my emotion under control as he nodded in the small crack of the door. He pulled his head out and gave me a nod as I walked into the room to find princess Twilight doing her preferred hobby when she had free time... reading a book.
"My presence was requested princess Twilight?" she put a bookmark into her book and laid it down as she nodded and motioned for me to sit as I did so.
"I saw the fight you had with my brother. I didn't know you were that strong," she said with a small smile.
"I have been training my body ever since I entered your service milady." I noticed she had a small blush when I called her milady. " I found that my body is adapting to my training much more easily in this world then it did in my own." she gave a small smile.
"maybe its the ambient magic in the air that's helping your body." I think I already knew why my body was adapting but that would have been one of my first thoughts before I discovered my own magic. "anyway I asked for you to see your opinion on how the guards trained." she then told me as I began to replay what I have watched through my head quickly.
"personally as a fighting force, they would most likely be an exceptional foe to face. The only problem I see is that they don't have their own ways of fighting which could potentially get them killed should they get caught in a situation that the training they were given would be useless. I saw a few who trained outside of this but I am glad to see that they are prepared should anything happen." she only nodded as I noticed a floating notepad and quill next to her as it wrote down my every word. "princess may I ask you a question."
"feel free to," she said with a smile.
"may I ask how the guard choosing went?" she smiled and gave me a small nod.
"I believe it went well. Princess Celestia already had her guards chosen although it was kind of hard to decide in a few different areas. But I think I chose right. They are already being outfitted in new armor. Light silver if I remember correctly." she spoke. She then went on to explain what the armor looked like which in my honest opinion sounded like the Royal Day Guard armor. I listened in to what she was saying as I began to think of what I should notify her new guard about once we return to Ponyville. I believe notifying them of what rooms she visits the most would be a good place to start followed by what ponies she regularly allows to visit her. "Hanzo!"
"yes, princess?" I responded being snapped out of my thoughts.
"I was asking if you think the guards chosen should be trained." she then asked as I thought over what could possibly happen if that should happen. Should they be trained they could be trained for certain situations should they ever occur with the advantage of them being able to fight off intruders until reinforcements arrive. A downside is that we could possibly be training a traitor in our ranks and it would take time to train them once more.
"to be honest princess there are pros and cons to both sides... but I believe training them would be best in the long run." she gave me a smile and a nod as she wrote it down onto her notepad with her magic. "may I ask why you are asking me such things?"
"well..." she gave me a sheepish smile. "knowing that you come from a group that protected your leaders I figured it would be a good idea to get your personal opinion of what to do."
"I thank you for thinking of asking me, princess. Is there anything else?" I asked her as she shook her head. "may I quickly ask when we are returning to Ponyville princess before I leave?" I asked as I got back on my feet.
"we should be leaving tomorrow morning." I nodded. "you can go Hanzo... now I need to make a very important decision." I gave her a bow and left the room. Closing the door I walked to the other wall and turned around and stood there. The two guards that were next to the door were watching me as I stood up straight with my arm at my side.
For several hours I stood outside of the door until the door opened and out walked Princess Twilight. She smiled at me as she closed the door behind her. "come along Hanzo." she started to walk away as the two guards at the door followed behind me. I followed her through the halls until we reached a door with two hammers crossing each other on an anvil. Walking in I could see that guards were putting on silver armor with a purple 6 pointed star on the front with two smaller 6 pointed stars on either side of it.
"Princess Twilight!" a guard spoke up as all of the guards stopped what they were doing and stood up. Saluting the princess as I saw that a few of them were only half dressed in armor. "have you come to review us, princess?"
"I've come to check and see how the armor looks and to say who the captain is going to be," she spoke up as I noticed that the two guards that were following us were now just standing outside of the door. " I see that the armor fits well."
"to be honest princess it fits better than the regular guard armor." princess Twilight smiled as a nearby guard spoke up. I could tell that the only way to tell the armors apart was from the helmets. Open face, eyes revealed, closed face, any kind of helmet was here I believe.
"that's good to hear. I've decided to make United Front the captain of the guard." guards began to cheer as a large unicorn stallion was pat on the back. He had a smug grin that made me feel uneasy inside. "could you please come with me into the hallway so we could speak for a moment?" he nodded as he walked over. "please stay here Hanzo." I nodded as the two of them walked out into the hallway and closed the door. I stood by the door as all the guards began to converse with one another. I could recognize a few of them from the training yard but the rest I never noticed.
"so you are the princesses personal guard?" I lifted my head slightly and slowly turned my head to the left to see a smiling female Pegasus. "hows the job?"
"I will admit it does become quite a handful considering how the princess tends to spend her days either in one of her library's or her lab," I answered truthfully.
"well, that's good to hear. Anything we should know about?" she asked as she took her helmet off to reveal she had a bright red mane that went with her white coat and red eyes.
"other than the fact that ponies visit her often and she tends to do what she wishes in her lab I see nothing else to worry about," I told her as she gave me a nod. She proceeded to walk away as I watched her leave with a small eyebrow. I began to wonder just why she had walked over and asked me a couple questions but I eventually just pushed it out of my mind as I watched all of the guards move around in their new armor. It was so hard to figure out which ponies were chosen by Princess Twilight and which ones were chosen by Princess Celestia. After about 20 minutes the newly made captain walked into the room. "form up!" he yelled as all the guards all got into a group and stood up straight. " I am glad to say that I am now in charge of you lot so lets lay down a few ground rules!" he yelled as I tried to place who had picked him to be a new Star Guard. "first rule is that everypony here must listen to me! That is a given! Rule two is that the population of Ponyville comes first by order of the princess!" I narrowed my eyes at what he just said. The guard was created to protect Princess Twilight. I would need to have words with her later once we were alone. "the third rule is to always notify a nearby superior of where you will be going should you have to leave for some reason during your shift so that a new shift could be given to you at a later date. Should any new rules be made I will post a notice on the door to the guard barracks? Dismissed!" I will admit he had a good start with the final rule he spoke of.
As soon as the guards all began to leave he walked over to me with his smug smile on his face. "the princess wishes to see you in the hallway." I gave him a nod and started to walk away until I felt a hand firmly grab my right shoulder. "just so you know... I'm in charge of you now... so you better do as I say or risk punishment." I simply remained silent. "do you hear me, guard?"
"I only answer to the princess," I responded as I pulled my shoulder out of his grip.
"the princess said for me to tell you now." I opened the door and walked out of it when I noticed the glare he was still giving me.
"Shall we go see the princess Hanzo?" princess Twilight spoke up once I closed the door.
"may I ask you a few things princess?" I then asked when I noticed the two Day Guard were no longer in the hallway.