Chapter 23:Old Friend, New Enemy
"Alright you mares! Let's do this so we can look good for the new captain! FIGHT!"Young Heavy Weight shouted as the training grounds suddenly exploded with many different battles.
It was not long before the day had finally come, this was now the day that young Heavy Weight and his fellow royal guard brothers were about to be met with their new captain of the royal guard. This kept the entire group as well as the colt on edge as they were now training once again in the training grounds, and the stallions as well as the colt were now going hard on each other as some were even going as far as to pound the day lights out of each other.
Guards of different ranks were now at war with each other, some participated in massive sword fights and spear battles while others trained and fought each other in hoof to hoof combat. Teeth were getting knocked out along with their owners as they shouted and slugged others in all directions, the blunt ends of swords cracked others in the head and even drew blood in the process as the guards fought more like colts on the play ground rather than fighting like guards and soldiers.
In the center of it all, young Heavy Weight was jumping, bobbing and weaving through all the guards and thoroughly enjoying himself as he attacked each guard he would run into in the mist of chaos and flurry of hooves. He ducked under two swinging swords and kicked both attackers in the jaw before spinning to dodge an incoming spear and back hoofing the spear stallion in the head making him fall forward.
Heavy even started giggling as he ran through the crowd watching dozens of guards fight each other and knock the teeth out of each other's mouth, he stopped for a moment to watch a rookie actually knock out a Sargent. He then quickly backed up allowing another rookie to miss him completely and fall into a group of other guards before running off to find more fights to get into as he blasted an incoming guard with a sword into the air.
He let out another chuckle as he jumped into the air and aimed his two back hooves at two corporal guards and kicking them in the faces, he even used their faces as they fell over as platforms to stand on and quickly round house yet another sword wielding stallion. Heavy was in heaven as they were all getting one hay of a work out this day, but unfortunately the whole all out guard brawl was ended with a firm tone coming from who else but the princess herself as she yelled from the training ground's entrance.
"Guards! Every pony! That is enough! CEASE THIS MINDLESS VIOLENCE IMMEDIATELY!"Shouted the command of princess Celestia as the fighting instantly froze in it's place including Heavy himself."Heavy...! Come here immediately!"
Heavy shook his head and let out a sigh as he began to make his way through the crowd of guards, they all began chuckling and teasing him as they knew that Heavy was in a lot of trouble and even let him through just to see what the princess will do to him. Finally Heavy was able to squeeze his way through the crowd and slowly approach the princess before noticing that Twilight Sparkle herself was already there and was even giggling at Heavy for what was going on here, knowing that he was the one who put this slug fest together.
"Heavy Weight...? Am I correct in saying that you were the one who put this whole chaotic scene together?"Celestia questioned with a firm look.
"Yes, we just needed to let out some steam, we are about to be put under by some new captain since you had to go and fire captain Husky,"Heavy said with a smirk as the other guards gasped at Heavy's bold statement.
"That is not an excuse for putting together this whole fighting disaster Heavy, there is a fine line between training and mindless violence, and you've crossed that line very far for my taste,"Celestia explained with a frustrated sigh.
"Hey...! Look on the bright side, look at how calm every pony is now, a lot better than having tense guards around the place that want to kill each other right?"Heavy said with a heart chuckle as Celestia furrowed her look at him."Ah... Who is this new captain any way, and what makes you think he'll be any good with the rest of us?"
"You will see in time Heavy... But for now, all of you! Go inside and get cleaned up all of you!"Celestia ordered to the guards as they gradually began picking up injured and unconscious guards up and leaving the grounds."Now then, since you're so prone to training, why don't you work with Twilight now?"
"Good work out there today Heavy!"An injured guard called out while being dragged out by his back hooves.
"AWESOME FIGHT HEAVY! We needed this!"Another guard shouted out while carrying two injured guard.
"Yeah Heavy, you said you were going to teach me the comet spell right?"Twilight said in her all too familiar happy attitude.
"Yeah... I guess I can work with you for a bit, i need a break from the guards I suppose,"Heavy admitted while his muscles felt a bit tired.
"Excellent, you will both get thirty minutes to train together, then I want you two to be off in the library studying for tomorrows history test, at that time the new captain should be here and you will both be treated to meeting him,"Celestia explained in a firm and final voice.
"Yes princess Celestia..."Both students said before suddenly watching the princess disappear in a flash of yellow light.
The two students looked to each other for even they did not know of the new captain, Twilight just shrugged to Heavy before walking to his side and brushing up against him. She then gesture to the training grounds and gave Heavy a pleading look before the colt let out a sigh and started walking to the center of the grounds just as all the guards of the castle were emptying out of it.
Heavy looked around as guards were giving him a parting wave before disappearing out of the grounds while he waved back to the guards before Twilight brushed up excitedly against Heavy before standing before him in the grounds center.
"Gee...! Take an easy there Twilight, we're just going to be learning a new spell today,"Heavy said as Twilight started prancing around him.
"Well... I'm just excited, It's so fun when I get to actually learn from you, do you remember those days when you would show off a bit when you were learning new magic?"Twilight asked before circling around him completely.
"Yeah, you would be surprised what lengths I'll go to to become the best, and I still have much to learn before I can be considered the best,"Heavy said before being held by his hoof by Twilight.
"Well I wanna have that same spirit as you do, you're very inspiring and very passionate when it comes to magic, so I want to be like that too..."Twilight said while staring dreamily into Heavy's eyes.
"Well... I uh... Guess you could have some spirit, just training with me is enough to have the spirit,"Heavy said with a nervous chuckle while hiding a sudden blush from her."So... How about we just get right to it shall we, this spell won't take much time, but its results are more than incredible for such little efforts."
"I bet, now lets do this!"Twilight said jumping back to the center of the grounds.
"Alright, get your self into position and get your magic going,"Heavy said as he made his horn light up.
Twilight did so and lit up her horn with magic just in time to watch Heavy raise to magically empowered front hooves to the ground and suddenly stomp down on the ground with a thunderous rumble. It was then that the ground shook under their hooves before a large explosion went off behind Twilight and two large pillars of rock now stood there towering above them.
"Now then, it's a little like just the body enhancement, you need to surround yourself in magic, only you need to make it spin and surround not only your body, but also the very air around you and pull it towards you,"Heavy explained as ice blue magic spun around and covered him up before starting to float.
Twilight nodded and did so as she began to surround her body in purple magic, she struggled a bit, but she was then starting to make the magic spin around her and glow as it started to rise. She watched as the purple magic covered her entire body in a bright purple light before she suddenly felt herself starting to float in the air, she then began to get excited as she realized that she was indeed perfecting the spell.
"I'm doing it! Heavy look! I'm actually doing it!"Twilight said frantically to the blue ball of light through her own purple veil.
"Good! Now aim your sights directly at the rock and use your body's momentum and your magic to propel you towards the target!"Heavy called from the orb before suddenly taking off in his own ice blue comet.
Twilight did so and watched her own target as well as Heavy Weight's comet before finally focusing a bit more and suddenly felt herself shoot off towards her target like a bullet. The speed of her attack was crazy and was blowing her mind, it even threatened to throw her aim off as she wobbled a bit, but she managed to maintain herself just in time to watch Heavy smash through his rock and incinerate the target completely.
She then felt a fire growing in her as she focused back on her target and felt time freeze as she came only an inch from her rock, she still felt fast for that moment before suddenly feeling herself smash through something hard without pain before she suddenly shut off the magic. She threw her hooves out and was barely able to to land it before looking back to see her target scorching and crumbling away at her very first comet spell attack, and needless to say Heavy was impressed.
"Well done Twilight...! You have just learned the most dangerous spell in my book...! Congratulations,"Heavy said while putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"Thanks... I couldn't have done it without you though..."Twilight said while turning around only to be met face to face and muzzle to muzzle with Heavy.
"Uh... Yeah... Maybe so, but all the same you're pretty good Twilight, no wonder the princess picked you,"Heavy said trying to stop the romantic moment.
"Why thank you Heavy... Your a real gentle colt you know,"Twilight said before almost looking like she was about to nuzzle him.
"We should... Probably go inside and study for the big test, maybe later we can... Train again if you want,"Heavy said with a nervous chuckle.
"Well... Alright Heavy, and I would love to train with you again,"Twilight said while nicely moving away from Heavy.
This time Twilight lead the way for Heavy as they both began making their way back into the castle, they walked side by side while Twilight continued to brush against Heavy playfully. Heavy continued to hide his blush, for he did not know why Twilight was always acting this way around him, did she like him or something, was she really interested this much with him, he did not know theses answers and remained quiet as they both left the training grounds to do another form of training.
Several hours passed by and Heavy Weight along with Twilight Sparkle were now both in the castles library, and were both currently studying for a big test on Equestrian history, and they both once again gave the studying their full attention. Heavy was a fast reader and was able to easily absorb info from the books he read, and Twilight turned out to be just as much of a pro with studying as Heavy, they were quiet and did not stir from the positions they were in.
They sat across from each other and sat in complete silence as they studied, Twilight would sometimes look up to see if Heavy was doing anything different, but the results were all the same. She would then just look back down and continue to read her book, but then it happened, she was finished with her studying and she could put down the book only to see Heavy already finished with his studies and was now currently working on his personal book.
Twilight immediately took notice as she could tell that it was indeed the book Heavy spoke of, but decided to leave him to his writing and actually decide to work on a little something on of her own. she lit up her horn and in a flash made a white scrap paper and a few colored pencils appear and land in front of her, this got Heavy's attention as he put his book down. He then watched as Twilight was quickly creating a little drawing on the paper, she looked up and giggled at him before looking back down at the drawing.
"So Twilight...? What are you drawing over there?"Heavy asked with interest.
"Oh nothing, I just decided to do a little something while you were busy with that book of yours,"Twilight said while looking down at her drawing.
She let out a dreamy sigh as she had so far drawn an outline of what looked like a purple filly and a blue colt standing together and nuzzling each other, she then looked back up at Heavy and saw that he was deep into his book. She then turned back to the drawing again and gave the colt blue eyes and a blue mane before turning to the filly and giving her mane the same color as her own.
It was then that Twilight got the scare of her life as a blue light suddenly went off behind her and before she knew it, Heavy was now standing right behind her and looking at the drawing she was making and suddenly chuckled.
"Hey Twilight...? Do you like me or something?"Heavy said while looking closely at her drawing.
"*gasp*... Heavy I... It's not what you think, I was just... Drawing for fun is all,"Twilight said with mad blush while Heavy just shook his head.
"You don't need to hide it Twilight, I can tell when a filly likes me, this isn't my first brush with a filly that had a crush on me,"Heavy said as he backed away from Twilight's drawing."I just never really cared for a filly with a crush much."
"So... Do you not like me Heavy...?"Twilight asked while looking at her drawing.
"What? Of course I like you Twilight, I like how you're very optimistic about things, I like the spirit you have about training with me and a few burly guards, you have been the only friend, that I could actually train and talk to without you thinking that I'm a monster or too rough of a colt,"Heavy explained with a sigh while Twilight suddenly got out of her seat.
"Heavy... Why would some pony ever think that you were a monster, you're like the complete opposite of a monster,"Twilight said while approaching the colt.
"What...? What do you mean Twilight?"Heavy asked while wanting to back away from her.
"You are so inspiring and so brave Heavy, you were... My inspiration to learn about magic, and I never could be more glad that you helped me get on this path, I like how you were always brave and would face down danger no matter what happened,"Twilight explained as Heavy found himself pinned against a wall,"You are the furthest thing from a monster..."
"Twilight...? What are we doing right now?"Heavy asked as Twilight came face to face with him again.
"I don't really know... But I kind of like it, can I give something a try?"Twilight asked as she closed in on him.
"I... I... Sure... I...guess...we could..."Heavy said as they were suddenly about to touch lips.
It was then that the moment was ruined as a flash of yellow light went off behind them and they quickly broke from their moment to see that princess Celestia now stood before them with a smile on her face. They moved towards the princess and stood at attention as the princess chuckled for she had seen what they were about to do.
"I see you two have finished your studies early, and you two had some spare time to get... More acquainted with one another,"The princess said with a giggle as the two students looked away with furious blushing.
"We were... Just talking, nothing more princess,"Heavy Weight denied as Twilight nodded her head in agreement.
"Well then, if that's the case, any way, I want you two to come out to the front of the castle right away, the new captain is here,"Celestia said in an interesting tone.
The two students looked to each other in interest before turning to their teacher only to watch the princess leave as fast as she came in a bright flash of light, leaving them to wonder about the new captain. They then decided to leave the library and made their way to the door as they continued to ponder with each other at the mystery.
"So who do you think is going to be the new captain?"Twilight asked while Heavy snickered at the thought.
"I don't know, but he's going to be in for a world of Tartarus when he tries to push me around, you got to earn the right to talk down or try to control me,"Heavy bragged as they left the library.
"You sure like to talk big Heavy, I bet you get that from the other guards right?"Twilight said slyly as they shared a laugh together.
"Yeah, maybe just a little bit, but you can really learn a whole lot from the guys when you're around them long enough,"Heavy said before looking down the hall way and the long walk they would have to make."Hey... I got a better idea, hold onto my shoulder, let's get there the fun way."
"Sure Heavy, teleporting definitely beats walking,"Twilight said before finally taking up Heavy's right shoulder.
Heavy then made his horn glow as a veil of blue magic surrounded the two students and made them float before they disappeared in a flash of ice blue light. After traveling through a tunnel of magic for a moment, the two unicorns then came to a stop and reappeared just in front of the castles main doors. Heavy only smirked at the doors while Twilight shook off the magic and turned to him to notice his smirk and realized he was excited.
"You know... I feel really bad for the captain of the royal guard, you're just going to be a nightmare for him aren't you?"Twilight joked while Heavy nodded his head while his smirk grew into an evil smile.
"Maybe just a little bit Twilight, but I'll try to be a little nice, I don't want the princess chewing my ear off about all this."Heavy said as he magically swung the doors open to let the sunlight pour into the main hall.
It was then that as they walked out of the castle, Heavy Weight and Twilight could already hear the princess talking to other ponies outside, and it was then that Twilight recognized all three voices and let out a gasp before excitedly running down the stairs. Heavy raised an eye brow at Twilight's excitement and ran down the stairs as well for him to get the biggest surprise yet as the ponies all came into his sight.
Twilight's parents were there and were speaking with the princesses, while Twilight appeared to be hugging none other than an old friend of his, Shining Armor. Shining was now a large burly stallion and was now wearing captain Husky's old captain of the royal guard armor, much to Heavy's displeasure. It had been quite a few years since they last saw each other, and Heavy was more than a bit disappointed to see Shining Armor in an old friend's armor.
It was then that Heavy came to the bottom of the steps right in time to be noticed immediately by the princess and Twilight's parents, but the look that Heavy enjoyed the most was the one appearing on Shining's face. The young stallion's eyes widened with complete shock and a wave of fear as him and Heavy suddenly locked in with hard stares. It was a lot for Shining Armor to take in as he saw Heavy Weight after all this time, Heavy was more grown up than he was before, the real question that was still on the stallion's mind was how strong has Heavy become since they last met.
"Ah...! Heavy, you made it just in time, you remember Twilight's parents Night Life and Twilight Velvet?"The princess said gesturing to the parents.
"Yeah, how do you do sir and ma'am,"Heavy said without taking his eyes of Shining Armor.
"Oh it has been a grand time so far, Twilight told us about the few spells you have been teaching her on the side, I hope she hasn't been too much trouble for you Heavy Weight,"Twilight Velvet said while Heavy snickered
"Not at all ma'am, she's actually been quite a lot of fun to practice with, I dare say she has more talent than any other unicorn I've met with before,"Heavy said while Twilight Sparkle just giggled at the compliment.
"Oh Heavy, you're way to kind,"Twilight said with a cute blush.
"Yes, and now we will have a pony to watch and make sure you two aren't getting too rough with each other now,"Night said while proudly gesturing to Shining Armor.
"Really...? So you're the new captain of the royal guard huh... Old friend...?"Heavy pointed out with a bit of sarcasm.
"Yeah... It's been a while hasn't it Heavy...?"Shining said as they were peering into each other's eyes firm and strong.
"It sure is... I almost didn't recognize you without a suit with a bunch of mud on it,"Heavy suddenly mocked with a sly chuckle.
"Yeah, And I almost didn't recognize you without you trying to beat up or kill some pony,"Shining Armor mocked back while Celestia already felt tension between the two of them.
"Easy there gentle colts, we don't need to start off the captains first day with all this mockery,"Celestia said to keep the peace, but was falling on deaf ears.
"Oh don't worry, that kind of stuff still happens quite often around here, if certain ponies are too weak or too ignorant to know their volley,"Heavy warned while Shining Armor snorted at him.
"Uh... Guys? Is everything alright here?"Twilight asked while the colt and stallion came close to head butting each other.
"Well from now on I'm the new captain around here, and I will be watching your every move so we don't have these kind of issues,"Shining said while they began fighting each other with their heads pressed up between one another.
"Please... You can't even watch your own back,"Heavy mocked with a sly smirk.
"And your back looks pretty open to us,"Suddenly came the voice of Heavy Weight right behind Shining.
Shining Armor almost jumped as he turned around to be blown away as he then saw eight more Heavy Weight's laughing at him, Shining shook his head in disbelief while Twilight was busy getting blown away by the fact that Heavy could clone himself. The clones continued to snicker at the new captain as they walked back to the real Heavy and began to disappear except for two clones while they stood before their creator.
"Whoa...! You can clone yourself too! You have got to teach me that!"Twilight said rushing to Heavy's side to look at the perfect clones.
"So... How good are you with your magic exactly?"Shining said trying to control himself from the scare.
"good enough, so let me just tell you this, if you're thinking of spying on me, you might want to watch your own back, cause you'll never know if I'm the one watching you,"Heavy warned while Shining just furrowed his eyes at the colt.
"Okay... That's enough now, Shining Armor, how about I personally show you around the castle while Heavy and Twilight continue on with their day,"Celestia suggested as she got between the stallion and colt.
"Sounds good to me, come on Twilight lets go to the training grounds, maybe I can start teaching you the clone spell while we train,"Heavy said while looking to Twilight with a smile.
"Sure Heavy, this should be a whole lot of fun,"Twilight said as Heavy took up her hoof and guided her towards the grounds.
"Hey...! Get your hooves off my sister-"Shining said before being held back and cut off by Night Life.
"Easy now son, it's your first day as a captain, you made it this far, don't ruin your dream just to fight some trouble maker,"Night said to his son as they watched the colt and filly disappear into the grounds.
"Come now captain Shining Armor, there is much for you to see of the castle,"Celestia said as she lead the way for the captain and his parents.
"Yes... Your majesty..."Shining said as he lowered his head and went with the princess to start off his first day.
TWO OLD FRIENDS ARE NOW THE BITTEREST OF ENEMIES, TENSION IS GOING TO BE GROWING BETWEEN THE TWO, BUT FOR NOW, IT'S TIME FOR TWILIGHT AND HEAVY TO EXPERIENCE THE PAIN OF LOSS, AND LOVE.