LoyalWing

Not much seemed to happen in the small town of Trots, a not particularly well known town build in the clouds above Equestria. It's most notable claim to fame is the story of a noble Pegasus born in it's cloud structures. There are many versions of this tale steeped in truth and fiction in equal measure. These are the records told in their truest form, telling the story of the hero of Equestria Loyal Wing. 

***

The story begins long ago during a stormy winter night as the Pegasi fought pointlessly to keep it at bay to protect the town and all within it. For hours they debated on whether to abandon the town, but many sick and elderly pegasi could not be evacuated in time. As it was too late to send word to Canterlot for aid, the Elders decided that if even a single Pegasus could not be moved then they would stand firm in their town to it's last moment. As the Elders held their council that may end their lives, a mare across town was fighting to bring a new life into the world as her mate fought the storm just as desperately. A young colt was born into the chaos of the storm finally overtaking the town, his cry of life pierced the air as the storm began to still. The town was spared it's destruction as the gift of life was brought to it, though for a mare and colt the most important stallion to them both would lose his own without being able to bask in the town's salvation. 

***

As the years passed the young colt grew older, wiser, and stronger. His mother gave him the name Loyal Wing, honoring his father's unrivaled loyalty to his home. Loyal Wing grew to be a popular athlete and a good student, though despite being one of the best fliers among his peers he never liked to look down, as the sight of  where he could fall unsettled him. On the day he found his Cutie Mark he was brought to the Elders of Trots, as the heart adorned with a green ribbon and golden horseshoe crown was known as a Claddagh, the sign of everlasting devotion. The Elders believed that his Cutie Mark signified that his destiny belonged to Equestria at large, and gathered bits to pay his way into the Royal Academy to train as a knight. 

***

Loyal Wing had never spent much time near the ground, but found it more comfortable than being among the clouds. It allowed him to soar with leisure as he grew into a Valiant young knight of Equestria. Talented in the art of combat, he grew to be the greatest defensive combatant in his squad, and rather skilled in aggressive tactics as well. The primary reprimands found on his record were a tendency to tackle situations alone instead of working with his teammates. Loyal Wing was convinced that he was unstoppable, and to him there were few things to prove him wrong.

***

Everypony expected Loyal Wing to move onto a position as a guard captain or other prestigious position within the Equestian Military post graduation, so many were dumbfounded to find him serving under an old Earth Pony known as Lion's Roar. Loyal Wing thought that such a rank and file position to be beneath his skills, consisting of Freelance, Dive Bomb, and Iron Sides. Freelance the Unicorn had barely passed his own exams, Dive Bomb the Pegasus was always one step behind Loyal Wing, and Iron Sides the Earth Pony was more than a bit of a glutton and overweight. To say that Loyal Wing had a hard time adjusting to a group of misfits and their leader, requesting multiple times to be transferred but denied each time. Loyal Wing's patience was often tested by his squad mates, making up for their short comings and covering their mistakes. Eventually Loyal Wing's patience was pushed too far, leading him to approach Lion's Roar. 

"Why do I have to be here? I should be with the Royal Guard Captains or the Wonderbolts! Not here dealing with this mob of failures." Lion's Roar merely laughed at the younger Stallion's words.

"You don't understand why you're here, do you? Let me tell you, my arrogant colt. You're a one pony show, the type who dooms those around him with his delusions of grandeur. Each member of this squad tried their hardest to get here, but because you've got some raw talent you think you're better than everypony else. That's why you're here, to learn some humility." The words of the old Stallion stuck deep in Loyal Wing.

***

As the years passed, Loyal Wing started to find himself more eagerly aiding his comrades in arms. Each night's singing beneath the moonlight with them was serene, each day's trials pushing them to the limits. Everypony pushed each other to be their best and more. The old Stallion Loyal Wing had though to be beneath him had opened his eyes to what a good leader, and friend, truly was. These gentlecolts eventually became like brothers to Loyal Wing, and Lion's Roar like a father to him. Loyal Wing could honestly say that these days were the happiest in his life. Loyal Wing would learn many forms of combat from and with his comrades. Dive Bomb taught him how to make use of every shift in the air to his advantage in combat while Iron Sides turned him into a hoof to hoof combat specialist, making him a dangerously unpredictable practitioner of the Iron Hoof style usually used by Earth Ponies. Freelance was a unique teacher, forcing Loyal Wing to grow skilled in avoiding magical manipulation by subjecting him to the creativity of a less versatile Unicorn, a terror rarely met twice. One night around their campfire Loyal Wing asked the question that had plagued him for years.

"So why do they call you Lion's Roar?" The old Stallion looked on his soldiers and let out a mighty roar. 

"Heh... Maybe I'm a lion? What do you think?" The stallions stared at their leader and lowered their hooves from their ears, starting to laugh with him.

***

Good times do not last for warriors however, and eventually a dark day would befall this merry band. Equestria had been at war with a country of ponies from the south for three years, bringing the Equestrian Military to full force. A number of these southern ponies had laid siege to a town along their shared border, discovered by Lion's Roar's squad during a routine patrol. The band readied their weapons and rushed to the aid of the village, despite being severely outnumbered. Loyal Wing and his friends fought hard, gaining the upper hoof in the battle until a single unicorn stepped forth from their enemy's forces.

"I am Tal Rassa the Machinator, and I shall bring your doom for foalishly standing in my path!" Black magic spread from his horn to envelope the area. When Loyal Wing blinked he found himself falling from the skies as he always feared as a Colt. His wings failed him when he needed them most, though they had never done so before. He screamed into the open sky for someone to help him in futility, knowing there was nopony to come to his rescue. His resignation was broken by the mighty roar of his commander, snapping him from his delusions. Loyal Wing recovered himself to find the old Stallion who had saved him from his nightmare riddled with arrows and bleeding wounds. There was no way to tell how long Loyal Wing and his friends had been under their illusions, but it was obvious that Lion's Roar had defended them for far too long. The Stallion turned to Loyal Wing as best he could, speaking low and roughly.

"Well it's time to step up boy. I know it's been a rough ride over the years but remember that everypony is here to help you and you need to make sure to stand by them all. It's not all on you... Now get these misfits together and send them to the jaws of Cerberus." The Stallion collapsed under the weight of his wounds. Loyal Wing's determination steeled over as he moved to Lion's side. He knew that a direct hit would spell disaster, so he removed the less damaged bits of Lion's black steel armor and fastened it to his chest and forelegs while his friends bought him time. As they began to falter Loyal Wing fell upon the nearest enemy with his glaive, riding the mortally wounded pony into a trio of others before taking to the air once more. 

"Stand together my friends, the day is not yet lost! For Celestia, for Equestria, for those we love, and for out fallen comrade! Seek victory and turn these beasts from our borders! CHARGE!" The soldiers were spurred on by Loyal Wing's words, joining him to push back their foes. Loyal Wing lead them as one, striking together and covering each other as only those have trained and lived together for years can. Seeing a chance, Loyal Wing dove around one of the many pegasi he had faced today, slamming into an energy shield thrown around Tal Rassa. The Unicorn struck back with magic, unable to snare the pegasus before Freelance would intercept with his own spells. Loyal Wing flipped into the air as Dive Bomb flew just overhead, stopping his momentum and dropping him just inside the range of Tal Rassa's momentarily dropped shield. Iron Side's lessons were well learned, the unicorn foe falling quickly to Loyal Wing's hoof to hoof skills. Loyal Wing realized in that moment, as Tal Rassa limped away on a broken hock, just how far he had come and how lucky he was to have each pony who was here with him today. Each one had allowed him to survive this battle, in one way or another. 

Tal Rassa fell on his side as Freelance's spell cracked his other hock, dirt and blood caking his armor. His horn glowed once more, fighting through Freelance's attempts to subdue him. Darkness enveloped Loyal Wing's vision once more as Tal Rassa shouted.

"Let your own fears destroy you where I could not!" Loyal Wing found himself once more falling from the sky, his wings once more unable to save him. He fought past the fear, remembering that he alone can't salve every problem. He pictures Freelance and Iron Sides correcting his path, Dive Bomb catching him from below to land gently. He realized the strength that he shares with his friends is unbreakable, the illusory world of Tal Rassa shattered around him as he found himself staring at the Unicorn. Tal Rassa was stunned at the resolve of his foes, each and every one of the ponies standing before him had thrown off his spell. Tal Rassa attempted to crawl away, muttering to himself in a fevor. "No... NO! No pony could ever break my fear spell!" Loyal Wing stood tall, hefting his glaive as his flared wings balanced him on the air. 

"Huh. Maybe I'm a lion. What do you think?" He dove forward and buried his glaive's blade in Tal Rassa's chest, finally ending his reign of terror in the area. 

***

That day saw Loyal Wing promoted to the leader of his squad. Together they oversaw and defended the construction of the Roaring Gate to protect the villages in the south from further attacks during the war. They won many hard fought victories against the many enemies of Equestria, even leading successful covert operations on the personal direction of Princess Celestia. In time, the war would end. While returning from investigating a false alarm to the west Loyal Wing passed through the small town of Ponyville. He decided to show off a bit to himself, just to keep his skills sharp obviously, by weaving between the trees of the minor landmark Sweet Apple Acres. Nearing the end of the row he had chosen, one of the trees suddenly shifted and one of the branches caught his outstretched wing. He lost control, barreling into the mare who had bucked the tree. The pair were showered in apples, recovering from the shock of the crash a minute later. As Loyal Wing pulled himself from the pile he caught the eye of the orange mare, and our Hero Loyal Wing would find himself facing a whole new set of challenges in his future.


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It's late as he walks home, the snow crunching under his hooves. For a moment he slows, breathing in the frigid air. The training went well today, a group effort between his squad and the other guards, though they had already gone home to enjoy the festivities. Cold isn't his thing, but tonight even he can't deny how wonderful it is this night. The purple scarf around his neck, last year's Hearth's Warming present, certainly helps. A little part of him thinks how much better it would be if Twilight were there with him to enjoy it, but she had Princess business to attend to tonight. The town's Hearth's Warming celebration needed a supervisor after all.

It's not long before his journey is done though, the door to his little home appearing around the corner. Despite the town's history of accidents and invasions, there's no lock. It had taken him a little while to get used to that, but by now he didn't even think about the odd trust between the townsponies. Shaking off the cold, he props the glaive on his back up against it's stand and heads into the living room. A nice fire, some hot coco, and a good book would bring this Hearth's Warming to a happy close. Odd though, had he left the fire burning when he left? Those thought and all others came to a sudden halt the moment he stepped into the room.


An angel lay on a pillow before the crackling fire, firelight and moonlight illuminating her coat and mane in equal measure. Her hooves were curled before her, wrapped in bright red socks with white faux-fur trim, her back to the fireplace. A faint blush shone through her shimmering coat, clearly having put a lot of time into both coat and mane to get that kind of sheen. Even her wings were adorned, a festive red shawl somehow making her wings even more enthralling to look at, folded as they were over the similarly colored saddle snugly hugging her barrel. And her eyes, those beautiful wonderous eyes of her's, trapped Loyal Wing's own with a gaze that spoke of love, invitations unspoken, and things he couldn't even begin to describe. It was only after she turned that transfixing stare away that he could breath, much less follow her gaze up. When he did he saw a spring of mistletoe that hadn't been there before, secured in a line of shimmering purple magic. She beckoned with a single hoof, a siren's call unlike any he had ever seen. And yet it wasn't enough for her, as she spoke with the tone underlying untold desires. Her eyes seemed to smolder in the moonlight, begging him to not make her wait any longer.

"Do I need to come to you?"

A Very Happy Hearth's Warming

Share with me your tears. To say such a thing, to any one, is near unthinkable by the common pony. 
To say it to the Princess of Friendship, within her own council chambers is brave. To say it as her personal guard, a scandal. 
And yet, there Loyal Wing found himself within the ring of books and thrones, before the Princess herself. 
Where the words came from he was unsure. Why he had said them, he couldn't begin to guess. 
Yet months in her presence had taught him something about the purple mare, something he couldn't put his hoof on. And as the words spilled free, followed by a dear wish to reclaim them from the sun drenched room, she did.

To say her other guard, Longshot, was surprised would be an understatement. She had seen his restless glances, the worry through his stoic guard, and even watched him approach the mare obsessed with her spell circle. 
As it happens, the purple princess was as mortal as any other. Worries of her own, fear of failure, and tension among her friends had grown to overwhelm her in weeks past.
Her infallible sanctuary: study.

Yet some other had come within that wall of books. A stallion she had certainly known for some time, and considered a trusted friend even among her guard.
So she shared her qualms and worries. There were tears, yes, but rare and not without her unique analytical calm.
She spoke as though a therapist, calmly laying out that which worried her as if she were interviewing him.
Time would pass, and the sun would set. Yet still they talked, the guard's post abandoned.
Stories were shared, of foalhood and beyond.
Adventures, failures, and the rare secrets were traded.
When Spike the Dragon returned from his errands for the day, with the moon high in the sky, he found Twilight laughing.

And yet, there was one last thing that needed to be shared, within the solitude those books provided. A question, and a change of plans.
Loyal Wing's nerves showed through, lightheaded and with the slightest quaver to his limbs. He extended a hoof, having stood before the princess laying before him, and asked if maybe their time together didn't need to end so soon?
For a moment, she hesitated. That is until a deadpan stare from Spike served to spur her into action. She took his hoof, and stood with him.

That night would find them continuing their conversation, the first they had ever had as equals, within a small restaurant near the castle, the empty main street of Ponyville, and atop a pair of clouds overlooking the moonlit town.
Worries had faded, an odd comfort found together, and would soon be sought once more. This was the first night of many, soon to become days. The Princess and her Guard, the mare and her stallion.
But that was for a later time.
For now, there was simply the next date to look forward to.

And thus the Friendship Council chambers lost yet another quiet moment, not shattered by a party cannon, but alive with the conversation between two ponies who had come to appreciate the other more than either knew.
There were no more tears to share.

Changing of the Guard

Name: Loyal Wing A.K.A Loyals
Age: 28
Race: Equestrian Pegasus
Home Country: Equestria
Residences: Ponyville Garrison. Townhouse on Trips and Trots #2 (Ponyville)
Occupation: Equestrian Special Operations, Third Twilight Guard squad “Lion’s Roar.”
Official Affiliations: Equestrian Royal Military, Equestrian Royal Guard.
Unofficial Affiliations: Ponyvillilian Hoofball League, Equestrian Special Operations.
Titles: Hero of Lion’s Gate, Detachment Commander (Lion’s Roar), Twelfth Blade of Equestria, Royal Knight of Equestria, Claddagh, Uncle Featherhead.
Special Talent: Forged Bonds; Making, protecting, and strengthening bonds with others. Manifests magically as Finest Hour.
Cutie Mark: A Claddagh
Notable Physical Markings: A green mane and tail fringed with white.
Notable Magic: Finest Hour. 
Colors: Stark white coat, green mane with white tips, steel blue eyes
Standard equipment: A glaive of some sort (recently acquired an alchemically forged starmetal glaive, has about twelve or so at home) Lion’s Roar’s heirloom black steel armor (Twilight Guard pattern,) purple tinted flight goggles.
Family: Rosewood (Mother, alive) Updraft (father, deceased)
Relationships: Currently dating Princess Twilight Sparkle. Close friends with his Squadmates Dive Bomb, Iron Sides, Freelance, and Misty Spring. Friends with Sallet and his daughter Sterling Silver. Keeps in contact with his ex-fillyfriend Silver Lining. Tangentially serves Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence. Knows multiple soldiers and guards, still having a minor rivalry with Shining Armor and various others from Camp Dandelion. May or may not know a few oddballs from his line of work.

Biography: Born in the cloudcity of Trots on the day his father perished fighting a storm threatening the entire city. Loyal Wing grew up an athletic, if headstrong, colt. While not particularly interested in school, he managed well enough to keep his mother, Rosewood, happy. As he grew up, stories of his father’s heroics encouraged him to further hone his athletic abilities, wanting to live up to his dad’s legacy. Over time this grew into an ego (the size of Cloudsdale) that made him keep pushing himself, to prove he was the best around. This persisted, despite an incident as a young colt where he nearly fell to his death cloudhopping that resulted in a lingering fear of heights. He was even trained by the sheriff of Trots, one Sheriff Cloud Ranger, in martial arts with his father’s glaive. When he discovered his Cutie Mark his mother and the other ponies of Trots gathered enough Bits to send him to the Canterlot Guard Academy to be trained as a knight. They believed the Claddagh on his flank, a symbol representing loyalty, devotion, and a to be a sign of a brighter future than the small city could offer. Once in Canterlot he grew accustomed to the ground, where the fear of the floor opening up beneath him vanished, and quickly took to the Academy’s teachings. Martial arts, combat flight drills, tactical training, whatever they could throw at him. He rose to the top of his class, even earning acting professor Commander Supercell’s approval, and a recommendation by Royal Guard Captain Night Light himself. Needless to say, he was more surprised than anyone when he was plucked out of the prestigious academy to train at Camp Dandelion, a mostly unheard of boot camp lead by an earth pony stallion named Lion’s Roar. It was not what he expected. The training was absolutely brutal, weeding out over half of the members. But, through it all, the prodigy with an ego streak grew into a soldier. It was during this time that Lion’s Roar broke him down and showed him really what he was, causing him to rediscover the loyalty his cutie mark represented. He became almost a father figure to Loyal Wing and the rest of the trainees, and so when it came time to graduate and return to their respective branches, the goodbyes were said with tears. Then the war with the south started, and Loyal Wing was dispatched to the Dream Valley military base to assist in protecting the border, along with Dive Bomb, Iron Sides, Freelance, and Lion’s roar himself. It was during this time he met Sallet, an earth pony armourer serving among the support corps at the base. One heated argument and a sparring match later, the two had started to respect each other. Over time they would become friends, and Sallet would introduce Loyal Wing to earth pony alchemy and alchemical smithing, while also upkeeping and occasionally improving the squad’s equipment. Eventually Loyal Wing and his squad came up against a war band sieging a small border town during a routine patrol. There they fought Tal Rassa the Machinator and his small army. During the fight most of the squad was disabled, and it was only with Lion’s Roar sacrificing himself to defend them that they managed to prevail. Loyal Wing was promoted to squad leader, and would lead them well throughout the war and beyond. Eventually the squad itself would grow into a special operations squad, working directly under Princess Celestia, taking the name Lion’s Pride in honor of their lost mentor. Eventually he would crash land within Sweet Apple Acres, meeting Applejack. Through her he met Twilight Sparkle, and would befriend both. At some point Twilight Sparkle would ascend as an Alicorn, and become Princess of Friendship. Lion’s Pride would be assigned as part of her royal guard thanks to the massive amount of chaos that happens in Ponyville, and the squad came to live there. One evening Loyal Wing dug up the courage to invite Princess Twilight Sparkle on a date, and the rest is history. 

 Personality: At face value, Loyal Wing is pretty well represented by his name: He’s incredibly loyal, and he’s a pegasus. His determination is on par with most sedimentary rocks, and he gives everything he’s got in everything he does. If one gets to know him though, they’ll find a lot more. The first thing you’ll find is that he’s actually not unintelligent, and in fact does give most things a good amount of thought. A lifetime of martial and tactical training has made him an extraordinarily quick thinker, even for a pegasus. He’s no genius, but he’s certainly not dumb muscle. He tends to approach situations on a case by case basis, instead of applying blanket judgements on things. So while he may seem unnaturally interested in some things, it is with good reason. While a more than a bit egotistical, he can generally back up his boasts. His defining feature is his loyalty to his friends however, as shown by the symbol on his flanks. He highly respects his squadmates, and is willing to push himself far beyond his limitations in order to protect them, even if sometimes they don’t really need his help. His generally cordial demeanor breaks when his friends are in trouble, insulted, or you just challenge him to something. His self confidence is perhaps a bit too high, but it does mean that insults directed at him barely get a chuckle in response. Just don’t insult his friends, or you’ll have a very angry pegasus tackling you. If you couldn’t tell, he’s a bit of a hot head when his buttons get pushed, and it is REALLY easy to push those buttons if you say the wrong thing. He legitimately believes he’s the best at what he does, and while he doesn’t like being proven wrong, being overcome just fuels his drive to improve even more. While this may sound bad, he’s usually a decently friendly pony. He’s respectful of most, until they give him a reason not to respect them, and while he can be a bit annoying to be around sometimes you’re not going to have a dull moment. He approaches everything with 100%, so if somepony can let go of their seriousness for a little while they’ll probably enjoy themselves around him. Though you’ll have to be careful, if you go too slow or bore him, he’ll start daydreaming and completely zone out on you. And once you’ve befriended him, the difference is like night and day. It’s not easy, as he’s actually kind of shy, hiding behind the mask of politeness to cope with social anxiety. This isn’t helped by a poor memory for names and a good memory for faces, meaning often times he can’t remember the pony’s name despite recognizing them. While he treats most ponies with at least a baseline respect, he treats friends incredibly well. He cherishes them, believing that true friends are rare and valuable enough to deserve whatever it takes to keep them. While this means it is possible to take advantage of him, his other friends take care of him well enough to keep him out of trouble. And he’s willing to do anything, ANYTHING, for his friends. A good example is his ability to put aside his fear of heights for them, completely ignoring what is usually a crippling phobia. Just be careful, getting him to shut up once you actually get him talking is difficult, he’s a bit of a chatterbox. Proud, more intelligent than he lets on, enthusiastic, a bit of a hothead, and unwaveringly loyal. He takes each day as it comes, but don’t get between him and his friends if you don’t want to tick off the sleeping bear. If you do, you’d better give it all you’ve got if you want to stand a chance.
   Interests: Earth pony alchemy, of which he’s at an apprentice level and pursues with a single minded interest that’s rare for him. Flight, which he is quite proud of his skills at, and can rarely resist a challenge to. Hoofball, which is serious business. Daydreaming, which he does a LOT, usually when you think he’s listening to you if you’ve bored him. Naps, because how else can somepony keep up that kind of enthusiasm otherwise? Any kind of challenge, whether he wins or loses they’re always something he can barely resist. Camping and hiking, exploring the massive world underneath the clouds. Twilight Sparkle, because Purple Smart.
   Quotes: “Huh. Maybe I’m a lion. What do you think?” -Tal Rassa’s last moments.
“With all due respect Princess, you and I both know he wouldn’t accept a promotion, dead or alive.” -At the burial of Lion’s Roar within the Canterlot Military Graveyard.
“Come on, I know you’ll love it. Trust me Twilight.” -On the way to the Canterlot Central Garden with Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“No, no… I’m okay. Come on, one more time.” -Just prior to collapsing after 17 hours of training to beat Pinkie Pie in a race. He lost, again, by the way. AJ sold tickets, and popcorn.
  Habits: You can usually find him taking walks through forests and such during fall, or curled up at home next to a fire with a book and some cider. You can also find him complaining about the heat whenever it gets around 80 degrees and up, but when it snows he is the first to make a snow angel. when he does get out of bed the first thing he gets is a cup of coffee and a fresh jelly donut, and that puts a smile on his face...just don’t talk to him until he gets them or you’ll be sorry.

 Likes: Cold weather (YAY SNOW!!), jelly donuts with coffee, sunsets in the evening, comic books (secretly reads love stories), listening to any kind of music, walking through the forest, alchemy, helping others, playing hoofball, flying low and fast   
 Dislikes: MORNINGS, hot weather, lectures (so boring), morning P.T., high altitudes, being told he was wrong, some of Misty Spring’s jokes, cleaning his house (he calls it a organized disaster)