(( The following scenes are mostly fluff. Don't take them too seriously and the timing is rather fuzzy on them. These scenes happen in late 258 and 259. The fact that in-game all this time Indigo's squad was inactive and had weapons and cloaks for uniforms makes this post even more questionable. ))
Indigo is still unsure about actually leading a squad, but was burdened with that responsibility and it is now one of his duties. On the first day of the reservists' scheduled training, he goes to the barracks early and waits for Zearoth and Oil Macepony. When they arrive, he greets them. "Right, so that's all of us. From now on you are in the military reserves, so let's lay out some ground rules first." While Indigo had little military experience, he had a good teacher in New Saddle, so he decided to simply try and pass on what he learned from his captain.
"First, I should tell you about the differences between the reserves, full-time military and civilians. Obviously, the civilians work and expect to be protected. The military spends most of their time training or on patrols and is partly excluded from doing mundane work. They are be the first ones to fight anything threatening us, and they put themselves at risk for the safety of others. So far it makes sense, with both groups specialising in their tasks, right? Well, the reserves are something in-between. For the most part we do civilian jobs, but we are expected to learn to fight as well and can be mobilised or drafted at any time. Yes, you heard me correctly, should any of our squads suffer losses, they will be replenished from the reserves."
"The reserves are a compromise between having a lot of soldiers and a lot of workforce. Mobilised reservists are no match for professional soldiers, but we can still shoot a crossbow or distract enemies with axes, while the soldiers kill them. When training or called to arms, we are allowed to use chaffrons and mail shirts as well as robes and cloaks for padding. This is better then nothing and should do wonders for our survivability in a fight, but provides nowhere near as good a protection as a full plate armour would. On the plus side it is much lighter and cheaper, so once again it is a compromise. Keep in mind, that here there are only the three of us in the reserves so far and three squads on military. In New Saddle there were 3 reservists for every soldier, so the cost of uniforms made a lot of difference. If you buy or otherwise legally get into possession of some more armour or a better weapon, you are of course allowed to use it, so long as Halberd approves."
"We have some scheduled trainings together, but are paid for them only a fraction of what soldiers get, and during most of the year, we work civilian jobs. You are encouraged to train individually in your spare time, but only when the military isn't using the barracks. We aren't getting paid for that, we only get some bits for training as a squad. There will be a few soldiers giving us demonstrations occasionally, but otherwise we train on our own. Try not to break anything, because otherwise I'll have to listen to Halberd and you will have to pay for the damage."
"While you are allowed to choose any weapon you want and have access to, I strongly recommend an Axe, a Crossbow or perhaps some blunt weapon, like a mace. Plus shields for the unicorns of course. Axe is the signature weapon of our Militia and should you ever get drafted, you are expected to be able to use it. Our town guard uses crossbows and light armour. Well, it is of course safer to shoot something from a distance than fight it up close. Plus crossbowponies are usually placed behind hoofsoldiers, who in turn like having some ranged support, so it is a symbiosis. The downside of choosing the Crossbow is the cost and availability of bolts. Even the guard and Longshot don't get enough, so I wouldn't expect there to be many left for the reserves. when you're out of bolts, all you can do is beat the enemy with a crossbow, and it is much more effective to use an Axe or a hammer for that."
"When it comes to instincts in combat, there is a bit of a difference between militia and the guard. Militia fights invaders and it is their task to kill of chase them off without losses. Guard is more about fighting to subdue tantruming pony or telling him to calm down and surrender, while killing is the last resort. I've decided, that we will for the most part follow the militia mentality and if you are ever required to do police tasks, just try to keep cool heads. Of course you are required to hold back during the sparring sessions. We don't want any injuries beyond bruises and small cuts, and if we cripple or kill each other during training, obviously anything threatening Dawpick will have an easier job."
"Upon joining the guard, the recruits are asked a question: 'Are you willing to die in the place of any and every pony in the fort?' Now, I don't subscribe to this philosophy. I think it is rubbish. If you die in a battle, it usually means that whatever killed you is free to find another victim. You do not win battles by dying, but by killing first, whatever is trying to kill you. Dying yourself only makes sense if it assures victory. If it doesn't, try to stay alive to fight another day. Therefore my question is: 'Are you willing to kill to protect the ponies in Dawnpick?' Yes? Good. Now, don't get me wrong. We are not supposed to become bloodthirsty and thrilling for battle, or anything of the sort. Only monsters truly seek to cause death. All I say is this: If you have to kill, don't hesitate, or it will give your enemy a chance for another strike and may cost you your life, as well as lives of those, you are trying to protect. Now, I would prefer to beat those bandits up and sent them with a message for their buddies to buck off. Problem is, they always fight so ferociously, that in the end we have to kill them, so don't get any stupid ideas about mercy. While it is wrong to take a life, it still is sometimes necessary. Accept that. Don't hesitate to kill when you must. Invaders must die."
"We are required to be ready for being called to arms at any time. If that happens, we meet on the road between the dining hall and the furniture stockpile, in view of the gate. We are expected to obey the captains, especially Halberd. While it is not strictly a part of the chain of command, in combat it will also be a good idea to do what the professional soldiers tell you."
"Listen carefully now, because if you are to remember one thing from this lesson, it is this: Whenever you see something dangerous, the procedure is as follows:
Step one: Always yell for backup. "Guards! Monster attacking!" is a good one. You don't want to face your enemies alone and don't want to fight fair. It will also get the attention of the attacker and help you with...
Step two: Help evacuate civilians. The purpose of the militia is to protect the ponies of Dawnpick, and giving them time to run away from any attackers helps with that.
Step three: Engage. Do this only if you have arms and armour, and if it will help with step two. Kill the bandit or monster if you can, otherwise try not to get hurt and delay it, till soldiers arrive to finish it off. I repeat: do not play heroes, nopony expects that from the reservists. Try to stay alive. Fight only if you must, to protect civilians.
As with any rules, there are some exceptions from them. For example, if you know there is nopony in earshot and the enemy hasn't seen you, obviously retreat rather than yell. I'm sure you can follow common sense in similar situations, but for the most part stick to these rules. And remember: during an alert we meet between the stockpile and the dining hall in view of the gate." ((And later Jaxler's place is either on top of the dining hall or on the wall, behind fortifications. He is told to fly towards the nearest group of soldiers if something tries to engage him.))
"When we train, I want you to be sober. This should cut on stupid accidents. If you absolutely must, drink in the evening, after the training."
"Serve. Protect. Obey. That is the soldier's task. That is also all for today's talk, so pick your weapons, and let's see what each of us can do on that target dummy."
(( While there are many ground rules in the reserves, the discipline is not as strict as in real squads and there is barely any hierarchy apart from Indigo being the captain, and that is mostly because somepony needs to prevent anarchy, and somepony needs to be yelled at by Halberd, when the reservists do something stupid. After Jaxler joins, it gets worse. ))
Below is a series of short scenes. Don't get this wrong, most of Reservists' training sessions are normal combat drills, sparring and demonstrations by senior soldiers, but every once in a while Indigo decides to do something more interesting (or more of a waste of time, in Halberd's opinion).
On killing and blood and gore.
"One of our first lessons will be desensitizing ourselves to death and blood and spilled guts, as well as getting used to killing. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want you learn to actually enjoy it. It is just that a fight is always messy. We've all seen what is left of those bandits that insist on attacking us. Lots of blood and severed limbs everywhere. We must prepare ourselves to the sight, so that none of us panics or starts to vomit during a fight. Killing an animal is also a useful lesson. If you can't force yourself to slit its throat after knocking it out with a hammer, you won't be able to kill a Diamond Dog, and that will give it more time to kill you. We can't have that."
"We will start with some parasprites from that cage. I know they are cute, but that's the point. We must learn to subdue our natural instincts and kill deliberately. And we really can't afford to have parasprites on the loose around here. After each of us kills and guts three of them, we will all assist the butchers whenever needed. I started with fish, but we don't have any. Now let's begin."
Indigo goes to the cage, takes out a single parasprite, using telekinesis to hold it in place and to stop the others from escaping. They take it to the butcher's shop, and Indigo forces himself to cut it in half with a knife. He manages not to retch and fetches another parasprite for Zaeroth.
After a few months of assisting in the butcher's shop, they all learn to kill deliberately. It is not an enjoyable task for them, but they can hang an animal by its hindlegs, knock it out with a hammer, slit it's throat, then proceed to separate and prepare hide, meat, fat and various organs. This gives them a new perspective on eating meat. Indigo stays mostly vegetarian. They also learn a lot about anatomy and weak points to aim for in a fight. ((Obviously after the Rainbow massacre in 260, the butcher's shop training is no longer needed.))
Maintenance
Shortly after the reserves are formed, they begin to train together, under Indigo. At first they just use the training weapons in the barracks, but eventually they get mail shirts and chaffrons too. Shortly after that day, Indigo leads them to the furniture stockpile during their training. They search for empty barrels, but only find one barrel and some stone pots. They check the drink stockpiles under the kitchen, but they find, that many barrels are half-empty, so a lot of ponies must be wasteful. ((Dwarves like to drink from full barrels, rather than touch ones with just a few portions left, and go trolololo when booze stockpile overflows, while there is hardly any booze or empty barrels left.)) Indigo didn't want to damage his stone pots, which are lidless and too heavy besides, but fortunately he knew of one more place worth checking, where there were always some barrels. He leads his group to the dormitory. It is still morning, and Jaxler is probably still asleep with a hangover. That means, he'll have to yell, which is a nice comeback for the night, when Jaxler was guarding Indigo's room. "JAXLER, OPEN UP, WE KNOW, YOU'RE IN THERE!"
Jaxler yells back "GO THE BUUUUCCCCKKK AWAY!!!!"
Ah, he is in there, good! "Jaxler, open up, we'll go away soon enough, I promise!" Indigo snickers.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!"
"We need barrels. You always have some, so don't tell me you don't!" answers Indigo. A few ponies in the corridor laugh.
"GOOOOOOOO AWAY!!!!" yells Jaxler.
After a short pause, there is more banging on the door, and more laughing. "Open up! We need those barrels now!"
Jaxler gets out of bed, walks over to the door and opens it. "If you guys don't leave, I'm going to have to hit one of you in the face" he says, looking menacingly at the reservists.
"And why is that? We just need some bucking barrels, and there isn't enough in the stockpile. It is way past quiet hours anyway." Indigo steps back from the door and waits.
"And Why the hell can't you go away?" asks Jaxler.
Indigo sighs "You know what? Fine, if you absolutely insist on making this difficult, we can be back in two hours." Indigo turns to his group "Let's go to the forge first, he is always like this." The reservists leave.
"Make it five hours" says Jaxler and goes back to sleep.
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Indigo leads his squad to the Forges, where Billows teaches them how to maintain their armour, make small repairs to it and grind their axes. It mostly comes down to keeping their equipment dry, clean and either waxed or oiled.
Indigo begins: "The militia is required to be proficient in armour types capable of absorbing considerable damage, such as mail shirts and platemail chaffrons, which we are provided to the reserves as well. We do not own them, but they are borrowed to us during scheduled training and stored in the armoury, when not is use. These are very expensive and if you damage them, or let them rust, you may have to pay for the damage. It is therefore very important to learn proper armour use and basic maintenance. It will extend the life of the armour and reduce the burden of our financial responsibility, as well as improve our survivability, should we be thrown into a battle." says Indigo.
"Eventually, any iron will corrode and turn to rust. That's why it is very important to protect weapons and armour from water and moist air and keep them oiled. You need to oil them at least once a month and prevent them form collecting dust. Dust causes rust spots to appear. If a weapon is dusty for too long, rust pits will start to form along the blade causing it to look uneven, dull and old. If you see any rust spots, remove them as soon as possible and don't wait, as it will only get worse. If you clean the steel right away, you can restore it to good condition." says Billows.
"To remove rust, brush off any spots with a wire brush and clean the area with a cloth. Once you are happy with the appearance of your axe or armour, coat it with wax or oil. Cover it in a thin, even layer, let it dry for a bit, then polish with cloth until it shines. Professional soldiers tend to do this daily, but once every two weeks and after each use should be enough for you. When storing armours and weapons in the armoury, clean and oil them once a month. If your chafforns get any dents, or your mail shirts have any broken rings, don't try to fix them yourself. Just bring themt to me. There are ways to do some small repairs in the field, but in a town, it is much better to let the armoursmith do it, just as you would want Panacea to look over a wound, rather than treat it yourself." continues Billows.
"If you decide to get yourselves some additional protection, it will likely be leather, because it is much much cheaper than steel. Compared to steel, it is also much lighter, easier to pierce and well, obviously wasn't tough enough to protect it's original owner in the first place. It sacrifices protection for mobility and flexibility. If you want to be stealthy, leather armours are less visible and noisy than any metal. Apart from leather, such light armours are sometimes made of wood or bones, like Partisan's crupper. At the very least, you would be wise to get yourself some good leather boots." says Indigo.
"Maintenance on a piece of leather is keeping it dry, clean and waxed, as well as inspecting and fixing the stitches. It keeps the leather flexible and slows degeneration over time. If you don't wax or oil leather, it will turn hard and eventually crack and become unusable. This is important, even if you don't own any leather armour, because as you can see, your saddlebags are made of leather, the chaffrons have leather straps and cruppers and peytrals have even more of them. You want those to be both dry and elastic. Some weapons have leather handles for better grip. Don't oil them. You don't want them greasy, but you don't want them rusty or cracked either, so use wax instead." explains Billows.
"We don't even have swords here, but there are a few daggers in the armoury. In case you ever get your hooves on one, don't store it for long in a leather scabbard, or it will rust, now matter how well it was oiled. Leather collects some moisture and is corrosive in itself. When you do use a scabbard, make sure it is clean, dry, waxed on the outside and oiled inside. This should keep most of the moisture out." continues Billows.
"One more thing. Weapons aren't indestructible. Don't try to use an Axe to chop stones or dig or do something equally stupid." finishes Indigo. From now on the reservists carry a whetstone, an oilcloth and a hard brush in their saddlebags, in addition to food, a small knife, flasks and some other stuff. They also learn how to make shoe-shine and other pastes from ingredients such as beeswax, tallow and soot.
(( From the perspective of needing wax, having beehives around is a blessing. ))
(( As usual, it would be alright for them to maintain their equipment less frequently, or less thoroughly, but always taking good care of it is a good habit, and Billows would definitely want his armour to be well taken care off. ))
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After being explained and shown how to do it, the reservists clean, wax and polish their chaffrons and grind and oil their Axes. They return to the dormitory a few hours later, after checking the furniture stockpile again. "JAXLER, ARE YOU AWAKE YET? WE COULD USE THOSE BARRELS NOW!" shouts Indigo.
"WOW, YOU GUYS ACTUALLY CAME BACK?”
"I told you, we need those barrels! Preferably now, while the sun is still up!" Ponies in the corridor laugh again.
When Jaxler opens the door he sees three ponies in shining helmets, not so shiny mail shirts, and with training axes. Indigo is among them. "Finally, sleepyhead." some of them snicker.
Jaxler smiles obviously amused "What the hell are you gonna do with those training weapons?"
Indigo rises his brow "Nothing at the moment, but we usually use them on the dummies." At least one pony snickers at Indigo's poor choice of words. "Just give us some barrels. You get less clutter in your room, we get what we need, and we won't bother you for the rest of the day."
"If I were to close this door in your face how exactly would you react?"
Indigo rolls his eyes. "Share or take turns with what we have, I guess. Maybe do something funny, if you ever sleep outside. Maybe talk to somepony about you being uncooperative in the extreme. Apart from that leave you alone, I guess" Indigo looks at Jaxler with sour expression.
"Oh, so you show up with weapons and don't plan on using them? That's just laughable." Jaxler then opens his door more and motions the ponies in.
What? If we start hurting random ponies for no apparent reason, that's jail time for me and the end of the reserves. Indigo is taken aback by this, but quickly tells the other ponies. "Make sure, the barrels are empty. If there is anything inside, leave it here. If there is more than a few drops of liquid, leave the whole barrel." He turns to Jaxler "Wait, are you seriously suggesting we would attack you over something so small? Right now we aren't even training, we just carry those weapons to get used to them and learn how to look after them, but I suppose if you want to come and spar or show those of us who want, how to use a crossbow, we'd be grateful." Indigo looks at his axe. "And of course, I know those aren't real weapons. They might do against a badger or a crundle, but they are just for training." And I know this whole 'reserve' is a joke, but I can't back up now, can I?
"There's no shame in cutting your losses, but I wouldn't call this rag-tag group of jackasses a complete loss."
Not quite understanding his meaning, but expecting it to be some kind of insult, Indigo decides to play it safe and quickly grabs two empty barrels. ((Since Jaxler can drink one in an evening, I assume they are 50 litres each maximum)) "Right... we just need to know more than green recruits about weapons, and be ready when called to arms." The invasion of ponies ends almost as quickly as it began. Each took two barrels, but there are still some left. "Thanks for the barrels, your stash really is a godssend." Indigo turns to his squad, "Alright, we wasted enough time on this, take the surplus to the furniture stockpile, and keep one barrel each."
Jaxler slams his door as soon as the last 'recruit' left his room. As far as Jaxler is concerned they are just a bunch of half-baked dumbasses. But as much as Jaxler dislikes the reserve, he still fears that they they're going to hurt themselves.
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After getting rid of the excess barrels at the furniture stockpile, the reservists go to a pile of sand, close to the well. They put their mail shirts into the barrels, along with some sand and gravel, close them and roll them for a better part of an hour as quickly as they can. While it is possible to scrub at mail with a brush, the barrel method is faster and more thorough, as well as a good exercise. When they are done, they pull out their now shining mail shirts and Indigo cleans the barrels at the well. Then they return the barrels to the furniture stockpile, remove any leftover sand from their mail shits, let them dry, oil them and put them on. From then on they do this about once every two weeks.
Eventually Halberd tells Indigo, that his squad is to maintain other unused arms and armour. It takes so much time, that Indigo chooses to perfect his cleaning and repair spells, rather than do it the hard way over and over again. The equipment in the armoury is maintained in good condition, so Halberd doesn't complain about it. From then on, whenever Indigo is planning to clean mail shirts the earth pony way for the exercise, he checks the furniture stockpile in the evening, and if need be, asks Jaxler for barrels, when he isn't asleep.
Axe Training.
After a talk with Saw Dust and Halberd, Indigo approaches his squad with a bin of Axes. These are real hatchets, not the training ones. He begins "The axe, or any cleaving weapon for that matter, is based on a simple principle. It is a wedge that reduces the effort to split an object. The longer the handle, the more force you can apply. Obviously, the larger the axe head, the more potential damage, but you want to try to keep is as balanced as possible."
He walks over to a chopping block and splits a piece of wood. "Okay then, everypony grab an axe!" The reservists are rather excited to get to train with real weapons so soon. Even Oil Macepony, who chose a mace as her weapon, but accepted the fact that he is required to do at least some cross-training with an Axe. When they are all equipped, Indigo continues. "Right, so now come with me and let's get started chopping some wood. The charcoal furnaces always need more fuel." This work is rather dull, so Zaeroth's cheer dies down. Indigo continues. "Yes, you heard me right. This is the basic training, if we're going to learn how to use Axes in combat. If you can't properly chop through a motionless log the size of a hoof, you can't expect to do the same to a fully armoured limb, which is constantly moving around. Right then, let's get chopping! The firewood isn't going to cut itself."
This is hard and dull work, so they alternate it with some other forms of training. After a few months, each of them can hit a block of wood almost exactly where and how he wants it, and they are ready for sparring and training on the dummies. Over a period of a few days Glaive demonstrates on a dummy with varying levels of armour, what to aim for. After that the reservists mostly spar and watch demonstrations, but once in a while help to chop more wood. ((Too bad, there is no in-game skill synergy between woodcutting and axepony.))
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Mace training
Indigo picks a mace, looks at it, than at Oil Macepony. "Well, since you picked a mace as your weapon, you'll be training with it. I couldn't find any soldier competent with it, but I can demonstrate the basic moves. I'll also repeat what my captain in New Saddle told us, and hope you can figure it out from there."
"You cannot get any simpler than a bludgeoning weapon. Just pick up the nearest blunt object and slam your opponent, preferably in the head where it will cause the most damage. If the head is well protected, then aim for a limb. Breaking a leg will help slow your enemy, so that you might finish the job - or get away, if outnumbered."
"Some believe that a weapon such as a club or mace is barbaric and far too primitive to be used effectively in combat, and that it is easily countered by heavy armours. It is not so; warhammers, maces and picks can easily breach or cave plate armour with a true strike. And while quality chain mail may deny a blade's bite, it does nothing to stop the thunderous force of a hammer."
"The biggest boon of a blunt weapon is that its force can easily penetrate even heavy armour. The problem with it is that it kills slowly. Therefore it may be a good idea to disable an enemy with a mace or hammer and let another soldier finish him off with an Axe. I've also heard that if you hit the sternum just right, you can break most of the ribs in one hit. That must be devastating, so just figure out how to do it. You should start by finding a good and balanced grip on your mace and learning to hit the dummy at different angles, just like we did with Axes."
Crossbow training
Indigo takes a crossbow and addresses his squad. "Well, since the guard uses crossbows, we are expected to know a thing or two about them. We will get a lesson on maintenance from Longshot, then a shooting demonstration."
Longshot nods and begins: "When talking to a master crossbowpony, you may hear mention of advanced mental techniques such as "drawing the target toward yourself." While tales about what you can do with a range weapon are often exaggerated, there is some truth to them. However, there are many basics, that you need to learn before you are truly ready to "shoot the flea from a pony's hindquarters at twenty tiles."
"One of the simplest and often overlooked skills, is being in tune with your surroundings. Shooting usually takes place outdoors, and that is where you should spend most of your training time. Familiarize yourself with the casting of shadows to judge distance and the effects of wind currents to adjust your shooting angles. It will be a great help at hitting your target at long ranges. Do try to spend at least some of your training indoors without either of these factors; short-range combat with a crossbow in not something to be taken for granted, if you are pursuing a military career. Besides, you will run out of bolts eventually, and your enemy will want to close the distance."
"A second, and arguably the most important habit to nurture is proper crossbow care. If something is running towards you at full speed and there aren't any axeponies between you, the last thing you should be worrying about is a snapped bowstring. Making sure that you properly coat the string with beeswax, and unstringing the crossbow when not in use or storing, will not only allow the weapon to last longer, but can affect the accuracy and impact of your shots. Keep your crossbow clean, dry and waxed and the mechanism well oiled."
"In short, you should focus on learning the minor, unexciting, but extremely important nuances of archery before planning any great feats that you might end up regretting."
Longshot takes his crossbow apart and shows them how to take care of it. After that they proceed to the shooting range, where Longshot explains proper techniques for loading, aiming and shooting. Lastly, each of the reservists gets to shoot some bolts at a target.
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The reserves are called to arms during a parasprite invasion. They are given crossbows, wooden bolts and join the guard and Longshot in hunting down the intruders. Partisan explains it to them: "If you can hit a flying parasprite with a crossbow, you can hit a Diamond Dog in the eye, pierce his brain and end it quickly." The hunt begins. This is good training, but the reserves barely score any hits and the guard does almost all of the work.
The reservist are only allowed to use crappy wooden and bone bolts and only get some, when there is surplus. After Jaxler joins the reserves, he is in charge of crossbow training and makes the wooden bolts for them, which is a big improvement.
Dodge training
Indigo begins. "When it comes to defence, there are two basic lines of thought. One is not to get hit at all, another is to wear so much protection, that you can withstand a few blows and not care. They are different, but not mutually exclusive, and dodging is usually a good idea, even in heavy armour. If you are fighting something ten times heavier than a pony, you don't want to absorb the full force of it's blows, no matter what protection you're wearing. If you manage to move out of the way, your enemy may be off balance, and in an awkward position for a moment, giving you a chance to retaliate. If you can't dodge a blow, you may be able to deflect or parry it, which is still better than absorbing its full force. Some of the soldiers giving us demonstrations may show us a thing or two about dodging, but for the most part it is up to us to learn it when sparring."
"There are, however, some exercises, that can help with dodging. We will practice jumping in eight directions, strafing, reflexes and so on. There will also be some exercises for better balance, including sparring on a log of wood. For now, I have something else in mind. I'll release all the cats from that cage, give them a minute head start and after that we catch them back. If you can outrun a cat, catch it in your mouth and shrug off the scratching, it means you are fast, agile and can withstand some pain. A kitten is worth one point, and adult two, and Whiskers 3. Whoever wins, gets ten bits. Go!" I just hope nopony will ask too many questions about it, it is not like I'm releasing the parasprites. ((It doesn't even matter who won.))
Shield training
Indigo and Oil Macepony are the only unicorns in the reserves. Indigo takes a shield, pulls out some papers out of his saddlebag and addresses his squad. "It is usually just the unicorns, who get the benefit of a shield, but we may face enemies carrying shields, so every soldier should know something about them. A common mistake made by shield-bearers is to simply raise the shield to meet the incoming blow or bolt. The benefit of this method is that you get maximum coverage from your shield. The problem with it is that it means holding your shield perpendicular to whatever is threatening you, which minimizes the area of impact and maximizes the attacker's chance to pierce the shield, and the impact you have to withstand. A better method of using the shield, is to deflect rather than block. Here are some diagrams with flight paths of bolts and proper angles to hold the shield at, so let's memorize and exercise them."
Dancing with Stripes
Around 20 Galena, 258.
(( A few months after the Flux-Glaive-Stiletto incident. Before Glaive and Falcata wedding. After the zebra caravan arrives. This scene implies, that Indigo's reunion with Sekashi went much smoother, than I originally intended. ))
Indigo walks up to Falcata's room and knocks on the door. "Falcata, are you in there? Can I talk to you?"
Falcata glances up from polishing her armour, wondering who could be at the door. Glaive would have just walked in; even if she'd left it locked, he had a key. "Yes, who is it?"
"Indigo." He replies.
Indigo? That troublemaker who's been hounding Stiletto? What does he want? "Uh, okay, come in?"
Indigo enters, closes the door behind him and looks at Falcata. "I've heard Dawnpick has an orchestra, and that you're part of it. Is that true?"
Falcata gets up, leaving the armour and the cloth she was polishing it with to one side. Music? Maybe he's not here about Stiletto, after all. "An orchestra? Not as far as I know; Flux plays the piccolo and I play the lyre. We play together sometimes, but we're hardly an orchestra."
Indigo frowns "Ah. Just the two of you. Not what I need. A harp is too peaceful and quiet. A flute might serve, but I need drums---"
"What do you need drums for? And we play piccolo and lyre, not flute and harp!" Falcata bristles slightly at the strange pony, now apparently talking to himself. Is mine and Flux's music not good enough for him?
Indigo snaps out of his thoughts and looks at the angry Falcata. "I need music... to train my squad of course. You obviously don't have what I need, and you look, like you don't want me in here, so I'll just leave." He moves towards the door, intending to depart.
The unicorn's sudden change of tack startles her, and she reacts just as rapidly. "No, wait! What's wrong with a lyre and a flute for that, though? And how can you train your squad using music, anyway?" Falcata blurts out, taking a step forwards and raising a forehoof as if gesturing for him to stop. Wow, he's...abrupt, to say the least.
He stops and turns back to her. "Well, there are some zebra dances that need a lot of agility and are very tiring. In a fight there are often moments where you need to move very fast. This isn't quite weapons training, but I'm sure dancing can help the reservists. I'm making arrangements with the caravan, but I wanted to make it more interesting. Consider it a form of endurance training, if you will. It should be more interesting than galloping around with heavy saddlebags."
Falcata's interest is piqued. "I see...I think. So you absolutely must have drums? Couldn't we help in some way?" If this is seriously going to improve the reservists' ability, then I have to try and help them with it, at the very least. Fighting is hard enough when you've been doing it most of your life, but the poor reservists need all the aid they can get.
"Well, the caravan has drums, rattles and not much else. If some musicians could add a melody with other instruments, it would make it more interesting. If you want to help, talk to the drummers. I'm still making arrangements, but we should be able to begin tomorrow afternoon." And if Dawnpick had an orchestra, perhaps I wouldn't have to pay for the music.
"Okay, well, I'll see what I can do to help you - and your squad - with the whole musical training thing. We should be able to put something together, I think." Falcata glances at him, still perched awkwardly in front of the door. "Did you want anything else?"
"Not really." But I guess, if you do this, I'll owe you a favour. "Thank you. And see you tomorrow." Indigo leaves. She wears all of that armour? It looks heavy.
"Bye, Indigo!" she calls as the unicorn walks out, shutting the door carefully behind him.
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For over two weeks the reservists dance with the zebras close to the trade depot. Each day they begin during late afternoon, after having normal weapons training, and continue for several hours. A few of the zebras dance, a few provide the music and some guard their wagons and wares, but they rotate their shifts. The musicians use mainly drums and rattles, but Falcata joins them with a lyre. While it doesn't blend perfectly with the rhythm, it makes for an interesting combination, and in the end, the rhythm is all that counts anyway.
The reservists and the zebras dance in a circle around a fire. The dance itself isn't very complicated, but requires lots of jumps and other quick movements. The ponies get tired quickly and wimp out one by one, but dance again after catching their breaths. This repeats over and over, until early night-time. Water and juice are provided to quench their thirst, but not food and no alcohol. Some ponies come to join the 'party', but most go away when explained the purpose of it all. A few stay, which is fine, because there is enough room. Some are amused and just watch. Flux comes to look, but isn't yet ready to play in public and leaves.
Halberd comes to see what this racket is all about, snorts and leaves. While the reserves are not directly his responsibility, he is still frustrated by Indigo's idea of 'training'. Conventional combat drills are what the soldiers need and dancing is just a waste of time. He doesn't neglect to tell that to Indigo during the next captain's meeting.
All in all, this method of training works. After a week the reservists can almost keep up with the zebras for over 15 minutes, so they start dancing in their armour. This makes them tired much quicker. After over a week of it, they are faster, slower to tire and more confident.
Indigo had to pay the zebras with some stone instruments, as well as provide the firewood and drinks. For all their time and effort, this is just a token payment, but they were in good mood after doing a very good business with Lady Virtue and getting a few pots of food as a gift. While they might as well have done it for free, they believe that service requires payment, and ponies disrespect what they get for free.
This repeats next year and the year after that.