//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Blade and Shield // Story: The Harmony Initiative // by Madame Hellspawn //------------------------------// Cherry’s hooves burned and ached, as if the pits of hell were opening and trying to consume him. Given the week he has been through, that did not seem so far fetched at the moment. “Keep it up!” Aegis shouted, briskly galloping ahead of the group. He turned his head slightly, curving his path to follow the path of the track. “One more minute!” Cherry felt the giant maws of death clamping down behind him, plucking out strands of his tail, forcing him to gallop faster, shutting his eyes and breathe heavier. His breaths were ragged, and his lungs felt like they were being pierced by daggers. Growls only forced him to go faster, but Cherry knew his legs would give out at any minute. The beating of hooves on the ground, the desperate gasps for air and the roar of the beast behind him shook the stallion to the core. He was sure that older ponies would be having heart attacks had this been a real life or death situation. “Shitshitshitshitshitshit!” Cherry willed himself to keep going. He confused his own heavy breathing with the one coming up behind him. His tail brushed as the claws swiped at him. He knew it was not real, but sweet Celestia, did it feel real. The desperate clawing at his tail, the desperate look in the other recruit’s eyes as they helmed forward, and the desperate manner in which Cherry’s hooves carried him all added to the possible realism to being chased down. “Longest...Minute...Ever!” Sour Marmalade shouted. She galloped faster, her tongue sticking out of the left side of her mouth. Cherry cursed under his breath as his body continued to burn. “Time!” Aegis brought himself to a smooth halt, transitioning from a gallop to a light canter and stopping. He turned, stone faced as the other three recruits continued past him. The illusory manticore fizzled as it swiped and its claws went through Aegis’s steadfast form. When he was certain that the illusion had faded completely, Cherry let himself fall onto the grass with an audible thump. His muscles relaxed, aching with every rise and fall of his body. He did not care if staring into the lights would cause him to go blind. From what he heard, the eggheads figured out a way to cure almost anything. Maybe it was true, maybe it was not, either way, Cherry would take this moment to relax and drink some water. He crawled to his canteen, heart dropping when he felt the weight. Or lack thereof. Beside him Sour Marmalade fell on her stomach, crawling to her canteen desperately. She gulped down greedily, breathing heavily when she was done. She cast Cherry a glance, then another at her canteen before drinking again. Cherry could feel the hope fading as she surely finished the rest of the water. “Sorry there buck,” she said with a sly grin. “Shouldn’t have downed all o’ yours after the old man’s first trial.” “You are a mercenary, no?” Midnight Spice asked. Her Prance accent was oddly alluring. Her voice moved through the air, smoother than the calmest waters and innocent like a filly. Cherry wondered how a mare like her made it into The Initiative. They were probably getting desperate. “Shouldn’t you be...used to this conditioning?” “Yeah, well,” Cherry sighed. There was no trace of exhaustion on her, save for sweat gathering and glistening from the lights above. “We ran pretty hectic jobs, but my place was usually setting up the ambush.” “Should’ve told me that before last mission,” Aegis said standing over Cherry. Like Midnight, there were just a few beads of sweat on his forehead. “Definitely would have changed my approach.” Cherry released his breath, hoping to gain the feeling of another days work off his shoulders. “Well,” Aegis said again, levitating another canteen to Cherry, who grabbed it and twisted off the cap. “I suppose I’ll give you guys a bit of a break. Five minutes and we’ll get back to it. Then we’ll call it a day.” Aegis trotted away, the soft hoofbeats on the grass fading and replaced with the heavy steps against the metal floors. “That stallion’s gonna be the end of me,” Cherry groaned, savoring every little drop of water. “Agreed,” Marmalade said, weakly getting up onto her hooves. “All my time raiding tombs and going through ancient ruins and I’ve never had a workout regimen as brutal as this.” “You ponies are strange,” Izetta scoffed. She sat stoic and inquisitive beside the downed stallion who was still, disappointingly enough, catching his breath. She offered a frail, thin hoof, an obsidian shoe gathering dirt and grime on the base. Cherry accepted and brought himself up. He noticed the glistening sheen on her silver forehead, bringing a faint bit of color on the swirling black markings on the left side of her face. “You complain of too much physical work, yet you joined this initiative as if you did not know it was a military force of some kind. Of course there would be physical training. I would think they would not have to spell it out for you.” “Well,” Marmalade waved a hoof egregiously. “If anything, I should be the one complaining more than Sweet Cher over here. I mean, technically he’s not a recruit. How the hay are you back here anyway?” “Because I’m an idiot,” Cherry said crossly. He knew that much to be true. “And plus, Aegis actually checks to see that all trainees are present in the facility. Shale doesn’t exactly do the best reports to the commander. I wish Aegis was more like Shale.” “Hmmm. Serves you right then.” “Yeah.” A part of him welcomed the intense training regimen. He knew, from what Aegis had said would be involved, the trials would be arduous and brutal at best. He would be fighting an uphill battle to prove, not only to himself, but to the rest of Valor that he had worth. And that was where the other part of him wanted to drop out like he did back in high school. It was not the training, nor working with the recruits that constantly seemed to tease him. It was a certain steely gray mare with a long blue mane. Cherry wanted to believe Rime would come around by the time he was finished with whatever else Aegis had planned. He knew better than that however. Mares like her; with devotion and dedication to the cause she fought for? They don’t handle ponies like Cherry very well. He was a careless mercenary at best, because his past approaches to dealing with problems often did not lead to somepony getting anything more than a broken limb. That did not exactly lead to death. Getting shot by an alien weapon? That was a different story. At least Cherry would feel a bit better if he would be able to prove her wrong whether she liked it or not. He would see his way through Aegis's insane workout and team-building regimen. The steel double doors slid open, Aegis walking out, tall and stiff. “Alright, settle down!” He shouted, waiting a fraction of a second before all the talking stopped and the recruits stood rigid and quiet. “I figured I tortured you guys enough in here. I had more planned for the morning workout, but, well, we’ve gotta move on. Follow me. Cherry, up here.” Crap. The stallion trotted clumsily to the grizzled Royal Guard’s side. The corridor was dark compared to the bigger section of the Proving Grounds facility. To Cherry, and most of the other recruits, it screamed ‘keep going! Evil lair ahead!’. Despite the soft blue glow, it was the fog forming from pressurized pipes underneath the grated floors that gave such an illusion. “You’re doing a lot better.” Aegis said simply “Really?” “What, don’t believe me?” Aegis tried his best to sound offended. Must have been an old man thing to do. “For what it’s worth, you lasted a solid ten minutes longer than last time.” “That’s because there wasn’t a fake monster trying to kill us.” “Ha! If you knew it was fake, why didn’t you slack off like you usually do? Not like it could actually kill you.” “I…” Cherry thought, slowing his pace. For once, Aegis slowed and met Cherry’s lax speed and kept an ear open for the answer. “I’m pretty scared of manticores.” Most ponies may call it an irrational fear, something akin to finding a shark in any body of water or a fear of heights, no matter the height itself, but Cherry hated monsters. Griffonstone had its fair share of freak shows and circus acts of strange animal amalgams, but each one made a knot form in his stomach. A huge one. It was not quite something he would consider himself proud of. “Well if it keeps you up and running, I’m not complaining.” Aegis paused. “I think the squad will be better with you back.” “Now you’re just trying to make me feel better,” Cherry laughed. “Rime would surely disagree. Solemn would too now that I think about it. Maybe Lone…” “Rime’s a tough nut to crack, but she’ll come around. I’m...sure of it. Solemn? I don’t know, girl doesn’t seem to care about it too much. Sort’ve an introvert, so it’s kinda hard to tell what’s going on in that head. Lone would sooner crack a joke at you than get pissed, I think. Regardless, Swift and I didn’t just cram those team-building exercises for nothing.” Cherry looked at the grizzled stallion. He seemed confident in his words, like all of Cherry’s efforts in the last two weeks would really pay off. “Come on, kid. Let’s teach these idiots how to shoot.” The group of recruits entered the Proving Grounds shooting range. Multiple lanes were set up, one for each of the twenty ponies, deer, griffon and changelings which stood behind Cherry and Aegis. Black walls separated each lane, each one outfitted with a rack full of all sorts of weapons and a set of R.A.A.G.S. besides them. The two-toned, black and orange walls were home to large, bold, angular letters, elegantly labelling the room Shooting Range 01. Once all the recruits were lined up, Aegis explained, in extreme, meticulous detail, the Robotic Arm Assisted Grasping System to the non-griffon recruits. Unfortunately, Cherry had to be the guinea pig and slipped one onto his torso and feeling his body tingle as they sparked to life. He showed the proper way of equipping the system, most recruits shuddering as the arms themselves sprang to life and followed the will of each user. He had to admit, his reaction was very much the same. Once Aegis gave the word, Cherry picked up a rifle, R.A.A.G.S. clutching it close to his chest and ensuring the safety was on. “I’m gonna ask that everypony pick a lane and pick up a rifle,” Aegis said. “This thing is not a toy. You don't point it at each other, and most importantly, if you are not engaged, safety on. Cherry, if you would demonstrate for us how to shoot.” “Think of it as...a game of sorts.” Cherry said with a smug grin. He turned and raised his rifle. “Aim down the sight and start pickin’ ‘em off.” “Disregard that statement. War is not a game. He’s right about one thing; what you want is to aim down the sights,” Aegis explained, breaking his glower from Cherry. “Those are not just paper thin targets down the lane. Those are the soulless bastards that are trying to threaten every stallion, mare, and foal on the surface! Don’t worry, the robotic arm systems will keep the weapon stabilized. Find your target and pick ‘em off.” Cherry did exactly that. He drew in a breath and brought his head closer to the sights and stared down the range. Bratatatat! Cherry looked up, frowning. “Really?” Aegis shook his head. The target stood, bulletless. Cherry’s ear twitched as the soft chuckles and nickers of recruits met his ears. “Seriously? That one was at least fifteen meters away, kid and you missed.” “I...uh...use a shotgun for a reason.” Cherry put down the rifle before sliding out of his R.A.A.G.S. and placed it in the enclosure built into the wall. Once Aegis ordered for the recruits to take their weapons, the two stallions walked past the lanes and up on an overarching platform overlooking all the lanes from behind. “On my mark!” Aegis shouted. The whistle around his neck floated to his mouth and the recruits tensed, each one aiming down their respective lanes. Cherry watched intently each one intently, waiting for Aegis’s signal. He blew, deafening Cherry's right ear. Bratat! Bratatatatat! Bratatatatatatat! The recruits lifted their heads, looking around. The fourth lane from the middle plumed with smoke. Down that lane and many others, the targets were riddled with holes, most of which penetrated in the chest and head area. Cherry whistled as he glanced down at each recruit looking at one another with confusion and trying to find their sharpshooter. “Hahaha!” Izetta shouted. She lifted her head, a smile beaming on her face, probably the most emotion Cherry had ever seen on her face. The end of her rifle steamed, the smoke trailing off down the range while casings lay at her slender hooves. “I did it! How was that?” *** Medical Report<<