Wooden wingblades clicked and clacked as I danced about the ring with Rumble. He darted in and out with lightning speed, repeatedly raining a hail of blows upon me, and I had to twist my wings hard to parry them all. I already felt the beginnings of several bruises where he had managed to sneak past my guard, but the pain wasn’t fully registering with all the adrenaline pumping through me.
“Is that all you got, Dark Horse?!” Sergeant Smiles bellowed as I batted Rumble away yet again. “Don’t tell me little Turkey Legs there is getting to you! I’ve seen breezies who hit harder than that!”
“Hey!” Scootaloo protested from the side as she shakely did wing ups.
“‘Hey,’ what, Chicken Wings?!” Sergeant Smiles snorted. “You want to add any more sets on to that?!”
Scoots gritted her teeth. “No, Ma’am….”
“What was that?!”
“Ma’am, no, Ma’am!”
“Good! Then get back to work!”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!”
Rumble lunged again, but I was done waiting. My wing pushed forward, forcing him back before he could strike me. He landed on the edge of the ring, panting, and started warily circling me again. There was a limp to his right side from a particularly vicious counterattack, and his feathers were ruffled and in desperate need of preening.
We’d been going at it for about an hour now, and both of our coats glistened with sweat. I could smell him even from here as he flapped his wings to keep cool, not that my own musk was any better; I had to constantly fight not to wrinkle my nose as I kept my defensive stance up, wings flared and ready to move at all times.
Sweet Luna, I couldn’t wait to hit the showers today. Maybe I’d actually use the castle’s bath house instead of waiting until I got home….
“You pansies done waltzing, or am I gonna have to kick you into gear?!” Sergeant Smiles stomped the ground. “We don’t have all day!”
Alright, that’s it.
“Permission to play seriously, Ma’am?!” I eyed the hesitant Rumble.
“Do I look like I’m carrying twins, Dark Horse?! You don’t need my permission for that!”
Reaching over to my right foreleg, I pulled the weights on it loose to toss them at my foe’s head. He yelped and ducked faster than a mallard walking into a bar, giving me time to strip further and get new ammunition.
As I pulled the last of the weights off, I cracked my neck and stared Rumble down as he hopped from hoof to hoof. “You’ve gotten pretty good since you were promoted up from creepy stalker.”
He squeaked, backing up, and I started stalking forward.
“But now it’s time to end this.”
I leapt forward to grab him; he tried to bolt away. As he slipped through my hooves, I got a face of his sweaty, stinky wing, a feather or two yanking themselves out as I snapped my fangs. My wings gave a mighty beat, and I swerved to follow him as he took to the air—the ring all but forgotten.
“Hühnerblut!” I took a page from Aunt Mercy’s book as I pursued my prey. “Get back here and face your death with dignity!”
He squawked and strained his wings harder.
“I can go all night, Hühnerblut! Running is pointless!”
“Go get her, Rumble! You can take her!” Scoot’s voice trailed up from below.
“I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!” My bellow was a bit too squeaky.
“There are worse things than gutted fish if you don’t stop running, Turkey Legs!” Sergeant Smiles tail cracked like a whip.
“Like what?!” Rumble eeped, making the horrible mistake of looking back. It let me gain a length or two on him.
“You ever heard of sushi?” I could hear the sadistic smile in the sergeant’s voice.
“No?” Rumble’s squeak was even higher this time.
Mmmm…. Sushi.
My stomach grumbled, and Rumble’s wings skipped a beat. Still, Sergeant Smiles threat did the trick, and I saw my foe’s shoulders set as he prepared to turn on me.
I braced my body in kind, and licked my lips as my stomach butterflies surged. This was the best part, and soon, I’d either be reveling in victory, or pinned to the floor.
I saw it the instant he started his attack. His wings twisted forward to bring him to a stop, and he turned my own momentum against me. With the few seconds he had left, he managed to get into a good, defensive stance as I barreled towards him, and I knew victory was mine.
Then… then, he threw me for a loop.
Instead of actually defending against my attack, he stopped flapping and dropped at the last second.
He gave up the high wind, and I passed over him. He grabbed my belly and and with one good flap, flipped me over, putting me firmly under him as we began to plummet for the ground.
It was my turn to squeak as I scrambled to fix my positioning, and I used every bit of strength to try and get on top of him. A stream of bad dad words flew from my mouth as I wailed on him with my wings and hooves, but he was a tough little soldier, even if he wasn’t as strong as me.
I quickly gave up on beating the sh— horseapples out of him to try and simply overpower his wings with mine. He was a crafty loon, though, flapping with me to send me right back over and under him again.
“Screeeeeeeeeeeee!”
With a thwump, we hit the ground, and all the air was shoved out my lungs with a wheeze. Rolling in one last scuffle for dominance, the dirty cheater managed to pin me while I was disoriented. I squirmed for a few seconds, trying to break free, but I was at too much of a disadvantage.
“Well, well, Dark Horse! It seems you’re getting cocky.”
“Mrrrgmrff!” With one last heave, I lifted my head from the dirt, and he slammed it back down. Reluctantly tapping out, I made sure to immediately roll over and squish him for a second when he let up. I got up, wings idly tracing circles in the dirt. “No fair…. Where did you learn to do that?”
“Uhh….” Rumble’s cheeks burned black as he glanced back at Scoots and Sergeant Smiles.
“Glory Hog and I gave him and Chicken Wings some private lessons.” Sergeant Smiles chuckled.
Whuh-huh? Mom and— Betrayal!
“And that face right there is why we did it, Dark Horse. You might not need a slice of humble pie, but you sure as Tartarus don’t take anything you perceive as a failure well.”
“I’m the platoon commander. I’m not supposed to fail.” I looked down. “I’m supposed to be a role model.”
“Everypony has weaknesses soldier, even you, Dark Horse.” Sergeant Smiles shook her head.
I can iron them out if I try hard enough, though… right?
“You alright?!” Somepony nudged me, and I blinked to find Rumble and Scootaloo frowning at me.
“Yeah… I just….” I squirmed. “Good job. You really did deserve the win with that move.”
Even if it was one of the moves Mom came up with just to counter Dad when he hit puberty.
“Thanks.” Rumble grinned, his cheeks darkening. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“Oi!” Scoots thwapped him in the back of the head with a wing. “Keep it up and you won’t get to ride my scooter home tonight.”
“What?! But all I did was—“
“Alright, cadets, listen up!” Sergeant Smiles stomped a hoof, and everypony snapped to attention. “We’re just about done for the day, but I have one last announcement before you go.”
Huh? Had our sparring match gone longer than I thought? Or was it just that good?
“Next week the big wigs from Canterlot are gonna come down from up on high to give you a little inspection, so you better bring your A-game.”
What? Screeheeheeheeheeheehee!
“We’ll be showing off everything you’ve learned—marches, drills, combat, the works—so make sure you practice! Slipping up in front of the brass is like tripping on a hornet’s nest!”
And you don’t want me to worry about failing?!
Smiles nodded. “You lot are a good set of foals, though. So I know you’ll make me proud.” She nodded again. “Proud. You got that!”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” We all thundered, some less so than others.
“Good! Dismissed!”
Okay, then…. I took a deep breath as everypony began to scatter.
Time for some hardcore training.
“Hey, Night!” Scoots buzzed up to me on her scooter as I left the castle, Rumble wrapped around her withers. “You want to head to the movies with me and Rumble tomorrow?”
“I wish I could, but I can’t.” I almost winced from a few of my new bruises as I stretched my legs. “I gotta make sure I’m ready for the inspection next week.”
Rumble snorted, and I shot him a glare.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that load of guano.”
“Well…”
“Yes?” I arched my brow.
“…let’s just say you’re plenty ready and leave it at that.” He rolled his eyes.
“I am not.” I rubbed my side. “I should have seen that you were about to use my Mom’s moves from a mile away…” I looked down. “…and I should have been able to stop you.”
Rumble gave Scoots a look and she shrugged. “Well, Night, if that’s what you want. You’re welcome to join us if you change your mind, though.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind.”
Half-laughing, half-shrieking, Rumble squeezed Scootaloo tight, a dark tinge on her cheeks, as she buzzed away with a cocky wave and a manic giggle. They blasted off down the street and into the twilight, and it left me feeling… something….
Sighing, I stood back up to look off into the distance. The sun was down, my shades were off, and my house was outlined nicely on the horizon in the sweet shade of twilight.
Making sure to keep it firmly in sight, I started with a trot that quickly turned into a canter and then finally a gallop as I sprinted all the way home. I didn’t control myself. I didn’t pace myself. I just beelined towards the finish to see if I could handle it.
And I could. I ran for a solid five minutes at full speed without even breaking a decent sweat.
“I’m gonna need something tougher, aren’t I?” Sitting on the underdeck, I sniffed my wingpits. “Maybe I should ask about borrowing the weights? I don’t even need another shower yet.”
“There you are, champ!” Dad dropped from above like silent death.
“Screeep!”
“We’ve been waiting for a while.” Dad ruffled my mane. “Where’ve you been?”
“I took my shower at the castle.” As Dad’s noogie intensified, I tried to nip him.
“Oh, but what about your favorite little squeaky bat toy?”
“Dad!’ I grumbled and struggled away from him. “I-I stopped using that years ago!” He raised an eyebrow at me and held it there. After several long moments, I broke.
“Fine… a few months ago.”
He grinned and started prodding at a few of the fresh bruises, and I smacked at his hoof.
“Easy there, sport.” Dad chuckled, patting me on the head. “Just checking how much of a beating you took after your mother’s little lesson with Rumble.”
“You knew!” That totally deserved a bite, but he was too fast—his hoof retreating with a quick boop to my nose.
“Morning… convinced me it would be better if you were surprised.” Dad sighed.
“Well, Mom was wrong,” I pouted. “Losing like that sucked. The only reason that worked was because I wasn’t expecting it.” A squeaky whine climbed the back of my throat. “And the worst part is he didn’t even do it right! His form was sloppy, and his grip wasn’t air tight. If I’d actually stayed calm and collected, then I probably could have gotten free. I mean, I’ve seen Mom use that technique on you. She taught me how to get out of it.”
“She what?” Dad’s ears instantly perked.
“Yeah! You just gotta twist a certain way and the grip will break.” I demonstrated and Dad’s jaw hit the floor. “I mean, it’d be different if you were wrestling on the ground and she was on top with the ground backing her up, but there’s nothing to brace against up in the air, so it’s really easy to overwhelm any grappler if they’re weaker than you. I could have gotten out if I hadn’t panicked.”
“Oh, I’m so saving that.” There was a rumbly growl as Dad grinned. “She’ll never see it coming.”
“Eh, she also showed me what to do when somepony breaks out of that hold, so don’t bet on it.” I shook my head. “But come on! There’s no way she taught Rumble that! If I wasn’t such a sunstroked idiot, I would have beat him like I always do! That’s the first time he beat me without the weights!” I gave a squeaky sniff. “Do you realize what that means?! I— I’m falling behind!”
I lunged forward to squeeze Dad’s foreleg, stuffing my head deep into his chest. “And our first big, yearly inspection is next week, too! I can’t afford to fall behind now! I might lose my spot as platoon commander!”
I was instantly crushed in Dad’s forelegs, his hoof running through my mane and his wings wrapped tight around me.
“Oh, Night…” Dad sighed, making my ear flick. “I told your mother she was making a mistake. ‘Competition will be good!’ she said. Competition my full, fuzzy—” He snorted a word in Thestrali I wasn’t familiar with. “—All she did was push you into overexerting yourself.”
“I’m not gonna overexert myself!” I squirmed in his embrace, but he just chuckled and booped me.
“Oh, yes, you are.” He somehow squeezed me tighter. “You’re my little filly after all, and I remember what it was like the first time I met your mother in the ring.”
“You know I’m not like that with Rumble.” I scowled. “That’s Scoots’ thing.”
“Well, you could always ask to be his second.” Dad chuckled as I blushed. “But, no, I was only talking about how your mother was the first pony to ever really beat me.” He lightly brushed one of my bigger bruises. “It might just start with a run, but it certainly won’t end there.”
“I think I know my limits.” I sniffed.
“See, you say that now, but…” Dad rested his forehead on mine to look into my eyes.
“But…” I bit my lip. “…but it sucks to lose to some sun forsaken civvy, and I— I have to beat him, Dad! I just gotta!”
“That’s my girl.” Dad booped my nose. “Now you go up and eat dinner. I’m going to go see about taking the night shift next week.”
“Huh?”
“Well, I’m not going to let you work yourself to the bone alone.”
I buried my head back in his chest, and hugged the stuffing out of him.
Fidgeting at my desk, I looked at the clock for the bajillionth time. No matter what I did, Miss Cheerilee’s words just kept going in one ear and out the other, and it was driving me absolutely batty.
“Come on. Come on. Come on!” My hind leg tapped the floor as loudly as I dared.
Glancing out the window, I looked for any sign of—
Brrrrrring!
“Finally!” I was out the door before the rest of the stampede even started.
“There you are, sport!” Dad was waiting by the gate with a grin on his face, and he was loaded with all kinds of gear. “You ready to die?”
“For the last time, I’m not gonna overwork myself.” I pouted, crossing my forehooves in front of me.
“We’ll see about that….” Dad chuckled, tossing me a juice box to chomp down on.
Schlurp!
“So what are we doing first?” I spat the box into my hooves and tossed it into the nearest garbage can for two points.
“Well, I’m just here as your moral support and pack mule, Miss I-Won’t-Overwork-Myself.” Dad waggled the tower of bags on his back. “You’re the mare leading us here.”
“Huh….” I paused to consider that. “Do you have my weights from the castle, then?”
“Do I have your weights?” Dad snorted, pulling out not just one but several sets of weights.
“Thanks.” I immediately reached out for my normal gear, but I stopped as my hoof passed over one of the heavier sets.
“Hrmmm?” Dad arched his brow.
“Shut up.” I blushed and grabbed it before he could change my mind. “I can handle them for a day.”
“Of course, you can.” He grinned, ruffling my mane. “That’s why I brought them in the first place.”
“But I thought you didn’t want me overdoing things?”
“And you won’t if you’re smart.” He pulled out the sabatons I’d gotten from Aunt Mercy. “You want these, too?”
“Screeheeheeheehee! Of course!” I dropped the weights to do a flip. “How did you convince Mom to take them out of the armory?”
“That’s for me to know and you to never, ever find out.” Dad laughed, a little blush creeping up his neck.
I squinted at him. “You didn’t infect her with any more cooties, did you?”
“No, no.” He quickly shook his head. “I just… satisfied a few of her weirder cravings.”
“Oh, eww….” My face squicked. “She wasn’t looking for peanut butter and tentacles again, was she?”
“I wish.” Rolling his eyes, Dad rubbed his neck. “Now, you want them or not?”
“I already said I did!”
“Then, don’t ask questions you don’t want answered.” He tossed me the sabatons.
I squinted at him again, but let it go as I started putting everything on. “You got any other armor for me?”
“Well, you know the Ponyville division doesn’t really have any suits yet, but one of my buddies in Canterlot runs the Canterlot Junior Guard armory.” Dad reached into his bag to pull out a helm. “It’s mostly a mix and mash of all the sets that have lost a piece or two over the years, but…”
“Oooooh!” I danced from hoof to hoof. “This is perfect! The only thing that could make it better would be—”
“A collection of all the standard royal guard weapons?”
“A collection of all the royal guard— Oh my gosh! You’re the best!” Only halfway into the armor, I lunged forward to hug him. “Best. Dad. Ever! I almost wanna skip the jog!”
“You’re planning on jogging in full armor?”
“Of course!”
Dad looked at me for a moment before sighing and ruffling my mane. “Whatever you say, sport.”
“Screeheeheeheehee!” I bounded away to finish putting on all my gear. “This is gonna be great!”
“Sweet milk of Luna, I’m dying!” I crawled to edge of the underdeck and collapsed.
“Oi!” Sweet delicious water was suddenly in front of my face. “It isn’t exactly Luna’s milk, but here.”
“Mrgmmf!” I heaved myself forward to latch onto the bottle.
“I warned you.”
“Sh-shut up! I can keep going!” The water was like moonlight itself, and I found my strength returning.
“For now….” Dad’s grin momentarily slipped and I couldn’t help but squirm.
“Fine….” I kicked the ground. “I guess you were right…. I’ll get out of the armor…. But the weights stay!”
“Of course.” The grin was back full force.
With one last mournful glance at my sabatons, I began to pull them off. “So that was the run. What’s next? Push ups and wing ups?” I tapped my chin. “ Naw. I think I can say I got the strength and endurance part down. What I really need is to learn how to be as flexible as Mom and Aunt Mercy.” I looked at Dad. “Where did they even learn that?”
Dad coughed. “They, uh… stretched a lot back in training.”
“Oh….” I blinked. “Really, that’s it?”
“Eeeyup.”
“Huh… well, alright then.” I went to work. “You got any more of that montage music?”
“Hah!” Dad pulled his boombox out. “As if I don’t have an entire set of mixtapes from when I was a colt.” He slapped a cassette in and turned the volume up to eleven.
“And I’ll make a mare out of you!~”
“Uhhh… Dad?”
“Heheh….” Hastily switching tracks, he rubbed the back of his head. “I plead the fifth?”
Lunging forward, I thwacked Dad once more with my quarterstaff.
“Again!”
Falling back onto the butt of the staff, I spun around it to buck him in the chest.
“Again!”
“Is it—” I landed on my hind hooves and twirled into the next blow. “Is it really alright for me to hit you like this?”
“You kidding, sport? It’s great!” Dad grinned. “It lets me know everything I need to know to help you.”
“But you—” Another buck. “—aren’t even defending yourself!”
“Bah!” He waved a hoof. “I don’t need to. As long as you don’t decide to fight dirty like your mom, I’ll be fine.” He waggled his brow. “After all, I’m made of tempered metal.”
I giggled for just a moment, but it was enough to upset my form. My staff swung again—missing its intended target—and went right between Dad’s legs to cause a deep and stallionly squeak.
“Okay…. I probably deserved that as punishment.” To his credit, Dad stood tall.
“Yes, yes, you did!” I fell back giggling for a moment before stepping forward to make sure he was fine. “You alright?”
“Never better!” His grin was not encouraging. “Although, if you could go shut off the boombox, I’d be even better.”
“And I’ll make a mare out of you!~”
“Screee!”
There was little warning to Dad’s assault from the clouds. I dodged backwards and to the left as he barrelled through some cover to the right, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid getting bear hugged.
Pompf!
We crashed into the cloud layer beneath us and rolled for a bit as we roughhoused. It should’ve taken a miracle to escape him now that he had me in his clutches, but after a couple sluggings and a few nips, he let me go without a fuss.
He’s toying with me… again….
For the— the— I don’t even know how many times!
“Grrrr!” With a squeaky growl, I flared my wings and stomped a hoof. “What am I doing wrong?!”
“Well, you’re fighting fire with fire for one thing.” Dad chuckled, still lying on the clouds with a grin. “I’m a fully trained guard and you’re throwing textbook techniques at me.”
“But— But— But— That’s how you and Mom taught me!”
“Aye.” Dad nodded. “But we’ve really only taught you the basics of what you need if you want to succeed, Night. There isn’t some master list of every move you’ll ever need, and even if there was, you wouldn’t want one.” He lifted a wing. “The best of the best know how to vary their techniques to suit them on the fly.”
“I know that….” Pouting, I only held back for a second or two before settling beside him.
“Oh?” His wing lowered, and I squirmed against him until I was comfortable. “Then why did you go back and to the left?”
“Well… you were coming from the right, and I knew the instant you caught me the match would be over. I needed to buy as much space as possible to avoid you.” I poked at the cloud. “Not that it did any good.”
“It didn’t do you any good because it was predictable.” Dad chuckled, pulling me in tighter. “It’s your biggest weakness. I knew there was a good chance you’d dodge like that, so I was prepared to correct my charge ahead of time. You should have sped up instead of slowing down.”
“But it’s harder to—”
Dad softly silenced me with a boop. “It is a lot more work to speed up than it is to slow down. That’s why the textbooks tell you to slow down—even when momentum is everything in an aerial fight. It’s much better to lose a little momentum slowing down and falling back than it is to pull something while straining ahead and lose everything.”
I nipped his hoof and pulled back. “Then why are you saying I should of sped up?”
“Because the textbooks don’t teach you anything about the mental side of combat.” Dad tapped the side of his head with one hoof. “You knew what I taught you. You should have known I’d expect you to move like that, and acted accordingly. You didn’t even need to speed up. Just dodging differently would have sufficed.”
My face scrunched as I looked up at him.
“Look, Night, I’ve seen you spar. You’ve got good instincts—just like your mother. Are you telling me you’ve never pulled a stunt that flew in the face of everything your mother and I taught you?”
“Well, no…” Squirming beneath his wing once more, I stared intently into the swirling cloud beneath me. “…but I only do stuff like that when I’m really desperate.”
“And that is your biggest weakness.” Dad sighed. “You’re way too textbook for your own good. You only mix things up when you feel the need to, sticking exactly to the lessons you’ve received otherwise. It’s worked for you so far because you’ve gotten a lot of lessons and are ahead of the curve, but it won’t get you anywhere when other ponies start catching up to you—which they will.”
I glowered into the cloud as I digested his words before softly mumbling a bad dad word.
“Hey!” Dad roared with laughter, slugging me in the shoulder. “It’s not the end of the world! Your mother and I can start tossing you more tactical lessons if it bothers you so much. We were kind of planning on it anyways, now that you’re getting older.”
“Thanks.” I snuggled into his side.
“Don’t mention it.” He looked to the rising moon, and I followed his gaze. “You know, we’ve been out here a lot longer than I thought.”
“Time flies when you’re hav—yearrraghh—ing fun.” My jaw cracked as I yawned, and I blinked blearily as I rested my head on the clouds.
“The rest of the day finally catching up to you?” I could feel dad’s chuckle. “Maybe we should get you home, then?”
“Mrrrgmff…. I like it up here.” I dug my way further into his chest.
“Come on, Night.” He bonked his snoot against me. “I have to get ready for my night shift in an hour or two.”
“Nrrg…. No… don’t care… here is good….” When he pulled away, I buried my head in the clouds.
“I warned you not to overdo it.” He gently picked me up.
“I didn’t overdo it….” My mumble was so quiet it gave Miss Fluttershy a run for her bits.
“Tell me that tomorrow, and I’ll believe you.” One last rumbling chuckle rocked me to sleep.
The reveille blared to life from my bedside, and I immediately hit the snooze button.
I groaned and pushed myself deeper into my bed, where even darkness feared to tread. Nine minutes later, the snooze alarm crackled; I ignored it, my muscles crying for just five more minutes. The rumble steadily increased as the charge built higher and higher until finally the flash of lighting and roll of thunder roared through the sweet shade of my room.
And I still continued to bury myself beneath the covers.
“Oof….” The soft fwump of breaking clouds and a few whispered words-that-must-not-be-said told me Mom was outside my door. “Blasted furniture! Night? Are you alright?”
My head finally rose to blink at Mom as she waddled into the room with a candle. For several moments, we had a stand off, before I nodded and tried to rise. I only made it halfway off the bed, though, before I tumbled into the floor with a thwump.
“Ow….” With a whimper, I curled into a ball. “My everything hurts….”
Mom sighed. “I told that lunk not to overdo it.”
“S’not his fault,” I murmured into the floor. “He warned me I was overdoing things, and I didn’t listen.”
“Well, he should have stopped you, then.” Mom tsked, moving to my side to support me with her wing. “I swear, if he’d just learn to say no…” She shook her head, nudging me towards the bathroom.
“But I like training with you and Dad….” I leaned into her rounded tummy and the twins kicked me for good measure.
“Oh, Night…. You know I don’t mean it like that…. I just don’t want you to—” We reached the bathroom door, and Mom paused to open it before ushering me in with one wing. “I don’t want you to overwork yourselves—both of you. Your father didn’t get a wink of sleep yesterday, you know that? He was too excited about planning things to do with you to grab even a couple hours of shut eye while you were at school.”
“Sorry….”
“It’s not your fault, Night.” Not elaborating further, Mom let me slump to my haunches, and she opened the medicine cabinet to rummage through it. Pulling out both ointment and a bottle of pills for me, she quickly started rubbing the salve into my back and neck.
There was a warmth where it touched, then a heat, and then my muscles finally melted at the feeling. Even my bruises were happy as Mom spread the blessed ointment over them, the pain and discomfort quickly overwhelmed by her hooves.
“Ahhh….” My back arched and popped in like, ten different places, while the crick from my neck sounded lethal. I slumped to the floor again for an entirely new reason, sighing as Mom moved on to my legs and wings.
“You still have to take a shower, young mare.” Mom finally pulled back to wash her hooves.
“I know….” A hot shower would be good, even if it did wash the gel off.
“And you still have to go to school.” Once her hooves were dry, she popped the bottle top and poured out a pill for me.
“I know.”
“And I want you straight home from school to recuperate. No training today!”
“I know!” I huffed, crossing my forelegs and looking at anywhere but Mom.
“Thank you.” Mom ran a hoof through my mane and kissed my forehead. “Your father will appreciate the chance to sleep.” Smiling, she put everything back into the cabinet, and nuzzled me as she went back into the hallway.
“Oh, and I’m trusting you to show a little more restraint for the rest of the week!” Her voice trailed back as I got into the shower and bucked it on. “You may well be your father’s daughter, but I carried you for eleven months just like I am the twins here! I changed diapers on you that would make the inmates of Tartarus scream, so you don’t get to die until you’ve returned the favor!”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am….” As the rain water washed over me, I grabbed the soap and began to scrub.
I knew better than to even risk whispering anything insubordinate. Mom was completely and absolutely right. That didn’t stop me from thinking about all the training I’d get to do after today, though. There was still a lot I wanted to do, and I had to cut a bunch of it now.
Maybe if I was lucky, Dad might still agree to a bit of hunting in the Everfree?
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” I hopped around Dad for a good three minutes after school to work all the extra excitement off.
“Easy there, sport.” Dad’s eyes followed me up and down and up and down. “You do that in the forest, and we’ll end up deader than dead.”
“Deader than dead?” I giggled, but I nonetheless started settling down.
“Aye.” Dad nodded solemnly. “A great, big, bloated, nasty beastie will come and chew out our corpses if we get ourselves killed.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say about Mom.” I giggled more.
“Neither is making her cry.” Dad arched his brow. “Which she’ll promptly do after she murders us for dying on her, so get rid of your jitters.”
“Why do you think I was bouncing?” With one last rustle of my wings and a swish of my tail, I put my game face on—all stoic, and stoney, and guardy. “I wanted to get all of it out of me now.”
Dad snorted. “Just keep telling yourself that.”
“It’s true!”
“Well, your tail is still wagging, so…”
“Is not!” I stilled my rebellious butt before Dad could say anything else about it.
“Are you sure?” Dad gestured behind me. “Because there’s a bunch of colts on the playground that have been staring the past few minutes.”
“Whu-huh?!” I immediately froze, unsure if he was just trying to pull a fast one on me.
“Eeyup.” Dad nodded before his face suddenly turned into a scowl and he snarled over my shoulder, fangs bared. “But they aren’t going to do any more than that, are they!”
Not a joke! Not a joke!
“Screep!” Spinning around, I caught like, half the school hurriedly glancing away with a blush. Several colts ran, tails between their legs, and I edged closer to Dad knowing he could keep me safe from the cooties.
“Stupid, icky, no good, colts.” My face squicked, pulling Dad away from the school to totally go train and not to run away.
“Oh, there was a few fillies, too, but I trust them to have more tact.” Dad chuckled.
“W-wait! What?!” My cheeks were suddenly blazing hotter than the sun. “But that’s not— But cooties don’t work like that!”
“Oh, really?” Dad’s grin was just full of horseapples. “And you know that how? Oh, great and wise warrior princess?”
“I… uh… I just do?” The fire spread to my neck. “It’s common sense! Fillies can’t spread their cooties to other fillies!”
“But you haven’t tested it?” Dad’s grin grew even wider, and so did the pile of sh— horseapples.
“No?” I could barely hear myself squeak while my stomach butterflies whipped themselves into a hurricane. “W-why would I ever do that?!”
“You’re a smart and productive student, Night. You know just how important it is to approach things scientifically.” Dad sniggered.
“Who would I even— No! No! You’re just trying to pull a fast one on me!” I giggled like a loon under moon. “Nice try, Dad, but you can’t fool me! Next you’ll say something crazy like, ‘Maybe you should kiss Diamond Tiara?’”
“You said it, not me.”
“But that’s just silly, and stupid, and just a little bit batty of you to—”
“Oh? So it isn’t icky?”
“—say so let’s just drop all this and get back to training!”
And no, it wasn’t icky: it was downright sickening. Just thinking about kissing Diamond made my mouth run dry, my frogs sweat, and the rest of my body feel feverishly warm.
It was just so… so…
“Why are we even walking? We should just fly to the forest’s edge!” Cantering ahead, I opened my wings for take off, and promptly tripped face-down in the dirt. “Screep! Oof!”
Dad roared with laughter as I scrambled to my hooves.
“I’m fine! I’m fine! My wings are still just a little stiff from Monday!”
For some reason, this brought Dad’s stupid grin back, and it made him laugh even harder.
“Whaaat? It isn’t funny! We lost a whole day of training because of me!” A few experimental flaps brought everything under control. “Now, come on! We have better things to do than daydream about kissing Di—” I bit my lip as my stomach butterflies roared. “—than daydreaming about all your loony, little ideas.”
“Whatever you say, Night.” That grin of his would just not go away. “Just make sure to head for Fluttershy’s. We need to pick her up before we head into the forest.”
We did? Were… were we not going hunting?
His grin finally slipped as I turned my pouty eyes up to eleven. “No, Night, Morning was adamant we do this safely. She wanted me to take you to Whitetail Woods instead.”
My pout intensified.
“Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I promised I’d take you into the Everfree, and I’m doing exactly that! I just needed something safer for you to do!”
“But safe is boring!”
Did… did I just say that? I did, didn’t I?! Who am I, and what have the crusaders done to me?! Guards are supposed to like safe and boring! Oh, Luna! Oh, Luna! Oh, sweet, merciful—
And Dad was laughing again…. Stupid colts….
“I— I promise it’s as good if not better than hunting.” Dad’s sides heaved as he gasped for breath. “Really, you should be thanking your mother. I never would have thought of it if she hadn’t said no.”
I squinted at him. “Reeeeeally?”
“Really, really.” Dad nodded, gesturing. “Just lead the way to Fluttershy’s and you’ll see.”
I glanced between him and the direction he was waving me towards. “Mom might kill you for whatever this is.”
“Oh, she can try.” Dad grinned. “But Fluttershy will be supervising you too, and she can totally testify that you were safe.”
“Flimsy alibis haven’t stopped Mom from getting justice before.”
“Pffft! Trust me! Fluttershy’s testification will be anything but flimsy. I already got an earful just from bringing up my own concerns.”
“If you say so….” With one last glance towards the Everfree, I made up my mind. Unfurling my wings—still just a little bit stiff—I leapt into the air and banked towards Fluttershy’s.
Forget what Mom would say.
Dad had promised.
The manticore cub and I stalked each other in a circle as we looked for any weaknesses in our prey. All I needed was a—
There!
“Rawr!” Wriggling my rump, I pounced, a squeaky growl tearing its way from my throat.
We collided and tumbled through the brush, biting and kicking and scraping for dominance as we went after each other with everything we had. The savage little guy was tied with me for wins.
And that. Would. Not. Stand.
So I bit at him, and he clawed at me! I bucked his side; he stung my flank! I was gonna—
“Nightingale Mooncrest and Manuel Darkfang Jr! What did I say about too much roughhousing?!”
Both of us instantly seperated with a glare and a hiss at each other. He growled. I growled back. I would have pounced again if not for Fluttershy swooping in to dab at our wounds.
“Honestly…” she tutted. “Biting and stinging each other…. If you’re gonna fight, the least you can do is have manners.”
“But we are!” I rubbed my side as the antivenom got to work. Again. “He totally could’ve gone for the jugular there and he didn’t, right, Manny?”
“Rrrrrrrreowl….”
“Yeah! What he said! The only thing worse than my bark is my brea— Hey! You take that back! I wash my teeth every day!”
“Night…. Manny….” Fluttershy frowned at us.
“What?! I didn’t—”
The frown deepened and I shut my mouth, squirming under the weight of her stare.
“Mmmm’sorry I bit you so hard….” I studied the ground.
“Rrrreow….”
“S’alright, really. You could have stung me in so many other places there.”
“Reow.”
“My guard was down.” I nodded.
“Reow.”
“And I was getting sloppy.”
“Reow?”
“Nope!” I giggled. “Still can’t understand you! This is so much fun, though! Way better than plain old hunting!”
Fluttershy smiled. “I’m glad you like it, Night.”
“I am!” I bounced once or twice. “Is Manny having fun?!”
“He is.” Fluttershy giggled as Manny Jr. came forward to rub himself all over me.
“Prrrrrrrrrrr….”
“Screehee! Manny, stop! That tickles!” I waved him away and looked back to Fluttershy. “Can we keep going, then, Miss Fluttershy? Pwease? You aren’t interrupting Dad, and he’s doing way worse stuff!”
There was a thud off in the distance as two roars rumbled through the forest. Several birds who had just finished settling themselves took off again, and the ground beneath our hooves shook from the impact.
“Is that all you got, you son of a sun witch?! My wife bites harder than that, and she doesn’t even have any fangs! Let me show you some real fangs!”
The roar that followed was several pitches higher.
“Oh, you too, mama bear?! Fine! I can take you both on!”
There was another thud, followed by several yowls, a yip, and the snarling of a pack of timberwolves from behind some nearby trees.
“Oi! What are you lot doing eyeing my daughter like a slab of meat?!”
Two roars of agreement followed, and there was a momentary pause in the ground’s shaking as the sounds of twigs breaking filled the air.
“There we go! More firewood for the winter! Now, where were we, you two?”
There was a few seconds of silence.
“What? It’s just a flesh wound! I’m fine! Come on, let’s get back to it!”
Fluttershy whimpered as another thud shook the ground, a pair of not-so-little manticores roaring as their fight with Dad continued.
“See!” I grinned. “He’s totally fine. He said so himself.”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my….” Hopping from one leg to the other, Fluttershy dashed off towards our parents.
“Pffft! Like anything in this forest could hurt our folks, right?” I elbowed Manny and he nodded. “Now let’s go for another round! We’re still all tied up!”
I couldn’t wait to see what he had planned tomorrow.
I looked from Dad to the mountain and then back to Dad.
“Without wings?”
“Without wings.” He nodded.
“Woah.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be here to help you.”
“Well, yeah, but just—” I craned my head upwards. “—woah…. Did Mom say yes to this?”
“She did.” Dad grinned. “As long as you rest up for it today and we spread it out over Friday and Saturday. We should finish up just in time for me to fly you back for a late dinner. Your mother promised to go all out for that, too, you know, since you’ll need all the energy you can get for your test on Sunday.”
“Screeheeheeheehee! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Between this and the manticores, there’s no way I’ll lose to Rumble!”
“It’s not a competition, sport.” Dad chuckled.
“Don’t care! You were right!” I threw myself at him. “Now let’s head home so I can go to bed!”
“You just got out of school, Night.”
“Oh, right…. Um….” I squeezed him a little tighter. “Wanna go to the movies, then? It’s been forever since we did that.”
“Sure thing, sport…. Sure thing….”
“Grrrryagh!” I heaved myself onto the next rock and into the snow resting atop it.
My coat was soaked. My wings were icy. Even windigos would have frozen in this! The only thing keeping me going at this point was the flag just a few meters over my head.
It was so close!
It was so far!
There was no way I would make it!
“You’re almost there, Night! You can do it!”
As always, the instant I started to doubt myself, Dad was there. He held out another thermos, and I greedily snatched at it to gobble down the last of the chowder—
Mmmmm….
Cocoa? Why was this one filled with cocoa? That was supposed to be for when I made it to the top! I couldn’t have this yet!
Warm, sugary goodness filling me, I shoved the thermos back over to Dad, and struggled to my hooves. Glaciers could have beaten me in a race as I crawled up the next rock, but I made sure I did it.
It was the same with the next one.
And the next one.
And the next one.
Sweet, merciful Nightmother, there were still too many for me!
I stumbled onto my knees and looked up again. Just one more? I blinked, and the flag did not zoom off into the distance. It didn’t fly away, or disappear in a poof of smoke. No, it simply stood about a meter above my head.
Waving at me.
Taunting me.
“Just. One. More.” I gritted my teeth and tried to crawl forward—really, I did—but it was just so cold. I reached out a hoof to see if I could at least touch it—
—and another hoof took mine.
“Come on, champ…. You can do it….” Dad smiled down at me.
“No… I can’t….” I could feel tears growing in the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t even find the strength to pull.
“You can’t ask for help?” Without warning, Dad pulled, and I found myself on his back atop the mountain, the pair of us gazing out on… everything.
“Woah….”
Dad passed me another thermos full of cocoa. “You made it a lot farther than I thought you would.” He chuckled a moment before starting to laugh. “You— You weren’t supposed to scale the whole bloody thing your first time! Oh, Luna take me, Night! Your mom is going to have a new thestral pelt to keep the twins warm!”
I said nothing, savoring the cocoa and view from my nice, warm dad.
“The whole bloody mountain.” Dad shook his head. “You climbed the whole bloody thing without me helping. You’re even worse than me when I was a colt.” He cracked a grin. “Feels good, though, don’t it?”
“I didn’t finish it on my own….” I barely had the strength to squirm.
“Didn’t finish it on your own?” Dad’s manic grin instantly soured. “Now listen here, young filly. I helped you with nothing but the last step. Everything else was on you, so don’t give me none of that. That’s exactly why your mother taught Rumble her moves.”
“I don’t understand….”
“Yes, you do.” Dad snorted. “We raised you better than that, you loon under moon, so stop being so stubborn.”
I was silent for another moment, my muscles burning. Sweet Luna, the test tomorrow was going to suck.
“I guess you did….”
“You’re darn right, we did.” Dad nodded towards the moon—way past rising and high in the sky. “You know, your mother is probably worried sick right now. I should have called this off hours ago.”
“But you didn’t….”
“Eenope. I couldn’t.”
I sipped at my cocoa some more, waiting for an answer that never came.
“It still sucks, Dad….”
“I know.”
“I was so close!”
“You were! You got way closer than I did the time your grandpa pulled this stunt with me!”
“But I didn’t make it on my own….” I sighed.
“Would it really make a difference if you did?”
“Yes….” I buried my face in his mane and wrapped my hooves around his neck. “If I’d done it on my own, then I wouldn’t be here with you right now. I like being here right now.”
“Why you.” Dad laughed, pulling me off his back to give me a noogie.
“Daaaaaaad! Don’t ruin the moment!” I giggled as I wriggled in his grasp, warm fuzzies as good as melting all the ice on my wings.
“Ha! Ruin the moment? Me?” The noogie didn’t let up. “How can I be the one to ruin the moment when you’re the one that’s going to be telling your mother just how much you overdid it.”
“What?! No! I can’t do that! She’ll give me the loooooook!”
“Aye! She will! And you’ve earned that look today! Bear it with pride, my little light in the night, for it’s as much a reward as it is a penance.”
“Daaaaaad!”
Our laughter echoed deep into the night where it settled on the peaceful towns below.