//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: The RAT Exercise; Part 2 // Story: The Centurion Project // by TheEighthDayofNight //------------------------------// Elias thought long and hard about a new plan as they walked back into their base camp. The returning ponies were met with a loud cheer, and Elias saw Palisade waving the Solar Guard flag around proudly. A Royal Guardspony waited beside the pegasus in silence, her expression blank as she watched the celebrating ponies around her. After another round of cheers, Palisade gave it to the unicorn, smiling brightly. She took it with a small, grim nod and she disappeared in a flash of light. Palisade looked around as everyone continued to celebrate, and as his eyes fell on Elias, he let out another cheer as he pointed at the human. “And here’s the guard of the hour! Let’s hear it for Guardsman Bright!” Elias’ frown deepened as the ponies around him shouted loudly. Some even began to chant his name. No part of him welcomed the attention. The back of his mind simply wanted to relish quietly in the victory with his friends, while the center was whispering dark thoughts about how all of this felt a bit too familiar. Palisade didn’t notice Elias’ dark expression as he waved the human toward the command tent. The crowd of guards parted before Elias, and at some point, Night Flash hopped down from his shoulders. They continued to cheer as he entered the command tent, his frown clearly present on his face as he found the ponies waiting inside just as jubilant as the ponies outside. Save for one. Scarlet grimaced as Steel Scalpel carefully removed what looked like a branch from the pegasus’ wing. Elias gave the pony a questioning look, and he looked away, clearly embarrassed. “I didn’t even last five minutes,” he said, his voice dripping with shame. “Some earth pony bucked me right into a shrub, and I spent most of the battle trying to get out.” Elias gave him a pat on the back. “It’s okay Scarlet, the plan worked, that’s what matters. If we’re both being honest, you’re most important contribution was beforehand, not during the fight.” Scarlet snorted. “Wow, thanks for the inspiration Elias. You really make me feel better.” Elias plopped down in the chair next to him. “You’ve been training for what? A week and a half? Real combat prowess takes years to hone. Right now, your head is the best part of you, the rest will come in time, if,” he raised a finger in the air, pointing it at Scarlet, “you keep training. You got sloppy because you didn’t practice, so if you want to get better, you have to keep pushing at it.” Scarlet nodded silently. He looked at the map blankly for a second before a smile crept across his muzzle. He looked to Elias. “So, we won huh? How about that.” Elias sighed and nodded. He removed his helmet and set it on the table, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “That we did,” he replied. He felt a poke on his arm, breaking him from his short daze. Scalpel looked at him expectantly. Elias met the gaze with confusion. “Doc, I’m more than f-“ He hissed in pain as Scalpel wrenched his left arm up. The unicorn smirked at him. “Fine? I was watching you the whole time Elias; I saw those hits you took.” He prodded at Elias’ ribs, and Elias winced as he felt the pokes through his armor. Scalpel clicked his tongue as he charged his horn, letting the magic sit over Elias’ bruised ribs. “I must say though; I’m surprised the aura didn’t grab you for this one. I guess because it didn’t break anything, and you kept going, well done for that by the way, it didn’t think it was a “critical” injury. I really hope it isn’t going upon what you view as a critical injury, otherwise this exercise might be the death of you.” “That wouldn’t be so bad,” Elias replied, “I go out swinging and nobody is even getting hurt, win win.” Scalpel sighed and shook his head, remaining silent as he healed Elias’ side. Palisade cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s eyes as he smiled brightly at Elias. “Well I must say, you were absolutely right about that plan, that was positively exhilarating!” He placed his hooves on the table as he got nods of agreement from almost everyone. “I say let’s run it again, and we’ll win for sure!” Elias shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing a quill as he began working on the map again, altering the plan. Scalpel tsked in protest as Elias stretched his chest, but the unicorn elected not to give the human any rebuking words. “No, it won’t work, and in reality, we’re going to lose the next round. Whatever we do, it won’t work.” The happy smiles dropped as everyone stared at Elias like he had just killed their pet dog. Scarlet perked up over his shoulder as he studied Elias’ changes to the battleplan. “Why won’t the plan work again Elias?” he asked softly, his voice void of judgement. He likely just wanted to hear Elias think out loud, and had probably already accepted the human's words as fact. Elias frowned as he erased a block with his fingers, re-drawing it a few inches down. “Because Palisade was absolutely right when he said this plan was too risky. It relies on too many moving pieces, and certain emotions from our opponents.” He scratched his hair with his left hand. “Every part of the first round was thought out. White Shine expected Palisade to run the same plan, he no longer expects that, and if anything, we just pissed their entire team off.” Elias looked up at Palisade. “We shouldn’t have celebrated, at all. As soon as those fireworks went into the sky we should have just turned around in silence and walked home, but we didn’t. I watched the faces of the Solar Guards, they’re mad. Not blindly so either, they’re sitting over there thinking about how they’re going to give us payback for shaming them.” “B-but we didn’t shame them!” Palisade protested. “We were just excited that we won for once. Nopony said anything bad about them, if anything we were just so happy the plan worked.” Elias nodded as he looked back to the map. “True, but that’s not how they’ll see it, and if White Shine is smart, he’ll rile them up before the next round. We caught them with their pants down, and they know it, so they’re going to come at us full force. They likely didn’t even lay out a plan for last round, but you’d better be damn sure they’re picking apart our strategy as we speak. They have smart ponies on their team. They’ll rip our plan apart and come up with a counter that will wipe us out soundly, I have no doubt.” Green Leaf scoffed. “Great, so what? This was all for nothing? We get one win and you’re ready to give up? That’s awfully pathetic.” Elias glared silently at the pony. For a few moments, Green Leaf met the glare. Then as it continued, he looked away, mumbling to himself as Elias stared in silence. Only when Scarlet tapped him on the shoulder did he look away. Scarlet pointed to the map. “So, what’s your plan Elias? I know you have something working up there.” Elias nodded as he put the finishing touches on the map. “The way I see it, we’re going to lose the next round, so I’m planning for it. They’re going to try and prove that we’re one trick ponies, and I say let them. Let them think we found a new toy that won us a match. White Shine has his face in the mud, and he’s listening to everyone who can help him drag it back out.” Elias pointed at the blocks on the map. “I made minor alterations to the first-round plan, but it’s essentially the same idea, we just flipped the lanes. This time the center will be the illusion while the left is the push lane again. They either think we won’t try the same lane twice, or they will. Either way, the going will be rough, if you go anywhere at all. I'll be on the right lane, and we'll try to push forward, but I doubt we're going to move much. I have a hunch that the Solar Guardsponies are going to come at us full force, but we'll do our best to push through.” He sighed as he crossed his arms. “My plan is to sacrifice a round, and then we hit them hard in the third round. We get them arrogant again and the third round, while not easy, will be feasible.” Immediately cries of protest rose up, barraging Elias as he stood in silence. “We can’t just give them a win! We’re so close!” “Let’s try the old plan!” one of the ponies suggested, “they won’t expect it!” Elias waited as they argued. Scalpel finished with his bruises, giving the human a pat on the arm before departing with his medical bag. Elias made minute adjustments to the map, making it perfect while the ponies argued with each other. The entire time, Palisade watched him in silence. He raised a hoof, and eventually the arguments ceased as they watched the team captain. “What are you thinking Bright?” he asked softly. Elias took a deep breath before he answered. Looking away from the map, he looked around the table as he spoke. “Look, this is all just a big game of chess, most battles are. You don’t kill a king by rushing him head on. You have to make smart plays, and sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn or two. If you spend energy trying to save every single pawn, you quickly find that they’re all gone.” Elias sighed deeply as he stared at the table. “I learned that lesson the hard way. I celebrated after a few little wins and I got cocky. I wasn’t prepared when the enemy hit me, and when I didn’t find time to recover, they kept hitting until everything just… ended.” Images of pain and fire flashed through his eyes, and Elias reached out a hand to Scarlet, scratching the pony behind the ears. He found solace in the motion, and with a few deep breaths, he was able to continue. He looked up to Palisade. “If we get too caught up in a single past win here, we’re just going to end up being the almost brigade. Everyone will look to us and think ‘they almost did it, they almost beat the odds, they almost won it all’.” Elias bit his cheek in thought. “But almost doesn’t count. I’m coming up with a plan to win us the day, and it’s a hell of a plan with a lot more risk than the first one. But I think it’ll work, if we let one round go. If we get the Solar Guards thinking that they’re on top of the world again, then we’ll have it. We win.” He shrugged, looking around at the ponies. “All victories require sacrifice. I think we can find that here, you just have to trust me.” Palisade stared at him carefully, studying Elias. No one else made a noise at the table, save for Scarlet, who whimpered softly, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he enjoyed Elias’ scratches. Palisade smirked as he watched the red pegasus’ antics, then looked around the table. “Does anypony have anything else? Any other groundbreaking plans that can sweep the second round?” All he got was silence in response. Green Leaf glared at Elias, and for a second, his mouth opened, but then it snapped shut and he looked at the table, shaking his head. Palisade sighed and looked at Elias. “You were right the first time Guardsman; I see no reason to doubt your judgement now.” He ran a hoof through his mane, letting out a loud exhale. “so how do we go about this? We just… throw the second round?” Elias shook his head, dropping his hand from Scarlet’s head. The pony groaned softly, and for a second he reached out, trying to drag Elias’ hand back to his head. When he got strange looks from his fellow ponies however, he chuckled weakly, then sat low in his seat, doing his best to vanish. “No,” Elias replied. “We have to fight like dogs to try and win. Just because I’m accounting for us losing, doesn’t mean we should actively try to. I could be absolutely wrong, in which case the plan, with its current adjustments, could work just fine.” He spread his hands. “Either way, if we aren’t trying our absolute best, they’ll suspect foul play, and the third round will slip through our hands. We can’t fight any less than our hardest.” He gestured to Palisade. “I’d recommend that you keep the flag again, it will help sell the one trick play bit. Otherwise;” he shrugged and sighed, “fight like hell. Try to win. If we do, then I’ll be glad to be wrong, but I have a strong feeling that I won’t be.” Palisade shared his sigh and nodded. “Alright then, that’s our plan. Smiles on while we brief and set up. The less ponies that know this is a sacrifice play, the better.” Everyone grumbled in agreement and began to filter out of the tent. ***** Elias growled as he parried a strike from the earth pony on his right, while simultaneously blocking the hooves of the earth pony to his left. The Solar Guards had definitely stepped up their game. While Elias had so far defeated two separate pairs of ponies, they just kept coming at him in groups of two, and the longer he fought, the more tired he got, especially since he was having a rough time overpowering the third pair that was attacking him. Without his assistance, the Lunar Guards around him were steadily being pushed back, with many vanishing as their golden clad counterparts got the better of them. He had already seen Granite vanish as he was dragged down by a pair of earth ponies, and the last time he had seen Night Flash, the pegasus had a slash on one of his forelegs, and was missing his helmet as he squared off with a Solar pegasus. Elias dipped under a swing from his left, and responded by lashing out with his gladius. Feather tasted only air, and the over extension nearly cost him the arm as a wicked axe blade glanced off his wrist-guard. Elias slammed his scutum forward, trying to knock the axe from the earth pony's teeth, but the mare took a short step back, and this strike missed too. Elias tried to take a step back to breathe, but neither of the ponies let him, and they advanced with his steps, their weapons scratching the paint of his scutum. The Lunar Guard line had begun to waver, though to their credit, those who remained fought on, dishing out as much damage as they could. It didn’t matter though; the odds were not in their favor. Elias just hoped that Palisade’s group was faring better than his was. Elias roared as he tried to rush the earth pony to his left, only to be driven back by a brutal swing from the one on his right, nearly taking his head off. He took a step back, put off balance as his charge faltered. This didn’t go unnoticed, and an opportunistic pegasus darted in, his hooves slamming down on Elias’ calf. Elias howled in pain and did his best not to stumble as hot agony raced up his right leg. He felt the muscles tear as his bones snapped in two. His shield dropped from his grasp, and Elias grabbed the pegasus by the back of the neck. The pony had been shocked into stillness by Elias’ cry of agony, and it would serve to be his downfall. Elias punched the pegasus twice in the muzzle, breaking the pony’s nose before he stabbed the pegasus in the neck, the weight disappearing from his grip. Elias then cut at the earth pony to his right, catching the stunned pony in the chest. She too vanished, leaving one. The earth pony overcame her shock that Elias was still on his feet, and she gripped her axe tighter in her teeth. With a growl, she launched herself at him. Elias swung at her head, trying to cut off the charge. The pain in his leg put off his aim, allowing the earth pony to dip under his sloppy swing. She swung widely, and then the axe came down in a spray of crimson as it embedded itself in Elias’ chest. Elias cried out again, his cries of agony splitting the air. Blood painted his face in a spattering of red, but he still remained on his feet. The earth pony stared at him in horror as he glared at her, his eyes finding her over the blade of the axe. Feather found her throat quickly, and she disappeared with a pop of magic, the look of shocked horror still on her face. Elias panted heavily as he stared at the sky, relishing the feeling of the sun on his face. He sent a silent thank you to Anyon for his armor. While he was in a nasty spot, he could already tell that the chest wound wouldn’t kill him. Not immediately at least. Maybe it was the blood loss, or the absolute agony in his shattered leg, but after sheathing his gladius, Elias gripped the handle of the axe. Taking a single breath, Elias ripped the axe free from his chest. Blood pattered to the ground, and Elias was close behind as he collapsed. He pressed his hands to the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding as he groaned in pain. On second thought, it probably wasn’t a good idea to pull out the axe. Elias blinked in the bright light of the sun. He looked around to find that the ponies were still fighting, though there were substantially fewer blue ponies than there were golden ponies now. Either way, the match hadn’t ended, and he was still on the field. That had to mean that he could still fight. Elias pushed himself up onto one knee, and drew Feather, the blade shining in the light of the day. He silently dared someone to attack him. A pegasus, perhaps thinking him easy prey, rushed Elias, not even bothering to disguise his approach as his wingblades reached out like sharp fingers, aimed right at Elias’ throat. It was simplicity itself to simply lay back, flopping to the ground as he stuck his gladius in the air, bracing it with both hands. The pegasus couldn’t curb his momentum, and he ran straight into the outstretched sword, impaling himself as he disappeared with a pop. Elias grinned and sat back up, trying to ignore the red puddle on the ground around him. Elias spotted his shield, laying clearly in the dust a few feet away. Spotting no immediate threats, Elias tried to stand. He got as far as putting his right foot down before he collapsed into the dirt, face first. Elias groaned in pain, keeping enough awareness around him to realized that he had kept hold of his gladius. A shadow passed over his body, and his grip on the blade tightened. “Guardsman Bright, please release your weapon that we might assist you,” a voice said calmly. Elias cracked open an eye, not even realizing it was closed in the first place. He quickly saw a trio of frowning faces standing over him, two familiar, and one not so. The black armor on the unfamiliar one meant Royal Guard though, so he knew she wasn’t an enemy. Elias huffed, the only response he could muster as he uncurled his fingers from Feather’s hilt. The unfamiliar pony smiled down at him. “Very good Guardsman. Don’t worry about a thing, we’re going to take good care of you.” Elias felt a warm feeling pass over his body, and he smiled at the pretty pony as his pain largely vanished. Together, the three ponies rolled Elias onto a stretcher. The movement agitated Elias’ throat, and he coughed, sending a spatter of blood over the three. Surprisingly, none of them seemed particularly disgusted by it. In his delirious state, Elias found that he could only grin at them. “Sorry,” he said, the syllables slurring slightly. “Guess it’s a bit worse than I thought.” Chaser frowned at him as they teleported. Elias’ gut lurched, but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as the one earlier. “Is he going to be alright Doc? He’s looking pretty rough.” Scalpel sighed and nodded as he removed Elias’ helmet, running a hoof through Elias’ hair. Elias stuck his tongue out at the pony in response. “Unfortunately, he should make a full recovery, which means this will undoubtedly happen again.” The unfamiliar pony smirked as her horn lit up. “Why Doctor Scalpel, if I didn’t know better, I would think you’re having thoughts about trying to keep the good Guardsman here permanently crippled. Surely you wouldn’t be so cruel?” Scalpel scoffed. “Please, he’d probably charge into battle on one leg if we cut it off. He’s stubborn like that.” His hoof gestured at Elias’ wounds. “All of this is probably a flesh wound for him, even if it’s much worse.” Elias giggled slightly as he felt magic tickle at his chest. “I’d say I’ll walk it off, but I think someone broke my leg.” Scalpel frowned and he put a hoof over Elias’ mouth. “Elias, stop talking. Healer Bandage needs your chest still so that she can heal it properly.” Elias rolled his eyes dismissively in response. He remained largely silent however, with only a few giggles escaping as he felt the tickles began to make their way to his leg. Chaser frowned down at him again. “What’s wrong with him Doc? Sure he’s hurt, but he didn’t seem like this last time.” The pony that Scalpel had called Bandage looked up at Chaser. “I gave him a heavy sedative spell.” She looked at Elias with a smile, ruffling his hair with her hoof. Elias giggled stupidly and stuck his tongue out at her as well. “It was supposed to knock the Guardsman out, but it appears that it just made him a bit giddy. As long as he isn’t hurting, I think we can deal with a bit of silly chatter.” Steel Scalpel sighed again, drawing Elias’ eyes. The unicorn smiled down at the human, and he began to pet Elias’ hair again. “I have no idea why the safety spell didn’t grab him when his leg broke. The wound is serious enough that he should have been snatched up, but he wasn’t, he just kept fighting.” Midnight Chaser nodded. “That he did, and if I hadn’t already tangoed with him once, I’d think he was cheating. He took out four different ponies before he dropped, and he looked like he wanted to keep going.” Elias snorted as he imagined Chaser in a dress. “We’ve never danced before Captain. I think you’re mis-remembering stuff. Should get that checked out.” Chaser grinned. “Maybe not Guardsman, but would you like to?” Elias snorted again. “No, I can’t dance. Just like I can’t sing. Princess Luna is full of it if she believes in stuff like song magic.” He scoffed as he closed his eyes, feeling slightly tired. “I tried to tell her that ambient magic doesn’t work on me, but no! The human who’s lived with himself for nineteen years apparently doesn’t know squat, just because he doesn’t know anything about magic, suddenly he’s not an expert.” Elias paused, opening his eyes. He blinked stupidly at Steel Scalpel, squinting as he stared at the pony. “Who was that just talking? He sounds like an idiot.” Bloody Bandage snorted with laughter. “I don’t know why everypony has it out for this guy, he’s great.” Scalpel shook his head in exasperation. “And it only took one of the most powerful numbing spells in Equestria. Elias, look at me for a second.” Elias pointedly looked away, staring just to the left of Scalpel’s head. The unicorn sighed and shook his head again as he held a hoof to his face. “I don’t know why I thought I would get anything other than that result. Look, Elias, what was that about ambient magic not working on you?” Elias blinked and focused on Scalpel. “Oh, yeah. Yeah, ambient magics don’t affect me. I don’t have a magical signature at all. Princess Luna thought I did, but she scanned your magic while you were healing me.” He sniffed as he stared at nothing behind the unicorn. “Yeah, she hasn’t scanned me since, and every time ambient magic is used, it doesn’t work on me. There was this song thing a week or two ago, I just watched. Did nothing for me.” Midnight Chaser looked to Steel Scalpel. “Could that be true?” he asked. “Could he lack ambient magic, giving the safety spell nothing to latch onto?” Scalpel shrugged in response. “Could be. I don’t know enough about magic theory to deny it, and it sounds right. I’ll ask the princesses about it later.” Elias blinked stupidly as his eyes shifted from Scalpel to Chaser. Elias blinked a few more times, before he slowly said; “Captain, I don’t wish to alarm you, but you are covered in fur. Like… everywhere. Head to-“ Elias tried to look down, but found that his head was stuck in place. It probably had something to do with Scalpel holding his head. “Hm… I’m going to assume toe, but you might want to get that checked just in case.” Elias looked up to Scalpel, then smiled widely. “Oh hey, Doc Scalpel’s here. He can take care of that problem for you Captain!” Bloody Bandage snorted again, covering her muzzle as she tried not to collapse in laughter. Midnight Chaser glared at her. “Healer…” he said, his tone a warning. She waved a dismissive hoof at the pegasus. “Oh, don’t be a killjoy Captain. I’m just thinking about the fun we could be having here. You’ve got to get this guy for us. Not counting the fact that he’s one of the nastiest fighters I’ve ever seen, he’s absolutely hilarious. Come on Captain, he’s what the Royal Guard needs these days.” Chaser sighed face-hoofing. “Fine Bandage, I’ll try to convince him to work on an application when he isn’t staring at me like that.” Scalpel slapped Elias’ hand as it rose up to touch his fur. The human hissed at him in reply. Scalpel just kept petting the human’s hair, ignoring the glare he was receiving. Chaser prodded Elias’ side, and so the human stared at him, his eyes looking clear for a brief moment. “Guardsman Bright, would you be interested about a place in the Royal Guard? Healer Bandage is right that you’ve got the right kind of stuff, but it won’t be easy work. It will take a lot of sweat, and studying to get in.” Elias frowned slightly, staring at nothing as he thought. “Well,” he replied slowly, “I’d have to put some real thought into that. I’d need to talk to Book Binder, and Night Flash, because I definitely don’t want to leave my potential parents behind. That’d just be wrong.” Chaser looked to Scalpel. “His what?” Scalpel sighed. “Guardsponies Book Binder and Night Flash have offered adoption to Guardsman Bright here. Due to some internal trauma he refuses to share,” he said, pointedly glaring down at Elias. “he hasn’t outright accepted. They’re doing some kind of progressive parenthood to get him used to the idea. So far, I think it’s going well, but who knows with this one.” Elias crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t care how much you drug me Scalpel, these lips are sealed.” Scalpel sighed again. “If I didn’t know the exact symptoms of delirium, I’d think you were just trying to mess with me Elias. As it stands, I’m going to write everything you say down and use it as blackmail.” Elias stuck his tongue out at Scalpel, causing the pony to smile as he resumed petting Elias’ head. Scalpel looked to Midnight Chaser. “Take the answer as a tentative yes. I’ll make sure to talk to him about it when he isn’t out of his mind.” Chaser nodded in agreement. “Good, have him stop by my office. If nothing else, I’d like a serious conversation with him about this.” He then looked down at Elias. “I’m watching you in the third round Guardsman. I know better than to think the first-round strategy was from Palisade. If I’m being honest, I’m really looking forward to see what you do to win.” Elias grinned at him. “Oh, you’re going to love it. Maybe the spell helped me think, or maybe it was the snapping of my leg, who knows, but I’ve come up with exactly what we need. Just remember to keep your eye on the flag. The twist will surprise you.” Chaser nodded and gave Elias a pat on the shoulder. “Maybe it will Guardsman. Do well, I’m rooting for you.” With that, the pegasus left. Scalpel frowned down at Elias. “How do you know that there’s going to be a third round?” he asked. “Palisade could still pull through.” Elias snorted dismissively, raising three fingers on his left hand. “And three, two, one…” A golden flare spiraled into the air, exploding with a shower of sparkles. Elias giggled. “And as usual, my sour expectations are met. Mors mihi lucrum.” Bloody Bandage shook her head as she watched the golden glow fade away. “Alright, now that’s just spooky. Down to the second too.” She smiled at Elias, who smiled dazedly back. “You need to join the Royal Guard, Bright. I haven’t seen many ponies that just scream ‘Royal Guard’ material, but you definitely fit that bill.” Elias grinned at her. “Aw, thanks! That means a lot.” He snorted softly. “I’m just lucky to have you here.” He looked up at Scalpel. “This mean pony is gonna start yelling at me as soon as you're gone. As long as you’re here, he wouldn’t dare!” Scalpel glared at Elias while Bandage laughed again. The unicorn rose, shifting to sit near Elias’ head. “Well Guardsman Bright, you’re all healed up. Scalpel will take you back to your base camp, then dispel the numbing enchantment, alright?” She reached out a hoof to Elias, “Stay cool and safe, you hear?” Elias bumped it with his fist. “Why would I want to do that?” he replied. He stuck his tongue out at Scalpel. “I’d much rather come up here and bother Scalpel some more than be something like “safe”. Besides, I know he likes to play mother hen.” Elias laughed, then stopped suddenly as he stared widely at Scalpel’s face. The unicorn looked at him nervously as he reached a finger out, poking Scalpel in the nose. “Doc,” he said dumbly, “you’re a pony.” Bloody Bandage burst out laughing as Scalpel just shook his head in exasperation, his horn lighting up as they vanished in a flash. ***** Elias scowled darkly as he rubbed at his temples. His mouth tasted foul, and his head was pounding. He felt like an idiot, and he had no idea why. All he remembered was collapsing, then waking up as Scalpel escorted him into the command tent. It was empty for now, so Scalpel decided to ensure that Elias ate and drank something to replace his lost blood. As Elias chewed, he vaguely recalled talking to Chaser, as well as another pony. She had seemed nice, and after prodding at Scalpel, the unicorn had given Elias a name, Bloody Bandage, as well as her recommendation that he look into joining the Royal Guard. Elias gave him a noncommittal, “I’ll think on it,” before falling into a brooding silence. Not counting the splitting migraine that he had, Elias altogether felt like hammered shit. His cuirass sat on the table beside him, looking a bloody mess. A large cut marred the left breastplate, and Elias knew he wouldn’t be wearing it again anytime soon. His tunic had fared much worse. The cloth had been nearly ripped in half, and blood stained the blue fabric, turning it black. Underneath it sat a massive bandage across his chest wound. Bloody Bandage had used most of her magic to mend his leg, which ached, but was fully functional. The bandage was a compromise with Scalpel. The unicorn had threatened to make Elias sit out of the third round if he didn’t wear it, so despite the stiffness of the broad bandage, he relented. He didn’t believe for a second that the wound was at risk of tearing open again, but what could he do? He waited in silence for the Lunar Guards to return. After a few minutes of waiting, dejected Lunar Guards began to wander into the command tent. Elias noted the beaten looks on their faces, the defeated posture of their bodies. He also noted that more ponies filtered in than before, including Book Binder and Night Flash as they supported a limping Scarlet into the tent. Elias made to stand, but Scalpel pushed him back in his seat as the unicorn rose, taking Scarlet by the foreleg as he guided him to an empty seat. His horn lit up as he treated the pony’s injuries, what looked to Elias like a broken muzzle, as well as several deep cuts along his flank. Book Binder crawled up on Elias’, huffing slightly as she let her weight sink into his back. She hummed quietly in his ear, saying nothing as she closed her eyes and dozed. Night Flash gave Elias a half smile as he climbed into Elias’ lap, settling down with his chin on the table. Elias instinctively scratched the pony’s ears, his mind combing through his plan one more time as everyone settled. A glance around found that nearly their entire team was in the tent now, and most of those ponies were glaring at one place. Elias calmly met their glares, eventually finding Palisade at the end of the table. The pegasus was also glaring at him, though it was a much more tempered glare than others were giving him. Elias tapped his fingers against the table, waiting in bored silence for the pegasus to speak. Palisade snorted. “So Mr. Strategist, that didn’t work. We lost. Badly.” Elias scoffed and smiled. “You’re telling me. I got an axe in the chest and my leg snapped like a twig.” His fingers dragged apart his tunic, displaying the red splotched bandage that covered his pale chest. Palisade flinched back at the sight, and Elias noted several gasps at the bloody damage. Book Binder tsked softly on his back, but she only rubbed her face softly against his neck, remaining silent. “Let’s just say I know the pain of losing intimately and leave it at that.” He let his hand drop. “It could have been a lot worse, and either way, I expected this.” Palisade sighed deeply and looked at the table. “So, you have a plan?” Elias nodded silently, then grunted as he lifted Night Flash off his lap, placing the pegasus on his seat while he reached for the map. Elias fingered the bandage on his chest softly as he reached out to the map, snatching up a quill as he began to erase the previous plan. Book Binder moaned softly as she was forced to climb down from his shoulders, but settled next to Night Flash, huffing into his neck fur. “The Solar Guards think us incompetent now, so that works to our favor," Elias said. "We gave them their arrogance back, and that’s what we’re going to play to.” One of the guards scoffed. “Why? If you didn’t notice, we got creamed. The first round was a fluke and we should just quit while we’re ahead.” Elias stopped before the quill in his hand could touch the sand. He blinked as he stared at the map, then looked up, tracking the source of the voice until he found the pony in question, a gray thestral. Elias stared at her for a second, then pointed outside. “Then go,” he said simply, keeping any trace of emotion from his voice. “Quit. If that’s what you feel is best, then do it. I won’t stop you.” Some of the guards recoiled back at his words. The thestral’s ears pinned to the side of her head, and her mouth flapped wordlessly. Elias looked around at the ponies around him. “What?” he asked forcefully. “She says she wants to quit, so I say she should.” He looked back to the thestral, waving toward the tent entrance. “Go on now. Follow your instincts. Quit. Show us how a guard quits.” The pony shook her head. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to quit.” “Then start acting like it,” Elias replied, anger creeping into his tone. He looked around again. “That goes for all of you. Each, and every one of you has already decided the battle in your minds, which means when we go out there again, we are going to lose, because you won’t give it your all. You’ve given up in here, so you won’t care out there.” Elias smiled, then chuckled. “It’s pretty funny considering all you did before today was lose. You’d figure you could get over the feeling by now.” Green Leaf growled at him. “This isn’t funny Bright. We’re following your plans, and now we’re losing.” “Ah, but see, I said this would happen, and it did.” Elias replied, grinning at the pony. “You act like we were just supposed to win out the gate again. You got arrogant, just like White Shine and all of the Solar Guards have. I advise you lose that arrogance before this stops becoming a game and the stakes start getting real.” Elias tapped his chest. “Because for some of us, the stakes are already very real.” Green Leaf backed down, glaring at the table, sufficiently cowed. Elias looked around the tent, looking for anyone else who thought to challenge him. Most didn’t meet his gaze. Elias saw Scarlet rise from the corner of his eye. Despite Scalpel's protests, the pegasus climbed stiffly onto the table, plopping down right in front of the map. He stared at the magical object intently. “What’s the plan now Elias? We lost, and you said that would make them arrogant again, and I believe you completely. So how do we beat them?” Elias grinned as he began to draw. “By being even more arrogant than them of course.”