As soon as the rooster sang, Lancer opened his eyes. He growled when the light reflected in his eyes.
He yawned as he walked to Majesty´s chamber´s door. After knocking, Majesty opened the door for him. The unicorn had a sleepy and grumpy face.
“Hey.” she greeted him.
Lancer held his laughter. Majesty might be of a higher social status and have a higher cultural upbringing and better manners than everypony, but at mornings she forgets her steady and serious attitude and talks to her subjects as if they were her friends.
“Hey.” he replied with a smirk in his face. “Looks like somepony had a bad night.” he said as he entered her chambers.
“It´s not that. It´s just I´m not ready to be disappointed all the time.” Majesty served him tea.
“You know what my queen? Of all of us, I thought I was the sarcastic one. But when you make remarks like the one you just made, I doubt it.”
Majesty rubbed her forehead.
“Ugh, I know I these things take time, but I´m tired of waiting! All my life has consisted of being patient. And right now, the chance of getting of getting back what my family deserves is so near yet it´s far at the same time.”
“I might not owe my family or have a grand purpose to fulfil as you, my queen, but I also want to go as fast as possible. It´s very frustrating to see your pupils fail over, over and again. I know it´s my job to make them succeed but sometimes it seems impossible! And having time against our favour doesn´t help either…”
“That´s another one.” Majesty sighed. “You know what Lancer? Glory is much better at handling issues related to feelings, but I think talking to you helps me more.”
“Probably because we´re more mind-like. Except on the prophecy part, that´s where we differ.”
Majesty raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Haven´t you seen me being frustrated with Gusty?”
“Well, yes. But because it´s Gusty! Before that, you never doubted the prophecy.”
“Don´t be so sure about that. Many times, I´ve actually thought it was just a foal´s story my parents told me to give me hope about our dynasty´s future. It´s normal for believers to sometimes doubt their beliefs. Even Glory has her doubts about Gusty from time to time.”
“In my opinion, that indicates that you two are down to earth.” Lancer continued walking.
“But if I don´t believe, my bloodline´s future is dark. Yes, I might have conquered small territories from Grogar but we both know that we are still in great disadvantage. Grogar still has the power to shake everything up. I can´t risk dishonouring my family again.”
Lancer stopped walking abruptly. He turned to Majesty and frowned.
“I know I´m absolutely in no position to give you orders my queen, but don´t ever say that. You didn´t dishonour your family.”
“My only heir is dead, Lancer.”
“But that wasn´t your fault. If my memory doesn´t fail, it was Grogar´s soldiers who killed him in battle.”
“Yes, but if I didn´t send him to that battle, none of that would have happened.”
“It may have or may not have happened. I´m pretty sure Grogar would have ordered to get your son killed in other ways if he didn´t go to battle. And who knows? Maybe he would have died as well.”
Majesty looked down.
“Besides, your parents were dead when that happened. They never told you that you dishonoured them.”
“But they did expect me to keep the bloodline. That was the most important thing for them. What they most expected from me, Lancer. And now I can´t fulfil that role. If I can´t keep the dynasty, at least I´ll uphold my family´s legacy.”
“So far, you´re doing a great job, if you ask me. Sure, Grogar has still upperhoof but you´re handling it like a great monarch would.”
“But not good enough. Before Gusty came, I had no hope those accomplishments would make a difference. That´s why I believe in the prophecy, Lancer. Because it´s what keeps me and your fellow soldiers going.”
Lancer stared at Majesty. Every time he and Glory argued about the prophecy, his friend always defended that she believed because it was what kept Majesty going, but he never understood how much until he talked about it with the queen herself.
“It´s getting late. You should begin your training by now.”
“Yes, my queen.” he simply said.
Before he left, he quickly glanced at the queen, who looked at the window sadly.
“So, what do you think?” Celestia asked Buttons, Fizzy, Clover and Galaxy.
Gusty and Luna watched the unicorns taking spoonfuls of their tsampa with as much expectation as Celestia. Fizzy was the first one to finish.
“This is really good!” Clover commented.
“I never knew salty tea was this delicious!” Galaxy added.
“Have you got more?” Fizzy asked while offering her bowl to Celestia.
“Sorry, we´re out.” Celestia answered her after checking the cauldron. “I´m glad you liked it though!”
“Your daughter´s a really good cook!” Buttons said to Gusty.
“Oh stop, you´re making me blush.” Celestia looked away as she laughed.
“Next time, it´s my turn!” Luna volunteered herself.
Gusty and Celestia looked at each other anxiously, asking each other with their eyes what to say next.
“Hm… Maybe one day.” Gusty rubbed Luna´s mane.
“She´s not a really good cook.” Celestia whispered to everypony.
“I understand.” Galaxy whispered back in her ear. “Fizzy isn´t either.”
“Thanks for the meal, Celestia. With this delicious breakfast, I´ll be able to go through Lancer´s difficult but fun and adventurous training!” Fizzy said. “Could you make lunch as well? Just so I have enough energy for Majesty´s training.”
“Exactly. But I believe Majesty´s training is less intense. I enjoy it in fact.” Buttons gave her opinion.
“I know right?” Clover agreed. “If I were to become a soldier, it would be just for the purpose of learning more magic!”
“Really? Well, that might be because I´m used to using my magic for shows and Lancer´s training is new.”
“Could be. However, how is it that you changed your mind that fast? Need I to remind you that yesterday you betrayed me so you didn´t go second?”
“Well, I changed my mind.” Fizzy shrugged, to which Buttons rolled her eyes.
As they talked, Gusty struggled to keep a smile. While happy for her friends being ready or enjoying the trainings, she also felt left out as she was not ready nor enjoyed them.
“What about you, mama? Which training do you prefer?” Luna asked her.
Gusty shook her head as she returned to the conversation.
“Me? Well, I… I don´t have a favourite nor a hated one.” she lied as she looked away, smiling nervously.
Everypony, except her daughters, raised their eyebrows.
“What happened with the `telling everything and hiding nothing´?” Buttons asked her.
Gusty´s smile banished. She sighed.
“Fine… The truth is I like none of them.”
“Ok. So? What´s wrong with that?” Galaxy asked her.
“Nothing, it´s just all of you were talking about how much you enjoyed them that I didn´t want to ruin the conversation.”
“How would you ruin the conversation?” Clover asked her. “It´s just your opinion.”
“Well…” Gusty caressed her mane while looking away. “The trainings bring me bad memories and I didn´t want to centre the conversation around them and turn it into a depressing one…”
“Oh…” everypony said in chorus.
“Let me guess.” Fizzy wrapped her foreleg around Gusty. “Pathetic bullies making fun of you for being clumsy in the games and because you had difficulty learning things?”
Gusty nodding her head.
“Oh, those are the worst. I also had my share when I was a filly. Who else did?”
Everypony raised their hooves.
“Really? I thought I was the only one.”
“Well, you´re not. In my case it was because of my weird personality and called me dumb. Some of them didn´t like my mane. Too bad for them because I liked them both.” she touched her own mane with a cocky grin.
“Same for me!” Galaxy exclaimed.
“Foals didn´t like me. To this day I don´t know the reason but they simply didn´t like me.” Buttons explained.
“Unicorns called me annoying because I was obsessed with magic.” Clover said.
“And didn´t it affect you?”
“Of course it did!” Buttons replied. “I cried a lot as a filly.”
“Then how come you are so confident?”
“Over time, we made better friends that helped us realize we weren´t what other unicorns thought of us.” Buttons looked at Fizzy.
Gusty looked at Celestia and Luna. Until she met Buttons and Fizzy or her husband, Gusty didn´t have friends. She had her daughters, who loved her very much, just as a friend would. Still, she wasn´t as confident as her friends were. Why couldn´t she be like that?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Glory hoofsteps.
“Hey girls! Lancer and Majesty are coming.” she told them. “Get in line. Quick!”
“That´s our cue. Have a nice day, girls.” Clover said as he left.
“Good luck sis!” Galaxy said after kissing Fizzy in the cheek. Then she ran away.
While Celestia and Luna got away, they were near enough to see their mother.
“You can do it mama!” Luna cheered her.
“You rock!” Celestia clapped her hooves.
Gusty smiled and waved their hoof at them as she and the other unicorn recruits formed a line.
“Soldiers!” Lancer exclaimed.
After he spoke, all the unicorns held their chins high.
“Yesterday was a rough start. But today, it´s going to get worse. And tomorrow, much worse, and the day after tomorrow way way worse, and so forth.” he said as he paced around the unicorn´s line. “Yes, it will be a hard time but let´s see the positive outcome of this. Previously, most of you were just afraid mares trying to make a living, in the lowest position of society. After this training, you will be different mares. You are going to be strong and respected soldiers. But, you´ll have to show us you are truly worth it.” he stopped to look at Gusty´s eyes as he said that phrase.
Although, she felt tense she tried not to show Lancer.
“Now today, we´ll begin our training with a circuit. Your goal,” Lancer took out a bow and an arrow. After tensing the string, he shot an arrow, which ended at the top of a pillar. “will be to get that arrow. But in order to do that, you must first overcome a series of obstacles.”
As he pointed the circle, the mares bit their lips. The obstacles Lancer was referring to were tall fences, climbing walls without a rope, traps and spikes.
“Oh dear…” Gusty whispered.
“Now, who wants to begin?”
“Oh, me me!” Fizzy jumped excitedly.
Lancer widened his eyes.
“Of all your fellow future soldiers, are you sure you want to be the one to begin?”
“Yeah!”
“Alright. This ought to be fun…” he muttered. He cleared his throat. “You may begin miss…”
“Fizzy.”
“Fizzy. You may begin.”
“Ok.” Fizzy jumped back and forth to prepare. Then, she bowed to run up. “Here we go!” she yelled as she ran.
Unfortunately, things were not going to be as fun as Fizzy thought they would be. She realized that the fence was higher than what it seemed in the distance. Nonetheless, she decided to try. However, her attempt ended on her falling over the fence. The ponies closed their eyes as Fizzy fell to the ground.
“I´m fine!” she exclaimed as she lifted her hoof high.
“Next!” Lancer yelled.
Buttons was the second to try. Unlike Fizzy, she managed to jump the fence but one of her hooves touched the fence, making her fall.
“Next!”
Glory managed to jump all the fences but fell on a pond when she tried to leap over it.
“Next!”
Gusty accidentally tripped when she started to run.
“We´ve got a long way to go.” Majesty shook her head.
Lancer sighed. He passed them swords, thinking it would be easier to start there.
“Let´s get down to business to defeat Grogar.” Lancer sang as he skilfully sword fought against a stallion soldier, leaving everypony in awe.
“Do you want to earn a medal or a scar?” Lancer sang as he dragged Gusty towards him to fight against her, beating her up in the process.
“You´re the saddest bunch I´ve ever met but you can bet before we´re through. Mrs, we´ll make a mare out of you.” he threw Gusty to the ground and pointed the wooden sword against her throat.
Majesty frowned at her.
After hours of Lancer´s intense training, Majesty´s training. She taught them how to tackle various at objects at the same time against the floor or a wall with magic. After she did a demonstration, the unicorns tried but failed in the process.
“Tranquil as a forest but on fire within.” Majesty sang. She frowned at Gusty when she saw her doing the spell one on one, contrary to what she instructed her, to which Gusty smiled nervously.
“Once you find your centre, you are sure to win.” this time Majesty taught them to defend themselves in a magical attack.
“You´re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot.” when it was Gusty´s turn, none of the unicorns that doubted she was the Wind Warrior had mercy on her. They started to throw stones at her. Instead of creating a magical shield, she threw blasts everywhere, one almost hitting Majesty.
“And you haven´t got a clue.” she glared at Gusty. The latter lifted a hoof from her eyes.
“Somehow we´ll make a mare out of you.” Lancer gave them a bow and an arrow and indicated them to make bullseye. Instead of hitting the target Gusty accidentally tore Majesty´s dress´s skirt.
Fortunately for Gusty, she wasn´t the only one struggling. Her friends were having a really bad time as well.
“I´m never gonna catch my breath.” Glory panted as she tried to climb the wall.
“My bones are going to hurt a ton!” Buttons yelled as her hooves slid through the rocks, making her fall.
“Boy, was a fool for thinking this´d be fun.” Fizzy hit her head against a fence.
“They´ve got them scared to death!” Celestia told Luna as they observed the training.
“Hope they don´t see right through me.” Gusty tried to teleport to where Majesty ordered her.
“Now I wish really that I knew how to swim.” very carefully, Glory tried to pass a rope tied to both sides of a river.
“Be a mare!” the unicorns yelled.
“You must be swift as a coursing river.” Majesty sang as they practiced throwing magical attacks.
“Be a mare!”
“With all the force of a great typhoon.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the strength of a raging fire.”
“Be a mare!”
“Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” Majesty looked at the moon, sighing frustrated.
“Time is racing towards us. Till Grogar arrives.” as the unicorns carried lifts on their shoulders, Majesty pointed at Gusty, who fell from exhaustion. Buttons and Fizzy, who were near her, tried to help her but Lancer picked up her lifts.
“Heed my every order and you might survive.” Gusty closed her eyes from embarrassment.
“You´re unsuited for the rage of war. I´d pack up and go home now.” Lancer said to Gusty at night.
The three ponies looked down sadly. Glory patted their shoulders.
“How could I make a mare out of you?”
“Maybe he´s right. Maybe we weren´t born for this.” Buttons looked down. “I thought I would be good at magic.” she closed her eyes. “But I´m not.”
“I´d thought Lancer´s training would be fun. But he´s making me feel stupid.” Fizzy´s ears dropped.
With those words, Gusty realized that even her confident friends could be unconfident as well, meaning everypony could be unconfident from time to time. She looked at the circuit.
“Or maybe he´s wrong.” she said.
The unicorn´s ears perked up.
“What do you mean?” Glory asked.
“All of us are struggling it´s true. But I´m sure he and Majesty struggled as well. I don´t know about you but I´m still willing to try.”
“But it´s impossible!”
“It can´t be. There has to be a way.”
Gusty walked to the circuit. She breathed in before running to the first fence. Seeing she couldn´t jump the first fence, she thought of an alternative when she saw her reflection in a puddle. She looked at her horn and frowned determined. She got up and ran to the second fence. She jumped with all her strength, ignited her horn and helped herself with a gust of wind.
“Be a mare.”
“You must be swift as a coursing river.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the force of a great typhoon.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the strength of a raging fire.”
“Be a mare!”
“Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.”
Her friends observed with their mouths hanging at Gusty´s wit. She arrived at the wall and whenever she fell she conjured a small tornado to help her up. This time Gusty skipped all the adversities the circuit had to offer. She kept going even if it was sunrise. Finally, Gusty got to the pillar. Once again she used wind. As she did, everypony got up and watched how she struggled, cheering for her.
Lancer and Majesty observed the scene from the monastery and ran. Gusty threw the arrow in front of them and smiled them from the top.
After days that turned into weeks, and weeks that turned into months, everypony managed to perform flawlessly the activities they had the most difficulty with.
“Be a mare.”
“You must be swift as a coursing river.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the force of a great typhoon.”
“Be a mare!”
“With all the strength of a raging fire.”
“Be a mare!”
“Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!”