//------------------------------// // 43 - Bug Company // Story: Just a day in Equestria // by dave89898989 //------------------------------// “Wake up, recruit!” A booming mare’s voice yelled, startling me right awake. “You’re new here, so I suppose you’ll want to be treated fairly, isn’t that right?” This obviously had to be a trick question. “No, I want the same regime that everypony else is getting, not easier or harder.” “Think you’re a wise pony eh? Well guess what? Wisecracks are frowned upon in this institute! Twenty push-ups!” This brutal, brown-maned instructor with the big campaign hat had it in for me already. I got out of bed and stretched quickly, then began pushing my body down and up in rhythm with the counting in my head. What else could I expect from this place? Just wait until they hear my war stories, they’ll treat me fair then. I couldn’t exactly sound like a hero, but I could change my role up a bit if needed. The other fillies took trouble to stare and giggle at me. I shook my head and carried on as the instructor turned to the others and told them to go about their business. I never felt like breaking a sweat and my legs weren’t shaking at all; thanks to Applejack’s prior training. I didn’t retain a perfect good amount of fitness, but I had enough guts to keep going. After that event, I had to share the showers with the rest of the group residing in this bunker. I shivered at some of the sayings I remembered from my old Earth army training camp, but luckily we were pretty far apart from each other. I dried off and clothed myself with the standard army training fatigues that everypony received. The orders that had been barked at me entailed going through the obstacle course three times, cleaning the mess hall, lifting weights until I couldn’t anymore, galloping round the circuit a few rounds, then lights out at twenty two hundred hours. Seemed simple enough to me. I limbered over to the assault course. When I saw it in its entirety, I said aloud “looks easy”, while a pony next to me snorted. This straight white-maned, pale green mare had a rough and tough air about her; I probably wanted to avoid her. Taking in a deep breath and closing my eyes, I readied myself for the task ahead. Ducking and diving, climbing, dodging, crouching, and jumping were some of the amenities that lay before me. When I became prepared enough, I ran for the first obstacle, which simply presented itself as a low wall that I could vault over. One hoof on the top surface, then I could project myself across the bricks. A bunch of small wooden hoops had been set out in a zigzag styled row after that. I coordinately put a forehoof in the first, then the other in the hoop next to the last, and followed the rest of the pattern until I reached the end. The low wall made another appearance next, with some low bars accompanying. I dived over the first wall and rolled under the bar, jumped over the next wall hind legs first, curved my body so as to not hit the bar with my face, and sprung myself off of my legs to make a final push over the last wall. The tunnels came next, which I gave myself a headstart for and dived through one, crawling the rest of the way through the dark tube. A group of panels had been set out in a way to make me dodge past them in side to side movements, in which I did effortlessly. A set of ropes hung all the way to the ground, and my intention had to be getting to the top of a rope to make it past and access the rest of the course. I wrapped one hoof after the other, each being higher than the last, getting to the top in a rapid time. A large ditch made me take a leap of faith to try and reach the other steeper side of the disconnected ramp I had just stood on. Reaching out with my forelegs caused me to catch the other side, climbing up quickly after and carrying on. A corridor that I squeezed myself into had me crouching near to the ground so I had to avoid exposing myself. I made a quick sprawl down the corridor, taking care not to hit my back on the way out. A balancing bridge put my standing skills to the test on a narrow plank of wood sloping up and down respectively. However, my skills seemed top notch at the moment, so I didn’t feel like falling at any point as I crossed the thin bridge. Some makeshift windows had me vaulting again, but this round I forced myself to grow smaller in size by tucking some body parts together to get through the gap. I ran towards an apex ladder, like stairs but the steps were much further apart; I took quick, large strides across each going upwards, then came down the other side. Lastly came the terrace, so I had to gather my confidence and keep running off of a ledge I couldn’t see the drop. Alas, I kept galloping at the same speed and fell. Landing safely, I took myself away from the course in absolute triumph. The other ponies who had just participated in the course stared at me in awe, unbelieving how well the newcomer did. I then opened my eyes and stopped imagining the mental ease of the obstacle course. Taking another deep breath, I propelled myself towards the first wall. But as I approached it, I stuttered on my hooves a little, tried to vault over with little confidence, and fell flat on my face in a patch of wet mud. I quickly gave up afterwards and told myself these few days are going to be long. Those so-called ‘guts’ had betrayed me at the moment I didn’t want it to happen. Unfortunately I had to take another shower to remove the mud covering my body. For the rest of the day I had to wear the dirty clothes until I could find a washer. Speaking of messes, I had to go and clean up the mess hall. I dragged a broom across the floor, sweeping up the remains of apparently well-cooked meals into a large bag, tied the bag up and threw it into a disposal unit. The other step came as using a damp mop to make the floor cleaner than before. By the time I finished struggling away at making the place look spick-and-span, a translucent reflection watched me from below, smiling at the small victory we shared on this day. An alarm bell sounded from one of the walls, and a crowd of assorted ponies piled into the room, leaving my work unappreciated. Either way, I didn’t take it to heart too much as my stomach had me preoccupied. I deserved a bit of food to compensate my work. I lined up, tray in hooves, and shuffled my way towards the array of different edible products of mostly fruits and vegetables, grass and a huge bowl of soup. Or gruel, upon closer inspection. I happened to receive the gruel. The complementary apple hit me as a nice touch though. I sat on the end of a random bench and began eating silently with my head faced down. The gruel became too terrible tasting to bear, so I moved on to the refreshing apple. Nothing can beat the fruit of the gods. I almost thought of taking a bite just to spite my background overseers. I soon left the table and moved on to the next task of the day. In the gymnasium I searched for a pair of fairly lightweight dumbbells and got to work curling my forelegs after the pre-training stretch. I looked around the room, seeing much more able-bodied ponies galloping on treadmills, pulling handlebars down or up from weight machines, lifting barbells, and playing basketball on the court separate from the other strength and cardiovascular trainers. The dumbbells I held were too light for me, so I swapped them for something more fitting to meet my standard of weight lifting. What did I get myself into? Taking the role of a royal guard...could it be worth it? Would it really suit me? The chance of finding something else menial, I might have found something, someday. At least I’d be seeing Opare a bit more. She was the only family I had. Or at least close to the bloodline. But would I be fulfilling what I want in life? Then I realised. I don’t have any major goal in life. Directionless from the start, I could admit. But somehow, I made it here after all this time. Did the gods have a hand in guiding me? No, I didn’t want to agree with that. The ‘divine entities’ were never on my side. My foreleg muscles began to cramp and burn in agony of the weighted equipment, so I put the dumbbells down and stopped that section of my day from continuing. The track stood just outside the walls of the building I accommodated, so I walked to the oval of painted lines. I didn’t want to mess up after the debacle that happened to me earlier. I had never been much of a trackstar though, so my breath would run out fast when I take to the circuit. Readying myself in a starting position, I steadied my air intake, counted slowly from three to one, and sped off at a galloping pace. I had a good start, taking this mock-race practice seriously until I hit a snag, which happened to be my lack of fitness. I should have taken Applejack’s training more to heart, if only I had the time. I lay on the bed, tired from a day of actual work. At least I did one thing right today, which entailed cleaning a dirty floor. The other mares in the bunker wanted nothing to do with me, as most of them took to sleeping already or talked in their small groups. The green pony from before happened to be in the same room as me, but she didn’t take any notice of my existence. Contemplating staying longer at this compound, I rolled onto my side. If I wanted to impress the princess and show my competence I had to train hard here, and become the best that I could be. It had been long since I took my role in the military, so the skills I owned lost their refined quality, much to my mind’s disagreement. The best fighting talent I had involved the drunken style; nothing more. I now had a goal. I wanted my old skills back. But this time I would put them to good use. Proving myself to be good would put an end to the past I used to live. I’ve tried already, but it felt terrible because of how worn out and frail I held up afterwards, like the time I fought off those bullies from the young cheerilee. I pulled it off, but I didn’t recover well. Now I thought of striving to become fit, to make an actual role of being a protector. I fell into a slumber with a smile on my face. Tomorrow would approach, and then I could make a name for myself. At least in my mind anyway. *Princess Opare’s POV* After a few hours of studying ancient magic, I took my leave from the research room and walked to one of the large balconies facing Canterlot, where Princess Luna resided. “Good evening, Miss Luna,” I announced as a whisper to the alicorn of midnight. “Oh, hello Opare. Is anything troubling you?” she kindly asked me, through her usual habit at any night I joined her. I exhaled with a pleasant smirk. “Everything is well in the castle, along the streets below us, and across the flowing rivers. I cannot sense any disturbances in the balance.” “That is good. So tell me, what brings you here?” the mare with the flowing cobalt mane questioned further. “I wished to get some fresh air. I do not have the same responsibility as you do, so I am usually stuck reading texts from long ago and such. You are a lucky student of mine, getting to see the sights and rule over the lands.” I chuckled in a reserved fashion. “You ruled over before we, your highness,” Luna replied with a sarcastic, but light-hearted tone. “Ah, that is correct. But in my old age, it has become difficult to remember those times.” I shook my head. My time had reached a certain period where it began to run out. I knew my days were numbered, but I accepted that. “I am glad I could pass down my knowledge to a mare much more able than I had ever been.” “Opare! Please do not talk in futility. You are still here, so do not speak ill of yourself. Spirit must be kept high.” “I apologise for bringing you down. But everypony must go someday. Even if they have perfected the life-extending spell. I have never used it, just to inform you. I wanted to live an honest life, I can suppose.” “I know you wouldn’t use dark magic such as that; only study it.” We stay silent for a while with the conversation ended. Looking up to the stars, I watched the balls of fire twinkle in the night sky. But then I noticed something. Something unpredicted. “The stars. They are misaligned tonight.” “What does that mean, my mentor?” “Something terrible is coming. Tomorrow, we must collaborate with the other Princesses and warn them of what is to come. I cannot tell what it may be, but we must all prepare. The future is going to bring a wicked, world-ending catastrophe.” *Blue’s POV, a few days later* “Hey, fillyfooler! What are you still doin’ round here?! Get lost!” The white maned pony held me up against the brick wall. Her cronies laughed behind her. “What happened to don’t ask, don’t tell?” I returned, innocently enough. “It don’t matter when I’m talkin’. Now, why don’t you get outta here while you still got the chance?” The mare with the scar on her cheek held me up tighter. “You don’t scare me, whoever you are. How about giving me your name?” “Yeah, it’s blow off.” “Nice to meet you, Blow Off, I’m Electric Blue. You can call me Blue for short.” “You ain’t kiddin’, huh? Well if you ain’t scared of me, why don’t you give me a kiss? We get awful lonely around here, and you’re into that kinda trash.” “No thanks.” The still nameless pony tried to lean in towards my face, but I had enough room to dodge. “C’mon, you know you wanna, you filthy fillyfooler!” She tried again, but failed. A couple of attempts later, I perked up. “Hey, how about you earn my love? Let’s compete in the ring for it. If you win a fight against me, you can do whatever you want with me. Your friends can too. After all, you’re all in desperate need of release, right?” She paused for a moment to consider. “Sure...fine. I ain’t like that, but you’ll be like a piece of flesh to us.” She slowly unpinned me from the wall. “Don’t worry, I won’t put up a fight, I know how it is.” We made our way to the boxing ring, all the while she and her gang wailed insults at me. They didn’t do anything to affect me though; they’ve all been underestimating me. I’ve been working as hard as possible since day two. The boxing matches I signed up to have brought out the best in my hoof to hoof combat abilities as well. We both stepped into the ring contained in a dimly lit room apart from the square we stood on. On her side, the roughneck mare pumped herself up and received support from the crowd of her friends. On my side I summed up my previous matches in my mind, and thought up a plan of attack. We stood on our hind legs only, something we had been trained to do now. “Three, two...one...fight!” shouted a random pony in the background. We immediately removed the space between us and bopped each other on the nose once or twice. The gloves were literally off, as we fought with our bare hooves this time. She tried fighting dirty and turned to buck me in the stomach, but I caught one of her legs and threw it back down. I waited for her to turn back, and gave her a left hook to the ribs, as hard as I could. This winded the lime pony for a while. I gave her a fair time to recover, making her take a quick swing at me, catching my jaw. I reeled back, but returned with a jab directly to the chest. We were both sluggers, throwing the hardest punches and being slow about it. I had to step up my game. I tried getting closer, but I took a wave of jabs to my chin for it. However, I could absorb the punishment. My only thought became speed, so I countered massively by giving my opponent a barrage of hooks and uppercuts to the face and body, varying rapidly and putting all the power able to use in a swift punch. I finished my combination with a much slower, but mighty uppercut to the face, causing her to fall onto her back in a daze. The count brought itself to five before she rose up again. Halfway to ten, so I could be close, I thought. After each punch I got hit with, I began to feel worn out. But I didn’t want to go down. I summoned my anger and used it to my advantage, retaliating with a jab, cross, jab, cross, repeating until I felt like using a haymaker, punching from a wide angle to the side of the other fighter’s face. Almost falling, I finished her off with a disorienting uppercut to the stomach, then hooked the other side of her face, sending the pony flying downwards. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...nine...nine...nine?” The background pony returned with the count, but she had been rooting for my opposition, so she didn’t want her to lose. “Ten...” she finally confessed. I put my forehoof out to the downed mare as the others walked away in disapproval. The straight-haired mare took it reluctantly, and I helped her up. “You still want that kiss?” I asked sincerely. “Nah, nah that’s alright...just, just go, I won’t touch you again,” the mare told me, with some form of sadness projected in her voice. My habit came to be never celebrating a winning fight, just congratulating the other side with utmost respect and walking from the ring quietly. I didn’t want to prove any sort of point either with the match that happened just then; I knew she didn’t have such a grudge over me anymore. If anything though, I hoped for a friendly rivalry at the least from her. I took my leave to retire to my quarters for the day after complaining about my bruises a little bit.