Silver Lining sprinted down the cobblestone street that led up to the royal castle, his saddle bags threatening to fall off. The buildings passed were but a blur and the civilians shouted at him as he deftly maneuvered around them. He took a quick glance at the sun in the center of the sky and had one simple thought: I'm going to be late!
As he closed in on the castle he could see a pony walking into the gate, he couldn't make out details but he could tell it was the captain of the Royal Guard.
"Wait!" Silver shouted out. "I'm here, I'm here!" The Captain turned around as Silver Lining stopped, panting, in front of the gate, giving him a scrutinizing look.
The Captain was a pure white unicorn stallion with a long blue mane. He was wearing his purple guard armor, and gave off a strong, yet welcoming presence.
"It's about time you showed up, I was about to go in." He said once Silver stopped panting.
"Sorry about that, I don't have an excuse for being late." Silver confessed, hoping that he would still get a chance to interview for the Royal Guard.
"That might have something to do with you running, when you could have easily flew here." The Captain deadpanned, causing Silver to blush and shift his wings.
"Yeah, I can see how that could have gotten me out of this type of predicament." Silver replied scratching the back of his neck and gave a small, nervous chuckle.
"Well at least you arrived, but when your on duty, I won't be so lenient." Silver breathed a sigh of relief as the captain smirked. "Well as you can see, the other Cadets have already been sent ahead, and are now waiting in the barracks. I'll bring you there now, if you would follow me." Silver gave him a brisk nod before the captain turned around, and walked through the gate.
The castle grounds was wide and open, mostly filled with beautiful flowers and trees. The two stallions walked down a path that led towards the back of the castle. As they walked Silver noticed that the numbers of flowers and trees dwindled till it was only grass. He considered asking the Captain about it, but decided that it wasn't really important, and didn't want to waste the Captain's time anymore.
The back of the castle was a large boot camp, there were buildings against the castle walls and the walls surrounding the castle. There was a large space in between the rows of buildings that Silver assumed to be some sort of training grounds. He could also see another gate in the back wall that opened to a path that led up the mountain.
Well this'll be fun...
"Welcome to The Guard." The Captain said with a small smile on his face, before trotting to one of the buildings next to the castle, with Silver in tow.
When the Captain opened the doors Silver noticed that there was at least thirty other ponies in the building, and all had turned to look at the new arrivals. The building was obviously a Barracks, due to most of the ponies sitting on beds.
"Cadets, get into formation." The Captain ordered and all the Cadets formed a strait line, Silver included. "Now then, I want you to take a look around, because these ponies are your brothers and sisters for the next three months, so get along. You will be expected to be physically and mentally prepared for anything that comes your way. Your Drill Instructor has been instructed to test that anyway he can, however don't worry if you fail those tests, it is not required to complete your training. Now, if you have any questions, ask me now, if you ask your Drill Instructor you'll probably get your asses kicked." Only one pony raised her hoof, she was a white unicorn with a flowing mane of gold. "Yes?"
"If the physical and mental tests are not required, is there another reason for them?" The question made the Captain smile.
"Clever, that is true, however I can't tell you that reason. What is your name, Cadet?"
"Sparkling Sunset, sir." The Captain only nodded before turning his attention to the rest of the cadets.
"Any other questions?" No one else raised their hoof. "Alright, today you should get to know the other ponies you see here, tomorrow you will start your training bright and early." With nothing else to say, the Captain left the Barracks, and everyone broke off from the line and went back to what they were doing before. Silver went to the far corner of the barracks, where only a few ponies were, to find a bed that had not already been taken. Ironically enough, the only one not taken was the corner bed, but that was fine for him, he had always liked being in a corner.
Silver put his saddle bags down next to the bed and started moving things into his foot locker and small nightstand. He pulled a mirror out of the bags and placed it on top of the night stand, taking a quick look at himself.
Silver was half a head taller than most ponies, and sported a dark grey coat with a long, pitch black mane, the only color in it was a streak of silver down the length of it. On his head was a black fedora, which he removed with a sigh and put on the dresser, and he had dark red eyes that seemed to stare into your soul.
Finished unpacking, Silver took a look around the Barracks, the only pony he recognized was the unicorn who asked the question, who was surrounded by stallions. He snorted at how, even in boot camp, some guys were hornier than a minotaur. Not really caring to talk to anyone, he sat down on the bed, which he noticed was partially in the shadows, causing him to smile.
I really lucked out on this bed, wonder why no one wanted it. Maybe they're afraid of the shadows? Eh, not unjustified with recent events. Silver mused as he sat, not noticing the unicorn stallion approach.
"Hey man, why you sitting here alone? You should be mingling, I mean, you heard the man, were stuck with each other for three months." He said, pulling Silver out of his thoughts. The stallion was a light yellow color, with a wild mane of orange, that sort of looked like fire... sort of.
"Well I figure, if we have three months, I can get to know you better through training. Besides i sprinted halfway across the city this morning, I'm tired." Silver replied, causing the stallion to chuckle. "What?"
"You ran here when you could have just flown." He answered with a grin.
"That's what the Captain said!" Silver threw his hooves up in exasperation, causing the stallion to laugh harder. "I'm done." Silver deadpanned, and fell back onto the bed, his upper half in shadows.
"Come on man, don't be like that. I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you." The stallion said, making silver roll his eyes. "C'mon man, come out of the shadows, its kinda creepy." Silver sighed and sat up again and gave the stallion an annoyed look. "Okay, good, how about we start over? My name is Burning Clash, but you can call me Burn." He held out his hoof, which Silver shook.
"Silver Lining."
"Good, maybe now we can be friends." Burn said with a smile.
"Sure, I guess having a friend in the oncoming shit storm would help."
"That's the spirit!" He said happily and jumped on the bed across from him. "Good thing I chose this bed, right?" Silver just rolled his eyes.
This'll be more interesting than I thought.
~-~
Silver Lining was awoken by a loud shout, but couldn't make out the word. Deciding to find out what interrupted his blissful sleep, he got up and saw the other cadets getting out of bed and getting into formation. Catching the drift, Silver hopped out of bed and took his position at the end of the line, next to Burn, shaking his head to get the drowsiness out. When he saw the large pony walking up and down the line, inspecting the cadets, he quickly got into the position of attention. The pony was a unicorn stallion who had a light blue coat and a tan mane, the stallion looked more like buffalo with his large build.
"My name is Drill Sergeant Heavy Hoof, but you will only refer to me as Sir, DO I MAKE MY SELF CLEAR!?" Everyone gave him a stiff nod. "You probably heard all the stories about the hard ass drill instructors always yelling, and always pissy, right?" Another series of nods. "I am not one of those guys, however I WILL NOT take and SHIT from ANY of you, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"
"Yes, Sir." The cadets replied.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?"
"YES, SIR!" They said again, louder.
"That's better. From now on you will wake at five in the morning, no complaints. If I have to come in and wake you, you'll be doing dishes for a week, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"
"YES, SIR!"
"There are alarm clocks on your nightstands, I suggest you use them. When you get up at five, you will go outside and run the course that has been set up. You will do that until I come to get you at seven, that's two hours for the meat heads in the group. Now, you will set the alarm on your clocks and then go to the course, I will see you in two hours." With that Heavy Hoof left the Barracks. Burn let out a sigh of relief and turned to Silver with a smile.
"Man, I'm surprised no one got chewed out yet, either the others know what their doing, or the Sergeant was right about being nicer." The unicorn said as they went to set their clocks.
"I dunno man, I feel like it's a ruse so that we let our guard down." Silver replied finished setting his clock and headed for the door.
"What makes you say that?" A voice said behind them. They turned around to find the beautiful white unicorn from before.
"Why are you here?" Silver asked.
"I live here too." She deadpanned.
"I know that, I meant why are you talking to us instead of heading for the course?"
"I am, we are both headed there. I just overheard what you were talking about and got curious."
"About my theory?"
"Yeah are you usually this slow?" She asked as they exited the Barracks together, following the group of ponies to the course.
"It would seem to be that way." Silver deadpanned, causing Sparkling Sunset to giggle.
"Anyway, what makes you think its a ruse?"
"Well when you asked about the whole random tests thing, I got thinking, what would they do. since it's purpose is secret i can't really know, but i can make educated guesses, and I think the tests are going to be subtle, such as what you would do in a situation. So if the tests are meant to determine your physical and mental states, it wouldn't be to far of a stretch for them to test our trust." Sparkling Sunset was quiet as they arrived at the course. It looked like something out of a military movie, tires, mud with barbwire, walls, balance beams, it had everything, and they were to run it for two hours a day, for three months.
"You really think they would do something like that on the first day?" Sparkling Sunset asked as the three ponies began to run the course.
"Can't say for sure, but it's a possibility." He said as they got to the tires.
"Well, I must compliment you on your apparent intelligence, I thought you were another dumbass like the rest of the stallions here, glad to see i was wrong." She looked over to Burn on Silver's other side, who looked completely lost in their conversation and was trying to block out their talk. "Though, it appears he falls in their category." She stated as they cleared the balance beams.
"Yeah, I never got that hidden genius vibe from him." He said making them laugh, Burn noticed this and got confused.
"Hey, wh-what I miss? Why are you laughing? I want to laugh too." He said causing the two to laugh harder.
"Nothing Burns, it's nothing." Silver said when their laughing subsided and then realized he never introduced himself. "Hey, I forgot to tell you my name, It's Silver Lining."
"Sparkling Sunset, but you may call me Sunset." She replied with a smile.
"Sparky it is then!" She gave him an unamused look but said nothing more as they continued their run.
~-~
Just like the Drill Sergeant had said, he had returned to retrieve them at seven, and had ordered the Cadets to follow him. The large guard led the ponies to a large building on the wall side of the grounds, a sign above stated that it was the Cafeteria.
"Alright, Cadets, I see that you have worked the last two hours so I will allow you all to have breakfast before we continue. You have twenty minutes, so get eating."
"Yes, Sir!" The Cadets said before forming a line at the service area.
Silver had gotten a plate of pancakes and orange juice, and sat down at one of the many tables. Burn and Sunset sat next to him, having mostly the same food except for the addition of two pieces of toast for Burn. They ate in silence so that they could be sure that they had finished by the time Heavy Hoof came back.
~-~
By the time the Drill Sergeant had let the Cadets off for the day, he had already kicked out seven ponies due to unending physical labor the stallion put them through. Surprisingly enough Sunset hadn't been kicked out and had been keeping up with the other cadets, and Silver had to commend her for breaking the sexist stereotypes. That did not mean, however that she wasn't tired, in fact the Cadets looked more like zombies. The only stallion with a smile still on his faces was Burn.
"Why are you smiling like an idiot, aren't you even a little tired?" Sunset questioned when they sat down in the Barracks.
"Meh." Burn said simply, preferring to lay down on his bed, and the two could soon hear snores coming from the unicorn.
"Seems he was more tired than he let on." Silver said with a small smirk.
"Yeah, well, I think we should take his idea. If we're going through this hell again tomorrow we need all the sleep we can get, so I'm going to turn in early, I suggest you do the same." She said standing up.
"Yeah, in a little bit." Silver said before getting up and leaving the Barracks. He looked around to see that the Drill Sergeant was walking in his direction. Silver approached the unicorn and saluted.
"At ease. What is it that you need?" The stallion asked with a bored expression.
"Sir, I was wondering if I was still able to run the course at this hour." As soon as the words left his mouth the Drill Sergeants eyes brightened in curiosity.
"And why would you want to do that? I would have thought you would have been tired out from what I've done to you today." He asked.
"Because, I feel that as long as I can train, I will train."
"Why do you feel that way, Cadet?"
"Because, I want to make sure the citizens of Equestria have the best defense they can have, even if that means subjecting myself to rigorous training." Silver said and the large unicorn grew a small smile.
"What is your name, Cadet?"
"Silver Lining, Sir."
"Well then, Silver Lining, let me tell you that is a very noble cause. However I am not able to let you tire yourself out, because if you do, then you wont have energy for tomorrow, do you understand?"
"I understand, Sir."
"Good, now I suggest you rest, won't be good if you get kicked out tomorrow, now would it?" He said with a wink.
"No, Sir, thank you for your consideration." With another quick salute Silver Lining turned and went back to the Barracks to get some sleep.