[Blazing's Entry]
Do NOT mess up even more today!
Do NOT mess up even more today!
Do NOT mess up even more today!
Do not do what?
Mess up any more today, sir!
Good.
[End Entry]
The relief from pleasure caused by hot water splashing on my back washes away the bad taste of today. It's a little piece of heaven, a moment to enjoy, with nopony and nothing able to ruin it and even time itself gives me a short break and I have enough precious minutes not to have to rush to my office before my evening lesson begins. Unfortunately, I have to leave this paradise eventually and don my increasingly heavy silver armor and head out to the training grounds.
Some of the recruits are already there, standing around and chatting, and I'm glad to see Rising's ponies join in conversation with my unicorns. Perhaps the rivalry didn't continue after this morning? When they see me coming they hastily get in formation. I just wave them away.
"At ease! We still have some five minutes."
I don't need enhanced hybrid senses to know they are looking at my bruised face and dents in my natural plating, only partially covered by Nightguard armor. The earthponies don't mention anything, perhaps out of fear of something like this morning repeating but the unicorns begin spinning theories which I try to overhear after I lay down on the ground and adjust my helmet.
"Perhaps the mare from earlier came back for him and beat him with a chair."
Unless the chair was made of steel and held by a dragon I doubt that would work.
"No no, she's a unicorn in disguise and cursed him. Don't look at me like that, even batponies have a little magic despite not having horns."
That one's news to me. Perhaps I should ask Choking about that.
"Nonsense! Nopony can beat him like that, perhaps he insulted one of the princesses."
I'm not a frog and neither a pile of ashes so that one's also a bit far-fetched.
"Humans! Humans with their big 'hands'!"
That might be too much to swallow even for the less mentally endowed of recruits.
"There is no such thing as a hue man. Lobsters! Giant lobsters!"
I grin but suddenly there's nothing but silence, has my helmet slipped back?
"Sleepin' on the job, eh?"
In silence and comfort I forget for a second where I am.
"Not again, you walking redmane headache."
Ehm. Ehm.
Crap. My helmet drops on the ground as I try to get up and clutch my chest when the fireworks in my ribs begin. She watches me fight to stay standing and eventually picks up my helmet, puts it on my head and tightens the straps. Then comes the finishing blow.
"Now be a good colt and play with the other kids."
Well, I'm not going down this easy.
"Yes, grandma Choking!" I say and salute to suddenly physically sick Choking. One day I will ask about the name.
Too bad my victory is short-lived as she points to her face visibly enough for the recruits to catch her drift.
"Don't get too full of yourself," I mumble.
She just raises an eyebrow, a gesture she learned from me and which I learned from Sharp Biscuit.
"Nothing, ma'am!" I say and salute.
Then a singsong whisper, one of those whispers that reach even the back lines of everypony, comes from one of the recruits.
"Whiiiiipped!"
"Ten laps around the grounds, smartass!" I yell at the still laughing joker but it's almost drowned in the collective outburst of everypony else.
"WOOOORTH IIIT!" he screams as he begins running.
We begin our exercises. It's pretty obvious Choking's here to make sure nothing like this morning repeats itself. I thank the princesses for that because a short while after we begin the mare responsible for my blowing up comes to view, with crutches and bandages. Is that my fault?
Of course it is.
I bite my lip as the shame hits again. She really didn't deserve it just for being cheeky and her state excuses all pain Choking inflicted on me at the gym. If that's what my irresponsible behavior lead to then I deserved to have all my bones ground to dust. My batpony friend rushes to her.
"Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to stay in the infirmary for a while."
The mare ignores her and limps directly towards me.
"I'm sorry for my behavior this morning but I still want to prove myself to you," she says with a determined look.
"What happened to you?" I ask despite having a pretty good idea.
"Accident."
"What happened to you?" I growl at her and she takes a step back. A hoof on my back tells me that this line of questioning shouldn't be pursued so I try a different approach.
"You can't do much in that shape," I start over.
"With all due respect, you don't look better, sir."
"Even Celestia would grow old waiting for me to look better but you look as if a cow chewed you up. On top of that I don't think you actually stand a chance against anypony here."
"Let me handle this, your guys are ready to begin," interrupts me Choking.
I leave to give the recruits orders but Choking has no idea how good my hearing is so I take off my helmet and listen to their conversation while doing exercises.
"Unless you want your 'friends' to die in an alley somewhere you won't mention to Blaze what happened behind the barracks. You shouldn't have come and stirred things up," says Choking in a very unusual aggressive tone.
Does even she believe I would do something like that? Do I believe I wouldn't?
"I just didn't want to miss an opportunity to practice with him. He's sort of a legend around here, the top of combat skills in the entire guard."
Great, looks like I've got a fanclub for some reason.
"Legend?"
"He's supposed to have fought off hundreds of changelings during the invasion. He's a hero but my father seems to dislike him and I don't know why."
I'm not a hero. Everypony fought as well as they were able to that day and we would have lost anyway if it weren't for princess Cadence. I wonder how she would react to knowing that my involvement actually made the invasion possible. I wonder how everypony would react because that is still a secret between me, Shining Armor, his wife, Choking, Sharp and Heavy. Now that I think of it, that's almost everypony I know.
"Who's your father?"
"Rising Thunder. He's a trainer here as well. My name is Rolling Thunder."
Mystery of Rising's increased hatred for me is explained. Anypony would be annoyed if they had to listen to some glorified nonsense at home, especially since Rising was there as well.
"Strange name for a girl," comments Choking.
She's the one to talk.
"My father wanted a boy and didn't bother changing the name."
The bitterness which reaches levels of my own can't be missed in Rolling's voice. Guess that her proving herself to me is connected with her trying to prove herself to her father, I can relate. Still, she's years away from failing every single expectation the parents put on their child just like I did.
"Blaze is no hero. It's true that we were one of about three places which held off the invasion long enough but it was thanks to everypony there."
Thanks, I suppose? Who would have thought that listening on other ponies' conversations could mean hearing stuff, boo hoo.
"Including you?" asks Rolling.
Heh. Now it's your turn to answer, big hero Choking Darkness.
"Totally. You should have seen the piles of changeling corpses that had to be dragged away so they could send more at me. Just kidding."
"Then why does my father hate him? Is it because he looks a bit like a changeling?"
A bit? Bigger, recolored, with normal eyes, mane and tail. I'm surprised ponies don't grab their flyswatters when I pass them.
"Are you here to talk or practice?" tries Choking to divert the train of questions.
Oh come on! Tell her that her idol is the one responsible for all the guard suicides and breakdowns.
"Practice, miss."
"Good. Remember that and go rest," says Choking sharply.
"But-"
"That's an order. I know what shape you were in when I found you and you are lucky to be walking. You also may have noticed that everypony who was there with you is absent. Because it was me who found you first they will come back for you probably and you will have to deal with them yourself."
"But-"
"But nothing! I will not waste Blaze's time with somepony who can't even understand when to shut up and just obey. You can keep practicing in your dad's group or, when you're okay again, you can come to me and I will teach you enough not to make an ass of yourself when you ask Blaze to kick ten kinds of crap outta you," she ends up almost in a hiss.
"Yes, miss Darkness. Thank you."
Rolling Thunder begins limping back to the castle and I shift my focus fully to the recruits. Choking walks up to me when the lesson is over.
"Sorry for earlier."
"I deserved it."
"No, you didn't. I overdid it."
"Yes, I did. That girl looked worse than you after a wild evening. Free plastic surgery was the least I deserved."
"Keep talking like that and you'll get another go."
"Who would take over your shift if you did that? Also, I will tie your legs in a knot next time."
"You got me there. I have a peace offering though. Why don't you sleep a while in my office? I have a soft couch so you don't have to walk home before you start."
"Thanks. That would help but only if you promise not to ravage me while I'm asleep."
"Tempting but I won't be there. The Nightmare Night party starts in an hour so I'll go home and get ready."
"Have fun."
"With a bunch of drunk, sexy and probably rich stallions around me? It's gonna be an all-you-can-eat buffet. I wouldn't miss it for the world and I have you to thank for it."
"Yea yea... shouldn't you be slapping on some makeup or something?"
Choking sticks out her tongue and leaves towards her perfect evening.