//------------------------------//
// What Makes a Mare 
// Story: Dominant Species 
// by DarkPhoenix 
//------------------------------//

	Chapter 11: What Makes a Mare

Twilight ran, her hooves thudding along the dirt track. Her lungs burned with a need for air as her breath came in deep gasps. The muscles in her legs ached. Sweat ran down her body, matting her coat and mane. She wanted with every fiber of her being to stop, or slow down. Yet there was a voice, shouting at her to keep moving, to go faster.

Through panting breaths, she looked around her. At various spots on the track were her friends. Midnight was darting between them, shouting either encouragement, or urging them to do better.

It was the third day of their training, and so far each day had started the same: they ran. Just after breakfast, they came outside to the track. The first day, Midnight had told them that they were to run. Since they were each starting at a different level, they set their own pace, so long as they ran and didn’t stop until she told them they could.

So Twilight had started running. Living the life of a scholar meant that she never did too much physical activity, unless she was out with her friends. Being friends with ponies like Rainbow Dash and Applejack had helped to keep her more in shape than most scholars, but she still wasn’t in tip-top condition like them. Thus, the running began to take it’s toll much sooner. 

Midnight flew over to her, landing and running alongside her. Despite the captain being right there alongside each of them, she was barely even breathing hard. “You’re doing good, Twilight,” she said. Unable to say anything and still have the breath necessary to move, Twilight just nodded.

“You feeling tired?” Another nod. “You want to stop?” Another nod. “Well, we’re almost done. Just give me five more minutes. But you’d better be sprinting for those five minutes or you’ll be out here for another twenty.”

If she had the ability to do so, Twilight would have sighed. Everyday so far it had been the same. They would run and run, until the last bit, when Midnight would get them to stop running and start sprinting. She knew it was futile to argue with the thestral, so instead she lowered her head, focusing only on the few meters of track right in front of her. Summoning up her flagging strength, she increased her pace.

“Good,” Midnight said. “Keep this up, just another few minutes.” Twilight heard a rustle of wings, meaning the captain had moved on. Indeed, a moment later she could be heard shouting at Rarity to pick up the pace.

The thestral was certainly an odd pony when it came to encouragement. She would start out being nice, like she had just been with Twilight herself. But if you slacked or fell behind, that would be dropped instantly and she would turn into a drill sergeant, shouting and barking at you until you stepped up.

Twilight ran, not knowing just how much time was passing. All she knew was that she needed to keep moving, unless she wished to feel the lash of Midnight’s tongue. She’d heard the captain shouting at Rainbow several times now, and knew that she never wanted to be on the receiving end of that.

Finally, she heard Midnight call for them to stop. From her experience the first day, and some helpful hints from the thestral, she knew that just outright halting was a bad idea. She needed to gradually slow down, give her muscles time to adjust to not working so hard anymore. So bit by bit, she slowed her pace, until she was walking on shaky legs.

With uncertain steps, she turned off the track, heading towards the center where Midnight sat, waiting for them. As soon as she got there, she was given a canteen of water. Greedily, she gulped down the contents of the canteen, pausing only to take in more panted breaths.

When they were all there, Midnight addressed them. “Overall, you did a good job this morning. Some of you need to pick up the pace, push yourselves more. You’ll never improve if you don’t push yourselves.” She stood up. “Now come on, follow me.”

Twilight knew better than to argue for a rest. Rarity had done so on the first day and it had ended when Midnight had forced her to spend the rest of the morning running.

Midnight led them over to the training circle where only a few days prior, they had started this whole thing. Waiting for them were half a dozen mixed members of both the Crystal and Lunar Guards. Twilight had an inkling of just what they were about to do.

The previous two days, they’d done something different after running. The first day, it was stretching and working with weights. The second day they had done more physical exercises.

The thestral sat down just inside the circle, indicating that they should sit outside it. “I’ve invited some of the others from the guard to be here this morning. They’ll be helping you. Today, you learn about hoof-to-hoof combat.”

“We’re what?” Rarity asked, shocked.

“How to fight up close and personal. Each of you are getting a crash course in it. This is the third and final thing we’ll be rotating through in the mornings.” Midnight looked at Fluttershy. “What about you? Are you willing to learn how to defend yourself?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No. I don’t want to fight.”

The thestral sighed. “Are you certain? You’ll only be making things harder for your friends like this.”

“I’m certain,” Fluttershy responded.

Twilight looked back and forth between them. Everyday, they had this same argument. Midnight was constantly trying to get Fluttershy to learn how to fight, and the pegasus was always saying no. Twilight could tell that it was getting on Midnight’s nerves.

“Very well,” Midnight said. “You and Private Aurora will sit on the sidelines. Private, you will at least talk to Fluttershy, explain things to her as you watch. Fluttershy, you will watch, but you will also be doing some exercises. You don’t get a free pass.”

One of the guard ponies moved off to the side, Fluttershy going to join her. Once they were gone, Midnight spoke up. “As for the rest of you, you’ll be paired off with a guard, and you will be learning and practicing how to fight.”

She motioned them into the circle. “However, just because you’re learning doesn’t mean that this’ll be easy. The guards have been instructed to take things slow, but they will be tossing you about. It’s how you learn.”

Twilight found herself standing across from Corporal Steel. He was an earth pony of the Crystal Guard. He smiled at her. “It’s a pleasure to work with you, ma’am.”

“Um, likewise?” Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that. This stallion knew that probably within moments he would be hurting her, yet he somehow seemed almost starstruck at working with her.

“Okay,” Midnight said. “Today we’ll begin by working on some basic holds. I’ll demonstrate which one I want you to work on, and then you’ll each get right into it.”

She selected Rainbow’s partner for the demonstration. Twilight tried to watch what happened, but to her it looked like one moment, they were facing each other, then the next there was a flurry of limbs and Midnight had the pony pinned to the ground, holding onto her foreleg and pulling on it painfully.

When Rainbow’s partner had gotten herself up and back into position, Midnight told them to begin.

“So, what was that?” Twilight asked.

“Here, let me show you,” Steel said. He moved forward, slowly. His head came up under hers and into her chest. “You want to start by gaining some leverage. From here, I can lift up and—” Twilight felt herself being lifted off her hooves. Steel twisted his body so that she landed in the dirt on her side. It didn’t hurt so much as it surprised her.

“From here,” Steel explained, “you want to grab their top forehoof with both of yours.” He did just that, holding onto her hoof. “Then you just let yourself fall over.” He fell onto his back. “From here, you twist the foreleg and pull on it.” Twilight felt a wrenching sensation as he did just that, though not painfully so.

He continued to hold onto her. “The point of this is to either cause pain in your adversary, or you can even take their shoulder out of its socket.” It was with a sense of relief that Twilight felt him release her.

They stood up, facing each other again. “Try it on me,” he said. “I’ll coach you through it.”

Twilight tried to mimic what Steel had done to her. He was much heavier than her, so her attempts to lift him were laughable, but he obliged and moved as he should, after correcting her a few times, telling her to use her shoulders, not her neck. It took her several tries, but she was finally able to execute a decent hold on him.

When they tried again, she kept getting better and faster at it. She still lacked the muscle mass required to lift him up and toss him like he had her, but she could at least knock him off-balance. Midnight observed them for a few minutes, breaking in and explaining things when she deemed it necessary.

Throughout the rest of the morning, they practiced several different holds and throws. When Twilight questioned Steel about why these seemed like annoyances, rather than a technique for taking out an opponent, he chuckled.

“Not all fighting is about killing,” he explained. “When both you and your opponent have lost their weapons and you’re down to scrapping with your hooves, it’s less about killing and more about disabling. The goal there is to render your opponent unable to move. A Guard’s job is to protect, meaning that sometimes it’s required for us to kill. But most of the time we simply need to disable somepony. So we learn both.”

Twilight nodded. That made sense to her. Taking an opponent out of a fight didn’t necessarily mean they had to die. She was glad the guard practiced restraint when forced to subdue unruly ponies.

Finally, as the sun reached it’s zenith in the sky, Midnight called a halt. “Take an hour for lunch,” she said. “Eat, rest, and then report to your trainers for the afternoon.”

Everypony nodded, Twilight thanking Steel for his help. Giving a longing look at the palace, Twilight joined her friends in heading for the barracks. The very first day of training, Midnight had banned them from the palace. They took their meals in the mess hall of the barracks, and had cots set up for them in there as well.

None of them had taken that revelation very well. Rarity had argued rather vehemently about not being able to access a proper bed and showers. Midnight had shrugged and informed them that it was either the cots and communal showers, or the dirt outside and no showers.

The fashionista had continued to argue, saying that she was ready to go through with the training, but she was not going to give up her bed. The thestral had countered by forcing Rarity to sleep outside, under the watchful eye of one of her Guard to ensure she didn’t slip away.

Needless to say, Twilight had learned that arguing with Midnight was usually a bad idea. The thestral was generally somewhat nice, encouraging and pushing them. However, slack off or argue, and she immediately became a brutal taskmaster, perfectly willing to make them suffer for it. Yet it never felt like she was being unduly harsh. The punishments were always in response to somepony doing something they shouldn’t.

Lunch was spent in the mess hall. The cooks working there offered up whatever they had cooked for the day, there was no choice. Though, it was usually bland and tasteless. Twilight wished for the food back in the palace.

They ate mostly in silence, each of them simply resting and recovering from the morning’s physical exhaustions. Other members of the Guard sat at tables around them, conversing amongst themselves.

After lunch, Twilight set her dishes in the window, where the pony on dish duty took them. With a nod to her friends, she left them behind. The afternoons were always spent on individual work. This is where they would focus and hone their strengths.

Twilight headed towards a room, opening the door and heading inside. As always, Sergeant Spellflare was waiting for her. Spellflare was a Lunar Guard unicorn, and according to Midnight, the best spellcaster she had.

“Afternoon, Twilight,” Spellflare said, his voice a deep rumble.

“Sergeant,” she replied.

The room was designed for allowing unicorns to practice their spells. The walls, floor, and ceiling were heavily warded in case of a magical mishap, and this prevented the citizens of the city from seeing the spells going off. Along one wall was a large stack of wooden targets for practicing. One such target already stood in the middle of the room.

Spellflare gestured to the target. “If you could, please demonstrate what we went over yesterday.”

She nodded, lighting up her horn as she gathered her magic, shaping it into the requested spell. Taking aim at the wooden dummy, she unleashed her attack. A thin wave of energy left her horn, flying at the dummy. When it struck, it seemed to pass right through it, continuing on. As it impacted the wall, the wards there flared briefly and the magic was absorbed, being used to power the wards.

The dummy sat there for a moment, before the top half succumbed to gravity, falling over. Spellflare smiled. “Good. That’s an attack that will usually cut them, but with your power you are able to turn it into something much more deadly. You might even be able to hit more than one pony, should they be standing in a line.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what to think once she started learning battle spells. With her innate magical power, she had quickly found that her spells always had their effects become more pronounced than when Spellflare demonstrated them. Thus, when he used that spell, it left a deep divot in the wood. When she used it, she severed the dummy.

It was unnerving. She knew she was strong, but there was a difference between levitating a few dozen books, and watching a piece of wood get cut in half. She could all too easily imagine that being a pony, the look of shock on their face as they realized that their body was no longer in one whole piece, as they fell over and bled, the—

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, seeing Spellflare looking at her. “Your strength is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of,” he said. “You have a gift, what better way to use that gift than for the welfare and safety of others?”

She nodded, banishing the images from her mind. “I know. It’s just that I never wanted to learn this.” Realizing what she said, she hastily corrected herself. “I mean, you’re a wonderful teacher, but...” She trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

“But you grew up around peace,” he said. “You never sought out this life like those of us in the Guard.”

“Yes,” she replied, nodding.

He sat down. “Guard life is tough. You have to be prepared to do the things that normal ponies wouldn’t. Where other ponies run, you stand. Where others would flee, you fight. And where others would live, you die. It’s not a life to be entered into easily. All of us are here because we chose to be.

“You are here because that choice was made for you. I’d be more surprised if you weren’t having doubts.” He smiled at her. “Let me tell you a little secret. Something that has gotten me through my fair share of skirmishes and battles.”

She sat next to him, listening as he continued. “To kill is a choice. Sometimes, it’s the only choice. Yet every time I’ve killed, I knew that I was trading that one life for many others. Each time I’ve been forced to kill something, it’s because there were other lives on the line. By making that choice to not kill, I was putting those lives in danger, and thus failing as a Guard.

“I respect you, Twilight. Even with your doubts, you’re doing everything I ask you. That shows a strength of character not many have. I know that you don’t necessarily want to be here, but still you show up and you push yourself and you work hard. Keep doing that, and know that one day, it will pay off.”

“Thanks, Spellflare,” Twilight said. It may not make her doubts go away, the pep talks, but it certainly made her feel better, knowing that there were others who were on her side. Her friends were all going through the same thing she was, so they can’t support her the same as those who have already been through it.

He stood up. “Now come on, I know how much you like to learn, so I’ve got something new for you today.”

Her curiosity piqued, she looked over at him. “What is it?”

His horn lit up, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see two objects moving away from the wall. It was only as they floated closer that she realized what they were: two swords, encased in their scabbards.

“Swords?”

“Indeed, swords. You’re going to learn how to use one.”

“But, why? Isn’t the whole point of being a spellcaster so that I don’t have to use a sword?”

He tossed one of the swords at her. She caught it in her magic, holding it in front of her. “Sometimes,” he said, “you won’t be able to use your magic beyond basic spells. Other times, using combat spells isn’t feasible. In that case, you’ll still want to be effective in combat. That means using a weapon.”

His sword slid out of the scabbard, the hollow piece of wood being set gently on the floor. Twilight examined the blade. It was shorter than what she usually saw guards carrying, with a thinner blade. This one was dulled, making it ideal for practice.

His magic took hold of the handle. Taking a step back, he swung the sword around him. It was moving so fast that she was only able to keep track of it through the glow on the handle leaving an afterimage as it moved. The dull blade cleaved the air, making a slight whistling sound as it passed.

When he stopped, he held the sword directly in front of him. “Being a spellcaster in the Guard isn’t all about flinging spells at the enemy from the back lines. There are times where you have to get into the thick of it. In those cases, you’ll want something more precise.”

Twilight pulled her own blade out of the scabbard. “So spellcasters use these as well?”

“Not all of them. The type of blade depends on the wielder; it’s a preference thing. I prefer a shorter, thinner blade because I can use it more swiftly and precisely. But all the best spellcasters have a sword or blade around.”

The sword floated to his side. “Now come on, let’s teach you the art of the sword.” With a burst of magic, he cleared away the remains of the wooden dummy, leaving an empty floor. “We’ll start with how to hold it.”

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Twilight was instructed in how to use the sword, from how to hold it, to how to control its direction, to how to change direction at a moment’s notice. By the end of the afternoon, she was covered with sweat and had several new bruises where Spellflare had struck her during a duel. He was of the mind that one learned by doing, so once she knew how to hold and move it, they jumped right into dueling.

By the time she met her friends in the barracks for dinner, she was tired and all she wanted was to finish her meal and head to her cot. Sharing a room with not only her friends but several dozen members of the Guard was something she wasn’t used to, but at this point, if it meant having at least a decently comfortable spot to sleep, she didn’t care.

That was when Midnight decided to ruin the evening.

“You’re not heading back to your cots tonight,” she announced 

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked.

“We don’t know what conditions will be like out there on the road, but it’s safe to say that cots will be in short supply. Beds even more so. To that end, we’re going to practice making camp outside. Report to the training circle in the yard after dinner.”

“No,” Rarity said.

“I’m sorry?” Midnight asked, turning to look at Rarity.

“You heard me,” she began irritably. “I may have submitted to your brutish accommodations here in the barracks,” At this point, the entire mess hall was listening in. “But I draw the line at spending another night out in that dirt infested yard! I am a mare of class!”

The entire room was silent, both at Rarity’s insulting the barracks and their training yard, and at wondering what Midnight was going to do. Even though she was new to the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Guard had learned to respect the thestral. The few Lunar Guard scattered about were smirking, knowing how their Captain wasn’t one to argue with.

Midnight had a small smile on her muzzle. “Is that so?” she asked calmly.

Rarity was still caught up in her tirade. “Yes. I can understand this training, I can understand the barracks and the meals. But I cannot understand the desire to ever sleep outside. It was horrible last time. It will be horrible again. I simply won’t do it.”

By now, Twilight could see both Pinkie and Fluttershy, who were sitting on either side of Rarity, trying to get her to stop. She thought that was a good idea, but didn’t want to say anything and draw Midnight’s attention on herself.

Midnight’s smile remained. “So you think that our facilities are brutish? You think that what we live in, what we do everyday, is barbaric?” She gestured around her with a foreleg.

Rarity looked around, only seeming to just now notice that the entire room was staring at her. Her anger faded, a more nervous look coming to her face.

“We sacrifice, a lot, sometimes everything, so that you can live your life of class,” Midnight continued. “Yes, our living conditions may be less than adequate to one such as you, but that’s okay. We accept this.”

“Erm,” Rarity said. “I may have been a bit hasty...”

The smile on Midnight’s face had faded, leaving her with a hard, cold look. “Is that so?” she asked again. “I’ll tell you what, you can sleep in here, on a cot. You can even go back to the palace and your soft bed there. However, if you do that, I personally guarantee that you’ll be running the track, with weights on, everyday, if I have to put a leash on you and run you around myself.”

She gave Rarity a look that was clearly asking for a challenge. The unicorn looked around her, seeing how most of the guard in the room were looking none too happy at how she had insulted them and their profession.

“I assure you, Rarity. There will be no shortage of volunteers to make sure you run.”

Rarity stammered over a few words, looking around her uneasily. “Um, no. I don’t think that will be necessary.” She hung her head and sighed. “I’ll sleep outside.”

“Then I’ll see you outside,” Midnight said. She then turned and walked away.

Twilight watched her walk away. Now that she thought about it, not once in the last three days had she seen the captain take a meal with them. She was always still up when they went to bed, and was up before them, waking them up each morning. She wasn’t sure Midnight was eating or sleeping, even though she had to be.

The rest of dinner was quiet. Nopony said anything to Rarity, though she did still get a few harsh looks. When they were all done and the dishes taken back to where they belonged, they left for the training circle.

Midnight was waiting for them in the center of the circle. Strung out on the ground were seven bedrolls. The light of the moon combined with the streetlights of the city to cast a pallor over everything.

“Glad to see you here,” Midnight said. She indicated the bedrolls. “As you can see, we won’t be entirely roughing it. These are standard issue for lengthy patrols, away actions, and the like.”

The thestral sighed. “Rarity, I know that you don’t want to be out here. You don’t even want to be in this training at all. None of you do. But all the same, I know that you’ve been going, and will be going through some tough things throughout this. I told you that I’d be pushing you; I didn’t just mean physically, but mentally as well.

“Yes, I want you to run faster around the track, lift more weights, practice your skills. But beyond that, I want you to grow mentally. I want you to overcome your own shortcomings, whatever they may be.”

She looked at them each in turn. “I apologize, Rarity. But you will be doing this a lot in the near future, a lot. Better to learn and get used to it now in a familiar environment..”

Rarity shook her head. “No. I apologize.”

For the first time since they got out there, Midnight smiled. “You are far from the first pony to snap and say things they didn’t mean during training. It’s happened before, it will happen again. Regular training is harsh, and it can make ponies do things they don’t mean to. I can only imagine this training will be no different. Maybe worse.”

She gestured to the bedrolls. “You all must be tired. I suggest we turn in.” She unfurled one of the bedrolls, laying down in it.

“Um, you’re staying out here with us?” Twilight asked.

“Of course,” she said like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Not wanting to say anything else, Twilight settled for grabbing a bedroll of her own, laying in it. Even with the streetlights, she could see the stars, twinkling above. The sheer amount of energy she had expended that day meant she fell asleep quickly.


* * *




Twilight collapsed on the ground, her muscles giving out. They were now a week into the training, and while she had been getting used to all the physical activity, Midnight kept finding ways to make them work harder. Today, after running, they had worked through physical exercises, harsh things that involved weights and movement.

Summoning her strength, she rolled over on her back. A few scattered clouds lazily moved overhead as the sun beat down on her sweat drenched body. Her breathing came in short, sharp gasps.

“You all did good,” she heard Midnight say from somewhere behind her head. “Go and get some lunch, then meet up back out here.”

“We’re not training this afternoon?” Rainbow asked. She sounded almost disappointed.

“Oh you are, just not individually.” A collective groan arose from Twilight and her friends. “I’ve got something else planned.” Twilight heard the sounds of somepony moving away.

It was quiet for a moment, before hoofsteps approached her. “You okay, Twi?” Applejack asked, her face entering Twilight’s field of view.

“Yup,” she said. “Just gotta. Catch. My breath.”

The farmer held out a hoof, one that Twilight took. With a sharp yank, she found herself standing on her hooves again. “Thanks,” she said.

Slowly, and with her muscles protesting the movement, she walked into the barracks. Maybe she could get one of the nice guards to bring her a tray of food. They had been accepted by the Guard after living with them for the past week and training hard the entire time. Twilight was even getting to know some of them at night in the barracks.

As it turned out, she was able to convince one of the guards to bring her some food. As much as she hated asking, her desire to just sit down was greater. She thanked him with a smile.

By the time their usual hour was up, she was feeling better. Her muscles were still aching slightly, but she could ignore that and move normally again. So after getting rid of her tray, she joined her friends in going back outside.

Twilight wondered what Midnight had planned for them. All week she’d been working with Spellflare after lunch, so this was different. She wasn’t sure what the thestral had planned, and so long as it wasn’t more running, she was willing to go along with it.

When they got outside, they saw Midnight once again sitting in the training circle. This time, she had a healthy supply of wooden dummies with her. Twilight could also see Spellflare there, along with several other ponies.

“Twilight,” Spellflare greeted her with a nod. 

“Afternoon, Spellflare,” she returned. She could see her friends greeting the other ponies, so she assumed they were also their trainers. It was a motley crew of ponies. Rainbow was talking to a pegasus who didn’t look much older than her, while both Applejack and Fluttershy were talking to earth ponies. Rarity’s was another unicorn, older than Spellflare. Most curious was the pony Pinkie was talking to, an earth pony who looked old enough to be her grandfather.

When the greetings were over, Midnight gathered them up. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you out here. I told you before you began training that I know how much your friendship means to you. How well you all work together as a team. So today, you’ll be working together. Starting off with showing what you’ve been working on.” She smiled. “Consider this a show-and-tell.”

The thestral moved off to the side with the trainers. “Twilight, you’re up first,” she said.

Twilight looked over at both Midnight and Spellflare. “Uh, what do I do?”

Midnight gestured to the center of the circle. “You can start by explaining, briefly, what you’ve spent the past week learning. Then a demonstration. The goal here is to get your friends acquainted with what you’ve been doing. That way, you can practice together.”

“Okay...” Twilight got up, moving into the center of the circle. She then faced the line of her friends. “Well, I’ve been working with Sergeant Spellflare on learning a variety of combat-tuned spells.” Using her magic, she levitated one of the wooden dummies over, setting it in front of her.

“Spells like this one.” Her horn flared and a bolt of magic flew out, striking the dummy. Where it hit, wood and splinters flew, leaving a large divot in the wood. “Or this one.” Again she shot a spell at the dummy. This time, a neat line appeared in it, shearing it into two pieces.

“These spells are designed to basically mimic physical actions such as bucking, or cutting with a blade. Yet it seems with the power I am able to conjure they become even more dea... effective.”

Her friends were all looking on. “That’s amazing, Twilight,” Rarity said.

Using a few more dummies, Twilight showed off several more spells. Despite Spellflare telling her to not lessen her power, she had to in this case. There was no warded wall to absorb the excess magic, only a hundred meters, then the city itself.

“So that’s what I’ve been studying,” she concluded.

“Not quite,” Spellflare spoke up. He tossed something at her that she reflexively caught in her magic.

It was the sword she’d been using to practice. “Ah, right,” she said. Unsheathing the sword, she quickly ran through a few practice forms that Spellflare had taught her. Unlike her trainer, she preferred a slightly longer sword, more average sized. With her magic, she could control it just as deftly as him with the smaller sword.

When she was done, she sheathed the sword. “So that’s what I’ve been studying.”

“That. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow said.

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “You wield the blade almost as if it’s an art form!”

Twilight felt herself blushing. “I’m still learning. Those are just the basics.”

“You’re learning quickly,” Spellflare said.

“Yes. Well, I...Thank you.” Twilight cleared away the remains of her dummies and left the circle. She got pats on the back from her friends.

It felt nice, knowing that her friends were supporting her. Despite her own misgivings about what they were going through, she could rest easy, knowing her friends had her back.

“Rainbow,” Midnight said. “Feel like going next?”

“Aww yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed. She shot off the ground, pirouetting through the air and landing in the circle. “So I’ve been working on some awesome stuff. See, since I’m totally the fastest pegasus alive, we’ve been working on not only making me faster-” She shot up off the ground, speeding in a lap around the track before coming back, her arrival heralded by a dust cloud. “But also with some wicked awesome blades.”

There was a clatter as a pair of blades landed at Rainbow’s hooves. Within moments, the pegasus had them strapped on. Twilight recognized them as wingblades from one of the books she read, though these ones looked different. As soon as Rainbow flexed her wings, she realized why.

These wingblades were segmented, allowing for her to shift her wings around. It didn’t look like she could completely fold her wings, but she could certainly bend and flex them. Though why this was important, she didn’t know.

“So these babies,” Rainbow continued, “are wingblades. Here’s how I use them.” Once again, she took off. The pegasus trainer nodded to Spellflare, who floated out another dummy, setting it in the middle of the training circle.

Rainbow flew around a couple of times, until she zipped straight at the dummy. To Twilight’s eyes, it looked like she simply passed right by it. Until the thing creaked and the top third fell off; the blade on her wing had severed it cleanly.

The pegasus landed. “Plus, I’ve been learning this.” With the pointed edge of her blades, she swiped and stabbed at the bottom part of the dummy. It was almost like Twilight’s sword work, but more chaotic and wild. Cuts and stab marks appeared in the wood as Rainbow grunted and swung.

So that’s why the blades were segmented. They allowed her wings to bend slightly, for close combat. Normal wingblades were straight pieces of metal, so when a pegasus had them equipped, they couldn’t bend their wings.

She capped it off with a complete turn, both blades leaving identical slashes, one right above the other. “So,” she said, facing them again. “Is that awesome, or is it amazing?”

“It’s awesomely amazing!” Pinkie said.

Movement off to the side caught Twilight’s eye. She saw Rainbow’s trainer leap off the ground and fly at the pegasus. Sunlight glinted off the wingblades he was wearing.

Rainbow saw him as well. Her wings moved, blocking the attack, though he had enough momentum behind him to bend her wings backwards and keep moving. He banked around as Rainbow took off.

They met in the air, strikes being thrown at each other. It was odd, watching two pegasi fight in the air like that. They would fly at each other, halt in front of their opponent, then use their wings to fight. Yet since their wings also kept them aloft, they could only throw in a few strikes and blocks before they had to flap and keep flying. Then they would separate and the dance would begin again.

At one point, they landed on the ground. There, they could throw themselves into their strikes. It was interesting to watch them slash, jab, and spin with each attack.

Eventually, Rainbow’s trainer gained the advantage and the fight ended with him on top of Rainbow, bladed wing pressed against her throat. Rainbow stood down, getting a helping hoof from her trainer to stand up.

“So I’ve been learning that, too.” Deftly, she removed the wingblades. “These have also been enchanted, so that when I hit something at high speeds, it takes most of the impact, instead of my bones.”

Returning the blades to her trainer, she rejoined the rest of her friends. Twilight joined them in congratulating and encouraging the pegasus.

“Rarity?” Midnight called.

The fashionista stood up, brushing the dirt off herself calmly. With careful, precise steps, she entered the circle. Her horn glowed, and both the two pieces of Rainbow’s dummy, as well as another whole one, switched positions.

She cleared her throat. “Well. What I have been working on is perhaps not as flashy as Rainbow. It is a bit more simplistic. Weaver?” She turned to a dark blue unicorn, who nodded at her. A pouch floated its way over to her.

Hooking the simple cloth pouch over her shoulder so it hung at her side, Rarity opened the flap. From within the pouch came a small knife. Rarity stood it on its point in the air, revolving it slowly.

Unlike a regular knife, this one had no handle for gripping. It had no crossguard, so it wasn’t meant for battle. This knife had only one purpose that Rarity demonstrated. The knife suddenly bolted through the air, sinking deep into the wooden dummy. In rapid succession, three more knives came out of the pouch, each one hitting the dummy in different places.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed as she concentrated. Four knives came out of the pouch, spacing themselves equidistant from each other as they circled her body around her neck. For a moment, they danced around her, then one by one launched at the dummy.

When she was done, the knives were each sticking out of the dummy, somewhat close to each other with the exception of one; it bounced off the dummy and landed in the dirt.

“It is still a work in progress,” she said. Using her magic, she retrieved all eight knives, replacing them in the pouch, which she gave back to her trainer, Weaver. “I am afraid that I have nothing else to show off.”

“That was marvelous, Rarity,” Twilight said. Once again she was envious over Rarity’s control over her magic. The four knives, moving in tandem one moment, then separately the next. That was something that took either a lot of practice, or natural talent.

Rarity came over and sat down. Twilight gave her a pat on the back and some congratulatory words. It was interesting getting to see what her friends were working on. Opportunities in the last week to talk to her friends had been minimal. If they weren’t running, they were separated, or too tired to do much else than eat and sleep. She was curious what the other three had been doing.

As it turned out, Pinkie was the one to go next. Surprisingly, both she and her trainer entered the circle. Now that she was actually looking at the old pony, she could tell that he was, in fact, quite old.

“So this is Close Quarters and he’s been the super amazing pony who’s been training me. See, Nighty showed up on the first day with Closey here and then Closey’s been showing me this thing called Capomarea, which is this really cool dancing thing.”

“Why don’t we show them, Pinkie,” Close said.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” she chirped. They moved until they were standing a few paces apart, facing each other. Mirroring each other, their forelegs bent, bowing slightly. After a moment, they both began to... move.

Twilight couldn’t think of a better word for it. Their bodies were twisting and waving around. She could tell that it was a repeating pattern, though why they were doing that, she didn’t know. She’d never even heard of Capomarea before.

They moved at each other. Their hooves were in constant motion, flowing across the dirt yet somehow never disturbing it. Twilight saw Close’s forehoof dart out at Pinkie, who dodged, neither of them breaking their rhythm.

Thus, they danced. Twilight wasn’t sure whether they were dancing with or against each other. They never stopped moving, somehow working their attacks and dodges into whatever rhythm they were feeling. It was entrancing to watch, mesmerizing.

Close was obviously a master at this. Despite his age, he never once got hit by Pinkie, and landed several hits on her. His rhythm never once waned, only sped up or slowed down as he needed it to.

Eventually, Pinkie ended up laying in the dirt, Close’s hoof on her neck. He wasn’t pressing down, just holding it there. A second later, he removed it. “You did well, Pinkie.”

Pinkie got up. “Aww, you win every time.” Despite her words, she was still smiling.

“Yes, but you’re getting better each day. Maybe someday, you’ll win.” They bowed to each other again. 

Pinkie left the circle, rejoining her friends. This time, there wasn’t any congratulating, as they were all still trying to comprehend what they had just seen.

“That was... awesome?” Rainbow said awkwardly.

“Truly,” Rarity agreed. “I know many ponies who wished they could move like that. It was sublime and graceful.”

“It’s nothing,” Pinkie said. “It’s just like baking a cake, always gotta be moving.”

“Applejack?” Midnight called. “You’re up.”

The farmer nodded. Standing up, she perched her hat securely on her head. Trotting into the circle, she faced her friends.

“Well, I’ve been working on a couple of things.” She turned to the trainers. “Could I get a dummy, please?”

A moment later, and a dummy had been placed on the dirt by Applejack. She nodded her thanks. Facing the dummy, she backed up several steps. From there, she broke into a run, ending it with a leap where she planted her front hooves and pivoted around, her back hooves tucked up under her body. When her back hooves were lined up with the dummy, she lashed out. There was a powerful thud, the dummy launching across the field, grinding up the grass as it rolled about. It finally came to a halt a couple dozen meters away. Twilight could see that it had two large dents in it where her hooves had connected.

Applejack addressed them. “I know that y’all have seen me applebuck before. But applebucking is about shaking the tree, knocking loose the apples. I’ve been working on harnessing that and making it more powerful. But that’s not the only thing.”

Another nod to her trainer, and this time a different dummy was placed into the field. This one had smaller pieces of wood sticking out of holes drilled into the overall structure at various angles. Standing on her hind hooves, Applejack used her forelegs and did a series of movements with the “arms” of the dummy.

Twilight knew enough from the morning close combat training to know that Applejack was running through a drill. She was blocking and attacking the dummy, using the arms as incoming attacks. The movements were rough looking, but it was interesting to watch.

Most ponies could stand on their hind legs briefly. If they had something to rest their forehooves on, like a counter in the case of reaching into the cabinets, then they could do it for longer. Only ponies with strong hind leg and barrel muscles could stand unaided on their hind legs for any sort of extended period of time. Applejack was standing on her hind legs, and using her forelegs to spar.

After a solid minute, she returned to standing on all fours. It was impressive to have seen that. Twilight knew Applejack was strong, but that was a level of strength she didn’t expect.

“I’m afraid that I’ve got nothing fancy to show y’all,” she said, reaching up and adjusting her hat.

“That was impressive,” Twilight said.

The farmer lowered her hat, hiding her face. “Aww shucks, Twi.”

“I mean it,” she replied. “Just because it’s perhaps not as flashy doesn’t make it any less impressive.”

“Thanks, Twi.” Applejack returned to her friends, receiving similar words of encouragement. Twilight saw the dummy she had launched returning, encased in the green aura of Spellflare.

“Fluttershy,” Midnight said. “Would you like to demonstrate what you’ve been learning from Healing Touch?”

The pegasus in question shied away from getting up, only tucking herself lower to the ground. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I mean, it’s not like I have anything to show.”

“Nonsense,” One of the earth ponies spoke up. Twilight assumed it was Healing Touch. “Think about all the things we’ve been working on.” He reached behind him, pulling out a saddlebag and tossing it into the ring. “Go on, show us a few things.”

“But I—” Fluttershy started, before trying to hide herself behind her mane.

Rarity was next to Fluttershy. She placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Fluttershy. We want to see what you’ve been learning.” The others, Twilight included, voiced their assent and encouragement.

“Um, well, if you’re sure.” Fluttershy got up and made her way over to the saddlebag. Opening the bag, she peered inside it for a moment before setting it down.

“Well, Healing Touch has been teaching me about how to care for a pony who’s been injured. There are techniques that are used on a... bat- battlefield. Ponies have to be bandaged and stabilized until they can be transported to a field hospital.”

She looked at her friends. “Would one of you like to help me?” Rarity stood up and made her way to sit next to Fluttershy.

Digging into the saddlebag with a wing, Fluttershy pulled out a small roll of gauze, a bottle of some liquid, and a piece of cloth. “Um, just pretend Rarity has a cut on her hoof.” She opened the bottle, pouring some of the liquid inside onto the cloth. Using her now wet cloth, she wiped at one of Rarity’s hooves. “You have to disinfect the wound as much as possible,” she explained.

Tossing the cloth aside, she pulled another one, setting it over Rarity’s leg. “From there, you have to bandage it.” Holding the cloth in place with a hoof, she used her free hoof to grab the roll of gauze. With her muzzle, she peeled off the end of the roll, setting that over the cloth on the leg. Unrolling the gauze, she wrapped it around the cloth until she tore off the end of it and tucked it under one of the previous loops.

“From there, the pony can be taken to the field hospital.” She set all of her supplies back in the saddlebag. “I’ve been learning how to take care of different types of injuries.”

“That’s cool, Shy,” Rainbow said. “I know who I’m coming to the next time I stub my hoof.”

“You are an artist with a bandage,” Rarity agreed, looking at her hoof.

Fluttershy blushed, tucking her head back into her mane. “It- it’s nothing.”

“Nonsense. We’d be nothing without you, Fluttershy. You’re our friend.”

“Thanks, Rarity.” Fluttershy got up and rejoined the others.

Midnight stood up and moved into the training circle. “Well, now that you know what everypony else has been working on, it’s time to learn how to utilize those skills as a team. However, rather than me telling you what to do, instead, the six of you will be figuring that out. Myself and your trainers will work with you, but it will ultimately be up to you six.”

Twilight looked at her friends. They were the Elements of Harmony, so working together was what they were good at. Though, even knowing what her friends were working on, she couldn’t quite see how they would all work together. Their skills were vastly disparate from one another.

“Now you all know,” Midnight continued, “that I’m a big fan of learning by doing. So I’ll be presenting a situation to you all, a goal you have to attain. You six will work out how to accomplish that goal. Your trainers and I will judge you on how effective we think your solution is. There’s no right or wrong answer here, it’s about learning how to work together.”

At a gesture from Midnight, Spellflare stood up. Grabbing another wooden dummy, both he and it teleported away. Twilight couldn’t see where he reappeared. The other five trainers also stood up. Walking quickly, they left the training field, entering the barracks.

“Unfortunately,” Midnight said, “we don’t really have facilities to practice as in-depth as I’d like, so I’m improvising. Your task is to find Spellflare and the dummy. They are inside the barracks compound somewhere. The others will be acting as enemies, attempting to keep you from reaching your goal.”

“In what way?” Twilight asked.

“In whatever way they see fit. On a battlefield, conditions are always changing, so they will adapt their strategy to counter yours, as you should to theirs. They won’t do permanent harm to you, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park, either.”

Midnight gestured to the barracks. “Nopony is going to be armed. However, I will be following along, and should I determine that one of you has sustained too much damage, I will call you out. It starts from the moment you enter the barracks, and is only over when all six of you are out, or you reach Spellflare. You may use your skills, so feel free to cast spells, fly, whatever.”

Twilight and her friends headed for the door into the barracks. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but suspected that was part of the idea. Midnight was testing them, seeing how they would react.

Applejack opened the door and stepped inside. Almost immediately, she was tackled by a pony. Both of them rolled out of sight past the door frame. Twilight was right behind Pinkie in coming inside.

Applejack was rolling around on the floor with one of the trainers. Twilight didn’t know his name, only that it was Rarity’s trainer. The unicorn was trying to grapple with Applejack, who was fighting back.

Twilight could only stand and watch. Her mind was trying to process what was happening. Midnight has said that the goal was to find Spellflare, and that the other trainers would be trying to stop them. Somehow, she should have expected something like this, but she just didn’t react.

Rarity’s trainer got the upper hoof over Applejack, pinning the farmer. “Enough, Weaver,” Midnight said.

The unicorn, Weaver, got off of Applejack. Giving a nod to Midnight, he disappeared through a door, deeper into the barracks. Applejack got to her hooves.

“You’re out, Applejack. Wait here by the door. The rest of you, continue on. We’ll recap once everything’s over.”

“But-” Rarity said.

“You still have a mission, Rarity,” Midnight said. “You lost Applejack and failed to take out Weaver, so she’s out and he’s still in the game.”

Twilight knew now that Midnight wasn’t playing around. She called it a game, but it wasn’t. This was a test to see how they reacted to things, and how well they worked together as a group. If she had used her magic to pull Weaver off of Applejack, then perhaps it would be the opposite, with Weaver out and Applejack still in.

Still, the odds were stacked against them. The trainers were all experienced at things like this, while Twilight’s knowledge of tactics came from whatever she had read. She wondered if Midnight had set them up to fail on purpose. No sooner had she thought that did she mentally shake her head. No, that wasn’t the thestral’s style. This was achievable, just very difficult.

The barracks compound was a large, one-story building. It had multiple bunk rooms, training rooms, closets, the mess hall, the showers, private rooms for officers, offices and storage rooms. Spellflare could be in any room, as could the trainers. Weaver had gone through one door, but that meant nothing when he could easily loop around and be waiting at the other door out of the entry room.

They needed to be careful. As was demonstrated by Applejack’s removal, this wasn’t going to be easy.

Twilight approached the door that Weaver had gone through. Using her magic, she opened it. Waiting a few seconds, nopony appeared. Rather than do what Applejack did, which was walk through, she flared up her horn and teleported into the hallway.

When she re-materialized, she looked back at the doorway. Nopony was waiting, the hallway was clear. “It’s clear,” she called.

One by one, her friends entered the hallway. Their looks ranged from determination on Rainbow, to fear on Fluttershy. Once again, they were being thrust into an unknown situation. Midnight came in last, her piercing eyes taking in everything. Twilight wondered if she knew where all the trainers were.

This hallway had multiple doors leading off of it. Twilight only knew where a few of them led, as she hadn’t really had the time or inclination to explore the entire building. She had no idea how to best go about this, so she settled for picking a door at random.

Opening it led to a small closet. Some cleaning supplies were in there, but no ponies, no Spellflare. Closing the door, Twilight picked another one.

This one led into the mess hall. This time, however, all the lights were out. The only light was spilling in from the hallway. This set Twilight on edge. The only reason the lights were out was because something was in there.

Cautiously, she took a step inside. With a hoof, she fumbled for a lightswitch. Upon finding one, she flicked it. Nothing happened. No lights came on.

Fortunately, she had other ways of seeing in the dark. Channeling magic into her horn, she cast a simple spell, causing her horn to glow and illuminate the surrounding area.

She saw the usual tables and chairs. Nothing looked out of place. Except for the lights being off, it was all normal as far as she could see.

Turning to face her friends who were still in the hallway, she spoke. “I don’t see anyt—” Suddenly, she felt hooves close around her neck and she was yanked to the side. Her friends gasped.

She struggled, but the hooves tightened around her, partially cutting off her airway. She already had magic in her horn, so she unleashed a wave of power, attempting to blast the assailant off her.

Instead, she felt herself being dragged across the floor. She had blasted back the pony attacking her, but since that pony was gripping her, she was dragged along. The force only served to fully cut off her breathing.

Since she used the magic in her horn, her illumination spell died as well, casting everything into darkness. Using her forehooves, she gripped the hooves around her neck, trying to pry them off. Her hind legs scrabbled across the floor, trying to find purchase on something.

After a moment, Rarity’s horn lit up the area, not that Twilight could see who was behind her. Rainbow flew past her, and the pressure on her loosened. She could hear Rainbow trying to get the pony off her.

“Enough,” Midnight said. At that word, Twilight felt the pony drop her. Taking in deep breaths, she looked behind her, seeing Weaver once more. Rainbow had her own foreleg around his throat.

“Both Twilight and Weaver are out.”

“But I rescued Twi,” Rainbow argued.

Midnight nodded. “You did, but only after Weaver had plenty of time to snap her neck. However, you have control over Weaver, thus he’s out as well. Twilight, Weaver, you two can go wait by the front door with Applejack. The rest of you, continue on.”

Reluctantly, Rainbow dropped Weaver, who got to his hooves. Reaching down, he offered a hoof to Twilight, who took it. The two of them left the mess hall, both Rarity and Fluttershy giving Twilight an apologetic look.

When they were in the hallway, Twilight looked at Weaver. “Where were you hiding? I didn’t see anypony when I looked around.”

He smiled. “You did better than Applejack, she just walked inside. You looked around, but you forgot to check behind the door.”

Twilight wanted to facehoof. Of course, behind the door. She remembered playing hide and seek with Shining, and how hiding behind the door was an option. She could hide back there, and when the seeker entered, she would dart around the door and out of the room before they noticed. It made sense that an enemy inside a building would do the same thing.

They entered the front hall, seeing Applejack sitting by the door. She looked up at their entry. “Y’all out?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “Weaver took me out, but Rainbow got him.”

The three of them sat together. Twilight listened for any sound or sign of her friends. It was surprising to see the building empty. She had thought they’d be doing all of this around the guards who would normally be here, going about their business. It seemed Midnight had cleared everypony out of the barracks for this exercise. That, and somehow disabled the lights in the mess hall. She wondered what other surprises the thestral had in store for them.

It was a few minutes after they arrived that Pinkie showed up. Applejack’s trainer, Ironhoof, had gotten the jump on her in one of the bunk rooms.

Over the next twenty minutes, ponies kept coming into the room. After Pinkie, it was Ironhoof. Rainbow had managed to react in time to avoid him, and used her wings to get around him and take him out. However, Rainbow appeared next. Her own trainer, Fleetwing, had taken her out.

Rarity was the next to arrive. Pinkie’s trainer, Close, had somehow climbed up into the beams on the ceiling in one of the bunkrooms and had quite literally gotten the drop on her. That just left Fluttershy to complete the mission against Fleetwing, Close, Healing Touch, and Spellflare.

A minute later, Fluttershy came into the room, followed by Midnight and the trainers. The pegasus was shaking, but otherwise looked fine.

“Fluttershy, darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“I’m okay,” she said. “It was just so scary. I... I opened the door and then Fleet was there and he just...” She couldn’t finish her sentence, instead going silent.

“I just tapped her on her back,” Fleetwing said. “I wasn’t aware that would produce this effect.”

“It’s okay, Fleet,” Rainbow said. “She’s just nervous.”

“Yeah, thanks for not going all combatty on her,” Pinkie said.

“I’m okay,” Fluttershy repeated.

Midnight opened the door leading outside. “Come on, let’s discuss what happened.” She walked through the door.

Twilight followed her outside. They sat by the wall of the building.

“So, who can tell me what went wrong?” Midnight said.

“Uh, that was totally not fair?” Rainbow said.

“How so?”

“Because we didn’t know what was gonna happen.”

“Neither did the trainers,” Midnight pointed out. “They were reacting just as much as you were.”

“Yes, but they are more experienced than us,” Rarity said.

“True, but if you notice, they only came at you one at a time. You all had the advantage in numbers. You successfully took out Weaver and Ironhoof using that advantage.”

Twilight worked over what Midnight was saying in her head. They took out two of the trainers because they had worked together. Everypony else was taken out because at that point, they had been alone.

“So you’re saying that we lost because we weren’t acting as a team,” Twilight said.

Midnight nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. When you did act as a team, you were able to take the trainers down. Even though you were moving as a group, you weren’t looking out for each other. You were a series of individuals moving together. You need to be a single unit, watching each others backs and jumping in to help. That’s what this is about.”

She nodded to the trainers, who all went back inside. “Now, they are going to reset. However, don’t expect things to be the same, they’ll change it up. In a couple of minutes, you’re going to run it again. And this time, try and work together as a team.”

Twilight looked at her friends. She was trying to think of what to say, when Applejack beat her to it.

“Okay, so this time we need to not only stick together, but help each other. If one of us gets caught, the others need to help her. Maybe Twi and Rare, you two use your magic. Rainbow, fly at ‘em. Pinkie and I’ll buck ‘em off ya. And Fluttershy? You’re the lookout, keeping an eye on everything. Alert us.”

“That makes sense,” Twilight said. She wondered where Applejack got this knowledge all of a sudden. It was along the lines of what Twilight herself was thinking, and she’d at least read books.

Everypony else nodded. “I’ll go through doors first,” Applejack said. “Twi, you be ready to pull anypony off me.”

“Okay,” Twilight said.

Midnight gestured to the door. “It’s time.”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight readied a spell in her mind. She didn’t gather the magic yet, as this spell she could unleash with but a thought. Ahead of her, Applejack opened the door and cautiously stepped inside, looking both left and right.

They spent the rest of the afternoon running through the same thing. By the time Midnight called an end to it, mostly because she needed to allow all the rest of the guards back into the building and turn the lights on in the rooms she’d disabled them in, they had run through it five times, and lost five times.

Each time, they got better and better. That second time, they had managed to take out four of the six trainers, until both Spellflare and Weaver had ganged up on them. Together, those two eliminated Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight, the remaining three.

Twice they had found Spellflare and the dummy. Once he was in the magical training room, the other time he was in an office. Yet both times, they had only a couple ponies left and Spellflare took them out.

As they trained, their tactics evolved and they got used to what each other could do. They started working as a group, covering each other. As a result, the trainers stepped up their game, working in pairs, ambushing them. They would never try the same thing twice.

Finally, they were all seated around a table in the mess hall. Twilight and her friends were sporting some new bruises, but so were the trainers. The rest of the Guard was allowed into the building, so the mess hall was filling up with ponies eating dinner. The cooks had overrun the castle kitchens, so the food was being carted down from there.

Everypony, even Midnight, had a tray of food. “You all did well,” Midnight said.

“We never won,” Rainbow complained.

“That wasn’t the point. What you did do was get a feel for what your friends could do, and learn to work together. There’s room for improvement, but you also learned faster than I thought you would.” She paused, taking a bite of her food. “At least twice a week from now until the end of the training, we’ll be doing this again. So as you each individually improve in your training, you’ll have to adapt your tactics to match. However, your trainers will also be stepping it up. I might also have a few other surprises in store for you.”

They ate the rest of the meal discussing tactics. Midnight explained how a squad of ponies would typically work, then had them brainstorm ways they could modify that to work for them. By the time the meal was over, Twilight felt like she was finally getting a good idea of what being a Guard was like. Talking to her brother was one thing, experiencing it for herself was another.


* * *




Twilight ran. Her muscles surged in her legs, powering her forwards. Her breathing was deep, but even. The sweat rolled down her body, it felt good to her. Her eyes focused on the track in front of her as she took long, even strides.

It was now the end of the second week of their training. The physical exercise in the mornings was getting easier for her. She was able to stay steady on the runs, and the final sprint, while still challenging, didn’t reduce her to quivering muscles, barely able to stand. When it came to the weights, she could lift more, and do more repetitions. 

She was learning more about close quarters combat. She’d been working with Steel each time. The corporal was slow with her, taking the time to make sure she knew what was going on. She was getting better when they sparred, learning to read her opponent before he moved. She’d even won a fight the other day.

Of course, Spellflare still had her working hard during the afternoons. They would always spend some time practicing and perfecting spells she already knew. Spellflare would call out a spell and she’d have to cast it. After that, he’d start teaching her a new spell. Though sometimes, he would teach her a new application for a spell she already knew.

“Alright, keep it up,” Midnight called. The thestral was currently hovering over the ground in the middle of the track. “We’re almost done.”

Instead of combat training, Midnight had them continue doing physical exercise. Push-ups, sit-ups, exercises, and now finishing it off with more running. While Twilight was tired, she wasn’t at the point where she was going to collapse.

She ran around the track several more times. If somepony had asked her once that she’d actually find running to be calming, she’d have laughed and gone back to her book. Yet the act of running, of her hooves moving and pounding along the track, it was surprisingly calm. Here she could just let her body move, allow her mind to focus on other things.

Finally, Midnight called a halt. Twilight and her friends joined the thestral in the middle of the field. They were all weary, some more so than others, but they weren’t exhausted and ready to give up. All of them were getting in much better shape through the constant physical demand placed on them.

“Okay, you all remember last week when we gathered together for group training?” Midnight asked.

Twilight nodded, remembering how they had taken on the trainers in five rounds of “Find the Dummy” and how they had lost five times, but still learned valuable things about each other and working as a team with their new skills. They had done group exercises twice more, but only outside, Midnight and the trainers running them through drills designed to force teamwork and cooperation.

“Well,” Midnight continued. “You’re going to be doing that again today. Only this time, the rules will be a little different. This time, there will be weapons involved.”

“What do you mean, weapons?” Applejack asked.

“You’ll see after lunch. Meet out here in forty-five minutes.” Midnight flew off towards the barracks.

“What does she mean?” Applejack asked the group.

Twilight shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Since they didn’t have long, they headed into the mess hall for lunch. The meal was comprised of much the same ingredients as they’d been eating the last two weeks, fresh veggies and leafy greens that somehow had all of the flavor taken out of them. It was healthy, and kept up their calories, but very bland.

After lunch, they headed back outside, seeing the barracks already being a lot emptier than usual. Midnight must have asked, or ordered, everypony to leave again. Only a few stragglers remained.

Outside, Midnight and the trainers were not far from the door. A chest sat next to the thestral. Twilight wondered what it could contain, then remembered the thestral talking about weapons. She could only wonder just what weapons were in there.

Upon their arrival, Midnight addressed them. “I’m sure you’re wondering what I meant by weapons.” She opened the chest, pulling out a sword that she tossed to Twilight.

“These are enchanted training weapons,” she explained. “No matter how hard you swing them, they’ll only leave a bruise. It will still hurt if you get hit, but you can fight and not worry about killing your opponent.”

Midnight tossed weapons to everypony except Fluttershy. Twilight had her sword, Rainbow her wingblades. Rarity got a bandolier of knives, while both Pinkie and Applejack got horseshoes. Fluttershy got a pair of saddlebags, labeled with a large red cross on them.

“The goal is the same as last week,” Midnight said. “Find Spellflare and the dummy. However, this week the overall rules have changed, since you are armed.” She gestured to the trainers. “They will be armed as well, by the way.

“Instead of hoof-to-hoof combat, you’ll be fighting with the weapons in addition to your skills. You are allowed two hits to the body and limbs before I will call you out. That goes for everypony. One hit to the head constitutes an out.”

She pointed a hoof at Fluttershy. “If she is with you, she can bandage you up and essentially remove one hit, allowing you to take three hits before you are out. However, beware, as this will make her a target. You’ll have to protect your medic.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. She knew what Midnight was up to. Fluttershy still refused to learn how to fight, so the captain was trying to teach the pegasus a lesson. She was trying to show her how much not knowing how to fight would cost them. Well, if Fluttershy didn’t want to learn how to fight, then she should be allowed to do that.

“Remember,” Midnight continued, “you’ll have to work as a team. Keep an eye on each other. Watch each other’s backs. The trainers will be working together as well, so it won’t just be you six against one anymore. The tactics the trainers use, I leave that up to them.”

Midnight stood up, that apparently being the signal for the trainers to head inside. They all collected their weapons from the chest and vanished through the door. Spellflare grabbed a wooden dummy and teleported away.

“Like last time, I’ll be following along. Take a couple minutes, and then head inside.” The thestral moved over to sit by the door.

Twilight looked at her friends. Already they were strapping on their weapons or saddlebags. Following their lead, she hooked the sword over her shoulder. The handle stuck out over her shoulder. If need be, she could grab it in her magic, or her muzzle, for a quick retrieval.

“So what do we do?” Rarity asked. She had her bandolier slung over her shoulder, the knives resting across her chest. Twilight wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to that sight of the demure unicorn wearing something meant for fighting and not fashion..

Looking around, everypony was wearing some sort of weapon, except for Fluttershy, who had her saddlebags. Their faces were less confused like last time and more determined. They’d now studied squad tactics and had an idea of what to do. The introduction of the weapons threw a curveball, but it didn’t eliminate their plans at all.

“Now that we have weapons, we need to be careful,” Twilight said. “I’ve learned a spell that can be useful for checking around corners and doorways, so I can go first. AJ, you guard me. If anypony comes at me, you intercept them. Rarity, hang back with Fluttershy, keep her safe. Rainbow, Pinkie, you two are fast, so be wherever you think you’re needed.”

Her friends all nodded. “Sounds like a good plan, Twi,” Applejack said.

Twilight looked at Midnight, who nodded, indicating that they could proceed. Moving over to the door, Twilight opened it safely with her magic, standing back. Concentrating, she cast her spell.

A small wave of magic raced out and through the doorway. If there was a pony in the first part of that room, she’d know about it, a tingle in her mind alerting her. When after a few seconds she felt nothing, she called out to her friends “It’s clear.”

Together, they headed into the room, Applejack leading the way. Twilight opted to keep her blade sheathed unless she needed it. Having to concentrate on holding it in a levitation field would only distract her.

Applejack’s head looked left and right, peering around the room. As soon as she was inside, Twilight did the same. Her spell was good, but it wasn’t foolproof. Somepony could still hide from it. Especially if Weaver was there; he could block her spell.

They were faced again with the choice of doors. This time they went right. Twilight had more time to familiarize herself with the layout of the barracks. Now she knew where most doors led. They’d still have to check every door, as Spellflare had proven that he was perfectly willing to hide in a tiny office.

This door led to a hallway, just like the other one in the room. Opening the door, Twilight cast her spell again. Again, she got nothing back.

She, Applejack, and Rainbow were moving as one group, while Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were further back. This opened them up for them to be separated by crafty opponents, but it was better than tripping over each other. Each group had an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, and a Unicorn, so they were versatile.

Twilight and her two friends moved into the hallway. One by one, they began the process of checking all the doors. Her spell couldn’t go through solid objects, and had a limited range, so they had to take it one door at a time.

Three doors in, and they found their first snag. Twilight’s spell gave back not one, but two hits. Two ponies were waiting just inside the room, which was an armory for storing weapons and armor of off-duty Guards. Given that the only ponies inside the building beyond them would be the trainers, it stood to reason that two of them were in there. The spell couldn’t tell her just who it was, though.

Twilight held up a hoof, then mouthed the word “two” at her friends. Applejack and Rainbow nodded. Unfortunately, the spell didn’t tell her where the two were, only that they were in there. Of course, knowing they were there was a boon.

She whispered to her friends, so the trainers in the room couldn’t hear them. “I can teleport into the room and get their attention. Rainbow, AJ, you can come in right after, take them from behind.”

“Sounds good,” Rainbow said, flexing her wings. Training inside like this meant that she couldn’t really fly and had to stick with ground based attacks. Twilight could tell that her friend really wanted to fly.

“Ready?” Twilight asked. Receiving affirmatives from the others, she cast a quick teleport spell. Her destination was the top of a cabinet that held weapons. With a flash, she vanished and reappeared almost instantly on top of the cabinet.

Looking down from her perch, she could see both Ironhoof and Fleetwing. Ironhoof was close to the door, armored shoes ready to take the first pony to cross the threshold, while Fleetwing was actually in a similar position to her. The pegasus was standing on an armor rack.

The flash of her teleportation didn’t go unnoticed. Fleetwing took off at her, wingblades ready to strike. Twilight had only a moment before she would be hit. In that moment, she cast two spells.

The first spell grabbed Ironhoof in a kinetic field, pushing him away from the door and into a weapon rack, swords clattering as both he and it fell over. The second spell grabbed hold of her sword, only just managing to get it into position to block the strike from Fleetwing’s blade.

Unfortunately, the pegasus had two blades, one for each wing. So while she was busy blocking one, the other swung around her and cuffed her shoulder. Twilight realized she was in a bad position for her opponent. The idea behind getting on the cabinet was to put her out of reach of anypony. It just so happened her opponent was a pegasus who could fly.

She had already taken one hit. Another and she’d be eliminated. That just wouldn’t do, not so early in the game.

With a burst of magic, she pushed Fleetwing back. Since the pegasus had nothing to create friction against, she could control his movements until his wings overpowered the momentum. Taking advantage of this brief opening, Twilight lashed out with her sword, aiming at his head. His wings would need to concentrate on keeping him aloft, meaning his offensive and defensive options were limited while he was flying. She could get in a free hit, and if it hit his head, he’d be out.

Fleetwing didn’t react as she thought he would, though. Instead of trying to gain control, he moved with the push. Her sword swung through empty air. Quickly, she corrected the swing, bringing it back up to block the strike by Fleetwing.

She needed to get off the cabinet. Behind Fleetwing, she could see Applejack engaging Ironhoof, while Rainbow headed towards her. Yet it would take Rainbow several moments to cross the room. In that time, Fleetwing could easily defeat her if she wasn’t careful.

Locking blades with Fleetwing, she ducked his other blade, sending the pegasus off balance. From her horn, she shot a small piece of magic. When it impacted Fleetwing, his face took on a look of confusion, until he dropped from the air.

Twilight smirked. Spellflare had taught her that. It was a spell that temporarily disrupted a pony’s attachment to the base magic of Equus. When used against a unicorn, they’d be unable to cast a spell for a few seconds. An earth pony would find themselves lacking strength and their ability to grow things quickly. A pegasus would find it difficult to stay aloft.

All pony magic came from their attunement to the magic of Equus. Without that, they would be weakened. By cutting that connection, Twilight would be able to gain a temporary advantage, no more than a couple seconds, over a single opponent. She wasn’t sure how advantageous that spell would be over the ponies dominated by the dragon, since their connection to Equus seemed to be already terminated.

As soon as Fleetwing dropped, since she currently had no hits against him, Twilight teleported again. This time, she appeared on the floor, just behind Fleetwing. The pegasus wasn’t able to react in time, and Twilight scored a hit on his barrel. One more hit, and he was out.

She trusted Applejack to engage Ironhoof without him interfering with what she was doing. She needed to concentrate on Fleetwing right now. Already, the pegasus had recovered and turned to face her, blocking her return swipe with a blade.

“You’re learning,” he said. With one wing he jabbed at her with a blade, while the other wing swiped across her legs.

Taking a step back, she dodged the swipe while blocking the jab. “Maybe I am, Fleetwing.” She sent at him a series of jabs. It was a variation of a form she had been taught. It wasn’t supposed to hit, but to instead buy time before Rainbow got there.

Taken by surprise, Fleetwing had to take a step back. It was that or take another hit, thus rendering him out. In his moment of surprise, Rainbow attacked.

She came in quickly, jabbing with both wingblades. Between Twilight and Rainbow both, Fleetwing stood no chance. The pegasus blocked Twilight, but got hit by Rainbow. As soon as he registered the second hit, he stood still. He was out.

Twilight and Rainbow moved to help Applejack. Both she and Ironhoof were locked in combat. Applejack was stronger, but Ironhoof had more experience, so he could move around more.

Twilight sheathed her sword, allowing her free use of her magic. Rainbow dived at Ironhoof, who dodged the strike.

Instead, Twilight fired up her horn, gathering magic. Unleashing it, Ironhoof stumbled backwards. A low-powered kinetic bolt struck his side, knocking him off balance.

As he stumbled, he received several strikes to his head and midsection. Midnight, who had seen everything, called an end to the battle. “Both Fleetwing and Ironhoof are out. Twilight and Applejack have one hit.”

Fluttershy came up. “Here, let me bandage you.”

Twilight waved her off. “Take care of AJ. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy said. “You’re hurt.”

Twilight sat on the floor. “We need AJ more than me,” she said. “I’ll be fine, and we only have time to bandage one of us.”

The hit to her torso smarted, but it didn’t hurt. Those enchanted weapons were good. Fluttershy opened her saddlebag, pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped them around Applejack quickly and efficiently.

So far, they had taken out two of the trainers and only gotten hit twice. While Ironhoof and Fleetwing were dangerous, they weren’t the most dangerous trainers in Twilight’s opinion. That would be Weaver and Close. Weaver had proven to be very tactically minded, and had a penchant for cloak-and-dagger work. Combine that with Close, and they would really have to watch their backs.

While Fluttershy worked, Twilight busied herself with cleaning up the fallen weapons and armor left by the scuffle. It only took her a few moments before everything was back to how it should be. No sense in leaving a mess for whatever poor Guardspony came in here when they were done. 

As soon as Fluttershy was done, they left the armory. There were still two more doors in this hallway to check before they had to either cross the mess hall to the other side, or turn into a back hallway.

The first door led to an office, while the second was another armory. Both rooms were empty to both a magical and visual scan.

Ahead, the hallway ended. They could either go back into the front room and start down the other side, or they could go into the mess hall and check it there. A doorway in the kitchens led into a back hall, where the bunkrooms and showers were located.

“Where do we want to go, girls?” Twilight asked.

“We need to check the mess hall,” AJ said.

Rarity nodded in agreement. “Then we may try the other side hallway.”

The others were all in agreement as well, so Twilight headed back to the door that led into the mess hall. They’d already opened it, seeing that the lights were on this time. Even though she’d checked the first time, she cast her spell again. Nopony was waiting for them.

Applejack went into the room first, Rainbow darting in at almost the same time. The mess hall had a higher roof than the other rooms, allowing the pegasus to get airborne. This worked in their favor, as it allowed her to fight at her full capacity.

Twilight was the last one inside. Everything looked just as it did during mealtime, only the room was empty. None of the tables had been disturbed. Rainbow did a quick lap of the room just to be sure. Having learned that Close liked unusual hiding spots, such as the rafters, she was looking both down, and up.

When the pegasus reported back that it was clear, they crossed the room into the other side hallway. Twilight was starting to get apprehensive. They’d searched approximately one-third of the building, and found one-third of the trainers.

Going about their search logically, they moved back to the first door in the hallway just past the front room. Door by door, they searched, the process the same. Twilight would cast her spell, then they would head inside the room to check. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie would always hang back, watching their backs in case one of the trainers decided to sneak up on them.

By the time they reached the end of the hallway, they had found nothing and no one. That left only the bunk areas, a few offices, and the kitchens left to search.

They could get to the bunk areas without going through the kitchens, but that would leave an unexplored area at their backs. Twilight talked it over with her friends, and they opted to head back into the mess hall.

The large room was just as they had left it ten minutes ago. Twilight cast her spell again, just to be sure. When it came back negative, she headed inside, moving between the tables towards the kitchen.

They could see into the kitchen from the mess hall. A long opening allowed for the cooks back there to serve the ponies along the line. Twilight stood on her hind legs, her forehooves up against the counter. She stared into the kitchen for several long moments, scanning everything.

It was a mess of equipment in there. Stoves, refrigerators, ovens, counters, there was barely any room for a pony to walk between everything, and plenty of places for a pony to hide.

As she looked, her eyes caught onto something that didn’t belong there. Tucked away behind everything, along the back wall, was the very dummy they were looking for. She quickly pointed it out to her friends.

The dummy meant that at the very least, Spellflare was waiting in there for them. Twilight knew that with her friends working together as a team, they could take him. The problem arose in that three other trainers were unaccounted for. It was possible that they were elsewhere, a bunkroom perhaps, though she doubted that. With Ironhoof and Fleetwing working together, there had to be at least one more trainer with Spellflare.

The narrow confines and low ceiling of the kitchen would force them apart. She could teleport ahead, but that would only separate her from her friends. They needed to stick together as much as possible.

From the mess hall, there was only one way into the kitchen. They could split up, three of them heading into the back hallway and the back door into the kitchen, attack from two angles. Though that also put the team sent into the hallway at risk, as they had no idea what was waiting for them in there.

All in all, it wasn’t the best situation. There were too many variables, too many unknowns. As much as she didn’t want to say it, Twilight knew that they’d have to play it by ear, stay on their hooves and be able to react to anything.

She cast her detection spell, but got nothing back. However, with Spellflare, and most likely Weaver in there, that meant nothing. Spellflare taught her that spell, he would know how to block it.

“Okay,” she said. “I think what we should do is once we’re all in the doorway, split up. AJ, Rainbow, and I will take the left side, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, you take the right side.” That would put them on opposite sides of the room, covering everything, but still able to see and help each other.

Everypony nodded. Cautiously, Twilight headed through the door, her head looking all around. Everything seemed normal in there, which only heightened her apprehension.

Her friends followed her. As soon as they were all inside, they split off. The two sides of the kitchen mirrored each other, with a long row of equipment down the center, forcing them into two channels though they would still be able to see each other.

Applejack led the way for their side, Rainbow in the middle and Twilight bringing up the rear. She watched ahead of them, but also making sure to keep an eye on the others.

It was when they were halfway across the room that Twilight noticed something amiss. More accurately, she glanced over at her friends and saw Weaver right behind Fluttershy, who was in the rear on that side.
 
Before she could say anything, Weaver had already used his knife to slap Fluttershy’s neck. That was a headshot, so she was out. The pegasus let out a startled cry, alerting everypony to something going wrong.

Rarity, who was in the middle, looked behind her. Weaver shoved Fluttershy down, leaping over her. The fashionista managed to toss a knife over her back at him, but he twisted his body, dodging it. Rarity’s second knife blocked his as she turned to face him.

A tingle on the back of her neck started up. Without even thinking, she reacted, ducking her head. A sword passed through the space she had just occupied. She felt it brush through her mane.

Turning around and drawing her own sword, she saw Spellflare behind her. Where he’d come from, or where he’d been hiding, she had no idea. Only that he was now behind them.

His sword lashed out again, Twilight only barely managing to block it. He was at an advantage here, his blade being shorter. He could swing his weapon around more than she could in these cramped quarters. She needed to gain the upper hoof somehow.

Unfortunately, with Rainbow now right behind her, she couldn’t back up. Instead, she did the opposite. She charged Spellflare. Her blade blocked an overhead strike right before she collided with him.

Her mind thought back to the very first day of hoof-to-hoof combat training, where Steel had shown her how to throw an opponent by tossing her around. She got her shoulder into Spellflare’s chest, lifting him off his front hooves. With all the strength she had, she used her momentum to throw him backwards.

Spellflare was a lot less dense and heavy than Steel was, so her attack had more of an effect. Her opponent didn’t quite get knocked over, but he did stumble backwards, struggling to keep his balance. His sword lashed out at her in a wild attempt to strike her, but she blocked it with her own.

Before he could regain his balance, she fired several kinetic bolts to completely knock him over. To her dismay, he was able to conjure a shield, blocking them. As he regained his balance, he returned fire, spells flying at her.

They were out of range for their blades now, so it turned into a magic duel. With both of them being trapped in the narrow confines of the kitchen, there was no room for dodging and moving around. Instead, it was about hiding behind a shield and taking opportunities to cast an offensive spell.

Twilight cast her own shield, blocking his magic. As soon as the barrage stopped, she dropped the shield, throwing more kinetic bolts, several cutting spells, and even the spell designed to cut him off from Equus’ magic. The cutting spells were all cast at low power, enough to wound and distract him, but nothing severe or deadly.

He weathered the storm behind his own shield. Twilight could hear the sounds of fighting behind and beside her. She couldn’t afford to look, but she guessed that Weaver was still fighting Rarity, and that the other two trainers were in the fray as well. At least one of them was, she could hear Applejack grunting as she fought.

“Twilight!” Rainbow called.

“I got this,” she responded, still casting her spells. “Help AJ!” In truth, the pegasus would only get in the way in a magic duel like this. Because of the equipment all around, she couldn’t maneuver and use her agility. Lacking a shield, Twilight would be forced to not only protect herself, but her friend as well.

Eventually, she realized that she wasn’t going to be getting through Spellflare’s shield. She needed to try something new. Looking around her, she tried to figure something out. Her mind quickly worked through angles and calculations.

Hoping she got it right, she fired off several more spells, one of them missing Spellflare entirely. As she stopped casting and pulled up her own shield, she readied herself.

The errant bolt of magic zoomed past Spellflare, who ignored it. It impacted the wall and instead of dissipating, it rebounded at a slight angle, heading straight for her opponent. He never saw it coming.

When she had finished casting, he’d dropped his shield to cast at her. The spell she’d fired struck him right in the back. It was a kinetic bolt, high powered enough to cause him to fly right at her, where her sword was in position to meet him.

Unfortunately, she miscalculated slightly, and the head shot she was aiming for became a body shot, so Spellflare was still in the game when he crashed into her in a tangle of limbs.

They grappled, Twilight ending up on top of him. She aimed a punch at him, but he blocked it with a hoof. She needed to be careful of his sword. Right now, he wasn’t using it, as the surprise of her attack meant he’d lost control of it. However, if he saw it, he could get it back easily. Her own sword was useless up close and personal like this. She’d never be able to get it between the equipment to get a strike in on him.

Twilight kicked his side, trying to gain an advantage over him. He grabbed her forehoof, twisting it and tossing her to the side. She crashed against a stove before diving back onto him. She couldn’t allow him to get to his hooves.

He brought both his forelegs up, blocking her strikes before she felt both his back legs drive into her gut. He’d gotten them under her in that brief moment when she was off him.

She was forced backwards as he used his momentum to leap to his hooves. By the time she was steady, his sword was back in play. They were right back where they started, only this time his back was to her friends. If one of them noticed, they could take him by surprise.

She launched her depowering spell at him, only for him to vanish in a flash. He’d teleported away. Her spell passed through where he’d been a moment ago and kept going. She realized it was headed straight for Applejack, who was indeed fighting with Close. If that spell hit her friend, she’d lose that fight.

Quickly, she conjured a shield which blocked the spell. Her ears picked up the sound of a teleportation right behind her, but she didn’t have a choice. She was not going to be responsible for Applejack getting out.

She dived forward, hitting the ground. She hadn’t felt anything hit her, so she was still in. Rolling onto her back to face Spellflare, she saw too late that he had been anticipating that. His sword came up under her chin, the blade resting against her throat. Her own sword was in no position to defend, and at the first sign of a spell, she’d be taken out.

She raised her hooves in surrender. Fighting was still going on, but she was out. Spellflare wasted no time in leaping over her, heading straight for Applejack and Rainbow. Twilight couldn’t even warn them.

As Spellflare swung at Applejack, Rainbow swooped in, blocking his blade with one of her own. Twilight got to her hooves and moved off to the side, joining Fluttershy in watching. Rarity was over there as well as Healing Touch. That meant it was now three on three.

Rainbow was dueling with Spellflare, keeping him close and not letting him back away to use his magic. Applejack and Close were still fighting, the trainer using his agility to dodge her strikes while the farmer stayed mobile. She had pushed him back, allowing her to move out of the narrow channel between the equipment and into the more open area at the rear of the room, so she could move about, never staying still to let Close do anything.

On the far side, Pinkie was weaving around Weaver, who was struggling to cope with her movements. As the mare danced, she always seemed to just dodge his spells and knife.

Twilight watched the fray. Applejack scored a hit on Close with her weighted shoes and the trainer rolled backwards. When he stood up, he didn’t try and fight, moving off to the side. That must have been his second hit.

The farmer rounded on Spellflare, but because of the nature of the battlefield, she couldn’t get in there to help Rainbow. Instead, she was stuck watching.

Twilight watched her trainer take on her friend. Rainbow had two blades to his one, but she was finding it difficult to penetrate his defenses. Wherever she struck, he was there to block.

Spellflare kicked out with a hoof, which Rainbow leapt over. Flaring her wings, she flapped once, sending his sword sailing through the air instead of her body that he’d been aiming for.

The pegasus’ wings brushed the ceiling. Folding them, she dropped, bringing both of her weapons down. Spellflare lifted his blade, catching them both. The force caused his blade to lower, almost hitting himself.

The edge of his sword got caught in one of the gaps of Rainbow’s wingblade segments. With a vicious twist, the bindings holding the blade on her wing broke, the entire thing sliding free. Spellflare tossed it behind him, swinging at her now unprotected side.

Rainbow tried to turn her body, bring her other wing into play, but it was too late. Spellflare’s sword caught her upside her head, knocking her away.

Applejack wasted no time, filling the empty space Rainbow had just been and launching a buck right at Spellflare. His sword changed direction to intercept, but he was a fraction of a second behind. Applejack’s buck caught his chin, knocking him back and taking him out of the game.

The farmer didn’t stay to acknowledge her victory. Taking a running leap, she got up onto the tables, charged across them and jumped again, barely managing to clear the gap between the top of the equipment and the xeiling. With a clatter, she landed on a stovetop, then on a table, one final leap carrying her right into Weaver.

The trainer, preoccupied with Pinkie, never saw her coming. She collided with him, delivering several blows to his midsection and head, thus eliminating the final trainer.

Breathing heavily, Applejack and Pinkie looked around, seeing everyone who was out. Realizing they were the only ones still left in the game, they both headed towards the dummy, placing a hoof upon it.

“That’s it, Pinkie and Applejack win,” Midnight said. The thestral had seen everything, keeping tabs on who was out and who was still in, observing their fights.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. This was their first win over the trainers. It had been a hard battle, but in the end, they’d persevered. It felt... Good.

Midnight led them all out of the kitchen and back into the front room. Ironhoof and Fleetwing were sitting there, waiting. Twilight caught a subtle shake of the head from Spellflare at them, though he was smiling as well.

Rather than head outside, they gathered in that room. “Well, you all managed to defeat your trainers,” Midnight said.

Twilight smiled, feeling a bit of pride. Winning felt good. They’d spent so much time losing to the trainers, that to triumph over them was exciting. Sure, she’d been eliminated, but they had won in the end.

The thestral help up a hoof, silencing the congratulations and celebration. “However, you lost two-thirds of your team. In the Guard, we call that unacceptable.”

“But we won!” Rainbow exclaimed. The pegasus hated losing, and having lost so many times before to the trainers, Twilight knew that to be told their one win was unacceptable was difficult.

“You did,” Midnight agreed. “But simply reaching the dummy wasn’t the only goal. You also needed to keep each other alive.” She pointed her hoof at Fluttershy. “You are dead.” Her hoof moved to Rarity. “And you.” She then pointed at Twilight and Rainbow. “As well as you two. So yes, you completed your mission, but at the cost of four of your friend’s lives.”

Twilight felt some of her pride deflate at Midnight’s words. She had gotten used to seeing this as a game, as training. She had forgotten that outside these walls, things were real. If this had been an actual combat situation, she would indeed be dead. Spellflare’s blade would have sliced her throat open, just like Swift Bloom’s.

Thinking of Swift brought a sinking feeling in Twilight’s chest. She was dead, for real, not just in some training exercise. A dominated pony, as Twilight had heard them being referred to but the guards, had slit her throat. She had bled out in front of a crowd, in front of her daughter.

Twilight had resolved to fight in the memory of Swift, of her parents, Shining, Celestia, and all the others who had already died since the dragon’s arrival. Somewhere during her training, she’d lost sight of that. Now Midnight was bringing it all back home in her usual blunt manner.

“You all fought well, don’t get me wrong about that,” Midnight continued. “But you all made mistakes, as well.”

“Hey!” Rainbow interjected. “We won and passed your little test.”

“Midnight’s right, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “We may have won, but we didn’t really win. We need to do better.”

Midnight pointed to Fluttershy. “Whenever you’re protecting somepony, like your medic, always put them in the middle. That way, they won’t be such an easy target should somepony sneak up behind you.” Twilight thought that was another jab at Fluttershy’s pacifism from Midnight, until the thestral spoke again. “Rest assured, a squad’s medic is a very tempting target for most enemies. They’ll try and take her out first to prevent her from patching you all up.”

Twilight still wasn’t sure if that was a jab or not. It could be, disguised as general information.

“Second off, whoever is in the back of the line, always be looking behind you. It’s called a rearguard. That way, if somepony is sneaking up on you, you’ll see them.” Midnight folded her hooves across her chest. “Now then, can any of you tell me something you did wrong?”

Everypony was silent for a moment, until Applejack spoke up. “Where we fought, that kitchen.”

Midnight nodded. “Indeed. That was a terrible spot to fight, too narrow. You need to control the battlefield. You knew they were in there somewhere. You could send in one pony to lure them out. Maybe Twilight. As soon as the trainers exposed themselves to stop her from getting to the objective, she could teleport back to you all. You could’ve even led them all out into the mess hall, given Rainbow a chance to stretch her wings.”

That made sense. Opting to just head into the kitchen and react to whatever was thrown at them had been a mistake. They should have planned better.

“Anything else?” Midnight asked. When nopony had anything to say, she continued on. “Overall, your tactics were good. Splitting up into two teams is a common tactic for a squad, especially in an urban environment where buildings are plentiful. Ideally you’d want each team to be as balanced as possible, which you again did. Each of you fought well.”

The thestral gestured to the trainers, who stood up, heading through one of the doors. “Take a moment, rest. Rainbow, I’ll get you another wingblade. In three minutes, you’re doing it again. Now that you’ve proven you can actually win, it’s time to prove you can improve. Your new goal is to not only find the dummy, but keep everypony alive.” With that said, she also headed through a door towards the armory.

Twilight looked over at her friends. Rainbow was slowly rubbing her jaw where Spellflare had struck her. It was a hard hit, sure to bruise later. Twilight knew that she’d be sporting a few bruises herself tomorrow. They all would.

They spent their three minutes discussing what they’d changed about the next time. Obviously, Spellflare will move the dummy, though they’d still have to worry about the kitchen. The more the talked, the more Twilight thought they should stick with the teams they already had. Their tactics up until the kitchen had been sound, they shouldn’t change what was working. Using those tactics, they had taken out Ironhoof and Fleetwing.

Midnight came back with another wingblade for Rainbow, replacing the one with the broken bindings. The pegasus slipped it on.

“Your time’s up,” Midnight said. “Begin.”

Four hours, and five more run throughs later, and Twilight and her friends had managed three more wins. However, they still hadn’t made it through unscathed yet. Each time they won, they’d always lost somepony. The least they’d lost was two, Rarity getting eliminated in an ambush by Fleetwing and Close, and Applejack going down to Weaver and his sneaky tactics. They were getting better, though, working together, watching their backs.

Finally, Midnight had to allow the other guards back inside. While the barracks came back to life, Twilight and her friends met with the captain outside.

“You’re all doing very well,” Midnight said. “You’re working together as a team and learning from your mistakes, forcing the trainers to stay on their hooves.” She smiled. “Keep it up, keep learning individually, and you’ll be able to face anything thrown at you.” She left them to go get dinner, vanishing off to wherever it was she went after training was over.

Twilight and her friends headed into the mess hall. They were weary, but in good spirits. They had won for the first time today. At a cost, yes, but it was still a win. That was a boost to their morale as a team. Midnight was right, they were learning and getting better over time. Hopefully next time they would get it perfect, a win with losing nopony.


* * *




Once again, Twilight ran around the track. Her hooves kept a staccato rhythm. Her pace was neither fast, nor slow, but just right. A slight breeze was blowing, her mane moving back and forth across her field of vision. The moonlight shining across the field gave her plenty of light to see by.

She’d woken up on her cot in the bunkroom and been unable to go back to sleep. There were too many thoughts racing through her head, she needed to do something to get her mind focused. Normally, she’d go downstairs in her library, read a book. Tonight, she felt like going for a run. She’d found that running helped clear her mind.

They were three weeks into the training at this point. Today they had undergone the team challenge again, Twilight and her friends versus the trainers in a rousing game of “Find the Dummy.” Out of six rounds, they’d won five.

The trainers were certainly doing their best to stop them. From ambushes to ganging up on them, to forcing them to split up, to Weaver and his sneaky, dirty tactics. Twilight had found out how he was always hiding from them; he had a cloaking spell. He would cast that on himself, and anypony else with him. It only worked if they remained still, as movement would break the effect, but he could hide in a corner until they all passed and then ambush them. He was very good at just taking out the last member in line silently, before anypony noticed him.

The crowning moment of the day had been on the fifth attempt. Twilight and her friends had not only won, but they had successfully eliminated all the trainers and not lost any of their own. Yes, five of them had been bandaged by Fluttershy, including the passive mare herself, but they had pulled through.

It had been three weeks of the one month time limit Midnight had put on the training. Twilight had learned more in these three weeks than she had in the last year of self-study in her library. Almost everything she’d learned had something to do with fighting, or least had a practical application in a combat situation.

It was interesting for sure, learning so much. Yet she couldn’t help but still wonder at some of what she’d learned. It served no purpose beyond hurting, or killing, others.

She still dreamed of that day at the speech, the day Swift Bloom had died. The day she had killed two beings. She didn’t like that feeling, killing others. She knew that what Cadance had told her was right, how she had no other choice. In a sea of bad decisions, she had made the best one she could.

And now she was learning things whose sole intention was to kill. She was going to be setting off on a mission where in all likelihood, she would be forced to kill again. If the dragon could dominate ponies, then surely he would dominate more. At some point, it was guaranteed she’d come across them and be thrust into a fight for her life.

If it came down to a choice between herself and her opponent, she’d fight to survive. She’d fight to keep her friends safe. She’d fight to make sure Spike would still have a world to wake up to each morning. That’s why she was doing this in the first place.

She just wished fighting didn’t often lead to killing.

Slowing down and coming to a stop, she stood in the dirt. Her breathing was deep and even. She wasn’t out here to exert herself, just get her hooves moving and her head clear.

There was a flutter of wings next to her. Looking over, she saw Midnight. The thestral had a canteen in her hoof, offering it to Twilight. “Thought you could use some water.”

Taking the canteen, Twilight unscrewed the cap, taking a deep draw from it. “Thanks,” she said. “What are you doing still up?”

“Heh,” Midnight smirked. “I should be asking you that. Isn’t it a little late for you to still be awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep, decided to come out and run instead of go read.” Twilight chuckled bitterly. “Me, of all ponies, giving up a chance to read a book in favor of physical activity.”

“You’d make a good Captain,” Midnight responded. When Twilight gave her an odd look, she clarified. “You’d certainly be able to handle all the paperwork.”

Taking another drink from the canteen, Twilight put the lid back on it. “Do you ever even sleep? Or eat for that matter, I think I’ve seen you eating in the mess hall twice.”

Midnight laughed. “Of course. I’m flesh and blood just as much as the next pony. I decided to come out for a quick flight before bed though.” The thestral sighed. “Paperwork, Twilight, waits for nopony. It’s what the Guard runs on and unfortunately I cannot kick this down to one of my lieutenants.”

“Yeah, I was just doing the same thing. Running, not flying,” she hastily amended. “Or paperwork.” She realized she was babbling and shut up.

Taking a seat on the ground, Midnight looked up at the sky. “Luna’s night really is beautiful. It’s hard to believe she’s gone and yet nothing’s changed. I look up at her sky each night and it still looks the same.”

Sitting down herself, Twilight responded. “I know. I keep seeing the days and nights pass, and part of me still thinks that the Princesses are alive. But my dreams won’t let me forget the truth.”

“Is that why you’re out here so late? A dream?” The thestral turned to look at Twilight.

She hesitated a moment before nodding. “About the speech. And what happened there.”

Midnight’s left ear twitched. “That was a hard day for us all. I don’t think anypony expected what happened. Are you still upset over what happened?”

Twilight nodded. “Swift’s death is still hard. I know I didn’t know her for very long, but she saved my life, and the lives of my friends. If it weren’t for her, we’d be frozen to death somewhere out in the Ice Wastes. Even beyond that, though, she was a wonderful pony. She didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Twilight felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Nopony deserves to die like that. It’s not right, nor is it fair. All we can do now is mourn her loss, and go kick the flank of those who caused it.”

“I just feel so bad for her daughter, Berry,” Twilight explained. “To be left an orphan like that...”

“She’s the filly that came down with Cadance to visit you the other day, yeah?”

Twilight nodded. “She is. It’s good to see her out and about. The day before we started this training, she was holed up in her room, angry and upset at everything.”

“She just lost her mom, her entire family. I’m a grown mare and I’d be angry and upset if that happened to me.”

She sighed. “I know. I couldn’t see it at the time, too focused on what she was saying over why she’d be feeling that way.”

“But that’s not really why you’re out here this late,” Midnight said, her hoof still on Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not. I can’t get the faces of those two ponies I killed out of my head. I mean, I’ve come to terms with my actions. I know that killing them was for the best, but that doesn’t make the fact that I killed something sit any better with me.”

She lowered her voice, still looking up at the moon. “Part of me is also afraid of what will happen the first time I get into a combat situation. A real one, not just this practice stuff. I know that here, nopony’s gonna get anything more than a bruise or a slight cut.” Twilight pointed to the various bruises and cuts that adorned her body. She was a tableau of injury. Most of it she didn’t feel anymore.

“Will I be able to handle it?” she continued. “Will I act as I do now, with logic and tactics? Or will I freeze, unable to do what needs to be done?”

Midnight pawed the ground with her free forehoof, making little furrows in the dirt. “Do you know how long I’ve been an officer in the Lunar Guard?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“Since the first day of Luna’s return and the reinstatement of the Lunar Guard. I proved myself and became the Captain that very day. And since then, I’ve seen a lot of recruits come through. You know how many of them go through the same thing you do?” Midnight paused a moment. When Twilight didn’t say anything, she continued. “Almost every single one of them.

“Every guard recruit goes through the same thing you do. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s those guards who don’t have those reservations that I worry about. Those few are the ones who maybe enjoy killing, the one’s I have to keep an eye on.”

“I know I’m going to regret this, but what’s wrong with that few?”

Midnight sighed. “Those who enjoy killing, they are the ones who will kill a fugitive rather than apprehend him and bring him back to jail. They’ll be more willing to take direct, harmful action, rather than try and solve a problem peacefully. A guard’s duty is to protect the innocent, and the innocent are just that until proven guilty. Those who enjoy killing are more likely to just kill and not care why, or whether the pony in question is innocent or not.”

“So those who enjoy it, do it.”

Midnight nodded. “Yes. If a recruit doesn’t have reservations about killing, or at least second thoughts, then that means more work for me, and for those officers under my command. Paperwork over why the pony died. Interviews with the pony who killed him. Trying to understand why. Sometimes, it is a clear cut case of kill or be killed. Sometimes, it’s a case of a guard going too far. Deliberately.harming another. Those are the worst.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve read of a few of those cases. It’s always the guard against the general public. In no cases does it end well for the Guard, regardless of the actual outcome of the jury. They are either guilty of corruption against the populace, or corruption with the populace. There is no win.”

“Indeed,” Midnight nodded. “Anytime a civilian is killed with a Guardsman as his killer, regardless of Lunar or Royal guard, it becomes a huge stir. And you know what? It doesn’t matter what the papers say. Most of the time, it’s because a guardsman used excessive force.”

“I thought those claims were all investigated,” Twilight said.

“They are,” Midnight agreed. “But most of the time, the crown doesn’t want word of what actually happened getting out. Corruption in the Guard is one of the worst possible things that can happen to us. If ponies lose faith in us, then what hope do they have? We are the first and last defense against threats both domestic and foreign. The city police are good against criminals, but against terrorists, armies, militias? We are the only hope.

“For ponies to know that sometimes Guards cause problems would be a blow to not only our morale, but the entire country as well. We cannot let that happen.”

“What does this have to do with me having reservations about killing somepony or not?” Twilight asked.

“What I’m trying to say is that you having reservations, conflicts about this, is a good thing.” She paused. “Wanna know a secret?”

Twilight nodded. “Sure. I learned a lot of things from Shining. I can keep a secret.”

Midnight chuckled. “I’m not surprised Shining talked to you. One of the things about Officers, and those in Special Ops, is that even though their official records are classified, they are allowed to share what they know, what they’ve been through, with one pony. We know that trying to go through that alone is a recipe for disaster. It has to be shared. So long as it’s only with one pony, it’s fine. I’m not surprised he shared things with you, considering how much he talked about you.”

She shook her head, as if to clear away certain thoughts. “Anyway. The secret is about me.” She paused a moment. “The first time I fought in an actual battle. The first time I had to make a choice between life or death for somepony other than me. I froze.”

Twilight felt her jaw descend a bit. “Really? But you’re... You.”

Midnight laughed, long and loud. “Thanks, Twilight. But when I was a rookie, a newbie Captain in a newly reinstated Guard, I didn’t know what to do. Then the Gryphons attacked, trying to take advantage of a confused Equestria in the wake of Luna’s return. We were sent to oppose them.

“I found myself fighting a Gryphon Captain. Technically my equal in rank. However, equal in rank doesn’t mean equal in skill. This gryphon was far and away my superior in terms of fighting strength.”

Twilight remained silent. Midnight had a faraway look in her eye, like she wasn’t even focusing on the present anymore. She knew that it was best to let the thestral experience whatever she was trying to relive. Twilight had seen this look on her brother’s face before, when he was stuck in the past.

“Shit,” Midnight swore, the word barely audible to Twilight. “The two of us fought at a stalemate what seemed like forever. Finally, I got the upper hoof. I cut his head off with one swipe of my sword.”

She looked down at the ground. “I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. His head just kind of fell to one side. It had a look of pure shock on it. Luna, the same look must have been on my face. I never expected to win, much less kill him.”

The thestral sighed. “Once their leader was dead, the rest of the Gryphons either surrendered or ran off. The Gryphon Emperor said that it was separatists, but he’s a lying bastard. He just didn’t want to face the judgement of Celestia and Luna. Especially for losing.”

“I’m sorry, Midnight,” Twilight said.

“Don’t be. If I hadn’t won, that battle would have claimed a lot of lives.” She shook her head. “My point is this: Even if you’re uncertain about your actions, always think about not what you’d do, but about what would happen if you didn’t do something. In my case, the pony I loved was taking part in that battle, If I did nothing, then he’d die. Killing that gryphon was the path to him living.

“When I talked about finding a special somepony to fight for, that wasn’t just hyperbole. I meant it.” Midnight looked away. Her next words came out in a harsh whisper. “I lost my special somepony in that battle. I wasn’t good enough, not quick enough, to kill the gryphon leader in time. He died while I was in battle.”

Twilight wrapped a hoof around Midnight’s shoulders, pulling her close. The thestral leaned into her for a brief moment. Then her assertive facade reestablished itself.

“So no matter what, fight like your loved one is on the line. Because they usually are, whether they’re directly involved in the battle or not.”

Twilight wondered just who this talk had benefitted more; herself, or Midnight. It seemed like the Captain needed to get something off her chest the same as she had. Having to always be strong, to be the foundation of an entire branch of the Guard, it had to be stressful and difficult.

Yet Midnight had experience and knowledge that Twilight could never hope to understand. She’d been through so much. It was amazing that she was not only still sane, but still a Captain.

Twilight held Midnight close for a moment, before letting her go. “Thank you, Midnight. You’ve helped me a lot tonight.”

“It’s nothing,” she replied. “I always have an open door for anypony in my guard, even a first day recruit. Anything you tell me, whatever you share with me, will be kept confidential. After all, what kind of Captain would I be if I couldn’t earn and keep the trust of the guards under me?”

Twilight laughed. “A lousy one.”

Midnight smiled, though it was a bit grim. “Indeed.” She patted Twilight’s back. “Now go on, get some sleep. It’s more of the same tomorrow, but still a big day.”

With that, the thestral flew off. Twilight watched her fly over the city, until her dot on the horizon vanished.

Shaking herself, Twilight stood up. Midnight was right, about a lot of things. She needed to keep in mind not just what she would do during a fight, but what would happen if she lost. This quest wasn’t about her, not by a long shot.

Heading inside, Twilight collapsed onto her cot, being careful not to wake anypony else. The entire room was an odd mixture of her friends, plus combined Lunar and Crystal Guard.

Twilight lay on her back, staring at the ceiling as she thought over everything Midnight said. Maybe she was being selfish, thinking only about herself. Her friends must be going through the same thing she was, yet they were sleeping soundly each night.

Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep. It wouldn’t be long until tomorrow. No matter what she personally thought, there were far more ponies counting on her.