//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Without a Scope // by mathwiz617 //------------------------------// "Up and at 'em, recruits!" a guard shouted into the barracks. As Far Sight stumbled out of bed, he blearily noticed one unicorn several beds away already had his hooves under him, fully awake. Far was more than a little envious. Once the group walked into the sunshine, they were told to repeat yesterday's run. It was harder than last time, though Far chalked that up to exhaustion from the day before. Breakfast was afterwards again. Today, Far sought out the unicorn he noticed that morning. "Can I sit here?" he asked the beige pony through the tray. "No skin off my back," he said. As Far set his tray down, the unicorn asked, "What brings you over here?" "I was wondering how you got out of bed so quickly, is all. Figured now would be the best time to ask." "Eh, I'm a light sleeper, and I've always had a great reaction time. They called me the ‘Sandy Colt’ back in San Palomino.” "Really? The Sandy Colt had the fastest magic in the desert.” “Not just the desert. The world,” the unicorn bragged. Far rolled his eyes. “Oh, you don’t believe me? Eat your apple, and I’ll tell you the truth.” Far went to grab his apple. He closed his mouth on empty air. "You looking for this?" the unicorn said, levitating the apple out of his bags. It was the exact same one. Giving it back, he said, "I'm Blink. Good to meet you." “I’m Far Sight. What are you doing here, Blink?” “Well, I had hit rock bottom, and turned to drinking. The guard literally found me at the bottom of a cider barrel. He offered me a chance to turn my life around, and I took it. Now, I’m sober and on track to becoming a royal guard myself.” “Wow. That’s quite a difference, I’d say.” Before either pony could continue the conversation, a nearby guard told them it was almost time to start training. Both hurriedly chowed down, then walked outside. As the group assembled in the courtyard, they were greeted, not by Captain Armor, but by Princess Luna. They were hit with a blast of wind as she spoke, “Recruits, I will be your commanding officer for the foreseeable future.” Far assumed this was the infamous Royal Canterlot Voice. “Captain Armor has travelled to the far north under the orders of Princess Celestia. Therefore, you fall under my responsibility for now. Today will be a field exercise, so all of you will report to the chariots in ten minutes. You will be given instructions upon arrival at your destination. Dismissed!” The ponies were grouped two to a chariot, with pegasi flying alongside. Ranking pegasi were tasked with pulling the chariots. The group took off, bearing south. Within an hour, they landed on the outskirts of Ponyville, Luna close behind. “Your objective for today,” Luna told the group in a much more subdued tone, “is to protect the town. The Bearers are out of town, so dealing with the disaster du jour falls to the royal guard. This is your opportunity to prove yourselves worthy of your position in this program. If at all possible, do not interrupt the daily lives of the ponies that live here. I shall observe from the center of town. Good luck, recruits.” With that, she teleported away. Far saw her appear on the roof of what must have been town hall. The group looked around at each other. The first thing Far noticed was that nopony had been given any weapons. One other recruit must have noticed this, as a voice rang out, “I’ll see what I can scrounge up in town.” That pony walked off towards the town. Windy Days flew over to Far Sight, trailed by the other three he had met in his time in Canterlot. “I figure we should patrol around the farm over there,” she said, pointing towards the southern edge of town. “I’m seeing an apple over the gates,” Far said. “Is it an orchard or an Apple family farm?” “Both, actually,” one of the guards that flew the chariots told them. “That’s Sweet Apple Acres, Equestria’s premiere apple orchard, and the only place you can find Zap Apples outside of the forest. The Bearer of Honesty runs the farm with her family.” “Thanks,” Ember told the guard. “Hey, where will you guys be?” “During your training exercise? I’m going to the bar. Seems that’s the most popular place in Ponyville not run by one of the Bearers.” “Gee, thanks for your assistance,” Blink deadpanned. The five had split from the group and walked onto Sweet Apple Acres. After introducing themselves to the matriarch of the family, they began to patrol the border between the farm and the forest. Far Sight perched atop the barn, scanning the edge of the woods. The Apples seemed comfortable with a group of trainees around; Granny Smith had said that the farm was the site of a lot of “training excursions” over the years. The stallion in the family, Big Mac, only added one word to the conversation before heading out for the day. The youngest Apple, Apple Bloom, seemed to have an obsession with Obsidian Mountain. The filly was peppering him with questions, though Far couldn't tell what they were. Judging by Obsidian's eye rolling, and the kid's lack of a cutie mark, he guessed that they were questions about being a blank-flank. Obsidian seemed to take it well, considering. Glancing back towards Ember and Blink, he saw something moving in the brush. Launching himself towards the pair, he caught the attention of the shadowy figure. As it leaped at him, Blink must have heard the rustle, and launched a bolt of magic its way. The timberwolf got half its face knocked off before anything else could react. Ember’s horn then lit up, and the other half of the wolf’s face caught fire. Far had enough distance to pull up, narrowly dodging the fire that was quickly consuming the beast. Looking around, Far saw that Windy had flown into the air, well beyond any wolf’s reach. That just left… “Obsidian! Get the filly out of there!” Far shouted towards the earth ponies. His call must have been just loud enough, as Obsidian picked up Apple Bloom and galloped towards the farmhouse. He was a little slow, however, and soon had a wolf nipping at his hooves. Apple Bloom whispered something into the stallion’s ear, and he planted his forelegs on the ground, flinging the filly forward. His back legs came crashing down on the wolf’s head, incapacitating it. As the group raced towards Obsidian, the rest of the pack came out of the woods. There were another ten, bunched together. A pony crested a nearby hill in the other direction; Far recognized him as the recruit that had wandered off earlier that day. He stood straight on his hind legs, hefted something onto his shoulder, and launched what looked like a firework at the pack. Turns out, it was a firework. It was launched from the perfect distance to explode right in the lead wolf’s face, setting eight of the wooden wolves on fire. Shimmering Ember made quick work of the last two, igniting them as well. The rest of the group ran to the farmhouse to get water, just in case the fires spread. Within minutes, the entire pack was nothing but ashes, and all the fire was put out. As the other pony came trotting up to the group, Far asked, “So, who do we have to thank for saving our lives?” The earth pony smiled. “I’m Sprocket, but you really should thank Pinkie Pie. It was her hidden stash of fireworks that did all the work. I’m just glad I got to be of some help to my hometown, really. Princess Luna probably expects us back in town soon, so let’s hurry.”