*Knock knock knock!*
The sound was firm, and told the listener that whoever the knocker was, he had important business to attend to.
"Aaaaah!"
*Thud!*
Unfortunately, it came far earlier than even the orphanage-hardened Straw was ready for. The fall from the top bed wasn't too painful, though, and it served to wake the dizzy hippogriff up, at least a little bit.
Leo, a noble used to working about as much as a sloth on Sunday, didn't even skip a snore, only mumbled something doubtlessly racist.
*Knock knock.*
"Comiiiing," groaned Straw, crawling on the floor. Considering his last night's meeting, it had still taken him a while to go to sleep, but at least he'd felt safe enough to do so. Several painful and confused moments later, he dragged himself far enough to reach for the handle.
*Click.*
Straw looked into green and very confused eyes.
"Good morn...ing?" Cromach snorted, successfully fighting off a fit of laughter, "Had a rough night or are you pretending to be slug?"
"Slug... sir," Straw mumbled, willing his legs to obey him. In the end, he managed to perform at least a two out of ten salute, "I haven't had much sleep in last two days."
"Did something happen on the train? I had to wrap some things up at Canterlot, so I couldn't come with you."
"Aside from Three and Conservation or what's her name hating me on first sight? Not much, sir. I just couldn't sleep."
"Heh, Contradiction. She's a nice mare, she just takes things too seriously," Cromach ruffled Straw's mane, "I felt the same when running from the Empire. It's just nerves, don't worry about it. Good thing I was used to it, our drill sargeant loved surprise night trainings. Well, I guess it's your time to learn now. Speaking of learning to deal with hard nights, is Leo finally up?"
As both of them looked into the room where the unicorn slept peacefully, Cromach winked at Straw fiendishly, put a talon to his beak, walked over to the unicorn's bed...
...and took a deep breath.
"GET UP, RECRUIT, OR I'LL TELL CELESTIA TO MAKE IT SO THERE'S NO PLACE HER SUN DOESN'T SHINE!"
"Go home eat a candle, peasant," the sleepy unicorn mumbled.
Precisely two seconds later Leo's eyes burst open as he realized what he'd said... and to whom.
"Aaaaaah!" he woke up faster than a certain rainbow-maned, blue pegasus on crack, and his leg spasm sent him upwards...
...horn first into the wooden frame of Straw's top bunk.
"A noble AND a useful drill? You are a pony of many talents, Leo. Hope one of them is home repair, otherwise Straw is sleeping in bed with you tonight," Cromach looked at the ceiling and hummed thoughtfully, "Note to self - give Cross an idea for a new clop story. A unicorn noble and a hippogriff recruit in a military setting."
Leo couldn't control his telekinesis. Honestly, who could blame him.
His attempt at wiggling himself free from the bed frame ended up with the entire top bed exploding into bits of wood.
Cromach, protecting himself from the shower with his wings, looked unimpressed...
...although very amused.
"I know, I know," he patted Leo's back, "The nights are long and cold without a warm, soft, pliable body next to you willing to make the blues go away, spoon you happily while saying sweet nothings into your ear twitching under his hot breath. The hot breath which trickles down your neck, through your chest begging for the dominating grasp of sharp talons, and down... down where a pressure builds until you can resist no longer and release it in an act of beastly and rough..."
Both Leo and Straw could only stare with mouths agape. Their brains had stopped working a while ago, but the embarrassment seemed to have a head of its own, making both of them excellent aspirants for a future as ketchup bottles.
Cromach leaned down and breathed wetly on Leo's muzzle.
"...rutting."
The unicorn shot out of the bottom bed, panically taking the nearest way out. Unfortunately for him, Straw, still paralyzed by Cromach's speech, was in the way.
Stepping over the tangled mess of two bodies, Cromach facetaloned, "That didn't mean right here and now."
The two bodies suddenly became very interested in getting as far away from one another as possible. Each one trying to fuse to the other side of the hallway and looking at one another suspiciously, they followed Cromach through the mansion.
"I have no problem with protecting them until we sort this out, but this is pointless. Look at how it ended last time!" Blaze said heatedly.
Leo, Fortune, Straw, Contradiction, and Walter were watching as the main business of today didn't go as smoothly as planned. The inside of a plain, spartan office was burning with conflict.
"I admit it looks bad, but we know so much more than before!" Cromach disagreed, "We have a survivor, who has experience now and can share it. We have a Legion soldier who went through the same training I did. We have a unicorn, whose power is remarkable and still growing, despite developing slowly. What more do you want? It's much more than we had last time."
"Really? Can you compare them to Two, even all three of them? I mean yes, Rocky wasn't the best warrior, but she was tough from growing up in the northern wastes. Rolling was just a guard, granted, but she went through both Royal Guard AND police training. But Two... do you actually think the two new ones add more power than we had before?"
"It's not just Connie and Walter, that's why I'm here!" Cromach slammed the table behind which Blaze was sitting and fuming.
"This. Is. Dumb."
"You give me no choice," Cromach turned to Fortune, "Fortune, go get Heavy. He has final say in this."
The satyr rushed away.
"What do you mean 'he has final say in this'?"
"No matter this was your family's mansion. No matter you're the most experienced at dealing with divinity. This is still a government institution which is led by Heavy, which means I can try persuading him when you're being dumb."
With the bronze alicorn grinding his teeth, Straw spotted they were sharp ones. Once again, Blaze didn't look like an alicorn, but like an amalgamation of various traits and parts. From the depths of his mind a question popped out:
"Who made him?"
Nightmare just chuckled.
"Okay okay. You two!" he barked, looking at Leo and Straw, "Do you want to join the Order as... a part of a unit which would consist of you, Contradiction, Walter, and Fortune, or do you want to join the Order as normal recruits, recieve standard training, and NOT DIE A HORRIBLE AND PAINFUL DEATH?"
Leo and Straw traded glances. In the end, the unicorn sighed and put his hooves on Blaze's table.
"When ambassador Cromach told me that I was nopony, just a little sum of my father's money and influence, that I haven't done anything in my life worth mentioning... I wanted to punch him so hard he would be crapping horseshoe bits even today. Heck, I tried to... which worked out about as well as you can imagine. Now I know he was right, and I want to make something out of myself. I don't want to be a streetpouding grunt though. I am a noble, and it is my duty to protect those in my shadow. I can't do that right now, but I want to be able to... one day."
Blaze's expression would make a statue reevaluate the material it was made of. Cromach, on the other hoof, was watching the unicorn proudly. The focus shifted to Straw as Blaze turned his head to him.
"Sir," Straw coughed and shifted nervously, "I... I don't know about all that and I would be happy just being in princess Celestia's guard. The thing is that if I return to Canterlot I will get eaten and if I don't, at least according to what Three said, I will fall to Nightmare anyway. Last night you gave me a way to control it, at least to a certain extent, and if my time here is limited then I want to do something important while I can. I have nowhere to return the way I'm now. I don't want to go back home as a nopony. I'd rather not return at all than dash what little hope is left in those growing up in the orphanage. I want to give them an example that there is more to life than a dry bed and something to eat every other day. That's why I don't want to go through a normal bootcamp until the day Three decides to slit my throat while I sleep. If I don't have much time then I want to make that time count."
"YOU IDEAL-WORSHIPING IDIOTS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT DYING MEANS, HOW IT FEELS? THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE FAILED, THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER CHANCE, THAT ALL YOU KNOW WILL FALL NOW THAT YOU'RE CHOKING AT THE END OF A ROPE, BURNING TO DEATH, OR BLEEDING OUT WITH NO STRENGTH TO EVEN CALL FOR HELP?" Blaze yelled, and his wings, this time the black ice version, shot out.
Next to him, a bookshelf cleanly cut into bits crumbled on the floor. When he noticed, he just sat back down to the table. Levitating a pen which snapped under his telekinesis, he took a deep breath, and buried his muzzle into his hooves.
"New... bucking... bookshelf... sixty... bits!" he growled to himself as, on a second attempt, he wrote something into a ledger in front of him.
"I'll... take that as a yes... maybe?" asked Cromach weakly and sqeakily, waving the rest out of the office.
A moment later he quietly backed out as well, and carefully closed the door.
"Sorry, he's not usually that scary," his obviously faked smile greeted the group when he turned around, "So... the Baker squad."
"I refuse to be named after some sort of bread militia," Leo grumbled.
"How about the suicide squad number two?" came from the titanic, blue-maned earthpony from yesterday coming down the hall, followed by Fortune. His tone was serious, but the small smile on his muzzle warmed Straw up. Walter and Connie bowed, while Straw and Leo just stared. If Cromach was a handsome guy, then Heavy, while of an extremely well-trained build, possessed soft features which had to make him incredibly popular with the ladies... until they found out he was taken and, on top of that, by a stallion.
"How about... the Hoof Of Fate? I mean, since you all got here by a stroke of - let's say good - luck," baron Heavy Hoof offered, "Saying 'I am a member of the Hoof Of Fate' would sound boysterous enough, wouldn't it?"
"You just wanted to name something after you, Heavy, didn't you?" Cromach poked the earthpony.
"Something like, let's say," Heavy grinned, scratched his chin, and circled his hoof all around, "the Hoof family mansion?"
"Pfff, you win. Let's show the dreaded, powerful, and almighty 'Hoof Of Fate' the ropes," Cromach stopped, "Okay... now it sounds just silly, but wait AFTER you slay your first dark lord of chaos from a millenium-old prophecy."
The group followed the baron and the ambassador out of the mansion and to the training grounds where yesterday the normal recruits had been practicing. The batpony-transformed changeling who, as Straw remembered, was called Cross stood next to a crate of weapons and watched the grey, morning sky.
"Hey, Tio," Heavy Hoof said warmly, "Are you ready?"
"Hmm?" the changeling turned around, "Sure. It's just that after so many centuries in the Empire where it's hot all the time the morning gloom here in Equestria feels new, exciting."
"Glad you like it here. Well, here's something of a routine which might make you comfortable," Heavy led Cross' gaze towards the group, "Our new special squad needs some serious beating so they don't end up like our old special squad. Unfortunately, as Cromach told me, none of them are proficient with a staff or an oversized weapon, so me and Crom can only teach them so much. Most of them are used to a sword, which is right up your alley."
"Shouldn't Blaze be teaching sword? He's ridiculously good at it."
"True," Heavy nodded, "but his abilities aren't something you can just learn. Special talent is a special talent, after all. Style-wise you are better. Plus... I wouldn't really bother him right now. He's not in the brightest of moods."
"Fine," Cross just shrugged, "Grab something from the crate, guys."
No one of the experienced part of the group objected, so Leo and Straw had to believe the changeling was a real deal when it came to weapons. What was a rather terrifying realization was that the weapons were real, not practice ones.
"Eeeerm," Straw looked at the sharp blade held in his talons nervously, "I've never used the real thing before."
Cromach patted him on the back.
"The most important thing on surviving a fight is being able to take a blow. Nopony's defense can be perfect, and you're of no use when a scratch paralyzes you completely. We have some very good healers here who can patch you right up... unless you get killed instantly, but that's always a risk."
Straw's grey fur didn't cover him paling well enough. He started shaking. What warmed him, at least a little, was that Leo looked exactly the same, although it was hard to tell under his pristine, white coat. Cromach sighed, but smiled reassuringly.
"Guys, what Blaze said wasn't just some psychotic and terrified nonsense. He died... several times, thiking he'd failed all those around him. No one of us knows how it feels, but I've had the chance to talk to him about it over and over. The risk is always there. What we are doing isn't easy, safe, or standard in any way. Our enemies are powerful individuals while you are not. That's why there is five of you. Nopony can be omnipotent, but each of you can serve as a part of an extremely powerful unit. That is why you will be taking all exercises as a group right from the start. In the beginning, you will fail most of them. Later... who knows."
"Why not take it slower in the beginning then?" Contradiction asked politely, "I mean, you haven't done anything of that sort with us before."
"And look what it led to," Cromach just sighed, "No, you might be powerful in few years, but to assure... increase the chances of you getting there you have to guard each other's back. You'll learn to take a blow that way. Now, the training is scheduled for every other day because we still have to deal with the normal recruits. The physical part will be what you are used to, either from Canterlot, as Leo and Straw, or from here. The weapon practice will be different. Me and Heavy will be here to teach you how to fight against somepony of our weapon proficiency while Cross can improve your style, since most of you prefer a sword. Fortune, you can still train hand-to-hand combat with Antares. The rest of you, and this is important, ask for help or explanation if you ever need anything. We're not that much older than you, aside from Cross, we can't think of everything on the spot, and we can't see what troubles you. Don't make me go into some dark cellar and slaughter your reanimated and transformed corpses again."
He shook his head, but everypony was silent until he continued.
"The next part will be your training of combat synergy against Antares, Shadowstep, and Cross, which is the part we expect you to fail miserably over and over. Don't mull over it too much, any experience you can scramble from it will be useful. The final part will be magic training for Leo and Connie. The rest of you will be practicing against various things experienced spellcasters can throw at you. Starlight and Mistake will be leading those sessions. Speaking of which," he looked questioningly at Cross, "Why isn't Starlight participating in the squad training instead of Antares?"
"She's lazy," was his simple answer.
It was clear Cromach wanted to say something, but in the end he just shrugged.
"That's all then. Any questions?"
"No, sir!" said everyone. With the exception of Walter, of course.
Despite it being early in the morning, it was much warmer here than in Canterlot. The metropolis filled with large houses, where everypony's heating unit was burning the winter cold away, had a naturally higher temperature than the mountainside city. Still, the air stung Straw in his nose as he ran around the mansion while Cromach shouted random changes in direction or running style. Supposedly, it was to make them used to quickly dodging in combat. In reality, it was annoying to the point of-
"On your hind legs and backwards!" yelled the griffon.
*Thud!*
"Ow..." came from multiple throats.
Aside from Fortune, everyone had to scramble themselves off the lawn in confusion at the movement their bodies definitely were not supposed make. It didn't help that Cromach fulfilled his own instruction without skipping a beat, grinning in satisfaction.
As the training continued, the butterflies in Straw's stomach settled down. The wind rustling in his fur, the heat of burning muscles inside him, and the humming of breath signalling he was close to passing out were all too familiar to what he'd been doing for the past month. What helped the most was that Walter was the only one keeping up with Cromach's and Heavy Hoof's tempo. The hippogriff, to his astonishment, was doing pretty well himself, certainly much better than Fortune, Leo, and Contradiction. Fortune's strong points were her agility and the natural movement on hind legs. Granted, she was strong as well, but she didn't possess the core strength all ponies naturally have. Leo was huffing and sweating, looking like a swimmer leaving a pool, but the determination in his eyes didn't allow him to complain a single time. Connie, though, was gasping for breath and shaking all over when the training session ended. She didn't look weak or scrawny, as far as appearance went. She was close to Leo's physique, but it seemed the practice drained her far more than the rest. Straw recalled Fortune's words on the train.
Overall, Straw considered the first session relaxing. His every muscle was tense and weak, but not in pain, which could mean only one thing - Cromach didn't want them to pass out before the real practice came.
The second part of the session was far worse. Straw didn't have any time to watch the others improve their individual skill because he had his talons full with escaping the strikes of Heavy Hoof's staff. Straw suspected the earthpony to somehow be using magic because the way his staff moved was way too fast, way too weird, and the blows hurt way too much for having almost no wind-up. Heavy's reactionary style exploited every loss of balance, every uncovered spot, and every misstep the hippogriff made.
When the trainers rotated, Straw was faced with a far different style of Cromach. He immediately realized Heavy was far more skilled than Cromach, which unfortunately didn't make the practice any easier. Cromach was bigger, way, WAY stronger in his swings, and the grabbing ability of talons allowed him to make wide and deadly strikes. Faced with an enemy whose blows he couldn't block or parry, Straw was out of ideas, but he had to keep going, he couldn't just give up. After his sword being knocked out of his grasp far too many times, the trainers rotated again.
This time he and Connie were the ones on a break. The unicorn looked locked in her own world while quietly looking at the lawn and breathing heavily. The surprising part was that, in contrast to everyone else, she had suffered no cuts and only several bruises. Decided to learn by watching other ponies' mistakes, Straw turned to the continuing beatdown. Leo was sparring with Cross, whose levitating sword kept scratching the unicorn with every blow. It felt weird, watching a batpony with a silhouette of an invisible horn glowing faint purple, but his skill was undeniable. Walter was facing off against Heavy Hoof and having about as much luck as Straw in getting past the earthpony's defenses. Apparently, even Griffon Legion training wasn't tough enough to give Walter a noticeable edge. Still, he looked happy whenever he broke the baron's balance or even when he ended on his back himself. Fortune was having a rough time, and Straw immediately knew close combat wasn't her true calling. She was using some sort of metal gauntlets to counterattack Cromach whenever his swing went wide, but the fact that she had to dodge every single blow or be split in half wasn't giving her much chance to be proactive. Cromach's ridiculous strength, on the other talon, allowed him to swing his two-handed battleaxe with ease rivaling a unicorn levitating a toothpick. That, and his unreal stamina. With Fortune barely able to move her legs in front of him, the griffon was only slightly damp from sweat.
The final round for Straw was against Cross. He had no idea what to think about it. Heavy Hoof was fast, strong, and immensely skilled, but he still looked beatable. Cromach's style didn't allow his opponent to make a single mistake, otherwise there would be two opponents of half the original size very quickly. Cross... looked as if he wasn't even trying. He corrected Straw mid-swing, he gave helpful tips whenever the hippogriff got cut again, but even after thinking about them and having them beaten into him over and over, Straw had to give up. There was literally no chance, no amount of luck, no unnatural coincidence which would make him win against Cross.
The changeling's only answer was:
"Of course, but if you meet somepony like me after this then you'll know to run immediately and you'll be easily able to cut your way through those of less skill."
He wasn't just blowing smoke. The final switch, during which it was Straw and Leo resting, assured him of it. Contradiction was fighting Cross, and while her style was similar to Cromach's, only a unicorn version as she was levitating a greatsword just like Leo used a longsword, Cross didn't even have to move, hidden behind a flashing blur of steel.
When the torment was over, the group slumped on the grass and relaxed. Heavy Hoof was applying bandages where necessary, and Cross administered healing magic where it wasn't enough. There was to be an hour-long break before, Straw came to the irritating conclusion, the 'Hoof Of Fate' were to be broken again.
The five faced the three. Leo, Fortune, Straw, Walter, and Connie stood in a half-circle around Cross, Shadowstep, and a grey griffon whose name was Antares, another changeling in disguise as Nightmare showed to Straw. The fact that the trio's combined age was somewhere around two millenia didn't bother our heroes because, well, they didn't know.
The fact that they were supposed to have a fight DID bother them, and Leo voiced it immediately:
"Okay... seriously?" he rolled his eyes and tilted his head, "I mean, we've just got scrapped by Cross and... seriously? Like... seriously?"
"Yes, I admit it looks unrealistic," Shadowstep chuckled and her amethyst mane swayed in the wind, "but the point here is for you to understand your roles in a unit against an enemy you can't beat in terms of individual skill. We will, of course, limit ourselves not to make this exercise completely pointless. Now, you should choose the best way you, as an individual, can add to the unit as a whole. Some of you, we already know."
Connie, Walter, and Fortune bowed slightly under Shadowstep's gaze.
"Long-range support," Fortune shifted the long, metal, tube-like construction on her shoulder which Straw had been told was a griffon weapon called an assault rifle.
Walter stood on his hind legs, raised his kite shield, and slammed the handle of his sword into it several times. Straw was stumped, but everyone else apparently understood.
"Leader and shieldbreaker," Connie nodded. This one Straw saw clearly. Contradiction's huge blade and supposed telekinetic power had to be excellent against slower, armored opponents.
Shadowstep looked at Leo, who levitated his sword, looked at it, and sheathed it again. With a snort of contempt, he looked at the rest of the group.
"Since nopony wants to do it, I'll go with magic shields. Can't let the commoners get hurt, somepony has to make me lunch."
Seemingly, Straw was the only one who got the joke, at least he believed it to be one. The rest of the squad were either surprised or, in case of Connie, visibly mad.
When Straw stood up, Shadowstep was watching him curiously.
"I don't know... cannonfodder?" he chuckled, "I don't really have any special power or talents, aside from you know what..."
Antares looked at him, thought for a while, and then threw something from his belt to Straw. It was a griffon pistol.
"Utility. If you have free talons and don't want to carry a shield, use this."
"I've never even fired a bow," Straw objected.
"Good, this is easier," Antares just snickered, "You point, it goes boom, you miss, and you hold it steadier next time to compensate for the recoil."
"Now," Shadowstep continued when everypony at least marginally knew what they should be doing, "Most units have some sort of similar composition. The key point is to understand it and pick off priority targets first. Generally, those are spellcasters, since they either provide protection or make it rain fire on you. If not, then it's the enemy tactician. As they say - cut the serpent's head off and the rest will follow. The second highest priority are medics, either magical or mundane. Healing spells usually drain ridiculous amounts of magic, so their users can't protect themselves while working. Normal medics, on the contrary, can shield themselves or fight back. Last are the grunts who fight directly. Unfortunately for you, those ones are the ones you usually need to take out first to get to the important ones. The tactician's goal is to set the situation up so that's not the case. Soldiers worried about utility tasks are usually doing what needs doing at the time. Their skillset is mostly unknown, which might be either because they are kept secret or because they don't excel in anything particular. In this practice I will be the tactician and spellcaster."
"Close combat expert," Antares raised himself on his hind legs, put his talons together, and bowed.
"Utility," Cross smiled, "Or as Straw Basket would say - cannonfodder."
"The goal of this session will be to disable the enemy tactician under unknown circumstances. You have no idea what we will limit ourselves to, and only Cross has met you before, so we're not sure about you as well. Since we haven't really had time to prepare a combat scenario, this entire flat lawn will be the battleground. At least you will learn something about zone control as well. You get few minutes to prepare a tactic."
Straw was very sad when the groups spread out on the large stretch of grass, mostly because he had literally no idea what was going to happen.
"Walt, you stay close to me and we'll take on Cross. Leo, you and Straw slow Antares down. Fortune, cover fire."
"And then we all get utterly wrecked," Fortune rolled her eyes, "Let me give you a short lesson in the amount of expected crushing, Connie. Antares will immediately disable anypony who gets in melee range, trust me on it. The only way to slow him down enough is for you unicorns to handle him. Walt and Straw both have pistols, so they might get Cross. I'll wait for a distraction and snipe Shadowstep."
"I need you to cover me. If I get hurt then we've lost," Contradiction reminded her.
"Damn," Fortune cursed, "A leader and a melee fighter, what a blunder."
"Just shut up and cover me!" growled Connie and ended the group huddle, "WE'RE READY!"
As soon as Shadowstep fired a purple flare from her horn, the fight commenced.
Antares launched himself into the air, and divebombed straight towards Connie and Leo approaching him. He was a prime target for Fortune's rifle, but she didn't shoot.
"The real threat doesn't show itself this early. It makes the enemy forget it is there," she mumbled to herself while crouched, hidden from Shadowstep's line of sight by the fighting group.
Connie growled as Antares wasn't picked off mid-air.
"Damn idiot, gonna kill us all one day. Leo, slow him down!"
She dug her hooves into the ground and her white glow engulfed her horn.
Leo opened his mouth to object, but when he realized she wasn't listening at all, he just focused as well. Golden shields appeared in the air in Antares' path. The griffon crushed through them with ease, making Leo grind his teeth.
"How long is this going to take?" he huffed as the griffon's divebomb continued.
Nothing. Only a black and white unicorn whose horn was now a pure white hole into another reality.
"Fine..." he grunted, "I'll do it... myself!"
Angling the rapidly breaking barriers, he grinned evilly. Antares laughed as the shields fell faster and faster, at least until his regained speed sent him into the last one right in front of Connie. It didn't shatter, but bent into a U-shape, and the griffon found himself rapidly rising. Temporarily unable to control his flight, he flapped his wings, trying to slow himself down.
As he slowed down enough to turn back, he was faced with one furious unicorn whose eyes glowed with power. On the lawn far down under Antares, Contradiction swung her blade at him. A crescent of telekinetic shockwave came from the blade and surged towards the griffon. Faced with a train's worth of force coming at him, Antares turned back into a changeling and fell like a rock.
"Heh, I'm not THAT stupid," Contradiction smiled and swung her blade again, "Now for the real one."
The second shockwave hit the changeling as soon as he met the ground. A cloud of dust obscured him.
"Good job!" Leo said, eyes wide, "You pack quite a punch, lady. High one?"
"Bucking idiot!" Connie charged at him, "A mortar!"
Leo realized too late that a shadow was over him. A purple ball of energy was gathering speed from great height. There was no way to get far enough. Connie was trying to push him out of the way. The ball would hit her. They would lose.
"Throw me!" he yelled, pushing against her with his telekinesis.
Like a golf ball following a curve, a force much greater than he'd ever mustered shoved him away. All he could do was hope his was enough to get Connie out as well. The explosion threw him even further. As the energy and dust settled, Leo saw two things. Antares was sitting in his crater back in his griffon form, legs grudgingly folded in front of his chest. Apparently, he considered himself defeated. Connie, on the other hoof, was covered in dirt and dust, coughing but standing upright.
"Wohoo!" Leo yelled cheerfully.
Shadowstep looked straight at him.
"Crap."
*Blam!*
*Tink!*
The amethyst queen's head involuntarily moved an inch to the side and something bounced away from her chitin armor. It was a long, sharp bullet. It HAD BEEN a long, sharp, sniper round. Now it was just a scrunched bit of lead. Shadowstep rubbed her head.
"Ouch..." she frowned and raised her voice, "Good job, round two?"
"No," came from Leo, sitting on the grass and grinning. He could barely keep his magic flowing.
"No," mumbled Connie, suffering from the same physical and magical exhaustion.
"No," whispered Fortune, lying on her stomach on the lawn, and put down her rifle.
"No," grunted Straw, hanging upside down, held by one leg in Cross' telekinesis.
"Nnnngg!" grumbled Walter, lying on his back with Cross' hoof on his chest, and watching the sky.
"Well," Shadowstep coughed, "We got a bit carried away this time. It appears we have to take you at least a bit seriously."
As they went for another hour-long break, Contradiction snarled at Fortune.
"What did you think you were doing? We needed the distraction!"
"Well," Fortune chuckled, "So did I. It worked, didn't it?"
"Umm," Straw raised his front leg, "Why are WE here?"
The final part was magic training, which was an essential part of Leo and Connie's combat prowess. Why were Straw, Fortune, and Walter there as well, they had no idea.
*Whoosh!*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Straw rolled on the ground, trying to douse the small fires all over his coat.
The sparkling white, purple-maned unicorn mare called Starlight, also one of Shadowstep's changelings in disguise, didn't even look away from Leo as the glow of her horn gradually faded. Straw didn't recognize her expression, he couldn't. His experiences with the softer part of pony population were too limited. Unfortunately, Leo, as a VERY experienced noble, DID recognize a gold digger on first sight, and the hunger in Starlight's eyes said clearly this one brought her own pickaxe and mine carts.
"Ehm," the second unicorn in charge of the magic training smiled nervously. His coat was grey, fading to black, and his blue mane complimented it well. Whenever Straw looked at him he had the feeling of watching some ethereal shadow, probably thanks to Nightmare, which allowed him to see many hidden things about Order members, "The only way we've discovered until now to protect yourself from spells is to be hit by them repeatedly. It sort of builds your magic tolerance. Baron Heavy Hoof is a fine example of it working, so, if you're bored, try to throw some fireballs at him and see what happens."
Straw liked not having to eat a liquid lunch, so he decided against the idea of making a staff grandmaster mad. Granted, it's not like he could use any magic, but still. Mistake continued, his form shifting and quivering in front of Straw's eyes like some sort of a wraith. To the others, he had to look completely normal, because no one commented on it.
"Am I tired or something? I mean, today's been a lot, but I still don't feel like passing out. Is it you, voice?"
"Call me Nightmare, slave. The 'unicorn' is a fragment of the alicorn traitor's mind given life by stolen divine power. Quite a unique being. The only part still uncorrupted by..."
"By whom?"
"I cannot say. I am far to weak to stop him, and so is Discord. Right now, my only option is to watch the end happen and then try again elsewhere."
"HEY, what end? I like living, can't you at least hint at something I can do to, I don't know, help?"
"As you can deduce yourselves, magic is manipulation of the world via force of will. All creatures possess it, but only unicorns, dragons, changelings, and some more obscure species can use it directly. The others can counter those by, sort of, refusing the change in the world the spellcaster suggests. For example, not believing you are on fire, mister Straw."
"Well yeah, at first I really couldn't believe somepony would set me on fire for no reason!" Straw complained, "My burning coat presented some irresistible arguments though."
"Umm, yes. It's not as simple as that," Mistake scratched his head, "Over time you should be able to prevent minor magical effects and lessen the stronger ones though. There really isn't much more to it, it's sort of an experimental method. I will-"
Starlight shoved him away.
"I will take care of the teaching of magic. After all, I have a lot more experience in ALL fields," she trotted over to Leo with the grin of a schoolfilly meeting Justin the Reaver, a famous demonic pop idol from Tartarus, "My lessons will be difficult, but I am happy to provide long and hard personal training. If you're willing to work me- under me then I'm sure I can make the experience most pleasurable for both of us, and the rewards... bountiful."
At this point, even Contradiction knew what was going on and leaned away with utter disgust written on her face. Leo, close enough to feel Starlight's hot breath on his muzzle, just shrugged. He was WAY too used to her sort.
"I will do whatever it takes to get better, miss Starlight, and dig through the deepest holes the world has to offer to be able to protect my charges."
"Not afraid to get dirty, are you? I like that."
"No. Also, if I get good enough then I might persuade my father to reverse his decision to disown me," Leo lied his ass off, carefully watching Starlight's expression. To his utter horror, he realized he'd underestimated her.
"A young ex-noble seeking redemption? Even... better..." she swiftly licked his nose and returned back to Mistake, not bothered by everybody's incredulous stares in the slightest.
Leo just whimpered.
"Look at it this way - from what I've heard she's REALLY good," Connie leaned to Leo and whispered.
"At what part of what she offered?" he panically whispered back.
With an evil smile which would put any usual dark lord to shame, Connie just shrugged and returned to ignoring him.
Straw couldn't really follow the Starlight-Leo chronicles any more, because Mistake's lesson started. He wasn't allowed to dodge the spells thrown at him, he was supposed to just stand there and take them.
It wasn't fun.
It hurt.
It burned.
It ended.
Still smoldering, Straw crumbled on the grass. The only good part was that he wasn't alone. Walter had lost some of his feathers and fur as well, and Fortune's clothes hung from her in tatters. Straw liked what he saw, very much so. Contradiction and Leo weren't better off. Starlight hadn't been lying when she'd said the training would be difficult.
Looking on the bright side, at least Leo's future looked interesting.
Thinking about the five of them lying on the grass, exhausted, Straw pondered a second meaning of Hoof Of Fate. They weren't the hoof, they were what was left after it went away.
Leo and Straw carefully read the slip of paper which came under the door of their room.
Meet me on the training grounds an hour before dinner. Come fully armed.
"More training? Cromach didn't say anything about it," Leo wondered.
"No idea," Straw shrugged, "but I think I'm getting used to being run through a wringer. I mean, how much worse can the day get?"
"After just two days here? I'll hazard a guess and say a lot."
"Worse than getting repeatedly set on fire? I doubt that."
Walking through the mansion, they noticed other recruits returning from their duties all over Manehattan. The way the official part of the Order operated was that the recruits had a day of training and then a day of duties. Straw had no idea how it would work for his group, but nopony had said anything yet. Fortune, Walter, and Connie met up with them at the mansion entrance. Walter flashed a piece of paper in his talons.
"Yeah, we got it as well," Straw nodded, "I don't suppose you, as the more experienced members, have any idea what it is about, or do you?"
The united shaking of heads and shrugging was a definite answer.
Straw gulped when he saw a familiar veil of golden-red fire covering a spot where they had been practicing several hours earlier.
"This can't be good."
When they got closer, Blaze's fire wings darkened and shifted into black ice. A second later a wall of ice surrounded all of them, creating a large, circular...
...arena.
"I was right, more training. This time with the big guy himself."
"I'm not so sure. Remember, you are his mortal enemy. It might be a training to them, but something can very easily happen to you. Be wary."
"What's going on, sir?" Contradiction asked.
"I'm going to correct several mistakes I made in the past," Blaze said simply, looking at Straw.
"Wha-?" Connie's eyes went wide as a barrage of black shards came towards her.
They got blocked by Walter, who jumped in front of her, shield at the ready. When the shards evaporated, Walter threw the shredded shield away.
"Oh no..." Fortune whimpered.
"Finally figured it out, Fortune?" Blaze grinned and sent a shower of small icicles at Leo. The attack looked weak, but Leo's golden barrier pulsed with every hit, and the unicorn's strained groaning proved that divine power worked in diffferent ways.
"Cromach told me you wanted to stop the training after my squad... got killed. He and baron Hoof were against it."
"Exactly," the alicorn nodded, "But when they all see how easily you fell when faced with divinity for the first time, they won't have any other option than to stop this nonsense. I will have to deal with gods myself, but at least I won't be sending any more foals to be tortured. Your lives... will serve the greater good."
"No... it's not just that. This is our fault."
"No," said Straw, "You just want me, don't you?"
"You know, two birds with one icicle," he jumped into the air, spun, and shot a long shard at Walter. The griffon tried to dodge, but his movement only put him right where Blaze was aiming. A thick, golden shield appeared in front of him and Leo groaned in pain.
It wasn't enough. The shard shattered the protective barrier and pierced Walter clean through his back.
"Walt?" Connie could only stare at the griffon, the flowing blood making his fur even more rusty.
"YOU BUCKING IDIOT!" screamed Fortune, primed her rifle, and unloaded a hail of bullets at Blaze.
As he covered himself with his wing, the bullets shattered more and more parts of it.
*Click click click click.*
The blackfrost wing was gone, but Fortune needed to reload. The instant she lowered her eyes to her weapon, Blaze's other wing shattered to razor-sharp bits aimed at her.
She didn't see it. She only saw golden glow of Leo's barrier in the way.
The unicorn spat out blood, and bright, yellow cracks appeared on his horn.
"Don't... touch... my subjects..." he groaned.
"Foals fighting gods, what a pointless effort," Blaze didn't look impressed.
A frosty stalagmite burst from the ground under Leo and came right through his skull.
The unicorn's body hanged in the air, impaled by the head. No longer could anyone pretend this was just a training.
"Wait!" Straw begged, "There's no reason to do this... more of this. I'll go willingly. I won't resist, just don't hurt them. They won't even want any more training, right? You'll stop this thing easily like that."
"DODGE, YOU MISERABLE SACK OF FLESH!"
Without thinking, Straw rolled to the side, showered by dirt from another stalagmite.
"Okay, I can't do much, but I should have enough power to either protect you a little, or to get through his barriers."
Through teary eyes, Straw saw Leo's body.
"He just killed him..."
"Then let's return the favor! The traitor's death is far beyond schedule."
That was it. Straw charged, and felt a surge of energy in his talons and sword.
"Fortune, COVER FIRE!" yelled Connie, finishing stuffing something into Walter's wound.
Using Straw as a distraction, she circled Blaze from the other side.
Several more bullets rained through the air at the alicorn, and Walter got up, his griffon pride not allowing him to fall.
When they focused, got over the initial shock, they could get close and survive.
At least that's what they thought. Unfortunately, no training could prepare them for meeting reality.
Contradiction, attacking from behind, got swatted away by Blaze's sharp wing, leaving it splattered with blood.
Walter howled and took the point, acting as a distraction for her and Straw. A large, black warhammer appeared mid-air, spun around, and its head met Walter's. The sickening crush snuffed out one more life.
It worked, though. Even Blaze's attention couldn't be everywhere, and Straw got close enough to stab him in the neck.
The alicorn gurgled, stumbled, and his wings melted.
"Youuuuuuu!" Straw pulled his sword out and...
...Blaze's wing burst into flames, the fire coming from inside him and cauterizing his wound.
Fortune understood and stopped firing.
It was over.
This was just her delayed judgement for leaving her friends to die.
They couldn't even touch the alicorn. This was the sort of enemy they were supposed to fight.
It was pointless.
She started banging on the ice wall, not noticing the sharp edges cutting her hands.
"Help...!"
"Cromach, help...!"
"Sir..."
"Don't leave me here..."
"I love you..."
Her hands were gone, only bleeding stumps and smears on the black wall remained. She fell on her butt, and cried until the bloodloss took her away.
Connie was focused and waited for her opportunity. She knew she wouldn't have more chances. Not bleeding too badly, she was still growing weaker. Pretending to be helpless, she waited while Straw occupied Blaze. When she felt completely forgotten, she jumped up, charged her blade with energy, and swung at Blaze from behind.
He had no idea.
Black blur shot through the air, and Connie felt several cuts, impact, crunch, and then nothing anymore.
Straw took several trembling steps backwards as Connie's severed head hit the ground. In a mere second, Three had appeared, jumped at Connie, transformed the armor on her legs into blades, cut the unicorn's body up, bit her head off, and landed perfectly while transforming back.
Only Straw remained. His head was spinning, he couldn't look at the other four bodies.
Blaze said something.
Straw didn't hear, busy with throwing up.
"I promised it would be quick," the alicorn repeated.
Black ice encased his healthy hoof, forming a set of talons.
The only thing Straw felt was an impact, and then the acidic taste of vomit in his mouth went away.