//------------------------------//
// Follow the Leader 
// Story: Oh Captain, My Captain 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

Sweat dripped from the blonde hair of the Captain and drizzled into his eyes, making it seem like his eyes were narrowed as he raced through the forest path. He breathed in short bursts while keeping a pace that a normal man would not be able to keep up with. The cool air clung to his bare chest, with the upper half of his suit resting on a rock next to his shield. His thoughts drifted to the suit for a moment and how the star was now made of a stronger, more magic resistant material. But he placed that story in the back of his mind and instead focused on his training.

Rogers eyes truly did narrow when he spotted the first obstacle in his path, a massive log that was resting between two trees that he had set up at sunrise. Picking up speed Rogers then hurled himself into the air, vaulting over the log in a single leap while flipping forward. He landed perfectly on his feet and continued on with barely a loss of speed. 

'Now for the hard part.'  Steve barely had the time to make the remark before the jaws of a massive plant snapped at his side, barely missing the Captain who had anticipated the attack and moved accordingly. Three more plant jaws erupted from the foliage around the Captain and tore at him with razor sharp teeth. Steve dove under the first bite and rolled to his feet in time to leap over the second one. The third plant had waited until Captain America was in the air before it snapped its jaws at the Captain, yet the jaws never shut because the Captain performed the splits mid-air to keep the teeth at bay.

"Not bad. But not good enough to make a meal of me," Rogers taunted slightly before kicking off of the plant's jaws and diving through the air, hitting the ground in a roll before saluting the plants while racing ahead. After outracing a hive of red bees and swimming through a stream filled with carnivorous fish, Rogers reached the final obstacle in his run--a dive straight off a cliff into the forest below. While the thought of leaping down so far would have scared a normal man, all Rogers did was smile before hurling himself off of the cliff side and towards the forest below.

Even before he fell into the branches and leaves of the trees beneath him, his eyes were already scanning through the foliage, allowing his gloved hands to grab hold of the strongest vine the moment he spotted it. He gritted his teeth as the force of the sudden stop caught up with him, but his muscles held while the Captain began to swing through the trees. He let go of the vine to kick off of a branch and flipped once in the air before landing squarely on both feet.

"Well, that was a nice run. Now to meet the soldiers that Applebloom got for me," Rogers reminded himself before wiping a bit of sweat from his eyes. He returned through another dangerous path to reclaim his suit and shield (and having to punch out a mantis-bear in the process) before looping back to one of the few clearings that the forest had. 

'It's no surprise that the Four haven't found this place yet. This forest is crawling with danger,' Rogers observed while bees the size of small birds flew past his head, before being devoured by a plant the size of a car. 'But none of the ponies within the base want to come out here either, relying on magic to teleport in and out. That could mean that they can't handle the dangers in this forest. And if this is too much for them...then I have issues with bringing them with me into battle. Well, time to see for myself.'

Rogers slid the mask back over his face when he spied Applebloom standing next to three different ponies, immediately figuring that they were the "best" that she had to offer. What he wasn't expecting was to see Belle standing beside her friend. "Greetings, Applebloom; Belle," Steve greeted with a nod to both of them, gaining a smile and a snarl in reply. "These the soldiers that you were telling me about?"

"Yep. They're the pride and joy of our Crusade!" Applebloom introduced as she swelled with pride, but both Belle and the Captain gave the four unconvinced looks. One of the soldiers was built like a tank, but his wings were small and he seemed worried by the insects that were buzzing around. "That there is Bulk Biceps. He's one of the strongest ponies we've got."

"Well, he certainly looks like he lives up to that title," Rogers admitted as he saluted the pony, smiling when Bulk immediately saluted him back. Rogers then turned his gaze to a cerulean pony with a yellow and orange mane the smirked up at the Captain with a judging gaze.

"So this is the great hero that's been taking down the Four and their forces?" she asked with a laugh, not reading the expression in the Captain's eyes. "Please. I could take this guy in nine seconds flat. Ten if I feel like being nice."

"Name, soldier," Rogers asked in a brisk tone, getting a merry eyebrow raise from the mare. 

"Lightning Dust "sir"," she responded back with a mock salute. Rogers kept his gaze emotionless as he turned towards Bloom for an explanation.

"Lightning Dust might have a bit of an attitude problem, but she's one of the fastest fliers we have. She was almost as fast as Rainbow Dash at one point," Applebloom pointed out, getting the cerulean mare to narrow her eyes. 

"Almost? I WAS as fast as her! Faster even! She was just jealous of my speed and got me kicked from the Wonderbolts," Dust grumbled as she crossed her hooves.

"And unintentionally saved your worthless life in the process," Belle remarked with a smirk. Dust turned towards Belle with menace in her eyes, but all Belle had to do was make her horn glow and the mare sat back down. "Trust me Cap, I didn't pick any of these losers. This is on those two." Rogers took note of what Belle had said before moving onto the final pony, a gray mare with a purple mane who wore a dark blue outfit.

"That's Maud. She's the sister to Pinkie, one of the six former defenders of the land," Belle introduced before Applebloom could speak up. Rogers raised an eyebrow at her bored expression that barely changed when he walked before her. "We only recently found where she had been hiding with her family, but she was all too happy...if she can be that...to help us out. She's dying to get her hooves on the Four for killing her sister. Get in line."

The last bit of Belle's statement was a mutter, but Steve still picked up on it clearly while he held out a hand to Maud. "I'm sorry for what happened to your sister. I hope that we can make sure that the Four will never be able to harm another again." Maud nodded slowly before reaching out to shake the Captain's hand, nearly bringing him to his knees as her hoof clamped his hand in a vice.

"Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Remember how we said Bulk was one of the strongest?  Well she's the strongest," Belle chuckled as Rogers shook out his hand, whistling at the grip she had. "Careful Cap or she'll break you the same way she breaks rocks."

"I'm honored to meet a noble hero such as yourself," Maud greeted in a tone that was so dry Rogers had to wet his own lips.  Steve nodded to the mare in reply before walking back over to Belle and Bloom, who was far more excited than her friend.

"So what do ya think?" she asked with a smile.

"I don't see it," Rogers curtly replied with a shake of his head. "None of them look like soldiers. Bulk looks to be scared of bugs, Dust is too far arrogant for her own good and Maud...well, I can't really get a read on her. I don't think they have what it takes to be soldiers fighting the kind of battles I'll be facing."

"Hey, we can still hear you!" Lightning Dust yelled over from the line, getting a sigh from Rogers as he turned to face her. "And I think you're full of crap. Any of us three could take you by ourselves and yet you expect us to follow you into battle?! Don't make me laugh!"

"Lightning..." Applebloom began to reprimand, but Rogers held out a hand to silence her before he stepped forward.

"You want to prove you're a soldier?  Fine. You beat me, you can lead the Crusaders." Dust's eyes lit up at the Captain's words and before Applebloom had a chance to object, Lightning Dust hurled herself at the Captain with a hoof aimed at his face. Rogers moved in a flash and ducked the hoof in a heartbeat, giving Dust just a moment to realize what had happened before he slammed his knee into her gut. She let out a wheeze while she collapsed to the ground, holding her hooves to her stomach before Rogers chopped her on the back of her neck. Dust fell over without another sound as Rogers looked over at the other two, who both gazed at him with wide eyes.

"As I said, none of you strike me as soldiers. But just as I did Lightning, I'm willing to give you the chance to prove me wrong," Steve began as he walked over to Maud and Bulk. "And there are two ways you can prove this. You can fight me or you can go through the obstacle course that I spent making this morning," Captain Rogers finished as he pointed to a part of the jungle that had been cleared away. "The choice is yours."

As Captain America expected, the pair of them raced towards the entrance to the obstacle course without another word. "Belle, can I ask you to go with them?" Rogers asked the mare once the two trainees were out of earshot. "I want you to keep an eye on them and teleport them out the moment they get into any real danger."

"Don't believe that they can beat your course?" she asked with a smirk as her horn began to glow.

"Honestly? No, I don't." Belle smirked once more before she vanished in a flash of light, leaving Rogers alone with Applebloom and the unconscious Lightning Dust. "So these were the three you chose? Does that mean the rest of the ponies you have within the base don't strike you as fighters?"

"Well...the ponies were pretty much a peaceful race until the Five destroyed our home," Applebloom admitted with a sigh as she stared at her hooves. "We all pretty much relied on the princesses and the Ambassadors of Harmony to protect us when things went bad. So after they fell, the rest of us went down fairly easily. Most of the Crusaders, including mahself and Scootaloo, still don't like fighting. We only do it to save our home."

"And Belle?" Rogers asked as he gazed into the forest before him, hearing shrieks of horror while blasts of magic illuminated the trees. Applebloom sat down while she followed the Captain's gaze, lost in memories of a time she didn't wish to remember.

"As she said, she got her cutie mark when she killed a pony. And ponies only get their cutie marks when they discover what makes them special," Bloom explained further for Rogers. "At first, the idea that she was a killer terrified Belle and she tried every trick and spell in he book to change her destiny. But as the war continued, she found that, not only was she good at war...but she also became numb to the fact of what she was doing. No matter how bad the situation we were in, she was always there to get us out of it...and leave a few bodies in the process."

"That's...terrible," Rogers admitted. He had been forged on the battlefield himself, always having to decide whether or not to take a kill shot to save someone who was in danger. Explosions rocked Rogers' mind when he remembered the battles, the bodies that decorated the ground around him as his brothers died at his side...how he had the enemy's head square in his crosshairs. 'But while I've managed to hold onto my conscious, I know better than any how easy it would be to become a cold blooded killer. War changes people and not always for the better.'

"Honestly Captain...I'm still afraid," Applebloom admitted in a near whisper. Rogers snapped out of his own flashbacks and turned his gaze to the mare. "You've been...the best thing that happened to the Crusaders in forever, but even with you ah'm still not sure we can win. Starlight and Ahuizolt were strong...but compared to the other three..."

Rogers knelt down next to Applebloom and placed a hand on her shoulder, getting her to look from the ground into the Captain's eyes. "Applebloom, I know these foes seems strong--nearly unbeatable--for you, but trust me when I say I've fought worse. I've fought gods, creatures of science that can sink a nation, and even a being that can devour worlds. Trust me when I say that, nothing that these evils you face can throw at us can be any worse than what I've already faced. You're fighting with an Avenger now."

Applebloom's eyes widened with awe before realization shone in them and she held out the small earpiece that the Captain had given her the other day. "Ah looked over this like ya asked me to, but to the best of mah knowledge there's nothing wrong with it. It's just...not transmitting your message fer some reason." 

Cap picked up the earpiece and frowned at it before placing it within a pouch on his belt. He nodded his thanks to her before the pair glanced towards the obstacle entrance where Bulk and Maud both came running out covered in mud, cuts and leaves. Belle followed them a moment later with magic blasting off of the edge of her horn as she fought back whatever creatures were chasing them.

"What the hell was that?!" she screamed at him the moment the forces in the forest began to retreat. "That place was filled with some of the worse dangers in this forsaken forest! You call that an obstacle course?! It's a death trap!"

"Really?" Steve asked with a thin smile. "I call it my morning run." Belle flashed daggers at the Captain before Bloom stepped between the two with a serious gaze on her face.

"Break it up, the both of ya. Belle, take these three back inside and get them to the infirmary," Applebloom ordered. Belle gave the mare a look that Rogers had seen in insubordinate soldiers before, yet AB's eyes flashed and gave Belle a look so powerful that even her stubborn side succumbed to it. Belle snarled to herself as she lifted Dust with her magic before "helping" Maud and Bulk back inside of the base.

"So...ah take it ya weren't impressed?" Bloom asked in a joking tone before shaking her head and following her friend inside of the base. "Sorry to disappoint ya Captain, but most ponies just weren't cut out to be soldiers. We were a more peaceful race, one that valued love and harmony above all else. Ah guess we can't be the warriors ya want us to be."

'And I wouldn't want to make any of you follow down a path like mine,' Rogers silently mused to himself as he watched Bloom enter into the base through the hidden entrance. He then took up his shield and walked back into the forest, eyes on alert for any danger that he hoped would attack him. His wish was granted in the form of a two headed serpent that burst through the trees and lunged at the Captain, who spun to face his attacker.

'I remember when the people of Earth used to place those values above all else,' Rogers reminisced while rolling out of the way of the attack. He slammed his shield into one of the serpent's head and made it go cross-eyed, while he caught the second one by the throat with his free hand.  'Before they became consumed with the desire for greed and self-satisfaction. So believe me when I promise that I'll help make your land the home it once was, even if I have to defeat the remaining Four by myself.'

Cap slammed his boots into the point on the serpent where the two necks connected, the impact whipping both heads into one another and knocking them together. Rogers then grabbed hold of the tail and hurled the creature back into the forest from where it had come. A sigh escaped his lips as he then gazed up at the sky, where the sun was pushing through the black clouds to let light shine down upon the land.

'And if Starlight and Ahuizolt were any indication of what was to come, then the evil that has crushed this land will be far easier than the foes I face on Earth. So I want the ponies to keep that mentality, to believe in love and harmony above all else. Let them focus on making the world one of peace. Leave the fighting to the soldier.'