“Hiyah!” the pegaus cried and lashed out with his wooden spear, his earth pony opponent parrying with his wooden sword, knocking it to the side before moving in, countering the attack with one of his own.
“They are good.” I commented, putting a hoof on the low railing on the balcony overlooking the guard's training courtyards. It was one of the bigger outer courtyards of the castle, just inside the outermost wall.
Shining Armor shook his head. “Barely acceptable.” he said, disagreeing. “See Rolling Thunder's stance? It's too high and his wings are too far back for proper balance.”
I frowned slightly at that before I shrugged as the pegasus flapped his wings once, driving himself back out of the way of a sword swipe. “I guess I have to bow to your superior knowledge there. My knowledge about pegasus martial arts and stances is limited to being beaten over the head with a stick by one.”
That got a chuckle from the other unicorn. “I have seen pegasus recruits in the middle of training with less knowledge than that, so it's not too bad. What do you think of Silent Leaf?”
Tilting my head, I watched the earth pony swing his sword as he ducked under a spear strike, barely avoiding it and knocking it out of the way.
“I think that we unicorns have it easy.” I finally commented. “Our ability to hold a weapon without using up a hoof or our mouth is a great advantage. It also gives us longer range, even discounting our ability to use other spells and shields.”
Shining Armor nodded slowly. “We all have advantages and disadvantages. How long can you keep fighting?”
Shifting position from having my hoof on the railing, I put it back on the floor of the balcony before I answered. “Half an hour maybe, without breaks. Depends on if I have to keep casting and shielding or if I'm holding a sword. Maybe a bit longer if I really push it or can pace myself.”
That earned me a surprised look. “That's pretty good for somepony not in the guard. You really should have signed up. Anyway, an earth pony like Silent Leaf there? He could keep that kind of exercise up all day, have a meal, sleep a couple of hours and then do it all over again. A pegasus might not have that kind of stamina, but they can keep going a lot longer than any unicorn I know other than possibly my sister. They are also faster and unless you can teleport, they have a significant mobility advantage.”
...All very good points.
Unicorns might be able to do flashy stuff, but he had a very good point. There was a lot of stuff that we simply couldn't do.
There was a reason that before unification, the other two tribes were not defeated by the unicorns despite magic being so versatile.
“If a Unicorn went up against a trained earth pony, unless you can finish it quickly, your best bet would be to run away.”
Shining nodded. “Unless you want him to grind you down, yeah. Because he will. And you'd better be able to hide as well or set up a ambush because he will be faster than you in the long term and will be able to run for a lot longer than you can. Unless you can pull off a long-range teleport, that is.”
I bet it's even worse against a pegasus. I mean, I do usually manage to match Thunder Cloud, but that was before he went off to basic training and even when I did manage to win, it was always a close thing.
Bloody hell, even with the training from Luna, I bet he would stomp me into the ground now. Tire me out and then simply smack me down.
“...Does it even help to do physical training?”
Shining smirked. “Oh yeah. There is a reason we demand unicorns and pegasi both to keep up with earth ponies during training. The faster and stronger you are, the easier things get in general. Doesn't affect magical ability much, but it certainly doesn't hurt.”
“...That's it, I'm taking up jogging.” I grumbled, watching the earth pony, Silent Leaf, finally managing to get in a smack on the pegasus wing, slowing him down enough to tackle and pin him down.
That was probably a good idea in any case. I hadn't noticed if I'd put on some weight, but with the castle food being as good as it was, it was bound to happen. Staying fit was never a bad thing.
“Never a bad idea.” he agreed with a nod. “Come on, the Pathfinder should be open by now.”
Nodding, I followed along from the spot overlooking the training yard as we made out way out of the castle towards one of the taverns closest to the castle, one frequently visited by guardponies.
It was run by a retired one as well, an earth pony with a short white beard. Trail Blazer. Old or not, he still looked like he could snap somepony in half.
I actually liked the place. I wasn't much for drinking, but I liked the atmosphere in here. There was a big fireplace roaring in the middle of the room which was a nice change from outside and it smelled like bread, cider and smoke.
Talking and laughter was all around.
“Ah, I'm going to miss this place. “ Shining Armor said as the door closed behind us, closing out the cold of winter.
Unwrapping my scarf, I took in the scent of the place. Oh, the stew smelled like it just finished. Awesome timing.
It was the normal evening crowd seemed like they were here. The place was about half full, the majority seemed to be off duty guardponies. Most of the rest were mares.
“When do you head out?” I asked as we made our way to the bar.
Shining sighed. “We head to the Crystal Empire three days after the new year.”
“Hey, think of it like this. You get your entire new guard regiment.” I said as I picked up the mug of hot cider, taking a sip.
Oh fuck yeah, this is perfect on a cold day like today.
It didn't seem to cheer him up, however. “I would be the highest ranking officer in the Crystal Kingdom. A lot of my duties would likely be paperwork... I'll be lucky if I can keep on top of my own training, yet alone the troops. That will be the task of the sergeants.”
“So delegate? You will be the boss, right? Put the routine paperwork on your subordinates.”
“There is only so much that can be delegated. Especially at first, I'll need to get a handle of the situation and my new command first.” Shining sighed, reaching for his own cider. “I can delegate more later, but the first six months will be bad.”
So, so glad I didn't join the guard.