A Charred Stone

by Priceless911

Ch5 Hidden Talents

I closed my eyes as the sparks from the blade flew onto my face, but as I opened them, again I noticed that Commander Bolt had already counterattacked after I blocked the first swing. I was able to bring the thin sword up to block the second attack but the force of his swing was too much for me. The sword I was carrying flew out of my hooves as Commander Bolt spun around and kicked me in my chest, tossing me through the air and causing me to hit the ground a number of feet away from where I was standing.
As I laid on the ground trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of me, the commander sighed, “Apparently a fencing sword isn’t your weapon either, I’m a little disappointed. It’s been about a week and you’ve managed to make absolutely no progress what-so-ever.”

That jerk, he continues to criticize me and he knows well that I’ve tried my hardest; in fact, I’m about a quarter second faster than I was a week ago yet he ignores it as if he were born strong. As I picked myself up from the ground, I picked up the sword and held it at the ready, but he just shook his head, “Don’t bother… this isn’t your weapon and I see no point in teaching you anything with it.”
After he said that, he turned around and began trotting away. Feeling frustrated and angry, I realized that with his back turned, I could take a shot at catching him off guard. So I charged forward and tried to swing my sword vertically at him, but what came next was unexpected… even from him. Commander Bolt quickly turned around and blocked the attack with his shield then he parried my blade away, as he dropped his shield, and punched me on the side of my face, knocking me to the ground. I reached for the sword as I tried to get up, but he stepped on my hoof and began kicking me while I was still on the ground.

After being kicked three or four times, I laid there in continuous pain as he picked up my sword, grabbed me by my mane, and yanked my mane back exposing my neck as held the blade across my throat, “If you plan to fight dirty… then expect your enemy to do the same! Remember, all is fair in love and war! When you fight dirty then you remind him of this lesson, and that will make things worse for you… Understand?”
Thinking he was going to kill me, I stared into his emotionless eyes as he raised the sword up and stuck the blade into the ground right next to my neck. Almost close enough to cut me. Then he released my mane and sighed, “A sword isn’t your weapon… neither is an axe, spear, hammer, scythe, dagger, or shield… You’re running out of options cadet, and I’m running out of patience. Return this to Storm and go get some rest. Since I gave you this lesson on fighting dirty, I’ll give you the rest of the day off. I need to clear my mind of this waste of time anyway.”

As he trotted away, I had a hard time moving from the beating I just took. Yet that heartless monster does nothing to help. Instead, he just trots away as if nothing happened. What is his deal!?! After laying there a few second, I started to tear up in rage… I’m trying my best, but it doesn’t matter to him. Is he trying to make me angry? Is he trying to make me feel completely useless? I wish I never made this choice to come here. However, even as a filly, I knew that wishing was a load of crap. In this cruel world, you have to make your wish come true; otherwise, it’s just a waste of time. Finally, I felt I had the strength to stand on my own four hooves now, so I picked myself up and leaned against one of the practice dummies. As I held myself up, I looked closely at the dints, and cuts the dummy had. This thing looked new when I first got here, but my continuous training caused it to become battered and bruised, almost as much as I was right now.

As I sheathed the sword, I began stumbling towards the weapons tent to return the sword to Captain Storm, but when I got there, he wasn’t there. I looked around and called, “Captain?... Captain Storm? Where are you?”
There was no answer so rather than waiting for his return, I decided to place the sword back on the hook that it was hanging on earlier, then I left the tent to go get some rest. While stumbling through the camp still sore from the fight, I started to realize that nopony else was around either. It was as if the camp was completely deserted. I looked around and finally saw another soldier sprinting by, “HEY!... What’s going on? Where is everypony?”
The soldier stopped and yelled back, “Princess Celestia and her commander are here for negotiations! Commander Bolt has gone to meet with them at the front of the camp.”
The soldier continued galloping by as I mumbled to myself, “Negotiations? Are they trying to end the war?”
Curious as I was, I started chasing the soldier as fast as my wounds would allow.

By the time, I reached the front of the camp I could see all of Commander Bolt’s soldiers standing in a crowd. Trying to get a better look at who the crowd was surrounding, I flew into the air and looked down from above. In the center of the crowd stood Princess Celestia and a hoof full of Celestial Crusaders. Among them, I recognized the same unicorn I saw when I was a filly the night my parents died. In front of the Crusaders, I could see Commander Bolt standing with both Captain Storm and Lieutenant Snow, and Nightmare Moon. I couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying but I could tell that tensions were getting high as nightmare moon’s expression was getting more and more annoyed with every word that Princess Celestia said. But what worried me most was the emotionless expression that Commander Bolt and the unicorn were giving each other. I almost looked like they weren’t paying attention, especially since both Captain Storm and Lieutenant Snow were getting worried with Nightmare moon’s anger.

While I observed the group, Nightmare moon sighed then turned back into her cloud of mist leaving Princess Celestia in a state of disappointment. It was easy to see that the negotiations failed. Then as princess Celestia and her soldiers turned to leave, I noticed that the Unicorn had the same insignia on his armor as Commander Bolt, only instead of a moon, it had the sun. This had to be the commander of the Celestia Crusaders, which made a lot of since. The two highest-ranking ponies of both armies meeting for peace talks. As the ponies turned to part ways, the crowd below me started to disperse and Commander Bolt turned and began trotting back into the camp. I couldn’t help but notice though, his face showed no expression, but it looked like he was hiding a great deal of disappointment… even more then Princess Celestia had shown. As he trotted away, he looked up at me as I was still hovering in the air, then he called to me, “Cadet! Front and Center!”
I know he had just given me the rest of the day off, but I didn’t want to make him mad again, after what had happened earlier so I flew down and landed in front of him, “Yes Sir?”

Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke, “Did you return the sword?”
“Yes sir… Captain Storm wasn’t there so I put it where it went in the weapons tent.”
With a troubled voice, he replied, “Good… good. Get some rest, tomorrow bright and early we will continue training.”
I just had to ask, “Um… sir? Is everything ok? From the looks of things, the negotiations didn’t go well, did they?”
Commander Bolt sighed, “No… they didn’t. and to make things worse, I think we will soon be going into battle with the Celestial Crusaders.”
“Really? Is that what the Unicorn commander said?”
Commander Bolt looked at me funny, “How did you know he was their commander?”
“I could see the insignia on his armor from where I was.”

Both Commander Bolt and Captain Storm looked at each other in confusion as I asked, “Is… is he not their commander? I just figured since your insignias were identical it had to be…”
“You mean to tell me that you could see our insignias from that altitude and that distance?”
I nervously replied, “Um… yea…”
Commander Bolt smiled, “That’s impressive. You were easily more then five hundred meters away and yet you could see an insignia that was about one inch big on a three-inch circle… I think I know what to do now. Tomorrow morning, instead of meeting me at the weapons tent, I want you to meet me at the open field on the northern side of the camp right after breakfast.”
“What? But why?”
His expression of disappointment had sank away into excitement as he replied, “You’ll see Cadet… you’ll see.”
And with that, Commander Bolt and his two officers trotted into the camp leaving me there with an uneasy feeling in my gut… or it could be a broken rib… I honestly couldn’t tell.

The next morning seemed to be like the last few. I’ve been getting up so early so often, that I’ve been waking up on my own before Lieutenant Snow would come by to wake me. So as usual, by the time he showed up, I was already awake, and ready to give him his daily glare. Then as he continued to his own business, I would have a short time to get some food before Commander Bolt would come get me for morning training. Only this time, he told me where to find him. So as soon as I felt ready to take a beating I found my black bandanna, tied it into my mane and left. I decided, from now until I prove him otherwise, I would wear a black bandanna of anger, since it seems like he tries continuously to tick me off. so I felt this was my daily emotion till I finish my training and prove to him that I can be a capable soldier… though I’ve yet to find out how.

While traveling to the field in the northern part of the camp, I started to think to myself. I’ve never been to the northern field before, though I have seen many pegasi soldiers training over the fields. I wonder if we are going to do flight training today, but then again, I can’t be certain until we begin. Finally I arrived at the field to see Commander Bolt and Captain Storm standing at a white chalk line on the ground, Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke, “Late again… but no matter, since I finally figured you out, I’ll overlook it.”
It wasn’t even nine a.m. yet and already he was on my nerves, but I ignored it and replied, “Good morning commander, exactly what are we going to do today?”
The commander smiled, “Captain Storm… can you tell me exactly, what weapons we have attempted to train Cadet Stone on thus far?”

Captain Storm replied, “Well first it was the spear, then the short sword, then the long sword, the battle axe, the ware hammer, the Ball and chain, the morning star, then yesterday the fencing sword.”
As if I didn’t feel bad enough, Commander Bolt added, “Don’t forget, the scythe, and the nun-chucks… um… why did you even suggest that last one Storm?”
“What? I was being sarcastic when I suggested those.”
Commander Bolt sighed, “Nevertheless, they were all failures… each and every one. But do you know what they all had in common?”
Thinking as he did, I answered with what I though was just a joke, “Um… I can’t use them properly?”
Commander Bolt smiled, “Well… that too, but there is something else they have in common.”
He was starting to get to me again, so to save myself the trouble, “No… what do they have in common?”

I could tell by the smile on his face, that he could see my tension, “What they have in common cadet, is that they are all close quarters weapons… but from you sight, you more suited for long-range attacks. Look out into the field; I set up an array of targets each with a small letter posted just below it. Look at the furthest letter you can see, and tell me what it is.”
As I looked into the distance it was just as he said, there were a series of targets randomly placed throughout the field. Some were close, but others were so far out that they were almost concealed in the forest at the other side. So doing as he said I looked closely at the letters. They were as random as the targets themselves, no particular order, just placed on them. Therefore, I looked closely at the furthest one I could identify and spoke, “Um… Q… or it could be an O… nope definitely a Q.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “Alright, Captain, about how far is that target from us?”
Captain Storm looked at his sheet of paper and spoke in amazement, “Wow, that’s about eight hundred and fifty meters away… and you can read a five inch letter from this distance? Even for a Pegasus, that’s amazing.”

I started to blush a little while Captain Storm was complementing me. I didn’t know that my eyes sight was any better than anypony else’s, I thought it was average. Commander Bolt didn’t waste any time on putting it to good use though, “Cadet Stone? Have you ever held a bow before?”
It was a little insulting, but he answered at the exact same time as I did, “No.”
Then he continued, “I should have guessed… nevertheless, today I will teach you how to use one.”
As Captain Storm gave him a bow, he started to explain, “This is a simple bow, nothing fancy about this one. Now the important thing to pay attention to when firing a bow is the distance, the wind, and the targets movements. If you know all three and adjust to them, then you can hit any target. Now watch me closely.”
Commander Bolt looked at the closest target on the range, which was about fifty feet away. Then he stood on his hid hooves and stretched out his wings. As he stood there, I could tell he was using his wings to keep his balance, then he drew his bow and focused on the target. After hesitating for a quick second, Commander Bolt released the arrow, sending it flying through the air until it hit the target with a loud thump. As he lowered his bow he smiled, “Just barely a bull’s eye. But not bad considering I haven’t fired a bow in years.”

As I stared at the target, Commander Bolt held the bow out and spoke, “Alright Cadet, you’re up. Now just remember how to accommodate for all three keys. Distance, aim higher or lower to make the arrow go further or closer. For wind, aim left or right into the wind to counter its movements. And for the target’s movement, you will have to guess how fast it is going and try to measure where it will be when the arrow reaches it. Luckily, the targets are stationary so you only have to focus on distance and wind today.”
As I took the bow from him, I started to pull the string back to feel how heavy it was. It didn’t seem too hard to pull, but it would be difficult to hold it for a while and focused on what he was talking about so I took a stance like his and held my balance on my hind hooves. Then I thought to myself, “Ok, distance. I shouldn’t have to worry at this range. Next, wind.”
I lifted my head high and closed my eyes to feel the wind in my mane, and wing feathers. As I felt it, I could guess it was moving at less than one mile an hour. So, since my target wasn’t moving at all, I raised my bow and focused on my aim.

I slowly pulled the drawstring back, which felt even lighter then before, and then after deciding that my aim was right on, I released my arrow. Almost immediately, the arrow vanished before my eyes as the drawstring went back to the starting position on the bow. When the arrow vanished, I looked at the target and saw that the only arrow lodged in the target was Commander Bolts. I couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment as I looked at the target, “Darn… I thought I would at least hit somewhere on it, even if I didn’t hit the bull’s eye.”
As I turned and looked at Commander Bolt, he had a somewhat amazed look on his face, “That… that was…”
“I know… terrible. I didn’t even hit the target.”
Commander Bolt looked back at me and smiled, “Cadet? Where is your arrow?”

I looked back at the target and mumbled, “Well… it’s got to be there somewhere? Maybe in the woods?”
Commander Bold started trotting out to the target as he spoke, “Follow me.”
As we both trotted out to see the target, I could see some kind of marking on the center of the target as we got closer and closer. By the time we reached it, I could tell that the marking was actually a hope, and it was dead center of the bull’s eye. I could only sigh, “So you brought me out here to see a shot that somepony else made earlier today?”
Commander Bolt smiled and pointed behind the target, but when I looked, even I was shocked. The arrow I fired not only hit the target in the bull’s eye, but it pierced the target entirely and dug into the ground leaving only the flight sticking out. Commander Bolt smiled at me, “Well, Cadet… it looks like we found your weapon.

Then Commander Bolt and I went back to the line as Storm smiled, “Heck of a shot Cadet.”
I blushed a little as I replied, “Thanks… it was probably luck.”
Commander Bolt spoke next, “Well let’s let luck work for you. This time I want you to choose your own target. The furthest one you think you can hit. I’m not looking for a bull’s eye, but I want you to try and hit it.”
I nodded my head and looked into the field. As I looked at each target, I decided to challenge myself by choosing one that was hanging from a tree at the edge of the forest on the other side of the field. So after choosing the target I spoke, “I’m going to try to hit that one marked with a G. Is that ok?”
Commander Bolt looked at Captain Storm as he looked at his paper, “Well, that one is approximately three hundred and fifty meters away, definitely a challenge for you. So I say go for it.”

Commander Bolt looked at me and smiled, “You heard him Cadet, fire when ready.”
As I stood up on my hind hooved, I closed my eyes and started feeling the wind. It seemed the same as before, so I opened my eyes and aimed my bow at what I guessed would be the proper distance. However, the very moment I decided the right distance, I felt the wind pick up just slightly so I slightly and carefully adjusted my aim and released my arrow. This time I managed to watch it fly into the air with a faint whistle, but it quickly vanished into the reddish sky above. I looked at the target with high hopes, but after a few seconds, of watching a still target, I sighed, “A fluke… It had to be, how can a pony like me…”
“Shhh…”
After hearing Commander Bolt shush me, I looked back at the target and waited a few more seconds before hearing the sound I was waiting for, the faint thump of my arrow hitting my target. After hearing that sound, my excitement rose so high, I couldn’t help but toss my bow in the air and cheer, “I DID IT! I DID IT! I HIT THE TARGET! I ACTUALLY HIT IT!”

After realizing I was cheering so loud, I blushed a little as I calmed down, “Oh… um… I mean… I didn’t know I could, but I actually did it.”
Commander Bolt smiled at me and replied, “Congratulations Cadet, now you are officially an archer.”
I couldn’t help but smile at my accomplishment, for the first time, Commander Bolt actually was pleased about something I did. However, that didn’t stop him from going back to the way he was before, “Now do it again.”
“Oh commander you don’t… wait… what?”
He smiled, “If you’re as good as you seem, then it shouldn’t be hard at all. Captain Storm, Go get her a long bow, I’m curious to see the distance she can get out of that.”
I couldn’t believe him, even after showing him all the skill that I actually had, he still wants to see more? I was wrong, he wasn’t a different pony now, he is the same old Jerk as before. Nevertheless, I knew I still had to follow his orders; I just sighed and replied, “Yes sir.”

As I raised my bow to fire the next few arrows at the same target, Captain Storm left to get the Long bow as Commander Bolt had ordered. Just as he returned, I had released the pull string of my fifth arrow. And just after I heard the thud of the impact, Commander Bolt held the long bow in front of me and spoke, “Here… try this. Believe it or not, the extra length will give you increased distance and accuracy.”
As he gave me the bow, and an arrow, I decided to give it a test shot. Using the same method as before, I measured the wind, aimed my bow, and fired my arrow. This time the arrow flew even faster than with the other bow, and when it hit the target, I knew it before I heard the thump, because the target was knocked immediately out of the tree. As soon as the target was laying on the ground, Storm spoke, Yep… that is her weapon now. Give it time and I bet you will, hit the bull’s eye of the target further than that.

I blushed a little as I replied, “Well I don’t know if I’m that good.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head and turned to leave, “Finish off the arrows in your quiver, and meet me at my quarters. I need to discuss something with you.”
Before I could ask, Commander Bolt trotted off without a word, so I looked at Captain Storm, “Um... Storm?”
“Captain…”
“Oh… um, Captain… What was that about?”
Captain Storm thought to himself for a few seconds before replying, “I honestly don’t know. Whatever it was, it might have something to do with your newly discovered skill. Either way we will continue practice until your arrows are depleted, then I’ll leave you to go see him… I have a few things I gotta take care of later anyways.”
He stood by as I continued firing arrows at the long-range target. Then when I finished off my arrows, I gave him back the longbow and quiver while we parted ways for the day.

Later that evening as I approached the commander’s quarters, I knocked on the door and spoke, “Commander Bolt, This is Cadet Stone… Permission to enter sir?”
After waiting a few seconds, I heard him reply, “Granted.”
As I entered his quarters, I saw him sharpening the blade on his shield, as he spoke, “How did the rest of your training go Cadet?”
I replied, “Um… pretty good sir, I think I got the hang of the longbow now.”
Commander Bolt smiled and replied, “Good… good. I hope you won’t take this the wrong way… but I need you to remove your armor for me.”
I… I couldn’t believe what he was asking me, “Wh-what? You want me to…”
“Yes… remove your armor.”
I… I had no idea how to respond to that, what… what was he going to do?… what should I do? Should I follow the order… and if so… what will happen?

Commander Bolt started to get annoyed, “Well… I gave you an order Cadet.”
I felt an unbelievable amount of anxiety as I unbuckled my armor and let it fall to the ground, then he looked at me and smiled, “Just as I thought… you found your special talent today.”
Realizing what he was talking about, I looked at my flank and saw my cutie mark; it was an arrow piercing the face of a diamond. As I looked at my newly acquired cutie mark, I felt an unusual combination, of joy, embarrassment, and relief. I should have known that Commander Bolt wouldn’t do anything immoral to me, especially since he doesn’t seem like that kind of pony, despite the fact that he was a Jerk in every sense of the word. As I felt relief, Commander Bolt smiled, “From this day forth; you are classified as an archer of the Nightmare Legion. And starting tomorrow morning, your training as a soldier will begin.”

I felt a little confused so I asked, “Wait… my training will begin tomorrow? You mean that it hasn’t started yet?”
Commander Bolt replied, “Well technically, no. we have only been trying to discover your weapon class before we began your training. However, starting tomorrow and into the next three months, your training will begin, and not just your weapon. We will train you in everything you need to be a suitable soldier, battle tactics, signal identifying, physical endurance, and even the final test that will push you to your breaking point. So I suggest you go back to your tent and get some shuteye. Tomorrow begins a long day for you…. You’re dismissed.”
“But sir, I…”
“I said you’re dismissed.”
Feeling a little enraged and betrayed, I put my armor back on and left the tent. As I made my way back, I couldn’t believe that... That… monster. All this time, I spent every day for the past week trying to please him, and my training hadn’t even begun yet? What does he take me for? I don’t know how, but I was going to get him back for this. But first, I just wanted to go back to my tent and cool off.

As I laid there in my cot, I effortlessly tried to fall asleep but that pony’s words continued to cycle through my mind. The only thing I could see when I closed my eyes was a vision of me aiming my bow at him. I wanted so much to pay him back for the dirty trick… but I had no idea how. Then I overheard a voice outside my tent, it was him, “Good evening Lieutenant, anything to report?”
“Nothing but the usual riffraff sir… no sign of those repugnant crusaders either.”
“Well I suppose Celestia decided not to attack after all. Can I trust you to keep an eye on things while, I’m going into the forest for a little bit. I'd ask Captain Storm, but he is busy at the moment.”
“The forest? You mean the usual place sir?”
The commander continued, “Yes, I only need you to watch over things while I’m gone. If we get attacked, send up a signal arrow and I’ll be back as soon as I see it.”

After that was said, it went silent; I could only guess the commander had left. As hard as it was for me to sleep to begin with, I couldn’t help but feel curious about the place that Commander Bolt was going to, so without my armor on, I snuck out of the tent and managed to catch up to the commander as he left the camp and entered the Everfree forest. Trying to keep myself hidden, I flew through the trees, keeping every flap of my wings as silent as I could. I didn’t know what he was doing out here, but I wanted to find out. As he continued through the forest, I noticed an unusual depression in his steps. It was as if something terrible had just happened to him and he was taking a walk to clear his mind. This was very unusual, especially for him. He had always seemed so serious and calm to have anything trouble his mind.

The further we went into the forest, the thicker and darker it became. It wasn’t long before we traveled into the area of the forest that was deemed forbidden, even though there was nothing really forbidden about it, it was just a name for the sector of the forest. After about an hour of traveling further and further into the forest, we finally came to an area where there was an unnatural clearing in the trees. In this clearing, there was a wide deep crater with a tall slender tree in the center. As Commander Bolt approached this crater, he sat down and stared at the tree with a calming look on his face. As he sat there, I decided to land and marvel at the tree too.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen before in my life. The tree stood only about twelve feet tall, but it had some kind of rainbow colored apple growing from it. However, the tree wasn’t the only thing that was soothing to watch, but the crater itself was giving off a bluish glow that shined beautifully in the moonlight. This glow was so beautiful, that I stopped watching Commander Bolt and just admired the beauty of the sight. And to make it even more interesting, every few second a small arc of electricity would jump from the ground in the crater and connect to either the tree, or the ground around it. I didn’t know if this tree held any sentimental value to the commander… but I could see what made this place so special.

While keeping myself hidden, I looked back at Commander Bolt who was still standing there with a calm look on his face. While looking at the tree, he smiled, and spoke, “How long are you going to keep sneaking around Cadet? If you’re trying to be stealthy, you’re not very good at it.”
Hearing him talk directly to me like that made me feel like I was intruding as I stepped out from behind the tree, “Um… sorry if I’m interrupting something commander… I… was just curious as to what you were doing.”
Commander Bolt gave me a serious look, “You know curiosity killed the cat… right?”
Hearing him say this made me lower my head in shame, but he just sighed, “But then again… satisfaction brought him back. There is no harm done, so don’t feel bad about it. Next time, remember that shadows cannot only help you when keeping yourself concealed, but they can also work against you. The reason I knew you were there was because while flying above me, the moonlight was casting your shadow in front of me.”

I felt completely embarrassed, he must think I’m stupid to fly high enough to cast my shadow in front of him, and not even notice it. I blushed as I replied, “Um… ok, next time I’ll remember that.”
With that said Commander Bolt looked back into the crater and smiled pleasantly, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? This sight always relaxes me so… especially with the stars above.”
Feeling a little awkward, I replied, “Yes… it is, um… sir? What is this place?”
Commander Bolt continued staring into the crater, “Years ago, a foal was discovered here when he used a special power to vaporize the land and leave behind a large amount of electricity in this ground. That electricity fused with apple seeds to create this new breed of tree that Princess Luna and I have named, A Zap Apple Tree.”
“Zap Apples?”
“Yes, it the electricity stored in both the tree and the soil that make this crater glow like it does. In fact, that’s why this place has been dubbed, The Thunder Grounds.”

I had to ask, “What happened that could release so much electricity?”
A special ability, called the Lightning Orb. Something so rare and dangerous that I’m the only one to use it and survive since Commander Hurricane. In fact, that how I got my cutie mark.”
As I thought to myself a second, I asked, “Commander? Your cutie mark is the one on your shield right? The Star with the lightning?”
“Yea…”
I felt a little nervous as I asked, “Well… I know I’ve seen that cutie mark… and you… somewhere before, but I just can’t remember where. Um… can you tell me your first name?”
Commander Bolt gave me a curious look, “My first name?”
“Well… yea, you always go by Commander Bolt, so I never heard anypony call you by your first name before.”

Commander Bolt thought to himself for a few seconds then replied, “Ok… I’ll tell you… if, and when your training is completed.”
This irritated me a little, “You’re… your making me work for it?... just to know your name?”
Commander Bolt smiled, “Well yea… we don’t attain without first giving, you give me your all during your training, and then I’ll give you my name.”
I got annoyed, “That doesn’t seem fair!”
“Considering your skill, its fair enough.”
“What do you mean?”
Commander Bolt stared calmly at the tree as he replied, “You have a lot of skill in you Cadet, I can feel it. You’re strong, determined, and filled with spirit. I bet you would prove me wrong in a heartbeat if you had the training, but that’s all you lack. You’re already an expert archer; in my entire career, I have never seen such a skilled archer fire a bow like you do. I bet with the right training, you could be the greatest archer that ever carried a bow.”

When I thought about it, I started to blush, this setting, the moon, the beautiful glow of the thunder grounds, and the calm kind words he spoke to me made me feel very odd. My heart was beating so strongly that I could feel it in my chest. Something about this moment and this second with him felt good… but what was it?... I tried to get my mind off it as I replied, “So… you think I’m a good soldier?”
Commander Bolt then turned to me and shook his head, “No… but you’re not far from it. All you need to do to become one is to get stronger and learn to fight better. Firing a bow is good and all, but unless you can fire one under pressure, or fire at a moving target then you’re still useless to me. But I think that with the right training, you could be a great soldier.”
There ya go… for a second I thought I was talking to a different pony, but then once again he proved to me that he was still Commander Bolt. Nevertheless, I knew that was the closest thing to a compliment he would give me, so I replied, “Thank you commander, I’ll try my best.”

Commander Bolt shook his head, “No… don’t try… Do.”
Hearing him talk like this made me feel a little better about him beating me senseless yesterday, but I still didn’t know if this was still worth it so I continued, “Of course commander… I will do my best.”
Commander Bolt gave me a gentle smile as he replied, “Good… now go back and get some rest… oh and Cadet? Don’t think I didn’t notice you out here without your armor… tomorrow… we will deal with this issue…”
Hearing him say that made me feel like my heart dropped from my chest and hit the ground below me. I didn’t know what he meant by that, but if I know him like I do… it won’t be pleasant. Therefore, after traveling back to my tent, I tried all I could to get some rest, but with worry in my mind, it wasn’t easy. I could only wonder… What’s next?