Conquest

by Blaze Spectrum

Chapter Five: Training

Two twangs, two thuds, two arrows off target.

Hexapod scowled, "You two couldn't hit the side of a barn from inside of the barn. I have no idea what Chrysalis was thinking."

Thorax said nothing. Chitin retorted, "She never said you had to teach us how to shoot!"

Hexapod had nothing to say back, and made a gesture to continue shooting. The two bows were raised and drawn, the two exerting substantial amounts of energy. A few seconds later, they fired, yielding similar results to the last attempt. This time, Chitin growled in aggravation at the lack of results. He threw his bow on the ground.

This time, Hexapod actually had something constructive to offer, "Your form is all wrong. You should be standing sideways to your target. Use both of your forelegs to draw a bow. It'll take less effort."

The two drew their bows, taking great care this time and checking their form. When they released, the arrows embedded themselves in the far corner of each target - a far better result than what they had both managed to do before.

Thorax turned to Hexapod, "Not bad, right?"

"Not bad?" Hexapod replied, "Not bad isn't good enough."

"What do you mean?" Thorax asked as he cocked his head.

Hexapod elaborated, "Say, what if a spear pegasus flew down at you and there were ten meters between you and him? Take a not bad shot? Maybe you'll hit him in the leg. Sure, he'll probably be out of the fight afterwards, but he'd still have enough momentum and maneuverablilty to take a jab at you. Any infiltrator worth his salt would take no more than a second to aim and can hit the head in close range consistently. Not bad is not good enough. Not bad will get you killed."

Thorax hung his head. Hexapod huffed and looked away, as if to regain his composure after his tirade. Though the infiltrator had a point, it was obvious that his talents moreso resided in his impeccable aim rather than his ability to teach it. After several seconds of awkward silence, Hexapod wordlessly gestured for the two to keep practicing. He didn't even turn around to look at them or the targets when they fired another arrow.

He didn't have to look to know that they had missed again. Though he didn't rebuke either Thorax or Chitin this time, he let out a sigh. It was sure to be a long day for everyone involved.

---

Griffons were an unusual sight in Equestria, and Captain Gregor was perfectly aware of that. He and his griffon crew tended to get every pair of eyes when they docked and exited their ship. Although it was painfully slow compared to flying, none of them complained about being able to kick back and relax while traveling cross-country. Regardless, they were here for one reason—trade, and not entirely legal trade. The crew had its fair share of shady characters, ranging from mercenaries to extortionists that were wanted for prison time back home. In the end, anything for bits in their talons was usually reason enough to make the journey, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything else about the trip to enjoy.

He checked the map of Equestria he carried and noted that they'd passed Dodge City last night and would be sailing through the Everfree. He grinned to himself. Most species feared the prospect of having to sail through there but griffons weren't one of them. For all the horrors the Everfree held, most of them were just target practice to him.

---

"Awful, awful horrible!" Hexapod yelled!

Thorax winced and let his bow drop, which only invited a death glare from Hexapod. Chitin rolled his eyes and got ready to line up another shot. He took a deep breath and held it, being very deliberate about the position of his forelegs, his stance, and how he held his bow. He let loose, and the arrow soared straight and true. It embedded itself just off the center of the bullseye of his target.

"Yes!" Chitin hoof-pumped.

Hexapod seemed less pleased, and said, "Took too damn long to line up that shot. You think the enemy is just going to stand still and let you aim for their brain stem? You'd already be dead!"

Chitin was frozen in shock, and provided no resistance when Hexapod stormed up to him and snatched his bow and quiver off of him.

"Let me show you how it's done," Hexapod sneered.

In no more than a single second, Hexapod reached into the quiver, notched an arrow, drew the bow, and released. Without even stopping to see if he'd hit Chitin's target, however, he rolled on the ground to Thorax's side. By the time he was upright, he had already grabbed another arrow. In the blink of an eye, he notched the arrow, drew, and fired. In this timespan, two solid thuds resonated throughout the leaves of the Everfree. Hexapod stood up and dropped the bow right where he was, turned around, and crossed his forelegs.

"That's what it takes to be an Infiltrator," he said.

Slack-jawed, Thorax and Chitin looked at their targets, and saw a new arrow fresh in each bullseye of their targets. They weren't dead-on, but both shots were fired within three seconds.

---

The sun was setting, and the three changelings sat around a pot of stew. When he was told to "make dinner," Thorax immediately tried kindling a campfire, only to be snapped at by Hexapod that he was a dumbass who would "get them all killed." The three gingerly watched as Hexapod carefully focused on casting a heating spell onto the pot, making sure he didn't overdo it with his "infiltrator-level magical prowess." They had spent a long afternoon being chewed out by their new mentor, and this one extra rebuke was only the icing on the cake. Hungry, tired, and thoroughly discouraged from Hexapod's attempts to teach them the way of the bow, they didn't have anything less to say.

The pot had been simmering at a low boil for several minutes now. Hexapod was saying things under his breath, probably counting the cooking time in his obsession over attention to detail.

"Done," Hexapod said, "here."

He levitated two bowls into the pot, and lifted them back up, full of stew. Chitin and Thorax paused.

"Take it," Hexapod insisted as he levitated spoons into their bowls. "Sure, all of us fed on enough love to last us a few weeks back in Canterlot, but you two still need to eat in the meantime."

The two gently grabbed onto their bowls and took slow, deliberate sips out of them—as if scared of offending Hexapod. He stared at them for a moment, then shrugged. Hexapod levitated over his own bowl, filled it up, and started chugging down. With a few gulps and a sigh of satisfaction, he dropped his bowl into the pot for seconds. Thorax and Chitin stopped eating and stared.

Hexapod, who was just about to devour his second bowl, paused. "What?" he asked.

Too intimidated by the last few hours of being demeaned by him, neither Thorax nor Chitin dared comment on Hexapod's sloppy eating. They averted their gaze and started gently spooning their stew once more.

After a few minutes, and several bowls later for a starving Hexapod, both Thorax and Chitin had just finished their first bowl. The two stared pensively at the ground.

"Y'know," Hexapod broke the silence, "I've been a little too hard on you two. Sorry. Infiltrators aren't made in a day."

Thorax's ears undrooped, and he let out an almost silent gasp. Chitin looked at Hexapod incredulously.

"Still, don't expect me to go easy on you two tomorrow," Hexapod said as he levitated his bowl back into the pot. "We only have a few days to get you two remotely competent before the Royal Guard collapses on our asses."

Author's Note:

Hi everyone, and so sorry I've been absent for a good 6+ years! I don't know if there are any readers left for this fic left active on this site, but feel free to jump on here. I can't guarantee I'd be able to scrap the motivation together to finish this, but I figured I may as well as finish this chapter.

Comments

[qw3rtyklak]

Holy crap! Almost didn't believe my eyes when I saw how long it'd been between chapters. Hope you're back on track for good this time .