Training with Minor Discipline
Chapter 11- Training with Minor Discipline
Down the mountain, deep in the wood below, Rifleman stood in a small clearing. He was all alone. Magic is foreign to humanity, and if he and Saura wanted to be an unstoppable force, then extensive training would be required. “Alright then Rifleman,” She said in her soft vocal air “before I let you sample my power, I must learn more about yours.”
Rifleman shuffled in the spot which he stood, thinking over the question well.
“Well, I shoot my gun with quick movements and precision, I have adept strength if I need to fight close quarters, and I have a tactical thought process.”
“Ok, now let me feel your power.” Looking around the clearing, there wasn’t much to shoot other than trees, bushes, and rocks. “There’s nothing here for me to kill. My power lies in the death of my foes.” She sounded annoyed for stating the obvious, “I see that. Here, let me give you Eyes of Life, any living being will be glowing pink.”
“That takes fusion, right?” Redwood forewarned Rifleman of her ways of trickery. For he himself saw a good friend fall prey to her power, and had to be killed as a price.
“I have access to your senses, besides, it is a minor spell.” She sensed that his way of thought is more logical, and less ethical. Easy to take advantage of.
“Pink. Why pink?”
“It isn’t a common natural color, so you can see it through the trees and up in the sky.” She turned blatant “Plus pink is a color I hate so when I see it I want to kill something.”
“Smart.” In a blink of his eyes the world looked the same, but in his field of view, moving distant pink dots could be seen; walking through the trees and flying up in the sky. He looked around for something closer. A lone bear-esk blob could been seen in a pink glow a hundred yards away. “Target acquired.” Rifleman bolted forward.
The world raced past him and Saura felt his muscles move harmonically, much like a machine, a deadly and precise machine with one thought in his head. The thought of getting the job done with as much prejudice allowed. He leaped above a bush, curved around the tree behind it, rolled under a supported log, and swerved in multiple directions to follow the unsuspecting bear. He repeated these movements without any particular order through the forest.
He leaped over a boulder and stopped. The bear was close, and Rifleman needed the element of surprise to better his chances of success. Like the hunter, he crept carefully toward one of the most dangerous wild animals known to man. “Let me have more control and I can hide your sent. You haven’t bathed in days, and that could give your position.” Rifleman could hear the sweet lies she fed. The fault wasn’t her logic, but his pathic desire and self pride. “Ha! No. This bear is already dead thank you very much.”
The grass and rocks at his feet hardly made any sound as he continued to creep, and the bear came into proper view. Rifleman looked up from his position slightly with a confused countenance, something about that bear didn't seem right. It looked like a bear, it was brown like a bear, large like a bear, but the fur and claws seemed different. He continued to follow so the prey could be in range for a surprise attack.
Closer, closer, and closer did he come. The beast loafed around with a destination in mind, but seemed to be in no hurry, and his back faced his predator. At last, the trees thinned out and the light wind died down. The bear was close to its demise, and the Eyes of Life faded with another blink for clarity of the target.
The gun was raised. The human narrowed down his shooting position. He held in his breath and his body froze. The bear was pausing to eat something in the dirt, but Saura wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass by. "Rifleman, you will sneeze." He didn't respond, but he knew that he wasn't going to sneeze if air wasn't flowing through the nose. He could hold it in quietly regardless if he did.
He did not do so quietly, his vision blurred and a migraine came out of nowhere, putting him in no position to quietly sneeze. "A-ACH-OO!-ooo-fuck." The sneeze was of such power and volume that it leaves its victim with a tinge of pain in the nostrils. The bear turned around, it revealed itself to be a great bear with an obtuse owl head. Rather than running away like he thought it would, the mutant began to romp towards him in a violent charge.
“What the hell was that Saura!?” The blurred vision and migraine vanished, but bears can move quite quickly when they have enough space, and the distance between the two started to close rapidly. Saura's voice was taunting, while Rifle’s mind was racing. "Looks like you're in trouble..." Rifleman raised his weapon, and aimed for the head. He fired off an unpleasant amount before the bear crumpled over in death.
“What the hell?” The creature before him was clearly not a bear. Equestria is a land of myth and magic, with creatures that can be found in mythology and a Dungeons and Dragons monsters book. Having played D&D in his past, Rifleman knew what this was. For reasons unknown, he spoke aloud. “Shit, an Owl bear, why did I not see that?” Owl bears are more or less what they sound like. Bear body, longer claws, and an owl head with multiple types of beaks available. This bear had a shorter, curved beak.
“Oh, this is bad…” Saura giggled merrily. “Is it Rifle?” She then sounded like a pouting mother worried for her little child, “I wouldn’t want to see my little host hurt.” If the land holds true to the game, and it should, then this Owl bear is not alone. They are typically found in packs. "Give me Eyes of Life again!" She quietly obeyed, and around him was 3 more pink Owl bears only a few yards away from multiple sides. Where they came from did not matter, what did matter was the danger that presented itself.
Naturally, Rifleman became stiff and paranoid about what to do next. Saura taunted Rifleman again like innocent greek sirens. "Take refuge behind my power. You have little hope getting out of this yourself." The predators slowly closed in on their regretful meal, but Rifle wasn't one to back down easily. He fired at one pink target and they charged. The Owl bear he shot fell after two seconds of solid fire.
Rifle turned to face the remaining two, who roared screening growls. One had a long, thick beak, the other being more short and blunt. The pink glow faded from his vision. The long beak was first to reach him and it moved to swipe, but had it’s paw cut clean off in a quick maneuver.
The black machete blade gleamed in the light of the Sun and its new red coat of blood. “Common bird brains! Lets tussle!”
“I can't believe you just said tussle.”
He leaped backwards to avoid a dangerous but feeble beak bite, and struck upwards into the wrist of the paw of the attacking second bear to prevent it from making contact with his vulnerable body. The armor that the post marine wore was good against debris and some bullets, but not full on bear claws.
The first bear struggled to stand up having lost a whole paw, and his wound bleeding profusely. Rifleman, however, found the machete stuck in the joint of the opponent's wrist. He fell backwards as the second bear lunged forward, it’s short beak unable to reach the man.
Said man drew his pistol, and he fired repeatedly into the Owl head.
Before it lost brain function, the beast swiped with all its might at the helpless merc.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the assault rifle, to try and block the blow.
The claws ground at his gun with a high pitched scream, but couldn't get through. The beast’s legs started to give and the head went limp.
Rifleman threw up his legs and pushed against the dead body, and let gravity drag it sideways and away from him. The first one limped off on three legs.
The adrenaline was still pumping as the ‘fight or flight system’ began to slowly shut down. "Fuck you Saura. Fuck you."
"Me?" Her voice was faked offense. "What did I do?"
"You know exactly what you did! You could've told me that they were fucking Owl bears! You also made me sneeze!"
"But I gave you Eyes of Life and I also gave you the chance t-"
"You were trying to force me into fusion so you could try and control me!"
"I was trying to help. Besides, you threatened me with salsa, and I don’t take threats lightly."
"Bitch." He looked at his trusty machine gun. It did not look mechanically functional with sharp gashes and dents from the single blow. With the parts and some time he could rebuild it, but programming dimensions and what not into the dispenser might be a lengthy process. "We're going back to the base, I need to fix this."
-Elsewhere-
Soldier and Redwood thought it beneficial to do training with Demoman in the art of melee combat. This time Soldier had the Half-Zatoichi. The pair stood off in a clearing with Medic standing by. “Ready?” Medic sounded.
“Eye.”
“I am ready.”
“GO!”
The pair of fighters charged forward with no intention to kill, but they were using real swords. The agreement was that it was to be only sword fighting, no use of legs or fists, just trading blows against each other's swords. The “cling” and “clang” of the blades sounded through the area as the pair of warriors moved quickly and swiftly as if they were fighting for their lives.
Soldier was just using a one handed sword while Demo was using a two handed greatsword. There was a clear disadvantage. Soldier struggled under the opponent's blows as he had no way to properly use both of his arms for bracing.
“I must admire your peoples’ combat abilities.” Said Redwood feeling Soldier’s strain. “As ponies, we are limited in terms of flexibility.”
Medic watched with a straight face and a cherry bowl of popcorn in his hands. Corn kernels were one of the goods found in the fort.
Demo was having a conversation with his own sword at the time. “Ah, like the good ol’ days, when there were two identical teams with only their color code to differentiate. I miss those times when we were dodging rockets.”
“Good for ye, cause I sure don’t.” As more blows were traded, the more Soldier got tired. He did not posses the skill in this form of combat like Demo did, nor a proper secondary melee other than his shovel and pick, both unwieldy. “Demoman?” Soldier said between swings. “Yeah?”
“Dont you have a Zatoichi?”
“Yes, you want ta try dual wield?” Not expecting a response, Demo reached into his pocket and pulled out his Zatoichi, and tossed it to his friend. The Soldier caught it and repositioned himself. "Let's go!" The fighting resumed.
This time there was a noticeable difference in his performance, as both arms could work together to block and strike. The sight was really odd to look at as a spectator though. Soldier simply doesn't appear like the type be nimble and flexible, nor does he seem like the dual wielding type. Regardless, he held his ground and the pair of friends parried time and again throughout the hour.
At the peak of eleven, they stopped, and Redwood separated from Soldier. Medic stood up and lifted two pails of cleaned river water to be given to the heaving sweating swordsmen. Each one grabbed a pail and chugged the liquid down. "Zat vas fun to vatch! Like ze good ‘ol days!" Demo exhaled in refreshing relief. “I threw your stance off a few times there laddie.” Soldier’s swallowed a mouthful and instantly stopped heaving for breath, like an instant recovery. “I’m not used to moving like that Cyclops,” He smiled at Demo, “but you almost fell down because you were moving that sword so much.”
Demo chuckled, “Heh, yeah, it may be light, but it is still a big sword. You almost caught me a few times as well.”
Solly put his hand on Demos arm in a friendly gesture. “Keep your eye on both swords maggot. It only takes one to keep you busy.”
Demo shrugged, “Not easy with only one eye.”
Soldier’s smile disappeared and he pointed accusingly, “Bull crap, you can still see a lot with that one eye alone!”
“How do you even see through your bloody helmet?”
The smile returned, “You know I can’t tell you that.”
Demo was also wearing a friendly smile. “We need ta do this some more. Some later time though, I think Eyelander has had enough.”
“Damn right I have! I’m gonna be sore tomorrow!”
Medic tossed in a few words before pressing his teleport button. “Ve should head back. Engineer vants to talk about attacking ze next fort.” He disappeared in a blue flash, followed closely by the sparring partners.
Upon appearing into the cavern, the group was greeted with a disturbing sight. Rifleman was wearing his amulet, but was leaning over a bushman’s jar and lowering himself, and thus the amulet, into the liquid. His face seemed to be relishing in the unheard voice of Saura pleading for mercy. Redwood was dying from laughter.
-Canterlot-
Celestia looked around the meeting table. Along with her sister, Cadence, Shining armor, Princess Twilight, and even Discord sat with her. Everyone gave her their full attention, apart from Discord who was on his new smart phone. He was one of the few to embrace human culture and technology, and get away with it. “Discord, could you please put that infernal thing away?” He said nothing, but the device disappeared in a flash. Celestia inhaled a long breath, and began her short speech.
“The first week of fighting has brought so much to light. The main danger being that we are largely outnumbered. In main brute force they could overwhelm us in the long run, but I believe if we can steal their technology then we have a much better chance of prevailing. We haven’t been able to replicate any of the weapons we have found, and there is simply not enough stolen guns and ammunition to hoof out to our army. I leave the table open to any ideas, comments, and recommendations.”
Shining spoke first. “Our unicorns are our biggest asset. The shields and protective spells they cast can keep the rest of the troops safe. However, we don't have anything that can easily punch through armor and take down airplanes other than unicorns. The only thing the Pegasi can do is hack and slash at soldiers, and try to overwhelm aircraft, but that leaves them highly vulnerable to attack. Earth ponies are practically helpless. Guns and ballistics would definitely level the playing field.”
Twilight was hesitant, “Bows and arrows carry too much mass for human cloth armor to handle. They were designed to stop bullets, not arrows. If we focused on training more earth ponies with long bows we could fight more defensively and wear down their infantry.”
“Twily, it’s not a bad idea, but that leaves ponies vulnerable to tanks.”
“How so? Most don’t have the firepower to breakthrough our shields.”
“They have developed a horrific strategy of ramming into the shields with tanks at full speed! They literally shoot ponies or run them over!”
Luna spoke up, “I’m afraid the only way to move forward is to emulate the thing we wish to restore. Arrows are effective, but we must develop human weaponry.” Twilight jumped in again at a chance to share her vast knowledge. “I’ve read about guns, and a little bit about how they work from my time at Canterlot High school. I know we can recreate some of the older, simpler models, but I couldn’t tell you everything from what I remember from the top of my head. Discord, do you know about -Discord!” He was lounging in his chair, playing March Madness repeats on a tablet with popcorn in his talons, he looked up innocently. “Yes Twilight? I do know a lot about myself.”
“Put that away!”
“Fine, meetings are just sooo boring.” It disappeared. Twilight repeated the question, “Do you know anything about the guns from world war one or two?” The god of chaos reached into his pocket, and pulled out an electric bubble blower. Ignoring the blank faces from his companions, he turned the device on, and the machine began to blow a coconut sized bubble. When released from its origin point and allowed to linger in the air, it collapsed into a black hole.
The gravity that the force created pulled in some loose debris around the room, but it was no where near the strength of an actual black hole of that size. Reaching into the dark hole, Discord pulled out a pistol, and the black hole flashed into nonexistence. “This was a gift. It is a genuine 1911 pistol used in World War two by a lieutenant that saw D-day. Still works, great shape, and is still quite accurate.” The whole table was visibly dumbfounded that some demented human would give the god of chaos a gun, as a gift nonetheless.
Discord saw this and explained, trying not to laugh at their faces. “Being, one of the few to not hate on mankind can earn a lot of respect, and a lot of good friends.” The smile faded and he grew solemn for only a moment. “That said…” He looked at the pistol. “I may be unpredictable in my ways, but the last thing I need is to be remembered as the one who gave ponies guns.”
Cadence looked uncomfortable, Discord saw this as a possible out. “You seem distressed Cadence, what's the matter?” She looked left and right nervously, “Sorry, but I haven't been following the war as much as I should because I’ve been busy with the Crystal Empire. What are guns exactly?”
Twilight projected a magical display screen, Discord’s pistol was on screen. “Guns are basically rapid fire hand cannons, they shoot metal projectiles like a cannon, but at extreme speeds. No practical armor that we have developed can stop them.” The picture changed to a Abrams Tank. “The benefit of getting gun technology will give our soldiers the ability to fight back at a longer distance, and give us the ability to take down tanks, or even make our own.”
Shining Armor stared with a gaze pure hate at the picture, “I hate the Abrams. They can shoot a target two miles away! We can’t see those coming in time, and if we catch a bullet, we don’t know where to put it cause we can barely see the fucking tanks!” He suddenly realized what he said and his iris and pupil shrunk to the size of grapes, “Pardon the language…”
Discord laughed out loud, “Oh you ponies are becoming more human everyday! Their culture is rubbing off on you and you don’t even see it. Even better reason to not give you this.” Celestia decided to step in. “Discord, we need that gun. My little ponies need guns to fight back.” Discord laughed out loud some more, “Hahaha, do you hear yourself?! That sounds wrong coming from you, of all ponies. I was told to promise that I wouldn’t do this very thing." He began to pout "To break my promise could ruin the friendships I have in the outside world.” Apart from Luna and Celestia, no pony wanted to talk back to that comment, Luna spoke, “You would be immortalized in fame here, forever known as the one to save Equestria!”
Discord gave a straight face, “I’m already immortalized in a fame I am quite content with. Besides, can't you just steal some guns to use for yourself? The mechanism must be the same thing as this one.”
“No we can’t, new guns are made of plastics and alloys, stuff we can't hope to recreate. Older guns have durable designs and more reasonable materials, like the one you're holding. It's not that we can't find other guns, we're working on that, but they won't be in our hooves for some time. A pistol now would make all the difference for our soldiers."
“Sister,” Celestia insisted, she moved her head backwards as a gesture. “We’ll be right back.” The both stood up and talked off to the side near a window. “Luna, I don't want to push Discord.”
“Nether do I, but he will not give us the gun, not like he needs it.”
“We must force him, but I fear...”
“I agree, something tells me that he will make us regret it.”
“I have no doubt in my mind Lulu.”
“Don’t call me that. Please.”
“I fear more for Twilight, I do not doubt her bravery, but this is the first time she is dealing with outright war.”
“She must learn that one must take steps into darkness to come out the other side.”
“Well, I'll hoof that responsibility to Clue."
"It is decided then.”
“Yes.”
They both turned around, and were greeted with a surprise.
Discord was lounging on the top bunk of a double decker couch with a BudLight beer, while Shining Armor and the two guards that were supposed to be standing outside the room, were sitting on the bottom. They also had beer. They were watching March Madness replays on a 60 inch Hi-def plasma TV on the wall. The ladies simply looked on as the four men raised their hooves and voices at a beautiful three point shot.
Celestia had enough of this, “Discord!” The four looked over at the angry sun god. Discord looked at the bottle and wolfed the rest of it down, “Here we go.” The group scrambled back into position, the guards sprinted back out the door, and Shining and Discord fumbled over to the table. The TV and double decker couch disappeared, but Discord resumed eating popcorn. Cadence was glaring disapprovingly at her husband.
Celestia began her demanding. “Give us the gun Discord. Now.” He shook his head like a child. “Or we will turn you back into stone.” His eyes opened wide, and he swallowed some more popcorn, but instead of frowning at the threat he smiled, “That escalated quickly, Celly, this is blackmail.”
“Yes, it is.” She looked over at Twilight’s face, it showed little fear, but more confusion. “We need to do this, the fate of the nation may rest on it. I will do anything to protect my ponies.”
Discord threw his popcorn up in the air only for the snack to stay suspended at the ceiling. “Fine, fine, here.” In a flash, the gun appeared in front of Celestia’s chair. “Have fun with that, I will be in my office if you need me.” He stood up, and opened the door to leave. As soon as it closed, the popcorn fell. Right on top of Twilight’s face.
Celestia levitated the bucket off of her student, and found her blank face and mane covered with butter and popcorn debris. “Twilight,” Her ex-student turned to her teacher. “I know hope you understand that there are things a princess must do to keep her ponies safe. Especially in times of war.” Twilight blinked and glanced over to Cadence, who looked like she was about to give her husband a lecture on decency. Looking back to Celestia, she merely nodded.
“Good,” Celestia smiled down at her. “You should probably clean yourself up now. Lulu will get him back for that I’m sure.” Luna was looking innocently around the room like a devilish foal in a candy store. “Oh, I might have a few tricks up my mane…”
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F**k, giving ponies guns and having magic could turn very bad for the humans.
He don't.
4224910
Ah, but this is one of many TF2 physics holes.
Your quote is of complaints, of what a normal person would think and say to him. It does not depict how his vision functions, which no one knows for sure.
Most people think it might have something to do with Merasmus...
4225319 Your learning.
...What?
4225572
It's dialogue exaggeration. But, I can fix it nonetheless.
4225776 Ok, just confused.
Limited in terms of flexibility my ass.
YOU CAN LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FUCKING HOOVES.
What is the year in the story? TF2 happens in the 70's. What about the mercs? Wont that make some of them atleast 60 years old?
6265827 respawning could leave them the same age.
4224054
Yeah...
But we have Nukes.
7694983
Yes, this is right, also given the time zone we should have at least 5000 nukes to go around in the us alone