Without a Scope

by mathwiz617

Chapter 2

“Good evening,” Captain Armor shouted from above. “I assume you all have been told why you are here, but I will summarize should any of you not know. Princess Luna has chosen each of you to train for an elite team. You have been picked based on qualities you may not know you have. However, the princess believes in you. For those who do not believe in themselves, the door is right there. You are free to leave at any time over the next three days.” He paused, watching as two of the recruits walked out of the courtyard.

“For those of you that are still here, thank you for volunteering. The guard that brought you here will show you to your barracks. Your training will begin at dawn, and a group of guards will be dispatched to pick up your personal effects soon afterwards. Dismissed!”

Far Sight turned to his escort, and the group proceeded around the castle and into the barracks. The accommodations were rather sparse, but livable. "This is where you'll be staying for the night,” the guard told him. “Get to know your fellow recruits; they’ll be your family for the foreseeable future. Just don’t stay up so late you can’t get up in the morning. Dawn’s in six hours. Good night.”

As the eighteen ponies shuffled in, they started to choose beds. Far picked one near the middle. Once they were all settled in, his fellow recruits started to converse.

“Hey, Goggles,” his neighbor got his attention, “where are you from?”

“I’m Far Sight, from Hollow Shades. What about you?”

“My name’s Shimmering Ember. I’m from Vanhoover. My dad was in the guard. When he hears about this…”

Far looked at Ember. The dark red unicorn seemed lost in thought. “My parents are going to freak out when they’re told,” Far said. “They always were over-protective. I mean, they went berserk the first time I left town by myself. They got better once Mighty Impact joined the guard, but I doubt they ever stopped worrying, especially with my eyesight.”

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” the pony on his other side asked.

“Nobody’s quite sure,” Far said while turning. “I was fine as a foal, but one day, I was staring through some binoculars when one of my unicorn classmates hit me in the face with a blast of magic. Something must have changed then, because when I lowered my binoculars, I could still see far off objects. I got glasses, but they only helped so much. Eventually, I commissioned these goggles from an “applied artist” here in Canterlot. They’re like backwards binoculars.” He pointed to a small knob on top. “This allows me to alter the strength of the effect. I generally keep it at reading distance, though.”

“Cool,” the large black earth pony said. “Hey, by the way, I’m Obsidian Mountain. I was born on a rock farm in the foothills of the Foal Mountains.”

“Neat. So, what’s your guys’ stories?” Far asked them.

“I’m a bit of a firebug,” Shimmering Ember explained. When the other two looked at him, he elaborated, “Ok, more than a bit. The guard actually got me out of jail. I was serving a few months for my first arson charge. The first they could pin on me, that is. I got careless, used my magic to ignite the flame, instead of the traditional flint and steel method. It was pretty easy to track my power’s residue, apparently.”

“Wow,” Obsidian said. “I’m nothing special. Sure, I’m strong, but there’s not much else. A rock farm isn’t exactly an exciting place.”

---

Dawn came earlier than expected. After what seemed like no sleep at all, Far and the other recruits were told to run two laps around the castle, pegasi wings bound to their sides. It was a hard run, to be sure, but Shining Armor definitely knew exactly how far to push the new recruits. Fortunately, Princess Luna hadn’t chosen any pony that was particularly out of shape, and all eighteen managed to finish in a reasonable amount of time.

Next was breakfast, followed by heavy lifting. The unicorns in the group were especially tested here, as they had to use both muscles and magic. The pegasai were tested for wingpower, Far Sight clocking in with a respectable eight point four. After that was the endurance test. Each pony was put on an enchanted rug that looped around on itself. The rug would then spin, forcing the pony to run on top of it. Most of the earth ponies did fairly well, lasting an average of two minutes at full gallop. The others lasted about a minute and a half.

Overall, it was a tiring day, and another three ponies left partway through, but Shining Armor still looked pleased as he dismissed the group for dinner. Sitting next to Shimmering Ember, Far began to eat the meager amount provided. As he bit into the hay fries, a grey pegasus slammed her tray down across from him, accidentally flinging food off of it.

“I can’t believe that anemometer! It must have been broken! Only nine and a half, really?” Her accent clearly placed her from Manehattan.

Far Sight looked at her, adjusting his goggles a bit. “Better than I got,” he told the newcomer.

“Sorry,” she said, picking up the food that had fallen off her tray. “I get frustrated sometimes. I’m Windy Days.” She held out her hoof.

“I’m Shimmering Ember, and this is Far Sight,” the unicorn said, extending his hoof to meet hers. “Nine and a half wingpower can’t be that bad.”

“Really, it’s not. It’s just… disappointing,” Windy admitted. “I was expecting at least eleven. I’m a strong flier, I really am. My mom was once a backup for Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. I feel like I’m letting her down, getting that low.”

“Eh, I’m used to letting my parents down,” Ember said. “No cutie mark at the age of twenty, end up in jail, what have you. Disappointment is par for the course for me.” The two looked at Far.

“Hey, don’t drag me into this,” he said. “My parents are happy as long as I’m not hurt.”

Windy shrugged, beginning to eat. The rest of the meal passed in silence, as did the rest of the night. Still, Far couldn’t help but wonder what the days ahead would bring.

Comments

[mathwiz617]

I can imagine Shimmering Ember's daily routine starting something like this: straferight.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/epicfail.jpg

I actually made up two more OCs, Shimmering Ember and Obsidian Mountain. Windy Days is courtesy of Flutter-Shy, who commented on the first chapter. There's still room for more.

[Flutter-Shy]

Thank you thank you thank you!

1. Story updated!
2. My oc is actually there
3. It's shaping to be awesome!!!

~~Flutter-Shy~~

[Veyron]

This is shaping up to be really great!