Shine Of The Silver Sun

by Nameless Narrator

Hit Hard: Field Trip

"It's Friday, Friiiday. Gonna get down on Friday," Contradiction hummed to herself on her way to Cromach's office. The weekend was upon her, and Astray hadn't messed up anything major throughout the day aside from passing out during morning run through Cross' personal gauntlet. Connie had instituted Cross' training course as a regular thing, much to Astray's pained wincing and Anvil's annoyed grumbling, but after Crom chewed her out last time she hadn't pushed the newbies too hard. Now, with Bubbles and Anvil out for an evening stroll through bright and bustling Manehattan and Astray still undergoing Antares' unarmed combat drills, Connie was free to do what she pleased and that thing was to drag her boss finally out for a drink.

Her hope evaporated as soon as a strained voice from the inside wearily called out:

"Can it wait until tomorrow?"

She opened without delay, only to see the white griffon staring with soul-crushing desperation at three binders filled with papers.

"Still planning the transfer of nobles?"

Cromach sighed, writing down a note, flipping a page, and wincing as a new dossier full of writing greeted him.

"Yeah. They're still paying full price, but it leaves some of our teams incomplete for final squad trainings and evaluations. We've built a solid reputation in a very short time about being able to compete and outmatch Royal Guard combat and physical training regime, but we can't risk it by lowering our standards, albeit only in one aspect and for several exceptions."

"It's still at least two months away, sir. Is it necessary to lose sleep over it here and now?"

"Connie, you should know best how difficult it is to adapt to new teammates. Two months of getting accustomed to one another might not be sufficient to get a team through a rough combat situation where they have to rely on being on the same page during every second of a dangerous event. Communication and debating about orders and plans isn't always possible. If I lose few weekends to make sure we keep the reputation of being if not the best than at least close, then it's worth it."

"I know," she frowned, "but... you've been burying yourself in work before and it didn't really push you towards doing things better, with all due respect. If you relax a little from time to time, you'll achieve better results in the long term."

"I find it funny it's you telling me this," Cromach winked at her. He knew most ponies familiar with Connie firmly believed she had a steel rod firmly lodged up her butt. No one but Connie herself knew how close those beliefs really were.

"Yes, I know," she rolled her eyes, hating herself for what she was about to say instead of what she'd come here to say in the first place, "How about I take over for the weekend while you enjoy a well-deserved break?"

"I can't ask that of you," Cromach shook his head, white feathers rustling.

"You're not asking anything. I'm asking you to take a breather."

"You sure about this?" Crom pointed at each binder, "You'd have to find the correct ponies to put together into new teams in order to replace the ones we're losing while keeping the cores of already estabilished teams so that they don't need complete retraining."

"Why not just remake the teams and start from scratch? Our guys are still excellent with weapons and can obey orders."

"Simply put, we don't have the time. We need to beat Royal Guard units with two or three years of working together... or at least not get trampled by them."

"I'll do my best- nope, I'll do it. You just go and do something fun on the weekend, come back refreshed on Monday, and stop denying that good rest is as important as hard training. Look, let me do this for you as a thank you for not pushing me when I went a little... a lot crazy."

"You sure you can do this? It's honestly just about going through bunch of little details and training histories of about forty ponies."

"Bunch of little details? Oh my, whatever shall I do about it?" Connie snarked but smiled, showing she wasn't really trying to be nasty, "You do realize I'm way better at accounting than you are, right? Tons of little details are what I'm all about. Putting together well-balanced teams based on candidates with correct range of abilities should be a breeze. Might even help me learn something about my group of undesirables."

"Alright," the white head of the Silver Sun gave up, "Just promise me you don't go on a Red Buffalo-fueled binge and stay awake for forty-eight hours straight."

"Sure. You know me, I'm a balanced and well-adjusted, not to mention responsible, individual."

"That answer terrified me to my bones, Connie. But I believe you can do it. I'm not sure if I can, though. I've been neglecting my social life for a while now."

"You deserve a break, honestly. After Heavy Hoof's death followed by Blaze's, you've been doing way too much on your own," she kept hammering the point through her boss' skull, "Time to have some fun."

"Hmmm," Cromach scratched his beak, "Fun... perhaps a little practice with your newbies might be a pleasant way to relax," the griffon smiled suddenly, recalling a recent Manehattan Herald article about graves being robbed in Canterlot and some minor disappearances, "Some hooves-on experience for them."

"That's supposed to be relaxing?"

"Hunting a possible necromancer in the sewers of the capital city? It'll be like a field trip!"

"You have a strange sense of 'fun', sir. No offense."

"Look who's talking."

"Well at least I was suggesting going to some bar and enjoy some one night stand. Heck, until I saw you looking at the paperwork like a heroin addict at his only and empty syringe I thought the cheap floozy you swept off the bar stool would be me... with any luck."

"Again, unsettling."

"Again, years on the streets whorseing myself for food and anything else to make the days bearable," she gave Crom a smug smile, knowing he couldn't beat that one. On his end, Cromach decided not to mention being hunted by griffon Black Ops assassins, bounty hunters, and the entire Imperial army during his first escape to Equestria. Instead, he said:

"Right now, hunting an evil mage feels easier than picking up chicks, umm, mares in some club. Call it a professional deformation."

"Fiiine, just promise me that if anything goes wrong you just throw ash tray to the zombies and get out."

Cromach frowned.

"The poor satyr has enough on his plate even without a nickname like this."

"In my defense, Anvil came up with that one."

"Like with every other one..."

"What can I say? Girl's got talent," Connie raised her hooves, "Just kidding, just kidding."

"Riiight..."

"Hey, can I sit in your lap while you show me how you were doing the team stuff? Just so I don't have too much of a different idea than you."

"Only if you pull out your steel plug first. The handlebar on that thing left a deeper impression in my chair last time you were working here than on the recruits who notice you wearing it. Oh, and do it slowly and lick it afterwards."

Connie was about to burst in flames of blush and embarrassment. On the other hoof, he did just say... that. Even though he likely didn't really mean it. She gathered herself marvelously fast.

"If- if that's your pick up line then I get why you're avoiding the club scene in favor of rotting zombies. Anyway, the thing is only a placeholder until you finally give in and plow me properly. A true lady must be ready at all times."

Now it was Crom's turn to go full tomato. On his completely white stature, the spreading red was easy to spot. Using his moment of uncertainty, she trotted behind the desk and jumped on his lap, easing into his broad chest. The griffon hesitated, unsure whether to push her off or what. He still considered Connie his student more than anything, and any idea about taking things further conjured a vivid image of a now dead bronze alicorn. Crom knew the absurdity of it all and his behaviour, but still... it felt like betrayal. However, in the end he just wrapped one foreleg around the smaller mare while the talons of his other one grasped his pen lying on the desk.

"So, the Royal Guard teams are usually composed of a front line fighter, at least one battlemage or a healer, and two auxiliary units, preferrably a pure wizard or some other long-range support..."

Connie listened intently despite her eyes closing and nostrils flaring under the comforting scent of soap, a little bit of sweat, and everything she knew or imagined about the griffon every part of her body wanted. She knew she could do the task on her own, but kept him talking in case she missed or misunderstood something. She didn't. She even came up with little improvements here and there her boss failed to realize. She indeed was better with the small details than he was, but she kept listening, nodding, and, when she had a spare second, spinning dirtier and dirtier fantasies. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and this was no different.

"-and that's the core of it," Cromach finished, and Connie stretched her legs before jumping off of him. Crom sniffed the air, "Huh, this place smells weird all of a sudden. Familiar, though... hmmm..."

"Then get out and prep your field trip or whatever... uhh, sir!" she pointed at the office door with renewed vigor. Stupid, stupid, absolutely amazing pervy fantasies! Still, it must have been a while for a mare-magnet like Cromach to not conclude what the sweet-ish, spicy scent was.

"You do realize this is still my office, right?" the griffon raised an eyebrow.

"You're relieved of command on the grounds of needed to either get wasted or waste some evildoer, civilian!"

"Unlike you, I actually DID serve in the real army, even if it was a griffon one, and this isn't how it work-" the door shut him out of the office as he was forcefully levitated outside.

The black and white unicorn sat down in the still warm chair, and her heterochromatic eyes crossed as she tried to look at three documents at once. Three binders filled to the brim with documents.

"Well buck me. Hopefully literally. Sadly likely only metaphorically," Contradiction sighed.

This was going to be a long weekend.

***

Later that night, dull knocking on the door of the recruits' room made Anvil raise her eyes from her history tome while Astray continued to froth quietly semi-conscious on the floor. Horrible, but not too loud, off-key singing dampened by sound of running water clearly conveyed the message that Bubbles the half-demonette was having the time of her life, as she so often seemingly did.

"Come in!" Anvil called out in mild surprise. None of her team were exactly overly social individuals, so visitors were usually limited only to those bringing new orders or some sort of briefing, and it was too late for either. Aside from Bubbles, the cheery mare having recieved three visits ever since the group started living in the mansion, all from normal recruits asking her to go out play with them. Anvil wasn't exactly interested in the idea of competitive games like hoofball, since they brought no obvious benefit to her and her current training was far more efficient at improving her physical shape, but Bubbles' unnatural stamina and energy allowed her to ignore effective resting the minotaur and all mundane beings needed.

The door opened, revealing a smiling white griffon entering the suite and looking around. His gaze lingered on groaning Astray trying to turn around in the manner of a beached whale and failing.

"Slacking off again, Astray?" Cromach chuckled, "Was there perhaps something to Connie's complaints about you?"

"S'ry, srr," the satyr mumbled with his face buried in the carpet. His arm twitched towards his head in an attempted and failed salute.

"Just kidding, Astray. Calm down."

"Hello!" Bubbles squeaked, peeking out of the bathroom, her elongated pony-like ears twitching under a wet, white towel.

"Good evening, Bubbles," Cromach waved at her, "Towel yourself off and come here for a second, will you?"

"On it, sir!" the rusty mare darted back inside the bathroom.

"What's going on, sir?" Anvil stood up, not saluting only to show her official boss that he came during her time off.

"Why do you think something's going on?" Cromach raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

"With all due respect, you've never visited us here for a casual reason, the main deal of our side of this Order is to fight unnatural threats, and for last few days the crazy black and white mare was running us ragged. Forgive me for being a little suspicious."

"Well, about that," Crom scratched his head, "I've got two things. One will have to wait until Bubbles is here so that I don't repeat myself, and the other one... ah screw it, let's just wait for both. It's nothing too serious, I assure you. So... what are you reading, Anvil?"

She turned the book's cover to the griffon.

"History? Wouldn't have pegged you for that."

"I get that a lot," the minotaur shrugged.

"First impression is often misleading. I apologize," Cromach gave her a courteous bow, "And about our new carpet...?" he looked down at Astray breathing slowly, unmoving.

"He can't keep this up for long," Anvil shook her head, "Your two changelings are leaving him like this every evening. If we ever get into a real fight all he's going to do is faint at the enemy. Can't you order him to just stick with normal training and-"

"Nnnnngh..." the satyr carpet moaned his refusal.

"I'm not going to," Cromach's talons patted Astray, "Trust me when I say I saw too many ponies go from coal to diamonds under pressure. I'm not going to forcibly try to stop it without enough knowledge about the situation. If you really believe this is hurting your unit, persuade Connie to file an official request for me. I know her well enough to trust her judgement. Maybe you should believe in this guy a little more as well."

"Look, I've been giving him massages every evening before he decided to do this to keep him somewhat functional, but this is pointless."

"So you stopped?"

"Yes."

"Stopped helping your teammate who is just trying to become a useful asset to protect you and others?"

"The way he's trying to do it is stupid and will only hurt us in the long run!" Anvil raised her voice a little.

"Nnnnnnuh..."

"Anvil," Cromach sighed, "In the same way I'm not going to order Astray do stop it, I'm not going to order you to start helping him again. On the other talon, the autonomy I'm leaving you with is there for a reason. I can't think of every situation that can arise and prepare you for it. You should get to know each other well enough to know what is best and what isn't."

Anvil glared defiantly but didn't say anything.

"All done!" the bathroom door flew open, revealing Bubbles with hastily tied towel around her neck like a bib and globs of shampoo still in her tail.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" Anvil facepalmed.

"Nope!" Bubbles beamed. Nopony could stay annoyed in the face of the shark-like smile. Terrified, but not angry.

"Alright, Astray, you awake?" Cromach sat down onto Bubbles' bunk and Anvil sat down on her own while meaningfully crossing her legs on Astray's back. Then she pushed him over and propped her hooves on his bruised stomach.

"Owwwww..."

"Yeah, he's fine," Anvil shrugged. Cromach rolled his eyes, suddenly becoming much more understanding of Connie's recent outbursts.

"Alright, as I said - two things," the griffon raised a talon, "First, since we'll be losing several recruits soon, you can choose to either keep living in this suite or each get a new, albeit smaller, room of your own. You don't have to choose now."

"Together!" Bubbles jumped at Astray's belly already occupied by Anvil's legs, making the satyr's eyes bulge and forcing a violent cough. The minotaur simply spread her legs, putting one hoof on Astray's chest and pushing him back down while Bubbles curled down on the thrashing satyr and licked his nose.

Astray looked at Anvil questioningly.

"It would give me more time to read," she said thoughtfully. Astray closed his eyes, "but I can't have this idiot passing out every evening sleeping on the floor. If I don't shove him up there," her eyes darted to the bunk above hers, "then who will? He, himself, all of a sudden? Don't make me laugh."

To demonstrate, she withdrew her legs, stood up, picked up both the satyr and Bubbles hanging onto him with her four legs, and shoved the both on the top bunk.

"So yeah," she continued, "until he clearly proves too stupid to be useful then I'll keep kicking him in the right direction from time to time."

"Excellent," Cromach allowed himself a smug smile. Deciphering griffon expressions was difficult at best due to the beak, but his happily narrowed eyes were enough of a hint, "As for the second thing... who's up for a field trip to Canterlot?"

Bubbles' ears perked up on the bed, even Astray pushed himself up on his elbows, and Anvil just tilted her head.

"Field... trip?" she repeated, completely taken aback, "Like a museum thing? T-that doesn't sound bad at all."

"Wooooo! I've never been outside of the tower before, only when the guardponies chained me and took me to the white princess," Bubbles, well, bubbled, "then they put a cloak on me and sent me here. Let me tell you, you can't see much in the cowl. I'm not gonna have to wear a cowl again, do I?"

"Definitely not," Cromach covered his beak, smiling at the half-demon talking like a machine gun.

"WOHOOOOOO! CANTERLOT!" Bubbles hugged Astray who was the only one looking distraught and uncertain more than anything.

"Sir, can I pass?" he asked, softly pushing Bubbles away.

"Oh?" Cromach raised an eyebrow. The body language worked like a charm, making Astray look away as he thought about his answer.

"I... while I would like to see more of Canterlot than the lower city and mountainside one day, I don't think me slacking off from my training now would be a good idea. I can barely keep up with the others and if I can spend my time properly now so that I can have more free time in the future, I'd like to do that instead. Sorry, everyone, have a nice trip. Maybe I'll be less of a burden when you come back."

Cromach's grin grew further.

"I believe I've got that covered," the griffon rose on his hind legs and patted Astray's shoulder on the top bunk, "The trip I have in mind isn't to a museum, no matter how crushed miss Anvil might be by the information," he snorted in laughter as the minotaur huffed, "We're going hunting for evil."

"WHAT?" Anvil shouted. The others were in similar states of shock of various intensity.

"You see, over the past few months, both Canterlot and Manehattan suffered a severe wave of graverobbing. That, coupled with recent Royal Guard reports and newspaper articles about ponies gone missing in Canterlot leads me to believe there is a necromancer deep in Canterlot sewer system responsible for at least part of it. The guards have not been able to find the culprit, but we might."

To everyone's surprise, it was Bubbles who quietly whimpered, but the despair in the sound was palpable.

"What's wrong?" Astray patted her neck.

"Umm... sewers smell bad, right?"

"It's not so terrible when you get used to it, but the first shock is the worst," Cromach nodded.

"I'm not sure if I can handle it. I mean, during the team fight I almost got knocked out by the earthpony smell potion. I just don't know if I could even help..."

Seeing Bubbles so unsure was a blow to everyone but Cromach, who just waved his foreleg.

"Don't worry about it. We'll be taking all usual environmental equipment which means enchanted bandannas blocking the worst of the stench and actually smelling of... hmm, if I remember correctly you can pick from mint, apples, and sea breeze. It's standard issue equipment. We'll all have one plus a spare."

"Really? I can come with you and help?" Bubbles cheered up instantly.

"Of course. I heard you have a pretty good nose, but these things are made to keep diamond dogs from keeling over from the weakest scent grenade."

"Yessssss!" Bubbles bounced on Astray who in turn made the top bunk mattress and bed frame creak.

"I'm still not sure about this," Astray mumbled, "I think I should just stay here and train so you don't have to go out of your way to save me or something during the mission."

"Think of this as a chance to get some hooves-on, erm, hands-on experience with environmental hazards, dark magic, and exploration of enemy territory. To be completely honest, I don't know if we'll actually find something or not, but I have a little clue Royal Guards don't, so we'll check that first. It's quite possible we'll just spent an hour or two in the suspicious part of the sewers, take the nearest ladder out, have a shower at the hotel, and enjoy Sunday off anyway. But if we do find something, we might prevent more ponies from... going missing, avenge those already gone, and you'll have a cool story for Antares and Cross. They dig this stuff, especially since they spend most of their time around here these days. I'll sort it out with them myself if you're worried about telling them."

"Thank you, sir," Astray let out a relieved breath.

"So, everyone on board?" Crom looked around.

"Where, when, and is Contradiction coming?" Anvil asked.

"I hope not, otherwise she'd make a mess in my office," the griffon chuckled, much to at first confused and then disbelieving, or in one case not understanding, stares of the others, " No, she isn't going with us. Tomorrow, let's say at noon so you have plenty of time to rest up and get ready. We don't need sunlight where we're going, and trains to Canterlot leave every two hours. So, just the four of us."

"Yes, sir," Anvil closed her book she'd left open on her bedside table, "As a temporary leader I'm ordering both of you to go to sleep at once."

"What made you the leader?" Astray asked. He didn't really mind, already having difficult time staying awake, but he was just curious.

"The fact that I can beat the snot out of you with both arms tied behind my back, hopping on one leg, and blindfolded."

"Woooow, I wanna see that!" Bubbles' eyes went wide like a filly's who was told a bonus Hearth's Warming was coming tomorrow.

"BED, you little devil!" Anvil barked, making Bubbles dig herself under Astray's blanket.

"Good night, and don't let necromancers kill you and resurrect you as zombies... or the bed bugs bite, both are good," Cromach turned away from the spectacle of Anvil taking off the grossly undersized standard-issue white linen pants she sometimes wore after sundown when it wasn't too hot.

Comments

[Blackdust]

Bwaha-!

"BED, you little devil!" Anvil barked, making Bubbles dig herself under Astray's blanket.

That killed me! Gg man!

[Anonymous Critic]

"-and that's the core of it," Cromach finished, and Connie stretched her legs before jumping off of him. Crom sniffed the air, "Huh, this place smells weird all of a sudden. Familiar, though... hmmm..."

Cumbucket, by Calvin Klein.

[Two_Madmans]

"Sure. You know me, I'm a balanced and well-adjusted, not to mention responsible, individual."

Or you can became alicorn!