Starting A Flame

by Star_Shade

Chapter [19] Getting stronger

Piper was tired of watching. He had spent two weeks of just sitting and staring at the water canteen. Everyday, he begged Shining to have him do something, anything other than focusing on the canteen. Eventually, at the beginning of the third week, Shining relented and invited him to the front of a sleeping barrack. “Since you have only slightly increased in your focus, I have decided to give you a new task,” he said, ever in his calm demeanor.

“Finally!” exclaimed Piper. “Anything but just sitting and watching that water canteen.”

“Trust me, there will come a day you wish you could just sit and watch.”

“I doubt it, that is the one and only thing I will ever despise doing.” Shining just rolled his eyes, and the two of them entered the barracks. There they met an ombre orange unicorn, who Piper had seen a few times, but never had the pleasure of meeting. Looking up, the unicorn placed a half finished apple in one of his saddlebags and stood at attention as the two approached.

“This, Piper, is Deputy Commander Brisk Moon. He will be giving you tasks throughout the next couple of days for you to complete. If you need any help, simply ask him,” said Shining, turning around and promptly leaving them. Piper was both confused and disappointed in himself. He turned to the Deputy.

“Did I do something wrong? I know I complained a lot, but I did not want to hurt anypony’s feelings. I was just tired of looking at the dumb thing,” the colt mumbled dejectedly. Brisk just raised a single eyebrow at him before turning to the barracks.

“This place needs to be cleaned. There is a brush and a bucket in that closet over there,” he said in a clear and crisp voice, pointing out a door. “There is also a soap solution, and freshwater can be found near a pump outside. I want you to wash the floor, the door, and the front porch. When you have finished this, meet me at the next barrack.”

“But, wouldn’t a unicorn like you be better suited to do this? They could clean this place a hundred times faster than I can,” asked Piper.

“Possibly, but not everything needs to be done with magic. A horn on your head doesn’t excuse the hooves on your legs. Put them to good use, and they will serve you well. Now get to work.”

“And I have to do this alone?”

“Well, do you really need help with this, or do you think you can do it by yourself?” Brisk remarked in a bored voice, like other ponies had asked him the exact same thing.

“I guess I can do it by myself,” said Piper, looking around the barracks. “I was just pointing out that there are better ways to…” He trailed off as Brisk had already left the room. Turning back to his task, Piper just shrugged. At least it was better than watching.

---

Surprisingly, Piper found doing work exponentially more fun than sitting and watching for hours on end. Still, the barracks took him five hours to clean, he was happy to have it finished. Once done with the task, Piper took a short break to rest his back. Breathing in and out, he delicately rubbed his aching muscles, before going to find Brisk.

“Nice work, now for the next one,” Brisk stated, pointing to another barrack. Piper simply groaned before retrieving the mop and bucket and starting again. This one was much smaller, only taking about three hours. By that time, it was late in the afternoon cycle.

“Good job. Now for your next task, you will be bringing refreshments to our trainees,” said Brisk.

“Sounds good to me. I have not had the pleasure of meeting too many ponies since I got here,” replied Piper sourly.

“Cheer up, lad, you will have plenty of time to get to know everypony. Now then, I have two packs that I need you to carry. One contains water canteens, while the other holds the food. I shall take the other four. We will be going into our training fields, so make sure you have your weight centered.” Brisk motioned to the six bags in question.

Picking both up, Piper found that the canteens were considerably heavier than the food. He struggled under the weight, feeling pain shoot through his body as he was barely able to lift the packs with his hooves before dropping the two. Picking up the water pack again, he placed it towards the front of his back. The colt took a few experimental steps. Satisfied, he took in a breath, before setting the remaining bundle behind the first. Struggling now with a few steps, Piper’s legs wobbled before he eventually fell into a rhythm of walking confidently. Brisk simply glanced at Piper to make sure he was ready, before they started making their way to the fields.

---

With sweat running down his muzzle, Piper strained underneath the weight. Sure, it was easy to walk around on a nice flat surface. But trudging through a wet forest? He had to dodge roots and low hanging branches. Weave around trees and follow a barely visible trail. And the mud. Blech, he thought, as one of his hooves squelched in a nearby puddle of it. What felt like an eternity trekking through the woods, only turned out to take less than an hour. Why can’t we just teleport there? If fact, where are we even?

Twenty minutes later, he let out a gasp of surprise, as the lighter pack slipped off his back. Fearing retribution, Piper clenched his eyes shut and prepared to be yelled at for dropping it in the dirt. Yet astonishingly, he felt the package slip right back on. Opening his eyes, he found that Brisk had simply caught it with his magic and placed it onto him. Without even a word, the deputy simply moved to stand behind Piper as they continued. Letting him make the pace and keeping an eye on him should he drop anything again. Eventually, they came across a clearing, where three groups were separately at work. Each group was divided by race, with a captain and six trainees in each platoon. “I have the packs for unicorns and earth ponies. You have the packs for pegasi. Go over to the captain and inform him you have the refreshment packs, and he will direct you from there. Do as he says, and I will come over when you have finished,” instructed Brisk, before moving off to the two groups.

Making his way over to the group, Piper noticed quite a few things. The main one being that the group was extremely sweaty and smelled. They clearly had been going through a tough day of training and would be glad for refreshments. Walking towards the captain, Piper patiently waited to get his attention. Eventually, the captain noticed the colt sitting and waiting. The pegasus gave him a dirty look, his lips turning into a snarl. He sized up the scrawny colt, letting out a huff of disappointment before noting what he was carrying. Only losing the scowl, he turned towards his platoon and gave an order of rest. Stomping over to Piper, the captain continued in his annoyed state.

“So, you are the runt that has been staring at that tree for weeks,” said the captain.

“My name is Piper, and I was--” started the colt.

“I don’t want an excuse, runt, go give my platoon their food and drink, and get out of here. This is a place for soldiers, not lollygagging time for foals like yourself,” cut in the captain rudely. Piper just rolled his eyes and made his way over to the group. He received a much better reception from the platoon, as they each grabbed their food and drink and thanked him.

Thinking he was finished, Piper looked to the other two groups, seeing that Brisk was still working on the second group. Eager for a rest, Piper sat down. Trying to catch his breath, he wiped away the sweat that had collected along his mane. “Runt! What did I say about sitting around and doing nothing? Just because you could do that then does not mean you can do that now!” came the angry voice of the captain. “Get your lazy flank up and give me five two hundred-meter sprints.”

Piper got up and walked over to the captain. “Excuse me, sir?”

“You heard me. Those cones over there will be your indicator for distance. There is one hundred, two hundred and four hundred,” said the stallion, indicating the field behind his platoon.

“But, my back!” cried Piper, confused.

“I didn’t see you having any problems carrying those packs around earlier. Right, didn’t think so. Chop chop, I have a schedule to keep up, runt!” spat the captain. Seeing that he had no other choice, Piper moved over to the field. Eyeing his destination, He tried to gauge how fast he should go, as well as how soon he would be done. Looking up and meeting the angry gaze of the captain, Piper sighed. “Come on, runt! We don’t have all day!” Mentally shrugging, he hoped he didn’t embarrass himself in front of the group that was watching. Piper moved into the starting position, stretched a little, and began.

Five sprints later, Piper collapsed in a sweaty mess. He was glad he was able to finish them all fast enough to not get yelled at anymore, but he knew that if he stayed on the ground for too long, he would probably have to do it again. Getting up and clearing more sweat away from his eyes, Piper noticed that Brisk had finished with his task and was making his way over his group. Immensely thankful, and seeing that the captain was no longer bugging him, Piper met with Brisk halfway.

“I see you made friends with the captain. Good, you will be in charge of bringing them refreshments for the future. Let’s head back to the camp, it is getting late in the day cycle and you have wasted enough of our time here,” stated Brisk in an almost bored tone, eyeing the sweaty colt. Piper did not even feel like defending himself. He just wanted to get back, take a shower, and feel the sweet release of his bunk and sleep.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Good chapter!

[Star_Shade]

10267948
Thanks :D