Between the Sun and the Moon

by Psychic Smith

Chapter 10

CHAPTER‌ ‌X‌

The training yard in the shadow of Everfree Castle was alive with noise. The thundering of the guard’s hooves echoes off of the stone walls of the courtyard, each step kicking up a low lingering cloud of dust. The stench of equine sweat filled the cold morning air. What seemed to be instructors of some kind shouted above the noise in order to command their troops in training.

As Nick walked into the yard tailed by his escort for this morning, he passed by squads of ponies, usually separated by their tribe, running through various exercises. Earth ponies and unicorns ran laps around the yard, stopping at stations to either buck thick wooden posts, pass through various obstacles, or do bodyweight exercises like equine versions of sit-ups or pushups.

‘Wait, how do quadrupeds do pushups if they are on all fours all day anyways?’ Nick thought to himself. Apparently, the answer lied in the fact that a pony’s body was much more flexible than most four-legged creatures, although they needed to prop their hind legs on a box in order to get the form right.

Off to the side, some earth pony and unicorn squads practiced with weapons. Spears and swords mostly. Unicorns levitated the practice weapons around with practiced ease, going through disciplined routines, following their commander through the forms. There were some earth ponies in that group, wielding their weapons in their mouths since they were incapable of anything magical in that regard. Said earth ponies couldn’t move with the same grace as the unicorns and Nick suspected that hitting anything with a weapon you held in your mouth couldn’t be healthy. The earth ponies didn’t seem to share that concern, instead, they kept pace with their unicorn brethren.

He then saw another group of earth ponies lined up in front of large stones. Their commander slammed a hoof down onto some sort of gong on the ground. Immediately, the earth ponies in front of the rocks spun, and kicked, shattering large portions of the solid stone. Each pony then moving onto other drills as if nothing had happened.

Pegasi seemed to perform other exercises based mainly on flight control and speed. An obstacle course of rings loomed above where the rest of the ground-bound soldiers trained. Every few seconds, a pegasus zoomed through the course above, performing extremely tight turns and constant changes in elevation. In another corner of the yard, more pegasi held weights aloft for extended periods of time.

In the dead center of the field itself, where Nick was headed, the sound of combat could be barely heard. Sparring rings lined with thick rope were occupied with various pairs of ponies. In most, the ponies in the rings were of the same race each wearing the equivalent of wrestling padding. They weren’t the ones Nick was looking at though.

The center ring was surrounded by ponies from every race three lines deep, each pony wearing a white band around their right forehooves and a distinct lack of protective gear. Even though Nick was taller by these ponies by a good 2 feet, he found it difficult to see the center of the circle. Through the gaps in the spectators, Nick saw flashes of unprotected steel in the early morning light. Clearly, he did not want to miss this.

As Nick approached, the eyes of the ponies turned to watch the human come closer. Many eyed him with curiosity, some tense. Nick didn’t recognize most of these ponies, but he didn’t pay their stares much mind. He did catch the eyes of some of the guards that he had seen escorting Princess Celestia around. Coming up to the edge of the circle, Nick saw a pegasus and a unicorn panting with exertion, circling the ring a fair distance from each other, their weapons on the ground to the side of the ring. Nick discovered his previous observation was somewhat mistaken, as he noticed that instead of a white band, the pegasus stallion’s band was a shimmering silver.

In fact, Nick noticed that other ponies in the circle had different colored bands too. Some wore blue as well, like the earth pony stallion that was currently facing off against the silver banded pegasus. From Nick’s point of view, he could see that the earth pony was clearly the one looking worse for wear. The earth pony breathed heavier, and blood trickled from a cut above his left foreleg. The cut wasn’t deep, but it must’ve stung since he was favoring his other leg, limping slightly.

In a blur, the pegasus leaped forward, spreading his wings, flying low and straight at the defensive earth pony who was bracing himself for a frontal impact. Nick had seen the slower non-banded pegasi training above, and their captain who seemed to break the sound barrier every time she flapped her wings, seeing the silver banded pegasus fly at a speed somewhere between the two extremes seemed to be a decent measure of skill.

The earth pony stallion turned, raising his rear legs to buck at the oncoming attacker. However, the pegasi timed his approach, adjusting his flight pattern at the last minute as the earth pony stallion committed to his buck. With a flap of his wings, the pegasus flew over the earth pony’s head, landing with a sweeping kick, knocking the earth pony off of his hooves. In another flash of movement, the pegasus’s legs were wrapped around the earth pony’s neck and they squeezed. Both ponies struggled for a moment until the earth pony tapped out.

Releasing the hold, the pegasus stood himself up, while the earth pony struggled to his feet. With the excitement over, for now, Nick fully took in the scene. Every pony in the circle was now looking at him except for the pegasus stallion with the silver band, who stood in the center of the sparring circle, catching his breath and standing tall.

A brief moment passed, and the silver banded pegasus turned around, looking at Nick with piercing yellow eyes. His grey coat shimmered with sweat, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble breathing now.

“Nicholas Winters, now this is a surprise,” the pegasus said, with no small amount of snark. The stallion’s voice reminded Nick of some people he had met in Boston who said they were from Scotland. “What can I do for ye?”

Originally, Nick had just wanted to blow off some steam. Having not truly exercised since his arrival in the Everfree, he needed to get back in the habit of keeping in shape. However, after seeing the sparring circle, Nick had the urge to hop into one.

Nick could tell he couldn’t keep up with such experienced soldiers, he could tell they were far out of his skill level. However, maybe he could stand a chance against some of the lower-ranked ponies here, and work his way up from there.

“I’ve been in that castle for too damn long, I came to get a workout.”

That was part of it. Nick was still a bit hot under the collar from his encounter with Princess Celestia the day before. Then there was Will. Nick needed something to keep his mind from worrying too much about his friend.

Nick’s words were met with silence until the grey pegasus burst out laughing, a deep guttural laugh, but cut himself off quickly, slamming a hoof into the ground. Instantly, every guard in the circle stood at attention and formed a path for the stallion to fly right up to Nick’s face. Nick could smell the rancid breath of the stallion, even through his tight-lipped scowl.

“What makes you think that you can keep up with any of my recruits, human?” the stallion grumbled, eyeing Nick’s body unimpressed. “I bet ye wouldn’t las’ ten minutes with the new blood.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Nick said coldly as the pegasus continued to hover inches from his face. They glared at each other for a few moments.

“Sergeant Ironwood!” The pegasus bellowed.

“Yes, Lieutenant?” an earth pony mare wearing a white band from the circle stepped forward.

“Get yer privates with the freshest legs, aye? This should be entertaining.”

Next thing Nick knew, he was lined up next to four different earth ponies on the dirt track that circled the yard. He stretched out his legs, looking at his competition, he began analyzing each one of the ponies next to him. In all fairness, the only real advantage he had was his long legs. ‘No problem,’ Nick thought to himself. ‘Ponies are just about as large as a very tall dog. It’ll be just like chasing down Kimmi. Maybe?’

“Runners ready?” Sergeant Ironwood called out. The lieutenant was watching from the sidelines as well, an amused smirk across his muzzle.

“This will be a standard gauntlet fitness test. Recruits, you know the drill. Three laps with one station at the end of each lap. The first station, 30 pushups. The second, climbing nets and obstacles. Finally, a quarter lap carrying a stone weight. Recruits, your times will determine your placement in the squad Ironwood. If any of you let the human beat you, you’ll have latrine duty for a month.” Sergeant Ironwood began to say something else but stopped as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. “Nicholas Winters,” Ironwood grimaced as the human’s name passed from her lips. “As per the orders of the Lieutenant, if you finish before any of these four recruits, you will be allowed to train with this squad, understood?”

Nick had missed that part of the conversation, but he guessed that would be about as good as he could get. A test? That he could handle. Nick nodded.

“Runners set!” Nick and the recruits flanking him lowered into running stances.

“Go!”

In an instant, all five runners took off, kicking up dust in the sprint. Nick was right in one regard. If these ponies were the size of his dog Kimmi, he would be able to run faster than these recruits. However, ponies are larger by a fair margin.

In the first lap, all of the recruits bolted ahead of Nick at a full sprint. Shaking any feelings of discouragement, he kept his fast but even pace. The track, Nick had estimated, was about a quarter-mile. If this was just a normal run, he would’ve run flat out. However, given that there were other challenges ahead, he knew he had to pace himself to some degree.

Nick arrived at the first station about 5 seconds after the last recruit did. He quickly fell to his stomach, placing his feet onto the box and getting into a high plank, and began the exercise. A trainer counted the reps. He caught up a fair amount during the pushups and was the third to leave the station, one of the recruits struggling with the last few push-ups.

As Nick ran the track, the recruit caught up and passed Nick a hundred feet before the lap line. Seeing the climbing and agility course, Nick smirked. There was no way ponies could beat the dexterity of hands or feet. He only felt slight disappointment when the first and second place recruits easily scaled the triangular climbing net. However, Nick picked up the pace as the third and fourth stumbled, their hooved legs falling through the netting. Nick scaled the netting hurriedly, passing the recovering ponies as they tried to get their footing on the ropes. Nick swore he saw the Lieutenant’s amused smirk turn into a look of genuine interest. Ironwood’s scowl only deepened.

Climbing down the other side of the netting, Nick made for the hurdles. For what must have been difficult for a pony two feet shorter, Nick cleared the obstacles with ease, charging at the final obstacle, a wooden wall about as high as he was tall. Jumping, Nick planted his hands on the top of the wall, hoisting himself up and over it. Seeing the track again, the leaders had pulled further away from Nick, but he sprinted forward, using all of his saved energy to close the gap.

Finishing the third lap, Nick finally saw the weight he’d have to carry. The stone was shaped like a kidney bean, easily about as large as Nick’s own torso. The first and second place recruits struggled to turn the weight upright to get the stones onto their backs to carry it. Nick deadlifted the stone, his muscles straining to lift the small boulder onto his shoulder. The thing must’ve weighed nearly a hundred pounds!

Nick jogged forward slowly, pulling ahead from the other recruits at the station. He didn’t even look back to see where the two he had passed on the climbing net were. He stepped with bent knees, trying to brace himself with each step. In no time at all, the first two of the recruits blazed past Nick, carrying their stones on their backs at a swift canter.

‘Of course,’ Nick thought with a huff. ‘They were probably more capable of carrying heavy weights on their backs. Not so different from earth horses after all.’

The first two recruits had already passed the finish line, dropping their stones while Nick was about thirty paces away. There was a glimmer of hope in Nick’s eyes that was almost extinguished as a third pony passed him. He could almost hear the pounding of hooves behind him getting closer.

His muscles screamed as Nick forced himself to run faster. He nearly threw himself over the lap line, dropping the stone weight onto the track. Nick supported his upper body by placing his hands onto his knees. A second later, a set of four hooves crossed the finish line behind him.

Standing up, Nick’s eyes met with Sergeant Ironwood’s, the mare scowled as she approached.

“Congratulations,” Ironwood said. “Understand this. You are not a member of this squad. You are not one of my ponies. You are an alien. You have been allowed the privilege to train with us. You say you want an exercise? I’ll make you vomit your lungs.” With that, the earth pony mare spat at Nick’s feet and turned away.

Nick spared a glance at the Lieutenant. The pegasus stallion chuckled and shook his head as he turned away. Nick realized then he never got the Lieutenant’s name.

So much for all of these ponies being friendly.

Comments

[Crystonian]

Dick

[Orrm]

10129613
I'd go with Cunt