Chapter 2
[[ A Sweetie Drops Perspective ]]
The train ride back to Canterlot had been relaxed—calming. Our unit had been sent two newly trained earth ponies for our sergeant to straighten out and part of their orders were for me to rotate home. It was a common enough thing, but I was surprised to have it happen just two weeks into my latest tour.
Walking through Canterlot reminded me so much of her—Lyra. Just thinking of my wife put a smile on my face a mile wide and made my insides bounce and jostle for joy.
I got waves and cheers from ponies as I passed them by, and a pair of sharp salutes from the ponies at the gate of the Guard training grounds. I only paused long enough to give them a return salute before heading in and toward administration. But I only got halfway there and stopped.
The E.U.P. Guard training fields were busy with trainees. Everypony looked proud in their shiny armor—and here I was in my heavy gear that had battlescars on it. Despite how young and carefree they all looked, it filled me with excitement and pride to know the Guard was still growing and still getting stronger.
The sound of two-dozen marching hooves stopped on a half-meter nearby and a gruff voice called out, "Now there's a face I wasn't expecting. Corporal Sweetie Drops, it's good to see you."
Turning, I snapped to attention and gave sergeant Broad Strokes a salute. "Good to see you too, sergeant." I lowered my foreleg as she returned my salute. "Got some fresh blood in?"
"In more ways than one. Hey, you want to come and do a little sparring? This lot have had a week to learn how to take on strong opponents, but they've never faced a veteran in full armor before." The grin Broad shot me said, without a word, that she wanted somepony to beat some sense into her squad and show them that, despite their training, they had a lot to learn.
"I'm not in any rush to report, but do you think there's enough of them?" Rolling my shoulders, I looked over the group. There was a few larger-than-average stallions—I knew from experience they could be amazing if they learned to use their size—but there were two mares who looked at me as if they know how to size somepony up, and they both looked comfortable in their armor.
"If it's too easy, I can always jump in on their side. Guess what, recruits, you get to try taking on the corporal here. Don't let her heavy armor, tight muscles, or steely gaze distract you from the fact she's a soft marshmallow puff and a pushover."
Nervous laughter chased around the group as we walked out to one of the near-side practice fields. It was one far enough from the edge that earth ponies had nothing to fear from the long fall. I unhitched my backpack and let it slide to the ground, then looked over to sergeant Broad Strokes.
"Alright. Everypony form an orderly queue over here. For your first try, you'll be one on one with the corporal. If any of you manage to make her step back a pace, you don't have to fight her in the pairs section." The sergeant turned to me. "Are you ready?"
Without stepping back? Okay, that was her being a little hard on me, but they were just recruits. Focusing, I brought my magic into play and anchored myself to the ground. "Sure. Let's have some fun."
"You're up, big guy," said sergeant Broad Strokes.
The stallion was a big guy. He stood nearly half again my height. I quested forward—through the ground—to feel his energy. There was almost nothing there, he was practically weak as a kitten. "Well?" I asked.
His advance was confident. He stomped toward me as if I was an errant filly who was caught playing hooky. When he reached out to me with a hoof, I grabbed it with both forelegs and twisted. There was no way I outweighed him, even with my armor, but I was so well grounded that it was filly's play to break his contact with the ground and toss him to the back of the queue.
Broad Strokes wore the smile of every teacher who'd explained something so many times as to go hoarse, only to be ignored. "Next?"
Throws were the order of the day. I got halfway through the pack of them before a pony showed enough sense to cling to the ground as they should have been trained. Of course, it was the first of the two mares who'd sized me up earlier. "Nice grip," I said.
"Ha! Only just. How much strength have you got hiding under that armor?" Her banter surprised me a little. Who were these two?
"Enough." Rather than hold my ground and let her come to me again, I stepped forward, anchoring myself down with each hoof, and poured energy through the ground and under her. This wasn't a trick you got taught in training, but something advanced combat training taught.
When I threw her this time, a huge scoop of the ground ripped up with her and sailed through the air after the mare and her shocked expression.
"Can anypony tell me what the corporal did then?" Broad asked.
The mare's twin, who was next in line, shook her head to break a shocked stare. "Did she just rip Solid Ground free with her strength? What pony has that much strength?!"
"Nopony does," I said. "I ripped up the ground underneath her with my own energy. It left her clinging to the ground, but only a very weak part of it. This works even better on stone, since it's so easy to crack with expansion. You're up next?"
The bravery on the mare's face had abandoned her. She nodded without a hint of the earlier confidence and started walking to me—around the divot her twin had been hurled with. "C-Can you teach me how to do that?"
Broad glanced at me. "We don't know that the corporal is going to be around for too—"
"I'm going to be on leave after I report in. This is their last week?" Distraction, of course, was another great tool. I weakened my grip with the ground and charged the mare. Rather than stop to fight her, like she seemed to expect, I just kept up the charged and trampled right over her (though I did spare enough focus to avoid stomping on her. The thud of my breastplate connecting with her shoulder told me she'd tried to brace, but the resulting give meant she hadn't braced enough.
"Recruit Stone Wall, when a soldier in heavy armor charges you, don't try to stop them. Get out of the way and try to attack their rear instead. Next!" The sergeant knew every move I made, and she knew why I'd chosen them—mostly because she'd taught me a lot of this.
Repeating myself, I reached down to the dazed mare named Stone Wall. "I asked, is this your last week of basic training, recruit?"
"Y-Yeah." She didn't seem to have recovered from my overrun yet.
"Then I'll give some lessons to any of you who want to learn advanced maneuvers, as long as your sergeant is okay. And only those she thinks are up to it." I looked at Broad and got a nod from her. "I expect to see you there, Stone."
Her expression showed immediate recovery and a smile before she trotted to the back of the line, her training armor now showing an obvious ding in the shoulder.
The rest were much like the first half, except for one stallion who, though not as big as the first meathead, knew how to use his magic and a little in how to move around in a fight. He had none of the confidence of the twins, however.
"Sergeant," I said while moving slowly side to side, looking for an easy opening.
"Yes, corporal?"
I didn't take my eyes off my opponent. "You have a very promising recruit here. He can think, he can use his magic worth a damn, and he won't stand still long enough for me to pin him. Permission to hurt the recruit?"
"Just don't break him, corporal Sweetie Drops."
Bracing my back legs with a burst of magic, I jumped forward with as much speed and force as I could. When the recruit started to turn to away from my charge, I pivoted on my forelegs and twisted my back-end toward him.
Still with my eyes on him, I saw the shock register as he realized what was coming. Bunching my rear legs up, I lashed out with just one and tapped his side when I could have caved his armor in and done serious damage to him.
"You move way too fast," he said.
"You move fast for a recruit. You'd be faster than me with some training. Tell the sergeant you want to learn with me." What was I doing? This was lunacy! But… But it was for the Guard, and it was for these ponies who were now part of the Guard.
"Will do, ma'am!"
That rounded out the solo fights. I wasn't looking forward to the duo fights—mostly because of the few competent recruits that would likely band together—but before I could get to that, I froze at what I saw.
A mare with sergeant insignia was walking past the training field. She had six unicorns trailing her, but the group she had with her was not as shocking as who it was in sergeants' uniform. "Lyra?!"
"Didn't hear, huh?" Broad Strokes walked over beside me. "Precise Pedagogue came down with something and couldn't teach this lot. Turns out your wife needed a favor of the lieutenant, and he called it in immediately to get her to train."
The words made sense, sure, but when I tried to take them together with the fact Lyra had been promoted to sergeant, it made the whole world turn plaid. "L-Lyra?!"
She turned to look at me. "Wait here, recruits." Lyra walked over to me wearing the biggest blush—and grin—ever. "Well, corporal. You're supposed to salute a senior Guardpony."
I narrowed my eyes at her, slowly lifted my hoof to salute, and completely missed the tell she was about to move until it was too late to dodge.
Stepping forward, Lyra kissed my cheek. "I'll tell you more later. It's just acting sergeant, not a full promotion. I'm sorry." When she pulled back, she gave me a smart salute. "As you were, corporal."
"I'm going to clobber you later—the moment you take that uniform off." Okay, so she was probably roped into this, which made it more funny than tragic. I still planned to get her to run until she falls over, if only so I can kick her a few times.
The worst part was that Lyra could always see through me. She looked excited for my proposed later. "Look forward to it. We got some good news about Scoots, too. But, that can wait, unless you want to help me toss some unicorn recruits around?"
"I promised sergeant Broad Strokes. See you later." Damn it but the armor looked good on her, too. Drat but I had a thing for mares in uniform.
"Good luck."
I turned back to find Broad Strokes already organizing the pairs into groups to face off with each other. I approached, feeling a little sheepish. "Sorry, sergeant."
"No problem, corporal. If you want to report in now, I think I have this lot suitably chastened. Mention your advanced training to him, too. I think it would do them good to have a fresh-from-the-field Guardpony to show them the kinds of things they will be expected to learn." She saluted. "Dismissed, corporal."
"Yes, sergeant," I said and returned her salute.
With nowhere else to go, I turned toward lieutenant Stiff Peaks' actual office in the admin building, and started trotting. Heading inside, I waved to the various staff and reported to the lieutenant's secretary and passed him my paperwork.
When told, I headed inside and saw him with a grim expression. "Sir?" Despite how he looked, and the mood in the room, I still gave him a crisp salute.
"At ease, corporal." He gestured to the front of his desk where the option was to either sit or stand.
I preferred the latter, but he was seated so I followed suit. The poor chair creaked under the weight of me and my armor, but held. "Sir, is something wrong?"
"Yes and no. You no doubt are surprised to be given leave this early in your tour. Did your sergeant tell you why?" When I shook my head, Stiff continued. "You know our scouts are second to none, which is why their latest reports were so worrying. The bugbears weren't scattered after your defense of Trottingham. Their leader has a grudge against the Guard now, and you in particular."
That surprised me and I must have shown it because Stiff gave a nod. "So what do I do about that?"
"Nothing alone. You're in the Guard, we're all brothers and sisters here. Our diplomatic arm are contacting cohorts in the Griffon Defense Force to let them know to expect increased activity, and Princess Celestia has sent envoys to the Yaks to ask them for help keeping the bugbears contained. Plus, for the first time ever, we're trying to engage with the bugbears directly—diplomatically."
It all flew over my head. The politics of Equestria and its neighbors was more Lyra's mom's kinda thing. "That didn't answer my question, sir."
"Your duties will be limited to Canterlot and its immediate surrounds, except for extenuating circumstances. Until this situation is dealt with, of course. We can't have your presence endangering an entire squad."
He had me getting furious with the first bit, but when he finished up I was hit by reality. If this damn bugbear had it in for me, there was no saying what he'd do. Lead an invasion after just me and my squad? Ugh! "Sir, this sucks."
"I know, corporal. You can have your pick of assignments in and around Canterlot. I don't care if I have to give you my post—you are too good a guardpony to do this to. But, I have to do it." He looked about as angry as I felt, which was odd for Stiff Peaks. He was normally a rock of calm.
And it was right then that I had a breakthrough. "Sir, I might have something in mind to do. There's always some overachievers in basic, right?" I waited for him to nod. "I was helping Broad Strokes give some of her students a quick lesson in playing rough. What if I offered to lend my own experience as special training?"
"Have you spoken with your wife?"
"Why?"
"That's partly why I wanted her on staff here. Her training, from what I've heard, is second to none. Don't tell her this or her head will grow too big for a helmet, but taking her on as a trainer is something I've wanted since I first watched her work in your basic. I have never seen a unicorn so effectively keep an entire squad of trainees from getting anywhere near them." Stiff's smile grew by the second. "And now I have her."
This was not exactly news to me. The guardponies from my graduating class all spoke in awe of Lyra's magic. I guess I'd find out later, when I can talk to her more freely, and get some idea of what happened to change her mind about being in the Guard full time. "Right where you want her? She's a grown mare, she can make her own decisions, but did you really have to make her a sergeant?"
"Actually, I did. It's codified that only those of sergeant rank or higher can teach recruits." He had an expectant look on his face. "And that idea of yours plays right into this. But you realize the situation you've put me in?"
That stopped me dead in my tracks. What situation? What was this doing? "Uh, not specifically."
"If you're going to be training recruits, you can't be a corporal. Grab yourself an office and write up a proposal for what you intend to teach them and get it to me by the end of the day. If I like it, you'll have to see Sharp Horn about updating your armor." Stiff looked down at the paperwork before him. "This is the part where you salute and retreat from my office unsure what to do next. Just relax, ask Pen Stroke for the paperwork and he'll help you. Dismissed."
My mouth opened, but training drove all the words away that should have been coming out. He'd dismissed me with a job to do, so I had to do it. I saluted, turned, and marched out of his office. How did this make any sense?
Running through the conversation again, I realized what had happened. He'd literally asked me what I wanted to do. I could have said anything—even Royal Guard (though that would have been impossible even for him to arrange)—but I started talking of training recruits. "I'm an idiot."
"I've heard a lot of ponies say that when they've left the lieutenant's office. What did he talk you into doing?" Pen Stroke, apparently, was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
I heaved a sigh. He could have, what with being a staff sergeant, demanded I salute, but Pen Stroke seemed like a genuinely friendly guy. Nonetheless, we both had jobs to do. "He let me do the talking. He just set me up to talk too much. I need paperwork to devise a training program."
"Another one? He had Sergeant Heartstrings working for a week on hers. When does he want you done by?" Pen Stroke reached to a row of shelving that had paperwork stacked neatly in each section and drew out papers with one of his wings.
"Later on this afternoon. I'm not going to be doing too much. Small class, teaching them irregular techniques and field training. Volunteer basis only." As I spoke, the ideas for what I'd be teaching fell into place. It wouldn't be the specialist training for the Monster Hunters, but the kinds of things every Guardpony could benefit from.
"Sounds like more of the lieutenant's new advanced preparedness training. He's already talking with the various arms of the Guard into allowing another two weeks for basic training. He wants every recruit to be a fully-trained Guardpony before they reach initial field training." As he spoke, Pen set the papers down before me and drew a pencil out. Quickly, he scribbled in almost half the form. "This will help. Just basic stuff, but basic stuff keeps the paperwork flowing, you know? Well, I guess you don't. Make sure to list any special requisitions you might need, as well as any additional personnel. Don't get hung up on specifics—this is Guard paperwork, so anypony reading it will have been through basic already."
Efficiency seemed to be Pen Stroke's middle name. He had all the filing parts of the form filled out for me already. I took the page and an offered pencil. "Thanks. I shouldn't be too long. Is there a room I can borrow?"
Sitting down, I began to write. The first thing would be teaching them to use equipment. Heavy armor was normally reserved for those trained to use it, but there was no reason we couldn't train ponies to use it sooner. I'd have to talk to Sharp Horn about getting adjustable heavy armor.
There was a slew of training techniques I could think of to fill gaps in an earth pony's normal MO. Bolas to deal with flying creatures, fighting styles to make use of solidness and mass that weren't trained as standard, as well as critical thinking to request the right aid from squadmates.
Thankfully there was extra paper in the room, because I made good use of it. I'd just finished collating the pages together when the door opened. Lieutenant Stiff Peaks looked in, one eyebrow raised.
"Just got finished, sir." I picked up the pages and passed them over to him. "Pen Stroke mentioned you wanted to expand training by several weeks. I believe my ideas here could be stretched out to at least one if not two."
"I can't hold this lot back for that long. What can you do with six to eight students right now, for three days?" His face was unreadable as he worked through my notes.
"In three days I could teach eight ponies how to wear heavy armor and how to use it with some proficiency."
"You'll give sergeant Sharp Horn a—Oh, adjustable armor? It's been a while since I've strapped up in heavy gear. Can that be done?" He looked up from his papers and seemed to notice I was still wearing my full gear.
"I believe so, sir. With just one suit I could have them train one at a time in moving with it, using it, and also how to exploit a pony wearing it."
He shook his head. "That would be good, but I'd want armor for all the recruits, and Sharp Horn isn't that good. Pick another path."
Was this throwing me intentional? Probably. "I'll teach them distance fighting. Dealing with opponents who always keep just out of reach. Javelins, spears, even a well-thrown rock."
"Excellent. See Sharp Horn. She'll find you the equipment you need and get your armor sorted out. Take this with you." Stiff held out a token to me. "And when you have that done, come back and see Pen Stroke about some paperwork regarding your promotion."
"Prom—" My brain shorted out. I hadn't realized exactly what he'd meant earlier, but now I did. I couldn't be a trainer without being a sergeant. "But sir…?" Words failed me again. How did I tell him no?
"But? Sergeant, there are no buts in the E.U.P. Guard, only a lot of hard-working flanks. Dismissed." He turned and walked off with my paper work.
Now I knew exactly how Lyra had been trapped. What had she said that got her wrapped around Stiff Peaks' hoof?
Sighing, I straightened up and decided that if I were to go through with this, I'd do so with my head high. Until, at least, I could find Lyra and cry on her shoulder.
"Another one? What's the lieutenant up to?" Sharp Horn took the token and set it aside. "You're lucky I made a new set of insignia after your other half got the last ones. Off with your armor."
"There's more." I explained my ideas for practice heavy armor, as well as the practice weapons I'd need for the next three days.
"Well, I can get you those practice weapons from stores, but that type of heavy armor has never been made before. You understand that every suit is built custom for the pony who is intended to wear it?" Sharp almost broke my heart in two when she chiseled off my corporal insignia.
"I heard a rumor there's a cute mare in here." Lyra's voice from the door of the smithy made all my muscles turn to jello. I would have collapsed on the spot if I didn't have as much training as I did. "And there's somepony else here too."
As I turned, I saw Lyra walking through the door, but it was Scootaloo that surprised me. "Hey! How are you, Scoots?" When she rushed up for a hug, I sat down and put a foreleg around her back. How had she grown so big in just a few weeks? What was going on? I mean, duh, she's a growing filly, but she just seemed so much taller and more solid.
Scootaloo managed to pull back from my hug long enough to shout, "I'm gonna fly!" before she hugged me again.
"Oh?" I looked up at Lyra for answers, since Scootaloo seemed pretty dedicated to the hugging.
"Apparently some hefty transformational magic she underwent in the last year has repaired some of the damage to her wings. Now she just has a lot of work ahead of her to strengthen the muscles and tendons so she can fly." The casual smirk Lyra wore as she explained told me everything I needed to know about the magic she was talking about. "What're you in here for?"
"That's great to hear!" I hugged Scootaloo a little tighter. "Some training exercises? Is the training hard?"
She tilted her head up and gave me the biggest smile. "Nah, it's nowhere near as much work as running, but Doctor Cloud said I have to do them as much as I can, so I do them three times a day!"
"How is your running going? Did Lyra let you slack off because she has to make other ponies run?"
Laughing, Scootaloo let go and ran in place. "That's why I'm here now. Lyra said if I beat any of the recruits, I get their place."
I remembered back to my basic training and recalled how poorly some of my fellow recruits had run. "So, you in the Guard yet?"
"Nah, but there's a unicorn I almost beat on day one, but everypony yelled at her and now she's running better. Rainbow's been making sure I do my morning run before school." There was a bit of extra excitement in her voice when she spoke about Rainbow Dash. It was good she had a hero to look up to, but I just wish Rainbow wasn't quite so… Rainbow.
"How long until everypony will be running tonight?" I asked.
"Long enough for me to get these welded on." Sharp Horn floated my armor over to me in her magic. "Here we are, sergeant. I hope the extra weight isn't too much?"
I rolled my eyes at her and let the armor settle down on my back. Despite her joke, it did feel a little heavier, but in a way that had nothing to do with weight. This was me accepting that I couldn't work in the field.
Scootaloo jumped around me, tightening straps and getting my armor fastened properly.
"Thanks, Scoots." I offered my hoof to her, which she clopped her own smaller one against. "Now I feel like doing some training and going for a run. The lieutenant liked some of my ideas, and now I need to start actually carrying them out."
"Oh?" Lyra's eyes flowed over me like water in a way I always enjoyed. It was good to know how I dressed caught her eye.
"Special training for those who are up to it at first, but the lieutenant wants to expand basic training to include special weapons, special tactics, and special armor training." With Lyra's eyes on me, I couldn't help but stretch and shift in my armor—her eyes told me my little show bore fruit.
Feeling a little like she was butting-in, Sharp Horn nodded her head. "Yeah, he mentioned something about that to me. Something about taking the load off specialty training so that any Guardpony is ready for any situation with far less training time."
"Makes sense with what he told me, too," Lyra said. "He wants a comprehensive rewrite of the magical training syllabus to boost less-capable unicorns into a combat-ready status before they leave basic. Does he know something about the future of Equestria that we don't?"
"From what I understand, Problem Solver, sergeant Lyra Heartstrings, you should be able to tell us that." Sharp's sarcastic tone made me giggle.
"Hey, I didn't ask for any of this stuff. It's like the universe itself has this picture of me as I run from fire to fire with a bucket of water, and it is doing everything within its power to make sure I never actually get anything done." As she spoke, Lyra marched herself closer to me and at the end, kissed my cheek.
"You, Lyra Heartstrings, are a hopeless liar. You love helping ponies." I kissed her back, though because of the present company I kept things a little short.
"Oh! One thing you're going to like, Bon Bon, the lieutenant cooks desserts for the officers' dinner each night. Oh, and there's a new thing he taught me to make in the fridge back home. Million mare's shortbread, though back home we called it millionaire's shortbread."
"But first, we get to run." Scootaloo was still trotting in place, now at the doorway, and she really looked into running. The difference between the little filly Lyra had first shown me was beyond belief. "Come on, I can hear them forming up!"
I took a few steps after her, with Lyra at my side, and felt like the richest mare in Equestria. Okay, so my chosen career was on hold a little, but surely that would be temporary, and until it was resolved I could help train ponies to do my job.
Outside, the air had started to chill, but there was an anticipation that was building—the Guard were about to gallop through town. It was an event for the ponies of Canterlot. A symbol of their friends, family, and caring strangers' willingness to come together and protect the country.
"Another new sergeant? What's the lieutenant got you signed up for?" Broad Strokes walked over to us and, for just a moment, I almost saluted her.
"Something about me being unable to train anypony without being a sergeant. For that matter, he liked my ideas." It was downright messed up being the same rank as her. For all my career, sergeant Broad Strokes was a senior figure in the Guard. Now she was a peer. I could see various recruits' ears turned in our direction. "About to go for a little trot?"
"Yeah. Any thoughts on pacing? You have some heavy armor, so I expect they'll all outpace you." Broad made sure to say the last bit loud enough that everypony listening in would hear.
"I haven't seen Bon Bon run without her heavy armor since she got it. She tells me the extra weight makes a good fast-gallop much more fun." And of course Lyra picked up on the gag and ran with it.
"I bet she could beat everypony here," Scootaloo added.
"Now that sounds like a good challenge." Broad strode around the ranks of recruits, motioning to me to follow her. "Recruits, some of you have already met Sweetie Drops. She's a corporal recently promoted to sergeant to assist with training here. You'll all note she has equipped the heaviest armor the E.U.P. Guard has in its armory—and she wants to run with us. Who here thinks they can keep up with her?"
I noticed not a single earth pony volunteered. The looked at me with knowing eyes, and a few smiling as well.
"A weighed-down sergeant? Yeah, I can beat her." A pegasus stepped forward. He wore the usual light armor of recruits—which was barely enough to stop a light tap from a hoof—and while he looked like a fast flier, I wondered how fast he could move on the ground.
"Recruit Breakneck Fastwave, line up over here with the sergeant. Any others?" None others raised their hooves, probably because the earth pony recruits were visibly pointing at Breakneck and laughing.
"Hey, good luck," I said to the stallion.
Looking back at the group, Breakneck visibly gulped. "Am I going to need it?"
"Probably. Can you normally outrun sergeant Lyra?" The answer to my question was plain in the horrified look on his face. "You're going to need it, but at least there's nothing riding on this."
Lyra marched up to the front rank of the recruits. She looked back at me and winked. "Forward!"
The others started as a trot, as was pretty normal. I turned to look at Breakneck. "You wanna show 'em up?"
His laugh sounded half nerves half excitement. "Uh, sure."
"Then how about we see how many laps we can do at a dead gallop by the time they're done?" Now his look changed to all terror. "Thought so, come on!"
The wonderful thing about heavy armor was how much weight it gave every shift of your muscles. I just had to lean forward a little and I was already stepping into a canter. My hooves shoved faster, harder, driving me up into a normal gallop.
When he caught up to me, I spotted a slightly concerned look on his face. He was keeping up, though, and my time working with Rainbow Dash had taught me how to lengthen my stride a little more.
It wasn't often I got to do it with the Guard. There were regulations about stride when moving with a squad. I was surprised, however, to see that Breakneck managed to keep up with me—though I could see he didn't look so great.
Just ahead was the rolling thunder that was the rest of the recruits. Scootaloo was running in the rear of their group, but she kept up surprisingly well for such a little filly. We pulled to one side of them and started passing the back ranks. "You hear that?"
Breakneck looked at me like I was mad. I knew his problem—he couldn't time his breathing to gulp in enough air for his running and talk.
"Can't talk? More running will help build your lung capacity. That'll also help with flying." The last bit got a cautious smile from him. "But if you listen for the sour beat, that's us. That's why the Guard run at specific cadences. It's easy to pick out something sneaking up on you if they run differently."
I spared Lyra a nod as we passed her, then led Breakneck into the open street. There was something easier about galloping with so many ponies chasing after you, than trying to catch up. I settled into a relaxed pace and pushed through plazas and streets without anything to get in our way.
Barely realizing where I was, I spotted Princess Celestia waiting at the lower steps that led to the castle. I turned to her, and she saluted to me—not that I could spare a hoof to salute back. I wonder if she knows about the bugbear?
In moments she was gone behind us, and we were heading into the wide arc around the back-side of Canterlot. We swung past the Guard again, then chased back toward the castle. Celestia wasn't there this time, but the Royal Guard at the top of the stairs saluted us.
By the third lap, Breakneck was not doing well. He seemed to be struggling to keep up and I could hear him panting.
"Slow! Bring it down to a canter," I said.
He almost stumbled at the stride change. He still looked pretty rough, though he was on his hooves.
"Okay, we can canter it in like this if you want." When he didn't reply, I looked at him. "Or you can try for a gallop?"
"H-How close—are we?"
"If we gallop at full speed, we might catch them." Despite his condition, I watched him kick his pace back to a gallop again. "Good choice." Driving my hooves, I launched up to a gallop to meet him, then stretched my stride out again. He kept up.
As we blew through the last plaza before the Guard headquarters, I spotted Scootaloo pounding her hooves after the last rank of recruits. "There they are, Recruit. Got anymore to give?"
He actually surprised me. It was like a fire lit inside him and his long-gallop turned into something else—something I struggled to keep up with. Struggled, but I managed to blast through enough of my earth pony tricks to keep stride with him. We shot past Scootaloo and the column of recruits, only slowing down as we reached the gate and broke down into a canter, trot, and finally a walk.
As the recruits galloped by, Breakneck stared at them in utter shock—until I passed him one of my emergency bottles.
"Drink half of this, and only half." I used the same tone I would on any new private who joined our squad and overexerted themselves. When he started to gulp the caffeine-sugar-salt mix down, his eyes widened and I was forced to snatch the bottle off him before he finished it. "Dammit. If the captain knew I'd fed a recruit a whole bottle of that, on my first day, he'd have me tied up by my back legs." To stop him drinking more, I gulped down my share of the bottle and felt the mixture immediately give me back a measure of strength.
"You two were moving pretty fast," Scootaloo said. "I've never seen ponies run that fast before."
I watched her for a moment, trying to come up with words to say. She was stretching her wings in complicated movements that seemed to make her keep crossing them over her back, then recrossing them. "I couldn't let him beat me."
"You're carrying armor that probably weighs as much as I do!" Breakneck gestured at my gear with a wing. "And you had a pack of supplies on there too? How much are you carrying?"
Well, at least he was thinking, but given what I just fed him, I'd be surprised if he was still fuzzy-headed. "Light pack. I was returning home from duty and had spread out my supplies to my squadmates. How long have you been running for?" I reached a hoof out to interrupt Scootaloo's wing stretches and pull her into a hug.
"You could beat anyone!" Scootaloo said as she hugged me, but started squirming a moment later. "I need to finish my stretches."
I ruffled her mane and turned to Breakneck. "Look, I know your a pegasus, but I'd like you to join my training tonight."
"What training?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Just say yes. You want to be the best, right? Tell me why?"
"In the Guard? I want to protect ponies. I want to show all of Equestria that—that I'm the best, but not by showing off in the Wonderbolts or anything like that. I want make them safe because they know how awesome every Guardpony is." The first few words from him, I could see, were rehearsed. When Breakneck stumbled, however, I saw the real pony.
"Exactly. And, that's why you're going to get some extra training"—I looked him square in the eyes and made sure he could see my seriousness—"because I can make you better than all the other newbies here."
"Alright. So, when?"
"Right now. You've done your cross-species fights with earth ponies yet?" I took off my light pack and shook my shoulders too loosen them up.
He nodded and rolled his own shoulders, stretched out his wings to give them a little warmup. "Yeah. Sergeant Broad Strokes beat us all until we were sore without even raising a hoof."
"Okay, so I'm not going to make you beat me down hoof-to-hoof—we both know that isn't happening—so how would you deal with me from range?" I started backing up, building a slow rapport with the ground in case he decided to go with a rush.
"If I was in a squad? Let my commanding officer know about the problem." He used his wings to pull himself into the air, which was the smart thing for any pegasus to do in a fight. Hovering in place, he kept his hooves up defensively. "Probably ask one of the unicorns to help me."
"Good thinking, but what if you're alone?"
He looked to think for a few moments, something I approved of. "Fly off, grab some rocks, drop rocks."
"Good thinking, now I want you to try that," I said, spotting Lyra leading the rest of the recruits in. "But do it to the recruits that will come and stand with me. Use small rocks and try to aim for bodies."
It was setting them up, which is exactly how I wanted it to go.
The train home was cruising along in darkness. Scootaloo was sitting between Lyra and I, yawning every time the train jostled.
"The lieutenant has me working with him tomorrow to redesign the course-structure to suit a longer stint of basic training. I forgot how excited and brash recruits were." It was my turn to yawn, mostly because Scoots yawned yet again and leaned against me for support.
"Don't you get new recruits every few months in the field?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah, but they're not new-new. They've spent a year preparing and training. They're hardly recruits by that stage." The jolt of the train as it began to slow for Ponyville station was welcome, though the shunt in momentum required me to brace my muscles to stop from falling forward. "One pegasus recruit seems to have a lot of aspirations."
Snorting and getting to her hooves, Lyra stretched and rolled her shoulders. "Going to take a guess at Breakneck Fastwave? The stallion that wanted to run with you, right?"
I put my foreleg around Scootaloo's shoulder to keep her from falling in the direction Lyra had just moved from. "Yeah, that was him. I started off my lesson in projectile use and avoidance with his help. He tried to run himself into the ground to beat me, you know."
"I saw. You gave him something to pick him up?"
"Half a bottle of Bounceback in a Bottle. He's going to sleep well tonight, but he won't be getting cramps because of it." I only moved after Scootaloo had jumped to her hooves too. In a fight my heavy armor meant I could lead the dance and do what I wanted, but around those I cared about I needed to be careful. "We need to get a pegasus in on this training. I told Stiff as much."
"You've spoken to Bluebelle?"
I followed Lyra and Scootaloo to the end of the carriage and the waiting doors. The train was slowing for its stop. "That's the lieutenant's job. I needed to find my girls and bring them home." I wanted to ruffle Scootaloo's mane, but with the train slowing down I wanted to keep from falling on her first.
When the train stopped, we filed off with the sound of softly clunking armor to signal our return home. The walk home was mostly in silence, in the dark, but I noticed Lyra's attention was on the town square where there was something going on in the dim light provided by the street lamps. "A problem?"
Lyra narrowed her eyes at the large wagon and the cloaked shape that was working around it. "I don't think so. Let's go take a look anyway. Scoots, keep behind us, okay?"
"It never hurts to ask questions," I said.
"Or be friendly," Lyra said.
"In armor." Scootaloo's droll rejoinder made all of us giggle a little. "It's just a stranger doing something strange in the middle of sleepy little Ponyville. What could be so crazy about that?"
"Scoots," Lyra said, "we might need to talk about your use of sarcasm. I mean—really talk—because it's amazing."
As we neared the bright yellow wagon, the cloaked figure finally noticed us. "Excuse me," I asked, "we noticed you having some trouble with your wagon and thought we'd offer to help?" Okay, so not strictly the truth, but I wasn't going to just stomp up to her and demand to know what she was doing—that just wasn't polite.
Turning and stepping into the light, the pony reached up to adjust the hat she (her size and shape screamed female) wore. "Normally I wouldn't ask for help, but it's getting late and I just want to slee—"
"Trixie?!" Lyra's shout and teleport-tackle-hug surprised the mare and Scootaloo, but nothing could surprise me after seeing the sergeant insignia on her shoulder. I was surprised out.
"Lyra?" Trixie Lulamoon stared at Lyra for a few seconds before hugging back. "It's so good to see you!"
"Who's she?" Scootaloo asked.
Lyra and Trixie both gasped. "Trixie," Lyra said, "was the first mare I ever kissed." I rolled my eyes as she attempted to throw herself into Trixie's embrace but of course, with Lyra wearing armor, Trixie misjudged Lyra's mass and they both fell into a heap.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie…" Trixie said from somewhere under Lyra.
It was up to me to explain, it seemed. "Trixie's an old friend from Canterlot, and somepony who seems to need somewhere to sleep for the night that isn't an old wagon?"
"Of course! Trixie you—Where's Trixie?" Lyra asked.
"You're sitting on her." Trixie's blue glow wrapped around Lyra and lifted her off. "Now, where was I? Right. A filly who has never been in the presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie before! Uh, hi?"
"Are you some kind of wizard?" Scootaloo asked in awe. "It's just that I know Lyra is, and all her old friends seem amazing with magic…"
"Only the greatest and most powerful wizard." I walked over to Trixie and gave her a regular hug—the kind that doesn't involve a trip to the local emergency ward. "I meant it. You want me to pull your wagon over to our house and you can spend a night in a warm bed?"
Trixie looked about to say something. She straightened up and took on her proudest stance—then slumped her shoulders. "Please? I normally don't arrive in a town this late, but I really wanted to do my show tomorrow, and—"
Lyra, who had managed to get back to her hooves from where Trixie had dropped her, put her foreleg around Trixie's shoulders. "Relax, Trixie. We have an awesome house with plenty of room for you. Even got a spare bed in there just in case a friend needed to stay. Big, soft, queen-sized bed." As she spoke about the bed, I could see Trixie melt a little. "So come on. Leave your wagon here until morning, and we'll help you set up tomorrow."
"Alright. One night, but I'll be okay setting up in the morning. Stages are my life, after all." Trixie followed us as we walked back toward our home. "So, you both joined the Guard for real, huh?"
"Lyra tried not to. She went through basic training with me, then spent a few years on the reserves, doing work for Princess Celestia, but apparently she just couldn't stay away and got herself made a training sergeant." As I spoke, I batted my eyelashes at Lyra as best I could, daring her to gainsay anything I said.
"Says the mare who got herself talked into training duties." Lyra poked her tongue out at me. "I meant to ask, why did you do this?"
I reached the front door first and opened it. "That's a bit of a story." I let my eyes flick to Trixie and shook my head a little. Stepping inside, I turned the light on and stepped out of the way.
"Oh, right." Lyra nodded slightly to me. "We shouldn't bore Trixie with work stuff. I bet you just want a nice warm shower and bed."
Spinning around, Trixie looked at Lyra with near-crying eyes. "A warm shower?" She shook her head. "Clearly the Great and Powerful Trixie should have pursued her suit more."
I snorted at the silliness. "If you're quick, you might just beat Scootaloo. Otherwise, take all the time you need. We'll doff our armor and use the downstairs bathroom."
"Come on, I'll show you where it is." Scootaloo reached out for Trixie's foreleg with one wing and led her to the stairs.
When they were out of sight, I let out a sigh and leaned against Lyra. Of course, I forgot about my heavy armor until I realized she was using magic to hold me upright. "Remember that mission a bit ago, with the bugbears?"
"You mean bumblebears?"
"We're not having this argument again, Lyra." I straightened up and kissed her on the cheek. "Turns out the chief bugbear has it in for me ever since I bucked him out of Trottingham. He's kept hold of the various villages of bugbears and is trying to skirmish deep into Equestria to find me. The Guard have pulled me because they're worried that me being seen in the field will mean he keeps it up."
"Come and get that armor off so I can cuddle you properly. You can talk while you undress." Lyra led the way to our armory. My old armor was in there—the light gear—still with its corporal insignia. Lyra started using her magic right away to strip us both off.
I just stood passively while she worked the buckles and straps undone. When the suit was lifted from me, I let out a little whine. "I like my armor a little too much, I think."
"It's good armor. Now let's clean our gear and have a shower."
In silence we used oil and rags to clean down our armor and restore it back to its proper state. As I mused on my gear, I was reminded of the idea of resizeable heavy armor for training. "I broached the idea of training recruits in heavy armor. Stuff that can be resized to fit almost any pony shape."
"Yeah, I heard some of what you and Sharp Horn were discussing. That could really give some earth pony recruits a leg-up. I've been working on ways to train recruits in a core of useful spells that any unicorn should be able to memorize with only an hour or two a week." Lyra was done with her armor before I was, but rather than help me she floated a curry-comb over and started brushing my coat.
"If you do that I'll melt."
"Then I'll find a bucket. You feel tense. It's the bumblebear thing, right?"
Each stroke of the brush made it harder and harder to finish cleaning up my gear. I only had to oil two more straps, and already I couldn't even focus enough to speak. I nodded.
"I have exactly twelve spells that will deal with a bumblebear before it could get close to you—two of them are cantrips that I could probably teach Scootaloo to cast."
My brain registered something wrong was said, but it took until I was finished oiling the straps to work it out. "Scootaloo's a pegasus."
"That's how easy they are to cast. Relax, love. You protected Equestria for years, now let Equestria protect you."
She was so damn good at arguing—wearing me down with her words—that I was already willing to put that aside for the moment, but… "Okay, but how does a pegasus cast spells?"
"I figure the same way an earth pony does." Lyra was, when she wanted to be, the most annoying mare in all of Equestria, but brushing my coat made up for it and then some.
With a mental shunt of perspective, I shoved the problem out of my head and let the brush do its job. "I give up. You win." I leaned to the side a little and found her lips.
After several minutes of kissing, and with Lyra still brushing me down despite being done already, we broke apart with a sigh.
"Have I told you how much I love you today?" Lyra asked.
"I'd rather if you showed me, but telling is good too."
I gasped when she picked me up—literally plucking me from my hooves with her magic. It was a sign of how weary I was that my first instinct to grab the ground and hold on didn't kick in. "What are you doing?"
"Showing you." She carried me through to our bathroom and got the shower running nice and hot—still holding me in the air—before following me into the shower. Marrying a unicorn that liked showing off her magic had made a lot of my life seem either like living at a beauty spa, or roughing it—depending on my proximity to Lyra.
She definitely showed me.
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BonBons having too much fun doing Heavy Training there, need to get her a white ghi so she can also keep up with her Fast moves, and how to Jump Real Good?
If Bonbon gets that Ajustable Heavy Armor, will it be possible, between Minimum and Maximum size, to apply two sets at once, or even within a narrower range of body sizes? Would Big Mac be trainable until he can not only wear the weight of fully equipped Bonbo And Lyra, but also swing a War Anvil?
I would think, in keeping with SteamPunk, that Valves wouldnt be affected by magic all that much, because if designed right, they are literally lightning, or at least corona discharge, StElmos Fire, in air in a mineral container? And TVs origionally were, electronically, a giant lightning tube? Resistors and capacitors have direct natural equivalents, as in mineral concentration in water for conductance, and dry ground layers between aquifers and water courses for capacitors. The main complicated equivalent would be inductors, as how often do spirals of seperated flow of dense mineral fluid or mettalic enough ore veins occur?
For true computational systems Lyra would need piezooptical, piezoelectrical polycrystaline materials such as crystal growth kits, or rock farm geodes or nodules that at extremeis have properties effectively that of unicorn horns and possible structures for magic interaction in bones of ponies and others?
What are Bonbons thoughts on training with Pinkie Pie?
You should always be wary of a happy drill sergeant.
Good work will be rewarded with more work. Such is the way of things.
The really nasty pegasai are the ones who know how to pull ice out of clouds, and shape it into darts. Now there's a gift that keeps on giving.
And Trixie is here! The story is now officially great and powerful! Let the complete deviation from canon begin!
Another nice chapter and I'm eager to see how things with Trixie will go in Ponyville.
Great update.
With Lyra and Bonbon as a training sergeant power couple, the Guard might actually stand a chance against some later threats. Maybe. Definitely better odds, if not necessarily good ones.
Also, now that Trixie has some ponies in her corner, hopefully her first visit to Ponyville will go at least a little better.
Hey, Sargeant isn't permanently grounded, surely there will be field work in the future.
No Cadance! Don't finish writing that shipping label, they're not herding at the moment!
Lyra is definitely on to something with non-unicorn being able to set magic. Prodigy, that one.
So the bugbears truly are sapient then? Neat.