Got Your Six

by Revel Montaro

Chapter 3

Tempest had asked Flash to inform the desk clerks to retrieve the guard’s budget and expense reports from last year from the archives as well as the last audit on weapons and armor in the armory. She knew it would take the clerks time to pull and collate the files so she next asked Flash to give her a tour of the grounds so she could see the guards going through their daily routines.

While B was currently on duty around the city, Company A was supposed to be going through routine training and formation drills while Company C was on rest for the evening watch. Since they had no captain yet, Tempest had been informed that Lieutenant Flag Staff was the acting captain until either Tempest accepted the position or if she declined, Twilight went forward and approved his promotion. Knowing she was about to meet the competition Tempest steeled herself for what was likely to be a… confrontational introduction. Her thoughts flashing back to a similar meeting years ago when she met the then commander of the expeditionary force. She had not been looking to take his position at the time, but the confrontation that followed ensured she was known and a contender.

The guard barracks had been first on the inspection to-do list since they were right next to the Captain’s annex. Tempest was pleased to see the troops kept the bunks clean, the floor well mopped, and their kit and personal lockers stowed and out of the way. Honestly, she was surprised by both the quality condition of the barracks and how well they kept it. Discipline and personal pride in doing a good job were not things she was going to have to drill into them at least.

Like the barracks, the training grounds were also well kept, especially for how thoroughly used they were. Amazing considering the fact that the entire base camp was built into the side of a mountain directly across from a school and in the shadow of a massive castle that took up most of the plateau above the city of Canterlot itself. Most of the outdoor equipment was well maintained or new. The sparring circles were particularly interesting and from what Tempest could see as she and Flash approached, particularly popular for use and spectating.

The guards who had been watching the circle match between two unicorn stallions shifted and stiffened as Tempest and Flash approached. Lieutenant Flag Staff was tapped on the shoulder and he did not even try to hide his scorn as blue eyes locked with jade green ones.

“Well, well, well, look who sauntered into our house like she already owns the place.”

Yeah, this is going to go well.

Tempest maintained her neutral, bored expression while she took note of troop positions, weapons, and how many were unicorns. If things turned ugly Tempest was confident she could take them, but that was a last resort of self defense.

“Hey!” barked the pale grey lieutenant, “I’m talking to you, traitor. You don’t belong here.”

Tempest shrugged slightly, stepping closer the edge of the circle. The guards all stepped back and closer to one another. “Not a traitor. Would have had to of been a member of the guard or Equestrian society first to be a 'traitor' as you say. If you want to call me anything you could call me a visitor perhaps. I'm just taking a stroll, seeing what the guard is made of and what they have available. You know, I had my assumptions about the guard when PRINCESS TWILIGHT invited me to come to Canterlot. Unfortunately, you are fulfilling those assumptions quite well.”

“And what assumption is that, Miss broke horn?”

Tempest scowled and sneered. She knew he would go for the low blow eventually, they always did. Did not make it hurt any less though. “Alright, flat head, I’ll spell it out for you. I know you don’t like me, why would you? I flew in here a little over a year ago on an airship that your scouts failed to see or report miles out because your air patrols were so pathetically routine that we had them scouted and down to clockwork. I made fools of every damn one of you and not only defeated the most powerful alicorns in the world, I did it solo before you could figure out which hoof was supposed to go in front of the other. And the cherry on top? I am confident that I could beat every last one of you right now and do it again. You know it, I know it, and most likely the rest of the world knows it. So, Twilight, in her wise choice of foresight sought me out on how to prevent that from ever happening again. And here I am. Any questions?”

Flag Staff spat at the ground just in front of Tempest’s black hoofguards. “You have some stones on you, I’ll give you that, diamond dog bitch of a whorse.”

“Maybe it would be best if we continue the inspection, Miss Shadow.”

“Well, now I know whose stones you do have. Got the pretty one on a leash and already broken in like good little gelding.” The surrounding guards snickered and scoffed at Flag Staff's comment. Tempest scowled harder.

“Get in the ring.”

The guards who had been laughing along with Flag Staff suddenly stopped.

“What did you say?”

Tempest stepped into the sparring circled and back kicked a divot of sand at Flag Staff, hitting him in the chest. “I said: Get. In. The. Ring, asshole. You want to insult me, fine. Not like I haven’t heard worse from better, but you don’t have the rank, the clout, or the pedigree to insult a guard who has shown to be a finer example of what the rest of you should be. So, we settle this in the ring like soldiers. I’ll put you down, then I’ll put down any other takers who have more balls than brains that want to take me on. Last one standing is captain, loser, well you can either take a hike or stick around so I can beat you into something better that even dragon fire could not break.”

Flag Staff to his credit, Tempest thought, did not hesitate to retrieve his armor and a blunted training staff, tossing one to Tempest. She batted it away, the staff bouncing out of the circle. Flag Staff chuckled in a condescending manner, but this time none of the other guards laughed along.

“What, you don’t know basic sparring circle rules or something? I can teach you the basics if you ask nicely and say pretty, please to me.”

“I don’t need a damn stick.”

“You can’t use your magic in a traditional sparring match,” said Flash. Tempest glared at him with seething annoyance and he backed up looking sheepish. “Right, you already knew that, sorry. I'll just stand over here.”

Flag Staff spun his staff a few times and then leapt at Tempest not bothering to ask if she was ready or not. Tempest, who stretched her neck left, then right, let out the deep breath she had been holding and slid to the left of the attack as the staff missed... badly. The mulberry mare brought her right hindleg down onto the staff, breaking it in half. While off balance, Tempest spun and brought her left hindleg around and swept out both of Flag Staff’s hind legs. He hit the ground on his side with a grunt. Tempest could have finished the fight right there, but waited for him the get back to his hooves, stepping back slow, methodically, her eyes taking in the spectators as much as her opponent in case one of them thought they needed to help as a matter of guard pride. They made no move to interfere, their faces far to shocked to do anything but stand there and gawk. Even Flash, who was smirking a bit was wide eyed. If they thought that was impressive they were in for quite the show.

Flag Staff kicked the broken pieces away. Technically, he could have retrieved a new staff, but now he was angry and off balance, just the way Tempest wanted him. The unicorn guard stallion charged, attempting to stomp Tempest with his forehooves. He reared up, and Tempest turned swiftly and gave his exposed underside a double rear buck kick. All the air was knocked out of his lungs and two of his ribs cracked as he was bucked into the air and out of the circle, tumbling for another few meters before balling up, desperately gasping for air.

Tempest ran a hoof through her magenta mane and remained stoic, coming to a sitting position. She was not sweating or breathing hard. The stunned guards looked back and forth between Tempest and Flag. The former commander took a moment to examine one of her hoofguards before glancing up, eyes half lidded and said, “Next?”

A light brown stallion did not bother grabbing a staff and charged Tempest. It was one of the sloppiest attacks she had ever seen and she made her displeasure known by simply side stepping him and cuffing him hard on the back of his neck with a foreleg. The brown stallion slid out of the circle on his face with a mouthful of dirt.

“Now you’re not even trying. This is pathetic.”

A white pegasus mare grabbed a staff and took flight. It was not against the rules and showed both initiative and brains. Tempest nodded her a smidge of respect and waited for the right moment. While a pegasus could fly about the circle they could not exit and still had to come in range to strike. The white mare dropped to the circle out of range and used her wings to kick up a cloud of dust into Tempest’s face. Tempest raised a hoof to shield her eyes on instinct. The pegasus guard went on the offensive thrusting the staff forward. It probably would have been a good tactic, but Tempest could hear the rustling of her wings and bobbed and weaved around until she was able to blink the grit from her eyes. Once she could see again, she seized the staff and drove it back into pegasus’s side and then smacked her along the side of the head. With a twist, the staff was thrown out of the ring followed by the guard.

“Better, but do not make assumptions about your opponent just because you think you have an advantage. Read the battle, press, defend, and keep your hooves moving.”

Two more stallions entered the ring. It was not technically against the rules, but two on one fights were supposed to be consented to first. Flash stepped up to the edge, spreading his wings in preparation to come to Tempest’s aid. She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and held up a hoof to him.

“Stay out of the ring, Sentry, I got this.”

“They didn’t ask first. It’s against the rules.”

“Don’t expect a real opponent to ask either.” Tempest turned back to the stallions, both unicorns, one blue grey one charcoal grey. She narrowed her eyes at them. “Bring it, if you can.”

Blue went left while Charcoal went for another staff. Tempest charged Blue and tackled him, twisted to where she flipped over onto her back and then sent Blue flying through the air right at Charcoal. The stallions collided and knocked over the rack of staves, most of the weapons falling on top of them. When she returned to her hooves and looked about there were no more guards to challenge her. She was about to relax when one of the unicorns who had had run to Flag Staff’s side turned and fired a basic energy bolt from his horn at Tempest.

Flash was about to leap to the rescue when Tempest raised a foreleg and deflected the blast with her hoofguard. The blast ricocheted and struck the compound wall, blowing out a small hole in the stonework. All the guards in the surrounding area stopped what they were doing and turned to stare.

Flash flew over to the guard who attacked with magic and tackled him to the ground. The scuffle was over in a second with the would be attacker in leg shackles and an inhibitor ring on his horn. Tempest arched a brow at that. She had not known Flash had either of those items on him and was slightly impressed by how quickly he had subdued the offender. She stepped over to the toppled staff rack and stood on top of it so all the guards nearby could see her. The unexpected magic attack had drawn a bigger crowd and she waited for them to gather closer to see what had happened and more importantly, see her.

“Is that it? Is that the best the guards who are sworn to protect the princess have to offer? I am extremely disappointed and at the same time not surprised in the least. You have been nothing, but fashionable parade pieces for centuries. You know it, I know it, and Equestria’s enemies know it. Princess Twilight Sparkle is my friend and I’ll be damned to the deepest pits of Tartarus before I let harm come to her because all of you failed to execute your duty to the best of your ability. You are a broken shield and even that is too much of a compliment, but that’s fine. I have tested your metal and found it wanting. Now I know what I have to work with and I have decided to make it my mission and my passion to reforge you into a new weapon worthy of defending Equestria.

“Tomorrow, you will begin to unlearn all your terrible training and start anew. Know that even broken steel can be reformed into something greater with hard work and tempering. By the time I’m done with you, no creature on this whole planet will dare challenge you let alone threaten who you protect. All of you have the potential to be great soldier, but you have never pushed yourselves to your maximum potential. It is only when you are at your breaking point do you realize how much further you can go. You will either leave my training a guard worthy of being trusted with protecting Her Highness or you will crawl away from me broken and in tears. I don’t believe in half measures.” Tempest eyed each of them, making sure they met her gaze, including those that had wandered over to see what the commotion was about.

“I am Tempest Shadow and I am your Captain of the Guard.”

Flash came to attention and saluted, “Hooah!” A few others followed the lieutenant’s actions. Most were too stunned or confused to say anything. Tempest stepped down and began to head back towards the captain’s annex with her head held high.

“Get Flag Staff to the medical ward and see to it that Private Fieldcross is taken into custody until the captain decides what to do with him,” said Flash to one of the company sergeants. They saluted and followed their orders. Flash Sentry then fell into step beside his new captain. “The clerks most likely have delivered the requested documents by now. Unless you would rather take a break and get something to eat first.”

“Have something brought to us. We work and eat.”

“Yes, captain.”

Author's Note:

Sometimes you can ask nicely, sometimes you can wow them with brilliance. And sometimes you have remind people that you are the biggest, baddest, MOFO in the room all without having to raise your voice.

That, is Tempest.

Till next week. Questions? Comments?

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

don't mess with Captain Tempest Shadow.

[Aroddo]

... written by Google autotranslate ...

[Stet709]

And so begins the reconstruction of an effective fighting force.

[Revel Montaro]

10791806
I don't get the joke, but okay if you say so.