The Sorrel Mare

by NorrisThePony

Chapter One: On Introductions

-Warrant Officer Aura Gleam, Equestrian Royal Guard-

---

Right, so. The fellas from your office said you’re working on a book. Want a few stories about Morning Sun in it, which I’m of course happy to oblige. Apologies in advance for the delay in my response--that ugly business over in Hayseed’s got my hooves pretty tied, as I’m sure you’ve been reading in the paper. I’ve wanted to sit down and give you a proper reply, though doing so has, according to previous attempts, been more difficult than one would assume.

After all, I have more than a few words to say about Reckless. You can trim this all you want for your book, so long as you don’t make me look like an idiot when you do so. I don’t imagine I’m the only pony with something to say about Morning Sun/Reckless.

(I’m gonna call her Reckless for the rest of this report. Yeah, it’s not her actual Equestrian name. But if the Wonderbolts can get away with calling eachother nonsense names, the Royal Guard can too. I wouldn’t do it without the blessings of the sorrel mare herself).

I first encountered her on a rescue mission, over in the Silver Mountains, outside the Crystal Empire. Woulda been... 04, I believe. Few years after the place showed up again... Recent, but not recent enough that folks hadn’t gotten comfortable doing some stupid crap in it.

We’d shoved off from Canterlot, actually. Crystal Empire Mission, but they needed some specialized support and the Crystal Empire’s Guard... Well. They weren’t exactly well equipped after the whole Sombra business. He’d had such a stronghold on the city’s guard that when he died or exploded or whatever the hell happened to him happened, it kinda died or exploded with him.

Tangent, I know. Got a habit of those, so sorry. Hope you’ve got a good editor.

Point is, they wanted a specialized group of guards to respond to a small party of ponies that had gone M.I.A somewhere out in the Silver Mountains, which is a couple clicks north-east of the Empire herself. A few hunters, out on a day trip that had taken a few days too long. Never the situation you wanna be in. We were three of us, heading out from Canterlot. Took the express route--a long range teleportation courtesy of Princess Twilight herself, where we promptly rendezvoused with the last pony who’d make up our rescue party--a Crystal Pony guide who knew the mountains better than any of us did. That meant there was four of us total. Me, our guide, and two earth pony guards. Reckless was one of them. I’d picked her when she’d volunteered, which, truth be told, I was a bit surprised by.

Well. A bit surprised by. See, Reckless was a bit of a greenhoof for that mission. She’d arrived in Equestria a few months earlier, and she’d moved through the ranks of the RG pretty quickly. Full of drive, determination, patience, kindness... All the things that the Princess’s promote and the Royal Guard endeavour to uphold each and every day. I remember being taken aback at first at how much fire was contained within this small little mare. When I found out her name was Morning Sun, I guess I wasn’t too surprised, either. Seemed only fitting.

I’d been briefing the squad on the mission and hunting down volunteers, and when I mentioned that the terrain of the Silver Mountains would be rugged, freezing, and dangerous, well. Reckless stepped forwards, not back.

“Know rugged. Know dangerous,” she says. “Snow, yes? Lots of snow?”

“That’s right. The mountains are well out of the Crystal Empire’s protective shield. Which means a lengthy trek, up dangerous terrain, in the cold.”

“Korea cold,” Reckless replied. “Korea dangerous.”

Korea’s where Reckless said she’s from. I looked into it once, did some digging. Didn’t really find much--Reckless’s accent is a little hard to pin down. I’ve worked with some kirin before, and they kinda sound like Reckless a little bit, at least the ones with a thicker accent. I dunno if maybe she has kirin heritage somewhere, or just grew up around them, but where exactly the mare came from is a bit of a mystery to me. Truth be told, I don’t really care all that much where somepony’s from if they’re even half as good a guard as Reckless was. And it’s not like I can really complain about the accent when I spent most of my time in training trying not to sound like a vulgar-mouthed Trottish orphan.

Far as I know, Korea is some small little village from someplace across the Celestial Sea. They’ve got kirin villages there, and I guess pony villages, too. Seems to me like Reckless came from one of those, but whenever I asked her she’d just describe Korea as ‘someplace far away’, and couldn’t really tell me where. She didn’t seem to know herself.

Anyways. Reckless volunteers first, of all the volunteers. She’s still only a few months out of training, but I can tell that in that time she’s itching to get out and do something exciting.

After we met up with our guide, we headed out immediately for the Silver Mountains. That woulda been... Well, a few weeks into the month of Fresh Frost, anyways. Lemme tell you, those winters up there are much colder than you’d assume, which is already pretty cold. I could tell Reckless was a bit taken aback by it... Even if she hadn’t said anything at first. Could kinda see it in her face, a little scowl, as soon as we’d gotten done shaking the teleportation ash off of us and taking stock of our surroundings. We’d met already enroute to our destination, which put us about a mile out of the Crystal Empire, pretty much right at the foot of the mountains.

I tossed the other three that’d come with us a parka. Reckless seemed a little bit... Well, confused, by hers. Like she didn’t know what to do with it at first. Like the garment wasn’t really all that familiar to her. But she watched the other guards get into their own, and quickly put two and two together.

“Like a blanket,” Reckless said softly, when I’d trotted over to lend a hoof. Y’know, magic. Telekinesis. Those buttons near the back of the parkas are a real chore to get without it.

“Basically... Don’t got parkas where you’re from?” I asked. The other ponies were distracted rigging up the sleigh we were hauling, which gave me and Reckless a moment to chat.

She shook her head. “No. Well, not for pony, anyway.”

“No? Well, it’s not really common for us either. But special circumstances and all that,” I replied. “You said a blanket? Is that traditional garb in Korea?”

“For ponies, yes,” Reckless said. “But not common, either. For importance.”

For importance.

I didn’t really press on that one. But I had to admit, it kinda was on my mind for the rest of that trek, as we started up the mountainside. Importance, huh? Reckless seemed like, well. A rookie, relatively speaking, at least in terms of her age. But she always talked about her past life in Korea like it were a full one. Full of it’s own trials, and difficulties, and growth. It was funny to me, how Reckless could make me feel like I was the rookie and she was the combat veteran, with just one little turn of phrase.

I digress.

We shoved off from the Crystal Empire and headed out for the Silver Mountains, which was a treacherous climb if ever there was one. The cold was biting, and it only got worse as we ascended. There’s a few points along that range where you don’t really have a choice but to climb out in the open, which means you’ve got the full fury of the Frozen North seemingly directed right at your sorry flank as you make a mockery of gravity’s constant perfection.

Reckless’s initial shock at the cold didn’t seem to slow her down. She adapted fast, and, unlike the other guards in tow, didn’t actually complain about it at all, far as I can recall. Even I slipped in a few curses, but Reckless? She just climbed up that mountain like she were part mountain goat. She’s a small little mare, and you’d be fooled into thinking it had some bearing on her abilities to carry her own weight. I know I was, initially. She lacked a lot of the muscle mass of a lot of her peers, more leg than the rest of them. Her build actually kinda reminded me of the build of those Saddle Arabians, if you know what I mean. She wasn’t big like 'em, but, well. At least in terms of leg-to-body ratio.

After, she’d tell me that in Korea, she was used to the same sort of terrain we’d been ascending. It was also a snowy and mountainous region, and part of her service history involved repeated treks up and down it, sometimes a dozen times or more in a single day. Under fire, at that.

It was... The second day of the climb, when we found our ponies. Two hunters-turned-climbers, both huddled together for warmth. Late stages of hypothermia, and frail as a newborn foal, the two of them. If we would’ve been even half a day later, I dunno if this story would be one I’d be able to tell you with pride.

By that point, my own troops were feeling the weight of the climb, too. Our sleep had been restless in the cold, amounting to no more than three hours of total stopped time, while we waited out the few hours of darkness before the sun rose once again. There was a weight behind a few of our steps, with me and Reckless leading the front of the charge at the beginning of the second ‘day’. Reckless was carrying most of the gear by that point, having slowly accumulated it from the backs of our increasingly put-out rookies the longer our ascent continued.

I ain’t saying any of this to disparage them, by the way. It’s probably easy to read this and think ‘em weak for, well. Not being strong enough. But I guarantee anypony willing to level those accusations hasn’t tried to climb the Silver Mountain Peaks in the midst of the most violent blizzard in the past few years.

We made contact with those climbers, and Reckless...

Well, it was like she’d been in the situation before. I guess she had, back in Korea. She didn’t waste a second... She trotted right up to them, and then she kneels herself down. The look they gave that sorrel mare when she trotted up to them, I figure it’ll probably be one I’ll think of when I need a good comforting for the rest of my life. I don’t think the climbers had seen us in the snow, and they’d been huddling together for warmth for so long, drifting in and out of consciousness, that when they saw Reckless it must’ve been like seeing Mother Epona herself comin’ down from the clouds to take them home. Heck, Reckless even looks like her a bit, now that I mention it.

They’re weak, so I have to trot over to help them. I swear on my life, I hauled both of them onto Reckless’s barrel, and she doesn’t really react much besides a little snort from her snout. A bit of a grunt, as she adapts to the weight. Then, in a voice rich with firmness and duty, she looks to me and says;

“Your mission... Lead on.”

I’m a bit taken aback, and I’m ready for her to collapse in front of me at any time. The climb had been treacherous on our own, and here was this mare makin’ the descent with two full grown ponies on her back.

We head down the mountain. I’m expecting to have to switch out with Reckless at any moment, or call forward one of the other rookies to take one of the climbers. But Reckless trucked her way down that entire mountain, stopping only a few times to catch her breath. The look on that mare’s face as we descended was something marvellous to behold. The clear sense of duty and purpose in her steely gaze was damned inspirational. If I’d been conflicted in my own resolve at any point on that descent, one look backwards would’ve set me straight. We’d been hoof-picked by Celestia herself to do a duty, and it was a duty that Reckless quite clearly had a great deal of pride representing.

We reached the base camp before sunfall. Reckless didn’t slow for the last leg of the descent, but I could see it was starting to weigh on her, the way her body was sagging, and the vapour was rising all around her as her breathing turned to panting.

I dunno how things would’ve gone, if I hadn’t that mare with me. I ain’t the strength of any mission... Unicorn, so I don’t imagine I ever will be. And the rookies I had with me, spirits bless ‘em... I dunno if either of them could’ve gotten one of those climbers down between the two of them.

I don’t have to worry about that, though. Reckless is the reason we saved two lives that day. And when this job gets tough, which... Trust me, it does. Gods, does it get tough, having to be around so much darkness and violence and ugliness day in and day out... And when that weight starts to crush down...

Well, I think of the look those climbers had, when Reckless started hauling them onto her back. And suddenly, I know exactly why I’m here, and why I’ll always be proud to call myself a Royal Guard alongside Reckless.

Comments

[Odd_Sarge]

Good fic, yes? Best fic!

[Venerable Ro]

Ah, about time someone did something like this, very interesting! I look forward to seeing more of this.

[Backlash91]

yay!!! sergeant reckless!!

[TangyTango]

Very nice. Am happy.

[Ninjab33z]

This wasn't the direction I was expecting this fic to go, but it's a lot better than any way I thought it might

[bkam]

If anyone wants it, here's SGT Reckless's story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Reckless

[Odd_Sarge]

11536227
To add to this: Norris is going to pay a lot of tribute to Reckless’ real-world counterpart, so the stories you’ll read here will definitely give you more than just a taste of what she was like, and why she’s the sergeant she is.

[M4Tiger4014]

MFW I remember that Sergeant Reckless’s given name in Korean was (depending on how it’s translated) “Sunny Morning.”

I’m loving this already. 11/10, moar please.

[Odd_Sarge]

11536493
‘Morning Flame’ is my favorite way to interpret it, for obvious reasons. But ‘Flame-of-the-Morning’ rocks, too.