The Sorrel Mare

by NorrisThePony

Chapter Two: On Training I

- Former Equestrian Royal Guard Captain, Prince Shining Armor -

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Like the majority of my friends and colleagues, I met Reckless in training.

The circumstances in which she came to the Equestrian Royal Guard sometime in mid-to-late ‘03 were unusual ones. Usually, and I won’t really bore you with the explicit details, a civvie needs to have been an Equestrian civvie for some time before they can be admitted into the training regiment for the Royal Guard. Enough time to veto whether they’re part of an enemy’s intelligence, and whether they have Equestria’s best interests in mind.

Reckless was... Fast-tracked, through such a system. Done so on the explicit orders of Princess Celestia, herself, in fact. I’d divulge the reasons, but I don’t wanna do so without the permission of Reckless herself. Doubt she’d mind, but you’ll have to wait to get the info out of the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Initially I was given a frustratingly little amount of information when Reckless was admitted into the training regiment--a good few months later than her peers, at that. This is the nightmare of a Royal Guard Captain, by the way. A big part of the training regiment is getting to know the ponies training under you. Not just their physical capabilities, but the qualities of their character. I’ve worked with cadets that are weak, scrawny little twigs, and they’ve often turned out to be the best guards I know, simply because they know they have to work twice as hard. These sorts of ponies are the ones that strive to become specialists, and they’re the ones I like to watch out for.

The point is, when all of a sudden the orders from high-up are that you’ve suddenly got a brand new cadet, four months into the training regiment, so good luck getting her up to speed with the others without skimping on their or her training... Well. It raises some frustrations that you don’t dare bring up with the pony on the throne making the orders.

I had Reckless come to my office first, before her training formally began.

“So,” I asked. “Where are you from, Miss...” I had to pause, because there were two names written on her transfer orders. “Morning Sun? Reckless?”

“Morning Sun is first name,” she said. Then, after a pregnant pause,“...Like Reckless better, though.”

I could tell from her voice alone she was not from anywhere close to Equestria. “Reckless it is. Your transfer papers say you were born in Korea, and then moved twice. First to someplace called The You-Ess? Am I saying that right?”

Reckless gave a little shrug. “Think so. That’s what they call it.”

“Alright. And then you came to Equestria from the You-Ess.”

“Think so,” she said again.

“I haven’t heard of either of these places before. Where are they?”

“Don’t know,” Reckless admitted. “Not here. Across lots of water. Long, long ride in boat, from Korea to US. Don’t remember coming here.”

“...Gotcha.” It wasn’t as satisfying an answer as I’d been hoping, but my geographical knowledge of the lands beyond the Celestial Sea wasn’t incredibly thorough. “How long have you been in Equestria, then?”

“A few months,” she said. “Live in Canterlot. Live in Ponyville. Like Ponyville better--more like home.”

“It’s a nice town. My sister moved there a few summers back. Canterlot can be a bit much if you’re not used to the hustle and bustle.”

Reckless nodded. “Like the fields more than mountains, but know mountains more. That make sense?”

“Sure, sure it does.” I looked back at her transfer orders one more time. There it was, the signature of Princess Celestia herself. Looming over every awkward silence between me and the sorrel mare waiting for her first instructions as a cadet. “So what changed? Why’d you want to join the Royal Guard?”

Reckless pursed her lips... The question seemed to actually give her pause. Like she had to think up the answer on the spot. That might sound like a red flag to you, but trust me. Sometimes I ask the same question to myself and can’t for the life of me come up with an answer. Other times it’s as clear as the sun and stars.

Eventually she spoke up again. “Ponyville nice, relaxing. Good for retirement. But... Body feels young. Strong. Don’t like retirement life when the body feels like running.”

I gave a nod, but didn’t interrupt her, because it seemed like she had more to say.

“Besides...” she carried on. “Know war better than retirement.”

“You served, yes?” Her papers said she had... Eight years of active service with two years of front-line experience. She had honours for both periods, with two given for injuries sustained during active combat. Suddenly, her speedy admittance into the Royal Guard by Princess Celestia was making a bit more sense to me.

She nodded again. “Yes. In Korea. Deliver ammunition and supply to soldiers. Lay barbed fences. Help injured soldiers to safety.”

“Medic experience?”

She tilted her head thoughtfully. She considered it for a moment, and then shook her head. “Don’t think so.”

Don’t think so. Another strange reply. I was quickly becoming accustomed to them, though, from this mare. Not out of stupidity, but out of... Some sort of cultural ignorance? It was hard to describe. I could converse her without difficulty, but there were certain terminologies I could tell she didn’t fully grasp. It was as though she had a profound knowledge of her position, her importance, and her experience, without having the right words to describe any of it. With her thick accent and broken Ponish in mind, I figured it likely was just a language barrier. For only three months in Equestria, it was already a miracle she was speaking the language as clearly as she could...

No, actually. Forget that. It’s not a miracle, because that assumes it wasn’t something she achieved on her own.

“Well. Your military records are plenty striking, regardless. And these are coming to me straight from the Princess herself.”

“We meet,” Reckless explained. "When I arrive in Equestria. I explain, she writes report. Nice lady.“

Part of me knew it could have all been tall-tales told by some crazy mare, but if Celestia had seen fit to believe them, then I’d have to, as well.

“Well, then consider it my honour to welcome you aboard the Royal Guard, Staff Sergeant Reckless.” I gave her a polite salute, which she watched, seemed to take in for a moment, and then immediately reciprocated. “We’ll have you in for a bit of hoof camp, to ease you out of retirement... Hope you don’t mind getting lumped in with the cadets.”

Reckless gave a little laugh. “Feel like cadet here. Everything new.”

I laughed, too. And then I go to finalizing the last of her transfer papers, so that her new life with the Equestrian Royal Guard could begin proper.

Comments

[Forcalor]

Good story, curious. More, yes?

Feel like Reckless would've been honored by this, which is kinda weird, considering

[Venerable Ro]

Taciturn sort isn't she? Makes sense, Reckless was never one for long speeches.

[LunarReaper]

Truly this site needs more Reckless, cheers for delivering on that.

[Charlie_K]

Alright. This one is definitely going to be watched to see where it goes.

When I first found out about Reckless I thought she was just a cute pony OC. And then I found out her history.

I was so impressed I had to give her a spot in my own story. Right down to her love for poker chips.

[NorrisThePony]

11536442
11536227

Yeah. There's a reason the Human tag is there and why I chose a loose anthology format to tell this story. My aim is for this story to be both a respectful and informative tribute to Reckless and her friends

[new55]

That was a good story goodluck with the rest of it.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

Great read, I look forward to more. Her personality is really neat to behold~