Golden Age: Issue 1.5 - Team-building Exercises

[AzalR75]

And there it was. The breaking point. She didn't even try to catch the last egg... not like all the rest. He knew this crash course was going to be rough on her, but then any who trained like any of the thestrals he fought beside had been next to the breaking point. Morning Glory, I've never had to train one as green as you, nor without another pony at their side. Worst of all, unlike all the others, you don't get the luxury to fail. 

 

"Ah. But I think I do need to rub it in. You see, many a new recruit would count you lucky! You don't have to stand at a wall, standing guard hours on end from absolutely nothing out there and learn patience. You don't have to endure the Royal Canterlot Voice for tolerance of uncomfortable places. You don't have to learn to be Her Royal Highness's hooves, in permitting entrance, denying entrance and escorting ponies away, using the proper amount of force to not harm one of Her subjects even when they are objecting, yelling, and fighting, whether they are an old mare or a burley stallion. All those recruits said they could be cut out for Night Guard when they haven't even been at those posts, and yet here you are, already getting the protecting and serving under your belt, front of the class! You can tell every one of them it's not so easy now is it?"

 

He stalks up to her, his hoof thrusting roughly against her chest, right over her heart "You're allowing here..." then he pushes his hoof to her head "to affect here. I don't care how much skill you get, you won't do any good if that's the case. You worked repairs at the theater, you didn't break things there. You can pick things up. You have the ability... yet here, you're allowing yourself to be worried." he steps back away from her "Well allow me to worry you more. Every egg here that's broken. That's a pony you failed. They are broken by your inability to protect them." he points at the splatter covering her armor "That pony was lost to you getting carried away." and he points at the most recent broken egg "And that pony was lost by dwelling on it." he holds up another egg "You did it once before. But now you're heart's not in it. And I'm downright NICE compared to an angry cop, grieving parent, injured... collateral. So tell me... are you going to be one that lets your last failure lose the next pony?" he throws the egg I know you're a smart girl. You have to get it.

[Bramble Rose]

 

Her horn lit up with the orange-red glow of dawn, grabbing the egg in that glow and swinging it around to tuck under her wing protectively.  "I know that!" she shouted angrily.  "I know that, I know that, I know that!  I didn't ask for this job, but I agreed to do it, and now I just want to do it well!  This isn't some gift or honor or anything!  It's just something that needs to be done!  If somepony envies me, they're an idiot!  They envy me?  I bet none of your raw recruits had to learn enough control to not ... break a door every time they went through it!  Or accidentally rip the bar off the wall because they didn't realize the door was barred!  Or what the price of this is!"

 

She could feel the Doc hiding in the back of his head.  Doc didn't like conflict, didn't like ponies yelling at each other.

 

"And I did break something at the theatre!  I broke lots of somethings!  That's why we had to fix it in the first place!  And you must have missed all the times I applied a little too much pressure to this bit of wood or that!  There's a lot of extra dents and a few boards I snapped in half and had to repurpose!  So yeah, I'm worried about it!  I'm worried about failing the ponies!  That's the whole reason I'm here, and took this job, is because I don't want to fail the ponies!  For you ponies, this was at least your choice!  I mean, it was my choice, too, but I didn't go looking for it!  I just didn't turn it down when it came to me!"

 

"I'm not looking to be a guard!  I have too much other stuff that I need to do.  I suddenly get yanked away from whatever I want to do and pulled across the city or into the countryside to deal with some rampaging whatever!  I respect everything you guys did, and still do, and ... whatever!  I don't expect to ever be recognized as part of Nightguard, or have you ponies accept me.  I don't even know what happened with you guys, that night.  I just!  ...  I just ... I need help cause I can't do this myself.  And if you can help me, great!  Please do!  I'll catch eggs all night long, cause yeah, that's useful!  I get that!  But if all you want to do is lecture me about how I'm not good enough, well..."

 

She gave a deep sigh, drooping again.  "I already know that.  I don't know why ... why me?  I'm not anypony special.  You're a genuine hero.  You dedicated your life to this.  You don't have special powers or anything, you're just ... made of will and skill.  Defending the night.  Keeping us safe.  I'm just ... scrambling.  But somehow I keep getting all this stupid attention and ponies calling me 'Princess' and stupid stuff like that.  I have to put on a show all the time, not just to keep ponies safe, but to make them believe that they're safe.  That I got this.  And I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep for weeks.  If you're just going to rip on me, I'd rather not be skipping sleep for this.  Even when I get time for sleep, I can't do it well.  I keep having these dreams, but they're not dreams, they're ... bad.  Whoever heard of bad dreams?"  She let out a long sigh.  "Friendship's Fire, I'm so tired..."  She let out a long sigh, then brought the egg out and floated it back over to Captain Nightguard.  "Let's try it again..."

 

She suddenly was aware of the gaping door of the bar, of all the thestrals peering out of it, including one young mare who was clutching her hooves to her mouth and whose eyes were brimming with tears.  Morning Glory turned away from their eyes, having no idea how much they'd heard, or what they were thinking... gritting her own teeth against the feeling of uselessness of it all.  How was she ever supposed to live up to ... this?

​

 

Hahaha.  "Never trained anypony as green as you."  Hahahahaha.  Woooo.   Pun intended?

 

Also, going off the comics continuity that Nightmare Moon, after being banished to the moon, shortly afterwards invented the first nightmare.  So Nightmares are a new thing now.

 

Also, swapping back and forth between the purple and the white is very jarring.  I'd recommend either using a very pale purple, or swapping the black out for #999999 and getting a light grey background, so you can use black text.

[AzalR75]

Yes! She caught the egg! She's getting i- oh. No. This pony seriously doesn't seem to have experience... he feels like he's dealing with a filly. And where does she get pulled form, nothing she's saying makes sense. How does she not know how to control her strength? Where does she get pulled from? Even the part about being selected. And... "Bad dreams?" he looks at her, his voice guarded "What do you mean bad dreams?" No, this isn't time for that.

 

"Nevermind that. You want to know what I got out of that outburst?" he holds up the egg "This one is still whole, even while you were upset which is perfect... granted, you weren't supposed to send it back to me. You are supposed to protect it. Because I plan on destroying it again." he gives a snort "Not special? Then why the hay do I have to use an egg to teach you? It's because anything I need to do to hurt you is going all out. And frankly that's not going to teach you a thing. And most certainly you're getting attention! You're an alicorn that's shown up after we lost Princess Luna. I most certainly know you're not her, but the other ponies now have nothing guarding them from the night, so they flock to you as they learn all those stories they told have truth to them, they've just been guarded against until that night." his voice takes a harsher edge "No, that night the Nightmare came, that night many of our own followed her. That night we faced the monster who was the Princess that was joyous when a real fight came up, and many of us were even out of armor, ready for the day..." his voice softens "Even without the traitors, the Night Guard had never lost so many in a single night..."

 

He shakes head and looks back at her "But lecturing you that you're not good enough... oh how did my Commander put it when I went through the training of the Night Guard, oh right... I was having trouble making another step, it was full armor running, after being woken up the third day in a row before the sun even hit high noon, and he got in my face yelling at me 'If you would just give up, you can go back to the castle. You know you will get a proper days sleep and good meal guaranteed every moonrise. Never have to worry about fighting the monsters..." his teeth clench as he imitates the one who trained him "... give up now, so we don't have to worry about you giving up on us in the fight.' You Morning Glory have the strongest hide I've seen, but you are way too easily injured emotionally. I-"

 

"Don't let him discourage you Morning Glory! That's what he's supposed to do during training. You can do it!" The mare who Morning Glory first took note of being excited to see her had yelled out, causing the Captain to look at her Hm. What she hasn't had up until now... "RIGHT! You said you didn't want to be Night Guard, unfortunately, you fight monsters and that's what we do. Well there's a bit of training that every one of us has had, and it would be a shame if you didn't have it. You get a proper week of training and I know you'll have things down. I do need a night to prepare though, so you should get proper sleep. And when you get back tomorrow, I fully expect you to be carrying an egg" he tosses the egg back to her "A whole one at least."

 

 

Pun wasn't intended, but as soon as I typed it I realized it was a pun... and should I remove it... naaaahhhh! XD

[Bramble Rose]

 

Morning Glory felt her eyes glazing over a little at Captain Nightguard's monologue.  She was trying to pay attention, really she was - but it was so late, and she really was wishing she'd just stayed home.  Certainly getting a good night's sleep would be more useful than this.  She needed physical training, not ... whatever he was trying to do.  She needed moves, techniques, all that stuff!

Frankly, she was slipping back into that daze she got when the professor was droning on and on about something pointless instead of teaching the class, when she was suddenly jolted out by the excited voice of that friendly thestral.  She gave a wan little smile and wave to the over-eager mare, then turned back to Captain Nightguard.

"Every night this week?  Woog.  All right, I suppose... I can probably... sorta... manage that.  I don't think I have any late hours at work to worry about, it all ends before nightfall.  I can ... let my group know I have to skip for a bit.  They're starting to get suspicious about me constantly disappearing, buuuuut... I can try to squeeze a little more in during the day.  Maybe take a day off of work to get the rest in... "

​

[AzalR75]

Star Flight perks his ears a bit. Is he hearing this? Oh, how can he not ask about this "Oh? What group are you with? And what sort of work does a pony of your strength do?" Seriously, he might actually learn why he never even heard of another alicorn until now.

 

But there's also a bit of a smile under the helmet. Oh, she isn't prepared for this. But she needs to be "No. It's not every night in the week. It's going to be for the week, from moonrise to the next. The good news is, you'll have help with you, there are others who've been chomping at the bits to get a chance to do this. Isn't that right Midnight Sun?" There's a squeak from the mare who perks up "Yes sir!" and she takes off quickly. "And look how excited she is... Ahh to think I actually looked forward to this too." he turns to Morning Glory "So yes. Rest up, it is going to be rough."

[Bramble Rose]

 

Morning Glory's stomach felt queasy.  She'd almost given too much away, there... Luckily, Captain Nightguard didn't wait for an answer, moving straight on to correcting her misunderstanding about what he was asking for...

"All ... all week?"

A whole week as Morning Glory?!  Can we even do that?

I don't see why not.

I don't want to be Morning Glory for a full week!

Oh, whine whine whine.

Shut up, Doc.

The shock and disbelief, then genuine concern and worry, and pain, and loss, all played across Morning Glory's face for a few moments, as she struggled with the idea.  My classes!  My grades!  My job!  Practices!  Oh flame of friendship, the game!  I'd miss the game!  But the team is depending on me!

No, don't be ridiculous, Bravado corrected himself.  They depend on the Day Mares, not you.  You're just second-string compared to their teamwork.  Your job is mostly out of respect for Doc's loss.  And classes... harmony, his scholarship!

Princess Celestia's voice echoed in his memory.  "If you accept Doctor Stein's magic, this will be your duty. To protect Equestria from the chaos around it. To learn about loyalty, and to loyally devote yourself to others. And there will be a price that I don't even know how to fully explain to you.  You will think that you understand it after you return to the lab, but you will not understand the full price for ... a very long time."

Morning Glory had to remain loyal... but not to her own smaller life.  There were prices.  Loyalty... to the ponies of Equestria?  To her duty?  To her new friends?

She didn't know the right thing to do ... but the flashing images that she half-remembered from her time in that strange, starry expanse of nowhere, where she'd accepted this charge... she couldn't do it just halfway.  Too many ponies depended on her.  Celestia might have said she wasn't necessary ... but ... to those ponies she would save, she was all too necessary.  The kingdom might go on without her, but those ponies would not.

She squeezed her eyes shut with one more moment of disbelief, one more moment of frustration at her life being upended.  One more moment of scrambling for a third answer other than 'yes' or 'no'.  Of a moment's grief for all the things she'd already given up, and how she was now being asked to give up even more.

The moment was past.

"All right," she said confidently, lifting her head and firming her chin.  "I asked for help.  It'd be foolish to ignore the expert.  If you feel it's that important to me, I'll do it."

[AzalR75]

The captain watchers her quietly. The hesitation in recruits, far before even thinking about Night Guard, he's seen this before. Many think the monsters, the being awake even when the sun is in the sky, the physical endurance one has to learn are all the toughest parts of being a part of the Guard. The hardest part has always been knowing the Guard was your identity, it was who you are, you just got to go home sometimes. He was honestly surprised at the amount of time she had to consider Well, this might break worse than a single one of the eggs.

But she lifts her head up, and there's no hesitation in her voice. She's not speaking like a foal now, but making that step without concern. No, not concern, he'd be as worried about that as a timid girl stepping forward, but this was a choice she had to think on and make, and now she's making the sacrifices. That's why he's smiling when he speaks "Then tomorrow come to the Dragon's Maw, you should be familiar with the mountain, but if not... hang on." he steps back into the bar, stepping back out to hand her a map "The Guard will be there all day, so you can come at any point. But do not be a second later than when the sun touches the horizon. Now go, rest up. It's going to be a long night tomorrow night."

[Bramble Rose]

Morning Glory solemnly accepted the map, nodded to the watching Nightguard.  "All right," she said softly.  "I'll go about letting everypony know I won't be available for a week... and I'll be there before sunset."

Another surge of regret hit her, and she hurried off out of the cave to launch into the air.

What is your problem?  Isn't this what you wanted?

No!  I didn't want my life ruined!  Is it fair that just because I want to help other ponies, that my life gets ruined like this?

Morning Glory flapped for a while more - not up to her full speed, though even her distracted airspeed was well beyond most pegasus ponies.  Mentally, Bravado was just trying to put together the checklist of what all needed to be done, especially with still needing to get a decent sleep...

Hey, Bravado?

Yeah, Doc?

Sorry, I forget how it is, sometimes, to be so young.  How everything you have is so important.  When I was in college, I had these friends ... we all knew we were going to be best friends, forever.  We were going to make amazing scientific discoveries, we had our little jobs.  We were all going to take over some campus somewhere, maybe open a research facility on our own.  Whatever, we had it planned out.  Then, after college, we ended up spreading all over Equestria ... one becoming a TA over here, another an intern over there... anyway, the point is, none of what we expected ever actually happened.  Your life isn't getting ruined, it's just changing to a different life.  Doesn't mean you don't go for your dreams, but ... sometimes bigger dreams come along.

This time it was Bravado's turn to think before he spoke.

I'm sorry, Doc.  I'm complaining about all this little stuff, and you ... y'know ... died.

Not trying to say that, but sure, we'll use that.  That many years of scientific research does not qualify as a life cut tragically short, and even as such, my life isn't ruined.  I'm getting to live my foalhood dream of being Princess Morning Glory!

Bravado hesitated... His mental tone wasn't so harsh, but more amused - reciting the expected line.

We're not a princess.

Let an old mare dream.

Morning Glory sighed and shook her head, and then got serious about flying back to town, a smirk on her lips.

[Kirby Krackle]

“Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts.”

The patrons of the Night Vale tavern turned to greet their second guest of the evening. Though this one was unscheduled. Not to mention unwelcome. The Princess was one thing. The greenhorn was a friend of the Captain's. So she gets a pass. But who in the wide wide world of Equestria is this joker supposed to be? So the grizzled war veterans one by one rose from their seats (what seats were left undamaged from the fight earlier this night), the sound of wood dragging on wood a torture on the ears. Each with their own special plan for showing this old codger the door. And none of them had any hangups about being impolite.

“Now, before you all kick me out, I'd like to share a few things with you. First a drink, then a proposal.”

From the heavy looking saddlebags he wore, out came four full vacuum flasks, each one filled with an unfamiliar (to them) black beverage. The newcomer popped open the first, letting a hot and nutty aroma fill the air. A refreshing change of pace from the subtle hints of dust and mold the Nightguard are used to. But, appetizing as it was, this fellow was a stranger who truly needed his teeth kicked in.

Gem decided that the honor of first strike was hers, as she was still itchy for a rematch. But with no Princess around, this trespasser would have to do.

So here's the wind up.

And the pitch.

And it's no good.

The buck was a strong one. And the Captain always said she had a mean dropkick. But she did not, could not, account for unseen interference. An invisible barrier was between she and he. An upon impact, all that force instead rebounded. Gem went flying. And not in a good way. The old stallion meanwhile, didn't even flinch.

“I would argue”, he said, pouring the first cup (which he casually took from the bar without asking). “That she started it. Self defense, don't you know. If you like, I can take a look at her when she wakes up.” He poured the second. “I am a doctor.”

“Now, would any of you actually like to talk for a bit? Or am I to try and save Equestria without her guardians of the night?”

He poured cup number three.

((DM here! This does not get a reply. I repeat, this does not get a reply. This is me seizing an opportunity to foreshadow. Enjoy the ride, folks. *maniacal laugh* ))

[Bramble Rose]

After Bravado woke up from having flung himself across his bed like a sack of potatoes, he set about having to get everything together for a week's absence.  His first thought had been claiming a family emergency, but coach knew his dad, and that could go south real fast.

Teachers were easy enough - a few expressed concern at a sudden week's absence, but he reassured them that there wasn't anything super-wrong, he was just investigating an opportunity that he'd been asked to keep on the down-low.  Work's utter indifference to his presence confirmed just how unimportant his job there was.  Still, without that money, food was going to be difficult... but Cap would feed him over the next week, right?  He stopped in at the library for a half an hour of research.  Then for his coach ...

"Bravado," said Coach Rally.  "You can't just skip a week's worth of practice AND a game!  We need you!  And do you know what this would look like to the pro scouts?"

Bravado shook his head, squeezing his eyes tightly against having to see the hurt look on coach's face.  Coach thought he was abandoning the team.  Coach had such hopes for him.

"Look, Coach.  Let's be honest.  There's three spots on the sky team, and you have the three Daymares.  I'm just here to be a decent enough filler when they need a break.  No scout's even going to be looking at me with them around.  But I've got a chance here to ... to become better for the team."  Inspiration hit him.  Maybe this wasn't going to be a choice.  "I got this chance for a really intensive week of training with a ... a retired pro."  Not actually a lie.  "But he's asked me not to let on his name.  It's a tremendous opportunity.  I know I'll miss this game, but I'm hoping that I'll learn stuff here that will help the team out much more in the long run."  And as he thought about it, that might not be a lie, either.  After all, one of his specialties in hoofball was the death from above - a tackle out of nowhere to stop the ground team player with the ball.  That air-tackle had really helped him out in fighting crime.  The reverse should be good too, right?  If the tone Captain Nightguard had taken was any indicator - by the time this was done, his endurance was going to be really tested.  Playing a whole game without a break would probably look like foal's play after that.

Eventually, he had everything sorted out and in order, and retired back to his room.  It was early afternoon... he could leave now, get there super early ... but he was likely to be up all night, considering who he was training under.  And he'd been missing so much sleep lately.  It was no problem at all for him to drop across his bed and get another four and a half hours of sleep, and there was still plenty of sunlight left for him to get where he was going.

He left the campus as himself - not quite ready to succumb to a week of being ... her.  A few more minutes to enjoy being himself.  And to enjoy just the rush of flying, as himself.  Flying was a freeing activity, you could leave everything behind.  As Morning Glory, he was always rushing to get here or there, rushing to get back home.  Despite having a glimmer of what was coming, he felt like he was on vacation, skipping out on school and all that, and for a few minutes, at least, he was ... content.

It didn't take him more than 15 or 20 minutes to get to the west side of town, and then he was out and over the water, leaving everything behind.  He knew that Dusk Gait was right up there - he could see the markings along the cliffs, and he angled south.  He didn't want to be anywhere near the thestrals when he did this - though it was daytime, they were still way too observant for his tastes.  In among all the cliffs and wilderness, he found a tightly bunched batch of trees, and a quick circle assured him that nopony at all was around.  He landed inside the trees, well-hidden from view, and took the alicorn amulet from around his neck, holding it high.  It glinted in a sparse little ray of light that made it through the trees.

"For Loyalty!" he cried, "for Justice! And for Equestria!"

The light glinting from the amulet shone brightly, wrapped around him. He floated up off of the ground, turning slowly in the air, as bands of light wrapped around his form. He swelled, growing a little bigger, his form growing feminine. Her wings flared to an impressive wingspan, she turned a half-rotation, and a light shone from her forehead, then swelled out to a long horn. Another half-rotation, and a light shone from her flank, settling in as the rising-sun cutie mark of Morning Glory. The amulet disappeared from her hoof, then, and the light at her horn spread out to cover her head in the distinctive helm. The light settled around her chest, formed into a breastplate. Around her hooves, forming into the distinctive boots. Along her flanks, turning into the skirts of her uniform. And then the rising sun cutie mark flashed, and settled into the center of the breastplate, before Morning Glory settled back down to the ground, her wings spread, her head low, and a fierce, ready grin on her face.

We ready for this?

We better be.

The correct answer, Doc, is 'YEAH!'

Morning Glory's flight was much faster, the air whipping across her face, bannering her mane and tail behind her as she hurtled across the sky.  Every so often she drew out the map Captain Nightguard had given her and compared it against the landmarks around her... but it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.  There were a lot of mountain tops in the range, but this one was distinctive.  From Bravado's brief research, she knew that the Dragon's Maw had once held a vast cavern inside - remnant of some lost Diamond Dog civilization.  They'd dug out too much for their cavern, though, and the roof and peak had collapsed in, turning the tallest peak into a ruined mesa.  The rear of the cavern and remnant shards of the walls remained, making a jagged outline along two edges leading towards the raised rear of the mountain, resulting in its new name.  The mountaintop looked like the lower jaw of some massive, giant fanged beast.

The sun was getting low over the horizon, but plenty of time... even with the massive storm that was whirling around the mountain, and only around the mountain.  The encyclopedia had also mentioned that - this had been where the Night Guard had done their endurance training for new recruits, where they separated the cumulus from the storm clouds.  The sun never shone on Dragon's Maw.  She pushed through the streaming rain without concern, the heavy rain rattling against her breastplate so loud she started to wonder if it had begun hailing without her noticing.  She arrowed down to land, dripping wet, among the only dimly seen buildings she could see in this dismal weather, the rain still rattling against her armor like some sort of alarm bell letting them know she had arrived.