A Whole New World

8th Autumn's Dawn

"Get a move on, Emerald!"

Ironhoof called to us from the top of the hill. Wingfleet might have been our commanding officer, but it was the Commander who was primarily in charge of our training. At the moment, we were running up a steep hill towards him, aiming for a metal flagpole that stood next to him. I was wearing a thin t-shirt and shorts that had been issued by the barracks, though I was still wearing my boots, which scraped uncomfortably on my ankles.

Every morning so far had been like this. Get up at six in the morning for an early breakfast, before getting into our PT gear for morning exercise. Ironhoof almost seemed to enjoy watching the recruits groan in pain as they finished their push-ups. After that it was a 'good old-fashioned morning stroll'. The stroll in question involved running a mile and a half up this hill we were now ascending, before running back down.

I paused for a moment to look behind me. My squad was in the lead, with the others some distance behind. There were four other squads that were training alongside us, each of them named after a precious stone, like us. There was Ruby, Sapphire, Onyx and Diamond Squad, and each of them held a rivalry towards us and each other. This rivalry wasn't just born from competition; there were rumours of some sort of prize for whichever squad performed the best. Needless to say, it made each of the squads more enthusiastic about their training.

I heard Ironhoof shout again, "Lieutenant Jones, why are you stopping?"

"Sorry sir," I faced back up the hill and led my squad toward the flagpole. Upon reaching it, I looped round it and paused to let everyone else catch up.

"Come on Emerald, you're doing great! We're in first place, and it's downhill from now on," I imagined Ironhoof was glaring at me, but I ignored it as I motivated my team. Steel Sword came first, his head held high as he focused on his objective. He circled the pole and started to canter back down the path. Thunderlane and Rumble came next, supporting each other and giving me tired grins as they passed. Shadow Breeze was last. His face was drenched in sweat, and he looked ready to collapse.

"Great work Shadow, the hardest part's over now!" As he circled the pole, I fell in beside him and we both descended the hill.

"I... This is..." Shadow panted, trying to find space to let out his words between breaths.

"Don't try to talk," I said. Fatigue was now just a memory to me as I looked down at him, feeling guilty for my unfair advantage, "Just focus on breathing."

He didn't reply. He simply nodded and focused on the path, trying his best to avoid the roots that stuck out of the ground as we passed through the forest. One of the other squads had learned the hard way to watch out for them. Two days earlier, an earth pony from Ruby Squad had tried to muscle past us on the way back down the hill. His hoof caught on one of the roots, and spent the rest of the day walking around with a painful limp. He didn't get much sympathy from Ironhoof, who yelled at him for letting his team down.

The downhill incline gave us additional speed, and ten minutes later, I saw the rest of my team slowing down to let us catch up. I smiled at this. Despite them still being in training, they already understood that a team needed to stick together. The trees disappeared as we left the forest, leading out into a clearing, where I could see Captain Wingfleet waiting for us with a timer.

"We're almost there guys. One last push!" I started to run faster, and the rest of the team followed suit, breaking into a gallop. Even Shadow managed to grit his teeth and muscle on, overtaking the brothers as we crossed the finish line. As he came to a stop, his legs finally gave out and he collapsed on his side, letting the morning dew cool his body.

I heard Wingfleet click to timer he was holding, "27 minutes and 45 seconds. Not as good as yesterday, but you're still first. Go and get yourselves cleaned up, you'll be learning CQB and communications today. Be back here in two hours. "

"Yes sir," I turned to the four pegasi and helped Shadow off the ground, "Fantastic work Emerald! Come on, there's showers and cool drinks waiting at our dorm." The ponies could only smile and nod at the thought of such luxuries.

We got back to our dorm and I threw off my PT gear. I wasn't self-conscious anymore about not wearing clothes, even in the presence of four ponies. The same thing happened when I would go on two-week trips to army bases with the cadets back on Earth. Spending so much time around people - or ponies - that I would be sleeping, eating, and training with tends to make you forget being concerned about your appearance around them.

"I got dibs on the shower," Rumble shouted, grabbing his towel and heading for the door.

I stopped him, "No, Shadow did the best, he's earned it."

"What?!" Rumble was about to protest, but Thunderlane put a hoof on his shoulder, and he sighed, "Fine, just don't take forever, Mr. Explorer."

I watched Shadow leave, and frowned at Rumble's nickname for him. It had started on the second day of training. As it turned out, Tunderlane and Rumble were both avid fans of a fictional superhero called Mare-Do-Well. From the sounds of it, she was an Equestrian Batman, guarding the streets of Manehatten from criminals and protecting the innocent. Shadow had different opinions, more interested in the adventurer and explorer, Daring Do, their equivalent of Indiana Jones.

Inevitably, this had led to a clash between them as they argued who was better. Thunderlane, being older than Rumble, was smart enough not to get involved, but Rumble was bent on defending the honour of Mare-Do-Well. I almost had to break up a fight at one point.

After our showers, I picked up my rifle and we left to go back outside for CQB training. I had made a habit of taking the rifle with me as much as I could. Call me paranoid, but I wanted to keep an eye on it at all times. I had even taken a strip of cloth and used it as a sling to keep my hands free.

We all went round into the field we had just finished the run from to see the other squads forming up around Wingfleet. I saw Onyx Squad appear behind us, and took a moment to look at them. It was strange; Emerald Squad was the only team with only one type of pony.

We arrived in front of Wingfleet, and I could see some of the other ponies getting ready for the lesson. Two ponies from Sapphire were even starting to spar.

"Cut that out you two," Wingfleet said to the recruits, "There will be plenty of time to fight during the lesson."

He instructed us to form a circle around him, and took a volunteer to show us some basic moves. Most of them involved self-defence, such as getting out of a choke-hold, or how to make someone tap out quickly. After he was finished, he let his volunteer return to the crowd, who gladly accepted while rubbing his aching foreleg where Wingfleet had twisted it.

"Ok, new partner," he eyed the crowd, "Jones, you just volunteered."

"Yes sir," I set my rifle down and walked out into the centre of the circle and faced the Captain. What he did next surprised me.

He pushed up from his forelegs and balanced himself on his hind legs, making him almost as tall as me, "How much do you know about hoof-to-hoof combat, Lieutenant?"

"A decent amount. I took some self-defence classes back home."

"Good," he took a step towards me and jabbed at my face. I assumed he was taking it slow, as I managed to dodge easily.

Still balanced on two legs, Wingfleet turned to the crowd, "Sometimes, you're going to have to get into a hoof-fight. Now, normally, your first reaction would be to simply buck them, right? It's not always the best choice though, as it's slow and you take your eyes off your opponent. If you can learn to balance like this, it gives you two spare hooves to fight with, as well as a height advantage."

He turned back to me and swung his right hoof at my face again, faster this time. I dodged, but I was off balance as he attacked again with his left. I only just managed to block it, but he came back in with his right and caught me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

While I recovered, Wingfleet dropped onto his hooves, "Now that the demonstrations have been concluded, I want you to practice these moves with your squads. It's important that you learn how to stand on two legs as soon as possible. Remember, this is simple sparring only! I don't want to see any blood."

My team then took it in turns to spar with each other, practicing the choke-holds and grabs. Despite fighting ponies, a lot of this felt familiar, and I quickly managed to get the hang of things, taking to standing on the sidelines giving pointers to my squadmates.

After half an hour of drills, I saw Shadow get knocked on the floor by Rumble with a hit that seemed too hard to be simple sparring. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Shadow clutch his side and groan in pain. Wingfleet had seen it too.

"Lieutenant, get your squad under control!" He shouted from across the field.

I didn't need telling. I grabbed Rumble and pushed him back, standing between him and Shadow, "Is this because of those bloody story characters again?"

Rumble didn't reply, but continued to look past me at Shadow. His silence was enough to answer my question, "You two behave like a pair of children sometimes! Tunderlane, you're sparring with your brother. Shadow, can you still participate?" He nodded, "Good, you'll be with me and Steel. I DON'T want to see this happen again!" I was fair to my squad most of the time, but like with any group, there were times I had to be assertive. Sometimes it's the only way you learn.

Shadow looked a little winded, but still fought well as we restarted our session. He even managed to get a few hits on Steel, who was more than happy to respond in kind. I looked around at the rest of the squads, seeing how they were doing with their new bipedal postures. Diamond and Ruby had almost perfected it, Onyx were starting to get the hang of it, while Sapphire had paused on the fighting to get the hang of it.

As I sparred with Steel and Shadow, I saw Commander Ironhoof walk out onto the field and begin talking in a hushed voice with Wingfleet. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I could see Wingfleet face become one of concern as his lips moved. A few seconds later, his expression became one of acceptance as I saw him say, "Yes sir."

He and Ironhoof walked over to the five squads, and Ironhoof announced his presence.

"Alright fillies," he shouted, "I've been watching you spar, and I have to say I'm not impressed. Do you think your opponent will simply take it lying down. If you come across a threat, you neutralise it, and so far I haven't seen a lot of that. I think it's time some of you experienced losing some blood."

I instantly knew what was coming as I saw Ironhoof's eyes make contact with mine. There was something about me that made him hate me with a rare passion, "Lieutenant Jones, you will enter the ring with Guardsman Arcane."

I walked into the centre of the circle and watched a large unicorn join me. He was from Diamond Squad, with a sky blue coat and an electric purple mane that seemed to pulse in the light. He came up to my shoulder on all fours, and was easily the tallest pony in training. He gave me an evil grin as he approached; Emerald and Diamond Squad had seemed to form one of the stronger rivalries, and the rest of his team was egging him on as he stood on his hind legs, giving him a distinct height advantage over me.

I looked over at my squad. Shadow looked a little nervous, Steel had a small smile appearing on his usually neutral face, and Tunderlane and Rumble were clapping their hooves together at me. No doubt they had already made a bet over who would win.

Wingfleet stood between us, preparing to start the match, but me and Arcane were both looking straight past him, staring into each other's eyes. I was only vaguely listening to Wingfleet's words as he counted us down. When he reached zero, he jumped out of our way and Arcane immediately threw a hoof at me. It was a predictable move, as I ducked under it and launched a left cross into his stomach. I had put a human on the floor before with that move, but Arcane seemed to shrug it off as he punched again and forced me to take a step back.

The unicorn advanced, throwing his hooves forward without pausing. I did my best to block them, but eventually one of his hooks got through, slamming into my cheek and sending me sideways. My vision blurred, and I put a hand out to keep my balance. My mind was racing as I returned to the centre of the ring. I had speed and agility over his bulky frame, but when he hit, it bloody hurt.

I shook my head and looked back at Arcane. The evil grin had returned, and he tried to hit me again with the same move. Expecting it, I ducked again and moved to the side, bringing my leg into his midsection. It hit harder than my fist, and he bent forward from the impact. I took advantage of his lowered form, and gave him a hook of my own. It hit his jaw, and he fell forward onto his forelegs. There was an, "Ooooh," from someone in the crowd, and I heard Emerald cheering at my temporary victory.

This carried on for another five minutes of solid fighting. Arcane would throw a few hard-hitters, whilst I would attack with faster, but weaker punches. With our advantages, it had become a fairly even fight, with neither of us showing signs of stopping.

That all changed after the sixth minute. I held my fists in front of my face, preparing for another onslaught from Arcane, when I saw something move towards my face out of the corner of my eye. I instinctively moved to stop it, and Arcane noticed this, using my distraction as an opportunity to swing his right hoof at me. It connected with my jaw, and my head twisted from the force. I fell to the floor, and I heard a cheer come from the general direction of Diamond Squad, while everywhere else was quiet. The cheer was silenced as Wingfleet's voice became louder. I was disorientated from the hit, but I could make out a few words, including 'stone' and 'distraction', and I assumed that someone had thrown something to divert my attention from my opponent.

I slowly lifted myself up with my arms, and I felt several hooves support my body. My vision returned, and I saw Emerald Squad surrounding me, each of them with a look of concern on their face.

"You ok Dutch?" Shadow asked. I tasted iron in my mouth, and I spat out a ball of blood from where I had bitten my tongue.

"Lieutenant Jones, are you alright?" Wingfleet said as he trotted over to me. I stood up shakily and stretched my neck to get rid of the pain from the sudden twist.

"Yeah, I can still fight," I looked over at Arcane, Wingfleet's words drowning out as he began to say that I needed to stop. I'm not going down now. If Ironhoof wanted to prove something, he's got another thing coming. I began to think up ideas of how I could win. One thought stood out from the others. It was high-risk, but if it worked, it would also be high-reward.

"...you have to go to the medical wing," Wingfleet voiced became audible as I returned to reality.

I looked down at him, "With all due respect sir, I'd like to finish this. Besides..." I looked back over at Arcane, who was giving his squadmate at hoof-bump, "...he owes me."

Wingfleet sighed, "If you're sure. I can't stop a human if I know nothing about their physical capabilities."

"Thank you sir."

He returned to the side of the ring, as did Emerald Squad. Just before they left however, I stopped Thunderlane and Rumble.

"Hey guys, can I borrow your bit for a second?"

"Uh, sure." Thunderlane said, confusion evident in his voice. He reached into a pocket and handed over the small gold coin.

"Thanks. I'll give it back to whoever bet I would win," I gave them a wink and approached Arcane, the bit hidden in my hand.

"Back for more, eh freak?" Arcane asked with a smug grin on his face.

"It's not over until it's over, pal," I brought my clenched fists up, and waited for Arcane to attack. He kept his smile as he stood on his hind legs again and made his way over to me. I watched his hooves as he got closer, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

He brought his hoof back to punch, and I threw my plan into action. I flicked my wrist and tossed the bit at Arcane's face. His eyes closed automatically from the foreign object heading for his face, but his hoof was still coming forward, thrown off by his self-induced blindness. I grabbed his hoof and pulled him down, giving a cross into his cheek. Before he could get back up, I cupped my hands and brought them onto his ears. The attack would leave them ringing from the sudden change in air pressure and noise. He folded them against his head and reeled back out of my grip, coming back in with a wild hook. I easily dodged it, and brought my foot up between his legs. He cried in pain from the impact, and bent forward again. I followed with two mean hooks, and an uppercut that created a sharp, cracking noise in his jaw and lifted him back up again, leaving his torso exposed. I stepped forward and delivered a final kick to his stomach, knocking him backwards onto the dirt.

Arcane lay there, groaning in pain as the entire field went silent. I looked round at the recruits' shocked faces, allowing myself a small feeling of satisfaction to dull the pain in my jaw, before leaning down and picking a small piece of gold off the ground, wiping off a smear of mud on it. I walked back over to Emerald Squad, who looked as surprised as everyone else, and passed the coin back to the brothers.

"I think this belongs to one of you," Rumble took it and stared at the bit for a few seconds, before handing it over to Thunderlane. I gave a small laugh as I picked up my rifle.

"Alright," I heard Wingfleet's voice behind me, "That's enough sparring for today, you're dismissed. Return to your dorms and get ready for communication training. Diamond, get your squadmate to the medical wing."

The entire squad was silent as we returned to the barracks. As I walked, I saw Ironhoof off to one side, giving me the same glare that he usually reserved for me. Upon reaching the dorm, I fell onto my bed and let out a long sigh, still surprised that my plan had actually worked.

Finally, Shadow was the first to break the silence, stepping out of his usually quiet demeanor and saying, "That was bucking awesome!"

This seemed to wake up the others. Thunderlane slapped me on the back, while Rumble apologised for his bet, saying he would never doubt my fighting abilities again. Steel remained quiet, sat on his bed, before saying, "How did you do that?"

"Improvisation," I simply said, grinning despite the pain it created in my jaw, "That and a huge heap of good luck for once."

"Man, I can't wait to see the look on Arcane's face the next time he sees you," Thunderlane said, "If we had alcohol, I'd totally suggest we party over this."

Half an hour later, Emerald Squad was stood in one of the many rooms of Canterlot Castle. The room was fairly large, with a length of about a hundred metres, long enough for whatever type of communication we would be doing. The other four squads would probably be in rooms like this, waiting for the same training. As we waited, I rubbed the spot where Arcane had hit me. The skin was already starting to turn purple, and I was lucky nothing was broken. I was surprised when I found out I had cracked Arcane's jaw in my own attack.

I heard the door open, and Wingfleet, Bright Skies and another pony entered the long room. He was a unicorn, with a brown coat and a cutie mark of what looked like a tranverse wave.

"Recruits, this is High Frequency, one of our communications specialists," Wingfleet said, gesturing at the unicorn, "He'll be teaching you how to communicate between your squadmates over long distances."

I had been curious as to how this was managed. I hadn't seen any signs of modern radio systems, and the sight of High Frequency's horn made me suspect it involved magic.

"Right," Frequency said, "Before I start, I should warn you, I'm going to have to cast a spell on each of you. This spell has a permanent effect, so you mustn't take this decision lightly."

After a brief silence, we all nodded. We were already into our training, and none of us wanted to back out now. Frequency instructed us to approach him one by one. I was last in line, and I watched as he placed his horn against the forehead of each of the ponies, followed by a brief glow. When my turn came, I kneeled down and felt the tip of the horn touch my head. I instantly sensed a buzz move through my brain, and it left my skull tingling as I stood up.

"Did it work?" Shadow asked, "What happens now?"

"Simple," Frequency said, "Think something, but imagine saying it out loud."

We were all skeptical as to whether it would work or not, until a loud voice echoed in my head which sounded unusually similar to Rumble.

"Pickles and broccoli!"

We all looked over at Rumble, who was wearing the same look of surprise as the rest of us. It seemed that even Frequency and the officers had heard him.

"I... I swear I wasn't expecting it to work the first time."

I stifled a laugh and tried this new enchantment myself, "Testing one, two. You guys hearing this?"

"Got you loud and clear Lieutenant," the female voice of Bright Skies sounded through my head as she looked at me. It was disconcerting hearing voices in my head without seeing their lips move, but I knew it would be important as a soldier.

"Jones, Steel, I want you to head to the other end of this room and practice the communication enchantment with your squad," Wingfleet said, "We'll be back in one hour to view your progress." With that, he, Bright Skies and High Frequency left the room.

"Alright, let's get started," I reached the wall on the far side of the room and turned to Shadow, Thunderlane and Rumble, "Can you lot still hear me?"

"Yep," Thunderlane thought to us, "This is easier than I thought it would be."

At this point, we heard a sing-song voice enter our heads, "I am the very model of a scientist Equestrian, a dee de da deedeedee... you can all hear that can't you?" Rumble's voice, despite being in our heads, sounded nervous.

"We certainly can Pavatrotti." Shadow's voice this time, and I could hear faint laughter from the other end of the room.

"Just make sure you think what you want and not some random thought." Steel thought, and I could imagine Rumble blushing from embarassment.

We practiced telepathic communication, finding few problems after we managed to seperate our own thoughts from those we wanted to broadcast. This new ability almost seemed fun, and we managed to make a lot of progress in the brief hour we had been given. I was curious as to whether I could communicate with my friends in Ponyville, but I would only find that out after training.

Quick question, are you guys ok with the frequency of chapters? I feel like I'm letting you down when there's five days between chapters.