16. Rainbow Dash II

Rainbow Dash

Originally, she assumed the training will be like The Wonderbolts Academy. In certain ways it was. She stood in line along with other ponies, bat ponies, and even a few griffins. Applejack stood in line with her as well. There were probably more than twenty recruits, including her and AJ. In the academy, she was without a doubt one of the best fliers. Unlike the academy, the training would be entirely different. Especially considering that they fight using weapons. Rainbow Dash herself has very little experience with weaponry, so this will be new to her.

It surprised her that she would be enlisted, along with her friend this fast. The reason for it was for trying to spy on the organization, sadly. She wished it would have been under different circumstances, and all of this could have been prevented had they not have tried to spy. Because of this, she and Applejack are likely to get a bad rep.

It was early in the morning when they woke up. Dash was not fond of waking up early--unless it's for Sweet Apple Acres apple cider--but she knew she had to get used to it. All of the recruits woke up from the blaring of a trumpet. And by the tired looks on their faces, they didn't appreciate it either. They were told to wait outside their dorms and in line with the others, for the sergeant. It was from then on, she wouldn't know what to expect.

"Psst! Applejack!" She whispered.

"What is it?" Her friend replied.

"How long do you think it'll be 'til the sergeant comes?"

"Who knows?" One of the recruits said, "Maybe he grabbed himself a cup o' Joe or somethin'."

"Quiet!" another one hissed.

They all heard a door slam open, at the end of the hall. Before them appeared a bulky greenish brown stallion. His buzz-cut mane was a lighter shade of his coat color, and he had visible scars across his shoulders. His eyes were a dull red, which made his glare all the more menacing. His grimace sent a sudden chill up her spine. Spitfire was tough mare in the academy, but she didn't look as fierce as this guy did.

"ATTENTION, MAGGOTS!!!" The sergeant shouted. Everypony and griffin stood stiff.

"Sir, yes sir!" They all muttered fearfully.

"I can't hear you!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!" All of them shouted.

"Seein' now that I have your attention, you can introduce yourselves!" As a pony was about to speak, he stopped him dead in his tracks, "DON'T SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO, YA HEAR?!!!"

He's WAY worse then I thought! She thought, scared.

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" the pony whimpered.

The sergeant made a toothy grin, every tooth yellow and crooked. "Ha!" He laughed, "Get's 'em every time."

He made his way to the end of the hall, starting from there. He seemed pretty ruthless, more so than any officer in the Wonderbolts. She heard each and every name from them; Sky Note, Obsidia, Astraeus, Fire Flash, Winterlily, Kynthia, Evenstar, Night Spell, Crius, and others she forgot the instant she heard them. She didn't remember what they said about themselves, all she remembered was the torrents of insults or taunts that came from the sergeant.

"With a pansy name like that," He ranted on one of them, "your enemies will be itching to carve more than a reputation outta your miserable excuse for a flank! They'll gut ya faster than you can sing 'Winter Wrap Up'! Even your fellow soldiers won't respect a stallion who's name is Fancy Shine!"

A few ponies snickered when they heard his name. He wasn't just intimidating, he was just plain mean! She now felt pity on the stallion. She didn't dare try to look, for fear the sarge would notice. She didn't normally cower, but this wasn't the time or place to take a stand. It was bad enough her and Applejack would get a bad rep, she didn't want to bring it up.

"You! Cowgirl!" It was Applejack he spoke to. "What's your name?"

"Applejack, sir!" Her friend answered, gingerly.

"Applejack, eh? I've heard a lot about you. You're from Sweet Apple Acres. You're a hard working mare, doin' chores on that farm of yours. Is that right?"

"Well, yes sir."

"And I also know that you and a rainbow maned mare, tried to spy on the Equestrian Universal Defense! An act that will get you no respect what so EVER!!! You and your friend are lucky to even be enlisted at all! You're also lucky that you're friends with a Princess Twilight; best friends at that! As far as we know, she doesn't seem to trust us very much! Which makes us MAJORLY disappointed! And I don't like disappointments. So you better be worth the trouble! Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" The tone in the orange mare's voice, was filled with guilt.

He went over to her now, straight up in her face. "And I don't think I even NEED your introduction, Rainbow mane! You're with Cowgirl here! From what I remember, you're a Wonderbolts reserve, am I right?"

"Yes, sir!" She needed to remain confident. She was being pelted with spit, and can smell his foul smelling breath.

"And if you ever dreamed of being Wonderbolt," He continued to mock, "then consider your dreams DEAD! DEAD AND GONE!!! You, are one of us now, Rainbow mane! Those pansy Wonderbolts are just street acts, compared to us! This organization doesn't deal with fancy shmancy flying tricks! We are an organization who deals with great potential threats, who'll feast on the Wonderbolts, chew 'em up, spit 'em out, wash rinse repeat!"

He's making fun of the Wonderbolts! She thought furiously, How dare you make a joke of them, ya jerk! She wanted to say that to his face, but couldn't.

"We're not gonna turn you into flimsy flight performers! We're gonna turn you into NATURAL BORN KILLERS!!! Leave no enemy unscathed, no enemy unbeaten or unbroken! Once you've finished every training known to pony--and griffin--YOU'LL BE AS RU--

"Ahem! Mr. Method?"

Everypony and griffin turned to the end of the hall when they heard another stallion's voice. Before them, they witnessed a very dark coated unicorn stallion. His mane was long and flowing, pale white in color, and his eyes were a dark purple. The closer he came to the bulky stallion, the better she was able to see his cutie mark; a moon and spear. He gazed at the stallion, not amused.

"I think we have seen enough, already." He was not intimidated by him at all.

The sergeant frowned. "But I didn't even get to finish!" It shocked her to hear a high, thin voice, come out of a freaky looking stallion. He then turned back glumly, and trotted off.

"What the hay?" somepony shouted.

"Ahem! If I may have your attention?" When he spoke, everypony and griffin was dead silent. "Thank you. I am Moonshadow. Now, what you just witnessed was actually a test."

"A test?!" Rainbow Dash blurted, "Are you kidding me?!" The others around her murmured their thoughts.

"Ahem!" At once, they were silent again. "The test was to show a demonstration of what we will not do. Mr. Method is an actor we hired, to show you the kind of military training Celestia's Army goes through. We however, are not like that at all. We have some harsh trainers, but they shouldn't give you too much of a hard time, I think."

Everypony and griffin looked at each other, confused. Most of them seemed a little concerned by this, yet she didn't blame them. Even Applejack was puzzled. Moonshadow walked to the other side of the hall. There was an interesting sense of dignity to him. They way he went about it, seemed rather casual, like he's done this all before.

"Come," He ushered them to the end of the hall, "Let us begin your real training."

Without a moment's notice, every pony and griffin lined up behind him, single file. Applejack was behind her. Turning back, she noticed several of the recruits were nervous. Applejack didn't seem quite as nervous, however. It reminded Rainbow that she herself, must show the same level of determination.

It took some time, but they made it. Moonshadow had led them into a dojo-like area, only bigger. Placed about, were several different objects, indicating they were training exercises. Most of them very unusual, others practical. All of the practices at the Wonderbolts Academy, were very different than these exercises. The only other pony--aside from Moonshadow and the recruits--was bucking a punching bag in the corner.

"Stern Hammer!" He called to him.

The pony heard him, and trotted quickly towards them. It was a stallion who was rather short in stature. His coat was a burnt orange, his dark brown mane and moustache a tangled mess. His cutie mark was a hammer hitting an anvil. Even though he's short, he's also stout as well. He seemed to have a rather cheery demeanor.

"Moonshadow! How's it goin'?" He said in a deep, thick accent.

"Everypony and griffin, this is Stern Hammer." Moonshadow introduced him, "He is an impeccable blacksmith, and trainer. I know he's not a very big pony, but Stern is a great instructor, and will be teaching you everything you need to know. Trust in his advice, however strange his instructions may be."

"Strange yes," the short stallion admitted, "but vital! You must breath in every word I give you, for it will be most important in sticky situation! When I teach you, you will go from meek, puny, insignificant foal, into a STRONG and tough warrior! You will be the hammer to your enemy's nail! You will CRUSH mountains, level forests, and make seas tremble in fear of your mightiness!"

"He's pretty eccentric, isn't he?" A grey mare commented, amused.

She must have been Obsidia. Her coat was grey in color, her long straight mane and tail was a darker shade of grey. She had very dark eyes as well. Her cutie mark was an obsidian arrow, much like her namesake. In a strange way she reminded her of Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie's older sister. The major difference being her appearance and emotions. Maud was much more off compared to her. Then again, Maud did destroy a whole boulder to save her sister's life one time. Could this pony have similar strength to her? Probably not.

"Eccentric, yes," Moonshadow agreed, "but professional nonetheless."

"Thank you, Moonshadow! I'll make them strong, for the defense!"

Without another word, the recruits were left with the short, stout stallion. She watched him exit the dojo. For some strange reason, she hoped to see that bat pony, Blackblade, again. He saved Scootaloo's life, so that could be one reason. She wished she'd thanked him for it when they got out of Scootaloo's burning house, as well as for killing that murderer. She tasted bile just thinking about the murderous monster.

He's dead, Dashie, She told herself, he won't hurt anypony anymore.

"And NOW!" Stern Hammer announced, stopping her train of thought, "We begin!"

"Wait, now?" She heard a lavender stallion whimper. The cowardly stallion might have been Fancy Shine.

"Yes!" He pointed at the nearest obstacle course. "You see that coarse there? Yes, good. This coarse is easy peasy; a little foal could do it."

The course started with a track, with hurdles to ramp up the difficulty. To her and Applejack, it would be very easy. The track was fully round, the turns sharp and precise. On the outer sides of the track, were large round metallic plates. All they had to do was run through the track, and jump over the hurdles however many times the trainer tells them to. She figured this would be the first course. It didn't look like it would offer much of a challenge to her, or even to Applejack. Most of the recruits scoffed and laughed.

"I can see why!" a male charcoal colored griffon mocked, "This'll be way too easy!"

Everypony and griffin lined up at the starting point. The lavender stallion still looked pretty nervous, taking quick breaths. His light purple mane was short, and kept neat and tidy. His cutie mark was a gleaming horseshoe, and was very shiny. Next to him, a dark red earth pony stallion with a flashy orange and yellow mane, jogged in place. His cutie mark was a soccer ball on fire. He was muttering something under his breath, but it was too hard to understand what he was saying. The grey mare, Obsidia seemed bored by all of this. A pale light blue unicorn mare, stretched out her legs, preparing herself.

"Here are the rules," The short trainer announced and started listing, "First rule: NO flying! It is against purpose to flying over these obstacles! The point is, of course, to run it. Second rule: DO NOT push or shove! This is not race! Do best to encourage your fellow recruits. And third, final rule: There are NO losers or winners! Like I said, it is not competition."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash said with confidence. The other recruits said the same.

"Oh, and one more thing... As you run, you will be pelted by large rubber balls."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Everypony and griffin exclaimed in confusion.

The large round plates on the outer sides of the track, rose to reveal launchers of some kind; their barrels were very round and wide. They each pivoted from side to side. One of them shot out a ball like a projectile so fast, she could barely see the ball itself. It ricocheted off the walls, off the ceiling and off the walls again. The ball eventually bounced to a complete stop. She turned to the other recruits, their eyes wide with surprise and concern.

Okay. You can do this, Rainbow Dash! she encouraged herself, This will be easy... I think.

Stern Hammer stood against the wall with a sense of pride. He held a whistle in his hoof. "When you hear this, you go! Simple."

She got herself into position, as soon as he started counting to ten. At first they scoffed at the course, now they are all nervous. What was she thinking? She's Rainbow Dash! She can handle this course. Whether or not anypony else could, she wasn't sure. She turned to Applejack beside her, she seemed pretty determined but nervous at the same time. Once the whistle finally blew, they ran on the track. The launchers were firing rubber balls like gattlings.

"Whoa, nelly!" Applejack shouted, "These balls are fly'n faster than a swarm o' angry bees!"

"This is so bad!" The lavender stallion wailed. "So very bad!"

When they were finished, every recruit was without a doubt exhausted, panting heavily. Most of them probably did over a hundred laps on the track, a lot of them were covered in scrapes and bruises from being pelted by rubber balls. Even the griffins had some marks of their own. Rainbow Dash's bruises are nothing to sneeze at, and yet Applejack of all ponies came out with the least amount of injuries.

"Very good, very good!" Stern Hammer clapped his hooves joyously in his spot. "I am pleased to see nopony or griffin suffered from any major injuries. Usually, a pony or two would suffer serious head trauma."

"Wow, seriously?!" The dark red stallion said, surprised. "Well, consider that an achievement for the fastest pony on land: Me! The almighty Fire Flash!" He struck a triumphant pose.

"I think somepony already suffers from that." Obsidia commented flatly. A few recruits snickered at that.

The lavender stallion was panting more heavily than the others, "Oh my gosh! I never ran this much in my life!" He took a few breaths in between sentences, "So many balls! Why?!"

Stern went over to them. "The point of this course, is to become fully focused, aware of surroundings. Most members are faced with unpredictable and unexpected situations. Whether it be boring, exciting, or revolve around things trying to maim and kill you. These obstacles are representation of those situations."

"Yeah, guess that makes sense." Rainbow Dash said aloud. She didn't think there would be some metaphoric reasoning behind them getting hits with balls, but she went along with it.

"Now, seeing as you are exhausted, rest for at least a few minutes. There's LOT of work to be done!"

The short trainer walked over to the same corner and waited. As everypony rested, Rainbow Dash went over to Applejack who sat down an a bench nearby fanning herself with her hat; she was sweating profusely. She plopped down next to her, also wanting the brief satisfaction of sitting down and resting her tired hooves. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, as it would irritate her if it didn't. It felt great to take a breather and rest for a bit. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the dark red stallion, Fire Flash, trotting towards them. His brown eyes gleaming with pride.

"S'up?" He greeted, "I've seen many mares in my lifetime, but I've never seen a mare run like that before!"

"Um... Thanks?" Applejack answered, at first unsure of what to make of his compliment.

At first it seemed hard to discern who he was talking to. But it of course became clear he was trying to flirt with Applejack. Rainbow was stifling a laugh at the stallion's attempts to woo her. Applejack's face changed from an uncertain look to an annoyed one, the more he spoke highly of himself.

"--nd as the ball came zooming towards me, WHOOSH!" He told AJ, exuberantly, "Nearly grazed my luxurious mane, but I avoided it! It was sure one hay of a game of soccer, I'll tell ya!"

"Ah bet it was." Applejack seemed like she was trying her best to be polite. "Ah think Ah've had enough rest. Who knows what we're doin' next!"

"Alright then. If you need a super awesome pony to talk to, I won't be far, sugercube." He then added nonchalantly. After that, he trotted off to another recruit.

Rainbow Dash couldn't take it anymore, she had to laugh. "He called you sugercube!" She guffawed. She had been laughing so hard, she rolled off the bench and onto the hard smooth floor beneath her. It hurt a little, but it did not stop her enjoyment.

Applejack on the other hoof, was not amused. "Cut it out! It's not that funny!"

"Yeah," She wiped a tear from her eye, "but come on, AJ! You gotta admit, the fact that he was trying to flirt with you, is hilarious! Next, he'll probably ask you to be his marefriend!"

"Ah certainly hope not!" Applejack said irritably, "That guy's got an ego as big as yours!"

"Wha-?" She took slight offense to that. "I don't have that big of an ego!"

"Right." she made it clear she didn't believe her.

"Okay!" She heard Stern Hammer call to them, "Break time's over!"

Everypony and griffin rushed to the trainer's voice. Rainbow Dash got up from where she fell, and followed them. Applejack did the same. A pale light blue unicorn mare came up to her side as she followed them. The mare's mane was a lighter shade of blue with white highlights, and cut cropped to her chin. Her tail was kept slightly longer than her mane. The mare turned to her with light green eyes, which contrasts her icy appearance.

"Hi there!" The mare greeted excitedly, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Winterlily. What's your name?"

"Rainbow Dash." She answered simply.

"Oh! So your Rainbow Dash! That makes so much sense, given your mane is rainbow colored, your tail is rainbow colored. Ha!" The excitable mare exclaimed when she looked at her cutie mark, "Even your cutie mark is rainbow colored! That's just absolutely, positively, amazing! Mine's a lily. And considering I was born in the winter time, my parents named me Winterlily! Which was kind of a coincidence how my cutie mark ended up being a lily--"

Wow. she thought, slightly annoyed, She's more of a talker than Pinkie Pie. And that takes a lot of effort.

The unicorn continued rambling for probably two more minutes, up until she was shushed by one of the recruits. After that, the chatty mare didn't utter a word, a happy smile still across her face. She turned her attention to the trainer, who was presenting them with another test. This one wasn't an obstacle course though, but rather a weight lifting bench. It was simple enough. The metallic bar was long, and most likely weighty. There were two large weight disks (or plates) on each end, each disk probably weighing fifty pounds. The reason she figured, was because she saw the imprints on the disks telling how much it weighs.

"Now this one is very simple." He must have known that he didn't need much explaining, "'should't take an imbecile to figure out the object of this exercise, no? Let's see how many reps one could take."

"Are we going to be pelted with balls?!" The lavender stallion asked timidly. "I don't like those balls!"

"No." The short trainer reassured, "You won't be pelted by balls."

"Phew!" The stallion sighed in relief.

"This time, should you have trouble, you must rely on somepony to help you. For this, each pony and griffin must have what is called: a spotter. While one pony or griffin is lifting the dumbbell, the spotter makes sure nothing bad happens to him or her. This is simply an act of teamwork, and should NEVER be done alone! Teamwork is very vital here. If the spotter does not do job, very bad things can happen!"

The lavender stallion gulped noisily at that, sudden fear showing in his heliotrope eyes. Once again, her and Applejack could definitely handle this with no problem. But she wasn't sure who the trainer will decide to pick as the lifter or spotter. With both disks, the dumbbell would probably weigh more than a hundred pounds, plus the extra weight of the bar. Not many ponies could lift a hundred pounds easily.

"That dumbbell is over a hundred pounds!" She pointed out. "How do you expect everypony to lift that?"

"Simple," He told her, "Just take heavy disks off, and put on lighter ones."

"Oh... right." Rainbow Dash didn't think about that. Now I feel really stupid.

A few ponies snickered, including Obsidia who mocked her saying: "Of course! How can anypony not know that?"

"I did!" She defended herself, "Besides, I can lift more than a hundred pounds, no problem!"

"Very well." Stern Hammer went over to her, "You can be first."

It was there when she started to question her actions. She has made a number mistakes she didn't even want to remember. She should have said that she was worried about the recruits, who couldn't lift that much. Not that she knew whether or not they could, but still. Rainbow went towards the bench, feeling bad for opening her mouth. She lied down on the bench, the dumbbell over her neck. Being hesitant would only make her look weak, even though she's not. She was a confident pony, she won't back down.

"Wait!" Stern stopped her before she could lift the dumbbell, "You need a spotter. Any volunteers?"

She saw Applejack come up, "Ah shucks, Ah'll do it!" the country mare went behind the bench as the spotter.

At least it's AJ, she told herself, and not somepony who'd like to see me injured.

Rainbow Dash curled her hooves to grip it. Applejack helped her lift it over its holder. Immediately, she felt the immense weight of the dumbbell forcing itself down on her. Her front hooves ached as she tried to lift it up with all her strength. She struggled to lift it once, it felt like her arms were burning from fire. She's lifted weights before, but not quite as heavy as this. She managed to lift the dumbbell up, managing to do one rep.

"Need some help?" A stallion taunted. She didn't bother to look at him, while concentrating. "You're lookin' a little tired there!" several ponies and griffins laughed at her.

"No!" She said, straining, "I got this!"

"You can do it, Rainbow Dash!" She heard Winterlily shout encouragingly.

Quickly glancing at Applejack, she realized she looked very worried. "Don't push yourself so hard, Rainbow!"

"I can do this!" She managed to do another rep. Her arms shook from the weight and pain. She continued, doing one rep after another. She couldn't take it any longer; she had to stop.

Applejack helped her lift the dumbbell back onto its holder. Her forelegs were tired and weak. She may as well lift herself up from the bench, using her wings to do so. She heard a few ponies cheer and stomp their hooves, including Fire Flash and Winterlily. She hovered away from the bench, and went back where the other recruits stood.

"Hmm... that was about five reps." She heard Stern Hammer say. "Not as much as I thought, but not bad."

"Five reps?" The grey mare scoffed, "tsk That's pretty low!"

I don't care how many reps I did, she told herself, arms still aching, at least I don't have to do that again... I think.

For hours on end, they spent it all on training. All of them did relatively insane exercises, after the first obstacle course and doing bench presses. A lot of them, left them exhausted. From bucking punching bags, to running another obstacle course... with balls on chains that time. Several--or all--of the recruits were covered in more bruises, sweating more profusely, and reeking with body odor. Rainbow's hooves were tired from the experience. Surprisingly there wasn't any flying exercises, which made her feel relieved to hover in the air.

"Great job, everypony and griffin!" Stern Hammer clapped his hooves, "Very good!"

"I trust everything went well?" She heard a familiar voice.

She saw Moonshadow approaching them. And as it turned out, the dark coated stallion wasn't alone. It was the bat pony, Blackblade. She was more than glad to see him, grinning widely. Rainbow didn't even question herself why, she was just happy to see him again. She told Applejack the other day that she had a crush on him, and then nearly beat herself over the head because of it. She didn't know a whole lot about him, even though she would like to. Her heart beat faster just thinking about it.

"Yes, Moonshadow," The short trainer was definitely proud of his hoofwork. "everything went--mostly--without problem!"

"That's pretty good to hear." Blackblade spoke, "And I've got to say, this is quite a group. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, bat ponies, and griffins."

Moonshadow went up to the recruits. "Now, things will be a little different this time." He began, "You will be separated into different divisions; or teams. Each division will have at least five members each."

"Were on teams now?" Obsidia said, disappointed.

"Yep." The bat pony pointed out, "Every time we get new recruits, we always put them into small divisions, or squads. So that way everypony and griffin will have to work together. And things can sometimes get pretty competitive from here."

"We need to know everypony and griffin's names," Moonshadow explained as he paced. "All of you, line up."

Without a moments notice, every recruit did as they were told. Moonshadow began at the far left end of the line. She was able to hear more names than before, such as: Swift Moon, Gold Willow, Light Dew, Skeiron, Honey Swirl, Benevolent Sapphire, Rhea, and many others. Aside from asking their names, he asked about their talents and skills. She supposed it would be very important to know what everypony and griffin is capable off. He eventually came down to Applejack.

"Your name?" He asked the country mare.

"Applejack, sir." She answered amiably.

"What are your talents, and or skills?"

"Well... Ah can buck every apple in one tree with one kick. And Ah saved my friend from a pack of timberwolves!"

"Hmm..." the dark coated stallion seemed to have taken a keen interest, "Have you ever stopped a major disaster?"

"Sorta, Ah guess."

"Oh that's right," He must have remembered something, "you are an ally of Princess Twilight Sparkle. You, and your rainbow friend, are held accountable for attempting espionage."

"Ah know." Applejack said dejectedly, "It was wrong of us to betray your trust."

"In actuality," He then corrected, "it was the princess who put you up to this. While I can understand her motives, she shouldn't mistrust our organization. We do what's best for the good of all Equestria, and Kaerndal. But thankfully, past mistakes can be forgiven and forgotten."

"Gee, um, thanks sir!"

He went up to her next. He knows who she is though. "What is your name?"

"Rainbow Dash, sir!" She had to remain confident.

"What are your talents, and or skills?"

"I'm the fastest flier in all Equestria! I'm the first to ever perform a sonic rainboom, thrice! And kicked the butts of tons of bad guys that cross my, and my friends's paths! Needless to say, there ain't nothin' I can't handle!"

"How about an over hundred pound dumbbell?" She heard Obsidia insult her. She heard several recruits laughing at her, making her blush.

One glance from Moonshadow, was enough to put the rude mare in her place. "Well much like your friend, you will do nicely here. And if there is one thing we lack: it's fast fliers, and strong mares. We have plenty of strong stallions, but so few mares that are capable of immense feats of strength."

"Yeeeah... Applejack's got me beat when it comes to kicking." She admitted humbly, "She stopped a whole bus with nothing but her back hooves!"

The long maned stallion looked back at Applejack, nodding in approval. "Like I said," He said, "You will fit right in."

He moved on to the pony next to her; the same lavender stallion. He was still exhausted, and covered with sweat. "What might your name be?" he asked him.

"Fancy Shine," He panted, "sir!"

Moonshadow observed him carefully, "I see you are not used to this much exertion."

"No, sir!" He continued panting, "I'm not!"

"You do realize that you have passed the point of no return?" As he asked that, the stallion looked very confused, "Once you are enlisted in this organization, your loyalties are bound to the organization. There is no way out... unless you are told otherwise."

"Huh?"

"Unless you are giving a resignation, you cannot quit. What are your skills, Mr. Shine?"

The stallion trembled. "I-I-I killed a monster!" He confessed, "A horrible monster! I killed it by accident."

Moonshadow raised a brow, "A monster, you say? What did it look like?"

"It was big, black, with huge arms!"

That sounds just like that monster from the fair! She recalled, The one that the sabrathanians brought with them!

The dark coated stallion pondered on this. It didn't take long for him to realize what he was describing. "Based on the details of your description, you have encountered a fostuin. A vile creature, brought out from the deserts of Casah by sabrathanians; one of our enemies."

"Yeah. Somepony told me what a sabrathanian was." Fancy Shine explained, "He said they bring ponies back to another world, and kill them! He said it would be best if I joined this place."

"When did this happen?" He prodded.

"About a week ago."

Moonshadow's eyes widened in alarm. "That recent?"

Fancy nodded in reply. Memories of the sabrathanian that killed Scootaloo's parents, came back to her. It also struck her that the stallion killed a monster at all. She never thought she'd see another normal pony encounter the same kind of monster. Hopefully, there won't be anymore attacks from them while she trains. She would gladly fight them.

"Blackblade," He called, "make report of this. At first it seemed the sabrathanians were dormant, apparently we were wrong. But I must inspect the other recruits, first."

"Yes, Moonshadow!" He glanced at Rainbow Dash before heading out.

Moonshadow continued asking the names and skills of the recruits. Some of the names, she's already heard before like: Kynthia, Astraeus, Winterlily, Fire Flash, Sky Note, Crius, Night Spell, Evenstar, and Obsidia. The grey mare practically wanted to be a thorn in her side. She knows she shouldn't be bothered by her. The last thing she wants is a confrontation between herself and the grey mare. So far, the only recruits that seem like good ponies are Winterlily, Fancy Shine, and Fire Flash... probably.

It took ten minutes at least, but once he finished learning everypony and griffin's names, He trotted towards the center of the line. "Now, we will begin setting up teams. When I call your name, step forth. I will call out five names in a row. When I do, you are automatically on that team. I have made a careful decision, which division that pony or griffin is assigned to. And once you are assigned to that group, you remain loyal to it. Each team will be given a specific name. Lastly, each group will have a captain." Everypony and griffin's face lit up in delight when he said that. "I apologize, but no recruit will be appointed as captain."

"Oh, man!" Most of them groaned, as their delight, turned into disappointment.

"The reason why," Moonshadow continued, "is due to past events. A recruit was made team captain before. His poor decisions resulted in the deaths of countless ponies. If a recruit is to have a higher rank, he or she must earn it."

Honestly, she thought, I don't even want to be captain! If so many recruits died because of one mistake, she wouldn't even want to be captain at all! She could barely handle the pain from the death of Scootaloo's parents as it is.

The dark coated stallion began calling out the names: "Sky Note. Kynthia. Honey Swirl. Crius. And Night Spell."

The three ponies and two griffins, stepped forth one by one. Sky Note was a dark blue pegasus stallion, with a white and grey colored mane and tail. His mane was slick and streamlined, his eyes were sky blue, and his cutie mark was a cloud in the shape of a music note. Kynthia was a female griffin with pink to magenta colored feathers. Her eyes were a dark magenta.

Honey Swirl was a light brown earth pony mare, with a honey colored mane and tail. Her mane was braided into a fish tail, her eyes a similar color to her mane. Her cutie mark was a wooden honey dipper, covered in honey. Crius was a male griffin with dark brown feathers. His eyes were gold. And lastly, Night Spell. She was a viridian colored bat pony mare, with a very light green mane, and light green eyes. Her mane and tail curled into ringlets, and her cutie mark was four light green stars. All five stood before Moonshadow.

"You are the first group. Your division name is: Jade Eye." After he gave them their team name, he ushered them to the side together. "Next up..."

The process had taken up more time than expected. When it ended, they were dismissed from training. It was about three o' clock in the after noon when they were dismissed. After that, they all went into a large cafeteria to eat. She hadn't eaten in a while, and now was a good time to get stuffed. It had been hard to tell whether it was night or day, since they were inside a facility with hardly any windows. Moonshadow had explained to them as they left:

"A captain will be assigned to your team, by tomorrow. Your captain will introduce his or herself, and ask you to do the same. You will return back to the training facility by tomorrow. I believe you all must be famished and parched, so follow me."

Everypony and griffin were obviously hungry and thirsty. She didn't realize how hungry she was, until she went over to the counter where they were served. The food they served, was some kind of light brown slop. She scrunched up her face in disgust. Obviously, she never tasted it, but it did not look quite as appetizing. Most of the recruits thought the same.

Every recruit now, was a part of a division. Jade Eye was the first team formed, the members being: Sky Note, Kynthia, Honey Swirl, Crius, and Night Spell. The second team formed was Black Flayers, their members were: Astraeus, Swift Moon, Black Dahlia, Skeiron, and Rapid Tinker. The third team formed was Shimmering Vale, their members were: Gold Willow, Rhea, Marsh Sprinter, Peachshine, and Pine Shield. Applejack was in the fourth group, Grey Glade, along with: Fancy Shine, Fire Flash, Sage Stone, and Obsidia. She wished she could have been with her friend. It would have made things easier, if she had Applejack at her side. But she couldn't change that.

Rainbow Dash was placed in the last group: Quick Sword. Aside from her, there was: Evenstar, Benevolent Sapphire, Wolf's Bane, and of course, Winterlily. When they all grabbed their trays and bottles of water, they sat down at a table. Every group had a designated table, seating five at once. Everypony and griffin were chatting, filling the cafeteria with multiple voices.

"This. Is. Great!!!" Winterlily said enthusiastically, "We're all a part of team! Isn't it awesome?!"

"Cool." Wolf's Bane answered flatly. Wolf's Bane was a grey-ish brown pegasus stallion, with a speckled brown and grey mane and tail. He seemed to resemble a wolf in a sense.

"I must admit," Evenstar added, "I didn't think we'd be put into teams." Evenstar was a wine colored unicorn stallion. His wavy mane was dark purple with tips of yellow.

Rainbow Dash knew she may as well eat it. Though hesitant, she was very hungry. She took a few bites (or slurps for that matter), to satisfy her stomach. Surprisingly, it wasn't as disgusting as she imagined. It wasn't as tasty, either. She had no idea what she was eating, but she didn't care.

"How is it?" She heard somepony ask. Looking up, she noticed it was Benevolent Sapphire who spoke. She was a pale gold unicorn mare, with a long deep sapphire mane. Her silver-ish eyes stared at her intently, wondering if it tastes good or not.

"Eh," She answered simply, "it's okay I guess."