Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

I was happy.

Despite my immense nervousness that made my stomach churn. Despite the apprehension that frazzled my every thought. “You know… I’m really, really glad you snuck out for me,” I voiced my jumbled thoughts and for a brief moment while I walked side by side with her, I leaned over and nuzzled Sunny.

She replied with a warm smile of her own, extending her wing over my back and trailing her primaries along my barrel. “You are quite welcome. The study was admittedly getting a little stuffy anyway. I needed a break.”

I was certain that she had just made that up on the spot. I had seen her dreams, I had seen memories replay in them, I had talked to her enough, I knew her. She loved that study. Its distinct scent, all those memories she harbored in regards to it. She worked there for the betterment of her ‘little ponies’. Every scratch of her quill on yet another parchment could – and often enough would – improve the life of somepony. It was tiresome work, sure. But at the end of the day, she knew she had once more contributed to Equestria’s flourishing.

I did not mind her white lie though. She needed an explanation more for herself than for my sake, to mollify her bad conscience. Without skipping a step, I leaned over and aimed at her cheek. She must have seen the movement and quickly put one and one together, meeting me halfway in a kiss. I grinned like a colt in a candy store.

Despite my initial decision to let this be a brief period of closeness, I could not bring myself to put a more decent looking distance between us. Some ponies were already milling about this early in the morning, and a few of them gave us looks ranging between incredulous and indignant. How dare we run around Canterlot streets looking like two drunken love-birds!

It was silly, really. Canterlot ponies could be quite silly at times.

We eventually left the city proper behind and slowed down. Our target was in sight and it only heightened my nervousness. We finally stopped at the entrance. The stadium was quiet for now. The massive gate stood open. I could see little, shadowed nooks and crannies almost everywhere under the bleachers, as well as an open, wide field inside with what looked like some kind of tower. But I tried to focus on Sunny. I made it a point by walking a few steps ahead and turning my back on the stadium. “Here we are,” I said and immediately dreaded how queasy my voice had sounded.

She stepped up to me and nuzzled me. “Don’t worry. You will be fine.”

I tried to focus on her voice. I tried to let her serenity infect me. I tried to take that calm she so willingly offered me and make it my own. But all I could think about was that growing lump of lead in my belly. That wobbly feeling in my knees. This will be horrible, my mind panicked. A disaster! It will be a disaster!, it screamed, running around in a very tight circle, limbs flailing comically.

I swallowed hard. “I hope so,” I tried.

Sunny took a step back to get a better look at me. She could probably see how little difference her effort had made. Great, and now I’m getting a bad conscience as well, I bemoaned myself. She sat down on her haunches and held up her hooves. I felt myself blush a little and looked around for potential witnesses as I suddenly grew increasingly self-conscious. But nopony was in sight. So with a little hesitation, I stepped forward and let her embrace me. Her coat was soft, her body warm, and her wings closed around me like a security blanket. I felt at least a part of my tension melt away. Why can’t we stay like this?, I asked myself as I tried to extend this moment as long as I could. “Listen,” she asked me, and I could not deny her. I turned my head – careful with that horn – and brought my ear to her chest. Her heartbeat was strong. A thunderous drum in her chest. But above all else, it was steady and calm. I gave a happy little sigh. I could stay like this all day.

Maybe we would do that someday. Just the two of us, take the entire day off, barely ever leave the bed and just snuggle. Snuggle away an entire day. That sounded like heaven right now.

“Now look at me,” she asked. I gave a quiet, unwilling groan, but complied anyway. Her beautiful eyes captured me without effort. “You will be fine,” she insisted. “Just promise me to be careful?”

The switch in demeanor was so sudden that it made me grin. She seemed almost worried herself now. Maybe I had been rubbing off on her the entire time. And with merely that thought alone, a switch was flipped. I had always found it easier to be strong and brave when others seemed to need that from me. “I promise,” I replied with utter conviction. “I should probably head in now. And you should probably return to work. Thank you for bringing me here. See you at dinner?”

She gave me that radiant smile. It returned with such force that just for a second, I felt a little duped. Her sudden switch should have been an obvious play, even for somepony as gullible as me. But I could not bring myself to be cross with her. After all, she had done this for me.

“Do I not get a goodbye kiss?” she asked and playfully raised an eyebrow.

I quietly laughed. “I have no idea how I managed to capture your heart, but sweet, sweet Celestia, am I grateful I did!”

She laughed merrily at that. A sound as clear as a bell and oh so pleasant to hear. Once she calmed down a little, I leaned in and kissed her. For just a brief moment, I allowed a part of my passion for her, my love for her, even a part of my nervousness, to bubble up to the surface. She allowed me to deepen the kiss with a happy sigh, but all too soon, we broke apart again. “See you at dinner,” she whispered. Her face sported a small blush.

I watched her stand up and leave. A couple of feet away, she spread her wings and with one mighty flap, she was airborne, circling higher and higher and finally aiming towards Canterlot Castle. I chuckled a little as I saw her do a backflip midway through.

I noticed that I did feel a lot less apprehensive now.

So, I turned around and started walking into the stadium. I had been decently early for this, so there would be enough time for me to—

“You know, you’re right,” a raspy voice from the side addressed me. “She’s way out of your league.”

And whoever that strangely familiar voice belonged to deemed it necessary to immediately annoy me. Lovely. I turned my head and peered into the shadows beyond the stadium's gates. And as if on cue, out she stepped. Turquoise coat, amber mane with golden stripes, amber eyes, wings. Two conflicting impulses battled in my mind.

On one hoof, I knew Lightning Dust. And I wanted to be happy to see her. My memories told me of her brash demeanor, sure, but she had learned so much, grown so much. At times, she was just as loyal as Rainbow Dash. On the other hoof however, I saw that look in her eyes and remembered where Lightning Dust had come from. Who she had been before Greenwood made her grow up. How she had been. And how my annoyance was probably the right response here.

“Lightning Dust,” I almost spat.

“Oh? So you’ve heard of me already. Nice.” She strode out like she owned the place, walked a slow circle around me as if to inspect the new recruit. “You probably heard how I broke a couple academy records at the Wonderbolts Academy before I left.”

I remained silent. There had been a lot I could have said. Should have said. Wanted to say. But I was not about to let her provoke me that easily. I would at least try to be civil here. Because I had a sense of foreboding that she was here as a recruit as well. She had been lurking there, witnessed who knows how much, and she certainly was not old enough to be a drill sergeant.

After she finished her circle, she stood before me and looked not all that impressed. I could understand why. I was far from physical peak performance, and my appearance was rather bland. “Listen, rookie – you look like a drag. Best thing to do here would be for you to turn around and run back to your marefriend. She seems to be the ‘endlessly patient’-type, she’ll understand. But you don’t belong here.”

I sighed. “You done?” Maybe I should have stayed silent. She was still trying to coax a reaction from me I presumed, and I had given her one. Just not the one she had expected. Or hoped for, it seemed. I admittedly could have tried to be more diplomatic about this. I knew that she could become a decent friend. Eventually. With a lot of hard work and effort put into it.

A lot.

But right now, I was annoyed. And I had made no effort to hide that from my voice. She saw herself as this incredible big shot, this undefeatable athlete that should be intimidating to others. But I did not care about her ‘achievements’. I cared little about those in general. If she was the next big shot? If she actually was this undefeatable athlete? Yay, go team! Because that’s what it all came down to: She was on ‘our’ side, and by that line of thinking, her strengths became our strengths. Being a guard wasn’t about glory or heroics, it was about team spirit. Closing ranks, working as one, keeping others safe.

We had… minor discrepancies in our philosophy, obviously.

She snorted. “You’re gonna be a pain in my flank, I can tell,” she spat. “Just remember, rookie: When you inevitably start dragging everypony down with you? Try not to flail in my direction, or you might end up with a hoof in your face.”

“Sure, I’m going to be the pain,” I mumbled.

“What was that?” she immediately demanded to know.

I almost lazily shook my head. “Nevermind. I know you can rock this show, Lightning. Just… don’t get me killed, hm?” She recoiled from that as if I had actually struck her. I used the opening I saw and trotted past her. Maybe she would finally start actually thinking about how I had known her name? Because I really did not look like the type of pony that would care much for Wonderbolt Academy records, now did I? And with that remark, the connection to Rainbow Dash should be obvious enough, even for her.

I had put a decent distance of a couple dozen feet between us already when I was suddenly struck by a random thought and stopped. I had allowed her to make a connection between Rainbow and me. It slowly dawned on me what a stupid decision that had been. She had been annoyed with my presence here on the training grounds earlier. Now, though? Now, she would probably hate my guts.

Great.

I dared to look over my shoulder and was confused by what I saw there. Lightning Dust still stood where I had left her, but she had turned around. She looked at me and for a split second, I could have sworn she looked uncertain? Concerned, maybe? But once she realized I was looking at her, her gaze hardened and her mood soured considerably. She took to the air, rose high enough to be out of earshot and flew past me.

Fine.

I turned back and continued walking across the massive training field. It was this year’s new class of recruits. First day of training. As far as I knew, all recruits had been given a time table with a couple of useful information. Where to be, when to be there, what to bring, how they could prepare further, stuff like that. It also told us the name of our instructor. Drill sergeant Wither Rose. I wasn’t sure what to make of that name, but I had a feeling I might learn soon enough.

I could see another passage leading away from the fields and into the building itself. Locker rooms, showers and some such, I presumed. I had no need for either of those, but I considered going there anyway for a moment. Because I could hear other ponies merrily chatting away. The occasional laugh echoed across the field. Hearing how lighthearted they seemed to be, I assumed that these were the recruits I would share my class with. The recruits I would learn the names of and get to know over the next couple of years.

They were already talking. Laughing, joking, forging connections. And Lightning Dust landed over there and trotted inside as well.

So not only did I feel incredibly late to the party despite showing up early now, I did not want to risk another encounter with her. And a small voice in the back of my head painted the image of me walking in there and suddenly everypony just turned to stare at me, with Lightning Dust in their midst, smiling smugly as she had already riled everypony up against me.

I could really live without that.

The anxiety got the better of me and I just stayed away. I tried to tell myself that this was no big deal. That I could learn enough about them later. That there would be enough opportunities to make new friends.

I tried. I did that a lot.

“Got lost?”

What was it with those random female voices creeping up on me today?

I had admittedly been walking on the field the entire time without thinking much about it, instead staring to that side entrance. I stopped a couple of feet away from the source of that voice. A jetblack earth pony mare with a dark gray mane and a black, thorny rose as a cutie mark. Only on my second round of observation did I notice the stern voice she had, that steely gaze of hers or, well, the gosh darn armor she was wearing.

I immediately stood at attention and saluted. Because I was an idiot.

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what we—… For goodness’ sake. You’re one of the newbies?”

I lowered my hoof and was relieved that apparently nopony aside from her had seen that. She was not exactly happy about me taking the time to look around for witnesses when she had asked me a direct question, however. “Rookie, I asked you a question!” she half-bellowed.

I flinched a little. Okay, a lot. Her sudden increase in volume had just been unexpected. “Yes, ma’am.”

I had expected her mood to drop even further, but like the professional she was, she instead just continued on without so much as a blink. “Name.”

“Dreamwalker.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Dreamwalker, ma’am,” I corrected myself hastily.

She took a clipboard out of her saddlebag and looked it over. I only managed to get a quick glimpse of it and was not able to read anything — due to it being turned upside down and all —, but there was one abnormality I noticed. There was a table, with what I presumed to be the names of her recruits written down in the first column. A second column was probably reserved to tick off who had actually shown up and who was missing. The third column, though? And the fourth?

They were empty. Except for one spot in the third column. Right in line with my name, apparently. She stopped at that line, read what stood in that third column and looked up at me. I still failed to read her expression. “You’re Princess Luna’s whelp?” she asked.

I cringed but gave her a short nod. Maybe it was for the best to get this sorted out before the rest of the recruits showed up and learned about this. It would allow me to postpone this revelation until later, in hopes that I might have forged some decent connections before this would come up.

“Don’t expect any special treatment,” she let me know. “You are here to become part of the guard. It doesn’t matter to me what she has in mind for you later on.”

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?” I asked.

She actually allowed me to see her faint smile for a brief moment. “We might get along after all. Permission granted.”

I sighed in relief. “I don’t expect special treatment, ma’am. Actually, I don’t want special treatment. As soon as the other recruits learn that I’m somehow different, I will have an infinitely harder time to get in with them.”

“If that was your goal, I have to wonder why you’re the only one standing in this field right now, instead of being in there,” she replied and gave a nod in the direction of the side entrance. I cringed again, but before I could answer, she shook her head. “Keeping secrets from each other can have unforeseen consequences. I will mold all of you into the appropriate shape, and that shape has no room to spare for such banalities.” My heart sank lower and lower with every word she spoke. She drew a fresh breath and I was expecting something along the lines of ‘I will tell them immediately’, but she surprised me instead. “You have one week, tops.”

The implications were clear as day. If something, anything, would require her to spill this before that deadline was up, she would without batting an eye. But as long as nothing came up, she wouldn’t. She gave a quiet, but pointed cough when I so much as stepped a single hoof closer. I froze up immediately and stepped back. “Sorry,” I mumbled, “I’m very grateful, ma’am.” And a little bit too used to show that by hugging, mayhaps.

“Don’t mention it. Seriously – don’t.”

I had no recollection of what to expect from guard training. As far as I knew, this was the first time I ever did that. Despite my lacking knowledge, I was certain that at some point, inevitably, there would be a lot of shouting involved. Mainly drill sergeant Wither Rose shouting at us. We were too slow, too fast, too weak, too whatever. She would pressure us. Break us down, to some degree. But right here, right now, I decided that I liked her. Maybe someday, once I was finished with my training, I could try to befriend her.

It was a nice thought.

Another part of my mind was busying itself with the time table. I had studied it extensively, which meant that I had no need to bring it along with me today. Every day featured some kind of physical exercise, of course. The table had been for the first week only. Several time blocks of one to two hours each day, broken up by more theoretical stuff. While the table had not been that specific, I suspected something along the lines of ‘how to care for your gear’ and ‘what to expect from a unicorn guard when you’re not a unicorn yourself’ or something.

I flinched when a whistle blew not that far away from me. Its piercing sound echoed in the stadium and drew the attention of the other recruits inside the building. It was the start signal and they began to filter out onto the field, soon enough joining me in a neat line before sergeant Wither Rose.

The time table had not looked all that different from school, I concluded. Something familiar which would hopefully allow me to feel a little steadier and secure with what was to come. Today, as the first day, was shorter. No theoretical lessons. The only entry had been ‘assessment’.

While sergeant Wither Rose still waited somewhat patiently for that line to finish forming, I used the opportunity to take a look at my fellow recruits. And I almost immediately regretted doing so. Pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies, maybe two dozen of them, both mares and stallions, and they all looked… well.

They looked like they belonged here, really.

I grimaced as Lightning Dust's words echoed in my head. These ponies were here because they had chosen to be here today. They wanted to be here. They saw this as a career or a duty or whatever, and they looked the part. Some were burly and obviously strong, others were lean and agile – Lightning Dust being part of the latter group. There was an earth pony stallion the size of Big Macintosh at the far end of the line, maybe even a smidge larger. At this point, the sergeant had begun yelling names after barely explaining that she was going to note down who was present. “Yes, ma’am” was of course the only answer given. I tried to memorize as much as I could. Stick names to faces, races, color schemes. But it was a lot of information in a brief period of time. The only ones that, for the time being, really stuck out to me were two pegasus brothers, Swift Turn and Cloud Rider. They stuck out because they did not quite take this as seriously as everypony else – much to the sergeants dismay, it seemed. She shot them a warning glare, which was enough for now.

Both brothers had coats the color of eggshells. One’s mane was cyan, with turquoise stripes – the other one had a turquoise mane, with cyan stripes. So… not confusing at all. The only real help in differentiating these two were their cutie marks. And at some point, some pony would start asking questions if I kept staring at other ponies' flanks. Swift Turn had a stylized breeze that took a ninety degree turn, while Cloud Rider had, indeed, just a fluffy white cloud on his flank. Despite this basically being white on white, it was not quite as bad to make out as that black rose on our sergeants flank.

I should stop staring at flanks.

“No slackers, good,” sergeant Wither Rose concluded and put the clipboard away again. She paced along our neat little line and inspected what she would have to work with for the next couple of years. “Eh. I’ve seen better. A lot better,” she started belittling us. “I can already guarantee that some of you won’t make it to the end. I can almost guarantee that some of you won’t even make it to the end of this month. And I can promise you that I will try my damn hardest to make sure that those of you who are unfit to be here will see reason fast, so that you won’t waste my time more than necessary.”

I was so incredibly glad that she did not choose that moment to pointedly stare at me. It would have been so cliché, really. She was yelling more than I thought necessary, seeing as we were all standing somewhat close by and none of us were hard of hearing, but hey – I just assumed this was part of the show. Or maybe even a first lesson: Don’t freak out when somepony yells at you. In battle, if by some misfortune you will ever see one, that happens a lot. Freaking out there will kill you.

Something like that.

“Today will be a short and simple affair,” she continued. “Since I don’t know yet what I’m working with, we have prepared a two-phase-test to find out. Phase one is a simple obstacle course. The entire group will be judged. Your goal is to reach the end as fast as possible. In this first phase, flying is not allowed. I repeat: Flying is not allowed. We’re not going to tie down your wings or something like that – let’s see who has decent self-control.”

I really couldn't help myself. I just looked over at Lightning Dust and I suspect I had the smuggest grin ever plastered on my face. Funny enough, she looked in my direction as well, as if she had sensed this, and oh sweet Celestia, was she looking annoyed. Not angry, per se – she was way too convinced of herself to even allow the thought that being earth-bound would actually hinder her all that much. But she was annoyed to Tartarus and back.

“Am I boring you?” sergeant Wither Rose yelled straight into Lightning Dust's ears. The entire line flinched. How could one single pony be this loud?

I honestly felt bad. Sure, I had not forced her to look over to me. It had been a coincidence that the sergeant was nearby to notice her looking away from her. It could have just as easily been me instead of her and I suspected that Lightning Dust would not feel all that bad if our situations were switched. And yet I felt bad for her. Almost like I had tricked her into getting trouble.

“Ma’am, no, ma’am!” Lightning hastily replied and forced her attention back to where it should have been.

“How—“ the sergeant started again, still yelling at the top of her lungs, straight into Lightning Dust's face.

I coughed.

To be honest, I could not have told what was wrong with me. I was not exactly looking forward to being yelled at myself. And I noticed with some almost morbid amusement how the two recruits to my sides involuntarily took half a step away from me.

In what felt like half a heartbeat, sergeant Wither Rose stood in front of me. “What was that?” she demanded to know.

“Ma’am, nothing, I just choked, ma’am,” I answered. For a fraction of a second, I was pondering adding a cheeky ‘maybe a fly’ or something along those lines, but a glance at her told me that she was furious enough as it was. It might have helped me with the other recruits, sure, but at what cost? “Maybe a fly, ma’am!” I croaked.

What the heck?!

Funny.

I wanted to smash a hoof against my skull. What was wrong with me?! I instead stood still, frozen in place by what was most likely fear.

One of those pegasus brothers stifled a chuckle. But he wasn’t quite successful enough. Something had been heard. Sergeant Wither Rose stared me down for a moment longer, before turning away and demanding silence from everypony. I highly suspected that I had gotten somewhat lucky, because my cough had sounded genuine. It had not been forced, or overly loud. Just a cough. With unfortunate timing.

It was hard to blame somepony for that, right? That would be like blaming somepony allergic to pollen for their allergy. There would obviously be consequences anyway. I just hoped she would not go back on her previous statement and disclose my status to the others early.

“In the second phase,” sergeant Wither Rose resumed, “you will each be tested individually. Unicorns will get a chance to show off their spells, pegasi will get a chance to fly, earth ponies will get a chance to prove their strength and endurance. There will be a one hour gap between both phases for recovery. Any questions?”

I was sure that there had been some more explanations or something, but I had only listened with half an ear, to be honest. I had made the mistake of actually looking over the obstacle course. While the sergeant did not seem to notice and I did not see anything one could not reasonably expect from an obstacle course, this morning’s apprehension and nervousness returned with a vengeance. I found it incredibly difficult to concentrate on anything other than what was lying straight ahead of us. The course was meant to test our capabilities. Nothing specific, just a general overview. As such, it was certainly not the longest thing I had ever seen. I vaguely remembered at some point building an obstacle course with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I could not remember why, or what that specifically entailed – but I remembered it taking three days to set up and ten minutes to burn down.

I once more found myself standing in line, but the line’s direction had shifted.

It would not do me much good to lean to the side. Doing so would decidedly not allow me to see any farther than I had been able to previously. Yet I still found myself leaning to the side. I tried to look ahead. Tried to be smart about this. Work smarter, not harder, Twilight's voice guided me.

As far as I could tell, there were five obstacles. Or sections of this course, rather. After a short, initial sprint, we were supposed to make our way up a ramp. A steep incline. There was an impressive gap right after the ramp and then a tower of sorts. I had not seen anything that would allow us to get down from that tower, but obviously, there had to be something.

A short distance behind the tower was a wide syncline. Barbed wire was hanging low above it. It would force us even lower as we were meant to cross the pit – deeper down into what looked like a mud bath. There were some barrels standing near the syncline, but they were a few feet away. Enough that I wasn’t sure if they were part of the course.

Behind the mud pit was another short distance to run and then a chasm. Every time I had looked over there, it appeared to be deeper and deeper, even though I could not see properly into it because of the distance it was away. It was possible to jump that distance. Possible, but hard.

Beyond what I dubbed a ‘canyon’ was what would most certainly break any and all points I had made thus far, assuming I even made any points to begin with. A wide, open field. My worst enemy. It meant running, and a lot of that. I would not go so far to say that I was in bad shape, but I was most certainly more of a sprinter than an endurance runner. Oh well, it could not be helped.

And finally, there was something so far away that I could not make out any details. Some things were lying there, maybe half the size of a grown pony.

The shrill sound of a whistle ripped me out of my observations. Before my mind had processed what that meant, almost all of the recruits were already running ahead.

Lovely.

If this would become a recurring theme, then it was only a matter of time until someone would start calling me slowpoke. And as far as I was aware, nicknames had a nasty habit of sticking, especially in the guard. So I made the foolish decision to give it my all instead of carefully measuring how much I put into one of several sections. It at least allowed me to close the gap between the rest of the recruits and me.

Being last had its perks too, as it turned out. I saw what happened ahead of me and apparently, this course was a little more devious than I had initially anticipated. That became quite clear as I saw yet another pony – a pegasus, this time – fly through the air. Not by use of her wings, but because she was flung.

The ramp was a massive wooden construction. Horizontal planks formed the incline we were supposed to climb. But apparently, there were some mechanics inside that occasionally made a plank swing outwards. Or was it upwards?

I slowed down as soon as I saw that. The ponies were landing safely, of course – despite what it looked like, the training grounds were properly prepared to handle wingless recruits flying. The risk of injuries had to be minimalized, after all. I did not know if there were enchantments on the ramp or unicorns inside or how they did it. Just that nopony that fell for this trap had as hard a landing as one would expect.

“There’s a pattern to it,” I mumbled as soon as I noticed it. Maybe due to how much space the mechanics needed inside or maybe so that somepony could figure it out, but between those planks that could swing out was a gap of five that did not. It was always five. With me barely mumbling my discovery, nopony had heard of course. “There’s a pattern of five!” I announced a little bit louder. “There’s always five planks that don’t flip.”

Some of those ponies that had been yeeted from the ramp had simply landed and tried again, going for the brute force attempts. Some succeeded, others were flung off again. Few recruits remained that could hear me and fewer still that cared. But I noticed the massive earth pony stallion nearby eyeing the ramp with suspicion. “You sure?” he rumbled in a deep, but almost fatherly voice.

“I am,” I answered without hesitation. He once more made his way up the ramp at top speed. I followed close behind and was admittedly impressed by how much speed he could build up while running upwards. We reached the top of the ramp, he was barreling ahead of me and jumped. “Don’t jump!” he yelled back midair.

I immediately dug my hooves into the wood and tried to slow down. I barely managed to stop before I could hurtle into the gap. I saw him land with one heck of a mighty thud on the other side. I might even have heard the wooden planks crack under his hooves. But he quickly turned around and cursed something under his breath. “There’s no way down over here,” he noted.

I had already seen what he meant. The ‘tower’ on the other side was just another trap. The path down from the ramp was a very narrow ridge on the ramp's backside. “Now that’s just mean,” I commented on my discovery and looked over to him. “Can you jump back?”

“Not without taking a run-up,” he replied, eyeing his situation.

I had seen others jump. Some did not make it to the other side and I had lost track of them. Maybe they just fell down the gap and carried on? But others had made it as well, I was sure of that. Being smaller, maybe they had had enough space for a run-up? Or they used their wings to glide down? Gliding was not flying, right? Or did they jump? I looked down the gap. Twenty feet, maybe? Maybe more?

“Jump,” I told him. “I will slow your fall.”

He watched me cautiously. But then again, what did I have to gain from this? We were dead last already, all other recruits were ahead. So after a second, he just did that. Without another word, he jumped and I had to suddenly hurry to catch him midair, as I had expected another exchange of words. Luckily, I managed to grab hold of him. His weight was way too much for my levitation and he was struggling around, so it broke immediately. And I caught him immediately again. And it broke, and I caught him, and it broke, and I caught him, and it broke… and he was down. I felt tingly all over, quite sweaty and a bit tired. So I took just a moment to breathe before I made my way down the narrow ridge. I saw him smile at me, tip his nonexistent hat and run off after the others.

Once I was down, I made up my mind. I needed to be smarter about this if I did not want to fall behind too much. I would come in dead last, that much was a given at this point. But I wanted this gap to be as small as possible. So I had to make up on time.

I managed to reach the mud pit. It had the size of a swimming pool. And as soon as I dipped a hoof in, I retreated. It somehow felt colder than the surrounding air. It drew any and all warmth from my hoof. And to cross this section, I would need to wade through it. With my size, that meant being submerged up to half the height of my barrel, probably. I sure saw the big guy almost completely vanish. Size wasn’t all that great in certain situations.

“Think, think, think!” I prompted myself.

Barrels.

Without giving it a second thought, I started to run again – to the edge of the mud field. I felt like sergeant Wither Rose was burning me alive, but I had no time to spare to glance in her direction. If she was dissatisfied with what I was doing, she would let me know, surely?

The barrels were full of water. Perfect! I placed myself behind them, lined up and gave two of them a good kick. Then the next two, and the last two. Considering how large the mud pit was, the vast amounts of water pouring into it were almost insignificant. Almost. In certain sections, the water immediately mixed with the mud and I sunk into a less thick, brown mass that held less resistance than before. It was almost like swimming, instead of wading.

Still freaking cold, though…

“Would you idiot stop wasting time?! I told you you would drag us down!” Lightning Dust yelled at me.

Wait, what?

I saw her climb out of the mud on the other side. I had made my way halfway across already, but she? She should have been miles ahead of me. My eyes followed the trail she had left behind and I spotted some feathers left behind in the wire. Had she gotten her wing stuck? “Are you alright?” I asked. That wire did look dangerous. If she actually managed to get herself hurt, she should—

“Move your lazy ass already!” she just yelled and galloped off.

I could not help but notice that my little water trick had helped her, but I remained silent. I needed that energy right now. Once I reached the other shore, I climbed out and, well… my legs were stiff. It was cold, I was shaking, I felt like my hooves were numb. I tried to get rid of the mud, but I only managed to rub it in deeper until I stopped myself. Wait. You are an idiot! You're a unicorn, for Celestia’s sake! Due to the cold, my concentration was not exactly at peak performance either, but it was most certainly more effective at removing the sticky, ice cold mud than my hooves had been.

A couple of seconds later and I was running towards the canyon. The closer I got, the more I could make out that apparently, it was a bottomless hole. A deep, black nothingness, like a gaping maw. The immersion was a little bit broken by the fact that two ponies were currently trapped down there. About ten feet below the surface level. Another pit then — but one they had made fancy with some sort of illusion spell, I guessed. I had no idea as to why they were going for this much effort here, but not anywhere else and I was certainly not about to make riddling about that my priority.

Once I made it to the edge, I could identify Swift Turn and Cloud Rider down there. “You okay, guys?”

“We can’t find the damn way up!” one yelled.

“We’ve seen others tumble in here and get out again, the exit should be somewhere over here, but—” added the other.

I grinned. This was something I could deal with! Finally something I was good at. “Need a lift?”

“Isn’t that against the rules?” Swift Turn asked cautiously.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “She said ‘no flying’. I mean… levitation isn’t flying, is it? It’s floating. Levitating. And you’re not even the ones doing it.”

“Why do you even help in the first place?” asked Cloud Rider. “You could get ahead and collect more points!”

To be honest, I had given up on caring about some ‘points’. I had resigned myself to finishing last and I was fine with that. There were admittedly certain things I wanted to avoid, yes, but the thought of turning this into a competition just seemed weird to me. “’The entire group will be judged’, remember? This is a group effort. We stand together, fight together,—“

“Fail together,” Swift Turn interjected with a nod and a snicker, understanding where I came from.

“Well, I would prefer ‘succeed together’, but yes,” I replied with a laugh. “Now hold still.” A moment later and I had both of them up on the edge again. “Mind giving me a hoof? I’m going to at least try to jump this,” I asked. Both looked in the direction they were supposed to run off to, but after a moment gave a shrug, nodded and turned to me.

I smiled. Maybe this would turn out halfway decent after all.

With a little run-up, I jumped and of course I came up short. Or rather, I would have failed, if it weren’t for both pegasi brothers grabbing one of my flailing forelegs. “You almost had it,” grunted Cloud Rider while they pulled me up.

“That’s one wicked jump,” I groaned. Once I was up, I sighed. “Phew. Thanks, guys. You should really hurry now, though. Sorry about the hold-up.”

Off they went. Pegasi tended to be fast. On average, they were smaller than earth ponies or unicorns, and they were built lighter. And while they were not allowed to fly, their wings could still give them an advantage when it came to acceleration.

At this point, I had problems. That first section had taken a lot out of me already. And while I had gotten rid of most of the mud, patches of it still clung to my skin and continued to draw warmth out of my body. I felt wet, I felt dirty, my legs were still a little bit stiff and my hooves a little bit numb – it was awkward, now that I tried to run again. But I tried. I tried to push past all that. I tried to give it my all, and ran across that damn field. Somehow, I half-expected there to be another trap. Some dummies jumping out of the ground as obstacles or maybe some catapult or something throwing stuff at me. But there was nothing. Literally nothing. Just a wide open field to run across. It was a miniature endurance test, I realized.

My favorite.

I was dead last again when I finally managed to reach the last section. Drawing closer and closer by passing over an open field had allowed me to take a look at what I had to expect from this last obstacle. Somewhat roundish weights were lying on the grass. Swift Turn and Cloud Rider had each taken one in their mouths by a little handle these things seemed to have and were oh so very slowly dragging them away. The obstacle course apparently only ended after a weight was deposited on a platform a couple dozen feet behind. Another miniature test, it seemed. For strength this time. The big guy probably had his fun with those last two sections, I mused with a smile.

Lucky for me – and unlucky for those other recruits – I had managed to not only reduce, but actually close the gap. I saw two other unicorns a few rows over struggling in their attempts to drag their weights. Furrowing my brow, I took a closer look at the weights and walked around one. Their form made them easy enough to drag, sure. But once I tried taking that handle in my mouth and gave it a solid pull, I quickly found out why these other two unicorns were struggling so much. These things had to be crafted out of solid metal.

I was already thinking about how I could ease this exercise when all of a sudden, the weight seemed to move on its own. I stumbled back a little and involuntarily sat down on my haunches. From behind the weight, two heads emerged. “We should hurry,” said Swift Turn with a grin.

“Yeah, they’re not gonna wait forever,” agreed Cloud Rider.

“Aw… you guys are the best,” I replied, but my gaze was drawn to the side. These other two unicorns struggled just as much as I did. Even harder than I did, in fact. “Help them. I can manage!”

Both passed a look between them and gave each other a nod before splitting up and pushing the weights of the other two unicorns. I allowed myself a brief moment of pride. This was something I had done. And it was a good thing.

“Stop daydreamin' already,” rumbled a voice I grew more and more familiar with the more I heard it.

Big Guy – I really should ask for his name at some point soon – was standing right behind my weight, where the pegasi brothers had been just a couple of seconds ago. “Got it,” I replied, grabbed the weight by the handle again and pulled with all my – less considerable – might. He pushed, careful not to roll this damn thing over me, and we put the weight over the finish line and onto the platform. Due to Big Guy helping me out, I did not even finish last. Now that felt weird.

I looked over, ready to help those unicorns out, but they were fine and crossed the line right after me. So I finally allowed myself to relax a little. I sat down and tried to calm my wildly beating heart. Tried to get my labored breath under control. Tried to blink those pesky stars away. This entire obstacle course could not have been more than… what… half an hour? An hour, tops. It was still early morning, for Celestia’s sake!

Was I really that bad?

I dared to glance around, to take a look at the other recruits and how they were faring. About one quarter of them seemed to be just fine. The kind of ‘I could do this all day’-fine that filled me with a little bit of envy. A second quarter was filled with ‘okay, that’s done, what’s next?’-fine. Ready to do stuff, but not quite ready to do that again. Lightning Dust was part of that second group, as were the pegasi brothers and Big Guy.

Really, that was just silly and needed to stop. Like, right now. “My name’s Dreamwalker,” I offered Big Guy a hoof.

He smiled. “Earth Breaker. A pleasure to met’cha.”

I grinned as a little bit of dialect wormed its way into his voice. It was a similar drawl to that I already knew from Applejack. Quite endearing. “I believe there’s a hammer that’s named after you,” I joked.

He replied with his own grin. “I’m actually named after that hammer. My father is in the guard.”

I honestly had no idea what those two things had to do with each other. He apparently tried to imply that his father wielded an earth breaker, but… I had seen guard weaponry. Massive hammers like those were decidedly not part of the usual equipment. In my effort not to offend him, I smiled and gave a nod and for the time being, he seemed fine with that.

So I looked over the rest of the recruits and was again relieved to see that at least the remaining half looked worn out to varying degrees. I was about to ask Big G—Earth Breaker something when that damn whistle sounded off again.

We reformed the neat line with haste and Sergeant Wither Rose trotted past us, only to make a one-eighty switch in direction, trotting up and down the line with what looked like a very, very dissatisfied expression plastered all over her face. Sooo… apparently we had screwed up? Or was this part of the show? Was this normal? I started to get nervous again.

She was rattling down who got points for what, subtraction of points for mistakes, some pointers on what could have been done better and she was doing that at almost breakneck speed. She was itching to get to the point that had her so irritated and I felt like there was a trap built specifically for me the very moment she stopped before the pegasi brothers. “Five points subtraction for breaking the rules given, for each of you two.”

There had been this moment, this very brief moment right before she said that. She glanced over a couple of spaces, over to me. Just out of the corner of her eyes. It was a trap. I knew that. Goodness gracious, I knew it. And I could not keep my mouth shut anyway. “Permission to speak, ma’am?” I piped up immediately.

“No,” she quite harshly quashed my request and trotted those few spaces over to stand – and presumably yell – right in front of me. “You are in enough trouble as is! I don’t want to hear a single word from you until I’m done with the rest of them, is that clear?”

I hesitated. It mattered little how long I hesitated. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to think at this point. I was supposed to comply. It was only the first day, sure, but she was my commanding officer, right? But I had hesitated too long.

“Did I make myself clear?” she yelled.

I flinched, but dared not step away from her. I was not even sure if I could have managed to do that, given a try. I felt frozen in place again. My thoughts were racing. My heartbeat felt erratic, I heard my blood rushing in my ears. I always reacted poorly to ponies yelling.

“Being honest isn’t always easy, sugar cube.” Applejack's voice echoed within the jumbled mess that was my head. I had always looked up to her. I had always trusted her. Maybe Applejack was to me what The Princess Celestia was to Twilight. Maybe. But never had she led me astray. “With all due respect – no, ma’am,” I answered with such a meek, tiny voice that I had difficulties hearing it myself. Sergeant Wither Rose’s glare could have killed smaller animals, I was certain. And every second now, she would start to yell. For a quite lengthy period of time too. I would be deaf or nearly deaf for a couple of hours at least.

That is, if I would let her.

“T-The rules as stated prior to entrance of the course s-said ‘no flying’,” I stammered through my defense. “N-Neither Swift Turn nor Cloud Rider flew, with wings or otherw-wise. They levitated. A-And they did not do so on their own. The rules as stated explicitly denied pegasi their a-advantage, but did not do so for unicorns. I-If points need to be subtracted, they should be subtracted from the one responsible f-for breaking the implied rules. M-Ma’am.”

Sergeant Wither Rose was seething at this point. She was glaring at me and it worked. I became quieter, until I fell completely silent. I shrank back into myself little by little, but I had at least managed to squeak out my explanation.

“You broke the rules on multiple occasions, you toppled the supplied drinking water and made a mess out of a section of the course and commanded two fellow recruits to interfere with the test of two other recruits!” she yelled again. Although, I had heard her louder before. Either that was a good sign – as far as any sign could be ‘good’ under the given circumstances — or I was already becoming a little bit deaf.

“I-I thought it was a group exercise, m-ma’am,” I meekly replied.

“You were not supposed to think, you were supposed to follow orders!” she barked.

I really should have kept my mouth shut. She had seemed to be willing to move on before, but now? Now she gleefully entered the minutes-long, one-sided yelling-contest I had tried to prevent.

It took approximately three seconds before my ears started ringing. And they would not stop doing that for some time…

Later that evening.

Despite its name, The Watchtower was not, in fact, a watchtower at all. It was a bar. But more importantly, it was not just any bar. It was a very specific bar. For any and all recruits coming from the training fields, The Last Round was the obvious choice. It was very visible, had great advertisement and was the closest bar nearby.

The Watchtower was decidedly not. It was in fact only the second closest bar. Which meant that it rarely saw recruits come in at all. So really, it was perfect.

I sat at my table all by my lonesome and ‘enjoyed’ being miserable. And cradling my mug. I very much enjoyed cradling my mug. The price they asked for Sweet Apple Acres cider up here in Canterlot was frankly ridiculous. Down in Ponyville, I could have gotten the entire barrel for that. But it was worth it. After being chewed out like that, I suddenly felt so aggressively homesick. I had wanted to throw it all away. Buck the night guard. Buck the other recruits. Buck the training. Buck Wither Rose especially.

How was I supposed to know? Her stupid rules had been a little bit lacking for my tastes. Despite Pinkie's hopes and dreams, I still wasn’t a mind reader.

It was still early. I just needed to look out one of the windows and check every so often. I needed to collect myself, somehow, because in an hour or two, I would sit down with Celestia and I would need to tell her how my first day was and I had no clue how to do that.

I didn't quite know what would help me, yet. The cider had been a first try, the obvious choice, and it did help a little. Just a little. It mostly quenched my thirst and that feeling of homesickness.

What I was certain would not help, was Lightning Dust showing up.

“Got kicked out?” she asked as she trotted over with a smug smile plastered on her face.

“You wish,” I snapped in defiance.

“You don’t?” she brashly snapped back and sat down without invitation. Because of course she would. She was just that kind of pony.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

She looked over to the bar and made some weird gesture with her hoof, apparently ordering something to drink. That really was just my luck today – in trying to avoid the bar where all the recruits would hang out, I stumbled into the one she frequented. “You’re friends with Rainbow Dash?”

Thud. For just a moment, I contemplated my life choices, while the wooden texture started to leave an imprint on my forehead. I had completely forgotten about this morning’s events. “Yeah.”

“Figured as much,” Lightning replied. “She’s just as annoying and weak as you are when it comes to others.”

Fine. Fine. She wanted a reaction so badly? She would get one. I was down in the dumps, sure, but I was not about to let her talk like that about one of my friends! “Ever had Sweet Apple Acres cider? Like, in your face? Including the mug?”

“Wo-ho-ho,” she chuckled and raised both hooves. “Easy there, hotshot. I suddenly feel so… intimidated,” she mocked. I really was about to follow through on my threat – because you should never make threats you are unwilling to follow up on – when she continued with something unexpected. “I just… I just wanted to ask how she is.”

I furrowed my brow and watched her cautiously. “Why would I tell you?”

Another mug landed on the table, but the waiter was gone before I could even catch a glimpse. Whatever Lightning was drinking, it smelled awful. “Because I asked nicely.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Right. Fine. Because I asked and wasn’t rude about it for once.”

This was starting to be a weird conversation. I initially really had no interest in conversation at all, least of all with her, but the weirdness admittedly intrigued me. And she had a point. She had not been a jerk for several seconds. That must be an academy record!, a voice in my head yelled, dripping with sarcasm. “She’s fine.” Okay, that… might have been a little bit snappier than it really needed to be.

Lightning sighed. “Alright.” To my surprise, she stood up, disregarding her mug on the table, and placed a couple bits next to it. “Listen, some of those rookies are over at The Last Round. I’m pretty sure you know where that is. Those brothers, that big guy and a couple others are celebrating you like a god-damn hero or some bullshit. You should join them. Would do you good.”

And with that, she actually started to leave.

The others were celebrating? Me? The heck had I done? As far as I was aware, I had only made things worse for basically everypony. The entire obstacle course had to be redone at some point. I was confused, to say the least. But I tried to focus on one thing at a time, and right now, that was her.

I remembered how Lightning Dust could be. Who she could become, if given a chance.

I sighed deeply, tried to recompose myself somewhat and raised my voice a little. “Hey, jerkface.” She turned around with that indignant ‘excuse me?!’-face that almost made me laugh. “Sit down. You forgot your stupid drink.”

For just a moment, I noticed her scanning the other patrons. She was probably searching for familiar faces. Satisfied to find none, she actually came back and sat down and gripped her mug again.

“Rainbow had some rough weeks lately,” I began. “She’s still in the Wonderbolt Reserve, but she might switch over to full time weather duty.”

“Is she nuts?!” Lightning almost exploded. “She could fly circles around some of the best ‘Bolts that are on active duty!”

I chuckled a little. “Funny thing. She said the same. But, well. She would probably call it ‘being awesome’. She found herself a sweet marefriend. She wants to stick close to her. Considers putting down roots.” I felt my own smile grow more and more distant, and warmer. Thinking about home actually helped, it seemed.

“No mare is worth that,” Lightning spat.

Aaaand I was back to being angry. “Do you have to be such an asshole? You know jack shit about her or her marefriend. Have you ever been in love? Or loved somepony aside from yourself? Listen, I know you will always be brash. It's fine, really – Rainbow is like that as well. And I consider myself close friends with her anyway. When she talks about you, she mentions how you almost killed her friends. My friends. Not exactly your best moments. But she has forgiven you. You can hear that in her voice. It’s in the past. And Rainbow isn’t the kind of mare that holds grudges. But there’s the other side as well. Despite the shit you pulled, she still thinks you’re cool. And capable of great things if only you would get your shit together. She still believes in you. And sometimes talks about you. And you sit there, insulting two of my friends. I mean… what is your freaking problem?”

She initially looked taken aback. That expression morphed through several other stages over the course of me berating her. Indignation, fear, relief, pride, hope, and back to indignation. This time, I was the one doing all the provoking. I only realized this when I sat there, breathing heavily and watched her like a hawk waiting for the right moment to strike. I was ready to fight her… verbally, that is. I wanted to fight her. I was fed up with her constant bullshit.

But much to my surprise, she kept silent for a while. I could see gears turning. I could see her struggling with opposing impulses. And when she opened her mouth again, her voice sounded strained. “At some point I... I think I had a crush on her. Hard. I had tried to impress her, okay? Doesn’t matter much anymore though. I’m not a team player like you. I can’t-“

I snorted. It was no attempt to sabotage her on my part, but I couldn't help myself interrupting her. “I’m not a team player either,” I corrected. “I feel awkward around ponies. Talking to them exhausts me. But I try. And I like to support others. Seeing them succeed feels great. Because at that point, I know: They succeeded partially because of me. That tiny fraction of their victory is my victory. And that allows me to celebrate with them.”

“Yeah, sure, I can see that,” she pointedly stared at the empty table.

I sighed. She had a point. Again. I started to hate that. “It’s effort, is what I was trying to say. I like playing the support for others, but every time I do, I have to overcome myself. I don’t deal well with the spotlight. And you? You’re different, sure, but there are similarities. Your natural state of being is ‘jerk’. Doesn’t mean you can’t be a nice jerk. Or a helpful jerk.”

“You don’t curse much, do you?” she asked with a dry, quiet chuckle.

“No,” I admitted even quieter. “I don’t like it very much, but at times, it feels necessary.”

“Sweet Celestia, you’re such a wimp,” she replied without hesitation.

For a while, silence reigned at our table. We took sips of our mugs, staring into them like the pools of liquid would be able to tell us all we needed to know. “We could be friends, you know. Instead of this... bullshit, whatever this has been so far,” I restarted the conversation.

“Why would I want to be friends with a wimp like you?” she shot.

“’Cause I can’t imagine a jerk like you has a lot of friends otherwise,” I shot right back.

“You’re such a pain in the flank,” she mumbled and took another, bigger swig. “Knew it the moment I saw you.”

“Do they really celebrate me?” I asked curiously.

She chuckled again. “Sure do, idiots. Does that surprise you?” I once again looked into my almost emptied mug and nodded. “You help them out and when it comes around, you stick your head in the noose. Of course they love you. You let them walk all over you, idiot.” After a moment, she sighed. “Wanna see?”

I took another swig, emptying my mug and nodded again. She gulped down that third that had been left in hers in one go and after I deposited some more bits on the table, we left for The Last Round…

Several months later.

Every muscle was sore. I felt a distinct burning sensation in muscles I didn't even know I had. And somehow, this had become my new reality. It was certainly not the first late afternoon when I finally managed to go to my locker and end another day of training, only to feel exhausted beyond belief.

I heard hoofsteps behind me and recognized the distinct rhythm. “Hey, jerkface.”

“Hey wimp. Watchtower in five?” she asked, opening her own locker.

“You telling me you’re done showering in five? Explains the stench. I’m ready in fifteen.” Without turning around or missing a beat, I closed my locker and walked over to the showers, grinning when I heard her stifle a snicker.

“You’re such a pain in my flank,” she yelled after me.

“You wish!” I shot back and turned the water on.