Help!
#5 of I'm Not a Mare
Twinkle looked over the guards that stood in formation in front of her. Even with the changes that she and Gleaming had gone through. One thing was the same, guards follow the chain of command. With a slight nod of her head, the guard changed to a more relaxed position.
"As I am sure all of you are wondering. Captain Shield is doing well and resting up after falling unconscious after taking a hit to her head," Twinkle pointed a hoof to one of the guards. "Would this have happened if she had worn a helmet?" The guard blinked and looked around like he was just asked to tell what two plus two was.
"Humm... No, ma'am. The helmet enchantment would reduce the impact of anything to hit it." He waited to see if that was what she had wanted him to say. She just smiled and nodded her head.
"Very good. That is correct. Of course, she would not be wearing her helmet when she is off duty. But no guard here should be doing any of the training without one on. I get it. You want to look cool for the people who come to watch. Safety should come first before looking cool." The guard who had answered the question started to look a little sheepish. He had done a few practices without a helmet on when he saw a few cute mares had come to watch.
Twinkle didn't care to call someone out, but wearing a helmet could mean life or death for a guard. And if they get in the habit of doing things without one on, things could end badly. With that out of the way, she ordered them to start warm-ups as she went to review the plans for the day that Gleaming had made. The office that was a little shack next to the training grounds.
The place was a mess. Somethings didn't change from when they were stallions. It didn't take her long to find the spot that the plans for today's training where. What she found when she looked at the plan just made her jaw dropped a bit. On the paper for today's plan was just one little note that read 'Wing it'. She thought that she and Gleaming Shield had talked about the plan for the first day of training they would lead and here Gleaming just was just going to wing the first day.
Her mind raced as she tried to think of what to do and she looked around to see if could find an old plan or something to run them through. There was a knock on the door frame and Twinkle looked up to find one of the guards waiting at the door.
"Lieutenant Scout, we have finished our warm-ups." He stood at the door and did this best to act like he didn't see the messy state of the office. Twinkle rushed to the door and with a panicked look.
"I am going to need you to deliver a message for me to the hospital. I need you to tell them that I need Captain Shields back here as soon as she is able." The guard gave a quick nod before he rushed off. Twinkle walked back to the desk and just wanted to throw every piece of paper on the floor. What was she going to do till Gleaming could get here? Then the thought hit her and she didn't care for it. It was the one thing she didn't want to make them do if they didn't have to. Run laps till Gleaming makes it.
The rest of the guards stood at the ready again when they saw her move toward them. Twinkle took in a deep breath and stopped right in front of them.
"Okay everypony. Today we are going to start things off with a short run around the field help you get ready from having a few days off. Now get to running." She shouted the last part as the guards started the run with a few grumbles. She could only hope that this would buy her some time until Gleaming got here.
Ten minutes had passed before the guard she had sent had come and had informed her that the messages were passed on. Now all she could do was hope that Gleaming was feeling better soon enough to make so they don't spend the whole training session running.
Gleaming rushed through the streets of Canterlot as fast as she could. Her thoughts bounced from what Twinkle needed her back for and what just happened with Cadence. She didn't notice the other ponies look of worry. The way to the training ground wasn't that hard to navigate, but there were some objects that she had to move. Her magic flared up to push things out of the way the best she could, but she could only move a few at a time.
The gate to the training grounds past by and she looked around to find Twinkle. But she was nowhere to be seen and so she rushes off to the little office. When Gleaming had gotten to the office found Twinkle with papers surround her and a dispirited look on her face.
"Umm... Is everything okay here? Or should I come back a little later?" Gleaming walked a little closer but stopped when Twinkle looked up at her. She gasped and leapt over the papers on the ground and pinned her to the ground.
"You have made it." She looked down at Gleaming with a smile and all Gleaming can do is giggle. Gleaming eyes grew wide as she realized that she had just giggled.
"So, what did you need me so quickly?" Twinkle moved off her and pointed a hoof at the papers that litter the floor. These papers were once stacked on the desk on the other side of the office. Twinkle had gone through each of them to find any kind of plan that she could use.
"I need your help in getting a bucking plan for training today. It seems that one was never done for today." Gleaming looked a little lost and started to pick up the papers with her magic. She moved the one that she had written for today close to her and sighed.
"Wing-it? Did I write this while I was drunk or something? I mean we always did think on our hooves a lot." The paper moved to the side to find Twinkle had an angry glare on her face.
"Do you have any idea how stress I have been for the past thirty minutes? I had to order them to run laps till I could think of something or till you get back." Twinkle sighed and sat down. Gleaming turned around to look out at the training ground.
"You said that you had them running laps, right?" Gleaming had pulled her head back in to look at Twinkle.
"Yes, I am sure that I order them to run laps." She got up and moved next to Gleaming and looked at the now-empty training ground. All the guards that were there when she had stepped into the office to find the training plan had now vanished.
"Well, looks like they finished them," Gleaming couldn't help but smile at the other mare. She remembered when she was younger and still a stallion how she would try to leave training early without the commander noticing. Twinkle just fell back onto her flank and looked like she was about to start crying. Gleaming moved up to her and brushed the first few tears away. "Don't worry. It looks like we get some extra free time." Gleaming still worried about what happened with Cadence. But at this moment she had to worry about the other person who was hurting from current events.