The rest of the day was spent exploring the grand city of Canterlot, and all of the things that it had to offer Austin and I. I had came out of the book store after browsing a few more of the aisles, and picking a few more books that I peaked my interest. Nothing of immediate importance or interest, just a few novels to keep my attention while I had my stay in the castle. Some poetry, a little bit of mystery and romance, just general things like this to keep myself occupied.
Austin, however, had found something of better interest to his desires.
"Why? Just... just why?" I asked him, gazing at the window that he was glued to.
"Why not though? You can't ask me why if I can just ask you why not!" he said, turning to face me.
"Um, yeah, I can. Why?" I asked again. Austin turned back, and pressed his hands against the glass in the shop window.
The four of us had been walking down a street in the mercantile part of Canterlot, and Austin's attention had been drawn by a general weapons and tools shop. Posted in the window, being suspended by strings from the ceiling, sat a beautifully crafted wooden hunting bow. The price tag on it read three hundred bits, and Austin definitely had his eyes on it. The bow was configured like a normal hunting bow, and was a dark black in colour.
At the moment, I saw no reason to delve into the realm of archery, but if he really wanted to, I saw no reason to stop him.
"Because I want it! I've always wanted my own bow after that instructor came to our school to show us! It was so cool!" he exclaimed, turning back to me. I shrugged.
"I mean, if you're okay with dropping that much money in one place, then be my guest, I guess," I told him, as I idly swung the bag that held my books around my legs. We both needed something to preoccupy us. I had chosen books, and Austin had chosen...
He was already through the door to the store.
...archery...
Now don't get me wrong, anyone and everyone is absolutely capable of learning a new skill. In fact, that's how one should keep their brain sharp, by trying new things. The thing is, Austin had never shot a bow before, nor did he have any prior experience, save for the instructor that came to our school a few years back. He hadn't been strong enough at the time to draw the mighty string back. It was quite humorous, come to think of it. At the same time, so would this, but I digress. I turned my gaze to our friends. Bell looked confused.
"Do you know any guards that know how to use a bow well?" I asked him, for Austin's sake. Bell nodded to me.
"A few ponies, yes. But I don't know if there are any humans who know how to," he told me.
That brings up anther point. Humans in the guard. Yes, of course, there were human royal guards. Probably about a fourth of the guard were humans. This is because they were suited to more... intellectual tasks, based on their physiology and number. Ponies, especially larger ones, were more suited to physical roles based on the fact that they were built stronger. Physically, ponies are a lot stronger in a lot more ways than humans are. Their skeletons are built low, and a lot sturdier than humans. This made them a better candidate to guard work than humans were, which was reflected in the ratio of pony guards to human guards. If you were to look in the field of science and medicine, you would find a lot of unicorns, yes, but the amount of humans goes up as well. Humans are better suited to more precise tasks, as their hands prove a huge advantage. All of this correlates back to Austin and his bow.
"At all? There had to be some, surely!" I thought aloud to Bell.
"Hmm. Maybe, but to my knowledge, no. At the same time, it isn't hard to learn how to use a bow, it just takes effort, and time. With how young you two are, he should have all the time in the world to use that thing," he told me. This was true, the basics of a bow were quite simple. It would take him a long to master the weapon, however.
By this time, Austin had just exited the shop, the newly bought bow clutched tightly in his grasp. A leather belt quiver full of arrows hung from his hip, likely holding at least thirty arrows. He had a silly smile plastered on his face as he walked over to us.
"How much did you drop on all that?" I asked him.
"four hundred bits total, which was actually a little bit under what he was going to charge me," he told me.
"Hey, how'd they even let someone so young buy a bow?" I asked him.
"That's what I was getting at. When he asked me how old I was, I just told him that I was with them" he told me, pointing to the guards that were accompanying us. Glass gave me a small grin.
"When he saw who I was with, he just knocked the total down to four hundred even," he said, putting his bits back on his belt. I had noticed that various people who were walking by us had been giving us rather peculiar looks, most of them directed at Austin.
"If there's nothing else that you want to do, we should start heading back," Glass said to us. I nodded at him, as Austin slung his bow across his chest, the string facing forward on his chest. Compared to him, the bow was quite big, as Austin wasn't the tallest person in the world. He would have to work hard to build up muscle to effectively use the bow.
Well, he has his work cut out for him...
We started our way back to the castle, attracting less gazes now that Austin wasn't holding the bow. Nothing eventful occurred on the way back, so I will spare you the details.
Upon arriving at the castle, Austin asked the question that we all knew he would ask.
"So where can I shoot this thing?"
Glass and Bell exchanged nervous glance, which was generally uncharacteristic of a lieutenant. I can see why he would be nervous, however, as I looked to Austin.
"Well, connected immediately to the armoury is the training grounds. We can go and see if there is a slot open in the future. That's the best place that you can start practicing," he told him.
"...can we go see now?" he asked him. Bell glanced to me, before looking back to Austin.
"I suppose we can. Come on, I'll take you there," he said as he turned away towards another hallway. We promptly followed him to the training grounds, passing a multitude of guards and servants on the way there.
The training grounds had both inside and outside complexes, and were dedicated to furthering the training of the royal guards. Inside, the room was massive, with ceilings at least fifteen feet tall, probably more. The length of the room was probably at least seventy feet long, and probably around fifty feet wide. It was a huge room, and a large part of the north wall was covered in weapon racks. They held a large variety of weapons, from spears and swords, shields and maces. There were various knives and daggers, and there were even a few bows on the far left side. I stood in awe of how many weapons were here. Of course, I would assume that not all of Canterlot's weapons were here, but I digress.
The room was empty surprisingly, as we stood in the doors to the room.
"Well no one's here. Can I try it out?" Austin asked, taking his bow off of his chest. Bell moved over to the door, finding a clipboard held on by tacks. He picked it up, and quickly glanced over it.
"Hmm... the last group for the day left about forty minutes ago, so it would seem that we have the entire room to ourselves today," he told us. I had walked over to the weapon racks, having set my books down, and was currently gazing the selection of shield that were available. Some were designed for ponies, some were designed for humans. Some were big, and some were small. Some were designed for a more aggressive role, having spikes on the front, and some were flat, designed for a stronger defence. The selection baffled me, really.
"Are those archery targets?" Austin said, pointing past the weapon racks. I looked to where he was pointing, and saw a line of large, square targets attached to rolling wheels. The target started about two feet off of the ground, and stopped after about three feet, which was quite a big target. I moved over, and gave one a small pull. It moved slightly, to my delight. I slowly pushed one out of its place, and across to the middle of the room. The frame was wood, but the material inside the frame was much softer. It seemed to be some sort of... woody material. Almost like...
Cork. This is a cork target...
Quite smart if you ask me. The target had a much smaller target pasted to the middle of the board, with a "dartboard" style center, and a bulls eye in the middle. I stepped back to where Austin was standing, collecting my books on the way back. He stepped into the middle of the room, and gripped his bow tightly.
"Um, Daniel? How do I do this again?" he asked me. I face-palmed, and moved over to him.
"You have to nock the arrow on your string, remember?" I asked him. He nodded in realization, and did as I told him. I stepped back.
"Wait, what's next?" he asked, obviously confused. I smirked at this.
"Now you fire, just don't ricochet it and kill one of us," I told him. He looked back to the target, about twenty feet away. He looked back to us.
"Hey Bell, twenty bits I can hit the center first try," he called out. Bell laughed a hearty laugh.
"I like those odds, so sure, you're on" he said with a confidant smirk. Austin grinned devilishly, and turned back to the target. He drew back the string, albeit with a bit of trouble. Once he had the string back, he held the bow still. Suddenly, the string fell forward, and the arrow flew true.
Right into the exact center of the target.
"YEAH! HOW'S THAT FOR ODDS!" Austin screamed while fist pumping. I looked to Bell, who stood with his mouth agape. I laughed at this, and looked back to Austin.
"Yeah, well... beginners luck!" Bell called out.