Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 18

Dreams of the past part 4

“Let's go girls!” “Let's... not?”

~O~Firestorm~O~

I trotted along a long hallway, Frostmane trotting next to me. Princess Luna was leading us somewhere, but neither one of us had any idea of what it was she wanted to show us. It was still very strange for me to accept that the light blue Unicorn next to me was indeed my old friend. She had changed, physically, but seemed to be much the same as before otherwise. Noticing my stare, Frostmane cocked her head at me.

“Still not used to my new look?”, she asked, sighing.

“I.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. If you'd just tell me what has happened to you. Maybe I could accept it a little easier then.”

“Sorry Storm, but... I can't. I would trust you with my life, but I'm just not ready to talk about this yet. Just know,that it wasn't pleasant.”, she replied, averting her gaze. I could tell that something horrible must have happened to her, and that she didn't want to talk about it, so I changed the subject.

“So... What do you think this is all about?”, I asked casually.

“I already told you, I don't know more than you do. Luna came to my quarters this morning, ordering me to pack my things and follow her.”

“Same here. Think we're being transferred? Does Rainbow know about this?”, I inquired, trying to get my friend into a gossiping mood.

“I... I quit the Ministry of Awesome this morning, on Lunas orders. So for me at least, it could be a transfer.”, my friend responded, much to my surprise. She looked solemn as she said this.  If she was being sent to another Unit, I would follow her, of course, but this was still pretty sudden.

“Rainbow Dash is not happy with me, for taking away two of her best soldiers.”, Princess Luna chimed in as she reached a set of double doors, adding, “So I hope you will prove worthy of the trouble I went through to procure this.”

The Princesses magic enveloped the doors, and they swung open. Behind it, was the biggest airship hangar I had ever seen. Four to five Thunderhead siege platforms would have fitted in there, and not even touch each other. The hangar was, however, barely big enough for the ship that floated on a pillow of clouds in the middle of it. It looked like someone had cast an enlargement charm on a Thunderhead, making it bigger and more aerodynamic in the progress. Differently from the usual four Raptors that held such a ship aloft, I could see massive rotors on it's sides and on the back of it. This wasn't your ordinary Thunderhead. I recognized the ship, since it had been reported missing in action a week ago.

“The Solar Flare?”, I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, as I eyed the golden surface of the ship. It was designed to reflect magical weapons fire up to a certain degree, and it's canons were the most powerful mounted weapons ever build by Ponykind. Princess Luna chuckled a bit, as she stepped up to the railing of the catwalk we now stood on.

“That was it's name, yes. But right now it is being refitted for the use of a very special Unit. A Unit that will not report to anypony, but me. I plan to use that Unit to achieve my dream of a peaceful Equestria, and therefor, this ship will be known as the Luna Dream.”, she explained, looking back over her shoulder at us.

“Ehm, your highness, do you plan to put us into that Unit? I mean... we're trained for covert ops operations, but... I'm not sure if I want a position like that.”, I asked timidly, expecting her to get angry at me. She didn't. Instead, the midnight blue Alicorn just smiled at me.

“You are strangely silent, Frostmane.”, she said, addressing my friend, but not taking her eyes off me.

“You... you want me to command them... don't you?”, my friend asked, her voice shaking. I stared at my friend, and back at the Princess again. I knew only too well that Frostmane had it in her to command others, but I also knew that it was one of her worst nightmares.

“Yes.”, the Princess stated simply, and my friend slumped to her haunches. It was evident to me, that she didn't like this one bit. “You are the only Pony I trust with this, Vice-General.”

My ears perked up at this.

“Vice-General? That's quite a promotion... From starting the day a Sergeant, I mean.”, I mused, not wanting to believe what was happening here.

“And I want you to lead the Units Pegasi, Major.”, the Princess added, catching me by surprise once more. I didn't like it, but the decision had been made for us it seemed. We could have always quit the military, but we had been soldiers for so long, that neither of us would have been comfortable with rejoining the civilian population.

Besides... I already knew that... if Frostmane went, then I would go as well... I just wondered why the Princess had chosen us...

~O~Two months later~O~

The refitting of the Luna Dream had been finished a week ago, and her shakedown run had gone without any problems. We had brought the ship to the badlands, south of Appleloosa, to test the canons, and I had been stunned at the sight of the craters they left behind.

The formerly golden Thunderhead had been painted completely black. Princess Luna had certainly gotten us the best ship possible, even though many of it's weapon systems had been removed to make room for cargo bays, crew quarters and other things... Today was a big day for our newly formed Platoon. Princess Luna and Frostmane had spent several nights, discussing who would get the chance to join the “Moon Skulls” alongside us, and today the first batch of recruits was scheduled to arrive.

I was already standing in one of the Luna Dreams enormous hangars, awaiting the Raptor that would bring our potential comrades aboard. Several Ponytron security bots stood by behind me, just in case any of them decided to make this more difficult than it had to be. I had reviewed their files. Eighty Ponies were on their way to us, and at least three of them had a history of attacking superior officers. One was even a dismissed Fleet Admiral. So I had four potential troublemakers on my hooves. The others were veterans. Normal Ponies really, but each one of them a specialist in his or her own right. Snipers, explosive specialists and even Steel Rangers were on the list. I was pretty sure that they would not like what Frostmane had to say to them when they arrived, since I had also reviewed the little speech she had prepared for this occasion...

Finally, the relatively small shape of the Raptor appeared out of the clouds outside the hangar, slowly sliding inside. It came to a stop a few dozen feet away from me, and the exit ramp began to extend. Ahead of anypony else, a Pegasus mare in a black uniform came storming out of the ship. Her green coat was almost completely covered by it, and I groaned inwardly as I saw the medals on her chest.

“This isn't going to end well...”, I thought as the mare stepped towards me at a brisk pace. Her purple mane stuck out from under her uniform hat, and her magenta eyes were locked on my golden one.

“About time high command saw their mistake. You there, go to the bridge and have the navigator plot a course towards Rom. Now that I've finally been given a ship worthy of my skills, we can end this stupid little war.”, she said, nudging me into the chest with her hoof. I looked down at her hoof for a moment, before brushing it away with one of my own.

“I will do now such thing, for you don't have the authority to give me any orders. And now go back to the group and get in line, pronto!”, I ordered right back. She didn't like that one bit.

“Don't you know who I am? I'm Fleet Admiral Gear Turn and...”, she began, as I cut her off.

“I know who you are, recruit! FORMER Fleet Admiral Gear Turn, also called the butcher of Pega-Ville, for ordering a full bombardment on a civilian Pegasus settlement.”, I replied, narrowing my eye. The mare in front of me was shocked at being spoken to this way.

“Who do you think you are?”, she spat, bringing her face so close to mine, that we were actually butting heads.

“I am the secondary Commander of this vessel, Major Firestorm, and you are acting out of line, recruit! Get back into line, before I decide that you are not worth the trouble of shipping your sorry flank back to prison!”, I shouted, now drawing the attention of the other Ponies who were slowly filing out of the Raptor.

They were looking at the pair of us in amusement, and a small circle of Ponies was already forming around us. They were obviously expecting a fight. I would have loved to show this stuck up mare a thing or two, since I had lost family in the Pega-Ville massacre, but I also knew that it wouldn't be any good.

It was then that an Earthpony mare and a Zebra stallion stepped forward, identifying themselves as Lieutenant Commander Cherry Cream and Major Herak. Herak stepped in between us, facing Gear Turns way as he began to speak, as Cherry Cream tried to calm me down.

“Miss Gear, I think you should calm down. All of us agreed to come here, without knowing what this was all about. Please follow me back into line, and we'll wait for the Commander of this ship to explain everything to us.”, the Zebra stallion tried to reason with Gear Turn, but she hit him in the face instead, knocking him aside before lunging at me...

~O~Frostmane~O~

I was late! Oh so late! Luna had kept me up all night, discussing the next batch of recruits with me. Why she couldn't do that in my dreams was beyond me, but due to her insistence on this meeting, I had overslept, and was now galloping towards the hangar. The scene that greeted me when the metal door slid aside, was almost comical.

Firestorm was standing above a struggling Pegasus mare, whom she had restrained by wrapping her armors tail around the other mares barrel. The mare was shouting pretty colorful insults at my friend, while the other recruits looked at the pair, their muzzles hanging open. I couldn't help but shake my head as I stepped up to my friend.

“Storm, what's happened here?”, I asked, looking at a Zebra stallion in the crowd who looked like he had received a blow to the face recently.

“Ma'am, Former Fleet Admiral Gear Turn attacked me. Requesting permission to take out the trash.”, Firestorm replied, and I sighed. Ever since I had taken command of this ship, Firestorm had distanced herself from me for some reason. I bent down to look the restrained mare in the face.

“Is that true, recruit?”, I asked sternly.

“Don't you dare call me that! I'm a Fleet Admiral, you screwhead!”, the mare spat into my face. I didn't react to her attempted provocation, other then wiping her spit out of my face before speaking again.

“I think that's a confession there. So look, you have two options. Either you accept that you have been stripped of your rank and station, and get a chance to redeem yourself, or you step back into that Raptor. It will bring you back to Baltimare prison. So? What will it be?”, I explained, not raising my voice. The mare thought for a moment, before she grit her teeth and pressed out that she preferred to stay. I nodded, and ordered Firestorm to let her go. It was clear to me that this mare meant trouble when I had chosen her, but she had a reputation of being a fierce fighter. If I could get her to direct that fierceness at our enemies, she would be a great asset indeed.

After the spectacle, it took my potential subordinates a while to line up again. I took a deep breath, readying myself to hold the speech I had prepared earlier...

~O~Firestorm~O~

~O~A week later~O~

I was sitting in the mess hall, taking a sip from my apple tea as one of the recruits from our last batch approached me. The buck saluted smartly, before asking me for permission to sit down. I examined him for a moment, trying to remember his name. Then I remembered it. The Pegasus' name was Snow Storm. It had amused me when had first read his name on the list of potential recruits, since it was the polar opposite of my own name. I nodded, to indicate that I didn't object.

“Ma'am... I want to request a transfer to one of the maintenance teams down below.”, he said, and I almost spit out some of my tea at this.

“What? Private, you're a good flier and a good soldier. Why do you want to throw that away and become a mechanic?”, I asked, taken aback a bit.

“I... I have never enjoyed fighting, and after talking with some of the others, I think it would be best if I left active duty. All that bragging about how many enemies they've killed... I just can't take it...”, he said, and I sighed, putting down my cup to give him my unshared attention.

“Private... Do you really think any of your comrades enjoy killing? I mean... OK, there might be some, but I can assure you that most of them are just as scared as you are. All their boasting is just their way to cope with this new situation.”, I said, adding, “Do you take me for a cruel Pony?”

“N..No Ma'am. So far, you have been strict, but fair to us. And you always have an open ear for everypony.”, he replied, flustered.

“Well then, let me show you something.”, I said, walking over to the TV on the far wall of the mess hall. Entering my password into a terminal next to it, the Equestrian News Network disappeared from the screen, and was replaced with a chart of combat statistics. My combat statistics...

Name: Firestorm

Rank: Major

Missions : 188

Shots fired: 1720

Accuracy : 98,00%

Enemies killed: 499

Times injured: 5

Failed Missions: 0

Private Snow Storm stared at the statistics, his muzzle hanging open.

“This... this is incredible...”, he said, looking at me with a new form of respect in his eyes. I smiled at him gently. Since the first batch of recruits had arrived on board the ship, I had sometimes played the role of a mother for some of them. Taking away their fears, or reassuring them. All this stallion needed, was a little nudge into the right direction.

“You see Private? We may do horrible things to keep our fellow Ponies safe, but that does not mean that we have to be horrible Ponies. All it means, is that we have the guts to jump over our shadow, and do what has to be done. You wouldn't be here, if you didn't have what it takes.”, I said, also inspecting the chart.

“This chart isn't accurate. They forgot to add the time I nodded off on patrol to my injured list.”, I thought as I looked at the stallion next to me. I decided that he would be fine after my little speech.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Again!”, I shouted, while training with the Pegasus recruits. We were practicing basic aerial combat maneuvers, and so far one of them in particular was failing miserably. The others had either been Shadowbolts or at least fliers in the Equestrian aerial defense force, while this mare had, apparently, never even finished basic training.

Gear Turn did well when we practiced ground bound fighting with the recruits from the other races, but she was a more than bad flier. I wondered briefly, how such an incompetent Pony could have risen to the rank of Fleet Admiral...

The formation of recruits began to bank to their left, to evade simulated rifle fire from below as, of course, a red paint ball bullet impacted on Gear Turns right flank. In an actual battle, such a wound would have taken her out of the fight.

“Oh come on!”, she complained, looking down at the Unicorns who had fired the training bullets, “You're aiming at me especially on purpose!”

“Of course they're aiming at you. This is an evasion exercise after all.”, I said, as I flew over to her.

“But they're aiming at me especially! None of the others is getting hit as much as I do!”, she went on. I sighed.

“The others are faster to react than you. Look Gear, you do really well if you're fighting on the ground, but so far you are utterly useless while you're in the air. I just have to ask. Have you ever finished a combat flight course during your training?”, I asked, doing my best to treat the mare as just another recruit.

“No. I never finished one of those stupid courses. I'm a born leader after all.”, the green Pegasus replied, and one of the other recruits snorted.

“You? A born leader? You're no better than me in tactics class.”, Lemon Butter called out, much to the amusement of the other recruits. I had to agree with him, but mocking another recruit during a training session was not something I could let slide.

“Lemon! Ten rounds around the LD! And if you're not done in ten minutes, you'll have to do extra combat training with me!”, I shouted at the buck. The laughter died down at once, and the yellow Pegasus looked at me. A moment later, he flew off to do his penalty rounds as I turned back to Gear Turn.

“I'll talk with Thunder Hoof. Maybe we can transfer you to the ground fighting force.”, I offered, earning myself a shocked look from the mare. There was no argument however, since even she had to admit that she simply sucked at flying.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Of course, Lemon had failed to return in the time limit I had set, and so I was now giving him an extra lesson. Our training area aboard the Luna Dream was pretty spacious, to make flying around easier. The ground of it however, was just as hard and cold as on the rest of the ship. Private Lemon Butter had just impacted on said ground for the fifth time in a row, when I caught on to what was going on here. Landing next to the crumpled heap, that was the stallion, I looked down at him sternly.

“You wanted to train alone with me, didn't you?”, I stated, earning myself a silly grin from the other Pegasus, who was just stumbling back to his hooves.

“Well, who wouldn't enjoy being knocked around by such a pretty mare?”, he said, winking at me. I took a deep breath to calm myself. It didn't help, and so I did the next best thing. My armored tail shot out from behind me, sweeping across the floor. To my surprise, Lemon was able to deflect my attack, and suddenly I found myself on the ground.

“You've been holding out on me.”, I said angrily, standing up again, raising my tail behind my back in a threatening manner. Our little training session got a lot more taxing for me after that. Lemon had been a Shadowbolt before Frostmane had recruited him, so I had always wondered why he was so bad. Now I knew. He had taken a fancy to me. Too bad for him, that I was not interested in anything else than training. His antics during our little mock battle earned him a bloody nose, and a two week stay in medical, when he had tried to steal a kiss from me in mid flight. Pegasus armor was good, but it left the muzzle unprotected, and so I had arranged a meeting between his nose, and my helmet.

“Put that energy into your fights, and you will at least survive our first assignment.”, I mused, as the medics carried him out of the training area on a stretcher.

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

Firestorm:

No status changes

Golden Sunshine:

No status changes

Homage:

No status changes