Dawn of a New Day ҉
I blinked my eyes open slowly as my wristband vibrated, urging me to wake up. Regaining blood flow, my other hoof struggled to turn it off in a numbed frenzy. A dreaded sigh of defeat was all I could udder as I fell back motionless. Today was the day I would be earning my keep... No more tech-maintenance, cafeteria-assistant... Even janitor. I would finally be able to hold a weapon capable of killing somepony...
That thought was the most frightening. I couldn't imagine killing anypony, and the risk of being killed didn't help. All the training in the world couldn't free me of the horrors of war. There was always at least one war story of somepony's stuck in my head... And I overheard many war stories around the base. Somepony either losing limbs or their life...
The thoughts followed me out of bed and stayed with me as straightened out the sheets. Readjusting my wristband, I checked the time...
“Six o' four...” I still had time before meeting with the base leader, but I didn't have anything or any job to do seeing as somepony else was now in my place. Before heading out, I stepped in front of the mirror that was hagging on the wall. My yellow mane was a ruffled mess and my hooves didn't do much to tame it. Plus my coat looked much more pale than usual, I didn't think I could get much whiter than this...
After a few more seconds of playing around with my mane, my stomach protested to having breakfast as soon as possible. Being a slave to my stomach, I didn't dare fight it. I walked out the door without a second thought.
I navigated out of the hallways made up of other ponies rooms. After that, it was smooth sailing to the cafeteria. Luckily for me, the line wasn't that long. With no hesitation, I took my place in line. As the line became smaller, I grabbed a tray and glanced at what they were severing for the morning. My search stopped once I got a glimpse at the crew behind the serving stations. The crew leader glanced my way and instantly shot me a grin and waved.
“Falkor!” The orange maned, yellow coated stallion greeted me gleefully.
“Heya Pretztail!” I waved back, happy to see a familiar face.
Out of working with all the crew leaders in the cafeteria, Pretztail was my favorite to work with. Not only was he cool-headed most of the time, he was actually a great pony to get to know. In fact, I got to find out that Pretztail was just a fitting nickname given to him by his close friends due to knots in his tail. I asked him about it one day...
He said something around the lines of “not having enough time to put into making his tail look pretty for the Lunars to shoot at,” we both laughed at his joke. I suggested for him to hack it off, however he admitted the drastic change would only make him look even more strange. Mentally agreeing, some tails were better than no tails.
“Grab a seat nearby, I'll sit with ya,” Pretztail said as he already fixed my tray with a meal.
“Alright,” I nodded, soon searching for an open table close. It didn't take me too long seeing as it's frowned upon to spend too much time in the cafeteria. It didn't help any that these wristbands had a terrible way of reminding you that your time is up. As much as some of you maybe be thinking, it wasn't some kind of concentration camp, this place ran like clockwork and it required ponies to be at their stations when necessary.
I spotted some ponies leaving their table to empty their trays. Wasting no time, I claimed the table for myself. Forking around with my food, my head fell against my free hoof. Pretztail didn't take too long with getting ready. He exited the back room, bearing a tray of food with both hooves. The yellow pony nodded at me as he approached.
“So I hear today is your last day working in the base,” I cringed at the words slightly as he sat down next to me.
“...Yeah,” a soft sigh passed through my dry lips.
“It's not so bad... You get to see the outside world, the fresh, contaminated air, the overgrown vegetation, not to mention the wild creatures who've adapted to it,” Pretztail's words weren't helping at all.
“You know I don't want to hear that now... I just woke up,” I rubbed my forehead stressfully as I began eating.
“Sorry, but I'm just sayin',” The yellow colt shrugged, “and I don't want to see you dead either. Besides, you're one of my best workers, and I'd like to see you work behind the counters again,” I wasn't sure how to take pretztail's words.
“Uh... Thanks?” I wondered if I was responding right.
“Anyways, I remember my time serving outside of the base... Those were interesting times indeed,” Pretztail reminisced.
“Intersting?” In what way, I thought.
“Well... It's a once in a lifetime experience, the sights are breath taking, and honestly... Not all the creatures were terrifying,” at first that didn't sound so bad, but that didn't stop me from questioning it.
“...Did anything terrible happen during your deployment?” I asked, putting my fork down.
“Oh of course, it's expected! No pony has gone out and was greeted with just sunshine and flowers,” Pretztail took a long drink of his juice before before going on again, reminding me that I didn't pick up anything to drink, “sometimes we happened onto a squad of Lunar soldiers... And other times they found us. And if it wasn't Lunars it was nature itself. I don't think I would be able to tell you all the times I've escaped with my life... But it was well worth it all,” that was a tough pill to swallow.
“...You mention 'we', 'us', and 'squad' what do you mean by that?” I resumed eating as pretztail laughed a bit at my response.
“They're not gonna send you out alone Falkor, everyone's deployed in a squad, haven't you been paying attention all these years?”
“...I thought I have, all my training's been done alone,” my eyes aimed away in embarrassment.
“You know we have a visual and physical simulator right? Please tell me you do,” I tried my best to resist from cringing.
“Yes, but it felt so real, the first time I used it was the last...” Not to mention all the nightmares that followed the nights after.
“It's supposed to feel read, it helps you get used to the real thing,” Pretztail's hoof met with his face in disappointment.
“I know... I just didn't have the courage to try it again,” I replied, feeling awful about myself.
“And you're going to pay for it now because of your negligence,” Pretztail didn't really offer much sympathy to my case.
“Wh-what should I do?” fear started to shake me from the inside.
“There's nothing you can do right now, but just make sure to obey your squad leader when you're out there, it's the most safest path to coming back alive,” the yellow pony nodded slowly, “granted, it's not guaranteed, but there's a fair chance,” my wristband began to vibrate again. Lifting my hoof, I read that the base leader was ready to see me. There was an awkward silence as I swallowed hard.
“I... I gotta get going,” I stood up from my seat, about to grab my tray before Pretztail stopped me.
“I'll take care of that, you just worry about making it there in time,” the colt waved me off.
“...Thank you,” I left it on the table as I began to trot away.
“...One more thing!” Pretztail stopped me.
“Yes?” I turned to face him.
“When all seems lost, when you find yourself alone, just remember, don't stop fighting...” I only nodded in quick response as I hurried my flank to my next destination.
I guess this wouldn't be so bad... I thought over, as I glanced over my room in the space cruiser. Bed, bathroom, closet... It wasn't much change from the room back at the base. At least our departure to Equestria would be comfortable, from the inside that is. Space traffic was tight, not to mention hostile as well.
Everyone on board was tense. Seeing as this was my first departure into space, I wasn't an exception. Our craft was equipped with a cloaking device, like most crafts that were made to go down to Equestria, but it wasn't enough to calm our fears. Not everypony who's gone down to Equestria has made in one piece... Or at all.
With our departure time ticking closer, I decided to make my way down to the control room for the big moment. But before I walked out the door, I caught my reflection in the mirror. With the spacesuit on, the only thing visible was my black mane, brown snout and horn. And as bulky as the suit appeared, it was fairly light and flexible.
Leaving the mirror behind, I continued on towards the control room. Despite the ease of moment with the suit I still found my legs locking up now and then from all the suspense of going into space. The drawback didn't keep me too long, the door opened as I neared it, briefing would start in a matter of seconds now.
“Malakai! was wondering when you'd show up,” the leader glanced up at me with his silvery eyes.
“Sorry, sir... Just a little apprehensive is all,” I scratched my mane, avoiding his gaze, focusing on his gray mane instead.
“Understandable, it's your first trip through space, just take it easy and you'll be fine,” the colt gestured for me to sit down.
“Yes, sir,” I took a seat next next to a full suited pony, my ears curved in to listen.
“Anyways, now that you're here, I can begin,” the colt cleared his throat before going on, “our mission isn't anything special, as you've been told before, we're staking out on Solar Empire turf for a few days. Our maps of their bases are almost complete, we just need a few more areas and we can conduct a full scale invasion. That's where we come in, once we finish our descent, we'll spend the first night setting up, the rest will be searching out the bases...”
I began to tune out the rest of the leader what going on about, it was more of a recap than a briefing, but then again, most ponies need a reminder. Looking around, most of the team seemed just as uninterested in what our leader had to say. They just sat or stood there idly while watching the colt flap his lips together.
As dull as the crew looked now, I didn't doubt that our team lacked any luster. Our squad was put together just yesterday, giving us little time to meet and greet each other... Unfortunately, I invested the time into other matters. At least the trip through space should give me an opportunity to fix that... Once I get over the fact how dangerous our trip is.
“-Malakai,” I snapped back into reality, “you're on guns,” I nodded as the lead colt pointed out my station.
“Yes sir,” I nodded, taking my seat casually. Orders didn't last long, everypony was sorted out and accounted for. I twisted around in my seat, eying up the crew again. Counting them out, there was five ponies present, six including myself. Three colts and two mares made up the team.
One of them was a Rarity clone. An Element of Harmony was required for each squad. Sadly for the clones, most of their personalities were drained, their voices monotone, pretty much androids made of flesh. I didn't keep my eyes on her for long, afraid she might have some sort of sixth sense of picking up my gaze without looking.
Instead, I began to check out the other mare. Her lustrous white coat and mane reflected the light pretty well, causing my eyes to blink a few times to adjust. I could have sworn she was albino if she hadn't glanced my way. I shifted my gaze away from her's to avoid looking like a creep, the last thing I need is to make a bad impression... Especially with a mare.
But before I could chew on what I saw, I felt a few brief taps on the shoulder.
“You're the only pony I didn't get to me before the mission,” I turned around in my seat to spot one of the colts, “Malakai was it?” He asked, extending out dark blue hoof.
“Malak for short,” I grabbed his hoof, “and you are?”
“Zero Gravity, but you can call me Zero,” his shake was a little too firm for my liking.
“...Nice to meet you,” I retracted my hoof, hiding it behind my back to stretch it out.
“Likewise...” He smiled before ducking down to my level, whispering, “anyways, I caught you gawking at Melony,” my cheeks lighted up in guilt and embarrassment. Melony must have been the white mare that nearly blinded me, I didn't realize how long I was looking at her until it was brought to my attention.
“Y-yes, what about it,” I couldn't bring myself to lie.
“Well I knows she' quite cute but...” He scratched his equally blue mane awkwardly, “she's honestly a pushover,” I peeked back over at the white mare, this time noticing her wings poking out of her space gear. She turned her head to talk to Rarity who was seated next to her, it was then I spotted a horn prodding out from her head.
Obviously, she was naturally a pegasus. Natural born alicorns were extinct once the deaths of the princesses have passed. Non unicorns had horns surgically planted on them for the sake of tactical warfare. Each horn was specialized with a class, such as infantrymen, demolisher, medic, and so on... Also horns were interchangeable, but that's just extra work nopony wants to do.
Non pegasi ponies were given jetpacks, like myself, to save the strain of more surgical work. They're not as agile as wings, but they get the job done nonetheless. Refueling them daily was probably the most stressful task of having them.
“...Pushover?” I had to rip my gaze away from the white mare.
“Well she's kind of lost when it comes to the game of love... I wouldn't take your chances,” I wasn't a colt of romance, so his advice really fell on deaf ears.
“Alright,” I nodded anyways, hoping the topic would change.
“Zero!” the leader barked out, glaring at the colt, “return to your station, this is no time for gossiping!”
“Y-yes, sorry sir!” Zero shrank back into his seat. He shot a few glances at me, as if he wasn't finished speaking yet. I was beginning to have second thoughts about our crew...
“Sir,” Melony spoke up as she twirled her seat to face the learder, “we're ready for take off,” the mare finished with a smile and nod. I wiped my eyes and cleaned out my ears, Melony seemed a little too happy go lucky for me to even consider her partner material.
“Excellent. Aphelion, take us out of here,” the colt kept his eyes on the tall, smoky coated pony piloting the spacecraft.
“On it sir,” the dark colt kept to his work, hiding behind his shadowy mane. “Lift-off in five, four, three, two, one...” A dramatic pull brought us off the ground by a foot or two.
“Steady now,” the leader urged, “we're not the Shadowbolts, so keep those crazy stunts of yours to a minimum,” he grumbled, probably prone to motion sickness if I had to guess.
However, I did have to chew on the fact that the leader brought up the Shadowbolts. They were the Lunar Republic's elite space and air pilots... Was this dark colt affiliated with them? And if so, how did he get tangled into our crew?
“Cloaking gear's turned on sir,” Aphelion was barely audible.
“Perfect, now lead us out, we can't be wasting anymore time,” the crew leader ordered as a gentle push brushed us into space, I couldn't help but hold my breath...
