I stood along the railing looking the fact that I was really here, in this moment. The wind brushing along my face and mane provided a melancholy setting; quite literally I stood there doing nothing, lost in thought about many things. I've prepared for this moment for three years and I'm still not confident it was not enough time.
The wooden boards underneath my hooves were cold and stiff; the monstrous shadow I cast in the water was shimmering with the waves. The Sun began setting below the waters leaving a trail of liquid gold along the horizon, in the distance I could see land, just in time too, there seems to be a storm settling in the distance and heading our direction and I notice I am boring myself again.
“What’s up?” called a voice behind me.
“Huh?” was all I was able to blurt out. Reality is hard to take in once you come back to it.
I turned to see one of my closest friends approach me in a sort of calmer way than usual.
“I said, what’s up, how are you doing?” Lyra stood there calmly, which confused me slightly. Of all ponies she was the most excited to be here.
“I'm fine, just a little nervous I guess.” I did my best to keep a calm composure but the cold wind was not helping. The landmass ahead was getting larger.
“You need to chill a little.” She said. “Every conversation we’ve had starts with ‘I'm nervous’. ‘I'm afraid’. ‘It’s been so long’. What if this and what if that is starting to annoy me you know?”
“You whining is the last thing I need right now”, I said. “Honestly if you can put up with Bonbon then you can at least handle putting up with my complaints.”
“Fine,” Said the mint colored mare. “Just saying it’s starting to worry me a little is all.”
Lyra was a simple pony. Not stupid, she just doesn’t have a complex train of thought. I consider it a great honor she decided to tag along, leaving the many important things she holds near and dear to her heart back home, just to accomplish the same thing I intended to.
“So Lyra,” I began. “You think it will all be worth it?
Of course it will.” she said, “otherwise is wouldn’t have spent the last three years aiming for this moment.”
She was right, all these years for this one moment, it better be worth it. The clouds are over us now, darker than the night sky itself it sent a clear message that it’s going to rain heavily. The boat at the same time was docking into the port, readying to unload everypony.
The first drops began to fall; every pony was beginning the walk off of the ramps into the area, each heading towards a large administration building. In the scramble I was surprised I wasn’t crushed to death in the swarm of ponies rushing into the building in search for shelter.
“Might as well get used to getting wet”, yelled Lyra. It was difficult to hear her with the loud sound of the rain. “This is considered the most tropical continent in the world, rains like crazy here.”
“You got that right!” called another pony somewhere in the fray.
After we finally were able to get inside of the building I found a small area to regain my senses. I didn’t realize how large the building really was until I entered it. It was a three story complex with a large forum full of wet ponies, mostly pegasi, desks lined up along the entrance where ponies dressed in camouflage were addressing to the newcomers, which were beginning to line up. Different sorts of voices and conversations were all over the place, some saying how bad the trip was or how they are excited to be here.
A large skylight revealed the blackened sky, behind the desks were assigned guides to lead the newcomers to specific destinations outside of the buildings, offices lined the areas around the main forum. This is about as close to a train station as it can get, except it wasn’t.
“Kind of blows your mind a little doesn’t it?” said Lyra. “How messy it looks down there yet how organized it really is.”
I tried to ignore my shivering. “Well I'm sure it is a daily thing here to receive hundreds and maybe thousands of ponies from this one location.” It doesn’t surprise me how they are able to keep this calm.
“Well how are we going to get in?” She whined, “It’s going to take forever.”
“Deal with it,” I said. “Complaining won’t make time go any faster.”
We stood there as the line advanced very slowly. How much time had past? An hour? Two hours? I lost track of time, it must be 9 p.m. by now for all I know. Still line after line stood horizontal to one another, like some kind of assembly line conveyer belt in a factory.
When I reached the desk after what seemed days, I proceeded to fill out the information sheet, the pony seated in front of me observing closely as I wrote.
“What a great accomplishment,” he said.
“What?” I said, casually bewildered by his comment.
“Oh noting,” he laughed. “Very rare to see your kind coming in fresh from the mainland is all.”
I did not take his words very kindly, “MY kind?” I began sternly. “Just who are you talking about here?”
Realizing I was staring him in the eye, his little smirk disappeared. “I meant special forces type of ponies.” He began profusely, looking for a way out of this conversation. “Anyway, about the piece of paper in front of you…”
I was able to finish the paperwork without knocking his horn off of his head. Then he put it into a filing cabinet, gave me a piece of paper and told me to wait by one of the hallway entrances.
I stood by the entrance to the hallway as I waited for Lyra to catch up, it shouldn’t take too long for her to finish; unicorns have the luxury of the use of magic to make life easier for them. At about half the time it took me to fill out the paperwork she was walking in my direction, looking quite upset.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Yeah I'm fine” she replied. “Some ponies though, He thinks I don’t have the ‘skill’ to be in the squad I’m in right now.”
“Well it is one of Equestria’s most elite, plus No pony ever dares attempt to try to get into it.”
“Yea I guess you’re right,” Said Lyra. “Anyway, where are we headed?”
I unfolded the sheet of paper that was given to me, “It says here that we got to wait until some pony…”
“Octavia Melody and Lyra Heartstrings!” called somepony.
I turned to see an orange colored mare with a purplish colored mane standing at one of the many possible exits.
“…calls us.” I finished.
We walked up to the mare dressed in an officer’s uniform. With a clearer look at her noticed she was a second lieutenant, the same rank as Lyra, and had a few distinctions like a scar on her lower cheek, and a few burn marks on her hind legs. Also she dyed part of her mane a whitish color.
“Are you two-?”
“Yea,” interrupted Lyra.
“Cut me off again and ill gut you like a fish.” She said it with a melancholy tone, not even expressing anger as if she's said it a million times.
“Anyway,” she began, “Are you two in that Special Forces squad…,” she took out a clipboard and examined it closely, her eyes soon widened, “Well it seems you two are the new ones assigned to the only squad in the CSF division huh? What an honor that must be.”
I didn’t know why it’s such a big deal if we’re in the Celestial Special Forces.
“Looks like you two are getting the special tour of this dump,” she continued. “Right this way,” she pointed. “There’s somepony who wants to meet you.”
She directed us down the hallway to the far exit of the administration building. The silence was starting to become uncomforting. After about 5 minutes we were outside, the rain had lightened up but it was still drizzling; the surrounding lights making the wet ground shimmer faintly. There was nopony waiting there however, which was odd.
“She’ll be here in a minute,” said the officer. “It’s just been a busy night is all, there’s a large division of pegasi about to be dispatched along with fresh recruits from Equestria.”
I'm a little surprised Lyra has kept her mouth shut all this time, she’s never this quiet.
“Anyway,” said our guide. “Just wait here; this is the only place she’ll look for you.”
“Um excuse me,” I said. “But who is ‘she’?”
The orange mare smiled, “Oh you’ll see, knowing where you’re from I'm sure it won’t be hard to recognize her.”
She turned around and walked back into the building. Lyra sighed in relief, “Is it me or does she look a little bit like Scootaloo?”
“Sort of,” I said. “Just a different mane style is all.”
Lyra yawned. “I just hope we get through his tour quickly, it’s going to be tomorrow soon and I want to go to bed.”
My, a bed sounds like a godsend right now, it’s a shame this tour can’t wait until tomorrow.
Lyra and I were standing on a concrete floor in front of a large set of stairs leading in all sorts of directions, sort of like a harbor would have one except the harbor was about ten times as large, never the less it was large enough for hundreds of ponies to leave and enter the area as they pleased.
“Hello there,” called a soft voice near us.
We turned around and saw a medium sized yellow colored mare in front of us
“No way!” exclaimed Lyra.
Fluttershy smiled, “Remember me?”
Fluttershy stood looking proud and tall, her fatigues seemed to literally glow in the rain, emitting an essence of authority. In all the years I've noticed she hasn’t changed very much, besides her posture she has the same tone of voice, mane color, smooth skin, positive attitude and such other factors that makes her who she is.
Either I am too tired to see straight or the rain is creating illusions but I also noticed the symbols on the shoulders of her fatigues resembled stars, silver stars. That’s strange; I assume only generals have stars, unless Fluttershy is a general.
Suddenly I feel insignificant knowing all I have to offer is a few stripes on my shoulders nothing compared to all the senior officers in the armed forces, but everypony starts somewhere right?
“It’s been a very long time since I seen you two, what brings you here all of a sudden?” said Fluttershy.
Lyra spoke before I could, which I sometimes cannot stand, “You know, the scenery, tall grass, oh and a war.”
“Well I can see the war part.” Fluttershy said. “But I want to know why you are here, in the armed forces; I thought you had lives back at home.”
“Yeah well, plans change sometimes.”
“Right, sometimes,” I said. “I don’t mean to bother but what rank are you?”
“Major General,” she said. “Well aside from that, it’s time you two take a look at your new home until this war ends.” She gestured for us to follow her.
As we walked down the stairs, the rain began to pick up, falling more intensely and loudly, small flashes could be seen streaking across the sky, followed by thunder as they went. Back in training I heard this type of weather is common in Zebrica, mainly because the weather is like a free animal here, no masters to show it how to behave, it does own free will here, and nopony will tell it otherwise.
Fluttershy led us to the start of a road that seemed to go on forever.
“Here, you might need these,” began Fluttershy. “This is a map of the entire base to help out in case you two get lost at any point.
She gave us the maps, at the moment I first saw it I could not tell if I was looking at a base layout or a map to a city.
Lyra’s eyes widened. “Is this the right map?” She asked.
Fluttershy showed no change of tone. “I know it may seem large at first but once you’ve been around it a few times it doesn’t seem as big.”
“Right,” said Lyra, unconvinced. “That’s what they said about Canterlot, or Manehattan.
“Well this place isn’t as large as those cities.”
I nodded, from the look of the map this place at largest was about a seventh of the size of Manehattan, maybe much smaller.
Fluttershy silenced the ensuing silence. “If you have any questions while you’re looking at the map, don’t hesitate to ask.”
According to the map, the base had about two hundred thousand acres of land in use, and the administration building was at the gaping maw of the base, as if part of the long side of a rectangle was cut out and a small square was put in part of the hole.
As we walked along the roadway, the rain began to pick up again. The streetlamps were beginning to grow dimmer and the wind was beginning to blow harder. Fog was beginning build up along the roadway.
“Fog never hurt anypony,” said Fluttershy. “But let’s pick up the pace, shall we?”
Across the foggy road I spotted a large building, about three stories tall; the walls stretching far beyond my field of view. The light from the windows were trying to break through the fog, but it wasn’t doing very well on that part.
“This is the infirmary,” said Fluttershy, her voice wasn’t very well to hear from the sound of the rain. “This is one of four infirmaries in the whole base, anything can happen anywhere so we need to make sure we have medical attention available at all times.
As we walked past the entrance there was all kind of activity going on. Bodies covered and uncovered were entering and exiting the building. Medical carriages, despite the rain were moving about loading and unloading bodies of the dead and alive.
“How… productive,” I said. “Are these places always this busy?”
“No not usually,” responded Fluttershy. “It’s a slow day today.”
Lyra shifted uneasily, “What do you mean slow? It looks like a battle just ended here.”
Fluttershy stopped and turned around, facing Lyra. “If I were you I would get used to seeing the dead and dying,” she said. “Remember this is the only Equestrian base in all of Zebrica, you have no idea how much worse it can get. Besides, most of the ponies that go in these infirmaries are special forces.”
“That’s comforting,” Lyra gulped. “Why are they mostly special forces? Why not standard ground forces?”
“Special forces squads play a vital role in ensuring Equestria’s grip does not loosen on Zebrica. We send them out on reconnaissance as well as search and destroy missions to ensure that Equestria can continue sending troops and supplies to the front lines. But these missions are costly sometimes, and that is why the most common patients in these infirmaries are Special Forces.”
“Good to know,” said Lyra, her voice uneasy.
“Let’s get moving,” said Fluttershy. “I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Fluttershy said that this was one of four infirmaries. According to the rectangular looking base and Fluttershy’s exact words, the first infirmary is barely about one and three quarters of a mile from the administration building. The second was 12 miles south of this one near the bottom left corner; the third was near the top right corner about 15 miles North east of the first one. The last one was located about 20 miles west near the wall.
This base seemed to have an even distribution of barracks to other buildings. There would be a group of barracks and then there would be a few series of courtyards and side roads, as well as officer’s quarters and gunsmiths. This place is like a small city, there were even a few small parks.
After what seemed hours we reached what seemed to be the largest building in the base, the mess hall. On the map, it was the second largest rectangle, other than the wall itself.
“This is the largest building in the entire base,” said Fluttershy. “It’s capable of feeding over six thousand ponies at one time, three thousand per building.”
“Per building?” I asked. “It looks like one building on the map.”
“We are currently remodeling. Soon there will be a courtyard in between for an additional two thousand ponies to eat at.”
Lyra looked puzzled. “Just how many ponies can fit in this base?”
Fluttershy gave a quick and firm response. “Just about twenty five thousand ponies at maximum.”
“How many ponies are here now?” This seemed to intrigue Lyra.
“Twenty five thousand,” said Fluttershy. “By four o’clock this morning, there will be about fifteen thousand.”
“THIS morning?” said Lyra. “Like, today this morning?”
“It’s only twelve thirty,” said Fluttershy, not even bothered.
As we walked past the entrance of the mess hall, I noticed there were lights still on.
“Is this place ever closed?” I asked
“No, it’s always open in case any of the night patrol ponies want a cup of coffee or refreshment.”
“That’s odd,” said Lyra. “I haven’t seen any patrol ponies yet.”
The rain was now all but a smooth sprinkle now, glistening on the road just the same way night bugs do. I also noticed lights shining from the northern side of the base, where the airfield is supposed to be.
“They mostly patrol outside or on the walls. Patrols inside the walls go inside at about twelve; those only look out for curfew breaks and such stuff like that. But our main focus is what’s on the outside; everypony is pretty loyal.”
“Interesting,” I said. “I have a quick question, why are we getting a tour in the middle of the night?”
“Good question,” said Fluttershy. “First of all it is less crowded. Also, you two represent Equestria’s most elite Special Forces squadron. It would be a shame to see ponies as important as you run around like children visiting a museum for the first time.”
She had a fair point; it’s not fun figuring out where is where, especially a two hundred thousand acre base.
“Now let’s work our way north to the airfield,” she said. “There is nothing much in the south part but more barracks, officers’ quarters, and such stuff like that.”
She was right, the only thing south of the mess hall, which was pretty much at the center of the base, was a series of barracks, courtyards, armories and one of the other infirmaries. The only other important mark was the south entrance of the base, but that was about it.
“So this mess hall is pretty much the heart of this base,” said Lyra.
“I guess you can put it like that,” responded Fluttershy. “Now let’s get moving all that’s left to see is where the airfield is and the most important thing, where you two will be sleeping.”
For hours we walked past more barracks, and more courtyards, a few parks, and some offices. The lights from what seems to be the airfield were getting brighter, sounds of marching could be heard and orders were being shouted out from mega phones.
When we reached the airfield I took a deep breath. It was enormous; lights were shining everywhere, making it shine like day. Thousands of pegasi were marching to different positions while others filled their places. Officers then proceeded to check on them, making sure all was prepared for departure to some place. I've never seen so many pegasi in one place before, so many thousands of them at once.
Then I turned to Fluttershy and noticed she was frowning. “She’s behind schedule,” she said.
“Who is?” asked Lyra.
Fluttershy was closely eying for a certain pony, “Your squad leader, lieutenant colonel Vinyl Scratch.”
I couldn’t see her from here, which was disappointing. I haven’t seen her in a long time, I wonder if she has forgotten about what happened six years ago, but I can’t shake the feeling she remembers.
“Wait she’s an LC now?” asked Lyra. “When we signed up for the training it said she was a captain.”
“That was one year ago,” said Fluttershy. “She was promoted three weeks afterward.”
Officers were scrambling in between line formations, closely inspecting each Pegasus before moving onto the next one.
“Are these the ones who are going to be dispatched?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And it looks like she’s barely halfway done.” She was beginning sound irritated. “Why don’t we go to your part of the base? It’s not very far from here.”
As we were beginning to walk toward our barracks I heard the thundering sound of thousands of marching hooves. After being exposed to the bright lights the roads looked darker than usual. On our way to our barracks I was wondering what to say to Vinyl once I see her again. I was wondering what she will look like. What she will say. What she will sound like when she speaks. How she will react when she sees that I am a part of this dreaded war.
We passed by the radio station, rather large but small compared to the other buildings. The rain had subsided, leaving only fog in our wake. Then we reached what seemed to look like a fenced off area. There was barbed wire laid on top of the fence and there was a sign in front of the entrance, it read Special Forces only.
“Here it is,” said Fluttershy. “The special forces section of the base.”
“We get our own section?” asked Lyra. “That’s so cool!”
“Just you wait,” said Fluttershy. “There are lots to see.”
We passed by certain named barracks. Some still had lights shining through their windows, while others were dark. Some read the basic squads, such as Alpha or Bravo, all the way down to Echo team. Then, after a series of courtyards we reached different named barracks; some were named Sun’s Legion, others were abbreviated SAR, like for Search and Rescue. We continued to walk by other differently named bunkers until we reached a very peculiar building, a bar.
“Why is there a bar in a military base?” I asked.
“Because that is the only one for thousands of miles,” said Fluttershy. “We figured since Special Forces ponies handle often risky and even suicidal missions, they are entitled to a few last drinks.”
“That’s interesting,” said Lyra. “One last drink while you’re still alive.”
“Special Forces only,” said Fluttershy. “There are some pretty basic rules. You can’t drink if you are going to be dispatched the next day, if you are caught fighting you will lose all rights to the bar, and you can’t carry any drinks outside.”
“Pretty basic,” I said. “No age restrictions?”
Fluttershy cleared her throat. “If you are old enough to serve your nation, then you are old enough to have a drink.”
After a few minutes of walking we reached another building. The sign in front read CSF.
“Well here we are,” said Fluttershy. “The last two rooms at the end of the hallway are empty, pick any ones you please.”
“We get our own rooms?” said Lyra. “That’s nice, I'm sick of sharing bunks with other ponies.”
“Wait why do we get our own rooms?” I asked. “Why don’t we have to share rooms like the others?”
“Good question,” said Fluttershy. “Like I've said before, you two are part of Equestria’s most elite squadron of ponies. The hard work of this squad has earned them all of these luxuries of comfort. So the least we can do is reward something back.”
“Wow now I really feel special,” said Lyra.
“Now,” said Fluttershy. Any more questions before I go?”
“Not at the moment,” I said.
“I'm good,” said Lyra.
“Ok good,” said Fluttershy. “Now if you have any questions later you can find me in the administration office. But for now I have to go help Vinyl get back on track, because if these ponies aren’t ready by four then Twilight is going to be upset, goodnight.” Without another word she flew off in the direction of the airfield.
“Well,” yawned Lyra. “I'm spent; I'm going to go find a room and go to sleep.”
I couldn’t agree more. We walked inside and began walking down the long hallway. The first are we walked by was a large living room. It had couches laid circling around a large fireplace. Windows were on the sides of two walls letting light escape through the front and side of the building. On the other side of the hallway was Vinyl’s office. She was at the airfield somewhere so I didn’t even bother to open the door. Looking down the hallway, I could see eight more doors leading to other rooms of the building. Fluttershy said our rooms would be at the end of the hallway, so that’s where I began walking. In between one pair of rooms was a hallway leading from one side of the hallway, each side was labeled the hall of heroes. In the hallways were large portraits of ponies with plaques in front of them, but that part will have to wait until tomorrow. Once we reached the end of the hallway there were two rooms on each side. One labeled Lt. Lyra Heartstrings and the other labeled Stg. Maj. Octavia Melody.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” said Lyra.
“Goodnight,” I said as I walked inside my room.
My room looked the same as if you would go to into a hotel room, well minus the kitchen. It was painted white, against the back of the room there was a bed in the corner with a lamp stand and a dresser full of fatigues and socks. There was a chair on the left side of the room with a small coffee table. And a large bookshelf full of war novels and field manuals. On the right side there was a bathroom, for the first time in three years I have my own bathroom. I could use a shower right about now, but its two thirty in the morning and the bed looks so cozy right now. I took off my boots and jumped in bed, and then I let the warmth of the sheets take over my cold body and shut my eyes.