Introduction
Canterlot Barracks; 1100 Hours; July 25th, 4500 A.D.
Celestia marched up and down through the lines of children in the barracks. “You all have been brought here for one purpose. Seventy-five of you came here… And fifty of you will leave. The twenty-five of you left will be our only hope against the Changelings.” The children in the crowd suddenly shifted. Small whispers could be heard. “And at least fifteen of you will wash-out of the program.” Celestia continued. She thought of “Tango Sierra” when she said that. Tango Sierra may not make it through the augmentation. Celestia pushed the thought aside. She did not need to trouble herself. The children took advantage of Celestia’s mental absence and she had to quite them again before saying “You are the hope of all of us. Every one of you.” She nodded and the trainers walked the candidates through a hallway in the side of the large, dark, room. Celestia looked down. Sure, tango Sierra may be too weak to make it. But her brother Sierra Alpha may be strong enough, she thought. Celestia dismissed the thought and whispered “Do what must be done”.
Chapter One
Everfree Forest; 0900 Hours; July 26th, 4500 A.D
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“Come on, maggots! We haven’t got all day!” CPO Manedez barked at the fowls marching through the dark forest. The unicorn dubbed “Sierra Alpha” was appointed leader by the other kids. His sister, dubbed Tango Sierra, followed close behind him as they trekked through the forest following Manedez. “I wanna go home so bad!” Tango Sierra shouted. “We’ll be fine. Whatever it is that were doing here, it is very important. Look, as long as you’ve got me, you’re safe.” Sierra Alpha replied. As the line of children got further into the forest, they could see many small metal buildings and poles. The CPO seemed to have a sly smile on his face. They got closer to the buildings and more unicorns stepped out of the shacks and grinned at Manedez. “Alright, maggots. You each have a trainer here. They will come to you, so just keep your asses put.” Manedez had quite a bit of aggression in his tone there. “You will each be given shortened names. Tango Sierra!” Tango Sierra jumped. “You will be called Dawn!" He shouted. Tango Sierra was to scared by the colt to pay attention to any of the other ponies "nicknames". All she new was that her brother was called "Shiner". "Alright! Your trainers will lead you all to your assigned bunks and training will begin first thing in the morning!" Manedez barked. "Am I clear?!" All of the ponies stood up straight out of fear and shouted "Yes!". Manedez nodded and the trainers led the ponies to their rooms. Manedez sighed and kicked the ground, cursing at himself for the deal that he made with Celestia. A royal guard approached him and asked, "Sir, are you fine Are you still shaken up about this? I sure am. I mean, Christ, abducting six year olds?"Manedez looked up and snared, "Stow it, soldier! Remember, the walls have ears." The guard grunted and replied, "That still doesn't answer my question..." Manedez stared him in the eye, winked, then looked around the area nervously before speaking. He said loudly, "Uhhhmmm no. We never abducted any children. They wanted to be soldiers. I'm just depressed that I had to leave my wife in Appaloosa while the Changelings are advancing." Manedez finished that sentence with an additional wink. "Ohhhh, got it, sir. Well, don't worry, this whole... thing... Will leave your head sooner or later." The guard replied, also winking. Manedez walked away, I sure hope so, he thought. He opened the door to his cabin and sat down on the floor. He looked at the blank wall, I'm glad command decided that they were gonna put me in a prison cell, he thought. For all he knew, he belonged in one...
The sun rose and the trainers all brutally woke up the trainees and lined them up outdoors in the middle of the clearing. It was already noon and Manedez hadn't came out of his bunk yet. A trainer kicked down the door and saw Manedez passed out on the floor with liquor on his breath. The trainer kicked him a few times and he became conscious again. Manedez stumbled to get off and remembered that spell that Celestia told specifically to him which got rid of a hangover. His horn glowed a bright blue and his mind raced. His brain became fully functional and he was ready to tackle the day. The trainer stood in awe and said, "Jesus, I wish I could that." "With some practice, you could. Trust me, I've used it ALOT over the years" Manedez replied.
Manedez walked out the doorway and used a spell to repair the door on his way. He stood in front of the children. "Dawn" looked like she had been crying earlier, another thing that reminded Manedez that what he was doing was wrong. "Hmmm hmmm" Manedez cleared his throat and then said "This is your schedule, all of you will go to school from seven in the morning until noon, and then you will do training exercises until five in the afternoon. You will then eat dinner and then report back in this spot for karate lessons until nine when you all will sleep, and the cycle repeats. Am I clear?" The kids are yelled "Yes sir!". Maybe these children DO want to be soldiers, Manedez thought, a smile coming to him. "Finally, some school!" Dawn yelled. A trainer instantly hit her in the head with a rod for the outburst. "You all are dismissed!" Manedez yelled. The children all formed a line and were led by the trainers to a Naval Academy just across the clearing.
Everfree Forest Training Center; 1300 Hours; July 27th, 4500 A.D
Shiner lost track of his sister when they had entered the naval academy, but she was at the back of his mind. He was fascinated by all of the machines running around him. AI matrices were operating, their holograms dancing about, and computer screens flashed with constant radar feed. The trainers left them at the door and they were all now following their new teacher.
The teacher was odd also. She was a hologram as well, and Shiner was fascinated by her. She spoke in a delightful British accent and chose the appearance of a young mare with a beautiful blonde mane. She led the class down a long white hallway with a door at the very end. Shiner took notice of the many guards surrounding the door, he may have been young, but he wasn't stupid. He went up to the British mare and asked "Okay, what the hay is going on here?". The mare turned around and said, "School, of course!" That didn't answer my question, Shiner thought.
The children were at the now-open door and they all entered. A hundred displays lit up on the walls and fascinating holograms filled the room. Twi'lie must be in heaven! Shiner thought.The classroom was small, but it some how could hold seventy five children. The British mare had lunch brought in and the children all learned about their purpose and the Changelings. Shiner observed the Changeling anatomy closely, knowing that if he could understand it, he could find it's weak spot. Before the class knew it, time was up and it was the time for training. All the children filed out of the academy where Manedez waited for them.
The kids followed Manedez deep into the forest where an obstacle course was laid out for them. "You all will be split up into teams depending on your name. Shiner, you are with Samantha and Simon!" Shiner looked around so wildly for the children who had those names on their shirts that he didn't even pay attention to any of the other teams. By time he found the ponies, the "games" were about to begin. Shiner looked at his teammates and observed them. Samantha was a some-what of a tom-boy. Her mane was colorful and Manedez dubbed her "Dash". The other, Simon, was sort of on the bulky side, but that bulk was muscle. "The objective of the course" Manedez yelled "Is to use teamwork to get to the stream north of here, ring the four bells around it, and make it back here first. You may have noticed that each team has one unicorn, one Pegasus and one earth pony. Remember that." Dash looked at Shiner and said "I'm real fast. I'll look around from above and lead you to the creek. Got it? Don't get in my way, OK, kid?" Her voice was raspy ,and Shiner thought that he should just agree with her. Shiner nodded and Dash said "This here is Simon. He can move any obstacles out of your way. he's strong... Real strong". Shiner nodded yet again and was about to say what he could do but was interrupted by Manedez yelling for them to start.
"Go, go ,go ,go!" Manedez screamed. Dash bolted into the air and Simon and Shiner followed her from below. The team got so close to the stream that they could hear water trickling and they could see the gold shimmer of a bell. Dash looked down and shouted "I told you I was good!" But, out of nowhere, another pegasus rammed into Dash and her cutie mark was uncovered, leaving Shiner astonished by it's awesomeness. Not only did the ram do that, but it sent Dash plummeting. Her other two teammates chased after her but lost track of her. Dash eventually crashed into the forest where she was cornered by another team. Dash was severely wounded and the other team held her captive knowing that all team members must be present in order for a team to win.
"Where do you think Dash is?" Simon asked, revealing his oddly mature voice. "I don't know. I think she fell that way." Shiner said, pointing to a steep hill. "Well, I guess I'm gonna follow you." Simon replied. The two hiked up the incline and found that it was a great view point. The team closest to the creek seemed to be Team Four, while Shiner's team (Team Two) was at the back of the woods. Simon squinted his eyes and said "Hey, I think I see her over there. She's being carried by Team One!" "What? Where?" Shiner shouted. Simon pointed at them and said "Guess we gotta get her back".
