Broken Hearts And Broken Minds

I approached the General's tent on Mane Street. I showed the guard the scroll I had been given, and entered silently. He was facing a table in the back of his tent, using magic to draw a diagram of one of the insects in a book.

"Sir." I greeted him, making him jump. He turned around to face me.

"You're Wing Nut? Correct?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." I answered, as I stared straight ahead at whatever was in front of me.

"You can relax." He told me, allowing me to return to a normal position.

"Thank you, sir."

"So do you know why I summoned you?" He looked at me calmly.

"It this regarding Flying Vee being replaced by one of them? Or about how I took control of my team?"

"Yes, both of those."

"Ok."

"So I understand that your flight leader was replaced by one of the creatures, was the fake acting strangely?" He asked seriously.

"Yes. She wore no armor to the battle today, carried no weapon, and didn't speak."

"Ok, thank you." He said, writing something down in a fresh notebook. "Why did you take control of your fellow ponies?" I hesitated a moment, trying to word my answer well.

"I knew that if we didn't get into the air before the enemy saw us, we would be rendered useless, as our training prepared us for surprise hit and run tactics. Not for full blown combat. But I knew Vee wasn't going to do anything, nor was she prepared to, so I took action." I answered. He looked at me with an expression of thought for a moment.

"Well, Wing Nut. I admire your leadership, and I would present you with a promotion, but you've already purchased yourself a commission to the rank of Air Marshall, so you don't need one. You're already above everypony else's orders." He laughed. "So instead, Since there's nopony else to do it, I'm going to put you in charge of the skirmishers. You also now have the power to conscript more pegasi into the group if you feel it's necessary. You have the power to function as an independent team. So you can call on or off missions whenever you feel necessary."

"Thank you, sir." Was all I could say. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You should see your face." He smiled at me. "Anything you'd like to ask or tell me?"

"Until now I just assumed that you were an asshole, sir."

"Nope. I want my soldiers to love me, I just can't be too soft with the army, so it may not seem that way." He replied. "You can go now. Good luck."

I left the tent and dashed for the tavern, eager to tell my friends the news. I found them at the same table I left them at, three-quarters of the way through their meals. I sat down with them, unstrapped my sabre, and placed it on the table in front of me.

"You seem excited." Wanderlust said to me.

"Did you get an award or something?" Grayscale added.

"What would he get an award for?" Wanderlust asked him seriously.

"I don't know. For being a higher rank?" He answered.

"No. I didn't get an award." I interrupted them. "I got control over your flanks. The skirmishers are mine now."

"After one day??" Wanderlust yelled, making everypony in the tavern aware of her presence.

"Yes. Now you belong to me." I laughed in response. "Now let me explain how this team is going to work with me in charge."