Author's Note

Disclaimer: Guns and in-depth gun-related content ahead.

4: Getting Up To Speed

“Tell me one good reason I should let her enlist.”

“With all due respect, Thirteen, tell me one good reason you shouldn’t? She was built for this. It’s what she’s made for.”

“She wasn’t built for anything. She was a prototype, at best a showcase, a look-and-see type of thing. She’s not meant for this sort of work.”

“Her sister was identical to her in every conceivable way. She singlehandedly-“

“We’re not discussing Number Six, here. We’re discussing Number Eight.”

“Yes, madam. Forgive me. All I’m saying is, she’s every right to enlist as anyone else. More motive than anyone else too, I think. After all, you had similar motives, did you not?”

“My motives- That’s hardly relevant. Yes, she has the same rights as anybody else. That doesn’t mean she should.”

“And you can make that decision for her? What about the ones that came before her? Echo One through Seven? You didn’t care about them, even as we scrapped their frames for parts and wiped them from existence. Why is this one so special?”

“She’s special because of what she is. Because of what we did. What I allowed to happen.”

“Give her a chance. She’ll be under my tutelage, she’ll be fine. You’ve known me since the beginning.”

“I have known you since the beginning. That’s why I worry about you.”

...

“Casa del Scotchy” Ponyville
D3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.28 9:30 AM

Sleep was a peculiar thing. On one hoof, I craved it, because of the rest it provided. On the other, I loathed it, because of the repetitive nightmares I had as I slept. My mind always returned to my past as I slept. A past that was full of nightmares.

Doctor Clarity had explained much in our meeting. I was suffering from a definite case of something called post-traumatic stress disorder. It was not uncommon in Equestria, he’d explained, what with the war and all. And though my particular circumstances were far afield, the majority of Doctor Clarity’s other patients had similar symptoms, or so he’d said. Furthermore, he’d also explained that those other patients were medicated, and were living happy, successful lives because of it. I again expressed my uncertainty, due to the wariness Butterscotch had shown in regard to medication.

Butterscotch was at work now, and so I was alone. With Plott’s all but destroyed, I was presently without a job, and so I remained in bed when morning came. I found it difficult to stay there, however, not only because of my nightmares, but also more mundane, natural needs.

Once my business was done, I’d decided to attempt browsing the internet. I’d had a small crash course on how to use it from Lilac, but she’d shown me on her phone. Butterscotch had shown me how to operate her computer, and she was able to access the internet on it, so it stood to reason I could too. As I sat down in front of her office desk, I looked at the thing in front of me. A flat display showed an assortment of icons across a field of gradient blues and greens. I looked for one called internet, but saw nothing of the sort, until I came across an icon in the bottom left of the screen which was called ‘Intertrot Explorer.’

It was a close enough match. Now I had to figure out how to operate the thing. Tapping the screen with my hoof provided no result at all. Then I looked closer at the keyboard in front of me. It appeared identical to the ones I’d used back home. The sort that had been around for centuries. I was still uncertain with much of Equestrian language, but it was similar enough to English that I could approximate the meaning of most things. So then, this keyboard was surely meant to be used the same as the ones I’d used back home.

Finding the arrow keys, I pressed one and an icon was highlighted. I maneuvered my way down to the Intertrot Explorer icon, then pressed the enter key. The display changed to a readout with various reports on worldly news, weather, and the like. There was an entry field with the universal symbol for search next to it; a magnifying glass. I attempted using the arrow keys again, but failed to render any results. In my activity however, I saw I’d moved the device to the right of the keyboard, and as I did, so too did a small arrow shape on the screen. Moving it again, I saw that the little device did indeed control that small pointer. I directed it to the search icon, but pressing the enter key then produced no result. This was bound to be a steep learning curve.

…

After much trial and error, I’d learned to use the machine well enough to access a few sites. At first, I’d tried searching for the J.C.S. but putting Juggernaut Combat Services into the search query offered zero results. Upon searching for Amethyst Group, I was presented with information on purple rocks. No joy there either. Then I happened upon a site which let me watch videos based upon my searches. I reacted to the first few by trying to reply to the individual on the screen, but quickly found it was merely a playback, the pony on the screen wasn’t able to respond to me.

I spent most of the day doing that, educating myself on various things, ranging from machines, to aviation, to Equestrian history. It passed the hours quickly, and soon I heard the garage door raise and a vehicle enter.

I got up from the desk and went to the door leading into the garage, which was in the back of the kitchen. I opened the door and sure enough, there was Butterscotch getting out of her car. “Welcome home,” I said to her.

“Oh, hey Blue- Oh, you’re still… uh. Hang on a second,” she replied, then tapped a device on the inside of her car. The garage door began to close, and she shut the door to her car and approached me. “C’mon, let’s get inside. It’s been a long day.”

I turned and walked back inside, and waited for her to come in. She seemed to have hesitated at the threshold, as she was just closing the door to into the garage as I reached the other side of the room and turned to face her. “Something the matter?” I asked her.

“You really don’t like wearing clothes, do you?” She replied, smiling sheepishly at me. I hadn’t even thought of putting clothes on today, considering I had nowhere to go. I told her as much, to which she replied, “I guess that makes sense, no reason you can’t go around in just your coat while you’re at home. Still, kinda unusual.”

“I rarely wore clothes back home,” I explained as we entered the den after Butterscotch put her jacket down on a counter. “I would either occupy my cruiser, or something called a unit. Think ah, remote control body. It would have its own exterior casement which could identify me clearly enough. I only wore a uniform on occasion, for more official purposes.”

“What did you look like, exactly? Back then, I mean,” She asked me after a pause. She’d sat in her usual chair at one side of the room, and I laid down on the couch.

“I looked… however I wanted, I guess. I opted for a humanoid appearance, of course. The better to associate with the people I worked with. But as far as any specific identifying feature… I really didn’t have any. I was identified by simply being what I was. There wasn’t anyone else like me, so it wasn’t hard to spot me in a crowd, so to speak.”

“And you never had to wear clothes?” She asked, furrowing her brow.

“That’s right. Like I said, if I ever occupied a unit, it would have a sort of exterior appearance that marked me from the rest. This isn’t very easy to explain, I’m sorry.” Communicating the intricacies of my past were never easy, not for me or my audience.

“It’s okay,” she answered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, if you’re happier like that I won’t stop you. But if somepony else visits- oh, speaking of which, Lilac’s coming over tonight. She’ll be by soon actually, so you may want to get dressed.”

“Alright.”

…

In the time I’d put on my usual black shirt and beige pants, Lilac had indeed arrived. As I stepped out of my room to greet her, I immediately noticed how drained she looked. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and her stance was slouched. She greeted me with a smile, none the less. “Hey Blue! How you holding up?”

“I’m doing alright, thanks,” I said, offering her a hoof bump. “What about you? You look… tired.”

She accepted the hoof bump, replying, “I am tired. I’ve been pretty stressed out over everything that’s happening with Plott’s. They’re thinking it may have been arson, you know that?”

We sat down on the couch. “Arson?” I asked her as we got settled.

“Yeah, arson. They said the fire suppression system never activated. What’s more, Buckeye hasn’t been seen since Friday.” She looked down at her hooves. “Ash isn’t happy about that. Can’t say I blame him.”

“Not since Friday? Did he go to the party?” Butterscotch asked.

“No, he said he wasn’t going again, not after that one guy got their wallets mixed up. Shit,” Lilac said. “Damn it. What the hell is going on… Oh, Blue, I’m just glad you made it out okay.” She turned to face me directly. “I swear, when they catch the star-fucked bastard that set that fire, I’m going to personally perforate his ass with some nice seven-six-two sized holes, just for you.”

“That’s really not, I mean… Uh, thanks Lilac. I’m glad I’m okay, too. I guess?” I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. She really did look distraught.

“Yeah, maybe leave the corrections to the corrections department, huh?” Butterscotch laughed. “If you kill him, then it’s your ass in the lockup, hot-shot.”

“You’re such a spoil sport, Scotch. Go rut a cactus or something.”

…

We spent the better part of an hour talking about various things. I’d described my experiences on the internet, and received a few helpful tips from the two mares. Then the topic turned to me, specifically.

“Hey, Blue,” Lilac said, grabbing my attention in her tone of voice. She sounded pensive. “What all, exactly, did you do back in your uh… past life?” Always with the past. I guess it made sense they were curious.

“Ask anything,” I said. “I did all sorts of things. In the first few weeks of my existence, I was an experiment. Then, for six years I was a civilian, and another six years after that I was a sister as well. Then my sister… disappeared. So I enlisted with the Service.”

“The Service. You say that like it’s something big. I get that it was a military kind of thing, yeah?”

“Right. More or less. The J.C.S. commissioned my creation. They also commissioned my sister. She was called Vincent Six. When she went missing, I enlisted, hoping to find out where she was.” I paused, sighing.

“Sorry, shit I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask you about this shit, I know you’re kinda trying to deal with it and all right now,” Lilac said in a rush. “I’m just kinda curious about you is all.” She looked away from me.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it with you.” I thought back to my days in Delta Three. “It’s not like I did anything extraordinary in the Service. I was technically just part of a reconnaissance team. We did the recon thing. Occasionally we also got to make some noise. For the most part, though, nobody even knew we existed. And now, there’s no record of us at all. Aside from me, of course, and I’m a universe away.”

“Recon? That’s not a very…. High speed kind of job, is it?” Lilac asked me.

“High speed?” Butterscotch asked her.

“Yeah, you know. High speed shit.” She made various gestures with her hooves that resembled maneuvering a rifle and looking overtly sneaky.

“I don’t… what? Lilac you’re weird, you know that?” Butterscotch said.

“Nah, just damaged.” Lilac turned back to me. “Don’t worry about it, Blue. Whatever you’ve been through, you’re here now. And I’m glad you’re okay, okay?”

...

“Casa del Scotchy” Ponyville
D3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.29 10:00 AM

Lilac had chosen to stay with us at Buttercotch’s place, sleeping on the couch. She woke several times in the night, which I noticed largely because I too woke several times in the night. I didn’t get out of bed, however.

Now it was morning, and I was getting tired of laying around. I got dressed in my usual attire and left my room. Lilac was sitting on the couch, looking no more rested than she had the night prior. “Hey, Blue. Sleep well?” She asked me. Her tone sounded cheerful, but I was still skeptical.

“Not really, but I never do. You look like you haven’t slept at all,” I said, opting for a direct approach.

“I’ll be fine, just stressed out. This shit’s got me all kinds of pent up, need a distraction.” She had in her hoof a device which I’d learned controlled the display in the den, something called a television. The display was off, though. “Was thinking about checking up with Ash and company today. Wanna tag along?”

It was an enticing offer. While my day of internet browsing had been interesting, it hadn’t exactly proven productive enough for my liking. Ash likely had work I could do, and that was something I definitely had a more vested interest in. “I could do that, sure. When do you want to go?”

“I’ll call ahead to see if we’re okay to visit. He might be busy today, don’t know. Everything’s so crazy right now,” she said, looking past me.

I walked over and sat next to her. “We don’t have to do anything today if you don’t want to. If you want to just relax, that’s fine by me.” She looked exhausted there on the couch, as she again seemed to stare right through me.

“Uh… Yeah… No, no. I’m good. It’ll do me some good to go do something today actually. I don’t like to be idle,” she said, looking at the blank television screen. “Sooner I find some income the better, too. I don’t think Plott’s will be open again anytime soon, you know.”

So, then. Ash’s place it was.

…

Ash Residence, Ponyville
d3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.28 10:45 AM

Arriving at Ash’s house, we found Walnut to already be outside, doing something with a machine I couldn’t identify. It looked like a hydraulic press that’d been laid on its side, with a blade affixed to it. He left the machine and approached us.

The outside air was cold, and as I stepped out of Lilac’s truck, I lamented my lack of any sort of a jacket. “Hey, girls. Y’all holding up all right?” Walnut asked, looking at me.

“I’m doing fine, yeah. Blue’s the one you gotta watch out for, though. Totally hardcore. I don’t think you ever found out what she did at the party, did you Wally?” Lilac replied, bumping his hoof.

Walnut continued to look at me. “You holding up okay, Blue? Really, I mean. What happened… that’s some messed up stuff.”

I nodded, smiling at him. “Yeah, yeah. It shook me up pretty bad, but I made it out fine, so I’m okay. We’re actually here because, well, we’re out of work.”

Lilac looked at me, then to Walnut. “Is the boss in?” She asked him.

“Yeah, c’mon inside.” He lead us in through the back of the house. The back door opened into a kitchen the size of Butterscotch’s den. The floor was beige tiles, and the cabinets were beautiful cherry wood. The ceiling, I noted, was hardwood, with exposed rafters. Beyond the kitchen was a sort of sitting area, with chairs and a couch, and a wood stove furnace on the exterior wall. The floor was hardwood there. The two stallions that had been present that night at the party were standing there in that room. They had the same suits on, like it was a uniform or something.

“Dad’s probably in his office. I’ll see if he can talk.” Walnut pointed to the seats in the room with the two suits. “Hang out here, I’ll be back in a bit.” With that, he walked through an open doorway towards the other side of the house.

We sat down on the couch and Lilac took out her phone. I looked at the two standing there. They were stood next to a staircase leading up to an unlit upstairs area. I could see there was a desk up there, but couldn’t identify more. I caught one of them looking at me, and decided not to look up the stairs anymore.

After a minute or so Walnut returned and gestured for us to follow. We got up and followed him past the two stallions in suits and through the doorway he’d went through. The next room appeared to be a dining room, with a large table in the center and seats all around. There was a piano in the corner with several books sitting atop it. Following Walnut through that room, we came through a closed breezeway which connected the two wings of the house. The set of glass double-doors ahead had two more bucks standing in front of it. They too were wearing similar suits. They opened the doors to the next room, and Lilac and I walked in. Walnut turned and went back the other way.

This room was clearly a study, with book cases lining nearly every wall, another wood stove furnace on an exterior wall with a section of stone floor around it, a door and a staircase leading up on the opposite wall to that, and a desk at the far wall from where we entered.

Ash sat at that desk now, looking at a book. He looked up, and greeted us. “Hello there, ladies. It’s good to see you, I’m glad you’re doing well.” He got up and walked around his desk to us. “I heard you got caught in that fire, Blue, I really am glad to see you’re all right,” he said, taking my hooves in his. “Tell me, what can I do for you today? Just a social call, or is this business?”

“Let’s call it business,” Lilac said. “We’re out of work, was wondering if you had anything available.”

Ash pondered this for a moment as I looked around the room some more. I was still a bit uncertain on some of Equestrian language, but I was catching on quickly. He appeared to have books on everything from Aetherological science and geology to high fantasy and science fiction. I couldn’t identify the book on his desk.

“Yeah, actually. Ah, where is that young’un,” Ash said as he went to the door we came in through and opened it. “Go get Wally for me, would you?” He said to one of the bucks standing on the other side. He nodded and went on his way. “He swears we don’t have enough wood split to last us this winter,” Ash said as he shut the door and returned to speak with us. He gestured to seats near the unlit fireplace. “I think he just hates to stay still.”

“You don’t say?” Lilac said.

…

We sat there for a short while as we waited for Walnut to return. Once he did, Ash asked him to go to the other room and get something, which he did. When he returned, he had with him a folder. Ash took it in his magic and opened it up.

“This is a job we’ve had for a few weeks, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. It’s something we used to do a lot of.” He shuffled some of the documents around in the folder. “Essentially it’s the same work you and Wally did Saturday, Blue. You’ll be going to a sort of frontier town to the west a ways, and you’ll bring back a load of steel. There’s a shop here in town that you’ll take it to. Ask for Beowulf, they’ll know what you mean. You’ll leave the trailer there, and the job’s done. Six hundred bits.”

He hoofed over a paper with a list on it and some addresses. I didn’t recognize the addresses, save that one was in Ponyville. I floated it over to Lilac. “That’s… a solid two hundred miles, boss. There’s not a closer supplier than that?”

“Not for the materials listed there, no. What you’ll do is match the manifesto of the shipment to that list. If anything’s not right, come straight home, don’t pick up the shipment.” He looked at Walnut. “You think you can get your army pal in on this one? He was a great help last time.”

“Who, Rolo? Yeah, I think he’s in town right now. I’ll hunt him down and see if he’s up for it.”

Lilac got my attention and pointed out some of the items on the list. There were items like “RecL, RecU, and BarA” on the list. Lilac gave me a raised brow. I just shrugged, and she smiled and nodded her head.

“All good, then?” Ash asked. “I will warn you, the folk out there aren’t exactly civil. The last time we did this job we had an issue with the locals and had to back out. Things have reportedly gotten worse since then, but we’re the only group doing this kind of work around here.”

“This kind of work… Usually demands a degree of insurance,” I said to him. “I don’t suppose you have anything like that for us?”

Lilac looked at me. “Blue, it’s kind of an off the books deal. There’s not really a benefits program or anything.”

Ash just smiled and nodded his head. “I was going to get to that. I’ll be right back.

He got up and went back to the room Walnut got the folder from. I heard what sounded like something heavy being moved, then heard it again. Then he returned, with four rifles and four green ammo cans in his magic. “Know how to use these?” He asked me and Lilac.

Lilac groaned but nodded. “I had to use one for years. Don’t like ‘em, but I can use ‘em.”

I recognized it immediately. It was, to me, an ancient design. The AR-15-style rifle was ubiquitous in that it saw action in so many theaters in the past. It was eventually usurped by newer, more refined designs, but the rifle never really did fall from popularity. I gestured for one to be hoofed over to me, and he floated it over. Taking it in my magic, I checked if it was loaded. It was not. I then studied it as it floated in front of me. It was relatively basic, with no accessory rails or any kind of optic. I pointed the rifle towards an exterior wall away from everypony else and looked down the sights. Standard sights, the kind the rifle was first issued with. I looked on the lower receiver and saw only two pins. Not an automatic. “This is fine,” I said.

“Insurance?” Lilac asked as one was given to her. “I guess that’s insurance, kind of.”

…

“Casa del Scotchy” Ponyville
D3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.29 12:00 PM

We would be heading out on Friday, which was okay. I got some more time to explore the internet at Butterscotch’s house. I had tried looking up the name of the town, but got nothing useful. The place was called Whisper Hollow, or just Whisper. I put in the address to the destination into the search function and got a map with directions, and studied that. It lacked some important details, like elevation, but I was able to gather that the town was in a region of mountains and forests. Similar to Ponyville, only more wooded and less developed.

After I’d done all I cared to do on the computer, I had lunch with Butterscotch and talked to her about the work I’d be doing. “There’s really no established authority out there,” she explained. “Folks just kind of take care of their own. I really don’t know much about the place.”

If there was any trouble, we’d been instructed to just leave. It sounded like trouble wasn’t very uncommon there. If there was trouble, I’d want to be ready. “Can you call Ash for me? I have something I need to ask him,” I asked her.

“Sure thing, Blue,” she answered, and got her phone out to dial the pony in question.

Once she’d made the call, she gave me the phone, and I left the room to talk to Ash. I was still a little uncertain on how to use a phone, but I understood how to talk through it. It rang once, then twice, then somepony picked up. “Ash residence, who’s calling?” A gruff male voice asked.

“Blue Moon, I’ve been hired to do a job for the boss. Needed to discuss something with him.”

“All right. Just a second.” I waited for a moment, then Ash’s voice came through the phone. “Blue? Everything okay?”

“Yes,” I said. “I just had a question. I’d like to get some experience operating that rifle before I head out tomorrow. Would that be possible?”

“Sure. We have a range here on the property, so just head on over and you can shoot it there. We have ammo to spare so don’t worry about that.”

So I’d have some range time with the rifle. I’d need it, surely.

…

Ash Residence, Ponyville
D3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.29 1:00 PM

I’d gotten Butterscotch to drive me to Ash’s place as she went back to work to finish her shift. Arriving at the place, I could already hear the report of a rifle in the distance. I approached the front door and knocked, and one of the suits answered, waving me in. He lead me to the study, where Ash sat at one of the chairs near the fireplace, the rifle disassembled before him. “Hello, Blue,” he greeted me as I entered. The suit closed the door behind me.

“Hello.” I sat across from him in another chair. “That’s the rifle, then?” I asked.

“It is. Are you familiar with these?” He asked in return, floating the disassembled thing to me.

I took it in my magical grasp. “In theory. I’ve never actually used one, but they’re very common so I shouldn’t have any trouble with it.” I looked the rifle over. There was the upper and lower, the charging handle, the bolt carrier, the bolt group, and the trigger assembly, along with the grip and safety. I looked at Ash and he looked back expectantly. I nodded, getting the picture.

I began with the trigger assembly. The rifle had a drop-in assembly, which made the task easier. I slid it into place in the lower, then put the two pins into place. Looking closer, I found the assembly was still loose, and upon further inspection found two set screws inside the casement on either side of the assembly. I looked at Ash, and he floated over a small tool. I took the tool and used it to tighten the set screws, after which I found the assembly to be set firmly within the lower receiver. I checked that it operated correctly, pulling back the hammer and releasing it several times, being sure not to let it fall freely under the full power of the springs. The trigger had a very light pull, with no take-up and very little distance to return for the reset.

Next, I took a look at the safety and the grip. The safety was significantly larger than what I remembered it being, but that made sense considering it had to be manipulated by hooves rather than by thumbs. It looked like a normal AR-15 safety that’d been swelled into a sort of paddle shape. I slid it in through the left side of the receiver. Making sure it went in correctly was somewhat of a challenge, but I eventually discovered it had to be in the fire position to go in, then rotated to the safe position. Next I turned the entire thing upside down, careful to make sure nothing fell out, and looked at the grip and the safety detent. The detent was a very small piece of brass which I inserted into a small hole on the bottom of the receiver which would later be covered by the grip. Then, I took the safety detent spring and placed it in the grip, in a small hole. Carefully levitating the grip and spring, I slid them into place on the receiver. I then took the grip screw and screwed it into place.

I tested the safety to make sure it worked correctly, and it did. It was an unfortunate design flaw of the AR-15 that the safety had a ninety-degree throw. That was surely even more inconvenient for users that had hooves.

I set the lower down on a nearby chair and took to the upper receiver. I quickly went to putting the bolt carrier group together, but found that there was no firing pin. I mentioned this to Ash.

“Good eye. Yes, I keep the firing pins separate from the rifles when they’re in storage. We often have young colts and fillies here at the house, so it’s just an added measure of safety. Here,” he said, and floated the part in question out of a pocket in his shirt and over to me. I put it into place in the bolt and assembled the rest of the group, then put the charging handle into the upper, followed by the bolt carrier group.

Next, I took the lower, and lined up the pivot pin holes, then slid the pin into place. Then, making sure the bolt carrier group was completely seated within the upper receiver, I pivoted the upper down to mate it with the lower, and slid the second pin into place. I dry-fired the rifle a few times, making sure everything worked properly, then floated it over to Ash.

“Well done, you know your stuff. I’m particularly impressed you knew what to do with the trigger. Have you worked on these rifles before?” I’d never held an AR before. I told him as much. “Well, that’s surprising. You managed that like a pro.”

“I’ve spent thousands of hours around firearms, and I’ve read plenty about the AR platform. It’s an antiquated design, but it has done its fair share of work.”

“All right, then. I suppose you’re ready to shoot, then?” He asked me.

I nodded, and we got up from our seats.

…

We’d collected some ear muffs to protect our hearing – I hadn’t even thought of it, having never needed to protect my hearing before – and headed outside. Ash lead me up a path behind the house which lead to a gate. He opened the gate and we went through. I could hear more rifle fire in the distance ahead. We walked up a slight incline, and after a few minutes we reached an opening at the crest of the incline. There was a building here made largely of steel, it looked not unlike a barn. Behind that was an array of shooting lanes, one of which was occupied by a unicorn mare floating a rifle in front of her. Several ponies were here, all of them wearing the same suits. I gave in, I had to ask him.

“So, are these your employees or something?” I asked Ash, gesturing to all the suited bucks.

“In a way, yeah.” He lead me to the building and we went inside. There were a few vehicles, some more tractors like the ones he’d had back at his house, and a table with a pony sat at it. “They keep things nice and orderly around here. It’s always good to have ponies you can trust, and money helps with that. So yeah, I guess they’re my employees. Welcome to the range, Harbinger Ranch.”

“Harbinger Ranch?” I asked him. We approached the pony at the table, and she looked up at us. She was an older mare with a green coat and a blond mane.

“Howdy, boss, how can I help ya?” She asked Ash.

“Harbinger Ranch, that’s right. It’s our side project. Walnut’s idea, actually, but I liked it, so I capitalized on the opportunity to make it a reality. Now, here we are.” He addressed the mare at the table. “This is Miss Blue Moon. She’ll be taking the Rifle One course today, no charge.”

“On the house then, got it.” She got up and went to a room nearby. She came back out a moment later with an ammo can. “Here you go sir. Lane two’s open if you want to use it, or I can have lane one emptied.”

“Two is fine, thank you.” And with that, we went on through the building and out the other side, putting on our hearing protection as we exited.

At the furthest left shooting lane was the unicorn mare I’d seen from the distance. She’d stopped shooting and appeared to be reloading magazines. She looked over at us, and sat down what she was doing. Getting a closer look at her, I discovered she was in fact a he. His coat was a dark blue and his mane was a dark green which he had tied back in a particularly elegant fashion, with a braid along one side of his head which ran down to his shoulder. His face and the way he carried himself made him seem feminine, and I would have continued to mistake him for a mare, were it not for his muscular build.

He had on a well fitted pair of beige trousers not unlike mine, and a white tee. I noted he had an AR strapped to his back as he approached. “Hello, Ash. Good to see you. You’re rarely seen here.” He bumped Ash’s hoof. His voice was feminine too, and I noticed he had an accent. I couldn’t quite place it, though. I also noticed he was calling Ash by his name.

“Hello, Rolo. It’s good to see you as well. Rolo, this is Miss Blue Moon,” Ash said, gesturing to me. Rolo bumped my hoof as well. “She’s going to be working with you tomorrow, and wanted training. She’d apparently never seen an AR before today, if you can believe it.”

“Blue Moon? I think Walnut mentioned you before. Refugee, right?” He asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah, something like that. Just want to get used to life here in Equestria. Everypony here is so accommodating, it’s really nice.”

“Rolo and I are both from Saddle Arabia,” Ash explained. “A good friend of mine raised him here in Equestria after we fled the old country. Things really are just better here.”

Saddle Arabia again… It seemed I’d fallen in with a bunch of ponies from that place. “It’s nice to meet you, Rolo.” I said.

He nodded. “Tell you what, if you like I can take her through the course. I know you’ve got a lot going on right now, Ash.” Rolo looked me up and down. “You’re a bit small, though.”

I grinned at him. “The better to get around you.”

“Good, you’ll need to be agile to complete this course.” He nodded to Ash. “Anything else you need?”

“No, I think that’s everything. It’s a good thing you’re here, I’m not sure I’m up for the task of running this gauntlet with her.” Ash floated over the rifle and can of ammo. Rolo took it in his own glow, which was a light green. “She’s clever, so don’t go too easy.” And with that, he turned to leave.

…

Once we’d set up at the table, Rolo opened the ammo can, and I found that inside were several loaded magazines for the AR. “Is this the rifle you’ll be using tomorrow?” He asked me.

“Yes, Ash is providing all of us rifles like this, isn’t he?” I asked him, looking at the rifle as he floated it in front of him, cycling the bolt and the trigger.

“I’ll be using my own,” he said, nodding his head to the rifle on his back. It was an AR, but much more modern-looking than the one I’d been given. It had a shorter barrel with an accessory rail, and an optic. “It’s what I’m more accustomed to.”

“I see.”

“Well, Miss Blue, do you have experience with this sort of thing?” He asked me.

“Using a rifle? Yes.” I opted for a nondescript answer. If he inquired how I knew about rifles, I’d just make something up, like hunting or the like. He wasn’t in the loop, and it was best to keep it that way I figured.

“Okay. And you’re certain you can do this kind of thing?” He was looking at me, watching me. He didn’t trust me yet.

“Where I come from, certain lessons must be learned. I can hold my own. I’ve done it before.” I didn’t like being doubted.

“Alright.” He broke his stare and went over to the table. “Keep your muffs on, and stay behind me. I’m going to run the course first, and I want you to watch what I do. Then, you’ll do it yourself, with my tutelage.” He swung his rifle from his back with his magic and pulled a magazine out of nowhere. It simply popped into existence in the rifle. I wondered if I could do that?

He looked at me and I nodded, and he stepped forward into the range. There was a large array of targets set up, with various points of cover and the like dotted throughout the course. As I looked over the range, I thought I saw one of those changeling targets from Plott’s. I couldn’t be sure though, it was thoroughly shot up. Most of the targets were pony shaped, some stylized to look like aggressors with weapons, some looked like innocent civilians. I knew this kind of gauntlet.

Rolo touched something on his waist and readied his rifle. I stood behind him, to stay out of his way. Then there was a quiet little Beep! and he took off in a full sprint towards the first plywood blockade that served as cover. He dove to his knees sliding to a stop against the plywood, the rifle floating beside him, before raising the rifle up along with his head, sighting along the optic and shot at two targets at the other side of the barricade, about twenty yards away. They gave audible Ping! noises as he hit them.

He then rolled to his side, and as I watched he shot under the barricade at another target further away. It too rang out as he hit it. Getting up, he sprinted to the next point of cover, which was next to the first two targets he’d shot. This was a largely shot-through wall of cinderblocks, and he leveled his rifle on the top of the half-destroyed wall, sighted down the optic again, and shot three times. A split second later, two more Pings! rang out. I looked towards where he’d shot and found two targets at about a hundred yards away. Before I’d spotted those targets though, he was already on to the next, moving his rifle away from the top of the wall and to the side. He leaned over towards the left of the wall and exposed his rifle past the cover, then sighted along the optic again. He fired three more shots, and again the targets rang out. Three good hits.

We were moving yet again, directly towards the three targets he’d just shot. They’d been closer, behind another plywood barricade. He reached the barricade and began firing immediately between the targets at a row of circular targets. Five shots, five hits, and as he hit each target it fell backwards. He then leapt over the plywood and ran to the right. There was a tall wall made of more plywood to our left, and as he ran around it he began firing. I looked to the left and saw that there was a backstop behind his line of fire, that was good. I could hear more targets being hit. Then he stopped shooting, dropped his rifle, levitated out a pistol and shot four more times, with another four hits.

He holstered his pistol, and checked the device at his waist. He sighed, and said, “fifty-nine seconds. Not my best. But that’s not important. Did you catch what all I did?”

I thought back on everything that’d just happened in the past minute. He’d fired twenty-one rounds from his rifle, and four from his pistol. I told him that much, adding, “you missed a shot at the hundred-yard targets.”

“That I did. You paid attention, good. It’s important to keep your rifle steady. You have to aim true if you want to hit anything. Fast is cool, but it’s not always effective.”

“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast,” I said to him. He laughed.

“That’s a new one, but it makes sense. Yeah.” We began walking back to the table, and as we did he floated back up the five circular targets that he’d knocked down. “Think you can get through the course, or do you want to watch me do it again?”

“Let me try,” I said. We reached the table and he unloaded his rifle and set it on the table. The magazine disappeared again. “First, just a little precaution, if I may?” He nodded. I floated over my rifle and checked it, it was empty. I then looked down the sights, aiming at one of the targets at one hundred yards. “Ordinary iron sights.” I then levitated over a single round from the magazines that had been in the box the mare in the building had given us. “What brand is this? Do you know the ballistics for it?”

“Pretty sure it’s Whinnychester White Box,” he said. I floated it over to him and he looked at the bottom of the case. “Yeah, that’s it. I don’t have a dope or anything for that rifle, if you want-“

“No, no that’s okay. I can manage with this.” I took the cartridge back and cast a spell on the bullet, making it leave a red trace in the air as it moved. I then locked the bolt of the rifle to the rear, and loaded the single round into the chamber, then released the bolt. Next, I cast a spell on the fore-end, the grip, and the butt of the rifle, securing it there where it floated. Lastly, I cast an illusion spell on the sights of the rifle, such that a blue line projected from the sightline down to what I’d aimed the rifle at. The blue line terminated on the target at one hundred yards, just as intended.

“Thirty-two hundred feet-per-second, out of a twenty-inch barrel, one-in-nine twist,” I said quietly, inspecting my work to make sure it was done right. Rolo simply looked on with a curious look on his face. “Firing,” I said matter-of-factly. I then flipped the safety to fire, applied around five pounds of pressure to the trigger, and flipped the safety back to safe once the rifle had completed its cycle.

As intended, a red beam of light traveled from the barrel of the rifle to the target, intersecting the blue line just as it met the target. “Inpressive,” Rolo said as he looked from the rifle, down the blue and red lines of light to the target, then back to me. “I have never seen anything like that. Where did you learn it?”

“It’s something I was taught to do to simplify the process of sighting in a firearm. This way, by casting the spell on multiple rifles at once, you can do the work of many minutes, in less than one minute.” I freed the rifle from where it was locked in place, and floated it back to the table.

“I see. And, forgive me, but I really must ask. Is there something wrong with your horn? It does not glow,” he asked me, looking at the thing upon my forehead.

“I couldn’t tell you for certain,” I replied. “It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. Best I can guess, I just use my magic differently.”

“Or, you use different magic,” he offered. I shrugged.

…

Over the course of several hours, we worked together to get me up to speed operating the rifle. He taught me how to be mobile with it, good stances for shooting when behind cover, and the like. By the end of the day I’d run the gauntlet perhaps a dozen times and had exhausted all of the ammunition I’d been allotted, along with several magazines worth of Rolo’s in addition. My final course time was a minute and twelve seconds. I still wasn’t as sure on my hooves as I’d like to be, but Rolo assured me that was more than adequate for what we would be doing the next day.

“In fact, I don’t think anypony has ever run this course that quickly on their first day,” he told me as we packed up our equipment. The sun was beginning to set, and had in fact already sunk below the surrounding mountains. The air was already very cold.

Despite the cold however, I was oddly happy. Very happy. I breathed in through my nose, taking in the scent of spent ammunition and cold winter air. “I’ve missed this,” I said to him. “That smell, it makes me feel at home.”

“Home,” he said. “Home is a funny thing. What is your home like, Blue?”

“My home is far away. It’s hard to describe.” Oops, shouldn’t have brought that up. What could I tell him? Maybe a diversion. “My work required me to be mobile a lot, so I seldom stayed in one place for long. I do miss it in a way, though.”

“So your work kept you moving. What, exactly, did you do?” Good, he took the bait. Work was an easier topic than home.

“Plenty of things. I just did whatever was asked of me. It was a lot like the work Ash seems to have. Odd jobs, not entirely regular, largely an off-the-books sort of thing. I like to think I was good at what I did.” I was good. The best. I’d made sure of it. Only my best hadn’t been enough. And in the end, that cost me everything.

“Miss Blue?” Rolo asked. I’d not been paying attention, must have missed something he said.

“Sorry. Just reminiscing.” He had readied his gear and was beginning to walk back towards the metal building. I collected my things and joined him.

…

“Casa-del-Scotchy” Ponyville
D3-08 “Blue Moon”
997.05.29 5:30 PM

“Yeah, he’s actually her cousin,” Butterscotch explained. She had come to pick me up from Ash’s place after I’d called her using his phone. “Well, kind of? I don’t rightly know how their family tree works, but more or less, he’s an honorary member of their family, kind of.” She was explaining – or at least attempting to explain – the familial relationship between Lilac and Rolo. I’d learned that Rolo had left Saddle Arabia with Butterscotch and her father, but Rolo had in fact been an orphan. “Essentially, Rolo was raised by Yuri, who was a comrade of my dad. When Yuri arrived in Equestria with Rolo, he met Lilac’s uncle, Barron. Barron helped Yuri set up a shop in Canterlot, and they kinda became like brothers or something?”

“You’re not helping,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. They know each other, that’s all I need to know. How old is Rolo, anyway?”

“Not sure.” She paused for a moment, considering what I’d asked. “I think he was around fourteen when we fled Saddle Arabia? Maybe… I really just don’t know. Never have asked him. I’d guess somewhere in his mid-thirties?” She rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof.

“He’s pretty peculiar, that’s for sure. Doesn’t seem that old, either.” I’d really been astonished by how androgynous-looking he’d been. I wanted to ask her about that, but wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it.

“Well, you’ll get to find out more about him tomorrow,” Butterscotch said. “From what I gather, Ash is worried y’all might get into some trouble out there?” She looked worried again.

“We’ll be fine, I promise. It’s just a simple delivery job, so nothing should go wrong. But in the event that something does, we’re going to head straight home. Ash’s orders.”

“Promise you’ll stay safe?” She asked me. Those eyes stared into mine, and I was yet again struck by the view before me. How was I living in the same household as an angel like her? She cared so much for me, and try as I might I just couldn’t make sense of it.

“Y-yeah, I promise…” I stammered. “I’ll make it home safe, swear it.” I had to. I didn’t want to spend any more time away from her than I had to.