Chapter 24:
Attention

A bead of sweat ran down Dash's face, her eyes the only part of her body that was moving around. I sat a little distance away, sipping water from a bottle, while ponies all around Ponyville's town square ponies went on with their business. Some stopped to watch what we were doing while others found enough courage to ask me what was going on after Dash refused to answer and kept looking into the distance.

Almost at the thirty minute mark... I think that'll be enough torture for one day.

“Hi Jack!” I briefly looked over to see Scootaloo run over, the filly seemingly always nearby to where Dash and I were at all times. “What is Rainbow doing over there?”

“Standing at attention,” I simply replied, seeing that Rainbow still hadn't moved.

“Standing at what?” Scoots questioned as she looked between me and Dash. “She isn't doing anything?”

“Exactly... But she's actually managed to do better than I expected.” Standing up, I walked over to the statue like pegasus and took position in front of her. “At ease.”

Dash's posture immediately sagged and she let herself relax. “That. Was. Horrific.”

“Honestly, you did really well,” I chuckled as I gave her a pat on the shoulder. “If you made it to fifteen minutes I was planning on going shooting with you.”

Dash's eyes lit up for a moment before she frowned again. “So you let me stand there for another fifteen?!”

“I could have let you stand there for another hour, should it have mattered?” I asked sternly, I wasn't boyfriend Jack at that moment but instructor Jack.

Her ears drooped and she straightened herself up. “No, sir!”

“Good. Now I want you to prep the mark ones and the maintenance kits,” I ordered her, she gave a quick salute and flew off. A quick look behind me showed Scootaloo having an internal debate about asking something. “Go on, what is it?” I pushed.

“Well... You and Rainbow Dash go to that field all the time and... CanIcomewithyou?” She quickly finished, nervously rubbing her leg.

My instinctual reaction was to say no but honestly, I was afraid that if I wouldn't she'd sneak in to try and look covertly. “Only listen to everything I tell you. If you do anything that I didn't give permission for, I will bring you back to Ponyville and never let you come again. Clear?” She nodded her head incredibly quickly, her wings fluttering with excitement. “Alright, head over to the range and wait near the tables at the front. I'm going to get Rainbow, she'll probably be ready by now.”

“Uhh Jack?...” Scootaloo forced a smile. “Gabby... Uhh... Can she maybe-”

“Only this time,” I answered, getting a happy squeal in response.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” she ran off at speed, jumped onto her scooter, and launched off.

Let's hope I'm not going to regret this...

Unfurling my wings I made for the sky, the joy of flying now available to me. For everything that I'd lost this was the one thing, I'd gained that made me truly happy. The wind against my face, the freedom of being able to go anywhere by wing power alone, the absolutely majestic views... Yes, up there I could be truly at peace.

Coming up to Rainbow's house I landed on the porch, entering immediately. Dash stood next to her central table at attention again though I had no doubt that she'd only done so after hearing me land. “At ease. Ready?”

“What? Me? I was born ready!” Dash puffed out her chest and put on her chest rig, strapping on her rifle as well. I did so too as Dash had gotten my set ready as well, I quickly grabbed a double set of ear protection for our two guests.

“I allowed Scoots and Gabby to watch so be at your best,” I informed her as we took to the air as a pair.

“Wait, you did?” Rainbow replied surprised, a question worth asking as I was fairly strict about the rules on the range. Really only Twilight had observed a full session as she wanted to write a report to Princess Celestia.

“Just this once,” I confirmed as we bore down on the range, the small forms of the filly and griffin standing near the entrance. I motioned Dash to fly on while I lead the two of them in.

“Hi mister Jack,” Gabby said, standing very close to Scootaloo.

“Hello Gabby, Scootaloo. Did Scootaloo tell you what my rules are, Gabby?” the glance the two of them shared was answer enough. “Right. So, the two of you are going to listen to everything I tell you to do. If I tell you to duck, you duck. If I tell you to jump, you jump. And if I tell you to go, regardless of you having done anything wrong, you go. Is that clear?”

“Very!” Gabby nodded, clearly sensing how serious I was being.

“Scootaloo?”

“C-clear!” she stuttered, looking a little guilty about not telling the entire deal to the small griffin.

“Alright then, follow me.” I turned to where Dash was setting up and started to make my way over to her, hearing the two kids follow me closely. “Dash and I work with lethal weaponry around this place so safety is our top priority. Accidents are not something we can afford so that's why the rules we set need to be followed. Now, I've got some hearing protection for the two of you because these rifles are loud.” rummaging through my bags I pulled out the extra sets of hearing protection and passed them along to the two kids. “Don't put those in yet, I still want you to be able to hear me.”

“Ok,” Gabby accepted the plugs and passed a pair to Scootaloo, the two of them sitting down on their rumps to further listen to what I had to say.

If only Rainbow gave this kind of attention when we started... Oh well, she at least caught on, plenty guys in basic just quit instead.

For the next few minutes, I gave them a larger set of rules and safety instructions to follow, locations to stand, do's and don'ts, etcetera. Besides that I also chose for Dash and me to only shoot individually, always leaving one of us to watch over the two kids for safety reasons.

Both Dash and I shot two series we were already familiar with, going for some of the further away targets. I had gotten Twilight to help me acquire some very sturdy magnification scopes which I was going to mount on the rifle to extend our maximum effective range, it wasn't going to be as good as my Colt nor AWM but it'd definitely give the range advantage to us.

At the end of the practice Dash and I went and fully disassembled the rifle, something we involved Scootaloo and Gabby much more closely in as it didn't involve lethal ammunition. The cleaning process actually was much easier than my own rifles were, the magic sections of R&D having put various enchantments on the things to keep the internals mostly cleaned and lubricated. It was something I had half a mind asking the unicorns to apply to my own rifles too.

“...so then as a final check you make sure the rifle is ready to fire again.” Dash and I cycled the rifle, checking if the safety and the firing mechanism still worked.

“So, Squirt, what do you think?” Dash asked as she secured her reassembled rifle onto her back.

“It's... a lot more complicated than I thought. Still awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed, fluttering her wings. I glanced over to Gabby whose own smile was a little more strained. She had been fairly on edge throughout her entire stay at the range but had clearly been putting on a brave face.

Shit... with her uncle and such...

“Hey Dash, would you mind going out back with Scootaloo to gather those targets?" I asked my marefriend who just shrugged.

"Alright, come on squirt!" The two of them shot off and Gabby wanted to follow but she was stopped by one of my claws on her shoulder. I waited for the two pegasi were far enough out so we had privacy before speaking.

“You okay kid? This can't be all that comfortable for you,” I stated as Gabby nervously fidgeted with her claws.

“Y-yeah! Of course I'm good, w-why wouldn't I be?” she nervously deflected.

“I was there in Canterlot, remember? If you're uncomfortable then there's no shame in that.” Gabby just sat on her butt, her body trembling while she looked down at her claws. “If you really don't want to be here I'm not stopping you from leaving.

“I-It's just... Scootaloo was so excited...” she sniffed quietly. “I just wanted to make her happy...”

“Facing your fear like that is incredibly brave, kid,” I saw Dash and Scoots approaching. At the same time though I saw something pony-shaped moving in the bushes behind the pony duo. Animals don't hide back there and that certainly wasn't an animal in the first place... I managed to keep the scowl off of my face as the two ponies arrived back with the targets I'd sent them out to get. “Hey Dash, mind taking these two to Sugarcube Corner? I'll clean the last few things and join you there.”

“Buck yeah! Come on you two, let's see what Pinkie has in store today!” Dash exclaimed as she took both Scootaloo and Gabby in tow, the smaller griffin having wiped away her tears and was smiling again. “See you in a bit Jack,” Dash called back as they shot off to the bakery.

I waited a bit before returning to the table with the rifles and loaded a new magazine. A couple of strong flaps of my wings later and I was above the trees where I'd seen the movement before crashing down through them.

The landing was a little rough but I had hit right on the mark as I heard an eep from behind. Swirling around, I aimed my rifle at the source. The pony I saw was a mix of colours not all that dissimilar to my woodland pattern clothes, clearly not natural, her wide-eyed stare looking at me in shock and horror. “So, who the hell are you?”

The pony swallowed nervously before a yellow fire washed over its fur and revealed a yellow-eyed changeling in its place.

Why can't it ever be simple...

“My name is Kyshf,” she replied, straightening himself while he warily looked at the rifle aimed at her face, probably knowing there wouldn't be any running.

“So, Kyshf, what were you observing me for?” I stated neutrally, not lowering my rifle a bit.

“I...” Her jaw clenched as he was thinking about what to say. "Was scouting. Trying to get your measure."

"Why? Your hive should already have a character reference for me from 'Cypher'," I stated, rather annoyed to be spied on. A sudden moment of inspiration hit me. "You're Indigo Parasol, aren't you?"

The changeling slowly nodded and transformed into the pony I'd seen leaving Zecora's house. I slowly lowered my rifle down and relaxed a little. "You know I already knew what you were, right? You could have just knocked on Dash's door and talked to me, or if you didn't want to talk in private come up to me while in public. Trust me, the chance of catching a bullet is much lower that way."

"Right," Indigo, or Kyshf, stated rather surprised. The two of us faced each other rather awkwardly for a bit, Indigo not really knowing how to move on while I was waiting for her to make a move.

"So, want to join me at Sugarcube Corner with Rainbow?" I eventually proposed as no action seemed forthcoming.

"Uhh... sure?" she replied, her eyes scanning me as she was trying to figure out my game.

"Alright, follow me then. I need to pick up a few things at the range before I can go back to Ponyville," I said as I turned and started walking back to the table where the rest of my stuff was still present. I heard Indigo follow at a distance, seeing her wait some way away while I finished packing. After finishing up we walked back into town, the tension the changeling felt tangible to me.

Let's see what I can find out from her...

“So, Indigo, did the hive put you up to this?” I asked, the changeling in disguise bit her lower lip and shook her head.

“You got to know my secret, Rainbow Dash too, I was... am... afraid,” She replied nervously.

So she was acting on her own initiative then. Interesting.

“You're from the hive that lives up in Canterlot too, right?” I continued, I may have asserted that she was part of the hive I encountered at the capital but I honestly hadn't a clue how many hives there were, let alone how many used yellow to identify themselves.

“I'm not betraying my hive!” Indigo called out as she stopped walking and flared her wings a little, a move that I'd learned indicated a readiness to fight in pegasi.

Is she playing this up or has she been a pegasus for so long she acts like one now?

If it wasn't all an act the exclamation did confirm Indigo was from the hive I had assumed she was. “No need for such drastic measures, just needed to make sure you were from the hive I thought you were.”

I didn't push further as we entered the outskirts of town and started to encounter ponies, exposing Indigo to everyone wouldn't exactly serve to create goodwill. The centre of town was as busy as ever as we passed through on our way to Sugarcube Corner, most ponies simply ignoring the two of us as we passed. Pinkie stood at the counter as we entered, the earthpony waving and pointing at the table where Dash, Scootaloo, and Gabby were seated.

“Who are you?” Gabby asked as she noticed me and the, to her, unknown pony approached.

“I'm Indigo Parasol, I'm a...”

“Friend I've made in Ponyville,” I stated, a gasp from Pinkie drew my attention for a moment before she disappeared out back.

Oh boy, what is she planning... Deal with it later.

I noticed Dash's jaw had tensed as she had locked her eyes with Indigo's. The pegasus was keeping composure for now but the dangerous look in her eyes said enough: 'If you do anything I'm going to stomp over you.’

“Oh, okay,” Gabby shrugged, though she quickly picked up on the tension between Dash and the other pegasus. “Hey Scoots, wanna go to my place?”

“Uhh, sure?” Scootaloo replied, a lot more oblivious than her friend was.

“Oh yeah, don't you worry, Squirt, we'll catch up later!” Dash smiled giving her a little push in the right direction.

“Alright, see you around!” the filly eventually accepted and followed Gabby out if the confectionery store.

Dash's smile immediately dropped as they were out of sight and her eyes returned to Indigo. “If you put any spell on him you're going to regret being born,” she stated coolly while remaining incredibly calm.

“I-I didn't!” Indigo squeaked, shrinking down a little. Even I had to admire the sheer coldness Dash had managed to compress into that single sentence.

“I noticed her spying on us at the range, got the drop on her. Thought we should have a talk with her,” I stated as I took a seat and motioned for Indigo to sit down too. Before she could though Pinkie appeared from absolutely nowhere and put a trio of cupcakes onto the table.

“They're on the house!” she shouted before disappearing again into almost nothingness. Now I had seen a lot of impossible things since being dumped into this world, from Pinkie too, but that was positively the most mind breaking thing I'd seen.

“What the-”

“It's Pinkie, better not think about it too much,” both Indigo and Dash said at the same time. Indigo clamped her mout shut as she became Dash's main center of attention again.

“Spying, huh? What for? Trying to figure out how to steal one of our rifles?” Dash snarled.

“What? No!” Indigo exclaimed shocked. “I was just...” Dash wanted to interrupt again but I stopped her by holding up a claw. “...afraid. Zecora told me you'd stuck around and knew my secret and would leave me alone for now... But you know... I really expected you two to kick down my door at any moment...” Indigo teared up and trembled ever so slightly. “I'm no fighter, and from what I've seen from the two of you...” she shivered. “The two of you are a scary duo.”

Dash huffed but remained quiet. “You're aware of your hi- friends up in Canterlot received a letter requesting parlay from the Princess?”

Indigo immediately nodded. “The queen sent the word out over the hive mind.” the pegasus immediately clamped her hooves over her mouth.

They have a hive mind then? We're the changelings at Baltimare messaging back to theirs then?

“Could you send a message to her over the hive mind?” I asked, she shook her head.

“O-Only the queen can-” Indigo stopped talking as her eyes dilated and she stared blankly forward. Dash was very ready to strike, still having her gear on meant that she also had her combat knife. A knife she now had her hoof wrapped around. I stopped her from jumping as Indigo came back to us. “S-She wants to talk,” the changeling nervously stated.

“Who?” Dash asked, still ready to take out the changeling.

“T-The Queen.” Indigo stated as she rapidly lost colour.

I glanced over to Rainbow and back. “Where, when?”

“Here,” a new voice stated, a particularly tall unicorn mare with a curved horn, soft yellow coat, and a nearly perfectly white mane stood in the doorway. “And now.”

Author's Note

I'm still way too busy really but I find time to write here and there. I'm fairly happy where this is right now so hopefully you enjoyed.