Fallout Equestria: NightWings

What I learned kept me up that night. Finally knowing where I came from lifted a weight on my mind that I didn’t even realize was there, but it created as many new questions as the ones that were answered.

I decided to push all of this in a corner of my mind, until I had time to think more calmly about it. Maybe discussing it with Auntie would help, or with my squad.

With a groan, I got up, and went to my window, my eyes catching a glint of light on the wooden box resting on my desk.

I opened the window and leaned on it, smiling slightly as the cool night air blew through my mane, pausing to admire the beauty of the night sky. The constellations were unknown to me, though several new stars around the full moon were shining brighter than the rest, four of them to be precise.

My right ear flickered, as a discreet yet annoying pulsating sensation irradiated from the wound I received earlier. I lightly touched the bandage, no wet feeling so the wound hadn’t reopened.

A peaceful feeling took over me, seeing the silver light enhance the beauty of the whole city. Forcing my eyes to shift, I looked at the city again. New details were revealed to me, I could see small shadows circling the castle far above, rats scurrying in the streets, patrols with their lanterns in the district.
The nights seemed so much more since the return of Princess Luna, the stars gleaming brighter, a deeper richness of the night tapestry revealed.

Discrete hoofsteps echoed in the corridor leading to my room, like somepony trying to be silent. Then, small knocks on the door followed by a whisper: “Galzra, are you sleeping?”.

I smiled as I heard the familiar voice, and looked toward the door as it opened. A small black and white head slipped through the opening.

Zimaha looked sheepish. “Can I come? I had a nightmare, I’m scared.” I motioned for him to enter and keep his voice down.

He nodded and closed the door as silently as possible. I ruffled his mane.
“Anything alright Zimaha? You can talk to me if you want”

He sat on the bed, not saying a word, keeping his head down. Suddenly concerned, I sat next to him, on the floor, to have my own head at his level.

“Does your ear hurt?” Surprised, I put a hoof on my right ear, feeling the heat of the wound through the bandage covering it. I tried to look Zimaha in the eyes, but he averted my gaze.

I tried to smile at him while responding: “Not really, Zima. It pulses a bit but it’s nothing, I got hurt worse during training.”

“Yeah, but it’s my fault. Without me you wouldn’t be hurt.”

It finally clicked in my head, the little colt was feeling guilty, thinking he was responsible for the whole ordeal.
I lifted his head up gently, noticing the tears forming in his eyes. I took a firm yet gentle expression.

“Zimaha, you are not at fault. If somepony is to blame, it’s the ones that threw the rocks, not you”

“But they wouldn’t have hurt you if I didn’t open the door. If I stayed inside, nothing would have happened.”

He was crying now, softly. My heart sank, it must have haunted him all evening. I didn’t know what to do to make him feel better.

Suddenly, Zimaha hugged me, taking me by surprise. He was muttering “Sorry” over and over. I stroked his mane, trying to comfort him like Auntie comforted me when I was a colt.

Gradually, his sobbing stopped, and he released me from his hug. Saying nothing, I motioned to the window, inviting him to observe the night with me.

The little zebra got up and followed me there, but he was far too small to reach the window. Without thinking, I put him on my back, and he leaned on my neck to observe the night sky.
We stayed a few minutes like this, silently observing the night sky without moving.

“Galzra?”
“Yeah?”
“Why your eyes are different? Normally your eyes are all round in the center, but now they look like the eyes of a cat.”

I had forgotten my eyes. I pondered for a minute on how to explain it.

“Well, it’s a batpony thing. Some batponies have only the round pupil in their eyes, some only got the cat’s eyes with a slit, and some, like me, can shift between round pupils and cat’s eyes. I was just born like that I suppose. I don't really know if it’s normal to do that or not.”

“Does it hurt? To change your eyes?”

I shrugged. “No, not at all. It’s hard to describe the feeling when I shift them. But no, it does not hurt, Zimaha.”

Feeling his body slipping a bit, I shifted my stance to stabilize him, opening my wings slightly to catch him if needed.

“What does it feel like to fly?”

“It feels amazing. A bit like swimming, but more free. Seeing the endless sky above you, the ground spinning below, it’s one of the best things I can imagine. The freedom you feel while flying is awesome”

I heard him sigh sadly. “I wish I could fly. I wanna see the clouds. But I can't”.

Sensing an opportunity to lift his mood, I opened my wings.
“You may be unable to fly by yourself, but I can be your wings, at least for a bit. Hold on tight, Zimaha.”

I felt him cling to my neck with his forelegs whilst he squeezed my flanks with his hindlegs to hold on. I pushed him slightly with my wings to get him seated more safely on my back, and leaped out of the open window.

Flapping my wings to get us higher, Zimaha held on as tightly as possible. I began gliding silently through the air. A small laugh of pure glee came from the little zebra.

I turned my head slightly to see his face, filled with joy and happiness. Gone was the sadness he showed only a few moments prior.

“You see those clouds above us, Zimaha? I’ll land on one so that you can see it more closely, but don't get off my back when I do! I may be able to walk on clouds, but you can’t.”

I saw him nod slightly, then felt him reaffirm his hold.
Beginning to ascend to the cumulonimbus I spotted earlier, Zimaha laughed again.

After a few minutes of ascending, I landed on the cloud. The soft surface sank slightly under my weight.

I turned my head again to look at Zimaha. “So, what do you think?”
His face was slightly pink from the wind but he was looking around him with glee and delight.
“It’s amazing! I can see everything. The houses look like squares!”

I chuckled, completely understanding his feelings. I had the same exact reactions when I finally managed to fly for the first time a little over 15 years ago.

“The moon is so pretty! I don’t know why other zebras are afraid of it. With no more unicorn on it, it shines so bright! But it doesn’t hurt to look at it like the sun does!”

I smiled to see him forget his worries and focus on the moment instead.

“We gotta come down now, Zima. You wanna see what a dive is?”

A small squeal of excitement answered my question. The little zebra held on tighter as I walked toward the edge of the cloud.

“Hold on really tight now, Zimaha. Try not to scream, it’s really late, I don't wanna wake up the neighbors”.

I then jumped over the edge of the cloud, diving toward the ground at an angle that allowed Zimaha to stay on my back while still feeling the speed.

After almost reaching the rooftop level of the tallest building in the Lower District, I shifted the angle and fully opened my wings, gliding in a circle to reduce my speed and then turned back toward the orphanage.

Flapping my wings slightly to reduce my speed further as I approached my opened window, I turned my head again. Zimaha had the largest smile I had ever seen on his face.

Landing softly on the wooden floor of the room, I sat down to allow the little one to come down.
He hugged me and thanked me for this, saying how magical it was to fly under the night sky and the full moon.

I smiled, happy to have lifted his spirits and turned his mind away from thinking about what happened the previous evening.

We walked silently in the corridor, chuckling together when we heard the loud snoring of Bronco downstairs.

I put him to bed, tucking him in before whispering him good night. Zimaha smiled, his eyelids closing by themselves, before he whispered “Good night, big brother” and went to sleep.

As I went back to my room, my mind realised what Zimaha called me, and I felt oddly proud to be called brother by the little zebra.

Yawning silently, I felt the weight of the day taking its toll and my body yearning for sleep.
My eyes heavy, I looked at the alarm to check if it was set. 7 o’ clock, enough to get ready and talk a bit with Auntie before going back to the barracks. Sleep set in almost instantly after I laid down.

*****

I woke up suddenly, the alarm clock blaring. Grumbling, I fumbled around to reach the clock, managing to shut it up quickly enough to avoid waking everyone up, I hoped. Sun was already up, but was still low in the sky.

After getting up and leaving the room, I heard some noises downstairs. Crackling from the fire, sound of pans and sizzling, someone was already up and working in the kitchen

I head downstairs as silently as possible, to avoid waking Zimaha.
Reaching the kitchen, I saw Bronco already hard at work making breakfast.
“Howdy lad, well slept?”

“Small night for me, Zimaha had a nightmare. I had to comfort him before he could sleep again”

Bronco shook his head, sadness on his face.
“Poor laddie, A’ should ap’logize when he wakes up. Never meant to scold him, A’ just got scared fer him.”

I smiled toward the stout earth pony. “Don't worry Bronco, I’m sure he’ll understand. Speaking of it, I forgot to thank you yesterday. Without you, it could have been ugly.”

“Pah!” He spat in the open bin.
“These scunners. I ought to beat them all up again to teach ‘em a lesson. Hope they get what they deserve. No need to thank me, what would A’ be to let my lads being beat up? Yer like my own sons, you two.”

While saying that, he smiled warmly toward me. Smoke began to come from behind him. Bronco wrinkled his nose, surely smelling the smell of burning.

“AH,bucking shit. The pancakes!”
He turned back, and managed to save the pancakes before they were too burned to be edible. I munched on them happily, not minding the burned bits one bit. Chocolate chips pancake, yum!

“Well, hello dear! You are up early. The Guard is a good influence on you, there was a time where you couldn’t get up until noon was almost there”
Auntie was up, her mane still sporting her nightcap. Bags under her eyes, she must have stayed up late to talk with me last night. A small pang of guilt gripped me.

I gulped the last of my pancakes before answering.
“Hi Auntie, yeah I figured I should get up early if I wanted to discuss a bit with you about last night and have time to go back to the barracks before 10.”

She took a pot of coffee and a mug, served herself a large swig of that brown thing and poured another one in a large glass for Bronco, who nodded a thanks while taking a seat.

“Well, dear, don’t keep us waiting, tell us everything you want to talk about. We are all ears”

I began explaining the whole story. My biological mom, what I learned about her, her life and the batponies. Auntie and Bronco listened attentively, never stopping me, nodding here and there.
As I reached the end, Bronco suddenly sneezed, but it felt fake and I realized why after noticing tears at the corners of his eyes.
It wasn’t that surprising, the stallion had a big softie heart behind all that rough exterior.

Auntie, though, didn’t try to cover her feelings. When I reached the end, she reached for her handkerchief and silently wiped some tears before speaking.
“My little one, I feel so sorry for you. To finally know where you come from, but find nopony there must be soul-crushing.”
She reached over the table to gently tap my hoof.

“To be honest, I don’t really know what to think or feel about it. Maybe after a while, when all of this will sink in?”

She smiled, nodding silently. She looked absentmindedly at the clock in the kitchen then asked:
“Aren’t you supposed to be back at 10 o’clock at your post? It is already past 9, you should hurry, dear.”

*****

It took me almost no time to finish getting ready, but by then, I had only half an hour left to fly back to the barracks.
I still took the time to say hello to Zimaha and Imani before leaving but I flew off soon after.

The morning air was still fresh from the night before. I flapped my wings as fast as possible, trying to get as much speed as possible to make it back on time. I didn’t even feel my armor’s and saddlebags weight.

No pony wanted to disappoint the Lieutenant, of all the commanding officers of the Lunar Guard. He had a way of making you regret any disappointment or shortcoming...

I continued to flap my wings until I reached a sufficient altitude, reoriented myself a bit to be directly in front of the barracks’ entrance, then went into a dive.

The wind of my flight screamed at my ears, the city scrolling fast under me. A sharp sting caught my right ears, making me wince as I pushed my speed even further.

The clock of the Castle began to ring the hour.
DING….. DING……. DING…… DING

I was almost there, I only needed to be in the training court before the last ringing, or at least I hoped the Lieutenant would count it as being on time.

DING …. DING….. DING……

I reached the entrance and simultaneously, deployed my wings to try and slow my descent and realised I went too fast as I felt a sharp pain in my chest with the brutal deceleration.

Well, at least I was on time but my flight muscles would hold a grudge for a few days.

I landed in the middle of the training yard just as the clock finished ringing and allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Well, this is cutting it short, but I suppose I can let it pass this time!”

I froze as I heard the Lieutenant behind me. Did I bump him in my hurry? I quickly turned and stood at the ready, anxious about the punishment he would bestow for my delay.

“At ease soldier, you made it on time. You’ll feel that rush for a few days though, I barely registered you at your speed, you are gonna be sore as hell for a while. It will help you plan your day better in the future”
His scarred face shifted into one of his signature smirks.
“Now, get back inside, we have a meeting planned in half an hour at the castle and we can’t be late. Gather the others and get back here pronto, tell them to get dressed too. MOVE!”

I jumped at the order, and ran inside, quickly reaching my dorm room. Hurrying inside, I relayed the orders and stored my saddlebags. It took each of them less than five minutes to get inside their armors and follow me outside.

The Lieutenant had a satisfied look on his face, and motioned for us to follow him as he trotted away.
It was only then that I realized he was also in full Lunar Guard armor.

I gulped while I realized what all of this meant.
Official meeting in full attire was screaming “Appointment with the Princesses in full view of the whole Canterlot court”.

Eyeing the others, I realized they knew as well as me the importance of what would happen.
Iron kept his cool, but his gait betrayed his worries. He stomped like every cobblestone was a snake to be crushed.
Spark was sweating, an anxious look on his face.
Cerulean’s gaze crossed mine, and I saw a similar stress in her eyes as my own.

Only Sunny looked calm, but compared to her usual cheeriness and prancing around, it was clear that she felt the same tension as the rest of us.

Time flew as we moved toward the castle, his walls looking bigger from the ground than what they looked like from the air.

Following the Lieutenant, we went inside then took a few turns inside the palace.
Everything was so perfectly clean that I felt guilty to bring dirt from outside on my sabatons.

After a few minutes, we reached a door, flanked on each side by Sun Guards.
They did a brief salute after recognizing the Lieutenant, and nodded briefly at our attention before opening the door and leading us inside.

The room was big, but it was not the throne room.
Confusion gripped me before I looked around and fully took what was happening.
A round table, big enough for at least fifty ponies, occupied the center.
A few dozen ponies were seated around it, arguing, maps and papers covering the whole surface between them.

After a quick look, I realized there weren't any other guards beside us or the Sun Guard around the room, so we just followed the Lieutenant by instinct.

He sat on the nearest chair while the other ponies glared at him. We stayed behind him, standing still and awaiting orders.

The door behind us opened again, and two sets of hoofsteps echoed in the suddenly silenced room.

I realized quickly why the silence: Princess Luna and Princess Celestia took place at the other end of the table, directly across from the Lieutenant.

Our whole squad stood at attention instinctively as the Princesses entered our field of view.
The air of the room felt electric and tense, as if a thunderstorm was about to explode.

I realized Spark’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the Royal Sisters, but on a random unicorn at the right side of the table.
A noble, assuredly, considering how his clothes looked of the finest quality, but there was something familiar behind the impeccable styled, middle aged stallion.
Then it struck me : he had the same facial features as Spark, the same orange eyes and the same mane color. Only his coat was different, a vibrant blue.
The anger in Spark’s gaze gave me the final answer: this was his father.

“Well, it seems like everypony is here, right on time. We can now proceed with the meeting…”
As Princess Celestia spoke, my head turned toward her without my consent. Her voice was soft but the authority behind it wasn’t hiding, an iron hoof in a velvet glove.

Spark’s father began to speak, his voice full of venom
“Princess, this is highly irregular. These meetings are supposed to be as secretive as possible, yet Lieutenant Bright Bolt here brought a bunch of common guards. We do not need to have enemies of Equestria learn of what will be said here”

His angry gaze turned toward us, then his eyes blinked rapidly, confused by Spark’s presence.

The Lieutenant stomped his right hoof on the table.
“Sir, I assure you these guards are as fine as the ones guarding this room at this very moment. Their duty is to Equestria and they won’t divulge a word of what will be said there. Now that this is addressed, let us hear what our Highnesses have to say without interruptions”.
His voice was deceptively calm, like the eye of a storm, his ears betraying his irritation.

Princess Luna smiled, apparently pleased at how the Lieutenant dealt with the interruption.
Princess Celestia cleared her throat lightly, before continuing.

“As each of you are aware, our relations with zebrakind degraded quite a bit in light of Equestria’s intervention to save the seventeen hostages.

Contrary to all denegations and information brought by the Caesar, the Wonderbolts managed to confirm that the pirates’ hideout was likely known by the zebra government for a long time, as zebra merchants actively avoided the area even prior to the hostage situation. And this despite the area's obvious advantages in terms of trade route.

We must assume the Caesar did not want to intervene at all and that maybe the pirates had some kind of deal with some level of the zebra government. At my latest diplomatic trip, the Caesar produced a ransom letter he assured was received a day after the death of the pirate, asking for a coffer of the finest Equestrian gemstones for each hostage.

However, whatever happened to cause this incident, we must try to extend a hoof for peace and hope the Caesar will reach for it. I already made arrangements and discussed the matter with him, though I don’t know how it will blossom.

In the meantime, we should secure our relations with our other neighbors and neutral parties, to at least maintain a status quo if the situation would continue to degrade further.

On the same page, the Equestria Skyguard recruitment will begin in a few days, full training will commence as soon as the first few squads are filled in.

We are aware that some disturbances happened around Equestria against resident or visiting zebras. This matter is of particular importance to me, as Equestria was founded on the very principle of tolerance toward all races!”

Celestia’s face briefly became distorted by anger, her eyes narrowed and her jaws clenched, before going back to her usual self-composure.

“Fortunately, these actions were only carried out by small groups and had no lasting consequences, as all of them were squashed quickly before any damage was done and thankfully, none happened in Canterlot as far as I’m aware.

My sister and I will personally address the whole nation on this. Is there anything that any one of you needs to bring up to our attention before we continue?”

The Lieutenant slowly denegated. I swiftly stepped forward, and put my hoof on his shoulder to catch his attention. He turned toward me, furious and about to shout, before I quickly whispered about what happened yesterday evening.

His face shifted from anger to concern as I pointed at my bandaged ear while explaining.
He quickly turned back as Princess Luna floated some papers to herself and cleared his throat.

“Sorry to interrupt, your Highnesses, but I just got a report that a small riot involving a dozen ponies had to be controlled by a Sun Guard pegasi squad yesterday evening. The official report must have been delayed”

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow, a puzzled look on her royal muzzle.
“Are you sure, Lieutenant? Where did you learn this? I admit I have some trouble believing this, I should have had the report when I began my duties last night.”

The Lieutenant motioned toward me and bowed slightly toward Princess Luna.
“I have the utmost faith concerning the source of the information, as it came from a guard I personally trained. Soldier, report the events, exactly as they happened.”

I took a step forward, feeling like I just swallowed a stone. The events of the day before flashed in my head as I described them concisely, pointing at my bandaged ear in conclusion of my explanations, the pulsating wound seemingly echoing my words.

Princess Celestia looked mortified while Princess Luna was horrified, dropping the masks for a moment as I reported. For a moment, they looked like normal ponies, ashamed and confused as to what they just heard.

The moment passed quickly however, and the Princesses regained their composure, regal and mighty rulers of Equestria again.

“We thank you for bringing this whole ordeal to our attention. We will wait for the full report of the Sun Guard before taking any punitive actions, but we’ll be sure to send somepony as soon as possible to extend formal apologies to the zebras Imani and Zimaha, currently lodging at the Crescent Moon Orphanage.”

Princess Luna bowed her head slightly while speaking, gratitude the only expression on her face.
“We also thank you for your timely intervention, even though you were off-duty at the time.”

My whole face became hot, as the only reason I could intervene was that the orphanage was my home, nothing more.
I bowed deeply, my eyes now at the level of the table, unsure if I had to say something else.

“At ease, soldier. Thank you for bringing this to my attention as soon as possible.”
The Lieutenant’s voice echoed in the room, the hidden subtleties behind his intervention clear for me : he had given me a way out of being questioned further by anypony on the table.

I gladly took it, standing back up and saluting briefly before falling behind him with the rest of the squad.
My teammates weren’t moving, but I felt their gaze. A lot of questions would need to be answered before the end of the day.

The rest of the meeting was uneventful. As the day advanced, lunch time came and went, without any sign of the meeting coming to a close, topics with no meaning for me came and went, too much to count or even remember.

Princess Luna looked weary, as she was usually sleeping by dawn. As she let out a small yawn, Princess Celestia finally called for the end of the meeting, asking the Lieutenant to stay a few more moments to discuss something in private with him.

We went outside, following the other ponies present at the meeting. We stayed beside the door, relaxing a bit.

“Lilac, we need to talk”.
Spark’s father was in front of him, trying to look down on Spark, but failing as our squadmate stood a good ten centimeters above his father.

“You need to stop this nonsense. We are nobles, we don’t play in the mud with the rest of ponykind. I ask you to stop this charade and act in a manner fitting of your status. You can’t be seen around Canterlot as a common guard. What would ponies think of us?”

Spark was angry, his eyes wide open as his father talked, his jaw clenched.
“Father, if you disrespect me again in front of my squadmate, I…”

“You what? I’m your father and you are going to OBEY me! You will not bring shame on our name, as long as I, Blueberry Spark, am alive!”

I prepared to intervene, but Iron was quicker despite his mass. He reached Spark’s father and lifted him off the ground with one hoof.

Iron growled : “I seem to recall, Sir, that my squadmate asked you to back off! Are you perhaps a bit deaf? If so, I’m sure I can repeat everything loud and clear enough that even you can understand the meaning of the words, Sir”.

A quick glance revealed we were all ready to back Iron’s affirmations, but Spark came beside Iron and lightly tapped his shoulder.

“It’s okay, big guy, lemme deal with him myself please. I need to do this, by myself.”

The black pony looked at Spark, then at the struggling unicorn he still firmly held above the ground.
He slowly nodded toward Spark, then released the noble, letting him struggle on his hooves.

“Father, I’m done. Mother and you never were family, you were merely my progenitor. The ones caring for me were the servants, the only thing you did for me was use me like a puppet to try and elevate your social standing. When I couldn’t cut it, you cast me away, like a broken toy thrown in the bin, and tried again with my little brother.”

Spark smiled, a venomous smile, devoid of warmth.
“Now, you remember what you said to me when I failed to enter Celestia’s School? Because I remember. You said that I was a failure that would never amount to anything, except leech from your wealth. Well, look at me! I’m doing something of myself, something I'm proud of. I found a better family there than I ever had before. I never want ANYTHING to do with you or mother EVER AGAIN”

He screamed the last words. His father recoiled, as if Spark had hit him.
My squadmate relaxed a bit.
“If my brother ever wants to reach out, I’ll welcome him with open arms. I’ll always welcome him. He is merely a victim in all of this, like I was”

Blueberry Spark’s mouth opened and closed a few times, without a sound, before he turned tail and practically ran out of the corridor.
As his father disappeared, Spark began to shiver and sat down to recover from his emotions.

I went beside him and poked his ribs with a hoof, smiling and winking at him.

Iron patted him on the back, almost sending Spark flying under his strength.
“Well done, brother. I think celebrations are in order, you deserve a reward for turning out this fine with such an asshole of a father.”

Sunny was laughing softly while congratulating Spark, Cerulean opting to a more direct elbow to the rib on his other side.

The door of the meeting room shot open. We instantly stood at attention, ready to answer any duty that would be assigned to us.
My stomach protested softly, and I began to pray in my head that whatever were the assignments could wait until I could grab a bite.

The Lieutenant got out, looking positively pissed! I had never seen him that angry, his scars looked ready to open again and cover his face with fresh wounds.

“All of you, inside, quick!”
We glanced at each other, worried about what could have put the Lieutenant in that foul mood.
We hurried inside, to avoid catching any of his anger.
Only the Princesses, the Lieutenant and us were present. Princess Luna was openly yawning now that the nobles were away, but told her sister that she could manage and to go grab something to eat.

Princess Celestia looked thankful for her sister’s proposition, but a bit of worry persisted as she asked if everything would be okay.

“ ‘Tia, please! I may be tired but I think I can do this without you needing to hover around me!”
Luna looked a bit annoyed at her sister’s insistence.

Celestia laughed and gave us a quick nod before leaving the room.

The selene princess stretched, before inviting us to take a seat at the table.

A map of northwestern Equestria was deployed on the map, detailing the area around vanhoover, the unicorn range and the Smokey Mountains.

A snarl came from the Lieutenant.
“Princess, I must make my opposition to this mission very clear. I vowed never to go back there. There are plenty of other candidates to send there instead of me and my squad.”
His face was tense, his scars almost white.

The princess sighed, not caring one bit about hiding how annoyed our officer’s objection made her.
“Lieutenant, I understand the circumstances that surrounded your departure from your home were complicated. However as I already explained five minute ago before you went to get your squad, you are the ONLY pony in an official capacity that has any knowledge of the area and the ponies we are trying to reach.”

Our commanding officer began to open his mouth, ready to voice his disagreement again.

The princess straightened up, all weariness disappearing from her face. She stood tall, above even Iron, who was taller than almost everypony.
Her eyes showed a glint of anger, and her voice resonated with authority in the room.

“Officer, WE ORDER YOU, AS PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA, AS PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT, TO FULFILL THIS MISSION!”

I put hooves on my ears, as she had switched to the Royal Canterlot Voice, far louder than any shout and carrying far more authority than I thought.

The Princess calmed herself, and her weariness reappeared.

The Lieutenant seemed defeated, slowly passing a hoof over his face. He looked tired, and old, his scars sunken deeper than before.
“It has been over 25 years, your Majesty. I’ll do what I can, but even if we are allowed to come near our objectives, there is no guarantee that they would allow ME to deliver this message. You must understand that? Besides, there is no guarantee than even IF, and it’s a big IF, we deliver the message, they would stay neutral.
Ponies haven’t been the most tolerant toward batponies in the past, all of the rumors and stories about us stealing foals and eating them did not go well.”

Princess Luna sighed.
“I fully understand your concerns, Lieutenant, however we have no other choices. We have no other pony knowing the area and the batpony culture enough to send them, we don’t want any faux-pas, especially now that our relations are strained with them.”

She pointed toward us.
“Besides, your squad is the only one containing that many ponies touched by the moon. This should ease the tension enough at the beginning to give you a chance to explain yourself”

The Lieutenant shook his head.
“Yes, Princess, I see your points. I accept the mission, but I guarantee nothing. It will all hinge on Ifs and Buts, but me and my soldiers will do our best with that”

The princess smiled
“I don’t ask anything more, Lieutenant. Now, if you excuse me, my rest is long overdue, and I need some sleep before tonight. I bid you farewell, my little ponies, and good luck on your journey. I’ll expect full reports regularly via the new field equipment you are to bring with you.”

She slowly walked out of the door, while our officer let his forehead down on the table.

After a minute, he groaned, and straightened up.
“Listen up, I’m not gonna repeat myself on this. We are tasked with finding and contacting the batpony tribe in the Unicorn Range. The other tribe has already contacted Princess Luna by itself almost two years ago on her return and settled in Equestria, so at least we won’t need to search everywhere in those bloody mountains.”

My blood froze.

“Sir, anything else you can tell us about these batponies?”
Iron was as diligent as ever. If the Lieutenant ever retired, he would be the one to replace him.

“Only this, soldier : They are fiercely territorial. They don’t usually allow ponies that are not “marked by the moon” to come close to them, and to be honest, ponies don't want to try anyway, which is just fine for the tribe, as centuries of false rumors and accusations from ponykind didn’t help ease the already existing tensions.”

He sighed, passing a hoof on his face.
“I also have to be honest with all of you : I’m a batpony, and I came from this tribe. I left the tribe because I don’t have the typical batpony eyes, and I'm thus blind as a mole in complete darkness, which made me a cripple for them.

He bared his teeth, before letting out a cold smile.
“And that was before I got mauled by a raging hydra and lost my wings completely, so the mission will likely hinge on the tribe focusing more on you four than me”

Pointing at Sunny, Cerulean, Iron and me, the Lieutenant shook his head.
“To be perfectly honest, we are likely to be chased down the mountain before we can try to explain our mission, but those are our orders and we must carry them. Take the rest of the day and tomorrow off, we leave with the next train, I’ll make all the arrangements. Dismissed!”

We quickly saluted and went away. My head was beating like a drum, what I learned less than 24 hours ago still fresh in my memory.

“So, we heading to Donut Joe for a bite? Might be a bit late in the day, but I’ll eat just about anythin’, even stale donuts and ice cold brew'' asked the deep rumbling voice of Iron as we walked out of the palace.

I couldn’t contain a smile at the sight of the mighty and massive earth pony massaging his belly while walking with a pitiful expression on his face.

“My treat everypony! I finally shut my father’s mouth, so lunch is on me!”

“Sounds good, what d’you say Galzra?”

I smiled feebly to Sunny while agreeing, my mind split between keeping for me what I learned the previous night and sharing it with my squad.

As we reached Donut Joe’s shop, I had made up my mind. Those ponies by my side were my friends, dare I say my family.

As we sat down with trays full of donuts and coffee (fruit juice for myself), I took a deep breath while looking down.

“Guys, I have to confess something…..”. All of my squadmates stopped speaking and eating, their faces suddenly grave and worried.

I sighed in the deafening silence that followed, and began to explain everything to them while eating.

******

The air was cold, that early in the morning, the sun barely above the horizon failing to warm us . We were waiting for the first train going to Vanhoover, as it was the only line with a stop near the Unicorn Range.

The last two days were kinda strange. I felt strange. Sharing my newly discovered roots to my squadmates was scary at first, but they showed a great deal of support. Which helped a lot to process the whole thing.

The Lieutenant was at the other end of the station, talking with two ponies dressed in the railway company’s uniform.
Most of what we would carry was light-weight, consisting of tents, canteens, rations and such, but we also got some unusual equipment. It looked like a box, with small telescopable rods on top, and dials with buttons on front. It came with a funny looking contraption that looked like one of those cranking devices attached to cave lamps for power.

The whole thing was big enough to take up all of Iron’s backpack, so each of ours was a little heavier, but nopony complained.

On top of all that, we were issued new armor. They were composed of metal plates, looking similar to the metal used on our other armor, attached to sturdy and thick cloths. Even though it lacked a helmet, the whole thing was light, and easier to move with.
The chestplate was emblazoned with our unit’s symbol, a liberty our friend Minty took while making them.

As I moved to try and warm up, a sharp pain came from my chest. Wincing, I massaged my stiff flight muscles, still feeling the consequences of my flight 48 hours earlier.

“Alright, Squad! Looks like our train is here!” barked the Lieutenant’s voice.

Sure enough, a faint steam cloud was appearing in the distance. Moving quickly, each member of the squad took its allotted bags, mine including my mother’s box.
The train was deceptively quick, by the time we took our bags, it had nearly reached the station’s platform. Its advance slowed to a crawl until, finally, the huge beast of iron and steam begrudgingly stopped.

Only two wagons were attached to the locomotive of the train, one of which was completely empty, the other only housing a few sleeping ponies, a few of which woke up and proceeded to get out.

The Lieutenant put on his equipment and saddlebags, and without a word or a sign, jumped nimbly aboard the empty wagon.

We glanced at each other, before Iron took the lead and climbed aboard, his frame barely passing the door.

The rest of us followed suite.