Once A Shadow - From the other side

I haven't seen Shadow since we had the attack on the Bestia's hideout, but I'm pretty sure he's fine, he always is. I should probably worry more about myself right now, as my initiation is tommorrow. And Spitifire said she had some kind of 'surprise' waiting for me. Boy, can't wait to find out what that could be (major sarcasm). But right now I'm sitting with the rest of the team, listening to a debrief from Princess Luna. She was part way through her debrief when Shadow trotted in, and he looked relatively unharmed.

_Princess Luna turned to me. "Ah, hello there young Shadow. Give us just a moment, we are discussing some important matters."

I gave a bow. "Yes your majesty, I'll wait upstairs if you prefer." Something I learned growing up, always show respect to a superior, or get your ass handed to you.

"That's quite alright. You are a member now. Please, take a seat so we may continue."

I nodded and found an empty seat between Ni and Blaze. Luna sat at the head of the table, with Spitfire and Soarin sitting at her sides.

Ni leaned in and whispered to me. "I thought this was against your 'guy code.'"

"Not now smartass." I whispered back.

Princess Luna cleared her throat before proceeding. "Yes, as we were saying, your next mission is coming close. Your objective is to end the griffin's rebellion as soon as possible while minimizing casualties on both sides. I do not want there to be bloodshed if at all possible. Captain Night Wing?"

"Yes your highness?" he answered

"You and your team will be departing a week before the assassins, the medics, and the archers so you can scout ahead for them."

"Yes Princess Luna."

I leaned in and whispered to Ni. "I thought you said there were only three groups of the Mones?"

"Did I? Huh, must have slipped my mind. There are actually four, my bad."

"No big deal I guess."

I sat back in my chair to continue listening to the princess. "I will now allow Spitfire to explain her squad's objective."

Spitfire rose. "Thank you, your majesty. Now for my squad, a week after Captain Night Wing's squad departs, we will make our way to the land of griffins as well. Once there, we will report to an envoy personally assigned to us by the head general of the griffin's loyalists. After he gives us our briefing, we will depart for our objective. If needed, we will have support from the archery squad. Any questions?"

We shook our heads. "Good. Captain Night Wing, you have the floor." Spitfire said as she took her seat.

Ni rose up and looked at a few of the ponies in the room. "My squad, our objective for this mission is to give recon for the area before any other teams proceed. We will attempt to gather what information we can on the rebels, and look for any weak points in their defenses. In order to do that, myself, and the captain of the medic squad will be posing as mercenaries in the rebel army. Once we have the information we need, we will report to the loyalist envoy, and give him whatever information we have. While me and the captain of the medics are behind enemy lines, I want the rest of you to blend in with the local populace and gather what information you can on the enemy. How about it, can I count on you squad?"_ -chapter 22-

"Yes sir!" I shouted. Wait a minute, I didn't think there was a captain of the medic squad, at least since our old officer died a month ago.

_Ni sat down and the princess rose up once more. "Our business here is concluded everypony. You may take your leave now!"_

I stood up, and Spitifire signalled me to follow her. "Umm, Spitz? I know this may be a bit of a stupid question, but isn't the medic squad captain dead?"

She turned her head towards me. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we're getting a new CO for the medic squad in a day or two. Sorry for not mentioning it in the debrief but I forgot about it."

"It's alright, but can you at least tell me who the new captain is going to be? I'd prefer that I knew who to buy a drink for, because as you know, I buy drinks for the new guys on the teams."

She smiled. "You'll find out tommorrow, I can guarantee that. But until then, I want to show you something." She pointed me towards a room labelled 'Lab', and opened the door. "This is your new workspace, I know you're a bit of a tinkerer, so we put in some tool kits for that. Over here is the main lab, where you'll work on any intel or interesting finds during our missions. In case you get tired, you've got a bed built into the wall. There's also a small kitchen in case you get peckish or decide to experiment with poisons. Well, what do you think?"

I was gobsmacked. "This is... this is... this is great, thanks Spitz!" I cried hugging her.

"I'm glad you like it Hornet. Now, I heard you got your new armor not too long ago. Do you mind if you showed it to me?" She asked ever so nicely.

"I don't see why you can't, wait one moment." I dashed out of the room, round the corner into the main hallway, over to my room, and over to a case on top of a cabinet. I opened the case, took out the vest and knife and put them on. I then trotted back to the lab and walked through the door. "Well," I asked "what do you think?"

"Not bad," she smirked "although you could have gone for a full set of armor rather than just a vest. But in my general opinion, it looks rather good on you. Now I suggest you get some extra rest or practise, cause I'm not going to make your intiation any easier, even though I'm your marefriend. Now go on, get outta here. I've still got to let the paint dry in the main lab." She then started ushering me out the door.

She's probably right though, I should get some sleep. I headed over to my room and settled down into my soft, comfortable bed. Seconds later I realised I still had my vest on, but I decided to just fuck it, and go to sleep.