The Fairytale

The next five months passed without incident; Aurora’s father, seemingly accepting the inevitable, had not reared his ugly head once and she was able to finally start developing a life for herself. With Cadance’s help she was able to start selling her artistic services and after three months was able to move into her own place, a small little house only a mile away from the military academy. Due to the close proximity, Jet was eventually allowed to start staying with her during the week. A month later Jet and Shining Armor graduated from the academy; Shining Armor ended up as the top student. Jet, although showing promise over the few years, had never been quite as capable as his friend and was lower on the rank. Nonetheless, he was at least positioned for a recommendation to the Canterlot Royal Guard, though not as an officer like Shining Armor. It would be a week before the finally assignments would be made, so for the time being they had nothing else to do but celebrate.

“Are you sure he even remembers?” Jet asked as the four of them sat around a table, enjoying their brief spat of freedom from regulations with a few rounds of drinks, with Aurora abstaining due to her age.

“Hey, I could tell, when he said your name there was a noticeable twitch,” Shining Armor replied, referring to Administrator Streamline during the ceremony last evening. “I think in all his time managing the academy he had never faced such an, incident like that and it’s left a mark on him.”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s all done and over, no need to bring it back up,” Cadance remarked.

“She’s right, time to let it go and move on,” Aurora said and lifted up her glass. “So, a toast then, to great friends, putting the past behind us and moving forward in our lives.”

The four of them tapped their glasses together and took a drink. “Hey, remember what Brute Force said to us that first day we arrived?” Jet asked.

“You mean, ‘You maggots, you all think you’re so special, so damn great in your own ways? But you’re all nothing and most of you will always be nothing. We get hundreds of saps like you every year and most never make past the first month. Here you won’t be able to get by with the bare minimum, only those who truly show promise and commitment will ever be able to earn their rank, the rest of ya’ will be sitting in ditches as part of the faceless military. If you want something better than that, then you have to give something better than your best.’?” Shining replied, giving his best impression of their former Overseer.

“Yeah, there were 100 of us that day, right? Only five of us ended up with officer commissions,” Jet remarked, putting a hoof around Aurora and holding her slightly.

“We know why my uncle called it ‘The Grinder’, you need bones of steel to survive there.” Shining replied.

“How long before you know your assignments?” Cadance asked.

“Sometime within the next week I’ve heard, though some rumored it once took a month for the notice to be sent out and this poor guy who was supposed to be assigned to Stalliongrad lost his position due to the delay and got stuck in the rank-and-file.” Shining replied and took another drink. “But I wouldn’t worry too much; Administrator Streamline has done a fantastic job cutting out much of the bureaucratic run-around that plagued the system in years past.”

“You’ve probably got a shot for Phalanx’s position,” Jet remarked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know? Phalanx announced yesterday he plans to retire within the next year once he finds a suitable replacement. Apparently he’s moving away from Canterlot to raise his family away from the hassle of the city. Maybe you impressed him so well he wants to get out of your way,” Jet explained to him.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to force him out, he’s done a lot to maintain Canterlot’s stability,” Shining remarked.

“Well he has been in command for five years now and married for three of them, it sounds like he plans on focusing on having and raising a foal. In any case you stand the best chance of getting that position, you do have royal ties,” Jet pointed out.

“I highly doubt the fact my sister is Celestia’s apprentice is enough to make me Phalanx’s replacement, if you remember she was fairly fond of him over the years. More than likely one of his current subordinates is prepped to replace him.”

Jet leaned back lightly and took a drink. “I don’t know, Shining, you’ve certainly impressed the right ponies.”

“Be that as it may, I’m not going to count on it, I’ll be happy just being assigned to the royal guard.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Administrator Streamline sat in his office, a small pile of folders at his desk as he worked through the files for the five ponies who had recently graduated. Upon graduation he would give recommendations based on each individual’s performance over the year for the military superiors to take in consideration when making final decision on where to assign them. The other 95 who failed to make it all the way were automatically sent into infantry, most either to Stalliongrad or Fort Clover. Of all his responsibilities, this was by far the easiest one, since he already had plenty of input from various Captains on what they needed.

At the moment he was just finishing the recommendation for Shining Armor, one of the brightest students to ever graduate under his tenure here. He was more than a capable leader, but also had extensive magical ability, a rare combination these days. With the last war over two decades gone, fewer unicorns had developed military-useful abilities and those few who did were not quite impressive. Shining Armor combined impressive magical ability with the strategic mind needed to lead troops, something that was in dire need. Phalanx had specifically mentioned his need of a strong pony to serve as his apprentice; with his retirement coming he had determined that none of his current subordinates were capable enough to take over. With that in mind, then, Streamline had no second thoughts about recommending Shining for that position.

The next was the pegasus Jet Stream, Shining Armor’s close friend and the pony who had been the focus of the dumb-ass investigation some months back. He wasn’t on par with Shining Armor, although he was quite a capable flier and had his own leadership potential, he was extremely incapable of developing basic strategies. He always, always stretched troops too thin to account for every possibility, resulting in a weakened overall defensive or offensive force. He did, however, shine during battle itself, able to take into account the current conditions, organize his thoughts and then implement strategies that, despite his bad preparations, did get the job done, albeit not as cleanly as Shining Armor could. It was hard to say what Jet could actually do, although he had potential for a higher command post, Streamline wasn’t sure he could handle such a load at the moment. But he had too much potential to waste in Stalliongrad or Fort Clover. Some had suggested sending some ponies to Appleloosa due to rumors of trouble with the natives and maybe Jet could develop his strategic planning capabilities there while commanding only a small group, though Phalanx had yet to commit to anything related to the Buffalo situation.

There was a sudden knock at the door, but Streamline didn’t have time to entertain any guests and didn’t even look up from his work. “Whatever it is, it can wait, I’m busy,” he called towards the door.

Ignoring the comment, the door opened and the wealthy Upper Class entered into the room. Streamline looked up and immediately a look of disgust formed on his face. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, getting up from his chair and walking out in front of his desk. “Of all the ponies who think they can just waltz right in here,” he remarked.

“Mr. Streamline, I apologize for my unannounced visit, but I have a need to speak with you,” Upper Class replied.

“And why would I do that? Do you think I forgot about the circus you stirred up here months ago? You cost us a week of instruction and nearly threw our academy into disarray. My academy is not some stage to work out your family drama!” Streamline looked at Upper Class, but after a moment he started to calm down a little. He turned and went back to his seat.

“I apologize for the mess that I put you through and I certainly hope we can put such things behinds us,” Upper Class replied, approaching the desk. “But I am in need of your assistance and I’m more than willing to, properly compensation for such assistance.”

Streamline gave Upper Class a disapproving look, but he knew he wasn’t going to get out of this. Despite his dislike of the stallion, Upper Class was not a pony whose bas side you wanted to see. “What is it?” he asked rather reluctantly.

“I am aware that you are responsible for giving recommendation for the new recruits to the military officials, who will then decide where to assign them. I need you to give a certain colt a certain recommendation,” Upper Class explained.

“Don’t play coy, Upper Class, this is about Jet Stream. I know it, you know it, so don’t try to dance around it,” Streamline remarked.

“Fair enough; what I need for you it to simply give a recommendation to have Jet Stream sent to Fort Clover, that’s all,” Upper Class replied.

Streamline leaned back and pressed his hooves together. “And why would I do such a thing?”

“Simple,” Upper Class replied and pulled a folded piece of paper from his saddlebag and set it in front of Streamline. “Because of this.”

Streamline slid the paper over and opened it up, losing his breath at the sight. Upper Class was offering him 1.5 million bits, all for this one simple task. That was far more money than he had ever seen in his entire life and already he could imagine what he would do with such an amount.

“I take it that pleases you, correct?” Upper Class asked with a bit of a conniving smile. “Well it is all yours, all you need to do is this one little favor.”

“I, no, I, we’d be caught,” Streamline remarked, his mind aflutter right now.

“No one needs to know, once that pile of garbage is in Fort Clover, he’d get killed by some random beast out in the wild and no one will ever know. His memory will die out there with him, just like with so many others who never return,” Upper Class replied. “Trust me, this is foolproof.”

Streamline sat there in silence, putting his thoughts back in line. “It’s only Jet Stream; no one’s going to care about him. Even if he dies, he’s still dying for his kingdom, that’s an honorable death. Maybe the officials won’t even take his recommendation into consideration.” These thoughts ran through his head as he opened up Jet’s file and, almost without thinking, he started to write something down.

Upper Class couldn’t help but smile as he watched Streamline sealed Jet’s fate and put into motion his plan to get Aurora back. He couldn’t care less he was sending an innocent colt to his death, he would not let everything he and his family had built go to ruin because of his daughter’s mistake. Yes, once Aurora was back under his hoof he’d be able to throw his money around and finally, finally overshadow everything his father had done. He will be the most powerful stallion in Canterlot; nothing was going to stop him.

Streamline let out a long sigh as he stamped Jet’s file with his Seal of Approval and sat it with Shining Armor’s file, ready to be sent to the authorities. “There, it’s done,” he remarked and looked at Upper Class.

“Then I thank you for your cooperation and I will take my leave,” Upper Class said and headed back towards the door. “Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t forget what you’ve done here, Administrator. Once I have all the power, there might be some room left for you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jet Stream and Aurora walked together, heading back to Aurora’s home after finishing their meal with Shining Armor and Cadance. “It’s a beautiful night,” she remarked, nudging Jet with her nose.

“Reminds me of the night we met, sitting and watching as the sun passed beyond the horizon, thinking such a night could never end,” Jet replied and gave her a smile.

Aurora stared at the ground and frowned a little. “Jet, I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been dragged into. You didn’t deserve any of that crap that was loaded on you,” she said.

“Aurora, you don’t need to apologize for anything, you did nothing wrong. I love you Aurora, I love you so much. I’m willing to go through everything your father throws at me because of how strongly I feel for you. You should never have to apologize, you’ve done nothing but reciprocated my feelings,” Jet stopped and raised her head up to look him in the eyes. “You mean the world to me, don’t you ever forget that.”