Author's Note

With the many spelling and grammar mistakes in the story, I sat down to fix the mess that was the first chapter of my first story here on the site for those of you who still want to read it. I'll put a (revised) into the chapter titles of those chapters I already fixed. Enjoy the now readable story.
Revised 03. Jan. 2025

Chapter 1: Academy (Revised)

"Why do they have to..." I was hitting the punching bag again. "Make us do these stupid tests." Another hit echoed through the training room of the Royal United Equestrian Navy Academy, RENA for short, or as everypony else simply calls it, the Academy. It was the largest and most prestigious of its kind, bringing forth some of the most accomplished pilots Equestria has ever seen. My name is Iridian Bolt, and I was one of these aspiring pilots.

Earlier this morning, we received our results for the latest theory test we performed, and I failed miserably. Giving the bag another one-two punch to vent my frustration, I lost my balance, dropping back to all fours again. As a pegasus pony, I was usually quite proficient in holding my balance on two legs thanks to my wings, but I was pushing myself too hard. Sweat was already running down my orange coat, and my rainbow mane, a family trait, constantly got in my eyes, making me even angrier at my failure. 'This is an easy exercise; I shouldn't struggle this hard with it.'

Making my way to one of the benches, the one with my bottle on it, I stopped and took a long gulp of water. The physical requirements to become a pilot were already high enough, but I wanted to be at the top of the list. I moved to one of the treadmills to begin my next workout, starting out with a slow trot and gradually increasing it to a fast gallop.

"All these theory tests are just so stupid. Why do all this when everypony knows I'm already the best at this," I muttered to myself.

A loud bang made me trip and fall down. "Looks like Crash is at it again." I already knew who was making fun of me without looking up; Lightning Blitz had been the thorn in my side since day one. It didn't help that her cutie mark was a literal depiction of a fighter, making her ego that much more unbearable.

Getting up onto my hoofs, I turned in her direction. The bluish-green mare before me smiled mockingly as she flipped her long purple mane to the side. "A few friends of mine and I have a little wager going. Care to take a guess what it's about?" She said in the most condescending voice I had ever heard.

"No, and I don't care," I snarled, trying to ignore her. "Now get lost!"

She wasn't budging and pretended to not have heard me. "It's about how often you will crash your fighter during our next training. A few even think you're gonna wreck the simulator this time."

I usually tried to ignore her when she threw insults at me, but I couldn't take it anymore. Turning around, I got muzzle-to-muzzle with her. "Well, guess what. I already broke more records than you ever will, so just buck off and leave me alone!" I returned to my bag, picked it up with a wing and exited the room. "Whatever, I'm done with training anyway."

It was not worth fighting with her about it. Finals were in two weeks, and after that, I never had to see her again. With my flight skills, I would definitely get to serve onboard one of the 'Alicorn Ships.' These were the greatest honour a new pilot could receive, each under the command of one of Equestria's alicorns and acting as our flagships, symbolizing the might of our navy for all to see.

'I should take a shower and a quick nap after,' I thought to myself after giving my coat a small sniff. There was nothing else to do anyway before the last theory class.

My shower took longer than I thought. I could barely keep myself awake during this mind-numbing lecture without a nap. The instructor went over everything we knew already and was wasting our time. Looking around, I could see at least five other Cadets asleep.

"Captain Fire Streak will have your options ready for you. You will be called into his office to choose what post you want to be stationed at."

The instructor in front of the class showed us a folder with the name of a ship. "You are expected to serve in that position for at least two years before any transfer request can be granted."

'Yes, sleep does sound great right now.'

I already knew all this and had to be ready for my more critical flight training later that day. It was the last training day before the exams, the last chance for me to break a few records.

I must have dozed off because the instructor was about to finish the lecture when I opened my eyes next. "Your next assignment is to report to the south side hangar for your last flight practice. For those of you who have slept through my class, I will ensure the committee will deduct a few points from your test scores." That's what he was always telling us. He couldn't actually do that. It was just his way of trying to motivate us. It never worked. "Class dismissed!" We saluted in unison and left the lecture hall.

The long walk to the other side of the Academy wasn't that exciting either. Lightning Blitz was giving me her usual looks. I never understood why they couldn't allow us to fly over there. We are all pegasi, after all.

The smell of oil and magic-infused fuel was the first sign that we were close. The hanger was located on the south side of the mountain the Academy was built on, with the runway stretching all the way to the north. I didn't pay too much attention during history class, but I recall them mentioning that the Academy Complex was over two thousand years old and was used by a Pegasi stunt team in the past.

We entered the hangar, and I had a clear view of my training ship, the Hurricane MK I fighter. Mechanics moved around, making last-minute adjustments and refuelling the tanks.

It was not in active use anymore, replaced by the newer MKII, but it handled very similarly. The most significant difference between them was the Magic Core, which made the fuel the MKI used obsolete. The weapons we used were different, too. Instead of the two Magic Accelerators, or MAs for short, the Hurricane usually had mounted on either side of the cockpit; these training ships had smaller weapons that only left a trace of magic on the target that could be tracked by the eggheads at Ground Control. It was a way to count our 'kills' during training, with the record standing at 8 'kills' held by none other than me.

"Listen up, Cadets!" We moved into an orderly line, stood at attention and saluted our flight instructor. They never bothered giving us a schedule in order to keep us on your hoofs. It meant every training would be a surprise, just like a mission in reality would be. "Today's exercise will involve a fight between two full Wings."

A Wing consisted of five fighters, with one of them taking on the role of Wingleader. Our instructor reviewed some more training details, but I tuned most of them out; we had already heard this a million times.

"The Goal of this exercise is NOT to eliminate the most opponents." I rolled my eyes. They always told us that, but in the end, it came down to who won and how many kills you got. That's what the records showed. My spirit was high, and I was ready to prove myself. "Looks like another fight in atmosphere. Why can't we do a fight in orbit for once." I thought to myself, longing for a more challenging and dangerous mission.

The Hurricane was capable of flight in space, and after I got my position on a spaceship, that was where I would spend most of my time. Sure, we took a few orbital flight lessons, but they seemed inadequate, in my opinion. Even the simulator training was mostly done in atmosphere.

"Wingleader for Wing one will be Cadet Lightning Blitz!" Our instructor took a quick look over the other Cadets. "Wingleader of Wing two, Cadet Iridian Bolt!" I stepped forward and saluted.

The distribution of the rest of the cadets went by without me paying much attention. My mind was set on being able to put Lightning Blitz in her place for once. If I had to, I would take on her Wing on my own. "Everypony, get to your fighter and get ready for take-off!"

Relaxing my stance, I walked to my assigned fighter and took a seat in my cockpit. Until now, I hadn't taken a look at my Wingponies. 'Could have gotten worse ponies for My Wing.' I thought after looking them over. I was getting ready for take-off, going through my pre-flight checklist and ensuring I was correctly strapped in. I'm not into making checklists but this one was important. One small thing wrong with the fighter could end up with me dead.

One of the mechanics checked me over as well, making extra sure I did everything correctly. Since our final exams were so close, the other cadets and I were able to do this ourselves, but this was part of protocol to ensure our safety.

'What call sign should I give my Wing? Let's just keep it simple.' This was a bonus of being the Wingleader. I could create my own call sign for this mission. Tapping a small crystal, I opened the communication with my Wing. "This is Red leader. Communication check!”

"This is Red one check." Communication was clear, and I could hear my Wing acknowledging my order.

"We have green light for take-off. Once you're in the air, get into formation immediately. I won't tolerate any slowpokes out there." As I rolled onto the runway, I waited for everyone to position themselves before initiating my take-off.

'How did she... I can't believe it, I lost.' I was alone with my thoughts for the moment. My Wingponies did so terribly that Lightning Blitz was able to hit me. 'And that smug face of hers.'

"Cadet Iridian Bolt, a word, please." I approached our flight instructor and stood to attention. "Why did you abandon your Wing up there?”

"Sir, I believed it was the most strategic move to eliminate the enemy Wingleader as swiftly as possible." I wasn't about to reveal my true motivation to show Lightning Blitz how much better I was than her.

"I know you two can't stand each other. But you have to think about your Wingponies first. It is the top priority of a leader to keep them safe. Now get going; you have the time off until your final exam.”

I saluted him, my defiance simmering beneath the surface. 'They can say what they want. I'm still at the top of every list. They wouldn't put me there if they thought I was wrong.' I turned and walked back into the barracks, heading straight for the showers.

Two weeks went by painfully slowly. It did catch me off guard when they dragged us out of bed without any food to take the simulator exam, but I managed it just fine.

The scenario itself was designed to be unwinnable. They wanted to test our reactions in a situation where victory seemed impossible. In a real battle, there's always the chance you won't make it home, but this was just a simulated flight. It wasn't fair to test us against something like this. Yet, I managed to impress them with the number of enemy 'kills' I scored, showing them that despite overwhelming odds, I was determined to succeed.

"Final day, you got it, Ace; knock them off their hoofs." I was standing in my room, giving myself a final pep talk. The written exam would be held in twenty minutes. Checking my uniform one last time, I decided to go over to the mess hall for a quick bite to eat. It was surprisingly empty, with everypony doing some last-minute studying.

"Five minutes, let's get this over with. I'm already pumped for the flight test." I exited the classroom with a good feeling. The questions were not that difficult, and I finished well within the time limit.

Our group was heading to the southern hangar again, where we would take the flight exam. One of our flight instructors was already waiting for us, and we lined up in front of her. "Listen up, Cadets! Your final test will be simple. You will be put into a full Wing with the goal to hold out as long as possible against one of the senior instructors who will try to shoot you down."

'Just my luck, this exam is with a full Wing. I hope they don't slow me down too much. If the last training was any indication, they will be the reason I fail this test.'

The instructor stopped in front of me. "Cadet Iridian Bolt, you will be the Wingleader of the first group."

"Yes, Ma'am," I replied quickly and saluted. After picking four other Cadets to join my Wing, she waved us over to the fighters to prepare for take-off.

Getting the opportunity to shoot down one of the senior instructors could show them how good a pilot I was. This was my chance to prove myself. My ship was a bit to the side of the rest, allowing me to hear our instructor communicating with somepony. "Captain Fire Streak, the Cadets are about to get into the air. Ground Control cleared you to engage them as soon as they are up there."

I was pretty sure I was not supposed to hear that, but this was big. Captain Fire Streak was one of the greatest pilots Equestria had ever seen, and even though he retired to take over as head of the Academy, his skill was still legendary. I didn't know if facing him was exciting or terrifying, but it was a chance of a lifetime. It wasn't long after that we got into the air.

"Maintain close formation and keep an eye out for our enemy." My Order was met with a "Yes, Ma'am" from my Wingponies. I chose not to tell them who our opponent was; it would just mess with their confidence if they knew. We flew in a large circle around the Academy, waiting for Fire Streak to make his moves.

"I see something, approaching fast from above 3 o'clock." One of my Wingponies called out. Looking in that direction, I could see him as well.

"Affirmative, fan out and prepare to engage." It would take us a few seconds to get into range, a last chance to take a deep breath and calm myself.

"She's faster than should be possible. That thing moves at least two times faster than our fighters could." Red Three, if I remember correctly, called out. He didn't sound very confident, so I ignored his comment about the speed.

"Keep focused; this is what we trained for. I will try to get behind him, Red four, you're with me. The rest of you will try to slow him down." They confirmed my orders and took position.

Fire Streak was keeping his distance and biding his time. He was waiting for something, but I was not about to give him time to pick the perfect time to attack.

Red Four and I moved around him, trying to attack him from two different directions. That was when Fire Streak accelerated fast. "Red Two here taking fire. She's way too fast; I can't shake her. I need help." She sounded terrified. 'She is getting shot at with training rounds. Nothing is going to happen to her.'

"I'm close. Hold on." That was Red Three again. They were starting to panic. 'How did they make it this far into training when they can't keep a cool head.' Time to end this; now was the perfect time to attack with Fire Streak distracted. I saw the magic rounds impacting Red Two, putting her out of the fight. 'Come on, just a little closer.'

He accelerated just as I was in range. I could not keep up, but I got a good look at his fighter. "He's not flying one of our training ships. Looks like it's a modified version of a MKII Hurricane," I called out.

We were at a considerable disadvantage. I didn't know the differences between those ships, but we were outclassed heavily by the looks of it. Fire Streak accelerated faster and was more manoeuvrable than us.

"She's back at 10 o'clock low." I heard Red one say.

"OK, same thing again. I nearly had him last time. Focus on staying out of line of fire." With Red One and Three keeping him occupied again, I was able to get a good angle on Fire Streak. Pulling the trigger sent a salvo of magic projectiles at him. He managed to evade just in time, and my first and second salvo completely missed the mark, but I managed to clip his wings with the third.

"This is Control: Enemy Shields at 73%, " said a voice from my fighter's communication crystal.

"What! That thing has shields? How is that a fair fight?" I couldn't help but voice my frustration. How were we supposed to win against an opponent with such a significant advantage?

"This is Red Three, I'm hit; minor damage." That got me thinking straight again; there was no time to dwell on it. I still had three Wingponies with me. I was grateful that the magic the training weapons fired could be tracked so precisely by Ground Control. It meant a hit was not guaranteed to put you out of the fight. "Hit again, I'm out."

I was expecting Captain Fire Streak to just take off again and put some distance between us, but he stood his ground to go after Red One. 'You'renot going to get away this time.' I gritted my teeth and lined up my attack, shooting my weapons again. Time slowed, and I could see the magic race across the sky. Moments later, it impacted on his shield. Unfortunately, he also managed to disable Red One at the same time, leaving just me and Red Four in the fight.

"This is Control: Enemy Shields at 28%."

I managed to take a good chunk off it, but now, with no more distractions, we would be unable to keep up with him; he was already too far away to engage him. Something was different this time, though. Before, he circled around us out of reach to get a good firing angle on us, but now.

He was preparing for a head-to-head engagement. 'Why would he do something we were told never to do?' "Red Four, do you have any idea why he is not engaging us in a dogfight? He's just using hit-and-run tactics."

"Yes, Red Leader, Her ship is much faster than ours. She's out of range before we can react properly to it. I don't see a way of winning with just the two of us."

I had a plan - a terrible plan, but a plan. "Next time he attacks, we will face him head-on."

"Are you crazy?" came the expected reply, but we had nothing to lose at this point.

"He's an instructor. He won't expect us to do something they told us not to do. It will throw him off, giving us a chance to finish him off."

There was a short pause before Red Four replied. "For the record, I still think you are crazy. Let's do it."

We held our position the same way we did during the rest of the fight to keep our plan from being revealed. When he finally came for us again, we turned to face him head-on. It didn't have the desired effect, and he just kept his course.

After all this action, I forgot that his weapons had longer ranges than ours, too. Our plan was short-lived when he opened fire at us well beyond our maximum range. Red four was hit almost immediately, and my attempts at avoiding his fire didn't last long. I was able to get some shots out myself, but I didn't manage to go through his shield before taking hits myself. With that, our test was over.

Back on the ground, I could already see the flight instructor approaching me. "Cadet Iridian Bolt, tell me about the plan you had."

I stood to attention before answering her. "I was not aware of how much we would be outclassed by our enemy. That is why I ordered three of my Wingponies to be the distraction while we tried to pin our opponent in.” This was the right call to make; I was sure of that.

"You were aware that your opponent would be Captain Fire Streak, one of Equestria's best pilots. Tell me, what could you have done differently?" 'So they did tell me who we were fighting against on purpose.' It was just another way of testing me.

"If this were a real battle, I would have tried to disengage or call for backup. Our chance of winning was almost non-existent. Our objective for this test was to try to shoot him down, that is what I tried to achieve," I stated confidently.

She looked at me, somewhat disappointed. "You clearly missed the point that these mock battles should be taken seriously as if they were real. But I have to give it to you; you gave us quite the show up there, and the other Cadets praised you for your leadership skills. I have to agree with them on that. You stayed cool under pressure, reassured them and tried to find a way out of the situation. I don't like the way you used your Wingponies as cannon fodder, though."

There it was again. Always that 'as if real' talk, but then they score us on our performance anyway. They should make up their mind. I just had to tell her what she wanted to hear. “Thank you, Ma'am. I would not have made that call if I knew what I was up against. I was under the impression that they would be able to hold out long enough for me and Red Four to finish off our enemy."

I could see it on her face; she was pleased with my answer. "That is all. It will take a few weeks to gather all the possible postings available for you. We will inform you when the time to pick one has come. You are dismissed for now."

"Yes, Ma'am," I replied. The exam was finally over. No more studying, no more training. I would be a full-fledged pilot. All that was left was to enjoy the downtime and wait for my results. I could already picture the giant stack of folders on Captain Fire Streak's desk when he called me into his office and hoofed me the folder of the 'Alicorn Ships.'

If I had to pick one of them, it would be the 'Celestial Hammer.' You could always see her in the newspapers defending merchant ships from pirate attacks. There were stories about her exiting hyperspace and lighting up everything around her with beams of pure sunlight, destroying everything in her path. It was a shame they didn't use any fighters.

The 'Dreamwalker' would be a solid pick too. That ship was one big mystery, and nothing was known about her other than her large changeling crew. I had seen a few pictures of it, and its impressive fighter count was the only thing of note.

The third option would be the 'Harmony'. 'What a lame name for a ship that is supposed to be powerful enough to rip apart any ship.' The thought of not getting at least one request from one of these ships never crossed my mind for the next three weeks.

My day began with a massage on my PDA, a small device worn on a front leg that served as a communication and information tool. It was capable of receiving messages and other important notifications, such as orders to report to Captain Fire Streak. After getting out of bed and taking a short shower, I put on my uniform and made my way to his office. Making a Captain wait was not something I wanted to try.

Checking my uniform for the last time, I knocked on the door and waited for his reply. A loud "Enter!" could be heard from the other side. Stepping inside, I stood to attention and brought my left hoof to a salute. Fire Streak eyed me for a moment before I announced myself. "Cadet Iridian Bolt reporting as ordered, sir."

"At easy Cadet." I settled into my rest position. It always amused me that the rest position was us just sitting down and keeping our back as straight as possible with our front legs close together in front of us.

"I have good and bad news for you, Cadet." I could see him pulling out a small stack of folders from one of his drawers. "These are all the ships requesting your transfer to them. They range from patrol ships to some larger destroyers in the defence fleet. Nothing special. Most of them don't like it that you tend to take unnecessary risks, and your skill isn't going to change their opinion of you." He let out a short breath and looked me straight in the eyes. "I have to agree with their assessment.”

That couldn't be the truth, could it? All those were just small, insignificant positions on small and insignificant ships. They took everypony who graduated.

What he did next was a far greater shock, though. He took the folders and threw them into the trash bin next to his desk, then pulled a new folder from his desk. Seeing what was written on it made my heart stop, and I only just managed to avoid falling over.

ERN Harmony

I didn't expect that. I was ready to work even harder to get a better position, but this changed everything.

"This came from Admiral Twilight Sparkle herself. She made it clear that you had no say in the matter. It is the Harmony or nothing."

The Harmony. Twilight Sparkle personally wanted me there. I was not sure how to respond to that, so my only response was a shaky "Thank you, Sir."

He quickly responded. "Don't thank me yet. While I have to agree with the Admiral that the Harmony could be a great opportunity for you, the officer in charge of you will be Captain Spitfire." I had heard of that name before but was unsure how to place it. "With her in charge, you will either break and be sent back or become a great pilot. There will be nothing in between." He continued.

I remembered the name now. She was known as the leader of the famous Wonderbolts. An elite Wing of the best pilots in all of Equestria. Fire Streak continued his speech. "I would have liked to put you on a smaller ship first in order for you to get a feel for the military life. We can use reckless pilots, but a broken spirit is useless to us. Are you willing to take that risk?"

There was only one choice for me. "Yes, Sir. I would never forgive myself for not at least trying."

He was eyeing me again, making sure I truly meant what I said. “Good. One last piece of advice: If you want to make it through all this, you need to leave that big ego behind. You might be skilled, but there is far more to being a pilot than you think. Take the folder and familiarise yourself with it. I hope to hear great things about you. Dismissed.”

I took the folder under my wing and saluted before exiting the office. After closing the door, I let out a heavy sigh. My dream came true: a pilot position on one of the 'Alicorn Ships.' Even though I would be new, the position alone would make me famous. All that was left was to study the folder and wait for a shuttle to take me to the ship. My hard training was finally rewarded.

'I should see how Lightning Blitz is doing. The look on her face when she sees this is going to be priceless.' I decided against it. I would not stoop down to her level.

Getting back to my room did not take me long. My roommate was out in the training room at the moment, giving me some needed privacy. I liked him well enough, and we did spend some time together unwinding from time to time, but I was looking forward to getting my own quarter. That was a luxury granted to us for spending most of our time away from civilisation.

I sat on my bed, opened the folder in front of me, and began reading. "The Harmony is part of a small group of ships, two destroyers of the Honour Class, a supply ship and the Harmony herself. Let's see here... Classified as 'Capital Assault Carrier.' Wow, that's a mouth full.”

I skimmed through the technical descriptions. I wasn't that interested in the Harmony itself and wanted to know who I would be flying with and what fighter I would fly.

"Ah, here we are. Wingleader is going to be Lieutenant High Flyer. Let's hope the LT isn't some high-strung officer like her name suggests." Continuing to read, I got the names of the two Lieutenant Junior Grades of my new Wing, Strafe Run and Dark Wisp. The other Wing pony took me by surprise, however. “Lightning Blitz," I growled. 'What! She got on the Harmony as well and is one of my Wingponies. Great, just great. Let's just hope the rest of the team puts a stop to her insults.' I knew she was a good pilot, but I didn't think she would get a position on one of the big three.

After that short freakout, I continued to read, "Our commanding officer will be Lieutenant Commander Sky Dagger."

Skimming through the folder again, I tried to figure out what I would get to fly. "Ah, here we go. It's gonna be the MKII Hurricane. I expected that." I flipped through a few pages and hummed to myself. "No details. They will tell us about it during our training on the Harmony." More training. I was not looking forward to it. With our lack of experience with the MKII, it was necessary to get more instructions.

The following section piqued my interest. "The Harmony is the only Ship capable of teleporting its fighters directly into combat thanks to Admiral Twilight Sparkle's unique Magic." I knew the Alicorns possessed incredibly powerful magic, but teleportation? That was something impossible for ponies. To my knowledge, only changelings had the ability to move short distances through magically created portals.

After finishing my reading, I tried to relax for a bit. The shuttle would arrive in four days to pick us up. Until then, I had nothing else to do. I could have another roll in the hay with my roommate as a way to say goodbye. 'Why couldn't he be my new Wingpony? That way, I could have somepony to buck at least. Not looking forward to find somepony during my heat again.'

I managed to avoid Lightning Blitz for the entire time, but now, with the shuttle waiting for us, I could see her already standing at the landing platform. "Looks like they took pity on you, Crash. Let's hope you don't break anything on our first day again. It would be a shame if you got kicked out so soon.”

We were not even inside the shuttle yet, and she already started bombarding me with insults. "Yeah, whatever." I countered lamely.

I was not in the mood to argue with her. Entering the shuttle I could see seven other ponies sitting inside that were picked up earlier. They got more new crew than just two new pilots. We didn't talk during the flight. Everypony was nervously looking forward to seeing the Harmony up close and getting to set a hoof on it. Well, everypony except me, I don't get nervous about something like that. I was simply excited.

Leaving the atmosphere of the planet, the shuttle engaged its hyperdrive. We would be travelling for roughly half a day. From what the pilot told us, the Harmony was currently doing a standard patrol nearby. I was glad for that; travel to the farthest reaches of equestrian-controlled space could take weeks, and I was not ready for that long of a journey in a small shuttle. But then again, we wouldn't have used a shuttle if it took longer. Closing my eyes, I decided to take a nap.