Loyal Ace

A small flash of light awoke me from my nap. We had arrived. Rubbing my eyes, I looked out the window, trying to get my first glimpse at the Harmony. What greeted me was the sight of one of the Honour Class destroyers that accompanied the Harmony. Even though it was the smallest escort ship in the navy, it still managed to dwarf our shuttle. Flying in formation with it was a Wing of Hurricanes that would engage anything that was too small for the large MA of the destroyer to track. Groups like this would commonly be deployed to protect merchant ships or space stations. In this case, they would escort us back to the Harmony. Capital ship groups regularly deployed hyperspace disruption fields to prevent ships from getting too close before they could get picked up by detection spells.

"This is Captain Star of the ERN Valour, welcome to the Orion Sector. We will escort you back to the Harmony. Stay in close formation; we had a few hostile sightings in the last weeks."

"This is shuttle 2537. Thank you for the warning, Valour," our pilot responded before moving the shuttle into formation.

The hostile he was referring to were likely some random pirates. While we are at war with a civilisation of machines that appeared in our corner of the galaxy around 100 years ago, they were taken care of at the edge of the equestrian-controlled space and only rarely seen. The biggest thing we would have to worry about were some of the more prominent griffon gangs that made their home in the asteroid fields around here, but we didn't transport anything of value that would attract them to us.

The copilot must have seen our confusion at being greeted in that manner and clarified, "Don't worry. This is standard procedure. Every ship approaching the Harmony has to be escorted."

I took every opportunity that presented itself to take a look at the fighters I would soon get to fly. After about ten more minutes, the Harmony came into view. The tiny speck in the distance getting bigger and bigger as we closed in on her. The first thing I noticed was the white glowing shield that protected the hangar. It was located in the front of the ship, right behind one of its massive Pegaus Drives used for decelerating the ship without the need to turn it around. Arranged around the Drive were her main armaments, four massive MAs. These capital ship versions could quickly destroy a ship the same size as the Harmony, and she had four of them. 'What could possibly require that much firepower?'

The section behind the hanger was covered in radiators. From what I've read, they somehow got rid of all the excess heat the ship generated and were vital to keeping the Magic Core running. They would usually reflect a lot of light, but these ones were somehow not. I suspect it was some kind of enchantment on them. The location we were heading for followed after that. It housed the main crew habitation and the bridge. At first, I was under the impression that we would land in the hangar, but instead, we were heading for one of the docking ports. I could barely take a glimpse at the back section of the ship, which housed the three main Pegasus Drives.

All in all, I could see the ship striking fear into its enemies. It had a practical look about it without any attempt to make it appealing to the eye. The name Harmony did absolutely not fit the ship.

The Captain of the Valour spoke up again as we closed in on the ship. "Harmony Flight Control will take over now, and again, welcome to our small task force. ERN Valour out."

This was followed immediately by another voice. "This is Harmony Flight Control. Prepare for automated docking to take over."

"Shuttle 2537 here. Instructions received. Switching controls over to autopilot. All Systems green on our end." The pilot pressed several buttons.

There was a short pause, and a few lights in the cockpit switched to green before a new message arrived. "Everything green on our end as well. Initiating automated docking."

After acknowledging the message, the pilot turned around to face us. "Hold on, this can get a bit bumpy sometimes."

We had to perform similar manoeuvres during simulator training a few times, but we never had an automated system helping us in case we had to perform a docking manoeuvre with a ship without power. It was always extremely bumpy, so I held tightly onto my seat, expecting the same. To my surprise, it was very smooth. Without the sound of air rushing into the airlock, I would have missed it, which makes you appreciate this automated guiding system. It was time to get up and see the Harmony.

We exited the shuttle through the airlock. Two security officers stood to either side as we set hoof onto the Harmony. They wore a yellow uniform with the name of the ship and their rank on it. They didn't check our bags or anything and only kept an eye on us while we exited the shuttle. A little further down the corridor stood two more ponies. The first one was a pegasus mare with a yellow coat and a fiery mane, Captain Spitfire, the best active pilot in all of Equestria. Her navy blue uniform with her rank and name on it confirmed that as well. I never got to look at the other pony, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that the rest of the ponies approached her. Before we even got to Spitfire, they had already vanished through one of the doors.

"Well, the engineers are efficient. I have to give them that," Lightning Blitz said. I never heard her give out compliments before. 'So it's just me she can't stand.'

Before I could reply, Spitfire approached us, and we saluted her. "You must be the newbies fresh out of the Academy." She was eyeing us for a moment, looking for any movement while we stood at attention. Our instructors had also done this but never looked as intimidating doing so. "Lightning Blitz!" Spitfire said, directing her gaze towards her while I kept my eyes forward. "Your results in the exams were exceptional, that's the reason you are here. I'm gonna remind you, though, that you're nothing special regarding the pilots on the Harmony. We all graduated with top marks; remember that your career has only begun."

"Yes, Ma'am, I will give it my all," she replied.

I knew Lightning Blitz was a good pilot, but I didn't believe she was good enough to be here. With Spitfire herself confirming her talent, I was a bit at a loss for words.

Spitfire nodded to her before she turned her attention to me, not even bothering to call me to attention. "I'm going to be blunt with you, Cadet Iridian Bolt. I understand why Admiral Twilight wants you on the ship, but I strongly disagree with her. Yes, you have talent. Yes, you could be one of the greatest pilots to ever exist, but you're a ticking time bomb, and that explosion could take half the ship with it. I don't need or want somepony like you in any of my Wings, but I will follow the Admiral's wishes and ensure you get the best training you could ever want." Her icy expression sent shivers down my spine. "Don't make me regret that decision."

Being told I would be one of the best pilots was a huge confidence boost. "Thank you, Ma'am, for giving me a chance. I will not disappoint you," I replied. She looked me over for a few more seconds before turning around and silently commanding us to follow her.

"The first stop on our tour will be the bridge. Admiral Twilight likes to meet her new pilots personally." That was somewhat of a shock. Back home, there were ponies worshipping these Alicorns; meeting one of them was the greatest honour one could receive, and we were going to casually see one of them. The short trip through the rather large corridor was otherwise uneventful, and we stepped inside a central lift.

"HAB 1 Bridge!" Spitfire said into a small console, and the door closed. The cabin we were in started to rumble as it began to move. "You will get a list with all the destinations the main lift can reach as well as a map of the layout of the Harmony. There will be no excuse for getting lost on your first day, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Lightning Blitz and I replayed.

"The PDA you will get is also capable of saving those things on it, so you don't have to carry around all that paper."

Spitfire was about to say something more but was interrupted by the doors opening. The sight that greeted us was the bridge of the Harmony. Magic displays could be seen everywhere with so much information on them I couldn't hope to understand even a fraction of it. There must have been twenty ponies in here, but I wasn't exactly counting. The pony that stood out from the rest, however, was the lavender Alicorn with an ever-moving dark indigo mane and tail with a pink and purple stripe running through it. Sitting in the middle of the room on a large chair, she was towering over everypony as she silently watched out the large observation window that spanned the entire length of the bridge. Her elegant horn would make every unicorn green with envy, and her wings, if she would fully spread them out, could hide a pony if she wanted to. She radiated magical power and authority. This was indeed one of the four existing Alicorns, the strongest beings in existence. In ancient times, they ruled Equestria; nowadays, they acted as generals, advisors or diplomats while Equestria was ruled by an elected Queen and a counsel of different races.

"Relax you two. This is just a casual meet and greet. No need for all this formality," Spitfire said. We set down into our rest position, not daring to do anything else. Spitfire snorted and shook her head. "Loosen up already." We didn't dare to move, too shocked by the Alicorn in front of us. No story told about them could do them justice. "Hey, Twilight, I've got the new pilots with me."

'What's going on? How can Spitfire just talk to the Admiral like this?' I was sure somepony would start jelling at the Captain for the way she addressed the Admiral, but to my and from the look of it Lightning Blitzes surprise, Twilight turned her head in our direction and smiled at us. It was the friendliest smile I have ever seen.

"Hey Spitfire right on time, good." She got up from her chair. "Follow me."

"Let's go, you two!" Spitfires ordered after turning her attention back to us. We followed them into a room on the left side of the bridge. It was a small meeting room with a large desk in the centre; everything else was pretty plain. There was a plant in one corner and a picture of Harmony on the far wall, nothing more.

The Admiral took her place on the other side of the desk while Spitfire sat down on one of the cushions without the Admiral giving her permission; she even motioned for us to do the same. We were too shocked to move. If I hadn't known any better, I would have assumed they were close friends or something like that, not an officer and his superior. "Take a seat!" Spitfire said more insistent and managed to snap us out of our shock. Hesitantly, we obeyed, looking at the Admiral for confirmation.

She nodded and spoke up." Nice to meet you two. Can you tell me your names?"

"Ensign Iridian Bolt Ma'am. It's an honour to meet you." 'Was that a small frown?'

"Ensign Lightning Blitz, Ma'am."

The Admiral looked a little sad now. "This is just a small meet and greet. We are not in any official meeting, and I want to meet the new ponies on my ship, not some military facade. As such, I would prefer it if you address me by my first name. It is just Twilight, and I would prefer it if I could address you this way as well." We slowly nodded. No matter what your superior officer wanted, you did as you were told. That's the golden rule we learned in the Academy. "Good, I have heard a lot of good things about you. Spitfire will make sure you fit in. I know she has a lot planned for the tour. As such, I won't hold you any longer. And let me welcome you onboard my ship."

"Thank you, Ma'am," we responded. We both winced at her expression. Addressing her with her first time was going to take some time to get used to.

"That needs some more work," she turned her head back to Spitfire. "I will see you later."

"Yes, Twilight, meeting at 1800, I won't miss it," she said. Standing up again, she moved towards the door with us in tow. "We're off now, until then." This experience still felt surreal. Moving back through the bridge, we entered the lift again, ready for our next destination.

"Hanger mess hall!" Spitfire prompted, and the lift began to move again. "Before we start this tour, we should get something to eat, and yes, I know you are curious why Admiral Twilight acts like she does. I could tell you but if you want to know you have to ask her yourself. You better get used to this."

We both looked at her questioningly. 'I wonder if the other Alicorns act the same.' Exiting the lift, I could already smell the food that was served there. It smelled good, unlike the cheap stuff we got back in training.

"This is the mess hall for the hanger crew and pilots. It isn't that big, but you should find a free seat if you keep to your shift. It can get crowded at times, but you'll figure it out fast enough." Spitfire motioned with one of her wings to the other side of the room where the food was served. "Grab something to eat. I will wait for you over there at the table." She pointed to one of the empty tables to the left and moved towards it.

Moving forward, I looked at the food. There was a variety to choose from, from fruit to hay fries. After picking up a few things, we moved back to Spitfire.

As soon as we were seated, she continued telling us about her tour plan. "After you're done eating, we'll pick up your dress uniform, flight suit and personal firearm." From the look of it, it wasn't required to wear the uniform all the time. Most of the ponies we encountered on our way here didn't wear anything.

We continued eating and listened to her. "Next will be your quarters. You can drop off your bags there, and then I'll show you the rest of the area. Just a heads up for when you explore the rest of the ship. While you do have access to all of the ship, the engineering teams don't like it when somepony pokes their head into their departments unsupervised. If you want to take a look inside, ask one of them to give you a tour."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

We continued to eat in silence after that, Spitfire watching us all the while. It felt strange having her watch us like that, but I managed. After finishing my food and returning the empty plate, we continued our tour with the armoury that was right next door. The small room had all sorts of lockers in it, a small desk in the middle, and multiple doors leading to other rooms. The pony working here had a fire-red coat with a silvery mane. He was pretty muscular, even for an earthpony.

"Hey, Key. Got two new pilots for you," Spitfire called out to him.

He slowly turned around, clearly not in any hurry. "Name!" He asked us.

Lightning Blitz beat me to it and spoke up first. "Ensign Lightning Blitz, Sir."

He made no expression that would tell us he heard her. He went through a few folders and pulled one of them out of the stack.

After that, he turned to me. "Ensign Iridian Bolt, Sir."

He repeated the same thing, slowly taking the second folder out of the stack. After slowly checking both contents, he made his way to one of the lockers on the far side of the room. With practised precision, he took two of the uniforms - they looked identical to the one Spitfire wore - and hoofed them over to us. He went to the next set of lockers, this time using a key to open them and pulled two flight suits out. It was primarily black with a few blue stripes running through it. I could see my name on one of them but no rank. From the look of it, it would cover nearly all of my body the same way the Academy flight suits did.

"Be careful with this one. It's worth more bits than you make in a year. I recommend you wear it most of the time in the next week. Make sure it fits perfectly. If anything is wrong with it, come back to me," he said in his deep, booming voice.

He made no attempt to explain anything, so Spitfire stepped in. "It has a small magic charge on it. It will provide a small personal shield that protects you in case of a fire or when you eject from your ship. It won't last very long, but it has saved numerous pilots before. Your quarter has a dedicated spot to store the suit to keep this charge topped off."

With a nod, Locked Key, that was what the nameplate on his desk said, moved to the next locker. This one was next to the door and, unlike the other two, was locked with a magical combination lock. With the speed of a tortoise, he pulled two firearms and the necessary holster out of it before closing the locker again. Firearms like this were used as emergency self-defence weapons. The holster would allow the weapon to rest near the left shoulder, easily accessible by hoof or wing. The crystal inside would only hold enough magic for five shots before it had to be recharged.

When it came to combat, we pegasi were pretty useless. Sure, we could fly on our own, but a unicorn could easily blow us out of the sky and block the weak magic of our firearms. Getting into a hoof-to-hoof fight with an earth pony was a sure way to land in the medical wing with every bone in your body broken. But put us into a cockpit, and we were the best.

With a quick salute, we exited the armoury and returned to the central lift.

Spitfire addressed us again. "Let's get that stuff to your quarters. Let's see..." She took a look at her PDA, trying to find something on the ship map. "H-HAB 3-2." The lift began to move. "If you want, you can ask the Admiral or Vice Admiral to register your name. Makes it easier for you to remember the location of your quarter or for somepony to find you."

It was only a short trip before we exited the lift again. After orienting herself, Spitfire looked at me and pointed toward one corridor. “Your quarter is down this hall, third door on the right. We will wait for you here."

"Yes, Ma'am, I'll be back shortly." With a quick salute, I was off. My quarter was nothing special, a bed in the corner, a small desk and a wardrobe for my uniform, but I had it all to myself. Next to the door was a locker with the same magical lock I saw in the armoury. I tried to open it, fully expecting it to be locked, but it swung open.

A small note was pinned to the back of it: "Keep flight suit and firearm inside and locked at all times unless you wear them. To engage the lock, put in your preferred combination and press the button next to it. The combination will be saved after that. In case you forget your combination, report to the quartermaster."

I put my firearm inside and entered my combination. After that, I put away my uniform and got ready to put on my flight suit. 'Might as well start wearing it as soon as possible like Locked Key suggested.'

I entered my personal bathroom through a small door next to the desk. It was super cramped, with a small shower, toilet, and sink, a small shelf under it, and a mirror at eye level.

'Definitely not enough room in here to get changed.' After moving back into the main room, I put on my flight suit. It was very formfitting, only exposing my head, shoulders, wings and hoofs. After ensuring everything fit, I returned to Spitfire and Lightning Blitz.

"H-HAB 4-1." Spitfire looked me over after the lift started moving. "Looking good. Make sure to do some exercise in it, too. If you feel it rubbing too much, it needs to be adjusted. We also have to make sure the enchantment works correctly at some point." We had already arrived at our location before she could finish. "Your quarter is down there, fourth door on the left." She pointed towards one of the corridors. With Lightning Blitz away, Spitfire turned to me again.

"I want to make one thing perfectly clear, Ensign." From the look she gave me, she was unhappy with me being on board the ship. She looked angry and was only short of snarling at me. "If you step one hoof out of line, I will kick you out of here faster than you can blink. When it comes to the safety of my pilots, I do not take any chances. Are we understood?"

Not wanting to give her that reason right away, I saluted. "Yes, Ma'am."

"And another thing, Ensign," she fixed me with a disapproving glare. "Lightning Blitz told me about your rivalry. If I see you arguing, I will kick you both out. You are Wingponies, and you will get along, am I understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" I could tell she had already chosen her favourite, better not give her any reason to get rid of me right away.

After Lightning Blitz returned, we took a quick look at the training rooms. It was what I expected with exercise equipment of all forms. If I had a guess, there was space for twenty ponies in her, a few already working out. They all burst out laughing when Spitfire decided it was a good idea to set us on fire. I had no idea how she did it, but Lightning Blitz and I were on fire for nearly a minute before she extinguished the flames. We continued without any explanation on her part. The next stop was the flight simulator. A lot of my training would take place here to get used to the new fighters.

The last location was the hangar itself. Instead of taking the lift, we took a short flight through the ship's central corridor. It was big enough to let pegasi fly without the fear of hitting other ponies walking inside it. The entrance was on the top in order to not disrupt operations inside, giving us a fantastic view of all the things going on in there; the corridor continued on the ceiling of the hanger with a few platforms moving up and down in order to get to the ground floor.

We just stood there for a while, looking at the scene in front of us. Ships were moving around on movable platforms all over, mechanics fixing and maintaining equipment and I could see five other pilots dressed in their flight suits getting ready, probably going on patrol. After a short time, Spitfire took off again and flew down with us following right behind her.

"Make sure not to fly too far away from the central walkway if you want to get up or down. Or just grab one of the platforms if you feel too lazy to fly yourself," Spitfire said warningly.

Touching down, we took a short walk toward one of the mechanics working at one of the fighters. He was a brown unicorn with a greyish mane and tail. I couldn't see his cutie mark because he was wearing some kind of blue overall covering most of his body.

Gesturing towards him, Spitfire continued, "This is Drive Shaft. He is one of the Senior Mechanics and is in charge of maintenance for your Wing." She turned back to us after he looked in our direction. "These two are the new pilots, Lightning Blitz and Iridian Bolt."

"Hi," was all he said before glancing back to the fighter he was working on.

"He doesn't talk much, but his work is always top-notch. I leave you in his capable hoofs for now. See you around," Spitfire added, leaving us alone with him after we gave her a salute.

We watched Drive Shaft work for a few more minutes before he levitated his tools away and turned towards us. He appeared to be deep in thought for a moment before addressing us. "I have to give you an overview of the Hurricane." He tapped his chin with a hoof. "Let's see. How familiar are you with it already?"

"We trained on the MKI version. And I got to see the MKII in action during my exam," I answered swiftly.

"Yeah, whatever. Just tell yourself that," Lightning Blitz quipped. She made no attempt at hiding the fact she didn't like me.

"Could you please stop arguing? I can go over the differences between those two ships," came Drive Shaft's meek voice. Looking at him, his drooped ears and sad look stopped any desire to continue arguing with Lightning Blitz.

Having our full attention, he continued. "OK, well. The biggest difference is that the MKII has its own MC. You might have noticed that we don't have any of that old-school fuel around. The standard Speed of the MKII is about 60% higher, and the increased available magic allowed them to fit a small SG as well. Power output of its two MAs is about the same. Oh, and it can utilise your own magic thanks to the PD to boost speed and manoeuvrability." His shy nature was completely gone when it came to explaining his work.

He looked at our confused expressions, giving us a little smile as he shook his head. "It uses a Magic Core instead of the old fuel the MKI uses, has a small Shield Generator, and uses the Pegasus Drive for propulsion," he explained. I'm sorry, I can get carried away sometimes."

"Is that how Fire Streak managed to pull these insane speeds during my exam?" I asked.

"Yes. You should be able to double your speed for a short time. The flight simulators onboard can simulate this, too. From what I heard, it can be quite tiring, though. If you're out there flying and something seems off to you, make sure to tell me. You get assigned your own ship, and I like to ensure all the settings are custom-fitted to you."

I was only half-listening to his explanations; something else was far more interesting. Not far from us stood a fighter with flames covering its wing. It had some other subtle differences I could make out, but I was not sure what their purpose would be. I pointed at it and addressed Drive Shaft. "Can we get a custom paint job like that, too?"

He looked at where I was pointing and answered while shaking his head. "No. These ships are reserved for the Wonderbolt Wing. This one is Captain Spitfires. They are heavily modified to allow them to use more of their magic. We have to restrict that sort of thing to the best pilots we have because the amount of work that goes into it is many times higher than a standard fighter."

He returned to his own thoughts for a few seconds, giving me the chance to let his explanation sink in. 'I can have one of these as well if I show them how awesome I am.'

"OK, the last thing I have to do is go over the rules here." He pointed towards something. "See that yellow line over there and there?" I looked at it and nodded. Seeing that, he continued, "Everything beyond that is off-limits. It's too dangerous to move there with all the fighters moving around or coming in for a landing. You can fly around the hangar as long as you stay away from there. Always make sure you're not in the way of the mechanics. What a mechanic says goes. Even the enlisted crewmembers outrank you regarding the work we do here. Chief Mechanic Solid Steel will chew you out if you're in the way of our work."

He thought about something again, slowly tapping a hoof to his chin. "That should be everything important that I can think of for now. I would show you your ships, but we are still working on them." Having finished the tour, he got back to work.

Lightning Blitz and I stood there for a few more minutes, taking in the sight of the hangar and the fighters. Checking my PDA for the schedule, I noticed that I still had two more hours to kill before meeting the rest of the Wing.

"Listen, Crash. I don't like you. I'm not sure that will ever change. But I had a little talk with Captain Spitfire while we were waiting for you." She let out a sigh. "As long as you don't do anything stupid, I will leave you alone, and I promised not to talk about you to the other ponies here. But," she fixed me with a determinant expression. "If you start boasting about every little thing again and look down upon the rest of us who had to work hard for a spot on this ship, let's just say Spitfire promised me she would throw you out of the next airlock if you do that," Lightning Blitz said.

'Here we go again. Why can't she just shut up.' "You could call me by my real name, for starters. And I worked as hard as anypony else here," I snarled at her.

"Respect is something you have to earn from me, and you have no idea how gifted you are. What you pull off with ease takes us normal ponies months to learn. And what do you do with that gift? Rub it into our coats and drag us down. Captain Spitfire is right; you're a ticking time bomb. Let's hope she can defuse you before it's too late."

With that, she simply left, leaving me standing there with my own thoughts. 'Whatever, I have Admiral Twilight on my side. She thinks I'm going to be the greatest pilot ever. It's not my fault the others can't keep up.'

I took the time left to look around some more and make sure I knew where everything was. I also registered my name to the central lift system and had a look around the rest of the ship.