//------------------------------//
// The new recruit. 
// Story: Standby for ponyfall. 
// by That_Delusional_Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

Late at night, I hide out in a sewer under smugglers cove. I'm searching stuff about the supposed, 'IMC' on my wristwatch. Wondering how I got that? A unicorn infused magic into a watch, giving it a hologram display and all the functions of a computer. Paid 50000 black market credits and a sniper IMC suit. I have my ways. I click the first page, and do my research. 'The IMC stands for Interstellar Manufacturing Company. Leaders consist of: Marked Graves, Sergeant Blisk, and the Spyglass advanced spectre unit. Originally Hammond Industries, a century of merging, corruption and power lead to their being ruthless men, who will use force, even if it's just to get a beer at the bar.'

'Well, they seem like jerks.' I think to myself. I close up my watch, and check the time. Will you look at that. It's three in the morning. Luckily, the bar gave me a day off, so tomorrow I'm just walking around the stands, maybe getting drunk. 

"Hey! Firelight Glow! You still awake down there?" 

I hear my best friend rattle the bars that separate me from smugglers cove. "What do you want, Wind? Don't try and sell me your autopistol again, you know that I can get one myself!"

"Oh, okay. Wanna go to the bar?"

"Why not. Let's go." 

So here I am, going to the bar at three in the morning. I pull out a pouch of credits, and throw five of them onto the bar counter. "I need a virgin mimosa!" I watch as a glass of orange juice slides into my hoof. I chug it in seven seconds, then let off a burp. A few ponies near me clapped, because, you know, burping in a bar is a reason to celebrate when you're drunk. I wasn't drunk. Still, I kinda ignored manners after I turned 19. 

I check my watch. It's 7:23 right now, and the sun is starting to rise. I'm starting to feel drowsy, so I head back home. Wind waves to me as I leave, and I almost crash into a wall on my way home. The bar manager walks up, and I tell him that I'm just tired. He looks sceptical, but he understands.

I wake up in bed, and check my watch. 7:00 pm. I feel better, so I stand up and go to the mirror I snatched so I can rub off any grime on my face. I take a few moments to examine myself. My fire-red and orange mane and tail, smooth, but the ends are messy, and a orange-red coat. I stare into my eyes. Blue. The only part of my body that doesn't match my name. I turn away, and head towards my clothes pile. I slip into a nice IMC camo suit, without the logos. If anyone saw that in this place, they would kill me. I leave the helmet there, and step outside.

Gunshots. I hear gunshots. "An IMC pilot! Get him!" I jump into the air, using my wings to propulse myself higher, and pull out a smart pistol I bought. As the last lock on confirms, I fire off three rounds. 

"Hey, you must be new! I didn't see you on the dropship!" I spin around and jump back to see a female unicorn IMC pilot. "Where are the logos on your suit?" 

I hesitate.

"And doesn't that suit come with a mask?"

Shoot. I think he might figure it out. Here goes nothing.

"The mask is kinda stuffy, and all the logos tore off." I put on my most casual face, and wait.

"You must be REALLY new, it's protocol to wear your mask, and ask for a new suit, it's protocol to have an IMC logo on you in battle. And nice shot earlier, for a beginner." 

Whoa. A female unicorn just complimented me. I blush, but luckily, my coat colour hides it. 

"And the helmet has a radio, put it on and tune in to the E7s4 frequency. That's the IMC channel. And just flick the switch on the side. It opens up vents all over the helmet."

She runs off into the cove. I run back into my sewer hideout, and put on the helmet. I find the switch, and flick it. Everything is going well so far. I tune into the E7s4 frequency, and hear chatter about war. "All ponies, we have sustained critical damage. Get to the dropship. ETA five minutes.Marking extraction point on the map," 

Looks like I joined the IMC. This is mad. I don't know how to get a map, or anything with this helmet, so I take a wild guess. "Enable minimap." A small map appears in the upper left corner of the viewscreen of the helmet. Madness! I see a pistol I recognize as a B3 Wingpony. I don't have a sidearm, so I take it. 

"ETA 3 minutes!" Looks like I need to hurry.

"Enable viewscreen waypoints." The dropship arrival point pops up on the screen. More madness. I begin to run to the extraction. And my wings help me replace what all pilots use. Jump kits. A few jumps, and I'm up on the streets. A huge metal pony turns and aims a giant gun at me. "Oh god..."

I run across the streets as the metal pony chases after me. "ETA 30 seconds!" I look around, and don't see a ship. Good, can't get distracted for too long, or this giant thing might kill me. So far, all that's been getting me by is agility. 

I turn around, and everything seems to slow down as a spiral of rockets fire at me. I take a moment too long to make my move to jump through the rockets and look cool, and one sends me flying off, and I land somewhere. I get up, and almost fall from how hurt my side is. "Dropship has arrived! Leaving in 15 seconds!" I look at where the dropship is, then realize something. The blast threw me into the dropship. 

A Pegasus approaches me. "Wow, that was crazy, man. Here, take this, just for managing that stunt." He hands me a bag that has a light on it, and a detonator. 

"This is just a satchel. How is this detonator any good if there isn't an explosive?"

"That satchel is the explosive." 

The unicorn from earlier jumps onto the dropship.

"Good job, newbie. You got out of a fight alive."

I look and see that everything seems to have a militia logo on it. I didn't recognize the logo, but it said militia, so yeah. The dropship door closes, and begins to rise. "What now?" The other two stay silent, and I feel my body start to stretch. Suddenly, I'm in space. 

"If you're using a smart pistol, kid, that means you can't aim. And when did you get a B3?"

"I can aim, just choose not to. And I found my B3 on the ground."

"Really, newbie? You choose not to? That's pathetic."

The ship stays quiet.

"By the way, newbie, what is your name? It's wierd calling you newbie."

"Firelight."

For the next few minutes, nobody says anything, then the intercom breaks the silence. "Docking on the IMS Colossus momentarily."

The ship pulls into a hangar, and we jump out. 

"You there, red pegasus! Come here a second!" A light brown pony with a dark brown mane calls out to me.

I walk over to the pony.

"Sir?" I can tell he's a pony of authority.

"We don't have records of a Pegasus like you on our team. As you've seemed to just randomly join the IMC, go down that hall there, and find yourself a room."

I nod, and run off towards the hall he pointed out. I wander along, and I find a doorway that says 'empty'. I step in, and the panel switches to 'Firelight Glow'. The room has some IMC suits, a gun wall, and a bed. The gun wall only has five weapons right now. Under primary, R101c carbine, a Eva 8 Shotgun, and a smart pistol. Under secondary, there's an auto pistol. Under ordinance, (explosives) some frag grenades. I spot a small panel that contains a cloak kit.

"This is nice. May as well settle down." I jump onto the bed, and fall asleep quickly.