//------------------------------// // I'm not a salesman but here's a gun // Story: The Guardian // by NYChris824 //------------------------------// The following day, Camp Warfoot I walked into work at 8 in the morning. I noticed a few soldiers milling about, some playing poker. "How much to get in?" I asked, so far none noticed who I was. "Ten bits." One of them answered "Is that the officer discount?" Finally, one looked up at me. He was confused by my non-pony face. "Who are you?" I grabbed my moons. "The dumb son of a bitch they put in charge. God help you." They all jumped up to salute me. "Sir!" "At ease, boys. Carry on, I may join in at some point down the road." "O-of course, General. See you around." I ignored the fact I was called General since they were clearly new. I was hoping that some veteran sergeants would be among my new arrivals. "Hey Dan!" A familiar voice called and I turned around. "Flash? What the fuck are you doing here?" "I've been assigned here. What about you?" "This is my command. Welcome to the First Motorized." "You're pulling my leg man, they'd be insane to put you in charge." For the second time in five minutes I grabbed my moons and showed him. "Oh." "I've sorta got over it. I've figured by now I can't change it. What are you assigned to?" "You. I was assigned bow gunner and co-driver. I wasn't told of what though." I had one member of my tank crew, one of sixteen needed. I also realized I was never given a roster who has arrived, leaving me in the dark of new arrivals. I would probably needed an aide of some sorts. Maybe James would be a good fit for the job. Just one more thing I need to handle. "I'm not sure of anyone else assigned. Go set up in a Third Battalion barrack, I'll let James know. Also, just call me Dan. We know each other well enough for that." "You got it." I continued on to the admin building, with no one else nearby. I knew I was the only one in the building, unless someone else arrived. Instead going left to my room, I took a right. The very first room was the archives room. The inside was filled with file cabinets from floor to ceiling. "The fuck is all these supposed to be used for?" First drawer had the blueprints for the base, along with some other miscellaneous stuff for the base, such as building materials useless shit like the bed frame manufacturer. I looked through the rest of the drawers. I did find names, but they only had medical information and were unordered. Something to have second lieutenants handle. I grabbed the blueprints and went back out to the lobby and went over the blueprints. All I learned was the mystery building was the War Room and the prison was tucked behind officer country. I noticed there were several enlisted messes and three officer messes. I didn't approve, they should all be eating together so men can know their officers and vice versa. After seeing combat the wall between officer and enlisted is torn down. Granted, some officers were still pricks. The door opened and someone called out. "Dan? You in here?" "In the back Dash." I heard her walk over. "What's up?" "I have to report to you or something. You see, I'm in the Wonderbolt Reserves so have to check in with so you now." "What do they exactly? Beyond shows. Even the Thunder Birds are active duty." "They used to run messages and do recon. I guess since radios were invented after the last war." "And now that's it's faster than flying, they're the odd man out. Like the army after the Cold War." I noted. She nodded, most likely since she didn't understand. "Recon is still a thing. Maybe fly over, nab somepony and take them prisoner. Except you would have to fly them back. I don't know now." "Radios can be jammed and new technology is not infallible. We used jammers in Afghanistan against the Taliban so they couldn't call in IEDs. What about fighting in the air?" "They used to, pegasi would take off and fight with their fists or knives. They'd attack whoever flew up up to meet them and they'd go for wings; make them fall and die. Then whoever won would control the sky and drop rocks or small bombs." I nodded at the part of history I never knew. "Swinging back around to why you're here, what am I auto on with you? You're the only one in at least fifty miles so it's not like each company, much less each battalion will have someone like you." "I'm not sure either. I probably could do recon and then join the fight." "Is that something you'd be down to do? I could show you at some point." She looked at her phone. "Wouldn't hurt. I have to run now, breaks over." "Alright. If you want to do some training let me know. Good to see." "You too!" She called over her shoulder and walked back out. I went back to reading the map and already planned to remove any barrier on the mess halls. If being in charge was this easy, I could see myself enjoying this. Part of me remembered the Griffon Civil War. For whatever reason whenever the ruler dies, the clans all fight to earn the crown, regardless of family. So after either tearing the country apart or winning with almost no deaths, the clan leader is crowned king in Griffonstone and must proof his worth to everyone he just beat. By declaring war on another country. This led to the size and population changing. At one point they controlled half of Prance and a few kings later, the minotaurs held most of the country. I knew that I had a limited amount of time before something would happen. All I had to do was wait for my troops to arrive and train them for what's basically experimental warfare. No pressure. The time had pass much quicker than I had expected, it was only mid-afternoons and I still had some work to do. I left my office and the blueprint in a drawer. Out in the lobby area, I noticed a microphone on the desk, next to a large box with a shitload of switches. The PA system for the base. I flipped all the switches and pressed the button on the mic. "Testing. One, two, three. Testing." I said before turning it all off, which for all I know wasn't even hooked up the right way and no one heard me. I did one more check of the room and decided to call it a day. Canterlot, that night Princess Luna double checked her hair and makeup in her bathroom mirror. This was her fifth solo speech to the country, her first was to tell everypony that she was no longer Nightmare Moon, although her sister did give her own speech before about it. She walked out of her room and through the castle to the throne room to give the speech. Key guests and reporters will be filing in soon. Celestia was no doubt in the room ever since she set her sun. "Damn." She said aloud, when she realized she forgot her speech. A quick summon spell placed it in her hand. She walked through a seemingly simple door that led through a passage that put her just behind the thrones. "Good evening Luna." Her sister greeted. "All set?" "Yes. I had Perfect Diction look over it earlier." "Two minutes Your Majesties." One of the cameracolts said. "I didn't realize I was getting it so close. I'm surprised you didn't come find me." Luna noted, as she double checked her speech. "I figured you would show up soon. Worse case was they were delayed for a few minutes." "As long as I get to watch the Crowns beat the Thunder I'm fine." "The game is on in thirty minutes." Clestia pointed out. She was glad that her sister had a smooth transition after her return. "One minute!" Somepony cried out. "I'll leave you to it." She said and walked behind the camera. Luna walked to the podium and got ready. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Good evening Equestria. I wish to speak about the state of our army. I have reviewed the population of Equestria and decided that an additional two divisions should be raised. Given that the navy is also increasing fleet size, the army should also grow. They are the Twenty-Second Infantry, who will be deployed near Appleloosa and led by General Golden Victory. The other is a new concept, the First Motorized. This division will be led by General Kroger. General Kroger brings a new view to our military, along with his own prior experience. He has been chosen for this new division because the thought of moving rapidly during a time of war is a radical idea and needs somepony with an equally sharp mind. This being said, he will have near complete control over this new division during the formation. I speak for the nation when I say we wish them both the best of luck. We are also announcing a competition for two new designs that everypony is allowed to send designs for. The first is a belt fed machine gun with a bullet diameter of at least eight mintos wide. The second is a small vehicle that can go off road and serve a variety of purposes. Thank you." She turned around and walked off. "Princess!" A reporter called out, "Will all divisions become motorized or will the First be a special division." "We're looking into it." She answered. "Will the Air Force receive a new ship?" Another cried. "It's possible." "Are the rumors that the changelings becoming more aggressive true?" "That situation is being looked into and reactions are being planned." With the last answer Princess Luna and her sister walked out of the room. "Has the army drawn up plans?" Celestia asked, away from the hawk-like ears of the press. "Yes." Her sister answered, "Our friends in the main changeling hive has given us plenty of information. Only issue is finding the damn bugs once they enter a town." "The mages say the detection spell will be done in a few month's time." Luna laughed. "They said that almost two years ago." "I never said I was holding my breath over it. Do you plan do plan to send any units to the Badlands?" "At the moment two brigades from the Fifth since the Twenty Second and First Motor will take several months to be formed. Just a little something to make them think twice about trying something big." "Would you deploy those two so soon?" "The brigades or divisions?" "The divisions. I'm not like you when it comes to the military, but I know you don't deploy green units the instant they're all together." "Ah, yes. The Twenty Second will more than likely sit back since they will be between the Badlands and here. It would also be an opportune time to give Dan a trial run." Luna explained. Celestia's phone rang, "Twilight's calling. Must be to congratulate you for the speech." She answered it and put her phone on speaker. "Hello?" "Hey Celestia!" Twilight replied cheerfully. "I've got somepony who wants to talk to you. Oh and let Luna know she did a good job on the speech. I can't wait to see some of the designs for the off road vehicle." "Did she forget about the gun design?" Luna whispered, Celestia just shrugged. "Good evening, Your Majesties." Dan said. "Good evening to you as well, General. What can we help you with?" "Let's say that I have a good design that could win the machine gun design. I got a bullet here that's about ten and a half mints long-." "Mintos!" Twilight said in the background. "Well we did the math and-" "I did all the math and you just sat on your phone." Twilight butted in. "And basically the smallest measurement for us is millimeters and the conversion comes out to one point two millimeters per minto. So basically this thing can tear up anything with light armor." "Do you have a blueprint?" Celestia asked. "No but I have something better, a working version of it. Send some people to me and they have all the blueprints they'll ever need. I'll let you all know if I cook something up for the vehicle." "I hope so, General. We'll send someone out tomorrow to check it out and submit it to the contest." "Glad to hear your Majesties. Good bye."