A tall eucalyptus tree stood beside a sizeable rancher house, its leaves rustling in the gentle wind. At its base, a pair of teal-coated pegasi sat in its shade, their backs against the trunk and their hind legs crossed over. The identical twins simply relaxed, resting their fore-hooves atop their bellies. Every so often, they would swat away any flies that decided to crawl underneath their wide-brimmed hats, which shielded their faces from the intense sunlight shining through the leaves above.
“Shit, if it gets any hotter, the chooks’ll be layin’ hard-boiled eggs,” one commented, the slur of his strong accent apparent. Removing his hat, he fanned himself in an attempt to dry his short, chocolate-brown mane.
“Bloody oath. Sunbutt could dial it back a bit!” the other yelled into the sky. Though the pair were virtually indistinguishable, the one who spoke first wore a brown slouch hat with a khaki puggaree. The other one’s hat had a similarly wide brim, though decorated with a thinner barkcloth band, and a single blue opal on one side. “Kinda wish we bought that inflatable pool now. Oi Swift, pass us another beer, will ya?”
Rummaging through the icy cooler beside him, Swift retrieved a pair of bottles. He gave one’s cap a well-practised flick of his hoof underneath, allowing the trapped gas to escape with a quick hiss as the cap flipped and landed in the yellowing grass around them. Placing the bottle down beside him, he repeated the action with the second one, passing it over and accidentally tilting the bottle, causing a few drops to splatter onto the second twin.
“Swift, ya knob-head!”
“Get stuffed, Shift, ya little filly. Drink your medicine.”
“Cheers, big ears.”
“Same goes, big nose.”
With a clink of their bottles, they each drained a third of the liquid before tipping their hats down once more and basking in the light. After a few minutes, the sound of a clearing throat caught their attention, and the pair looked up from beneath their hats to find two uniformed stallions looming over them. “Can I help you fellas?” the twins spoke in unison. Glancing quickly at each other, they looked up again at the newcomers.
“Good afternoon. I’m Commander Quasar,” the officer introduced himself. Gesturing towards the olive-drab stallion beside him, he continued, “And this is Lieutenant Commander Eclipse. I take it the two of you are Shift and Swift?”
“Yeah?” Shift raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“We’ve travelled here to discuss a unique job opportunity we believe you have the necessary skills to fulfil,” Eclipse explained, as he wiped the sweat under his short silver fringe. Adjusting his peaked cap, he added, “This isn’t a bad time, is it?”
“Nah mate, it’s all good,” Shift replied.
“Job opportunity, eh? And you came all this way out here just to see us?” Swift emptied the remainder of his bottle and stood, beckoning the officers into the house. “This oughta be interesting. Oh, ’scuse the smell. Place was bug-bombed a few hours ago, but I think we’ve let it air out long enough now.”
The pegasus twins remained silent as the two officers finished explaining their offer. In unison, the brothers periodically tapped the sides of their pint glasses, mulling the proposition over in their minds. With their hats removed, the officers would not have been able to identify the two, as even their cutie marks depicting a compass in the foreground of a southern cross constellation were identical. Barely visible underneath an uneven tuft of fur however, was a scar across Swift’s left hoof.
“Mate, what we’re still not getting here is why you wanted us specifically,” Shift started. “Yeah, righty, we were royal guards for a coupl’a years, and we were decent sharpshooters when those fancy weapons entered service. Sure, there’s some experience, but we resigned after our minimum service period was up. Far as I’m aware, there’s nothing noteworthy on our records.” Pausing for an unrestrained belch that caused the officers to lean away, Shift added, “Heh, nothing positive anyway.”
“And now,” Swift continued. “Now, if we’ve understood you correctly, Commander, you want us. A pair of unremarkable ex-guards. To join some—some special forces group in the Equestrian Navy?”
“Ehh, I think we both know you’re more than a pair of ‘unremarkable ex-guards’,” Quasar replied. “Ever since you two had your little outback incident, a few of us have had our eyes on you. However, only recently did we have an opening for the aforementioned position your talents would suit perfectly.”
Swift frowned. “Incident? You talking about when Shift and I almost got mauled while camping?”
“That’s the one. Nopony survives a drop-bear attack. Nopony. Then to hear about two pegasi not only surviving the ordeal, but escaping with nothing but a single scratch?” Quasar pointed to Swift’s leg. “After doing some investigating, we had to admit we were rather impressed, though more than a little nauseated with how the beast was … subdued.”
“I did dislocate a wing at one point, but yeah, I couldn’t just let something get away with harming my little brother now, could I?” Swift grinned, placing a hoof around Shift.
“Little?” Shift shrugged his brother off. “Piss off. Not my fault the Docs yanked you out first when they cut mum open.”
“Well whatever the case, the fact that despite everything, you managed to survive with all your supplies and equipment lost must have taken some skill,” the other officer interrupted. Pausing, he straightened out one of his sleeves, which mirrored the stripes on Quasar’s, save for a thinner third one. Eyeing the pegasi, he emphasised, “A skill we need.”
“What, you expect us to go camping a lot in this line of work?” Shift returned his focus to the officers.
“Perhaps at some point, though your agility, resourcefulness, and quick thinking is mostly what we’re after. While we’ve explained your primary duties, having your skill set may prove invaluable for some more unique scenarios you may encounter,” Quasar clarified. After a quick glance at his watch, he rose. “Well, we’ve taken up enough of your time. We’ll let you two think things over. You have my card, so should you accept, we can skip most of the joining formalities and place you both on an accelerated training course, before assigning you to the Infiltrator squad.”
“Alrighty fellas, we’ll consider the offer”—Shift read the contact card in front of him—“You should have our answer within the week.”
The officers bid farewell and promptly vacated the premises, returning to the pegasus chariot waiting outside in the blistering heat.