Check Up
“Are you kidding me? I don’t need to be recertified for three months?”
There was something simply pleasant about having a morning routine that started at 0600. The way it helped start the day, the way it made so laziness didn’t sink in and cause issues of sleeping in late, missing meetings, and having to skip breakfast. If only the rest of his unit could get used to discipline in the way this sort of routine helped afford.
Shining Arrow’s mind hung up mid-way through his morning workout, the pegasus pausing mid-push-up to dwell on a thought. ‘What the hell happened, Skyfire?’ It had been lingering in his mind the last four days since the ‘Incident’. Dad and the higher-ups were being vague about what had exactly happened. A couple of unicorns had been interrogated and released, and apparently, one of the other special units had been used to question them.
0647, you’re late.
Right, the issue with a routine was little things that could interrupt and throw off the schedule. The pegasus put down his training equipment with a light pant at that point and dashed into the shower unit, no time to delay. He had time he could make up by eating breakfast quickly. Cloud-sewn oats and a morning blend of veggies were enough to get Shining Arrow’s day going, and through that, his system kept him accountable and on time when it came time to report in to the barracks for duty and goals for the day.
At 0709 there was a knock at the door, followed by the call out, “Second Lieutenant Lumia, I am here with orders for you today.” He wouldn’t have to trot the three-minute journey to the barracks today.
“Coming, coming.” He called out, opening the door seconds later to see a bright-eyed private with a sealed letter under his left-wing, the right snapped up in a salute. “At ease Private, thank you for the letter.” Shining Arrow said back, snapping a quick salute before taking the letter, “Good luck with the letter running today.”
“Sir, It’s an honor to help deliver orders to the special ponies who keep Neighvarro safe, sir!” The private snapped back, an eager smile slipping through the professional calm demeanor as he turned to fly off towards the next soldier that needed hoof-given orders.
The orders had come half an hour early, that was odd. Shining Arrow walked over to his desk and opened up the letter, eyes widening.
Second Lieutenant Shining Arrow is to report to the main hangar bay at 0830 for annual recertification of general usage of Vertibuck Transport Systems.
“It’s going to be one of those days then, isn’t it?” The pegasus muttered, barely suppressing a groan as he looked around for his flight equipment. Being the squad leader he was the pony responsible for flying in the event the pilots were incapacitated. Extra responsibilities seemed to be the norm nowadays. Green eyes narrowed into a focused look at the writing. Here he wanted to go test some of the new weapons R&D had available for his team.
Oh well.
It was 0822 when the commando stepped through the swinging doors into the hanger bay, the din instantly rising as a dozen different sounds attacked his ears. Welding, hammering, riveting, were the loudest, along with a distant engine being turned over.
Looking around the pegasus sighed and started looking for an empty vertibuck. Command wasn’t always the best with saying who exactly to look for when it came to these sort of tedious things. Frustration was common but had to be kept down. To anyone observing him, Shining Arrow looked rather calm, but he was dreading this.
A covered wing patted his left shoulder. Shining Arrow resisted the urge to jump as he looked over to see a suited-up pony nodding. Relieved they had grabbed whomever to get this recertification done, he turned to them. He snapped a salute, the pilots always were higher ranked than grunts like him, even if he was a special grunt. “How long do you think this’ll take?”
Silence.
The pilot really didn’t seem to like this either, or perhaps they were in a hurry, and simply turned to the aircraft. Shining Arrow followed the pilot, failing to suppress a soft sigh as he stepped up behind onto the vertibuck at 0833. It had taken over ten minutes for them to get started. The silence was definitely not normal at this point, there’d be a talk of what was to be checked over, things to qualify for. Is this pilot trying to go rogue?
The engine whirred up as the pilot tapped away at the controls, pausing to look over Shining who had strapped into the co-pilot’s seat as was the norm, his hoof gently hovering over the duty laser pistol he kept on at all times.
“You’re always so punctual and orderly, Shining.”
The stallion blinked, hoof falling away from his weapon. “Mom?”
“That’s Captain Draftystorm to you right now… Second Lieutenant Shining Arrow,” Draftystorm replied before pulling up her helmet enough to murmur just louder than the din. “At least till we’re out of radio range. Don’t worry, we’re not abandoning home.”
“I wouldn’t suspect you of doing anything like that.” Shining Arrow bristled for a moment, glancing over to see the time 0835. “But let’s get going before anyone questions things.”
The vertibuck lifted off the bay with precision as his mother’s skills took them out into the windswept cloudscapes, trails visibly sweeping through the massive cloud forms that surrounded home. It was always surreal to the stallion that the entire landscape of home was nothing but clouds, the sun, and the moon. None of the ground or landscapes were so much a part of the life of yesteryear. He often wondered what it was like below the clouds.
At 0844 Draftystorm eased the throttle back on the vertibuck, taking off her helmet as she hit the autopilot switch. Her two toned blue mane was held up in a bun, precise and well groomed, while green eyes focused on him. “Right, well you’re probably curious.”
“Curious about why my mom would be the pony certifying me on equipment I’m not due for another three months and two weeks? Yes,” Shining Arrow said, tilting his head.
Draftystorm frowned for a moment, sighing as she shook her head. “Well it was a good excuse to get somewhere hidden ears can’t hear. You know we’re all under a watch right now for what happened to Skyfire and Jolts. Mercurydrops and a few others have all been questioned intensively for being part of it, and your father and I have been asked more than a few times if we knew anything about it.”
“I’ve been asked and passed more than a few tests, I don’t know anything, and hell Lightningbreeze would have snitched if she knew something. I imagine Sweetpea isn’t doing very well right now.” He couldn’t help but note that his mother had chosen a very particular way to speak with him. She always was a bit dramatic.
“No, she isn’t, I’ve had to keep her company on the off times since Jolts… left.” Draftystorm frowned quietly, sighing as she glanced out the window. Wispy cirrus clouds wafted by the aircraft as they continued talking, the gentle clouds parting ways slowly. “She’s not taking it well, though she didn’t know anything. She told me heart to heart.”
“Mom, do you think Skyfire wanted to leave, at least like this?”
“Sweetie...” Draftystorm started, her eyes widening at the question. “I…” She’d continue, looking away nervously. “I am not sure. And I want to trust you about my thoughts. The real ones.”
Shining Arrow gave a concerned look, reaching over to offer a hoof. “Mom you can trust me, nothing said here is being repeated anywhere. I want to know where sis is too. And I want to know why Jolts and Skyfire wanted to leave badly enough to risk it all like this.”
“You don’t have a clue either? Sweetpea merely murmured indirectly that Jolts was getting fed up with how Skyfire was being treated.” Draftystorm said quietly as she adjusted enough to fiddle with the vertibuck. The clicking of buttons and switches filled the silence for a moment before she continued. “I think she was doing alright for the moment, but something seemed to spook Jolts into doing this.”
Shining Arrow blinked a few times before rubbing his chin, sighing away. “Can’t say much to that, I hardly interacted with the engineering corps, especially with Skyfire’s friends. You know how the brass tries to avoid families interacting with each other on duty..”
Draftystorm’s eyes fell as she sighed and thumped the side of the panel. “Right… I can’t expect you to know everything, you’re in the special forces which while great, isn’t the same as someone in Intelligence.” The pegasus paused for a moment, bright green eyes searching in the clouds. Suddenly, she murmured, “Aurora.”
“What’d you say?”
“Outpost Aurora, apparently Jolts didn’t like what was going on at Aurora. Sweetpea told me he was often rambling about it.”
Shining Arrow started quietly, rubbing his chin. “Aurora. I’ve heard about it, not many ponies get to go there, let alone hear about it. I know Zipzap mentioned something about them always needing the best engineers, and he got out of it by being a dependable fieldworker.”
“Well that’s not good news. I’ve never heard about it, and I don’t think I could ask Irontail, he might ask questions if I talk about it after… after all this,” Draftystorm fretted, her ears pinning back. “I suppose this was selfish of me to think you could help alleviate my fears entirely in our first talk since our Skyfire was taken.”
Lightning Breeze adjusted to lean over and hug his mother, patting her back gently and giving a warm smile. “It’s still alright to wish you could have. If I had the answers I would share them, but I can do some digging around into Outpost Aurora at least. We’re not Intelligence, but we have our reach…”
His demeanor changed, worry creeping into his visage as Draftystorm nodded, tears falling down her muzzle. The older mare quickly flipped her visor up to wipe them away. “Thank you, Shining, I know Skyfire’s a fair bit younger than you, and she isn’t well… like the rest of us. She’s no soldier. I love her for having the courage to stand up for herself, to be herself. But it pains me to see this all happening.”
“I understand, I don’t think that she’d have left, at least without a reason,” Shining Arrow sighed quietly, looking over to the mission clock. “How much more time would my recertification take, by the way, we can’t stay out here all day sadly. It’s already 0955.”
“Another thirteen minutes,” Draftystorm commented with a sniffle, shaking her head. “You always are so punctual, thank you for looking out for the time.”
“I’ll do my best, though, we’ll need something more low-key next time if you want privacy to this level. I suspect we’ll find something though. You’re quite creative Mom.”
“Isn’t your apartment swept for bugs and things? I could swing by with lunch on our days off to chat with my son, nothing wrong with that,” Draftystorm offered with a smile. “You still love that bean soup I used to make for you as a colt, right?”
Before Shining Arrow could respond, a series of lights started blinking on the dashboard, the intensity too much for both ponies to ignore, leaving Draftystorm sighing as she adjusted and nudged her son. The flight helmet was perfectly in place once more. “Looks like a patrol wants to talk to us, you know enough to play ball with what I’d be going over normally? You’ll be flying for a bit.” With a nod, he took the lead, acting as if they had only ever been recertifying him. The secretive ways of the Enclave were best followed, lest one get cut down.
Shining Arrow knew that all too well.