//------------------------------// // Shorebirds // Story: The Unsung War // by Hokuto Ulrik //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer collapsed onto her bed after completing her duties for the day, playing over the briefing she and her fellow trainees had received earlier from their commander. "I know you don't like this, but we're short of people. Starting tomorrow, all of you nuggets are gonna be sittin' alert. If we launch, stay glued to me up there." Somehow, she hadn't quite expected this so soon when she attended Canterlot University through the ROTC. She was finally able to get authentic documentation to allow her to attend higher education and get a proper job, paying taxes and all, but the process to do it properly so no one would catch onto the fact her background was falsified took so long she had missed the deadlines for all of the possible scholarships she could have qualified for, except for the ROTC program. She had always dreamed of flying when she was a young filly back in Equestria, having always been jealous of the pegasi and the freedom that their wings provided them, so she applied for the pilot's program. To her surprise, she was able to pass the screening for it and thanks to her grades in the program, she was able to qualify for a fighter pilot position. She was under no illusions that her time as a fighter pilot, even in the Osean Self Defense Force, would be one without the possibility of war, but even she didn't expect it so quickly and with only a couple of years of training under her belt, especially here at such a remote base as Sand Island. The door to her shared dorm room opened and her roommate, Kei 'Edge' Nagase, entered and made her way to her own bed where she collapsed. "You alright Edge?" Sunset asked the other woman. "What do you think Blaze?" Nagase shot back. Sunset shook her head at her callsign. One of her instructors at Heierlark had called her that thanks to her unique, but natural, hair color and it had followed her all the way from the frozen north to the sunny sands. She was about to reply when the sounds of rock music began to blare through the wall next to her head. "Damn it Chopper! I appreciate good music as much as the next person, but turn that down!" She shouted at the wall, causing the volume to be lowered to a much more reasonable level. "I swear, he says he is an adult but I think he is still a kid." Sunset groused before turning back to her roommate. "If you want to talk, I'm here alright?" Nagase looked at her curiously before nodding. Sunset gave a small, sad, smile. "We all lost friends yesterday and while it hurts for me, for you and Bartlett, it will be way worse since you were up close and personal with the fighting. The least I can do for my teammate and roomie is to lend a sympathetic ear and a shoulder if you need one." She said gently. "Thank you." Nagase replied quietly. Sunset nodded, having said her piece. "I'm gonna go grab some dinner. Up for at least a little something to eat?" She asked Nagase. "Not really, but I should eat." The other woman replied. "Need to keep up my energy." Sunset gave a small smile at that and headed out of the room and towards the exit of the barracks. Stepping outside and putting her cover on, she looked to the skies above Sand Island, though instead of the usual wistful feeling of the freedom that being in the air gave her, trepidation filled her as she sighed. 'Stay safe back home girls. Hopefully this will be over soon.' She thought as she and Nagase walked to the chow hall to attempt to eat dinner. The anticipated alert scramble happened a few days later when a spy plane strayed into the Osean ADEZ* and a lucky shot by the SAM crews damaged it enough that it had to slow and descend to a point where Wardog Squadron could intercept it and force it to land. The only hitch to what should have been a milk run of a mission was the fighters that tried to stop them from forcing the recon plane to land at Sand Island. By the end of the fighting and they had returned to base, Sunset was numb. She knew that she was only defending herself and her flight mates, but she had killed three people today. "Why, why is this happening?!?" She thought to herself as she emptied her stomach into a trash can in the hanger. "Kid?" Captain Bartlett said from behind her. "Just nerves sir. I'll be ready for the next sortie." Sunset replied, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "No it isn't." Bartlett replied, arms crossed over his chest. "I know because I was in the same place as you are after my first combat mission during the last war." Sunset looked at the man. A hardass for sure, definitely lower ranked than he should have been given how long he had been in the military, but she could tell he cared about those under his command. "Does it get easier Sir?" She asked after a moment. "No, not really. The coming down off the adrenaline does eventually, but the taking of another life should never get any easier. If it does, then you become the monster that every single human has sleeping inside them." Bartlett said firmly, before softening slightly. "That guilt at taking another life, even in self defense, means that you are still a good person." Sunset nodded after processing that statement. "I, I understand Sir. Thank you." She said quietly. Bartlett nodded and sent her to the barracks with a 'Dismissed'. Sunset reached her room and after a quick shower and change of clothes, collapsed into bed, her dreams haunted by the screaming of alarms and the cacophony of radio calls that had filled her ears during that short dog fight.