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// The Silent Officer 
// Story: Just a weapon 
// by I Vicious I 
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A visitor to ones home should be greeted fondly, but the silence in the air was anything but welcoming. An uncomfortable quiet hung in the air as both the enlisted ponies and officers sat silently, clearly uncomforting around the Major that sat to one side of the long Officers table. 
 
My name is Azure Light, I'm a shorter unicorn stallion with blue fur and a light orange mane, I had volunteered for the war shortly after the first shots had been fired, and I was desperate to aid my country and I couldn't wait to return to the field. I spoke quietly while I ate my lunch with my supervisor Silver Wing. Contrast to the others in the room, She was the only one at lunch who was courageous enough to be her crude and unpleasant self, loudly regaling me of a disgusting story which should never be told to an underling, let alone said so brashly in front of a group of listening Officers.  
 
She was my best friend, an NCO and the perfect soldier as far as I was concerned. Having such a close relationship with a superior was considered unprofessional, and in peace time could have resulted in us being written up, but they were so desperate for soldiers right now that they were more than willing to overlook what might be perceived to be nepotism.  Silver Wing was a Pegasus mare with silver fur and a steel white mane. Pegasi had a reputation for being more brutish and larger than the other races, and Silver Wing unapologetically was more than happy to encourage the stereotype. Even by Pegasus standards she was tall and muscular, towering over most unicorns like me. Fortunately, not only was she unpleasant, but she also had a temper, and without that, I might have had to compete with others for her time.  
 
Most of the officers sat huddled together on one side of the table while on the other side sat a lone light blue unicorn with a lavender mane. She was on the smaller size by unicorn standards, but judging by the darting eyes and hushed voices the other officers were clearly intimidated by her. Even the Base commander seemed nervous, despite significantly outranking her, with him having taken the seat furthest from her where he hid among the other officers. Her most distinctive feature was the odd shape of her horn. It looked as though the edges had been carved out to resemble the grooves that would be found in the rifling of a gun barrel, and the top didn't come to a tip. rather the tip had been ground down by half an inch and in its place a flat face. 
 
 "Who's she?" I asked, raising my hoof to gesture in her direction. Silver Wing grabbed my leg and quickly pulled it down. She looked over at the lone unicorn to make sure my rude pointing hadn't been noticed and then she looked back to at me. 
 
 "First of all, keep your voice down for Celestias sake, Secondly, that's Chrono Charm she's going to be the commanding officer on our mission tomorrow. so show some respect"
 
"Yeah, about that, I haven't been given any information on what's going on yet. It’s even weirder that it’s just the three of us and not a full company". 
 
Silver Wing nodded. "I know. I haven't heard much about it either, it's really hush hush, we won't be getting our orders until tomorrow morning, right before we head out"  
 
"Well, that's unsettling" I responded. Silver Wing nodded in response. "Who is our CO by the way, and why do the other officers seem so nervous around her?"  
 
Silver took a deep breath. "Well... there's a lot of rumors about her, but what I do know is that she was one of the top graduates from the Officer Training School for Unicorns."  
 
"The one that used to be called to be called the school for gifted unicorns? I asked. Silver Wing nodded.  
 
"Yes, once the war started, Celestia ordered that any unicorn that showed abnormally high levels of magic was to be drafted and enrolled in the school. Many were forced to do so." 
 
"I applied for the school, but I got rejected" I responded.  
 
"Yes, YOU wanted to join the military, however many didn't."  
 
Out of the corner of my eye I could see her face down on top of her plate, eating her sandwich, shoving it into her mouth with her hoof, eating like this is considered extremely rude for a unicorn. "Why is she eating like an Earth Pony?" I chuckled and gestured in her direction with a nod of my head.  
 
Silver Wing responded with a glare. "See that oddly shaped horn that everyone is trying not to stare at?" I avoided her judging stare by looking down at my food. “I’ll take that as a yes then” she spat. She lowered her voice and brought her face closer to mine. “Some officers have their horns modified to mimic the effects of weapons, some to mimic a shotgun for close combat, some are for anti-infantry and mimic an automatic rifle, but in her case, her horn is modified to mimic a sniper rifle.” I quickly flicked my eyes inquisitively to Chrono Charms horn and back to Silver Wing. “She’s the Commanding officer of an anti-tank battalion, and those who have fought with her tell horror stories of how her magic can rip through the heavy plating of tanks, easily killing the occupants from a distance. The rumor is that hundreds of changelings have died by her own hoof”.  
 
With this new terrifying information, I fought with myself to not look back at the petit pony. “That explains why all the other officers seem afraid of her” I said in a hushed tone. 
 
Silver sighed. “However, all that power isn’t without consequence. Her horn can’t be used safely for anything else anymore, she can’t even levitate something as small as her meal to her mouth safely, and after the war is over, she will never be able to use her magic again. THAT is why she’s eating like an Earth Pony.” she said matter-of-factly.
 
I continued to stare down at my food, feeling so ashamed of my comment that I didn’t want to meet the gaze of Silver Wing again.