//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Training // Story: Into the Black: A Mare's Tale // by shirotora //------------------------------// “Oof!” Twilight landed hard on her back after being hurled halfway across the room... again. She had been training every day for the past eleven days. In the flight simulator, she was running combat sims. This was definitely her strongest field. Her scores on the firing range were skyrocketing. Tactics, logistics, and engineering were foal's play. Over all she was improving in all aspects of combat at an incredible rate except one... close quarters combat. The reason wasn't that she didn't understand it or her lack of experience. Princess Celestia had her take a self defense course from Master Willow. She only studied for two weeks, but she had a decent grasp. The reason she was having trouble was because of who her instructor was. “Focus, Sparkle,” Raak scolded the pony. The Korg, being more bestial than the other races, are skilled at fighting upright or on all fours. It was for this reason he was chosen to teach the quadruped how to fight. If only she could focus on the lesson instead of the teacher. “Yes sir.” She replied. “Again,” Raak ordered. Twilight ran at him and swung a quick right jab. The Korg deflected the metal hoof with with his right and dodged the following left jab. While the unicorn was once again distracted by his firm chest he grabbed both hooves and swept her hind legs from under her. She landed with a thud and a groan. Raak pulled her back up to her feet and smiled at her, “You are improving, but slowly. Block out any distraction and focus on the task at hand. We are done for now. Hit the shower.” “Yes sir,” Twilight saluted and turned toward the locker room where Debby was waiting. “Not too bad, Pony Girl,” Debby greeted cheerfully, “But you seemed kind of distracted.” Twilight's cheeks flushed red, “I-I don't know what you're talking about.” “Oh,” Debby's grin turned evil, “So that wasn't you staring at Raak's ass and chest? It was some other purple unicorn.” “I-I-I...” Twilight stammered, looking for an excuse and failing. She hung her head and sighed in defeat, “OK, fine. You win. I find him to be incredibly attractive. I just wish I could find a way to tell him... wait, he's not with someone is he?” Debby's smile fell, “It's like that, huh,” Twilight answered with a nod, “Damn. Listen Twilight, I gotta tell you something. Take a seat.” After Twilight complied she continued, “Do you know about the Korg Do-Jii?” Twilight nodded her head, “It's the Korg belief of the soul-bond. When they find a suitable mate they form a Do-Jii. Korg only ever make one Do-Jii in their lives. Although they are allowed temporary mates for a night or two every now and then, those are only for pleasure or release when their mate is at war. Their love, though, is only given to the one they share the Do-Jii with.” “God you're an egghead,” Debby laughed, “That's right.” Her expression dropped again, “I don't know how to break it easily, so I'm just going to say it. Raak has a Do-Jii. Her name was Hala, and she was killed in an assault on a Dratali weapons plant.” Twilight's face dropped at the news. It was final, she could never be with him. In Korg society, honor was everything. If he were to break tradition for her, not only would he be dishonored, his entire family would as well. She could never let that happen. “I'm sorry, Twi,” Debby sympathized. “That's OK,” Twilight assured her friend, “I mean, I just met the guy less than two weeks ago. I'm sure I'll get over it.” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “I take it you never 'got over it'?” Cadence asked, making a quoting motion with her hooves. “Not in the least.” Twilight answered plainly. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “I'm sure you will,” Debby agreed, “Maybe you and Curt will shack up.” “You're such an ass, Debby.” Twilight rolled her eyes, “I'm going to take a shower.” “Good idea, you stink.” Debby pinched her nose in fake disgust. Twilight put her right hoof face up and glared at the Avivan pilot. Debby cocked an eyebrow at the display. “This is a pony flipping you off,” Twilight stated. Debby broke out in laughter as Twilight grabbed her towel and soap and headed for a shower stall. She placed her towel and leg on the bench and hobbled in (walking short distances on three legs was getting a lot easier). She examined herself as she lathered up under the cold water. Her fur was growing back at a decent rate, but her pale skin still showed through. She noted how much less shampoo she used with her mane and tail only about five inches long. After finishing and drying off, she went back to her locker and removed her navy blue uniform. She only had it for three days now, but her OCD made it easy for her to learn how to wear it properly. She lifted the trousers, the first pair she ever had, and stepped into them. They buttoned in the back to allow her tail to poke through. After the white undershirt came the short sleeved over shirt. It was the same button up shirt that everyone else wore, just modified for her unique body structure. The ribbons were set higher on her barrel as to be visible, though right now there was only two acknowledging her volunteering during wartime and her representative status. The shoulder marks were also set slightly back with a gold and red braided cord wrapped around the right shoulder signifying that she's Special Operations. The silver bar of a second lieutenant adorned her collar. Now fully dressed, she left the locker room. The others were already waiting for her. Curt and Debby were exchanging insults, while Seth, Aden, and Raak talked about friendlier things. Curt was the first to notice Twilight's arrival. “Sweet, Twi's back. Food time?” Curt asked. “Yes, Cunt, Food time,” Debby answered. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “Why do we have to eat this stuff?” Twilight complained as she looked at the nutri-paste on her plate. “Because in order to have enough real food for the 7000 people on this ship we'd need a supply ship following us around everywhere we go.” Seth stated, “You can guess why that can't happen.” “They could at least try to make it edible.” Twilight groaned, “I cook better than this and I burned a sandwich once.” “That's impressive. I haven't even done that. Here.” Debby handed Twilight a small bottle, “It's a seasoning blend that some dude I went to flight school made. It makes the stuff tolerable.” “Thank you, Debby.” Twilight took the bottle and sprinkled a bit on the revolting goo before hovering it back. “Keep it,” Debby said, “I have plenty. I'll teach you how to make it sometime.” “Hey!” Curt interrupted, “I offered to pay you for that blend and you refused. Now you're just giving it to Twilight? What gives?” “Uh, I don't hate her guts,” Debby said matter-of-factly, “This means you can't tell anyone, OK.” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight recited as she made the motions. “Uh... OK.” Debby was a bit dubious of the strange oath, but accepted it regardless. The six made small talk over the course of the meal, mostly talking about Twilight's progress. They noted how quickly she took to new skills. With the exception of CQC, they all agreed she was ready for the field. “Plus, if she's in a fighter, she won't have to worry about close quarters,” Aden mentioned. “Except she's one of us,” Raak reminded him, “Eventually she will have to fight on the ground.” “I did well on Placid Harbor without training,” Twilight stated. “That was a suicide mission,” Seth explained, “Those are made up of the sick, injured, and inept. I'll be honest with you Twilight, if that was a regular attack force you would have been killed.” Twilight's expression was one of shock and horror. She hadn't thought about that, but it made sense. Why send skilled soldiers to die when there were others that were more... expendable. She shuddered at the thought of considering lives expendable. “Major Vasiliev,” Admiral Gibson approached the group, “How's Lieutenant Sparkle's training coming along?” “Excellent, Sir,” Seth answered, “She's progressing at an incredible rate in all aspects except close quarters combat. Her progress in CQC, while slower than the others, is still within acceptable standards.” “Good to hear,” Gibson turned to Debby, “Major Verdan, how's her flying?” “She's damn good, Sir,” Debby beamed, “At her rate, she'll be better than Lieutenant Rane here.” “Do you think she could fly a non-combat solo mission?” The Admiral asked, catching Debby off guard. “Uh...” She hesitated before stating with certainty, “Yes. I think she could fly solo easily. Combat is another matter though.” “Good, very good,” The Admiral nodded, “Lieutenant Sparkle, I have orders for you.” All six looked at each other in confusion. It was obvious he was going to send her flying off on her own. Why he would do that when she had yet to fly a real ship was beyond them. “You're going to meet with a specialist for further training,” He told Twilight. Twilight took a deep breath, “When do I leave?” “As soon as you finish eating.” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- The ship shuddered as it was placed into launch position. Twilight was nervous. It never did that in the simulator. Twilight took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. Without enough fur on her right side, the flight suit was uncomfortable on her sensitive skin. She never had to wear it before (mainly because there wasn't a suit to fit her), and it was strange to say the least. It wasn't cloth, but an advanced lightweight polymer. Twilight never wore anything rigid before. Debby's voice came over the ear piece attached to the visor she was wearing, “Dusk, this is tower, how you holding up?” “A bit nervous,” Twilight answered honestly, “It never shook like that in the simulator.” “Yeah, there's a big difference between the sims and the real deal,” Debby warned, “But it shouldn't be anything you can't handle. I have faith in you. You ready?” “Ready,” Twilight responded. “Five, four, three, two, one, launch.” Twilight hit the throttle, flinging the ship into space and burying her in the seat. It was a rough take off, made worse by the fact that the seats were not designed with ponies in mind. She really, really wanted to know how Lyra could willingly sit like that. As soon as she was out of the hangar, she turned toward Habogad, the moon they were orbiting. “Alright, Dusk, excellent take off.” Debby congratulated, “Remember, you're on you own from here. We're leaving an FTL sled here for when you're done. Just follow the beacon to find it. Coordinates are pre-programmed so just dock and activate.” “Copy that, Tower.” Twilight replied. “Good luck down there.” Debby said before the radio was silenced. Twilight looked behind her and watched as the White Wolf shot off. The realization that she was alone hit hard. Ponies are social creatures and very few can tolerate being alone. Despite being antisocial most of her life, Twilight was not one of those who could. Just because she never socialized didn't mean there weren't other ponies around. She shook those thoughts from her head and focused on her destination. The moon was mostly forest with a few swamps scattered about. She followed the blip on her HUD until she arrived at a clearing in the trees. After an easy landing she hopped out, glad to be on solid ground again. “Alright, Where is my new teacher,” Twilight said to herself as she hit a button on the left arm of her suit, bringing up a waypoint in her visor, “There you are.” Twilight retrieved a rifle from the storage compartment on the side of the fighter and attached it to the holster on the back. The little purple unicorn made her way toward the forest, staring in awe at the massive trees. Each one was at least as big around as her library back home, but easily twenty times the height. Just looking made her dizzy. A stumble brought her focus back to the ground as she remembered why she was here. She made her way through the woods to the meeting place. A quick look around confirmed she was alone. “What kind of teacher is late to meet a student?” She complained, “Not a very good first impression.” After a few seconds of waiting, Twilight pulled out the datapad and began reading “A History of Modern Robotics”. If she was going to wait, she'd at least get some reading done. She read for only a minute before she got the feeling she was being watched. Still looking at the datapad, she readied a shield spell and another telekinesis spell for her rifle. Magic! she realized. She dove out of the way of a bolt of magic. It was too fast to get a good look at, so she couldn't tell what it was. Twilight looked to the source of the attack to see a lone Dratali staring at her, his right hand pointed toward her. She swung her rifle around and opened fire on the lizard. It was no use as he simply stopped the rounds with little effort and retaliated with a stomp of his foot. The ground beneath Twilight's hooves tilted, knocking her off balance. His right hand lifted and crackled with energy as a bolt of lightning arced toward the pony. In a flash of light, Twilight was behind the adept releasing the lightning spell learned seconds earlier. His response was lightning fast. He held out his left hand and caught the bolt, returning it with his right. Twilight barely had time to put up her shield before her own bolt struck hard, knocking her to the ground. In the blink of an eye the Dratali adept stood over her. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the end to come. The end didn't come. Instead a deep, raspy voice chuckled and said, “You do have potential, Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight's eyes shot open at the sound of her name. She looked up at the Dratali, the enemy of all life. He smiled down at her with his hand extended to her. She cautiously reached a hoof up to take his hand and he helped her up. “My name is Has-ka,” he gave the unicorn a grin, “And I'll be the one to train you in magical combat.”