//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Union // Story: Skyfall: Treason // by Dusk Quill //------------------------------// Skyfall Headquarters was busy and noisy with the sound of heavy construction. For the past few days, Quarter Master had taken up a secret project with Luna, one that they both adamantly refused to share with the spec ops team. But whatever it was, it involved a lot of metal and welding and round-the-clock work.         Today was no different. Fleethoof gazed in curiosity at the monstrous metal frame sitting like an eyesore in the middle of the chamber. It didn’t look like anything he had ever seen before. But then again, with Quarter Master, nothing was ever to be expected.         “Everypony’s waiting in the office,” Sharp Shot said, guiding his leader across the floor and over to the boardroom.         True to his word, when Fleethoof entered the room, four pairs of eyes turned in his direction. Nopony said a word as Sharp Shot closed the door behind them, sealing the six ponies in the nearly silent room. Fleethoof looked between his team, studying the expressions of concern, confusion, and upset.         “Well?” he asked after a few moments had passed. “I expected everypony to be enjoying their break, not moping. Is anypony going to tell me what’s going on?”         “Captain,” Valiant spoke up after another long bout of silence. “Who are Fireteam Union?”         The name made the pegasus blink a couple of times in quick succession. He hadn’t heard of that unit in some time, not since well before the Canterlot incident.         “Where did you hear about them?” he asked slowly.         “Quarter Master was talking about making new equipment for them sometime soon, and that he sent a prototype out to them. And, well, we hadn’t heard of them, so we thought—”         “Skyfall is being replaced?” Cupcake asked abruptly.         Fleethoof felt a wave of relief wash over him. That’s what this whole panic was about? He furrowed his brow slightly.         “Why would you think we’re being replaced? We just got started.”         “Exactly!” exclaimed the large Earth pony. “Did we do bad? We fuck something up, yes? That is why they make second team!”         “No, no that’s not the case,” Fleethoof reassured his comrade, leaning against the table towards the ponies. “Fireteam Union is like us, an experimental project going through their test phase now. We passed; they haven’t yet. They’re not a threat to us.”         Sharp Shot spoke up. “Then what are they, boss?”         Fleethoof wet his lips, trying to think of the best way to describe Union.         “Union is a specialty unit based out of the Wonderbolts Academy. We’re made of the best in our fields, but they’re made strictly of uniform abilities. They are all pegasi, so they’re a pegasi special unit, but they’re basic soldiers. They don’t deal in the same tasks we do. They get the easier ones, so to say, so we don’t get bogged or run down. They’re mostly a trial of public spec ops, and stress relief for us. But nopony is being replaced.”         Cupcake didn’t look convinced. “But, these ponies—”         “Nopony is being replaced.”         “But they—”         “Nopony is being replaced!”         Cupcake fell silent, leaning back against the far wall and crossing his hooves. A deep sigh left the captain, trying to think of another way to explain this to them.         “Look, Fireteam Union is going to be beneficial to us. They’ve already been fairly successful so far, and it gives us time to really hone our skills and focus on the most dangerous threats to Equestria,” he explicated slowly and calmly. “Imagine if we investigated every little hint of danger. We’d be run ragged by the end of the month. With the world in as much turmoil as it is, they give us some breathing room. They let us do what we do best. They’re not going to become us.”         Valiant shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Why didn’t you tell us about them?”         “It slipped my mind during all the chaos with The Sword, but I had every intention to,” Fleethoof apologized. “They weren’t high on my priority list though. I haven’t heard any news on their actions in some time though, so I mostly just assumed they had either completed whatever mission they were on, or had been disbanded or killed. I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would worry you this much.”         Another unsettling silence took hold of the room. Fleethoof hung his head with a tired sigh. This day was not going well…         Finally, Cupcake nodded once, firm and resolute. “I forgive.”         A half smile touched the pegasus’ lips. If there was one pony he could always count on to back him up, it was that big lug.         “I suppose I understand now,” Sharp Shot agreed, his tone pessimistic. “But I have my doubts.”         “You always have doubt,” Cupcake retorted.         “Captain?” Valiant’s voice is what finally made Fleethoof look back up again, locking gazes with his teammate. “I still have a question.”         Fleethoof could feel his exhaustion grow. “Shoot.”         “What about the situation in the south?”         An icy chill gripped Fleethoof’s heart. A shudder ran through his core. He swallowed hard, dropping his gaze to the varnished wood of the table. He shivered gently and pulled his pills out of a pocket in his uniform, downing one quickly to numb the pain starting in his wing’s joint again.         “What about it?”         Valiant hesitated for a moment. “Well… aren’t we going to do anything about it?”         “No.” Fleethoof shook his head quickly. “You know as well as I do Equestria’s position is strictly isolationist. We can’t interfere.”         “But, sir, the fighting is escalating.”         “I know, Valiant,” snapped Fleethoof, resting his sore face in his hooves and exhaling hard to calm himself down. “I know… But we can’t do anything about it. The princesses have forbidden it. It’s not our concern.”         The room was quiet. All that could be heard was dull banging and clanking of the mechanics and researchers working just outside the door.         “Go home, everypony,” Fleethoof said, mumbling into his hooves while rubbing his throbbing temples to soothe the headache. “We’re not on active duty. Take some time to yourselves. Enjoy life. And don’t worry, nothing is going to happen.”         For the longest time, nopony spoke or moved. The room was as still as it had always been. And then Sharp Shot stepped out of the room. Cupcake and Lightning Flash followed shortly after, and then Blue Shield joined them. Valiant, loyal as he was, lingered a few minutes more, but when his officer didn’t speak or move, he gave up and, with a reluctant sigh, left as well.         Now alone in the quiet of the boardroom, Fleethoof let his hooves fall from his eyes. He felt tired, and wanted nothing more than to sleep and forget about the world for a time. With each passing day, the world seemed to be slowly unraveling at the seams, and only a few ponies were holding it together. Like Valiant, he was worried about Equestria’s foreign affairs, and of their stake with their allies.         But it wasn’t their fight. Equestria didn’t need another war. Hell, he didn’t even know which side he supported.         They were finally at peace again—truly at peace. There was no dark threat looming in the shadows; no doomsday heralded ahead. Equestria had finally reached a point of harmony, and he had to agree with the princesses. There was no need to compromise what they had fought so hard for.         And in truth, he was worried about Fireteam Union. Not because he felt they would be their replacements, but because he felt they were very temporary. They had not been established based on tactical skill, like Skyfall had. They were the crash test of a new breed of soldier: a counter offensive unit, akin to Skyfall, but built on the rigidity of the military. They were ordinary soldiers, retrained and sent off to be heroes.         Deep down, in the pit of his gut, Fleethoof had a bad feeling about the whole ordeal.         He glanced up at the screen in the boardroom. He hadn’t noticed it before, but somepony had turned it on. The monitor displayed a current world map. Down in the southern lands of Saddle Arabia, little diagrams of troops progressed back and forth in projected movement patterns. Details of engagements appeared in real time. He was watching a war through a TV screen.         A war that never ended…