In a private office next to the medical bay, Stedson was arguing with Candy Striper, the facility's only fully trained medical officer. She sat back into her chair and sighed at her superior. They have been going at it for a good hour now, and it was getting old.
“As I've told you before, no matter how many times you tell me to run the tests, the result will remain unchanged. This unit is not-” the pink unicorn was cut off when Stedson slammed his hooves onto her table, causing the folder on it to flip open.
Inside the folder was a photo of one of the first generation IF units. The number 36 was written in place of a name, followed by her medical record, which was quite extensive as it listed several health issues with her heart. At the bottom of the document, the words 'Unfit for Duty' were stamped on it in big red letters.
“There has to be something you can do!” shouted Stedson.
The unicorn mare brushed aside a lock of her pink and white mane. “I would if I could, but we lack the proper equipment here for the treatment she needs. Equipment that I might add is only available to private hospitals in the core worlds.”
“Then...Then I'll get them for you!” said Stedson.
The mare rubbed the base of her horn in annoyance. “Then what? Tell Day that you ordered millions of bits worth of medical equipment just to help one IF unit?”
Realizing how foolish he just sounded, Stedson lowered his head and sat back down. “I know that... but she’s still just a child. I can't just stand there and do nothing.”
Again the mare sighed and took off her glasses. Her tired grey eyes looked at the downcast pegasus before her. She knew that he had an emotional connection with the clones, she found it a little disturbing at first but got used to it over time.
She even had a 'favorite' of sorts among the clones. The filly often came over to the medical bay to learn some medical skills beyond the basics taught by the instructors. Seeing that the filly had an aptitude for medicine, Candy decided to teach her whenever she was able.
Candy went over to Stedson and placed her hoof on his shoulders, “Look sir-Stedson, I'll do what I can but I make no promises. I still have to send in the reports... though I guess 36's file can get lost on the way.” The pegasus looked up at her, a fearful look on his face.
“But what if Day, or the inspectors finds out? I can't let you do this. I don't want you to end up like Bic!” warned Stedson.
She rolled her eyes at him. “So what, they’ll have me executed? We’re already stuck in this damn prison! Death is probably our only way out of here…” she trailed off for a few seconds before letting out a depressed sigh. “I thought I'd be working at a clinic on some backwater world when I signed up for this 'temporary assignment' and be back home in a couple of years. But here I am seven years later, doling out painkillers and nanite shots to fillies in the middle of who knows where!”
Stedson looked away guiltily, he knew that a significant number of his staff were those who were 'acquired' as Day had put it. A lot of them refused to tell him how they got here, probably out of resentment for his involvement in their being here. In the end, they were all prisoners.
Stedson lowered his head and mumbled out, “Sorry...” Candy blinked and looked at him.
“What are you sorry about?” she asked.
“You know why… I'm the reason that you and the others are even here in the first place. If it weren't for me, you'd probably be-” he stopped when the unicorn pressed her hoof into his muzzle.
“I'll have none of that. I have enough depressed ponies coming in thinking I'm their psychiatrist. I didn't even take that course back in college. Besides, I was kind of moody back there because I'm in heat,” she informed.
He asked disbelievingly, “Seriously?” the mare nodded with some hesitation; this drew a chuckle from Stedson.
“Har har, laugh it up. I almost jumped you when you came into my office you know,” she finished flatly before turning back to her desk to sort out 36's files. “You should go spend some time with your girls. I'm sure they'd like that.”
“Yeah, I guess I should.” He got up and his way to the door.
“Candy?” the mare turned around to face him.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Thank you,” answered Stedson. She smiled at him before turning back to her work.
When the door closed, he let out a sad sigh. “Prison huh? Or maybe… it's an asylum.” he chuckled sadly at the thought before walking off down the halls.
Inside one of the larger training halls, the prototype series IF units were being trained in combat by over two dozen combat instructors who oversaw their training in various forms of combat, including hoof-to-hoof combat. Hundreds of clones practiced their punches and kicks on training dummies and sandbags as their instructors called them out on any flaws in their stances.
In the beginning, the instructors had their misgivings about training foals to fight, but put it aside when they reminded themselves it was for the good of the Dominion. Happy Day told them so.
An instructor passed by a row of clones as they practiced their strikes on the training dummies. For some reason, the doctor insisted that none of the clones spar against each other, so they made do with the dummies. Of course, they still have the occasional sparring match with the clones going against one of the instructors. The matches were carried out to gauge the unit’s performance level.
He nodded in approval at their performance, this trend continued until he reached a particular unit. He frowned when he saw the unit wasn’t performing as well as the others, she was already out of breath before the two hour mark. ‘Great, I got a weakling.’ He was about to yell at the unit when he heard the door to the training hall open up.
The instructor’s frown deepened when he saw the doctor entering the training hall. He never came down here from his observation room without a good reason.
Although the doctor was the head of project, he found the pegasus’ fatherly affection for the clones disturbing. Still, his presence alone affected the units’ performance in a positive way as several of them immediately showed a marked improvement in their training, even the one he was about to chew out suddenly started catching up with the others, albeit with some difficulty.
He turned around and saw the doctor wandering around the training hall, he appeared to be looking for something or someone. The doctor’s ears suddenly perk up; the instructor figured he found what he was look but frowned when he noticed he was coming towards him.
“Doctor Cog, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to the training hall today?” Stedson ignored the sarcastic tone in the instructor’s voice.
“I’m here to borrow unit 36 for a matter.” The instructor frowned; the doctor would sometimes take one of the units away from training for reasons the doctor never revealed.
The unit would sometimes return with splotches of blood in their fur. Personally he didn’t care what they do when they go with the doctor. What he did care about was that by doing this, the doctor interfered with the unit’s training.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that sir. Not even for you,” informed the instructor.
“I assure you Instructor Whiplash, I only need her for a short while. I’ll make sure she returns in time for her training,” assured Stedson.
The instructor grumbled to himself as he knew the doctor wouldn’t leave until he got what he came for. “Fine, just get it out of here before I change my mind.” Stedson started glaring at him for some reason. “Something wrong, sir?”
“I’d appreciate it if you don’t refer to her as an ‘it’. They may be clones but they’re still ponies.”
Whiplash snorted derisively and spread his wings to fly away. He didn’t want to waste time arguing with the doctor about ethics, he had soldiers to whip into shape.
36 walked on her hind legs as she followed Stedson through one of the many hallways of the facility. Feeling curious, she asked, “Daddy, are we going to get Mr. Diggy?” Mr. Diggy was her current pet, she only had him for a few weeks now and wondered if she had to say goodbye soon.
“No 36, I’m taking you to see Doctor Striper.” The filly smiled, glad that she got to keep Mr Diggy a bit longer but became confused by then mention of the unicorn doctor.
“Why are you taking me to mommy?”
“She has some medicine for…wait, did you just call Doctor Striper ‘mommy’?” the filly nodded her head. “Why did you call her that?”
“Both mommy and daddy have Doctor in your names and 101 told me that two ponies who have the same names are married.” Stedson laughed softly at her naïveté, he almost forgot that they were still little children. He wondered how long their innocence, no matter how tainted it was, will last before it was gone.
“What’s so funny daddy?” 36 asked innocently.
“It’s nothing 36. Just don’t call Doctor Striper ‘mommy’ when you see her ok?” requested Stedson.
“Okay daddy, I won’t call her mommy.” Satisfied that he prevented an awkward situation from occurring, they continued on their way to the medical bay.
Candy was sitting at her station in the medical bay, busy reading a first aid training manual while she waited for Stedson to arrive; she wanted to brush up on her basic. Her student was a very curious filly as she often asked questions that made the mare second-guess her own knowledge of medicine.
She noted that the unit had an odd fascination with the study of anatomy as many of her questions on first aid were often related in some form to anatomy. Her train of thought was suddenly derailed when the door whirred open.
“Ah Doctor Cog, I see you brought 36… you are 36 aren’t you?” The filly nodded to the question. “Good, please take a seat while I prepare your medicine.” 36 cocked her head to the side at the mention of medicine.
“Medicine? But I’m not hurt, I don’t need a nanite shot.” Stedson struggled to think of a way to explain to 36 about her heart condition without confusing her. Fortunately for him, Candy was more experienced with this kind of situation, she lifted up the filly with her magic and placed her on one of the beds. She smiled gently at her patient.
“Tell me 36, how are you doing in your training.” The filly shook her head, unwilling to answer the mare before her. “It’s alright, you can tell me.” 36 looked at Stedson who nodded to her encouragingly.
“I… I can’t keep up with the others, the instructors yell at me a lot for being so slow. They called me a weakling…” tears started welling in her eyes as she turned to Stedson and said, “I’m sorry daddy, please don’t be mad at me.” Stedson went to her side and wrapped her into a gentle squeeze of a hug.
“Oh 36, why would I be mad at you?” asked Stedson assuredly.
The filly sniffed and mumbled into his chest. “Because you want us to be strong and I’m not strong…I’m weak.” Stedson looked into her watery eyes.
“You’re not weak 36… you’re strong. You have no idea just how strong you really are.” Stedson mentally cursed Happy Day. If he hadn’t damaged her pod all those years ago, 36 wouldn’t be suffering like this.
“Doc-Your father is right...” Candy added, “You’re just sick and need some medicine to make you better.”
The filly looked at the doctor with a spark of hope in her eyes. “Really?!” asked 36 excitedly.
“Really. Now just be a good girl and hold still so I can give you your medicine.” Candy levitated out a syringe. Stedson quietly slipped away from, he couldn’t stand the sight of the syringe since it reminded him of what he did to 522 so long ago.
Since she had received her fair share of shots, 36 didn’t feel anything as the needle pierced into the skin on the base of her neck. She noticed how different it felt, not like the tingly sensation she gets from the nanites. It felt… soothing.
“There, all done. Now, you won’t get tired so quickly during training. Right now however, you need to rest.” 36 shook her head vigorously.
“Nuh uh! I need to get back to…” the filly let out a sleepy yawn, “… training before the instructors get… mad again,” she said between yawns as she tried getting to her hooves, only to be pulled back into bed by Candy’s telekinesis.
“Now be a good girl and rest in bed. The medicine will work better if you do.” The filly nodded as her eyelids became heavier by the second. Candy levitated a blanket over her and tucked her into bed. “There you go, nice and cozy.”
36 let out another yawn before drifting off to sleep. “Thanks… Mama.” Candy quirked her eyebrows at the filly but before she could question her, the filly had fallen asleep. She decided not to disturb her and even if she did, the sedatives mixed in with the medical cocktail would keep her asleep for at least an hour.
“How is she doing Doctor Striper?” asked Stedson.
She jumped at Stedson’s voice, she almost forgot that he was still in the medical bay. She recomposed herself and glared at him. “Err… sorry about that.” She closed the blinds around the bed and turned to him.
“Apology accepted Doctor Cog. As for 36, she’s asleep right now. The injection I gave her will deal with some the more serious problems with her heart but she’ll need to come in every now and again for her shots until I can figure out a more permanent solution,” explained Striper.
He let out a relieved sigh, “Thank you so much for this, I don’t know if could ever repay you for your help. I-” he found himself silenced when Candy pressed her hoof into his muzzle.
“Don’t thank me just yet. We could get into big trouble if we’re caught by the guards. They still have their eyes on you.” Stedson gulped nervously. The resocialized guards here weren’t as robotic as the ones Day had as his bodyguards, but they were just as liable to report his activities if he made any mistakes.
He was fortunate that none of the guards had discovered his secrets up to now, but the thought of them always watching his every move made him paranoid; to the point where he would look over his shoulders every time he went to see his daughters or take them for their conditioning. He had to take a path to the medical bay through the less patrolled hallways just to avoid the guards.
Candy went behind the blinds to check up on 36 while she left him to his thoughts.
He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice the door whir open as Instructor Whiplash came into the room. He had a displeased look in his eyes as he looked around the medical bay. When the doctor failed to return with the clone in tow, he decided to look for the doctor and give him a piece of his mind!
He saw Stedson standing near one of the beds in a darkened corner “Doctor Cog! Where the hell is my trainee!” shouted the instructor.
Stedson turned around in surprise at the instructor’s sudden appearance, “Aaahh! Oh, it’s just you. What are you doing here instructor?” he asked pleasantly but this only made Whiplash more annoyed. He snorted and stomped angrily towards him.
“I’ve been looking all over for you! Now where the in the hell is that clone!” Stedson shrank back at the angry instructor.
“36? I…I sent her back just a moment ago. You must’ve missed her on your way over here.”
“The hell you did! You’re hiding it here aren’t you?” Stedson resisted the urge to punch the stallion right there and then. He knew he’d lose in a fight against a trained fighter like Whiplash so he gritted his teeth and put on a fake smile.
“I assure you… I am not hiding ‘her’ anywhere. She’s probably halfway back to the training hall by now.” Whiplash didn’t believe him one bit, he decided to just muscle his way through.
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I looked around now, would you?” Whiplash moved towards the covered bed behind Stedson
“There’s nothing to look for instructor,” assured Stedson. “Now if you will please-”
“Out of my way!” he shoved Stedson aside and grabbed the closed blinds.
“No wait!” shouted Stedson.
Whiplash sneered at him before he pulled away the blinds. The two stallions were left dumbstruck at the sight of Candy Striper in the bed, trying to cover herself with the bedsheets. Her clothes lay discarded on the floor, indicating that she was wearing nothing underneath the sheets.
“Do you mind?” she deadpanned.
“Uh… what?” Whiplash replied dumbly, his eyes wandering over her covered body. Candy rolled her eyes at his perverted gaze.
“Mind giving us some privacy?!” she continued.
“Us?” The dusty gears in his mind started turning before it finally clicked. He looked at Stedson, then back at Candy.
“So you two have been… seeing each other?” Stedson became slack jawed at those words.
“Yes. And it was supposed to our little secret. Until you found us out. Stedson honey, I thought you said no one saw you come in here.” She winked at him, he had no idea she was getting at but decided to play along and hoped for the best.
“Er… Guess I didn’t check hard enough…sorry about that Candy...dear,” said Stedson doing his best to put on a performance.
“So… every time you took a unit, you used it as an excuse to see her?” Stedson scrunched his face in anger at the instructor, but Candy shook her head at him. He sighed and quickly came up with a story.
“Yes. At first, I brought the units here for medical checkups to ensure that there were no problems with their health and since we saw each other so often. One thing led to another and we ended up seeing each other.” He silently hoped that the stallion would buy his story.
“I see. My apologies for my behavior Doctor Cog…” He turned to Candy and nodded to her, “Doctor Striper…” Candy cleared her throat when his eyes lingered on her longer than she was comfortable with. “... right then, I guess I’ll be on my way.”
When the door to the medical bay closed with a hiss, the two let out a collective sigh of relief. He turned around and saw Candy already buttoning up the top of her shirt with her magic. Being a stallion himself, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that she got her clothes back on so quickly.
“Thanks. I don’t know what I’d have done if he discovered 36 here. Where did you put her anyway?” asked Stedson.
Her horn lit up in her grey magic aura as she levitated the still sleeping filly up from the other side of the bed. Stedson watched as she was levitated back into bed.
“You owe me for that Stedson. Big time!” said Candy.
“Indeed I do. Name it and I’ll see to it that it’s done,” said Stedson.
Candy rubbed her chin in thought; she smiled as she thought of something.
“Great, you can start by telling me why 36 called me ‘Mama’.” Stedson quirked his brow in confusion before remembering the conversation he had with 36 earlier.
Stedson tried playing dumb. “She did?”
She nodded, her hooves tapping in impatience. “I’m still waiting for your explanation Stedson…”
“Er… because I told her not to call you mommy?” he let out a nervous chuckle as Candy became more confused than before. He sat down by 36’s bedside and recounted his conversation with 36.
At the end of his explanation, Candy was left mildly amused. “Even if they’re genetically engineered killing machines, fillies will be fillies huh?” Stedson nodded to Candy while running his hoof through 36’s mane. She looked so frail and innocent as she snored softly in her sleep.
“Indeed, though I think I’ll need to speak to them about calling you their mother.”
“Let them have their fun, they’ll probably make your story more believable to the staff anyway.” Candy couldn’t help but giggle a bit when she saw Stedson trying miserably to hide his blush. “Besides, it’d be kind of nice being called ‘mommy’ by a bunch of cute fillies.”
A lightbulb lit up in his head, “Of course! We could use that as a cover story.” Candy stepped away from the suddenly excitable pegasus.
“What cover story?”
“That we’re lovers!”
The unicorn doctor gave him a deadpanned look and told him her thoughts of his convoluted idea in one word
“No.”
'Another year, another inspection...' Stedson thought while leading the three inspectors through the facility, which had expanded since the birth of the second generation units.
In reality it wasn't really an expansion but more rather a reclamation. With the little spare time he didn’t spend with his daughters, he had carried out an investigation of his own. It took him a while, but he found out that the facility was actually a Terran installation, which the Equestrian Royal Navy had discovered near the end of the Guild Wars.
The few data logs he managed to recover showed him what the scouts saw upon entry into the installation. The scouts had discovered the remains of hundreds of terrans in torn up power armor and the bullet riddled husks of thousands of dead zergs littering the interior, indicating that there had been a battle here a long time ago. A battle that nobody won.
At the end of the Guild Wars, the Royal Navy cleared away the remains and repurposed the facility for their own use as a research station. What kind of research they conducted here was unknown to him since the data was too corrupted to be of any use. What he did find out however was that the station had been put on lockdown and abandoned when the Khalai Rebellion began. The station was subsequently forgotten in the aftermath of the conflict.
Somehow Happy Day had rediscovered the forgotten station and converted it into what it was now. Though due to the actual size of the facility, the reclamation teams are still working on lifting the lockdown on the rest of the facility to this day.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find out the coordinates of the facility as he had originally intended.
“Doctor Cog?” said one of the inspectors. Snapped out of his thoughts, Stedson turned around to face Peace Keeper.
“Yes inspector?”
“I've been asking you a question for the past five minutes and you've ignored me,” said the unicorn in annoyance.
“My apologies inspector. What was your question again?” asked Stedson.
“As I have said: I noticed that you've placed some of the first generation units in the technical training meant exclusively for the second generation units. Care to explain why?” asked Peace Keeper.
“Ah, of course. It will be some time until the 01 series units are ready to go through the technical training. So I thought it'd be prudent to have some of the first generation units test the water so to speak, and work out any problems in the training program before then.” That was part of the reason, but really he did this mainly because of 36.
Even with her treatment, he didn't want 36 to overexert herself. He assigned her, along with about a few dozen of her sisters, to technical training so that no one would get suspicious. The only other pony who knew of this was Candy. Despite the awkwardness between them, she swore to keep quiet on the matter.
“I see. How very sensible of you Doctor Cog. Now then, shall we move on?” requested the unicorn.
Stedson nodded as he led them into the part of the facility where they trained the IF units how to pilot fighter crafts.
At the moment, there was a battle simulation going on as the IF units sat inside their VR modules. There was a large screen that showed an overhead view of the simulated battlefield, it was a dogfight in space between the IF units and the computer AI.
The IF units were in control of a number of Griffon starfighters. The fighter itself was small and fast, but due to its size the reactor couldn't support energy weapons, so it was only armed with a pair of missile launchers located next to the cockpit. They were facing against a small squadron of Wraiths controlled by the AI.
The Wraith was a starfighter that had two wings on the sides and a third 'wing' underneath making the fighter resemble a giant 'T' from the front. Despite its odd appearance, it was heavily armed with both missiles and burst lasers, which meant that in terms of firepower, the Wraith was superior to the Griffon.
The IF unit's objective in the simulation was to escort a cargo ship across an asteroid field, and ensure its survival until it reached its destination at the other end of the battlefield.
The ship in question was now under fire as the AI-controlled Wraiths harassed the escorts with constant hit and run attacks. Every time the Griffons tried locking onto the enemy fighters, they always vanished from sight with their cloaking fields.
“Come on you maggots! I’ve taught you better than this!” barked out their instructor. The instructor's 'encouragement' did little to improve their performance as the AI suddenly shot down one of the Griffons. One of the modules opened up with a soft hiss as the IF unit inside cried out in frustration.
“Oh come on!” shouted the filly.
“We got a washout! Send her back to the grinder!” ordered the instructor.
“Damn it! I was so close to getting one!” she grumbled as she was led out of the room.
“What was that about Cog?” asked Spend Thrift.
“Oh, that unit just failed her advancement test in the course. She'll be sent back to infantry training with the others. She needs to wait a month before she can be assigned to another course.”
“Doctor Cog, wouldn't that mean that the units in technical training are falling behind on their infantry training? Day will not be pleased to hear of this,” warned Peace Keeper.
“Not to worry Inspector Peace Keeper. They still carry out their infantry training along with their technical training. The instructors and I worked out a training rotation that will be streamlined for the 01 series when they start their technical training.” Stedson was telling them half truths and whole lies.
Though 36 wasn't fully exempted from infantry training, he was able to rotate her out during the more intense training exercises. It was a good thing that the staff still couldn't tell her apart from her sisters. Not even the instructors who trained them everyday could differentiate one clone from the other.
“What of the units that do pass their tests?” asked the unicorn.
“Should they pass their test, they'll move on to the next level of training and take a test of higher difficulty at the end. They will repeat this process until the 01 units are ready to start their own training. I plan to have the more successful candidates from the prototype generation train alongside the second generation,” explained Stedson. “This way Happy Day-”
“He's Upper Rear Admiral Day to you and don't you forget it doctor,” corrected Steel Gaze.
Stedson grinded his teeth as he forced himself to smile at the obnoxious pegasus. “My apologies Inspector Gaze, as I was saying, Upper Rear Admiral Day will have a good preview of what to expect from the second generation as well as more versatile soldiers from the first generation to boot.” Their conversation was interrupted by the loud roar of an explosion on the screen. Another Griffon had just been destroyed as its pilot was escorted out of the room by the guards.
“Hmph. Hardly impressive if they're taken out so easily by a computer,” said Steel Gaze, his voice filled with contempt. “And judging by their remarks, they treat this more like a game than actual training. I thought I said no more coddling the clones.”
“There are some units that still have behavioral issues. I assure you that the rest of them take this test quite seriously. Let's see how the simulation is going shall we?” They all turned their attention to the screen above.
The Griffons, which used to outnumber the Wraiths were now on the run as two more of the modules opened up after their virtual starfighters were shot down. The fillies had looks of disappointment on their faces; they became even more ashamed when they saw that Stedson had just seen them choke so badly on their test.
“We're sorry we failed our test daddy.” Stedson knelt down to their height, lifted their heads up and looked them in their eyes.
“Don't be sorry. Just do your best to prepare yourselves for when the time comes. Alright?” the fillies slowly nodded their heads. “Good. Now go back to your training and make me proud.”
“Yes daddy!” the two fillies quickly left the room. Stedson then turned his attention back to the screen. He was thankful the inspectors had been busy watching the simulation to notice his interaction with the fillies.
One of the Griffons was being pursued relentlessly by two Wraiths, the small fighter barely dodged the constant barrage of laser fire from its pursuers. It was only a matter of time until it was shot down so its pilot decided to go for broke and hope for the best.
The Griffon suddenly performed a 180-degree spin and fired off a salvo of missiles at the pursuing fighters. Unable to respond to such an unexpected move, the AI couldn't adapt in time as it lost both of its fighters to the salvo.
The tides quickly turned as the other IF units formed around the 'ace' Griffon as it lead an attack run on the Wraiths, which were retreating from the sudden barrage of missiles. The Wraiths returned fire with a barrage of their own, taking out another Griffon when its pilot failed to dodge in time.
With the explosion creating a temporary smokescreen, the Wraiths cloaked themselves and slipped away. The AI however was caught off guard when the ace Griffon from before fired off it’s missiles into the asteroids. The dust cloud created from the debris revealed the cloaked form of a Wraith hiding nearby. Unable to comprehend that it had been discovered, the AI kept the Wraith where it was. The stationary starfighter was quickly destroyed by another salvo.
Despite the successful kill, the screen flashed red as the words 'Mission Failed' appeared on the screen. The view focused on the cargo ship, which had been left unguarded only to be destroyed by a barrage of missiles from the Wraiths that had slipped passed the Griffons.
“That's it! All of you earned a ticket back to the grinder!” the IF units let out a collective groan at the failure before they climbed out of the modules and made their way out of the room. One unit in particular stopped when the instructor stood in the doorway, blocking her way out.
Thinking that she was going to get a beating as punishment, she jumped back and landed on her hind legs, in a combat ready stance.
The instructor raised his brow and chuckled at her tenacity. “Simmer down half-pint. I'm not looking for a fight. I'm here to tell you that you've made the cut. Congratulations pilot.”
The unit became confused by his words. “But why? I failed the test.” The instructor gave her a smug smile.
“Yeah, you sure did blow it...” the filly frowned at the remark, “... but you were also the only one that actually took out those fighters. You've got potential half-pint.”
“Really?” she suddenly felt a tingling sensation going over her entire body, followed by a muffled flash from under her training suit. The instructor saw this and chuckled.
“Don't take my word for it; I think something else might convince you.” Being a foal with no sense of shame; she unzipped her pants and pulled it halfway down. The instructor shook his head in disbelief at the filly and walked away. He needed to adjust the combat AI before the next test.
Stedson became mortified at his daughter's lack of common decency, but was wonderfully surprised at the sight of a cutie mark on her flank. It was a pilot's helmet with an unclasped oxygen mask hanging onto it.
“Look daddy! I got my cutie mark!” Stedson picked her up in his forelegs and spun her around. He didn't care how the inspectors were reacting to his 'coddling'. Right now, all he cared about was that his daughter got her cutie mark… and to teach her not to undress in public
“Yes you did 36! You've made me so proud!” he laughed, pulling her into a hug. He was happy and yet sad at how his daughter is growing up so fast. He knew that 36 and her sisters may never return once they leave for the battlefields. His hold on 36 grew tighter, wishing that he could stay in this moment of happiness forever.