Comet adjusted her collar for the tenth time while she sat and tried to ignore her mild headache. In hindsight, it had been a good idea to yield so early in the drinking contest; when she had left, Rain and Gale had not been able to get out of bed. Nopony had said what exactly she was supposed to wear to squad assignment, so she opted for her midnight blue suit. Better to err on the side of formality, and besides, she was able to wear the uniform now. She might as well make use of it. Her shining gold wings already sat perfectly on her chest, so the filly had nothing else left to stall for time. So when an airpony from Breaker Company left the office and called her over, she swallowed and knocked on the door.
"Enter."
Airpony Shimmer strode into the room and shut the door behind her. She turned, snapped a crisp salute, and said curtly, "Airpony Comet Shimmer, reporting for assignment as ordered."
"At ease, Airpony." Lt. Thunderhead sat behind her desk. Rainbow Blaze stood to the side, also in uniform, but considerably more decorated compared to Comet's nearly blank chest. At least the filly had not overdressed. "It's a bit unusual, Airpony, to know your assignment before it's even been given to you, don't you think?"
"Indeed, ma'am."
"And yet here we are." The tan officer held out an envelope for Comet to take. "It's essentially a formality now, but rules are rules. Read over your assignment orders and sign for us to witness."
The filly unfolded her form and read aloud, "'Airpony Comet Shimmer, having graduated from Fort Hurricane on the 18th of August, CE 974, is hereby assigned to the 265th Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion, C Company. Assignment is immediate.'" The lieutenant held out an ink pad. Comet pressed her hoof against the pad and signed her form.
"Well, that's all well and good. She's all yours, Sergeant." Thunderhead replaced the ink pad and rested her chin on her hooves. "I have to admit, Airpony, I'm a little surprised. I'd have thought you'd be a washout, but you managed to pull your ass out of the fire. Not bad." The filly saluted, a gesture returned by her superior, before following the cobalt stallion. "Send the next one in on your way out."
Comet and Rainbow walked down the hall silently for a while, until Comet finally admitted, "I'm not sure I believe it happened."
The stallion laughed. "Promises are promises, kid. You passed Basic, so you’re ours now." He smirked at her. "And you're not the only one."
The filly gawked. "You don't mean..."
"The other officers all agreed, it would be a shame to split up a team who already works well together. Your squad became a package deal, Airpony Bolts included, and since I already had one of you in my hoof, I got the lump sum." He shrugged. "I had to pass on a few promising ponies after that, can't hog everypony, but I think we had a good harvest."
"Sir?"
"Yes, Airpony?"
"Would it be against regulation to hug you?" The rainbow maned pegasus laughed.
"As long as it's off the record, I think it would be acceptable." Comet gripped the stallion in a tight embrace. He returned the gesture with a hoof on her back.
"Thank you..."
"Thank me when the war's over." He held her back so they could see eye to eye. "Everything I said before still stands. We'll do everything we can to see each other through this, all of us, but that's no guarantee."
"But it's something." Comet could barely reign her smile in. Rainbow nodded. "I assume I can't tell them until they've received their assignments?"
"Correct, Airpony. You're to keep that trap shut until everypony has been assigned. Now," he stretched his wings, "let's get some coffee. I still don't see why they had to do this before lunch." Comet chuckled as they made their way to the mess.
"Sir?"
"What is it, kid?"
"Does Cyclone Company do drills like Basic?"
"Oooooh yeah."
~*~
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three."
"Cyclone Company," nine ponies said at once. Comet burst out laughing. She couldn't help it, having been the first to know. She had been very discreet, asking everypony where they had been assigned independently, dropping hints about how odd it was.
"Are you bucking kidding me?" Willow tried to look indignant, but his ear to ear grin betrayed his attempted humbuggery.
"Completely serious. Sgt. Blaze was able to keep Alpha Squad together, including Sparky." She looked to the blue colt. "Thanks for running Delta Squad, by the way. I meant to say so earlier, but I didn't get the chance."
"Hey, it all worked out," Sparky shrugged it off. "So we're all going to be flying as a single squad?"
"I think that's going to get sorted when we arrive with the rest of the company. From what Sgt. Blaze was telling me, we might be in the same platoon, but not the same squad." Comet frowned. "We're replacements, after all. We go where we're needed."
"And you knew for six months, Egghead?" Moon Fang's canines were on display like never before.
"Only about myself, and only if I passed Basic. But Rainbow did ask if I had anypony I recommended."
"And you recommended us?"
"Who else?" Comet thought back to her conversation. "Well, there were a few ponies from Breaker Platoon as well, but I don't think we got many of them." If any of them were angry with what she had done, they didn't show it. "Come on, Rainbow's orders are to meet him at 13:00 out on the lawn, casual dress."
"Rain, Gale, you ok there?" Stratus asked. The brick red pony had returned to her usual state, the pinnacle of refinement, while Gale was steady but still grumpy. He waved a dismissive affirmation. "Good enough." The nine ponies donned their "casual uniform," a blue sailor collar with a slot for their pins, and made their way out onto the lawn. Three ponies already awaited them: a pale purple colt with a silver mane, and two nearly identical fillies, distinguishable only by their daisy yellow and snowfall blue coats.
"Stargaze, Sun Ray, Moon Beam, good to see you," Willow said. "Is this all of us?"
"Seems a bit low if we're supposed to reinforce an entire company." Thunder Clap frowned.
"Maybe," Sun Ray said, "but not even 400 ponies getting split 40 ways," Moon Beam continued, "we lucked out with 12," they finished together. Comet hoped that wouldn't be a regular thing.
"That we did." Rainbow Blaze landed in front of the gathered dozen. The newest members of Cyclone Company saluted. "At ease, airponies. Luckily, we don't have that many positions to fill, and I imagine we might get a few more members from the evaluations at the Fillydelphia training ground or Fort Sunrise evaluations. Our real prize, though, you've already had the chance to ride on.
"Each company has been assigned a battle group of three airships. The Dauntless and the Adamant are two of ours, while our third, the Starfall, already disembarked from Fillydelphia following their evaluation." He looked around at their surprise. "...Is that not cool?"
"Sir, very cool, sir!" Stratus Drifter barked.
"You're damn right it is." Rainbow frowned. "Did I get a bunch of robots, or soldiers? I hope it’s the latter, for your sake; Lt. Firefly likes whipping mediocrity out of her ponies. Sometimes literally." The stallion chuckled at an inside joke. "All the same, we need to rendezvous with them down south as soon as possible. The rest of Cyclone Company is currently stationed in Dodge Province, as far south as it gets. We will be departing at 19:30 aboard the Adamant; the Dauntless is going to be heading out in," he checked a pocket watch, "twenty minutes with fresh armor and supplies. Once we're airborne, we'll fly for two days and stop in Canterlot for a supply pickup. You'll have the morning and afternoon off, and then its nonstop to Dodge at 20:00. Any questions?"
"Sir, are squad assignments going to be determined when we rendezvous with the rest of the platoon?"
"Yes, once we take proper stock of who we have."
"Can we expect any combat en route?"
"The Line should be held still, but that doesn't prevent a small flight from breaking through. So no, but be ready all the same. Anything else?" Silence. "Very well. You are dismissed. I want to see all of you on the dock at 19:00 with your effects ready to go. Don't worry about gear; we have some on the ship in case of emergency, and you'll be getting your own sets when we resupply in Canterlot." The dozen airponies saluted and headed off to pack.
"Comet, how many books do you need to pack?"
"..."
~*~
Comet smiled her most sheepish smile for the clerk. Behind her stood Rain, Fang, Willow, and the pony sized collection of books they had managed to pack into a box.
The clerk's eye twitched. "You know, it would have been easier for you and for me if you had packed them into multiple bunches." The color drained from the filly's face, and Willow let out a long, low expletive. The clerk sighed. "Don't have anything that can take a load like this, kids. Break it up and come back, and then we'll talk." The gave a sullen salute and headed for the door, dragging the oversized package in tow. Comet stopped, ran back to the clerk, wordlessly passed him a small package wrapped in grocery paper, and returned to helping to drag the package out.
The clerk looked the bundle over curiously, noting the tag with his name on it, and unwrapped it. Inside, he found a sterling silver pocket watch, the emblem of the long past unicorn kingdom etched on its front, and a box of quality cigars. Recruits weren't allowed to carry money on the base; how she had gotten these, or where she had learned his name or that he smoked, the clerk did not know.
~*~
The days were getting shorter, and by 19:00, the Adamant was awash in orange sunlight. Rainbow Blaze paced in front of his new blood, pleased but not showing it.
"Sgt. Blaze, permission for a query?"
"What is it, Shimmer?"
"It's my understanding that we are to receive secondary training after our assignment to a company," A few of the others gave her bloodchilling "are you serious” glances, but did not break rank, "but we're shipping out directly to the front line. Is the training still happening, sir?"
"In an accelerated form, yes. Don't give the bookworm crap for knowing what to expect, ponies," he warned. "The fact is, the Guard needs ponies running The Line as soon as possible. If this were a year ago, we'd probably take you and the other newbies out to some remote camp and run drills and practice runs for two more months, but that liberty isn't available to us. You'll be doing whatever training we can afford at Dodge alongside your regular duties to make up for it. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," The twelve ponies saluted.
"Good. May I introduce Captain Candescence, ranking officer of the Adamant. During our voyage, she will be in command. Her orders supercede mine, so don't come crying to me if she has you scrubbing boards. Captain." The cobalt pegasus saluted.
A tall, lavender unicorn with a neat crop of wine-red mane made her way down the ramp. She was decked in her formal attire, but where it seemed a special event on other ponies, the uniform was as fitting on the mare as her own fur. Her subdued red eyes scanned the recruits thoughtfully before she nodded to Rainbow.
"Thank you, Sergeant." The Captain turned to the twelve. "The first thing you will do is find your bunks. Dinner is at 20:00 in the galley. After dinner, report to duties for assignment. We're fully crewed, but you never know when an extra pair of hooves will be needed. If you're not assigned anything, shadow the working crews and observe how we do things. Feel free to ask questions, but don't get in the way. See you all for dinner." The unicorn turned and strode up the ramp onto her ship. The rest followed up, packs in mouths.
Comet had observed two decks of ballistae while on the Dauntless, but discovered an additional two and a half decks once aboard and able to explore. Including the quarterdeck, the ship boasted the main deck, the gun deck, a deck for crew quarters, recreation, and meals, and a storage bay that was twice as high. The weird thing, it seemed to the filly, was how identically the ship was laid out compared to her seafaring cousins. It seemed as though someone had simply pulled a boat out of the water and tied some sheets and a balloon on. Perhaps they had.
Everywhere, ponies were making themselves busy with one task or another. Cyclone Company made their way down to the crew quarters and found a few empty bunks.
"We're moving up in the world, folks," Lily Nimbus joked as she hoisted her pack up onto a top bunk.
"Laugh all you want, airpony," a grey unicorn called across the room the room, "but I'll bet you five bits our cooking is better than what you've been shoveling for months."
"Oh yeah?" Willow Wisp smirked at the crew member. "And what makes you so sure your cooking is any good?"
Earth ponies. Comet and her friends had not had earth pony cooking since they arrived at Basic, and they were all quite sure they had died and gone to heaven. Warm soup with plenty of spices, fresh loaves of bread, and a pasta served up with dried spinach awaited them, and they were quick to partake.
"When we get to Canterlot," Willow called to the unicorn between bites, "I owe you five bits. Completely worth it."
Stratus Drifter leaned over to Stargaze and muttered, "So what do you think of this boat?"
"Hard to say. The captain's pretty frigid, but the rest of the crew seems pretty laid back."
"Captain runs a tight ship, you think?"
"Maybe, but these are the first airships in service, right?" Stargaze shrugged. "They got to prove their worth, especially for a bunch of airborne unicorns."
Stratus nodded in agreement. A sparkle at the purple pegasus’s side caught his eye. “Say, is that one of those magiquartz watches?”
Comet kept looking around the galley. Delicious as the food was, she still found her surroundings odd. It wasn't the curved wooden walls or the soft below deck lighting. It was the company. Being a chiroptequus, she was never the majority, but for six months, almost every pony she had interacted with at least had wings. Now, the twelve of them were almost the only ones. More than seventy percent, she figured, had horns, pointy and bony and stuffed full of magic. She didn't have anything against unicorns or horns, it was just strange to see so many.
The telltale chimes of active magic grew behind the filly, and she turned to look up at a dark blue unicorn with a slightly darker mane. His yellow eyes gave off a soft mirth that, despite her unease from the wingless nature of the crew, calmed Comet’s nerves. “This seat taken?” Cyclone Company shook their heads, and the unicorn sat between Comet and Sun Beam. “I’m Night Light, Combat Arcanist, Second Class. I take it you guys and girls are our combat wing?”
“That’s us,” Stargaze replied, “Cyclone Company. Well, part of us, anyway.”
“Haha, I know, the rest of you are down south. It’ll be nice to have the full battle group together, though I bet it’ll get a lot more crowded in here.”
“Sir, you said 'arcanist,' right? What does that mean you do?” Comet had not heard of the rank before.
“Well, the Magicorps have three schools of magic, essentially: arcane, illusion, and transmutative. You could think of it as raw power, ‘smoke and mirrors,’ and construction and transformation. My real specialty is shields, but I’ve been doing mostly heavy lifting here.”
“No offense, pal,” Thunder Clap said, “but the longer we don’t need your shields, the better.”
"I could say the same for you guys." The unicorn dined happily on his pasta and soup and spent the next few minutes answering questions about the Adamant. It was brand new, maiden voyage new, so he said, and one of the first off the line from the Cloudsdale shipyard. They were armed with sixty high power ballistae that could pierce even dragon scales. When Comet asked why they didn't use the new cannons R&D had recently developed, the unicorn laughed. "What, and have an armory full of explosive powder waiting for a dragon to breathe on? Pass." A resounding, ever-so-slightly off key C note rang across the galley, matched or ignored altogether as ponies launched into the first song of the evening.
"Please say they aren't..." Willow groaned.
"You guys know this one?" Night Light smiled. How any of them were supposed to know which “one” it was, none could say. Shanties are, by nature, all fairly similar.
"Leaving now." Willow Wisp stood abruptly from the table and made for the exit as a baritone unicorn started belching out the chorus to everypony else’s amusement. Rain watched him leave, worry creasing her brow, but she quietly returned to her meal. Lily, Moon Fang, and the twins seemed to be making a time of it, but the others were less enthused. Comet couldn't help but smile though. It reminded her, in an abstract way, of her father's quartet. The filly checked the clock in the corner and decided, singing or no, that it would be best to check the assignment board before it got any later.
The listings were, as the captain had said, completely full. Nothing needed to be done that was not already being seen to, so that left the airpony with one particularly good option. She waited by the board, skimming over a manual she had found about the various pulley systems, until Night Light came out to check his duties. Lily Nimbus and Moon Fang followed him, still singing some tune along with a hoof full of the crew. The filly stood and saluted.
"Arcanist, I saw that there are no jobs for me to take on. Might I be allowed to shadow you for yours?"
"Depends if you're going to keep saluting me, Airpony." He turned to Moon Fang. "Should she be?"
"I'm not familiar with the Magicorps rankings, sir," Moon Fang replied, "but an airpony is the lowest enlisted rank for the Air Guard. How far up is a second class arcanist?"
The unicorn had to think on it. "...Four?"
"Then sorry, sir, but yes, I have to keep saluting." Comet remained saluting, but a smile hung around her muzzle.
"Fine, but just... sir or Night Light is fine, 'Arcanist' still sounds weird." Night Light checked his tab on the board. "Armory check, as usual."
"'Still,' sir?"
"Come on, I'll explain on the way. You two want to come along as well?" Fang and Lily nodded. The four headed for the stairs. "I was in the Castle Guard up until recently, made it to the rank of sergeant. But then the war broke out, and I just felt like... doing something more involved than standing around the castle, if that makes sense.
"I've always been pretty good with my magic, so they transferred me to the Magicorps, and here I am. I graduated with the rank because of my time with the Castle Guard."
"So you were in Canterlot before? I'm from the west district."
"Oh yeah? I didn't know there were many chiropteqi in Canterlot."
"There aren't, sir." It came out a bit sharper than Comet had meant. She never understood how Moon Fang could be so calm about it, but he never broke a sweat. Even when the thought occurred to her and she glanced at him, his gaze conveyed disapproval. "Sorry, sir. It can be a touchy subject."
"Fair enough. So will you be seeing your family when we dock tomorrow?"
"I... hadn't thought about it, sir."
"Well you should. Leave is going to be a rare treat soon enough. Aaand here we are." The armory was situated in the rear of the ship. Stacks upon stacks of heavy metal arrows, each half as big around as a pony's leg, sat in the large space. In the second chamber farther back, the golden gleam of armor could be seen. Perhaps it was just nightfall, but everywhere on the ship seemed dark to Comet.
Night Light picked up the inventory list. "With four of us, this should be a pretty easy job. Shimmer, right? You count rounds with me. No, you don't need to count each one, they should all be in pyramids of ten. We should have eight hundred rounds in here precisely, evenly split, so you take that wall. Airponies Nimbus and..." the colt bared his teeth for the unicorn, "Fang, thank you, take stock of the armor and weapons. Here's the list." The two ponies saluted and headed off.
"So, sir, will you be seeing your family?" Comet asked as she tallied rounds.
"Nah, my family is up in Vanhoover. Wrong direction. If I'm lucky, I'll be spending the afternoon with my girlfriend." He pulled out a locket and waved the filly over. Inside was a photo of a white mare with a striped mane. The way she smiled made her eyes sparkle. Comet had to assume Night Light had taken the photo. "She's the most amazing mare I've ever met. She works in the Central Library. I-" he bit his tongue.
"Sir?"
"Nothing, Airpony. Get back to counting." Comet gave her superior a curious glance, but returned to her task.
"Do you think we're all ready, sir?"
"To head south, you mean?"
"Yes sir."
"Hmmm," Night Light checked off his 20th stack, "officially, yes. We're all enlisted officers, qualified to do our jobs. And hay, you and your squad fought simulation dragons already. If I hadn't known they were fake, I'd have believed they were the real thing."
"You were there?"
"We were there for every run. Let me tell you, it took a while." The unicorn chuckled. "I think we're as ready to head south as we're going to be, Airpony. Running drills and doing more push ups is only going to do so much."
"Yes sir." The filly tallied the 40th stack. "All rounds present on my end, sir."
"And on mine. Airponies, how's it looking back there?"
"All the armor suits are here, Night Light," Lily called out.
"Weapons are all accounted for too." Moon Fang walked out with the checklist in his mouth and gave it to the unicorn.
"Great. If we were expecting battle, the next task would be to take rounds out to each of the stations and make sure they're stocked. For now, we just need to make sure everything's still here. Alright, that'll be all for now. Go shadow somepony else, or relax, I'm not your boss."
"You... kind of are, sir."
"Ah, zip it," The unicorn gestured. "Fine, I'll give you guys a tour or something. Come on, the ship's pretty simple in its layout, but its best you know where everything is."
They passed back through the gun deck, up to the main deck, where Night Light showed them the main rigging for the shipside sails. The balloon sails, he pointed, were rigged up farther back, but they weren't likely to be touching those ever. The top deck was otherwise pretty straightforward: more ballista stations, a few crates and barrels, the stairs to the quarter deck and the door to the captain's quarters, and orders to keep it clear at all times.
The crew deck, they had already explored much of. The infirmary was past the galley, across from a "lounge" where a few tables, chairs, and a bar were kept. With everypony handling evening duties, it was nearly empty, but Night Light advised them to claim seats early if they wanted to have one for the night. It was an unofficial reward for finishing duties quickly. The bottom deck was partially packed with supplies. Everything there had been brought out from their original departure, and the remaining space would disappear once they reached Canterlot.
"And that's about everything. Questions?"
"Are there any gangways along the balloon?"
"None, though the pegasi do go up and inspect the balloon and sails every afternoon while the light's good."
"Do we ever get to fire a ballista?" Lily seemed particularly eager at the thought.
"Only if Tartarus is frozen over and you're not out flying in combat, then maybe. Though truth be told, Cpt. Candescence might have you practice loading and firing for good measure." His answer was clearly not what the pink pegasus was hoping for, but she accepted it. "Good? Alright, let's head back up to the deck. I heard something about breaking out the drinks tonight."
~*~
"Shimmer, wake up." Willow Wisp shook the filly. "Shimmer, wake the buck up." Moon Beam finally arrived with a small bowl of water. The lemon yellow colt took it and dumped it on Comet's face.
The filly bolted upright, the tail end of a cry dying off in a confused haze. "W-why am I wet?"
"You were shouting in your sleep, Egghead." The yellow pegasus frowned.
"Oh, oh Faust, I'm sorry. I woke you?" Willow and Moon Beam both nodded. Comet noticed Stratus watching from his bunk discreetly. "I'm sorry... Was I saying anything?"
"Thought I heard 'get it off' at one point," the blue twin said.
"Was it about the blood?" Willow asked. Comet nodded slowly. "It wasn't real, Shimmer."
"It felt real, Wisp. It was warm, and sticky, and it was in my eyes and my ears and my nose," Comet shuddered, "And when I woke up the next morning, my bunk was stained with it after two showers."
The pegasus sighed. "I get it. Hey, look at me." The colt chuckled inwardly at the thought that she could see better right now than him. "I swear, it wasn't real. Everypony is fine, including you. If you want, we can talk about it tomorrow morning, but try to get some sleep for now, ok?"
The filly nodded. "Thanks, Cheerleader. Sorry to wake you guys." The two pegasi went back to their bunks, and Comet dried her face on her blanket. The filly lay her head against the pillow, but sleep was slow to come. As she lay facing the ceiling, listening to the wind carry them south, she knew where she was going to in two days time. There was somepony who always knew what to say, somepony she knew she could trust to set her straight.