-----------(Pov: Twilight Sparkle)
The cold winter air burned my nostrils as I observed the camp. Applejack sat next to me on top of the cliff, the sun barely visible over the horizon. I breathed out through my mouth, watching as the steam floated lazily up into the air. It was nearly time for graduation, which would take place four days from now.
I somehow made it, I somehow survived bootcamp. The first week there, Princess Celestia had sent me a letter, it stated I could quit and go home whenever I wished. I never went through with it, knowing my friends couldn’t leave even if I did. But it had become so much more than just a loyalty to my friends, it had become a loyalty to my fellow soldiers.
“Ya think it’ll snow?” Applejack asked.
“Not that I know of, the Baltimare weather team said they will not allow it to snow here until the war is over.”
“Speakin’ of th’ war, why did they bother t’ teach us a’vanced courses? Shouldn’t we be goin out t’ war after Phase Three?”
“I heard from Cobalt that after the initial invasion, the war has fallen into a standstill, we might just end up being cleanup,” I said, running my hands through the short grass covering the top of the cliff.
“Ah reckon yer correct. You ready fer th’ war games today?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I heard Cobalt talking to Fire Flight about becoming the Standard bearer if the 27th win.”
“We’ll win, we got a damn good sharpshooter and Rarity’s part ninja or somethin’ fancy like that,” Applejack said with a snort, standing up,” Ah should probably go an’ wake up my tent.”
I nodded, standing up as well. This was either going to be great or horrible.
----------(POV: Fire Flight)
I lifted up my unsheathed shortsword, hitting it against the lantern in the middle of the tent.
“Wake up, War Games are today!”
“Five more minutes, I was just at the good part....” Solar mumbled, stuffing her face under her pillow.
I walked over to the blonde-haired girl and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet,” I’m expected to wake you guys up on time, and I am not getting smoked because of your laziness again.”
“Haha, very funny, you just wake up too early. What happened to the seventeen year old who never wanted to wake up?” Solar asked, yawning as she stretched.
“She was replaced with the eighteen year old who wants to win the War Games so I can get that Celestia-damned Standard.”
“What is up with you and that Standard? It’s old and rusty, and the last person who carried it died in a blizzard,” Ice remarked, frost dancing off his fingertips as he, too, stretched,” Hm, funny, ice kills fire.”
“We both know that I would kill you before you killed me in a real fight,” I said, waving my hand in a joking manner,” Besides, the Standard is going to be mine, Grasshopper is not winning this time. C’mon, we have to head out now or Sarge is gonna start yelling at us again.”
Lead, Ice, and Solar all nodded, following me out of the tent once we put on our armor. The steel of my armor was smooth and silent, the leather underneath muffling any noise. I latched my helmet on as we walked, The black plume signaling my Legion.
Sergeant Sea Foam stood outside of her tent, looking over the crowd slowly gathering around her.
“So, soldiers, today are the War Games. I’m expecting this Platoon to win, because if you do, I will treat every single one of you to drinks up in Baltimare.”
We cheered as she continued.
“But, I will not be leading you, neither will Cobalt, I am expecting all of you to do it yourselves.”
Our smiles feel from our faces, this was bad. Glancing over at Twilight, I raised an eyebrow. She was an amazing strategist as far as I was concerned, I’d definitely put her as Centurion. Centurion was more of an honorary title, held by the person with the highest ranking in a Platoon, or the smartest in this case.
Twilight smiled sheepishly as everyone turned to look at her,” Um, I guess I could lead.”
Everyone cheered once again, chanting Twilight’s name. Sergeant Sea Foam looked on with a neutral expression, uncharacteristically waiting for everyone to quiet down.
“The rules are simple, don’t commit any war crimes, dont poke anyone’s eye out, and for Celestia’s sake, please put the dulling enchantment on all your weapons,” Sea Foam said as everyone settled down,” You have forty-eight hours to capture the other Platoon’s base, the Games start at noon. Report back here to Captain Cobalt in thirty minutes for preparations.”
----------
“Be careful with the paint, it is enchanted to simulate the actual feeling of getting wounded,” Dad said as he handed each soldier a rag with red paint on it, ” The bullets that you will be using are made from rubber and filled with the paint, so don’t play around with them too much.”
The Platoon gave nods of understanding as we painted our weapons with the crimson shade. The War Games were scheduled to begin in four hours, just enough time to get to the battlefield and set up our defenses .
“How will we know when we are dead?” someone asked from the crowd. I quickly spotted them, a young woman with orange hair and either blue or grey eyes.
“Oh, the enchantment will be sure to let you know,” Dad replied with a wicked grin,” I should know, considering I had to make sure it worked before I brought it here.”
My eyes widened as I finished with my shortsword and began to load my revolver with the rubber bullets. I feel sorry for the guy I’m gonna shoot these at. Ouch.
I glanced over at Applejack, watching as the Terra loaded her rifle and began painting her shortsword as well.
“Hey, Applejack, is my squad in your guys’ battalion?” I asked, causing her to look up at me.
“Yeah, Ah think so,” She said shortly, we never really talked that much anyways.
I nodded as I finished, sheathing the shortsword once it dried. Standing up from where I sat on a supply crate, I walked over to my father and gave him a salute.
“Captain, permission to ask a question.”
“Permission granted,” Dad said with a mostly neutral expression.
“May I take the Standard to the outpost for the Games?” I asked, a pleading tone in my voice.
“I am afraid I cannot grant that request.”
“Wha- Yessir.” I said, biting my lip in frustration.
Dad dismissed my offer and turned away, walking back through the crowds as I remained in the same spot. With a sour look on my face, I turned on my heel and marched back over to my friends. I huffed as I planted my rear in the dirt next to Solar, the Bat Aeros giving me a knowing expression.
“Didn’t budge?” She asked.
“I don’t understand! Why can’t he just give me the Standard? It’s all old and rusty anyways, I don’t see the point of not giving it to me,” I looked angrily at the dirt in front of me, Solar giving me three hard pats on the back.
“Listen, you’ll be fine, just win this thing and then the old rusty bird is all yours, my friend.”
“Why is that thing so important to you anyways?” Ice asked as he packed his backpack for the Games.
“She’s a Fire Areos, I’d think she’d find that ol’ thing important considerin’ it’s either her or Grasshopper,” Lead said, sheathing his sword and standing up,” Now c’mon, we’re gonna be headin’ out in a sec.”
“I knew your flaming hands were good for something!” Solar said, laughing abruptly as she remembered something,” Hey, Fire, remember that one time your hands set on fire and my mom wouldn’t let you in the house because of your class? You ran around in a panic and set the forest near our house on fire. Your mom was furious when she found out, she made you work with her for the rest of the week.”
I groaned as Ice and Lead started laughing, “Yeah, I remember, the smell of dead fish haunts me.”
“Soldiers, get into marching formation!” Dad yelled as everyone finished their preparations, snapping us out of our laughter.
Throwing our backpacks on, we marched into our formations and faced northwards. Dad held the Standard in his grasp as he jumped onto his horse, which was tied up near his tent. Riding around in front of us, he yelled out our orders as we began to move.
“Forward march, doubletime!” He yelled, our pace picking up to something just under a jog as we marched northwards.
I looked out over the water, our direction taking us right along the cliffs above the ocean. I could see small boats out in the water, soldiers rowing them out onto the open water. In the distance was the fuzzy outline of an airship. Little black dots flew around it, as if on patrol.
The air burned my lungs, the cool sting of winter laced through the branches of the dead trees above us. The crunch of fallen leaves beneath my shoes filled the midday air with some type of sound besides the clinking of metal and the movement of feet. My helmet sat on my head, the familiar weight of it calming as we marched on up the coastline.
A good hour of silent marching followed, but only near the end did I notice the snowcapped mountains coming closer and the smell of gunpowder and ash laced in the air. Dad rode up a narrow pass near the start of the mountain and up into a small clearing.
A wooden structure stood proudly in the middle of the clearing, the trees near the edges thinned out to prevent an ambush. Giant walls of stone rose on all sides of the outpost, The jagged spires rising up into the sky above me. Little pathways were cut into the stone, appearing hastily made by the rough patterns that cut through them.
I turned to watch as my father ran into the building. Following him, I stood near the entrance to the outpost. He lifted the Standard up with both hands, and, with a grunt, he buried the pointed end of the Standard into the ground. He turned around, a glint in his eye as he walked out of the wooden structure and back to his horse.
Jumping on the back of the black and white beast, he yelled out one last command, “Set up defenses, I will be leaving now, soldiers, I know we will win!”
A panicked jolt went through me as Dad took off out of the outpost, causing me to look around frantically. What am I supposed to do? Where the hell is Twilight? What if I get hurt? What about the Standard? Are we defending it? Wait.
Despite the noise of people shouting and setting up the base, I remained frozen in place, my mind running through a million thoughts per second. But in the middle of my rapid thinking, one thought stood out as I looked around the clearing and up at the pass obscuring it, one eyebrow raised.
Do we even know where the other team is?
-----------
Twilight ruffled her short hair with one of her hands as she looked over a roughly sketched map. I shifted from foot to foot, my wings twitching with impatience. My helmet was placed snugly under my arm as I waited for our Centurion, who sat cross-legged on the ground, to speak up. The Elements of Harmony stood in the room with me, as well as Lightning Hoof, Grasshopper, and the other squad leaders.
Twilight cleared her throat, causing all of the soldiers in the room to look at the Teraruni,” Okay, so, what I have figured out is that we have no clue as to where the enemy outpost is.”
I rolled my eyes. Thank you, Captain Obvious, we totally didn’t know that already.
“ But, we do have the ability and numbers to send out scouts,” She said, one hand on her knee and the other on the map,” I say that we send out a small team, maybe three or four scouts, to locate the base.”
“And who will these scouts be?” Lightning asked, crossing his arms.
“We should take a vote, out of every person currently in the room,” Twilight said, glancing around for approval as we all nodded.
I raised my hand,” I vote for Fluttershy.”
The quiet girl glanced at me and smiled nervously as everyone turned to look at her.
“Who else votes for Fluttershy?” Twilight asked
Out of all twenty people in the room, more than half raised their hands. Twilight smiled over at Fluttershy as the girl squeaked under all the attention. Turning back around, Twilight waited for another vote to begin.
Grasshopper raised his hand,” I vote for Rarity and Pinkie Pie.”
Rarity glanced up in surprise from where she sat next to Twilight. Pinkie Pie bounced on her heels, a barely contained grin erupting across her face.Twilight nodded as she glanced around the room.
“Who votes for Rarity?” She asked, most of the hands in the room shooting up, including my own, “ Now, who votes for Pinkie Pie.”
There was a moment of silence, no one raised their hands as they glanced around nervously. The smile on the pink- haired Terra’s face fell slowly as seconds ticked by.
Twilight, sighed, looking over at the girl, whose long hair had fallen flat, “Well, then, I’m sorry Pinkie, but-”
“I vote for Pinkie Pie,” I said, raising my hand.
Everyone stared at me, but slowly, others began to raise their hands. Pinkie looked at me, a smile coming back across her face as she was voted on the scouting team.
“Anyone else?” Twilight asked.
A soldier I had never talked to raised her hand,” I vote for Fire Flight.”
I nearly choked on air as I looked at the green-haired girl. Coughing, I straightened up,” Um, I am the least qualified for this and I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Slowly, more hands began to raise as I shook my head. I looked over at Twilight with a pleading expression, but she just sat there, her eyes narrowed in thought.
“Fire Flight,” she said, catching my attention,” As the group has voted, you will be on the scouting team.”
“Um, I- uh,” I stuttered, my shoulders falling,” I-I- yes Twilight.”
Twilight smiled at me and stood up,” Okay, so now that we have a team, we need to think of where to send you, and at what time.”
“Maybe we should go when it is dark, Twilight,” Rarity said, adjusting her armor,” It will be harder to see, but there is a lesser chance of us getting captured or ‘killed’.”
I nodded my head,” They will probably light a few fires to avoid an ambush, it’ll make our job easier.”
Pinkie jumped up and down, her hand in the air, “Oh, oooooh! Do we get to use explosives?”
Twilight shook her head,” No, this is a scouting mission, you can use them during the actual battle... Are we even allowed to use explosives?”
The leaders looked at one another and shrugged, a chorus of ‘I don’t know’s going through the group. Twilight ran a hand through her hair and picked up the map, handing it to Fluttershy.
“Anyways, this is a scouting mission, so.....do not attack unless attacked,” Twilight said with a shrug, the last part coming out as more of a question.
Our small team nodded, Fluttershy speaking up from where she sat with the map,” Um, Twilight, what do we take with us?”
Twilight put her hand under her chin, thinking aloud as she spoke,” Take.... your weapons, some food, and..... the map.”
We nodded again, Twilight sitting back down.
“You four should go and get ready, sundown is in an hour,” Twilight said, turning to the other leaders,” I have to come up with some plans for defense and watch rotations.”
I nodded and walked out of the room. looking up at the Standard in the main room, my eyebrows lowered in frustration. You will be mine by graduation.