//------------------------------// // 11. The Fun Begins // Story: Force of the Falcon // by Omega6047 //------------------------------// --Chapter 11-- The Fun Begins 5 days passed since the clones arrived in Ponyville. Since then a lot of things happened. Twilight had officially introduced them to the town, causing quite a panic-show at first. It turns out that Ponyville isn’t really inhabited by the bravest of ponies, and the moment Falcon walked onto the stage he was greeted by a swarm of ponies screaming in fear, yelling about saving the children, fainting in overly dramatic way or just running away. All this made Twilight repeatedly hit her head over the wall. The only exceptions were a few ponies that Pinkie have invited to her party. They did the screaming before. Falcon eventually calmed them all down, through simply yelling at them and calling them a bunch cowards in his Drill Sergeant mode, and once the entire town was standing at attention, he calmly explained everyone that he is not a threat to them and that he comes in peace, calming everyone down. Then Shaw walked onto the stage and everything started again. Princess Luna has sent a group of construction workers to rebuild the old magazine, and despite Twilight’s protesting about the safety of working in ‘the lair of hellish demons from Tartarus’, they begun to work anyways. Falcon quickly realized how good they were working together. Not only the construction workers, but also random ponies he saw on the streets. It quickly became obvious to him that ponies have are naturally much more keen on working in groups than humans, with few rare exceptions here and there. This was something he was going to keep in mind when training them. The other important thing that happened, was the rest of ‘Interpid’s’ crash survivors being moved to Ponyville. Save for Tracker, who stayed in canterlot because he was going to have magic detecting protease installed in place of his eyes. The others were all in good health and all that was left was waiting for the spell that keeps them asleep to wear out. Falcon himself often visited the hospital, staying close to his brothers and a close friend. Meanwhile, Shaw was mostly sitting in Twilight’s library. Either reading, or working alongside Twilight. They had a few projects in minds. First they were planning on making suits for ponies to make sure they won’t die during a planned escapade to the wrack of the ‘Interpid’. Second on their list was preparing uniforms for the ‘Lunar Ravens’. They didn’t have anything in mind at the time, but they both preferred to take on one project at the time. The rest of their list was mostly focused on advancing Equestria’s technology level. Abuyin was beginning to fit into the town herself. She grew to love the town quite fast, saying that she would chose it over dealing with Canterlot’s stuck-up nobles anytime. Her house was a bit smaller than that in Canterlot, but she didn’t mind, she still liked it more. She said that the mountain of Canterlot was too cold for her taste. Falcon have questioned her about the country of Saddle Arabia, as well as her past in there. Apparently her past was a touchy subject for her, and considering the fact that Celestia has personally asked her to not talk about it to anypony, Falcon didn’t press on that (not that he has gained any respect for her, he just didn’t want her to have more reasons to hate him). According to her, Saddle Arabia is a monarchy ruled by King Osbama Im Ronar Osge V (His full name is longer than Abuyin’s, and she doesn’t bother herself with it) who is known for doing absolutely nothing accept hoarding wealth and power. The country practices things like slavery, public executions and tortures, all of which are common thing all around the country. What was the most interesting information for Falcon was the state of the army, even though she didn’t know much. Her description created an image in his head that was very similar to the droid army. A numerous, badly trained and equipped main branch of an army composed mostly from ponies forced into the military against their will, along with multitude of specialized units composed of mostly badly trained, but well equipped soldiers. At the first glance it wasn’t anything to be really proud of, but considering the fact that even though Celestia’s royal guard is much bigger in number it would still be unable to hold a candle to army of King Osbama in a fight, which was able hold off the might of Grefis Empire for long enough to force the Empire’s army to retreat due to a lack of supplies. There’s currently a big rebellion going on, but Abuyin doesn’t know much about it since she was already in Equestria when that happened. Now, the situation in Apple family was quite an interesting one. The sudden return of Lucid Brush caused quite the stir in the town, especially after the reveal of his Joining, but none of it came even close to what was going on within the Apple family itself. Not only within the Sweet Apple Acers, even though they were the ones who were most affected by it. When the news spread, almost an entire Apple Clan came to Ponyville and since Pinkie was there as well, it all ended up in a huge ‘returning home’ party. Big Mackintosh went through what probably was the biggest emotional breakdown of his life, while Granny Smith had to be reanimated. Applebloom barely remembered him at all, but she was more than happy none the less, and quickly proceeded to tell about it to all of her friends, and then her entire class. Now however, was the time Falcon was waiting on for this five days. The first day of ‘official’ training of the first squad of Lunar Ravens. Falcon marched through the Everfree forest with six ponies marching behind him. They were heading towards The Castle of Two Sisters, which is what he was going to use as a training ground. He was there a few times before to get a look at the structure and the surrounding area, so he knew the way quite well, and even if he forgot, he still had a map in his helmet. Shaw wasn’t there with them. He stayed in the library to finish the suits he and Twilight have been working on. Abuyin have stayed in Ponyville as well. Falcon have decided that she’s going to be a part of the second team. That, and she needed to grow accustom to working in Ponyville Hospital, which despite town’s relatively small population was a rather busy one. They reached the forest in a bit over an hour. Falcon purposely led them through a harder way, in order to see how they were coping with physical effort. Rainbow didn’t have problems at all, even though she was forbidden from flying. She easily matched Falcon’s pace, on few occasions trying to go ahead of him. Falcon’s obvious response was getting the idea out of her head with few additional exercises she had to do along the way. And then, because she was doing so well, he have her few more exercises in reward. Pinkie also had no problems, at least at first. Her constant jumping around and babbling, earned her few exercise sessions she did along with Rainbow. Her slight overweight started to slow her down rather quickly, especially when they were walking to the top of a big hill. Applejack managed to get through everything without a problem. She was not only used to handling hard exercise, but also had no problems with accepting the chain of command. Something she learned the hard way as a rebellious child by trying to oppose her granny. Her butt was never the same after the old mare was done with her. Rarity was the complete opposite of that. Not only was she whining the whole way, but she also completely failed at everything she was supposed to do. She had to be explained how to properly do push-ups, how to march, and pretty much how to do everything Falcon ordered her to do. Her constant whining about 'not wanting to get dirty' was finally silenced when Falcon made her swim through a muddy lake, which turned her perfectly kept mane into a mess of dirt and her clean, white fur was matted brown. Twilight was somewhere between the two, though Falcon had more respect for her than anyone else. While she had more than a few problems with keeping up with the rest, she was the most determined one to get everything right. She also made no attempts to question anything Falcon made her do, and just did it, no matter how hard it was for her. She was in fact quite helpful with encouraging the rest to work harder, though she was doing it in a much calmer way than Falcon did. While Fluttershy was not as weak as some think she is, she’s quite a problem to get a hold on. She was constantly running around in order to help whatever little animals they’ve encountered along the way. While Falcon admired her devotion to helping others, especially considering the position he had planned for her, but at the moment her job was following orders, and she failed at that. In a result, she was forced to perform amount of additional exercises that rivaled that of Rainbow. When they finally reached the castle, every pony was reduced to panting, quivering masses, barely able to hold themselves on their hooves. “Alright, you get 5 minutes of rest.” And with that magic words said, all ponies fell on the ground as if they were fallen trees. Heh, and the fun just begun... He thought as he sat down on a rock. Exactly one minute later, Falcon decided he was done sitting. “Alright, everyone get up!” Twilight was the first one to force herself up and stand in front of him, ready for further orders. “B-but you said that we have five minutes!” Rarity tried to argue. “I meant five Sekhininan minutes. That’s one minute here. Now get up!” She humphed as she forced her tired body up, followed by the rest o the group. They all stood in line in front of him, still panting a bit. “Alright, listen up.” He begun. “As you already know I am going to be your Staff Sargent during your training to become the first unit of Lunar Ravens. That means that you talk, walk, eat and piss when and how I tell you. You are to refer to me as ‘sir’ of ‘commander’. Am I clear!?" "Yes sir!" They said. "Yes commander!" Pinkie said. "Good. Now, I've already informed you that you will all be a part of one team. Each of you will have a permanent role assigned to you that will be determined during the training. Twilight Sparkle! Step ahead!" She did that and raised her hear high, standing at attention. "You are going to be the team's leader. You will be responsible for keeping everyone together and in high spirits. Understood?" "Yes sir. Thank you." She stepped back in line. "Good. Now, as for-“ "Wait, why is she a leader!?" Rainbow argued. "I mean, not that I don't like her or anything, but she's an egghead. She barely could keep up with us on a way here!" Falcon slowly walked up to her and looked down, taking off his helmet.. "Are you questioning my decision?" He said. "Y-ye... no..." She dropped her head down. "Good, because I was about to make you do twenty push-ups. Now you'll get thirty." "W-what!?" "Do you have a problem with that? Would you like to do forty?" "I... N-no, sir..." "Good. So like I said, all of you will do thirty push-ups, while Rainbow gets fifty." Rainbow was visibly shocked by that, but didn't say a word. Twilight obviously didn't have anything to say about it either, and proceeded to give it all she had. So did Applejack. The rest however was a little less eager to start. Pinkie was by now barely able to lift herself off the ground, Rarity tried to fake a twisted ankle (getting 10 more push-ups and a run around the castle in reward, as well as an offer to experience what a real twisted ankle feels like) and Fluttershy tried to run off, and when Falcon caught her, he made her run around the castle for one and a half hour straight. She would be running more, but she had passed out. Falcon have spent the entire afternoon on making the life harder for each of them. It was a good thing he had water brought there before, because they needed it quite often. Shortly after Fluttershy regained her consciousness, Rarity have taken her place in the land of dreams. And soon after that, Twilight gave into tiredness as well. Falcon lifted her half-conscious body off the ground, and while the rest was busy with running around with heavy rocks tied to their hooves, took her into the castle. He lied her down in the only functional bed in the entire castle, along with already asleep Rarity. "Don't... I can... take it..." The unicorn mumbled as she tried to get up. Her attempts were however completely fruitless, as she barely had enough strength left in her to slightly lift her hoof up. "Quiet. You've done more than enough for today. Now get some rest. That's an order." "Yes... sir..." Her eyes closed and instantly she fell into the realm of dreams. Falcon smiled a bit underneath his helmet, but the smile slowly was replaced with curiosity. What makes Twilight so keen on working as hard as she does? He knew that Twilight was used to being taught by someone, but not in a way he does things. Maybe Shaw will know something. These two are spending quite a lot of time together. He chuckled at the memory of finding these two fighting over Twilight's computer. Shaw wanted to make some upgrades, while Twilight was afraid of letting others touch her stuff. It ended in a big boom. He went back outside, smiling again as he saw The still conscious ones lying on the ground. “Alright maggots!” He yelled. “Warm up’s over, time for the real fun to begin.” Falcon have finally allowed the group to leave when the moon rose up and took the sun’s place. He have stayed behind to wait for Twilight to wake up, using the time to think. The unicorn have remained asleep for all this time, but Falcon felt no need to wake her up. She did enough already (not that he would succeed anyways, the unicorn was sleeping like a stone). The clone sat on the stairs as he looked at the moon, his helmet lying beside him. His thoughts circled around the cruiser on its surface. Or more specifically about how he was going to get back. And did he want to come back in the first place. Was the republic really so important for him that he would want to leave a place that that grew on him so quickly? He didn’t know. But he felt as if something was keeping him here. With a sigh, he got up and walked back into the castle. Twilight was still asleep and showing no signs of intent to change that fact. It was already a middle of the night, so he decided there was no point in waiting any longer. He lifted her off the bed and begun to carry her towards Ponyville. He used a much faster way in order to reach the town. At those hours the forest was pretty dangerous place to be in. While during the day, the worst you could find was a pack of timber wolves, which were barely a threat, unless you are a bunny. At night however, much more dangerous predators come out to feast. Luckily, Falcon hadn't encountered any of them, and reached the town without any problems. The streets were also empty as he walked towards the library with an asleep unicorn in his arms. He took a key out of Twilight’s saddle bags and opened the door. He was immediately greeted by Shaw, who was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by mannequins with space suits on them. “Are you finished with them?” He asked. “They all seem to be ready, all that’s left is to get some testing done on them and we’re good to visit ‘Intrepid’.” He replied. “Um... Sir, why are you carrying Twi?” “Twi? Since when are you two on pet names?” “Since she asked me to sleep with her because she was having nightmares.” He said without thinking. “No wait, I don’t-!“ It was too late to save anything. Falcon begun to laugh hysterically as he placed Twilight down on the couch. “I hope it wasn’t like the last time!” Tears appeared in corners of his eyes as he laughed at the memory. “N-nothing happened!” The clone yelled, glad that the helmet was covering his reddened face. “Here or in that cantina?” Falcon smirked, barely able to hold off laughter. “I didn’t do anything with that barmaid!” He argued. “That was the last time I went drinking on a leave…” He muttered under his nose.” “Oh, come on! Through the entire night you were boasting about how “you’re going get into some Jedi’s robes”. And you did get into someone’s robes. When Sakri asked barmaid to put on her robe.” Another wave of laughter washed over him. “NOTHING! HAPPENED!” “Then why, have Sakri found you in her place when she was looking for that robe?” “I-I was there because I passed out and she carried me to her place. That’s all.” “In that case, why were you tied up to her bed with that robe? Why was she lying on top of you? And finally, why were you two naked?” Falcon’s smile widened with each question. Shaw didn’t answer, he just stood still for a few moments. “I…” He finally spoke. “I need to go to bed…” And with that said, he turned around and slowly walked upstairs. Falcon was still looking at him with a smile on his face, but suddenly an idea struck him. His glaze fell down on Twilight, who was still sleeping heavily, with her tongue falling out of her mouth. The smile on his face became even wider as he lifted the unicorn and proceeded to turn his plan into action. The moonlight lit up the hospital room, and a sole bed inside it. In the bed, lied Tracker. His slow, regular breathing was suddenly changed by a big breath he took, as he groaned and moved under the covers. He was immediately hit with strange feeling coming from his head. He moved his hand to his forehead, trying to null the feeling. It didn’t go away, in fact it became a bit stronger with each passing second. He tried to open his eyes, but everything remained dark. What is going on? He thought. Suddenly, something changed. The strange feeling remained, but something else joined it. That something was his vision. But it wasn’t the same as it used to be. He couldn’t ‘see’ anything that was further than 20 meters, but he was able to look at things that were behind the walls and all around him. Everything has lost its colors, instead being replaced with white lines. His body was different however. It had a faint light to it, and he could make out his features, including the face. He felt sick, but despite this, managed to get out of the bed, still asking himself one question. What is going on?