The Line

by Sooks

Ch.3 - Training

“Sprained wing. Doesn't look like anything tore, lucky you.” The doctor, one of the few unicorns in the fort, bound Comet’s injured wing to her side with a splint and bandages, leaving the other free to move. The chiroptequus lay on a bed of white sheets, surrounded by sky blue walls and tile. The medical ward was nearly empty aside from her, just as the doctor preferred it. Without asking the approval of the three ponies in the room, he reached into a coat pocket, drew a well used oaken pipe, and lit its contents with his magic. “Give it a week, don’t move it, and let me know if the pain is still bad after a few days.”

“What about exercises, Doctor?”

“If it were just your wing, I’d say you could still do your runs and whatever else. But the sprain spreads close enough to your shoulder that you should keep off that leg for a bit too.” The doctor leaned in, making sure Comet was looking him in the eye. “Listen. I know how you recruits can get, but if you try to exert an injured wing, the damage could stay with you for the rest of your life. Stay off it. Clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“No worries, there, Doc. Shimmer should find plenty to read in her library for a week.” Sparky Bolts joked. Silver Raindrops chuckled disapprovingly, and even Comet managed a smile. A clatter of hooves grew louder in the hall before Stratus Drifter appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, you two still here? We’re supposed to be back at practice already.” The two pegasi nodded and started out.

“I’ll come with you.” Comet eased off the bed. “Is that alright, Doctor?” The unicorn nodded. She would have saluted, but with an injured leg making that difficult, she could only stand at attention until he turned and headed to his office. Silence reigned over the group as they headed out, save for four sets of hoof falls. Comet Shimmer walked with a noticeable limp, but held pace. She kept catching glances from the other three, particularly Stratus, until finally she felt obligated to ask, “How is he?”

Stratus Drifter gave her a curious glance. “Well, that kick nearly shattered his left nasal bone. When I left, they were still setting it.” The others winced at the thought.

Rain was the first to speak up. “Is he…”

“Apparently, he isn't going to be discharged for his injury. Can’t say about his behavior. Either way, it’ll be a month before his nose is back to normal. Don’t know how long that’ll keep him out of exercises. What about you, Shimmer?”

“One week, hopefully.”

“That’s good. I don’t suppose you managed to land on your head too?” Comet shook her head quizzically. “Great, so you’re still gonna own our flanks in the lectures.”

“Maybe if you paid attention instead of drawing that filly from Breaker Platoon, you’d score higher.” Stratus Drifter stopped dead in his tracks and gawked at the smaller filly. She gave him a humored little smile in return. “You sit right in front of me every lecture, it would be hard not to notice. You’re pretty good at drawing, by the way.” the dumbstruck pegasus continued to stand and make little sputtering noises as the other three continued down the hall.

Practice had resumed by the time they returned, as if nothing had ever happened. There wasn’t even any blood left on the mat. Lieutenant Thunderhead noticed them returning and nodded them over. “Well?”

“Ma’am,” Comet made her handicapped salute. “Doctor says one week off my right wing and foreleg. Recruit Drifter reported a month of recovery for Recruit Clap’s nose.” When the Lieutenant looked to Stratus, he nodded a quick affirmation. Thunderhead snorted. Did that mean she was amused? Did Lieutenant Thunderhead ever get amused?

“You three, back to practice. Twenty minutes to go, move it!” She turned on the remaining pony. “So if you’re off physical for a week, what are you doing here?”

“Ma’am, I was hoping I might observe for the remainder of the class.”

“You think watching other ponies work will buff up those sticks you call legs, Recruit?”

“No Ma'am. I thought that, by observing the others, I might find ways to improve my own technique, Ma'am.” Her logic was sound. Watertight? No, but enough. Thunderhead leaned in close to her until their noses were nearly touching. Comet would have been alright if the Lieutenant’s eyes were full of fury or aggression. She’d dealt with it enough today, and she was expecting more here. But no, her c.o.’s eyes were cold, still, sizing her up down to the last hair on her eartip.

“Technique ain’t your problem, recruit. You know it, I know it, hell, I could grab some wide eyed colt still praying for his cutie mark and he’d know it. I figured somepony would eventually take a swing at Thunder Clap. He’s big, loud, obnoxious, and takes what he wants. He’s the kind of ass that gets on people’s bad sides. But he can hoist a glaive. The only thing I’ve seen you hoist is books, and books won’t win wars.

“You’re off exercises until you recover, recruit. But when you return to full duty, I expect more of you. If I have any reason to believe you’re slacking, you will regret it. Is that clear?”

“Crystal, Ma'am.”

“Then why are you still here?” Thunderhead marched off to give some poor pair hell, leaving Comet to limp her way to the side of the room. But instead of watching her classmates like she had planned, she mulled over the sergeant’s words syllable by syllable. All of it was right on the money. Three months into training, Comet had a slim chance of passing. Even if she did, she had an even smaller chance of surviving. Somepony had made an investment in her, and she was not living up to it.

Three months were down, three were left to go. And if something did not change, it was only going to get worse.

~*~

A tall stack of letters and packages stood behind the counter of the mailroom. The unicorn stallion behind the front desk looked up at her, huffed, and smirked a knowing smirk.

“Looks like I can finally get you off my back, Recruit. Just got this shipment in half an hour ago.” He went around the pile, grabbed the twine binding of a package as large as his head, and hovered it back to the counter with his magic. “Sign here, kid.” Comet scribbled her name down on a form, checked a box or two, and looked up at her delivery. She made to grab it, but paused when a twinge shot up her wing. Both she and the clerk looked at her bandages. “Well damn. Fine, how about you get something to eat. I’ll have it run down to your hall for this evening.”

“Thank you, sergeant.” Comet Shimmer gave him a full salute despite the ache, wrote down her room for him, and headed for the mess. She arrived just a few seconds before the rush of recruits came pouring in. Dinner was a light pasta with leftover rolls from earlier, and, by Celestia’s broad wingspan, milk. She picked an empty table, but it wasn’t long before the usual suspects clattered in around her. Silver Raindrops took the spot to her right, Stratus Drifter to her left, Willow Wisp, Lily Nimbus, a shaky Gale Force, even Moon Fang. But what caught her off guard Sparky Bolt’s solid nod to her as he sat down.

For everything that had happened that day, the chatter was particularly light hearted. Maybe it was because of the pasta, all noodles and no sauce as it was. Even Wisp and Rain didn’t seem to feel like going after each other again. No, instead, Lily Nimbus held court tonight. Her eponymous locks, trimmed short but defiantly curly, bounced with her boisterous tale. Gale Force, a chunky grey pegasus, had lost his lunch during the high speed dive drills. On the turn of his third dive, that second helping he had snuck found its way out of his stomach, nearly blinding Lily Nimbus before disappearing into the clouds below. Of course, her recounting had a great deal more bravado.

“I’m pulling out of my dive, right? And I can feel the wind yanking at my feathers,” her wings popped out for dramatic effect, “threatening to rip each of them out, but I’m in complete control, when all of a sudden I hear this,” she made a bastard child of a sound between a retch and a whale song, “so I look up, and this oaf,” an accusatory hoof at Gale Force, “has lost all of his lunch right above me.” She swooned and, in an honestly decent imitation of Rain’s accent, cried out, “It was utterly dreadful.”

“I do not sound like that!” Rain’s voice cracked under the indignation.

“That is exactly what you sound like.” Lily’s accent gained a few extra levels of haughtiness, which only threw fuel on the fire. Gale Force seemed not to appreciate the increased fracas as he poked at his dinner halfheartedly. Over the two of them, Willow wisp noticed Comet’s bandage.

“So how bad did you get it, Shimmer?”

The filly looked at her shoulder and shrugged with her good one. “A week off exercises and I should be good as new.”

“It figures you of all ponies would find a way to skip exercises,” the yellow pegasus harumphed. “Well, it’s worth it I suppose. About time somepony threw down The Ogre.” He beat his chest a few times. “I just wish I’d had the chance. I’d have given him such hell, he’d run home to momma for sure.”

“Is that before or after you piss yourself?” Sparky Bolts smirked.

“Oh don’t you two start too.” Stratus Drifter nodded at the two fillies still locked in a heated battle of, well, something. Lily was jiggling like a bobblehead, her face plastered with a buck toothed guffaw much to Rain’s fury. “One spat per meal, please.”

“Seconded,” Comet raised her glass and finished off her milk. “Hey, Moon Fang.” His ears perked up. “The lieutenant didn’t give you a hard time, did she?”

“Of course she did. But she seemed to believe me, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” He smiled his fanged smile, so she gave him one in return. A particularly loud shriek wiped if from his face. “Oh for the love of- ladies, would you shut up and eat your noodles!” The two bickering ponies shut right up and hunched into their meals.

Gale Force poked at his plate with a fork. “If you can call these noodles.”

“Shut up, Gale, this is one of the best meals we’ve had in days,” Lily said. "Just because you're from Foali doesn't mean you get to take a dump on the first pasta dinner we've had." Gale forced a lump down his throat.

“Gale, if you’re still feeling nauseous, you should probably go see the doctor,” Comet said to the pegasus. He pushed away his tray in defeat.

“Yeah, ok… Which way is it?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.” Stratus Drifter stacked their trays and walked out with Gale. Comet downed the rest of her meal and stood as well.

“The mailroom again, Shimmer?” Lily set her fork down on an empty plate.

“My bunk. Package is already waiting for me.” The others all got up in a hurry, interested to see what Comet Shimmer had been waiting so long for.

~*~
Knives cut through packaging twine, paper was ripped, the lid of the large box was open, and the group huddled around to behold its valuable contents.

“I… should have bucking known.” Willow Wisp picked up a dense, hardbound book. “Celestia damn it, Shimmer. You’ve been waiting on books for two months?”

“Um, yes? I’ve gone through everything I brought with me, and I asked home for some stuff more relevant to our training.”

“Relevant?” Rain looked into the large box, eyeing various titles.

“Stuff like history books, wilderness survival, identifying edible flora.” The book savvy filly paused on a loosely bound journal with no cover. A letter had been pinned to its binding. She pulled the note free and began to read aloud.

“‘My dear Comet, I hope these books find you well.’” She flexed her wing subconsciously and winced at the pain. “‘I’m so sorry this package is so late coming, but I held off for this journal. A friend of mine in the Central Library was able to get his hooves on a copy and sent it along to me. It’s a journal written by Earnest Hem, an explorer (and part time tapestry maker) from a few centuries back, chronicling his time with the Dragon Clans of the south.” This caught everypony’s attention. “I’m guessing it slipped under everypony’s notice at the time since, well, we weren’t at war with them. The original copy is being reevaluated by the War Department, so my friend says, but you and your friends might want to take a look yourselves.

“I sent you a few other books that might be helpful, like you asked, as well as your favorite novel. I still can’t believe you left it here.” There were a few crossed out lines after that, and Comet noticed a few dried smudges in the ink. “It’s strange not having you around the house or the library. We miss you, and hope every day for your return. Be careful out there. All my love, Mum.” Comet slumped, rereading the letter silently. Her mother had been strong for her after her volunteering, but it had been obvious how much it scared her to death to think of her little Comet fighting dragons. Those few days before she departed for training were a blur, but the morning she told them was as clear as if she were still there.

~*~

Comet staggered her way through the front door about a half hour past dawn. She turned and gave a tired wave to the pegasi she had been out with before they took the air and disappeared. Her father was already up, eating a light breakfast before starting on his daily razor cleaning.

“Comet? Were you out all night?”

“Sorry, Papa. I met some friends at the pub on 7th, and we kind of lost track of time.” She sat down at the table and rested her chin. The lack of sleep was catching up to her with all the stealth of a train.

“The pub? You don’t drink.” The stallion eyed her suspiciously. When she did not open her eyes, he huffed and got up. “You shouldn’t be out all night, young lady. What would you do if you got hurt?” Comet honestly had no answer for that. The chances of that happening were going to be going up all too soon. Her father set a cup of coffee before her, creamy with sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. She thanked him in her silence. When he did not go back to his seat, she looked up at him. “Shimmerbug, have you been crying?”

“Oh.” A hoof shot up to her eye. The lids were red and swollen, though she couldn’t know if it was the tears or the drowsiness. “Um, yeah, a bit. That was hours ago, though. I’m… fine now.”

“Honey, what happened?”

I joined the Air Guard. I got drafted into a flight company and I haven’t even gone to Basic. I drank more last night than I have in the rest of my life and my head feels like it’s full of rocks. Those thoughts and others worse still swung around in her oversized head, but the words that managed to creep out of her throat were, “Please don’t be mad.”

Her father wrapped a wing around her. “I won’t be mad, I just want to help.” His little girl curled up into his shoulder, reached into her saddle bag, and handed him a scroll. It still stank of ale, but the gold seal still affixed in the center was all he needed to see. “Comet… Shimmerbug… why would you…”

“I want to help.” She looked up at him. “It… it seemed like a good idea at the time, so I went down to the recruitment office and signed up, and I didn’t really think about it until after, and I didn’t know how to tell you so I… stayed out at the pub.”

“And you spent all night drinking alone?”

“No, I met a group of soldiers there. They kind of… took me in, reassured me. They were really nice, made sure I got home before heading off.” Comet took a long pull from her coffee mug. “I already know what I’m going to do, Papa. I can’t undo it. Lieutenant Firefly said I might wrangle a position as a message runner, but I’m going to be in the Guard. You always said I need to follow through, right?”

Comet’s father held his daughter close. His little girl wasn’t a soldier, she didn’t even like sports. If the Guard was smart, they wouldn’t waste her talents by putting her anywhere near the front line. He kissed her on her forehead and said quietly, “I won’t try to talk you out of it.”

“I’m sorry, Papa.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, Shimmerbug.” He ran a hoof through his daughter’s mane. “You’re a beautiful, smart young mare. I don’t doubt you can accomplish whatever you decide to.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back so they could see eye to eye. “Just promise me one thing. Promise you’ll do everything you can to come home.”

“I promise.” Comet’s father stroked her cheek. They both wanted to say more, needed to say more, but both resigned to their respective coffee mugs shortly before Comet’s mother came down the stairs.

“Morning, you two. Comet, sweetie, you look like you flew through a storm. Did you just get in?”

“Yeah, Mum. I was out with some friends. They were kind of helping me with some stuff.”

“Some stuff, hm? How mysterious.” Her mother hummed to herself as she set some bread in the toaster. “Well, is all this ‘stuff’ sorted out?”

“Kind… of…” Comet looked to her father for help. He gave her that look he used to give her and her brother when they were foals: better to deal with it now than wait for things to build up. “Mum?”

“Yes, sweetie?” Her mother reached for the pitcher of orange juice while her toast cooked.

“You remember last night when I stayed behind at the library?”

“I do, you said you wanted to read up on a meteor shower that’s supposed to be soon?”

“I did.” Comet took a deep breath. “And I did, for a bit. But then i went down to the recruitment office.”

Her mother’s hoof froze around the glass neck. “Which recruitment office?”

“...The Royal Air Guard.”

Tombs were louder than that kitchen. Comet waited for her mother to say something, do something. A furious tirade would have been better than the silence that hung over the family. But her mother stood still as stone, facing away from them, the orange juice pitcher poised to empty its contents into a glass. The ding of the toaster finally snapped her mother out of her daze, and she quickly poured her juice and scuttled to the toaster.

“I see. Well, I suppose you won’t be able to work at the library. W-we could have used the help, what with spring and summer coming. I suppose we’ll just have to hire somepony-” Instead of grabbing the plate, Comet’s mother flipped it with her hoof, sending the slices somersaulting to the floor. The older mare stooped down to get them.

“Mum, let me get that.” Comet slipped over to grab the toast. Instead, she found her mother clutching her almost painfully tight, stroking her mane.

“My little girl, my baby girl,” her mother kept whispering into Comet’s hair. Comet refused to cry. If she started now, she might never stop, and neither would her mother. Her loving mother who, if she could, would probably volunteer to go in her stead. But that was why she had volunteered, in a way. So the foolish filly buried her head in the crook of her mother’s neck, clenched her jaw, and focused on keeping her breathing level. Her father wrapped his wings around the two most held them close.

The barber shop didn’t open that day.

~*~

“Shimmer? Anypony home?” Lily Nimbus waved her hoof in front of Comet’s face. The indigo filly blinked at her name. “Gone off somewhere?”

“Sorry, just… remembering.” She set the letter aside and picked up the journal. The tome was modest to say the least; thin, coverless, bound only enough to ensure the pages would not fly apart were one to look at it the wrong way. It was truly a hasty manuscript rather than a published work. Comet leafed through the first few pages, noting the typed, clean presentation. “Definitely not the original.”

“Who gives a buck, Shimmer,” Willow Wisp cut in, “what does it say?”

“I ‘give a buck,’ Wisp. Copies don’t have drawings, authors’ notes, samples pinned to the pages. It’s like a cake with no frosting.”

“You are such an incredible dork, you know that?” Lily stuck out her tongue.

“Enough.” Rain placed a hoof on Lily and Wisp’s heads and pushed until their chins touched the floor. “Shimmer, really, it’s fine. Just find something interesting and give us a taste, hm?” The chiroptequus sighed and skimmed through the book until she found a few recreated sketches marked with a slip of paper. Her mother used to use little slips of the sort to mark where they were in a story when she was little. Opening to that page, Comet saw what must have seemed to important to her.

“‘There are, I can only guess, more types of dragons than one can ever hope to catalogue. Different shapes, different colors, different scale patterns and spinal ridges, wings, no wings, long teeth, short teeth, even some that, I would guess, seem capable of deep sea diving. However, I have noticed certain traits that are common to most of the dragons that I have interacted with at length, and have used these to categorize the majority of my scaly hosts into four groups.’

“‘The Longtails are, in a sense, the peons of the dragon clan, though one should never say as much around them. Lacking wings (as a rule) or size (in most cases), they are one of the most common groups, often taking on tasks of hard labor and combat. As the name suggests, they posses a long, prehensile tail that can be used to these ends. In some cases, said tail is covered in retractable spikes or adorned with a club-like bone at the end. Remarkably fast, long legged, do not agitate.’

“‘Glimmerbacks are similar to the Longtails, save that they (as a base requirement) possess wings. Their tails are often less developed for use, but in some cases are longer than their torso. Some bear wings as a third pair of limbs akin to a pegasus or chiroptequus, while others have forelegs developed for flight like a bat. Remarkably, some Glimmerbacks are capable of spitting acid at their opponents. Projectile regurgitation perhaps.’” That earned a few groans from the group. Comet was glad Gale Force had not returned from the infirmary. “‘Additionally, in rare cases, some seem capable of collecting an electrical charge along their spines and discharging at their opponents. Would like to know more, but have only witnessed twice, and from a considerable distance.’”

“If they fly, I imagine we’ll get a pretty good view of it sooner or later,” Stratus Drifter muttered.

“‘Broadwings are,” Comet continued, “the most famous type of dragon, though not the most numerous. Massive, flight capable, predominantly able to breath fire or acrid smoke. Greedy, treasure hoards common. In Dragontongue, the term ‘Forghloth’ seems to roughly translate to ‘Mountain King.’ While not intrinsic to broadwings, they seem most likely to be clan leaders and earn said title. Perhaps a result of raw strength? Most often commanders (ha!) in battle. If two broadwings start fighting, run.’

Comet stopped to read over the next part, more to make sure she had read it right than anything else. “‘Last, I wish to make note of a group I have come to call Sparklefangs. While this group is considerably more nebulous, even overlapping with the aforementioned three, there is one trait that sets them apart. Sparklefangs are, to varying degrees, capable of magic.’ Bolts, could you… check that that’s what it says?”

The blue pegasus read over Comet’s shoulder and shook his head. “That’s what it says.”

“Well, does it explain?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, hang on. ‘While some are not at a level comparable to unicorns, others exceed any magical capacity I have seen among my own kind. They appear, in all cases, capable of object manipulation and teleportation using their fire. For obvious reasons, unknown if fire still burns.’” A few weak chuckles answered the passage. “‘Exceptional sparklefangs are capable of teleporting themselves and others great distances. Considerably more malleable than other dragons. Depth of greed and ambient forces greatly influence development. Saw one grow twenty feet last month after accruing a substantial hoard. Instances of flying Sparklefangs are from this method.’”

“So they can fly too,” Stratus muttered.

“Yes, stop muttering,” Comet snapped. “‘From what I have observed, Sparklefangs are also the most polite of dragons, capable and even eager to learn other languages and converse with others. Does not mean they have no temper. Only type I have seen go against a broadwing and win. Met one sparklefang with a hoard mostly of books. Had read them all too. Very learned fellow. Ripped out a longtail’s throat for trying to steal a tome. Approach with flattery, don’t touch anything.’”

“Does it mention anything about claws or teeth?” Willow Wisp asked.

“I think we can assume all of them have sufficiently deadly claws and teeth,” Moon Fang sighed. “At least now we have some idea of what we’ll be facing out there. It doesn’t mention how big the Glimmerbacks are, does it?”

“No,” Comet said as she checked the nearby pages, “it might have been an additional note but it’s not here.” She did, however, find a passage interesting enough to quote. Not that the rest of the journal was dull, of course. “‘Having observed these dragons for nearly three months, it is my belief that dragons are essentially two creatures. Regularly, their personalities are as varied as ponies (though more aggressive across the spectrum). During this time, they are capable of maintaining sophisticated conversations on a variety of subjects, enjoy flying and airborne acrobatics, and (at least in the case of sparklefangs) will engage in hobbies or hunting for sport. But there are times when they become enveloped in a feral rage. Language and reason fail them entirely. At best, they return to normal once they have killed the source of their ferocity. Will sometimes rampage in feral state for hours. Have not observed a means of calming them.’ So I guess the only way to stop a dragon-”

“Is to kill them.” Moon Fang peeked in the box and pulled out a book on ancient pegasus military structure. “You should probably take that to Professor Blossom. I know the War Department will probably send info along anyway, but as she always says, ‘better now than then.’”

“Yeah, I will, as soon as I finish making a copy myself.”

“And how long will that take?” Sparky Bolts asked.

“Well, normally it would take three days, but since I have more time off while I recover, I think I can get it done Wednesday morning.”

“Wow. Guys, we actually found something Shimmer is faster than us in.” Lily clapped excitedly.

“Pretty sure she can figure out how to build a house in the time it takes you to chew your food, fluffhead.” Willow Wisp said.

“Well, actually…”

“You’re shitting me, Shimmer.”

“I don’t know about houses, but,” Comet reached into the box, “I asked for a book on emergency survival. There’s a section on erecting shelters, so-”

“I quit.” Willow Wisp tossed his book back in the box and made for the door. Comet frowned. She should have known better than to believe Willow Wisp, or really any of them, would care that much, would jump down to her level. But when the yellow pegasus looked back and smiled before heading down the hall, yelling something about finding anything with alcohol, the filly smiled to herself.

~*~

Bound wings and limp legs were no excuse to sleep in, and Comet Shimmer was up, dressed, and in rank with everypony else. She did what exercises she could, though that proved to be less than half, and when the rest of her platoon set off down the track, she was left to stagger off to a table where she had left the journal and her own. She had been up transcribing the first part well after lights out, knowing she would have an easy morning to follow. Her slitted eyes were accustomed to dark environments, so the task had been easier for her than it would have been for most of her platoon, but she still caught herself envying unicorns and their built in lanterns.

A strong, steady wind blew from the south that morning, inspiring the obstacle course to do a series of high wind stability drills. Comet wrinkled her nose; she could never prove it, but southern winds always smelled faintly of smoke to her. She tried to tell herself it was all in her head, but there it was again. Just ignore it. Two pages down, should get five more in before laps were done.

Twice that morning, her quill slowed as she became engrossed in Earnest Hem’s findings. It was clear, missing info or no, that his nineteen months interacting with the dragon clans of the south had allowed him to merely scratch the surface of this ancient race. They appeared to speak in three languages outside of the tongue they used to speak with him. They flew in very specific flight patterns, though he never observed anyone practicing or teaching them to the whelps. And as much as she had hated the interruptions, the sparklefangs intrigued her as much as they had her friends. Supposedly, the deer and the pronghorns had as great or greater mastery of magic than unicorns, though almost none had been to Equestria in many years. It was believed that magic was dependent on a horn structure, yet that was not the case with dragons. It was a mystery, through and through, and not one Earnest Hem had managed to crack in his time.

Her friends, when she recounted her reading over breakfast, were not so enthused. “Glimmerbacks habitually eat fish,” Willow Wisp deadpanned. “So we just have to hide all the fish in Equestria and let them starve to death. Yeah, that’ll work great.”

“‘If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles,’” Silver Raindrops said matter-of-factly. “If they eat fish, they might camp by rivers or lakes where they can hunt. That’s good to know.”

“And who said that, Miss Prissy Hooves?”

“Sun Loom, an ancient pegasus strategist. His teachings formed the core of pegasus military philosophy for centuries. Maybe if you actually listened in class for once, you would know this.”

“Ugh,” Wisp facehoofed, “ok, here’s the deal. You,” he pointed at Comet, “are Nerd One, and you,” at Rain, “are Nerd Two.” The indigo filly pursed her lips and opened her manuscript.

“‘I have observed glimmerbacks and smaller broadwings perform a gravity defying maneuver,’” Comet read from her notes, “‘in which they veer above their opponent, curl tightly into a somersault, and whip their tails down on their opponent’s back or head. This maneuver, though seemingly difficult to perform, is devastating when successful, and without fail has stunned or killed the opponent.’”

“So don’t let a dragon get above you. See, Wisp? She’s gonna outlive you.” Lily chuckled around her toast.

“Why wouldn’t you start with that, Shimmer? That’s valuable information!” Wisp groaned.

“Because an enemy’s food source is valuable information.” Comet snapped her manuscript shut. “And it’s an added perk to see you blunder about like that.” Willow Wisp sputtered something indistinguishable and hung his head.

~*~

“Recruit Shimmer, what reptiles are dragon scales most similar to and why?”

“Snakes, as they share the overlapping pattern of snake’s epidermal scales, Ma'am.” The filly did not even look up from her vigorous note taking. Professor Blossom was not sure whether to be amused or frustrated. For three months, she had been allowing this to go on because, well, Shimmer was probably the best in the platoon as far as her lecture hall was concerned. Three or four of the recruits were even from Fillydelphia colleges or Baltimare universities, but her hunger beat their pedigree by a mile. But today, the chiroptequus seemed, to the mare, excessively absent.

What the professor could not have known was that Comet Shimmer had read the contents of the current lecture last night, and the journal had a great deal more to explain than that. There were moments where she felt like she knew everything about dragons, but the journal was so woefully inadequate. Nearly everything was prefaced with “from what I have observed” in one phrasing or another. Entire aspects of their mannerisms, capabilities, culture, clan structure, history, were all absent. It was frustrating to say the least, like reading a book where two of every three pages had been removed. Her mental image was so incomplete.

A part of her mind chastised her habitual desire to absorb information. She only needed to know as much as was necessary to kill them, she said to herself. She wasn’t going on an expedition of her own to learn about them, she would be meeting them in battle high above the plains and mountains of her country. Anything that did not aid her ability to survive and win in this scenario was excess information.

But she already knew that argument to be a fallacy. Dragons were so much more than monsters; even her brief glimpse of them through Earnest Hem’s journal revealed that. There were so many details and nuances that could be so easily lost under stone scales and razor claws. And the fire breath, that was a hard aspect to ignore-

“Anypony?” Professor Blossom sighed. “Recruit Shimmer, what is a dragon’s strongest sense?”

“Olfactory, Ma'am. Dragons are capable of smelling materials we don’t even perceive as having an odor, such as gems.”

The professor raised an eyebrow. “Correct...” She paused. Was her class a game to the filly? “See me after lecture, recruit.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Comet’s train of thought screeched to a halt. Why was the professor calling her out now?

“Alright recruits, go through your texts, since you will be getting tested on this tomorrow. Hopefully more than one of you has been doing their reading.” A low key chorus of groans and mumbles rippled through the platoon. A few glances were sent Comet’s way.

Comet smiled to herself at that. Let them be mad. A glance at Thunder Clap’s empty seat reminded her that everypony had their court, and this was hers to own. She had a feeling, however, that the professor knew something was up today. As the rest of her platoon filed out for lunch, Comet hurried down to the floor and approached the professor.

“Ma’am, you wished to see me?” Comet Shimmer snapped a salute.

“I did.” Professor Blossom stood for a moment, considered her words, but chose instead to begin packing up her podium. A few minutes had passed before she thought to add, “At ease, recruit.”

The filly relaxed, but only a little. “Permission to speak, Ma'am?”

“You may.”

“I recognize that my behavior was out of line today, Ma'am. I will make no excuses for my conduct. It will not happen again.”

“Cut the crap, Recruit. You’ll be back at it tomorrow. That’s how bibliophiles are.” The professor looked up at the filly. “You know how I recognized you were up to something, Recruit? Your olfactory answer.”

“Was that incorrect, Ma’am?”

“It was correct, but I never made mention of gems.” Summer Blossom started towards her. “I did not mention it because that little tidbit isn’t in our material.” She stopped shortly before the filly. “What were you reading, recruit?”

Game over. The filly deflated and pulled the journal from her bag. She opened it for the professor to see. “My mother works at the West Canterlot Library. A friend of hers in the central library was able to get this for her to send along. It’s a copy of Earnest Hem’s journal, recording his time with one of the dragon clans.” Comet bit her lip. “I had every intention of giving it to you, Ma’am. I was hurrying to make a transcript for my own records first, thus my focus today. But that resulted in my conduct. I’m sorry, Ma’am.”

Summer Blossom could not decided whether to laugh or dole out punishment. “You know what kills me about this, you little smartass?” A timid stare was her curt answer. “I’d order you to make a report on this entire journal for tomorrow, but you’re already half way done with it.” The professor rubbed her temple. “Most of the recruits that come through my lecture hall are half wits. They’re military muscle with no appreciation for knowing their enemy or themselves. It probably doesn’t help that we haven’t had an enemy to know for decades.

“Oh, it’s a bittersweet pleasure to make them pay for their hubris. But that makes it hard to reprimand somepony that actually has some respect for knowledge.” Professor leafed through a few pages. “...You won’t receive formal punishment this time, Shimmer. Instead, you are going to be assisting me from dinner until sundown for the remainder of your time here. I want that journal in my office tomorrow morning. You are still waking for drills despite your injury, I assume?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Then you had best get up extra early. And if you withhold information like this again, make no mistake,” the mirth evaporated as Summer Blossom stood to her full height, “I will personally tan your hide and wash you out in a heartbeat. Is that clear.”

“Perfectly, Ma’am.”

“Good.” The professor relaxed and flipped the journal over in her hoof. “Really, though, I get your mother’s connections, but how did you get something this important before me?”

“The war department has the original journal, Ma’am. I’ve been told they are analyzing it for valuable information, so it is likely you would have gotten something in a month or so.” Summer Blossom passed her the journal back. “I’m not sure what use they would be, Ma’am, but I requested a few other books on history and disciplines to be sent. I can-”

“No need, but since you won’t be doing your afternoon exercises anyway, you can finish that transcript in my office. Now get out of my hall before I change my mind.” Comet Shimmer saluted, her smile escaping. Summer Blossom waved her away and packed her own bag. She smiled to herself, but it came with a weight. Kids like her belonged in college, not in war.

~*~

Including all of the cloud buildings, Fort Hurricane was nearly a mile across, four when including the training courses. The section one could reach just by walking, however, was a pitiful quarter mile. After fourteen days without flight, Comet Shimmer felt like she knew every crack, rock, bush, and tuft of dirt on the mesa.

The filly stood atop a small cropping of cloud, looking down on the fort she had come to call home. Professor Summer Blossom had been called to Canterlot, likely to receive the new curriculum including the journal, so Comet found herself with a few free evenings. The setting sun’s high rays caught the top of the mesa, washing it in orange light. It was a beauty unique to this place, and one that was best viewed from up high. Even after her bandages had come off, the doctor had barred her from flying for another week while she worked her wing back into shape. It still felt a bit stiff, but the pain was gone entirely.

“You sure you don’t want to try something a little easier? You haven’t flown in a while, Shimmer.” Silver Raindrops looked down over the ledge alongside her. She and Moon Fang had accompanied Comet up to the overlook, mostly with the intention to catch her if her wing cramped up.

“Sure I’m sure. I’ve seen you guys do this a hundred times, and it looks easy…” Comet peered over the side again, “enough.”

“That’s because we’ve done it a hundred times,” Fang replied. “We started on it the day you got hurt, you haven’t even done it once.”

“No, I haven’t, which is why I’m only doing half the distance. Plenty of time to pull up.”

“Don’t you think this is a little dangerous, Shimmer?”

“Not really.” The two ponies looked at her quizzically. “Why do you think I asked you two over anypony else?” They looked at each other. “It’s because I trust you two the most.” She trotted to the very edge of the cloud and stood on her hind legs. She could feel the vaporous material disintegrating beneath her hooves. “I know you won’t let me fall.” Comet leaned backwards, wings hugging her sides.

The filly heard Moon Fang yell, “Buck-” before the wind carried everything else away. Looking down her belly, she saw the two jump after her perfectly side by side, wings tucked tightly. Her bones shook against the evening air, her mane whipped hard enough to sting her ears, her legs hung behind her in complete relaxation. One of their first drills had been to eliminate the fear of freefall. Many lost lunches and screams since, Comet found it to be one of the most relaxing things she could do in the air. All the speed, none of the effort. For all her nerves were able to tell her, she might well have been floating.

A tiny puff of cloud drifted into her path, its lumps shining orange and pink in the last light of the day. The filly could not help but stare at the display.

She wanted that light.

Twisting just so, she spiraled through the cloud, dragging it in her wake as she opened her wings to their full span. The luminescent cloud caught beneath her, funneling across her wings and off the tips in brilliant contrails. The sun’s rays shone through the leathery skin, causing them to glow as the lift billowed her up against gravity.

For an instant, Comet Shimmer felt as if all the sun, all the sky, was under her. And as quickly as it had come, it was gone. The filly pulled up, angling her wings to slow her descent before the ground came to greet her. Her right wing responded more stubbornly than her left by a fraction, but at least it did not hurt. But her speed was greater than she had anticipated, even with the shorter fall, and the ground was still rushing up to meet her. She tried to brace her wings to increase their stopping power, but her muscles were already giving everything. To either side, her friends reached out and grabbed her, using their own wingspan to slow their descent before releasing her. Once around the mess hall they flew, their formation tight and even, before coming to a landing just outside the armory. With the exhilaration of flight gone, Comet found that tiny cloud had in fact been much colder and wetter than she had believed.

“Um… who want’s coffee?” She asked through chattering teeth as the others settled to the ground.

“Bucking hell, Shimmer, that was stupid,” Moon Fang spat. The indigo filly hung her head. “What if we hadn’t caught you, huh? You’d be a smear on the lawn right now.” When the filly did not say anything, he sighed and started to trot away. “Come on, let’s go grab your coffee.”

“Decaf for me,” Rain said. She frowned at Comet. “If you can call it coffee.”

“It’s... sufficiently brown,” Comet muttered.

“On most days, perhaps.”

“Decaf for all of us,” Moon Fang corrected. “You’ve been staying up for your entire vacation going through those books. No more of that.”

Comet glanced up. “How- but I’ve been waiting for lights out-”

Moon Fang poked just below his eye. “I can see too, you know.”

Silver Raindrops looked back and forth between the two chiropteqi. “What do eyes have to do with it?”

“We can s-see better in the dark than other ponies,” Comet explained. “I can see w-well enough with the light c-coming in from outside to read after lights out.”

“Oh…” Rain leaned in to get a good look at her slitted pupils. “Oh… that makes a lot of sense, actually.”

“C-can we finish this conversation over-” Comet glanced at Fang, “decaf? It’s not getting any warmer out here.”

“Right, come on.” The three headed for the mess. Fang continued to shoot the indigo filly annoyed glances, an act that did not escape Silver Raindrop’s notice. Comet lagged behind her friends and flexed her healed wing.

She had thought, despite the stiffness, she would be better able to handle a fall. But she had almost crashed. She had two months left before Basic was complete. In two months, she would need to prove to Lt. Firefly she was worth the draft. Time off notwithstanding , she was hardly a shining example of combat capability. The only thing she had going for her was her reading and her position as Summer Blossom’s assistant. She slowed to a stop.

“What is it?” Moon Fang asked over his shoulder.

“We have two months.”

“Two months until what? Basic’s over?” Rain thought about it. “We’ll be soldiers.”

“But I’m still not a soldier,” Comet muttered. The two nodded silently. “Tonight proved that… I need to find a way to improve.”

“I don’t suppose you have a book on it?” Fang teased. A smile tickled Comet’s lips. She might, actually, but better not to admit that. “Actually, I’ve been tossing around an idea. Come on, let’s grab our sludge and I’ll tell you about it.”

~*~

It hurt. Everything hurt. Sore wings, sore legs, sore back, heavy hooves, stiff neck. Even her ears hurt, and there was nothing to explain why. To her left, ponies collapsed on their bunks with moans. To her right, ponies flopped into their beds with a chorus of groans.

With Willow Wisp’s contagious enthusiasm and Sparky Bolt’s calculative reasoning, their platoon had agreed to Moon Fang’s idea for evening practice. Comet joined after sundown, and every night, they did what of the day’s exercises they could fit, all over again. Combat training, both air and ground, formation flying, night maneuvers, dives, laps, anything that could push them, they pushed harder. Two had gone to the doctor from fatigue. They were back three days later. The more they worked, the more each of them found ponies that complimented their strengths. Daybreak Platoon, without meaning to, had completely reformed their ranks in the space of a few evenings.

Breaker Platoon caught wind of their activities after a week and started joining them. Even Thunder Clap, finally back from his “sick leave,” couldn’t avoid the group practice for more than a couple days. He often found himself and his crooked muzzle left to beg for sparring partners, an awkward affair to say the least. But nothing had been more awkward than the nights only he and Comet Shimmer were without partners. Nopony could tell who was more afraid of the other: the giant who had had his muzzle smashed, or the smasher who still saw him as a giant.

Their cautious dance came to blows around the third week during glaive training. Thunder Clap once again found himself paired out with the smaller filly out of necessity. So they wrapped some training glaives to their sides and ran through the motions in a manner onlookers would call courteous. Never a strong thrust, never a solid counter, just motion, motion, motion, switch.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake,” a Breaker Platoon stallion hollered as Thunder Clap reared back, “cut the prissy crap and thrust, you pansy!” A spark flashed in the stallion’s eyes, one Comet knew too well. Suddenly, Thunder Clap’s glaive was barreling at her face with more force than all his previous attacks combined. The filly ducked under his blow with a yelp, his point missing her ear by an inch. Somewhere, Moon Fang noticed, if his shout gave any indication. Comet spun in place, using her glaive to sweep Thunder’s legs out from beneath him. The stallion gave a powerful beat of his wings and vaulted back, putting some distance between them.

For a moment, the two stared each other down in the silence of an onlooking practice room. Comet searched the larger stallion for a sign of his intentions, but only a tight jawed determination answered. She bared her teeth. No backing down, then. Comet leapt to close the gap between them, using her wings to speed her lunge. Thunder parried her glaive across them, sending the point wide and crossing the shafts between them. Comet ducked to the left and under his glaive, crashing into his chest with her shoulder. The stallion jumped and rolled over her with his wings. Her charge hit nothing but air.
The filly spun around, deflecting a thrust in the process, before bringing her weapon back for another attack. Everywhere her glaive struck, his parried, and everywhere his thrust, hers blocked, but Thunder’s counters were much more compact, earning the same results for less effort. Comet tried to even the field by ramming him, but he quickly dodged away every time. With a shout, she leapt overhead, hoping to catch him from behind before he could bring his glaive to bear. At the high of her somersault, she felt his shaft slide between her flank and her glaive harness. With a roar, Thunder Clap pivoted and threw her across the room.

Comet spun through the air, shifting her wings frantically until at last she leveled out just above the mat. As her vision righted, it was immediately filled with dive bombing stallion. Thunder Clap slammed her to the mat, glaive hoisted in its harness to aim right for her throat. The thunder of hooves seemed pointlessly far away as Comet waited for Thunder to get her back for his nose. The determination she had seen before blazed in his eyes as he stood over her, and it dimmed not a bit as he stepped back and offered her a hoof up. She could not help and look at it as if it was poisonous, but when he did not pull away, she took it, and was immediately hoisted to her feet. The clamour of hooves slowed and stopped, but Comet was too busy trying to read her opponent. Thunder clap seemed to struggle for words, but after a moment, he settled for just one.

“Fair.”

He nodded his head, an acknowledgement for a battle well fought. And Comet understood. He had defeated her. She bowed her head lower, acknowledging his victory, and waited for him to leave. He walked over and grabbed her glaive.

“You flail too much. Work from the hips more, and keep your glaive on the inside. Control the center, got it?” He guided her through her glaive to demonstrate.

“Moon Fang told me something similar a while back. I guess I still haven’t got it down.”

“Well, maybe he does know something after all.”

~*~

Every waking hour was now exercises or study. The modified curriculum on dragons had extended their material from three days to over a month. Everything Comet had been telling her friends-turned-squad, everypony in the school was now learning. The professor had made a point of not addressing the filly for an answer until the rest of the class vocally admitted their failure. But the oddest thing occurred as the platoon left the hall for lunch after three weeks of dragon study. A few of her classmates stopped her in the hall and asked her for help on the upcoming test. So she sat with them at lunch. She explained, and they listened. It was odd, she told Moon Fang and Willow Wisp later, that they were actually paying attention.

“You’re a nerd, Comet.” Wisp laughed. “Nerds don’t win much recognition around here. But we all want to live. If what you know can help somepony do that, they’ll kiss your flank from here ‘til graduation day.”

It was true, the filly thought to herself. She was faster, stronger now than she had been a month ago. She was still well behind Rain or Gale Force, of course, but she had sheared minutes off of her times. Thunder Clap had actually given her sound advice for her glaive work. She could actually kick, though the green stallion might have said she could kick well enough before that. Everypony’s test scores were better. Summer Blossom, during one of her evening monologues, commented on the attention she was finally getting in class. They wanted to survive, and they were doing whatever they could to see it through.

After exhausting everything on dragons thoroughly, however, the professor spent the last few weeks on something altogether unexpected. Airships were a novelty, developed more than a generation past through a combination of unicorn magic and pegasus aerophysics, but they had never gotten very far with the practicality of the technology. And yet, afternoon exercises found the platoons tying knots, hoisting maneuver sails, loading ballistae, and doing launches over clouds in the shape of hulls. Airships had been disregarded years ago, Comet had heard, for being impractical for long distance travel. But if they were spending this much time teaching them how to crew one, something had evidently changed.

~*~

Day 180 found Comet Shimmer sitting morosely in her bed, eyes scanning over a once dusty tome on pre-Equestrian pegasus military culture. The winged ponies were a warrior society through and through, from family structure to social distinguishment to morning greetings. Fillies and colts were learning to fight before they earned their cutie marks, suits of armor and weapons were often passed through families, but one particular facet was the cause of Comet’s woe.

Despite her own weariness, the chiroptequus’s slump did not escape Lily Nimbus’s attention. “Well aren’t you just the sourest of pusses,” she said as she floated up to Comet’s bunk. “Why the long face?”

“I was just reading that pegasi in ancient days would train with the companies they would go into battle with. By the time they reached a battlefield, they were already familiar with each other and had come to know each other over months or years.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of cool, I guess. But why’s that got you down?”

Comet collected her words and chose them carefully. “Our final exercise is tomorrow. After that, we’ll be scored and assigned to our companies. We’ll be soldiers… but we won’t be a platoon anymore.”

Lily flapped quietly at Comet’s bedside for a moment as she mulled it over. “That’s because,” she finally said, “we’re too awesome for one platoon.” She landed beside the indigo filly. “They need to take all of our awesomeness and spread it around the Guard so more companies can be awesome.”

Comet snickered. “Hmm. I just… I wish this wasn’t it. I want to see you guys after this week. I want to watch your backs, and know you’re watching mine.”

“Me too, Egghead.” Lily bumped up against her. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and be in the same squad. If we don’t, then we rest knowing we’ve done what we can for each other and that's the lot of it.”

“...Lily?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re kind of bad at this.”

The pink pegasus was appalled. “The nerve! I will have you know,” her fake Baltimare accent was oozing in again, “that I am a renowned motivational speaker!”

“Shut up, Jitterbug!” Rain called from across the room.

“Make me, Stuffshirt!” Comet laughed as Lily jumped down to go through another fight with Rain. At some point, their fights had turned into regular performances, more for everypony’s entertainment than anything else. The nicknames everypony called each other- Jitterbug, Stuffshirt, Chunks, Abacus, Cheerleader, Egghead, Ogre, Screwup, Biter- had become as familiar as their own names. Her one night with Cyclone Company had indicated to Comet that there was a similar bond between them, but it was not something she could hope to jump into as soon as she arrived. This was her family, her second family. And she would miss them.

The filly opted out of her regular post-lights-out reading in favor of extra sleep. Tomorrow was their final exercise, “The Gambit.” She needed to be all there. As she closed her eyes, a whisper caught her attention. Her eyes snapped open, but for whatever reason, she did not get up to see what it was. Another whisper followed, followed by as gasp and a snicker. A moment later, the whoosh of two sets of wings hissed through the room, and Comet made out a silver tail slipping out of the room followed closely by a yellow pegasus.

Comet smiled, closed her eyes, and whispered to herself as sleep came for her, “About time.”

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[Widow Peak]

The day has come!