Fool's Gambit

by Knight Breeze

Chapter I

Chapter I

Cadet Shadow Heart stood perfectly still, her brilliant green eyes staring straight ahead as she gazed across the empty training grounds. With a slight howl, the wind whipped past her, causing her red tail to swish violently through the air. Every couple of seconds she saw her breath in the chilly autumn air as she stood in perfect attention. She could hear the sound of her drill instructor's hooves as he patrolled up and down the line of cadets, but she didn't dare let her eyes move to follow him. Every so often he would stop and give a cadet the stink-eye, daring them to sneeze, cough, or do anything other than show the discipline that he had spent the past two months drilling into their heads.

After about an hour of this, he snorted in satisfaction. “Alright ponies, looks like I was wrong. Looks like you all weren't the pack of mucus munching, hay-eating herd of pansies that I was led to believe,” Sergeant Hard Ball said as he turned his back on the recruits.

Shadow Heart almost let out a sigh of relief. Almost.

“Tomorrow's graduation day, and as of today, you are no longer snot-nosed cadets, but soldiers,” he said as he turned back to the trainees. “Tomorrow, you will be given your proper send off. There will be cake. You are fully expected to enjoy yourselves, because the day afterwards you will be shipped off to your various assignments. Your new commanding officer will then have the distinct privilege of making the next two years of your life a living Tartarus. Do I make myself clear?” He bellowed at them.

“Sir, yes sir!” The cadets responded.

“I can't hear you!” He yelled back.

“Sir! Yes sir!” The cadets yelled back louder.

Sergent Hard Ball took one last look at the assembled cadets, Shadow Heart could have sworn she had heard a pin drop in the silence as the Drill Sergent surveyed the assembled cadets.

“Well then, Privates, with that all being said, you are hereby dismissed!” He shouted.

The relief that the cadets felt at these words was almost palpable.

* * *

As promised, the party had cake. There was also hard cider, snacks and good company, which made speculating on their new assignments all that much more fun. “So, Stop Watch, where are you being posted?” Shadow Heart asked the light green pegasus as she took a swig from her mug.

Stop Watch looked at the slightly inebriated unicorn with a bemused smirk. “Got put on boarder patrol up near the Griffin Empire. How 'bout you?” He said as he cracked a few more peanuts under his hooves.

She snorted into her mug. “Got a freaking cushy job up at the palace. First assignment is to act as a personal aid to some airship captain while he's in town,” she said dismissively.

“Really? Who's that?” Rosy Dusk asked, her bat-wings fluttering slightly.

Shadow gave a disgruntled look towards the peppy, dark blue mare. “I'm supposed to report to a Captain Breeze at the docks at dawn tomorrow, because that's when his ship comes in,” she said as she drained her mug.

Rosy gave her her a thoughtful look. “I've heard of him. He's supposed to be some big important noble in the Night Tribes. He's apparently a count or something."

Shadow just shook her head at that. Just my luck. Not only will I be unable to see any action, but I'll also be babysitting some stuck up thestral noble. Probably a fast-track officer who's never seen a fight in his life.

Not many ponies in the Guard actually wanted to see combat, but Shadow was different. She had been the top of her class and had excelled in every subject. Her particular specialty had been stealth spells, and she had been a terror to deal with during war games.

“Awe, cheer up,” Rosy told her friend. “You're probably being groomed for command! I'll bet you'll be in charge of your own platoon within a month. Two tops!” she told her.

Shadow didn't answer at first. Instead she merely used her telekinesis to refill her mug, then looked Rosy dead in the eye. “I didn't sign on to command a platoon. I signed on to protect ponies. Acting as the personal gofer for some swaggering noble is not my idea of fulfilling that desire. While commanding a platoon seems impressive, and may help me with that goal in the long run, I'd rather have earned it.”

Stop Watch shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, his hoof nervously running through his short, blond mane. “Well, umm... thats, well...” he blustered for a bit, unable to think of anything to say to that. “So! Rosy! Where are you headed off to?” He asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Hmm? Oh! Well, I'm headed off to Dodge Junction. Apparently they've been having some trouble with some monsters from the Everfree Forest who have been ranging too far out from the forest. I'm to report to my platoon leader in the morning to start the journey south!” She said, clearly excited at the prospect.

Great, even Rosy is going to see more action than me. Celestia's light this is going to be unbearable. Shadow thought to herself as she lifted the mug to her lips, but thought better of it at the last moment. Her first assignment was tomorrow, and it wouldn't do her any good if she reported in with a massive hangover.

Sighing slightly to herself, she got to her hooves. “Well, I'm going to call it a night. If I'm ever going to make a good enough impression to be able to see some combat time, I need to start by showing up on time, rested and sober,” she said as she stretched her forelegs.

Both of her friends said their good nights as Shadow left the mess hall. They promised that they would stay in touch, but Shadow Heart wasn't really paying too much attention to them at this point. She was too busy thinking about how badly the following morning was going to suck.

* * *

It was still in the early, pre-dawn hours when Shadow Heart woke up. She had set her alarm bright and early to ensure that she would be on-time for her shift, and thankfully the alarm had preformed its duty with perfection.

That had not made her hate the blasted thing any less, however.

Groggily, she rose from her cot in the barracks and made her way to the bathrooms. After her shower, she took a long look at herself in the mirror. Staring back at her was a light blue unicorn mare with a short, light red mane. She was powerfully built for a mare, but that only spoke of how hard she had thrown herself into her training during boot camp. As she looked closer at her reflection, she could just barely make out her cutie mark from this angle: a stylized silhouette of a lone wolf.

Calmly breathing in, she quickly donned her armor. As she did so, the magical enchantments interwoven in the steel took effect, changing the color of her coat to the regulation white. She had always thought that was cool, the armor allowing her and her fellow guards to blend together. It created the illusion that they were all one pony. It was symbolic of the fact that they all had one purpose: the protection of Celestia's ponies.

However, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to fulfill that purpose much. She thought to herself bitterly as she donned her helmet.

As soon as she was ready, she left the barracks, quietly closing the door behind her.

* * *

She arrived at the Air Dock on time and with three minutes to spare. From her vantage point, she could see Celestia's sun slowly peak over the horizon, making itself known across the land and blessing the world below it with its light. Honestly, the sight from Canterlot city was always a breathtaking one. She wasn't able to fully enjoy the sight, however, as a large, military airship slowly crossed her view.

The airship was a huge beast of a thing. She could clearly see cannon ports lining the sides of the beast, along with two cannon ports positioned at the bow of the ship. The thing didn't have a figurehead, but it did have a name painted in red on the side, proclaiming to the world that The Moon's Ascent had made its way into port.

However, The balloon seemed smaller than it should have been given the size of the gondola and the assumed weight of the cannons. This gave her the distinct impression that there was an enchantment in place to lighten the load on the envelope. Behind the gondola she could see four large propellers positioned at the back and on the wings, allowing the pilot to turn the thing on a dime if he wanted. She could also see mystic runes inscribed on nearly every inch of the ship's balloon and hull.

Before she was able to ponder on the meaning of those runes, however, The Ascent touched down on the tarmac of the Air Dock. Quickly she came to attention as she watched the soldiers aboard the airship run out a gangplank, allowing those aboard to disembark.

Well, here we go... Shadow thought to herself.

Author's Note:

Well, here it is! My new story! I hope you guys like it.
Also, to answer anypony who has been following my blog, no. My character hasn't shown his face yet. But he will in the next chapter!

As always, any thoughts, comments or concerns about my story are greatly appreciated, especially any geared towards making me a better author.

Comments

[Templar22]

I very much want to see where this goes.

[Knight Breeze]

4215182 Thanks for the catch! and I'm glad that you like it so far!

[Templar22]

4215195 No problem.

[Felyon]

There will be cake.

I keep hearing Glados' voice here.

Interesting and realistic character. Like Templar22 I am curious where this goes. Since this is a story, coupled with the unusual ship, her new assignment will be a lot more action packed then she suspected. Or at least dangerous once in a while, with her acting as bodyguard.
That, or he wanted her because he's a stuck-up noble who wants the best protection that still manages to stay out of sight. Stealth spells work for that, though I wonder how long she can hold those up. Unicorn magic supposedly ask both effort and concentration.

I really like your interpretation of the armor's coloring enchantment.