Stars of War

by EquestrianKirin

Chapter Two

Well, there we were, our new home from there onward. I wasn't too sure if our "home" was either some military base or, perhaps, a jailhouse, or something. Honestly, I didn't know, but the others weren't complaining over it, and besides, that wasn't the idea my mind and body was focusing on. I was simply trying to process what I was seeing: actual earth! My hooves, which were so used to flat, metal, lifeless floors, felt so alive when feeling the dirt of the foundation. It felt so nice to my hooves, I swear to Celestia. The breeze going through felt totally new to me, I never had felt true breeze in the E.C before, it felt...well, incredible! I could feel it go through my mane and tail as I stepped out. My eyes were getting the best show, them seeing what I only had heard of: clear blue sky, tall pine trees, grayish-green grass lining the ground outside of the base. Seriously, I felt like I was dreaming, at first. And I wasn't alone, the others looked a bit new to the whole thing, some more so than others. Mage walked over to me, having a similar reaction as I was.

"You're liking earth?" Mage asked me. All I could do was nod as she began to nudge me, aiming my attention to another pod I didn't notice before. Guess we weren't the only ponies being dropped off after all. Before I could see who was there, 2 other ponies: the 2-legged Pegasus and Arrowhead, went over to my position.

"Who's over there?" Arrowhead asked me.

"I'm not sure. More recruits, perhaps?" I guessed. It was quick, though, that my guess was wrong, as 3 ponies stepped out. One, I immediately recognized as Firebrand! The commander trotted over to me, a smile on his face.

"Hey, comrades! How's your first step onto earth feel?" He asked us. My hoof scrapped the ground, still trying to get used to it.

"Well...it's new," I replied, a bit reluctant in my words.

"Heh, it's always new to the rookies. Come here, might as well introduce you to the other instructors," Firebrand suggested. I went along with my commander and fallowed, as some of the others fallowed me. The 2 other commanders with us didn't look as friendly as Firebrand was, guess that was my own opinion on them at the time. One of them was a rough looking Pegesi, a piece of wheat in his mouth, and a patch over his left eye. His mane was a greyish-brown color, his main body of pure white. I could also tell his wings looked a bit bigger than usual Pegesi ponies. His cutie mark: a gold falcon, made the flight attribute more obvious. The earth pony next to him looked FAR different though, A pony sized, grey Clydesdale, a large, red hat on her head. Weird thing was, that I didn't see her in the line-up back at the EC. I wasn't the type to judge a book by the cover, but I woulda though that a strong stallion would come instead of a meek mare like her. I should talk though, being terrible at magic at the time, yet chosen to go anyway, and all. The Pegasus eyed all of us with a glare that could cut through metal, obviously unimpressed with whom he was eyeing.

"I can't believe such outcasts are picked," he snorted. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't the type to care much about others feelings, and I had to take the full force of it, no less. And, what a guess, I'm the first to get the insults, as he stared me down. I had to say, he was good at the dominance posture. Firebrand walked to my side.

"Waterstar, this is general Talon. Just let him run his mouth, the ego head doesn't take kindly to starting ponies," Firebrand whispered, just before Talon marched over to me, a hoof inches from my own.

"Think you're something special, don't you? You're chosen for the mission, and you think you're top pony," Talon snorted. I could tell he's not gonna make it easy for me.

"Uh...not really," I managed to say, trying to step back, but Talon took another strong step forward, again, inches from my hooves.

"Thought so. You keep you're eye open, colt, or those beasts'll tear you to shreds. You gotta be tough, strong, brave! Like myself." And there was that ego Firebrand told me about. Talon trotted pass me soon after, as I gave a sigh. Guess I was let off easy for that pony, but a rock suddenly was thrown at me, whacking my horn! The snort fallowing that from Talon made it too obvious. My teeth gritted as I gripped my horn, and I didn't notice til the last sec that Mage walked over.

"I think he bent my horn," I groaned. The pain was terrible, like a chipped tooth but more stinging. Mage gave a smile and, I think, she used some magic spell to cure it. I wasn't too sure, but the pain dulled away after a little bit.

"Is that better, Waterstar?" I merely nodded in reply, unsure of what else to really say to her. Guess that day's not gonna go very smoothly for me. The Clydesdale trotted over to me soon after I made sure my horn didn't split my head.

"Don't mind him, his head's too far in the clouds, even for a Pegasus," she explained, sigh of annoyance fallowed afterwards. Her accent did sound different, Scottish I presume.

"I see that...and you are?"

"Names Mad Munchkin, you can call me Maddie. You're Waterstar, if I'm not mistaking?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, mam." Maddie lifted a hoof towards me, to which I shook hooves with her. Mainly a friendly gesture, but, not much used to it yet.

"Likewise. Welcome to the base, Bairn," Maddie said, before trotting away to greet the others. Bairn? What does that mean? Though I had to admit, the accent's interesting to say the least. I took a glance to Mage, before turning back to Maddie. I noticed General Talon talking to Tiger Bolt, whom looked like he was more connected to the general. Normally, I'd ignore it, but how could a stuck up general switch moods on a dime that quick I simply had to know. I trotted over to them as general Talon walked away.

"Hey, Tiger Bolt, right?"

"No one else but!" The winged zebra proclaimed. Oh great, ego again.

"Right...well, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, general Talon and all that." Not exactly the best choice of words, but, Tiger Bolt seemed to get it.

"OH, well I dunno if you heard, but I'm his best student in the EC. In fact, he's planning to put me as mentor when he retires." Tiger Bolt had a strong ego sense hidden in that voice of his. Guess I couldn't blame him though, a mentors behavior could rub off on you if around long enough. But then again, it is impressive being that good in his training, he must be a good flier and Ariel fighter. I turned over, seeing general Talon talking to the local generals, along with many others...this was going to be a long day.

~~

I wasn't wrong. The day lasted WAY too long for me to really handle. I dunno who's in charge of the sun anymore, but I would've loved for that sun to go down sooner than it did. The whole day was simply touring the base, where to eat, where instructions were given, blah blah blah, you get the point. Nothing exactly interesting was spoken up, general Talon had his ego inflated the whole time, and Maddie said particular phrases here and there that I never caught. I didn't think anyone understood colttish, aside from her. Besides that, all instructions were given to each one of us, one that kinda bugged me at the time was "Nopony is allowed to go off the base unless on mission," instructed directly by General Talon. Goodie, it's EC, but on earth.

As day began to turn to night, which was phenomenal to say the least, we all ventured to our respected living quarters at the base. They were, lack of a better word, tents. Yeah, not exactly THE best ever, but, something different. My tent only had a thick sheet and pillow, my eyes only seeing the brown fabric that made up the roof. Well, on the bright side, I could experience what camping was like. While I finally had time to lay down and think inside my tent, some questions flew through my mind about this world I was instructed to go to. First of all: how was the sun and moon still on their course? If Celestia and Luna no longer exist, how come the 2 didn't stay in the sky together instead of instinctively go on their course? It was really confusing, but that wasn't the only question I got. The other one was: Why were these ponies chosen to go, myself included? Somepony like Mage or Tiger Bolt, I could understand but, the others?...I just didn't understand. Heck, one pony didn't had her front legs, and Crystal Snow looked like she can't protect herself for her life. Then there's the duo Thunder and Lightning, whom saw this as more of a vacation than a war mission...then there's me, the unicorn with barely any magic to rival a breezie (which I'm sure are extinct by now). I could only think of 2 guesses why they would sent us here: either to be fed to the Sombrapods, or they saw something in us I've missed. Those thoughts kept me up for a while longer, though I did try to sleep, to the point where I couldn't even lay down in my so-called bed. I didn't have any of my books, so reading to sleep was outta the question. If I'd knew better, I'd grab a book before leaving, but nope. All I could do was stare up at Luna's moon from the tent's opening. Oddly, space wasn't as exciting or magical from down here, while at the EC, it was far more spectacular. Maybe it was the fact I was living up there, but, I dunno, maybe that's just me.

My answers tried to form together in my brain over those any other questions, but those suddenly stopped when my ears picked something up. It was very faint, but, I could just make out the sound of hooves moving around nearby. At first, I tried ignoring, but they sounded louder as I was sure somepony's coming this way. Not wanting to get caught up, I back up in my tent, and closed my eyes as if I was still sleeping. I listened closely to the hoofsteps outside my tent, my curiosity trying to get me to look. Who was up? Why? What I hoped was whoever was up to simply walk pass my tent, and that's it...but no, the pony walked right into my tent, unprompted! I tried to stay asleep, but one of my eyes opened up to see who was in my tent...I wish I didn't.

My eyes bolted open, as I took each detail in: tall, thin, black fur, green eyes, reptilian tail erect behind, hair ragged and in strands, like wet grain, the black slither pupal in those green eyes. My eyes locked with its own, the scent of tar hung in the air as it stepped forward towards me. My whole body shivered in fear, my eyes unable to move away. Who was this pony? And why was it here? It placed a hoof onto my chest, which felt cold and wet, and towered over me with such superiority to rival the princesses. My heart beat quickened as i tried to pull free, but somehow the hoof remained planted on my chest...and then...

"Don't be afraid, Waterstar...you're with us now..."

Those words floated around my head as my body panicked like crazy, but it seemed her hoof was glued to my chest! Her second front hoof hovered over my eyes, placing it on my eye lid, shutting it for me. Only one of my eyes remained open, the other one unable to, as I watched helplessly as she placed the hoof over it. That eye shut itself, as my body suddenly felt burning...

...I jumped outta my bed, my hooves in a panicked stance, my eyes wide open looking around. Morning. No signs of that odd mare in the slightest, no tar smell, no hoofprints, nothing. My heart was still pounding, my breath in heavy pants, until I finally got the realization...

"Just a dream...it was just a dream..."

My muscles relaxed, heart slowing down, and breath calming down. Thank goodness, it was just some crazy nightmare that I was forced to take. Good thing I calmed down first, cuz next thing I knew, another pony, Mage, entered my tent, looking for me.

"Morning, Waterstar. Ready to go?"

"Go where?"

"We're getting our first mission, that's what. C'mon, commander Firebrand will be expecting us." I walked out of the tent, my hooves good enough to not freak out again.

"So soon?"

"I know it is, but, it's pretty special. Fallow me," Mage insisted, trotting on ahead. I didn't know what her deal was, maybe excitement? But what the hay, I needed something to take my mind off that dream anyway. Besides, my interest drew over to the mission: what would that be like?.

Whelp, I'm about to find out.