8 - Blood And Sand
Edited by the always-swell Pilate. He calms my heavy hand when I try to beat the readers over the head.
Twilight awoke amidst a cacophony of ponies moving about the barracks in time with the organized chaos that stemmed from being inside a unit. Shield approached her bunk, shooting her a glance and a smirk while ponies putting on armor or equipping weapons filled out the backdrop of the efficient but anxious scene. She noted that the burgundy-maned squad leader was already geared up—he was back in his armor—but now he also had a helmet on his head, a crossbow on his back, and sword with a foreleg-strap that hung off his side.
Twilight groaned as she rolled out of bed, even the dim light of the candles seemed oppressive and overly bright in her tired state. She managed not to fall over, which she considered to be a good start. She stood dazed, staring straight ahead for a moment before Shield chuckled and offered her a steaming mug.
"Yeah, I thought you might be like this, what with it being your first early march and all. I brought ya a cup of joe from the kitchens, I suspect you'd be incapable of walking the distance to get your own right about now."
Twilight grumbled in thanks and accepted his offering of caffeinated beverage. She looked at it in apprehension for a moment; Twilight had never heard a single good thing said about army coffee. However, quickly remembering that army beds and army food hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as the stories, she took a large swig of the stimulating drink. Her eyes widened, and it was at this point that she decided the army would be the death of her.
This is not coffee! This is a vile creation of Discord, another attempt to bring chaos into the world, this time in drinkable form. All stores of this horrid substance must be tracked down and disposed of immediately!
As she struggled to swallow the worst excuse for coffee she had ever experienced, she noticed Shield standing there with a big dumb smile on his face, barely containing laughter. She glared at him, as she finally coaxed her stomach to accept its fate, and swallowed the last of the coffee in her mouth.
"Army coffee ain't good, but it sure as Tartarus wakes you up, am I right?" Shield made no attempt at hiding his amused state.
Twilight shuddered as she set the still near-full mug down on a bedside table. Yesterday, when she’d had her first cigarette, it had been the worst thing the young scholar had ever tasted. It had been less than 24 hours since then, and that record had already been broken by Shield’s so-called drink. While she certainly would never be touching that terrible substance again, she couldn't help but agree that she was now wide awake.
Giving Shield one last dirty look for good measure, Twilight donned her armor, graduation knife, and heavy crossbow. She realized she had forgotten her dog tags, and simply slipped them on over her armor. She checked herself over, and found her preparations to be satisfactory. Smiling at her swiftness she began to move to the door, only to be stopped by a brown hoof.
"Now just where do ya thing you're going?" Shield was still smiling, but she could tell by his tone that he was being serious.
Twilight just gave him a confused look. In response he simply glanced from her face to the top of her head repeatedly. This only served to increase Twilight's confusion, until she just had to speak up.
"Are you checking out my horn?" Twilight asked jokingly.
Shield recoiled slightly, before noticing the purple mare laughing, joining in quickly to dispel the slightly awkward air. Once they had finished laughing, Shield shook his head and spoke. "Look, you need to wear a helmet, I really didn't think I'd have to outright say it, but I guess it is your first mission. Seriously, do they not teach you these things at whatever shadowy training facility you grew up in?"
His tone was playful, but it struck a chord with Twilight, bringing her to wonder just how she had made such a basic mistake. Her training had given her many skills, but it had never been real. A soldier never forgets their helmet because it’s often the thing that makes the difference between a close call and an early grave, they don't forget it because there is a real threat of death if they do. Twilight had forgotten her helmet, and that only served as a reminder that she had no experience with the real life of a soldier. The idea that at any moment, somepony could try to kill her was just something she couldn’t fathom. It was something nopony could ever comprehend without personal experience, and despite her love of knowledge, it was something she hoped she would never learn for herself.
The purple mare shook herself out of her introspection, smiled sheepishly at Shield, and rubbed the back of her neck with a forehoof embarrassedly. "Oh, heh, I guess I forgot to bring one..."
Shield only nodded. "I suspected as much, s'why I went and got this from the armory." He reached behind him and drew out a standard issue helmet. Unlike the desert camouflaged ones everypony else wore, this one was a deep unreflective black, the same as the leatherweave components of Twilight’s armor. "You have no idea how hard it was to find a helmet that matched your armor, but I figure it was worth it, seein’ as you'd look mighty silly wearing one of these," he tapped the mottled tan and brown helmet on his head, "with that suit of armor."
The small gesture of kindness warmed Twilight's heart as she gratefully accepted the helmet, placing it carefully on her head. She had no idea where he had managed to find a helmet that was not only black, but also fitted for a unicorn. In any case, she was extremely thankful, and quickly let him know.
He smiled kindly in response to her thanks, "You’re in my squad, Twilight.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to do this. You’ve been so nice to me, why? I’ve never done anything for you.” Twilight persisted.
Shield merely looked confused, repeating his reason slowly. “You’re in my squad... Why are we still talking about this?”
Twilight realized that he really might just care about his squad members that much. Regardless, she was about to press the issue further when Shield spoke up.
“Look Twilight, you’re a nice pony. Too nice for this place. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I’d like if I could consider you a friend.” He paused for affirmation, continuing with a smile at Twilight’s enthusiastic nod. “I’m just terribly sorry to say that you have no idea what you’re doing out here. Not that that’s a bad thing mind you,” he quickly clarified at the unicorn’s downtrodden expression. “You’re innocent Twilight, and me and mine were tasked with protecting you, so that’s just what I’m gonna do.” He smirked as a thought came to him. “Tell ya what, if you’re really set on returning the favor, my tour ends in about a month and a half. Come that day, I’ll be stuck out in a world of sunshine and rainbows I haven’t seen in years. I’ll be a much bigger fish out of water than you ever were here. How 'bout I make sure you survive active duty, then in a month and a half I’ll look you up in Ponytown, and you can make sure I survive the civilian life.”
“Ponyville.”
“Ponysburg, right." The earth pony winked mischievously.
Twilight giggled. "I'd like that."
Shield gestured for her to follow and led the way out of the barracks. They stepped out into the cool dryness of the desert, Twilight shivered slightly as a light wind blew over them. The unicorn would have called it night, were it not for the barely visible glow on the eastern horizon. Twilight groaned at this and turned to Shield who seemed as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as if they had slept in.
"What time is it anyway?"
"It's almost 0500, which will be our departure time, not so bad really." Shield responded without turning to face her, still leading the way through the base in the near-darkness.
"If this is your idea of 'not so bad' remind me to never let you wake me up early."
They shared a little chuckle as their destination came into view, switching their expressions to complete professionalism when they spotted Lieutenant Striker. The lieutenant was standing on a slight rise in the ground at the head of an assembly of ponies. There were 50 ponies in the platoon, divided into 10 squads, and everypony there was either an earth pony or unicorn, with a small tilt towards the former.
Makes sense I suppose, this is an infantry platoon. Still, it couldn't hurt to have a pegasus scout or two.
Twilight decided to leave her thoughts on EAF platoon organization for another time, instead joining the roughly ordered crowd in front of the platoon's commanding officer. She noticed with a small amount of pride that she was not the last to arrive, there were another three ponies she didn't recognize just now joining the crowd. Lieutenant Striker looked over the assembly, apparently doing a head count. After a few moments of this he nodded to himself and spoke in a loud, clear voice devoid of any emotion, yet completely commanding.
"Today we are transferring from Border Outpost 3 to Forward Operating Base Platinum near Coltdahar. This means that we will be on the move all day, with minimum breaks. Once we arrive at the F.O.B. we are to join up with the rest of the 5th, and receive further orders from Captain Shining Armor." His hard gaze wandered over the crowd, ensuring that everypony was paying attention. "Alright then, let's not waste any more time. Everypony move out."
The lieutenant obviously hadn't considered the fact that Twilight had never been on a march before, or he had simply counted on somepony else informing her of the procedure. In any case, Twilight was left standing confused as ponies began to move out in a loosely organized column until she spotted Doc waving at her across the crowd. She made her way over to Doc's position to find the rest of the squad already there.
Most of them had the same armor on as yesterday, with the notable addition of standard issue desert camouflaged helmets. Blast Radius was the only one with different armor, in fact she barely recognized him underneath the monstrous mass of metal and leatherweave. His helmet covered his whole head, obscuring his face, and having nothing but a thin visor to see through. The plates on his armor were thicker and greater in number than any suit Twilight had ever seen, and his only weapon was a foreleg knife, just a simple retracting blade strapped to his hoof, far more basic than Twilight's elaborate weapon.
She noted that all of them were now carrying weapons of some sort. Shield had his sword and crossbow. Ellie had a heavy auto crossbow set up on her back, with an aiming and firing mechanism hanging unused in front of her mouth. Doc was carrying various saddlebags and pouches decorated with a red cross, leaving only enough room for a single-hoofed 'light crossbow' strapped to his right foreleg. Clear Shot had a sword like Shield's hung at his side, but what drew Twilight's eye was the crossbow holstered on his back. It was a deep black, sleeker and longer than the one Twilight had, and with an even higher quality scope on it. His weapon had obviously designed for one thing, to kill from a distance, and it had been designed well.
Shield did a quick check, nodding when he saw the whole squad was there. "You heard Lieutenant Striker, let's move."
With that order, they joined the rest of the column. The platoon moved in a mostly organized manner, squads sticking together in the long swarm of ponies moving toward the north exit of the base. When they reached the gate, Twilight saw two APCs there waiting. Four squads detached from the column, one squad entered the cab of each APC, with another squad riding in back; each APC had a pony in the gunner position. This left 30 ponies from the platoon still walking, plus one purple unicorn mare. One APC quickly pulled ahead of the group before matching the walking pace in front. The other waited until everypony exited the base, then took up a rear guard position. Twilight was impressed to see Lieutenant Striker hoofing it in the front of the group, when he could easily have reserved a seat in an APC.
Now their journey began in earnest. The sun was still mostly hidden by the horizon, and the stars were still visible overhead, but Twilight felt invigorated purely by her excitement. Layered on top of the nervous excitement of a new experience was the anticipation of seeing her brother, and completing another task for the princess. Twilight's parents had always supported her, but during her childhood she had spent a great deal more time with the princess. Over the years, Celestia's approval had come to mean the world to the purple scholar, and failure had ceased to be an option. Her mentor had given her a task, and she would complete it, that was simply a fact.
She walked along purposefully, determination shining like fire in her eyes as each step brought her closer to her mission’s ultimate completion. Unfortunately, this got boring is short order, mostly due to the environment she was trekking through. The scenery was nothing but endless sand dunes for miles in every direction she could see; a blank sheet of beige had practically burned into her eyes, slowly numbing her mind with sheer monotony. The sun had mostly risen, casting a blood-red light show over the land. Despite being still partially hidden, its rays were already becoming oppressive to Twilight, unused as she was to the desert environment.
What was that sailor’s adage about red skies in the morning?
She chuckled at the thought. Sailor ponies were notoriously superstitious, taking every little thing as some sort of omen. Twilight was a mare of science, and knew that a red sky in the morning was nothing supernatural, meaning only that pegasi to the west of her position were creating a storm bank. When the sun shone through the haze of water particles created by the storm, it created a striking shade of red. This would explain why it made sailor ponies nervous however, as a coming storm was not something one looked forward to on the high seas. Twilight knew that this storm would never reach them, the dry desert would make it all but impossible for even the best weather team to hold it together for very long.
Still, for whatever reason the purple mage couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding that only increased the longer she looked up at the crimson sky.
Deciding she would rather not continue that line of thought, Twilight stepped slightly closer to the nearest pony, Blast Radius, to try to initiate conversation. He was not a large pony, about average size for a stallion, but in his armor he seemed huge. Twilight blinked as she had a strange thought.
How in Equestria is he walking through the desert in that thing?
At this point, Blast noticed Twilight walking next to him. With a flash of his horn, he unlocked and removed his helmet, floating it alongside them in an orange aura. "Hello Lieutenant Sparkle. Do you want something?" He asked with a friendly smile.
"How many times am I going to have to tell you? Call me Twilight."
The armored stallion chuckled before responding, "Always once more, Lieutenant Sparkle."
Twilight couldn't help but giggle a little bit at that, settling herself a moment later as she remembered her question. "Blast, how are you not overheating? I mean, I'm sure the others are just used to this climate, but no amount of acclimation could account for you wearing that armor in a desert." Suddenly she remembered Ellie's explanation of the APC and quickly added, "and you're not allowed to just say 'magic' like that explains everything."
Blast looked confused at the apparent non-sequitur, but shrugged it off quickly. "Well if you would like the full explanation of the suit, I can oblige." He cleared his throat, and spoke in a surprisingly good lecturing voice. "The Mark V Heavy Combat Suit is given only to ponies who have completed special training program to use it. It contains a magically powered air filtration and cooling system, as well as a water dispenser, and waste disposal." Twilight moved away slightly as he listed the last feature. "It is used for bomb disposal units, or when a pony is needed who can walk through enemy fire like nothing and get the job done." He rapped a forehoof against the chestplate, grinning proudly. "This suit will stop anything but a direct rocket hit, and even that probably wouldn’t kill me. Most soldiers do not like to say 'Mark V Heavy Combat Suit', too many words. Instead, most call it 'The Walking Bunker'." He let out a short laugh. "Hah, I am pleased with this name," his grin became a smirk, "but I just call mine 'Vera'."
Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment. "Vera... isn't that the Stalliongradi word for 'faith'?"
Blast blinked in surprise. "Yes it is. I am impressed, there are not many who speak my native language outside Stalliongrad. As for 'Vera', it is true that it is the word for 'faith', but it is also used as a name. I thought it fitting, I must have faith that Vera will keep me alive, because once I am sure of survival, I can do anything."
"That's surprisingly apt." The yellow stallion gave her a strange look. "Or... maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Heh sorry, I guess I just don't really know much about you." She glanced at the rest of Bomb Squad all walking close by. "Actually, I don't know much about any of you outside your names. I suppose I got so caught up telling you all about Ponyville and my friends yesterday that I never thought to ask about your lives."
"You know, that's a good point," Shield said from ahead of Twilight, not turning around. "We all know pretty much everything about you, and you don't know squat about us. Besides, this is gonna be a long and boring day unless we pass the time somehow. Blast, you're already warmed up, you start."
The demolitions expert nodded, turning to Twilight who was still walking next to him. "I was born and raised in Stalliongrad, you knew this I am sure." Twilight nodded, and he continued, "Before I joined the army I was a teacher there, high school chemistry." The yellow unicorn sighed wistfully as a nostalgic look crossed his face. "I had a family then, a loving wife and son." His face was consumed by a dark expression. "My wife is no longer for this world, and my son moved out of my life years ago. I decided there was nothing there for me anymore, so I enlisted. This was years ago, before Zebran war, though a lot of that time was spent in training for the suit, and in demolitions training. I have nothing to go back to in Stalliongrad, so I do not plan on going back. I will remain here for the foreseeable future." He smiled a little to try to alleviate Twilight's forlorn expression. "Do not feel down Lieutenant Sparkle. I am content here, and my past life has not bothered me for years."
Despite what Blast said, Twilight couldn't help but feel down at the idea of losing one's whole family, and having nopony at all to return home to. Shaking her head, she looked to her right, seeing Clear Shot there, she nodded at him to go next.
Shot looked at her for a moment, then began speaking in his gravelly, deadpan voice. "Grew up in Neigh Jersey. Never knew my father, suspect he was military—perhaps operative like you—from how my mother talked about him. As for me, worked for a dressmaker." Twilight blinked, that was probably the last thing she would have guessed for the dangerous stallion. "Job bearable, but unpleasant. Had to handle female clothing. Wanted to make suits, tuxedos. Heard what was happening in Zebranistan, decided to help. Also, wanted excuse to leave dress shop." A little half-smile played across the jet-black earth pony’s lips. "Have been saving paychecks. After tour of duty ends, plan to open my own shop."
This brought Twilight's smile back a little. Of all the ponies to have a dream of opening a tailor shop, it just had to be him. Shaking her head a little, she looked to see who would go next.
"So is it my turn now?" Twilight turned to the source of the voice, seeing Ellie grinning at her from a few steps behind, as cheerful as ever. "Well, I grew up on a farm like Doc, except that we grew strawberries, which are far better than pears if you ask me, or if you ask anypony for that matter. Actually, I dare you to find somepony who dislikes strawberries. It can’t be done.”
The teal mare blinked as she realized she had gotten off track. She cleared her throat and went back to her story. “Now I never was one for growing crops, or even harvesting, but whenever a machine broke down, I'd be there to fix it. Didn't take long for me to discover that it was my special talent, but I wasn't sure what to do with it, seeing as the machines around the farm were pretty basic. Until one day, an EAF airship flew over the farm, off to patrol the griffon border." A dreamy expression overtook her features as she thought back to that day. "I had never seen anything like it, and it was beautiful. So many parts and pieces, metal, wood, canvas, glass, and steam, all working together to do something amazing. Everything perfectly engineered to the tiniest detail, and all of it needing somepony to hold it together. Needless to say, I packed my things faster than two shakes, and before you know it I was on my way to the nearest recruitment center."
She blushed a little in embarrassment. "I, uh, I didn't exactly get into the Air Force Engineering Corps like I wanted. I found out the hard way that I have just a tiny, little, debilitating fear of heights. So I chose the next best thing, and joined the Infantry as a combat engineer. I still get to work on some pretty neat stuff, those APCs for example have a good bit of tech built into them. Still, one day I hope to figure out a way past my fear so I can do what I've always dreamed, run the engine room of an airship. So that's me, past, present, and future." Ellie smiled brightly as she finished her tale in a chipper tone.
By now Twilight was smiling fully once again, completely out of the stupor she had been put in by Blast's story. The environment hadn’t changed from plain sand dunes in the entire time they had been walking so far, but the sun had now emerged fully from its resting place beyond the horizon, and Twilight could finally see something standing out against the beige sea of the desert. In the distance there could be seen a patch of a different shade of tan. Squinting her eyes, she could just about make out the hard lines of equine-made structures. She was just about to inquire about it when Doc launched into his story.
“Right then, my turn, you already know I grew up on a pear farm so I’ll skip that bit.” The medic spoke cheerfully and speedily, Twilight was once again reminded of Pinkie Pie, though Pinkie was on another level entirely. “My parents named me Pear Seed hoping I’d grow up to work the farm with some sort of pear related cutie mark. That didn’t exactly pan out. Had some good times there though. I still remember when my father and I watched a meteor shower from the top of a grassy hilltop out in the west orchard.” He cleared his throat. “Yes, anyway, I’m actually the newest one here you see. This is my first tour, and I’ve only been out here a couple of months.”
Twilight looked askance at him, “it sounded like you enjoyed living on the farm though. Why did you leave?”
Doc sighed in memory. “I was restless. I wanted to see the world, to have adventures. The farm was giving me none of that, so I packed up and left. I wandered aimlessly for a couple years, and did get myself into a good few adventures. Eventually I decided that I wanted to do something that involved my talent.” He blinked. “I never told you my talent did I? Oh silly me, it’s medicine, my cutie mark is a red cross, same as on my armor. Not surprising, that one. You’d probably already guessed it by now. So anyway where was I? Ah yes! So I wanted to do something with my talent, but you can’t exactly become a doctor without ever going to medical school. That’s when I found out that the EAF offers a training program for combat medics. It’s a little basic compared to an actual degree, but it’s enough to get me an internship at a hospital.”
Twilight nodded. “So when your tour ends, you’ll go to work at a hospital then.
“Actually no,” Doc smirked, confusing Twilight. “I think I’ve had enough adventure. I know I said I hate pears, but a nice relaxed life of pear farming sounds like just what I’ll need when my tour is up.” He chuckled a little. “Funny that, seems I’ll end up right where I started after all. Sometimes you don’t know just how good you have it until you’ve spent two years wandering, followed by several months of military training, followed by a yearlong tour in the army.” He winked. “Know what I’m saying?”
Twilight could only shake her head and smile at the strange mannerisms of the self-proclaimed ‘Doctor’ before turning her attention back to the structures she had seen in the distance, thinking they might be more visible now. Sure enough, she could now confirm that there were buildings a good distance down the road. She turned to Shield to ask about them, but was cut off when he anticipated her question.
“That,” he started, gesturing towards the distant shapes, “is Khenatrot. It’s just a small village, the zebras there are friendly, most of ‘em don’t like Kwaad any more than we do. We actually pass through three such villages between here and F.O.B. Platinum.”
Twilight cocked her head. “So you’ve done this route before? It’s safe right?”
Shield chuckled a little at that. “Of course it’s safe.” Twilight looked confused at the surety of his statement, so he clarified, “Well ya see, Celestia is always looking to protect any Zebran citizens who oppose Kwaad, seeing as he’s taken a liking to mass executions and all.” Twilight winced slightly, but motioned for him to continue. “As a result of this, she puts a lot of effort into the defense of any Equestria-supporting villages. Now this has resulted in a bit of an unwritten rule, the more villages your route takes you through, the safer you’re gonna be. If we were travelling on a ‘zero’ I’d say to watch for attacks, but we’re on a ‘three’.” He grinned confidently. “With three villages between here and there, the only thing we have to worry about is dying from boredom if Shot decides to tell another exciting tale of his life as a fashion worker.” Shield snickered at the dark look Clear Shot was giving him.
Ellie started as she realized something. “Hey Sarge, you never told your story.”
“You know I don’t talk about my past,” He replied in a completely serious tone.
Ellie, like the rest of the squad, failed to notice the knowing look that passed between Twilight and Shield. “Dammit,” Ellie complained with a bit of amusement, “you’re never gonna tell us anything other than ‘I grew up in Canterlot’,” she said the last part in a deep imitation of a stallion’s voice, causing Twilight to snicker. “Well, why don’t you tell her what you plan on doing after the war? I’m sure she’d get a kick out of that.”
Twilight blinked and looked questioningly at Shield, who was for his part glaring at Ellie. “What does she mean?” Twilight asked. “Surely it can’t be as funny as running a clothing shop.” She clapped both hooves over her muzzle as soon as she realized what she’d said, removing them only to speak in a panicked and apologetic voice. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that! It’s just… y’know… for a deadly sniper… and then… suddenly a tailor… I’ll just shut up now.” She hung her head as she finished, too embarrassed to look at Shot. She was broken out of her shame-filled torpor by the aforementioned sniper’s gravelly voice.
“No problem. Actually agree, but in opposite direction. Don’t think it’s funny that a sniper is a tailor. Think it’s funny that a tailor is a sniper. Cutie mark is actually needle and thread.” Twilight was surprised by this at first, but it made sense, not every soldier could have a combat related talent. “Anyway, you’re right, Shield’s isn’t as good. Still, pretty funny.” The pitch-black earth pony explained in his strange speech pattern.
“It’s not funny,” Shield grumbled. “It’s endearing, if anything.” He paused for a moment, until Twilight gestured for him to go on. Sighing, he complied. “I’ve always… really wanted to open a restaurant, a nice little place, but not too fancy. I’d like to open it in somewhere quiet too, not like Canterlot. It’d be small enough that I could run it myself, with just one other pony to take orders. I wouldn’t want it to become famous or anythin’, it would always be a little, relaxed place, with a few loyal customers. Even though not many ponies would eat there, that’s just how I’d want it, and they’d always leave satisfied in a way that only a good meal and good company can.”
Twilight looked at the other members of the squad trying to stifle laughter—except Clear Shot who just smirked a little—and cocked her head in confusion. “I don’t get it. I mean, sure it’s a little quaint for a hardened war veteran, but it’s hardly hilarious.”
Shield glanced at Twilight. “You don’t know my cutie mark do you?”
Twilight shook her head. She had in fact made a ferocious effort not to look at his flank all of last night, and she was very proud of herself for succeeding.
“Yeah well, as for why they all find it so funny,” Shield gestured to the rest of the squad, “my mark’s two crossed swords over a shield, and let’s just say it hasn’t helped my cookin’ one bit.”
Ellie made a sympathetic face. “Aww don't feel bad Sarge, you’re getting better. Why, the last time you made us a meal it wasn’t half bad. Of course,” she covered her muzzle as she giggled a little, “it wasn’t half good either.”
This started a whole new round of laughter which Twilight, and even Shield, joined in on. When Twilight was able to quiet her laughter, she moved a little closer to Shield, speaking in a low voice, unheard by the still-laughing squad members, or even the silently smiling Clear Shot.
“I actually agree that it’s endearing,” she smiled at Shield, which he happily returned. “You know, if you really do plan on coming to Ponyville, we can always use more restaurants. Besides, my baby dragon Spike is quite the little chef, and I’m sure he would be happy to give you some pointers.”
“Well, I don’t know if there’s anything he can teach that this master chef doesn’t already know,” He thumped his chest with bravado, causing Twilight to giggle, before he spoke in a slightly more serious voice, “but I hear the company in that town is pretty swell, so I might just take you up on that offer,” his voice switched back to a playful tone, “despite your horribly insulting insinuation that I might need help with my cooking.”
They shared another laugh, before easily transitioning to a companionable silence. They walked without speaking for a while longer. Twilight turned her attention to the village in the distance, as it was the only thing in any direction besides endless sand. Twilight hated sand.
--{MoW}--
After another half hour of nothing but sand, they were nearing the village of Khenatrot. Shield was walking ahead of the rest of the squad, but he slowed his pace to walk next to Twilight as the buildings grew closer.
“Not to worry you without cause,” he started in a serious tone that did nothing but worry the purple mare, “but you should keep your guard up while we’re in town.” Twilight shot him a questioning look, so he clarified. “Normally it’s not very hard to spot an enemy y’know? Just look for the stripes. Now we’re about to wade into a whole mess of zebras, most of which are perfectly friendly.” Shield lowered his voice. “My point is exactly that. Most of them are friendly.”
Twilight gulped nervously as the town suddenly looked a little less inviting. “Alright, I’ll keep an eye out.” She felt a little silly saying that, seeing as she had no idea what to keep an eye out for, not having the slightest clue as to how she was supposed to differentiate the friendly zebras from the enemies.
The column of ponies, and two APCs, entered the town at a slow walk. Several zebras could be seen looking on from within their houses, and a few even came out to the street to watch the platoon pass. Twilight was confused, she wasn’t expecting ‘several’ zebras. She was under the impression that there would be more.
She turned to Shield, who was still walking beside her. “Hey, is this all there is? I don’t see how you would have much of a hard time identifying hostiles when you only have to check a couple zebras.”
Shield chuckled at her question. “Nah, this is nothing. It’s a market day.”
Twilight waited for the rest of that thought. After a moment, it became clear that Shield expected her to accept his meager explanation without any clarification. She was having none of that. “And just how does that explain anything? We have market days in Ponyville, but they aren’t all that different from a normal day.”
The brown earth pony responded with a smile and a wink. “Well, out here they surely are.” He gestured with a forehoof as the convoy rounded a corner, finally coming into sight of the central town.
Twilight nearly stumbled as she looked in the direction he had gestured. She was only able to coax a single syllable out as her response. “Oh…”
The column ground to a halt, presented with an unending sea of black and white stripes. Twilight was left speechless by the numbers and density of the zebras in the marketplace. She hadn’t even thought that the town’s population was this big, but there they were, covering every square foot of the bazaar that wasn’t taken up by the various stalls that sold everything from fruit, to clothes, to loaded crossbows. A near-deafening wave of noise constantly washed over her from the market, making it impossible to pick out what any one zebra was saying with all of them shouting at once.
Shield gestured for the squad to gather around him, speaking over the market sounds once they were assembled. “Okay, you all know the drill, but this is Lieutenant Sparkle’s first time so I’ll explain the basics.” His use of Twilight’s rank drove home just how serious he was. “Do not separate from the rest of the squad. If you are forced to separate, fall in with another squad as quickly as possible, and we’ll meet up on the other side. You don’t want to get lost alone in the crowd. If any of the villagers offer you something free, don’t take it. Stay polite about it though, they may just be really friendly. The populace knows not to bother us, so if they remain insistent, that’s a bad sign.” He winced at that, making Twilight suspect these rules came from experience. “Do not let your guard down for a second. When we start moving again, it could take awhile to push through the crowd, keep your head on a swivel the whole time, and call out any suspicious figures you see.” He glanced at each squad member. “Everypony got that?”
Various forms of agreement were given, and Shield nodded approvingly. At that moment, a loud air horn could be heard blaring from the front of the procession, causing the throng of zebras to part a little in the middle. Just like that, the convoy was on the move again.
They walked at an incredibly slow pace, having to follow the lead APC, which was moving at a crawl through the dense populace of the town. Twilight followed Shield’s advice, sweeping her gaze over the nearby zebras. It was far harder than she thought it would be to watch out for threats. She found herself surrounded by zebras, all far too close for her to feel comfortable. From what she could see, most of them sported friendly smiles, some of them nodded at her as she passed, and a few of them even waved cheerily.
After a couple of minutes of excruciatingly slow walking, Twilight spotted her first unfriendly face. Up on a balcony to her left, overlooking the plaza they were currently passing through, she spotted a frowning zebra stallion. He was wearing a black vest with several pouches on it, and had a large scar across his neck. His glare, it seemed to Twilight, was directed straight at her, and the pure hatred written on his face caused the librarian soldier to shiver involuntarily.
Twilight made sure to use proper terminology when calling out his position to Shield. “I see suspicious looking stallion, apartment building at 9 o’ clock, fourth floor balcony.”
The burgundy-maned earth pony nodded. “I see ‘em. Shot, be ready to introduce him to the pointy end. The rest of you, keep watching the crowd.”
Clear Shot nodded and loosened the long-range crossbow in its holster on his back, preparing to draw it in the blink of an eye if the zebra tried anything. The rest of the squad did as Shield said, but Twilight couldn’t help glancing at the creepy zebra on the balcony once more, noting with no little alarm that he was still there, still glaring in her direction. As her paranoia of the crowd around her grew, she became acutely aware of the combat knife on her right foreleg. Her expertly crafted Academy graduation knife could be out and combat ready in a fraction of a second if she needed it, and it would take less than a pound of pressure for her to pierce skin with the blade of the deadly implement. This knowledge did nothing to comfort her. She didn’t want to kill anypony, and the fact that she had the means to do it so easily only troubled her more.
Twilight shook her head, now was not the time for introspection. She did a quick check for the watcher on the balcony—he was still there—and turned her attention back to the crowd. They were about to pass a stall selling intricate little boxes, the kind used to store a valuable piece of jewelry, or a small keepsake. The platoon was brought to a halt with Twilight directly in front of the box-selling stall, the zebra mare operating the stall caught Twilight’s eye. To the scholar’s paranoid mind, the zebra mare’s smile looked devious as she picked up a small intricately decorated box and stepped a little towards the purple unicorn.
Twilight had never learned to speak Zebran, so she simply smiled politely and shook her head as the mare offered her the box. Inwardly, she was beginning to panic, praying to Celestia that whatever was blocking their path would be cleared up quickly. The salesmare looked around and noted that the column was not going anywhere, before moving a little closer to Twilight with a friendly smile on her face, offering the box and speaking a few words in Zebran. Twilight looked to the other squad members for support, but they were all keeping an eye on either the balcony zebra or the general crowd. She was pretty sure this mare was being insistent at this point, she thought of Shield’s warning for a moment, but inwardly scoffed as she examined the salesmare, who had moved closer again, still attempting to get her to take the box. The mare before her had to be three times Twilight’s age, wrapped in a shawl that had definitely seen better days, her hoof shook slightly as she held the beautifully crafted box out to Twilight, a possible sign of arthritis.
Twilight shook herself out of that tangential train of thought, and focused her attention on making the bothersome salesmare leave her alone. The aforementioned mare finally closed the gap between them, practically holding the box in Twilight’s face at this point. Shield finally seemed to notice Twilight’s proximity to the zebra, cursing under his breath.
“Twilight! Get away from—“
He was cut off by a loud blast from an air horn at the front of the convoy. Apparently whatever had been blocking their path was now clear.
Twilight had turned her head slightly at Shield’s shout, but the horn blast startled her, causing her to snap her gaze towards the front of the column. As she looked away from the salesmare, and in Shield’s direction, she noticed his eyes widen at something behind her and his mouth open to shout something to her.
Time slowed down as she spun around, catching the glint of steel in her vision and reflexively moving her head to the right. She felt a cold blade cut into her face below her left eye in agonizing slowness. She saw each individual droplet of her own blood sail through the air from the deep slash. She even had time, in her slowed down perception, to take note of the hate-filled sneer that had replaced the knife-wielding mare’s cheerful smile.
Time finally reverted to normal speed as Twilight recoiled a few steps away from the mare with a hiss of pain. She fell to her haunches and covered the wound with her left forehoof, quickly bringing her right hoof up and extending the blade of her combat knife towards her foe in preparation to defend herself. Looking through the one eye not covered in blood, Twilight was able to see clearly as a crossbow bolt sprouted between her assailant’s eyes a fraction of a second before the zebra mare was tackled to the ground by an enraged Shield.
“What the hell?!” Shield shouted as he rose from the corpse of the would-be assassin, pointing an accusatory hoof at Twilight. “I told you not to do that!”
It was at that moment that her brain finally processed the immense pain she was in. The lavender mare screamed in agony and collapsed to her belly in the dust. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt in her life. She had only ever received minor cuts and bruises in the past, but the gash across her face was long and deep. Blood poured onto the road mixing with tears as she whimpered weakly.
Shield immediately felt bad for his outburst. “Oh jeeze, that actually looks pretty bad.” He turned and shouted, “Doc! What the hell are you doing? Get over here!”
The white unicorn in question was already rushing toward Twilight, a concerned expression on his face. “Oh dear, this is not pretty.” He produced various medical supplies from his saddlebags while he inspected the wound. “Ah yes, this will require stitches. Hey um… you know what looks really cool? Facial scars, everypony loves them.” The red-maned medic laughed nervously. “And on a related note… This is definitely going to scar. Don’t worry though, as long as you can keep good care if it while it heals it should only be a little thing. Barely a couple inches.” Twilight whimpered slightly at this as Doc levitated a needle and thread designed for mending flesh rather than clothes. He cleaned out the cut carefully, disinfecting it and ensuring it was completely clear of sand before he began the surgical suture. Once he had it sealed up, he wiped down the other parts of her face that were coated in blood, cleaning her left eye of blood as well.
The other members of the squad gathered around as he worked, the process only taking a couple of minutes. Shield left briefly to inform Lieutenant Striker of the situation and explain the short delay. By the time the sergeant returned, Twilight was already rising to her hooves.
“I assume you learned your lesson about why we always listen to the sergeant.” Shield remarked as he joined the rest of the squad.
“Hey, go easy on her Sarge. Knife wounds fucking hurt.” Ellie retorted, causing the rest of the squad to glare towards their leader, and earning a small smile of thanks from Twilight.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Shield apologized genuinely. “How’re ya holding up?”
“I feel like my face just got slashed open.” Twilight deadpanned.
The squad shared a small laugh at that, happy to lighten the mood.
Shield gave Twilight a considering look, not quite buying her nonchalance, before turning to Clear Shot. “By the way, that was some nice shooting and all, but I totally had it covered.”
Clear Shot glared at Shield. “Zebra was armed, you weren’t. I saved you.”
The two stallions glared at each other for a long moment, but just when Twilight was getting worried, Shield chuckled and hung his head. Clear Shot smirked at his apparent victory.
“Fine, you’re right,” the brown earth pony stated in defeat. He reached into a pocket of his armor and withdrew a pack of cigarettes, which he tossed to the jet black pony across from him. “But you may not want to use those. I’ll be expecting all of ‘em back next time I save your ass.”
As a couple of ponies began cleaning up the scene of the fight the squad began chatting idly. Without warning, Twilight pulled Shield behind some stalls so that they were out of sight and out of earshot of the rest of the squad.
“Whoa!” Shield chucked. “Well now Miss Twilight, aren’t you being a mite forward? At least buy me dinner first.”
His jovial attitude fell immediately when he saw Twilight’s face. She was looking at him with foalishly wide eyes, tears were beginning to form, and she was clearly shaking with barely repressed sobs.
“Hey now, it’s alright,” he spoke in a sympathetic tone. Throwing caution to the wind, he wrapped his forelegs around the suddenly fragile mare. There was nothing behind the hug, it was simply the comfort of a friend, but Twilight had never been so grateful for a friendly hug in her life. “It’s fine, you’re fine,” Shield said soothingly.
Twilight shook her head without looking up from Shield’s shoulder, careful not to let her wound be disturbed. “It’s not fine. I almost died back there, and it was completely my fault.” She mewled quietly before composing herself enough to speak. “What am I doing out here Shield? I’m not a soldier, I’m a fucking librarian.” Twilight virtually never swore—maybe once or twice when she’d been up for days, stuck on a hard bit of research—but she had read that it could be cathartic, and it did calm her a little. Though her voice was still shaky as she continued, partly because she was still feeling remnants of the worst pain of her life.
“Why did she attack me? She seemed so nice one minute, a-and I was trying to be p-polite, and I-I turned away for one second, and then w-when I turned back she just…” Twilight trailed off, realizing she was rambling. She worked up the courage to release herself from the hug and look Shield in the eyes, fully expecting to see disgust at her foalish behavior.
Instead, she saw in his eyes a look of understanding as he spoke in a low tone. “Twilight, I know exactly what you’re going through right now.” He paused, as if searching for the right words before continuing in a halting tone, like what he was about to say was hard to talk about. “Two years ago, back when we’d just gained a lot of territory in Zebranistan, I took part in the occupation of a decent sized town near the front lines, I was a corporal at the time, and our squad was tasked with evacuating part of the town in prep for the Zebran counter attack. A zebra stallion approached me, tried to offer me some free food. Now I may have been a little more inexperienced back then, but I wasn’t an idiot, and I wasn’t about to accept food from some random stallion."
"Eventually, the rest of the squad joined me in trying to get rid of the guy. We were all facing him, shoutin’ and waving for him to leave us alone.” He sighed heavily. “When the stallion with the food hit the dirt and covered his head, we all had about one second to realize our mistake. Nopony had seen the zebra set up an auto-crossbow in a window behind us.” Shield winced at the memory, and rubbed a spot on his armor that covered several small round scars. “All of us got hit pretty bad, only me an’ Clear Shot actually managed to hold on long enough for the medics to arrive.”
His tone became dark and angry. “And that stallion? The one who had distracted us? He smiled at me. He just stood there with a massive fucking grin on his face while my friends bled to death in the street,” the earth pony spat, before his voice became sad. “That’s when I made the rules for moving in crowds, but it didn’t matter by that point. That stallion had destroyed my trust, completely and utterly, and now I suspect the same happened to you.”
Twilight was dumbstruck for a moment, but managed a slow nod. He was right, she could never let her guard down again. Not after the nicest zebra she’d met had tried to kill her. Shield simply sat on his haunches, lost in sad thoughts of the past, before being snapped out of it by another hug. He blinked and glanced down at the purple mare that had attached herself to him. She had been so innocent, and it tore him up that he could no longer say that truthfully about her. She had seen what it was like out there, in the world most ponies didn’t know existed.
“So to answer your question, that mare attacked you because that’s the world we live in. It ain’t pretty, and you don’t have to like it. As a matter of fact, I might hold it against you if you did, but we have to be here. If somepony doesn’t stop this war, it only means more death.” He paused, making a sweeping gesture in the direction of the rest of platoon. “So here’s us, on the raggedy edge. Because somepony’s gotta be.”
The purple mare once again broke free from the hug, with a little less reluctance now that she had been calmed down some. “So that's it then?” Twilight asked despondently. “Wherever we go, we just can’t trust anypony ever again?” She shivered at the thought.
Shield smiled. “Trust your squad, Twilight. Trust me, Doc, Shot, Ellie, and Blast, trust all of us as your friends. Friendship is something you might find sorely lacking out here. Oh, and one more thing,” Shield’s tone became slightly more upbeat, “don’t expect me to be making with the sappiness around the rest of the squad. I’ve got my ‘tough-as-nails sergeant’ persona to maintain.”
Both ponies chuckled a little at the obvious sarcasm, glad to have lightened the mood before silently agreeing that they should head back now. Twilight was still a little jittery as she rose to her hooves, but Shield allowed her to lean on him until they returned to the convoy, at which point they broke apart, both knowing just how inappropriate the contact was between an officer and her subordinate. Twilight had only a brief moment to note that the strange, vest-wearing zebra on the balcony was gone before the air horn sounded for the final time, and the platoon made its way out of the village.
The rest of the time in the small town was nerve wracking for Twilight. Her entire perception had changed to the point that every zebra was seen as a potential threat. She was constantly casting her gaze about, silently thanking Celestia when no more zebras attempted to sell her anything. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was really no more than 30 minutes, they passed through the gate and into the desert. When they finally stepped back into the familiar scenery of endless sand, Twilight allowed a sigh of relief escape her lips. Twilight loved sand.
--{MoW}--
As the town grew smaller in the distance, Twilight’s heart was still hammering in her and chest, and her mind was still racing at the thought of a possible attack. She couldn’t shake her jumpiness, and would be willing to try anything just to calm down. The purple mare blinked as the thought of something she could try occurred to her.
“I think I need a smoke after that.” Twilight declared.
Shield blinked, “I was under the impression that you hated the last one. You really shouldn't make it a habit, trust me.” He turned to the purple mare walking next to him, only to be confronted with the most potent pair of puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. It didn’t take long for him to cave in under Twilight’s adorableness. Sighing heavily he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket and held it out for Twilight to take one. “You’re a bad pony, and you should feel bad.”
Twilight smirked victoriously. “I blame the bad influence you ponies are having on me.” She chuckled a bit as she lit the cigarette. Her cool attitude went right out the window as she coughed violently after the first drag. She scrunched up her face in disgust. “Oh that’s horrible!”
Regardless of its awful taste, the unhealthy habit did help to calm her down. She idly continued to smoke the cigarette, coughing occasionally, as they left Khenatrot behind. She realized that she was lucky her wound was above her cheek, or smoking would have been extremely painful, as well as talking, or moving her face at all for that matter.
As she continued to introduce her lungs to the toxic fumes of the cigarette, she looked around her at the rest of the squad. Ellie was telling a joke to Doc, it was apparently quite funny, based on his reaction. Blast Radius had removed his concealing helmet again, and had an easy smile on his face as his hoofsteps in his heavy armor kicked up small clouds of dust. Clear Shot still had a blank expression on his face, but when he caught Twilight looking he shot her a little half-smile of encouragement. The purple mare thought back to Shield’s comforting words with a smile.
Friendship may be sorely lacking out here, but I’ve found more than enough.
Twilight tilted her head toward Shield as a question came to mind. “By the way, whatever happened to this route being perfectly safe? Something about not having to worry on a ‘three’?”
Shield chuckled before replying. “Something always goes wrong, Twilight. That's the rule. The good news is, this time it was only a flesh-wound, nopony died, and now that we’ve had our one thing, nothing can go wrong for the rest of the trip.” A large grin adorned his face by the end of his explanation.
Twilight, on the other hoof, was not satisfied by that logic at all. “What?!” Her cigarette fell right out of her mouth, saved at the last second by her magic. “That makes no sense! How in Equestria can you possibly believe that?”
“Remember that ‘Plinko Sense’ you told us about?”
“Pinkie Sense.”
“Ponko Sense, right.” Shield smirked. “Just think of this as something similar. It may not make a lick of sense, but I’ve experienced it enough to know it’s true. Trust me, it’ll be smooth sailing from here on out.”
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Yay! Just as I got sad that there were no more story updates for me to read
Subject: Twilight Sparkle
Suffix Title Obtained: "The Scarred"
Preview: "Twilight Sparkle, the Scarred (Twilight, The Scarred)"
1835915
I like these very much.
-Minty
It would have been smooth sailing, but he *jinxed* it!
I was supposed to be sleeping more than 3 hours tonight...
Damn you Zap!
EDIT: Well, now I can sleep for 2 hours and 46 minutes assuming i fall asleep right now. But it was worth it.
I approve of the character development that is going on with Twilight. Observing as a peaceful librarian slowly transforms to an army pony. Whether or not you actually go through with it or not, it will still be enjoyable to read. Also the hinted shipping with Shield is something more to look forward to.
I'm curious though, are you trying to replace the current elements with the squad? Because I counted 5 squad members + Twilight. That would be really interesting to see how you would implement them to the squad. Honesty - Ellie, Loyalty - Shield, Generosity - Clear shot(?), Laughter - Blast, Kindness . Doc?
Nice tip of the hat to Tranquility.
This whole nearly getting killed by Zebras thing is going to make it hard for Twilight to like Zecora when she gets back to Ponyville, huh?
foreshadowing. something will go wrong.
inb4 ji- OH WAIT.
Jeez, the sand was genius. Favorite part of the chapter :O
1836833
Mare of War: The best sand-fic out there.
1836847 Speaking of sand, I wonder if it's possible to make a cross-over of the game "Journey" :P
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you just re-watched Firefly?
I liked the chapter, and am excited for more, but I think you might have gone a little overboard with the Firefly and Watchmen references.
How much does the average unicorn use teleportation in combat? For that matter, how much does Twilight? I would have expected at least one unicorn to teleport behind the attacker or to the balcony during the attacker.
Also, I kinda figured that was how Twilight used her sword thing. We know she can do rapid teleportations in sequence, so it seems like a reasonable way to take out a bunch of people, or back out when surprise attacked.
Anyway, keep it up! I'm looking forward to the fallout (literal and metaphorical?) of Twilight's first large-scale test.
1837305
Yeah, I've been watching Firefly a lot lately...
As for the teleportation, it requires either a line of sight or extreme knowledge of the area you're fighting in. (Which is how she did it to Dash from behind the door in chapter 4) So teleporting behind someone is possible if you can see over their shoulder (or are fighting in your house), but it's far easier to just teleport to the side, or to simply blink directly in front of them and attack while they're disoriented.
Twilight uses teleportation far more than any other unicorn, because for the average unicorn it would require several seconds to even blink once, and would be all but impossible to do it so rapidly. That being said, I'm sure Twilight isn't the only one in the world with such an ability, she's just the best.
Hope that helps. I'm always happy to answer these kinds of questions.
One last note about teleporting combat (I prefer 'Blink-Fighting'):
It requires large amounts of concentration and focus, so don't be expecting it from Twilight until she has a little more experience with life-or-death battles.
Not that I'm saying she will get that experience soon or anything...
This is getting good. Really good.
"...my tour ends in about a month and a half... "
The amount of doom i'm reading here is going up towards the mili-murphy.
1837466
that fine print is so small, i'm just gonna pretend it doesn't exist, and then i'm going to favorite this, and eagerly anticipate the fight scenes to come.
"It'll be smooth sailing from here on out," Shield said. And in so doing doomed them all. Not before the squad was introduced and given likable backstories so we'll all feel worse when they're horribly slaughtered, though. Quickly, Twilight descended into the surly, jaded Solid Sparkle we all know now, as her innocence was torn away from her by the horrors of war. A life devoted to finding the best in ponies dashed on the cruel rocks of fate, her destiny twisted into an existence of cold calculation and ruthless pragmatism. Free hugs and forgiveness wouldn't put that twinkle back in Doc's eye after he watched his squad mates bleed out in his arms. A little kindness wouldn't turn that RPG that ended the career of Equestrias best up and coming tailor into a charming poof of confetti. The magic of friendship couldn't stop a beautiful mechanic from burning alive, trapped inside the machine she loved so much. No, Solid Sparkle would need a new kind of magic to save her friends from the conflicts they had so long been kept unaware of. Thank Celestia she'd already invented it.
I sense awesomeness, sad faces, and maybe some very slight cliché induced cringes on the horizon. Don't mind my weird rambles, I'm loving this story so far. I apologize if my madness discomforts you, or I accidentally stray into the evil realm of spoilers.
1846137
I enjoyed that comment.
Hopefully what I have planned is at least a little less clichéd. Well, it's probably not. A little less predictable then? I'll settle for that.
Though I can tell you this, bad things happen when people say what Shield said.
1846168 I know right? He might as well have said "What could possibly go wrong?"
Another great chapter. Nice character development and ominous foreshadowing. Keep up the good work.
Also, that reference was bad and you should feel bad
1858189
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Unfortunately I highly doubt I'll be able to get a chapter out this week. Christmas and all that. Sorry 'bout that.
P.S.
I might have something to post this week. Something with Applejack... and sand.
1835915
That's it, you're getting a sub from me.
So... I'm guessing that something horrible enough happens to warrant not having a [Romance] tag?
1869891
That would be telling.
I will say this though; there is a [dark] tag.
I know there's a [Dark] tag.
That's borderline trolling. 
Oh! And ask Pilate about me sometime!
1869882
Bwahaha, another follower. I must be better at titles than I originally thought.
-Minty
1870039
Actually it was more or less that I remembered that you were keeping a list at all.
... Right after realizing how AWESOME THIS STORY IS!!!!!
1870048
Good enough for me!
-Minty
Okay, firstly, a teeny problem.
Twilight is a trained member of an elite military operation, supposedly graduating at the top of her class.
Twilight is practically obsessed with checklists, etc, to ensure proper order.
Twilight _forgot a vital piece of equipment_.
Which one of these three does not fit with her established character? I'll give you a hint - it's not the first two.
Next - Twilight passed a course designed to train spec-ops people, and the most painful thing she has ever experienced is a laceration to the forehead?
Okay, let's assume, for a moment, that this unit, for whatever reason, is not trained in counter-interrogation techniques.
Are you really going to tell me that she has not suffered an injury worse than a gashed head?
Don't get me wrong - the initial panic would be great, what with not being able to see out of one eye, and having large amounts of blood pouring down her face. But the actual pain? I can think of worse things.
And now she got taken in by a fake smile.
Actually, no, I can believe that.
And now she is one step closer to becoming Miss T.S Plissken. Good job. Shall we let Manehatten and Las Pegasus know to expect her?
1960883
Yeah, the action kind of dies down for that chapter and the next.
The chapter I'm writing now is where things really pick up. So don't give up if you find chapter 8 boring.
I've been dealing with a bit of a case of writers block, which is why chapter 9 isn't up yet, but I think I'm over it now.
In other words, it's back to work for me!
Awesome story. I wonder if you are going to make her similar to 'future' Twilight. Because that would probably be amazing. Twilight going home blind in one eye and a little bit of her innocence gone but her trust in friendship and her friends that more powerful. Hopefully she won't have a problem with any zebra living peacefully.
This is a great story and I really hope it gets taken off hiatus but seriously one does not go through torture resistance training and then cry because they got cut on the face.
funnymama.com/store/130517/178720_v0_600x.gif
I really should check the status of stories brefore reading them. This is awesome and I probably will never hear the rest of it.
3607228
Maybe someday...
3607339 We can all hope and wait that that day is soon.
Can't wait for this to update! it's a really great Story!
3607339 I real like your story. You know I also have a story called Ace Combat: Divided Feelings that also includes conflicts. Want to check it out?
decent i like so far just one thing FINISH THE GOD DAM STORY
Sad that this seems to be on permanent hiatus. I really enjoyed it and was excited for her to test her new spell on full power. I imagine she would have to aim her spell a few kilometres away to avoid instant death, as well as a shield spell, hopefully cast by Shining, just in case if she goes full power. I get tingles just thinking about it. The reactions to the boom would be amazing.