> Before the Dawn
>  by Thunderblast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun slowly rose over the magnificent Equestrian capitol of Canterlot, it didn't warm the late autumn air much, but the ponies didn't mind. The city came to life in the blink of an eye, birds filled the air with impeccable singing that no pony could truly master, as well as other small animals that hopped and scampered the streets.

In his apartment on the third floor of a Manehattan-style brick building, above a newly-refurnished café, slumbered a grey pegasus stallion in bed, snoring quietly. His bedroom was decorated with a queen-sized bed, a finely-polished wooden nightstand with a lamp and a small simple clock, as well as a picture of the pegasus dressed in shiny golden armor, standing beside two other stallions wearing similar armor. On one side of the room, against the exterior wall, sat a wooden three-drawer dresser with a large mirror above. 

Opposite of the dresser, was a small one-door closet, which was half opened to reveal a sloppy placement of a full set of Royal Guard armor. Instead of the typical blue or white mane seen on most guard helmets, the mane piece was black to fit the stallion’s appearance.

The clock’s hands clicked to the next minute, before ringing out as loud as possible and buzzing. The stallion jumped, his wings flaring open and out of the sheets that covered his body. He rose out of bed, his blue eyes just a shade lighter than navy opened wide in shock. His face changed to a bit of an angry scowl as he faced the clock which woke him, before grabbing it and beating on the poor lifeless thing, folding his wings back up to his side.

“Shut up, you stupid clock!” He shouted, constantly hitting the snooze button on top to silence it. It took two minutes, but the small clock finally went back into snooze mode, and the stallion tossed it back onto the nightstand. He yawned and stretched his forehooves into the air, as if he were rooting for his favorite team at a game. He then climbed out of bed and opened the curtains, recoiling back at the bright sunlight coming from outside.

He sighed. “I guess it’s the day to break the news to everypony.”

The pony walked in front of his bed and begun to perform simple stretches with his wings and all four hooves. He started with flexing his wings out to their full length, giving off a faint pop as the muscles un-tensed. The following exercises were push-ups and wing-ups. His muscles became visible with every movement the stallion made, a likely fainting moment for a group of mares had he been in public. 

After the morning exercises, he stood tall and took a deep breath, before trotting into the adjacent bathroom and starting a warm shower. The stallion stepped in and soaked his jet-black mane in the warm water and eased his entire body at the feeling. He shut his eyes and entered a clean pool of thought as he showered, groaning some at the feeling of the water temperature getting to some old bruises from almost two months earlier.

“Even two months later, I still haven’t fully healed,” Thunderblast thought to himself, sighing. He then grabbed a bottle of shampoo, squirted some in his hoof, and brushed it through his thick, black mane and washing it out with water.

Minutes later, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He then trotted up to the sink and mirror, yawning again and picking up his mane brush and brushing his mane back to it’s normal slightly-messy appearance. Thunder set the brush down, then picked up a bottle of cologne and sprayed it a couple of times onto himself, sneezing once a moment later and shaking his head.

“Strong cologne…” He mumbled to himself, picking the brush back up and quickly brushing his wing feathers, before walking back into his bedroom and taking the set of armor out of the closet, assembling it onto his body piece by piece. 

Thunderblast then walked over to his dresser and looked at himself in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect. He smiled and puffed his chest out a bit. “Looking good, Thunder,” before walking out into the living room and opening the balcony door, and flying out towards the Canterlot Castle a few blocks down. Today he would be announcing the news he’s dreaded for quite some time now to his friends.

He landed in one of the barracks wings of the castle, which was full of activity ranging from recruits practicing push-ups, to guards marching in a perfect line behind their squad leader. It was nice to be back where he first trained, but his job then was to break the news.

“Hey, Thunder!” A voice called out to him, before he could move a muscle.

Thunderblast turned and saw a white pegasus guard trotting over to him. It took a moment to recognize him, considering there are thousands of white pegasus guards. 

“Ah, hey Spear, great to see you again,” Thunder smiled, and the two grabbed each other’s hooves and gave each other a chestbump with a faint clank of their armor, followed by chuckles from both of the stallions.

“Great to see you again too brother, what brings you back so early from injury leave?” Spear smiled.

“Just to make an announcement, have you seen Night Shadow or Shuriken around?”

Spear shook his head. “Nope, but if you’d like I can help look for him, I’m on break for a little while as it is.”

“Are you sure? He could be anywhere right now,” Thunder raised an eyebrow.

“It’ll give me something to do other than sit around and do crossword puzzles for thirty minutes every day,” Spear chuckled.

“Well, alright th-“

“Aye! Guys!” A new voice called out, seemingly from a distance. Spear and Thunderblast glanced up to a cloud and saw a dark grey head peering down at them, smirking. The pony then stood up, and lept off the cloud and dived towards them, opening his wings to slow himself, and landing in front of them. “I heard you mention my name, what’s up?”

“Oh hey Night, just wanted to tell you guys something. Have you seen Shuriken anywhere?” Thunder smiled at his friend.

Night shook his head. “Nuh uh, Shuri’s home sick today, why?”

“Aw, I wanted to tell him too. Oh well, one of you will have to tell him if that’s okay,” Night and Spear nodded in response. “Alright,” Thunder took a deep breath. “I’m being sent away to Manehattan for military training.”

Night Shadow and Spear’s jaws both dropped. “What?!” they squealed out, catching unwanted attention of a few others. 

Thunder sighed and sat down. “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen, I could be gone for up to a year with little to no time to come home.”

“Man, that sucks, what are you going to do?” Night asked.

“What can I do? I’m already supposed to leave tonight. Captain Armor told me two weeks ago that I’ve done so well here, it’s time for me to move on to something ‘better’,” Thunder motioned his hooves in quotation then groaned.

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Spear kept an eyebrow raised.

“Not really, because if I do so good, they won’t let me back into the guard and I’ll be stuck in the military for a year, maybe more,” Thunderblast begun to panic, his irises shrinking to little blue marbles and staring down.

“Oh,” Night and Spear said simultaneously, Night’s ears drooping down. “Will we ever see you again?”

Thunder looked back up at them. “Of course,” he teared up and hugged the two pegasi in front of him, who hugged back tightly.

“Isn’t there something we can do?” Spear asked, still hugging Thunder.

“I’m afraid not, but hey, it’s better to get it over with,” Thunder replied, smiling a bit. 

“I guess. That doesn’t mean you won’t be missed though,” Night sighed.

“Thanks you guys,” Thunder smiled more. “I’ll certainly miss hanging out with you two.”

The three friends hugged each other for the next minute, before finally breaking the hug. Night Shadow then flew off to do his own thing, while Thunderblast and Spear talked for a little while more, before he had to resume his shift. Instead of sticking around, the grey pegasus then flew up and away from the castle and headed into downtown. 

He landed on one of the less-busier streets and walked down it casually, looking around at some ponies as they went along their day. Some stands were set up on the street as well, mainly fruit stands, while others sold things such as purses, wallets, lamps, and other household items. Soon enough, Thunderblast found himself with a growling stomach. Right there, he confirmed to himself it was time to find someplace good to eat. It didn’t take long before he found a nice sized two-story restaurant on the same block he had been walking on. He walked up to the light pink unicorn mare at the outdoor stand.

“Good afternoon sir, are you expecting anypony?” The mare cheerfully asked the larger stallion and smiled.

“Nope, just me today,” Thunder smiled back.

“Outside, or in?” The mare picked up a menu and held it, before looking back up at him.

“Outside, please.” Thunder removed his helmet and held it in his hoof.

“Great! Please follow me.” The mare smiled still and led Thunderblast through a wrought-iron fence and to a four-person table with an umbrella on the restaurant patio. “Your waiter will be here shortly, if you need anything else, let me know!” 

The mare giggled and walked off as he sat down, setting his helmet on the ground next to his chair. He picked up the menu and opened it, slowly glancing at the long list of dishes he could order, ranging from spaghetti and meatballs to hay fries and different assortments of…fruit sandwiches? He continued to look through the menu, before something caught his eye. He glanced up momentarily, grabbing a glimpse of what appeared to be another guard, except he wasn’t white or grey. 

No, instead, his coat was dark orange, and his mane was midnight grey, close to Thunder’s own jet-black mane. The stallion across the patio wasn’t looking at him when he glanced up, and Thunder quickly returned his attention to the menu. It was hard to read however, every time he looked through, it seemed every dish they had was placed on the menu a hundred times. 

It took him a minute to realize he was just reading the same meal description over and over again, before looking back up at the stallion across the patio, who was now staring at Thunderblast directly. He was too far to see his eye color, but Thunder had a hunch on who it might be, knowing there’s no other guard with that coat and mane color. It was-

“Here is your water, sir.” The waiter stallion set down a glass of water in front of Thunderblast, before trotting off.

“Oh, er… thank you.” He stuttered, watching the waiter leave, before glancing back over to where the guard was sitting. When he looked, there was now another pony on another table sitting and blocking his view of the guard.

“Strange.” Thunder thought to himself, before returning his attention to the menu in his hooves.

After a nice lunch, time flew quickly, and it was already past five o’-clock. Thunderblast flew back to his apartment, taking deep breaths of the cool autumn air as he did. To his surprise, the balcony door leading into his living room was open. But that’s impossible, he closed it! He landed on the balcony and stared at the door, the curtains were swaying inward slightly from the light breeze. He walked through the curtains, shutting the door behind him and sighing.





Later that night, the sun had already set, and half of the city slowly closed up for the night, while other ponies went out to have fun at clubs, restaurants, or other twenty-four hour venues. Thunderblast walked to the train station wearing a simple zip-up hoodie as the air got cuddle-up chilly, he was sad knowing this would be the last time he would see Canterlot for a long time, but he also knew going to Manehattan for military training and discipline might also be worth it. He walked into the station and gave his ticket to the conductor, before sitting down in the waiting area, which wasn’t as packed as it usually is in the daytime. He sighed and fiddled with his hoodie while looking down.

“Hey Thunder!” A voice echoed through the waiting room in the station, and he looked up to see Blitz and Night Shadow trotting up to him.

“Hey guys,” Thunder smiled a bit and stood up.

“We thought you were already gone, thank Luna you’re still here.” Night smiled and wiped at his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Stormfire couldn’t come, he had something to take care of in Cloudsdale,” Blitz frowned a bit.

Thunderblast frowned in response. “Aww, that sucks.”

Night nodded. “Yeah. When do you think you’ll be back?”

Thunder shook his head. “I’m not sure you guys. It could be anywhere from four months to a year, but I’m afraid if I do too well, they might keep me there and kick me from the guard.”

Blitz gasped. “What?! They can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid they can bro,” Night looked over at Blitz and sighed.

“Train two-o-four to Whitetail Woods is now boarding.”

“Sounds like I better get going,” Thunder sighed.

“She said Whitetail Woods, you’re going to Manehattan aren’t you?” Blitz raised an eyebrow.

“I am, but my connecting train is in Whitetail Woods. From what I know, the base I’m being sent to is on a separate track, a bit north of the track to Manehattan,” Thunder grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“I see. I’ll miss you man,” Blitz hugged him tightly and teared up a bit, followed by Night Shadow who hugged him as well.

“See you later, I guess,” Night lowered his head and ears.

“Cya, guys,” Thunderblast frowned and walked onto the platform, before boarding the train. He sat in one of the passenger compartments, sliding his bag under his seat and waving to Blitz and Night Shadow as the train departed downhill, towards the small town of Whitetail Woods.

“Goodbye, Canterlot.”
	
> Change of View
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train roared through the Equestrian countryside early in the morning after departing Whitetail Woods just a couple of hours before sunrise. The train wasn't packed, nor was it exactly empty either. Most of the passengers slumbered in their seats or in private rooms which obviously cost more than a regular seat---much more. The next stop was Fort Fetlock, an Equestrian military base located over twenty miles west of the metropolis of Manehattan, and any civilization. Unlucky for Thunderblast, it was his stop. He was lucky during the trip however, as it granted him much needed rest in between stops.

As the sun slowly rose, sunlight filled the train cabins, waking it's passengers including the grey pegasus guard. He was laying sideways on his seat, and on a pillow he brought with him. Once the sunlight hit his eyes, he had almost no choice but to open them, which almost blinded him at first. He sat up, pulling the window cover down so he could adjust to the train's lights, before reopening it and glancing outside as pine trees raced by. 

"Urgh...what time is it?" Thunderblast groaned, looking around for a clock in his car. He eventually found it, and squinted his eyes to read it across the cabin. It appeared to read seven forty-two, meaning if they were on time, he'd be arriving at the fort in just over twenty minutes. The last thing he thought of was eating breakfast, mainly since he had no appetite from the thought of being away from his life for the next twelve months. He stayed in his seat, fiddling with his hooves a bit as he waited out the remainder of the journey.

Just as expected, just over twenty minutes later, the train slowed and eventually screeched to a halt at a small platform in the middle of nowhere, completely surrounded by nothing but tall, green pine trees, with a wooden sign labeled 'Fort Fetlock'. Thunderblast grabbed his saddle bags and put them over his back and exited his car. He noticed one pony boarding at the same station, wearing what appeared to be a swamp-green shirt and dog tags around his neck. One other thing he noticed, the pony's mane was buzz-cut. Thunder gulped at the thought of having his mane cut, knowing it was definitely longer than military standards.

"Well...at least I didn't get sent to the Lunar Marines." He mumbled to himself as he watched the pony board the train. 
Thunder sat on one of the platform benches, knowing he was to be picked up right as he arrived. The train soon pulled out of the small station, leaving behind it a small cloud of dust which faded quickly, with the faint sound of the whistle blowing as it vanished behind a curve, into more trees. 

Minutes passed before he grew impatient, peering around for the expected camouflage-uniformed ponies armed to the teeth, only to see nothing but more trees and a straight line of train track. He groaned and stood up, slinging his saddle bags over his back once more, unfolding his wings, and taking to the skies to search for the base.





"Hmmm..." Groaned a bored stallion. He was a lighter-orange earth pony who wore a dark green heavy jacket, as well as a matching military cap with a single black arrow for a rank insignia on it. At the time, he was manning the anti-aircraft cannons and was keeping a close eye on the sky over and around the fort. Less than a minute later, he spotted something; a black and grey object slowly approaching. He gasped and prepared the cannon to fire, not having enough time to warn others. The stallion quickly locked the cannon onto the object, not checking to see what it was first by mistake.





Above, Thunderblast carelessly floated in the near-cloudless sky. He then heard a faint boom, jumping slightly and looking down to see what it was. To his surprise, there was a large round fired from a ground cannon racing right at him.

"Oh shoot!" His pupils shrunk as he quickly flew up, but was too late. The round exploded directly underneath him, knocking him off balance. The next thing Thunder knew, he was spiraling uncontrollably back to earth. He panted as he tried to regain control, watching the ground quickly approach. Just before impact, he regained control and leveled out just a foot of the ground. He extended his hooves, sliding to a stop and kicking some dirt up as he landed. Thunder panted, his heart racing after the experience he just had. But before he could figure out what really just happened, he could count at least four ponies, all in dark green uniforms approaching, guns drawn.

"Hooves above your head!" A light blue earth pony shouted, slowly approaching Thunderblast with his gun aimed at him.

Thunder panted, even more confused. "W-what's this all...about?"

"HOOVES ABOVE YOUR HEAD!" The pony shouted again.

Thunderblast cooperated, dropping his saddle bags and putting his hooves above his head. The ponies kept their guns drawn, until the sound of a loud whistling pierced the air coming from behind them. The soldiers lowered their weapons and moved out of the way, revealing a mud-brown earth pony wearing a different uniform---which appeared to be digital camouflage---walked up to the pegasus.

"Guns down boys. He's one of us." The stallion smirked at Thunder.

The stallions walked away at the pony's word, allowing Thunderblast to lower his hooves. Once again before he could react, the pony extended a hoof.

"Lieutenant Sparkplug at your service, and welcome to Fort Fetlock mister Blast. You can just call me Sparks if you wish, but I would prefer sir for right now."

Thunder extended his hoof and shook it firmly. "Great to be here...except for the fact I nearly got blown to bits a few moments ago sir."

Spark chuckled. "I guess you haven't heard of a no-fly zone yet recruit, because this place is one of the few spots in Equestria where it is that way."

"At least I know not to fly around here. Not without permission that is." Thunder grinned some.

"Huh, seems like the guard has done you some good already. Most of the recruits that come here have no discipline whatsoever. Maybe I can make you into a real stallion in no time." Spark smirked again. "Come, I would like to show you around before I show you where you will sleep tonight, and every other night you are here."

Thunderblast nodded. "Yes sir."





Following the tour, which wasn't much other than the flag pole, the training grounds, the mess hall and the numerous barracks and tents scattered around, Sparkplug walked up to a large tent, almost matching the color of the soldiers' uniforms base-wide, other than his own of course.

"And here is where you'll be sleeping. In case you're wondering, you will have two tent-mates, maybe more if new ponies enlist." 

Spark smirked and pushed the doorway part of the tent open, leading Thunderblast inside. It was cramped inside, and was simply four small beds with hooflockers under them, and then a small desk. Thunder wasn't disappointed, not expecting any more than there was. He was only disappointed that he would be back in a cramped room with other ponies that he didn't know before.

"Well...I can't say I'm not used to a small room." Thunder awkwardly chuckled.

Spark chuckled as well. "Your tent-mates are Flashpoint and Skillshot. They may or may not be back in the next hour. For now, make yourself at home. Lunch is at eleven-hundred hours." He turned and started to walk out. "Oh, and training for you will start after lunch. Good luck."
> Getting Settled
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just over an hour after Thunderblast arrived at Fort Fetlock, he had finally gotten settled into his not so spacious 'barrack', which was really just a large tent with a few beds and a desk inside, as well as hooflockers. He kept a picture of his rainbow-maned marefriend in it as well, but kept it hidden under a bag of bits and his combat knife. Thunder wasn't looking forward to his time here, but he was looking forward to other things; new training opportunities, hopefully finding other ponies who were also in the guard at one point, and of course, going home. As the day went on, he didn't know what he could do inside the base to keep him somewhat entertained until tomorrow, when basic training started for him...again. He sat on his bed, which wasn't very comfortable. In fact, it made more of a rectangular trampoline than a bed, but he knew it wasn't for that purpose. Some more time passed, probably about five minutes, when a white earth pony stallion trotted in through the tent door, which was more like a curtain.

"You're Guard Trainee Thunderblast, correct?" He spoke.

Thunder nodded, "Yes sir." and stood up off of his bed.

The soldier cleared his throat. "Take this," He handed Thunderblast a small piece of paper. "And go get your uniform. 'Fitters on the northeast side of the base. Then, head to the medical office. The base doctors would like to check you over to see if you're fit to be one of us."

"You don't think so?" "Yes sir."

"Good. I wouldn't suggest wasting any time, the sooner the better." The pony turned tail and walked out of the tent, and Thunder glanced down to the paper which had some writing on it, then Sparkplug's signature. Likewise, he folded the piece of paper up and tucked it under his wing and trotted back out onto the base. He looked all around, trying to get a fix on where the northeastern direction was. It was hard, knowing it was almost noon now, and the sun was directly above them. Then, Thunderblast remembered where he was staying was on the northern side of the base, meaning he wasn't far. He went to his left, then followed the dirt road past more tents, and the mess hall, eventually reaching a good-sized two story building which had the name 'UNIFORMS GALORE' in stereotypical military font. He trotted in the door, being greeted by another earth pony, who's mane wasn't buzz-cut for once. The pony didn't smile, and walked closer to the counter when he heard the little bell ring.

"What do you need? Uniform, dog tags?"

Thunder nodded, then pulled out the piece of paper and handed it to the stallion, who didn't charge him for anything.

"Wait here, ah'll get them ready. Fer now, here's this," The pony handed Thunder a green t-shirt, like the one the stallion at the train station wore.

"Thank you sir," Thunder put it on. Perfect fit.

The stallion didn't reply, then trotted into a back-room which was full of jackets and caps in the same color, as well as camouflage with the same style jacket and cap.

"What's yer size?"

"My what?"

"Yer size!"

"I...um...aren't you going to fit me?"

"Oh, of course." The pony facehoofed, then trotted back out with two caps, one green and one digital camouflage, missing rank insignias, because Thunder wasn't of any rank yet. He set the caps down on the counter, one fit into the other for easy carrying. The cap tops were shaped like octagons, a style Thunder had never seen before, but shrugged it off quickly. The stallion trotted away, then a few moments later returned with a long sizing ruler, and fit it around Thunder's waist.

"Mmhmm...mmhmm. Ahright, yer a size eight."

Thunder's eyes widened a bit. He didn't expect to have almost the largest clothing size there is, not that it bothered him much. He was in very good physical condition, after all. The fitter trotted back into the storage room, followed by the sounds of hangers sliding across a metal bar. After a minute, the stallion walked back out with two jackets; one dark green, matching one of the caps, and the other digital camouflage, matching the other cap. He slid them onto the counter, and Thunder lifted them onto his back in a neat pile.

"One last thing," The fitter ducked down, reaching into the counter. Faint clanks of metal could be heard, and soon he stood back up, holding a pair of dog tags with black rubber silencers fit onto them. They were completely blank, and the fitter trotted over to a small machine, setting the dog tags onto it. "What's yer name?"

"Thunderblast."

The fitter turned on the machine, and typed his name, causing the machine to indent Thunder's name into the tags, then followed by 'Equestrian Army'. After he was done, the fitter tossed the dog tags to Thunderblast, who caught them in his hoof.

"You have a nice day." The fitter cracked a slight smile.

"You too sir." Thunder smiled back, then trotted out of the fitters and back to his tent. He looked around as he walked, seeing the other ponies on guard or training. He was sad knowing he was the only pegasus there, but he had opportunities to meet some new earth ponies. After quickly dropping off his uniform, and putting on his dog tags, Thunderblast began walking to the medical office, which was on the complete other side of the base, to get checked up, although it was unnecessary in his opinion. It was a good seven-minute walk, only because Thunder didn't know where the office was and ended up circling most of the base. Eventually, he found the building, a simple but long grey building with a red cross above the door...with a syringe seemingly laying against it. Thunder gulped, and entered the building with a weak stomach. Again, the building wasn't busy, but still had some other ponies being checked up for minor training wounds. He walked up to the receptionist, who for once was a mare. She was a smaller white earth pony, with a curly pink mane and tail, and had a red cross for a cutie mark, and she also wore a white medical cap with another red cross. The mare smiled at Thunder, looking up at him slightly from her chair. "Good late-morning sir! What can I do you for?"

"Oh, uh, I'm here for a checkup? I'm new." Thunder responded, smiling back at the mare.

The mare smiled brighter, then grabbed a pencil and a blank piece of paper. "Name?"

"Thunderblast."

The mare wrote down his name, then glanced over his body briefly, before looking back down and writing down his eye and coat color, and his race. After finishing, she stood up with the paper. "Alrighty, come with me!" She giggled some, then led Thunderblast into a small room, where he sat on the bed. "So, you're new huh?" Thunder nodded in response. "Ooookay Thunder, I'm going to do a check up on your body, then you'll be good to go." The mare trotted to a small cabinet, then pulled out a stethoscope and stuck the earpieces into her ears, holding the bottom of it in a hoof, "Alright, inhale for me," and walked up to the bed, placing the lower piece onto Thunder's chest. He followed suit and inhaled, "Exhale for me." and exhaled calmly. The mare moved the stethoscope to a lower part of his chest. "Inhale," He inhaled. "Exhale." He exhaled, and the mare took the earpieces out. "Very good. You are pretty healthy. Now, I need for you to lay on the bed and I will get a quick scan over your body."

Thunder nodded and laid down on the bed, holding his hooves just next to his wings calmly. "Nothing's wrong?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with your heart or your breathing. It sounded better than normal actually!" The mare smiled and moved a white metal arm with an x-ray scanner attached to it just above Thunderblast, then turned on the machine. She pressed a couple of buttons, followed by faint beeps, and then she moved the arm away from him, "Alright, I will be right back!" and cantered out. Two minutes passed, before the mare trotted back in with two black pictures, one showing Thunder's skeleton, the other showing his muscle build, setting them into a frame on the wall for them to look at.

"Hmm, so, you have a nice build Thunderblast. I take it you were in the Royal Guard?"

"Mmhmm."

"That explains it then," She giggled. "Very good. Your body looks fine-" Then, something caught her eye. She approached the picture showing his skeleton, noticing his left hind leg has a slight fracture. Thunder noticed it and gulped some. 

"That must be why my leg has hurt so much recently." He mumbled to himself, and the mare managed to catch it.

"What? Why didn't you bring this up before?"

"I didn't...think it was a big deal. I thought it was just still sore from the revolution."

"You fought in it?"

Thunder nodded. "I as well as my friends brought it to its knees, but we weren't the ones who stopped it altogether."

The mare stared at Thunderblast in concern. "Do you mind if I check out your leg?"

Thunder nodded slowly. "Of course."

Thunder laid back down on the bed, and lifted his left hind leg enough for the mare to look at it. His leg hurt just to move it, and he groaned some. The nurse took it in her hooves, feeling up the entire leg and eventually finding the fracture. Thunder sweated, trying his best not to cry out in pain. His entire body cringed, and even the mare's did as well. She then turned to Thunder. "You're in no condition to be a soldier. Not now that is."

"So...nngh. I came here for...nothing?"

"I didn't say that, you just need to heal a bit. It looks like it has been healing however, I'd give it about a week before you can run on the track. I hope the base captain will understand, because you are in peak physical condition after all."

"I-I guess. Are you certain it will heal in a week?"

The mare grabbed a roll of bandages, and started to wrap Thunder's leg over the fracture, covering most of his leg.

"Miss?"

She jumped, coming to her senses. "Oh, of course," Then smiled awkwardly.

Thunder stared back worriedly as the mare returned her attention to wrapping his leg. Was he permanently injured from fighting? The mare stopped wrapping his leg, making sure it was on tight enough. Afterwards, she trotted over to the small counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a tiny glass of clear fluid.

"I wonder if I have to drink that." Thunder thought to himself. A moment later, she grabbed a syringe and stabbed the needle into the cap, extracting some of the fluid. His pupils shrunk at the sight of the syringe, and he started to hyperventilate. The nurse set the glass down and shut the drawer, then walked over to Thunder who started to tremble.

"Okay, this might hurt for juuust a second."

"N-no, no needles! I hate needles!" Thunder backed away, pupils still crazily shrunk as he panicked.

The mare grabbed hold of one of his forehooves and set the syringe on the small table next to the bed. "Shh, shh. It's okay, you won't feel it that long," and gave him a calming smile, slowly picking the syringe back up. Thunder calmed, beginning to breathe normally again. "Just keep your eyes on me," She said, before slowly inserting the syringe into Thunder's hind leg, through the bandages. He yelped a bit, but the mare kept holding his hoof to calm him, which worked. "I'm not a fan of needles myself."
> A Hard Start
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Numerous long hours later, the sun was already beginning to set. To Thunderblast, it felt strange, only because he was further east than Canterlot, meaning the sun set sooner obviously. Though, it didn't change the time he normally felt tired at. Only because he's been that way since his late colthood. He laid on his bed, half covered by the warm, thick layered blanket he assumed everyone at the base had, and read one of the few books he brought with him. Most would call him an egghead, like that purple unicorn mare that runs the tree-carved library back in his home town, who's name he unfortunately forgot. As much as he didn't want to be in Manehattan, he was already comfortable with the procedures; lights out, early rise, running on the muddy trail, lunch, more running, then heavy lifting and push-ups, which he was good at. Like Sparkplug had said earlier, he was definitely ready thanks to the Royal Guard. Although time went by fast, the day felt like it had taken forever to close, and of course he decided to read the day off away while he still had it. Then, he wondered. Didn't Spark mention-

As he thought, two earth ponies trotted into the tent, one light brown, and the other what appeared to be a white--no, extremely light grey pony. Both of the ponies had buzzcut manes, and were both in their green base uniforms. The two chuckled to each other, but then stopped at the sight of Thunderblast, who had sat up a bit and was peeking over his book.

"Uh...sup?" Thunder smiled a bit.

"Who are you?" The brown earth pony raised an eyebrow.

"I'm the transfer from Canterlot. Who are you two?"

"A transfer huh?" The light grey pony raised his eyebrow as well, and started to grin evilly, while the brown pony snickered with a hoof at his mouth.

"Yes...? Why's that got you giggling brownie?"

The brown pony dropped his hoof with a loud clop and stuttered a bit at Thunder's response. "Call me a brownie one more time, and I'll make sure you are tomorrow night's dinner!"

"Whaaaatever you say." Thunder looked back down at his book, grinning some. The brown stallion rolled his eyes, then trotted over to his bed, which was obviously to Thunder's right, as he claimed the furthest left bed in the tent. Then, the grey pony took off his jacket, hanging it on the coat hanger in the far right corner next to the tent's work desk, and flopped onto his bed with a loud sigh. "Long day boys?"

The grey pony growled a bit. "Shut up boot."

Thunderblast looked back up, and over to the two ponies. "Excuse me?"

"He called you a boot." The brown stallion said as he removed his jacket. "It means he doesn't want you to talk."

"Well that isn't very nice. Such a shame I traveled all this way just to be called names." Thunder rolled his eyes, he could give a flying feather if he had one.

"Your sarcasm really isn't that great, featherbrain." The grey pony spoke up.

"How on earth did you know I'm a pegasus?"

"Your damn feathers are all over my bed!" He sat up, throwing a few white feathers which didn't make it any further than the brown pony's bed.

Thunder snickered. "You sure they aren't from that stallion you pounded good the other night?" The brown pony's eyes widened as he turned around, getting excited at how things were heating up.

The grey earth pony growled more. "You got something against gays?!"

"So you ARE gay?"

"NO!"

"Then why do you have feathers in your bed?"

"THEY'RE FROM MY PILLOW YOU DUNCE!"

Thunderblast returned his attention to his book, grinning more. "So, you yell at me saying I got my feathers in your bed, even though they are white and I am grey, and then you admit they are from your pillow. Oh yeah, I'm just going to 'enjoy' my stay here."

The grey pony huffed annoyingly, and slapped his back once again onto his bed, turning over and facing away in anger, while Thunder just chuckled. The brown pony stared at the grey one as he dropped back onto his bed, then he turned to Thunder, grinning. "Wow, I like you already. What's your name?"

"Thunderblast. You?"

"Skillshot, the one and only." The pony put a hoof to his chest, grinning proudly. "I like your name."

"Thanks, although yours is better." Thunder glanced up at Skillshot and smiled as he sat on his bed.

"Aww, shucks." Skill blushed a bit. "So, you're from Canterlot you say?"

"Mmhmm, why?"

"I've always wanted to go there. I've either been here for a few years, or my home in Appleloosa."

"Appleloosa? I have a cousin who lives there!"

"Really? What's his name?"

"Braeburn."

"No way, he's my colthood friend!"

"Really?" Thunder set down his book and smiled widely. 

"Yup! Wow, you're his cousin?" Skill grinned, then noticed Thunder's wings. "But...they're all earth ponies?"

"Well, it's a long story actually, but I'll make it short. I was adopted by the Apple family residing in Ponyville, where I'm from."

"Hmm, I see. Still, that's very cool. Looks like we've got something in common already." Skill grinned, then laid down in his bed, yawning a bit. "Ima get some shut eye, I would suggest you do too. We'll all be up early tomorrow."

"Eh, I'll probably be up a few more. I'm not used to it being dark this early."

"A'ight. G'night Thunder."

"Goodnight Skill."





The following morning, loud trumpets sounded throughout Fort Fetlock, and the entire base soon came to life as soldiers of all ranks galloped out of their tents, some still putting their uniforms on. In their tent, Skillshot was already up and ready, fully dressed in his base uniform, complete with a cap. He walked over to both of the ponies sleeping in the same tent's beds, nudging both of them until they woke up a minute later. Thunder groaned a bit, but rose out of bed quickly, and put on his base uniform atop the green shirt he wore all night, and then the cap he was given as well. Lastly, the grey earth pony rose out of bed the slowest. By the time he was ready, Skillshot and Thunderblast were already outside and heading to where they needed to go. He soon caught up, and the three lined up with a few other low-ranked troops in front of Sparkplug, and a swamp green earth pony with a drill sergeant's hat on. By his looks, Thunder was already trembling inside.

"Listen up sissies, today, I will make sure every single one of you will be whimpering in pain, and I WILL see blood coming from all of your bodies, whether it be a minor cut, or a gaping hole in your side!" The green pony yelled at the top of his lungs in the roughest voice anyone could possibly do, which made everypony standing before him recoil back a bit, even making a couple of the ponies in line flinch.

"Wow...this guy is worse than the one in Canterlot." Thunderblast thought to himself, but kept a straight look on his face as he stood at full attention.

"Now, I want you all to listen closely, and follow clearly. Some of you are returning for more training, and you will already be used to it by now. But, for those of you who are new here, I want you to know where I train, isn't about butterflies and rainbows. No, you are in my base, and you will follow my rules, which MEANS, if I want you to walk over a path of hot stones, you will do so. If I want you to cross a mine field without gear, I want you to do so. And especially, IF I WANT YOU TO DODGE TRAPS, YOU WILL DO SO! YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yes sir!"

"WHAT?"

"YES SIR!"

The drill sergeant smirked and turned to Sparkplug. "Well disciplined for newbies, aren't they?"

"Sure are." Spark grinned. "Especially the pegasus of the group."

"WHAT?" The green pony turned, glaring at the line of soldiers. "Where is he? There better NOT be a pegasus in MY group!"

Thunder gulped, and his pupils shrunk. "Uh oh," and he braced himself for what was to come. Sparkplug pointed to him, and the drill sergeant quickly approached him.

"YOU! Recruits, privates, fall in with Spark. I have a pegasus to deal with!"

"Haha, good luck Thundercrash!" The light grey earth pony from his tent chuckled and trotted off, while Skillshot stared worriedly at Thunder and the drill sergeant, then trotted off to fall into line.

"Tell me pegasus, why are you here?" The pony got into Thunder's face, growling.

Thunderblast managed to keep a straight face, his hooves together like any good soldier. "Transferred from the guard to here, SIR!"

"Transferred huh? There hasn't been a pegasus here in twenty years. What makes you think you're so special?"

Thunderblast stayed silent, unsure of what he could say.

"WELL?"

"No reason, sir!"

"Damn right no reason! You're nopony special, I bet not even your momma loves you! You're a worthless excuse of a stallion, I can tell! You're WEAK!"

Thunder kept a straight face as the pony lectured him. It was nothing new.

"Easy Thunder. I know how much you want to punch him in the throat, but he's the drill sergeant. He'll end you if you do anything. Just, stay focused. Hooves together, wings shut, ears and eyes up, muscles tense."

"Well, do you?" The drill sergeant sat back, crossing his hooves and glaring. Thunder had missed everything he said when he was thinking to himself.

"Crap!" "I-um...Hooah!"

The drill sergeant just stared, glaring even more, "Were you even listening to what I said recruit?! Wow, you are even more stupid than I imagined, but that's self explanatory because you're a stupid featherbrain!" then threw a hard hoof, striking Thunderblast right in the cheek and throwing him off balance. Luckily, he managed to regain his balance by opening his wings. "Oh, and NO WINGS!" The drill sergeant tackled him to the ground, and pinned him down as he began tying his wings to his body. "I find out you use them, and off they go! GOT IT?!"

"Y...yes sir!" Thunder stared up, pupils shrunk to pinpricks.

"Good, now FALL IN!" The drill sergeant yelled, getting up off of Thunder, who darted off to join the others. Soon enough, he found them at the starting line of the track...which to his surprise was dirt, instead of the expected thick, deep mud. It seemed one thing would go right that day...hopefully.
> Basic Training...Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, you misguided coat hanger ninjas! Today, you will be facing the hardest training session you've ever faced! I don't wanna hear no whining, whimpering, sobbing, or bickering! Tell me, do ANY of you cadidiots know what I DO like to hear?"

"NO SIR!"

"Hah, just as I expected. I want to hear you scream..." Sparkplug slowly walked down the line of stallions. "I want to hear you groan in pain." He then stopped in front of an orange earth pony and eyed him down. "I want to hear your grunts when I whip all your sorry flanks from the wimps that you are, to real stallions. YOU HEAR ME?"

"YES SIR!"

Spark walked to the end of the line, then glared at the stallions. "What the hell are you still doing here? GO!" He stomped a hoof, and the entire line of recruits took off down the dirt path, galloping as fast as their hooves could take them. The start was a little shaky, but Thunderblast managed to pick up the pace and stay ahead of the others, but not any more than a few feet. He was used to the training he had back in Canterlot with the Royal Guard, which easy to say was an equal challenge to military basic training when it came to running. Though, he had to admit he was slightly out of shape and hadn't actually run on a path in a little while, that being at least a year, and was used to flying more than running. Which for him, meant he needed to start working out more often, and this was the perfect opportunity. As he galloped down the wooded path, he was suddenly tripped by a light grey blur. He tried to open his wings to catch himself, but was shocked to find he couldn't, and he tumbled face first into a tree. He slowly peeled his muzzle off of the hard bark, then quickly stood and began galloping on the path, now behind the rest of the stallions. He heard loud chuckling from up ahead, and found it to be none other than Flashpoint's laugh. Thunder growled, and galloped faster, weaving around the others, eventually getting neck and neck with Flash.

"I see you didn't have anything better than to trip me!" Thunder grit his teeth in anger, wanting to trip him in revenge.

"Of course not! Why would I let you have the lead?"

"This isn't a race you racist donkey!"

Flashpoint's blood boiled, and he then moved over, bumping Thunder again but not enough to knock him down again. Thunder growled and bumped the earth pony back, almost shoving him into a tree from having a slightly harder body than his rival's.

"Ow, jerk!" Flash glared at Thunderblast, now slightly behind.

"The lieutenant says no crying!" Thunder chuckled and kept his pace.

"Oh you little...COME HERE!" Flash put all of his energy into his hooves, then attempted to tackle Thunder. He noticed Flash lunging at him, and quickly shifted to his right, allowing the earth pony to literally fly over his back and slam face first into a tree.

"Ha, payback!"

Flash slowly pulled back from the tree, dazed and confused. He shook his head and shouted. "NO FAIR!"

With Flashpoint now far behind, Thunder slowed his pace a bit, staying just ahead of the other ponies as they rounded a few long corners, eventually coming back around to where they started.

"HAAAAALT!" The drill sergeant shouted, followed by the group sliding to a stop at the finish line. Three or four of the ponies either collapsed or passed out, while Thunderblast remained standing, as well as Skillshot and two others, all slowly catching their breath. Moments later, Flashpoint galloped in, almost bumping into Thunder again. He slid past Thunder and Skill, rolling onto his back and coming to a stop at Spark's hooves.

"On your damn hooves, Private!"

"Y-yes sir!" Flashpoint scrambled to his hooves, standing at attention when he finished. Spark kept a straight face as he walked past the grey stallion, and slowly approached Thunderblast.

"I see you managed to finish first. I guess that is expected from somepony who's done track before, am I right?"

"Yes sir." Thunder panted slightly, standing on all four hooves.

"Sir, Thunder was bumping me and shoved me into a tree!" Flash spoke up, then grinning at Thunder, who glared back.

Spark turned to Thunderblast and glared deeply. "Is that true?"

"No sir. He was-"

"Why the hell were you bumping the private, recruit!?"

"I-I wasn't! He-"

"DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW SOLDIERS, FEATHERBRAIN?"

Thunderblast stayed silent for a moment. "Permission to speak sir."

"Granted!"

"He tripped me moments after we began running, sir. Then he tried bumping me off the track numerous times."

Sparkplug continued to glare at Thunderblast. "I refuse to believe a story coming from a lightheaded pegasus."

"Wh...is everypony racist here? What the hell did I ever do to you?" Thunder huffed and stuck a hoof out, glaring back.

"Restrain yourself recruit! Keep this up, and I'll see to it that your wings are ripped out of their sockets!" The drill sergeant stepped between Thunder and Sparkplug, glaring deeply into his eyes. 

Thunder recoiled back, dropping his glare for the most part. "Yes sir."

"And for that...ten laps around the track. GO!"

Thunderblast turned to Flash and glared, showing his teeth in anger. Flash chuckled. "Have fun!"

"Screw you." Thunder then began galloping down the path once more. Sparkplug then shook his head as he watched the grey pegasus gallop away, down the long dirt path.

"I can't tell you how much I have a grudge on pegasuses."

"Pegasi, sir." The drill sergeant said.

"Yes, whatever."





Some time later, Thunderblast completed the last lap he was forced to do. His muscles ached, and his hooves felt like jelly about to collapse out from under him. When he was sure nobody was looking, he slowly laid down in the dirt to catch his breath, which took longer than he had hoped, and soon the drill sergeant was standing above him.

"Stupid pegasus. On your hooves!"

Thunder mentally whimpered as he stood weakly, snapping his hooves together as he did. He tried his best not to tremble from being weak, and the drill sergeant pretended he didn't notice.

"You're lucky it is chow time. Now get your flank over to the mess hall!"

"Yes sir." Thunder hesitantly said. He was weak, and for some reason, eating was the last thing he wanted to do. When he reached the mess hall, the sun was at it's peak in the sky, meaning he had spent at least five hours on the track. He walked inside and grabbed a tray, being one of the last ones to get food. The base chef then piled his tray with roasted carrots, broccoli, a side of corn and mashed potatoes, and a bit of diced manticore meat. It was more than what he expected, and he hoped Flashpoint wouldn't try and ruin his lunch as well. Lucky for him, he found an empty spot almost in the middle of the mess hall, with Flash nowhere in sight. He sat at the table, and began eating. To his surprise, the food actually wasn't raw, like he also expected. As he ate, he soon found himself to be hungry, and ended up eating faster than the others, and finishing quickly, while drinking a small carton of milk he received as well. Afterwards, he found his energy slowly returning to him, and he was no longer shaking. He never thought he'd say it, but he could actually go for more running. Thunder picked up his tray, and returned it to the kitchen to be cleaned, and he walked out of the mess hall, feeling better than earlier. He looked around, eventually spotting Sparkplug lecturing one stallion over something he didn't care to know about, and wanted to ask what he was to do next. Instead, he decided to head over to the shooting range. When he arrived, he found recruits start out with bow and arrows, then eventually work up to pistols, and then rifles and shotguns. Thunderblast collected a training bow, as well as a few arrows which were sitting in a simple brown leather bag. He set it down next to the small wall, which he could lean on to aim better. He wasn't used to using a bow, having not touched one for a long time, but he still knew the basics. He pulled out an arrow, stuck it into the bow, and pulled the string back, about to fire.

"Hey Thunder!"

Thunder jumped a little and released the string. The arrow darted past the target entirely, and Thunder turned around, on the verge of exploding with anger. "What's the deal! Can't you see I'm..." Skillshot recoiled back. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else. What's up?"

"Just going to test my practice." Skillshot said, a jet black rifle slung over his shoulder with a hoof on it. "Starting out with the ol' bow and arrow, eh Thunder?"

"Oh, yup. I haven't touched one in years. I think I've got the hang of it though." Thunderblast turned back around, pulling out another arrow and sticking it against the string and pulling back. This time, Skill stayed quiet and watched. Thunder then released the string, and the arrow flew forward at high speeds, striking one of the outer rings of the target. "Hmm, improvement."

"Ah, don't worry. You'll get closer to the middle before you know it."

"I dunno about that, but thanks." Thunder turned to Skill and smiled, then returned his attention to the target. He pulled out his third arrow and prepared the bow.

"So, I heard you got in trouble with Flash earlier."

"Mmhmm." Thunder pulled the string back, reaching it's maximum length and preparing to release.

"May I ask what happened?"

Thunder didn't immediately reply, but instead released the string. The arrow flew forward, striking the outside of the middle circle on the target, almost in dead center. Skill's jaw dropped slightly, and Thunder turned around. "Damn Flash framed me. I'm really sick of him. Why does he hate me so much?"

"Well...he doesn't like pegasi in general. He's rude when it comes to them. But then again, he's rude when it comes to unicorns as well. He thinks earth ponies are the superior race."

"Pfft, everybody knows pegasus ponies are." "Huh, I wonder why."

Skillshot shrugged. "He never talks about it, he just does it."
> A Shooting Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weeks passed following Thunderblast's transfer to Manehattan, and soon the weather was beginning to turn colder and more stormy. Frequent squalls of blowing snow blanketed the land with just over three inches worth, already enough to cause problems across the region with more predicted to be on the way. One cold morning, before the trumpets sounded, Thunder was already wide awake and shivering under his blanket. Overnight, the temperature had dropped dramatically, which left him wondering how everypony else was able to sleep like a foal. Yawning, he slowly sat up, glancing over to his tent mates with his eyes half closed and almost completely bloodshot. He was unsure what time it was, but he was certain he had only gotten a few minutes of sleep and was awake the rest of the night. Grumbling to himself and cursing mentally at his body for being sensitive to temperature when sleeping. 

He slowly laid his head back down and pulled the blanket over his entire body, facing the wall of the tent. Unlucky for him, his hind hooves were slightly peeking out from under the bottom of the blanket, once again cursing to his body for not being small like the others to fit on his bed. Thunder shut his eyes in hopes of falling asleep until the trumpets sounded. That was, until they went off literally one minute later. He jumped up, panting, and his heart raced for some reason. Staring in front of him and out the tent exit, he noticed there was very little light outside and could hear chatter coming from other tents. Thunder grumbled again and slowly stood on all fours out of bed, his back aching a bit from the rough bed. He trotted to the coat hanger, picking up a green cold-weather jacket with his name just above one of the pockets and zipped it up around him, then put dark green gloves on his forehooves. Unlike most of his clothes, he loved the cold weather gear for how warm they were. Thunder walked back to his bed and picked up a dark green beanie, fitting it perfectly on his head, covering most of his mane and ears. He glanced over to his tent mates, surprised to find they were still asleep. He was worried that they froze to death overnight, but he quickly noticed their chests expanding and contracting, relieving him to know the cold didn't overcome them. Instead of waiting like he usually did, Thunderblast trotted out of the tent, his hooves' normal clop on the dirt muffled by the soft, cold snow. The sky was just a shade lighter than his coat, but still extremely dark as it was still very early in the morning. The brisk wind blew quickly across the base, sending a chill up every pony's spine who were in it's path. 

The day before, Thunder was informed of a new arrival coming later that day, and was given the day off of training to welcome the pony, whoever it was. He hoped the pony wouldn't be like Flashpoint, but knew with his luck, he would be.

"Well, well, well. Look who is up bright and early," a familiar voice caught the attention of Thunderblast, who's ear swiveled a bit.

He turned his head, mentally facehoofing when his eyes met the face of Flashpoint's, who was grinning in amusement for a reason Thunder didn't know. "Yes Flash?"

"What's got you in a rush?" Flash asked jokingly.

"Oh you know, early bird catches the worm. At least I didn't take five minutes past the trumpets to get up," Thunder smirked back.

Flashpoint blushed in embarrassment, then glared at Thunder. "Well, at least I rely on my hooves instead of stupid old wings!"

"Really Flash? That's the best you got? Seriously, you're acting like some whiny foal with these poor comebacks. You don't even have a valid reason to be attacking me in the first place with these so called comebacks of yours! Now, say it to my face. What, is, your problem?" Thunder glared straight back, staring Flash dead in the eyes.

"I, um," Flash started, then actually ran off. Thunderblast stared ahead, surprised. Flash actually ran away from him.

"That's what I thought," Thunder rolled his eyes, trotting off to the mess hall for breakfast. 

After being served cereal and a small bowl of oatmeal, he sat down inside at one of the many tables and started to eat. For once, the mess hall was warm, proving the heaters were finally fixed and working well, or were just replaced. While eating, the thought that his day, other than not getting much sleep, was suddenly going how he hoped. He was the first out of bed, managed to scare Flashpoint off, and was one of the first to get breakfast. Thunder hoped and prayed this would be the start of a new trend of luck during his time in the army. Although, he knew getting through to Flashpoint would be one of the greater challenges.

"Hey Thunder," another voice broke his trance, the voice of Skillshot.

"Hey Skill," Thunder smiled faintly at the pony who sat in front of him, and also started eating.

"I heard about Flash, finally got through to him did you?"

"Not exactly, I just made him run away. I'm unsure of why what I'm saying he is just now hearing. Awfully strange if you ask me."

"Yeah, kind of. Oh well, some progress is better than none," Skill lifted a spoon full of cereal up towards his mouth, taking it in.

"I guess so. Either way, I'm satisfied with all that's gone on today. Best morning I've had in over a month," Thunder rubbed at his eye with a hoof, which were both still partially bloodshot.

"Don't jinx it, things usually get worse after someone brings them up," Skill gulped the cereal down and pointed his now empty spoon towards Thunder.

Thunder sighed. "I probably already have," and continued eating.

"Only time will tell, I suppose," Skill also continued to eat, both ponies soon finishing and turning in their empty dishes. Afterwards, both Thunderblast and Skillshot decided to hit the shooting range for arrow practice, although both were already moving on to modern gun training. 





At the nearby train platform, the next passenger train pulled into the station with a screech. Two digital-camouflaged earth ponies stood outside one of the cars, one with a pitch black rifle hanging in front of him, the gun strapped around his neck. Both stared forward, watching the doors of the train open. Inside, a navy blue pegasus rounded the corner, stopping just before the door and eying the two soldiers, his eyes obscured by silver aviators with darker lenses and neck wrapped in a blue striped scarf.

"So, you're my escort, huh?" The pony said to the two soldiers, who both nodded.

"Mister Shooter, we were given orders by Princess Celestia herself to bring you to base. The base captain will have a word with you there on your relocation, sir," said one of the ponies.

The pegasus nodded. "Lead the way," and stepped out of the train, wearing dark red saddlebags. The doors behind him shut, and soon the whistle of the locomotive sounded as it pulled out of the station. Moments after, the three ponies made their way towards Fort Fetlock. The blue pegasus glanced around, only seeing bushes and pine trees, as well as snow which obscured the green grass. He gulped quietly, looking between the two soldiers escorting him to base nervously, who were on both sides of him. Some time later, the three approached the front gate where two more soldiers guarding it stood, one up in a completely wooden watch tower, the other on the ground operating the gate, both wearing helmets rather than caps or beanies. One of the guards then stepped in front of the three, staring between them.

"Identifications please?" He said.

The escorts pulled out their military identifications, showing them to the guard. The guard turned to the pegasus, glaring a little. He stepped forward, and the pegasus stepped back nervously, before one of the escorts stepped in front of him.

"He is with us, Corporal," the other escort spoke.

The guard nodded, then walked over to the gate and began turning a wheel with a lever, winding the gate open under his strength, granting them entry. The escorts and the pegasus entered, the gates shutting behind them slowly.

"So, er, where is the base captain?" The pegasus asked, looking around at the massive base.

"He is in his personal office. For now, your base tour will be here any moment to show you around," one of the escorts said, the other cantering off in the direction of the shooting range.

The pegasus nodded in response. "Alright."





At the shooting range, Thunderblast leaned against a bar with an arrow-loaded crossbow in his forehooves. He kept one eye shut as he concentrated on a distant target, which had three other arrows sticking out of the far edges.

"Easy does it..." Skillshot whispered.

"Shush," Thunder whispered back, shifting a little. He gripped the crossbow tighter and shifted some more.

"Your aim is off, Thunder."

"I said shush," Thunder shifted some more.

"You're gonna miss it by a mile," Skill said.

"Damn it Skill, I said shush!"

Skill stayed quiet and continued to watch, overlooking Thunder's setup. "You're going to miss it."

Two moments later, Thunderblast fired the arrow. The arrow ended up flying seven feet in another direction, just barely missing another soldier changing a damaged target, who never noticed. He turned around and shoved Skill a bit. "I said to stay quiet, you threw me off!"

"Eh, not really. You weren't at a good aim to start with," Skill replied, adjusting his cap.

"I'd like to see you do better," Thunder smirked.

Skillshot shrugged. "Alright," and took the crossbow, swapping positions with Thunder and loaded it with one arrow. Leaning down on the bar, he shut one eye and eyed the target ahead of him. Behind, Thunder grinned.

"Your aim is off," Thunder mocked Skill's voice. Instead of replying, he simply continued aiming. "You're going to miss it by a mile."

Once again, Skill didn't reply, and instead fired the arrow. Standing up completely, he stared forward at the target, then smirked back at Thunderblast, who stared at the target with a wide-open jaw. The target was just two inches from center, and was right in the center dot.

"You were saying?" Skill grinned.

"Shut up," Thunder's face turned to a scowl as he looked at the earth pony, grabbing the crossbow from his hooves. "Give me that," then turned around and reloaded it to aim again. Before he could fire, however, his shoulder was tapped by a hoof. Thunder stood up straight and turned, meeting the light blue eyes of another armed soldier, his rifle strapped around his neck.

"Recruit Thunderblast, the transfer is here and waiting for you, sir," he spoke.

"Already?" Thunder glanced up to above him, which read just past nine. "Alrighty, you'd better take over Skill. See you," and handed the crossbow back to him, then walked out with the other soldier.

"Have fun," Skill chuckled a little, then went back to shooting targets.





Near the flagpole, the blue pegasus sat patiently on a slab of concrete not covered in ice or snow. His scarf fluttered somewhat in the wind, which he then wished he had worn a coat. He looked around as different soldiers trotted past, keeping an eye out for the base tour. Soon enough, he spotted Thunderblast approaching. Standing up, he stared with a near-blank, but also nervous expression towards him.

"Star Shooter, I presume?" Thunder extended a hoof out, the blue pegasus taking it and giving it a friendly shake.

"Mmhmm, are you the tour or the base captain?" The blue pony pulled his hoof back after shaking.

"Just the tour," Thunder smiled faintly. "Though the base captain will want to see you later on. For now, welcome to Fort Fetlock, mister Shooter."

"It is an honor. Although, I am still a bit unsure as to why I am here," Star replied.

"You aren't enlisted?" Thunder raised an eyebrow.

Star Shooter shook his head. "Nope. You see, the Royal Guard has me under some kind of witness protection. I'm uh, new to this land. I'm not sure what is so important about me that I need to be under careful watch though."

"Witness protection? Strange...I will have to talk to the base captain about it."

"I would greatly appreciate that," Star replied with a faint smile, removing his aviators. His eyes were pure red, which startled Thunderblast a little. "So, what do I call you? What is your name?"

"Thunderblast. Just call me Thunder, it's a short name I prefer," Thunder smirked. "Let's go, shall we?"





Less than an hour later, both Thunderblast and Star Shooter walked into a large two story building made of brick and stone with a large glass entrance in the center, the main base operations office. Trotting upstairs, the two remained silent as they made their way down one of the hallways, towards the base captain's office.

"So, Thunderblast. I never really got a response, did you say earlier you were in the Royal Guard?" Star Shooter asked, looking at Thunderblast curiously.

Thunder nodded in response. "Technically I still am, just under military training. I'm supposed to return to Canterlot sometime between six months from now to a year. I guess we could say we're in the same boat when it comes to being sent places without prior consent, although in your case, it seems there's a real reason behind it.

"Maybe...I don't know to be real honest with you. I hope no one is after me or anything," Star turned, now staring forward.

"As do I. Better safe than sorry though."

"Of course," Star replied.

The two then stopped in front of an office door, the silver tag on the center of it reading the captain's name in bold. Thunderblast knocked, and soon the pony inside asked for them to come in. Both pegasi entered the office, Thunderblast saluting the larger earth pony as he stood up from his desk. Star didn't know what to do, and instead saluted as well. The faint tan earth pony stallion chuckled.

"At ease, civilian," he spoke with a rough voice.

"Oh...o-of course, sir," Star blushed awkwardly, lowering his hoof, as did Thunderblast.

"Have a seat Star, I want to have a few words with you, then I'll send you back out to Thunder so he can show you where you will be sleeping."

"Yes sir," Star Shooter then sat himself on one of the chairs across the base captain's desk.

"Colonel Glass Kicker, permission to remain in the office, sir?" Thunderblast spoke up.

"Permission granted, soldier. Have a seat as well. In fact, I was hoping you would ask," the Colonel replied, putting his hooves together on the desk, staring between the two of them. "Now, I bet you are wondering why you are here, Star Shooter..."
> Get Some Sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many more weeks of harsh, intense battle training later, Thunderblast was gradually moved from bow and arrow training, to pistols and rifles, the last part of his target practice and weapons training. Though his aim on targets was more off than when he practiced with arrows, he was slowly improving on his work, and handling such a weapon which he wasn't used to. Of course, he had used smaller guns during the revolution, but nothing of this magnitude. When he wasn't training, he was assigned to the occasional perimeter patrol, which even he had to admit was a nice change. And although he still hated every second of being away from his normal life, he was slowly getting used to things, starting with the terrible winter weather in that region of Equestria.

One cold evening, just over one week from Hearts Warming Eve, the grey pegasus made his rounds through the outskirts of the base. Snow mounds piled against the fence, rising up almost as tall as the stallion himself from the massive blizzards the area had received in the last week, which brought along with it bone-chilling cold and a heavy wind which only subtracted the temperature to at least twenty below zero, and only made Thunderblast hate being sent away even more, but also giving him more time to enjoy the cold weather gear him as well as others were given to keep them warm, which is surprisingly what they did. 

A strong, chilling breeze blew through the base, kicking up even more snow as it did. Thunder soon found himself lightly coated with the white frozen water, and it forced him to shake it off every other minute to avoid being suddenly buried. Soon, he arrived at the front gate, where he unexpectedly came across Sparkplug.

"Sir," Thunderblast saluted the higher ranking pony.

Spark saluted back, then dropped it. "Anything to report?"

Thunder dropped his hoof, only to his shoulder where he wiped more snow off of his green jacket. "Other than being coated with this crap every two minutes, no sir."

Even Spark had to get a little laugh at that, which he did. "Why don't you head over to the mess hall to get some chow, then hit the hay? You've already taken quite a beating from the weather today."

"Sir?"

"You've been up since five this morning, and it's almost eight now. Get some rest, soldier."

Thunderblast eased himself, then nodded once. "Yes sir, thank you sir," then saluted once more, and was dismissed to the mess hall, but dropping off the weapon he had on him to his tent.

He trotted up to the mess hall, walking inside and instantly feeling as if he were melting to the heat of the interior. He unfurled his wings, allowing them to hang slightly and completely thaw. As they did, he soon found they were soaked from how much snow actually melted into his feathers, although having clothes on, it didn't bother him. 

Thunder trotted to where the line to get food would usually be, only to find two other ponies he didn't know ahead of him with trays in their hooves. He peered around, seeing just how empty the chow hall was, which wasn't that surprising considering how cold it was. The line thankfully moved quickly, and after a minute, he was next up for a warm meal. Once the chef finished plating his food, Thunder didn't waste time to see what it was and sat at the nearest table. 

He picked up his fork, and somewhat greedily dug it into the side of diced buttered potatoes, and soon the greasy hayburger and a peeled, cooked carrot and finished rather quickly, but it left him full and regenerated. He stood up, then trotted back to the kitchen and placing the tray with the others that hadn't been cleaned yet, and soon to the front door where he knew would be the last place for the night that he would stay warm.

Thunder stepped back outside into the whipping wind, his wings slamming shut as the skin-biting cold hit him once again. Without hesitation, he galloped towards the tent in which he was to sleep in. He reached the tent, quickly slipping inside and zipping up the hole made for easy entry. Small icicles hung from his muzzle, and he shivered badly. It was as if his cold weather gear did him no good, or he was too used to the heat of the chow hall.

"You look like you just saw a ghost, Thunder," Skillshot said, sitting by a heater with his hooves held in front of him.

"C-c-cold..." Thunder stuttered, his teeth beginning to chatter.

The other pony occupying their tent, Flashpoint, simply chuckled. "I though you pegasi were used to this weather?"

Skill slapped a hoof behind Flash's head, causing him to jump and yelp. "Shut it Flash, you're really acting like a foal."

"Ow! What the heck was that for?" Flash glared and rubbed the back of his head.

"You're treating him like he put a gun to your head and insulted your mother."

"HE DID!"

Skillshot slowly facehoofed himself, and shook his head. "Flash, let's be realistic here. Did this actually happen?"

"Well ... no."

"Exactly, so quit picking on him. You hate it here as much as he does."

"Hate it here? Ha! I love it here, I love everything about this place!"

"Sure you do. Hey, Thunder. Come here, get warm."

Thunderblast slowly removed his beanie, setting it down on his bed and shivering still, then walked over to the two, sitting beside the brown earth pony and holding his hooves out to the space heater.

"W-w-where d-did you t-two get this?" Thunder shivered still.

"The base captain brought everypony space heaters. I guess somepony got sent to the city last night for frostbite," Skill replied.

"F-frostbite?" Thunder rubbed his hooves together over the heater to warm them.

"Mmhmm, and we're having the same temperatures tonight, which is why we have space heaters."

"Thank Celestia..." "Ab-bout time..." Thunder mumbled.

"Oh, come on, Thunder. It hasn't been that bad! This is the worst it's been all winter."

"It hasn't been that bad? Skill, I've been limited to three hours of sleep every night since the weather changed, I feel like I'm starting to go insane!" Thunder replied angrily, glaring directly at the two ponies beside him.

"Whoa, calm yourself, Thunder. Listen, if you plan on staying, this is something you have to get used to."

"For once, I agree," Flashpoint said. "Lack of sleep is just a part of being a soldier."

"Does it look like I want to stay here?!" Thunder shouted.

"Well I don't know, neither of us can ever tell with you."

By now, Thunderblast's blood was boiling with fury, and he punched at the air once to avoid breaking the space heater, then he bed-hopped to his own. "Ugh, whatever! I'm going to sleep..."

"Night, Thunder!" Flash rolled his eyes, then leaned closer to Skillshot and spoke in his ear. "Is he always like this?"

"How would I know?"

Thunder grumbled, not bothering to take off his jacket or gloves in case the space heater wouldn't be enough to keep their tent warm. Spark was right, he had been up over fourteen hours and he was exhausted. Minutes after tucking himself in, he dozed off into a deep sleep, something he never wanted to take for granted again.

The ear piercing blare of sirens wailing, followed by the loud whistle of the wind filled the air, trees which creaked and cracked under the stress of the weather, were the only things to be heard. Glass shattered, and soon the loud roar of what sounded like the morning freight train rumbling through town. Then, everything went silent again.





Thunderblast slowly woke, the sunlight beating down on his exhausted eyes, as if it were telling him to wake up. He slowly sat up, yawning momentarily and rubbing a hoof at his eye, and glancing over to the window, which he had left cracked open to allow a soft breeze through his room. 

He stood up out of bed, his hooves making faint clops as they landed on the wooden floor, and even more as he made his way to the window. The pony recoiled his head and took a step back as the beaming light of the sun came across his eyes, which burned and ached. He quickly adjusted to the brightness, and once again moved closer to the window, smiling to himself as he looked out across the tended fields, and the wavy ocean of tall trees on hills. Very few clouds dotted the sky, proving it was already a perfect day to go along with the cooling breeze which ruffled the pony's feathers a bit.

Thunder took a deep inhale, taking in the sweet scent of apples coming from outside, which carried along from the trees, all the way into his room. Following a few long moments of soaking in the golden sunlight, he turned tail and trotted to the door of his bedroom, taking the knob and turning it before trotting out into the hall. Three of the rooms' doors, four now including his own, were already open, filling the hallway with even more natural light, a sign everypony else was mostly awake except for one. 

He came to the top of the stairs leading downwards, gently stepping down on them with quiet creaks as he did. At the second to last step, he hopped down with another clop of his hooves.

"Hello, anypony down here?" He looked around, walking through the living room and into the kitchen. It didn't seem like anyone was home, which surprised him. Even at eight or so in the morning, whatever time it was, someone was usually downstairs doing something. When he trotted into the kitchen, he was disturbed by the heavy growl of his stomach. He trotted to one of the cabinets, pulling out a white bowl with a blue stripe around and just below the bowl's rim, then into another where he grabbed a box of cereal oats, pouring some into the bowl and placing the box back in it's cabinet, then to the refrigerator where he poured milk into the cereal, and then finally a spoon to eat with.

Thunder seated himself at the table in the kitchen, then began slowly eating the bowl of cereal, spoonful by spoonful. It tasted somewhat bland, but it seemed to be the only cereal that wasn't sugary or full of other things that most would consider unhealthy, and the only brand trusted by his step-parents.

As he ate, the front door swung open with a consistent creak, before shutting. Thunder's ears perked to the sounds of hoofsteps, which gradually came closer to the kitchen, before he could finally see who it was.

"Mornin', Thunder!" Said an orange earth pony filly with long, blond ponytail hair and tail, and grass-green eyes, who smiled at the grey pegasus.

"Good morning, Applejack!" Thunder smiled, relieved that somepony was in fact home.

The filly trotted past, heading into another room beyond the kitchen. Thunder continued to eat, and soon drank the remaining milk from the bowl and wiping a milk mustache from his muzzle, before turning the bowl into the sink for later washing. As he did, the orange filly trotted back out into the kitchen, carrying a small empty wooden basket on her back.

"What are you up to, 'lil sis?"

"Just gettin' the fields ready is all! Ma and pa are already out with Big Macintosh. Supposedly there's a storm comin' later on, so we're gettin' buckets out to clean up any loose branches."

"A storm huh? I guess I'd better help too. Any other baskets in the closet?"

"Sorry, Thunder, not anymore. But, we could use the extra help gettin' the branches down."

"Sure thing," Thunderblast smiled. "Let's head out."

The two trotted outside into the warm summer air. That morning, it was somewhat humid and damp, but still breezy. It was no surprise that a storm would be coming, feeling how the weather was. It send a cold chill up Thunder's spine, but he did his best to ignore it, although his gut was telling him they were in for extreme weather.

The two ponies trotted through the seemingly endless rows of apple trees, on their way to help the others out with their work. The entire area was mostly shaded due to the thickness of the trees and their leaves which rustled in the breeze. Some leaves were already falling, which had even Applejack somewhat worried about what might happen if the leaves were just now floating to the ground from the weak breeze.

Soon, they came across a red earth pony colt with tan trimmed hooves on all fours, and a long orange mane. He stood a few inches taller than Thunder, and almost a foot taller than Applejack.

"Morning Big Mac!" Thunderblast said as they walked up.

The colt looked up, smiling at the two of them as they stopped just before him. "Mornin'!" He said, pressing a hoof down into a half full basket. The branches he already had stored cracked and crunched under the pressure of his hoof, allowing for more room for even more branches to pick up.

"Where's ma and pa?" Applejack asked, beginning to pick up some sticks that were already lying on the ground.

"They're over towards the northern parts of the orchard," Big Macintosh replied. "Pickin' up their own sticks 'n stuff."

"Need any help?"

"Nnnope, ah got these trees here already. Jus' need ta work on the side by the house."

"We can handle that, Big Mac. Right Applejack?"

"Of course!" Applejack replied.

"Well, if ya say so. I'ma finish up here and then go to check on ma and pa. When yer done, shall we go to the tree house?"

"Sure thing, big brother!" Applejack smiled. "See ya there!"

Big Macintosh nodded and smiled, then resumed picking up small twigs and branches.

"Come, brother," Applejack said to Thunder, turning around and heading back in the direction of the barn house.

The duo came across a folded ladder sitting against one of the trees for later use, and Thunderblast opened it to climb up and pull down the weaker branches that couldn't survive heavy winds, while Applejack stood below, picking up whatever twigs were already down and ones that didn't make it into the bucket, followed by putting pressure on them to make more room.

As time passed, it was almost afternoon, and finally they had finished their work.

"That should do it..." Applejack said, setting the last twigs down in the basket. "Let's get these to the barn and lock 'em up."

"Alrighty," Thunder replied, picking up one of the baskets on his back and beginning to walk towards the barn with Applejack, who had a basket on her back as well.

After stacking the baskets in the barn, both Thunderblast and Applejack made their way back to the orchard, in the direction of a tree house that Stetson and Big Macintosh built themselves. It was a ways in, and took at least five minutes to reach at a slow pace. Eventually, they came to the zig-zagging stairs that led to the balcony and door. Inside, Big Macintosh was already there, waiting for them by coloring on a piece of paper with colored pencils.

"We're here!" Applejack giggled, jumping onto Big Mac's back and forcing his face into the wooden floor.

He let out a muffled 'oof' as she tackled him, and he chuckled. "Silly little sister," then rolled onto his back and started tickling Applejack.

Applejack burst out into a laughing fit, squirming around and attempting to escape. "Nooo, not the tickles!"

Thunderblast also laughed, and trotted up to join in, only to be turned on and tickled as well. "Nnnnooooo!" He laughed.

Soon, the three stopped tickling each other and fell onto their backs, calming themselves of laughs. 

"So, what ta do?" Big Mac looked between them, smiling big.





Meanwhile, across the orchard, Brown Stetson and Golden Apple had also finished taking down loose branches and were on their way back to the house, both somewhat concerned.

"I really hope the weather won't be as bad as we think," the light tan mare said, trotting alongside Stetson

"As do I, sweetie," Brown replied, removing the blue bandana around his neck and wiping at his forehead with it.

Minutes later, the two trotted into the barn house. Sitting in her rocking chair next to a radio, sat a light green, wrinkly earth pony mare with bunched-up light grey hair. She was staring at the light brown device with some concern, then turning to Stetson and Golden.

"What's the news saying?" Golden asked.

"Ssshhh!" The mare raised her hoof, using the other to turn the volume dial higher as Stetson and Golden came closer.

"Numerous reports are flooding in of a possible tornado touchdown in Whitetail Woods, some damage is confirmed but it is unsure if it is actually from a tornado," the stallion on the radio said in a serious tone.

"That's north of here," Stetson breathed a sigh of relief.

"This part of the storm is moving eastward, but the southern tail is expected to go throoooough..." The radio pony stopped as he shuffled through reports. "The Ponyville area. It is not tornadic at this time, although it is still very dangerous and is very energetic with tons of lightning, rain, wind, and possibly hail as well. If you are in the Ponyville vicinity, I would suggest getting inside."

"Granny Smith, have the kids come in yet?"

"Ah haven't seen 'em at all today. Are they still out?"

Stetson and Golden gasped. "I hope not!"

"Do they know about the weather?"

"Of course, we told Big Mac and Applejack, and I'm sure Thunder knows too!" Golden said, a tone of worry evident in her voice. "Stetson, we have to go get them. The wind is already picking up."

Stetson quickly ran to the door and opening it. "Let's go, honey," he said, running outside, Golden following close behind.





"I spy...something orange!" Thunderblast said.

"Ooh! Is it me?" Big Macintosh smiled big.

"You're red, silly."

"My mane is orange!"

"Still no, silly."

"Is it...Applejack?"

"Getting closer."

"... What is it?"

"It's your drawing on the wall!" Thunder fell onto his back, laughing. Big Macintosh turned and looked to the wall, blushing in embarrassment when he stared directly at a drawing he made.

"Oh, heh, of course," he scratched the back of his head, then turned to Applejack. "Hey, little sis. What's wrong?"

Applejack sat by the window, staring out with a concerned look on her face. The sky was no longer blue, and was instead grey with clouds covering every inch of it, and the wind had picked up and was blowing leaves across the orchard. "Ah think the storm is coming, you two."

"Already?" Thunder sat up, his smile dropping into a frown and walking to the window and staring out with the others. "You're right, I think it is coming."

"Think we should head back?" Big Macintosh turned to Thunder and Applejack.

"Might be a good idea, but we might get caught in it too," Thunder replied.

"It probably isn't bright to stay here either, big brothers," Applejack slowly hugged their hooves.

"Applejack, Big Macintosh, Thunderblast?!" Shouted a voice from outside.

"Ma!" Big Macintosh's ears perked, and he ran to the door and onto the small balcony, staring down at the ground where the light tan mare was now standing and staring back up.

"Kids, you have to come with us, the storm is almost here!"

"It's coming?!" Big Mac shouted over the sound of the wind.

"Yes, it's coming!" A light green earth pony stallion galloped up beside the mare, Stetson.

Big Mac quickly turned back inside. "AJ, Thunder, ma and pa say we have ta go!"

"But, big brother!" Applejack whimpered.

"AJ, we have to!" Thunder picked her up on his back and ran to the door, following Big Macintosh outside onto the stairs.

"Come on, kids!" Golden shouted as the wind picked up even more, motioning her hoof for them to hurry.

Moments later, the three were on the ground and all ran up to their parents. When they did, everypony started galloping back towards the barn house as thunder roared behind them.





"Ugh, where are they?" Granny Smith walked in circles in the living room, turning occasionally and peering out the window as rain began to pour onto the ground. 

The door swung open, and she quickly turned to it, watching as Stetson, Golden, Big Macintosh, and Thunderblast with Applejack on his back trot inside, all soaked from the rain.

"Glad you all made it," Granny Smith smiled. "Guess ah'd better get some blankets for y'all, teehee."

"It's rainin' cats and dogs out there, Granny Smith," Applejack shook herself off like a dog after hopping off of Thunder's back.

"Ah can see that," the old light green mare said as she walked to a small closet in the living room, pulling out some blankets and setting them neatly on the couch.

The five soon got comfortable after drying themselves off, relaxing on the couch as the rain beat onto the windows like liquid rocks. Stetson sat on one end, reading the Sunday paper and smiling as Golden snuggled against his side, pulling her hat over her face, while Thunderblast, Big Mac, and Applejack sipped hot chocolate under some blankets, with Granny Smith rocking in her rocking chair watching the rain. Suddenly, the radio let out three beeps, followed by one long high pitched noise, and then what sounded like a creepy voice programmed by the radio station. The alert caused everypony in the room to freeze and turn to the radio.

"The Local Weather Administration in Ponyville, has issued a Tornado Watch for much of the Ponyville area. As of one fifteen PM, numerous funnel clouds were reported northwest of the town, as well as a rotating wall cloud moving east-southeast towards town. Tune in to your local station for more information."

Following the voice, came three more electronic beeps, before the radio went silent.

"Tornado watch?" Stetson stared at the radio with concern. "Granny Smith, turn it to the Ponyville station."

Granny Smith nodded, then turned another dial, changing the station to the same station as earlier, which was reporting the storm to the north of town.

"Y-yes, of course. Uh, okay, we've got a spotter outside of town, we will go to him in just a minute. So far, he's reporting heavy winds and a wall cloud just west of town, towards Sweet Apple Acres. Its, its heading towards town. No tornado yet, but...I...wait a minute," the radio pony stopped. "Okay...okay. Attention all viewers, I have just received word of a confirmed tornado touchdown near Sweet Apple Acres, and it is moving towards town. For those of you in the area, get to safety immediately and stay there until the all clear can be given!"

Golden Apple gasped, slowly looking between everypony in the room, then to Stetson. "Honey..."

"Alright, we're going to the shelter," Stetson grew a serious look on his face and stood up, setting the newspaper down. "Everyone, come on!"

Golden stood up and walked over to Granny Smith, helping her out of her rocking chair and towards the door, while Stetson motioned for Applejack to run upstairs and grab Apple Bloom, the newborn foal.

"Pa, are we going to die?" Big Macintosh asked, his hooves beginning to tremble as he stood beside Stetson.

"No, son, of course not. We're going to get to the shelter, it's just outside. Applejack!" He shouted upstairs.

Applejack slowly and carefully made her way downstairs, holding a wrapped up yellow foal in her hooves. "Ah'm here."

"Let's go," Stetson said, rushing out the front door and leading everypony to the shelter, which was a wooden door leading to a stairway to a basement made for that purpose. Outside, the rain had completely stopped, leaving just heavy winds and thunder. Thunderblast, Big Mac and Applejack ran up to the door, attempting to open it.

"It won't budge!" Thunderblast said, yanking on the handle as hard as he could.

"Let me try!" Big Mac said. Thunder stepped to the side, allowing the red colt to attempt to open the door, which he couldn't. "Pa, it won't open!"

Stetson galloped over, also trying to pull the door open. He managed to pull it up, but just barely enough for them to fit inside. He motioned a hoof, waiting for the others to enter. As they did, a loud roar could be heard, and he slowly turned around. A towering black swirling mass of wind and dirt was swerving in the distance, and was coming closer to the orchard. It was ripping up trees, tossing them in all directions. Being the last one to go down, Thunder watched in pure horror as the tornado slid down one of the hills, coming closer still.

"Thunder, get down there!" Stetson shouted angrily, shoving Thunderblast down into the shelter with the others, before turning to Golden who was galloping back to them.

"Honey, the chickens!" Golden moved to run back towards the chicken coop across the orchard.

"No, forget the chickens, we have to get underground!" Stetson grabbed her hoof, tugging her back.

"We have to save the chickens, they won't survive!"

"Neither will we if we don't get down there!" Stetson shouted over the roar of the nearing tornado. Before they could run down the stairs, the door was slammed down over the shelter, out of the stallion's hoof. His eyes opened wide, and he grabbed the handle again, struggling with all of his might to open it. This time, the pressure was too great, and he ended up pulling the handle off completely, with the door remaining shut.

"Ma, pa!" Applejack screamed and ran for the door to help, only to be grabbed by Big Macintosh. Off to the side, Thunderblast gasped, then ran up the stairs to the door and slowly pushed it open.

"Hnnngh!" Thunder grunted, holding the door just barely open with his strength. "Mom, dad, get down here!" He reached a hoof.

Golden Apple took Thunder's hoof and slowly pulled herself down, briefly stopping and looking back as the suction of the twister started to pull Stetson up. He shouted, flailing his hooves and trying to grip onto something. She screamed, grabbing Stetson's hoof and holding it tightly as the tornado started to pull her up as well.

"Mom, dad! Don't let go!" Thunder shouted, struggling to pull them into the shelter.

Stetson gripped Golden's hoof tightly, staring her in the eyes with fear in his own.

"Honey, don't let go!" Golden shouted loudly, the tornado was now by the barn house. Glass shattered, and started to spin around the vortex and towards the three, just barely avoiding injuring somepony. Stetson looked back, staring up at the tornado as it closed it's distance between them, then back to the light tan mare he loved. He slowly closed his eyes, and started to let go.

"No, NOO!" Golden tried to grip his hoof tighter, but soon lost hold completely. Moments later, Stetson disappeared into the tornado. Tears flew from her eyes into the strong winds, and she screamed. "STETSON!"

Thunder didn't know what had happened, and was still struggling to pull Golden down into the shelter. The tornado struck a storage barn near the house, sending wooden splints flying around. Debris zipped by the two at high speeds, before a large plank smacked into Golden's hoof, sending it flying out of Thunder's.

"N-NOO, MOM!" Thunder's eyes opened wide, tears building as he watched Golden also disappear, screaming as she did.

"THUNDER!" Big Macintosh yelled, yanking on Thunder's tail and pulling him down, then sliding the lock into place which held the door down.

Thunderblast fell to the floor, sobbing loudly and screaming. "MOM, DAD!"

Both Applejack and Granny Smith's eyes opened wide, Stetson and Golden were nowhere to be seen in the shelter.

"M-ma...? Pa?" Tears formed in Applejack's eyes.

"Th...they're gone...!" Thunderblast sobbed into his hooves. "I-I'm so sorry! I'm s-so sorry!"





"I-I'm sorry!" Thunderblast whimpered, batting his hooves lightly in his sleep and shedding tears onto his pillow.

"Thunder, wake up!"

"I-I'm so sorry!"

"WAKE UP!"

Thunder's eyes shot open, and he sat up with shrunk irises, panting heavily and his heart beating quickly. He glanced around, slowing his breathing when he realized he was now awake.

"Thunder, what's wrong?" Skillshot stared worriedly down at the pegasus.

Thunder looked up to the brown earth pony, then put a hoof to his head. "N-nothing...just a bad dream..."

"Just a bad dream? You've been whimpering for the past thirty minutes..." Flashpoint said, also staring down.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Thunderblast slowly looked down at his bed, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
	
> A Day in the City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two more months later, the weather in Equestria was noticeably improving, and less snow was falling. As the days went on, the temperature was warming, despite still being late February. It was still fresh on Thunderblast's mind from when he dreamt about his step-parents' fateful encounter with mother nature. 

One semi-warm afternoon, he stood on duty at the front gate of the base, keeping watch below the tower, where another pony stood. He was slowly getting used to the change, and felt as if things would remain how they are. As he stood on patrol, he was soon approached by one of his tent mates.

"Oh perfect...he's the last pony I need right now." He said mentally, then turned his head and pretended not to have seen him.

The light grey earth pony stallion swept a hoof up, removing his green cap briefly and scratching through his shallow mane, before putting it back on. "Thunderblast?"

Thunder turned and faced the pony. "Yes?"

"The lieutenant wishes to have a word with you, me and Skillshot. Its important."

For once, Flashpoint wasn't trying to hit the poor pegasus up, even after having the nightmare some time ago. "Did he say anything else?"

Flash shook his head. "Nope, but he does wish to see us anytime. I would suggest we get over there."

Thunderblast nodded. "But, what about my post?"

"He's assigning somepony else to it for today."

"For today?" Thunder tilted his head, confused.

"I don't know the details, but we should probably go. Come on, he's waiting for us."

Thunder nodded again, and trotted alongside the earth pony down one of the dirt paths and towards the base's mane building, where Sparkplug had his office. Along the way, neither of the ponies spoke to each other, and Flashpoint didn't attempt to pull any stunts against the fellow pegasus, which not only surprised Thunder, but relieved him.

Following a short trot to the main building, the two entered and made their way down one of the hallways and towards where they were to meet the lieutenant. Flashpoint stopped outside a door, and knocked twice.

"Come in."

Flash reached a hoof and twisted the door's knob, pushing it open and stepping inside with Thunder. Both stood beside each other, saluting the other pony at his desk, who stood up and saluted back. To their side, Skillshot was seated in a chair in front of the desk.

"Have a seat you two," he spoke in a slightly stern voice, sitting back down on his chair and staring at them. Even though they were used to it, the lieutenant's more serious side still brought fear into their hearts.

Both Flash and Thunder sat themselves on the two remaining chairs, staring back towards the other pony across the desk.

"Now, do you know why you are all here?"

"No sir," they said at once.

"I thought so," Spark shuffled through a small pile of paper on the desk. "I can't say you three are my best stallions, but you all have done great in your training and stations," he smiled a little. "But neither of you have taken any time off?"

The three looked between each other, then back to the lieutenant, and shook their heads.

"Well, all of you, especially you Thunderblast. I want you all to take the day off tomorrow, spend the day in Manehattan. I am not usually one to give ponies days off, but neither of you have had any time to your selves. Take the train into town, trust me, you've all earned it."

The three ponies' eyes opened wide with surprise.

"You mean it sir? This isn't some poor April Fools joke, is it?" Skill asked.

Sparkplug raised an eyebrow, staring directly at the brown earth pony. "It's not even March yet, Private."

"I know! But this could still be some crazy joke. Do you mean it?"

"Yes, I mean it. Please, take the day off. You've earned it."





"I can't believe it! A whole day, in the city of Manehattan?! He's amazing!"

"Calm yourself, Skill, it's just a day off. It's not like we won the lottery or anything. He's just giving us time to be free for once," Flash said, sitting on his bed and running a hoof file on one of his hooves.

"Hey, don't kill his enthusiasm. He's right, a day away from duty is nice. Besides, it's been a little while since I've been to the city."

"Really, when was the last time you were here?"

"A few years ago. I helped with escorting Princess Celestia to a meeting with some corporate owners in the city. Once in a lifetime opportunity, considering I'm not a part of her personal guard. Although, I did fly her chariot to Ponyville the day her sister came back. I'll say, that day sucked."

"Speak for yourself, the extra sleep was nice," Flash smirked, then sighed happily. "I don't know about you guys, but for some reason, I've wanted to be a part of Princess Luna's military. The night is just so nice."

"Then why did you join this?" Thunder raised an eyebrow.

"Long story short, my father went and enlisted me. I'll be honest, I don't think he cares what I like, he forces me into crap I'm not interested in. For example, this. I told him I wanted to enlist in the Lunar Navy, but he scolded me after, and then went to enlist me for this stupid branch."

"That's...harsh. Parents who do that shouldn't be parents at all," Thunder sighed. "At least I was fine with joining the Royal Guard. I've always wanted to be like my father, and now that he's been gone for most of my life, I don't know what to feel. I always looked up to him, and I wonder ...  does he even look down to me?"

Skill stared at Thunderblast with a worried look on his face. "I'm sure he does," he smiled. "The Royal Guard is a very honorable job. I am sure he is more than proud, especially if he was one of Celestia's most respected guards."

"Yes, but, that doesn't mean he should be proud of me," Thunder looked down a little.

"Hey, I'm sure he is," Flashpoint said, then hesitantly rested a hoof on the pegasus' shoulder.

Thunder glanced over to the light grey pony, surprised that he showed compassion. "Are you...touching me?"

Flash quickly pulled his hoof away and blushed faintly. "I'm sorry..."

"No, don't be," Thunder smiled to Flash, and playfully punched his shoulder. "Hey, listen up you two, we have a long day tomorrow. Let's get some shut eye."





The following morning, the sun rose over the eastern horizon, lighting the sky slowly in beautiful, bright colors. A quaint breeze blew over Fort Fetlock, making the air crisp but refreshing. It was slightly past the time when the base usually comes to life, when Thunderblast, Flashpoint, and Skillshot rose from their beds. Each sat up, Skill rubbing at his eye and yawning, while Flashpoint stretched his arms and rubbed a hoof on his chest. Off to the side, Thunder climbed out of bed and stretched his wings, letting them quietly crack as they bent and lengthened, before finally folding them to his sides. Out of the three of them, he was the most energetic.

"Morning guys," he smiled to them. "Ready to hit the town?"

"Yeah," Flash yawned. "Yeah, just give me a second." He massaged his eyelids tiredly, then ran a hoof through his mane.

Thunder rolled his eyes and trotted out of the tent, the dog tags clinking softly on his chest as they bounced around. He immediately made his way to the showering rooms, where he took a quick but warm shower to freshen himself up, before heading to the mess hall. Skill and Flash surprisingly were already there, and were eating ahead of time. 

Following breakfast, Skillshot and Flashpoint made their way to the shower rooms, while Thunder returned to their tent to put on his jacket and wait. The weather was forecasted to be nice that day, but it was still a cool start, and a jacket was necessary. While he waited, Thunder did his best to think up of what places he wished to visit, but never had the opportunity to. Minutes later, he finally decided that he would simply go along with where he wandered around. After all, they had the entire day to explore Manehattan.

Soon, the sounds of two different sets of hooves approached the tent and motivated him to stand up. Then, Skillshot peeked his head in and smiled.

"You ready to go? Our train arrives in ten."

"You bet I am," Thunder smiled, then followed Skill outside, where he was with Flashpoint.

"Wow, a whole day in Manehattan. This is going to be fun," Flashpoint grinned excitedly, looking between the both of them.

"You bet. What are you two going to do when we get there?" Skill asked.

"Mmm, probably sightsee," Thunder replied.

"I ... honestly don't know. Anything I guess!" Flash let out an energetic and ecstatic squeak.

"What about you, Skill?" Thunder turned to the brown-coated stallion.

"I don't know either, whatever comes into sight," he smiled to them.

The trio were allowed through the front gate, and down the long, almost straight dirt path to the small train platform built especially for easier transport to the base. There were two other paths that split off and seemed to head in different directions, presumably out into the dense forest surrounding the area.

Following a short walk, they trotted up to the platform, where they seated themselves on benches and waited for their train to Manehattan to arrive. By that time in the morning, the temperature was already much warmer and more comfortable to relax in, although Thunder insisted to himself to keep his jacket on. Minutes later, a light rumble shook the platform, and soon the approaching chuffs of a steam locomotive and the gradual creeping sound of the wheels screeching as it slowed. It soon came into view, and crept into the station at a snail's pace, then jolting to a stop, followed by the doors sliding open with a faint hiss. Nopony disembarked, which wasn't much of a surprise to either of them, and they went ahead and boarded moments after. Inside one of the cars only sat two other ponies, one seemingly a business worker, the other a teenage mare with a saddlebag to her side, a student most likely.

After a five minute wait, the doors shut tightly, and the train pulled out of the station. Thunderblast and Skillshot watched as the platform, and the dirt path leading to Fort Fetlock disappeared behind them, and more and more trees passed by.

No more than an hour later, the train made another turn, and was seemingly riding along the coastline as it approached the bridge leading into the city. They passed numerous beach houses from a distance, and soon more and more houses before finally entering the northern edge of Manehattan, which was made up of different brick brownstones, shops, and other beach-style homes.

The train soon began to ramp up the northern part of the bridge, then leveled out as it began to cross the river into downtown. Staring out their windows, Skillshot and Flashpoint watched in pure awe as the expansive skyline approached them.

"Manehattan..." Flash said in a trance of awe.

Minutes after crossing the bridge into the city, the train finally pulled into the Manehattan train station, which was built so its platforms were inside the building itself, and each track split off onto five other platforms other than the one they were on, and went out the other side of the building where they conformed back into just two tracks heading south. The entire building itself was four stories high, despite being only two actual floors; the main floor, and the bridge crossing the tracks to make traveling between platforms easier.

The trio disembarked with the rest of the ponies in their car, plus a few others on the train and were each greeted by the conductor, before trotting up a set of stairs onto the walking bridge. As they did, a racing freight train flew underneath them, kicking up a large breeze as it did, before finally rushing out the other side.

"I had no idea they allowed freight trains to use these tracks?" Thunder watched in some surprise, brushing a hoof through his mane to shape it back to normal.

"Of course they do, these are about the only tracks in Manehattan. How else would they get to the ports?" Flash replied.

"Huh, true."

The three then made their way into the main hall of the station, which was just about as big as the platforms itself, but was instead complete with tall squared and arched glass panes on the front face of the building, complete with the tan brick that made up the entire building itself. Above the hall hung quite possibly the largest chandelier they had ever seen, surrounded by massive skylights and steel beams holding up the weight of the roof. 
Down below, on one side sat a row of numerous restaurants and tables for eating, and on the other side, a massive gift shop jam-packed with Manehattan mementos ranging from 'I <3 Manehattan' hats, to mini-models of Trotterdam tower and the Statue of Harmony, coffee mugs, key pins, postcards, snow globes, and a small section of different cheap toys. Towards the center of the hall, sat a small information kiosk for tourists where maps of the city were given out, and other things to help with navigating the metropolis.

"Well, guess we're here. What should we do first?" Thunderblast turned and looked at Flashpoint and Skillshot.

"I don't know. I don't exactly know what there is to do here. You said you wanted to sightsee, correct?" Skill replied.

"Well, yeah, but is that what you guys want to do? I don't want this to be unfair."

"We could always split up, then meet somewhere at a certain time," Flash motioned his hoof.

"Split up?"

"Yeah, so we could all do what we want to do, so it isn't unfair!"

"I don't know, I'm a little uncomfortable with that," Skill said.

"Oh, come ooon! You and me could do what we want, and Thunder can do what he wants."

"I'm not so sure about that, Flash. But, if its what you want, I'm fine with it," Thunder sighed softly.

"Great! So, where and when should we meet up?"

"Back here at around seven?" Skill suggested.

"Perfect. But, well...I don't know. I guess I'll ... see you guys then?"

"Sure thing!" Flash smiled. "See you at seven," he said, trotting off with Skillshot.

Thunderblast sighed and lowered his head. "Guess I'm alone again," he said to himself before trotting to the front entrance of the station, and soon out onto the street. It was busy with many ponies of all races, as well as taxi carriages driven by pony galloping by. It was surely much busier than Canterlot, especially on its most tourist-swarmed days, except these ponies lived and worked here. Outside, the temperature hadn't risen much, and the sky was a loud cloudier than earlier with very little blue sky still to be seen.

Looking down both ways of the street, he thought of where he should go. After all, it had been a while since he visited Manehattan, and even then it was short. Out of instinct, he went left and down the street. As he did, it felt off to him that he was wearing his uniform jacket, which attracted the attention of some ponies in the crowd, and even managed to give him glares of suspicion. It was then, that he hoped it would warm up a lot faster. 

As Thunderblast turned down another street, on one of the less busier parts of Manehattan, he felt a drop of water fall onto his cheek. He stopped and raised a hoof, wiping the drop off and staring at his hoof. "I'm not crying, am I?" He mentally said, then slowly looked up. A low, thunderous roar filled the air, followed by the increasing sprinkle of rain, which slowly turned into a light shower. Thunder grumbled to himself. "Perfect."

He continued down the street, lowering his head and staring forward angrily as the shower gradually transformed into a downpour, soaking his mane down over one of his eyes and drenching his coat and feathers. He was too focused on walking to even realize where he was going, and by then, he was far from the busier parts of the city and was on the western side of the island, which was mostly made up of high rises and apartments, with a few shops mixed in between. The stallion soon came across a small light blue shop, with bright, colorful large stickers plastered on the windows stating 50% Off All Cat & Dog Supplies!

"A pet store..." Thunder mumbled to himself, looking in through the window as he walked by. Suddenly, something caught his attention which perked him up. He stared in through the window, wiping at it to remove some of the fog on it and peeking inside the shop.

On a small table to the side of the store, sat a white and black striped animal which he did not recognize. It was larger than a dog, and definitely much larger than a cat, and was extremely fluffy. Off to the side of the table, stood presumably the store manager, who was attempting to feed the animal, who simply swatted violently at his hoof. The stallion had large cuts on both of his hooves, and numerous bandages, even one on his cheek. Intrigued, Thunder shook his mane out of his eye and entered the store through the glass door at the front, a small bell ringing as he stepped inside.

The stallion feeding the animal turned his head, staring directly at Thunderblast. From what he could tell, the pony seemed to be mixed between anger and pure pain, with a touch of desperately wanting to break down and cry from stress.

"C-can I help you, s-sir?" The pony said, his body lightly trembling.

"Hi, yes. Er," Thunder walked up to him. "I was passing by, and you happened to catch my eye. What...is this animal?" Thunder turned to the fluffy creature, who was now licking his paw.

"White Bengal tiger. I-I know what you're thinking, I'm crazy f-for taking one into my shop. But, I-I couldn't l-let the poor thing freeze!"

Thunder nodded. "I wouldn't have left it outside either. Its a ... White Bengal tiger you say?"

"That he is," the store manager sighed in frustration. "I'm not usually like this to my animals, but I have been wanting to get rid of him for months! He is just ... so expensive to take care of. He's pickier than a rich unicorn in Canterlot when it comes to food! I can't afford to keep him and keep my store going," he sighed again. "Do you know anypony who could take him?!" He turned to Thunder with some tears in his eyes.

Thunder stopped for a few moments and thought, then looked the pony square in the eyes. "I could take him."

"R-really?" The manager's ears perked. "But wait, if I can't take care of him, neither can you! You don't know what he can do!"

Thunder moved his eyes to the tiger cub, then reached into the small bowl the manager held in a hoof and lifted out a few small diced pieces of raw manticore meat, and eased his hoof closer to the cub. The tiger cub watched as Thunder moved his hoof closer, then stared at it as it stopped just in front of him. He leaned his head closer, sniffing Thunder's hoof and the meat, before calmly taking it in his mouth and eating it. The store manager simply watched in awe.

"H-how did you do that?!"

"I ... don't know..."

"A-are you sure you want him? He m-may just be playing an act."

"Of course. How much is he?"

"O-oh no, I insist, just take him. He's free."

"No no, I insist. How much?"

"Free. Just take him. I will get a carrier."

"Oh, its fine. I will take him. Besides," Thunder looked down and smiled a little. The cub had hopped down from the table, and was rubbing against his hoof like a house cat. "I think he likes me."

"B-but, he can't be out in public! Please, let me get a carrier," the manager begged, then trotted into a side room to grab a carrier. As he trotted back out into the shop, he looked around for Thunder and the cub. He trotted up to the cashier's counter, setting the pet carrier down and finding a nice sized bag of bits. After a quick count, he was surprised to see Thunder had left two hundred and fifty bits while he went to grab the carrier. The manager sighed. "You'll need a carrier..."
> Exotic Pets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You bought a ... WHAT?!" Skillshot shouted, his eyes opening up wide.

"Shush!" Thunderblast whispered. "We can't attract attention. Yes, I bought a White Bengal tiger. He needed a home, just look at him!" Thunder raised his hoof and turned back to the smaller animal, which continued to rub against his hind leg and purr softly.

Skill then raised a hoof to his face and shook his head into it. "You don't just buy exotic rainforest animals, Thunder. You could get in serious trouble for this."

"What? I've seen a few ponies who have tigers as pets, I don't see why I can't."

"You want to know why? Because he will eat you alive!" Flashpoint yelled, glaring slightly towards them.

"Hey, he's just a cub! And however old he is, I doubt he has the basics to living in the wild. Besides, don't you see how he acts? He rubs against me, he purrs, he even meows sometimes! And after I stepped up to him, I was the only one in that shop he let feed him. Not even the store manager was able to feed him, but I was somehow able to!" Thunder then sighed. "Come on, it won't be bad. I'll go to somepony to train him if I have to."

"Its not that," Skill said.

"Then what is it?"

"You'll have a hell of a time trying to explain this to the lieutenant."





"So, let me get this straight. I gave you all a day off to go to Manehattan and enjoy your time, and you come back with a ... a tiger?!" Sparkplug said with a deadly glare on his face as he looked between the three ponies across his desk.

"Actually, sir," Thunder started, Sparkplug turned to him. "It was me."

"And what in your right mind made you think it was a good idea to bring a tiger cub to an active military base, conscript?"

"Sir, the shop he was at was doing its best to take care of him. After seeing how poorly he responded to the manager's attempts, I gave it a try, and he did not show hostility at all towards me. In fact, after that, he began acting like a house cat."

"And your point is, conscript?" Sparkplug stared with an uninterested look.

"My point is, sir, I would like to train him to be combat ready, even if it is just for when I return to the Royal Guard in Canterlot. And with all do respect, if you have a problem with that, then I have no problem with being shipped back. I am not forcing you to help me train him, but it is your decision," Thunder stared at the lieutenant with a straight face, despite knowing the possible consequences for talking back to a high ranking officer.

"Hmm..." Sparkplug narrowed his eyes onto the pegasus. "Normally, I would have tied you up and tossed you into a pit of quicksand for talking back to me. But, you do have a very valid point. If your 'pet' can be trained for combat situations, then I will be more than happy to help. Although, it will take more time. Animals are a whole lot harder to train, especially exotic ones. You may need an animal expert."

"Well, I do know one...but she lives back in Ponyville, sir. And besides, she isn't one to train animals to hurt when ordered to. What about the canine trainers here?"

"It could work. Hence how I said it could. Very well, we shall try that. Dismissed." Sparkplug stood from his chair and saluted them. The three stood up as well and saluted back, then left the lieutenant's office and walked out into the hall, with the cub close behind.

"I honestly cannot believe you managed to talk him into doing it!" Flashpoint turned to Thunderblast with widened eyes.

"I can't either. Do you think he's alright?" Thunder turned to the both of them.

"I hope so. He isn't usually accepting to others talking back to him without permission. You got pretty lucky, I'll say." Skillshot said.

"Yeah, the last time somepony did that, he actually did throw them in a pit of quicksand! They didn't die, but it took a while to get them out. They were discharged afterwards."

Thunder lightly gulped. "I hope he isn't planning anything other than helping me train Fluffy."

"... Fluffy?" Skill stopped and turned to Thunder again.

"Yeah, Fluffy," Thunder pointed back to the cub, who stopped to lick his paw.

"Fluffy? You named him Fluffy?" Flash began to snicker.

"Sure, why not? It isn't creative, but its better than something that sounds hostile."

Flashpoint simply laughed. "Fluffy! I can't believe you named him ... hahaha ... Fluffy!" He pushed through the main door of the building and outside.

Thunderblast simply stared blankly at the grey earth pony as he walked outside, while Skill rolled his eyes and nudged Thunder with his elbow. "Don't listen to him, he finds something to laugh at a lot."

"Yeah, like me," Thunder grumbled and trotted outside.

"But he doesn't anymore! Dude, dude, dude," Skill followed Thunder outside. "Flash has really opened up to you. Haven't you noticed how you two are able to hold a conversation without being hostile to each other?"

"I've noticed, but he still finds his ways."

"Well, yeah, but he doesn't mean it like he used to. Trust me, I've known him for almost two years. He laughed at me for a little bit and played pranks on me, but after boot camp, we became the best of friends. Heck, I don't know anypony else that knows as much as he does about me. That's how much I trust him, and you should too."

"He hates pegasus ponies, remember?"

"Only those he doesn't talk to. Those couple of times when you walked out on us a month or two ago, he would say to me that he likes you. Not in that kind of way, but you get the idea. It might be because you are easier to train than the rest of us. You are, after all, a royal guard, and you had to have came here for a good reason. They don't just send ponies from Canterlot without a reason to, unless they are in need of discipline. But, you said you're a sergeant guard, correct?" Thunderblast nodded. "Then there you go. They sent you here because they want you to expand your expertise in weapons training. Thunder, this could mean they're preparing for something. Or, they are finding a new way to start some sort of 'super soldier' program we don't know about."

"Me, a super soldier? Pfft, please. They wouldn't even try to do that to me. They already know I never wanted to come here, even if I've gotten used to it. Don't get me wrong, I still hate this place."

"Well, whatever you say," Skill said, before his ears perked to the low rumble in the distance. He looked up, watching as dark storm clouds built to the west. "We should get back before the weather gets bad."
> Return to Civilization
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One warm March morning, and just a few weeks following Thunderblast's rainy trip to Manehattan and him adopting a White Bengal tiger cub, things had returned to normal once more. The days were slowly warming again, and even the flowers were starting to bloom just a bit early. To Thunder, the temperature was just about perfect. He not only enjoyed it, but it somewhat brought him closer to being out in the open, rather than outside patrolling in an urban area like Canterlot. Although, he knew sometime soon he'd hopefully be going home. 

That morning, Thunderblast was on perimeter patrol, alongside his new fluffy friend. As he pranced along beside him, Thunder tried his best not to crack a smile, but finally gave in after a few minutes. Luckily, no one was around to see it. He soon came around to the front gate, where he was met with the gate keeper. He exchanged a salute to the gate keeper, who saluted back.

"Anything to report, conscript?"

"No, sir."

"Great, the sooner you can read this note the lieutenant handed to me," the gate keeper reached into one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a small white folded note, giving it to Thunder to read.

Thunderblast unfolded the small piece of paper and read through it carefully, it simply requested him to stop by Sparkplug's office once he finished his duties. Knowing he wouldn't be finished until later that night, Thunder looked up to the gate keeper. "Could you find somepony else to take my position for a few?"

The gate keeper nodded. "Of course. Is it important?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to keep him waiting until nine tonight."

"Fair enough," he shrugged. "Head over to his office and come back."

Thunderblast nodded, then saluted once more. "I'll leave Fluffy here with you."

"Sure thing."

"Fluffy, sit."

Following Thunder's order, Fluffy sat himself next to the gate keeper, and licked at his paw. Then, Thunder began trotting towards Sparkplug's office on the other side of the base, inside the main operations building where most of the base's high ranking officials had their offices. He then knocked at the lieutenant's door and waited for him to grant entry. Surprisingly, no one spoke. He patiently knocked again, this time a bit louder. Still no response. Thunder narrowed his eyes, and slowly opened the door, peeking inside.

"Lieutenant?" He glanced around the small office slowly, and felt worried when he saw the lieutenant nowhere to be seen. 

Suddenly, he was jerked to the side by something hard. He managed to stay up, and pushed back against the force, not able to see what it actually was. Then, he was shoved onto his back and pinned down by his hooves. Thunder squirmed under the weight of what ever was on top of him, before finally staring straight up at the brown mass' eyes, catching an evil smirk on the pony's face. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and he squirmed again.

"Stand down, soldier," Sparkplug chuckled.

"Lieutenant, what are you doing?"

"Testing your reflexes. You really should work on them, conscript," Sparkplug stepped off of Thunder and reached a hoof to him.

Thunderblast took his hoof and stood back up on all fours. "Sir?" He saluted to the higher ranking officer.

Sparkplug smiled. "At ease."

"You wanted to see me?"

"Ah, of course," Sparkplug trotted around his desk and opened a drawer, moving one by one through the numerous folders in it, before pulling one out and sliding it to Thunder.

"What is this?" Thunder seated himself across the desk from the lieutenant and stared at the folder.

"Open it up."

Thunder glanced up briefly, then back down at the folder and slowly opened the flap. His eyes opened up wide when he saw a black and grey picture of him over top of some paperwork.

"This is my file, sir. I don't understand?"

"You've expired, conscript."

Thunder glanced up again. "Sir?"

Sparkplug simply smiled. "You're heading home."

"...Sir?"

"Yes?"

"This isn't some April Fools joke, is it?"

"It's the middle of March, Thunder. Captain Shining Armor has requested you return to Canterlot, so we shortened your time here. You leave at one-thirty," Spark stood up and saluted. "It has been an honor to have you here, sergeant."

"Sergeant? Oh wait..." Thunder stood up as well and saluted. "It has been an honor to be here, lieutenant," Thunder smiled.

"Now, you'd better get out of here and go say your goodbyes. I don't wish to keep you until you're scheduled to leave," Spark sat back down.

Thunderblast nodded. "I'll have to turn in my gear as well."

"Actually, keep it all," Spark smiled.

"Sir?"

"Keep your gear, all of it. You may need it one day."

Thunder simply nodded again. "Yes sir."

"Dismissed."

Thunder nodded once more, then trotted out of Spark's office and shut the door behind him. He was in complete surprise after what he had just heard come from the lieutenant. "I'm going home," he said mentally, then walked down the hallway and out the main door of the building and back towards the front gate to take Fluffy with him. He took his time with his walk, and peered around at all of his surroundings, knowing it would be the last time he sees the base.

After his walk, he arrived at the front gate, meeting up once again with the gate keeper.

"Ah, great, you're back. Is everything alright?"

Thunder simply stared at the gate keeper. "The lieutenant said my time here has expired, and that I'm leaving this afternoon."

"Is that so? Then I suggest you head back to your tent and get packing, I don't want to keep you here if you don't have your duties anymore. Go on, head back," the gate keeper motioned his hoof.

Thunderblast shook his head. "I haven't finished."

"No, I insist, head back. I'll cover for you for today, then I'll find somepony to take your position," the gate keeper smiled.

Thunder smiled faintly. "If you say so," he turned to walk away, but stopped. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, alright?"

"Sure thing, I'll see you then."

Thunder smiled still back to the gate keeper, then down to his pet. "Come on, Fluffy."

Fluffy sat up and ran up beside Thunder, rubbing against his forehoof and purring, before they both began walking to their tent.





"So anyways, he was all like 'I'll be back!', and I was lik--"

As Flashpoint told a story to Skillshot, Thunderblast entered their tent with Fluffy close behind. "Hey you two," he smiled, but then immediately went to his green military bag and unzipped it.

"Hey Thunder," they both replied.

"Why are you packing?" Skill raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Thunder stopped and sighed, then turned to the both of them with a frown. "The lieutenant says Shining Armor wants be back in Canterlot. So, this is it."

"What... do you mean this is it?" Flash's ears drooped.

"I'm leaving in two hours."

"But, you'll be back right?"

Thunder sighed and slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh..." Skill looked down.

"But hey, that doesn't mean we can't meet up again, right?" Flash grew a smile on his face and looked between them.

Thunder smiled back. "Of course we can. I can't imagine we'll all be too busy to see each other, even if it is just for a few minutes."

"Oh, please. We spend half of our time doing nothing as it is, and we have plenty of leave time built up. Heck, we could take off a month of vacation each if we wanted to!" Flash grinned.

"He's actually right, we could," Skill said as he motioned a hoof to Flash.

"Well, I wouldn't spend it all just to see me. Besides, we could always meet up in Manehattan or something. I happen to like it there a bit more than Canterlot."

"As do we. Except, well, I've never been to Canterlot," Skill blushed in some embarrassment.

"Whaaaat? We've got to go there sometime then, it's amazing!" Flash expressed with a big grin on his face.

Thunder chuckled. "Yes, it is amazing. Every city is unique in its own way," he said as he packed some spare clothes into his military sack.

"True that," Flash continued to smile big.





After packing his bags with his now old gear and spare things he brought with him to Manehattan and grabbing some lunch, Thunderblast said his goodbyes to Skillshot and Flashpoint, as well as a few others such as Sparkplug and the gate keeper, he then waited at the train station with Fluffy. 

The warm, bright sun beat down on them and causing the train track's rails to gleam and reflect. A nice, soft breeze blew through the endless ocean of pine trees surrounding them like a slow wave on the beach, and it ruffled Thunder's mane and feathers a bit. The feeling reminded him of when he used to fly around more often. It then hit him that he's been so used to walking and running, that he might have forgotten how to fly. He decided to leave it for later as he heard the low roar of the train as it approached, followed by the nearing blow of the whistle.

Fluffy turned his head to the left and allowed his ears to pin back, before he rushed under Thunder and hid between his legs and let out a snarl of fear. Thunder looked down to his hooves, then lifted one and gently pet the tiger cub's head. "Its okay, its okay," he continued to pet the small animal, and he calmed down, until the train pulled into the station.

The train's doors opened, and the two boarded immediately after they did. Surprisingly, nopony else was in the same car they were in, but Thunder didn't mind. In fact, he was relieved. He seated himself, sliding his bag under the seat and patting a spot beside him for Fluffy, where he hopped up and curled himself up beside Thunder, purring softly as he did. Soon after, the doors shut and the train pulled out of the station.

Thunder sighed, watching the station disappear behind them, but then smiled as he thought of home, and what he would do when he was reunited with his friends and his beloved guard.





Later that afternoon, the train stopped in Whitetail Woods, just south of Canterlot. Realizing he wasn't heading to Canterlot, he disembarked with Fluffy and waited for the next train to his home city, which was, unlucky for him, another two hour wait, which would put him in town by sunset. When it finally arrived, him and Fluffy boarded just before it departed.

Less than an hour later, Thunderblast and Fluffy stepped out onto the Canterlot's train station's platform shortly after it arrived, carrying both his saddle bags and his green military bag on his back. By then, the sun had already made its disappearance behind the hills to the west. 

He left the train station and made his way through the busy streets of Canterlot where he reached his apartment building and trotted up the stairs to the door. He pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door. 

"Home sweet home," Thunder said, a gentle smile creeping across his muzzle.
> A Sergeant and a Captain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long, hot shower the next morning, Thunderblast stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck and trotted to the closet beside the bathroom door. He slid open the closet's doors and looked around, then finally down to the floor where he untidily left his armor.

"Ah, there you are," he picked up the pieces of armor and set them on the bed. "Now, where's my helmet?"

Thunder peered around his room, then to his night stand where he had left his helmet. Over the time he was gone, all of his armor had succumbed to dust buildup and was in desperate need of polishing. Deciding it was time to break out the cleaning products, Thunder opened the drawer on his night stand and pulled out a bottle of polish, as well as a small, clean towel to use.

Piece by piece, Thunder polished his armor, top to bottom until it reflected like it was brand new. He capped the bottle of polish and put it back away, then stepped back to look over his armor. To him, it was good to see his armor again.

He took the hoof guards and gently slipped all four of them onto his hooves where they fit snugged. Thunder knocked his hooves on the floor to make sure they weren't loose, but they stayed on perfectly. Next, he took the main armor piece and set it on his back after sticking his head through the front, and then stuck his wings through the holes on the side and moved them around a bit. Just like the hoof guards, the main piece fit flawlessly.

Lastly, he took his helmet and set it down on his head. Thunder trotted into the bathroom and up to the mirror, looking over himself for any parts that were crooked, and then back to himself. He put on a stern look, then briefly saluted himself, and walked out of the bathroom, and then finally into the living room. Instead of flying off of the balcony like he normally did, he trotted to the front door which led out into a hallway and a set of stairs leading both upwards and down.

Once he was out on the street, Thunderblast turned down an intersection and made his way towards the palace.

It was late morning by the time he reached the downtown part of Canterlot. Surprisingly, it wasn't as busy as most would expect it to be, especially for a Tuesday. As he came across the main gate leading to the castle, he was suddenly stopped by a white pegasus guard.

"Halt!" The guard held a spear out towards Thunder's chest.

Thunder jumped back a few inches. "Watch where you're pointing that thing, I'm a royal guard too!"

"Identification?" The pony continued to hold his spear out.

Thunder reached a hoof into his armor, pulling out a badge with his name on it. The guard took the badge and looked over it, then handed it back. "Looks counterfeit, I'll have to take you in for not only trespassing, but counterfeit Royal guard material."

"What? Its real! Didn't you see the serial number?"

"Serial number? Give that back to me," the guard's eyes opened wide, and he stood up. Thunder handed the badge back, and he looked over it. The guard's eyes opened wide once he read the serial number on the bottom of the badge. "My sincerest apologies, sergeant," the guard pulled his spear back and removed his helmet, nodding his head. As he did, the stallion's coat turned a dark orange, and his mane jet-black.

Thunder slipped his badge back into his armor, then gasped when he looked up. "Captain Comet Burst!" Thunder snapped to attention and saluted. "What was the meaning of this?"

Comet saluted back, and then dropped his hoof. "New security procedures approved by Captain Shining Armor. We are asked to inspect badges before granting entry. You know, the Royal Wedding attack."

Thunderblast lowered his hoof as well and stepped closer. "I understand. That day had us all in the trenches," he shuddered a bit. "Not to mention the Gala attack a couple of months later."

"Yes, the Gala," Comet had a chill run down his spine at the mention of a past event. "It still haunts me to this day, knowing that... thing... pretended to be my sister just so I would spare her with her life."

"Sickening, isn't it?" Thunder sighed. "Its a wonder how they know all of this...where to hit us where it hurts most."

Comet nodded. "It is. Oh! My apologies again, welcome back to Canterlot, sergeant."

Thunder nodded once. "Thank you, sir. It is great to be back, and it is a pleasure to see you again. It has been a while."

"Of course. Speaking of being back, Captain Armor has requested that I inform you of some things. Come with me," Comet slipped his helmet back on and turned around, nodding to a guard who opened the door for them.

"So, what happened that made him request me back from Manehattan so early?" Thunder asked as he walked beside the pegasus, who's coat turned back to white after putting his helmet back on.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. He wanted to tell you himself, but since he's away in the Crystal Empire, he left me and the new Canterlot captain, Cloud Skipper to inform you."

Thunder's eyes widened again. "Cloudy's the new captain? That's big news all in itself."

Comet nodded. "It is, but that isn't the reason you're back. We will talk to you about it when we reach his office."

Thunder nodded in response. "Yes sir."

Both Thunder and Comet navigated the halls of the castle, before walking outside onto a viaduct and up the winding stairs of a small tower and stopping at a door near the top. Comet knocked, then waited for a response.

"Come in."

Comet opened the door, then stepped to the side and allowing Thunder to enter first, and then following him inside. 

The white pegasus sitting at the desk stood up at attention, putting a hoof up to his blonde mane and saluting the two ponies across his desk. Both Thunder and Comet saluted back, before lowering their hooves.

"Captain Comet, would you like to inform Thunder, or shall I?"

"I think you should, sir. You have the orders, not me," Comet replied in a stern voice.

Cloud Skipper then nodded once and turned to Thunder. "Sergeant Thunderblast?"

"Yes sir?" Thunder remained at attention as he stood before the desk.

"As you may or may not have been told, Shining Armor has chosen me to replace him as second in command while he occupies the Crystal Empire from here on out. That does not mean he won't be back for occasional visits as he is still captain of the Royal Guard. You will take orders from both of us, is that clear?"

Thunder nodded once. "Yes sir."

"So, I don't want you to think I am trying to replace him. But, he considers me captain of the Canterlot guard. It may seem complicated, but in short, he is still the captain, I'm just here to do his job in Canterlot."

"Yes sir, I understand. I would also like to take the time to congratulate you on your promotion, sir."

"Thank you, sergeant. I personally did not expect such a promotion at such little notice. Now, that brings us to why you're really here," Cloud turned to Comet and nodded his head once.

Comet then reached into his armor and pulled out a silver pin, then clipped it onto Thunder's armor, the insignia of a First sergeant.

"Sir?"

"Lieutenant Sparkplug told me all about his observations of you in Manehattan, and both me and him are quite proud we must say. Therefore, you deserve this promotion to First sergeant," Cloud stood up and saluted again.

Thunderblast saluted back after a brief moment. "Th-thank you sir," he replied in surprise.

"Now, you won't need that armor for much longer either. Comet?" Cloud turned to Comet once more.

"You are to receive your First sergeant's armor later today. The armor fitter said he will have it ready by tonight between seven and nine, so I would suggest heading over there anytime around then. And my, it will look good on somepony other than myself."

Thunder's eyes widened a little again. "I won't need a helmet anymore?"

"Only for certain situations, yes. But, as of tonight, you will look completely different, First sergeant. Now, your position won't change and you will still have the same patrols, and you may also have occasional assignments for recon missions even though that is mostly unlikely," Cloud Skipper reached into his desk, pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to Thunder. "Give this to the armor fitter when you see him so he knows it is you. Dismissed."
> Refitting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After grabbing something to eat for lunch at the guard mess hall, Thunderblast seated himself on a bench in the castle gardens, hoping to kill time until he was to report to the armor fitters that evening. It was still a few hours ahead, and simply sitting and waiting would become too boring, even for him to handle. He was off duty that day, which was boring enough. 

He lifted his helmet off and set it down beside him, then sat back against the back of the bench and laid his hooves on the top of it as he relaxed. Thunder glanced around at his surroundings, which was almost nothing but trees, shrubs, numerous types of colorful flowers ranging from daffodils, to roses and petunias and everything in between. The garden landscape itself was a florist's dream, and only the best of the best were chosen to take care of it. When new flowers weren't being planted, or the grass wasn't being cut to a perfect height, the only sounds to be heard were an artificial waterfall on a small pond, and the tens of species of birds that inhabited the gardens. To Thunder, it was the definition of peaceful.

As he shut his eyes and laid his head back to take in the warm sunlight, the close sounds of a unicorn teleporting startled him. His head shot up, as did most of his body as Thunder sat up. He quickly looked around for the source, before seeing a unicorn guard galloping towards him. Unlike the others, he wore simple dark grey armor which the front design resembled the design of the Lunar guard's, but of course without the numerous shades of dark blue or purple. The pendant on his armor was yellow, and was of the sun with numerous rays of its light spanning outwards, an emblem Thunder had never seen before. The unicorn also did not wear a helmet, and instead had a yellow-braided silver mane.

"Sergeant Thunderblast?" The unicorn stopped just in front of him, panting slightly from his run.

Thunderblast stood up off of the bench and saluted to the pony. "Lieutenant Alter?"

"Are you on break?"

"No sir," Thunder lowered his hoof. "Off duty for the time being. Is there something you need?"

Alter nodded. "Take this to the Master Sergeant's home in Canterville," he levitated a scroll out of his armor and handed it to Thunder. "Please?" 

Thunder nodded, seeing a bit of desperation on the unicorn's face. "Of course, sir."

"Oh, thank you. You are a life saver, sergeant!" The unicorn smiled and took a few steps back, before he lit his horn in a blue aura and teleported away in a bright flash of light.

Thunder squinted his eyes at the flash of light, before opening them back up and looking down to the scroll. "Well, at least this is something to do," he then grabbed his helmet off of the bench and slipped it back onto his head, then opening his wings and taking off into the sky.

Canterville was a short flight away, and resided on the other side of Mount Canter. Unlike Canterlot, Canterville was a much smaller village and somewhat resembled Ponyville architecture-wise, but was also mixed with other types of buildings. The town was mostly secluded, other than long paths that extended around the sides of the mountain to reach it, and other ones made for hiking that went up to the very top of the mountain itself, before winding back down, the paths very few used. 

Following the ten minute puddle-jump flight around the mountain, Thunder landed just outside of town and resorted to walking the rest of the way. Although he wasn't given an address to deliver the scroll to, he knew previously just where the master sergeant lived, but it had been a couple of years and things had certainly changed around town.

Thunder came across a small one story stone-finished home. As he dug through his memories of the town, the house seemed familiar, and hoped he was at the right place as he trotted up to the front door, knocking a couple of times.

"Who is it?" A slightly gruff voice said from inside.

"Telegram for Master Sergeant Lionheart?" Thunder replied.

After a few moments of silence, the sounds of heavy hoofsteps approached the door, where it then opened. The pony standing at the door was a taller, well-toned tan pegasus stallion. He stared coldly at Thunder, before speaking.

"A telegram? What for?" He asked.

"I do not know, sir. I am simply the courier."

Lionheart looked over the grey pegasus in front of him. "You don't look much like a courier to me."

"Last minute?" Thunder held the scroll in his hoof.

Lionheart took the scroll in his hoof. "Very well then, thank you er..." He stopped, noticing the silver pin on Thunder's armor. "...First Sergeant," he then threw up a hoof and saluted. "Carry on."

Thunderblast saluted back. "Yes sir, thank you sir."

Lionheart then went back into his home, shutting the door behind him. Thunder lowered his hoof immediately after, then also turned around and trotted back onto the cobble path in front of the pegasus' home. By then, it was still mid afternoon and Thunder still had a few hours before he needed to report to the armor fitter. Thunder opened his wings, taking back off into the sky and making his way around the mountain towards Canterlot.





A few hours after his last minute courier delivery to Canterville, Thunderblast trotted into the lower parts of the castle, towards the dungeons. To him, it was the weirdest spot to put an armor fitter, but the pony running it didn't seem to care. As he made his way down the cold, empty hallway, the sounds of metal being hammered in a room ahead could be heard, as well as some orange flashes which he assumed to be from welding. 

The hall leading through the dungeons was lit only by torches placed between cells, which the slightest breeze could blow out if one made its way through the room. Thunder glanced around at the dungeon cells to either side, all were vacant, but the slightly rusty chains and shackles that were connected to the walls were left on the floor eerily. It gave him a slight chill up his spine, knowing some ponies had rotted to death in their cells, and the shackles were left untouched since then. Thunder then gulped.

"At least there's a new jail across town if I ever got arrested..."

A minute of walking later, and Thunder finally stopped at the open doorway of a separate room on a rounded corner and up four steps in the hall. A small sign above the arched door read 'Royal Armor Fitters' and was engraved in a smooth wooden plate. He trotted inside, the top of his helmet ringing the bell at the door accidentally. In a side room, the flashes had stopped, and soon trotted out a mud-brown unicorn stallion who wore a welding mask over his face. The mask was engulfed in a white aura of magic, before sliding up over the pony's head.

"Ah, Thundahblast, so nice t'see ya again!"

"How did you know it was me, Forger?" Thunder raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that there armor ah gave ya years ago hasn't changed one bit! There ain't one pegasus ah know that has a grey coat and black hair and conforms with his or her armor! Anyways, ya here to try on yer new armor?" Metal Forger asked, grinning big.

Thunderblast nodded. "I am."

"Hot diggity, then follow me!" Metal levitated the welding mask off of his head and set it on the counter next to Thunder, then trotted into another room ahead of them from another to the side.

Thunder followed the unicorn through an opened wooden door and into the fitting room, where the numerous sets of armor sat on shelves, ranging from the main pieces, to helmets, saddles for officers, to hoof guards and other pieces Thunder has never seen before.

"Wait right here, ah'll get yer armor! Ya came just at the right time, too!" Forger chuckled and trotted back into the side room.

Thunder glanced around at the different assortments of armor, and noticed a section of armor which wasn't colored to fit either the Royal or Lunar Guard, and didn't have the branch emblems either. It was strange, but he shrugged it off when Forger returned with a full set of armor in his magical grasp.

"Here ya go, try it on!" Forger laid the set of armor on a short table and stepped back.

"Thanks," Thunder smiled to the unicorn, then stripped himself of his current armor and put it off to the side, then took the new, shinier set of hoof guards in his hooves, and slipped them on. 

Almost instantly, they sat on his hooves comfier than his previous set, and were even still slightly warm from the welding. Next, he picked up the main piece and stuck his head through the larger hole, followed by his wings on the side holes. As he turned to grab what he thought was a new helmet, he was surprised to find instead of a helmet, sat a golden collar, the bottom half of an average guard helmet. He picked it up in a hoof and looked over it for a moment, then slipped it around his neck and adjusted it into place.

Thunder turned around, looking over himself in a mirror. Instead of the usual blue star on his chest, it was bright red, and the metal it was encased in took the form of a mix of a shield on the bottom, and a badge at the top. He turned to his side, looking over the armor and noticing his tail braid was also red, matching the star on his chest.

"Well, how does it feel?"

"It fits perfectly. Its so...comfortable too! Even more than my old set."

Forger chuckled. "That's because ah went and added some cushioning on the inside, and some insulation for when it gets cold!"

Thunder smiled as he looked over his new set of armor, transitioning his wings from being folded, to open at full length.

"Just wait 'till the other guards see ya, their jaws will drop!" Forger chuckled again.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thunder's hoof heavily pressed to the desk of Captain Shining Armor with a paper beneath it. The snow-white unicorn blinked a couple of times, his gaze shifting upwards to the pegasus standing opposite of his desk. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sir, take a look at this for me, please," Thunder said, sliding the paper closer.

Shining Armor lifted the paper up off of the wooden surface and looked over it carefully, his eyes then widening and looking back up at the pegasus when he finished reading. "Resignation?"

Thunderblast nodded with a serious look on his face. "Yes, sir."

Setting the paperwork back down, Shining Armor eyed the grey pegasus guard carefully. "Thunder, what is the meaning of this? Is something going on?"

Thunder shook his head. "No, sir. But I have determined that my time in the guard must come to an end. For now, that is."

"For now? You plan on returning?" Shining tilted his head slightly. Thunder nodded in response. "Why not just take the leave you have and come back after that?"

"That won't work," Thunder took in a deep breath. "I've been thinking lately. Maybe it is time I try other things. Something in my head has been telling me that I shouldn't be a guard, that that isn't my calling. You get me?"

Shining nodded after a couple of moments of silence. "I do."

Thunder nodded back once. "Unless I find something else I really enjoy, I'm afraid that... I will be leaving the guard," he took the rank pin from his armor and set it down on the desk. Shining Armor's eyes widened a bit more, watching the pegasus take a step back.

"You don't have to do this, Thunder."

The pegasus eyed the captain carefully, then bobbed his head in a gentle nod. "Yes, I do. I'm sorry."

"Thunder, you just received your new armor. You can't tell me you want to quit right now. I... I can't preserve your rank for when you do come back, if you come back."

"Then I suppose I'll start at the bottom of the barrel again," Thunder gave a soft chuckle and a smile, it fading a moment after and Thunder turned to the door to exit the office. "Goodbye, captain." He gave one final salute, then left the room.

Shining's ears pinned back, and he returned the salute after the pegasus had gone. "Goodbye, first sergeant."





Relaxing into his bed after a long day, Thunder sighed tiredly as his muscles eased. It hadn't been longer than three months since his departure from the guard. Despite so, he found himself a career in which involved the same amount of physical activity yet less danger. A security guard at the Ponyville General Hospital. The trip to and from was long and left him staying at an inn in town much of the week. Thankfully, it was now the weekend, and Thunder was home in Canterlot.

He shut his eyes to doze off, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door from downstairs. With a murr and a groan, he sat back up and trotted down the steps, to the front door. Opening it, he noticed a white pegasus guard with just a slight bit of his blond mane hanging out from beneath his helmet, standing in the pouring rain as it roared on the street and rooftops.

"First Sergeant Thunderblast?" The guard spoke.

"Lieutenant Golden Armor. What a pleasure." Thunder tiredly rubbed his eye. "What can I do for you?"

"I do not have much time to inform you, but, the eastern Griffon Kingdom has declared war on Equestria. I as well as many others have been assigned to round up all recently-retired guards and pull them back in for this. All hooves are needed on deck here."

It was then that Thunder's world came to a complete stop.