Orientation- Part I
Spring Semester, Freshpony year
Twilight
Twilight stood at the large marble steps of the Academy, setting hoof for the first time not as a visitor, but as a student. Inclining her head slightly upward her eyes followed the wide stairway up to the entrance gate. The thick iron gate was drawn up today so that ponies could come and go easily. She knew that if it were truly necessary, the building could indeed turn into quite the impregnable fortress. The thought both frightened and comforted her.
From her perspective she could make out the tops of the flowering trees peeking over gleaming whites walls. Cherry that that she knew blossomed into vibrant shades of pink this time of year. Trees that resided in the central courtyard of the Academy, grown tall over the years from small saplings. She could feel the buzz of nervous excitement in the air, hear the many voices of her fellow recruits chatting loudly in the distance. As she took her first shaky step forward, doubt once again began to creep into the back of her mind.
Am I really supposed to be here? What good can somepony like me be when I couldn't even get into magic school? What if I screw up again? She shook her head slowly as other recruits stepped around her to ascend the stairs. You'll make it here, you have to. You have to succeed no matter what it takes. Nodding ever so slightly at the thought, she let her hoof fall firmly on the first step.
“That's it Twilight.” She said softly to herself, “Just put one hoof in front of the other.”
Overhead, the morning sun begins to peek through the clouds, causing the large circular emblem set into the top of the gateway to shine brilliantly. Twilight had seen it before, but like many of the things she had seen in the Academy before, it seemed to take on an entirely new meaning now.
Three golden mares, one Pegasus, one earth pony, and one unicorn, all taking up arms against an unseen threat. Beneath each of the warrior ponies was a word: Family, Honor, Freedom. When she was a filly those words used to have very little meaning to her. Now, as she ascends the stairs, they mean everything. She feels a sting in her eye as tears threaten to roll down her cheek. I'm going to make you proud, Mom. I'm going to be strong like you were.
“Eyes up, recruit!” A booming voice said from somewhere behind her. An earth pony with short cropped red mane atop his muscular gray frame trotted around Twilight. “You're days of being a slowpoke are numbered, show me some hustle! Up the stairs, now!”
She took a moment to notice his dark green uniform vest, perfectly pressed, buttons polished, insignia rank of five silver stars bouncing with each trotting step. That uniform, it means hes still a student! I had no idea you could reach such a high rank in just four years! Twilight looked at her own vest, the same camouflaged dark green, only totally empty. She was what the older students referred to a 'new moon', entering the program without any rank or distinction.
Twilight picked up the pace from a trot to a canter, bounding up the steps as fast as her legs could carry her. So many... stairs...Her saddlebag jostled and her vest began to feel like it was constricting her more and more with each echoing hoofstep that bounced off the cold, hard stairs. She knew there were one hundred steps leading into the Pony War Academy, but right now it felt more like a thousand. Her lungs began to burn, her breathing heavy. The air seemed thinner somehow as she continued to bound up the stairs, trying in vain to catch up with the gray pony.
Twilight's muscles screamed in protest as she watched her superior disappear above the top of the stairs, almost there. In spite of her best effort, her cantor had slowed to a trot, then nearly to a crawl as she cleared the top step. In the courtyard a hundred or so recruits who had already completed their evaluations were clustered into smaller groups, chatting excitedly to one another. To Twilight, it seemed like everyone stopped talking for a moment to turn to look at her as she gasped for breath, legs wobbling.
“Hmph. Too slow, newbie. Nightmares would have gotten you for sure.” Said the gray mare, his breathing steady and normal. “What's your name, recruit?”
Twilight gulped, her breathing still coming fast and hard she managed to gasp out “T-t-twi... light... Spar... kle..”. The stern looking pony looked down at her as he looked her over. His eyes betrayed his disapproval even before he spoke.
“Names Dashing Strike” He said, circling slowly around Twilight as she began to regain her breath. “Junior Commander of 'Apple' Company.” His tail flicked her nose as he turned away her “I doubt that I'll be seeing you again any time soon... unless I need something from the 'Fog'.”
With that, he was off, trotting into the crowd and disappearing into it before Twilight had a chance to say or do anything. She slumped at his assessment, Apple company was reserved for the best and brightest ponies in the Academy, and Fog was for anypony who was barely passing the minimum requirements. Rejects, misfits, and most likely, future dropouts.
Could that really be me? She thought, suddenly dreading the coming evaluations even more. What if I DO end up in Fog? What if that's where I belong, with the weaklings who can't really do anything against the nightmares? I can't come out of the academy being some kind of supply pony!
For as long as she could remember, the Night wars have loomed on some distant horizon. Fuhrer Moon and her army of night mares have been pushing forward into Equestria for years, spreading darkness in whatever lands they occupy. If not for Supreme Commander Celestia, the darkness surely would have overtaken everything by now. Rallied under her banner, the denizens of Equestria banded together to hold the line. After years of fighting, a stalemate began and deeply entrenched lines were drawn. It is in this tenuous period of uncertainty that Twilight has found herself entering the Academy.
“I will be like you, mother.” She said quietly to herself, once again fighting tears as she makes her way past the courtyard towards a long line of ponies leading to an open door. In her mind, she could hear her mothers voice, clear as day. Once upon a time there was a great warrior pony named Twilight Sparkle....
Rainbow Dash
Flying high overhead, Rainbow let the chill wind rush over her as she began her descent. There it is, she thought, seeing the large H-shaped structure below. Pony War Academy, finally after all those years as a junior speedster, I'm ready for the big leagues; The Mareforce! Those high flying ponies kick some serious tail, and are next best thing to joining the ultra elite Wonderbolts, which was practically impossible for somepony like me.
Rainbow dove faster, breaking through the low-lying clouds as the five story Academy grew larger, taking up more and more of her field of view. Behind the Academy she could see a long tangle of obstacle courses and a simulated battlefield complete with blast craters and barbed wire. She shifted her gaze to the west, a long stretch of runway, complete with magically floating hoops of all sizes and colors.
Cocking her head the opposite way she spotted rows and rows of the tan colored tents that dotted the green fields to the East. This would be where I will be spending more of my nights for the next four years, she realized, suddenly missing the comfort of her cloud bed back home. Only the highest ranking students got the honor of sleeping within the halls of the Academy, an honor that is NEVER given to Freshpony such as herself.
“Unknown flyer, please identify yourself” A voice crackled loudly in her ear, she nearly jumped out of her skin, frantically looking for the source. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her ear, normally light blue, was glowing yellow. Somepony is focusing magic on me, she realized. Unsure what to do, she spoke into the void of the whistling wind.
“Rainbow Dash, uh, sir. A-academy recruit?” The sharp sound of buzzing magic filled her ears for a moment, then the voice responded.
“Roger that, academy recruit. Change heading to Runway Alpha, stand by, an escort will be at your position shortly.”
Escort? She wondered, tilting her wings and shifting her body weight, taking a lazy half-circle turn toward the landing strip. Why the hay do I need an escort? She considered asking the mysterious voice, but the magic radiating around her ear had since dispelled, the crackle of magic replaced once again with whistling wind. From below, Rainbow say a blue dot rocketing towards her, getting rapidly larger.
How can anypony move that fast? Was all she had time to wonder before the light blue Pegasus pony was flying right beside her.
“Good morning!” The pony yelled “Names Soarin, let's go ahead and slow it down for a nice easy landing.” Rainbows mouth went agape as Soarins wings stretched further open, feathers fluttering in the breeze. Soarin?! THE Soarin?! I'm being escorted by a WONDERBOLT?!
“Slow it down!” Soarin yelled, Rainbow snapped out of it in time to see the ground rapidly approaching. Panicked, she unfurled her wings imperfectly, slowing down slightly but sending her body into a spin. Overcompensating, she began to wobble wildly in the air, cutting too hard first one way then the other. Her mind was blank with sheer panic as the ground seemed to rise up and meet her.
CRUNNNNCH!
It wasn't a hard landing, but it was a bad landing. Rainbow tumbled a few times on the grass, skidding to a stop a few feet shy of the runway. Immediately she could feel her battered and bruised body, her skinned knees and her pounding head. But nothing hurt as much as her pride. She wanted to cry, but the sound of nearby laughter stopped her tears for a moment.
“Nice of you to drop in Rainbow Crash!” Said a familiar but completely unwelcome voice. A cackling laugh from another pony confirmed her worst fear. Them. She thought with disdain, of course they would be here.
“Shut your yap, Hoops.” Rainbow said, dusting herself off and trying her best to hide the pain of her bad landing. The Brown Pegasus stepped forward, his dark brown mane still covering his eyes it used to all those years ago.
“What'd you say to me, Crash?” Hoops said, bumping his chest against hers. Soarin landed quietly, trotting up to the two of them.
“Recruit! Oh my gosh, are you okay? Do you need to visit the medbay?” He said, nudging his way between her and Hoops, who laughed mockingly.
“Aw, does Rainbow Crash have an owie?” Hoops sneered. Dumbbell, his partner in crime, guffawed along with him.
“Haha, good one Hoops.” He said as the pair of them began to walk away.
"Are you okay recruit... erm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Soarin said, completely ignoring the other two ponies.
“Dash. Rainbow Dash. I'm fine. I just need to go take care of something...” Rainbow said, pushing away from Soarin and making a bee-line toward Hoops and Dumbbell.
“Let it be.” Soarin spoke with such authority that Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks “Some ponies can only feel strong when they bring other ponies down. Be stronger than that.” Soarin readjusted Rainbows vest as he added with a slight grin. “Plus you really don't want to get suspended on your first day, do you?”
Rainbow winced and smiled weakly back at him. “No, I don't want that.” taking a deep breath she sighed. “I just wish everypony would leave me alone.” She wanted to cry again, not like this, not in front of my idol. The Wonderbolt put a hoof under Rainbows chin and smiled reassuringly.
“Prove them wrong” he said softly, drying her eyes with a bit of his hoof. “Show them that no matter how much they break you down, you'll always build yourself back up. Nothing shuts up a bully faster than pure determination.” Rainbow felt a smile cross her face at his kind words, feeling a blush beginning to form on her muzzle.
“I-I should go.” Rainbow said suddenly “Don't want to be late for the evaluation. T-Thanks for the escort!” She yelled as her wings quickly propelled her towards the courtyard. Her inner voice chimed in Realll smooth, Rainbow Dash. You'd better hope that pony didn't catch you getting all googly-eyed.
Soarin watched the cyan Pegasus pony awkwardly skirting away and couldn't help but smile once again.
“Attention Soarin, new recruit approaching at vector 4, are you go for escort?” A magical voice chimed in his ear.
“I'm on it.” He said. This is going to be a very interesting year. He mused as he rocketed up into the sky.
Apple Jack
Applejack lay sprawled on her back, blood trickling faintly from her nose, her orange coat splattered with mud and ash. All around her the world seemed to erupt into horrific crackling spheres of darkness. In that moment she was thankful for the temporary silence that shell-shock brings, muffling the chaos if only for a fleeting moment. She tried to get up, to right herself against the trench wall, but failed. A shape blocked out the sky above, leaning in closer, somepony she'd never seen before.
They were saying something, yelling it, in fact. The moment seemed to linger forever in silence,
a blurry slow-motion movie that was slowly returning back to normal speed. Her ears began to ring, it was an unwelcome sound that only grew more unwanted as it became louder and shriller. It felt like someone was gliding a bow over a tightly wound string. The real world began to wash in like waves on a beach, crashing against her head. When it was all over she welcomed the sounds of battle that were now coming all around.
“Get up! Get up, dammit!” The figure said, coming sharply into focus. “Back to the wall! We have to defend this trench until the very last pony!” And with that, he was gone. His voice could be heard yelling in the for a moment, a distant explosion, then nothing. Shit. She was alone, and they were coming.
Applejack rolled over, her balance still a bit off, and climbed to her feet. Ignoring the implications of the empty hole smoldering next to her she slid her forehooves back into the straps of a mounted machine gun. She could see them in the distance, dark shapes moving forward on the horizon. Lining her shot, she picked out the nearest target and squeezed the trigger. A stream of firepower erupted from the muzzle of the gun, cleaving through the enemy front-line.
The simple farmer pony screamed into the coming darkness, spent shells flying in every direction as the barrel of her gun began to glow white hot. It wasn't until the rounds ran dry that she released her grip on the pressure plate trigger, her eyes piercing through the smoky battlefield for any signs of movement as she readied another bandoleer.
The sound of a buzzer cut through the air “Cease fire!” a magically magnified voice bellowed out. “Cease fire, cease fire! All ponies cease fire!”
The sudden silence unsettled the Earth pony far more than she imagined, only in the absence of sound was it truly apparent how loud everything had been. Her ears rang in protest, a high tone that seemed to buzz between her ears like angry hornets. The smoke began to clear, was it really over?
“This concludes your field evaluation, all ponies remaining on the battlefield, please exit via the southern trench.”
The smoke had cleared completely now, revealing the splintered wreckage of dozens of wooden targets. Applejack let herself step away from the now depleted weapon, all ponies... remaining? She thought with a slight twinge of horror. Does that mean...? She thought briefly about the six ponies who she had briefly been introduced to prior to the test. They had been spaced far apart, but she had seen at least one pony get enveloped in that horrible dark magic.
She pushed the idea out of her mind, shaking as adrenaline began to leave her body. Big Mac had warned about the live field evaluation, but it was truly something one had to behold to fully appreciate. No, appreciate wasn't the right word. She forced her mind back to present moment as she trotted off the battlefield. A stern looking stallion with vibrant white coat and a stunning rose red mane was waiting for her as she pressed forward. His vest was older, a lighter shade of green, and filled with dozens of resplendent medals.
She tried to exact an emotion from him but the only thing she sensed from him was sheer intensity. He exuded command, and his rank denoted just that. The silver sun insignia, could it really be?...
“Lieutenant Colonel Ironhorse!” Applejack exclaimed, snapping to attention, adding “Sir!” after a pregnant pause.
“At ease, recruit.” The storied stallion said, his tone betraying precious little. “According to our field reports, you're the last pony standing in your crew.” He gave her a moment to chew on that information before speaking again.
“I'd expect nothing less from a member of the Apple family.” He stated, the slightest hint of satisfaction in his voice. Applejack beamed in spite of herself, high praise from the likes of Ironhorse was nothing to sneeze at.
“It's nothin' really.” She began, her twangy country drawl becoming more apparent with each passing sentence. Trying her best to regain her decorum she cleared her throat. “Ahem. I mean, it's just...Us country pony folk just happen to do a lot of the same things as military pony types. Gettin' up early, workin' long hours, and shootin' guns is just a part of our way of life, I reckon.” The poker-faced commanding officer gave a short but curt nod in agreement.
“Don't sell yourself short, recruit, what you did out on the field was outstanding. It's not very common that we have survivors in a field test. Especially with such high marks in accuracy.” Survivors? A troubling question began to nudge itself back into her mind, and she ambled slowly forward.
“Excuse me sir, if you don't mind mah askin'. What exactly did happen to everypony else?”
“Vaporized. A terrible shame, really.” He said, tilting his head down in reverence. Applejacks eyes went wide and her jaw dropped, a stunned silence filled the air. A deep and hearty guffaw cut through the silence, breaking the young pony out of her trance. She stared at the source of the laughter in disbelief after discovering that it was in fact her superior.
“Recruit!” He gasped between fits of laughter “You should have seen the look on your face!”. Just as suddenly as the fit had started, it was over, the winter-white commander cleared his throat and snapped back into his more familiar persona.
“I kid of course, your comrades are perfectly safe in the debriefing tent. I'm sure you have more than a few questions. Come.” He began to walk, his gait betraying a limp on his left forehoof as he strode. He had earned that limp, along with the nickname 'Ironhorse', after taking shrapnel to his leg in the battle of Waterbend many years ago. So many years ago, in fact, that only a handful of ponies know his real name. He seemed to prefer it that way, another layer of mystery to enshroud him in mystery.
“Those explosions...” Applejack began, trying her best to keep pace with the legendary war veteran.
“Pure theatrics” He interjected “Not dark magic, let me assure you, just a modified teleportation spell that we … punched up a little bit. For dramatic effect. We find that we can more accurately gauge a ponies battlefield preparedness in situations they think are genuinely dangerous.”
“Ah see, makes sense.” The small country pony said, not fully understanding but not wanting to appear foolish. It seems a little... cruel, but maybe it was the right thing to do. Though I suppose it's better to find out that you can't cut it here than on a real battlefield.
“Here we are. After you.” Ironhorse said, opening a tent flap. Applejack peered inside and saw six rattled looking ponies. They all seemed fine, though little battered, bruised, and muddy. She took a step in while her gaze swept across the boxy interior of the tent. Three Earth ponies, Two Unicorns, and one... suspiciously clean looking Pegasus whose teeth chattered as though it was the dead of winter.
“Recruits! I'd like to introduce you to Applejack, the lone survivor of our little test this morning. She has achieved a near-perfect live-field evaluation and as such she will be awarded the rank of crescent moon.” The storied lieutenant colonel dug into his pocket, his numerous medals and accolades jangling as he pulled out a small bronze pin. Applause erupted in the small tent as Ironhorse pinned the rank on Applejacks vest. Well I'll be a snack-wrangling varmint herder. It ain't even lunch time and I already got me a rank! She tried her best to look regal and calm, but let a smile slip in spite of her best efforts.
“Furthermore, ” He continued, his weathered voice cutting through the applause, which immediately returned to silence. “I am pleased to announce you have been placed into 'Apple' company where I'm confident she will continue to excel.” The simple farm pony beamed with pride as the white stallion once again dug into his pocket, pinning a small golden 'A' just above her new rank. Big Mac and Granny sure are going to be surprised! She thought to herself as a new round of applause began.
“As for the rest of you, report to room 405-A for your evaluation results. Applejack, feel free to visit the courtyard, feel free to mingle with your fellow classmates until further notice. Dismissed!”
The seven recruits began to file through the open flap, chattering excitedly. Applejack was positively awash with emotions, and so lost in her own thoughts she didn't hear the voice of the commanding officer coming from inside the tent.
“Where do you think you're going, Fluttershy? You and I need to have a very serious chat about your results...”
"Y-y-y-yes, s-sir..." A meek voice replied as Applejack trotted off happily toward the courtyard.