A day full of surprises
Lightning Blossom groaned loudly as she signed yet another list full of ordered supplies, her head hitting her desk with a loud thud. If it kept up like that, she would still be working on this next week.
It is as if Luna wants to start a bucking war, she thought. For what in the moon’s name do we need a thousand new sets of wingblades?
It was to no use. She had to get all papers in order or the captain would have her flank. And then the general. And then Luna.
She had no idea which one of the last two would be worse.
Sighing, she got up and went to the cabinet in the corner of her office, pouring herself a drink which ended quickly down her throat. Then she got a look at herself in the mirror.
Lighting Blossom was by no means an ugly mare, but the work changed her.
The former traces of fat in various places were gone from her body, leaving a tall mare with a dark blue coat and piercing eyes that showed a swirling mix of blue and grey. Her long, ragged, silvery mane had a few dark grey streaks in it.
She wasn’t what the stallions wanted, but she could live with that.
Mares are better anyway, she chuckled.
Content to continue her work, she went back to her desk, but somepony knocked on her door.
“For Luna’s sake. If it is another set of papers, buck off!” she shouted toward the door.
The door opened and a shorter mare walked in. She was a bat pony with a silver-white mane and tail, her coat a dark grey. Her cutie mark was a double-edged short sword, but the really unique thing about her were her eyes: they were a marbled white and blue, like a moonstone. “Uhh, no ma’am, no paperwork. I’m actually here to take some of it away. It seems a cadet brought the wrong stack to your office.”
“So you want to tell me that these,” Lightning started, pointing at one of the larger stacks while daintily blowing a strand of silvery mane out of her face, “Are not for me? You gotta be kidding me, Lieutenant.”
“Sadly not ma’am. Or, maybe gladly, since you’ll have less to do now,” She replied.
Lightning stood up with such force she sent her chair into the wall. “No, I think you are fucking kidding me! These papers arrived four hours ago! They are all signed and neatly organized! I...I…” she stopped, groaning, before turning and starting to bang her head against the wall. “Fucking. Dumb. Green. Bitch. Cadets!” she screamed against the wall.
The lieutenant winced slightly as her superior started banging her head, sympathizing with the pain of both cadets screwing up, and slamming one’s head into hard objects in response to said screw up.
“Why are you still standing there? Clean up that mess before I sharpen my fangs on those cadets’ throats! And I mean RIGHT NOW!” Lightning shouted after a few more bangs against the wall.
The lieutenant recoiled slightly at the shout before nodding and glancing through the stacks of papers to find the one she came to retrieve.
Lightning interrupted every thought the lieutenant might have by scowling. “You know what? Forget it. I’m going to tan their hides and you’ll come with me.” The aerial officer didn’t even bother with her armor or any other gear as she strode past the blinking lieutenant in nothing more than a light uniform. “You coming or what?” she added, seemingly impatient as the other mare kept standing where she was.
The lieutenant nodded, setting the stack of papers she had just found back on the desk to retrieve later and following after her superior as she replied, “Yes ma’am!”
Running through the corridors, Lightning didn’t even bother asking the lieutenant about the cadet’s name. She knew exactly who was one of the cadets to blame, his head always in the clouds.
Roaming Night, this time I’ll tear your fucking head off, she swore silently.
If the other mare had wondered where they were going, she was easily answered by Lightning opening the doors to the mess hall with a heavy kick, sending both sides crashing into the wall, one of the doors even unhinging itself in the process.
“ROAMING NIGHT, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!”
Every single head turned to the aerial officer – cadets, veterans, and officers alike.
“I swear to Luna,” one of the officers rose from her position, a big thestral mare with pale-blue coat and a light black mane. Her piercing, blue eyes focusing on Lightning, shaking her head. “What is it this time, Lightning Blossom? If you just need to blow off some steam again, I’ll have your flank! Your temper always gets the better of you.”
“Captain Moon Shield,” Lightning growled. “This time I have perfect reasons.” She then turned to the lieutenant. “Tell her.”
The lieutenant looked first to Lightning, then to the captain before saying “Well, Captain, Cadet Roaming Night took a pile of paperwork intended for you to her office instead, adding to Aerial Officer Lightning Blossom’s already impressive pile of work.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Moonstone. And what do you intend to do now, Aerial Officer Lightning Blossom?” Moon Shield asked calmly.
“Just sharpening my fangs a bit on him, Captain. Nothing serious.”
Moon Shield sighed. “You know Blue Moon will kill you if you make another one of her cadets quit training. But whatever, he is currently trying to sneak out.”
Lightning whirled around just in time to catch Roaming Night, trying to be as small as possible, sneaking out of the door. “COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!”
Roaming Night shrieked and quickly shot away in fear, Lightning swift to the chase.
Moonstone sighed and shook her head, before following after her enraged superior – if nothing else, curious to see what she would do to the poor, clueless cadet.
She soon found out as the cadet escaped into the open, quickly spreading his leathery wings and taking to the air, trying to get as much distance from Lightning as possible.
Sadly, he made his calculation without accounting for the fiery nature of the officer.
“You,” Lightning snapped at the nearest cadet that was currently training in the courtyard. “Give me your shield!”
The cadet, a young mare with a blood-red coat and black mane gulped before hoofing the Officer her shield. It was quickly obvious what Lightning would do.
Lightly opening the straps, she placed the shield on her wing as intended, but it was too loose to hold. As she squinted at the cadet in the air, she huffed herself aloft, and began spinning in a circle until, with a loud cry, she hurled the shield away.
It was a headshot.
Moonstone watched in awe as the shield hit the poor cadet in the back of the head before looking at Lightning, who was watching with a smug grin as the stallion went into a crash landing.
“I think she just invented a new sport,” Moon Shield laughed as she walked into the courtyard, startling the lieutenant.
Moonstone jumped in surprise, before whirling around and looking at Moon Shield, replying “Oh! Hello Captain. I think you’re right; I wonder what she’ll call it?”
“There is no name yet, but I think it will not only come in handy as a sport. Let a small group of shield maidens train in hurling their shields with accuracy. I’ll see that we get shields made for that task,” Lightning Blossom said as she landed. “Get a medic for that cadet.”
Both mares simply stared as Lightning made her way back inside, but then she paused.
“Oh, and Moonstone?”
Moonstone’s ears perked curiously as she replied, “Yes Ma’am?”
Lightning chuckled, swishing her tail merrily before continuing her way. “Next time you want to stare at my flank, buy me dinner first. From now on, you are responsible for my papers.”
Moonstone blushed slightly at that, before she nodded and replied “Yes, ma’am.”
***
Several hours later, Moonstone was laying in bed trying to sleep, but her mind kept replaying what had happened earlier that day. In particular, what Lightning had said about staring at her flank.
Was I even staring at her flank? I didn’t think I was… Not that I wouldn’t want to, but… I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t end well.Unless she actually meant what she said? No, she couldn’t have… Unless she did.
She groaned as her mind went in circles, arguing with herself.
After hours of tossing and turning and internal debate, she finally said, “Buck it! The only way to know is to ask her out to dinner. The worst she can do is say she was joking.”
With that decided, her mind finally calmed down enough to let her fall asleep—only to be startled awake two hours later by her alarm. She groaned and slammed her hoof on her clock, shutting the alarm off, before sitting up with just one thing to say:
“...I’m going to need so much bucking coffee to survive this.”
She crawled out of bed and headed for the shower, turning it on as hot as she could stand before getting in and holding her head under the water for a few moments. She pulled her head back and shook it slightly, trying to shake the sleep from her eyes and having little success, before giving up and going to work getting herself clean.
After her shower, she dried off and brushed the knots from her mane and tail, before donning her armor and heading off to get some coffee. As she entered the mess hall, she waved hello to a few other guards as she headed straight for the coffee pot.
“Moonstone!” a voice shouted, quickly identified as belonging to Captain Moon Shield.
Moonstone turned towards the voice and stood to attention. “Yes, Captain?”
Moon Shield came closer, offering her a paper with a smile. “Night Watch, Blue Moon and Luna approved of Lightning’s idea. This is an order for a hundred modified shields for the special unit so they can train in hurling them. You know what to do.”
Moonstone nodded and took the paper as she responded “Yes ma’am.” She then glanced at the coffee machine before looking back to the captain and adding, “Permission to grab coffee first, ma’am?”
“Sure,” Moon Shield chuckled. “No offence, but you look like you need it. Rough night?”
Moonstone nodded and replied, “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night. I had a few things on my mind, and my brain just wouldn’t stop going in circles.”
“Pray tell, what might those thoughts be about?”
Moonstone blushed slightly and responded, “How best to approach a personal situation. Nothing bad, just… confusing.”
“I think I know what you mean,” Moon Shield grinned. “Just try to not pull a ‘Night Watch’ here and everything should be fine.”
Moonstone stifled a laugh at that before nodding and replying, “Understood. Trust me, I don’t intend to. I don’t need more problems with the situation.”
The captain just sighed. “Knowing Lightning Blossom, you will have problems. You are not the first to approach her, but maybe you are different. After all, you are the first mare.”
Moonstone arched an eyebrow curiously. “Really? I figured at least one or two probably tried. I already know not to expect things to be easy.”
“Moonstone, most of the mares that could handle Lightning’s flank and loud muzzle are taken. And the few dumb stallions that tried it served as a warning for everypony else.”
Moonstone laughed softly at that and replied, “Fair enough. Now, I should probably get this to her before she has my flank for being late.” She then smiled to the captain, “Permission to go and seal my fate, Captain?”
“Permission granted. Just don’t expect me to save your sorry flank. I have my hooves full with Red Wave, after all.”
Moonstone nodded. “Understood. I won’t expect any reinforcements.” She gave the captain a quick salute and quickly got a cup coffee before hurrying off to Lightning’s office.
***
Lightning hummed to herself, going over the last changes she had made to the list of monthly shipments, just to be disrupted by a soft, nearly shy knocking on her door. “The door is made out of solid wood! Knock like a real soldier, then come in!” she barked, her eyes never leaving the paper in front of her.
Three loud, sharp knocks came from the door before it opened and revealed Moonstone with a cup of coffee in one hoof and the paper the captain had given her held under one wing.
“I almost mistook you for a cadet. What is it, lieutenant?” Lightning spoke up, not even looking at her.
“Sorry ma’am, I kind of had my hooves full.” Moonstone replied as she walked over to Lightning’s desk. She then set the coffee down and hoofed over the paper as she said, “Captain Moon Shield gave me this to bring to you. It seems your idea with the shields has been approved.”
Lightning took the paper, her eyes quickly roaming over it. “Nice to see my idea got fans, but this paper states that the delivery goes to one of the higher shield maidens, Storm Cloud. I expected to train them myself.”
Moonstone tilted her head slightly and replied, “That’s strange. You’d think they’d have the mare that came up with the idea be the one to teach it…”
“Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. While I know that I can hoof most of our soldiers their flanks on a plate, I’m still just a supply officer. Night Watch said I’m the only one with the head for the papers and the temper to not kill everypony.” Lightning chuckled. “Seems like she was wrong with the last one.”
Moonstone stifled a giggle and said, “To be fair, you didn’t kill him. You just bruised him.”
“I wasn’t talking about him. In the minotaur war, I actually killed a stallion, but the reason was… a special one.”
Moonstone arched an eyebrow at that and asked, “Do I want to know why?”
“It was a newbie, barely a stallion,” Lightning snorted. “Poor idiot asked me out, in the middle of the war, on the battlefield. I turned him down and he demanded a duel. If I lost, I would go out with him. He was a sore loser and tried stabbing me with his wingblades, so I cut his wings off. The war was in full swing and every available doctor busy, so he bled out on the field.”
Moonstone listened to the story quietly before replying, “Well, it sounds like you didn’t really have a choice. He was attacking you.”
Lightning Blossom snorted, glaring at Moonstone. “Tell that to his family. Or the other cadets. I think this is one of the reasons I’m stuck as a supply officer.”
Moonstone sighed. “It might be, but that doesn’t make it right. Defending yourself shouldn’t be punished.”
“It doesn’t have to be right. The princess’s orders stand. Now, was there something else, or can I go back to work?” Lightning asked, waiting for Moonstone to speak up.
Moonstone nodded and said, “There is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Then spill it, Lieutenant. You know what I think about ponies that waste my time.”
Moonstone nodded again and replied, “Then I’ll be quick about it. I wanted to know if you’d like to go out to dinner with me some time soon.”
Lightning just looked at her for a while, seemingly in thought. Just as the lieutenant started to worry, she got her answer. “Sure, why not? You can pick me up at eight.”
Moonstone mentally cheered and asked, “Is there a restaurant you’d prefer?”
“Huh.” Lightning looked puzzled for a second. “Looks like you’ve got more guts than I credited you for. I don’t prefer any restaurant, but you should know that I’m not an ordinary mare.”
“In what way?” Moonstone asked curiously.
“If you treat me like a prissy mare or choose a fancy restaurant, I’ll gut you.”
Moonstone grinned and laughed as she said, “Oh, I already guessed that. I was thinking pizza, if that’s alright with you.”
Lightning laughed. “Finally, a mare that’s got a head on her neck. That’s fine.”
Moonstone smiled wider, the sight of Lighting laughing pushing away any worries she had about the date.
“I’ll see you at eight then, unless there’s something else you need me to do?” she asked.
Lightning lazily waved a wing, her head already back in the papers, shooing Moonstone off.
Moonstone left Lightning’s office, deciding to head back to the mess hall and get some actual food. She took a few steps, then stopped and said “Crap, I left my coffee!”