Fallout Equestria: Dawn

Am I Worthy?

Just because I have this crown and these wings, it doesn't mean I'll be a good leader.

5 Years After the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows

WHAM!

Despite my best efforts, my breath wooshed out of my lungs as my back slammed onto the hard ground.  Stars filled my vision, and a little pegasus in my brain told me that I was probably going to have bruised flanks.

“Yet again, you are too slow.  You have no finesse, winged one,”  Tirani’s soft alto voice called out from above me.  “You fight like a drunken school filly.”

I used my wings to flip myself off of my back and away from my instructor’s forehoof.  Her hoof strike threw up a cloud of dust from the packed ground of the training floor as I rolled back up to my hind hooves.  For the past few months, Tirani had been attempting to train me in zebra fighting techniques.  Either I was a particularly inept student (highly likely), or the zebra art of hoof to hoof combat was extremely difficult for ponies to learn (also highly likely).  

Flapping my wings, I struck out with a hind hoof for a sweeping kick, which the zebra mare easily dodged.  Tirani shifted her weight onto a forehoof and spun into a particularly vicious buck.  Her hooves struck my side, just below my ribs, sending me skidding across the training floor yet again.  That’s another bruise.  I moved my head to the side to avoid my instructor’s hoof as it dug into the floor.

“Yet again, you would be dead were this not training.”  Tirani said, looking down on me, a look of dismay on her striped face.  “For such an agile pony, you do not know how to control your body, Dawn Breaker.”

“At least you didn’t hit me between the hind legs this time, Tirani.  I swear, that hurt worse than my first post-season cramps,”  I replied, brushing dirt off of my forelegs.  I frowned down at my light yellow coat.  I’ve always hated my coat.  Even with the bruises, my yellow makes it hard to blend in, either on the ground or in the air.

Tirani quirked an eyebrow at me, snorting a bit of her striped mane out of her eyes.  “Axios.”  She said simply.

I looked at her in confusion.  “Uh… bless you?”

The zebra stamped a hoof.  “No.  Axios.”

“Axios?”  I asked.  “Tirani, you know I don’t speak zebra.”

The mare rolled her eyes at me.  The kind of eyeroll that mothers often give their children when said child is doing something particularly exasperating.  “Then simply remember it.”  She said, trotting toward the metal bench in the corner of the room.  

I opened my mouth to reply, only to be smacked in the face by a towel.

“No speaking.  That word has great weight to it, and I do not tell it to you lightly, pegasus.”  Tirani said levelly as I wiped my face with the offending towel.

“Axios.”  I said, nodding.  This wasn’t the first time she’d started a lesson out like this, but…  But then again, there was something in the way she spoke the word that told me that maybe, just maybe, I should listen.

Tirani waited till I sat on my flanks before she spoke.

“Many years ago, shortly after the fall of the Nightmare Queen, a group of Starkatteri warriors fought a great onslaught of beasts that besieged the Caesar’s capitol city.  They were led by General Aurelius, and had come on a quest to rekindle the alliance between their wayward tribe and the tribes that followed the Caesar.  While impressed and grateful for the aid that these warriors had brought to him, he could not forget the dark legacy of the Starkatteri.”

I scrunched up my nose in confusion.  Starkatteri?

Tiriani smiled knowingly at my puzzlement.  “You see, winged one, the Starkatteri were known practitioners of necromancy and other dark arts.  They worshipped the night, and the stars.  To a zebra, this is taboo.  It is worse than unlucky, it is… wrong.”  She said, a dark look crossing her striped muzzle.  “This could not be allowed without a test.  So the Caesar told the General that if he would fall upon his sword, the families of the brave warriors who fought for the Caesar would be allowed to rejoin the empire.”

The zebra began trotting back and forth in front of me.  “For a normal zebra, or pony,”  she said, looking deep into me with her hazel eyes.  “This would be a difficult choice.  Aurelius had a family and foals to care for.  An army to lead.  But no sooner had the words left the Caesar’s mouth did Aurelius shout ‘Axios!’ and fall upon his gladius.”

I winced.  There were a lot less painful ways to go than disembowelment.  Total disintegration, Med-X overdose, dying in one’s sleep...  “So what does axios mean?”  I asked, sensing that today’s lesson was nearly complete.

“In zebra, it is a declaration of self honour.  Roughly translated to pony, it means ‘I am worthy.”

I am worthy.  I mouthed the words slowly to myself.  They felt strange to say.  I am worthy of what?  I didn’t feel worthy of anything!

Tirani looked at me with an expression that looked remarkably similar to pity.  “Perhaps this is something you do not understand so well, yes?”  She asked.

I looked from my instructor back to my flanks, and eyed the orange and purple monarch butterfly that lay there as my cutie mark.  A cutie mark that I still hadn’t begun to understand.  

What the hell kind of cutie mark was a butterfly, especially in the wasteland?  Sure, there were whispers that the Lightbringer had some sort of megaspell to help clear up the taint and radiation, but right now, those were just whispers.  Whispers that were nearly 5 years old.  Very few ponies, save those lucky enough to go up to the clouds, had a seen a real butterfly at all.  So no, I wasn’t feeling like I was worthy of anything!  If anything I felt…

…. I felt misplaced.

“You understand what your glyphmark means, right?”  I asked, looking back to my teacher.  She nodded.  “It would be hard to feel worthy, I would assume, if you didn’t possess that knowledge, am I right?”

Tirani looked pensive, then frowned.  “One’s mark does not make a pony.”  She said, trotting forward and placing a black hoof on my chest.  “One’s heart and soul does that.  You will find what your mark means in time, Dawn.  Until then, focus on the lesson of axios.”  She finished, removing her hoof and trotting toward the training room’s door.  “I have nothing more to teach you.  Tomorrow, you will have to prove yourself on your own.”

The door shut loudly, the sound echoing through the empty training room.  Tomorrow was when I went from volunteer to full captain.  Tomorrow was when I named my new command.  Tomorrow.

I looked down at my cutie mark.  Why a butterfly?  I’d been asking myself that question for the past 10 years, ever since I’d earned my cutie mark.  Earned it while, of all things, sleeping.  Or rather, more accurately, dreaming.  Dreaming a dream that I’d forgotten in the excitement of discovering I had a cutie mark.  An excitement that quickly died, turning into confusion.

Why a butterfly?  Seriously…

“Axios?”  I whispered, then trotted toward the door.

__________________________________________________________________________

I sweatily collapsed onto the soft mattress, my breathing slowly returning to normal as I felt Aether Flame flop down next to me.  The blue mare’s foreleg fell over my withers as she nuzzled into the back of my neck.

“That help?”  She asked, nibbling on my ear.  Her warm breath washed gently over my face as she, too, panted in post-coital exertion.  

I smiled, closing my eyes at the ear nibble.  “Depends on what you mean by ‘help’, Aether.  Did it really scratch that itch?  Oh yes, definitely.  But if you mean did it help clear my head…”  

I shifted my hips, slipping Aether out of me and rolling to face her.  My hoof traced her exotic features as it brushed a bit of her blonde mane out of her eyes.

That wasn’t a misstatement.  Aether Flame, my darling mare, was born a colt.  A run-in with killing joke had given her a mare’s shape, but she’d kept the… functional parts.  This was dangerous, especially in the ganger territory around Flinthoof.

Flinthoof’s gangs had a tendency to view mares as the lesser sex, and blamed the princesses for the war.  As a result, mares were treated with contempt, and tended to be horribly abused.  So being a colt who looked like a filly carried a possible death sentence.

But Aether Flame was special.  She never wanted to be a colt in the first place.  Aether fell into the small minority of ponies that felt they were born in the wrong gender.  So, in essence, the killing joke’s spell gave her something that she’d wanted: an outside that matched who she was inside. She adapted to the change, and ran from her unaccepting home as soon as she could.  She learned to live like a mare, and was ultimately, happier with herself.  As she grew, Aether became a gorgeous, if exotic looking mare.  

With some… added benefits.

Looking into her violet eyes, I sighed as I absently poked at the navy freckles that dotted her cerulean coat.  “Tirani told me something today.  A zebra word.  She said I should try to learn what it means.”

Aether flipped one of her mane braids over her shoulder as she looked at me.  “What was the word?”

I frowned, sending a soft stroke up Aether’s spiralled horn.  My mare closed her eyes at my hoof touch, drawing a smile out of me.  “Axios.”  I said quietly.

Aether’s brow crinkled in confusion.  “Bless you?”

I laughed.  “I told Tirani the same thing!  But no, it’s axios, and, according to her, it means ‘I am worthy.’”

Aether nuzzled my forehead, prompting me to close my eyes as ran a hoof through my own ruddy mane.  “So what’s bothering you about it?”

I opened my eyes and frowned.  “Because I feel like I’m being given this position because I’m one of the few pegasi the NCR trusts.  Probably helps that my mom, bless her skanky heart, was a unicorn.  The earth ponies and unicorns are more than capable of flying that new skycutter on their own.  So why me?”

Aether Flame sighed and rolled onto her belly.  “Turn over.”  She instructed, spinning her hoof.  “You’ve mussed up your wings something fierce.”  I did as I was told, and soon found myself purring as Aether began to preen my wings for me.  

“As near as I can figure,”  she said between rearranging my feathers.  “The fact that you volunteered at all has certainly impressed many of the officers.  Not many pegasi would volunteer for a post up here in Marenigan.  It’s kind of a backwater place to be.”

This was certainly true.  The province of Marenigan hadn’t been very largely populated during the war.  The two largest cities, Flinthoof and Detrot were centers of industry before the bombs fell.  In a stroke of irony, Detrot, which had become a crime ridden, dirty city near the end of the war, was struck by a megaspell that caused plantlife to explode, turning the devastated city into a gem in the wasteland.  Somehow the ‘shittiest city in Equestria’ became nicer after the bombs fell.  Go figure.  At least they had the good idea of passing the title onward to someplace more deserving, like Hoofington.

…Seriously, that place sucks.

“I’m needed up here.”  I said, sighing as Aether shifted to my other wing.  The feeling of her teeth and warm tongue moving over my wing was absolutely, positively the most wonderful feeling ever.  “When I heard about the mission to recontact Traverse City, I knew that I had to at least try.  A city of pegasi that nopony has been able to find?  Plus…”  I added, turning to look at Aether.  I grinned as she adorably looked back at me, my wing in her mouth.  “Without it, I wouldn’t’ve met you.”

Aether Flame released my wing and leaned forward, her lips meeting my own.  She smiled as she broke the kiss.  “You always do know just what to say.”  She said, brushing my back with her hoof.  “Sometimes a pony has to follow their heart and do the right thing, even if nopony else seems to think it’s a good idea.  Maybe then what they’re doing is worthy of praise.  Maybe, in a moment when you make a choice that you know could cost you everything, that’s when you truly feel your own self worth.”

My head shot up as Aether’s words struck a chord within me.  “Making a choice that costs you everything…”  I whispered, looking back at my cutie mark.  Didn’t I read somewhere that her cutie mark was…

“I think I know my ship’s name.”  I announced, pulling Aether on top of me, kissing my beautiful mare deeply.  “Thank you, love.”

Aether merely smiled down at me and petted my mane.  “I knew you’d figure something out.”  She said, kissing my forehead.

The light blue of Aether’s telekinetic field pulled a hairbrush from our bedside stand as she began to brush my mane.  “Now, get some rest, little winged one.”  She said gently, running the brush slowly through my mane.

As I dozed from the repeated brushstrokes, I heard Aether begin to softly sing.  As always, I could never catch the whole song before I fell asleep.

...Dawn’s just a heartbeat away

Hope’s just a sunrise away…

_____________________________________________________________________________

Morning came, like it always does, far too quickly.  Aether nudged me awake as sun poured in through the window onto her side of the bed.  I peered out the window, looking out at the greenery that surrounded the old Detrot skyport.

Of all the things to go awry in the minutes following the war’s end, I can’t help but think that watching the megaspells dissipate seemingly harmlessly above the city had to be one of the more confusing.  Watching one’s previously dirty city become overgrown by plants had to be a pleasant surprise for the citizens of Detrot and Flinthoof.  Maybe it made things more difficult, but the greenery meant a steady food supply, right?

That is until said food supply started spewing acid and moving.  In Equestrian Detrot, food ate you.

The plant monsters killed off a large portion of the cities populations in a matter of weeks, leaving Detrot and Flinthoof effectively as depopulated as the rest of the wasteland.  They still lurked in the deeper portions of the cities, but for the most part, as the NCR had moved into Marenigan, they’d been slowly exterminated. But they were still out there… hence the walls and guards posted around the old skyport.

Ulg, why was I worrying about plant monsters?  I dragged my sorry plot out of bed and slowly crawled my way toward the shower, a bit melodramatically, as Aether had made some comment about being slower than a crippled snail.

As the warm water washed over my mane and coat, I wondered if I was making the right choice.  Not that I had a lot of choices in life.  My life had pretty much been a fairly consistent line of getting shoved into one bad situation after another until I finally said ‘fuck it, I’m doing something for myself!’ and volunteered to join this expedition.  Which was a good move.  Got to see the sights of the wastes.  Got to meet a cute mare.  Got to-

“Dawn!  You’ve been in there for a half an hour!”  Aether called, pounding on the bathroom door.

“IT’S MY SHOWER TIME!  I’LL DO WITH IT WHAT I WANT!”  I shouted back, sheepishly reaching for the soap.

_________________________________________________________________________

The earth pony MP who escorted me through the old skyport terminal was taller than me.  I glared at her brown flanks. Of course she was.  Everypony was.  Even Aether, who trotted beside me, looking oh so adorable in her Followers coat.  I mentally grumbled against whichever goddess decided I should be short.  

It was probably Cadence.

“You have that look again,”  Aether whispered quietly.

“Which look?”

“The ‘I’m feeling short, which means that I’m going to overcompensate in some horrible way and probably run my mouth’ look.”  She said severely.

I tried to give her my winningest grin.  “Well, if there’s a pony to run my mouth off in front of, it should be the Sky Marshall, right?”

Aether’s look in return told me that my humour was not appreciated at the moment, and, no, the Sky Marshall was probably not the best pony to be capricious with.  She was probably right.  Given that this mare was the general commander of the NCR’s newly formed sky corps, being polite as possible was probably the best idea.

I glanced across the skyport field to the landed skyships.

The long, angular prow of the Cadence stood out against the horizon.  The massive ship dwarfed even the Castellanus, a Raptor that had defected to the NCR.  The Cadence was a prewar ocean going cruiser that was said to have been raised from her resting place in Baltimare harbour by the Sky Marshall herself.  She’d been modified with the parts from a downed Thunderhead, giving her the gift of flight.  In the days following the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, the Sky Marshall had gathered a crew of alicorns, and disappeared, only to return when the NCR nearly came to blows with the Enclave.

The Sky Marshall was the pivotal reason the Castellanus was still flying.  The captain accepted the Raptor’s surrender after a long standoff: the Raptor’s former captain wisely deciding that his anti-dragon caliber plasma cannons were still horribly outmatched by the Cadence’s 460mm naval guns.

Which, I supposed, led us to the present day.  Hidden behind the two mighty airships lay my command.  I couldn’t see her from here, but I knew that the small ‘skycutter’ was sitting there.

She wasn’t much, just the conglomeration of pre-war technology we could cobble together out here, but she flew true.  Having a few guns and a massive plasma cannon that we borrowed from the wreck of a Raptor gave her some teeth, but really, she was more Aether’s ship than she was mine.  Sure I was her captain, but she was purpose built with as a small field hospital.  That was more Aether’s thing.

The Followers of the Apocalypse had poured into the Marenigan, searching for old world tech in the ruins of the major cities, and had peacefully assimilated into the NCR base in Detrot.  At their request, they donated a large amount of medical supplies, including one of the incredibly rare and valuable complete and functioning Auto Docs, to the skycutter project.

“Miss?  This way please, we’re running late.”  The MP’s soft soprano voice interrupted my staring at the skyships.

I mumbled an apology as I trotted after our escort.

Aether looked at me curiously.  “What are you thinking about, little one?”  She asked.

I tried my best to not grumble at her.  She still liked calling me ‘little one.’  I was twenty six years old!  I just happened to be the size of most adolescent fillies…

“Just… trying to see where I fit in.  Looking at the Cadence and the Castellanus really makes me feel, well, small.”  I admitted, moving to a trot to keep up with our escort.

Our escort opened the door to the old Skyport terminal.  The inside had been cleaned up and repurposed as a waiting area and de facto courtroom.  The pilot’s lounge lost the bet and ended up being converted to the courtroom.  It was said that the bar became the bar.  Which was probably for the best, considering my rather bad breakup with alcohol a few years back…

“It’s not that I’m opposed to the Republic’s choice in captain for their new skyship, but do we really know enough about this pegasus to trust her?”  The gravelly voice of Major Kirby echoed out of the courtroom and to our ears as the MP opened the door for us.

Oh, this was going to go swimmingly.

“Considering that I oversaw the building of her, and am a full citizen of the NCR, I’d hope I’m trustworthy, sir,”  I said, trotting into the room.

The tan earth pony stallion shook his head as I made my way toward the dais.  “It’s not to say that you haven’t done good things here in Detrot, youngster.  It’s just that I’m still not sold we shouldn’t put someone more qualified in charge!”

“Is that you talking, or the NCR High Command?”  A blue pegasus stallion who I didn’t recognize asked.

Kirby’s response was lost to me as I gazed upon the Sky Marshall.  I knew she’d be… impressive but…

Sky Marshall Tidal Flux was by far the largest pony I had ever seen.  Made sense, considering she was an Alicorn, but story had it that she ran afoul some tainted cake that made her even larger.  The gunmetal grey mare was a head taller than several of the alicorns I knew.  And her colouring and watery tail set her apart from the ex-Unity alicorns.  Again, this followed a certain twisty line of logic, as the Sky Marshall was alicorned long before Unity was.  A good 600 years prior, to be exact, though the story was lost with the bombs.  All I knew, which was mostly hearsay and storytelling, was Tidal Flux escaped from a mad scientist some time way before I was born.  Shortly after the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, she gathered a crew of ex-unity alicorns to fly the Candence.  And now, her command of her ship made her valuable enough to the NCR to land her where she was today.

“... Cirrus Wisp,”  Kirby finished as my attention returned to him.  Ah, that’s who the silver maned stallion was.  The captain of the Castellanus.

“I think it’s time we let Captain Breaker speak,”  the Sky Marshall said quietly.  “Regardless of what either of you want,”  she said, looking between the two stallions who flanked her, “the decision is ultimately mine.”  The great mare turned her cerulean gaze on me.  “So, Captain Dawn Breaker, have you come up with a name for your little cutter?”  she asked.

“I have, ma’am,”  I said, nodding.

“Then let’s hear it.”

I took in a breath, knowing that what I was about to say would most likely ruffle feathers and give Kirby some more grey hairs.

“The Enclave’s naming scheme for their Raptors has always been to pay homage to the weather formations that the Pegasus tribe used to control.  Your ship, Sky Marshall, is named after the Princess of Love: Princess Cadence.  Though, admittedly, that moniker was given to her by the ponies who built her for sea use,”  I started, pushing down my nervousness, making sure to not twitch my wings.

“As such, we find ourselves at a crossroads.  The choice is available to name our new skycutter after a weather formation, following the traditional nomenclature established by the Enclave,”  I said, fluttering my wings to balance on my hindhooves, raising my left forehoof as I did so.  “Or, arguably, follow the Sky Marshall’s example and name her after a prewar pony.”  I said, raising my right hoof as well.  Dropping back to all fours, I continued.

“After some deliberation, I’ve decided to follow the Sky Marshall’s example and name my command after a pony from before the war.”  I began to pace in front of the dias, becoming keenly aware of the several dozen ponies who had come to witness this hearing.  I smiled, watching as one pony, a painted unicorn stallion, leaned forward as I spoke.  “That being said, I don’t feel that my cutter is of size or importance to warrant the name of a Princess or Ministry Mare.  But there is a pony whose story always encouraged me to keep going, despite the various adversities that the Wasteland inevitably throws at us.  A pony who, despite the path that Equestria was taking near the end of the War, tried her best to be a good pony, and figure out where we went wrong.”

I paused, looking Captain Cirrus Wisp in the eye.  He looked back at me coldly.  Oh, you aren’t going to like this next part, buddy.  Not one bit.

“That’s why I have chosen to name the NCR’s newest and well, only skycutter, the NCRSC Scootaloo.”

A collective gasp followed by a resounding silence echoed through the room.  I wanted to give Cirrus Wisp a coy look.  I did my best to keep my expression even as the Enclave pegasus nearly turned purple.

“Who is Scootaloo?”  The Sky Marshall asked.

Luna fuck me with the moon and Celestia make me deepthroat the sun.  How did she not know who Scootaloo was?

I blinked, then cleared my throat.  “Scootaloo was one of the three ponies who helped create Stable-tec, the company that literally built the stables that saved a large portion of the population.”  I explained.

“She was also a fucking Dashite!”  Cirrus Wisp burst out, his face red.

Again, silence fell about the room.  Since the NCR and the Enclave had started de-icing their relationship, ponies knew what a Dashite was.  It was one of the sticking points that still blocked a complete warming of the two government’s relationships.

“Yes, she was.”  I admitted, looking the Sky Marshall, not Captain Wisp, in the eye.  “She was the first pony to openly follow in the footsteps of Rainbow Dash and tried to get the Enclave out of their clouds.  The first pony to openly try to get the Pegasi back down to the surface to help the other two pony tribes.  And the Enclave decided to burn off her cutie mark, brand her, and banish her to certain death on the surface.”  I finally glanced back to Wisp.  

“But that isn’t the point.  If naming her the Scootaloo were a political statement, I’d be doing it for the wrong reasons.  No.  Scootaloo may represent the first dashite to the Enclave, but to others, she represents something more: hope.  Hope that ponies could return to being better.  Hope that the world could be healed.  Hope that, someway, somehow, ponies were going to survive, thrive, and ultimately try to be better.  The Lightbringer proved this point, as did all of the Talons and ponies who fought on the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows.  As did the Ministry Mare, Security, Applejack’s Rangers.  As does the NCR, the Followers of the Apocalypse, and countless others who actively try to rebuild the wasteland into something better.  To do better.  That’s why I chose to name her after Scootaloo.”

An uneasy silence yet again settled over the courtroom.  I took a moment to glance back at Aether, who’d taken a seat with the representatives from the Followers of the Apocalypse.  She sent me back an encouraging smile.  The rest of the Followers, to my credit, seemed to like my choice.  Or, at the very least, their mention in my speech.

Major Kirby cleared his throat.  “I’m not so sure that the high command will be pleased to have their newest skyship named after such a controversial figure, Captain.”

I shrugged, turning my attention to him.  “That may be, sir, but the fact of the matter is that this ship’s been nothing if controversial from the get go.”  Which was true.  The Enclave wasn’t exactly happy that the technology that built the Scootaloo was firmly in the NCR’s hooves.  “If the high command chooses to see controversy, I suppose that’s their prerogative.  I for one feel the name fits.”

“You would think it fits.”  Captain Wisp replied shortly, giving a snort.  “A groundborn would never understand how much Scootaloo hurt us.”

“Actually-”

“That’s enough.”  The Sky Marshall’s voice boomed, silencing my reply.

The alicorn’s mane had turned into an agitated ocean as she listened to the debate.  She shook her head, looking up at her mane and, I assumed, focussed on forming it into a dolphin’s tail.  “All of the ponies present know that I care nothing for politics.”  I met her gaze, feeling the mare’s eyes pierce through me to my very soul.  “Dawn Breaker, do you believe that with this name, you can fulfill your mission to the best of your ability?”

I bowed my head instinctively.  “Yes, Princess,”  I said, looking at the ground and using the Sky Marshall’s old title.  “I promise that, despite my flaws, I will be part of the light that is actively dawning over the Wasteland.  And until the day that I breathe my last, I will dash myself against the very rocks of adversity if it would make the lives of others better.  I may not be the strongest pony, the fastest flier, or the most beautiful and charming mare, but I do not yield easily.”  I looked the alicorn back in the eyes.  “I am your mare, Sky Marshall.  The Scootaloo is my ship.”

Sky Marshall Tidal Flux smiled at me.  “That’s what I was hoping to hear.”  She leaned back, settling majestically into her chair.  “The Skycutter Scootaloo is hereby named.  May fortune favour her flight.”

A chorus of cheers erupted from the NCR and Followers representatives.  The Enclave was predictably quiet.  As I looked about the room, I noted that the Talons didn’t seem to have much reaction.  Their representative, a griffon Optio named Oathsworn Runner merely looked bored.  His Tesserarius, on the other hoof…

I frowned as I looked over the dapple grey coated stallion.  I couldn’t get a read on his emotions, and it bothered me.  Not knowing what was going through the head of a Talon was never a good thing.  Unwise in the best of circumstance, deadly in the worst.  He continued to watch me with that confusing expression before I looked back to the Sky Marshall, who was banging a bottle of Wild Pegasus on the bar, calling for order.

“I am calling for an extended recess.  Captain Dawn Breaker, Aether Flame, Optio Runner: I would like for the three of you to meet with Captain Wisp, Major Kirby,and I privately.  Court is adjourned for now.  Please do not eat all the commissioning party cake.”  Marshall Flux said, grinning slightly as she finished.

I let out a sigh of relief as the various ponies and griffins began to filter out of the courtroom.  The public spectacle was over, but I knew that this private meeting was probably going to involve the Major yelling at me for several minutes, as well as multiple extended diatribes on why I was committing a grave insult to the Enclave from Captain Wisp.

I frowned, watching the Raptor captain talk to several other pegasi.  He’d sounded like an ok sort, from what I’d heard of him.  But after the groundbound comment, I wasn’t so sure I liked him.  I didn’t hate him.  I just didn’t feel as bad that he was so stricken to near apoplexy when I named my ship after a Dashite.  The Dashite, for that matter.

I followed Optio Runner toward the back of the courtroom, saluting the Sky Marshall smartly as I approached the giant mare.  Goddesses she was tall.

“That was a good speech, Captain.”  A soft tenor breathed into my ear.

I started, skewing my ears back as I turned to face a white and brown painted pegasus stallion.  “Thank you?”

The stallion smiled at me, extending a hoof.  “Commander Sky Dancer.  I’m Cirrus’ XO.”

I looked at his hoof a moment before taking it.  “I’m sorry?”  I said, meaning it.

Sky Dancer laughed.  “Come in, we’ll explain.”  He nodded to the MP guarding the door behind the bar.

I hesitated as the great mahogany door opened.  Huh.  Mahogany.  Where the hell did they get that?

The room beyond was darkened.  From what I could tell, there was a table and some-

“CELESTIA’S HOLY FIRE!”

I glared through spots at Sky Dancer as the stallion looked sheepishly back at me by the light switch.  Oh look, there are chairs.  Spotty, brown chairs.

I sidestepped out of the way as the Sky Marshall and the other assorted beings she’d called into this private meeting entered the boardroom.  We sure were a weird bunch, all mismatched uniforms and allegiances.  But, if my guesses were right, we were all here to try to make a difference.  Or so I hoped.

“Take a seat,”  The Sky Marshall ordered, plopping down at the head of the table.

I sat next to Aether, taking strength in her presence.  Oh good.  Time to learn how badly I’d fucked this up.

The Sky Marshall exchanged glances with the Major and Captain Wisp.  “Well then, do you think they bought it?”  She asked.  “I apologize, but these cloak and dagger shenanigans aren’t exactly my thing.  Sinking ships, now we’re talking.”

Cloak and dagger?  What?

“I do believe they bought it.  We’ll know soon enough.”  Cirrus said, his clipped accent making him sound frustratingly smug.

“I hope so.  I’ll check with my contacts in Neighvarro, though, to be sure.”  Sky Dancer added.  “With luck, the Enclave High Command won’t suspect a thing.  We should be able to continue our negotiations as planned, Major.”

My eyes wandered to Major Kirby as the tan stallion shrugged.  “I hope so.  The more integrated the NCR becomes, the better it will be for everypony in the wasteland.”

“Excuse me.”  I said, looking around the room.  I could feel my wings standing on end as I let out a slow, irritated breath.  “What in the sorrell Hells are you talking about?  Negotiations?  Buying it?  I thought this meeting was about the Scootaloo?”

All eyes in the room turned to me, all but Aether Flame.

“You didn’t tell her?”  The Sky Marshall asked.

Aether gave me a sheepish grin, before speaking to the table.  “You said that the spies that the High Command placed here needed to be convinced that Cirrus wasn’t an oathbreaker.  Well, Dawn needed to believe him.  So I left this little detail out.”  

I felt my wings slump.  My ears laid back against my head.  She knew what was going on, and didn’t tell me?  Why?  I thought… I thought this meeting would be the one that would give me purpose...

Sky Marshall Flux looked impressed.  “Well, that explains a few things.  And means we need to explain a few things.”  She frowned, using her magic to summon a bottle of Wild Pegasus.  Sighing, she took a shot.  “The truth is, Dawn, we rather expected you to make a rather impulsive decision in naming the Scootaloo.”

“You expected it?  We met just a few moments ago!”

The Sky Marshall raised a hoof.  “I didn’t know what to expect, but the unified intelligence of the beings in this room,”  she said, sweeping her hoof about the table.  “Suggested that there would be some controversy over the naming scheme.  I for one thought you were going to name her the Luna.”  An somber expression passed over the alicorn’s face.  “Probably because, in some ways, you remind me of her…”

“Tirani’s reports on you gave us this information, Captain,”  Sky Dancer explained.  I glared at the painted stallion.  He too, held up a hoof defensively.  “Listen, we have reports on everyone.  Don’t feel like we singled you out.”

I could feel my eye twitching.  Reports?  Secret negotiations?  What the hell was going on?  I just wanted my ship!  I looked around the room at the gathered beings, trying to figure out what was going that I’d missed.

“So I didn’t fuck up horribly?”  I asked, my eyes settling on Aether.

The room filled with the laughter of the gathered beings.

Optio Runner shook his feathered head.  “No.  I would say that you fulfilled your role nicely.  Even if it wasn’t as intended.”

Aether looked at me sadly.  “I am sorry, Dawn.  I wanted to tell you, but I knew if you knew, you wouldn’t be able to react like you did in the courtroom.”  She explained.

“I can act, you know.”

Aether gave me a flat look.  “Sweetheart, I don’t think you could fake an orgasm.”

Goddesses dammit.  You try to fake it once...

Cirrus Wisp coughed awkwardly.  “Colourful expressions aside, allow me to explain, Captain.  I will admit that I personally am not entirely thrilled with your choice in naming convention, however, I feel… her name is fitting.  And, for that matter, the High Command will most likely believe that I’m still their officer.”

I cocked an ear to the side, confused.  “You aren’t?”

The others looked at Aether.  “Maybe we should have briefed her,”  Major Kirby said, scratching the back of his head with a hoof.

Yep.  That would have been fantastic.  That way I didn’t sit here, looking like an idiot.  Feeling like I was, ya know, missing something huge.  What the hell was going on?

I couldn’t help but feel a little put off that Aether had decided to not share the secret with me.  She knew how long I’d been agonizing over what to call the Scootaloo.  Now here I was, coming to find out that the naming hearing wasn’t even the reason we were meeting!  It made me feel…

…. Well, it made me feel small.

Sky Dancer smiled sympathetically at me.  “There is a movement in the Enclave to join the New Canterlot Republic.  It’s been growing in Thunderhead and Pegasopolis, and several Raptor captains have discussed defecting.  We don’t have too many Raptors left, but those that are still flying do represent a somewhat significant threat.  Enclave High Command wasn’t particularly happy when the Castellanus stood down to the Cadence.”

The Sky Marshall nodded to Sky Dancer.  “Now, obviously the Cadence is more than a match for a Raptor.  Hell, after what happened over Stalliongrad 5 years ago, I personally would argue that she could take on three without breathing too hard; but the fact remains that only one of the over three dozen Raptors the Enclave possesses are firmly in our hooves.  That’s a bit more of a fighting force than I want to contend with, and we aren’t entirely sure how the High Command is going to react to the new Skyships.”

My ears perked up at the reference to ships in the plural.  “Ships?  I thought the Scootaloo was the only cutter built?”

Sky Dancer fielded that question for me.  “She is.  What we’re working on at Kalamarezoo are skyships of similar functionality to Raptors.  However, as with the Scootaloo, we are devoting a larger amount of space to medical facilities and cargo bays, as to allow the new Skyships to function as mobile relief bases.  They’ll be carryings Vertibucks and NCR troops, as well, but their primary purpose is to be upscaled versions of your cutter.”

Dammit Cadence!  Why do I always get the small things?

Sky Dancer continued with his explanation.  “Regardless, what we are working to do here is mobilize a group of ponies within the Enclave to revolt against the high command.  As was said before, the civil governments of Thunderhead and Pegasopolis are both very much interested in joining the NCR.  What we need now is Raptor crews to secure our position.  Thunderhead can provide us with a few vertibucks, but those assault craft are little match for a Raptor.  We need the backing of at least half of the captains in order to pull this off.”

I didn’t like the sound of Sky Dancer’s plans.  Or rather, the plans of the NCR and this group of ponies.

“It sounds like you’re suggesting that there is about to be a pegasus civil war,”  I said cautiously.

“That’s exactly what we’re suggesting.”  Captain Wisp replied.  “It’s been coming for a long time.  Quite frankly, had it not been for the interference of the Light Bringer and Security, I’m fairly certain that Thunderhead would have been destroyed by Neighvarro for ‘seditious activities’ within a few years.  The Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, as the NCR is calling it, merely delayed this, and pushed other pegasus cities to start rebelling against the idea of going down to the surface.  That rebellion is about to turn very violent, and with our current forces, it’s going to have a very bloody civilian toll.”  He sighed, closing his magenta eyes.  “I’d rather that we not have more massacres on our hooves.  When Neighvarro ordered Scorched Earth, that was too much.  We can’t let that happen again.”

The assorted beings around the table nodded in agreement.  A somber silence fell about the room for a moment before I gained the courage to speak again.

“So how does the Scootaloo’s mission to find Traverse City play into this?”  I asked, looking between the Sky Marshall and Sky Dancer.  “Because, based on what you just described, you’re trying to remove one of the NCR’s only three operational skycraft from Enclave Airspace.”

A loud snort of laughter caused me to whip my head in the direction of the Tesserarius.  “You think your ship would be helpful in a fight?”  He asked, a smug expression on his dappled grey face.

“I do, Tesserarius…?”

“Tesserarius Iron Lancer.  And if that is true, Captain, then you are an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”  I asked, glaring down the table at him.  Just who the hell did he think he was?  I know my ship’s capabilities, and with a good crew…  I irritatedly stomped a back hoof.

“I do believe you’re out of line, Tesserarius.  Either that, or horrifically under informed.”  I said slowly, not backing down.

Lancer looked back at me with a bored expression.  “Your ship possesses only a single Aethersprite cannon and four quad .50 caliber machine guns.  An average Raptor possesses 15 Aethersprites, heavier armour, and several rocket launchers, as well as compliments of power armour equipped pegasi.  How are you not at a tactical disadvantage?”

Aether leaned forward, about to leap to my defense before I held a hoof up.  “I see.  Apparently we haven’t been completely forthcoming with everything.  Seems to be a pattern with this group.”  I said, looking about the table.  “Let me say this, Tesserarius Lancer: you are horrifically under informed.  However, I do believe that one of the other aspects of the hearing and successive meetings was to find me a few remaining members of my command crew?”  I asked, looking to the Sky Marshall.

“That is correct.  You were to select a Security officer to command a small contingent of troops, as well as any other key personnel you saw fit.”  Marshall Flux explained.

I pointed a hoof to Iron Lancer.  “Him.  I nominate him for my security chief.”

Iron Lancer blinked, his emerald green eyes going wide in surprise.  “You what?  Can she even do that?”  He asked, looking at his Optio.

Optio Runner gave what I assumed was the griffon equivalent of a smirk.  “She can, and she just did.”  He said, before looking to me.  “I’ll allow it, and give you his contract.  The NCR wanted the backing of a Talon force, and now you’ve given me the excuse I needed to dispatch a turma aboard ship.”  He smiled at me with a griffish grin.  “Good work, Captain Breaker.  You’re better at this than I expected.”

I tried to smile back, wondering what in Celestia’s name a ‘turma’ was.  “I’ll be completely honest with you, sir, I mostly want him because he talks back to me.  I need somepony who will question my judgement.”

Aether poked me in the ribs.  “Hey now, I talk back to you all the time!”

“I’m also sleeping with you.”

Sky Marshall Flux had chosen that exact moment to take an ill-timed swig of Wild Pegasus, and proceeded to start coughing in surprise.  She shook her head as she pounded her chest with a hoof, before muttering something that sounded like ‘I’m getting too old for this.’

Iron Lancer gave me yet another of his confusing expressions before nodding to Optio Runner.  “By your will,”  He said, before offering a strange hoof to chest salute that all the Talons seemed to give.

I looked back to the Sky Marshall.  “I’ve already selected my chief medical officer, but there is one loose end.  I would really like a zebra on my crew.”

Tidal Flux shook her head sadly.  “There aren’t any available at the moment.  You’ll have to make due without-”

The Sky Marshall stopped as the great mahogany door slammed open.  The tall MP from earlier saluted hastily.

“My apologies, sirs, but we have a problem.”

Major Kirby nodded to the MP.  “Out with it, Soldier.”

The MP nodded.  “We’ve just received word that Kalamarezoo is under attack.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Dawn Breaker

S - 5

P - 4

E - 4

C - 7

I - 6

A - 8

L - 7

Traits: Small Frame

Aether Flame

S - 4

P - 7

E - 6

C - 6

I - 7

A - 4

L - 6

Traits - Good Natured, Wild Wasteland