Chapter 1: Routine

Much like my day off, that fateful day had started out just like any other. The piercing sound of my clock’s alarm sliced through the boggy mire of sleep, dragging me kicking and screaming back to reality. Or groaning and swearing, at least.

I slapped my hoof blindly down on the end table, seizing the clock and throwing it clear across the room, where it hit the wall and immediately stopped blaring. Repeated impacts from previous mornings scored the wall and left lasting evidence of my seething hatred for being awoken. Still groggy, I slithered out of bed and groped blindly around for my flight jacket, tossing it casually over my shoulder on my way out into the hallway.

I made my way downstairs to the bathroom and paused in front of the closed door. I could hear trickling water from within, and in my drowsy state, my brain had to work overtime to decipher what such a thing meant. When the rusty gears finally ground to life, I grumbled incoherently and turned my back on the door, making my way down the hallway towards the house’s entrance. I’d just shower on base, I really didn’t feel like waiting for whoever was in there right now.

When I stepped outside, sprawled out beneath my hooves and stretching far further than even the eye could see was a solid, endless stretch of cloud. Nothing but stark white, billowing masses of fluffy water vapor all coalesced together to form an opaque blanket above the ground below. As pegasi—ponies of the sky—clouds were also our primary form of architecture, and nearly every building in the neighborhood around me was fashioned out of the poofy white stuff, save for a massive spire erected centuries ago that pierced straight up through the cloud cover at the center of base.

What lay beneath the cloud cover? Nothing but endless stretches of barren, desolate, inhospitable wasteland unfit for ponykind to live in.

That is, of course… unless you knew better.

I lifted off drunkenly and ascended until I was just high enough to avoid smashing my face into a wall. I made the short flight from my house to the base in a lethargic stupor, gliding as much as physically possible to reduce the amount of effort required. Once I’d passed into the airspace over the base, I swooped towards the building that housed all of the showers and restroom facilities, shouldering my way through to the front of the throng of ponies lined up and ready to start their morning. Officer’s privilege.

Having gone through more or less the same actions every day for years, it was no surprise when I found myself in the showers staring slack-jawed at the floor. My eyes slid out of focus as hot water ran downward through my short, crew cut mane to drip in streams from my muzzle. I stood there for some time, staring blankly at the steam curling up from the clouds beneath me as the water helped me to wake up. Reaching up to gently massage the little drizzling raincloud above me to cease its downpour, I ambled my way over to a sink like a zombie, producing my toothbrush as I approached.

I was halfway to completing step three of my four-step morning ritual when I heard somepony calling from behind me. Looking up from the sink, I glared at my reflection in the mirror, ears pulled back in utter contempt at the disturbance. Everypony knew better than to bother me until I’d completed step four—acquire coffee. I felt my anger fade a smidge when I peeked over my shoulder and identified the approaching pony. One of my squadmates—Duster. The laid-back country pegasus trotted up to me while I went back to brushing, a look of confusion come over his normally-dull features.

Duster was one of my oldest and dearest friends. We’d met at our first day of flight school, and he’d helped me out of a spot of trouble that I’d foolishly landed myself in. He had a beige coat and a sandy yellow mane, and could rarely be spotted without his straw hat perched atop his head. Displayed on his flank was an image of a little hoof-operated insecticide sprayer—his cutie mark.

Duster was built a lot more powerfully than I was. His shoulders were broader and his muscles were far better defined from years of working on his family’s cloud farm. Our vastly different talents allowed us to cover each other’s weak points in our line of work, and for years now it had worked out relatively well for the two of us.

“LT!” the beige pegasus drawled lazily, “LT? What’s all this about, Hoss?”

I looked over at him without turning, using the mirror to make eye contact and raising an eyebrow in confusion. I tried my best to mumble a question to the confused-looking pegasus, but it was lost in translation. Duster rolled his eyes and gave me a level look, and I realized I hadn’t yet taken the toothbrush out of my mouth. Spitting it out into the sink, I repeated myself.

A look of shock passed over Duster’s features, and he recoiled visibly. “Y’… y’ ain’t heard yet? They done gone an’ reassigned me an’ Solara! We’re stuck flyin’ with Sergeant Gleaming Nova t’night!”

My stomach lurched uncomfortably, and my heart nervously started beating faster. That wasn’t good. My squad had been with me since long before I’d been posted here, despite all the stupid things I’d done since gaining command. That happened to be a miracle in and of itself, because I had done a lot of stupid things since I’d gained command. Reckless and impulsive were at the very top of my service record.

Shaking my still-dripping-wet-self off as best I could, I quickly threw my flight jacket on—a garment made of a thin fabric that sported patches for my squadron and the Grand Pegasus Enclave on the sleeves—grabbing all of my things before trotting briskly to the door, Duster following close behind.

“I’m gonna go talk to the Colonel and get to the bottom of this,” I called over my shoulder. “You and Solara meet me at the mess in ten.”

“Yessir.” I saw Duster swallow nervously out of the corner of my eye as he peeled off to find Solara, the other pony under my command. Why had the Colonel picked now of all times to separate me from the rest of my crew? One thing was for sure—she was about to get an earful from me.

I hung a left out of the showers and galloped off down the hallway, charging my way rudely through the busy troops making their way to their posts. Most deferred to me on my way by, quickly sidestepping and saluting with murmurs of ‘Sir,’ as I passed them by, but one or two superior officers that I brushed past a little too close for comfort paused to hurl a few curses my way when I didn’t stop to apologize. In all honesty, I really didn’t care. Being disciplined for my behavior was at the very bottom of my list of worries, and it wouldn’t have been the first time I’d landed myself in hot water for egregious disrespect.

I haphazardly slid around a corner ahead of me, my hooves throwing up small plumes of cloud as they dug into the billowing floor beneath me, my speed leaving me completely unable to stop in time in order to avoid colliding with a pony trotting in the opposite direction. I inadvertently clipped his shoulder with my own as we closed, and the two of us stumbled awkwardly for a moment before we regained our hoofing. I turned to murmur a hurried apology, and he’d apparently been about to do the same, until recognition set in and we reacted as polar opposites.

Standing across from me was a buck with a chalk-white coat and a long, flowing candy-apple-red mane. He had a somewhat effeminate nature about him—not only because of his lithe build and the way he carried himself, but also because of his soft-spoken voice, which was completely devoid of the usual gruffness you’d expect from a stallion. His frigid glare bored into me as we exchanged glances, his eyes as dazzling as a pair of ice chips hewn from a bright blue glacier. Eyes that were practically undressing me as their owner glanced coyly at me.

"Pardon me, Handsome," the buck said with a flick of his massive bushy red tail, a hoof held tenderly to his breast. "I didn't see you coming. I sure won't mind watching you going, though."

"Air Raid..." I said, barely able to keep the exasperation out of my voice. He never passed up a chance to flirt when we bumped into each other, regardless of the fact that I wasn't into him.

"I see you're in a hurry, so I won't tie you down... much as I'd love to," Air Raid said, seductively biting his lower lip and fluttering his long eyelashes at me.

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. I didn’t rise to his bait. Instead I trotted on, my thoughts still primarily focused on the unsettling issue of my squaddies’ reassignment. From behind me, I heard a high-pitched wolf whistle as I turned my back on the white buck instead of offering a response. There was no doubt in my mind he was ogling my flank even as I walked away from him.

Air Raid and I had… complicated history.

I sped back up to a canter, being mindful this time of everypony around me to save myself the trouble of another awkward encounter. My destination wasn’t too much further away, and a moment later I was sliding to a stop outside of a door embossed with the words Base Commander. I paused just outside for a moment to compose myself before I raised my right forehoof and rapped it aggressively upon the door to announce my presence. Without waiting for a response, I seized the door handle in my hoof and took it upon myself to barge on in uninvited.

There were murmurs of indignation as the door crashed open, and three ponies in lab smocks whirled to glare angrily at the source of the disturbance. They were burdened with clipboards, rolls upon rolls of blueprints, documents, little scale models and pocket protectors overflowing with writing implements. I rolled my eyes. Weapons technicians. Eggheads. That figured.

Behind a large desk at the back of the room I could just barely make out the slight form of a jet-black mare peeking out from between two of the three ponies assembled in front of her. Colonel Astral—the Institute’s base commander. The colonel's normally flawlessly-ironed mane was starting to frizz, and the look in her eyes was haunted. I didn't need an explanation to know that these techs had been harrying her over something for quite some time.

I'd arrived just in the nick of time, it seemed. Time to rescue the damsel with my charm.

"EGGHEADS OUT," I bellowed, trotting up and herding all the ponies together so I could shove them collectively. "Out, out, get the hell out. I have important business to discuss with the Colonel you've taken up enough time."

"Ma'am I simply must protest to this behavior!" One of the techs stated indignantly. "There are several important items on the docket, many of which you still have yet to--"

"I assure you the Lieutenant's actions will not be tolerated," Astral droned monotonously, clearly lacking any sort of sympathy for the group of ponies that had been haranguing her. "I'll see to his discipline and send for you at such a time as my schedule allows."

"You heard the lady, nerds!" I said as I shoved the still-rabbling group through the open door. "Now scram!"

Now that the immediate problem was taken care of my sour mood bubbled up to the surface once more. “What's the deal, Astral?” I demanded angrily as I strode up to her desk. “Do you have a problem with the way I'm running my squad? You could say it to my face instead of going behind my back,” I snapped, slamming my forehooves up onto her desk and leaning over towards her in a gesture of open confrontation. “Or are you too chicken?”

“I’d suggest that you watch your tone, Lieutenant,” Colonel Astral snapped back as she parroted my gesture with her own hooves, her brow furrowing in genuine displeasure. “So long as you are under my command, you will show me the proper respect, and I expect you to address me properly. Shall we try that again?”

“Do you have a problem with the way I'm running my squad... Ma’am?” I hissed between clenched teeth. Stars, she was always such a freakin’ brat.

“I’ll need you to be a little more specific than that, Lieutenant. We’re not all mind readers here.”

“Don't give me that, you know exactly what this is about!” I shouted. “You reassigned Solara and Duster, and now you’re going to tell me why!”

“I am not under any obligation to disclose that information to you, Lieutenant,” Astral scoffed, straightening out a stack of papers that I’d skewed. “That is on a need to know basis, and you do not need to know.”

“That's horseapples, and you know it,” I spat. “You’re just holding it over my head because you’re a nerdy little wiener and you're embarrassed that I just made an ass out of you in front of a bunch of eggheads. You're just being stubborn on purpose so you don't look bad!"

Astral’s disciplined manner dropped almost immediately, and her long bangs fell down to partially obscure her steel-grey eyes as she fired back her retort.

“Oh, that's rich coming from the pony who can’t hold down a promotion for longer than five minutes!” Astral snorted, slamming her forehooves down upon her desk indignantly. “Maybe if you spent more time tending to your duties instead of chasing tail and slacking off, you could learn to focus on your career and build up a reputation to be proud of! You’ve been NJPed, stripped of your rank and sent to more disciplinary hearings than anypony else in the Enclave’s entire two-hundred-year history! You’re a joke! Nopony can take you seriously!”

“Tell me Astral, what would you have me do? Sit behind a desk all day?” I asked in complete disbelief, leaning across Astral’s desk toward her. “It’s bad enough General Silverbolt is keeping me locked down in recon, and I am not going to waste my life pushing papers and giving orders. If I can’t join the Wonderbolts like I wanted to, then what else is there for me, Astral? We don’t do anything! The Enclave sits around all day and does nothing but watch from above when we could be doing something constructive!”

“Watch your mouth, Lieutenant,” Astral murmured, likewise leaning towards me. “What you say is dangerously close to treason.”

“What are you gonna do, rat on me?” I challenged, leaning further across the desk assertively. “You would do that, wouldn’t you? Go on and run to daddy, Astral. Go and tell him that mean ol’ Mach is planning to run away from home and go on a huge crusade to wipe out all the evil in the world. You know he always finds a way to give his little filly what she wants.”

“Take that back, you dumb jock!” Astral shrieked, closing the distance between us so that we were literally butting heads.

“Oh, touched a nerve, have I?” I teased, the corner of my mouth beginning to turn up in a wry grin. Reaching a hoof out, I began to scratch behind Astral’s right ear and speak as if I were talking to a pet. “Who’s a daddy’s girl? You are! You are! Oh, yes you are!”

That had evidently been the straw that broke the camel’s back. With an enraged snarl, Astral unfurled her wings and gave them a quick powerful flap. The mare soared over the desk and slammed into me like a cannonball, knocking me off-balance and sending the two of us tumbling to the floor.

I chuckled as the little mare pinned me to the floor and began furiously pounding her hooves against my chest, her weak blows completely painless even against my thin frame. I reached out and snagged one of her forelegs when she brought it down to hit me again and gave it a good hard yank, pulling her forward to tumble off of me and wrenching her leg behind her back while simultaneously forcing her to the floor.

“Lemme go, you freakin’ scarecrow!” Astral squealed as I pressed her face deeper into the floor.

“Say ‘uncle!’” I teased as Astral struggled against my hold, replying only with an angry growl. “Say it!”

Astral answered me with a hindleg, and I quickly backed off to avoid having my tender bits crushed by her hoof. This afforded her an avenue of escape, and she quickly scrambled back to her hooves, turning to face me and nickering indignantly, her lips pursed in a grumpy pout.

“C’mon, Astral,” I said with a knowing grin. “You know you’re not gonna win this one. You never win.”

That didn’t stop Astral from trying, though. I rolled my eyes and sighed as the little mare charged at me, grabbing her around the midriff when she closed the distance and tossing her to the floor. I wasn’t too far behind, immediately flopping down on top of the squirming mare so that she couldn’t escape. Astral had never been good at close-quarters-combat, and things usually went this way for her when she got scrappy.

“Cutie horse!” I shouted with a wicked grin, thrusting a hoof into the swirling galaxy on Astral’s flank. She gasped in pain before slithering free of my grip like an eel, seizing one of my ears in her teeth and pulling—hard. Clenching my teeth and ignoring the pain despite my ear feeling like it was about to tear free of my head, I turned it around and managed to get her into a headlock when I heard the door open. Pausing mid-grapple to look up, I saw that a junior officer had peered into the office to see what the ruckus was all about. When she noticed the two of us on the floor her face went completely blank and she slowly withdrew, shutting the door behind her.

“Mmph!” Astral grunted into my fetlock.

“Huh?”

“Mmph!” I moved my foreleg so she could speak clearly. “Off! Get off me!”

I complied without any fuss, allowing Astral to roll free of my grip and scooting back a short distance. Astral promptly sat up, holding her nose high in the most dignified of poses, before glancing over at me. We stared at each other in silence for a while before Astral’s lips started to twitch and quaver, and I felt my own smile returning as I watched her fight it.

A moment later, we were both laughing uproariously.

“Oh stars, did you see their faces?” Astral choked out between bouts of laughter. “They didn’t know what to do! I thought I was gonna lose it when you called them nerds.” Astral reached a hoof up to wipe away a mirthful tear at the corner of her eye. “Thanks, Mach. Really. Those techs have been in my office for almost an hour yapping at me about acquiring funding for like, a million different projects.”

“Hey, what are brothers for?” I said, standing and offering a hoof out to help Astral up.

That’s right. If it hadn’t been obvious already, Astral was my sister. My little sister. I had five years on her and still she was higher up the chain of command than I was. She was a smart little mare, though. She worked her tail off to get to where she was today and deserved her position way more than I did mine.

I looked Astral over as I helped her to her hooves, trying to get a read on her expression as she looked up at me. She was a cute kid... when she wasn't on the clock. Once her hooves touched down on base, she immediately adopted a very prim no-nonsense demeanor. The sudden lapse of conduct she'd had wasn't exactly out of character for her, but she did try and keep it private. Explaining our little wrestling match to her superiors would probably be mortifying for her.

“Aw, you wrinkled my jacket,” Astral murmured solemnly as she got to her hooves, straightening her dress uniform and returning to her position behind the desk.

While Astral opened a desk drawer and reached in for a brush to groom her messy platinum blonde mane, I stooped down to help pick up some of the things that had fallen to the floor when she’d tackled me, pausing when my hoof brushed against the framed picture of our father—General Silverbolt.

The photo depicted a venerable old pony standing at attention, a peaked officer’s cap adorned with three silver stars tucked underneath a brutally scarred wing. Rows and rows of medal ribbons hung from the breast of his dress uniform, each military decoration telling a story in its own right. There was no warmth to be found in his eyes and the stern, wizened old silver-coated stallion’s expression glared coldly outward from within the frame. I returned his gaze with one of contempt before returning the picture to its place on the desk.

“So seriously, why did you reassign my squad?”

Astral paused her brushing to look up at me. “All right, full disclosure? I didn’t. These orders came down from up over my head.”

“What?” I cocked my head to the side in utter bewilderment. “Astral, you’re the base commander. Why would anypony in high command take such interest in one of your recon squads? I test weapons for the eggheads, why the hell would that make me a target for reassignment?”

“I don’t know, Mach,” Astral said worriedly, storing her brush back in its place within her desk drawer. “I don’t like it. I think something bad is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon.”

A tingle ran up my spine and I swallowed nervously. “What makes you say that?”

“The brief on your reassignment.” Astral shuffled through some papers before procuring a stack of stapled documents and leafing through it. “You’re to be placed under the command of Gust and Gale, and they’re to keep you under constant surveillance during your run tonight. You’ve been labeled a potential security risk, and it only gets weirder from there. Dad received some strange orders as well. He’s been ordered back to base, grounded until further notice, and instructed to await further orders.” Astral bit her lip and averted her gaze for a moment before re-establishing eye contact. “Mach, they had him return with Midnight Run.”

“Wha…” My jaw dropped open. Midnight Run was a Raptor—a dragon-killer class cloudship under my father’s direct command. “Who has the authority to push Dad around? He’s a three-star general! Not only that, but why am I being considered as a possible security risk? I haven’t done anything! My worst offense was requisitioning military assets for recreational use, and that was years ago!”

“I don’t know, Mach. I don’t know. I just… I think it’s best if you just went about your duties today as normal. I’d also suggest that you follow orders to the letter, and avoid putting so much as one hoof out of line on your run tonight if you want high command to believe that you’re innocent.”

“But I am innocent, you know that! I have nothing to hide, and I haven’t even been charged with a crime!”

“Then you should be fine,” Astral said with a hopeful smile. “Just try to act… well… not like you.”

My ears drooped in annoyance. “Oh, gee thanks, Astral.”

“You’ve held my ear for long enough, Mach,” Astral said, bringing our conversation to an end. “I have work to get back to, and you still have a few things to attend to before your mission tonight. Chief Engineer Nocturne is waiting for you to report in for your weapon brief so that you might familiarize yourself with it before the test. As I understand it, it’s quite the departure from his usual repertoire, and he insists that it will be of particular interest to you.”

I sighed and pushed aside the storm of questions flooding my mind. “Will that be all, ma’am?”

“That will be all, Lieutenant. Dismissed.”

I snapped my hindhooves together and saluted her as was proper, before turning and leaving her office. Now deeply entrenched in thought, I dragged my hooves as I slowly made my way towards the mess hall, devoting just enough of my concentration into weaving around the ponies hurriedly rushing off to other parts of the base. This day was just getting worse and worse. Me, a potential security risk? Dad on total lockdown? What the hell was going on?

Astral was right. Something big was about to go down, and whatever it was, odds were it wasn’t going to end very well for my family and I.