Mustang and Blazer walked through the camp to Barracks Eleven as fast as they could without running. They had to do the best they could to appear calm if they wanted to win any respect from the new teammates. It was the 35th; to be the best, you had to act like the best.

Even while trying to stay calm, though, Blazer was chatting away. Most of his words were directed toward Mustang, but some were for anyone who heard. Mustang listened half-caringly, wishing that Blazer would wait until it was time to meet the whole team to introduce himself.

“So yeah, I fought fires in Detrot,” Blazer said. “Most of the fires up there are arson, really. That’s why the Royal Guard set up a fire division there.”

“Arson? Really?” Mustang said. It really did surprise him.

Blazer nodded. “Yeah. Crazy ponies, mostly pyromaniacs. They were always on scene, so the fire division had to be able to arrest them. Other times, we were dealing with more dangerous individuals or groups, and the groups were always the worst.”

“What group would want to start a fire in Detrot?” Mustang asked.

Blazer chucked. “The very guys I’m here to fight,” he said. Mustang raised an eyebrow. “I was proud of fighting fires up there, but if I want to help put an end to most of them, it’ll take us bringing the fight to the source. If we don’t take these guys out, the fires will continue and ponies will keep dying and being injured.”

“I hadn’t known that the gryphons were causing fires in Equestria,” Mustang said in shock.

Blazer nodded. “It’s part of why we’re invading. They keep talking about taking our resources and ‘totally annihilating us, but the real problem is that they’re trying to weaken us. They can say what they want, but if they can make a real possibility, then we need to act.”

Mustang took it all in. He hadn’t known about all this, that the gryphons were bringing the war to their very home. It made Mustang’s blood boil. Who were the gryphons to attack the ponies, just because they wanted what the ponies had? That’s what trade was for, after all. The gryphons were just selfish, savage brutes that would stop at nothing to fulfill their primal desires for battle and get the material possessions they wanted.

“I can hear that,” Mustang said. This guy was more than he was expecting.

“So, what brought you here?” Blazer asked.

“Me? I was already in the Air Guard for eight years. I was doing well in the 51st, and I was given two options: leadership, or a newer, tougher unit. I wasn’t born to lead, so I decided I wanted to come here.”

Blazer nodded slowly. “I see,” he said. “In the fire division, we were taught that leaders are made, not born. I never led, but I saw some guys who started out weak become incredible leaders.”

“Good for them,” Mustang said. “But I wasn’t interested, really. I want to be a part of the best, and leading the 51st would have been good, but not the way I want.”

Blazer finally stopped talking with one last nod. Mustang was glad to have learned those things about him, but he was glad for the brief respite from the talkative stallion. His respite didn’t last, though, because Blazer only stopped talking because they were before their new barracks.

They both looked at each other once, then Mustang knocked on the door. From inside, the pair could hear music playing, though they couldn’t place what kind. Some voices could just be heard over the music. When Mustang had his hoof back on the ground, the door swung open.

A tall stallion stood before Mustang and Blazer, looking down coldly and directly into their eyes. He was a light, sandy brown with a blonde, short cut mane and tail. His eyes were large and a deep shade of hazel. There were several scars on his forelegs and chest, burn patches on his sides, and he was more muscled than most stallions on the base.

He raised an eyebrow at the silent stallions. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Mustang swallowed lightly. “We’re here to meet our new unit,” he said. “Fifth squad. I’m Mustang.”

“And I’m Blazer,” Blazer said.

The stallion continued to look down at them with an ice-cold expression and drills for eyes. Neither Mustang nor Blazer moved, just stared back, trying to hide their discomfort. Then, out of nowhere, the stallion before them laughed and closed his eyes, instantly warming up.

“Well, come on in, then,” he said. He turned and walked inside. Mustang and Blazer followed without hesitation, happy to be past that little moment.

Inside, it was incredibly roomy. At least, it would have been, if not for all the equipment everywhere. There were many fewer stallions inside than the other barracks, so it was less humid and putrid smelling. Aside from their greeter, Mustang and Blazer saw three stallions, going about their own business as if Mustang and Blazer weren’t even there.

“It’s good to finally have some new blood,” the stallion leading them said. “One of our guys just retired to pursue other interests, and the other was injured pretty badly. Had to get his whole ugly mug fixed. Looked better, honestly.”

Mustang blinked and Blazer chuckled. “Hm,” Mustang said. “I don’t think I asked your name.”

“You can call me Aardvark,” the stallion said. “I’ll be your squad leader.”

“Well, hello sir,” Blazer said with a little salute. “I’m Blazer, from-“

“I know where you both came from,” Aardvark said. “You’re from the Fire Division, Detrot Royal Guard. Fun stuff there. You-“ Aardvark pointed at Mustang. “Are that boy from the 51st that we’ve heard about. I hope you can fill in the horseshoes of our retiree.”

“I’ll do it, sir,” Mustang said.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Aardvark said. They arrived at the back end of the barracks. “Welcome to the ass end of our living quarters. You two are the newest, so you go back here.”

Blazer saw a bed and hopped over to it. “Sounds fine to me. I’m just glad to be here.”

Aardvark smiled. “A glass-half-full kind of guy, eh? It’ll be nice to have another of them.”

Mustang looked at the other bed and headed over to it to stake his claim. When he hopped onto it, he was more than a little surprised to find that it wasn’t hard as the bedpost underneath it. It wasn’t nearly as used as the beds of conventional forces, so naturally it would be a little nicer.

“So, when are we heading out for our first mission?” Blazer asked.

Aardvark turned around. “Hold your horses, buddy boy,” he said. “You still need to meet the team.” Aardvark put his hoof in front of his face. “Alright guys, we got some new blood! Introduce yourselves!”

The other stallions looked up from their work at the new guys and put down what they were doing and walked over. One of them looked like he was smiling, but two of them didn’t look like they could care any less about the new teammates. Whatever they were doing must have been important in some way.

“So,” Aardvark began. “As you know, I’m Aardvark, your squad leader. I expect for you two to do what I say-“ he gave them a mildly menacing look- “but to always take the best possible action. You’ll report to me, or, though unlikely, directly to Meteor should he request it.”

“I imagine that would either be very good or very bad,” Mustang commented.

“You don’t know the half of it!” one of the other stallions shouted with a laugh.

Aardvark laughed as well. “That’s a story for later, Strat,” he said.

The stallion stepped forward. “I’m Stratofortress, but you guys can call me Strat for short.”

It was easy to guess that the guy was from the 52nd Stratofortresses; he was huge. His back and wing muscles were absolutely enormous. The Pegasus was a light, ashen gray with a black mane and tail. He wore a cowcolt hat on his head that complimented his accent nicely. His eyes were a light gray, like his coat, and he wore a black Kevlar suit with a gray armored tactical vest. He had a lot of pockets and holsters to carry the no doubt huge amount of gear he carried.

“I dropped bombs on the Dragons six years ago when they were hittin’ our crops by the western border. Hah, those were fun times.” He walked up to Mustang and slapped him on the side, nearly knocking him over. “You speedy boys are cool, but it’s us big guys who get all the mares, hahaha!”

Mustang grinned and rubbed his side when Strat left him alone. “If only I were so endowed,” he said.

Another stallion stepped forward, but didn’t speak for a moment. He wore a pair of black sunglasses that covered a lot of his face, plus the same Kevlar suit as Strat and a Navy Blue vest. His coat was gray with splotches of white all over, and his mane and tail were flat gray with white tips. He wore a green watch on his right foreleg, weirdly standing out on his otherwise dark appearance.

“Falcon,” he said curtly. “Though some call me Viper. As long as you pick just one, we’ll be cool.”

“Alright, Falcon,” Blazer replied.

Falcon nodded. “Good,” he said. “I know you’re new, but this unit moves fast and hard. Keep up, and you’ll be welcome. Lag behind, and you’ll be unpopular. Keep that in mind.”

“Will do,” Mustang said.

Falcon looked to his right where the final teammate stood. He was frowning at the new guys, scrutinizing them mercilessly. He wore what was probably a more or less permanent scowl on his face. His snout, mane, and tail were all a stark white, while the rest of his body was pitch black. His eyes were a faint bluish green, and he wore a barely visible red Kevlar suit with an also nearly invisible earth brown vest. His watch was black and could hardly be seen on his leg.

“Eagle,” he said. “Do good and live, or do bad and get killed. We’ll talk again if you can manage the former.”

Mustang and Blazer blinked and simply nodded in response. Eagle was satisfied with that and went back to working on whatever he was doing before.

“Ah, don’t worry about him,” Aardvark. “He was with the fifteenth, and he was the fastest Pegasus there. He wanted to go to the 22nd, but they weren’t accepting, so he went here instead. He’s still looking to go there.”

“Ah,” Mustang said. So Eagle was just bitter about his place: good to know. “So don’t bring it up.”

“You boys can’t,” Strat said. “We do all the time. It pisses him off so much, pfft-ha!” Strat laughed heartily at Eagles’ misery.

“We have a special kind of chemistry here,” Falcon said. “You’ll get it fast enough.”

“I sure hope so,” Blazer said. “It sounds like it’ll be all kinds of fun!”

Falcon smirked. “The hardest workers get to play the hardest,” he said. He turned and walked back to his work.

Strat didn’t immediately go back to his work. “Hoo, boy, it’s good to have you boys here. We were short on bodies here, so they wouldn’t send us out much for missions. Now that we’re back in stock, we’ll e real popular with them gryphon customers, if you know what I mean!”

Mustang and Blazer smiled. “Can’t wait!” Mustang said. Strat smiled with closed eyes, then turned around and went back to his work.

Mustang sat on his bed and watched as his new teammates went about their work. He couldn’t tell what they were doing, as most of the time, they were blocked by the massive amount of stuff in the room, but he did see some of what they were moving around. They moved swords, spears, knives, armor, smoke bombs; every possible piece of military gear was here. They even had those fancy new Night Vision goggles, the magic ones that were just two lenses with a strap.

Mustang would find out later if he would be given gear or if he would have to get his own, but right now, he needed to set his space straight. He had just enough space for all of his stuff, most of which would arrive soon. It was set to arrive with the Globe Mistresses, but those mares took forever just to get in the air, so he wasn’t counting on having anything until later that day or even the next day. If they were tasked with a mission, he would have to make due with what he had.

“Maybe I can borrow stuff,” Mustang said to himself.

Blazer overheard him. “Yeah, I’ll have to borrow stuff too,” he said. “My stuff is coming with the Globe Mistresses. Yours probably is too actually. Maybe they’ll arrive at the same time? Anyway, we’ll both be borrowing stuff for the time being.”

Mustang sighed. “I had actually been hoping that I could borrow from you. I didn’t want to be that new guy who didn’t have his stuff together.”

Blazer snickered. “Well, I guess we’re those new guys who don’t have their stuff together, so at least we can share the burden!” Mustang smiled and chuckled at Blazer. More and more, he was getting to like him.

Who knew what kinds of adventures they would have together? They were both new in a different, fast-paced lifestyle and career now, so they would have to stick together to survive both the enemy and their own team. One thing was certain;

They were about to live a hell of a life.

Next Chapter: On a Dime Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes