Author's Notes:

BOOK 1: PART 3: HONOR

“Now its time to really put it all together,” Lieutenant Marble Falls announced as she paced in front of them. “Overnight the instructors worked their asses off to build you a custom battleground. Since Black Barracks stayed here, we can not use the practicum battlefield that is already set up. It is too far away. So make their generosity worth it.”

“Its four on four. Wipe the other team out. Plain and simple. Red Team is Filly Fooler, Gale, Hurricane and Lilly Blossom. Blue Team is obviously Rover, Hay Bail, Ditwitz and Dreamers. Your flags are opposite of each other. There are twelve objects to capture. If one side gets seven, game over.”

“Isn't that not trying to wipe the other side out?” Deke asked.

“Always with the questions and something to say,” Lieutenant Marble Falls chastised. “I do not doubt that you will end up in direct combat for most of the practicum. The objectives are to make sure you use all your skills and do not play chicken.”

“What are you waiting for?”

They took off and began to organize.

“Anypegasus object if I take command?” Deke asked.

Nopony objected.

“Good. Then the main goal is ground combat. I am thinking on final approach to separate some. Hopefully each squad can grab an objective. Except for Filly Foolers. You will give us close air support and take on anypegasus in the sky. I know you love your semiautomatic rifles, but you need to run full auto machine guns to make the most out of strafing.”

“Good call,” Cardinal Spitfire affirmed.

They got to their starting platform. The city was in sight They quickly grabbed their cases and launched into the Formation Deke ordered. Filly Foolers was on the outside tip to allow them to break off easily.

As they moved into their approach they pulled apart and dove to find their assigned locations. Filly Foolers circled around. They had seen all four of Blue Team's squads drop into the city.

“Break off and search those clouds quickly,” Cardinal spitfire ordered. “They might have put an objective Flag in one.”

One was recovered and reported to Deke.

“Why are we not moving in to shoot?” Rays asked.

“We are highly visible and make for an easy target,” Cardinal Spitfire explained. “We can get shot out of the sky.”

“Right. Of course.”

They stayed high and caught sight of three more objectives. Two were side by side in a large plaza in the center. It had a good amount of low cover scattered around. They made their report.

“Wonderful,” Deke replied. “They really did make it so we would have to face each other.”

Deke called together two squads and they converged on the plaza. The other was left loose to circle around. Both teams were crawling towards the center with heads low. On Deke's order, Filly Foolers came in for a strafing run. They made sure they were wide enough to not get hit all at once.

“Two confirmed kills,” Cardinal Spitfire reported.

“Damn!” Deke replied. “Make another pass.”

They circled back and made a low run. It didn't matter. They were blasted apart. Blue had taken out the flanking squad and converged on those left in Red Team. It was a hard fought loss. Blue never had a squad completely wiped out.

They touched down at the flight deck for a debrief.

“That was interesting,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said annoyed. “What did you do wrong and what did you do right.”

Several comments were made.

“Pathetic,” The Lieutenant spat. “Red is Gale, Rover, Hay Bail Lilly Blossom. Blue is Hurricane, Dreamers, Filly Foolers and Ditwitz.”

They took off and ran it again. Filly Foolers again played air support and were again knocked out before they could do any real damage. The battle as a whole turned into a stalemate with Red winning with a single pegasus left.

“What went right and what went wrong?” Lieutenant Marble Falls asked again.

“Pathetic again,” The Lieutenant said shaking her head in disappointment. “Nopegasus has any grip on the battle as a whole. Red is Dreamers, Gale, Rover, Hurricane. Blue is Filly Foolers, Hay Bail, Lilly Blossom and Ditwitz.”

The battle was over quickly with Red sweeping Blue with the capture of 8 objectives.

“Objective win,” The Lieutenant said. “Pathetic. What went right and what went wrong!”

Nopony spoke up.

“No answer? Even more pathetic. Take the rest of the day off and think!”

“Back to her old self,” Cardinal Spitfire said. “I didn't see that coming.”

“We were excelling,” Olive Pit said. “Now we are… not. And have no idea why.”

“Everypegasus gather round!” Shadow called. “We need to figure this out.”

They loosely gathered around.

“In your squads. You need to think together,” Shadow ordered. They were quick to organize.

“What consistently failed?” Shadow asked.

Individual performances were brought up a lot.

“That isn't right,” Shadow said after a while. “The squads can pick up for a member's lack of ability in one area. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and can compete the same level.”

“Filly Foolers was always shot down,” Cardinal Spitfire said. “And fast. First Squad each time.”

“This is right,” Blue Wings agreed. “And whichever team they were on lost. That isn't right since they are the best. None of us will fight them in the air. It is suicide.”

Cardinal Spitfire laughed. “I have it. But you have to figure it out yourselves. I can't give away our advantage. Filly Foolers drop out. We will go over the answer tomorrow. I will take lead on the next match.”

They fell out, leaving very pissed off comrades. It wasn't long before the others gave up. Cardinal Spitfire refused to comment on it, even to her squadmates. All she would do is stress the importance of an early bed and the physical stress they would face tomorrow.

When they lined up in the morning, Cardinal Spitfire still had a beaming smile. It had not lessoned overnight.

“Ma'am. Request to only team up with Gale and Hay Bail. If I am right, I won't need the fourth.”

Lieutenant Marble Falls looked at Cardinal Spitfire for a bit. “Denied. I already have the teams I want all pick out. Red is Hay Bail, Hurricane, Rover, Ditwitz. Blue is Gale, Filly Foolers, Lilly Blossom and Dreamers. Blue, if Filly Foolers takes the lead, you will fail automatically. Understood?”

“Yes Ma'am!”

“Since no lead, what are your thoughts Cardinal Spitfire?” Sharp asked.

“Aerial Combat is not just about air to air and close air support. Every time we came in to give support, it backfired. Soldiers train for ground combat. They move on the ground unless they need to pick up and go a great distance. But that is what aerial combat squads are for. Drop in, fight, and move. Close air if necessary, but its for advance troop movements and putting up a new front while the ground troops move to catch up or land.”

“ Alright,” Sharp said. “Then we will form up and fan out. Filly Foolers will grab the one in the clouds and then form on our right flank. Find the objective, drop onto it and leave. Only stay to contest an objective.”

They left and acted as planned. They were not directly acting as one team. Each Squad was working on their own.

Shadow landed hard and dove for cover. Filly Foolers was dropping him in a few seconds in advanced to scope the objective out. He had the best chance at drawing fire while dodging it with his agility.

“Another objective,” Shadow radioed. He also was squad’s leader at the moment.

“That makes five,” Sharp replied. “We all know where six and seven are. No more worrying about objectives. Stay low, find a Red Squad, jump them and move on. Dreamers has the plaza and we will make sure the center is not taken. Lets pick them off.”

“There!” Shadow called.

He dropped down first right behind them and rolled to survive the drop. He didn't bother for cover as he opened up with his machine gun. The squad never had time to shot him as half of Filly Foolers touched down and opened fire from their flank. The other half stayed up a bit where they opened fire and made sure nopony launched.

“One squad killed,” Shadow reported. “I suggest a bold move to drop in behind their squads attack the square.”

“Make it fast,” Sharp said. “They just knocked out two of mine. Now a third.”

They stayed right above the rooftops, using the sound to navigate. Their landing was less than pretty and was disorganized. But it was fast enough to take out the squad. Cardinal Spitfire was one of the two lost in the attack.

They were right off the flank of another squad who knew they were there. Going to the sky was pointless. They moved to a strong position and made their stance. As their next firefight began, mass confusion erupted in the plaza.

Filly Foolers moved forward but it was all over. Lilly Blossom had taken out the other flanking squad and then dropped in to the center of the plaza. They ignored the objective boxes they were standing on and blasted the stunned Red Squad. They lost four members, but with Gale still intact and dropping onto the other flank, it was over quickly.

“What went wrong and what went right?” Lieutenant Marble Falls asked unimpressed.

Shadow stepped forward to talk. “Blue Team used the air to advance quickly and launch surprise attacks on our enemy. That was what went right Ma'am. What went wrong was being to aggressive in our drops. We took out unprepared enemy squads. They will not fall for the that again and we will lose if we drop in so close. We also exposed objective points by trying for speed. Lilly Blossom could have taken the two in the square and finished the exercise, but they opted to expose themselves and paid the price. In real battle, that would have cost the objective of taking the square in the long run.”

“Objectives are not always positions,” Lieutenant Marble Falls explained. “It could be to recovered injured, to capture supplies, be they Enclave or the enemy's, secure vital technology, a raid to capture or kill a small enemy group. It could also be to quickly deploy explosives in order to remove significant or potentially significant buildings, fortifications or cover. Maneuverability is key.”

“Congratulations. Black Barracks figure it out on its own. Every other Barracks was taught it. I don't give a shit about teaching you certain tactics unless you force me to. You haven't yet. You put those pieces together just fine.”

“We will continue to work on this. You have to be ready to face all the Barracks and I want you to solidify how you want to deploy your squads through trial and error. There will be new surprises, for you, that will be explained right before the whole test begins.”

“For now, Red is Filly Foolers, Ditwitz, Hurricane and Hay Bail. Blue is Lilly Blossom, Rover, Gale and Dreamers.”

Shadow was given lead.

“I am not assigning weapons,” Shadow stated. “You make that choice. We will go High and Low. Screw objective. Taking objectives is a weak win. I am guessing they will still try for objectives, so lets pulverize them. We go in high and low.”

“Ditwitz and Hurricane, when we separate stay on course. Filly Foolers and Hay Bail will go low and stay above the rooftops. Your job is to give us air support and call out enemy locations. We will be the first to drop into combat. You job is to come in for backup and prevent backup from coming.”

“In the event that a squad takes casualties, we will reverse rolls. Ditwitz will cover Filly Foolers and Hurricane, you cover Hay Bail. Hot and Fast. Do what you can to avoid mistakes, but I know this is pushing it.”

“We have this. I like it,” Silver Lining said enthusiastically.

“Avoid dropping onto squads if possible. If not, kick them. These are supposed to be combining all we learned. Use it. Plus, we are wearing armor.”

“I am so glad you are my battle buddy,” Cardinal Spitfire commented.

They all laughed and lined up. As soon as the siren sounded they were off. There was no gliding and since they were ignoring objective points, they picked up their speed faster than before. Separation was flawless and Shadow lead Filly Foolers skimming over the rooftops.

“Filly Foolers, Mark six grids ahead and three left,” Ditwitz called.

They did a slow bank to keep up speed. Shadow ordered for two others to join him on the ground while the others kept it contained. Shadow called for the drop, held out for a second longer and then pulled his wings in.

He slammed his rear hooves into the cloud wall and rolled down it to stop the energy. He came up behind them and opened fire. The squad was caught up having to deal with two pegasus assaulting them in unarmed combat and with Shadow firing from behind them. Shocked by the unarmed combat, they were easily dispatched. The noise was heard and Shadow brought all of Filly Foolers onto the ground where they began to move towards the next Blue Squad that Ditwitz had seen turn towards them.

Ditwitz came out of nowhere and strafed the Blue Squad who had taken flight above the buildings. Hurricane was in a tough dogfight with Hay Bail moving to assist. The battle finished in the air but not without losing Hurricane and most of Hay Bail.

“Interesting choice Shadow Flare,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said when they returned. “Well played all. All of you are getting the feel for this. Too good of a feel. Filly Foolers and Gale. I have blindfolds for you. You will each go to your designated position and play injured. Your teammates will have to rescue you and prevent the other side from rescuing their comrades. Only your teammates can move you, so there will be no hiding the enemy's bodies. Injured can post up wherever they like within that assigned grid. Get there as fast as you can.”

“This is new,” Cardinal Spitfire said as they launched. “It almost feels like she is making this up on the spot.”

“Combining on the spot,” Shadow replied. “She has done this all before. She is reacting to our performance by pulling a planned objective out of a hat. Nothing is being made up, She is just revealing the cards she wants us to see.”

“She said she had never trained recruits past aerial combat,” Shooting Star commented.

“She said she had been doing plenty of assisting. Also, we do not know if she has trained anypony else from Aerial Combat School. It could have been specific about Basic.”

“Not bad observations,” Cardinal Spitfire smiled. “I hope you are right. That makes me feel more confident. See you later.”

Cardinal Spitfire pulled up into a barrel roll to get clear before she headed to her designated location. Shadow touched down on his and looked around. He chose to enter a building and lay down as if he had been shot while clearing it. It would be hard to find for either side and he had no idea what squads were coming to rescue him.

He settled down for a nap. By now, they all were good at falling asleep anywhere and almost anytime. He only woke up when a fierce battle erupted around him. Suddenly he was picked up and rushed out of the building where they took off. A minute later they touched down and Shadow was set on the ground. He heard his rescuer depart.

Blue won but Red had the much better plan. Blue nabbed their injured and kept them with the Squad. Red took the injured back to a safe location to be protected. Red lost troops by protecting their injured, while blue was only slowed down. Blue finished with five while red was decimated. However, it was Red who won the praise of Lieutenant Marble Falls for properly taking care of the wounded.

Onto the next Practicum. Others were chosen as injured and Filly Fooler was back in. They were skimming the rooftops watching for troop movements and places to strike. They had been dictated as scouts. A squad blindsided them and they tried to break apart.

Cardinal Spitfire rolled, got hit, and slammed into Shadow. They were too low to be able to recover. Shadow slammed into the top of a building and dropped into the street below. Cardinal Spitfire rolled to a stop right up against him.

He laid there in pain as the squad came back around to confirm their kill. They took off and Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly got up and began to move to a building to recover.

“You are not supposed to move!” Cardinal Spitfire growled through her teeth.

“I didn't get hit,” Shadow quietly shot bad. “You knocked me out of the sky and probably took the hit for me instead. My vest never buzzed. And they never said we couldn't play dead.”

Shadow took five minutes before he began to move in hops. Up over a building or two and then down. Up over a building or two and then down. He slid up to the corner of a wall when he saw a blindfolded Blue team member. A Blue Team Squad touched down moments later.

Shadow picked his timing and rolled out. He stood and fired several shots and then dove for cover. He had hit his primary target, the one who had picked up their injured mate. Shadow led them on a chase that turned around.

He hopped up and took the two blue team members that had taken off with their teammate out. When he landed he was around the corner. He waited for them to come. When they did he bucked the first, shot the second and the third before he finished the first.

He kept quiet. Over the radio the Red team had reported Filly Foolers down. And Blue had to have made the same report. He was a ghost and best left that. It was a much tougher decision when he came upon on of their injured. He walked away deciding the best course of action was to hunt.

Two squads were fighting over an injured Blue teammate. Shadow's gun was covered by their combat and he quickly assassinated two. Their flank down, the Red Team was able to knocked out the last four. It would not have happened without Shadow's help. He slipped away without being seen once all the blue were hit.

The horn sounded soon after. Filly Foolers kept quiet about Shadow meeting up with them from elsewhere. Cardinal Spitfire had caught them up on Shadow surviving and they wanted to use the tactic again if given the chance. No squad was an ally while they rotated like they were. Lieutenant Marble Falls either didn't know or didn't care. It was kept quiet.

“Alright. Take a break,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said. “After dinner, you will have to do it at night. If I approve, you will get the whole day tomorrow to rest up before the final battle. You will want that rest.”

When it was time to launch they were back to the original tactics. Eliminate the enemy and do not let them take seven objectives. Lieutenant Marble Falls didn't tell them that she had removed four objectives.

“Okay Blue,” Deke said as they were flying out. “I have a few ideas we should try. Mainly back to aerial support. Filly Foolers playing it high. Very high. Only coming down when we need them. Strike fast and hard and then get back out of there. We have been playing fast and close to the ground these last two times and I am afraid that again, we are forgetting key skills.”

“I want to see how this works because when we face everypegasus, we are going to need at least one strong aerial squad. The other barracks will probably be looking for Filly Foolers in the sky, so I would say we do not put them there to start, but as back up. They can handle the ground fine. We have to fool the other barracks.”

“And back to this practicum. Coms. Filly Fooler will switch one of their coms to listen in on Red. They will report their findings to whoever is in charge.”

Everypony pointed at Deke. “Okay. I am in charge.”

“Come on,” Flex said. “Its Golden Dawn over there. She will be leading the first night mission.”

“Shadow Flare can cover the radio with me at point,” Cardinal Spitfire chimed in. “He is good at reading my commands without a com.”

The horn sounded. “Shit!” Deke said scrambling to finish organizing. Filly Foolers didn't need any direct orders yet. They had to climb as fast as they could and as high as they dared. None of them had flown this high during basic training.

“I forgot how cold it gets up here,” Cardinal Spitfire shivered. “Remember our cold weather training.”

“Got their radio,” Shadow whispered.

Red had gotten a late start as well. After another minute Shadow had their orders and they were passed along to Deke. Armed with that knowledge, Deke had Red systematically hunted down and destroyed in fifteen minutes.

“Who is the cheater?” Lieutenant Marble Falls asked as they all touched down.

“I turned one Blue into Red's coms if that is what you mean Ma'am,” Deke laughed.

Lieutenant Marble Falls yawned. “Took you guys long enough to try that trick out. As Shadow likes to say, every advantage is an advantage. Coms off. Everypegasus. Same teams. GO!”

They laughed as they flew back out to the start.

“If we are going to win this, we need to tighten up,” Deke advised. “Run a triangle with Filly Foolers in the center. That way they can provide support to any squad from the ground or air.”

“I think it is still your lead, Deke,” Cardinal Spitfire nodded.

“I wasn't going to give it up yet,” Deke smirked.

They all laughed. Deke finished organizing them and they were off.

Shadow slammed into the wall. Filly Fooler had made a move, but ended up separated from the rest. They were facing at least two squads who were bearing down on them. Worse, Shadow was separated from the main group.

He looked around but found himself to be alone. Shadow popped up onto a rooftop and crawled to the edge. No opponents were in view. He began to hop around like before. Without coms, things were quiet.

Shadow halted as he heard hoof steps. He slid into a dark corner and waited. They walked right passed him. He started to follow them, getting closer and closer before he made two quick shots from point blank range. Two others came around the corner at the sound and Shadow did the only thing that came to his mind.

Shadow crouched and did his best to look like he was their third member who had escaped the attack. They fell for it and Shadow turned on them. He felt like the night swallowing up the day. Shadow looked around. He thought he had seen something move out of the corner of his eye. He moved towards a doorway and poked his head in.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It was an instructor hiding in a back corner. The same one he had seen with General Red River when they tested Filly Foolers. The instructors were around. Always watching, scoring, and ready to render medical aid if necessary. They did their best to stay out of the way and not distract from the exercises. You could tell them by their clothes and hats. This instructor was not wearing the same clothing as the others, but he was still not an opponent.

Shadow never got back to the others. He never saw anypony else. He was not far from the big battle when it erupted, but he was too late to join the direct action.

When they got back, they were sent directly to bed. The night was still young enough to do another exercise. It was a few hours until sunrise. But they didn't argue. Sleep was sleep. The Lieutenant was half asleep as well.