Author's Notes:

BOOK 1: PART 3: HONOR

They rushed the showers at 0730 and took no more than 2 minutes to get clean. Breakfast never happened.

“Shadow,” Cardinal Spitfire called. “Help me undo these braids. I want my real mane today.”

“You certainly did these well,” Shadow said struggling to undo them.

“Hurry up,” She said fighting off the pain of her mane being pulled.

“Did these ever come undone?” Shadow asked.

“Nope. Same as the first day. My mom can really braid.”

“Golden Dawn,” Shadow called. “Good, you just got out of the shower. Help me out. I don't do braids.”

They laughed and Golden Dawn helped him fight to get them undone. Shadow traded out and headed to the shower. Cardinal Spitfire was the last to shower. It took a total of five pegasi to get the braids undone. When she came out of the shower she looked like a completely different mare. It was short, but a bit of a natural wave. Shadow hadn't seen such a pretty mane before.

“Like it?” Cardinal Spitfire asked when she caught him staring.

“Yeah,” Shadow stumbled. “It is unlike anything I have seen before. The prettiest mane I have ever gazed upon.”

“I love it, but I am so glad I had it tied up for training. It can get in the way at the farm. No fun. Now finish getting dressed. You stopped midway pulling it on!”

Shadow shook his head and finished. “I hate how mine just is straight.”

“Eh, it probably would look better down and a bit messy, but its got a cute aspect standing on end naturally.”

“Thanks,” Shadow blushed.”

“Hurry up!” Silver Bar said. “0754!”

They rushed to finish and made it barely in time for formation. Shadow made sure that today he was carrying the seeds, along with the armbands.

“I see you skipped breakfast,” Master Wind said as the fell in. “The Sergeant here will reorganize you so we all fit in. You will get a book with photos from training at the end of the day. They should be on your bed when you come back from graduation, after dinner at the very latest.”

They were moved to the front of their barracks where some boosters were set up. It made it easy to tell they were Black Barracks because of the big sign above the door. “Black Barracks A”

“Room for one more?” Lieutenant Marble Falls asked dropping out of nowhere. She was in her Wonderbolt's flight jacket. The Sergeant placed her on the other side so that both instructors flanked the recruits.

“I have less time than you,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said. “You did more than well in your final test. They got so desperate they even called me in for advice.”

“And that is why we lost coms,” Olive Pit laughed.

“And you did so well, they called me back in,” She smiled. “I kept you and Yellow together, forming one unit. Bolstering each Barracks numbers was new, but it really showed leadership and tactical grasp. You guys got Yellow to perform better than they have ever been and best of all, with little time and without directly leading. And I can say you guys because leadership was passed around and they could not target a single one of you. Time for me to go. It was an honor!”

She was gone like she had come in. There one second, gone the next.

“Alright recruits,” Master Wind said getting their attention. “The Lieutenant was right. It was an honor instructing you and watching you grow. The Enclave is lucky to have such amazing pegasi entering it's ranks. You will do well and be very happy.”

“Important business. When you get back from breakfast, your official orders will be on your beds. You will have time to clear up anything or talk to personnel if you have two choices before making one. 1100 we line up to begin graduation drill practice. 1200 lunch, and 1300 back to practice. Graduation is at 1500 and your families will be there. You will want to look your best and make your comrades look their best. Dismissed.”

They all rushed the mess hall and breakfast. They were in sore need of a meal after the exercises. They had little opportunity to eat during them.

“And the fun begins!” Deke said as he calmly walked to his bed for orders.

“Officer School.” He said a minute later. “Just Officer School.”

He was disappoint it guaranteed him nothing outside a commission. It was not what he was expecting.

“Hey, if you want to command a Raptor or any cloudship, you have to be an officer,” Shadow said.

“Officer School?” Olive Pit said stunned. “Oh, then to Combat Medic School. Bastards trapped me into becoming an officer.”

“I get a choice,” Golden Dawn said confused. “Officer School or Combat School. If I go combat, I can go to officer right after. Suggestions? If I want to be the best officer I can be…”

“Go talk to ponies,” Shadow offered. “Find out what the noncommissioned officers think. You would be leading them, so find out what they want in an officer.”

Golden Dawn dashed out of the barracks without a second word.

“I can see by Cardinal Spitfire's smile that she got Aerial Combat School,” Deke chuckled. “Shadow?”

Shadow only could stare at the envelope on his bed. It held his future. As long as it was unopened, he was just a recruit who's job was to train and learn the skills needed to be an Enclave soldier.

“Shadow!” Cardinal Spitfire said poking him with her hoof.

“Sorry,” Shadow mumbled.

He picked up the envelope and opened it quickly. He let out a sigh and pulled it out. It would be easier the faster he went.

Report to General Red River's Office Immediately.

“Shadow!” Cardinal Spitfire said poking him again.

Shadow just passed the orders to her.

“That is it?” Cardinal Spitfire stated. “Nothing official, just a piece of plain paper and one sentence in the middle? Hoof written, but still.”

Shadow double checked the envelope. “That is it. Just report to the General's office immediately.

“I am sure you will be fine,” Deke said trying to encourage him.

Shadow just walked out, ignoring everypony.

“Shadow!” Cardinal Spitfire called after him. She nearly tackled him outside the barracks.

“Recon,” She said giving him the paper back.

They walked together for a while in silence.

“Nothing to say? Fine. We know little about how recon operates! A plain piece of paper is more likely good news. It means no paper trail and they may really value that.”

She got in front of him at the Headquarter's steps and physically stopped him.

“You are a damn fine recruit and the best battle buddy I ever could have had, be that on the ground or flying. We made a pact that we would not let our friendship die. And to me, that means even after one of us dies! We will always be friends, no matter what. Growing up, I never had real friends who really cared about me. I won't let that die. And as a friend, I really mean it when I say only good things await in there for you. It is the truth.”

“I know this means we will be separated. It hurts me. It really hurts me. The closer we got, the… harder it got. If it could happen, I want our friendship to be more than that. But I never want to lose a friendship I value too much.”

Cardinal Spitfire gave Shadow a quick peck on the cheek and dashed away as fast as her hooves let her go. She didn't return to the barracks immediately. She had to make sure her eyes were dry and that nopegasus could tell what had happened.

“General Red River is waiting in his officer upstairs,” The pegasus at the front said as Shadow walked in. “It is open. Just walk right on it and close the door.”

“Thank you,” Shadow nodded.

He took a deep breath before walking up the stairs. Cardinal Spitfire was right. Only good things had to await him.

“Ah, I was wondering when you would come,” General Red River said as Shadow came in and closed the door. “Take a seat. You have been introduced to Major Winters Breath.”

“Major,” Shadow said sitting down. He was shaking a bit.

“You do not have anything to fear Shadow Flare,” The Major said. “I am the head over recon. Right now I am assembling the final pieces to the next team.”

“Is it true about the number of deaths in recon and scouts?” Shadow asked.

“Damn it. Did you have Nova?” The Major asked.

“Yes Sir.”

“Fuck. He is a good wealth of information for the typical troops. A bit eccentric, but still good. You will have to forget some of what he taught you.”

“Like what Sir?”

“For starters, Rad-Flush and RadBlock are not better to their war counterparts. Without magic, the optimal equipment, and limited resources, it is difficult to produce them at the same potency. They do their job more than well, but they are not as strong. Long ago, the choice was to focus on numbers over such a high potency. And the original equipment died out long ago. Teams have failed to locate or recover any of the original equipment.”

“The ponies below are not all savage as he says they are. Some of it is exaggerated. There are a lot of raiders who pray on the weak, and most of the chained stories are slaves, not food. There are a few towns and such, but the raiders hit them hard. More has to be hiding.”

“A lot of clean up work needs to be done before the Enclave can go below. A lot. Which is what I am doing to prepare this new recon team for. Secure the ground enough for us to be able to land in a sufficiently safe manor.”

“None of the ponies like the Enclave though, and every humanitarian attempt did end in failure, often death. They do not want help and do not want the Enclave anywhere near them. They will fight back. It is sad that they view things as they do. We could make life so much better for them. We want to, well some of us. But they won't even talk and quickly turn hostile.”

“But you can't cleanse the land and make a safe zone for our soldiers with the equipment you have. More is coming. Specialized to help you deal with the raiders and bring justice to the wasteland.”

“Bloody Justice?” Shadow gulped.

“Mostly,” General Red River said. “I am for the total eradication, the Major isn't. How it plays out will be decided by what happens with the recon team you are joining.”

“You have proved beyond a doubt that you are the material we need,” Major Winters Breath smiled. “Tough headed enough to get the job done. Plenty of endurance for long assignments. A quick mind and able to hide. You shoot way better than the ponies do and much better than you think you do.”

“And most importantly, you can lead. The team I am assembling will be headed up by a Lieutenant you will meet later, but the others are specialized in their fields. Your skills we be put to use as the most soldierly of the team, which also means you will be secondary lead. There will only be six of you in total.”

“But that will come later,” General Red River said. “We do not have the team fully put together yet. That means you will be staying here for further training. We spent all of yesterday arguing over the best course of action. The others are already in full units. They know they will be reassigned soon to this recon team, but that is it.”

“And why you had no official papers or why I have not heard any names,” Shadow said.

“The less you know right now, the better,” Major Winters Breath nodded. “I already said too much about the actual situation below. Only special teams like recon and scouts need to know that much right now. I hope I did not make it seem too tame. Either way, we will make sure you know everything we know before the mission. And do not speak about this at all. It is all highly classified and stays in this room”

“Right,” Shadow said. “Just say I made recon and that is all I can say.”

“Exactly,” General Red River said.

Shadow sat there for a minute. “I have a question about Captain Nova. Well two. His wing and his mind.”

“Ah,” Major Winters Breath chuckled. “Yes, his wing is helpless. He is not faking it. The mass is at the joint and can be very painful. We would have to surgically remove the whole wing to remove it. He understandably has opted against that. As to his mind, he experienced a lot and at times, took a lot of radiation. It may not have been a specific attack on him, or ponies may have figured out how to harness radiation to attack others with. Either way, we can not find anything directly medically wrong. Just that his mental state and mood has changed.”

“Understandable,” Shadow nodded. “Especially since I understand he had a problem with a mission that really effected him.”

“That was a sad mission,” Major Winters Breath sighed. “Classified so keep it quiet. They were down no more than thirty minutes when she was blown out of the sky. They had flown together since Aerial Combat School. His team began evasive maneuvers and he lost the another mare in his team. They couldn't find out who was shooting at them or from where. He lost two other stallions. It was just him and another when they finally escaped.”

“We grounded all scouts after that. It was our last mission below, five years ago. Since then we have been working extra hard on a safer way to go below. We never blamed him and did the opposite. They were our best scout officers. They had over twenty highly successful missions below together. They lost a lot of pegasi on their missions, but those two always survived.”

“That is horrible,” Shadow said. “Was her body… recovered?”

“No,” The Major said. “They had no idea what happened or where. It was chaos. They followed their training to a T and made a great defense and escape attempt, but they had no idea what was happening. By the time they did, it was just him and a new scout. Actually, it was Lieutenant Marble Falls. I forgot she was training you.”

“That is why she wants to train recruits while being a Wonderbolt,” Shadow said connecting the dots. “She wants to personally make sure we are given the best we can to survive. Starting from the beginning. And Captain Nova must rotate who he trains.”

“Actually, Captain Nova always trains Blue,” General Red River. “He requested Black because he heard somepegasus was bucking for recon. He didn't care who it was, just which Barracks they were in.”

“I understand why we can't know, but I wish I had,” Shadow said. “It puts a new importance on what he did say. Even if some of it was wrong. I wish I knew when we met Lieutenant Marble Falls. Why did we stay at the flight deck?”

“Her request,” General Red River said. “Because of you and Cardinal Spitfire, we granted it. Typically a Lieutenant who trains recruits in tactics would have been given control back at your barracks. It worked out better in your favor because Black needed a lot more space than a typical training Barrack needs. The training sites could not handle your larger movements. It showed in the final Practicum. We are more than happy with her training techniques.”

“How mad where you when we defied you orders?” Shadow asked. He figured he could get answers to almost anything with the position he was in and their mood.

“Very,” General Red River said. “But then I realized I should have seen that coming with the way you took out Blue. The orders did not make sense. I know you have learned to listen to orders that didn't make sense from officers who knew what was going on, but it was backstabbing and a poor choice and illogical on all fronts.”

“Lieutenant Autumn Leaf was raving. I let him allow the others to team up to take you out. Even with them knowing they were a team, they didn't act like it. How Black helped Yellow, showing and teaching, even indirectly, changed our view of Yellow. We learned a few tricks from Black this time. If we do not learn from the way our recruits act, then we are doing something and not preparing them to do your duty.”

“It is getting late General,” Major Winters Breath said. “1018.”

“Parade field at 1100 are my orders Sirs,” Shadow said. “Graduation drills. And thank you for pictures.”

“The recruit's training book?” General Red River asked.

“I guess so,” Shadow said. “We never have pictures taken where I am from. They are expensive. Highly treasured.”

“You lived in a very different world,” Major Winters Breath said. “But it was the right world for you to make recon right away. It isn't easy to impress me. It took over half of training for General Red River to convince me you were a good candidate. We haven't taken in brand new recruits since…”

“I understand,” Shadow said standing up. “It is all about safety and making sure the mission gets done.”

“You are smart,” The Major said. “We didn't finish with the training schedule for you. To start you will be at the range. 0900 in four days. I want accuracy with certain weapons raised, specifically how to shoot a rocket launcher. You can stay in Black Barrack for now. Proper orders for that will come later today or tomorrow.”

“All recruits have a week off. Most of them will have to use that time to transfer to their next training, but the barrack will be open for you until we place you somewhere else. Now get going. We can talk after graduation more, once I get back. I will be leaving right after lunch on business.”

“Thank you all,” Shadow said saluting them.

Shadow quietly walked back. He was still trying to take in all the information. Most everypony was in a lose formation on their parade field. Nopony realized he joined them. It wasn't until Master Wind came and called them to order at exactly 1100 that they realized he was there.

“Where is Cardinal Spitfire?” Master Wind asked.

Nopony knew.

“Filly Fooler?” Master Wind directly asked him since she was his battle buddy.

“No idea Sir,” Shadow said softly. “She walked with me to headquarters to meet with General Red River as ordered, but after that I have no idea.”

“How did that go?” Deke asked.

“Quiet Deke,” Master Wind ordered.

“I'M HERE! I'M SORRY!” Cardinal Spitfire yell as she raced towards them. She silently slid into her spot next to Shadow.

“Graduation drills are special,” Master Wind said, ignoring the start. “After lunch all barracks will make several dry runs before Graduation. So lets not hold them up. Besides, you have a reputation to uphold.”

The drills were not much different. It wasn't a style change, but a different filing order. And they were yelled at to make sure their trot was high enough.

“Man,” Golden Dawn said sitting down at lunch. “I feel like it was the first day again with all those drills.”

“Yeah,” Deke agreed. “But what is more important, what happened Shadow?”

“What do you mean Deke?” Shadow replied.

“You orders?”

“Recon,” Shadow shrugged. “That is all I know right now.”

“Training?” Deke poked.

“I have little information on that,” Shadow said. “More information to come.”

“They are serious about it,” Golden Dawn said. “Do you know anything?”

“Yes,” Shadow curtly said. “What little I have been told is highly classified. I will learn more as time goes on, specifically after you all leave so Deke does not consistently ask for classified information.”

They all chuckled and focused on eating.

“One thing is for sure, this is the best and most important thing we have ever achieved,” Deke said when he was done.

“Eh,” Shadow shrugged. “I had more important events back home.”

“Even of pride?” Cardinal Spitfire asked shocked.

“Yeah. Like the work I did with the first cherry harvest. Or my first harvest working in the fields. Those were important things as they helped more than just me. Standing in front of ponies as they tell them we trained and are going onto more training doesn't help anypony but your pride. The training we did here is important, not the graduation.”

“You ruin so much,” Olive Pit said annoyed.

They all laughed. It felt good to laugh and not have any impending doom potentially around the corner.

The dry runs were easier, as they had seats and a clearly marked isle to march down, in front of the stands, where family would watch with pride.

“Cardinal Spitfire, Deke, Olive Pit and Golden Dawn,” Shadow said gathering them several minutes before they were going to snap to attention and then head out. “We are friends, more than friends but good friends. I do not know where we all will end up after our next training, but no matter what, they can not take away our friendship and trust in each other.”

“They built that platform and we fostered it. An unbreakable loyalty, duty to each other and making sure we are all good soldiers. Finally, the honor of friendship. Deep friendship few attain but all want.”

“Loyalty,” Deke said putting his hoof in.

“Duty,” Golden Dawn said, her hoof joining Deke’s.

“Honor,” Olive Pit added.

“Friendship,” Cardinal Spitfire said.

“Memory,” Shadow added.

“Memory?” Golden Dawn asked confused.

Shadow smiled. “That we all remember the times that brought us together and solidify why we have loyalty to each other, a duty to help each other and trust them, the honor it was learning and teaching each other in basic training, and remembering just how strong our friendship is, even to the day we die.”

“So it is!” They all said together and pulled their hooves up in celebration.

Marching into the amphitheater wasn't much different, when they marched out in front of nopony, except for the butterflies. But with their mission to look perfect, it was easy to tune it out.

They got to their rehearsed seats and stayed standing as the Enclave anthem was played. They took their seats and General Red River walked to the center mic to speak.

“Welcome everpon…”

“He is already doing wingups Sir!” Deke yelled.

The General sighed. “Welcome everypegasus. I am General Red River, in charge of training here. As you can see, we have a special recruit. Shadow Flare hails from the farming communities way out on the far reaches of the Enclave. We never get pegasus from there. Good, hearty cloud farmers. They are fiercely loyal to the Enclave.”

“Recruit Shadow Flare is from a Homestead, which means he comes from a family and farm that started farming the clouds around their home during the war. One of the first cloud farmers.”

“The community has it's quirks like saying “everypony” instead of everypegasus. Their community togetherness has stayed that way because of their bonding as a community of farmers and not a single farm. They help each other out more than we can understand.”

“But like I said, everypegasus there is loyal. Some of the most loyal in the Enclave and where many of you get your food. It is a sort of honor that he came to serve, since they put their duty to providing our food as the most important thing in their life.”

“The point is, his training has come up, especially concerning his progress with such a big transition from tough cloud farming, to what a city is.” The crowd chuckled as they pictured the transition. “Enough that I obviously just slipped up. I care very much about my recruits. I love teaching and shaping them, no matter what part of the enclave they come from. It is an honor that my duty falls to do such a job.”

Shadow stopped since the General had made a smooth transition back to the planned ceremony. Only Shadow knew the truth. It wasn't him exactly. It was him, the recon team and talk about everypony below. It occurred to Shadow that he didn't know how much General Red River knew. The General may have been hearing some of that for the first time. The Major did the speaking on those details.

General Red River continued with his speech about loyalty, duty and honor. About serving the Grand Pegasus Enclave. He highlighted the top barrack for this training session. All of Black Barrack stood and everypony in the stands clapped. They sat down and the General highlighted the top five recruits.

Cardinal Spitfire was ranked first. The next two were from other barracks. Shadow was shocked when General Red River declared he ranked fourth out of 253 recruits. It explained just how difficult placing on a recon team was and why Major Winters Breath didn't agree with the General until halfway through training. That was when Shadow had really began to shine on all fronts, despite how he saw himself.

The graduation ended with a show from the Wonderbolts. They sat by and marveled as at least two teams did aerial tricks and put on a good show. As the General was giving his final thanks for those attending and their duty to the Enclave, an unidentifiable pegasus came out of nowhere and flipped the General's hat off with the flick of a feather. It landed on Shadow's head.

They filed out like they had rehearsed and General Red River came over at a fast trot. “Who ended up with my cover?”

“Here you go Sir!” Shadow said extending it to him on his wing.

“Do any of you know who that was?”

“I have never seen that Pegasus, Sir!” Cardinal Spitfire reported. “How about any of you.”

'No Sir. Never seen that Pegasus before,' was the most common response.

General Red River trotted away. They knew there were only two non recruit pegasus who knew about that incident. And only one of them had the status to even think about trying it. Lieutenant Marble Falls.

They all assembled at their black banner for family to find them.

“I am going to head back,” Shadow said.

“What if your family came?” Golden Dawn asked. “You did get your duffel bag packed right?

“I did. I didn't feel like explaining anything earlier. There is no way they could afford to leave the farm right now. And it is much more expensive trip than the 187 bits we made at market. 50 of those were gone by the end of the day because we bought supplies.”

“Well you can meet my family!” Cardinal Spitfire said enthusiastically. “Battle buddies after all.”

“Alright,” Shadow smiled. “Because you are my battle buddy.”

Lieutenant Marble Falls dropped out of nowhere for the second time today. “Can't stay long. I am not on the outreach team and pegasi will swam me with questions and for autographs. I don't have time. But congratulations on recon Shadow Flare. And Fourth. I was shocked at both. Same with you Cardinal Spitfire, for first. Well, congratulations, I knew you would take first. All of Black, congratulations on taking first. It has been way too long since Black dominated.”

“Maybe you could show me a thing or two,” Shadow asked. “Being a Wonderbolt and here. I do not know my training schedule yet.”

“Perhaps soldier. Perhaps. Here comes families.” The Lieutenant was gone like she came.

“Like that,” Shadow marveled. “I could use learning how to do a real drop in like that and blast off straight up. Out of nowhere and then nowhere.”

Nopony had time to say anything as family swarmed. But they did notice the switch from recruit to soldier.

“Cardinal SPITFIRE!” They soon head.

“That would get annoying,” Shadow whispered.

“Mom! Dad!” Cardinal Spitfire said as she hugged them. She was a spiting image of her mother.

“We were not surprised at all that the Spitfire in the group was ranked first,” Her mom said.

“It had nothing to do with being a Spitfire,” Cardinal Spitfire replied. “I earned that without my name. And my battle buddy here helped me. Shadow Flare, meet my parents.”

Shadow was embraced by her mom. “Fourth place for a Flare, not bad.”

“Flare?” Shadow asked.

“You are not part of the Flare family line?”

“Dear, he is the farmer from way out,” Cardinal Spitfire's father said.

“I have heard plenty about your apple farm,” Shadow said shaking his hoof. “At least somepony here got half of my background. Our farming our there is radically different, especially since we farm turnips.”

“Turnips, interesting,” Her dad said. “Its all apples and oats where we are.”

“Parsnips mostly for us, with our turnip homestead, a half dozen wheat and hay farms, my sister's cherry farm was a few hours away and the closest apple farm was a good day's flight away. Didn't have much to do with them because of the distance. I have never worked with apples. Just one cherry harvest.”

“I must say, you do not look like a farming pegasus.”

“Mom,” Cardinal Spitfire groaned.

“Sorry dear. And you too Flare. Oh, honey, camera!”

They took a picture of Cardinal Spitfire, and then Cardinal Spitfire got them to take a picture of both of them. Shadow was no help and they had find somepegasus else who knew how to work a camera so they could get a picture of the Spitfire family. They would get them developed and get Shadow a picture of the two of them.

“Mind if we join in the discussion?”

Shadow shook his head to focus his eyes because they were clearly not working. Same with his ears.

He opened them to the same sight. “Blossom? Cherry Tart? How?”

“We found of from Sky Breaker when you would be free,” Early Blossom explained. “He said graduation. Tart and I have to talk with you. And Dad and Mom are at our Farm while Buck and Luna have it covered.”

“What about?” Shadow asked.

“It is private,” Cherry Tart replied.

“All this way for a private discussion?” Shadow asked shaking his head. “Alright. I trust you. You came out this far. Which also means you have to meet my battle buddy, Cardinal Spitfire.”

Cardinal Spitfire immediately got her parents to take a photo of the three of them before she would continue with the introductions. Cardinal Spitfire found out where they were staying and was going to drop off the pictures in the morning.

“Early Blossom and Cherry Tart,” Shadow introduced.

Cardinal Spitfire started laughing before Shadow could continue. “Deke, Olive Pit, Golden Dawn!” Cardinal Spitfire called out. “You have to take a second and come here. And you too Shooting Star, Silver Bar, Rays and Moonless Night!”

It took a minute for them all to push their way to them.

“Shadow Flare's sister, Early Blossom and then Cherry Tart.”

They all began to laugh.

“I don't get it,” Cardinal Spitfire's mom said.

“You are really blushing Shadow. What happened?” Early Blossom asked with her head in her hoof.

“My Size…”

“Yes?”

“Day two didn't go well from the very start.

“Go on.”

“This is to slow,” Cardinal Spitfire groaned. “His nickname ended up being Filly Fooler!”

Early Blossom and Cherry Tart laughed.

“Somehow home got wrapped into it, didn't it Shadow?” Cherry Tart chuckled.

“Yeah,” Shadow said laughing. His cheeks were as Red and Cardinal Spitfire's coat.

“It gets better,” Cardinal Spitfire said. “I got roped into the whole mess when we were thrown together as battle buddies.”

“Wait,” Early Blossom stopped her. “Back up to battle buddies. We don't know what that is.”

Shadow quickly explained battle buddies. And they went into the nickname carrying into team Filly Foolers and then Filly Foolers Squad. Except for Cardinal Spitfire's mother, they all laughed. Their friends parents were listening in too and got a good laugh out of it.

“I think the name is immortalized here,” Deke said laughing even more. “They both made a big splash and with Black Barracks quickly becoming the best barracks score wise, they were well known. I mean First and Fourth individually ranked soldiers. Our aerial combat instructor gave most of the squads good nicknames based on something they did. Sadly, not mine.”

“But like mine, Ditwitz,” Golden Dawn said, happily explaining the reason.

It was nice having everypony together with family for a bit before they were pulled apart. Cardinal Spitfire did get more pictures taken; Filly Foolers Squad and then the five of them. Photographs to immortalize their oath.

“That was a lot of fun,” Cherry Tart chuckled as things cleared out. “They said you were free tomorrow?”

“I guess,” Shadow replied. “We have a week 'off.' Here they do Basic Training and Aerial Combat School. If you are headed to a different specialized school, then you have to report in a week from now. So travel time. But I think those have scheduled departures. I am moving on alone with my training in three days.”

“Alone?” Early Blossom asked.

“Alone,” Shadow repeated. “Recon. Its all very complicated.”

“You did make it!” Cherry Tart said excited.

“Yes, I did,” Shadow smiled. “No other recruit was going for recon. I got the impression recon isn't something you really get to go for. Not like to become a Mechanic, Medic, Engineer, or any other soldier. You have to prove yourself and that usually can only happen while in service, meaning you are a seasoned soldier. Same with Aerial Combat, but that is easier to prove you belong while in basic. We learned a bit of the basics for everything. We are well prepared for most any job.”

“Lets go into town and get dinner,” Early Blossom suggested.

“New Heaven?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah. Have you visited it?” Early Blossom asked.

“Sort of with training. We did a lot of flying. It is the closest city from what I understood.”

“It is where Sky Breaker said we should stay at and grab dinner with you if we could. The only place we could do that.”

“I can fly,” Shadow said getting serious.

“Duh,” Cherry Tart said.

“I mean I can really, really fly,” Shadow tried to explain. “I learned a lot from training and Cardinal Spitfire. I was marked as a weak flier to start, but when we got to aerial combat that changed. I mean that I can fly like the Wonderbolts, just not as good.”

“There you are Filly Fooler,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said gliding in to land in front. She was back in her Wonderbolt flight jacket. “You said something earlier that confused me. Oh, I didn't expect family to make it for you. We can talk later.”

“Lieutenant Marble Falls, my sister Early Blossom and Cherry Tart were just talking about flying into New Heaven for dinner,” Shadow said. “Perfect timing since I was just talking about what real flying is.”

Lieutenant Marble Falls chuckled. “I hope you two can keep up with him. I assume both of you didn't go to flight school as well?”

“Heard about,” Cherry Tart said. “But that was it. Heard.”

“I can't believe both of them are bigger than you. My, you are really small for out there,” Lieutenant Marble Falls said.

“We already heard about the nickname and laughed about it,” Cherry Tart said. “It is very funny and clever.

“Well Ma'am, we do what we do to motivate recruits. Sometimes that includes a nickname. I don't actually know why you were named that. I only know it was set when I got your file. It was the first name and what your name tag had.”

Shadow answered that. “Master Wind was sizing me up and chose it because of my body size. I am currently wearing a mare's uniform.”

Marble Falls chuckled. “Of course you are. That does not surprise me. Most of the mares in Red were probably given Stallion uniforms. Whatever fits best for the body type. It is all the same look.”

“And these two are Filly Foolers,” Shadow said. “Master Wind embarrassed me badly the first day with him with how he pushed me.”

“I should let you go,” Lieutenant Marble Falls chuckled. “But I am definitely going to get all the details from him. He rarely forgets anything.”

“And she is just gone like that,” Early Blossom marveled.

“I would say you get used to it, but we haven't,” Shadow chuckled. “Come on. Lets get me to freedom. I suddenly want to leave on this adventure.”

Shadow had to glide most of the way to the city. The other two worked on drafting behind him, but they were untrained and Shadow fully understood what they meant by untrained. For the trip, Lance had given the two of them plenty of bits to cover the expenses. Shadow told them some of the funny tales of basic while they ate.

“Time to talk,” Cheery Tart said as they got to their hotel room. They had gotten one with two beds.

“What is up?” Shadow asked. “It has to be big and family important. I don't get how it matters with me being gone.”

“Well, it directly involves you,” Early Blossom said hesitating. “And they don't know it does. This is just a happy coincidence to them.”

“You hesitate when something is uncomfortable,” Shadow said plopping onto the bed.

“I want to bear a foul,” Cherry Tart said bluntly. “Early is for is, but we need a donor.”

“You want me?” Shadow asked shocked. It sounded wrong.

“Its all done through medical procedure. No actual interaction between us, like that,” Cherry Tart quickly explained.

“It is a big honor,” Early Blossom added. “You were the only pony we knew that embodied the kind of pony we want our foul to be. We know that a lot is by upbringing, but a good roll model to grow up hearing about…”

“And it is half like having Early as the biological parent,” Cherry Tart finished. “But, New Heaven doesn't have the medical facility to do it. Las Pegasus is five days away from here and is the only place.”

“Time was a big concern,” Early Blossom hesitated. “We were hoping Nellie Air Force Base would be where you would get sent to soon since it is right outside the city.”

“Well,” Shadow said thinking. “We can make a formal request for a temporary leave of absence for family reasons.”

“How do we do that?” Cherry Tart asked.

“Umm, the didn't give us a manual for stuff like that. But we can start tomorrow by heading back there. You got into the base today and probably can tomorrow to make a formal request. It will probably be embarrassing to you Blossom. Just be ready. I know it will mean paperwork. And it could take time. We don't want to wait. We should submit it as soon as possible.”

“I was hoping to see the city tomorrow with you,” Early Blossom said. “I know its not a grand one…”

“My response was 'buildings are not supposed to be this tall,'” Shadow chuckled. “We can head back after an early lunch.”

Shadow had a good, long yawn.

“It still is early,” Cherry Tart said. “How much did they work you today?”

“Today was just drills to prepare for the ceremony,” Shadow replied. “But I am sleep deprived. The last three days were our final testing. I mean three days. No stops, no breaks. It was field tests. We had to do all sorts of things showing we had mastered the basic skills they required. We ate field rations when we could sneak the five minutes, sleep had to be done tactically. Most of the time we were either in mock combat or in fear of ending up in it. As close as real as they could make it.”

“That does not sound fun,” Early Blossom stated.

“Well, we dominated some things they never expected,” Shadow lazily said. “So some was. But the rest was just horrible like combat is.”

“Do you want to shower?” Cherry Tart asked. “It is a good shower. Way better than home. Actual hot water.”

Shadow chuckled. “I am good. I showered this morning in the barracks, albeit a quick shower. And as crappy as the shower head was, it still beats home. All of us in the barracks were wanting to use them since we never had time after the test, so it was like 2 minutes long. But I am clean.”

“Co-ed?” Early Blossom nervously asked.

“Yes, but we all wore proper clothing and it wasn't some free for all pit in the bathrooms. It was shared, but private enough. And nopony did anything. We didn't dare. Or think about it since they had us so busy. The Barrack was for sleeping, changing and quickly getting clean. Nothing else. No time for anything else. There is a reason why Black Barracks became number one this time. We had an amazing group that worked together as a team to overcome everything quickly.”

“I am taking that luxury,” Cherry Tart said getting up.

“I am getting changed and under the covers,” Shadow said. “I may fall asleep, but I will try and stay awake. At this point, it doesn't matter where I am. I am able to sleep anywhere. Under or over the covers too.”

Early Blossom started to catch Shadow up on the mundane things from back home. Dream Catcher was now directly working with the local healer and growing her own herbs and stuff for medicine. That was as far as she got.