A/N: A little inspiration from Halo. Not as much as you might think though. I figured another fun chapter was in order.

Chapter 9: Ordinance Training

Luna led Rainbow Dash outside to what was her personal firing range. Dash was floored at the variety of weapons that were laid out in racks and on tables. Being of the tomboyish variety, she took great interest in the massive firepower that was laid out before her. As Rainbow was about to reach for the first weapon in sight, Luna smacked her hand away; Dash yelped at the sudden contact.

“No!” Luna shouted, wagging her finger at her. Dash pouted.

“Why not???”

“Because! You haven’t fired a weapon once, thus you have no knowledge of the basics. So, with that in mind, we’re starting you off small. Plus, I’m going through everything with you.” Luna said. Dash sighed and nodded in agreement. Her excitement could wait a little while longer. Luna then tossed her some glasses and a helmet.

“Safety first,” Luna noted. Dash rolled her eyes as she secured the metal to her head and put on the clear shooting glasses.

“Now,” Luna began. She reached for a pistol and dropped the magazine into her palm.

“I’m sure you know that guns… well, shoot shit. But, what are they shooting? They’re shooting this:” Luna began to explain as she removed one of the ‘rounds’ from the magazine and held it up. It was a crystal that had a conic shape to it. What was also interesting to observe, was that it was glowing blue.

“Munitions Crystallites. We used to use standard lead projectiles with brass casings which contained the powder and the primer, like most modern nations today do. However, developers realized that we could manipulate crystals, which are one of Equestria’s most abundant natural resources, and weaponize them. Like their predecessors, they also need an ignition source and a primer. It’s all inside the crystal itself.” Luna explained. Now, Dashie wasn’t one of history and ‘egghead’ related learning, but this was something she took immediate interest in.

“So, case-less ammunition?” Dash pointed out. Luna nodded in approval.

“Precisely! The lack of a need to eject a spent casing, and consequently the necessity to add more components towards an ejection system, rate of fire and reliability have increased due to less likelihood of jamming related problems. Now, as for the colors of the crystal, they’re not just for show. They have very specific meaning in our military. This blue one, for example, indicates a non-lethal stun round.” Luna pointed out. Dash was really impressed; Luna continued, retrieving another crystallite from one of the tables which was glowing crimson.

“This one,” Luna handed it to Dash, letting her hold it and examine it, “is a live round. Fully capable of lethal force.”

“Are there only stun and live rounds?” Dash asked.

“Of course not! Where would the fun be otherwise?” Luna asked with sarcasm, being just as eager to show and teach as Dash was to listen. Luna grabbed a few rounds of the table, each a different color (and a couple of different sizes), and pointed them out to her.

“There are sometimes situations that call for different types of ammunition other than standard lethal and stun rounds. This green one is a tracer/locator round, this longer lavender one is a canister-shot/shotgun round, this even longer teal one is high velocity, this yellow one is electric, and this black one is fragmentation. And of course, there are variety of sizes depending on the particular metric caliber necessary for a specific weapon, so the same color convention carries on to larger and smaller rounds.” Luna explained, letting Rainbow Dash look at all of them and leaving room for questions, which Dashie definitely had.

“Electric? Fragmentation?” She asked, somewhat confused.

“Electric rounds are essentially a lethal version of the stun rounds, but they’re silent. When the crystal impacts its target, it instantaneously shocks said target with about a hundred and fifty thousand volts and carrying a current of sixty-five milliamperes, inducing instantaneous cardiac arrest and consequently dispatching the target quickly and silently. However, only use of one round per target is protocol. Hit them with another, and you risk restarting their heart.” Luna explained. Rainbow Dash’s jaw was on the floor. With that, Luna continued:

“And Fragmentation rounds are not explosive rounds, in a manner of speaking… like their name suggests, they’re fragmentation, so they fragment upon impact on the target. Once the crystal embeds itself, it fragments and fractures outward inside the entry point, causing a nasty wound. Land a few rounds on an adversary and you can be sure they’re not getting up.” Luna added. Dash shuddered at the thought of the consequences of a direct hit. Nevertheless, her enthusiasm never waned and Luna picked up on it.

“Alright then, let’s get you started,” Luna said, leading her over to the table where the previous pistol was. It was clearly emptied and made a safe weapon. Luna allowed Dash to pick it up and examine the hull.

“Alright, this is a standard EQ-4 pistol; uses the plentiful 11.5x23mm Automatic Equestrian Pistol round; standard issue to Equestrian Military personnel and my sidearm of choice due to its accuracy and stopping power. You’re actually holding my personal sidearm that’s been with me since I’ve been a recruit right now!” Luna mentioned. Dash took note to not screw around with it, allowing Luna to continue.

“Just the basics, this is the barrel, this is the breech, this is the well, the hammer, the slide release, and of course, the magazine release. Now, go ahead and pick up that magazine of live rounds.” Luna pointed.

“Live ammunition?” Dash asked curiously.

“Hell yeah! What’s the point of shooting dummy targets and painted targets with stun rounds??” Luna reasoned. Dash laughed at that.

“Maybe we could get the other girls to act as dummies for the stun rounds…” Rainbow suggested. The two busted out laughing at that thought before Luna continued with her instruction.

“Alright, now, go ahead and line the magazine up and shove it in…” Luna instructed. Dash did so and knew it was secure with the resounding “click!”

“That’s what she said,” Dashie added, making Luna go into another fit of laughter before burying her head in her palm and shaking her head, still snickering.

“Fuck you… now, go ahead and press the slide release down…”

“click!”

“Good! You’re now ready to fire. There’s a target dummy down range there about twenty meters. See what you can do. Line up the sights properly, concentrate on the front sight… now take aim and do your work,” Luna finally said as she let go of the reigns. Dash did as she was instructed and she fired her first round, surprisingly not having trouble adjusting for recoil.

“Well done! You hit your target square in the stomach. Now, go ahead and empty the clip,” Luna said, giving permission for Dash to do so. Without hesitation, Rainbow fired off round after round at the dummy until the slide stayed back, indicating the expenditure of ammo completely. With that, Dash dropped the clip and placed the gun on the table, proud of herself. Luna went to check on the target.

“Well, out of a sixteen round magazine, you hit thirteen successfully, five which would be considered lethal. Not bad Dash… not bad…” Luna said, nodding approvingly. Dash wore a smug look that said pretty much said “yeah I’m good… what of it?”

“That means you’re ready to move on to something a bit larger. Ummm… oh why not, here you go.” Luna said, nudging what looked like a handle over to her. Dash was really confused.

“Ummm… Luna? What’s this?” she asked, picking up the handle. Luna only smiled.

“Press the button on that handle and find out…” Luna replied cryptically. Rainbow did as she was told and what happened was an enormous surprise to her. The weapon began to assemble itself in front of her over a course of five seconds into what would be an Equestrian Assault Rifle. At the end, it glowed a couple of times before all the light indicators and any other electronics on the weapon took the color of magenta, Rainbow Dash’s aura.

“What we did was essentially assign you a weapon. That rifle is now yours, just like this one…” Luna picked up an identical weapon, save for all the little lights on it being teal blue “is mine. I’ll keep yours here for you. Your own EQ-71 Assault Rifle, uses standard 7.92x33mm rounds, high capacity magazine, low recoil.” She pointed out.

“This. Is. So. Cool!!!!!” Dash couldn’t help but exclaim. Luna chuckled.

“Alright then, there’s a magazine on the table for your rifle. Go ahead and grab it.” Luna instructed. Rainbow found it and picked it up, examining it.

“Now, as you can probably see, the magazine fits into the stock…” she continued. Dash found this intuitively and slid the magazine in with an audible indicator that it was securely fastened.

“Now, see that little appendage on the left side? That’s the charging handle. Go ahead and push that all the way forward.”

“click!”

With that, the rifle’s heads up display changed from “0” to “50.”

“Good. Now, go ahead and line up a couple of targets and have at it,” Luna said, standing back to observe her. Rainbow aimed down the range and lightly squeezed the trigger, sending a burst of about four rounds towards her targets. She compensated a bit too much for recoil but quickly adjusted herself. Luna had to admit, Dash wasn’t a bad shot for her first time. She was landing quite a few hits, although of course, there was room for improvement. Eventually, Rainbow wasted the clip, feeling really good about herself.

“You’re good…” Luna began to comment. She jammed a magazine into her rifle before arming it and aiming down range. She completely laid waste to several targets on the field with near precision accuracy. Dash’s jaw dropped.

“…but I’m better,” Luna finished with a wink. Rainbow just rolled her eyes before nudging her playfully.

“So, what now?” Dash asked, eager to try out new things. Luna thought for a minute before an idea struck her.

“How about this one!” she exclaimed as she un-racked a very long rifle. It looked like it was from the first global conflict.

“What the hell is that?” Dash asked. Luna cycled the bolt once before turning to her.

“Z-96 rifle. Standard infantry armament of all Equestrian forces during the first Global Conflict. Fires a 7.92x57mm round, which will knock anyone off their damn feet,” Luna explained before handing it to Dashie, letting her examine it and cycle the bolt once or twice.

“How’s the recoil on this one?” she asked. Luna could only laugh.

“The recoil is used to realign your shoulder after it was thrown out by the first shot,” she commented. Dash only raised her eyebrow.

“Well, let’s give it a shot, no pun intended,” she said. Luna rolled her eyes. With that, Dash found the appropriate stripper clip on the table and Luna instructed her on how to properly use it. When that was taken care of, Rainbow pushed the bolt forward and secured it into place before aiming down range. The rifle was definitely heavy.

“Alright, now find a target and have at it…” Luna stated. Dash found one and carefully aimed her sights. When she was satisfied, she began to slowly pull the trigger. The rifle eventually went off but apparently Dash didn’t listen to Luna’s words when she was saying that the recoil was horrible. Dash didn’t compensate and she was knocked back on her ass. Luna was in a hysterical fit of laughter.

“OWW FUCK!” Dash shouted as she clutched her deltoid/shoulder where the rifle stock was resting. She lowered the sleeve of her shirt, exposing the skin. It was beginning to bruise in the shape of the ellipse, the projection of the butt plate on the stock.  

“You…chchchck… fell right on your ASS! Hahaahahahaha!” Luna couldn’t get over it. Dash only rolled her eyes as she asked for help up. Luna helped her up and she dusted herself off. As she was massaging her shoulder, Luna handed her an object for her troubles.

“Here, I’ll let you toss one of these on to the field,” Luna said, handing her a stick grenade.

“Really? You’ll let me use this?!”

“Why not? Just don’t kill us both.”

“Alright, how does this work?” Dash asked. Luna began to explain.

“Alright, grasp it by the stick, but that was pretty obvious. Now, there’s a little metal thing you can grip at the base of the handle. Go ahead and yank that thing out,” Luna instructed. Dash did as she was told and pulled the metal primer out, thus arming the grenade.

“Okay! Now heave it!” Luna shouted, and Rainbow immediately chucked it as hard as she could onto the field. However, as luck would have it, it bounced off one of the rubber dummies and right back towards the two girls. Their eyes widened considerably at the revelation.

“Holy FUCK GET DOWN!” Luna shouted as she dragged dash by the shoulders and they both swan dived onto their chests to safety. The grenade landed about fifteen feet away from their firing positions and exploded in a hail of dirt and shrapnel, but the shrapnel bounced off the trees and walls harmlessly. They lifted their heads up, and Dash was laughing her ass off.

“God damn that was awesome!” Dash exclaimed very excitedly.

“That was NOT fun!” Luna shouted out.

“Don’t lie, Luna, you enjoyed the thrill!” Dash replied back. Luna only looked at dash incredulously. Dash looked back at her with the same look.

“HEAVE IT!” Luna shouted, and on that command the two girls chucked the grenades they were holding. They gracefully flew onto the field and exploded, taking several targets with them. The two girls then cheered in hysterics and “woots,” definitely getting into the thrill of it all. After Dash’s comment, they had been at this for nearly an hour. The amount of ammunition and explosives they went through was quite flooring.

“Here! Use the launchers!” Luna pointed out, strapping the appendages onto the Equestrian Assault Rifles. The two dropped the projectile down the barrel and armed it.

“FIRE!” Luna shouted and the two of them shot them onto the field, also exploding into a hail of dirt, some fire, and shrapnel.

“WHOOOOOOOOOOH!” They both shouted out in excitement, high fiving and hugging each other. That’s when Luna put the gun down and ran to a storage place in the house.

“Hold on a second, Dashie!” Luna said excitedly as she ran. Dash attempted to get a look at what she was trying to bring, but then she saw: Luna was wheeling out what looked like a small naval grade cannon. Dash’s eyes widened.

“What… the HELL is that?” Dash asked, repeating her question. Luna set the enormous gun down.

“This is a Field Howitzer. It Howitzes Fields,” Luna said. They both started laughing at that. Luna conjured a few targets way out on the field and began to adjust the elevation of the howitzer.

“Dashie, hand me one of the shells over there,” Luna pointed out somewhat impatiently. Apparently Luna had been wanting to try out this thing for a long time but never saw an opportunity. Dash picked up the shell, which was about the size of her forearm in length, and handed it to Luna, who loaded it into the chamber. She then handed the lanyard to Rainbow.

“See that dummy target out there?” Luna pointed waaaay out in the distance to a dummy, surrounded by a bunch of others. Dash nodded.

“Fuck him, and everyone else near him,” Luna said before standing back. Dash looked back at Luna, who nodded with anticipation. At that moment, Dash yanked on the lanyard as hard as she could… nothing happened. Luna shot up with a million questions in her head, but still disappointed.

“What the shit!?” She asked out loud as she went to the cannon to examine it and make sure everything was in order. Dash observed her.

“What the hell… I calibrated the elevation… took the safety off… primers are set… I don’t understand what could poss—”

“KABLAM!”

The cannon suddenly went off and the recoil and shockwave immediately around the cannon sent Luna flying backwards and rolling on the ground a short distance.

The two watched as the shell sailed gracefully through the cloudless sky and landed right on target, obliterating all the dummies that Luna had set. The two stayed silent as the observed the results.

“That.” Luna began.

“Was.” Dashie continued.

“FUCKING AWESOME!” Luna shouted, jumping back to her feet all excited. The two jumped and embraced each other, screaming and cheering like the girls they were. The two then decided that that was enough violence and destruction for one day, not to mention the expenditure of ammunition. They put away all other materials and decided to call it a day, going out to dinner and then coming back to her place. Dash stayed the night too.

Luna could feel her own aura and Dash’s aura pulse synchronously, signifying a bonding exercise. Needless to say, she fell into a pleased slumber.