A Moment At Ease (Open to All)

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam tried not to feel guilty about his relief at seeing the airship fleet come about. He'd signed on to the army because he'd hoped to serve Equestria, but fighting an invasion of Canterlot was a bit much to start off with - he and his unit had only recently passed their basic training, for pity's sake! You couldn't expect them to take on rampaging Griffon airships right away.

Still, it was a relief to be dismissed. Gleam decided to take a walk through Canterlot's streets before heading back to the barracks - not even stopping there briefly to change out of uniform. He wanted to think quietly for a while.

Mostly what he wanted to think about was where his future posting would be. He wasn't keen on the idea of staying in Canterlot, but it seemed equally unlikely that new soldiers would be sent anywhere dangerous without getting some experience first.

There was a betting pool going on amongst the soldiers, naturally. Just for the fun of it, Gleam had bet thirty bits on them all being assigned to Stalliongrad. Not that he'd enjoy freezing his tail off if he was right...

[Red Charge]

The Leviathan's fleet, no longer a terrorizing sight in the sky, but a comforting pillar of defense, was now patrolling Equestrian skies, allowing great reprieve to the Equestrian Air Force and assisting in the transportation of supplies via airlifts from one city to the other. With Griffons and Ponies dominating the skies, things seemed bright, despite the fact that the night would probably carry on to the next morning, which would make it last for nearly twenty hours.

Though it was dark, it was barely afternoon when Gleam wandered through the many streets of Canterlot. It was like a warm summer's evening, now with the threat gone. Ponies were going about their daily business, shops were open, it was sort of magical to witness. Some even went so far to show support of Princess Luna, that they put on their Nightmare Night costumes and began walking about in them.

Along the way Gleam could see a little unicorn filly calling for her brother, but she sped fast past him and disappeared, so he had no opprotunity to help. Fresh out of training and not yet assigned, Gleam's potential future seemed to stretch towards infinity. Where would he be posted? How well has he done on his training? He could be posted in Canterlot, or sent right out to the patrols, where all the action was. Maybe he'd be positioned in Hoofington and be able to witness the dreaded Red Mages in action. He could also be positioned in the outlying regions and outposts on the Griffon borders. Or even sent off shore to Trottingham, Neighroby or Stalliongrad. The possibilities were nearly endless.

However as he walked, Gleam noticed several armored unicorns, the Silver Scholars, guardians of the Canterlot Library. They were in the middle of a fiery discussion on the current situation. One of them spotted Gleam's uniform and called out.

"Hey you! Come here, soldier, what do you think will be Princess Luna's next move? Think we'll strike back, or wait for the dogs to make the first move?"

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam's quiet walk became a bit less quiet as Canterlot's citizens felt safe enough to return to the streets, attempting to resume their normal days despite the interruption. Also, the whole 'it's now night in the middle of the afternoon' thing was kind of weird.

Gleam was just wondering if he should turn around and go after that filly, just to make sure she found her family, when he was hailed by one of a group of armored ponies - the Silver Scholars, no less. Gleam's unease only deepened when the unicorn that called him to join their debate.

He really wasn't sure which course of action was best when it came to the situation with the Diamond Dogs. Getting them out of Equestria was the only reasonable solution, naturally, but the whens and the hows were trickier. Not to mention that he'd never met Princess Luna in person and had no idea what she'd do in this kind of situation. All Gleam could offer was what he would do, and he felt that getting the Diamond Dogs away from the defenseless ponies of Fillydelphia (and any unfortunate ponies who might somehow still be in Ponyville) as soon as possible was what he wanted.

"...Routing them swiftly would be best," Gleam eventually replied.

Uncertain if the Silvers were expecting a more substantial reply, he tried not to fidget in front of them.

[Red Charge]

One of the guards nodded, "Yeah, the recruit knows what he's talking about. We need to take Fillydelphia back right now." The other guards seemed to roll their eyes at his enthusiastic statement.

"I'm sure the Princess knows what she's doing, she wants to minimize our casualties. I bet they're working on getting rid of the Diamond Dogs as we speak. Gotta remember that Filly is where their main army is located and it's not a small army." A more moderate one said, "Attacking it head on leaves us open for counter attack by their drakes and eidolons. Even with the 5th fleet reinforcing us we're not invulnerable. We don't want the war to get to the cities we're trying to protect." He reasoned.

The extremist stallion shook it off with a huff. "No one knows what they might be doing to the poor ponies in Fillydelphia now. No one. Sure we're funding the resistance and helping them, but they need our immediate help."

The other stallion huffed, saying no one was arguing that, but the extremist one continued, ignoring him. "Well, tender-hoof, what do you think you're going to be? Front line? Support? What strikes your fancy? With your attitude you'd make a great heavy infantry. Trust me that's the way to go."

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam listened to the back and forth with some chagrin. Of course he didn't want any other ponies in danger...he just thought that it was important to save the ones already in danger as quickly as possible.

Charging in headlong was risky, and would probably get a lot of ponies killed. Although if they tried a sneak attack, that might be effective...Gleam had to put the glimmer of an idea aside when the Silver who was all for attacking the Diamond Dogs asked him where he wanted to be assigned.

That was something else Gleam had wondered about a lot, especially the year before he'd finally gotten old enough to enlist. Being in a supporting position was all well and good, but Gleam felt like it was hard to do anything substantial when you weren't near the fighting. Heavy infantry, though? He hadn't thought of that one before. Sounded promising, now that he thought it over.

"Something on the front, I should think," Gleam replied after another moment.

Of course, he added silently, it wasn't like asking for a spot on the air force was a serious option. For hoof's sake, Gleam didn't have any wings. And with no horn sticking out of his face either, his choices were just a bit, y'know, limited.

[Red Charge]

"See? Now that's what I'm talking about. This colt's got Shield Wall written all over him." The extremist unicorn said, giving Gleam a harsh nudge on the shoulder. "Y'know with Hightower back, they're gonna be looking for ponies to make some new shield walls... Better make a name for yourself quick..." The stallion looked at Gleam's Cutie Mark and pondered for a moment.

"Hmm, Sapphire Swashbuckler?" said one of the others, but the one addressing Gleam waved it off with a hoof.

"Nah, he needs to find his own name, earn it in battle." He concluded. "Well anyway good luck to ya, sport. Be sure to drop by the library now and again, eh?" The guard said. It was getting late anyway, Gleam needed to report to his barracks. He wouldn't want to be late right before being assigned.

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam wasn't expecting the nudge - more like a shove, honestly. He staggered awkwardly, front legs crossed, and trying desperately not to embarrass himself further by falling over. Especially when the Silvers were saying that he had a chance at joining the Shield Walls, of all things!

He'd learned about Equestria's greatest military units as part of his schooling, naturally. He'd paid a bit more attention to those lessons versus the dry and dusty ones on politics, though of course Gleam had learned those as well. And the idea that he might one day be a famous soldier like the ponies he'd read about...well, that sort of idea would turn anypony's head.

...But really? 'Sapphire Swashbuckler'? That just sounded awful.

And then, with a casual wave of the hoof, the Silvers sent him on his way. Gleam restrained himself to a nod of farewell, before turning and walking back the way he'd come. The barracks were in that direction, and he wanted to get out of his uniform now. Not to mention that it was probably time to report in anyway...with the midday night, Gleam had lost track of time a bit.

Though with every step, the idea of 'heavy infantry' and 'Shield Wall' bounced around his head. Could he manage something like that? Should he pursue the idea? It was all very tantalizing...

[Red Charge]

When Gleam Lucre arrived to the barracks he noticed a batch of new recruits arriving. Apparently the defeat of the 5th Fleet and its sudden joining with Equestria drove a lot more ponies to enlist. He could see how shaken some were when shouted at by the drill instructors. His own platoon, or at least, the trainee platoon he was part of during basic training, was situated to the far edge of the barracks, near the cliff wall.

Arriving there he noticed most of his fellow graduated trainees packing up their stuff, some were holding envelopes and letters, official looking. The unit assignments have arrived. Gleam's own was probably lying on his bunk in his tent. Others seemed very excited, one of the squad leaders got assigned to one of the high tier fighting units, another few have been enlisted in low-tier recon, the vast majority were chosen as regular infantry, minus a few who were picked for "special" assignments. What they were, even they did not know.

In his tent, on his mat, he could see an envelope with his own name on it, an official envelope, his very own assignment. Where would it be?

[Gleam Lucre]

The sight of new soldiers meeting their drill instructors brought a small smile to Gleam's face. He'd been absolutely terrified for the first two weeks - so much so that he hadn't been able to speak even when ordered. Most of the other recruits in his training platoon assumed that Gleam was doing it on purpose - the snooty upper class pony refusing to talk to any 'lesser' ponies - and he'd gotten to do a lot of pushups in the mud as punishment for his 'disrespect'. Things had worked out, thankfully, and now Gleam remembered the whole mess rather fondly.

As he trotted past a disorganized line of ponies getting their hide verbally stripped off them for the first time, Gleam looked to see if he recognized any of the recruits. One or two looked vaguely familiar, ponies he must have seen in passing, but it didn't look like anyone else raised in the upper crust had decided to enlist.

His group's area was abuzz with conversation and packing. Papers were fluttering and ponies were laughing and joking with each other. Gleam caught snippets as he trotted past, making a beeline for his own tent. Just as he'd expected, his thirty bits had been a waste.

...Although if he ended up being the only one assigned to Stalliongrad, Gleam was not going to be a happy pony.

Inside his tent, he spotted an envelope waiting on his bunk. Eager to see where he was going, Gleam's mouth and hooves fumbled as he opened the letter.

[Red Charge]

The envelope finally gave, and Gleam was able to open up the letter, written neatly by mouth:

"Private Gleam Lucre,

You are hereby assigned to the Equestrian Heavy Support Training Unit. Upon completion of the Heavy Support Training Course, you will be promoted automatically to Corporal. You must report to a designated teleportation point no. 6 no later than Dawnbreak tomorrow. Feel honored, few new recruits are picked for Heavy Support Training Courses.

You will be given further directions upon arrival.

Make the Princesses proud,

General Gallop, Earth Pony Brigades Commander."

Heavy Support? Gleam wasn't quite sure of what it meant. Support usually meant medics, mages, healers and couriers... What was heavy support? Try though he might, there was never a mention of such a role in the military Gleam ever heard of.

He had all night to party with his fellows, but at the first light of dawn, he had to face a stone faced unicorn at teleportation point number 6 to report to his new training unit. Apparently he wouldn't be getting a field assignment like a lot of the others were. Would that mean he wouldn't be in the war?

[Gleam Lucre]

Frowning, Gleam read the letter over again. Heavy Support...what in the world was that?

Logically, it was still some form of support. Something that was different from the usual support. But what?

Gleam had a sudden mental image flash by: that his job from now on would be to pull a battlefield ambulance. Or dig trenches. Hauling away debris? All the messiest, worst jobs. Of course it probably wasn't as bad as that, but the idea refused to be so easily dismissed.

...With a heavy sigh, Gleam folded the letter up and turned to packing. He might as least try to face his assignment with an open mind. Though a night of drinking beforehoof couldn't hurt in that regard.

[Red Charge]

The next morning was grey and unwelcoming, a cold breeze chilled Gleam's bones as he wandered about the teleportation points, looking for number 6, which was nowhere to be found. Most of his friends had already been teleported, but he remained, clueless. It took him a while to finally find the teleportation point, it was behind the storage room, one of the more neglected parts of the base. The unicorn teleporter was nodding off while standing, apparently not a lot of others had gone by his teleportation point.

He awoke again when Gleam approached and took his papers, saying they all looked to be in order before instructing him to stand still. The teleportation was hardly pleasant, it was like he exploded into an entire new area. A new area he did not recognize at all... was he still in Equestria?

Before he even had time to get his bearings, a loud shout snapped him to attention. "What are you standing around for maggot? Proceed to the admission chain!" Called a massive pony... if he even was just a pony. He was easily twice Gleam's size. He pointed his huge hoof towards a large desk where equipment was organized neatly for him to take and sign for, a lot more equipment than what he had at basic training... After that was another desk where a pony with a vicious looking syringe was waiting, possibly for blood tests or for vaccination... against what, only the heavens knew.

"Why are you still standing here? Go sign on your personal equipment before I send your scrawny flank right back to the sissyville you came from!" The giant pony roared.

[Gleam Lucre]

The morning chill and the hunt for his teleport point did nothing to ease Gleam's worry. And finding that the unicorn responsible for teleporting him to wherever he was going had been nodding off in a back corner wasn't too reassuring either. Seriously, what kind of duty was he in for?

He didn't get a chance to ask the teleporter, because before he knew it Gleam had been painfully zapped away. That couldn't be right - did that unicorn even know how to do the spell properly?!

Gleam didn't even get a chance to look around at wherever he was now when a monstrously huge pony bellowed, making him jump in place. Okay, now he had to get more equipment, and then...that pony with the syringe looked far too interested in jabbing Gleam with his pointy tool for Gleam's liking. Seriously though, where the hoof was this place -

Another roar from the monster-pony, and Gleam nearly jumped out of his hooves again. Look around later, follow orders now! He tried to retain at least a few shreds of his dignity and not run with his tail between his legs to the table with the equipment.

...This stuff made his original gear look like children's toys. Gleam wanted to look it all over, but he could feel that monster pony's eyes on him. He couldn't even ask the pony manning the table what everything was even if the monster wasn't here: his voice had locked up again. Gleam foresaw a lot more muddy pushups in his future, if he was lucky...gathering the equipment, he reluctantly headed to the next table. That syringe looked even bigger and nastier close up, and the gaze he sent to the pony wielding it was nearly pleading.

Did he really have to get jabbed with that thing?

[Red Charge]

But before he even noticed it, the syringe was in and out and all he could feel of his front left leg was a dull throbbing and a slight loss of balance as it kept wobbling. Then he was roughly pushed forwards by the huge pony, around a nearby structure to a courtyard behind it where a platoon of ponies were standing at attention.

Oddly enough, he didn't recognize a lot of faces. In fact, there were very few fresh faces in the group. He also noticed that not all of them were Earth Ponies, there were Unicorns, Pegasi... Were there other basic training bases other than his own? After being shoved in line by the huge pony, he stood at attention, looking forwards at what appeared to be a very large and very ominous pen.

"So I bet you're all asking yourselves, what is a Heavy Support Trooper?" A harsh female voice snapped out. "Here's what." Gleam could see an armored female form in the corner of his eye, but had no time to pay attention to it, as the doors to the giant pen opened and with a loud roar, an adult Terragon stampeded out... right towards where Gleam and the others were standing...

Were they expected to defend themselves?

[Gleam Lucre]

Gleam's attempt to identify any of the other ponies he could see in the corner of his eye was swiftly interrupted by the armored mare's shout and the rattling as the enormous gates in front of them swung open.

And on the other side of those gates stormed out a dragon.

Distantly, Gleam could hear all the family lessons regarding dragons. The Lucre family hadn't had any dragon trouble since one tried to set up his den inside their mine, all the way back when his great-grandmother Sweet Lucre was alive. Still, knowing how to deal with a large, dangerous creature that could and would ruin their entire business had been drummed into every Lucre since.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins, washing away the lingering feelings left by the needle that had jabbed into his foreleg, and Gleam braced himself without realizing it. Terragons had no wings, but they were easily suckered into chasing shiny things. Standard procedure at the Lucre family mine was to lure the ground-dwelling dragons away through a pony relay and a few tools kept sparkling and shiny for that exact purpose.

None of those tools were here, and Gleam was only one pony. He'd have to distract the dragon, taunt it without anything to use as bait, and somehow lure it into a deserted area when he didn't even know where this place was. Gleam honestly wasn't thinking about how the other ponies here were reacting, not even the scary screaming ones that were running this show. He thought he heard some surprised-sounding yelling, but at the moment his mind was focused on plans and his body was poised to leap into action if the dragon attacked.