Fallout Equestria: Total Eclipse

Chapter 1

"Ebony, you've got mail." The courier pony dropped the envelope into my hoof.

I'd been waiting for that letter all week and finally it was here. It was my orders! I remember sitting and just staring at the envelope in my hoof for a good twenty minutes before I'd opened it, all kinds of wild idea's wafting through my mind. Would I be stationed on one of those awesome Thunderheads? Or somewhere above the Everfree? Neighvarro? Seaddle? Or anywhere else really cool? Ya can't blame me. I mean I was a young mare just barely out of the academy. When you're nineteen and just on the edge of something new and exciting, you tend to day dream a little. I was a mare with high expectations. I gazed down at the name on the letter.

Second Lieutenant Ebony Eclipse, EMT. Yeah that's me, and I was pretty proud of that title. I'd worked hard to accelerate through the basic training and the years of college degree training after. I was sent forward a year early. Maybe they'd just had a shortage of field medics in active duty or maybe I really was that good? Either way, I was looking forward to getting out into the real action.

I finally tore the letter open.

"You have been stationed on Point Lookout,"

Say what? A swamp? I'm going to nowhere land? But I was top of my class in combat and medicine. Why the fuck am I going there? Not even a sky city there to defend. Oh yeah, I was annoyed but that's kind of just me. I tossed the letter across the floor. First mission. Bah! Although I really didn't have a say as to where I'd go.

"What's your problem Ebony?" Naturally my Dad had to notice my little bitch fit. I turned to face the heftily built black stallion, even darker in color than I was. I would call my own fur more of a deep midnight blue with a mane and tail that had bands of black, and electric blue through it, accented by my deep purple eyes. Dad? He was just all black. Eyes, mane, tail, you name it! Sometimes you could barely make out his expressions but you could guess that he wore a scowl, as that was his normal.

"It's my orders," I explained "They just came in and … What a shitty mission! They are sending me to Point Lookout! What's out there that the Enclave would need to go there for? Nothing to protect in that shit hole…" My father just glowered at me. I could tell by the aura about his stance and the visible breath snorting out of his nostrils and hanging in the air around him. I couldn't really make out his unseen facial expression.

"Ebony Amethyst Eclipse, every part of the skies needs protecting. We have to maintain a cloud cover over the entire wastes if we don't want infiltrators to find their miserable ways up here. No order of the Grand Pegasus Enclave is a shit mission!" He approached me and loomed over me as he said it, making me take a tentative step back as he pointed his hoof right in my face. "And I don't want to hear that kind of talk from you ever again, is that clear?"

Yeah, clear as mud, clear as the look on your unidentifiable face…. "Crystal clear" I answered then ducked by him towards my saddlebags, half packed for the mission and I snatched up the letter again. Maybe Point Lookout wouldn't be so bad? At least I'd be away from Mr Congeniality.

Report to docking bay 94 to arrange transport to your station via Raptor. Orders are: Assist Captain Frost Haze in medical and help maintain the cloud cover. Side quests may include: away missions to collect salvage from below, most notably Punga fruit, and dispose of troublesome ground ponies. Report has it a group of ponies known as Tribals resides on the island that may need to be dealt with to secure the vicinity. A new base is being set up above the clouds to maintain order in the area. You will be under Commander Aquilla Night.

It didn't sound like the most amazingly interesting mission, but the thought of traveling there in a Raptor was exciting! Seems my job would be to patch up the wounded, that's why I chose to be a field medic after all, and I'd get to see what the surface was really like at its worst. Sure, we'd had some basic training missions to the surface during hoof camp, but I was pretty sure the area's they took us to were reasonably tame in comparison to what was really out there. New base huh? Maybe it all wouldn't be so bad. I mean it was adventure and I liked that idea.

My father was reading it over my shoulder. "You will never be the soldier that your brother is!" He growled close to my ear. Here we go again. The old rivalry and comparison between siblings bit. Oh yeah, Dad was not pleased I chose field medicine over front line gunpony. Even though I'm very sure medics had saved his life a number of times. They were important. I mean without the medic in the team, they wouldn't even make it back alive. I think for Dad, he had his reputation and ego to think about. The scarred up stallion had commanded many harsh battles and ruled his household with an equally iron hoof.

My brother, Onyx, and I, didn't have this rivalry. We got along reasonably well for siblings, with the usual disagreements. I was the middle foal, so I was never quite as good as my older brother, or as well treated and coddled as my younger sister. After Mom died, I was the one who had to step up into that role and run the household. In that sense, I probably grew up a little too fast. This is most likely why I clearly didn't fit in at flight school, and anypony who hated the enclave, also hated me and my family. I'd learnt to put up a tough exterior to deal with all that, but at home, I had far worse to deal with.

"Stop it Father, field medics are very necessary" but I soon found out that my orders were not the only thing on his mind. He was very close. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck and that always made me shudder. Dammit not this again…

"I think you need to give your Dad a proper goodbye before you leave" he said, in a very sinister sounding voice that never took no for an answer. My eyes rolled back at him anxiously, ears flattening as I caught my breath in my throat and froze. Then I felt him nip my ear as his hoof slid down over my flank in a way that a stallion only touches a mare when he's ready to mount her.

Yeah, I really wanted to flinch away, kick out, turn and scream at him, but that only ever made things worse. He'd have his way with me no matter what I did. The more I'd resist the worse it would get and the more he seemed to enjoy that. Report him? Nah, useless. He was a well respected military commander who had often warned me not to stain the Eclipse name with my … MY indecent behavior! What the fuck? It's not l like I wanted any of this.

Yeah, life was so much better above the clouds, but we had our own set of horrors at times. You may think I lived a cushy, pampered, spoilt life on a well protected cloud cover, never wanting for food, never needing to fight to survive, but i lived in my own private wasteland when my Father used me to replace the loss of my Mom. I really… hated… my Dad.

*************

I'm not going to go into details of what happened next, but maybe I could tell you about what it's like to learn to blank out and freeze. In those moments where you know there is no escape, no one to turn to, nothing you can do. Can you pretend it's happening to somepony else? Distance yourself from it… then feel so damned guilty after that you somehow 'let' it happen because you didn't fight it and you didn't say stop; but lack of a no never means yes.

I was pretty young when it all started, and I'd learned to do all of the above. It became an instinct reaction to abuse. Find that place inside yourself where no pony can touch you and stay there til it's all over with and safe to be you again. Then to the rest of the world… make sure they think you're tough, that you can withstand anything, that you are titanium. Nopony gets close, nopony is allowed inside your inner walls. It's a barricade you erect around your heart and mind because nopony out there can be trusted into your secret garden.

When the very pony who was suppose to protect you from all this, is the perpetrator? Your life suddenly becomes a very unprotected wasteland. Thus, I had a reputation for being the "tough bitch" with so few seeing what lay beneath the hardened, well armored surface.

After he was done I just scrubbed myself in the shower. I'd long ago given up the after crying that I'd done as a young filly. Now it was just, get rid of his scent! Get it the hell off of me. I scrubbed over my cutie marks. An eclipse, but not just any eclipse. The moon had nightmare moon in it. It had become quite a legend, how Princess Luna had been banished to the moon for a thousand years after trying to take over equestria and put it into eternal night, but my cutie mark had more than that to it. The blinding light of the sun was coming out from behind. That's what an eclipse was after all. There had been a few above the clouds since the cloudcover closed.

Yeah my family were named Eclipse after my father's name, Galactic Eclipse, but even as a blank flank I didn't expect to have that particular cutie mark. What did it even mean? That I was just a dark shadowy nightmare over the sun? At least mine had some sun. Dad's was just a blackened circle, completely blocking the light and you guessed it, barely visible at all on his black coat.

I got out of the shower and shook, ruffling out my deep blue feathers and grabbing a towel. I then began to carefully brush through the tangles of my wet mane and tail.

"Hey sis, you heading off soon?" It was Middy, my younger sister. Her fur was equally as dark blue as mine, but instead of electric blue streaks in her mane and tail, hers were a nice shade of jade, which matched her eyes. Midnight Jade Eclipse, one year younger than I was. Our mother, Sapphire Eclipse, had included a gem name for each of us. She'd been a jeweler not an enclave soldier.

"Middy what are you doing here? I thought you were moving in with Aunt Aurora?" I gazed at her with a bit of a frown on my face. She was the one thing I was the most worried about having to leave behind! I'd always had to protect her from Dads unwanted attentions. Just keep him focused on me, and maybe he'd leave her the fuck alone. With me gone, I was super worried he'd turn his eyes on her with inappropriate intentions.

"I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye. Don't worry Ebby, I'll be back at Aunties as soon as you leave." She gave me an affectionate hug and I held on tight to her. "You'd better write often" she ordered me.

"Every day, I'll miss you more than anypony else, but it won't be long before you graduate from the academy yourself. Maybe someday we'll get stationed together." I gave her a soft nuzzle and lifted a hoof to wipe the tear out of her eye. "Stop it Middy or you will make me start, and you know I hate tears!"

"Dads not here to see you off?" She asked, gazing about my room at the disheveled bed, ramshackled closet and messy bookshelf.

"He's… sleeping" I told her. Yep, he always slept after he'd had his way with me. I was glad of that. Gave me some recovery time alone. I didn't share that with Middy though. I'd rather she was blissfully unaware of the dark secret I carried. I glanced up at the clock. "I gotta get going Middy, I'm glad you came by" I brushed a strand of mane out of her eyes and hugged her again. "Best sister friend forever…" I whispered to her. I had no idea where that saying came from, It had been around the cloud cities for decades and we had always used it when we referred to each other. I reluctantly let her go.

Grabbing up my saddle bags I threw them over my back and headed out the front door at a trot. My pace quickly turned into a gallop as I neared the Enclave base, and slid to a stop causing the clouds to spray out under my hoofs. The guard posted there just raised his eyebrow at me and said nothing. I showed him my tags and identification and with a nod, he let me through the gates.

The Enclave base was behind large chain link fences, made out of clouds naturally, and because obviously any pony could fly over that, it also had a chain link roof. Once beyond that there were more clouds to walk on and you'd pass the training grounds with various obstacles set up for the recruits. There was the barracks for those ponies who slept on base, a mess hall right beside it for meals, and a string of offices and other buildings, some with second and third floors and every one of them looking stark and official! Nothing like the brightly colorful buildings of the towns and cities. They were … grey. And the walls inside, also grey. Even the furniture was grey.

I glanced down at my officers uniform, also grey… with a slight tinge of brown in the fabric. Officer hats ranged from the same brown grey, to white depending on if you were in "dress uniform" or just regular work attire.

I was wearing my greys. I always had my mane and tail plaited, even when I didn't have to stuff my tail into power armor. Just seemed better, as less likely to get caught in things or in the way! Another side benefit is that a plaited tail makes a really effective whip when you lashed it at somepony. I don't know how other mares coped with their forelocks hanging in their eyes during combat. Mine was harshly pulled back from my face and plaited into a long running braid right down my neck that hung in a blue and black rope over one shoulder. My uniform had not a single wrinkle in it. Solar powered irons did wonders!

As I entered through the gates I gave a crisp salute to the Enclave flag. You had to do that, even if you didn't think anypony was watching. If said flag was being raised, you'd have to hold your position in salute for the entire duration of it going up, while the Enclave anthem played. It was a full five minutes of completely wasted time! You were suppose to be thinking about your loyalty and oaths to protect the clouds and the pegasi and respect all things Enclave, but most ponies spent that time thinking about their next date, or how awful the music was, or what they wanted to order for dinner. Thankfully It was past flag raising time so a quick salute was all that was needed then I moved forward.

As an officer, even a new one, I'd receive plenty of salutes from recruits and enlisted as I passed by. You'd give them a salute back in mutual respect, so let's just say our forelegs got a really good work out! I'd salute anypony higher ranked than I was first. It was just expected. I'm amazed anypony managed to get anywhere when we were almost always on three legs! Ok so that's a wild exaggeration, but also a running joke around the base.

My orders had required me to seek out docking bay ninety four, where a raptor was apparently waiting to start me on the journey. The ship's name was… Bismarck. Apparently named after some famous Enclave chancellor or something. It was a huge vessel painted in, you guessed it, various shades of grey with the Enclave's symbol on the side. Turrets stuck out above and below, ready to blast anything out of the sky that got too close. We still had to watch for griffon and manticore attacks and the like. The Turrets were more than just for ground missions. It sat on a landing bay cloud with it's engines already rumbling as enlisted ponies flew back and forth, readying it for it's eventual take off.

There was a ramp leading up to the interior and I headed straight for that. The feel of the sky metal under my hoofs felt odd compared to the clouds and caused my hoofs to make loud clips and claps upon it. Everyone could hear you coming and it was against the rules to use your wings to fly in. I showed my orders and ID to the guard at the bottom and headed on up.

The interior of a Raptor is something to behold! Everywhere you look there is a flurry of activity. Maintenance crews working on the engines, cleaning ponies wiping over windows, or power armored soldiers on their way to some destination or station. Part of our training in hoof camp was to wear power armor, but I had yet to be issued my own. I assumed that was the first step, even if I was suppose to be in the med bay for the duration of the journey. I was also going to get issued with a nova surge rifle, or… some kind of weapon. Even a field medic needed something to defend herself with.

I glanced down at the digital map on the electronic device I'd been given and followed that towards the med bay.

Captain Frost Haze was a pale blue coated pegasus with brighter blue mane and tail, her colors reminding me very much of the sky. She was at her desk in front of a small computer and studying records, orders, or something else intently. I approached her and gave her a salute.

"Second Lt Ebony Eclipse reporting for duty Ma'am" I said, trying to sound crisp and official.

She gazed up at me, looking somewhat bored and disinterested in my presence and muttered. "About time Eclipse, your uniform for the day is over there on the bench. Get changed quick smart and I don't want to hear a single complaint. Got it?"

OOoooo k. So she was nice and friendly. NOT! It was irrelevant, I really wasn't expecting a welcome party with gifts and rainbow cupcakes. My reply was simply "Yes Ma'am" and I walked over to the bench, looking for scrubs, or maybe some kind of special medical uniform. Instead I found the skimpiest, most provocative, inappropriate, nurses costume? Say what? I glanced over at the Captain but she was busy gazing back at her computer and paying no attention at all to me. I picked up the outfit with a hoof, what little there was of it. The thing was hemmed with ruffles and laces and there was a pair of white sheer stockings with little red bows at the top. No way…. I'd never worn stockings in my life! Much less something that mildly resembled a dress. This had to be a joke. I gazed around looking for the real uniform, but found only sheets, towels, and medical equipment. Then I jumped as I heard the captain speak again.

"What's the hold up Lieutenant?" she didn't sound very patient. It made me wonder if her bedside manner was equally as brash.

"Umm Ma'am?" I questioned. "Are you sure this is what I'm suppose to wear?" It was a reasonable question. I mean this looked like something you'd see in a strippers club,not on an enclave military ship, heading into dangerous unknown territory.

Frost Haze just peered at me over her small reading glasses and said "I gave you an order, I expect you to obey it. You can change in the mares room" She pointed a hoof towards a door dismissively and then went back to studying the screen.

Ok. So this sure wasn't something they'd prepared me for in the academy! Maybe I needed to take the matter to higher command? I glanced between the exit and the mares room for a moment. Then with a scowl… yep my usual scowl, I snatched up the outfit and headed into the mares room.

Struggling into stockings was something I had absolutely zero experience with, so I'm sure it was a very comical sight if anypony had been there to see it. These ones attached to a frilly garter belt which connected around my flanks and snapped them securely up my back legs. Then there was the task of getting on this scanty dress. I struggled into it, feeling very awkward and far from graceful. "This is purely ridiculous" I muttered to myself. How could this possibly follow proper protocol of an elite military unit? None if it made any sense. Was it just… some weird nightmare or something? Then I heard Captain Haze banging on the door and addressing me.

"Hurry up in there Eclipse you have a long line of ponies waiting for their medical evaluations and you're already ten minutes late starting." So let me get this straight… I was expected to greet, and examine pretty much everypony on the raptor dressed like this? Bad enough I had to wear it in the first place. Talk about anxiousness about a first impression on the crew.

I stuck my head out the door and was immediately greeted with Captain Haze putting something on my head. Just to add insult to injury, it turned out to be a tizzy little nurses hat, with white lace and the first aide cross in the center of it.

"Ok that complete your uniform" she informed me, sounding frightening serious given the ridiculousness of the situation. "But you have to wear the underwear inside out. Step it up, I don't have all day" She ordered in a manner that suggested that this was all just perfectly normal! I gazed at the growing line at the sliding glass doors of the med bay, a string of mares and stallions all waiting for their med check.

"O…. k" I responded before slipping back to pull off what was essentially just a g string, and turning it inside out before replacing it. The lace on it itched and tickled at my nether regions as a constant reminder that it was there.

When I re emerged, Captain Haze continued her instructions.

"Each pony needs a full check up, including all vital signs, full urine test, including a test for STD's, chem and alcohol usage, pregnancy for the mares and any other infections. Also do a radiation scan. Check for inguinal hernias, breast cancer lumps, and thoroughly examine the wings for any misaligned bones or muscle weakness. We need to make sure the crew is all in tip top condition for this mission. I want a full scale report on each of them"

Well, that was a pretty routine procedure but when you're dressed like a pole dancer it wasn't exactly the easiest set of orders to follow. Heck even walking out of the mares room door to face the gathering ensemble of patients was highly challenging at this point. I wonder if my brother had put them all up this. It would be so like him! However I knew he wasn't even stationed anywhere near here. This kind of 'joke' wasn't something my father would set up with either. I just gave a sigh and uttered a very uncertain "Yes Ma'am" and walked out with as much dignity as I could muster, grabbing up the clipboard and calling the first name.

I had pulled the hospital curtains around me in the examination area and taken to calling each ponies name on the list one by one, going over them all and doing awkward things like yep… checking they had two testicles or no lumps around their breasts. After performing check ups on the first few, many of who seemed to be stifling grins or chuckles, I was pretty ready to blow my fuse about the outfit and storm up to the cockpit to complain to the commander. Surprisingly I kept my cool. Taking an extra deep breath as I called the next name on the list.

"Airpony Third Wheel" I yelled to the closed curtain and I'm sure I sounded less than jovial by now. This was when, to my surprise, a chestnut stallion with a blond mane and tail trotted in, but unlike my previous patients, he was wearing… No. Surely not. Was that a maids outfit? His underwear, which was a lacy black and white set made primarily for mares was also on inside out. He wasn't scowling like I was, he was actually wearing a very silly grin on his face. He saluted me, not wiping the smile off his face at all.

"Woah, I see you're new too!" he exclaimed as he eyed my outfit and circled around me, seemingly checking me out. I must have had a very obvious frown on my face, ears pinned back and not looking overly impressed, but I had to admit seeing another dressed inappropriately was somewhat of a relief! "Airpony Third Wheel E-2 reporting for medical exam, Ma'am" he said sounding more official now but still looking way less than serious.

"Yes it's my first day on duty, but so what?" I said in a manner that rivaled Frost Haze in terrible bedside manner. The stallion kept a light tone as he answered.

"The others explained to me that everypony on their first day of active duty under Colonel Aquilla Night gets dressed up like this. Some kind of initiation ritual or something." He wiggled his flanks a bit so that the slight black and white lacy skirt moved back and forth over his cutie marks, three wheels with the central one zipping between the other two and knocking them sideways.

"Not exactly what I was expecting but you gotta admit… I make a cute filly!" he chuckled as he flipped his mane out of his eyes. How could he be so free and easy about this?

"Cute filly or not, strip so I can examine you" I ordered, grabbing out the clip board and looking over his medical history. Didn't seem to be any signs of mental illness so that clearly wasn't it. The guy was obviously just a class clown. I hoofed a sample bottle to him and said "Urine sample" Not bothering to say please.

The stallion smirked. "Well peeing in a cup is one of the easier orders I've been given today." he joked "Fare easier than dress like a prench maid," He then chuckled and added "but doing a strip tease? Do I get mood music? Or a pole?" I wasn't laughing though. This wasn't exactly the way an enlisted should be talking to a senior officer. I opted not to chastise him verbally and just gave him a look of cold hard steel instead.

The blonde stallion seemed unintimidated by it. He gave a slight blush as he collected the urine sample then hoofed the jar back to me for testing. I then went through the motions of vital signs then wing check ups, which could get highly awkward considering how sensitive a pegasi's wings can be, but it wasn't til I grabbed his tail, lifted it, and did the inguinal hernia check that things became even more problematic. Both his wings shot up in two very ungainly wing boners.

I rolled my eyes. Typical! Not the first time it had happened to me, but this time the embarrassed blush on the stallions face and the way he said "Oopsie, s.. so… sorry ma'am" was just a little too much for me to handle.

I laughed. Something very uncommon for me and way out of the ordinary. Interestingly the stallion started to laugh too, til both of us were hiding behind a wing and finding it very hard not to laugh. Finally I said "get dressed little filly your in perfect health."

"Thank you Lieutenant" he said, getting unceremoniously back into his frilly little dress, struggling far more uncomfortable than I had in the mares room. This only resulted in more wing snickers from me, which granted, were very unfair considering I was in the same situation.

"Sorry Third Wheel" I eventually said, my guilt at laughing at him getting the better of me but the stallion just smiled seemingly without a care in the world.

"You can call me Wheelie" he said as he exited with a brief salute at me.

After that, each examination seemed a lot easier. The precariousness of my outfit didn't seem so bad, knowing I wasn't the only one facing it. I met a few other obvious newbies whose first day it was on the raptor. Some of them grumbled and whined to which I answered "Live with it." and sent them on their ways. The rest of the crew had obviously been through this kind of thing themselves.

I met the next notable pony after I called the name "First Lieutenant Lollipop" In walked a sleek, charcoal grey coated mare with wavy mane and tail in two vivid shades of blue. To top it off, she had the most vivacious crimson eyes that sparkled at me when she smiled. The first thought that came into my head was 'hot'. Oh did I mention that I totally swing in the direction of mares? The barn door doesn't operate in the other direction at all. My eyes went straight to her very generous wing span and, despite that she was a senior officer to me, I completely forgot to salute. I was too fixated on the way she strode in with the sexiest sway of her her well formed, curvaceous hips. She didn't tell me off though, she just… giggled and gave me an unofficial wing salute which I stiffly returned.

"First Lieutenant Lee reporting for med exam" She said, in a voice that caused my tail to slightly rise. I quickly clamped it back down but I was pretty sure she must have noticed. Now everypony of the skies knows, that during nice sunny weather, we have no problems what-so-ever prancing around without wearing anything at all and it's completely accepted and normal, but when you're dressed in a hot nurses outfit, with lace around the flanks that cause your mare parts to just barely peek out from under the scanty fabric… that's extremely different. It's made a lot worse when your standing right in front of a very sleek, attractive mare who was clearly quite physically fit with every curve moulded together perfectly.

"Second Lieutenant Ebony Eclipse" I said back to her, giving myself an introduction. "Could you undress and please give me a urine sample" I requested, snatching up the clipboard to give myself something to focus on other than the sight of her slipping slowly, and provocatively out of her uniform. Nope... not going to watch it out of the corner of my eye, as it slid enticingly off her flanks dropped to the floor and revealing sensuously curved flanks and a cutie mark of a bundle of lollipops thus explaining her name.

On the surface, such a cutie mark would be rare, or unheard of. Natural selection and survival of the fittest had transformed the nature of pony kind and much grimmer, darker cutie marks had overtaken the normally pretty, fun and cutsie ones that we were originally supposed to have. But above the clouds, ponies still inherited good old fashioned, whole some, and playful cutie marks to fit their natural talents. I honestly believe, that if not for the skies closing, that re capturing those traits would have been much harder for ponykind. Groundies had forgotten what it meant to make lollipops for a living.

I gave my wings a good shake. No wing boners Ebony, you're on the job and you're a professional, I reminded myself, trying to think about anything except an ash colored mare in front of me whose tail had the perfect arc as she carried it just high enough up, and to the side that you'd get a decent view of the treasures beneath.

"Ebony, nice name" she coo'ed as she stripped, in slow motion. Ok it was probably not actually in slow motion but it might as well have been from where I was standing. Control yourself Ebony.

"And even nicer outfit" she observed, circling around me much like Third Wheel had. Did she just peek under my tail? Nah I was imagining it. Maybe she was checking the inside out G string I'd been forced to wear. She also sure did seem to be eyeing off my flanks. Probably just trying to get a better view of my cutie mark which was barely peeking out from under the white lace that edged the pale pink nurses skirt. "First day?" she asked, but it was obvious she was familiar with the initiation attire. "I must say you wear it well compared to the last mare who had it on. Pale pink on dark fur is so alluring"

She was teasing me, in more ways than one. I clamped my tail down harder as I said "well yeah, I'm not use to wearing anything this tizzy. How long do I have to parade around like this?" Lee giggled. It was a very pleasant sound that eased my tension.

"It's usually just the first several hours, depending. That's very much up to our commander." I pulled her wings out one by one, impressed by the strength in them and the quality of the muscle tone. This was an experienced, strong flyer. Flawless.

"So the commander actually condones this?" I asked "I assumed it was some prank of the lower ranking officers and enlisted ponies or something." I grabbed the otoscope to check each one of her ears.

"The commander does indeed order it." Lee explained " She has her reasons. I'm sure she will explain them to you herself. So tell me Ebony, what do you know about Point Lookout?"

I was glad for the change in topic. "Not much," I told her as I pumped up a blood pressure cuff around her left foreleg. "Just what the orders said. Some ponies there named Tribals to deal with, some fruit they want us to gather, and a new base being set up. I also know it's mostly swamp lands below."

"Probably not what you were hoping for on a first mission huh?" she said, confirming how I'd felt when I first read the orders. "I've been stationed there a while and read over the back history. It seems the main problem there is minor breaks in the cloud cover. Not gigantic ones but enough to cause concern."

"The island is just a little bit too far from the borders maintained by the S.P.P towers, causing little fluxuations and opening here and there. They are sending in a team to manually close those the old fashioned way if necessary. We are still pegasi after all, and we can still move clouds about by hoof."

"However, because of the additional amount of sunlight leaking through to the surface, a special kind of fruit is growing only on that island and nowhere else in the wastelands. Radiation levels are high there, even above the clouds, but this fruit has developed an uncanny resistance to it, and when consumed, helps reduce it in a pony. It has a more powerful effect than standard Rad Away and It also has physical healing properties to it."

" For this reason, it's become a resource of great interest to the Enclave. The Tribal ponies have claimed some kind of monopoly on it, preventing other ground ponies from having free access to it. My job, is going to be to face those bastards down"

The way she said the last sentence made me perk my usually laid back ears at her with interest. She sounded pretty fearless about the idea and even like she was looking forward to it. I'd been recording her heart rate and noticed a definite rise in it at the prospect of kicking ground ponies ass!

"So what's special about these Tribal ponies that they stop other groundies from getting near the fruit?" I asked, very interested now in the mission as it had just taken a huge hoof step up the ladder of 'not so boring after all'

"They're crazy" she answered with a half smile on her face as her eyes met mine with that same dazzling sparkle I'd noticed before. "Extra crazy for ground ponies. You can recognize them by the very noticeable scar on their heads where they have all had, what you call in medical terms, a partial lobotomy. Literally!"

"No shit" I said trying to fathom that. "Why would any pony have that done? Disease? Cancer?" I could think of no other logical reasons for having a piece of your brain removed. Lee chuckled.

"Neither, it's part of their initiation ritual into their cult. And you thought wearing a sexy dress was bad! To become one of them, you have to have the so called negative thoughts removed to purify you and cleanse your mind so that it can become enlightened or some such shit. Like I said, crazy." she jumped down from the examination table and raised her tail for the inevitable breast cancer check.

I moved up behind her hoping that the very slight blush on my cheeks was not noticeable, which on dark blue fur, came out a radiant shade of purple.

"These ponies actually believe that untrained brain surgery will enlighten them?" I queried as I moved up behind her. "Do they even have sterile instruments or proper laboratories down there?" I asked, a little gob smacked at what I was hearing. Sure my Dad had told some pretty wild stories of the surface but this took the cake.

"Not even close" Lee confirmed. "They live in a very dirty swamp land. They are the epitome of ground scum and we plan to completely wipe them out of we can. Now I'm no fan of groundies, but this lot will trick as many others into their ways as they can, thinking they will somehow find that great beyond to take them to where ever the dead princesses are for a miraculous return to harmony." she rolled her eyes dramatically.

I noticed a slight wing flutter as I stuck my hoof between her back legs to examine her breasts. No lumps, except that one in my throat! I coughed to clear it and gazed up at the ceiling nonchalantly. "Your blush is adorable" Lee suddenly announced, causing my eyes to just fly wide open. Was she flirting with me? Ponies didn't flirt with me, especially if they knew what was good for them. I was the bitch that everypony avoided.

"It's just… " I stammered completely caught off guard. "No no no, I'm just, over worked. I mean, you're the last pony on my list. It's been a really long day"

"Yeah sure" she said with a giggle and a wink. It sure looked like flirting to me. "If I'm the last one, that means you need to get those hot flanks of yours up to the commanders and check in with her. I'm sure she is dying to meet with the new medical officer" she told me, then gave my 'hot flanks' a very hot swat with one of her equally hot wings before turning to gather up her uniform and exit at a trot without even putting it back on.

Well that did it. My self restraint finally broke and two ebony blue wings shot up with a snap! I backed up in surprise at my own wing boners and knocked over the equipment cart with a loud clatter and clang. I was still collecting up the various bits and pieces when Captain Frost Haze entered to see what had just happened.

Two very stiff wing boners were extremely obvious, and me bending over displaying a nice view of my back end peeking out from underneath the scanty lace. Captain Frost Haze raised an eyebrow at me and I thought I caught the slightest hint of an amused half smile almost curling onto her otherwise terse lips. "If you're done rearranging my med bay, you'd best report to Colonel Aquilla" she informed me.

I didn't hesitate to scamper out of there and hide my signature purple blush.

*************************

I'd gotten full control of my wings by the time I reached the cockpit of the Raptor to meet with the final pony I needed to meet. The Colonel herself. She had her back to me as I entered and an ear angled back my direction indicated she'd heard my hoof steps on the sky metal floors.

"Come in Lieutenant, I've been expecting you."

I froze into a salute until I heard her say "At ease Eclipse I've called you here for a reason." I relaxed only slightly and waited, wondering if she'd already heard how I'd knocked over all the equipment. She turned to face me, a stunning green mare with greying mane and tail, mature aged with eyes that spoke of many experiences and much wisdom. She looked me over much like everypony else had today then grinned.

"So what do you think of your initiation outfit?"

I balked at the question. What was I to say? It sucks? It's embarrassing ludicrous and completely unprofessional? I'd learnt from lieutenant Lee that this idea had come directly from her, and she was the commander so giving a first impression that insulted her orders was not going to be the best idea.

"It's quite... creative!" I finally managed to say as I shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof. The colonel just chuckled at me

"I'm sure you're wondering why I would give such an outlandish order to my new recruits?" She echoed my exact thoughts and I nodded. No use covering up how I really felt. "I appreciate your honestly. " she told me then gazed straight into my eyes as she continued.

"We are about to head into enemy territory, one of the most hostile regions of the wastes. All kinds of nasties lurk in the swamps, and we are far from civilized sky cities, quite isolated. I need ponies on my team who will follow direct orders, even if they don't make sense, take them completely out of their comfort zones, and border on breaching normal protocol. It's not that I don't ever expect my authority to be questioned. I hope it is if I risk our division. However, trust is imperative to survive out there, and need to know my team trusts me, no matter how bizarre the circumstances are."

"I also like to know that my soldiers can continue to be effective even when under pressure, or taken way beyond situations they would normally feel comfortable in or prepared for." she must have noticed the look on my face because she said "Don't worry, Lieutenant Ebony, you passed with flying rainbow colors. I checked your academy records before you came here, and requested you personally for this assignment. The initiation outfits are more than a way to break the ice, they are also a test, to see how well you will perform when things aren't going quite as you had planned." I gazed up at her in surprise at that. Finally this whole fiasco made some sense and … she requested me?

"Don't look so surprised Ebony" she said, dropping the titles and giving me a warm smile. "Your dedication and training has been exemplary. You're a sharpshooter but you also know your medical knowledge. I need a pony like you in my medical bay, one who can effectively patch up the wounded, but can also defend the clinic should anything invade or attack. Most field medics are notably better at one skill or the other. You? I know you are going to excel at both."

I was amazed at what I was hearing. Finally a pony who had faith in me and noticed the efforts I'd made. Even better, she'd not once mentioned my famed father as the reason she'd wanted me in her team.

"I'll do my best Ma'am" I assured her and I really meant it.

"I am positive you will, Ebony" she confirmed gently as she stood up and put out a hoof to help me to my hooves as well. "Welcome aboard, now march to the armory to be assigned your power armor and out of those ridiculous clothes, we take off in thirty minutes."

I smiled at her and gave her a very enthusiastic "Yes Ma'am!" Saluting before I trotted off with a noticeable bounce in my stride. Power armor finally!

This was really going to be one heck of an exciting mission!