Chapter 2
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Hold up!" yelled Delta, "You're telling me that you actually fought your CO?"
"Damn straight." responded Nails.
"How did you not get arrested for something as dumb as that?" Delta responded.
"I'm getting there just hold on."
Talon and the Sarge rolled around on the floor locked in their scuffle while the other ponies were helpless to watch. Talon finally gained the upper hand and started to relentlessly strike the Sarge.
"I'm done with you!" shouted Talon as he landed punch after punch, "I'm done with your rules! I'm done with your PTs; I'm done with all of your shit!"
"Corporal Talon!" a voice rang out across the room. Talon looked up and to his horror; Princess Celestia was standing at the door. The Sarge also looked to see who his savior was and smiled when he saw the princess standing there.
"Come with me this instant!" demanded Celestia. Talon had no choice and let go of the Sarge to follow the princess. He heard the Sarge call him out as he left the mess hall.
"You're in deep shit now you son of a bitch! I hope they lock you up for good!" yelled the Sarge.
Talon caught up with the princess and was the first to speak. "I'm very sorry Princess Celestia. I know that I have failed you and will accept any punishment you decide to give me."
"Talon, what you did today was very foolish and unheard of!" responded Celestia, "However, not many can beat Bluebonnet the way you did."
Talon had to fight off the urge to laugh at hearing the Sarge's real name for the first time. Celestia noticed this.
"Go ahead and laugh Talon."
"Why should I laugh? I'm getting punished aren't I?" responded Talon.
"Not punished, you're getting reassigned."
"Reassigned?"
"To Special Forces."
"What's that?" asked Talon.
"Of course, I'm sorry. I forget that only the royal guard and the militia's captains know about Special Forces. They are the true spearhead of our army. They are the ones that will go in and fight the war. The Militia is only for when they fail and we have to fight on our own soil."
"Let's hope that day never comes."
"I believe that it won't. In order to make it into Special Forces you have to be the best of the best. Me and Luna along with some of the leaders of Special Forces will hand pick all of its soldiers. It's truly an honor to go into them."
"But, if they're hand-picked then why am I going?" asked Talon, "You saw me fighting with...Bluebonnet. I wouldn't exactly call that the best of the best!"
"We've actually had our eyes on you for a while."
"Ever since you found me?"
"Yes, back then however we were seeing if you would be more griffon like or pony. We have decided that you are definitely more pony in your head."
"I think it's great, me being part griffon. When I fight, everything just seems to slow down. It's like I have reflexes that I never had to train. I know things about fighting that others don't even understand."
"And that is exactly why we believe you were mistreated by Bluebonnet. It's a good thing that you probably put him in the infirmary so that he can't do any more damage for a while."
"So, you're saying that it was ok for me to attack him?" asked Talon.
"Well Talon, it wasn't ok by our standards, but does that mean it was the wrong thing to do so? You defended yourself, and you did it so well that I instantly knew that it was time for you to go to the Black Stallions."
"The Black Stallions? I thought I was going to Special Forces!"
"You are, the Black Stallions are named after the original elements of Harmony. The original group used that name and so the Special Forces adopted it."
Talon had no idea what Princess Celestia had meant by elements of harmony but he ignored it. "So, where are these Special Forces? I've never seen them around the camp and they definitely aren't in a city."
"The main base is actually located in Canterlot. It's so well hidden though that nopony will ever find it, even if they did, there are several spells guarding it."
"No offense your majesty, but aren't there ways around spells?"
"That's true, but the magic of me and my sister surpasses any unicorn in Equestria." said Celestia as she came to a stop, "We're here."
Talon looked out at an empty clearing. To the untrained eye, it would be just that... empty. But Talon's eyes didn't need training. Because he was part griffon, he could easily see that there was something here that wasn't natural.
"Something wrong here." said Talon to Princess Celestia, "I don't know what, but it just doesn't look right."
"You are right. Some would expect maybe a trapdoor or maybe even a building in the side of a cliff. We have made it so undetectable so that you have to know it's there."
"So where is it then?"
Celestia took out a small medallion. Talon recognized it as the royal seal. She held it up and it caught the sunlight. As soon as the sunlight hit the seal it began to glow. A group of trees off to the side began to slowly disappear. Talon stared as a building appeared behind the trees.
"Magic." was all he could think to say.
"Come on in Talon. Oh and don't worry about getting back in. The day you leave is the last day you will ever see this place. Now, it's time you met the others." said Celestia as she walked into the building. Talon followed closely behind her as the trees began to reappear. Talon looked around as they walked down the hallway. They approached a desk where a stallion was asleep with his face down on the desk.
"I thought you said these were the best of the best!" Talon said to Celestia. He then felt a knife at his back as the stallion on the desk disappeared.
"We are." said a voice from behind. Talon turned around to see the exact same stallion behind him holding a knife with magic. "You must be the FNG."
"FNG?" said Talon as the unicorn walked back behind the desk.
"It's what we call the new guys around here." said the unicorn as he sat back down, "I don't know what it means. Maybe somepony like Bladestorm would know he's been around here since before me. My name's Illusion." said the unicorn extending a hoof. "I was the one on front desk duty today."
"Talon." replied Talon as he extended his claw forward. Instead of taking it however, the unicorn just stared at it.
"Is something wrong?" asked Talon.
"No, nothing. I've just never seen something like this before. Were you born with that?"
"Yeah, my dad was half griffon."
"So, that must mean that your family is originally from the griffon lands. That means that you have fighting blood in your veins. I like you already."
"That's a good change of pace. My last CO hated me."
"Talon, first thing you need to learn about this place. Nopony has a rank here. Nopony is your CO, we are all good friends and we are each other's trainers. I am as much your trainer as you are mine. After all, who can teach the best to be better?"
"Ok, so where is everypony else?"
"Right this way. I'll get somepony to show you around. I have to do the front desk. Someday, you'll have your shift and let me tell you, you will want nothing more than a good workout afterwards."
"Well, I must be going now." said Princess Celestia.
"Of course, it was nice seeing you Princess." said Illusion.
"Talon, I expect you to work hard at your new position."
"Yes Ma'am." replied Talon.
As Celestia left, the two ponies walked down the hallway. They went through a set of doors at the end and Talon was shocked by what he saw on the other side. There were Pegasi flying in formation at dummies while unicorns were casting a wide barrage of spells. Talon would have stared at the sight for hours had he not heard a voice call out.
"Hey Guys!" shouted a gray earth pony, "We got an FNG here!"
Everypony in the room immediately stopped what they were doing and looked over at Talon. One lone voice sounded out.
"FNG." another voice joined, "FNG!" more and more voices joined as the chant kept going. Talon had no idea what they were doing until the gray pony walked up to him.
"My name is Bladestorm; I'm with the Earth regiment. Welcome to the Black Stallions kid."