Chapter 2

After landing on the deck of the USS Cloudsdale, Admiral Luna and I made our way to the bridge. Once stepping through the threshold Luna and I snapped to attention.

"Permission to come aboard XO?" asked Luna. A young female officer with long, straight purple hair turned around and went right up to Luna.

"And why would I let you do that? You are ten minutes late admiral; I should kick you off the ship."

"Apologies ma'am, we had to adjust course on the way over to avoid some turbulence," answered Luna smirking. Meanwhile I was shaking on the inside as to what the fate of this officer would be after she relinquished control of the bridge. The officer in question, who I now noticed had a pink stripe running from her bangs to tips of her hair, got right up in Luna's face and held a scowl. She was a good eight to 10 inches shorter than Luna but that didn't stop her. Suddenly a wild grin split her face and she saluted Luna.

"Permission granted Admiral, welcome aboard." Luna returned the salute and they hugged joyously while giggling. I was now confused out of my mind over what had just transpired. The officer suddenly noticed me still at attention and got serious again.

"Now Luna, what have I told you about bringing your boyfriend onboard?" Luna blushed and playfully smacked her shoulder.

"Now Twilight, this is Commander Giovani Santori. Callsign: Night Wing. He will be one of the new aviators aboard this fine vessel.

"Welcome aboard Night Wing," said "Twilight." "I look forward to serving with you." I saluted and she returned it crisply.

"Twilight ma'am?" I asked, putting emphasis on her nickname. Luna giggled and explained.

"This is Commander Lyn "Twilight" Sparkle. She is the XO aboard this ship and has complete command when I am not on board." I nodded and then realized two very strange oddities.

"Um admiral? You said when you are not on board she has command, but isn't the Solar Eclipse your flagship?" She nodded. "Then why would you be onboard this ship at all?"

"I forgot to mention that both ships are my flagships. I'll explain later, in the meantime I have to get the Eclipse underway."

"Wait admiral," I interrupted, earning a quirked eyebrow from Luna. "I'm a lieutenant, not a commander ma'am." She smiled and held out a set of commander's insignia in her palm.

"You are now, commander." My jaw dropped and I instinctually snapped to attention as she removed my lieutenant bars and replaced them with commander's oak leaves. "I hope that you will enjoy the rank and assume the responsibilities assigned to you."

"Yes ma'am!" Luna smiled and saluted me.

"Admiral is leaving!" Twilight called out and all on the bridge stood at attention. Luna dismissed them and left the bridge. I started to relax and Twilight motioned me over.

"Congrats commander, I guess I'll be seeing you around the officer's club eh?" She smiled and offered a hand to shake. I took it and returned her smile.

"I guess you will. Now if I could get some help finding my quarters that would be great." She nodded her head and gestured over to a lieutenant.

"Spike, show commander Night Wing to his quarters if you please." A young man got up and came over; saluting once he stood next to me.

"Right this way sir," he said and I moved to follow him. As we walked I noticed that he had green hair underneath his cap.

"So lieutenant, what do you think of the ship?" I asked after a few minutes walking in silence. He looked back at me and smiled.

"Permission to speak freely sir?"

"You never need to ask permission with me lieutenant," I answered. His smile widened and he continued.

"First off, please sir, call me Spike. Second, this ship is freaking awesome! Did you notice that the admiral has a certain… affinity for electro magnets?" I nodded my head. "Well she uses the damn things on everything you can think of: MAC guns, door seals, even the aircraft catapults are using them. And according to some engineers that I've talked to, because of how much electricity they use the reactor is a third bigger than any other reactor they have worked on aboard a carrier."

"That makes sense, this ship is bigger than any before it," I said moving out of the way of some seamen as they moved some boxes. Spike nodded his head and kept walking around people without even looking.

"There's a little under 100 aircraft on board right as we speak, and we are only 85% loaded up." He jumped up and hooked his hands on a door seal to swing over a container being toted by a couple crewmen. Once he cleared it he landed and kept walking like nothing happened. "It's very exciting sir."

"I agree. So what do you do on the bridge?" I asked as I waited for the crewmen to pass.

"I'm chief communications officer sir. I handle any and all types of communication, outgoing or incoming. You could say I'm the phone operator for the whole ship."

"Must be quite challenging," I said.

"Nah, it's not so hard. I once handled all communication for the pentagon for a couple days. THAT was fun." I saw the smile on his face and I knew he meant it. "Well, here we are sir. Your quarters." He gestured to a room and I entered to check it out. There was a bed, a desk, and a shower/bathroom combo in the corner.

"Where's my computer Spike?"

"It's the desk sir," he answered waving his hand over it and it came to life. "Just place your hand on it and you'll be logged in and given clearance to everything allowed your rank." He pushed a button on the side and a Combat Information Tablet slid out from under the desk and into his hand. He booted it up and handed it to me. "Your CIT sir, keep this on you at all times. It lets me find you in a pinch."

"Copy that," I said and scrolled through the various apps and programs. "Where can I find the pilot's ready room?"

"Just ask the tablet and it'll guide you, I'm sure you'll get the hang of finding your way around the ship in no time." Suddenly a beeping sound escaped from Spike's side pouch and he pulled out his own CIT. "Ah, my mother." He answered what turned out to be a video call. "Yes Commander Twilight?"

"I need you back on the bridge Spike. We are going to be underway soon and you're in charge of comms." Spike nodded and gestured towards me.

"Just getting the commander set up on his CIT," he replied as he motioned me to hold up my CIT in front of my face. He swiped his finger across his screen in my direction and Twilight appeared on my screen as well.

"All settled commander?" she asked smiling.

"Yes commander, almost. Just gotta check on my flight gear and I'll be all set."

"Wish it was that simple for the rest of the ship… Spike get back up here ASAP, talk to you later commander," said Twilight while saluting. I returned it and dropped the call.

"I'll see you around sir," said Spike as he snapped a salute. I shrugged and held out my hand.

"You don't have to be so formal with me Spike. Call me Ni."

"I knew you were cool sir, I mean Ni. See ya 'round." He rushed out and I went out as well, consulting the CIT on where the ready room was. As I made my way through the ship I bumped into the biggest man I have ever seen. I literally bounced off of him when I glanced down to check my direction at a junction. When I looked up he was wide eyed and holding his hands up apologetically.

"I'm sorry man, I didn't see ya there," said the behemoth in a deep, slightly southern drawl. He glanced at my rank insignia and snapped to attention so hard I thought he had hit his head on the bulkhead. "Attention on deck!" he bellowed. A couple marines that were behind him also snapped to when they heard him. I saw that the man I had run into was also a marine.

"As you were marines, it's alright. No harm no foul," I said offering my hand to shake. He took my hand and gave it a light squeeze with his own massive paw. A marine lieutenant came up from behind him and saluted.

"Sorry 'bout that sir, we wuz just trying tah find our quarters," she said in a much more noticeable southern accent. I nodded my head in understanding and shook her hand after returning her salute.

"I'm on my way to the pilot's ready room," I said. "What's your name lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant Amelia Joan Jameson, but you can call me Applejack," she answered with pride. "And this here is Bartholomew Matthew Jameson, my brother. You can call him Big Mac." I smiled and nodded my head.

"I'm guessing the admiral pulled some strings for you two to serve together eh?" I asked, knowing the military prohibited putting family members in the same units. They both nodded.

"You could say that we are friends," said Applejack sheepishly. "We saved her life once when she was checking out a Forward Operating Base over in Afghanistan a couple years back. We've been on her personal roster ever since." Big Mac nodded and put his hands in his pockets.

"Well I'm sure that you guys need to get your gear sorted," I said as I pulled out my CIT. "I'll look up your room numbers and point you in the right direction."

"Thank you kindly sir, we were a bit turned around," said Applejack appreciatively. She gave me their serial numbers and I showed them the directions the CIT spit out. We said our good byes and I moved toward the ready room. Once entering I saw that a couple other pilots were already inside checking their gear and lockers. As I moved around the others I noticed that I seemed to be the highest ranked person in the room, which made me feel slightly awkward since I had skipped a rank thanks to Luna. Once I found my locker I opened it up and found a flight uniform inside that was NOT standard issue. I pulled it out and looked over it with a confused look on my face. It seemed to be slightly armored and had a holster across the chest, along with extra ammunition slots on the left leg. I took my helmet out from the top shelf and noted that it looked a bit trimmed down in terms of size and was significantly lighter. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see a blond ensign saluting me. I smiled and saluted back.

"Hello sir, are you commander Night Wing?" she asked. I nodded my head and shook her hand.

"That I am ensign, and who are you?" I then noticed that her eyes were not aligned properly; as one was looking at me and the other was staring off into space.

"I'm Ensign Ditzelia Diane Doo, callsign Derpy sir. I've been assigned to be your RIO (Radar Intercept Officer)," she said cheerfully. I smiled on the outside but inside I was thinking 'dear God in heaven how did she get in the navy…?' She seemed to notice a slight hesitance in my smile and her look dropped a couple grades.

"Something wrong sir…?" she asked hesitantly. "Is it my eyes?"

"Umm…"

"Don't worry about those sir, when we are flying my adrenaline kicks in and they straighten out. Don't ask me how it works, the navy docs couldn't figure it out either." She saw my expression hadn't changed and she sighed. "They bother you don't they sir? Hold on…" she closed her eyes and her face scrunched up in concentration. After a second she opened her eyes again and her eyes were straightened. "Better sir?" I looked at her eyes that were now looking into mine intently, almost begging to be accepted.

"You have beautiful eyes no matter what Derpy," I said without thinking. Her eyes widened and a deep blush formed instantly across her face. I clapped a hand over my mouth and stared at her waiting to see what she would say. She looked down and rubbed her arm embarrassedly.

"Yellow light sir…"

"Oh God I didn't mean to sound like I was trying to… you know… seduce you or anything… I just thought they were pretty and it came out and… you must hate me now don't you…" she looked back up at me and it seemed like she had mist in her eyes.

"If that's the case sir, then thank you for the compliment." A small smile crept onto her features and she took a step back. "I need to… get my quarters sorted… ping my room if you need me." She turned and quickly left. I sighed deeply and put my uniform back in my locker and secured it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a rainbow haired lieutenant snickering with a dark haired lieutenant as they looked at me. I fixed an intense glare at her and she seemed to stop. After securing my locker I turned to leave when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey newbie, how you doing?" a male voice asked behind me. I turned around and saw the dark haired lieutenant that had been laughing earlier standing in front of me. Upon closer inspection his hair was pitch black with gray tips and swept back in soft spikes. He noticed my rank and stiffened slightly.

"Sorry sir didn't know you were a commander," he said snapping a salute. I returned it grudgingly and set my best "hardass" look on my face.

"What were you two laughing about earlier lieutenant…?"

"Shadow Flash sir."

"Lieutenant Shadow Flash."

"I'd prefer not to answer sir," he said slowly.

"That's an order Lieutenant," I said gruffly, adding emphasis on his rank. He nodded and snapped to attention.

"Lieutenant commander Rainbow Dash switched Derpy to be your RIO instead of hers sir, she wanted your RIO." My eyes squinted in anger and looked over the ready room.

"Lieutenant commander Rainbow Dash!" I bellowed menacingly over the din of the room.

"Yeah!?" came a raspy female voice from among the lockers.

"Commander Night Wing would like a word with you!" I yelled back. She took her sweet time getting over to me.

"Ok I'm here newbie, where's the commander?" she asked with a look of annoyance painted across her features.

"You're looking at him," I growled and her eyes shot open. Then she did the most insane thing I have ever seen anyone do in this situation: she started laughing! As she laughed my anger built up until I yelled out "attention on deck!" Everyone snapped to except Rainbow, who was still laughing heartily. Shadow nudged Rainbow.

"He's a commander Rainbow!" he whispered harshly. "Shut up before you get yourself court-martialed!" She slowly gained control of herself and noticed that I wasn't kidding and that everyone was standing at attention. A smidge of fear made its way onto her face and she stood at attention. I was so angry with her behavior that I went right up in her face and gave her a piece of my mind.

"Lieutenant commander Rainbow Dash, do you know how disgusted I am at you right now!?"

"No sir!" she said loudly.

"I am so disgusted that I have half a mind to keel-haul you off this ship right now! Not only was your transferring of personnel against every regulation in the book but because you did it due to a SUPPOSED impairment!? I should write you up for court-martial!" I yelled so hard that my spit landed on her face. "Now normally I'm a nice guy, but this kind of thing just rubs me the wrong way lieutenant commander." I turned away from her. "Consider your flight status revoked for your first two ops." She sputtered a bit.

"But sir! I was supposed to have the first catapult launch of the trip!" I whipped my head back to her and stood there with my nose only centimeters from hers.

"Do you think I give a rat's ass what you were supposed to do!? You are not flying for your next two flight ops, and that is final!" I started walking out of the room. "As you were everyone." I heard the room return to its buzz and I kept on walking. I pulled out my CIT and contacted Spike. "Spike, this is Ni."

"Go ahead Ni; it's all quiet for me right now."

"alert the deck officer in charge not to let a Lieutenant Commander Rainbow Dash take part in her first two flight ops; my orders."

"Copy that, the reason for the orders?"

"Disciplinary action," I replied.

"Ah, figured as much. Anything else?"

"Yeah, when are we getting underway?" He seemed to consult someone just out of microphone range and then returned to me.

"According to Twilight about 10 minutes."

"Copy that Spike, Ni out."

"Wait Ni, Twilight wants to speak with you."

"Ni? This is Twilight."

"Copy Twilight, go ahead," I answered.

"The CAG (Commander of the Air Group) won't be on board until we are already out to sea; she wants you to be on deck when she lands."

"Aye commander, that all?"

"You have a comm from the admiral," she answered sounding slightly frazzled.

"You ok Twilight?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just that we won't be fully prepped when the admiral wants to leave…"

"It'll be ok Twilight," said Spike. "We'll be ready."

"I hope so Spike."

"Patch me to the admiral Spike," I said.

"Patching you in now." Spike and Twilight disappeared from the screen and were replaced by Admiral Luna.

"Admiral, Spike said you wanted to see me?" I asked. Her face turned towards the screen and smiled slightly.

"Yes, we will be underway soon to meet up with the rest of the fleet. I need a pilot to help with a bit of ceremonious action," she said as she adjusted something on her CIT. "Once we clear the port I need you to buzz the control tower and break the sound barrier over the port at about angels 1. Can you handle that?" My insides clenched in excitement.

"I can do that Admiral," I answered.

"Rainbow Dash was supposed to do the honors but since you grounded her I had to find someone else," she said with a teasing tone.

"It was necessary ma'am, she…"

"I'm well aware of what happened Ni, I support your decision."

"Thank you ma'am." She nodded and spoke to a junior officer. Facing me again her features became neutral.

"Well get you and your RIO ready, you have about five minutes until you are needed."

"Copy admiral," I said saluting.

"Luna out," she said and cut the link.

After contacting Derpy and getting our uniforms on we made our way onto the flight deck to board our plane. As we walked across towards the catapults, the deck was a flurry of activity; crewmen securing equipment and clearing the catapult area for launch. Once we got over to the only jet on deck I saw that a very young looking crewman was standing next to it. When I got over I saw it was a young girl, probably fresh out of basic, with long strawberry red hair peeking out from beneath her helmet. When we got up to her she saluted.

"Pleasure to finally meet you Commander Night Wing, Ensign Derpy," she said loudly. We returned her salute.

"Who are you miss?" I asked.

"Ensign Amanda Beatrice Jameson sir, ya'll can call me Applebloom. I'll be yer plane captain on this trip," she said proudly.

"You must be related to Applejack," I said. Applebloom nodded her head excitedly.

"You met her and Big Mac sir?"

"That I did Applebloom, and it's Ni. Ok?"

"Yes Ni," she said as her smile stayed on her face. "Yer bird is all ready tah go Ni, just gotta get ya'll in it." She walked us around to the side ladders and helped us up. Once in the very familiar seat of a cockpit she made sure we were strapped in tight. After that she got down and removed the ladders while Derpy closed the canopy. I strapped my oxygen mask over my face and tested the mic system.

"Derpy, Derpy. Check mic, 1, 2."

"I copy Ni," said Derpy after putting on her own mask.

"We copy on the bridge," said Spike over the comm.

"Admiral Luna aboard the USS Solar Eclipse copies."

"Glad you could join us admiral," I said chuckling. Luna laughed and clicked the comm.

"Well the first official launch is going on and I wanted a front row listen."

"Copy that admiral, I'll try not to disappoint," I said while testing all my steering flaps and stabilizers. Some crewmen worked below the nose of my plane to secure me to the catapult while others did a visual inspection on all the surfaces of the plane. Once secured all the crewmen scurried out from under and went to their next duty stations. I gave the launch captain a thumbs up and a salute and he returned it. He knelt down and pointed down the length of the catapult. A loud humming sound made its way to the cockpit and the catapult trench seemed to glow slightly. The aircraft gave a small jerk suddenly and we quickly accelerated down the strip and off the end of the boat. I pulled back on the stick as we cleared and did a fancy barrel roll off to the right.

"Good launch," stated Spike as he saw me climb higher. There were cheers on the bridges of both ships that I could hear. As I banked around to buzz the control tower of the base Derpy made an excited little squeal over the comms.

"You alright back there Derpy?" I asked.

"Yes sir," she replied enthusiastically. "I've just never been part of the going away ceremony before." I nodded my head in understanding and passed the tower with only 50 feet to spare. I pulled back on the stick again and made my way up to 1,000 feet off the deck, or angels 1 if you prefer. Once there I angled myself towards the center of port and hit the throttle up. We broke the sound barrier about six seconds later and a sonic boom echoed across the whole base.

"Yeehaw! We are underway!" I yelled into the Mic.

"Copy that Ni, now let's meet up with the fleet," said Luna happily.

"Roger that Admiral, heading back to the boat."