A/N Hey guys. On Wednesday, I'm heading out to a camp with my family for about ten days, so I won't be able to update for that duration. Sorry for the news, but I'll see if I can get in a few one shots while I'm there.

Baltimare, SGTD Base "Bravo" (Housing Area)

15:12 Hours

Major Joshua Tiffon, SGTD

March 25th

Tiffon tossed aside his gas mask, throwing it onto the desk. He tried to walk forward, but his leg gave a small shot of pain as he moved. He groaned and shook it, trying to get it used to moving. Keeping pressure off of it hadn't made the soreness go away like he thought it would. Now, he had to walk on it and get it used to moving. Those fire bombs were devastating, it was no wonder those things sent soldiers out of commission. He sighed and walked into his house, looking around. His house was a decently sized one, with a second floor and a basement. The main floor was decorated with a red carpet, and blue paint on the walls. Pictures hung from the walls, some of him and his wife, others of him and his son, and others of all three of them. Some had only her and his son, but he didn't mind. As he entered the main den, he heard something that made him smile.

"He's home! Mommy daddy's home!" A high voice said. Rushing down a flight of stairs to his right was a small, blue colt. He has an enormous smile, that almost appeared to be bigger than his eyes. He chuckled and walked over to the colt. His son leaped into his arms, giving him a large bear hug.

"Hey bud." Tiffon said as he released him. The blue colt tapped his hooves against the floor in excitement, something that was because of his hyperactive personality. It was supposed to be just a phase, but Tiffon had a feeling that he would keep some of it along with him, even when he grew up. But for now, it was alright. After all, he was only four years old. His son went on a rant about how he was excited to see him, and was ready to play some basketball with him. Tiffon smiled and chuckled as his son began to bounce in excitement. He was unlike him and his wife in his outgoing ways, so he must have gotten that from Tiffon's parents.

"We'll play some ball in a minute Bane, right now I need to talk to your mommy. Okay?" He said with a smile. Bane nodded and pointed upstairs, his yellow mane nearly hitting his father.

"Okay! She's upstairs, but HURRY! I wanna play!" He shouts with a pleading voice. He gives his dad a pouting face, and Tiffon just chuckles. He ruffles his son's mane and walks up the first step. Along the top of the stairs is another picture, this one of his wife holding Bane for the first time, with Tiffon standing beside her. Both of them were staring at the foal in her arms, smiling as they watched him sleep peacefully. He smiled. If it was possible to grow when you were proud, Tiffon would have grown a foot when his wife had given birth. He reached the top of the steps, and looked around, searching for his room. The second floor had the same color of paint on the wall as the first floor, but the carpet was softer, and blue. Tiffon turned when he reached the second door to his left, and opened it softly. Standing near a desk, dusting it off was Fluttershy. She heard him come in, and turned her head to face him. She spat out the duster and smiled at him.

"Hi Joshy." She said quietly. Tiffon smiled back, staring back into her crystal blue eyes. Her mane gently swished around to her face, covering half of her left eye.

"Hey Fluttershy." He said as he walked closer. Upon reaching her, he moved away the part of her mane that was covering her eye, and smiled. He never did figure out why she went for him. Maybe it was because he wasn't as outgoing as some other ponies. The only reason he was a Major in this war was because his father had been a Royal Guard, and had been training him to be one. Of course, his training had ended when his father was KIA when trying to evacuate Princess Celestia to the mountain tops. He had never been more devastated, and vowed to fight for others. So that other children and families would never get a chance to suffer the pain he did when his dad died. His first assignment had been in an SGTD training camp in Ponyville, which was where he had met Fluttershy. Being shy, she was never one to come up and talk to him, but he eventually worked up enough courage to talk to her. When his training was finished, he had become a dedicated coltfriend to the delicate mare, and both were devastated when they found out he was being transferred to Baltimare. However, the Garrison had offered to move Fluttershy and her animals near the compound, so that he would be able to see her. She accepted hastily, since she said that a majority of her friends had left the town to participate in the war effort anyway. Three years later, they got married, and a year after that, Bane came along.

"How was it out there?" She asked with concern in her voice. Tiffon sighed and looked down to the floor.

"Same crap, just happened to my unit this time around. Rook got wounded, and Mason is still giving the new guy a hard time." He said calmly. Fluttershy frowned.

"T...That's not why I asked..." She said quietly as she pointed to his hind leg. He looked behind him, seeing the burn mark on it. It wasn't serious, but it was still enough to concern his wife. After all, she was the representative of Kindness, so it only made sense she worried about injuries. He smiled and placed his hoof on her face, rubbing it gently.

"Don't worry about it, I feel fine." He said with a smile. Fluttershy nodded, but still seemed upset. Tiffon gently placed a foreleg on her shoulder and planted a kiss on her forehead. Pulling away, he raised her chin with his hoof, and smiled at her.

"What else is bothering you?" He asked calmly. She looked up to him, her eyes beginning to form small tears. Tiffon lost his smile, and looked at his wife in concern. He always hated seeing her upset, something that would never change. If she was upset, he would always be there to comfort her. Fluttershy sniffed and looked down at the ground.

"I... I'm scared..." She said with a shaky voice. Tiffon sat both of them down on their bed, and wrapped a foreleg around her.

"What are you scared of honey? Did something happen?" He asked with care in his voice. She looked over to him, and stared at him with sad eyes for a while. Her mane had covered half of her face again, and Tiffon carefully brushed it to the side with his hoof.

"I... I'm not scared of something here... I... I'm scared for y... you..." She said as she placed her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his other foreleg around her, and held her close. He placed his chin on top of her, allowing her to rest her head on his neck. This wasn't the first time she had admitted her fear for him. She was terrified at the idea of him getting hurt or killed on the field, and she was always seeking support from others when he wasn't at the base. Once, she had nearly had a mental breakdown when she heard that his convoy was ambushed. She only calmed down when he had arrived home from the hospital with a broken leg, which of course only added to her fear that something worse could happen. Tiffon gently kissed the top of her forehead again, then leaned his cheek against her forehead. Her tears strolled down his neck, and she nestled her head a little further into his neck.

"I promise, I won't let anything happen to me... I'll be here for you and Duck Bane..." He said while rubbing her foreleg. He heard her sniff, and she sat up straight. Her eyes were a light pink color from the tears. She nodded and looked into his eyes. He looked down to her stomach, and smiled.

"And our little girl." He said as he placed his hoof on her belly. She chuckled and placed her hooves on top of his. She smiled, and stared down at her abdomen. They had found out she was pregnant with a baby girl three months ago, and she had been overjoyed at the news. Bane wasn't sure about having somepony else around, but Tiffon promised that he would still play ball with him at least once a week. Fluttershy had also promised that she would spend time with him too, he just have to understand that his little sister would need attention too. Tiffon smiled and rubbed her stomach. He loved feeling her belly, trying to find where the baby was. There was nothing more magical than holding a tiny foal's hoof with just the tip of your hoof. He looked up to her, finding her smiling at her stomach as well.

"Have you thought about what you wanted to name her?" He asked. Fluttershy looked up to him, and chuckled. Tiffon had already been the one to name Bane, so he promised her that she would get to name their next child. She looked back down to her belly, and rubbed it slowly.

"I can't decide... I really want her name to be Angel, but... I think that having a baby named Hazel would be so adorable... I don't know." She said quietly. He smiled and leaned his next to hers, and placed his other hoof on top hers.

"Those are both beautiful names." He said happily. She smiled and looked up to him. They shared a brief kiss before Bane called from downstairs;

"Dad! Hurry up! I wanna play ball!" He shouted with a whiney voice. Tiffon sighed and stood up.

"Honestly, I don't know where that colt gets it from! Even my dad wasn't THAT hyper." He said with a chuckle. Fluttershy giggled, and stood up. She kissed his cheek, rubbed his cheek with her head.

"Well... Unless you want him to start pouting... I would get going..." She said with a smile. Tiffon chuckled. He changed out of his uniform, and kissed his wife goodbye. Bane was already half way out the door when he got downstairs. Tiffon chuckled as he walked out the door behind him.

"Maybe I should have named him Nut Case..."

...

Cloudsdale, Eagle Headquarters

15:12 Hours

Technical Sergeant Darkstar (Official Rank)

March 25th

Darkstar sighed as he sat in the barracks of his new HQ. Yesterday he had been informed that he would be transferred to a joint unit, a Garrison squad that was funded, founded, and run by the Air Force. The last stallion was killed in action in a failed attack on the red zone. The red zone was named due to the high amounts of bloodshed that went on there, and was actually a group of three cities that were strung together. The Army and Marines had been attacking it non-stop for two months now, with no progression on either side. Because the guy got killed, Darkstar was the prime choice to be his replacement because of his experience. Experience? He had been fighting for five years. Yeah, that was more than most, but some were fighting since the war began, why not pick one of them? He had only gotten twenty-four hours to pack up and say good bye to his soldiers, which had pretty much become family to him.

"Darkstar?" He heard. Turning his head, he saw a sky blue stallion, standing authoritatively in front of him. His mane was a fiery orange color, and his cutie mark was two crossed lightning bolts. The stallion observed him, trying to size him up. Darkstar wasn't exactly a detective, but he did recognize the stallion as the leader, seeing as he carried a patch that contained wings and a skull. As opposed to his, which contained just wings and a banner that read 'Eagle Squadron'. He stood at attention, and raised his right foreleg to his forehead, giving him a salute.

"Technical Sergeant Darkstar, reporting." He said respectfully. The leader shook his head.

"Hate to break it to you Tech Sarge, but you've been demoted to the rank of 'Trooper'. Nothing you did wrong, it's just something we do in the Squadron to make sure new guys don't think they're superior to more experienced, lower ranked operators. You'll still be referred to as a Technical Sergeant in your records, and receive the same pay, but in the field, it's Eagle Trooper Darkstar, not Tech Sergeant." He said bluntly. Darkstar frowned, but kept his foreleg at his forehead. That hadn't been mentioned, and he was slightly insulted that the operators thought he would push around lower ranked soldiers. If he thought like that, he would have been disrespectful to lower ranked SGTD operators he worked with. The leader looked up to his hoof and nodded.

"At ease Trooper." Darkstar lowered his hoof, and placed it on the ground. The leader told him to follow him. The stallion said that his name and rank was Captain Lancaster. As Lancaster walked around, giving Darkstar a tour of the base, he told him about the history of the Eagle Squadron. It had been formed two years ago, by none other than Lancaster himself. After serving in the Air Force for six years, he formed his own elite squad that participated in aerial operations considered to dangerous for regular airborne units. The Squadron received training from the Air Force and the Garrison's Echo Force. The tour itself was rather short, as the Squadron only consisted of five. He was the new fifth operator, the first time a new addition had ever been made to the squad. Within minutes, all that was left was to show him the rest of the team, and all of them were in the resting area. The building was, of course, made of clouds, but the clouds had been altered somehow to look like regular buildings. It carried a single floor, but was a very wide building, stretching a good length of the compound.

"These guys are like family to me, so be respectful. Otherwise I'll run you through with a combat knife." Lancaster said harshly. Truth be told, he probably wasn't going to do that, but he would make Darkstar's life hell. And that was a chance that he was neither willing, nor wanted to take. Lancaster opened the door to the area, revealing a collection of tiles, something that was hard to get into a cloud building. The tile was black, indicating that it was a serious area. There were a few bunk beds to the side of the wall, while dressers and intelligence filing areas on the other side. On the bottom bunk was a light red stallion with a maroon colored mane. He was reading a book, and didn't seem to notice him and the Captain come in.

"That's Sergeant Hawk, he's our heavy weapons expert. His back story is a mystery to us, but he's a good friend, and very protective of his friends. And his stuff, so don't touch it." Lancaster said with a serious tone. Darkstar sighed and shook his head. What was with all of this distrust? Honestly, Darkstar felt more like a changeling to these ponies than a new addition. He was never this harsh to Niles when he first joined. Hawk looked over to the two, and nodded at Darkstar.

"This the new guy?" He asked with a bored expression. Lancaster nodded, and Hawk carefully got up from the bed. Darkstar could now see the Sergeant's cutie mark, which was a white wing. Hawk checked out Darkstar's wings, even going so far as to pull one of the open and inspect it. Darkstar felt somewhat violated, but he didn't want to get off on the wrong hoof with these guys. Hawk gave a half nod, and released his wing.

"Not bad. I've seen better, but he seems like a strong one." He said with a somewhat impressed tone. Darkstar rose an eyebrow, and looked over to Lancaster. The stallion just told him to forget about it, and led him into another room. In this room was a grey stallion with a black mane sitting on a couch. He was in a comfortable position, and had his head placed on the back of his hooves as he observed a TV. His back legs were positioned on a table in the center of the room, and he seemed very relaxed. He was smiling, possibly because what he was watching was interesting. Further down, at a desk, was a younger looking, and rather attractive mare with a light blue coat and a deep twilight blue mane. She was sitting in a chair with headphones on. Also on the desk were large sheets of paper, maps, and pictures of several different cities, each of a different area of the cities. There were also drawing of nature on the wall in front of the desk. Unlike the stallion, he was able to see her cutie mark, a shooting star. The grey stallion turned to face the Captain, and instantly saw Darkstar. He hopped up, and rushed over to him.

"Well, if isn't the new guy! Nice to meet you." He said as he stuck out a hoof. Darkstar observed it for a moment, and then shook his hoof.

"Darkstar..." He said slowly. The stallion nodded and released his hoof. Placing it on his chest, he smile grew larger.

"Nice to meet you Darkstar! I'm Sergeant Ace, the joker of the team." He said proudly. Why he was proud to be the joker was beyond Darkstar, but it didn't really matter to him. Now that he had a better look at him, Darkstar could now make out his cutie mark, which was exactly the same as the mare's. This confused him slightly, but he shook it off. Lancaster was about to speak, but Ace interrupted him.

"Why don't you let me give the new guy the rest of the tour Cap? I need to get moving anyway." He said. Lancaster pondered this for a moment, but ultimately agreed. He welcomed Darkstar to the team, and exited the room. Ace placed a foreleg around Darkstar's neck, and began to speak.

"Don't worry about Lancaster, he's just a bit shaken by Gnome's death. Heck, we all are I guess, but hey, life goes on." He said calmly. Darkstar rose an eyebrow and pulled away, watching as Ace's hoof fell of him. Ace chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm real friendly, didn't mean to creep you out." He said with a smile. Darkstar nodded and looked back over to the mare, who was still busy with what she was doing. She began to draw a hilltop, and Ace noticed him staring at her. He smiled.

"That's my sister, Spectrum. She's the mapping specialist, but she's not afraid to bust a few skulls." Ace said with pride. Darkstar nodded, and looked back over to Ace. He had his forelegs crossed, and kept himself in an upright position with his wings. Looking back over to Darkstar, he raised a foreleg to his sister.

"Want me to introduce you?" He asked. Darkstar looked back over to the mare. She was now placing pins in several different parts of the map, holding one's she wasn't using in her mouth. Turning back to Ace, he nodded. The two walked over to the mare, where Ace tapped Spectrum on her shoulder.

"Hey little sis, met the new guy yet?" He asked. Spectrum sighed and placed the pins she was using next to the pictures. She took off the headphones, and began to speak.

"Ace, I'm a little busy right now. I'm not in the mood for your..." She began to say, but she froze when she saw Darkstar. She blushed and looked down to the map, and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Ace has been making false alarms all day... I didn't mean to..." She said. Darkstar shook his head, and told her that it was fine. The mare gave an embarrassed chuckle and stood, raising her hoof to Darkstar.

"I'm Spectrum, I record enemy hotspots and make routes for our team to operate in." She said calmly. Darkstar smiled and shook her hoof.

"My name's Darkstar. I'm a seize and dominate support pilot. Or at least I was." He said. Spectrum chuckled and lowered her hoof. Ace looked over to him, and gave an impressed nod.

"Seize and dominate? Those are some long missions, takes a lot of endurance to finish em'." He said. Darkstar shrugged, as though it were no big deal. Truth be told, it really wasn't. At least not to him. Spectrum asked if he had any specialties, and Darkstar told the two that he was skilled with chemical weapons and heavy loads. Spectrum seemed intrigued by the chemical weaponry, but Ace seemed to be more interested in how heavy the largest load he had ever carried was. Before they got to far into it, Ace remembered that he had show him around.

"Maybe I should go with you. No offense bro, but you tend to ramble when you explain things." Spectrum said with a raised eyebrow. Ace shrugged, saying that it seemed fair enough. Darkstar asked if he was going to be baby sat all the time, which made Spectrum and Ace chuckle. At least two of his new team mates liked him.

OCs in this chapter:

Eagle Squadron and Members - Lyra Heartstrings14