Millennia: Beginning

by Thunderblast

5. Boot Camp - Part III

The next day consisted of even more track all day long, followed by insanely sore nerves and joints at night. Though, I'm happy to say that I didn't pass out like the first time, but I didn't make the full one hundred laps because of time restraints. At that point, things already weren't looking good for me and the two others who didn't make the time. I'd be lucky to pass.

That night, a well overdue rain shower was lingering in the skies over Manehattan. Dark, nasty storm clouds coated the sky as the sun began to set. Just an hour after the clouds rolled in, the first drops of rain pattered the gravel paths of the naval station, but the normal activity didn't cease. That all changed when the spring sprinkle turned into a raging monsoon with near-gale force winds. Had they been any stronger, and it might have been considered an inland-formed hurricane.

I sat in the mess hall at one of the tables, slowly lifting a spoonful of bland mashed potatoes into my mouth while listening to the low roar of the rain beating on the roof. I ate slowly, hoping the rain would let up a bit so I could make my way back to the barrack with some ease. But, that break never came. In fact, the storm worsened. Soon, lightning crackled in the sky and struck the antennas of Manehattan's numerous towers across the river.

I sighed and eventually finished my meal, then took my jacket and slipped it on, buttoning it up tight. I walked to the door, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Star Shooter!"

I glanced behind me, galloping across the room towards me was no one other than Silver Edge, the unicorn I met two days ago. He looked a bit panicked, but happy to see me at the same time.

"Hey," I cracked a smile. I guess you could say I was down like the weather.

"So, uh, my barrack is way across the base. Would you...I dunno...mind if I stayed at your barrack?" He blushed a little.

I thought for a second, then shrugged. "I doubt the D.S. would mind."

He smiled big. "Thank you...thank you Star, you're a real life saver."

"I don't know how that's the case, its not like I own the place," I chuckled.

Silver chuckled at that. "Very well. Out into the rain we go."

I sighed. "Out we go."

We walked out of the doors of the mess hall and under a small canopy that shielded us from most of the rain, but with the winds whipping around, we still got soaked pretty quickly. We ran out in the open, fighting against the storm's blinding rain and towards Barrack 19. Puddles were already built up from the heavy rainfall we had gotten in just the last two hours, I could only imagine what it would be like tomorrow.

Finally, we ran into the barrack, our manes, coats, and uniform soaked and hooves slightly muddy. I shivered, as did Silver, until he cast some kind of spell on himself that got dried him off almost instantly. I looked at him, then trotted up to a vacant bed. "Here, you can sleep in this one."

Silver smiled. "Thank you, Star," he then wrapped his hooves around me in a hug.

My eyes opened wide, I stood completely still as he hugged me, it made me laugh inside knowing he would be wet again just from hugging me. I slowly and awkwardly hugged back, then he dried himself off once more with the same spell. For Luna's sake, he didn't even bother to remove one drop from myself, let alone dry me completely off!

I let it go after a few moments and went to shower. It relieved me knowing we were allowed to have a shower before bed if we wanted one, and not only did it warm me back up, but I felt a bit refreshed. Warm showers usually helped me relax some if I felt sore, which I was extremely achy after another day of training. It was just going to get much worse too.

Just after I got out of the shower room, the drill sergeant called for lights out, and I surprisingly dodged a lecture for allowing Silver to sleep out of his assigned barrack. But, I wasn't cold hearted. Besides, I wasn't one to make rules there.

I crawled into my bed with some pain still circulating through my tense body, laying down and getting comfortable. The rain beat down harder on the roof outside, loud enough to drown out whispers if there were any. As I shut my eyes, it hit me that tomorrow, if the rain had subsided, it would still be much harder training. From what I had heard, post-storms during military training were hell, especially because of the deep mud that one could easily get stuck in. If we were supposed to do more track tomorrow, that would be especially tricky, knowing the entire track was dirt, and tomorrow would be equivalent to walking through drying cement.

I didn't let the thought get to me, and quickly drifted off into a quiet slumber.

***

The next morning was the same as the last two. Drill sergeant bursting in, we get dressed and line up, and then we head outside. And just as I expected, after last night's storm, the ground was wet and squishy, and whatever areas that weren't grass were just wet gravel, or deep pits of mud. It slowed down the activity in and around the base, but it slowly picked back up again after some time. And, just like that, we were assigned to even more track.

Again, as I expected, the entire track was nothing but mud, knee-deep in some spots. I knew I'd be lucky to avoid that. And just like the days before, we were expected to complete a hundred laps in thirty minutes. This would be especially hard to do, and since the sun wasn't going to be up for a while, the mud wasn't expected to dry up either.

We started around 0600 hours, earlier than before, and I'll tell you, that day was extremely hard. Even after the last couple of days and getting somewhat back into shape, running—or should I say trudging—was next to impossible. Most of the others got stuck a couple of times and didn't have anypony else to help them either. I was more focused on getting through at least the first fifty laps so they wouldn't make me come back later. Believe it or not, the entire time they had a requirement of fifty to pass on to the next day. I wasn't behind, thank Luna.

Then, somewhere after lap thirty, I was in one of those spots. I moved over just a little bit to pass by another recruit—I mean conscript—who was having some trouble but still made an effort, and wouldn't you know it, I immediately sunk to my wing midline, and the mud gripped my hooves tightly, almost sealing them down. I had been stuck in mud a couple of times before, but nothing compared to this. It sucked, that was for sure.

Even though we weren't granted any help, after some time the trainers watching us at the end of a lap realized I hadn't passed by and went to check. They found me struggling and squirming and actually sinking further into the track. It was even wet enough that it gradually conformed around me and made the situation worse.

"Bloody hell!" I shouted in anger after ten minutes. I then noticed a unicorn in Lunar Republic cammies standing on the edge of the track, he lit his horn in a silver aura that soon surrounded me completely. He lifted me out of the hole, then set me back down in the middle of the track. My hooves sunk in again, but not as deep and I could move again. I nodded in thanks and began trudging—again.

Fifteen minutes later, the time limit was up. I made it to fifty seven laps. A close call, but I was relieved to have passed. Even all of the others, some of who were behind in their training by a day or two made it, even in those conditions. And out of everypony else in the group, I was the dirtiest. From my hooves up to almost the top of my wings—that being almost up to my back—was turned brown, and with the breeze that always blew in from the ocean, it was drying quickly and I needed a shower.

The drill sergeant let us off to have showers thankfully, and each of us took at least twenty or thirty minutes in the shower rooms. Though it was awkward, I was happy that four at a time shared the showers, so we could help each other get clean. I was also happy that nopony had any ideas.

By the time we were all done showering, the sun was just a bit above the horizon, and we were all sent to the mess hall—the others called it the chow house—for breakfast. Eggs and bacon with a cup of black coffee. I personally liked cream in my coffee, but I didn't have a choice, so I hesitantly drank it—a little bit of it. As for the food, it only took a couple of minutes to disappear.

I waited until everypony else finished, knowing we would be heading back out for more exercises. To my surprise, twenty minutes later, no one came to collect us. It was beyond strange, and soon questions started to go around the mess hall about what was going on. I heard one of the conscripts sitting at my table talking about how it could be a surprise training exercise. I didn't think we would be getting to those yet, but it was the Lunar Marines, anything could happen.

I could tell everypony in the room was tense, even I was. But, none of us knew what to expect. I heard some things saying a tear gas attack, I heard others say what the vets—the ones who have been in training or even the Lunar Marines longer—called a battle exercise, a training session that acts as if an attack were happening and we would need to scramble to battle stations to fight back.

But, nothing happened. After some time, we were all finally collected by the drill sergeant and taken outside for another physical test—which meant more push ups and sit ups.

I have to say though, thank the princesses for the rain we had the night before. It was a cold front that brought cooler temperatures to the region. But, it had clouded up again, which meant no sun—and even cooler than expected temperatures. With the breeze, it felt kind of chilly. Especially since I was forced to hand my jacket over to the dry cleaners, I was about the only one just wearing a t-shirt.

We started the first session of push ups—fifty at a time—and then sit ups—another fifty. We transitioned between the two exercises until we reached about two hundred and fifty each. As exhausting as it was, it actually felt good to get my heart pumping again. I was gradually looking up to the rest of training, but I knew it wouldn't all be these exercises for the next seven weeks.

"Conscript Star Shooter!" The drill sergeant shouted to me as I performed sit ups. My normal habit would make me stand up—or at least stop to look at him. I remembered what happened last time and I just kept going. He continued to shout at me, I sneakily noticed the hose in his hoof. I think it surprised him when I didn't stop to look at him, because he didn't spray me. Or, he was just being nice to me today—I doubt it was the second reason.

After we finished, the drill sergeant asked for everyone to carry on. He let everypony leave—excluding me of course. He walked up to me with a hardened glare. I tensed up and remained at attention.

"Now what in the hell is wrong with you, boy? Ah told ya to look at me, and ya didn't! Disrespectful as hell!" He threw a hoof into my chin. It popped, and I let out a groan of pain but remained still. He clenched his teeth angrily, I braced myself for a hard beating, but that never came.

"You were smart," was the last thing he said before leaving. I was surprised to say the least.

Comments

[Profesionalac]

I sense gayness later on but I am confused, straight or gay?