Not the best training

by PurpleArtist

Chapter One: Into the ring

"So how was your and Sapphire's date?" asked Princess Twilight.

Purple replied, "I should've canceled the date. I already knew her answer when I first laid eyes on her eighteen years ago. Blueblood also interrupted the date. Guess it's life and the universe getting back at me for all the mistakes I've made as a G.I. But nine hundred and thirty eight dates to me I'm fine and not interested in a nine hundred and thirty ninth date."

"G.I.?" asked Princess Twilight.

Purple replied, "Government Issue/General Infantry. Of course what I did as a G.I. is the stuff that you don't ask about and it's the type I'm not allowed to talk about. What I did... I can't atone for it no matter what I do even if I have a wife and foals and do every great charitable and great thing for the community I'll never fully atone for what I went through."

Princess Twilight and Prince Purple, who are cousins, continued to eat their breakfast but in silence.

***

At the Guardian training facility.

"This is a training fight not a fight to the death," said Master Shi.

Master Shi left the wrestling ring and let Purple and a mare reserve Guardian fight in the ring. Purple used his right wing to punch the mare in the face, used his right hoof to punch the mare in the face and used his right wing again and the fight was only four seconds.

"Purple! I said that this is a non-lethal fight!" said Master Shi.

Purple replied, "I just pacified her. I was taught how to pacify somepony and how to kill somepony."

They heard the mare let out a painful groan and Master Shi had to go get Dr. Snake for the knocked out mare.

"My request to fight multiple reserve guardians was denied," said Purple, "See how unfair the fight was?"

Purple then got out of the ring so other reserve guardians could also fight each other. When Purple tried the focus training he couldn't focus to clear his mind because every misdeed and every order, and every decision he gave as a NCO and officer in the military came flooding back and none of it was pretty.

No matter how hard he tried he couldn't do the focus training he tried to clear his mind but he just couldn't.

***

Later that day in the Equestrian Southwest.

Purple was walking but he noticed a glint from a two story wooden house and a bullet flew by his head so he took cover behind a tree and used the trees to avoid sniper fire and when he made it to the sniper location it was his friend, a mare and she is Lieutenant-Colonel Vigorous Orchestria of the Equestrian Second Ranger Regiment.

"Sorry for shooting at you Purple," said Vigorous Orchestria, "I'll let you in."

She went downstairs and let Purple in by unlocking the door.

"How are you Purple?" asked Vigorous Orchestria.

Purple replied, "I don't how ponies can go through PTSD and act like nothing happened?"

"Honestly I cannot answer that because we all go through it differently," said Vigorous Orchestria, "Why what's on your mind?"

Purple replied, "The things I did as a soldier. One day I'm fighting in a wide open field that's a sniper heaven and the next day I'm on a solo infiltration mission with enemies hiding within buildings and a labyrinthine road leading uphill that forced me to fight through checkpoints after checkpoints, culminating in a close-quarter combat section within a Cathedral itself.

"What I can tell you legally which is one mission I did there was a lots of patrolling ponies, and elite snipers fucking everywhere can spot you from miles away, and are either covered by another sniper or surrounded by other soldiers. Also, sneaking into the base was pretty much a necessity due to the snipers, machine gunners and the tanks at the main entrance right in a wide open field."

Purple continued, "What haunts my dreams almost twenty one years later was that... On my twentieth birthday was when Jackpot and Scrumptious died. The after-action report said that I got there after they were killed... The truth? I got hot under the collar and yelled which alerted the enemy to our location and I stood there didn't know what the fuck to do... I just stood there not knowing what the fuck to do... My best friends... My best friends who were my brothers in a metaphorical sense... My best friends I've known since Kindergarten were five years old... They were killed because i got hot under the collar and started an argument with Scrumptious... They're dead and I'm alive. I wish it was the other way around."

"From what I learned at OCS is that the decision you make is not the best decision," said Vigorous Orchestria, "Losing friends is one thing but sometimes you gotta draw the line from making friends and using soldiers as expendable cannon fodder. When you were a Sergeant, Captain, Lieutenant, Major, and every other rank to Lieutenant-General you made decisions you wish you didn't have to. As Lieutenant-Colonel I have to make decisions I don't want to."

Vigorous Orchestria poured herself a cup of tea.

Vigorous Orchestria continued, "When I was just a Colonel leading my rangers our first objective was to secure a town in the rain and when we did we were going to take the hill the next day. You want to know why I survived a lot longer than my predecessors? I always put the mission first. My predecessors always saved their own asses which came back when they thought they were God. My first mission as Colonel we took a town and it's raining. It was 57 degrees F.

"The next day we take the hill with heavy casualties I couldn't think of a plan and my plan was to 'Go get the bastards' and we took the hill in a hour and every POW we took after taking the hill we just lined them up against the wall and shot them and we tended to our wounded in the bunker. We learned that enemy Jäger soldiers surrounded us and throughout the night they bombarded us with artillery. I told my Rangers that escape was not possible and we were surrounded. We fought tooth and nail for that damn hill and we held on and survived a total of a hundred and eighty waves of enemy Jäger soldiers."

Purple replied, "My mission before Jackpot and Scrumptious died was to drop behind enemy lines to neutralize and strike before their targets had a chance to retaliate. Me and my team and other commandos always rode in on gliders. On my first mission this mare, a Private Sapphire Breeze we promised after our tour of duty was up we would've gotten married but she died on the first mission and I promised her I would name my first daughter after her. But I was only married once for fourteen months and me and Alitidy Rebelnova the leader of Stalliongrad were together for fourteen months and I never knew I had a daughter with her until I met her until last spring and she's seventeen and I missed everything that was important and she even said that I maybe her dad but I can't change the past."

"Well I'm married to my job and I don't want to have foals because of how my parents and siblings were not adding my mother tried to force me to be a singer like her," said Vigorous Orchestria, "Of course my parents and siblings were terrorists and I'm glad they got the mercy chair. I hope they fried them inside out without using a wet sponge."

Purple replied, "Didn't your eldest brother..."

"Who was in prison in max security for counterfeiting and fifteen homicides," interrupted Vigorous Orchestria. "Only was put in death row after a congeal visit with his wife whom he killed while she was pregnant because he thought she wasn't safe without him being there for her and he was transferred from Maximum security to Death row and got electrocuted the same night with two thousand volts of electricity running through his body. So what do you know about this Phantasia fella?"

Purple replied, "Another Base to me he reminds me half of my family to be honest."

"How?" asked Vigorous Orchestria.

Purple replied, "Base and half of my family would say to mares like you and I quote 'You should be home wearing an apron just cooking, cleaning, having foals and staying at home and just listen to the stallion in the house'. Oh my sweet Luna I want to cut out my tongue for saying that. I've secretly been to some of Phantasia's rallies to see what he's about. To me after sometime he'll blow over if not just give me a sniper rifle and put me and the rifle up to a mile away from Phantasia, pack your bags Lt-Col, war is over before it begins. If you're going to ask about my other half then they tried to overthrow the Government several hundred years ago well it was really 3,000 years ago. Well I better be going and thanks for letting me bitch about my life so far. See you on the battlefield Lt-Col."

"Remember Purple," said Vigorous Orchestria.

Purple and Vigorous Orchestria said in unison, "Rangers lead the way."

Even though Purple isn't an Equestrian Army Ranger, Lt-Col Vigorous Orchestria considers Purple one and he has what she considers "The Ranger Personality".

"Oh wait Purple," said Vigorous Orchestria, "Can you tell me..."

Purple interrupted, "Eight hundred and eighty-seven days of combat, 43,743 ponies, 21,876 casualties, 20,072 medals, 14 Equestrian Medal of Honor medals. We did things that the regular infantry couldn't do, we did things that the Marines, Rangers, Mountaineers and Paratroopers couldn't do. But those were the numbers during my tour of duty though."

Purple teleported home his house is a wooden house on a plateau where to one side is a steep cliff, and to the other lies thick forest, he built it because he hoped that he would have a wife and a few little ones of his own. They would've used it as their vacation house but Purple uses it as his main house due to the fact that he doesn't want friends and after nine hundred and thirty eight dates after his first failing marriage he believes he's unlovable.

He made himself dinner which was lasagna which is one of his comfort foods. But not having a family and friends to him he doesn't care if lasagna, cheesy pizza and/or mac and cheese gave him a heart attack and killed him because he doesn't care about death anymore and is just waiting for the Grim Reaper to knock on his door so the Grim Reaper can take him to Tartarus.

Purple didn't wish he had to fight a mare in training but to him and how he was trained that he had to be comfortable without being chivalrous and was taught that he would have to fight mares as enemies. But he did make a 'Get well soon' card for the mare whom he knocked out and put through pain.