Chapter 2
In two hours, the soldiers of Checkpoint Charlie were barely able to clear two metres of the thick vegetation. As the chief sergeant swore at the slow labour, Ensign Riggs came out to check on the progress. He called the chief over, and the two discussed their problem. From her position, Apple Bloom strained her ears to hear the conversation.
“Hi, chief. The major’s unhappy with our progress,” said the new arrival, “An entire platoon ought’a be able ‘a’ clear more’n one metre per hour. At this rate, we won’t have the five metre clearance we need for back burning ‘til it’s dark out.
“She must be expecting an attack damn soon,” replied Whistle, “I don’t fancy having a bunch of rebs with perfect cover a few metres from the base. The wind’s pretty still, do you think we can light it up now without risking the palisade, Riggs?”
“Yea, it’s pretty wet. I had a fair bit of experience with fire down in the badlands. Honestly, the only way we’d light up any of the wood in this damp, cold swamp is if we gave it a bit of a kick. I’ll go scrounge up some fuel. Clear as much of the forest as you can ‘till I get back.”
“What about Lieutenant Malum? He’ll never let us disregard proper procedure like that.”
“Hey, what the lieutenant doesn’t know won’t hurt him. He won’t come out here until he knows it’s safe, so when I write this up I’ll just say we got the five metre clearance. There’re upsides to having a student officer in the platoon, huh?”
As the pair reached their agreement, Sweetie Belle whispered to the young private to her left, “So, what’s the deal with this Riggs guy, anyway?”
“Hey, I don’t talk to no cherry, cherry!” he replied sharply.
“Don’t mind him, private,” Avalon said from down the line, “he’s a bit of a dick.”
The stallion swung a final blow against a tree and finally managed to fell it before saying “Now, why the hay aren’t you hazing the new foals? You hazed me like no pony’s business!”
“We didn’t give you a hard time for being new, Storm,” interjected Whiskey helpfully, “we gave you a hard time because you’re a wanker. We’ve gotten used to it now though.”
Private Storm took a moment to glare at the corporal before resuming his labour. He knew better than to give him a rise. That pony had learned to feed on the disapproval of others.
Seeing that he couldn’t get a reaction out of Storm, Whiskey bowed his head in disappointment. He kept labouring away at the trees, but desperately needed some pony to entertain him. He tilted his head towards the unicorn before saying, in a hushed tone, “You were asking about Riggs?”
“Yea, that’s right.”
“Riggs isn’t our commanding officer. That’s lieutenant Malum. Riggs is an officer in training. He’s supposed to be learning while Malum leads, but Malum’s kind of ended up loading all his duties on him and the chief. They chose about the worst platoon for an officer to be trained in. Malum’s not exactly the Equestrian military’s finest.”
“Sure, but I want to know what his deal is. What sort of pony is he?
“He’s only been with us about two months, and he probably won’t be with us much longer, but he seems ok. That Malum, on the other hand,” Whiskey looked around to make sure there were no officers nearby before smiling and lowering his voice even further, “he’s a real piece of work. Born silver spoon in hoof, he’s from some noble family. He’s a unicorn aristocrat. The way he looks at us, you get the impression he despises every last common earth pony among us. You’ll figure that out yourself soon enough. Believe me, you’ll see.”
Chief Sergeant Whistle had finished conversing with the ensign and moved silently along the line of working ponies. She stopped behind the talkative corporal, who was completely oblivious to her presence. She knew he had been bad mouthing their commanding officer. Normally she’d just ignore it, no pony liked Malum anyway. This time, however, it was getting in the way of work
With a stern look on her face, she glared at the corporal and said “Can we please keep the insubordination to a minimum? You’ve got a job to do, soldier.”
Whiskey jumped in his skin and the smile on his face disappeared for a moment. He recovered from his shock, smiling back at the senior NCO, and replied with an enthusiastic “yes, ma’am!” before turning away from her piercing gaze.
***
It was another hour before Ensign Riggs returned to his platoon, two drums of fuel balanced on his back. The massive weight didn’t appear to encumber him at all as he walked down to the chief. A collective sigh of relief could be heard from every pony in the platoon. Their labour was finally over, and they were about to see a hell of a blaze.
“Alright you lot,” Whistle declared in a loud, clear voice, “don’t start slacking off now. We still need to splash this fuel around the place and light it up before we can call it a day,” she turned to the ensign and lowered her voice before finishing, “your platoon now. Don’t screw up.”
“I reckon I can manage,” he drawled in reply before assuming his own commanding voice, “Listen up, ya’all. We need to get all the kindling that’s already cut down right clear of the palisade before we get our little bonfire going. Squads one to three will work on pushing everything that might catch a spark right up under the forest. Squad four is two ponies short, as I recall, so they’ll help me slosh this here fuel ‘round the place. Questions?”
Avalon raised her hoof before clearing her throat, getting the officer’s attention.
“Yes, sergeant?”
“We’re a full squad now, sir,” she said, “Chief gave us the two new kids.”
“Oh. Well, that’s alright. I guess I best get to know the pair a bit better anyway. Can’t hardly have eight hooves in the platoon that I ain’t familiar with, can I? The two greenhorns will stick close to me. The other members of their fire team will carry the fuel while I point out where to splash it down. The other two fire teams will escort us through the forest. Clear?”
“As crystal, sir,” Avalon turned to face her soldiers before barking, “you heard the man. Alpha, on the ensign. Bravo, charlie, stagger up behind me.”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom joined Corporal Whisk and Private Storm in lining up in front of the ensign and saluting. He rolled his eyes and mumbled “at ease” as teams bravo and charlie entered the forest ahead of them. “Storm, Whisk, take one of these here barrels each and follow me. You two,” here he squinted at the insignias of his two new soldiers to read their names, “Bloom and Belle, one of ya’all stand on mah left, one of you on the right. Stay at least a metre away from me, but don’t stray. Wouldn’t want to be gettin’ lost in the forest on your first day, now.”
Each soldier said “yes sir” as they obeyed the orders. Whisk and Storm awkwardly took the barrels from the ensign, resting them on their backs. The drums seemed to balance so well on Riggs, but the enlisted ponies weren’t so lucky. They were forced to move about on three legs, the third limb holding the barrel in place. With every pony in position, they proceeded into the forest.
Riggs guided the ponies through the forest, being sure to keep his orientation and trying to keep the palisade in sight. He pointed out where the fuel needed to be spilled while he gave the two new arrivals the welcome speech he was working on.
“Welcome to the platoon,” he said, “We’re your new family. forget what you had back home. Won’t give ya’all any comfort here. I’m Ensign Riggs. I’m just passing through here on my way to becoming an officer. If you have any grievances regarding your new daddy, Lieutenant Malum, I’ll see that they get to ‘im. Chief Sergeant Whistle, she’s your big sister. She’ll always help you out in a jam, it’s her job. Don’t go crying to her every five minutes, though. She’s a might grouchy, and she’s earned the right to be. Hay, they don’t give that many chevrons to just any pony. More’n I can say for a commission these days. Anyway, the enlisted ponies are your brothers and sisters in arms. I expect you to protect one another as if you was kin.”
“yes, sir” the two ponies replied.
“Don’t ‘sir’ me out here. ‘Course in the base you gotta salute me and act real formal and respectful like, even though I ain’t quite an officer, but out here I’m just ‘Riggs’. Mind you, I still expect you to show respect, obedience and discipline. I just never quite took to being ‘sir’. I feel ‘sarge’ suited me better.”
“So you were a non-com at some stage, Riggs?” inquired the unicorn.
“Certainly was. I was twenty when the expeditionary rolled through my town. Most exciting thing I’d ever seen. See, I used to work down’n the oil fields in the badlands. Town had a population of about one hundred. Nothin’ ta do but work and sit. When I saw these ponies travelling all across Equestria, I felt like I had to join. They were more’n happy to give me a ride to the recruiting station, too. I was the leader of a drillin’ team, so I’d had plenty of experience with leadership and manual labour. I did basic training at Dodge Barracks, spent the next six years with the mobile expeditionary cavalry, bouncin’ all over the colonies. I’ve seen everything from coast to coast. Los Pegasus, Dodge City, even Baltimare one time. A while after they bumped me from junior sergeant to proper sergeant, they asked if I wanted to go for a commission. Well, I’d intended on staying as a non-com, maybe become a chief and help run a platoon, but here they were offering me a college scholarship! I jumped at the chance. Did a year in Canterlot Academy, got offered a spot in Manehattan Point, in which case I’d instantly become a lieutenant, but turned it down to do Duntrot Expeditionary College. Even as an officer, I’d rather be in the field. Indoors is too darn stuffy. Anyway, after another two years I graduated from Duntrot and got assigned to the infantry here. That was just two months ago. Honestly, I kind of regret it. I’m used to the open, scorching desert, not this darn wetland. Hopefully they’ll put me back in the cav once I make L.T. Anyway, that’s my story. How about ya’all?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” muttered the unicorn.
“She joined ‘cause I did,” smiled Apple Bloom, “I joined to help ‘n’ support mah family.”
“So you joined the army,” mused the officer, “to get rich?”
“Not exactly.”
“It’s as good a reason as any, really. We’re just about done here,” said Riggs as he observed the scene, before gesturing with his hoof as he issued further orders, “Storm, your barrel empty? Yes? Good. Whiskey, empty yours from there, to there.”
“Hey Riggs,” said Whiskey as he followed the order, “if we’re all a big family, does that make me the sleazy uncle?”
“There’s a difference between being sleazy and being a dangerous criminal, corporal.”
The two new recruits looked at the corporal with surprise. The ensign’s smile faded as he saw their shocked expressions. He looked at Whiskey sympathetically before muttering “so I guess you haven’t gotten ‘round to tellin’ ‘em how YOU ended up here, then?”
“Well, I might as well say now. Probably best they know what a mean thing I am, seeing we’ll be serving together.” The corporal paused to hide his annoyance behind a thin smile before looking at his new comrades and continuing, “I am, by all accounts, a bad, bad pony. Since I was a little foal, I’ve been getting meself into all manner of strife. Didn’t take long for my youthful shenanigans to turn into petty crime. It was much easier than finding actual work, and it became a lifestyle. One day, a friend of mine gave me an opportunity with a real big payoff. With that much cash, I would’ve been set for life.”
“So what happened?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Did you know the Marines have patrol boats patrolling the island of Manehattan, looking for smugglers? I didn’t. I was seventeen at the time, but it wasn’t the first time I’d been caught and it was a very serious crime, so I was tried as an adult. They gave me a choice between twelve years in prison or an eight year enlistment. I figure anything’s better than jail, and I was right. By sacrificing rank, I managed to avoid combat for almost seven years.”
“Your lucks run out, Whiskey.” The ensign was still looking at him sympathetically, “The storm’s a-brewin’. The last year of your deployment could be the most violent since Nightmare. Maybe even worse.” He allowed this to sink in for a moment before ordering his ponies out of the forest. He smiled to himself at the thought of what was to come; he hadn’t had a decent bonfire in years.