//------------------------------// // The First Front: Draftee's and Enlistment // Story: Full Metal Horseshoe // by Theta //------------------------------// The time for war has come! Stallions aged 16 through 25 please report to the town center to enlist immediately! I repeat, come to the town center immediately! This is a direct order from Princess Celestia, herself!, the young mare's voice broke through the intercom, stirring a large commotion in our small town. We heard rumors of war, that soon Equestria would take up arms against the recently thwarted invaders. No one thought that anything would happen, though; I mean, why kick your enemy when they're down, right? Equestria, the symbol of harmony and peace, declaring war on another species? Almost sounded like genocide. I remember the day we were called down. Roughly two hundred stallions had shown up. Waiting for us were three tables; three options. Option one, was to enlist into the infantry forces, which were split into two regiments; Celestia's Solar Army and Luna's Dark Marine Corps. Option two was only for pegasi, the Royal Air Guard had sent a Wonderbolt as a recruiter. The third option, which had the most males in line, was to sign up for Factory Duty; meaning that you had to pick up and move to where ever they needed laborers, and beyond that, to work six to nine in a cramped factory. Seeing as how I'm not a pegasus, or a pussy for that matter, I chose the hardest out all of those options; LDMC. Even the softest recruits are transformed into the grizzled soldiers. After I signed all the paper work (all of three pages, one to state loyalty to Equestria, one that made sure I would show up for basic, and the last being a standard medical release form), I had to face the biggest obstacle of my life; telling my parents what I had gotten myself into. Breaking the news would be hard on both of my parents; my father raised me to never raise a fist unless someone else raised them first. My ma always taught me to diffuse situations; she never saw the need for violence. What I failed to see before, was that behind the tables were barber chairs; decked out with electric razors and menacing looking ponies operating them. After the recruiter took my papers from me, he directed me into one of the chairs, and from there an apron was cast around me. In the matter of seconds, a faint buzz rang through my ears, and before I could say anything, my mane had been cut; the only visible hair was nothing more than stubble. The hair cutter grunted a low, almost bark like noise, and yanked the apron from my front. I took that as time to get up, and leave; no one stopped me. Two things happened, one I could feel the crisp wind on my skull, and two I became a little light headed. All the while, I was thinking of how to tell my parents what I had signed up for. It was a little after 10 A.M. on Saturday, the seventh of October; the annual "Running of the Leaves" was scheduled for the afternoon. An, otherwise, happy day was ruined by the draft; every so often I passed a grieving mother, usually clinging to their sons. Tears, screams, and sorrow were littered at every corner, making me more and more nervous to tell my mom. If I'm lucky, she won't suffer a complete mental breakdown. FUCK why did this have to happen? The mare who raised me with amazing morals, who never once laid a hand on me, has to see her only son go to war... I-I don't want to cause her to cry... How the hell am I supposed to tell her? "Hey ma! Ya know I love you a lot, but I gotta leave and go to war!"...Yeah, that ain't going to cut it... I came back to reality, only to realize I was standing on the porch of my house. Ok, on three...One...Two...Three The door flew in, and slammed hard against the wall. "He-Hey Mom, you home?" "In the living room, dear! I made your favorite cookies!, they're on the kitchen table!", she shouted back in a cheerful, almost melodic, voice. I walked around the house, and eventually made my way into the living room. Everything was as it should be; my Mom was watching the daily news, and my dad was sleeping in his recliner. "Mom...turn the T.V. off." I sullenly commanded, "What has you down, son?", she asked in a worried tone. "As you know, the Princesses have declared war on the Changelings... T-the recruiters are already here, Ma... We're the first to get drafted.", I had tears rolling down my face as I watched my mom's usual upbeat, optimistic smile turn to a horrified frown, "They called all of us down about an hour ag-" "No...No, they can't take you! You're just a colt... My special little colt...," she was already in the midst of an emotional breakdown by the time she went silent, "Whi-which branch did you enlist into? Please, tell me you signed a factory worker's contract!" "Mom, I..." I took a large gulp, big enough for me to feel my Adams apple press against my skin,"I joined the Corps, Ma. I ship out in three days for basic. From there, I'll have to go to where I'm assigned." "No no no no no no no no no! That's such a short time! Sky, wake up dammit! We're going to lose our son! We're going to lose our son! Dammit, Sky, stop him!," My mother quickly shook my dad until he woke up. He just looked on in confusion, still in a groggy state from sleep. "Celestia, don't you hear me? We're going to lose him! He's been drafted!" My father, who rarely raised an eye at anything, looked like he had seen a ghost; his eyes were practically popping out from his head. "That can't be... The war, it was just a rumor, right?!? No, shit this can't be happening! Not to us, not in this little town of ours... No they couldn't have gotten to us this fast! Cascade, tell us that you're just joking, tell us that you're messing around... Tell us we're just sleeping, anything!" My father pleaded, on the verge of tears. The man who never changed facial expressions, not even when his own mother died, was about to break down. "I...I wish I could tell you guys that. But in three days I'll be a Marine." my gaze had dropped to the floor, and I didn't even think of looking at either of them. "Mom, Dad, I'll be okay. I won't die, I promise...and if by some chain of events that I do die, know that I love you both to no end. You're the best people in my life, and no doubt there will never be any others as great as y'all. You raised me into a great young stallion, ready to do great things." I couldn't think of what else to say. Instead I did what I never should've done; I walked out of the room, out of the whole house. I had to tell my friends where I would be, why I was going to leave. I had goodbyes to say, and confessions to make.