Chapter 19: Finally!
Chapter 19: Finally!
Basic training was two months of unarmed training followed by four more of weapon training, this is how long a recruit is told camp will last. Intentionally left out of the briefing was “Day One Seventy-six,” otherwise known as “Day Seven of the Week of Pain.”
One week before training was officially done was the appropriately named the “Week of Pain,” six days of the worst, most exhausting and pain provoking exams any member of the Royal Guard had to endure. And after six days of nothing but suffering came the shocking “Day Seven.”A whole day, twenty-four hours of rest and relaxations.
A recruit could eat, sleep, spend the whole day in the showers if he so desired, or even leave the base, although the nearest town was eight hours away, and whomever was not present or drunk the next morning would be up to his ears in trouble.
And that day was finally here.
“I’ve made it!” and “Finally!” were the words that could be heard all through the camp. Every recruit was shouting them or something similar as soon as they woke up, whenever they felt like it.
Starry, Cory and Slate woke up early in order to get as much as they could out of the day and were leaning against the barracks wall, watching the sun rise.
“I think I will go to town,” Slate said kicking a small pebble.
“It’s eight hours away,” Cory reminded him, “you are going to waste a lot of your day.”
“I can make it in six.” Slate flapped his wings a few times, took a few steps forward and stretched out. “But I think it would be more fun if the three of us headed there together.”
“Nah, you go. We would just slow you down,” Cory said, her head hanging down.
Slate’s ears fell. “Sorry, I didn’t mean...”
“It’s okay,” the pegasus mare told him with a fake smile on her face. “It really is.”
She walked besides him.
“Go, find a cute mare, have fun,” she whispered in his ear. Turning Slate’s face bright-red, from his usual light-blue, and causing his wings to pop up. Cory giggled and Starry was lucky he was leaning against the building or else there would have been nothing holding him up. His stomach was now hurting from how hard he was laughing at his friend.
“I...” Slate said, his voice trembling from his embarrassment. “I will be off now. Bye.”
And with that said he took of heading for the nearest town where he planned to have some fun, and hopefully come back to base before First Call, the next day.
“Well I guess I would be going now,” Cory said as she started walking away from Starry.
“Wait!” Starry yelled, and ran after her. “You’ve got plans for today?”
“I was hoping to take a shower and sleep the day away,” she admitted. “Why? You had something else in mind?”
“Actually I did,” Starry said with a cheeky smile on his face. “I was hoping we could do something special today.”
Cory raised an eyebrow.
“Think of it as an adventure. Curious yet?”
“Hmm... I don’t know Starry. The past week was rough for me.”
“Come on Cory,” Starry insisted. “I promise you won’t regret it. It will be like old times.”
“Really, this is the best you could come up with?”
“Surprisingly, yes. Did it work?” he asked with a sheepish smile on his face.
“You’re hopeless,” she said sighing and shaking her head, with a small smile on her lips.
“So it’s a yes?” Starry asked, his eyes brightening.
“Sure, why not. But I’m still taking that shower first.”
“Great... I mean sure, no problem. Meet me in front of the armory when you are done being wet.”
Cory tilted her head to the side and stared at him. When Starry realised how poorly his word choice was, he turned red. Cory just bursted into laughter and headed back to the showers, while Starry went to the armory, smiling and skipping, joyful and excited as a school filly.
Almost two hours Starry spent nervously pacing around the building, waiting for Cory to show up.
“She did not forget. She is just taking her time. She couldn’t have forgotten this fast. Maybe the hot water ran out. She knows where the armory is. Maybe she fell asleep. Maybe she fell asleep in the shower. Maybe she fell... and hit her head. I should go check on her. I should...” Starry kept talking to himself, and had almost convinced himself that Cory was laying dead in the shower her neck slices and head missing, when the very same pony came up to him.
“Sorry I took so long,” Cory said as she stopped in front of him. “Somepony forgot to attach the cold water hose and it took us forever to figure it out.”
“No problem, I hardly even noticed.” Cory could see right through his lie, but did not call him out on in. A giggle however escaped her. “So what are you planning for this great adventure?”
“Oh you are going to love it, I guarantee it.”
Starry Night’s horn lit up, and he focused his magic to open the lock door of the armory.
“What are you doing?” Cory asked him, panicking. “We are not allowed to be in here.”
“Relax Cory, I know what I’m doing,” Starry tried to reassure her. “Besides the drill sergeant is already sleeping soundly with a rather large bottle of wine.”
“How do you know?”
“KP duty. I saw when the crate was brought in.”
The lock gave in to Starry’s thinkering and the pony opened the door.
“Which one is yours?” Starry asked as he was heading deeper into the room.
“This one,” she replied pointing towards a suit of armor with holes in its side to accommodate the pegasus wings, or wing as was the case.
“Put it on,” he said while he was busy searching for something amidst a pile of rusted weapons. “Helmet too.”
“Starry, what are you planning?” Cory asked, worried that their adventure involved her wearing armor.
“Like I said it is a surprise. Now where did I put...”
A pile of rusted spears fell on top of Starry, hitting him in the head a couple of times, and causing a few bruises on his back.
“Oww,” he said as he lifted himself up and pushed the spears of him. “Oh there you are!”
His horn glew once more and he levitated a small, brown burlap bag, before turning towards Cory.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked a little scared when she saw the large grin on Starry’s face.
“You will see. Now lets go.”
“Where to?”
“There is a little grove about an hour’s walk from here.”
“And why do you need to go there, dressed like this?” she asked putting her helmet on.
“You will see.”
“Great...”