Four more days later and I still couldn't come across any sense to keep myself calm. How would I? I initially unknowingly cheated an exam thanks to somepony else. Because of that, I desperately needed more time than what I had to practice and be able to make sixty or more sit-ups. Gratefully that time did come. Sergeant Major Snivel was the next to call off sick, leaving us with nopony open to watch us over and meant we had all day today and tomorrow to do what ever we pleased. The others hung out in their room, as did I, but I spent much of the day trying to prepare.
On the floor for the third time that day, I pulled myself up without moving my hind legs or rear, crunching my body into a curl and grunting as I did so, then easing myself and slowly falling backwards where I started the process again and again. "Forty-five... forty-six... nngh. Forty-seven... forty-eight," I counted to myself.
It was around here where I usually started to slow down and eventually stop altogether. Enough was enough, I wanted to beat sixty. I needed to beat sixty. I had no other choice. To at least reach the classes necessary to become an officer, one must pass every physical exam. Right now it wasn't looking all too good.
"Fifty... Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three... Ghh, damn it," I grunted and strained more. "Fifty-four... fifty-five... fifty-six... Fifty-sev—"
My exercise was cut short not due to myself but a knock at the door. Sighing with minor frustration, I wiped some sweat off of my forehead and stood up and unlocked the door, opening and peeking outside through a gap wide enough to fit my head. Standing directly outside was the same maroon unicorn that made things worse.
I glared daggers at him and didn't make another move. "Can I help you?" I asked in a deadly tone.
The unicorn nervously gulped and hesitantly made eye contact. "N-no, Star. But... can I help you?"
"Help me with what, exactly? Screw me over again?"
He shook his head, keeping his light green eyes locked onto my own. "I want to help you with sit-ups."
"Oh, what, are you going to give me another burst of magical energy and make me cheat the test again?" My voice raised slightly, surprisingly the unicorn didn't recoil this time.
"No... that was a huge mistake of mine and I want to fix things. Just let me in and we'll get things done. If anypony shouldn't pass the final physical exam, it's me for what I've done," the unicorn's ears pinned back slightly.
I eyed him for a half of a minute at least, then with another gentle sigh of annoyance, I opened the door completely and stepped out of the way. "Be my guest. Just know that I won't hesitate to toss you out the window."
Gulping, he nodded and strode inside with me closing the door behind him completely.
"Now, what have you got?" I asked, turning to him with a bitter look on my face.
He glanced around the small room slowly, ears further falling back. "You're here all alone, aren't you?" Then he peered back at me.
"Yes, I am. Is that a problem?"
"No... Well... I guess—" he sighed and turned to face me directly. "Never mind that, I suppose we could get started. You can go as far as fifty under your own strength and without any aid, correct?"
I nodded in response. "Close, fifty-seven. I was trying again before you came and that's as far as I got."
"Hey, now that's not too bad. You're already improving since... you know," the unicorn chuckled in innocence. "Any who, why did you stop there?"
I narrowed my eyes onto him. "Because you knocked," I answered grimly.
"Oh, heh, of course. But that is still good, we might not have to do much here. Can you go again, like, right now?"
"I can try. No guarantees. I've been taking breaks in between."
"Then show me what you've got."
Slowly I got back down into position on the floor, placing my hooves behind my head and laying back flat. There, I begun by sitting upright and easing back down again while the maroon pony watched, and I stared right back up at him to ensure he didn't try anything with his horn. A minute passed and I reached fifty, and was noticeably starting to sweat again. Still watching, the stallion motioned for me to keep going each time as I grunted my way through fifty-five, then fifty-six, then fifty-seven, then fifty-eight.
"Sixty!" The unicorn threw his hoof up and smiled big. "What did I say? Not much work after all."
I sat back up, giving him a gentle stare of exhaustion mixed with bemusement. "Where did you go to school at? I counted fifty-nine."
The unicorn shook his head and lowered his hoof to pull me up with a continuous smile. "You counted number twelve twice, I heard it in your mumbling. I counted sixty."
I took his hoof and stood up straight, eyeing him with further bewilderment. "Then what did I do wrong before?"
"Well, you were pressured to do it. Here you just did it because you wanted to."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with the whole deal. When the big test comes, ignore the sergeant major and go for it like you want to impress some mares on the beach!" The maroon pony's eyes twinkled with glee.
"But... why would I be trying to impress a bunch of mares on a beach?" I tilted my head.
His smile faded and next I took a gentle punch to the shoulder. "Just pretend that's the case, please. You can't screw this up any more. You made sixty sit-ups no problem, just keep it up and you won't have any issues."
I sighed, then nodded. "Right, sure," followed by a light smile. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," the unicorn grinned. "Just keep it hushed up and we'll both get out of here in one piece, alright?" He said, making his way to the door and opening it to walk out.
"No problem," I nodded once and watched him go. "Hey, uh, I never got your name."
"Javelin Charm," he winked back my way. "I already know yours, so it's no use telling me again. I'll see you at the end of the week."
***
I woke over an hour prior to sunrise with an exhausted groan feeling my muscles refuse to loosen up and allow me to move. The last couple of weeks had finally caught up to me, and with my luck it just had to be on the last day of physical examinations. At least if I could get up and take a warm shower, simply moving around would be just a tad easier.
I slowly pushed myself up, hooves trembling beneath me and threatening to give way with gravity desperately hoping to slam me back down onto the bed. My muscles creaked and had spasms at every little movement I made, and more soft whines of pain came out while that occurred.
The struggle went on for at least five more minutes and remarkably I was able to stand up. It was like the beginning of boot camp all over again. Now I was up. What next? I needed to get to the bathroom.
My hooves and hinds continued to threaten collapse, while every tendon and muscle cramped harder and made the ever-so short walk to the shower extremely difficult. Finally I did enter the bathroom and reached weakly past the shower curtain to start the hot, steamy water to soak under for as long as it took to ease the pain.
Raising one hoof and stepping inside, followed by the other, then came my hinds. At last, the water shot out through the shower head and patted down on my mane and coat, the warmth doing it's gradual job and softening my body enough to move about comfortably with only minor shots of soreness catching on every so often.
Compared to recent showers I took, this one was much longer and was I ever happy to make it so. I stepped out of the shower carefully over ten minutes later and dried myself with a raggedy white towel, trotting out with it around the back of my neck and changing into my uniform in preparation for the day ahead.
Today was the big day. It was uncertain when the sergeant major would collect us. I assumed it would have been earlier than he had been over the last couple of weeks and felt it was a good time to get ready while I had the time, although another possibly long bathing session would be necessary later on.
I pulled the string connecting to the lamp in the room to turn it on, giving the room much needed light although it wasn't that much overall. I reached under the bunk bed and pulled out the novel gifted by Nightpath. Between the time I first started reading it and now, not much progress was made in terms of reading thanks to training and I only made it through the first couple of chapters. The premise of it already made it seem to be a great story to read, although so far it covered the protagonist's life before enlistment.
Sitting back carefully on my bed, I started where I left off within the book in hopes of doing so peacefully until Snivel planned to get us outside to finish off our two week-long physical examinations and training. At long last, the end of the body torment was here. Assuming every one of us passed on to the officer classes, that left the mental stress yet to come.
Very soon, as I continued to read, the story itself became more enthralling the further I went. The third chapter passed quickly and moved on to a much longer fourth chapter with me too focused on reading it to realize some gentle light was peeking up from the eastern sky, the direction the room's window faced.
Just a few minutes over an hour passed after the book was picked up with still no audible signs of Sergeant Major Snivel coming to wake us up—well, wake everypony else up. It shocked me. I anticipated the sergeant major to be stomping down the hallway to drag us outside by now seeing as it was, after all, the last day of his side of things before moving on to the next class.
More and more minutes passed with me reading the story further, now at the end of the fourth chapter finally. In it, tension rose as the protagonist had to face his drill sergeant father after receiving a rather good grade on a school assignment, though not high enough to please the older stallion. Why did this scenario feel so strangely familiar? Have I read this book before? No, I couldn't have. It was a newer book.
My eyes widened gradually as they gazed upon the final paragraph, the arc of the first conflict within the story. The pony's father had thrown him against the wall and left him pinned there by his own bare hooves, their muzzles less than a hair apart and the older stallion staring into the protagonist's soul in a figurative way. Then it came. The pony was off to boot camp. Just like that.
I snapped back to reality hearing the polite yet audible three knocks from the door. I grabbed the small plastic bookmark off of the bed beside me and left it where I stopped reading, closed the book, and stuck it back beneath the bed. "I'm up!"
The door opened and in stepped Sergeant Major Snivel. I hopped up off of the bed and stood at attention. The stallion looked me over carefully. "That's surprising. Everypony else is just waking up. What's up with you?"
What was up with me? "Motivated, sir," damn you, stupid liar of a mouth and mind.
"That's the spirit, Private," Snivel grinned softly. "Come on out, help me round up the others and we'll get to work."
***
Upon the other Marines waking up and coming out into the hallway, we filed up and followed the lead of the sergeant major as he took the five of us down the barrack hallway and outside where the sky was mostly overcast with thick, grey clouds. Thick, grey snow clouds and nothing else. That time of year it was easily evident what type of clouds they were. The air wasn't any warmer than it had been lately either, this time without the whipping, frigid breeze thankfully.
We marched down the now-shoveled and salted walkway to the same spot we'd exercised every day for the two weeks previous to today. By now I expected there to be marks of mud in that spot from how much it was being used. It wasn't so, thankfully, and saved us a trip to the on-base dry cleaner.
"Alright, Marines. You know the procedure, but today I'll be mixing it up a bit. Sit-ups first, then push-ups. More push-ups this time. Let's go with ninety," Sergeant Major Snivel grinned as he said this, a collective, exhausted groan between the five of us instantly causing that to be wiped away from his expression.
"I can make it one hundred if you would like," he added. My eyes widened and the rest of us shook our heads quickly, hoping and praying he wouldn't dare to do so. "That's what I thought. Now, sixty sit-ups. Go!"
We dropped backwards into the sit-up position and proceeded to perform the exhausting exercise, this time with me being able to keep up with everypony else.
Counting mentally, I passed forty with ease. Fifty came not long after. I was in the final stretch. This was it.
Fifty-two—fifty-three—fifty-four—fifty-five—fifty-six—fifty-seven...
Out of the corner of my eye, suddenly, I caught Javelin completely giving out on the ground opposite of the pony beside me, chest heaving and cheeks noticeably pink above his maroon coat color. Was he finished already? I couldn't check. I had to finish. Three more to go.
"Sixty, that's it, everypony stop!" Snivel ordered, stepping up to us, primarily the maroon unicorn and stared down at him with disappointment as I stood up with the others. "Unless you, corporal, can convince me that you beat everypony else to sixty sit-ups, I'm afraid to say you're done here."
The others gasped. My eyes opened wide. Javelin's ears pinned back and tears began to swell in his ducts. Last but not least, the sergeant major stood there, still looking him on directly with little emotion showing aside from his disappointment in the stallion.
"Sir, I—"
"No excuses. If you can't finish a task as simple as this, I don't see how you could do well in the field of leading your own squadron. That is just sad, son," Snivel cut him off with a rising tone of annoyance, then eased himself. "I'll arrange a taxi to pick you up and take you to the train station."
"Sir, wait," I stepped forward. "I didn't make sixty either. Not because I gave up, but because you didn't give the rest of us time to finish. You called sixty when the first pony reached it and left it at that. You can't expect everypony to finish at the exact same time."
"I'm sorry, Private, did I ask for your opinion on this? Get back in line and get your nose out of it," Snivel pointed back towards the other Marines, him speaking with once again a ticked-off tone.
"You could also call it standing up for fellow Marines. Isn't that what we're all supposed to do, stand up for each other no matter the situation? What you're teaching here is that the first to finish everything you throw at us is who gets to decide for you who needs to go, not only that, but somepony who came so close to finishing the exercises you ordered, sir.
"I don't know who else didn't finish aside from me and Javelin. All I know is, if somepony makes the slightest error in a physical exercise rather than a decision made mentally, you're the first to jump on them. Advanced physical integrity isn't even something Marine officers require if they have already been through basic training. Why is it such a big deal here? I could have sworn officer school was about teaching us leadership, not what our bodies can handle."
The sergeant major's expression turned cold the further I went. "Private, I do not appreciate your tone. Unlike Javelin here—" he then shot the maroon unicorn a deadly look. "—you did what you were told and didn't question it. You didn't give up like this poor excuse of a Marine did. Now you shut the hell up before I write to your commanding officer to have you dishonorably discharged."
"Do it for all I care, sergeant major. Just know that a train is faster than a mail courier. He will know the truth far faster than you can get the letter in the outbox," I paused, then took another step closer. "Sir, you are a disgrace, to us and the rest of the Lunar Marine Corps."
The stallion let out a soft growl when I stepped back into line. The other Marines' eyes were shrunk to pea-sized pupils while they looked at Snivel. Deep down I realized this could very well be the end of my career. What did I care? I said what I needed to say. Javelin would have done the same, as with the others I hoped.
"Then so be it. Tell your commanding officer what you would like to, assuming he would even care about what a private has to say. Good luck explaining to him why you're back so early too. You and Javelin had better be gone by tonight, you hear?" He poked his hoof towards us, glare softened slightly but not gone.
"Yes, sir," me and Javelin said in unison, then trotted off back to our barrack.
This was it. This marked the end of officer school. But why did I feel so... happy? It was over. I could go home. Not as an officer, not as a leader. No, I could go home and still be a Marine.
Me and Javelin walked side-by-side to the barrack while the others resumed. My posture was far apart from Javelin's as his was slow and sluggish, and his head was drooping. I moved my eyes over to him, raising a hoof to rest it on his shoulder.
"Don't take this too hard. I did what needed to be done, even if it screwed us over in the end."
"I'm just shocked you did that... that you stood up for me after you hated me just a few days ago."
"What can I say? You helped me out, I owed you," I smiled softly, as best as I could to try and comfort him.
Slowly his eyes met mine. Then a small smile crept across his muzzle. "Were you being serious about reporting him?"
"I don't fake that stuff. I meant it. When we get back, he's screwed."
"Don't screw him over too much, alright? He'll want revenge. Karma is a real bitch when she gets you."
"You can say that again," I said, pulling the door open for him and following Javelin inside.
The both of us separated to go into our rooms where we commenced packing the few things we brought. I looked around the small room once I was finished and took a deep breath, exhaling quietly. I wasn't going to miss this place, not one bit. In fact, I yearned my old barrack. My old barrack with my stubborn, slightly annoying, but also emotionally scarred roommate.
Javelin knocked gently on the door frame, standing in it with his bag over his shoulder. He was smiling carefully despite his undoubted heartache of being exiled from officer school. "Ready to go?"
"More ready than I'll ever be," I answered honestly and carried my bag over to the door, shutting off the room's light and closing the door behind us. "To Manehattan we go."
In front of the main building on campus waited a single taxi carriage, the pony driving dressed in a thick grey winter coat that went as far back as his hind legs and black snow boots on all fours reaching up just above his knees. Me and Javelin hopped up into the carriage and took a seat and off we went to the train station without a single goodbye from anypony.
***
Soon, Baltimare was long behind us with endless pine trees and snow-covered fields dashing past the train window, moving quickly northwards. Manehattan was a short ride away from Baltimare unlike it was from there to Canterlot. Within a couple of hours the train pulled into Manehattan Central station and we were off the train searching for a taxi within the mix of crazy congestion in the city due to the holiday season.
Almost everywhere we went, buildings and street lights alike were decorated to the very tip with red-ribbon wreaths with red and green as well as white decorative lights strung through them. Shops advertised in big-lettered signs of the sales and deals on merchandise they offered with huge-lettered, colorful signs on their storefront with ponies in scarves, coats, and everything in between for cold weather swarmed inside and stood in long lines hoping to find what they want to purchase without it being sold out. It was even crazier than Canterlot this time of year.
We managed to catch a taxi after chasing it a block and a half in the wrong direction as to where we needed to go, and finally me and Javelin were happy to say that we were home, although for me it was just an exaggeration. The taxi dropped us off in front of the base's only gate and discounted us when we paid.
The guard granted us entry upon checking our identification and we trotted inside, finding the place to be the same as it had been when we left. Nothing was different. Everypony else on base followed the exact routine as every other day. Then, Javelin turned to me and extended his hoof.
"It was a pleasure, Star," he smiled softly.
I took his hoof and shook it firmly. "Likewise. See you sometime soon," I smiled back.
"I hope so too," Javelin winked, trotting off presumably to his own barrack.
I watched him leave, exhaling deeply. Snowflakes had begun to gently fall as yet another storm was pushing its way in from the southwest. I glanced up at the sky, watching slow-moving, thick, grey clouds float overhead. With a final sigh, I started towards my barrack.