Walking up to the door of the barrack, I took the keys from my bag's side pocket and stuck it into the lock, and with a click, the door unlocked and I stepped inside into the warmth of the dormitory. I let out a sigh of comfort as I entered, shutting the door with my hind leg and taking the royal blue bag to my bed. Unpacking took just a couple of minutes and upon hanging the uniforms I had brought up in the small two-sided closet, I slid the bag beneath my bed and set the book just beside it.
It felt good to be home. Home away from home, that is. While I was plenty accustomed to Manehattan after half of a year of being here, Canterlot remained to be my place of housing. But now I pondered the idea of searching for somewhere to move around here, at least somewhere comfortable and not too pricey aside from the fact that I hopefully wouldn't have a psycho upstairs or next-door neighbor. That could wait a bit, however.
Just minutes after unlocking the dorm's door, I was back out again to speak to the second lieutenant. I didn't enjoy the thought of explaining why I was back from Baltimare early but it wasn't like I could hide the truth either. I just hoped this wouldn't end in some sort of punishment.
I walked straight to the base's main office and went upstairs to find Arc Nobis' office, expecting him to hopefully be there. Stepping up to the door, I took in a deep breath and raised my hoof up to the door, knocking gently twice.
The deeper, chilling voice of the Second Lieutenant exuded opposite of the door, asking me to enter. I took the knob in my hoof and twisted it, then pushed inwards as I stepped inside, stopping and stiffening up to attention. "Second Lieutenant, sir."
The Second Lieutenant's head raised, his gaze meeting my own as his brow lifted with a small look of bewilderment seeing me standing before his desk rather than being at the very officer school he sent me off to.
"Back so soon, Private?" He asked, keeping his eyes locked onto mine. "You're well over a month early. How did it go?"
"I did not finish, sir," I answered honestly. "Sergeant Major Snivel ordered I return to Manehattan at once. Not due to any emergency."
"Then why did he really send you back? Failure to pass the test?" Arc's head tilted slightly.
"Yes sir." How was I supposed to bring up what else happened? This was harder than I previously thought.
"There is more than to what meets the eye. What are you not telling me, Private?" The second lieutenant asked. That helped.
I shifted a bit to remain at attention comfortably. "Sergeant Major Snivel imperiled to fail a fellow Marine for almost reaching the goal but not quite. I did the same but the sergeant major overlooked and proceeded to go after Corporal Javelin Charm, sir."
Arc eased back into his chair, still eyeing me with suspicion. "Go on, Private."
"I stepped forward to defend the corporal and thus exposed the sergeant major for nitpicking only certain ponies for the littlest mistakes. Rather than helping, he lectures Marines for just nearly performing a certain number of exercises which I found to be absurd, sir," I explained.
"State your reasoning. A pony of your rank should not bombard one of a higher rank and authority," the Second Lieutenant stated with a slightly growing scowl accompanying him.
I gulped softly. "Sir, with all due respect, physical integrity has absolutely nothing to do with the mentality of a Marine officer. One should not have to be physically strong to be a platoon leader. If that is truly the case then I believe something is wrong. Sir."
The second lieutenant stared at me for a full minute in silence. An uncomfortable silence. Afterwards, he sat forward and crossed his hooves on his desk.
"While I am still questioning your logic to have such an incursion with the sergeant major, I can't say I don't concur with you. Sergeant Major Snivel, for a while, has his beliefs that to be the leader of a platoon, you must show great physical strength and agility whether or not you have it. His job is to push Marines to their limits and weed out the ones not capable of doing so.
"Where he goes wrong is that he also maintains the concept that all stallions of any shape or size share the same strength as, let's say, a stallion who bucks apple trees for a living. That kind of pony is almost guaranteed to show off similar vitality to that of a bull, primarily in their hinds but everywhere else as well because of heavy lifting. Not everypony can do something like that, and that's where you were in the right with this," he paused and sat back again.
"Excuse any agitation I may have shown towards you, private. You are excused for your actions. For that, I will recommend you back to the school in the future and I will see to it that he is not to have any interaction with you. I will have him be relocated and or possibly return him to his home base. I see to him as unfit to be a teacher at the Lunar Marine Officer School," he continued, then stood up.
"Personally, I do not get along with him. Not once has he shown respect towards higher ranks as well as lower ranks and aside from that isn't friendly overall. If I were in the same position as you, I would have done the same, if not worse, although that would have had me discharged," Arc chuckled. He actually chuckled.
I grinned slightly. "Yes, sir," then wiped it away to keep my respective posture.
"But either way, I was planning on having you promoted," Arc added.
My eyes opened up a bit more. "Sir?"
He walked around his desk to face me up close. "You've shown yourself worthy in the heat of battle even at such a young rank within the Marines and even stood up for your fellow soldiers no matter the consequences," Arc rested his hoof on my shoulder. "I will call in and have your uniform prepared as well as your new rank patch so you don't have to get new ones altogether."
"Yes, sir. But, what other uniform?" I asked.
"Dress uniform. Everypony when they reach private first class receives one," he winked. "It helps you appear more formal at special events and might get you a mare or two. But apart from that," Arc went back to sit down. "I will let you know in a letter when the fitter wants to see you, so expect that in a week or two as he has to get the whole uniform ready. So, sometime between now and after Hearth's Warming."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," I replied. "Hearth's Warming? I thought it was Heart's Warming."
"It goes either way," Arc shrugged. "I hear ponies say it both ways all the time. Do you have any further questions?"
I shook my head. "No, sir."
"Then you are dismissed," he stood and saluted.
I followed suit, then turned and exited his office, the door shutting on it's own slowly behind me with a gentle click. Walking down the hallway to the building's elevator, my stomach growled. It was time to eat.
Much to my surprise, the mess hall still served ponies for lunch although it was over an hour after lunch time. I stopped inside, collecting a tray and was then plated with green beans, a couple of baked potatoes, a cup of mandarin oranges soaked in their own juice, and a small carton of milk to drink. I trotted to an empty, cleaner table and took a seat. There were few others eating in the mess hall and plenty of places to sit down—not as many in terms of cleanliness.
My stomach noisily growled the moment my tray was set down on the table and within a moment of me settling down, I began eating for the first time that day. Nothing felt better than munching down on a still-warm lunch following a busy morning, and yet it wasn't even two in the afternoon.
It couldn't have been more than two minutes since I sat down, and by now my food was long gone. It sure hit the spot, too.
***
"Roll again, Silver," I called out with a grin.
The beige unicorn moved the plastic figure resembling a unicorn stallion in Royal guard armor two spaces ahead of where it once sat and left it there, now taking the pair of dice in a shiny silver magical grasp, shaking them profusely a few times in the air and tossing them back down onto the board. They rolled a couple of times, then came to a halt, the numbers on both adding up to seven spaces, taking him to a space where it required the player to pull a card.
Silver gently took a light blue card in his hoof and held it up, narrowing his eyesight to read it carefully. "Water main burst on 82nd street. Go back four spaces."
With a grumble, Silver moved his figure back the four spaces as stated by the card. Both me and Solar chuckled while Anchorage watched in amusement, a widened grin crossing his muzzle.
"Better luck next time, ol' chum," Anchorage gently nudged Silver's shoulder, the beige unicorn once again grumbling in an inaudible language under his own breath. It was then his turn, his figure being none other than a pony in a naval crackerjack uniform. He scooped the dice up with his wing and closed it around them, shaking the dice and tossing them gently onto the board, then moved his figure ahead five spaces and overtaking my figure.
"Damn you!" I shouted, taking the dice in both hooves and tossing them down. Ten spaces to go ahead, putting me once again ahead of Anchorage and now Silver. I took my figure, a firepony, and moved it forward.
The game we were playing I considered to be an early shared Hearth's Warming gift between them and was something we could play in our free time. The game itself was named City Escape and was based around exactly that. The setting itself was in a partially destroyed version of a slightly altered Manehattan after the events of a devastating disaster with the true cause of the destruction mixed around multiple natural disasters. Anchorage believed it to be an earthquake followed by a tsunami, since parts of the city were collapsed and underwater, Silver and Solar assumed it was the result of powerful magic in the wrong hooves, while I just thought it was a fun game.
The objective of it was quite similar to Monopony, in which the players had to survive for as long as they could in the city and even try to get lucky enough to be able to escape without being killed by the environment and the spaces around the board were endless. Some spaces could be landed on that meant instant death, such as falling into a pool of magma or being crushed by a collapsing skyscraper, and even areas of sunken street now full of water with said space having a small stack of cards, there being a two-thirds of a chance of survival where your figure could swim to the other side, be miraculously rescued, or just drown instantly, it was up to the cards to decide. All we knew was, the last pony on the board wins.
Solar's turn was next. He took the dice in a golden aura while taking a sip from a can of soda, then threw them down on the board. Six spaces, which took him right to a chance card. He moved his figure, then picked up the card to read. The next moment, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "Killed by a grenade?! What the hell!" He shrieked.
All of us minus Solar burst into a fit of heavy laughter, the shriek of anger in the tone of his voice only adding to the humorous moment. He glared at us, Silver laying flat on his back and holding his stomach with tears squeezing out. Solar crossed his hooves, using magic to flick his figure off of the board as he was now out of the game for good.
Over a minute after was when we did finally settle down, although Silver found himself to still be still softly chuckling from time to time as he caught his breath and wiped the tears out of his eyes with a hoof. "Oh man... haha! My sides hurt."
Solar, scooting back away from the board, continued to pout. "Screw this game! Killed by a grenade... who even threw it?!"
"It's just a game, Solar," I grinned. "No need to rage on about it. Besides, you'll be the one laughing when one of us dies, just give it some time."
"Hmph!" He turned and looked away, staring towards the blind-covered window while we kept on playing.
"Hey, Star, you really never did tell us. What made you come back early?" Silver asked, taking his turn on the game and moving his figure.
"Well, to put it short," I paused briefly to take a sip of water. "The sergeant major there was a total dick and was nothing less than that."
"What happened?" Anchorage grinned, looking up from the board as he shook the dice.
"Let's just say he was extremely harsh on ponies because they missed a couple of sit-ups. I mean, if he were a drill sergeant at boot camp I would see why, but it's officer school! It's where they teach you to become a Marine officer, not to become more fit than you already are. I told Arc and he thought it was ridiculous."
"You told the Second Lieutenant?" Anchorage's grin grew.
"Oh, yeah. I even said I would, not that the sergeant major cared. Arc asked why I was really back so early and he got just that," I shrugged.
"Huh. What is he going to do about it?" Silver glanced up to me.
"Well, he says he's going to handle it one way or another. Supposedly he still wants me to finish the classes, so there is another chance that I will be going back there. I have no clue when though."
I paused to take my turn in the game and moved my figure a couple of spaces forward. This could go on for a long time.
***
Just like that, Hearth's Warming was in the past. The craze of the holiday settled slightly, allowing for not only us but the rest of the city to adjust back to normal, although New Years was still in the near future. Thankfully it didn't attract as many ponies as Hearth's Warming did. Then with the holiday behind us, I was back to my normal shifts.
Within the two days after, Ashfall returned from holiday leave to see his father in Whitetail Woods. Even then when he did step hoof on base, almost none of us recognized him. The stallion walked in with a red plaid flannel button-up shirt on, work gloves, a dark blue beanie, and even a five o' clock shadow visible on his chin and lower cheeks. Definitely unrecognizable to everypony but myself. If I hadn't known any better, I would have said the poor pony looked like a stereotypical lumberjack. Then again, it wasn't like he was ashamed of it. He grew up on a lumber mill.
"So, how was your trip?" I asked him with a grin as he walked up the steps of the barrack carrying his bag.
Ash grumbled and set his bag down beside him. "At least you recognize me," he stopped to glance around then turned back to meet my grin. "It went well. Me and my father got each other up to speed on either side and we spent one day chopping up wood. Compared to my old self, I'm rusty when it comes to that," he said with a chuckle.
I laughed a bit in return. "Sounds like fun. Run into any bears along the way?"
"For once, no. I guess they're all hibernating or something," he shrugged. "Hey wait a minute, you're back already? What happened to officer school?"
"Long story short, I got screwed over along with somepony else but I took care of that situation. Well, as best as I could anyways," I sighed. "Better luck next year I guess."
"I suppose so. Any who, you look like you're heading out for your shift. I'd better let you go," Ash winked. "Plus I'd better get unpacked and stuff."
I chuckled softly. "Alright, Ash. I'll see you later."
"Likewise," Ash smiled, picking his bag back up off of the floor and carrying it around me to his room further down the hallway.
For once, there were numerous breaks in the cloud cover above and sunlight seeped through in bright beams that illuminated the Manehattan skyline and gave it a slight glow. That was one of the first things I noticed leaving the barracks to begin my daily shift. The second was just how busy the base was. The place seemed to be much busier and bustling with Marines and sailors than I had ever seen. I could only assume something was up, but I couldn't stop to ask anypony.
I trotted across the base to the side of the concrete wall where I walked patrols and climbed up, exchanging spots with Halberd who this time wore heavier winter gear to conform to the cold. I commemorated him for that before he left. As I climbed up the ladder, I was stopped by a voice calling out for me down below.
"Oh, and, Star?" Halberd had stopped and was looking up at me. "I uh... have a doctor's appointment tonight and could be gone a while, and I have nopony else to cover for me, so could you possibly do it?" He smiled innocently.
Cover for him? That would be almost a 24-hour shift. No way.
"Of course," I smiled. Stupid mouth.
"Great, thank you so much. I owe you big time!" Halberd smiled big, then galloped off to the mess hall.
I rolled my eyes and continued climbing up to the top of the wall. Outside of the base, everything was quaint and silent compared to the hustle and bustle of the inside. I still wasn't sure what was going on, unless another ship was preparing to make port.
I began my shift, walking along the wall to the very end of where I patrolled and back. As I did so, I took a misstep and set my hoof down right on a patch of ice not yet melted away by salt Halberd laid down overnight. My eyes opened wide as I slipped and fell backwards, the rifle around my neck flying off and the back of my head slamming against the concrete painfully. As the world stopped spinning a moment later, I caught the silhouette of the gun falling off of the side of the wall.
Quickly I jumped to my hooves and looked over the edge, breathing quickly and still a throbbing headache left from the blow to the back of my noggin. Great, now I had to go get it. I climbed up on the edge and jumped down, my hinds first dropping in the snow to slightly break the short fall as I landed with a grunt. I walked over to my rifle and lifted it out of the snow, wiping some of it off of the barrel and handle. Now I had to walk all the way around to the gate since I still can't fly. I couldn't imagine this day to get any worse.
"Star?!"
Quickly it was about to.
I looked up from the rifle and to the side, seeing a tan coated, auburn-maned earth pony mare galloping through the tree line towards me with just a scarf around her neck. It was Rose. The one mare I hoped never to bump into again, even worse it being right here rather than Canterlot.
"Rose?" One brow raised and my pupils downsizing to pinpricks, I took a step back as she stopped directly in front of me, panting heavily. "What in Celestia's name are you doing here?"
"I-I came... to..." she paused once more to catch her breath. "Whew... Long run. I came to talk to you."
Slowly my look of surprise faded and transformed into a small glare. "Oh yeah? About what?"
"A-a lot of things..." Rose's ears fell, her chest still somewhat heaving and cheeks red from the cold added to being worn out.
"I don't care. I have a shift to return to. A long one at that," I said, turning to walk away, only to be grabbed by her hoof latching onto mine to spin me back towards her. My rear fell back into the snow and both of her hooves took hold of my shoulders. The mare was stronger than she looked because I could hardly move out of her grasp. One movement meant pain as well as she had her hooves over one of my pressure points.
"Star, please. We need to settle this, and we need to settle it right now. Do you hear me?"
I grunted and tried to escape her hold, then yelped in pain and immediately stopped. Slowly I made eye contact with her and nodded in response.
She gently eased her grip but didn't let go. "Good. And if somepony yells at you, I'll get them off of you. Now, as I said, there is a lot we must talk about. Are you willing to talk this time?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not really."
"Then I guess I am."
"Good stallion," she eased herself back, removing her hooves from my shoulders. I gently rubbed the spot that felt pain on my shoulder, still eyeing her with suspicion.
"How did you even find me?" I asked, still rubbing my shoulder.
"You forgot already, haven't you?" Rose tilted her head.
I sighed softly. "Right, right. So, what is there to talk about?"
"Everything. Start from the very beginning all over again if we have to. I guess I'll do the starter," she inhaled deeply, then sighed it all out. "I announced my resignation from the Equestrian Intelligence Agency."
I grinned slowly. "This is some sort of joke, right?"
Rose, however, didn't. "I'm not kidding around, Star. I told my boss that I am quitting as soon as this whole Constitution thing settles down."
Suddenly, she snapped her head to the side and gasped, hoof pointing as well. "Star, look out!"
I snapped myself to the side to see what she was talking about, but before I could, I was knocked back and down by a large feathery mass, stunned once more. The next thing I knew, I was pinned to the ground.