Red Phase

Author's Note:

Yes, It's an OC story, mostly because I have no real idea what I want to do with this yet, drag it out and make it VERY deep and meaningful, or keep it short and simple. Please, if I made a mistake, LET ME KNOW, but please keep it respectful, and if you downvote or didn't like it, please leave a comment. I can't get better if nobody wants to give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

IE: a way to help the story flow better! Lord knows I need help with that... ;A;

Oh, and any questions concerning exercises can be referred to FM 7-22.

Red Phase. Week two. Ft. Lostinthewoods.

====

Noise. Gloriously loud noise was all that the terrified mares and stallions made. The towering tan stallion grinned down at the group of terrified ponies, keeping his expression neutral as he looked each one up and down. He tilted his head so the sun could hot his polished breastplate, shining with surgical precision into the eyes of an unfortunate grey stallion in the second rank's mismatched blue and green eyes. The tan stallion moved on, his hooves clicking ominously on the paved surface as he paced.

Fourth platoon, Diamond Dogs. He wrinkled his nose at the name, then sighed, remembering the stallion he was replacing. Pansy-assed- He shook his head, as if in disappointment-which to be fair, he was rather unimpressed with the name. Why couldn't it be something cool, like 'Vipers' or 'Hellhounds'? It would have been a bit more fun to work with when thy started to come together. IF they came together.

The Drill Sergeant who he was filling in for had gotten his orders in, and while it wasn't a pleasant place he was headed, it beat the stuffing out of drudging through another cycle of fresh faced recruits, most barely half his age. He relinquished the train of thought and returned to the center of the formation, continuing to turn his head as he projected his rather gravelly voice so that everyone could hear him.

"You all look like a soup sandwich. But that's okay, because we're going to fix that here. I've got you for the next two phases. From here on out, I am your deity. I decide when you eat. I decide when you breathe. I decide when you use the latrine. And most importantly, I decide when you do PT. Now, being that I am your replacement for this half of the cycle, I expect you have already heard that whole schpeil, but let's drive it home, yeah? I'm thinking a little 'fun in the sun' is what you need, Right, Fourth?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!"

"PLATOON! Atten-SUN" He bellowed, emphasizing the later half of the command of execution.

As the whole platoon snapped to a rigid stance, the large stallion donned his brown round, tilting it down so he had to perpetually look down the end of his scarred snout at the admitedly shoddy formation before him.

"THE POWER JUMP!"

"The power jump!" The formation called back, obviously not enthused.

"IN CADENCE!"

"In Cadence!" The recruits parroted, a few groaning as they shook already. The Drill grinned inwardly, looking forward to watching them slowly grow and toughen, making the transition from civilian to soldier.

"EX'SIZE" He drawled, sneering as he leaned against the wooden post next to him, ready to snipe the first recruit that preformed the exercise incorrectly. "One, Two, THREE!" his voice slipped up on 'Three' intentionally, before pausing and letting the recruits count the rep.

"ONE" The formation called to him, sounding the count as they finished the repetition.

"One, Two, Three" His voice went down on three reflexively as he shifted his gaze, still looking for one to spotlight.

"TWO"

The Drill finally spotted his prey, a smaller grey coated pegasus, who wasn't squatting all the way down before launching himself straight up. He shifted his weight, tensing his abdominals in preparation to raise his voice from 'comfortably loud', to 'world shatteringly obnoxiously loud'.
"One, Two- PRIVATE, WHAT THE FU- STOP, ALL OF YOU! YOU, GREY PEGASUS. Yeah, you. FRONT AND CENTER, BUCKER!"

"Yes, Drill Sarn't!" The recruit drawled, wincing inwardly.

The Drill Sergeant's right ear twitched as he straightened a little, recovering before the slip in his facade could be noticed. The small pegasus broke ranks-Correctly as he noted- and darted to the front, snapping to attention a full length from the enormous Drill Sergeant before widening his stance and staring blankly ahead, Textbook execution of going to 'Parade Rest'.

"PRIVATE, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING? YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME? DO YOU JUST NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THE EXCERSIZE?"

The recruit continued to blankly stare forward, as if the enormous body in front of him simply wasn't there. He drew a quick breath and responded without a thought as he slipped into a condition known as 'Auto-Private'.

"Yes, Drill Sarn't, I know how to do the power jump!"

"THEN WHY THE FUCK WEREN'T YOU DOING IT?!"

"I was, Drill Sarn't!"

The larger pony dipped his neck down and stepped a bit closer, his voice dropping dangerously low. "You arguing with me, colt?"

"No, Drill S-"

"So you know how to do the exercise, yet were choosing not to do it?"

"No, D-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, I'M TALKING, PRIVATE"

"Yes, Drill Sa-OMPH!"

The larger pony's front hoof came up and connected solidly with the smaller pegasus' chin, the movement too quick and the distance too small to avoid. His head snapped back, his eyes unfocusing as he staggered, his world spinning as he chose to simply sit down, rather than fall over. In moment's the Drill was standing almost over him.

"HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DO AS YOU ARE FUCKING TOLD"

"Hey battle, what's up?" A feminine voice called from a few meters behind the formation.

"Oh, nothing battle, just got some bird here who has it in his head that I'm blind and stupid and wants to argue" His voice shifted to an almost conversational tone as he spoke to the female drill sergeant, a stock brown earth pony, who had approached the formation unnoticed.

"Oh shit, battle! You got this one?"

"Yeah, I've got this. I might tag you in though, so don't go to far..." The two grinned wolfishly as the small pegasus shook his head and stood back up, only to be met with another hoof under his chin. This one was much harder than the last, knocking the pony back a solid meter where he finally succumbed to gravity and collapsed on his side, far to dazed to remain upright at all.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! DID I SAY YOU COULD STAND UP YET? STAY THE FUCK DOWN, BITCH!"

The female sneered from the sidelines, looking down her nose as her own greenish hat perched atop her head at a precarious angle. "Unless you want a few more lessons in combatives, I'd just do as you are told."

The grey pegasus remained still, blinking and keeping his mouth shut, not wanting to give the massive tan stallion the satisfaction of seeing the blood that was pooling in his mouth.

"NOW. Since you want to argue, you are going to watch while everyone else here has a little 'pain in the sand'. 'TOON! 'Ten-SHUN! You all know what 'Front-Back-Goes' are?"

"No, Drill Sergeant!"

"Ohhh, that's good! This means you get to learn something today! Now, Battle, can you handle them while I take care of the runt?"

"Sure thing, Battle!" She responded with maniacal happiness.

"Get the fuck up and watch them, then when She gets down, you come find me with a battle buddy."

The pegasus didn't respond, gritting his teeth and knowing he was damned if he did and damned is he didn't. He slowly rose to his hooves, the world lurching as he straightened up to 'attention' and then relaxed back into 'parade rest'.

"Yes, Drill Sarn't...No, Drill Sarn't.....Fuck you, Drill Sarn't....It's okay, Don't even worry about it, I've got your plot for the next eight weeks. I'll be in my office."

With that, he turned and left, pausing to nod at the explanation that was just being finished by his fellow Drill, and continuing away.

Now, when I say 'front', you all drop and push the fucking ground, I want to feel the world move as you all push! When I say 'back', you all roll over and do Vee-ups. When I say 'go', you jump the fuck up and run in place. Too easy?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!

"FRONT!...Back!....GO! Front! Back!...GO!... Front! Back! Front!...GO!"

===

"Dude, fuck you. Why did you piss them off?"
"Seriously, Spectre? What the fuck?"
"Naw, man, I ain't goin with you don't even ask"
"Blank flank just HAS to be an attention whore."
"Damn, did you see how hard he hit him?"
"I bet that felt gratifying..."

The grey pegasus sighed, slowly making his way to the latrines as the rest of the platoon went into the bay, their coats lathered and drenched in sweat. He tilted his head and dipped it into the sink as he turned on the water, catching a mouthful and swishing it around before spitting the bloody water back into the sink, staining the pearlescent porcelain pink. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped up his mess on impulse, tossing it in the bin and walking back out to the bay, his ears drooping as he felt all of the piercing stares and hatred being directed towards him. He fluttered his wings and sighed, gritting his teeth and wincing as he felt the blood rise. He grinned, his tail flicking as he just realized the most gratifying course of action is also the most dangerous. His gait became a bit more stiff legged as he walked through the door, ignoring the jeers and the cries about leaving without a battle buddy. He walked down the L-shaped hall and stood at the Drill Sergeant's office. He knocked on the door and forced his body to calm, returning to his previous air of nonchalance.

"Enter." A gruff voice came from the other side of the door.

He opened the door and stood outside it, snapping to parade rest. "Drill Sarn't, Not one person in the platoon would come with me when I asked around for a battle buddy. I was unsure of the pest course of action, considering your previous instruction."

"OH FUCK, NO! YOU- Damnit just get in here and sit down, I'll be back. Don't touch anything."

"Yes, Drill Sarn't" He waited until the door was firmly shut until he muttered softly "Fucking asshole..."

The large pony stormed out of his office, and muffled bellowing was heard through the vents. Spectre grinned as he looked about the office, his eyes falling to rest on the hanging dress uniform behind the desk.

"Holy shit, Drill Sarn't..."

He admired the displayed rack of ribbons, going from the pocked up to the lapel of his jacket, bearing silent testament to the action the Drill had seen. His head silted back a bit, his wings fluttering as he tried to identify the ones he knew, his ear twitching as he slipped up into the chair, hearing rhythmic counting though the vents.

"Good conduct...Archeon conflict....Bronze horseshoe...Purple heart... Is that a Silver Horseshoe?!"

"Four of them actually...With one cluster..."

The pegasus practically attached himself to the ceiling as he leapt form the chair. He started to go to parade rest when the large pony grunted and waved a hoof dismissively.

"Sit."

"Yes, D-"

"Shut up. You...You are what we refer to as a Blue Falcon. In layman's terms, you're a 'Buddy Fucker. You just screwed over your entire platoon...How can you do that? How can you just disobey an order and then come here and complain to me when you never even once ASKED ANY-FUCKING-PONY TO ACCOMPANY YOU! DON'T YOU DARE DENY IT, YOU LITTLE SHIT, THE WHOLE PLATOON HAD THE SAME FUCKING STORY. SO..." He took a breath, obviously fighting the urge to snap again. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"Drill Sarn't, When I came up to pass though the bay, they all said no, before I asked them. So, no Drill Sarn't. I didn't technically ask, but nobody seemed to care...They didn't want to run the risk of sticking their neck out for someone, regardless of personal feelings towards a ga-"

"So you're saying that they all hate you and are out to get you?"

"It's how it feels Dri-"

"If I asked you the way we taught you to remember the prep drill?"

"Be Right Here Real Soon We Found Privates Behind Popeye's."

"And Conditioning Drill One?"

The grey pony blinked and spewed it forth "Privates Value Money Like Sugar Dr-"

"What do both of those stand for?"

"The first one you asked about, Drill Sarn't, is The" Bend and Reach, Rear lunge, High jumper, Rower, Squat-"

"Good enough, you're a perfect candidate for it."

"D-Drill Sarn't?"

"Congratulations, Platoon Guide."

"Wh-" The baffled pegasus looked slack-jawed up at the tan pony as he slipped behind the desk.

"So, PG. First order of business is this." He reached across his desk, sliding a foreleg band with three bright yellow chevrons and a rocker across the polished surface. "You are in charge of them all. Which means is they fuck up, I fuck you up, THEN I fuck their assigned squad leader and team leader up, then I fuck them up. Don't get it twisted, They hate you, I see that. So they'll do intentional shit to screw you over. I'll be the judge of when that is happening. Hrmmm...What else...Oh! You'll be doing PT in the mornings- and only then, because only a Drill or an officer can drop them at any time- so I suggest you adjust fire and make sure you get early shifts on fire guard when you have it, because you'll be up early getting the schedule form me. "He paused and leaned back in the chair, stretching and chuckling with almost maniacal glee, reminiscent of large gravel being pushed down a solid granite slope." Yelling all the time is rough on your voice, and I'm tired of doing it, so I'm delegating it to you." He grinned as the pegasus closed his mouth with a soft pop, rustling his wings as he stared at the band. "Heh...You'll enjoy it...Just don't let it go to your head...Now, go gather your people. Formation is in ten minuets."

"Y-Yes, Drill Sarn't."

"Oh and Spectre?"

"Yes, Drill Sarn't?"

"Stay in my graces and I'll tell you how I got all that weight on my chest..." He jerked his scarred muzzle at his dress uniform."

"Yes, Drill Sarn't."

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