Millennia: Beginning

by Thunderblast

29. A New, New Start

Sitting down in the mess hall with Solar and Silver the morning after, initially we found ourselves to be stuffing our muzzles into our trays of breakfast, each of us were just that hungry for some strange reason. Eventually as we got some food in our stomach, the three of us began to converse. While doing so, of course, took our minds off of finishing our meal and only meant we'd get to our shifts slightly later than the sergeant preferred.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Have you guys heard the news?" Silver spoke up, focus shifting between me and the yellow unicorn seated beside him.

Shaking my head, I replied, "No. What's up?"

"You're getting promoted?" Solar guessed.

Silver shook his head. "Nope!"

"I'm getting promoted?" Solar's smile widened.

Brow furrowing, Silver once again shook his head. "Afraid not."

"Oh. Are we getting deployed?" Solar's ears lowered slightly.

"No! Will you just-"

"Hi, guys!" Anchorage cut in, floating over to our table with a tray and sat down beside me. "Did you all hear that Lieutenant Arc is being promoted?"

Silver, at that moment, facehoofed while shaking his head slowly, while me and Solar were focused on the white pegasus to my side. "No. What's he going to be now?"

"Second lieutenant," Anchorage answered, then took a sip out of a cup of water. "Others are saying first lieutenant, but, that wouldn't make much sense. Second lieutenant comes before first."

My eyes widened slightly. "Huh. Well, good for him. What did he do to earn it?"

"My assumption would be his role during the gunfight we had over a week ago," Anchorage shrugged. "The stallion already has a Silver Star medal and Celestia knows how many ribbons for his service just mainly in scuffles from around the world."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What do we get?"

Anchorage blinked, looking at me directly. "Come again?"

"What do we get from that? We were there, too," I repeated myself, brow raising further.

"Well, those who we lost are getting medals of their own, and of course funeral ceremonies. I suppose us that lived through it don't get anything but a pat on the back and a thank you for handling the situation. To be fair, Star, it really could have ended up much worse. For all we know, if there were more pirates, chances are we'd still be on that ship and tied up somewhere in the ship's hangar being watched over carefully, on our way to Celestia knows where to most likely be tortured, or worse."

"But yet, don't you notice how only the higher ranks and those who didn't make it are the only ones to be recognized by... well, anypony?"

"You just realized that?" Silver tilted his head. "Star, while I don't care if the deceased get more attention, which I'm sure you don't either, this is to be expected. Let's be realistic here, have you ever seen or heard of a high-ranking officer out in the middle of a gunfight?" Before I could answer, Silver shook his head and raised his hoof. "I didn't think so. Yes, they got more recognition than us. Who cares? Our job isn't about fighting, then expecting public attention the minute after. Where's the honor in that?"

Easing myself, I nodded. "I suppose you're right. But you get my point though, correct?"

The others nodded in agreement, Anchorage replied, "We do, Star. That's just how it is. And it's not like we're getting shit on either. We still get paid, we still have the benefits, and unless we go out and spend our paychecks on fancy places to live, they provide us with not only little apartments, but food and recreational activities too. It really isn't that bad when you think about it."

Anchorage was right. Despite the fact that the higher ranks did get more recognition for not doing much, we still did have it easy compared to some ponies. I simply nodded again and returned to finishing my breakfast.

***

Once outside and in the cold, I walked along the icy cement towards my post across the base. Remarkably I found it to be slightly warmer here than in Canterlot, likely due to a massive change in altitude, yet surprisingly the breeze was very much absent that morning.

Walking up the ladder of the wall, I was met with the night shift guard standing there, hooves and torso shivering with tiny icicles hanging from his chin and bags beneath his eyes. I chuckled softly. "Go get some rest, Halberd. I got it from here," then nudged his shoulder.

"Th-thank y-you... S-Star..." the light bluish grey earth pony stuttered, handing his rifle over to me, then making his way down the ladder. Considering where Halberd was from, I could only feel bad for him for being stuck in a much colder climate than what he was used to.

From there, my shift had already started despite me being late by a few minutes. Poor Halberd was used to it, and in return he did the same to me, not that I minded much.

Just a few minutes into my patrols, I felt something fly right into my cheek, making me jump slightly as I looked down at the random object and saw it was a paper plane. Assuming from the direction it came from, thankfully, it wasn't a bomb or poison. I reached down and unfolded the plane, it being a brief hoof-written note on a full piece of paper.

Come to meeting hall in 5 minutes. Announcements will be made.

Looking down towards the ground, nopony was there. I shrugged it off, but now I had to convince somepony to take over for me until I could return. Thankfully I was able to convince somepony walking by to do it by offering him some bits in return. Leaving my post, I started towards the main office building on base where I noticed a couple other ponies on their way as well.

At least three other ponies of a rank higher than my own entered before me, and each of us quickly came across the meeting room where Lieutenant Arc sat, eyeing each and every one of us as we stepped through the door and settled into our chairs. Only a few individual ponies were there before he stood up and shut the door.

"Now," he started, turning towards the group. "I called each of you here on short notice because I've got some announcements to make to all of you specifically. Yes, rumors have spread of my promotion to second lieutenant, and it is true—" Before he could continue, we clapped for him. We stopped when he raised his hoof up. "No need to congratulate me, Marines. In fact, I should be the one congratulating you."

All of us exchanged looks, before returning our attention to Arc, where he then cleared his throat. "In light of my promotion, I would like to explain why you all are actually here for, and the truth is," he stopped and eyed us one by one. "You all have performed outstandingly in your tests, a couple of you having doing so during the recent boarding attack of the Eclipse. For this, I'm referring everypony in this room to the Lunar Marines Officer School."

A light collective gasp filled the room, and once again we were exchanging looks, now even more confused but also surprised.

"I'll be talking to some other ponies about this as well. But yes, all of you have proven yourselves worthy enough to earn my respect, and thus you will be attending the academy in as little as a few days. The classes themselves last approximately one and a half, and in some cases, two months, depending on your rank, meaning there's a high chance many of you will be there long past New Years," he explained.

"But also, I don't expect all of you to pass either. The Officer School is extremely picky on their students, and the least I can do is bid you all good luck, as these classes will test your mental strength and less your physical strength like boot camp did. I expect all of you to come back stressed as a single parent, if not worse."

His words weren't exactly reassuring. In fact, over top my excitement, worry began to set in quickly. "However... there is something else I must inform you of," everypony's ears perked suddenly. "If you pass your classes, you're guaranteed a promotion and will be fast on your way to leading your own squadron if you break the rank of Sergeant. Any questions?"

The room remained silent for a few moments, then I raised my hoof and Arc eyed me. "Where is the school located, sir?"

Arc stared directly at me for a second in silence. "Baltimare. Or rather, close to it. It is the only Officer School us as a branch have, and everypony from all over Equestria seeking classes at the academy must go there. And on your way out, Marines," he gazed across the room at the others. "I will personally give you the paperwork you need to take to the school to show proof of your referral. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" We answered jointly.

"Very good, men," Arc started towards the door. "Dismissed. And remember, pick up your paperwork, because if you don't and you get declined, I'm either going to not refer you again, or just straight up whoop your ass, and believe me, you won't like me when I'm angry," he threatened, just the look on his face was enough to startle all of us let alone the grim tone of his voice. When he did leave the room, the rest of us stood up and followed suit. Without hesitation, all five of us lined up at the lieten—second lieutenant's office, where one by one he handed a few long pages of paperwork to look over.

"Check over the papers, then do it again. If anything is off that you can see, let me know and I'll change it for you," said the second lieutenant as he handed the last pony their papers. "You all leave at the end of the week. 'Til then, you are to resume your duties like normal, and I will contact your platoon sergeants so they are informed of your absences. Carry on."

***

"Officer school? But you just got back!" Night said, voice echoing slightly while showering.

I stood in the bedroom, once again packing my bags. "I know. Seems like I'm going places non-stop," I chuckled. "What sucks most is, the second lieutenant said we'll most likely be there past New Years depending on what classes we choose, though that confuses me slightly."

"Choose your classes? I thought they only did one class, and that was to teach ponies into becoming officers?"

"So did I, I guess not. That, or he just worded it wrong. I don't expect for him to have been to Baltimare in a while, he's an old stallion."

"I don't think he's old. But, he's definitely older than us. Didn't Sergeant Hardstaff once say that Arc was in his late twenties or something like that?"

"I don't know, I wasn't listening if he did say that," I replied. "The papers also said it's best to get there earlier during the week period they give us to get ready and go there, which is why I'm leaving today. No harm, no foul right?"

"Right," Night answered, the shower shutting off and the brown earth pony hopping out, grabbing a towel to dry himself off prior to stepping out of the bathroom. "Still a shame you have to leave again so soon."

Zipping up my bag, I turned to him with a sly grin. "I thought you hated my guts, Private Nightpath?"

He rolled his eyes and punched my upper arm near my shoulder, walking past me to his bed to put on the uniform he laid out in preparation for his shift. I chuckled, rubbing my arm with a hoof. "Only joking."

"Oh, I know you are now, because now I don't have a reason to hate you," he said.

"What's that mean?" I stopped and turned towards him while he buttoned up his uniform jacket.

"Meaning I don't hate you. I was stupid to to begin with, you know?" Night glanced back at me with a reassuring smile that allowed me to ease up.

I nodded, Night returning his focus to finishing putting his uniform on with him noticeably struggling with the buttons still. I tilted my head and watched. "Why don't you turn around?"

Night did slowly, appearing rather frustrated with the buttons. I shook my head and proceeded to slide them into their little slips one by one until his uniform was completely buttoned up. He relaxed once I finished. "Thank you..."

"Don't mention it," I gently punched his upper arm with a smile.

"So... Baltimare. I guess maybe its a good thing you're going and not me."

I nodded, understanding what he meant by that. "I've never been either, so this will be fun."

Night shrugged. "It's an okay city, not nearly as crowded as Manehattan and has quite a few poorer areas on the outskirts. Nothing real special apart from that."

Shrugging, I nodded again. "I'm not going to be exploring the city either. As far as I know, the school isn't even in the city and is somewhere close to it. I guess I'll have to find out."

"Right. And uh, if you bump into my father, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, name it."

"Give him a big ol' knock on the head for me, will you?" Night grinned smugly.

I laughed and waved a hoof. "I'll see what I can do. But for now, I best be on my way."

"Of course," Night nodded once. "Hey, good luck."

"Thanks," I nodded back. "I'll need it I'm sure. I don't expect this to be any easier than my last classes."

"Only time will tell," he shrugged. "But look on the bright side, if the Second lieutenant is referring you, you know what that means."

"I'm afraid I don't?" I tilted my head, eyeing Night with some confusion. "What does it mean?"

"It means he likes you. Not in that way of course, no. He must see potential in you as a leader of a squadron. Nopony goes to officer school and doesn't come out a Sergeant first class with a group of Marines at their helm in a few years time. You're on your way, Star," Night gently nudged my shoulder.

"I suppose so. It's weird though, considering the other day, he was shouting at me for not fighting back much. Unless, of course..."

"Your commanding officer might have brought it up to him," Night finished after me, and I nodded in return.

"Would make things more clear, although what you say could also be true. I highly doubt that though."

"Oh, quit being negative. You're always nagging at yourself. Why not be positive about moving your way up in the Marines?" Night frowned.

Shaking my head slightly, I replied, "I don't know. I just..." then sighed quietly and made slow eye contact with the taller stallion. "Ever since the incident I've been having trouble staying positive about anything. Not only that, but some things went down in Canterlot while I was there."

"What things?" Night asked out of curiosity, looking right back down at me.

"I'd... prefer not to speak about it. Not yet at least. Likely I'll wait until I'm over it and I start sleeping normally again," I picked my bag up and slung it over my shoulder and onto my back. "Maybe I'll be ready when I get back, who knows," I stopped once more and made my way to the door of our dormitory, pausing as I opened the door to walk out. "Oh, and Night?"

"Yeah, Star?"

"Since I doubt I'll see them on my way out, let them know where I'll be and how long I'll be gone, aye?"

Night understood and nodded. "Will do. Come back the same pony."

"No guarantees," I winked at the brown stallion. "See you in a few weeks."

Author's Note:

Just one more chapter left before the next hiatus, which I intend to be short this time, I promise. I guess you could say this is more of a filler chapter, so to speak.

Comments

[Americanwastelander]

Yes, nuff said.

[Thunderblast]

6904014 What's that mean?

[Americanwastelander]

It means that this is AWESOME! !!

[Thunderblast]

6904435 Glad you enjoy it.

[Gizmo Gear]

Wonder what happens with Rose secret agent marefriend?