20 - Revolution, Part 2 of 10
Duster grunted from his effort as he plunged a hoe into the ground. The sounds of hundreds of iron tools striking earth filled the air nearby. Some of the more fortunate cadets had been given plows to work with. The training was physically strenuous, and Duster had been sore all over since he'd arrived only two days before. The stallion hadn’t expected to be doing any farming, but here he was. He glanced to his right and watched as Gunnysack easily sank his hoe blade all the way into the earth in one effortless swing. Duster raised his own implement and struck again, and again, and again. It was taking him five swings to get the blade deep enough to open the packed soil for the seeds they were planting.
"Keep it up!" Sergeant Scootaloo drove her squad. "We've got this entire field in front of us, and an afternoon off is at stake, so I want to see you planting faster than any other squad in the battalion!”
Drill Sergeant J had promised extra rations for the platoon that plowed the largest portion of the field, and to the squad with the highest efficiency, he'd promised an afternoon off. Duster tried to imagine what he might do with such a mini-vacation. He’d be able to explore Ponyville and see if there were any sights worth seeing. Maybe they had an art museum. Glancing over his shoulder back at town, he doubted it. Perhaps he could find Sissy. She hadn't said a single word to him since he'd arrived. This had enraged him at first. What if she hadn't recognized him? Surely she just hadn't seen him, that must be it. A nagging feeling washed over Duster that he was forgetting something important. He looked down to discover that he was propped up on his hoe, not doing any digging. He'd allowed himself to become lost in thought again. Unfortunately, he came to this realization a moment too late, as Drill Sergeant J was already kicking the tool out from under him. Duster stumbled awkwardly but was unable to catch his balance. He fell in a heap at the donkey's hooves.
"Are you alright down there, miss?” Drill Sergeant J mocked.
"Sir, yes sir," Duster answered. "Sir, permission to stand, sir?"
"Oh, I don't think you should," he sneered as Sergeant Scootaloo came up beside him. "It looks to me like you'll suffer heat stroke," the donkey said as he snatched up the hoe. "Doff!" he called, turning about. "Doff, where are you?"
Doff ran up stumbling and presented a pathetic salute. "Sir, Doff reporting, sir!" he panted.
"Your friend here is dehydrated, go get him some water," Drill Sergeant J replied.
"Sir, yes sir," Doff answered, again weakly saluting as he stumbled away. Sergeant Scootaloo was shaking her head in disgust.
"Sir, if I may," Duster began.
"You may not. Stay quiet before you hurt yourself," Drill Sergeant J spat at him. "Gunnysack!"
"Sir?" Gunnysack ran up, making a salute.
"Go find a towel and hold it to make shade for your fallen comrade here before the heat gets him."
"Sir, yes sir! For how long sir?" Gunnysack asked, a little confused.
"Until I say stop," the donkey replied flatly.
Gunnysack saluted and galloped off to get a towel.
"The rest of you, carry on," Drill Sergeant J said as he walked away with the hoe.
"Couldn't you just focus for once?" Scootaloo asked Duster. "With you and Gunnysack not working, there's no way we're going to get that afternoon leave."
Duster hung his head, not sure how to respond.
"You've let your entire squad down," she seethed. "Think about that while you rest."
Duster was ashamed of himself as Sergeant Scootaloo sulked off. He wasn't trying to let anypony down. As they continued working, the rest of the squad periodically glanced back at the resting stallion with expressions of severe contempt, everypony but Doff that is. He was the only one that seemed to have as much difficulties here as did Duster; he understood. Scootaloo, bandaged leg and all, grabbed up Gunnysack's hoe and worked alongside her cadets. Apparently, she wasn't at all afraid to get her hooves dirty. Gunnysack held the towel to make shade for the next three hours. When the plowing of the field was finished, their squad had made less progress than any of the others. When Gunnysack was finally relieved of his shade-making duty, he sank down to the ground to rest a moment.
"I'm sorry about this," Duster said as contritely as he could.
Gunnysack looked directly at him with a rather menacing expression. "When we get out into the war, you’d best watch your own back, because I’m not watching it for you. You got that?"
Duster felt hurt by this, and instinct put tears in his eyes before he really had a chance to think about it. Gunnysack saw them, but returned not even a shred of pity. He snorted at Duster unsympathetically and walked away.
"There she is!" Drill Sergeant J bellowed as he approached.
Duster jumped up onto his hooves and saluted, burying his annoyance. Drill Sergeant J had begun referring to him in the feminine late on the first day, and he hadn’t stopped since.
"Fall in!" Sergeant Scootaloo shouted, and the squad obeyed.
"Are you feeling better?" the donkey sneered at Duster, a fiendish grin on his face.
Duster hesitated a moment before replying, "Sir, I'm fine now, sir."
"Glad to hear it," the donkey said, his wicked smile widening. "Since your squad wasn't able to work as hard as the others, you'll be doing some special relay training for the rest of the day."
As Drill Sergeant J spoke, the protective shield around their training ground evaporated, letting the breeze through. Several squads of pegasi joined a CAP that flew overhead.
"You see that mountain peak?" the donkey asked, pointing to the north. "You are going to do two laps to the top and back."
"Sir, if I may, sir," Quickbeam said.
"What is it, cadet?" the drill sergeant asked.
"Sir, there are four of us that can't fly, sir."
"By Celestia, you may be the smartest cadet out here! I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out that you only have five pegasi. You'll just have to pair off and carry your partners." Turning to Scootaloo, he said, "Sergeant, if you’d do me the honor of flying with me?"
“Absolutely,” Scootaloo replied. "Grab your gear, everypony. We went over the harnesses yesterday. I want you ready to fly in five minutes. Move!"
The squad took off at a gallop back to their tent with Duster bringing up the rear. As they quickly grabbed their harnesses and ran back to their starting position, Duster saw and felt hateful glances from everypony else in the squad. He had to watch the others get their gear on, as Duster couldn't remember how it all was supposed to fasten. Upon completion, while the sergeants were inspecting them, Duster was focused on making sure all of his buckles were secured. When he looked up, he realized that everypony had already paired off, and he was going to be carrying Locknload, the heaviest member of their squad. Doff would be carrying Jewel, which made sense as she was the lightest, and Doff was definitely the weakest flyer.
“Lady, are you trying to get your passenger killed?” Drill Sergeant J barked at Duster as he struck the side of his head. “This strap is twisted. Take it off and start over, Missy.”
Duster quickly took it all apart and put it on again. Once they were certain that everything was secured properly, the squad took to the air. Duster strained at the weight of his comrade. As they continued, the mountain seemed taller and farther away than any of them could have imagined. Duster tried to bury his feelings and press through this, but his body was not in shape. His lungs burned, and every muscle ached. The others were no better off. It looked like they were about half way there when Doff started losing altitude.
"Doff! What in Celestia's name are you doing?" Drill Sergeant J shouted at him. "You flap those wings and keep up!" To Scootaloo, he shouted, "Take me over there!"
She complied, and just when he got close, J kicked Doff on the rump, putting him in a slight spin. Jewel screamed rather loudly, and the donkey shouted over that to be heard.
"I swear to Luna if you don't gain altitude and keep up with your squad I'm going to march you down to the gates of Tartarus and feed you to Cerberus!"
"Sir," Doff panted and puffed as he recovered from the spin, "I'm... trying... sir..."
Drill Sergeant J kicked him again, causing Jewel to shriek once more. Duster cringed at the noise she made. Doff continued losing altitude. Drill Sergeant J then unleashed a barrage of shouting and swearing that was so fast that Duster couldn't understand it. More like a growl than speech, it did have the desired effect, but Doff only just maintained his altitude. This continued all the way to the top of the mountain. When they landed on the summit, Duster was winded. The rest of the pegasi weren’t much better off. Only Sergeant Scootaloo seemed completely unaffected by the thinner air and exertion.
"Take five," Drill Sergeant J bellowed.
There were no complaints at this suggestion. Duster pulled the release on his harness, disconnecting from Locknload. Then he sank to the rocky ground of the mountain top. His wings and back were burning from the effort he had just put them through, and he was pouring sweat. He took a gulp from his canteen, which may have been more satisfying than any water he’d ever had. Any thoughts of relief for the moment were broken by the despair-filled realization that they still had to get back down. They were only a quarter of the way through this.
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Yep, looks like there's going to be lots of work to break Duster out of his daydreaming tendencies. That's gotta take a lot of training
Three miles up, three miles down
This is how boot camp training should be, with The Bird(rainbow, if you haven't seen Scootertrix) It was competitive, If you fall behind on the rank it reflects upon you. Here It's group oriented if you fail you bring down the group and let your buddies down. That is a much stronger motivation for most people and helps grow the kind of group cohesion that is essential in combat. Or I am just speaking out of my @$$ I don't know, I have only read 5 books about war and watched 2 miniseries' that by know mean makes me an expert
Currahee
We stand alone together.
8740776
1) More P.T. drill sergeant!
2) From what I have gleaned from family and friends that were in the army plus books I have read, I'm glad that this portrayal is working better than Rainbow Dash's flight school. I guess I could have tried to let them run me through basic so I could learn how it works!
8740782
Do you think Quickbeam will ever learn to keep his mouth shut? I don't.
I am NOT your worst nightmare, PRIVATE, YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE ARE MY ACTIONS WHICH WILL MAKE YOU INTO A MAN. YOU WILL RUN FROM INDIANA TO TENNESSEE ALL THE WAY BACK, STOP ONCE AND YOU WILL START OVER, FIRST ENTIRE SQUADRON DONE WILL BE PARDONED FROM ONE PT EXERCISE OF THEIR CHOICE. YOU WILL HAVE TWO DAYS TO GET THERE AND BACK. THE FIRST PLATOON WILL GET THE CHANCE OF AN ACTIVITY, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD SQUEAKERS? I SAID. IS. THAT. UNDERSTOOD? THAT'S IT, I WILL COME OVER THERE AND *YAY* YOU SO HARD THAT YOU PLEAD TO BE REHABILITATED IN YOUR LITTLE *YAY*ED UP FANTASY WORLD SO I CAN TURN YOU FROM AN *YAY* TO AN *YAY* THAT BRINGS A TEAR TO MY EYE! I can yell this without getting hoarse, if you find a place where people won't question the noise
8811819
Nice! That is... is it... Full Metal Jacket?