-1-
Speed was you'r ordinary, every day pony. He was strong, but not the strongest. He was smart, but not the smartest. He was normal.
This normal Pegasus was a farm hand. As you could expect, it was not the most thrilling of jobs but it payed. Isn't money all that matters? That's the way it has always been. His job, or 'slave camp' as he liked to call it, had been going down hill lately and before he knew it the farm was sold and Speed received his last pay. He protested at first but after countless times of being escorted away from his old boss' premises he realized it was pointless to continue so, he stopped.
Speed lived in the town of Weymouth, a backwater town on the south coast of England. It was a very rural area despite being a renowned holiday destination. So it had farms, work so what? Speed wanted Real money. He didn't wan't minimum wage for back breaking work, no!, he wanted a good amount of money. Speed was Unemployed, Without food for sometimes days on end and had no means of coming out of that state soon.
The day was Monday a day unlike no other. As usual he would scavenge what he could to sell, he rummaged through shelves, and boxes everything. He came through relics from his family's past that he stopped to think about for a second before putting it gently back where he found it, making sure he didn't put it into the box. Eventually his small home was bare and Speed sighed in the emptiness of it all.
"Why can't I just get a job?" Speed thought "Why must i continue? Any life would be better than this"
Speed picked up the box and placed it on his back with a bump. He looked back at his house one more time, then at the box on his back and then he pulled the door slowly shut. Speed walked into town with his box on his back, through the busy streets and to a back ally to a pony to sell his, what that pony called, junk. The shady pony signaled him inside a shop-like building. it was set up like a shop inside, but outside it was a boarded up pub. Speed emptied his box onto the counter placing the box down with it hoping to sell that too. Speed took one last look at his possessions and as he did he spied his father's pocket watch that he had given to him. With immense speed his hoof slid through the chain and he threw it over his neck.
-2-
Speed hated training. In his opinion it was one of the worst things he had ever experienced. Most of his training involved digging holes and filling them back in again, Firing a rifle once or twice, running at straw bags with German helmets on and squiring them, and he really didn't see the point some of it... yet. Speed was assigned to the Dorset battalion along with many other ponies, he had even made some friends, well more alleys. That involved a pony named Bullet, he didn't really answer many questions about himself but he certainly did ask questions about everyone else and was much respected by the higher up officers. Then there was an officer in charge of the platoon Cloud Kicker who was taken to an English unit from an equestrian unit.
Some of the common rumors around the battalion say that Bullet was too from Equestria, but there was not really any proof. They were accommodated in wooden shack like houses to live in for there short time at there training camp. It for him was a week of hell. The food was more of a gruel the houses were full of holes and were freezing and the beds, oh those things people called beds, they felt as if they were made of concrete blocks.
After his stay at his base camp he was taken back to the coast, back home. Into the harbor he went with his battalion on a boat to his transportation: a huge battleship called the HMS. Penn. When on board he was shown to his mess ( This means room ) of which he shared with nearly a quarter of his battalion, including Bullet and Cloud Kicker. Speed felt very comfortable at this time in the army, he had friends in high places, he was on a ship and had always loved ships, the navy's food was much better than the army's and the beds and accommodation where actually comfortable and nice!
On the way there he was happy too, spirits among the ponies where high, besides the sea sickness, and when they completed there adventure there they found out they were arriving at a place called Filly Delphia.
As the battleship slid into port and the gang plank was dropped the battalion slowly trotted onto the pontoon. The talking receded to a horrified silence. The whole battalion suddenly switched from a happy chatty mood to a silent scared one. There first sight in this new country was horrible. As they marched silently threw the streets, crowds of wounded making the colors red, white and green most dominant in the town. One of the wounded ponies looked right at Speed and sighed,
"More sheep for the slaughter..."
They marched threw the destroyed town full of wounded and destruction, and into the wilderness following a road into a forest with a mountain north of it. They marched threw the wilderness happily having tried there best to for the rest of the way. They sung at the tops of there voices actually smiling along with it,
"It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go! It's a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know!"
Although Speed had no 'Sweetest Girl' he sung along anyway. This all continued until night fell and they were ordered to set up a camp.
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-3-
Speed hummed aloud to himself as he jabbed several poles in the ground as accurately as possible. He did his best to match what everyone else was doing as he didn't really know how to make his hooch. He didn't really know how to make one, but he knew what a hooch was. A hooch is a makeshift shelter. Eventually, after Bullet realized that he didn't actually know how to make a hooch, Speed's duties passed on to laying the cloth over the top of the skeleton of his temporary house.
The, what the other ponies called, 'Camp Site' was in the middle of a forest. It was in a slight clearing off the beaten path and well out of sight. The officers had a way of keeping the camp safe to talk in until the quiet alarm was sounded. The higher up officers ordered a guard rotation called Fire-watch, which rotated around the hooches. Speed was in the fourth hooch away from the planning one so his tents inhabitants must be the fourth to be out on guard, and when it was his turn it was nearly midnight.
At about the time they had just finished there hooch they were, much to there displease put on guard. This gave them some 'quality time' to spend together and maybe even get to know Bullet or Cloud. Cloud Kicker looked the most annoyed about the fact of fire-watch out of the three of them, and this was a surprise to both Bullet and Speed. No one had ever really seen Cloud angry yet, not even the people he knew well most. Yes they saw him sick, sad and concerned but never actually angry and this anger... you could see the fury in his eyes.
They, eventually, for what seemed like an eternity got to the road side. they all positioned themselves behind a small mound that separated the road from the forest. They slightly poked their guns and bowl shaped helmets above the mound peeking for any sign of activity. After a quick peek Cloud Kicker slammed his rifle in the dirt beneath him.
"Nothing," said Cloud Kicker nearly beginning to shout "Of course there's bucking nothing,"
"What's with you?" Speed asked hoping that Cloud wouldn't shout,
"Why are we guarding here? Bullet, Speed? No?" He questioned beginning to start sounding insane, "There's no reason, is there?"
"There's no point, not in the slightest, we're miles behind our lines under great defense and we have to guard our bucking camp in the middle of the woods!" He ranted
"I never knew you didn't like orders, everyone likes orders," Bullet said as sarcastically as he possibly could,
"I may be an officer Bullet but i hate these orders just the same, not all officers love orders," He snarled back.
Sure they don't speed thunk to himself.
"Urm.. can we not argue i don't wan't to sleep in the same hooch as two angry idiots," Speed said only mildly irritated by it.
Before they knew it their shift was over and they returned to their hooch to sleep. Before speed fell asleep he wanted to know the time. Out of his pack he pulled out a pocket watch. It was a very old watch, passed down the family from his great great grandfather who originally owned it. He checked the time 2'O'clock. Speed drifted off into his dreamland with the watch clutched tightly in his hand.
The next day after he was awoken quite suddenly by the bugle player sounding off right outside his hooch. Speed dropped the pocket watch out of sheer fright and the watch nearly smashed there and then. The watch landed face up and he could see it the time.
"Bucking six in the morning!" Speed announced before anyone else had a chance to say anything. Today they all grumbled at this.
"What was the point of guarding the camp if we were gonna do that?" Cloud mumbled as he stepped out of the tent shrugging his coat on.
After breakfast, the usual porridge or gruel sort of stuff they were told to get into a squad in the middle of all the tents for an announcement. Speed and Bullet were in the mid-front of the squad meanwhile Cloud rather sleepily commanded it.
"Everypony," Announced one of the higher officers, "I know that you have had a rough night and early day today," He paused for a moment,
Sure you do Speed thought
"But today," The officer boomed on, " we move on to Apple Loosa."
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