As the train chugged along, Lee found himself surprised by the sudden lull in conversation. He’d been expecting things to pick up again, especially with Boomer. However, it wasn’t long before Boomer did little more than stare out the window at the quickly moving scenery, and Prism had taken another seat so she could stretch herself out and take a nap. At first, Lee was grateful for the quiet, but he knew it was going to be a long ride and he began to feel nervous all over again. After a long while he stared at Boomer, still mesmerized, and wanted to speak up and ask him questions, but he didn’t want to intrude on whatever was keeping his attention.

As if he’d noticed the stare, Boomer finally spoke.

“H-have you e-e-ever seen such an amazing sight, Lee?” Merilee looked out the window. A great gorge opened up beside them, and in the distance he could see a wide expanse of shimmering blue; it had to be the ocean.

“I’ve never been to the ocean before,” Lee said slowly, taking in the sight. “I’ve never even seen it.”

“Me neither. I h-hope that’s where we’re going. …Say, do you think this whole ‘b-b-boot camp’ thing is sort of like a…like a…” Boomer raised his hooves and circled them around each other, as if trying to mime his meaning to bridge the gap between his words. “…Like a summer camp?” Lee did not know how to respond. He had a certain sense of dread concerning the entire thing, but Boomer looked so hopeful, like he needed to be reassured. So, Lee smiled and perked up.

“Sure, like a summer camp. I’ve never been to a summer camp before.” Lee stared out at the ocean again. “Maybe we’ll go swimming.”

“Oooh! Or surfing! Maybe they’ll teach us h-how to ride waves! Or go diving! Or b-boating!”

Lee laughed and joined in the revelry Boomer was clearly experiencing. “We’ll have to pitch tents and build fires on the beach and learn how to signal. We’ll sail to an island and make our way through the wilderness, like an expedition! Like Daring Do!”

“Paragliding—”

“—sand castles—”

“—h-hidden treasure—”

“—marshmallow roasting—”

There was a loud screech and the train suddenly jerked to a stop, sending both Boomer and Lee flying from their seats. Prism snapped awake and looked out the window. Her eyes widened.

“Boot camp,” she said in a hushed breath.

Rubbing his head, Lee stood up and helped Boomer to his hooves. He peered out the window and his heart sank. The two colts had been so wrapped up in daydreaming that they hadn’t noticed the change in scenery. They were now in front of a clearing on the outskirts of a dense forest, thick and dark as the heart of Everfree. Lee hung his head a little, spirits dampened, but Boomer kept up a smile.

“Maybe…camping?” he suggested hopefully, but neither Lee nor Prism answered him. The three ponies exited the train car in a straight line and stretched their legs as they looked around. Large tents were set up all over the place, colored in patches of green and brown. Lee began to feel uneasy once again. Camouflage…he’d never seen it implemented but for the occasional fashion use from one miss Rarity back home, and it was very seldom used by her. He knew, as all ponies did, general terms that no one had any use for except for comparisons—fast as a bullet, for example. He knew what a bullet was, but he’d never seen one before, and knew little of its use, just that it was a swift projectile. He did know one thing though; that terms such as ‘bullet; tank, bomb, and the like, were related in some way to things like camouflage. Scenes like these tents in the forest. His legs trembled and he felt sick.

As soon as he, his friends, and the other ponies were off the train, he noticed something odd. A line of ponies, haggard but happy looking, were marching single file back to the train. Lee stared at the ponies and noticed they all had cutie marks. One appeared to be a medical cross, another a strange flower. Once all of them were loaded into the train, the whistle blew and it started off back the way Lee and his new friends had just come. One of the ponies in the train, a red filly, put her hoof on the glass and stared at Lee as the train moved on. She mouthed something, but he couldn’t understand it. There was definitely an ‘l’ word in there. Perhaps “good luck”? But he didn’t have much time to ponder about it. A short, brown unicorn strode up, carrying a clipboard.

“Name,” she’d ask dully as she passed each pony in line.

“Boomer.”

“Prism Stone.”

Lee panicked. Was he supposed to say his full name, or…? The earth colored filly was staring at him.

“Name?”

“Uh…oh. M-Merilee Argent Sun.” The filly raised an eyebrow but scribbled his name down anyway and moved on in the line. Lee sighed in relief and sat on the ground.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Prism said with a smile, encouraging Lee to standup again. “Come on, it looks like she’s going to make an announcement.”

The brown unicorn cleared her throat and when she spoke it was apparent she’d used a light voice amplifying spell.

“Right,” she said, “Welcome to boot camp. My name is Clear Note, but you will all address me as ‘Miss Note’, are we clear?” There was some mumbling in the crowd and she stamped her hoof and she turned up the magnitude of her spell, speaking in a thunderous voice: “I asked, is that clear? I need to hear a ‘yes ma’am!’ From all of you!”

“Yes ma’am,” said the bunch together, shaping up quickly in hopes that Clear Note would lower her voice a bit. She did so, and sighed before her next announcement.

“I will place you all in groups of twos, threes, and fours. We’re going to make this simple and go by the order in which you got off the train. I’ll also be assigning your group a letter, so don’t forget it!” Clear Note started rattling off names in alternating numbers. Boomer, Prism and Lee all stood closely together, hoping it would somehow improve their chances of staying together. It was over so quickly, the three barely noticed when their names were all called as one group of three. Lee could hardly believe it; what fantastic luck! He, Boomer and Prism now made up ‘group H’. As Clear Note finished grouping all the ponies, she looked up from her clipboard once more.

“All right,” she said, “Tents are labeled with your group letters. Find your tent, unload your things, and arrive back here for dinner in one hour. Dismissed!” Relief jumped from pony to pony as they all separated into their groups and headed to their tents. Prism nodded at the boys and led the way around the camp until they found H Tent. Using his magic, Lee unzipped the tent and opened up the flaps so his two friends could enter before he followed and closed the makeshift door behind him.

Inside the small tent were two bunk beds with blankets and pillows. A gray likeness of Luna and Celestia twirling around together in a circle was painted on the back wall of the tent, and above the image were the letters “EDF” placed in a shield.

“E…D…F,” Prism Stone read aloud as the boys put their things down. “I wonder what it stands for.”

“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we’ll find out tonight,” Lee replied. Before he could move his things to a bed, Boomer clambered up the ladder to one of the top bunks.

“I call this one!” Boomer shouted, jumping from the last rung and landing squarely on the mattress. Lee smiled in spite of himself and took the bunk underneath Boomer. Prism settled her things on the other bottom bunk in the room and sat down on the bed.

“At least the beds are fairly comfortable,” she said, pushing the mattress up and down to test it. “I have to admit, with the treatment that Clear Note gave us and the eerie feel about this place, I just…wasn’t expecting it. We must be expected to rest up for something. ...I…of course,” she suddenly said with a laugh, “I’m probably just being silly. Just my imagination.”

“It’s gotta b-be,” Boomer said in a teasing voice from his top bunk. He looked over the edge and grinned. “Don’t worry, Prism! We’ll all stick together, and e-everything will b-be fine.” For the first time, Boomer sounded as though he was more trying to convince himself than trying to express his honest feelings. Whatever the case, Lee felt more at ease with Boomer’s carefree attitude, and it seemed to lighten Prism’s mood as well.

“You’re right, Boomer,” she said with a smile. “Come on, let’s unpack and get ready for dinner.”

The hour was quickly spent and it wasn’t long at all before the small team from H Tent made their way to dinner. Several tables were set up in the clearing where everypony had been assigned their groups, and several ponies in uniforms were carrying plates full of food to each table. Lee had not expected to see such a delicious looking meal, but there it was. He and his friends wasted no time in sitting down and eating alongside the other groups. A range of fruit, flowers, and bread were consumed quickly and before long everypony had had their fill. It was at this point that a short pegasus with black coat and a teal mane flew in and hovered above the small crowd.

“Good evening, everypony,” she said. Her voice was loud and clear without the help of a spell, and it demanded attention. “I hope dinner was to your liking. I bet you’re wondering why you’re all here.” She paused for a moment, and then continued. “I was once like you all. I felt like a disgrace to my entire town; a young adult filly surrounded by ponies who all had their cutie mark—and should at their age!!—and with nothing to show for myself. Then I received a letter, the same letter that summoned each and every one of you here tonight.

“Here, you will undergo training. I will give no further pretense; fillies and gentlecolts, you are in the EDF—the Equestrian Defense Force.” A murmur rose through the crowd.

‘Equestrian Defense Force?’ Lee thought to himself. ‘A defense force, but…I don’t understand. I thought we were doing well with all the neighboring countries and the other species around us. Have negotiations fallen though? But then…why would miss Cherilee know about it if it hasn’t been around long? And clearly they’ve done this before; why else send an entire train full of ponies home?’

Meanwhile, the black pegasus continued. “You are very likely have extra special talents. Talents related to things and experiences you wouldn’t have in your normal, everyday life. Those things could all be related to what we do here in the EDF. We create and manufacture weapons, train soldiers, and lead troops into battle, whether to defend against or attack our enemies.”

Instead of the murmuring in the crowd becoming louder, it died immediately. Every blank flank in the crowd looked terrified. Lee was stunned. Weapons? Soldiers? Battle? This was insane! Did Equestria really have such violent enemies? In the cities, there was hardly ever mention of crimes higher than petty theft, and the crime rate was practically nil. To have a defense force—no, an entire army—at the ready…

“Here’s a rundown of how things work here at boot camp. Every morning you will eat breakfast—quickly—and then report to your assigned sergeant. He or she will lead you through training exercises and expose you to various kinds of experiences so we can find your talent and best place you in our force. Those of you who find your talents related to the EDF and what we do will be appropriately placed immediately. Those of you who find your talents not related to the EDF and what we do will be sent home on the next train.”

Lee couldn’t help himself. In the gap that the pegasus allowed in her speech, he raised his hoof. She was about to continue her speech, but instead chose to acknowledge him.

“Yes, Private…?”

“Lee,” he replied.

“Yes, Private Lee?”

“I was just wondering…what happens if you don't get a cutie mark?” The pegasus’ face hardened.

“Then you will be put on the front lines, where we can use the most support. Is that clear, Private Lee?”

“Y-yes, ma’am.” Lee sank down into his chair, eyes wide and heart pounding.

Author's Note

Hello! Thanks to the people who gave me such nice comments on the first chapter |D I'm just glad I haven't done poorly so far. As I mentioned to Coalsmane, I'm not a huge military buff or anything so I'm trying to construct the EDF in a way that's only *based* on the real thing. I'm doing my research, but if there are differences or things are simplified, you now know the reason why. There are a few...I'm not sure whether or not to call them major or minor differences, but there are some *serious* differences between the military everyone is familiar with in our world and the EDF. So, please don't go in expecting to see an accurate reflection here :3 After all, I'm quite certain our military (in the States, at least) doesn't serve great food or give good beds.

Originally I wasn't going to end this chapter here, but it sounded like such a nice stopping point and it'll allow me some more time to get the next bunch of events and the new characters arriving in the next part more developed. I hope you're all enjoying things so far!