“This week will be a little different than the first.” Sergeant Fallout shouted as the cadets got out of bed and dressed. “Since we have managed to weed out some of the weak links, we will be starting some of the more difficult training this week. PT is still going to be frequent, but broken up by Self-Defence and Firearms Training. Any questions?”

“Sergeant!” Topnotch piped up.

“What is it, cadet Topnotch.”

“Sergeant, when will we begin jumping, Sergeant.” Topnotch maintained the stance of attention as he spoke.

“Not until week four!” The Sergeant shouted. “We need to make sure you're all committed before we start letting you morons use the nice toys.”

By now, all of the cadets were smarter about what they ate at breakfast so they wouldn't be sick all day. Mac still sat with his friends from the first week, and still felt really rotten about not calling his family back on that Sunday.

“I'm sure they understand.” Marktime comforted at the table. “They're not going to disown you for not calling back.”

“Yeah, but I don't like to lie.” Mac shook his head.

“You weren't lying, you made a mistake.” Reelin added.

“It sure feels like I was lying.” Mac looked down at his plate.

“Mac, you can always call 'em back next Sunday.” Biggs noted.

“I guess.”

They finished the rest of their lunch in silence. None of them knew what more to say to their big red friend. They didn't want to make things worse either, so they didn't say anything. As they stacked their plates and trays at the door, Mac made a specific mental note to call as soon as he could.

They formed up outside on the road, and the Sergeant ran them to their first Self-Defence class. Their instructor was a short stallion with a scar on one side of his face. Short, meaning really small for a stallion of his age. Most of the cadets stood taller than he did.

“My name is Warrant Officer Cheval, I will be your instructor. Today, I will be teaching you some basic self defence techniques. I may be small, but I guarantee I could take every single one of you.”

Topnotch and his friends couldn't help but laugh. Especially the big one.

“So, you think you can take me on, eh wide-load?” Cheval called to Topnotch's big friend. “Then come on up here and prove it.”

The large stallion came to attention and fell out of the squad. He stood in front of the much smaller stallion, dwarfing him greatly.

“I'll give you the first move.” The instructor said, removing his beret and placing it next to himself. “I suggest you remove yours as well, you don't want to dirty it.”

The large stallion took that as a joke, how would he get it dirty? It wasn't like he was going to get any closer to the ground than he already was. He took his fighting stance and held for a moment, deciding what to do. He decided that he would try to simply tackle the instructor, using his weight to pin him to the ground. When he flung himself forward, however, WO Cheval swung one hoof into the back of the stallion's leg, knocking it out from under him, and rolling him onto his left side, dropping his beret into a puddle of water.

“I told you it would get dirty.” Cheval said.

He then demonstrated some basic and simple moves to learn for defence. After the demonstration, he had each cadet find a partner and work with them, using the moves they just learned in sparring. As each stallion fell out to find a partner, most of them picked friends. However, Topnotch moved quickly and quietly over to Reelin.

“We've got a score to settle.” He said as he moved Reelin over to the sparring area.

Mac paired off with Splintstitch, and Biggs went with Marktime.

“We should stay close to those two.” Mac whispered to Splintstitch. “Just in case things get ugly.” They moved quietly over near to where Reelin and Topnotch stood hoof to hoof.

While Macintosh and Splintstitch were practising the moves that Cheval had taught them, they made sure to keep looking over to where Reelin was. For a while, they kept to doing the moves they had just learned, but it didn't last long. Cheval moved to one side of the area, where one cadet had fallen and hit his head, and Topnotch took his chance.

He wrapped his forelegs around Reelin's neck and rolled him onto the ground.

“Still think you're pretty tough?” Topnotch growled through clenched teeth.

“Shove it!” Reelin hissed as he grabbed Topnotch by the shoulders and rolled him off, planting him on his back, Reelin's hoofs on Topnotch's shoulders. Topnotch did not like that, and got up quickly. By now, Mac and Splintstitch were looking for a way to get in between them without hurting either one. Topnotch took a swing at Reelin, who ducked and swung a hoof at Topnotch's other foreleg that was supporting his entire front half. Topnotch fell flat on his face.

“That's enough, Reelin.” Splintstitch said. “It's over now.”

Reelin looked over and nodded. He then dusted himself off and placed his beret back on his head. Topnotch saw an opening and took it, diving onto Reelin again, this time knocking out Reelin's forelegs and dropping his front end to the ground. Reelin's head hit the ground much harder than Topnotch's had, because of the extra weight.

“Hey!” Mac shouted as he ran up and bucked Topnotch right in the side, knocking the wind out of Topnotch, and Topnotch off of Reelin. The shout got the attention of WO Cheval, who came running over to see what the noise was about.

The first thing he did when he got there was to roll the gasping Topnotch the rest of the way off of Reelin, whom he turned over to get a better look at. Reelin was out cold, and a great many of his teeth had been broken because of the force of the impact. Cheval checked Reelin's breathing and pulse just to be sure before standing up.

“You stupid ass!” He shouted at Topnotch, who was still regaining his breath. Cheval hadn't been like other drill and fitness instructors, he had been calm and quiet until this point. His shouting alerted the rest of the class, and gave the whole room an uneasy feeling. “You could have killed him. Aren't we lucky that you have no idea what you're doing.” Then, looking around, he shouted. “I don't want to see any more crap like this. I want to see everyone who saw anything in my office. Right now! I'll call the medic.”

Macintosh, Splintstitch, and Topnotch waited in the chairs outside of WO Cheval's office. Cheval was on the phone in his office. Topnotch gave Splintstitch and especially Macintosh an evil look. They could see lights of an ambulance shining outside as they hurried Reelin to the MIR. Cheval hung up and dialled another number. They could hear his voice become even more serious, if that was possible, as he talked in the second call. The ambulance lights faded into the distance and Cheval hung up the phone. An eerie silence fell over the room as they heard hoof steps coming close to the door of the office. The door swung open and Cheval stepped out.

“The matter is now out of my hands.” He solemnly said. “You are to go see the Commanding Officer. I'll lead the way.”

Cheval opened the front door and allowd the rest of the cadets to lead the way out, after which he took the lead and marched them across the field they had just been sparring on. Stallion's gaped as the four of them walked towards the CO's office. Mac knew he had done nothing wrong, he had helped. But he felt as if he had been the one who had knocked Reelin on his face, the way the other cadets were looking at him.

They filed into the office and took their seats again as Cheval went into the CO's office. The CO was only in charge of this Company. More serious problems would have been taken to the Battalion Commander. They sat in the same depressed silence as they could hear the low voices of Cheval and the CO talking through the door. Finally, Cheval came out of the office and pointed to Macintosh.

“You. In there. Now.” Cheval held the door for him and closed it behind him.

Macintosh stood awkwardly in the doorway, staring at the back of the CO's chair. For what seemed like an eternity he stood, waiting for the Commanding Officer to say something. Finally the chair swung around to reveal a tan coloured Pegasus in a green jacket holding a report in his hooves.

“Please, Private Macintosh, have a seat.” he motioned to the chair on the opposite side of the desk. The room was dimly lit, and seemed like it was made to be imposing and uncomfortable. Much like a principal's office at school. “So, I hear you were the one who broke up the fight.”

“Yes, sir.” Mac nodded.

“Would you like to give me your side of the story?” The CO said. “Any information you can give me about the goings-on of my Company would be appreciated.”

Macintosh thought for a moment. “Well, sir, Topnotch and Reelin have been at odds since day one. I suppose today they assumed that they could get away with settling their differences. But, I guess it got a little out of hand.”

“I see.” The CO wrote on the report. “So, who started it?”

“The whole problem between them? Or the fight today, sir?” Macintosh asked.

“Both.” The CO nodded.

“Well, It started when Topnotch insulted another cadet, sir. Today... Well, I suppose that was Topnotch too. He chose Reelin as his sparring partner, and he started getting out of hand when the WO wasn't looking, sir.”

“I see.” He wrote more in his notes, forcefully applying the last period for effect. “Let me explain something.” Macintosh could feel a stream of insults and anger coming from those last words and braced himself. “What you did today was very good of you.”

Macintosh was a little surprised. “Sir?”

“You broke up something that could have ended a lot worse.” The CO explained. “Now, I am not sure of how things here are supposed to be handled, I only got stationed here because I'm a new officer and this is supposedly a training Company. I'm still hazy on the rules here. Normally, a cadet hitting another cadet would be grounds for an investigation and maybe a court martial. However, you may have saved that other cadet's life. So, instead of reprimanding you, I will commend you on your work. However, in future, report these events to an officer instead of taking matters into your own hands.”

“Yes, sir.” Macintosh smiled lightly.

“Good. Now, have a good day, and send in this Private Topnotch. I think he could use an attitude adjustment.”

Author's Note

I know I am taking a while to get back to the action, but I think it'll all be worth it in the long run. I have a bit of a shameless self-insert in this chapter. See if you can spot it.