Duty Bound

Valiant Struggle wasn't all that old when that fateful letter had come in the mail. He had just graduated high school two weeks before in fact. He was staying with his parents for the summer before going to college in Canterlot, but those plans were about to be canceled. Valiant got up from bed, bleary eyed, and went down to the kitchen for some breakfast. Valiant's mother, Buttered Biscuit, was already busy cooking as he plopped himself down at the table. Valiant's mother then promptly put a plate in front of him. On it was a pristine waffle, covered in powdered sugar.

"I made 'em just the way you like 'em, honey. Eat up!" she said, with a beaming smile.

Valiant began to quietly eat his waffle while his mother resumed her cooking. Valiant was an earth pony and had a deep blue coat that was the color of the ocean with a Straight and simple turquoise mane that had streaks in it the same color as his coat. He was was average sized for a young stallion and he had bright green eyes that almost lit up. His cutie mark was a sword and shield that he had acquired by defending a classmate from a bully. Valiant was always ready to defend the people he cared about despite getting a beating every now and then. He had decent enough grades, though they were good enough to get him into a college in Canterlot.

As was the usual routine, Valiant's father walked in the front door with the mail. He haphazardly tossed it on the table and took a sip of his coffee. He gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek and sat down for breakfast.

He looked over at Valiant and said, "Hey son, there's a letter for you."

Valiant looked over at the letter and his stomach dropped. It had the official equestrian military seal on it. Without looking at it, he knew he had been drafted. A draft wasn't common in Equestria, but there was a war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire. It had been raging for six months and it was already taking a heavy toll on the Equestrian military. King Sombra was relentless and his army seemed infinite. Valiant opened the envelope as if it were a scab, and took out the letter inside. It was a draft letter, just he had feared.

"Oh, No," He muttered to himself as he put his hoof in his face.

"Aww, what's wrong sweetie?" his mother cooed.

She then looked at the draft letter and look of dismay and horror spread across her face. Valiant's father went over to comfort her, taking a look at the letter in the process. He was left speechless. The orders were to ship out tomorrow morning. Most of his friends had already been drafted, so there weren't many goodbyes to say. The rest of the day seemed like a haze to Valiant. His mother was constantly fretting for her son's life and his father had no idea what to do. Valiant went to bed that night feeling like there was a knife in his gut.

By 7 O' clock the next day, he was on a train to boot camp. The ponies on the train were mostly young and there were mixed feelings going around. There were plenty of ponies who were eager to get on the battlefield and take the fight to the Crystal Empire, whereas others, Valiant included, were terrified of what waited for them on the front line. As the train came to a stop at.the Everfree military base, Valiant felt like he was in a dream. Was this really happening? Had he really been pulled away from his home and future? Did he have to confront the reality that he was going to war?

Valiant was given a buzz cut and issued a uniform and rifle. He was assigned to the 68th infantry and headed toward his barracks. The barracks were small metal buildings, with both the exterior and interior unpainted. Each soldier had a simple bunk and a footlocker along with any personal effects they brought with. As Valiant was getting himself in order, the door to the barracks burst open with a crash. A purple unicorn with a purple mane that had two streaks of even more purple walked in. Her eyes were of course purple.

"TEN-SHUN," she barked.

Valiant and the rest of the unit stood straight and looked forwards.

"Now, you worthless parasprites had better listen up!" She barked, "I am sergeant Twilight Sparkle and I am in charge of you for the next ten weeks. You may have heard of my reputation as a mean bitch. That is exactly what I want! War sure as shit isn't nice, so neither am I! Some ground rules. If I catch you smoking, drinking or otherwise ingesting a controlled substance, you're running three miles. If I catch you fucking, kissing or otherwise getting intimate, both of you are running three miles. If I catch you out past curfew, you're running three miles. If you disrespect a superior, you're running five miles. I train only the best, only those who will stand up for their country and fellow pony. Now I have a very important lesson for all of you. Your weapon, the A23 Assault Rifle, chambered for a 5.56 millimeter round, capable of both semi- automatic and full automatic fire, is your best friend. It is made of fine Equestrian steel, and you will be fucking proud to wield it. So proud, in fact, you'll clean it every single day, lest you be unpatriotic scum who wants latrine duty. Dismissed!"

As Valiant sat back down on his bed, the stallion next to him turned toward him. He had a bright red coat and a yellow mane.

"Whoa. She's a real piece of work," He said.

"Shhh!" Valiant said with a panicked look on his face, "Don't talk shit about the sergeant! C'mon man, you heard what she said about disrespect."

"Hey, I heard a rumor about why she's like that. Heard she had a chance to be a student of the Princess herself, but she screwed up some big test. Been bitter ever since and war gave her something to do."

"Yikes. I kinda don't blame her then."

"Yeah. I'm Crimson Ember by the way."

"Good to meetcha, I'm Valiant Struggle."

"Lights out!" Yelled Sergeant Twilight.

Every morning, Valiant was woken by the sound of a bugle and Sergeant Twilight's yelling. He'd stand at attention with the rest of his unit as she inspected their rifles. One morning when she got to Crimson's gun, she shoved it right back into his grip after a quick look.

"Is this what you call clean?!" She yelled.

Crimson just stammered and said, "Uhh, well I um ah, don't..."

Valiant decided to step up and say, "With all due respect ma'am, I saw him clean his gun with my own two eyes. He cleaned it right next to mine."

Valiant stood tall, trying not to tremble as Sergeant Twilight marched right up to him. She gave him a long, hard look that seemed to pierce Valiant's soul.

"Good job," She said. She then addressed the entire unit, "I said I trained only those who stand up for their country and fellow pony and only this young stallion did so, because the rest of you are apparently a bunch of chicken shit parasprites!"

After inspection, it was time for our morning jog. The sergeant rode in a jeep of course. Valiant and the rest of the unit began the marching cadence of the Royal Equestrian Army, first Sergeant Twilight and then the unit.

"I don't know what I been told!"

"I don't know what I been told!"

"But Granny Smith is mighty old!"

"But Granny Smith is mighty old!"

"Sound off!"

"One, two!"

Valiant had to jog every morning, no matter how terrible the weather was. Aside from the daily regiment of calisthenics, Valiant learned to shoot, fight, drive a jeep and be a soldier. Sergeant Twilight was hard on everyone and she was more than keen to punish anypony who broke her rules. He made quick friends with Crimson Ember though as they went through boot camp together.

Boot camp was over the next day and Valiant and Crimson were in the mess hall. The food there was a mile worse than his mom's cooking, but he learned to live with it. Valiant was thinking about what would happen when they got to the front lines. It had seemed like it hadn't existed and all there was to his military service was doing push-ups and getting yelled at.

"Hey Valiant," Crimson ate his food.

"What?" he replied, coming out of thought.

"We're shipping out soon and I just want to tell you I've got your back."

"Well, the feeling's mutual."

That night wasn't too different from the one before Valiant came to boot camp. He felt like there was knif in his gut, but this time it was different. This time, he felt prepared.