Tempest walked forward slowly, following the others through the room. Then it came her turn for the first shot, and she was stopped.

“This is a general antibiotic. You’re not allergic to penicillin, are you?” the doctor asked as she prepped a needle.

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright. Just a warning, this will likely be sore for a few days. If you experience any burning or oozing from the injection site, or you have serious side effects like throwing up or passing out, tell your TI so they can send you back to us.”

“Okay.”

“Great, now lean your weight onto your back left hoof.”

Tempest did so. And without warning, she was stuck in the right flank. She winced despite herself; that hurt so much more than a normal shot. The injection took several seconds too. Then the needle was pulled out and the spot covered with a band-aid, and she was sent forward. A few more steps, and as expected, she had two doctors at her sides with yet more needles. She stood still, and they swiftly stuck them into her shoulders. These ones were much less painful, in fact she was so focused on the pain in her flank that she barely noticed the current shots were already done. Then they told her to go back out and sit down, and she hurried to do so.

She took a moment to massage her flank, groaning. Then she found her way to her armor and sat behind it, exhaling. Well, at least that was over with. They were advised to lean their weight onto their flanks and rock from side to side to help disperse the medicine. Tempest did so gladly. It felt there was a glob of peanut butter in her rump and she did not like it.

Once everyone had gotten their shots, they came back and sat down. Dr. Glow returned to the front of the room. “There, wasn’t so bad, right? But like we told you, if you get any serious side effects, come back. This was all meant to try and prevent you from getting sick while you’re here. But you’ll likely get minor colds anyway. It always seems to happen. We’re bringing in ponies from all across Equestria and making them live together, and walk all day a foot away from each other. You’re gonna be sharing germs. Lovely, right? If you come down with a serious cold or fever, ask to go to sick call. Otherwise, you’ll just have to let any discomfort pass. Now, I have something for you.” She lifted a box and started going down the rows, passing out small bottles. “These are multivitamins. Not gummy, sorry. But just take one of these in the morning with some water. It’ll help. I know how fast they make you eat, I want to make sure you’re getting all your nutrients. Calcium deficiencies are especially common.”

They all stored the vitamins away. Dr. Glow set down the empty box. “Well, that’s it. We’ll let your instructors know they can come get you. For now, you can go ahead and put your armor back on, then sit and read your study guides. Helmets can be left off, just be ready to put them on once your TI comes back. And finally, latrines are back there. Mares to the left, stallions to the right. Any questions?”

“No, ma’am,” they all replied.

“Alright. Give a holler at us if you need anything.” She walked away, going to help organize things and prepare paperwork.

Tempest pulled her armor on, then opened her study guide and started reading anything that looked interesting.

“Pst,” one of the doctors said, making them glance over. In a whisper, yet also loud enough to be heard by all, he said, “Y’all can talk if you want, just be very quiet about it, and make sure you stop if your TIs walk in.”

They happily agreed, and many ponies began discussing how the day’s been going. Others still chose to read.

Tempest was tapped, and she glanced back, realizing that Zinnia had been behind her.

“Hey, we just keep sitting next to each other, huh?” Zinnia laughed.

Tempest smiled and set her book down. “Hah, looks like it. How are you doing?”

“Good. Today’s been hectic, huh?”

“Oh yeah. I was expecting it, but wow. Ah well. You know I was expecting the TIs to be a lot meaner.”

“Yeah, I mean it sucks when they’re actually in your face yelling but when they’re not it doesn’t seem that serious. It’s kinda funny hearing others get chewed out actually.”

“Seriously. If they yell at me though I might not be able to keep a straight face. I’ve been through a lot of horrible things, this is nothing.”

“Yeah… I’ve heard about your adventures. You’ve been all over. And you were a commander for so long already. I bet this is nothing to you.”

“It’s really not. Though the structure is still weird. The Storm King didn’t care about marching and getting shots. We just attacked people and conquered cities. This is still pretty different.”

“I get ya. Well, good luck, I know you’ll make it through.”

“Thank you. You will too.”

Zinnia smiled, and went back to reading. Tempest did too. A few minutes passed quietly, and then Zinnia spoke again.

“How did your blood draw go? They had trouble finding my vein and had to move the needle a bit while it was already in, it sucked.”

“Ouch. It went fine. He stuck it in pretty easily, it didn’t hurt that bad.”

“That’s good. Bleh, that penicillin shot though.”

“Oh I know, that was so bad.”

“I wonder what else we’ll do today.”

“I don’t know. They might have yet another appointment to drag us to. I don’t think it’ll be quite time for dinner yet.”

“Mm, true. Ah well, guess we’ll see. Hey, have you seen this chapter on first aid? These pictures are so gross.”

Tempest looked and saw that she was on one depicting some sort of deep chest wound. “Yeah that’s pretty gross, but it’s much worse to see in real life. Especially when they have a hole in their gut and intestines are spilling out.”

“Um. Not inflicted by you, I hope?”

Tempest leveled her with a serious gaze. “I’ve done some fucked up things in my past, let’s just leave it at that.”

“Oh. Um. Wow.”

Tempest looked back at her book, figuring Zinnia wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore after that. Yet she did.

“Well hey, you’ve changed. You might have done bad things but I believe anypony can become better and you did. You can make up for your past. I’m sure you did what you had to. The Storm King was cruel.”

“Yeah,” Tempest admitted. “Deep down I knew what I was doing was wrong. But I had convinced myself everyone deserved it. I’m still trying to make up for what I’ve done. I’m going to help ponies now.”

“That’s really all you can do. And hey, Princess Twilight herself has vouched for you. And if she says you’re working on improving yourself, I’m gonna believe her.”

“Thank you.”

“Mhm.”

It was several minutes until the TIs walked in. Everyone put away their books and began getting their stuff together.

“So they’re all done?” Eagle asked.

“Yes, they’re ready to go,” Dr. Glow replied.

“Super. Okay trainees, get your helmets on, bags on, and get on up.”

“Same to you, Flight 26,” Charge barked.

They stood, and were led outside and arranged into formation.

“We’ve got some time before dinner so we’re going to show you around campus, make sure you know where everything is,” Eagle said. “So pay attention. So this was part of the clinic, but if you have an appointment later on you’ll go around to the main entrance on the other side.”

She began marching them around the area, pointing out different buildings. Finance, clothing issue, gym, shop, chapel, career processing, and… bowling alley.

They paused there, and a few of them glanced quizzically at Eagle.

“It’s a staple of military bases,” Eagle replied. “Just like the golf course toward the back for the retired old geezers. Anyway, you might just get to go there if you behave enough to get base liberty. But don’t hold your breath.” She moved along.

They were shown the way back toward the main base, including where the guards assigned here could access the Canterlot castle, but were told they likely won’t need to head out there often.

Then they were being taken to a large open field with rows of bleachers to one side. The road went in a loop around it, and there were also various statues around the outside.

“This is the parade grounds,” Eagle explained. “When you graduate you will have a ceremony here. You will march through this field, and past those bleachers where your families will sit, and they can see what you’ve accomplished since getting here. Ending with you all lining up and being officially sworn in. Sound exciting?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they replied.

“Good. You’ll be seeing a lot of this place, I like to play like it’s real, so your parade practice will be here. You’ll need to get used to marching on grass anyway.” She led them to another area to the side, where Tempest remembered seeing ponies running yesterday. “This is where we’ll normally do PT. But note over there, more stands. This is the location of the retreat ceremony, where the Equestrian flag will be lowered and folded while our commander gives a speech on its importance. We’ll do all sorts of rehearsals for that as well. Graduation is an exciting time, but you’re nowhere near it yet.” She checked the time. “Alright, tour’s over. Let’s go get dinner then we’re going back to the dorm.”

They headed to the chow hall. Zinnia and Ocean trotted in while the others waited, Eagle sauntering in after them.

Other flights came and went while they waited, until finally it was their turn. Going in went smoothly enough. There was pasta and mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables. The salad bar was well stocked just like it was for lunch. Tempest got pasta and potatoes, passed up the vegetables, and made a small salad instead. She grabbed her water and continued on. She noted the cereal dispensers were still available. Apparently that was just an all day thing. She wondered about the frozen yogurt machine she had seen toward the end of the line. Surely they wouldn’t be allowed to get that, right? But… then why was it there? Temptation? Curious.

They were allowed a little more time than usual to eat dinner. But it was still fairly rushed. Once they left, they were taken back to the dorm and told to go to the bay. Here, they were led through removing their uniform items from their duffel bags and storing them a very specific way in their lockers.

This took a while, as Eagle was very picky about everyone’s lockers, inspecting each of them and deciding if it was good or needed to be redone.

“I said space each set six inches apart, that’s five,” she said bluntly to Tempest. “Fix it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tempest silently added a ruler to the list of things she needed to buy. She adjusted her stuff while Eagle watched.

“There, much better.” She moved along, looking into Zinnia’s locker, and Zinnia tensed in preparation. Then Eagle said, “On point,” and kept going. Zinnia relaxed.

Only after things were to her exact specifications did she move on. “Next! We’re going to be folding and storing our duffel bags. You may use them again throughout the next few weeks but for now we’re putting them away. So, follow these steps carefully.”

She coached them through laying the bags out flat on the ground, folding them all the same way, until finally they were left with neat squares. At least, some of them managed to get neat squares. Others did a messier job.

Tempest prodded at the edges of hers, seeing how much material stuck out rather than being aligned.

“I can already tell some of you messed up and you better be able to tell too,” Eagle announced. “If it’s bad, unfold it. I’ll explain one more time. The directions can be found in your study guide after that.”

Tempest flung her bag back open, flattening it out.

Zinnia walked over and sat down at the other end of it. Tempest looked over and saw that her bag was perfect. She looked back at her, and Zinnia smiled and placed her hooves on one end.

“Try using your hooves instead of magic, it’s easier to feel that you’re doing it right.”

Tempest released the fabric with her magic, instead using her hooves. As Eagle went through the steps, Zinnia helped stretch out the bag and fold it, carefully aligning the edges after each fold. Tempest paid close attention, and by the time they got to the last fold, she was looking at an even square.

Zinnia lifted her hooves. “There you go.” She walked back to her bed.

Tempest gave her a grateful smile. She was never really one for doing precision work like this. If she had to fold something she just tossed it over a few times and called it a day.

Eagle told them all to hold out their bags. She did, and she walked down the center, inspecting them all. A few, she told their owners to fold again, and recommended they get a competent buddy to help them. She passed Tempest and Zinnia with no comments. No news was good news, apparently.

“If I approved your work, take the bag to your locker and set it on the bottom shelf, toward the back. Centered.”

They put the bags away.

“Everypony else, fix your sloppy attempts. The rest of us will wait until you figure it out.”

Eagle went to the front of the room and sat, looking at her watch. The few ponies who hadn’t folded their bag properly hurried to fix them.

Zinnia went to help one of them, prompting a few others to do the same.

Tempest looked at Eagle, who seemed to approve of this. The bags were given another examination once finished.

“There, much better, see what you can accomplish with help? Put them away, we’ve wasted enough time on this. There’s so much to do before lights out.”

Eagle waited, then said, “Right. So, every evening after dinner, we’ll be cleaning the dorm. You are encouraged to do this as quickly as possible, because the faster you do it, the faster you can have free time to write letters and relax. I’ll fit in Guard Time sometime before or after dinner too depending on when that gets done. But we can’t get to cleaning quite yet. Because you’ve all been walking around in armor and you stink. So. Showers!”

There wasn’t a reaction at first, everyone needing a moment to take that in.

“Did I stutter? Get your tails in the showers!”

They started to move, but she got in the doorway to the hall, shouting, “No, what are you doing?! You going to shower in full armor? Take all that off, set it on the floor in front of your lockers, you imbeciles!”

They scrambled to pull everything off, but before they could leave, she again stopped them.

“Um, body wash?” she demanded. “Shampoo? Mane brushes, hoof picks? I said you stink, don’t just drench yourselves in water! And take off those ID badge holders and leave them in your security drawers! Keys will stay on! And bring your towels, I don’t want you dripping water all over my nice floor! Move!”

They grabbed everything they needed and ran for the latrine. Tempest improvised, choosing not to take the entire bottles with her and instead squeezing out some soap onto her back and mane, planning to lather it up once in the shower.

“Hey, see what Trainee Tempest did?” Eagle called to those still in the room. “She went ahead and put the body wash on herself so she won’t have to worry about the bottles! You could learn a thing or two from her!”

Tempest grabbed her mane brush in her mouth, locked up her ID card holder, and sprinted past. Eagle slapped her backside as she passed. “I’m keeping my eye on you, high flyer!”

Tempest felt weirdly flattered. She went into the latrine and over into the shower area. It was larger than she expected, with easily enough shower heads for the full flight. She hung her towel, hoping she would be able to find it later, but then again she supposed it didn’t matter yet. They all had similar, new brown towels.

She went to an open spot and tossed her brush onto the shelf, then turned on the water. The knob had a hot setting, and she turned to it, but the water still came out freezing cold. She jumped under it anyway and rubbed shampoo through her mane, then stepped out to lather up the soap on her body. She let it soak for a few moments, then dove into the spray again and washed off. She checked herself over for suds, then turned off the water, which was just getting warm. Grabbing her brush, she went and got her towel, drying off as she crossed to a mirror.

She thought to herself that maybe she should finally get her mane cut, maybe even restyled. Oh well, it was shorter than what some of the others had to deal with.

She brushed it, and turned to brush her tail. With that done, she went back to her bed and opened her security drawer, putting away the brush and retrieving her ID. Her towel was draped on the rail at the end of the bed per Eagle’s orders.

“Once you’ve taken your last shower of the day, you can leave your armor off,” Eagle said. “Do you all see that hook on the left of your lockers? Take a hanger, and hang your armor off that. Shoes will be aligned on the left of your bed. Helmet will be placed on the right bedpost closest to the lockers.”

They did as told, and Eagle repeated the instructions as more ponies came back from their showers.

“You’ll be polishing the metal later, once we go to the store tomorrow and buy some supplies,” Eagle said. “But for now, don’t worry about it.”

They waited until everyone was done showering, and then Eagle went to the center of the room.

“Okay trainees, here’s where the fun really begins. It’s time for you all to be assigned a detail! Good luck, because unless you royally screw up, you’ll have your job until you graduate.”

Author's Note

These past few chapters have basically been a rewrite of my own experiences starting out in basic training. Events somewhat out of order but. Yeah. But once I get through the next couple chapters things will get more interesting. Thanks to all my readers so far! :D
P.S. penicillin shots are the worst, 0/10 do not recommend