Shining Armour's Military Academyby TurtlzChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Chapter 1 Torrential rain and echoing thunder besieged the newly crafted buildings that made up the academy. Grey statues of Equestria’s heroes and villains stood dripping and darkened with moisture. The clouds above had been untouched by pegasus hooves for days, perfect for the first day at a military school. Formerly emerald grass became saturated, turning to a deep green, unwelcoming pond. The only brightness was that of soaking ponies’ manes and fur. With these pastel colours came a sea of several hundred unhappy young faces. Shining armour looked down on his new students with a smile. He too was outside in the wild weather, wind sweeping through his mane. Already, the new students’ parents had left. Leaving behind their children to stand with their luggage on what would become the student’s parade ground. The demoralised faces of the colts and fillies was exactly what Shining wanted. It told him exactly what he was working with. “Fillies and Gentlecolts. I welcome you all this exciting new adventure. What you see here is the first and finest academy ever to grace the everfree forest.” Shining bellowed his words with a kind and proud voice. “Together, as a team, you will learn to become the great minds, brilliant athletes and best ponies Equestria could hope for. It is you who will lead this land into a new age of happiness, prosperity and technological brilliance.” Eyes suddenly lit up on the foal faces in the audience. Ignoring the battering the weather was giving them. “You have been chosen. Not from you backgrounds, not from your talents, but from your potential. Each Equestrian, be them Earth, Pegasus, or Unicorn. Each and every one of you has the ability to better yourself and better your culture. You are all special. Cutie mark or no cutie mark. it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you can be who you can be.” Shining armour stood down from the pedestal and began to pace in front of the disorganised ranks of soaking ponies. “Some of you know each other. Some of you know nopony here. Whether or whether not you have friends right now is irrelevant. I promise you with Princess Celestia as my witness, that by the first week, every pony here will not be without a friend. I also promise you exhaustion, hard work and above all else; self fulfillment.” On cue, the rain ceased its torment and the clouds evaporated. Left behind was a beautiful warm sun and a clear blue sky. The foals already could feel the heat drying their fur and their morale rising even higher. “Teams. Teams are how we will work. In our military academy a team are called a company.” Shining armour got down to business, losing the ‘nice’ smile and replacing it with a devious grin. “Our companies are comprised of smaller platoons. Each company has a name. You all will belong to one of these names: Sun, Moon, Twilight and Dawn. Know now that you will be competing. Winning competitions reward prizes, so make your friends now. Nopony will win on their own.” Chatter consumed the silence that had previously befallen the watchful young ponies. Consumed by the hunger to win, to make friends and to talk about their excitement, they broke Shining’s first rule. Respect. “QUIET!” Shining Armour relished the opportunity to dole out his first shout. “Now. Ponies born in Spring, you are Dawn. Ponies born in Summer, you are Sun. Those born in Autumn, you shall be Twilight. The Winter months are therefore Moon. Is that clear?” The Stallion had another opportunity to shout. “When I say ‘is that clear’, you say SIR, YES SIR. Is that clear?” “Sir, yes Sir.” The crowd weakly followed the captain’s words, some quieter than others. “LOUDER!” SIR, yes Sir.” A little better, but not good enough for Shining. “LOUDER!!!” “SIR, YES SIR.” In unison, the crowd was loud enough to shatter glass. Given his audience now had their attention well and truly on him. Shining Armour found the silence a good time to bring up a new topic. “I know many of you are wondering, ‘Everfree forest? Where are the trees? Why can i only see hills, mountains and only the smaller patches of woodland.’ The answer is that the Everfree forest is a massive national park. Perfect and untouched, this land can be your greatest asset or worst nightmare. You better get used to it. Tonight we play military hide and seek. This information sparked mixed emotions on young faces and a loud cheer from all the colts. In addition to the colts, a small group of fillies also rejoiced. Shining was a hard leader, but a good one at that. He knew that games were the best way for these children to learn. This game was but a test to find those few natural leaders. These leaders would be key in Shining’s master plan. “Prizes. Did i say prizes before?” The captain of the guard called for silence. “SIR, YES SIR.” “Quick learners. I like that. The prize for tonight will be... The winning company will choose their dormitory and earn one extra hour of free time at light’s out.” Shining let the message sink in before continuing. He did not want to overload the pupils with military jargon too early, but was finding it difficult not to. “Now. Until eighteen-hundred hours. Six O’Clock for you ponies. You are to find your Companies and divide into platoons. There are six-hundred of you, this means there will be one-hundred and fifty per Company. There will be fifty ponies per platoon. How you divide yourselves is up to you. When you are done, write your names upon a sheet of paper with your company and platoon and hand them in to me. Find me first.” The teacher winked at his students. “When I dismiss you what are you going to say?” “SIR,YES SIR.” “Welcome to the academy.” By giving responsibility to the children, Shining Armour hoped that the Colts and Fillies would learn by themselves the importance of organisation, knowing people, and getting their voices heard. Shining was not going to do everything, so throwing these foals in at the deep end was his solution. He left out the part about uniforms for now, no need to panic the students yet. Chapter 2Chapter 2 An echo of Shining Armour’s cannon signalled the start of evening game of hide and seek. Some of the younger students as well as some older ones jumped at the sudden noise, legs shaking in the long dark grass. Black overcast skies obscured the early evening, making it hard for anypony to see anything other than the silhouette of their crouched teammates and the faint but distinct luminescence of the appointed platoon leaders glow-sticks. Fidgeting and careful movements broke the night’s silence as the teams began to shuffle through the fields, some ponies blatantly talking could be heard across the distances separating the competing groups. Three of the four companies had separated their platoons into strictly having either only Pegasus, Earth, or Unicorn ponies. To these companies’ surprise, they had found that they were perfectly divided, making their decision that much easier. The fourth company, Dawn, had opted for an almost equal split to gain the advantage of having three platoons with multiple skill-sets. For colts and fillies, some of the ponies were very clever. This night’s leaders were the ponies who had the ‘courage’ and confidence to first find Shining Armour and then hand in the roster containing the names of all the ponies. Shining had his fun interrogating the company representative as to why certain decisions were made and why they didn’t do certain meaningless tasks. Team Dawn had the benefit of having a pony who was very close to Shining Armour, naturally, this pony was automatically the chosen representative. Haze Etcher knew Shining Armour through her adoptive father Silver Edge. She had spent many hours in Shining Armour’s company as her father made deals with the captain. When Silver finally found the money to move to Canterlot, Haze and Shining were inseparable, always play-fighting and learning together. Haze was almost an apprentice to Shining, learning ‘military theory’ and ‘tactics’ by just watching the Stallion at work. When the time came to choose students suited to Shining’s new school, the filly at the top of his list was the one glued to his side. Silver, at first, was hesitant to let Haze go, but was persuaded by the captain of the guard and his princess wife that she would be treated as one their own. Wealth had already given Haze a new start and greater chance of success in life, Shining’s school would do so even more. Silver made sure that Haze was well equipped for the academy, sparing no expense in purchasing anything that could give his daughter an advantage. Even though Haze’s second chance was one full of luxury and comfort, she had remained humble, always thankful for the chance Silver had taken on her and never taking anything for granted, her scar was a permanent reminder of days without anything. “Keep quiet ponies, I think I see Twilight’s Unicorns.” Haze whispered to her obedient platoon, employing a pegasus runner to pass on her messages. “This is going to be too easy.” A blue earth-pony colt emerged from behind Haze Etcher. “Stop here.” Haze nodded with a sly grin at the well built young colt before coming to a complete stop. “Masquerade Mist, keep low and move first platoon to the trees. From there split into groups of sixteen and hide. Try and make your glow sticks obvious. The two remaining ponies will be bait. “Sure Haze, I’m on it!” The enthusiastic pegasus filly shouted a whisper. “Thunder Dasher, take the second platoon to high ground and find out where the other teams are. When you’ve located all the teams, dig in and send messages to first. Got that?” “Got it.” Masquerade spoke with a gruff voice. “Third will be patrolling around here and luring in anypony straying away from the forest.” Haze mimicked the commanding voice of Shining Armour. Had Shining been there, he would have been proud. “Remember to keep your spacings, always count your ponies and tell them to report to you if they see movement. Now go.” Haze Etcher was dead serious about winning, her competitiveness a result of being a keen Wonderbolts fan. “You really want to win don’t you?” The same blue colt from before, Stargaze Spirit, Haze’s second in command and natural navigator joked at Haze’s stern face. “The prize wouldn’t be worth it if the dormitories were all the same. I’m guessing one of them has something worth the effort.” Haze remained cold as she signalled her advance. “Did anypony tell you you’re really smart?” Stargaze led in front of Haze. “I’m just doing what Shining taught me to do.” Haze allowed the complement to lift her spirits. “Shining? Shining Armour? That’s not fair.” A quiet laughter left Stargaze as he adjusted his direction. “We’re on the same team, what does it matter? Now be quiet.” Assessing her noise, Haze whispered, returning to her serious expression. First and second platoon were in position twenty minutes after Haze’s orders were issued. For this ‘game’ Haze found it necessary to have her platoons on the ground where nopony could see them and have the unicorns refrain from using their magic. The other companies were a mess of light spells and loud, flying, foals. It only took only a short hour for Sun company to all be lured and captured within the small forest. One-hundred and fifty students all captured without any problems. With Sun company at the mercy of Dawn, Haze elected that the previous leaders of her platoons (Excluding Haze) be assigned to lead the captives and use the new pony-power to bolster their strength. A second forest outcrop became another trap for the remaining companies to fall into, these second companies however, were growing cautious, no longer seeing the yellow glow-stick of Sun. A game for children had been transformed by Haze into an all out battle. Shining Armour’s hourly time-firework-spell showed a large bright green ‘eleven’, telling the teams that they really needed to ‘get a move on’ if they were to get back to the academy in time to sleep. Instead of the same ‘normal’ spell that Shining had used in his little game, he sent with it an array of large supply crates to the individual platoons via powerful transportation magic. The crates contained water, tents, and cardboard boxes labeled as ‘ration packs’. Shining Armour felt that the game needed a little ‘spicing up’. Each platoon of Dawn company had within minutes sent news to each other asking for orders as to what to do with this new equipment, some of the messages showing panic towards sleeping in the outdoors. The two un-captured companies of Moon and Twilight could be heard screaming in delight and could be seen lighting campfires. Haze, always the pony to make the best of any situation ordered her platoon leaders to set the tents up for only the tiredest of the students, in addition to making sure that the leaders knew the importance of getting everypony a drink of water. Ration packs were raided for their energy-bars and chocolate. Leftover tents, empty water canisters and unopened ration packs were to be left in a new trap to end the game quicker. Dawn company’s ponies morale could not have been higher. Within the next half hour, the Sun conscripts had surrounded Twilight’s campfires, taking their sleeping pegasi and noisy Earth-ponies whilst moving in on the lit-up Unicorns. Second platoon had coordinated the ‘attack’ when Haze had given full leadership of Sun over to Thunder Dasher. Thunder Dasher, it appeared, was quite the tactician. She was quick, efficient and charismatic, her joy gained from winning resonated amongst the ponies she that she had led. Haze’s two remaining platoons of colts and fillies had taken up position outside Moon’s encampment, waiting on the results of Thunder’s efforts to determine whether her next move would be the right one. Many ponies by now had dropped out of the main seeking force to find a place to sleep, Haze was becoming worried about having the ability to take on a full company, even if that company was a disorganised rabble of children. *BOOM* “Thunder is taking a while.” Stargaze poked Haze Etcher in the ribs. “I know.” The leader turned to the colt. Shining Armour appeared in a flash, his horn glowing from the teleport magic. Children around him backed away in respect, bowing their heads and stiffening their joints. Haze Etcher stood at attention. “Take your ponies and report to the academy grounds.” Shining smiled at his little friend. “Sir, yes sir.” The stallion disappeared as quickly as he had arrived and before Haze could finish her response, leaving a faint patch of light that stained the tall grass surrounding them. Fortunately, everypony was where they were supposed to be, either in tents or in well led groups. Pegasi in team Dawn were not charging ahead, instead walking with the Earth and Unicorn students. Ponies from Sun were making friends with the leaders of the platoons, joking about their embarrassment of being beaten and then led into an easy victory. Many of the ponies that had ‘rested’ emerged from the treeline with boxes filled with the ‘best’ parts of the ration packs, handing out the sweets to their fellow teammates. The stragglers of the remaining teams assembled themselves upon the concrete square just before the time which Shining Armour gave them to get there. Failing his time limit was definitely undesirable for the students, ‘No dessert tomorrow.’ Foals love desert. With the companies together, all six-hundred accounted for, Shining began a new speech. “Good evening Students. As you may have guessed, Dawn company are tonight's winners. Well done Dawn company.” Shining armour paced between the half-asleep foals, speaking with a kind tone. “Those of you who were not as fortunate as Dawn team, I order you not to worry, you will learn to win. This school is first and foremost a military academy, we will teach you to blend into the tall grass, to make the most of what you have available, and to win as a well disciplined team rather than the disorganised ‘warbands’ I witnessed tonight.” The losing company leaders straightened their backs at these words; showing no weakness. “Before we get to the prizes, i would first like to congratulate Dawn for their exemplary performance. As Sun company knows very well, Dawn company captured their first team in little over an hour. Their tactics, although unrefined in some cases, showed great promise and skill. I hope everypony here has learned something new from their example.” “Prizes. Being the winners of the first competition, Dawn company are permitted to choose their sleeping quarters. I trust you have your eyes on the double rooms?” “Sir, yes sir.” Haze, already acquainted with the academy layout was the only pony from her company to speak up, doing so with an ear-to-ear smile. A whispered, enthusiastic cheer was produced by the winning company students, with some hooves being thrusted up in the air in celebration. Other companies around Dawn appeared disheartened, although some clearly embraced the idea that they may be in mixed, social accommodation. Haze was already met with Thunder Dasher, both of them mutually and excitedly wanting to share a room despite not knowing each other particularly well. Fillies will be fillies. “Secondly, everypony here has earned the rank of recruit.Congratulations. When I or any other member of staff addresses you, you will be now called recruit. Do well and you may earn a promotion, disappoint me and you will lose privileges and/ or rank.” Shining Armour trotted to the top corner of the hard surface. “Ponies who intend to act like children are not welcome in my academy, remember this, there is a time and a place for fun and that is free time, you are here to learn. Right now, it’s time to eat. When you are done, the three company leaders without a dormitory will race to the remaining sleeping areas. Dismissed.” The captain, finished talking, led the mad charge into the building labeled ‘mess hall’. Chapter 3Chapter 3 Thunder Dasher woke up from her short sleep across from a still resting Haze Etcher. Thunder's eyes stung from her inability to fall unconscious in a foreign bed, her wings were sore as a result of lying on her back throughout the night, her mind uneasy from coming to terms with being away from her family. Although with company across the room, Thunder felt alone and very bored, the adrenaline from winning now gone and the happiness fading. The parents of Thunder Dasher were middle class Cloudsdale Pegassi. Her mother was working as an engineer while her father stayed to tend to the other younger siblings. The Dasher family were very tightly knitted in Cloudsdale, which made Thunder's departure all the more painful, even with the massive support she was given in preparation. Sleeping in a new bed especially, was an incredibly strange experience. Awoken with no chance of returning to a dreamless state, Thunder Dasher sat upright upon her bed, staring at the vast emptiness though a dew stained window and beginning to to carelessly brush her mane. The endless fields were beautiful and daunting, the freedom it represented for Thunder was like that of what she wished for back at home. Now that she had what she wanted, she was conflicted with fear, homesickness and a bubbling excitement. A large portion of tiredness covered the side areas of the filly's thoughts and another section of intrigue at forming new relationships poured into the last empty spaces of Thunder's mind. “Thunder? You all right?” Haze yawned between her words, welcoming the new day with slowly opening eyes. “Haze are you my friend?” Outright, Thunder Dasher spoke with a worried tone. “Sure you are! We won the game together and sleep in the same room silly.” The dark furred pony sat upright to meet the anxious gaze from across the room. “Thanks Haze.” Thunder Dasher smiled in relief, crossing loneliness off her list. A loudspeaker in the corner of the dormitory glowed and filled the room with the loud tune of reveille. Following the unwanted and rather annoying noise, the voice of Shining Armour drew the attention of all the Academy's residents. “Gooooood morning colts and fillies!” Shining Armour's wake-up mimicked a movie that Haze Etcher had once watched with the captain, against Silver's wishes. “Today is Sunday; a day which our princesses have granted to us as a day of rest. At our academy, Sunday will truly justify its description as a day of rest. Rest is not just sitting around all day doing nothing, no, otherwise we wouldn't have lounges, recreational sports grounds and open music rooms. Trust me, some days you will want to just lie down and sleep though the day, that is fine, I do that too. My only orders of the day are to respect your equipment, respect your fellow students and to learn one thing new about absolutely anything. That will be all. Oh, and breakfast is in an hour. ” The happy message ended, giving the students a warm feeling of self control. For the first time in most of the colts and fillies lives, they had complete responsibility for themselves, minus the negatives of adult pony life. Shining Armour was keen to give the children a family feeling, his messages and socially oriented facilities an example of the way in which he hoped to build a 'regiment' of not just disciplined, but happy individuals. Ponies all around the academy would be returning to sleep if it was not for the sweet smell of cooking coming from the school's canteen. Instead of laziness, students congregated in the showers and outside the toilets. Colts grouped with other colts and fillies with fillies as they joined together outside their accommodations, only the braver of the ponies attempting to join packs of the opposite gender. Some of these young ponies with the confidence to mix included Haze and Thunder who met with Masquerade and Stargaze at the canteen entrance, all four of them also being the first students outside. “I am starving.” Masquerade Mist broke the comfortable silence with an accompanying belly-rumble. “Me too.” Stargaze agreed with the complaining colt, touching his own centre with a hoof. “I think you'll live.” The formerly homeless pony awkwardly laughed at the clueless recruits, adjusting her mane as to not appear bothered. “I wish they'd hurry up.” A monotone Thunder added to the negativity. “Stand back fillies, you're in my spot.” Shining armour, from nowhere appeared next to the four students, three of whom immediately retreated. The last filly, Haze Etcher stood her ground, giving the captain a hard glare. “I thought you would be with Cadence.” Haze called out her 'teacher'. “She's not getting here until next week.” The academy leader foresaw his effort to 'cut in' on Haze as futile and took the space separating Haze from her friends. Shining could have just walked in, but wanted to be around somepony he actually knew. After the conclusion of a delicious breakfast comprised of stacks of waffles and fruit salads, ponies went their separate ways. Thunder Dasher took to the basketball court along with a herds-worth of pegasi, Stargaze left for the Dawn company lounge, Masquerade searched for a drum-kit within the music rooms and Haze followed Shining Armour to the 'Officer's Club.' Companies were sticking together and wandering the Academy grounds, avoiding their competitors and talking to ponies without prior introduction just because they were in the same 'team'. The day was blessed with warm and sunny weather, a rarity in the Everfree unless directly tampered with. In the barren rolling hills and forests, birds could be heard chirping and wild animals were easily seen grazing in the shorter grass. Shining’s academy was fortunately in a safe area, requiring no fencing or any over the top protection from the Everfree horrors. If a student wanted to, on a sunday, they could easily just take a long walk. There was simply no better place to build the academy. Chapter 4Chapter 4 Stargaze spirit contently leaned against the back wall of the Sun company lounge, contemplating the worst that could come out of his stay at the military academy. Stargaze thought of possible conspiracies and injuries, of tasks he may have to carry out and of the teachers he hadn't met yet. The wall he rested on was growing uncomfortable and his body becoming squeamish from the other ponies watching him. “Stargate is it?” A white filly, standing on her own by the pool table spoke out. “Stargaze.” The colt answered flatly, still in a personal trance. “Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you.” Recoiling, the blank flank with a pool cue backed away. “No, I'm sorry, I was rude. What was your name again?” Stargaze Spirit returned to reality, trying to dispel any anxiety over talking to the the fairer sex. “Um, we haven't met. I'm Zephyr Waker. I just wanted to thank you for , you know, for the game.” Zephyr the pegasus filly blushed slightly. “It's nothing.” Stargaze kicked himself for the cliché. “Zephyr is a nice name, I've never heard it before, what does it mean?” The colt stood still, trying not to stare at the pegasus' perfectly formed wings. “Gentle breeze.” Zephyr reddened as if embarrassed. “That's pretty cool, a name within a name. Did you want to play?” Stargaze noticed that the filly was playing by herself. “Yes.” Watched by the gender spit groups, Stargaze Spirit and Zephyr Waker played the game, learning about each other and improving their skills. Although Stargaze never won a game, not even close, he felt he was winning a new friend. Zephyr even gave the colt advice on what and what not to say to a filly, this resulted in many an awkward moment, a laugh, and a few missed shots. The game carried on until Zephyr took pity on the poorly performing Earth pony and subsequently took a dive. Stargaze saw the deliberate attempt at failure and called the match off, offering the filly a drink at the bar, as per Zephyr's 'courting' advice. Being children, the bar, or EMALS (Equestrian Magical, Aeronautical, and Land Services) served no alcohol, instead providing snacks and soft beverages. Being the gentlecolt, Stargaze put both the ponies' bill on his allowance, which for a relatively wealthy family, was quite a lot. Zephyr was thankful for the kindness, and not completely oblivious of the young stallion's interest. The filly however, was not disinterested, actually far from it, edging closer to him as the time passed. Stargaze's parents worked as fine paediatricians in the richer inner city area of Trottingham, their salary mostly being pumped into Stargaze's private education. By no means was the Earth pony spoiled, he had to work for his keep and prove himself constantly. Star was also the only Earth pony in his close family, causing a barrier with his mostly Unicorn relatives. When the letter came that invited Stargaze Spirit to Shining Armour's military academy, the family held a feast in celebration, inviting friends and family to congratulate the colt on his 'prestigious acceptance into the finest academy Equestria has ever seen.' The fact that it was free was also something to rejoice about. Following the short hours of pleasant interaction, Zephyr and Stargaze parted ways, promising to meet again. Stargaze joined with the colts and Zephyr Waker left for her dormitory. Unsurprisingly, the young Stallions had some questions for the 'first time lucky' recruit. “So...How d'ya think ya fillyfriend from yesterday's gunna feel?” A young pony with a southern accent stepped forward, displaying hostility. “Feel about what?” Stargaze innocently looked away. “You heard.” The colt advanced. “Ok, firstly, I only know Haze from yesterday evening. Secondly, I don't have a fillyfriend.” “You were real close yesterday, everypony saw. Your new buddy might not take to kindly to being messed about.” The southern pony's winged friend backed up the argument. In the music room, Masquerade was happily becoming acquainted with the other musically inclined students. The dark Unicorn had already found the drum kit; A brand new monster of a set up, It was so big it needed multiple stools and surrounded him on all sides. A large drum even had to be screwed to a hinge so that there was an entry point to the kit. Across the soundproofed space, (which looked more like a sports hall) Ponies were playing guitars, practising woodwind and tuning orchestral equipment. In this facility, colts and fillies mixed together to share their abilities and create music from unlikely combinations of hugely different instruments. Within the open space, there were a few 'studios' towards the end of the room, filled with drum machines, turntables and keyboards. Masquerade once tried his hand at electronic music, it did not work out well. Drums had always been this colt's passion; the tribal sounds and sensations of beating something and producing a beautiful noise captivated him. Rock music, Pony-metal, even folk were Masquerade's specialities. Holding down a fast paced double kick as well as playing slow, technical beats with perfect precision was what he was good at. “Drummer eh?” A full grown mare with an electric mane and a white coat approached the soloing Masquerade. “Yeah. This kit is awesome. Never seen anything like it.” The recruit paused his session. “Look, I’ll get to the point. We need a drummer, my students need inspiration.” Obviously irritated, the mare skipped the normal conversational cues. “Your students? Electronic right?” Masquerade eyed over to the ponies' cutie-mark, recognising the mare as the famous DJ he never really got into. “Yeah. You don't seem as excited as the others.” The teacher frowned, losing some enthusiasm. “I don't do your style. Sorry.” The colt tried not to sound overly condescending, but most of his true meaning filtered through his lips. “Got something against me?” Suffering from a punch in the ego, Vinyl Scratch placed her for- hooves against Masquerade's drum kit, standing upright. “No, I just find electronic, a little boring. I hate to just stand still and press buttons in hope that what comes out of a speaker is anything more than unintelligible and repetitive noise.” Masquerade challenged his elder, not exactly the right thing to do in a Military academy. “BUTTON PRESSING? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” Enraged, the DJ's face turned a bright red. “Vinyl Scratch, Queen of the button pressers.” Quietly laughing to himself, Masquerade gave a light hearted insult to the deadly serious mare. “HOW DARE YOU! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY.” That was it, Vinyl was furious with the insolent young recruit. “At least drummers have the upper body strength to do twenty push ups.” Masquerade dropped to the floor and began his 'punishment'. “THIRTY!” “Whatever you say.” The drummer saw this as just another warm-up, he should have thanked the mare. Masquerade quickly and easily finished his punishment, returning to his drumming and watching as the still angry mare stormed off. With his joints loosened, he found the faster rhythms much easier to perform. In a way, the bad-tempered DJ had helped Masquerade, causing him to question himself on why he did not do push ups before every practice.
Chapter 1Chapter 1 Torrential rain and echoing thunder besieged the newly crafted buildings that made up the academy. Grey statues of Equestria’s heroes and villains stood dripping and darkened with moisture. The clouds above had been untouched by pegasus hooves for days, perfect for the first day at a military school. Formerly emerald grass became saturated, turning to a deep green, unwelcoming pond. The only brightness was that of soaking ponies’ manes and fur. With these pastel colours came a sea of several hundred unhappy young faces. Shining armour looked down on his new students with a smile. He too was outside in the wild weather, wind sweeping through his mane. Already, the new students’ parents had left. Leaving behind their children to stand with their luggage on what would become the student’s parade ground. The demoralised faces of the colts and fillies was exactly what Shining wanted. It told him exactly what he was working with. “Fillies and Gentlecolts. I welcome you all this exciting new adventure. What you see here is the first and finest academy ever to grace the everfree forest.” Shining bellowed his words with a kind and proud voice. “Together, as a team, you will learn to become the great minds, brilliant athletes and best ponies Equestria could hope for. It is you who will lead this land into a new age of happiness, prosperity and technological brilliance.” Eyes suddenly lit up on the foal faces in the audience. Ignoring the battering the weather was giving them. “You have been chosen. Not from you backgrounds, not from your talents, but from your potential. Each Equestrian, be them Earth, Pegasus, or Unicorn. Each and every one of you has the ability to better yourself and better your culture. You are all special. Cutie mark or no cutie mark. it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you can be who you can be.” Shining armour stood down from the pedestal and began to pace in front of the disorganised ranks of soaking ponies. “Some of you know each other. Some of you know nopony here. Whether or whether not you have friends right now is irrelevant. I promise you with Princess Celestia as my witness, that by the first week, every pony here will not be without a friend. I also promise you exhaustion, hard work and above all else; self fulfillment.” On cue, the rain ceased its torment and the clouds evaporated. Left behind was a beautiful warm sun and a clear blue sky. The foals already could feel the heat drying their fur and their morale rising even higher. “Teams. Teams are how we will work. In our military academy a team are called a company.” Shining armour got down to business, losing the ‘nice’ smile and replacing it with a devious grin. “Our companies are comprised of smaller platoons. Each company has a name. You all will belong to one of these names: Sun, Moon, Twilight and Dawn. Know now that you will be competing. Winning competitions reward prizes, so make your friends now. Nopony will win on their own.” Chatter consumed the silence that had previously befallen the watchful young ponies. Consumed by the hunger to win, to make friends and to talk about their excitement, they broke Shining’s first rule. Respect. “QUIET!” Shining Armour relished the opportunity to dole out his first shout. “Now. Ponies born in Spring, you are Dawn. Ponies born in Summer, you are Sun. Those born in Autumn, you shall be Twilight. The Winter months are therefore Moon. Is that clear?” The Stallion had another opportunity to shout. “When I say ‘is that clear’, you say SIR, YES SIR. Is that clear?” “Sir, yes Sir.” The crowd weakly followed the captain’s words, some quieter than others. “LOUDER!” SIR, yes Sir.” A little better, but not good enough for Shining. “LOUDER!!!” “SIR, YES SIR.” In unison, the crowd was loud enough to shatter glass. Given his audience now had their attention well and truly on him. Shining Armour found the silence a good time to bring up a new topic. “I know many of you are wondering, ‘Everfree forest? Where are the trees? Why can i only see hills, mountains and only the smaller patches of woodland.’ The answer is that the Everfree forest is a massive national park. Perfect and untouched, this land can be your greatest asset or worst nightmare. You better get used to it. Tonight we play military hide and seek. This information sparked mixed emotions on young faces and a loud cheer from all the colts. In addition to the colts, a small group of fillies also rejoiced. Shining was a hard leader, but a good one at that. He knew that games were the best way for these children to learn. This game was but a test to find those few natural leaders. These leaders would be key in Shining’s master plan. “Prizes. Did i say prizes before?” The captain of the guard called for silence. “SIR, YES SIR.” “Quick learners. I like that. The prize for tonight will be... The winning company will choose their dormitory and earn one extra hour of free time at light’s out.” Shining let the message sink in before continuing. He did not want to overload the pupils with military jargon too early, but was finding it difficult not to. “Now. Until eighteen-hundred hours. Six O’Clock for you ponies. You are to find your Companies and divide into platoons. There are six-hundred of you, this means there will be one-hundred and fifty per Company. There will be fifty ponies per platoon. How you divide yourselves is up to you. When you are done, write your names upon a sheet of paper with your company and platoon and hand them in to me. Find me first.” The teacher winked at his students. “When I dismiss you what are you going to say?” “SIR,YES SIR.” “Welcome to the academy.” By giving responsibility to the children, Shining Armour hoped that the Colts and Fillies would learn by themselves the importance of organisation, knowing people, and getting their voices heard. Shining was not going to do everything, so throwing these foals in at the deep end was his solution. He left out the part about uniforms for now, no need to panic the students yet.
Chapter 2Chapter 2 An echo of Shining Armour’s cannon signalled the start of evening game of hide and seek. Some of the younger students as well as some older ones jumped at the sudden noise, legs shaking in the long dark grass. Black overcast skies obscured the early evening, making it hard for anypony to see anything other than the silhouette of their crouched teammates and the faint but distinct luminescence of the appointed platoon leaders glow-sticks. Fidgeting and careful movements broke the night’s silence as the teams began to shuffle through the fields, some ponies blatantly talking could be heard across the distances separating the competing groups. Three of the four companies had separated their platoons into strictly having either only Pegasus, Earth, or Unicorn ponies. To these companies’ surprise, they had found that they were perfectly divided, making their decision that much easier. The fourth company, Dawn, had opted for an almost equal split to gain the advantage of having three platoons with multiple skill-sets. For colts and fillies, some of the ponies were very clever. This night’s leaders were the ponies who had the ‘courage’ and confidence to first find Shining Armour and then hand in the roster containing the names of all the ponies. Shining had his fun interrogating the company representative as to why certain decisions were made and why they didn’t do certain meaningless tasks. Team Dawn had the benefit of having a pony who was very close to Shining Armour, naturally, this pony was automatically the chosen representative. Haze Etcher knew Shining Armour through her adoptive father Silver Edge. She had spent many hours in Shining Armour’s company as her father made deals with the captain. When Silver finally found the money to move to Canterlot, Haze and Shining were inseparable, always play-fighting and learning together. Haze was almost an apprentice to Shining, learning ‘military theory’ and ‘tactics’ by just watching the Stallion at work. When the time came to choose students suited to Shining’s new school, the filly at the top of his list was the one glued to his side. Silver, at first, was hesitant to let Haze go, but was persuaded by the captain of the guard and his princess wife that she would be treated as one their own. Wealth had already given Haze a new start and greater chance of success in life, Shining’s school would do so even more. Silver made sure that Haze was well equipped for the academy, sparing no expense in purchasing anything that could give his daughter an advantage. Even though Haze’s second chance was one full of luxury and comfort, she had remained humble, always thankful for the chance Silver had taken on her and never taking anything for granted, her scar was a permanent reminder of days without anything. “Keep quiet ponies, I think I see Twilight’s Unicorns.” Haze whispered to her obedient platoon, employing a pegasus runner to pass on her messages. “This is going to be too easy.” A blue earth-pony colt emerged from behind Haze Etcher. “Stop here.” Haze nodded with a sly grin at the well built young colt before coming to a complete stop. “Masquerade Mist, keep low and move first platoon to the trees. From there split into groups of sixteen and hide. Try and make your glow sticks obvious. The two remaining ponies will be bait. “Sure Haze, I’m on it!” The enthusiastic pegasus filly shouted a whisper. “Thunder Dasher, take the second platoon to high ground and find out where the other teams are. When you’ve located all the teams, dig in and send messages to first. Got that?” “Got it.” Masquerade spoke with a gruff voice. “Third will be patrolling around here and luring in anypony straying away from the forest.” Haze mimicked the commanding voice of Shining Armour. Had Shining been there, he would have been proud. “Remember to keep your spacings, always count your ponies and tell them to report to you if they see movement. Now go.” Haze Etcher was dead serious about winning, her competitiveness a result of being a keen Wonderbolts fan. “You really want to win don’t you?” The same blue colt from before, Stargaze Spirit, Haze’s second in command and natural navigator joked at Haze’s stern face. “The prize wouldn’t be worth it if the dormitories were all the same. I’m guessing one of them has something worth the effort.” Haze remained cold as she signalled her advance. “Did anypony tell you you’re really smart?” Stargaze led in front of Haze. “I’m just doing what Shining taught me to do.” Haze allowed the complement to lift her spirits. “Shining? Shining Armour? That’s not fair.” A quiet laughter left Stargaze as he adjusted his direction. “We’re on the same team, what does it matter? Now be quiet.” Assessing her noise, Haze whispered, returning to her serious expression. First and second platoon were in position twenty minutes after Haze’s orders were issued. For this ‘game’ Haze found it necessary to have her platoons on the ground where nopony could see them and have the unicorns refrain from using their magic. The other companies were a mess of light spells and loud, flying, foals. It only took only a short hour for Sun company to all be lured and captured within the small forest. One-hundred and fifty students all captured without any problems. With Sun company at the mercy of Dawn, Haze elected that the previous leaders of her platoons (Excluding Haze) be assigned to lead the captives and use the new pony-power to bolster their strength. A second forest outcrop became another trap for the remaining companies to fall into, these second companies however, were growing cautious, no longer seeing the yellow glow-stick of Sun. A game for children had been transformed by Haze into an all out battle. Shining Armour’s hourly time-firework-spell showed a large bright green ‘eleven’, telling the teams that they really needed to ‘get a move on’ if they were to get back to the academy in time to sleep. Instead of the same ‘normal’ spell that Shining had used in his little game, he sent with it an array of large supply crates to the individual platoons via powerful transportation magic. The crates contained water, tents, and cardboard boxes labeled as ‘ration packs’. Shining Armour felt that the game needed a little ‘spicing up’. Each platoon of Dawn company had within minutes sent news to each other asking for orders as to what to do with this new equipment, some of the messages showing panic towards sleeping in the outdoors. The two un-captured companies of Moon and Twilight could be heard screaming in delight and could be seen lighting campfires. Haze, always the pony to make the best of any situation ordered her platoon leaders to set the tents up for only the tiredest of the students, in addition to making sure that the leaders knew the importance of getting everypony a drink of water. Ration packs were raided for their energy-bars and chocolate. Leftover tents, empty water canisters and unopened ration packs were to be left in a new trap to end the game quicker. Dawn company’s ponies morale could not have been higher. Within the next half hour, the Sun conscripts had surrounded Twilight’s campfires, taking their sleeping pegasi and noisy Earth-ponies whilst moving in on the lit-up Unicorns. Second platoon had coordinated the ‘attack’ when Haze had given full leadership of Sun over to Thunder Dasher. Thunder Dasher, it appeared, was quite the tactician. She was quick, efficient and charismatic, her joy gained from winning resonated amongst the ponies she that she had led. Haze’s two remaining platoons of colts and fillies had taken up position outside Moon’s encampment, waiting on the results of Thunder’s efforts to determine whether her next move would be the right one. Many ponies by now had dropped out of the main seeking force to find a place to sleep, Haze was becoming worried about having the ability to take on a full company, even if that company was a disorganised rabble of children. *BOOM* “Thunder is taking a while.” Stargaze poked Haze Etcher in the ribs. “I know.” The leader turned to the colt. Shining Armour appeared in a flash, his horn glowing from the teleport magic. Children around him backed away in respect, bowing their heads and stiffening their joints. Haze Etcher stood at attention. “Take your ponies and report to the academy grounds.” Shining smiled at his little friend. “Sir, yes sir.” The stallion disappeared as quickly as he had arrived and before Haze could finish her response, leaving a faint patch of light that stained the tall grass surrounding them. Fortunately, everypony was where they were supposed to be, either in tents or in well led groups. Pegasi in team Dawn were not charging ahead, instead walking with the Earth and Unicorn students. Ponies from Sun were making friends with the leaders of the platoons, joking about their embarrassment of being beaten and then led into an easy victory. Many of the ponies that had ‘rested’ emerged from the treeline with boxes filled with the ‘best’ parts of the ration packs, handing out the sweets to their fellow teammates. The stragglers of the remaining teams assembled themselves upon the concrete square just before the time which Shining Armour gave them to get there. Failing his time limit was definitely undesirable for the students, ‘No dessert tomorrow.’ Foals love desert. With the companies together, all six-hundred accounted for, Shining began a new speech. “Good evening Students. As you may have guessed, Dawn company are tonight's winners. Well done Dawn company.” Shining armour paced between the half-asleep foals, speaking with a kind tone. “Those of you who were not as fortunate as Dawn team, I order you not to worry, you will learn to win. This school is first and foremost a military academy, we will teach you to blend into the tall grass, to make the most of what you have available, and to win as a well disciplined team rather than the disorganised ‘warbands’ I witnessed tonight.” The losing company leaders straightened their backs at these words; showing no weakness. “Before we get to the prizes, i would first like to congratulate Dawn for their exemplary performance. As Sun company knows very well, Dawn company captured their first team in little over an hour. Their tactics, although unrefined in some cases, showed great promise and skill. I hope everypony here has learned something new from their example.” “Prizes. Being the winners of the first competition, Dawn company are permitted to choose their sleeping quarters. I trust you have your eyes on the double rooms?” “Sir, yes sir.” Haze, already acquainted with the academy layout was the only pony from her company to speak up, doing so with an ear-to-ear smile. A whispered, enthusiastic cheer was produced by the winning company students, with some hooves being thrusted up in the air in celebration. Other companies around Dawn appeared disheartened, although some clearly embraced the idea that they may be in mixed, social accommodation. Haze was already met with Thunder Dasher, both of them mutually and excitedly wanting to share a room despite not knowing each other particularly well. Fillies will be fillies. “Secondly, everypony here has earned the rank of recruit.Congratulations. When I or any other member of staff addresses you, you will be now called recruit. Do well and you may earn a promotion, disappoint me and you will lose privileges and/ or rank.” Shining Armour trotted to the top corner of the hard surface. “Ponies who intend to act like children are not welcome in my academy, remember this, there is a time and a place for fun and that is free time, you are here to learn. Right now, it’s time to eat. When you are done, the three company leaders without a dormitory will race to the remaining sleeping areas. Dismissed.” The captain, finished talking, led the mad charge into the building labeled ‘mess hall’.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Thunder Dasher woke up from her short sleep across from a still resting Haze Etcher. Thunder's eyes stung from her inability to fall unconscious in a foreign bed, her wings were sore as a result of lying on her back throughout the night, her mind uneasy from coming to terms with being away from her family. Although with company across the room, Thunder felt alone and very bored, the adrenaline from winning now gone and the happiness fading. The parents of Thunder Dasher were middle class Cloudsdale Pegassi. Her mother was working as an engineer while her father stayed to tend to the other younger siblings. The Dasher family were very tightly knitted in Cloudsdale, which made Thunder's departure all the more painful, even with the massive support she was given in preparation. Sleeping in a new bed especially, was an incredibly strange experience. Awoken with no chance of returning to a dreamless state, Thunder Dasher sat upright upon her bed, staring at the vast emptiness though a dew stained window and beginning to to carelessly brush her mane. The endless fields were beautiful and daunting, the freedom it represented for Thunder was like that of what she wished for back at home. Now that she had what she wanted, she was conflicted with fear, homesickness and a bubbling excitement. A large portion of tiredness covered the side areas of the filly's thoughts and another section of intrigue at forming new relationships poured into the last empty spaces of Thunder's mind. “Thunder? You all right?” Haze yawned between her words, welcoming the new day with slowly opening eyes. “Haze are you my friend?” Outright, Thunder Dasher spoke with a worried tone. “Sure you are! We won the game together and sleep in the same room silly.” The dark furred pony sat upright to meet the anxious gaze from across the room. “Thanks Haze.” Thunder Dasher smiled in relief, crossing loneliness off her list. A loudspeaker in the corner of the dormitory glowed and filled the room with the loud tune of reveille. Following the unwanted and rather annoying noise, the voice of Shining Armour drew the attention of all the Academy's residents. “Gooooood morning colts and fillies!” Shining Armour's wake-up mimicked a movie that Haze Etcher had once watched with the captain, against Silver's wishes. “Today is Sunday; a day which our princesses have granted to us as a day of rest. At our academy, Sunday will truly justify its description as a day of rest. Rest is not just sitting around all day doing nothing, no, otherwise we wouldn't have lounges, recreational sports grounds and open music rooms. Trust me, some days you will want to just lie down and sleep though the day, that is fine, I do that too. My only orders of the day are to respect your equipment, respect your fellow students and to learn one thing new about absolutely anything. That will be all. Oh, and breakfast is in an hour. ” The happy message ended, giving the students a warm feeling of self control. For the first time in most of the colts and fillies lives, they had complete responsibility for themselves, minus the negatives of adult pony life. Shining Armour was keen to give the children a family feeling, his messages and socially oriented facilities an example of the way in which he hoped to build a 'regiment' of not just disciplined, but happy individuals. Ponies all around the academy would be returning to sleep if it was not for the sweet smell of cooking coming from the school's canteen. Instead of laziness, students congregated in the showers and outside the toilets. Colts grouped with other colts and fillies with fillies as they joined together outside their accommodations, only the braver of the ponies attempting to join packs of the opposite gender. Some of these young ponies with the confidence to mix included Haze and Thunder who met with Masquerade and Stargaze at the canteen entrance, all four of them also being the first students outside. “I am starving.” Masquerade Mist broke the comfortable silence with an accompanying belly-rumble. “Me too.” Stargaze agreed with the complaining colt, touching his own centre with a hoof. “I think you'll live.” The formerly homeless pony awkwardly laughed at the clueless recruits, adjusting her mane as to not appear bothered. “I wish they'd hurry up.” A monotone Thunder added to the negativity. “Stand back fillies, you're in my spot.” Shining armour, from nowhere appeared next to the four students, three of whom immediately retreated. The last filly, Haze Etcher stood her ground, giving the captain a hard glare. “I thought you would be with Cadence.” Haze called out her 'teacher'. “She's not getting here until next week.” The academy leader foresaw his effort to 'cut in' on Haze as futile and took the space separating Haze from her friends. Shining could have just walked in, but wanted to be around somepony he actually knew. After the conclusion of a delicious breakfast comprised of stacks of waffles and fruit salads, ponies went their separate ways. Thunder Dasher took to the basketball court along with a herds-worth of pegasi, Stargaze left for the Dawn company lounge, Masquerade searched for a drum-kit within the music rooms and Haze followed Shining Armour to the 'Officer's Club.' Companies were sticking together and wandering the Academy grounds, avoiding their competitors and talking to ponies without prior introduction just because they were in the same 'team'. The day was blessed with warm and sunny weather, a rarity in the Everfree unless directly tampered with. In the barren rolling hills and forests, birds could be heard chirping and wild animals were easily seen grazing in the shorter grass. Shining’s academy was fortunately in a safe area, requiring no fencing or any over the top protection from the Everfree horrors. If a student wanted to, on a sunday, they could easily just take a long walk. There was simply no better place to build the academy.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Stargaze spirit contently leaned against the back wall of the Sun company lounge, contemplating the worst that could come out of his stay at the military academy. Stargaze thought of possible conspiracies and injuries, of tasks he may have to carry out and of the teachers he hadn't met yet. The wall he rested on was growing uncomfortable and his body becoming squeamish from the other ponies watching him. “Stargate is it?” A white filly, standing on her own by the pool table spoke out. “Stargaze.” The colt answered flatly, still in a personal trance. “Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you.” Recoiling, the blank flank with a pool cue backed away. “No, I'm sorry, I was rude. What was your name again?” Stargaze Spirit returned to reality, trying to dispel any anxiety over talking to the the fairer sex. “Um, we haven't met. I'm Zephyr Waker. I just wanted to thank you for , you know, for the game.” Zephyr the pegasus filly blushed slightly. “It's nothing.” Stargaze kicked himself for the cliché. “Zephyr is a nice name, I've never heard it before, what does it mean?” The colt stood still, trying not to stare at the pegasus' perfectly formed wings. “Gentle breeze.” Zephyr reddened as if embarrassed. “That's pretty cool, a name within a name. Did you want to play?” Stargaze noticed that the filly was playing by herself. “Yes.” Watched by the gender spit groups, Stargaze Spirit and Zephyr Waker played the game, learning about each other and improving their skills. Although Stargaze never won a game, not even close, he felt he was winning a new friend. Zephyr even gave the colt advice on what and what not to say to a filly, this resulted in many an awkward moment, a laugh, and a few missed shots. The game carried on until Zephyr took pity on the poorly performing Earth pony and subsequently took a dive. Stargaze saw the deliberate attempt at failure and called the match off, offering the filly a drink at the bar, as per Zephyr's 'courting' advice. Being children, the bar, or EMALS (Equestrian Magical, Aeronautical, and Land Services) served no alcohol, instead providing snacks and soft beverages. Being the gentlecolt, Stargaze put both the ponies' bill on his allowance, which for a relatively wealthy family, was quite a lot. Zephyr was thankful for the kindness, and not completely oblivious of the young stallion's interest. The filly however, was not disinterested, actually far from it, edging closer to him as the time passed. Stargaze's parents worked as fine paediatricians in the richer inner city area of Trottingham, their salary mostly being pumped into Stargaze's private education. By no means was the Earth pony spoiled, he had to work for his keep and prove himself constantly. Star was also the only Earth pony in his close family, causing a barrier with his mostly Unicorn relatives. When the letter came that invited Stargaze Spirit to Shining Armour's military academy, the family held a feast in celebration, inviting friends and family to congratulate the colt on his 'prestigious acceptance into the finest academy Equestria has ever seen.' The fact that it was free was also something to rejoice about. Following the short hours of pleasant interaction, Zephyr and Stargaze parted ways, promising to meet again. Stargaze joined with the colts and Zephyr Waker left for her dormitory. Unsurprisingly, the young Stallions had some questions for the 'first time lucky' recruit. “So...How d'ya think ya fillyfriend from yesterday's gunna feel?” A young pony with a southern accent stepped forward, displaying hostility. “Feel about what?” Stargaze innocently looked away. “You heard.” The colt advanced. “Ok, firstly, I only know Haze from yesterday evening. Secondly, I don't have a fillyfriend.” “You were real close yesterday, everypony saw. Your new buddy might not take to kindly to being messed about.” The southern pony's winged friend backed up the argument. In the music room, Masquerade was happily becoming acquainted with the other musically inclined students. The dark Unicorn had already found the drum kit; A brand new monster of a set up, It was so big it needed multiple stools and surrounded him on all sides. A large drum even had to be screwed to a hinge so that there was an entry point to the kit. Across the soundproofed space, (which looked more like a sports hall) Ponies were playing guitars, practising woodwind and tuning orchestral equipment. In this facility, colts and fillies mixed together to share their abilities and create music from unlikely combinations of hugely different instruments. Within the open space, there were a few 'studios' towards the end of the room, filled with drum machines, turntables and keyboards. Masquerade once tried his hand at electronic music, it did not work out well. Drums had always been this colt's passion; the tribal sounds and sensations of beating something and producing a beautiful noise captivated him. Rock music, Pony-metal, even folk were Masquerade's specialities. Holding down a fast paced double kick as well as playing slow, technical beats with perfect precision was what he was good at. “Drummer eh?” A full grown mare with an electric mane and a white coat approached the soloing Masquerade. “Yeah. This kit is awesome. Never seen anything like it.” The recruit paused his session. “Look, I’ll get to the point. We need a drummer, my students need inspiration.” Obviously irritated, the mare skipped the normal conversational cues. “Your students? Electronic right?” Masquerade eyed over to the ponies' cutie-mark, recognising the mare as the famous DJ he never really got into. “Yeah. You don't seem as excited as the others.” The teacher frowned, losing some enthusiasm. “I don't do your style. Sorry.” The colt tried not to sound overly condescending, but most of his true meaning filtered through his lips. “Got something against me?” Suffering from a punch in the ego, Vinyl Scratch placed her for- hooves against Masquerade's drum kit, standing upright. “No, I just find electronic, a little boring. I hate to just stand still and press buttons in hope that what comes out of a speaker is anything more than unintelligible and repetitive noise.” Masquerade challenged his elder, not exactly the right thing to do in a Military academy. “BUTTON PRESSING? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” Enraged, the DJ's face turned a bright red. “Vinyl Scratch, Queen of the button pressers.” Quietly laughing to himself, Masquerade gave a light hearted insult to the deadly serious mare. “HOW DARE YOU! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY.” That was it, Vinyl was furious with the insolent young recruit. “At least drummers have the upper body strength to do twenty push ups.” Masquerade dropped to the floor and began his 'punishment'. “THIRTY!” “Whatever you say.” The drummer saw this as just another warm-up, he should have thanked the mare. Masquerade quickly and easily finished his punishment, returning to his drumming and watching as the still angry mare stormed off. With his joints loosened, he found the faster rhythms much easier to perform. In a way, the bad-tempered DJ had helped Masquerade, causing him to question himself on why he did not do push ups before every practice.
