Shining Armour's Military Academy

Chapter 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.