Sunset escorted Twilight to the dining hall, Twilight received glares from most of them. One of them sitting with two others gestured for her to sit with them, the boy frowned “So you may be joining the program?”

Twilight smiled, “Maybe, I’m Twilight.”

The boy nodded “I’m John-117. Are sure you are up for this?”

Twilight paused, “I don’t know yet.”

The other boy who was taller than her crossed his arms “I don’t know why she is.”

The girl at the table raised an eyebrow “Sam, given part of the program is to find a replacement for the legendary Slayer. She is from a similar race to Sunset and might be the one to replace her for a time.”

Sam crossed his arms “Kelly, we’ll see if she is made of the same stuff as we are.”

John frowned, “If you want to be around us, you’ll have to train with us, eat with us and sleep in the same barracks as us. Prove to us you are part of the team.”

Twilight nodded “Okay, I’ll try.” The rest of the time at the table was silent.

Then a booming voice shook the room “Stand and march!” Everyone stood up, Twilight scrambled to her hooves. A strong looking man stood there observing the room, John-117 turned to Twilight. She joined them in their march, there were guards carrying batons crackling with electricity. Twilight marched out of step and they struck her with the batons he crumbled to the ground screaming “STOP!”.

The man who commanded them at the dining hall stormed over “GET UP! IF YOU WANT TO BE ONE OF US, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!” He dragged her to her feet and tossed her back in line. Twilight remained silent as she focused on the person in front of her, trying to match their march.

They marched to the barracks, the commanding man commanded “Light out in ten minutes!”

As Twilight got onto the spare bed, it was rough and hard. Twilight looked at John-117 “Who was that guy, he was cruel?”

John-117 shook his head “He is necessary, he puts us through the ringer so we will be ready for what happens next. It might just save our lives. His Drill Sergeant Franklin Mendez and he wants us to be the best we can be. He doesn’t like you because we have been selected and trained for years, you have been dropped out of the sky just to be allowed to be part of it doesn't sit right with him, I’m sure.”

Meanwhile Mendez marched into the room Sunset was standing in “I don’t understand why? She is soft, undisciplined and untrained.”

Sunset grimaced “She’s not who I would have wanted, I would have wanted a guard from back home. As untrained as they are compared with Earth’s military they would be at least conducive to training but the project is funded by the government and this was one of their demands, should another one from my home they will be inserted into the program. I gave her the choice because I could cover this up and work on getting her home.”

Mendez stood beside her “What do you want me to do?”

Sunset frowned “Put her through the same thing they are, if she can’t handle I will pull her out. If she continues then she will be integrated into the program fully.”

Mendez saluted her as he walked out, VEGA walked out “He is an interesting man?”

Sunset grinned “Yes, I have learned a lot about combat from him.”

The next day Twilight awoke with a bucket of water poured over her head “GET UP!” Mendez was standing over her, she stood up. Mendez commanded “MARCH!” Twilight and the trainees marched out to the dining area, after a quick breakfast they were forced to march a mile.

Mendez commanded them “This is another capture the flag mission! You know what to do!”

They all nodded save Twilight nodded as they headed for a nearby building, the 75 trainees plus Twilight entered the building. John-117 tossed her a tranq rifle and a combat knife “You will be with me, Kelly and Sam. Try to keep up.” John-117 then began explaining the plan to the others, before they moved out.

The 76 of them split up, John was leading Sam, Kelly and Twilight forward “Twilight, release the safety, a switch near the back and fire on the enemy should you see them. Pull that trigger when you do.” Twilight was barely able to keep up with the three in front of her.

Soon several enemies popped out and started firing at them, Twilight not taking cover took a shot to the shoulder. She screamed as blood started falling from the wound, John cursed “Damnit! Sam, fall back with her! Kelly and I will press on!”

Sam dragged her out of the way, patched up her arm. Twilight held her arm as she looked at Sam “Go, I’ll be fine. They need you up there.”

Sam nodded “Very well.” Sam left her laying there, she stood up holding her rifle in her other hand as she staggered away from the fighting. As she was trying to flee behind the lines, three enemies popped out, with her lacklustre aim she was able to clip one of them in the arm before another came up behind her knocking her out.

Twilight awoke in a cell only to see two enemies in the room with her, her arms and legs were bound. She cried out as her insides shook, she stared at the face of the soldier as he kept kicking her. She coughed out blood on the floor, she whimpered as the one of Soldiers laughed “It seems those freaks have a new mascot. We don’t have to pull any punches with this one.”

They pushed Twilight against the wall, her eyes widened as he pulled out a sharp combat knife. She begged, “Please don’t.” The soldier stabbed the knife into her gut, he then slowly began to twist as she screamed. Blood began oozing from the wound, Twilight collapsed to the ground as they dropped her. The Soldier pulled out his knife and then smirked as he crouched down. Twilight looked at him with tears in her eyes as she held her gut, she screamed as he stabbed her in the eye, half her vision going black. She grit her teeth as pain shot through her head, then her vision went completely dark with another bout of pain.

Twilight heard their laughter starting to fade away, she awoke on a bed in the medical wing but the world was still dark. She heard and felt Sunset’s voice rippling through reality with the booming voice of Mendez mixed in.

Twilight then felt a twinge of pain, she then had to block the harsh light before she realised she was in the medical room. Dr Halsey scowled “We had to do extensive surgery to repair your eyes, the damage was severe and those responsible are currently being punished.”

Sunset then entered “Twilight, are you sure you want to continue with this?”

Twilight looked at her stitches around her gut beans then at Sunset and Mendez “Yes, I’m not going to back down yet.”

Mendez growled “This will not happen again!” With that they left Twilight to her recovery.

Author's Note

I hope this chapter comes off the way I intended it.