"Is this it?"

"I don't know Dad. This is my first time here too, ya know."

"Well, ya think the Guard would give better directions as to where to go."

"My orders do say Alpha Company and, even though this isn't Building 1002, this is Alpha," explained Wired Desert as his dad, his uncle, and him looked upon an old barracks. It was obviously past it's expiration date with moss growing on the walls and cracks in it's structure. Wired watched as a bird flew out of a hole in the wall. Wonderful. Two and a half months of basic and living in tents and now he's in some run down barracks. At the same time, a barracks was better than a tent. Any day.

While he couldn't see all of it, Wired noted that the building appeared to take the shape of a capital 'I' with grass and trees growing in the small 'courtyard' while an asphalt parade ground was set up in front of it. Numerous ponies milled about the front of the building, varying in every aspect. Age, color, accent, height, gender, you name it, there was one present. The one similar aspect of them all were the green uniforms with gold trim that they all wore. The uniform of Their Guard. Though, Wired noticed that they also wore blue reflective belts across their chests.

Adjusting the strap of his duffel, Wired turned to his dad and uncle. His dad, Sentry Desert, was a retired Air Guard member. While he wasn't a pegasus, he served his time doing logistics work. Now he was a Sheriff back in the half-cloud, half-solid city of Cloudcroft. The place was a ghetto located on the edge of the Badlands, which is one reason why Wired joined the Guard; to leave.

His uncle, Valiant Light, was his dad's twin and a member of Fillydelphia's more tactical police force. Before going to Fillydelphia, he had served his own time in the Royal Navy. While Wired didn't know the specifics, he was sure that it wasn't anything exciting since he never talked about. He also didn't have any kids, even though he was about forty.

"We just saw each other and now we have to leave again," Sentry joked, obviously trying to hold back the tears he wanted to shed.

Wired laughed at that as he pulled his dad into a hug, "I'll see ya in six months, dad."

"I'll miss you," his dad replied.

"I'll miss you too."

Giving a similar good-bye to his uncle, Wired waited for them to get about fifty meters away before turning back to the barracks. Breathing a heavy sigh, he reached up to feel the identification tags hanging from his neck. This is what he signed up for; this is what he wanted to do. With this new resolve, he adjusted the strap of his duffel and began his walk into the company area. Almost immediately came the calls:

"New guy!"

"Fresh meat!"

"Welcome to the Alpha shaft!"

Gulping, Wired maintained his discipline as he reached the front door. To the left of the door was stack of duffels similar to his own. Just like his, these also had a pony's last name stenciled on with marker.

"New guy?"

Wired looked at who asked to see a more... heavy set looking stallion looking at him. By his mannerisms, Wired deduced that he was being overwhelmed but seemed used to it. His coat was a brown that matched his eyes and mane. Other ponies continued to push past them, the 'new guy' comments dying down but never ceasing.

"Yeah," Wired replied. He looked at the stallion's nametape. 'Shield' was his last name. In the Guard though, your last name was your first name.

"Alright," Shield began, "set your bag next to the others, grab you folder with your orders, and then I'll take you to the cafe. Welcome to the Alpha Gators."

Wired nodded and used his magic to take his duffel off his back and set it next to the others, removing the requested folder as he did. He then followed Shield into the building, removing his cover as he did, and into a hallway. Shield identified it as the command hallway where the Sergeants', Commander's, and First Sergeant's offices were.

Reaching the cafe, the two went inside. Wired judged that this part of the building jutted out from the back of the 'I'. A wall separated them from the main room. Going down a flight of stairs, the two walked around the wall. On one side of the room were a couple tables set up classroom style with couches placed behind them. A handful of other ponies were sitting behind the tables, folders like Wired's on said tables. Wired assumed it was safe to say that these were other new guys.

"Have a seat next to Builder over there," Shield commanded, pointing to an empty spot next to a buff looking earth stallion near the back. Wired nodded and made his way to the seat. Sitting down, he was surprised when the couch tried to swallow him alive. He was so surprised that he almost squeaked. Composing himself, he set his folder onto the table before turning to Builder.

Builder was a white earth pony with a red mane and tail. His eyes were a strange orange as well.

"Sup," Builder said, looking over at Wired. Wired was a unicorn with a tan coat and brown mane. His eyes were much like a felines in that they were little slits. The iris was a light, light blue. His eyes was a genetic trait of many of the ponies born in and around the Badlands as many out there became nocturnal due to the blistering heat during the day.

"Sup," Wired replied, "What's your GOS?"

GOS meant 'Guard Occupational Specialty'. It was basically the job that you signed up to do.

"Fifteen Yankee, you?"

"Same!" Wired replied with excitement at having found somepony with the same GOS. There were none in his Basic Training company.

"Sweet man!" Builder responded with about the same excitement as he raised a hoof. Wired pounded the hoof before the voice of Shield broke through their, and every other new ponys', conversations.

"Alright, listen up. I want to to go to bed, as I'm sure you do," all of the new ponies nodded in response, "Sadly, we got a buck ton of paperwork to get through first. So, the quieter you are, the faster we get through this. The faster we get through this, the faster we get to sleep. Hoo-ah?"

"Hoo-ah!" shouted the assembled new guys. While Wired shouted with the rest, he mentally groaned. He hated the paperwork process of the Guard. It was so complicated and, at times, unneeded. That and sleep sounded really good right about now. Hopefully it'd be over fast.

"Right, well, I need all of you to pass your orders up here so that I can get copies made. You'll end up having about twenty copies."

Buck Next Chapter: SHARP? Estimated time remaining: 6 Minutes