“What?” I had just dropped back to the earth.

“Like I said Silver. They’re going to make me join their corps as a soldier here in a few months. There’s nothing I can do about that.” Rose hung her head.

I stood there staring at Rose. This was big. Bad things had started happening recently and now she was getting drafted. “What the buck is wrong with them?”

“I’ve had all the training necessary. Besides I need to start pulling my weight around here. I’ve gotten a free ride for years. Not to mention a proper schooling that everypony gets. Now they’ve called upon me to do my duty. I can’t say no to that.” Rose put a hoof onto my shoulder.

I put a wing over her. “I know you can’t say no to that, but I’m not letting you fight alone. It’s time for me to take this shit seriously.” My wing retracted to it’s spot.

“What do you mean?” Rose kept pace as I trotted towards our house.

“I mean I’m going to start doing what they trained me to do. I’m going to be a soldier so I can protect you.” I slammed the door open. “Now where did I leave it?”

“Leave what Silver?” Rose closed the door behind us.

“The suit of combat armor I was given. I don’t usually wear it, but if I’m to fight in their ranks I need it.” I swung open a closet door.

There it was. That tan colored suit they wore for desert operations. “I still prefer stealth to this stuff but it will suffice I suppose.”

“You don’t have to fight to protect me. I know how to protect myself.” Rose pouted at me.

I let one tear escape my left eye. “I’m fighting because I have an obligation to. They trained me to be a soldier. Now you’re going to become a warrior for them and I’m not leaving you alone to do that.”

Rose put a hoof on my flank. “Silver I know you don’t want to do this. You’re not a killer.”

I lifted the armor out of it’s place. “I may not be a natural born killer, but at heart I’ve always had the potential to kill. I’ve seen what I can accomplish under the right circumstances. I’m not letting you go to war alone. That’s final.”

Derpy trotted in behind us. “Courageous words Silver. A damn fine speech if I’ve ever heard one. Now if you’re serious about this you’re going to be put under much more stress.”

I slipped into the suit. It wasn’t all that bulky and consisted mostly of a bullet proof battle saddle. “Like I said, I’m not letting them take Rose to war without me. I’ll do what it takes.”

Derpy nodded at me. “In that case I’ll see if I can get you into a leadership position.”

Rose looked aghast at Derpy. “No. We’re not putting him into that position.”

Derpy held up a hoof. “I know what you’re thinking and no. I’ve got my own obligations and we’ve got a squadron without a leader. Silver will be taking charge.”

I stepped forward to meet Derpy. “I’ll do it.”

“Well then. You’ve just been promoted. Sergeant.” Derpy held out a hoof.

I put my own up and we shook hooves. “Understood General.”

“Alright. Private Second Class Amethyst Rose. You are now on the squad under direct call of Silver. When the time comes you two will be deployed. Now I’ll leave to go get Silver his new uniform.” Derpy trotted out the door with an easy stroll.

“Silver. You didn’t have to do that.” Rose wrapped her hooves around me.

I relaxed. “Yes I did. I have friends here that need me to do what I can. And above all else I’ve got to make sure you make it out of this. Nopony will lay a hoof on you if I have something to say about it.”

Rose didn’t let me go. “I love you.”

I bent my neck around hers. “I love you.”

“Is that really what I’m going to have to wear?” Rose brought her head away from me.

I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. It’s been awhile since they gave me this. They might have different armor now. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Derpy gets back.”

The door opened up. “Speak of the devil.”

Derpy carried over a similar uniform to the one I wore. “Standard issue to our sergeants. It’ll protect you from bullets, grenades, and a myriad of other weapons. Don’t push it too much.”

I shed the old uniform. “Why’s the color so different?”

“You’re a higher rank now. Besides I thought a gray might fit you more.” Derpy tossed Rose a different suit. “Silver do you want to train with guns?”

I shook my head. “I’ll stick to what I know. If I need to use a gun I’ll be able to use it.”

“Cocky attitude will get you killed. But I was the same way when I first went to your wasteland world. Thought I could slip by without killing.” Derpy hung her head. “That’s not the way it works.”

“We weren’t born to be killers. The world just demands we do what we must to protect those we love. If that’s the case, I think it’s a damn honorable one to kill for.” I put one hoof on Derpy.

Derpy brought her eyes to meet mine. “Fine words. It’s the most valiant cause I’ve heard of.”

The door was open but nopony walked in. “Who’s there?”

“Silver I’d like you to join me in my office for a few seconds.” Crimson Skull was standing outside the door.

I trotted out to meet him. “What do you need?”

“I need to ask you one question, and I need an honest response.” Red Skull glared at me.

I nodded.

“If it came down to it would you lay down your life for your squad?” He awaited my response.

I nodded. “If it came down to it, I would lay my life down a million times if it meant my friends were safe.”

Skull nodded. “Good. Then you are fit to lead a squadron in to battle. I trust you to lead them forward into battle.”

“No harm will come upon them. If it does I’ll personally kill the bastard who thought he could hurt my friends.” I flared my wings.

“A fine soldier. Sergeant Thunder.” Skull saluted me.

I returned his salute. “Thank you.”

“As you know the war has been picking up recently and if we are to win we’ll need to destroy the enemy before they can strike any lethal blows.” Skull put his hoof on the ground.

“Send us out there and we’ll return one group of enemies fewer.” I stood tall and proud.

“That’s what I like to hear. But you won’t be deployed for a few more months, probably.” Skull tossed me a pack of papers.

I opened and started reading. “We’re going after a high security complex?”

Skull nodded. “We’ve got no other squad more equipped for the job. Your squad has two stallions trained and clad in power armor. Finest equipment we’ve got in our arsenal. I’m trusting you not to buck this up.”

I closed the folder. “Understood Sir.”

“Prepare everything before you leave. Once you go there’s no turning back.” Skull saluted and trotted off.

Rose pushed me. “This is insane. But I love you for it.” She kissed me.

“I love you too. I couldn’t stand by knowing you were going to war.” I dragged Rose into a hug.

“I know. Go see your Rose in the wasteland. She’ll need to know what’s going to happen.” Rose kissed my cheek.

“Derpy!” I waited for her to come running.

“Yeah I heard. Come on I’ll bring you back home.” Derpy poked her head out of the door.

I let go of Rose. “I’ll be back soon.”

The door was wide open calling me home. Derpy waved me over. I trotted through the door.

Derpy pulled me into the pocket world. “You’re pretty ballsy Silver. Most don’t take on a role like that if they don’t have to. You’re going to be leading not only your squad but around half of our soldiers into battle.”

I nodded my head processing this. “I couldn’t let Rose do this by herself. If anything happened to her I don’t know what I’d do. I’m not ready to lose her.”

Derpy put a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s not her time. I’ll be watching your back when it’s time to fight. For now go tell Rose about this.”

“Oh shit!!! She’s gonna be pissed at me.” I looked cautiously at the door to home.

“No fucking duh!? Of course she’s going to be pissed. You just turned 16, you shouldn’t be doing this.” Derpy shook her head. “Listen I know it’s too late to change anything, but think more before you make decisions alright. You’ve got too much potential to go and die this young.”

I lowered my eyes to the floor. “I should have thought it through more, but I couldn’t just sit idly by and do nothing. The mare of my dreams was getting pulled into a war. Who was I to say no. I should be the one risking my life not her.”

Derpy smacked me across the face. “Shut the fuck up. We’ll discuss this in detail later. For now.” She shoved me through the door.

I was standing face to face with Rose. “Hi mom.”

Her smile was as bright as ever.

Even in my current state of nervousness I couldn’t help but smile back. “I have some bad news from the other world.”

Rose looked at me with worry in her eyes. She nodded her head for me to go on.

“Amethyst got called upon to go fight a war.” I waited. “And I… I…”

Rose put a hoof on my shoulder. Her eyes begged me to tell her what was wrong.

“I volunteered so she wouldn’t fight alone. Now I’m going to be leading an army into battle.” The weight rolled off my shoulders, but I was still scared of what Rose might think.

Rose stopped to stare at me for a few seconds. Her eyes evaluating if I was serious about this. After coming to the conclusion I wasn’t joking her face went stiff and cold.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything else. I couldn’t let her go alone. I love her.” I looked away from Rose. “I’m sorry.”

Rose pulled my head up so she could look into my eyes. She looked deep into my eyes trying to convey her messages of sorrow, anger, and understanding.

“I know I should have thought about this world and you more before I made such a reckless decision. I promise you I’ll come back in one piece.” I kept my eyes firmly held in place.

Rose nodded and went to work writing a note.

I sat down waiting scared of what she might have to say. I felt horrible having made these rash decisions without ever thinking about my adoptive mother. What type of bucking moron was I?

Rose placed the note face down in front of me and trotted away.

“Silver I know what you’re feeling. I too used to make stupid decisions for the one I loved. I never thought about what this might bring about. In the end it doesn’t matter what I think of your decision. You’re a stallion now and as much as I’d like to hold your hoof and continue to teach you about this world. I can’t. I’ve taught you everything you need to know to survive. I’ve outlived my usefulness.” I couldn’t keep reading.

I hurled myself towards where Rose was sitting. “No. You’ll always have use. You’ve taught me so much but I still have more to learn. Please don’t leave me.”

Rose dropped down to the floor putting a hoof over me. After a few seconds she began to hum that wonderful melody from a time long gone. It was her way of saying she accepted my apology and wanted the best for me.

“I love you mom.” I laid a wing over her.

Rose kept humming that song.

I waited a full week before returning to Amethyst and the others.

“Welcome back Silver. I’ve got some bad news.” Ace was standing in the door to my house.

“What now?” I looked around for Amethyst.

“War just picked up. We’ve got no choice but to deploy all of our available squadrons. That means all of us here are getting shipped out. Go meet with Derpy she’ll take you to meet your squad.” Ace walked out the door.

“Son of a bitch. Fine. Let’s get this over with.” I trotted out the door.

Derpy was standing on the other side of the base with a small squadron of ponies.

I flew over inspecting my squad as I went. “Afternoon.”

All the soldiers jumped to their hooves and saluted. “Sir.”

“At ease. Welcome back Silver. This is your new squadron.” Derpy waved a hoof at the group before me.

“I had a feeling. Sound off.” I stood tall.

They went down the line. “Private Second Class Amethyst Rose.”

“Private First Class Comet Wing.” A white pegasus with yellow mane and tail.

The next was a stallion in power armor. “Specialist Steamroller.”

“Tell me about your weapons Specialist.” I looked to his battle saddle.

“Twin laser gatling guns Sir. Along with capabilities for a rocket launcher.” The stallion stood a good half a foot taller than me.

“Heavy weapons specialist.” Derpy was sitting waiting.

“And what about you soldier?” I moved down to the next power armor clad soldier.

“Specialist Balefire at your service sir.” This stallion stood just about at eye level.

“Demolitions expert?” I eyed him over.

“Yes sir.” Balefire stomped a hoof onto the ground.

I stepped in front of the last pony on my squad. “And you?”

The unicorn mare gave me a glance. “I ain’t got a name. You can refer to me as Freedom.” She was an off shade of blue.

“And why is that?” I inspected the tattered armor she wore.

“Because I make freedom ring.” The mare pulled out a sniper rifle.

“Sir if I may.” Comet took a step forward.

“Proceed.” I glanced back at him.

“Freedom is our one mare sniper crew. A damn fine shot with a fifty caliber rifle to back it up.” Comet stepped backwards.

“What he said.” She pulled the rifle in close.

“I’d like to see this. Derpy do we have a place for this mare to show me her skills?” I turned around.

“We’ve got a firing range on base. Doubt she’ll find any enjoyment in that.” Derpy shrugged.

“Damn right I won’t. I could hit any of those targets with my eyes shut. Buck, I could piss farther than that.” This mare had a way of getting on my good side.

“Alright. I’m Silver and I will be leading you into battle.” I saluted the entire squad. “Is that understood?”

“Sir yes Sir.” They all saluted back.

“Alright then let’s get a move on.” I put my hooves back on the floor.

“Not so fast shit for brains.” Spitfire landed behind me.

“Well buck you too.” I spun around just in time to catch a hoof to the face.

“You’re under my lead. I’ll be calling the shots.” Spitfire poked my chest.

“What bucking rank is she?” Rose was behind me.

“Sergeant first class. She outranks Silver.” Derpy trotted past.

“Hello General. How have things been?” Spitfire stood at ease.

“Might I remind you I outrank your ass. At attention or I will pound you into the ground!” Derpy spun around slamming a hoof into Spitfire.

Spitfire hit the ground but shot right back up. “Yes General.”

“Better. Now then, Silver will not be under your control. His squad is operating under a special mission and thusly will have little to do with you after hooves are on the ground. Now get the buck out of my sight before I kick your ass!” Derpy spat in Spitfire’s face.

“Yes General.” Spitfire flew off into the distance.

I stood at attention not saying anything.

“At ease Sergeant Thunder. I have a soft spot for you but don’t let that keep you from respecting those who outrank you.” Derpy trotted over to me.

“Thank you General.” I relaxed a little.

“The carriers will be leaving in less than an hour's time. Get your asses on board and don’t come back until you’ve sent the boars to tartarus.” Derpy saluted.

I returned her salute. “Yes General.”

Derpy flew off leaving me with my squad.

“You heard the general. Get a move on. We’ve got a war to win.” I turned back to my squad.

“Sir yes Sir.” They trotted off to the carriers.

“Buck. Alright I can do this.” I had my doubts but I still trotted behind my squad.