Celestia's sun was coming up over the horizon as Luna lowered the moon. In the early morning mist at Fort Hoovler training grounds, a new squad of soldiers prepared to graduate.

"MACINTOSH WHAT'S THE SIGN FOR 'TAKE COVER'"? Skullcrusher yelled. He was giving the recruits a last minute quiz on everything they had learned.

"SIR THIS RECRUIT DOES NOT REMEMBER SIR"! Macintosh replied.

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN ME! DIDN'T YOU LEARN ANYTHING THE PAST 12 WEEKS?" Skullcrusher yelled. "DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME FIFTY!"

"SIR FIFTY OF WHAT?" Macintosh asked.

"EVERYTHING! THAN GET YOUR BUTT TO THE SHOWERS AND RE DRESS!" Skullcrusher yelled. Macintosh did his punishment and showered once again before putting on his uniform and walked back into formation.

"Now what is the sign for 'take cover'?" Skullcrusher asked once more as Macintosh gave him the correct sign.

"Excellent, you fillies have twenty minutes till graduation so sit tight" Skullcrusher ordered.

"SIR YES SIR!" The ponies replied as they anxiously waited to graduate.

XXXXX

"Wake up Applejack!" Applebloom said as she nudged her sister in an attempt to wake her up.

"Huh whaz goin on?" Applejack asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"We're here." Applebloom explained as Applejack looked to see everypony else was up and ready. Even Rarity had already finished her two hour morning prep time.

"Uh oh!" Applejack said as he quickly grabbed her hat and ate an apple for breakfast and headed out with her friends and sister along with the dozens of other ponies coming to see their family members graduate.

"I hope we can find a good seat." Sweetie Belle said noticing how big the crowd was. She stayed close to Rarity knowing she could easily get lost.

"Fluttershy let's fly ahead and find some seats." Rainbow said as she took off.

"Ok" Fluttershy responded silently as the two pegasi took off. Rainbow and Fluttershy found seats for themselves and their friends. The ponies all sat down as a trumpet played the Equestrian Marines Anthem. The crowd began cheering as the four platoons of Marines came out from the building.

"THERE HE IS!" Scootaloo shouted as she pointed to where Macintosh was.

"BIG MAC! OVER HERE!" Applebloom shouted as Macintosh and his squad walked in formation. Macintosh wore a serious expression on his face in place of his trademark bored face which the mane six found rather comical.

"PLATOON! HALT!" Skullcrusher yelled as the Marines came to a stop. "LEFT FACE!" Skullcrusher yelled again as the Marines turned to their left to face the crowd.

"STAND AT EASE!" Skullcrusher ordered as the Marines stood completely still.

"He looks so serious now" Fluttershy whispered to Applejack.

"Ah know, it's weird not seein that bored face of his." Applejack said pointing out Macintosh's eyes which were now completely open with a serious look on his face.

"Mares and gentlecolts, I welcome you to Fort Hoovler and this mornings graduation ceremony. I would like to take the next few moments and talk to you about these young Marines standing before you today. Twelve weeks ago, they arrived scared, confused, undisciplined, yet eager to start recruit training." Fort Hoovler's commanding officer Colonel Stronghoof said.

"Ah hope ah made y'all proud ma and pa." Big Macintosh thought to himself.

"Understand the pride and honor of our Corps rest squarely and surely upon your shoulders. Serve proudly and with distinction you are our future. Mares and Gentlecolts, I proudly present to you Equestria's newest and finest Marines." Stronghoof concluded as the the ponies in the stands went wild cheering for the recruits.

"PLATOON DISMISSED!" Skullcrusher shouted.

"AYE AYE SERGEANT! HA-OOH!" The new Marines shouted as they about faced. At last it was finished, twelve weeks of toil and hard work. They were now Marines.

"WE DID IT!" Redwood screamed as he and Macintosh gathered for a group hug.

"LET'S WHOOP SOME GRIFFON BUTT!" Another pony said. The crowd was now coming on to the field to meet the new Marines.

"BIG MAC!" Applebloom shouted as she ran up to her brother and jumped on him followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"AH MISSED YOU BIG BROTHER!" Applebloom cried.

"Ah missed you to Applebloom." Big Mac said as he pulled out his necklace. "Still got your part?"

"You bet ah do!" Applebloom said as she pulled out her necklace.

"Big Mac ah'm so proud of ya!" Applejack said as she hugged her brother.

"We all are" Twilight said while eyeing the stallion up and down. Macintosh was known for his strength but now he was even more massive. His mane and coat were all clean to the point where it rivaled Rarity's. He was in his uniform also and he noticed a lot of mares looking at him with a dreamy look on their face.

"MACINTOSH!" Skullcrusher yelled.

"SIR YES SIR!" Big Mac yelled as he immediately stood at attention.

"At ease private" Skullcrusher said. Applebloom and Applejack looked at Skullcrusher with a feeling of disdain.

"So that's who was giving Big Mac a hard time. Ah outta show him a thing or two!" Applejack thought to herself.

"This your family private?" Skullcrusher asked.

"Sir yes sir!" Macintosh replied. "These are mah sisters Applebloom and Applejack."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet the sisters of the best stallion I've ever trained." Skullcrusher said much to Macintosh's shock. "I gave your brother quite a hard time during training."

"You have no idea." Macintosh thought to himself recalling the hell he went through.

"I'll have you know I've never trained a more dedicated and tough pony than your brother, you should be very proud of him cause I am! I expect you to impress us all on the battlefield." Skullcrusher said.

"SIR AH WILL SIR!" Macintosh replied.

"Excellent! Ha-ooh!" Skullcrusher said.

"HA-OOH!" Macintosh replied as Skullcrusher walked away. Skullcrusher noticed the look his elder sister gave him, he also noticed her deep green eyes. He soon dismissed that thought when he figured Applejack had to still at least five years younger than him.

"He seemed like such gentlecolt." Rarity complimented.

"You should meet him durin training" Macintosh pointed out. Whenever somepony failed to obey an order, the wrath the Skullcrusher unleashed was like facing the entire griffon army.

"Yo Big Mac you gonna introduce me or what?" Redwood Oak said walking over to Macintosh and the others. The mares all immediately took notice of Redwood and found him to be extremely handsome.

"Everypony, this is mah friend Redwood Oak" Big Mac said. "This is mah sister Applejack and Applebloom and their friends, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike"

"Pleasure." Redwood said as he shook the mares hooves causing them all to blush. "Hey Mac, wasn't Princess Luna supposed to meet you here?"

"And we shall." A royal voice belonging to the princess of the night replied. All the ponies bowed down in the presence of the queen of the night..

"Big Macintosh, are we still having dinner with my sister tonight?" Luna asked.

"Yes your highness!" Macintosh replied. Luna noticed the effects discipline had on him as he was barely able to talk to her earlier because he was so nervous and now he was able to make direct eye contact and speak with force.

"Excellent! We shall send a carriage for you after my sister sets the sun!" Luna proclaimed as she gave Macintosh a quick wink and chuckle.

"S-s-she j-j-just winked at me!" Big Mac said shocked.

"Woah check it out, Princess Luna's got a thing for Big Mac" A group of new Marines said as they watched the whole thing. Macintosh's eyes had gone back to their half-closed position as he became lovestruck.

"Come on loverboy, we gotta get you ready for tonight." Applejack said. The mares and Macintosh decided to stay at the nearby hotel since Macintosh had to be at Canterlot in six hours and Fort Hoovler was only half a mile from the Royal City. Rainbow was flying outside when she saw Applejack sitting on a balcony with a sad look on her face.

"Hey Applejack why the long face?"(See what I did thar? HAHAHA) Rainbow asked.

"Just worried bout Big Mac is all sugarcube." Applejack said. "Ah'm glad he's doin what he wants but now he has to go fight and he might... die."

"Cheer up Big Mac is tough, I'm sure he'll be fine." Rainbow said trying to comfort her friend. Rainbow wasn't the best pony when it came to cheering somepony up, that was Pinkie's specialty. By a twist of fate, Rainbow saw a happy pink pony hopping down the hallway.

"Hey girls! guess what? I JUST FOUND A CANDY MACHINE!" Pinkie said excitedly as she hopped up and down. Her playfulness and goofiness brought a smile to Applejack's face.

"Pinkie I could use some help cheering Applejack up." Rainbow whispered to Pinkie Pie.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said as she walked over to the sad cowpony. "What's wrong cowpony?"

"Have you seen what some of the soldiers look like after battle? Some of em are missing whole limbs! Ah don't wanna see Big Mac like that!" Applejack cried. Pinkie was actually stumped, she was good at cheering ponies up but this situation was entirely different. Pinkie went and hugged Applejack in an attempt to calm her down.

"Ah've already lost Braeburn!" Applejack sobbed.

"Hey I know it's hard but you should enjoy the time you have with him now, you should go help him get ready for his date tonight" Pinkie said.

"Ah guess yer right." Applejacks said.

"Besides if Luna likes him I'll bet she'll make sure he is out of harm's way." Rainbow said.

"Yer right, thanks y'all." Applejack said. "Now where is he?"

"Rarity and Twilight are teaching him how to talk to a princess and it isn't going so well." Pinkie said smiling. Macintosh was never known for his table manners as he often ate fast and sloppily.

"Oh this ah gotta see, come on girls." Applejack said as she tried to forget about her brother's possible fate and enjoy the time he was here.

XXXXXX

Luna returned to Canterlot where she heard General Silver Star discussing the outcomes of the war with her sister.

"We're holding out on the western front and there are five hundred new Marines coming into the fourth brigade." Silver Star said pointing to a map.

"Do we have any intel on the whereabouts of Claws Von Griffon?" Celestia asked.

"I'm afraid not your highness, but the moment we find out we will send a C.O.L.T.S team to take him out" Silver Star answered.

"How many ponies passed training?" Celestia asked. She wasn't expecting a high number.

"Only three." Silver Star said.

"Only three? Out of two thousand possible candidates?!" Celestia though to herself. She wasn't expecting a high number but only three? That was absurd!

"But that's all we would need to take Von Griffen out" Silver Star explained. "We are pooling many resources into finding other candidates for C.O.L.T.S."

"Sister, I have returned." Luna proclaimed.

"Luna! Excuse me for one moment general." Celestia said as she went to her sister. "What's wrong?"

"Big Macintosh finished training today and he is coming to have dinner with us after you set the sun for the evening." Luna explained.

"Oh I completely forgot! Tell the chefs to get cooking and to set up the dining room." Celestia told her younger sister.

"I'm on it" Luna said as she ordered the chefs to prepare cooking. Luna went to find her dress she was going to wear, she wanted to look perfect for Macintosh. She felt like a little school-filly with a crush. This was the first time she was going to associate with a stallion that wasn't there for royal business s in over a thousand years.

"This night shall be perfect!" Luna said to herself as she began to groom herself.