Another greentext I never finished, for whatever reason.

>The main hallway of the castle was drowned by a deafening silence
>The rising sun shined through the colorful murals of the windows
>And her partner was 2 minutes late
>Or maybe she had arrived 2 minutes too early?
>All seemed to indicate another day at work
>And each passing minute felt longer than the previous
>Soon she realized it's barely been 30 seconds, when suddenly, echoes of a loud galloping reached her ears
>Her partner rushed to her with such an urgency, you'd think she left the stove on inside Celestia's chamber
>Alas, she stops just a few hooves in front of you
>A new recruit, by the looks of it
>The young pegasus catches her breath, before promptly saluting the guard mare with her hoof
>''Lieutenant Cherry Blossom, re-reporting for duty''. She corrected her voice tone midway through her sentence, since it was too loud at first
>The veteran mare salutes back.
''Commander Lily Valley. You're late.''
>Cherry simply drops her eyes to the floor, in shame. However, Lily takes this distraction as an oportunity
>Using her unicorn magic, she raises Cherry's helmet and arranges her main with her hoof
''Head to your station and do as you're instructed''
>Cherry quickly gets on the opposing side of the door
>A quick posture fix, and now she is ready to face the opposing end of the hallway for the remainder of the day
>Half of which, had nothing remarkable to say
>The Princess left the room and headed the main Observation Tower, and Cherry almost passed out due to her nerves
>The moment she exited her POV, Lily grabbed a water canteen hidden in the plant pot beside her
''Drink''. She offered it to Cherry, who immediately grabbed it
>After drinking through it all, she returns it with excitement
''Listen, I understand how you feel. But don't panic, OK? Game's over if you panic, alright''
>''I know! It's just...'', Cherry's ears lower in embarrassment. ''It's a whole new world for me, I don't wanna mess it up again''
''And you wont, provided you do as I say''
>Both mares return their gaze to the main hallway
>A moment of silence is cut shortly
>''So when is she coming back?''
''Could be now...or in a couple of days.''
>Cherry's eyes dance around the room, considering her life choices that led her to this moment
>All of the sudden, the minutes start flying by faster than they should
>Occasional questions by Cherry, and occasional answers by Lily
>Eventually, the First Commander is seen approaching the hallway
>He dismisses them, sends in their replacements, and escorts them out of the hallway
>The royal dining table was unlike anything on the castle
>Wooden, rusty, some spots had dust prints whenever you landed your hooves on
>Everyone had a conversation subject
>Paychecks, budget cuts, family, two stallions even held a very loud chess match in the central table
>Everyone had a topic of discussion, except Lily and Cherry
>For Cherry, all of her friends were back home at Cloudsdale, she had no one to talk to
>For Lily, however, her friends were fewer than the colors of the rainbow
>Much of her time would be spend exercising, sleeping, or in this case, sitting on a chair while reading
>The other ponies were a little afraid to get on her nerves, as as such, they rarely approached her
>This time, Cherry noticed the book she was reading was a familiar one
>How To Talk To Your Cat About Poisonous Animals, and other controversial topics
>Having her dinner finished, Cherry took one gulp of her water and slowly made her way to Lily
>The other cadets and lieutenants pointed at her, placing bets on how much until she gets up and gets on her bunk bed
>''Do you have a cat, Commander?''
>Lily raised her gaze, and lowered her reading glasses. She stared at Cherry with an emotionless, expressionless face, apparently enough to intimidate the young pegasus
>Her ears quickly regained their positions when she overheard a couple of cadets laughing at her behind her back
>Without saying a word, she sat on the floor next to Lily, attempting to get a topic out of her
>By inconspicuously staring at her book, she found one
>''I've seen a Lionfish before. They look prettier than in drawings...and much bigger''
>Surprisingly, Lily's eyes target Cherry
''How big?''. As she asks this question, she raises her eyebrow
>''I uh, we saw one as big as a house on Horseshoe Bay. And a couple more flying through Rainbow Falls''
>Cherry checks if Lily is paying attention. She has not blinked nor broken eye contact even once, prompting her to continue
>''Well, nothing a thundercloud and a well placed fishing net can't fix, ey?''
>Lily blinks, and continues reading her book
''I agree''
>She flips the page over, revealing the next animal: Jellyfish
>How could a cat ever encounter one of these? Well, if they do, you gotta know what to do
''I've seen these glow in the night''
>The barracks where oddly quiet now. Lily took note of this, and shut the book close
''C'mon, it's getting late. We got more work to do, and I won't tolerate another late entry''
>She quickly gets up, enters her bunk bed, and hides under the sheets
>'''Okay...goodnight Commander''
>A young stallion overhears Cherry's wishes and can't help himself but wheeze while laughing
''Goodnight to you too, Blue Hurricane''
>The stallion's smile drops into a concerned glare, before turning away into his bed
>Good thing the food was light, or else, some poor bloke will wake up in the middle of the night with a strong stomach ache
>Cherry sets up her bed, and hops in just before the lights are turned off
>Early morning came quickly, it's arrival was announced by a nearby rooster's song
>Eyes widened rapidly, wings spread, and many blankets were thrown to the side
>An urgent Cherry stole the pace of everyone in the barracks, hurrying up
>She checks herself one last time before even considering trotting out
>Teeth, clean. Mane, properly adjusted. Uniform, clean and shiny.
>Now all that was left was to enter her station: the main hallway
>Much to her surprise, however, Lily was already guarding the left side of the entrance
>''Morning Commander!'', she happily said while saluting her superior
>All Lily returned was a cordial salute, and a quick glare at her appearance
>Cherry calmly entered her guard station
''Your shoes are missing''
>Cherry sighs, dissapointed in herself. ''Permission to go-''
''Make it quick. Don't run''
>With that order, Cherry rushed slowly out of the hallway
>And just a moment later, Princess Luna opened the door
>Lily instinctively raised her hoof to her forehead, but all the Princess was wondering is where the hell was her companion
>The Princess' dead stare at the station Cherry is supposed to be in spoke for itself
>Her face told a different story, rather than curiosity or anger, a small smile is what came of her
>She exchanged looks with Lily one last time, before walking away
>''OH MY GOSH!''. Cherry's surprised voice could be heard in the other hallway, it seems she has never been so close to a Princess before
>A small giggle echoed, before Cherry was seen once again entering the hallway
>Lily broke her guard and approached Cherry, prompting her to stop immediately
''Listen. I'm not your mom''. Cherry dropped her smile immediately as she said this. ''You're a-look at me!''. Cherry's eyes returned from the ground to meet Lily's. ''You're a Lieutenant, behave like one. You know your obligations, stick to them! Or you won't hear the end of me, understand?''
>Cherry nods rapidly. ''Sir yes sir!''
''Return to your station''
>Cherry did as instructed
>Lily stared at Cherry for one last time. Using her unicorn magic, she pulls a towel from her armor pockets
>Gently, she rubs it over Cherry's forehead, who hyperventilated just moments prior
>She returns her towel to herself, before returning to her station
>As so, main hallway of the castle was drowned by a deafening silence
>The rising sun shined through the colorful murals of the windows
>Another day at work
>First Commander became a familiar face over the last three days, considering he was always present to dismiss the pair of mares
>And so did the entrance to their barracks
>And so where the other cadets
>Manes became familiar and easily recognizable
>Groups of friends were easy to tell apart
>And those who stood out where those who were on their own
>Lily was once again, reading her book from where she left of
>Cherry was having dinner. Sugar free apple pie. Tasty?
>A familiar stallion joined her in the table
>''I'm Blue Hurricane, nice to meet you'', he cordially extends his hoof towards Cherry
>She returned the hoof shake with her right wing, due to her hooves holding the piece of pie she was eating
>''I was just curious, how come that Lionfish of yours grew so big?''
>Cherry swallows, and raised her hoof to indicate a pause. She gulped her tar of cold milk, and replied back
>''They're an invasive species. This one ate too much, so he grew like a whale!''
>''Oh...''. A brief moment of silence indicated the stallion had just ran out of ideas on how to talk to other mares
>Cherry noticed, so her next question changed the topic of discussion
>''Is she always like this?''
>He smiles, while nodding his head. ''You'll get used to it, don't worry. We all love Commander Lily, DONT WE FOLKS?!''
>All members of the barrack unanimously and loudly agree
''Love you too''. Lily's voice expressed, a bit monotonous
>''Just you wait until we're back on the action!''
>Cherry's eyes were widened upon hearing those words
>''A-action? What kind of action?''