It was the following Sunday, and Mac finally felt some relief. He could finally call back Granny and Applejack. The first thing he would do is tell them how sorry he was that he had neglected to call back the previous week.

Topnotch had definitely come down off his high horse. He no longer harassed the other cadets and kept more to himself than before. Macintosh almost felt sorry for him, and considered talking to him at some point. But, what was important at the moment was calling home and he still had a few weeks to help Topnotch get over himself. Reelin had been in the MIR for a few days while they treated the various injuries. It had only been one blow, but it had done a fair amount of damage. The doctors had had to mold him a few new teeth, as well as o a few x-rays to be sure that the jaw hadn't been fractured. Thankfully, it wasn't, and Reelin was told he could rejoin the rest of the squad very soon. All in all, the fight had only created a set back, and a much needed release of aggression between the two stallions.

Macintosh stood at the same payphone he had used one week ago and tossed the bits he had intended to use last time into the coin slot. He dialled the number and listened to the ringing. Once. Twice. Three times. Four... Five. Suddenly, he heard some movement on the other end.

“Hello.” Granny said.

“Hey, Granny, It's Big Mac!” Mac eagerly responded. “Boy am I-”

“I'm afraid we at Sweet Apple Acres aren't available at the moment. If you could leave a message with your name and number, it would be mighty appreciated.” The recorded message ended with a beep, signalling the answering machine was ready to record. Macintosh was disappointed to hear the recording, and a little embarrassed that he hadn't recognized the recording. Getting over his depression, he stated a message.

“Hey, Granny. It's Big Mac. Just thought I'd call because I had the day off. I'm really sorry I didn't get back to you guys last Sunday, and I'll try calling later today.” He then hung up the telephone and turned back to the barracks, allowing the few bits of change to fall idly into the coin return.

Big Mac walked back to the barracks and opened his footlocker. Inside, he had a calendar taped to the lid. He scraped off the current Sunday.

“Two down... Four to go...” He muttered to himself. He quickly shut the lid as Splintstitch and Marktime came into the barracks. He didn't want his friends to know that he had given in and started counting the days. He pretended that he had just taken his beret out of the locker and adjusted it on his head, hoping that his friends would not ask questions.

“Turns out Reelin will be getting out of MIR today.” Splintstitch announced.

“That's good news, when can we see him?” Mac responded, turning to his friend.

“Actually. About a half hour.” Marktime grinned. “He just needs to collect his things.”

“Are we gonna go see him?” Mac asked, closing the padlock on his barrack box.

“Why not.” Splintstitch shrugged.

The three of them went to find Biggs to tell him the good news about Reelin, and they all decided that they would go see their comrade as soon as he was out of MIR. It wasn't that far of a walk, so they decided to play a few hands of Euchre before walking over. Splintstitch dealt, and somehow managed to win two hands before Biggs decided to change things up.

“I'm not cheating, I'm just good at this game.” Splintstitch said innocently.

“Sure, let's see how good you are when someone else deals.” Biggs shook his head and took the cards.

Miraculously, Splintstitch managed to work some of his 'unicorn magic', or so he called it and won another hand. Biggs all but gave up after that. Regardless, it was time for them to head out and meet with Reelin. The cards were quickly packed up and the four stallions filed out of the barracks down the dusty road to the MIR.

Reelin was just stepping out of the front door when he saw his four friends coming up the road. He fixed his jacket and put his beret on as the door closed behind him. When the five met up, they made a special effort not to say anything about the fight or Reelin's teeth.

As they all chatted on the way back to the barracks, it was apparent that Reelin either wasn't used to his new teeth, or he was still under some of the effects of the anaesthetic because he had a bit of a lisp. None of them mentioned it though, and just accepted that it might be permanent.

As they were on the way back to the barracks, Macintosh caught sight of the payphones and excused himself from his friends to try another phone call home. He rummaged in his pocket for some change, and only found a couple of bits, just enough for a call. Throwing them into the coin slot, Mac dialled the familiar number once again and picked up the receiver to listen to the ringing. Once. Twice.

“Hello?” It was Applejack again.

“Hey there, short-stack.” Mac smiled more than he had all day making jokes with his friends.

“Big Mac!” Applejack sounded overjoyed. “How are you?”

“I'm just fine.” Mac nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it. “Hey. I hate to sound anti-social, but is Granny available?”

“Umm... Lemme check.” Applejack said, dropping the phone on the desk again. He really needed to tell her to stop doing that. The sounds of excited calling on the other end were unmistakable. Ages passed before the phone on the other end was jostled and raised to a mouth.

“Hello? Macintosh?” It was Granny, finally.

“Hey Granny, I am so glad I got a hold of you two. How have you been?” Mac felt relieved to finally get to say those words.

“Things over here are just fine. How's my big, strong Soldier boy?” Granny joked.

“I'm doing just fine over here.”

“They feeding you alright?”

“I can't complain.” Big Mac said, thinking about the rations that he had been eating for the last two weeks, and he was getting used to them.

“Any problems?”

“Well, none that I couldn't handle.”

“That's good to hear. Made any new friends?”

“Yes Granny. Why the third degree?”

“I just worry about you. I want to be sure that your doing all right.”

“Well, everything is just fine over here.”

They had a long chat-well, as long as they could on a couple of bits. Eventually, they had to say goodbye and Macintosh hung up the telephone. He felt satisfied that he had finally gotten a chance to talk to Granny. Mac decided to check the coin return out of habit, and found his bits from before still sitting there.

“I'll use them next Sunday.” Macintosh vowed as he dropped the few bits into his pocket and patted it to be sure they had all made it to their target. He walked back to the barracks contented and looking towards a bright future. Macintosh spent the rest of the night playing cards with his friends until lights-out was called, and slept well for the first time that week.

Author's Note

I thought this chapter would do well to tie up some loose ends. I hope I can get to righting some of the more action filled chapters soon. Until then, I hope that you won't hesitate to send me some feedback, provided it is kept polite and specific.
-Cog out.