Inside safe walls

Chapter 2: Changes

The banquet table in the Canterlot castle dining hall was filled with laughter and smiles.

Milon had brought with him a food type that for us humans are very familiar, pasta. but since the ponies are vegetarians they have never heard of such a thing.

As they happily ate the pasta, which had spices and some vegetables added to it, Milon explained how to make it and cook it.

"Well its a very simple kind of food to make. You see, first you put a pile of flour on your table, either a big or small pile, depending on how much you want to make, then you form the top of it so that it is like a small hole, you then you crack an egg and put it in the hole, maybe two eggs depending on how big your pile of flour is, and then you use a fork to mix it until until it becomes a dough, add some salt to it and knead it until it becomes dry. There you have the main pasta, but after that you can make it into these long pasta strings you are eating right now, or small curls, or any shape that you like."

Celestia and the ponies nodded and Rainbow dash asked. "But how do you cook it?"

"Ah, that's the fine part, first you let it dry for a few hours, or over night. Then you cook it for five minutes or so in boiling water, add whatever you want to it and you're done. And since there are so few ingredients and lots of it can be made at the same time and can be stored for almost any range of time, we use it in our army food storage when our armies are out in the field, which is perfect since the cook time is so quick" Milon took his glass of water and drank out of it, when he put it back down on the table he noticed that the pony named Applejack was looking at him with an intense stare."Is there something you want to say, miss Applejack?"

Applejack blinked and started to stutter a bit. "O-oh... W-well I... Uh... I was just thinking a bit, you see, you told us before that you had a story to tell about your family. And I would mighty happy to hear it now." Milon put his fork down, his plate clean and his hunger sated, he figured that it was about time to tell them a bit about his family.

"Ah, well I won't make you wait anymore milady." This comment made all the ponies smile or in Rainbow dash's case, smirk, and Applejack blushed slightly.

Milon cleared his throat and ran his hand through his short black hair.

"Five generations ago, Frederick the First, my ancestor, was outside his house taking a walk in the middle of the night, something depriving him of his sleep. As he walked around he was blinded by a bright light, the goddess of war, Calorossa had appeared before him with a message. I will grant your family courage and strength, your family will lead powerful armies which will defeat others which outnumber them by the thousands. I will grant you a tool that will grant you this strength and courage. But you have to swear an oath that you and those who are to become after you shall swear allegiance to my worship. He thought for a few moments and answered the goddess. I agree to take the oath. I, Frederick Damel swear an allegiance to you, Callorossa, that I and those who come after me in my bloodline is to worship you as our master goddess! A loud bang and even more bright light caused him to fall to the ground. For a few moments he was blind and it felt like his blood boiled in his veins, but slowly he regained sight and the pain disappeared. Once he could see again he noticed a blade stuck into the ground next to him. He stood up and drew the blade from the ground, it sang as he swung it through the air. It was a simple blade, no jewel decorations and so silver or gold linings. He had seen many swords and blades in his life but none could overcome this blade in beauty, and he was soon to discover that nothing could beat it in strength aswell. Frederick vowed to create a blade just as beautiful as this, but he never succeeded, and neither did his son or his grandsons or anyone of their sons, but we became master smiths over time. Myself and some smiths that I've trained have forged all the blades and armour that my Myrmidon forces are equipped with."

The story had captivated all the ponies and they listened, focused and interested. Twilight who, as always, was a pony interested in facts opened her mouth. "The blade sang? How do you mean sang? It wasn't alive was it? I mean, you said your goddess gave it to him but, a living and singing sword?"

Milon stood up and put his hand on his sword handle, looking at Celestia. "If I may, princess?" Celestia smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead, general." Milon backed a few steps away and slid his word out of its sheath, he lifted it and slowly swung it through the air and the group of friends could clearly hear a tone emanate from it, and this caused them all to gasp.

"Oh wow. That's amazing. Holy guacamole. That's something else. Oh my. That's a neat party trick! whoa nelly!" Could be heard from the ponies and Milon bowed with a smile on his face and slid his sword back were it belonged. "And that happens because the blade is so thin and sharp."

Twilight looked at the sword again. " Is that the same blade from the story?"

Milon nodded. " Yes it is, it has survived for five generations, due to love and care, it is also the proof of our bloodlines strenght. Five generation of forging our blood as well as we have forged our steel." Suddenly his stomach grumbled and he looked confused. "Huh... I thought I was full a little while ago." He chuckled. "I guess it was because of the harsh winter, freezing cold and darkness makes you very hungry when there is enough food to get around."

Celestia smiled again, she knew there was another story behind his statement. "We would love to hear that story aswell, I very much enjoy stories." She was fascinated by the way he made herself and the other ponies get so captivated by his storytelling. Even some of the pegasi guards in the room seemed to listen to every word he said while telling his story, maybe his talent in making people listen is what made him a general, and his tactical skills too of course.

Milon sat down and raised his plate. "Can I please have some- oh thank you!" He didn't even finish his sentence before one of the waiters took his plate and nodded, heading back out to the kitchen.

"Well Celestia, that story is not a happy one and I don't quite remember everything, due to what actually happened." He sighed and his voice got a tone of sadness.

"All I remember, is that me and my army was out in the frontlines, it was colder than it had ever been before and our food started to run out. I laid in my tent with a burning fever and was quite malnourished as I had given every bit of food I had to my soldiers. I lost many friends and fellow soldiers that winter, and I am lucky to be alive. My best guess is that Calorossa still has a plan with my life." Without noticing it himself, his eyes had filled with tears.

Celestia sat up, ready to console him in some way but Fluttershy had beaten her to it. "I'm... I'm so sorry we made you talk about it, are you allright? We did not mean to bring up bad memories, I promise."

He swallowed and sat up straight clearly trying to hold back his sadness. "I am allright miss Fluttershy. They're just some bad memories, that's all." He cleared his throat and smiled again, his face back to its normal, happy state.

The waiter came back out from the kitchen with a plate of salad and vegetables. He placed it in front of Milon, who smiled and said. "Thank you, my friend." The waiter pony smiled back at him and kept smiling as he walked back out to the kitchen.

"Please send my compliments to the chef!" Milon said to him before he went through the door, which earned another nod and smile.

"These potatoes are lovely." he started to eat again, and everyone were happy again, except one.

Applejack didn't know why but, she felt... Different somehow after what she's seen and heard. Milon was very interesting indeed. Suddenly the others stood up and she was taken back from her thoughts.

"Well it was lovely to have you here Milon, and I hope you will have a pleasant stay. you are welcome here as long as you like." Celestia giggled. "As long as you behave that is."

Milon laughed as he held out his hand to shake Celestia's hoof and give her a bow. "I promise I'll behave princess." They all stopped in front of the castle gate.

"I guess this is my exit." Milon put on his helmet and bowed. "Good evening ladies." He looked at Applejack for a moment, and she looked back at him, he then took her hoof and gave it a light kiss and said. "Milady." Before turning around, walking down the castle stairs.

When he got halfway down he picked up a small horn he had at his hip and blew in it, making the loud, vibrant tone echo through Canterlot.

"Myrmidons! Back to camp!" This made the town suddenly rustle with life, it must have been at least two hundred soldiers coming out from inns, taverns and even from the houses of some ponies, who were waving them goodbye.

"Come back soon!" And "see you tomorrow!" Could be heard from the ponies waving the humans goodbye. They have had wonderful chats and drinks together and, this I do not know for sure, but perhaps some lonely mares and stallions had gotten the company of a strong, handsome and friendly human soldier?

"He was really friendly!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, still waving even though the humans had disappeared through the Canterlot gate long ago.

"They all seemed very friendly." Twilight filled in.

"And he had so many interesting things to say." Celestia turned around and started to walk back into the main hall. "He is a friendly and respectable man indeed, and he has earned my trust so far."

Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack and smirked."And he certainly seemed to show Applejack some respect eh?" This made the girls giggle and Applejack blushed slightly.

"Oh shush you, I'm sure he just wanted to... Uhm..."

"Make a flashy exit?" Pinkie Pie filled in with a bright smile and twinkling eyes.

"Yeah! A flashy exit!" She didn't sound very convincing, but her friends understood. It would have been a little embarrassing if he'd done it to one of them so they decided to not comment on it further. But as they headed back up into the castle tower, Applejack couldn't stop thinking about it, and her thoughts seemed to go back to the soft lips that had kissed her hoof.

As she lied down in one of the sofas, putting her hat at the edge of it, she fell asleep with Milon's warm smile in her thoughts.

_________

Milon woke up and stretched himself, he looked around in his tent, it was plain, a bit large, since he was a general but nothing special. He got out of his bed and walked over to the mirror, it had a bowl of water under it. He cupped his hands in it and splashed his face, and then began to clean himself. He was tired but he had much to do and to organize today, broken weapons had to be repaired, which he would do personally along with his pupils, some of the best blacksmiths he had ever trained.

His thoughts trailed back to the day before. Princess Celestia and the others had been so nice and respectable, and Applejack who had so generously given them a few barrels of apple cider, which would arrive today in fact. He had almost forgot to thank her properly, so before he left, he kissed her hoof, since she didn't have any hands. She had smelled of earth and flowers, which wasn't surprising since she worked at an apple farm. But the smell felt very feminine to him, and he had enjoyed the moment a little bit more thanks to it.

A few moments and thoughts later he walked out of his tent. Since there were no parades or things of that sort today and since it was very hot outside he only wore his undergarments and the skirt looking trousers, which were standard clothing amongst his soldiers.

Have you ever seen a grass skirt worn by natives on different islands? Or maybe the ones that you can see in Hawaii? This skirt didn't look much different aside from being a lot shorter, since it only needed to cover his undergarment and it was made of leather, rather than palm leaves.

He stretched himself again, his muscles flexing a bit as he did. The many years of morning exercises and training in general had made him fit for killing, so to speak. He walked around camp, getting a few "Sir!" followed by salutes from his soldiers, which returned.

"Milon!"

Milon recognized this voice. He turned around and hugged its owner, its old, strong very beardy owner. "Augustus, you scoundrel! Haha!" They were the closest of friends, Augustus were a lot older than him but they had gotten very close through the years. They had saved each others lives more times they they could count.

"So what are the plans for today? There doesn't seem to be much to do around here except training, which we all enjoy, but as you know, variety is a good thing." Augustus said, looking around at the tents.

"I actually thought that we all could take today off? The men, AND ladies, calm down." He nodded to one of the female soldiers who were smirking at him as he spoke.

Pray to the gods I never forget the females! He thought to himself. Their temperament makes them more dangerous than any soldier I've ever seen before on the battlefield. He turned back to Augustus.

"The soldiers will attend the morning training, but after that they'll be free to take the rest of the day off, head into Canterlot, or just stay here." Augustus chuckled at him.

"Always the do-gooder, aren't you boy?" He rubbed Milon's shoulder. "You're a good man Milon, never forget that."

Milon smiled again and gave Augustus a strong pat on the back. "And you're the best friend one could ask for!"

Augustus smirked. "I'll go tell the men. AND the ladies, Calorossa help me." He filled in as he too earned a smirk from the female sitting outside her tent, at the moment she were sharpening her sword, which made the men think twice about what they said. The females in the Myrmidon army were not walking topless as the men did today despite of the heat, since their breasts are on their chests and very noticeable when undressed.

"I am going into Canterlot, I want to see the sights around town, and have a drink somewhere." Milon took his belt with the sword in it and swung it around his waist, tying it in place. He gave a satisfied nod and started to walk from the camp, heading towards the Canterlot gates.

"I will await your arrival general!" Augustus shouted after him.

As he walked through the gate the Canterlot guards greeted him with equestrian salutes and a "Greetings general!" Him being in Canterlot on his own earned a few exited looks and greetings from the ponies he walked by, and maybe him being topless added a bit to the exited looks, but, we'll never know.

Milon almost tripped over a little colt and had to regain his balance to avoid smashing his face in the cobblestone street. The colts mother were there almost immediately to scold the little unicorn.

"Alexander! What have I told you about watching where you're going!? Now apologize to the general." The little colt lowered his head, clearly feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry mister, I didn't mean to get in your way..." Milon smiled and knelt down.

Milon smiled at him, he didn't think it was a big deal, the little unicorn was just a child. "It's allright little guy. I guess I'm so tall I couldn't see you down there, I am the one who needs to apologize."

"T-thank you mister, you're awfully nice!" The little unicorn gave a shy smile and lifted his head.

Milon patted him on the head and held his hand out, now holding a golden coin in it. "Here you go little guy, make sure to buy yourself something nice."

" Thank you so much mister! I promise that I will buy something nice! I really promise!" The unicorn colt jumped up and down and made the golden coin float in the air with a bright red glow emanating from his horn.

His mother smiled, admiration in her eyes."That's generous of you, thank you very much general!"

Milon stood up and shook her hoof. "You can call me Milon, miss. You have a good day now."

"Oh I will Milon, I wish you the same!" As Milon continued down the road he could hear the little unicorn, Alexander shout after him, "Thank you, mister Milon!"

When he went down the roads of Canterlot there were many stops, saying hello and chatting with ponies, pegasi and unicorns.

He finally found a pub where he sat down and ordered a cup of cider, which he almost had to fight the barkeep to pay for, since he wanted to give it for free. After a little while he suddenly noticed a pink, widely smiling pony sitting down next to him.

"Milon! I didn't expect to see you here!"

Milon chuckled and took a mouthful of the cider. "Neither did I Pinkie Pie, enjoying a drink?"

The pink pony giggled and took a bite out of the donut she had brought with her. "No silly, I'm eating a donut! They serve my favourites here!"

Milon drank again and turned to pinkie. "This cider is delicious, is it local produce?"

Pinkie nodded and swallowed the rest of her donut in one bite. "Mmmhhyup! From Sweet *gulp!* Apple Acres!"

Milons eyes widened a bit. "Miss Applejacks farm?"

Pinkie Pie nodded as fast as the speed of light. "Yup yup yup! Hey barkeep, another strawberry donut please!" She waved at the barkeep who nodded and came walking out with a pink glazed donut and put it in front of Pinkie Pie.

"Thank you!" She ate it all in one bite again at the same time as she gave the barkeep a few coins.

"I'll take another cup of cider please, and I will pay for this one too." Milon said to the old pony and gave him his empty cup and a few coins to pay for a refill.

After chatting away together at their table Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped out of her seat. "Oh my goodness! I forgot to tell you! Big Mac and Applejack will be arriving with the barrels of cider she promised you, anytime now!"

Milon finished the rest of the cider in his wooden cup and stood up. "Lets head back to camp then!"

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie looked at Milon and noticed his bare upper body. "Have you been sitting without a shirt all this time?"

Milon smiled nervously, thinking she wouldn't approve of it. "Yes I have, it was so warm earlier that I didn't think it would be needed."

"That's allright, I just didn't notice, silly me." Pinkie giggled. They headed down the street again, heading towards the Canterlot gate. This7little trip was also full of stops, with Milon being greeted by ponies, unicorns and pegasi that flooded around him wherever he went. They also met some of the human soldiers going into Canterlot as they went out that saluted him before they continued their conversation.

_________

Applejack and Big Mac, who were pulling the wagon with all the barrels of cider on it, were getting close to the human camp.

"He really is a nice guy Big Mac, and he sure is a mighty fine storyteller." Applejack was telling her brother about Milon, she had already told him twice about Milon's storytelling, but she looked so happy talking about him that Big Mac chose not to comment on it.

"So what kind of storytellin' did he do?" He asked his sister, this maing her shine up even more. "Well, he told us about his family story, and about a singing sword."

Big Mac gave her a skeptical look. "A singin' sword? Sounds more like a little ponies tale to me." Applejack giggled, it was so typical of her brother to not believe anything that could be even remotely supernatural.

"Hehe, it wasn't actually singing. If I remember right, he said that it's because it was so thin and sharp that it vibrated and made a tune when you swung it through the air, like... Swosh!" She swung her hoof through the air as she made the sound effect.

"I'd love to see that when we arrive there." Big Mac sighed and dried his sweaty forehead. "Whenever we DO arrive that is..."

"Oh don't worry brother, its just behind this hill." And behind the hill it was, the large camp with tents stretching as far as they could see, or atleast as far as the hills stretched.

"Hello ponies!" They heard when they walked into the camp, the humans waving happily at them as they did their chores or were just sitting down and noticed the two ponies walking into camp.

"Hiya fellas!" Applejack greeted and waved back at them.

"Do any of you know where Milon is?" She asked, a male soldier next to them pulled a rope, pulling up another tent, and tied it to a pole in the ground before turning to her, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"He should be in his tent, it's the big red one, uhhh..." He looked around and then pointed to the left of the two ponies. "It's that way. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here."

"I'm sure we will mister, thank you very much!" They turned to the left and followed the path leading down that way. After a little while they could see a large tent and a banner outside it, thinking that this must be the right one.

Big Mac stopped and started to unload the barrels from the wagon, putting them in a nice pile next to the tent. Applejack knocked on the pole of the banner, since there was no door, and she didn't want to be impolite and stick her head into someone else's tent either.

"Milon? We brought you the cider as we promised!" no answer.

"Uh, Milon? Sugarcube, are you here?" She heard someone clear their throat behind her and she spun around.

"Are you looking for Milon, miss?" It was an older man with a beard on his chin and a smile on his lips, who we already know as Augustus.

"He went into Canterlot for a drink earlier, but I can tell him that you delivered the cider, miss Apple- Hey there he is! And he seems to have brought a friend too!" Milon came walking up to the tent along with Pinkie Pie, both waving at them.

"Hey, I'm back. I hope you won't leave without saying hello! Haha!" He smiled at Applejack and Big Mac, who were smiling back. "So, who is your friend here, Applejack?"

Big Mac held his hoof out and shook Milons hand.

"This here is Big Mac, my brother!"

"I'm glad to meet you Big Mac,thank you so much for bringing the cider here. There must be some way that I can repay you?"

Big Mac chewed on his wheat stalk, giving a wide smile at finally meeting the man that his sister had repeatedly told so much about. "Mighty fine to meet you too Milon, I'm just delighted to be able to do you and my sister a favour. Besides, if you like it there is always more to purchase at Sweet Apple Acres"

Milon looked over at the five barrels that Big Mac had put outside his tent. "Hmm... well I did taste some of it at the pub that I went to in Canterlot, and I have to say it was the best drink I've ever had. If my men likes it as much as I do, these barrels won't be nearly enough for all of us." He stroked his chin in thought and turned around.

"How about ten times the amount that you brought, just to make sure it'll be enough for all my thirsty soldiers? I'll pay it in full right now and I'll even send some men to help you carry it all here, what do you say?"

Right now, neither Applejack nor Big Mac had anything to say. Applejack just stared at him, so did her brother, with his mouth agape, the wheat stalk threatening to fall from his lip.

"B-but, that's half of our stock! That will be an awful lot, you sure you won't be fine with less?" Applejack asked.

"No dear, I simply must have fifty! So, deal Big Mac?"

The big work pony stomped his hoof in the ground from the excitement. "Eeyup! And since you've been such a nice fella to my sister I will give you a special price, four hundred bits total!"

Milon took his hoof and shook it. "That sounds amazing!" He turned around and whistled at two men who were chopping wood a few metres away.

"Arkantos, Smith! I have a job for you!" They dropped their axes and came running over to him.

"Yes sir! What can we help with?"

"I have just purchased a lot of cider from Big Mac here and you are to follow him to Sweet Apple Acres and help him carry it back, you can bring one cart each." They saluted and ran away to get their carts and were back before you could even notice they were gone.

"Shall we go?" They were very eager to go, I guess they wanted to see more of Canterlot and the outlying villages.

"Hooee!" Applejack were ecstatic and she stood up on her hind legs and stomped at the ground.

"Granny Smith is going to be delighted you bought so much! I wont be surprised if she gives you and these two fellas some apple pie as thanks!"

Milon looked at her, his eyes full of curiosity. "Granny smith?" He asked.

"Yup, that's our granny, she wanted to go with us but she's old and her hip can't take her going on any trips." Applejack sighed, she thought about how much Granny smith wants to go out and walk around town, and how sad it is that she can't do it.

Milon walked into his tent and came out holding something in his hands. "Big Mac, wait a minute."

Big Mac turned around and looked at milon.

"If your granny has problems with her hips, then give her this." He held out a jar with a lid on it, he opened the lid to show him the light green ointment in it. "This is an herbal lotion against pain in your joints, it's used a lot amongst the people in my homeland and it works pretty well." He put it in Big Mac's wagon, then he held out a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid.

"Oh, thank you kindly! I've been thirsty for a while now."

Before Milon could say anything Big Mac had taken the bottle, undone the cork and took a mouthful.

He spat it out, shuddered and began to pant as his chest and body filled with heat. "ACK! BLUAAH! WHAT IS THAT!?"

Milon chuckled. "Haha! This my friend, is a very strong alcoholic drink that we call vodka"

"Phhhhhhh!" Big Mac exhaled loudly, the sudden heat and the strenght of the alcohol making him feel a bit dizzy.

"If you just wait a moment, the heat will disappear, that happens when you drink too much at once, though you should be careful walking home, you might get slightly drunk on the way, since you drank quite a bit! Now, tell Granny Smith that after she has put the lotion on the parts that hurt she should fill the bottom of a glass with the vodka and drink it. This is to get the blood flow going and speed up the lotions effect." With this he corked the glass bottle again and put it in Big Mac's wagon along with a bag of golden coins. "There you go! If the coins don't add up please do come see me. See you later friend!"

As Big Mac, Arkantos and Smith walked away with their carts, Pinkie pie, Milon and Applejack noticed Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike and Rainbow Dash coming up towards them. Of course, Rainbow Dash was flying and arrived before the others.

"Hey there." She said , whilst doing an aerial somersault and hovering mid air. "What's up?"

"You are silly, heehee" Pinkie Pie giggled.

Rainbow giggled herself and shook her head at Pinkie. "Always the joker aren't you? Haha!"

Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Fluttershy smiled at the display and walked up to Applejack and Milon, who were talking to each other.

"I'm sorry we are late, we were supposed to be here earlier, but SOMEONE ordered too many sprinkled donuts and got a belly ache." Twilight explained and gave Spike an annoyed look.

"What? They were really good! i figured it would be the good kind of pain, you know?" He jumped down from Twilights back and walked over to the barrels of cider. "Whoa! Thats a lot of cider!"

"And he bought fifty more!" Applejacks comment made Spikes mouth drop to the ground. "I am so happy I could kiss him!"

Milon smiled. "Then why don't you?"

Applejack giggled and blushed. "Ho there lover boy~ You know just what to say don't you?" She looked down, but felt a hand on her chin and looked up. Milon were smiling, but it was a different smile that she hadn't seen before, Applejack couldn't put her hoof on it, but it was something about him, was he blushing?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you." He said and let his hand fall to his side.

"It's alright sugarcube, it was a funny joke, hehe."

"You two seem to get along very well." Twilight looked at them with that analysing gaze she always had. Applejack and Milon chuckled, they did get along very well.

_________

The group of friends had a wonderful day at the humans camp. They went to the lake and went for a swim. Since ponies didn't wear clothes, besides hats, scarf's and the like, the group of ponies was quite interested in the loincloth Milon wore to cover up his private parts.

After some awkward questions and some more awkward silence after he had explained that he actually had genitalia that weren't hidden until it's used, like ponies genitalia, they had all jumped in an had enjoyed themselves very much. After drying themselves off, they went back to the camp and lit themselves a campfire.

All the barrels of cider had arrived and the soldiers were sitting around their own campfires and in their tents, happily drinking cup after cup of cider while eating pasta along with whatever they had made along with it, fish, meat vegetables and so on.. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity had fallen asleep and only Fluttershy, Milon and Applejack were still awake.

They had been staying up, talking about how to take care of bunnies the best way. It might have been the cider getting to him, but after half of the conversation Milon started to talk about the best way to grill them over an open fire, which made Fluttershy go mute and get slightly nauseous.

Milon realized that what he said about grilling bunnies made Fluttershy uncomfortable and he tried to lighten up the mood by changing subjects. "Uhm... So how does the cutie marks work?"

It worked, Fluttershy smiled and started to explain how ponies, pegasi and unicorns were born with blank flanks and that their cutie marks appeared only once they had found their special talent or something that they are good at.

"Well that is weird" Milon commented on the information he'd just gotten. Humans never got any cutie marks and they didn't really have any special skills either, they just were good, or bad at things and they tented to do what they were good at.

"So their jobs are based on their special talents? Like you being good at taking care of animals and having an animal care?" Milon had picked up a trail of thought that he didn't plan to drop.

"Yes, and I'm so happy my talent is taking care of animals, that's what I like doing the most!" Fluttershy gave her normal wide smile as she said it, confirming her own words.

"But what if someone has a special talent but don't enjoy doing what they are good at?"

Fluttershy tilted her head. "How can one not like their own talent?"

Milon rubbed his chin in thought. "But, let's say a pony is very good at digging graves for some reason and their special talent ends up being gravedigging and what if they don't like it because they have to see all these dead ponies?"

Fluttershy pouted slightly, she too was now deep in thought. "I have never thought of that before, that is very interesting!" As they elaborated on the matter Fluttershy noticed that Milon and Applejack gradually scooted closer to each other, and when they sat right beside each other she thought that they might want some alone time, so she yawned a bit. "Ah, I think I'll try getting some sleep, if you don't mind?"

"That's alright Fluttershy, I reckon me and Milon can stay up for a while and keep the fire burning." Applejack leaned against Milon's side, smiling and enjoying the warmth of the fire that burned away slowly in front of them.

Milon threw another chunk of wood onto the fire, it crackled and after a few seconds the new piece of lumber had caught fire. He turned his head and looked down at Applejack, he felt that tingling sensation in his stomach again. He let out a happy sigh, but to Applejack it sounded like a heavy one. She looked up at him. "Anything wrong, sugarcube?"

"No, everything's alright" Milon reassured her and blushed a bit.

Damn. He thought to himself. I hope she won't notice my blush. But she didn't, the fire threw different colours and shadows everywhere as it flickered and burned, warming everyone around it.

Milon began to caress Applejack, rubbing her shoulders, which caused her to sigh contently."Applejack?"

"yes?"

Milon bit his lip, unsure of how to continue without looking silly or making a fool of himself. "I... there's..."

Applejack sat up and smiled, waiting patiently for what he was going to say.

"You... You intrigue me."

She simply looked at him, waiting for the rest.

"I... I mean, I find realise that I'm very interested in you. You're a great friend and... We... We get along very well and you are always so happy and... Every time I see you laugh or see you happy I get happy myself." He didn't notice it himself but, he had almost blurted it all out, but Applejack had listened closely to every word he had said.

"Ah, this is embarrassing." Milon ran a hand through his hair.

Applejack took a step forward, warmth in her eyes. "Aw, ain't that sweet." She giggled and put her hoof on his shoulder. "I am very flattered Milon, you're a lovely guy, and you're so nice to everypony. What you did for Sweet Apple Acres before was amazing, helping us with the money, and helping granny smith and all. I like you too Milon, I really do."

They were both blushing now, and they looked at each other for a moment, trying to read what the other was going too do next. Milon put his hands on each side of Applejack face and leaned forward. Applejack felt her heart skip a beat as he did this, she knew what was going to happen, she lifted her hoof and took off her hat, throwing it on the ground next to her just before her lips connected with Milon's. Her face suddenly flushed with heat and she could feel her lips quiver. His lips rubbed against hers as he kissed her deeply, and they smacked lightly as they connected and disconnected. She swung her forelegs around his neck and slid her tongue into his mouth, letting out a soft moan as his tongue rubbed against hers. Milon was running his fingers through Applejacks mane, blushing in a bright red colour as he did so.

They both gasped for air as they pulled away from the kiss before they started kissing again, this time Milon lifted Applejack up onto his lap.

They didn't make much noise, but the little noise they did and a loud crack from the campfire caused Rarity to wake up, she shifted and nudged Rainbow Dash in the process also causing her to wake up. They both looked up, Rainbow Dash had one eye closed and simply turned around and laid back down. Rarity looked around, she looked over to the other side of the campfire and was shocked at the sight before her. Milon were holding Applejack on his lap and they were kissing each other, deeply. Rarity bumped Rainbow dash with her hoof to get her attention. Rainbow turned around and whispered.

"What is it Rarity? I'm trying to sleep!" Rarity simply pointed at Milon and Applejack. Rainbow looked the way Rarity as pointing and her eyes shot wide open when she saw what happened over there. She opened her mouth to say something out loud but Rarity shoved her hoof into rainbows mouth, stopping any sound from her, and gave her a Dont you dare! look. They couldn't do anything but to watch for a moment as the two lovebirds kissed each other. They could hear soft gasps as the two pulled away and kissed each other again and again. Suddenly the both of them settled down and looked into each others eyes.

Milon caressed Applejacks cheek again.

Applejack looked into milons eyes and smiled. "I think we should get some sleep now." She said, blushing.

"Yeah... I think we should." He put her down on the ground again and laid down next to her. This made Rarity and Rainbow Dash lie down, pretending to be asleep, they didn't want to be caught peeping.

Applejack laid down and smiled at Milon. "I... I think I'm in love with you, sugarcube."

Milon gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I think I am too."

Applejack blushed but couldn't help to look down as she started to think.

Milon noticed this. "What is it dear?"

"I... I'm not sure what the others will think..."

Milon looked at her."After what I've heard about how close you guys are, I think they will only be happy for us."

"I know... But since you're not a pony they might have some opinions on the matter, and we might not like those opinions. But we're in love, that's the most important thing, right?"

Milon nodded and smiled at her. " Of course it is, dear."

"I hope this didn't happen too fast... Did it?" Applejack asked and looked at him with a concerned look.

"Some things can't happen fast enough dear." "With this reassertion they both drifted of to a peaceful slumber.

_________

Applejack stretched and turned around, smiling, her eyes still closed. "Mmmh... Good morning sugarcube..." No answer.

He must still be asleep. She thought and sighed contently. She stretched out a hoof to wrap it around her sweetheart, but there was no one there. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. It couldn't be too late, it wasn't that warm so the sun couldn't be all the way up yet. She looked up and noticed that she was right, based on where the sun were in the sky she could see that it was still early in the morning. She yawned and took her hat off of the ground, where she had left it the night before, and put it on her head.

"Good morning Applejack dear!" Rarity said, already sitting up by the ashes of the campfire herself.

"Good morning Rarity, any idea where Milon might have gone?" Applejack looked around, and in the distance she could hear the sound of... Was that marching feet? And sounds of metal against metal? She shook her head, thinking that it might be the human soldiers having morning workouts, and she was pretty sure that it might be the blacksmiths working on repairing or creating armour and weapons, after all Milon had told them about him training blacksmiths personally. He had also told them that the key to having a good, and organised army was regular training and discipline.

Rarity Stood up and walked over to Applejack. "I have no idea, he was gone when I woke up myself. Maybe he is cleaning himself up or making some breakfast? He is a man with class after all! He sure know how to take care of himself.

" Applejack giggled, Milon might be a general and he might be the nicest individual that Applejack has met, but compared to Rarity and Fancy Pants, there isn't really any class to speak of. Milon was a warrior, a man that worked with his body and mind, there was no trace of the fine dining halls or the luxurious balls that the richer ponies, and people, was throwing around themselves, but maybe he were classier back in his homeland.

"Hmm... Well I think I'll be going out to look for him, if he is making breakfast, then he has one hay of a hungry pony to feed right here." Applejack stood up and started walking towards the center of camp, or atleast what she thought was the way to the large kitchen tent she had seen the day before.

"Oh! Wait for me , I just HAVE to see what's around here darling! There is so much to see, and so little time." Applejack and Rarity left the others, who were still sleeping, back at the campfire, they thought that if they wanted to find them, they should get up and look for them.

As they walked around they were greeted by many waves and good morning's from all the soldiers at work. They seemed like they had all the energy in the world inside their bodies as they went on with their duties, shining their armour, sharpening their swords

Rarity was looking around, making a few exited sounds at the things she saw. "Ooh! That's some wonderful looking capes. Oh my, that tent is marvelous! My goodness, dear! I think all that wood would be enough for all of ponyville to warm themselves over the winter." But the thing that stunned her the most was a female soldier that was sparring with a male soldier. In Equestria, only males were allowed to become soldiers, so this was something that was very odd to her. " Applejack dear, why is there females in their ranks?"

Applejack shrugged. " I'm not sure, I reckon Milon thinks that anyone can have good reasons to fight for their people, even females."

Rarity turned back to Applejack and giggled. " Well, let's hope that he won't want us to fight anyone."

As they moved around, the sound that Applejack had heard before of marching and clashing metal, got louder and louder. They seemed to be getting closer to it, and when they came around the corner of one of the tents they saw two groups of soldiers standing on opposite sides of each other in a big grass field. They were battling each other out, but they weren't standing in a mishmash as on would think when there was a battle. Both sides were standing in lines, still and focused, only the soldiers in the front lines were fighting.

They could see Milon walking around behind the two squadrons, shouting out orders. Keep your legs in, or have a tighter grip in your shields. Suddenly he held up a small object to his mouth and blew in it. The whistles sound could be heard over all the other sounds and suddenly the soldiers in front lines walked backwards in between the lines behind them and placed themselves at the back. The line that had been just behind them now moved forward and began to battle it out.

Rarity and Applejack hurried over to Milon and the soldiers to get a better view of it all.

"Hello girls!" He greeted them and looked back to the squadron closest to him. "Remember, shields in front and quick swings! A good defence keeps you alive!" He turned back to the girls and gave them a smile. "Just some morning training ladies. We always need to stay strong, alert and agile!" He explained, proud as he was over his soldiers. He put the whistle to his lips again and blew in it, making the soldiers change places once again. Applejack and Rarity stood and watched as the training went on, interested as Milon continued to walk around, shout out orders and blow in the whistle.

"Hey! What's going on over here?" Spike came running up to them and hugged Rarity. She smiled at this and gave the little dragon a kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning darling, Milon and the soldiers are doing their morning training, so we decided to watch."

"And it's fun watching them do some hard labor." Applejack filled in. "There's some kind of pleasure in seeing someone do some real work."

They could hear hooves behind them and Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie came walking up to them.

"Good morning girls, interesting match?" They looked at Twilight with questioning gazes.

" Match, Twilight?" Applejack asked her, lifting her eyebrow at her.

"Isn't that what they're doing?, Having a competitive training?"

Rarity giggled, and Spike laughed. "Hahaha! They're training, Twilight! There won't be any winning team."

"Oh!" Twilight realised how silly she had sounded and giggled.

"Well it could have been a competition of sorts, sure looks like it though." She defended herself.

A long tune from the whistle pierced through all the noise from the training in front of them and the soldiers stopped their training and scattered, heading towards their tents or walking away to do their duties, such as cutting wood or making food.

The gang walked over to Milon.

"Hey Milon! Will there be breakfast soon? I'm pretty hungry and I really love eggs for breakfast, and milk, milk is really good!" Pinkie Pie blabbed away about her favourite food types as they came over, causing Milon to smile in confusion, nodding as she kept going.

Her friends giggled and smiled, Pinkie will be Pinkie.

When she had slowed down with the talking, Milon told them that breakfast will be a while, since the cooks were making batches of pasta, meat and vegetables for all the people living in the camp.

"But if you're interested in our style of warfare I'll be more than glad to explain a bit of it to you!"

Twilight's face lit up and Spike quickly got a roll of parchment and a quill out of Twilights saddlebag. "Well, I actually have a few things I would like to document, if it isn't too big of a deal for you?"

Spike turned around to Rainbow Dash and mumbled. "If SHE actually documented anything I'd be out of a job!" This made Rainbow Dash grin and giggle.

Milon held his arms out as to say, I'm all yours. "So what do you want to know, miss Sparkle?"

Twilight trotted around him, speaking at the same time. "First I wanted to know what this fighting style you used is, because from what I recall from reading about battles, it seemed a bit more chaotic, even in training." As soon as Milon opened his mouth Spike was ready with the quill close to the parchment, ready to write down every little detail.

"True, in many battles the soldiers are scattered everywhere, and due to this a group of soldiers can become overrun easily or surrounded, and their energy and morale fades very quickly. So me and my commanding officers have invented style of fighting that maintains both stamina and the comfort of strength in numbers since all of your comrades stand in line with you rather than spread out everywhere around you. This strategy is nor quite ready for the battlefield just yet, but for the time being it is a perfect way of training a soldier to keep their cool and to stay together, no matter what happens." He turned around and began to walk, all of the ponies were following him and listening, all while Spike's quill worked its way down the parchment.

"So what we have found out is that, intervals with breaks just as long as the working time works well with both training and exercise, so we tried to combine it with battle. So, in theory, the soldiers wait for the enemy to charge at them, and to force them into doing so, we have archers attacking from long range, forcing the enemy to charge if they want a chance to attack without being shot down, and I'll explain everything about archery later. So the soldiers in the front, who hopefully doen't die, fight the enemies and when the squad commander blows the whistle they protect themselves and walk backwards between the lines of soldiers and stand in the farthest back, and the soldiers who stood behind them continue where the others left off. This way, the soldier that is attacking will always have their stamina on top."

Twilight's eyes were literally sparkling at this wave of information she received and she asked another question. "And these archers you spoke of, what are they?"

Milon nodded and said. "Well I guess that you don't have archery here, since you do not have hands. But from what I gathered from talking to your princess, the unicorns in the Equestrian armies shoot bolts of lighting or fire at their enemies, correct?" Twilight nodded.

"Yes, this is to paralyse and blind them so that they can be dealt with swiftly, but it also happens that the unicorns kill the enemy right away with this technique, which works just as well."

Milon nodded again and turned around to a wooden table with lots of small blades, swords and a wide assortment of weapons on it. He turned back around and held up a wooden device that looked like a wooden cross with a half circle upon it, but far more complicated.

"This is a crossbow, the archers of the earlier generations used to have bows, which are strong but flexible wooden sticks that are strengthened to be able to survive pressure, since you tie a string between its ends and use that to shoot an arrow at far distances." He were now explaining this while holding an arrow between his hands.

"This is an arrow, and you can see, it has a sharp metal head which can, with enough force, travel long distances in an arch through the air and pierce armour, hopefully maiming its victim, or killing them if you get in a good hit!"

The thought of killing someone made a few of the ponies shudder and feel a bit uncomfortable, but they still listened, though Rarity were patting Fluttershy's shoulder to comfort her since she's so sensitive.

"But, he crossbow a perfected version of the bow. It does not have quite the same range that the bow has because of its construction but it can pierce even the strongest of armour!"

Rainbow Dash huffed and flew over to him, hovering above his head."Oh? The strongest of armours you say? Well, prove it then! All you've done has been talking about a bunch of stuff without demonstrating." She stared at him with a competitive glare, and he just simply smiled back at her.

"Of course! Just let me set some things up and we'll see what this can do!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight was frowning, mostly because her research of this special, and not to mention human only, weapon was interrupted, but also because she thought the tone Rainbow had used was rude.

The pegasus shrugged and looked back at her. "What? He said it could pierce strong armour, so let him prove it! Could be a bonus for your, research thingy, right? It's always good to see some demonstrations first hand."

Spike sighed. "Oh come on. Do I have to write even more? This guy is like a talking book! I've had to change to a new roll of parchment already!" He held up the new one which he had just started to write on.
"You wrote everything down exactly like he said it?" Pinkie Pie was reading the other roll of parchment, quickly skimming through it.

Spike shrugged, as if it was nothing. "Well, yeah. That's what I do right? People talk and I write it down. But sometimes when I'm not writing things down, I think that some ponies talk too much." Pinkie Pie nodded and rolled up the parchment and put it back in Twilight's saddlebag. "That explains it!"

Rarity shook her head and smiled. "You're doing a wonderful job, dear." She gave the little purple dragon a kiss on the cheek, causing him to smile and look very proud. "Yeah, I guess I did a god jo-"

"Here we are!" He got cut off by Milon, who had some objects that looked like sticks, a sack filled with something and some chest armour.

"Just hold this for a second." He threw the sack over to Rainbow dash, who caught it, but the weight of it caused her to fall to the ground with a loud thud. Milon went and He tied the sticks into a cross and stuc the cross into the ground, he then took the bag that he had given to Rainbow dash, which he had filled with ashes from some campfires close by, and tied that to the cross. Finally he put the piece of chest armour around the sack.

"There we are, all done." He knocked on the piece of armour and looked over at the ponies." Our armor is very strong and can stand very much, but sadly not a crossbow arrow. Rainbow, since you were so eager to see if the crossbow is up to the test, you get to fire it first!"

A wide grin spread on the blue pegasus face. "Hay yeah! That would be awesome!" She picked up the crossbow in her mouth but quickly realized that it wouldn't be the best way to aim it, let alone fire it without
getting an arrow in her leg.

"Horl'omn!" She said through her teeth, which was still holding the crossbow and sat down on her rump, now trying to hold the weapon in her forelegs. "Okay, I'm ready! Bring it on!"

After a quick tutorial on how to load the crossbow with the arrows and to push a small trigger at the bottom of the handle to fire it, Rainbow Dash were sitting and aiming at the armour clad target practice.

Applejack smiled and leaned over to Rarity. "I bet she'll miss it."

Rarity looked at her with a shocked expression."Applejack, a lady such as myself cannot possibly stoop to something as low as betting!" She looked over to Rainbow Dash again, who's aiming started to get less shaky and more steady. "How about two bits?"

Applejack giggled."You're on sugarcube!"

"Allright!" Rainbow Dash said, trying to get her aim at the middle of the targets chest. "Here we go!"

She pulled the trigger and a loud twang was heard, followed by a chunking sound as the arrow hit the tree trunk.

Rainbow Dash had fallen backwards from the recoil and dropped the crossbow in shock. "WHOA!"

Applejack snickered and held out a hoof. Rarity sighed and gave her two golden coins. "Maybe you should have been a lady after all?" Applejack taunted.

But Rarity smiled back, trying to keep her ladylike impression. "Well, we both know which one of us is more ladylike."

Applejack laughed at this comment.

Milon helped Rainbow Dash up on her hooves and Spike was writing away like crazy, describing the results of Rainbow's failed test.

"Well, Rainbow Dash. It's difficult to prove that it can pierce the armour if you don't hit the armour at all." Milon chuckled and picked up the crossbow. "Here, let me show you how it's really done." He reloaded with another arrow and aimed, holding the crossbow steadily against his shoulder. With the same twanging sound the arrow flew like a bolt of lightning through the air and pierced the armour as easy as if it had been a piece of paper, causing ashes and coal to leak from the bag that the armour was strapped upon. Spike walked over to the armour clad bag and wrote some more as he inspected everything closely.

Milon smiled and turned around, resting the crossbow against his shoulder. "Does anyone else want to try?"