More Friends...

Date: July-15-2015…

Location: Outskirts of ponyville…

POV: Cpl. Adrian Shephard…

Time: 0900 hours…

The more time I spent following the filly through the wooded outskirts of ponyville, the more time I had to reflect on the life I’ve had leading up until this point. I was a Marine, a so called, “Jarhead.” A muscle that flexes its might against the tides of war. I have my M16, and my M16 has me, both of us have faced off against many foes in our time. I remember the first days of my brutal training back in Arizona. Fort Santego, the only military base in the world that specializes in training the elite Hazardous Environment Combat Unit. Also home to the one and only, Drill Sergeant Dwight T. Barnes. What a jerkoff… If he wasn’t quoting Full Metal Jacket, he was stealing inspiration from other Drill instructors, and making our lives on that base even more horrible than it had to be. All the other instructors like Sharpe, would mock him behind his back. Even Captain McSullivan of the Military Police hated him.

Regardless, he got there somehow, and I had to respect him for that. Hell, I had only made corporal, due to some freak accident, that even I still can’t figure out. Against a Drill Instructor, that ain’t nothing worth spitting at.

My fireteam however, for some reason really liked me. Kolbert, Montez, and Ricardo, all three certified morons, or mental hospital escapees. Seeings how I was their team leader and radio operator, that left, Kolbert in charge of the grenade launcher, Montez with his rifle, and Ricardo with his machine gun. All four of us, were an impeccable team. That is of course until we all got separated during Operation Black Mesa. We had trained for this scenario for weeks, but it went to the crapper as soon as those birds got within range of the facility.

To say I miss them, is an understatement, part of me wishes I had died on the osprey, so I could be with them in the life beyond. The other part wants me to carry on their legacy with my words and memories. Hell, who knows, they may not even be dead, if I survived, then maybe some of those crazy bastards did as well.

As the trees around us began to spread thin, an opening in the forest presented a singular tree that stood their with a building nailed into it with a walkway that trailed up the base all the way to a door. It jumped out of the sea of green with vibrant colors that stood out and made the structure look, out of place.

“Here we are Mr. Adrian, The Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse!” Applebloom exclaimed with her fore hooves stretched out in front of her as if presenting a gift to me. So far, I was impressed,

“So, you mean to tell me, you built this?” I asked pointing a finger at the treehouse.

“Well…” She began, kicking a bit of dirt around, “I kind of made it by myself, my friends, and my big sis helped build it a long time ago. But! I-I painted it!” I slowly clapped my hands together,

“Well, it’s very well made, good work.” I proclaimed. After saying this the fillies eyes lit up like light bulbs and her smile grew to the size of full watermelon slices.

“Here! Wait for one moment… I’ll get my friends!” Upon saying this she darted off towards the treehouse. Once her hoof steps trampled up the ramp and into the structure, and silence had surrounded me again, I began holding conversations with myself.

“Treehouse huh? I guess I could see myself building one as a kid, but maybe not like that one…” I began to pace around in circles. “Yeah no, my house would be kickass, it would have a reinforced base platform with struts on the corners that would be sunk into the ground and have concrete poured around it. Then I would have a ladder leading up to a porch, that of which would go all the way around it with fence like guard rails, and 50 cal. Machine guns on all four sides.” I said to myself dreaming away. “Yeah that would be the shit… but maybe a bit impossible, because not many trees grow in my neighborhood, let alone my own backyard.” I said finally coming to a stop.

“Eat a dick desert, eat a dick.” I said kicking the ground.

A few minutes went by and after much patience, the yellow filly returned to me with two more following behind her.

“Adrian, these are my friends, Sweetiebelle, and Scootaloo!” She exclaimed once again presenting them to me. I kneeled down and began to remove my mask. The two stared at me in wonder as my head gear slowly came off. There was an intense amount of awkwardness as I stood there as the two new arrivals gawked at me when the mask finally came off.

“So, you’re friends of applebloom huh?” I asked sitting down on the ground. The two others watched as I came to their level. I could tell they felt intimidated, because they backed off a little when I came to a rest on the ground. The orange one spoke up first in a quivering voice.

“Y-yeah, we’ve been friends for a long time. Practically as long as I can remember.” She said slowly growing closer to Applebloom whom was on her left.

“...Right.” Came a timid Sweetiebelle. Applebloom moved over to me and sat down beside my rifle on my right side.

“Girls, this here be Corporal Adrian Shephard, he’s a Marine from planet Earth,” She exclaimed excitedly. “Me and him just met a few hours ago back on the farm, he told me all about his world and what things are like back where he comes from, it’s really cool, tell them about it Adrian!” She happily said. I look down to see her face aglow and her eyes sparkling like prize diamonds in anticipation.

‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt to say everything I said, again.’ I thought to myself.

“Awe what the heck, i’ll tell you all about it, again,” I said.

1030 hours…

“And that’s how I got here, I think.” I said, finally ending my rant. The two ponies in front of me, eyes and mouths open wide, just stared. Applebloom hadn’t moved an inch, and neither did her smile. The sounds of the wildlife around us became the only sounds that I could hear at the moment, for the fillies weren’t moving a muscle. But, as if someone had pushed the unpause button on their TV remote, Sweetiebelle reanimated.

“That was interesting, your world sounds just like ours, but it’s not at the same time. And so many humans, how do you deal with them all? No wonder Applebloom was so excited.” She said breaking the silence.

“Right?” came a impressed Scootaloo. The two ponies began to talk amongst themselves for a moment, while I looked back at Applebloom, still smiling away.

“Is this what you intended of me?” I asked motioning toward the two talking fillies.

“Well of course! A new friend is always a good thing, especially now that they’ve gotten to know you.”