A Few Months After the Events of Soldiers Remnants of Us
Heads up, readers! This is Ribe speak-erm...writing. This is just created off of the top of my head, meaning there isn't any particular direction that was planned for this, so you may be disappointed or happy with the outcome of this. I mean, come on, those other chapters I added to the original story, Soldier Remnants of Us? Those were actually sequels. This is merely another one by the request of one of my viewers and friend, and yes, I admit, my writing skills were cringy at the time I first published the story, so hopefully, this one is more to your tastes.
T'was a pleasure,
-Ribe (Dan)
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In a desolate, peaceful field with long and lush grass with the sun rising in the distance over the horizon that was shadowing the town of Ponyville, two soldiers stood at a white fence, elbows resting on the white paint that coated them as they both stared at the atmosphere that the sun conjured as it made its rise in the sky.
The clouds in the sky, hanging above the town of Ponyville, were glowing in its glorious, orange-yellow radiance, the morning cold being fought off by the inviting warmth.
These two soldiers, Private Second Class Ann Bishop and Second Lieutenant Connor Parker, were watching the sun rise, their expressions neutral as they took in the natural beauty of the land, amazed by the colourful contrast set by nature.
''It's beautiful.'' Said Parker, his voice hanging above a whisper. Ann hummed and nodded his head, back-channeling his thoughts as the same.
''Sure is.'' He agreed. He peered out to the town, watching ponies go on early morning rounds to the shops while other ponies began to set up their stands, bright and breezy and all ready for yet another long market day of business.
It was early, true, but since their time of coming to the town after being mysteriously transported to the land of Equestria, the two have come to be accustomed to the lifestyle of the pony race. They are all equally as hard working, they do their part for their loved ones and do all they can to support them. Life in the small but bustling town of Ponyville was busy, to say the least, especially for the population rate of only around a couple hundred citizens.
There was nothing short of peace in this world.
''Kinda reminds me of home.'' Parker said with a reminiscent smile. He was a country boy. Unlike Ann, Parker grew up in a small farming town, so he was used to civil cooperation and the busy lifestyle. Back on Earth, his family used to live directly in the heart of his town, and that's where they owned a small farm house, complete with wide and open land that stretches for over thirty acres, perfect for crop growing and harvesting during the busy seasons. How he missed those days. On Winter nights, he used to help his mother in the kitchen, baking pies and swiss rolls. ''What I wouldn't give for some apple pie...''
A smirk grew on Ann's lips and he coughed into his hand, much to his friend's bemusement. ''Applejack!''
''Very funny.'' Parker lightly punched him in the arm below his shoulder, earning a laugh from his comrade. ''Although, she does know how to make some pretty amazing pastries, herself.'' He chuckled, picturing himself stuffing his face with some key lime pie and washing it down with some hard apple cider, the golden liquid filled with pure love and care fresh from the hooves of the Apple Family.
''Parker has a cruu-uush!'' Ann said jokingly in a sing-song voice, giggling to himself at the embarrassed blush appearing on his friend's cheeks. ''And he can't denyyyy-aaayyyy!'' He finished before erupting into hysterical laughter.
''S-Shut up! So what if I like her catering skills? A beautiful mare such as herself can make just as beautiful pastries without batting an eye!'' This only caused Ann to laugh harder, pushing his limits and his lungs begin to ache with the lack of oxygen they were receiving.
Always has to play the joker...
''Howdy, you two.'' A voice called from behind the two, catching their attention. Ann and Parker stopped their argument for a moment to spot the owner of the voice, and when they saw it was none other than the farmpony in question, right there in the flesh, Ann's lip quivered for a moment and he momentarily stared at Parker for a second before his laughter reignited in long, hard outbreaks of laughter.
''Uh...was it somethin' Ah said?'' Applejack asked as she approached, brows raised in confusion and lips curled into a frown. ''Ya know what, never mind.'' She waved a hoof dismissively before looking up to meet the eyes of Parker, and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat at the pure, natural beauty that irradiated off of her. ''What're ya'll doin' up here, anyway?''
''O-Oh, hey, AJ. We're just clearing our heads.'' Parker replied, awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck with a hand, lightly kicking his not-so-polished, black leather boot into Ann's side, causing him to stop laughing and climb back to his feet to look down at the orange mare, wearing a soft smile.
''This early? Watchin' the sun rise?'' She asked quizzically with her brow raised. For a moment, she scanned the two over, taking in their postures and expressions. ''Well, Ah suppose a sunset is the golden apple of losing your troublin' thoughts. Ah used ta bring mah sister, Apple Bloom up here sometimes ta clear the air after a bad day.'' She came up beside Ann and stood on her hind legs, placing her front hooves onto the body of the fence and tilting her Stetson hat back over her head and out of her eyes so that she could look on at the sunset with the two soldiers.
''Mmm-Hmm.'' They both agreed simultaneously. ''That's exactly why we're both up here in the first place. I mean, trouble always seems to find us, regardless of what we want.'' Parker said sadly and with a light huff out of his nostrils.
Applejack seemed to know immediately what he meant by that. With a twitch of her left ear and a small frown, a sympathetic appearance made their show in her emerald eyes, an expression that made Parker's heart do cartwheels. ''Ya'll miss 'em, Ah know. All of our friends know. Heck, alla Ponyville knows. Who could blame ya? Ya'll were all pretty close, weren't ya?'' She said, the side of her lip curling upwards while the other remained down.
''Yeah. We were.'' Ann said, glancing momentarily at Parker, noticing his eyes looking down stealthily at Applejack's flanks, but quickly tearing his gaze away as he turned to face him. With a roll of his eyes in comedic amusement of his friend's fondness of the farmpony, Ann turned back to face Applejack, a serious look on his face. ''Hey, Applejack? Why did you and your friends seem so welcoming to us in the first place? I mean, we're the only ones of our species of our kind now that the others are gone, and we were trained to be combat-ready. We are soldiers that carry guns and kill people under orders.'' Ann stated matter of factually. Applejack's face twisted into an emotionless expression, just plain neutral.
''Ah don't know. To be honest, when Ah first met ya, I was kinda unnerved by what you were carryin', even more so when that Sergeant almost stuck a knife in Rainbow's hooves. Ya'll never seemed like ya wanted to hurt us or cause no harm, so Ah figured ya'll weren't really much of a threat to us ponies at the time, and Ah still don't. Ah mean, sure, Edwin did get out of control and nearly killed ya, Ann, but he also almost killed Rainbow, too. It scared all of us, includin' everypony else that found out shortly after.''
Ah. Ann supposed that made a lot of sense. They carried guns and plenty of ammo to spare, along with large, sturdy combat knives that were capable of penetrating and breaking not just flesh, but bones, too. They were all muscular in build and were trained to deal with head-to-head situations that normally narrowed down to the options of kill or be killed.
''Way Ah see it, you chose to help us instead of attack us, an' to me, that's admirable. When we first met, ya'll coulda easily hurt any of us just like any other creature, but ya defended us. Ah don't know if it's because ya simply don't believe in that kinda stuff or if'n ya have some morals to live by, but Ah'm hopin' that it's at least somethin' positive.'' She said, a warm and hopeful smile upon her lips.
Ann shook his head. ''No, no, nothing like that. Me and Parker and the rest of my team didn't choose to become murderers, we were soldiers. When a soldier fights, they protect their country and people, and I don't see a reason for that moral to change because of the ones that need protection are ponies. Human or not, we're not monsters or exterminators for hire.''
A grateful smile found its way onto Applejack's lips and she tilted her hat forward in a thankful gesture before she dropped her hooves from the fence and stood back on all fours. ''Well, thank ya, kindly.'' She said warmly. ''Yer always welcome to stay in Ponyville and Equestria.'' She said before beginning to trot away, briefly sharing a glance at the two before doing so.
She only made it a few paces away before Parker called her name, causing her to turn around upon hearing it. His mouth opened once or twice, yet nothing came out and he remained quiet. With a roll of the eyes and shove of the hand from Ann to his back, Parker proceeded forward, coming to a stop a short distance in front of Applejack.
''Sugarcube?'' She asked, looking up to meet his eyes.
''Uh...AJ? I-I um...'' Parker started awkwardly, stuttering like he had hypothermia. ''N-Never...Nevermind...'' He said, unable to get his own voice out of his throat. Applejack stared at him with tentative eyes and she could see him bit his lower lip in nervousness. ''Nothing.'' He said quietly.
''W-Well, alright, if'n ya say so...'' Applejack said awkwardly and slowly, looking him over with a scanning eye, taking him in, almost as if she could sense his thoughts and feelings. Those eyes of hers were so mesmerizing whenever they met his own eyes.
He watched her take her leave, but again, she stopped to turn her head around to meet the two soldiers. ''Listen, you two, if ya would like ta, me and mah family 'ave been talkin', and agreed that if'n ya'll decided to stop by the farm for a while, or perhaps stay the night, yer more than welcome ta. We set up two beds in a spare room back at the house.'' A warm smile graced her lips, and the two returned it.
''Thank you, kindly, Applejack, we appreciate it.'' Ann said with warmth in his heart. Applejack tilted her Stetson in acknowledgement and carried on with taking her leave. Ann turned to face Parker. ''For a moment, I thought she was gonna offer you a room with her, and-'' Parker kneed him in the gut, taking the wind out of him and stopping his sentence from finishing.
He didn't hit him too hard to cause bruising, but enough to make him stop talking.
With a wheeze and cough, Ann gagged as he attempted to reintroduce his lungs with oxygen and air, and Parker only gave a left-sided smirk at him when his pain filled, watery eyes met his.
''That'll teach ya.'' He quipped. Ann replied with a sarcastic, bemused mumble.
''Ha fucking ha.''