I wasn't happy at all. I was wearing what I estimated to be 70 pounds in armor, and standing on a moving train. Even with hardened bones, it's hell on your back if you've gone through the abuse my body had.

Top that off with waking up very early from a nightmare to hear crying babies, and the parents not waking up to comfort them. So what did I do? Oh yeah, I got up out of my very comfy, warm bed on the day me and Rainbdrop were shipping out, to go and try and put them to sleep.

It started with me just going, "Shhh," as warmly as a mother might, and when that didn't work, I held them humming a "Go to sleep" song. The foals settled down, until I tried putting them back in the crib. So I held the two again until they calmed down for a second time. Not being an idiot, I knew they'd probably start whining once I set them down again. But I still felt tired. Solution? Sit down with them until we fell asleep.

I'll deal with the fallout later. Sleep now. I thought.

Later came back about 5 minutes later, when the mother came in. I was almost asleep when I heard her gasp. I knew it was her, but I still cracked open an eye. The room was pretty dark, but I could still see her.

She stood in the doorway, staring in horror at me. Slowly, I got to my feet off the chair I'd been in, and walked slowly over to her. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, but she calmed down as I gently laid the sleeping twins on her back.

As soon as the babies were safely on her back, I passed her through the door, and went back into my room, curling up in my now cold human bed, which was like a dog bed, but a little bigger and more cushioned.

Did I get any more sleep? No, no I did not. Cause I overheard the mother talking to her husband.

"I just found Achilles sleeping with the babies!" She hissed.

"What!? Are they alright?"

"Yes, yes they're fine. I just... don't know what to make of that human. It isn't normal. You know how humans treat their own young! Especially the males. I'm glad that it's leaving, I just hope Raindrop comes back safely."

Now knowing I'd fucked up a bit in my dumb human act to the family, I was a little worried about them catching on. Especially after they'd talked to Raindrop about the "incident". I'd made it very clear to her that I didn't want ponies to know, and that she was a special case, but I was still nervous as hell that she'd tell them. But she didn't, thank God.

So where was I? Oh yeah! On a train, miserable as fuck. I'd sit, but there were so many humans and ponies in the train car that it wasn't possible.

The train applied the brakes suddenly, jerking us all forwards suddenly. I almost felt bad for whoever was feeling the combined weight of us all, but I was a bit pissy so I didn't care.

Someone yelled for us to disembark, so we did. As it would seem, we'd literally reached the end of the line. At least in my misery, I wasn't required to help unload all of our supplies with us. That meant wagons upon wagons of food, a mobile smithy, and the command tents. Everyone else was carrying their tents and supplies on the shoulders, except for the human handlers, they loaded their shit on their humans, who looked to be ready to collapse any second by the time dusk came. At least Raindrop had the courtesy to ask me first. Didn't do any favors to my back though.

That's another thing that pissed me off any further. We marched. All day. Nonstop. Without breaks. When I needed a piss I had to go to the side of the column, and piss to the side while walking. The ponies looked at me with confused, yet also amused expressions. If I needed to take a dump, I had to wait for dusk lest I be left behind.

Then there was the cheerfulness. They joked and laughed like we were on a summer stroll instead of a march to war. Raindrop knew better. She'd requested to see more of my memories regarding combat, and knew the horrors of war. In fact, she showed me some kind gestures by nuzzling my hands whenever she saw through my facade of trying to remain emotionless.

Then there were the nights. I suffered nightmares constantly and got little sleep. Even with Raindrop kindly showing me the same support she gave me during training, I still had restless nights. After four nights, the other ponies around me started to notice. Which wasn't too hard to see, even with my helmet on. I was slower, hunched over, and occasionally tripped over my own two feet. If my helmet was off as I was apt to do since I felt like my head was being baked in an oven when I wore it, my eyes were barely cracked open, and there were noticeable dark bags hanging below them.

They were very nervous around me, often whispering to each other their own theories about what could be wrong with me. It didn't really do much to help with my growing anger. What did help was one of the other soldiers giving Raindrop a bottle of Apple Whiskey, telling her to have me drink it. She gave it to me the second she got it, and I proceeded to empty the whole Jack Daniels sized bottle right in front of the guy. He looked almost horrified. Glancing at the bottle, I saw the proof of the drink. 60 percent. Didn't taste too bad. Had the same burn as most drinks, but was oddly sweet, almost overpoweringly. A few minutes later, I was swaying back and forth and trying to walk straight as we continued our journey. I could hear the other ponies laughing a bit, but I was feeling better, almost happy. So I didn't care. Until the hangover came. Now, I was used to drinking too heavily, but add the hangover to all my other issues, and I found myself growling to myself far too animalistically for comfort. Mine or the ponies.

Finally, after two weeks of marching, we reached a stone bridge. Just in time to see a mass of minotaurs on the other side. Their armor reminded me of viking armor, that being chainmail, a metal cap that went down their snouts, and little else. Mostly, they carried with them large axes, even compared to them. A sparse few had swords and shields. One thing they all shared in common, was their size.

Now, I stood about a good foot or two taller than the average pony, and these guys were twice my height. It struck me as odd, since the minotaurs I'd fought in the arena had been more my height. Then it hit me. I killed kids. Fucking hell. To be fair, I couldn't really tell at the time, seeing as that they had deep voices, and acted like men. Not to mention I'd been fighting for my life. Didn't help me feel any better though.

I noticed something else too. They didn't carry a banner like we were. That meant one thing. These were our enemy, the Makriá Kérata. The violent, xenophobic faction that had largely defeated the minotaur kingdom that reigned for centuries, and had invaded Equestrian territory. Huh, finally learned something from Raindrop's mandatory classes. Go figure.

We were given the order to set camp. Thank you God. It might be a bit of a stretch, but I felt like my back was going to snap if I had to walk one more day. I dropped the bags, and fell face first into dirt, groaning in irritation. Raindrop gave me a few compassionate pats on the back, and I could hear her rummaging around the bags to set up her tent. Which reminded me of another thing. I didn't get one. The Department of Wartime Supplies didn't give tents to humans, just some thin blankets that did nothing of any real substance. But at least I finally got some real rest, passing out in exhaustion after a few seconds.

~Next Day~

I woke up gently and slowly for the first time I could remember since... well, since before the war. As I slowly came to my senses, I realized why. Raindrop had huddled up against my back at some point, resting a caring hoof over my shoulder. I idly wondered why I had a decent sleep compared to the other nights as I wiggled out gently, trying not to disturb her.

Maybe it has something to do with having a tent over me? Eh, doesn't seem likely. Must be the sleep deprivation. That seems more likely.

I exited the small tent to see a beautiful sunrise rising above a distant mountain range, the snow on their caps giving off a few sparkles. The only thing that could make this better would be the absence of a war camp that was slowly waking up.

"Morning Achilles."

I jumped slightly, not expecting to hear Raindrop right behind me. She giggled slightly as she came to stand beside me.

"Another wonderful sunrise by Celestia, isn't it?" She asked. I grunted in reply. She'd told me a little about Equestria, including the part about Celestia being the one that manually rose and set the sun each day. I didn't entirely believe her, and rose my objections.

I was forced to believe her in part when she told me about how some ponies had rose their own objections to Celestia, and she had proven her power by making a deal with the lead naysayers. If she could keep the sun from rising for a day, they would attest to the public that she did indeed control the sun. If she couldn't, she'd abdicate the throne to a republic of voted representatives. Needless to say, she did just as she said she would. I remained skeptical, but acquiesced.

"So, how do you feel about this battle? Are you as afraid as I am?" She asked.

In turn, I whispered, not trusting that we weren't going to be overheard, "Not really. I've been doing things like this for years. I'm more worried about you and the army."

"Come again." She said, sounding almost offended.

"I read a few books about the minotaur culture. They're a warlike culture, and their warriors practice fighting any chance they get. They're very ready for combat, even if this is just a rebellion. Add the fact that they are much larger than us in a bodily sense, and then compare us to that. From what I've gathered, Equestria hasn't seen war since the pony tribes. That means inexperienced commanders and soldiers. Our training was remedial for a lack of a better term. The hand to hand combat training was lacking, and our whole combat doctrine hasn't been tested in combat. Don't get me wrong, it looks good on paper. Pegasi dropping rocks and combat potions while harassing the enemy and earth ponies engage hand to hand with unicorn magic support, looks good. But nothing is factually sound until it's been field tested."

"Ok, and why are you worried about me? You saw how well I performed in combat training."

I sighed, "Because you're the only person on this planet that I actually care for. I don't want to lose you." I turned to look at her with serious eyes, "I'll go through hell and high water to make sure you stay safe."

She met me with a soft grin as she rose up onto her hind legs to give me a hug, "Thanks for that, but don't worry about me. I won't die on you."

We patted each other on the back before we let each other go.

Author's Note

Been busy with work, so I got this done on my breaks. That's probably going to be a trend, but I'll try to pump out more chapters