"Sir, Are you sure you wanna do this today? I still think we should hold off a little longer." Romulus asked as he stood in the doorway watching me put on a shirt. His hand was hanging off the upper part of the door frame casually.

"We've already held off for over a week, Romulus!" I responded, pushing past him to grab a leather apron of its hook. "I owe it the ponys to at least start this blacksmith stall again to fix their gear. They got me out of that hell hole of a forest and even helped me put you back together. Besides, I already told Celestia I was opening today, and it'd be a real dick move to go back on my word."

"I know sir, I know. Im just saying you may not be in the right state of mind yet. You practically fell apart the second I got back online, not to mention your lack of sleep I could guarantee is getting to you. Even the last two times this week you tried to sleep, you woke up screaming! I'm sure the princess wouldn't mind if we held off just a tad bit longer." Romulus pointed out. Yes, I haven't been 'all there' since I put Romulus back together. But I felt fine now, and I had a debt to repay.

I sighed, "Romulus, we both know we need money to get on our feet in this world. And We both know there are several broken parts in your head that we don't have the resources to fix yet, and were running a bit low on the essentials besides smithing supplies. We need to get the ball moving NOW if we plan to fix you or feed me. End of story."

A robotic sigh of defeat emanated from Romulus, "Yes, I suppose so, sir. And if we wish to get home, we will need all the funds we can get."

I turned and glared at him. "What do you mean 'go home'? There is no home to return to. Everythings gone. Even if I wanted to visit the crater of Romalaos, we know sweet fuck all about how we crossed dimensions in the first place. That would require years of research, and I'm... no. Im not even gonna bother." I turned back, grabbed a toolbelt to complete my smithing attire, and began loading it with tools.

"But, sir, what if there were other survivors? We can't be certain we were the only ones to escape the cataclysm bomb. For all we know..."

"ALL I KNOW THAT EVERYTHING I KNEW IS GONE!" I shouted over Romulus and cut him off completely. We stared at each other for a minute before I spoke again. "Even if anyone survived, The Arch Elementals abandoned our world, Remember? They wouldn't have lasted long outside the city's shield generator. If the unending quakes and fire rupturing from the earth and the tideless tsunamis didn't kill them. The life-seeking red lighting would have."

Romulus's voice was heavy when he spoke like a wavering sadness and guilt sat upon it. "I Remember... There isn't a day that goes by when I remember seeing our great sun get swallowed by those pitch-black clouds. Never to be seen again."

I felt his metal hand rest on my shoulder. I shook it off and walked to the forge, and knelt down. I snapped my finger while picturing a match flame as a small flame appeared on my finger. I flicked the flame into the wood of the forge as it ignited the charcoal and logs within.

Romulus clearly saw I didn't want to talk about this anymore. So he hastily changed subjects. "Well, If what Captain Shining Armor is true about the state of the guard's gear. Then we will have A LOT of ponies out there wanting their gear fixed. And there are only two of us. How do you plan on serving all of canterlot?"

Graciously thankful for the change of topic. I eagerly responded. "I actually thought about that in advance. We take a certain but rather large amount of orders in one day, but we take the rest of the week working on only those and nothing more. Then we return the orders in bulk and repeat the process until the work dulls down, and we can work on orders as we get them."

"An effective plan, but did you stop to consider that some of these guards have shifts the day after the order or even the same day? They don't have time to wait nearly a week to get their gear back." Romulus stated, being the captain obvious he is.

"Back?" I asked cocking my head. "Im not repairing gear. Im making fresh gear."

"But, sir, that'll take even longer!"

"Yeah, but they will get quality gear and weapons that will last YEARS before they need to be brought back in, considering their 'very intense work.'" I said, holding up my hands in air quotes on the last line. "From what I see, the guards don't do a whole lot of intense work besides catching the occasional shoplifter or thief. They mainly stand around or patrol. So the gear I make will be good and last a while. But it won't be anything to gawk about. Not to mention be very light maintenance. We have the molds and casts for the stuff in the back anyway. It won't be that bad."

I walked over to a lever I rigged up to lift all three of the large rectangular service windows at once and placed a hand on it. "Now, we've held off long enough. Let's get to work." I pulled down as several noises of gears turned camp from the walls as the three windows opened, and gazed upon a large crowd of mare and stallion guards. Mainly stallions.

Romulus and I stared out at the crowd for a few moments. It was less than I expected, but still quite a lot of ponies. "Romulus, give me a head count."

"Around Forty-seven, sir."

"Really? Damn, all right, this week will be a breeze, then. How do you want to split it? Put 'em in two lines and go from there?" I asked, looking up at the living machine next to me. "Bet I could finish my line before you!"

I could see his mechanical eyes drift down to meet mine. Even though he didn't have a mouth. I could tell he was smiling. "Is that a challenge, heir majesty?"

"Maybe it is? Are those old servos of yours making you nervous? Not able to keep up with an able-bodied young man like myself?" I Let my cockiness out with each word.

Romulus stepped forward to meet the crowd of ponies. Two panels on the side of his head flipped open to reveal the two sets of speakers he used for speeches or announcements at dinners. "Attention, ponies of the canterlot guard!" Romulus's voice boomed from the speakers. "I would request that you all to please make two single file lines for us to assist you all quickly and efficiently. As per the request of the blacksmith on hand, we will not be repairing gear. But rather fashioning brand-new gear for you all. So that you may continue your duties with proper attire, it's our promise to have your new gear ready by the end of the week."

There were a lot of murmurs among the crowd as Romulus finished. Some were about the no-repair policy, others about the fresh new gear, but the main discussions were about the one-week wait time.

"One week? We had to wait almost a month with our last smith."

"Now that's fast service!"

"Is the gear gonna even hold itself together with that short of time?"

"Come now, Everypony! Please get into your respective lines so we may get this underway. And please be sure to provide your armor Measurements at the counter!" Romulus added as the panels closed, and he moved from me to the opposite side of the counter. The ponies of the crowd moved as requested into two lines in front of Romulus and me. He looked back at me when he held up three of his metal fingers and started counting down.

3...
2..
1...

I turned to the Mare in front of me. "Welcome To the new Romalaos Smith stall! What shall it be today?"

I Waved at the last stallion as he walked off and closed my notebook, Filled with nearly a hundred orders. It was nearly three in the afternoon, and we had been busy since nine. Once we got through the first forty-seven ponies, they changed shifts, so we had another sixty to take orders for. Which differently put us on the busy side. However, It was alright since I didn't take payment upfront. I run by a "You pay me when you get your product." Makes the process a whole lot smoother, plus when they bring their money around and see how good the stuff I give them is. They'll be more inclined to tip.

I turned and pulled the lever down, and the shutters began to close when I heard a rapid clopping of hoofs. "WAAAAIT!" I heard a familiar voice cry out. I flipped the switch back up, and the shutter re-opened. I saw Shining Armor throw himself onto the counter dramatically. Panting like he just ran a marathon. "I... wanted... to place an order... oh jeez, im outa breath..."

"Hey man, I gotcha. Just take a second and breathe first." I said, grabbing my notebook.

Shining armor stood up and placed a piece of paper on the wooden counter, and slid it over. "No need. I wrote down what I wanted during lunch break. When the mid-day shift came in to relieve some of the other guards, I heard them talking about your stall and how it works, so I took the liberty of doing all that stuff for you. Measurements and all."

I picked up the paper and examined it. It had everything I needed. Except I questioned the nature of the weapon choice that Shining Armor paired with his armor. His armor was meant to be lightweight but provide great protection in vital places. But he paired a halberd with it. And having seen how mobile he is in a fight, I wanted to pitch him a different idea.

"You know these two concepts to work well together, right? You have lightweight armor mixed with a very heavy-handed weapon. The mobility from the armor isn't gonna be as effective." I explained.

"Yeah, but im a unicorn, and I use telekinesis to wield my weapons." Shining rebutted.

"Just because you can make shit float doesn't mean you can mix and match armor and weapons. Because even when that thing is floating, your still going to take time to swing it. And as much as I wish you could multitask dodging attacks along with striking your opponent. That's something not even the human mind can do. It's like rubbing your stomach and patting your head. You can do one or the other really well, but doing both is both crappy and sloppy." I added.

Shining looked at me, thinking. Then he nodded in understanding. "Okay, I see your point. But what does the all-knowing blacksmith recommend?" He said sarcastically.

I overlooked his sarcasm and began explaining his options. "So the first option is to make your armor bigger and more defensive. It'll be slower and bulkier, but it can take way more hits. Better to complement your weapon of choice." I held up a crude drawing for him to see.

Shining shook his head, "Nope. Not how I roll. I prefer to be uninhibited by my armor. It allows me to get ponies out of harm's way faster. We don't get into many actual fights in the guard."

"I figured," I said, crumpling the crude drawing and throwing it behind me. "Now, here's my other thought, and honestly, I think it looks pretty badass in my head." Shining cocked his head at my remark. I shook my head and moved past it. I keep forgetting ponies don't know our swear, not to mention our terminology. "So I was thinking of ditching the halberd and going with a shortsword or longsword. Both have great mobility and pair well with this class of armor, but they are also a favorite of mine. So you'll be getting a top-quality blade." I held up another crude drawing hom shining wield said blade for him to see.

"I like the longsword more. Seems more flashy for a guard." He said, nodding admirably as he looked at the drawing.

"Great! So ill go ahead and change that then and we'll be set!" I said enthusiastically.

"Can I get two?"

"Pardon?" I asked, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Can I get two? Having two would be much more effective than one. Plus, I could stab one in a wall and use it as a step to a high position!" Shining said, not knowing how dumb he sounded.

I sat there and rubbed the bridge of my nose. By the Elements, how could a captain of the royal guard be so fucking stupid? "Do you even know how to wield two weapons at once? It's rather difficult and impractical. That's coming from personal experience."

"Yeah, of course, I do! I learned it at boot camp." Shining retorted. Unswayed from his request.

"Really? I doubt that, considering all the guards I've seen either use a spear or mounted lance. I haven't seen a single one carrying a sword."

"That's because it's reserved for higher-ranking officials such as the princesses or captains. It easily differentiates the low ranks and high ranks. Every captain in boot camp had a sword of some sort." Shining explained.

"I guess that makes sense. But hold up, wait for a second, the Princesses carry weapons?" I asked, surprised.

"Not all the time." He said. "But they do have them. They both have custom-made weapons from an ancient smith from earlier in their rules. Way before you and me. Luna has a custom sword with a crossguard shaped like stretched wings with a crescent moon engraved in it. The blade is moon white, but the handle is a night sky blue. Some say the metal glows with the light of the moon!"

I was eating up every bit of this. I think Shining was too. "What about Celestia? What does she wield?" I asked excitedly.

"oh, she wields a very awesome weapon. It's a spear-axe hybrid polearm that's said to channel the sun's energy itself through it. It's made from pristine sun steel and shines a bright yellow with a brown handle made from the strongest wood in Equestria! The handle was also reinforced with bits of sun steel, so it looked even flashier. And the axe blade has the sun engraved into it that shines the brightest at high noon."

"Alright, alright, enough! By the Elements, you're going to give me a blacksmithing boner!" Shining gave one hell of a laugh at that joke which I joined in on.

"Out of curiosity, though. How do you know what these weapons look like? The princesses don't exactly walk around with them." I asked.

"Oh, they haven't used them in years. Decades even. They keep them stored away in case of an emergency. Celestia showed me them on one of my first shifts as captain, so I knew where to find them on my rounds. I see them now and then." Shining said, seeming to reminisce. "Actually, there's technically a third one for the third princess cadence, but it's just blueprinted, I think."

"Oh, I gotta hear about this. You brought it up, so now I gotta hear it." I encouraged him, trying to get him to spill the beans.

"Oh, I haven't seen them... yet. But I have heard it's supposed to be a spear or trident."

"A trident is a variant of a spear, but whatever. Anyway, here, lemme finalize this, and ill get your opinion on it." I said quickly, finishing a final drawing of Shining's twin swords. "I shortened the blades to hand-and-a-half swords. So there a bit smaller but are still longswords. It's the preferred version for dual wielding, even though I recommend short swords for that regard." I held up the finalized drawing for him to see.

He looked it over and smiled. "It looks great! I love how you added my cutie mark onto the crossguards!" He stopped for a second, like he realized something. "Wait, I never showed you my cutie mark. How did you...?"

"I saw it when you were carrying me out of the everfree forest," I said, winking as I put the plan with all the rest.

"Oh, yeah." he chuckled.

"So hey, I wanted to ask you a question," Shining said, leaning on the counter.

"Aight, shoot," I responded.

"I was going for some drinks with some of the guys tonight. I was curious if you wanted to join us. Take a night to relax." he asked.

I smiled. "Thanks Shining, but I got over a hundred orders to be done by next week. That and I don't drink the adult stuff."

"Oh, come on, sir! Take a night and enjoy yourself, and get to know the locals! I can handle things from here." I turned to see Romulus come out of the back storeroom with a box of ore. He sat it down next to the forge and began shoving chunks into a crucible within the blazing forge.

"You sure, Romulus? You may be better at more things than me. But blacksmithing is one of the few things I got you beat at." I asked, turning around and leaning my back against the counter. Propping my elbows on it as well for more support.

"Of course, sir, Remember im pretty close behind you in this skill. Plus, I'm a bit faster than you." He mocked me since he finished his line way before I did.

I Looked over my shoulder back to Shining. "What time and place?"

"The hoofdrop tavern down in the lower quarter around six or seven tonight. It's just gonna be a sorta 'guys night' with me and a few of the other guards." He said, smiling.

"Well, I guess I'll go. Wouldn't mind raising my opinion with the locals. I've noticed that the ponies around here aren't exactly used to something like me yet." I told, shining, pushing off the counter, and stretching. "But I still got a few hours to work on this shitload of orders. I'll see you then." I gave a two-finger salute and joined Romulus at the forge.

"Right, we'll see you then!"

I looked up at the sign, which Read, "Hoofdrop Tavern." The letters had lights behind them to make them pop out more at night. The sign also had a large custom carving of a horse's hoof holding a large mug of presumable booze, which spilled over the top and down the side of the mug dripping off the bottom.

"Well, this is the place Shining said to meet at," I said as I felt my hand press against my chest. I felt the cold embrace of the necklace with my squadmate's dog tags on the skin below my shirt. "Maybe I'll finally get that drink you all just begged me to get tonight. Bout damn time huh?" I chuckled as I walked to the door and pushed it open.

The tavern was reasonably tame, considering the sun had just gone down. There was a mare and stallion couple at one of the tables on my left, presumably on a date. There was a rather old-looking stallion past out at the bar counter on the right of me. The stallion bartender with a rather fancy-looking mustache and glasses stopped washing out a glass, waved to me, and welcomed me in. Seemingly unphased that such an odd creature just walked into his bar. I could smell grilled vegetables from the grill window behind him as I saw a few ponies running around in the back kitchen. The whole place was primarily made of wood and smelled like booze. But the more pleasant kind, instead of the rank old drunkard kind.

"Hey, Riley! You made it!" I heard a familiar shout from the back of the bar. I saw Shining standing up at a table, waving at me with three other guards sitting around him. I waved back at him and smiled while walking over to the table and taking a seat. Shining sat back down as well.

One of the ponies I sat next to turned away in disgust, covering his nose. "BLEH, by Celestia, bro, do you even shower?" He said in disgust.

"I do, actually. It's just I only have one change of clothes, so my out-and-about clothes are also the sweating my balls off in the forge clothes." I responded respectfully, understanding his disgust. Another unicorn at the table shot a blast of magic at my shirt, which caused a drastic change in the smell of the air.

"There. Smell muffling spell. It should last you till morning. You gotta get more clothes, bro, Or heck. Maybe you should just ditch them altogether," He said bluntly.

"Thanks, but I don't have fur to cover up my junk, so id rather not flash my sack to the entirety of Canterlot," I responded honestly. And a cluster of 'fairs' came from the other ponies at the table.

Just then, a mare unicorn in a cute dress came over to the table with a notepad. "So, will it be the same as usual, boys?" She asked, and the rest of the ponies around me nodded. Shining turned to me and opened his mouth to tell me something.

"Go ahead and get something. It's on me tonight, anyways."

"I'll take whatever is fruity. Surprise me. But no alcohol, please." I told the waitress, who nodded and turned away.

"aw, cmon bro."

"What a woose."

"Get something Heavy!"

Those were the things I heard when I said 'no alcohol.' I calmed the guys down with my hands and explained myself. "Look, guys, I get it. But I never wanted to try it, nor ever needed to. I saw my dad lose himself in this stuff over a few occasions, so I never wanted it. I don't mind if you guys drink. Just don't force me to, alright?"

They nodded as they understood what I meant. "Yeah, I get that." One of the stallions said. I noticed one of the guards checking out the Mare's flank as she walked away. It was subtle, but I could see it.

"So, what made you take up smithing in the first place?" Another stallion asked.

"Believe it or not, it was just a hobby for a while. My true calling was magic." I responded, leaning back in my chair.

"Magic?! But you don't even have a horn?!" The stallion stated loudly.

"Just because I don't have a horn doesn't mean I can't channel magic. Anyone can do magic. All it takes is the right state of mind." I retorted.

"Right," The stallion chuckled. "Next, your gonna tell me that an earth pony can do the same magic a unicorn can."

"If they received the proper training, they very well could." The resulting groans and scoffs from the ponys at the table beside Shining Armor told me they didn't believe me.

The waitress came back over, floating a tray of drinks beside her. She almost got to our table when a larger stallion at a nearby table stood up and pressed a hoof on one of the floorboards she was stepping on, and it broke! Sending the board into the hollow space underneath with the stallion's hood. While the end the waitress was standing on shot upward, throwing her off her balance, and the drinks went airborne. I reflexively stuck out my hand and threw up a sigil of telekinesis and caught the mugs along with the liquid spilling out of them midair before they hit the floor. The other ponies at the table, actually the whole bar, were staring at me in shock. I paid no mind and carefully flowed the liquid back into their respective cups and set them back down on the waitress's tray once she regained her balance.

I sat back in my chair and looked at the rest of the guys at the table, who were in awe. "Told ya."

The waitress quickly floated our drinks in front of their respective pony and walked away. I grabbed mine and took a sip, and was hit by a powerful taste of mixed fruits. Fruit punch, not a bad choice.

"You know, I never caught the rest of yall's names," I stated.

Shining sat up straight. "Oh yeah, I forgot you all haven't met. Well, This orange pegasus over here is Flash Sentry. My personal protege so to speak. He had a lot of promise, so I took him under my hoof as a personal trainee. And he turned out just fine." Flash looked a little flustered and thanked his mentor for the compliment.

"Over here, this large buck of an Earthpony is Applesnack. A transfer from the Manehatten police force looking to get away from the loud and annoying city life." Shining said, putting a hoof around the large stallion's shoulders.

"That's not what I called it, but your pretty spot on," Applesnack said. His voice was deep and had an assertive tone to it, like a leader.

And last but not least, we have another pegasus buck, Spearhead. Who's been an old friend of mine since our boot camp days.

"Hey... good to meet ya, champ"

"Okay, I gotta ask. What in the name of Celestia was that?" Applesnack finally asked, referring to my magic usage moments prior.

"Magic bitch." I responded, taking another long sip of my drink.

"Well, yeah, But I've never seen anything like that. Not even from the Princesses." He rebutted.

"Well, if I have to be specific, It's elemental magic. Magic channeled through the mind and brought to life in elemental sigils and runes."

"Oh gosh, im not drunk enough for this yet," Spearhead said as he began chugging his drink.

"Eh, don't worry. As much as I would love to give an in-depth explanation of the ins and outs of my magic and its history. You aren't the right crowd for it. You probably just wanna hang out, get really drunk, and have a good time." I said, sighing into a frown as I looked into my drink. "Just like the boys did."

I guess Shining noticed my rather dull expression and had to say something. "You okay, Riley?"

I looked up and responded with as best a smile I could muster with all the memories going around in my head. "Yeah, yeah. Just, this is all well and good. You guys are great. It just reminds me of the nights I did this exact thing with my old detachment back home."

Flash put down his drink and looked at me, shocked. "You were in the military? I didn't expect that."

"yeah, neither did I! But I got forced into a leadership role as my first position, believe it or not. It happened so fast it was like *that*" I said, snapping my finger for emphasis. "our main general, who led our military for the good chunk of over 300 years, turned traitor on us and started a whole mess of trouble that had a lot of people dead. I stepped up and removed him from power. Forcibly." The others were very interested in this story and got the message I was making. "Unfortunately, nobody other than my parents and I knew the ins and outs of the military as he did. And they were both busy with other tasks at that moment. So I took charge and did my royal duties as a prince would for his kingdom."

"Wait, hold on a second. First, you say you can do magic, then you say you were in the military, And NOW you say you're a royal? A prince?" Applesnack said in disbelief.

"Im only a prince in my homeland. Not here. You don't see me waving around a prince title while walking the streets of canterlot. A royal is only as royal as HIS kingdom lets him be in HIS domain. Not the world. Royalty is a very rare privilege, not a right." I corrected. The rest of the group nodded at my wise words.

"well said," Shining said before sipping his drink.

"hey, your captain of the guard. I don't think you can say that." I joked.

"You don't see me on duty, do ya?" He laughed, getting a few chuckles from the rest of us.

"Now, continuing my story. I have taken the role of this for a while, and im doing pretty well. But with the nature of my people's extended lifespan of 500 years and me being barely thirty in years but genetically looking, I was a mid-teen with an underdeveloped brain. My dad was scrambling to find a replacement so I could live a normal childhood. Spoiler alert, he never found someone. Yada yada yada, and Im on a deployment with four other guys leading under me. Well, three guys and a girl, to be exact.

A cluster of "oooooo's" From the other guys clearly saw where they took that statement. "Oh, grow up, guys. She was a lesbian anyway." Spearhead gave an aw but got chuckles from the rest of the guys.

"Well, who were these guys and gal?" Flash asked.

"Well, the first guy's name was Sera. He was our recon, a scout, if you will. He was lethal with long-range weaponry and our airstrike coordinator. He was socially awkward and kind of a basket case, but he had great fuckin cooking. I'll tell ya what."

"Oh, so Flash, when he first joined the guard," Shining said, making everyone but Flash laugh.

"Yup, that checks out!" Spearhead added. Causing more laughter.

Once I got done wiping away my tears. I continue. "Alright, so the girl's name was Sarah. She was loud, bombastic, and buff as shit too. But kinda dumber than a box of rocks when it came to anything but a fight. She was the person you gave a six-pack of beer and a guy's name, and she would come back with the guy's two front teeth. She always had your back."

"Man, she sounds HOT!" Spearhead stated loudly.

"Im gonna be honest, SHE WAS! But unfortunately, she had a girlfriend back home in the royal guard. So she wasn't available. Although the more I think about some of our interactions with her and me. I think she was hinting at a threesome. Im not sure, though. She was pretty dumb, but she was a good friend."

"Dang, Well, who next on the list of companions of old!?" Flash asked.

"That spot belongs to our boy Eren Donatella. The team's combat medic who was the EDGIEST MOTHERFUCKER you could meet. He always had a hood on and gave no shit about blood. He had the steadiest hands while under fire and holding a scalpel and was deadly with a shotgun. Rarely spoke, but when he did, he was pretty cool."

"Sounds pretty interesting. I wanna meet him." Applesnack said aloud.

"Of course, you would," Shining said, hitting Applesnack jokingly in the shoulder.

I sighed as I prepared to introduce the last guy. "Last but not least, we have my best friend Jackson. He was our local comedian. Cracked damn good jokes and always had a smile on his face, which was contagious to others. But also a brilliant guy strategy-wise. He was my second in command and the guy I went to talk to when shit was just too much to handle on my own." I stopped as I felt my eyes get wet again, and my hand pressed to my chest where my necklace was. "The best friend a fucker like me could ask for."

"Well, Clearly something happened to you all. Since you've gotten pretty choked up about it." Shining stated what all the others seemed to agree with. With a heavy heart, I sighed and reached down my shirt, and grabbed hold of the cold metal of the necklace and dog tags. I pulled them out from under my shirt and over my head and set them on the table, necklace and all.

"What are those?" Flash asked.

"Dog tags, mine included. Extremely durable military name tags everyone in the military had back home." I paused for a moment, reliving an unpleasant memory. "They had many uses, but a couple of common ones was to identify a fallen soldier if their face was beyond recognition or for the family to take home when the soldier dies in active duty."

The ponies at the table stared at the tags for a few seconds before realizing what I was implying.

"Oh, oh gosh, Im... im so sorry," Shining said, trying to be empathetic.

"Don't be. It was a long time ago, and it wasn't your fault or anyone's but my own." I replied. Grabbing the tags and putting the necklace back around my neck, and tucking it down my shirt.

"You wanna talk about it?" One of the guys asked while I was looking down at my drink.

"Nope, and I don't think I ever will. But I owe it to them to have that one drink they always pressured me to have when we went out. As a final sendoff to the boys above." I stood up and waved down the bartender. "Get me a shot of Apple whisky! Best one ya got!" I shouted and he gave me a nod.

I sat back down, and the guys gave me a few reassuring "yeahs!" and some hoof claps. It didn't take long for the waitress to come out and put a glass down in front of me, filled with a golden brown liquid. I picked it up and looked at the rest of the guys. "To brothers in arms, past, present, and future!"

"I can drink to that!"

*clink*

Author's Note

Helloooing! Wow, fast as heck chapter, huh! It's a little short, yeah, but I've been riding this inspiration high. I figured I'd just write out something before I went to bed for work tomorrow. I also did a little experimentation with my writing here so I hope it works out.

there's also a super surprise cameo in this one from one of my fav fimfics (I have a lot) Let's see who notices the lad, as a note he is note mine and I don't claim him as mine.