Rotten Apples

by TheLionPaladin

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Romance, Adventure
Length: 19869

Though love has blossomed in Ponyville. A dreadful war threatens to throw Applejack's love into jeporady. Will Applejack be able to survive her grief?

(An epic collab between Sneaky and myself) Dr Stable and Applejack, having confirmed their bond are soon to be expecting a foal, however when conflict breaks out in the far corners of Equestria. Dr Stable is forced to act as conscripted medical help for the army there. Leaving his pregnant love behind for a conflict he knows nothing about Dr Stable must battle for his survival. However when Applejack receives a letter stating that Dr Stable is missing in action she must decide, move on or hold onto the hope that her love is still alive.
This story reflects the horror of war, the power of hope and the satisfaction of love that prevails.
(Inspirations include parts of Les Miserables, parts of War Of the Worlds and my studies of World War II. Please comment and share your views on this story)

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-26 13:20:01 UTC

Forever Autumn

It was about noon on the 18th of September, a time where the once clean roads of regions throughout Equestria were now being smothered by the deep layers of brown leaves, shed from trees like tears as if mourning the nearing death of summer and the birth of a colder Autumn and then a bitter winter. On the road to an apple orchard not far from Ponyville was a melancholy looking figure. The pony’s slow, trudging body language and the appearance of a lonely tear on his majestic face betrayed his true feelings to anyone who might have seen him. As he trudged a luke warm breeze caught his face, blowing back the golden unicorn’s mane revealing his tear stricken eyes to non-existent passers-by. At long last the unicorn had finished his painful exodus from the town and had reached the door of the barn house. He looked up at the tall majestic structure of the building and sighed; he raised his hoof and knocked about three times on the door of the building. After a brief pause the door opened beholding the small frame of a filly. Dr Stable smiled weakly at Applebloom and asked politely.

“Hello Applebloom, could I see either your sister or your grandmother, I would like to buy some apples?”

Applebloom who was originally surprised and rather pleased by the appearance of the visitor was now suddenly concerned by the melancholy appearance of Dr Stable. She saw past the weak smile and looked instead to his tear stung eyes and his rough unchecked mane that resembled something like tumble weed. Applebloom smiled weakly but continued to raise her eyebrow at the unicorn.

“Okay Dr Stable,” she immediately disappeared into the house again, where Doctor Stable could only just hear her calls to her elders.

“Applejack! Granny smith! We got a customer.”

“I’ll get it!” said the frail old voice of Granny Smith; however he was instead answered by her granddaughter Applejack who smiled weakly.

“Sorry for ye waitin Doctor, she is a little…aged.” She said letting of a little chuckle, suddenly she was shocked, a little more so than Applebloom was, by the appearance of the Doctor.

“Oh my….Doctor you look worse than a rabbit when the wolves have done with it. What in tarnation happened to you?”

Dr Stable sighed again and put down his face so she could no longer gaze into his distressed eyes. “It’s…..nothing…..could I please just buy a few apples…..?”

Applejack never liked to see anypony upset, she may have not known Dr Stable that much, apart from when Rainbow Dash was in hospital or when Granny Smith needed her hip sorted but she couldn’t just let this slip. She sighed and gave the doctor a very concerned look.

“Look I’ve got some cider in the barn; maybe you could have a drink and tell me what’s wrong.”

The doctor sighed, he looked up again and saw the face of the orange earth pony, she smiled back at him and the doctor immediately felt a sort of sharp pain which immediately turned into a weird, addictive feeling he had not felt in a while. He kept his head up this time and politely said.

“Alright, thank you Miss….”

Applejack chuckled raising a hoof to interrupt him.

“Just call me Applejack Doctor…”

The Doctor impersonated what the Earth pony had done before smiling weakly.

“Please…call me Jonathan. I am Dr Jonathan Stable.”

Applejack smiled at the progress she had made into getting his trust she smiled enthusiastically and nodded.

“Alright, Jonathan then.” She said, trotting over to the barn slowly. Jonathan however was frozen to the spot, He was dumbstruck by the kindness of a pony he barely knew and the feeling that was now entering his body, he no longer felt the crushing sadness he had felt before, he was feeling…butterflies in his belly! Applejack turned to look at the stationary dumbstruck pony and chuckled.

“What’s wrong Jonathan, stuck in the mud?”

Jonathan shook his head quickly, getting himself back into the real world, he smiled weakly however still walking quite sadly, but with an almost faster speed, as if he wanted to get as close to Applejack as possible, as if he needed to get closer.

When she arrived at the barn Applejack opened the door gently making sure not to knock anything that could possibly be being stored behind it. She smiled at the interior, quickly making a check of everything, the piles of apples, the piles of hay and most importantly, the few spare barrels of cider. She carefully rolled one of the barrels of the pile carefully with her front hooves making sure that it did not roll out of control at last she put it near the entrance where Jonathan was standing and propped up the barrel carefully, he went back to the barrel pile to collect a wooden mug she then passed the mug to Dr Stable who sighed and gingerly accepted it. He carefully placed his mug at the bottom of the tap of the barrel. Applejack smiled and carefully turned the tap on with her hooves, taking extra care not to overfill the mug. She then smiled weakly at the doctor.

“Now be careful, this is the strong batch you should drink it slow-“Applejack’s plea was ignored by the doctor as he grabbed the mug, not caring about using his slow magic and quickly drank the strong contents of the mug in almost two seconds, he then slammed the mug down again, his face showing early warning that he was about to burst into tears and demanded another mug.

“Jonathan, I really hope you not trying to drown your sorrows…you being a doctor should realize---“

“NO! I NEED IT!”

“No you don’t Jonny. You don’t NEED the cider.”

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGH!”

Jonathan soon was in crying hysterics, his face now crimson as his ocean blue eyes spurt forth an ocean of tears.

“NOT A CLUE.” He went silent now, suddnely he collapsed on the floor, no longer screaming and instead just sobbed, leaving almost a puddle on the floor.

Applejack sighed and smiled weakly trotting over slowly to the crying unicorn; she carefully placed her hoof on his back, stroking him slowly like a loving owner does to a dog. The crying unicorn looked up at the orange pony showing his tear stained face. Applejack smiled warmly at him and unexpectedly put her head close to his and gently nuzzled him.

“Now tell me Sugarcube, what’s got you this upset?”

The Doctor sighed and looked up at her and that addictive feeling came back again, he saw the beautiful face of the orange pony, the cute freckles that rested majestically on her face as well as the her long adorable pony tail that she had turned her mane into and her soft, groomed orange hair. He felt that addiction again….He knew he could talk her.

“It’s a very long story.”

Applejack smiled at her companions co-operation giving him another nuzzle.

“I’ve got plenty of time; Big mac is doing the apples today.”

Doctor Stable smiled and began his story.

“It was almost exactly this time three years ago….Since……My wife was taken away from me. She was…a bit like you, a beautiful hardworking pony, except she was a unicorn like me, we had met at medical school and we had fallen in love almost instantly, we got on more than bees with flowers, and probably needed each other as much as them. About five weeks before she died we…. decided we wanted a…foal...” Jonathan chocked the last word out before nearly bursting into tears again; Applejack lovingly patted and cooed him, stroking him with her hoof slowly.

“It’s okay sugar cube. Keep going.”

Jonathan swallowed and closed his eyes.

“Her name was Arwen featherton, her cutie mark was a phoenix feather, as she also prepared for the autumn so well by collecting up all the leaves and helping the animals gather food, to show from the cold ashy death of summer…a new season, Autumn could be born... I was at her side when she died……It was Autumn two years ago she…….she…..Was about to give birth to our baby foal….and he….he.” Jonathan could barely finish the sentence and soon was close to collapsing into tears again, Applejack had to go close to him, nuzzling him like a beautiful lioness to try and emotionally prop him up.

“Keep going Sugar cube.”

Jonathan closed his eyes croaking out pathetically.

“He was born dead, and the other doctors……couldn’t restart his heart….and Arwen…my sweet Arwen….she she……..died from the blood loss….and the sight of….her dead foal……”

He paused and tears soon rolled in fountains down his golden face, Applejack continued to hug him tightly and cooed more so and softer.

“Oh no no no no Sugar cube. It’s okay…it’s okay.” She patted him gently, Jonathan raised his head again looking at Applejack, and he saw that she was crying as well. He sniffed and raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you crying Applejack?” He croaked.

“It’s because….your story….was so sad….and it is sad to see a friend of mine so…..distressed.” She hugged him tightly nuzzling him smoothly and gently, her face stained with tears from nuzzling her new found friend. She then smiled warmly and cuddled him close and soon she felt a sharp pain, almost identical to what the unicorn had felt previously and before she knew what she was doing she had slowly licked his cheek. She immediately retracted her face going as red as the apples she picked.

“I’m so sorry…..I wasn’t thinking!”

Jonathan smiled weakly. “Yes….Thought kills action….”

Applejack looked at the poetic pony and chuckled, she rested her hoof softly on Jonathan’s head, just resting it there, and slowly she started stroking his mane, untangling it, straightening it, returning it into a mane instead of demented tumbleweed. While this was happening Dr Stable blushed a bright red, forgetting his sad nature and chuckled.

“Applejack……what are you doing.”

“Fixing something, just wait there a second.”

After about another minute her work had been done and Jonathan’s beautiful chocolate mane had returned. She chuckled slightly at the improvement.

“I might not be one of those fancy fashion people like Rarity, but I know a handsome looking Pony when I see one.”

Jonathan was now as red as a tomato; soon ideas were rushing through his head. Does she like me, I think I like her too, is it just the cider talking?

Applejack started laughing, amused by her friend’s crimson colour.

“Awww you’re so cute when ya blush, even cuter then you are normally.”

Applejack looked into Jonathan’s eyes; she fell in love with those majestic and beautiful ocean blue eyes. He loved his repaired chocolate brown mane and his golden hair. He also looked adorable in his cute reading glasses, whatever resistance she had before was gone, she could barely help herself as she leant in slowly into Jonathan, as if she was about to nuzzle him again, but before he could think she kissed him deeply, accepting now the feelings she had felt before. Jonathan blushed deeper but didn’t resist, he kissed her back, passionately stroking her, forgetting how he had previously started the day. They retracted slowly, barely believing what they were doing; they smiled at each other and gave each other a loving nuzzle, confirming their new bond. It was now Applejack's turn to blush as she thought.

“You can pick apples right?”

(By Sneaky) The Letter

The perfect weather and beautiful sunset taunted Dr. Stable as he slowly dragged himself towards home.

Groaning, he opened the mailbox as per usual.

Junk mail. Why do these stupid businesses send us this crap? It's just gonna get thrown out.

He brought it in anyways, slamming the door behind him and throwing it on the counter.

A certain envelope caught his eye for a second, but he was too tired to care.

Couch spotted.

Prepare for impact.

With a satisfied groan, he sank into the sofa, relishing the plush cushions and savoring the long-awaited relaxation.

Ah, rest at last...

"Joooonathan!"

Dr. Stable felt a ping of frustration prick his forehead as Applejack's voice sounded through the halls of their home.

If she yells like that again-

"Jonathan, sugar! Where are ya?"

"What!?" he snapped, sitting up. As soon as he saw her, he quickly regretted snapping at her. She stood, stricken at her husband's unexpected reaction. Her emerald eyes wavered, mouth hung agape.

His features softened, and contorted with fear at the prospect of his beloved wife being angry, or worse, hurt by him.

"Applejack, I-I'm sorry. Please, I just had a really rough day."

She ignored his apology. Instead of listening, she did a one-eighty degree turn and walked back the way she came.

Jonathan followed. He wasn't about to let it go at that. "Please listen, Applejack. I know what I did was uncalled for, but you have to forgive-"

As if the universe were conspiring against him, his intentions of convincing Applejack were flaunted as one hoof tripped over the other and he ended up in a tangled mess on the ground.

Why can't anything go right today?

*Smooch*

He looked up, surprised to see a smiling Applejack standing over him.

"Ya big klutz. I can't stay mad at ya for long."

Red as a beet, he stumbled his way back onto his hooves.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"It's what I said, ain't it sugar?" she said, nuzzling him.

Though he was glad she seemed so ready to forgive, it made him a tad suspicious.

"So, Applejack?"

"Yes?"

"What was it you were going to tell me?"

Applejack stopped nuzzling, and looked up at him. Just from her expression, he could tell it had taken some working up just to attempt to bring it to his attention, and that his snapping at her had almost been a nervous relief. Now, she was again faced with the task.

"Jonathan... Ah know this wasn't planned, and we've only been married for about a year, but..."

She blushed red, repeatedly averting her eyes and bringing them back to meet Jonathan's.

"...I'm pregnant. Ah just found out a few days ago."

The words echoed in the hollow cave that was his mind. Pregnant? His Applejack?

He stood frozen, causing Applejack to shift on her hooves. They hadn't talked about it much, so she was kept in suspense as to whether he would be happy or not.

"A baby, huh?"

Her forehooves crossed, anticipating what was next. "Yeah. You ain't mad, are ya?"

His features softened, as he realized just how worried she  had been. "Oh, Applejack. Oh Applejack." It was all he could say. Being wordless, he instead expressed himself by picking her up and twirling her around.

Applejack had always tried to impose the vision that she was a strong pony. She didn't often let others make her seem weak or helpless. But right now, she couldn't help but melt into her stallion's strong arms, and let him protect her. From what, she didn't know. But she could pretend.

She sighed upon landing on her feet again. Taking one long moment to stare into his, she kissed him deeply. Passion coursed through their veins, and as they broke the kiss, a look Jonathan knew all too well played on Applejack's face.

"Bedroom?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Give me five. I'll call you when ah'm ready," she said, walking past him seductively and letting her tail drag along his nose.

He sighed deeply, watching her swaying hips work their way into the hallway entrance. Wanting those five minutes to pass quickly, he decided to keep himself occupied.

The letters. What was it that caught my eye earlier?

He started sifting through them. Eventually he found the guilty party, a letter from the Canterlot Palace.

Canterlot Palace? I wonder what this could be...

Upon reading it, his face turned a sickly pale.

"Sug-aaar! Better get in here, before ah get cold!"

He just continued to stare at the letter.

No. Please no. Just when things were going right!

"What are ya doin'!" Applejack's head poked around the corner. Her mane was undone, flowing over her like golden silk. "Quit teasin' me, and git in here!"

She saw his face, and realized something was off.

"Jonathan, hun? What's wrong?"

Walking over, she noticed the letter he was holding, and snatched it from his grasp.

"Let's see this... Oh."

She turned to him, tears welling in her eyes as the impact of it hit her like a train.

She sniffled. "Jonathan... Please tell me everything'll be okay..."

He pulled her in and hugged her close. It was all he could do to comfort her without lying. They cried together, not wanting to believe in the future that was yet to come.

For Whom the Bells Toll

Jonathan looked sadly onto the letter that was laid in front of him on the table, barely believing what was happening to him in less than a few hour’s notice. He turned his head slowly and looked sadly out of the train’s window to take one last glance at what he would leave behind.

He saw the yellow form of his brother Caramel as he grudgingly raised and waved his hoof again. He saw a group of not so familiar ponies waving goodbye to their friends and family, some for more happy reasons, other for similar. Jonathan searched through the crowd, his eyes digging for any kind of familiar faces and soon they came into view.

Jonathan gave off a weak smile as the tall and strong figure of Big Macintosh came into few, at the sides of the gentle giant was the small fragile frame of Applebloom whose face was now branded with a deep sadness but what really made Jonathan sit up in the trains seat was the emerald eyes of his beloved. Applejack’s hair was still not tamed and remained un-tied from the close encounter she and Jonathan had almost engaged in. Big Macintosh did not raise his hoof, he did not need to, his face did not show the familiar signs of deep sadness, and his face remained as neutral as it ever was, but it was his eyes that betrayed his true feelings, there were no tears but they looked hurt, longing and empty. Applejack’s mane was still un-tied and her hat rested carefully on her head, her emerald eyes and face were still stained with tears and even as she looked at her lover on the train tears were already being produced and began to leak onto her freckled cheeks.

Jonathan soon showed the same sadness and closed his blue eyes as a tear trickled down his cheek.

Suddenly Big Mac lowered his head and the two other members of the Apple family nodded, Applejack, her eyes still streaming tears took off her hat and with surprising strength chucked it into the air. With a huge amount of luck it did not fly away and instead went up and then landed again next to Applejack much like a ball does. Jonathan had no idea what this was supposed to mean until he heard it. After this signal the bells of Ponyville played a tune, the very tune the lovers had the bells play at their wedding. Jonathan’s ocean blue eyes soon began to stream tears as he looked at his Applejack; he slammed his hooves against the window, heavily frustrated at path being made for him. Applejack smiled weakly as her eyes streamed tears as if to reassure him things were going to be okay.

At this moment the train made a deafening roar as the engines were turned on and soon Jonathan was swept away. From everything and everyone he had ever loved.

It would take a full hour of the journey to Canterlot for him to calm down, luckily for him he was one of the only people on this journey and had the whole carriage to himself. He finally settled back into his seat, finally taking his hooves away from the window and instead closed his eyes tight running out of tears to cry.

He looked back at the table and placed on top of it were three items. First was a small bag with spare clothes and a sandwich that had been hastily made in the thirty minutes notice the letter gave them. He turned to the other object which was a small box and he smiled weakly at it. He opened the lid slowly with his magic and soon levitated slowly and carefully analyzed the contents. They were all scrolls but instead of words the scrolls bore pictures, pictures of the wedding that had taken place almost a year ago. He knew that when Spike had offered to take them that they would be of great value. He smiled at the picture of him and Applejack embracing after the ring had been placed over his horn and the other ring placed over Applejack’s tail. He chortled in pleasure at the next picture of all the wedding guests with him lying on his back, propped against Applejack nursing a bump on his head which he suffered when one of the bride maids had miss heard flowers as flower pots. Though it had been rather painful at the time, no one could stay angry at poor little Derpy. Jonathan quickly flicked through the rest of the pictures until he carefully placed them back in the box, fearing they might cause another sob.

He then looked at the letter and his blood nearly boiled, the envelope of the letter was extravagant for what it was, it was made of very fine paper and had the royal stamp of the two princesses on it, though Jonathan had doubted and could barely believe that Lunar and Celestia would agree to or approve and order of such barbarity. Jonathan was not careful as he used his magic to almost tear the letter from the envelope and soon re read it again in a futile hope that maybe the letter had re wrote itself from the last time he read it. Sadly for him it was not true and still bore the barbaric order.

By order of High Princesses Celestia and Luna and High Council of Equestria.

You Dr.J. Stable must go to the city of Canterlot and enlist for conscription of Medical help to assist the army in its recent struggles with the fascist forces of General Monkel. Refusal or resistance to obey this order is an act of treason and will be met with extreme force.

Sincerely Princess Celestia.

Had Jonathan not needed it to get into Canterlot he would ripped up, crumbled and then violently burnt the letter and then trampled on the ashes, he had to leave his love, family and life to play doctor in a conflict he knew nothing about. Who the hay was General Monkel anyway? This question frustrated and annoyed the doctor for the rest of the three hour journey, making him fidget and slam the table every so often in anger.

After what seemed to be forever the train finally reached Canterlot, of course going through the guard post first to expel any changelings that could of got onto the train, apon reaching the Canterlotian train station Jonathan was shocked by the sheer number of guards, he had heard stories of how many had been at the Royal Wedding but he was pretty sure this number trumped any magnitude of guards that had been at the wedding.

The station was literally gleaming just from the glint of armour yet there was very little movement, the guards staying in one place and sticking there. As Jonathan carefully trudged of the train with his goods placed carefully in a saddlebag that Applejack gave him it appeared that every guard began to look at Jonathan as if he had a mark of death branded on his forehead. Soon he realized why however as he looked at his flank which bore as normal his heart monitor cutie mark. There was now a deafening silence as Jonathan grudgingly walked on, as if the guard’s knew what had happened to him and were giving him an honourable moment of silence.

As Jonathan walked aimlessly through the streets of Canterlot he could see more evidence of the severe state of emergency. Everywhere he looked, from the spiral towers of the city to even spas and restaurants the city was swarming with guards or ponies bearing military arms. After what seemed like hours of wandering Jonathan heard a distinct calling.

“Doctor Stable! Doctor Stable!” At this calling Jonathan turned quickly to see a very heavily armoured unicorn trot up to him, Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows as he saw the white haired and blue maned unicorn approach. He had seen him somewhere but could not remember were from. Soon the purple armoured unicorn had reached him and did a small salute.

“Hi, are you the doctor from Ponyville?”

Jonathan sighed and nodded, slightly saddened by the mention of his home, suddenly however he could hear a weird tapping, he looked up again to see the unicorn tapping the ground excited with an almost crazy grin on him.

“Do you know a unicorn known as Twiley...Oh I mean Twilight Sparkle. If so how is she?”

“Oh yeah she’s great actually she is doing a-.” He sighed in a melancholy nature however he soon realized where he had seen this unicorn from; it was from Twilight’s photo album that Spike had shown him to show the results of some of his other works. He raised his eyebrows that the captain of the royal guard and now Prince of the Crystal empire, would take such an interest in a lowly doctor from Ponyville. He soon quizzed Shining Armor on this and he chuckled.

“I took an interest in you because you’re a friend of Twiley and any friend of Twiley is a friend of mine also I am not captain of the guard any more, I am high general now, one rank below field marshal Haig.” At this he proudly pointed to a large medal on his armour while blushing. Jonathan sighed sadly.

“Wow…that’s great.” He said very unenthusiastically. At this Shining raised an eyebrow but almost immediately he realized what was the problem and he sighed.

“Look...Jonathan I think, yeah well I am not happy with this conscription of doctors. No one is, not even the princesses, only Haig really wanted and he managed to convince them it was necessary. Twiley told me about your wedding to….JackApple…No Applejack that’s it and being a married stallion myself I can understand how painful it is to be separated from them for just a few hours. Let alone months and it was not even your choice.”

Even though Shining was speaking in a voice softer than silk he could see his words were about to set Jonathan into tears again, he sighed again and gave him an encouraging smile.

“Why not treat yourself here in Canterlot; I can give you a couple of spare bits. Why not go to the…..pub. There’s a pub here called the one eyed Pegasus. Many other ponies in a similar situation to you are there. Maybe you can have some fun, maybe make some friends before we depart in two days or so.”

Shining then took from a pocket in his armour using his magic a small money bag this, which he then carefully placed in Jonathan’s saddle bag and he smiled giving Jonathan a small hoof punch on the shoulder.

“Come on…Applejack wouldn’t want you to be sad.”

Jonathan looked up at last at Shining who was actually wincing, wandering if it was the best idea that he had mentioned Applejack. However Jonathan actually smiled.

“You know your right. Thank you for the bits. Where is this pub again?”

Shining smiled encouragingly. “It’s on Liberation street, it’s called the one eyed Pegasus. Actually in fact it’s about 7 o’clock now. Happy hour will have started. You better hurry before the queues get too long.”

With this Jonathan gave a weak smile and looked at a nearby sign post, he smiled as he saw the label of liberation street and headed in that direction. Shining smiled at him and quickly made himself a mental note.

Keep a very close eye on that one.

The One Eyed Pegasus

Jonathan looked up at the building which would serve as his pleasure base for today or maybe until he was deployed. The building stood out from the rest of the Canterlot structures. Instead of being made of the rich white stone with spire towers nearby and with colourful canopies the pub was actually made of fine timber, the pub had only one window with a large sign above it stating the name. The one eyed Pegasus, as well as a classic pub illustration of the name of a grinning grey Pegasus with an eye patch. Jonathan slowly breathed in, after that incident with the guards he had no idea how people would react to seeing that he was a medic, he certainly didn’t want that awkward watching feeling again. Slowly he approached the strong wooden door of the pub and gingerly opened it.

The sight that met him was unbelievable, especially for a place like Canterlot. The pub had an aura of cosiness. There was a fire brightly burning on the west wall and there was a bar on the east wall with a mahogany bar table around it. Scattered around the pub where other tables made from this fine wood with a variety of people eating and drinking there. He saw guards taking off their helmets and sharing a laugh as they downed a pint of cider. He saw a family having a meal there with the foals having a more foal friendly drink of apple juice. However to Jonathan’s despair the pub was packed. The tables or certainly the single ones were all occupied with costumers. Jonathan stood there; shaking his head vigorously in the hope there might be at least one table to sit on. It appeared somepony had noticed his distress and soon he heard somepony say something to him.

“Hey…..You…there’s a space here.”

Jonathan turned quickly towards the news and saw a large wooden table, around it sat four other ponies and each one of them was looking at him. One was smiling at him, a stallion unicorn with a grey coat and a white stripe going down his dark blue mane. He continued to smile and using his magic he pulled the spare chair from under the table out, the chair being between the smiling Pegasus and a brown earth pony.

“Well do you want a seat or not?” said the unicorn carefully, as if he sensed that Jonathan was a shy type.

Jonathan adjusted his glasses carefully blushing. “Why…err. Thanks.” Jonathan carefully trotted over and took the seat gingerly as if sitting down in a wrong manner would cause all the other ponies to run him through. After taking his seat a Pegasus with a light blue coat and a similar white stripe going down her same coloured mane chuckled.

“Wow brother you can lead a pony to a table. Now let’s say if you can make it drink, unlike Daniel over here.”

She then playfully prodded a snow white stallion unicorn that was blushing bright red. He nervously whispered reminding Jonathan a bit of Fluttershy.

“I just don’t like alcohol okay……”

The other unicorn chuckled.

“Rubbish, you’re just a light weight, what about that time you went to that Royal guard meeting. You had one pint and you were singing some song about goblins.”

The shy unicorn soon almost stood up, his hazel eyes suddenly going fierce as he stared down the guard.

“I am not a lightweight Benethor!” Suddenly realising what he had done after he looked at the shocked expression on the female Pegasus’s face he shrank back into his seat while Benethor’s eyes were still wide in surprise.

“Okay Daniel….”

The Pegasus soon slapped Benethor on the head he howled in pain and rubbed his head.

“Hey what was that for.”

“Well had you not been such a stupid younger brother you would have realized how rude we’ve been to our new guest. We haven’t even introduced ourselves!”

Benethor kept rubbing his head wincing and scowling at his sister, mostly due to the embarrassment.

“Well okay…Well I’m Benethor but you have probably already heard.” He then pointed to his sister. “This is Caterina, the only Pegasus ever in our family so she has always been very strange…”

Benethor received another whack for this after a brief moment of howling and rubbing he continued.

“The unicorn over there is Daniel, he is a medic apparently before this conflict and conscription business he was an eye surgeon.”

Daniel lifted his snow white hoof and waved chuckling and winking at Jonathan.

Benethor rolled his eyes at this knowing how awkward Daniel could be and lastly he pointed to the till then quiet Earth pony.

“And this is Marius, the most hypercritical pony in all of Equestria.”

Marius raised his eyebrows. Until that moment he had been indulging himself in a book, only stopping to take a brief look at Jonathan, at the insult he closed his book and placed it on the ground and breathed in.

“As I have told you many times Benethor yes I am a socialist. It is not my fault that my parents happen to be one of the richest in Equestria.”

Benethor however continued to wind him up.

“So do you want to have parents lynched in the streets, would you be able to live with yourself without your solid gold toilet?”

Marius seemed to be easily irritably and soon barked at Benethor.

“It doesn’t work like that…you…err….idiot!”

Caterina slammed her hoof on the table loudly, stopping the whole chatter throughout the pub and screamed at Marius.

“NO ONE CALLS MY BROTHER AN IDIOT EXCEPT ME!”

Caterina soon looked around and observed that everyone was looking at him and she blushed and placed her hoof back under the table and slowly everypony returned to their business, Benethor slowly lent over to his sister and whispered.

“Thanks sis.”

Caterina bitterly scowled at him and then smiled at Jonathan.

“You haven’t said much. What is your name anyway?”

The yellow unicorn smiled encouragingly while taking off his saddle bag and putting it on the ground as if to release some nervous energy.

“My name is from Jonathan, I’m a doctor from Ponyville.”

Marius grinned a bit before patting a hoof on Jonathan’s back making him feel very weird.

“See, finally a pony from a great background. Ponyville, a village of the people, set up by the people and run by the people.”

Benethor rolled his eyes, Jonathan could tell this wasn’t the first time Benethor had heard Marius socialist ramblings.

Marius retracted his hoof and Jonathan looked at him, he was a handsome pony with admirable facial features. His green eyes gave a strong glance but they were still young. Marius made Jonathan remember a time in his youth were he had been rebellious. Putting up posters of at the time banished Princess Lunar and generally being a living Tartarus to raise. He looked at Marius as just a young pony going through a rebellious phase in his life. He was certainly the youngest out of all of them, by how much he was not sure.

Daniel also smiled at this introduction, seeming to be comforted by the fact there was another doctor in the ranks of the group. Jonathan deciding to break the ice asked politely.

“Are we getting drinks? Or are we getting food?”

Benethor smiled at him.

“Of course were getting drinks, if you want food that’s fine, also you don’t have to be so polite you’re not talking to Celestia.”

Jonathan then nodded gaining some confidence he raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a menu? And who is paying.”

“Not me!” Snapped Marius and everyone apart from Jonathan scowled at him, Jonathan decided to bail him out by pulling his coin purse from his saddle bag. However as he pulled it out Jonathan lost concentration and his magic stopped making him drop the bag of coins on the table and the coins rolled out. The other ponies gasped as they saw five big golden coins roll out.

“I thought those were a myth…” said Daniel gobsmacked.

“Where did you get those guineas...” said Benethor in a shocked manner.

“Well err….Shining Armor gave them to me.” Said Jonathan nervously, Marius scowled.

“Great, he’s friends with the aristocracy.”

Caterina ignored Marius and gulped.

“There like 100 bits each. Just one of those coins is us for the night.” Everyone then looked hopefully to Jonathan and seemed to say all together.

“Could you pay for us?”

Jonathan blushed and nodded.

“Well it’s not my money anyway so I guess.”

Caterina soon read out the orders again just to make sure it was right, they were written crudely on a piece of paper she held in her hoof.

“Okay Jonathan wants a Dragon bitter, Benethor wants a Griffons claw, Daniel wants an Apple juice and Marius wants a glass of champagne.”

At the mention of Marius’s order Benethor face hoofed. Caterina chuckled at her brother and did not mention her order, she then looked at everyone making sure that all the orders were correct.

“Okay then I will just go off to get them.” She then walked off to get drinks; the guinea perched in her mouth carefully. When she was in the distance Benethor then grinned and leaned into Daniel.

“How are you going to get her to fancy you if you get a girly apple juice while we’re all getting smashed? Come on colt up and get a real drink.”

Daniel shook his head vigorously and growled at Benethor.

“I don’t fancy her!”

“Yes you do!” Everypony else said, even Jonathan and Daniel gave him a pleading look of betrayal.

Jonathan chuckled. “Sorry it’s true though, you’re so nervous around her and to be fair if I wasn’t married I would probably fancy her too.”

Daniel was blushing redder than a tomato again with Marius chuckling with Benethor.

“Benethor you shouldn’t encourage him, do you really want him banging your sister? The one pony that can beat you being pounded by the pony that won’t even have a pint.”

Now it was Benethor’s time to blush.

“Say one more word about my sister and your dead got it.”

Marius grinned and rested back in his chair contented.

“Okay Ben.” Chuckling now at the nickname he had made.

Soon Caterina came back with the drinks on a tray she was holding carefully in her mouth. She placed it down and everypony was surprised there was a lot more drinks then they had ordered and Caterina giggled.

“Well we had a lot of change, I thought we might just use it to get some more in case any of us get thirsty after the first or second.”

She then looked at the still blushing Daniel and scowled at everyone.

“Have you guys been bullying poor little Daniel again!” She then gave Benethor another whack as well as managing to reach over the table and whack Marius and then surprisingly whacked Jonathan again. Jonathan yelped as well.

“What was that for?” He asked, still stunned and in pain from the whack.

Caterina giggled a bit before passing everypony there drinks.

“Because I know you had something to do with poor little Daniel.” She then gave Daniel a jokey kiss on the cheek which made all the other ponies snigger and Caterina scowled.

“What is so funny?” She said, her hoof raised for more whacking.

“Nothing!” Everypony said making Caterina settle down and beginning to drink from the large wooden mug in front of her. Everypony else started as well. When that beautiful liquid entered Jonathan’s mouth and his throat he could already feel his confidence grow and his distant misery of his lost home shrank into almost nothing. Loving the drink’s taste on his tongue and the feeling of confidence he quickly downed his first drink and moved onto the next. The others apart from Daniel followed his example and soon after about an hour they had drunk about five of these drinks each. The effects of their indulgence were soon obvious.

“……And then Caramel, my bro just blushed and guess what, he forgot the bloody rings! So everyone began searching for them under their seats, all the while the preacher kept on going while Applejack and I were searching for rings in his mane!”

Jonathan was laughing as he drunkenly recalled his chaotic wedding while the ponies around him roared in laughter. Jonathan then burped and threw his glasses next to the saddle bag and climbed onto the table his body swaying.

“I am gonna sing a song *hic* for you guys. I got told it by my bro in law *hic* Big Mac so *hic* what was I saying? Oh yeah *hic* this song is about all you *hic* guards out there. Like Benethor *hic*.”

Ponies had all started looking at Jonathan, most of the families had left and being quite late the guard shifts had ended and the pub was swarming with guards who needed a drink after their long shifts. Soon they were hitting there Hooves on the ground chanting.

“SING SING SING SING!”

Jonathan hiccupped again and had a wide grin on his face.

“Okay…here we go *hic*.”

Then he began his song, surprisingly it was free of hics and his drunken slur as if Jonathan was extremely disciplined when it came to singing, most surprising was his voice was good and beautiful, normally he was very shy with singing, only doing so when heavily drunk or when Applejack teased him into doing it. The song was a folk song from Ponyville about an experience a Royal Guard had there while drunk.

(song)“Well a Royal Guard clad in armour left a bar one evening fair

And one could tell by how we walked that he drunk more than his share

He fumbled round until he could no longer keep his feet

Then he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street

Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh

He stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street

About that time two young and lovely mares just happened by

And one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye

See young sleeping Guard so strong and handsome tank

I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the flank

Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh

I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the flank

They crept up on that sleeping Guard quiet as could be

Lifted up his armour about an inch so they could see

And there behold, for them to view, beneath his Armoured skirt

Was nothing more than the Gods had graced him with upon his birth

Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh

Was nothing more than the Gods had graced him with upon his birth

They marvelled for a moment, then one said we must be gone

Let's leave a present for our friend, before we move along

As a gift they left a blue silk ribbon, tied into a bow

Around the bonnie star, the Guard's armour did lift and show

Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh

Around the bonnie star, the Guard's armour did lift and show

Now the Guard woke to nature's call and stumbled towards a tree

Behind a bush, he lifts his armour and gawks at what he sees

And in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes.

O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize

Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh

O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize.” (song)

The pub was roaring with cheers and stamps of approval from this song and Jonathan gave a little bow before falling off the table in a heap making all the other ponies laugh heartily. However all this joyous behaviour was interrupted by a very rude comment.

“What the bloody hell was that rubbish?”

Everypony turned to the door of the pub where there stood a dark grey pony. Around his neck was a gold and sapphire necklace and on his hooves were golden horse shoes just like Celestia, Cadance and guards wore. He swaggered in arrogantly his head raised up high like a peacock while some other thuggish ponies walked behind him. Clearly his bully escort in case somepony dared to say what they really thought about him. Julius strutted to the heap that was Jonathan and actually had the audacity to spit on him.

“This Ponyville crap is actually worse that Vinyl Scratch.” The arrogant pony grinned at the now frozen pony on the floor and then looked up at the very angry ponies staring at him.

“Well if it isn’t traitor Marius, coward Benethor and cry baby Daniel!”

Marius let off a growl, despite being heavily drunk he seemed to have at least some control of his speech.

“Julius *hic* the foul snobbery of Equestria in Pony form.”

Julius raises his eyebrows surprised, he hadn’t expected the peasant to answer back, he ignored him latching himself to a target that would insult everypony in the group.

“Why hello Caterina. Why you are looking nice tonight.”

Caterina glared at Julius with eyes that burned with pure hatred.

“Back off Julius, go away!”

Julius grinned as he looked at Benethor who was almost too drunk to register what was going on as he lounged in his chair staring into space, Julius lent into her grinned about to lick her but before he could Daniel quickly got from his seat and violently pushed Julius. Julius who was surprised by the push almost fell over the body of Jonathan who was only just starting to get up.

“HOW DARE YOU PUSH ME? MY BOYS SHOULD TEACH YOU PEASANTS A LESSON IN MANNERS! DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS? HE IS THE FIELD MARSHAL OF THE AR-“

Before he could complete this however Benethor got up and slowly walked over to him, he continued to sway weirdly until he was right up to Julius, then the placed his strong hoof on his shoulder and before Julius could react he brung his head back far and with full speed head butted Julius sending him toppling to the ground, his nose gushing blood. Soon Julius’s goons swarmed on Benethor but now before Marius could jump onto one sending him to the ground. Caterina also joined in whacking one on the head similar to how he had whacked the others, though with a lot more force. Only three more goons remained unengaged. As Jonathan slowly got up he levitated one of the still slightly full beer mugs and concentrated hard. Before the goon knew what was happening the mug hit him at full force on the head. The other two did not wait to be engaged and quickly ran from the pub in terror. Julius managed to get up and ran, his nose bleeding profusely swearing and cussing.

“MY FATHER WILL HEAR OF THIS! I AM TELLING YOU KNOW YOUR DONE FOR!”

After Julius and the rest of his goons had left, the rest of the pub gave out a great cheer. They slapped the drunken heroes on the back congratulating them on their victory over the arrogant Julius. Jonathan’s vision however, dimmed as it was without his glasses was getting even dimmer. He slowly fell to the ground and fell quickly to sleep. Marius chuckled at his now battle comrade as he talked to the others.

“Don’t worry. He can come home with me.”

As the heroes said their goodbyes and left the pub with Marius carrying Jonathan on his back, a white haired and purple manned unicorn watched from the pub crowd chuckling.

“Applejack will want to hear about this.”

(Sneaky) Love Hate and a Golden Toliet

Jonathan...

Why did you drink so much alcohol last night?

Slowly, Jonathan's eyes opened.

The hangover he was getting was really bad, to say the least. He felt it was the equivalent of repeatedly getting punched in the head from every which angle, all at the same time.

He sat up, regretting ever downing five mugs of...

...Whatever it was.

Ah, just go back to sleep.

...

Nope, gotta pee.

Badly.

But I really don't want to get up.

Maybe I should just have a toilet dream.

Yeah, I wouldn't even have to get up. Just let loose.

No, wait, don't do that!

He jolted himself awake, realizing that he almost just wet a stranger's bed.

Wait... Whose house is this?

He couldn't really remember what happened after the fight.

"Must'a passed out," he mumbled groggily.

After sitting up and hopping off the bed, he opened the curtains and examined the room.

At first, the sunlight blinded him beyond being able to see.

Stupid hangover...

After a moment though, he could see enough to inspect his surroundings.

The walls were painted white, with simple but exquisite designs over the doorway and around the windows. There was also a plush chair in the corner of the room, and now that he looked, the bed he had been sleeping in was a beautiful canopy bed. Red velvet curtains were folded over the top of the canopy, and the bedposts were even rimmed with gold.

Whoever this is must be very rich.

Marius.

Jonathan stumbled out the door, wobbly between being about to piss himself and still slightly drunk from the night before.

Never again...

Regaining his balance, he scanned the area for any sign of a bathroom.

His eyes went wide when he finally observed the scenery.

The place was huge. He stood on an open balcony, with golden rails lining the edge of a glorious view. Looking up, there were two floors above him, each having similar balconies/hallways. Looking down, there were four more identical floors, the lowest story being the only different one. It was covered with a large red carpet, and from how high Jonathan was it looked like a quilt, inlaid with pottery and various furniture.

However, the only thought that came to Jonathan's mind was, Oh crap I'll never find the bathroom!

He zipped up and down stairs for a bit before he finally came to a room that showed signs of life.

The smell of burnt toast distracted Jonathan from his pee-thoughts for a moment, but only a moment. Stepping into the room, he found Marius sipping away at a mug of coffee and reading a newspaper.

He half-liddedly looked up from his paper, and when he saw Jonathan, immediately smiled.

"Good morning, old chap. Sleep well?"

He furrowed his brow when he noticed Jonathan prancing antsily prancing about, then grinned wide when something came to mind.

"Ants in your pants, son?"

Jonathan groaned at the unbelievably horrible joke. "No, I'm not even wearing pants. Just tell me where the bathroom is."

His grin shrank a bit, but it was still there as he sat there, enjoying his moment of power. "Well, that'll happen to ya when you drink a whole dragon bitter and a few cups of whiskey. And then some. Second floor, two doors down the hall from the stairs. Can't miss it."

Jonathan was gone before Marius had time to blink.

He smirked and returned to his paper. "And he didn't even notice the one in his bedroom."

Jonathan walked back into the dining area, where Marius seemed to just be finishing his breakfast.

Marius sipped on his coffee, and smiled smugly at Jonathan. "Trip went well, I see?"

Jonathan's own smile showed that he had something on Marius as well. "Well, when you said stairs, I wasn't sure if you meant the stairs in the living room, the ones near the kitchen, or the other ones in the living room. But then I noticed a door with a sign that said, 'Do not enter,' so, naturally, I entered."

Marius' smile faded and he began to blush red.

"I have never seen such an ornate bathroom in all my life. I guess Benethor wasn't joking when be mentioned your solid gold toilet."

Steam was practically coming out of Marius' ears.

Jonathan knew he had him at this point. He leaned in close, whispering into his ear, "Today, I shat like a king."

At this Marius slammed his hoof on the table and shouted, "The door said 'Do not enter'! Can't you read?"

He simply sat down across from Marius, and replied, "Of course I can. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have entered."

He grumbled something about hillbillies from Ponyville, then buried his nose back into his newspaper.

A maid brought in some buttered toast and coffee for Jonathan. He ate his meal happily, the coffee taking off some of the edge from his hangover.

After Jonathan was finished, Marius finally looked up. His mood seemed to have improved, because he was now smiling as if nothing had ever happened.

"So, Jonathan, do you know what regiment you're being placed in yet?"

The question took him by surprise, as he nearly spewed coffee all over the table. "No."

"Hm. I figured you would, considering you're friends with the," he paused for a moment, saying the next word with venom, "aristocracy, and all."

"Well, not all rich people are bad..."

"Hmph!" Marius scoffed.

"Uh huh..." Jonathan raised his eyebrow.

"Oh..."

"Exactly."

"But I am a friend of the people!"

"So is Shining Armor. His younger sister lives in Ponyville. And he greeted me, a middle class resident, just fine."

"Ah! Fine. But we need to find out today. We're supposed to report to our platoon leaders."

Jonathan finished his coffee, and a maid quickly came and whisked it away. Faster than one could open their mouth to speak, she came back in with another full mug.

Before she set it down, Marius stopped her. "Est-ce que café, Miriam?"

She smiled at him. "Oui, monsieur. Tu veux du?"

He held up a hoof. "Moi non plus." He pointed towards Jonathan. "Il ça va."

She gave him a confused look, then facehooved. "You really should stick to Equestrian."

He frowned at her. "But I'm getting better, right?"

She tried to suppress a grin, but failed. "A little bit. Just a little."

Jonathan finally got a look at the mare. She was a yellow unicorn, with a white mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a rose, half-open but not in full bloom. Barely visible within the rose was a heart, appearing to be ready to escape as soon as the rose opened an inch more.

Interesting...

He smiled back. "Alright. Just no more coffee, okay?"

She nodded quickly, and disappeared back into the kitchen.

Maurius sighed. He turned back to Jonathan. "Well, I suppose we've kept Daniel for long enough..."

"Wait, what?"

"Daniel has been waiting for us outside so we can go with him to the nearest military outpost."

"Are you serious? How long has he been out there?"

"Oh, for about an hour, at least..."

"So you really couldn't have just invited him in?"

"Well, I could have, but then I would have to walk to the front door, ring the buzzer to open the outer gates, ring the buzzer to open the porch gates... It's just so much work."

Jonathan and Maurius approached the front door. Marius pressed two buttons, then opened the door and walked out.

Jonathan groaned.

"Why, hello there, Daniel... Sorry to have kept you waiting, but Jonathan had to sleep off a major hangover."

Jonathan scowled at Maurius, but he payed no mind.

Daniel folded up a novel and placed it into his pack. "Don't worry, it wasn't too long. Besides, Caterina and Benethor stopped by, and we chatted for a bit."

Maurius grinned devilishly. "Ooh, gettin' it on, I see?"

Daniel mirrored his expression. "Are you talking about Benethor? Yes, he's a handsome stallion, but I don't have feelings for my own gender like you do."

Jonathan barely kept himself from bursting out laughing.

Maurius took the joke well, however; glad to see that Daniel was lightening up. "Haha. Well, we'd better get going. Don't want to leave our lady friend waiting now, do we?"

The gate closing behind them, the three trotted off towards Little Foxtrot, the military base they were designated to report to.

"...And then, she just walks off, like we were in the wrong for being mad at her."

Benethor was in the midst of telling one of his 'mare stories'. They were all getting into it, actually. All except Daniel and Caterina.

Daniel never really had any fillyfriends. He was a quiet, awkward type, and those types of colts don't get the fillies that often.

Caterina, well, kind of was a mare. A straight one.

"Come on, Daniel. Let's get away from these morons," she whispered into his ear.

He turned and smiled nervously at her. "Okay."

She turned away from the crowd, walking in the other direction and motioning for Daniel to follow her. He did so, but not before he began receiving a barrage of whistling and remarks.

"Go git 'er tiger!"

"Woo, wee!"

"Good luck, ol' chap!"

He flushed red, and quickly escaped from the group.

The embarrassing remarks didn't hinder him from admiring the mare before him. As he caught up, he couldn't help but look at her flank.

Her gorgeous, beautiful flank. Her blue tail swished back and forth with her rump, the toned and slender-looking parts complementing her wide hips. Her cutie mark, a black saber, meant to symbolize a fighter both literally and figuratively, stood out against the white fur of her thighs.

He trotted to her side, thankful she hadn't caught him staring.

She smiled at him, and he recalled her backside not being the only thing that was good about her. She had a perfect face, with beautiful ocean-blue eyes that you could get lost in for hours, and a mane the same color as her tail that oftentimes draped across her forehead. She also had a cute patch of blue around her left eye, a unique feature he simply adored about her.

Time seemed to slow when she looked at him. Unfortunately, it never slowed for long enough.

"They givin' you smack over there?"

He shook himself out of his gaze, and tried to make it seem like he was just shaking his head no. "Nah, it's just them being them. You know."

She giggled, draping her wing around him and bringing him close. "Yeah. Y'know, I don't even know why you hang out with those nitwits. I do it for my brother, but if you weren't there I think I'd go insane. I guess Jonathan's okay, but he gets influenced too easily by..."

Caterina's words were lost on him. All be could think about was her soft, blue, velvety feathers brushing against his side and how close he was to her living, breathing soul.

Our sides are touching. Oh Celestia this is amazing! She's so warm, so surprisingly soft. I can even feel her breathing.

"Yo, Daniel? You there?"

He blinked, and there she was again, looking at him. He gazed longingly into her deep blue eyes.

Her face seemed to move closer and closer to his, paralyzing him with fear. Time went in slow motion, and he could feel his heart racing, yet seeming to beat at a slow, steady pace.

Thump thump. Thump thump.

No way. No way no way!

Yes yes yes!

"You two should kiss!"

That's just what I was think-

Aw, man.

"Oh, you again," she snarled at Julius, removing her wing from Daniel in the process.

So close... So bucking close!

"Yeah, me. You'd better get used to it, because you're going to have to see my face every day for a long, long time."

"What are you talking about, motherbucker?"

"Well," he grinned, "I consulted my father, Field Marshal Haig, concerning the new platoons being formed. I recommended that you and all your buddies," he motioned to the far-off group in the distance, "Would be put under my command for the time being."

"You bastard."

"I know, right? I'm going to make life a living hell for you. For all of you."

"What's going on here?"

A white-coated, blue-maned stallion stepped into the circle with an air of authority about him.

"Oh, Shining Armor, sir! I was just telling these troops here about how they were going to be under my command for the next couple of weeks."

"Your command?" he arched an eyebrow. "Unless I am mistaken, these ponies were put under my command. I arranged the platoons, so I should know."

Julius' jaw dropped. "B-b-but...!"

"Is there something you would like to say, officer?"

He simply stamped his hoof into the dirt, and darted off in the other direction.

"You two," Shining Armor turned to the very surprised Daniel and Caterina, "You are going to report to tent six at oh-five-hundred hours tomorrow morning. Don't disappoint me. And tell your friends from the bar, too."

"You saw that?" Daniel gasped, eyes wide in shock.

"All of it." Shining Armor winked, trotting off to attend some business elsewhere.

Caterina and Daniel sat in silence, mulling over what had just happened.

(Sneaky) Carnage

"I suppose you're all wondering why I gathered you here so early today," Shining Armor began.

Around the tent stood thirty ponies, five of them being the heroes we are familiar with, and the rest being unfamiliar but just as qualified soldiers for Shining Armor's platoon.

"Let me be straight with you. We have been chosen to be among the first, and let me repeat this, first troops to go on the offensive for Equestria in this horrid battle against General Monkel's forces."

He scanned the small crowd and looked each pony in the eye. When his eye came to Jonathan, he gulped. The platoon leader was very friendly when in general conversation, but now, he looked ready to snap the neck of the first pony that moved.

He continued. "Each of you have been specially hand-picked for your skill in whatever you specialize in, whether it is combat-related or not. Some of you are civilians, so all of you trained soldiers will be expected to at least guide them in the right direction. Any questions?"

The way he said it made it seem more like a hypothetical question, as if asking would be looking for trouble. No one raised a hoof or opened their mouth, so he finished his prep talk.

"Remember, pack light, but don't pack too light. We may be out here for a while. Equipment and the necessities only. Hey! Doctor Stable!"

Jonathan jumped out of his skin at the sound of his name being called. He looked attentively at Shining Armor, half scared of being the one to get his head bitten off.

"I would suggest leaving that heavy pouch of bits here. Unless, of course, you think Monkel's forces will be willing to trade?"

There was a murmur of laughter among the crowd. Jonathan sighed in relief. "Why, y-yes, sir."

Shining Armor smiled. "Good." He again turned his attention back to his men in general. "Alright. We move out in exactly one and a half hours. Julius will be leading his much larger party up the middle, and we're expected to take the right and left flanks. So that means this platoon will be divided into two squadrons, one led by me and the other by Corporal Markswell." He waved at the crowd, and a pony stepped out and stood beside him.

Shining Armor stepped back, and this pony spoke. He yelled when he spoke, although his voice was slightly high and sounded a little strange. "Allll-right, listen up! In one hour we will gather back in this very spot. One hour. Not two hours, not fifteen minutes after. One. Hour. Once everypony is assembled, we'll call role and assign you to your squads. Be packed up and ready to go. All civvies without prior weapon training, you'll have a choice between a machete, buck knife, or a short sword. I don't know why short swords were a choice, but it's not my decision. As Shining Armor said, be prepared to be out there for a while. Much of your food will probably come from scavenging and raids, so pack only dry goods. A few of you will be bringing tents."

Everyone waited for what he had to say next. He just walked into one of the tents silently, and with how quiet it was, you could hear the zipper slide. Even Shining Armor looked confused.

Noticing the strange silence, Markswell turned around and saw everypony staring at him.

"At ease!"

A collective sigh was released, and the sounds of talking and the shuffling of gear blended together to create an incomprehensible murmur.

Markswell swore and shook his head, stepping into the tent to make ready for the battle ahead.

Jonathan's company trudged through the jungle, ears open but almost relaxed.

Jonathan, Benethor, and Maurius had been picked to come with Shining Armor. Daniel and Caterina went with Markswell.

Benethor was having fun with that one. He had constantly been implying the whole way that somehow it had been planned. "Damn Daniel. Probably trying to get some pussy."

Maurius scoffed. "Benethor, I don't normally tell you this, but you're stupid. Seriously, even if he did get some 'alone time' with Caterina, I couldn't see him mentioning anything of his desires to her. He practically trips over his own knees whenever she's around him."

Jonathan spoke up now. "Besides, what could he say to her at this point? 'Caterina, we should kiss before one of us dies.'"

They all began laughing, until they started getting glares from the other soldiers in their company. They quieted down, settling into the hushed silence of individuals pondering death.

Soon, they began coming across strange things. Broken spears, dropped swords, bloody helmets.

"Celestia forbid... Something went down here..."

Shining Armor frowned. "Stupid Julius. Probably got lost and went this route instead of up the middle of the forest. This path is perfect for a small squad, but a loud group of about a hundred ponies..."

He shook his head. He signaled the hesitating troops to move on.

They came across more and more bloody battle equipment, but no bodies. The air grew tenser with every step. You could hear the urgent whispers among them.

"Maybe Julius managed to fight these guys off? That might be why there are no bodies around."

"I sure hope you're right, and this is all just a big misunderstanding."

A drum beat played itself over and over in Jonathan's mind.

Or maybe it was just his heart he was hearing.

Everyone was silent. The group waded through the grass cautiously, nobody wanting to be the first to go.

Everyone had the same thought: Are they here?

His squad should be safe if Julius's forces did their job and broke through.

But if they didn't...

A unicorn whose horn was pulsing with blue magic walked up to Shining Armor. "Fully charged, sir."

He glanced at the unicorn, then nodded slowly. The unicorn then trotted to the front of the pack, taking a firm stance and planting his hooves onto the ground.

"Clear!" he yelled.

All the soldiers took a step back.

Jonathan was reminded of the defibrillators in hospitals.

But that wouldn't make sense...

The unicorn lowered his head, horn almost touching the dirt. A flash of blue light similar to lightning spurted out of his horn and into the ground. The hair on everyone's neck rose, and then silence once again overtook them.

Then, one of the trees started to rustle. All the unicorns on the right side pointed their horns that way, ready to fire at any hostiles.

"Star!" one of them yells.

The tree didn't answer.

"Star!" he yelled again, this time more loudly and urgently.

In response, the branches rustled again and a black figure tumbled out of the tree.

"Target down!"

"Kill?"

The unicorn that made the lightning stepped forward, examining his quarry. After a few seconds, he smiled, "Kill confirmed!"

A whistling pierced the air, followed by a thump. Everypony stood stock still, especially the electro-unicorn. Grimacing, his eyes rolled back up into his head,

a three-inch long stake sticking out of the back of his neck.

"Thunder's down!"

"Hold!"

Within the space of a few moments, the air was alive with whistles and screams.

Jonathan looked in horror as an earth pony next to him was struck in the chest, and began wailing for his mother.

Jonathan rushed over, checking the spot of the wound and pulling out his saddlebag simultaneously.

The soldier was thrashing around violently, causing the stake to sink deeper into his flesh.

"Hold still! I can't help you if you're moving around!"

The rookie wouldn't listen. Thinking fast, Jonathan held his legs as still as possible with magic, then began yanking out the stake.

It was almost out. Through the whistles and the sounds of metal cutting flesh, he found it hard focus on pulling the stake out without making it worse.

With a final burst of strength, he yanked the object out of the colt's chest. A shrill cry, and his eyes followed the path of the first unicorn.

Jonathan applied the bandages as quickly as possible, blood spurting all over his forehooves and chest. He checked the soldier for a pulse, and found none.

Shitshitshitshitshit no!!!

He began doing CPR, repeatedly pressing on the colt's chest in the hopes of keeping his blood flow going. It was exhausting, but every time he looked at the pony's face, he saw somepony who had a father and mother. Who would be missed if he were lost in these jungles.

Who Jonathan couldn't let die.

A stray stake hit Jonathan's horn and splintered, breaking his concentration. He could feel the tissue connecting his forehead to his horn begin to rip, and blood trickled down his face; but when he checked it, the horn was still intact, and still firmly attached to his forehead.

It hurt like hell, but he knew he could either cry about his horn, or save this colt's life.

A pegasus ran up. He had wing-blades on, and was practically smeared with blood from head to toe.

"Doc! Come on, we need to go!"

He saw the dying earth pony on the ground, and saw Jonathan's despairing face.

He sighed. "Is he still alive?"

Jonathan drudgingly pressed a hoof to the soldier's neck, not wanting to believe what he would find.

Softly, softly, he found a pulse.

"He's alive!"

The wing-blade pegasus immediately scooped him up onto his back. "There's a medical tent due south, a mile from here. If I fly, I may be able to make it in about five minutes. Is that enough time?"

He nodded. "It's the only chance he's got."

The pegasus immediately took off, blood spraying off his wings and polka-dotting anything that wasn't already soaked in the stuff. Jonathan watched him soar through the sky, heading out of danger and towards the safety of the medical tents.

Then, a beam of light came from somewhere on the ground and hit the soaring duo. He saw the pegasus drop the unicorn, the unconscious colt limply falling to the ground. He didn't see it, didn't hear it, but he knew the same colt that was alive moments ago was now just a splatter on the forest floor.

The pegasus wavered slightly. It was clear that something was wrong. If Jonathan looked closely, he could see smoke coming off the poor guy. Eventually, the slight wavering ascended into wobbling, and the pegasus corkscrewed downward, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

Shocked, Jonathan looked at the battle going on around him. He spotted Marius, and a black unicorn aiming what appeared to be a blowdart gun at him. Jonathan yelled to warn him, but it was too late; the unicorn fired a single wooden stake from the tube.

Marius noticed this and spun around. He easily deflected it with his shield and charged at the pony, gladius held high. The dark unicorn fumbled with the blowdarts, doing his best to load another stake into the tube, all in vain; Marius was already upon him, shouting while driving his sword into his opponent's chest. The other pony sputtered, coughed up blood, and fell over.

Marius was on a killing spree, almost seeming to enjoy himself. Benethor, on the other hand, seemed a little worried. He and another pony with a bow and arrow stood side by side, the archer picking off targets at long range while Benethor protected him from ponies who got too close. They seemed to be doing fine, but then Jonathan realized what was bothering him; there was a large wound on the back of his right hind leg. It was roughly the size of one of those wooden stakes.

Probably just a flesh wound, but it had to hurt. It was probably making it hard to focus.

Suddenly, Benethor was blindsided by an earth pony with a buck knife. The pony slashed his eye, causing him to scream in pain and drop to the ground.

The pony with the arrows tried to pull out his knife, but the earth pony stabbed him in the throat. When he pulled the blade back out, the archer made a gurgling sound, then a noise that Jonathan would later dub the 'sad flute'.

The pony now stood over Benethor. He snarled at the pony, blood dripping from his eye socket.

He raised his knife, getting ready to pierce Benethor's heart with the cold tip of his blade.

"No!!!"

A whistling was heard, and then a smack. A small wooden stake stuck out of the unicorn's neck.

He fell forward, barely missing Benethor with his knife even while dead.

They both looked to where the projectile came from, wondering who it was who had saved Benethor.

"Daniel?"

Three hours earlier

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

A purple earth pony kicked open the door of an old cottage and rushed inside, followed by a few of his comrades.

A voice came from inside. "Clear!"

"This is the fifth house they've done. When are we going to move on and see some real action?"

"I don't mean to contradict you, Caterina, but I prefer not having to stick my hooves in somepony's intestines."

Caterina and Daniel chatted while the entry team readied themselves to clear another house.

"But that's your job, isn't it? And it's not like you haven't done it before."

The boredom was really getting to them. Their squad had been chosen to go the left flank, through a small abandoned mining town.

So far, the whole placed seemed completely empty.

It really seemed suspicious to Daniel, but no one else seemed to think of it, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Well, it's not like I have to enjoy it."

"Ugh," she whined, going back to her boredom rant, "I swear I'm gonna freak if something doesn't happen-"

A scream pierced the air, nearly making them jump out of their skins.

"Well, looks like I don't get to see you freak out."

The duo followed the source of the sound, which happened to be a cottage the entry team had been about to clear.

Three ponies crowded around the front door, one of them simply standing agape and two others inspecting something. The rest were stationed up around the house, guarding it.

"What's going on here?" Caterina asked Markswell, who was one of the ponies near the front door.

"Those bastards..." was all he said, as he motioned for the other pony to step inside.

They saw the purple earth pony that had originally been breaching doors. He hung limp, skewered through the side by a huge stake.

The pony with his mouth open spoke, his voice trembling. "He kicked open the door, and it swung down and hit him. It happened so fast, I'm not even sure..."

Different tones of whistling filled the air. It unnerved everypony, but nopony moved.

Except Markswell. He was screaming something.

"What are you all doing?! You're gonna get yourselves killed! Get to cover!"

Then they saw it. Hundreds of wooden stakes filled the sky, hovering upwards, then taking a sharp turn downwards toward the group.

Screams mixed in with the whistles as the stakes pelted the group. A kebab was made out of a pegasus that managed to get a few feet in the air while trying to escape, but instead got his wing sliced off and crashed headlong into the ground. He lay limp, more and more stakes sinking into his flesh every second.

Caterina jumped into the house through a window. A stake bounced off of Daniel's helmet, and Caterina pulled him in after her.

Markswell and a few other ponies barged through the door, making a team effort to snap the stake and pony that blocked their path.

The escaping ponies looked around at eachother. The whistles never ceased, and the darts fell like rain outside, occasionally coming in through the window. Finally, Markswell spoke up, stepping to the middle of the room.

"So, now we know what our enemy is capable of. How many do we have left?"

A lieutenant stepped forward. "Seven, sir."

Markswell didn't swear, didn't even flinch. He kept his poise, sighing to himself.

"We cannot let this get to us. Seeing as how you are the ones who escaped, I now know who are the quicker-thinking of the group. You, all of you," he looked around at the group, "have a chance at survival. But, you will not make it, if you do not use your wits. That's all it is now. A game of wits, and for those of you who went through military training, a test to see what you've learned. Everything we taught you, is useless if you did not pay attention. If you did not apply it to your mind."

He inhaled deeply, one last time.

"Now, all you stallions. And mares," he regarded Caterina, "You're better than these guys. They took us by surprise, but even then, you, we, all managed to escape. Now it's our turn. First, we need a way to escape unnoticed. Razor, ya got anything?"

A small unicorn, whom no one had really noticed before, was closing his eyes. He had scars next to his mouth that made it look like he was grinning madly, and when his mouth opened, you could see his teeth were razor sharp. His horn glowed a multitude of colors, and when it stopped glowing, he was smiling.

"Basement. Downstairs, underground tunnel. Most likely an old mining shaft. If we're quick, we can escape through there."

Markswell looked skeptical. "Any life down there?"

Razor's smile turned to a grimace. "Yes. Number unknown."

He sighed. "Alright, you heard him. Downstairs, underground tunnel. Let's move!"

The tunnels were dark, wet, and tight. Rats scurried about, but no one payed attention to them.

The slightest sounds would make Daniel jump. After awhile, they started using him to make sure they didn't miss anything.

Soon they came to a point where the path separated into three different tunnels.

"Razor?"

"Got it."

His horn glowed for a minute, then returned to normal.

"To the right of us is probably the quickest path out of here. However, it had the most signs of life."

"What about the other two?"

"The one straight ahead of us is longer than the one on the right, but has less guards. To the left... I'm not even sure where it goes."

Markswell thought for a moment. He turned to his Lieutenant.

"We march forward."

"Roger, sir."

He motioned straight ahead, and the troops followed.

They walked for a few more minutes, until Razor signaled for everyone to stop.

His closed his eyes, and his horn glowed orange like heated metal. Fire erupted from what Daniel originally had thought was solid wall, until two ponies tore through the camouflage, rolling around and screaming.

They were both immediately shot with magic beams from one of the mages in the group. They stopped flailing, and became two burning piles of filth on the ground.

Somepony whispered, "Blaze it, faggot."

They silently pressed on, Daniel plugging his nose as they passed the corpses.

The Lieutenant lead the pack now. He walked slowly, cautiously, anticipating a trap. Hearing something, he stopped.

Everypony else heard it now, too. It sounded like shuffling.

A rat scurried by, and the surprised Lieutenant took a swing with his sword. The unfortunate rodent was cut in two, Markswell smirking at him. He blushed, and after a moment, continued forward.

A shadowy figure jumped out of the darkness and thrust out a sword, stabbing the Lieutenant straight in the eye. A soldier quickly reacted and threw a knife at the offender. The knife hit its mark, but it did the Lieutenant no good. Both of them slumped to the ground, the sword still stuck through the Lieutenant's eye.

They continued onward, the throwing knife soldier taking his knife out of the black earth pony as he passed. Daniel seemed to fumble around with something in the corpse's pack, then continued forward.

Through a series of twists and turns, they eventually came to the end of the tunnel, where a hatch was waiting.

"I can break it open, sir," a pony with pliers and a pack full of various equipment offered.

"Let's try the doorknob first," Markswell replied, putting a hoof on the handle. It clicked, and he pushed the door open. In a burst of blinding light, the inside of another cottage was revealed.

They climbed out one by one, each pony covering eachother to make sure nobody attacked while they were vulnerable.

Once everypony was on their hooves, Markswell began. "If you all want to get out of here in one piece, listen closely. Since going back along the path we came would be suicide, our only chance of getting out of here is to rendezvous with Julius' or Shining Armor's group."

There was a murmur of agreement from the five of Markswell's troops that were still alive. He continued.

"Now, our only means of communicating with anypony outside this room died with the Lieutenant down in the tunnels. So we're going to have to make a good estimate on where we think the other squads are at this point. Any suggestions?"

No one replied. There was no good way of telling where they might be.

He grunted. "Since none of you seem to have an idea of what to do, not like I know any more than you, I'll propose a plan. We head east from here, staying low and trying not to draw any attention. We'll eventually come to the pass that Julius was supposed to take. If there is blood and gore, we'll know he's been through there. If not," he fixed everypony with a half sad, half foreboding look, "I sure hope you all wrote home yesterday."

You could feel the spirit in the room drop twenty feet, as each individual realized just how possible it was that they would never return home.

Caterina drew a greenish-brown cloak out of her pack. "We might want to get going then. More likely than not, they're tracking us right now."

Markswell glanced back at the trapdoor leading to the tunnels. "Yes. Let's go."

The walk felt like hours, though it was only twenty minutes. The feeling Daniel got every time a group of enemy militants walked past made him want to throw up. But he always held it in, for fear of being noticed.

The times when there was no danger passing by were even worse. Every footstep sounded like an explosion, and Daniel felt there could be something watching them right now, about to strike, and they wouldn't know until it was too late.

At least when a group of soldiers passed, you know they hadn't seen you.

They eventually came to a marsh. It consisted mostly of tall grass and water, although you could hear frogs croaking, and the constant whine of insects.

They began wading through, each step accompanied by a sloshing sound when a hoof was put down, and a sucking noise when a hoof was lifted. It went on like this for a little while, sucking and sloshing, until the water started to change color.

Red. The color of blood.

Each pony looked to the other, horrified. And then it happened.

The dreaded whistling. It came in a symphony, like a thousand little voices, all screaming at you from different directions.

A brown earth pony was the first to drop.

If Markswell said anything, it was drowned out in all the noise. Volley upon volley of stakes, stones, and boulders came, pinning the soldiers down in their spots. Sometimes, screaming could be audible, but it would go away with the horrible sound of a projectile hitting flesh.

They tried to get low. They all tried. But they could never get low enough.

Caterina crawled next to a boulder for cover and lie still, waiting for the firing to end. It eventually subsided, and she could hear the army of dark ponies move on, some of them even going through the swamp and walking right past her. After she was sure they were gone, she made her way east along the marsh on her belly, hoping to find that somepony else had survived.

She made it to the the bank of the swamp and hid herself among the bushes, and waited again.

I can't be the only one who survived that. Please, somepony else, come out of the marsh.

Now that she was out of danger, her adrenaline left. Her emotional side kicked in, a side to her not many knew she had.

They're all dead... Shot, smashed, made into pincushions. They're all dead but me.

She thought about all the ponies in her company who were lost this day. She could see each and every one of their faces. One was etched into mind clearly, and it hurt like hell to think about it.

Daniel.

She thought about him. About the good times they'd had, about the cute way he blushed whenever she talked to him.

To think she would never see that again...

She almost began to cry, but a splashing disturbed her mourning.

Out of the tall grass stepped Daniel, slathered in mud from head to toe, but all there nonetheless.

The focus of her pitying thoughts was now alive before her. She jumped out of the bushes, running as fast as she could so she could bear hug him to the ground.

Only, that didn't happen. He pulled out a tube and put it to his mouth, ready to put a missile straight through Caterina's forehead.

She put her back hooves down, and skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Woah, woah, easy Daniel! It's me, Caterina!"

He simply lowered the weapon and slipped it back into his pack. "Oh. Glad to see you're still alive."

Those words were like a slap across the face. Glad to see you're still alive?? She was having trouble believing he had ever said anything so cold, so uncaring.

When she looked at him, something was definitely wrong. His eyes looked glazed over, and his normal caring expression was replaced with an unconcerned, half-lidded gaze.

She nearly choked on her response. "Uh, yeah. You too."

He gestured to the woods. "We should probably get going. We need to warn the others before they get killed, too." He began trotting off in that direction, only turning around to look at the shocked Caterina.

He sounded annoyed. "Coming?"

She began to trot towards him, and he continued without even waiting for her to catch up.

She swore, a part of her died that day.

"Daniel??"

He pulled the stake out of its target and placed it back in the blowgun.

"Had to learn the hard way that you gotta use magic to propel these things..."

Benethor rolled around on the ground, holding his eye and writhing with pain.

Daniel's voice was cold and monotone. "Doc, come here and help him out."

Jonathan did as he was told, and after getting Benethor to lie still, patched up his eye.

Marius came back to the crowd, cheering. "We're winning! They're retreating now!"

Daniel didn't show an inkling of a smile. "Good. Glad to see things are going much better here."

Marius's smile dropped, and he whispered to Jonathan, "What happened to him?"

A shaky Caterina appeared from the woods. She looked honestly disturbed about something.

Jonathan was done patching Benethor's eye. He looked up at Marius, whispering back, "Maybe he and Caterina switched personalities."

Marius smiled for a second at the joke, but Jonathan could tell he was truly worried.

It made Jonathan worried.

Before feelings could be exchanged, however, a pegasus landed softly next to the group.

He looked at Benethor, then to Jonathan. "We're staying out here for the night, lads. Rendezvous at the big rock, then make shelter. We've got a long night ahead of us."

He then leapt into the air, soaring over the trees in the south-west direction.

Jonathan could've sworn he saw a laser beam hit the pegasus.

(Sneaky) Love and Blood

Jonathan cursed as the tent he was setting up collapsed. Again he tried, this time focusing with all his magic on keeping the poles in their respective spots.

"Did it!" he exclaimed, standing back and admiring his handiwork. His victory was short-lived, however, when the tent again began buckling to one side. Instead of collapsing like all the other times, the tent continued to lean, and with a sproing, was flung over the fire pit and into a tree. It caught onto a branch, and hung there like a stuck kite.

"Damn it!" he yelled as Caterina walked up.

"I just saw a flying tent go by. Need some help?"

Even with the joke, Jonathan could tell something was wrong. She seemed tired, and her normally edgy voice had taken on a softer tone.

Not only that, but not an insult had been slung.

"Uh, sure."

She flew up onto a branch and untangled the tent, letting it fall before swooping down and dropping it off at Jonathan's feet.

"Thanks." He eyed Caterina, who had a faraway look in her eye. Normally, he would be almost scared to start a conversation with her, but Jonathan needed to know what was going on.

"Hey, Caterina?"

Her eyes focused on him.

"Would you mind, um, helping? I know you're busy and all, but-"

"Nonsense." She stepped to the other side of the tent. "Shining Armor already questioned me and Daniel."

Jonathan connected the poles to the stakes. "By the way, how did that go?"

"Fine."

Suspicious.

He pressed on. "What did he ask?"

She seemed distracted with the tent, but answered anyways. "He just wanted to know what happened, if there were any survivors, that kind of stuff."

"What did you tell him?"

She sighed. "I just told him we got ambushed, and I thought everyone died. Until... Daniel stepped out of the marsh."

Jonathan noticed the pause, and realized what was bothering her. It was Daniel's recent strange behavior.

Against his better judgement, he ventured forth. "I noticed he's been acting a little... Strange, lately. What happened out there?"

She slammed something and the tent sprang up, as if afraid and not willing to vex her any further.

Jonathan was ready to run, until he saw something glint on her cheek. A tear.

"I don't know," she sniffled, "I just don't know."

The tent held, and so Caterina and Jonathan discussed her dilemma inside.

"Thinking about him being dead, just imagining never seeing him again... It made me realize..." The words caught in her throat, as if she were too embarrassed to say it.

"Realize what? Come on, say it."

She stopped. Jonathan was about to tell her to quit stalling, but then she called out,

"Marius! If you're out there, I'm gonna rip your throat out!"

The sound of rustling leaves was heard, and a muffled trotting of a departing pony.

She sighed. "Where was I?"

"'It made you realize...'"

She gulped. "It made me realize... That I loved him." She blushed. "That I just couldn't live without him."

"And so you were happy to see him alive?"

She nodded. "I was overjoyed. I was determined to hug him, maybe even kiss him..." she smiled as that thought filled her mind. She frowned again when she remembered what really happened. "But when he saw me, he pulled out one of those tube things and nearly shot me. He didn't know it was me of course, I just surprised him. But when he did recognize me, you know what he said?"

Jonathan just waited for her to finish. He was quite curious, actually.

The next words came out almost sarcastically. "'Glad to see you're still alive.'"

Jonathan's eyes widened. That... That was beyond changed. Something had happened out there, had traumatized him.

Caterina went on. "Can you believe that? I practically pour my heart out, and-"

"You know, he's liked you for a long time."

Her heart jumped, and she stopped breathing for a moment. Then she calmed down, looking to the ground in shame.

"I know. I knew the whole time. Until today though, I wasn't sure if I liked him. I always told myself I would say yes if he ever asked, but of course he wouldn't ask. I knew he wouldn't; he's Daniel."

She glanced at Jonathan with a questioning look. He nodded, signaling her to go on.

"I was too scared to ask. I've... Never been very good at talking to stallions, to tell you the truth. So I played with him. I teased him, acted so flirtatious, practically tortured him. All because I couldn't get what I wanted. Because I couldn't admit the truth."

She didn't break down or sob, but simply put her face in her hooves. Caterina wasn't one to normally cry, but she was getting really close now.

Jonathan rested a hoof on her back. "Well, you've admitted it now. You've admitted it to me, and you've admitted it to yourself. So admit it to him."

She brought her face from her hooves, and looked at him. Her eyes were slightly red underneath, and her lip quivered slightly. Silently, she bid him to continue.

"You've kept this from him for far too long. Sure, it was wrong to not tell him, and to lead him on like that. You can't change what you did, but you can make it right. Do it."

She resisted. "Easier said than done."

"No one said it would be easy."

She smiled bittersweetly, and gave him a hug.

"Thanks Jonathan."

She began to walk out the tent, but turned before she went through the opening.

"Jonathan?"

He looked up, wondering what it could be now. "Yes?"

"Remember, this never happened. Say a word to anypony else," she demonstrated by crushing a stray spider with her hoof.

He chuckled. "Got it."

She smiled again, and walked out.

Caterina poked her head into Daniel's tent. "May I come in?"

"Certainly," a voice mumbled from the corner. "What's up?"

Stepping inside, she took off her cloak and stuck it into her saddlebag. She let her eyes adjust to the dimly-lit room, and spotted her stallion. He was lying on his sleeping bag. She didn't know what he could have been doing before she came in; he seemed to just be staring at the top of the tent, eyes still in that glazed-over state. It saddened her so much to see him like this.

She walked over, sitting down next to him. "There's something we need to talk about. Something important."

He didn't even look. "I'm all ears."

She wasn't sure how to begin. Finally, she drew in a deep breath. "Do you remember anything before we were sent out into this jungle?"

His reply was almost sarcastic. "Well, it was just yesterday."

"Yes, just yesterday," she continued, trying not to let his cold responses hurt her, "You remember that little walk we took?"

There was a spark, a flicker in his eye for a moment. Then it was gone.

She wondered if she could get that spark again, but this time, keep the flame going.

She continued. "Remember when I had my wing draped around you? And... Well, you were blushing so cute... I tried to lean in, and grab a quick kiss... Remember that?"

She definitely had his attention now.

"The thing is, Daniel, I've... Never really been sure of how I felt about you. Not until yesterday, when I thought I'd lost you. Then when you came out of the grass, I was so happy to see you. But it wasn't you. You changed. It hurts so much, to see you like this. I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

She leaned down, and softly rubbed snouts with him. She then held his cheeks with her hooves, and kissed him full force on the lips. She savored every second of it, finally getting what she had longed for for such a long time.

She parted, her mouth forming a crescent smile. Even if she never felt the fine touch of his lips again, or ever see the Daniel she once knew, she would make sure that he would always know one thing.

"...I love you, Daniel."

A tear ran down her cheek. She got up, drew on her cloak, and was prepared to leave when she felt a tug on the skirts of the cloth.

She turned, and saw him standing beside her. Tears left streaks down his cheeks, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes, they no longer held that horrible frozen stare.

Daniel was back.

"Please," he whispered, "Don't go."

She immediately tackled him to the ground, squeezing him tight, as if the warmth of her body was the only thing keeping his heart from going cold once more. She kissed him passionately, sinking deep into his lips. Their shadows danced in the flickering candlelight, as if celebrating the birth of such a great and unbreakable love.

They finally, reluctantly broke the kiss, looking into each others eyes. She nuzzled his neck, then rest her head on his chest and fell asleep.

Daniel grinned wildly. He could never be happier. He had everything he'd ever wanted right here.

He ran his hoof through her mane. She was so soft, so comfortable. The rising and falling of her chest against his was relaxing, and so he decided to let his eyes droop and rest his head.

Before he fell to slumber, he stole a last peck on the check. He felt her heartbeat increase tempo, and realized she wasn't really asleep yet.

"Hey, I don't know if you're still awake, but there's something I didn't tell you," he hesitated, almost unsure if he should let the long-hidden words pass his lips, "I love you too."

Her smile widened, and she snuggled into his neck.

He remained there, admiring the angel that was now his. Not a care, not a worry plagued his mind. All he had ever wanted, the one he had so longed to hold, was right here with him now.

It's funny how one thing can be seen from so many different views.

Jonathan, for one, was not an experienced camper. He wasn't used to the cold air, or the hard ground, so his night had been very restless. A crappy night, you could say.

Daniel and Caterina were a different story. Caterina, for one, was well-adjusted to the harsher climates due to her 'specialized' training, and as for Daniel, he had a living, breathing blanket.

At the crack of dawn, the activity in the camp consisted of Marius and another pony talking around the fire, Jonathan trying to squeeze in as much sleep as he could before the sun rose too high, and the new couple just getting up and enjoying a pleasant morning with each other.

"Sleep well?"

"Mmmmm. You're comfortable."

Daniel smiled stupidly. "Thanks?"

She kissed his cheek. "Yeah. It's a compliment."

There was a pause, and then Daniel spoke again, "Do you think we should get up now?"

She laughed, and stepped off him, walking to the the flap of the tent. He blushed and asked, "What's so funny?"

She smiled smugly. "Just the way you said it. Now come on, there's a fire outside."

By now, about seven ponies were sitting around the fire. You could tell who got a good night's sleep by looking for the individuals who talked and the ponies who sat silently in their tired misery.

Caterina and Daniel trotted up together. Marius took a moment from his conversation with the night guard to grin mockingly at the couple

"So, getting it on last night, hmm-"

Whap!

"Hey! You didn't even give me time to finish!"

She shrugged. "Didn't need to. Stupid is easy to predict." She turned to the stallion at her side. "Now, Daniel, I'm gonna go get something from my tent. I'll be right back."

"Kay," he replied, still wearing that silly grin.

"Yeah, tiger." Marius teased. Now that Caterina was gone, he was free to do whatever he wanted to Daniel.

He blushed furiously. "No, Maurius, we didn't- Well, kind of."

This just further fed the fire. He was about to say more, but the night guard he had been previously talking to stepped in.

"Damn, you hooked up with her? Good job, bro!" He held out a hoof in the universal symbol for bros, and Daniel bumped it hesitantly.

"Even though she acted like a bitch to me, she's still pretty hot. No offense."

Daniel blinked. He had a blank look on his face, then snapped back to attention. "Oh. It's fine, I guess."

They heard yelling. "Benethor, what the hell are you doing in my tent?"

Marius and the night guard began snickering, and Daniel could faintly make out Benethor's groggy mumbling. "Well, I was 'spose to share a tent with Daniel, but then I saw you two... Well, anyway, I figured you were gunna be 'while, so climbed in ta your tent, seein' as how you were 'spose to have it all ta yerself, and fell asleep." He was nervously smiling. Caterina looked unamused. "Yep. And that's what happened."

She said nothing, but tromped inside and grabbed a few bags, then walked back towards Daniel's tent.

Benethor walked up to Daniel's group, which now contained two laughing stallions. He drunkenly sat down, looking at Daniel with the eye that didn't have the eyepatch, and smiled. "Sup?"

Daniel had to laugh at his friend's quirky behavior. "So, what happened back there?"

He took a swig out of a canteen before answering. "Well, I reckon she's movin' in with you, and I get my own personal tent. The way I see it, win-win."

Daniel looked into the fire. Secretly, he was hoping Benethor was right. The thought of getting the chance to sleep with her again-

"So. Congrats. I never thought she would get one right."

Daniel snapped out of his dreamy trance. "What?"

"Well," Benethor leaned back, as if about to tell a long story, "She's gone through quite a few stallions. None of them any of us ever approved of. They were all jerks, that just wanted her for... You know."

He nodded. "Right."

"After awhile, she just gave up. She couldn't find anypony who truly liked her. So she stayed single for about a year, not letting any stallions catch her eye, so to speak." He paused, smiling at Daniel. "Until I introduced her to you."

His face flushed slightly. Secretly, he was flattered.

"Nobody really knew she liked you, of course. Although, I'm not quite sure the same can be said the other way around. No offense."

"None taken."

They sat there in silence, hearing bits and pieces of Maurius and the other guard's conversation. Occasionally, they would burst out in laughter, turning the heads of anypony by the fire.

"Did you guys have sex?"

Daniel was chewing on a maple leaf. He accidentally sucked it down and started choking.

After the wet greens were dislodged from his throat, he sputtered a single word. "What?"

Another swig, and he repeated the question. "Sorry if this is a bit intrusive, but I need to know. Did you two have sex?"

He bit down on his lip for a second, then mumbled lowly, "No."

Daniel received a pat on the back.

"Good. It means she respects you. 'Course, she probably wouldn't object if you..." he gave a smug smile and winked.

Daniel grinned. "Ben, have you been drinking?"

Benethor looked from Daniel to the canteen, then back again. "Shoot. I thought I disguised it pretty well."

"Seriously? I could smell the alcohol on your breath from a mile away. Pretty crafty with the swill in the canteen though."

He furrowed his brow. "It ain't swill! It's apple cider! But you wouldn't know, the strongest beverage you ever drank was applejuice!"

Daniel was ready with a retort, but he noticed the tone in a background voice change.

It was Marius's. "Good morning, Jonathan! Did you sleep well last night?"

A sleep-deprived Jonathan trudged towards the group of friends.

He mumbled something, then said, "No. It was super cold, my nose kept stuffing up, and the ground was hard as a rock."

"Cold? It was only fifty degrees out!"

Caterina's sudden appearance made Daniel and Benethor jump. They hadn't noticed her sit down between them.

Benethor shouted excitedly, "When did you get there?"

She shrugged, and opened a can of peaches.

Marius snickered. "Figures you were warm last night."

Thwack!

Jonathan sat down next to Benethor, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Benethor noticed the way he kept trying to stretch out his back.

"Pitch your tent on some rocks?"

Jonathan nodded.

"You should've gone to one of the officers. They were givin' out those sleeping pads. You know, the ones that you sleep on top of."

He stared at Benethor, mouth agape. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Benethor took a sip out of his canteen. "You didn't ask. I used three of em', wouldn't have minded sharin' one."

Jonathan continued to glare at him, slack-jawed.

An earth pony walked up to the night guard. Jonathan recognized him as a Lieutenant from the helmet he wore. The Lieutenant was missing a hind leg.

He tapped the guard's shoulder, and he turned around to face him. "Yes, Sarge?"

The Lieutenant smiled. "Shut up, Smiley. Call me Sarge again, and I'll tell your friend here about you crying at boot camp."

The Lieutenant pointed at Marius, whose mouth hung open in half disbelief, half laughter.

'Smiley' turned a shade of Crimson. "Do it, Shitter."

The Lieutenant glared at him. "You wouldn't dare."

His evil grin told him otherwise.

The Lieutenant's voice became more business-like. "Let's get down to business before this turns into a bloodbath." He pulled out a clipboard. "Shining Armor wants to know the mortality report."

"Didn't I give it to Sergeant Blade Dragger?"

The Lieutenant shrugged. "He went missing right before the Opfor retreated. So I dunno."

The night guard thought for a second. "Alright, so if you count Blade Dragger, that's two MIA, three casulties, and," he turned to Benethor, "is your eye better yet?"

Benethor shrugged. "It's still a little fresh, but I think I could fight if I needed to."

"Okay, make that none injured. And we gained two from Markswell's party."

"Did Blade Dragger happen to be... a pegasus?"

Everyone turned to Jonathan.

"Yeah... yellow fur, white mane... Ya see him?"

Jonathan was cryptic. "And the other MIA... Earth pony, green?"

The Lieutenant flipped a few pages on the clipboard he was holding, then nodded.

"They're dead. Both of them."

He looked inquisitively at Jonathan. "How do you know?"

Jonathan gulped. "I saw them."

He stared at Jonathan for a moment, then sighed. "Alright then, five KIA."

He wrote something down, then left, leaving behind an eery silence.

Smiley turned his gaze to Jonathan. Jonathan stared back.

"Killjoy," he muttered, then trotted off.

The trouble began somewhere around noon. Everypony was supposed to be eating lunch; they had received orders to wait for reinforcements, then return to base.

So, seeing as how they would have to wait a couple of hours, they had a lot of time on their hooves.

The drowsiness had finally worn off on Jonathan. He, Marius, Benethor, and Smiley sat around the fire, roasting corn.

Apparently, there were some still-going crops left behind from the abandoning farmers. Caterina, of course, was the first to find it.

She dropped off the corn, ate some of her plunderings, then took Daniel with her to 'forage' some more.

Rather than Benethor, it was Marius who was haranguing them this time.

"They're inseparable! They've been together for not even a full day now, and they just do... Everything together!"

Jonathan leaned back, remembering some far-off memory. "Reminds me of when Applejack and I first started dating... Those were good times..."

"Yecch, don't want to hear it," Marius interrupted.

Smiley chimed in. "Jealous, are we? That little 'ol Daniel has a marefriend, but you don't?"

Marius blinked. "No, I-"

"Don't wanna hear it," he mimicked, then added, "I gotta piss. Be right back."

Once Smiley was out of earshot, Marius scoffed. "And I was starting to like him."

Blue Water, or Smiley as he was known by his comrades, noisily trekked through the dense jungles of Monkel's territory, looking for a place to relieve himself.

He soon came to a large oak. Perfect.

Midway through his release, Smiley heard a rustling of leaves. Sensing danger, he immediately cut it short.

Oh, Luna, that stings.

He drew out a tomahawk, and peeked around the tree towards the noise.

The lower half of a body could be seen being dragged along the ground into a bush. The leaves and other matter that littered the forest floor had a red trail in them, leading to the body.

Alright, this is fucking serious.

He put away his tomahawk, and instead took out a compression bow.

He held the bow with his left hoof, then took the back of arrow and brought it across the bowstring with his teeth.

He was aimed and ready at the bush. But something caught his eye.

The trail coming from the body bush led back to the spot where the pony in question was first killed. Out of the corner of his eye, Smiley saw a head.

Though it was blurred, it seemed oddly familiar. Turning to get view, his eyes widened at the sight.

His friend, Lieutenant Skipper's head.

He gasped, accidentally letting the arrow go in the process. It banked off to the right, hitting and sticking into a tree trunk.

Now that he thought about it, the body only had one leg. Why hadn't he seen it coming earlier?

Immediately following an ear-piercing whistle, a wooden stake stuck into the tree he was hiding behind.

Instinctively, he ducked behind the trunk, thankful for choosing such a large tree to water.

Pulling out and another arrow and draping it across the string, he readied himself for the battle that lay ahead.

One versus one. Sniper versus sniper.

All or nothing.

"Oh, shit! That bag's on fire!"

"Here! I'll put it out!" Jonathan yelled, grabbing Benethor's canteen.

"Wait-!" Benethor held out a hoof, trying to snatch the canteen back.

Jonathan hurriedly rushed over and generously dumped the canteen's contents onto the flaming bag.

It immediately exploded into a ball of flame, heat radiating off it as much as from the campfire.

The grass around began to catch, and Marius kicked the bag into the safe proximity of the burning logs.

The many eyes upon them stared for a moment, then one by one returned to their occupations prior.

The three looked at each other.

"That... Was Caterina's bag..." Benethor stuttered.

All three faces went ghost white.

"What was in that canteen? Alcohol?? Why were you drinking alcohol??" Jonathan was almost yelling.

"It was only a little! Not enough to make me drunk! I tried to tell you to wait, but you wouldn't listen!"

Jonathan thought on this. "Well, you could have tried harder! Aw dang, what are we gonna do?"

Benethor pointed a hoof at Marius. Lowly, he spoke, "Blame Marius."

Marius was taken aback. "What!? You two were the ones that lit it on fire!"

Benethor frowned. "Yeah, but you were the one that kicked it into the fire."

Marius backed up defensively. "I- I- If I hadn't done that, the whole camp would've burned! Besides, who let it catch fire in the first place?"

"Let what catch fire?" Caterina appeared beside Marius.

"Augh! Uh, nothing!"

She squinted her eyes. She looked ready to pounce on him, until a certain unicorn walked up beside her, smiling.

She turned from her death glare on Maurius to look at Daniel, and smiled back.

Seeing his chance, Benethor cut in. "Where's Smiley? He should be back by now."

Caterina turned to where the earth pony had been sitting, seeming to forget about mauling Marius. "Yeah, where is he?"

"He went to... Go take care of excretions..." Jonathan said, having an awkward time with phrasing.

Caterina cocked an eyebrow. "Okay..." She sniffed the air. "Say, is somepony cooking canned peaches?"

The others nervously shifted, and she sat down.

Out of nowhere, they heard yelling.

From the trees came a screaming unicorn. He wasn't black like one of Monkel's troops, but not familiar-looking either.

He ran up to the squad's carpenter, pulled out an hatchet, and sunk it into his shoulder.

The carpenter screamed, and the unicorn pulled it out and repeatedly stabbed him in the neck, chest, and back, each time with the horrible thumping that accompanies the piercing of flesh.

A mage shot the attacker straight through the head with a laser, and he slumped to the ground. The carpenter and his killer lied together in a pool of mixing blood.

Shouts began to sound from every direction. The squad members all drew out their weapons, waiting.

Overwhelming numbers of earth ponies and pegasi swarmed the camp, rushing the inhabitants while chanting and screaming.

The group of five backed up close together, drawing weapons and ready to defend each other.

"Fight hard, my friends," Maurius said, gladius spinning in his hoof, "And if nothing else, I'll see you on the other side."

Sweet Applejack

The new ponies relationship was soon the talk on ponyville, everyone was talking about how the hardworking, orange earth pony was now going out with the witty, intelligent doctor unicorn. It was the front page in all of the ponyville papers and was a subject of virtually all the gossip in the town. Applejack decided to stay at the farm not wanting to be bothered by gossip ponies while Dr Stable took a day of work, instead staying in the comfort of his home and day dreaming of his beautiful Orange Marefriend and the experiences they shared. At about 8pm, under the soothing cover of darkness the doctor slowly but carefully left his home, not wanting to be spotted by even a single pony that might be patrolling at night. He carefully kept to the shadows till he saw his target, Sweet Apple Acres, he smiled trotting normally now, knowing that there would be no hostile ponies about here. He smiled as he slipped into the barn still keeping as quite as possible. Suddenly she felt a hoof grab hold of him and he yelped sharply.

“Shhhhhhhh.” The familiar voice whispered. “Did anypony see ya’ll come here.”

“No,” he whispered back, “It’s just me.”

Jonathan shielded his eyes as a bright light near him suddenly appeared; he smiled as he saw his beloved Applejack who was lighting a small candle.

“Sorry if it was a lil bright, but we want to see each other right.”

“Yes, especially if one of them is as beautiful as you are.”

Applejack went a bright red. “Oh shucks you are such a charmer Jonathan.” She approached him slowly and gave him a loving nuzzle, a little more affectionate then the ones previously, Jonathan lent in, feeling as if his heart was melting from the love he felt. Applejack smiled and retracted

“Err……I got us some supper.” He turned her head towards a small table that was furnished with two apple pies with hay fries laid around it. Jonathan smiled and nuzzled his mare friend lovingly. “That was extremely kind of you. Thank you.”

They sat on opposite sides on the table, talking as they ate about all that had happened in their lives and that days, they laughed, joked and flirted all through the night, Applejack still couldn’t believe though how quickly this unicorn had melted her heart. After they had eaten they rose and Jonathan yawned, he bowed and said his thanks, as he turned to leave Applejack rose her hoof smiling.

“Wait…….Can I quickly tell you something.”

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, curious at what his marefriend might say, he trotted up to her and stood there waiting for what she was going to say.

“Well…what is it Applejack.”

She smiled and leant in close and whispered in his ear. “I love you Jonathan, more than I’ll ever love any other pony. Jonathan smiled and warmly embraced her, kissing her like he hadn’t done to another in years, he hugged her and stroked her gently with his hoof to make her feel safe in his touch, Applejack did similar, trying as hard as possible to show her lover that she really did love him.  It soon became heated, and Applejack and pushed Jonathan onto a pile of hay and embraced him further stroking him all over, this continued until, due to fatigue they closed their eyes slowly, close to sleep. Jonathan, finally letting go his grief turned to Applejack

“You are the most beautiful pony I have ever loved……and you have done the impossible…you have made love from heart break, you have made delicious cider from bruised apples.”

Applejack smiled brightly and hugged her lover; they hugged onto each other for warmth, spending that night in the barn together, content with their own company.