The Love Of A Soldier

Chapters

A Dream Come True
Memories: Part One
Lift Me Up
Memories: Part Two

A Dream Come True

Chapter 1: A Dream Come True

The early morning sun shone through the curtains of the peaceful cottage located just on the edge of Ponyville. The rays bounced off the golden colored walls of the pink haired pegasus’ bedroom in a tranquil manner importing the room with a peaceful sense back into it from a long dark night.

The pegasus slowly opened her eyes. It seemed bright at first, but as her eyes adjusted, she received a clearer view of the illuminated room. She wearily turned over and rubbed her hoof across the empty side of the bed. Just another day, she thought.

She rolled onto her back, now staring at the ceiling. It has been the same every morning for almost a year. Eleven and a half months ago she had to say good bye to her lover who is a Sergeant in the reserves in the Royal Equestrian Army whose unit was deployed to Afghaneighstan to provide security to fend off rebels plotting to overthrow the country’s recovering government. Even her lover didn’t want to leave but knew it was his duty as an Equestrian soldier to follow orders and protect Equestrian citizens and the rest of the world.

Fluttershy remembered that day as if it happened yesterday. They were at Ponyville train station as other soldiers were saying goodbye to their families. She held him tight as her tears flew from her cheeks and onto her husband’s camo uniform.
After several minutes she withdrew from the embrace, tears still flowing as she looked into his eyes.

“Don’t worry Shy, I’ll be back before you know it.” He said calmly.

Fluttershy only nodded. She wanted to speak but no words came out.

He kissed her cheek and wiped away her tears with his hoof. “Be strong. I know this is hard but I know you can do this. Just be strong, sweetheart.”

He then moved down to Fluttershy’s enlarged belly. Fluttershy at the time was five months pregnant with their first foal. He put his hooves around her belly.

“Hey buddy. You don’t know me yet but I’m your papa. I know I might not be able to see you take your first breath into this world, but I will be here to see you grow up. I will make sure of that. You take care of your momma until I get back, okay? And no matter what happens, your daddy loves you.” He kissed her belly and sat back up.

He looked straight into her eyes; tears began flooding in his own. “I can’t believe I’m gonna miss the birth of my own daughter.

Fluttershy pulled him close. She was finally able to speak. “You may not be here when she’s born but you’ll be here to raise her. I know you’ll be a great father. I know you will…”

“I will make it back. I promise.” He said, looking back into her eyes.

Fluttershy continued to stare at the ceiling. It’s been eleven and a half months since she was able to feel the warmth of her husband when they embraced. She missed the kisses she got every morning before he left for work. She missed the tickle fights they’d have when they fought over what movie to watch. She even missed the times when they made passionate love. It was never the first thing on her mind whenever she thought of him but the thought of her being with the only stallion she’s ever been with and sharing an experience like that was like no other. No matter what she thought of, almost everything made her heart flutter.

She remembered the day she discovered she was pregnant. After an entire morning of mysterious puking episodes, Fluttershy and her husband, Thunder, made an appointment with Nurse Redheart to see if she was coming down with any sort of illness. When Nurse Redheart returned with a smile on her face, she announced the good news that they were expecting. Fluttershy had never seen him so happy since their wedding night. He began jumping up and down shouting “yes!” repeatedly and dancing around the room. He was excited that he was going to finally have a complete family.

This made Fluttershy smile. It’s only for a little while longer. She thought. Just then, a cry emanated from the other room. Fluttershy got up from beneath the bed covers and made her way into the next room. In the room was their daughter, whom they named Violet. She looked just like her father with a light purple coat and mane with bright blue eyes. Although her father had light white coat with a bright blue mane, she looked just like hime. Fluttershy picked her up from her crib.

“Hi Violet, sweetie.” She said with a beautiful smile. “How did you sleep, honey? Are you hungry, you want some breakfast?”

Violet threw her hooves in the air and made a sound with her tongue and giggled. Fluttershy giggled too at the sight of her daughter being silly.

“I take that as a yes.” Fluttershy replied. Violet mumbled something that sounded like ‘mama’ and laid her head on Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach. She smiled and kissed Violet and headed downstairs to make breakfast.

Fluttershy made banana pancakes for herself and cinnamon oatmeal for Violet. They ate with smiles and giggles all around. By the time they finished, Violet’s mane was covered in the oatmeal.

Fluttershy sighed with a smile and nuzzled her daughter. “You’re such a messy little filly aren’t you?”

Violet replied with a smile and a tiny laugh.

“Well I guess it’s time for you to have a bath.” She said as she tickled her with her muzzle and blew raspberries on her belly.

As she began carrying her up the stairs, there was a knock on the front door. When she opened it, her lavender coated unicorn friend appeared with an unusually large smile.

“Good morning Fluttershy!” She squealed.

“Oh good morning Twilight. What brings you here?”

“I just went out for a morning stroll. After having Lightning, I’ve been trying to get back into shape.”

“Oh I know what that’s like.” Fluttershy replied, looking down from underneath her where Violet appeared. Twilight turned her head slightly and smiled.

“Why’s Violet covered in what I hope is oatmeal?” She giggled.

“We had a… messy breakfast.”

“I can tell. Hey Violet!” Twilight waved at the filly.

She flew her front hooves in the air and rolled backwards giggling.

Both ponies laughed.

“Oh Fluttershy I almost forgot! Are busy this afternoon?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t believe I do. Why do you ask?”

“Well I was curious and was wondering if you wanted to meet up in Town Square at four for a little mare’s time.”

“Oh, that would be lovely. I just need to ask for a foalsitter to…”

“You can bring Violet with.”

“Are you sure, Twilight?”

“Yeah of course! It’ll be great for both of you to get out. You haven’t been out much since Thunder was deployed. And even when Violet was born.”

She thought for a moment. “Your right, Twilight.” Fluttershy said. “Okay I’ll meet you at four.”

“Okay, see you then!”

They waved and said their goodbyes. Fluttershy closed the door and headed upstairs to give Violet a bath.

***

“It’s almost four; are you ready?” A rainbow maned pegasus asked.

“Yes Rainbow, I sure am.” The voice said.

“Now remember, when I receive the signal from Twilight, I’ll fly over and tell you, that’s when you head over there, okay? But after that I got to get back to cloud duty otherwise my boss will fire me.” Rainbow said.

“Roger that.” The stallion smiled. He suddenly felt nervous and excited.

***

After Violet received her bath, she and Fluttershy spend the rest of the time outside playing in the garden. Around four o’clock, Fluttershy put her daughter in a foal carrier and headed out to Towns Square. Once there, she noticed Twilight sitting on a bench reading a book.

“Hey Twilight.” She said cheerfully.

“Hm? Oh hey Fluttershy.” She said with a smile.

Fluttershy took Violet out of her carrier. “So what are we going to do on this fine afternoon?” She asked while looking at the sky.

“I’m not sure. I thought we could just stay here for a while and talk. Come here, Violet.” Twilight called to her. She crawled over and Twilight picked her up.

“Talk about what, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“About Thunder.”

Fluttershy froze. “Oh no… is he…?”

“Oh no no no no. Nothing like that.” Twilight replied quickly.

Fluttershy sighed in relief. “You scared me!”

“I’m sorry. What I meant to say was have you heard from him lately?”

“Yeah… A few days ago.” She stared at the ground with her ears drooped down. “It was from a video call but the picture never came through. The audio was clear, thank goodness. It was good to hear his voice again but he told me that me that his unit will need to stay for another month.”

“I’m sorry Fluttershy. I know this is hard on you.” Twilight said. She threw her hoof in the air and quickly withdrew it and laid it on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“It’s not me that I think it will be hard on. I just worry that something will happen to him and Violet will grow up without her father.” Fluttershy explained. She looked up and noticed Twilight looking past her with a big smile on her face.

“I don’t think that will happen, Shy.” She said.

“What do you mean, Twilight? What are you looking at?”

Twilight looked straight into her eyes. “Look behind you.”

Fluttershy turned around and noticed a familiar being in the distance. As it became clearer, she brought her hooves over her mouth and fell back on her bottom as she saw the being wearing the same all too familiar camo uniform that she cried and held onto all those eleven and a half months ago.

With tears flowing down her cheeks, she raced ahead at full speed towards the being, her husband, Thunder Shy.

Thunder flinched slightly and drew back a step at the sight of his wife’s speed. Fluttershy paid no attention as she wrapped her arms around him. She squeezed him tightly; she drew back and looked into her lover’s eyes as if to be sure that this was reality and not just another one of her dreams. She began peppering his face with kisses, not once letting go.

Thunder chuckled as the kiss attack continued. Ponies around them cheered and clapped and a few ‘welcome home, soldier’ greetings were heard but he paid no attention to them. The only thing that’s been on his mind was seeing his wife again and soon his daughter.

He gently laid his hoof on her cheek, wiping her tears away with the other. A smile spread across his face. “I told you I’d be back.” He said and gently brought his lips to hers.

The embrace lasted for what seemed like forever. After a few moments, they back away from the kiss and held each other.

Fluttershy sniffed. “Welcome back, honey.”

“It’s good to be back here with my family.” He replied.

She withdrew the hug and looked into his eyes. “There’s somepony you have to meet.” She took his hoof in hers and led him back to wear Twilight was holding their foal.

Twilight handed her over to Fluttershy. She took her in her arms and moved to show Thunder. “Meet your daughter, Violet.”

Thunder put a hoof over his mouth. “Is she…my daughter? She looks just like me…” His eyes began to water.

“Yes she is.” Twilight smiled. “Go ahead. hold her.”

He lightly held her in his arms. Violet looked at him with a blank expression, examining this unfamiliar face. He looked up. “She’s beautiful.” He then looked back down at her and spoke softly, “Hey buddy. I’m your papa. You don’t remember but eleven and a half months ago, while you were still growing in your mommy’s tummy, I promised I would be back for you and here I am. I’m gonna watch you grow.” He said.

Violet suddenly smiled and brought her tiny hoof to his cheek. Tears began running down his cheeks. He held her close and brought Fluttershy over in his other arm and held them.

“I’m so happy to be back.”

The crowd had long dispersed and let the tiny family be. They continued to hold on to each other until Twilight spoke.

“Fluttershy, Thunder. I don’t mean to interrupt but I have an idea. You should go out tonight, just the two of you.”

“What about Violet?” Fluttershy asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch her. Besides, Lightning will be happy to see his buddy again.”

Thunder smiled. “Sounds good to me. What about you, honey?”

“Are you sure it won’t be any trouble, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’ll be fine. You two need some time together and catch up on things. I don’t mind looking after Violet.” Twilight replied.
Fluttershy then nodded.

“Thank you Twilight.” Thunder said.

“It’s no problem. Now you two get on out of here.”

“We’ll pick her up at eight. Does that sound good?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sounds alright to me. See you guys then!” Twilight waved.

Fluttershy and Thunder got up and began walking back to their cottage.

On the way, Fluttershy spoke, “I woke up this morning thinking you weren’t gonna be back for another month and here you are….. You lied to me you butthead!” She playfully tapped at his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. There was no other way for you to believe it. I just wanted to surprise you and make it memorable.” He replied.

She smiled and sighed lightly. “I forgive you. I love you Thunder.” She said as she laid her head against his shoulder.

“I love you too Fluttershy.” He replied and kissed her forehead.

When they made it back to the cottage, Thunder tossed his bag on the floor and sighed with a smile, lying on top of his bag.

“So where should we go tonight?” He asked.

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. Where do you want to go?”

“I’ll go anywhere you want to go. What’s one place you’ve wanted to go to?”

“Well, I’ve been dying to go to La Fleur De L’amour.”

He smiled. “La Fleur De L’amour it is. Now I just need to get ready.” He said and grabbed his bag. He went upstairs into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As he went in, Fluttershy came through the door.

“Mind if I join you?” She asked.

“The more the merrier.” He said and winked.

Under the warm water, they slowly brought their lips together. Fluttershy wrapped her held her hooves on his back. He was an Earth pony and after being in Afghaneighstan for all that time had made his muscles toned.

Thunder joined in on the game. He laid one hoof on her side and the other on her lower back. He slowly moved down until his hoof was on his wife’s round rump. Upon this feeling, Fluttershy let out a squeak. She gave him a look that he read as “nice try buddy” following a wink. The game was now over.

After their shower, they headed into their bedroom. Thunder laid his gear pack onto the bed and unloaded its contents. Among the items were his extra Equestrian Army Combat Uniforms and Standard Equestrian Army Service Uniform. He wanted tonight to be extra special for his wife. After all, La Fleur De L’amour was the most expensive restaurant in Ponyville. But that didn’t matter, he thought. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

As he finished buttoning up his service coat, he walked in front of the bathroom mirror to position his service beret. He walked back to the bedroom and gazed upon his wife who wore a light pink dress that appeared to match her mane color.
Her mane seemed itself appeared to sparkle in the semi-lit room.

Thunder was astounded. “Wow Flutters. You look absolutely beautiful.”

Fluttershy blushed She walked towards him in a seductive fashion. “Well you don’t look so bad yourself, Sergeant.” She winked.

Thunder smiled and moved out from the doorway. “Fillies first.”

“Oh such a gentlecolt.” She said and walked out the door. Thunder followed close behind and playfully squeezed her flank. She squeaked and then laughed along with Thunder.

They locked the door to the cottage and walked down the trail into town. It was around six o’clock and the sun had already begun to set, leaving the sky with a dazzling orange glow. Upon entering town, the town’s folk greeted the couple in head nods and formal hellos. Even a few had stopped to shake Thunder’s hoof and thank him for his service.

By the time they made it to the restaurant, stars began to bloom across the night sky. A younger couple caught sight of the two and held the door open. Fluttershy and Thunder thanked the young stallion and he shook his hoof and thanked him.
The two entered through the second doorway and into the main foyer. The restaurant was lightly lit and carried a sense of peace. Classical music was played by a quartet near the middle just to the left of the bar area. Among them was a familiar looking grey coated Earth pony with a pink bow tie.

A few hoofs in front of them a young unicorn mare that appeared to be in her middle to late teens that attended the reception desk. She looked up and smiled.

“Hello there! Welcome to La Fleur De L’amour.” She announced with perfect pronunciation. “Table for two I presume?”

“Yes, Miss.” Thunder replied.

A light cyan aura surrounded two menus. “Alright, follow me and I’ll take you to your table.”

The young mare led them to an area near the corner of the restaurant that was occupied by a few other groups of ponies.

“Would you prefer a booth or a single table?” She asked politely.

“We can take the single table.” Thunder replied.

She smiled again and set the menus onto the table. As they sat down, she spoke again, “You’re server will be here in just a few moments. Enjoy your meal.” She smiled and walked back to the front.

A few moments later a young pegasus stallion appeared next to the table.

“Hello, my name is Slick and I’ll be your sever this evening. Can I start you off with a drink? Coffee, tea?” He asked, holding a small order booklet with his left wing. The pegasus appeared to be a laid back type of pony with a short cut mane similar to Thunder’s and a medium built body. He indeed sounded older than he appeared to be.

“I’m down with coffee.” Thunder announced.

“You got it.” Slick replied with a smile, writing down the order. “And what about you, sweetheart?”

“I’ll just have water.” Fluttershy replied.

“Okay. A water and coffee it is. I’ll be right back with those.” Slick said and turned toward the kitchen. He reappeared a minute later with the drinks. “Sugar or cream with your coffee, sir?”

“Oh no thank you, black’s fine.” Thunder replied.

“Okie doke. Are you ready to order?”

Thunder looked over the menu for the second time but couldn’t choose anything he wanted. Everything sounded so delicious.

“I’m not sure. What would you prefer?” Thunder asked.

“I’m not sure if I can answer. I mean I’ve tried almost everything on the menu and I personally loved every dish. But, if you’re in the mood for a little salty yet sweet, I would recommend the Tossed Equestrian Salad. It comes with a regular tossed lettuce, red lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, and sweet tomatoes topped with our own ranch house dressing.”

“Oh that sounds delicious. I’ll get that.”

“One order of the Tossed Equestrian Salad. And you, sweetie?”

“I’ll have the same.” Fluttershy replied.”

“Two orders of the Tossed Equestrian Salad coming right up.” He said with a smile. We returned the menus and Slick went back to the kitchen and helped other ponies.

Thunder took his beret from his lap and set it on the left side of the table. He looked up and noticed Fluttershy’s eyes staring right into his as if she was examining him.

Thunder smiled. “What?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh nothing; just wondering what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking I love my beautiful wife.”

She blushed. “So what was it like out there?” She asked.

This shocked Thunder. She just had to jump to asking about it, he thought. His smile faded and his shoulders became stiff. “There’s nothing to really talk about that place. It’s just a desert with blistering heat twenty four seven.” He stared down at his coffee.

Fluttershy cocked her head to the side, confused to her lover’s answer. “Are you okay, Thunder?”

No answer. He appeared to be shaking slightly.

“Thunder?” She reached over the table and touched his hoof. He shook his head as if he was just taken out of a trance.

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” She asked again.

“Oh, yes I’m fine.”

“But it seemed like something was bothering you.”

“No I’m okay, don’t worry.”

Fluttershy knew that something was wrong but chose not to further divulge on the subject.

A few minutes later Slick returned with their food and asked if there was anything else they needed.

“No I think everything looks fabulous.” Fluttershy replied.

“Excellent. I’ll come back to check up on you two every few minutes and let me know if there’s anything that you need. Enjoy your meal.” He said with a smile.

The couple began eating their food and discussed events that Thunder had missed while he was deployed. Since he was curious, Fluttershy told of how Twilight had her first foal a few months after Violet was born.

“Oh yeah, how’s Flash doing?” Thunder asked.

“He’s doing okay. He got hurt from work a few weeks ago. He sprained his left wing while spinning clouds together. I’m not really sure how it happened. But he’s back at work now.”

Thunder swallowed a mouthful of salad. “Flash is a good stallion. Twilight made a good choice in marrying him.” He sighed. “But I still can’t believe I wasn’t there for Violet’s birth.”

“But you saw it on video.” Fluttershy replied.

Thunder couldn’t help but smile. “I know. It was in the middle of the night where I was. I remember telling you to be
strong and keep pushing and you did. And then that tiny cry appeared. I tell you I almost died that-“

“Well, well, well.” An older looking stallion interrupted, stumbling over to their table. He reeked of alcohol. “Whatta we got here? Whaz yer name, shweet flank?” He asked, rubbing his hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders. Fluttershy was obviously uncomfortable and attempted to move but the stallion moved wherever she did.

“Excuse me!” Thunder began, “Get your hooves off of my wife.”

The stallion stopped and squinted and Thunder. “Who the buck are you?”

“I’m the stallion you don’t want to mess with.”

The stallion’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Holllly shit.” He turned to face Fluttershy. “You married a ffffoal-killer?” Patrons in the restaurant including the ponies playing the music stopped to see what the ruckus was. The stallion stumbled over to Thunder, using the table as leverage. He stared at the medals on Thunder’s uniform.

“Sso where did you get this one from? Killing ffffoals?” He asked, pointing at his expert markspony medal

Thunder’s blood began to boil but he held his ground. “I ask you sir not to put your hooves on my medals.”

The stallion lightly chuckled and made his way back over to Fluttershy. “Come here baby, let me show you who a real shtallion is.”

Fluttershy tried to get away but the drunken stallion pulled her towards him and attempted to kiss her.

He had enough. Thunder pushed the stallion down to the ground. “I told you to keep your filthy hooves off of my wife!”

The stallion quickly got back onto his hooves and stood face to face with Thunder. “You don’t tell me what to do!” He spit on and elbowed Thunder across the left side of his face.

Thunder held his ground. Before he could make a move, the restaurant security tackled the stallion and began escorting him out. On the way, he continued to spit out vulgar. “Go ahead and take your bitch wife, you foal-killer! I hope they bucking kill you!- Ow wait not there dammit. Take it easy that’s my arm…”

Thunder touched the now forming lump on his cheek and flinched in pain. He picked up his beret and picked up a table that tipped over when he pushed the stallion. Fluttershy attempted to put ice on the lump. Ponies nearby walked over to see if Thunder was okay.

“Dear Celestia, sir are you alright?” A voice said. Thunder turned over and noticed it was Slick their server.

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah I’m alright.”

“Sir I am very, very sorry. This never happens here at La Fleur De L’amour.”

Thunder chuckled and managed a slight smile. “Always a first for everything, right?”

“Again sir I am very, very sorry. And for what it costs, your entire meal is on us.”

“Oh no that won’t be necessary.” Thunder protested.

“It’s the least we could do for a military service member.”

Thunder thought for a moment. He did want to but he finally agreed.

“Can we offer you a dessert? Also free of charge.”

Thunder kindly declined. “Oh no thank you.” He pulled Fluttershy close. “It’s time for us to pick up our daughter. Now that I’m back home, I have all the time in the world to spend with my family. Thank you Slick for the wonderful service.”

Slick smiled. “Congratulations sir. And it’s no problem. Anytime you come back, ask for me personally.” He held out his hoof. Thunder shook it. “Thank you for your military service.”

Thunder smiled and nodded. They left the restaurant and headed over to Twilight’s house.

Fluttershy kissed the lump on his cheek. “I’m sorry baby.”

He smiled. “It’s fine. Besides, it’ll go away soon.”

They made it to Twilight’s house and knocked on the door. Flash answered.

“Thunder! Sweet Celestia, how are you doing buddy?”

“I’m doing great, how about you?” Thunder replied.

“I’m doing great too, just now have been able to back to work. Wasn’t all that bad since I got to spend time with my son but it’s to get back to working.” He glanced at Thunder’s cheek. “What happened?”

“Oh some drunken stallion at La Fleur De L’amour tried to kiss Fluttershy, called me a foal-killer, spit on me, and then elbowed me in the face.”

“Yeah. There are ponies like that out everywhere that’ll treat service members like that, I’m afraid to say.”

Thunder nodded.

“But hey, we should all get together some time and have a cook-out.” Flash said.

“Yeah that sounds like a great idea.” Thunder replied.

Flashed smiled and turned around. “Hey Twilight, honey! Thunder and Fluttershy are here.”

“One second!” She replied. About a minute later she came through the doorway with a sleeping Violet.

Fluttershy beamed. “How was she?” She whispered.

“Oh she was wonderful. Her and Lightning had a great time.” Twilight replied.

“Thank you for watching her Twilight.” Thunder said.

“It’s no problem. Anything to help out my closest friends.”

Thunder smiled at the sight of his sleeping daughter. “We’ll see you guys soon.” He whispered.

They said their goodbyes and made their way home. Once there, they went upstairs and laid Violet in her crib. Thunder stayed and watched as her tiny belly rose up and down slightly with the rhythm of her breathing. Fluttershy stood next to him.

“Do you think I’ll be a great father?” Thunder asked, not taking his eyes off her.

“You already are. Why do you ask that?”

“It’s just something I needed to hear. And you are a great mother.” Thunder turned and looked straight into his wife’s aqua colored eyes. He leaned in and gently kissed her. “I promise I will be here for both of you whenever you need me. If there’s anything that I’ve learned from my deployment it’s cherish what you have right here right now because you will never know what will happen to it.

Fluttershy leaned against him. “Let’s head to bed, you had a long day.”

Thunder nodded and headed to their bedroom with Fluttershy. Fluttershy took off her dress and Thunder removed his uniform. They climbed into bed and held each other close as exhaustion begun to take over.

“Fluttershy?” Thunder whispered.

“Hmm?” She answered, half asleep.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Memories: Part One

Three days later…

The night air was crisp and cool as a gentle breeze blew through the opened window of the couple’s bedroom window. It was two a.m. Violet was sleeping soundly in her crib. Fluttershy stirred in her sleep. After a few moments, she awakened. Without opening her eyes, she rolled over to hold on to her lover. Her hooves stretched across only to feel an empty spot on the bed. She opened her eyes to see that Thunder wasn’t there. Normally this wouldn’t bother her because a few nights earlier she woke to see him outside in the backyard walking around the perimeter of the fence that was just recently built. She tried not to worry about it since she thought that this may be a habit and may be some procedures they had done while deployed. She managed to get him inside and he stated over and over that he couldn’t sleep and had a few things on his mind keeping him up.

But this time was different somehow. She began to feel uneasy as if something wasn’t right. She rubbed her eyes and got up from the bed. She went to go check on Violet, who was still asleep. As she just began leaving the doorway, she heard a bang from downstairs followed by somepony cursing. Upon turning around and facing the stairs, she noticed a faint light reflecting off the walls.

It must be Thunder, she thought.

She slowly made her way downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, a sound of glass bottles clanging together echoed from the kitchen. As Fluttershy entered the doorway, she caught sight of Thunder laying his head on top of the table and looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Around him were several small bottles of whiskey and other strong spirits. The strong odor of the alcohol started to burn her nostrils.

Fluttershy was shocked. He never drank anything unless it was champagne or wine at dinner parties or on other special occasions. She took a step forward.

“Thunder?” She called softly.

Thunder quickly jumped up but eased as he noticed it was Fluttershy. He looked at his wife who wore a concerned expression on her face and at the half and empty bottles of whiskey. His ears lowered.

“I’m sorry if I woke you.” His speech sounded slightly slurred.

“Thunder, honey, what’s going on? You haven’t been acting like yourself lately.”

Thunder sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, dear. I just haven’t had a lot of sleep lately.”

Fluttershy sat next to him and kissed his cheek.

“I understand. You’re in the reserves you’ve been gone for almost an entire year. Coming back to a whole different lifestyle is a difficult adjustment.”

Thunder slightly nodded.

She lightly rubbed his back. “I’m here for you, Thunder. If there’s anything that you need or want to talk about, I’m there.”

He smiled slightly and laid his head on her shoulder. “I know. And I’m sorry about you seeing me like this.” Thunder said as he pointed towards the whiskey bottles.

“I just worry about you.”

“I know. And I promise I won’t drink again.” He said.

She hugged him tightly.

“Come to bed. You look exhausted.”

Thunder nodded his head. He got on his hooves and followed her up the stairs and into bed. It wasn't before long that Thunder started snoring away into a deep sleep. Fluttershy kissed his temple and wrapped her arm around him. She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Over the course of the next few days, Fluttershy noticed Thunder’s behavior began to become more eccentric. Before he was deployed, they spent massive amounts of time with each other. Before Fluttershy was pregnant, Thunder would surprise her every day when he came home from work with flowers and passionate kisses. Now, he didn’t appear to have the drive to do the things they used to do. While he spends time with Violet, he appears to be what he used to be. But, when he’s around Fluttershy, especially during the evening, he appears to be spacing out as if he’s in a trance and jumps when snapped back to reality.

Fluttershy began to hear of his strange behavior following him at work. As a leader in the weather team for Ponyville, he became well liked and respected among his team. He was also known to be understanding and helpful to those who needed it within the team. But of course, that was before he came back. He now has become stern among those in the team and experience outbursts of anger which Thunder has never done before. She would occasionally find empty bottles of whiskey in the garbage. This angered her a little bit because of his promise to her but she didn’t mention anything about it to him.

Tonight, there was a festival in town. They enjoyed the festivities and Thunder seemed to be happy to be up and around and conversing with their friends. They headed home early due to Violet falling asleep and wanted to get her home and inside before the firework show started so she wouldn’t wake up. Once she was put to bed, Fluttershy and Thunder laid on their back porch looking up at the stars. Fluttershy was glad to see that he was finally getting back onto his hooves. Then a loud boom occurred and the sky lit up. Thunder was instantly low on his hooves and looked around frantically. He quickly ran into the cottage. Fluttershy got up and noticed the firework show had started. She went inside the cottage and called for Thunder’s name. She searched for nearly five minutes and couldn’t find him anywhere. Her search ended in the living room when she heard a whimpering within the closet located on the other end of the room. She slowly opened it and Thunder was curled up in a ball. Tears flew from his eyes like a river. Fluttershy held his hoof. He held onto it tightly and stared into her eyes.

“Thunder, sweetie, what’s going on?” She was worried. He had never acted this way before.

He crawled out of the closet, looked her in the eyes again, and wrapped his hooves around her and sobbed.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… I couldn’t save him.” He mumbled under his sobbing breath.

Fluttershy began to shake. What does he mean? She thought. Her eyes grew wide. She held him tight.

“Save who, Thunder?” Fluttershy asked.

A few seconds passed with no answer. He just held her and sobbed when suddenly, he whispered, “T-Trigger.”

She couldn’t move nor speak. This was the worst she has seen him in and it was scaring her.

What happened out there, Thunder? She thought as she held him close, not wanting to let go.

Through the rest of the night, Fluttershy and Thunder spent the rest of the night huddled together. As he slept, Fluttershy stayed awake, watching over him. A few times during the night he moved and moaned and woke up slightly only to fall back asleep. Fluttershy dozed off a few times during the night but couldn’t stay asleep. The constant worry for her husband was constantly pulling at her. The only times she got up was to check on Violet.

The light of day began to shine through the curtains and illuminate the room. Thunder was lying on his back; his legs sprawled in all directions. Fluttershy was lying on his chest. Her eyes were heavy due to the lack of sleep.

Thunder began to wake up. He yawned and stretched and opened his eyes and looked at Fluttershy. He smiled.

“Morning, sweetheart.” He said.

Fluttershy managed a partial smile. “Morning.”

He sat up and looked at the clock. The time was nine thirty. He quickly jumped to his hooves.

“Sweet Celestia, what day is it!”

“It’s Saturday.” Fluttershy answered. She lowered her head to the ground and closed her eyes.

Thunder sighed in relief. “Ugh. Whew! I thought there for a second I was late for work.”

He sat and looked around.

“Why are we in the living room?” He looked down at Fluttershy who appeared to be exhausted. “You okay, Fluttershy?”

She nodded. “I just didn’t get any sleep.” She said, raising her head.

“I’m sorry.” He said. He kissed her forehead. “Tell you what, you go on upstairs into bed and I’ll make some breakfast and bring it to you.”

Fluttershy smiled. “That’s really sweet of you but I have something I need to do.”

“Oh. When will you be back?”

“I won’t be long. I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.”

“Okay, well I’ll look after Violet while you’re gone. I’ll have something for you when you get back.” He grinned.

Fluttershy kissed his cheek. “Thank you.” She walked to the front door. “I love you, Thunder.”

“I love you too, Shy.”

She headed out the door and down the trail. It was great that he was in a good mood but Fluttershy knew it wouldn’t last long. He has been back for about a week now and his behavior was getting worse. She couldn’t do it alone. She needed guidance.

Fluttershy flew into town. Out of all of her friends, she knew that Twilight would have some information that could help her. Besides, she is the most studious pony she knows.

She landed in front of her home and knocked on the door. A few moments later a small purple dragon answered.

“Good morning, Spike.”

“Morning, Fluttershy.” The dragon beamed but his smile quickly faded. “Say, you don’t look so good. Are you okay?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Yeah. I just didn’t get much sleep the last few days.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Is Twilight home?”

“Yeah, she’s in her office.” He said. “Come on in.”

Fluttershy followed as Spike led her into Twilight’s office area.

“Hey Twilight, Fluttershy’s here to see you.” Spike announced.

Twilight looked up. “Morning, Fluttershy!” She beamed.

“Morning, Twilight.” Fluttershy yawned.

Twilight tilted her head. “You okay? You look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted.” Fluttershy sighed. “Not much sleep lately.”

“I can tell. And what happened at the festival last night?”

“Well, Violet fell asleep so we wanted to get her back home before the firework show started. And that’s kind of the reason what I’m here to talk to you about.”

“I’m all ears.” Twilight said.

Fluttershy sighed. She began to shake and felt like she was going to cry. “Oh Twilight! I just don’t know what to do.”

Twilight was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Ever since Thunder came home, he hasn’t been himself. He seems distant and we haven’t done anything we used to do. Sometimes he behaves like he has before he left but then returns back to the abnormal behavior. He’s really jumpy and even has anger outbursts at work. He’s never been this way, Twilight. Never.” Her eyes began to fill with tears but she refused to let herself cry.

Twilight was intrigued. She moved from her desk to the bookshelf behind her and used her magic to quickly skim through a throng of books. “Hmm, I have been studying pony psychology for quite some time and I remember reading something about Equestrian Military Psychology. Let’s see here… ah, here it is.” She began looking through the pages. “Anger outbursts, jumpy; Fluttershy, does he have difficulty falling or staying asleep?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Last night I believe he was having nightmares and he kept waking up throughout the night but fell back asleep shortly after.”

Twilight continued to look through the pages. “Nightmares, difficulty falling asleep, distant from family members and loved ones…” She suddenly stopped on a page and read through it. She looked up at Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, Thunder may have something called PTSD.” Twilight said.

“P-T-S… what?” Fluttershy asked, puzzled.

“PTSD,” Twilight repeated. “It stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a disorder that ponies can get who experienced something traumatic in their life. It can range from very minor to very bad. They can experience nightmares recalling the event or having flashbacks during the day.”

“So, could Thunder have experienced something while he was deployed?” Fluttershy asked.

“According to this book, which was written by an Equestrian Army Psychologist, it’s very likely. But, we don’t know for sure. Has he talked to you about anything that has happened over there?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “When he first came home, out of curiosity, I tried asking him what it was like out there, he just said that there’s nothing to talk about it because it’s a desert with blistering heat all the time.”

Twilight leaned back in her chair and rubbed her chin. “Well I don’t want to jump to any conclusions and say that this is exactly what he has because I could be wrong. He may just have some difficulty adjusting to his regular life style he had before he left. And besides, he’s been there for quite a long time and it will take some time to adjust.”

Fluttershy nodded and stared at the floor. “Is it treatable?”

“Treatments can vary from pony to pony. But some of the treatments are psychotherapy, or ‘talk’ therapy, or medications, or both. But the main key in these treatments is time. It could take up to six to twelve weeks or maybe several years depending on the severity. Even though the treatments may work for him, throughout his life he will still have recurring nightmares or flashbacks to the events that caused the disorder. Those with PTSD also need the support of friends and family.”
Fluttershy nodded and continued to stare at the floor.

“But on the other hand, have him come here tomorrow at noon so I can see him. I may be able to tell by looking at his behavior and asking him some questions. I don’t want to go too far, but, we’ll need to take this one step at a time.”

“Oh, and one other thing, Twilight. I believe he has been drinking. I’ve found empty bottles of whiskey in the trash. He never drank anything but wine or maybe some champagne before.” Fluttershy said.

“I’ll make a note of that. It’s very common for ponies with this disorder to use alcohol to cope with the stress and any guilt they may feel.” Twilight replied, writing on a note pad.

Fluttershy hugged her. “Thank you, Twilight. I knew I could count on you.”

Twilight smiled. “Anything to help out my friends in need. I’ll take a look over at a few more books and see what else I can find to prepare for tomorrow.”

Fluttershy nodded. She said her goodbyes and headed back home. On the way, she thought about what Twilight had said. Could he have seen something bad out there to make him this way? She thought. She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about any of it. All she wanted to do was to go home and see her family.

Fluttershy landed in front of her cottage and walked to the door. She opened it and saw Thunder playing with Violet. He was lying on his back in the living room with their daughter in his hooves. He raised her up and made “cooing” sounds. He didn’t notice Fluttershy walking in.

He laid her down on his chest and kissed her forehead. He held her close as her tiny wings opened and closed.

“You kept me alive.” He whispered. “Daddy loves you, sweetheart.”

Violet was grinning widely and lightly brushed her minute hooves across his cheek.

Fluttershy smiled. “You two are so adorable; I wish I could get a picture.”

Thunder looked over and grinned. “Hey, you’re back.” He turned back to Violet. “Look who’s back, sweetie.”

He raised Violet up. She grinned and threw her hooves up. “Momma!” She called out.

Thunder was surprised. “Her first word!” He rolled over and set her onto her hooves. “Go to momma.” He lightly pushed her bottom, giving her a start, and she slowly made her way over to Fluttershy. She kept going until she bumped into her mother’s hooves.

Fluttershy picked her up. “You did it!” It was a family moment she was happy to experience. Everything she had forgotten about. She was saddened to hear that her husband may have experienced something traumatic but this moment made her forget it instantly.

Thunder walked up and kissed Fluttershy. It was a soft and passionate kiss that she hadn’t experienced in days.

Thunder looked into her eyes. “You’ve done a great job. I don’t know how you did it all by yourself, but you’re strong.”

Fluttershy kissed him. “So, what’s it like being a papa?”

Thunder shook his head. “It’s a feeling that just can’t be described. Only experienced”

She smiled. They looked at their daughter who rolled around on her back, making drooling sounds. They chortled.

“So, you ready to for that surprise?” Thunder asked.

Fluttershy nodded.

Thunder motioned for her to follow. Fluttershy picked up Violet and followed him out the front door. He led them down the trail towards the park.

Fluttershy giggled while Violet wriggled in her arms. “Where you taking us, Thunder?”

“You’ll see.” He sung.

A few minutes later he stopped by a tree. Sounds of children playing filled the air and brought a sense of joy and peace.

Thunder turned around. “Wait right here and close your eyes.”

Fluttershy closed them and held Violet. Birds sung in the trees overhead.

“Okay, come around.” Thunder called.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and walked around the tree. She gasped. Before her was a checkered styled blanket with a basket on top and a small vase with a rose in it. A picnic.

“Surprise.” Thunder said with a smile.

Fluttershy couldn’t think of a word to say.

“I thought since we’re both experiencing a lot of stress, I figured we needed a little outside family time, something to ease the stress.” He said. “But, I can’t take all the credit. After all, I did have a little helper, huh?” He nuzzled Violet’s tiny neck, making her giggle.

Fluttershy laid Violet down next to the basket.

“Come join me.” He said, patting a spot next to him. Fluttershy sat down.

Thunder opened the basket and took out some sandwiches for them and mashed apples for Violet, one of her favorites.
As they ate, they watched the foals play in the distance. Fluttershy leaned against Thunder’s shoulder and gazed upon her daughter who, as always, had a smile on her face and giggled nonstop. This brought a smile to her own. They may have had some bumps in the road but it’s moments like these that make all the better.

They finished eating and watched their daughter as she rolled around on the blanket.

“I’ve always wondered what makes her this happy all the time.” Fluttershy said.

Thunder chuckled. “It’s because she has you as a mother. She may not know me quite well yet but she will soon.” He said as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

“And I know you may think that I’ve changed since I’ve been gone. And you’re right, I have. But, I’m not going to let that effect anything. I promise you that.” He held her close.

Fluttershy and Thunder continued with small talk. She asked him how things were going at work.

“Well, it hasn’t been the same since I came back. I’d just suddenly get angry for no reason and lash out at my co-workers. I’ve never done anything like that, ever. Already one of them requested a transfer to another department.”

“Oh no.” Fluttershy said sincerely.

Thunder shrugged. “That same day I went and apologized to him and said that I wasn’t myself when I did that. He said that he understood and that the transfer would only be a temporary thing and that he’ll come back but I don’t know if he will.” He sighed and lay on his back. A gentle breeze blew through the air. It felt good.

Fluttershy sensed his despair. She quickly changed the subject.

“I know you don’t like to talk about any of it, but, has there been anything that happened over there that was joyful or brought you guys a good time?” Fluttershy asked, unsure of what his reply would be.

Thunder thought for a moment before a sly grin spread across his face. He chuckled and sat up.

“Well, my company was stationed at this base for a few months until we had to ship back home. Starry Night it was called because of the amount of stars you could see when night came. We were there to help with Afghaneighstan’s Security Forces on patrols, minor things like that. It was near the tenth month marking the time I was deployed there when I was promoted to platoon leader. So I was in charge of up to sixty other ponies, and I tell you, these were some rowdy soldiers.” He paused before continuing, “We were at the base for about a week and all we had done was stand around most of the days; a few times a day we would hit the shooting range but other than that, everyone was practically bored out of their minds. One day, one of the Privates in my platoon had the weirdest idea. He wouldn’t tell anypony about it but rather show us. We waited for a few minutes and he appeared wearing a heavy caliber rifle around his shoulders, his combat boots, a cigar in his mouth, and a mare’s undergarments. It was the most ridiculous scene most of us had ever seen. I remember him saying, ‘yeah that’s right, I’m the best looking mare you ‘fellers ever seen!’ He then said, ‘watch this’ and started chasing chickens that were near this wall while yelling ‘get on the ground!’. It was funny because the ASF were crowding around watching him with the funniest looks on their faces.” Thunder continues to laugh as he reminisced.

Fluttershy giggled and tried to picture the scene. She couldn’t help but laugh at the part with the mare’s undergarments.

“Yeah, he was a goofy kid. He was pretty clumsy too. A few days later at the shooting range, he started doing this odd dance after scoring high on the range. Then his rifle slipped and he shot his own hoof.” Thunder added.

“Oh my goodness, was he okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh yeah; Once the medic patched him up he started laughing. None of us knew why, but, some of us thought it was the morphine kicking in. He was transferred into another unit once he recovered. A ‘replacement’ and newcomer took his place, Private First Class Trigger.” Thunder sighed and stared down at the blanket.

Fluttershy remembered that name. He muttered it last night. She could see that this name appeared to affect him greatly.

“Let’s head on home.” Fluttershy touched his shoulder. He gave a slight smile and nodded.

They packed up everything and put it inside the basket. Thunder put it on his back. On the way home, Violet fell asleep.

“Hey I’m going to put Violet to bed. I’ll meet you at home?” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah I’ll meet you there.” He replied.

Fluttershy held her, flapped her wings and headed towards the cottage. Thunder stopped, turned, and walked into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

***

Fluttershy paced around the living room. It’s been thirty minutes since she arrived home and put Violet to bed.

He should’ve been here by now. She thought.

She walked to the front door and walked outside. Then sun was setting and air was cooling down. She peered down the path to see Thunder at the gate. He walked closer and Fluttershy noticed the basket he carried earlier was replaced with saddlebags. Three apple patches were stitched onto the side flaps in a familiar way.

“Where were you? I was starting to get worried.” Fluttershy said.

“Surprise. I thought I’d stop by Sweet Apple Acres real quick before I came back.” Thunder replied.

Fluttershy turned her head slightly. “Isn’t that Applejacks saddlebag?”

Thunder slid the brown leather bag off his hindquarters and gently laid it on the ground.

“Yeah she let me borrow it to bring these home.” Thunder opened one of the flaps on the saddlebags and revealed one of many bottles of apple cider.

Fluttershy read the label and gasped. “These are Applejack’s specially made apple ciders that only the Apple family has. How did you get these?”

“Well I stopped by to tell her and little Applebloom I was doing alright and Applejack gave me these. She said she appreciates what we do and insisted I take a few. I tried to say it wasn’t necessary but she insisted.” Thunder explained. “It wasn’t much, but she said she’d find out a better way to show her gratitude given more time, ‘least that’s what she said, anyway.”

Fluttershy chuckled and motioned for him to come inside. Once there, Thunder headed for the kitchen and stowed away the cider. He left one of the bottles on the table as he grasped on to two wine classes in the cupboard. Being the kind of stallion who likes to impress and show off to his wife, he balanced the two glasses on his head and the bottle between his teeth. As he turned the corner, Fluttershy turned her head and noticed her husband, wearing a funny looking grin. He raised his eyebrows. She instantly rolled her eyes and snickered.

“You never cease to try and impress me, don’t you?”

“Nope.” Thunder replied, laying the bottle and glasses on to the coffee table.

“I’m going to check on Violet real quick.” She said.

As she headed up the stairs, Thunder forged an idea. He quickly walked to the closet and grabbed a few candles from the top shelf and set them on the coffee table. He arranged them accordingly, lit them, and shut off the lights.

The soft sound of hoofs echoed the hallway as Fluttershy took her last step. She turned the corner and saw her husband sitting at the coffee table, candles lit, and the cider poured in both glasses.

Fluttershy beamed and sat next to him. She leaned against him, feeling the warmth of his body mix with hers, a mass feeling she could not explain. Thunder wrapped his hoof around her.

“Shall we?” Thunder asked, pointing to the cider.

She nodded and picked up her glass. They chipped the glasses together and drank. Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide, rapidly swallowed the cider, and began gagging.

“You okay?” Thunder asked, lightly patting her back.

“How much… is in that?” She asked with a raspy voice.

Thunder studied the bottle. “Umm…. between twenty-four and twenty-eight percent.”

She shook her head as shivers ran up her spine.

“Bleghh! Too strong for me.” She said smacking her lips together, her tongue sticking out.

Thunder snickered. “Want me to drink it?”

She nodded.

He took her glass and quickly drank it in one gulp. As he set the glass down, his facial expression turned from a smile, to a frown.

“Hey, listen…. I know I haven’t been right these past few days. It’s just been hard, being gone for almost a year in a different world and coming back trying to return back to civilian life. It’s…” He paused and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “It’s more difficult than I imagined it to be.”

Fluttershy put her hoof on his shoulder. “I know it’s hard, sweetie, and it’s going to be. But you do a great thing protecting Equestria. If you ever need to relieve any stress, I’m sure Twilight can help.”

He looked into his wife’s eyes. He could see the sincerity shine bright. She was worried about him and wanted to do her best to help him with anything that she can.

He nodded. “Okay. Let’s see what Twilight can do.”

“We can head over there tomorrow at noon.”

Thunder hesitated. “Is she going to be busy?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Okay. I’ll be there at noon.” Thunder gave a slight smile; his eyes began to feel heavy.

Fluttershy smiled and hugged him. They sat there in each other’s arms and lightly kissed.

They blew out the candles and headed upstairs to bed.

********

Fluttershy awoke the next morning late. Sleep became difficult for her over the past few days. She lay in bed lost in thought as Thunder snored away. Occasionally he muttered something, stirred slightly, then sank back down into the bed. She became used to this

She became worried about what would happen at noon. As she tried to sleep, images of him becoming angry and lashing out flooded her mind. Although she never thought that it would happen, Fluttershy couldn’t shun the images away.
She soon fell asleep.

Fluttershy woke up with a blaring migraine as the sun glared through window, temporarily blinding her.

“Ughh..” ‘Definitely not the greatest way to wake up.’ Fluttershy almost thought aloud as she leaned up slowly, shielding her eyes from the sun’s bright rays.

Once she regained her sight, she looked over her shoulder and chuckled at the sight of Thunder sprawled on the bed with a light stream of saliva flowing from the side of his mouth onto his pillow. As she turned around, her eyes locked onto the clock on the dresser beside the bed.

Ten-fifteen! Oh my goodness! Fluttershy jumped off the bed swiftly and made her way to Violet’s room. When she entered, Violet was awake and rolling around in her crib, and giggling as she always did.

“Hi sweety! Momma had a rough night sleep.” Fluttershy said as she picked Violet out of her crib.

“Ma…Mommy!” Violet said and tapped her mother’s head with her hoof.

Fluttershy grinned. This was something she knew she would never get tired of hearing.

After breakfast was finished and the dishes were done, Fluttershy went upstairs to wake up Thunder. She went into their room and lightly shook his shoulder.

“Thunder. Wake up sweetie.”

Thunder moved slightly, yawned deeply and stretched, cracking some stiff joints in the process. His eyes opened halfway.

“Morning, beautiful.”

Fluttershy blushed. “I made breakfast. There’s a plate on the table in the kitchen waiting for you.”

He stretched again. “What time is it?”

“Just a few minutes after eleven.”

Thunder chuckled. “I kept having these weird dreams last night. Like, I was in this room filled with cake and ice cream and all these goodies and when I’m about to take a bite, it disappeared and was replaced with… vegetables.” He attempted to cringe.

Fluttershy giggled. “Well Mister Joker, I’m going to head over Twilight’s early. But breakfast is on the table for you.”

“Okay I’ll be up.” He tried to sit up, but fell back into the pillow, clutching his head. “Ugh, massive headache.”

“Will this make it better?” She asked and leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“A little. Maybe another one would help make me feel even better.” He stuck his lower lip out in a pouty fashion that reminded Fluttershy of the way her friend Rarity does.

She leaned over again and kissed him twice in the same spot.

A sly grin spread across his face. “Ahh. That’s the… that’s the stuff.”

Fluttershy chortled. “See you at noon.”

She leaned down and kissed him again, said goodbye, grabbed Violet, and headed outside and flew towards Twilight’s house.

Once she landed, she noticed Twilight sitting on the bench outside her front door looking at some papers.

“Good morning, Twilight.” Fluttershy said.

Twilight looked up. “Oh, morning, Fluttershy, Violet. You’re here early.”

“Well I thought I’d give Thunder some time to get ready to come out here.” Fluttershy replied.

“I asked Spike to deliver some packages and letters to Princess Celestia.” She paused. “You look tired. How’d you sleep?”

Fluttershy sighed. She set Violet down in front of her as she sat down. “Not good. I was up most of the night worried about how today might go. I’m just worried how he’ll react.”

“You have a reason to be worried. I’m afraid of how he’ll react too but we just need to be cautious. We can’t move too quickly on this.” Twilight said.

Fluttershy nodded.

“It’ll all be alright. Come inside, I’ll make us some tea while we wait for Thunder. Oh, and Flash will take our son and Violet out to the little foals park while we have this session.”

“Oh, tea sounds lovely. And thank you.” Fluttershy said.

“My pleasure.” As they entered the door, Twilight called, “Flash, sweetheart, Fluttershy’s here.”

Flash walked around the corner with their son in a stroller. “Hey Fluttershy.”

“How are you doing, Flash?” Fluttershy asked.

“Pretty good, actually. Gonna take little monster colt here to the park so he can burn off some energy so he’ll be ready for his afternoon nap.”

“You wanna take Violet with you? Because… you know.” Twilight asked.

“I sure can. Hi Vi!” He said happily as Fluttershy set her in the seat behind their son.

“Bye sweetie, be good to Flash for mommy.” Fluttershy said.

“We’ll see you later.”

They all waved goodbye as Flash headed out the door.

“Good thing we bought that double seat stroller.” Twilight chuckled. “Now, about that tea.”

********

Fluttershy paced around Twilight’s office and gazed at the clock. It was twelve-forty five.

She remembered precisely, telling him to meet here at noon. With Thunder being forty-five minutes late for their first session, she was beginning to worry as every minute passed by.

“He doesn’t have work or anything?” Twilight asked, looking at her calendar on her desk and hoping she didn’t schedule on his work day by accident.

Fluttershy shook her head. “He doesn’t work on Saturdays or Sundays. Oh, where could he be?”

Suddenly, there was loud heavy knocking on the front door. Fluttershy and Twilight glanced at each other and quickly ran to the door. When they opened it, standing there was Thunder, stumbling, trying to keep himself standing. He reeked strongly of alcohol.

He walked through the doorway and fell onto the floor.

“I’m….I’m here.” His speech was slurred.

“Thunder, are you… are you drunk?” Twilight asked, putting her hoof over her nose.

“I… I did have a few drinks.” He replied.

“Why?”

“It’s a little complicated.”

Fluttershy’s face began turning red. She had had enough.

“Thunder Shy!!” She screamed, and slammed her hoof onto the floor. The house echoed.

Thunder retreated onto the floor in a low prone position and covered his head with his hooves, whimpering and shaking madly.

“Thunder, Thunder. Look at me. It’s Twilight.”

He looked up into her eyes. Fluttershy looked through his. His eyes bore fear, an expression that sent chills down her spine.

“Fluttershy, I need you talk to him. Try to calm him down.”

Fluttershy knelt down and put her hooves on his cheeks. “Thunder, baby, look at me. It’s okay.”

She repeated a few times before his breathing slowed. Fluttershy’s heart was pounding within her chest. She was scared for him.

“Thunder…. What happened to you? Why are you doing this to yourself?” She said in between dry sobs.

He looked at her for a moment before bursting into tears. He cried for minutes before he was able to speak.

“I’ve seen…. I’ve seen horrible things…. The things I had to do…”

Twilight was listening intently.

“What happened there, Thunder?” Twilight asked.

“But I thought you didn’t want to do this that fast?” Fluttershy asked.

“No.” Thunder said. “You of all ponies deserve to know, Shy.”

He took a deep, shaky breath.

He spoke, almost in a whisper, “We had a month and a half left in our deployment. After some of the soldiers were wounded on a patrol, four replacements were reassigned to our company. Private Fezz, Private Skipps, Corporal Comet and….Private First Class…. Trigger.”

Lift Me Up

A cool breeze blew through the opened window of the quiet and peaceful cottage. The moonlight had shown its brilliant rays as it slightly illuminated the couple’s bedroom.

After several days that contained only a few hours of sleep per night, Fluttershy was able to rest soundly for the sleep she desperately needed.

Thunder lay awake in the bed next to her, hooves behind the back of his head and staring at the ceiling. He only slept a few hours before awakening, deep in thought. Although a massive weight seem to lift of him only a few hours earlier, he still felt like something needed to be done.

It suddenly hit him.

He slowly got out of bed, careful not to waken Fluttershy, and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. He opened up one of the cupboards containing all their champagne, wine and Applejack’s special cider and grabbed a few of the bottles and set them on the table.

Fluttershy slightly stirred. She rolled onto her back, half asleep, and marginally opened her eyes. She smacked her lips together and yawned.

‘Water.’ She thought.

She lay the blankets aside and walked outside of her room. Before heading downstairs, she headed into Violet’s room. She peered into her daughter’s crib to notice her hooves wrapped around her favorite stuffed teddy bear. Fluttershy smiled. She leaned over, kissed Violet’s forehead, and covered her in a blanket.

As Fluttershy left her daughter’s room and neared the stairs, she heard a slight sound of glass bottles clanking together. Although half asleep, she knew exactly what it was.

‘Oh no.’

More awake now, she slowly flew down the stairs, landed on the bottom step, and walked to the doorway to the kitchen. The faint light above kitchen sink slightly illuminated the room. As she turned the corner, she noticed Thunder at the table. He popped the tops off of two wine bottles. He turned to the sink and began dumping them down the drain.

Fluttershy lightly tapped the wall. As the last few drops fell from the bottles, Thunder turned around.

“Did I wake you?” Thunder asked with sincerity.

Fluttershy shook her head and sat down. She rubbed her eyes.

Thunder set the two now empty bottles down with four others. He walked over to his wife. She laid her head on his shoulder.

Thunder lightly kissed her. “You should be asleep. What are you doing up?”

“I was coming down to get some water after I checked up on Vi and then I heard the bottles clanking. What’s going on?”

Thunder sighed. “Come on over to the table. I’ll get you some water.”

As Fluttershy sat at the table, Thunder set the glass of water in front of her.

“Well I was wide awake just staring at the ceiling and… I don’t know it just felt like there was something that I needed to do. And then it just hit me. So I came down here and began pouring all these wine and champagne bottles down the drain.”

Fluttershy was puzzled. “How come?”

“Because starting today, this is my road to recovering. And to start out, I’m getting rid of any and all alcohol from this cottage because I am done with it. I don’t need any of it to get rid of any pain. I’m going to start this recovery in the right direction.” Thunder explained.

He popped the corks on the last two bottles and poured its contents down the drain. As he laid the last two bottles with the others, Fluttershy sat next to him and wrapped her wing around him.

She kissed his cheek. “I’m so proud of you, sweetie. I know this may have been difficult.”

Thunder shrugged. “Well as I said in my wedding vows, my family will ALWAYS come first and that I will do nothing to hurt them. That is a promise I intend to keep.”

Fluttershy hugged him. She was proud of his positive attitude towards his recovery. He made his goals and promises that she knew he would never break.

“I promise things will get better.” Thunder said.

“I know it will.” Fluttershy whispered.

They sat for a few minutes in the slightly lit kitchen embracing each other.

‘Everything is going to get better. I promise you that, baby.’ Thunder thought.

********

It has been six weeks since Thunder first reencountered his experiences of his deployment to Afghaneighstan. Ever since then, he has planned three visits a week to Twilight to continue on his recovery process.

Over the course of a month and a half, Thunder has begun to show great improvement with his recovery. His anger outbursts at work are nonexistent and he has not drunk a single drop of any alcohol since that day.

After the fifth week, Thunder and Fluttershy agreed on adopting a puppy. After visiting the local animal adoption center, they quickly fell in love with a six week old Germane Shepherd female puppy. As soon as they laid eyes on her, they knew this was the perfect dog for the family. Thunder also knew that this breed of dog is greatly known for being loyal, watchful, and protective.

After a week, the growing puppy has proven to have quite the appetite after eating two bags of puppy chow.

Today is shopping day.

“You ready, Shy?” Thunder asked as he hooked himself into the new carriage they had recently purchased.

“Mhmm. Just a minute, I have to grab Vi’s diaper bag.” Fluttershy answered.

Thunder chuckled.

After several minutes, Fluttershy walked out and hopped in the carriage.

“You said you were only gonna be a minute.” Thunder playfully whined in a foalish manner.

Fluttershy chortled. “Well Violet decided to fill up her diaper last minute.”

Thunder cringed.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to clean it.” Thunder whispered softly to himself.

“I heard that.” Fluttershy teased.

Thunder playfully stuck out his tongue and pulled the carriage down the path towards the market.

Once there, Thunder unhooked himself from the carriage as Fluttershy carried Violet up to the front. Both of them took two separate carts.

As they entered, Fluttershy handed Thunder a list.

“Grab these items and I’ll meet you near the cold food section?” Fluttershy asked.

“You bet.”

Thunder grabbed the list and looked it over:

Broccoli
Carrots
Fruit (any kind)
Puppy Food
Quills
Paper
Ketchup
Eggs

After looking over the items again, Thunder began walking through the store picking up items that were on the list.
Puppy Food.

As he entered the pet aisle, both sides contained many different brands of dog food. Thunder looked at both sides over and over.

“First world problems right here for stallions, too many choices.” Thunder said aloud.

After deliberating on which kind to get, Thunder randomly tossed four bags into the cart.

Once Thunder was on the last item, he headed down to the cold food section. Just as he turned into the aisle, he noticed Flash.

“Hey Flash!”

“Thunder! How’s it going?” He asked.

“Not too bad. Just doing some shopping with the family.” Thunder replied.

“That’s great. As a matter of fact, I think I just saw Fluttershy and Violet a few aisles down. Say, how are the sessions with Twilight going?”

“Pretty good actually. Over the past six weeks I haven’t been having as frequent nightmares as I used to. I gotta say Flash, she’s been helping me out a lot and I wish I can show my gratitude.” Thunder said.

“No you don’t have to do anything. She helps out anypony without expecting anything in return. Twi has a good heart that way.”

“Well I’ll still think of something. I just have to show how thankful I am. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if it wasn’t for her help.”

Thunder looked at the last item on the list.

“Eggs? Boy, I don’t know. The cottage had to be aired out big time the last time she had eggs.” Thunder thought aloud.

“What?” Flash chuckled.

“A few weeks ago I made eggs for Fluttershy and I and she practically devoured them. The bad thing is, I just found this out, when she eats eggs, she can make a stink.”

“Are you saying that she…?”

“Yes. My wife has terrible smelling farts when she eats eggs.” Thunder replied.

Flash began laughing almost uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t see Fluttershy doing that.”

“Oh believe me, it’s bad.”

Flash’s laughter slowed as he composed himself.

“Oh boy. Well I better get going. Twilight’s gonna wonder where I’m at. You take care, Thunder.”

“You too Flash. Say hello to Twi for me.”

“Will do!” Flash replied and walked to the front of the store.

Thunder turned and picked up a carton of eggs. He thought for a moment.

“Eh, why the hell not.” He said and set them in the cart.

As he headed down the aisle and turned, Fluttershy appeared and T-boned Thunder’s cart with her own.

“Oh, there you are.” She said with the cutest smile.

Thunder sighed. “Miss, I’m gonna have to see your insurance information. There’s a lot of substantial damage to my cart vehicle here.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh stop it. You got everything?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

She kissed him. “Grab a box of cereal and I’ll meet you up front?”

“Sure thing.” He replied and headed down the aisle halfway before turning around, “Hey, where’s the…”

She was gone.

“Dang it.”

Thunder went into the breakfast aisle and picked out a box at random and met Fluttershy near the checkout.

After paying, they headed out and began loading the carriage.

“Four bags of puppy food?” Fluttershy asked surprised.

“What can I say, she eats like a maniac.”

They both laughed as they finished loading the carriage.

Suddenly there was hoofsteps behind them, followed by a familiar voice.

“Sergeant First Class Shy.”

Thunder turned around. It was his Commanding Officer.

“Captain Hawk, sir.” Thunder stated and saluted.

“At ease, son. At ease.”

“Captain this is my wife, Fluttershy and my daughter, Violet.”

“Pleased to meet you Ma’am.”

“Likewise.” She replied in her shy voice when she meets new ponies.

“And nice to meet you too, little one.”

Violet giggled.

“Beautiful family you have, son.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Captain Hawk sighed. “Well I’m just gonna cut to the chase. Two things for you: One, your enlistment is out in a few months. So I was gonna ask if you plan on reenlisting or retire. I’ll give you some time to talk it over with your wife.”

Thunder nodded. “I’m not sure. That’s something we’ll definitely need to talk about.”

“And last thing: I’m here to present this to you on behalf of Princess Celestia herself.” He handed Thunder a scroll. “Congratulations, Sergeant. You’re being awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.”

Thunder’s jaw dropped. “This is unbelievable.”

“Your orders are to appear at the award ceremony in three days. I know this is short notice but I thought it would give you enough time to get ready.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Thunder said and saluted. Captain Hawk done the same.

“Well I got to catch the train back to Base in Canterlot. See you there in three days.” He turned to face Fluttershy, “It was nice meeting you ladies.”

Fluttershy nodded.

Captain Hawk nodded back, turned and head to the train station.

Fluttershy walked up to Thunder and kissed his cheek.

“Wow, the Silver Star and Purple Heart. Congratulations, honey.”

“Yeah.” Thunder replied as he began hooking up to the carriage.

The way back to the cottage was silent. Fluttershy knew he was deep in thought and knew better than to interrupt his thinking.

As Thunder pulled the carriage in to the back of the cottage, Fluttershy brought Violet inside.

Thunder grabbed two bags of puppy food and head inside.

After all the items were brought in, Thunder had his wife sit in the living room to discuss the recent news.

“What do you think?” Thunder finally said after a few tense moments of silence.

“About what?”

“About what my CO said. My enlistment is running out and whether not I should reenlist.”

Fluttershy sat back in the sofa. As she thought, she watched their daughter play with her toys just a few feet away from them.

“It’s up to you.” She replied.

Thunder shook his head. “No. This is a huge decision, sweetie, I need your opinion on this.”

Fluttershy looked at him directly. “Whatever you choose, it doesn’t matter because either way, I will support you. Ever since I met you, I’ve always supported you. I know this job is very dangerous but that’s what you signed for. You know what you got yourself into and the dangers of that. You and all the others who do this job do a great thing to keep everypony safe.”

Thunder lightly chuckled. “Heh, I remember after we first started dating I told my then CO that I wanted to switch over to Reserves. Active Duty was great and all but, after I met you, I realized I wanted to settle down and have a family.”

“I remember that, too.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Well if I do reenlist, this means another four years of Reserves Duty.” Thunder sighed, “I think I made my choice.

********

Today was the day of the award ceremony. The night before, Thunder cleaned and organized his Formal Uniform for the first time since he came home from deployment.

Now he was waiting on Fluttershy to be ready to make it to the train. As he waited, he watched over Violet who, for the formal occasion, wore a tiny dress that mirrored her coat and eye color, courtesy of Fluttershy’s close friend Rarity.

Thunder checked his hoof watch. 0930.

He called up the stairs, “Fluttershy, we’re gonna be late for the train!”

She giggled, “I’m coming down.”

As she made the last step, it was as if an angel has stepped into the room and illuminated it. Fluttershy’s dress was done the same way. The dress was white with a light green trimming around the edges. Flowers decorated her mane.

“Wow, just as beautiful as ever.”

She blushed.

Thunder picked up Violet. “Well now I know where Violet gets her beauty from.”

“Oh stop it, you’re making me blush.” Fluttershy said.

“Well maybe I like seeing your face turn as red as a rose.”

Fluttershy chuckled lightly. “So, you ready to go?”

“Sure am.”

As they neared the train station, seven familiar ponies were lined up. All of them were also wearing formal attire.

“What are you all doing here?” Fluttershy asked, surprised.

“Well we thought we would join our closest friend’s family for the trip to Canterlot and see her husband’s award ceremony.” Rarity said.

“Yeah,” Applejack said. “We thought we’d show our support. Didn’t we, Big Mac?”

“Eyuup.”

“That’s very kind of you mares and Mac. Thank you.”

They all nodded and smiled.

“All aboard to Canterlot!”

“I guess that’s us.” Twilight said as they boarded the train and took their seats.

********

Thunder sat in silence throughout the ride to Canterlot. His thoughts were racing. He was excited about the recognition that he and his fellow soldiers were receiving, but he didn’t feel like he deserved it. He knew what serving in his nation's military meant. He had done what he was trained to do to the best of his ability and knew that it made a difference, but he didn't believe that his actions during his tour deserve the third highest awarded medals in Equestrian military.

As the train pulled into the Canterlot train station, Thunder noticed Captain Hawk and other officers outside their train car.

Thunder got up, stepped outside and saluted.

“At ease, Sergeant.” Captain Hawk smiled.

They shook hooves. The rest of the group exited the train.

“Afternoon fillies and gentlecolt. If you’ll follow Major Fox, he’ll show you to your seats.”

The group followed as the Major led them away from the station.

Captain Hawk motioned for Thunder to follow.

“You nervous?” He asked.

Thunder shrugged. “A little bit.”

“Be proud. You served well, son. You’re one hell of a soldier.”

“Thank you, sir.”

There was a long pause. Both soldiers walked through the streets of Canterlot in silence before Captain Hawk spoke.

“I know what you mean.”

“What do you mean by what, sir?”

“That you don’t think you deserve the medals. You’re probably thinking that the ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice should be awarded.”

“Yes sir.” Thunder said, barely audible.

Captain Hawk sighed. “It’s not my first time seeing my own fellow soldiers fall and not receive anything but a mere Purple Heart. They surely deserve more. I agree with you. But, I guess we just have to go with the flow.

Thunder nodded.

“C’mon, we have to get to the ceremony.”

“Yes sir.”

********

As Captain Hawk and Thunder entered the castle, they were accompanied by two Royal Guards who escorted them through the corridors to the Ceremony Hall.

“Right this way.” One of the guards said as he opened the Hall doors.

Thunder was surprised to see as many ponies there as he did. Most of them turned around at the sound of the doors opening.

Captain Hawk and Thunder walked down the center lane and took their seats at the front row. Among those in the front was Corporal Pepper. He winked as they sat down. Thunder shook his hoof.

Thunder felt a tap on his shoulder. As he turned around, he noticed it was Fluttershy and Violet in the seat just behind him, along with the rest of the gang. Before he could speak, the sound of hooves echoed the Hall. He turned around just as Princess Celestia began to speak.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the heroic actions of the soldiers of this great nation, whom, in fierce combat have performed their duty to their greatest ability. Even with the odds against them, their leadership has prevailed. And in this room are those very leaders. Come up here, you know who you are.”

Captain Hawk, Thunder, and Corporal Pepper stand up, walk up on stage, and stand at attention.

“These very soldiers have fought bravely for this nation. Their leadership brought their fellow soldiers together on deployment. Though many have not returned home, they have touched the lives of all of them and will continue to do so as they further serve.” She paused. “May we have the medals, please?”

A Lieutenant General entered the stage with several small cases with the medals inside and gently setting them on a pedestal in front of him.

“Captain Berry Hawk. For your heroic actions in a combat zone, I hereby honor you with the Bronze Star. Congratulations, Captain.”

Captain Hawk saluted. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

“Corporal Pepper. For your heroic actions in suppressing the enemy in a combat zone, I hereby honor you with the Bronze Star. Congratulations, Corporal.

Pepper saluted. “Thank you, Princess.”

“And for you, Sergeant First Class Thunder J. Shy, for being wounded in the action against an enemy of Equestria, I hereby honor you the Purple Heart. And, for heroic and meritorious service in a combat zone, you are awarded the Silver Star. Congratulation, Sergeant.”

Thunder saluted as the last medal was pinned to his uniform. “Thank you, Princess.”

He was stunned. He still didn’t believe that he deserved to earn such a medal.

Princess Celestia turned back to face the crowd.

“Now we are not here to just honor those who made it home. Victory does not come without a cost. It is a tragedy that these brave souls are not here with us today. They have sacrificed their lives so that others may live. Many of us do not fully grasp the depths of sacrifice and the profound costs that these fellow ponies in arms have endured. We should remember them for the greatness that these ponies have contributed to society. We shouldn’t be sad about the loss, but be proud that such ponies have lived. We must…”

As Princess Celestia continued her speech, Thunder fell deep in thought and began encountering flashbacks of his deployment. All he could hear were the screams of young ponies wounded and the deafening sound of gunfire.

He was snapped back into reality when the crowd started clapping and cheering. Captain Hawk tapped Thunder’s shoulder and motioned for him to follow.

Princess Celestia announced that there were refreshments and music in the Canterlot Garden as the crowd dispersed outside the Hall.

Fluttershy appeared with Violet and hugged Thunder. She kissed him passionately.

“I’m so proud of you.” She said with excitement.

“Thanks sweetheart.” He cleared his throat. He then turned and pointed to the two ponies behind him. “You’ve met Captain Hawk. And this is Corporal Pepper, one of the machine gunners in my platoon.”

Pepper shook Fluttershy’s hoof.

“So this is famous wife of Sergeant Shy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ma’am. And hello to you, little one.” He waived at Violet who smiled. Pepper chuckled. “She reminds me of my niece. Always has a smile on her face.”

Captain Hawk cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but uh, can I have a moment to speak with you, Sergeant?”

“Uh yes sir.” He turned to Fluttershy, “I’ll meet you in the Garden, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded and kissed Thunder. He watched as she and the rest of the gang left the Hall and turned to follow Captain Hawk.

The night sky settled in and cooled the atmosphere leaving a gentle chilled breeze to follow. Captain Hawk led Thunder to an isolated area away from the city’s noise.

They kept walking at a decent pace as they made small talk. Captain Hawk talked about his family and what he was up to since they returned home from deployment.

Thunder then spilled his struggle with overcoming the events they endured.

Captain Hawk nodded in agreement.

“It’s tough. Believe me I’m in the same position as you. Nightmares, flashbacks, feeling guilt. It may not seem like it but with me being a Captain and all, I got to stay strong for the rest of the boys.”

“I understand, sir.”

Captain Hawk stopped and faced Thunder eye to eye.

“I’ve had you under my command since I was reassigned to this Company. I’ve watched you evolve through the ranks and become a strong and reliable leader. You’re one hell of a soldier, son… I’ve put you in for a promotion.”

“Sir?”

“You’re being promoted to Second Lieutenant. You’ll be serving as my wingpony from now on. You’ll be getting the notice in a few days. Congratulations Lieutenant.” Hawk said with a smile.

“Thank you sir, but, what about Lieutenant Oakley?”

“He’s being transferred to another battalion. And quite frankly I don’t see anypony else more fit for the job.” He then whispered, “Plus it took a lot of paperwork and convincing the higher ups. But it went through after I informed them of your current status that you want to stay in the reserves.”

“Well I know I can handle them in the field, sir.” He paused and shook Hawk’s hoof, “I’m honored.”

Hawk smiled. “Now that’s what I like to hear.” He dug through his pocket and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. “Smoke?”

“No thank you, sir. I don’t smoke.” Thunder said.

Hawk shrugged and lit the cigarette and took a long puff.

Just then, a loud boom echoed across Canterlot and knocked both Hawk and Thunder on their hindquarters against the base of a large tree. They looked up and saw fireworks exploding across the sky.

Without looking, Thunder reached over, grabbed Hawk’s cigarette and puffed.

“I thought you said you didn’t smoke?”

“I don’t.” Thunder said.

Hawk shrugged as he took out another.

“Don’t tell my wife.”

Hawk laughed out loud as he lit the cigarette.

Memories: Part Two

It was the day the replacements arrived. After they checked in with Regimental Headquarters, I was ordered to meet ‘em outside our company’s area. I stood there, watching them as they approached. Three out of the four appeared to be nervous. Hell, from the report I received from my CO, two out of the four were nineteen, the others eighteen. I’d be nervous two. Except for the one, he looked as if he’d been training his whole life to be here and the only thing I was trying to do was get out of this hell hole.

I whistled to gain their attention.

“Over here boys.”

They hustled over to my front, dropped their packs and saluted.

“Afternoon Sergeant!” They said in unison.

“At ease. I’m Sergeant First Class Shy. Welcome to Dog Company. I’m not the one who usually does these introductions; Captain Hawk is down at Regiment handling paperwork so I’ve been ordered to do it for him. You’ve probably seen him.”

“Yes Sergeant.” They replied.

“Well, I’m gonna keep this short. Welcome to Camp Starry Night. Nothing much here but Regiment, our sleeping quarters and the rifle range, at least in my view. Anyways, I think you’ll get a better introduction from your squad leaders.”

I walked to the first one on my left. “Name?”

“Private Skipps.”

“Alright Private Skipps. You’re assigned to Sergeant Bow’s squad, first tent straight ahead.”

“Roger, Sergeant.” He picked up his pack.

“Name?”

“Private Fezz.”

I handed him and Corporal Comet their squad information and headed to meet their squads.

“Last one. Name?”

“Private First Class Trigger.” He replied. His voice was deep for his size and age.

“Hmm, looks like you’re assigned to my platoon.” I studied him for a moment. His height reached my throat. “How old are you Private?”

“Eighteen, Sergeant”

“Eighteen? Damn. You must’ve shipped out right after AIT.”

“Yes, Sergeant. Received my orders upon completion.”

I smiled.

“You know, I like you Private. I can tell you’re gonna be one hell of a soldier.”

He smiled back. “Thank you, Sergeant.”

“Come on, I’ll show you around.”

After the initial introduction, I let Private Trigger loose to meet the others in the squad. He fit right in. Almost everyone in the squad immediately accepted him even though he was a replacement, which they seldom ever done.

A few weeks had passed since the replacements arrived. Our company had a few patrols in the course of those couple weeks. A few small arms firefights were encountered but we received no casualties.

I remember coming back from a patrol and both he and I had security duty at the base entrance. We openly talked about home.

“So Private, you never told me where you got your name.” I said to him.

He chuckled. “Well, back at Basic during the shooting course, the Drill Sergeants seemed to be impressed with my rapid single shot fire and accuracy that they started me Trigger. Funny thing is, it is my actual name.”

“What do they call you back home?”

“Firefoot. Back home, before I enlisted, I was training to be a firefighter in Manehattan. So while we were training in live fire exercises, I would always step in small patches of fire. So then they started calling me Firefoot.”

I smiled and looked at the ground. I couldn’t help but start thinking of home.

“So what about you, Sar’nt? Why do they call you Shy?” He asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

I sighed. “Well, it’s my real name. I took after my wife’s last name when we got married. I honestly hate my family line. It’s just filled with a bunch of drug users and criminals. So I was always on my own since I was very little. I never really had a family until I met my wife.”

“What’s her name?”

“Fluttershy. I met her when I was visiting a friend in Canterlot. I was already enlisted and a Staff Sergeant then. We talked for a little bit and ended up having dinner together the next day. She was such a shy mare. But after that, we really hit it off and got married ten months later. A year later we received news that we were going to expect our first foal and five months after that, I was deployed. I was pissed that I had to miss her birth, but, what can you do. These are the sacrifices you have to make when you sign those papers. But, she’s about six months old now. I can’t wait to meet her.”

I sighed.

“What does your wife look like?” He asked.

I unclipped my helmet, reached in and handed the photo of Fluttershy and showed it to Trigger.

His expression was expected.

He whistled. “She’s gorgeous.” He handed the photo back.

“She’s got one hell of a beautiful voice too. While she was pregnant, I would be outside taking care of the garden and lawn and suddenly hear her humming. I’d look in the window and see her rubbing her belly and singing to our unborn daughter. I just thought it was the cutest thing.”

He smiled. “I hope to have that.”

I reached in again and pulled out the second photo.

“And this is my little filly, Violet.” I handed it to him.

He studied it and finally said with a smile, “She’s beautiful, Sergeant.” He patted my shoulder. “She’s even got your eyes.”

I chuckled. “You got a mare back home, Private?”

“I do, but I’m not sure if it’s going to work out.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Well with me being a soldier and gone all the time, it’s really tough on her. I mean I love her and everything but I feel guilty that I can’t see her as much as I want to. I got to see her after AIT but a few days later I shipped out here.”

“Let me tell you this: if she’s worth it and she loves you, you can make it work. Being with a soldier is not easy but it’s definitely worth it in the end. If she sticks with you through thick and thin, she’s a keeper.”

“Yeah.” He replied, almost in a whisper. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“To be honest Sergeant, while I was growing up, my father left my mother and my two little sisters and I. So I never really knew what it was like to have a father. I was always the ‘Stallion of the House’. But you, I don’t wanna sound cheesy or anything, and I know we’ve only knew each other for a short time, but, you seem like a father to me. And I just wanna thank you for giving me a chance to understand and feel what it’s like.”

I was taken by surprised. I never knew that he felt that way until now. But I did feel compassion for him. He was young and in the reserves just like everyone else here. I thought of an idea.

“How about when we get out of here, you come visit me in my town of Ponyville and I’ll introduce you to my family. And if you’d like, you can be a part of it.”

He smiled. “I’d like that.”

Just then, Captain Hawk came through to our post.

“You two are relieved. Get some shut-eye.”

“Yes sir.” We said.

The next few weeks we had our routine patrols a few miles outside Camp Starry Night. No initial contact with rebel forces.

We had two weeks left in our deployment before we were sent back home. We had one last mission.

At 0900, all NCOs in Dog company were ordered to report to Company CP for briefing.

Captain Hawk was up front along with Lieutenant Oakley.

“Here’s the situation: the 32nd Royal Airborne troops need us to secure a village twelve miles west of here so they can use it as a foothold for their next operation. Problem is, it’s rumored that the village occupants are housing insurgents. The numbers of them, we don’t know but let’s not take any chances. Keep your soldiers in order and keep your eyes open. Any questions?”

“I’m not saying that there will be, but if there is, what are the rules of engagement?” A Sergeant of second squad asked.

“Weapons tight. We don’t need any civilians getting hit in the crossfire.”

“Is it just our company going on this mission, Sir?” Another asked.

He shook his head. “Able company will be assisting us in this operation and will be taking the North and West side of the village while we secure the East and South sides. Any other questions?”

No one else spoke.

“Dismissed. Gear up; we’re out in fifteen.” Lt. Oakley said.

As I got my platoon geared up, I noticed Private Trigger, fully geared, nervously clicking the carabiner attached to his Kevlar.

“You okay, Private?” I asked.

“Yes, Ser’nt. Just a little nervous… in a good way.”

“Have you ever shot your weapon at anypony before?”

“No, Sergeant.”

“Me neither. Let’s hope we never have to.” I said as I laid my hoof on his shoulder

Our Company was rolled out at 0930 and headed the twelve miles west toward the village. About a mile and a half out from the village, we were ordered off the vehicles and hoof it the rest of the way.

On both sides of the road were irrigation ditches. Small buildings were scattered along the road in front.

“Fan out! Watch those buildings. If we run into trouble, use the Humvees for cover.” Lieutenant Oakley said.

As we passed the first few buildings, I started to feel nervous. Something didn’t feel right.

After a few minutes, Captain Hawk held up his hoof and motioned for us to get low.

Suddenly, the sound of a rocket being fired was heard.

“RPG!”

The rocket hit the side of a Humvee as a few more were being fired.

“RPGs! Take cover!” I yelled at the top of my lungs and screamed for my platoon to take cover in the irrigation ditch to our right.

Once there, I realized quickly that it was a bad area. After a few more of the Humvees were hit, small arms fire was heard in all directions. I ducked my head down as a few rounds flew passed my ears.

“Shit! Corporal Pepper!” I called. “Get your machine gun over here!”

He ducked low as he made his way next to me. The screams for medics were heard to my right as members of Dog Company were being hit with enemy fire.

“Building! One o’clock, machine gun in the window. Smoke ‘em!”

“Roger, Ser’nt!” He set up his gun on the ditch in front of me and began firing.

“Talbert! Jumper, Skipper, Clover! Let’s get into war, grab some cover behind that overturned Humvee and put some fire on these sons ‘a bitches!”

“Sergeant, we gotta get out of here! We’re too exposed!” Trigger yelled.

I popped my head up to see an infantry carrier with a heavy machine turret. I turned and pointed at five others.

“All of you get up to that machine gun! Go! Everyone else cover them!”

I raised my rifle and began firing at the enemy visible a few hundred yards out. Suddenly, the five that were headed to the carrier were shot down with a heavy machine gun, limbs torn off as the rounds ripped through their bodies. Pink and dark red mist spraying from their bodies as rounds made their way through.

“Medic!”

Just then, a sharp, burning pain feeling aroused in my right shoulder. I looked down and noticed a small flow of blood flowing from a hole in my combat uniform.

“Shit I’m hit!” I yelled.

Trigger turned and grabbed his aid pack and applied pressure with gauze on the wound.

“Did it go through?” He yelled over the gunfire.

“I don’t know!” I replied. The burning intensified.

Trigger looked behind my shoulder. “No sign on exit wound. Let me patch you up!”

I shook my head. “There’s no time! Grab some cover and lay down some cover fire!”

“Roger, Ser’nt!” He replied.

“I need a radio!” I screamed. The radio pony crouched down next to me and began firing.

“Captain Hawk, this is Sergeant Shy do you copy, over?”

“Sergeant Shy I’m a little busy right now.”

“We need some help over here, we’re pinned down!”

“Well we’re fucked up pretty bad over here! Half of the goddamn company is wiped out!”

There was a loud impact as the radio pony fell limp. A bullet hole through his head. I grabbed for the radio again.

“Overlord this is Chalk-Four! Do you copy?”

“Go ahead, Chalk-Four.”

“Overlord we need air support, danger close!”

“Uh roger that. Where is your current position?”

“Eleven miles west of Camp Starry Night!”

There was a pause.

“How copy, over?”

“Copy-all, Chalk-Four. Pop smoke, we’re sending gunships in your area to you, ETA two minutes.”

“Roger that!” I laid the radio piece down and turned to my platoon. “Two minutes! Air support will be here in two minutes!”

Those two minutes were hell. And that’s just an understatement. Within those two minutes I lost four more men and ten more were wounded.

The gunships arrived, sending small rockets and bombs over the insurgent’s area across the road. The buildings that were once there were now reduced to rubble. All firing had ceased. Within fifteen minutes into the firefight, close to half of Dog Company was wiped out.

Slowly, my platoon emerged out of the ditch and headed for cover by the Humvees, not sure if there were any more of them.

“Sergeant Shy, do you copy, over?” Captain Hawk called over the radio.

“Go ahead, Captain.”

“I’ve called in for evac.” He sighed. “We’ve been hit pretty bad.”

“Half of my platoon is gone.” I said softly.

“Roger that. Stay put, we’re coming to you. Hawk Out.”

“Copy.” I replied. I stood up and noticed Private Trigger standing beside a burning Humvee, his helmet on the ground next to him.

I walked up to him and touched his shoulder.

“You okay, Private?” I asked, almost whispered.

He shook his head. “How could I be? I just watched my friends die, ripped apart in front of my eyes.”

I tried to say something but I knew that there was nothing that I could say that could ease his or anyone else’s pain. I put my hoof on his shoulder again and turned back and to the overturned Humvee behind me . After a few steps, four loud pops of a rifle snapped trough the air. I ducked and turned around. My heart dropped when I saw Trigger drop down.

“Sniper!” A soldier yelled.

“He’s out there in the open!” Another one shouted.

I ducked down low as members of my platoon fired their rounds at the sniper. Rounds hissed aboved.

I crawled up next to him as fast as I could. He looked pale. I ripped off his vest and noticed four clean holes through his chest. Streams of blood began to flow.

“No, no, no, no! Medic! Medic!” I screamed on the top of my lungs. “Pepper! Somepony get a fucking medic over here! Private Trigger’s hit!”

I reached into my aid kit and grabbed the wrappings and held them over the wounds. Three other soldiers came to aid.

“S-S-Sergeant, h-how bad is it?” He asked through shaky breaths.

“You’re gonna be okay, Trig. We’re gonna get you outta here and get you back home.” Pepper said.

“Put some pressure on it!” The others were telling each other. As they did, Trigger made a wheezy coughing sound. Blood began to flow from his mouth.

“Move! Move, gimme some room!” A medic arrived and quickly, assessing his wounds.

“Sergeant Shy…..there… there is a note in my pack back at camp along with a picture. S-Send it to my Ma... And you tell my marefriend that I did my job and that I fought…. and that I fought hard.” Tears were forming in his eyes.

“Listen to me! You’re gonna send it yourself do you hear me? You’re gonna go back home to your Ma, your marefriend and you’re gonna get married to her and you’re gonna have a family.”

He coughed again as more pressure was added in high hopes the bleeding will stop.

“I can’t, I can’t.”

“Yes you can! Just hang in there, Private. The Evac’s coming.” I assured him.

“I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die.”

“Private, You’re not gonna die. Do you hear me?”

The medic handed me a syrette. I looked up at him. I knew that giving him the morphine would lower his heart rate too far. It would certainly kill him faster.

“Sergeant, give it to him.” The medic said with a stern voice.

I had no choice. I bit off of cap, inserted the tiny needle into his thigh and injected the morphine. A few seconds later, Trigger calmed down; the medicine taking a quick affect.

Trigger looked up and searched for me.

“I’m here, Trig.” I held lay him on my lap and held on to his hoof.

“Tell my parents I love them. Tell my mare Phoenix that I love her and that I’ll always be…” He stopped. As I held on to him, I felt him slip away.

Tears fell down my face. “Trigger? Trigger? Trigger!”

Tears fell down Thunder’s face. Fluttershy held her hooves over her mouth as tears formed in her own eyes.

Oh…my poor Thunder. She thought. She never thought that he had been subjected to anything like this.
Thunder took a long and shaky breath.

“Captain Hawk and the others in my platoon had to pull me away so the medics could load his body onto the med-evac trucks.”

“What of the note he asked you to send?” Twilight asked.

“I did what he told me to do. I sent them. I added my own note to each of the letters, one to his mother and one to his marefriend.” Thunder replied.

The room was silent. Twilight and Fluttershy had wondered if he had seen things out there but not to this degree.

“There was just… nothing I could do… nothing that the medics could do. I was told later that one of the rounds penetrated a main artery in his chest.”

The muscles in Thunder’s shoulders and back tensed. He pounded onto the floor and squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears from flowing. But it was to no use.

“By Celestia, he was just a kid! He was eighteen years old; he had his whole life ahead of him! And just like that? Taken away?!” He shouted. He attempted to stand but his legs gave out underneath him as he continued to make blows to the floor.

“You and your soldiers did everything that you could. There was nothing you could do.” Twilight said.

“Nothing I could do? I tried to stop the bleeding, the stallions that was left in my platoon tried! I held him in my arms as he faded away! That should have been me! It should have been…me…” Thunder stopped hitting the floor and collapsed onto his side, his hooves covering his face as he wept.

Both mares rushed over and stayed by his side.

After several minutes, Thunder sniffed and tried to compose himself, sitting on his hind quarters and wiping his eyes.

Twilight was the first to speak.

“Now Thunder, I can never understand, nor ever will understand the things you’ve been through out there. But together, we can help you overcome this. But, are you willing to let us help you?”

Thunder nodded. Fluttershy wrapped her wing around him gently and held on to his hoof. Her grip was firm yet gentle.

“It will be a long process. Do you understand that?”

He nodded. “I want to be able to overcome this and I don’t want to be a wreck anymore. I don’t want this to ruin my family.” He turned to face Fluttershy, who rubbed tears from her eyes. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“You have a very loving family and I don’t believe you will ever have that chance to ruin it. Fluttershy is strong and so are you.”

A slight smile shone on Thunder’s face. He turned to face Twilight. Tears were still in his eyes which sparkled in the light as he turned.

“What do we have to do?” He asked.

“Well as I said before, it’s going to be a very long process but it all depends on how well you do it. The support of friends and family are a great means of recovery. Even a family pet such as a dog can help.”

Thunder lightly chuckled. “Shy’s always wanted a puppy. I think that can work.”

Fluttershy smiled and leaned into his shoulder.

“Your love is strong for one another. And your friends are here for you, Thunder.” Twilight added.

“Thanks, Twilight. This means a lot.”

********

As seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours, Thunder continued to talk about his experiences about his deployment. Throughout, there was an abundance of tears as Thunder rhapsodized of the soldiers he lost and also an abundance of smiles as he raved about the silly shenanigans his platoon members got themselves into on their breaks after long patrols.

Thunder endlessly emphasized how much Trigger meant to him. He was aware of the fact that he did not know him for that long, but to him, it seemed like he knew him his whole life. He made a major impact on his life and he was eternally grateful for having the chance to know and forever remember him. He felt especially guilty when Trigger admitted to him that Thunder was like a father to him which made the feeling of losing him even worse.

They continued to talk throughout the evening until late at night. It was around midnight when they decided it was time to go home.

Fluttershy thanked Flash for watching Violet as they headed for the door.

“I want to thank you again Twilight for this. You don’t know how much this means to me.” Thunder said sincerely.

“It’s what friends are for. “ She began. “No matter what it is, we’ll always be there for you, Thunder.”

Thunder wrapped his hooves around her. “Thank you.” He whispered.

They said their goodbyes and began heading home. As they neared the gate to the cottage, Thunder stood still. Fluttershy turned around and took notice.

“You okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, I just… I feel like this tremendous amount of weight has just been lifted off of my shoulders. I kept all this bottled inside of me and whenever I had too much and couldn’t take any more, I just resorted to alcohol to cope with these feelings. I know that this is gonna take a long time and that I’m still going to have these flashbacks of the events throughout the rest of my life, but, I don’t know. I’m really thankful to have the chance to make things right again.”

Fluttershy kissed him. “You’ll always have somepony here for you.”

Thunder sighed. “Yeah. But let’s head on home. Some much needed rest is in order.”

Fluttershy nodded. They walked up to the path to the cottage and walked inside. Fluttershy put Violet to bed and went downstairs to a half asleep Thunder lying on the couch. She lightly nudged him to come up to bed. He complied.

Fluttershy was ahead of him. As they ascended the stairs, Thunder lightly patted his wife’s hindquarters. She turned around with a seductive look and raced into the bedroom. Thunder jumped on to the bed on top of Fluttershy and began peppering her with deep, loving kisses. As they did, Thunder allowed his belly to lower onto hers, feeling the warmth of her body flow through his.

As the heat from the kisses intensified, Fluttershy began to slowly slide her hoof down lower just above Thunder’s hips. He quickly took notice.

“Ah, not tonight. I just used the last of my energy just to jump on top of you.” Thunder chuckled.

“Aww you’re no fun.” Fluttershy teased.

Thunder kissed her. “I love you, Shy.”

“I love you too.” She responded.

As Thunder closed his eyes, Fluttershy lightly touched the area on his right shoulder.

How did I not notice this before? She thought to herself.

She shook off the thought and closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.