Chapter IV

I don't remember my dreams unless they're recurring. That said, the one I had that night with Fluttershy wasn't one of them, and I remember the whole thing.

Well most of it. It was a blue screen. Not just a wall of blue, but a "Brain has encountered physical error, preparing for physical memory dump" blue screen. I chalked it up to the wolves and let it be.

I awoke slowly, breathing through my nose. The scent of strawberry greeted me, and I hummed slightly, pulling the pillow closer. I was warm, and the blankets were oh so very soft. I was more comfortable than I'd been in years, and that scared me.

I kept my eyes shut, reaching back over the edge of the bed until I found my SCAR. I rolled out of bed silently, dropping to a knee and bringing the weapon up. I kept my breathing steady, scanning the room for threats when my eyes fell upon the light yellow pegasus I had been in bed with.

I paused, nearly laughing at my paranoia when I remembered the events of the night before. I wasn't completely insane yet, it seemed, so I stood and went to get some food. My first thought was the MRE that I had in my pack, but I wanted to hold onto it in case of an emergency. Instead, I headed downstairs to the kitchen, navigating my way through the plethora of little animals sleeping all over the house. I had to half crouch to avoid hitting my head on one of the bird houses hung from the ceiling.

I breathed in the fresh morning air wafting in through the open kitchen window, it smelled like fresh cut grass, with a hint of smoke from a fireplace. It made me smile. For once, I felt like everything was normal again, I felt safe.

I stretched my arms over my head, ignoring the slightly painful tugging from the scars on my back. The birds in the other room were stirring slightly as the sky outside began to lighten. I zoned out for what seemed like a few minutes, watching the scenery with a smile on my face. The memories from the pack were quieter, barely murmuring in the back of my mind now instead of all vying for my attention.

If they could stay that way, I didn't doubt that I could ignore them and live my life normally. My concerns were mainly fitting in to this new society, figuring out what passed as normal. I also was wondering which of my own customs would find a place here, and if anything I considered normal was a taboo to them.

I was leaned back against the dividing wall, next to the entrance to the living room. Shaking off my musings, I crept back upstairs and retrieved my second IPod and speakers. I noted that the battery was still at about 80%, which was strange. Usually, a full charge only lasted a few days, but the last time I'd charged this one was about a week ago. I chalked it up to being in a different world where IPod batteries actually worked as a viable power supply.

I walked back to the kitchen, flipping through albums to find something I could make breakfast to. I figured I would be nice and cook something up for Fluttershy to repay her for letting me stay with her. I found a Naruto soundtrack, and if my memory was correct, it was a pretty badass show back when I had a TV to watch. I started that album, letting the music flow through the house, though mindful of Fluttershy still asleep upstairs. It was a little action-y for just cooking a meal, but music is music, so I just let it fall into the background of my mind.

I let my SCAR hang from my shoulders as I picked out several things to make some French toast, and got to work.

Fluttershy awoke slowly, feeling the lack of a body next to her. She sighed, feeling slightly sad that he was gone. Her big bed was often lonely, and with her pet bunny, Angel, off doing something all week, it was even emptier than usual.

She laid there for a few moments, realizing how comfortable Geoff's arms had been. She doubted the need for blankets with him, since he was so warm. She recounted the events of the night before in her mind, the strange thing walking into town on two legs, everypony's panic when they thought he was just a monster. His singing had been what won her over at the start, it was so lonely sounding, so sad. His brief story about how his world had fallen into a giant war had only pushed her desire to help the poor fellow.

Sighing, she stood up, hopping off the bed and over to her nightstand to get the tangles out of her mane for the day. She could hear something downstairs, it sounded like a flute. Figuring it was just Geoff listening to some more of his music, she finished preparing herself and went downstairs to greet him and get some breakfast ready.

As she descended the stairs, a light knock came from the door. Moving to it, she opened the door just a crack to peer out at whoever had decided to stop by. It was fairly early, so she was confused as to who it might be. To her surprise, there were two ponies there, though she recognized them instantly.

"Oh, hello Twilight, Applejack," she smiled as she nodded at her two friends.

"Good morning Fluttershy," Twilight greeted. "Is Geoff up yet?"

"Mornin," Applejack nodded.

Fluttershy glanced toward the kitchen, where she could see Geoff working diligently over the stove. "Oh, yes, come in please." She motioned for them to be silent as the three stood by the entrance to the kitchen, watching Geoff at work as a new song began to play.

I heard footsteps behind me, figuring it was just Fluttershy coming down for the morning, I decided to just keep working. I put a little more flare, flipping the toast high into the air before catching it smoothly with the pan. I hadn't inherited my father's muscle, or his work ethic, but I had inherited his mastery with cooking utensils. I snuck a glance behind me without her noticing, seeing that there were two more ponies than there should've been, but I was content to just let them watch.

I stacked more food on the serving tray, all without letting the girls know that I was aware of their presence, until I had enough for the four of us. Well, mainly the three of them. I wasn't planning on eating much, I learned a long time ago that over eating was very possible for me now, and usually ended up with said food all over the ground.

I turned off the music, no longer needing ninja themed sounds to accompany my amazing cooking show. Without turning around, I addressed the three watching with my best English accent, "Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy. Good morning, I hope you enjoyed the show." I turned with a smile, flexing my arm a bit as they giggled a little at my haughtiness.

I had taken the time before cooking to set the table, and doled out the French toast between three plates as I set spots for Twilight and Applejack. The former stepped into the room after Fluttershy, taking a seat and speaking to me, "Well, Geoff. Thank you very much for breakfast. Why didn't you set a place for yourself though?"

I waved her concern off, "Don't worry about it. I'm probably not even going to eat a whole piece. Besides," I smiled, picking a slice off of the stack in the center of the table. "I prefer to use my hands. Too long without utensils and you get used to not having them."

Applejack eyed me suspiciously, "Half a slice? I'da figured someone yer size'd eat half a this on their own."

I laughed, "Maybe I used to be able to. Maybe I'll get back to that point if food is abundant here." I sighed, "It's a side effect of starving half to death all of the time. My stomach has shrunk to the point where if I were to gorge myself, best case scenario would be me throwing it back up."

Fluttershy's pupils shrunk, which seemed excessively odd to me. "But if that's the best case, what's the worse?"

I sighed, "Cardiac arrest I think. Something about a surge of insulin as the body tries to switch back to a carbohydrate based metabolism. I didn't pay too much attention in biology."

Twilight nodded, "I have to agree, that sounds a lot like what would happen to a pony, although I don't know what insulin is."

"It's a chemical that the human body produces," I said, "I don't know much more than it regulates blood sugar levels. I had a friend who was diabetic, he couldn't drink or eat super sugary things, constantly had to check his blood sugar and take insulin shots."

Twilight's ears laid back, "That doesn't sound pleasant."

"Nah," I shook my head, "He didn't let it get him down though. One of the most in-shape guys I knew."

"Wha' happ'n to 'im?" Applejack asked through a mouthful of French toast.

I sighed, chewing a bite of toast thoroughly before answering, "When the war started, a lot of medical supplies and equipment became very scarce. Supply couldn't keep up with demand, a lot of production facilities were destroyed. I don't know for sure, and it pains me to think of it, but without insulin. . ." My face grew dark, the ponies understood well enough I think, as they quieted down and went back to their food with somber faces.

I finished my meal, half a piece of toast as I'd guessed and I felt stuffed. I left to clean up for the day as the girls finished their meal. I grabbed my gear from the other room, opting to leave my backpack and vest sitting there for the day. I decided to keep my ammo on me, carrying it in the pockets on my pants. I went into the bathroom, where I scrubbed my face and hands clean of the residue from cooking.

I looked in the mirror, and couldn't help but stare. I hadn't realized it, but my appearance had changed so much. My slightly rounded face had slimmed down a lot, prominent cheek bones and a broad jaw greeted my gaze. Gone were the slightly pudgy cheeks, no more red tint to them. I felt like I was looking at a different person. This couldn't be me, especially the messy, long brown hair that reached to my shoulders. I never let my hair grow that long before, I always kept it cropped short.

I spent several minutes simply staring at the figure in the mirror. Small scars dotted my face, each of them carrying a story of a close call, or stupid mistake that left its mark. I had two that were familiar, one on my chin that I got from a frozen driveway, and one on my forehead from catching a car door to the face. The others though, the prominent one down my cheek from that drunk, dozens of others indicating little fights, shrapnel, scratches that got infected or a tree climbing error.

My eyes had changed also. They weren't warm anymore. They used to be friendly, a lot like Fluttershy's, tilted down at the outer edges with a constant air of friendliness and humor. Now, though. They were hard, cold. . . constantly looking like I was glaring. I didn't like it. Dark grey circles under my eyes told of countless nights sitting awake, clutching my rifle to my chest as I heard some animal moving through camp.

I fished my whetstone out of my pocket and drew my knife, deciding to do something to bring my hair back to normal. I sharpened the blade, bringing it back to its razor sharp edge and grasped a handful of hair. With a grating swish, the hair was detached. I tossed it in a waste basket beside the toilet and repeated the process several times. When I was done, it was all irregular. Random clumps of longer hairs stuck up at odd angles.

I fished around in the cabinets until I finally found a pair of scissors in a drawer, and used them to even out the high patches. It wasn't a professional job, but it would do for now.

Looking somewhat normal again, I ventured back downstairs to find Twilight doing dishes. Her magic captivated me as she scrubbed, rinsed, and dried them all in one smooth motion. Apparently they didn't notice me come back down, as Applejack was fiddling with the IPod still on the counter, and Fluttershy could be seen outside the house feeding animals. I entertained myself for a minute, looking at all the different critters around her home.

I could feel something watching me, and it put me on alert instantly. Looking around for the source, I finally spotted the animal. It was some type of bird, a hawk or falcon, I couldn't tell what. I could tell that it was watching me intently though. I approached it slowly, never breaking eye contact as we stared each other down. I heard Fluttershy come in the back door, and a gasp from her as I got within arm's reach of the bird of prey.

The bird's gaze hardened even more, I swear its eyes were half Metapod. . . yeah I played Pokémon a few times back in the day, what of it?

I heard Fluttershy talking with the other two girls, though I wasn't aware of what was being said. They all came in and stood off to the side, watching me closely and eyeing the bird with worry. I think they may have thought that we were going to attack each other or something. I slowly held my hand out to the large bird, I knew that I'd seen its like somewhere before. It observed my hand cautiously, obviously not trusting me in the slightest.

It reached its beak forward, opening it as if to bite, but I held steady. A cut wasn't a big worry at the moment, and the black and white colors of its feathers, with the yellow skin accenting its beak and eyes. . . it was a beautiful animal.

It placed its beak on my finger, not quite biting enough to draw blood, but more like a love nip. I'd gotten them from my dad's parrot a few times, though she was a bitch and would draw you into a false sense of security before gouging out several pounds of flesh with her big stupid ugly twisted beak.

After several moments of her mouthing my hand, which was beginning to creep me out, it gave a small chareek, and hopped onto my forearm. Its talons dug into my skin as it stabilized itself, which drew some blood, but overall wasn't a big deal. I smiled at it warmly as she worked her way up my arm and took a seat on my shoulder, pleased with its new mobile perch.

Fluttershy approached me, "That's amazing, I've never gotten Ms Falcon to behave like that."

She was talking softer than usual, maybe afraid of spooking the falcon. I didn't know what to say, so I just let the silence hang there as I massaged the feathers of her neck with a finger. She cooed softly, leaning into the touch as I observed everything about her. She really was a beautiful bird.

After a couple minutes, Twilight stepped forward. "Well I hate to break this up, but we have a schedule to keep you know."

I glanced back at her, "A schedule?" I was slightly annoyed, the fact that she'd make plans for me without telling me or involving me in the process was. . . intrusive, I felt.

"Yes," she nodded happily, "We need to go into town and pick up a few things, as well as make sure you know where to find items you may need. We also have a meeting with the princesses again this afternoon so we'll have to stick to the timetable I have here." With that, she pulled out a sheet of paper as long as my arm. I gawked for a moment, before snagging the paper out of the air.

"Wake up: 6:00 am?" I chuckled, "Walking time: 6:30-7:00, with ten minutes allowed for distractions?" I raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Twilight, you can't possibly be serious with this."

She huffed, "Well somepony has to be organized."

I grinned evilly, "Well then allow me to be the bane of your existence." With that, I tore the sheet of paper in half from top to bottom, dropping the pieces and dusting my hands off in front of me while she gawked. "There. Now we know what we have to do, so instead of using a sheet of paper to do it, let's just get it done!" I placed Ms Falcon back on her perch, giving her a last little pet before retrieving my IPod and speakers from the kitchen.

Twilight stood there, stunned at my treatment of her precious list, "I. . . how could you just. . ." She groaned, "We're going to be so~ inefficient now."

I placed the IPod in my pocket, collapsing the speakers to stow them with it, "Twilight, you really need to loosen up. Why take an hour to write a to-do list when you could just go do it."

"And what if I forget something?" she pleaded.

I laughed, "That's half the fun! If you forget something, then you get to go on a whole 'nother adventure!"

She sighed, "I don't know how you made it more than a week with those types of organizational skills."

I halted at the door, hand on the knob. I turned my head to glare at her, and she immediately shrunk away, covering her mouth with a hoof. "Twilight," I growled, "This isn't a survival situation anymore. My life does not depend on doing every little thing 'by the book'."

She blushed, seemingly fighting back a tear, "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean. . ."

I shrugged, my good mood definitely ruined, "Don't apologize. I don't expect you to understand, just a little filter would be appreciated."

She nodded, and I stepped out onto the path in front of the house. I spent the trip into town scowling at the dirt at my feet. It surprised me, when I thought about it, how easily I'd slipped back into staring at the ground as I walked. Back home, I had to be alert all the time, constantly watching everything with my rifle ready. . . something about this place made me drop my guard though.

The trip into town went about as well as can be expected, I said nothing the whole time, partly because I was mad at Twilight, and partly because I started to enjoy seeing her sweat it out. Does that make me a bad person?

About halfway through the day, we came upon a sickening building. It was decorated like a cake, bright blue frosting looking adornments about the roof and everything. I suppose at one time it would've made me hungry, but now I just wanted to throw up from looking at it.

And then there was pink.

"HEY JEFFY! Want a cupcake!?" She practically screamed, causing me to flinch back as something soft and sweet was crammed into my mouth. I was stunned for a moment. In all honesty, it tasted fantastic, but the method of acquisition left a lot to be desired.

The sugar in it immediately made me vomit, which sucked. What sucked more was that after all that was done, I still had frosting in my teeth. I grabbed my mouth, nearly falling over as pain erupted from several cavities lining my jaw. I could hear Twilight and Applejack scolding Pinkie, who sat there with tears in her eyes.

I slowly recovered as the pain receded, after a few minutes spent doubled over in pain. We exchange a few words, Pinkie and I, and come to an agreement. I agreed that she could make me a sugar-free cupcake to try, and she agreed that she wouldn't stuff anything in my mouth again.

Pinkie decided to accompany us from there on, and try to make me smile, which was succeeding only in annoying me further. We hadn't even made it three blocks when we heard a shout from the street over.

"I already told you, I don't want to see you again!" Yelled a scratchy feminine voice from the street over.

Fluttershy glanced at us, clearly worried as we changed course to see what all the fuss was about. In the middle of the street stood Rainbow Dash, arguing with another pony, who I assumed was a stallion due to his bulkier build and more squared facial structure. Something that caught me off guard was that he was clearly dressed in a military uniform, sporting rank insignias on his shoulders and various medals across his chest.

I immediately didn't like him, in fact, I was ready to jump into a fight should the need arise. He was whisper-shouting at Rainbow, and carried an air of arrogance that I found grating at best. Out of habit, I racked a round into the chamber of my SCAR, preparing for the worst. I was about to shoulder the weapon before remembering that I was back among society, and things were no longer governed by the time tested tradition of "shoot first, ask questions later".

Holding my rifle to my chest, making sure I wasn't sweeping anyone with the muzzle, I stalked up behind Rainbow. I squared my shoulders, making myself look slightly larger and preparing for a fist fight.

"Everything alright, Rainbow?" I asked as I came up beside her. She jumped a little, not expecting to see me apparently, before turning away with a sour look.

"It's fine, Geoff. Just some. . . personal business."

The stallion scoffed, "Please, personal? With the way you keep shooting your mouth off, I'm surprised the whole town doesn't know by now."

I raised my eyebrow at him, "Know what, exactly, Mr. . .?"

He extended a hoof, "Lieutenant Soarin, Wonderbolts flight squadron and exhibition team, Equestrian Air Corps."

I let his hoof hang there, fixing an unimpressed scowl on my face. "That's cool I guess."

He lowered his hoof awkwardly, some of his bravado fading as he squinted at me with a glare. "I've heard about you, human. You think you're some kind of big shot after being here for just one day?"

Dash cut in before I could reply, "Leave him alone, Soarin. Just get out of here already, we don't have time to deal with you right now."

I glanced at her, realizing just how agitated she was. Her wings were twitching erratically, muscles in her shoulders were tensed and forelegs bent slightly. I realized that she was as ready for a fight as I was, which only soured my mood more.

"I overheard Dash here asking you to leave," I growled, clenching my weapon a little tighter, "I suggest you take her up on that offer."

Again, he scoffed, "You don't even know what the situation is. I was just taking a chance to catch up with my old buddy Dash here. That's all."

He strode forward, inserting himself between Rainbow and I, and putting a foreleg around her neck. I noticed her flinch at his contact. . . the kind of flinch that only comes when you're either afraid or surprised. Judging from her nervous glance at him, I was going with the former. From the corner of my eye, I could see a crowd forming. Front and center were Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Applejack looked like she was itching to put a hoof through his face, and Twilight was readying a spell with an angry scowl on her face.

I noticed most of the stallions were hanging back, glancing awkwardly at the two even though there was a girl who clearly need help to get out of the situation. It confused me why they wouldn't be the first to step in and do something, but maybe they knew something that I didn't.

"Come on, Dash. Let's go find somewhere more private so we can continue our discussion."

Soarin's comment brought me back to the moment, and I could see her actively trying to get out from under his leg. I noticed a twitch that shouldn't be there either, and came to the horrifying realization that his. . . equipment, was in full view for the world to see. My mind's eye replaced him for a split second with a bandit, and Dash with a teenage girl. That memory was squashed before I could swing into a full blown flashback, however, but the reaction was already there.

I snarled, baring my teeth and shouldering my weapon, "Listen up, shit stain. You're going to leave. Now. And if I ever catch you around here again, or hear about you so much as looking at her funny, I'll make sure you don't get the chance to run away."

It must have come out more menacingly than I thought, for there were several gasps from the small crowd that had gathered to see what the fuss was about. He looked back at me, a smug grin on his face.

"Oh please, the way you talk, it's like you think I'd ever be afraid of you." He sneered, taking his hoof off of Dash and turning to face me. She took the chance to back away from him, putting herself between the two of us.

"Dash, go over by Twilight, please," I growled. She glanced back at me, before realization dawned on her face and she fluttered over to her friends with a worried look on her face.

I was glad that there weren't any ponies gathered behind Soarin as I shouldered my rifle. He looked at it for a moment before chuckling, "What're you gonna do with that, huh?"

"Last chance," I snarled, "I'm in a pretty bad mood. You get one last chance to leave, and never come back."

He growled back at me, widening his own stance and flaring his wings. He held that pose for a few moments before straightening out, chuckling again, "Heh, almost had me there, twig. I won't be drawn into starting a fight so easily though." He walked forward, brushing past me as I lowered my rifle a bit. He walked up to Dash, ignoring the others completely. "Well babe, when you want a real stallion, you know where I am." He hooked a hoof around her head, pulling her in for a rough kiss as she tried to squirm away.

Bad move.

Faster than I thought I could move, I leapt at him. My SCAR fell back to my side as I unsheathed my knife and held it in my left hand. Time seemed to slow as I dropped an arm around his neck, squeezing his trachea in the crook of my elbow and wrenching him back. He gave a strangled squawk in surprise as I brought my knife to the base of his jaw line, pressing just enough that he could feel the steel bite a bit.

"Leave. Now." I hissed, I paused for a moment, "Or I take a wing."

He gulped hard, before nodding frantically. I spun around, using my arm to throw him to the dirt and shifting my knife to my right hand while dropping into a low, aggressive stance. He coughed hard, shakily getting to his hooves before shooting one last glance at us and flying off toward the sky.

I turned back toward the crowd, all of the ponies there had shocked faces. I was about to question it before my eyes fell on Fluttershy, who looked very near fainting as she stared up at me in horror. My heart sank a little, and I was immediately ashamed for allowing her to see that. She was way to gentle and innocent to get mixed up in that kind of fight.

I sighed, sheathing my knife and pushing the round from the SCAR back into its magazine. I thought I was the good guy there.

Author's Note

Scumbag Soarin is a go!

Because that guy gets off too easy as far as assholes go.