Homecoming
The hot shower felt like a miracle from the heavens, as the warm water poured out of the brass shower head, washing away all the accrued muck, grime, and gunpowder that had pooled on Serene’s body across her two year tenure on the frontline. Content simply to stand underneath the warm water, eyes closed and lips curled into a small smile, Evenings was privately glad that she wasn't on a timer anymore- and that she had actual hot water to wash with.
That was best, more than anything.
Slumping against the wall of the shower stall, Evenings exhaled a weary sigh, closing her eyes to rest them, as the hot water poured down like rain.
---
Refreshed and clean for once, Command Sergeant Major Evenings simply wandered the Prench streets, bedecked in her fresh dress uniform, soft cap tilted off center slightly to keep from covering her horn. She'd handed in her Enfield Pattern Rifle to her quartermaster, but her Männlicher remained holstered in it’s holster on her hip, the Griffon writing clearly out of place when put aside her Equestrian uniform.
Since the Company wouldn't be leaving Mareis for another week, whilst their wounded were made ready for sea transport, Serene was just wandering the streets, her only timer being the company’s ten o’clock curfew.
It was strange to look out at the streets of wartime Mareis and have it not look too terribly different from peacetime Mareis. Civilians still flocked to the streets, carrying themselves as if the war was far away, and not directly on their doorsteps. Merchants still hawked their wares, civillians still went around their business, chatting amicably in Prench.
Finding her way into one of the “army bars”- civilian taverns and bars advertising cheap or free drinks for fighting soldiers- she nodded to Flash Sentry, who'd returned from the hospital last week, his throat having finally healed- only to take a crank gun round to the shoulder. Poor bastard.
Sentry nodded back, rubbing idly at his shattered shoulder, dressed up in a cast, before going back to his drink.
The docs weren’t sure he'd be able to lift heavy loads with it, even after it healed.
Frowning slightly, the Sergeant Major waved down the barkeep for a drink, placing a couple Equestrian coins on the table- spending money reservists got each week, like they were foals again. Fucking ridiculous. Downing the thick liquor as soon as she received it, grimacing as the burning alcohol flowed down her throat, the mare held back a cough, grunting slightly, as her eyes watered, before contenting herself to light a cigarette.
Relaxing, as she let her elbows rest on the counter, smoke wafting out the end of her cigarette, Evenings just took some time to relax, left mostly to her own devices, as ponies- both Equestrian and Prench, uniformed and civilian- bustled in and out of the hole in the wall bar.
--
The troop train clattered down the line, chugging gamely as the weary soldiers within chatted amicably, smoked to calm their nerves, or just played cards as they relaxed amongst close friends.
Evenings sighed, softly, as she watched the Equestrian landscape fly by, Canterlot visible in the distance, atop Mount Canterhorn.
“It's weird bein’ home, huh, Sarge?” Applejack questioned, sitting across from the mare, Autumn off to Serene’s left and Fluttershy next to Applejack.
“I'm not sure how I feel, Applejack. On the one end, we’re home. On the other…”
“Yer not sure whether y’ wanna be home?” Applejack supplied, trying to read her Sergeant’s expression.
“I suppose.” Evenings pondered, as Autumn turned over in her sleep, the squad Sergeant having been exhausted by the Airship ride across the Equestrian Sound, from Prance. “I just don't know what I'll do with myself, now. What, with the armistice and all.”
“Oh, uh, well. You could always keep a career in the military, ma’am.” Fluttershy chimed in, softly, tapping her fingers idly across her lap, looking out the window itself.
“A thought, but no. I’d… rather not write any more letters.”
“Th’ war’s over though.”
“For how long?” Evenings shot back, to which Applejack just shrugged. “All they did was sign a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.”
“To be fair, ah heard summat say tha’ they're sendin’ diplowhatsits over.” Applejack replied. “Not sure if’n that’ll amount ta nuffin’, but it's better’n nothin’.”
“It is, it is.. I'm just not sure how much of all of it I buy into. We shall see, though.”
“I uh. Hope they uh.. sign a peace treaty… I don't like shooting griffons very much.”
“Us’n either, ‘Shy. Us’n either.”
---
The locomotive eventually came to a halt at Ponyville Junction Station, hissing as it slid to a halt, steam rolling off the funnel and into the air, cars lurching to a halt, as the military personnel making up the engine began to gather their rucksacks and any personal belongings.
Stepping off the engine into groups and bunches of friends, Evenings looked about the woefully small company with a pained eye, spotting gaps in certain groups where a pony was dead, or still in a military hospital.
“Alright!” Captain Armor barked, jarring Serene from her thoughts. “We’ve been assigned as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal Guard Detachment, since we’re swapping off rotation. Some of you probably think that being the Royal Guard of the Princess of Friendship is a cushy job, but between weekly monster attacks and natural accidents that seem to plague this city, not to mention crime, I can assure you it will be anything but. So, on your best behavior, troopers. You've got some time to familiarize yourself with town, just be back at the Castle for unit assignments at Eighteen Hundred. Dismissed.”
“Well, that was inspiring.” Autumn Snarked, still rubbing sleep from her eyes, once Captain Armor was out of earshot.
“If’n ya want inspiration, Sarge, read a Poem.” Applejack chuckled. “He ain’t wrong, though. Ponyville’s butted up against Everfree Forest since it was just a lil’ farming community. We get all sorts of weird out here.”
“That right?”
“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy nodded, enthusiastically. “We get all sorts of interesting things out here. Hydras, Dragons, oh, my, there was even a cockatrice at one point… I wonder if it's still around.”
“Huh. Well, paint me pink and call me a pretty princess, you two live in a weird town.”
“That's puttin’ it mildly. Ah know a good bar, you wanna get a drink?”
“What the hell, it's been a long ride.”
---
The bar itself was a little hole in the wall run by one Berry Punch, one of Ponyville’s better brewers, according to Applejack. The four ponies sat at a table in the corner, mostly ignored by the couple of patrons still in the bar, though Fluttershy and Applejack did get a couple muted hellos and welcome backs.
After a good half hour of nursing weak liquor- they were supposed to be back at the castle in a few hours, after all, showing up piss-faced drunk wouldn't do them any favor- the door to the bar swung open.
A cyan blue mare walked in, her chromatic mane bushing out into a floppy mess of a short cut around her flight goggles, and a crimson red overcoat covering a more tightly fitting flight suit, reaching all the way down to a rugged pair of Wellington knee-highs. Upon spotting Applejack and Fluttershy in the corner table, with Serene and Autumn, a grin crossed the mare’s face, as she jogged over, snagging a light liquor from Berry as she went.
A couple seconds later, she plopped down next to Applejack and Fluttershy, pulling the two into a hug. “Hey gals! Princess Egghead said you'd be back today! Who’s your friends?”
“Ack- howdy, Rainbow.” Applejack grunted, bemusedly. “Good ta’ see you too, Dashie. This’ns Sergeant Autumn Yearling, one of our Squad leads, an’ this’ns Sergeant Major Serene Evenings, mah Platoon Sergeant.”
“Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Miss Rainbow.” Evenings nodded, a small, amused smile on her face. “Applejack and Fluttershy have had nothing but kind words.”
“Yeah, nice t’meet you too, Miss Dash. Autumn Yearling, at your service.”
“Aw, heck, Rainbow will do fine. Any friends of AJ and Shy’s are friends of mine.” The young, brash mare chuckled, releasing her friends. “Staying here for good?”
“Possibly.” Serene nodded. “We’ve been assigned to Twilight Sparkle’s royal guard. Granted, Autumn and I’s enlistments are up next week, but… I do like the countryside here. Nice and quiet.”
“Ponyville? Quiet? Where’d you come from, the moon? But yeah. It sure beats all those Canterlot factories. Ruddy ugly things, they are.”
Serene pursed her lips momentarily, before shrugging, and retrieving a cigarette. “Mind if I smoke?”
“Nah, Sarge. Ah don't mind none.”
“Only if you let me bum a strike off ya, Seri.”
“Har-har, Autumn.” Serene grumped, passing a cigarette from the pack over to Yearling, before lighting her own, then Autumn’s.
“What's up with soldiers and cigarettes?” Rainbow questioned, cocking her head to one side. “You're the fifth group I've seen today.”
“Calms the nerves, Sugarcube.” Applejack shrugs. “Fluttershy pr’fers whisky though, last I checked.”
“O-oh, and uhm, Brandy, especially.” Fluttershy nodded, adding as an afterthought, “I don't like the smell of cigarettes…”
“Huh. Didn’t know you drank, ‘shy.” Rainbow blinked.
“It’s either smoking, drinking, or chocolate.” Evenings shrugged, in reply. “And chocolate’s hardest to come by, followed by beer, and cigarettes.” Autumn and Applejack nodded affirmative.
“Sho’nuff.” Applejack chuckled, dryly. “We git cigarettes with our rations. ‘S good fer stress relief, ya ken?”
“Uh. Sure.. Applejack.” Rainbow hummed, scratching the side of her head. The four could see that she didn’t really understand, but said nothing. Civilians, after all.
“Anyways,” Serene began again, filling the rapidly-becoming-awkward silence, “It’s nice to be back in Equestria. How’s it been on the homefront, Miss Dash?”
The prismatic maned mare shrugged, scratching the side of her head in thought. “Well… we’re all a bit… sick of it, I guess. Just waiting for it to be over. And all that. It’s… tense, but not scary or anything. Not like the war’s here, after all.”
“Mhm. Even Mareis acts like there's no war on. ‘S kinda weird, if you ask me.” Evenings nodded in reply, as Autumn took a long drag on her cigarette.
“Almost like they wanna pretend it's not happening, I guess. Can't say I blame ‘em.”
“Yeah. Ah cain’t neither.”
“Applejack, I’m not even going to *try* to correct that grammar.”
“Oh hush, you stuck-up limey.”
“Right back at ya, you ruddy Yank.”
The five ponies broke out into chuckles, and eventually laughter, at the two’s antics, as they passed the day away amongst friends.
For once, they were away from combat; away from death, and the constant fighting of the front. Away from all the shooting, of the guns and cannon. Away from the rumblings of tanks. Away from the stench of field hospitals; the pains of dying ponies.
Just away from it all.
And it was perfect.
---
“The Soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
-Douglas MacArthur