Next Morning...
Moore awoke in the large guest bed room. He stretched as he hopped out of the bed. He looked to his right, his M4 slanted against the wall, with his gear next to it. After putting it on, he looked in the lobby. Sure enough, Twilight still had head tucked between her hooves, sound asleep. She had grown so tired from asking him her questions about humanity, she just laid down and drifted of to sleep. He smiled. These ponies were so adorable when they were asleep. Opening the door to town, he noticed a large number of ponies walking around, more that the other two days he had been here. Maybe they were starting to feel more safe, possibly due to the more effective methods of the Royal Guards in dealing with the creatures.
Walking through town wasn't exactly a quiet experience, several ponies came up to him and thanked him for what he had done. His response was always the same, "It was my honor." Since there hadn't been any attacks last night, he didn't need to check on anyone. Rainbow would soon be released from the hospital, and he was going to check her out when possible. As he finally reached the door to the dress shop, he paused for a moment. "Am I really going inside somewhere I'll be used as a living mannequin?" He wondered. Clothing wasn't exactly his biggest concern at the moment, not to mention he hated trying on new clothes.
Sighing, he decided to just walk in. He was doing this as a favor for one of the girls, and had promised he would do it. There was no way he wouldn't honor that commitment. Just as he reached out to grab the door knob, he could hear shouting and the sound of breaking objects. A bit confused, he slowly opened the door. He instantly was overcome with confusion and shock. There was stuff knocked over all over the place, with several gems littering the ground. Due to the absolutely ridiculous amount, he guessed they must be pretty common in Equestria.
"Rarity?" He called as he gently shut the door. He heard another crashing, as well as who sounded like Rarity scolding someone. Cautiously, he looked around a large archway, calling for the white unicorn. "Rarity? I came first thing, just like you asked." He said trying to find the source of the noise. "Where the heck is she?" He wondered aloud. He turned just as a yellow blob of fur came flying at him. It knocked him to floor. "Sorry there mister! Didn't... Hey I know you! Yer that feller who's servin' as the new guardian right?" He heard. Muffling, he tried to tell the creature to get off of his face. Whatever it was, it listened and he took a deep inhale of fresh air. Looking forward, he saw a small, yellow coated filly with a red mane and a bow in it. Moore looked at her, eyebrow raised and gave a shrugging motion, non-verbally asking the filly what was going on.
"Me and my friends are having our sleepover, and we just got up, AND really hyper!" She shouted as she leaped into the air and practically danced in it. Moore held his head and groaned. He already had a headache. Just then, two more fillies, one pegasus, and one unicorn, came charging through the and also crashed into him. "Girls! Get off of him right now!" He heard an enraged voice shout. The fillies complied and got off of him. Moore took another deep breath. Bringing himself to his feet, he saw the orange pegasus ask the first one a question. "Who's he?" After rubbing his jaw and spitting a small amount of blood onto the carpet, Moore answered the question himself. "Staff Sergeant John Moore, 1st. Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment.' He said with a growl in his voice. The unicorn leapt into the air cheering, causing Moore to cover his ear. Looking over to Rarity, he gave confused look and motioned toward the young mares. Sighing, Rarity walked up to the girls and spoke to them.
"Girls, aren't you going to introduce yourselves?" She asked with an annoyed tone. The fillies instantly leapt to within inches of his face. "I'm Sweetie Bell, Rarity over there is my big sister!" She shouted at a deafening level. Moore covered his ear and rubbed it. Unfortunately, there were still two introductions to go. The pegasus leapt next to the unicorn in similar fashion, bringing her hoof to her chest while closing her eyes and smiling like a jack-o-lantern. "I'm Scootaloo, awesome fearless adventurer!" She shouts with a slightly less deafening effect. Finally, the little yellow Earth Pony introduced herself. "Ah'm Applebloom, my family owns Sweet Apple Acres." She said. "AND WE'RE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Moore could practically feel his ear drums shatter. Groaning in pain, he checked his jaw again, it was still sore, but it had stopped bleeding. "Okay, two things... First, you girls need to lower you voices... BADLY. Second, what in the bloody heck is a cutie mark?" The fillies gasped. "Ya don't know what a cutie mark is?" Applebloom asked as though he were some sort freak. "Uh, human?" He reminded. Rarity turned to the girls and scolded them. "Honestly you three, he has not had a moment of peace until now, do you really think he would be caught up on how we are?" The fillies hung their heads, but almost instantly perked up. Sweetie Bell rushed up to Moore and bounced all around him.
"A cutie mark is a mark on your flank that symbolizes your special talent!" Scootaloo ran right up behind her, beginning her own rant. "We're on a mission to find them at all costs!" Unsurprisingly, Applebloom came up with her own mini speech. "And we're doing it together!" Moore growled in frustration as he grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Just as he drank, one of the fillies shouted into his ear. "What's your cutie mark?" Moore spit and nearly choked on the water, inhaling deeply. He turned and looked angrily at the young girls. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and said; "Don't have one." They all gasped again. "Why? Have you not found your special talent?" Sweetie Bell asked. Moore shook his head and sat down. "That's not why, humans don't have cutie marks. They find what their special at, but they don't have something magically appear on their rump." He said as he took a sip of the water, actually managing to get it down this time. Applebloom gasped and turned to the others, whispering something to them. They instantly got grins on their faces, and stared fiendishly at him. Moore just stared at them blankly. "What?" He asked. In unison, they all shouted; "CRUSADER WRESTLERS!" The fillies got up on their hind legs and prepared to leap, fortunately, Moore caught on to what was happening, and stepped up from his chair. "Trust me, you don't want to do this." The fillies ignored his warning and sprung at him.
"Girls!" Rarity shouted, but it was too late, for them. Moore leaped to the side, causing Scootaloo to crash into the sink. Recuperating, he caught Applebloom and put her into a half-nelson, taking her down to the ground and dropping her, while dodging a leap from Sweetie Bell. Turning, he caught the young unicorn's leg and dangled her in front of his face smiling. She stared wide eyed as she tried to gather on what was happening. "You want to keep trying or do you get the idea?" He asked with a smug grin. Sweetie Bell looked around the room nervously. Moore chuckled and gently set her down on the ground. Walking over to Scootaloo, he got hr up to her feet and asked if she was alright. She nodded, although her eyes, which were literally spiraling, said a different story. Rarity came up to the three girls. Sighing, she said. "I was afraid this would happen. John would you mind waiting here for a minute?" Moore nodded as Rarity told the girls to pack up. As they left, Moore looked around the shop, and decided to clean it up a bit before Rarity got back. It was the least he could do.