//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: Textbook Soldier 
// by Backslasherton 
//------------------------------//

Sighing, Applejack threw her backpack into her locker. She’d just gotten out of English, having spent most of the class hoping to glean anything she could on James’s past. What she got, however, was an hour long discussion on whether or not the entire war was a metaphor for corporations of today.

Setting aside her own beliefs on the matter, Applejack quickly decided that the entire discussion was a waste of time. She did find, however, that neither herself nor her classmates around her had actually bothered to bring a copy of the book with them to class. Not surprising, really, but inconvenient nonetheless.

So, she forced herself to listen and hope that the topic would turn productive at some point. But there was no such luck. After they’d finally moved on from that topic, someone else had sparked an equally mundane dialogue on the significance of the shoulder patch as a metaphorical device that lasted until the bell rang. Leading her to where she was now. Knowing as much as she did when she started.

Applejack shook her head as she entered the lunch room. It wasn’t like people could research each other before they met in real life, so this couldn’t be much different, right? She’d just have to get to know him the old fashioned way.

Usually those folks ain’t ever killed anybody.

Which, Applejack knew in her heart, was the real problem. Despite Sunset’s reassurance, she was worried he might be dangerous. If one thing was made apparent to her, it was that the war was much bloodier than anything humanity had ever experienced before. Who knows what he’d done?

“Excuse me, is this the line for food?”

Applejack was abruptly drawn from her thoughts as she turned.

Standing in front of her was a lost-looking young man. She didn’t immediately recognize him, but he definitely didn’t look like an underclassman to her. Of course, even at this point in her high school career, she was still meeting people in her class for the first time. She shrugged off the feeling and smiled politely.

“Sure is!” Applejack nodded.

“Great, thanks.” He smiled back, joining the line.

“Don’t think Ah’ve seen you ‘round here before. You new here?”

The young man smiled shakily. “Yeah. First day.”

“Oh? Well welcome to CHS. Hope your first day’s been treatin’ you well.”

“Well, it’s been an experience, that’s for sure,” he laughed, “I don’t have a schedule yet, so I’ve spent the day so far in Miss Celestia and Miss Luna’s offices.”

“Hah, Ah’d rather sit through one of Mr. Cranky’s lectures than spendin’ all day in the principal’s office.”

“Yeah, it’s not been a particularly interesting morning, but it’s not their fault I don’t have a schedule.”

“Lost in the system?”

He thought for a moment, and shrugged. “Miss Celestia said it’d be a bit before they could process my paperwork.”

“Yeah, Ah wouldn’t have high hopes ‘bout that, either. This school district can’t process anything faster than a blind snail could.”

The line shuffled forward, and the two grabbed empty trays.

“One time, Ah had to get a VOE for my drivin’ test. Took them two weeks to get it done.” Applejack shook her head, “All they had to do was print out a stupid piece of paper.”

“I know how you feel.” the young man laughed, “When I enli- uh, got a job, I had to fill out about a dozen different forms just to be told to fill out another dozen forms.”

“Shoot, seems like overkill to me,” the blonde laughed, “What’d you do back then?”

“I was…” he trailed off, “A groundskeeper. For a cemetery. I worked there with my dad.”

Applejack frowned.

Bit of an odd fellow, ain’t he?

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name,” the young man said.

The farmgirl’s eyes widened.

“Oh, Ah’m sorry about that. That was mighty rude of me,” Applejack stuck her hand out, “Name’s Applejack.”

“Noble,” James shook her hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Noble.”

“Applejack! Yer holdin’ up the line!”

The two turned to see an irate Granny Smith watching them, her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, Granny.”

The elder woman muttered something under her breath. Applejack could barely make out the words “flirting” and “granddaughter”, and decided to ignore it.

“Well, what’ch you want, children?” Granny asked the two.

“Just the turkey sandwich,” Applejack said.

Granny handed her granddaughter a plate with a sandwich wrapped in plastic.

“An’ you?” She spoke to Noble.

“May I have the turkey sandwich as well, ma’am?”

Applejack furrowed her brow and stared at Noble. She’d never heard anyone talk to Granny Smith like that. Granny Smith, on the other hand, smiled proudly at him.

“Well, shoot. With manners like that, you can get anything you want,” Granny Smith handed Noble a plate as well, “You have a nice day, sonny.”

“Thank you very much, ma’am. You have a wonderful day, too.”

With a nod of thanks, Noble followed Applejack down the line. The farmgirl kept watch on him as they moved on down the line. Once they’d left the line, Applejack faced him, surprise clear on her face.

“Ah ain’t ever seen anyone talk to Granny like that,” Applejack said.

Noble looked at her, stunned. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”

Applejack shook her head quickly.

“No! ‘Course not. Just… Most kids hardly give her the time o’ day ‘round here. Just wasn’t expecting you to be so polite.”

Noble relaxed, and smiled. “Oh, alright. I was worried that I’d accidentally offended her or something.”

“Ah appreciate seein’ someone treatin’ my granny with respect,” she stopped, and Noble did as well, “Say, you got any friends here to eat with?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a few.”

“Do ya know where they are?”

Noble thought for a moment, and shook his head.

“No, not really. Sort of… forgot to ask where they’d be, I guess.”

“Well, Ah might be able to help you find them. If not, y’all are more than welcome to eat with me and my friends.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It ain’t nothin’, Ah promise. These girls are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”

“I’m sure they are. But one of my friends was a little worried this morning and I’d like to make sure she knows I’m doing alright.”

“Ah understand,” Applejack nodded, “Well, who’s your friends? Might be able to send you their way.”

“Rarity and Sunset Shimmer?”

“...Are you James?”

Noble recoiled in shock, eyes widening.

“I… uh…” Noble, who Applejack now realized was James, swallowed nervously, “...No?”

“Don’t worry, Sunset and Rarity are two of my best friends,” Applejack smiled reassuringly “Sunset told me all about you this mornin’.”

James sighed with relief. “Oh,” he laughed, all of his terror draining from his body, “That’s great to hear.”

“Still want me to take you to them?”

“Absolutely, if that’s alright.”

“Sure can! Follow me.”

Applejack started walking through the lunchroom, weaving in and out of the rows of tables. She’d glance at the young man next to her every so often to make sure James wasn’t too far behind. Every time she did though, she saw his eyes scanning over the sea of students around him. As they approached one particular table, she saw his eyes light up.

“James!”

“Hey, Sunset,” James smiled in return.

“Well, it’s a good thing you found us, James,” Rarity commented as he sat down, “Sunset was worried sick that you wouldn’t be here.”

“I kinda forgot about lunch. Sorry,” Sunset apologized.

“No harm done,” James shrugged, “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“How’d you find us?”

“Applejack,” James pointed to the girl next to him.

“Howdy,” Applejack grinned.

“I ran into her when I came in here. Turns out she was your friend. What are the odds?” He laughed.

“Ah thought it might be James when Ah saw him. Can’t be that many new faces ‘round here, can there? ‘Sides. Ah’ve seen new kids before. Ain’t none of them look that confused.” Applejack grinned at James.

They all shared a laugh at his expense, the man choosing to stay silent.

“So, what have you been up to all day, James?” Rarity inquired, “I can’t imagine spending all day in Principal Celestia’s office is very interesting.”

“Eh. It was definitely not the most boring thing I’ve done in the world. We spent about an hour filling out all the forms I needed to have to attend. Then I just sort of… sat around. She talked to me a bit, but she does have a job to do, after all,” James shrugged, “Then around… ten thirty, she had to go to some meeting, so I ended up helping Miss Luna organize some files. Then I came here.”

“You say that that’s not the most boring thing you’ve done, but it sure sounds like it,” James turned to face the speaker. A blue skinned girl with a very colorful head of hair grinned back. James smiled politely.

“I don’t believe I’ve met you.”

“Rainbow Dash,” she said proudly.

“A fitting name,” James chuckled, “My names James.”

“Oh trust me, I know who you are,” Rainbow’s pride shifted to excitement, “Sunset’s been telling us about you all morning!”

James glanced to Sunset, who blushed.

“I mentioned you were here and she happened to remember the one scene in the book she paid attention to.”

“What part?” James asked Rainbow.

“The invasion of that one country.”

“Oh! Right. Uh… France, right?”

“No, the other one. The one with the pasta and stuff.”

“...Italy?”

“That one!” Rainbow grinned excitedly, “There was that part where you and those para-whatevers were holding that huge line with, like, half as many as you were supposed to have. It was totally awesome!”

James grinned as he understood. He glanced at Sunset with a knowing grin before turning back to Rainbow.

“Well, Miss Dash. I’m afraid to say that you heard the story wrong.”

“What?” The athlete was caught off guard.

“Yep,” the man nodded, “We didn’t hold the line with half the required men.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said dejectedly.

“We held it with a sixth of the men required.”

Rainbow’s smile came back in spades. “Awesome,” she said, almost to herself. “How did you do it?”

“A lot of coordination. We were trained well and we used it. It was our first time in combat,” James paused and leaned back in a dramatic thought, “And, of course, we were the first Allied unit to set foot in Europe, so there’s that, I suppose.”

“No way!”

“Yeah, you know, it was pretty ‘awesome’, I guess,” James said smugly, pride for his unit rolling off of him. Sunset scoffed and shook her head. The man grinned at her antics, but said nothing.

“Wait, so what kind of training did you use? How did you do it?”

“Teamwork,” James explained, “Like I said, it took a lot of coordination. I was a rifleman, so I just kept putting’ rounds down range as much as I could. A couple times I had to run up and down the line to get ammo for the 1919s. I had these huge ammo belts wrapped around my body, too. I looked like a cowboy from one of those John Wayne movies.”

“How many people did you kill?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity gasped. Sunset and Applejack shared an uncomfortable look. Fluttershy sunk behind her hair, next to Rainbow Dash.

“What?” Rainbow frowned.

“James, darling, you do not have to answer that. I apologize on Rainbow Dash’s behalf,” Rarity quickly said.

“It’s alright,” James reassured the rest of the girls. Rainbow Dash just looked confused, and slightly guilty. James’s smile became much more reserved and forced, and he shrugged, “For future reference, Rainbow, most guys who’ve killed people don’t like talking about it. It’s... a horrible thing to take another man’s life. They just try not to think about it.”

“O-oh. I’m sorry, James,” Rainbow’s face was flushed with embarrassment, “I didn’t know…”

“It’s alright. Really, it is,” James’s smile grew more sincere again, “Besides, you’re not the first person to ask me. My kid brother asks me all the time in his letters, and the kids back in England asked us all the time when we got pulled off the line,” James shrugged, “Kinda got used to getting the question asked, to be honest.”

“Still, I’m really sorry about that. I guess I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Eh, it happens,” James shook his head, “I’m not offended at all, trust me. Like I said, I get the question all the time. If I got all bent out of shape every time someone asked me that, I’d have a pretty miserable life,” James shrugged, “But, if you really want to know, I think it was something around ten or twelve in that battle. I got a couple lucky grenade tosses that added a few to the tally, but most of it was with my rifle.”

The girls grew much more uncomfortable than they were before. Even Rainbow Dash looked slightly disturbed.

“Twelve?” Rainbow asked. James nodded.

“Give or take a few.”

“In just that battle?”

“It was a long battle, yes.”

Rainbow sat back in her seat. “Wow.”

“How do you… I dunno. Deal with it?” Applejack asked.

“It’s not easy,” James admitted, “It’s just something you come to terms with eventually. You just stop thinking about it. No one ever really gets used to it. That was my first battle, a year ago, and it’s not any easier. Like I said, you just reach a point where you stop thinking about it. Now and then it’ll come back, sure, but then it’s the same deal all over again: you just stop thinking about it. But that’s just my view on it. Every man will tell you something different, I’m sure.”

An uncomfortable silence settled as the girls processed what he was saying. So focused was each girl, they hadn’t noticed one of their numbers had a very different reaction to James’s claims. It wasn’t until a certain fashionista looked up that anyone realized.

“Fluttershy, sweetie, are you alright?”

The group turned their attention to the girl in question. She’d kept silent this whole time, electing to listen rather than speak. But Rarity noticed she had been looking much paler than usual and was shaking like a leaf.

Fluttershy mumbled something the rest of them couldn’t quite hear. Sunset and Rarity shared a glance, remembering what she’d said during Economics. James stared guiltily at the animal lover, only tearing his eyes away to give Sunset a look pleading for help. Sunset leaned across the table, whispering to James directly.

“She was pretty apprehensive about meeting you. She’s… well, she’s really shy.”

James nodded solemnly, understanding dawning in his eyes. 

On the other side of the table, Rarity had leaned over and whispered to Fluttershy directly.

“Sweetheart, there’s nothing to be scared of. James would never hurt you, I promise.”

“I-It’s not… It’s not t-that...”

“Well, what is it, then?”

Fluttershy still wasn’t sure. She glanced up at the table, and immediately averted her eyes. Everyone was looking at her, concerned. And James was watching her too. A large part of her knew he was a good person, that much was made clear from not only their conversation, but from the very book that was causing her fear. But the rest of her, a much, much larger part of her, was screaming quite loudly to run as far away from him as possible.

“Fluttershy? What is it about him that you are afraid of?” Rarity asked again.

“...H-He talked about... k-killing people so… so… H-He just… Like it didn’t even… b-bother him.”

Rarity frowned. She glanced up at James briefly before whispering a short message to Sunset. The redhead nodded in understanding, glancing at James as well. When she was finished, Rarity stood up and led Fluttershy away.

“If you’ll excuse us for just a moment,” Was all the explanation Rarity gave to the group as she left.

Those remaining watched the two leave. James had a guilty look on his face, any semblance of pride now gone.

“Jeez. I didn’t mean to freak out ‘Shy like that,” Rainbow frowned, her expression similar to James’s.

“Well, I reckon you askin’ ‘bout how many people he’s killed when she was already scared o’ him didn’t help,” Applejack said, annoyed.

“I didn’t mean to scare her,” James said to Sunset.

“No, I know. It’s just… she’s read the book, James. She kinda knows the nitty gritty details.”

“...Oh.”

“But… Rarity said the thing that scared her the most was how…” Sunset cringed internally. There was no good way to say it, “How casual you were about it.”

James sighed, and shut his eyes. He leaned forward, head in hands.

“...fuck,” he muttered to himself. He immediately cringed as he realized what he said, “Sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t mean to be crass.”

“It’s alright, sugarcube. We’ve heard plenty worse, trust me,” Applejack reassured him.

“Doesn’t make it any better,” James mumbled. He looked up at Sunset, “Maybe this was a mistake.”

“What?” Sunset was caught off guard, “What was a mistake?”

“Me coming here. To school,” James clarified, “I’m a soldier, Sunset. I’m not supposed to be here. I was never supposed to be here. That’s why I dropped out.”

“Now let’s not be so quick here, James,” Applejack interjected, “‘Shy may be a little bit… well, shy. But she’s the sweetest lil’ thing you’ll ever meet. I’m sure she’ll talk to you at some point, just give her some time.”

Sunset and Rainbow nodded in agreement.

“I still feel awful. I just want to apologize,” James sighed, “I didn’t mean to sound so casual, I just didn’t want anyone to feel bad about asking me. I really meant it when I said I prefer not thinking about it. It really isn’t easy to deal with, and I sometimes disgust myself with how cavalier I am about it sometimes. I just… I just want to explain that to her.”

“Why don’t we just wait and see what happens when she and Rarity get back?” Sunset suggested. James nodded solemnly. “I’m gonna go check on them. I’ll be right back.”

The girls remaining at the table nodded, the soldier choosing to remain silent instead. Sunset stood and followed the two girls out of the cafeteria’s doors.

“Rarity? Fluttershy?” Sunset said as she walked into the hallway.

“Sunset?”

“Hey, Rarity,” Sunset greeted. She frowned when she saw Rarity help Fluttershy with cleaning the little bit of makeup she wore, as it had started to run down her face. She’d been crying, “Are you alright, Fluttershy?”

“I-I’ll be okay. I-I’m sorry. That wasn’t very nice of me, w-was it?”

“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy, James isn’t offended,” Sunset bluffed. She had no idea what the man was feeling right now, but she was sure he’d be more than willing to make up with Fluttershy.

“I-I didn’t mean t-to… um… it was just… he talked about… k-killing people so easily. It just… it was disturbing.”

“He… well, like he said, sweetie, he said he’s had to deal with it,” Rarity said, glancing to Sunset, “I imagine someone in his situation must come to terms with death rather quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”

Whatever Rarity was trying to do, it didn’t work, as Fluttershy’s tears started again in earnest. 

“I-It’s just s-so… sad!” Fluttershy sobbed, “I-I don’t know what I’d do if I-I h-had to do that. H-He didn’t even get a choice.”

“Well, yes, I suppose he didn’t,” Rarity was unsure what to say, but tried her best to comfort the girl, “B-But, isn’t it amazing that he can still be happy?”

“I guess so,” Fluttershy agreed, “But then I had to go and be… a big meanie to him!”

So distraught was she, that the pink-haired animal lover didn’t notice the door to the lunchroom open. Her friends did, however, and Sunset quickly stepped in front of the newcomer, halting them in their tracks.

“What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to apologize to her,” James said solemnly, “I should’ve handled that better, and I never meant to scare her.”

Sunset wanted to protest, but she could see the pain in James’s eyes. He truly did feel bad about what he’d done, and wanted nothing more than to be able to apologize for it. It was a feeling Sunset understood well.

“Alright. But if she doesn’t want to talk to you, don’t force it.”

James nodded, and stepped forward. Rarity eyed him worriedly, but made no effort to stop him.

“Miss Fluttershy?” he leaned down slightly, trying to make himself less intimidating.

The girl in question looked up, and immediately let out a small whimper, and hid her face behind her hair, mumbling something inaudible. James frowned, but didn’t stop.

“Miss Fluttershy… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I’ve been on the line far too long and I… well, I guess I forgot that most normal folks have never seen anything like we did. I’m truly sorry. I shouldn’t have been so crude.”

Fluttershy looked up at James, a small frown on her face.

“B-But... Mr. James-oh, uh, I’m sorry, Private James, um, sir,” Fluttershy stammered out. A grin tugged at the corner of James’s mouth, but he quickly snuffed it out as Fluttershy started speaking again, “I-I should be apologizing. It was rude of me to… to assume you were a bad person and all. I-I’ve read your book and I should know that you didn’t... want to do… that.”

James furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Miss Fluttershy… you have nothing to apologize for.”

The pink haired girl was taken aback. She was used to people telling her she didn’t need to apologize; Rarity often told her she did it too much. Usually, they had a polite tone that said they thought she was being silly while being dismissive. But James’s tone was well and truly confused. He really didn’t understand why she would be apologizing.

“B-But… of course I do!” she retorted, her voice barely rising in volume, but passion imbued every word, “I shouldn’t blame someone for doing something they didn’t have a choice in. That’d be like being angry at a bear for eating fish! They didn’t get to choose, and that doesn’t make them any worse than anyone else.”

James gaped at the girl, only partially understanding her analogy. “...I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, Miss Fluttershy, but I assure you you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. I appreciate your concern for my feelings, but I should’ve handled myself better. Nobody can blame you for anything,” James shook his head, “It was my big mouth that had to get the final word in. You reacted more than appropriately.”

“Private James, sir, um… I mean no disrespect, but you’re wrong. You shouldn’t be ashamed of talking about your past. It was my fault.”

He stared at the young girl, surprise evident on his face. Even Rarity and Sunset seemed to be taken aback by the sudden turnaround in Fluttershy’s behavior.

“Well… Be that as it may-”

“No, Private James, sir. If you blame yourself everytime someone gets upset about talking about your past, you’re going to never want to talk about it at all, and that would be worse,” Fluttershy said firmly. Everyone else had surpassed surprised at this point. Shocked would be a more apt description of the look on their faces. Fluttershy’s face glowed red, and she receded back into her hair somewhat, “I-I may have some experience with that sort of thing…” She mumbled bashfully.

James glanced to the other girls, unsure what to do. Rarity just shrugged helplessly, feeling just as lost as he looked. Sunset laughed softly to herself.

The only two people in the world who can get into a competition over who is more at fault.

“...Alright. Apology accepted,” James said reluctantly, “You can just call me James, by the way. No need for all the titles.”

Fluttershy smiled softly. It was a nervous, uncomfortable smile, but Sunset could tell it held a deeper understanding behind it. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Fluttershy leaned forward to embrace the taller man. Rarity and Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise and James stared down at her with an almost fearful confusion. Slowly, he returned the embrace. He looked to Sunset and Rarity for help, but when Sunset saw the terrified look in his eyes, she couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. Fluttershy jumped in surprise and released the man. She looked and immediately blushed and hid behind her hair when she saw his expression.

“O-Oh. Um, I’m sorry. I was just trying to give you a hug…” she mumbled. James shook his head.

“N-No, it’s alright. I just wasn’t expecting it, is all,” James quickly reassured her.

“Well, I suppose we can start heading back now, if you all are ready,” Rarity smiled, “I imagine our friends will be wondering what’s going on already. Any longer and they might just come over and see for themselves.”

With a collective nod, the group started off back towards the rest of their friends.

When the four came back to the table, the remaining two friends were engaged in a hushed conversation. Upon seeing the group approach, Rainbow Dash quickly waved off the conversation.

“So... everything alright?” Rainbow asked.

“Jus’ come right out the gate with it, Ah guess,” Applejack mumbled to herself.

“Oh, um, yes,” Fluttershy sat down and nodded, “I didn’t mean to make Mr. James feel bad. I’m sorry to you all, too. I shouldn’t have made you all feel uncomfortable.”

Applejack and Rainbow glanced at each other, and then to Rarity and Sunset. Sunset just shrugged and smiled. Rainbow frowned.

“Uh… I mean, it’s alright, ‘Shy. It was kinda my fault that all that happened anyway.”

“But that doesn’t give me a right to make you feel bad,” Fluttershy said firmly, yet softly, “You were curious and Mr. James was willing to answer.”

“...Alright. Glad to see you guys are cool, then,” Rainbow said.

Silence fell over the group again. Unlike before, it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable, but still enough for Rarity to glance around, looking to see if anyone wanted to start talking. When no one did, she softly cleared her throat.

“Um, James, darling?”

“Yeah?” The man looked up from his food.

“You said you relied a lot on your training, is that correct?”

“Oh… uh, definitely,” James nodded, taking the cue to fill the silence, “I mean, shoot, we spent months drilling and doing exercises and whatnot. By the time we got to combat, we just immediately fell into instincts after the shock went away.”

“What did you do in training?” Rainbow spoke up from her side of the table.

“Oh, lots of things really,” James shrugged, “A lot of it was physical training, just getting your body in shape for combat. If you can’t hold a rifle and run, you’re not gonna do very well in the field,” he chuckled,” Other than that, we trained with weapons, tactics, teamwork, and other stuff we might have needed in the field.

“What was your physical training like?”

“Well, we’d do a lot of things, I guess. Thirty-two mile marches, speed marches, double time marches, that sort of thing.”

“All endurance training, huh?” Rainbow grinned.

“Not all of it, no, but most of it. They wanted us to get used to running around in our combat gear so we’d be okay in battle,” James said, “Whether you can run that extra hundred yards in battle can mean life or death.”

“Are you telling me they made you run with all of your equipment?” Rarity gaped.

“Uh, well, yes?” He frowned, “Hold on, are you thinking about that pack I’ve got back at Sunset’s?”

“I am, yes. I can’t imagine carry that around school, let alone on a ‘march.’”

James chuckled and shook his head. “Our training gear was nowhere near that heavy. Just a bag and our water and ammo,” He paused for a second, “Uh… if you all don’t mind, would I be able to ask all of you some questions?”

The girls glanced at each other.

“Well, of course!” Rarity said, “I do apologize, James, it seems your time here so far has been us asking you, but I’m sure you have plenty of questions of your own.”

“Well it’s just something small that’s been bothering me, I guess.”

“What is it?” Sunset asked.

“Well… my world’s a book, right?”

“Right,” Sunset nodded.

“And it’s all based on your… this, world,” Sunset nodded again. James continued, “If humanity here didn’t have the wars we did… what was your history like?”

“Our… history?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah. I mean, it was 1944 when I left and by that point we were in our second world war, plus we had the Great Depression, which I guess isn’t war-related. But I was just wondering, what’s this world’s history like?”

Sunset looked to her friends and shrugged. “Do any of you want to take this? History isn’t really my strong suit.”

“Might be just about the only subject Ah know anything about,” Applejack shrugged, “What part’a history you curious about?”

“Well, I guess ‘all of it’ is a bit too broad?” James grinned.

Applejack laughed.

“Yeah, might be. Wanna get a little more specific?”

“How about… well, how about the 20th century? 1900s back home has been pretty… not great, so far. Just wondering if you all had the Great Depression or The Great War or anything like that.”

“Ah can do that, yeah,” Applejack nodded, thinking. The rest of the girls watched, interested in the conversation, “Well, a lot of what goes on in the books happened in real life, too,” Applejack cringed, “Uh… Ah mean…”

“It’s alright,” James waved a hand, “I get what you mean,”

“Sorry,” Applejack apologized, “Just might take me a bit o’ gettin’ used to,” she shook her head, “Anyway. A lotta towns were still growin’ back then, like Canterlot. Folks started settlin’ west early on in the 1800s. That’s how mah family got here. The Apples were some of the folks who settled this town back in 1862. Part of the Homestead Act.”

“I didn’t know that,” Fluttershy said, “I-I mean, I knew the Apples had been here awhile, but I didn’t realize they settled here.”

“Sure did! It’s how we got all our land. 160 Acres. We’ve bought some and sold some over the years, but most of it is 100% sixth generation Apple Family land!”

“We had that back home, too. It’s how a lot of towns around Colorado Springs were founded.”

“‘Colorado Springs?’” Rainbow repeated the foreign name, “What’s that?”

“Wow, you didn’t even read the first chapter,” Sunset said disappointedly.

“I’ve never read any of the books we’ve been assigned, okay?” Rainbow crossed her arms, “I sure as heck wasn’t gonna start now.”

Sunset looked at James with a sly grin, silently waiting for his take on the situation. The man just shrugged.

“I’ve got no room to judge. I was even worse.”

Sunset sighed, ignoring Rainbow’s smug grin. Her play pouting broke when Rainbow high-fived James.

“Don’t encourage her!”

“You’re cool, James. But cool in that kinda ‘Cool Uncle’ way.”

“...Wouldn’t I be your grandfather, technically? I’m told I’m supposed to be ninety years old.”

“Ninety?” Rainbow gaped, “Dude… what?”

James shrugged.

“March 19th, 1925.”

“...Wow.” Rainbow laughed, “That’s gonna be weird.”

“Well, darling, I think you look marvelous for ninety years old,” Rarity joked. James grinned and shook his head.

“You’re only ninety according to our current year,” Sunset pointed out, “Your current year makes you 19.”

James shrugged.

“Probably better to go with that. I’ve only got nineteen years of life behind me. Don’t think I can pull off ninety just yet.”

“Um, I-I’m sorry to interrupt, but, um… weren’t we talking about history?” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Applejack,” James apologized, “We sort of stole the conversation, didn’t we?”

“Nah, s’alright.”

“Please, continue,” James said humbly.

“Alright. Where was ah?”

“Homestead Act.”

“Oh yeah, ah remember now. Well after that, the town was pretty small. We didn’t have any kinda world war or nothin’, but we had a few little skirmishes over land. There was this town that ain’t too far from here called Appleloosa. T’Was also founded by the Apple Family.”

“You all travel far, don’t you?” James grinned.

“Well, Ah wouldn’t say that, but you can find Apples just about anywhere ‘round here,” Applejack grinned proudly, “So anyway, there was a lotta skirmishes over who owned what out in the new country. All the native tribes didn’t like us comin’ in and settlin’ new land. Lotta those fights were mostly petty little things. Steal an animal here, drop a tree on a huntin’ trail there. Small things to just annoy each other.”

“Hell of a lot better than what went on back home, from the sound of it.”

“Y’all had native problems too?”


“From what I’ve heard, yeah. Most of what I know comes from westerns, but basically the Indians started attacking towns and killing the settlers. A lot of towns had militias and the army got involved a few times.”

“Well, none of the skirmishes ever got near that bad. Like Ah said, it was mostly jus’ petty little things to make life difficult. Ain’t never wanted to hurt nobody.”

“Well, what ended up happening?”

“The settlers all over sorta came to agreements over time. Last ones were sorta ‘round 1924.”

“What kind of agreements?”

“Mostly jus’ ‘Ah won’t bother you if you won’t bother me’ sorta things. A few, like in Appleloosa, they made a deal that the settlers wouldn’t take any more land and the Buffalo tribe would help out with harvestin’ the crops.”

“Uh… AJ?” Rainbow said, “I don’t think that had anything to do with what James asked. Kiiinda sounded a lot like the history of the Buffalo tribes.”

“Hey, I asked about history, and I got history,” James pointed out, “I’d say she answered exactly what I asked.”

“Thank you, James,” Applejack grinned at Rainbow smugly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rainbow grumbled. She perked up afterwards, “Hey James, I thought of something while AJ was talking.”

“Did you?”

“You should totally join the soccer team! You were talking about how much endurance running you guys did. Running for a long time is perfect for soccer!”

“Ah. Well… I’m not sure I’ll be around that long. I don’t wanna join a team and have to leave immediately after.”

“Oh, have you found a way home?” Fluttershy asked.

James glanced at Sunset.

“Not yet. But we’re working on it,” James shook his head, looking back to Rainbow, “But if you want to play a small game, I’d love to join in.”

“Awesome! Do you know how to play?”

“I’ve played a game or two in my life,” James laughed, “A lot of the Limeys in Africa played it. Couple of times some of us Americans joined in.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow said again. She turned to the rest of the girls, “You guys wanna hang out after school and play a game or two?”

Applejack shrugged.

“Sure. Just gotta text Mac first.”

“I’d be fine with staying.” Fluttershy nodded.

James glanced at Sunset. Sunset raised an eyebrow and James shrugged, grinning.

“We can stay,” Sunset said, “Our bus doesn’t leave until later anyway.”

“Yes!” Rainbow pumped a fist victoriously, “Hold on, lemme just text Pinkie real quick,”

“This is rather last minute, don’t you think?” Rarity frowned.

“I mean, yeah. But come on, Rarity. We don’t know when James is gonna go back home. We should hang out with him while we can!”

“Rainbow Dash, don’t try to insinuate that I don’t want to spend time with our visitor,”

“So you’re down for after school?”

Rarity sighed exasperatedly.

“Yes,” She pointed a finger accusingly at Rainbow Dash, “But I’d appreciate a little bit of warning next time!”

“Awesome, Pinkie said she’s down!” Rainbow said as she pocketed her phone, “Anyway, Rares, it’s not like we knew this was gonna happen.”

Rarity huffed and crossed her arms.

“Say, where is that girl anyway?” Applejack frowned, “Figured she’d’ve shown up by now. And Twilight, too.”

The group glanced around at each other, shrugging. James leaned towards Sunset.

“You don’t think Twilight’s skipping school, do you?”

The redhead sighed.

“Honestly? I think she is.”

“What do we do?”

“If you’re alright walking home, we can stop by her house instead of taking the bus.”

“Are you sure? Don’t you have homework to do?”

“I’ll be fine, James. It’s more important that we make sure Twilight will be, too.”

The soldier nodded.

“Alright.”

The two rejoined the conversation at the table.

“She was in Economics with Fluttershy, Sunset, and I,” Rarity said.

“Um. I have her again fourth period. I’ll see her then.” Fluttershy added.

“If you could let us know if she’s alright, darling, I’d appreciate it.”

“I will.” Fluttershy nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell rang.

“Welp, lunch’s over,” Applejack stood, grabbing her tray, “If any of y’all see Twilight or Pinkie, let us know. Ah’ll see y’all after school.”

After giving their goodbyes, Sunset and James walked out of the lunchroom.

“What class do you have next?” James asked Sunset.

“Art. Actually, I have that class with Pinkie.”

“Oh, that’s good. I guess you’ll… uh, telegram-thing everyone if she’s there?”

Sunset nodded.

“Pinkie’s kind of a weird person. She has a lot of weird hobbies and clubs she’s a part of. She’s probably fine.”

“Well that’s good,” James nodded. The two came to a stop in front of Vice Principal Luna’s office, “Well, I’ll see you after school, I guess. Where do you wanna meet?”

“Well, originally I said let’s meet at the portal, but if you’re stuck in the office all day, I might as well meet you there.”

“Alright. I’ll meet you where we were this morning. I don’t know if I’ll end up somewhere else later.”

Sunset smiled.

“See you then.”