Three Months After Operation Wholesale
The quietness was getting to Sergeant Kilborn. It was broken only by the noise of his boots connecting with the packed dirt as he hauled apples from the trees to the barn.
CRACK!
Kilborn faltered in his step but managed to keep his balance as he continued walking to the barn. It's just AJ bucking trees, he reminded himself before his mind could drag him into a self-made hell. A self-made hell consisting of bullets, explosions, and death. Acclimating to simple farm work after that month of constant fighting proved to be one of the hardest things he had ever done.
From his time spent at the, now opened, Mead-Hall with the rest of his squad, he knew that they were having similar issues. Flashbacks here, diving for cover there, reaching for an imaginary rifle, the list is quite lengthy. The local populace had thought that all of them had gone mad. Luckily, a town meeting allowed Kilborn to explain PTSD to them, which calmed them down... somewhat.
Kilborn knew that one could never get used to someone with PTSD but he knew that he could control it. Like with the crack produced by AJ's applebucking. It used to send him diving to the dirt but after waging a war in his head, it now only made him falter a little. He knew that his squad were doing the same, trying to wrestle some control over the affliction. If not for themselves, then for the ponies they fell in love with.
“Hey Kilborn!” came the sweetly accented call of his said mare.
“Yeah hun?” he asked with a smirk, knowing that he probably put a blush on her freckled cheeks.
“Why don't we call it a day and head down to the Hall for a bit?” she asked, rounding the barn and trotting towards him.
“Didn't they close for today though?” he asked.
“Well, yeah, but Twi and 'em said that we all could just hang out there,” she explained, a nervous glance to the side missed by the barrel hauling human.
“If Twi suggested it, I guess we could,” Kilborn replied as he disappeared into the barn, dragging the barrel. He knew that if Twi said it, Tyler would be there. Of course, Kilborn knew they were all whipped by these mares.
“'Ight, let's head on out then,” AJ said with a smile as Kilborn emerged from the barn. The two then took to the trail in the waning sunlight.
/--\
The air around Fluttershy's cottage was charged with a timid energy as the pegasus and human inhabitants of the cottage moved softly from trough to bowl to slab, placing food for the assortment of animals gathered nearby. While the animals bounced on their paws, claws, and so on, they stood patiently at the edge of the fenced area, waiting for the two to finish.
For being such a big form, Smiley's movements matched Fluttershys in their timidness and quietness. He personally didn't care about the animals, or so he liked to think, but Fluttershy did. If he were to frighten the animals, she would be upset which would make him likewise upset.
After a couple minutes, all of the food holders were full of food. Seeing their job complete, the two exited the fenced area. As soon as they left, the animals surged in, going to their respective foods. It always shocked Smiley at how easily carnivores and herbivores shared the fenced area. They probably didn't have the need to hunt though, considering food was placed out for them.
“Uhm,” began the pegasus, looking up at Smiley with an eye hidden behind her long pink mane, “the girls wanted all of us to go to the Mead Hall. Do you want to go?”
The large human, wearing his ACU trousers, foliage green undershirt, and boots, knelt down in front of the pegasus. With a soft, rare smile on his lips-brought on only by the pegasus-he pushed back her mane to reveal her other eye, causing a blush to come to her cheeks as she glanced timidly at the ground.
“Do you?” he asked softly.
“O-only if you want to,” she replied. An 'eep' escaped her lips as she found herself suddenly being hoisted into the air by the big man's equally big arms. Blushing at the eep and the closeness to Smiley, Fluttershy looked into his eyes with a confused smile.
“Then let's go,” he said with a smile before starting toward town with the pegasus still in his hands. Fluttershy's response was to smile at Smiley before nuzzling into his chest with a happy sigh.
/--\
“I told you to avoid it.”
“Not my fault the mud is a liar.”
“What?”
“You heard me. It looks all shallow but noooo! It just has to be deep.”
“Doesn't mean it lied. It's mud!”
“And?”
“I... I don't understand you sometimes.”
“Then we're on even ground.”
A cyan hoof came down to bop the chuckling human on the head. The human stopped his pushing to rub his head and glare up at the hovering, rainbow maned pegasus.
“Ow.”
“Quit your griping and get it unstuck, the girls wanted all of us to hang out at the Hall,” ordered Dash as she crossed her forehooves.
“When did you plan this?” he asked, getting back to pushing against the heavy Humvee with futility. He knew that he probably wouldn't get it out of the mud it was currently in.
“Yesterday,” the pegasus replied evenly, watching the human push against the massive vehicle. The two had taken the vehicle to do some 'mudding' as Jones had called it. They were spinning tires in the mud, it splattering over the tan vehicle. Both had been laughing and smiling wide... until Jones got it stuck in a deep mud pit.
“Gonz is gonna kill me,” Jones muttered as he stepped back from the Humvee, sighing. His entire body, much like Dash's, was covered in mud.
“He better not,” Dash replied as she lowered herself so her breath was warming Jones's ear, “because I still have to... pay you for this adventure.”
The pegasus, blushing lightly, giggled to herself when she saw the human's eyes widen in surprise and the blush on his cheeks. Turning, Dash swatted his head with her tail before lazily flying toward town.
“Now come on. You can get it unstuck tomorrow,” she said, turning to look at him. Jones was slogging through the mud after the pegasus.
“Hey! Wait!” he cried out, only to see the pegasus speed up a little, “Agh! Blasted mud, I'll kill you!”
“You can't kill mud Jones!”
“Watch me!”
/--\
In the Ponyville park, a human wearing the olive drab with gold trim uniform made by Rarity sat by the fountain. His gray with gold trim beret topped head looked left and right as he looked for the familiar pink earth pony.
“Woohoo!” he heard her call from behind him. Turning around, Gonzelas looked at the fountain and the pink pony sitting in the water under the waterfall.
“Why are you in the fountain?” Gonz asked, eyebrow raised at the strange sight and expecting an equally strange answer.
“It's where the author put me, silly!” she answered cheerfully, a large smile on her face.
“Ah,” was the reply, “why don't you climb out of there?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” she replied as she stepped out of the fountain. Shaking herself, all of the water left her coat to get all over the surrounding area... including Gonz.
“Oh!” she shouted with a giggle, “Sorry Gonz-y Wonz-y!”
“It's alright Pinkie,” he said with a smile caused by her giggle and attitude, “So what physics defying things are you going to drag me into today?”
“Nothing.”
Gonz stared the pink pony, unsure as to whether she meant that she had nothing planned or if she would actually try to drag him into nothingness. With Pinkie, he had quickly learned, it could be either one. For the sake of sanity, however, Gonz hoped it was the first.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing. Wait!”
“What?” Gonz asked, slightly surprised at Pinkie's outburst. The pink pony suddenly hovered mid-air as she took in an overly deep breath. Gonz waited patiently for her to finish. When she was, her face was suddenly in front of Gonz's,
“YouneedtocometotheMeadHall! ThegirlswantedusalltohangoutbutactuallyitwasmyideabutIsaygirlsbecause-”
A hand covered her fast moving mouth and stayed there until she finally stopped trying to talk. When she did, she looked at Gonz expectantly.
“I'll be there,” he said with a smile. The smile widened when he felt a tongue lick his palm. He removed his hand, sliding to her cheek.
“Okie dokie lokie,” she said, quieter now that they were so close. She seemed to zone out for about a second before her eyes widened, “Igottago! GototheMeadHall!”
With that, she took off... into the sky... riding a pillar of smoke. Then, with just as much insanity, the entire act rewound itself until she was back in front of him, his hand on her cheek. The pink pony gave him a brief kiss before blasting off again.
Gonz watched her disappear before shaking his head and starting toward the Mead Hall at the edge of town.
“No idea how but damn do I love her for it,” he muttered to himself with a chuckle.
/--\
Standing outside of the closed Mead-Hall, I looked at the purple unicorn standing beside me.
“Why can't we go inside?”
A sigh escaped Twilight's mouth, “Because we're waiting for the others.”
“Ah.”
“I swear, you're worse than Scootaloo sometimes.”
A chuckle escaped me at that. Being compared to my adopted daughter wasn't exactly an insult to me. In fact, it made me feel happy that we had something in common. Even if that was pestering Twilight. I knelt next to Twilight and turned her head to me before locking my lips with hers. When we broke apart, I heard her shaky sigh and smirked.
“A bit frisky are we?”
“Later,” she answered as she pointed a hoof behind me. Standing up straight, I looked behind me to see Smiley-lit by the setting sun-approaching with a familiar yellow pegasus in his arms.
“Hey there Smiley,” I greeted, waving my hand at the duo. Smiley nodded while Fluttershy gave a meek smile before she was set down by the giant of a man. The gentleness he could exude always astounded me.
“How ya doing?” Smiley asked, his deep voice resonating.
“We're doing good,” I reply with a shrug.
“Howdy y'all!” Turning to the voice, I see AJ and Kilborn approaching us. We greeted each other and it wasn't long before we were joined by Jones, Dash, and Gonz. The appearance of Jones and Dash brought up a few exclamations for explanation but they simply promised to tell later.
“Well,” Twilight began, calming herself after the yelling that had been done at Jones and Dash, “Let's head on in.”
“Wait. Where's Pinkie and Rarity?” I ask, looking around. Just to be safe, I look up at the sky as well, expecting to see a pink ball zooming down, locked onto Gonz. There was nothing but blue sky.
“They're already inside,” Twilight answered. I looked down at her with an eyebrow raised.
“So they can go in and we couldn't?” I ask, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.
“Yes. Now get inside,” she said with some aggression in her voice. Not wanting to find out why she's suddenly hostile, I turn and begin to head inside, the others following.
Opening the double doors, we push inside to the dark Hall. Suddenly, the candles were lit and there stood most of the town with Pinkie in front of them, bouncing on her hooves.
“Surprise!” she said loudly, but not loud enough to startle anyone. She clearly remembered the first time she threw a surprise party. That was when I noticed the banner. It read:
'Congratulations on Your Pregnancy!'
“Pinkie,” Gonz spoke up, “do you happen to have the wrong banner?”
Pinkie scrunched up her face as she turned to look at the banner. She then looked back at us with a smile on her face, “Nope!”
“Then who's pregnant?” Kilborn asked, looking at the gathered mares.
“I am.”
My head swung so fast that I thought it would detach from my head as I focused on the purple unicorn standing beside me. I saw her smiling sheepishly up at me.
“G-hu-h-WHAT?!”