The moment the evacuation orders arrived, the MASH unit had plunged into a familiar sort of ordered chaos. Orderlies were running around, banding up IV bags and grabbing stands, all while soldiers picked up cots and moved them as quickly as possible. Outside, another shell impacted in another part of town, and most of the ponies gasped in fear as the Earth rumbled, the orderlies pausing just long enough to hold their IV trees in place and cover their patients with their bodies before somebody screamed: “ALL CLEAR!” and they all leapt back into action, the injured ponies staring around in stunned silence.
Parker knew what they must have been thinking: whose home had just been hit? Who had just lost their shop? Which one of their own had just lost everything to one, totally random artillery hit?
“God forgive us for bringing this shit here,” he muttered. It was bad enough in his world, but here? Where this type of war had never been known? He only needed to look at the shocked faces around him to know what the war was doing to Equestria’s inhabitants. The fear and anxiety on the faces around him would be enough to keep him awake for weeks to come.
“Hey! Army boy!” A nurse in combat fatigues ran up to him, cradling something in her hands.
“Huh?” The Lieutenant asked, still staring wide-eyed at the scene around him.
“You doin’ anything right now?”
“Uh…”
“Great! Take this,” the nurse shoved the bundle into Parker’s hands, and immediately he knew what it was just from the weight of it and the warmth it radiated.
“Hey, this is a kid!”
“Technically, it’s called a foal!” The nurse shouted over her shoulder. “Watch it for a sec while I track down the parents!”
“Wait wait wait, I’m not supposed to…” But the nurse had already disappeared into the constantly-shifting crowd around them. Still suffering from shock, Parker lifted a tiny flap from the bundle’s face, revealing a little pony with a still-undeveloped muzzle and a little brown curl of hair reaching down onto its forehead.
“Huh,” he snickered, trying to tuck the curl back in, but no matter how hard he tried, the little lock of hair would find a way to sneak back out from under the blanket. “That’s pretty cute. Y’know what? You’re probably gonna be a major cutie when you grow up.”
The little pony yawned and snuggled closer into the warmth of his chest. “Just…mind-blowing levels of cute,” the soldier said, resting on an empty cot. Somewhere far-off, another artillery bombardment landed, sending a deep rumble through the ground. The all-too familiar sounds of gunfire began on the outskirts of town, echoing through the pre-dawn air. A determined glare entered his eye. “And you’re absolutely gonna grow up.”
Still holding the child, he stood and ran to the nearest MASH supervisor. “Why is this taking so long?” He barked, trying his best impression of Vance.
“Wha-oh, sir!” The soldier saluted, a clipboard at his side. “Terribly sorry, Lieutenant! Most of our guys are engaging the enemy outside of town, and with the massive casualties the ponies took during the enemy assault, we just don’t have enough hands available to move them at the pace we’re used to.”
“Hmm,” the Lieutenant looked around, his eyes falling upon a line of ponies filing away outside the tent, being led by a white unicorn and a pink pony with wings and a horn (which seemed kinda unfair to him. Horns AND wings?) “How about some hooves, then?” He asked, holding the bundle in his arms out to the soldier. “Protect this with your life.”
“What? Sir, what’re you…” but Parker was already gone, jogging up to the white unicorn and holding up a hand.
“I’m gonna need you to stop for a quick sec, there,” the human said.
“What?” The unicorn arched an eyebrow at him. “I need to get these ponies out of here!”
“I know, but believe me, this is important. Just…from the bottom of my heart, trust me when I say this is important. Please?”
The unicorn looked Parker in the eyes, squinting. Parker flashed him the most sincere, most absolutely true look he could manage. Eventually, the unicorn relented with a drawn-out sigh. “Just make it quick.”
“I’ll try,” Parker stood as tall as he could and raised his hands. The ponies stared at him with their massive eyes, most filled with fear. A murmur started in the crowd, mostly concerning what the ‘two-leggeds’ were up to now.
Parker swallowed his nerves and began: “Now, as you all know, we are trying to evacuate the hospital here in town. Most of the patients in this hospital are your friends and neighbors. We have done our best for them, but now we need your help. The thing is, we are very short-staffed here. The defense of this town is draining our numbers. As such, we don’t have enough people to move the hospital as quickly as we need to. That is why we are asking you to help us in this task.”
A series of fear-filled murmurs broke out again, mostly among the younger ponies. One of them, a sky-blue unicorn with anger in his eyes, stood up. “And how do we know this isn’t some human trick? That you aren’t just trying to separate us!?” He accused.
“That’s why I’m asking you to trust me, and I’m asking you for help,” Parker sighed. “As a group of civilians in a warzone, we cannot in good conscience order you to place your lives in danger. However, we can appeal to your natures. We can appeal to that goodness we know exists in you, just as it exists in us! We can appeal to your spirit, your ‘humanity’ as we call it, and ask you to help us save these lives. Now, before you answer, I want you to picture everybody in that hospital. All the friends and neighbors, both human and pony, with lives and jobs and people who depend on them every day. With lovers and mothers and daughters who would weep at their passing. Ponies of Coltton, before you answer, think about those lives that could be snuffed out because we weren’t fast enough. Think about the birthdays they’ll never see, the holidays and family get-togethers they’ll never have, the sunny days they’ll never share. Think about the kids who will have to grow up missing a parent, or a cousin, or a sibling. Think about the memories that will be tainted forever because someone isn’t there anymore. And if that still doesn’t convince you, then please, just do one more thing for me.”
The ponies watched expectantly as Parker removed his helmet, revealing the desperation in his eyes. “Imagine it was you lying on one of those cots, and ask yourself what you would want your neighbors and friends to do, right here, right now.”
All was still for a moment. The ponies stared at this strange thing for a second, this man who, in just a few short minutes, had managed to change his image from that of a big, scary thing dressed in strange clothing to this human, this magnificent creature that felt and cared and loved. After a while, one aging pony stepped forward and began making his way towards the tent.
“Dad, no!” One of the mares stepped out of line and tried to tug the old stallion back. “What if it’s a trick?”
“And if it isn’t?” He rasped. “Would you be able to live with yourself if someone died because you didn’t step forward?”
The other pony stared at her father in shock, her hoof leaving his shoulder as he continued along towards the tent, hobbling past the young Marine. “Thanks, old-timer,” Parker said as he passed.
“Don’t mention it, young-un,” the old stallion replied.
The younger pony kept staring at her father trudging along. Then, after some thought, she returned to the line and tapped another stallion on the shoulder. “Honey, we have to…”
“I know,” the stallion replied, taking one of her hooves and stepping out of line. “I know.”
A few seconds later, a unicorn stepped out of the line. Then a pegasus. An entire mob of earth-ponies left not long after that, and suddenly, there wasn’t a line anymore. There was just a huge mass of ponies, making their way to the tent, picking up cots and IV trees and waiting for guidance. “Thank you,” Parker said, barely able to keep his voice constant as he watched with tears of joy blurring his vision. “Thank you.”
“Excuse me?” Parker turned to see the white unicorn from before, gazing up at him while wiping at his face, trying to hide the tears gathering in his eyes. “That-that was…”
Parker caught something out of the corner of his eye as the unicorn stammered, realizing almost immediately that it was the soldier he’d seen from before, handing the bundle in his arms off to a unicorn and an earth pony, the mother cradling the bundle with all the love in her little pony heart. “Look, mister,” the white unicorn asked, bringing Parker back to reality. “I just have to know what you needed done.”
“Huh? Oh,” Parker said. “Just…uh…follow me. We’ll…we’ll find something together.”
“And I’m coming along,” the pink pony with the wings and horn said, trotting right up to them.
“Honey,” the unicorn said. “I’m sorry, but you have to lead the rest of the line out of town.”
“What!?” The pink pony turned to what remained of the line: mostly children and parents with newborn foals in their arms. “Oh no Shiney, you’re not going to…”
“Cady, please,” he ran a hoof through her mane. “They need you, just as badly as I’m needed here. If a royal guardsman can’t lead them away, then let them have a princess.”
“I…” she bit her lip and shook her head. It was obvious she was on the verge of tears.
“Hey,” he took her chin in his hoof and planted a massive kiss on her lips, maybe not quite as long and hard and tongue-filled as the kisses Parker had seen in the romance movies back home, but still filled with more love than he’d ever seen in any act of intimacy anywhere. “I’ll be more careful this time, okay?” Shining said after he’d pulled out of the kiss.
“You better,” she smiled, sniffing back a few more tears. “I love you.”
“I know,” he gave her another quick peck on the lips before watching her run off towards the front of the line, immediately kicking it into motion. He threw her a goodbye-kiss before turning back to Parker. “My name’s Shining Armor, by the way.”
“I…oh, okay, uh,” Parker smiled. “Why don’t we go see what needs doin’?”
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Author's Notes:
Cue the filthy liars telling me Parker was always their fave human...