The sun rose gently over the Sweet Apple Acres, as it had many times before, and as it usually did, the rooster greeted the dawn with its loud crowing. Applejack stretched in bed and got out after about five seconds. That was as much leisure as she allowed herself in the mornings. Donning her hat, she walked downstairs to see about breakfast. Throwing a glance out towards the barn, she pondered how the strange fellows who had come down from the mountain yesterday felt.
She thought back about it and wondered just how exhausted they had been. When thinking back on it, it had seemed as though they had been staying awake on pure willpower. That wasn't easy, she would know that. Having once tried to single-hoofedly harvest the entire orchard and ended up an exhausted, confused wreck from it, she wondered just what kind of iron will these ponies were in possession of. That big stallion, Soap, had said they had been awake for forty-eight hours. If that was true then that was crazy, but she had no reason to doubt the stallion's word.
He looked like a stand-up sorta stallion to her. Strong, looked dependable and he had a certain rugged handsomeness about him. Most of them had, possibly with the exception of the fellow in the balaclava, Ghost. While Applejack hardly was some stallion-chasing flirt like Rarity might be, AJ could appreciate a nice flank when seeing it and these fellows were very well built. 'Course, she'd always be ready to offer a job to people lost and drifting if she had one, but these six stallions' looks didn't exactly make it harder for her to offer it. Shaking her head to clear out the silly thoughts, she glanced outside the window only to see that the barn door was opening. To her surprise, the six stallions were all coming out of it, yawning and stretching as they moved. Leaning out of the window, she held one eyebrow raised as her front hooves lay crossed on the windowsill.
“Well ain't ya'll up and runnin' early,” she asked as she leaned out. “Ah thought you'd want to sleep in after yesterday an' all.” One of the ponies, Roach, yawned loudly at this.
“Six hours' plenty for us,” he said with a brave smile, Applejack raising an eyebrow at it. Yeah sure, she'd believe that when pigs flew.
“Breakfast?” she asked them.
“Oh yes that'd be great,” Gaz said instantly, Price giving him a murderous glare that he didn't even seem to register. After a second the moustachioed pony grunted however.
“Yes... if it is not too much of a bother,” he said. Price reminded Applejack a bit of her pa, only a lot stricter. She wished he'd lighten up a bit but then again she had no idea what they had gone through recently so she didn't make a deal of it.
“Ah asked you, didn't I?” she smiled. “How does pancakes sound?”
“Like heaven descended to us mere mortals and whispered its sweet enlightenment onto our plates,” Gaz said as he came up and bowed before her. “What must I do mistress Applejack?” he asked, Applejack raising an eyebrow at his mannerisms. Despite that she made sure they got into the kitchen and soon the smell of pancakes filled the kitchen, that and Gaz's singing as he helped her with the pancakes. As he flipped the pancakes the words came from him and Applejack glanced as he kept going.
“Here's forty pancakes on the plate,
Which sound so freaking great.
To have as my breakfast today,
'Cause my hunger won't go away”
He sang this song as he finished the first, large stack of pancakes and placed it on the table with a small flourish. The other stallions looked to him, a mixture of disbelief and amusement on their faces. After a while Roach butted in as well.
“Forty pancakes on the plate,
That is what my hunger will sate
That's how you start off a great day,
When your hunger won't go away.”
Grinning, Soap dug into the pancakes, covering them with apple purée and digging in happily. Between the large mouthfuls he added his small piece to it.
“Syrup or jam or honey sweet,
only improves this lovely treat.
No matter what's on though just stack,
Pancakes so high so I don't lack.”
At the end the entire table, minus Price, was happily joining in for the second chorus.
“Forty pancakes on the plate,
That is what my hunger will sate.
That's how you start off a great day,
When your hunger won't go away.”
Price, meanwhile, was sitting with his face down into the table and refusing to sing along. It was first after a while, when a small stack of pancakes sat on his plate, that he looked up and dug in, albeit reluctantly. Applejack started feeling a bit concerned for the stallion, wondering just what had happened to get him into such a foul mood. Maybe it had something to do with their missing Cutie Marks. Applejack hadn't had the heart to ask about it. Ponies without their Cutie Marks, that was strange to say the least.
“So what are your plans for the day?” she asked after a while.
“I'm going to school, and so is Price!” Roach said happily with his mouth full, before Soap slapped him over the head. “Ow! Oh come on Soap!” he protested, “That's Price's thing.”
“Don't talk with yer mouth full,” Soap told him, Price having sunken further and further down into his seat. The boonie hat he wore hung over his eyes and the mouth was locked in a massive scowl. Applejack raised an eyebrow at what he said. “But aye,” Soap said. “I spoke tae Miss Sparkle yesterday an' she agreed tae help Roach an' Price with some things.”
“Can I bring an apple from the orchard for my new teacher?” Roach asked with a grin before being given another slap over the head, Applejack was unable to stop herself from smiling a little. She couldn't help but pity Twilight, knowing fully well that the poor mare would soon be at her wits' end with this stallion.
“Sure,” she said. “Just... try not ta be too hard on 'er. She's as bookish as they come but I dunno if she's ever teached before.”
“Taught,” Roach corrected before Price slapped him over the head. “Ow!”
“Mind your manners,” the old stallion growled. “We're still guests here.” Roach rubbed the back of his head with one hoof.
“Sorry, Miss Applejack,” he said sheepishly just as a small splat came from the other end of the table. Applejack looked only to see that Yuri had gotten a large splash of jam on his face and Gaz sat with wide eyes, the position of his hoof by the jam jar as well as the spoon resting over his hoof making it clear he had managed to launch a glob of jam straight into Yuri's face. For a second everything was quiet, Gaz silently wincing under Price's withering stare.
“Really?” the old stallion asked, sounding only tired. “It's like a blooming class of foals with you people! Eat up, then you're all out to get working. You two,” he said, pointing at Gaz and Ghost, “Are doing those flying drills you did yesterday until you can do what your instructor could. Soap, you and Yuri are helping out on the farm today. Roach, any horseplay in class and you'll be doing laps around the town until you faint, got it?” he asked with a growl. Applejack couldn't help but think that when the stallion was like that he reminded her of a timber wolf.
“Yes sir,” the other stallions all muttered and the breakfast concluded in silence.
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Roach was silent as he and Price both walked along the path towards the village of Ponyville. Courtesy of Applejack, they each wore some old saddlebags that the mare had borrowed them to carry books in. “Weird” still didn't suffice to describe the situation. He was going back to school: THAT was weird. He was doing so alongside Captain Price: that was absurd. He was doing so to learn unicorn magic since he had turned into a magical pony: that was a cause for finding a thesaurus and look up synonyms for “My brain is about to implode” posthaste.
“So...” he said after a while, wanting to fill the air with something other than this silence. “Where'd you go to school originally Captain?”
“Community school, East London,” Price answered. It was atonally and unenthusiastically, but it was an answer.
“Same,” Roach said, “Just in Bishop's Lydeard... Somerset,” he added dryly after a second.
“Can't hear that on you,” Price noted and Roach snorted.
“You only need so many comedians calling you out on sounding like a yokel before Queen's English starts sounding real tempting,” he said, “Easier that way.”
“It's 'ardly easy ter be cockney eever,” Price said in the thickest, broadest cockney-accent to ever have walked Celestia's green earth, Roach suddenly staring at his captain. The man seemed to be transformed from the pure military man he knew to some bloke from Eastenders. Blinking at the sight, he eventually chuckled.
“You're not getting me to talk about seeing to my chickens, just so you know.” Price responded with a small 'heh' of his own.
“Soap's bloody Scottish gives you plenty of leeway,” the Captain told him.
“Well we can't all be Londoners now, can we?” Roach shrugged. Ghost, Gaz and Price were all from London. “I wonder what Yuri's accent is.”
“Couldn't tell you,” Price shrugged. “He strikes me as a city guy though.”
“Yeah and now he's working a farm...” Roach said, suddenly laughing. Price gave him an odd look as Roach kept on laughing. “Look at us!” he said, “The Scottish and the immigrants are taking all the jobs!” he grinned. “At least there's higher education for the REAL English still.” Price only groaned at this, covering his face with one hoof. Roach only kept grinning at his wit. “Sorry, I'll shut up now sir,” he chuckled and Price slowly shook his head as he began to walk again.
“I need a cigar,” he muttered as they entered Ponyville. The streets were hardly bustling but people were out and about despite the quite early hour. “I'm checking if they have them here during lunch break...” he muttered before realizing what he had said. It made the enormity of him, a twenty year special forces officer, actually going back to the school bench, sink in and he wanted to bang his head against something.
“Good morning you two,” a voice rang out then, Roach instantly twitching at the tone of the voice. By Celestia he still hated that snotty tone on pure instinct. Remembering that he had met the owner of said tone yesterday, however, he turned around and came face to face with Rarity. For some reason he still had a little devil on his shoulder that made him say what he said.
“Top o' the mornin' to ye, luv,” he said with a slight bow right before he felt a smack across the back of his head. “I mean... Good morning, miss,” he winced, rubbing the back of his head.
“Good morning,” Price answered as well. Rarity was all smiles and grace as she came up to them with a small flutter of her eyelashes. Roach, still rubbing the back of his head, realized that by pony standards, insofar as he had any clue of those, Rarity had to be a real stunner. He couldn't help but give her a quick glance-over. Her shapely legs, her graceful yet curvaceous build, her expertly styled hair and eyes were simply captivating. Blimey, was he drooling?
“I'm quite surprised to see you two up and about,” she said amicably as Roach quickly swallowed and tried to seem neutral, “I had thought you'd sleep in after yesterday.”
“We're not much for sleeping in, miss Rarity,” Price said, “Besides, we were heading to the library for some business that miss Twilight Sparkle was going to aid us with.” Rarity's brow furrowed a little. It wasn't much, but both Roach and Price caught it, the latter then leaned in. “Is there something we should know about that? We spoke with her yesterday and she seemed eager” he asked quietly, Rarity standing up a little taller and waving a hoof dismissively.
“Oh no, not like that.” she said quickly. “Make no mistake, Twilight's a lovely filly and as bright as can be... she just tends to be a bit...” Rarity's brow furrowed again, this time in uncertainty. “Shall we say 'verbose'? She's quite passionate and sometimes... Well, let me just say that I wouldn't fault you for becoming impatient. But please, do be gentle with her.”
“That was our intent,” Price said. “Despite our appearances we're not barbarians,” he said with a small smile. Roach almost wanted to let out a held breath at this. The small attempt at levity was the closest Price had gotten to not acting like he wanted to kill someone.
“Oh I didn't mean to imply,” Rarity began hastily, being given pause a second later “Though if I may say so, there's a spa here in town that is quite excellent and I couldn't help but notice you happen to be somewhat... unshorn. Which I of course understand,” she hurried quickly to add. “Why your trek through the mountains must have been positively awful! Might I tempt you with a trip to the spa, my treat of course? It's just a shame that such handsome stallions aren't at their very best,” she smiled coyly, fluttering her eyes at them.
“We'll consider it,” Price said stiffly. “We must be off though, the library beckons. Good day.”
“Of course,” Rarity said sweetly, “Good luck and say hi to Twilight from me. Toodles!” she finished, departing. As she did so she gave Roach a quick wink as she passed him by with a sway of her hips, the fragrance of her perfume lingering. Roach didn't move a muscle but nevertheless felt embarrassed as all could be. 'She noticed.' he thought to himself. 'Oh yes she noticed!' That thought was followed up by another, even more embarrassing one. 'I have the weirdest boner right now'.
“Get,” Price growled, his voice as icy as any cold shower could be, “Your head, back, in the game, soldier.”
“Yes sir...” Roach said meekly as they headed for the library tree. It towered in the middle of the town as imposing as always and Roach looked up at it, marvelling at the fact that the thing was still alive. Even with a house carved into it the tree was alive. That had to be magic. Roach knew enough about trees to know that they didn't survive having rooms carved out of them normally. So he found himself excited as they walked up to the door. However...
“Lights are out...” Price noted as they approached the door.
“Think she's asleep?” Roach asked.
“Probably,” Price groused as he walked up and began banging on the door. “A deal's a deal though. I'm not drifting around until the pony princess gets her arse out of bed on her own.” After a few knocks, with no answer, Price tried the door to see if it was open. It was, as it turned out, and they could enter the library. Flipping the light-switch on, they got a better look around the library they had been introduced to. There was, however, not a single mare in sight anywhere. “She's asleep all right,” Price said.
“Hello?!” Roach asked, somewhat loudly. “Miss Sparkle?” he asked as he walked into the building.
“This is ridiculous,” Price groused after a few more seconds. “Let's...” he began only to be interrupted when a door at the top of a stairwell further into the building opened. Out of it peeked a familiar, lavender-coloured head and looked bleary-eyed down at them.
“Oh,” Twilight said sleepily. “It's you guys...” she came out of the room beyond the stairs, hair frazzled. “Can I...” she said before yawning widely, “Can I help you?”
“Uhm yeah,” Roach said, “We were supposed to come here for magic classes. Should we come back later?” he asked, Twilight's eyes opening wide.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” she began rambling as she shot into the room she had come out from, the door wide open and allowing them hear her yelling inside. “Spike! Where's my copies of Starswirl's guide for the Magical Student! I know I picked it out when I came home last night!”
Roach and Price could only stare at each other as something more sounding like a large scale brawl rocked the library upstairs. After a few, hesitant seconds they both were on it, leaping up the stairs with large steps to see what was going on. As they peeked inside they were met by a strange sight.
Twilight was standing in the middle of the room, hair frazzled and eyes panicky as dozens of books were rotating around her. Around her in the messy room every single book that could be seen was grabbed by some kind of forcefield and yanked into the air no matter what was piled upon it. This had made several small towers of both stationary and personal effects come tumbling down and added to the chaos inside the room. Twilight, meanwhile, looked around herself at the books, seemingly sorting through them at an incredible speed. It seemed she was a little overenthusiastic, if the sight of the pudgy little dragon being one of the things spinning around her -upside down to boot- was any indication.
“Gaah!” Spike yelled in panic, “They're downstairs along with the other things you gathered up last night! Let me down!”
“Oh, right!” Twilight said with the voice of someone too worked up to think straight. Unceremoniously, she let go of all the books - as well as Spike – and made her way towards the stairs quickly. “Right then, gentlecolts, let us just get down and we can...” She rambled. Roach couldn't help but feel unsettled by the panic in her eyes. Price did more than just sit there however; the captain held out a hoof to stop the mare, grabbing her foreleg and turning her to face him.
“OI!” he barked into her face, startling her and making her back down. “Will you blooming calm down?” he said, Roach ready to bet that he had been about to bark 'Soldier' as well. Twilight stood still, still staring at them. She seemed too shocked to move. “Oi Spike,” Price continued, “You're responsible for her, ain't ya?” he asked as Spike rubbed his forehead, surrounded by books.
“More than I should have to be at times,” the little dragon groused as he got up, Roach coming up to give him a helping hoof.
“Care to whip up some coffee and a sandwich for the teacher here?” Price said tiredly. “She seems to need it.”
“It's okay,” Twilight said, having raised her hoof to rub her eyes. “I'm terribly sorry about this, it's so embarrassing. I know I promised to aid you but then I got stuck looking through the library for teaching materials and I guess I forgot the time...” she grimaced at her panicked outburst and Price only shook his hoof.
“Less apologizing and more eating, Miss Sparkle,” he said. “Get your hooves on the ground and back in the saddle and I'll be happy.” Roach, meanwhile, was pushing a chair for Spike to hop onto at the bench, the small dragon giving him a 'thanks' as he began to work. Roach watched entire thing with interest, noticing that Spike was putting what looked like daisies on the sandwich. He found the concept intriguing, never having eaten flowers before. He was a horse however, and horses were herbivores. So therefore he snatched a daisy off the table and put it in his mouth, giving Spike a wink when he looked to him with a long-suffering look.
“You want a sandwich too?” he asked with the look of someone who had gotten quite enough of what they'd refer to as 'this crap' already.
“It's all right,” Roach said as he chewed on the flower. It was not bad at all really. It had a fresh sort of taste that reminded him of mint. Not nearly as strong though, just a faint, temporary aftertaste that brought forth a freshness to his breathe for a moment. That, along with the initial, somewhat bitter taste, made him decide he actually wanted a sandwich like this after all. Still, when looking at how the grousing little dragon was making the sandwich he felt like he'd be a bastard if he asked for one. He'd just have to make one himself later on.
Within another minute they were downstairs again, Twilight having a sandwich and a large cup of coffee with her. Soap and Price were seated at the main table, as were Twilight. The latter had a massively embarrassed look on her face as she took a sip of the coffee and hovered two books to put them down in front of the two stallions. Opening them both, Price held a look that spoke volumes of just how unimpressed he was thus far and Roach with a small, amused smile.
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“Huah!” Yuri exclaimed as he bucked the tree behind him and looked back to see the tree shake as the apples came raining down out of it. Nearly a third of the apples came down with one go and he smiled somewhat to himself at the sight. His first buck had only gotten five apples out of the tree and he took a deep breath as he turned around to buck again, “Huah!” he exclaimed once more, bucking with all he had. There was a technique to it he had realized after a few hours of this. You had to hit the tree dead centre and straight on, even being a little off would completely ruin the effect.
“Doin' good, Yuri,” Soap said as he walked by with his saddlebags filled with apples.
“Thank you,” Yuri responded, a tiny smile on his face. He looked up at the tree once more and noted that he had gotten another third of the apples out of the tree so with a final buck he cleared it out and brought the apples over to the large cart they were gathering them in.
“Mighty fine work you're doin' there, Yuri,” Applejack said as he dumped the apples into the cart. “We might just hafta keep ya here.” She continued jokingly. Yuri nodded with a small smile at her words but didn't show how strangely happy those words had made him. Going to buck apples out of another tree, he thought about how strangely fulfilling the work they were doing felt. Having been on it for a few hours, Yuri felt like he was, in a strange way, happy doing this. It was hard, kinda monotonous work, but as he looked towards the cart and saw it filled with apples he couldn't help but be content with it. Tough as it was, it made him feel good about himself. Good in a way he hadn't for a long time...
“Well ain't ya lookin' happy as a clam,” Soap commented, coming up beside him. “Care tae take this one together?” he asked as they moved to the next tree. Yuri nodded and they both got in position to buck it from one side each. “I've nae seen ye this happy before. What gives?” Soap continued as they bucked together, managing to actually get all the apples out of the tree in one go. “Hah!” Soap exclaimed as they began to pick the apples.
“I've not had much to smile about,” Yuri said, “This... I can smile at this. I'm not hurting anyone, not failing in everything I set out to do, not looking down on my hands to see rivers of blood run across them...” he smiled, the smile melancholy to say the least, yet all the same not bitter at all. “I am working at a farm, helping a good pony who took me in and gave me a home for now. It is good...” He concluded as he walked over to the cart with a new bagload of apples. “It's been long since I felt good.”
“Don't get too comfortable,” Soap murmured as they emptied the bags and went to get new ones.
“Why shouldn't I?” Yuri asked, plainly. “I have no oath of service to go back to in the real world. No family, no homeland. I am a wanted criminal that could just as well be dead as far as the world cares. So tell me, my friend, why shouldn't I settle in when it seems I've found somewhere, anywhere, to be accepted?”
“Ye really think it's acceptance when they dinnae know anything 'bout who ye are, yer history, what ye've done...” Soap asked lowly, Yuri's eyes darkening. He turned to look at Soap, his eyes were those of a dead pony. Dark, emotionless and distant.
“The blood of tens of thousands are on my hands,” he said bitterly, “Here or in the real world, acceptance for who I truly am is a pipe dream. At least this lie is soothing...” With that, he walked away from Soap to continue bucking the apples, his good mood vanishing.
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Gaz didn't care if he was being undignified or anything such as he laughed. At the moment he was having way too much of a blast to give a damn. Flying through the air at high speed, he felt how his wings trembled from exertion and yet he didn't care! This was blooming brilliant!
“Doing good there, hot-shot!” Rainbow Dash said as she corkscrewed around them. She was a real ace at flying and didn't miss a single chance to show it either. Ghost and Gaz was only just able to keep up with her and he was ready to bet that she'd have a lot more speed to pull out. They were at the moment flying over the Ponyville meadows, the ground flying by beneath them. RD ducked to the left, Ghost and Gaz needing to take out a wide turn in order to keep up at this pace. Turning was hard at this speed and the two ponies strained themselves “Come on, come on, go, go, go!” Rainbow Dash cried out all around them, “You got your wings plucked?! Show me what you've got!” she said as she came up behind them and shot past them. Ghost and Gaz glanced at each other, knowing what they'd have to do.
Turning downwards, they used the added momentum from gravity to speed up even more before turning sharply upwards, their wings burning with the strain as they kept following her, manoeuvre after manoeuvre. When they stopped, over an hour later, on a cloud quite a distance from Ponyville, the two men were panting, but still able to stand up.
“You know something, hot-shots?” Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she sat nearby, hardly even sweaty, “You're not half bad at this. Maybe one day you'll be half as awesome as me.”
“Keep that up,” Ghost said, “And we'll blast past you before you know it.” Rainbow Dash only laughed at this.
“Look who's getting cocky again,” she said, striking a pose. “I'm the best flyer in Ponyville, no, in all of Equestria!” Ghost remained where he stood, looking calmly at her.
“And with that attitude, you'll lose the title,” he told her frankly. “You're good, really good, but arrogance leads to complacency, and complacency to weakness. One day you're not as young as you were and bam,” he said, clapping his hooves together to underline what he was saying, “Some younger ace comes, same talent as yours, only she's younger and more vital, while you've lost that little edge. Suddenly, you're second best, old hat, the has-been. You wanna keep the title of the best, you're gonna need to do a lot more than boast.”
“Mighty fine talk for someone who didn't know how to fly two days ago!” Rainbow Dash retorted, her hackles raised as she hovered in front of him.
“And yet, now I'm this good,” Ghost said mildly, Gaz wishing he had some popcorn to chew while watching this spectacle. It was awesome! “Where do you think I'll be in six months?” At this point, Rainbow Dash was right up in his face. Ghost could have kissed her if he wanted to and didn't have his balaclava.
“Is that a challenge, hot-shot?” she asked, poking her hoof into his chest. “It sounds like a challenge to me! Six months from now! The Ghastly Gorge! We'll see if you can beat me!” she said. She would have been intimidating, were she not a pastel pony.
“Deal,” Ghost japed, Rainbow Dash's face turning blood red as she seemed about to burst into flames.
“Okay you two, you're done resting!” she yelled, flying up a meter and hovering there as she yelled. “Get moving right now! Come on!” she said, Gaz grinning as he got up. Yeah the fact remained, damn he'd hit that.
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“Evenin' ya'll,” Applejack greeted Roach and Price as they came up through the gateway into Sweet Apple Acres. She, Yuri and Soap were each pulling a large cart of apples and were quite dirty and sweaty all. In contrast, Price and Roach were still clean. Their saddlebags were stuffed full though and the looks on their faces spoke of exhaustion. “Doin' good?”
“Depends on how you see it...” Roach said, “You were right about Twilight, AJ... she's... pretty enthusiastic...”
“Don't say ah didn't warn ya,” AJ said, a hint of smugness creeping into her tone. Price shook his head.
“You did, and I don't mind,” He said. “She's a born academic though. But I'm not minding too much. You learn quickly.”
“Or not at all!” Roach said, “If she was any less pedagogic she'd set a world record.” Price snorted.
“Don't blame her for being a bad student,” the old captain remarked dryly. “You simply have to adapt to the situation” As if to accentuate his point, he grabbed an apple off Soap's cart with telekinesis, raising it into the air and moving it into his hoof. While he sweated a little, it had gone without a hitch and he smirked, biting into the apple and looking at Roach as he chewed at it. Roach sulked, looking away.
“Teacher's pet,” he muttered as, further away, Yuri and Roach got the harnesses off their neck and massaged their necks.
“Oi Yuri,” Soap said lowly with a wry smile, looking to the still somewhat grim-faced Yuri. “Ain't this fittin'? The English are banging on 'bout their fancy education while the scots an' the foreigners get tae work the fields,” he quipped, Yuri actually chuckling at this.
“Workers of all Equestria, unite,” he said, his eyes seeming a little brighter at least. Soap gave him a pat on the shoulder as they walked up to Price and Roach.
“Nice work, cap'n,” Soap greeted him with a grin. “Ye seem tae be doin' well with yer magic. Hopefully yer head won't blow up now.”
“Don't dismiss the possibility just yet,” he said with a dry mutter, “Still haven't found a cigar.”
“Oh, aye,” Soap said, nodding understandingly. After Price's capture by the Russians many years ago Soap had taken up his old captain's cigar-smoking ways. Admittedly, he preferred Perfectos while Price preferred Churchills. “So how was the teacher?” he asked, leaning in to add something just for his fellow captain, “An' I know that's more Roach's thing, but do ye get what Van Halen was singing about now?” he asked with a grin, Price giving him a look that could have made hell freeze over.
“I'll pretend I didn't hear you talking about hitting on a mare not even half my age,” he said lowly.
“Nah, I just like that song,” Soap said innocently, giving Price another grin. Price grunted and headed inside the house just as a couple of additional ponies joined them. Gaz and Ghost landed with much steadier legs this time, almost as though they had been doing this all their lives. Soap smiled at the sight. Ghost always reeked of skill. He was a silent, focused killing-machine. Gaz, meanwhile, was much more rough-and-tumble, much more relaxed and laid-back, yet he was just as focused if needed. He hadn't fallen behind the least. The fact that he he was still surprised by Gaz's actual ability was either a testament to how easily he dismissed Gaz, or Gaz's own ability to play the goat. He didn't know really. What he did know, however, was that they really seemed to settle in well here.
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After dinner there wasn't much do to before sleeping so they all got some time off. Yuri had gone outside to take a walk, Gaz, Soap and Roach had been drafted into playing a game with Applebloom and Ghost was off doing... something. Price, meanwhile, was standing outside, leaning against the fence as he thoughtfully looked towards Ponyville. After a while Gaz came walking out. He'd escaped the game for a while to get some air but when noticing the captain he came up to him.
“Penny for your thoughts, Price?” he asked, placing his front hooves on the fence as well. It was a pretty comfortable position to take.
“We can't stay here,” he said after a while.
“Don't have much choice,” Gaz said. “That cave vanished. We can recce the mountains for it but for the time being, we're stuck here.”
“Not like that,” Price muttered, “though that is also on the list. Here, on this farm. They're good ponies...” he sighed, placing a hoof against his face as he spat out the next word, “people...” he amended. “But they aren't rich, not enough to put up with a bunch of boarders for free.”
“So...” Gaz said, “Are we looking for work? Or going into the woods to live off the land?”
“I don't trust that forest,” Price said, glaring towards the forest, which they at this point knew as the Everfree Forest and that ponies as a rule didn't go there for good reasons. “...we're going to have to look for jobs as soon as possible,” he decided. Gaz chuckled.
“Look on the bright side,” he said with an amused voice, interjecting “which shouldn't be too hard because everything's so bright around here,” before he continued, “Yuri said we'd have to go to ground anyway. While it's a bit more... pastel-colored, this is as good a place as any to hide.”
“To rot,” Price muttered sourly, “We're all murderers, Gaz,” he said. With the exception of Soap, Gaz was probably the only person Price was fully open with. They'd fought together for long enough that Price not just trusted him completely, but connected with him on a deeper level. “Mass murderers, people who've left hundreds of people dead in our wake. This fairytale doesn't need murderers. We bring sweat, blood and tears to a land of sunshine, cupcakes and laughter,” he spat.
“So ya'll hidin' out here,” an old, creaky voice said behind them and they looked back to see the old mare Granny Smith come out of the house. She was smiling, much like most of the ponies around here seemed to. “It's your turn now, sonny,” she said and Gaz looked to Price, giving him a small, comforting pat on the shoulder before heading inside. Granny Smith, meanwhile, came up to Price and sat down beside him. “That's a mighty worried look you got there,” she said. Price grunted.
“Got a lot on my mind,” he said non-committally. Granny Smith reached out to him, Price being startled when she placed a hoof over his.
“I can tell,” she said, “An' I'm getting' the feelin' you ain't too keen on where your thoughts'll lead ya,” she smiled. “But you know what, sonny? It's strange how sometimes the thing we fear the most is ourselves. But the good part is, we can also control that person we fear so much. If we're just willing to try.” Price looked at the old mare, his first cynical instincts wanting to dismiss her as a rambling old mare, but after a while he got uncertain. He looked out across the town again, at all the shimmering lights and the moon that shone high above.
“Who dares, wins,” He muttered after a while, the old mare smiling widely.
“That's the spirit sonny!” she chimed, “Speaking of spirits...” she continued mysteriously, Price noticing she was holding a bottle in a hoof. “Care to try a little?” she asked him. The SAS captain got a sense of vertigo as he realized an old horse was offering him liquor. Blinking, he looked at the bottle and was struck by the color of the contents. It was rainbow-patterned, the colours clearly separated from each other. Were there several different liquids in the bottle? They didn’t mix when she shook it...
“Never seen that before,” he muttered.
“Oh, it's an old secret of mine,” she grinned, “The young'uns don't like me drinking this nowadays, so I keep it a little secret. It's made from zap-apples. Long ago, my pappy got the idea to try makin' cider off our family's zap-apples. Thing is, he left a barrel out during the winter, an' as the water froze, he removed the ice bit by bit, an' in spring he had this,” she confided in him. Price looked at her, recognizing the method of making it from Earth, a north-american liquor made from distilling apple cider...
“Oh for the love of...” he said, hiding his face in his hooves from sheer exasperation. Granny Smith hoofed him a small mug, holding her hoof upside down to let it rest there. The motion was easy and Price took it as well. He wasn't going to say no.
“Here's to ya'll,” Granny Smith said, “An' a right good future.”
“To a good future,” Price agreed. He only had enough for a small shot so he decided to enjoy it, knocking it back and taking it all into his mouth before he realized that he felt as though he was chewing power cables. “Blooming hay!” he yelped as the drink knocked him flat on his flank.