//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Keeping Track // Story: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy // by Green Hills //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle peeks open one eye, first seeing nothing but darkness and hearing the loud rumbles of the freight train traveling over the rails. Luna’s moon hanging in the nighttime sky provides some light through the windows, where Twilight can see her friends sleeping soundly. Rainbow Dash is right across from her seat sound asleep, her wings twitching with every breath, probably dreaming of being in the Wonderbolts Academy as usual. Just in front of Rainbow, to Twilight’s slight left, the unicorn spots none other than Pinkie Pie, snoring while in a position that makes Twilight want to giggle. Her hind legs are up against the backrest, while she lies on her back on the seat, and her head softly bobs in different directions from the movement of the train car. Looking around the dark cabin, finding nothing else but her and her two friends, she lowers one hoof to the floor. The train hits a bump, nearly causing Twilight to jump out of her seat. Until her nerves settle down, she slides off her seat, her noise dampened by the running train. Twilight takes a look at Pinkie and Rainbow, both of them still fast asleep. She can’t help but smile at the two. Despite them being full of energy, it is rarely seen looking at them in their peaceful state. To her thought, it seems the welcoming party Pinkie hosted in the Ponyville town square was another success, but tiring as well for everyone, including the humans. But, Twilight knows she can’t stay admiring her sleeping friends. She has a job to do, for herself. Taking small steps, the lavender unicorn creeps down the aisle to the door that will lead to the next coach. “O-oh… Mi-Mister Break,” a voice whispers, stopping Twilight right in her tracks. When she turns to where the voice is, she nearly wants to face hoof when she realizes the third pony right in front where she was sleeping less than a minute ago, Lyra Heartstrings. She nearly forgot that pony begged like any little colt or filly to join them, and surely, the humans allowed it. “O-oh, please,” Lyra mumbles, as if she is being pleasured Twilight dares not to imagine. “P-please, tell me more about your kind. I wanna show them I knew…” Twilight immediately rolls her eyes when the mint-green unicorn rolls to her back and huffs under her breath. She had a feeling that mare might dream about the humans, hopefully by her words, she is talking about asking them about their kind, and not ‘something’ else. “O-oh, please… M-Mister Break… Br-Brooke… Brooke… you ol’ teaser…” Lyra continues blabbering in her fantasizing dream. Twilight quickly shakes any mental images that enter her head, and quickly makes her way to the door that leads to the next coach the humans are sleeping in. Before she exits, the unicorn turns around, her horn lighting up in its signature pink aura, and casts a spell on the three slumbering ponies. “There we are,” Twilight whispers to herself proudly. “The sound-proof barrier spell should do the trick.” Twilight opens the door with her magic, and the loud sound of the train passing through trees and other objects enter the cabin. Closing the door behind her, the unicorn opens the next one across the connected coupler heads beneath her, and springs into the next car, shutting it as quickly and quietly as possible. Twilight holds her breath, hearing her heart pound against her chest as she looks around through the dimly lit cabin where the marines are sleeping in. She can hear a couple snores, which are louder than Pinkie’s. She can see outlines of the humans’ legs dangling from the seats that seem too small for them. According to her, they seem to be still sleeping. “Okay Twilight,” she says taking a deep breath. “You can do this. For research, for science, for the princess.” The last part is a lie, even for her. But, if she gathers enough information, the princess will may be proud for her doing. Though, Twilight has a feeling she may punish her for invading the humans’ belongings, let alone handling things she doesn’t even know. It’s worth the risk. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down her rapid beating heart and excitement, Twilight slowly steps forward to the snoring marines. Upon reaching the first seat, she carefully steps to avoid the legs. She peers over to look at the one specific item she wants, and finds it. A large light brown backpack sits against the wall on the far end of the seat, blocked by a dangling arm from the marine. A bit too far and risky for Twilight’s comfort. After passing through four more seats on either side, all of them having the same result as the previous, and avoiding legs through a dark aisle with nothing but the moonlight casting through the windows, Twilight suddenly spots her prize at a comfortable position. Being quick and precise, she maneuvers over and around legs down two more rows until she finally arrives. The backpack is larger than the ones she previously saw from the other marines. It is more bulky and heavier by the looks of it. Twilight inspects the backpack, trying her best not to light up her horn to see better, for she may wake up one or more of the humans. Using Luna’s moon as her only light source, Twilight finds a nametag just below the zipped up main compartment. “’L-C-P-L Kevin Brooke’,” she softly reads, and quickly looks back up when the marine turns over to his side, she now knows is Kevin Brooke. She gulps audibly and holds her breath. After a full twenty seconds, she returns to the backpack grasped in her hooves. There three zipped up compartments, plus two large pouches on either side. One on the left has a large metal bottle, and the other on the right is bare. The unicorn looks back up at the sleeping human, and twists her head to look at her surroundings. The whole cabin is silent, except for the sound of the train running on the rail tracks and the snores of the marines. Twilight sighs heavily, an unsettling nerve developing within her gut. She looks back a Kevin, then back at his backpack. Will it be really worth looking? Who knows what she will find in there; more weapons, personal things, or some other human technology. Now, Twilight is starting to become hesitant whether or not she should look inside for the sake of her studies, or is it? “J-just one peek,” she finally concludes after a whole ten seconds of staring at the backpack. With another check of her surroundings, followed by a deep breath, she lights up her horn and cautiously unzips the first and foremost compartment. She feels she has the constant need to check her back to see if any of the humans are awake. Whenever she does, the answer is always the same. They are all asleep. Looking inside the first compartment, she spots a small black thin rectangle hiding. Using her magic, she takes out the black object, and twirls it around to get a good examination. It is long thin, and has an outer skin made of rubber, except for one side, which to her belief is a black window on it. Having no idea how to operate it, and wanting to take no chance, Twilight puts the black object back and zips up the first compartment before moving to the next. When she unzips it, her curiosity rises as she looks at two books wedged in. Twilight carefully spreads open the compartment as much as she can, only to widen it by barely an inch due to something in the main compartment holding back. She turns her head down the aisle to make sure no human is awake, and turns back to her business. Her heart is beating uncontrollably, as she digs her hoof to loosen the two books. Finally, with her magic, she pulls out the first book, which is slightly thicker than the second. She suddenly jolts up when she sees Kevin Brooke moaning a little and turning to his other side. She holds her breath for a few more seconds, unable to control her rapid heartbeat, until she finally lets it go and returns to the book in her hooves. Looking at the title, she can make out the title. With the Old Breed. She can make out a picture in the center, which shows two humans, but both of them are wearing different clothing. One is standing up and holding a short stick to what Twilight knows is a weapon, but very different looking compared to the marines she first saw. The second human is crouched like he is about to go for something. Below the image is more text. Using Luna’s moon as her only light source, Twilight reads the following. “More than just a legend… Sledge turned the extremes of the war in the Pacific—the terror, the camaraderie, the banal and the extraordinary—into terms we mortals can grasp.” –TOM HANKS Slightly mortified, but more curious than ever, Twilight has a dozen question flooding into her mind at a fast rate. What is the war in the Pacific? How long ago did it take place? Who fought who, and why? Who is this Tom Hanks and Sledge? Are they authors? Do they know about this war in the Pacific? Have they been in it? Twilight’s attention quickly fades away as she glances at the second book poking out from the backpack. Putting the novel in her hooves back in, she uses her magic to pull out the next book. Her excitement suddenly turns to slight disappointment when the cover is nothing but an ugly brown on both sides. Twilight is about to open it, when her conscious stops her. Looking at the book again, a thought hits her. Judging by the way it looks, it could be a journal, a notebook, a small photo album, or some intelligence that will be useful for Twilight. Though eager and desperate to look inside, she shakes her head. “No. I won’t do it.” She knows she will not forgive herself if she ever looks inside the book she is holding, whether or not it has valuable information. She will not invade someone’s personal life in the book. She had learned that lesson from the Cutie Mark Crusaders when they were participating in the Foal Free Press. Even remembering that makes her cringe and growl from the gossip. Twilight zips up the second compartment after placing back the unread book, and shoves the backpack slightly under the seat. As she turns around and head back to the door where she entered, she stops. The urge in her head will not stop bothering, like a virus eating her from the inside. Her mind tells her it’s for science, for research, for studying a new species all by her own before any of the ponies could get to. But, her heart tells her the complete opposite. She could end up breaking up a relationship they just made between the humans and Equestria. They will think she is some spy, and take her hostage. Or worse, the princess could banish her, throw her in the dungeon like what she did to Eric Michaels, or never allow her to see the humans again. An opportunity lost forever. Twilight turns back around at the backpack lying on the floor, at Kevin Brooke still fast asleep, and then to the rest of the marines. She sighs, her mind finally settled on the choice. “I’m going to regret it.” LCpl. Kevin Brooke 2nd Battalion 1st Marines 20 Miles from Meadowlands, September 1st Day 10 06:58:34 AM Again, I encounter the same damn dream. This time, it felt like I was different, as if I was in another body. But that voice. Every singe time, she never stops whispering to me like any other creepy voices in horror movies. All I hear is her calling my name and to ‘wake up’. What does she mean by it? But, it was not as bad as the one before, when I noticed a pair of bright lights heading right towards me, and the sound of a car horn filling my ears. It felt almost all too real, but familiar. I can hear the ‘click-clack’ sound of train wheels moving swiftly through wherever we are. Soreness quickly builds up all over my body, making me not want to move at all. It is not until my memory kicks in where I am. This coach is pretty much like any regular train car that transports civilians. The only problems are the size of the seats, which is big enough for just one of us to lie and let our lower legs dangle in the aisle, and the legroom, which is barely two feet of space, almost similar to an economy class airline. Not to mention, the train ride took longer than expected, as it moves at a slow forty miles an hour to get to our needed destination. However, the positive feature about this car is the comfort of the seats, which I fell asleep almost immediately after last night’s event a certain pony hosted as a welcoming party for us. When I open my eyes, I only see a blur of pink covering my field of vision. Wait, since when was the entire coach interior is covered in pink? Another point is I smell something sweet, like cotton candy, which is fairly close, almost right in front of me. I open my eyes again with a little more effort, seeing the pink color again, except I see two large white blurs almost in the center, like eyes. I close and reopen again, my vision slowly becoming clearer now. “Hmm?” I groan under my scratchy voice I have used so much last night. As my eyes come into focus, I am looking directly into a pink face staring intently right at me not even an inch away. “Wakey wakey, sleepy head!” a sudden but familiar cheery voice cries out right in front of me. It feels as though my heart just stop for a second. “Ah!!” Like witnessing a jump scare, I spring out of the seat after noticing the familiar pink pony sitting on me. The pony hops off of me when I fall to the side and land face first into my tactical vest. Not to her realization, she accidentally lands directly on to Michaels’ crotch, causing him to spasm and scream out of his seat. The pink pony springs in the air again, and lands on my seat with a grin on her face like she is enjoying an amusement park ride. Setting off a domino affect, almost half of the train car wakes up to our yell in a ruckus. “Ah!! What’s going on?!” “What happened?! Training exercise?!” “I swear I didn’t make out with a horse!” We all scramble around, except at least half of those in the car who don’t even give a damn of what’s happening and continue on sleeping, until we all stop at once when one of us screams out the last line. For a moment, we all stay mute for nearly a full two minutes, wondering who just said that. Still sitting and sandwiched between the two seats, I turn my head; only to nearly touch noses with the pony with the same grin she has on her face. I feel my cheeks heat up from the sudden close distance between her and I, approximately less than two centimeters apart. “Hehe,” she giggles and taps her hoof lightly on my nose. “You’re like Dashie when Rarity kissed her on the cheek after she rescued that filly from the well.” “Hey, come on, leave the kid alone,” Sergeant Mendez calls just above me in the next seat. “Y-yeah…” Michaels groans while clutching his groin. “B-but please… m-make it a s-softer landing. God, my balls.” The pink pony twiddles her hooves. “Hehehe… sorry.” “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Mendez waves his hand. “God, what the hell was that?!” another voice emerges from behind while I try endure the soreness in my body as I get up to my feet. When I turn to where the voice emerged, the first people I see are Sergeant Stan and Lance Corporal Corey rising two seats down. “Seriously, man,” Corporal Carter says as he gets up on the other side of my seat. “What’s with the damn screaming? Most of us are tryin’ to sleep after last night.” “Sorry you guys!” the pink pony calls throughout the cabin. “Shut up!” another voice shouts from my right down the aisle, one that I presume is Sergeant Hernandez. “Es demasiado temprano maldita!” That’s Hernandez for sure. I look around the cabin again, as almost half of everyone gets up groggily before turning back to the pink pony who is still sitting in my seat with a blank expression on her face. Hopefully, she doesn’t know Spanish. “You okay?” I ask, and the pony nods, her smile returning in an instant. “Oh yeah. I’m just wondering what he was blabbering about.” She points to the direction where Hernandez is sleeping, when Sergeant Mendez walks out into the aisle. “It’s best if you leave him alone,” he explains and sits down on my seat. “He’s always a bit of a jerk.” The pink pony pouts her lip. “Aw. Maybe he just needs a friend.” Mendez shakes his head. “Heh, easy for you to say. That guy just acts like a nagging wife.” The sergeant then perks up his head as he remembers something. “Quick question. Why are you here anyway, and how did you get in?” “Duh! Remember your leaders allowed Twilight, Rainbow, Lyra and I to go with you?” Both of us stop and look at each other for a moment before turning back to the chiming pony. I think back to last night, when I finally remember through my foggy memory. “O-oh yeah,” I reply. “That was uh… yeah. Before we left right?” “You also hosted the welcoming party, right?” Mendez asks. The pony nods. “Yep! Pinkie Pie is my name if you wanna know. We met a few days ago back at Canterlot Castle, remember?” “Yeah. I know that,” I nod. Rubbing my eyes, I lean over to where I find my ILBE assault backpack lying almost right in the aisle. I thought I had it placed next to my tactical vest, unless the movement of the train caused it to slide. In total, there are four train coaches. The first three are for us; the first is where the Navy Commanders and SEALs are residing, and the last two are for us. The fourth is where the four ponies we allowed them to join are resting. I bet they are having a better time sleeping peacefully than I am. All except for one, I suppose. “So,” Pinkie says as she slides to the side when I put my backpack on the seat. “Watcha’ got in there?” “Well,” I begin as I zip open the main compartment of my backpack. As I look inside, I stop for a moment when I realize something out of place. “What the?” I widen the bag to get a better look. Digging through my two-day spare ammunition, I count up the number of M16 magazines I have. Unfortunately, I conclude I am one short after counting three times. I know for a fact I had ten magazines in my backpack. “Hey, Mendez,” I turn around to the sergeant. “Yeah?” “Did you take a magazine from my assault pack?” Mendez shakes his head. “No. Why?” “It’s not in here.” I open up the other two compartments and search through them. I take out my book and journal, and dig through to nothing. “What’s that?” Pinkie asks pointing to the two books. “Those are some things I keep myself occupied,” I reply as I search through the third compartment, only to find my iPhone low on battery. “What type of things?” Pinkie asks. “Well,” I pick up the novel I am currently reading, but barely, and show it to the pink pony. “This here is a book I’m reading. The other one is a journal.” “Ooh,” Pinkie coos, examining the book. “What’s it about?” “Well, it’s about a marine, like us. Except the story takes place a ‘long’ time ago.” “Hmm… interesting. You know, Twilight loves reading books as well.” “Does she?” Pinkie nods. “Yeah! You two should totally hang out and discuss about books.” I chuckle a little as I put away my stuff, but keep my journal out. “Well, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” “You two should!” “What’re you two talking about?” Michaels groans as he rises from the seat, rubbing his eyes and his groin. “How’s your balls, buddy?” I ask, a smiling forming on my face. Michaels instead gives me the middle finger. “Yeah, yeah. You’re real funny, brother.” “What does that mean?” Pinkie butts in. Of course, a pony like her would ask that, since they don’t have fingers. “O-oh, um…” I stumble on my own words as I try figure something out. “I-it’s um… it’s a—” “It’s a military term,” Mendez interrupts us, and Pinkie turns to him with her head cocked to the side. “What’s it mean?” she asks curiously. “Uh… it means… well, basically you do that to someone whenever they tell you a joke.” The sergeant smiles almost crookedly, while Michaels and I stare at him with an ‘are-you-serious’ look. Pinkie, however, still has that curious smile plastered on her face. “Oh, now I get it!” she chimes, and hops off the seat. “You fellas hungry? I got some leftovers from the party last night if you’re interested.” “Yeah, I’ll take some,” Michaels lifts his hand up. Mendez and I shake our heads. “No thanks. We’re still full from last night,” Mendez says patting his stomach. “Oh, B-T-W—” “Mendez!” Michaels and I shout to the sergeant the moment we heard his text abbreviation. I swear he does that just to annoy us. Mendez pulls back quickly, completely stunned, before lifting his hands. “Sorry… uh… ‘by the way’, that party you hosted. Man, was that awesome.” Pinkie smiles. “No problem. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Having parties is my specialty. I’ll be right back.” The pink pony happily bounces away to the door to our left, hopping over hanging legs from some of the marines who are still asleep. Those that are awake stare at her with confusion until she exits the car. “ ’You do that to someone whenever they tell you a joke’, ” Michaels mimics Mendez’s voice, and flips the bird one more time to the sergeant. “Hey, come on!” Mendez says. “What else you want me to say? This is a gesture for fuck you?” Michaels shrugs. “They have hooves, not hands.” “Yeah, yeah.” I shake my head while chuckling lightly while my friends argue like two politicians. As I return to my journal and begin writing, I look up at Mendez after he finishes. Both of us glance at each other for a few seconds. “What’s with the smile, Kev?” he asks, putting on a smile as well. “No, I just wanna ask where’s my mag?” “I told you, man. I didn’t take it. I was out like this after the party.” He snaps his fingers. I stare at him intently, my smile disappearing. “Then where is it? I know I had ten mags in there.” “Ask the rest when they wake up,” the sergeant suggests and returns to lying down. “Besides, it’s just one mag. You have like, what? Eighteen or something?” I shake my head and groan internally. “Yeah, one mag of fully loaded five-five-six rounds.” ***** “Hey, hey Twi,” Rainbow’s voice whispers into Twilight’s ear. “Wake up.” “F-five more minutes,” Twilight groans and buries her face under her hair. Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes, before poking the unicorn again. “Come on, Twi. You’re gonna miss the departure.” “What?!” Twilight screams, springing in the air awake and full of energy in a moment’s notice. The rainbow-mane Pegasus jolts back as Twilight pants heavily and frantically looks around the cabin. “Wh-what time is it?! How long have I overslept?!” “Twi! Calm down! It was just a joke!” Twilight suddenly stops. Turning her to Rainbow Dash, she stands still on her seat for a whole minute, before plopping back down. “Rainbow!” the unicorn whines and rubs her forehead. “Please, for Celestia’s sake, don’t do that! I understand you like pulling off pranks, but please, do it to a certain extent.” Rainbow Dash huffs. “Fine. You know, you should really get out more.” “Alright, I get it! What is it you want since we are nowhere close to the checkpoint?” “Just wanna say Pinkie and Lyra are going to talk to the humans. Wanna join?” Twilight’s head quickly perks back up after relieving some pressure building within. Her heart rate suddenly spikes the moment she heard Rainbow Dash mention the humans. Twilight hasn’t been herself since last night, not that her friends know. It is always what her mind tells her throughout the entire night, for the greater good. However, just like before, her heart is telling her they will soon find out what she did. It has been eating at her all night long. “Uh, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asks, waving her hoof in front of the dazed lavender unicorn that is staring into the empty space. “Wha-! What?!” Twilight shakes her head violently, nearly smacking herself into the seat. “I-I’m good! Yeah, let’s go.” “Twi, you don’t look so good.” Rainbow tilts her head to the side, noticing the unicorn’s hair and tail slightly disheveled. “Wh-wha-? I’m good. I-it’s just the party last night that really got me,” Twilight chuckles nervously. Somehow, that didn’t even phase a bit to the athletic Pegasus. “Twilight, you look like you have been studying yourself rather than partying.” Twilight is about to open her mouth to rebel, but is cut off. “Believe me. I know the difference of what you look like after you party, and after you study.” “A-are you trying to stalk me?” Rainbow suddenly jerks back her head, completely astonished. “Wh-what?! No! I’m saying is I know how you are after you party! Remember that one time Pinkie hosted Applejack’s birthday?” “O-oh, yeah…” Twilight can feel her face heating up, for when she easily remembers that time when Pinkie Pie hosted Applejack’s birthday party. If only she knew a spell that could erase that time from her memory. “L-look, the point is,” Rainbow continues, catching Twilight off guard, “you look like you’ve been staying up all night studying.” Twilight fidgets her hooves as her voice stammers over whatever words she tries to find, but to no avail. Her headache returns, and she is unable to think properly. “Twilight,” Rainbow finally says, her voice sounding a bit irritated. “Whatever you’re doing, just stop.” “R-rainbow,” Twilight finally manages to speak, when the cyan Pegasus places a hoof on her shoulder. “You’re probably just worked up from yesterday. Just rest for a bit, okay? We don’t need another chaotic event like when you were going crazy over sending a letter—” “Rainbow!” Twilight bellows. Now, she is desperate to go back home and find a memory erase spell. “Hehe… sorry,” Rainbow Dash snickers. “You just look so cute when you do that.” Twilight growls in her throat. “O-oh, right. You need a bit of sleep.” The Pegasus hops off the seat and heads to the door, before turning around. “I’ll let you know when we arrive.” “Thanks,” Twilight replies. As the door shuts behind Rainbow Dash when she exits, Twilight slumps to a lying position and sighs deeply, and digs her face in her hooves. All she wants is a couple more hours of sleep, but she can’t after what she did last night. Thoughts swarm within her of the many feelings she can barely make out. Desperate, excitement, regret, worrisome. “Ugh,” she moans and turns to her bag lying on the ground just below her. Inside are her notes, several quills and ink jars, and the one item she took from Kevin Brooke. “What have I gotten myself into?” Using her magic, her bag rises to her seat and opens. Twilight stares inside at the lone, dark grey, thin curvy box sitting in a spare compartment next to her ink jars. She takes it out in her pink aura and twirls it around. Despite its size, Twilight guesses its weight to be a pound or more. She never expected it to be a bit heavy when she first took it. Now she understands when she looks inside, which is filled with bronze cylinders with copper tips. The more Twilight examines the shiny cylinders in the dark grey box, her brain aches of wanting to know more. She remembered seeing a box like this, but it was held from under the humans’ black sticks, to what she now knows are weapons. Even to this day, she has no idea what they are. She dared not to ask them. Just thinking about when they first saw the human back at the beach, the loud ‘bangs’ from the stick when Princess Luna knocked him out still rings in Twilight’s ears. She never thought something like that would be so loud, almost deafening. Twilight shakes her aching head vigorously, still holding the dark grey box in her magical grasp. “Ugh, get it together, Twilight,” she says to herself, and puts the human device away in her bag. “This is for science, for research on a new species. To understand our ‘new ally’.” Her ears suddenly droop and her expression changes to worrisome. “I hope.” ***** “No better friend, no worse enemy! Two-one, oorah!” Michaels, Lyra and I giggle as we watch footage from Mendez’s cellphone he recorded of the party Pinkie hosted last night. On the small screen there are Michaels, Carter and I kneeling with two children ponies between us as we chant our battalion motto, and the crowd of ponies cheer and take photos. “Oh, man,” I comment after finishing my laugh. “Were we really like this?” “Boy, you were, kid,” Mendez replies looking over from his seat in front of us. “Hahaha!” Lyra, sitting between Michaels and I, laughs and points to the phone. “Look at that!” The camera moves around like it is taking a panorama view of the town square, passing by a DJ set playing music. Majority of the ponies surrounding Mendez all wave and cheer. As the phone continues to go around in a circle, it passes by a carousel building that is the town hall, with a large banner hanging in painted letters WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA. Shortly after, the video ends. “That is some device you have there!” Lyra says excitedly, and Michaels hands Mendez back his phone. “Thanks, it’s a Motorola,” Mendez describes, waving the phone a bit before putting it away. The mint-green unicorn’s eyes glisten. “Ooh, this is ‘so’ awesome! I finally get to go somewhere cool with you ‘humans’!” She giggles again and squirms in her seat. “Woah, woah. Easy there, Lyra,” Michaels says, both he and I scooting an inch away from the mare. “Oh, come on! Do you know how difficult it is for me to convince everypony that you guys exist?” “If only we knew,” Mendez mumbles. “Alright, alright,” I say motioning my hands. “Just to give you a heads up first. Don’t get too excited, keep yourself together, and stay close to us. Most of us back at the fleet are not used to… seeing colorful horses—” “Ponies!” Pinkie cries in the background. I groan. “R-right… ponies. Most of the men back there are not used to seeing that, especially talking ones. Got it?” “Roger that!” Lyra responds with a salute. I have no idea why, but watching her child-like action just makes me want to laugh. She almost reminds me of Banana Seed. “Hey, guys,” Pinkie cries popping up next to Mendez with a plate of cookies balancing on her fluffy tangled hair. “I brought you these. Specially made by me. Hope you like chocolate chip.” “Who doesn’t?” Mendez replies, taking a cookie from the plate before Pinkie hands it to us and disappears in a blur. “Hey, can I ask you something?” Lya asks. “Depends,” Michaels replies and chows down on our small meal. “How ‘did’ you guys get here?” “Hey, I was just about to ask that!” the voice of Rainbow Dash calls out from behind us. When Michaels and I turn around, we see her floating above us before moving into the aisle and land. “More importantly, what are those?” She points her hoof to my M16A4 leaning against the wall well behind my IMTV. “Why?” I ask, growing a little suspicious, and the Pegasus shrugs. “I just wanna know. You got something against a Pegasus being curious?” “No. Just don’t want you touching our equipment.” Rainbow nudges my shoulder jokingly. “Oh, come on. When am I ever gonna do that? I don’t even know what stuff you guys carry.” “You don’t wanna know,” Michaels replies. “Oh, come on. Please?!” Lyra suddenly begs as she leans on Michaels’ lap, pouting her lip. Michaels stares at the puppy-eyed unicorn, completely befuddled and at a loss for words. For me, I just stare at him grinning while he struggles to comprehend any words when Rainbow Dash decides to join Lyra. “O-okay. Fine! Just briefly,” he finally says. Lyra and Rainbow both cry out in a cheer, followed by Pinkie Pie blowing a buzzer somewhere in the background. “Alright, alright,” I say just to get those two ponies out of my best friend’s hair. “Let’s settle down.” Lyra quickly hops back to me, while Michaels moves back to his own seat across, and Rainbow Dash takes his spot. “Okay, first off,” I begin raising a hand. “Rules are; no touching, only looking, most of the questions you ask I will not answer due to military restrictions until it is cleared by our leaders, and no—” The door opens to the far right, and steps in First Sergeant Keane. Judging by his look, he seems to be still tired from last night’s party. “Marines!” he yells, and the entire car stays silent in an instant. All eyes fall to the war veteran. “We’ll be arriving at our destination shortly! Get your gear set, fifteen minutes!” “Aye, sir!” all of us reply, except for the three ponies. After the first sergeant exits the coach as fast as he came in, I turn back to Lyra and Rainbow; both of them look disappointed. “Maybe I’ll show you next time, alright?” I say. “Fine,” Rainbow huffs, and flies to the door to her car to my left. Pinkie bounces like a spring, following the Pegasus until they exit the coach. Then, there’s Lyra still looking at me. “Shouldn’t you be with them?” I ask as I grab my stuff from the ground. “Pfft, why would I when I have you guys?” she scoffs. I merely roll my eyes and turn away. I knew she would say something like that. Taking every chance to stay with us instead of her friends. Hopefully, the guys back at the fleet will not freak out to what we bring on board. ***** Banana Seed reads off the lyrics of The Mickey Mouse March Michaels gave him while sitting on the cart Banana Peel is pulling, humming the tune he remembers as he looks over the crumpled sheet again and again. Also in his hooves is a photo from last night. “Boy, do you love singing to that,” Seed’s grandfather chuckles as they make their way to the Ponyville train station. “It was the greatest song Mister Brooke and Michaels gave to me! I’m definitely gonna show this when we get home!” “I’m glad you enjoyed them. Just don’t lose it. Especially the other gift Michaels gave you. You still have it?” “Yep. Still around my neck.” The colt shows off the small gift around his neck; a 7.62millimeter bullet tied to a string. He lets it swing around while the wagon buckles over the rough dirt road, the shiny bullet juggling around like a small bell. “Mornin’ Banana Peel!” a filly’s voice calls to the two’s left. When Banana Peel stops his cart, he spots three fillies racing up to him. “Hi, Apple Bloom! Hi, Sweetie Belle! Hi, Scootaloo!” Banana Seed waves, and hops off the cart once the Cutie Mark Crusaders arrive. “Good morning, Banana Peel,” Sweetie Belle says. “Where are you guys heading?” “We’re taking the train. I think it’s time we go back home,” Peel explains. “Aw, that’s a shame,” Apple Bloom says, when she notices Banana Seed’s gifts he has. “Hey, what’re those?” “Oh, these?” Seed holds up the paper and photo. “Mister Michaels and Mister Brooke gave them to me. And this as well.” He shows off the glistening bullet, and the fillies’ eyes widen. “Wow,” they gasp. “That’s awesome!” Scootaloo exclaims. “What is that?” “Mister Michaels says it’s a bullet,” Banana Seed says, showing the round to the fillies. “It’s so shiny,” Apple Bloom praises. “I can see my reflection,” Sweetie adds. “Hey,” Scootaloo points out, “what about those?” She points to the paper and photo still in Seed’s hooves. “Oh, this is a song Mister Brooke and Mister Michaels showed me a couple nights ago. And this is a photo of us at the party last night.” The colt hands the fillies the two items, letting them inspect and admire the valuable things. The crumpled paper, as Seed said, has lyrics on them, with a title labeled The Mickey Mouse March. “ ‘M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E’ ” Sweetie reads aloud. “ ‘We play fair and we work hard and we’re in harmony’. That sounds like and awesome song!” “I know!” Banana Seed agrees, his tail wagging excitedly. “You should see Mister Brooke, Mister Michaels and I sing together! We were so awesome! Right, pops?” “Indeed you were,” the old stallion nods his head. “No way!” Scootaloo gasps looking at the photo with Apple Bloom. “They actually signed the photo?!” Seed nods. “Yep. Just after they took the photo.” Sweetie Belle joins the two and looks at the photo. In it are two humans kneeling down, Banana Seed in between and Banana Peel on the left. “Here,” Banana Seed explains, pointing to the marine on the left between him and his grandfather. “That’s Mister Brooke.” He points to the other human kneeling on the right. “And that’s Mister Michaels.” Scootaloo flips the photo over, to see written text. The Professionals “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” B 2/1 LCPL. Brooke PFC. Michaels. “ ’No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy’, ” Scootaloo reads. “Mister Brooke said that’s their battalion’s motto,” Seed explains. “Motto, huh?” Apple Bloom ponders. “What’s a battalion?” Sweetie asks. The whole group remains silent, standing in the middle of the road while staring at the filly unicorn. After nearly ten seconds, they just burst out into a hearty laugh. “N-no, seriously, what is that?”