July 16, 1916 – It has been a week since I wrote my last entry. The Apple family did agree to let me work for them. For I was given some odd jobs like pulling their cart to either from their farm to the orchard and back; or from the farm to the market place and back. My payment is getting 30 gold coins a day that they call bits. Not to say it has got me thinking as to how much these bits would be worth in Pounds. I guess that if I were to return home with these, I might come home as a rich man. As of right now, I have saved about a hundred in the past week.
Food isn't a problem since these mares always offer to feed me. Oh, I neglected to mention the food, have I? There are sandwiches, fried food, pies, and so on here. Only there is no meat whatsoever which is both understandable and disappointing. Perhaps it's because I'm a pony now, but ever since I ran into these mares, I've been eating flowers, hay, and raw oats just to name a few. However, there are some foods that are recognizable, such as apple pies, bread, milk, muffins and nearly every kind of treats and sweets one could imagine. Even chocolates, which I find surprising how cheap they are for being one or two bits apiece. (Although, I think I might want to be careful not to go bankrupt on chocolates.)
There are a few things to do here as well. In the park, there is a unicorn that plays the Lyre, and also the town's "madmare". For what I've been told, she has a certain fascination with humans but is deemed bonkers because to the rest of the town, us humans exist in little-known fairy-tales. I don't think it'll be a good idea to talk to her, if the rumors about her are true, I wouldn't risk saying "hello".
There's also Pinkie, who comes up with songs from the top of her head. ((Not to mention that Pinkie always throws a party nearly every day.) To her credit, the crazy mare does come up with better songs than what we've sung in the trenches.) There is the library of course for reading. And then there's Rainbow Dash, if anyone can get her out of her naps or isn't flying, one can get entertained just by asking her about her past pranks alone. She brags about how her and Pinkie Pie are masters of pulling pranks in this town. She tells stories about who she pranked, how it was done, and the result of it. I even helped her pull a prank on Applejack recently. It was a fake but very real looking apple that was super glued onto a low branch of a tree. As a result, no matter how hard she kicked the tree, no matter how hard she tried to pull the apple off the branch, it wouldn't come off. At least both of us got a good laugh out of it.
As to my treatment from Twilight, so far, this strange therapy is beginning to work! Remember when I said that ever since I started fighting in the war, that I was almost never able to hold still? Well, I'm still twitching but today I was able to hold still longer than ten seconds. As regarding today's treatment, the previous week I remembered from January to August of last year. Some of the memories were about going over the top, of course. But there were other memories, like learning how superstitious those chaps could be. I had already written about them carrying a wide range of good luck charms from Bibles to rabbit's feet, and literally everything in-between; for the hope that they won't get shot.
There were other memories, like the day that a shell had caused a cave in that buried a Lieutenant and a few other chaps alive. Another time when we witnessed a dog fight in the air. Or when I nearly got my gas mask on just in time. And the memory that I learn from a letter that my dear Lucy is working at the arms factory, that she is turning yellow from the ingredients of the shells. She told me that she might be infertile because of it. The poor dear.
Today's memory took place in August. The day that during our going over the top, a piece of shrapnel hit me on the right thigh. The very moment that I remembered the pain, I heard Twilight scream. What I find interesting, is even when Twilight was feeling that same pain from my right thigh, she didn't stop, she still allowed me to continue to remember.
In that memory, after I crawled back to the trench, the stretcher bearers took me to the field hospital. I quietly said a prayer... Come to think of it, it was more begging than a prayer. I prayed that the doctor wouldn't cut my leg off.
On arriving at the field hospital, I saw coming in a man who was being held down. His face showed that he was beyond agony with a rag in his mouth to muffle the screams as they sawed off his foot.
Anyway, a doctor came by, he said that he needs for me to wait for about two minutes and that there is no anesthetic at all. I told him to go do what he has to do. The wait alone was painful to my thigh. When he then came back and told me that there is some risk that if he pulled the shrapnel out, it could lead towards gang-green or something like that. I didn't really listen because of the pain, I just yelled at him to take it out.
Up to this point, Twilight gave off some painful wines here and there, but when I remembered the doctor becoming angry, grabs the piece of shrapnel, and with one go, pulls- no, yanks out the piece of metal, I overheard Twilight screaming over my memory.
At this point, Twilight fully understood me when I thought about killing that doctor on the spot.
The alarm clock rang, and Twilight went over to shut it off. We saw next to us the small dragon with a worried look. “Twilight, are you okay? I heard you screaming,” he said.
“It's alright Spike. Just... give me a minute.” She told him as she rubbed her right thigh. She finally looked at me asking, “Does this explain the scare?”
I raised my trench coat over my right leg. Oh, I also forgot to mention that even as a pony, that same scare is still there. Nearly everyone I met asked about the scare, I told them it was from an accident. Since in a way, I was telling the truth.
“So, what happened after that?” she questioned.
“Well, my leg was bandaged up tightly, I laid there for about a few weeks until I returned to the front.”
“Oh. I'm so sorry about that, I mean, I had no idea–”
“What you were in for?” I interrupted.
She told me yes, but said that she will continue to help me. So I will be seeing her tomorrow.