//------------------------------// // Act II: Chapter Twelve: First Blood // Story: Innocent // by Puzzle Piece //------------------------------// As the sun crept back into the sky on the third day of their march, three hundred seventy ponies followed Celestia to the top of a broad, gentle hill that looked down on the edge of Greenspring Glade, a thick forest shrouded in deep shadows. Her scouts had flown out at first light and rejoined them as they traveled with news of the enemy’s movement. Everything pointed to this spot as the best place to attempt to stand against them. The Troll army had pushed into Equestrian territory relentlessly, leaving the border where Celestia had intended to hold them far behind. The scouts flew out again and camp was set on the far side of the hill. Armor was donned again and weapons were fitted. Lines were drawn up in preparation of the enemy’s arrival. They arrayed themselves along the top of the hill with the lances in front followed by the bulk of the swordsponies. The Pegasi waited near the rear for the order to take to the sky and the Unicorns who would support with spells readied the necessary components. A reserve element of Guard consisting mostly of swordsponies was held in the camp with the supplies. The scouts returned within the hour and reported the Trolls were only a few miles away. Celestia stood at the crest of the hill and looked back to survey her troops. Equestrian banners held throughout the lines snapped sharply in the wind. Armor creaked and buckles jingled as the Guards shifted anxiously. Their gold plates flashed in the late morning sun. Shining Armor stood stoically by her side, one hoof around the pole of her battle standard. It was an old design, unchanged since before Sombra first fell: A simple sword facing downward over a sunburst on a cream field. Shining held it firmly while his eyes scanned the tree line. His massive blade hung in its scabbard and his pike was fitted to his side, set in parade position. He was so intent on his vigil that he didn’t notice her watching him even as minutes crawled by. “Captain?” she asked suddenly. He turned to face her. “Acting Captain, your Highness.” Celestia allowed herself a small smile. “Technically, you are my nephew-in-law. But I will always think of you as my Captain.” Shining shifted awkwardly between pride and embarrassment. “What was it you needed, your Highness?” he said after he managed to regain a professional air. Celestia turned to look back out over the Guard again. After a moment, she responded. “I am afraid.” “Your Highness, I would never let them harm you.” Shining stamped the standard against the ground in emphasis. “I do not fear for my own safety. I fear for yours. I do not know if I can protect you.” Shining was at a loss for words at this sudden reversal of roles. “I fear that this battle will claim many lives. I wish to protect all of my little ponies. If I could, I would take it all upon myself and spare all of you from pain.” Celestia bowed her head sadly. “We are very alike then.” She looked up and found his head inclined in sympathy. “I would protect all ponies in Equestria, even at the cost of my own life. And I know that every Guard here feels the same way. I’ve known most of them for years. They stand with you to the end.” The silence returned as the words hung in the air between them. “Captain?” Celestia said again. “Yes, Princess?” Shining accepted the title this time. To the inattentive eye, she was the epitome of confidence. She stood straight and tall with her head held high. Her eyes were directed out over her troops. Framed by her billowing mane and illuminated by her own inner light, she commanded the hilltop without challenge. But her voice was now barely above a whisper. “Will you be my courage?” Before anything more could be said, a group of scouts returned and landed just behind them. One approached cautiously. Once Celestia nodded for him, he cleared his throat. “They’ve arrived, your Highness.” They all turned to face the dark wave of movement approaching through the trees. Indistinct figures milled about for a moment before settling. As one, they marched into the light. Their front row extended a quarter of a mile along the forest’s edge. They advanced until their ranks had cleared the trees. The Trolls were head and shoulders taller than a pony and heavily built in the upper body and their arms hung to their knees. While their legs were much shorter, they seemed fully capable of supporting their large frames. Broad faces with deep set eyes gazed back at the ponies as cruel iron axes and spears were shifted in their clawed hands. They wore little armor besides leather pauldrons and straps from which they hung their weapons. Their furs were varying shades of gray that covered their limbs and loins thickly, but only thinly over their chests. Their skin, where it was visible, was pale. The two sides silently observed each other across the grassy divide. Celestia nodded to Shining Armor and the two of them started forward slowly. Shining Armor tried to keep his face clear of expression but his eyes kept darting over the enemy ranks. There are so many of them! Much more than the scouts had originally indicated. They stopped half way between the two armies. Then Celestia spoke in a voice that rippled the air with power. “You have violated the sovereign territory of Equestria. As one of her Princesses, I ask that your leader step forward. We must not let this continue in bloodshed. In the name of peace, let us put aside our weapons and reach an understanding together.” Silence was her only reply. The Trolls remained as expressionless as stone. Celestia and Shining scanned their lines vainly for some indication of a response. A minute dragged by slowly and became two. Then a harsh horn sounded from within the trees. The Trolls raised their weapons and voices in a coarse and thunderous battle cry. Celestia stiffened as she realized that she and her hopes of peace had been given a flat refusal. Shining frowned deeply. The horn sounded again and the Trolls advanced in a shambling mass. Shining Armor planted the standard firmly and drew forth his sword. It rang with a pristine note as it cleared the scabbard and glinted in the light as it hung beside him in his telekinetic grip. He flicked his head to one side and his pike dropped into charge position. Behind him, fifty lances followed suit. Celestia bowed her head in a gesture that at first resembled despair. But when her eyes clenched tightly shut and her horn began to glow, it couldn’t be mistaken for anything but intense concentration and steely determination. She lifted her horn skyward and the sun flared. The corona expanded until it covered the entire sky and flashed again. When it had faded, everypony was surrounded by a golden aura. The Trolls came on steadily. At Celestia’s nod, Shining Armor lifted his sword high. A horn blew a clear note from the Equestrian lines and the Pegasi lifted off. When the Trolls were directly below them, they unleashed volleys of javelins. The Trolls attempted to respond with thrown axes and spears of their own but their weapons came up short and fell back to the ground. The Trolls’ howls of pain and frustration echoed through the flurry of wing beats and the hiss of javelins. The front of the Troll lines continued forward resolutely but the middle of their ranks faltered as the aerial assault took its toll. Seeing the enemy stretching thin on the front, Celestia nodded to Shining Armor again. This time, he swept his sword out to the side. The lancers and swordsponies started forward at a slow trot. Celestia’s horn flared again and the glow around everypony renewed itself in response. Shining swung the sword forward and pointed it boldly at the Trolls. The lancers broke into a charge and the rest of the Guard swept in behind them. As the line was coming abreast with Celestia and Shining Armor, they started forward themselves. As they hit full stride, they led the line by a pace. Just as the two forces were about to collide, Celestia reared in mid-gallop and fired a bolt of brilliant gold energy into the foremost Trolls. It blasted dozens of them backwards and left them scorched and unmoving. The Unicorns all along the line fired their own bolts of force that knocked Trolls sprawling and broke their ranks apart. With the Trolls scattered and unreinforced, the Equestrian Guards drove them to the earth in heaps and left them behind. Blades and lances clove and pierced while hooves trampled the enemy under. Their momentum carried them farther in until they met with the ragged middle lines. Still reeling from the Pegasi, they gave little resistance. They held their ground stoically and fell like wheat. When the Guard reached the rear lines of the Troll forces, Celestia realized the danger. Up until this point, not a pony had fallen. The Trolls had been too thinly spaced to offer enough challenge to even slow them. Any blow that did land simply glanced off of the shield Celestia had placed around them all. But in her haste to push what she had seen as a momentary weakness in her enemy, she had run headlong into the middle of the entire enemy army. Her lines were not as wide as theirs and their flanking elements were folding in around on the sides of her troops. Whatever advantage there had been in exploiting the confusion following the attacks of her Pegasi would be lost if she didn’t do something to stop them from being surrounded. The Pegasi, for their part, had fallen back to collect more javelins and hadn’t returned to the battle yet. Unicorn mages still perched on the hilltop could also see the danger and began bombarding the flanks in an effort to stall them, but there weren’t nearly enough to turn back the tide. The front of the Equestrian lines collided with the solid ranks of the Trolls’ reserve forces. Lances and swords rang as they found their marks but now axes and spears clashed above the yells and cries of battle. The ponies still stood under the repeated blows of their enemies but Celestia felt each stroke as she held her shield in place. So many blades striking so many ponies, she thought in dismay. It was becoming difficult to hear through the strain of stopping them all. “Celestia!” She heard Shining yelling in her ear as if he were a great distance away. “We need to do something. They’re coming around on us with fresh units. Are we to hold here? What is the plan?” They were close enough to the front of the fighting that Shining had to turn and face down a Troll every few words. Some were borne to the ground by the weight of his greatsword alone and its keen edge cut the others down swiftly. Celestia stood rigid as she maintained her spell and could hardly move, let alone observe the field enough to form a plan. Realizing she could not hold on forever, she lessened the strength of the shield to free up her concentration. Almost immediately she felt it being pierced a dozen separate times. She flinched visibly as a pony’s cry of pain carried to her through the cacophony. “We must fall back to the hill again,” she managed. “Take the higher ground against them.” Shining nodded and called to his officers to spread the word to retreat. The Trolls, however, had a different idea. As the ponies disengaged, the Trolls’ flanks converged to box them in. Celestia’s forces threw themselves at the enemy blocking their escape but there were too many to be pushed back. Ponies began to fall as Celestia’s shield failed further. They were completely surrounded now and the Trolls continued to block all paths to freedom with waves of fresh bodies. The Pegasi had returned and were hammering the Trolls in an effort to clear the way but the hail of javelins was producing little headway. In desperation, some of the Pegasi performed dive-bombing attacks with their spears and hooves. Though they managed to devastate small pockets of Trolls in this manner, it was still not enough for the Guards on the ground to win free of the melee. Worse still, some Pegasi paid with their lives as Trolls dragged them to the ground or hacked them out of the sky with thrown weapons when they came within reach. The mages on the hill were a blur of light and color as magic rained down on the Trolls resolutely. The Trolls decided they’d had enough of being harassed and sent a contingent of troops to crush the Unicorns. Celestia noticed the Trolls' attention go to the hilltop with murder in their eyes and she caught her breath. The whole field froze for her as she watched her army disintegrate. Her lancers were struggling to remain above the tide of Trolls while her swordsponies barely managed to keep fighting against numbers they couldn’t hope to stop. Her Pegasi fought and died in blazes of glory that would forever be tinged with the horror of their torn bodies in her memories. Shining Armor seemed to be everywhere at once, beating back knots of Trolls that threatened to overwhelm elements of the Guard. His blade flashed and his pike plunged while blows were returned at him with little effect. But as he passed by Celestia time and again, she could see his strength waning. Blood trailed from a dozen small wounds across his flanks and a deep gash in one leg bleed freely. He simply staggered on through the raging battle, oblivious to the toll it was taking on him. She could take the sight of her ponies dying no longer and raised her horn to the sky. She flared her wings and lifted clear of the ground as her magic gathered strength. “SHIELD YOUR EYES!” her voice boomed. With no more warning than that, she unleashed a blinding blast of light. The entire field dissolved. A single piercing note, so high that it could hardly be heard at all, cut through the thunder of battle and left all present in silence. ~*~*~ Mornings on the farm were always busy. The past few days’ preparations for the war had put normal operations in the back seat. This morning had been a time to catch up on the tasks that had been neglected for too long. Jason and Big Mac had been up before the sun to fix a section of the barn roof that had been slowly coming loose for weeks. Cor headed out to the farther fields to round up a pair of stray pigs. Jason talked Zacon into pulling hay bales into the barn loft once he and Big Mac were through. They all came back to the house afterwards and sat down around the table for a late breakfast. As they passed the plates around and chatted to the tune of clinking glasses and silverware, Applejack made her first appearance of the day. “Mornin’ everypony,” she said, stifling a yawn. “You're risin’ a mite later than usual,” Big Mac said inquiringly. “I was out later than usual.” “What kept you? Important work?” Jason asked between mouthfuls. Applejack hesitated and most of them noticed. “Yeah. It was important,” she said, trying and failing to not sound evasive. “Right.” Jason remained doubtful but couldn’t find a reason to press. Applejack tried to exchange a furtive glance with Zacon but the big stallion showed no interest. She took a plate from the kitchen and helped herself to food. Most of the others finished and excused themselves. Zacon lingered at the door long enough for Applejack to notice and then headed out towards the woods. She ate hurriedly and cleaned up so she could catch him. She met him at the edge of the trees and they silently returned to their training site. Bark carpeted the sparse undergrowth like newly fallen snow. One tree leaned heavily against its neighbor and both were in danger of toppling. Every trunk was scored with the slashes of a sword. Most were cut all the way around and several inches deep. One sword lay bent and dulled beside one slightly less dull. Zacon took in the scene and nodded in approval. “You’ve done well enough. I expect you to continue to show this level of determination as you carry on your training.” “I sure will,” Applejack beamed. She was starting to think that was as high as his praise went. “And with just a few more days of your trainin’, I’ll be ready to ship out to the army.” “I won’t be training you any longer,” he said matter-of-factly. “What? Did I do somethin’ wrong?” “No. In fact, you’ve done everything right. Since an officer is coming into town to check on the volunteer lists, Cor, Jason and I are planning to leave today with the other recruits.” “But my trainin’…?” Applejack frowned. “…will continue,” Zacon finished. “You will work on your own to improve the skills you have already learned.” “You think I can train myself?” “Of course,” He said with the same expressionless tone. “I knew you could from the beginning.” She looked at him suspiciously. “You see, I knew that all it would take was to get you started. A solid push in the right direction. Once you had a grasp of how to fight, there was no stopping you from improving yourself. And you’ve impressed me even more than I thought you might.” “I’ve impressed you? But you never gave me any clue that I was gettin’ it right. All you ever gave me was ‘do it better’ and ‘hit harder’. You can’t be serious that ya’ll were actually impressed.” “A teacher should never tell a student how well they are doing until after they have learned the lesson. By concealing your success from you, you felt that you had to work harder to succeed. And by doing so, you have progressed considerably. I am proud to call you my student.” Applejack was speechless for a second. “I’m mighty thankful, Zacon. I’ll keep makin’ you proud,” she said with a firm nod of resolution. “See that you do,” he said gruffly but the hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. “Keep working your strength and practice the footing for parrying. Those will likely be your most important skills.” He strode off toward town, leaving Applejack to her work. ~*~*~ In what felt like no time at all, Applejack was tired out again. Her muscles protested being worked so hard after such a short rest. Almost limping on her exhausted legs, she made her way to the farm. A glance at the sun told her how much time had actually passed. “Nearly time for lunch,” she said to herself. “Eeyup.” Big Mac had heard her as she passed him near the barn. He was rearranging the contents of a wagon he had brought in from town. He was too caught up in his work to turn around. Applejack was about to leave him to it when she spied something suspicious in the wagon. “What’s all this?” she asked, looking over his shoulder. Big Mac stopped and turned then. He regarded her with a calm, thoughtful gaze. The fact that there were weapons and armor in the wagon didn’t bother Applejack. What did bother her was that there was only one set and it looked like it was fitted to Big Mac. Applejack sputtered before finding her voice again. “You're packin’ up to join the army?!” Big Mac said nothing. “Why of all the…” She stamped her hoof in frustration. “Ya’ll tell me ‘no’ so fast I hadn’t even said it yet and then you just up and get set to leave the very next day? Ya’ll have got some nerve!” Big Mac continued to remain silent. “If ya’ll think you're fit to go fight and I ain’t, you got another thing comin’.” Big Mac didn’t flinch under her ire. In fact, he seemed to have been expecting it. “You need to understand why I’m doin’ this,” he said patiently. “Understand? Oh, I understand it right enough! You think I can’t handle it. That you're better suited to fightin’ than I am. Well, I’ve been trainin’! Zacon’s even been teachin’ me! What do you have to say to that?” She smiled at her triumph, sure that he hadn’t been ready for that and couldn’t possibly find a reason against her now. “It ain’t about trainin’ and such. It’s about me tellin’ you that you're not gonna fight.” Her confidence ignited into anger. He was being more impossible than she’d anticipated. “And why the hay can’t I?!” she exploded. “If ya’ll are packin up and marchin’ out and Rainbow’s already joined up, why can’t I?” “Listen,” he said with a huge sigh. “We’re both able ponies and I’d wager we can play the part of soldier better than most ponies in town. But we can’t both go off and leave the farm. I know Granny can still pull her weight and Apple Bloom is growin’ into a strong young mare but they’ll need lookin’ after.” “If I don’t come back, it’ll be down to you to keep the farm together. If it were you that went off to fight and somethin’ happened to you? Why, I don’t think I could live with that.” His deep voice remained as even and calm as ever but he lifted a hoof to wipe his eyes before they could betray his feelings. “So it’s got to be me. ‘Cause they need you here more than they need me. It’s you that keeps Sweet Apple Acres afloat. It’s you that’s always goin’ through the most trouble to make sure we’ve got what we need. And you’ve got to keep at it, for me. Please, understand Applejack. I can’t worry about you puttin’ yourself in danger like that.” “I’m sorry,” Applejack said with a tear in her own eye. “I guess I never thought of it like that. It seems mighty selfish now. To think I fancied myself ready to fight and I hadn’t even thought about those I’d be leavin’ behind.” Big Mac reached over and put a hoof around her shoulder. She let herself be held in his embrace. “I don’t like the idea of lettin’ everypony else go off and fight while I stay here,” she sniffled. “It don’t feel right to leave all the fightin’ to them when it’s my home too. It feels like I’m actin’ the coward not bein’ out there with ‘em.” “It ain’t cowardly, sis. You know that. Fightin’ ain’t the only way to protect our home. With so many ponies away fightin’, we need ta know there are dependable ponies holdin’ everything together so we can come back to the same homes we left. It ain’t worth fightin’ for if it’s just gonna fall apart while we’re gone.” Applejack nuzzled him slowly. She was trying not to cry openly and struggling to find a way to convince him to let her go with him, but truthfully, she had already given up because she knew that he was right. As he hugged her tighter, she let the last vestiges of her resistance fall away and wept into his shoulder. After a moment of silence between them, Big Mac gently moved away. “I need to get goin’. The others are gatherin’ at city hall to sign the recruitment papers and I can’t miss the officer when he takes us to the camp.” Applejack smiled at him while wiping her eyes. “At least wait long enough for me to pack you something’ for the road.” ~*~*~ Ponies across town came together in the town square. The Army Sergeant had arrived an hour ago and the recruitment papers had been signed by those who had made the weighty decision. Now, loved ones said their final farewells before friends and family left for war. There was much less pomp and circumstance this day. Fewer ponies remained to watch their neighbors leave. The void the first group had left was a fresh ache. Now the second was leaving and they could feel the emptiness expanding. Near the center of the crowd, the Apple family huddled. Applejack had her hoof around Granny Smith’s shoulder while the elder gave a teary last lecture to Big Mac about keeping his mane clean. Apple Bloom hugged Big Mac’s foreleg while screwing up her face in an effort to keep from crying. Big Mac patted her head while stoically absorbing their distress in an oddly reassuring way. Several stallions stood nearby in a loose group with mugs on hoof, talking over memories. Two of them had bags beside them and their friends kept glancing at the heavy sacks before taking a long drink and trying to turn the conversation to happier times. At the edge of the crowd, a Pegasus and a small Unicorn walked up to an Earth Pony from behind and the mother cleared her throat to get the stallion’s attention. “Ditzy!” The Doctor cried as he turned to her. “I wasn’t sure you would be here.” “I wouldn’t have been able to stay away if I’d tried,” she said softly. She tried not to look at him directly. The Unicorn regarded him impassively and didn’t say anything. He fidgeted awkwardly for a moment. “I’m glad you did. It means the world to me.” Ditzy smiled briefly. “You mean the world to me…to us,” she amended and nuzzled Dinky. The Doctor smiled at the filly but she simply remained silent. He glanced away as his smile faltered. He was being unnerved by her stare. It was like she was asking him a dreadful question with her eyes. He turned back to Ditzy, who was shifting from hoof to hoof slowly and biting her lip. “I’ll miss you,” he said. “I’ll think of you both every day.” He stepped forward and delivered the hug Ditzy was barely containing her need for. She threw herself into it and latched her forelegs behind his head. He grunted with the force of her embrace and started stroking her mane in an attempt to comfort her. “Don’t go,” she whispered in a muffled voice just behind his ear. “We can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.” He smiled into her neck and pressed her closer. “And I can’t lose you. I won’t let these things come near you two. I promise.” He pulled away and picked up his bags to join the others as they lined up to leave. “And I will come back. I promise that too.” She nodded as she tried to return his reassuring smile. As they watched him blend into the ranks, Dinky spoke for the first time that day. “Mommy?” her little voice squeaked. “Where is Daddy going?” “He has to go with the army, my little muffin.” Ditzy nuzzled her daughter gently. “But why?” the filly pressed. “Because there are bad things out there and he has to go and make sure they can’t come here.” A short silence passed between them, lost in the clamor around them. “He’s not leaving forever, is he?” Dinky asked. “No. He’ll come back, my muffin.” Ditzy said softly. She kept following his mane above the many ponies that now separated them. When she finally lost sight of him, she lowered her voice to a whisper and closed her eyes against the tears. “He promised.” ~*~*~ A mare sat alone next to the fountain, tying her bag shut. She received an odd glance or two since she was the only mare among the recruits that day. She brushed her teal mane back and tried to ignore them. Experience had taught her how to find something to concentrate on so that she wouldn’t be tempted to meet their eyes and see the judgment just beneath the surface. She wasn’t worried that they would see shame in her eyes; she was beyond feeling shame for her choices. What other ponies thought meant little to her when she knew in her heart that she wasn’t doing anything worth the scorn they directed at her. Not then, and not today either. It was no different now than it had been before, except she would actually be fighting battles for what she believed was right. No, she was worried they would take it as a challenge, an act of defiance, and that it would set them against her even more firmly. She was doing this for them too, to prove that she was worth more than they were willing to admit. She wanted them to see it that way. After all, when she got back, they would still be her neighbors. She would have enough enemies to worry about out there without upsetting the ones she already had at home. Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through her melancholy mood. “Lyra?!” An Earth Pony with a curly pink and navy blue mane and creamy coat pushed through the ponies around her to reach the minty green Unicorn. “Why?” she asked, not needing to elaborate for Lyra to understand what she meant. Lyra glanced around furtively. “Bon Bon, not here.” She had hoped to leave before the other mare could reach her. It had been hard to make the decision to leave without saying goodbye in more than a letter but she felt it would have been best. It seemed that plan was moot. “Why not here? You didn’t give me a chance anywhere else. All I got was a note on the table that said you might never be coming back!” “You know that’s not what I wrote…,” Lyra tried to interject. “It might as well have!” Bon Bon cut her off with a stamp of her hoof. “I want to know why you would do this. Why now, just as we’ve settled in together. I thought we’d be able to relax, that finally, after all we’ve had to deal with, we’d be able to live happily.” Her eyes grew moist. “Isn’t that what you wanted?” “Of course that’s what I want, Bon Bon.” Lyra got up and lifted the other’s chin with a hoof. “But we can’t relax yet. Not when Equestria, and our home with it, is in danger.” “Let them worry about the rest of Equestria!” Bon Bon snapped. “It isn’t for us, and they’ve made that clear enough. We’ve fought for our home and we’ll live there peacefully.” “You know that’s not how it works. This problem isn’t going to stay away because we ignore it.” Bon Bon cast a glare at the ponies around them. “Why should you risk yourself to protect them if they only ridicule and mock us? It’s not fair.” “No, it’s not. But I can’t just leave it to them to protect us either. Do you want to sit here hoping they manage to win? Worrying that the war will not find its way to our doorstep? Praying that we’ll be spared when others are not?” Lyra sighed as a tear made a damp trail on Bon Bon’s cheek. “I don’t mean to preach doom at you, but I’m not about to let anything destroy what we’ve built just as we thought we were through the worst of it. You’re everything to me. If this is what I have to do to keep you safe, I’ll do it gladly.” Bon Bon nodded forlornly. Lyra tried to think of something more to say but the Sergeant called out for the recruits to head out. Lyra hesitated for just a moment longer. Throwing caution to the winds, she grabbed Bon Bon and kissed her as hard as she could without knocking her over. Bon Bon squeaked in surprise and then melted into it, putting her hooves around Lyra’s shoulders. Too soon, it was over. Lyra turned to pick up her bag, paused to give one last smile and then trotted off after the departing group. ~*~*~ As the line of ponies followed the Sergeant out of town, their well-wishers filed after, waving and calling out encouragement and listening to the shouts of reassurance in return. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith sat next to each other on the steps of Town Hall, having already said what they could and now trying to find comfort in what was left of the family around them. Applejack stood listlessly by their side, going over her own attempts to join up. All of her effort in training had been wasted and it tasted bitter in her mouth. But Big Mac had been right. She couldn’t have done that to them. The knot of worry that she felt in her stomach told her that much. They would have felt the same way for her, except Big Mac would have harbored guilt for letting her put herself in danger. He was so sensitive about such things. She had to keep reminding herself of that fact because of his reserved demeanor. As big and gruff as he seemed and as quiet he was about everything, it was surprising how perceptive and compassionate he was. Applejack smiled thinking about him. His presence had a measure of confidence in it, as if simply being there with them was enough to hold them together. They all felt it, and they would all miss it. Applejack blinked when she noticed three figures walking in the wake of the other recruits. Jason, Cor and Zacon were leaving, a saddlebag over each of their backs. Their weapons hung in their new slings along with a few extra pieces of equipment. Applejack hesitated for only a second and then bounded after them. When she caught up, she matched their pace. She smiled in greeting and said, “It seems like ya’ll were just walkin’ into town yesterday. Now you're leavin’ to fight for Equestria.” “It was only a week or so ago,” Zacon rumbled unhelpfully. “It may as well have been a day.” Applejack frowned at him before continuing. “I’m grateful that ya’ll are willin’ to help us fight off them Trolls. It means a lot to me that you think we’re that important, even after just this long knowin’ us.” “Of course,” Jason said straight-faced. “But how long we’ve known you isn’t what’s important. It’s whom we’ve gotten to know that is. And I’m not going to war to defend a country. I’m not about to fight for a flag or a crown. I’m fighting for you: You, and your friends, and every pony in Equestria. I fight because you are special to me; because you are worth any amount of danger.” “I fight because I haven’t had a good fight in more than a week,” Zacon interjected. Cor grinned at Jason, who shook his head in disappointment. Applejack rolled her eyes. She took a moment to put her words in order before pulling Jason aside. “I know you're a soldier and all, and you’ve likely heard this before, but I just got to say it.” She worked up a smile. “Ya’ll be safe, you hear? I’ll be thinkin’ about you every day. And tell Rainbow she’s in our prayers too when you see her.” “I’ll make sure I do,” he smiled back at her. “We’ll watch out for each other, don’t you worry. We might seem a bit dysfunctional but we’ve got each other’s backs when it matters.” Applejack still looked troubled despite her attempt to smile. “Applejack, listen. This place is too special for me to let it come to harm. I’ll defend it as if it were my own home and as if you were my own people.” “I know you will. I just wish I could know ya’ll were safe.” “We’ll be safe,” Jason laughed. “This is what we were doing before we got here. But it will be harder if I have to think that you’re worrying about me. Promise you’ll try not to worry?” Applejack nodded halfheartedly. He pushed her hat back and kissed her forehead briefly. She blushed with wide eyes as he turned and ran to catch up with the others. The sun may have passed through the sky a hundred times for all she cared. She watched the road long after he was out of sight.