Over There

by Paintbrush235

Chapter 8: Awkward Start

It didn't take too long for the men of the 5th Marines to arrive at Sweet Apple Acres. They were already catching whiffs of the sweet aroma of fresh apples before they even came in sight of it's orchard fields. When they entered the property, Blackburn's jaw just dropped in amazement. Never in his life had he seen such a large expanse of produce as this! The trees seem to be bursting with bright red apples that just encouraged one to just pick one off it's branch and take a bite. Blackburn however knew that as guests, the marines would pay the owners before even thinking of taking an apple.

By 1300 hours, all the stallions of the 2 marine regiments had arrived in Sweet Apple Acres and were beginning to set up their bivouac. Shelter half tents were sprouting up like mushrooms, rifles were stacked like stands of corn and all the trucks were lined up in a row at the edge of the field. Marines milled around assisting their comrades with their tents, packs, weapons, supplies, basically anything that needed to be done to turn the field into a suitable military camp.

Blackburn had just finished setting up his own tent at the end of a line of tents that contained the rest of his squad. He then turned to see if the stallions at the trucks needed any help when he nearly ran right into Captain Edson. He was about to bring his hoof up into a salute when Edson quickly waved him off.

"As you were Gunnery Sergeant." He said calmly, and Blackburn loosened his posture and even cracked a slight smile.

"What song do you want us to sing next sir?" He chuckled. He was relieved when the Captain chuckled in return.

"No Sergeant, for now no more singing." Edson replied. "I have been told to give you this though." He then reached around to his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper in his teeth. He then motioned for Blackburn to take the paper from his mouth. Blackburn did so, but instead of using his mouth, he took the paper in his hoof. He had found earlier that his hooves somehow could grip objects without the use of fingers. This made Captain Edson blush with embarrassment.

"Yes uh..this is an invitation from Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends for you and the members of your squad." Edson explained, "It seems that they wish to get to know you all better than simple introductions."

"Well sir we will certainly oblige." Blackburn nodded. "I'll gather up my squad and we'll get on over there. It says here that we are meet her and her friends at the castle. Am I correct sir?"

Edson nodded. Blackburn then saluted his commander and then turned back towards the row of tents that housed his squad. The stallions were all bunched together, conversing and swapping tales and their own opinions on the current situation.

"Listen up 1st squad!" Blackburn shouted, and the marine stallions all stopped their current actions and turned to face their gunnery sergeant as he approached. When he stopped in front of the crowd of stallions, Blackburn quickly surveyed the state of tents. He then turned to look at Corporal Buckman.

"The squad living quarters up to standard Corporal?" He questioned.

Buckman nodded. "Yes Gunnery Sergeant." He replied in his usual deep Louisiana drawl.

"Good." Blackburn then turned to address the entire squad. "Gentlemen. We have been presented with a most gracious invitation from Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends to partake in a sort of welcoming party with them." The squad all looked at each other and murmured their surprise. "This is an even better opportunity for us to make a good impression with them." Blackburn continued. "So I want all of you to shed your combat gear and grab your overseas caps, fourragères, marksman badges and ribbons. We need to look our best. Sound good?"

"Yes gunny." 1st squad replied in unison.

"We leave in an hour and a half gentlemen. Hop to it."

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By 1430 hours, Blackburn and his squad were making there way towards Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. As per Blackburn's orders, they were dressed in the best attire that they could short of their dress blues. They had all sewn one their red square and Indian head patches on their uniforms before they had left for Germany back in Europe, and they were proud to have it displayed on their sleeves. All personal awards and ribbons hung from their chests and the French fourragères hung around their left sleeves. Their overseas caps, which had finally been issued to them in marine forest green, all sat smartly atop their heads. They must've looked dashing, Blackburn wagered, as quite a few mares heads were turned as they made their way through Ponyville.

It didn't take them long to find the castle, as they had been their before and the structure was the most dominating feature of town. When the squad arrived, they saw the same two guards from earlier standing watch by the massive doors to the castle. Blackburn approached the two guards who eyed him curiously as he came near.

"Gunnery Sergeant Nathaniel Blackburn and company here to see Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle." Blackburn spoke with confidence.

The two guards nodded in response and stepped aside to allow the marines entrance. "Welcome sir." The one on the left said. "They are expecting you in the grand hallway."

Blackburn nodded his thanks and then lead his men through the doors and into the massive halls of the palace. Once again, Blackburn marveled at the grand architecture that surrounded him and his men. It was definitely a different style than most American and European architecture he had seen in his lifetime.

His attention was quickly diverted from the architecture to the sound of hoof steps approaching from down the hall. He turned his head to see their host, Princess Twilight, heading straight towards them with a big smile on her face. Blackburn was about to instinctively bow in respect, when Twilight waved him off with her hoof.

"Their is no need for that." She giggled. "I'm not to comfortable with other ponies bowing to me."

Blackburn hesitated for a moment, thinking that this might be a test. But when he looked up and saw the sincerity in the princess's eyes, he relaxed and brought his head back up. "As you wish your highness."

Again Twilight giggled. "You don't have to call me that either." She said. "Twilight is just fine."

Blackburn nodded. "Okay Twilight." He smiled. He liked this mare. She didn't seem to be to high and mighty about her position.

Twilight's smile widened as she saw that the entire squad had come with Blackburn. "Welcome everypony to my home. I trust that you have all settled in at Sweet Apple Acres?"

Blackburn nodded. "We have Miss Twilight. Your friend Applejack is most generous for allowing us to camp there, and we wish to extend our deepest thanks."

"Well Applejack is here so you can thank her personally." Twilight said. She then gestured down the hallway behind her. "My friends are all waiting for us in the dining room, so if you are all ready, we can head on in."

"Lead the way Miss Twilight." Blackburn smiled.

Twilight nodded in response then turned around and led the marines down the hallway towards the dining hall.

"I hope that you will like my friends." She said enthusiastically. "I just know that they will like you all."

Blackburn smiled. "I certainly hope so Miss Twilight. I know that we will do our best, right marines?" He looked back to face his squad behind him.

"Yes Gunny." They replied in unison.

Twilight continued to smile, and the latched onto the doors with her magic and opened them wide. "Then let's..."

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

BOOM!!!!!

The marines all flinched and ducked slightly as they were greeted with the screaming of a pink mare and the blast of what appeared to be a cannon of some kind. Blackburn and his marines relaxed however when they saw that it had shot only confetti at them.

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack trotted over to the party mare displaying a disapproving look on her face. "Ah told ya not to do that. Y'all nearly gave them a heart attack!"

Blackburn quickly shook away the startle as he took in the room. Their were balloons and streamers hanging all over the place and a long table at the end of the room was covered with food. Hanging from the ceiling also, was a large banner with the words WELCOME TO PONYVILLE! printed in bold letters on it. Blackburn then turned his attention to the arguing mares.

"It's quite alright Miss Applejack." He reassured her. "We are used to being startled a lot. No harm done."

"Wait a minute." Doc's voice piped up from the group of marines. "Where did Allan go?"

Blackburn's smile faded. He quickly looked back to look for Private Allan. He knew that Allan had transformed into a light blue earth pony with black hair, and much to his worry, he could not see him. The rest of the marines looked around for their comrade.

"Oh dear." A slight posh voice spoke up. Blackburn turned his head to the front again and saw that the voice had come for Rarity, the white unicorn from earlier, who wore an expression of worry on her face. "I think he is under the table here." She pointed with her fore hoof.

Blackburn immediately ran up to the table while Doc pushed his way through the marines to join him. When they got to the table, they were greeted with a sight that filled them with pity.

Private Peter Joseph Allan, was curled up in a ball underneath the table with his forelegs curled up into his chest. He was shaking uncontrollably like a leaf in a strong autumn breeze and he kept whimpering and crying to himself. His eyes were paralyzed with fear and his teeth were clenched together.

"M-Momma." He whimpered to himself. "M-M-Momma, d-don't l-let m-me die. D-don't let m-me d-die."

Doc sighed, he was always worried that something like this would happen if Allan was exposed to any loud noises. Luckily, Allan trusted him and he knew how to calm him down.

"Allan?" He said softly. He reached out with his hoof and touched Allan's foreleg, causing him to flinch a little, but it got his attention. "Allan look at me. It's alright." Doc whispered. "It's all safe. No one is going to hurt you alright?"

Allan gulped nervously, but his shaking started to go down. "It's s-safe?" He stuttered.

Doc nodded and smiled gently. "That's right Allan. Everything is okay. You're safe. Now come on out."

At first Allan hesitated, but then slowly but surely, he began to crawl out towards Doc until he finally emerged from under the table. Doc then wrapped his forelegs around his neck and patted him on the back.

"See it's ok." He whispered. He then broke the embrace and patted Allan on the shoulder.

Behind them, the rest of the marines looked on with understanding, while the mares wore expressions of worry and confusion. Pinkie Pie's mane had deflated from reaction to seeing that her attempt at fun had scared somepony and it now lay flat.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!" She started blubbering. "I didn't mean to scare your friend. I was just trying to welcome you all and that is how I usually welcome new ponies to Ponyville and...." she was cut off when Allan raised his hoof up and gave her a shaky smile.

"I-its alright m-ma'am." he stammered. "I-I am f-fine now. No n-need t-to worry."

Pinkie Pie's hair inflated back up upon hearing that Allan was okay. But she still had a worried look on her face. "Are you sure?"

"P-Positive." Allan answered.

Blackburn sighed in relief. That had been a close call. "Well then." he addressed the room. "I guess we should start fresh now."

Author's Note:

Wow it has been a long time since I have written!

So I hope that you all enjoy the new chapter. As you can see, Allan is suffering from shell shock. I will go into further detail on it later in the story.

Check out my home page to see a glimpse of upcoming projects.

Until next time. Again enjoy!

Comments

[Americanwastelander]

Wow Allan poor kid. happens sometimes ptsd is a bitch.

Excellent chapter can't wait to read more.

[Cherry Noble]

6284118 that and shell shock.

[Americanwastelander]

6287146 Ya it to you never forget the look they give when it happens.

[Paintbrush235]

6287374 It is very tragic. In the British army,(and quite possibly in all the armies involved, the British army is the only one that I have heard of documented cases where this happened) would treat soldiers who showed signs and the affects of shell shock as cowards and even traitors and many of the victims were executed for cowardice in the face of the enemy or desertion. It was a different time. I believe that the British government actually did grant official pardons to all those who were executed for those reasons however.

[Americanwastelander]

In the United states during the Vietnam war the soldiers sent their that were coming back were attacked by protesters and couldn't find jobs for them having served. I had an uncle who served in that war. Loud noises or certain words used in the same sentence he would freak out. Anyone who fights in a war will suffer some form of ptsd and shellshock. Not all scars are visible but their there you just need to know where to look. the eyes tell all.

[bind]

5683928 Cause Marines just didn't have enough action after Belleau wood.

[ThatBatJess]

6288137 You know, two of my favorite fanfics on this site is called 'A Colt To Forget' and it's sequel 'A Colt Forgotten' (or A Forgotten Colt, can't remember), in the first or second chapter of AFC, there's a line that says why civilians don't understand serving men and their mental scarring. You should check it out.

[Americanwastelander]

6318697 I have lived my entire life around veterans I know why they are misunderstood its impossible to know what they went through, unless you have been through it as well. That is why I've always thanked and respected those who have served or are serving in the military.

[ThatBatJess]

6318819 Yup.

[Whiskeylullaby]

SECOND TO NONE!
we wore born in France in '17
in the hail of the first world war
with infantry and proud marines,
we bravely fought amidst the cannon's roar,
the warriors went across the Meuse and river Marne,
our name and our fame were won,
with heads held high as we go marching by,
and they called us second to none!acimg.auctivacommerce.com/imgdata/0/1/2/4/1/7/webimg/7938103.jpg

[Fallen Grace]

This story is like crack to me.

Keep up the fantabulous work, my friend. I'm also loving the attention to detail. Grammar is also improving hapter by chapter, so I don't think it's necesary to tell you to look at it! Really though, good work so far.

[Wir sind verloren]

6287146
Shell shock is similar if not the same as PTSD.

[Edguy0009]

9180047
They're actually the same.

[Xenamare]

Private Peter Joseph Allan, was curled up in a ball underneath the table with his forelegs curled up into his chest. He was shaking uncontrollably like a leaf in a strong autumn breeze and he kept whimpering and crying to himself. His eyes were paralyzed with fear and his teeth were clenched together.

"M-Momma." He whimpered to himself. "M-M-Momma, d-don't l-let m-me die. D-don't let m-me d-die."

This really got to me as I started crying again (IRL )
Oh why oh why oh why do I cry ?
I cry so much
that I wish that I could die !
( this is part of a poem I wrote about how I feel at times
Most times . )