Conflict in Bloom

by aDerangedBrony

Shallow Water: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sweetie Belle placed a comforting hoof over her friend’s back. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” she said, “stuff happens, right? Like the chief said, we just gotta learn from this. It’ll make us better ponies in the long run, really.”

“I ain’t feelin’ like a better pony right now, I can tell yah that.”

“You’re green as grass,” Juvenis said, having overheard their private conversation, “At least you’ve got an excuse, you know? I’ve been in the marines for about two years now. This isn’t exactly an isolated incident for me either. I’m just clumsy, you know? I get no respect, and no matter how hard I try I can never seem to do anything right, except in a total fluke. Take a look at my rank. Two bars, a lance corporal. Not too shabby for a pony as young as me.”

“Now, this first bar I got before they put me on a boat,” he continued, “less than a month after I finished basic. My platoon was strollin’ though Hayseed Swamp. I freaked out, much like you did just now, and started spraying into a bush. Just so happened there was a cockatrice hiding in it. How a cockatrice got there? I dunno, but when they commended me on my quick thinking, alertness and heroism, I wasn’t about to admit it was just a panic attack. This second bar I got ‘cause they decided to put me on a boat for some reason, and the senior officers don’t like putting anything below a NCO behind one of these turrets, for reasons that are probably obvious to you now. Of course, they didn’t think it’d make me a better shooter or anything, it just looks nicer on paper. If they have a higher rank on a gun, it’s easier for HQ to cover their ass if anything goes wrong, you know. Brass is so full of it.”

“You’re complaining about getting promoted for nothing?” Sweetie Belle asked incredulously.

Juvenis considered this carefully for a moment before realising it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, letting out an awkward chuckle. The other two youngsters were quick to join in, and the noise swelled into a hearty laughter. They weren’t laughing at anything in particular. No pony had made a terribly funny joke or observation. They were simply laughing with each other. Laughing because it felt good.

“Well, it’s nice to see you kids getting along,” the skipper called as he casually studied the young soldiers over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow and smiling wryly, “mind if you let me in on the big joke?”

The laughter subsided, but the mood remained high as the trio loudly tried to come up with a suitable explanation.

“Oh, you was laughing at nothing?” the skipper paused for a moment, his grin broadening before he delivered the punch line, “That’s great, I’ve got my back to three crazy ponies with a machinegun.”

He chuckled at his own joke. The three youngsters quickly joined his mirth, more out of good spirit than because they thought his joke was funny. Laughter, after all, is contagious.

“Hey,” replied Juvenis, trying to keep the joke going, “as long as you speed up and get me out of this creepy forest soon, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Ya’all Marines are babies,” Apple Bloom smiled, “yer on a nigh indestructible boat, outfitted with these here turrets, and ya’all still scared of the Everfree. Why, I was just a little filly when I went roamin’ into the forest all by mah lonesome.”

“Now why the hay did you do that?”

“Oh, there was this zebra knockin’ about in our town, and no pony trusted her on account of her, err, uniqueness. Anyways, I followed her into the Everfree so as to get some understandin’ of her, and then again to help her fix the condition mah sister and her friends suffered after they went and walked through some poison joke the first time they ‘rescued’ me. Point is, ya’all are chicken.”

“Oh, I’m chicken?” the skipper retorted in a good-humoured tone, “who was it that started spraying randomly into that forest a moment ago?”

“I, err,” Apple Bloom blushed, “point taken.”

The four ponies continued to make small talk, sharing anecdotes and lessons learned. It seemed that the two land soldiers were finally being accepted by their experienced marine comrades. Even the chief began to glance over at the clique, pondering whether she should join in or not. The two young mares were Expeditionary, sure, but they seemed alright. Even the earlier panic seemed increasingly understandable as Apple Bloom told more about herself. To the hardened chief, the two new arrivals were becoming more than just expeditionary soldiers. They were finally becoming real ponies to her; real ponies with families, friends, lives, motives and emotions.

The chief sergeant opened her mouth and smiled, preparing to join the conversation. The warmth of the other ponies’ laughter was melting her heart, which had been frozen after seeing so much suffering. These two young, innocent mares were motivating her to finally open up about herself. As she prepared to interrupt, she pondered why she’d never had a truly open discussion about her past before. It was fear, mostly. Seeing the four ponies doing it so easily made it much less intimidating.

Before she had a chance to talk, something on the west bank caught her eye. Her mouth slowly closed and became dry. Her eyes became wide in fear and disbelief. Scrambling to her position behind the turret and spinning it towards her target in one smooth, fast motion, she cried at the top of her lungs “Three o’clock, contact! Targets crouching low ten metres up the bank. Fire, fire, fire!”

With that, every pony leapt into action.

Comments

[fallen starr]

Something real this time? Hope the wasted ammo isn't needed. Of course, Spike might just be hunting. And this is getting really good now.

[aDerangedBrony]

GUISE, HALP!

Ok, my original plan was to write "Conflict in Bloom: Checkpoint Charlie" and subsequent sequels as separate fics after fully publishing this one and marking it as complete. Now I'm thinking that I should drop the name of this fic to simply "Conflict in Bloom" and publish all the stories in this fanon featuring Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle here. The first way is kind of neater and makes more sense, but the second way makes it easier for anyone interested (yes, all 5 of you) to keep track of it.

Thoughts?

[Hunter96]

I like this ponies and guns what could go wrong?