Equestria: The Afterlife

by Timzocker201

Ch28: Surprises

POV: Mystic Gem

After our little show there at the ceremony, I actually expected to be transferred to some hot zone like the badlands or the changeling border, so Ponyville wasn’t exactly on my list. That isn’t to say that I was opposed to the idea. Ponyville certainly is a nice village and since we had made some contact with the locals already, it would likely not feel all-too awkward, given that we didn’t wear the standard guard’s armor. However, there was a tiny problem.

Apparently, Ponyville wasn’t fitted to hold a whole company of guards, so what we found instead was a barely maintained guard station, originally designed to hold twelve guards, but by now only maintained to house six. One might say that this was all schemed by General Pillbox because he obviously didn’t like the new doctrine, but I was and still am in no place to make such assumptions. Doesn’t mean I hadn’t thought that way, though…

Anyways, after seeing the situation at hoof, the captain promptly had to make some adaptations. Firstly, everypony who had housing or at least relatives in Ponyville and could take up one or two comrades would do just that, while we officers would be taken up in the local library by Princess Twilight. Two of us at least. Lt. Bulkhead politely declined the offer, instead choosing to stay at the station so that at least some guards are on alert.

With these first few solutions in place, he went to seek out a more permanent place to serve as barracks, which he soon found. Apparently, there was an old warehouse that was once used as a Gang Hideout, but was cleared and stood empty now. We regarded the building and found that it was certainly not an actual barrack, but it was more than the general apparently was willing to give us by himself, so we went to work.

At first, we made a plan on the layout of the building, taking measurements and of course making sure that the walls wouldn’t crash in on us at any moment. Next up, we removed whatever ‘furniture’ the former occupants had left behind and properly cleaned the place. I even found a few lost teeth in there, probably a curtesy of when the place was cleared.

It all seemed to go just as planned at first. The plans were made, the parts were ordered and the measurements were taken, but then the General showed up again. He ordered the Captain to adhere to some law, which apparently says that he cannot do the same things as we do, which basically left nothing for him. Thus, he had no other choice but to find some other occupations, which he found indeed. Only a few days after the order came, he came back with some new equipment. It was a box of knives, which were fitted to a small mechanism, which let them fold and unfold whenever we needed them. Originally, he said that they were to be used as melee weapons, as well as some sort an anchor for the earth ponies, but our soldiers quickly found other uses for them, as apparently they also worked as screwdrivers.

Also, he found that, while the law the general had mentioned indeed existed, there also was another law that allowed us to be housed at our own homes, as long as these aren’t further than 10 miles away from our post, which would be the guard station. Still, even when subtracting those that fell under said law, as well as the beds available in the station, there wasn’t enough room for all of us and so, the captain came to the site again to see if he could make some more room.

The whole place was completely set up by then, only lacking four additional bunks, which we couldn’t fit anymore. The captain walked through the warehouse barracks, trying to find a way to make room.

He stopped before the officer’s corner, how I liked to call it, where we had set up three beds for us lieutenants, as well as one larger bed for the captain, to accommodate his size.

He looked around, putting his hand up to his chin in thought and mumbling to himself. “So, my bed is the biggest here… if I were to ask Twilight if I could… then we could also do away with the locker, but that way we would only have room for two and a half beds…”

He looked around, searching for ways to optimize, until his gaze fell on the corner yet again.

“So here is what we’ll do:” He finally said, “First off, my bed and locker will be thrown out and I’m going to ask the princess to take me in. Also, one of your beds and lockers can be removed, because there is one in the station. That way, we should be barely able to fit four additional bunks.”

We did as he said and after an additional rearrangement of the lockers, we actually made everything fit.

With that, we were finally ready for service and the captain immediately made up a patrol plan, putting some drills in-between to make sure we don’t grow rusty. Now, one would think that everything was well, but that wasn’t the case, as apparently, our equipment was degrading faster than was explainable, even when considering that they weren’t made by a professional manufacturer. Sometimes, the wood parts would just break overnight and barrels and sights would mysteriously misalign themselves, greatly reducing the accuracy on our guns.

Of course, everypony accused General Pillbox at first, thinking that he may be sending somepony to mess with our equipment or even do it himself, but I didn’t believe that was quite true. Admittedly, I didn’t really like the General either, but I also saw that it was impossible for him to just mess with our equipment if he wasn’t even here. And even if it had been possible, there were still easier methods of sabotage than messing around with our weapons, especially if he didn’t know how they worked.

Then, a few days after these mysteries started happening, I was staying out late, talking with the captain for a bit, before heading back to the barracks. When I entered them, though, I heard something at the lockers. Something that sounded like somepony was working away at them. What was wondering me was that nopony seemed to wake from their sleep, even though the sounds were quite loud. I decided to sneak up and catch the culprit in action.

“Overdrive?” I asked astonished, as I saw, who was making the noise.

Overdrive spun around and looked and me in shock. A screwdriver was floating beside him and a few of our guns were lying before him on the floor. He looked around, before pulling the classic: “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“So, what else should it be?” I asked, barely suppressing my anger. “What else could you be doing than sabotaging us? I can’t believe you would do this, Overdrive!”

He looked around in a panic, slowly backing off until his flank hit the lockers and he slid down on his rump. His gaze dropped and he gave a final sigh, before confessing:

“Okay, yeah, it was me, but I can explain, I swear!”

“Oh yeah?” I said, more shouting than asking. “Well, I can’t wait to hear the explanation to this one.”

He whimpered slightly, something that I had never seen him do, and started to explain. “Well, you know, a – a few of our comrades… well, you have seen my shooting score, right? Yeah, well, they have laughed at me for this and I-I couldn’t – didn’t – I-I didn’t have the courage to tell them to stop, so I wanted to make their aiming worse, so they would be laughed about. Th-then I noticed, how much I actually bucked up on this one and wanted to repair things again, but I always seemed to hit the wrong guns and made it even worse…”

I stood there dumbfounded. This story was utterly unbelievable, yet he didn’t seem like he was lying to me. “This isn’t like you, Overdrive. What has happened to you?” I said, now slightly worried.

He perked up slightly and then looked around, as if to check if the others were still all asleep.

“W-Well, I suppose I can tell you… You know… I am not really this tough like I always seem to be. Actually I am not tough at all, but I always wanted to be and I thought that joining the guards would help me grow. But in the end, I just betrayed myself by going the easy way through the officer’s corps…” He trailed off.

I looked him over from top to bottom, regarding his pretty athletic body. “Honestly, I can’t see why you wouldn’t be more confident in yourself. I mean, you are very good looking, actually.” I said without thinking.

“R-Really, you think so?” He immediately beamed.

“Ye- I-I mean, you are pretty muscular and such, so you don’t have to be that shy about yourself. Honestly, I never would have believed that you really were like this all the time.”

He looked to the ground again, slightly scratching it with his hoof. “Do you promise not to tell anypony?” He then asked shyly.

I tried to convince myself that I should tell the captain, but this whole situation seemed so complicated and I actually pitied him a bit there, so in the end, I decided against it.

“Ok, I won’t tell anypony, but you have to promise to not do something like this again. And grow a bit more confident, while you’re at it.”

“O-Ok, I promise, I will grow more confident…” He vowed. “In fact, I-I think, I kn-know, where to start.”

“Really? Where?” Just as I finished that question, he lunged forwards towards me. He pressed his lips against mine in what was likely the weirdest kiss I would ever have. Yet, somehow it felt good… like I said, in a very weird way. In that exact moment, I just stood there, unmoving with my eyes wide open in surprise. Even when he finally retreated, I still didn’t move.

“H-Ha! I-I did it! Well, now, uhm.. thanks, Mystic, I-I think, I’m going t-to sleep now.. uh, see you tomorrow, I guess?”

He slipped past me and towards our corner, while I was still standing there, trying to process the whole situation. Honestly, in that moment, I actually found him to be quite cute and for a moment, I was actually entertaining the thought of accepting him. A thought that was quickly disregarded the next morning, as I woke up and found him to be the old Overdrive again.

Like I had promised, I had never told anypony. Not even the captain. Although I probably really should have…

Comments

[Timzocker201]

10187667
He didn't tell her everything, there are still some pretty major things to know about him, which are only told in Ch. 13, but I won't force you to read on. If it doesn't suit your taste, then it doesn't suit your taste, can't be helped.

[Munro]

that last part was ether very clever ore very pathetic from overdrive
but when i first read about possible sabotage and falty equipment, i was suspecting flim and flam first xD

[Silentwoodfire]

10188729
Nah, theyd just steal em all and try to make knockoffs to sell to others

[Wolf The King]

I thought it was on behalf of the protagonist. I am already confused by what kind of persons the narrative is happening.