After the battling in the Badlands, Tyler and his squad are able to return to Ponyville and the ones they left behind. As the remains of the battle are picked up, can our heros live in peace? Only time will tell.
Sequel to Salvation. Seeking Cover-Art; message me or comment for details.
During the Attack on OpFor Compound Codenamed: Operation Wholesale
A gentle breeze blew through the streets of Baltimare as the pony inhabitants of the city went about their daily routines. Shops saw customers coming and going, ponies talked to one another in the streets, and an air of serenity permeated the town-
Even with a giant metal ship sitting in the city's harbor. The ship was bigger than all but one of the inhabitant's wooden vessels. The only one able to match it's size was the Royal Navy's Pony-o'-War ERN Celestial Guidance. The Guidance was moored in dock, however many knew that it was ready to launch and defend the bay with all it had should the metal ship fire at the city.
The pony in the crow's nest saw it first, of course; the opening of a large door on the deck of the ship startling him. At the same time, a smaller craft was lowered into the water with some of the bipedal creatures aboard. The small craft bounced across the waters, barely slowing in time to avoid smacking against the docks. They secured their craft next to a ladder and climbed up it.
The first two up held a rifle in their hands and wore a black vest over their digital blue uniform. They kept their rifles lowered as they swept the area with a penetrative look. Deeming it clear, one of them signaled down to the boat. The meaning behind the signal became apparent when a new man, wearing only his uniform, appeared on the docks.
“Guard the craft Butler,” he ordered without glancing at either of the armed sailors.
“Aye, aye,” replied the woman on the Commander's right as she gave a curt nod. Nodding, more to himself than the sailor, he walked toward the Guidance's gangplank with the other sailor following him. The duo largely ignored the looks that they received from the dockponys, their path locked on the gangplank, guarded by an Equestrian sailor.
“What do you want?” questioned the pony, his tone indicating suspicion at the Commander's sudden visit. The only time the human sailors had come into town was for food and the only time one had stepped onto the Guidance was when they had first appeared in Equestria.
“To speak to your Captain,” the Commander answered evenly, “We are about to provide support to our forces and would like to warn your Captain before doing so.”
“You mean the ones all the way in the Badlands? How in Equestria do you plan on helping them from here?” asked the sailor with a raised brow.
The Commander smiled, “You'll see.”
The sailor obviously disliked the answer that was given but, seeing as how he was just a lowly sailor, stepped aside to allow the human duo entrance onto the vessel. Nodding his head, the Commander stepped onto the gangplank and began to walk across, his escort quickly following.
On the ship, the two made short time getting to the Captain's quarters and knocking on the door. A muffled response came through the door. Motioning for the guard to remain outside, the Commander pushed open the door and walked inside to see the pony Captain sitting at his desk and writing on a scroll. The pony looked up at the Commander's entry, a look of surprise crossing his visage.
“Commander!” he exclaimed before pushing aside his scroll and inkwell and motioning to the seat on the other side of his desk, which the Commander promptly took, “May I ask as to your visit to my humble vessel?”
“I'll cut to the chase. The Kinkaid is going to be launching one long-range missile in the support of Coalition forces in the Badlands.”
The Captain frowned as he sat forward in his seat, resting his forelegs on to the desk, “I can't let you do that Commander. It would be a big risk to this city. I mean, we have no idea what your weapons even do!”
The Commander smiled as he sat forward in his chair, “I think you misheard, Captain. I said that the Kinkaid is going to fire. I'm just informing you so that I don't have dents in my hull from your primitive cannons.”
The Captain glared at the human sitting across from him, his air one of anger at the insult on his ship. A low growl rumbled from the pony's throat.
“Fine,” he hissed, “Now if you would excuse me.”
Smiling, the Commander rose from his seat and walked out of the Quarters.
“Give fire control the go ahead,” he said as his escort fell into step with him.
“Aye,” replied the armed sailor before using his radio to talk with the Kinkaid's fire control. By the time the two were back on the docks, a siren was wailing over the bay, coming from the Destroyer. The siren drew the attention of a good crowd of ponies.
When the duo reached the ladder, a roar overtook the siren as fire and smoke began to erupt from the open door on the Kinkaid's deck. After about a second of the building roar, a cylindrical object rose from the deck of the Destroyer and into the air. After climbing a couple hundred feet, the object leveled out, sprouted wings, and began to zoom off on a south by south-east heading.
Every head in Baltimare was turned skyward to try to spy the source of the noise. Those that did stared with slack jaws and eyes wide, not knowing exactly what they were looking at. A smoke trail polluted the once clear sky as the missile continued it's path across the sky.
“Missile away Commander,” reports the escort that had accompanied him aboard the pony vessel.
“Very good,” he replied before climbing down onto the boat. After being joined by the two escorts, the boat's driver pulled out from the dock and started back to the Kinkaid, the smoke still curling over it's deck.
Looking back at the city, the Commander smiled again, “Butler.”
“Yes Commander?”
“Remind me to release the crew on shore leave when the Operation is over.”
“Aye, aye!”
/--\
“Sacrifice Hill” Directly after completion of Operation Wholesale
Walking through the destroyed camp, Jones helping me limp along, I look around at the destruction. Corpses cover the ground, most of them being of the insurgents and Iranians, though I could pick out a few Coalition uniforms. Smoke curls up from the top of the hill and other places in the camp, signifying fires that still burned hot.
“It's finally over, isn't it?” I hear Jones ask as we stop to allow a vehicle passage. When the tank passes, we continue walking, not knowing our destination.
“I sure hope so Jones,” I reply, nodding to a group of soldiers who were sitting together, getting a nod in return.
“Do you think we're going back to Ponyville now?”
“I sure hope so.”
We descend into silence as we continue onward. After about a minute, we run into Ink, who quickly joins us.
“Tyler! What happened to your leg?” she asks in concern as she trots after us. I look down at the unicorn with a soft smile, glad that she's alive and physically unharmed.
“Got hit. In and out though so I can still use it once it's healed,” I reply with a shrug as I look down at my bandaged right shin. It was beginning to turn red from the blood, telling me that I should change out the bandage.
“Oh. Well I'm glad you're okay.”
“And me, you,” I reply with a chuckle, my eyes still scanning the camp.
“I think I see our Humvee,” I hear Jones state. Turning to him, I look where he's looking to see what does look to be Athena. Turning, the three of us quicken our pace to get to the Humvee and the rest of the squad. Two members of our squad stand around the Humvee while the last one stands behind the fifty.
“There ya are!” Kilborn shouts when he spots us walking to him. His torso is bare besides the bandage wrapped around his midsection.
“Hey Sarge,” Jones greets with a nod as he guides me to a crate and sits me down on top of it. Keeping my right leg extended, I look at the other members of my squad and chuckle.
“So Sarge, what now?”
Kilborn looks at me before looking up at the top of the hill. A sigh escapes his lips, “First, we clean up this mess as best we can. I've heard rumors, though, that the troops are going to try to build a town out here somewhere.”
“What about Ponyville Sarge?” Gonz asks from where he was now working on changing my bandage.
“I didn't say we were going to join them,” was his reply, causing us to either chuckle or sigh in relief. Ponyville is our home, we all realized that during the battle. The thought of the town and it's inhabitants allowed us to fight our hardest.
The silence between us broke when Gonz finished wrapping my leg, “Just try to stay off it, alright man?”
“Got it doc,” I reply with a smirk, earning a shake of the head.
“Alright,” Kilborn begins saying, “those who can, grab a shovel and start digging.”
“Roger,” replies Jones, a similar saying coming from Gonz as those two go to the back of the Humvee to get the E-Tools.
“Almost home,” I hear Kilborn mumble as he goes to the back of the Humvee as well.
Almost home.
/--\
Two Days Later Outside Ponyville
Sitting quietly, the squad and me wait in anticipation as the Humvee bounces over the uneven terrain. Our Humvee drove alone as the Abrams tank that had first been with us had stayed behind to make themselves a new home with the rest of the Coalition forces. The thought was nice to entertain; a little piece of Earth here in Equestria. Though, that thought has another attached as a footnote. We are few in number with even fewer females amongst us.
The only women were aboard the Kinkaid in Baltimare and there weren't enough of them to create a stable population via means accepted by modern human morality. Now that's a thought isn't it? In order to have a chance of saving our lineage in this world, we'd have to destroy our morals. I don't think many would accept that idea, I think to myself as I look out my window at the morning sun.
So, a countdown hangs over our heads and when the clock hits zero, humans will fade into the history books of Equestria. Our only piece will be of the repelling of other members of our own species and maybe a side note of our settlement in the Badlands. Pretty morbid thoughts.
The night of the big attack on our camp replays in my mind. Sarge and I were talking about the chance of unicorns being able to manipulate the DNA of humans to make them compatible with the pony DNA. Of course, the chance that the offspring could still be a pony is strong since the unicorns would be manipulating the human DNA. Even so, should a human be born, they would be dwarvish due to ponies having a far smaller frame than humans. Also, who knew what kind of... mutations a pony-born human could have. Would they manipulate magic? Would they grow wings or show increased strength? The unknowns are many but the possible pay off is of the sort that the unknowns are going to have to be risked at some point.
“We're here,” I hear Gonz say from the driver seat as the Humvee rolls to a stop. Leaning around the front passenger seat, I look past Sarge to see the town stretching out before us. I could see ponies stop and point at where we sit on the hill.
“Let's get down there,” Kilborn says with a smile as he looks over at Gonz. Gonz nods and the Humvee starts down the hill toward the large mead hall. As we dive down, I see ponies begin to walk to the mead hall as well. Reaching the big building, Gonz shut off Athena as the rest of us climb out of the vehicle.
“Kilborn!” I look at my Sergeant in time to see Applejack smack into him and wrap her forelegs around him. The same happens for the rest of my squad as they're greeted by the ponies they had fallen in love with.
Looking at the crowd and not seeing Twilight amongst them, I push through the crowd and continue down the street. A few break off to follow me and I pay them no mind as I navigate the streets. Coming up to the library, I stop at the door, my hand frozen in mid-air.
After a couple seconds, I push open the door and step inside to see an empty room. I can hear talking coming from upstairs as I close the door and remove my helmet. As quietly as I can, I set my helmet on the table in the middle of the main room and sneak to the stairs. With my rifle back at the Humvee, I don't have to worry of it giving me away as I take the steps slowly. Getting closer to the room, I can make out the voices. Twilight and Scoots, I identify, a smile forming on my face. Reaching the door at the top, I knock once.
“Oh!” I hear Twilight exclaim from inside, “Who is it?”
“I'm not interrupting mare time, am I?” I ask, my smile so big that my teeth are beginning to show.
Silence comes from the room for a couple seconds. It's finally broken by hooves approaching the door. When I can hear them on the other side, I sense hesitation coming from the purple unicorn. Finally, the door slowly opens a hair, showing part of a face and a large, purple eye. When she sees me, the eyes widen as the door is flung open.
I suddenly find myself sitting on the ground from the force of the hug from the unicorn. Her shoulders begin to shake as tears erupt from her eyes. I feel tears of joy start to slide down my own cheeks as I hold Twilight in my arms. A familiar orange filly joins our hug, wiggling her way between us. After about a minute of this, Twilight finally separates herself from me and looks into my eyes.
“You're back,” she says, as if she doesn't quite believe that I'm actually sitting there.
“I said that I would be,” I reply with a smile as I hold her head in my hands. I bring her face to mine and let our lips lock in a kiss. When we separate, we're both out of breath. Feeling something moving on my lap, I look down to see Scootaloo trying to bury herself into me.
“Hey Scoots,” I say, running a hand down her mane.
“Don't leave again,” she chokes out through her tears. I chuckle as I continue running my hand down her mane.
“I won't,” I reply. I know it's a lie. There may be times where I have to leave Ponyville again but I don't want to ruin this moment with hard truths. I look back at Twilight to see her smiling sadly at me. She knows that I may have to leave again. Bringing her into another kiss, I can feel the fear of me leaving wither away.
“I love you,” she breathes when we separate.
“And I love you,” I reply as she hugs me again. Sitting there, hugging my special somepony and adopted child, I find myself smiling. Home sweet home.
The quietness was getting to Sergeant Kilborn. It was broken only by the noise of his boots connecting with the packed dirt as he hauled apples from the trees to the barn.
CRACK!
Kilborn faltered in his step but managed to keep his balance as he continued walking to the barn. It's just AJ bucking trees, he reminded himself before his mind could drag him into a self-made hell. A self-made hell consisting of bullets, explosions, and death. Acclimating to simple farm work after that month of constant fighting proved to be one of the hardest things he had ever done.
From his time spent at the, now opened, Mead-Hall with the rest of his squad, he knew that they were having similar issues. Flashbacks here, diving for cover there, reaching for an imaginary rifle, the list is quite lengthy. The local populace had thought that all of them had gone mad. Luckily, a town meeting allowed Kilborn to explain PTSD to them, which calmed them down... somewhat.
Kilborn knew that one could never get used to someone with PTSD but he knew that he could control it. Like with the crack produced by AJ's applebucking. It used to send him diving to the dirt but after waging a war in his head, it now only made him falter a little. He knew that his squad were doing the same, trying to wrestle some control over the affliction. If not for themselves, then for the ponies they fell in love with.
“Hey Kilborn!” came the sweetly accented call of his said mare.
“Yeah hun?” he asked with a smirk, knowing that he probably put a blush on her freckled cheeks.
“Why don't we call it a day and head down to the Hall for a bit?” she asked, rounding the barn and trotting towards him.
“Didn't they close for today though?” he asked.
“Well, yeah, but Twi and 'em said that we all could just hang out there,” she explained, a nervous glance to the side missed by the barrel hauling human.
“If Twi suggested it, I guess we could,” Kilborn replied as he disappeared into the barn, dragging the barrel. He knew that if Twi said it, Tyler would be there. Of course, Kilborn knew they were all whipped by these mares.
“'Ight, let's head on out then,” AJ said with a smile as Kilborn emerged from the barn. The two then took to the trail in the waning sunlight.
/--\
The air around Fluttershy's cottage was charged with a timid energy as the pegasus and human inhabitants of the cottage moved softly from trough to bowl to slab, placing food for the assortment of animals gathered nearby. While the animals bounced on their paws, claws, and so on, they stood patiently at the edge of the fenced area, waiting for the two to finish.
For being such a big form, Smiley's movements matched Fluttershys in their timidness and quietness. He personally didn't care about the animals, or so he liked to think, but Fluttershy did. If he were to frighten the animals, she would be upset which would make him likewise upset.
After a couple minutes, all of the food holders were full of food. Seeing their job complete, the two exited the fenced area. As soon as they left, the animals surged in, going to their respective foods. It always shocked Smiley at how easily carnivores and herbivores shared the fenced area. They probably didn't have the need to hunt though, considering food was placed out for them.
“Uhm,” began the pegasus, looking up at Smiley with an eye hidden behind her long pink mane, “the girls wanted all of us to go to the Mead Hall. Do you want to go?”
The large human, wearing his ACU trousers, foliage green undershirt, and boots, knelt down in front of the pegasus. With a soft, rare smile on his lips-brought on only by the pegasus-he pushed back her mane to reveal her other eye, causing a blush to come to her cheeks as she glanced timidly at the ground.
“Do you?” he asked softly.
“O-only if you want to,” she replied. An 'eep' escaped her lips as she found herself suddenly being hoisted into the air by the big man's equally big arms. Blushing at the eep and the closeness to Smiley, Fluttershy looked into his eyes with a confused smile.
“Then let's go,” he said with a smile before starting toward town with the pegasus still in his hands. Fluttershy's response was to smile at Smiley before nuzzling into his chest with a happy sigh.
/--\
“I told you to avoid it.”
“Not my fault the mud is a liar.”
“What?”
“You heard me. It looks all shallow but noooo! It just has to be deep.”
“Doesn't mean it lied. It's mud!”
“And?”
“I... I don't understand you sometimes.”
“Then we're on even ground.”
A cyan hoof came down to bop the chuckling human on the head. The human stopped his pushing to rub his head and glare up at the hovering, rainbow maned pegasus.
“Ow.”
“Quit your griping and get it unstuck, the girls wanted all of us to hang out at the Hall,” ordered Dash as she crossed her forehooves.
“When did you plan this?” he asked, getting back to pushing against the heavy Humvee with futility. He knew that he probably wouldn't get it out of the mud it was currently in.
“Yesterday,” the pegasus replied evenly, watching the human push against the massive vehicle. The two had taken the vehicle to do some 'mudding' as Jones had called it. They were spinning tires in the mud, it splattering over the tan vehicle. Both had been laughing and smiling wide... until Jones got it stuck in a deep mud pit.
“Gonz is gonna kill me,” Jones muttered as he stepped back from the Humvee, sighing. His entire body, much like Dash's, was covered in mud.
“He better not,” Dash replied as she lowered herself so her breath was warming Jones's ear, “because I still have to... pay you for this adventure.”
The pegasus, blushing lightly, giggled to herself when she saw the human's eyes widen in surprise and the blush on his cheeks. Turning, Dash swatted his head with her tail before lazily flying toward town.
“Now come on. You can get it unstuck tomorrow,” she said, turning to look at him. Jones was slogging through the mud after the pegasus.
“Hey! Wait!” he cried out, only to see the pegasus speed up a little, “Agh! Blasted mud, I'll kill you!”
“You can't kill mud Jones!”
“Watch me!”
/--\
In the Ponyville park, a human wearing the olive drab with gold trim uniform made by Rarity sat by the fountain. His gray with gold trim beret topped head looked left and right as he looked for the familiar pink earth pony.
“Woohoo!” he heard her call from behind him. Turning around, Gonzelas looked at the fountain and the pink pony sitting in the water under the waterfall.
“Why are you in the fountain?” Gonz asked, eyebrow raised at the strange sight and expecting an equally strange answer.
“It's where the author put me, silly!” she answered cheerfully, a large smile on her face.
“Ah,” was the reply, “why don't you climb out of there?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” she replied as she stepped out of the fountain. Shaking herself, all of the water left her coat to get all over the surrounding area... including Gonz.
“Oh!” she shouted with a giggle, “Sorry Gonz-y Wonz-y!”
“It's alright Pinkie,” he said with a smile caused by her giggle and attitude, “So what physics defying things are you going to drag me into today?”
“Nothing.”
Gonz stared the pink pony, unsure as to whether she meant that she had nothing planned or if she would actually try to drag him into nothingness. With Pinkie, he had quickly learned, it could be either one. For the sake of sanity, however, Gonz hoped it was the first.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing. Wait!”
“What?” Gonz asked, slightly surprised at Pinkie's outburst. The pink pony suddenly hovered mid-air as she took in an overly deep breath. Gonz waited patiently for her to finish. When she was, her face was suddenly in front of Gonz's,
A hand covered her fast moving mouth and stayed there until she finally stopped trying to talk. When she did, she looked at Gonz expectantly.
“I'll be there,” he said with a smile. The smile widened when he felt a tongue lick his palm. He removed his hand, sliding to her cheek.
“Okie dokie lokie,” she said, quieter now that they were so close. She seemed to zone out for about a second before her eyes widened, “Igottago! GototheMeadHall!”
With that, she took off... into the sky... riding a pillar of smoke. Then, with just as much insanity, the entire act rewound itself until she was back in front of him, his hand on her cheek. The pink pony gave him a brief kiss before blasting off again.
Gonz watched her disappear before shaking his head and starting toward the Mead Hall at the edge of town.
“No idea how but damn do I love her for it,” he muttered to himself with a chuckle.
/--\
Standing outside of the closed Mead-Hall, I looked at the purple unicorn standing beside me.
“Why can't we go inside?”
A sigh escaped Twilight's mouth, “Because we're waiting for the others.”
“Ah.”
“I swear, you're worse than Scootaloo sometimes.”
A chuckle escaped me at that. Being compared to my adopted daughter wasn't exactly an insult to me. In fact, it made me feel happy that we had something in common. Even if that was pestering Twilight. I knelt next to Twilight and turned her head to me before locking my lips with hers. When we broke apart, I heard her shaky sigh and smirked.
“A bit frisky are we?”
“Later,” she answered as she pointed a hoof behind me. Standing up straight, I looked behind me to see Smiley-lit by the setting sun-approaching with a familiar yellow pegasus in his arms.
“Hey there Smiley,” I greeted, waving my hand at the duo. Smiley nodded while Fluttershy gave a meek smile before she was set down by the giant of a man. The gentleness he could exude always astounded me.
“How ya doing?” Smiley asked, his deep voice resonating.
“We're doing good,” I reply with a shrug.
“Howdy y'all!” Turning to the voice, I see AJ and Kilborn approaching us. We greeted each other and it wasn't long before we were joined by Jones, Dash, and Gonz. The appearance of Jones and Dash brought up a few exclamations for explanation but they simply promised to tell later.
“Well,” Twilight began, calming herself after the yelling that had been done at Jones and Dash, “Let's head on in.”
“Wait. Where's Pinkie and Rarity?” I ask, looking around. Just to be safe, I look up at the sky as well, expecting to see a pink ball zooming down, locked onto Gonz. There was nothing but blue sky.
“They're already inside,” Twilight answered. I looked down at her with an eyebrow raised.
“So they can go in and we couldn't?” I ask, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.
“Yes. Now get inside,” she said with some aggression in her voice. Not wanting to find out why she's suddenly hostile, I turn and begin to head inside, the others following.
Opening the double doors, we push inside to the dark Hall. Suddenly, the candles were lit and there stood most of the town with Pinkie in front of them, bouncing on her hooves.
“Surprise!” she said loudly, but not loud enough to startle anyone. She clearly remembered the first time she threw a surprise party. That was when I noticed the banner. It read:
'Congratulations on Your Pregnancy!'
“Pinkie,” Gonz spoke up, “do you happen to have the wrong banner?”
Pinkie scrunched up her face as she turned to look at the banner. She then looked back at us with a smile on her face, “Nope!”
“Then who's pregnant?” Kilborn asked, looking at the gathered mares.
“I am.”
My head swung so fast that I thought it would detach from my head as I focused on the purple unicorn standing beside me. I saw her smiling sheepishly up at me.
The moment of silence after Pinkie's statement was what I needed to collect my thoughts. Twilight was now pregnant and, from what I knew, we weren't even trying for it. This meant that...
“Oh dear god! We're compatible?” I shouted my, gaze having still been locked on the purple unicorn. When I saw her glare, I realized that the words I had chosen didn't quite work together for such a situation.
“What the hay does that mean?” she shouted back, her hoof stomping on the wooden floor.
“No, no, Twi,” I began, putting my hands up in a surrendering manner, “I meant genetically compatible. We're two different species after all. This should... this event... it's-it's illogical!”
Her stance now relaxed, the glare had transformed into a look of understanding, “That's what I thought too. I thought, at first, I was just getting sick but I couldn't find anything that had exactly my symptoms. Then,” she paused as she bit her lip, looking unsure. Her horn lit up and a soft glow came from her gut, “I felt it there. I felt it begin to... probe my magical stores.”
“So it's a unicorn?” I asked, slightly disappointed.
“Too early to tell,” she replied with a shake of her head, “all foals can access their mother's stores while in the womb, no matter species of foal.”
“This is... insane,” I stated as I put a hand to my forehead. I looked at Twilight, “There was no active manipulation at all?”
She shook her head.
“Than how?”
I felt a hoof rest on my arm. Looking down, I followed the purple hoof to Twilight's face to see her smiling softly at me. Kneeling down, I wrapped the unicorn into a hug and kissed her forehead, next to her horn.
“Still. I'm having an offspring of my own,” I stated, smiling at the unicorn. By now, the rest of the squad had gotten their cognitive functions back. The townsponies who had come cheered softly when I hugged the unicorn before separating and enjoying the party.
“So,” I heard Gonz begin unsuredly, “does this mean that all ponies are compatible with humans?”
“In theory-”
Twilight and me looked at each other as we both stopped in the middle of our response. I smiled as she blushed, causing my smile to stretch a little wider.
“Go ahead Twi,” I said. Nodding to me, she turned to Gonz, her blush gone and face turned serious.
“In theory, all ponies should be genetically compatible with humans due to the shared genes of ponies.”
“Any idea why?” Kilborn asked next. Twilight looked at me with a face saying, 'This one is yours.'
I shrugged, “The only reasonable explanation is that ponies and humans share important, and decisive, chromosomes. Of course, that in itself isn't a good enough reason as many species back on Earth shared important chromosomes with humans and yet no human-animal hybrid was ever born. One could say that sentience itself allows cross-breeding between sentient beings but that's just blind speculation.”
A nervous laugh caused all of us to turn heads to where Jones and Dash stood. More specifically, we looked at the red-tinged, mud-covered human.
“Are there any condoms in this world?” he asked while scratching the back of his head.
“Condoms?” Dash asked, looking at him. This just caused the young soldier's face to deepen in it's blush.
“I'll take that as a 'no'.”
Laughter erupted from the rest of the squad and me while. Through the corner of my eyes, I saw confusion sweep over the ponies.
“Whoo,” Gonz began, wiping a tear from his eye, “that was great. However, that brings to mind the question: why are you two muddy?”
Jones's eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights, “Umm, well, you see. I took Dash out in the Humvee-”
“Where is that by the way?” Kilborn asked.
“-We took it mudding and kind of got it... stuck.”
“What?” the reply echoed from all of our group, minus the two muddy beings, with Gonz's being the loudest. Looking at Gonz, I could see his face contort into one of anger. The Humvee, Athena, was his pride and joy. He was always the one to drive it and had thus grown attached to the machine. The man took a threatening step forward, causing Jones to flinch.
“Babe!” shouted Jones. I looked to see Dash looking at him expectantly, “Evac Alpha Two!”
To my surprise, the cyan pegasus's face became solid and determined as she gave a curt nodded. She then hooked her forehooves under Jones's armpits and took off to the roof. Smashing into the roof, a hatch swung open, allowing her and the human to escape. Once they were gone, the hatch swung closed once more.
“Did they just do that?” I asked, halfheartedly pointing at where the hatch had been.
“I think so,” drawled Applejack.
“He'll get what's coming to him either way,” Gonz intoned as he sulked deeper into the party. Whether that was to try to calm himself or to plot his revenge, I had no idea. Finally hearing the music playing, I turned to Twilight and held out a hand.
“Shall we?” She placed a hoof in my hand as she smiled.
“We shall,” she replied with a giggle at her play on words. With that, she stood up on her hindlegs and the two of us began to dance our way closer to main group.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
/--\
“I hate you!”
“I hate you more!”
The two foals looked at each other before breaking out in laughter, both falling to the ground and rolling around in their fits. When they stopped, they rolled on their stomachs to look at each other. Smiles were plastered on their faces as the orange pegasus's wings seemed to buzz in excitement.
“What adventure are we going on today Pip?” Scootaloo asked of the colt in front of her.
“Hmm... try to climb the Library?”
“Done it. Was yelled at for it.”
“Same. Hmm... what is there to do?”
“I think we've done just about everything we can do,” Scootaloo stated with a sigh.
“We could go hang out with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle,” Pip tried with a shrug. The smile that reappeared on her face caused Pip to smile widely.
“Hey, yeah! We could play ball with them!” Scootaloo shouted as she jumped to her hooves. Pip jumped up after her.
“Scoots, hang on,” he said as it looked like the pegasus was about to sprint off. She looked back at him with a confused look. Pip smirked before taking off, yelling back: “Race ya there!”
“Hey! No fair!” was her reply as she took off after the colt. Laughter rolled from her lips as she sprinted through town. Today was going to be a good day.
“So. How long before that thing gives out again?” Dash asked as she flung herself onto her couch and looked at the human digging through her fridge.
“Twilight said it'd last at least a year due to some science-y nonsense,” Jones replied. About a week after their return to Ponyville, Dash and Jones noticed a... predicament in their blooming relationship. Jones, being human and thus adhering to the laws of physics, could not walk on the condensed water vapor that was otherwise known as clouds. To fix this, Twilight had, at first, zapped Jones with the cloud-walking spell. However, with the increasing annoyance caused by his frequent visits... and by a near-death experience involving him falling through Rainbow's bed, Tyler and Twilight had decided to find a way to make the spell more long-term. To this effect, they had created a vambrace that Jones could wear to allow him to walk on, and manipulate, clouds to his whim.
“Yeah, sounds like 'em,” Dash replied as she closed her eyes. A couple seconds later, she felt the pressure of the couch shift as Jones sat down by her rearhooves. The crunching of an apple was heard by the cyan pegasus.
“So, you think that maybe we should take a shower?” Jones asked, flicking at some dried mud on Dash's rearleg. The pegasus shrugged without opening her eyes.
“Why should we?” she asked, cracking an eye open to peek at the human. Seeing her looking at him, he shrugged much like she did. Snorting at the action, Dash closed her eyes, intent on listening to Jones munch on his apple. When the munching stopped, the only indication of her noticing it was a flick of an ear.
“Jones, you're done alre-EEP!”
Dash suddenly found herself on her stomach, her eyes wide open in shock and fear as multiple implications ran through her head. Did he finally snap? Is he having another flashback? Oh, dear Celestia...
...don't stop.
Fingers scratched the top of Dash's head and her back where she couldn't reach. It felt amazing, and Jones knew it as he kept scratching. He smiled when he could hear the pleasure induced noises coming from the mare.
“This never ceases to entertain me.”
“S-s-shut...mmm...up!” growled out the mare in between moans.
“Of course, there is that one spot...” Jones trailed off, shifting slightly without stopping his scratching, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Y-you w-wouldn't...mmm...d-dare!” she said, trying but failing to glare at the human. Just as so, her voice, which she wanted to sound threatening, was one of pleasure.
“Oh, I believe it's just a finger twitch down,” Jones continued, as if he didn't hear the mare.
“J-Jones, if you doOOOOOOOOO!” Wings unfurled with a great swish as they shot out straight, Dash's left wing having to go up the back of the couch as it extended. Jones chuckled as he continued to scratch the spot right between the mare's wings. Then, suddenly, he stopped. Dash looked at him and Jones could see the disappointment she tried to hide behind anger. A grin that threatened to split his face in half was what she was met with.
“Why'd you do that?” she asked, trying to get her wings under control.
“Do what? Scratch your back or...” Jones leaned in closer, “Stop?”
His tone caused her wings to stiffen again, “I...I think a shower sounds good.”
“Preferably not cold,” Jones replied with a chuckle.
/--\
Opening the door, I was met with the sound of somepony snoring. Someponies to be precise. Stepping inside, I motioned for Twilight to be quiet and follow. She looked at me in confusion until she heard the snoring and smiled, nodding.
Both of us tip-toed our way through the house to Scootaloo's room, the origin of the noise. Considering that it was near midnight, the fact that she was asleep didn't necessarily surprise me. The fact that a friend was over did but that's what happened when your child was used to being self-sufficient and making decisions herself.
Reaching her room, I opened her door as a soft purple glow illuminated the immediate area. Looking at Twilight, her horn lit, I opened the door further to reveal two ponies sleeping on the bed, on top of the covers. One was Scootaloo, the source of the snoring. Her head was resting on the back of the other pony, a pinto colt with a red bandanna on his head.
I watched as Pipsqueak cracked an eye open when the purple light fell on the two. He turned to look at Twilight and me.
“Shh, sleep little one,” Twilight cooed as she pushed me out of the room. I saw Pipsqueak's eyes close before Twilight closed the door and turned to me, a soft smile on her face. Wordlessly, afraid to wake the two, we trekked up to our own room. Once inside, we both turned to each other, soft smiles on our faces.
“They're cute together,” Twilight commented as she moved to the bed and climbed under the covers. I felt a short stab of jealously at how she could just crawl into bed without having to take off clothes. Stripping down to my underwear, I set my clothes aside.
“Aren't they a little young to think of them dating?” I asked as I climbed into bed beside her, instantly taking her in my arms.
“Well, yes,” Twilight replied before giving me a peck on the lips, “but you can't deny that they are cute.”
“I'll give ya that but when they call it dating, I'm still gonna make the point to explain to him that I will unleash the wrath of the gods should he mistreat her,” I stated, my smile and good mood making it seem more like a joke than what I wanted.
“Hmm, I'm sure you will. Just remember, God of Vengeance, that we have to inform your precious princess of her sibling-to-be.”
“Ah, yes. Well, that isn't until tomorrow. I vote on sleeping on it,” I said with a smirk. I watched the lovely purple mare in my hands as she rolled her eyes.
“Seconded,” she said, surprisingly, before closing her eyes and snuggling closer to me.
Baltimare. A sprawling metropolis created by hooves to show the technological advancements of ponykind. Many who went there left babbling about the sights they've seen and the ponies they've met. The city's newest visitors, however, didn't much care for the main tourist spots of the city.
“Hey! Barkeep! One more round, eh? Giddy-up!”
Drunken chuckles echoed around the bar as the numerous bipedals in blue digital uniforms laughed at the joke. The ponies that shared the space with the humans either rolled their eyes and went back to nursing their own drinks or glared at the seamen and women.
“Oooooooh!” screamed one of the naval men as he stood with beer bottle in hand, “There were ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of-” CRASH!-thump.
“Shut up, will ya!” shouted another before looking at his empty hand with a confused face, “I could'a sworn there was a bottle in this hand not a second ago.” The big man looked at the seaman next to him. His drunk mind noticed that his attention was diverted from the bottle on the table. In actuality, he and the woman next to him looked to be in a contest of who could eat whose face. However, that didn't matter to the man as he swiped away the neglected bottle and took a swig from it.
“Better,” he declared with a burp. As he took another sip of the bottle, he became aware of a presence next to him that wasn't the two sailors trying to suck off skin. Turning, his eyes found a pony standing somewhat impatiently next to him.
“You're gonna clean up that glass.” It was statement, not a question. This didn't necessarily faze the sailor, however, as he swayed gently in his seat. Finally, he chuckled and patted the pony on it's head.
“You're fun-GAH!”
The sailor cried out in pain as he held his forearm. The pony had forcefully swatted his arm away. Unlucky for him, an earth pony swat was strong enough to fracture bone. Lucky for him... it was just fractured.
“I'll fucking kill you!” screamed the sailor as he dived at the pony. The bar soon dissolved into madness as bystanders joined in; sailors on one side and ponies on the other. Each side had their strengths. Earth pony strength for the ponies, resilience for the humans. Pegasi agility for the ponies, high reach for the humans. Unicorn magic for ponies, flying bottles for humans. Of course, most of those advantages were countered by the alcohol that both parties had consumed.
As if it were some badly directed military film, the doors to the bar busted open, allowing several armed and armored sailors to enter the establishment. Whistles began blowing and batons were whipped about. Following the armored sailors were several members of Baltimare's Guard detachment. While the sailors focused on their drunken fellows, the Guard focused on the ponies.
Soon enough, two lines were flowing from the bar. One was of humans and other of ponies, guarded by the armored sailors and the Guard respectively. Both processions were bruised, bloody, and cradling something broken. The bar itself looked as if a cyclone had torn through it. Tables were overturned, chairs destroyed, glass littered the floor, and one scared showmare sat frozen on the stage.
Back on the Kinkaid, The Commander received word of the fight and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I don't know what's worse,” he muttered to no one but himself, “the fact that they're getting in bar fights or that I have to deal with stupid, talking ponies.”
With his other hand, he brought a glass of whiskey to his lips and took a sip, hissing as the liquid burned down his throat. Setting the glass aside, he nodded to himself.
“Probably the ponies,” he muttered as he looked up at the map of Equestria he had placed over a cork board. A red and black dart struck out of the map. More specifically, it stuck out of the bright red star that was situated right next to the mountain in the center of the country.
“One step at a time Commander,” he muttered as he looked back at his desk and took another sip of his whiskey. After another hiss, he sighed, “Need to stop talking to myself. Starting to sound like some clichéd villain.”
/--\
“I'M GONNA BE WHAT?!”
“Ow,” I whispered, rubbing a knuckle against my assaulted ear in an effort to get rid of the ringing.
“Was there a need to yell dear?” Twilight asked of the little orange pegasus that sat before us. When Twilight and me had woken up this morning, we had gone and woken up the two foals. Like true kids, they completely shrugged off their sleeping position and jumped from the bed. After breakfast, Pipsqueak had left for his own home. One “family meeting” in the atrium later and I was hearing bells in one ear. Wonderful.
“Yes!” cried the filly, albeit quieter than earlier, “You tell me that I'm gonna to have a baby sister-”
“Or brother,” I helpfully added.
“-and you expect me to be calm?” she finished, only giving a short pause and nod to my statement.
“Didn't expect you to go all Canterlot Voice on us either,” I stated as the ringing died away. This caused the filly to look down at the floor and shift her hooves in what I could tell was shame. With the adopted filly, I noticed she was quick to beat herself up over something. Kneeling next to her, I pulled her into a hug, “Hey, it's alright furball.”
“Hey!” she exclaimed as she whacked a hoof against my chest before going into pout mode. Chuckling, I ruffled her mane. This brought a smile to her muzzle as she tried to get my hand out of her mane. Stopping, I opted to simply hold her in my hands as Twilight sat down next to us.
“We know how surprising this is,” Twilight started, the old subject not yet solved, “it was surprising to us as well. We didn't expect anything like this to happen anytime soon. In fact, we thought it would be impossible due to the major-hmgmph! Hmph?”
Scootaloo giggled as I held Twilight's muzzle closed with one hand.
“Kid, Twi. K-i-d. No anatomy class, yeah?” I asked. After getting a nod in reply, I let go of her muzzle... to get a raspberry in reward.
“Anyway,” continued Twilight, her serious tone bringing Scootaloo out of her giggle fit, “What I'm trying to say is that we need you to be a big filly while we travel down this new road in our life, okay?”
The orange pegasus wiggled out of my grip until she could wrap her forelegs around Twilight, “Okay mom!”
Twilight looked at her with a smile of pure joy as she rubbed a hoof through her mane. Smiling I looked at my bare wrist in cried out in exaggerated shock.
“Le-gasp! It's been half a hour since you've been with Pipsqueak!” I cried out. I watched in amusement as once orange cheeks burned bright red.
“Daaaaaaad!”
Might have to have the talk sooner than I thought, I noted to myself as I laughed at my daughter's embarrassment. Plucking the little pegasus from Twilight, I placed her on my back as I planted a quick kiss on the lavender unicorn.
“Come on little adventurer! Let's go find you're partner in crime and hope we don't get any arrows to the knee.”
Giggling came from back before the end of an orange hoof shot past my head and pointed to the door, “Onward mount!”
With no irony lost, I barked like a dog before charging out of the library, leaving a very bemused unicorn in my wake. With a giggling pegasus on my back and the warmth of the sun on my face, I felt happy. I felt like everything bad was behind me and I could finally get on with living a normal life.