The next morning, I woke up at the same time as Applejack.

"Mornin' sugarcube." She said, stretching. I watched her for a second before clearing my throat.

"Applejack..." I started, sitting up.

"Yea?" She looked at me, probably a little worried about my tone.

"We need to talk. About the way we've been acting towards each other." I said. Her facial expression changed from simple confusion to a worried one with a light blush.

"Ya knew what Ah did last night, don't ya?" She quietly asked, her ears drooping while her head lowered.

"Applejack, please be honest with me. Do you love me?" I asked.

"Yea... Ah love ya, sugarcube..." She hesitantly said, but I knew she was just worried about my reaction. I responded by wrapping my arms around her and bringing her into a mildly tight embrace.

'Well, it's just Xenophilia. It's not like AJ's a mindless barn animal.' I thought, looking down at her as she buried her face into my chest.

"AJ, look at me." I said, lifting her head slightly. Her green eyes were watery, and that made me wince internally. "No need for crying; I love you too." I said, wiping away a tear.

"Do... Do ya mean that?" She quietly asked.

"How's this for an answer?" I asked, before kissing her deeply. I won't write down anything cheesy like sparks flew when our lips connected, but I WILL shoot you for reading my fucking journals! Unless you're AJ, of course. After a moment of shock, Applejack melted into the kiss and we sat there for God knows how long, until Big Mac opened the door, probably to tell us to get the hell up and get to the train.

"Um..." Was all that he said when he saw us. Applejack almost shot away from my grip, except that I had a very good grip on her at the moment.

"If you truely love me, you wouldn't be afraid to show it." I whispered to her, before looking at Mac. "This is exactly what it looks like. Me and your sister love each other." I said, rather loudly.

"Well.. Just don't do that stuff 'round Applebloom, ya hear?" He said, before shutting the door behind him. I grinned down at AJ, kissed her quickly, and got up to get dressed.

"W..What just happened?" She asked, blushing mildly.

"I think we just became an item, AJ." I replied, sliding a shirt on. "Now, let's go and get on down to the train station. Don't want them to wait on us." I said, slinging my backpack on with a grunt. I waited until AJ decided to respond, and strolled down the stairs with quite a bit of difficulty. Which means that I tripped and somehow hit my face. On every. Fucking. Step.

"Are ya'll right, sugarcube?!" AJ shouted, stopping next to me.

"If I was on my world, that would hurt a lot worse than it did..." I groaned, looking up at her. "How badly am I bleeding?" I asked, feeling my nose with a wince.

"Er... Quite badly..." She managed to say, going pale. I still wonder how in the fuck a pony pales or blushes, but I digress. If you're reading this AJ, please explain it to this evolved monkey in a way that I would understand. Or get Twilight to, either way would work for me.

"Then it's broken, not that big of a deal." I muttered, standing up and tenderly touching my nose, sending a flare of pain through my skull. "Yea... Definately broken..." I muttered, shutting the pain away somewhere else.

"Do ya need Twilight to fix it?" Applejack asked, extremely concerned, and with good reason.

"No, I can do it. Not like this hasn't happened before..." I assured her, before doing the part I hated the most. I firmly pressed both palms against a side of my crooked nose, inhaled through my mouth, and twisted sharply.

'Pretty sure they heard that over in Canterlot...' I thought after my extremely loud scream of pain.

"That sounded like it hurt. Celestia's wondering something along the line of, 'what made somepony scream like that?' I'm over here in Canterlot trying my best not to laugh." Dawn said, confirming my thought.

'How in the hell did I scream THAT fucking loud?' I asked, snapping my fingers in front of a dazed Applejack's face. 'I gave AJ the effects of a flashbang with it!'

"I told Celestia that you did it. She mearly rolled her eyes and scoffed. Honestly, she does hate you, but since you're with AJ and both Luna and I vouch for you, she can't do dick to you."

"Just another reason to dislike Sunbutt..." I muttered, before sighing and picking up AJ, who wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I walked outside and held part of my shirt up under my nose at the same time to absorb the blood leaking from my nose at an alarming rate. I noticed Dash and Fluttershy racing towards us.

"What happened?!" Dash yelled when she was close enough to us, a skidding sound happening as she stopped.

'I'm never going to get used to this fucking world...' I thought while my eye twitched involuntarily.

"I broke my nose. Fixed it; that's what the scream was." I answered while Fluttershy gasped.

"Are you alright?!" She asked worriedly, getting up in my face.

"Uh... Yes lass, I'm fine, considering that I'm up and carrying both 60 pounds in equipment and probably 150 pounds worth of muscle." I replied, backing up a little. "I've had worse, honestly."

"How so?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what happened to AJ?"

I decided to answer the second question first. "She's been stunned from my scream. She was standing next to me when I realigned my nose. And I'm supposed to have ten fingers, not eight."

'I miss my right pinkie and left thumb...' I thought, before sighing and shaking my head.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy said, examining my fingers. Dash did too, with what looked like a wee bit of a blush? Anyway, while I was letting Fluttershy fuss over my left hand, the side that AJ was still fucked up on, Dash grabbed my right hand with her hooves and brought it up to her face.

"Um Fluttershy? Could you give something to Applejack so she'd wake up? She's starting to get really heavy..." I asked, frowning at the weight on my shoulder. Instead of doing some voodoo animal magic shit, she simply picked AJ up with a little effort and put her on the ground as gently as she could.

"I'm not very good with other ponies when it comes to medical stuff..." She confessed, looking down.

"Eh, at least you're brave enough to admit it." I replied, shrugging. "You know enough about ponies to apply first aid for injuries that aren't broken bones?" I asked, noting that Dash was transfixed by my hand.

"Yes..." She said, still looking down.

"Then that's all that matters. I'm not a doctor, so I won't criticize your field work should it come to that." I said, running a hand through her mane. She blushed at the physical contact, but I think what Dash did made me blush harder. She fucking stuck my hand into her mouth.

'What in the actual fuck?' I thought, staring at her. Her eyes were somewhat glazed over, she was breathing abnormally, and she was blushing.

"Dash!" I shouted, startling her and Fluttershy, while appearently finally bringing AJ back to the land of the living. "Why in the hell are you tring to eat my hand?!"

"Uh... Hey look, a distraction!" She shouted, pointing a hoof in a random direction behind us. Fluttershy looked over while Dash zoomed off, with me watching the entire time.

"We will never speak of this again, Fluttershy." I said.

"Speak of what?" Both AJ and Fluttershy asked.

"Exactly. Now, both of you should show me to the train before we get left behind and have to walk ourselves to Canterlot." I said, nodding at them. AJ shook her head and sighed, before trotting off with me jogging after while FLuttershy looked like she was lazily flying next to me.

"What happened to your fingers?" She asked, not breaking her flying stride. I sighed and looked down at them, before replying.

"Lost the thumb to a bullet fired from an AK-47. Once came within milimeters to losing my head in the same fashion. Lost the pinkie by playing a very stupid game while half drunk."

"What's an AK-47 look like?" Fluttershy hesitantly asked.

"Easier to show than to describe." I said, drawing my M60 and thinking of one of the most durable machine guns in the world, if not the most accurate or light. The M60 changed into a modern AK-47, and I put the wooden stock against my shoulder while flicking the safety. "This is the AK-47. There are several models but I'm pretty sure this one was the one that took my thumb's life." I explained, thinking up a sling for it and letting it fall to my waist.

"Oh... And the game?" She asked, clearly intimidated by the gun.

"Eh, I don't remember the name but it involved spreading your fingers open and trying your best not to impale them with a knife. I lost, pretty much." I replied, shrugging. Fluttershy looked horrified, but I waved her off.

"They both happened a year ago, and I got used to it. Can't be distracted on the battlefield. Not as a Marine, and especially not as EOD." I said, looking off into the distance. Shaking my head, I noticed that the three of us had arrived at the train station, and the other four and Spike were already there, along with the train. I swear I just lost my man card by LOOKING at the fucking pink as hell train. It pained the man I was to look at it.

'Dashie's nervous.' I thought with a hidden predatory grin.

"Sup girls?" I said, adjusting a strap on my backpack. "You have my uniform ready, Rarity?" I asked, looking at the mare in question. She grinned at me and levitated a set of familiar looking clothing out of the saddlebags she had across her back.

"It was a challenge but I do believe I did it perfectly!" She declared. The first thing I looked at was the cover, which looked exactly like my old one. I went over every part of it, and grinned when I saw that she even made the sheath for a ceramonial sword.

"It looks perfect! I'll put it on while on the train." I said, grinning. The others looked at me like I was stupid, causing me to sigh.

"Uh, Sugarcube? Why're ya wantin' to put yer weddin' clothes on befo' the weddin'?" Applejack asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Because I want to make sure that this will fit me, no offense, Rarity." I answered, sliding into the train.

[Middle of the train ride]

"How do I look?" I asked, sliding back into the compartment that the others were in. Rarity and AJ grinned, Twilight looked curious, and Spike nodded respectfully. Pinkie was being Pinkie, Fluttershy muttered 'nice', but I don't really expect much praise from her until I can fully win her over with my good charms and Dash was trying not to meet my gaze, but I could see her glance out of the corner of her eye from time to time.

"Ya'll look very good, sugarcube. What're the colorful things on yer chest for? And the medals?" Applejack asked, being the first to break the silence.

"The colorful strips are called ribbons. They tell other military personnel what a person has done in their career. The medals are pretty much the same thing, but louder." I explained, changing the magical beating stick on my backpack into a sharp ass cerimonial sword and sliding it into the sheath on the left side of my waist. "I shouldn't have doubted you, Rarity. Fits me perfectly." I added, nodding to the white Unicorn.

"Aren't you going to put on that white cap of yours?" Twilight asked, looking at the cover gripped loosely in my left hand.

"As soon as we get off of the train. I may be the only Marine on this planet, but I won't go against military protocol." I answered. "Supposed to wear covers only when I'm outside."

"How come?" Twilight asked, a notepad and quill levitating in front of her, writing down everything I say.

"Don't really know how it started, but I've never questioned it." I said, shrugging. The ride to Canterlot wasn't very eventful, except for Twilight going into one of the mildest depressions I've ever fucking seen about this 'Shining Armor' character.

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