The next morning, I found myself sitting on the couch downstairs, staring a hole into the floor with my clasped hands keeping my head up.

"What's on yer mind, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, climbing up onto the couch next to me.

"Just thinking. Something's been nagging at me in my mind for a while, and I now know what it is." I said, sighing.

"What is it?" She asked, putting a hoof to my shoulder. "Is it about us?"

"Yes and no. It's about me and the other humans who live here or will live here." I answered. "We're going to need to have a human doctor die sooner or later, so that Fluttershy won't need to fix us up if one of us gets mildly injured."

"What do ya mean by that? Are ya'll saying she can't handle it?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not in the least. I'm saying that anyone who comes here could become very insulted if they only have your equivalent of a veterinarian taking care of their wounds." I answered, shaking my head. "At the very least, he or she'll work out of the hospital, giving the nurses vital information about our physiology, neurology... ah fuck it, I'm rambling." From her face, Applejack didn't know what neurology was, nor physiology. I don't blame her, I hate big words myself.

"Ah... think Ah understand, Sugarcube." She said, before wrapping my in an embrace. "Just don't go an' confuse me with them fancy words." She added after letting me go, lightly punching my shoulder. I smiled at her and stood up, wrapping her in my own embrace. Instead of letting go of her to deliver a punch, I settled on kissing her deeply, tasting the apple cobbler we had for breakfast on her breath.

Reluctantly (I had to breath, and one cannot breath if one's nose is somewhat pressed against his love's face), I cut the kiss and froze when I head a filly go d'awww from behind me. Before I could preform a tactical nuclear faceplant into the couch, Applejack reprimanded Applebloom.

"I never had to deal with schisse like that back on Earth..." I muttered, before faceplanting myself into the couch.

"What do ya mean, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, confused. I sighed, knowing that this conversation was going to crop up sooner or later, and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Before I came here... I was married to a Russian woman. Think, Stalliongrad, I believe." I explained. "I loved her and she me, and nobody gave us any flak on base."

"Why didn't ya say sumthin' to Dawn then?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was either staying dead or getting a second chance at life here. My body was almost completely vaporized, I believe. Suit or not, I was not going to be walking from that explosion." I said.

"Well... Ah guess ya have a good point there..." Applejack said with a frown. "So, how do Ah compare to her?" I scoffed with a slight grin.

"You don't yell in Russian when pissed off. You're American, even if you consider it Equestrian. You're a foot shorter than her when you're standing on your hind legs. Need I go on?" I said the first things that popped up in my head. Applejack shook her head with a small grin/frown combo. "She was a beautiful woman, but you're a beautiful pony." I added, rubbing her head with my hand. Before she could respond, I grabbed her hat and bolted out the door, slamming it on my head as she yelled at me.

I was grinning like an idiot as I hopped into the Humvee and waited for her to get in to get at me. As soon as she did, I slammed her door shut and pressed down on the gas pedal, heading towards Ponyville.

"That's one way that you're different, AJ." I said while getting my seat belt on. "Amber would've just shot at me, if I had taken any of her clothes off of her suddenly. She always packs a pistol, even if it's not loaded at the time." AJ was too busy clinging to the seat to respond, the shock of going 60 MPH in a Humvee still eating away at her. I giggled like an idiot at her response and gingerly placed her hat back upon her head.

'Well, at least she isn't being shot at.' I thought, slowing the Humvee to a stop as Duran jogged towards us.

"What's up?" I asked, opening the door. Applejack and him shared a look, each trying to remember who the fuck the other was. To be fair, it looked like Duran and Callum were brothers, even up close. Both were black, which complicated things a little.

Not that I have anything against black people, mind you.

"Not much, Dawn just needs to see you." He replied, shrugging.

"Well why in the fuck doesn't he just teleport to me?" I swear, my brain just facepalmed.

"He's not 'tuned in with your frequency', whatever the hell that means." Duran explained, shrugging in confusion. Then he narrowed his eyes at my face. "With all due respect; you really need to go and unfuck your face up. Shave the beard off, sir." I meerly rolled my eyes and nodded to the door behind mine, to which he shook his head to.

"Alright. Guess you know where I need to go, after all." I said, slipping into the back and stood behind the .50 cal that was still attached to the Humvee, drumming my fingers against the ammunition box. "Hey, Duran?" I called down after a moment.

"Yea?" He asked, hopefully keeping his eyes on the rugged road.

"How much shit do we have in the back? I kept putting inventory check off and I don't feel like doing it while we're bouncing along this road." I asked right after he ran over another small dip.

"Four ammunition boxes for the .50, four and a half if you count the loaded one. Fifty magazines for the M16's. Seventy magazines for the M1911's. Twenty frag grenades. A spare pair of Oakleys if you want 'em. Three bulletproof vests, three canteens, and three sets of NV goggles." He counted off, leaving the three sets of equipment for his dead Humvee mates.

"Mind handing me the sunglasses? My last pair were forgotten near an IED when I went to make it go boom." I replied, holding down an arm. A hoof handed me the sunglasses, and I slipped them on after paying a silent moment of respect to their previous owner. The rest of the trip was spent in silence, and we ended up infront of a plain looking house.

"....This is his house?" I asked, looking around.

"It sure is, Sugarcube." Applejack said, struggling to open the door. I lifted myself up onto the roof and slid down, opening the door for her while bowing slightly.

"Right this way, m'lady." I said, grinning. Applejack blushed but stepped down, and I shut the door behind her as Dawn walked out with a set of saddlebags on his back.

"There you are!" He exclaimed, giving Duran what looked like a bit, and my guess was confirmed when he tossed it to me.

"Hey Duran, where're you setting up, anyway?" I asked, wondering where he's been sleeping.

"With Cheerilee, the teacher at the local school if I'm correct." Duran answered with a shrug. "Wife was a teacher too, so I figured I could help her if she needs it."

"Alright. And Gallum?" I asked, noticing a distinct lack of mentioned Ranger.

"Living with that grey Pegasus mare and her daughter. Ditzy Doo, I think her name is." Duran replied.

"She's a nice mare, but if you fuck with Dinky, she'll break your legs with extreme prejudice." Dawn said, putting his front hooves on the hood to get a better angle to look at me.

"So, why did ya call for me, anyway?" I asked, nodding at him.

"I have your uniform done. You can wear that bulletproof vest under it, even though I also added some extra steel in places where they will be useful. I would use Kelviar, but we haven't gotten that far ahead in protection yet. It's not as appealing as Rarity's designs, but I make them efficient for the wearer, not to bloody show off." Dawn explained, getting Duran to pull out my new uniform. It looked just like my old one, except it had several steel plates on my shoulders, elbows, knees, thighs, calves, and forearms.

"Least it isn't gold... Shittiest metal for protection value. I think leather has more value in that department..." I muttered, looking over the uniform carefully.

"I agree there. And Celestia wonders why the Death Guard's floored her Day Guards in the last two years during our fake wars. Anyway, it might be a little uncomfortable for the first few times you wear it, but it'll soon feel like a heavier version of your cammies." Dawn said, getting back down on all fours.

"You must not know then; I'm a Marine. I'm used to uncomfortable suits. Just look at the EOD's bomb suit." I said with a grin.

"Touche." Dawn said, nodding to me.

"Before I forget, we're going to need a human medic here sooner or later." I said, looking at Dawn. "You'll eventually bring someone who'll be offended when they're brought to a veterinarian."

"But the doctors at the hospital treated you." Duran pointed out, and I felt Applejack glaring a hole into my ass.

"Considering I was coughing up enough blood to fill a bucket, they had no choice." I countered. "They have almost no clue on how the human body works. I know I'm no expert on the subject, unless it's about male sex organs. Bloody high school and their sex ed..." I muttered the last sentence.

"I think I'm getting what you're saying." Dawn said, putting a hoof to his chin. "If I bring a medic here, they'll be able to teach the doctors at the hospital about you humans, and when one of you gets injured, you won't have to go to Fluttershy or hope the nurses get lucky."

"Alright. I'm going to go get a shot of vodka. Anyone else want to come with me?" I offered, putting my shit in the Humvee.

"I'll go get Gallum and meet you there, Mark." Duran said, jogging off towards Ditzy's house.

"Let's go." Dawn said, going around the hood and pressing a hoof to my chest, before teleporting.

We had a good drink.

Next Chapter: Medic! Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 15 Minutes