As the orange mare and I blushed and looked away from each other, Applebloom looked at us, confused while Rainbow Dash (remembering that Applebloom called her this) tried hard to not just burst out laughing like an idiot. I glared at Dash before sitting up with a groan, causing the mare with a cowboy hat to look instantly worried.

“Are ya’ll okay?” She asked, forgetting the embarrassing comment I just muttered and looked up at my head, frowning.

“I’ll be fine... after a while, I just need to wrap it up and get some rest for a few days.” I coughed, hoping that Dash didn’t rupture a lung or something after knocking me out. After several seconds, I felt good enough to get up, and I did, shakily standing up, using a post to help steady myself. The orange mare just looked up at me in awe, probably because I was a good three and a half feet taller than her.

“Well…I guess you’re fine…. So I’ll be on my way now…” Rainbow Dash said, living up to her name as she left a rainbow streak while flying away quickly.

“Er, mah name’s Applejack, pleasure to make yer acquaintance.” She finally said, making me look down at her. In response, I held out a hand, which she shook firmly and kinda quickly.

“Pleasure to meet you Applejack. My name’s Mark. If you would be so kind to get me a strip of cloth, I could wrap my wound up?” I requested, getting her to nod.

“Alright. Ah’ll be out in a jiffy.” She said, before bolting inside, while I swore I saw a dust cloud that looked almost like she did for a moment.

“Hey Applebloom, what’s with the tattoo thing on your sister’s flank?” I suddenly asked, picking up my helmet after a moment, looking inside it for blood stains. After I said that, I almost facepalmed since that sounded perverted.

“Ya’ll never heard of a Cutie Mark?” Applebloom asked, probably shocked.

“Nope. Humans don’t get them.” I replied. “What do they do?”

“They define who a pony is! Ah’m aiming to find out what mine’ll be!” She said loudly, hopping up and down.

‘Pretty much stating that this Cutie Mark thing forces these ponies to work with what the image is. I take it Applejack works around apples, and Rainbow Dash works with clouds or lightning.’ I thought to myself as sweat and blood trickled down my neck. ‘….I need to get out of this damn suit soon, or I’ll end up with heat stroke.'

“Sounds interesting. Do you know where I’d be able to stay the night?” I asked.

“Ya’ll can stay here!” Applejack suddenly said, startling me. I nodded in gratitude and wrapped the cloth strip she was holding out to me around my head.

“Thank you kindly. I really need a shower, though. And a place to put this suit.” I smiled once I finished.

“That’s a suit? Ain’t like a suit Ah’ve ever seen before.” Applejack stated. “But come on in, we’ve got just what ya’ll looking for.” I gently picked Applebloom up, getting a giggle from her as I followed Applejack in, ducking a little to avoid bashing my injured skull anymore. The inside looked like a typical farmhouse, if it wasn’t for the lime green and ancient pony sleeping in an equally lime green chair.

“This suit’s supposed to protect me from explosions.” I replied, watching with one eye as Applebloom sat in the helmet.

‘And it did a goodjob, too.’ I thought sarcastically.

“What’re ya’ll doing with explosives, anyhow?” Applebloom asked, looking up at me as Applejack led me upstairs.

“My job required me to make them harmless, or to make them explode harmlessly.” I replied, telling half the truth. No need to tell them that I'm a soldier at the moment.

“So, here’s the bathroom, and the shower’s inside. Ah’ll leave ya’ll to yerself, come on, Applebloom!” Applejack said, stopping. I set down said filly and stepped inside, shutting the door and looking around the tiny, by my body’s definition anyway, bathroom.

“Alright, time to get this bastard off…” I muttered, and underwent the stripping of my suit, then my fatigues. I then stepped into the shower, purely naked, and turned the water on, recoiling slightly due to it being borderline freezing.

‘SHIT! That’s fucking cold!! …Ah, what the hell am I complaining about? I’m covered in my blood as it is…’ I thought, before instantly putting my back to the water raining down upon me, having to crouch slightly to get under it. I sighed in relief as my internal heat that was alarmingly warm slowly cooled off, getting closer to a normal temperature.

“Just in time… ‘Bout to overheat, and THAT wouldn’t be good…” I muttered, before jumping a little at the pair of voices outside the door.

“Fer the last time Twilight, NO! He’s takin’ a shower right now, an’ Ah’m sure he’d like to keep some privacy!” Applejack’s voice suddenly half yelled, and I could sense the mild frustration at this ‘Twilight’.

“It’s alright, Applejack, I’ve been in worse situations!” I called out, getting a groan of annoyance from her.

“Fine… Ya’ll can go in, Twilight.” She said.

“It seems to make you annoyed, would you care to join her?” I called out teasingly, smirking.

“W-Well… Ah’ve… Got somethin’ to do…” She stuttered, and I could instantly tell that she was lying, and this Twilight stated my thinking, causing Applejack to just bolt off, by what I heard on the staircase.

“Hm. Well, come on in Twilight. The door’s open.” I said, sitting down in the bath tub. She hesitantly did, and I could detect a blush on her…cheeks.

‘Freakin ponies have very human faces, except for the bloody obvious…’ I thought, before shifting to get myself more comfortable.

“So… First off; what are you?” She asked after several seconds, levitating a quill and scroll of paper. I guess this is magic or something, but I don’t care right now.

“Human. Scientifically dubbed Homo Sapiens.” I replied, getting a scribble of ink on paper as an answer.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

"Mark Durnkinscoff.” I replied. More scribbling.

“Alright, you were talking about a suit to Applejack earlier; what’s it used for?” She asked, nodding at the heap of green protection on the floor.

“It’s called an EOD bomb suit. If someone puts it on, it should protect the wearer from most explosives, up to a degree.” I replied.

“Should? And EOD?” She was confused.

“I’m not here by choice; I died, because I was blown up. And EOD stands for Explosive Ordinance Disposal. I worked with bombs and the like, disarming them to make them harmless, or blowing them up at a distance, to keep them harmless.” I explained. She looked horrified but probably refused to comment about it.

“Alright, that’s all of the questions I have right now. I’ll be by again later for some more.” She said, rolling up the scroll and leaving me to get dressed, which I did. I grunted as I picked up the heavy suit and slowly walked out, barely able to see over the top of the pile in my arms. As I couldn’t see where I was going very well, I paused when I heard the front door open.

“OhmyCelestia! Why didn’t you tell me there was a new pony here, Applejack?!” A voice shouted before a pony slammed into me, knocking the two of us down onto the floor, suit pieces flying everywhere. I heard a now familiar crack and inwardly rolled my eyes as I slipped back into unconsciousness.

I'm cruel to Mark, I know :P

Also, I know the dialog between Mark and Twilight was OOC, but ignore that.