Chapter 2

The Elements of Harmony

*****

Sterling was looking around the workshop that had been converted into a party place for a moment when he spotted a young woman that was bouncing up and down towards him.

"Surprise! Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and this is my 'Welcome to Ponyville' and 'Congratulations on Building Your New Home' party to you! So were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh-huh-huh?" the same woman greeted him in a rapid speech to him.

"To say the very least, Miss Pie," he panted while he caught his breath. Such a turn of events never really occurred to him at all. Not even when he was fighting in that war that was still active in his mind. It was that same reminder that kept him on his toes. And then... a sudden realization had hit him in the gut. His mouth went agape as he suddenly recognized the woman in front of him from the Equestrian News Network.

"No way..." he gasped.

"Huh? What is it, new neighbor?" Pinkie asked him quickly, curious as to how he had become struck with something in his mind.

"....Laughter," he mumbled out as his eyes didn't leave hers. "Element.... of Laughter?!" he shouted out in a shock.

"Well, of course, silly goose!" Pinkie Pie giggled to him. "Aaannd! All of the other girls are here as well, just in case if you're wondering," the party girl added to her answer.

Sterling looked around to see the same women who wielded the Elements of Harmony at the counter where the Cakes, who owned the building, had been taking the orders of their customers. He was immediately starstruck with the presences of those women in the same building.

"And of course, these are---" Pinkie was about to greet before Sterling put up his hand.

"May I venture the names of the rest of this rather majestic group, if you please?" he asked the bubbly girl politely.

"Ah! Okay, then!" Pinkie relented with a giggle as she headed to her friends.

Sterling began pointing to them one by one, starting with the obvious one:

"As it is, you are obviously named Pinkie Pie, and you are holder of the Element of Laughter, and the known sweets baker and party planner for this entire town. And for all occasions, too," he pointed to her, who was smiling just as wide as the corners of her mouth were allowing her to do. She acknowledged his observation with a squeak of delight.

"Your name," he pointed to the girl with a short, rainbow colored hairstyle, "is Rainbow Dash. You're the holder of the Element of Loyalty, a Wonderbolts Reserves member, and the Captain of the Ponyville weather team. With a lot of backed up boasts of being the best flyer in all of Equestria, to boot," he finished on her. The same athletic woman had given a confident smirk to him with a salute.

"This one, here," he pointed to the shy woman to follow up, as she looked away for a moment, "is named Fluttershy. The holder of the Element of Kindness, the local veterinarian who has a great talent with animals, the woman who can sing very well, and is also known to be a member of the Equestrian Wildlife and Exotic Magical Creatures Preservation Act," he was able to list out with a smile. The woman could only nod while her face was halfway hidden by her hands and hair. This act was just as cute as when he saw it on the news.

"And you," he continued with his finger on the farmer girl, "are the one named Applejack. You hold the Element of Honesty, you have a great family made assortment of alcoholic beverages, you have a rather large hard working family, and you so happen to be the recent 1st place winner of both the Dodge Junction and Appleoosa bull riding competitions," he stated to her. This received a lovely chuckle and a wink from the cowgirl.

"You, obviously," he bowed to the purple haired girl, "are the one that is named Rarity. The holder of the Element of Generosity, a growing icon in the fashion world all over Equestria with many famous clients, a gem enthusiast in your spare time, and you also happen to be known as one of the people who donates a majority of her profits to the Equestrian Wounded Warrior Project," he finished up with her. The woman was gaping her mouth in awe of what he knew.

"And finally," he spoke up, "This is the Alicorn Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. The holder of the Element of Magic, and an intellect that knows a lot about being knowledgeable while keeping an open heart to her friends, family and subjects like myself, who aren't even worthy enough to be near her," he finished with a deep bow to her as his knees went to the floor. This caused the Princess in front of him to giggle just a bit before she went over to him with her hands touching his shoulders.

"Oh! Please! Call me Twilight! And there's no need to make such a scene out of this, my new friend and neighbor," she spoke to him calmly. "Now please rise up, good sir. Let's get a good look at you," Twilight instructed him softly. He obeyed with his legs moving up so that his feet would go to the floor. "So, uh... what's your name? And how do you know about us?" she asked him with an eyebrow going up.

"Oh, right. *Ahem* My name is Sterling Caliber," he introduced himself to the women, knowing fully well that the other people in the crowd was listening in. He gave a salute to the Elements before he was given a salute back by them. "I was a soldier in the Royal Equestrian Marine Corps who had made it to the rank of Colonel before my honorable discharge. And for more than ten years, I have served my time and life to the country while I was deployed outside of Equestria," he explained a bit of his past life to them. "And I say more than ten years because I was not officially in the Corps until I was at the age of eighteen for my official sign-up. And uh... I was in a specialist unit during that time, so uh... yeah, that's what happened before I had arrived back to Equestria," he finished explaining to them all, hoping not to reveal himself too much.

"Oh, wow!/Hoo-wee, partner!/ Oooohh!/Oh, my goodness!/Goodness!/AWESOME!!!" the women spoke up to him in the surprising tone that he grew accustomed to hearing all the time.

"So then, uh... Colonel," Twilight began to ask the man curiously. "May we see the new house that you so happened to have fixed up? If you please?"

"Well, now! Who am I to deny the heroines of the land access to my home? I'll lead the way to there, if you'll have me," Sterling responded with a smile. "Oh! And, uh... I can also be called 'Silver Bullet' if you wish to do so," he added on to his info.

"Ah think that we might just call ya Sterling, 'cause there's a kid here that's named Silver Spoon, and we don't wanna cause some confusion between you two," Applejack nodded to him.

"Hmm... I'm good with that," the man conceded. "Now, shall we, my dear new friends?" he suggested to them as he waved his hand to the door.

They all spoke their unanimous agreement and headed out the door once the party had been dissolved. When the formalities for paying the bill had come through, they headed for their vehicles and took to the road that had led to his home on the southeast side.

The drive went on for about fifteen minutes, obeying the speed limit of course, before they pulled up to the house that he was very proud to call his home. And it was a good thing that the front door was locked before he drove off to the town earlier, lest he found a thief breaking in.

As he pulled up to the driveway to park his vehicle inside of the garage, he noticed that the time was now 4:30 PM. Right on the dot. He chuckled once again, thinking that the universe was paying him a better start to life than what he was given at the age of eight before he fought in that war that he had dared not to mention to anyone. Not yet, anyway.

"Yo, Colonel!" Rainbow shouted out to him after stepping out from his car to look behind him.

"Yes, Rainbow?" he replied.

"You got yourself a really sweet ride! How did you get it, man?" she asked with her eyes going a little wide while the other four women stepped out of her car on cue.

"It's a Stalliongrad engineered work of art that a royal family gave to me after I saved them from a contingent of assassins that wanted them to fall just for the sake of money," he answered her with the garage door closing behind him.

"Stalliongrad?" Rarity gasped, struck with amazement as the glitter in her deep blue eyes had shined brighter. "I've always wanted to go there, but I never had the chance. Not even Fancy Pants could get a flight there," she commented to him a dreamy, then turned somber, voice.

"Well, I'm sure that I could tell you all about it once we head inside," Sterling replied with a small grin to her. He looked over to where everyone would be at. His driveway was parked with a few cars behind his. But as he looked over, he saw that Applejack had not been present.

"So, uh... where's Applejack?" he asked them.

"Oh, um... she said something about getting some present for you for your move-in," Twilight answered him.

"Really?" he inquired to her. But as Twilight was about to respond, a horn had beeped a few times. And it came from the truck that was behind him not ten minutes ago. As soon as it parked, Applejack had stepped out and pulled up a big bottle of whiskey from the passenger seat. The Colonel had also seen three barrels stacked in the back. "Must be something that's worth putting into my personal contraband," he grinned as he saw the cowgirl go up to the back of her truck to open the back door.

"I got a big present for ya, Colonel," Applejack announced to him as she pushed a barrel from the open trunk before he offered his hand for her to get to the ground. It was then after her boots hit the pavement, that he was able to get a quick glance at what was hidden in her plaid shirt. Even though it was normal for him to think of women that way, his biological chemistry being made that way, he thought better than to keep staring.

"Show me then," Sterling commanded her playfully. A quick roll later, a big barrel that was labeled 'Apple Family Hard Cider' had been placed on the ground. "Well, now... You ladies trying to tell me something?" he smirked at them with a sly grin. This made the farmer, and the others, to laugh just a bit. Fluttershy, however, only squeaked in response to him. "I'm just kidding, ladies! Just kidding you," he calmly said to them.

"But! That ain't all, sugarcube! That's just the warm up," Applejack announced to him. Behind her back was a big bottle. She slowly presented it to the man. And as she did, Sterling's mouth was about to be broken because of gravity pulling down harder on it. "The world famous Applejacks Zap Apple Whiskey! Made by yours truly," she announced to him before putting the 750 ml. bottle in his hands to say, "And it's all yours, hon."

Sterling could not find the words to express his thanks, choosing instead to give her a big hug. There was a tear falling from his eye, staining the woman's shoulder. Applejack was quite surprised to have been given such a gift. He never even had a gift in any of his birthdays. Not even counting the gift of having his parents die in front of him when he was only eight years old at the time.

"There now, sugar," Applejack whispered to him, patting his shoulders while noticing his sobs. This almost caused her to ask--

"I was never given any gift as valuable as this! Not even on any of my birthdays, nor when my parents were alive!" he cried out softly to her. This almost made the farmer cry, given that her parents were also not around. But she kept the pain inside. "Thank you, Applejack...." he sobbed again. Applejack could only squeeze herself around him tighter.

"You too, sugarcube?" Applejack asked him with a soft tone.

"Mm-hmm," he nodded to her. He then pulled out from the hug and wiped his eyes of the tears. "Mine were lost to a war..." he sighed to her. And the other women had clearly heard him, because of a collective gasp. "And I had to find a way to avenge them, back when I was just a child," Sterling began to tell them.

"And when you're an only child in Dodge Junction, and you've just lost your parents, you have to learn to fend for yourself. But I didn't want to be a burden to anyone in that town, so I had to run away from my village to fend for myself. And after two years, I was found by a man that had taken me under his wing at the age of ten. He was my former commander until I was promoted to Captain, before I was given the promotion to Colonel. But even then, he knew that being an only kid was a sort of blessing in disguise. He had taught me how to fight with my knowledge, my mitts, my magic, and my heart. And so... my first shot and glass of hard cider will definitely go to honor his memory."

"Ah'll drink to that, partner," Applejack spoke up.

"Me too!/To that gracious man!/...yay.../To that man!/To his memory!" the others spoke up before entering his home.

After showing them to the living room, he pulled out the glasses and poured the cider into them. The clanking of the glasses makes the toast official before the cider was chugged down.

At about 7:25 PM, the real party had begun. The laughter was pursued as Sterling began to tell a few of his funnier memories about his fallen friends. And all after hearing their life stories. Even the ones with how their Cutie Marks were discovered. And all because of how Rainbow Dash had discovered her talent for the sonic rainboom.

"So-- Ah-ha!-- This grunt just gets the black berries from the nearby stream! And he starts thinking that he'll just make a fortune in selling some exotic fruit. Next thing I know, ten of my men are now having cramps in their stomachs that hold them back from fighting for at least two weeks!" he finishes up the last one that came about. The uproar of laughter had gotten even louder with every story.

"And you knew what they were, all that time?" Rarity asks them while holding back a snort.

"The laxative compound in that cluster of black and red berries is almost like a toxin to us Equestrians, so they were held up in lavatories for a long time," he clarified to the seamstress. The snort that the refined lady had held back then escaped, much to her embarrassment while the others had a laugh about it.

"And now I just feel sorry for those gentlemen who fell under that trap of that brute," Rarity giggled.

"Oh well. What could you do, huh?" Sterling shrugged to her. Within a second, he realized that the party had begun to die down as a yawn escaped his mouth. But as soon as he was about roll off to bed, Applejack comes in with a second glass of that whiskey with an ice cube in it while handing him another glass of the same hard cider.

"Thanks, A.J., you're the best," he nodded to her before he seated himself back on his favorite reclining chair.

"Nicknames, huh? Guess ya won't mind if Ah call ya 'sugar', right?" she winked at him with a rather flirty tone.

"Oh, well, um... Okay!" he smiled widely as a big blush warmed up his face.

"Oh really, darling?" Rarity scoffed at him. "I should think that you deserve to be called more than that, given what you've done for us, my dear Sterling," she encouraged him to smile further with her own wink. This had now caused the hardened man to give a slight chuckle that had a higher octave than before. The alcohol had done its purpose in helping him to loosen up a bit. But it was still making him a little more tired than before.

"I think that we can all agree that our new neighbor is quite sexy to look at," Fluttershy busted out from her mouth, two seconds before realizing what she just said. The same drinks made her a little more talkative. Her hands had found her face and covered the major blush that was painted on her face with a burning red as she squeaked as loudly as she was known to make. This action was just too cute in Sterling's silver eyes.

"Well, that too, Flutters! But I was going along more on the line of 'major fucking bad-ass with a razor sharp coolness about him!', you know?" Rainbow added on to the conversation. "That's right, bud! Even I know that Royal Equestrian Marines are the ultimate badasses in all of the world of Equis! And let's not forget, you are definitely a great looking guy!" she boldly stated with a wink.

"W-well, uh... I-I-uh... I don't know what to say about that," he admitted shamefully to the group that surrounded him while he took a sip from his whiskey while looking away from them. Even after all of the times that he had fought with the best and worst of them, he still had a major battle to go through: how to flirt back with a woman. He looked back to the clock, and it read 7:30 PM. Another yawn escaped his mouth.

"Now: I don't want to sound rude, but I think it's time that we all go home to sleep for the night," Sterling spoke up to them in a tone that showed his sleepiness. "Between a long train ride, followed by the legal checks on my background before coming in as a new citizen, along with my mage abilities being used to make my new home? I'm exhausted! And the alcohol is not waking me up at all," he spoke to them with his neck popped and his back cracking from an arching motion.

"Goodness! You really are getting tired," Fluttershy said to him.

"Oh, wow! Did you really use your magic to make this new home?" Twilight asked him.

"With the resources of rock and stone, wood, and all of the necessities needed for a functioning home," the man pointed to her.

"I must say that I am really impressed, Sterling dear," Rarity complimented him. "And with such impeccable tastes, if I might be so bold to say," she added on to her notions.

"I'll drink to that, my friend," he nodded to her with his hand up in a 'cheers' salute to her. And with a last big gulp of his drinks, he used his thumbs to wipe the tiny streams of liquids that almost dripped off of his face from his lips. But as he had gone into the kitchen, Rarity picked up on the shyness of their host almost immediately, as did Fluttershy.

“Um... I think that we should let him get his sleep,” Fluttershy quipped to the other girls in the room in her soft voice.

"Now hold on a moment, if you please," Rarity said as she waved her hand to the rest. They stopped from leaving immediately.

“What is it, Rarity?” Applejack asked her curiously as her voice went down, as did the others.

"I think that our host so happens to be almost as shy as our friend Fluttershy,"Rarity whispered to them.

“How could you tell?” Twilight asked.

“Well, his face was getting quite red,” Rarity began to answer, “And even though I agree that we must get some rest back home, given our schedules for tomorrow,” she sighed in some bit of aggravation, “I can't help but feel that our friend may have been single for a while. Plus, there's also how he reacted to my inquiry,” she added to the argument.

“Single? Him? Rarity, we all love you, you know that,” Rainbow arched an eyebrow at her. “But I seriously doubt that our former Colonel has not had a girlfriend,” Rainbow whispered in a doubtful tone.

“Has anyone even thought to ask him about his social life within his time of duty?” Twilight inquired. They shook their heads no. “Well, I think that if we just ask him, he might answer us,” Twilight pointed out to them. They all nodded their agreement.

“Single, and a virgin, shamefully,” Sterling answered them with his head bent to look at the floor. His glasses were now washed and rinsed of his drinks and placed on a drying rack near the sink. This was a bit of a bad move as the girls just jumped from his unexpected presence. His fast answer to their curiosity had gotten their brains a bit muddled before figuring out what it was that he had said to them. “And I've never had a girlfriend in all of my life. Not even a five minute fling,” he added on to his confession.

“Never?” Rainbow, Twilight, Applejack & Pinkie asked him at once. Sterling only nodded with a sheepish smile while feeling so ashamed of his answer to them.

“Oh! My goodness, Sterling,” Rarity spoke up. “You've never even had the simple, romantic pleasure of having a special someone to even go home to, every day?” she asked him with a concern in her voice. Sterling could only sigh with a hint of sorrow in his mind.

“We're all sorry for asking you about that, Colonel,” Twilight apologized to him.

“Well, it was about to be confessed to you, anyways, so... please, don't hurt me,” Sterling requested them in a half-joking way. Four of the girls gave a light chuckle to him.

“I need to go to sleep for tomorrow, because there's a lot of work for me to do,” he told them as his arms went up for a stretch that was successful with a few pops from his arms and back.

“Have a good night, Sterling,” Twilight spoke to the man as she made way to the door.

“Sleep tight, ladies,” he yawned to them. As Twilight left the door, she volunteered to drive them, given that the rest of the girls have had a bit to drink. When Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie followed suit, Rarity and Fluttershy each gave him a big hug that was followed with a kiss to his cheeks. This action turned the color of his face go to a beet red.

“Thanks, you two,” he nodded to them with a smile that made him feel like a civilian teenager.

“Y-you're welcome, Sterling,” Fluttershy stammered with a smile, given that it was her first time kissing a guy on his face. Her blush was the tell-tale sign that made it clear for him.

“Good night, you two,” Sterling responded back with a timid hand waving at them. “Hope to see you later,” he added to his farewells to them.

“Good night,” they whispered to him before opening the door to close it behind them. Once they all left, the sounds of their cars had been the last sounds that he heard before he nodded to himself. His thoughts had been focused on how to make the rest of his night just a wonder. The same dishes that were used during his impromptu get together with his new friends had been put away into the sink, leaving him to only wash and rinse them before putting them on the same drying rack.

When the same sounds from outside had disappeared, he walked up the flight of stairs to head to his master bedroom. But before he could take his sleep, he went to the shower in his own private bathroom after opening the door from the hallway. A quick shower later, he dried off and put on a new pair of boxers before putting on a pair of pajamas that had both pants and a shirt to go with them.

It was then that his thoughts of slumber had then been abruptly halted by how he observed how both Fluttershy and Rarity, two of the Elements that he befriended, had given him a hug and a kiss each. And as his body became submerged into the very comforting sheets of his new bed, the desire to sleep overcame whatever other plans he had for the night. But as he slumbered, his dreams had become as peaceful as when he saw both the sun and the moon for the first time. And all without the ever ominous clouds of both death and destruction in his vision.

"Rarity.... Fluttershy...." he whispered their names in his sleepy state.

…..

*****