Over the rest of the holiday period I stayed with Twilight and Spike as everyone gradually returned to town from their own celebrations. Twilight was very accommodating for me during the Christmas period, over the few days I stayed there we spent the entire time conversing together or engaging in various activities to ourselves occupied. She did admit she was initially a bit nervous since my initial display in Canterlot on Megan's birthday, she told me that she wanted to make sure that I wasn't being effected too much by spending the holiday in Equestria. In the end I was thankful for Twilight looking out for me, it helped me to realise that that the girls here will look out for me when I'm feeling down.

As my team returned from their own homes I settled back into the barracks with them, even thought the guards who were on duty were paid extra for their shifts I let them go home for a week once the others returned to allow them some time to relax. We spent the first couple of nights together in the common room of the barracks catching up, everyone was explaining to one another what they got for Hearth's Warming and what they got up to with their families.

All the girls came around to pay a visit as well, I decided that it was alright for select guests to be authorised to enter the common room whilst they were accompanied by a member of the unit. Once they all came around they all thanked me for the gifts they received, as I guessed Rainbow was over the moon with her gift when she opened it. All of the girls seemed to actually appreciate their gifts when they all came around to speak to me, and women claim that men are hopeless at buying presents.

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Tuesday 31st December 2013
New Years Eve
19:32

"Raise," Taking hold of a small collection of chips I throw them to the centre of the table as I look over to Chaser sat on my left as he eyes his cards curiously. The girls and my team all arrived at Twilight's just before the party was due to begin, as everyone started to mingle they all went about their own various activities. Georg had the idea to set up a small game of Texas hold 'em or whatever this worlds equivelant is called, I didn't exactly pay attention to the name. Myself, Chaser, Sunny, Shadow, Rainbow and Applejack were all gathered around the table as the game went on. As I looked around the room I noticed a very distinct lack of Luna and Celestia.

"Call," Leaning forward Chaser throws his own chips into the pot as we all turn to Applejack. Eyeing us both curiously Applejack slides her chips back and forth before she adds to the pile. Georg flips over the forth card to display a Jack of Hearts, alongside it lies a 4 of Clubs, 10 of Diamonds and a King of Clubs. Flicking my own cards up I look to my King of Diamonds and 6 of Clubs before trying to judge the others expressions. Chaser is trying his best to remain stoic but his left ear seems to have a slight twitch to it, I've already figured out that it's his tell. Applejack however is harder to read, she just looks to the cards with her usual smile. Only the three of us remained in the match following Rainbow making a bet which kept getting raised resulting in everyone dropping out.

Rainbow brings her drink back down on the table gaining my attention, "Come on, John. While we're young."

My eyes meet hers, "I'll take as long as I want, thank you very much. Just because you folded following your early bluff," So far I've only got a pair, if I'm lucky the best I'll get is a three of a kind or maybe two pairs. Fuck it... I'll just bluff, unlike Rainbow though I won't chicken out. Picking up a third of my remaining chips I place them down in the centre of the table.

Chasers eyes dart back and forth from me to the bet I've just made. After a few moments he picks up the same amount of chips and adds them to my pile, "I'll call your bluff."

Raising an eyebrow I smirk to him, "Oh, you think I'm bluffing?"

Chaser responds with his own grin, "I know you are. I've got your tell figured out," Shaking my head I look to Applejack who's remaining quiet as she looks to me, it's almost as if she's trying to determine whether or not I'm lying or if I've actually got a good hand. Without a word she adds her chips to the pot. Flipping the last card Georg reveals a King of Hearts giving me a three of a kind.

Chasers ear once again twitches whereas Applejack maintains her professional poker face. I wait a few seconds before adding my bet to the pot which Chaser quickly calls which leaves us once again waiting for Applejack. Without so much as a word she continue to look me over trying to judge my hand, it gets to the point where Chaser waves a hoof in front of her muzzle breaking her concentration, "See something you like, Applejack?" Chaser asks with a smirk. Applejack rolls her eyes in response before calling the bet.

I slowly flip over my cards revealing my three of a kind, Chaser quickly lets out a defeated groan as he slides his cards forward. Chuckling I lean forward to grab the chips, "Don't feel bad, Chaser. You can't win them all."

Applejacks hoof comes down on my hand stopping me from claiming my prize, With a victorious grin she flips over her cards, "You're right about that, partner."

Looking to her cards I pause when I find she managed to fill in the gaps with a Queen and an Ace to give herself a Ace high straight. I slowly slump back as Applejack and Rainbow chuckle at me. Looking to Georg I give him an irritated glare, "You had to invite the bearer of the element of honesty to a game which involves lots of lying, didn't you?" Georg can only respond with a sheepish smile as he sinks into his chair.

Rainbow smirks as she turns to me, "You're just cranky 'cause you lost."

"I'm not cranky, I'm irritated. There's a difference," Picking up my bottle of ale I bring the drink to my lips before resting it back against the table, "Who's dealing?"

Shadow picks up the packs of cards and starts to deal, "Haven't you humans got a more interesting version of poker?"

"We have, but it wouldn't work here."

"Why not?"

"You don't wear clothes. The only one of you with anything on is Applejack, she's the only one who constantly wears a single piece of clothing."

Everyone exchanges glances before turning to me, "What's the game then?"

"Strip poker, every time you lose you have to strip a piece of clothing. You all don't wear clothing so it's kind of a pointless game."

"So why would you even play it?"

Turning to Shadow I raise an eyebrow, "Guys will play it when there's more girls around, since we wear clothes constantly it's kind of a sexual game where the aim is to get them to lose all their clothes leaving them naked."

Sunny looks to me with a questioning expression, "You actually convince them to play the game?" I nod my head as Shadow finishes dealing the cards out, "Only your species would find a way to make poker provocative."

I raise my hand defensively, "Hey, just because we aren't sexually repressed. You haven't even seen the internet, you wouldn't believe half the shit you can come across on there."

"The internet? Isn't that the information centre you mentioned before?"

Picking up my cards I lean back in the chair, "Basically, if you want to find out about anything in my world you'll likely find it on the internet. Despite that it's probably mostly used to find porn."

Rainbow scoffs, "Big deal, we've got porn here as well," We all look to her with amused expressions, "...Not that I've got any."

Applejack lets out a chuckle, "You ain't foolin' anypony, sugarcube."

"I'm haven't got any!" Rainbow shouts defensively as her cheeks turn to a deep shade of crimson.

Smirking I shake my head, "I'm not on about magazines, I mean movies and videos. No matter what your kink is you'll find it on the internet, it's kinda bad that we have such an amazing piece of technology which would have seemed impossible thirty years ago and lots of people mostly use it to watch porn."

Chaser looks to me with hopeful expression, "Can you make the internet?"

Laughing I pat him on the head, "Definitely not, I'm also not helping you in getting porn."

Swatting my hand away we begin to focus once again on our game of poker. As Sunny and Rainbow put their blinds on the table my attention is dragged away as I hear Twilight and someone singing some sort of song. Looking over my shoulder I catch Twilight as she finishes some sort of little dance which involved shaking her ass in the air with Cadence, alongside them is Shining Armor with Luna and Celestia. Why the fuck were they shaking their asses in the air? I swear that ponies can be really weird at times. 'Good day madame, allow me to greet you with the formal twerk.'

"John, it's your go," Chaser says causing me to focus again on the game.

Quickly glancing to the cards on the table I pick up mine and slide them over the table, "I'll be back in a bit," Getting up from my seat I grab my bottle and move across the room navigating around the small groups as they all engage in their own conversations. Making a quick detour to the drinks table I grab three additional bottles of ale and bring them with me as I move to the three Princesses who arrived late. Stopping in front of them I smile as I hold the bottles out for them, "Glad to see you all made it, better late then never I guess."

Smiling Luna takes one of the bottles with her magic, "Sorry we're late, somepony was too busy speaking with the nobles," Luna looks towards her sister with a slightly irritated expression as she says this.

Celestia turns to her sister, "I apologised to you about that. I know you want to learn about John's culture, as do I, but I couldn't help the meeting dragging on like it did."

Luna rolls her eyes, "I don't see why you give them so much of your attention, they usually just whine about getting new land or titles rather than anything of any major importance."

"Like it or not, Luna, we still need to appease them. I know it's different from when we used to rule side by side but a lot has changed over a thousand years," Celestia's eyes finally focus on the two bottles I have held out to her, "Ale?"

I nod my head, "Human tradition, on New Years Eve you have to drink alcohol."

As Celestia eyes the two bottles one of them is taken in Cadence's light blue aura as she takes it from my grasp, "Celestia, if John says it's one of his traditions then who are we to argue?"

Celestia looks to Cadence before taking hold of one of the bottles, "I suppose you are right, Cadence."

Ha. You guys are so gullible.

Turning to me Cadence gives a small smile, "May I have a word with you, John?"

Shrugging I take a step to the side, "Sure, we can head to the kitchen," Leading the way I glance back to see Shining with Twilight as he looks to Cadence, probably wondering where I'm going with his wife. Reaching the kitchen I wait for Cadence to come inside before closing the door, "So what do you want to talk about?"

Resting her bottle on the table Cadence takes a seat, "I'm glad to see you took the hint I gave you at the Gala," I look to her confused as she smiles, "You and Luna?"

Sitting alongside Cadence I empty the last of my bottle before resting it on the table, "Has she told you much?"

"Luna told me about what happened on your date. She initially came to me for advise when you asked her out, as you could imagine she was quite nervous since she hasn't been on a date for over one-thousand years."

Pausing I look to her as I lean back on the chair, "She did say that you recommended that romcom, I should have known that would have been your thing."

"Didn't you like it?"

I shrug, "It was alright, though romcoms aren't exactly my thing."

"Luna also told me about the Gala when you both went off togehter" -Cadence chuckles to herself- "I can't believe you pulled her into the pool."

Shaking my head I look to the floor, "I was drunk, I tend to do stupid thing when I'm drunk."

"Does that mean you're going to be doing something stupid tonight?"

"More than likely."

With a soft smile Cadence gets up from her chair and moves to the door, "I'm not sure if human relationships are any different than ours, but please don't rush her into anything. She hasn't been involved with another like this since her return, and from what I've read in historical texts she didn't have a significant other before her banishment either."

Slowly I join Cadence by the door, "I'm not going to rush her into anything, don't worry. If anything I want to take my time with this, make sure it's the right thing for us."

Cadence's expression turns to one of slight concern, "Try not to get injured as well when you leave for the Griffin Empire, not just for her but for your own well being. Shining told me about your actions during the war, I'm sure Luna wouldn't appreciate it if you got stuck behind enemy lines again."

Grabbing the door I push it open as I look to Cadence, "I don't intend on getting hurt, I just always seem to end up getting thrown into the deep end. You of all people should also know that there is risk when you start a relationship with someone in the military, it's kind of an occupational hazard for us to get injured or possibly die on the front lines. Enough about that though, for now lets just enjoy the night," Cadence smiles once again to me as we leave the kitchen to rejoin the others.

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"I'm not doing it, John," Twilight says as she glares at me with frustration.

"Come on... do it," Chaser says as he lightly nudges her, "Spike said you can give anypony a moustache, give John one."

I raise my hand, "I'm not having a moustache, we've been over this, I'll look like a tit with a moustache. I want a trimmed beard, it will save me the effort of growing and styling one while I'm in the Griffin Empire."

Sunny prods my chest, "What about your traditions? I thought you said that you can't have a beard in your army?"

"Well we only say that for parade and since they can interfere with the seal of our respirators whilst on deployment, since you guys don't need to worry about using respirators I think I can safely have a beard. Besides it will keep my face nice and toasty during the winter."

Twilight rolls her eyes, "If I give you a beard will you finally put on some music like Pinkie asked you earlier?"

Shrugging I take hold of my phone, "Give me a beard and I'll stick some songs on for everyone," Releasing a defeated sigh Twilight's horn glows as my face begins to tingle, after a few seconds the glow from her horn cuts out as the three ponies around me look at me, "Well? Did it work?"

Chaser gives an approving nod as he glances to each side of my face, "Not bad."

Pushing my hand up to my chin I can feel the short hairs along my jawline, "Can someone get me a mirror?" As I continue running my hand along my face Sunny levitates a mirror from the side of the room and holds it up for me. Examining my jawline I notice that the thin beard connects to my hair line as it follows the formation of my jaw around my face, a small scattering of stubble rests on the bottom of my chin and my cheeks. The final part of the beard moves around the shape of my lips and is styled similar to that of a thin goatee. Grinning I rub my hand across the facial hair, "That's saved me weeks of growing and styling a beard."

"Happy now?" Twilight asks.

As I nod Sunny moves the mirror back to where it came from, "A perfect beard in five seconds? Of course I'm happy."

Smirking Twilight flicks her head towards a set of speakers Pinkie brought for the party, "Go on then, make sure it's a bit more suited for a party though."

Groaning I take out my phone as I make my way over to the portable speakers which we got for the party, as I play around with the few cables I hear a set of hooves approach me, "Sorting out some music, are you, John?" Luna asks from behind me. Standing up I turn around to her as she looks to me in surprise, "How did you get that beard so quickly?"

Scratching it I bring a cable to my phone and plug it in, "Twilight did some spell to help me grow a beard. Do you like it?"

Luna gives an approving nod as she looks to it closely, "It certainly suits you, I knew you'd look good with one."

Folding my arms I put on an insulted tone of voice, "Are you saying I didn't look good before?"

"No I wasn't s-saying that... I just," As I start to laugh her eyes narrow slightly, "Your playing with me, aren't you?"

Chuckling I start to cycle through my phone, "Damn right I am. I can't believe you got that flustered."

"I do not get flustered," She responds defensively.

"Nah, of course you don't. So what was that?"

Luna shrugs, "I don't need to explain myself."

I roll my eyes as I find a playlist of songs I used a few times for small parties and events we held at the FOB, "Of course you don't."

Chaser joins me and Luna at the speakers as he looks to my phone, "Sunny asked if you were finally going to put on a song instead of chatting up the Princess" -He turns his gaze to Luna- "Her words not mine."

Luna turns her head away to prevent Chaser from seeing her mild blush. Trying to keep the attention off her I step in front of Chaser, "I'm not chatting her up, you cretin. Couldn't Sunny have come over to ask me?"

Chaser shrugs, "I have no idea what a 'cretin' is but I'm gonna guess it's an insult, so buck you. I came here to ask you about that mare we saw you with the other week, what was her name? Moon Glow?"

This seems to get Luna's attention again as she turns back to us, "Did John have a date?"

Chaser smirks as he shakes his head, "No, he was helping her 'with her dissertation.' Weren't you, John?"

I fold my arms, "You're just jealous because I had a fit girl wanting to spend time with me."

Luna raises an eyebrow in confusion, "Fit? What does her health have to do with anything?"

"It's an expression. When we say a girl is fit we really mean she's hot, attractive, beautiful and so on," Luna gives a smug smile as she looks to me. Turning my attention to Chaser I pat his head, "Are you asking me for advice on girls? My little boy's grown up so fast."

Chaser scowls as he steps back from my hand, "I don't need your advise, I just want you to settle a bet."

"And what is this bet?"

"Well we told the rest of the barracks about your little date... sorry, 'dissertation.' We've all put bets on whether you assisted her with a... sexual study on humans. I put money on you bedding her, so did you?"

Luna stares wide eyed at him as a heavy blush surfaces on her face, thankfully Chaser is to busy trying to stare me down to notice her expression. I chuckle softly as I glance at Luna's expression, "No, we didn't have sex."

Chaser looks to me in disappointment, "You're shitting me? Really? Darn, I bet twenty bits on you working your charm on her."

As I shake my head I finally hit play on my phone letting the playlist shuffle through a number of songs, the first one to come in is 'Counting Stars'. I softly push Chaser back in the direction of Sunny, "Instead of seeing if I worked my charm, why don't you work your charm on Sunny?" With a backward glance he takes my hint and moves back to join Sunny, whether or not he'll actually get lucky is a different question.

Luna slowly recovers as she turns to me, "Your unit made bets to see if you slept with me? Why would they do that?"

I shrug as I turn to her, "It's just Chaser being an ass, he decided to blab about the fact that I spent the night with Sunny in the past."

"...When was this?"

I pause as I realise what I said. Oh shit, she doesn't think I did anything with her recently, does she? "It was during the war, it just kinda happened. It didn't mean anything to us, Luna."

Luna looks away towards Sunny momentarily before bringing her eyes back to me, "I suppose... you are right. You were free to be with whoever you wished, though... was there anypony else?"

I guess there's no point in lying. Sighing I rub the back of my neck, "Only one other person, but nobody else knows who I was with. This was just after the war, at the homecoming party. We've kept it to ourselves, there's no point on telling others about it."

"The one where I threw you at the table?" I nod to Luna. She remains silent momentarily as she looks to me, "So long as you don't go around with anypony else I'm willing to leave the past in the past."

"Of course, I'm not gonna do anything like that when I'm with somebody. I know what it's like, my ex did sleep with someone behind my back, I wouldn't want to do that to anyone."

Luna considers me for a moment before she smiles softly, "I trust you, John. I hope you also trust me."

"You've given me no reason not to trust you," I return the smile as I look over to most of the party dancing with one another, "Now, how about we move away from this line of conversation and do something a little more fun?"

Luna glances towards the group before her eyes fall on Slicer standing by herself, "I shall join you shortly, I need to speak with Slicer Jen."

"Don't take too long," Luna looks to me once more before she starts to make her way to Slicer. I remain stationary for a moment as I watch them beginning to talk to one another. As I look back over the party I notice Celestia talking to Shining, moving towards them I grab a few shot glasses filled what I believe is vodka. When I reach them I hold the shot glasses out, "Time for shots."

Shining turns to me with an irritated expression, "What?"

"Shots. S-H-O-T-S... shots. Surely you did these back in the day, this was a vital part of my diet through college and whilst I was on leave."

Shining reluctantly takes one in his magic, "Every time you've been to some sort of celebration you seem to do nothing but get drunk and make a fool of yourself."

"Maybe because I'm not a wet fart who's afraid to unwind and actually knows how to have fun every once in a while."

Celestia watches our display as Shining turns his body to fully face me, "Everything's not all fun and games. This isn't some college party, you are supposed to be a Captain of the royal guard."

"I am a Captain, I just know that the military does not control every second of my life. You strut around like everything is a military parade, you need to realise that every soldier is still a person. Let them unwind when they get the opportunity, it's not an issue if they mess about whilst they're off duty. Being on duty and off duty are two entirely different things, if any of my unit pisses about whilst we're on duty or on deployment I will be the first in line to smack them across the head. There's a time and place for discipline and to act like a normal person, you need to learn the difference."

As Shining is about to respond Celestia turns her focus on him, "John is right," Shining freezes as he looks to the Princess in shock, "Everypony must find an opportunity to relax. I'm grateful that you're dedicated to your work as a Captain, however I fear that you sometime work yourself too hard. You're dedicated, much like John is, however you don't take the opportunity to relax with the guards under your command when it arises."

"Basically learn how to relax, not everything is about work."

Shining looks to us both momentarily before he finally shakes his head. Raising his glass to me he necks the spirit before passing the glass to me. Without saying a word he moves past us returning to Cadence as she speaks to Twilight. As I look back to Celestia I catch her eyeing the glasses curiously, "Why have you got three more drinks with you?"

Smirking I hold one to her, "Simple, you're gonna take a shot with me."

"Am I really?"

"Yes, you are. Didn't you just tell your Captain to 'relax with guards under his command?' Well I'm technically a guard under your command, so relax and have a drink with me."

Celestia raises her eyebrow, "You're under the command of my sister, you're in the Lunar Guard."

"I still have to take orders from you unless Luna tells me otherwise, so I'm still technically under your command," Grinning I shake the drink in front of her, "You know I'm right."

Sighing she takes hold of the offered drink in her magic, "Do I really have to?"

"It's-"

"-Human tradition? I think you're just using it as an excuse to get drunk," Celestia smirks as she looks to the two drinks left in my hands.

"It's a great excuse," Tossing back one of the drinks I shudder as I swallow it down, the strength of the drink immediately makes itself apparent, "Your turn."

"Do I have to?"

"Drink it."

She shakes her head, "I don't think-"

"-Drink it."

"John-"

"-Drink it."

Celestia rolls her eyes before draining the glass, as soon as she swallows it she begins to cough as she looks to the glass, "Why'd you give me something so strong?"

"I could have given you something stronger. Myself and Luna tossed back shot after shot of absinthe at the Gala, vodka is nothing compared to that," Taking hold of her empty glass I hold the last one in front of her again, "Now you get another one."

"Why are you giving me another one?"

"You took too long with the first one so now you need another," Grinning I lift her hoof and rest the glass on it.

Celestia takes it in her magic and quickly downs it giving another shudder as she does so, "Something tells me that this night will involve you giving everypony here lots of drinks."

Grinning I take the glass back as I look back over everyone, "The night is still young."

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Leaning back against the wall I finish off a blueberry muffin as I watch everyone interacting with one another. As the night went on, and everyone got more alcohol in their system, they started to come out of their shells. A small group continues to dance as my phone shuffles from song to song, the main two who stand out is Chaser and Sunny who seem to be getting awfully close to one another. Luna and Cadence have been talking to one another for the last twenty minutes, I can tell that they must be talking about me as they occasionally glance in my direction.

Twilight and Celestia are deep in conversation with Shining looking bored on the sidelines, despite my efforts to try and get Celestia a little sozzled she refused to have any more drinks I offered and instead stuck to drinking a non-alcoholic drink which was brought to the party. Not drinking booze on New Years Eve, that's fucking blasphemy. As the song comes ends it's immediately followed up by 'Candy'. It's not usually my style of music however since everyone downloaded songs for one another to listen to on base my phone had a wide variety of them.

Grabbing a new bottle of ale I remove the cork and drain a sizeable portion of the drink in one go. Looking to the side I find a small crowd gathered around the table where we held our earlier poker game, deciding to see what was going on I make my way to the crowd and look over the top of them. Smirking I find Rainbow and Applejack locked in a hoof wrestle, their spectators are chanting for the one they want to win.

Hearing that Georg is supporting Applejack I rest my hand on his shoulder, "Five bits says Rainbow Dash will win."

Tilting his head to look to me a smile spreads across his beak, "I'll take that bet," Stretching his talons out I take hold of it and we seal our deal.

Standing straight again I watch as the two continue their hoof wrestle, both try to fight for dominance as they occasionally flick from side to side. It's hard to tell who will win as they both try to outdo one another, the strain on their faces clearly showing, "Come on Rainbow!" I shout out over the others cheering. Her eyes momentarily flick to me before she continues to focus on the match, "Remember what I taught you!"

Soon Rainbow changes her tactic entirely. Rather then going on the offensive she tries her best to keep it central, her only movement is to prevent Applejack from getting the edge on her. This continues for almost a minute before Applejack's assault begins to falter, noticing Applejack's weakness a small grin surfaces on Rainbow's muzzle as she seizes the opportunity. Putting all her strength into her hoof Rainbow begins to steadily push Applejack's hoof closer to the table.

Failing to fight back Applejack's hoof finally gives out and slams against the table causing Rainbow to jump up as she cheers. Chuckling I hold my hand out in front of Georg, "You owe me five bits," Grumbling to himself he reaches into a small pouch which is tucked under his wing and reluctantly passes me the coins.

As Applejack gets up from the table Spectre looks to me from the other side of the table, "How about Captain versus Captain?" Everyone else in the group simultaneously looks to me as they mutter in agreement.

As I look to them all I take another sip of my bottle as I sit down at the table, "If you can get him to come over I'll have a game," I'll wipe the floor with that bastard. As I sit there I looks towards Shining as Sure Strike relays the message, once Shining glances to me he finishes his conversation with Twilight and Celestia before making his way over.

Joining me at the table he looks to me, "Sure Strike informs me that you want a hoof wrestle."

"It's been requested and everyone else wanted to see it. We'll see who the better Captain is."

Shining shakes his head as he sits opposite me, "This will hardly prove who the better Captain is. Come the war games I'll prove that your new weapons aren't a match for current Equestrian tactics, that will show I'm the better Captain."

Chuckling I rest my elbow on the table as I hold my hand up, "You keep telling yourself that when a line of your pike men are mowed down before they even get close enough to swing at us," I'm gonna have to develop some sort of round which won't be fatal before the war games, something that will allow me to shoot him over and over again without killing him. I'll give the job to Dawnstar to keep her busy while we're away.

As Shining adjusts his position I take hold of his hoof as I look to him. Spectre steps alongside us and looks between us, "Three. Two. One. Go!"

Shining immediately tries brute force to overpower me early on, it initially takes me by surprise as my hand quickly approaches the table. Using my left hand I grasp onto the edge of the table as I push my right hand back up, slowly but surely I'm able to regain some control returning us to the starting position.

We both begin to push back and forth causing the advantage to switch between one another. He's got some upper body strength, I'll give him that. He seems to be gaining the advantage more often then me, for every push I start to gain against him he pushes back retaking the ground I just gained along with a little extra. At this rate I'll end up losing soon.

Slowly my arm moves lower and lower to the table getting closer to the table surface. My arm begins to tire as I try to regain some control, with a sly grin he gives another push leaving only the smallest gap between my hand and the table. I'm about to accept my defeat when I feel a sudden jolt of energy rush through my body, with that the strain in my arm quickly disappears leaving me feeling refreshed.

With my new energy I'm able to easily push back raising my hand back to the middle point, this wipes the smile straight from his face. As he tries to bring my hand back down I'm able to use my entire strength to counter him causing his hoof to move towards the table surface. Using this sudden advantage I seize my opportunity causing his hoof to drop entirely, in a few seconds his hoof slams down against the table ending the game.

Releasing his hoof I lean back in my chair, "Looks like you lost."

He looks to me with frustration plastered on his face, "How did you manage to recover from that? That shouldn't have been possible."

Shrugging I slowly stand, "I just used my strength, simple really," Turning to move away I stop myself from nearly walking straight into Luna and Cadence, at some point during the match they must have moved behind me to watch. Smiling to them I lean back to grab my bottle off the table before walking across the room.

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As the night continued everyone began to take part in a number of small drinking game along with dancing, it was good to see everyone unwinding and spending time with one another. Luna would often break away to speak with either Cadence, Celestia or Slicer throughout the night, seeing as we were around others constantly and in a fairly full room we couldn't exactly engage with one another like we did at the Gala.

In the last minutes leading down to midnight everyone is gathered together as myself and Pinkie go around passing everyone a glass of champagne, a little something for everyone to enjoy as we enter the new year. Once everyone has their drinks we look towards the clock as we chatter idly with one another.

Stepping alongside Luna I look to her, "Enjoying the night so far?"

She slowly nods, "It's been interesting."

"We'll have more drinks once it hits midnight, but so far it has been pretty good. I got to piss off Shining by beating him , so that's a plus."

"Yes, you seemed to somehow recover during your match," I eye her curiously as a small smile spreads across her muzzle, "You looked fairly... rejuvenated for some reason."

Cocking a brow I face her fully, "You had something to do with that?"

Luna shrugs, "I may have given you some assistance. I couldn't have a Captain of the Lunar Guard losing to the Solar Guard, could I?"

"So I would have lost if it wasn't for you?" Fucking hell... that twat was going to beat me. Thank fuck Luna did something otherwise I likely never would have heard the end of it from him. I lean closer to her and whisper into her ear, "Not a word of this to anyone."

She slowly nods, "Agreed, just make sure you win the war games against him, I won't be able to help you there."

"I won't need help there, I'm more experienced in combat and have better equipment. It'll be a piece of piss."

"You can't rely on your technology to beat him. Shining Armor has been on many exercises alongside Pegasi and other Unicorns where he's used their abilities to their full potential. You shouldn't underestimate how magic can turn the tide of battle."

She may be right, I've never actually actively encouraged my unit to use magic in combat and instead opted for ranged engagements with rifles. I imagine that magic could have a great effect if used correctly, I remember that Silver Spark was able to use his magic to improve the performance of his crossbow by igniting the bolts prior to firing, Sunny and Shining were also able to erect shields capable of holding of a direct attack allowing us to bottleneck our opposition. Maybe I should look to incorporating magic more into our tactics? I could also look to using the Pegasi for rapid aerial strikes, from what I've seen a number of them have incredible speed which would make them difficult targets.

My thought comes to an end when I hear Janine and Georg chanting as they look to the clock, "Ten! Nine!..."

Everyone quickly joins in and begins to count down together for the new year. It will feel a bit strange starting 2014 in Equestria. Traditionally people would see the new year as an opportunity to start over and reach new goals with their lives, being here in Equestria I have had to start over with my life however I don't think I've done so bad so far. Captain of a military unit, I've made lots of friends in my short time here and I'm also a decorated war hero, I may have encouraged Equestria to enter into it's first in a millennia but not everything is smooth sailing.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts out as they all being to drink and embrace one another. The girls are quickly hugging one another as they look back over the year they've spent together. My team are all exchanging quick hoof shakes and small hugs as they start drinking with one another.

It isn't until I hear Shadow wolf whistling that my attention turns to Chaser and Sunny who are both locked in a kiss. Grinning like an idiot I cheer out loud for them getting the rest of my team to join in, this causes the couple to pull back as they look to us with sheepish smiles, "See what happens when you work your charm, Chaser? You actually get somewhere," Chaser shrugs to us all before he gives Sunny another quick kiss which she happily returns.

Still grinning I turn back to Luna who seems to be smiling with approval at their display, I guess being stuck in the castle she doesn't exactly get to see many displays of affection. When she looks to me I hold my glass to her which she meet with her own, raising our glasses we both drain the contents and rest the glasses at the table. Leaning alongside her I whisper into her ear, "Enjoying the view?"

"It's good to see that your friends can enjoy one another's company despite their dangerous roles. They're taking advantage of the time they can spend with one another."

"Well we can still enjoy our time together."

Luna's smile drops slightly, "You know we can't do anything like that in front of others."

I shrug, "True, but that's not all we can do together," Moving back over to my phone I resume the playlist which starts the next song 'Dance With Me Tonight'. When I turn back to Luna she slowly steps up to me with a smile on her face as the others begin to look in our direction. As the music builds up we start to dance with one another as some of the others also move to join in.

As myself and Luna move around one another I look over her shoulder to see Celestia looking to us with an amused expression, I suppose that's better then having her looking pissed at me for dancing with her sister. As we continue dancing together I focus my attention back on Luna as her smile seems to grow, her eyes often lock onto mine as we move close to each other.

Taking a hold of her hoof I pull her closer pressing our bodies close together, "I seem to remember a certain Princess telling me that she didn't dance."

Chuckling Luna whispers into my ear, "I never exactly had a partner to dance with."

Taking her by surprise I grab hold of her waist and lift her into the air getting a gleeful giggle from her, "It's amazing what another person can do for you."

As I lower her back down she wraps a hoof around my arm causing us to switch positions, "Didn't you also say that you didn't dance?"

"It's amazing what beer and a partner can do to change that."

"Oh? So the beer is the key factor there?"

Smirking I shake my head, "It's a small factor."

As everyone dances we all begin to mix up partners as Luna is pulled momentarily away from me. Moving onto my next partner I dance along with Shadow as she steps alongside me, she's able to use her wings to quickly manoeuvre around me as I try to keep up with her. Once she moves away she's quickly replaced with her sister who seems to be a bit more drunk then Shadow, moving in closer her hooves press against my chest causing me to chuckle slightly as I rest my hands on her shoulders. Keeping hold of her I rapidly step from side to side with her as she tries to copy my actions.

Releasing her she stumbles to the side as Luna comes back around, "Well look who came back around."

Luna rolls her eyes as she pushes her hoof against my chest knocking my back slightly, "It seems I'm being paired off with you."

"Yeah, almost like someone else decided we should be together," As the song continues to play myself and Luna move away from the other dancers. As I look to her I can't help but feel content, it's been a while since I've felt relaxed when I've been with somebody else, "I never got to thank you for Hearth's Warming."

"You don't need to thank me. Though I think you should apologise for using me as a bed," Luna says as her lips curl upwards.

"It's not my fault you're so damn comfy."

Luna raises a brow as she chuckles, "You still fell asleep on me, I didn't realise until you started to dribble on me."

"I don't dribble," I respond in a defensive tone.

"You most certainly do. I didn't exactly want to wake you up so I had to sneak you back in."

"You put me in bed fully clothed, I don't sleep in my clothes."

"What did you expect me to do? Strip you down?" Luna notices my grin as soon as she says that. A faint blush surfaces on her cheeks, "Not in that kind of way, John."

"Hey, you're the one who said it, not me."

Luna rolls her eyes as she looks to the side, "How about I get us another drink?"

"You read my mind."

"It's not that hard to tell that you're thinking about drinking," As Luna walks off she seems to have a bit more sway in her steps, I often find my eyes drifting to her rump as her hips move from side to side. To be fair she has got a nice ass, fairly well toned but still has a bit of bounce to it. I never would have guessed I'd think that about a pony when I first came here.

"Enjoying yourself, John?" My eyes immediately peel away from Luna's rear to look to Celestia as she stands alongside me.

Shit, she didn't just catch me checking out her sister, did she? "I'm certainly enjoying the night, it's going pretty well."

Celestia looks out to the other ponies dancing, "It's good to see that you're able to bring Luna out of her shell, I don't think I've actually seen her dance since she returned. She seemed to have taken an interest in you early on, despite her initial mistrust of your motives when you first arrived."

"Maybe she sees a bit of herself in me?"

Celestia looks to me with a confused expression, "How do you mean?"

"We were both sent away from our homes and forced into a changed world, she may have been in Equestria before her banishment but after a millennia away I'm sure it seemed pretty alien to her upon her return. She's taken it upon herself to make sure I fell welcomed here, returning me to a role I was familiar with to make me feel more at home," I turn my head to Celestia, "I think she felt the same when she first returned so she saw a bit of herself in me."

Celestia sighs, "I suppose you are correct. There's not a day that passes where I don't regret what I've done to her. I had no choice though, however it doesn't stop me from wishing things were different," As Luna returns with two drinks Celestia smiles to her, "I shall leave you both to it, I'll see you back at the castle, Luna."

Luna looks to her in surprise, "You're leaving already?"

"I am, I'm afraid I have a delegation to meet in the morning so I should get some rest. I'll see you when you return in the morning, Luna."

Luna pauses for a moment before nodding to Celestia, "I want to experience this night a bit more, I'll see you back in the castle, sister."

Celestia eyes her sister curiously, "If you wish," Her attention turns to me as a small smile spreads on her lips, "Please try to keep her from getting too drunk like the last time you both were drinking together."

Chuckling I take the drink from Luna's magic, "I can't promise that I'm afraid." As Celestia is about to leave I rest my new drink on the table and call out to her, "Hold on a minute. There's one thing I want to do whilst everyone is here."

Celestia stops to look back to me, "What do you want to do?"

Stepping over to my phone I unplug it causing the music to cut off getting a few groans from everyone. Closing my music player I switch to the camera and call out to the party, "Everyone move to the stairs, I want to get a picture," Everyone quickly obliges as they all start to gather around the stairs, following the curve of the stairs we all line up in front as a number of the group stand on the steps to get a vantage point above the rest.

Once everyone is gathered I stand in the middle with Luna on my left and Celestia on my right, since we stand taller than the others the girls all line up in front of me. Switching to the front camera I pass the phone to Luna, "Hold it out in front of us so that everyone is in the picture then press the centre button on the screen with your magic to take the picture."

Raising the phone she moves it away from us so that everyone is all gathered in the photo, as my phone is moved into position I wrap an arm around both the sisters necks as I look to the screen. Once everyone is smiling or doing some kind of pose Luna presses the button a couple of times taking a few photos before bringing the phone back to me, taking hold of it I scroll through the photos allowing those gathered around me to view it.

Once everyone looks at the photos I put the music back on shuffle playing 'Love Rollercoaster' before passing the phone off to Sunny, "Plug the cable back into the port on the bottom," Taking control of my phone she moves off with Chaser quickly causing the music to play once again through the speakers.

Celestia smiles to her sister before embracing her in a hug, "Enjoy yourself, Luna."

Luna hold onto the gesture until Celestia pulls back. Myself and Luna watch as Celestia leaves for the night to return to Canterlot. Retrieving my drink I look to Luna as her eyes lock onto me, "Can we talk upstairs, John?"

"Of course," I follow her lead and head up the stairs whilst everyone else is distracted dancing with one another. As I follow behind her my eyes once again drift down to her ass as she walks, it certainly doesn't help that as I follow her up the stairs it remains at my eye level. Once we're upstairs and away from everyone else she stops at the balcony door and looks out to the night sky, "Is everything okay?"

Slowly Luna nods her head as she turns her gaze to me, "I just wanted to talk about your deployment to the Griffin Empire."

Raising a brow I move to the wall alongside her and lean against it, "Anything in particular?"

"I know that you plan on conducting operations to disrupt the activities of the Children of the Motherland, what exactly do you mean by that?"

I take a quick swig of my drink, "We're going to act on whatever intelligence the Griffins can provide for us, if they locate any key facilities or transport routes we will likely seek to eliminate them."

"So front line fighting, again?"

I look to her curiously, "Possibly, is there something wrong?"

Luna pauses as she focuses again on the stars, "I just have some concerns."

"About what?" Luna only responds by looking to me. Raising a hand I rest it on my chest, "Me?" She nods, "I'll be fine, Luna. I'm a soldier, it's what I'm trained to do. Besides I conducted these kinds of operations regularly in Afghanistan, it will be exactly like that except without IED's."

"Last time you were there you were seriously injured and nearly lost your life-"

"-Last time we were in a war," I quickly retort cutting Luna off, "This isn't a war."

"I know it isn't a war, but you have a habit of getting hurt."

"I'll bet that I won't get hurt."

Luna chuckles softly, "That will be the easiest bet I'll ever win then."

Smirking I step directly up to her, "Care to bet on it then?"

Luna's smile returns as she looks to me, "What's the prize?"

"I'll be a gentleman and let you decide."

Luna looks to the side as she tries to think of something. Following a short pause she looks to me with a seductive smile, "If I win you have to do anything I say for an entire day."

"Umm, I already do that, Luna. I have to follow your orders..." I cut myself off as my brain clicks on to her expression, "Oh... Well doesn't that sound interesting? I'll accept that."

"Good," Luna quickly leans into me and presses her lips against mine with a passionate kiss. My free hand quickly finds itself running through the fur on the side of her neck as her hoof presses against my chest. Luna's tongue lightly brushes against my teeth in an attempt to get me to open up, following her example I allow our tongues to intertwine into the kiss.

As the kiss continues I slowly pull away only for Luna to continue trying to kiss me until I'm out of reach, "What if I win?"

Luna pushes forward again kissing my lips before she leans her head against my ear, "I suppose I shall do anything you say for a day," Luna responds in a sultry tone which sends a shiver down my spine.

I run a hand over her wing joint causing it to twitch as she releases a surprised gasp, "Sounds like a fantastic deal to me."

"I thought it might," Luna says quickly before she once again locks lips with me.

As we continue to kiss a voice comes from the shadows to the side, "Couldn't you two have found somewhere more private to go?" Myself and Luna both pull away quickly as a blush forms on both of our cheeks. Clearing my throat I look to the source of voice to find Slicer Jen stepping out of the shadows, "It's bad enough that Chaser and Sunny are sucking face. I came up here to get away from that only for you two to come up and do the same."

Luna steps alongside me to look to Slicer with an expression of relief, "You always crop up at the most inconvenient times, don't you?"

Slicer shrugs to the Princess, "I'm only doing what you taught me."

"I should have known that you'd figure out about me and John, you never could go for that long without prying into my affairs."

Slicer steps up to the two of us, her eyes slowly drift from me to Luna, "You have nothing to worry, Princess. Your secret is safe with me."

Luna smiles appreciatively to her, "Thank you, Jen. Now go downstairs and socialise, remember what I told you earlier."

Slicer groans in annoyance, "You know I prefer to be by myself."

"I assigned you to John for a reason, no soldier can achieve everything by themselves. You need to get to know your team and work with their strengths and support their weaknesses in order to operate effectively. They'll take care of you just like you'll take care of them out on the field."

Slicer nods to Luna before turning to head back downstairs. Once she's out of view I look to Luna, "Well that killed the mood."

Chuckling to herself Luna turns her gaze back to me and kisses my cheek as my hand start to run along her neck, "Another time, John. For now we should head back downstairs before anypony wonders where we ran off to together," I remain stationary as I watch Luna saunter down the stairs. As she walks her steps mimic how I've seen Slicer walk in the past, with each step her hooves fail to create any noise when they come into contact with the floor. I guess Slicer must have learnt that trick from Luna. She'd better not do that constantly, I don't need her sneaking up on me every time my back is turned.

Once she's out of view I chuckle to myself and mutter under my breath, "Yeah, maybe they'll think we are in a secret relationship," Shaking my head I follow Luna's example and make my way downstairs.

This ought to be a very interesting bet. Never have I been more motivated to win a wager.

Author's Notes:

19/02/17

My good friend Zintenka has just completed some fan art for the story.

I think it's turned out really well.
It shows the scene of John Davies and Shining Armor engaged in their arm wrestling match.
Captain v Captain, Lunar v Solar.
No cheating whatsoever...