Slamming the empty tankard on the table Rainbow leans across the surface of the table, "How about another round for the winners, John?" Since they won the game we all went straight out to the nearby tavern, and just like I predicted they were emptying our pockets very quickly. Despite our loss, we were all still in a good mood, I for one was just happy that I got to play a game of football like I used to do back home. I used to love the game when I was back at home so getting the opportunity to see it again kept me in a good mood.

Cocking a brow I look to Rainbow as Spitfire chuckles alongside her. Finish off the last of my ale I get up from my seat, "I swear, you guys are taking full advantage of the free drinks."

"I'm not going to turn down free cider."

Grinning I get up from my seat as I take the empty tankards with me, "I don't see why you don't go for something stronger than cider."

Shrugging Rainbow leans back into the booth, "You can't beat a cool cider after a long day. Especially when you win an easy game."

"Easy? You only won at the last minute."

"Still easy. I thought you were going to be a challenge."

Christ, you sure are cocky. Shaking my head I start to move towards the bar, "I guess I'll be back with another round."

Getting up from her seat, Spitfire stretches her legs, "I'll help you." Giving her a quick nod she follows me to the bar as I rest the empty tankards on the surface for the bar staff to collect, as the staff collect them I order another round of drinks which they soon start to prepare. As we wait for the drinks, Spitfire leans against the surface, "I bet you weren't expecting to lose that match, were you?"

"I never would have guessed that ponies would have been able to play football so well. I was able to beat you all in the air, though."

"Yeah, only 'cause you're taller than us and we aren't allowed to fly. If it wasn't for that you wouldn't have stood a chance."

Chuckling I lean against the surface, "Is that so? I've been playing football for most of my life. I could easily beat you in a one-on-one."

With a seductive smile, Spitfire looks to me, "Another bet? You're brave."

"I'm not making another bet... yet." Reaching into my pocket I take out a small handful of coins are the bar staff return with the drinks, as I'm in the process of paying them I notice Spitfire's tail occasionally flicking against the rear of my leg. She's flirting with me. Is she after another shag?

Before I take the drinks the barkeeper looks to the pile of Bits I've left for him, "You sure are spending an awful lot of money tonight."

Chuckling I tilt my head towards Spitfire, "Not by choice."

Taking the pile he leaves a few coins behind, "Tell you what, since you have that... thing which plays music, if you put some on I'll give you a discount for the night."

Taking the few coins back I reach into my pocket and grab my phone, "Deal." As I swipe through the songs I pause as I glance to Spitfire, "Do you want to choose one?"

As she shrugs I rest the phone on the surface for her as she scrolls through the titles using her hoof. Having a quick scan of the names she finally comes to a stop and selects 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn.' As the song begins to play I balance my phone over the tankards as I take hold of them and carry them back to the booth.

Taking a seat I pass the drinks out to Rainbow, High Winds, Soarin and Spitfire. Instead of sitting back alongside Rainbow, Spitfire instead joins me on my side of the booth. As I take a sip of my ale, High Winds looks to my phone, "What kind of music is this?"

Wiping my mouth I look to Spitfire, "She picked the song, not me. Besides, it's the Beastie Boys, not to mention the 80's was a great decade for music. Just because you ponies don't have any good music."

"Hey, we've got good music," High Winds states defensively. "Countess Coloratura, Sapphire Shores-"

"-Never heard of them. Besides, nothing beats a good guitar solo. You're supposed to be military so you've got to listen to something a bit more aggressive, not listen to something soft." Pausing my eyes flick up to her mane, "Speaking of soft."

She freezes as I begin to pat the top of her puffy mane, "W-what are you doing?"

The others snicker as I continue. Chuckling I start to run my fingers through it, "It feels like a sheep."

"S-stop playing with my mane," High Winds pushes my hand away as she blushes softly.

"You can't have a soft mane like that and expect me not to play with it. That's the same as giving me a beer and expecting me not to drink it, no matter what it's gonna happen." Bringing my hand back I look to my tankard of ale as I release a sigh, "What I wouldn't do for a pint of lager."

Smirking, Spitfire picks up her own tankard and brings it to her lips, "Lager? Why would you want that?"

"Because lager is the best booze around," As I pick up my ale I suddenly stop as I realise what she just said. "Wait! There's lager and I was never told?"

"Yeah, it's not exactly common though. You'll only tend to find it in the Zebralands or from the rogue trader from Yakyakistan."

"Spitfire, you're taking me to Yakyakistan."

Lowering her drink she looks to me, "You want to go all the way to Yakyakistan, just to get your drink?"

Turning my body I nod my head, "I will move heaven and Earth to get a pint of lager. My life is so empty without it. I've been here nearly a year, not to mention I was in Afghanistan for four months, I've gone too long without it."

"Well, you'll have to wait even longer for it. The gate to Yakyakistan has been closed to Equestria for centuries. Unless you can convince them to open the gate for you then you'll have to go without it." Before I open my mouth Spitfire raises her hoof to close my jaw, "And no, I won't take you to the Zebralands either."

Groaning I slump back into my seat, "Come on, be cool. Don't be such a crab."

Lifting her head, Rainbow turns to Spitfire. "Oh, that reminds me. John told me to call you a crab, whatever that means."

Narrowing her eyes, Spitfire glances to me. "Really? You're going to get the Wonderbolts to refer to one another as crabs?"

Chuckling I ruffle her mane, "You're the air force, so you're all crabs." Lifting my hand I point to High Winds then Soarin, "Those two are crabs." When I point to Rainbow I pause as I cock a brow, "You're in the reserves, aren't you?" Once Rainbow nods I start to laugh, "Rainbow is a weekend warrior."

High Winds and Soarin both grin as Rainbow looks to me in confusion, "Weekend warrior?"

"Reservist, you're only a soldier on the weekend. I guess I can refer to you as either a SWAT or a stab since you're a reservist."

"They don't sound too bad."

Chuckling I take a sip of my drink, "Wait till you find out what they mean. SWAT refers to 'Some Weekends And Tuesdays' for the Territorial Army, our equivalent of the army reserve. Stab is similar to crab except for you reservists, 'stupid territorial army bastard.' To make it fair though I'll tell you a couple of names to take the piss out of the Royal Engineers, call us either shovel monkeys or wedges."

"Does your military do nothing but insult one another?" High Winds asks.

"Everyone thinks their unit is the best, no matter what. We still care for each other but we'll take the piss, its a good form of banter. Think of it this way, have you got a friend you can insult yet they won't take offence to it?" High Winds nods. "It's exactly the same as that."

Snickering Rainbow leans over the table, "We all know the Rangers aren't the best at soccer. That honour belongs to the Wonderbolts now."

"Football! Get it right!" Clearing my throat I run a hand through my hair, "Let's see how well you handle rugby-" I suddenly pause when I feel something slowly run along the outside of my thigh. Sitting up straight I flick my eyes down below the table and notice Spitfire trailing her hoof along my leg out of sight of the others. She was feeling me up at the match. Holy shit, she must be after round two.

The others don't seem to notice as they go about their own conversation, I can't even bring myself to respond as her hoof continues to run over my leg. I just sit there frozen as she continues, after a minute her hoof moves over my leg to rub my inner thigh. Okay, I've got to put a stop to this now.

Before I open my mouth the other three at the table all get up. "Where are you all going?"

As Rainbow and Soarin move to another booth further down, High Winds turns to me as she grabs her drink. "We're going to join the others. I take it you'll join us?"

"Y-yeah, just give us a moment." Once she nods and makes her way to the other booth I turn back to Spitfire as she's looking at me with a seductive smile. "What are you doing?"

Sliding closer to me on the seat her hoof brushes over my crotch, "What does it look like?"

"You know exactly what it looks like. But I can't, Spitfire."

Tilting her head she rests her hoof on my leg, "Why not?"

"Because I have a gi-"

"-Hello, John." Luna's voice calls to me from the side of the booth causing me to freeze. Oh, fuck. Slowly I turn my head to see that Luna has once again used her spell to alter her appearance making her look like Moon Glow. To my surprise, she isn't scowling at me but is instead smiling.

"Moon Glow? What are you doing here?"

"I came back to see your match against the Wonderbolts. I thought you did extremely well." Leaning to the side she glances to Spitfire alongside me before she suddenly climbs into the booth and to my surprise sits on my lap causing Spitfire to quickly shuffle away. With Luna sitting on my lap she suddenly presses her lips against mine with a forceful kiss, almost as if she's claiming me as her own in front of Spitfire.

Spitfire looks to us both in surprise as Luna pulls back and continues to smile at me, "I-I'm sorry, who are you?"

Turning to Spitfire, Luna continues to give an innocent smile. "Moon Glow, I'm John's marefriend."

"M-marefriend?" I can only smile sheepishly as Luna nods. "Well then... I'll leave you two to it." Quickly getting up from the booth she grabs her drink as she moves back to join the others, occasionally she glances back as she walks.

With Spitfire out of view, Luna looks back to me. "So, did I come at the right time?"

Looking to her I slowly nod, "Um... yeah, I think you did. But before you accuse me of anything I d-"

Luna cuts me off by pressing her lips against mine once again. Pulling back she presses her hoof on my chest, "I know, I did hear what was happening. I just decided to make the point clear that you're taken. Though I do have one question, why was Spitfire making an advance on you?"

Sighing I lower my head, "There's no point in lying. Remember back on New Year's Eve when I told you I was with someone other than Sunny? Well... it was Spitfire, back at the homecoming party. That was the only time anything happened between us, though."

"You... and Spitfire?" Luna sounds surprised as she says this. "I never would have guessed it was her."

Cocking a brow I rest my hands on Luna's waist, "Why not?"

"I heard rumours." Luna casually levitates my drinks to her lips as I look at her expectantly. Once she's had a drink she rests the tankard back down, "I heard that she was... gay."

Chuckling I shake my head, "Gay? Then what does that make me? I'm pretty sure I'm a guy."

"Like I said, it's a rumour. The same one is going around about Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow?" As Luna nods, I'm about to reply but suddenly stop. "Actually, it wouldn't really surprise me. though, to be honest, I've never exactly seen her try to get with any guys or girls. For that matter, I haven't seen any of the girls at Ponyville trying to get with anyone."

"Well in your short time here you haven't exactly had much time to relax with them. You've always been away with the Guard, as much as I appreciate your dedication to the work I fear that you spend a little too much time working."

"What else am I going to do?" I ask as I adjust Luna's weight on my lap. "There isn't exactly a lot for me to do in my spare time other than work. There's a lot I can do for the Rangers and your military in general, I've brought you all rifles so I may as well seek to improve them."

"We're in no rush for new weaponry. In your short time here you've done a lot for the guard, you need some time off." Chuckling Luna lifts my tankard in her magic and holds it in front of me prompting me to take hold of it. "Drink up."

"What? Why?"

Getting up from my lap Luna slowly begins to saunter towards the exit, "We've got the night to spend together, that should help you to relax." A grin quickly spreads across my lips as I quickly drain the tankard. Emptying it as promptly as I can I slam it back down onto the table as I get up and move to follow the sway of Luna's hips.

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Monday 17th March 2014
Crystal Empire
19:34

After spending the last week watching numerous events and spending the days with my team the Equestria Games were finally coming to an end, right now we are all sat in the stands as we watch the final event, ice archery. Watching the event got me thinking about possibly implementing the arrows into the Rangers somehow, they had the capability to freeze whatever they came into contact with making them a potentially powerful weapon.

Something with that kind of power could have some good uses on the field, whether it be freezing field guns to prevent them from adjusting their aim, freezing armour plating to make them susceptible to high calibre munitions or even as a way to potentially incapacitate a target by freezing a limb. I'd have to throw the ideas to Dawn Star when I see her, half of the stuff I'm thinking of likely wouldn't even work knowing my luck.

As the games continued I noticed Pinkie jumping and shouting on the spot earlier from across the stadium, likely worried about the fact that if Cloudsdale were to earn two spots in the winning three finalists they could overtake Ponyville on the medal count winning the game. Chaser has been going on about the medal count for the entire final, he seems really determined that Cloudsdale will win the games.

As Chaser continues nattering to Sunny I let out a frustrated groan, "Are you going to talk about anything other than the bloody medal count? We get it, you could win the games."

Turning his head to me, Chaser shakes his head, "Believe it or not but I'd like to win the games."

"Really? I would never have guessed." I respond in a sarcastic tone.

"And here I thought that spending every night with Moon Glow would loosen you up. I imagine something else got loo-" Before he can finish I slap him across the back of his head.

"You are one nosey bastard. I spend a few night with a girl and you have to dig your nose into my business."

Chuckling Chaser turns back to watch the game, "It's my job. Someone has got to annoy you."

"Oh? So that honour has fallen to you then? You'll declare war, and I promise you that I'll do a lot worse than ask you annoying questions."

"Like what?" Chaser asks with some worry in his voice.

"I'll do what I did to Williams." Chaser cocks a brow as he looks to me in confusion. "I took a dump in his doss bag." Upon hearing that everyone looks to me, "What?"

Scrunching up her nose Sunny shakes her head, "You used his sleeping bag as a toilet? I thought officers were supposed to be more mature than the average soldier."

"Supposed to, doesn't mean that I am. Besides, he started it."

"Why?" Shadow asks. "What did he do?"

Folding my arms I keep a level face as I watch the archery, "He didn't give me any Mars bars."

"What's a Mars bar?"

"Chocolate."

Georg and Silver both start to laugh out loud in disbelief. Regaining his breath Georg wipes a tear from his eye, "You took a shit in his sleeping bag... just because he didn't give you any chocolate?"

"I'd gone half a year without any good food. He promised me a Mars bar when they came in the post, instead the selfish bastard ate them all. So I gave him some... fresh chocolate since he wanted it all to himself."

"That's disgusting," Sunny declares.

Chuckling I shrug, "Welcome to the army, we're all slobs." Before she can reply we all watch as an arrow flies sky high completely missing the target, the arrow comes to a halt as it buries itself into a cloud overhead. How the fuck did someone make that shot? Within a matter of seconds, the cloud starts to descend towards the ground as jagged ice begins to overtake the cloud sending it towards the stands. Well that is a massive health and safety oversight.

As it starts to get closer a number of Pegasi from the stands quickly take to the air to try and help slow the crowd. As we all stand I point to all the Pegasi in my team, "Get up there! Steer it away from the crowds!" As they quickly move into position I turn to Sunny, "Can't you use a spell?"

"No, we had to come in through the disabling spell. Our magic won't work. Can't you do something?"

"What am I going to do? I can't fly and the only solution I know is to shoot things, and I haven't exactly got a gun. Do you expect me to throw my shoe at it?" Before we can come up with any solutions we watch as Spike calls out for the others to move. Climbing onto Shining's back he jumps from Pegasus to Pegasus to get closer to the ice cloud.

Once he reaches it Spike is able to exhale a large wall of flames underneath the cloud. A heavy plume of steam quickly leaves the cloud and fills the entire stadium as the ice rapidly melts, it doesn't take long until Spike lands on the field below with the ice being nothing more than a small layer of water as it lands on the ground around him. Since when could he do that?

As the crowd begin to quickly cheer for Spike the rest of the Rangers return as they land back in their seats, all of them sharing a similar expression as they look to Spike in disbelief. As he slowly makes his way back to the tunnel of the stadium he's met by the girls from Ponyville along with the Princesses as they quickly move the thank and congratulate him.

I guess that makes up for his embarrassing display from the other week.