Just for reference, my story assumes that ponies have equivalent lifespans to human beings. The ages of the Mane Six are as follows:

Rarity & Fluttershy: 24, Applejack & Rainbow Dash: 23 ½, Twilight & Pinkie: 23.

Feel free to comment and thumb up/down, I love getting feedback on my work.

I stepped off of the train and took a long, slow, breath of clean air.

My first breath of Ponyville.

Well, that's not totally accurate, it's my first breath since the war began and ended. As a foal I'd visited here a few times. I remembered it being very scenic, one of the three reasons I had readily agreed when I was informed that this was where I'd be 'rehabilitating' at. The other two were far more personal reasons, the first of which being that I would get to see an old friend of mine from before the war. It was early autumn so I could still feel the slight chill in the air, enough to make me glad of the army-issue greatcoat I was wearing. One of the many pockets carried the second reason, a promise I'd made on a battlefield far from here.

From where I was standing I could see a sign straining to be held up which read: Jasper Shale, my name, and it was being held aloft by a small, green and purple dragon, well, dragonling really. I recognized him by description but I'd never actually met him, still, I hefted my gunny sack onto my back and cantered over.

“You must be Spike right?” I got a weird look from him but I assumed I was correct since there couldn't be that many dragon hatchlings in pony territory.

“Uh, yeah... y'know when Twilight told me what your name was I, uh...”

“Expected an earth pony?” I filled in, readily familiar with that particular assumption. I was, in point of fact, a unicorn. Not much of one anymore, but a unicorn nonetheless.

“Yeah, well, the color makes sense at least,” he said, giving me the once over. It was a little odd, but then 'odd' tended to describe everything about Twilight Sparkle, I didn't see why her familiar would be any different. Of course he was right though, my coat was the color of my namesake stone, a rusty red tone.

“So, I thought that Twilight would be meeting me here herself,” I asked as we turned to leave the station.

Spike started snickering, “She was, but our friend Pinkie Pie sort of turned invisible this morning, Twilight's been trying to figure out why before she pranks the whole town to death.”

Pinkie Pie, the name was familiar. If I remembered it right then that was the 'party pony' of Ponyville; famous for both her baking skills and her talent at throwing parties for any reason at all.

“You should've seen her face when he realized she wouldn't be able to meet you at the station: totally devastated,” Spike said with another small laugh. “Although I'm not sure it wasn't just because she would have to rewrite her schedule for the whole day now.”

I nodded, “that sounds like her, tell me she's loosened up a little though, I always told her she needed to get out and have more fun.”

“Oh yeah, making some friends really helped I think,” Spike answered. I could tell he had probably worried about many of the same things I had. “So you've known Twilight for a while huh?”

“I met her when she was twelve, when she enrolled in the Academy, taking classes while her mentor was fulfilling her royal duties.”

“Ah, guess that's why we never met, Twilight wasn't allowed to bring me to school with her,” Spike replied.

“Yeah, I was fifteen but in the same grade as her,” I laughed, recalling Twilight's sheer power and prodigious talent. “A lot of unicorns were offended that they were in the same grade as a kid but I didn't care, I wasn't exactly popular anyway.”

“Why?” I loathed explaining this part but he looked so damned curious. Oh well, it would probably come up eventually.

“Because I kind of sucked at magic,” I answered.

“Woah, how did you get into the Academy then?”

“Because the only magic I could cast was earth magic,” Spike looked at me oddly, not that I blamed him, Unicorn magic wasn't well known beyond, well, Unicorns, so I gave it some thought before trying to explain. “Earth magic is really rare because it's not the element unicorns are usually associated with, we're usually along the lines of water or fire, and sometimes air. Having a specific talent for earth magic is almost unheard of.”

“So is that what your cutie mark means?” Spike asked, pointing out the ruby-red crescent adorning my flank.

“Uhm, yeah, let's go with that,” I had no desire to go into the details of that particular bombshell. Not that I could tell much anyway.

“So they only let you into the Academy because you could cast earth magic?”

Ouch.

“Uh, yeah... basically right. I never had much talent with it, I always preferred working with my hooves which got me made fun of a lot.”

“That sounds familiar, Twilight got a lot of flak too.”

“Well that's kind of how we met, actually...”

As usual, class had been a disaster, fortunately I was on a free period and since I always got bullied out of the cafeteria I was sitting beneath a tree eating my sandwich. A peaceful endeavor that was being ruined by a lot of noise coming from behind me.

“Hey, twerp, who the hay even let you in here huh?” A proper-looking white unicorn mare was poking the smaller purple unicorn filly who'd been busted up to Academy grade at a record-breaking twelve years old. Something that had caused no amount of sore feelings in upperclassponies and newbies alike.

“U-uhm... m-my teacher said-”

She was interrupted by a rough shove backwards, triggering a round of guffaws from the unicorns two flunkies. I figured either they hung around her for her looks, her money, or both. They certainly added nothing to the décor. The unicorn in the middle, though, was Luster Rose, daughter of a high-ranked aristocrat and possessing more than enough ego for her entire family.

“I don't really care what any of those stuffy professors said, you're clearly too young to be here so I think you should drop out.” The picturesque smile never left Rose's lips which made it seem all the more poisonous. Her final words made the blood drain from the filly's face.

“D-d-d-drop out?” she stammered.

“That's right, unless you want to spend all your days like- AUGH!” a low bass thump sounded from beneath Rose right before a small pit about two feet deep opened underneath her, dumping her unceremoniously on her flank.

I couldn't help snickering, which was a terrible idea. Why? Easy, because when something humiliating happens to a bully in any school setting it's the ones who laugh that always get beat up. Whether they were at any kind of fault or not is immaterial but, at least in this case, I totally was. I also totally got my flank beat like a drum by two burly unicorns and a puffed up, muddy, prima donna. They left when it got boring which wasn't all that long because bullies get bored easily if they realize you're not gonna yell or cry. I picked myself up off the ground, nursing a limp, a couple of bruised ribs, and a real beauty of a black eye intending to go take care of them in the little colts room but I turned when I heard a small sniffling sound behind me and. To my surprise I saw the young purple filly the bullies had been harassing, she was hiding behind a tree looking at me with the biggest, saddest eyes I'd ever seen. To be honest I'd assumed she'd run off as soon as Rose and her cronies looked my way because, well to be fair that's what I'd have probably done in her place, especially at her age.

“A-are you ok?” she asked through a hiccup.

I nodded, wincing as I did so. “I'm fine, I'm used to it,” I said, brushing it off. The last thing this poor girl needed was to be associated with a loser like me.

“T-thank you uhm, Jasper isn't it?” I turned, not sure I'd heard her right. To my knowledge no one had ever thanked me for anything. The professors barely trusted me to open a book without hurting myself and I didn't have any friends, so the fact that she knew my name was surprising. I mean, it's true that I had about three different classes with her but nopony bothered remembering my name. Ever.

“Uhm, you're welcome, you're Twilight right?”

She nodded enthusiastically, “That's right! Twilight Sparkle!”

“Well, it's nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle.”

“...After that she hung around me all the time, she was probably the only reason I even passed Magical Theory and Practical Levitation too.”

“Huh... Twilight never told me that story...” he looked a little despondent, and I could guess why. This little guy had been Twilight's constant companion since she was tiny. Not knowing something about her was probably unsettling.

I rustled his surprisingly soft head-spikes. “Yeah well... between you and me I can probably guess why, you can't breathe a word of this to Twilight though,” I said meeting his reptilian eyes. He stared expectantly at me so I continued. “I think... it's because she was ashamed.”

“What?” Spike interjected, “what would she be ashamed of?”

“Whenever she'd get picked on I'd always do something to piss the bullies off more just so they'd target me instead of her. I can't stand seeing a filly getting bullied, much less the only pony in the Academy who actually bothered remembering my name and liked hanging out with me.” I admitted, I'd never said it out loud but it sounded right in my head. “Besides, I wouldn't be too thrilled to tell everyone about the time a pony got his flank well and truly kicked in my place either.”

Spike nodded slowly, “yeah, that does sound like Twilight, she'd probably feel pretty bad about it. She's hates it when anypony gets hurt.”

“Right, like I said, not a word.”

Spike mimed zipping his lips with a finger and we shared a grin just as we came up to the Library. I could hear Twilight speaking even before Spike opened the door for me.

“...can't believe you tried to make cupcakes with Poison Joke, Pinkie. Seriously, for somepony who once had it turn her tongue two sizes too big you would think you'd know better than to eat it.”

“I just wondered what it would taste like...” came a voice like sugar-coated innocence.

A very odd smell wafted into the center room from what looked like a reading room, or maybe a guest room. I sat my bag down next to Spike who has chuckling to himself.

“What's a Poison Joke?” I had to ask.

Spike snorted before explaining, “It's kind of like Poison Oak, except instead of getting itchy it plays a prank on you.”

“And somepony tried to bake it into a pastry?” I asked in utter disbelief that anypony could be that reckless.

“Well, that's Pinkie Pie for you.”

At that moment Twilight stepped out of the guest room, her front hooves with covered in what looked like bubbles. As soon as she saw me her face lit up like Celestia's sun.

“JASPER!” Twilight charged me down, ending in a ruthless hug that left my ribs creaking.

I coughed some precious air back into my lungs as I returned the hug, “hey there half-pint, it's good to see....” I trailed off, Twilight had begun poking my back experimentally from her hugging position, “...you?”

“O-oh, sorry, uhm, you put on a lot of muscle since I last saw you,” she said, wearing her trademark embarrassed smile that she always had on anytime she was caught doing something 'scientifically necessary but socially awkward', as she would put it. I used to joke that that was the way the Academy's professors generally liked to describe me.

“Yeah well, It's been what? Six years? Besides, being in a war will do that to a colt,” I remarked grimly, I smiled to cover it over though.

The war, those were not good memories.

I shook them off, but I could see that mention of it had left Twilight wondering what to say next. The poor mare had absolutely no poker face whatsoever, I made a mental note to challenge her to a card game sometime in the future.

“Hey, don't sweat it half-pint, I'm in one piece after all and...” damn that's not where I wanted to go at all but I finished the thought anyway, “and that's a lot more than a lot of ponies can say.”

“R-right, sorry I've gotta finish scrubbing down Pinkie, wanna come?”

“Beg your pardon?” At my words Twilight clapped her hooves over her mouth and blushed bright red and I couldn't help but start roaring with laughter, it was good to know that some things hadn't changed one bit.

“N-no I mean... oh wow that, uh, wow, way to go Twilight,” As she began talking to herself, Spike filled in her meaning.

“Remember how I said it was like Poison Oak? Well Poison Joke can only be cured by an herbal bath,” he said past his snickering.

“Oh,” I said past my laughter, “well that makes more sense then, sure.”

We walked into the room where a vivaciously pink pony was sitting neck deep a tub building an unfeasibly large and intricate castle out of bubbles. It even had minarets and a little flag. I stared, my gasts having been thoroughly flabbered by the sight.

“That is not possible,” I pointed at the tiny, bubble-model of Canterlot Castle.

Spike just patted my side, “Like I said, that's Pinkie Pie for you, better get used to it.”

I shook my head which only succeeded in dropping my too-long coal-colored mane into my face, I huffed a few strands out of my eyes and brushed the rest back. As soon as I had remarked on the castle though the pony called Pinkie turned to face me. I actually watched her eyes slowly get too big for her head.

“OMIGOSH! You're NEW!” she practically shrieked, a primal impulse caused my ears to flatten. For some I was suddenly very afraid. I saw Twilight plant a hoof onto her face and sigh before clearing her throat.

“Uh, Pinkie, I'd like you to meet an very good friend of mine, Jasper Shale. Jasper, this is Pinkie Pie.” Once Twilight had finished the introductions Pinkie hopped out of the tub and, no joke, hovered in mid-air while she puffed the water out of her coat before dropping down to the floor. Then she walked over wearing a wide grin and held out a hoof.

I shook it tentatively, as I did her face became a lot calmer.

“You're a soldier huh?”

That was a curve ball I hadn't been expecting, so much so that I couldn't do anything but nod silently.

“I thought so, you shake hooves like my grandpappy.”

That's when Twilight stepped in, “Wait, you had family in the military?”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically, “Yup, Grandpappy Pie fought in the turf wars with the Diamond Dogs that ended up founding Dodge City.”

“Wow, I had no idea, I thought you're whole family were rock farmers,” Twilight admitted.

“Well we are, but the family farm was kind of on the border back then so grandpappy got pulled in, he even made First Lieutenant.” Then the bright-eyed mare turned back to me, “I guess you fought in the Griffon Wars huh?”

I nodded, my mood turning a bit somber, “Captain by the end of the war, formerly 141st Infantry Regiment, honorable discharge.”

Her brow furrowed at my words and she began tapping her hoof to her chin, “141st... 141st... oh...” her face fell and lost some of it color. I had a sinking feeling that the granddaughter of an officer might have followed the events of the war pretty thoroughly.

“Yeah, Bunker-Bridge,” I said, and she nodded solemnly. For all of her apparent ecstatic energy I could tell that she was truly a good-hearted pony.

“What are you two talking about?” Twilight finally asked in exasperation. I remembered how much she hated not knowing things so this was probably getting on her nerves. She also looked a little wary, from what little I'd seen of Miss Pie I sincerely doubted that she wore a serious expression very often.

“You don't know?!” Pinkie asked, sounding genuinely shocked, but Twilight just shook her head.

I snorted a dry chuckle, “Twilight doesn't usually follow military stuff. Military History was the only thing you ever asked me for help on in Academy remember?”

Twilight grimaced, nodding reluctantly. Pinkie didn't change her expression much though, she turned back to me with a questioning look in her eye.

“So... I heard that your regiment...?”

“A hundred and nine souls walked away from the Bridge.”

“Wait, isn't a regiment a pretty large military unit?” Twilight asked uneasily, death had never been a topic she had handled very well.

“My regiment consisted of six hundred soldiers when the battle started.”

The look on Twilight's face wasn't one I'd had any desire to see, it was also a look I'll probably carry to my grave. It was a mixture of horror, pity, and shock, all flavored with simple disbelief. I wasn't put off by it, for a sheltered student of the magical arts the concept of nearly five hundred ponies dying over the course of four blood-stained weeks was almost unthinkable. Not that I expected anyone who hadn't seen something like that to really understand. To her credit, Pinkie Pie just looked sad. She trotted over and wrapped me in a tight hug that smelled like a bakery on a bright and sunny Tuesday. To my surprise, I hugged her back. I felt a tightness in my chest, the memories of that nightmarish month were as fresh now as they had been at the end of the battle almost six years ago.

“Wait, I do remember hearing about Bunker-Bridge in the news, it wasn't too long after you'd been drafted right?” Twilight asked, a new concern coloring her voice.

I nodded my assent, “I spent five weeks in boot camp then got shunted off to the newly formed 141st assigned to the Baltimare garrison. The bunker that had been built into and beneath the Winding River Bridge near the city.”

“The bunkers, I remember those from my Architectural Studies class, they were built to store anything of value that the Griffons might target right?” Twilight added in.

“Correct, see Griffons have a nasty tactic for wars: they pack light and come over in swarms, then they form warbands and raiding parties to steal supplies from the enemy. Basically griffons live off of their foes. So military command set up massive underground bunkers on the east coast to store refugees as well as the majority of any vulnerable resources.”

Twilight nodded, grasping the tactic quickly, “So if the Griffons wanted to eat they would have to fight on the ground.”

“Underground actually, only problem was that the tight spaces made weapons fire and combat... an ordeal.”

Pinkie nodded at that but Twilight just cocked her head in that way that silently communicated how she didn't really get what was just said. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out a way to explain the problem without sounding like a psychopath. I knew why I had to though, she thought like Command did, it was all a numbers game in her mind, it didn't help that the plan looked perfect on paper too. They overlooked some of the realities of war though, one risk of riding a desk for too long.

“Basically, the tight quarters meant it was really easy to accidentally hit your friend. Command was hoping that the bunker would discourage any attacks at all, they didn't actually think that the Griffons would drop to their claws and fight on the ground.” And why should they have? Griffons considered fighting in the air as the only true method of combat, ground warfare was dishonorable and weak to them.

“But it didn't work?” Twilight ventured.

I gave a smile that was positively arid as I answered her, “Let's just say that there was a reason for the nickname all the soldiers gave the bunkers.”

“Death-traps,” Pinkie filled in. I was surprised, there weren't many outside the rank and file that called them that.

“You're surprisingly well-informed, Miss Pie.”

Pinkie nodded again, “My older sister, Octavia, is a musician. She and her ensemble were in Baltimare playing a set when the sirens sounded. She says she still has nightmares about it sometimes.”

“She was one of the refugees,” the matter suddenly cleared up immensely. The fighting had been brutal, some of the refugees had even helped fight off the attacking griffons. There had been a sort of silent camaraderie that formed up. Some refugees tended the wounded as ad hoc nurses to the few medical personnel who were still alive, others manned the barricades alongside veterans and rookies alike.

“I remember the report now,” Twilight said, her voice had become much subdued, “not a single civilian died during the battle, right?”

I was about to answer but Pinkie cut me off. “That's right, and that's why...” she turned back to me as she trailed off, “...that's why you're never paying a single bit if you ever come to Sugarcube Corner! The only reason my big sister is still alive is because of you and your friends.”

There were barely contained tears straining behind the defiant pink mare's eyes. I had the impression that she never got this worked up and this serious at the same time. I wanted to protest, to say that I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to, but I knew the look in her eyes. The life of her family was priceless; so saying that the act of saving her sisters life, even indirectly, was nothing? That would have been unacceptable.

So, grudgingly, I gave a small nod of agreement. Pinkie just sniffled, took a deep breath, and gave me another, gentler hug.

“Thank you.”

“Any time,” I answered, feeling just a little bit like a soldier again.

Twilight had a strange look on her face but she smiled when I met her eyes. She hadn't known how bad I'd had it in those early days and I knew it was eating at her. We'd probably end up talking about it later tonight. Tomorrow, though, I had an errand to run.

“So, thanks for making me uninvisible Twilight!” Pinkie said brightly, her mood turning back to its normal state, “I've gotta foalsit Pumpkin and Pound tonight though so I gotta get going, ok?”

“I turned you 'Vi-si-ble,” Twilight grinned and handed a small, foul-smelling jar to her friend. “This is a mixture of the herbal bath salts you'll need in case you try anymore crazy recipes ok?”

“What? You're not going to tell me to never do it again?” Pinkie said with real surprise in her voice.

Twilight shrugged, “It's not like it's actually poisonous, besides, maybe you'll make some kind of fantastic cake with it or something.”

“Heehee, ok, I'll be more careful next time, seeya!” Pinkie waved enthusiastically as she departed, leaving Twilight and I alone, Spike having gone to his room long before. The silence became deafening without Pinkie. I knew that Twilight was itching to ask me about the war and all the things that had happened to me but, on the other hoof, she knew that I had no desire to relive those experiences. We remained quiet for long time until...

“So.”

“So.”

Came the awkward words as we both attempted to break the ice simultaneously. Twilight blushed and I laughed softly.

“We can talk about it tonight, ok?” I promised, Twilight just nodded happily.

“Ok, I'm just... I'm really happy to see you again Jasper,” she said, her cheeks colored adorably. I pulled her into a less bone-breaking hug and tousled her mane.

“I'm glad to see you too half-pint.”

Twilight pulled away, her mane sticking up every which way. It was like the worst sort of bed-head mated with hat-mane and had a foal. It was terribly cute as well.

“So where are you staying?” Twilight asked, I knew she'd offer me the guest room without a second thought if I needed lodgings, fortunately that wasn't the case.

“The crown provided me with a small home on the edge of town, about a half-mile out near the Everfree.”

Twilight grinned, “Oh, so you'll probably be the closest thing to a neighbor my friend Fluttershy has ever had.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Fluttershy, that super-shy pegasus who can barely work up the gumption to fly, lives in the Everfree?”

Twilight laughed, it was a nice sound, hearty and honest. “Almost, she lives right on the edge and maintains an animal refuge. The mayor pays her a stipend to keep the relatively wild animals on the forest edge controlled. My friend Applejack also has her on retainer since she's probably one of the best vets in the area.”

At that name the tiny weight in my coat pocket suddenly felt like a lead shot dragging me down.

“That reminds me, I have some business to take care of in the morning,” I say as we step out into the library's main room and I heft up my gunny sack. “I'm gonna drop this stuff off but I'll be back. Can you tell me how to get to Sweet Apple Acres for tomorrow though?”

Twilights right eyebrow scooted upwards an inch but, thankfully, she didn't inquire further. “Sure, let me just go grab a quill and some parchment so I can write them down.”

I nod as she went back into the smaller room. Once she was gone I reached a hoof into the pocket and drew out the tiny weight that had been on my mind for the three years since the war's end. It was a slim iron necklace with a locket attached to it that was cast in the shape of a small golden apple.

It had taken a stroke of luck and some serious pressing to figure out who the ponies in the picture contained within were. The stallion who had begged me with his dying breath to deliver it back to his family hadn't been able to pass that on. Other reasons had prevented me from immediately acting on his request. I cracked it open, inside was a faded picture of a handsome young colt with a red coat, an even younger orange filly in her teens, and between them was another, tinier filly who could only have been a few years old at most.

“Sweet Apple Acres, huh?” I muttered as I snapped the clasp closed and returned the tiny golden apple to its pocket. “This isn't gonna to be easy.”