The bakery called Sugarcube Corner certainly lived up to its name. The entire building looked like a tower of pastries haphazardly piled on top of each other and the smells wafting out of the open windows were absolutely divine. I suddenly had a new appreciation for Pinkie Pie's offer to eat there for free at any time, but I was determined not to take advantage of her generosity. Still, with Apple Bloom sitting happily on my back and the scent of fresh cakes and muffins drifting through my nostrils, I decided that indulging on occasion wouldn't hurt.

A bell jingled merrily as I pushed the door open and stepped in, I was greeting by a light-hearted: “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may I- OH! Jasper!” Pinkie was standing behind the counter and her face lit up the moment I entered. “And Apple Bloom too? Wow, you sure have a way with the ladies Mister Shale.”

Apple Bloom blushed furiously and clambered off my back, Pinkie and I both shared a good natured laugh though that dispelled any awkwardness.

“Mister Shale offered to get me a cupcake Pinkie when ah was sad, he's awful nice!”

Pinkie nodded cheerfully, “he sure is! Did you know he saved my sisters life during the war?”

Apple Blooms eyes went wide and she stared at me, “Is tha' true Mister Shale?” she asked, awe coloring her voice. I shuffled a little nervously, but nodded.

“Technically it was my entire regiment, I was just one soldier.”

“Tha's still amazin'!”

“A-anyways, Miss Pie, I keep hearing how amazing your bakery is, I haven't had a chance at many sweets since the war, got any suggestions?”

“OF COURSE!” she nearly blew out my eardrums before swiftly disappearing into the kitchen, leaving me rubbing my ears, Apple Bloom just giggled. Clearly Pinkie Pie was the kind of pony one simply acclimated to over time.

Pinkie returned bearing a tray on her back, three cupcakes that were the most startling shade of viridian I'd ever seen were sitting on it.

“Wow, gotta say, I've never seen a pastry that was quite that... shade... before.”

“Yup! I just finished them!”

“These wouldn't happen to be those... joke cupcakes, would they?”

Pinkie blushed a little before shaking her head, “Nope, uh, I still have a few kinks to work out with that recipe.”

“Like turning invisible?”

“Or polka dots.”

“Ya'll can turn somepony into dots?” Apple Bloom looked thoroughly confused.

“HA! Wowie, that would be weird, but no, the cupcake can sometimes make big blue dots on your coat.”

Apple Bloom's eyes went wide again and I could see the wheels turning in her head, what came out of her mouth, though, was entirely priceless.

“CAN YOU MAKE A CUPCAKE THAT'LL GIVE ME A CUTIE MARK!?”

Pinkie and I stared at the tiny filly for a moment before dropping to the floor, for some reason I found that utterly hilarious. Something told me this was an issue that had plagued the youngest member of the Apple family for quite a while. I got my breath back before Pinkie did though, and when I did I realized something. The pink pony's laughter was one of the most pure and infectious sounds I'd ever heard, even though I'd just finished busting a gut I couldn't help but smile widely as she continued to roll on the floor laughing. It was like all the shadows on the world temporarily vanished in the face of her laughter, it was so carefree and clear that it didn't just make you want to laugh with her, it made you happier just hearing it.

Pinkie finally got her own breath back though and stood up, fortunately she'd managed to bump the tray she'd been carrying on to the counter before she lost her hooves, and passed around a cupcake to each of us. As Apple Bloom bit into hers Pinkie answered the excitable filly's question.

“Nope, 'fraid I can't Apple Bloom, the one that makes polka dots is just a prank cupcake, that's all.”

“Awwww...” her disappointment was palpable but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared as she took another bite of the cake. Curious, I turned to my own and took a healthy piece out of it.

“Holy Celestia,” the words came out sounding more like 'horry cerresshia' around the utterly indefinable perfection that was taking up residence on my taste buds. The cake was moist and soft, not so much that it would fall apart, but just enough that it melted in my mouth. The icing wasn't too sweet either, it was fruity, almost juicy, and it tasted like...

“Is that pear?” I said around my chewing.

“Yup! Don't tell AJ though!”

“If it means I get to keep eating these, I'd be happy to never talk again.”

“Toldja Pinkie was the best baker aroun'!” Apple Bloom chirped, having already devoured her cake.

“No exaggeration there, this whole place yours?”

Pinkie laughed but shook her head, “Nope, it belongs to the Cakes, but they're out at a baking convention in Trottingham for a few weeks so I'm looking after the place.”

“Where're the twins?” Apple Bloom looked around and a, past the smell of baked goods, I did detect the faint scent of baby powder and that indefinable smell that seems to sink into any house where little foals live.

“Oh, they went with them, I offered to watch them too but Mister and Missus Cake said they couldn't justify leaving both the twins and the shop in my hooves.”

“That does sound like it would be quite a hooffull,” I tried to imagine Pinkie babysitting for foals and, curiously, it seemed to fit. Despite her bouncy and irreverant demeanor the side of her that she'd shown him when he'd first met her proved that there was mare with strong convictions buried under all the pink and fluff.

The bell to the shop jingled again as another customer entered, a mare with a coat that was the untarnished white of freshly fallen snow and an elegant coiffure of vibrant indigo. She held herself with the prim propriety of a noblemare that reminded me of Luster Rose, but where Rose was cruel and mercurial, this mares eyes glimmered with an friendly light.

'RARITY!” Pinkie cried out as she hopped over and embraced the mare in a tight hug which, to my surprise, the mare returned with equal gusto. Clearly the two were very good...

Wait, Rarity?

I recalled the name from Twilight's letters, Rarity was another one of her friends and something of a rising star in the fashion world. I'd heard she'd made outfits for some of the biggest names in the industry including Sapphire Shores.

“Pinkie, darling, it's so good to see you, I feel like I haven't been out of my shop in weeks!” her voice was high and proper, a refined Manehattan accent softened her words and made them pleasantly sibilant.

“Yup! You here for your usual?”

“You know me too well darling, make it a double and... Oh my, are you going to introduce me to this dashing fellow Pinkie, or must I introduce myself?”

She'd finally noticed me as Pinkie hopped behind the counter and drew out a small take-away box. At first I thought she was actually put off, but Pinkie laughed it off and I heard the playful banter behind their words. Very good friends, I decided.

“Oh! I'm sorry! This is Captain Jasper Shale, Jasper this is my friend-”

“Juliet Rarity, an absolute pleasure to meet you Mister Shale, or is it Captain?” she held out a hoof which, once again, I bowed and placed a light kiss upon. But where with Fluttershy I'd been embarrassed at the accidental reflex, this time it felt entirely warranted.

“Just Jasper is fine, ma'am.”

“Oh my, it's so good to meet somepony with proper manners.”

“Why'd ya'll kiss her hoof Mister Shale?” Apple Bloom piped up from between my hooves, I grasped for a good explanation but fortunately Rarity came to the rescue.

“Oh, hello there Apple Bloom. Well, the hoof-kiss is a respectful and traditional way for a gentlecolt to greet a lady, although I'm sad to say it has fallen out of practice except amongst nobles lately.”

“Uh, ah think ah get it...”

“It's ok, I highly doubt it will ever come up, but when you get older you'll appreciate it.”

“Ugh, ah hate those 'when yer older' things, Applejack says tha' all the time.”

“Well, in this case darling it's quite true.”

“Awww... ok...”

I tousled Apple Blooms mane again and she giggled, “don't sweat it kid, she's right, you'll figure it out eventually.”

“So, Mister Shale, what brings you out here to Ponyville?” Rarity had made her way over to a one of the small tables and gestured for me to join her.

“Ah, well, I moved into the cottage on the edge of town actually.”

“Oh my, so you're here to stay then?”

“For a while, yeah, the war did a number on me and the uh... it was advised that I spend some quiet time in the country for my health.”

“Well, Ponyville is certainly a peaceful town, for the most part anyway, and it's always nice to see new faces.”

“Here ya go Rarity!” Pinkie placed a large drink at the table in front of the white mare, it smelled vaguely of coffee with a hint of chocolate, cherry, and raspberry coming off of it.

“Oh, thank you darling, I fear I hitting withdrawals, I've been so wrapped up in my last set of orders that I haven't had a chance to pick one of these up in days.”

“Hey Mister Shale, ah gotta go back home now... ah'm sure AJ an' the others're worried 'bout me.”

I nodded, “do want me to walk you back?” Apple Bloom shook her head though.

“Nah, ah'm fine, ah'll see ya aroun' though righ'?”

“Sure will, stay safe kid.”

Apple Bloom grinned and dashed out the door.

“What was that about? If I may ask.”

“Oh, well... it's just some unfinished business I had form the war, you're friends with Applejack right?”

“Well, yes, she's one of my closest friends in fact.”

“It's not really my place to say then, it's family business.”

“Do you know the Apple family then?” Rarity might have been a kind soul but I knew the sound of somepony fishing for gossip.

“Like I said...”

“Of course dear, I'm sorry, really my curiosity gets the better of me sometimes.”

“Don't worry about it ma'am.”

“Please, call me Rarity.”

I laughed but answered, “Only if you agree to stop calling me 'Mister', just Jasper is fine, that goes for you too Pinkie.”

“Okey dokey lokey!”

“Very well, Jasper it is then.”

We passed the time afterwords with pleasant small talk, interrupted occasionally by the small but regular stream of customers, as Rarity enjoyed her beverage. The lightheartedness of it was nice actually. After all the weight of renewing friendships, fulfilling old promises, and cheering up sad fillies, the normality of conversation was a welcome change. I also found Rarity to be possessed of both a sharp mind and a quick wit, she was also well read in the latest news. She was as good of a conversationalist as I could have hoped for in fact, and to my relief it wasn't just gossip, the number of things she had genuine interest in gave us a lot of ground to cover. It turned out she wasn't just a successful fashionista, but had interest in all kinds of artistic endeavors.

Before I knew it hours had passed. We only noticed though, because Rarity looked up at the clock and gasped.

“Oh my! It's been nearly four hours! I must get back to my shop, I'm so sorry to cut our conversation short Mister Shale, ah, Jasper, another time perhaps?”

“It'd be my pleasure Miss Rarity,” I answered honestly.

“Excellent, well then, I will bid you adieu.” I bowed slightly as she departed in a rush, I made for the door too but was stopped by a Pink hoof on my shoulder.

“Uhm... Jasper, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor...” Pinkies voice had a strangely subdued quality to it that seemed entirely out of place coming from her mouth.

“Uh, sure, is everything ok?”

“Y-yeah, I just... Octavia won't ever talk about it but... I was hoping you could tell me...”

I had a feeling this would come up, fortunately that memory was among those sealed behind the suppression. Whatever Celestia had wanted to tuck away, it had only happened after Bunker Bridge. Still I wasn't exactly in a hurry to remember the horrific battle.

“Are you sure you want to hear about? Most of it is just bloodshed and tears, tight quarters fighting is brutal.”

A part of me hoped she would say 'no' but I couldn't bring myself to deny her outright. Pinkie obviously loved her sister a great deal and I was sure not knowing the details of what she'd gone through was a weight on her shoulders. Besides, the doctors said that talking about this stuff was helpful, even if it always left a bad taste in my mouth.

Pinkie nodded her assent, her eyes determined.

I sighed, and moved over to the table, Pinkie cantered over to the door and closed it, turning a 'CLOSED' sign around, and drew the curtains.

“Well... things went hooves up almost from the get-go, none of us were prepared for the ferocity with which the Griffons attack the bunker, and the Captain, along with the lieutenant went down during the first wave. After that, well, the manure really hit the fan...”

“WHAT?! What did you just say Private?” Second Lieutenant Charmer voice was shrill with disbelief, and panic, as she seized the comms soldier by his lapels and shook him.

“T-t-the Lieutenant Colonel is d-dead ma'am, a-along with Captain Rocky and his first Lieutenant... t-the command squadron is destroyed, o-one hundred percent casualties.”

Starlight Charmer rocked back on her flank as her normally chartreuse green coat turned a much paler shade, her eyes wide with abject fear. “What the buck were all of those idiots doing in one place anyway?! W-what about second company Captain Haystack?”

“N-no official word...”

Charmer glared at him from behind a fringe of her normally immaculate blue mane that had fallen out of place, “so what's the unofficial word then PRIVATE?!”

The soldier shivered in his boots, “T-the word around second c-company is that... that the Captain fled the field after his lieutenant was reported KIA.”

We all went rigid at his words.

Desertion.

Our chain of command was in tatters, lieutenant colonel and one captain dead, the other a coward. There were three second lieutenants per platoon but they were as fresh out of boot camp as the privates, and none of them had proper officer training. Even worse, the newly christened, and now apparently freshly doomed, 141st Regiment was facing an experienced Griffonari warband led by a brutal combat veteran called Phaestus, intel had nicknamed him 'The Berserker'.

“Comm traffic from the command squadron said t-that Phaestus was here, right before it went de... uh... silent.”

“Great... just... just bucking great... what hay are we supposed to do now?!”

Everyone looked cowed and scared, I was to, but I was more concerned for the civilians. We were supposed to be protecting them but we couldn't even get our own troop together.

“Uhm... shouldn't you give us some orders?” to my everlasting surprise it was my own voice that spoke up. The silence that responded was absolutely deafening.

“W-well... uh...” Charmer's response didn't exactly fill me with confidence, but I'd started the the first pebble rolling and the avalanche wasn't far behind.

“Yeah, you're still our lieutenant, what are your orders?” somepony asked from the crowd.

“Yeah! What do we do?”

“Tell us what to do!”

“What are your orders ma'am?”

“Orders?”

“Tell us!”

“I DON'T KNOW!” Charmer shrieked, panic had completely shredded her sensibilites. The collected and confident mare I'd been serving under had disintegrated into a tear-stained civilian barely able to keep her bodily functions from going out of control. “I-I... I don't know... I just...”

That's when I saw it dawn on everyponies faces, the fact that we were going to die. Our leadership was gone, our regiment was splintered down to the bone. The enemy might have been fighting on our turf but they were seasoned combat specialists and we were fresh out of boot camp. The feeling of panic and despondency that fell over our platoon was palpable.

“But the civilians... We can't just let them die.”

Me again. Why couldn't I just keep my tartarus-damned mouth shut? Then I noticed everypony staring at me. All of them.

Oh Buck.

They thought I had an idea.

Well buck it, we're gonna die anyway right?

“P...Private Dasher, where are the civies?”

The coal-maned, storm-grey pegasus jumped as I addressed him, “In the dorms s-sir.” He called me sir, we were the same sun-damned rank and he was calling me sir. Dear Celestia look down and spit.

“W-well... get them all together, take them to the main mess, it should be big enough for everyone with room to spare.”

“Aye sir!”

I seized him by the tail as he began to take off, “And bring all the mattresses, blankets, and pillows from the rooms that you can carry, ok? Get the civilians to help, if they want someplace to sleep they'll need to.”

“Aye!” Dasher fulfilled his namesake and took out like lightning down the hall.

“You, Private... Treasure?” an earth pony mare with an off-white coat and sapphire eyes nodded, “Get on the comms and tell every other platoon, anyone who can hear us, to rendevous in the mess, we need to get everyone together otherwise they'll pick us off. It's just like a game of Castles, if all of our troops are divided we won't get anything done.”

“R-right away sir!” she leapt on the comms and began broadcasting on all general channels.

“Sergeant Boulder, you said you worked on a farm right? You good with a hammer?”

“Damn right I am sir,” he answered, thumping his dirt-brown chest with a massive hoof, relief filling his voice.

“Good, go to the mess and start constructing a barricade out of whatever we have, tables, chairs, pots, pans, whatever you can lay hooves on, grab whoever you need to help you and go!”

Strong Boulder nodded briskly and grabbed a couple of his buddies I'd seen him hit the bars with, golden-yellow coated mare named Honey Withers as well as a white pegasus who I was pretty sure was called Cloud Zephyr, and they ran off in the direction of the mess hall.

I walked over to Charmer, who was quietly sitting in a corner away from the hubub I'd created. “Second Lieutenant, ma'am, do you-”

“Don't call me that.”

Her words were so quiet that I barely heard them.

“W-what ma'am?”

“Lieutenant, don't call me lieutenant, I should never have gotten the position,” she laughed bitterly in a voice full of self-reproach, “look at me... I'm a mess. My first real job as an officer and I have a full blown panic attack. I swore that I wouldn't be this way, that I wasn't going to be one of those cowards who only got their position because of their parents.”

“W-what do you mean, ma'am?”

“My mother is a court official, she pulled strings to get me a commission out of boot camp even though my scores weren't that good.”

I tried to find something to say to her that would cheer her up, at least I did until I realised we'd been standing there for a good two minutes while the Griffons were getting closer and my patience rapidly dropped to zero. “Oh for buck sake will you stop whining!” I shouted, and she froze rigid, staring at me.

“Do you have the key to the armory?” I barked the question at her, and she nodded rapidly.

“Good, we're gonna break out the long-arcs.”

“The what?” Pinkie interrupted.

“Long-arcs, they're ranged weaponry developed about a decade ago, they have a long metal barrel with a wooden stock that latches to your foreleg. The name is short for 'Long Range Arcane Weaponry.”

“Wow, bet Granpappy Pie wouldn't have minded one of those during the turf wars.”

“Yeah, they're powerful, not much staying power though. They fire concentrated bolts of energy and they're powered by these little purple gems, each one is only good for four shots though, but a unicorn can refill them.”

“Cool... so you never ran out of firepower!”

I sighed, and shook my head, “I'm sure that's what R&D thought when they made them, but as usual it was different in practice.”

“Why?”

“Because refilling just one gem caused enough magical exhaustion to knock out a regular unicorn.”

“Oh... so how many did you have?”

Charmer and I stood in the armory she'd just unlocked and I tried to figure out in my head how we could possibly make this work.

Two hundred gems. Forty long-arcs and two hundred gems. I knew that we'd run through that amount of ammo within a days. Even assuming we could refill a couple of gems a day it would never be enough. Not to mention nopony in the regiment had actually been trained with them yet aside from a few of the officers who came from noble houses that owned one.

Well, it wasn't as though I expected to survive this.

“Charmer, figure out who has the best eyes and hand them a long-arc, I have pretty decent aim myself so I'll take one.”

“M-me too sir.”

“Dammit Charmer, I'm not even an officer, you're the one who-”

Charmer stuck a hoof in my mouth and said, “With all due respect sir, shut up, you're the one who made a plan and got everyone moving, not me. So that makes you an officer in my book, got it?”

I nodded silently and she backed away, looking a little ashamed.

“I-I'm sorry, Shale, I just... I had hoped that I would be better than this and... and I'm not, I guess I'm not handling it that discovery very well.”

“Don't sweat it, we'll get through this, I promise.”

Now if only I actually believed that.

“Alright, grab a trolley and pile them on, dole out five gems per user, tell them not to fire unless they know they'll make a hit. We need to make these things count, ok?”

“Aye sir.”

We ran back to the armory, fortunately it seemed like the other platoons were making a fighting retreat back to the mess. Once they had a goal they'd fallen together in typical army fashion and started working doggedly towards it. Within hours the main mess, as well as the adjoining rooms, had become a screaming din of activity, civilians, mostly stallions and mares, were crammed together with soldiers and technicians. Fortunately the number of ponies who hadn't been able to evacuate before the attacks began was relatively small, and the vast majority of the littles ones, who had been given first priority, had been taken out of the city on transport barges up the river. It was our job to hold that river and all the necessary supplies here in the bunker, so far we weren't exactly doing a stellar job of it.

As I made my way through the bustle my attention was drawn by raised voices from the central part of the mess that the officers had claimed as a sort of de facto command post. A voice was shouting down somepony, the answering voice was recognizable as my own lieutenant, Starlight Chamer.

“You mean you're not the one who issued the order to fall back? Well who did?”

“One of m-my men, Jasper Shale, it was his idea.”

“Jasper... wait, isn't he a private? A grunt? You're letting a grunt call the shots?!” I cleared the morass of ponys to see a heavy-set earth stallion, looming over my commanding officer, frustration clearly written over his bellicose features. I knew him, or knew of him at least, he was a belligerent noble's son named Brick Brawn, a bully and unpopular except with his little circle of sycophants. “Well, if you're not the one in charge I sure as hay am not taking orders from a private, from here on out I'm in charge, got that?”

The men from his unit cheered but the rest of the group, civilians included, looked less than pleased by his declaration. I was among them, I had no desire to lead anypony but Brick was the last pony this place needed.

“Excuse me sir but I need to speak with my lieutenant,” I interrupted the argument and walked past Lieutenant Brick to Charmers side.

“Huh, hey, you're Jasper right?” he prodded a hoof none too gently into my side and I grimaced, I had very little patience for bullies at the best of time and now was as far from 'best' as I was going to get.

“Ma'am, is everything ok?” I asked Charmer, deliberately ignoring the arrogant plod who was growing visibly more frustrated at my reaction.

“Y-yeah, I'm fine, just having a discu-”

“Don't ignore me, Grunt, I'm your commanding officer and if I speak you better speak back. Do you got that ya little f-” his words were cut off by the butt of a long-arc coming down on his head. He dropped like a sack filled with his namesake and the room went dead silent as we all stared at the pony who'd dropped him. She was an earth mare, a little shorter than the average with a forest-green coat and a dirty brown mane.

“Wow that guy was annoying, I've been wanting to do that since I first heard him talk,” she grinned in playful malice and I found myself returning the smile.

“Thanks, uh...”

“Summer Withers, I'm Honey's older sister, good to meet ya Captain,” she held out a hoof and I shook it cautiously.

“Uh, good to meet you to Summer, but I'm a private.”

“Yeah, maybe on the books.” Summer hooked the long-arc into the brace on her back as she nudged Brick's prone form way, “but right now the manure has hit certifiably hit the fan and you're the colt with plan. That makes you the Captain, whether you like it or not.”

Not good. This was getting way out of hoof. I looked around, desperate for some kind of support but all I saw in the troops and civilians around me was... oh damn...

It was hope.

They were all looking at me like I was going to save them and I had no idea what to do. I silently cursed Summer for her big mouth and her brash manner.

“W-well...” I stammered, trying to find a way out, anything that could put me back in the comfortable position of taking orders. I didn't want this responsibility, I wasn't an officer, I was a private. A line soldier. I was just... just a...

A grunt.

Brick's words came back to me in a rush. For a moment, just a moment, I wanted to prove him wrong, to prove all the bullies and professors who had ever said I wouldn't amount to anything but a substandard unicorn, that I could do something right. Something meaningful. I felt a warm pressure of a hoof on my shoulder and looked back, Charmer was smiling with the same hopeful look in her eyes as the others.

Celestia help me.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Fine then, from here on out, you can call me 'Captain Shale', anyone who has a problem with me can step outside and discuss it with the Griffons that are on our doorstep, otherwise, let's get moving and show those featherheads what's what!”

The cheer that rose from the mess hall was deafening for all the right reasons, and I felt something stir in my chest. I was doing the right thing, I knew it, this was where I was meant to be.