Life In Allspark Wells

by The Fraudulent Brit

The past seven months have been quite the experience for Apple Bloom. Learning about and bonding with her uncle Ironhide, tap dancing with her boyfriend Tender Taps, helping her new sister Sideswipe, befriending Marble Pie and Rattrap, and in general, exploring her new home of Allspark Wells. But that was only the beginning. Currently being posted on Fimfiction first.

25. Canuks on the Hill

Life in Allspark Wells

Part Charlie; Canuks on the Hill

Lying down on her bed, Apple Bloom let out an exhausted sigh as she lamented, "Primus almighty Ah'm beat." It was the end of yet another day, and the former farm had endured the daily grind of school, she found herself dealing with the stresses of studying for a test, her daily chores, and even an emergency "all hands-on deck" situation when Sideswipe got her arm stuck in a pipe.

Needless to say, the young girl was looking forward to eight (or more) hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Letting out a groan as she stretched her arms and legs, Apple Bloom let out, "Oh yeah! That's it!" Once she had finished her stretch, the young girl began to tuck herself under her sheets. Before she could get comfortable, however, Apple Bloom was distracted by the sound of Sparkplug barking. Turning to her side, the young girl found her beloved highland terrier sitting next to her bed. Letting out a gentle chuckle, she called out, "Come on up here boy."

Once Sparkplug had leapt onto her bed and made himself comfortable, Apple Bloom found herself thinking, 'Wait a minute. A highland terrier, just like….' Turning to her nightstand, the former farm girl was relieved to see her grandfather's journal was right where she left it. Picking up the journal, Apple Bloom asked, "Say Sparkplug, you in the mood for another chapter?"

As the small dog wagged his tail, Apple Bloom took this as confirmation. Opening the journal, she read aloud, "We had finished securing a hill near the town of…"

Many, many years earlier

Seated against the wrecked hulk of an enemy halftrack, Armorhide took a bite from the piece of bread in his hands as he thought, 'Hard fought battle.' In front of him rested the scorching remains of half a dozen other armored vehicles, as well as the fresh bodies of countless soldiers. All around him, British soldiers were walking every which way, some tending to wounded comrades while others simply inspected the wrecks for stragglers.

To his side, Armorhide heard the sound of Leadfoot ask, "You alright there sar?" Turning to face his comrade, the young corporal replied, "About as fine as I can be. Just grabbing a bite to eat." He then broke off a small piece from his bread and offered it to Leadfoot, only for the red highlander to reply, "Thank you kindly."

Sitting down next to his friend, Leadfoot complimented, "Nice job on taking that Pak gun." Armorhide shrugged as he remarked, "It was nothing. I just knew someone had to stop that thing before it took out one of the tanks." As he took another bite of bread, the young corporal asked, "I nearly forgot, where are we exactly again?"

Letting out gentle sigh, Leadfoot replied, "We're about ten kilometers from the border. At this rate…." Pausing as he did some math in his head, the red highlander replied, "We should be done here no later than Hearth's Warming." Hearing this, Armorhide could only snicker as he playfully warned, "Better be careful with that. I heard folks say that about the last war, and it ended up going on for four years."

Before Leadfoot could reply, Claymore ran up to the two men as he called out, "Leadfoot! Armorhide!" As the two men rose up to their feet, the blue man elaborated, "Major says we've got new orders! Come on!" Turning to his teammate, Armorhide replied, "Very well. Lead the way."

Command Tent

As Armorhide, Leadfoot, and Claymore joined the rest of the Highland Foot Guards, the young corporal noticed Major Blackthorne talking with another officer, specifically a green man in the khaki tunic of other officers. Leaning into Claymore's ear, he asked, "What's going on?" The blue private sighed as he replied, "Damned if I know sar."

Walking towards his men, Major Blackthorne began, "Nice work today laddies. General Firefly is proud of your effort taking on jerry today. As a reward, we've been given the relatively easy task to protect some soon to be deployed artillery here." Intrigued, Armorhide raised his hands as he asked, "What kind of artillery sir?" The Major turned to his subordinate as he answered, "25 pounder howitzers. They'll be used in the upcoming assault on a nearby position."

Receiving his answer, Armorhide nodded as he apologized, "Sorry for interrupting sir." As Major Blackthorne gave a confirming nod, he continued, "Thankfully, we will not be alone. I've received word we'll be joined by members of the First Royal Canuk Rifles." He then finished, "That will be all for now. Corporal Armorhide, I require you for a moment."

As the other members of the Highland Foot Guards departed, Armorhide walked up to his commanding officer as he asked, "Everything alright sir?" Major Blackthorne turned to his subordinate as he warned, "Listen very carefully Corporal, because I will only say this once. The Canuks have a reputation for being rather…. Blunt and rough around the edges." He then glared right in his subordinate's eyes as he gave a blunt warning.

"Chances are they will not mind their manners. This means that you must mind yours. Am I clear?"

Nodding as he saluted his commanding officer, Armorhide replied, "Sir yes sir." A satisfied major Blackthorne finished with, "That will be all Corporal. You are dismissed." The young corporal nodded as he departed, all while thinking to himself, 'This may not be as relaxing as I thought."

The Next Day

Observing the artillery crew as he performed his patrol, Armorhide couldn't help but be impressed by their efficiency. Over the span of a single night, almost a dozen heavy howitzers had been deployed in the area, and now were unleashing hell upon their opponent. As each weapon's crew loaded heavy artillery shells, pulled the guns' levers, and fired their payload, the young corporal couldn't help but think, 'Guess these guys know what they're doing.'

The only downside was that each gun produced a deafening roar each time it fired.

As the nearest gun went off, Armorhide found himself collapsing to his knees as he held his hands to his ears. 'Fuck me! And I thought tank guns were loud!' The young corporal thought to himself. Rising back to his feet as he picked up his submachine gun, Armorhide could only mutter to himself, "I hope our next assignment isn't as loud as this."

After a few minutes, Armorhide was approached by Leadfoot, the red soldier informing him, "My watch now. Try to protect yer ears." The young corporal nodded as he warned, "Brace yourself. I think they're putting more pressure on the krauts." Nodding, Leadfoot replied, "You better be careful. The Canuk boys showed up."

Taking this in, Armorhide bade his friend farewell as he said, "Stay safe." As both men gave polite nods to each other, the young corporal departed, hopeful he could get a bit of respite from the constant artillery shelling.

A Few Minutes Later

Making his way towards a small preparation area, Armorhide was greeted by the sight of two groups of men discussing something with each other. One group were his fellow members of the 92nd Highland Foot Guards, distinguishable by their dark khaki uniforms and dark green helmets. The other group, on the other hand, had lighter tunics and trousers as well as a dark brown helmets. Smiling to himself, the young corporal remarked to himself, "These guys must be the Royal Canuk Rifles."

As Armorhide approached the group, one of the Canuk Riflemen, a green man with white hair, continued his conversation with a blunt, "Can't believe it took you guys over a month to take that hellhole." To the other side, one of the Highlanders with dray skin and black hair, replied, "Aye, but at least we distracted Jerry long enough for you keep pushing in." Another soldier, Private Claymore, added, "And it were'ne our fault. The krauts were just dug in too damn well."

Joining his comrades, Armorhide asked, "So, these our new friends?" Hearing his unique accent, the green rifleman replied, "Well, what do we have here? You one of us or are you a Yank?" The young corporal let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, "I'm a Yank. It's a long story." Claymore then spoke up with, "We found him surrounded by Waffen goons. Turns out he'd angered some tank crew for tryin' to frag a dead horse."

It was at this moment that Armorhide was distracted by a vaguely familiar voice calling out, "What's going on here? Who gave you permission to gossip with those skirt wearers?" The young corporal found himself frozen solid, unable to move as he thought, 'That voice. That sounds like Gramps.' As Claymore tried to shake his comrade's shoulder, the voice continued, "I said who gave you permission to run your mouths?!"

At that moment, an officer with dark gray skin fiery red hair and a moustache, made his way up to his subordinates as he warned, "you boys better remember we've got a war to win." He then turned to face the Highland Foot Guards as he ordered, "You boys better shove off or else." Focusing his attention on Armorhide, the officer asked, "You slow or something boy?"

It took all of Armorhide's strength to keep himself from either lashing out at the officer or to just run off in fear.

As the young corporal briefly managed to collect himself, the officer rolled his eyes as he complained, "Well that's just prime. As you were boys." Once he was out of earshot, Armorhide found himself muttering, "I can't believe it. That guy looks and sounds just like Gramps." He then turned to Claymore as he asked, "I can't be the only one seeing it, right?"

Shaking his head, Claymore answered, "I don'ne know about that. All I know is that he was one of the officers in the Royal Canuk Rifles. Think one of them said his name was Lieutenant Torrent." Taking this in, Armorhide let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, "Yeah, this whole thing is just a little coincidence." Continuing to laugh, he elaborated, "How big this world is, of course there'd be two men from completely different places with the same face, voice, everything, right?"

Armorhide's rant was interrupted by what sounded like the faint sound of thunder. Hearing this, the young corporal remarked, "That's odd. I thought we were told it would be pretty sunny today." As this thunder continued to ring out, Claymore gulped as he bluntly warned, "That's not thunder."

As soon as the private said this, the ground shook as clouds of dirt and soil leapt out into the air. Armorhide was barely able to avoid the worst of the incoming debris by throwing himself to the ground. 'Fucking hell!' He thought to himself as dirt rained onto his back and helmet. The young corporal found himself instinctively reaching for his weapon as one of his fellow Highlanders called out, "We're under attack!"

The moment he heard this, Armorhide found himself readying his weapon as he called out, "Where are the krauts coming from?!" Claymore could only clench his teeth as he shouted back, "Bugger me if I fucking know!" Another explosion rang nearby, this one followed by someone screaming in pain. The deafening sound prevented Armorhide from being able to hear what Claymore had said.

From behind them, Armorhide and Claymore heard the sound of Leadfoot's voice calling out, "Corporal!" Turning to face his friend, the young corporal found his friend running up to them, holding his rifle in one hand as he held his other against his helmet. Once he had joined his comrades, Leadfoot explained, "Sergeant Ding How says Jerry is pushing up from the south! We have to keep them from taking the howitzers!"

Steeling himself, Armorhide asked, "He say anything about us either pushing against them or staying put?!" Shaking his head, Leadfoot replied, "He didn't say. He just…." The red soldier was distracted by something behind his friends, leading him to shout, "Get down you daft bastards!" Before Armorhide could react, he found both himself and Claymore getting tackled to the ground as an explosion rang out.

'Holy fuck!' The young corporal thought to himself as he processed what was going on. 'That nearly punched my ticket to the great beyond!' His moment of relief was ruined when Leadfoot stared off at the distance, specifically the direction he'd been looking at earlier as he fearfully muttered, "Shite! They've got a fuckin' panzer!"

Peeking his head in the direction Leadfoot was staring at, Armorhide felt his heart sink as he saw an unfamiliar tank surrounded by enemy soldiers advancing out from the trees. Witnessing the krauts advancing, the young corporal could only mutter, "Please tell me we have a bazooka nearby." The red Highlander shook his head as he replied, "We have the PIATs, but we'd need to be closer to use them effectively!"

It was at this moment that the three Highlanders heard the sound of Lieutenant Torrent's voice calling out, "Alright boys! Let's take these pricks!" As soon as he said this, the officer, as well as twenty (more or less) other Canuk Riflemen charged the incoming Germans. As they began their attack, Armorhide couldn't help but quip, "Damn, those guys have got balls of cast iron."

As the Canuk Riflemen charged at their opponents, Claymore stated, "Awaiting orders sir!" Hearing this, Armorhide looked back to the silent howitzers behind him. 'Well, the Germans are advancing from the south, and there doesn't appear to be any sign of them from the north.' He thought to himself. Turning to Leadfoot, Armorhide asked, "We're camped to the north, right?"

Nodding, the red Highlander replied, "Aye. There's no way they'd have gotten past that many of us." Taking this information in, Armorhide prepared his submachine gun as he said, "Well then. Let's not let the Canuks hog all the fun!" Pointing to the enemies, the young corporal ordered, "Forward boys!"

With his comrades' nodding in approval, the three Highlanders prepared their weapons before charging the Germans.

As they charged towards the oncoming enemy, Armorhide ordered, "Claymore! Get to cover! Leadfoot, throw a fucking grenade!" As he said this, the young corporal aimed his submachine gun at an unsuspecting German soldier and pulled the trigger, sending several bullets into the hapless goon. When another soldier tried to point at the oncoming Highlanders, Leadfoot lobbed a hand grenade at him, giving him only a few moments to call out "Granate!"

While Armorhide and his friends picked off several of the German infantrymen, the young corporal heard Lieutenant Torrent's voice call out, "Someone do something about that tank!" Turning to face the officer, the young man saw him dragging one of his men away from the steel behemoth, leading Armorhide to think, 'Maybe charging at this thing wasn't the best idea after all.'

Thankfully, one of the Canuk Riflemen chucked something underneath the tank. Seeing this, Armorhide thought, 'What was that? Some kind of satchel?' He didn't have long to ponder this, as the feral scream from an unfamiliar voice distracted him. The young corporal turned around to see a German Rifleman charging him with his rifle, leaving him only a few moments to react.

But if there was one thing that Armorhide had gotten better at since he joined the Highland Foot Guards, it was how to react to enemy soldiers with less than a second's notice.

Leaping backwards, Armorhide aimed his submachine gun at the charging opponent and pulled the trigger, shooting the approaching German in the head and upper chest. As the unfortunate soldier fell to the ground, the young corporal turned his attention to another enemy soldier and eliminated him. When a third soldier tried to aim his weapon at him, Armorhide quickly shot him as well, sending his opponent to the ground recoiling in pain.

At that moment, the sound of a loud explosion rang out, catching everyone off guard. Turning to see what had happened, Armorhide was greeted by the sight of the enemy tank being consumed by a cloud of red and orange fire. Smirking to himself, the young corporal thought to himself, 'If those bastards are lucky, they won't be getting out of that tank alive.

Instead, one of the tank's crewmembers, a man in an officer's uniform, emerged from the turret's top hatch, completely consumed by flames as he screamed in agony. Watching the man suffer, the young corporal muttered, "Poor fuck." Knowing his opponent was too far gone to even consider surrendering, Armorhide aimed his weapon at the soldier and pulled the trigger. Once his opponent was down, the young soldier walked up to the burning body and shot it in the head, making sure the German's suffering was over.

As the now lifeless body ceased moving, Armorhide felt someone tapping on his shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, the young corporal was greeted by the sight of Leadfoot, who said, "Looks like Jerry is giving up. Look!" Following his friend's hand, Armorhide was pleasantly surprised to see several German soldiers slowly approaching them, either holding their weapons above their heads or raising empty hands.

Before Armorhide could approach the surrendering enemies, Lieutenant Torrent walked up to one of the Germans and, to everyone's surprise, slugged him in the face as he bellowed, "That's for my men you bastard!" As the defeated soldier fell to the ground, the young corporal asked, "What was that for?! They're surrendering!"

Lieutenant Torrent turned to Armorhide and replied with a furious, "I don't give a fuck if they're surrendering! They killed five of my men!" He then pointed to one of his men and ordered, "Get these pricks out of here and send 'em off to hell!" The Canuk Rifleman nodded as he began to round up the surrendering Germans.

But as the Canuk Riflemen began to escort the surrendering prisoners away, Armorhide found himself thinking, 'You can't just execute surrendering prisoners. It ain't right.' While he had found himself having to shoot prisoners in the past, the young corporal knew each of those had committed some sort of grievous sin to negate the protection offered under the rules of war. The soldier Gramps was trying to execute? He was wearing a captured trench coat. The prisoner from his first "battle" with the Foot Guards? He'd tried to attack after surrendering, technically committing a false surrender.

'But these guys?' Armorhide thought to himself. Taking in the sight of the surrendering Germans, the young soldier continued, 'They're surrendering, they're cooperating, none of them are trying anything, and they seem to be in proper uniform.' But to have them just be shot outside of battle? That was something Armorhide couldn't stand by and allow.

Stepping forward, Armorhide ordered, "Privates Claymore and Leadfoot? Escort the prisoners away for questioning!" When the two Highlanders turned to him in confusion, the young corporal continued, "Now! I want them moving five minutes ago!" Walking up to his friend, Leadfoot asked, "Sar?" Armorhide looked his friend and immediate subordinate in the eye as he bluntly said, "Please do it."

Nodding, Leadfoot replied, "Yes sir." He then motioned his rifle at the surrendering Germans and ordered, "This way Jerries, and no funny business!" As he and Claymore began to escort the prisoners away, Lieutenant Torrent stomped up to Armorhide as he bellowed, "What the hell was that? I said I wanted those prisoners shot!" The other members of the Canuk Riflemen began to surround the young corporal as one of them complained, "Yeah! We lost five men today, and you're just gonna let them live?"

Before Armorhide could react, he was caught off guard by the sound of Leadfoot's voice calling out, "What the fuck do you tink you're doin'?" Turning around, the young corporal found his comrades trying to stand in between the Canuk Riflemen and the surrendering prisoners. As the Germans gave each other confused looks, one of the riflemen barked, "Come on boys! Let's give 'em what for!" Running towards his comrades, Armorhide barked out, "Don't you dare lay a finger on them you…." Struggling to find an appropriate insult, the young corporal finished, "… You halfwit lumberjacks!"

The Canuk Riflemen didn't react to the young soldier's defiance. They simply shoved past the Highlanders, aimed their weapons at the prisoners, and open fired.

As the prisoners fell to the ground, Armorhide felt his blood boil while Claymore shouted, "What the fuck was that for?!" One of the Canuk Riflemen shrugged as he replied, "They're Jerries. They deserve it!" Lieutenant Torrent then walked up to the group and began, "Exactly. We ain't in the prisoner takin' business. We're in the kraut killing business." He then strutted up to Armorhide as he gleefully mocked, "And boy… Business is a booming."

It took every ounce of the young corporal's willpower and discipline to not strike the Canuk officer in the face.

Armorhide was distracted from his spiteful staring contest when he heard Leadfoot call out, "Sar! One of 'em is still alive!" Turning around, the young corporal found his comrades trying to lift one of the German prisoners, a young man with dark blue skin and white hair. The young prisoner was groaning as he held his hands against a bullet wound in his chest, clearly too in pain to even try to fight the men helping him.

Turning back around to face Lieutenant Torrent, Armorhide warned, "I'm aware that there's a war on, but I'm also aware that there are rules, and you just broke them." As the officer glared daggers at him, the young solider bade a final, "Have a nice day."

Joining his friends, Armorhide ordered, "Let's get this guy looked at before he bleeds out. Let's move!"

Later That Day

Standing next to the wounded prisoner as he laid on a bed in a triage station, Armorhide asked the medic attending to him, "Will he be alright?" Lifting his head from his patient's chest, the medic, a dark green man with pink hair, answered, "He'll be harvin' some chest pain for the next few weeks, but he'll be in good enough condition to escorted to a POW facility." The young corporal let out a sign of relief as he said, "Thank Primus. Hopefully he can tell us everything he knows once he's lucid."

From behind him, Armorhide heard the sound of Major Blackthorne's voice ask, "Corporal? May I have a word with you?" Turning around, the young soldier found his commanding officer staring at him, his arms folded in disappointment and an unamused scowl on his face. 'Oh shit.' Armorhide thought to himself. 'He's probably angry because I lashed out at that lieutenant.' Sighing to himself, the young solider simply straightened himself as he approached his commanding officer. Glaring at Armorhide, Major Blackthorne asked, "May we speak outside Corporal?" Nodding, the young soldier replied, "Yes sir."

Once the two men were outside, the Major turned to his subordinate and growled, "You have quite the nerve Corporal!" As the young corporal took this in, the major continued, "I specifically told you to mind your manners, and what do you do?! You went and pissed off Lieutenant Torrent!" Sighing to himself, Blackthorne continued, "I received a report you were blatantly insubordinate to an officer. Please tell me what happened!"

Taking a deep breath, Armorhide answered, "Sir, the Canuks open fired on enemy soldiers who had surrendered. We were only able to save one of them." Sighing in frustration, Major Blackthorne replied, "Damnit Corporal! You might be the most moral man in this army, but that's also the one thing that got you into this damn mess!" As the young corporal found himself stepping backwards, the major concluded, "Since your new friend might have useful info, I won't punish you for this."

Before Armorhide could even consider letting out a sigh of relief, Major Blackthorne walked up to his subordinate as he coldly warned, "But I want to make this absolutely clear. This will not happen again. Am. I. Clear?"

Gulping in fear, Armorhide replied, "Y-y-y-yes sir." He then impulsively gave a "yank" salute before switching to a proper salute. The major, satisfied with having made his point, finished, "Very good. You are dismissed." The young corporal gave a confirming nod before departing.

As he walked away, Armorhide was distracted by a sound he didn't expect to hear; the sound of someone struggling to keep himself calm. Taking this sound in, the young soldier thought, 'That's odd. Someone having a panic attack or something?' After all, with how much fighting they'd all been through, it was only natural that a few soldiers would begin to break under the constant stress of never ending combat.

Letting out a gentle chuckle, Armorhide muttered to himself, "Well, I better see who it is. They probably need some reassurance." Following the sound of the nervous breathing, the young soldier thought to himself, 'Wonder who it is though. Doesn't sound like any of the lads.' Making his way past a tent, Armorhide found himself caught off guard by what he found.

There, sitting against the side of the tent as he held his head in his hands, was Lieutenant Torrent.

'What the hell?' Armorhide thought to himself. 'Is that Lieutenant Torrent Having a panic attack?' Indeed, the gray officer was trying to conceal his face as he muttered, "Just our job. Business is booming. We're in the killing business, and business is booming." As he pulled at his face, Lieutenant Torrent realized he was being watched as he jumped away and screamed,
"Gah! What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Raising his hands, Armorhide tried to calm him down, "I was just walking by. Calm down!" The moment he said this, Lieutenant Torrent began to nervously laugh as he retorted, "Calm down? I just got caught being weak by a damn yank and you want me to fucking calm down?!" Continuing his unnerving laughter, the Canuk officer said, "Why don't you just…. Heh heh heh…. Scream it to the high heavens? Let everyone know!"

As Lieutenant Torrent devolved into manic laughter, the young corporal warned, "Well, that'll happen if you keep shouting it." Armorhide then found himself scowling as he impulsively stated, "If you're gonna do that, I might as well as let the whole army know what you did to those prisoners. You can't just kill people like that."

The moment Armorhide said this, Lieutenant Torrent shot up and, stomping up to the young corporal, bellowed, "I don't give a fuck what some bleeding heart like you thinks. We're not here to make friends. We're not here to take prisoners! We're not here to be "good little boy scouts!" We're here to kill! We're here to make the krauts suffer! We're here to send every last one of them off to hell…." Collapsing to his knees, the Canuk officer made a surprising revelation.

"I'm not a good man."

Hearing this, Armorhide asked, "What?" Trying to collect himself, Lieutenant Torrent admitted, "I'm not a good man Corporal. I know what this job requires me to do, and what I've done I…." Collapsing back to his knees, the officer began to cry into his hands as he admitted, "I can't do this anymore. I can't take the killing. But…."

The moment was interrupted by the sound of a voice calling out, "Something's going on over there! Sounds like the Lieutenant." Armorhide a lump form in his throat as he thought, 'Shit. That sounds like some of the Canuk Riflemen.'

Sure enough, a squad of riflemen emerged from the shadows as one of them, a sergeant with red skin and white hair, asked, "What's going on here?" For several moments, both Armorhide and Lieutenant Torrent were speechless, the former thinking, 'Shit. What should I do? What should I do?' At that moment, the young corporal had an idea.

Stepping forward, Armorhide answered, "Everything's fine. I think he's just a bit drunk."

As the riflemen took this in, Lieutenant Torrent stepped forward and, to Armorhide's surprise, "No I'm not. I'm not as think as you drunk I am." He then performed a pratfall, one the young corporal realized was intentional and forced, leading him to think, 'Well I'll be damned. He's playing into it.'

The Canuk sergeant shrugged as he remarked, "Guess the Lieutenant is pissed. Come on boys. Let's get him to his quarters." When the squad approached their commander, Lieutenant Torrent shrugged them off him as he replied, "I can walk b-b-back to my quarters, so bugger off." Sighing, the sergeant replied, "Yes sir. Come on boys."

Once the riflemen had departed, Lieutenant Torrent dropped the drunken charade as he asked Armorhide, "Why did you lie about me being drunk?" The young corporal replied, "No point in fretting about what happened earlier today. Besides, I think I heard somewhere that seeing your CO cracking under pressure will demoralize soldiers. Guess it's better to see you as having gotten drunk than breaking."

Taking this in, Lieutenant Torrent wiped the tears from his face as he said, "Well, I…. Thank you." He then ordered, "You will not tell a soul about this. Ever!" Nodding, Armorhide saluted the officer as he replied, "Yes sir." When Torrent returned the salute, he gave a final, "Perhaps I can try to show a little more restraint from now on." Before Armorhide could comprehend what he'd just heard, the officer finished with, "You are dismissed corporal."

Giving the lieutenant a salute, Armorhide gave a final nod as he departed, thinking to himself, 'Well, maybe he'll try to take prisoners if possible from now on.' Of course, it didn't really matter since Lieutenant Torrent was in a completely different unit, but the young corporal hoped that his brief act of kindness would stick, and they could all win this war without giving in to their darkness. Still, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

There was still a war on.

Apple Bloom's Room, The Present Day

Closing her grandfather's journal, Apple Bloom let out a yawn as she remarked, "Ah think that's enough for one night, wouldn't you say Sparkplug?" When she didn't get a response, the former farm girl focused on the small terrier, only to find him curled up as he slept at her feet. Smiling, Apple Bloom remarked, "Guess that answers mah question."

Setting the journal down on her nightstand, Apple Bloom switched off the lamp next to it as she whispered, "Time to get some sleep. See you in the mornin' buddy." With that, the burgundy haired girl tucked herself under the sheets and drifted off to sleep.

She just hoped her grandfather's tales didn't inspire any nightmares of her own.