Life in Allspark Wells

Part Dog; He Just Don't Got It

"Aah…. Aah…. Achoo!" Apple Bloom groaned as she let out yet another loud sneeze. As the snot shot out of her nose and into the tissue she'd just barely managed to press up to her face, the former farm girl felt her throat sting, feeling as if it had been turned into a barren, rocky canyon devoid of any and all water. Reaching over to her nightstand, she grabbed a bottle of water and took a great big gulp. "Ugh." Apple Bloom grumbled to herself as she sniffled her runny nose.

That morning, Apple Bloom had awoken to find her throat sore, her head throbbing, her nose running and her joints aching. No sooner had she barely made to the kitchen before Ratchet immediately figured out that she'd come down with more than just cold, and thus sent the former farm girl back up to her room while he called a doctor. Now, several hours, a doctor's visit, and a diagnosis of a sinus infection later, she found herself confined to her bed, unable to do anything else but sleep or just stare at the other end of her bedroom wall.

At that moment, someone knocked on her bedroom door. Apple Bloom let out a quick cough to make sure she didn't accidentally interrupt whoever it was and called out, "Come in." As the door opened, the former farm girl was greeted by the sight of an older man with gray skin, white hair, and a white lab coat over a simple suit, followed by a small robot with a skeletal body, two large binocular eyes, and some sort of extended block on the other end of his head.

Walking into his friend's daughter's room, Ratchet asked, "So, how are we feeling?" Apple Bloom took a deep breath as she replied, "'Bout the same as an hour ago. Mah throat hurts, Ah…." The young girl was interrupted by the unpleasant buildup of phlegm in her throat. 'Here we go.' She thought as she began to cough and gag, barely able to keep herself from throwing up.

Noticing the young girl's sneezing, Brains remarked, "Oi'm terribly sorry yer feelin' so under the weather lass." Apple Bloom gently nodded her head as she replied, "Thanks Brains." She then turned her head back to Ratchet as she continued, "Not that much different. Just wish this damn sinus thing would pass already." Ratchet walked up to the young girl and held his hand against her forehead as he replied, "Well, you aren't running a fever. Another day or so and you'll be right as rain."

Hearing this, Apple Bloom asked, "So, does this mean Ah can at least help out a bit?" Ratchet immediately shot back with a blunt, "No. Last thing we need is you getting sicker or spreading it to Ironhide, Chromia, or Wheeljack. Especially Wheeljack." The old medic then shuddered as he fearfully muttered, "Last time that idiot tried working under the weather, I had to save his ass from falling into the smelting pits."

Apple Bloom could only let out an amused, "Ooh." She would have asked for Ratchet to elaborate, but the burgundy haired girl was interrupted by a sudden (and very unpleasant) coughing fit. As she hacked up her lung, Apple Bloom found herself thinking, 'Oh please don't start throwin' up! That's the last thing Ah need today.' Thankfully, she managed to control herself as she asked, "Hey, you mind if Ah have a little peace and quiet?"

Ratchet nodded as he replied, "Sure thing kid." He then turned to Brains as he ordered, "Come on. I want to run an inventory on our medical supplies." The small robot could only roll his eyes as he complained, "But we did thart yesterday sar." Nodding, the old medic replied, "Yes, but I enjoy keeping to a habit, especially since Wheeljack is a magnet for disaster."

As Brains and Ratchet departed her bedroom, Apple Bloom flopped back onto her bed, her head resting on her pillow as she asked herself, "So, what happens now?"

At that moment, an idea entered the former farm girl's head. 'Wait. Where's Armorhide's journal?' Reaching to her bedside, Apple Bloom found her grandfather's journal resting next to the bottle of water she'd taken a sip from. Making sure the old book wasn't drenched with water, the former farm girl opened it to where she'd left of as she began to read, "It was the end of the summer, and we'd pushed Jerry all the way to the border of…."

3rd Battalion Assembly Area, Many Decades Earlier

Glancing at his reflection in the platoon's mirror, Armorhide took a deep breath as he said to himself, "Remember, it's an upturned hand." He then stood at attention and gave his reflection a "proper" salute. The young corporal had been informed by his commanding officer, Major Blackthorne, that he had to stop giving the incorrect salute to other officers or else he'd be "Spending the rest of the war scraping shit off of everyone's boots." Recoiling at the thought, the young soldier thought to himself, 'Ugh. I'd rather face three tiger tanks than do that.'

As he continued to practice his salutes, Armorhide allowed himself to notice his uniform. Rather than the faded green of his time under Captain Falcon, the uniform of the 92nd Highland Foot Guards was a dark khaki tunic and trousers, black boots with off white gaiters, and a wide brimmed helmet in comparison to the "brain bucket" he'd worn earlier.

At that moment, the young corporal was distracted when a young, unfamiliar voice asked, "Excuse me sar?" Turning around, Armorhide was greeted by the sight of a young man with white skin, blue hair and eyes, and clad in a fresh, clean uniform much like his own. Walking up to him, the new man awkwardly asked, "Is this the 92nd Highland Foot Guards, A Squadron?"

Hearing those words escape the young man's lips, Armorhide thought to himself, 'Must be that new guy we were promised. A bit skinnier than I expected, but not too shabby.' The young corporal nodded as he finally replied, "Yup. I'm corporal Armorhide. You must be the new guy, right?"

As the younger man shot him a salute, he replied, "Sar, Private Bluestreak Sar!" He then asked, "Pardon my askin', you a Canuk by any chance?" Armorhide shook his head as he replied, "Not quite. I had a…." Pausing as he thought, 'How do I give him the simplified version?,' Eventually, he settled on, "I had a unique encounter with a tank crew, so I found myself joining up with these lads."

From the opposite end of the barracks, Armorhide and Bluestreak heard the sound of Leadfoot's voice call out, "Aye, that blockhead might sound like a yank, but he's every bit a Highlander as the rest of us." As the young corporal turned to face his friend, he found the red skinned man walking up them as he continued, "As for you ya little buckshee crow, we'll need to see what you can do."

As Bluestreak let out a nervous gulp, Leadfoot turned to Armorhide as he continued, "Major says we've got new orders. Briefing in ten minutes." The young corporal let out a defeated sigh as he replied, "Alright. We better not keep him waiting." Armorhide then turned to Bluestreak as he said, "Let's introduce you to your new family boy."

Five Minutes Later

As the rest of the Foot Guards sat down on the makeshift stands in front of a rusty projector, Armorhide let out a gentle groan as he leaned into Leadfoot's ear and asked, "So, there a hidden village we gotta clear out?" Shaking his head, the red Highlander replied, "Hardly. Word's out that a Jerry battalion hunkering down nearby. We've been volunteered to give 'em the eviction notice."

Glancing around him, Armorhide couldn't help but take in just how many other men were there with him. All in all, there were almost fifty other soldiers, many of whom were from other squadrons and platoons in the unit. 'I mean, it's not like the Foot Guards is just one squadron, right? That'd be stupid.'

At that moment, Major Blackthorne entered the room and powered up the projector before calling out, "Alright boys! Listen up!" Once all the Highlanders had given their attention to their commanding officer, the major pointed at the projected image against the wall as he began, "Here's our situation, and Oi'm only gonna say this once."

Staring at the image, Armorhide found that it was an aerial photograph of the surrounding area, at least for several miles. Major Blackthorne pointed to the center of the picture as he explained, "We've received word from the underground that a Waffen battalion is settin' up shop around here, and we'll be flanking them while the 1st Royal Canuk Rifles distract them." He then pointed to an opening next to the enemy battalion's position as he continued, "We'll be moving hard and fast, and if we lose the momentum, it will be a slaughterhouse."

Hearing this, Armorhide could only gulp as he thought, 'A Waffen battalion? At least they won't be sneaking up on us this time.' As he collected himself, Major Blackthorne continued, "You will all be further briefed by your squadron leaders. Good luck to each and every one of you, and good hunting."

As everyone began to depart the briefing, Leadfoot playfully nudged Bluestreak as he remarked, "Looks like you're gon'ne get yer teeth cut real soon!" The younger recruit could only let out a nervous, "Yeah. Hopefully they'll give up without a fuss." Shaking his head, Armorhide could only lament, "I wish, but these Waffen wankers are fanatics. They're not gonna surrender unless it's a blue moon."

Hearing this, Bluestreak could only let out a terrified gulp as he turned deathly pale (at least as pale as his white skin would allow). Seeing this, Armorhide could only pat his new subordinate on the back as he reassured him, "Don't worry. Once you get your first kill, everything else falls into place." His words of encouragement didn't seem to have any effect on Bluestreak, who simply stared off into what was in front of him.

Sighing, Armorhide decided to change the subject as he said, "Come on boy. Let's get you introduced to the rest of the squad."

The Farmlands, the Next Day

"Keep pushing!" The voice of an officer called out amidst the flurry of artillery fire, heavy machine gun fire, and mortar shells crashing all around the members of the 92nd Highland Foot Guards. As he ran up to an overturned tractor, Armorhide rested his back against his temporary protection whilst readying his submachine gun. To his side, Private Claymore joined him as he quipped, "Jerry must be dug in pretty tight!"

At that moment, an officer, a lieutenant judging by his uniform, ran towards them as he shouted, "Forwards men! For king and country!" Sadly, the hapless officer was not protected by any cover, and quickly found himself on the receiving end of over three dozen machine gun rounds. As his body fell to the ground, Armorhide could only shout, "Where the hell is our fucking artillery support?!"

Armorhide received his answer in the form of three faint rumbles, not unlike the crashing of thunder. Looking up at the sky to see a blue sky, the young corporal allowed an excited smile to form across his lips as he muttered, "I think our day just got a little better."

Sure enough, just on the other side of the overturned tractor, a large cloud of dirt, earth, grass, and anything else that just so happened to get in the way emerged from the ground as a loud "kaboom" rang out. As the cloud of dust began to settle, another explosion occurred in front of it, leading Leadfoot to remark, "Nothin' like a good creepin' barrage to push Jerry back!"

Readying his weapon, Armorhide called out, "Alright then! Let's give these krauts a damn good ass kicking!"

Later That Day

Standing in front of the old farmhouse that, only a few hours earlier had been a Waffen position, Armorhide brought a pipe up to his lips, lit it, and took a deep breath, inhaling the tobacco fumes as he lamented, "Well, that was certainly a one hell of a Saturday morning." In front of him, a handful of surrendered prisoners were being marched away as Leadfoot mockingly called out, "Better luck next time Fritz!" Watching his friend celebrate their victory, the young corporal could only let out a relieved sigh as he lamented, "At least we made it out of this one alive."

Turning to his other side, Armorhide found two of the other Highlanders solemnly arranging the bodies of their fellow comrades who'd fallen in the previous battle. Some were unfamiliar faces, whilst others were recognizable, such as that of the unfortunate lieutenant, his skin already graying as his glassy eyes stared up into the sky. Shaking his head, the young man could only lament, "Damn shame it's all coming down to this."

At that moment, Armorhide distracted from the sight of his fallen comrades by the sound of Claymore's voice shouting, "What the hell you fuckin' bimbot?" Following the sound, the young corporal found his fellow Highlander, rifle slung over his back, dragging Private Bluestreak by his ear. Noticing the pale man's obvious embarrassment and discomfort, Armorhide could only shake his head as he thought to himself, 'Why do I have a feeling that this isn't exactly good news?"

Walking up to his teammates, Armorhide asked, "What's going on?" Claymore gave his answer when he chucked Bluestreak to the ground in front of the young corporal as he bellowed, "This lily-livered coward didn't fire a single shot!" He then turned to the young man and ordered, "Empty your weapon! Right now!"

Bluestreak let out a terrified, "Y-y-yes sir!" before he presented his rifle and began to operate the bolt, ejecting the rounds one by one. Just as Claymore said, each round that was ejected still had the bullet inside it, signifying that he'd not even fired his weapon at all. After repeating this ten times, Claymore folded his arms as he growled, "He did'ne even fire a fuckin' warnin' shot at the huns!"

Looking down at the fresh rounds, Armorhide couldn't help but think, 'Isn't that queer? Why the hell didn't he shoot at the Germans?" Raising his head, the young corporal turned to Bluestreak as he asked, "Private? You wanna explain why you didn't shoot at the enemy?"

Taking a nervous breath, Bluestreak awkwardly replied, "Well, I… I got a good look at one of those Jerries and…." The blue haired man hesitated for a moment before giving his surprising answer.

"He was a human bein'. I just couldn'ne kill another person."

For several moments, everyone stood there, processing what they'd just heard. Shaking his head, Armorhide thought, 'You… You gotta be fucking kidding me. This little prick knows we're in the middle of a goddamn war, right?' After a few more seconds, the young corporal bluntly asked, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"He was a person sar!" Bluestreak replied before letting out a loud gulp. "I tried to steel myself for it, but when I saw his eyes, I just knew he was a human, probably with a family and…."

Bluestreak was interrupted when Leadfoot slammed his fist into the young boy's jaw, producing a sickening smack as the latter warned, "Oi, there's a bloody war on you know!" He then grabbed Bluestreak by his collar and spitefully warned, "And the next time we have a run in with the Huns, you better make sure you shoot your Primus forsaken gun!"

Seeing his comrades bicker and fight with each other, Armorhide groaned as he declared, "That does it!" Stepping in between Leadfoot and Bluestreak, the young corporal turned to his friend as he warned, "You lashing out like Gramps isn't gonna change anything!" Before the red Highlander could even consider talking back, Armorhide turned to Bluestreak and added, "And you, whether you like it or not, we've got a job to do, so pick up those rounds, reload your weapon, and get ready to…."

Armorhide was interrupted when an explosion rocked everyone, forcing Bluestreak to the ground as Leadfoot asked, "What the hell was that?" As another explosion rang out, this time much closer to the group of Highlanders, Armorhide witnessed a massive, eight wheeled armored car emerge from the nearby trees, followed by enemy soldiers. All the young corporal could do was call out, "Counter attack!"

As the rest of the Highlanders hit the dirt, Armorhide shoved his weapon into Bluestreak's hands as he ordered, "Aim this at the krauts and pull the trigger! Don't think, just do it!" He then reached for the young man's discarded rifle and began to scoop up the discarded rounds as he continued, "Come on boys!"

No sooner had Armorhide said this than the armored car rotated it's turret in his direction, forcing the young corporal to dive to the ground and crawl to the protection of some hastily piled sandbags. As the young corporal began to reload his rifle, Leadfoot called out, "Someone get a damn PIAT up here!"

Amidst the confusion and chaos, Armorhide found himself staring at a terrified Bluestreak, the young man having dropped his weapon so that he could cover his ears with his hands. 'Oh, for the love of Primus!' He thought to himself. 'Of all the times he has to have a panic attack.' Rolling his eyes, Armorhide knew that the only thing he could do was continue reloading his new weapon.

Once his rifle was reloaded, Armorhide peaked his head over his sandbags and began to aim his rifle. After a few moments, he aimed his weapon at an unsuspecting German solider. 'Got you Jerry!' The young corporal thought to himself as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into his opponent's chest. As the enemy soldier fell to the ground, his comrades pointed at Armorhide's direction and shouted at each other.

Ducking behind the pile of sandbags, Armorhide grumbled, "Bloody krauts. Here we go." He began to peak his head back over his simple cover, but a flurry of submachine gun fire forced him to keep his head down. All the young corporal could do was keep his head down as he muttered, "Well… Shit."

Thankfully, Leadfoot came running up with a large, tube-like device as he declared, "PIAT here! Fuckin' big explosion comin' right up!" The crimson Highlander aimed his weapon at the armored car and fired, sending its payload straight into the target. The gray behemoth was consumed by a cloud of red fire as the rest of the Germans jumped or dove out of the way. Realizing he had a chance, Armorhide poked his head up and aimed his rifle at one of the panicking soldiers.

As the smoke began to clear, Armorhide called out, "They're confused and panicking! Let's kick their asses boys!" Leadfoot and the other Highlanders let out enthusiastic cheers as the young corporal gave a cocky smirk whilst he ejected the spent round from his rifle. Taking a deep breath, Armorhide whispered to himself, "Let's do this." With that, he leapt over the sandbags and began to charge the enemy soldiers.

Running towards the Germans, Armorhide aimed his weapon at another one of his enemies, pulled the trigger, and sent another kraut straight to the afterlife. To his side, the young corporal noticed that Bluestreak was following him, his borrowed submachine gun held in both hands as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. The only comfort Armorhide could take was the fact that his presence at least removed any doubts of cowardice.

Turning his attention back to his enemies, Armorhide aimed his rifle at one of the German soldiers, a surprisingly young man who couldn't be older than eighteen. Despite his young age, the young corporal immediately aimed his rifle at his opponent as he briefly thought, 'Primus forgive me.' With that, he pulled the trigger, sending a round straight into the teen's head, granting him the mercy of an immediate death.

Before Armorhide could even consider reloading his rifle, another enemy soldier, yet another teenager, charged him and tackled the young corporal to the ground. As the teenaged soldier tried to push a knife into his throat, Armorhide pushed his opponent's hands back as he growled, "Do your worst you sausage sucking prick!"

In the corner of his eye, Armorhide noticed Bluestreak catching his breath. 'Thank Primus!' The young corporal thought to himself in relief. He then called out, "Bluestreak! Help me!" The moment he said this, Bluestreak immediately aimed his weapon at the enemy soldier.

But it was here, at this moment, that Armorhide noticed something. Bluestreak wasn't pulling the trigger on his weapon, nor was he charging his opponent. He wasn't even trying to call for help or alert the other soldiers. No, Bluestreak was simply standing there, a nervous expression as he hesitated to fire.

'Oh no.' Armorhide thought to himself. 'Please don't tell me that son of a bitch is freezing in the middle of battle.' He would've continued to ponder on his teammate's incompetence, his opponent continued to push his knife closer to the young corporal's throat, forcing Armorhide to continue his desperate attempt to keep himself alive.

At that moment, the sound of a gunshot rang out in Armorhide's ears. Within a heartbeat, the German teenager dropped his knife and fell lifelessly onto the young corporal's chest. Pushing the dead body off of him, Armorhide found Leadfoot standing over him, a concerned look on his face as he asked, "You alright there?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Armorhide replied, taking a deep breath as he shook his head. "Just saw my life flashing before my eyes." He then paused for a moment before adding, "It was really boring actually."

Patting his friend on the shoulder, Leadfoot reassured him, "Well, at least you've still got a wee bit more time to be a wee bit boring." The red Highlander then pointed to something in the distance as he added, "Look. Jerry's givin' up. Must have had enough."

Following his friend's hand, Armorhide was pleasantly surprised to see a handful of enemy soldiers slowly walk up to them, their hands in the air or holding their weapons over their heads. Letting out a sigh of relief, the young corporal could only remark, "Thank Primus."

But as his eyes followed the surrendering prisoners, Armorhide found himself starring at Bluestreak. The inexperienced soldier had tossed his loaned submachine gun to the ground, collapsed to his knees, and was now dry heaving from stress. Under any other circumstance, Armorhide would be sympathetic to him, or at least pity him.

But not this time. As he stared at his new teammate, Armorhide felt his blood boil, thinking, 'Why that good for nothing, useless….' Leadfoot noticed his friend's growing anger as he asked, "You alright there Armorhide?" The young corporal simply shrugged his comrade away as he stomped up to Bluestreak, cracking his knuckles in anger.

Before Bluestreak could even react, Armorhide grabbed him by his helmet, pulled him upwards, and slammed him to the ground, producing a sickening crunch as he furiously asked, "What in the blue fuck was that?!" Struggling to get himself back up to his feet, Bluestreak fearfully asked, "What… What are you talkin' about?!"

Pointing to the dead teenager, Armorhide demanded, "Why the hell did you fucking hesitate?! You realize I could've died, don't you, you fucking idiot?!" He then grabbed Bluestreak by his tunic collar and continued, "Why didn't you shoot him?!" All the young private could do was nervously reply, "Because I just couldn't do it! I couldn't kill someone!"

'Couldn't do it?' Armorhide thought to himself as stared at the young soldier. 'I was nearly killed, and he couldn't do it?' Just thinking about it made his blood boil, leading the corporal to slam Bluestreak back to the ground as he angrily said, "Fuck it." He then began to stomp away, though not before he heard Leadfoot warn, "He's not normally that prone to tirrivies. Mean's yer quite the fuckup."

But Armorhide wasn't paying attention to his friend's words. Right now, he just needed somewhere to not think about anything.

Nearby Barn, That Evening

Sitting on a bushel of hay, Armorhide glared across the old barn at Bluestreak, the young man holding his head in shame and resignation as he stared at the floor. Normally, the dark corporal would just chock this up to him being "the new guy," but now, after nearly being killed due to his hesitation, Armorhide just couldn't overlook it.

The young corporal was distracted from his train of thought when he heard Claymore call out, "You alright there?" Turning to face the blue Highlander, Armorhide replied, "'Bout as good as I can be given…." He felt his brain freeze for a moment as he finished, "… Everything today."

Sitting down next to his friend, Claymore sighed as he lamented, "Guess you won'ne like the news." As Armorhide turned to face his comrade, the blue Highlander continued, "Just got word from Major Blackthorne, there's a manpower shortage." He then pointed to Bluestreak as he added, "No one gets rotated out unless they're wounded too bad or dead, which means we're stuck with that hollom over there."

Curious, Armorhide asked, "What's a hollom?" Sighing, Claymore explained, "It's an old naval term me uncle taught me. It's someone in a job they can't perform, and will never be able to get better." Intrigued, the young corporal asked, "Ooh. Kinda like a dead horse. It's something I picked up back in basic. Means someone who, no matter how much you try to beat it into them, are incapable of improvement." Claymore let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, "Like that old sayin', beatin' a dead horse, right?"

Turning his attention back to Bluestreak, Armorhide growled, "Yeah. Beating a dead horse." At that moment, the young corporal began to think, 'Well, guess we gotta rip the bandage right off.' Taking a deep breath, Armorhide walked up to Bluestreak, rested a hand on his shoulder, and made his opinion clear.

"Boy, I hate to say this, but you don't got it. You're a pathetic soldier, and a pitiful excuse of a human being." As Bluestreak tilted his head, Armorhide groaned as he continued, "I'm taking your ammo."

Hearing this, Bluestreak began to panic as he replied, "But sar, I… I can be good soldier." Armorhide shook his head as he bluntly replied, "You couldn't will yourself to even pull a fucking trigger on two separate occasions. You don't got it." This statement lead the young private to ask, "Well, whatever it is, I can learn it."

"No! God damnit!" Armorhide shouted in frustration. "If you "had it," you'd have shot that kraut trying to kill me! You don't learn "it," you either got it or you don't!" He then grabbed Bluestreak by his tunic collar as he furiously whispered, "And you! Don't! Got! It!" Hearing this, the pale private could only look down in shame and regret as Armorhide released him, muttering, "Primus, you're so infuriating."

As Armorhide sighed in exhaustion, one of the other Highlanders, an unfamiliar man with purple skin and red hair, asked, "So, we gonna kill this kid or what?"

Hearing this, Armorhide asked, "What?" The new purple soldier explained, "Well, you heard Claymore. We can'ne get any reinforcements unless there's an openin', and you said yourself, that wanker is a useless hollom, so we're gonna have to put him down like a dog." As he said this, two more Highlanders backed him up as he said, "As long as we're all talkin' old sayin's, you know what they say about the needs of the many and the needs of the few."

While Armorhide was furious and fed up with Bluestreak's incompetence, he didn't want kill him. 'I mean, I'd kinda like to break his legs, but I'd never kill him.' The young corporal thought to himself. Once again, he found himself standing in between a helpless, if incompetent man, and a fellow soldier plotting to kill him.

'Just like Gramps.'

Armorhide walks up to the new soldier and warns him, "Dead horse or not, Hollom or not, we're not fragging anyone!" This statement was met with Bluestreak asking, "What? You're gonna kill me?" Turning around, the young corporal found his new subordinate panicking, trying to back away from everyone else.

At that moment, the sound of Major Blackthorne's voice called out, "Good news lads!" As Armorhide turned to face his commanding officer, he found the major entering the barn, flanked by two Highlanders as he declared, "The last Germans in the area have surrendered, and the Royal Canuk Rifles will take over from here. We've been ordered to pull back for some new operation." The major then called out, "Corporal Armorhide, a word please." Nodding, Armorhide followed his commanding officer.

Once the two men were outside the barn and under the stars, Major Blackthorne sternly began, "I received a repot about what happened earlier today regarding Private Bluestreak, as well as overhearing that little chat you just had with him. Rest assured, once we're out of here, I'm transferring him out." Taking this in, Armorhide nodded as he replied, "Sir, very well sir."

However, Major Blackthorne continued to stare at his subordinate, signaling that something was wrong. Concerned, Armorhide asked, "Sir, is there more?" The major sighed and shook his head as he continued, "Look, there's something I need you to know. You're a good man corporal." A confused Armorhide replied, "Uh… Thank you sir."

"That's not a fucking compliment!" Major Blackthorne shouted, startling Armorhide. "We're fighting a war here, a war we've got to win!" Sighing to himself, the major warned, "You're lucky you're such a good soldier as well, so I'll make this clear. What happened tonight will not happen again. We get another hollom and can't transfer him out, we will do what is necessary, is that clear?!"

Caught off guard, Armorhide could only gulp as he shot a salute and replied, "Sir, yes sir!" Satisfied, Major Blackthorne replied, "That will do. You are dismissed corporal." With that, the major departed, leaving Armorhide alone as he thought, 'Well, guess we're not so different from Gramps after all."

All the young corporal could do was promise himself that, if the time came, he wouldn't actually kill anyone if he didn't need to.

Apple Bloom's Bedroom, Many Decades Later

"Wow." Apple Bloom said as she finished the page of her grandfather's journal. "That was…. Not somethin' Ah'd ever want to have to go through." Setting the journal on her lap, the former farm girl noticed the time on her clock, and how it had moved forward by several hours.

"Oh mah!" the young girl exclaimed as she realized just how long she'd been reading. "Well, Ah suppose Ah can finish this little bit." Picking up the journal, Apple Bloom was pleasantly surprised to see that, though she'd finished the main section of it, there was a small piece of paper that had been stapled to the page, likely added sometime later. Curious, Apple Bloom began to read it, only to be surprised by what it said.

"We just got word Bluestreak was killed today. He'd been transferred to a field hospital, and from what was said, did a pretty good job as an orderly. They'd been hit by a kraut air raid, and Bluestreak was caught in an explosion while trying to save the patients. He might have been a dead horse, but he certainly wasn't a coward."

Reading this, Apple Bloom couldn't help but lament, "Well, that sucks. Shame Armorhide couldn't make things up with him." She'd have continued, but her throbbing headache returned, forcing the burgundy haired girl to rest her head against her pillow as she complained, "Ugh, this sucks."

Feeling her eyes start to grow heavy, Apple Bloom let out a yawn as she said, "Guess Ah better get a bit of rest." She then gently placed the old journal on her nightstand before tucking herself into her covers, hopeful a nice long nap would help her feel better.

She just hoped Armorhide's journal wouldn't give her any nightmares.