Part 7 Trouble in the Neighborhood

>A week later...

>Your shoulder healed completely the morning after the party
>You got into the habit of waking up at dawn to do an hour of PT
>Fluttershy could not be a better hostess, although you wish you had more than eggs and fish as protein
>You don't complain because you're in survival mode
>Daily routine included showering after PT, heading down to Sweet Apple Acres and doing about 4 hours of work
>There really wasn't much you could do, since you couldn't buck apples
>Still appreciated whatever work they could come up with for you. It always was nice to earn a few bits every day
>After work, go to Twilight Sparkle's library...tree..home..thing, and be studied
>After that, hang out at Sugarcube Corner with the other 6 ponies
>No drinking. Drinking brought up... unpleasant memory fragments...
>All week, Twilight tried getting into your mind and "magic-ing" a rifle into existance
>Yesterday was the first sucessful attempt. She pulled out a working M1 Garand and a clip of ammo
>Not the M4 Carbine, but still
>Fuck yeah
>You can still wreck shit, and look classy doing it
>Today she was supposed to work on replicating the ammo

>You wake up with the sun about to rise
>You vaguely recall a nightmare. The same nightmare that had been plaguing you since you found a regular sleep schedule
>The first time was the night you had to be dragged back to the small bed in Fluttershy's cottage after you had one too

many
>The only thing you can recall was various memories trying to be remembered. Some quite violent. Some rather sad. Nothing

was ever happy
>Then you had a falling feeling, similar to when you first arrived in Equestria
>Then you wake up
>You haven't told Twilight or anyone
>Secretly, you hope that these nightmares will help you remember your past life
>Until then...
Time for PT
>90 Pushups
>112 Situps
>Half hour of run
>Done
>Shit's getting too easy, you consider the possibilities of making things harder
>Shower time
>Fucking shower is too small for you to stand normally
>End of shower
>You look at yourself in the mirror
Looking good
>Flex
>Looking at your tattoos
>On your right arm is the Senior Airman rank. Why is that?
>No clue
>On your left, a tattoo of a language you neither speak nor read
>No fucking clue
>Time to shave
>Carefully you use knife.
>Eh, even if you weren't home anymore didn't mean you could be out of AFI standards
>Get dressed in your ABUs
>Fuck, gotta get better walking around clothes
>You don't want to walk around in your flight suit because you felt less like a soldier in it without a jet to fly
>Attaching your KA-BAR knife to your belt, you take care to also put on your M9 holster
>Never can be too careful
>Can't wait to get that M1 from Twilight. You left it with her so she could study it more.
>Downstairs, you hear breakfast happening
>You go down and watch as Fluttershy feeds all her animals
>Cute, but really, aren't these animals capable of feeding themselves?
>"Oh, hi Anon. Want the usual for breakfast?"
Yes, please.
>It had come down to two slices of toast with butter and a large glass of water. Simple, quick, and light.
>Happy to have an easy breakfast to make, she serves you breakfast with an adorable smile
>You gotta find a way to make it up to her, maybe you could build her a better fence or something
>As you finish your "meal," you say a rather hasty thanks and move on out
>Heading out the door, you almost run into Twilight Sparkle
>Unusual
Hey, Twilight, I was just heading to help AJ at the farm-
>"They said you could use a break today" she says as she smiles
>Unusual of her to interrupt you, but hey, she must be excited to have a full day of studying you
>And to be honest, you felt like it was pity work. You'd never take money you never earned, but you still have your pride
>And you'd rather make a living doing something you were skilled at
>Apples just weren't your thing. You liked them, but you're no farmer, let alone an apple farmer...
>Is that even the correct terminology?
>Fuck it
>Walking towards town
Alright Twilight, what are we going to do today then? All this time and only one thing on the agenda.
>"Well Anon, we could always talk more about your culture, or better yet, your personal life!"
>You noticed how chummy you had gotten with Twilight Sparkle
>Then you realized you had gotten that way with pretty much all of them. You had 6 friends. Six.
>Since when did you get so popular
>You laugh it off
Always about my personal life. Why can't we talk about yours once in a while?
>She turns her head and... is that a blush? Na, can't be. She's faking me out
>She then gives you an "Oh you" face, and the both of you laugh
>You fucking called it.
>But there was something else on her face...
>Just your imagination
>As you walk into town, you feel something missing
>There's a lack of ponies here...
>Oh shit, no really, the streets are empty
Uh, Twilight, is there some sort of holiday going on today?
>"Not to my knowledge, Anon."
>The two of you walk further into town
>Tumbleweeds
>You feel uneasy
>As you approach Sugarcube Corner, a familiar pink head pops out
>In a loud whipser, Pinkie Pie says "COME INSIDE QUICK!"
>"Pinkie, what's going on he-"
Twilight, I think you should listen to her
>"But Anon, what about you?"
>You pick her up and set her down inside gently
Pinkie, what's the problem?
>Her eyes are bulging out of herOHGODHOWDOESEYESWORK
>"DIAMONDDOGS!"
>Dogs?
>Fucking really?
>The shit you've put up with before
>You rush out of the bakery, intent on getting this over with
>You hear Twilight and Pinkie both plead with you to go back inside
>You were trained as a soldier, you're not about to run away from a threat, real or perceived
>Nevertheless, you make sure to stick to corners, being as covert as you can
>You fought the urge to pull out your weapons
>You really didn't like the idea of putting dogs down
>Hell, you grew up with a couple dogs as pets
>Right brain?
>Yeah dawg, that aight
>....
>What?
>Your vernacular is different. Quit it
>Just a joke man
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8JUIGdKli0
>FUCKING FUNNY MAN
>Chill out
>So, it's ok for you to make jokes, but not me?
>Yup. I'm the brain. You don't have a choice
>Fuck you
>You halt as you hear footsteps. Hugging a wall, you slowly turn the corner...
>And find three dogs. Walking on their hind legs.
>And you thought you'd seen it all
>They only resembled dogs in the loosest sense of the word
>Still, you figured you shouldn't kill them...yet. Let's see if they're as terrifying as the town thinks
>You listen in on the conversation
>Big ugly of the group: "..and then the boss tells me, 'WE NEED MORE PONIES!"
>Small ugly: "What better a place than Ponyville for Ponies?"
>Medium ugly: "Indeed! We'll have enough slaves here to mine the mines dry! COME ON OUT PONIES!"
>Good God, their voices are nearly unbearable
>And they're stupid
>Though they were all different sizes, the smallest one came up to about pony height, whereas the two bigger ones came

closer to your height
>You don't have any desire to listen to anymore of their stupid chatter, and you step out of the corner and into the street
You know, the one thing I can't stand is your fucking voices.
>They stop, and look at you with contempt
Get the hell out of my town
>It's apparent that they don't know what you are, but they also will be damned if they let anything stop them
>"who's going to make us? You?" They laugh
Yeah. Me. Last chance to get out.
>You stare at them
>They stare at you
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4
>They come right at you
>Big ugly comes into spitting range first, about to crash into you.
>You sidestep and throw your right at him, hitting his stomach.
>The combined force of his sprint towards you plus your thrust puts him on the ground
>The other two slow down, seeing what happened to Big ugly
>You jump onto medium ugly and, grabbing his head with your left, ram it into the ground, face-first
>Not content with the THUMP sound, you punch the back of his head a few times
>His body goes limp. Still breathing though. Good, just knocked the fuck out
>Small ugly jumps on your back and pulls you off Medium ugly
>He's actually hitting you pretty hard in your spine
>It's actually starting to hurt
>You quickly stand and jump onto your back
>He doesn't realize what's going on until it's too late
>Under your weight, he's easily crushed and lets go
>Damnit, he's still breathing. These dogs were starting to piss you off
>You look around
>Two dogs... Wait, where's Big ug-
>GOOOSH
>Punches you in the jaw, sending you flying
>Land on the ground, hearing laughter
>Laughter dies when you get up, not rubbing your (starting to swell) jaw
>You walk to him, taking your time, watching his dread as he starts to back up
I warned you to get out of here
>Without warning, you sprint to him and bring a foot to his stomach
>He bends over, and you grab his head
>Hi dog face, meet my knee
>His nose bleeds over your BDU trousers
>Sigh
Do you know how long it takes to clean blood off these?
>Elbow his head into the ground
>Look around
>The other two dogs are nowhere to be se-
>Oh, they're running away, apparently not knocked out
>Big ugly gets up, and follows suit, apparently thinking it wasn't such a good idea to fight with you
>No one messes with you
>Not anymore
>Wait brain, where'd that come from?
>Uh...I don't know, play the music!
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCN-a0NsNk
>No one comes out
>You don't blame them
>Nonchalantly, you walk over to Sugarcube Corner and open the doors
>...Or rather try... They've been bolted down or something
>You knock
>Hear nervous shuffling
Hey, it's me! Open up!
>Loud noises ensue... Furniture being moved? Meh, whatever
>Pinkie opens the door and is about to pull you in, when see sees the blood on your uniform
>"What happened????"
I told them kindly to go back home. They decided they wanted to wrestle, and I showed them a thing or two about the sport.
>Twilight comes over, and looks at you with awe
>"Who's blood...?"
Don't worry, it's not mine.
>"You didn't...did you?"
Of course not. I let them off with a warning
>Relief pours over her face
>"Alright everypony, it's safe to come out!"
>Slowly, doors open and heads pop out.
>Cautiously, ponies walk out of their homes, and they go about their business like nothing happened
>There's a lack of staring at you. It's almost like you're starting to be accepted into this small pony community
>Feels...kinda good
>"What was that Anon?" Twilight asks
>Huh?
>Oh, right
That was just a little close-quarters combat.
>"Impressive..."
Not really. Just simple Krav Maga, I didn't even try that hard. Honestly, that fight wasn't a big deal
>"Hopefully you won't have to do that again."
Hopefully not
>But you weren't optimistic about that. You reason that if Ponyville could've been taken over by three dogs
>Diamond Dogs
>Yeah, that's what I said
>..taken over by three diamond dogs, you might have to pick up security for the town
>Lightbulb
>You think you may have found another job...