Aces' Diary

Chapter 11: Restoration

        Gerhard took another read at the note. Of course, he understood the content very well, but who was this Doctor?

Suddenly, the moment with the strange doctor and his nurse played in his head. The mailmare earlier at Octavia’s house matched the nurse in every aspect, from coat colour to those unkempt eyes. Was it coincidence or they were watching him?

Shrugging the thought off, he focused on walking to the camp, followed closely by Twilight. He grabbed another muffin and took a bite. He recalled that these muffins were the courtesy of that mailmare. Each bite filled his mouth with smooth texture of the baked good, sweetness came with each bite. Disregarding his suspicion, that mare’s baking skill was outstanding.

He continued to eat the remaining muffins. When he finished the last one, the camp was only a couple dozen of metres away. He took a look at the watch; it was almost noon. He better hurry up.

The camp was surrounded by ten small green tents, just large enough to shelter an adult, one for each member of the paratrooper squad. In the middle was an extinguished fire pit, ember still illuminating its last light deep within the burnt firewood, faint smoke floating up into the sky.

        Franz, the young soldier, was the first to notice Gerhard approaching. He called out for the rest of the squad, every single troop rushed to him, forming a row. All of them had their rifle and sub-machine gun ready at their side.

“Achtung!” shouted Ludwig, the squad leader, tapping his feet together and standing to attention. The rest of the paratroops followed one by one, looked straight forward.

Gerhard took a step forward and copied the same action. As if on queue, they saluted him in unison. Gerhard returned the salute with a small smile, “Rührt euch! (At ease!)” he ordered stoically, which they complied without any question, easing their stances. “Wunderbare Arbeit, Oberfeldwebel. (Wonderful job, Master Sergeant.)”

“Es ist Elementar, Herr Leutnant, (It’s elementary, Lieutenant)” Ludwig said proudly, smiling. “Wie auch immer, was bringen Sie zu unserer bescheidenen Behausung, Herr Leutnant? (Anyway, what bring you to our humble abode, Lieutenant?)” he asked, lifting his scoped Kar98k and slinging it on his shoulder.

“Ava,” he called out for his wife, who was standing at the end of the row. She first emerged from the row, looking for the source of the call. She beamed at Gerhard, stepped out, and approach him.

Ava gave him a good morning kiss. “Was ist es, Schätzchen? (What is it, sweetie?)” she asked innocently.

“Ava, Staub Ihrem Mechaniker Geschick. Christl braucht du, (Ava, dust your mechanic skill. Christl needs you” Gerhard answered as he offered his hand, gesturing for her to follow him.

She took his hand, giggling. “Sie brauchen mich immer, meine Liebe, (She always needs me, my love)” she joked light heartedly. Gerhard chuckled in reply and looked at his watch. It was five minutes to noon. He shouldn’t make a bad first impression for those researchers.

Turning to Twilight, who was following him quietly, he tapped several time at his wristwatch, informing her about the time. The mare of which nodded in recognition. “Should I teleport us to the train station?” she asked, pointing her hoof at Ava.

“I don’t think that es ist necessary,” replied Gerhard. He turned back to Ava, who was observing the landscape, “Ava, wir müssen uns beeilen. Wollen Sie mir, Sie wie damals zu tragen? (Ava, we must hurry. Want me to carry you like that time?)”

Ava nodded enthusiastically, waiting for him to be ready, and jumped onto Gerhard’s back. He caught her legs perfectly in his tight grip, jumped to put her on a more stable position, and bent his knees for the extra weight. Ava’s arms found their way around his neck, resting her head on his back.

“Ihr Rücken ist so warm wie üblich, mein Gerd, (Your back is as warm as usual, my Gerd)” she complimented as she enjoyed the warmth of his back with closed eyes. Her soft blonde hair swept past his cheek. The scent of shampoo emitted from her hair. He could say that he enjoyed every single moment with her.

“Genau wie damals, oder? (Just like that time, huh?)”

“Ja,” she replied and planted a kiss on Gerhard’s cheek, which resulted in him blushing.

Spectating the love birds, Twilight couldn’t help but giggling at the romanticness of the scene. It was just like seeing one of the scenes from her novel played in front of her. Disturbing now would only ruin the mood, so she stayed quiet and enjoyed as more romantic actions unfold.

*****

Tom was all alone in the library, excluding his sword companion, who never moved anywhere. The whole was place set in silence. There was no need to speak. Tom and Thor had their telepathic link, so they didn’t need to waste their energy on unnecessary action.

You simply acted weird today, said Thor. I’ve seen your memory. Volunteering to watch the archive wasn’t really a thing you would do. What happened?

It’s nothin’, Thor. I jus’ think bein’ nice fer a day wouldn’t hurt, he replied with a tiny smile, switching to more comfortable position.

Had that door slam broke you or something? Thor asked in concernful demeanor.

Umm… Tom murmured curiously. Was it genuine gratefulness from being carried by Gerhard, or did that slam had really damaged his brain? Better get it checked before something happens. Can ye possibly check me brain?

That’s possible, but quite… difficult, said Thor, brightening her glow, charging up her supernatural power in her possession.

In the following minutes, silence engulfed the whole library, except from the creepy noise Thor was creating while she scanned through his head. Tom felt her magic sweeping through his mind. It was one real strange sensation: tickling, yet, relaxing. The feeling sent a chill down his spines, caused him to wince.

        “I’m finished,” Thor stated, lowering her green glow, “It seemed that you had minor brain damage. Nothing to worry about; I’ve healed you in the process,” she said reassuringly. “There’s one little side effect from healing your brain though,” she added with a serious tone.

        Tom’s calm and merriful demeanor faded away, replaced by a really pale expression on his face. “Please don’ be a bad one, please don’ be a bad one!” he chanted repeatedly, closing his eyes and keep his fingers crossed.

        “Oh, it’s not actually that bad, my dear Tom. It’s just that you cannot drink any alcoholic drink for a week. A hangover will *possibly** blow your head clean off.*”

        “Wot!?” he exclaimed, stood up and held Thor in his hand, “I can’t live without Scotch! You can take ye Scotch away from yer Scotsman, but ya can’t take ye Scotsman away from his Scotch!”

“Wow, that’s a new catchphrase.”

“Don’ yar dare change ye subject!” he shouted, slamming the table with his fists. “How can I last a week wit no Scotch!?”

Thor blew her imaginary mouth, which annoyed the British ace a little. “Piece o’ cake. You just need to practice fencing, perhaps cutting some more heads to get more of my powers.” she said calmly.

“An’ where in the bloody world can I find more head ta cut?” Tom countered, crossing his arms.

“I sense something in the forest south-east of here. It’s dangerous out there. Here, take this.” Thor’s power flowed into his head. Slowly, he felt something looming in the dark far away. It was probably the forest she was talking about. “I just shared my power to detect murderous aura in the vicinity of fifteen English miles. Use it to get heads. Have fun slaughtering enemies!”

“Many thanks. Now, up an ‘bout, chums!” Tom sprung up from the chair he was sitting on the whole time since everyone left. “Morph t’ dagger, Thor. We’ll lay low ‘til we reach the border of the forest.” She obliged.

The transformation was like smithing a brand new weapon. First, Thor heated herself up to the melting point, then the unnecessary metal evaporated into the air, leaving only the essential steel in the shape of dagger. The finished dagger was extremely hot; the whole blade was blood red from the heat.

“Wait for a moment, so that the blade is cold, Tom. I don’t want you to get a burn from me…” she warned with a caring tone.

“I know lass, I know.” Tom gave her a gentle smiled and sat down, waiting patiently as the blade’s heat started to emanate.

*****

Gerhard arrived at the train station with Ava on his back. Twilight trotted closely after them. Spike was waiting for them. He waved as soon as he spotted the group coming, gesturing for them to come to him. Gerhard complied without any question.

 On the station, a sign with silhouette of a locomotive hung from the wall, indicating that it really was the train station. The ponies around stood patiently for the train to arrive. The station was basically a ticket booth with a small platform to stand on. It had a single rail, one end toward the beautiful castle on the cliff. One could say that the city was shining from the distance. Aside from the stunning castle, there was a train coming from the said direction.

The train looked quite… cute? Its size wasn’t as big as an ordinary locomotive. The colour of each car varied from bright pink to light brown, which could be spotted from a kilometre away. Some hearts were painted on the train, also the window on the locomotive was a heart.

Someone must really like hearts, thought Gerhard, gently dropping Ava on the ground. Once she touched the ground, she stretched lazily.

“Nun, das war eine kurze Fahrt, (Well, that was a quick ride)” Ava said after she was done with stretching. “Gerd, meine Liebe, warum sind wir hier? Sollten wir nicht an der Absturzstelle sein? (Gerd, my love, why are we here? Shouldn't we be at the crash site?)” she asked.

“Wir werden, aber das Pony Forscher werden Sie mit der Reparatur zu helfen, (We will, but the pony researchers will help you with the preparation)” Gerhard explained, looking at the approaching train. It shouldn’t be longer than a minute for the train to arrive now.

“Excuse me, Jerry,” said Twilight. Ava gave her stink eyes, which troubled Twilight greatly. What had she done wrong? “Erm… Why are your wife glaring at me?” she asked confusedly.

“Jerry ist ein nickname which die enemy gave uns,” he pointed out, “Es ist counted as eine harsh word, aber I don’t mind as much as Ava does.”

“Oh… Entschuldigung, (Sorry)” Twilight apologized with a sad face, avoiding eye contact with Ava.

“Es ist in Ordnung, hast du nicht. (It’s fine, you didn’t know.)” Ava pat her head with a heart warming smile.

A few seconds later, the train approached the station and stopped dead in its tracks once the cars and the station were aligned.

A crowd of ponies started to flood the tiny station with their massive numbers, leaving little to no space for them to stand. Most of the ponies in the train departed from the station immediately. They must hadn’t got the wind of humans in Ponyville yet, but they did now. Most of them gasped before running for their lives upon spotting Gerhard and Ava. The German couple simply shrugged; they got used to it after a couple of visits at the local bars in the occupied France.

Finally, the crowd dispersed, leaving them alone on the platform. But the moment of tranquility didn’t last long.

The door of the last car swung open. Then, a group of ponies exited the carriage, followed by two snow white earth stallions in golden plate armor. All of them, excluding their guards, had their saddle bags on. But only one caught Gerhard’s attention.

The said pony was a cream-coated stallion with hint of light brown fur on his muzzle. A snow white lab coat adorned his body, distinguishing him from his fellow. From this look, he must be the leader of the researchers.

Upon spotting the group, the pony approached them without further ado, followed by his team and the two guards.

“Gerhard Barkhorn, I presume?” Gerhard nodded in response. The cream pony offered his hoof for him to shake.

He bent down to match the pony’s height and shook his hoof. “Ja, und you?” he asked back.

“Oh where are my manners. Forgive me, I’m Calpain: the head of The Royal Bureau of Scientific Research, Canterlot branch,” said Calpain, releasing Gerhard’s hand.

“Ava Barkhorn,” Ava broke in, bending down to shake Calpains hoof too.

“Nice to meet you too, Frau Barkhorn,” said Calpain, “Und ja, ich kann Deutschee sprechen,” he added with exceptional German accent, which both surprise and enlightened the German couple greatly.

“Wunderbar!” exclaimed Gerhard. “Nun, werden Sie unsere Übersetzer, Herr Calpain sein? (Now, will you be our translator, Mr. Calpain?)” He tried to contain his happiness and asked, “Ava Übersetzer, wenn es möglich ist. Ich kann nicht jedes Mal dabei sein, sie spricht, (Ava’s translator, is it’s possible. I can't be there every time she speaks,” he added, kneeling down and place his hand on the stallion’s shoulder.

        “Natürlich,” replied Calpain, a slight beam on his face. Happy with the answer, Gerhard returned to his tall stature, brushing his knees from any dirt. “Let’s get down to business. First, you show us where your flying machine had crashed, then fill us in with everything you know about the machine. Their Highnesses wish to see it soar in the sky as soon as possible.”

“Ich bin der Ingenieur von Christl, (I’m the engineer of Christl”) Ava stated, letting go of her husband’s arm. The mentioning of the mysterious name triggered Calpain’s curiosity instantly, which made him perk his brow. Seeing this, Ava explained:

“Mein Gerd wollte sie nach mir benennen, aber es verwirrt unsere Kameraden manchmal, so dass wir beschlossen, es den Namen meiner Schwester ändern. (My Gerd wanted to name her after me, but it confused our comrades sometimes, so we agreed to change it to my sister's name.)”

“Ich verstehe… (I see...)”

“Ahem.” Twilight coughed, getting everyone’s (and everypony’s) attention. “We must hurry. It’s quite a long walk from here,” she stated boringly.

“And hurry, we shall,” Calpain said with determination in his eyes. “Den Weg, Herr Barkhorn. (Lead the way, Mr.Barkhorn.)” Gerhard nodded in response and made his way off the station, in fast pacing.

*****

“All done. Let’s roll!” Thor proclaimed as Tom put her into the sheath she conjured a minute ago.

Checking his equipment, he started counting each item one by one. First was Thor, which he had just put into the her sheath earlier. Next was his trusty Webley and its .455 ammunition, and lastly: the map he had bought from the local store yesterday.

Regarding that everything was accounted for, he exited the library, flipping the ‘closed’ sign on the door on his way. He unrolled the map. Even if he could feel the aura from the forest, he needed to navigate his way through the town, which wasn’t easy for a stranger like him.

Locating the library was quite easy since it was the only gigantic tree in the vicinity of the town. Then, he persisted on to find his bearing. The sun was directly above his head, thus, making the look-at-the-sun method unavailable.

Miracally, a mare with compass cutie mark walked by. Tom saw the opportunity and grasped onto it instantly. “Miss! Miss!” he shouted after the mare. The mare of which turned back, quirking her brow curiously. “Can y’ tell me which way’s the north?” he asked with a convincing smile.

“Hmm…” she muttered, spitting a small portion of her saliva on her hoof and raised it up high. In a jiffy, she lowered her hoof. “That way.” She gestured toward the direction of a colossal city in the cloud.

“Thank y’ kindly, lassie.”

“Don’t sweat it, Mr. human.” The mare departed, going on with her business.

Tom waved as she walked away, “Hav’ a jolly good day!” She looked back and gave him a warm smile before disappearing around the corner.

“I could have told you which direction before you asked that mare.” Thor peeked out from of the sheath and stated smugly. In reply, Tom snorted quietly. He took another look at the map. It indicated that he needed to travel southeast. Surprisingly, there was only one clear path into the forest: the one behind Fluttershy’s cottage, which was near the Messerschmitt’s werck.

With confidence, he started his journey into the mystical forest.

First he headed for the town hall. As indicated on the map: there should be two bridges over a small stream from Saddle Lake up north. He could swim or walk along the stream into the forest, but didn’t wish to soak himself.

Tom turned left at the square which had a fountain in the middle. The town hall was in sight at the distance. It was easily noticed by its large size and its dome; only building with dome-roof in town. He headed straight to it without wasting anymore time.

According to the map, there were two bridges to cross a stream. One led north to cherry blossom field, and another led south to Fluttershy’s cottage. The path across the bridge followed the skirt of the Everfree forest. In the map, the forest was simply a big green spot with a notable red description:

EVERFREE FOREST: A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER IF YOU WISH TO COME OUT ALIVE.

Ponies seemed to be overly afraid of this forest. What could possibly be in there to give them such fright? Tom wondered idly as he went around the town hall to locate the bridge.

From my source: the forest has numerous supernatural phenomenons, and ferocious creatures roam the landscape, explained Thor, using the telepathic link she had established last night.

I see… Tom muttered, deep in thought. And who’s this so called ‘source’? he asked curiously.

One does not simply question the Lord.

Remind me not to, Tom replied mockingly, crossing the bridge as he had intended moment ago.

        Along the rest of the journey went quietly. A couple of ponies travelling in the opposite direction waved at him with their smiley faces. The peacefulness was quite rare back home in the jolly old England. Bombed day and night by Göring’s Luftwaffe, paranoid of invasion by Hitler’s army. Tom couldn’t rest his mind, worry about Angus: his parent and savior; alone at home in Glasgow with no one to tend the old man. A man at sixty isn’t exactly helpless, but nevertheless, he couldn’t help but concern about his wellness.

        Within Tom’s head, Thor was observing his thought and couldn’t resist the urge to calm him. Your prayer has been answered.

        “What?”

        “About your elder. He’s all well and happy at home, practicing with his bagpipe and traditional Kilt,” Thor said in calming demeanor.

        “That old man loves his pipe. I swear he even slept with it once,” Tom joked with a smile on his face. The trouble was far from his mind once again.

        But the calm sensation didn’t last long. His ace pilot instinct was kicking at his head violently. He sensed trouble following at the distance. He looked back to see Gerhard and a herd of ponies at the bridge he had just cruised over, heading at the same direction as his.

This was the perfect moment for him to start running.

First, he quickened his pace, started by running, then ended in full sprint. He was quite agile. The world went into blur. The landscape flew by. He moved past the same barn which he had passed two days ago. The scent of cow’s manure made its way to his nose. He could see a clock tower in the distance, indicating that he was near his destination.

Upon arrival at Fluttershy’s cottage, Tom noticed the three fillies from his welcome party. He didn’t quite catch their names yet, but he decided to ignore them for the time being, even if they were tampering with the wreckage of the once glorious Messerschmitt BF 109 E, which was potentially dangerous for non-air force personnel.

Tom proceeded onto Fluttershy’s doorstep, knocked in sequences, and waited.

Inside, Tom heard Fluttershy’s voice closing in, “Oh… There’s someone at the door. I’ll be back real quick, little ones…” The door opened a little bit, then Fluttershy peeked out, brushing her pink curtain-like mane a little bit for better view of the guest.

“Oh… Tommy, What can I do for you?” she asked in her usual shy posture, trying to avoid unnecessary eye contact with her mane.

“I jus ‘av lil’ favour ta ask yer,” he replied, relocating to get a clear view of Fluttershy’s face. “I’ll git in the Evarfree. If anyone ask, tell them I’ll be back by the evening.”

Fluttershy gasped in surprise. “D… Don’t go in there!” she warned softly.

“Why?”

“The weather in there operates on its own! The animals are untamed. Dangerous creatures roam the territory! P… Please don’t go in there…” she implored while hiding majority of her face behind the door.

“I need to, lass. An I got Thor here,” Tom said reassuringly as he pat the dagger tied to his belt.

“W… Who’s Thor? If you don’t mind me asking, of course…” She looked around outside, scanning for anybody beside the British ace.

“Here” Thor hissed, which made Fluttershy jump from the creepiness and slam her door shut in fear.

“Hold ya horses, lass!” He snickered at the little pun he made, but shrugged it away in order to regain his composure. “Thor, ye shouldn’t have scare her like that!” Tom scolded fretfully.

        Thor, beside from giggling at her antics, was shaking with mirth.

Sighing in frustration, Tom pounded the door a couple of times, “Lass, she’s just pullin’ yer leg. C’mon out.”

There was silence, except from Thor trying to stop her laughter, then the door swung open slowly. And once again, Fluttershy poked her head out, but this time with more caution.

“Thor, introduce yerself properly like a lady ye are.”

“I’m Maria Thorpe, the holy enchanted sword, but I just changed into a dagger, as you can see. You can call me Thor like Tom just did. Charmed to meet you,” Thor introduced. “I would offer you a handshake, but unfortunately, I don’t have hands; at least in this form anyway.”

“Erm… My name’s Fluttershy.” said Fluttershy, very quietly.

“Come again?”

“Fluttershy…” she repeated, a bit louder this time.

“Perhaps a little bit louder?”

Tom facepalmed and exhaled in annoyance. “Her name is Fluttershy,” he interrupted to cut short the conversation. “Anyway, we will go in there an’ git out by the evening, don worry. lass. What could possibly go wrong?” With that, he departed, leaving Fluttershy to look at him worriedly as he disappeared into the Everfree.

*****

“Und there it ist…” Gerhard paused. There were some ponies messing with the Messerschmitt’s wreck. He recognized them from the Nightmare Night Party. He only hoped that they hadn’t done any more damage to the plane yet.

Gerhard rushed to the plane. Soon, the yellow one acknowledge his presence. She jumped off the fuselage onto the left wing to greet him.

Without warning, the nose MG-17s started firing its 7.92 mm rounds at the herd. The three fillies were scared by the loud noise of gunfire, jumped off the wreck, and ran away.

 Twilight cast a shield spell instinctively to defend the little group. Gerhard dived out of the way automatically on the second the gun started firing, but unfortunately, the bullet was faster than him. His foot was shot; blood splurted from the wound. The pain was strong. He bellowed in agony while crawling away from the ballistics, blood dripping in trail everywhere he dragged himself upo..

Back behind Twilight’s magical shield, the unicorn grunted tiredly, struggling to keep the shield up against the barrage of bullets flying right at the group of researchers and herself. Within this rate of fire, she couldn’t hold on any longer than a minute, so she started strafing out of the bullet path; the others followed.

The trail of blood ended at Gerhard who was near his fighter, he tried to stand up, hoping to limp to the three fillies to grab them out of danger, but his current strength couldn’t comply his wish.

After calming herself and adapting to the situation, Ava dashed out toward her fallen husband. Upon reaching Gerhard, she picked him up carefully, trying not to cause any more pain to the wound.

“Gehen Sie erhalten diese drei. Ich werde in Ordnung sein. (Go get that three. I'll be fine.)” Gerhard grunted, grabbing onto his ankle in attempt to stop the bleeding. “Los!” he barked.

Ava compiled without question. She ran behind the machine guns and grabbed the frightened fillies out, put one on her back, and carried the rest in her arms. She rushed out of there as fast as her legs could carry her and the fillies.

Finally, the continuous firing stopped. The barrels turned into hot red tone from the heat, smoke emitting from the wing from the air-cooling process.

Twilight lowered her shield, worn out. Calpain, who was behind Twilight at all times, exhaled in relief. He took out a little notebook from his lab coat’s pocket and started scribbling. The information about the armament was written down in full detail about the experience he and his team just faced. He described it with a single word: devastation. Nothing is better to portray it.

Ava put the fillies down and darted back to the injured Gerhard. “Schätz, hat die Blutung aufgehört? (Honey, has the bleeding stopped?)” she questioned in concern.

“Nein,” was a short answer from Gerhard. “Krankenhaus... Jetzt… (Hospital… Now...)” said Gerhard. He needed to conserve his energy. He had lost some blood and was still losing more. A doctor was the only thing he wanted right now.

“Jawohl.” Ava grabbed Gerhard’s wing and got up carefully. Gerhard stood on one leg like a flamingo and limped away.

“Halt!” Calpain shouted after them, He called up three of his researchers and asked them to give the German ace a lift. They lined up in a row, “Schau ihn an. Sie werden das Krankenhaus so schnell wie ihre Hufe lassen Sie sie erreichen. (Drop him on. They will reach the hospital as soon as their hooves let them.)” He gave his stallions a nod. They left with great haste, blood still dripping from Gerhard’s foot, staining the stallion’s coat.

“Ich werde auch gehen! (I’ll go too!)” Ava uttered on the verge of tears. She couldn’t stand having her husband getting hurt and being able to do nothing but look. Since their marriage, she had vowed with her life to be at his side, disregarding any consequence or situation. And she wouldn’t ever go against her own words.

“Aber wir brauchen Sie hier für den fliegenden Apparat. (But we need you here for the flying contraption.)”

“Vergiss es. Ich werde mit ihm sein. Er braucht mich mehr denn je, (Forget it. I'll be with him. He needs me more than ever)” she stated with her arms crossed, frowning upon Calpain, who started to be more vulnerable against her strong will.

Calpain sighed in defeat. “Verstanden, beeilen Sie sich oder Sie werden nicht, ihn einzuholen. (Understood, hurry up or you won't catch up with him.)” He agreed and let her go.

Ava thanked him shortly, then departed in hurry, disappearing in the distance.

Calpain watched her, wondering if he had a wife, would she be like her? He shrugged the thought off. There was much work to do. He turned to his team plus a couple of royal guards. “Secure the perimeter. Don’t let anyone except those two or us in. Fillies and gentlecolts, we have much to work on.”