ValtonAce

"Fox Two, Fox Two!" I shouted as I rolled my F-22 Raptor and fired a Sidewinder at the Russian MiG. An explosion marked the end of the MiG and my third kill of the engagement.

"Hell yeah, Three just bagged another! You're and ace now Rook."

"We're not out of the woods yet, Two. AWACS says another flight of bogeys incoming."

"Ehh, it's just a mop up now guys." I said. "They've thrown everything they had at us."

"Attention Phoenix Flight. Second group of bogeys at 5.2 klicks. Advise you return to base." AWACS's voice echoed in my cockpit. "Alert! Third flight of bogeys incoming! 1.0 klicks! Get the hell out of there!"

The normally calm radio operator sounded scared.

"Holy shit, how many more do these guys have?" Two cried.

"Let’s turn and burn, gentlemen." One spoke calmly, as though we were just in a routine patrol.

"Shit, shit! Missile, Miss-" An explosion shook my Raptor.

"AWACS, Two is down! Repeat, Two is down!" I shouted into the radio as I stood the Raptor on its tail and rocketed into the clouds.

One's voice came over the radio.

"Got one on me! I can't see him! Oh fuck, tell Sus-" Another explosion under the clouds.

"Fucking Russians! Three, get out of there!"

"I got nothing! Where are they? I don't see the- holy shit."

My jaw hit my chin-strap. There were hundreds of them.  The sea was nearly blotted out with Russian MiGs.

"Three? Three! Get the fuck out of there NOW! There's just too many!"

Numbly, I pulled back on the stick and rose to 30 angles. Suddenly stucco thumping appeared near the back of my Raptor. Warning beeps started to sound inside the cockpit.

"I-I'm hit! Left engine flameout! What the hell got me?"

My Raptor began to shudder as it began to stall. I quickly pushed the nose down and dove, trying to get away from the MiGs on my tail.

"I'm going down! Last know location is-" I began to rattle off coordinates.

A buzzing warned me that a bandit was trying to get a lock-on. I yanked back on the stick, but the Raptor was too damaged. The left aileron broke off and the nose snapped back to going straight down.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

"Yah!"

Applejack kicked the tree and every apple fell right into the baskets.

"Whoo, this is the best crop yet, huh Mac?"

"Yupp" the big horse said, pulling a cart full of apples back to the barn.

Plop! An apple hit Applejack right on the head.

"What in tarnation?" the cowpony said as she looked up just in time to see something pass overhead, trailing smoke and making the ground beneath her hooves shake.

"Wa-was that a-a-a dragon?" she gasped.

"Yuup!" gulped Macintosh, looking quite afraid.

"Well, whatever it was, it-it went down by the swamp. I'm goin' to go check it out, m-make sure it didn’t hit any critters." Applejack whistled. "Here Finona."

The dog trotted up to her owner and gave a bark.

"I'm goin' with you. No dragon is goin' to hurt my little sister."

The trio walked from the orchid to swamp, all the while trying to figure out what it was that rumpled past the Apples' farm.

"It couldn't have been a dragon, because those fellers have already migrated not two days ago."

"Yuup. Maybe this one was lost."

Applejack pulled off her hat and wiped sweat from her brow.

"Hoowe, it's getting mighty hot out here. Maybe we should have brought some apple juice for the little critter, or big one."

"Yuup." Mac panted; sweat dripping off of his ears.

"Hey there it is! Thare's the swamp!"

Applejack noticed a thin stream of smoke trailing from inside.

"C'mon Finona! Whatever it was, it could light the swamp on fire!"

The dog barked in approval and plunged into the swamp.

"Uhh, wuh?"

I opened my eyes an inch and licked my lips. I heard barking.

"Hello there? Are you hurt sir?"

A female voice floated into my ears, her Texan accent music to my ears. I tried to call back, but just started coughing.

"Mac, get over here! Whatever it is, it ain't gonna last long in the heat!"

My eyes closed and I passed out.

"I'm sorry, but we can't do anything until we get word from Princess Celestia. We're awaiting her response now." The nurse smiled, trying to look comforting.

"Well, alright. I just want to know where it came from is all. It sure made a racket when it came down into the swamp."

Applejack paced the floor.

"Hey, what's all the fuss about?" Twilight Sparkle came into the hospital tent.

"Some...thing came down in the swamp, and nearly scared me and Macintosh to death!"

Twilight cocked her head.

"What kind of creature?" she asked, trying to see if she could recognize it from her studies.

"Well, it was tall, and it looked like a bug. It had hooves, but these weird things were sticking out of it, like little sausages."

"Huh." was all Twilight could say before a fanfare played outside.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cried.

"How's my favorite student doing?" Celestia said.

"Princess, come quick! The creature that crashed is coming around!"

"Come Twilight. I want you to see this creature with me." Celestia said, and she turned to the nurse pony.

The harsh light stung my eyes. I tried to cover them with my hands, but I couldn't move my arms.

"Ho-holy shit." I murmured, as my brain slowly began to piece together what had happened. My last memory was flying into the Pacific Ocean, and that Texan girl, though that might have just been a dream.

"Princess, through here!"

Twilights' eyes grew wide as she saw the creature lying on the bed. Applejack was right, it was big. It was too big for the bed, and that could handle even Princess Celestia herself!  The thing coughed and looked at the both of them.

"Wh-who are you?" I said. The two unicorns glanced at each other and back at me. I could hear the smaller one whisper: "As if it doesn't know who you are, Princess."

The big unicorn nodded and spoke.

"I am Princess Celestia, and this is my student, Twilight Sparkle." The "Princess" nodded to the smaller unicorn. "May I ask what you're name is?"

"Lieutenant Chris J. Telford, Royal Canadian Air Force, serial number 7J-R3, no next of kin. That's all you're getting "Princess"."

Twilight shuddered at the sarcasm that dripped from Telford's voice. She looked over at Celestia, who shrugged off the insult as if it were nothing, and looked back at Twilight.

"We'll have to transform him. Are you familiar with the spell?"

"Of course, Celestia."

"On the count of three. One...two....three."

"Auggggggh!" I screamed as the combined beams from the unicorn’s horns hit me. It was more painful than anything I had every felt in my life. I shut my eyes, trying to block out the pain. It was no use, and I was at the mercy of whatever hell I had fallen into.

"Augggggggh!"

"Ahhhh!" Thud.

Rainbow Dash stood and shook her head.

"Ouch. Hey, who said that?"

The pegasus moved her rainbow colored mane out of her eyes and glared accusingly around her.

“Excuse me Rainbow Dash, but I think the shout came from town.” A quiet voice said. Rainbow Dash turned around and looked at Fluttershy, who was standing right benind her.

“It scared all my bunnies away. Oh, I do hope they weren’t too scared. Do you remember what happened last time?”

Rainbow Dash stood and stetched her wings.

“Then let’s go to town. Maybe there’s an explanation for this.” She said, taking to the air.

“You go without me; I still have to find the bunnies again.”

I dropped against the straps, panting.

“Okay, okay. I give. I’ll tell you everything. Just, no more! Please!”

“It is finished.” The Princess spoke. “You are now one of us.”