Convergence

by Pelicandude

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Human, Romance
Length: 55241

A Government experiment uncovers an interdimensional portal that leads to Equestria.

Something sleeps in the Nevada desert. Something that had been idle for a long, long time. Then, one fateful day, thanks to a weapon test gone wrong, it is awoken, and the two worlds will never be the same. Two men find themselves in the midst of a strange new world, and in the company of a species that is almost laughable. All seems good at first, but quickly, they realize that some of their fellow humans have plans for the new world… and the plans are anything but good.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-24 18:13:14 UTC

One - The Desert's Secret

One - The Desert's Secret

   The sands shifted, blown constantly by the unyielding wind, forming, deforming, and forming once again, as they had since before humans had cared to take notice.  The sun beat down, eradicating any moisture that the sand might possess.  A shadow flicked across the ground, and for a fraction of a second, the sand did not feel the sun.  The shadow would change the worlds.

“Striker one one, this is Magic, stand by for commencement of test.”

“Copy that Magic; we are ready to drop at any time, over.” James Thalin sat with his back pressed firmly against his ejector seat.  Oddly enough, after a few months of flying this thing, you almost forgot you were sitting on a rocket.  Almost.  “Alex, everything still green-light back there?”

“Copy that boss.” Alex replied from the back seat of the F-15E strike eagle. “Still think this thing is safe?”

“No, but that’s the point of a bomb, isn’t it?”

“I meant safe to have on the jet genius,” Alex playfully punched James on the shoulder.

Alex and James’ strike eagle was carrying the military's latest toy, some new bunker buster.  The bomb in question weighed three thousand pounds, enough explosive to make anyone nervous, especially when it was still classified as “experimental.” The idea was to test it on a little concrete and steel structure out in the middle of some desert, and more or less create a large hole in the ground.

“Striker one one, this is Magic, commence test, accelerate to eight hundred knots, acquire the target, and release payload.”

“Copy that Magic, this is Striker one one, commencing test now.” James pushed the throttle forward, feeling the powerful engines of the jet rumble behind him.  As the jet neared the target area, it broke the sound barrier.

“Striker one one, this is Magic, do you have a visual on the target?”

“Copy Magic, observation plane and target are both forty miles out, on the nose.”

Alex spoke from the back seat, “everything is locked in and ready to go, over.”

“Copy that Striker one one, you may fire when ready.”

James finger tightened around the trigger. “Weapon is hot, dropping… Now!”  The F-15 Jumped upward slightly, free of its burden.  Alex watched the bomb on his thermal display.  One hundred meters in front of the target, the bomb burrowed into the ground.  It would continue, propelled by its momentum, until it was under the target.  The Thermal scope suddenly went white, and the world below the F-15 grew bright.  The crew of the Strike Eagle heard nothing, having already passed the speed of sound.  James decelerated, and circled back around.

“I think it worked!” Alex whistled behind him.  A huge cloud of smoke and Sand hung over the area where the test structure used to stand.

“Striker one one, this is Magic, nice work!  Everything looks good and… wait.” James noticed the observation planes veering away from the area.  “Oh crap, Striker one one, we have massively weird readings in the-KSsshhhHHHkkkKK- Get out of there!  Repeat Get the heck out of there!”

James pulled the back on the stick.  Nothing happened.  The engines suddenly died behind him.

“Magic!  Come in, this is Striker one one, I can’t control my aircraft, repeat aircraft is inoperable!  Magic?  Magic can you read me?” The F-15 seemed to be plummeting down towards the crater.  James reached above his head, yanking the ejection levers.  Nothing.  The electronics in the planes were all haywire.

“James!” Alex yelled, “We can’t bail out, what the heck is going on?”

“I wish I knew!” James frantically yanked on the stick, but the F-15 kept plummeting.  It was as if the hole was pulling them towards it.  The F-15 spun down, down, down.

“DANG IT!”

The F-15E dropped into the crater.  There was no explosion.  No impact.  Suddenly, all there was, was silence.

<(^)>

“Control surfaces, normal, engines operating at one hundred percent, fuel is at eighty three percent, HUD is back online, Alex what have you got back there?”

“Electronics are all green, Infrared is back online, Radar is good to go.” Alex seemed to hesitate.

James glanced back, “Alex, what’s going on back there man?”

“Well… I have no radio contact on all frequencies, and GPS has yet to acquire any satellites, also, radar is not showing anything recognizable… and all the antennas seem to be working properly.”

“Hmm… keep trying, meantime, let’s fly up and see if we can spot any land marks.”

Alex spoke up, “I like that idea but, it seems to me… what the heck just happened?”

“No clue, I was hoping you had some bright ideas.”

Alex stopped running the analysis on the GPS unit. “I… I don’t know man, but something just feels sort of… off right now.” James paused for a second.  Apparently he wasn’t the only one.  A few moments earlier, he had shot threw a cloud of smoke, heading towards certain death, his eyes clinched shut.  When he had opened them again, he had been flying a few hundred feet off the ground, his aircraft in perfect working order, on a sunny day.  James leveled off the strike eagle at twenty five thousand feet.

“Alright Alex, tell me if you get eyes on anything, especially something that looks like civilization.”

“I’ll tell you the second I see any…”

James glanced back at Alex. “Alex?  You alright buddy?”

Alex stopped gazing off into the distance, shook his head violently, and continued scanning for signs of inhabitants. “Sorry man, I just saw this cloud formation that looked really weird, almost like…” Alex shook his head again. “Just forget about it.”

James shot a glance at Alex, slightly worried.  Alex wasn’t one to get thrown by anything, even if they had just somehow magically avoided becoming a permanent addition to the desert.  Still… after a ride like that, anything could happen, right?

Alex spoke again. “Hey, looks like we have a mountain at two o’clock, pretty big thing too, can you get a closer look?”

James banked the fighter towards the stony monolith. “Yeah, Alex, you were supposed to be a geography whiz or something right?  Do you think you could recognize what mountain this is?”

“Well, it would have to be like Mount Everest or something, I mean, most mountains look pretty much the same.  I was hoping that there might be a town or something at the base of it or… a castle hanging off the side of it!”

James shook his head.  A large city sat at the base of the mountain, its exact features hard to make out from such a high altitude.  The one clear thing was a castle that reached halfway up the slope of the mountain, though it reached down to the edge of the city.

“Any idea where we are now?”

“Seriously man?  In all my days studying geography, I have never, EVER heard of any place like this, not in a million years.”

James looked at the gleaming castle once more.  Its walls were gleaming white, and a series of turrets and towers decorated it.  James marveled at the sight. “Can you raise anyone on the radio?”

“Negative, still no contacts, and besides, if that castle is a good indicator of the tech level of these people, then I doubt they would have a runway for us anyway.”

“No,” James said, “But that might work.”

A quick glance at the city showed Alex what James was talking about.  A long road seemed to stretch from the city entrance all the way to the castle’s courtyard.  More than long enough for the strike eagle to put down on.

“Alright,” James banked the F-15 over towards the long street, “we’re going to do a flyby over the street popping flares, and hope that it scares everyone into their houses.”

The jet swooped in low, bleeding off speed in preparation for the landing.  James lined up the jet with the road, his finger hovering over the counter measures button.  He pressed it.  Flares spewed from the aft end of the fighter, falling slowly to the street below.  Alex watched as the tiny pedestrians ran for cover.  Even from this altitude, he noticed that something about the pedestrians seemed a little odd.  Still, anything could look queer from a thousand feet in the air, especially today.  The strike eagle completed its pass over the city, and then turned around, lowering its landing gear.

James brought the fighter in nice and easy, flaps down with slight pressure on the stick.  The buildings seemed to float up on either side of them.  Everyone seemed to have run inside and bolted the doors behind them.  Alex gripped the jets handles, eying the rough cobblestone slipping by a few yards away uneasily.  The back wheels impacted the road, and the front soon followed.  The entire jet vibrated as it rumbled down the cobblestone road.

James groaned, “Wish I had seen that before we landed.” Alex looked.  In the distance, a statue was looming up, in the middle of the castle court yard.

“We’ll stop short of it… right?”

James grimaced, “Yeah… perhaps.”

The jet lost speed quickly, but the elegant marble monument seemed to race towards them. “Dang… it…” James yanked the stick to the side.  The jet careened to the side, now in the castle courtyard.  For a second the F-15’s right wheel left the ground.  Then it slammed back down again.  The fighter skidded to a stop.

“Engines are off, flaps at zero degrees, air brakes down, everything is looking good.”

Alex scanned his consoles, “Copy, opening canopy,” the glass bubble slid upwards, “master power switch, off.”

James tore off his helmet. “We made it buddy!” Alex smiled, and then something caught his eye.  Glancing upward, he gaped, “Uh oh…”

James looked at his friend, confused.  Then he followed his gaze. “Oh crap…” Hovering all around the jet, were more than two dozen Pegasus, wearing golden armor, all pointing spears at the strange creatures that had just landed in their world.

Two - The Discovery

“This spell could be applied for many different uses, simply by changing just some of the basic structure.  It could be used for hundreds of various purposes.”

Twilight Sparkle stood in front of Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria.  The lavender unicorn tapped a chalk board behind her as she explained the new spell she had created.  On it was the basic structure and theories of the enchantment.

Celestia gazed at her star pupil, “Twilight, you continue to amaze me with all of the wonders that you discover.  This spell will most assuredly make a fine edition to the,” The compliments were cut short as the door burst open.

Celestia glanced at the guard that had burst into the room, “Colonel Starblink?  What is the meaning of this interruption?” The colonel bowed before his princess, then spoke. “Forgive me, my princess, but we have an emergency in the courtyard,” Starblink hesitated. “I… we… we have no idea what it… they are exactly.” Princess Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “Take me to it, now.”

<(^)>

James eased himself out of the jet, keeping his hands raised above his head.  He fell the short distance to the ground, rolled, and then stood again, once more making the gesture of surrender.  James heard Alex drop down behind him.  The Pegasus kept their spears hefted at the pair.  One swooped down lower than the rest.  James noticed that its armor had a different insignia than the rest.

The Pegasus spoke, “Who… What are you?”

James was slightly taken back.  A flying horse, no, it seemed smaller than that.  A flying pony with a spear was talking… English?

James slowly opened his mouth; “my name is James, and this,” James motioned behind him, “is Alex.”

The Pegasus seemed just as surprised that the creature in front of him had actually replied to his question. “And how… James, did you come to be here?”

The question was asked firmly, but James did not detect any cruelty or maliciousness in the voice.  It was Alex that spoke up from beside him, “we’re not sure ourselves… we thought we were dead, to be honest.”

The Pegasus snorted at this statement, amused by the biped. “I can assure you sir, that you are not dead or even injured for that matter.  Either way, I’m going to have to ask that follow me and surrender your knife belts.”

James glanced at the belt strapped around his waist.  It was funny, his combat knife and his handgun were right next to each other, yet the Pegasus had pointed out… oh.  It occurred to James that they had no idea what firearms were, of course, he had asked for the whole belt.

Seeing James’ hesitation, the Pegasus tightened his grip on his spear.  James immediately undid the belt clasp and laid it on the ground in front of him, noting that Alex had already done so.

The Pegasus relaxed, then spoke once more, “alright, now follow me.”

He turned, alighted on the ground, and started walking towards the castle.  Alex and James followed the armored pony, and were closely trailed by several more.  Meanwhile, two additional guards swooped in and retrieved the fighter crew’s belts.  The humongous iron doors of the castle opened, and James and Alex disappeared inside of the structure.

<(^)>

Princess Celestia trotted through the halls of Canterlot castle, making haste for the courtyard. “A flying machine?  Two of them?  Are you sure there are only two?”

Starblink was bombarded with questions as they made their way through a set of double doors, down a spiral staircase and into a hallway. Celestia turned the corner into the throne room, and halted.  The two bipeds stood before the two thrones, one gleaming gold and radiant like the sun, the other midnight black, with small star like sparkles dotting its surface.  They were surrounded by a group of guards.  Celestia examined the two men.  They had uniforms, military by the looks of them, and she saw that two of her guards were holding belts that matched the biped’s outfits, complete with knives.  At least they saw fit not to use them.  Celestia walked forward, and took a seat on her throne.

<(^)>

Alex eyed the large pony that had just entered.  A crown sat on its head, and its multicolored mane flowed as if blown by a strong wind.  It was all white, except for its mane and two golden suns that adorned its flanks.  Alex glanced around, come to think of it; all of these things have marks on their flanks.  The white pony sat on the larger of the two thrones, and let its gaze rest upon him and James.

“Guards, leave us.”

The circle of Pegasus bowed, and quickly trotted out of the room.  Alex noted that it was a female voice.  When the last door had closed, the pony once again opened her mouth.

“And now for you two.  I have many questions concerning you; however, I should probably start with the basics.  What are your names?  Actually, more importantly, can you understand what I’m saying?”

Once again, James was the first to speak. “Yes, we can understand you, and my name is James.”

“My name is Alex… your highness.” Alex bowed as he spoke.

The pony smiled, “good, things would have been rather difficult if that wasn’t the case.  I am Princess Celestia, ruler of this land.  Now that we’re all acquainted,” Celestia paused, “How did you get here?  And where are you from?”

<(^)>

“Atlas here, I have eyes on the target.”

“Copy that Atlas, this is Magic, what do you see?”

“Just a smokin’ crater, over.”

“Any wreckage at the bottom?  Are there any signs of striker one one?”

“Negative, all I see is, wait.”

Colonel Ryan Desjar, call sign “Magic,” sat in an AWAC, slowly circling the crater that had been created an hour

earlier.  He nervously tapped the side of his radar screen.  He had known Alex for a long time, and had briefly met James.  He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to tell Alex’s parents if he turned out he was dead.

“Atlas, this is magic, what was that?”

The response took a few seconds in coming.

“Magic, this is Atlas, there is something seriously messed up going on here, were landing the ground team to investigate.”

“Copy that Atlas, proceed with caution.”

Ryan switched his screen over to a live feed coming from a predator drone.  The Blackhawk chopper known as Atlas descended towards the crater, whipping up sand with its spinning rotors.  Five soldiers repelled down from the chopper, and ran towards the crater.  Quickly, they scaled down the side, and arrived at the bottom, or more accurately the edge of the bottom.  The Predator had flown straight over the crater, giving Ryan an unobstructed view.

“Holy crap…”

“What is that thing?!”

The confused calls came from the troops at the bottom of the blast site.  At the bottom of the crater, a large ring of carved stone sat in the middle of the floor.  It looked to be at least three hundred feet wide.  On either side of the ring, was sand.  But inside the ring, the open space continued, through a large cave, and out into the open sky.  The men stared at the sight before them, with sky above and sky below, and a desert in the middle.

“Well… that explains why there isn’t any wreckage.”

Back onboard the AWAC, Ryan stared at his screen, unable to comprehend the image before him.  Things had just gone from bad, to creepy.  Ryan switched frequencies to speak with Nellis air force base.

“Jackpot, this is Magic, you’re gonna need to get the general for this one, over.”

<(^)>

Celestia listened intently to the two humans, as she had learned they were called.  “… and then we ended up here,” James finished.  Alex had already given Celestia a brief overview of their world, and had left the story of how they had left it up to James.  Celestia sat still for a moment, processing the information.  Finally, she spoke.

“It seems that your country has been… declining lately.  In fact, your entire world seems to be a rather unstable place.  The fact that you were brought here during the test of a weapon is also rather, unfortunate.”  Celestia stopped for a moment to

examine the two humans, then she continued. “It is clear that your world is different than ours.  The last war that occurred in Equestria happened almost fifteen hundred years ago, when my sister and I defeated a creature, and his armies, known as Discord.”

Alex stared at the Princess.

“But… that means… your thousands of years old!”

“Almost three thousand actually, I was born shortly after this nation was founded, and my sister born just two years later.”

The two humans were stunned by this news.  James slowly opened his mouth.

“Do… all ponies live so long?”

Celestia frowned, slightly saddened by the question.

“Unfortunately, no, my sister Luna and I are oddities, we were born to a Pegasus mare and a Unicorn stallion after several strange magical anomalies.  Tragically, most ponies live at most a hundred years, and then they pass on.”

James and Alex nodded in understanding.  Celestia then proposed her next question.

“Do you know the location of the place that you entered our world at?”

“Well, we came from the east, and the first thing I noticed when we looked back was a different mountain.  Other than that, I

can’t think of anything.”

Alex made his addition to the conversation, “There was one thing… I thought I was just seeing things at the time but… do you have any cloud cities?  Because of so, we passed one just a few minutes after getting here.”

“Cloudsdale,” the Princess said, “It’s a Pegasus city close to mount Ragnon.” The Princess hesitated, “Mount Ragnon, in the distant past, was a sight where Zebra cultists would perform magical ceremonies.  It wouldn’t surprise me if it was some left over artifact or enchantment that brought you here.” The Princess raised her voice to shout, “Guard!”

A platoon of pegasus immediately burst into the room, clutching their weapons.

The Princess sighed, then spoke.

“Have a platoon go at once to mount Ragnon, and make certain they take spell corps with them!” She then turned once more to the two humans.  "Meanwhile, until we get to the bottom of this, you two shall be staying in guest bedrooms in the east wing of the palace.  As a result of the… differences between our species, make a list of any items you may need, and we will do our best to get them for you.”

Alex bowed to the Princess, “Thank you, your majesty, for your hospitality.”

“Really Alex, it is my pleasure, as it’s very rare that something of this nature occurs.” Celestia smiled as she spoke.

Celestia waited until the humans had been led out of the room, then called, “Twilight?  Are you hiding around here somewhere?”

A side door slowly opened, and a voice timidly replied, “I’m here, Princess.”

Celestia turned to the lavender unicorn.

“I want you to ask which room ‘Alex’ is staying in, and go speak with him.  He seems much more intellectual, and amicable.  Find out everything you can about their world, I’ll send a letter to Spike telling him you won’t be home for a while.”

“Yes Princess Celestia.”

Four - Dissent

Alex and James were quickly ushered through the base by a team of marines.  The squad suddenly stopped in front of a doorway.  James read the placard on the door:

GEN. BENJAMEN ANDERSON

BASE COMMANDER

Alex gulped nervously.  The marine captain pounded on the door.

“General, we have Captain Thalin and Lieutenant Williams with us, as ordered.”

A gruff voice replied, slightly muffled by the door.

“Good, send them in.”

The marine swung the door open, and then motioned for Alex and James to step inside.  Alex stepped forward, followed by James.  As soon as they had cleared the doorway, the marine slammed it close.  Behind a desk in the center of the room, the General, a well built, six-two man in his late forties stared at the two airmen.  Slowly, he began browsing through a report, beginning to speak.

“Do you know just how much trouble the two of you have been causing me for the last eighteen hours?”

Alex and James both stayed silent, sensing a rhetorical question.  They were validated in their assumption a second later.

“More freaking trouble than the rest of my career combined!  Yesterday, I get a report that one of my Eagles has gone missing in the God forsaken test range, and by the end of the day, half the army and the freaking President himself shows up at my base!”

The General ran a hand through his graying hair.

“Then, some scientific crew gets dropped here in a C-130 from I don’t even want to know where, and starts telling me that my little weapons test managed to uncover a portal to a parallel universe!”

The General dropped the papers he had been perusing back onto his desk, once more turning his gaze on the flight crew.

“Even more interesting than that is, the President seems to be the one responsible for all the troop movements to this place, and has a lid on the whole situation.  Absolutely no communications without the outside world.  As far as I know, Congress doesn’t even know about this mess, not that they seem to know anything these days.  So, it seems to me, that you two, as funny as this is going to sound, are the only two people in the world that can tell me what the freaking heck is going on here!”

The General glared at them, before leaning back in his chair, and kicking his feet up on the desk.

“So please, enlighten me.  What exactly did you see while you were on your little joy ride through the desert floor, and how did you manage to return, when there is no possible way that your Jet had enough fuel to remain in the air for a full eighteen hours?  Feel free to sit down; I get the feeling that this is going to take a while.”

Alex and James carefully eased themselves into the chairs across from the General.  The General kept a close eye on the pair.

“Allow me to start the Q and A session with this; what EXACTLY did you see when you were in, wherever the heck that place was.”

Alex slowly opened his mouth to speak, trying to come up with the proper words.

“Sir, what occurred over the last several hours… is something that sounds completely ridiculous.  I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you sent us to get checked for brain damage by the time we’re done.”

The General folded his hands on the desk.

“With all the crazy stuff that has been going on around here lately, I’m not sure if anything can throw me.  Start at the beginning, and don’t leave out the details.”

Alex looked at James, who simply shrugged.

“Sir, shortly after the impact of the bunker buster, our jet stopped functioning.  We even tried bailing out, but we couldn’t get anything to work.  Then, by some fluke or act of God, we dropped directly into the impact crater.  We were expecting the um, end, so we ended up having our eyes closed.  Then suddenly we heard all the systems rebooting, and the engines kicked back on.  When we opened our eyes, we were flying at approximately four hundred feet, and the desert had changed to large grassland.  At that point, we were still in shock over what had happened.”

Alex took a deep breath, and then let it out.

“The first indication I got that something was up, well, at least more than it already was, was when we passed through a cloud bank.  I glanced over, and for a second, it almost looked like there were structures in the clouds.  A few seconds later, a large cloud obstructed my view, but still, I thought I was going crazy.  It was only a few minutes later that we spotted a large city, built next to a mountain.  Seeing that we had no other options, we made a… interesting landing on the main street.  It was then that we got our first introduction to the natives.”

The General was staring at Alex, clearly interested.

“Just who, or what, did these natives happen to be?”

James chuckled slightly, and Alex sighed.

“Well… that’s the thing sir.  The natives… well, their talking ponies.”

<(^)>

President Nickelson sat in the conference room on Air Force One.  Across from him were three officers, a general, and two colonels.

“How many troops have been assembled?”

A colonel slid forward a report, never taking his eyes off the President.

“As of right now, eight hundred men are ready at the portal, as well as seventy-three ground vehicles of various types.”

“Good,” Nickelson turned his gaze to the other colonel, “and our air forces?”

“Eight Apaches, twenty various transport rotor wings, four F-22s, twelve F-35s, twelve F-15Es, and thirty six F-16s.  We

also have a group of various large aircraft, but they are too large to safely fly through the portal, and we currently have no way to taxi into the hole either.”

The general then spoke, “of course, we have more forces in route, and we can always get more.  We just know that you want to keep this relatively stealthy.”

The President nodded,

“Stealth is the key; if anything about this gets out… we’re done for.”

<(^)>

“So you see sir, they don’t intend to threaten us, and they couldn’t, even if they wanted to.” Alex finished.

“Will you please advise the President to at least reduce the number of troops around the portal?  Its making them feel uneasy, and they have no intention of invading us.”

The General tapped his desk, and then sighed.  He looked up at the two airmen.  For a second, Alex saw what looked like a hint of sadness in Anderson’s eye.  Then the General spoke.

“I’m afraid that that is the problem.  The President is not bent on defending against an invasion; he is bent on launching one.”

James and Alex both stared at the general, stunned.

“But… but why?”

“I don’t know, though I can give a few guesses.  What I do know, is that the President wants to see you, and I brought you here to make sure I got to you first.”

The airmen were stunned at this news.

“He wants to see you in ten minutes, so I would advise you get moving.”

Alex leapt up.

“Sir!  Can’t we do anything?  Can you try and dissuade the president?”

“As for dissuading him, I’ve got a feeling that you two are about to have an opportunity to that.  As for doing something, I

already have.  I changed the strike schedule around a little bit.  You two will be flying number three in the first strike against this new world.”

This time James spoke.

“I’m not sure how that helps.”

The General examined the two.

“You will have to decide how that helps.  Oh, and I have to warn you, I.F.F. has been rather iffy lately.  Make sure your shooting at the right stuff.”

With that, the General dismissed them from the room.  Upon exiting, they found an officer waiting for them.

“The president wants to see you.”

James and Alex looked at each other.

“Alright.”

“Follow me.”

<(^)>

“Mr. President, it is an honor to meet you.”

James and Alex took turns shaking their supreme commander’s hand.  The President smiled at them.

“Captain Thalin, lieutenant Williams, a pleasure to meet you.  We have been talking about you quite a bit lately.”

James laughed nervously.  Alex merely nodded.

“Sir, may I ask you a question?”

“Well, I don’t see why not, go ahead, shoot.”

“Sir… is it true that you intend to invade Equestria?”

The President frowned,

“Equestria?”

Alex hastily corrected himself.

“The new world.”

“Oh,” the President smiled again, “yes, I believe that that’s the idea.”

Alex exhaled slowly.

“Sir, I don’t mean to complain, but I don’t think that an invasion is necessary.  They mean us no harm.”

“You slightly confuse the issue, Lieutenant.  The reason for the invasion is to collect the resources of that world, not to

commit a preemptive strike.  This world has practically been given to us, it’s a miracle.  We now have a way to dig ourselves out of the proverbial hole, without making the public mad that they aren’t getting their benefits packages.”

The airmen remained quite throughout the rest of the visit.

<(^)>

Alex and James hopped out of the Humvee, looking at the line of jets.  A man ran up to them, flagging them down.

“Jonathan!” Alex smiled at the rear-seater of Striker one two.

“Where’s Jim?”

Jonathan paused.

“He was involved in a bit of an incident involving two motorized vehicles and a chicken.  As a result, he has a broken arm.

I’m going to be flying with one of the pilots that just got here.”

Alex was confused.

“Why doesn’t he just fly with his RIO?”

“He was… also involved with said incident.  Enough about that anyway!  I’m glad to see you two!”

<(^)>

As the members of Striker team were busy greeting each other, Captain Zachary Newt strode towards his own Strike Eagle.  He would be leading the first strike on the enemy.  A voice called to him from behind.

“Captain Newt, please come here.”

The captain glanced back.  A limo idled about twenty feet away, its window slightly rolled down.  He strode up to it.  The window rolled down.  Captain Zachary snapped to attention.

“Mr. President.”

“Captain, there is not much time for formalities here, agreed?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, now I need you to do something for me.  You know what happened to the crew of Striker one one the other day,

correct?”

“Yes sir, at least, somewhat sir.”

“Good.  I’m afraid that as a result of that incident the crew may be a little… unsure of their loyalty.  I want you to order them

to make the first pass.  If they refuse… use your imagination.”

The Captain swallowed.

“Yes sir.”

“Good, now off with you.”

The captain turned and started jogging towards his aircraft.

Five - Fire in the Sky

The Four F-15E Strike Eagles quickly made their way across the desert.  Along the way, Alex found himself glancing at the convoys that could be occasionally seen moving towards the portal.  He swallowed nervously.

Are we really doing this?

The question rang in his mind.  Slowly, different words began to ring through his head.

I pledge allegiance… Alex grunted, To the Flag, of the United States of America.

To the Flag? What did that mean anyway?

And to the Republic, for which it stands.

Republic?  The republic that he liked to remember would never attack a country without any provocation.

One nation, under God.

God. Alex somehow doubted that God would be very happy with murder.

Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice *FOR ALL*.

Alex wasn’t sure what this was, but it most certainly wasn’t liberty, or justice.  Alex slowly shook his head.

“Attention Devil and Striker teams, this is Magic, prepare to enter the portal, over.”

The Eagles dispersed themselves, getting in a long, single file line.  Alex and James, also known as Striker one one, were third in the formation.  Alex watched the first two jets soar through the hole, and then they dove in.  He noticed a change from the last time; a radio tower had been erected on both sides of the portal, with a cable feeding through the portal, connecting them.  He had heard that transmissions couldn’t penetrate the portal, but apparently that worked.

The formation formed up again on the other side of the portal.  The target had been described as a large fortified city built next and onto a mountain, codenamed “Atlantis.” Alex and James both knew the real name; Canterlot.  The jets soared ever closer to the city.  Alex switched the weapons systems to ground attack.

What the heck am I doing?

“Striker one one, this is Devil one one, we will commence the attack on your mark, over.”

WHAT?

Alex and James blood ran cold.

“Devil one one, I was told you were squad leader over.”

“Slight change of plans, Striker team, you lead the formation.”

The Eagles of Striker team edged forward, while the two Devil team fighters took up a trail position.

“Target is in sight striker one one, prepare to fire.”

James fingers hesitated on the controls of the jet.

“Target is locked.”

In the cockpit of Devil one one, Captain Newt spoke.

“Striker one one, fire now.”

The lead Eagle did nothing, then;

“No.”

“What did you just say?”

Alex disarmed all anti ground weapons, disgusted that he had ever equipped them in the first place.

“No, I refuse to fire on a city full of civilians, belonging to a country that has not provoked us in any way.”

In the cockpit of Devil one one, captain Newt flicked off his IFF.

The transmission from Striker one one continued; “And I’m afraid that I can’t let you do that either… sir.”

“Striker one one, you are in violation of a direct order, release weapons now.”

“Negative.”

Captain Newt pulled the trigger.

A missile blazed from the left wing root of Devil one one, sailing through the air towards the disobedient fighter.  James yanked back on the stick, popping flares.  The missile soared past the jet by a few yards, as the F-15E began to climb.

“Magic, this is Devil one one, Striker one one has gone rogue, repeat, Striker one one has gone rogue.  Striker one one is hostile, over.”

Colonel Desjar, otherwise known as “Magic”, was stunned by the transmissions from the attack team.  Slowly he put his head in his hands.  What the heck was going on with the world these days?

Captain Newt’s plane trailed Striker one one, desperately trying to line the plane up in its sights.  James handed waited on the controls of his fighter.  Eight thousand… nine thousand… NOW!  James killed the throttle and opened his air brakes.  The F-15 dropped, no longer maintaining enough speed to climb.  Newt cursed as he overshot the rogue fighter.  James’ finger curled around the trigger; a stream of twenty millimeter bullets impacted Newt’s fighter, right between the engines.  The plane exploded in a shower of smoke, fire, and debris.

James then pushed forward on the throttle, and dived towards the ground, recovering lost speed.

“Magic, this is Devil one two, repeat, this is Arrow, Striker one one just splashed Devil one one, repeat…”

Magic was unresponsive.  Suddenly another voice broke through;

“Arrow, this is Jackpot, splash Striker one one, repeat splash Striker one one, take those traitors down!”

“Copy that Jackpot, moving to destroy.”

  Alex watched the two other Strike Eagles turning towards them.

“Dang it guys!  Don’t shoot at us; we’ll have to shoot back at you!”

A loud beeping indicated a radar spike locking onto the jet.  James swiveled back to look at Alex.

“Looks like they’re going with the shooting option.”

James banked the eagle over, trying to get on top of the jets.  The pair broke in two, splitting up.

“This isn’t going to be easy…”

Alex started shouting into his helmet once more;

“Stop, everybody just stop, cool down, we don’t have to kill any more of our brothers today.”

“Dang you Alex!  Why couldn’t you two just drop the freaking bombs!  Now Newt and his RIO are dead, and you two will be soon!”

“I don’t freaking care!  It’s wasn’t the right thing to do!  If some hyper advanced alien race discovered our planet, I wouldn’t want them to go bombing our cities!”

“SHUT UP!  ALEX, JUST FREAKING SHUT UP!”

The two eagles were going head to head now, directly towards each other.  Missiles came from both planes.  James looked up to see the hostile rocket pass between his aircrafts tail fins, missing by inches.  Then he looked forward.  The air to air missile impacted Devil one two square in the cockpit.  The explosion completely vaporized the front of the plane.  The wings and tail section fluttered lazily down to the ground.

Suddenly, the lock on warning filled the cockpit of Striker one one.  Alex turned to look.  Directly behind them was the last remaining F-15.  The missiles adorning its wings glared at them, ready to immolate the rogue fighter.  Alex slowly closed his eyes and waited.  The shots never came.

The pilot of the other fighter, Bill Quiency, could suddenly be heard on the radio;

“Fox two, Fox- wait, what the?”

There was a slight pause.

“Dang it Jonathan, rearm the missiles!”

Alex opened his eyes again.

“Wait Bill, we don’t need to kill anyone today.”

“Dang you!  Those traitors shot down Devil team!  Rearm the missiles!”

“And you and I would have done the exact same thing if we had been shot at.  Cool off man, we can think about this.”

“Darn it, you will be court martialed when we get back!  I don’t need you anyway!”

A burst of Twenty millimeter fire sprayed from the fighter, barely missing Striker one one.

“Well then, I’m sorry Bill, but I’m afraid I have to do this.”

“Do what?  Wait, No wai…”

The transmission was cut off as the canopy burst off of the trailing Strike Eagle.  A pair of ejector seats followed in short order.

Both Alex and James could tell that Jonathan had been the only one ready for the ejection.  Bill must have had his neck twisted to look back at his rebellious RIO when the seat punched out.  The crew of Striker one one turned their gaze away from the mangled result.  Jonathan himself; however seemed to be doing fine.  A parachute soon deployed above the falling man.

The crewless F-15 turned over, almost lazily, before plummeting to the mountainside below.

“I have a chute.”

James stared at the slowly descending man.

“Who are you telling that to?”

“I,” James hesitated, “I have no idea.”

Alex looked down at Canterlot, his eyes drawn to the long road in the middle of the city.

“Same plan?”

James banked the Eagle towards the City.

“Same plan.”

<(^)>

“But… but why did they fight each other?”

Twilight was bewildered by the sudden turn of events.  Princess Celestia turned her gaze to her most faithful student.

“I think...”

Both ponies looked up as the only remaining plane banked over the city, its landing gear deployed.

“…That we are about to find out.”

<(^)>

“You’re telling me, that not only did Striker one one go rogue, but they also managed to shoot down all three other aircraft that accompanied them?”

The unfortunate messenger gulped.

“Well, technically Mr. President, Striker one two bailed out, there was nothing to indicate that”

“Dang it man!  The effect is still the same!  Now, not only have we lost four fighters, we’ve also managed to give one to our enemy, and we’ve lost the element of surprise.  It also puts us in damage control mode.  If we tell the men that Striker one one went rogue, there will be more… unrest.  And, if we tell them they shot the four planes down, then they’ll think that these ponies have some miraculous anti-aircraft system.”

The President rested his head in his hands.

“Get me General Anderson; I want to talk with him immediately.”

Six - No Equestrian

“I’m just glad that James and Alex managed to stop the first strike, that’s basically the only good news that we have.”

“Yeah, but meanwhile we have the President to deal with over here.”

“If we can find a way to get the word out about what he’s been doing, the senate can impeach him.”

“I’m friends with the commander at Edwards, if we can stage a little mechanical failure in the mountains, they’ll get called up for search and rescue.  Then the pilot can tell them what’s going on.”

“But which pilot?  Who can we trust?”

“I have someone in mind…”

<(^)>

The Strike Eagle once more came to a rest in the court yard of Canterlot castle.  The pegasi guards, now knowing what to expect, quickly carried two ladders over to the plane.  The canopy slid open with the buzz of electronics, and James and Alex quickly descended the ladders.  Princess Celestia was waiting for them.

“Dare I guess at what just occurred?”

Alex and James traded glances.

“I think that it would be best if we explained the situation, your highness.”

At that moment, three guard pegasi flew into the courtyard, carrying a very stunned Jonathan with them.  He was quickly deposited in front of Alex and James, minus his combat belt.  Jonathan shook his head in wonder.

“Wow, you guys said magical ponies but… I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t believe it ‘til I saw it.”

James laughed, “It was hard for us at first too.”

One of the Pegasi that had brought Jonathan cleared his throat.

“We found the body of a second man, but it’s completely mangled, not to mention half flattened on impact.”

Jonathan grimaced.

“I didn’t mean to kill the poor guy; I was just trying to talk some sense into him.”

“It’s ok man, you didn’t know what it would do to him.”

At this point Celestia decided to step into the conversation;

“I can tell by your conversation that this man is not an enemy, however, I believe that an introduction is still in order.”

Alex bowed, “Forgive me Princess.  This is Jonathan, he is a friend of ours.”

At this the Princess motioned to a guard who had been hovering in the back ground.  The pegasus quickly flew forward, and handed –er, hooved Jonathan’s belt back to him.  Alex continued:

“And this, Jonathan, is Princess Celestia, who rules this world.”

“Joint rules, actually, but it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Celestia extended a hoof, which Jonathan reluctantly shook.  Celestia was about to speak, when Twilight, who had been standing next to her, suddenly burst in.

“Why did you fight each other?  What happened up there?  Did your people not heed your advice?”

James sighed, and Alex spoke cautiously.

“That’s a… touchy subject.  Is there someplace more, private, that we can discuss this in?”

Celestia nodded.

“There are several rooms in the castle that will meet our requirements, though I get the feeling that one in particular will be the best.  Please, after me.”

The Alicorn turned towards the castle entrance, and began to walk.  The rest of the group followed her.

Once inside the door, they were interrupted by a dark purple Alicorn, smaller than Celestia.

“Sister, upon hearing the commotion in the heavens, we came as soon as we could.”

Alex checked the other hallways.  There was no one with the pony.

Celestia smiled.

“Good, Luna, I’m glad you’re here, I’d like you to meet the two humans I told you about, James and Alex, and their friend Jonathan.”

Luna extended her hoof.

“It is good to meet you, James, Alex, and Jonathan.  My sister has told us much about two of you.”

Apart from her tendency to refer to herself in the plural, the humans were glad to meet the Princess of the night as well.

Continuing on, Celestia led them throw the halls of Canterlot castle, until finally they arrived at a set of iron double doors.  The doors sprung open with a soft glow from Celestia’s horn.  Jonathan was startled by the sudden appearance of magic.  The procession then entered the room.  Alex looked at the new surroundings with wonder.

The walls were covered in hundreds of maps, with marking and symbols that he could only guess at.  In the room’s center, a table sat.  On it was a three dimensional model of Equestria.  The humans all stared in wonder at the detail of the model.

Celestia turned to one of the guards in the room.

“I need you to send for the bearers of the elements of harmony, bring them here as soon as you can.”

The guard quickly bowed to his Princess, then turned and flew from the room.  As soon as he had left, the great iron doors closed, bathing the room in darkness.  Alex shifted uncomfortably in the pitch darkness.  Then several candles were ignited, and his vision was restored.

“This, is the map room.” Celestia said in her regal voice.

“It contains everything that you will ever need to know about the surface of Equestria.”

She paused.

“Also… in less desirable times, it can be used as a command room.”

The Princess turned towards the three humans.

“I believe that those times may soon be upon us, correct?”

Alex slowly nodded.

“Would you care to explain why?”

Alex swallowed, and then spoke;

“As best as I can, your majesty.  You see, our president, you know what that is right?”

The Princess nodded.

“Twilight has told me much of your world since last night.”

“Our president… in a complete overstepping of his authority… has decided to invade Equestria.”

The Princess’s eyes narrowed.

“Why would your leader want to do that?”

Alex assembled his thoughts, mustering them for action, inspecting them, and turning away the ones that seemed unfit.  Then he let them fly.

“This world is seen by the president and cronies, as a gift.  Our country, our entire planet really, has gone downhill, fast.  The world economy is literarily tottering on the brink of destruction.  A single gust of monetary wind could send it hurtling over the edge.  If the President could quietly invade this world, and steel its resources, then our country, the United States, would be left as the undisputed master of the globe.  No country could hope to stand in our way.  We would be the only nation not indebted to another.”

“How exactly would the president keep an entire world and sentient population quiet?  It seems that his plan would be over before it began.”

Alex swallowed nervously.

“He wouldn’t need to keep the entire population quiet…”

The Princess looked confused;

“Why is that?”

James entered the conversation, seeing Alex was too nervous to answer.

“His plan… is to kill you.  All of you.”

<(^)>

“General Anderson, have a seat.”

President Nickelson motioned towards the leather chair on the other side of his desk.  The General eased himself into the chair, careful to not rake his eyes off Nickelson.

“Thank you Mr. President.”

The President looked thoughtfully at Anderson for a moment, then suddenly his face turned into a good impression of a hawk.

“Why did you assign Captain Thalin and Lieutenant Williams to take part in the first strike?”

“Sir I had no idea that they would refuse their orders and…”

“I don’t care whether or not you knew!”

The President slammed his fists onto the desk, causing several stacks of paper to hop a small distance into the air.

“What could possibly have possessed you to send those two men on the first strike?  At the time I didn’t think much of it, being distracted by the troop build-up, but now?  How the freak did you get to be a General anyway?”

Anderson shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  He had to think of something…

“Sir, with all due respect, I thought that their relative knowledge of the area would prove beneficial.  Briefings are great and all, but it’s nothing like being there.”

“Perhaps.”

The President spat the word, as if ridding himself of a piece of chewed gum.

“But those two have literally cost us millions.  Thank God for the contingency plan!”

The Generals blood ran cold.

“Contingency plan, sir?”

Nickelson smiled.

“Yes, you know, you should never be without one.”

<(^)>

“Stalker one, this Stalker two, I have eyes on the target, over.”

“Copy that Stalker two, this is Stalker one.  All Stalker flights, report in.”

“Stalker two, checking in.”

“Stalker three ready to burn, over.”

“Stalker four, locked and loaded.”

“Stalker five, wound up and ready to go.”

“Stalker six here, all systems are green, waiting on your mark, one.”

“Stalker seven, everything is lookin’ good, over.”

Sergeant David Blackburn spoke into his helmet;

“Stalker eight, all stops off, good to go, over.”

“Copy, all Stalker flights green.  Stalker flights, prepare to commence attack on my mark.”

David sat in a hovering AH-64 Apache, just south of the cloud base that was their target.  His gunner, Sergeant Aaron Blastinger, sat in front of him.

“Mark.”

David flew the AH-64 forward, the rotors thumping loudly overhead.  The cloud structures loomed up before them.  The first missile hit the objective.  The clouds seemed to crumble in fire and steam, dispersing back into the atmosphere.  More missiles followed, joined by the steady rumble of machine gun fire.  Pegasi tumbled from clouds, flying frantically every which way as the sky burned around them.  David methodically tugged on his controls, mindlessly punched buttons.

Silently, he told himself; Just a bunch of stupid horses, just a bunch of stupid horses… He shuddered as he watched a pegasus tumbled to the ground, clothed in a wreath of flames.  It screamed as it fell, its mouth open wide, shrieking for all the world to hear.  David looked at the destruction around him, the death, and the dying.  We did this… Then he thought more. I did this…

<(^)>

Rainbow Dash slept softly, blissfully unaware of the world.  THWUMP.She sat bolt upright on the cloud bed, in the center of her room at the Cloudsdale Mareiot.  What was that?THWUMP.  TATATATATATATATATATA-THWUMP-TATATATATATA.  A chorus of rattling and explosions shook her room.  Rainbow lept out of bed, beating her wings.  She could smell smoke and hear the faint screams of other ponies.  She saw flashes of light flickering through the blinds on her window.

Dash was suddenly thrown to the floor as the building shuddered.  She picked herself back up again, brushing herself off.  What the buck is going on here?  Rainbow flew over to the window, threw it open, and soared out into the night.  The Cloudsdale, the city that was compared to Heaven, had become Hell.  Panicking ponies and the occasional griffon flew in every direction.  Rainbow could hardly move, staring at the city where she had been born.  It was unrecognizable now.

Suddenly Rainbow saw what must have been the source of the destruction; a sleek metal object, hovering lazily through the city, flashes of light and strange flaming objects came from it.  Whenever the flaming objects struck something, it exploded.  Rainbow felt a burst of heat on her left side, then a shock wave.  It threw her, spinning, towards the ground.  Rainbow plummeted, unable to reorient herself, far below the reaches of Cloudsdale.  She stopped as quickly as she began.  She crashed onto a cloud, gently stopping her fall, just a few hundred feet above ground.  Rainbow Dash passed out.

Rainbow slowly came to.  What a terrible dream…  Rainbow slowly opened her eyes, and stretched out.  Wait… where am I?  Rainbow Dash looked around.  She had been sleeping on a low flying cloud.  Then she looked up.  Rainbow’s heart sank.  Above her, Cloudsdale burned.  Though the messengers of destruction had long since departed, the city still smoldered.  Huge pillars of smoke arced high into the sky, visible for miles around.  Rainbow spread her wings, and turned towards Canterlot.

Seven - Preparations

Colonel Starblink took a deep breath, straightened his uniform, and pushed open the doors to the command room.  His wings fidgeted slightly on his back.  He couldn’t help himself; he was nervous, and frightened.  His Princess was speaking with the three humans.  Starblink eyed the humans with mistrust.  He knew that they were trying to help, but… after hearing what he had heard, it was next to impossible to trust a human.  The Colonel looked back to Celestia.  Her mane shimmered in the dim light of the room, giving off a soft glow.  Her voice, while regal, was always personal, and sincere.  It was impossible to not adore the sun princess, and of course it had fallen to him to deliver the bad news to her.

“My Princess, I am so sorry to interrupt, but I need to inform you of…”

Starblink’s voice cracked slightly.  He took a deep breath, pushing the thoughts of his family and home out of his mind.

“Cloudsdale… has been destroyed.”

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.  The Princess looked at the colonel, one of her most trusted officers.

“How?”

“We received word less than four minutes ago… several flying craft, no doubt from the humans, attacked and completely demolished the city.  We are still trying to uncover the details but… so far, we have reports of thousands of casualties, and at least four hundred dead… probably more.”

Starblink could hardly speak.  He simply stopped, making no effort to further explain.  He knew what was coming next.

“Your family?” Celestia asked gently, her face fallen, eyes sad.

Starblink hung his head.

“I... I don’t know.”

Celestia slowly nodded.

“We will all be hurt by this Starblink.  Some more than others.  I need you to go now, and tell the mages to send a call to all the garrisons of Equestria; we are at war, and it is a war for our very survival.”

The Colonel pulled himself to attention.

“Yes, my Princess.”

Starblink quickly backed out of the room.  The doors closed behind him.  The Princess turned to the table in the middle of the room, her horn glowing.  From shelves all over the room, small models of armor clad ponies floated, and then alighted at various points on the terrain map of Equestria.  James looked at the clusters of models.  They were woefully few, even if each one represented a division.  The Princess then looked at the three humans.

“Is there anypony in your world that would have the ability to help us?”

Jonathan shook his head, “Not that I can think of…”

Alex slowly tapped the table that held the Equestrian map.

“General Anderson… James and I spoke with him shortly after we went back to our world.  He seemed to sympathize with you, and everybody knows that what the president and his gang are doing is wrong… I just think that he is one of the only people brave enough to do anything about it.”

Celestia observed the humans.

“All three of you proved that you are brave enough to do something, when you ensured that Canterlot would not share Cloudsdales fate.  You were prepared to turn your weapons on evil, disregarding the fact that it dwelt in what you considered to be friends.”

“That’s just it,” James said, “When we were talking with the General, he told us that the IFF, which is a system that identifies Friendlies and Hostiles, might be acting up.  He said that we would have to make sure that we were shooting at the right stuff.  At the time I just thought he meant the systems were having trouble… but I think he was hinting to us, that we might have to… you know.”

Alex spoke.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t know about the Cloudsdale attack, your Highness.  We might have been able to save the city, but we didn’t bother to look at the attack schedule.”

The Princess shook her head.

“Cities can be rebuilt, they’re merely objects.  It’s the ponies that inhabit them that are irreplaceable.  Also, do not blame yourself for the sins of others.  I’ve made that mistake many, many times.  It never solves anything.”

It was Jonathan that offered the next suggestion.

“I don’t mean to rapidly change topics here but, I think that we have the fate of a country on the line.  So I’d like start off with a question; how quickly could you have several hundred pounds of sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter delivered to this place?”

<(^)>

“Dang that man!  How can he be so twisted?”

“I don’t know, but he told me his little evil scheme himself, less than twenty minutes ago.”

“Ugh!  I hope that Alex and James can show them that not all humans want them dead, or else our relation with the ponies is screwed.”

“We can’t worry about that right now, and besides, I got our man.  He’s technically a radar operator on an AWACs, but he has flight training.  I have everything that General Quentin over at Edwards will need to have the Senate throw Nickelson into a very, very deep hole in the ground.”

“Do you think that Edwards will be able to provide more… open resistance to the President, should the Senate take too long?”

“I’ve enclosed a file containing information on that contingency… and I think that I may know a way we can set up a secure line of communications to the outside world.”

<(^)>

David Blackburn slid wordlessly out of the Apache, then sank to the tarmac, his back against the smooth metal of his bird.  His helmet clunked unceremoniously to the ground.  His gunner, Aaron Blastringer, hopped out of his seat at the front of the Apache.

“You’re not looking so hot Dave.”

“I’m not feeling so hot Aaron.”

Aaron took a knee in front of his pilot.  He picked up the wayward helmet, setting it next to him.

“This ain’t like you Dave.  What’s gotten you so shook up?”

David looked at his gunner in a state of near disbelief.

“What do you mean why am I so shaken up?  Do you not remember what we just did?  It was just a hour ago!”

David put his head between his knees.

“Just a freaking hour…”

The voice was now muffled.

Aaron was slightly disturbed by his friends grief.

“Look Dave, we was just doin’ our job.  It doesn’t matter whether or not it seemed right or not.  That’s for the guys with the stripe to decide.”

“No it’s not.  Just because someone gets a freaking bigger paycheck doesn’t give them the right to determine right and wrong.  And I’m not quite sure what the heck what that was back there, but I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t right.  And we did it.  I did it.”

“They’re just freaking horses Dave.  Cool off man, just think for a while.  You’re just a little shaken up, that’s all.  I’m sure you’ll be fine in a jiffy.”

Aaron handed the helmet back to David, who reluctantly took it.

“You just chill out here for a bit, I’ll see you inside.”

Aaron turned and jogged off to the main base facility.

David’s resolve hardened.  Never again.  He swore to himself.

<(^)>

The Ground rumbled, and the air vibrated with noise.  The tank line advanced through the desert, surrounded by a phalanx of Humvees and APCs.  The lead tank dipped into the depression, followed closely by the other vehicles.  Quickly, they made their way through the portal, and began descending down the mountainside.

<(^)>

Swiftwing lay on one of the couches in the forts main room.  He slowly perused the latest edition of the Equestria Daily.  Aliens?  Flying machines?  Sighing; he threw down the paper.  He had thought that EQD was still a reliable source of news, but apparently they too had joined the crowd that would do anything for a juicy story.

“Think the Mares will go for this?”

Swiftwing looked up at the dark blue Pegasus that had just entered the room.  He was admiring the striped ribbon with the emblem of the Equestrian military that adorned his neck.

“I think you need all the help you can get, Clouddancer.”

Clouddancer looked at Swiftwing.

“You’re one to talk, you don’t have a very special somepony either.”

Swiftwing stretched his wings, opening them to their full span.

“You know that there isn’t a mare in all Equestria that’s special enough for me Cloudy.”

“Interesting words, considering you haven’t been to all of Equestria.”

“We’re in the military, I’ll prove my hypothesis soon enough.”

Clouddancer laughed.

The doors burst open, and a Pegasus with aerial combat armor soared in.

“What’s the occasion Colonel?”

“Shut up Swiftwing, and you better not make any bright comments either Clouddancer.  We’re scrambling to Canterlot, now.  Grab your armor, basic combat kits, and light packs.  We’re going to war.”

“What?!”

“We’re all going to get briefed on what the buck is going on once we arrive in Canterlot.  So I suggest that you hurry up.”

Swiftwing launched himself off the couch, spreading his wings mid leap.  Beating them furiously, he soared through the hallways, the air whistling through his mane.  Celestia, I love flying.  The Pegasus winged his way through the fort, hearing the occasional cries of; “Watch it!”

Swiftwing skidded to a stop in his room.  He leaned over, bit onto his armor, and pulled it over his body.  Carefully, he secured the armor clasps.  Then he turned to a saddle bag in the corner.  He dumped several objects into it.  A photo of his family, the few books that he owned, mainly Daring Do, his compass, his canteen…  Swiftwing continued placing objects in his saddlebags, before finally turning to the last things he needed to pack.

He looked at the shining blades, and the deadly points.  Would he have to use them on somepony before long?  This troubled Swiftwing, despite the fact that he joined the military, he had never thought he would have to kill anypony.  There hadn’t been a war in fifteen hundred years, why did that have to change now?

He slid his sword into its sheath, then buckled the sheath onto his armor.  He slid his hoof daggers into his bag, blades sheathed.  The hoof daggers were designed for aerial battle, fastened to a ponies fore hooves.  They could be used to dice enemies without impeding mobility.  Swiftwing slid into his saddlebag, and trotted from his room, securing the door behind him.

Swiftwing spread his plumage once more, feeling the cool air on his feathers.  He beat his wings, barely noticing the extra weight strapped to his body.  I guess that working out really does pay off… He flew into the main courtyard, where other pegasi were pouring in.  He took his place in the courtyard, standing at attention.  The last stragglers trickled in, and stood at attention.  All was silent.

Hooves sounded on the cobblestone courtyard.  The sounds grew nearer.  Swiftwing saw a gray maned pegasus trot past him, making her way to the podium.  General Sky rider.  She trotted to the base of the podium, then spread her wings.  She beat them once, enough to propel her the four feet up to the top of the podium.  She turned to her troops.

“Gentlecolts, Equestria is at war.  We received word just a few minutes ago that a new enemy, one that we have never heard of before, has attacked.”

She paused for a moment.

“Cloudsdale… has been destroyed.  It is currently unknown how many casualties there were, but the number is at least in the thousands.  These new foes show no distinction between civilian and combatant; their only rules appears to be; kill them all.  Gentlecolts, we make wing for Canterlot.  On my mark.”

The General spread her wings.

“Mark!”

The giant formation of pegasi burst into the air, the beating of their wings akin to the sound of thunder.  Swiftwing flew near the front of the formation, just behind the General.  He gritted his teeth.  His sister lived in Cloudsdale, with her husband.  If this new enemy had laid a single hoof on either of them, they would rue the day they had messed with Captain Swiftwing, of the Equestrian Royal military.

Eight - Breaking Point

Rainbow Dash half flew, half flopped into the courtyard of Canterlot castle.  Her breath came in pants, and she trembled slightly.  She had flown at breakneck speed all the way from Cloudsdale.  Any faster, and she would have left a trail of sonic rainbooms.  A pair of concerned pegasus guards rushed up to the bedraggled Rainbow.

“Excuse me ma’am, but are you alright?”

Rainbow looked at the two guards.

“Look, I’m Rainbow Dash, OK?  Like, you two need to let me speak with the princesses right now, because Cloudsdale is sort of…”

The guards glanced at each other as Rainbow’s voice trailed off.

“We know what happened at Cloudsdale Ms. Dash.”

One of the guards stated,

“However, by chance, Princess Celestia has ordered that the bearers be brought to Canterlot.  If you like, I can take you to her immediately.”

The guard looked over the still shaking Rainbow.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

Rainbow glared at the guard.

“I’m great, ok!  Never better!  Just hurry up and take me to see the Princess!”

<(^)>

“Ryan, it’s nice of you to drop in.”

Ryan “Magic” Desjar stood in front of General Anderson’s desk.  Behind the Desk sat the General himself.

“Please, take a seat.”

Ryan immediately did so.  The General watched him from across the desk, hands folded neatly.

“If I were to tell you that the President was not only involved in, but responsible for, an unconstitutional action, what would your response be?”

Ryan hesitated.  He knew that the wrong answer might prove fatal, at least to his career.

“If I was told that… and was sure that you were telling the truth… then I would say that the President would be in violation of the very foundation of this country, and would therefore have to be stopped.”

General Anderson nodded, though his face still remained devoid of emotion.

“You do know that if the President were to hear about you saying that, you would likely be stripped of rank, and dishonorably discharged from the military.”

Ryan gulped.

“I understand what the consequences would be, sir.”

The General continued to look at the radar operator.

“And if I were to, hypothetically, tell you that I was involved in actions to stop this unconstitutional thing, actions that would be considered treasonous if word of them were to escape, what would you say?”

“I would say…”

Ryan hesitated.  The General coolly eyed him.  Ryan knew that his career, and reputation, was on the line.  It would be so easy to just go with the crowd…

“That you are a man who is extremely brave, and that it would be an honor to assist you in any way that I could.”

Anderson smiled.

<(^)>

The forces of the United States military had taken up residence in a small village at the foot of the mountain.  They had been ordered to exterminate anyone they might find; however upon entering the village, they found it completely deserted.  A few soldiers sat in the main room of one of the commandeered houses, playing cards.

“Spooky, if you ask me.”

The soldier, who had spoken, Seth Haf, knocked the table and set his cards down.

“What, this place?  Look man, but if you haven’t noticed, this entire operation is just bizarre.  First of all, we are in a completely different world, maybe even universe.  Is it just me, or was that enough of a shocker for one lifetime?  Then, we get told that the inhabitants are not only sentient, but horses.  Not only that but we are told to execute them on sight.”

The soldier, who had voiced this, called Joseph Allan, threw two aces down on the tables, drawing shouts from the other men.

“Now it just so happens that we haven’t seen any of them yet, which is lucky, but the question is, if and when we do see them, and if they happen to be noncombatants, how many of us will execute them?  Some might not think about it, being lost in the idea of them being a different species, but honestly?  I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but if anyone is intelligent enough to make a place like this;”

He waved his hand around.

“Is clearly sentient.  And everybody knows that we certainly haven’t been attacked in any way.  It seems to be a pretty good guess that the president hasn’t even tried contacting them diplomatically yet.”

“You think too much Joe.”

Another man shuffled cards.

“It’s not our job to question orders, just listen to ‘em, and that’s exactly what I plan on doin’.”

Joe stared back at the man.

“If you were ordered to turn your weapons in a city full of innocent people back home, would you do it?”

The soldier shifted uncomfortably.

“Well… no.”

“So why would you do the same thing here?”

“Their horses Joe…”

Joe slammed his fist onto the table.

“Horses who are obviously just as capable of rational thought as we are!  I wouldn’t want them to come in and slaughter us if it was the other way around!  Did you think about that Tom?”

“Look Joe…”

A fourth player said.

“It’s not that I don’t feel a little bad about this.  We all do.  But if command catches you talking like that…”

“Screw command.  We seemed to have enjoyed talking about just how messed up they all are until a few days ago, so why that’s different now, I’m not quite sure.  As for me, if I’m ever told to drive my tank into a city full of noncoms, I can tell you right now what I’d do.  Turn right around and nail the freaking moron who gave me the order right in the face.”

Joe dropped his cards on the table, and spun around.

“And you can tell that to the morons at command.”

<(^)>

“So seventy parts saltpeter, fifteen parts sulfur and fifteen parts charcoal?”

“Exactly.”

The scribe’s quill danced on the paper, bathed in an orange glow.  Jonathan looked over the writing.

“That’s exactly it, good work.”

The scribe merely nodded in response.

Celestia was about to inquire to Jonathan, when the double doors once more swung open.  A very exhausted looking Rainbow Dash stumbled in.  The pegasus quickly collapsed into one of the room’s chairs.  Twilight perked up at the sight of her friend.

“Rainbow, what’s wrong?”

“Everything!  But especially Cloudsdale.  It’s officially screwed.”

At this point, the bedraggled pegasus noticed the three humans.

“Woah, wait!  What are those things?!”

She leapt to her hooves, and bounded up in front of Alex.

“Are you a spy?”

“Rainbow Dash, these creatures are friends.”

Princess Celestia frowned at the winged pony.

“Huh, could’ve fooled me.”

Rainbow eyed the emblems on their clothing, noting that the markings were the same as the ones on the machines that attacked Cloudsdale.  Suddenly Twilight realized something.

“Wait, Rainbow!  How do you know about what happened to Cloudsdale?  Did a guard tell you?”

Rainbow snarled.

“I know ‘cause I was there!  I got bucking front seats to the fire fest.  After being literally blown out of my hotel, I got knocked out and woke up on a cloud.”

“You got knocked out?”

The mare blushed.

“Well… maybe a little bit. But that’s beside the point.  How do you already know about Cloudsdale?”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Because we got a magical message within a few minutes of the attack!”

“Oh.”

Rainbow sat down.

“I guess I probably didn’t have to fly so hard then.”

Princess Celestia couldn’t help but smile a bit, despite the darkness of the whole situation.  She had to cling to whatever amusing tidbit she could at times like these.

“No doubt you left several tornados in your wake.  I am glad that you are here Rainbow Dash, I having a feeling that we will need the Elements of Harmony before this is all over.”

James snorted.

“No offense, but what exactly do you think those magic necklaces you told us about are going to do against a whole army.”

Luna stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room.

“Trust us…”

The princess of the night spoke softly.

“The Elements are more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

Celestia looked at her little sister, then back to the humans.

“Luna experienced first hoof the power of the Element of Harmony.  I…”

Celestia hesitated.  Luna bowed her head, and continued where her sister had left off.

“More than one thousand years ago, we were corrupted by a dark spirit, and tried to overthrow our sister… She was left with no other choice than to use the Elements on us, banishing us to the moon for a millennium.  I did not return until just two years ago.”

James blinked, and Alex shook his head, smiling.

“Well… I guess that these “Elements of Harmony” might prove useful after all.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, “They can mess up these morons.”

Alex smiled at the mare.

“As long as I get to see a tank go flying to the moon, I’ll be happy.”

Rainbow smiled back.

<(^)>

“There are reports of discontent among the ground troops.”

President Nickelson stared at General Harry Zumwald.

“I thought that we had anticipated dissent.  What’s the problem?”

“We did anticipate dissent, however, we didn’t anticipate that forty percent of the troops would be… incompliant.”

“Forty!”

Nickelson stood, and turned his back on the General.  He walked over to a window, gazing out.  The base was a knot of activity, with vehicles and men working hard to accomplish their respective tasks.  Everything seemed to be going so perfectly, yet…  Nickelson whirled around.

“How in the heck can it be forty!  You Morons have obviously made some sort of idiotic mistake!”

The General nervously flipped through some papers.

“No sir, we have double checked and triple checked everything.  It’s at forty percent.”

The General hesitated.

“Or… Forty two, to be precise.”

“They haven’t even engaged the enemy yet!  They hardly know what they’re fighting.”

The General sighed.

“The troops were uncomfortable with this assignment before it even started.  The entire idea of a different world, and especially the idea of going there, is rather frightening.  Now that they’ve been ordered to kill anything that moves, I think it’s the straw that broke the camels’, or perhaps the ponies’, back.”

“Dang morality,” The president sat back down, “It’s the most absolutely useless sentiment.  It prevents people from doing what’s necessary for what they think is right.  What a waste.”

The President meticulously thought for a few moments.

“We will have to keep the ground troops back a little, and hope that the enemy attacks first.  We can’t use them to attack any settlements until their convinced that the target is actually hostile.  That severely slows our offensive, however...” The president spun his chair, so his back was once more to the general.  “The air force can continue attacking.  As long as the killing is mechanical, not up close and personal, the majority will stay silent.”

Nickelson smiled. “One way or another, everything will always find a way to royally screw itself over.”

He turned back to the attentive general.

“And do you know what happens when it does, General Zumwald?”

The General hesitated.

“No sir.”

“Ha!  No one knows.  That’s why politicians exist.  But to answer my own question, someone with a vision will step in, take the reign, and use the whirling discontent of the people to build their own dreams.”

The President adjusted his tie.

“And if I have anything to say about it, that person is going to be me.”

<(^)>

A drop of liquid hit the marble floor, followed by another, and another.  Colonel Starblink wept quietly off in one of the side passages of Canterlot castle.  Bucking humans, stupid bucking murdering humans…  Starblink suddenly heard hooves on the marble floor.  Desperately he tried to swallow his pain, and hide his tears.  It was of no use.  Dealing with sorrow was not a common event in Equestria.

Princess Celestia walked halfway past the open archway to the corridor, and then stopped to take note of the pegasus.  Starblink started to quickly trot away from the regal pony.

“Colonel, halt.”

Starblink stopped, and without looking at the princess, answered.

“My Princess, I will stop if it pleases you but,”

Starblink choked down a sob.

“I request that you allow me to return to my quarters.”

The Princess walked to stand beside the mourning pegasus.

“Starblink,” Celestia spoke gently, and abandoned formalities, “what is causing you so much grief?”

Starblink shuddered.

“My family… in Cloudsdale…”

“Yes?”

Starblink collapsed to the floor.

“They’re… dead.  All of them.  Every single bucking one.”

Starblink felt ashamed of such a tearful display of emotion in front of his princess, yet she had asked.  A large wing descended, covering the trembling body of the Equestrian colonel.  Starblink was surprised, enough to momentarily forget his plight, by such an open display of affection.  Celestia smiled at the confused pegasus, before she kneeled beside him.

“Starblink… I can tell that you have much love for your family, and their passing must hurt you greatly, as it should.”

Starblink raised his head to look at the Princess.

“And of course, you must take time to mourn them, to honor them, and commemorate them.  But you must get through the pain.  I have seen more ponies than I care to recall die, and loved many of them.  But you have to continue.  Especially now Starblink.  For now, we stand on the edge of an abyss, wide enough to swallow us whole, and if we don’t turn to fight it, then the tragedy that has occurred for you will occur for many, many more.”

Tears ceased to fall from the colonel’s eyes.  Celestia nuzzled him for a moment, before withdrawing her wing and standing.

“Will you fight for me, Starblink?”

The pegasus looked at the Princess, who for a few moments, had taken time from the whole country to comfort one lowly soldier.  Perhaps it was a vast misallocation of resources.  But perhaps not.  Starblink took in everything he could see of the Princess, knowing that he would now fly through the burning gates of Hell and back again if she so ordered him.

“Princess, I would gladly obey any order you gave me, even if it was too throw myself upon the enemy with my wings and hooves trussed up behind my back.” Starblink stood, and tentatively, nuzzled the Princess back.

“I will fight for you.”

Celestia smiled at the pegasus stallion.  As long as she could gather a mere handful of ponies as loyal and fearless as Starblink, she knew that Equestria could overcome even the most impossible of odds.

Nine - Treason

“Jackpot, this is Magic, request permission to take off.”

“Copy Magic, this is Jackpot, you are cleared for immediate take off on runway two-one, take off immediately, over.”

Colonel Ryan Desjar slowly exhaled, releasing the air he had been holding in.  So far, so good.  Ryan taxied forward, the engine of his F-16c purring.  The Falcon turned out onto the runway, and Ryan looked down at the controls.  Haven’t done this in a while…  Ryan pushed forward on the throttle, and the F-16’s engine roared.  The plane quickly began to slide down the runway.

Ryan waited until the fighter had accelerated to a little more than one hundred knots, then eased back on the stick.  The F-16 leapt into the air, returning to the sky for which it had been built.  Ryan began pressing various keys and buttons around the cockpit, and the hum of machinery could be heard as the wing flaps pulled up and the landing gear was withdrawn into the plane.

Ryan waited until the fighter had achieved an altitude of twenty thousand feet, and then turned West.  The fighter banked towards California.

<(^)>

Swiftwing folded in his feathered appendages, finally able to rest them after the six hour flight.  All around him, pegasi were alighting on the cobblestone of Canterlot castle’s courtyard.  They however, were not where his attention was focused.  Swiftwing eyed the strange object that rested in the corner of the courtyard, wondering at its origins.

The item in question was grey, and several emblems decorated it.  It was also very large and… matched the description of the flying machine reported in the Equestria Daily.  Swiftwing took a step back in surprise.  So it was real?  He prepared to take a closer look at the mysterious aircraft.  Then he remembered where he was.

Swiftwing snapped sharply to attention, awaiting orders from general Skyrider.  Though he waited for the sound of the general’s voice, he did not hear it.  He grew anxious, wondering if the old mare had made it through the long flight ok.  Then a voice spoke.  It was not the voice of Skyrider, but it was still commanding, and unquestionably male.  The voice seemed to come from above.

Swiftwing looked up.  A unicorn stallion stood on a balcony coming off of the castle, his voice carrying easily across the whole of the courtyard.  The unicorn had on a finely crafted white uniform, with gold and black buttons and emblems.  The markings on the uniform were the highest rank that Swiftwing had ever seen.  He listened carefully to the stallion.

“Welcome to Canterlot, members of the 11th royal air division.  I am General Stronghorn."

A series of gasps ran throw the assembled troops.  The name Stronghorn was well known.  The unicorn that addressed them was the supreme commander of the Equestrian military.  Stronghorn ignored the gasps, continuing on as if nothing had occurred.

“I only wish that you had arrived in more pleasurable circumstances.  As you were told by your officers, Equestria is at war.  I understand that this will come as a shock to most, as there hasn’t been a conflict where pony must kill pony for more than fifteen hundred years.”

The general paused for a minute.

“And there isn’t one going on right now.”

The General waited for the words to sink in.

“The enemy, my friends, are not ponies, or griffons, or zebras.  In fact, though I am completely aware that some of you will not believe this at first, they are not even from our world.”

The general paused once more, and sighed.

“They are incredibly advanced, with technology far superior to our own.  We have analyzed the Cloudsdale attack, and have decided that the entire operation was carried out by no more than sixteen of them, using only eight machines.”

The general ran a hoof through his mane.

“They are called humans.  Our greatest relief at the moment, is that not all of them are our enemies.  The Princesses are currently in a conference with three humans that are allies with us, and are committed to stopping their evil brethren.  There is hope that many other humans will come to our aid.”

The general surveyed the pegasi troops.

“However, in the meantime, we are fighting an enemy that is more advanced and more deadly than any that we have ever faced before.  Equestria will need every mare and stallion to do their part.  You, gentlecolts, are members of the honored Equestrian air force.  All of you will have your roles to play in the coming days and weeks.  Fight hard, and never show the enemy weakness.  There will be no surrender, as the enemy has already shown what they do to the defenseless.  Be brave.  Be very brave.”

The general looked down at them.

“You are dismissed, all of you will be shown to quarters by the castle staff.  Recover from your slight here.  But always be ready to fight at any given time.”

The General turned and walked back into the castle.  Suddenly, the main doors to the courtyard glowed, then swung open.

A large company of ponies awaited the troops.

“First platoon, follow me, I’ll take you to your quarters, and explain how things work around here on the way.  You had better listen closely, because I am only going to explain one time, and if I catch anypony breaking the rules, they’ll be on kitchen duty from now until they get rotated to a different base.”

Swiftwing quickly trotted after the pony, listening to his instructions as carefully as he could.

<(^)>

The F-16 falcon soared over Owens peak, the California desert coming into sight.  Ryan tensed, knowing that Edwards Air Force Base was a mere sixty miles away.

All right, show time.

“Jackpot, this is Magic, been a rather nice flight, I’m gonna start heading back now.”

“Copy that Magic, hope you got to clear your head, see you in a while.”

“Copy that Jackpot.”

Ryan turned the plane back to towards Nevada, then put applied slight forward pressure to the controls.  The nose of the plane began to dip down towards the desert.  Ryan tugged back on the throttle, and the engine began to decrease the amount of thrust it produced.  Ryan once again spoke into his headset, this time switching to an open frequency.

“Attention all USAF aircraft or personal, this is Charlie two six one Juliet, I’m losing thrust on my engine, over.”

Almost immediately, another transmitter responded.

“Charlie two six one Juliet, this is Thunder, can you please confirm your situation?”

“Copy Thunder,” Ryan replied, putting a slight tone of panic in his voice, “This is Charlie two six one Juliet, callsign Magic, I am losing thrust on…” Ryan flipped several switches, “Ugh, Dang it!  I just lost my engine, repeat my engine is no longer functional.”

“Magic, what is your current position, over?”

“I’m currently passing over Parkinson peak, over… all my equipment is going down!”

“Magic, there is a small airfield approximately six miles east of your location, can you make it?”

“Negative, all my controls are sluggish, and navigation just crapped out.  My gear won’t go down anyway, and… Crap!  I have no control, repeat Thunder, no response on any control surfaces!”

“Magic, we are scrambling SAR units to your area, bail out immediately, repeat, bail out!”

“This is Magic, I copy you Thunder!  I’m punching out!”

Ryan reached down and grabbed the yellow lever, yanking it back.  The canopy exploded off of the jet, quickly followed by the ejector seat.  He hung on for dear life as the seat dropped away and the parachute deployed.  The F-16 continued on, plummeting towards the landscape below.  It crashed into the mountain side, and Ryan smiled at his last touch; he had armed all the weapons before bailing out.  The ensuing fireball erased the little evidence that would have remained of the fraud.  He could just write off the detonation as a computer glitch.

Ryan slowly drifted down to Earth, and activated his transponder beacon.  Then he waited.  After forty minutes, he began to hear the steady thumps of helicopter rotors.  Ryan looked up.  A Blackhawk helicopter soared into view.  He stood up, stretched, and waves his arms at the Blackhawk.  The chopper quickly floated down to the stranded airman.  Ryan smiled and waved as the side doors swung open and a search and rescue team leapt out.

<(^)>

The A-10s soared through the skies of Equestria, winging their way toward their target.  The pilot of the lead thunderbolt-II armed his rockets.  The target was getting close.

<(^)>

Princess Celestia strode through halls of Canterlot castle, next to Alex.

“Are you sure that more men will be willing to join our cause, Alex?”

Alex took a moment to reply.

“It’s hard to say Princess, there are probably lots of men who know that what they’re doing is wrong, it’s a question of who is brave enough to do it.  However, you don’t get into the military for being a wimp.  If I had to guess, we should start seeing defectors as soon as more military action is taken against Equestria.  It’s mainly a question of if we can survive until enough men work up the courage to make a stand.”

“We shall try our hardest, though part of me fears it may not be enough.”

The Princess turned to Alex.

“I am, at least, extremely glad to have you here, Alex.  Ever since you arrived, you wasted no time in trying to fit in here, and gave me proper respect even before you knew who I was.”

Celestia smiled.

“Alex, at this moment, I would like to make you an honorary member of the Equestrian royal military, as long as you approve.”

Alex was stunned for a few moments.

“I… I would be honored.”

Celestia nodded.

“Then from this moment, you shall be known as a colonel among my forces.”

Alex absorbed the new information, slightly awed at the display of trust.

“Princess, you have given me more than I would have ever expected.”

Celestia’s smile turned grim.

“And you will need to use everything I give you to help our cause.  Nothing less will cut it.”

“I understand, Princess.”

“Good, colonel.”

The Princess smiled once more.  Then she turned to another subject.

“One thing that continues to amaze me about your people is flight.  None of you, from what I heard, are born able to fly.  Yet you were still able to conceive of machines that allow you to gain access to the sky.  If it is at all possible, I would be most interested in the basics of how they work.”

“Oh well, of course, Princess Celestia.”

Alex cleared his throat.

“Well, the Basic concept idea is that when the air pressure, that is, the concentration of air above the aircraft is lower than the concentration below it, it causes lift, and the aircraft can gain altitude.”

“I see, but how do can you control the air pressure difference?”

“Well, that is a result of the shape of the wings of the aircraft.  When the aircraft’s propulsion system pushes the aircraft forward, it pushes air over the wings.  The wings are shaped so that as long as the aircraft maintains a minimum velocity, the air pressure above the wings is lower than the pressure below the wings.  The velocity varies per aircraft, but on average it’s a little over one hundred miles an hour.

“Fascinating.  What happens if something were to cause the air pressure to change and make it the other way around?”

Alex stopped for a second.

“Well… I guess… it would drop like a rock.”

Suddenly an image popped into his mind, an image of the Princesses’ horn glowing, and a soft breeze starting up, extinguishing several candles.  Alex stopped walking.  Hesitantly, opened his mouth.

“Princess… do you think it would be possible for you, or a unicorn, to magically alter the air currents in a certain area?”

Celestia immediately caught his meaning.

“I know that I could probably perform such a spell, but given the altitude an aircraft flies at, and the way you described the air pressure…”

The princess spent several moments pondering the question.

“It seems that the amount of energy required would be immense, and the amount would increase the faster the aircraft was going, though by how much, I can not say.”

Alex nodded, “still, it could be extremely useful, even if it only applied to certain situations.  Our jet has only a limited supply of weapons… and fuel.”

An explosion shook them.

“What the heck?”

Alex turned to look out a window an A-10 was swooping in low over the city, its Avenger Gatling cannon spewing ammo into the buildings.  Several more Thunderbolts were preparing to fly over the city.  Celestia merely nodded at Alex, then spread her wings.  She was off in a heartbeat.

Alex sprinted after her.

“Wish I could do that…”

He muttered under his breath.

<(^)>

The pilot of the A-10 swooped in low, firing another rocket into the gathering of structures.  Debris flew up everywhere.  The pilot looked up.

“What the…”

A bolt of golden energy shattered the cockpit, annihilating the pilot.  The A-10, never intended as a UAV, quickly crashed.

Princess Celestia watched the falling plane, her horn still glowing.  Then she turned to the other aircraft, which were completing their attack runs.  A whole section of Canterlot burned.  She focused her energy on the nearest two aircraft.  The air around them seemed to glow gold, then they both plummeted to the ground.  Celestia noted that a small object detached itself from the front of one of the planes.

The remaining three attackers turned back, their attention now focused on the flying pony.  Celestia felt small objects slicing through the air around her.  She once more focused her magic on planes, but this team she felt weaker.  The spell had taken much out of her.  Her horn glowed once more, and two of the aircraft were tugged together, causing a massive airborne explosion.  The remaining jet zipped past her.  Celestia turned, by now breathing hard.  She watched the last remaining fighter, waiting for it to turn around.  It never did.  The aircraft continued on, back towards the direction of mount Ragnon.  Celestia sighed, and turned her attention down to the burning city.

<(^)>

“General Quentin sir, it is an honor to meet you.”

Ryan shook the hand of the young General, merely forty years old.

“Yes, well it’s nice to meet you… Ryan, is it?”

“Yes sir.”

The general cleared his throat.

“Good, good, now I was told by my second that for some reason the airmen they just plucked off the side of the mountain was threatening to shoot someone if they didn’t let him see me.”

Ryan blushed a little bit.

“Well… maybe I was a bit extreme.”

“So the real question is… why does an airmen wind up in the middle of the Californian country side, and then upon being rescued, immediately demand to speak with the CO of a base that he doesn’t even belong to?”

Quentin folded his hands on his desk.

Ryan removed a thumb drive from his pocket.

“Sir… the contents of that drive are from General Anderson, over at Nellis.  I understand that the two of you are friends.”

Quentin chuckled a bit.

“That man saved my butt more times than I care to recall.”

“Well… anyway, the reason why I’m here is because he wants you to have the information on there.”

The General looked at Ryan.

“Well, I appreciate it.”

He slid the drive into a nearby laptop.

“However, aren’t there easier ways to send data than have an F-16 crash in the middle of nowhere?”

“The information on that drive explains why he couldn’t just send it, sir.”

Quentin looked over at the computer screen.

“I see…”

He began to read.  The general’s eyes grew wider the more he read.  Quentin slowly nodded.

“I see.”

Eleven - Adjusting

James patted Alex’s back, marveling at the gray hair.

“How are you holding up?”

Alex sighed, pondering the question.  Physically, he was as tough as a horse… literally.  How he was mentally, on the other hoof, was a completely different question.

“I don’t know James.  I’m trying to accept this, but I just can’t.  It’s so strange.  My mind keeps thinking that I’m still… me, but I’m not.”

Alex shook his head, his mane blowing in the breeze as the two friends walked along the walls of Canterlot castle.

“When I woke up this morning, I slid out of bed and stood up, and could hardly pull it off.  Then I remembered what had happened.”

Alex was slightly shaky, still learning how to walk on all fours.

“It’s just so weird.  I mean, even weirder than things already were.  I just can’t think right now.  There’s so much going on.”

James simply listened, letting Alex vent about recent events.

“There are a few benefits though.”

James took note of this statement.

“Really?  Like what?”

Alex chuckled a bit.

“Well at breakfast this morning, there was oats and hay and… you know what?  I liked it.  As in, I really, really liked it.  It tastes great now, and when I went for an apple, it tasted so good, like it was a piece of cake or chocolate or something…”

Alex licked his lips.  James laughed.

“You know, this is going to be weird, not only seeing you with hooves and all, but also eating grass!”

Alex scoffed.

“Come on man, I said that I was eating some strange stuff, but grass?  I mean, I never…”

He looked down at the grass growing in the gardens.

“What?”

Alex shuffled nervously.

“Well… now that you mention it, that grass does look rather appetizing…”

James couldn’t help but burst out laughing.  Alex laughed too.  Recovering, James asked;

“Ok, have you noticed anything else, other than your newfound love of plants?”

“Well…” Alex blushed.

James noticed the nervous look on Alex’s face.

“I think that the transformation has done more than mess with my tastes… I’m beginning to realize its screwing with the way I think too.”

James was curious.

“Like what?”

Alex blushed harder.

“Well… I’m beginning to notice…”

He stopped awkwardly.  James looked at his friend.

“What?”

Alex looked away.

“Twilight is actually sort of hot.”

James stared at Alex for a few seconds, processing the information.  Then he fell to his knees, laughing hysterically.  Alex looked back, clearly annoyed.

“IT’S NOT FUNNY!” He put his head in his hooves. “Something is seriously wrong with me!”

James got his laughter under control.

“I’m sorry but,” he let out another chuckle, “That is seriously even more ridiculous than you turning into a pony.”

Alex sighed.

“I know, I know… I’m just trying not to think about it right now.  You brought it up, ok?”

Alex was embarrassed at the admittance, and somewhat annoyed by James’ reaction.  Alex sighed again.

“Though that’s really been the least of my worries, I have more important things to deal with.  Like, what am I?”

The question put a final end to James’ mirth.

“What do you mean Alex? You’re you, and you always will be.”

Alex looked depressed.

“Maybe, but what am I really?”

He put his hooves up on the wall’s railing.

“I look like a pony, and I feel like a human, and I just want go back…”

Alex hung his head.

“I wish that we had never come here.”

James nodded slowly.

“Alex, I know that I don’t have any idea of what you’re going through right now, but maybe you should think about that for a minute.  Even if we hadn’t tested that bomb, somebody else would have.  Somebody else would have discovered this place.  Who knows if they would have done the same thing we have?”

Alex just sat, listening to James talk.

“Maybe this is screwing up our lives.  Maybe our lives were already screwed before we came here.  I don’t know.  But the thing is, we’re here, and as long as Nickelson is trying to blow this place up, or any place that’s full of innocent people, then we’re going to try and stop him.  Whatever it takes.”

James smiled down at his longtime friend.

“Maybe we’ll have to go through some more crap before it’s all over.  Maybe by the end of everything, I’ll be a duck and you’ll have grown wings.” Alex smiled a bit at that part.  “But whatever happens, I know that I would be willing to go through hell and back again to protect my town, and God help me, I think I’m willing to do the same for this place.  So, are you with me?”

James smiled at Alex, and stuck out his hand.  Alex hesitated, thinking over James words.  They were true, Alex had been willing to die if it meant keeping his country safe.  He knew that he would be willing to do the same, even as a little pony, to protect his country from itself.  He shoved his hoof forward, grasping James’ hand.

“You can bet your life I am.”

<(^)>

Swiftwing had barely had a moment to relax in Canterlot, before he had been called out once more.  After another long flight, on which he had glanced the ruins of Cloudsdale, he had settled into a tent in the middle of a large military camp.  His one encouragement on the journey was that he had learned his sister and her family had survived the Cloudsdale attack.  That was the only glimmer of good news he’d had.

He grunted as he slid on his armor.  First buckle, second buckle, the protective garment was slowly secured.  He admired the way the armor gleamed, how it emphasized his cutie mark.  He stared at the mark, an image of two lightning bolts flashing behind a sword.  He had gotten it the day he joined the military.  It had taken him longer than most colts, but it had been well worth the wait.

Sighing, he strapped on his weapons.  Soon he would determine whether or not the mark was an accurate depiction of his combat prowess.  Swiftwing trotted out of the tent, and surveyed the rest of the camp.  Metallic noises could be heard as weapons were sharpened and armor was mended.  The air was thick with the smoke of campfires.  Swiftwing looked towards the distant mount Ragnon.  Soon.

<(^)>

“Hiya!  My name Pinky Pie and I am so excited to meet you I mean when I first heard that there were things from another world I was like HUH but then I realized that there would be new ponies to meet but then I found out that they weren’t ponies at all but you are and…”

“Alright!  That’s enough Pinky!”

Twilight looked slightly annoyed with her pink friend.

“He’s kind of going through a lot of stress right now, so please try and take it easy on him?”

Pinky smiled even more than she had been already.

“Oki doki loki!”

Twilight nodded, and then looked back at Alex.

“Anyway, this is Pinky Pie, and as you can already tell, she’s excited to meet you.”

“SUPER excited.”

The pink pony interjected.

Alex grinned slightly, and held out a hoof.

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

He had his hoof shaken vigorously by the mare.

“An’ I’m Apple Jack, it sure is mighty fine to be making your acquaintance Alex.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Alex turned to the next pony in the room, a yellow pegasus.

“Though I’m sure you’ve already heard, I’m Alex, what’s your name?”

Alex smiled and held out his hoof.

“I’m… I’m Fluttershy…”

Alex’s smile weakened slightly.

“Um, I didn’t quite catch that, can you say it one more time please?”

“Fl… Flut… Flutter…”

The Pegasus cringed in fear.

“Oh really, her name is Fluttershy, and she’s just always nervous when she’s meeting new ponies.  You should have seen her when we were introduced to your friend James, absolutely terrified!  Anyway, I’m Rarity, its simply wonderful to meet you.”

The white Unicorn offered a hoof, which Alex happily shook.  He was still rather stressed, but at least he had something to take his mind off the situation.  Alex turned to face the whole group.

“It’s awesome to finally meet all of you.  Twilight told me a bit about her friends, and you certainly live up to the description.”

“Aw, shucks Alex, the pleasures all ours.” Apple Jack took off her hat and smiled.

Alex ran a hoof through his mane, lifting it slightly.  Twilight watched as his horn could be fully seen for a second, then the mane dropped back again, obscuring the base of it.  Wait… Horn…

“Horn!” Twilight shouted.

Everypony else just looked over at her, confused.

“Oh my gosh I am so sorry everypony, but I totally forgot!  Princess Celestia told me that I had to teach Alex some basic magic control, or else he might accidently hurt somepony!”

“Oh, um, alright, well I guess that is rather important, so… see you later!”

Rarity nodded.

Twilight smiled in appreciation.

“I’m glad that you understand.  We’ll see you at dinner, good bye!”

Twilight pushed Alex out the door, swinging it shut behind them.  She sighed.

“I am really sorry about that, but we really need to take care of your magic.  I mean, no offense, but I have to give you some instruction, or you could accidently hurt somepony.”

Alex grinned slightly.

“Oh, I understand, I guess I didn’t even think about being able to use magic though.  I just wish you could have been a little less rushed about it.”

Twilight started walking off, motioning Alex to follow him.

“I know, it just slipped my mind, that’s all, and it’s REALLY important.  I remember the first time I used a large amount of magic before I knew how to control it.”

She laughed a little.

“I turned my parents into plants.”

Twilight glanced at Alex, seeing that he was startled.

“Oh, um, their fine now, it was only for a few seconds.”

This brought some memories rushing back to Alex’s mind.

“As opposed to my transformation?”

Twilight’s smile disappeared,

“I really am sorry about that, but that’s the thing about uncontrolled magic.  I still don’t have any idea how it happened.  There probably is a way to turn you back, but we just haven’t discovered it yet.  I promise you, I’m working on it, but the chances are… you’ll at least be stuck like this for a while.”

Alex nodded.

“Alright, well, at least being able to levitate stuff and whatnot sounds like fun.”

He chuckled a little.

“Maybe after you teach me magic, I won’t want to go back to being human.”

“I don’t know, isn’t it awfully strange?”

Twilight looked at him as they walked.  Alex nodded.

“It’s all a little odd really… I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit, I guess.  Like I said though, I’m not angry with you in anyway Twilight, I’m just happy that you saved my life.”

The Lavender unicorn was silent for a little while, before they turned into a new hallway.  Twilight motioned to the first doorway.

“In here please.”

Alex followed Twilight through the door, and into the rather large room beyond it.

“Where are we?”

Twilight smiled, “This is where I practiced magic when Princess Celestia first took me on as a pupil here.”

She looked around the room, and her smile grew.

“I have a lot of good, and rather strange, memories in this room.”

Alex looked around, eyeing the book shelves, glass jars, and work tables.

“Strange?”

Twilight nodded.

“Thus is the nature of magic.”

She levitated two chairs over.

“Please, sit down.”

Alex sat on one of the chairs, and Twilight seated herself across from him.

“Now, we’re going to start with the basics, just lighting your horn.”

Twilight made her own horn glow for emphasis.

“It’s basically as simple as magic gets, and we should always start with the basics.  We’ll just go as far as we can today, depending on how well you progress, although the main point is teaching you to control your magic.”

Alex nodded.

“Ok, all you have to do is, it’s hard to explain to new magic users but, try and channel your energy into your horn.”

Alex looked at Twilight blankly.

Twilight thought of a better explanation.

“Just focus as much as you can on your horn, you can feel it right?”

“Yes, and thankfully, it no longer feels like it weighs a million tons.”

Twilight laughed.

“I guess that’s a good sign, but just go ahead and try what I said.”

Alex nodded, determined to see how magic worked exactly.  He began to focus on his horn, trying to…  Alex gasped.  He felt something that he had never experienced before.  It was like a cool, tingling pit, a vault that he had never had access to before.  Energy.  The thought rang in his mind.  So that’s what she meant…  He focused on the cool reserve, feeling it race through him.  He felt like he could manipulate it, call upon it…  He once more focused on his horn, this time mentally “grabbing” the energy.

Twilight sat on the edge of her seat, carefully watching Alex.  His face was scrunched up in concentration.  Twilight stared intently at his light gray horn.  A flicker suddenly ripped across it.  She held her breath.  Slowly, very slowly, the horn began to glow.  A gray and green aura surrounded it, giving off light.  The light slowly grew brighter, until it was almost blinding.  It suddenly vanished, as if someone had blown out a candle.

Alex smiled ear to ear.

“I did it!”

He leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling.

“That was incredible, I mean, I’ve never felt like that before, it felt like a stream of cool water was flowing around my horn!”

He let out a breath.

“I can’t believe it!”

Twilight smiled at the gleeful ex-human.  She knew what he was talking about.

“You did well, especially for a first attempt, most unicorns can never pull it off on their first try, sometimes even their first day.”

He looked at her.

“Well… I’m thankful for the flattery, but I would be willing to guess that most unicorns start learning magic when they’re a lot younger than I am.  Correct?”

Twilight hesitated.

“Well… yes, most of the time they start learning at about the age of six, but still, you did really well for your first time ever!”

“Thanks Twilight.”

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

“Wait, Twilight… your Princess Celestia’s personal student, does that mean that you’re really good at magic?”

Twilight looked at him like he was kidding.

“Are you joking around, I mean, magic is my cutie mark and all.”

“Um, Cutie mark?”

Alex stared at Twilight.  She stared back.

“You mean that I seriously never explained that to you?”

“Explained… what?”

Alex stared at her blankly.

“Cutie marks!”

Twilight shifted in her chair, showing off her own mark.  Alex stared down at the colorful stars that adorned Twilight’s flank.  Then he turned to look at his own.  It was blank, a simple light gray, just like the rest of his body.  He thought back, about how all the ponies he had seen had marks on their flanks.

“So… what are they?”

Twilight returned to her original position.

“Well, you see, a cutie mark appears on a ponies’ flank when they discover their special talent, or their destiny, or whatever it is that makes them different, and special.  Sometimes, they symbolize something about the ponies’ future.”

“So I don’t have one… because…”

Alex looked at her.

“Well, there are a number of possibilities, one, it could just be that you were originally human, so you simply won’t get one, which I highly doubt.”

Alex thought it over.  On one hand, it would certainly help him fit in if he did get one of these marks, while on the other hand, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted anything on his body that involved the word “cutie.” Twilight continued.

“The one that I believe is the most likely, is that you don’t have a cutie mark because you haven’t discovered your special talent, your purpose, so to speak.”

Alex slowly nodded.

“So you do think, that maybe, I will get one though?”

Twilight smiled.

“I’m almost positive that you will, unless we figure out a way to change you back very, very soon.”

Alex thought for a moment.

“Well that should be an… interesting experience.”

Twilight grinned.

“Trust me when I tell you, you will never forget getting your cutie mark.”

She sighed.

“I got mine as soon as Princess Celestia took me on as her personal student.”

Her eyes were almost dreamy for a second.  Then she shook her head.

“Anyway, we should really get back to the lesson, I want to try teaching you some basic telekinesis spells…”

Alex smiled, and eagerly listened to Twilight’s instructions.

<(^)>

“Commander on deck!”

The bridge crew snapped to attention as Admiral Peter Wiley strode onto the bridge of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.  Peter looked around, and then shouted, “At ease!”

The crew returned to their tasks.  Peter looked at his second in command, Captain Bartlett.

“I want you to tell the task force to turn around and set course for San Diego, we’re going home.”

The captain stared at the admiral.

“Um, as you wish sir, but might I ask why?”

Peter sighed, then repositioned his hat upon his head.

“I’ll explain more later, but for now, let’s just say that the country has more use for us at home than chugging through the south pacific.”

“Yes sir!”

The captain saluted, before dashing off.  Admiral Wiley took a seat in his chair, looking out over the flight deck of the carrier and the ocean beyond.

“Navigation!”

He called, “Set a course back to our home port, flank speed.”

“Yes sir!”

The huge ship began to turn in the ocean, surrounded by its escort.  The steel giant slowly began to make its way home.

Twelve - Hope

1:00 A.M.  UNITED STATES MILITARY OUTPOST, MOUNT RAGNON, EQUESTRIA

“Iron, this is Steel, all pieces are set, operation is go, repeat, operation is a go.”

“Copy Steel, Iron is moving out.”

The M1A1 tank fired up its noisy engine, much to the annoyance of any sleeping men in the area.  Its headlights shone through the abysmal night, cutting a few bright lines in the darkness.  Its treads groaned for a moment, then slid forward, propelling the metal juggernaut over the ground.  In other parts of the base, seemingly at random, other vehicles switched on, and began to make their way towards the eastern edge of the facility.

Groggily, a few half-dressed men staggered out of tents and buildings, rubbing their eyes, curious as to what was causing all the commotion.  A couple of the recently roused stood outside of a small house, peering at the convoy as it rumbled on its way.

“Probably just some stupidly timed op…”

One muttered, before yawning and turning back inside.  The other soldier eyed the vehicles a little warily.

“I certainly hope so.”

Then he too, returned to his slumber.

Inside one of the armored vehicles, Sergeant Joseph Allan manned the controls of the main cannon.  He listened intently to the radio, waiting for more instructions.  They all knew the plan of course.  Joseph had been one of its masterminds.  However, in a move like this, it was always good to be on your toes, ready to alter your plan at a moment’s notice.

The tank in which he sat, leading the group of more than a dozen vehicles, sped closer to the edge of the base, now just a few hundred feet away.  A confused sentry fingered his assault rifle, bewildered by the advancing column.  He held up his hand, trying to motion for a stop.  A soft hissing sound filled the air for a second.  The sentry eyed the small blue dart that had sprouted from his chest with shock, before slumping to the ground, unconscious.  The column continued its steadfast advance.  Behind them, alarms began to sound in the base.

<(^)>

“James, wake up!”

The gray unicorn shoved his snoring friend, frustrated.  The man continued his slumber.  Sighing, Alex thought for a moment, and then smiled.  His horn glowed, and a loud bang rattled the air.

“What?!”

James sprang up in bed, glancing crazily around.  His eyes fell upon Alex.

“Was that you?  Wait, what are you doing in my room?”

Alex levitated James’ flight suit to him, happy with his new found magical talent.

“We just got a report from a scout group, an armored column is advancing into Equestria, specifically the direction of Canterlot.”

James rapidly clambered into his suit.

“Well that’s no good.”

“That’s pretty much what everpony…” Alex blushed slightly, “everyone thinks.  Anyway we need you, and…” He sighed, regretful.  “You and Jonathan need to man the Strike Eagle.  You can do enough from there to at least help out the ground teams that are moving in.”

He spoke softer then, leaning in.

“They honestly don’t have a chance without you guys.”

Then he sighed again.

“I would help fly but… hooves.”

He held up his foreleg for emphasis.

James nodded.

“Jonathans a good RIO, though not as good as you are of course,” Jonathan patted the gray ponies’ back.

“He had enough sense to switch sides, for all its worth… I just hope that more people do the same.”

Alex looked slightly dejected.

“Anyway, you had better hurry it up, we have a bit of a war on our hooves… um, hands.”

James nodded, and picked up his helmet from the table.

<(^)>

“Steel, this is Iron, can you confirm on total number of contacts?”

“Negative Iron, were only using thermal, and their pretty well hidden in some hills.  It’s hard to tell whether or not it’s just the same group popping in and out, or lots of ‘em.”

“Mhm… well, try not to tick ‘em off, I don’t want to shoot at anyone tonight.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s why we’re doing this.”

“Yeah… I just hope we can tell them that we’re on their side before things get ugly.”

The convoy continued on, through the darkness of the night.

<(^)>

“Leveling off…”

James spoke into his helmet, his voice slightly etched with concern.  He kept glancing at the fuel gauge, nervous.  They had more than enough for the flight… but they couldn’t keep flying missions forever on the same tank of gas.  And part of James had the feeling that they were about to use up a lot of ammunition.

Jonathan sat in the back seat.

“We should try contacting them before we start lighting the place up.”

“Copy that, but we can’t allow them too much time, I don’t want to get shot down tonight.”

The strike eagle soared through the crisp night air, bearing towards mount Ragnon.  Jonathan carefully watched the displays.

“James, I have something.”

James glanced back.

“What do you see?”

“Armored column, no wait… supply trucks… and Humvees… and an APC or two… weirdest convoy I’ve ever seen.  No air support.”

James began to see headlights on the ground.

“Arm the weapons systems, and get ready to drop ‘em a line.  Things might get messy here.”

<(^)>

“Steel, this is Tiger, I have one air contact, confirmed to be an F-15E, bearing towards us… from the primary city.”

“This is Steel, Tiger, can you say again?  A Strike Eagle?”

“Affirmative, bearing from the wrong direction, over.”

“Strange… get ready to pop him, but first, let’s try and see what’s going on here.”

Joe turned away from the cannon controls, and began messing with the communications systems.

“Steel, this is Iron, we are preparing to contact the Eagle, over.”

“Copy that Iron, be careful.”

Joe took a deep breath, and then raised the mouthpiece.

“Unidentified Strike Eagle, this is…” Joe paused for a half second.  He was about to say, ‘this is M1A1 249A of the United States military’, but right now, that didn’t sound quite right.  “This is M1A1 callsign Iron, please identify yourself.”

<(^)>

“This is M1A1 callsign Iron, please identify yourself.”

James looked down at the radio, and then glanced back at Jonathan.  Jonathan just shrugged.  James thought about what he would say in response, then smiled as an idea came to him.

“Iron, this is F-15E Striker one one, on behalf the Royal Equestrian Air Force,” He heard Jonathan stifle a laugh behind him,

“We are going to have to request that you halt your advance immediately.”

“Striker one one, please clarify your… allegiance.”

James had to think about how exactly he was going to do this.  Cautiously, selecting his air to ground weapons, he answered.

“Our allegiance is to the innocent people of the nation that you are attacking, and to the constitution of the United States of America.  Once more, we must ask you to halt your advance, or we will kill you.”

<(^)>

Joe tapped the wall of the tank, thinking for a moment.  He then reached forward, grabbing onto his controls once more.

“All units, halt, repeat, all units, full stop immediately.”

The column screeched and skidded to a stop.  Joe once more spoke.

“Alright Striker one one, you have our attention, who the heck are you?”

“Someone who knows that the president is wrong.”

Joe opened the top hatch of the Abrams tank, peeking out into the cold night sky.  Up above, he saw the faint blinking lights of the Strike Eagle.

“Striker one one, I think that we all know that the president’s mind is about as screwed up as every previous corrupt politician combined.”

“I see…”

The voice sounded mildly surprised.

“It is also my pleasure to inform you that we are operating against the orders of the president, and his generals, and if any of us were to return to a U.S. military base, we would surely be arrested.”

The pause between the message and the response was great.

“Is there any reason we should trust you?”

Joe remarked back.

“Is there any reason that we should trust you?”

The men of the column all kept their weapons pointed skyward, wary of the jet.

“I guess that you’ll just have to take a leap of faith.  Iron, I want you and your convey to start heading toward the following position…”

<(^)>

The Strike Eagle touched down once more, all of its weapons still attached.  Alex trotted up to the jet as its canopy opened.

“What happened?”

“It looks like,” James dropped down from the jet, “we have some new friends in our military.”

Princess Celestia was closely behind Alex.

“You mean to say, that more of your people have seen the error of their ways?”

“It certainly appears so.”

Jonathan eased himself down from the F-15.

“But in the meantime, you’re going to want to send word to your forward troops, or they’re about to be in for the surprise of their lives…”

<(^)>

Swiftwing drew his sword, slowly easing it out of its sheath.  The metal lumps continued their advance, heading directly towards the camp.  He eased himself up from behind the hill, staring at the invaders.  This is it.  He thought, and it almost certainly would be.

He spread his wings, feeling the feathers rustle in the cool night breeze.  The pegasus threw himself into the air.  Around him, dozens of other winged warriors did the same.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!  FOR THE SISTERS!  FOR HARMONY!”

The battle cries filled the air as the ponies charged towards the advancing vehicles.  Swiftwing’s adrenaline spiked as he soared nearer and nearer to the things, preparing to defend his home from these evil invaders.

“Wait…”

Swiftwing heard the faint voice from behind him, but gave it no heed, for today, he would show himself worthy of the armor he now wore!

“HALT!”

The huge, magically amplified voice stilled the army.  Even the armored vehicles ground to a stop.  Swiftwing looked back towards the camp, where the unmistakable figure of General Stronghorn stood upon a hill, backlit against the moon.  Swiftwing nervously clutched at his sword’s hilt, unsure of what to do.  Stronghorn’s horn glowed brilliantly in the night, enhancing the volume of his voice.

“MY COMRADES, THOUGH MANY OF THESE CREATURES ARE OUR ENEMIES, WE HAVE NO NEED TO FEAR THIS GROUP.”

Swiftwing loosened his grip on the sword.

“I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED BY OUR GLORIOUS PRINCESS CELESTIA, THAT THESE MEN ARE OUR FRIENDS, AND WILL NOT HARM US OR OUR PEOPLE.  THEY ARE TREASURED ALLIES, AND BRAVE DEFECTORS.  MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT WE WERE UNKNOWLEDGABLE OF THEIR INTENTIONS UNTIL JUST MOMENTS AGO.  PLEASE, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, AND GIVE THEM YOUR GRATITUDE.”

Swiftwing turned back to the parked vehicles, sheathing his sword.  He watched as the humans began to emerge.

<(^)>

Starblink stood, his thoughts clouded.  He closed his eyes, but still could not remove the image of Celestia from his mind.

Why?

He thought to himself.  He shuddered, and dunked his head in a basin of cold water.  He hardly noticed the cold; all he felt was Celestia’s wing on his back.  He looked up to the ceiling, searching for an answer to the question that had been infuriating him.

WHY. BUCKING. ME?!

He slammed his hooves into the floor, furious with himself.

He had never felt this way before.  He couldn’t get a grip on his thoughts, and his heart beat too fast.  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus on anything.  Anything, except her.  He stared into his mirror.  Starblink was distraught.

NO NO NO NO!  I don’t have time for this!  Especially not now!  It’s a war, a bucking war!  And shes…  Perfect?

“UGH!”

Starblink marched around his room, not understanding his own thoughts.

It wasn’t possible, it would never work anyway!

Yet, he couldn’t control himself.  He snarled, and began conversing with himself.

“You have a responsibility to the country Starblink, the kingdom, you don’t have time for…”

He took a breath.

“…romance.  Especially with… with…”

Starblink once more returned to his mirror.  He stared at his face, and quietly accepted it.  He was in love with the ruler of Equestria, a pony more than a thousand years older than he was.  He swallowed.  He was in love with Princess Celestia.

<(^)>

General Anderson quietly closed the door to his office.  He knew who awaited him inside.

“Captain.”

Anderson acknowledged the man.  The officer nodded in return.

“So, we have a little extra time now.”

Anderson smiled.

“Thank God, yes.  I swear, if we survive this, I’ll make sure the man who led that little rebellion a hero for the history books.  What’s the total on the amount of defectors?”

The captain sighed.

“Just enough to buy some time, not enough for a victory.  We’ll just have to hope that Edwards comes through.”

He pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket, unfolding it.

“Right now though, to answer your question, we have reports that… four M1A1s, twenty three Humvees, twelve various supply vehicles, seven armored personal carriers, and four strykers have all left the camp.”

Anderson whistled softly.

“How many men?”

“About two hundred.”

“What a brave bunch of boys.”

Anderson spoke softly, in respect of the defectors.

“We better start on our part then, so far, everybody else has been doing all the work!”

The captain smiled grimly.

“Unfortunately, I fear that our lot may be the hardest.  Everyone else only has bombs and bullets to be afraid of, while we have to deal with politicians.”

Anderson nodded; the statement was sad, yet true.

“So now we have to ask ourselves a simple, depressingly easy to answer question:  How does one go about arresting a president?”

Thirteen - Flames

“Anvil this is Thor, moving in all teams, we are hot and ready for action…”

“Hawk team here, preparing to enter the portal, all wings, commence entrance run on my mark…”

“We are clear, landing troops in designated areas…”

Nickelson sat in the command room of Nellis Air Force base, listening in on the radio chatter of troops moving through the portal.  He smiled wickedly, though on the inside, he smoldered with hatred.  Who were those fools to think that they could possibly stop him?  The defection had been expected, but not so large of one.  They would all have to die.  There could be no room for error.  Not here.  Not today.

<(^)>

“Our only hope is to destroy the portal.”

Princess Celestia eyed the assembled officers as she made the statement.  There was Alex, James, and Jonathan, of course, all seated at the middle of the table to her right.  General Stronghorn and General Skyrider sat immediately to her right and left.  Two more humans, one named Joseph and another named William, had joined them from the defectors, they sat across from their fellow men.  Finally, Colonel Starblink sat at the far end of the conference table, next to Luna.  Celestia watched him closely.  Starblink appeared… distracted.

“The portal proved impervious to damage,” William remarked.

“We had a scientific crew working on it.  They tried scratching at it, to get a sample of what it was made out of, and they couldn’t even dent the thing.”

“I wouldn’t expect such a magical object to come to any harm by conventional means.”

The Princess spoke once more, her regal voice filling the room.

“The power of the enchantment upon this stone is great.  I can’t imagine what kind of work it took to create the portal in the first place.  Our best chance of destroying it is to use the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

Luna narrowed her eyes.

“Though we do not doubt that the elements could immolate the enchanted stone, would that not be the third time that the bearers were exposed to such powerful magic?”

Celestia nodded.

“It would be… but that is a topic for another time.”

Joseph now spoke;

“If these Elements things really can destroy the portal…  Can we try and make sure that all of us humans are on the other side first?  This world is great and all, but I’d still like to go home at the end of the day.”

Celestia smiled.

“Of course, we will ensure that all who wish to can return, but I fear that task may be difficult.  We will have to push your kinsman back through to your world, then the rest of you can follow.  We will shut the door behind you, so to speak.  Once your back in your world though… you’ll be on your own.”

“I well understand the risks, Princess,” Joseph looked around, “but once back in our world, we’ll be able to draw some attention from the public.  Then Nickelson… the president… won’t be able to touch us, at least not without getting burned.”

“Um, I uh… hate to rain on the parade, but… how are we going to fight off the other humans?  It seems like we should worry about that before we think about getting all of you home.”

Starblink let out a small sigh of relief as he finished the statement.  It felt good to finally get his mind off the white Alicorn, at least temporarily.

“We know that the enemy is advancing… and a few scouts reported that there is increased traffic around the portal.  Right now, we are hoping that the humans will be reluctant to fight each other, and if it does come to fighting,” Celestia hesitated for a moment, “All we can do, is do what we can.”

“Although…” She turned to Jonathan, “That project that you have been obsessing over, how is that coming?”

Jonathan sat up, now a part of the conversation.

“Very well, actually.  The assistants you gave me are all hard workers, and we’ve managed to make about four hundred pounds of the stuff.  It is an older explosive, from our standards, so we’ll have to be clever about using it, but it still packs quite a punch.  I just wouldn’t expect it to do much damage to a tank or something.”

“Yes… But I think that I may have something in mind for it…”

General Stronghorn smiled.

“By the way, what did you say it’s called again?”

Jonathan grinned.

“Black powder.”

<(^)>

“First platoon!  Your primary objective is to spot targets for the humans long range weapons!  Keep in the air, and use any clouds and smoke that you find to keep hidden.  Once you have a target, you will mark its location on one of these…”

The speaking colonel held up a piece of paper, which Swiftwing recognized as a map.

“They’re magically linked to maps in the human’s vehicles, anything that you put on here, it shows up on the other maps.  So no drawing on the job, or we’ll find out about it.”

There was a nervous round of laughter among the assembled pegasi troops.  The colonel held up a new object.

“This is the latest and greatest in military technology.  At least for us, that is.  This is similar to the crossbows that you all fired during training, with a few major modifications.”

He tapped the saddle to which it was attached.  It was strapped forward, and off to the side.

“You can fire the weapon while still flying at maximum speed, as a result of this saddle mounted design.  Also, this thing over here…”

He turned the saddle around, showing the other side.  A small gem was embedded in it.

“Serves three purposes; first of all, it makes you look really nice.”

More nervous laughter.

“Secondly, it acts as a counter weight to the crossbow, so you won’t fly lopsided.  However, I think that you all know, we don’t typically use precious stones as counter weights, so that brings us to the third purpose.”

The colonel paused for a second, catching his breath.

“The gem stores energy for a spell that was cast on the crossbow.  Now, I’m no unicorn, so I don’t know exactly how it works, but what I do know, is that as long as you’re wearing it, you’ll be able to shoot the bow just by thinking.”

A few of the soldiers raised their eyebrows at the revelation.

“You have to be very deliberate in your thoughts when you want to shoot…  So that way you all don’t end up skewering each other.  But that’s not the only thing the enchantment does.”

The colonel slid the saddle onto his back, and turned to a bull’s eye set up a few yards away.  A burst of arrows swished through the, slicing into the target.

“Every time you shoot,” the colonel turned back to the assembled troops, “another arrow drops from this container here...” He motioned towards a small wooden box on the saddle, which hung over the crossbow.  “And is loaded onto the crossbow, and the string is drawn back again.  You can maintain a rate of fire of up to five arrows per second, and fire a total of twenty five arrows.  How fast you fire is determined by your thoughts.”

There was stomping of approval among the assembled troops.  The colonel smiled.

“I thought that you guys might approve.  All of you will be issued one before you leave this briefing.”

The colonel’s eyes narrowed.

“Use them wisely.”

<(^)>

“Eighteen contacts, twelve hundred meters, about to engage forward unit.”

The voice was hushed, and its owner was looking through a pair of high powered binoculars.

“Hold your fire, wait and see what they do when they encounter the ponies.”

Two men lay prone in a cluster of bushes, both observing the movement in the distance.  A platoon of soldiers was advancing on a bunch of Equestrian troops, who were hiding in some trees.  One of the soldiers spotted the ponies.  The distant crackle of gun fire filled the air.

“Contacts are hostile, mark, officer, front left formation, twelve hundred yards, M4, fire when ready.”

The second man tightened his grip on his sniper rifle, lining up the designated target in his scope.  The cross hairs centered over his head.  Sorry buddy.  A sound like a clap of thunder filled the air as the man squeezed the trigger.  He reached forward, grabbed the action, and loaded a new round into the chamber.  The original target stumbled backward, lacking a head.

“Priority target, third man on the right, eleven hundred seventy meters, LMG, take him out.”

The rifle swiveled to face the new target indicated by the spotter.  Another clap of thunder, and another clean kill.

“Two targets, advancing on the right flank, M4s, twelve hundred meters, fire when ready.”

The sniper turned to the new targets.  He squeezed the trigger, and then slammed a new shell into the chamber.  He was about to take the second man, when a pegasus jumped into view, and slammed a knife into the surprised soldier’s neck.  The man fell to his knees, clutching the handle of the blade.

“Uh oh…”

The spotter muttered, and then produced a radio from a chest pocket.

“Baseplate, this is Artemis, enemy armor is moving up on our position, requesting heavy fire support.”

There was a hiss of static, and then the words that every soldier dreads.

“Negative Artemis, no fire support is available at this time, please report on the nature of the armor.”

The sniper fired another shot as the conversation took place.

“Three main battle tanks, and five lightly armored vehicles, over.”

“Copy that Artemis.  See what you can do about the light vehicles, and then move to position two.”

“Solid copy.”

The ponies that had been trading arrow for bullet, and not with much success, began to fall back as the vehicles pulled up.  Any numerical advantage that they may have had was lost on the armor.

“New target, high priority, lead Humvee, eleven hundred meters, fifty cal, moving at thirty miles per hour, wind from the east, four knots.”

The rifle boomed again, and the gunner of the Humvee in question slumped back in his seat.  Another shot, and the front window was shattered by a fifty caliper round, sending the vehicle careening into a tree.  The Sniper fired three more shots, all finding their targets, before bullets started to fly past him.  The two men grabbed their equipment, and ran while crouching through several thickets of underbrush, moving to a new location.

<(^)>

“Glad we got some more fuel.”

“You can say that again.”

James urged the F-15 to climb, the fighter making its way past the clouds.  He took a moment to reflect on the heavenly scene.  You couldn’t tell there was a war going on from up here.  James sighed.  He wished that he could dive into the clouds, and stay up in the sky forever.  But that was never going to happen.  He sighed, and then looked behind him.

“Weapons ready?”

Jonathan responded without looking up from the controls.

“Everything we have onboard is ready to go, which is good, because I have the feeling that we are going to need all of it.”

“Considering the fact that we are about to throw ourselves into a fight in which the odds are some ungodly number to one… yeah, I think that your right.  You at least made sure they got everything with the black powder set up correctly, didn’t you?”

“Everything should work out fine, and if it doesn’t, then I guess we’re all screwed.”

“Or at least seriously set back.”

“Were you always this optimistic?”

“I don’t know, maybe it just comes from hanging out with multicolored ponies.”

A voice broke into the conversation.

“Striker one one, this is Baseplate, do you copy?”

James made sure his helmet was completely secured, and then gave his answer.

“We copy you loud and clear Baseplate, what’s up?”

“The first few engagements have broken out.  One group of armor is to far north for the current plan to work out.  We need you to neutralize.  Sending you the coordinates now.”

“Copy that Baseplate, this is Striker one one, moving to engage.”

James gently tugged on the stick, and the powerful F-15 rolled over, banking North.  The jet covered the distance with ease, and the target group was soon in sight.  A small convoy was moving up a dirt road.  James eyed the handful of APCs and Humvees.  From behind him, he heard Jonathan’s voice;

“Target acquired, locked in.”

James finger tightened around the trigger.

“Dropping.”

There was a soft click on the outside of the jet, barely discernible over the constant hissing of the wind over the wings.  Two long, black objects released themselves from the jet’s wings.  Silently, they made their way down to the earth.  The bombs impacted the middle of the convoy.  The explosion tore the vehicles apart.

The crew of the F-15 watched the fire ball.

“Baseplate, targets are down or no factor, continuing…”

Warning bells exploded in the jet’s cockpit.  James instinctively slammed the stick to the side, acting on instinct, not thought.  A missile zipped past the jet, going high by a few yards.

“Striker one one, be advised, we have multiple bandits entering your airspace.”

Jonathan swore in the back seat of the plane, and James grunted out his reply.

“We noticed baseplate, we’re taking fire from enemy aircraft.”

Small triangles began to appear on the Strike Eagle’s radar.  James pushed forward on the throttle, and began to climb.

“Hostiles are holding at twenty thousand feet and coming fast, at least five marks, probably F-16s.”

Jonathan spat out the tactical data as James focused on maneuvering the aircraft.  Another missile zipped past, barely missing the banking Eagle.

“We can’t keep getting lucky like this man!”

James shouted while yanking on the controls, his body pressed into the seat by extreme G-forces.  He rolled the plane once, positioning it upside down.  Below them, two F-16 falcons soared past, before splitting up and banking back around.

“There’s… to… many…”

James gasped, hardly able to speak.  The plane leveled out, and then hit on its after burners.  The Strike Eagle shot back towards the South.

“Baseplate, this is Striker one one, we are being pursued by multiple enemy fighters, we can’t take ‘em on, and we’re leading ‘em to you.  Can you engage with Anti air?”

“Affirmative Striker one one, lead them in.”

James rolled the Eagle through a cloud bank, and dove for the deck.  Behind him, the five Falcons shrieked, their engines screaming.

“Striker one one, increase altitude, we need a better missile lock.”

James wasted no time with a reply, and merely pulled back on the controls.  The F-15 shot sky ward, and so did its pursuers.  A volley of white contrails sprouted from the ground.  Behind them, the F-16s rolled, popping flares, evading the missiles.  Jonathan watched from the back seat of the Eagle as two of the Falcons were consumed with flames, and the remaining three broke off, seeing it futile to fight while being targeted by anti-air.  A chute came from one of the downed planes.

“Baseplate be advised, two bandits are down, and the rest are bugging out, one confirmed chute.”

“Copy that Striker one one, please stand by for next assignment.”

<(^)>

Swiftwing eyed the bridge.  It had been well fortified, with nearly four hundred ponies, and about three dozen humans.  A few of what the humans called “Machine gun emplacements” had been erected on the near side of the river, ready to pummel anything that came across.  Or at least, to give an impression that anything that came across would be pummeled.  Swiftwing looked at the barrels strapped to the bottom of the bridge, barely visible among all the supports.  He grinned slightly.

He then turned to the flowing water.  The Maressippi river flowed clean through the middle of Equestria, effectively separating the country.  It had only three crossing points in this area; and only one by the end of the day.  The bulk of the friendly human forces had been concentrated on the center bridge, the one chosen to remain standing.  The other two bridges had been laden with several hundred pounds of black powder, and a few explosives that had been found in the supply trucks.

In the distance, Swiftwing could hear the rumble of engines.

So it begins.

He flapped his powerful wings, taking him skyward.  He alighted on a low floating cloud, about four hundred feet above the raging waters.  The first of the invading forces could be seen plowing over a hill, about a thousand yards from the bridge.  Swiftwing nosed into his saddle bags, careful not to trigger the crossbow, and bit onto his map.  He dropped it on the cloud, and then used his forelegs to spread it out.  The map showed the whole battle area in great detail.

Swiftwing plucked a quill from his pack, and dipped it into a jar of ink.  He carefully started marking the path of the enemy’s advance.  He waited a few moments, until he heard a faint whistling noise.  A shell rocketed past, and buried itself in the ground near the enemies.  Another followed, closer this time.  Swiftwing folded up to map, and slipped the quill and parchment back into his pack.  He then flapped his wings once more, making his way through a series of clouds, until he found himself slightly behind the enemy formation.

He carefully alighted in a tree, and began to take out his map once more.

“Hey!”

The shout came from just below.  Swiftwing looked down, and his jaw dropped.  How had he not seen that?  A human pointed a rifle at him from just below the tree.

“Hands up!”

Swiftwing jumped backwards, and the soldier fired.  The shot blew off a small branch to his right.  He jumped behind the tree, and held his breath.  Swiftwing could hear the man moving beneath the tree.  Silently, he slid a dagger from his pack.  He heard footsteps slowly rounding the tree.

Swiftwing tightened his grip on the dagger, the lethal point gleaming in the sun light.  He breathing came quicker, and his heart pounded in his chest.  Slowly, he saw the shadow of the enemy soldier come into view.  The rifle pointed into the tree.

“Aha!”

The man came fully into view, and raised the rifle.  Swiftwing launched himself at the man, dagger clutched in his hooves.  The rifle went off again, and Swiftwing felt something nip at the tip of his ear.  Then he plunged the blade into the man’s neck.  Blood splattered on his hooves, and the blade sank deep.  The rifle dropped loosely from the man’s grip, and his hands reached to grasp at the hilt of the dagger.  Slowly, he dropped to his knees, and then fell to the ground.  He kicked once, and lay still.

Swiftwing stared at the droplets of blood that now covered his coat.  His heart felt like a sledge hammer was pounding inside him.  He turned his head from the blood to the lifeless man.  He slowly sank to the ground.

“No…”

He groaned slowly, staring at the body of his enemy.  The dead body of his enemy.  The body that had been living, until it had been killed.  The man that had been living, until he had killed him.  Swiftwing groaned again.

<(^)>

The tanks advanced across the bridge, firing into the defenders.  A shell rocketed in, destroying one of the advancing vehicles, but it hardly dented the advance.

“We can’t do this much longer!” A soldier cried, his rifle giving off heat waves from constant firing.

A unicorn charged forward, its horn glowing.  He released a bolt of magic at the bridge.  For a second, the battle seemed to hesitate.  Then the world exploded.  The bridge tore itself to pieces, explosions rocking the entire area.  The enemy vehicles in the bridge were annihilated.  The forces on the far side of the river stopped, staring at the smoking remnants of the bridge.  A mighty cheer went up from the defending forces as the remaining enemies retreated.

Joseph Allen smiled at the destruction of the bridge, but then looked over towards the center of the battle, more than a mile away.  It had been agreed that the center bridge would be left intact.  Joe frowned as he saw the raging firefight.  He hoped they weren’t going to regret that decision.

<(^)>

The M1A1 tank that was the center piece of the Equestrian defense was struck by another shell, and smoke poured from its engine.  The hatch popped open, and the crew spilled out.

“Run for it!”

The men and ponies in the area flung themselves to the ground as the tank exploded.  General Stronghorn, fighting at the front with his troops, cursed the bad luck.  He then turned back towards the enemy.  The hostile troops were beginning to spill out onto the near side of the bridge.  He cursed again.

“Fall back!”

The assembled troops turned to him, startled.

“Everypony, retreat!  Fall back!”

The soldiers began to turn and run, bullets whizzing through the air around them.  Stronghorn saw the humans charging across the bridge, firing wildly into the retreating forces.  He grunted, and his horn began to glow.  Nopony, not even bucking aliens, messes with my boys.  Stronghorn began to walk forward, climbing a small hill.  Around him, men and ponies ran, jogged, and limped to safety.

Stronghorn reached the top of the hill.  The light from his horn was almost blinding.  He felt like something had suddenly hit him in the shoulder, but he ignored the pain.  He was commander of a beaten army.  But, no matter what, Stronghorn was getting his boys home.  He released the pent up energy in his horn.  It blasted forward, hitting a Humvee as it crossed the bridge.  The vehicle was thrown backward, its occupants screaming.

Stronghorn cast about for a new target, panting from exertion.  Few unicorns possessed such strength.  Suddenly, Stronghorn realized that he was not alone at the top of the hill.  He turned to the young colonel that stood beside him.

“Get out of here son, you already gave everything that you could.”

The old General had sweat pouring down his face.  The earth pony colonel stood beside him, not budging.  He looked the General in the eye.

“With all due respect sir, we haven’t given All that we could yet.”

“We?”

Slowly, the General turned and looked behind him.  About a dozen soldiers, human and Equestrian alike, stood on the hill.  The General nodded.

“You know, that none of you boys have to do this.”

The colonel smiled.

“And you know that neither do you.”

Stronghorn grunted, and turned back to the advancing enemy.  They were pouring from the bridge now, a veritable torrent of enemies.  Stronghorn and his group stood directly in their path.  Bolts of magic, arrows, and bullets were flung from the hill, bearing down on the attackers in a glorious array.  Stronghorn watched as one of the ponies standing beside him fell.  Then a human was nocked aside, and blood spurted from the wounds of a pegasus.

His horn glowed, and once more, he cast a powerful beam at the invaders.  A platoon of soldiers was knocked to the ground, merely to have more take their place.  Stronghorn felt another bullet rip into him, splattering blood on the ground.  He cared not for his own wounds; he felt only those of his troops.  The number of defenders on the hill dwindled, as more and more fire rained down upon them.

Stronghorn saw the colonel that had first join him, already bleeding from a dozen wounds, stagger and fall.  The general realized that he was alone.  His horn began to glow once more, and he felt more impacts bloody him, from his hooves to his now ragged mane.  His voice contorted, he offered one final shout:

“Get… out… of… my… COUNTRY!”

His horn cracked; and a massive volley of energy rocked the land scape, throwing everything within a hundred yards into the sky.  The smoke gradually cleared, and the attacking soldiers peeked out from behind their cover, or picked themselves off up the ground.

On the bloodstained hill in the center of the battlefield, lay the smoking body of General Stronghorn.

<(^)>

Princess Celestia quietly rolled up the scroll, letting out a deep sigh.  She turned towards the guard at the door.

“Sergeant, please tell colonel Starblink that I wish to see him immediately.”

“Yes, your highness.”

The guard quickly left the room.

Princess Celestia turned back to the map of her kingdom, removing several of the markers indicating the locations of the Equestrian military.  She then looked at the positions of the enemy.  They were painfully close to Canterlot.

The world seemed to have turned against her, first posing a deadly threat, and then stripping away her highest ranking officer.  She turned to a drawer, hidden under the table.  Her horn glowed softly, and out floated the medallions and ribbons that indicated the rank of general.  Celestia tried to picture them attached to Starblink’s uniform.

He is ready.

The thought sounded in her mind.

He just doesn’t realize that yet.

Fourteen - Power Shifts

Starblink slid out of his uniform, sighing.  Though he hadn’t been on the battlefield itself, He had carried out the tasks of coordinating an army spread over a twenty mile front.  Not to mention the inconvenient fact that the humans still hadn’t set up a very sensible chain of command.  And the even more inconvenient fact that every time he closed his eyes, he saw a certain white Alicorn staring back at him.

He had made mistakes today.  Mistakes that could have cost brave ponies their lives.  Starblink felt like punching himself in the face.

All because I can’t focus…

He glared at the face in his mirror.

I can’t keep doing this…

Starblink looked over to his uniform, eyeing the insignia of colonel on the right shoulder.  He was not fit for command, and for once, he felt like he couldn’t help it.  Starblink sighed, he couldn’t trust himself to command others in his current state.  He would have to report himself unfit.

His blood ran cold as he came to a sudden realization.  With Stronghorn dead, his direct superior officer was…

No…

He stared at the mirror again, his face pale.

Unfit for emotional reasons… emotional reasons… that’s all…

He gulped.  Suddenly, there was a knock at his door.

“Colonel Starblink!”

Starblink hurried over to the door, swinging it wide open.

“Yes?”

The messenger pony outside started talking;

“Princess Celestia… are you alright colonel?  Looks like you’ve seen a windigo.”

Starblink shook himself.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.  What were you saying?”

The messenger eyed him questioningly for a moment, before shrugging.

“Princess Celestia has ordered that you see her immediately.”

What are the odds?

“I’ll be there immediately.”

<(^)>

The door to the command room opened slowly.  Celestia looked up from the map of Equestria as Starblink’s voice timidly sounded.

“You wanted to see me, your majesty?”

“Yes, I had you summoned here, please come in.”

The white pegasus strode into the room.  The door swung lazily shut behind him.

“Starblink, it is good to see a friendly face.  It has been a hard day.”

Her voice danced in Starblink’s ears.  He nodded.

“It’s… nice to see you too.”

Celestia turned back to the table.  Starblink looked at the insignia on the table.  He suddenly felt more nervous than he already was.  Celestia started to speak once more.

“Starblink… you know that General Stronghorn was slain in combat earlier today, correct?”

Starblink sighed.

“Yes.”

Celestia turned to face him again, her eyes gazing at him.

“Then it is also safe to assume that you know that our forces are currently without a direct leader?”

“Yes.”

Starblink simply repeated his first answer.  He didn’t like where this was going.  The Generals insignia lifted from the table, surrounded by a golden aura.  Starblink shifted nervously.

Celestia sighed.

“I have put much thought into finding a suitable commander for our forces, and so far, only one pony has come to my mind.”

The insignia hovered in front of Celestia.

“Colonel Starblink, I, Princess Celestia herby decree, that you shall henceforth be given the rank of high general, second only to myself and my sister in the control of the Equestrian military.”

The insignia was joined by a ribbon, and then hung around his neck.  Starblink stared at the medallion, his mouth agape.  Celestia smiled at him.

“My Princess…  I’m honored that you would think of me, but…  I can’t!  I…”

The Princess merely continued smiling.

“I understand that this is a vast responsibility, General, but I can assure you, I have watched your military performance from the first day you arrived here, nearly ten years ago.  I know that you are capable of commanding my army, even if you don’t think you are.”

Starblink wanted to jump out the window, even if he did have wings.

“Princess…  It’s not like that…  Just a few moments ago…”

He sighed.

“I’m afraid that I need to report myself unfit for command.”

Celestia merely stared at him, her smile shrinking.

“I am still willing to fight, but right now, I cannot properly perform my duties, not as a colonel, or a general.  My thoughts are simply too clouded.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed.

“I see… and is there a reason for this sudden inability to command?”

Starblink gulped.

“Um, emotional reasons, my Princess.”

Celestia thoughtfully tapped the floor.

“I thought that you had mostly recovered from the loss of your family.”

He sighed.

“I had to burry both parents and three brothers on the same day.  It was more than anypony should ever have to experience.  However, it is not what troubles me most right now.  Please, Princess, give this command to Skyrider, or some other pony.  I can’t bear… the responsibility at this time.  The knowledge that I might make a mistake that causes the deaths of hundreds, merely as a result of my own inability to concentrate, is far too much for me.”

Celestia carefully eyed the stallion in front of her, trying to analyze what could possibly be troubling him.

“Starblink… I want you at the head of my army.  If this trouble is anything that I could help with.”

“NO!”

Starblink stared at the Alicorn, eyes wide.  She stared back at him, surprised at the interruption.

“I mean, no Princess… there isn’t anything that you can do.  You may actually make the situation worse.”

She looked at him curiously.

“Starblink… you’re right about your thinking being clouded.  Tell me, what is the problem?  I have lived for three thousand years, and the odds are, it is something I’ve dealt with before.”

Starblink bowed his head.

“Princess…”

“Tell me, Starblink.”

Her voice was gentle, but firm.  Starblink trembled slightly.

“It’s… it’s a mare, your highness.”

She looked slightly amused.

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can’t help myself!”

He facehoofed.

“No matter what I try, I can’t get my mind off of y… her.”

“You were starting to pronounce ‘you,’ Starblink.”

Starblink shifted, nervous.

“Just a miswording, heh, slip of the tongue.”

“Oh, I have no doubt of that.”

Celestia watched the way he was moving, how nervous the pegasus soldier looked.

“Starblink… I think that you need to be a little more”

“I’m sorry ok?”

The pegasus was standing with his face to the floor.

“I’ve already told you, I can’t help myself!  No matter how hard I try, I can’t get my mind off of…”

Starblink jerked his head up, looking the white Alicorn in the eye.  Her face shone with the radiance of the sun, thoughtful, and concerned.  Starblink stared.  He couldn’t lie to that face.

“Off of you.”

He quickly began examining the floor again.

“I’m sorry, I know that I could never hope to even be considered by you, that it would never even work out.  I know that your position would never allow for any… distractions.  I know that your about one hundred times my age…  But I still can’t stop.  I can’t think.  I’m sorry.  I’ll”

“Starblink.”

“I’ll resign my commsion, I’ll pack up,”

“Starblink.”

“You can redeploy me to some outpost three thousand miles from here, or tell me to scout…”

“Starblink!”

He stopped rambling, and returned his gaze to the Alicorn.  He was shocked to see her expression was not of anger, or hate.  She simply smiled.

“Starblink, I believe that the proper way to go about it would simply have been to confess your feelings to begin with, then we wouldn’t have had to go about this whole awkward conversation.”

Starblink simply stared at Celestia, mouth agape.

“Bu.. But… You’re not… angry with me?”

She laughed then, and the sound made his head spin.

“Angry?  You’ve handled the situation surprisingly better than the eleven suitors that have come before you.  It was them that I was angry with.”

“Others?”

Starblink stared at her.

“All of them were looking for a marital alliance, or some other form of political gain.  I for one, have no interest in pursuing such relationships.”

“But …”

Starblink stumbled over his own words.  Now that he had finally confessed his feelings, he felt like the fog had been lifted from his mind, but he was still trying to process the recent turn of events.  He looked into her eyes, confused, and unsure of what to say.

“What now?”

Celestia seemed to ponder the question for a second.

“I believe now would be a good time for you to accept your new position.”

Starblink suddenly remembered the medallion that hung about his neck.  He looked down at it.  The golden emblem sparkled against his white coat.  He looked back to his Princess.

“Yes.”

Then he bowed before her.

“Thank you, for this monumental honor.  I will not fail you.”

Celestia’s smile grew larger.

“Rise, General Starblink, your service is very much appreciated, even if it did take a while to get.”

He rose to his hooves before looking up at her again.

“What now?”

She thought for a moment, before leaning down and whispering in his ear.

“I believe that now would be a good time for us to continue talking about why you were so reluctant to accept my appointment.”

“Yes Princess Celestia.”

<(^)>

General Anderson looked around at the assembled men.  It was hard to discern their features in the dark room.  Were they scared?  Nervous?  Proud?  Perhaps all three emotions were present, and probably more.  The general sat on a crate, located in the corner of a dimly lit and seldom used storage building.

He heard the faint sound of footsteps padding into the building.  His hand dropped to an M4, partially concealed by the crate.  He flicked off the safety, and peered into the darkness.  The footsteps stopped just short of the assembled men.

The general opened his mouth, calling out in the darkness.

“The world is unaccustomed to oddities.”

Another voice cut back.

“That is so, but a cheese cake may walk, but never will it talk, so long as the moon is full.”

A few sighs of relief could be heard around the room.  Anderson returned the M4 to safe.  The footsteps continued forward, and a man materialized out of the dark.  He was clad in the dark sports coat of a politician, though that certainly wasn’t his job.

“Daniel Huston of the secret service, it is nice to finally meet you General Anderson.”

“A pleasure to meet you Dan, I’ll be honest; I was beginning to think that you might not show up.”

The agent smiled.

“Sorry, my boss is a real jerk.”

This drew a round of hushed laughter from the other men.  Anderson returned to his seat, motioning for Daniel to sit across from him.

“I must say, I didn’t really expect that anyone from your agency would be willing to… help out.”

The other man became more serious.

“The secret service is supposed to protect the president, no matter what.  Unfortunately for Mr. Nickelson, he is far out of line.  If it ever comes to the point where I have to choose between protecting the president, and protecting the rest of the world from him, which it has, I pick the rest of the world.”

He took a breath.

“I’m fairly certain that if I had sworn to protect Hitler, or Stalin, before they started murdering by the millions, that I would do all in my power to stop them.  Unfortunately, what Nickelson is currently proposing is almost the same thing…  Even if the victims are from a different species.”

Anderson nodded.

“I very much appreciate your decision.”

He turned so he could better address the rest of the men.

“Though you all know why we are here, I’ll say it anyway.  Gentlemen, we have assembled in the shadows today, because what many thought was impossible has happened.  The United States of America has entered a conflict, and almost unimaginably, we are on the wrong side.”

Anderson’s gaze drifted over the men.

“Thankfully, although we fight, is it not a result of public opinion, or even any legal declaration of war.  We fight as a result of our president overstepping his bounds.  That my friends, gives me hope that a peaceful solution can be reached, and reached quickly.”

Anderson paused for a moment, before continuing on.

“As we speak, the president plans additional action against the innocent population of a foreign country.  Already, we have inflicted much pain upon them.  We can’t allow for the president to continue this rampage, even it means severing ties with this new world.”

Anderson sighed.

“It would be a great loss for research, and advancement, but a great gain for the wellbeing of these poor souls.  Thankfully, a force has already committed themselves to the defense of the innocent, and though their work is hard, and the odds are against them, they have at least bought us time to take care of the real problem.”

The general’s resolve hardened.

“The problem that our president, arguably the most powerful man on Earth, has decided to completely overstep his authority, and violate the very laws and rights that he swore to defend.  Gentlemen, though I wish there were, there is no time for an impeachment, not while thousands die.  We must all resort to rash, and drastic action.”

Anderson stood, and walked to stand in the middle of the room.

“Therefore, though it pains me greatly, we must make every effort to arrest to President of the United States.”

Anderson turned slowly in a circle, looking each man in the eye.

“You must all do everything in your power if we are to succeed.”

He finally stopped turning when his eyes were upon Daniel.

“Agent Daniel, due to your position, you have likely become our most valuable asset in this entire operation.  Is there anything that you can share with us about the president immediately?  We need to make the arrest as soon as possible, preferably within forty eight hours.”

The Secret Service agent thought for a moment.

“I can’t do to terribly much, I am just one guard out of dozens, but...  I can get a couple of you, five or six at the most, close to the president, real close.  Anderson, you’ll be able to get close to him anyway, being a General and all.”

He looked around the room at the close to two dozen shadowy figures.

“Then, you can make the arrest.”

Anderson nodded.

“Thank you son, that’s more than any of us had dared to hope for.”

Anderson turned to the rest of the group.

“Now the big question is going to be, who all is going?”

<(^)>

Alex slowly trotted through the hallways of Canterlot castle, studying the stained glass windows.  He took a long look at the images of ponies planting what he had come to know as the Equestrian flag on a hill, the defeat of two great evils at the hooves of the elements of harmony, and many other sights.  He saw battles and treaties, construction and demolition, alicorns and dragons.  The further he went, the more ancient the windows seemed.

Suddenly, he halted.  The corridor before him was dusty, and looked ill kept.  As if no one had used it in quite some time.  Alex could just make out more windows lining the left wall.  Curiously, he trotted inside.  He looked up at the first of the glass panels.  He stopped, his interest suddenly aroused.  In the background of the panel, a village could be seen, plumes of smoke drifting up from chimneys, ponies walking through the streets, and a small castle, more of a fort really, built up against the side of a nearby mountain.  However, it was the foreground that drew his attention.

In the middle of the window stood two ponies, a white unicorn stallion, and a midnight blue pegasus mare.  The stallion held a rose in his mouth, and was looking directly at the pegasus.  Alex slowly moved onto the next window.  He gasped slightly.  The window showed three great hosts of ponies, one comprised of unicorns, one of pegasi, and one of earth ponies, attacking each other.  Great piles of dead ponies covered the ground.  In the corner, he could see the white unicorn standing in front of the midnight pegasus, shielding her from the attack of several other ponies.

Alex slowly trotted onward, his eyes absorbing the art work.  The next panel was perhaps the most mysterious.  The white unicorn stood in a cavern, six gems levitating in front of him.  His horn glowed, and his eyes were narrowed in concentration.  Peering from behind him, the midnight blue pegasus watched with fascination.  Alex moved on.  The next frame was disappointing.  It showed the Unicorn sitting amidst the shattered remnants of the six gems, tears running from his eyes.  The pegasus sat next to him, nuzzling his neck.  Behind them, outside of the cavern, another battle could be seen.

Alex quickly trotted onwards, eager to see where the story was going.  He froze at the sight of the next window.  As he stared at it, he felt he recognized something.  As if he felt something familiar, yet strange and new at the same time.  In the cavern, the pegasus and unicorn both stared up in shock at the sight of the white Alicorn that had appeared before them.  Her eyes were a deep blue, and looked saddened, while her mane was brown, and unlike Celestia’s and Luna’s, seemed to be made of normal hair.  Alex quickly cantered on, examining the sequence of events.  He saw the Alicorn light her horn, and the gem shards floated up off the ground, and began to spin.  Then his mouth dropped open.  The six shapes that floated in front and in between the Alicorn and the two normal ponies were identical to the cutie marks of Twilight and her friends, and Alex was sure this window had been crafted long before they were born.

He saw the Alicorn smile, and give the elements, for Alex was quite sure that’s what they were, to the two ponies.  Then, in a flash of light, she vanished.  In the next pane, the unicorn and the pegasus strode out into the middle of the battlefield, carrying the elements with them.  Any attack that was made against them failed to make contact, and the weapon or enchantment was vaporized.

The next panes showed the pair directly in the center of the battlefield, where they had become the center of attention.  Then, the entire area was blanketed in multi colored light.  The next pane was much more uplifting.  It showed ponies, pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony alike, all working alongside each other, rebuilding the countryside.  In the center of it all, the white unicorn stood, wearing a fine tunic embedded with a variety of gems, a gold crown upon his head.  Next to him, the midnight blue pegasus stood, a long white dress trailing out behind her body, and a silver circlet upon her head.

Alex knew full well what he looked at as he came to the final window.  It showed the original pair of ponies, seated elegantly upon two thrones, smiling down at the sight before them.  In front of the thrones, two small fillies played.  One was Bright white, like her father, while the smaller one’s coat was identical to that of her mother.  However, unlike their parents, these two ponies were different; they possessed both the wings of the pegasus, and the horns of the unicorns.  Up on the wall behind the thrones, six gems were embedded in the wall.

Alex took a few steps back, and sat down on the cool stone floor, small clouds of dust scattering through the air.

“Wow…”

He said to no one in particular.  In the vast expanse of the empty hallway, the word echoed slightly.  Slowly, Alex rose to his hooves, and began to walk back the way he had come from.  As he turned out into the main passageway once again, he heard the clatter of hooves on the floor.  He turned to see who was coming.

“Twilight?  How are you doing?”

“Alex, I’m sorry, but there’s no time to talk.”

The lavender pony slid up in front of him.

“I’m afraid that we are out of time.  You need to come with me, now.”

Alex turned his head, as outside the castle, he heard the noise of engines starting in the courtyard, and the marching of both boots and hooves upon stairs.  Alex nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Fifteen - Capital Problem

“Raising pressure… sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, we are in the green zone!”

“Final flight checks complete, ready to launch at any time.”

The F/A-18F blasted down the carrier’s deck, steam snaking up from the catapult that propelled it.  The fighter’s tail was engraved with a simple black ace of spades, and its wings were loaded with all kinds of lethal ordinance.  The sleek fighter cleared the end of the deck, and pulled away into the sky.

“Cat 1, hurry up and lower the deflectors, you’ve got more coming!”

The metal plates, designed to redirect the flaming hot jet wash into the air and away from any poor crewman that might be standing behind the aircraft, slid back into the deck.  Almost immediately, another Super Hornet rolled up to the catapult.  Behind it, dozens more aircraft crowded the deck of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, as it sailed just a few miles off the coast of California.  On the other side of the deck, another catapult sent a fighter on its journey.

“Black leader, your squad is all up, you may continue to the operation area, you are cleared to engage all hostile targets.”

“Copy that Reagan, Black squadron is moving out.”

The formation of Super Hornets banked inland, heading towards the Nevada jungle.  More aircraft quickly rose from the deck of the carrier behind them.

<(^)>

Alex flicked his mane out of his face, annoyed with the strong winds that seemed to insist on messing up his hair.  The fact that he was up on top of the battlements of Canterlot probably wasn’t helping the situation much.  His eyesight restored, at least temporarily, Alex returned his focus to the purple unicorn standing in front of him.

“So essentially, our job is just to help distribute any equipment soldiers might need, or to aid any wounded troops.  Now, I’ve prepared this checklist…”

Twilight’s horn glowed softly, and clipboard bearing a piece of paper floated out of a small basket in front of her.  A quill quickly joined the levitating list.

“Now, the first item on the list is bandages, Alex, do you think we have enough of those?”

The grey unicorn looked down at the supply carts in the courtyard, slightly impressed by the virtual mountains of medical supplies.

“Um… yes?”

“Check!”

Twilight happily swiped the quill across the first item on the list.  Alex was slightly amused.  Quill pens and clipboards?  Equestria certainly progressed at an interesting pace.

“All right, now that we have that taken care of, we can work on the next item.  Let’s see, ‘complete all items on the minor weapons check list,’ hmm…”

Twilight’s horn glowed again, and another piece of paper slid out of the basket and joined the first on the clip board.  Twilight smiled.

“Well, we had better get started on this one!”

Alex groaned.  He slowly looked away from Twilight, gazing out over the preparations for the battle.  His eyes slowly settled on the F-15E parked in the side of the courtyard.  He could see the distant figures of James and Jonathan performing flight checks on the Strike Eagle.  Alex sighed.

That’s where I should be…

He was suddenly jerked from his thoughts as a hoof waved in front of his face.

“Um, hello?  Alex?  Quit daydreaming while there’s work to be done!”

Alex forced himself to look away from his old fighter, returning his attention to Twilight.

“Sorry, I guess I just got a little distracted there, where were we?”

Twilight raised the checklist again, studiously looking it over.

“I believe that we have to double check the knives to make sure that they were all stored properly, and then we get to make sure that all the positions have an adequate number of arrows.”

Twilight paused, and looked out across the distant plains.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have very much time to do it in.”

Alex followed her gaze.  A distant cloud of dust was visible.  At the base of it, many small shapes could be seen, getting ever closer.  Alex sighed.  He lacked confidence that he was going to live to see the end of the day.

<(^)>

Swiftwing walked on, his hooves bringing up small clouds of dust as they thudded against the ground.  His green coat was caked with dirt, and several drops of blood still clung to his forelegs.  The blood that was not his own.  He grunted, dismissing that thought from his mind.  He couldn’t think about that.

Swiftwing was nearing the Canterlot city limits.  He had flown most of the way, but for the last few miles, he had been too exhausted.  Hence, he marched.  Swiftwing noticed a small pond next to the road.  He paused, looking down at the filth that covered his body.  Sighing, Swiftwing let his pack drop to the ground.

Slowly, he trotted over to the water, sticking a hoof in to test the temperature.

“Hey!”

Swiftwing jumped forward, shocked at the sudden outburst.  He stretched his hooves out to land, but with one problem:  water isn’t solid.  He flared his wings, but it was too late.  With a huge splash, the pegasus found himself in the middle of the pond.

Irritated, Swiftwing craned his neck around, looking for the source of the noise.  Cautiously, he called out; “Hello?”

He looked around, not seeing anypony in the surrounding area.  He could hear faint laughter.

“Up here.”

The voice sounded closer this time.  Swiftwing inclined his head to look directly above him.  A rainbow maned pegasus hovered over the pond.  Swiftwing dragged himself out of the water, snorting.

“You know, typically ponies get mad when your introduction involves soaking them.”

The other pegasus, still laughing slightly, glided down to stand in front of Swiftwing.

“Hehheh, sorry, heh, um…  let me help you with that.”

Swiftwing raised an eyebrow.

“Um, what do you mean?”

Suddenly, before he could move, he found himself surrounded by a Rainbow colored tornado.

“WWWWWOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Swiftwing felt his hair getting sucked in every direction at once.  Then, as quickly as the cyclone had begun, it halted.  Off balance, Swiftwing stumbled forward, flopping onto his face.

“Ugh…”

He picked himself up, shaking himself off.  He suddenly noticed that his mane looked like a cubic meter of black cotton candy.  He glanced backwards.  His tail gave the same appearance, just slightly larger.

That’s going to be fun to straighten out.

Swiftwing sighed, annoyed with the strange pony.

“There you go!”

The rainbow pegasus beamed.

“My very own rainblow drier!”

Swiftwing ran a hoof through his mane, trying to straighten it out.

“Does it always have this effect on your mane?”

The other pony thought for a moment.

“Interestingly enough, yes, yes it does.  Hey, at least you’re dry, right?”

Swiftwing grunted.

“I suppose… who are you anyway?”

The rainbow pegasus majestically spread her wings, and raised her head high.

“I am Rainbow Dash, only the most awesome pony to ever live.”

Swiftwing stared at the mare, detecting a slight pride issue.

“I see…  I’m Swiftwing.  What were you trying to pull off, scaring the crap out of me back there?”

Rainbow blushed slightly.

“Well…  I didn’t really mean to startle you.  It’s just that I’m supposed to tell you, and anypony that I come across, that you need to get as far away from Canterlot as possible.”

“Really now?”

Swiftwing slowly trotted back to where his pack was lying on the ground.  He brushed off some of the dust, and slid back into it.

“And who told you to do that?”

“Well, you know, not me specifically, but me and a bunch of other pegasi.  We’re all supposed to warn everypony about a battle that’s supposed to happen.  Orders of Princess Celestia.”

Swiftwing finished securing the pack.

"I appreciate the heads up, but I get the feeling that I need to get headed toward Canterlot, not away from it.”

He started to spread his wings, feeling he had the strength to continue flying.

“Woah!  Hold on a second!”

One rainbow streak of light later, Swiftwing suddenly found himself face to face with the other pegasus.

“What gives you the big idea that you should be going towards Canterlot?  Don’t you get that there’s about to be a huge war there?”

Swiftwing rolled his eyes.

“Look, Painbow…”

“Rainbow!”

“Whatever.  Maybe if you weren’t quite as busy showing off, you might have noticed something about me.  Take a good long look.  What do you see?”

Swiftwing sincerely hoped that she didn’t reply, “A ticked stallion with a messed up mane.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flicked over Swiftwing, coming to rest on his pack.  Or more specifically, the emblem on his pack.

“Oh…  Are you in the military?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, thank you for noticing.”

Swiftwing felt his patience with this obnoxious mare running thin.

Rainbow looked at him curiously.

“So… Why didn’t you march back to Canterlot with the rest of the army?”

Swiftwing kicked the ground nervously.

“There were, complications, during the battle.”

Rainbow continued studying him, suddenly noticing a spatter of dried blood on his pack.  Hey pink eyes widened in sudden concern.

“Oh my gosh, are you hurt?  Did you get like, stabbed or something?”

Swiftwing sighed again.

“It’s not my blood… I’m alright.”

Rainbow backed off slightly.

“Oh… Ok.  Umm… Whose blood is it then?”

Swiftwing felt his heart jump inside of him.

I really don’t need to talk about this right now…

“That’s not important!”

Rainbow jumped back, alarmed at the outburst.  Her wings flared slightly, as if preparing to take off.

“Um…  Ok then.  Sorry I asked.”

Swiftwing grunted, desperately trying to clear his mind of the… incident.  Slowly, he let out a long breath, the air hissing between his teeth.  Gritting his teeth, he spread his wings.

“Anyway…  I really think I need to get back now.  Nice to meet you… sort of.”

Swiftwing said the last bit under his breath.  Rainbow nodded, spreading her own wings.

“Um… yeah.  Nice to meet you too.”

The pegasus mare looked like she was about to say more, but Swiftwing shot off, heading skyward.  Swiftwing winged his way towards Canterlot, glad to have Rainbow out of his hair.

<(^)>

“Stalker team here, preparing to engage the enemy.”

“Phoenix team here, ready to engage.”

“Phalanx team, awaiting orders, we are in position.”

Sergeant David Blackburn listened to the wild radio chatter, as dozens of platoons, squadrons, and conveys reported their status.  The chatter paused, and a much more powerful voice sounded through his headset:

“Copy all units, this is Jackpot, you are cleared to commence the operation.  Destroy all hostile targets.”

The image of the cloud city burning flashes through David’s mind.  Gulping, he adjusted the controls of his apache, flying after the other elements of Stalker team.

I can’t do this…

The lights of tracer rounds and rockets slowly began to spring into existence, all across David’s field of view.  Explosions began to rip apart the outer wall of the city.  The return fire from the defenders was weak.  Only a handful of modern weapons defended the city.  The rest of it was up to spears and arrows, a laughable defense against missiles and bullets.

“Stalker one to all Stalker flights, prepare to strafe sector zero one delta, if anything moves, shoot at it.”

The Apache squadron flew towards the designated section of the city.  Missiles and bullets began to rain downwards, immolating anything in their path.  David starting breathing harder, and perspiration dripped down his face.  The cannon on the nose of his Apache started firing as his gunner joined the fray.  David watched as a stream of munitions racked through a street, sending several bodies flying.  His hands hesitated at their controls, as David desperately tried to discern what to do.

“Stalker eight, you’re not maneuvering, is something wrong?”

“Negative Stalker one,” David panted into the microphone, “everything is operating at one hundred percent.”

David’s eyes followed the missiles as they impacted the various structures of the city.  His eyes flicked down towards his main console.  For a moment, David closed his eyes, and offered up a silent prayer.  Then he reached down, and flicked off his I.F.F.  The targeting system automatically began to identify the other Apaches as potential targets.  In the front seat of David’s helicopter, his gunner, Aaron, called back to him.

“Um, hey, Dave, I think that you might of bumped something back there.”

David’s eyes were focused on the airframe of Stalker one, quickly inputting commands to the controls.  Without a sound, his finger pulled the trigger.  The missile exploded off of the Apache, sailing through the air.  Fire and smoke trailed behind it, and air whistled softly through its fins.  The small metal tube burrowed into the tail of the lead Apache, the metal crumpling.  A split second later, an explosion lit the sky, annihilating the attack helicopter.  In the front seat, Aaron whirled around to face him, shouting.

“Have you lost your Mind?!”

Aaron froze suddenly, noting the 9mm berretta handgun that was clutched in David’s grip, pointed directly at the front seat.

“Yeah,” David replied, “I guess I have.”

Another missile shot out of the Apache, destroying another helicopter.

“Stalker eight!  That’s not the enemy!  Cease fire, repeat, cease fire immediately!”

David ignored the transmission, keeping his left hand securely on his sidearm, and his right hand on the control yoke.

Another missile, and another rewarding explosion.  David turned the chopper, lining up for another shot.

“Stalker eight, cease fire, repeat, cease fire!”

The other helicopters had begun to turn and face him.  David squeezed the trigger once more, sending forth another messenger of destruction.

“All units, Stalker eight is hostile, repeat, Stalker eight is hostile, splash Stalker eight.”

The three remaining Apaches had stopped shooting into the city now, focusing their weapons on the rogue helicopter.  David yanked the chopper hard to the left, firing another missile.  The weapon shattered the cockpit of one of the choppers, before detonating.  The two remaining attack copters started firing their 30mm cannons at the fleeing rogue.

The shells zipped past, widely missing at first, but narrowing in.  David dove towards the city, flying at building top level.  Aaron was still staring at him from the front seat.  A rapid beeping filled the cockpit, indicating that one of the other aircraft was locked onto them.  David glanced back, watching the pursuing choppers.  Two missiles arced through the sky, narrowing in on their target.  David watched as both Apaches were hit.  Critically damaged, the choppers spun wildly, colliding in midair.  A short distance overhead, an F-15E zipped past.  The fighter wagged its wings at the last remaining chopper, before banking off into the distance.

Slowly, David turned to face forward again, letting out a sigh of relief.  The relief quickly turned to panic.  Aaron had unclipped his own sidearm, and had it awkwardly pointed around the back of his seat at David.  David tightened his grip on his own gun.

“Turn the chopper around, Dave.”

Aaron was glaring at him.  David’s mind moved at a million miles an hour, desperately thinking.

“What are you gonna do Aaron?  Shoot me?  Then whose gonna fly this thing man?”

“I’ll do it, you traitor.”

David stared at the little 9mm, pointed at his face.

“You know this is wrong Aaron, this isn’t like us, this isn’t what I want to be remembered for.”

“Survival of the fittest buddy,” Aaron tried to twist himself further around, “We need this world, and we’ve got the means to take it.”

“It isn’t freaking right!  Put your freaking gun down!”

“You first.”

Both handguns fired at the same time.

David felt his head nocked back slightly, as the bullet plastered itself on the front of his helmet.  Aaron coughed, and then slumped forward.  Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.  Slowly the gun fell from David’s hand.  He stared at the body in front of him.

“Apache, this is Striker one one, we noticed that you took the liberty of destroying your squadron.  Your help is much appreciated.”

David fumbled with his headset.

“Striker one one, my gunner… is down.  I need to land immediately.”

The request was answered by a different voice.

“Apache, this is baseplate.  Proceed to the main castle courtyard, and land immediately.”

“Roger that, thank you.”

David banked the Apache forward, flying towards the courtyard.  Around the city, the battle still raged.

<(^)>

Alex dove behind the remnants of a brick wall, an explosion bathing the area in heat.  Already cowering behind the wall, Twilight had her hooves clamped firmly over her ears, blotting out the screams of the dying.

“Twilight!”

Alex grabbed one of her hooves, and pulled it off of her ear.

“We’ve gotta freaking move!  This whole area is coming down around us!”

Alex grabbed Twilight, trying to pull her to her hooves.  The lavender unicorn refused to budge.

“It’s so… awful.”

Alex snarled, desperately trying to get her to move.

“It’s a war, people die, and most of the time they don’t deserve to.  Now hurry up before you become one of them!”

Reluctantly, Twilight stood.  Alex nodded, and then shouted.

“Alright, now follow me!”

Alex charged off through the chaotic city, Twilight hot at his heels.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know!”

An explosion rocked the pair of fleeing unicorns.

“Just somewhere that’s away from here!”

Suddenly, a Humvee turned out into the street before them, its mounted gun spraying bullets everywhere.  Twilight shrieked, and Alex cursed.  He frantically began looking around, searching for an escape route, or some other option.  The turret began to swing towards them.

Alex gritted his teeth as a large stone pillar caught his attention.  The roof that it had supported was demolished.  Quickly, the pillar was engulfed in a gray glow.  As the bullets began to impact around him, the pillar tipped, smashing into the Humvee.  Alex wiped the sweat of his forehead, dodging a rolling wheel.

“Well, that’s one problem solved.”

He glanced back to Twilight, who was shaking on the ground next to him.

“I… If…  If you say so.”

Slowly, he leaned down, and helped her back up again.

“Are you ok?”

He peered into her eyes.  Twilight took a few, deep breaths.

“I… I think so.”

“Let’s keep going then.”

The pair ran through the city, dodging the incoming attacks, weaving their way through wreckage, and staying a step ahead of the invaders.  Finally, they arrived at the main castle courtyard.  Alex began to bang on the gate, while Twilight stood behind him.  Suddenly, Alex heard Twilight shriek.  He whipped around, his eyes narrowed.  A platoon of soldiers was running down the street, their rifles leveled at the ponies.  The lead soldier took aim at Twilight.

“No!”

Alex jumped as the soldier squeezed his trigger, sending forth the deadly rounds.  He landed on top of Twilight, pushing her to the ground.  He felt several small objects rip through his tail, and Twilight whimpered beneath him.  Frustrated, Alex turned to face the attackers.  Suddenly, he didn’t care what was happening.  He didn’t care what he had become, or who he was fighting.  He just knew that, more than anything, he wanted to go away.

His horn began to glow.

“Alex…”

The soldiers ran closer, firing their weapons.

“Alex!”

The light from his horn became blinding, and then, suddenly, both unicorns disappeared.

<(^)>

“What happened?”

Alex sputtered, climbing to his hooves.  He was standing in the main throne room of Canterlot, now deserted, with Twilight lying right next to him.

“You teleported us!”

Twilight stared at him, slightly amazed.

“Nopony is supposed to be able to pull off a spell like that without years of practice!”

“Well… I didn’t mean to.  I just wanted to… leave.”

“Still… It doesn’t make much sense…  Oh.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide.

“Now it does.”

“What?”

Alex looked at her, confused.  Slowly, he followed her gaze, until his eyes came to rest upon his flank.

“Oh…”

“Congratulations Alex!”

Twilight started smiling, despite the dirt and grime that sprinkled her coat.  Alex, despite the darkness of the rest of the day, began to smile too.

“Well… that was… unexpected.”

On Alex’s flank, a marking had appeared.  A small dagger sheathed in a scroll, with the six pointed star of magic in the background.  Twilight laughed, halfheartedly.

“Well… even if we get killed later on, at least that’s one less question that we’ll leave unanswered.”

“Somehow… I don’t really find that comforting.”

Alex chuckled a little though.  Then, he stopped admiring the mark, and returned his gaze to Twilight.  Outside, the sounds of battle continued, furious as ever.

“Let’s get up to the command room, and see what’s going on.”

Twilight stood, her smile quickly fading.

“Hopefully the command room is still there.”

Alex started trotting off through the castle.

“Only one way to find out!”

Twilight quickly followed after him.

<(^)>

Swiftwing landed on the castle wall, ducking down next to a friendly human soldier and a unicorn.

“What’s the situation?”

The soldier slammed a fresh clip into the breach of his rifle, and turned to face Swiftwing.

“What, you just get here or something?”

Swiftwing rolled his eyes.

“As a matter of fact…”

The soldier sighed, and then began to speak.

"Well, allow me to explain; we’re screwed.  If that doesn’t sum it up for you, then try this on for size:  We’re not outnumbered, but were outgunned.  For ever gun we’ve got, they have ten pointed back at us.  Not mentioning the fact that they have a superior number of tanks, planes, Humvees… pretty much anything that shoots or moves, they have more of it than we do.  Does that help?”

“Sort of, though I was hoping that you could give me a more optimistic outline.”

The soldier snorted, firing a few rounds over the wall.

“You want optimism?  Go watch some stupid little girl’s show.”

Swiftwing nodded, and then jumped off the wall, gliding down to the courtyard below.  Gathered around the gate, platoons of ponies and humans waited, watching as the metal giant shook with explosions.  It couldn’t hold very much longer.  Even as he watched, an explosion shook the gate, throwing it to the ground.  The closest ponies and men were crushed.

The enemy poured in, firing as they came.  Swiftwing charged forward, pulling on his hoofdaggers as he went.  He dove into the middle of the melee, his mind racing.  A soldier wheeled to face him, raising his rifle.  Swiftwing sank the dagger into his chest, watching the blood splatter.  He grimaced, ignoring his thoughts, fighting for his life, for his country.  Blood splattered his body, covering him, transforming him into a creature of death.  The screams of his enemies filled his ears.  He threw himself at the enemy, but still, they pushed them back, the ponies being overrun by the superior weapons.  Swiftwing felt himself pulled inside a door, and then it was slammed shut before him.

He glanced around.  An earth pony with a mace stared at him, shocked.

“What were you thinking?  We’re you trying to get yourself killed?”

Swiftwing ignored the pony, blood dripping from his mane.  He peeked through a slot in the wall, were humans could be seen, securing explosives to doors, preparing to breech in.  In the center of the courtyard, several vehicles were idling.

“Any units!  This is Oscar team!”

The frantic voice came from behind him.  Swiftwing turned, to see a small group of humans huddled around a radio.

“We are pinned down in the central courtyard!  We are way outgunned!  We need immediate assistance!”

The depressing sound of static was the only reply.  A human, weary from combat, resolutely pulled a grenade from his pack, preparing to use it.  Suddenly, the radio hissed.  All heads in the room turned to face it.

“Oscar, this is black leader of the United States Navy, we are bearing in hot on your location.  Standby for airstrike.”

The troops around the radio looked bewildered by the strange transmission.  As far as they knew, the only aircraft in the area were hostiles.  Swiftwing, his curiosity aroused, returned to the slot in the wall.  The humans were putting the finishing touches on their explosives, when slowly, the sound of engines began to fill the air.

“Black leader to all units, targets are marked and cleared, commence run.”

Swiftwing stared upward, as a flight of Super Hornet fighters zipped over the capitol.  Missiles rocketed from their wings, soaring down towards the forces in the courtyard.  The tanks and other vehicles in the center of the courtyard were the first to go.  The explosions of the air to ground missiles shook the courtyard, sending shrapnel and debris flying.  The soldiers not hit by the attack quickly turned tail and fled.  Swiftwing eased open the door, and stared into the sky.  Overhead, he could see more and more planes filling the air.  Some of them tangled with each other in combat, while most swooped down, making passes on the forces filling the city.

“Yellow leader, this is black three, good effect on target, coming around for another pass.”

“Splash one!  That’s a confirmed kill for Mobius squadron…”

“Bandits are dropping like flies!  Keep up the good work!”

Swiftwing turned back, listening to the radio.  All around, cheers could be heard as gray naval fighters swooped in, and helicopters dropped teams of marines and SEALs.  Swiftwing stopped suddenly, looking down at the blood on his hooves, and splattered across his coat, and then, he remembered.  Unable to think, Swiftwing collapsed to the ground, the faces of a dozen fallen foes haunting him.

“Oh God…”

Swiftwing felt tears began to fall from his eyes.  He heard a voice call from behind him;

“Wait… what the… I need a medic over here, quick!”

As the sound of hooves beating on the ground quickly grew closer to him, Swiftwing slipped from consciousness.

<(^)>

“You failed.”

The words were icy, their speaker even more so.  President Nickelson flung out his arms, dramatically throwing the mounds of paperwork off his desk.

“You failed, general Zumwald.”

The general sat across from the president, staring at his shoes.

“With all due respect sir…  The intervention of other forces was unexpected.  Had we known…”

“That’s just it; you didn’t know.”

The president stood.

“Intel is everything you fool!  You can have all the guns in the world, and it won’t matter, as long as you don’t know where the enemy is.  In this case, they were in our own freaking military!”

The president sighed.  The sounds of helicopters could be heard, flying overhead, bringing retreating forces.  He sat back down.

“We will continue to discuss this at a later date.  For now…”

The president passed the general a thumb drive.

“Prepare the strike packages, and then wait for my signal.”

The general nodded, picking up the drive.  He stood, and began to walk out of the room.

“And general.”

The general turned to face to president once more.

“No survivors.”

“Yes sir.”

The general strode out of the office.  The president picked up a stack of papers, trying to reorganize them.  Suddenly, his pager blinked.

“What is it?”

Nickelson made his irritation obvious.

“General Anderson would like to see you sir, he says it’s important.”

“Very well.”

The president leaned back.

“Send him in.”

<(^)>

Sergeant Alfred Waterfield slammed a clip into the MP5 submachine gun, huddled with several other men in the back of a dimly lit van.  Around him, the others made similar preparations.  The sergeant gritted his teeth.  They had their work cut out for them.

The van stopped moving, and the man in the back swung the rear doors open.

“Hello beautiful.”

Just a few feet away, was the open cargo bay of Air Force One.

Sixteen - Un-presidented

The clanking of boots on metal filled the air as the hopeful rebels strode into Air Force One.  General Anderson walked at the front of the formation of seven, in full dress uniform.  Unlike the other men, who all possessed some form of assault weapon, he carried only a Berretta 9mm hand gun, holstered at his side.

As the men entered the presidential aircraft, a secret service agent jogged out of the darkness to meet them.  He waved his hands at the men, motioning for them to stop.

“General Anderson, we have been expecting you, if you could please come with me, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Anderson nodded, and the agent turned and began to walk back into the plane’s depths.  Anderson and the rest of the men followed.  The agent, hearing the large amount of footsteps, halted and turned to face them.  He eyed the men suspiciously.

“Only General Anderson needs to see the president, the rest of you must remain here.”

“It’s alright Harold, their good.”

The voice came from behind the first agent.  A man was quickly walking towards the group.  The agent turned towards the newcomer.

“Dan?  What are you doing here…”

He was cut short as the man punched him in the head, his arm moving faster than most would think possible.  The agent slumped to the floor, unconscious.

“Daniel, it’s good to see you my friend.”

Anderson smiled at Dan, and helped him drag the unconsciousness agent behind some crates.

“Glad to see that no one chickened out.”

Dan wiped his hands on his pants.  Then he took up the position that the first agent had been at.

“Go on, and be quick about it.  You can get through fine from here.”

Anderson motioned the group forward, and then turned one last time to Dan.

“You have our thanks son, your commitment will never be forgotten.”

Dan smiled, as if amused.

“I don’t need your thanks general.  All I need is your success.”

With that, Dan threw the general a quick salute, and then stood at guard.  Anderson jogged to catch up with his men.  As he moved, a shadow of doubt crossed his mind.

Was it really right to arrest the president?

Anderson hardened his resolve.

The position doesn’t matter.  If it’s wrong for one person to murder, then it’s wrong for everyone.

Still, as they ascended to the main level of the plane, Anderson had to wonder.

Would the Anderson that joined the military thirty one years ago have done this?

<(^)>

Thirty one years earlier.

“Welcome to boot camp soldiers, how are ya’ll doing?”

The drill sergeant smiled at the new cadets, though his eyes seemed icy.  A much younger Anderson eyed the sergeant with slight discomfort.

Weren’t these guys supposed to be mean or something?

The eighteen year old future general stood at attention, in a line of other young men.  The drill sergeant was slowly walking down the line if troops.  Anderson grimaced as one of the men decided it would be a good idea to reply.

“Uh… good sir, how are you?”

The sergeant whirled around, facing the outspoken cadet.

“Frikking horrable!  You want to know why?”

The cadet, slightly taken back, was slow to answer.

“Um, why… sir?”

The Sergeant grabbed the cadet by his shoulders.

“Because one of my new recruits, some sorry excuse for a human being, decided that it would be a good idea to answer my rhetorical question!”

The sergeant leaned in close to the poor man.

“Now who do you think that is?”

The man gulped.

“Um… me, sir?”

The sergeant pushed the cadet back, causing him to fall on his rear.

“Yes you, you moron!”

The sergeant stormed off to a small platform in front of the line of men, cursing at their obvious stupidity the whole way.

Anderson swallowed, afraid of the punishment that might be directed at the whole group.  The sergeant stomped up the wooden stairs, his footfalls resounding through the whole area.  The victim of the sergeant’s rage quickly picked himself up off the ground, brushing himself off.

The sergeant slowly shook his head, then pointed at the subject of his attack.

“You there, what’s your name?”

The cadet looked nervous.

“Um…  Will sir.

“Well, Mr. Will sir, would you like me to answer my rhetorical question?”

The sergeant tapped his foot impatiently.  The cadet shut his mouth, refusing to answer.  The sergeant sighed, and then kneeled down so as to be level with the men.

“That wasn’t a rhetorical question, Mr. Will sir.”

“Um… yes then?”

The sergeant leaped to his feet.

“Good!  Because it’s about time that I answered it, and according to my watch, this part of day one has taken two minutes longer than it should have.”

The sergeant took a deep breath.

“The answer is, you’re all doing frikking horrible!  You know why?  Because the next several weeks are going to be the hardest, most painful, insane, and terrible weeks you will ever experience.”

The sergeant crossed his arms.

“The reason is, I am somehow supposed to take the lot of you civies, and turn you into soldiers, and I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, because you’re the lousiest bunch of losers to date!”

The sergeant paused, and shook his head.

“Let’s start with all of you doing twenty push ups…”

As Anderson dropped to the ground to perform the exercises, he couldn’t help but wonder:  When were they going to get to fly?

Three years later.

“Altitude is twenty thousand feet, leveling out now…”

Anderson eased forward on his controls, pushing the training jet out of the climb.  The little jet held two passengers; Anderson, and his flight instructor.  Anderson flew the plane from the front seat, while his instructor, call sign Spectre, sat in the back.  Anderson himself had been given the call sign Valk.  Spectre’s voice came from the back seat, transmitted through Anderson’s helmet.

“Nicely done Valk, try and slow her down a bit now.”

Anderson reached forward, grabbing the throttle.  He smoothly slid it backwards, reducing engine power.  The jet’s speed dropped down to two hundred miles an hour.

“Alright, good, now I just want you to relax for a minute here.  You sure you’re ready to do this?”

Anderson smiled, though no one would have been able to tell through the helmet.

“Affirmative, sir.”

“Alright then, I’m going to signal the tower, you get in touch with the tanker.”

Anderson pressed a button on his radio controls, and then spoke;

“Longreach, this is Valk, I’d like to request clearance for an airborne refueling.”

There was a hiss of static, and then the distant tanker plane replied.

“Copy that Valk, we’re ready for you.  Establish a trail on our aircraft, and we’ll guide you from there.”

Anderson accelerated, bringing his plane closer to the tanker.  He carefully adjusted the throttle, maintaining the same speed as the larger aircraft.

“Longreach, I am ready to commence aerial refueling.”

“Copy that Valk,” Anderson could see the refueling boom begin to descend, “move up, you’re going to slow.”

Anderson was starting to sweat, it was the first time he had ever attempted an aerial refueling.  He barely nudged the throttle forward, increasing the speed of his jet by just a few miles per hour.  Behind him, Spectre leaned forward.

“You’re doing fine Valk, just keep it together here.”

“Thanks Spectre.”

Anderson’s knuckles were white as he gripped the controls.  The tanker broke back into the conversation.

“Alright, that’s great Valk, just push a little to the right now.”

Anderson tugged the stick… a little too hard.  The training jet shot to the right, passing the wingtip of the tanker.

“Ugh, dang it!”

Anderson pulled the stick back to the left, but over corrected, flying past the other side of the larger aircraft.

“Valk!  Just be a little gentler with the stick, and try again.”

Anderson felt Spectre’s hand on his shoulder.

“Screw this Spectre.”

Anderson reached to bank the plane back towards the base.

“We’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Hold it right there boy.”

Spectre’s voice sounded in his helmet once more.

“I’m not going to give you some crap about being able to do anything, but I’ll tell you right now, as long as you don’t freaking give up, you can do this.”

Anderson chanced a glance back, looking at Spectre’s eyes, staring through his helmet visor.

“How are you ever planning on seeing combat if you won’t even put gas in your stupid plane?”

Anderson turned back to the controls, and carefully eased the plane back behind the tanker.  The tanker operator sounded a little frustrated.

“You ready this time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, increase speed to four hundred knots.”

Anderson accelerated, flying towards the tanker.  The other plane was flying a mere fifty feet away.

“A touch to the right Valk.”

Anderson barely tapped the controls, bringing the plane a few feet right.

“Pull up about ten feet…”

Anderson gently tugged back on the stick.

There was a short, loud rumble as the boom connected with the plane.

“Nicely done Valk.”

Anderson let out a sigh of relief, but made sure to maintain his aircraft’s position.  Within a minute, the jet had all the fuel it needed.

“Alright Valk, refueling is complete, continue with your flight objectives.”

The training jet slowly banked away from the tanker.

Five years later.

“We’re not supposed to be here Valk…”

Anderson’s RIO, lieutenant Quentin, muttered nervously from the back seat of the F-15E.  On the inside, Anderson was just as nervous as his RIO, though he didn’t show it.

“We’ve got orders Quill,” Anderson used Quentin’s call sign, “this is exactly where we’re supposed to be, just not according to international law.”

The F-15 progressed over the North Korean coast, accompanied by three other Strike Eagles.  Quentin found himself speaking up once more;

“Where are these planes that we’re supposed to meet with?”

“Forty miles out, and closing fast.”

Anderson eyed the approaching dots, awaiting their arrival.  Very quickly, the jets came close enough to see.  It was a formation of eight A-10 attackers.  Anderson smiled, this was easier than he’d expected.

“Skyeye, we have eyes on the attack formation, preparing to escort, over.”

The F-15s swooped down towards the A-10s, preparing to escort the aircraft back to the southern part of the Korean peninsula.

“They still don’t know we’re here, right?”

“By now, they’ve got to.  On the bright side, even if they do know, the rest of the world will never find out.”

Anderson tried to laugh as he said this, but couldn’t.  Suddenly, the AWACs starting transmitting.

“Attention Shadow team, you have numerous unidentified bogey aircraft, closing in on your location.”

Anderson’s face quickly drained of color.

“What’s that AWACs?”

“Twelve, no, make that twenty plus hostiles, closing in on your location, speed is approximately seven hundred knots, altitude is twenty three thousand feet.”

“Dang it!  What’s the ETA on those…  S…”

The mangled transmission was cut off as one of the A-10s exploded.

“All units, break!  Enemy aircraft penetrating the formation!  Take evasive action, all targets are cleared, destroy any

hostiles!”

The lead F-15 swerved, kicking on its afterburners.  Anderson banked his fighter the opposite direction as a loud beeping sound filled his cockpit.  Quentin cursed in the back seat.

“Dang it!  How did they sneak up on us so fast?”

“Well,” Anderson grunted as he dodged an oncoming Mig-29, “We are sort of in the middle of their country!”

“Whose freaking idea was this anyway?  And what were these A-10s doing here in the first place?”

Quentin shouted as he entered various commands into the Strike Eagle.  Anderson averted his gaze as one of the other Strike Eagles was engulfed in a fire ball.

“I don’t know, we’re just freaking following orders!  I don’t call the shots around this place!”

Anderson dropped in behind one of the older Mig-21s, firing a missile at the North Korean fighter.  The enemy plane exploded in a burst of shrapnel and fire.  Anderson slammed the throttle all the way forward, and popped out several flares.  He was now being followed by a duo of enemy planes.

“Screw this!  Shadow team, bug out, everyone, head feet wet!”

Anderson waited for several seconds, as the only sound on the radio was the soft crackle of static.

“Buddy,” Quentin called from the back seat, “You’re not gonna like this…”

A sense of dread crept over Anderson.

“Don’t freaking tell me…”

Anderson dared to look back, noting the more than a dozen smoking columns in the sky, and more importantly, the horde of Migs that seemed to be following him.

“AWACs, this is shadow three, we are heading feet wet towards the yellow sea, I’ve got a crap load of bandits on my tail, and my squad is down, I need immediate support!”

“Sorry shadow three, this is Skyeye, we are unable to provide any support at this time, RTB as soon as possible.”

“Dang it Skyeye!”

Anderson swore as a stray bullet hit the Strike Eagles right wing.  The Eagle shot out over the beach, its afterburners blazing a trail through the sky, a dozen Migs close at its heels.

“You have got to be kidding me…”

A missile cut through the air, flying towards the jet.  Anderson tried to drop flares, but discovered he had already dumped all of them.  The missile flew within a few feet of the jet, then it detonated.

“Engine fire right.”

The ever calm female computer voice sounded in the cockpit.

“Bail out.”

“AWACs!  This is Shadow three!  We’re going down!  We’re fifty miles north of the border, three miles out to sea!”

“Bail out.”

Anderson reached up above his head.

“Bail out.”

His hands tightened around the loops.

“Bail out.”

The canopy exploded outward with a shower of sparks, throwing itself off of the flaming Strike Eagle.  A second later, two ejector seats punched out of the jet.  Anderson looked down at the F-15, still moving forward.  It continued on for about a thousand yards, before it was immolated in a massive explosion.  Anderson shouted as a Mig-29 ripped past him, missing

by less than one hundred feet.  He was rocked by the shock waves.

The two airmen plummeted down towards the ocean, its glistening waves reaching up to meet them.  Just a few thousand feet above the water, the chutes opened.  Anderson was jerked as the air caught the chute, immediately slowing his descent.  Just a few moments later, he splashed into the ocean.

Anderson kicked, keeping his head above water.  The water stunned him, the waves tossing the airmen around.  He gasped for air, feeling almost helpless.  As his vest inflated, he let out a sigh of relief, then regretted it as he spit salt water out of his mouth.  As soon as he could, he slid himself out of his chute, to avoid being dragged across the ocean by the wind.

About two hundred feet away, Anderson saw Quentin glide into the water.  Hastily, he kicked towards him.  After several minutes, he had worked his way up to his RIO, who was struggling to breathe with a parachute cord around his neck.  Anderson swung his knife out, and cut through the twisted line.  Quentin gasped, sucking in the sweet air.  He looked over at Anderson.

“Thanks.”

High above them, the last of the enemy fighters were clearing out of the airspace.  Anderson sighed, and then returned his knife to his belt.  Quentin untangled himself from the last lines of his parachute, before turning to his pilot.

“So… what do we do now?”

Anderson looked at the distant coastline, almost four miles away.

“I think that our best bet… is to wait for rescue.  I did manage to make a distress call before we ditched.”

The two bobbed in the water, held afloat by their respective flotation devices.  Quentin looked skeptical.

“No offense, but judging by the nature of the operation we were just a part of…  I’m not sure if rescue is going to happen.”

Anderson grunted, and then looked back to the coast.  Sighing, he nodded.

“Alright, I guess we’d better get going then…”

Slowly, the two men began the long swim back to land.

<(^)>

PRESENT

“Mr. President, the strike package is prepared, we are ready to fire at any time.”

“Good…  Wait just a few moments…  I’ll wait and see if General Anderson has any bright ideas, before we spend a crap load of money.  I’ll call you and let you know whether to fire or not.”

The aid nodded, and then walked out of the room.  Nickelson heard footsteps approaching, stopping outside the door of the conference room.  There was a loud nocking.

“Mr. President, it’s General Anderson, may I come in?”

Nickelson closed a folder that he had been looking through, sliding it off to the side.

“Well of course General, it’s about time you showed up.”

The two secret service agents in the room turned their gaze to the door as it swung open.  The seven men strode through, weapons across their chests.

General Anderson stood at the front of the group.

“Mr. President, you are under arrest.”

<(^)>

Princess Celestia stood on a cloud overlooking Canterlot.  A guard stood on either side of her, constantly vigilant against any threats to their ruler.  The princess had closed her eyes for a moment, a visibly pained expression on her face.  Slowly, she opened them once more.

The city was a charred crisp of its former beauty.  Though a few sections had escaped the combat relatively unscathed, the greater majority was scarred.  Great piles of rubble lay where once elegant buildings had stood.  Piles of ash were all that remained of what were once pony’s homes.  Even the structures that still stood bore bullet holes and blast marks, making their survival bittersweet.  Amongst all this unfortunate, but repairable, devastation, a much more harrowing sight awaited.  Blood stained the streets, and temporary morgues had been constructed to deal with the increased influx of the dead.  That was never fixable.

The princess averted her gaze as a mangled body was dragged out from under a nearby ruin.  She overlooked the city, looking at the remnants of a construction project that was a decade older than she was.  It was hardly recognizable now.  The progress that she had seen made for the last three thousand years was all but gone, erased in the span of a few hours.  She felt her heart lurch within her.

Slowly, she managed to look past her grief, and turned to the real reason she had come up here.  The humans were retreating.  She managed a small smile to commemorate that victory.  The last of them had left a few hours ago, with the friendly humans right on their heels.  She was still unsure of what to think of the species.  They seemed such a mixed bunch, with some willing to immediately abandon their comrades to fight for a bunch of strangers, while the rest blindly followed orders to initiate their doom.  They were a strange lot.

Her own army was mostly tied up working in the city, but she had chosen a group of four hundred pegasi to fly to Mount Ragnon, the carrying with them the elements of harmony, and more importantly, their bearers.  She herself was to fly at their head, while Luna remained in the city to supervise the rescue and firefighting operations.

She looked at the group gathering just outside the city, a small number of flight capable chariots in their midst.  She hoped that they would be ready soon.  The quicker they could close this loophole in the fabric of the universe, the better.  Then things could go back to making sense.

She spread her wings, leaping nimbly off the cloud.  The air caught her feathers, and she glided smoothly down to earth.  Her guards, dismayed by her unannounced departure, hastened after her.  She alighted next to a group of officers, the selected commanders for the force.  Most of them were flying off, heading to their respective squads, but one pony waited for her.

She smiled at the last of the officers, nodding in acknowledgement.

“General Starblink.”

Starblink closed his eyes, and bowed to his ruler.

“Princess Celestia.”

“Stand.”

She commanded.  He quickly stood at attention.

“You may be at ease, general.”

Starblink relaxed slightly, and attentively listened for the Princess’s next words.

“When can the company depart, General Starblink?”

The general motioned at the large group of soldiers, milling about a hundred yards away.

“Well, we can leave right about now, actually.  We just need for all those officers you just saw to get back to their respective commands, and then the only other thing we were waiting on was you… and you seem to have arrived.”

“That is very observant, general.”

The Princess turned, looking out over the broad formation, which was quickly beginning to settle down.

“I want to depart as soon as possible.  We need to seal ourselves off from the human world.  As much as I would like to establish good relations with them, at the moment, the risks far outweigh the benefits.  I would like to have that portal shattered in three hours time.”

The General nodded,“these boys are good fliers.  We’ll get the bearers there as soon as possible.”

Celestia searched the crowd until she found the three chariots that would carry the non pegasi bearers and a handful of other flightless ponies.  She could make out Twilight standing on one of the chariots, making sure that the chest that held the elements of harmony was secure.  Celestia smiled as Twilight finished up, and produced a checklist.  Being organized always helped the lavender unicorn. Celestia turned back to the general.  Starblink stared at her, ready to carry out any command that she might give.  It amused her to think that his level of devotion stretched much further than simple respect and obedience.

“Rally the troops, general.  We leave immediately.”

<(^)>

“I find your lack of loyalty, disturbing.”

The president glared at the men who stood across the conference table from him.  Anderson’s hand rested calmly on his side arm.

“Surrender now, Mr. President.  Your time is at an end.”

It unnerved Anderson how calm the president seemed in the face of danger.

“No, no I believe that it is your time that is at an end.”

The two secret service agents swung towards the men, their weapons materializing in their hands.  They dropped to the

ground, firing off a flurry of pistol rounds.  The would-be heroes jumped in crazy directions, spraying their fully automatic guns at the two agents.  Anderson gasped for air as two rounds impacted his bullet proof vest, knocking the wind out of him.

“Don’t hit the president,” Anderson wheezed, “We need him alive!”

Through the flurry of bullets, Anderson saw Nickelson make a dive out the door.  Anderson’s heart sank as their prey ran away.  He popped his berretta up, firing three rounds in rapid succession.

“Don’t let him escape!”

The room fell silent as the agents were both neutralized.  Anderson quickly surveyed his team as they sprinted across the conference room, heading after the president.  Three of the men had light wounds, but their armor had taken most of the damage.  One man had a bullet in his thigh, but he motioned for the group to continue, and steadily limped after them, a trickle of blood running down his leg.

“Keep moving,” the soldier said through gritted teeth, “The president is more important than I am!”

They made their way into the next room, just as a group of agents rushed in, responding to the threat.  The first two were quickly mowed down, but the third popped out with a Remington 870 shotgun.

“Look out!”

Anderson dived to the floor, firing the whole way, but the steadfast man still squeezed the trigger.  A massive boom filled the aircraft, and one of Anderson’s men fell to the floor, a hole punched through his vest by the shotgun slug.  Anderson aimed the berretta at the man’s chest, and squeezed the trigger twice.  The agent fell to the ground, clutching his chest.  The rest of the squad quickly finished him off.  Anderson slid the clip out of his hand gun, and slammed a new one into the breach.  He walked forward, holstering the weapon, before picking up the shotgun from the fallen agent.

He chambered a new round, and continued forward.  His men followed behind him, leaving their fallen comrade.  There could be no time to lose.  Anderson sprinted through the upcoming hallway, just in time to see Nickelson disappear out the other side, and an agent step in, a P90 leveled at him.  Anderson squeezed the shotgun’s trigger, the gun recoiling in his hands.  The agent was thrown the ground.  Anderson quickly led the group up a flight of stairs, and into the next room on the plane.

A half dozen secret service filled the room.  Anderson ducked behind a computer terminal, firing a shot at the men.  Continuous gun fire filled the small room, Anderson peeking out and firing the shotgun, his men firing their submachine guns, and the secret service firing a mix of handguns, submachine guns, and shotguns.  Anderson fired a shot, taking out an agent sporting an Uzi.  He pulled the trigger again.  Click.   Anderson snarled, and flung the now empty gun at one of the remaining agents.  The surprised man ducked, and when he popped back to his feet, Anderson placed three nine millimeter rounds in his face.

The gun battle raged for another twenty seconds or so, before finally letting up.  Anderson charged with his now two remaining men, knowing that only one room remained beyond this one.  The lead soldier swung the door open, and was mowed down by a spray of gunfire.  Anderson popped two rounds into the agent responsible, before barreling in.  Another bunch of security personal awaited them.  Anderson screamed, his adrenaline spiking.  He fired another shot into a different man, before his gun was knocked away.  The last remaining soldier sprayed his weapon, taking out two agents, before a shot gun shell took his head off.  Anderson was dragged to the middle of the room, surrounded by the last three agents.

The president was huddled in the corner, quickly speaking something into a radio.

“Alpha, tango, tango, Charlie, niner, niner, bravo.  Yes, you are clear, wait for my signal.”

The president placed the radio on a desk, and turned to the defeated general.  Anderson’s excitement had turned to shame.  His defeat had finally come about.

“Mr. Anderson, you disappoint me.  I had very high hopes for you.  I really had placed more trust in you than this.  I mean, I reward you with the command of this base, and this is the kind of thanks that I get?”

The president shook his head.

“It’s terribly disrespectful, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Anderson gritted his teeth, and spat at the president.

“You’ll never get away with this you rotten son of a…”

One of the agents kicked Anderson across the face.

“Oh, such language!”

The president shook his finger at the general.

“Really, you should know better.  And honestly, I think I will get away with this.  Why, I think I still have to thank you, I mean, you have just provided the perfect cover story yourself.  I can just see tomorrow’s headlines:  Commander of Nellis Air Force base tries to assassinate president and overthrow country, huge battle in Nevada desert as a result.”

The president laughed cruelly.

“The media will love it!  It’s the most exciting news in years.”

The President adjusted his tie, “I could hardly have thought of a better plan myself.”

“Well, as we all know, your plans suck.”

The president, and the secret service agents all swung to face the new voice.

The MP5 gripped in the newcomer’s hands spewed bullets, tearing up the secret service agents, and wounding the president’s shoulder.  Anderson stared at the man standing in the door way.  He was one of the men from Anderson’s original team, and seemed unharmed.  Anderson lowered his gaze slightly.  The man was balancing on one leg, his other leg bleeding from a bullet wound.  He forced a smile.

“Who would have thought?  I guess limping actually pays off.”

Anderson grinned as his situation suddenly reversed.  He reached over, grabbing a new handgun from one of the fallen agents.  He stood, and turned to face the president.

“Mr. President, this time, you really are under arrest.”

The president glared at him, painfully gripping his shoulder.

“This isn’t over.”

He suddenly rolled over, and reached out, grabbing the radio he had previously been speaking into.

“Launch!”

He then proceeded to slam the device into the floor, shattering it.  Anderson’s heart started to beat faster.

“Screw you Nickelson…”

The president offered an evil chuckle.

“Yes…  Screw me.”

Then his eyes locked onto Anderson’s.

“And you too.”

<(^)>

The smoke pouring from the silo increased tenfold, and a deafening roar filled the area.  All the birds within a half mile took flight, looking for a safer roost, while the smaller foliage around the site was knocked flat by the artificial wind.  A huge metal tube slid out of the ground, quickly gaining altitude.  The intercontinental ballistic missile was en route to its target, though it would cross much more than just continents.

TIME TO IMPACT: 30 MINUTES.

Seventeen - Impact

TIME TO IMPACT: 28 MINUTES.

The chariot alighted on the side of mount Ragnon, its wheels clanking as they hit the cold stone.  Alex leaped from the chariot, falling to the ground, taking a few deep breaths.  Twilight walked up behind him, amused.

“I thought that you were experienced with flying?”

Alex steadied himself, and then slowly stood up, facing the lavender pony.

“I am… it’s just that when I fly, I’m strapped into a harness in a secure enclosed metal and glass cockpit.  Not free standing on a chariot, five thousand feet above the ground.”

Twilight chuckled.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Alex just slowly shook his head.

“Maybe.”

He was going to continue, when suddenly a pink ball of energy hopped from the chariot.

“WWHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEE!!!  That was fun, can we do it again, can we huh huh huh?”

Pinkie pie zipped up to Twilight, balancing on her front hooves.

“PLEASE!!!”

Twilight shook her head.

“Sorry Pinkie, but we have some work to do first.  We get to ride the chariots back thou…”

“AAAWWW  YESSS!!!”

Pinkie pumped a fore hoof victoriously in the air, which was quite an accomplishment, as it left her balancing on one hoof.

She shot off, apparently going to inform the rest of her friends of the awesome news.

Alex leaned in closer to Twilight, whispering.

“Is she always…”

Twilight nodded.

“And trust me, you really don’t want to see her when she ISN’T that way.”

Alex slowly shook his head.

“Ok then…”

Princess Celestia quickly alighted next to the two unicorns.

“Is everything in order here Twilight?”

“It sure is, Princess.”

Twilight beamed at her mentor.

“It looks like…”

She produced a checklist from her saddlebags.

“We’ve completed everything on here except for the last item…  Destroy the portal.”

Alex gulped.

The two ponies looked at him.

“What?”

Alex sighed.

“Well…  I guess this is the part where I have to decide something important…”

Celestia slowly nodded, while Twilight continued to stare at Alex, puzzled.

“Um, pardon me but… what decision?”

Alex managed a small smile.

“Well… here we are, probably just a few minutes from sealing off my world from yours…  and you have yet to find a way to change me back.”

Twilight continued staring at him, and so Alex continued.

“So… the question that I’m forced to ask myself is… do I go back home, and stay like…”

He motioned to himself.

“-This, forever, in the human world, or do I stay here, and start over… but actually fit in… sort of.”

Twilight sat down slowly.

“I… I hadn’t thought about that.”

Princess Celestia merely smiled.

“I don’t think that you had time to think about that, Twilight, what with all the other things that have been going on lately.”

She then took a step forward, addressing Alex.

“I understand that this is an incredibly difficult decision for you.  I sincerely wish that we had more time to work through the situation.  However, you know full well the… difficulties that we have.  Alex, I know that you probably desire to return home, but if you do choose to stay, then I will personally ensure that you are always taken care of.”

Alex merely sighed again, though Celestia's words comforted him.

“Thank you Princess.”

It looked like the light gray unicorn was about to continue, when a Humvee pulled up next to the group.  A very tired looking soldier got out of the driver’s seat, while the rest of the men stayed inside.  More vehicles quickly trickled past, the last of the friendly humans, heading towards the portal just a hundred yards distance away.

“Princess,” the soldier bowed, and then continued on, “I’m afraid we are in a bit of a bind.  I received a message about a minute ago from General Anderson, one of the friendly higher ups.  They have succeeded in arresting our president, so that’s one problem solved.  However, we currently are in a little bit of a time crunch.  Before the president was arrested he sent off a command…  right now, there is a nuclear missile, a weapon capable of destroying an entire city, inbound to this portal.  We only have about twenty five minutes.”

Alex groaned, while the other two ponies simply stared at the man.

“We’re getting the heck out of here, if we leave now, we will clear the blast radius, but just barely.  The point is, as soon as we leave, you need to close the portal behind us.  In our world, it’ll just blow up in the middle of the desert, but if the portal is left open, it’ll continue on and destroy who knows what.”

The man snapped to attention.

“I just wanted to let you know before we leave, that it was our honor to fight for you.”

Princess Celestia nodded gravely, the soldiers haunting words slowly sinking in.

“Thank you sir, and thank you to all of your comrades.  I wish there could be more time to offer you true thanks, but I’m afraid there isn’t.  Your services, and other’s sacrifice, will always be remembered.”

She bowed to the soldier, still standing at attention.  The man snapped a crisp salute, and then smiled.

“I suppose that this is the last official interaction between our worlds, at least for a long while.  I bid you farewell, and good luck, Princess Celestia.”

With that, the man strode away, and hopped back into the driver’s seat of the Humvee.  The engine roared, and within a few seconds, the vehicle had passed through the portal, following after the rest of the convoy, making all haste to get away from the soon to be death zone.

As they watched, General Starblink and two pegasi soldiers glided down from above, joining the other three ponies.  Celestia whirled to face the newcomers, her face drained of color.

“General, I am sorry, but there is no time to lose, you have to get the other bearers of the elements of harmony rounded up and bring them here immediately.  I am afraid that our situation is even more grave than I thought.”

The General motioned to the two soldiers, who immediately shot off, going to fetch the required ponies.  Then he returned his attention to Celestia, curious.

“May I ask what is going on?”

“I’m afraid that even I am not entirely certain…”

The Princess paused as Alex entered the conversation.

“It’s a nuke,” he jumped forward, coming to stand between the general and the princess. “It’s a weapon of mass destruction.  It can immolate an entire city, and everyone in it, in the blink of an eye, not to mention the fact that the blast leaves radiation, super poison if you will, that makes the area around the blast uninhabitable for years.  Conveniently, we’ve just had one launched at us.  Which means that we have to seal off the portal, like, right the buck now.”

Alex stopped then, surprised at how quickly he’d adopted the Equestrian swear word.  The General took a step back, his face draining of color, an impressive feat for a white pony.

“That… doesn’t sound good.”

Starblink was aware that he had just made the biggest understatement of all time, though frankly, he wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Princess Celestia sighed, and then spoke.

“Precisely general, that’s why it would be nice if the bearers would…  oh, there we go.”

The other five bearers of the elements of harmony were quickly approaching the small group.  Rarity, Fluttershy, and Apple Jack walked, while Rainbow hovered over her friends.  Pinky skipped merrily, her eyes blissfully shut, though she still managed to avoid all obstacles in her path.  Rainbow zipped out in front, skidding to a halt in front of the princess.  She threw a sloppy salute, and then took a step back.

“We’re ready to rock, Princess!”

Celestia smiled, and waited for the rest of the ponies to join them.

“Well my little ponies, are you ready to wield the elements of harmony once again?”

Six eager voices responded with a mix of ‘certainly,’ ‘course we are,’ and ‘aaw yeah!’

“Good,” the regal white pony continued, “All of you, the chest containing the elements of harmony is in the chariot that

Twilight rode in, so if you could all go and get them on, we can finish this as quickly as possible.”

The six ponies quickly trotted off, eagerly chatting amongst themselves.  Alex tensed as the small radio in his saddlebags beeped, and walked away from the princess and the general.  Celestia returned her gaze to the general.

“Now, about the…”

She noticed that Starblink was staring off into the distance.

“What is it?”

She turned her gaze to follow the general’s.  Two distant aircraft were flying towards the mountain.  Celestia recognized them as what the humans called “helicopters.” Starblink took a few cautious steps back.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

Celestia nodded slowly.

The two choppers drew nearer, and the sense of dread in Celestia’s heart grew.

“They might be friendly…”

Starblink jumped into the air, beating his wings rapidly, as a missile streaked from one of the aircraft.

“Or not!  Run!”

As the two choppers continued firing, the pegasus general shot upwards, taking refuge in the sky for which he was built.  The two aerial vehicles flew through the portal, leaving several burning patches of ground behind.  Starblink let out a sigh of relief, glad to be rid of the attackers so quickly.  Then, he suddenly remembered the princess.  Alarmed, the pegasus looked down, searching for his ruler.

He couldn’t make her out among the ponies running around on the mountainside.  Starblink dove back down, his heart now racing.

“Princess!  Has anypony seen Princess Celestia?”

He alighted on the ground, a cold sense of fear overcoming his heart.  Slowly, dreading what he might see, he turned back to where he had been standing, just a few moments before.  The ground was cratered, and several large piles of rocks had been thrown around by the blast.  The entire area was engulfed in flames.  Starblink’s eyes grew wide as he saw something slowly shift in the middle of the rubble.

“No…”

He stared at the flames, able to feel their immense heat, even from nearly thirty yards away.

“No…”

Slowly, he gritted his teeth, and dove towards the fire.  His fur began to get singed almost immediately, and he felt like his eyes and mouth were drying up.  The world seemed to move in slow motion, as the general strode through the wall of flames.  The very ground that he stood on burned his hooves, and he ran quickly through the fire, leaping from rock to rock, trying ignore the searing heat all around him.  His mane felt matted, and he knew it wasn’t with sweat or water.  He refused to look at his fur.

He dodged through the massive patches of fire, until he reached the small movement he had seen from outside.  The Princess lay on her side, her chest heaving, and her crown and half her shoes missing.  What regalia she still wore was bent, and crooked.  Her eyes were shut, she was knocked unconscious by the blast.  Strangely, despite all this, she herself seemed barely singed.  Starblink growled, feeling the fire tickling at his hooves.  Then he grabbed onto the Alicorn, and began to drag her out of the blast zone.

Starblink’s next few minutes were indescribable, as every part of him seemed to burn.  He looked up as they neared the edge of the hellish area.  One last wall of flames separated them from freedom.  He dragged with all his strength, feeling the fire burn his mane, his tail, and his wings.  The smoke tortured his eyes, and clogged his throat.  Then suddenly, he heaved himself through, the princess next to him, still unconscious.  All around them, panicking ponies dashed to put out fires, and save their comrades.  Starblink managed to pull the Princess another ten yards, then he collapsed, unable to continue.

He gasped for air, hardly able to breath.  His hair was melted, and gave off a putrid smell.  He was virtually unrecognizable.  Starblink suddenly realized that he was not alone.  The six bearers of the elements of harmony stood around him, shocked expressions on their faces.

He tried to speak, though the pain racking his body transformed it into a snarl.  Slowly, Starblink relaxed, taking several deep breaths.  Once more, the burnt pegasus opened his mouth.

“Go…  Quickly, you have to close,” he halted as a new wave of pain tore through his body.

“Close… the portal…  now…”

Slowly, Starblink’s eyes fluttered shut.  His breathing became deeper, and more steady as he slipped from consciousness, unable to contend with the pain any longer.  Almost simultaneously, Princess Celestia awoke.

She glanced around at the other ponies, her memories crashing back to her.  The Helicopter… and then the explosion.  Getting thrown across the ground, and then feeling her head hit something, hard.  Then blackness.  She looked at Twilight, noting the element sitting on her head.

“Twilight!  Hurry!  You have to destroy the portal!”

The lavender unicorn continued to stare at the Alicorn.

“What about General Starblink?”

“What?”

The Princess looked down, suddenly seeing the burnt pegasus.

“What… what happened to him?”

Celestia was bewildered.

“He… he dragged you…”

Twilight had trouble answering, transfixed by the sight of the terrible wounds.  Celestia glanced behind her, seeing the flames.  A flood of emotions rushed through her, as she suddenly realized that he had dove into the fire, to save her.

“Oh…  Oh my…”

She quickly took inventory of the protective spells that she routinely cast about herself.  Celestia was dismayed to find that virtually all of them had been depleted.

Just a few more seconds in the fire…

She refused to think that thought.  Celestia lit her horn.

“I’ll take care of Starblink…  Don’t worry Twilight, you have to keep moving.  Destroy the portal, now.”

The pony slowly nodded, before turning, and trotting away.  The rest of her friends quickly followed her.  Celestia turned back to the burnt pony, grimacing.

This is going to be difficult…

Starblink groaned, as the first of the healing spells began to take effect.

TIME TO IMPACT:  THIRTEEN MINUTES

<(^)>

“James!  What the heck is going on over there?”

Alex levitated the radio in front of his face, the fires still burning behind him.  The small device crackled, hissing with static.

Then, James’ voice broke through.

“Alex!  You’ve gotta high tail it out of there right now!”

Alex smiled slightly, imagining the expression on his best friend’s face, hidden behind his helmet.  He sighed slowly, his heart heavy.

“James…  I’m not coming back.”

The response was almost instantaneous.

“WHAT?  Dude, what the heck are talking about?  You don’t belong there!  None of us do!”

Alex couldn’t help but give a bitter laugh.

“I’m afraid I don’t belong anywhere anymore.”

“Well, guess what buddy?  You belong there less than you don’t belong here!  If that makes any sense at all…”

Alex sat down slowly, his back against a rock.

“James…  I’m not really sure that you get it.”

The radio hissed out the reply.

“What do I not get Alex?  Why you’ve suddenly gone crazy?”

Alex leaned his head back against the cold stone surface, trying his best to relax.

“James…  I wish I could come back.  I really, honestly do.  But we have two problems to deal with.  The first one isn’t as important, it would just get me some really weird looks.  If you haven’t noticed, I’m a pony.  It’s a little strange, but, I guess it would be a cool way to make a lot of money…”

Alex chuckled.

“The second problem is the bigger concern…  James, even if I walk through that portal…  I’ll get incinerated in a nuclear blast.  There’s no way I can run fast enough to get away from that.  Sorry buddy… but there’s just no way.”

The reply took longer this time.

“Dang it Alex…  What the heck are we supposed to do now?”

The grey pony shook his head sadly, not caring that no one could see.

“I don’t know James…  I just don’t know.”

“I was really hoping that we would all come home from this one Alex…  I really was.  What am I supposed to tell your parents anyway?  That you’re alright, but that you got turned into a pony, and by the way, they’ll never see you again?”

Alex felt like he had suddenly been covered by a dark cloud.  There were a crap load of people on the other side… but that didn’t matter now.  There wasn’t a way to make it back, at least not for a long while.

“You should tell General Anderson what really happened…  He, of all people, deserves to know the truth…  As for everyone else…  tell them…  I died.  It’ll be easy enough to pull off.  It isn’t like they would expect to find a body anyway.  I wish we could end this on a happier note than that, but it isn’t happening.”

James hesitated, and then began to speak back to Alex.

“Are you sure about all of this, buddy?”

Alex swallowed hard.

No, not really…

“I’m not sure about anything right now James,” Alex laughed, “but I think that this is the best way to go about it.  If I’m wrong, and I probably am… then whatever, you suckers can figure it out.”

He laughed again, although there was a tear in his eye.

“I mean, why should I care?  I’m a freaking magical pony in a whole different world.”

“Alright buddy…  I’ll tell the general, and see what he thinks.”

Alex choked back a tear, and then once more spoke into his radio.

“Thanks James…  take care of yourself.”

Alex could tell that the brave pilot was holding back his own tears.

“Alright Alex, you too…  See you later?”

Alex laughed.

“Definitely.”

“Alright then,” James sniffled, “I’m going to shut up now… before we both end up crying about how much this sucks.”

Alex felt a tear run down his cheek.

“Yeah… have a good one dude.”

“You too Alex… Thanks, friend.  See you again.”

With that, the transmission cut off, forever severing the original crew of Striker one one.

Alex slowly let the radio fall to the ground, as the full weight of his decisions and recent actions crashed down on him.

It was for the best though...  Or so he hoped.

Alex offered up a sad smile to the world, the tears now running freely down his cheeks.  He looked back across the mountain, to where Twilight, her friends, and a large group of soldiers had gathered in front of the portal.  He tried to laugh, but ended up sobbing.  The portal was still invitingly open, offering one final temptation for nuclear incineration.  Alex merely cried, and closed his eyes.  It would all be over soon enough.

TIME TO IMPACT:  EIGHT MINUTES

<(^)>

Twilight Sparkle felt the weight of the element upon her head.  Part of her felt unlucky to carry the most important element of harmony; the extra weight was really quite annoying.  Still, it was her honor to serve Equestria, and the entire world, by representing the element of magic.

Twilight felt a shiver pass through her, as she thought about the element.  When she was in contact with it, it felt almost as if the element was alive, and thinking, trying to speak.  That was a ridiculous notion of course, but she still felt it all the same.  Around her, her friends stood, flew, and bounced.

In front of her, the portal sat, its massive rock frame alive with magic.  She could feel the power before they even arrived at the mountain, radiating out into the surrounding landscape.  She could only guess that the reason it had remained undiscovered, was that it had not been active until the humans had discovered it on their side.

There were carvings in the rock of the portal.  She quickly glanced over them, always interested in learning something new.  Part of her hoped that the elements would just deactivate the portal, not destroy it.  However, she doubted that they would be so lucky.  She recognized some of the carved images.  The sun, the moon, and a wide collection of constellations.  She looked closer at the constellations, realizing that while some were familiar, others were strange.  She laughed to herself, one of them almost looked like a scoop, or a dipper.  She continued to look over the carvings, seeing ponies, strange creatures, what looked like humans, and then…  She gasped, then narrowed her eyes.

What could he have to do with this?

At the very top of the portal, sat a huge carving of the mad beast himself; Discord.  Twilight smirked a little.  It was only appropriate that he was depicted in stone.  She turned to her friends, all wearing their elemental necklaces.

“Ready girls?”

Rainbow was the first to answer.

“Duh!  Why do you think we’ve been standing here?”

Rarity promptly nodded, running a hoof through her mane.

“But of course, darling!  Really, I can’t wait to get home, and away from all this dreadful dirt!”

“Umm…  I’m ready… that is… if you guys are ready… if that’s ok.”

Twilight smiled at the yellow pegasus, hovering nervously at the back of the formation.  She was about to answer, when another pony replied for her.

“Of course we’re all ready sugar cube.  What do ya’ll think we’re doing here anyway?  Admirin’ the scenery?”

Twilight chuckled, then turned to her pinkest friend, who was being unnaturally quite.

“Pinkie, are you ready?”

The earth pony was glaring at the portal.

“Yeah, I don’t like it when people just think they can waltz right on in to another world.  That’s supposed to take practice, you know?”

Twilight chuckled at her somewhat insane pal.

“Sure Pinkie… sure.”

Twilight returned her attention to the stone behemoth.  She smiled, and quickly ignited her horn, channeling her magic through the element upon her forehead.

TIME TO IMPACT:  THREE MINUTES

<(^)>

Celestia smiled as Starblink’s wings slowly reformed, his body embraced by her golden aura.  Gently, she started to lay him back onto the mountainside, then thought better of it.  She kneeled down to the ground, and extended one of her massive wings.  She gently lay the pegasus on top of it, careful not to damage any of his newly grown skin.

She redirected her gaze to the six elements of harmony, standing just in front of the portal.  She watched, as slowly, all six of them finished their ascent, and then braced herself for what would come next.  Magical energy exploded from the group, bathing the surrounding landscape in rainbow colored light.  Celestia arced her neck, blissfully enjoying the power being emitted by the elements.

The light slowly began to spiral, as the bodies of the six bearers glowed.  The spiral quickly increased in speed, and then shot straight into the air, spinning at a ridiculous pace.  Power filled the sky, and sheer magical energy flowed through all the ponies in the surrounding area.

Then, the magical light crashed down onto the portal.  The entire structure began to shake violently, as the elements dumped energy into it.  The carvings on the portal’s surface all began to glow with a golden light.  The human’s world, still visible though the portal, began to shimmer.  Celestia squinted.  She could almost swear that she could see something in the sky…

The portal cracked, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the elements.  Along the crack, which ran through the entire structure, energy escaped, fleeing into the air.  Celestia grunted, almost feeling overwhelmed by the sheer power of it all.  She closed her eyes, and then slowly opened them again.  The stone was crumbling away, disintegrating.  Still, in the middle of the cavern, a huge, wavering hole in the fabric of space remained, clearly showing the other universe.  Celestia could clearly see something in the sky, and it was coming fast.

The edges of the portal began to collapse, folding inwards.  The six elements themselves still remained airborne, pouring energy into the gap, forcing the portal to end implode upon itself.  Slowly, the portal halved in size.  The object streaked across the sky, growing in size, leaving a flaming trail behind it.  The portal shrunk, and shrunk, and shrunk.  The object was but a thousand yards distant.  Celestia’s eyes grew wide.  Then the portal shrieked.  The fabric of time and space collapsed upon itself, sealing off the other world forever.  As it did, Celestia swore she heard a faint explosion.  For a moment, all was silent, as the assembled ponies stared at the space the portal had previous occupied.  Then, the silence was broken.

All around the mountainside, ponies cheered, stomping their hooves, and shouting cries of victory into the air.  It was a great moment for the country, and really, the entire world.  Celestia smiled, knowing how close they had been to defeat, and death.  Yet once more, Equestria was safe, thanks to the power of the elements of harmony, and the sweat and blood of thousands of soldiers.

The six bearers of the elements of harmony alighted on the ground, smiles plastering their faces.  They were immediately met by dozens of cheering troops, all wishing them well.  Celestia laughed, realizing that this was the first time that the six ponies had received an immediate thanks for their actions.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be the last.

<(^)>

“Shut down all electronics, quickly!”

The crew of the Humvee sprang into action, as the vehicle halted its trip across the desert.  The engine was quickly killed, and then the soldiers removed all the batteries from any electronic devices they carried.  Then they faced towards the front of the vehicle, and waited.  All around them, other personal did the same for their own equipment and vehicles.  A silence fell across the desert, no one moved, and no machine could be found still running.

The silence was shattered by a massive explosion.  Thirty five miles behind them, the desert was turned into glass.  A fireball the size of a small city illuminated the terrain, casting crazy shadows across the ground.  The soldiers could feel the heat on their backs, even from so far away.  After a few seconds, the first of the men began to look back.  They were filled with an immediate sense of awe.

Thirty five miles away, yet still easily visible, a mushroom cloud was just starting to rise in the Nevada desert.

Eighteen - New Friends

Starblink moaned softly, his eyes darting open.  Cautiously, he looked around.  A soft, white, feathered materiel surrounded him.

Wings?

The thought flicked across his mind, though it seemed rather odd.  Part of his living tent suddenly folded back, and he squinted in the sudden brightness.  Starblink’s eyes quickly adjusted to the increase in light, and slowly, he looked up.

Princess Celestia returned his gaze from a half foot away.  The Alicorn was smiling at him.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Starblink.”

The wings withdrew themselves, folding up against the Princess’ sides.  She stretched out, and then rose to her hooves.  Starblink blushed, as it dawned on him that he had been sleeping in Celestia’s feathery embrace.

“What… um…”

Starblink stood, wobbling slightly.  He glanced around at the legions of celebrating ponies, and then looked back at the princess.

“What happened?”

Celestia laughed lightly, and then looked over the crowd to a shattered pile of rock.  Starblink suddenly realized that these were the remains of the portal.

“I must thank you Starblink, first of all.  I’m not certain that I would still be here if it weren’t for your actions.”

She returned her gaze to the pegasus.

“You do realize Starblink, that you were very, very close to losing your life as well.  In fact, if any pony other than myself had tried to heal you… I doubt you would still be breathing.  It takes a very devoted pony to dive into a wall of flames for another.”

Starblink shuffled nervously.

“You know how much I’m… devoted to you.”

Celestia laughed again.

“Yes, I do recall that.”

Starblink blushed slightly, looking up at the larger pony.

“But still… what happened here?”

“Well… after you saved my life…  I believe that I proceeded to start a long, strenuous spell that restored you to your original, unharmed, form.  While that was happening, the bearers destroyed the portal, and then everypony went crazy celebrating.”

Starblink continued to stare at her, slightly quizzical.

“Oh,” Celestia smiled, “And if you are wondering why I had you in my wings like that, your skin and fur right now are still very sensitive.  I wouldn’t recommend any physical work or unnecessary contact with hard surfaces for a week, at the least.”

Starblink chuckled slightly, “Yeah, I was going to ask about that…  Anyway, sounds like a plan.”

They ducked, as a low flying pegasus did a corkscrew, shouting out calls of victory the whole way.  Starblink slowly shook his head, grinning.

“Well, this day certainly went better than I expected.”

“Indeed.”

Celestia nodded sagely.

“I believe that although we should refrain from some of the wilder celebrations, I would like to go and congratulate the bearers.  It is the third time that they have saved Equestria, and it’s a rather monumental occasion.”

She glanced at the general, as if sizing him up.

“Would you care to come with me?”

Starblink nodded energetically.

“Of course, your highness.”

“Good.”

Then she added, “Oh, and also, I wouldn’t stay in the sun to long if I were you, your skin could get easily burned in its current state.”

Starblink glanced around, then up to the great burning sphere in the sky.

“Well, there isn’t really anything I can do at the moment, so…”

He shrugged.  Princess Celestia looked at the pegasus, a slightly devious smile creeping across her face.

I could just cast a spell to protect him from the rays…  but that’s no fun…

She stopped for a moment, surprised at how foolish she was about to act.

Oh well…  I’m three thousand years old, it is about time I had some fun…  It’ll be a nice change from the last several days.

In a single motion, Celestia stepped closer to Starblink, and gently placed her right wing over his back, while simultaneously pulling him closer to herself.  Starblink tensed, surprised at the sudden action.  He glanced up at his ruler, curious.  She looked back at him, poorly suppressing a giggle.

“There…  That should keep you protected from the sun, at least most of you.”

He tried to shrug off the wing, but was unable to.  He started to protest.

“Really, Princess, its ok, I can take care of…”

Celestia laughed.

“Starblink, please…  I’d just go with it if I were you.”

The general stopped his attempts to get away, looking back at the Alicorn.  Slowly, he nodded.

“Alright,” a small smile blossomed on his face, “I think… sure.”

Slowly, he leaned in, nuzzling her neck.  Celestia’s smile grew, and slowly, the pair began to walk towards the distant mass of celebrants.

<(^)>

“So what do we do now?”

“I’m not sure…  At least we still have a home to return to.”

The F-15E Strike Eagle circled high above Nellis air force base, its cockpit glinting in the setting sunlight.  Very distantly, more than one hundred miles away, a mushroom close stood, slowly rising into the sky.  The sight of the cloud struck fear into the heart of any who saw it, or at least those old enough to understand what it was.

All around the F-15, the airspace was buzzing with activity.  Helicopters from media networks, government agencies, and various corporations all buzzed around the base, and the city of Las Vegas.  The news choppers would have gone closer to the site of detonation, but for now, the Air Force had instituted a no fly zone in a hundred mile radius around the blast.

All that the public had currently been told was that a nuclear weapon had been accidentally detonated in the Nevada desert, and that there were no known casualties, and that radiation would likely be minimal.  As a precaution, all citizens within two hundred miles of the blast area had been asked to prepare to evacuate, though whether or not they would have to leave was uncertain.

General Anderson had decided not to inform the general public as to what had happened immediately.  Instead, he chose to wait until they had accumulated all the evidence necessary to convince the public that there, in fact, had been an open portal to another world, and that the president had then tried to destroy it.

James and Jonathan sat in the cockpit of the Strike Eagle, watching as the sun sank below the horizon.  James concentrated on the nuke, and the sunset, not allowing himself to think about his best friend.  It was going to be hard enough to land his plane with all the additional traffic in the area, let alone if he was thinking about…  He couldn’t think about that.

Both men’s thoughts, as minimal as they may be, were interrupted as a voice sliced through the cockpit, projected by the radio.

“Striker one one, this is Nellis, you are cleared to land.”

The voice hesitated for a second, and then added.

“Welcome home boys.”

The Strike Eagle banked, and dove towards the ground, lowering its flaps.  The runway was lit up, a gleaming pathway back to earth.  Landing gear extended from the fighter’s belly, reaching down to the ground below.  James carefully adjusted the controls, reducing speed, and getting the fighter level with the runway.

The airframe rumbled for a second, and then the Strike Eagle was back on the ground.  The base was a buzz of activity, with aircraft preparing to take off, or some having just landed.  James quickly decelerated, and taxied the plane off the runway.  Slowly, the deadly aircraft made its way back to its designated spot on the tarmac.  As the plane powered down, a few maintenance officers rushed up, bringing ladders for the two crew members.

The cockpit opened quickly, and the two men shimmied down the ladders.  As they walked past, one of aircraft attendees saluted, and then shook their hands.

“Captain Thalin, Lieutenant Guery, welcome home.”

Jonathan managed a small smile, looking around the base.

“It certainly has been awhile Sam.”

The man nodded.

“It certainly has.”

James quickly shook the man’s hand, and then set off across the base at a brisk walk.

Jonathan sensed the problem, thoughts of Alex coming to his mind.  He jogged the short distance to catch up.

“James,” he laid a hand on the depressed man’s shoulder.  He shrugged it off.

“Just let me be alone right now, ok Jonathan?”

“James, hang on for a second.”

Hesitantly, the pilot stopped walking, and then spun to face the other man.  He was clearly angry, and holding back tears.

“Dang it Jonathan!  What do you want?”

Jonathan looked at the pained expression on James face, concerned for him.

“Buddy, try not beat yourself up too much about Alex, ok?”

James seemed to almost be amused by the comment, giving a twisted, dark laugh.

“Don’t beat myself up…  What do you mean?  This whole freaking thing was my fault.”

He threw his helmet against the ground, the hard headwear bouncing, and then slowly rolling away.  He slowly sank to his knees, a few tears beginning to make their appearance.  Jonathan’s foot reached out, stopping the wayward helmet.  Slowly, he took a seat across from James.

“None of this was your fault James.  If you absolutely must pin the blame on somebody, then put it on Nickelson.  He’s the one that decided to invade the place anyway.”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

James blinked away a few tears, staring at Jonathan.

“I’m the reason why he was here in the first place.  I was the one that told him I was gonna join up.  I’m the one that convinced him to come with me.  I was the one that volunteered us for that test flight.  And guess what?  I’m the one who didn’t go with him, when he needed to go somewhere.”

James let out a sob.

“The one time that he needed to do something… and it wasn’t in my plan… I didn’t go with him.  Guess what?  He got shot.  Shot up so bad, he almost frikking died.  He would of too, if it hadn’t been for their… magic.”

The tears were flowing freely now.

“The one time…”

James slowly shook his head.

“What kind of a friend does that make me Jonathan?  Pretty freaking selfish.”

Jonathan stared at the man across from him, beginning to understand the full implications of the problem.

“James…  this might not make you feel much better, but even if you had gone, you couldn’t have done anything.  You would have been shot too.  You might not have even been as lucky as Alex was, you might have died.”

James sighed, the tears still falling, forming a miniscule puddle on the tarmac.

“It wouldn’t have mattered what happened to me…  All that would have mattered is…  I would have gone.  I would have been there for him, just like he had always been there for me.  It’s hard to find friends like that, you know?  Yet I had to go and blow it.  Bet Alex loves that.  ‘Oh thanks Alex, glad you’ve always done everything I asked you to.  Now, just screw you, sorry, but we have to leave you behind, and you’ll never get to see anyone that you know again.’”

James slowly shook his head.

“What the heck am I supposed to tell his parents anyway?  Do you really think that I can just waltz up, tell them that their son died defending a country that they’ve never heard of, and are never going to see?  Can I really just lie to their faces like that?  Thank God he wasn’t married… I don’t even want to think about what I’d say to his wife…”

James covered his face with his hands, tears leaking out behind them.  Jonathan nodded slowly.

“But that’s just it James… he’s not dead.  He’s alive, and he’s got a great life ahead of him.  I may not have known Celestia and Twilight for very long, but I’m willing to bet that they’re going to do everything in their power to make sure that he’s ok.  Quit acting like he’s dead James, ‘cause he’s not.  As for whether we should tell people whether or not he’s alive, I guess that we’ll have to ask the general.  But either way, you’ll know.  You’ll always know.  He’s alive James.  He’s alive.”

James slowly took his hands off of his face, though his tears still flowed down his cheeks.

“What are you sitting there crying for anyway?” Jonathan smiled.  “Do you realize how silly you would look if someone walked up and asked why your crying? ‘Because my friend is alive?’ They’d think you were a murderer, dude!”

James laughed through his tears.  He reached out a hand, and Jonathan slowly helped him up.  The pilot stood, taking a few deep breaths, and wiping the tears off his face.  Jonathan handed his helmet back to him.

“Better?”

James smiled, and nodded.

“Thanks Jonathan… Thanks.”

The two men turned, and walked off across the base.

<(^)>

“Alright, well, I’m going to fly back, stretch my wings a little before the party.”

Rainbow Dash spread her feathery limbs, preparing for flight.  Twilight smiled at her colorful friend.  All around the mountain, ponies were preparing to leave the area, ready to head back to Canterlot for a real celebration of victory.

“All right Rainbow, I guess that we’ll see you in a bit then.”

“Sounds good,” The pegasus nodded, before shooting off into the sky.  Apple Jack walked up next to Twilight, watching the rainbow pony streak away.

“Well sugar cube, I guess that it’s about time we hit the road too.”

She motioned towards one of the chariots, a couple of pegasus soldiers already harnessing themselves up to it.  Something caught Twilight’s eye though, and slowly, she motioned for Apple Jack to go on.

“I’ll be there in a second AJ, I just need to look at something before we go.”

“Alright, suit yer’ self.”

The mare trotted off.  Twilight turned away from the chariots, and started to walk uphill.  A small, gray movement had caught her eye.  Slowly, she rounded a large boulder, and stopped.  Alex was leaning up against the surface of the rock, his eyes closed.  She started to walk nearer to him.  As Twilight approached, his eyes sprung open, and swiveled, locking onto her.

“Twilight… what are you doing here?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

She sat down next to him.

“Are you alright?”

He laughed bitterly.

“I’m fine, I guess.”

Twilight looked at him suspiciously.

“Really?  Completely fine, despite everything that just happened?”

“Well… I don’t really know.  I mean, you’d think it would be worse but… its sort of a strange feeling.  It would be sort of like… if you moved to some obscure island somewhere, and everyone that you knew stayed at home.  You know their alright, and you know that they’re all probably going to be ok…  you just know that you can’t keep in touch with them, and you may not see them for a long time.”

He paused then, clearly saddened.

“Except this is worse than that… I’ll never get to see anyone that I used to know again, ever.”

He looked at Twilight, his expression sad.

“It’s hard, you know?  I mean, you’re a great friend Twilight, but I’ve only known you for, what, a week now?  It’s hard to believe that all of this has happened so quickly…”

“I’m sorry that you won’t get to see your friends again Alex…” Twilight felt bad for the gray unicorn stallion.  “I really am.”

Then she thought about the last part of his statement.

“Yeah… I guess it has only been a week.  Less than that, actually.  Hard to imagine.”

Twilight shook her head.

“But Equestria is still here, just a little banged up around the edges, nothing to bad!  A lot of the reason for that is because of you Alex.”

Alex laughed.

“Nope, not really.  James is the one that you need to thank for all of this.  He’s always been a doer.  I just sort of sit around, and help wherever I can.  But James… He’ll see something, want it, and go for, and take you right along with him.”

Alex let out another, shorter burst of chuckling.

“He’s the whole reason I joined the military in the first place.  He’s basically the reason this place still exists.”

Alex paused for a moment, taking a breath.

“When we came here the second time… we had orders to bomb Canterlot.  You guys didn’t have any warning, so there wasn’t anything you could do about it.  We would have wiped you out, and it would all be over now.  That’s what would have happened, if James hadn’t spoken up… hadn’t said no.  I’d like to think that I would have, would have tried to do something, even if he didn’t… but on the inside, I don’t think I could have.  If it hadn’t been for him, then this whole place would be overrun with Nickelson’s greedy little henchmen.  Honestly, you’ve done more than I have, with that fancy crown thingy of yours.”

“I still think you would have done something.”

Twilight added, trying to comfort Alex.

“Maybe…  I don’t know.”

Twilight sighed, and then carefully stood up.

“Well, still, thanks for everything Alex.”

She smiled.

“We really need to be heading back now, by the way.  There is supposed to be one heck of a party once we get back to Canterlot.  Princess Celestia has already sent a message ahead to Princess Luna, and so we should get quite the welcome.  Come on, let’s get going.”

The two quickly trotted down the mountain, heading for the waiting chariot.

<(^)>

Swiftwing groaned, and rubbed his eyes, before slowly, he opened them.  He looked around.  He was lying on a hospital bed, his fur no longer soaked in blood, and a small bandage around his left wing.  Between his bed and the next, a unicorn doctor was standing, scribbling something down onto a notepad.  He carefully tore off the piece of paper that he’d been writing on, pining it to the end of the other bed.  Then, the doctor turned to Swiftwing.

“Oh!  You’re awake?  Jolly good, wot!  I was beginning to think that you had gone into a bloody coma!”

The doctor smiled at his patient.  Swiftwing peered at himself, trying to discern a serious injury.  He gave up, and then looked at the doctor.

“Why am I in here?”

“Ah, yes, not much wrong with you, eh?  Well, really, it’s a flipping miracle that you’re as healthy as you are.”

The doctor levitated a chair over, taking a seat next to Swiftwing.

“Well, funny thing is, when they brought you in here, I thought you were done for!  You had so much blood all over you, I reasoned you had to have at least a dozen cuts!  Turns out, fortunately, I was wrong!  As soon as we got you cleaned up, I saw that you were perfectly alright!  Just looked you over, and would you have guessed it?  Nothing but a sprained wing!  I guess you were just a little too swift on it, eh?”

The doctor smiled.

“Well, I guess that’s lucky… but if that’s all it was then why did I pass out?”

The memories of the event were slowly starting to drift back to Swiftwing.  The doctor looked slightly nervous all of the sudden.

“Well… I suppose that there is one slight complication.”

The doctor took a breath.

“I’m afraid that you have some combat shock… it’s all in your head.  Really, as long as you can think past it, you’ll be right as rain!”

Swiftwing stared at the doctor.

“Combat shock?  From what…”

Suddenly, Swiftwing doubled over, the faces of a dozen enemies floating in his head.

“Oh no…”  He looked down at himself, the dagger in his cutie mark catching his eye.  It looked stained with blood.  Frantically, he rubbed at it.  It didn’t come off.

“Get it off of me!”

The doctor eyed him, concerned.

“You sure your all right, chap?  Nothing there but your cutie mark, wot!”

“No!  The blade, it’s bloody!”

Swiftwing felt ridiculous, afraid of something on his own body.  The Doctor leaned in closer, raising a pair of glasses to his eyes.

“Nope, nothing but clean steel there, wot!  I’m afraid your seeing things, my good chap.  Would you like me to have the nurse fetch you a nice cup of tea?  That always helps to calm me down.”

Swiftwing had stood up on his bed, looking out the wide open window, his thoughts racing.  His wings instantly unfurled, and he raised them high, preparing to fly.

“Woah there chap!  Hold your horses!  You really should stay off that wing for a while-”

He was cut off, as the pony shot past him, fleeing the hospital room, heading out into the open sky.

“Pegasi,” the doctor muttered under his breath, “Always figuring out the quickest ways to get out of the hospital, wot!”

<(^)>

Swiftwing panted, the faces still spinning around his head.  They seemed to be glaring at him, accusing him of killing them.  He beat his wings furiously, gaining altitude.  He rose high above the city of Canterlot, which actually still looked nice, from this altitude.  Swiftwing ignored this fact, ignoring the fact that there was ground, or even gravity, until suddenly, his left wing refused to flap.

“Wha…  AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

He plummeted towards the ground, now more than a thousand feet below.  Thinking fast, he managed to steer himself towards a small cloud, using his right wing.

Thump.

He landed on the soft surface, bouncing slightly.

“Ugh…”

Swiftwing looked around for a moment, before the faces rushed back at him.

“No!  Go away!”

He shouted at the phantoms.

“Leave me alone!”

Tears began to fall, as Swiftwing quietly lay on the cloud.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

A faint thud sounded in the sky, and Swiftwing looked up, momentarily free of his tormentors.  A few seconds later, a Rainbow arc seemed to sail past, far overhead.  Swiftwing sniffled.  It seemed strangely fitting that the rest of the world be merry while he was crying out his heart.  Slowly, he tucked his head under a wing, and continued to cry, his body shaking on the cloud.

The faces continued to circle him, even with his eyes closed.

“I’m sorry, he sobbed, “I’m sorry…”

A strange voice suddenly broke in.

“Woah, dude, are you ok?”

Swiftwing panicked slightly, annoyed that another pony had seen his suffering.  As he continued to sob, a thought slowly occurred to him.

That voice did seem awfully familiar…

He looked up, removing his wing from his head.  He could hardly believe his tear streaked eyes.  It was the annoying Rainbow colored mare.

Great… can my luck possibly get any worse…

He slowly rolled away from her, trying to stop his tears, but failing miserably.

“Woah, it’s ok there…  I’m not gonna tell anyone.”

He stopped his retreat at her softly spoken words.  It was as if she had had read his mind.  She hovered over him, and then carefully dropped to the cloud beside him, kneeling down.

“Hey, I remember you… you’re Swiftwing, right?”

The black maned stallion slowly nodded, staring at Rainbow.

“Are you hurt or something?  What happened to you?”  She suddenly stood up. “Oh my gosh!  Have you been up here since the battle?  Do you need me to get somepony?”

A look of genuine concern was spread across her features, it was slightly touching to Swiftwing, though he still remembered getting introduced to the other pegasus.  He slowly managed to bite back his tears.

“No… I just got here.”

“Oh… well then,” she slowly kneeled down again. “What’s wrong with you?”

She eyed the way he held his left wing, making a quick assumption.

“Does it really hurt that bad?  I think you’ve got to toughen up a little.”

Swiftwing would have laughed, if he hadn’t thought he might start crying again.

“No… its fine… well… it hurts, but not that bad.”

“Well,” she looked at him curiously, “What’s the problem then?  I can help you, you know.”

Swiftwing stared at the Rainbow pegasus , amused that the sun had slid behind her head.  It gave her mane a bright, glowing quality, making it more vibrant than it already was.  Her words tempted him, while half his mind shrieked at him…

Don’t… you… bucking… dare.

“I’m… I… I fought.”

His mind screamed at him, while his heart immediately felt lighter.

“You fought?  Um… ok, what’s that supposed to mean exactly?”  Rainbow didn’t fully understand.

“I…  I fought… and I killed.  I killed them.  They tried to kill me, but I killed them first.  They’re dead.”

Suddenly, he was overtaken by another wave of sobs.

“Why…” He croaked, “Why did I kill them?  They didn’t have to die… they were alive, and they were thinking.  They knew I was killing them.  They knew they were about to die, and they couldn’t do anything about it.”

He wept, unable to control his sadness.

“Hey now, it’s ok…  Cheer up a little, dude.”

Rainbow’s voice was soft, gently sounding in his ear.

“If you hadn’t done that, then you would be dead, and so would a lot of other ponies.  You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Rainbow Dash knew that this was strangely soft for her.  She just hoped that her friends wouldn’t find out about it.  Still, the element of loyalty wasn’t about to leave somepony hanging.

“I’d rather be dead…”

Swiftwing moaned.

“Well…” Rainbow thought for a moment. “What about everypony else?  I mean, you wouldn’t want them to die, would you?  If you hadn’t killed those guys, then they would have killed others, right?”

The flow of tears decreased slightly.

“Yes…”

He sniffled.

“That still doesn’t mean that I’m a good pony though…”

Rainbow felt inclined to do something rash, which was probably more her style anyway.  She leaned down, and nuzzled the mourning stallion, trying to help him.

“Hey now, I’m sure you’re an ok pony.  None of us are really all good anyway, I mean, we’ve all done bad stuff, right?”

Swiftwing looked at the mare, surprised at the affectionate gesture.

“Not as bad as I have…  You’ve never had to kill anypony…”

“Well… maybe not.  But I did turn a dude into stone once.  I mean, he was evil and all, but I still felt really bad about it later on.  Still, it was the same deal.  If I hadn’t done that, then all of Equestria would have been engulfed in eternal chaos.  That’s no fun.”

The stallion looked up into Rainbow’s eyes.

“Wait… Rainbow Dash…  as in…” his eyes grew wide. “The Rainbow Dash?  The element of harmony?”

She smiled down at him.

“Heh, yup, I am pretty awesome.”

Somehow, just the presence of one of the elemental bearers was comforting.

“You… you mean… you felt bad after you defeated Discord?”

Rainbow blushed a little.

“Well, yeah, I mean, we had to turn the poor guy into stone.  That’s got to hurt pretty bad.”

“How…  How’d you get over it?”

Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane.

“Well… I thought about it for a long time.  I never completely got over it, but I just thought about what the world would have been like if I didn’t do it… and what it’s like since I did.  Like I said, it doesn’t completely fix the problem, but it helps a lot.”

Swiftwing slowly thought, pondering her words.  She was right in a way…  The world was a lot better off, and even if he hadn’t killed the poor men, it just meant that somepony else would have.  He stood up.

“Thanks Rainbow… I’m really glad that you came along.”

Thoughtfully, he held out a hoof.

“Friends?”

She laughed, her Rainbow mane glinting in the now setting sunlight.

“Sure dude… Friends.”

Rainbow Dash looked down, surveying the city below.

“Well… the victory party should be starting up shortly…” She spread her wings. “Want to fly down with me?  I understand if you don’t…”

Swiftwing blushed.

“Well… I’d love to, but right now, I can’t.  My left wing… it’s sprained.  I was lucky to make it up here.”

“Hmm…”

The colorful mare thought for a moment.

“Here, it’s all right, lean on me, I’ll help you fly.”

“Really Rainbow, it’s not necessary…”

Dashie looked at the stallion, smiling.

“Look pal, you’ve gotta get down somehow, and I might as well be the one to help you.”

Swiftwing gave in.

“Alright… let’s get going then.”

Slowly, Swiftwing leaning on Rainbow, they made their way down to the ground.

<(^)>

The streets were filled with cheering ponies, shouting exclamations of joy, and stomping their hooves.  Alex surveyed the crowd, a smile on his face.  Even though many of the ponies had some sort of cast or bandage, they were all still ready to celebrate.  Once more, Equestria had gone up against a mighty foe, and prevailed.

The sun sank low in the sky, as carts containing all sorts of soups, breads, sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, puddings, drinks, and cakes rolled out of Canterlot castle.  Alex was wearing his new dress uniform, recently fitted to him, signifying his position of colonel in the Equestrian military.  He was proud of the dashing outfit, its ribbons and fabrics heavily complimenting his coat and mane.  He was even more proud of the two small medals that clung to the front of it though.

The badge of harmony, and the order of the sun and moon.  The two highest honors that could be bestowed upon a soldier.  Princess Celestia had awarded them to him while he was first putting on his new uniform.  Inwardly, he felt undeserving of the medals, but who was he to refuse loyalty?  He smiled slightly, still getting used to the small suns and moons that adorned his outfit, as opposed to the stars that he had previously worn.  It occurred to him that the remnants of his old flight suit, thoroughly cleaned after it had been shot, were still in his room.  Perhaps he should make something with it later, or probably, have Rarity do it for him.  He had recently seen her work on Twilight and her friend’s dresses, and he was rather impressed.

“Hey Alex!”

Speaking of Twilight…

Alex turned around, his metals clanking against each other.

“Wow!” The lavender unicorn exclaimed, “You look really great!”

Alex smiled at Twilight, who was wearing her gala dress.

“Thanks Twilight,” he stopped, taking in the sight for a moment.  “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

“Thanks Alex.”

She walked over to stand beside him.

“Quite an evening, huh?”

Alex laughed, watching as a row of fireworks danced into the sky, bursting at high altitude.

“Shouldn’t they wait until the sun finishes setting for those?”

Twilight smiled, “Their excited, don’t worry, the main display isn’t scheduled until later on, and it’s being coordinated by Princess Luna.  She does absolutely amazing work.”

Alex grinned.

“I would expect nothing less from the Princess of the night.”

Apple Jack quickly walked up to them, carrying several trays of various apple pastries.

“Jus’ look at all this grubb!”  She exclaimed.  “I can’t wait to try it out!  There got a be… four, no five different kinds of apples in here!”

She licked her lips in anticipation.

“Always eager to find new recipes for Sweet Apple Acres, aren’t you Apple Jack?”

Twilight chuckled at the sight of the mountain of food.  Alex was starting to get hungry looking at all of it.  It certainly looked much better than the hay that he’d been trying to get used to.  Carefully, trying to appear inconspicuous, he leaned down, and popped a small muffin into his mouth.  Thinking he had gone unseen, he quickly began to chew the delectable little pastry.

“Hey!  I was gonna eat that!”

Alex swallowed, blushing.  “Sorry Apple Jack, it just… looked so good.  Besides, don’t you have enough to eat there anyway?”

Apple Jack glanced down at the more than two dozen items on her trays.  “Um…  yeah, I guess I do.”

The three ponies all burst out laughing.  The earth pony continued to look at the food, a thought coming to mind.

“Actually… what the hay, there’s plenty to go around.  Soup’s on, everypony!  Dig in!”

Twilight smiled, carefully selecting a dish from the mound.  Suddenly, a pink blur zipped up, followed closely by several other ponies.

“CAKE!” The pink pony shouted, before immediately burying her face in the largest apple creation.  Frosting and crumbs shot out in every direction, showering the surrounding ponies.

“Pinkie!  Could you maybe eat a little neater please?”

“What?” She said, looking up from the cake, mouth full of food.  “It’s good!”

The other ponies drifted in, Rarity, finely clothed in an extravagant dress of her own creation, and then Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, wearing their own garments from the grand galloping gala.  Alex watched as the sun quickly fell beneath the horizon, listening in on the conversation of the six friends.  Slowly, as it grew darker, he turned back to look at them.

They stood, laughing, and chatting amongst themselves.

What a great group of friends.

The thought slowly crossed his mind.  He began to realize that Twilight was calling him into the group.  He strode up, feeling a little out of place.

“I hope I’m not crashing you girl’s party…”

“What?” Rarity stared at him, curious.  “Why in the world would you think something like that, darling?”

Alex smiled nervously.

“Well, you guys are all friends and whatnot… I’m sort of an outsider.”

“What the hay did you think that for sugar cube?”

Alex turned to face Apple Jack, who was smiling at him.

“We’re all friends here, just because we aint known you fer as long, that don’t mean that you’re not welcome here!”

Twilight laughed, levitating seven glasses up from a nearby serving table.  She brought them over, giving one to each pony.  She looked at Alex.

“You’ll always be welcome here Alex.”

Then she raised a hoof, a glass of punch in its grip.

“To new friends!”

The rest of the mares all did the same, the line echoing through the area.

“To new friends!”

Alex looked around at all the ponies around him, realizing that he would probably see them almost every day for the rest of his life.  He smiled, not sure what to make of the fact.  Therefore, he did the only thing that seemed logical.  He raised his right forehoof, the glass, and punch within, clutched in its grip.

“To new friends!”

Almost simultaneously, far above them in the night sky, the first shells of the official fireworks display began to go off.

Epilogue

TWO DAYS LATER

The only sounds in the little dark room came from behind one of the doors, outlined against the black wall in a rectangle of light.  The sounds that drifted through were faint, people chatting amongst themselves, and the buzzing and whirring of electronic equipment.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this Ben?”  The voice came from a shadowy man, barely visible in the dim light.  The forty nine year old general chuckled quietly, careful not to be too loud, lest their voices would carry through the door.

“I guess I am Quentin...  I have to lead a little rebellion, arrest the president of the United States… and now we get to the hard part.  Trying to persuade people.  Trying to get them to believe, that their president, the president of the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave…  Tried to commit genocide.  Against a species that we didn’t even know existed, until a week ago, no less.”

Quentin shook his head, afraid of the possible outcomes.

“If you slip up in there one time Ben…  It could be all over for us.  Have you got everything that you need?”

Benjamin Anderson slid a brief case onto his lap, gently patting it.  “Everything I need is in here, and I’ve already been over it three dozen times.  Hardly got a wink of the last couple of nights.  The media teams have already been given a few short video clips and pictures…  they’ll put ‘em up when their cued.”

Quentin scratched the back of his neck, concerned.

“I just can’t shake the feeling that they’re going to tear you up out there.  Then what?  We stop a crazy jerk of a president, save a world, and then get arrested?  What an interesting way to end a career.”

Anderson smiled, not afraid.

“As long as the media believes it, the people will believe it.  At least, most of them will.  Most of the time, that’s annoying, but for now, it’ll play in our favor.  All I have to do is convince our ‘friends’ at Fox, CNN, and MSNBC…  Then it’ll be a breeze.”

Quentin sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“What if you don’t?  What do we do then?”

“Then, we go to prison for a very long time.  But that’s ok.  It’ll be annoying, that’s for sure, but let’s look at what’s important.  We saved an untold number of lives, stopped a crazy rampaging moron, and at least managed to create enough suspicion that he’ll never be able to do anything like that again.  It wouldn’t be the first time that a few men took the hit for doing something right.”

Anderson stood, sensing by the sudden decrease in chatter coming from behind the door that the show was about to start.  The sound of a single, louder voice confirmed this suspicion.  He walked towards the door, waiting to be signaled in.  Then, he turned around, facing his old RIO.

“Well Quentin, no matter what happens, at least we know one thing.”

The younger man looked at his friend.

“What’s that, Ben?”

Anderson grinned.

“We aren’t going down in history as the guys who just followed our orders.”

With that, the door swung open, flooding light into the room.  Anderson turned, and strode out onto the stage, outlined by the light.  In front of him, a bank of cameras and microphones lurked, preparing to record everything that happened on the stage.  The general strode towards a podium, quickly taking his place.  He opened the briefcase, and slid the first piece of paper out in front of him.

Anderson stared into the cameras, and at the reporters behind them.  His face serious, he began to speak.

<(^)>

The red F-150 pickup truck eased its way up to the house, its headlights illuminating the night around it.  The engine stopped, and the front doors swung open.  Two sets of feet landed on the ground, and walked up towards the house.  Behind them, the doors slammed shut.

The first man, a military chaplain, turned towards the second.

“Are you ok doing this James?”

The pilot sighed, shaking his head.

“Not really… but too late now, right?”

The chaplain smiled.

“Yeah… just a bit.  You’ll do fine, try not to worry.”

James looked up at the house, and then turned back to the yard.  He looked down.  He had broken his left arm on this sidewalk, trying to jump his bike off a homemade ramp.  He smiled at the old memory.  He looked back at the house, staring at the window that led to his friend’s old room.  It had been a long time since he’d been in there.

James walked up, and knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!”  The faint voice came from inside the house.

James swallowed, listening to the footsteps coming closer to the door.  It swung inward, revealing a woman in her early fifties.

“James!  What are you doing here?” She turned back into the house. “Tom!  James is at the door!”  She looked back at the fighter pilot.  Behind her, a young man in his late teens peered out of a hallway, while up on the floor above, heavy footsteps could be heard.  “I’m coming Laura!”

“Mrs. Williams… is it alright if we come in?”

“Well of course it’s alright sweety!  This is practically your house too you know.  But who do you have with you?”

She peered out behind him, seeing the chaplain, Bible in hand.

“Is… is something wrong?”

James took a step inside the house.

“Mrs. Williams… I think it would be best if you sat down.”

The chaplain carefully stepped in behind him.

“Oh… oh no…”

The woman took a few steps back, coming to sit on the bottom of a flight of stairs.  James slowly kneeled down across from her, his face grim.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Williams… I’m so sorry.”

He brushed a tear from his right eye.

“What,” She halted, suppressing  a sob, “What happened?”

The pilot pulled a small box out of his back pocket, handing it to the woman  Inside it, were some of Alex's possessions.  Down the hallway, the teenage boy had disappeared, the doorway from which he’d been leaning slamming shut.  Footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs, and James recognized his best friend’s father.

“Laura?” The man quickly slid in next to his wife, “What’s wrong?”

“Mr. Williams… I’m really sorry.”  James continued. “Alex…  Alex was killed in action, three days ago.”

“Oh…  Oh dear…”  The older man quietly wrapped his arms around his wife, who was now weeping uncontrollably.  Slowly, the old man shook his head, his eyes flowing upward to a point above the door.  James knew what was up there, but he looked anyway.  A large photo sat in an elegant frame.  In the middle of the picture, two men stood in front of an F-15E, grinning like a couple of rookies, straight out of the academy.  Which, James remembered, they had been.

Behind them, the chaplain slowly closed the door, sealing them off from the cool night air.

<(^)>

TEN MONTHS LATER

The breeze blew through the open windows of the room, rustling Twilight’s mane.  Her checklist remained unaffected, gripped securely in her magical grip.

“Oh…  I really hope that we covered everything!  I’m so nervous!”

“Seriously Twilight!  Just relax.  Todays supposed to be happy, not stressful!”  The voice came from a small purple and green dragon, sitting across the room from the lavender unicorn.

“Oh, I know Spike!  It’s just that everything needs to be perfect!”

“They’ve been planning the event for the past month and a half Twilight…  To get so worked up about it a half hour before it starts seemed sort of silly.  Has Apple Jack gotten all the food set up?”

“Yes…”  Twilight said hesitantly.

“And has Rarity gotten everypony into their outfits?”

“Yes…”

“Did Fluttershy get the bird quire together?”

“I think so…”

“Is Pinky ready for the party later?”

“She’s ALWAYS ready for a party…”

“And then has Rainbow Dash gotten the airshow worked out?”

“Yes again…”

Twilight sighed.

“I guess there isn’t really anything to worry about…”

Spike laughed.

“You’re always getting worried Twilight.  You should really stop worrying about all the little details.” He kicked back, looking rather stylish in his little tuxedo. “You should follow my example, you’ll get way less stress.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“If I did things the same way you did, NOTHING would ever get done.”

“Heh, maybe.” The tiny dragon laughed.

The door to the room burst open, and Apple Jack trotted in.

“You two ready, sugar cube?”

Twilight set down her checklist.

“Yeah… I guess.”

“Alright then, let’s get going.”

The two ponies and one dragon strode out of the room.

<(^)>

The room was packed with ponies, almost bursting from the sheer number of them.  They were all excited to witness such an important ceremony.  Twilight stood next to her friends, taking in the sights around her.  Pinkie Pie was smiling ear to ear, and Rarity was refined, looking around the room in a regal fashion.  Apple Jack and Fluttershy whispered nervously, while Rainbow stood at the edge of the group, leaning her head against a stallion that she had introduced as ‘Swiftwing.’ Spike sat next to Rarity, obviously trying to catch her eye with his stylish clothing.  The white unicorn rewarded him with a smile.  Spike beamed.

Meanwhile, up at the front of the room, General Starblink stood next to Princess Luna.  He was wearing his full dress uniform, and smiling nervously at the crowd.  Luna was grinning at him, obviously pleased.  On either side of the two ponies at the front, an honor guard of several high ranking Equestrian officers stood, their ceremonial sabers in hoof.  Twilight waved at the unicorn colonel closest to herself.  Alex smiled, and gave a quick wave back, before resuming his previous position.  Suddenly, at the back of the room, a set of large double doors swung open, revealing Princess Celestia.

Twilight, who had already been smiling, felt her smile grow at the sight of her mentor.  As music began to play, the Princess walked down the center of the room, attracting the eyes of all her subjects.  Slowly, she walked up to the front, coming to stand across from Starblink.  Luna smiled at the two, and nodded at her sister.  She nodded in return, a huge smile plastered across her face.

“Today,” the princess of the night began, “we are gathered to witness the joining of two great ponies…”

Twilight smiled, glad that her mentor had finally found her very special somepony.

<(^)>

“I understand that you want to be off soon, my sister…”

Luna, after much convincing, had finally decided to drop the plural pronouns.

“I can guess that you and Starblink have… plans.”

The pegasus blushed slightly, standing next to his new wife.  Luna continued.

“But I am afraid that I have yet to fully understand something…”

“What is it Luna?”

Celestia was curious, her sister was acting strangely nervous.

“Well Tia…  It’s about the portal incident.”

The three ponies stood on one of the castle’s balconies, overlooking the rebuilt city of Canterlot.

“I’ve been doing additional research on the issue, and well…  The library has nothing.”

She looked into her sister's eyes.

“At least, the royal library has nothing.”

“I see…  I believe I know where you’re going with this.”

The white Alicorn frowned slightly, some unpleasant memories coming to mind.  Luna continued.

“That’s just it…  Tia, I need the keys to the scroll vault.”

Celestia sighed, closing her eyes.

“There are some dangerous things in those writings Luna…  are you sure that you must pursue this knowledge?”

“I am.  To remain ignorant is to remain vulnerable.  I must know, sister.”

Celestia’s eyes drifted up to her crown.  She hesitated, and then nodded.

“So be it.  Take great care, my sister.  There are some things best left forgotten.”

Celestia’s horn glowed, and slowly, a small piece of metal separated itself from her crown, and floated down to Luna.  She caught it with her own magic, tucking it under her wings.

“Thank you Tia.  I won’t let you down.”

Though she was trying to remain calm, her heart was thumping away furiously, her excitement obvious.

“Have a good night!”  With that final exclamation, she teleported away, vanishing in a flash of light.

Celestia laughed, though she felt a shade of fear for her sister.

“She’s certainly excited.  I haven’t seen her that way since her one thousandth Birthday… quite the celebration, I can assure you.”

Starblink smiled, reminded once again of the two sisters incredibly long life spans.

“Ugh…”

He groaned slightly, an odd sensation running through his wings.

“I’d really love to know what you two were just talking about, but for some reason, I keep having all these little pains.”

Celestia smiled.

“Don’t worry…  That’s actually a good sign.  You’ll feel completely normal in the morning.  Well… not normal, but you’ll feel fine.”

She draped a wing over the pegasus, who was roughly the same size as Princess Luna.  He leaned against her side, gently nuzzling her.

“For now… let’s just say it’s part of having your soul melded with the soul of an immortal, incredibly powerful being.  I’ll explain more in the morning… though I will say… you may feel taller, when you wake up.”

“Ok…” The general shook his head, confused. “Anyway… I’m getting tired.”

Celestia snuggled closer to her husband, anticipation growing within her.

“Indeed…  I’m rather worn out myself.  Who knew that getting married could be such a tiring procedure?”  She smiled, and then lowered her head, gently kissing the stallion.  Their lips parted after a few moments. “Shall we be off?”

Starblink smiled.

“I think… I think that that would be great.”

The two ponies turned, and strode into the castle.

<(^)>

The Princess of the night alighted in the ancient palace, deep within the Everfree forest.  Luna looked around at her old home.  It had been little more than a ruin, but since her return, she had ordered its repair in secret.  It had now been restored to its former glory.  Huge stained glass windows, copies of the ones in Canterlot, filled the halls.  A plush, midnight blue carpet ran through the center of the walkways, decorated with small stars and moons.

She quickly strode through the halls, eager to reach her destination.  Her hooves sank into the soft carpet on the floor.  She entered the old throne room, and paused.  She took a deep breath.  This was the place where the elements had finally cast the nightmare from her.  It took her back to a black night, over a thousand years before.

Late that night as she stood raising the moon, she was overcome with jealousy.  It had been there for years, but on that night, as she watched her subjects quickly retreat to their warm houses, it angered her.  Why should they ignore her beautiful night?  How could they be so foolish?  And while she was distracted by her own desire for respect, IT had come.  It had offered her power, and what she wanted above all else.  The love of her subjects.  In her foolishness, she had accepted the offer of the little purple cloud.  Then, in the moment of her acceptance… it had taken her mind.  She shuddered at the terrible thought.

Slowly, she pushed that old memory from her mind.  Never again.  She had sworn that to herself a million times, and yet, she never seemed satisfied.

She strode forward, and came to stand before the old table that had held the elements of harmony, or at least, the five that were known at the time.  Her horn ignited, and the great stone table slid slowly back, revealing a spiral staircase.  She descended, her heart pounding.  There was a reason the nightmare had returned to the old castle.  The elements, yes…  but there was one other thing.  She halted.

At the bottom of the staircase, a huge stone door sat, ominously locked.  Luna’s horn glowed, and the small shard of metal that her sister had given her slid out and entered the door.  With a mighty creaking sound, the door swung open.  Her horn glowed again, and a multitude of torches suddenly ignited.

The light showed a massive room, filled with shelves.  Each shelf was lined with scrolls.  Luna smiled.  Twilight would love it down here.

Without another thought, the Princess of the night strode into the room, carefully levitating over the first of the scrolls.  She took a seat at an ancient chair, blowing off the dust.  The scroll unrolled in the air before her, suspended by her magic.  The Princess smiled, and began to read.

The Eyes of Discord

The following is a segment from chapter one of this stories sequel,The Eyes of Discord  Please enjoy.

Pony, Pray the maker keep you from sleep,

When eyes of Discord begin to weep,

For all your dreams be dreams that creep,

And in the Blackness haunt you.

When open wide the eyes become,

What a foe you must overcome,

For from the eyes great evil runs,

And in the Blackness taunts you.

Across the worlds, the evil spans,

You’ll scream to think your fears began,

Not because of the twisted one’s hand…

But because the Blackness wants you.

TWO YEARS AFTER THE ORIGINAL “CONVERGENCE” INCIDENT.

(The War of Shattered Space)

<(^)>

Rainbow Dash shouted as she was thrown into a cloud pillar, propelled by a nearby blast of heat.

“Ugh!”

She rubbed her head, looking around, confusion clouding her mind.  Above her, dozens of other pegasi were flying away from the area as fast as they could, retreating into the wild blue sky above.

“What the hay?”

She looked up, a sense of dread creeping over her.  Up above her, an ominous black cloud hung, where once a beautiful cloud building had been.  A few fragments drifted down from the cloud.  Ash, a few pieces of wood, and much to her horror, charred feathers.  While she was staring at the gruesome scene, a faint thundering sound could be heard, growing nearer, and louder.

As the sound grew closer, the few ponies that were still in the area cleared away, screaming.  Rainbow heard a series of short, rapid pops, and watched as one pegasi suddenly slumped, and fell towards the ground, trailing blood behind it.  She felt the cold presence of fear enter her heart.

“Oh no…”

Her eyes shifted, following her ears to the source of the noise.  The metal beast hung in the air, its blades spinning wickedly.  The thing seemed to glare at her, almost freezing her in her spot.  Almost.  Rainbow Dash threw herself off the cloud, just as the beast fired one of its fiery projectiles forward.  The cloud exploded behind her, singing her tail, and flinging her forward, screaming the whole way.

She spread her wings, catching herself, just before she hit another cloud building.

She heard a faint voice, as if coming to her from across a great distance.

“It’s ok Dashie…”

“Huh?”

She quickly glanced around, and saw that the only other ponies in the area were fleeing as fast as they could.  The distant metal behemoth was turning now, coming to face Rainbow once again.

With a start, Rainbow Dash realized that the lumbering craft before her was not the only source of the large, throbbing noise.  She dove downward, yelling as the cloud bank behind her exploded.  The clouds parted rapidly, revealing another of the metal monstrosities.  She dove underneath of a nearby cloud, stopping briefly to catch her breath.

“What in the world are those things?” She asked nopony in particular.  Slowly, she realized she was shaking.  Above her, she could still here the screams of fleeing ponies, and the sounds of the metal beasts, mixed in with the occasional explosion.  Despite her usual confidence, she felt a cold finger of terror scrape across her back.  This was bad… very, very bad.

“It’s ok…”

Rainbow dared to peek around the cloud, afraid of what she might see.  Slowly, the hideous sight came into view.  The two things were circling through the city, sending flaming objects into the cloud structures, and any ponies unlucky enough to be in them.

“Sweet Celestia…”

Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head, transfixed by the carnage.  It was a harrowing sight.  She felt herself tremble, unsure of what to do.  Her heart thundered away in her chest, almost matching the sound of the beasts.  Suddenly, she heard that awful sound again, though this time, it came from directly below her.  She spun downward, adjusting her view.  Yet another of the wicked monsters was facing her, its wings covered with weapons.

“I’ve got you, it’s all right…”

Rainbow Dash screamed as a small projectile whizzed past her, chopping through the cloud at her back.  Furiously beating her wings, she zipped off in between two rows of buildings, afraid to look back.  She had no need to:  her ears confirmed her suspicions.  The metal giant was following her.

Around her, the buildings burst into flames.  She could feel the heat singe her fur, and her mane.  Ahead of her, she could see the massive Cloudaseum.  She flew towards the structure, hoping that its great walls would shield her.

“Dashie, it’s all ok…”

Zipping through the open archways, Rainbow entered to middle of the arena, and stopped cold.  In front of her, barely a hundred feet away, one of the beasts hovered, its cool metal surface gleaming in the sunlight.  Quickly, she jerked to the right, but stopped dead in her tracks.  Another of the monsters was hovering there as well, creeping slowly towards her.  She gulped, and then swung to face her old left.  She groaned as she saw another of the things slide into place.

Rainbow didn’t even bother to look behind her, she could see the reflection glinting on the monstrosity before her.  She was totally surrounded.  She felt like her heart was bursting out of her chest, as she was completely transfixed in fear.  She tried to climb, get up above the things, but she felt as though her wings were made of lead.

“Oh no!”

The things got closer to her.

“It’s alright Dashie…”

Small flaming projectiles separated themselves from the accursed metal creations, all flying towards her.

“NO!” She screamed, her heart pounding, her entire body shaking with terror.  Still, her wings were frozen, refusing to beat.

The little demons closed in on her.

“It’s ok…”

With a huge, searing heat, they exploded around her, burning her fur, nocking loose dozens of her feathers, and sending her plummeting to the ground, far, far below.  He mouth was curled open in a scream of pain, a trail of fire behind her.  The ground rushed up to meet her.

“NOOOO!!!”

“It’s all going to be ok…”

<(^)>

Rainbow’s eyes snapped open, her chest heaving, her entire body shaking.  A soft voice was whispering in her ear, its source half an inch from the side of her head.

“It’s ok Dashie, I’ve got you.”

Rainbow suddenly realized that she was wrapped in strong forelegs, and soft wings.  She glanced around herself for a moment, still afraid for her life.

              She was in her bed, the sheets covering all of her body except for her head.  The room was dark, and the clock on the wall read three in the morning.  As far as she could tell, she was uninjured.  The voice came again, though this time from beneath her.

“It’s ok… it’s ok.”

She looked down, locking on to the source of the voice.  Slowly, she stopped trembling.  Her breath caught for a second, and then she felt a few tears escape her eyes, running down her face.  She dove her head down, snuggling against the stallion that held her in his strong embrace.  She reached down around him, wrapping him in her forehooves.  Slowly, she unfurled her wings, feeling the feathers brush against the bed sheets, and then wrapped them around the pony that she lay on.  Though she was now completely awake, he continued to whisper.

“It’s alright, you’re safe, I’ve got you…”

Tenderly, he stroked her mane, comforting the disturbed mare.  Little by little, she regained her composure, and raised her head, looking into her husband’s eyes.

“Thanks Swifty.”

Swiftwing smiled, and then hugged her more tightly against himself. “Are you alright Dashie?  That was one heck of a nightmare.”

She inhaled quickly, remembering the dream. “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.  Sorry I woke you.”

He shook his head.

“Are you kidding me?  I’m glad you woke me.  You’re lucky I was here.  You were shaking so bad, and you nearly rolled off the bed.  I barely managed to grab you, I mean, I was still half asleep and all.”

“I… I guess.”

Rainbow was frustrated with herself for having the repeated nightmares, and even more annoying, they were getting worse, and more common, not sparser.  She felt like a filly, still traumatized by the event that had happened two years ago.  Still… she had to admit, waking up in Swiftwing’s gentle embrace sure beat the crap out of waking up alone, and finding that she’d managed to roll off the bed, taking the sheets with her.

“I’m just glad that I can repay the favor…”

Swiftwing’s voice sounded in her ears once more.  Rainbow groaned, thinking back over the past few weeks.  They had been exceptionally good, with Swiftwing getting a promotion in the royal guard, and Rainbow receiving more and more interest from the Wonderbolts.  It almost seemed as though the entire world had turned in their favor, ever since their wedding, six weeks earlier.  Well, the entire world, except for one, tiny detail:  The fact that they were both plagued by their old memories, haunted by the ghosts of the past.

Some nights were blissfully calm, but that scarcely happened.  More often than not, one of the two woke up in the others strong embrace, screaming loud enough to raise the dead.  She was glad that Tank slept outside, otherwise the tortoise would probably have gone deaf by now.

Rainbow Dash sighed, and then carefully pulled herself up, heaving herself over to lie beside the pegasus stallion.  He turned with her, maintaining his embrace.  She snuggled against him, afraid to go back to sleep, not wanting the monsters of her own imagination to return.

“Swifty… I’m scared.  I feel like I can’t even sleep anymore.  Why does this keep happening to us?  It’s making me feel so stupid…”

“I don’t know Dashie… I don’t know.”

Gently, Swiftwing pressed his lips against hers.  After a few moments, he was about to pull back, when he felt her pull herself closer, pressing against him.  He moaned softly, and tightened his grip on her body.  The two ponies snuggled against each other, enjoying the other’s presence.

Three - The Return

Andrew Nickelson, President of the United States of America, sat among mounds of paper work in the oval office.  He flicked his eyes over a new bill, which was surprisingly less than one thousand pages, before slamming a “veto” stamp down onto it. “Morons…” Nickelson whispered to himself, before tossing the stack of paper onto the right side of the desk.  Nickelson looked down to his belt as his pager beeped, “Yes?”

“Mr. President, Senator Bill Johnson from Nevada is here to see you.”

The president smiled, Bill was one of the few senators in the house that wasn’t either against him, or a complete idiot.  He could afford to take a break from his paper prison to have an intelligent conversation.

“Very well, send him up!”

“Yes Mr. President.”

Nickelson pushed aside mount paper-est so that he would have a clear view of the senator, when he arrived.  A minute later, the door to the office opened, and Senator Johnson stepped into the room.

“Bill!  I’m glad to see you!  I must say, your visit is a bit of a surprise!”

“Mr. President, as always, it’s a pleasure to speak with you.” Bill seated himself across from the President.  The senator

then opened a brief case that he had brought with him, and removed a laptop.

“I brought a surprise with me.”

The Senator spun the laptop to face the President.  Nickelson reached forward, and pulled the computer across the desk, eyeing the screen with interest.

“What is this?”

“It’s a report I received half an hour ago from General Anderson, the commanding officer of Nellis Air Force base.”

The President rapidly read through the report.  His eyes grew wider as he neared the bottom.  Slowly, the President sat back.  Seeing that Nickelson was done reading, Senator Johnson spoke;

“It looks like this is the Deus ex machina we’ve been waiting for.”

“This place… it’s inhabited?”

“Yes, we did a bit of recon, and the locals are primitive, at least compared to us.  They shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“All that land… untapped resources… nobody knows about this, correct?”

“Just us, the Director of the CIA, and the personal of Nellis A-F-B.”

“Well, it looks like we’re gonna be able to pay off those forty trillion bucks after all.”

The President reached over to his pager.

“Get me Andrews Air Force base, I think it’s about time I took a trip to Nevada.”

“Yes sir, Mr. President.”

<(^)>

Alex heard knocking on the finely carved wooden door.  He quickly walked over to it, tugging it open.  In front of him stood a lavender unicorn.  The pony swept its eyes over Alex, and then cleared its throat.

“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, a personal protégé of Princess Celestia, are you Alex?”

Alex nodded.

“Good, it’s nice to meet you, may I come in?”

Alex stepped aside, making room for Twilight, “of course.”

Twilight smiled.

“Thank you,” she trotted past him, and Alex closed the door.  Twilight turned back to face Alex;

“I’ve been asked by the Princess to inquire more about your world, and give you some information on ours," Twilight paused for a moment, "is now a good time?”

“Sure,” Alex spoke as he moved to sit in one of the room’s several chairs.

“Good,” Twilight sat down opposite of him.

“What would you like to know?” Alex asked.  It had seemed to Alex that Twilight had barely been containing herself from asking questions, and this theory was soon confirmed.

“Honestly?  Everything!” Twilights eyes lit up. “I mean, nothing like this has ever happened before, ever!  How does your world work?  What is that machine that you came here in?  What is your culture?  Sciences?  History?  It’s literally, a whole world of knowledge.”

Alex smiled; at least he wasn’t the only geek in this new world.  Alex quickly began to talk.  Twilight stared with wonder at Alex as he spoke, absorbing the information.  Alex spoke about Earth, its history, human technology, and recent world events.  In turn, Twilight told Alex about Equestria, the Princesses, and magic.  The two stayed up long into the night, sharing information about their respective planets.  By the end of the night Alex had learned many things.  Among them was the fact that he had at least one friend here in Equestria.

<(^)>

Alex woke up to pounding on his door.  Quickly, he slipped into his jump suit, and ran to the main room of the guest suite.  He opened the door, and found James, Princess Celestia, and two royal guards waiting for him.  The Princess spoke;

“Alex, we have discovered the portal that has connected our worlds; we believe that several of your countrymen have as well.”

Alex perked up, “Really, are there any plans to make contact?”

“That’s why I had to rouse you and James.  It appears that your country is massing a force on the other side of the portal.  I need you both to fly back and defuse the situation before somepony does something rash.”

James stepped forward.  Alex noticed that he was once more wearing his belt with the handgun and combat knife, and was holding Alex’s.

“Alright buddy, you heard the lady, we’re scrambling in ten minutes.”

Alex accepted the belt from James, and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.  A few minutes later, the two men were back in the cockpit of the Strike Eagle, going over preflight checks.

“Master power switch, on, electronics are coming online.  Fuel is good to go; engines are green, closing canopy… now.”

The canopy dropped down onto the jet, covering the crew in a glass bubble.  Several platoons of royal guards were clearing the main street, making room for the Strike Eagle to take off.  Two Pegasus, unburdened by armor, stood on either side of the jet.  They were supposed to lead the F-15E to the Portal.  Alex glanced back at Princess Celestia, who was standing next to Twilight at the edge of the courtyard.  He raised his hand in a salute.  The Princess smiled back at him.

“Alex, you good to go back there buddy?”

“Ready to fly, over.”

James pushed forward on the throttle.  The F-15’s massive engines roared, causing the temperature in the courtyard to rise.  The fighter began to accelerate down the stone street.  Alex glanced up, and to his surprise, the Pegasus were actually keeping up with the fighter.  James waited until the fighter hit one hundred and twenty knots, and then pulled back on the stick.  The fighter leapt into the air, and began to make the journey home.

<(^)>

“Jackpot, this is Air Force One, were requesting permission to land, over.”

“Copy that Air Force One, you are cleared to land, and welcome to Nellis, over.”

The Belly of Air force one split open in several locations as landing gear began to emerge.  The air space around Nellis had become a busy place in the past several hours, with C-5 and C-17 transport planes constantly arriving with equipment and soldiers from different parts of the country.  However, for the moment, the air traffic controllers at Nellis were only worried about one plane in particular.  The Jumbo jet quickly touched down at the base, and taxied off the runway.  A convoy of Humvees pulled up next to the idling jet, and a staircase was extended to the door.  With a hiss, the door opened.  President Nickelson stepped out into the open air, smiling at the warm Nevada sun that beat down on him.  He quickly sized up the military force gathered at the base.  His smile grew.  Things were moving faster than even he had dared to hope.

<(^)>

Colonel Ryan once more sat in the E-3 AWACs, high above the Nevada desert.  His radar screen was a buzz of activity, with flights coming in from all over the country, and helicopters ferrying equipment to a staging area just short of the crater.  Suddenly, a new aircraft began to transmit in the area.

“… One, is anyone reading this?”

Ryan saw a new contact appear of his screen, just above the crater.  He activated his radio;

“Attention unidentified aircraft, this is United States Air Force AWAC 311, call sign Magic, Please identify yourself.”

“Oh thank God!  Magic, this is Striker one one, we need you to direct us to Nellis AFB, we are way low on gas, over.”

Ryan would have fallen out of his chair if he hadn’t been strapped into it.

Ten - The changing

Major Hamilton touched down on the mountainside overlooking the city.  His chute spread over the rocky landscape, billowing in the wind.  Quickly, he unstrapped his parachute, as to avoid being blown away.  He looked down at the city.  A large neighborhood burned, though the majority of the place was still in one piece.  Even as he watched, buildings seemed to be engulfed in multi colored glows, and then stop burning.  Hamilton looked up at the now distant speck that was Tango 5, the last surviving aircraft of the squadron.

Hamilton felt slightly perturbed at bombing a city, but now that the enemy had at least shot back, things were even.  Just keep telling yourself that crap Ham…  He shuddered at the sight of his squad mates planes.  He knew that none of them had managed to bail out, and there was no chance they had survived the crashes… at least, he thought so.  He glanced at the burning piles, dispersed over thousands of yards.  He thought out loud.

“Six and two collided, so no chance there…”

Then he turned to face the distant wreck that symbolized Tango three.

“But maybe there is hope for you yet, Trevor.”

Hamilton started running towards the distant wreckage.

<(^)>

“Jackpot, this is Tango 5, squad mates are down, repeat, my squad is down, I need you to scramble a rescue chopper.”

“Tango 5, this is Jackpot, can you confirm?  Your squad is down?”

“All other Tango elements are destroyed, but I saw the Major bail out, over.”

“Dang it… I thought this was supposed to be easy.  You got two Blackhawks fitted for rescue ops inbound.”

<(^)>

“Alex, I think we may need you.”

“Need help with the fire?”

“No, a pegasus soldier just confirmed that one of the pilots managed to get out.  He’s in good condition, and probably armed, so we don’t want to just run up to him.  We thought that we could take you to him, see if you can talk to him.”

“What about James and Jonathan?”

“Jonathan and James are both busy with that sulfur and whatnot… They’ll come but they need to finish up first.”

Alex sighed, then looked at the messenger that was talking to him.  He checked his handgun.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

The pony kneeled.

“Ok, get on my back.”

<(^)>

Hamilton ran up to the cockpit of the burning jet.  The glass was shattered, and blood was everywhere.  Carefully, avoiding any jagged edges, Hamilton raised himself up to look at Trevor, the pilot.  Blood stained his uniform, and he lay lifeless in his seat.

“Dang…”

Hamilton breathed, lowering himself from the plane, knowing the fire would soon reach the fuel.  He turned to leave.  Before he could take his first step, Hamilton heard a gargled cough from behind him.  He spun around.

“Dear God…”

Hamilton leapt up onto the plane once more, ignoring the jagged metal that bit into his skin.  He grabbed the pilot by his shoulders.

“Trevor!  Dear God, don’t let ‘em die!  Trevor, stay with me!”

Trevor’s breath came in short gasps, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.  Hamilton glanced at the flames that were slowly creeping up the A-10’s twisted fuselage.  He fumbled with Trevor’s restraints, before cursing and drawing his knife.  He slit through the stubborn fabric, and gingerly lifted Trevor from the cockpit.  Trevor groaned as a shard of glass slit his leg.  The fire crept nearer, crackling like cruel laughter as it consumed the aircraft.  Hamilton began dragging his comrade away from the jet.

Trevor screamed as his torn body was hauled across the ground.  The jet exploded.  A piece of shrapnel tore the fabric of Hamilton’s uniform, and he felt his eyebrows singe.  The two men dropped to the ground.

Hamilton grabbed his radio, frantically calling.

“Attention, anyone that can hear me, this is Tango four, my squad mate is freaking torn up!  I need a medevac!”

“Tango four, this is Blackhawk three zero one, call sign Hermes, can you identify your location?”

“Hermes!  We’re up on the mountain overlooking hostile main city, about fifty yards from a burning A-10.”

“Roger that Tango four, do you have your transponder beacon?”

“Yes, switching on now.”

“Rolling in hot, ETA is five minutes.”

“Freaking hurry dang it!  My man is going to freaking die if you don’t get here soon!”

<(^)>

Alex gripped the pegasus, holding on for dear life.  The mountain side rushed up at them quickly, and Alex’s attention was drawn to the two small figures taking cover behind some rocks.  He pointed, and the pegasus nodded.  Swooping down, he dropped Alex about a hundred yards behind the men, and then folded his wings.

“Thanks Bluebolt.”

The pegasus shifted.

“No problem… Colonel.”

Alex turned and began walking towards the two other men.  He soon saw why they hadn’t noticed his arrival; the one man was trying to bandage the other, who seemed to be losing a dangerous amount of blood.

“Can I help you with that?”

The man was startled, whirling around to face Alex.  His hand dropped to his side arm.  Alex proceeded towards him without giving any indication of noticing the man’s reaction.  He kneeled beside the wounded soldier, and quickly cut a bandage from his sleeve.

“Who are you?”

“Alex.”

“Where did you come from?”

Alex gestured behind them, to where Bluebolt was still waiting.  The man gasped slightly, before nodding.

“And who are you?”

The man hesitated.

“My name is Fredrick Hamilton.”

Alex fastened the sleeve around one of Trevor’s legs, which was badly torn.

“Nice to meet you Fredrick.  I would offer you my hand, but I’m afraid that it is a little bloody right now.”

“Likewise, Alex.”

The man thought for a moment.

“How long have you been here?  This world, I mean?”

“Oh, about two days, three if you count... never mind, not too long.”

“How did you get here?”

“I was RIO on the first strike.  After a slight, um, inner conflict, we landed in the city.”

Hamilton looked confused.

“The first strike had no losses, and it was made by Apaches, not anything that requires a RIO.”

“Oh, so they covered that up too?  The real first strike was a complete failure, made by four F-15s.  Only one of them is still intact.”

“The other three?”

Alex spoke softly.

“Helped shoot down two of them myself.”

“What…”

“You know that what the President is trying to pull off right now is wrong Hamilton.  I bet you’ve known that since you were given the assignment.  Just didn’t think you could do anything about it.”

“I…”

Hamilton was interrupted as two Blackhawks flew overhead, then circled around to land just a few yards away.  Four marines bearing a stretcher quickly leapt from one of the birds, sprinting towards the three men.  Alex stood and backed away while they loaded Trevor onto the stretcher.

Another Marine came and motioned to Alex and Hamilton.

“Huh, thought you said there were only two of you.  Anyway, come on, let’s get the heck out of here.”

The Marines and Hamilton took off towards the chopper, Trevor in tow.  As they loaded Trevor onboard, the marine that had motioned to him turned back to Alex.

“What, you planning on staying the night?  Come on, let’s get a move on!”

Alex simply turned and started walking away.  The marine was about to shout again, when Hamilton grabbed him and whispered something, motioning towards the city.  The marine raised his rifle and shouted at Alex.

“Sir!  I need to you to come with us, now!”

Alex slowly turned, his hands raised.  Suddenly, Bluebolt flew out from behind several boulders.  The marine turned and fired a burst, barely missing the pegasus.  Alex opened his mouth, shouting.

“No!”

Alex began to raise his handgun.

The marine swung to face Alex, and pulled the trigger.  A hail of bullets swept across Alex’s chest, knocking him to the ground.  Alex helplessly squeezed the trigger as he fell, the bullet flying uselessly through the air.  Alex lay still.  The Blackhawks lifted off from the mountainside, leaving the man behind them.

Bluebolt soared up to Alex.

“No, Colonel, No!”

“Bluebolt…”

Alex said weakly.  Bluebolt managed to get underneath the limp body, getting him on his Back.  He felt warm blood trickle

through his coat.  Weakly, Alexs hands grasped Bluebolt.  Bluebolt spread his wings, and dove towards Canterlot.

<(^)>

“Can’t you use your stupid magic or something!  He’s going to freaking die!”

James slammed his fists against the wall.  Celestia tried to comfort the human.

“I can’t just cast a spell on him, your anatomy is different than ours… I might do more harm than help.  Trust me when I tell you that our doctors are doing all that they can.”

Celestia guiltily looked at the mangled man on the operating table.  Despite her words, James had spoken true.  Alex was dying.

“James…” the voice barely croaked.

“I’m here buddy, but don’t push yourself!”

“I… you have to stop Nickelson.  Whatever it takes.  Promise me.”

“I swear buddy, but you aren’t done yet, just hang in there!”

At that moment the door burst open, and a very concerned Twilight ran into the room.  Celestia looked at Twilight.  Twilight…  Celestia’s mind raced back to where she and Twilight had been when James and Alex had arrived.

“Twilight!”

Alex’s breathing was growing weaker.

“Yes princess?”

The lavender unicorn looked horrified at the sight of Alex.  Celestia saw the rest of the elements of harmony peak through

the door behind her.

“Twilight, your spell!  The one you were explaining to me!  You have to use your spell!  On Alex!”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide.

“But that will make…”

  “He’s going to die!  He barely has a minute left!  There’s no time, Twilight, quickly!”

Twilight gulped, and then turned towards the bloodied human.

Blood gurgled from his mouth, and he had lost consciousness.

Perhaps that’s for the best.  She thought.

Carefully, she braced herself, and then lowered her horn.  It glowed brilliantly, and James stepped back from the table.  As Alex’s chest fell, seemingly for the last time, a brilliant beam of magenta energy slammed into his body.  The light in the room grew to blinding, and James felt heat on his skin.  As his vision returned, James gasped.

<(^)>

“The whole deal with the president is of course of concern to me, but unfortunately, due to the relatively small amount of equipment and aircraft we have on hand here, we can’t do much.”

General Quentin looked at Ryan, trying to get him to understand the situation.

“But without support, we can hardly do anything!”

Ryan shouted, frustrated with the General.

“We can’t just count on the men already there, their all so afraid and weirded out that most of them will obey orders just because it’s something familiar.  You can’t do nothing!”

The General smiled.

“I believe that you misunderstood the statement, I said that we don’t have much at this base.  However…  I do have a few favors I can call in…”

Ryan stared at the General as he reached for a phone and kicked his feet up on the desk.  Quentin dialed, then stuck the phone to his ear.  Ryan could hear the line on the other end ringing, then:

“Hello?”

The General smiled.

“Hey Admiral, its Quentin, how’s everything going?”

“Quentin!  Nice to hear from you.  Things are going fine over here, how are things on your end?”

“Ok, ok, but interestingly enough, I just received news about that guy that you had some colorful things to say about last election year.”

Ryan smiled as he heard the response.

“What has the moron done this time?”

<(^)>

Am I dead? Alex wondered to himself.  It was an odd question, since felt more alive than he had ever been.  Still, who was to say how being dead felt?  Slowly, though he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, he heard voices.  He realized that one of them belonged to James.  Definitely not dead then…

Alex tried to open his eyes, though for some reason, he felt as though his forehead weighed a million pounds.  All that weight seemed to be crushing down on his eyelids.  He managed to force them open.

“Ssshhh… he’s awake.”

Alex groaned.

“Do you feel ok?”

Alex turned his head to look at the speaker, Twilight.  How do I feel?

“I feel… good.  You guys certainly must be good medics, considering how many bullets that was and all.  I feel great actually, but… I don’t know, I feel, different too, but maybe I’m just imagining things.”

He stopped for a second, and then reconsidered.

“Actually, I totally feel different, not bad… but… oh wait, am I not wearing clothes?”

Alex realized he couldn’t feel anything on his body.  He sighed, and then looked at his expectantly bare body.  Alex froze, completely stunned.  The body he looked down on was not his.  Or at least, it wasn’t his old body.  A gray coat now covered his entire form, and a long, light green tail trailed off from his hindquarters.  He was most certainly no longer human.  Alex started trembling, and his breath came in short gasps.

“I… I’m…”

“I’m so sorry!”

Twilight broke in, her voice tinged with regret.

“I tried to restore you to your original form, but I just didn’t know about your makeup, where all the organs go…  You were dying, and I only had a few seconds!  I’m so sorry…”

Twilight quivered.

Slowly, Alex nodded, still trembling.  Then, carefully, he moved one of his arms up to his face.  He slowly marveled at the hoof that now graced the end of his arm, as opposed to the hand that had previously been there.  It was strange, but it felt almost as dexterous as his hand had been.  Alex suddenly remembered the weight on his forehead.  Carefully, he reached upward.  His hand- hoof, Alex silently corrected himself, hit a hard, cone shaped object that jetted forward from his head.

Alex strained his eyes and looked up.  Sure enough, sticking out from amongst a light green mane, he had a horn.  It was gray, just like the majority of his body.

“I’m… I’m a… Unicorn?”

The statement stunned him, yet it appeared to be true.  Suddenly, Celestia entered his field of vision and smiled.

“It certainly appears so.”

“How did I… change?”

Twilight, seeing that Alex was only stunned and shocked, not furious, hesitantly began to explain.

“Well… you were so torn up, and recently, I’ve been working on this one spell…”

Twilight sighed.

“The spell is designed to do virtually anything that involves rearranging the makeup of an object.  The only problem is, although you can change something that you don’t know the makeup of, you have to know the makeup of the end product.  I don’t have enough knowledge about your species anatomy… so I didn’t have a choice.  I had to turn you… into a pony.  I can understand if you’re mad at me.”

Alex was finally beginning to process the information, the initial shock slowly wearing off.

“I’m not mad at you Twilight.  I’m not mad at anyone, except maybe the guy who shot me.  You saved my life.  Even if I am a little… shocked at the moment.”

Alex slowly exhaled.

“But, you said that you can change anything?  That means that if we were to give you enough information on humans, you could change me back right?”

Twilight shifted uneasily.

“Well… there is a slight complication… The energy that is exerted on molecules to rearrange them like that…  Well… it isn’t natural.”

Alex looked at Twilight, his green mane falling in his face, partially obscuring his view.

“What… what does that mean?”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“If you use the spell on the same molecule more than once… it completely destroys it.”

Alex slowly slid off the operating table, and landed on the floor, unsteady on his four legs.

“So you’re saying that I’m going to be a… um… unicorn…”

Twilight grimly nodded.

“Forever.”

Author's Note

Alright, so that was fun, wasn't it?  If you're reading this, then you have somehow managed to survive an incredibly rambling, crazy story from an insane author.  I know that I certainly enjoyed it.

Now, For all the great things about Convergence.... there are some not so great things.  The outline for it, literally, was this:

Weapons test, Alex and James in Equestria, Nickelson attacks, ... Idk, shipping?  Equestria gets but kicked, then gets help from naval air force.  Portal destroyed.  Epilogue.

Yeah.  That's just sad.  Just imagine those words scribbled in messy handwriting on a piece of notebook paper.  Alot of stuff was therefore unplanned, and done spur of the moment.  For instance, Alex getting ponified... that was originaly planned for the last chapter.  The story was originally structured very different.  I think that not having an outline sort of caused me to write it rather sloppily.

Thankfully, I have some really great news!  My new Fic, that I'm starting to write, has an outline that is almost as big as one of the chapters!  I personally think that its a huge improvement over this one.  Oh, and there is something about this new fic that I should mention...  Its the sequel to Convergence.  Surprise!  The sequel will be called.

"The Eyes of Discord."

Other than that, I'm not saying much, other than it will probably have the first chapter posted in three weeks, and that I am going to give you guys a bit of a teaser for it... here you go.  This is the first thing that you'll see when you start reading the story.  It is a bit of a reference to the teen fantasy novel"On the Edge of the Dark sea of Darkness," (which can be found HERE) but it is still pretty original.  Anyway, I hope that you enjoy!

And By the way, Thanks for reading.  - Pelicandude

Pony, Pray the maker keep you from sleep,

When eyes of Discord begin to weep,

For all your dreams be dreams that creep,

And in the Blackness haunt you.

When open wide the eyes become,

What a foe you must overcome,

For from the eyes great evil runs,

And in the Blackness taunts you.

Across the worlds, the evil spans,

You’ll scream to think your fears began,

Not because of the twisted one’s hand…

But because the Blackness wants you.