Journey To A New Home

"A vision? A vision of what?" I was befuddled. Visions usually indicated foresight of some kind, either by precognition or something along those lines.

"Well, magic works in mysterious ways in this land. It is a chance that the harmonious magic that emanates from this city and the world in general picked up on your inner turmoils and acted in a manner that would ease and remove those negative feelings. By the looks of this, it acted by granting you a realistic dialogue with those you are close to; your fellow pilots. It is not the first time I've seen this kind of magical interaction with the mind, but it is fairly rare." Strangely enough, what she said made sense from a logical point of view. "I wouldn't worry about it too much though, that's just the nature of magic. Think of it as a step above a lucid dream."

"No wonder you're considered the master of dreams. You have an answer for almost everything. Maybe you should be a part-time psychiatrist when being a ruler gets too dry for you." I let out a particularly big yawn, and remember that it is still night and I still have sleep to catch up on. "I appreciate your help Luna, I really do." I stand up to leave, as does Luna. With a final goodnight, we part ways and I make my way back to my room, dwelling on what she had told me...

"Morning guys," said the pilot as he walked into the mess hall for breakfast. After grabbing a tray, he sat down with his two fellow pilots. "I had the weirdest dream last night. I guess all these g's are taking toll on my mind. What do you think, Kei?"

"I know how you feel, I also had the weirdest dream. Grimm here also had one. He was about to share it with me before you arrived though." She gave Blaze a small smile as she turned her attention back to her food.

"I bet mine was weirder than both of yours combined." Grimm piped up, his brows furrowed.

"Well, unless it involved the three of us talking to Chopper from beyond the grave, don't count on it." Two sets of cutlery dropped to the table as two sets of eyes widened and focused on Blaze, who's face now registered a mix of shock and confusion. "Wait, you're telling me you both had the same dream?" Both Nagase and Grimm nodded slowly, leaving Blaze legitimately confused. "What was the last thing he said to me?"

"Bring them home." Both pilots answered at the same time. Blaze just leant back in his seat as he soaked this revelation in. What were the odds of the three of them having the same dream at the same time? Shaking his head, Blaze decided to change topic onto the coming mission, the details of which he received shortly after waking.

"Okay then... now, today we'll be ferrying over to Yuktobania in preparation for Operation Footprint, our contribution to the assault on Cruik Fortress..."

I woke to the sound of curtains being opened, shortly before a bright light assaulted my face and filtered through my closed eyes. With a groan, I rolled to escape the light and tried to fall back asleep.

"Sorry Chopper but we've got to return back to Ponyville this afternoon." The voice of Twilight Sparkle foiled my attempts, and sounded far too cheery for this time of morning.

"Damn Twilight, if we're leaving this afternoon, did you have to wake me up this early? Can't a guy sleep in?" I groaned as I sat up in my bed and rubbed my face.

"Well, I've scheduled for us to take a tour around Canterlot, a walk around here might do you some good. That and it's been a while since I've paid a visit to my parents." She turned and smiled at me. I swear, if smiles could be used as weapons, they would be on par with a JDAM bomb; variable payload, precision guided and very effective at destroying entrenched positions. Like me in my comfortable bed.

"When do we leave?" I sighed as I swung my legs out of the bed and onto the cool marble floor.

As we walked through the town, I couldn't help but soak in the sights. It was like walking through the King's Castle in Gracemeria; just on a much larger scale. Everything was remarkably clean, the passers-by were pleasant and the atmosphere was calm. I think I stopped seven times to gawk at different statues and landmarks, much to Twilight's chagrin.

"At this rate, Chopper, we'll have to turn around and get our things for the train." She said to me after the seventh stoppage, taking my hand and leading me away as if I were a disobedient or distracted child.

"Like I said Twilight, I've never seen anything like th-" I stopped as I caught glimpse of a pair of guards walking up the pathway towards us. I had seen a number of guards ever since my arrival, and they always fascinated me. After talking with Twilight about the guards, the old bronze plate armour was worn for ceremonial purposes mostly, with guards using equipment and uniforms similar to what ground troops or police officers would wear for day-to-day duties. The two guards approaching us however looked different. They both were wearing flight-suits, as they were both pegasai types in the air-guard, adorned with identification patches and a patch on their left arm that must have been a recreation of their marks.

It was the mark of the left flyer that caught my eye instantly; I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It was one of the more ambiguous marks I've seen, but I didn't need to know the owner of the mark to understand what it was. The mark was a ribbon in a figure eight, half blue and half dark grey. While abstract, it was the representation of what was called a Möbius band, a shape that is non-orientable, having no inside or outside surface and no top or bottom. Sure, it was nothing special on its own, but it was where it was used and where I saw it last that made it special.

This flyer's mark was identical to the mark used by one of the most revered aces in recent history: Mobius One.

"Chopper, what is it?" Twilight pulled me from my stupor, and I looked at her with my trademarked confused expression.

"Thought I saw something from my world... I'll tell you about it later, let's get to your folk's place." Twilight just gave me a look before we continued our walk. Before long we arrived at the front door of a rather ordinary house; two floors, brick construction with tiled roof, well kept garden and yard, and a letter box with the family name written on it. It was rather cliché in a way, given the resemblance to the stereotypical family home back on Earth.

Twilight started to knock on the door, and on the third tap the door swung open, leaving Twlight's closed fist in the air where the door used to be. In its place now stood a rather tall man, or stallion to use the correct terminology, with a blue coat of fur and darker blue hair that was combed and parted to one side. I caught a glimpse of his stern expression before he registered the sight of Twilight, and his face instantly lit up.

"Twilight! How good to see you!" He exclaimed as he stepped forward to embrace her. This must have been her father.

"It's good to see you too Dad!" Yep, definitely her father. "Is Mom home?"

"Of course, she's in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast. Did she know you were coming?"

"No, we just happened to be in town visiting the Princess and thought we might take this chance to pay you a visit. I hope I'm not interrupting or anything?"

"Of course not! Actually, Shining and Cadence are here as well. Shining's just returned from some exercises with the Royal Guard, wanted to get a properly cooked meal after a few weeks in the field." I watched Twilight's eyes light up at the mention of this 'Shining' person; he was most likely an older sibling of hers. "So, are you two going to stand out here or are you coming in?"

No sooner had I been introduced to the rest of Twilight's family, I had found myself seated across from Brigadier General Shining Armour, 'Captain of the Guard'. The title associated with the rank really threw me for a loop, but after a quick clarification, I understood that he was technically senior to me. The fact that he made Brigadier General and was younger than me, while I was only a Lieutenant Colonel through a posthumous promotion, was what still had me confused. Sure, he was married to a Princess, but that doesn't really explain how someone so young could have an entire military unit under his command. Then I was told that the Royal Guard were akin to a national police and law enforcement organisation with the side job of protecting the leadership of the nation, a cross between the Osean Federal Police and the Osean Secret Service, but also a separate arm in the overall military order-of-battle, meaning they were alongside the Army, Navy and such.

Yeah, it was still confusing even after the third explanation. Realising that it would take a lot more information for it to sink into my mind, we changed topic to my service history. Seeing as he was also military, I didn't have to hold back as much as I thought when I shared with him stories about my training and missions, as well as recent history, much like I had shared with Twilight. He was a little sceptical about how far our technology had progressed, but accepted it when I said that magic and the like that I had seen here was non-existent back on Earth. It was talking about some of the other aces in my recent history when I was reminded about what I saw earlier today.

"Hey, this will seem a little off-topic, but would you happen to know about a flier that has a azure mane, and has a blue and white ribbon as their mark?" I watched as Shining's arms widened a little in recognition.

"Oh, that must have been Major Sky Twister of the Flight Corps. Despite the massive amount of peace we've had, he's considered one of our top aces, the stallion has earned dozens of kills on exercises we've held both internally and externally with our allies. He's looking to transfer to the Wonderbolt Flight Display Squadron, change of pace from a combat posting. He's pretty well known both in our own corps and overseas, to the point where he has the nickname of "The Ribbon". Why?"

"Well, his mark is practically an exact copy of an insignia patch of a famous fighter squadron back on my world, ISAF's One-Hundred-And-Eighteenth Tactical Fighter Squadron "Mobius". It's squadron leader was a pilot only known "Mobius One". And it just so happens that his nickname was also "The Ribbon"."

"That's really... interesting actually. Two combat aviators with the same mark, same kind of notoriety, and same nickname... but on two different worlds." Shining scratched at his head as I thought of what I might have missed. I jolted upright as I remembered a critical detail.

"Oh, thing is, Mobius One supposedly disappeared after his final mission during Operation Katina. Official word is that he received a 'Very Honourable Discharge' and moved from North Point to Faxa Bay in Wellow, which was five years ago. Rumour was that he got sick of the military lifestyle and moved to a peaceful country. How long as this Major been a part of the Flight Corps again?"

"Well, about five years, not counting time spent in academy and training. Rose through the ladder really quickly for a pony his age, too quick come to think of it..." I leant back in my chair, letting our discussion sink in. I shook my head and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking things, it's not the first time that I've seen stuff similar to my world here, and it probably won't be the last..."

Twilight and I arrived back at Ponyville early that evening, after spending a few hours with her family. We would have spent longer, but I couldn't help but be reminded of my own family and how I left them behind when I 'died'. Twilight picked up on this and made the decision to leave early, citing that we had to make our way back to the castle and get our things for the train.

It was good to be back in Ponyville though; Canterlot made this town feel very small and quiet, and in a good way. After all I'd been through, I could use some peace and quiet for once. After a small supper, Twilight decided to call it a night. I didn't feel tired and wanted to get a few things off my mind. I asked if she had some spare paper or something that I could use to write some things down; she happily obliged, suggesting that I could write down accounts of my missions and other memories for 'research purposes'.

Yeah right, I kind of saw through that suggestion. I'm sure she just wanted something new to read and absorb into her all-knowing mind. Still, documenting my past did seem like a good idea. Now I just faced the problem of where to start: I could barely remember what I did when I was a child, and my senior schooling years weren't that interesting. Basic training and my life at the Air Force Academy was fairly dry, and it wasn't until my posting to Sand Island where things started getting interesting.

Guess that's where I should start...