Journey To A New Home

I started feeling this major case of déjà vu as time slowed down. Celestia's simple statement had sent my mind into full afterburner, trying to make sense of the fact that she had actually reached my world. But as I thought about it, she had only said that she 'reached it', not necessarily said that she could send me back. I tried to form a coherent response to her, but all I was able to get through my mind was:

"What?"

Ten points for originality there.

"My sister and I have used parts of your aircraft that had strong magical residue, namely the nosecone and engine intakes as you explained in your discussions with Twilight, and were able to use the energy signature in combination with a locator and viewer spell to see into your world. After further refinement, we are now able to view up to a month's worth of past events, up to the current day in both our worlds." Her tone dropped slightly as she stepped down from her throne and walked towards me. She placed a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. "I know you said you were in a war, but I had not anticipated something so... violent." I could feel a shiver through her hand. "It is a very different kind of war you were fighting, one I cannot fully understand the scale of. The wars I remember in my time have always been more political affairs, with the occasional skirmish here and there. Casualties, while high, were slow to build up. For your world, however... the amount of lives lost in a single battle can almost dwarf that of three or four battles in ours. That and your conflict seems so much more... impersonal. Yes, you are soldiers and you are trained to kill without second thought. But the means in which you fight, it's very disconnected."

Her words actually hurt me to think about it. Yes, she recognised that as a fighter pilot I am trained to kill and destroy the enemy. And I did. But to hear that how we acted on our missions and what we used to fight from someone else that hasn't seen anything like that is disturbing. I never once thought about how a missile is designed to detonate before impact and shower the fuselage with shrapnel, with the intent of ripping the aircraft apart or killing the pilot. I never considered that the smart-bomb I was dropping was designed to detonate after impact, meaning that the people I dropped it on got to see the very weapon that would be killing them. I never wondered if the sub-munitions in the dispenser I just used would actually detonate, or whether they would fail and be left for some person to find and potentially detonate by accident. Now that I did, and was hearing about it, it made me feel sick.

"Though, as war often does, it can also bring out the best of us along with the worst." Celestia spoke up again, a small tear forming in the corner of her eye. "I... I watched your 'death', Chopper, and the events that led up to it. I will say that after hearing it from you, I was moved. But seeing it first hand... I..." She didn't say more as she embraced me into a hug, leaving both myself and Twilight shocked at her very un-Princess like actions. After a few seconds, she pulled away and wiped her face clear of the tears that had fallen. "Sorry... I just had to express how I felt about that. What you did Chopper was honourable and very valiant of yourself. Had you not done what you did, a lot of lives could have been lost."

She watched my death. She saw the air raid...

"Ma'am, if I may ask... what happened after I..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Her mood brightened up a little, and she turned to walk to a doorway off to the side.

"Follow me, I'll show you."

Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and myself sat around a table in one of the Princess's private meeting rooms. Luna had joined us shortly after we departed from the throne room, as Celestia explained that her ability to dreamwalk was somewhat important in the use of the spell. Now, we sat around the table, holding each others hands as both of the Princesses horns began to glow.

"Now, It is a form of memory spell that we are using, so we will be able to move around freely in the space, but we will not be able to interact with anything. Other than that, we shall be able to experience everything as if we were there ourselves in the first place. Are we ready to go?" We all nodded in reply, and a flash of light burst from her horn.

Immediately I could tell that we were above November City, and I saw Blaze's aircraft splash an enemy F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter into the river below. I looked beside me and I saw Twilight, Celestia and Luna floating beside me. Both of the Princesses watched the battle in the skies with recognition, while Twilight soaked in all of the detail surrounding us.

"Chopper, I didn't know it was this bad." I didn't know it either. There were small fires springing up around the city, presumably where enemy aircraft had crashed after we shot them down. Pangs of regret started to hit as I realised that we hadn't considered the civilian population until it was too late. We then heard a wondering boom followed by a whining noise behind us. We all turned to see an F-15C Eagle, with the number eight on the nose fly out of a cloud of smoke with a steady stream of smoke trailing behind it. Bizarrely, I heard Grimm's voice through my head as if I was still on the radio with him.

"Are you alright? You've been hit."

"Ahh, it's nothing big. I'm not wounded. I should be able to keep this plane in the air a little longer." I didn't realise how calm and relax I had sounded when I was hit, and to be honest it was a surprise. The girls and I watched on as the events leading up to my death replayed in front of us. We often shifted around the town, trying to maintain a line-of-sight on my crippled aircraft. Finally, we ended up 'standing' at the sideline of the field where I was to crash, facing the direction I was arriving in. By now, tears were streaming from Twilight's eyes as she sobbed, while Celestia and Luna watched on, knowing what was to come.

In no time at all, I could see my Eagle swoop down and make its final approach into the dirt.

"I'm gonna miss that voice." I had no idea that the impact was that violent. I guess a clone of the aircraft or something had been made when I teleported across, because I could plainly see the jet explode and shred itself into pieces when it hit the ground. Shrapnel splinted into the air and landed all across the stands, tearing up the empty plastic seating and the collapsible stage that the Vice President was making his address from. I was more than relieved to know that my choice of letting the stadium evacuate before I crashed had paid off.

"CHOPPER!" The anguished cry from my team caught me off guard, and I looked up to see three more F-15s circling the stadium, one of which was visibly wavering mid-flight. I focused on it and saw that it was Nagase's craft, the number seven painted on its nose. We shifted location again to the top of a nearby skyscraper and watched as more Yuke aircraft made their approach. As I listened to the enemy chatter, I noticed that they had a major inflation of morale after shooting me down. They now sounded cocky, and they pounced on my friends in an instant. But there was something different about the way that Blaze, Nagase and Grimm flew. Their jets seem to fly sharper, as if they were like F-22s with advanced thrust vectoring. In no time at all, the three of them had managed to destroy, no... annihilate half of the new arrivals. Listening to the enemy freak out like that was immensely gratifying, if I was completely honest. Their newfound ferocity forced the remaining Yuke aircraft to retreat and fly away, but not before the reinforcing aircraft arrived. When I saw those F-16s fly over the stadium and perform the 'missing man', I cried.

We now sat back around the table and silently reflected on what we saw. The second we had returned, Twilight jumped from her seat and latched onto me in a tight hug, crying into my shoulder. I wasn't sure if it was the act of seeing my death, seeing the act of war in that sense in general, or both, but I didn't dare question it. I just thought about how my three friends changed after my crash. It was as if a switch had been flipped, or something had taken control of them. The way they flew after my crash, it actually scared me. At least the were able to secure the city and win.

"That... eased my biggest worry." I said, looking to Celestia with a gentle smile. "Thanks for showing me that..." She smiled back at me, but then looked away with a solemn expression.

"There is one more thing I want to show you, Chopper. I had stumbled across this as it happened yesterday, hence why I called you here urgently. I feel it only appropriate to show you." Her voice was low, and quiet. it reminded me of how Twilight's friend Fluttershy spoke on a day-to-day basis. We relinked hands and in no time we found ourselves transported back to my world.

It was raining, heavy enough to warrant umbrellas, but light enough so the rain didn't disturb the surrounding area with its noise. I looked around and within a second knew exactly where we were standing, and what we were about to witness. We were standing in the middle of the Oured National War Cemetery, amongst a sea of white headstones. Each headstone represented a member of the Osean Military that had fallen in service of our nation, and there was only one reason that I could think of Celestia bringing us here.

My funeral.

Sure enough, I saw the small gathering of men and women in Air Force uniforms, surrounding a casket that had the Osean Flag draped over it. As per ceremonial instruction, the pallbearers started folding the flag as the honour guard let off the customary 'six gun salute', each rifleman firing three salvoes into the air together. The gunshots punctuated the mood that the silence and the rainfall had generated. I watched as an officer, a Major General by the look of his insignia, took over ownership of the flag and carried it towards my parents. My mother took the folded flag with shaky hands, as my father rested an arm around her shoulders while keeping her dry from the rain with an umbrella. Beside them sat four very familiar faces. Blaze, Nagase, Grimm and Pops, all in their service blues.

Blaze was unnaturally stoic, even if he was fairly quiet around us he always had some display of emotion visible. Yet, here he was with the blankest look of his face and empty eyes. Nagase was trying her best to stay calm, but I could tell that she was fighting a loosing battle. Tears threatened to break free from her eyes, but she didn't dare to wipe them away. Grimm... he knew that he was my wingman, and that his job was to protect me. I could clearly see that he was blaming himself for what happened. Truth is I don't, not in the slightest. But it hurt me to know that I couldn't tell him that. Pops just sat there watching over the ceremony; I could tell he was shaken by this as well, but as our mentor, he was playing the strong-man card and wanted to be the one to counsel the others.

My casket started to lower into the ground and the gathered officers and guard parties started to file away, until only Blaze, Nagase, Grimm and Pops remained. Nagase couldn't hold it in any longer and let the tears flow, burying herself into Blaze's shoulder. He in turn wrapped his arms around her and held her to comfort her. I could now see a few tears in his eyes, clenched shut as he began to cry as well. Grimm started to pace around, his hands balled into fists as he started to curse out the empty air around him, venting his emotions. Pops just walked to the edge of my grave and knelt down beside the edge. From his pocket he pulled out a coin; the squadron's challenge coin. He held it to his heart for a second before he leaned down and placed it on top of the casket. The four of them started to walk off into the distance as my vision started to cloud...

Once again, we're back at the table The room is dead silent, each of us internally processing the events we just saw. Twilight is still seated beside me, and she has her arms wrapped tightly around me again, like she had after seeing the aftermath of the surprise attack at the stadium. Across from us, Celestia and Luna are both wiping tears from their eyes.

"No matter how many service funerals you attend or witness in a lifetime, it never gets any easier." Celestia said as she stood from the table. "I shall have a room prepared for you so you can stay the night. I feel it is only appropriate that you spent the night here so you can process what you have seen today. If you have any questions or concerns Chopper, do not hesitate to seek either myself or Luna."

"Thanks ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."

"Chopper, in light of the events, I would much prefer it if you simply addressed me as Celestia when it is just the four of us." She smiled once more before giving a worried look at Twilight. The young unicorn woman had sobbed herself to sleep on my side, and was now dozing softly. "I can tell for certain that she has developed feelings for you, their nature though I cannot tell for sure. But I can only assume that seeing what you have had to go through in the last few days has only drawn her closer to you. She may not admit it, but deep down she really cares for those that she considers a friend."

After leading the half-asleep Twilight to the room that Celestia had ever-so generously provided them, I prepared myself for the night's rest. My chest was still a little bruised and sore, but it would only bother me if I moved it the wrong way or if someone/somepony hit it. Given the death grip that Twilight had me in, it was understandably a little sore. It took me a few minutes to get her to let go of me and put her in her bed, but I had to admit that she looked quite cute when she finally settled down to sleep. That revelation in its own right stopped me as I was unbuttoning my shirt. She isn't technically a human being like me, but then she had enough striking similarities to be considered as equal to a human. Looks, personality, attitude, they were all there.

I shook my head clear of these thoughts and resumed my undressing. Once I was in the bed, I let the comfortable mattress take me away into the land of sleep, something that still didn't come easy even though I knew my friends survived the attack. Instead of feeling worried for their lives, I now felt guilty for leaving them behind to fight while I received a chance to continue life in a seemingly peaceful world.