Five Score: A Velvet Nightfall

Chapters

Part 2: To Save A Painted Mare
Part 3: A Night Mare’s Anger
Part 4: To Ride a Pale Horse.
Part 5: A Rainbow Paradox.
Part 6: In Technicolor Dreams
Part 8: The Old Ways
Part 9: The New Ways
11: A little A Noi’d
12: A Pasts Present
13: The Light and Dark of a Hatter
14: By the word of Dog
15: Of Horse and Oxen
17: The Knife's Edge
18: Operation Dull Sword
19: Sharpening The Blade
20: Empty scabbard
21: Beds, Towels and Tears.
22: Broken Wings and Reflective things.
23: Reflections and Musings
24: Healing wounds, new and old.
25: Of Docks, Boats, and Teleports.
26: I Need Gravol
27: More then just Ships can sink.
28: A Reflection in Motion
29: A Reflection of Reality
30: Reflections in Stone
32: A Broken Mirror (start of book 2)
33: Picking up the Pieces
34: Part or Rule?
35: Broken Rules
36: Grave Invitations
37: Somepony to Save Me.
38: The Bomb Blast
39: Fragmentation
40: Shockwaves
41: Fallout
42: Casualties of Change
43: Band Practice
44: The Crescendo
45: The Major Lift
46: The Minor Fall
48: The Fourth, The Fifth
49: Scouting the Curtain Wall.
50: Confrontation on the Battlements
51: The Gate House
52: The Lower Bailey
53: Storming The Keep, Castling.
54: Taking the Keep, To Capture a Queen
55: Homefront
56: Let The Rain Wash Away
57: All The Pain
58: Stormfront
59: Cloudburst
60: Thunderheads
61: A Flash of Lightning
62: Dust Storm
63: Cyclonic Motion
64: Storm Surge
65: Downpour
66: Microbursts
68: A Ray of Hope.
69: Rainbows and Clear Skies.
70: The Magic In Kindness
71: The Friendly Skies
72: Laughter and Hope
73: Generosity
74: Kindness and Friendship
75: Bonds And Loyalty
76: The Magic of Beginnings
77: Families and Community
78: Harmony's Chord
80: Song of Magic
81: Magic of Food
82: Magic of Fun
83: Magic of Flight
85: The Magic of the Mind
86: The Magic of the Soul
87: The Magic of Form
88: A New State of Magic
89: Desperation and Tears
90: To lose it All
91: Ripped Apart
Velvet Nightfall: A Christmas Ballad
93: Vortex
Part 94: Dark Skies and Light Seas.
Part 95: War and Quiet
96: A Rising Tide
Part 98: Bubbles in the dark.
Part 1: A Pale Horse Cometh
Part 7: Through Smoke and Manners
Part 10: To court a mare.
16: Sitting a Spell
31: A Circle of Reflections. (End of book 1)
47: The Fiddlers Calando/ A Cold and Broken Hallelujah
67: Glimmer of Sunshine
79: Song of the Sea
84: The magic of the Heart
Part 97: The Deep Unforgiving Cold

Part 2: To Save A Painted Mare

I grew up in Vermont myself, it’s a beautiful area to live. I grew up in a small town Wallingford, not a huge population, and it was really spread out a bit, but that wasn’t too bad. I was an only child. One of only two kids in my entire school to have a May birthday and we were both born May first of the same year. Most everyone else I knew was born in summer or fall.

I was an only child, now don’t get me wrong, that has it perks, but after my father died, when I was 12, the house started to get lonely. Mom did her best, between bills, and taking care of me, but there was always an emptiness with just the two of us, especially during the holidays.

For the most part I was your average kid. I was named Walter after my grandfather apparently. Though sometimes I think it was because my dad loved the TV Show MASH. Most just took to calling me Wally. Ok so some in school took to calling me Wall-E for a while, but every kid goes through that.

As a child of the 2000’s I did the usual stuff, video games, superhero movies and comics. Suffering through several reboots of characters like Batman and Superman. Internet parties with my friends playing games like Ghost Recon, and Medal of Honor. But I wasn’t one of those to be totally cloistered inside.

Sports, I was never one that could watch sports. I couldn’t just sit and watch a football game or baseball game. I had to DO. In school I was on our soccer team, I played football a few times but since our equipment wasn’t donated and my family couldn’t really afford the bill for all the gear, soccer was my outlet.

I wasn’t a stellar student, I did ok with the normal stuff, math, science, but English was always a hit or miss. It’s not that I couldn’t read or write, just the material seemed so dry and boring most times. Read and write a report about Romeo and Juliette? Ok fine, but what if you don’t like Shakespeare? I had always preferred the adventure stories, it doesn’t have to be magical adventures either. Books like Lord of the Rings were fine though in places very dry for me. On the other hand I loved Tom Clancy’s work.

Tom Clancy, I think he’s the reason I joined the military. Well that and the fact that I couldn’t afford to go to college. To me the military was a real life adventure book. It’s a chance to go and do things, things other people only read about or pretend to do by playing games on the computer.

I breezed through basic training making some friends there. After that I spent a little time in Afghanistan. I didn’t see any heavy combat myself the first time, but while there I applied and was accepted for ranger training school. That was probably the happiest day of my life.

Or the start of the worst weeks of my life, since Ranger school makes basic training look like a boy scout camp. Most nights we were only allowed about three hours sleep, and the physical and mental training was intense. The washout rate was extreme and, I won’t lie, I almost washed out more than once. If not for Yiska's help in flight suit training for example I might not have passed that course. Some people would fail for physical reasons. Washing out for physical reasons is the hardest because everyone can have a bad day where they are not feeling up to their best. If it costs them just those few seconds on a course or firing range that's it.

There were nights I just had to wonder if I was doing the right thing. If the rangers was really for me. I wasn’t a quitter though, and while the suffering was there, I never focused on that. There was one piece of humor that cropped up though. My instructors found that my after action reports always seemed to read like adventure novels. I had a certain way of putting the details down that kept it from being too boring.

For me The Rangers was going to be my career, a way I could help people, help my country. But at the same time, I knew there was another reason, one that was harder to explain. The best way of wording it would be: 'I do, so others don’t have to.'

May 3rd 2020, 1300zulu

“Well, my career is over” I say with a weak smile trying to make light of things. “Women are not allowed to serve in the rangers.”

“You are still a ranger until you are transferred out. That means you are still under MY command. You are still part of this squad and still have a job to do.” The LT says sternly. “Yiska, any luck with HQ?”

“Nightshade this is Twilight, I say again, we are Firewalled. Request extraction status?” Yiska shakes his head and checks the radio “I’m having a lot of trouble getting though sir. Something big is up. Hold sir. Nightshade this is Twilight, I confirm Firewall.”

“Twilight this is Nightshade Firewall confirmed, hostile patrols have been spotted in and around extraction point alpha, alpha is a no go. Safe house compromised, some kind of disturbance has many of the towns in the area in turmoil. Avoid if possible. Extraction point beta still open, window closes in five days. Nightshade out.”

“Beta? It’s a three day walk to beta but that will have us passing primary target. Beta’s in high ground away from civilization, that’s why it’s probably still open.” The LT looks down at me, “Think you can hang on for three more days?”

“No matter what I look like, I’ve still had Ranger training. If things don’t get much worse, and we have to go past or near our primary target anyway…”

The LT kneels down and sighs “I know where you’re going with that corporal, and no. We are a effectively a man down, and I don’t want to bring you into a firefight in your condition.”

“Yes sir, I just hate feeling like I cost us this mission.” Looking down at my hands I take a breath. To this date no woman has been allowed to serve in the Rangers, period. Rangers are a forward combat unit, and the army has never opened it. This means after this mission, I’ll probably end up in some lab somewhere at worst, dismissed from the rangers at best.

The LT kneels down and helps to adjust the straps on my helmet, “Does that hurt your ears?”

“A bit but I can take it sir. I just have to keep them laid down, but it sounds like I’m listening to the world through ear muffs.” I kind look up and hum once “And I don’t think I can fit the low light goggles on with my horn.”

“I’m really reluctant to have you without your combat helmet on, but if it gets too painful, you are allowed to use your brush cap. I’d rather cut holes in the helmet with a KA-BAR then have you walking around unprotected.”

“Thanks for the concern LT.” Trying to stand I almost tumble over catching myself against a tree, quickly the LT helps me to sit down again, “Something’s wrong with my feet.”

The LT looks at me for a long moment before motioning Henry over. Quickly they undo and slide off my boots. I hadn’t taken my boots off in almost two days now. Seeing my feet being replaced by hooves though is probably the least shocking change. Carefully Henry checks out my hoof and lower leg, “It looks like its slowly spreading upwards. I don’t know if he can walk like this.”

Oh heck no, pushing myself up I get my balance on my hooves for a second then stomp one on the ground. “I’m not a stretcher case yet, LT.” While it takes a few moments to get my balance properly on my hooves I manage a few good steps looking back at my comrades, “I can still walk.”

“Ok change up, Sgt Donaldson Hand take the corporals HK416 and give him the M110, corporal you’re in the middle with Henry, I want him to keep an eye on you at all times. Understand? Sergeant you’re taking up the rear.”

With a nod I hand over my rifle to the Sergeant. Taking his sniper rifle I shoulder it. I knew I wasn’t expected to use it unless it was an emergency. More just carrying it to keep the weight spread between the squad. Not that I wasn’t qualified, I just knew the LT had no intention of letting me fight in my condition… my condition that just doesn’t feel right at all.

Even with hooves we were making good time. In some ways I seemed to be having it easier than the others. My hooves having an easily time finding perches or grip on the jungle floor. My legs also seem to be taking the impacts better than I had hoped. My tail swung occasionally at the buzzing of insects. It wasn’t totally automatic per say, I still knew I could control it if I wanted to… I could still feel it.

Yiska moved up beside me, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you to the evac site. You just need to stay calm.”

“I am calm.” I said looking at him a little confused.

“I’m not an expert on horses but, the way your tails thrashing and such, I would say you are anything but.”

I glance back at my tail and huff. “Tattle tale.” Looking to Yiska I grumble once, “Sorry. I’m just frustrated, confused, scared, and probably half a dozen other terms right now that I have no right being while on a mission. I know its natural but normally I don’t feel them this strong."

“Hormones…” Henry says.

I scowl, “Look, just because I’m a girl now doesn’t mean...”

Henry shakes his head “No, I was just thinking, for the change to progress this fast, you must be flooded with hormones, so that’s probably going to be causing total havoc on your emotional control centers of your brain.”

I open my mouth to argue then close it, “Ok point there.”

Yiska looks over concerned “So how did the vision quest go?”

“Controlled dreaming? It was strange, it’s like, I could almost remember something, but when I woke up it was gone. I couldn’t hold on to it. I must have looked in bad shape though.”

I shifted the weapon and walked on quietly. My mind kept running in circles, trying to find something to grasp on to, something to remember. I knew something was missing but I couldn’t figure out what, this on top of the physical changes…

Stumbling forward I hit the ground, grumbling. Looking back the LT quickly calls a halt and Henry comes over to check me out.

“Are you ok?”

Getting up slowly I shake my head, “No, Henry, I can’t… stand up properly.”

Quickly Henry pulls out a pen and pokes my legs causing them to twitch. Yiska moves behind me and takes off my pack. “LT we’ve got a problem.”

Kneeling down the LT looks at Henry “How bad is it?”

“It’s bad, I’m not sure he’s going to be able to keep walking. He’s not paralyzed but his spine and hips have changed. He’s leaning further forward when he walks. With the pack it's throwing his center of gravity off. I think we’re going to need to stretcher him out.” Shaking his head, Henry looks up to the LT, “The change seems to be picking up speed, fur is moving up faster, even his face is starting to change.”

The LT looks at me sternly “You girl, are going to give me ulcers, now, you are a stretcher case. Yiska, Henry, Sanchez and I will take turns.”

Watching as they set up a stretcher for me I grumble softly. “I’m not a girl, ok maybe because this stupid change I am but I’m not. “

Henry chuckles looking at the LT. “Hormones.”

Yiska glares at Henry, “Henry thinks he’s got a massive hormone surge going on that could be affecting his emotions and judgement a bit.”

Nodding the LT looks down at me “Just rest a bit, and I was joking about the girl thing, relax”

Lying back in the stretcher, I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. Look deep into the mind, focus, concentrate, ignore the Yoda jokes. I can feel the energy around me, I can feel my horn as it starts to glow.

Taking a hoofstep back I look up at King Aspen, horn glowing softly.

“I will not hurt you little one. You could have killed that rockidile, why didn’t you?”

“The rockidile? It wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was just protecting its home and I was the intruder there.” I let my hornshine fade lowering my head.

“But you are here for the tymberwolves?”

“That’s different; they have been attacking farms outside of the woods. Stopping them isn’t about protecting myself, it’s about protecting others.”

Walking around me King Aspen flicks his tail and I suddenly feel very small again beside him. To me, he’s nearly the size of Celestia. At least that’s how it seems, “So tell me Twilight Velvet, what exactly does your mark mean?”

“My cutie mark? It’s three stars, representing the three aspects of magic.” I stand proud, I’ve always been proud of my mark.

“Yet they are not equal size?”

“Only Celestia would be equal in all types of magic, I’m strongest in one but actually can cast spells related to all three. Summon lighting for example would normally be a pegasus but I have a spell that can do that, or making a plant grow, most unicorns would use a time effect but I can mimic the way earth ponies do it with a spell.”

“So that is how you earned your mark? By casting spells?”

“No, it’s so much more than that. A pony’s cutie mark normally appears when they have found something they truly love doing, something that’s important to them… that makes them happy… you might be a dancer because it’s fun, but that’s not always enough for a cutie mark. Dancing for fun verses dancing for the pure joy and freedom it brings, not just to you but to others, how it helps bring out their emotions too. And realizing that that is what you want to do for ever… That’s when you earn a mark.”

“So you wanted to study, to learn?”

“No that’s not it either, I wanted…. Adventure, I wanted to go out and do things, to make the world better, safer. I got my mark when I realized that not every pony could protect themselves. One of my friends had wandered into the forest and got hurt badly. She almost died. I realized, if I could have used magic I could have got in, got the herbs she needed and gotten out. She would never have had to risk herself. So I learned my first spell and used it to sneak in to the Everfree. I used a spell to camouflage myself, I used my telekinesis to get the owlbear away from the herbs by making branches rustle. Then moved in getting the herbs she needed. There was thrill there; I had done something with my magic that made a difference… And when I got back and gave her the herbs, and saw the smile on her face, my mark appeared. From that day I stated to learn spells. To go on adventures, and of course to help ponies by protect them when I could. I’m neither a shield who would stand and defend, nor a sword who would attack, I’m a generalist hence, my three stars.”

Nodding once, King Aspen slams his hoof down and states loudly, “So you are, Twlight Velvet.”

“I’m Twilight Velvet,” I say opening my eyes sitting up a bit in the stretcher.

“Who’s Twilight Velvet?” Yiska says, blinking.

“I… have no idea…” I lay back down blinking. “I think that’s my name but… I have no idea why.

Yiska chuckles “Another successful vision quest I see.”

“Yeah right, I’m not even Native American. How many vision quests have you had?”

“One, when I was little, my father took me into the medicine hut, to commune with the ancestor spirits. I remember something about running across a field on all fours. The wind, the howls, and two misshapen eyes watching. Swear I had nightmares for a week. I blame it on not eating, near heat stroke, and the wacky tobaccy my grandfather used. Seriously who puts a six year old in a small tent filled with smoke and herbs and doesn’t expect them to hallucinate.”

“Let me guess, after that you didn’t want to have anything to do with the medicine huts?”

“Eyup, that’s when I decided, the old ways where not for me. I learned them because I had to but never really practiced them again.” He says as he sets down the stretcher.

Looking back I see the LT setting up for tonight’s bivouac, “LT dinner time? I’m starving.”

“Yeh, but no fire, and keep that horn shine down, were only a few hours from the drug factory. I hate having to bring you this close but it’s the fastest way to the evac site.”

Nodding slowly I open my rucksack pulling out today’s mystery MRE. “Oh finally, the Coveted Cheese Steak, probably the best MRE there is aside from the meatloaf.”

“Lucky, last two days you got stuck with veggie packs, those are just awful”

Nodding I open the top, and with heartfelt contentment, cheese stake, the best meal in the pack, I take a bite.

Now, Lyra Heartstrings a nice light aquamarine in color, though she’s not as dark as say, Lightning Dust who’s more of a turquoise, but still well into that spectrum of green. Me, after that one bite, I fell somewhere in between the two. Which is pretty impressive since I, first started as a pale grey, and second, didn’t know who either of those two are.

Leaning over the side I quickly threw up. Panting had I looked at the pack and gave it a smell. This almost made me want to throw up again. Not a good sign at all. The LT was the first to come over; taking the MRE he gave it a small then taste. “Seems fine, Henry you're up.”

Henry had me open my mouth first and shook his head “His teeth have changed, I think he’s gone herbivore. Um Jay, you used to do deer hunting, tell me what you think?”

Jay’s turn to take a quick look and nod. “Yep, that looks familiar. Guess you should have saved that veggie burger for today huh.”

Shaking his head the LT kneels down and goes through my pack “OK everyone meal swaps, check your bags for any veggie dishes.”

While it may seem funny, not having proper food can be a major problem. Everyone in the squad knows it and within a few minutes all my remaining packs are swapped out for veggie versions. Not a bad thing, the veggie meals have just as much calories and such as the meat meals, but just the idea… that I’m missing out on my cheese-steak because of this…

No lights, hostile territory, one man down and on a stretcher, and just a few hours from our target. I knew somewhere fate is laughing at us, we failed because of me, and because of me my squad at risk. Turning on my side I close my eyes. What changes tomorrow will bring? I really don’t want to know at this point.

“I said, I don’t want to know. Are you not listening?” Stallions some times. I stood on the south west wall of Canterlot Castle. It was mid-afternoon and a gentle breeze teased my mane and tail causing them to dance. The stallion behind me, a medium blue royal guard with darker blue mane and tail, looked annoyed at my defiance.

“It’s my job to inform you of these things.” He said stomping a hoof once.

“I’ve grown up in Canterlot most of my life, I attended Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, I know which areas of the city are of limits. I know the laws.” I let out an annoyed snort.

“Then you know these ramparts are off limits for any but military personal. I will have to detain you.” Stepping forward he went to put a hoof on my flank.

“If you can catch me you mean.” With a chuckle I jumped off the rampart going nose down like a pegasus in a dive, plummeting towards the rocks below. One thousand one…

“WHAT!” The guard unicorn screams as he looks over the edge. He watches me fall, my tail flapping behind me like a streamer, “Someone call a pegasus quick!”

And... NOW! My horn flashes and I wink out. Now here’s where the fun comes in, I had fallen for about one and a half seconds, nose down. So when I come out of my teleport, with my new direction facing horizontal to the ground…. *POP* I was in a full gallop across the grass laughing my head off. There wasn’t a need to start from a dead stop, and even if he teleported he’d have to get his speed up to match mine.

A young pegasus still obviously a filly, turquoise with amber and gold mane and tail landed beside the Guard unicorn, “you called for a pegasus?”

Shaking his head he looks down at the running unicorn. “Not anymore. Who was she?”

“One of the EUP Volunteer’s I think.”

“She’s EUP? Then…” He thumps his head against the rail, “she was authorized to be up here.”

Yawning I rub my muzzle softly with a foreleg, my chest hurts, my neck hurts, my back hurts, my legs hurt… Ok let's just say it, I hurt. I feel like I’m tied down, just because of how tight my clothing is right now. I let out a soft whimper which gets the attention of Henry.

“Oh damn, LT Help.” Grabbing his KA-BAR he comes over quick and starts cutting off the last of the clothing that has been so tight around me. The military uniforms are made NOT to rip so had been bunching up or worse digging in a bit as I changed thought he night.

You know, a butterfly emerging from a cocoon might be a nice picture way of saying it, but first, I’m no butterfly, and second, those combat vests and webbing are no cocoons. Panting a bit I stumble to my feet shaking my head and tail at the same time then blink. “I’m… not on my hands and knees am I?”

“Nope”, at about this time Henry decides he’s going to channel Big Mac.

“I have fur, and a muzzle… don’t I?”

“Yep”, Henry says still staring.

“I’m a horse aren’t I?”

“Yep.”

The LT shakes his head “More along the lines of a pony, or unicorn given the horn. Can you walk?”

Taking a deep breath I move one hind leg forward, then the other, than realize… my entire center of gravity is now heading straight for the dirt as I face plant, “Nope.”

Getting back up I close my eyes, and try again. Feeling my legs move, feeling the different muscles as I take one step, then the next. Feeling the ground as it hits me in the face. Stupid ground. For the next 10 min, the rest of the squad takes turns watching me, in a cross between interest, pity and mirth, as I slowly master the art of not getting hit by the ground.

By about 20 min I’m almost prancing around a bit getting more and more comfortable, “come on if a foal can learn to walk in five min I should be able to do better”

Yiska chuckles “It’s been 20 min. Yep, you lost to a foal.”

Drooping my head and tail I feel myself blush, yep I’ve been served. Curiously I look over at the LT who’s got the leftovers of my combat uniform and webbing, my rucksack, and his rucksack and are currently tying them together. “What are you doing?”

With one move he picks up both packs and drops them over my back so I have one sack on either side, with the webbing over my back like some kind of mule. Standing somewhat shocked I slowly look back blinking. “LT?”

“If I just put your pack on you you’d fall over to one side. You’re not carrying a weapon, uniform or armor, so you should be pretty balanced. Can you walk or is the load to heavy?”

Still in shock I take a few steps forward then nod, “doesn’t feel too heavy.”

“If you can walk you’re not a stretcher case, and that frees up two men to fight, basic training.”

“Yah, I know, I just wasn’t… expecting it. “ I say looking down a bit.

“You turn into a talking unicorn, and carrying a pack is the thing that surprise you?” Yiska says chuckling.

Almost instantly my ears go up again swiveling. Yiska see's my reaction and instantly raises his hand. On alert he takes a knee as does the LT. I think my hearing got better, because I’m sure I hear crying now. Great, why did I have to have a white coat, seriously. Henry was quick to notice and put a poncho over me quietly. It gives me some sort of camouflage. I crouch down trying to make myself as small as possible. The crying was getting louder.

First into view was the pony, mostly because of her colors. She was pale grey olive in color coat wise, but her mane and tail were a brilliant red. Her tattoo was that of a bunch of grapes and a strawberry. Stumbling as she walked, she had a black and white halter on her face, rope around her neck and what looked like a rope around her torso tying down a pair of wings. Something inside me just told me how wrong this was…

“What’s this now? Three or four?” A man says in Spanish as he whips the ponies flank with a length of branch causing her to jump.

“Four I think, Ornada’s got word out that he’s paying 300 a head for them now. I can’t believe we found this one right in Tortuguero.” second man is carrying a shotgun as he walks, “this will feed my family for a month.

Laughing the two keep walking down a trail, the sound of the wooden branch hitting her flank again fills my ears as the crying slowly fades back into the distance.

Sgt Sanchez was the first to move, falling back to the LT, “Oranada’s at the location. They just came from Tortuguero which explains likely why the safe house is down… if more people are turning… It could be causing some chaos.”

Looking over at the Sgt my heart drops, I don’t know why but it does. “How many more?”

“He said total of four found. Ornada’s buying them.”

I look at the LT, “Our target's there, he’s holding hostages, I can still walk, run, see and hear. I can still be a spotter. “ I feel the anger building in me, I know this guy HAS to be stopped. He’s been known for human trafficking and sex slavery. I know these ponies are in the WORST danger. Planting my foot hard on the ground I look at him. “LT…”

Reaching over the LT’s first response is to… Thwack my horn causing me to stumble backwards. “Lights out corporal, you have to watch that. Keep your emotions in check. That glow of yours could give our position away. Now then, who is up for a little recon? We can at least take a look at what’s going on and gather some intel from a safe distance.”

The squad nods once. We stand up, staying off the path and moving through the forest we still make good time. It's only about an hour till we reach the factory, to use the term loosely. The compound is made up of several old shipping containers, a large hut, and a few smaller huts. An old generator provides power and about a half dozen people can be seen. Though by the looks of it, there are probably about a dozen more working in the shipping containers.

The pony can be seen being forced into one of the smaller shipping containers by an armed man. I can hear Eric talking softly, “Four using AK’s, probably 74’s. I see one AKS-74U, rest seems to be SKS’s. And I confirm target is in the house. We could take him out from here.”

I find myself moving more then I should be, almost prancing on the spot, I know I shouldn’t be moving but at least I’m quiet. Forcing myself to stop I take a deep breath. “LT, the Army is going to want intel and information on as many of, well whatever I am, as they can get. Our mission was capture or kill, any chance we can shift that to kill and rescue?”

Chewing on his lip the LT looks at the situation. “Ok, we do have the advantage here, they are under gunned, under armed. And yes, if people are changing the military and CDC are going to want as many subjects as they can get.”

Looking over the team, “Ok Jay, Sanchez, take up a firing position here, I’ll act as spotter, our first priority is Ornada, so once he’s down we will worry about the ponies. Eric, I want demo charges on each of the containers except for the one with the ponies, and if you can the generator. Yiska covering fire from the right side, take out anyone coming out of the smaller huts. Henry, you speak Spanish too, you’re with Walter, I want you two to sneak into the pony’s container. Keep them quiet, give them a once over, see if they can run. “

“You want Walter down there too?” Eric says blinking.

“He at least looks like they do, it might help keep them calm when we have to run. Our exit point is due south, once out of there we will be moving fast, so we’ll leave some mines in our wake to slow pursuit if any. Remember though ponies are low priority, if they cannot keep up, we will have to leave them behind.”

Everyone nods. “Once primary target is shot, we will set off the charges. That will be your cover to get the ponies out, or for you and Henry to get out. They are not our primary so I don’t want any of you getting killed for them.”

It took me a few minutes and a little help to get the poncho and brush cap on, at least it would provide some camo from my color scheme, but I suppose it could have been worse, I could have turned bright red.

Eric moved like a ghost, it took him nearly an hour to plant all of the charges, but there was more than enough cover from overgrown weeds, barrels and such for him to move around almost freely. No one in the area seemed to concerned with security. Fear is a powerful tool, and these people used it to make sure everyone stayed away. But they forgot that there are others that they should fear. And it is us that they should be terrified of.

Keeping as low as I could, I had taken the long way around with Henry, one of the things I found I loved about this form, was my senses; I could hear and see a lot more. Not better per say, but I found I had a much wider range of view, letting me know where everything around me was.

There was only one guard at the container. Backing up a little I stomped a hoof twice on the ground. The noise was enough to cause cause him to look in my direction for a moment. That was all the time Henry needed to put his hand over the guys mouth and silence him with the KA-BAR.

In the days of modern warfare, machine guns, gunships, sometimes a simple knife, like the KA-BAR can be the most powerful tool. We quietly move the guard back into the underbrush and move up. The container isn't locked so luck is on our side. All Henry has to do is open a latch and we slip quietly inside.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness my stomach sinks at what I see.

Part 3: A Night Mare’s Anger

May 4th 2020, 1900zulu

I have changed, I have changed, just like you… just like you.

I blink, looking at the four ponies inside the container, there is the yellow pegasus I had seen before, but the other 3, I knew there was something wrong with them, institutionally… I could tell, I could feel it, it was like the feeling you get when you look at someone who’s been shot, and you see in their eyes that they have given up, that they have nothing left in them, that they are ready to let go.

The first was a mare I think. OK I’m not going to go checking under every pony’s tail to tell. Hopefully there’s a more obvious way of telling, but I haven’t figured it yet… Her mane was a gold color but unlike mine and the pegasus’ manes, it just lay flat, lifeless. Her coat was a grey indigo color. Even her mark seemed faded golden sprig of wheat that was slowly turning brown.

The second mare looked just as bad, a darker off blue color, with violet and white mane, again even her hip mark, a fleur-de-lis, seemed faded. Her eyes down, she could barely look up at me.

The third was a pegasus stallion, I think. He was bigger, and bulkier then the others, but again, he was supposed to be a deep purple with a mixed purple and white mane. Everything just seems so beaten about him.

But for how long? For how long… Must I wait? I know there's something wrong

“Henry this isn’t right, crystal ponies can’t take captivity.” I say, feeling panicked.

Blinking Henry looks at me “Crystal what?”

“I don’t know how but I know… we have to get them out of here, fast.”

Nodding slowly, Henry moves between them, cutting and removing their restraints and checking them over as best he can.

Your crystal heart isn't beating, And you've tried to… Make it come alive

I move up to the first mare, and put my muzzle under hers, lifting her head a little “I know you’re hurt, scared, but you have to be strong, we are here for you, to help you.” I don’t know if she can understand my words, but my form, the closeness, the compassion in my voice seems to perk her up a little.

No shadows, Just red lines, Now I'm here to rescue you, oh oh...

Giving the second mare a gentle nuzzle I find the need to reassure her. “It’s ok, we are here to get you out. You’re safe with me, I promise.”

Henry nods once “Emotionally I don’t know how they are, they’ve been whipped it looks like I can see some welts under their coats, but no broken bones.”

“Henry, tell them the plan, they are going to have to move fast and stay close when this starts,” I say giving each of them hug trying to lift their spirits a little.

Henry nods shifting to Spanish as he talks to them.

Oh I'm still alive, I'm still alive. I cannot apologize

“I’m Twilight Velvet.” I say looking at them with a firm resolve in my voice.
I know I’m supposed to control my emotions but it’s hard, the rage I feel is so real, and I don’t know why. I know they are probably people just like me, scared and confused, and I’ve seen people treated worse than this in some places, but this for some reason… is wrong on an instinctual level.

So silent, No violence, But inside my head, So loud and clear

Henry, catching my drift, translates for me as I talk. “I changed a few days ago, probably about the same time you did. I know it’s hard, but you have to look inside yourselves for the strength, we are going to get you out of here.

You're screaming, You're screaming, Covered up with a smile I've learned to fear.

Henry smiled moving to the door, I knew it was about time, I knew everything was going to happen fast. Nosed the ponies towards the door, and stopped taking a breath. “Almost show time,” he said with and I was forced to put on a smile myself, just to try and help the others.

Just sunrise, And blue sky… Is this all we get for living here?

The yellow pegasus nods slowly “I think my name is Strawberry Sunrise.”

The male pegasus barely lifts his head “Bluesky”

I look to the other 2 mares but they shake their heads no. I don’t know why some of us can remember names and others cannot, actually I don’t even know why I can remember my own name like that, but that’s something we will have to figure out later.

Come fire, Come fire… Let it burn and love come racing through

I hear the shot, no, not one, but two shots, both snipers had fired at the same time, one struck Ornado in the chest, the other in the head. This was followed by the first of the explosions. Henry pushes open the door as people are running and screaming. The sounds of automatic weapons fire can be heard clearly. The HK’s sound much different than the AK’s to my trained ear.

The smell of smoke, burning chemicals and rubber greeted us as we ran out. The chaos of the scene, well controlled chaos let Henry and the prisoners run. I was bringing up the rear, when I heard the cry from Yiska. “RPG!!!”

Turning my head I see the puff of smoke, and close my eyes tight, flinching.

Oh I'm still alive, I'm still alive, I cannot apologize, Oh oh.

The shockwave doesn't wash over me. I hear the explosion right behind me but… opening my eyes, I look back. My horn shine is intense, a brilliant cerise, and in answer a brilliant cerise dome was over me. Whatever that was it saved my life. Turning to run, I found myself running into the dome.

Looking around quick I gulped “Ok how do I shut this thing of… oh yeah.” Reaching up with a foreleg and lowering my head I thwacked my own horn, it hurt, but it worked, the shield was down and I could run.

I've learned to lose, I've learned to win, I've turned my face against the wind

I look around at the fire, at the flames, the wind blowing in my mane, it is safe enough for me to start running, to catch up to the others. There were still more explosions, as the chemicals in the shipping containers went up, I know the team is already falling back and I knew we have to meet them at the rendezvous point.

I will move fast, I will move slow, Take me where I have to go

It felt strange, but I find myself having to actually slow down for Henry, usually he’s the one waiting on me. But this new form is fast, agile, able to weave between the trees better than I expected.

I felt like these hooves could take me anywhere. And for the first time since my change, I felt like… I was right.

Oh I'm still alive, I'm still alive, I cannot apologize, no oh oh

I feel pride, I feel joy, I feel true happiness, I have gotten them out to safety, it was my job but it was also so much more… I could feel it all the way down to my cutie mark.

“I am… Twilight Velvet.”

Author's Note

This is a short chapter i know, the song lyrics are meant to carry the theme of the scene in this one. Because of what this chapter meant, i felt i didn't want to add on. i wanted to keep it as just this.

Part 4: To Ride a Pale Horse.

May 4th 2020, 2100zulu

“Five score divided by four”, Strawberry Sunrise said, causing all of us to freeze in our tracks. Well, correction, all of the ponies.

The LT walks right into my rear, knocking me forward a step, “Corporal put your hand up if you’re going to stop, you know the rules.”

I blinked, looking back at the LT and weakly raise a forehoof, signaling a stop… of course it was a little late now… and it wasn’t actually a hand.

“Five score, divided by four…” I repeated.

Strawberry Sunrise nodded to me “I heard it in a dream.”

I nodded slowly to as did the other 3, “like something long forgotten.”

The pony with the wheat cutie mark closed her eyes as her color starting to fade again. She trembled badly and let out a soft whimper. I moved to step forward but Strawberry Sunrise was closer and moved to put a wing over her.

Henry looked back “LT rest time? The civilians don’t look so well still.”

The LT nodded “let’s set some of the last of our tripwires about 100 yards back and then rest here for 20.”

“We are actually moving faster than expected, don’t you think?” I asked looking to the LT who just gives me a gruff nod. “Permission to share some of my food and water with the civilians?”

Looking at the other 4 ponies, he thought for a moment then nodded “Guys, check your rations for the extras, crackers, jams, and what not.”

Crouching down I back out of the two rucksacks, and give each of them some water from my ration. Not an easy thing to do when you don’t have hands, but Yiska was quick to help, pouring water into the canteen cup, adding some crystal flavor packs and helping each drink in turn.

“So when… did you start to change?” I asked. While they all spoke Spanish they also could at least speak some English. That meant it wasn’t that bad communicating. I just wish I had passed my Spanish classes now.

“I noticed the mark, on my legs just after my birthday.” Sunrise said. “So probably the first.”

Blue Sky gulps softly, “The first of May. I’m 25 now.”

“Who… all has a May first birthday?” I ask nervously as it begins to sink in. “It can’t be that common.”

All 5 ponies raise their hooves.

The LT blinked at that, “and who’s 25?”

Again, all 5 ponies put their hooves up, “Now that’s kind of spooky.” I say, looking at the others, then look at the LT, who is levering himself off the ground. Nodding once I look to the others, “It's time to start moving again.”

As we walked I look at each in turn. Then to break the silence I looked to Blue Sky's, “So what happened?”

Blue Sky takes a deep breath, “I worked as a parasail guide at a resort at Cerro Silva, I grew up in that city. I went out drinking with some of the guys from work, when the tattoo appeared. I went to the clinic the next day, after my ears appeared the clinic doctors began to get worried. They didn’t know what was wrong with me. That night 3 gunmen came in, and took me off.”

With a sigh he looks down “My real name is Manuel, but the name Blue Sky sort of stuck. It’s hard to explain, I woke up saying it.”

Looking over at Sunrise I ask in a gentle tone “And you?”

She glances at me then at her hooves while walking “I was Angelina, but now I guess it's Strawberry Sunrise, I started changing at the same time as my friend. We were both born on May 1st, we both turned 25 a few days ago. Tina and I found our marks at the same time, and sort of knew our names, instantly, or I should say each other’s names. I knew Tina was Candyshine, and she knew I was Sunrise. We were both scared, and both went to the clinic in our town. The town is pretty small so word spread fast, and people started panicking. The minister in town said we were demons. He said the change was our true forms showing through, that god was reviling us as the sinners we were. The people of Tortuguero were all riled up…”

Closing her eyes I could see the tears in them and moved to press my side against hers. With a deep breath she continued, pain evident in her voice. “I had fully changed when they came and got Tina and I, in the very early morning. They took us from the clinic, Tina tried to run but… They shot her… They left her there on the streets and loaded me into the truck, we drove for a few hours then… they unloaded me and walked me into the camp.”

Yiska hummed softly, “Well that explains why Tortuguero is a no go.”

I looked at him sternly. While I know he was right and it was the most likely reason that we couldn’t go there, I still didn’t like it said aloud.

The mare with the wheat mark starts to speak next. She is walking slowly, her mane actually bouncing a bit now, starting to look fuller and not as limp. “I’m Mia. I don’t know any other name, no one’s told me one, and I haven’t had dreams about them. I’ve had nightmares but I’ve tried to forget them. My mark appeared during my birthday, my family owns a farm and I was visiting. When I started to change my father took me to the clinic. He stayed with me a bit, but when my hooves formed, and the cries of demons from other towns came out… He left me there. Later that day, the men showed up and took me to the camp.”

The last mare, the one with the fleur-de-lis lets out a sigh, “do I have to?”

I tilt my head looking at her, and touch my muzzle to her neck with a rub, “It does help.”

Mina nods once “She’s right, it does help Lilly.”

With a breath, “I’m Sophia, I was a dancer. It was the only job I could find, I lived at the club. When I started to change, the club owner was worried I was contagious and sent me to the clinic. I spent the next day there until… they came and took me.”

“And you had no, dreams or memories of your name?” I ask softly as we walk.

Flinching, her color fads for a moment, “I don’t remember.”

“Twilight, you called us crystal ponies,” Sunrise speaks up while walking, “what’s that.”

“Honestly, I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. It’s not you Sunrise, those three were the crystal ones. I just knew they were, I could sense it, in some way.” Sometimes this really sucks, I could not figure out how to put into words what I felt, because nothing I knew explained it. It was like a tingle in my… horn?

Yiska puts his hand on my back, looking down and chuckling “Maybe it was magic.”

“Right, magic, next thing you know were going to be talking about aliens, little green men.” I say with a laugh.

Yiska chuckles “Oh good idea, hmm, aliens stopped time, beamed you up, altered you and sent you back as to see how humans would react before colonization.”

Eric shakes his head “Next they will begin dropping pods into the ocean and launching an invasion against LA”

“Oh I loved that movie,” I said, looking up, “I gotta watch that again when I get back, it a classic.”

Looking back at me Eric shakes his head “But seriously, about the magic thing, I saw that glow with the RPG, blowing up beside you…. How did you do that?”

I think for a second, “I remember you calling out the warning, I remember turning, seeing the puff of smoke and the rocking heading for me, I closed my eyes and braced figuring I was dead anyway and… honestly I don’t know. I don’t remember doing anything really, I remember the horn shine, and I had to hit my horn to get the glow to go away… Umm, Goa'uld personal shield?”

With one stern look from the LT we all quickly drop that line of talk. Looking to the LT I clear my throat “Sir, what we do know, is there’s a bounty on equines here, we know that for some reason the cartel was collecting them, and somehow getting the information on these people, likely from the clinic’s themselves. We’ll need to report that in when we get back.”

The LT nods once calling for a halt.

Looking around I notice that it’s already close to evening as the sun is dipping below the tree line, “are we going to bivouac for the night sir?”

“Ok set up perimeter guard, we will dig in here till morning. We should be able to reach the evac site pretty quick.” He states then finds a place to sit and work on his weapon.

“Eric, Yiska, I hate to ask but, could you help us with dinner? Seriously having no fingers really, really, does suck.” I say with a snort.

“Hey Yiska, I think Wally’s got… Finger envy”

I can just see Yiska biting his tongue. I KNOW where he wants to go with that envy comment, and really no, I am NOT in the mood. “Don’t do it Yiska.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He says with a chuckle.

Angelina, Strawberry Sunrise, tilts her head looking at me, “Wally?”

“Um yes, that’s my actual name, just, Twilight Velvet came to me in a dream I guess. It feels right so I’ve used it.“ I say as I lower my head in a blush. “With all that happens in some ways it gives me something to hold on to by saying it. “

“But… isn’t Wally a guy’s name?

I ok this is a conversation I didn’t want, I’ve been really avoiding that part, and didn’t really want to confront it, I knew it was the end of my career in the rangers but.. Being a pony horse thing was the end anyway. With a deep breath I sigh “Well, I was, but the change was a little…”

“I wouldn’t have guessed, you have such a gentle mothering voice.”

“Gentle and mothering? But I…” I looked confused and looked to Eric.

“Actually Wally, your voice has changed, It changed over the last day or so, it mostly happened slowly so I don’t think most of us really considered bringing it up, but its definitely feminine, and it is really soft and gentle.”

“I, but, and,” My mind starts to churn, I sound female… Seriously? “Umm, can we change the topic, so um, how about Manchester United this season.”

“Ok everyone, keep it down, and get some sleep, we are meeting up with the chopper tomorrow.” The LT Said firmly. And yes, he was defiantly the law around here.

Mia, cringed at the mention of sleep, “But the nightmares.”

Very quietly I got up and lay beside Mia, “How long have you been having them?”

“Since the first night,” Mia says, “I’m almost scared to sleep.”

“Do you remember what they are about?” I ask, not wanting to make her uncomfortable but I am now really curious.

“I, I can’t, I wake up with these feelings of dread. Have you been having them?” Mia asked looking to me.

“I started with nightmares, I think, the problem is when I wake up, I have the hardest time remembering, just for a few seconds, in that time between sleep and consciousness, something breaks through, a word, a feeling that I can hold on to. For that brief moment, and then it’s like some dark veil is dropped over my mind.” I blink once then snort, “Sorry, I’m not used to talking about dreams and such.”

Closing her eyes Mia yawns, “Its ok, it helped,” she said as she drifts off to sleep.

I close my eyes too, the feeling of Mia against my side is strange, it gives me some comfort and makes it a little easier for me to relax. As I look over I notice the other 3 ponies are in a group also, as they sleep. I know horses are herd animals, but are ponies?

I give my head a light shake, and close my eyes to sleep, mothering, how could I be mothering?

“A mother? Really?” I say in surprise, as I dodge through the trees, the mud under my hooves was slowing me down a bit but I could still move at a fair pace. The bog mud wasn’t that deep and my stepsink spell kept me from getting really stuck.

“We are really having this conversation now Twilight?” Rainbow said, banking hard to avoid a falling tree. “You’re running for your life, and worried about me?”

“You’re the one that said you were going to settle down.” I laugh, as my hooves get traction on more solid ground. “I thought you were going to be forever the bachelor. RIGHT SIDE!”

We both dodged right, as another tree went down. “Wow this guy is persistent,” Rainbow said, “are you sure you don’t want me just to…”

“No showing off this time Rainbow. We don’t need to hurt it just keep it occupied.” I said firmly as I started running uphill.

“But I can take him without problem. You’re the one that’s in danger here.” I could hear the worry in Rainbows voice. I know Rainbow could probably tie the thing in knots with stunt flying tricks but sometimes I just like doing things for myself.

“Nope, we’re fine, Hydras are not made for long chases, we got him to follow us through Frogbelly bog, and keep his eyes on us, rather than the others. “ I said as I leap off the cliff.

“You’re not going to make it Twilight.” Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Oh hay, Rainbow was right about that one, that cliff drop was about 3 times longer than I thought. Rocks below, muddy water, no safe landing spots down there.

Rainbow did a spiral around me as I dropped “Want me to catch you, or you going to teleport? The ledge is over there.”

Looking where Rainbow pointed, “Thanks, I see it now.” My horn glows bright and I wink out, appearing on the ledge, I'm panting hard now.

Rainbow landed beside me and struck a proud pose, dark blue wings flared wide. “Oh come on, you should have just let me handle that thing, you know how awesome I am Twilight.”

“I know I know, you're cooler than any other pegasus out there, but seriously, I never pictured you hooking up with a mare. You always loved the adventure as much as I do.” I smile softly.

“I hooked up with you didn’t I?” Rainbow said giving my hip a light swat with his wing.

“RAINBOW BLAZE…. You know perfectly well that’s not what I meant. I’m not looking for that kind of a relationship. We’re best friends. Friends forever, but I don’t know if I’m ever going to settle down and have foals of my own. But you, you take care of Twister, she’s got a HUGE heart.”

“I will, I will, but sometimes I can’t help wonder… what would our foals have looked like?”

“Nope, not happening, no baby bottles, diaper, or safety pin cutie mark for me, mine is all about the magic and adventure.”

My eyes snap open, for a moment I hold on to the image of that cute stallion. His golden eyes, his rainbow mane and tail, wings spread in his famous I’m so awesome pose. Then I feel it starting to fade.

I shake my head hard, trying to hold on to it, trying to hold onto the picture. Then it hit me, cute stallion, I thought he was cute? And that was it, the image was gone. As hard as I tried I couldn’t remember what he looked like. The only thing I had was, that he was cute.

Of all the things to hang onto from a dream, the idea that I thought a stallion was cute, was not one I wanted to deal with. This had to be some cruel joke, some evil prank, some dark curse just to make my life miserable.

I look around and see Strawberry Sunrise, Angelina, she is standing, facing the morning sun, with her wings spread wind, her head facing into the wind, forelegs prancing slightly. Her whole body looks tense, like it was expecting to leap into the air, but she stays grounded.

I walk over to her, unsure of what she’s doing or thinking “Morning.”

Her ear twitches, “Have you ever felt like you want something, you need something so bad, but don’t know why?” With a long sigh she folds her wings, looking down. “I woke up with the sun, the clouds calling to me. I could feel it, like an itch between my wings, like an ache deep inside my heart.”

“Your wings,” I ask, looking at her curiously, “Have you tried to fly?”

“Fly, really? With these stubby wings, that’s not possible.” She said, turning her back on the sun, “My wings would have to be huge to get off the ground. In case you didn't know, I'm no lightweight.”

“I don’t know, maybe there’s magic involved. The only thing I could say is for you to try.” With a gentle push of my nose to encourage her to turns back to face the sunrise.

Spreading her wings again she takes a deep breath looks at the rising sun for a long time. I could see her wings feeling the air currents the feathers moving in the morning breeze. It was more than that, I could feel her wings gathering the energy in the air, I don’t understand it myself but deep in my horn, I could sense her energy building. I knew she was ready.

“All right folks, fun time is over, let’s get ready to move out.” The LT barks out.

Sunrise lets out a squeak and clamps her wings to her side, looking back at the LT, who was getting his gear ready.

I knew the LT was right, we could still be in danger and now really wasn’t the time for risking herself trying to figure out how to fly. If she hurt her legs in a crash or bad landing, and then we would have to carry her out.

I walk over to the twin rucksack saddle backs, and find myself almost prancing as I did. I had no idea why I was so happy but I was. Over the last day I found walking, running, everything had become second nature. It felt completely natural to me, to be in this form.

With one smooth motion I drop my front end and duck under the rucksacks, then with a wiggle they settled on my back like saddle bags again. Standing up I looked back and see Yiska standing a few feet behind me, looking away, his hand shielding the side of his face from me.

“What’s your problem?” I ask, feeling confused.

“Wally, you’re not wearing any clothing.” He stammers out.

“I haven’t been for the last 24 hours. And nothing I have would fit.” I turn to face him, “Sides I have fur right now.”

“Not… where you flashed when you bent down to get the packs on. All your… parts were visible.”

“All my…” I blink once looking back at my flanks, then clamp my tail down tight feeling my face start to burn bright red. “Pants, first thing when I get back, I need pants.”

Chuckling “That or not to bend over like that with guys behind you,” Yiska said shaking his head.

LT smacks Yiska on the back of the head as he walks by “Eyes up, Ranger. You don’t want a harassment complaint on record do you?”

“Sir no sir,” Yiska chirps and started marching.

With a deep breath, I start my trek too, the other ponies were also naked, but I don’t know if it bothered them as well. At this point though, there was simply no clothing available to us. Can we even wear clothing? How would we dress ourselves, seriously, something as simple as tying a shoe lace now seems impossible. I have enough trouble eating, at least for drinking I have the water hose in my rucksack.

I look to the crystal ponies, it has been over a day and a half since their rescue, and their color is already starting to come back. It’s amazing, when we first found Mia for example, she was dark grey with brown mane and tail hanging flat to her neck and head. Now body fur has turned a light indigo, and her mane has lifted into golden curls. “Of all of ponykind, the crystals have the hardest time with captivity.“

Yiska looks down at me, “pony kind? Crystals?”

“It’s that instinct thing again; I know they are crystals when I look at them but I don’t know why, or what that means. I know they can’t take imprisonment, and the proof is in their colors… the more they lose hope, the duller they get. We’ve seen it with our own eyes.” I shake my head, I wish I knew how I know things but this was not the time to figure it out.

“Yeah, but what’s with the colors, yellows, reds, purples, violet?” Then Yiska looks at my mane, “not that it doesn’t actually look cute on you.”

Ok, that has my cheeks going red again as I look down at the ground, “Umm, thanks.”
As the forest starts to clear, the LT calls a halt. “Henry, Eric, up front Take a look around, I don’t want any surprises, That rocky knoll is the landing spot, I don’t want us breaking cover yet though, circle around it, make sure we have no company. Yiska, get Nightshade, tell them we are ready.

“Nightshade, this is Twilight, we are at bravo awaiting pickup, we are plus four with civilians, over.” Yiska taps the mic waiting for a moment before getting the response.

“Twilight, this is nightshade, evac 10 min, clear for pickup, nightshade out.”

The LT looks at the ponies and points, “Squad, poncho’s, turn them over to the ponies, now. Camo their colors a bit.”

Nodding, each of the members quickly put a poncho over one us, they didn’t fit but it wasn’t about the fit, it was about the camo pattern, and hiding the bright colors. I was already sitting at the edge of the clearing still in the brush, when one by one the others were brought over and told where to sit.

“Look there is still a chance we could be attacked, and the helicopter coming in is the most dangerous part. What’s going to happen is, the squad is currently spread out, when the helicopter lands, they will head for the chopper, we need to move as fast as we can when we are signaled by the LT, and cover the distance from here, to the center of the field, Keep your heads and ears down, it going to be loud.”

“Walter?” Blue Sky, or Manuel spoke quietly, “how are you so calm about this?”

“Calm?" I chuckle at his words, "I’m screaming up a storm on the inside, I’m scared, I’m worried, I’m confused, sometimes I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. I’m also a ranger though. I know if I panic, right now, I’ll put you all at risk, as well as my friends, my squad. In some ways my training prepared me for this, in as much as, it taught me that staying calm, in life and death situations is the most important thing.”

Shaking my head I take a deep breath “Don’t worry, I’ll freak out later. When I’m safe… and when I get some pants.”

“Pants?” Sunrise says tilting her head.

“Trust me, we need pants.”

This gets a giggle or chuckle out of all the ponies, at least its raising their spirits a little. What I find strange is, you don’t really notice or remember you’re not wearing clothing unless it’s pointed out unlike as a human where you notice being bare foot, or such, as a pony it doesn’t seem to register as much. I guess it’s a need based thing. If you’re cold you’re more likely to notice you don’t have pants.

The sound of the helicopter soon could be heard in the distance, the heavy whump whump sound of the rotor blades as they cut thought he air. There are people that think most of the noise of a helicopter comes from its engine, but the reality is, it’s simply the sound of the air disturbances the rotor causes, particularly in interference with the tail rotor. You could often tell what kind of helicopter it is, before you can see it.

In this case, the huge Super Sea Stallion came into view over the tree line and flared for a fast setting down. I knew the only reason we were using the Super Sea Stallion was because of its operating range, we would have maxed out poor Blackhawk at this distance, between crew, gear, and the extra fuel it would have needed it wouldn’t have been able to get off the deck. At this point though, I was grateful for that 1 small favor… a Blackhawk would never have been able to carry all the ponies.

Quickly the unit began moving up to the chopper, the LT looking back and waving our group in, I stand up, keeping my ears flat against my head, I begin to run for the helicopter. My eyes go wide however when I saw the ramp gunner swing the minigun and point it at us. “LT!!!” I shout as I skid to a halt, my fellow ponies running into me.

The LT quickly moves to stand in front the gunner, “Stand down, they’re friendlies!” He shouts at the enlisted man.

The gunner looks at the LT blinking, “Friendlies, are you kidding me? You’ve got Incredibly Sweet Alpaca’s or something they’re, whatever they are they aren’t human.”

“Stand down,” The LT shouts and glares at the gunner.

Nodding once, the gunner resumes scanning the tree line.

I waste no time getting the others into the helicopter, and we are in the air shortly thereafter. They didn’t even wait for any of us ponies to be strapped down but, that is normal, you never want to be on the ground for too long. Just like a pegasus. I stop and put a hoof to my head, why did I just think that?

While the Helicopter crew seems to be doing their best to keep away from us, the rest of the squad lends a hand in strapping us down a little, which is none to fun. They, had us lay on the floor and used the cargo straps. I didn’t feel comfortable at all, but I had to fake it, I knew if we hit any turbulence, it could send us flying, and a pony bouncing around the back of the helicopter could be dangerous for everyone, not just us.

We touched down on the USS Tripoli, LHA-07, Most people can mistake these ships for aircraft carriers, but they have a different role, they are meant to transport marines, and support marine landings with helicopters, and VTOL fighters like the F-35. They have a huge flight deck, much like the 2nd world war carriers, which makes it a very busy place with all the aircraft, not a safe place for anyone, especially not a pony.

I step down the ramp and see the faces looking at me, and all of a sudden I feel small. None of them know me, and I can see it in some of their eyes, to them, I’m just some kind of animal. An armed Marine Security Detachment is waiting on deck, but the LT steps forward, “Mission complete, Ornado is down, we rescued 4 prisoners,” he said motioning to the ponies then, points at me “This one’s one of our team, Cpl. Walter Fitzpatrick, Ranger.”

Taking a breath I stand up to my full height and make a rough salute with my foreleg.

Leader of the Security Detachment, a major calls out “Get them below deck into quarantine. Do not risk touching them. Elevator 3.”

The LT blinked, “Hey now, what do you think you are doing.”

“That includes you and your team LT. We have flash traffic on this before you arrived, for the safety of the ship. We need all of you in quarantine.”

I just feel my stomach drop, what the hay is going on here. I walk slowly with the squad and ponies, noting that the security detachment keeping a good 15 feet away from us, as we are brought to the Helicopter elevator. I look around as the elevator starts descending, then see a large Yellow and orange container, obviously set up for infectious quarantine. Could this really be infectious?

And shipping containers, ugh, why did it have to be a shipping container? Is there some subconscious idea that ponies need to be shipped? The inside of the container wasn’t as bad as I thought, they had it sectioned off, with plastic sheets, UV lights, and lots of beds inside. There was a bathroom, shower station, and such. Oh shower station… 5 days in the field and a shower station… GIVE ME!

One after another the Rangers shower, turn in their clothing, and are issued new uniforms. When it came to our turns we quickly realize we have a problem. “Umm, excuse me, how am I supposed to wash? I have no idea how to shampoo my mane or tail, no hands remember, and same goes for the rest of the ponies.” I call out.

The LT chuckles, “Yiska, Eric, you're up, have fun, just don’t touch them anywhere inappropriate.”

“Ugg thanks LT, for that less then appealing image. “ Eric said stepping back into the shower area.

I look at the other ponies, “Its ok, I’ll go first, I trust these guys.” With a breath I step into the shower, ohhhh… warm water on my back… I feel like I could just stand here for hours. Yiska and Erick quickly go about washing me off, mane, legs, tail, EEEP….

“Sorry, hand slipped” Yiska said, as my eyes went as wide as saucers.

“Um.. its. Yeh lets not talk about that.” I said quickly as I gave myself a doggy style shake off. Drying was a little harder, while I was being dried off by Eric, Yiska was already starting on Strawberry. Once inside I turned, “Umm, where’s my clean uniform?”

The supply tech on the other side of the seal blinked “You’re an animal why would you need one?”

Now had he said that to one of the civilians first, there might have been a small issue. Saying it to me I was ready to take it in stride, it hurt, I could feel the sadness in me for that statement, but I could at least try and put up a calm front right?

“SARGENT!” The LT barked almost making me jump out of my fur… “This is a US ARMY RANGER. They have gone through more in the last few days then you have seen in your entire career pushing papers. You will TREAT them with the respect they are due… DO you hear me Sargent?”

The Sargent nodded quick, “I’ll see what I can do sir.”

“And make sure you get something for the civilians to.” I added.

With a little bit of a glare, the Sargent nodded and headed to stores.

Looking back at the LT I smiled “I owe you one.”

He shakes his head, “Given what you’ve gone through, I figured we’d cut you some kind of break.”

I sat down on one of the beds and looked at the other ponies, I was most worried about the crystal ponies, I had seem how fast their color could drain, so I knew I would have to watch them the closest.

“Wait a sec, LT, they didn’t know we were infected right?” I say, looking around. “Or had changed.”

“Nope, we never said that over the radio, Yiska you didn’t mention or make any calls about that did you?”

Yiska shook his head no, “Wouldn’t have said anything even over scrambler about that sir.”

“Then why is this all here? Why is the equipment here for this?” I asked. Most ships don’t have CDC style containment in them. Do they?” Everyone looks around.

“Unless,” Eric says, “They had already dealt with one change… And if that’s the case… where are they?”

“Ok ok, let’s not let our imaginations or conspiracy theories run away with us, “the LT said.

With a tap at the side air hatch, the Supply Sargent drops off several sets of clothing. One pair of combat pants that had been modified with velcro closures on the back and sides for each pony. as well as one shirt, again modified with velcro. With a little help, each of us end up at least a little dressed.

I sit down again, doggy style, forelegs between my rear, I don’t know why but this was a comfortable way to sit, and then looked at the LT “So how’s this LT. Do I look presentable again?”

With a nod “Well they say clothing makes the… mare.” The LT says with a grin. One of the few times I ever heard him make light of things like that.

“Oh you had to go there.” Eric says with a chuckle.

There was a tap at the air seal again and we looked up. There was dinner waiting, Food, real food, not MRE’s, but real cooked food. We had normal meals for all of the Rangers, and of course veggie dishes for the equines. Carrots, tomato’s, celery, a warm vegetable stew, fresh bread loaf and… well I’m not sure what it was, but each of the ponies had a bowl of mixed grey cubes, an smaller green pellets.

I saved the weird food for last, but ended up digging into that because I was still hungry and man, was it great! I don’t know what it was or why they had it on board, but it tasted wonderful, and really hit the spot. Glancing around I saw the other ponies also digging in. Apparently it isn’t just me that like it.

Looking over, and noticing the cupcake on Yiska’s tray, it hits me. “Oh yeah, happy birthday Yiska. It’s your 25th now right?”

Yiska sits quietly, just looking at the cupcake.

“Yiska?” Eric said looking over, and snapped his fingers a few times.

The LT gets up and walks over, giving Yiska a light smack on the back of the head “Ranger!”

He blinks a few times, looking around in confusion, “What? What happened?”

“You zoned out there, totally, what is going on?” The LT asks.

“Just something the ponies said started running around in my mind, five score divided by 4…” Yiska said, me wishing he didn't because that all the civilian ponies shudder. “I…. I have to go to the bathroom.”

With that he walks into the bathroom slowly, with his head down. I look at the LT. “I don’t know why but that phrase seems to affect us all the same way, with dread… An infection wouldn’t instill a response like that in everyone would it?”

The LT shakes his head slowly. “I don’t know.”

“Um guys,” Yiska says quietly, “I think, I have a problem.”

Stepping out of the bathroom Yiska turns sideways to show his mark, a cloud with a rainbow bolt shooting out from below it.

Part 5: A Rainbow Paradox.

I was born, and grew up, in the eastern prefect of the Navajo Nation, near Whitehorse Lake, in New Mexico. My grandfather convinced my parents to name me Yiska, which translates as "the night has passed.” While some might think that that would be a girly name or such, in Navajo culture it is definitely a man’s name, whereas a females would translate more as the morning sun rises.

My grandfather said it was because I had come out of the long darkness, but again, sometimes I thought my grandfather was nuts. In an era of jet planes, of cars and computers, he still believed that every person needed to be in touch with nature, with the life force of the world around them. At least he didn’t speak like Yoda, or I would have had him committed.

I spent my early years learning about our culture and our history. Grandfather would take me to talk with the spirits of the wind and sky, with the land and animals. Yes, as stupid as it sounds to most, my grandfather had me sit in front of a horse, telling me to looking into its eyes, to try to understand what it was thinking, what it was feeling. I think I slept through most of those, there is a fine line between meditating and sleeping, but the biggest difference I think is meditating has less snoring involved.

My grandfather believe that many of us were born with a spirit guide, an animal that will walk through life with us, will guide us, and be there for us not just for the bad times but for the good as well. He said I needed to find mine or I would never be at peace with my life. The preparations for it were bordering on torture. I know if a child services agent had seen it I would have been taken in an instant, fasting for a day, walking in the hot sun without water, then the medicine hut.

My vision though was horrible; I remember the laughing, the feel of terror, and 2 red and yellow miss-sized eyes. It wasn’t something I could explain or deal with but after that I wanted nothing to do with spirits or the ways like that. I still learned the ways but I did everything I could to avoid that feeling again.

I went to school in Gallup, seriously it was called Gallup, New Mexico. There’s no puns, jokes or such involved, and really it wasn’t a nice place. Crime there was pretty common, with violence being over 5 times the national average. I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle during the winter, and grandfather during the summer. Notice my mom and dad are not mentioned. My mom died when I was very young, and my dad, not wanting to deal with a child so he left, gave up custody and left me with my grandfather.

School wasn’t miserable, but it also was never interesting for me. I wasn’t a book learner, I was more hands on, so doing things like shop, gym, and such, I was ok with, sitting and listening to a lecture about why you shouldn’t mix acids and base, not so much. Though in hind sight, I think I should have listened to that lecture a bit more, especially with that whole fire incident. In my defense if they had SHOWN us what would happen first, it probably wouldn’t have happened.

I joined the army for a mix of reasons, first and for most, a sit down office job to me would have been so boring… but other jobs like farming, gas pumping, or such were just as boring to me, the idea of sitting around for hours, or doing the same thing over and over again. I needed more, and for that I joined up.

I started with basic and went radio for my MOS. MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialization, in other words your job. While it wasn’t actually used anymore my grandfather had taught me the old Navajo code speak or wind talking, and that perked the interest of my instructors. However one thing I found I really loved, was the jumps. Parachuting held a special place in my heart, and was the reason I joined the Rangers.

There was something about the wing suits, jumping out of a plane and spreading the control surfaces out with your arms and legs, feeling the wind, as you flew through the air, there’s just nothing like it at all. At least to me there isn’t. Through that part of training I found myself helping others, one of the biggest problems is, you have to know your center of gravity, some students had trouble with that concept and it often left them spinning or tumbling.

I graduated though wish I could have spent more time just with the jumps. With the life of a Ranger though, the jump is only the beginning.

“Rainbow?” I said, blinking as I look at Yiska’s mark.

Yiska blinks, shaking his head, “Yeah, it’s got a rainbow on it.”

“LT, what’s going on here,” I say, looking at him, I'm starting to get worried, “How come he’s changing now.”

Yiska looked down at his mark again, “My birthday, you were all born on the 1st, I was born today.”

The sound of the air seal made all of us turn to look, as 3 people in full biosuits come in. “Yiska, we need to take some blood from you, as well as the ponies.” The doctor says, “Please be seated.”

Somehow, I knew this was coming but it didn’t make it better. Each of us including Yiska had blood taken, a lot of blood. In Yiska’s case they are taking it from both his arms at the same time, in mine, they take it from my hip. Something about people in full suits, taking blood, just made me think of the outbreak movies or The Last Ship. The problem is, with those movies it was mass deaths, in this case… I don’t know what it was.

Next come the physical exams, as they approach the crystal ponies I shake my head, putting myself between them and the nurses. I glare at the doctor. “No, they have been through a lot of physical and mental trauma. Let them rest and adjust, if you need to poke and prod someone first, use me.”

The rest of the squad are quick to back me up on this, and not wanting to risk something the medical staff agrees. They check the range of motion on my legs, head, neck, tapping my legs with hammer looking at reflex points there. Though I did find I had another reflex point, when one lifted my tail I find myself bucking back, hard… I'm wearing pants, but still. Lucky I didn’t make contact with anyone that could have hurt, but it is enough to make them think twice about going near my tail again.

Yiska’s physical was less intrusive; they were concerned with range of movement, as well as taking pictures. Nothing worse than the physicals we had through training. For Yiska though there was that dark realization that this was just the before photos. Especially after a spare pony uniform was laid out for him.

I really did not like the cameras they set up here. I understood why, but in some ways I think the change should have been more private, more personal. I don’t know why I feel that. And I knew for a FACT Yiska would need support. Just not the support these marines were going to give.

“Have others changed?” The LT asked looking at the doctor.

“A few, there are a few cases across the USA that we are investigating. All of them seem to have begun their change on or after the first.” He said, “However there is no known cause yet or reason.”

Scrolling through his tablet he looked at each of our marks, making a note, looking over I noticed he had some sort of, list… of marks, more than just the ones we had, different star patterns, moons, rainbows, flowers. “Strawberry Sunrise, Twilight Velvet, Blue Sky, Amber Waves, Arctic Lily, and Rainbow Dash, marks confirmed.” Turning, he heads out leaving all the ponies in stunned silence.

The LT stood up “Hold it, how do you know those names, we haven’t filed a report on it yet.”

“From their marks, and their colors.” The doctor says, “that’s all you need to know for now.” And with that he closes the door behind him and his team.

Amber Waves looks at her mark then at Arctic Lilly, “So, do I call myself Mia or…”

With a deep breath I step forward and hug Amber and Lily “You can call yourself whatever makes you feel happy and comfortable. “

The LT on the other hand did not look happy, in the slightest, I knew it wasn’t at or about us per say, and I knew the Navy knew things they were keeping from us. We were locked in quarantine though, so there wasn’t anything we could do about it for now.

Standing up, the LT walks over and writes something down on a pad and slides the paper through the air seal. "Even POW’s are allowed entertainment, can you bring in a TV or something.”

Within about 30 min we have our TV set up, and it gives us a distraction, something to unwind and relax a bit, and for the first time I got to start looking at myself. It was strange looking at myself in the mirror, I knew it was me, it wasn’t like I was looking at a stranger in the mirror, I was looking at me. Even though I have never seen my reflection until now, I know it is me. And I realize with finality, I couldn’t be a ranger anymore unless they could turn me back. But did I want to turn back?

Lowering my head I just start really feeling the loss, the stress, everything that’s happened in the last few days, who am I? Am I Walter, or Twilight? Is Walter gone? Walter was a Ranger, and now what am I? I look to the mirror to see the tears on my muzzle on my cheeks. The LT walks up behind me. I brace for the head smack, for the “you are a ranger” line, to tell me something. Instead I find him wrapping his arms around my neck, pulling my head to his chest and softly starts stroking my mane. That was it, I start to cry.

The LT speaks softly, like a father to me. “After everything that’s happened, you’re allowed a cry. You’ve been strong though things I could never understand. We are not in the field, we are not in combat. You can cry if you need to.”

It must take a good 5 minutes before I stop crying, but it was the first stress break I am allowed, and I feel so much better afterwards. Like a great weight had been lifted, reaching over I grab a tissue, floating it over and use it on my muzzle, sniffling, horn glow around the tissue, before dropping it in the garbage.

Yiska was the first to notice, he walks over to me, poking my horn, “Do that again.”

“Ow, will you quit playing with my horn? Eish. You’re going to make me go blind or something.” Honestly that does bug me, horn shocks seem to carry though my head.

“Well, do it again.” He says, watching my horn intently.

“Do what again?” The LT says, looking confused too.

“You floated a tissue over to you, you know levitate, telekinesis, that whole Prior slash Ascended being trick from Stargate.” Yiska says, wide eyed.

“I, I don’t know what I did. I just wanted a tissue, and reached over to grab one.” I can't remember how or what I did. I just... Looking back at the tissues, I lift a hoof, reaching for it, I can feel it, my horn glows and reaches out past my hoof to grab the tissue, I could feel tissue without touching it and it floats over to me.

The LT smiles, “Ok corporal, I have a job for you.”

I blink, ok, here I find I can lift something and move it with my horn, and he already wants me to use it for him. “One shock at a time, please LT. I’m still not sure just how I’m doing it. Or what I’m doing.”

“It doesn’t matter, corporal. Come here.” The LT stands and he leads me over to the air seal. Kneeling to my level he points across the way about 20 feet to a table. “Do you see that tablet?”

Right away I see what he is looking at, it is one of the tablets the nurses had, “Do you think it has information on it?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t, but if you can do it, we might find out more about what’s going on.” The LT is calm, yet stern, what he was asking wasn’t just about himself, or for his curiosity, it was about all of us.

I reach my hoof out and my horn glows again, I can feel the tablet, it is small and light but still I have trouble moving it, I find it easier to slide it off the table then lower it to the floor. I start panting softly as I start to pull it across the floor in little jerks, a few feet at a time. As it gets closer it gets easier to pull, till at last I can lift it up to the air seal.

The LT takes the tablet and brings it over, the camera in here was set up mostly to watch Yiska though his change, not expecting him to hide, so there were lots of blind spots to work with. Going through he looks at the listing, “it’s mostly names, marks, and such, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Velvet, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, ok Dash, mare, rainbow mane and tail, cutie mark. “

Yiska cringes “You did not just say mare did you LT?”

“Sorry Yiska, that’s what it says here, a mare.” Going through the pad he starts flipping pages, looking at different cutie marks pictured, “transferred to FBI holding, transferred to FBI holding, transferred to FBI holding, transferred to Spectrum Laboratories, transferred to Spectrum Laboratories. Deceased… What is going on here? Where are they getting this information from? Some of these names like Rarity do not even have a human associated with them, just says, female, white, purple, 3 diamonds, not even if they were found or not.“

Yiska looks down at the information for Rainbow Dash, “Identifying and transferring to either FBI holding, CDC or Spectrum Labs. They are gathering them, us… up. I guess they are really scared of this contagion. And why do I have to be a mare?”

“It’s not so bad being a mare. It feels really natural.” I say, trying to comfort him, but I remember the shock I had.

The LT nods slowly, “Yeah, but there’s something they aren’t telling us. And what the heck is a cutie mark? I know it’s the tattoo but why call it a cutie mark? Tattoo, brand, hip mark, but why cutie mark?”

Yiska yawns Big, and I know that feeling, I remember when I started to change. “Yiska, get some sleep, it helps. We all should probably get some sleep. “

***Yiska’s Dream***

Canterlot, The Crystal Empire, Baltimare, all gone… I had been through deserted town after deserted town, even Cloudsdale was empty. They were all gone. I landed on a cloud just looking at an empty Ponyville when I hear the voice behind Me. The dark laughter slowly fills me with dread.

“Oh don’t don’t mind me, I’m just making a little room, as any artist knows it’s best to work with a clean canvas.” Discord’s voice sent shivers down my back, as I spun around on the cloud to face him, flaring my wings.

“A clean… ponies are not some kind of paint! Where are they? When Rainbow Dash catches you…” I feel the hate and anger…

Discord strokes under my chin with a claw, “Oh, daddies little girl, you must be so proud of her… She lasted longer than most who opposed me.”

“Lasted… longer… What did you do to her!” I lash a wing out at Discord but he merely whispers away, to appear on my other side.

“What Did I do? Here, let me show you…” Rearing up and backing away he calls out.

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your memories removed, your body confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

To scatter the six, just the start of my tricks!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Yiska’s scream wakes everyone. He sits up, panting hard, trembling, with a sheen of sweat on his face as he speaks the words “Five score divided by four, your memories removed, your bodies confused.”

Instantly the colors faded a bit from amber and arctic as they start crying. Even Strawberry Sunrise is in tears and trembling. We all remember those words, those dark words… even if we don’t know from where.

It’s as if speaking the nightmare aloud gives it power, so no one wants to say it, but when we hear it we are locked in its grasp. The fear is very real, very strong.

Yiska covered his face panting hard, “Those eyes, Discords eyes.”

“Who’s Discord?” The LT asked, neither he, nor I have ever seen Yiska like this.

“The one who cursed us,” Amber says through sobs.

“Cursed? What do you mean by cursed?” The LT stands up, looking around at all of us.

“LT please don’t… I know the fear they are feeling, I’m feeling it too, right this second. I just want to run and hide, so I know how much they are hurting right now. It’s not something we can be pushed to remember, we just know little bits but can’t explain it. “ I stand up, I'm so frustrated now that my tail is thrashing.

“That tablet, the doctors, know more than we do, all we get is small fragments in our dreams, and even then I can’t hold onto it. And I want to know, I want to understand.” I slam my hoof down on the ground, “The problem is we can’t, and if the doctors try and push us too… I’m scared what will happen. So please LT… don’t push.”

“It’s not his fault and it isn't yours, Twilight.” Yiska says.

“How do you know it’s not my fault? How do you know, you didn’t catch this from me? You could be changing because of me, Rainbow,” I say looking at him worriedly.

“I know because of those eyes, Discord's eyes. They are the same eyes from when I was a child. Because I saw them before all this started.” Yiska slumps down, looking pained.

The LT sighs, “Ok, Rangers HO!”

With that every Ranger in the room, including me, perks to attention.

“There is no blame passing, no saying it’s your fault that this happened. We don’t have the answers true. I don’t think depending on dreams is the answer we need though. It’s a piece of the puzzle, yes, and the fact that every one of you is sharing the dream, and changing on your 25th birthday is likely more to do with things than a contagion.

Looking across at us the LT shook his head, “Best I can say now is rest. If you can’t sleep, or don’t want to, there’s books, or the tv, just try and relax for a while.”

I walk over and sit beside Yiska, “Sorry.” I say softly.

“It’s ok. I just think it sucks I’m going to turn into a mare.” Yiska says with a huff. “Come on I’m a male, not some…”

I raise an eyebrow at that one “Oh, go on, don’t stop.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, stress.” He says with a gulp.

I glance to Henry and then back at Yiska, “Oh no, it’s not stress, its Hormones, remember.”

Yiska groans “Ok, I deserved that one.”

“Well you heard the LT’s orders, it’s still night time so go get some rest.” I say, before I lay back down on my bed.

Yiska sits for a few moments, tapping his fingers in a rhythm on side of his bed before getting up. Walking over to the counter he picks up a hard cover book, taping it a few times before putting it down and picking up another, continuing to tap the new book.

I roll over watching him curiously. I don’t want to disturb him but he’s never been a big book person.

Seeming satisfied with the book, Yiska walks over to sit in the corner, and lays the book in his lap beginning to tap out a beat on it. A slow steady rhythm, it wasn’t loud, it was just a book he was tapping on but he seemed focused about it. Next in a soft voice he starts singing, or chanting, I’m not sure which, pretty sure no one would know either, since Yiska was the only one that spoke Navajo.

***Yiska’s Dream***

The wind is rushing past my face, my mane and tail are whipping in the air stream, the feeling of pure freedom as I plummet. The speed is what it is all about, the Aether gathering in front of me and almost forming a shockwave around me, the power building as I pull out of the dive.

With a bit of a roll I slam into the first cloud causing it to explode, little residual puffs of cloud are caught in my wake but don’t last long. I tilt my wings a bit and slam into the next cloud, which is blotted out by my speed, ripping through my wake shreds what’s left of it. The last cloud is above me, I pull up hard, and hit my brakes as much as I can, back winging I shed speed, but the shockwave I had built up carries on to slam into the cloud, blowing it to bits.

With a loop I drop down and land on the ground striking a pose “Oh yeah, I’m Awesome.”

“Rainbow, only you would take cloud clearing to the extremes.“ I glance to the side to see Twilight Velvet standing there, wearing her saddle bag, and, a purple tail ribbon.

Smirking I can’t help myself “A tail ribbon, you? What next, a poofy mane style?”

Looking back at her tail she gives it a wiggle then looks back at me, “You don’t like it? And here I was trying to make myself look pretty for you.”

I blink and step back stammering and feel myself starting to go red “Well, I, it’s, ummm.” Darn she can be cute when she wants to be.

She giggles “Don’t worry Rainbow, I was helping with a friend’s foals, they’re unicorns, at the age where they are sparking a bit, and she doesn’t have counter spells. So I was clearing out some of the wild magic they had caused. The little ones put the ribbon on me, and cried when I tried to take it off. I forgot I was still wearing it.”

“So what’s on the plate for today?” I ask, glancing back at the ribbon. I swear those things are just made to draw attention to the flanks.

“Eyes up here, big boy.” Twilight says with a giggle, catching where my eyes drifted. “Since you’re done with cloud clearing I thought you could give me a wing up to Cloudsdale.”

“Got some business up there?” I say, blinking. It is certainly rare when non pegasi even think of going there

“Yeah, a few enchantments need to be fixed at the weather factory, I was available so I got asked.” She said with a smile.

“Ohhh. Ok, so you wanna hop on my back?” I say, perking.

She points a hoof to the left at the air cart on the road. “I don’t think riding you for that long would be comfortable.”

OUCH, “I um, yeah, air cart, hop on the back.” I trot over and slip into the harness, I never liked these things, you have to fly slow, you can’t accelerate fast, if I tried to pull any of my stunts in these things it would get ripped apart.

“Ready back here,” Twilight said, as she sat down.

Pumping my wings to build up the power and energy, I start walking forward, I’ve pulled heavier loads, so there’s no big deal to this, just have to generate the power, gain some momentum and, “Blaze Taxi service is now in the air.”

Circling slowly I gain altitude, it’s only a few minutes before we reach Coudsdale's level, and I fly in for a landing, the cart wheels touching down with a poof and settling into the soft fluffy cloud. “Ok, wait here Twilight while i… NO!!!”

The young mare hops off the back of the cart, landing on the clouds, I turn to dive after her, to catch her, to…

Watch her prance up beside me flicking her tail “Cloud walk spell,” was all she says in a cute sing song voice.

“I hate you sometimes, Twilight.” I say trying to get my heart to stop pounding.

The doctor and nurses come in through the air seal, jolting Yiska out of his chanting, I have been fixated on watching him for nearly 2 hours as he sat there. He opened his eyes and he gives me this strangely familiar smile, before shaking his head and blinking.

Yep, I know that feeling all too well. “And it’s gone.” I say in a sing song giggle.

Yiska blinks and shakes his head. “Yeh, no I was kind of picturing you in a tail ribbon.”

“A what!” I sit up, blinking, but the doctor cut that train of thought off when he starts again with taking his blood.

They seem very interested in taking hair samples, as well as examining his ears. Although no changes had begun on those yet, I know it is just a matter of time, if he follows the same progression that I did.

Turning, the doctor stops and picks up the tablet from the table. The LT left it there on purpose, I think. He is planning on something.

“It fell off the cart when you were leaving last time, some very interesting reading there. “ The LT says, standing in front of the doctor.

“The information on the tablet is classified; you had best consider that before you speak further.” The doctor responds sternly.

“How do you have this information, how do you know marks and colors for people that haven’t changed yet?” The LT says in a very dark voice.

“We have parallel sources that we have based this information off of. It’s an extrapolation based on previous changes.” The doctor says in response.

“Oh I’m not buying that, you know something, and what’s with transferring them to the FBI, and what is Spectrum Laboratories?” The LT is blocking the Doctor from the air seal.

“Spectrum is an Independent Private contractor, providing aid to the US Government in this issue as well as back end research and autopsies.” With that the Doctor steps past the LT and outside of the quarantine.

“Autopsies?” I say with a shudder.

The LT narrows his eyes. “None of the subjects transferred to Spectrum were listed as dead.”

That has me gulp, that is something I hadn’t thought of, was I going to end up on some operating table being dissected? Would the military allow that? Just looking at where we were now I don't know, they might. “LT, what’s going on here? Since when did our government… China, Russia I could expect this from but the USA? What’s happening here?”

“I don’t know. Yiska, how are you handling this?” The LT asks, looking concerned.

“I feel I got into a fight with a porcupine and lost.” He responds, holding out his arms to show the cotton balls.

There is a tap at the door and all eyes turned to see the ships XO. “Sorry folks but we are going to have to cut your stay short. Hostilities are on the rise, and we can’t have civilians or… others… who require special care on board.

You’re going to be flown to the NAS at Corpus Christi by Osprey this afternoon, then Marine Command has authorized you to be transferred to a special holding area. If you continue to show no signs of change, you’ll be broken into 2 different groups there, and hopefully released.”

“Holding facility? Military run?” The LT asks.

Oh please oh please… I thought.

“Private contractor with specialized equipment,” the XO said before walking away.

“Spectrum…” Yiska says at the same time as me.

I look to the civilian ponies. “LT, I don’t know why but I have this strange feeling I’m going to break some rules and laws soon.”

The LT looked at me and with a stern voice simply said “Sua Sponte”

Sua Sponte, the motto of the 2/75th Rangers. It translated as, of their own accord. The idea being, Rangers would have to act independently at times, in the field there were times a squad would need to decide if it could follow the orders given or not, and how to follow them. Rangers can’t call home every time there is a problem, so we are trained to be independent. To operate as independent soldiers or groups, to complete a task, but how we do it is often up to us.

“Rangers, remember, we follow the chain of command, to the letter.” The LT said standing up. “We are Rangers, part of United States Army Special Operations Command. We hold that with pride, with honor. We do our duties and follow orders given though the proper chain. Remember Rangers, we were not attached to the marines for this mission. We follow the chain of command.”

“RANGERS HO!” Is the only response needed, the only response we all can give at once. We would follow the chain of command.

Part 6: In Technicolor Dreams

We are transferred into the Osprey while it is still in the hanger. To minimize outside contact or risk of contamination they essentially backed up the VC-22 right up to the quarantine chamber. The Rangers taking the lead, with the exception of me. I'm bringing up the rear behind the civilians.

I stand at attention, my Ranger uniform snug around me, bush cap on my head with my horn rising up in front of it. If this wasn’t so terrifying I might actually think I looked cute with the bush cap on.

The LT and squad work at strapping each pony down, not so tight that they feel trapped, just enough that if bad weather hits, they are not thrown. Finally it’s my turn, and I look at Yiska as he works the straps.

“You know, you could just strap yourself in Twilight. That horn thing.” Yiska says as he gives the belts one last tug.

“I’m not sure I’m confident enough to use it like that, and the LT wants me to try and keep that a secret. Sort of an ace in the hole,” I know the LT is right about that, and the truth is, I wasn’t totally sure how I was doing it, so I didn’t know if it would fail or cut out on me.

“Good idea,” Yiska said as he sits down and straps himself in beside me.

“Thanks for the help, Rainbow.” I say without really thinking about it, then I notice his flinch. “That name bothers you doesn’t it?”

“No, yes, it’s not the name, it’s the idea of becoming…” he starts.

“Like me? A female?” I say looking up at him, “It isn’t as hard as you think, there was no pain, nothing disturbing about it, it happened while I slept. In some ways I don’t even notice it. I know I’m a mare, especially when I have to pee. But…”

“Haven’t found yourself finding stallions cute?” Yiska says offhandedly, looking at Blue Sky.

“I… that… it’s… ummm.” I stammer, starting to blush. I think back to the other day when I realized I thought a stallion was cute… “Umm, Don’t ask don’t tell.”

Yiska blinks, “Ok, ok… I just don’t know if I could deal with it, the whole idea of PMS and periods. Of getting pregnant, of having a male shove his… Twilight? Are you ok?”

Wow, I think I made it to Lighting Dust’s level of green this time. Yiskas whole line of though ripped any hope of just carrying on normally from me. Now I find myself panting, sick to my stomach, PMS. How does a horse deal with PMS?

“New topic please,” I say almost choking.

“You in a tail ribbon?” Yiska says tilting his head.

“Next.” I scowl at him for that idea.

“Spectrum?” Yiska asks.

“Next.” I shake my head, that’s a sore spot right now.

“Escape?” Yiska says, looking at the civilians.

“Escape, LT, have you got a plan for getting us out of this mess?” I ask as I turn to look at the LT.

“Naval Air Station will be our best bet. We won’t know till we see the security waiting for us there. With civilians I don’t want risk an armed conflict, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Our primary goal will be to get word to the United States Army Special Operations Command. Someone is violating the chain of command and issuing illegal orders. It has to be someone high in the Marine chain of command, but without help from USASOC, we are as good as fugitives going AWOL.”

“Once we get free, we can start looking into this on our own. One step at a time though." The LT says and looks at Yiska with a chuckle. “Ranger I’m putting you on report, your hair is too long.”

Yiska blinks and reaches up to grab a hand full of hair… “ah, dang it.”

“Well it hasn’t changed colors yet, just getting long.” I say, “So you don’t need to worry about it Rainbow.”

I blink looking over at the two other pegasi, “LT, check out the civilians.”

Almost right away he notices what I see, and becomes fascinated with it. Blue Sky and Strawberry Sunrise are both looking out the windows of the Osprey on the opposite sides. Their wings are spread slightly, flight feathers twitching as they slowly extended and retracted their wings in time with the rocking of the aircraft. Both their tails moving in unison as their bodies naturally adjust to even the slightest movements of the flight.

“Why?” The LT asks, not taking his eyes off them.

“They are flying, I don’t mean physically, but they are, in their minds. It’s something I used to do during my flight suit training. “ Yiska says quietly, “I used to do that all the time, they are changing their centers of gravity as their eyes and minds think they need to. It’s something I practiced till it was instinct for myself, if I got into a spin out or tumble in the air I could recover much faster than most others. Think of your Flight suit LT, and that’s what they are doing naturally.”

The LT looks at Yiska, a little confused, “I remember the flight suit training but not this.”

“I don’t know, it’s instinct, I look at them and I know what they are doing. “ Yiska says, shaking his head.

In response I reach up and lightly knock him on the side of his head with a forehoof, “Good morning, Rainbow Dash is a pegasus too, like them. “

“Ow, ok ok, point taken Twilight. I’m just not as far gone yet as them. “ Yiska rubs the side of his head.

“As far… gone?” I said, something about that really hurt.

“Not what I meant, sorry, I meant as far along in my change and in touch with the instinct.” Yiska says defensively, he was in trouble and he knew it.

“I don’t know,” The LT steps in. “Maybe you already were, as you pointed out, you were better in a flight suit than any other… human. It could have been some of the pegasus nature showing before you even changed. That IS however if you’re right about seeing the eyes as a child.”

“Make sure you are all strapped in back there, we are arriving at NAS Corpus Christi, please return your seats to the, full upright positions, stow any luggage or animals, and have a nice day.” The pilot yells back at us.

We come in STOL; that means we mostly land like a normal airplane rather than in a hover, and the Osprey taxies towards a smaller hanger building away from the main storage and repair buildings. Once there, the ramp is lowered, and we can see a few Marine guards waiting.

It takes a few moments to get all the ponies unstrapped. Once free though we stepped outside blinking, ugg bright light, bright light! It is already past lunch time, and the sun reflecting off the tarmac is just evil. Once inside the hanger though, we notice there has been no real preparation made, a few beds have been laid out, but there is no big decontamination setup or biocontainment.

“Dinner will be dropped off in about an hour, “ One of the guards says.

The door is shut and locked with a certain finality about it. LT is quick to motion over the civilian ponies and he kneels down, “Ok, we are going to do everything we can to keep you safe. Something else is going on here beyond just your changes, so we are going to be going for a little trip, don’t worry we will not leave you behind. Hear me.”

All ponies nod, we fan out, checking out the different windows of the structure. They all have steel fence wire over them which wasn’t the best of signs, but it is a lot better than bars, fence wire means it was never intended to be a prison and wire was there to protect from hail and maybe vandals.

“3 trucks parked on right side, Civilian.” Henry calls out.

“I have one out back, Black SUV, civilian plates.” Eric chimed in.

“Left side is clear, no road on that side.” I call out.

“Driveway and road in the front, parking lot across the street with several cars and vans.” Jay chips in.

“Lots of short term options if we need a ride. “ The LT said, “Panel van would be best.”

“Are we really thinking this LT?” Jay asked.

Turning to Jay the LT took a deep breath, “We have no choice, they are handing us off to an independent contractor that is killing people. I’d rather not end up there if we can help it. I’d also rather not hurt anyone here that’s just doing their jobs.”

“Truck pulling up.” Jay calls out loudly, “Chows here.”

We all step back as the door opens and several trays of mess food are wheeled in, under the watch of the security. It looked like typical mess food, none of those grey and green pellets we had on the ship. They are nice enough to have both veggie and non-veggie meals ready for us though.

Sitting down to eat, I look over at Yiska and giggle “You’ve gone multi-colored. Check out your hair.”

“Double crud.” He said as he sees his reflection, his mane is starting to come in nicely now, there are even the rainbow stripes starting to show. “How am I supposed to walk around like this.”

“With pride, “Eric says. “With rainbow pride.”

That did it, everyone is now laughing, and it is just what we needed at this point, it is like all of the tension has broken for the moment, and we are able to eat easier. The humans had normal Saulsberry steak and mashed potatoes, while the ponies were given baked potatoes, salad, and some extra carrots and celery stalks.

“Ok, they only have 2 guards out front,” The LT says, “I think they expect us to just follow orders, so we have a little element of surprise here. If we can get a little bit of a disturbance to draw the guards in, we should be able to take them without them firing a shot, or hurting them.”

I look around then look at the rear and side access doors “LT, if say Mia, were to kick the rear door a few times, they would likely come in, 7 rangers verses 2 marines, we can have control in a matter of moments.”

“6 of us, I want you back with the civilians Walter.” The LT says.

“LT, I can still fight.” I start to protest, then I see that look in his eyes.

“I’m counting on it, but I need them to see you back there.” The LT said, and all of a sudden I felt like I was the bait.

“Problem is, where to go.” Eric says with a huff. “I’ve got family in Missouri, I can hang low there, but I don’t know about the ponies.”

“Gallup.” Yiska says with a chuckle.

“Excuse me?” I say, feeling a touch annoyed.

“The Gallup, or White Horse Lake, I grew up there. It’s wide open lands but on a reservation, meaning FBI and such doesn’t go there. We could hold up at my grandfather’s place for a few days and finally get a chance to do some research into this on our own.”

“And your grandfather wouldn’t mind ponies?” The LT asks.

“Knowing grandfather he’d think we were the reincarnation of some pony spirits or something given human form. ” Yiska says. “It’s a Native American thing.”

Nodding once, we move into our positions, Mia, Amber Waves, takes her place at the rear door, and we look to the LT, waiting for his signal. When the team is ready he nods.

“Ok Amber, just a couple of kicks should do it, don’t hurt yourself, just make it loud enough to get their attention. It’s a steel door so it should make a good amount of noise when you kick it.” I say, looking at the heavy door. I know it would take a battering ram to get though it so this is just for the noise factor.

Amber Waves is an earth pony, crystal yes, but still an earth pony. If I had known, had any of us really known the power locked away in the legs of an earth pony, we might have considered having someone else kick the door. Anyone else, even one of the Pegasus… The resulting crash was more like an explosion, steel bending and tearing, the brick work and mortar around the lock and hinges instantly blowing apart. The door sails out the back of the building, bouncing several times before coming to rest in the field at the other end of the parking area.

The plan worked as far as the guards are concerned, they rush in to see what is going on, and are quickly disarmed. The LT handcuffs them to one of the beds, but Henry is just looking at the devastation to the rear door. With 1 mule kick Amber has done more damage than 4 men with a battering ram. It was the LT’s voice that broke us out of our daze.

“RANGERS MOVE IT!” He calls and we all make a break out the front. Yes, sound carries, but a single blast like that on an airbase was not a major attention getter, unless you are expecting trouble. It could have been mistaken for any number of things, so while destructive, it didn’t ruin our plans. The LT chooses a white panel van.

Yiska is able to put some of his shop classes to work, with Eric’s help, and they get the van running, hotwiring isn’t as easy as people say, apparently. And we are driving before any patrols are following us.

The airbase gates luckily are open, no alarms had been sounded, no one was on the lookout for anything, so a van driving off base with two uniformed soldiers in the front doesn’t even phase the gate guards. The back of the van though, it is a little crowded, with five ponies and four humans back here, we don’t have a lot of breathing room.

It is going to be a 12 hour drive, though we do plan on ditching the van before we got there. Don’t want to take the chance it is Lowjacked or has an APB out on it. For now though we simply want some distance.

I found myself looking at Yiska eyes, which had him in turn looking at me confused. “Yiska, your eye colors changed. I like it, it actually suits you.”

Yiska blinks and leans over to look at it in the rear view mirror, “Gold? I have gold eyes? That’s new.”

“They suit you with that hair.” I chuckle, but he is now fussing with it, trying to get it spiky I think.

The LT looks back and pushes Yiska to sit down again “Ok pretty boy, we have time for that later.”

“Grab my wallet, time to pool resources, how much cash do I have.” The LT says, tossing his wallet back, “everyone else check yours. Cash only, no credit cards or debit cards from this point in.”

Between all of us Rangers, we scrape together about 900 bucks, we knew the civilians had nothing but their fur and the clothing they were given. Pulling us over near an old used car dealership on the outskirts, he heads in, I really hate to think what he’d get for 900 bucks.

We were all kind of surprised when he comes back with a 20 year old Ford extended wagon. Probably had close to 300k miles on it, but, as long as it gets us 800 more miles, we are fine. Moving the vehicles side by side, the ponies are able to get in without being seen, then the LT Left the van in the a parking lot and hop in. With that, we are on the road again.

Eric, Jay and the LT take turns driving, swapping out every few hours so no one gets too tired, even when it gets dark we continue driving, and we make sure to keep to the speed limit. We don’t want to risk getting pulled over for a minor traffic violation.

Yiska lets out a loud “ACK,” and we all look over at him, he is holding his tail in his hand giving it a gentle tug. “Darn thing hurts when you sit on it.”

“Yiska, you have your ears!” I chirp in with a giggle.

Grumping, he lowers his head. “I know you went through this, all of you did, but I can still grump about it. “

Henry just can’t resist this time “Hormones.”

“And tomorrow morning I’ll be a mare… “ He sighs.

“Don’t worry about it, don’t dwell on it, I don’t know, so far it’s been kind of fun. I just feel free, right now.” I say, hoping to help him out.

The office in the pentagon is fairly dark right now, the blinds are down and drawn, as Admiral Volker relaxes in his chair. His office is typically decorated, in the traditional browns, and dark blues. The US flag and Marine flag are hanging beside the door.

A box of cigars sits beside a picture of his wife and daughter, but his daughter's face is was partly obscured by his pen holder. Looking at his computer, he watches as pictures flash by, a pre-mortem autopsy being done on a Pegasus. Apparently he was some sort of “military reserve” Pegasus, what was the term they used, in the show, a Wonderbolt? Whatever the case, Spectrum files suggested he would be a good candidate for examination.

“Admiral, Anthony Phillips with Spectrum is on line 3.” His secretary calls in.

Picking up the phone he places his hand on his bible tapping it gently “Yes Dr Phillips?”

"The 5 ponies and 6 rangers we were supposed to pick up were not there. Apparently they escaped the base. I thought you said they would follow orders.”

“It’s merely an inconvenience. We will track them down soon enough, they are AWOL after all. In the meantime, I will arrange another batch for you, you will have the assets you need. Is there any news on Tina?” The admiral asks with little emotion in his voice.

“Her condition remains… unchanged.”

“Do what you can for her. I would rather not see her like that, if need be I’d rather just remember the way she was. Before she became that thing.”

A sigh on the other side of the connection, “Understood.”

Hanging up the phone he leans back in his chair, opening the bible he reads quietly… “And God created man in his own image, and gave him dominion over the animals that walked on the land, flew in the air, and swam in the sea."

The sun is rising by the time we pull into the Canoncito Indian Reservation, it is dusty, it is dreary, it wis hot, to Yiska, it is home. I really don’t know if I wanted to wake Yiska, I knew today was going to be hard for him, but we need directions. With an evil giggle I lean over and give his ear a soft nip.

Yiska almost jumps three feet from a sleeping position and is quickly brushing both his ears with his hands, panting hard. Then he looks at me “Quit doing that, you know how it makes…”

“Huh? “ I say, confused and tilt my head, “What are you going on about I just… wait memory?”

Yiska sort of nods , “I was dreaming, I can’t remember what about though. I just… remember you chewing on my ear for some reason.”

“I chewed on your ear to wake you up… or was it in the dream I was doing it?” I ask. This could get more weird, but I hope it doesn’t.

Yiska shakes his head “Nope, no idea.” Looking outside at the sunrise he quickly eeps and puts a hand between his legs.

“Oye.” I brace for his reaction, I know the shock, the feeling of losing….

“YAHOO!!! I’m still male!!!” Yiska cheers.

“Oh come on, that’s just not fair, you should be a girl by now, rainbow dash was listed as a female, and I know you are Rainbow.” I huff and stomp a hoof.

The LT yawns “keep it down back there, don’t make me turn this truck around. I will you know.”

“Yes Daddy,” I say, still pouting.

“Ok that’s adorable, you have this cute little duck face pout with your lower lip sticking out.” Eric says with a chuckle.

Blushing, I just hide my face under my hooves. Why me? Why did I have to be the only one to go through this. The universe is just so unfair.

We park and for the first time, we all get to be out in the open again… all of us pile out of the truck at once, breathing, stretching out legs, wings, necks, arms, whatever, you got it, it needed stretching, it is stretched.

Yiska shakes himself out head and tail, cute blue ears flopping a bit as he does, before he goes in to talk to his grandfather about us. I'm not sure if he is happy, worried, or scared about this meeting but it is the only real chance we have.

“Grandfather?” Yiska calls out, “Grandfather I need your help.”

I sit on my haunches at the doorway, watching, my ear quickly locates the movement from one of the back rooms. I finally get my first look at Yiska’s grandfather. A slightly overweight man, somewhere between 60 and 1000 years old, walks in using a long piece of carved wood as a cane, scruffy white hair, yellow teeth, spots all over his face and chest. The fact that he was just wearing jeans and no shirt didn’t help the mater in my opinion.

Grandfather speaks calmly, paying no attention to me. His voice is soothing, yet, I have no idea what he is saying, my guess is he chose to speak in Navajo. “Problem with the spirits, lost child?”

“Lost child, grandfather it’s me, Yiska.” There is worry in his voice that he isn’t going to be recognized.

“I know, yet you are still lost, child. You have come through the long night, and are trying to find your way.” He says, settling down.

Yiska shakes his head, “Grandfather, this is serious. My friends and I are in trouble, we had to go AWOL. Do you know what that means?”

“It means the white man cannot see or accept what is right in front of his face. That he is will fight against the spirits, or try and control them as he always does. And now you are caught up in this fight.”

Grandfather looks in my direction then back at Yiska. “Some will choose to live with the spirits, accept what they are, what they become, others will fight against the spirits.”

“Grandfather, this is serious, we need a place to stay for a few days, to hide out, there are people whose lives are danger. Like my friend here.” Yiska said motioning to me.

“I do not see person there, I see a lost spirit, seeking to find her way. Like the spirit in you, it stands in this world, unsure, unable to get back to the spirit world. You need to rest, you need time in the medicine hut. To be cleansed of the corruption of the white man.” Grandfather nods to me, for the first time speaking English. “You are welcome to find yourself, lost one.”

The house itself was 2 stories, hand crafted, with old wooden tables and chairs, an actual cast iron stove, it seemed so out of place in the 21st century, heck it seemed out of place in the 20th century. The walls were adorned with all sorts of different spiritual items, almost none of them I could recognize but something about it made my horn tingle.

Grandfather stands, taking a pipe off the wall, and loads it with herbs while he spoke in Navajo again, “Your friends can stay, sleep up stairs, basement, or trailer, though I would recommend sleeping outside a few nights.” Lighting the pipe he offered it to Yiska, “The spirits of the night, need not always be feared.”

“Grandfather a pipe, really?” Yiska shakes his head.

Grandfather pushes it into his hands. “This is my house still, I expect you to honor it.” Yiska takes a puff before returning the pipe and Grandfather nods. Next, Grandfather walks over to me, I'm still not understanding anything really that’s been said. Even the few words spoken in English, I looked to Yiska for help.

Grandfather kneels down in front of me, taking a puff from his pipe then he blows it in my face, into my nose. I cough a few times, turning my head away and looking down, “Second hand smoke is a killer.” I say.

I look up though, and see my horn glowing for some reason. The horn shine is lighting my face and playing with the smoke.

Grandfather smiles, patting my head as he stands, clearing the pipe into the old stove, but not saying anything. Yiska looked at me slightly confused, “Are you ok?” he asks.

I shake my head to clear the smoke, my horn shine fading, and then nod, “I’m fine. That was just strange.”

“Yiska, your room is unchanged, even your computer is there. If you find you need it.” With that Grandfather got up and moves to sit in his rocking chair, in front of an old CRT TV, the idea that anyone actually had those, he needed a digital converter box, but I remember almost a decade ago the government was giving them away.

Coughing once again, I stand up and look at Yiska, we end up heading outside. “LT, it's safe, we are allowed to stay,” Yiska says, “Just expect to either get offered a smoke pipe or have smoke blown in your face. Grandfather has his traditions.”

Strawberry Sunrise was outside of the truck again, facing the sunrise, with her eyes closed. Her forelegs prancing a bit like she did a few days ago during our run in Nicaragua. I look at Yiska and he nods back as we walk over to her, “Angelina, its safe here, why not give it a try.” I say.

Looking back at me she let out a giggle, and looks up into the sky, spreading her wings wide, again I can sense the energy building in her wings, with a few pumps of her wings she leaps, her wings flapping, almost doing a summersault in the air to land on her back, sliding a few feet.

I cringe but Yiska moves up to her, helping her back on her hooves, he then gently he adjusts her wings and tail, “Your center of gravity is important, especially during takeoff, if you shift it to far forward you’ll flip.”

Blue Sky comes over to watch as well, looking at his wings, then watches as Angelina tries again, this time she makes sort of a long jump, before landing about 10 feet away. Giggling loudly, she turns and does it again landing back and skidding up to us.

“Good, see you can do it.” Yiska says as he gives her wings a little bit of a cleaning, fluffing out some of her feathers before backing up, "One more time, this time a little bit of altitude.”

Looking over I watch as grandfather leaves the house and starts driving down the road in an old pickup truck, somewhere from the 1980’s old, a serious antique. I shake my head and look back to the flight training.

Turning to the sun again she starts pumping her wings and jumps into the air, flying in a slow circle her mane and tail dancing in the breeze, her form silhouetted by the early morning sun. After a few circles she comes in for a landing and hits the ground skidding, but it didn’t seem to bother her, she lay there laughing.

Running, and trotting up to her she looks up at me, “Now I know why I’m Strawberry Sunrise, that was the greatest thing ever.”

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“My heart is pounding, my wings are on fire, I feel like I just ate a pound of dirt… I feel wonderful, flying in the morning like that feels like the greatest thing ever.” She says with a smile that just wouldn’t leave her face.

Yiska helps her up “Ok best rest now, you can try again when you’re a little more relaxed. I don’t know how much strain flying puts on your wings so best not overdo it right away. Short bursts.”

“Oh look who’s turning into the flight instructor here.” I say to Yiska with a smile.

“Oh hush you, Twilight, I’m probably going to be eating as much dirt, or more, than the next pony when I try and fly.” Yiska says with a laugh.

It wasn’t long before both Blue Sky and Strawberry Sunrise are taking turns in the air, one would fly for one or two minutes then land for a break, then the next would take to the air for one or two minutes. Each watching the other, learning from the mistakes. I helped as best I could by cleaning them off after their crashes and Henry kept checking them over for injuries.

“Pegasi seem to be able to take light crashes, I know a few landing like that would have me bruised and probably sprain something.” Henry says. “Either that, or they heal really fast from them, they would have to, I guess.”

Grandfather’s pickup drives back up, it was already mid morning, time is going by quickly. Apparently with the joy the pegasi are feeling is spreading to all of us. It seemed that the feelings were more infectious than anything else. Even the earth ponies are having fun now, having little races with each other just to stretch their legs out.

Grandfather calls out in English “I have food, Shima had some deer stew and day old bread. It is warm, good for you. For the spirit folk, I have some grain cereal, it will give you the energy you need for all the running you are doing.”

We all gather at the back of the truck as he slowly dishes out bowl after bowl of stew for the humans, then giving each of the ponies a large bowl of mixed grains and grey chunk pellets. They look much like the cubes we had been given on the ship.

Yiska grabs a bowl of stew and almost get hit with the ladle by his grandfather, “That is not for you, your spirit will not accept that Yiska.” He said.

“Grandfather, its deer stew.”

But Grandfather shakes his head, “For now you need herbs, grasses, grain, your body needs to accept the spirit, and for that it needs the right food.”

“Yiska, remember me after the beef, how green I went.” I said.

Huffing and scuffing his hoof, Yiska sits down with the grains and starts eating. “Actually, this tastes great.”

“I know, it doesn’t look like much but it tastes wonderful. What is it?” I asked looking up at Grandfather.

“Alfalfa cubes, and pellets, the cubes are big in fiber and help you digest, the pellet are very high in energy, to give you the calories your bodies need,” Grandfather says with a nod.

All of us looked down at the bowls, horse feed? Well it tasted great.

Part 8: The Old Ways

Grandfather sits in front of me in the living room, to be honest, I never did get his actual first name, but we had all come to just call him grandfather. The more I get to know him, the more I can’t decide if he is nuts. Or I am.

“You can sense it can’t you? The magic in the air, in the land, in others.” He says, looking at me.

“I, I don’t know, I don’t know what I sense or what to call it. Magic, the force, energy, I don’t know.” I lower my head.

“Then calling it magic wouldn’t change things would it?” He says gently.

I open my mouth to argue but couldn’t come up with anything, “I guess.” I say finally.

“There are many names used to describe a gun, some call it a firearm, others a firestick, or thunderstaff. Does the name matter though? Simply calling it magic will help, it is just a form of energy.”

“A rose by any other name.” I say, then blink, I hate Shakespeare.

“Your power is channeled through your horn. It’s your focus. Some use song as their focus, some use incense, from what I have seen the Pegasus likely use their wings. A focus is something that lets you channel your energy.” Kneeling in front of me he strokes behind an ear.

“It glows when I use, magic.” I say as I close my eyes to the ear rub.

“That’s your energy, have you practiced with it?” Grandfather asked.

“Not really, I’m not that good at using it yet, I’ve done things but I don’t know how.”

“Let’s try something simple and basic. Close your eyes, look for the energy in you, and channel it into your horn. Don’t try and do anything with it but make your horn glow. Let the energy flow.” He says and backs up a little.

Closing my eyes tight, I start to concentrate.

“No! You need to relax, don’t force it, find it and let it move, the LT said you have done it by reflex, you weren’t concentrating hard then.”

I relax, keeping my eyes closed, and just concentrate on my horn, gently pushing. Opening my eyes I see the glow, my glow, “I’m doing it.” I can't keep the excitement out of my voice.

“Yes, now, turn it off.”

I reached up to hit my horn with a forehoof and Grandfather stops me. His hand over my hoof, he shakes his head no.

“Try just letting go of the energy, of the horn.” He says softly.

It takes time, but after about 10 minutes, I find I can turn the glow on and off as needed, with little more than a thought. I can do it, I am doing magic, and I have control. Lucky, no one tells me that this is something even a foal can do, because to me, right now, I am happy. I've mastered my horn light.

Next is moving things, telekinesis, I've seen it done in the show, I've done it myself, but have never really pushed myself on it. Grandfather works me for hours on this, having me deal with different weights, with fragile objects and multiple objects at once. It isn’t easy and I know I will need to practice this for a long time to get any really fine control, but what grandfather shows me, is that I can hold different items at once. I can now carry several pounds without a thought and even do it while distracted or talking. I only have to concentrate on heavy things or intricate work.

“Flying must be easy compared to this.” I groan, “this is just murder.”

“You are doing fine Twilight Velvet. Just take it slow, this isn’t a race.” Grandfather says softly.

Grandfather’s last exercise for me would seem simple at first, to assemble a puzzle. Consider though, first I had to find the piece, pick it up, and add it to the ever growing picture, which I also had to hold up, without crushing it. It is absolute torture and doing so took every bit of concentration I could muster. Rotating pieces without rotating the puzzle, and discarding pieces I didn’t need without dropping everything at once was so hard I was panting, how could something that weighed less than a pound be so intensive?

I am almost done when the door slams. I was so focused on the puzzle at that point that the sound caused me to jump and totally blow my concentration. The puzzle itself exploded, pieces going in all directions.

I shake myself off then look over to see Yiska standing in the door way blinking, puzzle pieces sticking in his mane. “I guess I should have knocked first.” He says seriously.

Grandfather shakes his head “She is learning to control her magic well, she’s a good student.”

“Unlike me, huh?” He said with chuckle.

“Your calling was never to be a medicine man, your spirit was always to wild for that. You are starting to see now, what I saw then in you. That is why I never tried to force you.” He says, nodding.

I sit there, gathering pieces of the puzzle from around the room, out of my own mane, out of Yiska’s. “Sorry grandfather," I sigh, "I lost my concentration.”

“Twilight, you look like you’ve just done a 40 mile forced march with full gear, what has Grandfather been doing to you?” Blaze says, giving me a quizzical look.

With a look in the mirror I realize my mane is a mess, I’m covered in sweat, and still panting a bit. “Umm, he had me putting a puzzle together.”

“That’s it? That’s all? And you’re in that shape? I thought a ranger…” He stops there, seeing Grandfathers withering stare focused on him.

I sit with my head low, there is not a way to explain how hard it is to him. It wasn’t something he can't understand, even Grandfather likely couldn’t truly understand. This was exam level magic’s I was doing. “A unicorn that couldn’t do this would wash out of Celestia’s school, and lots washed out. It’s not instinctual…”

“You remember the school?” Yiska said with a blink.

“No, not really, I remember an exam like this.” I say, “Had I, exploded there, I would have been out of the school.”

“Wow, harsh.” Yiska says as he sits down.

“You did very well Twilight, your control is improving, now, we will try it blindfolded. Only using your magic to feel the edges of each piece to know where to place them.” Grandfather says, smiling that infuriating smile of his.

Whimper. I seriously whimper, the thought of even trying that.

“I think she needs some rest, maybe something to eat.” Yiska says.

“Mind if I take a shower?” I ask.

Grandfather nod’s slowly, and I trot up stairs. After the puzzle, simple things like turning on the water, lathering up my mane and tail, washing my body, have become easy. Holding a bar of soap isn’t as bad with magic, as it simply isn’t slippery to magic. “I should get myself a sponge or whatever that fluffy scrubbing thing is called. Body soap, shampoo, new toothbrush.” Making a list aloud helps a bit.

Once I was rinsed off I stand for a little bit, letting the water pres down on my back from the showerhead, just relaxing me. “I wonder what a day at a spa would be like.”

Turning off the water I give myself a shake to get the bulk of the water off me before grabbing a pair of towels and starting to dry myself off. Mane and tail first, then body, then back to the mane and tail for final drying and styling, it took longer than I expected I guess, just because of the amount of hair I had now. It isn’t like an in and out of the shower I used to do.

Finally I turn and look at the mess in the shower tub, again TK made cleaning that easy, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort or concentration to do. Finally I turn to look at myself in the mirror. I look at my mane, tilting my head side to side, posing in different positions, using my magic to alter my style a bit.

I settle on gathering my mane into a pony tail and tying it with a string. Flipping my head side to side I watch it bounce in the mirror a few times, then turned to the door, prancing out happily.

***Yiska***

“You’re protective of her.” Grandfather says.

“She’s part of my Ranger team, were supposed to protect each other.” I say, “Rangers have to trust each other with our lives.”

“But with her it’s more than that. I see it.”

“See what? I don’t treat her any different.” I say defensively. Where is grandfather going with this?

“You come to her aid and defend her, even from me when I’m teaching her. You flagged your tail in warning when you said she needed rest.” Grandfather said, “I know you didn’t spend as much time with horses growing up as you should have. You never did want to understand them.”

“I think I understand them better now.” I said with a chuckle looking back at my body.

“No, no you don’t. If you did you would be more aware of the signs you give. To those who can read it your body shows your feeling.”

“She’s a friend. And she’s gone through more than most with her change.” I say, scuffing a hoof on the floor.

“You put your body between her and a perceived threat. Even between other males. It’s instinctual, like you are trying to claim her. She doesn’t realize it either, or understand. You need to be careful though, she’s very independent.” Grandfather looks up, both of us can hear the running shower upstairs.

“All Rangers are, it’s part of our training. Grandfather I’m not interested in her like you're implying.” I say, I know he is wrong. This is Wally we were talking about.

“Sometimes, spirits are bound together, meant to be together and seek each other out, even if separated.” Grandfather says. “Be careful though, she is like a growing flame, too much care could smother her.”

“You’re so wrong there, according to the show, I’m rainbow dash’s father, and Twilight's married to Night Light, they have two foals together, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle. If what you are saying were the case she’d be with Night Light right now.” I say, my voice rising in argument.

“Maybe, maybe not, you are interested in her as more than a friend though.” Grandfather says, smiling at me.

Twilight Velvet comes down the stairs, her coat shimmering after he shower with a spring in her step, almost prancing, her tail flicking side to side as she trots, holding her clothing in a magical field. Her mane is gathered into a pony tail that bounces as she trots. I stand watching her as she heads into the back where the washing machine is.

Grandfather chuckles “I rest my case.”

“What do you mean?” I said, then I notice I can’t put my wings down…

***Velvet first person***

I dump the clothing into the washer, I really wish they had gotten me more than one uniform, but what can you do? If there are other ponies in Montana, maybe I can get some clothing there. Thinking for a second, I poke my head out “Rainbow, want to put your uniform in the washer with mine?”

Yiska stands, his wings spread high, and he is blushing big time.

“Rainbow, you're gonna break a wing that way. Now your uniform, come on, let’s get that clean.” I reach out with my magic, helping him undress and bring it in to wash as well. Wow, they really do stink, both of us have been working out so much in our own ways.

Trotting back out I sit on my haunches. “Okay, it's thirty minutes to wash, and forty-five to dry, then we’ll have nice clean uniforms again.” Blinking I look at Yiska, who’s still blushing standing there.

“What? I’ve seen you naked before, and you saw me for like 2 days naked. We really need to get more pants…”

“I, yeah, um, we do don’t we,” Yiska says with this silly smile on his face, rubbing the back of his head with a forehoof.

“If they hadn’t set aside a uniform for you post change, You’d have to walk around naked all the time.” I giggle.

“Well we do have fur, and you don’t look that bad with just your fur.” He says before realizing what he just said, and blushing. “So, what’s with the pony tail?”

“Oh you like my little ponytail?” I bob my head, causing it to bounce.

“I just never…” Yiska gulped once.

“Rainbow, come on, relax, I just washed my mane, decided I wanted to try a pony tail for a while. Just to keep my mane up. If you think it looks stupid or childish I’ll lose it.”

“It’s beautiful.” Yiska says very quietly.

“Ok I’ll, wait what?” I blink and blush, beautiful?

“It works for you.” He nodded, then looks at Grandfather “Okay, you win.”

Grandfather smiles in response.

I blink, looking between the two “So, one last meal before the long drive? We have a trip to Montana, and maybe we can stop along the way and do some shopping, or get Eric to. I need like, everything toiletries wise.”

Yiska shook his head, “I have lots of soap.”

“Yeh but, shampoo is good for me, my mane is longer than yours. And sponges too, and some other things.” I say.

Getting up I trot back in to move the clothing to the dryer before trotting out again, and sit beside rainbow. Then I give his wing a nuzzle starting to preen some of the feathers. “Man you really need to have a shower and take care of your wings.”

“I can take care of my wings, Twilight.” He says but he sits perfectly still.

“Have you seen Strawberry Sunshine, she’s always checking her wings and such.” I point out looking at him.

“Yeah but I think it’s more because she’s female, males don’t care as much about that. We are more utilitarian. You know that Twilight.” He said, trying to look away as I finished working on his wing.

“Guess that makes your daughter a tomboy.” I say, joking.

“I have almost no memory of her, yet when I saw her in the show yesterday becoming a Wonderbolt, I feel proud, but I have no direct memory of her, or her mom.” Yiska shakes his head.

“Hey think about me, apparently I’m married to some guy named Night Light, who I don't remember ever seeing, and somehow had kids with him. Trust me, in some ways I’m thanking my horn I don’t remember parts of that. Sleeping with a guy… giving birth… ugg.” I shudder, sticking my tongue out.

“Yet again, you win. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to remember giving birth.” He chuckles.

I laugh and poke his shoulder “What, you telling me you’d want to wake up remembering you slept with a guy?”

“Nope, defiantly not that either. Twilight, can I ask you something?” Yiska voice takes on a serious tone.

“Anything Rainbow, we are best friends after all.” I smile, looking up at him.

“Just how drunk would a mare have to get, not to remember getting married and having 2 foals, I hear stories about that in Los Vegas, but really now.” He tries his best to keep a straight face.

I just start laughing, “oh yeah, You're one to talk, I bet you don’t even remember your wife’s name.”

“Man, it’s like our whole lives are one bad Vegas trip.” Yiska says laughing.

Hearing the ding, I and head into the laundry room, carefully getting myself dressed and plopping on my bush had I bring out Yiska’s clothing to him. “Ok, go have a shower then we’ll dress you up for a road trip.”

“Umm, how?” Yiska says looking at his forelegs.

“Oh come on, I’ll wash you, you big baby.” Laughing, I trot behind him starting to push him up stairs into the shower “We are going to see other ponies so we don’t want you smelling like… a horses rear…”

“I do not… ok maybe a little…” He laughs and gets into shower.

Backing a way I go to work putting my training to use, starting to scrub and wash him down, “Rarity does this all the time, I’m getting good at it myself.” I say, with a giggle, “under the wings too.” I hum as I was him down then use the water jet to rinse him off. And I finally I assault him with towels to dry.

“Rainbow, you’re almost as bad as Shiny when he was young…” I say before dropping the towels.

“You remember bathing Shining Armor?” Blaze says, looking at me, concerned.

I slowly shake my head “No, I don’t, but I remember the emotion of it. A little, I remember the laugher, the annoyance, something about a puffball effect. But I don’t remember doing it.”

Yiska picks up a towel while I’m distracted and snaps my flank with it, causing me to squeal. “Well it's the here and now. So let’s go take our little road trip.”

Standing, I help him get dressed, plopping the brush cap on his head last, and turn to trot downstairs. Eric’s already waiting for us at the van, along with the 3 crystal ponies and Strawberry Sunrise. Trotting around to the driver's side, I hop up sitting down on the seat and put a foreleg on the wheel.

Eric, on the other hand, stands there blinking, “You’re not thinking of driving are you?”

“Why not? It's automatic, all I need to worry about is brake and gas… and not even at the same time. It’s not like a manual where I’d have to worry about stick, gas, brake, and clutch doing 4 different things at once.” I say, looking at him.

“But you are… And…” Eric blinks a few times.

“Look, you’re the only human and it’s like a 17 hour drive, you can’t drive all the way, so we are going to need to take turns.” I say flatly.

“You better just accept it Eric, she’s gone stubborn.” Yiska says with a chuckle.

Humming softly, I buckle in and start the car, then glance around and magically adjust the mirrors. Eric watches me intently the whole time, looking very uncertain about this, “are you really sure about this?”

“Why not?” I say, “Roads around here are pretty empty, so it’s a perfect time for me to learn how to drive.”

“WHAT!” Eric yells as I hit the gas.

“She’s joking, Wally’s driven hummers before many times, remember.” Yiska points out for me, though I'm not sure about the use of Wally but I can take it.

“But not with magic.” Eric was looking rather white, right now.

“Grandfather’s been teaching her control. She only blew up the puzzle once.” I hear Yiska say, though I was more focused on the road at this time, or I might have responded to that one.

Staying to the side roads I drive cheerfully, it’s actually not that hard to work the gas and brake with my magic, and the wheel with my forelegs. I figure I could have just used my magic on the wheel do but, using my hooves was just as easy, if I needed to really crank the wheel I could use my magic for that, but it wasn’t that hard to drive like this.

After about four hours I start to get tired, if the van had cruise control, it would have been perfect but I made it work, pulling into a parking lot I looked at Eric, "Okay, I’ll rest, you drive, wake me up in a few hours.” I said then move into the back to lie down, and snuggle down between Blaze and Strawberry, in a moment I have somepony’s wing over me and I drift off to sleep.

***

“You need to stop Velvet.” Night Light moves to block the door.

I huff and shake my head, “But the call went out for unicorns, Celestia asked for any EUP that’s able to, to help.”

“You are not able to. You’re pregnant, and you are not going to risk the foal.” He says firmly.

“Oh come on, I’m two months pregnant. Is that a reason to abandon my duty.” I put my hoof down.

“Duty to who? To Celestia? To your unborn foal? To me?” Walking up, Night Light puts his foreleg over my neck. “You’re a mother now, you need to stop this running around. You said you might take up writing, now’s your chance.”

“It’s not me though, I love helping out the EUP and Celestia.” I look at my cutie mark, “it’s not my destiny…”

“You’re a mother, that’s your destiny, just use your special talents to be that, you’ll make a great mother if you try.” He hugs me tight, “I love you but I won’t let you go. Just write about your adventures, that should help.”

“I guess.” I hugged him back.

“There are lots of unicorn mages, who will stand with Celestia.” Night Light says.

“So, I guess I’m not really needed, just fade into the background.”

***

I sit up and pull my pants down a little so I can look at my cutie mark, just to examine it. I stretch out my leg so I can examine the mark, I don’t really understand it, this cutie mark of mine. What does it actually mean? I’ve felt it though, I felt it when I helped save the crystal ponies. It is part of me, but is it who I am? Does it tell me what to do, or just reflect what I love? What do I love? Adventure, magic, I joined the Rangers before I even knew about magic because I truly believed I should do, so others didn’t have to, I love the adventure, I love feeling special. I love magic now too. It’s fun, but does it make me who I am?

“Eric, pull over, I need to drive.”

Eric glanced back, before pulling over, “Something on your mind? You’re scowling.”

“It’s hard to explain,” I say, hopping out and getting into the driver's seat, “Ever since my change I’d had dreams, but I can never hold on to them, they are like fleeting memories, and every time I wake up I lose them again. Sometimes not all though, sometimes I hang onto a part, a feeling and it stays with me.”

“Must be hard to deal with, especially not knowing how or why any of this is happening for sure.” Eric looked out the window, “dad said there’s some that should be able to help though.”

“I know, what I don’t know is, what the cartoon showed, is that real? And if it is what does it mean? Do I pick up and go back to living a life with a stallion I don’t know? Heck do I even want a stallion. I know as Wally I wouldn’t.” I glance down at the cup holder and notice some change, so pull into a drive through at a Starbucks.

“One extra large double double,” I say at the speaker, then look at Eric “want one?”

“Umm, yes and are you nuts?”

“What do you mean? Make that 2 extra large double doubles.” I say to the speaker, then pull forward to the window.

“You’re not human. Remember?”

I blink looking at the teller, blinking once I levitate the money over to her, and the drinks back into the cup holder.

“Whinny, neigh.” I cheerfully say and start driving off again.

“Oops?” Eric asks.

“Big oops. Sorry about that.”

“You whinnied at her”

“Well I figured I had blown it anyway, let’s just have her think it was some prank or joke.” I giggle “2 coffee’s pocket change, the look on her face Priceless. There are some things money can’t buy…”

“And now you’re a credit card commercial.” Eric shook his head.

“Well better than being a beer commercial, you wouldn’t catch me trying to pull those wagons.” I say firmly.

I look back to the road as I drive, wondering just what my cutie mark is telling me.

***

“The sudden appearance of these ponies represents a clear and present danger to the stability of not only the USA but international politics.” Admiral Volker states while standing in MTAC, at Quantico.

“It is true that the President’s daughter has also changed, as a result his last orders were to find information regarding these creatures by any means necessary. With the hopes of aiding his daughter, however there are possibly hundreds of these creatures now around the world. This will be treated as a terrorist threat, under the extended Patriot act of 2015.”

Looking at the different monitors “Until we hear otherwise, we quarantine any and all subjects.”

“Yes sir.” Was called out.

Turning Volker walked out, checking his data pad he nodded slowly with a smile. “The President’s word is law. Any means necessary to help his daughter.”

***

I pulled into Eric's home town, lucky it wasn’t some major metropolitan like New York or LA, I’d hate to get mugged and lose our hubcaps. Eric’s parents live in a moderate house, on the west side of town, 2 stories, flowers, hedge rows, they even had a white picket fence, an actual white picket fence.

Getting out of the truck, Eric heads inside while I wait, looking around, blinking once I see a pegasus flying by. It is a little unexpected, in as much as I really didn’t know how many of us there are.

Eric comes out and gets back in, “Okay, they are at the old farm.”

I hopped out of the driver seat and let him drive, his town, he knows where the farm is.

After about a ten minute drive , we get to the farm. The farm is nice, decent size farm house, barn, silos, it even smells nice. We had barely stopped when a pegasus landed in front of the truck, wings flared out in challenge, A large very light blue pegasus with dark blue mane and tail.

“This is private…” He starts to shout as I get out of the van. I quickly take off my bush cap.

Sitting down I look at him, “continue… I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“Are you… Twilight Velvet? Twilight Sparkles mom?” he asks.

“Umm, yes, and no, I’m Walter Fitzpatrick, Corporal, US Rangers. I started to change on the first or second of May. I was in the middle of a strike mission in the jungles of Nicaragua. Not the most pleasant time to change. You’re Soarin, right?”

“The one and only, so what brings you here?”

I stood up, “On my last mission, we found cartel rounding up some ponies, they’re crystals.”

“Crystals? You don’t mean Crystal ponies.” Soarin asked.

“From the show, yes, Amber Waves, Blue Sky and Arctic Lily, they lose their color and get depressed very fast, and when that happens their color fades. Crystals can’t take imprisonment well. Consider it for a second, if we believe what happened in the show, they suffered first at the hooves of king sombre, and then not too much later they were attacked by Discord. The only way I can describe is Pony Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

I open the back of the van and kick Yiska in the butt, “Wake up Rainbow, we're here.”

Soarin looks at them, his face showing a mix of concern and anger. “That’s terrible.”

“We found them chained up by drug lords. I don’t want them to suffer anymore, I want them to be able to live in peace, in safety. Can… They stay here?”

“They? Not you?” He asked.

“No, my Ranger squad is in trouble and I can’t abandon them, plus there are still other ponies out there that may need help too.” Looking back at my hip, my cutie mark covered by my pants but I knew it was there. “I can’t turn my back on what my cutie mark is telling me.”

“Come in to the farm house, sit, have something to eat, I’ll get Dust here, she’ll need to talk to you.”

Yiska blinks “Dust, as in Lighting Dust? Wasn’t she friends with my… daughter? Rainbow Dash?”

“Wait, you're Rainbow Blaze? Oh Dust is just going to flip her tail at this…” Soarin said, as he guides us inside.

Another place to sit, relax, and a chance for at least some of our wards to be safe. We are still AWOL, and being with us… would just be too dangerous. It’s also too dangerous for us to stay. If we stayed the military could show up and that would put everyone here at risk. No we had to go. We can't stop until we are cleared.

Part 9: The New Ways

“OW, that should be illegal.” I said rubbing my horn lightly as the report of a sonic boom sounds in our ears.

Yiska looks at me confused, “What?”

“Hot takeoffs like that. I’m still getting used to this sensing magic thing, when Dust took off she had way too much power for my horn’s liking.”

We had finished our meeting with Lighting Dust, and luckily, she agreed to help the Crystal ponies. I knew there was still a big risk that Yiska and I could end up in jail, or worse. And I don’t want the Crystal ponies caught in the crossfire. Looking around at the farm it seems like the perfect place for them, not just to be safe, but to learn about who they are, who they can become, and to maybe even re-attach with their cutie marks.

“Speedsters, we can generate HUGE amounts of power, even from a stand still. There are even cases where we’ve blown holes in the ground and left small craters after really high power take-offs. That’s why we are supposed to control it.”

“You mean like the problems Twilight Sparkle was having when she had the powers of the 3 princesses?”

“Yeah, she had become a speedster… so she was having problems with her takeoffs and landings. She would have probably needed a few weeks of training by Dust, Dash, me, or one of the others to get used to that.” Yiska says with a chuckle.

“Well it still bugged my horn.” I say with a pout.

“So what’s next for you,” Soarin’s voice made me jump, I had forgot he was there for a moment.

“Well, Yiska, Eric and I, are all AWOL. We received orders that we were to be transferred to a civilian contractor for holding and… likely experimentation on… The orders came though Marine command, not Army, making it illegal, so we escaped. Now, we need to get in touch with our command structure and sort this out.” I look at the ground and snort, scuffing it with a foreleg.

“How about the change, how are you handling it?” Soarin asked.

“Oh just lovely, my career in the military is over, females can’t be Rangers, so even if they did let me continue to serve it would never be as a Ranger. I’m barely in control of my magic, we're broke, were running on empty, I have nightmares almost every night, or visions, or I don’t know what, I have nothing but fleeting images of my life as a pony, if that was my life. I have no idea what’s going on. I know the show says I’m married but when I see pictures of Night Light, I don’t feel anything, no love no recognition, no nothing. I don’t know if that means because I’m actually a guy I’m now a gay mare, or simply because I don’t remember. It’s like a bad Vegas trip. And then there’s the whole being a mare thing, what next? PMS? HOW THE HECK DOES A MARE DEAL WITH PMS!” I stand there sides heaving and I huff and pant. All is quiet for a few moments except for the sound of my angered breathing.

Yiska looks over at Soarin, blinking, before falling on his back and laughing. “Oh Sweet Celestia,” he says gasping and laughing, “I knew that was pent up but, wow… That one was worthy of Twilight Sparkle herself!”

Soarin sits down, chuckling “Mares don’t get PMS, you're safe. Next, we can get you some gas, and some basic supplies like food and such, and I can donate money for your cause. Dust isn't hurting for money. Lastly, lots of us have had weird times with this.” He starts to laugh, “My human name was Madison, so I know partly where you are coming from… or should I say going to.”

“I’m sorry, I know everyone’s had to adapt,” I sit down and close my eyes, “Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned I have way too many pent up issues. And a certain stallion may need a kick if he doesn’t stop laughing. Your faithful student’s mom, Twilight Velvet.” With a glance to Yiska I giggle.

“My greatest fear right now is running into Night Light, or worse, Twilight Sparkle, what if they expect me to remember everything, and instantly go back to being a wife and mother? I don’t know if I could handle that, it’s who… Walter was… I know, I said was, I spent 25 years growing up, the idea that I could actually be Twilight Velvet, and expected to stop doing what I love doing, to be their wife and mother is just… scary.” I feel Yiska's wing go over my back, or Rainbow Blazes and all of a sudden I feel safe, secure.

“Wings, the answer to making anyone feel better,” Yiska said.

“Thanks Rainbow.”

Strawberry Sunrise lands with a clatter of hooves and giggles “This place is great, think I could stay here? I don’t have much money but think they’d hire me?”

Soarin gives Strawberry a mane tussle with a hoof “You can stay, we can always use another flyer around here.” Soarin then looks back to Yiska and me, “As to you to, rest a little, I’ll get your truck loaded up, some cash, and some supplies ready for you.”

“And some Alfalfa bits?” I say, meekly trying to look innocent.

“Yes some alfalfa bits.” Soarin spreads his wings, taking to the air.

“Well I know where I’m going for leave.” I said.

“Los Vegas?” Yiska tries to look innocent.

I shake my head and bat his ear with my hoof “You are such a pain.”

***

“Admiral?” The aid called out from the other room.

Turning, Admiral Volker brushed off his navy uniform before stepping out of his office, looking around the room he sees his secretary and aid waiting for him.

“General Thomas, with marine transport is waiting to discuss an emergency redeployment of supply ships to aid marine operations in the Med. There is a request for you to meet with some Senators tomorrow including one Senator Corddis, and there is a series of contracts that will need final approval, independent fuel supplies for transfer from navy resupply ships at foreign ports.” The young woman nodded once looking at her clip board.

“I understand, thank you for the schedule update. Anything new from the private contractor groups?” The Admiral walks to the door, picking up his jacket.

“Blackwater is placing a bid to replace Marine security at some low priority ports. As well, Spectrum Group is placing a bid to handle outsourced medical transport.” She responds.

“Thank you, I’ll be out for the rest of the day, if it’s an emergency I’ll have my phone on me.” Turning he heads down the hall towards the elevators.

***

I looked over at Yiska blinking, then back in the van. “Food, tents, tablet, camera, burn phones, spending cash, water, extra gas, spare clothing, he wasn’t kidding about some supplies.”

“Twilight, we need to get going if we want to meet the LT in North Carolina.” Eric said hopping into the driver’s seat, “And if we are doing drive through, I’M DRIVING.”

“Yeah, yeah, low profile, I know.” I hop into the back of the fan and flop down on my back stretching out, curling my forelegs, “well we can sleep in the back at least.”

Yiska hops in next, and flops on his back too. “And we have room now, no curling up.” I say as I stretch my body.

“What’s wrong with curling up?” Yiska asks.

“I prefer stretching out more. Sleeping curled up always makes me feel stiff.” I sigh.

“Well at least you don’t snore anymore.”

“Are you two comfy back there? I’m heading out.” Eric chips in, “And if you too are gonna make out let me know, so I can put in earplugs.”

“Eric, that’s just gross. I’m Wally remember.”

“Actually you’ve been calling yourself Twilight, you only use Wally when you’re trying to avoid certain things.”

“I do not…. Do I?” I think about it… Do I? Has Wally become a shield to avoid problems?

“And you’re a flirt,” Yiska says, “not that I mind but you are. Just so you know.”

“Do I flirt, Eric?” Sitting up, I look over at him.

“Not with me, only with Yiska, thank gosh, your cute and all but not my type, I prefer redheads. But you do flirt with Yiska, especially when you call him Rainbow.”

“Yiska I’m sorry I didn’t… ugh. I know I was teasing you but I didn’t realize I was flirting too. Ugh, I make such a bad mare.”

“Actually you don’t,” Eric chuckled, “Your cute, adorable, friendly, just not a redhead. Yiska on the other hand keeps watching your flank.”

“Hey, I do not!” Yiska chuckles defensively.

“It’s obvious you two have feelings.” Eric said, “If it’s new, or if it something from pony times, that’s something you’ll need to reconcile, but if the LT has to step in, it’s gonna be both your tails.”

We both cringe at that one “Oh yeah, he’d flip.” I say, “I’ll try and watch that Rainbow.”

“Just ask one think, do you think Yiska is cute.” Eric asks.

“I don’t know, I guess, there’s something about his smell that makes me feel safe, and I like when he puts his wing over me.” I say, blushing furiously.

“Then you’re not a gay mare. Congrats.” Eric says, chuckling.

“ARGH… don’t make me buck you.” I giggle.

Looking though the supplies, I hand out power bars to everyone for a snack, as well as bottled water. Sorting through the blankets and pillows then I stop, pulling out a plushy pony foal and I blink looking down at it.

“Aww, you look cute with your little Twi-twi stuffy.” Yiska chuckled.

With one punch, or would that be a foreleg kick, Yiska was quickly stopped from his chuckles. Soarin had included a twilight sparkle stuffed pony in the pack, or someone did, it wasn’t huge, or life sized or anything but big enough for me to hug.

I never had stuffed animals growing up except for a teddy bear that my dad had given me, sort of as a MASH Radar reference, other than that I never liked them really, never saw a point to them but in this case I guess I could make an exception.

“Oh don’t tell me I’m going to start finding the need to collect stuffed animals,” I giggle with a smile, “but this is mine, I’m keeping it, and I don’t want either of you two harassing me over it, go it?”

“No arguments here,” Yiska pipes in.

Eric glances over his shoulder “You’re a girl, you’re allowed a few frivolous things, and trust me, I know better than to mess with a girl’s teddy bears.”

Laying back down I plopped the stuffy on my belly picked up the cellphone and quickly started checking the news. “Guy’s, we really need to hurry.”

“Why? Whats up?” Eric glances back again, asking.

“The GW Bush was damaged in an unprovoked attack in the Persian Gulf. Iran is claiming rogue factions in its own army carried out an illegal attack based on religious turmoil in the reason. The military is on high alert.” I read out to him.

“Oh come on, can’t we just have one problem to deal with at once?” Yiska grumbles.

“So what are we going to do for this road trip? Eye spy, punch buggy?” Eric calls back, changing topics.

“We could always sing.” I pipe up.

“Oh god, kill me now, a van full of ponies singing, I’d have to drive off a cliff.” Eric laughs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever head you sing when you were Wally.” Yiska says.

“Oh that’s cuz I can’t, voice was too gravely for it. Well for anything but rap, you don’t need to be able to sing to do rap.” I giggle.

“Oh remember the Christmas party, when the LT tried singing… That was just scary.” Eric adds.

“ARGH, how did those words go,” I said looking at the plush pony. “From that twilight song in the mixed up cutie mark episode.”

“Oh why…” Eric said.

“Yeah, that one, sec.” Taking a breath I looked down at the plush pony, “I can’t believe this small mistake, could cause so much heart ache.” I start singing, as I pull the plushy up into a hug, “Oh why, oh why… Losing promise, I don’t know what to do, seeking answers,” I look at Yiska, sadly touching his foreleg, “I fear I won’t get through… To you… oh why?”

“Ok you can stop now,” Yiska says, trembling.

“That bad?” I ask with a cringe.

Eric was quick to say, “Just wow, you have a great voice now… Not professional quality but you can really hold a tune and sing.”

“I just had a flash of Twilight Velvet trying to… I don’t know… just for a moment there, when you were singing…” Yiska sits, “I felt like I was being torn in half… emotionally. I just can’t remember. The cartoon doesn’t even make it seem like we saw each other… And I don’t know if it’s you as Twilight, you as Wally that I’m remembering, I don’t know if its friendship or what. Its driving me crazy, were Blaze and Velvet friends?”

Looking down at the plushy, “I think so, I get fleeting images of Blaze, mixed with joy, happiness, and… sadness. I don’t…”

“When in doubt, blame it on Discord,” Eric pipes up. “I suggest just giving it time, don’t force things, were all still friends and that won’t change.”

“I wonder if we could get a butt stamp on you Eric, we could use a strong earth pony to be our stability.” I say with a huff.

“Nope, I need hands to drive.”

Closing my eyes, I start singing again just to pass the time… “I’m coming home, I’m coming home, tell the world I’m coming home…”

***

LT James Fisher and the rest of the team begin their drive, they are using Yiska’s Grandfathers truck for the trip.

“LT we have enough food and water for us for 4 days, it’s about a 30 hour drive, I figure.” Jay said closing the back up.

“Well at least we have a safe place to sleep more or less. The old truck bed topper clipped in easy enough and doesn’t look like it’s got any holes in it.” Brushing his pants off Henry gave the last part a tug. “And with it on, it will be easier for the 4 of us, 2 up front 2 in the back.”

“Colman stove for hot drinks and soup, flashlights, yeah were good to go.” Sanchez hops in the back, setting down a blanket and relaxing. We’ll be able to pull over for pit stops at rest area, but we won’t really need to go into things like truck stops, or any places with a lot of people. Hopefully Eric’s doing as well as us. We’ll just need to make sure we stay out of sight till both of our vehicles are there.”

Lt. Fisher gets in “All right, Rangers HO!”

***

I sat in front of my typewriter, totally lost for what to write, Nightlight had wanted me to start writing for months now, but I never knew what to put down, and anything I did just sounded fake or corny. Not to mention I just couldn’t seem to get comfortable these days.

Getting up I walk over to look at myself in the mirror, “Celestia, do I ever look wide. This colt is going to be huge.”

Shaking my head I turned sideways more to look at the bulge, then at my cutie mark and sigh.

How am I supposed to write, to be a writer? There is a tap at the door, breaking my concentration. Standing, I shake my head and walk over to the door, my magic gripping the door to open it. Kibitz stands there, with his normal stern look. A cream to tan unicorn with grey brown mane, tail, and mustache, he is the Princess' advisor and commands a lot of authority on his own right.

“Is Night Light in?” he asked, “Princess Celestia has a special job for him, one of her prized books was damaged.”

I look at Kibitz, and bow deeply, “No sir, he’s out getting supplies.”

“I see, may we leave this with you then to be repaired by him?” She asks.

“I guess that would be ok, sir.” I said timidly.

Celestia tilted her head, “Mind if I come in for a bit?”

“Of… of course your highness.” I shudder, I had been in her presence before several times, and even attended her school, but this is different.

"Your highness, need I remind you that we have a tight schedule today?” Kibitz is quick to interrupt.

“Oh posh, Kibitz, it is almost tea time, and I think I will take it here, would you be so kind as to go to the shop down the street and pick us both up a tea, as well as some of those small desert cakes they have there.

“Yes M’lady.” Kibitz says and turns, trotting off.

Celestia turns and sits on the sofa, “I haven’t seen you at any of the functions recently. Not even at the EUP formal, and I know you love to go to those.”

“I… I gave up the EUP, it isn’t safe given I’m pregnant.” I say faintly.

Princess Celestia puts her foreleg under my chin, she lifts my head to look into my eyes.

“Princess…”

“Where is that fire that was in that young foal who snuck into the Everfree? Where is the fire of that young mare that said timberwolves would only take 1 unicorn to deal with?” She asks softly.

“Night Light doesn’t think that kind of a life is safe now that I’m a mother.” I say. “I’m supposed to take up writing, write novels, but I don’t know how.”

She smiles softly and sagely at me, “If you really want to write, you’ll need that fire. Write from your memories; tell stories of what you did, how you battled hydras or rockadiles. Tell stories of your adventures, maybe you’ll inspire others to try adventures too.”

Kibitz returns, carrying in a tea set in his magic, as well as cups and cakes setting them down on the table. “Your tea M’Lady”

“Thank you Kibitz now could you wait outside, we are discussing mare issues, and I do not think it appropriate or comfortable for a stallion to be present.”

“Of course m’lady,” he turned and stepped out.

“Have you heard from Rainbow Blaze?” She asks, sipping tea.

“Not since he started training the young fliers at junior speedsters training.” I said.

“He is still part of the EUP himself. You should consider rejoining.” Celestia says as she takes a bite of one of the small cakes.

“Night Light would throw a fit, besides, I don’t know how much I would be given that I’m an expecting mother, and when the foal is born I’ll need to be home to take care of it.”

“I know, but even if it is just the reserves, training to keep your magic at top form might be fun. Consider it, I can have Kibitz start the paperwork right away.” Celestia says, standing up again.

“I… Thank you.” I look up at her smiling.

“Oh don’t worry about it, and as to the book, tell Night Light it needs to be done as a top priority.” Celestia turns heading out.

“Kibitz, be sure to add Twilight Velvet back to the list of EUP reserves. If Night Light inquires, advise him it was at my request.”

“Yes m’lady.”

***

I wake up with my head on Blaze's foreleg, his other foreleg over my shoulder snuggled tight to his chest and belly. I feel warm, safe, protected, and for some reason really embarrassed. His chin is nuzzled between my ears so that his breath is against my horn.

Very carefully I squirm out of his grasp without waking him. I am scared if he wakes up, he’d freak out, but what I found surprising was, I wasn’t freaking out. Normally the idea of a guy hugging me in my sleep would be a problem but now not so much, not when it's Rainbow.

Grabbing a bottled water and a fruit bar, I move up “ok, hop seats.” I say to Eric, taking the wheel and gas with my magic.

“Finally,” he says as moves over into the passenger seat.

Humming softly I sit between the drivers and passengers seat, moving my drink and food into the holders, watching Eric go white out of the corner of my eye.

“Are you… going to get into the seat?”

“I could drive from here, as long as the wheel and pedals are in reach of my magic, and I can see where we are going. Though yes, it is safer for me to be in the seat.” I move to settle in and buckle up, before actually taking the wheel with my forelegs again.

“The more you use that stuff the better you get with it.” Eric leans back, getting himself a breakfast fruit bar and drink for himself.

“I think it’s something to do with confidence too, I’m more comfortable using it now, more confident in it, so it’s becoming second nature.”

“You two were snuggling back there for hours.”

“Please don’t tell Yiska that.” I ask softly.

“Yeah, he’s more confused about things then you in some ways. Trying to sort out his feelings from Rainbows must be hard.”

“Oh how does that line go… Eric, can you and I just be friends.” I say with a giggle.

Eric puts his hands over his heart “Oh the agony… the can we just be friends line, how cruel.”

“Hmm, red heads, does that mean you were watching Strawberry’s tail?”

“Nope. Not to sound rude or such, but I look at you, I know you’re Twilight Velvet, I know you're Walter, the Wally I got to know, to trust, the Wally that would take a bullet for me if he had to, and the Twilight that would give everything she had to keep rescue crystal ponies. But at the same time I SEE an animal.

Sentient, sapient, but not human, and that not human is probably what most people are going to see. That not human is going to be the painful part for any and every pony. For every human, I can be friends with, be happy chatting with, but I don’t think my mind would ever accept that.”

“Yeah, I can see that, strangely to me, you're human, I know you, I recognize you, but… well I think Yiska is cute.

My mind’s changed I guess, girls I normally would consider cute, I shrug off, but I find myself noticing parts of Bluesky, Yiska, Soarin… I think I like Pegasus stallions. Though I haven’t seen a unicorn yet, but I don’t find myself interested in human males.”

“Brains are hard wired for the same species. Depending on how wide spread these changes are though, there could be some destroyed marriages out there. Picture a husband being turned into a mare.” Eric says, looking at his food.

"Like Dust and her wife?" He nods in response, I think about what he just said for a moment, feeling sorry for them, "Yeah."

Grabbing some Alfalfa bits and munching I nodded, “Yeah, but in cases like that I’d like to believe that their love before would carry on, that they would still feel it.” Looking up at I grab my hat and put it back on my head.

Humming softly the last bit of the drive takes us to a small picnic stop outside of Spring Lake, hopping out I give the rear door a buck to make sure everyone is awake before heading into the little fillies room. Everyone else I suspected was taking their first chance to stretch their wings, legs and relieve themselves too.

Giving my mane a quick brushing, and a thorough washing of my muzzle, hooves and horn, I step out, I see Yiska’s truck there already, I trot up to Salute the LT “Civilians are safe and secure, sir. Intel was correct, there was several ponies staying there already.”

The LT smiles and nods “Now to face the music.”

We all pile into the van, since it is easier for the ponies to hide, and began the last drive to the gates. It takes some time still to get to the gates and I find Henry watching me curiously.

“What?” I say looking at him confused.

“You’re hugging a stuffed unicorn doll in a ranger uniform, that’s just weird.” He says with a chuckle.

“You're talking to a magic using unicorn mare, who used to be a guy, and you’re concern is my stuffed animal?” I just start giggling.

Laughter is infectious because in a matter of moments everyone’s laughing at that one. Henry shakes his head, “Sorry yeah, just not thinking for a moment there.”

“Quiet down back there, gate time.” The LT says, pulling up to the gate and flashing his ID, being a fairly open base, and with lots of traffic, the guards wave them through quick without a full check. This isn’t actually that unusual, unless the base is actually on a lockdown.

2/75th Rangers are not actually stationed on this base, but several other airborne and special force groups are, but we are here for USASOC, the special forces command. We pull up and park near the headquarters building.

Exiting the back of the van, we all march into the building, a large L shaped multi-story structure, with a big front lobby, there are no metal detectors, people always think there would be but, with the amount of metal on officers uniforms from rank insignia’s to pins, they would go off every time someone went through. There is however, plenty of security. Cameras as well as physical guards inside. All of our eyes though, fall on the pony sitting at the reception desk.

She was a young mare, white, with pink mane that was currently braided to keep it tight to her head, and deep blue eyes. I couldn’t see her cutie mark but I could swear it was Twinkleshine. We stand, just staring at each other for a few moments before she shakes her head. “Welcome to Special operations command, do you have an appointment?”

The LT steps forward “I need to speak to the Officer on Duty as well as having a Lawyer present.” He states firmly.

The unicorn nods slowly, and tapped on her phone with a metal probe attached to her foreleg by Velcro straps.

Velcro, I swear, whoever invented Velcro had to be pony friendly, nothing was easier for us to use than that.

“Sir, Several rangers and 2 ponies are here, they require the Officer of the day, as well as a lawyer. Understood, room 3 it is.” She states.

Twinkleshine was about the same age as Shining armor, if it was her here, she had attended Celestia’s school as well, she was apparently a generalist caster like me. I float my field cap off my head to set it on my back, you don’t wear headgear inside. Blade takes his off with a foreleg, tucking it between his wing and body.

Twinkleshine looked at me with a blink, “How did you? You can do magic?”

And there it is, Discord's curse, the reminder that as much as we looked like the ponies on the show, none of us could remember a thing.

With a nod I speak up, “Yes, I had some help figuring it out.”

“Maybe if you have some time later you could teach me.” She asks, but the security is already there to escort us to the conference room. A large room with a long table inside, two security cameras ensured that the room was 100% covered. Our squad lines up against the wall and stood at attention.

The Officer of the day, OD, is a Major, an older gentleman with receding hairline and glasses, he has his jump wings on but walks with a cane. Any mobility injury like that would have barred him from field and jumps.

The Lawyer is a Captain, younger man, probably late 20’s or early 30’s, no jump or combat badges meant he was a career lawyer. He was shorter than the LT or even I was, at about 5’9” with brown hair.

“At ease, take a seat.” The OD said sitting down.

Roller chairs, they are a wonderful thing for people. You can sit down on them, you can move around, they are very convenient except for one small problem. The only way Yiska and I had ever figured out how to sit in chairs is by putting or forelegs on them first, climbing up on them turning around and sitting on our haunches. Given this is our first time with rolling chairs, we quickly find ourselves with a problem.

Rearing up I put my forelegs on the chair and as I move forward to hop up on it, the chair starts to roll away from me. Yiska on the other hand had done a flap jump on the chair which had the chair both spinning a bit and rolling backwards till Henry caught him.

Eric was quick to see the problem and catches my chair, stopping it and helps roll me into place at the table. Any sense of dignity for me or Yiska now is pretty much gone, as the OD sits with one hand covering his eyes shaking his head at this.

“Lieutenant James Fisher, 1st company, 2nd battalion, 75th Rangers. This is my squad, Sargent Sanchez, Sargent Donaldson, Corporals Coralis, Fitzpatrick, Peterson and Christian. We were the team sent out to capture or kill Ornada as part of Operation Pale horse May 1st. We returned on May 5th to and were issued illegal orders, by Marine command. Someone in marine command attempted to transfer us to a civilian laboratory, without going tough Special Forces Command.”

The lawyer blinks a few times, looking up from his notes, the OD however remained silent and simply watches and listens to the LT.

“According to the listed orders, 2 of my squad, Corporal Yiska, and Corporal Fitzpatrick, were to be discharged to the civilian contractor laboratory Spectrum Research, as you know, Marine Command can NOT discharge or transfer active rangers to civilian groups, the orders would need to come from USSOC.” Placing a small SD card down on the table the LT took a breath.

“It appears that Marine command had been transferring several civilians to the company, while civilian transfers may be legal, the transfer of Corporal Fitzpatrick and Corporal Christian, would have put their lives in immediate danger.” The LT said.

“I see,” The OD states, but the lawyer is already writing notes down fast.

“We proceeded to escape, as trained, without injuring any security permanently, appropriated transport, and make our way here.” The LT said. “That SD card was taken from a data pad, it contains a list of the pony subjects that were transferred to Spectrum.”

“By appropriated transport you mean?” Our lawyer asked.

“We stole an SUV.” The LT says. “With my squad in immediate jeopardy, by illegal orders, I took the actions needed to protect their safety.”

The OD picked up the SD card “I will need to speak to the commander about this.” He says, standing.

The lawyer looks at him “I need you to leave the SD card here, until it is verified as evidence.”

The OD looks at the card then the lawyer, nodding once he picked up his cane and hat, and walks out of the room.

“We are so dead.” I whisper to Yiska.

11: A little A Noi’d

***Yiska***

I power my way down the runway before climbing to about 200 feet, I really want to get away from the airport before I gain any real altitude, so I streak off in an easterly, keeping an eye peeled for other aircraft.

I look around and see transports above me, fighters in holding patters, tankers, even an AWACS, all packed into a few cubic miles of airspace, this would be a dangerous place for any small plane. I look at my foreleg and really hope this thing is working. I really don’t want to find myself playing tag with someone’s sidewinder.

I wasn’t sure how far I was from the air field but I figured it was about 20 miles when I decide to gain some serious altitude. I quickly go ballistic, powering my way straight up at probably close to 600 knots before pulling out of the climb at about 12 thousand feet, inverted and laughing. I let myself snap back over to the horizontal and cruise along, my destination, Grandfathers.

Glancing back I notice a pair of F-16’s maybe a mile behind me, I checked my wrist, speed was 640 knots, heading was 097 my squawk code was 0001, everything looked right, so I nuzzled the squawk button again and look back.

The lead F-16 rocked its wings side to side. I know I haven't done anything wrong, they were just following, or going in the same direction. Then a thought occurs to me, human pilots are crazy, maybe they want to play. I grin as I pull up, I backwinged quickly to shed airspeed so while I climbed about 500 feet. Doing so loses nearly all of my forward momentum and I watch the two f-16’s shoot past me while I stall and start to drop to accelerate again. Pegasi can’t stall unless they want to, but this time, I wanted to, I wasn’t moving my wings more than to adjust my angle before I pour power into my wings to accelerate after the military aircraft.

The F-16’s break formation in front of me, one heading left, the other to the right right in a circle, but I was on the trailing one, who went into an immediate hard climb and bank. My grin widens as I recognize avoidance 101 moves, this is going to be really fun. I keep my distance to about 1000 feet from his rear and kept my turn just inside of his to stay out of his wash as he begins a quick barrel roll. After 3 rotations he starts to level out. My wider angle of vision has already seen what is coming.

The lead F-16 was trying to sneak behind me while I was chasing the wingman, but come on, that’s such a foals trick, even my daughter would have seen through that one when she was in flight training. I did a side slide, changing my direction and speed, I swear I must have pulled 9 g’s because it hurt to get around so fast in such a tight circle but in a moment I was on the wing of the lead F-16.

If only I could see the look of shock on his face, darn flight helmets, the leader goes vertical, beginning a hard climb with the afterburners kicking in. Matching him at about 500 feet apart we begin vertically rolling scissors right up through the cloud cover. Bursting through the other side we both carry clouds with us in our contrails. The 2nd F-16 had headed off to the west in a circle and was coming back around, I laugh, this is fun.

At the top of the spiral I break off to the east and start to seriously accelerate, my move had surprised the flight leader who ends up having to pull a split S to get back to face me but by that time, I'm already pumping as hard as I can, breaking mach one and closing in on mach 2.

If those were F-22’s they could have caught me but the older F-16’s just isn't as fast, and I am already above their top speed with their external loads still on. As both fall behind, I look forward, I'm just enjoying the speed, the energy, the exhilaration.

***Twilight Velvet***

We pull up to Grandfathers place, his truck will be back here in a few days, the LT paid to have it shipped back. I can’t help feel though that we were imposing on the old man, he has already done so much to help us, teaching me especially.

Climbing out of the van, I trot up to Grandfather's door and tap a quick cadence, then use my magic to pull a small box of tobacco out of my bag to hold it in front of me. A younger man opens the door, looking down at me and saying something in Navajo.

Bowing my head to him I simply say “I’m sorry, I do not speak the tongue, I have come to see Grandfather. I have brought a gift.”

“So you are the troubled pet he’s spoke of.” He says as he opens the door further.

“Pet? I’m not a pet. I used to be human.” I stomp a hoof firmly.

“Troubled pet is what he calls you, though the words for horse and pet are the same thing, so he may have been calling you Troubled Horse.” He chuckles.

“Great, even Grandfather's picking on me now.” I huff.

“He holds you in high respect and regard. He considers you to be kindred, to the Navajo, not a white man.”

“I’m Twilight Velvet by the way, Twilight works though.”

“Gaajii, it means Raven in our language.” He says as he guides me to Grandfather.

I hold out the box of tobacco with my head bowed. Grandfather chuckles as he takes it and shuffles to the kitchen to put it away. Returning he sits again “I did not expect to see you back so soon. Gaajii has been helping me with chores since my truck seems to be missing.”

“We’re sorry Grandfather, it should be back here in a few days.” I say as I look down.

Yiska trots down stairs chuckling “Oh don’t worry about it, he only used it like once a week anyway.”

Blinking, I looked at Blaze then at the door, “How long have you been here? I thought we were booking it at about 60mph the entire way.

Yiska chuckles “Oh I’ve been here for hours. After playing tag with some F-16’s I left them in my dust and headed here. I can supercruise.”

Sitting down hard I blink again “Wow, I knew you were fast. But that is amazing!"

He strikes a Rainbow Dash pose “Well I’m AWESOME!” Only to get his nose whacked by Grandfather, causing him to lower his wings and stand at attention.

“I think a little modesty would work too young pegasus.” I giggle and shake my head. I look over at Grandfather.

“We’ve come back looking…”

Grandfather holds up a hand “I know why you’ve returned troubled mare, and I will do my best to help.”

I blink a few times “Wow, how did you…”

“Yiska told me, after he calmed down from his flight.” Grandfather says.

“Oh yeah, right, sorry..." I sigh, "I guess I'm a little featherbrained right now.” I say, then something jerks my attention to the east, I rotate my ears that direction. Yiska is looking too. Then we both look back as the LT comes jogging in with Jay.

The LT looked at us “We've got three 4 wheelers out there, and someone is shooting.”

I head to the window with Yiska, and we see them, probably teens or tourists out from the city, zig zagging through the scruff, waving a rifle around and shooting occasionally. They seem to be chasing something but I can’t make out…

“It’s a pony” Yiska said. “They're chasing a little filly.”

“A filly!?!? But how, why…”

“They're trying to run it down, or they’re going to kill it from exhaustion.” Yiska turned and gallops out the door.

Once I get outside I can see what is happening better, the little one is running as fast as her legs can carry her, heart pounding, obviously in pain, bleeding from scrapes and scratches. She is driven by fear as she runs through the dust and the oppressive heat of the sun. Being followed by the laughter and the gunshot shots, if she slows or stops even for a moment they will shoot near her to get her running again. Her crying floats to my ears, making me snarl in anger, she hardly seems to be able to breathe as she runs for all she's worth.

I have to do something! I watch her stumble a bit, I need to get to her fast. I plant my hooves hard and my horn flashes bright. Something happens, because I feel a little woozie for a moment but I discover that I'm standing with the foal lying on the ground between my legs. I have beaten Yiska here, but I guess teleporting is cheating, I know that would be what he would say, as if flying against an earth bound pony is fair. I’ll figure out just how I did it later. Right now, my horn glows bright as I watch the ATV’s hitting the brakes hard, skidding to a stop in front of me.

“Well lookey what we got here. Another one, and this one looks like it wants to make a stand.” Rednecks, I swear, why did it have to be rednecks, they were teens or young adults, one has a rifle, the other two have coolers strapped to the back of their ATV’s.

“Maybe it’s her mama.” The driver of the second ATV laughs.

Blaze lands in front of me, his wings spread wide, yelling. “Leave them alone.”

“Or what?” The third calls out, chuckling, “Animals ain’t got no rights. So if we want to chase or shoot it’s all fine.”

He levels the gun at me and the foal, if Blaze tries to charge, even if he could dodge the round it would likely hit one of us. Holding his ground Blaze keeps his wings spread, watching the guy with the rifle.

“Maybe we should pluck you and see what horse wing with barbeque sauce tastes like.” The man on the ATV says, laughing.

The gunshot catches me by surprise, I hear it clearly, followed by the smack as the round impacts into the side of the kid's rifle. Looking to my right I see a good 500 yards away, the LT with a pair of Binoc’s, on the porch, beside him, Jay, with a large hunting rifle. 1500 feet for a qualified sniper, with even an average scope and rifle, was deadly but jay was holding a Remington 700 MDT, not an issued sniper rifle but with that, he could probably put down a target at three times the distance we were at without a problem.

I look back at the ATV’ers “Now then, that was a warning shot. Just to let you know he’s there. I suggest you drive now. As fast and as far as you can, and if you ever see a pony, avoid it, because if we even catch wind of you hurting one. You won’t hear the shot that kills you.”

Blaze snorts and scuffs a hoof.

The humans look at Blaze and I, then over at the house, then back at us,

"C'mon, let's get out of here, we can find more fun elsewhere." The three ATV's are quickly specks of dust in the distance.

Looking down between my legs, the little form lay there, panting heavily, she seems to be bruised and beaten. Her coat is a very pale olive green, with her mane a brilliant amber orange, with lighter amber highlights. With my magic, I carefully lift her onto my back, then turn for the house. Blaze walks beside me, keeping an eye on her. Her cutie mark looks like a pillow.

Henry meets us part way and starts to check her over while we walk, he looks very worried. “We need to cool her off slowly and get fluids into her fast. She could go into shock, or cardiac distress.” He says, as we clear a spot on the kitchen table and lay her down. Yiska appears with some towels that are soaked in cool water and we place them over her while she continues to pant.

“Noi,” The LT says, his phone in his hand, “Seen as the sister to Golden Harvest.”

“A foal, they would do this to a foal.” I snarl.

Grandfather comes in with a horse bottle and quickly warms up some milk. Henry looks over at him “She’s not a baby.” But grandfather keeps working.

“She needs fluids, warm milk will keep her internal temperature from dropping too fast. Since we don’t have another way to get her to drink maybe this will work.” Grandfather say quietly as he finishes getting the bottle ready.

Henry shrugs, “Point taken, I’m a people medic not a vet,” he starts, then looks at the LT “Damn it, Jim.” He finishes with a smile.

Grandfather gently puts the bottle into her muzzle and rubs her neck and chin to get her to start drinking. It ends up being very slow going but we take turns, changing the wash cloths, to keep her cool, while Henry cleans and dresses all her wounds. All of us take turns watching over the little thing over the next few hours, but finally she seems to be coming around.

Her head jerks up, the poor thing looks around, terrified as she tries to scramble to her feet, but Yiska puts a forehoof on her “Calm down, you're safe here.” He says gently and we all watch as her breathing slows. “You’re not in any danger anymore.”

Her eyes dart around the kitchen as the LT comes in with Henry. She keeps an eye on them, trembling. Henry takes out a small flashlight and checks her eyes carefully.

“It’s ok little one, I won’t hurt you.” Henry says.

“I’m 25.” Noi says meekly. “I’m not little.”

“Well, compared to Blaze and Twilight you are.” The LT says, motioning to us.

“I know, I don’t know why I’m so small.”

“Noi was a little foal, maybe when she changed she changed back to the foal she was.” I say, looking at the LT.

“That would mean the ponies are changing back to how they were the moment Discord cursed us.” Blaze says, blinking.

Noi looks up, “I started changing May the first, and shrank down to this.” She says as looks at her foreleg.

Carefully, the LT picks her up off the table and sets her on the ground so she can shake herself off.

“I was in a motel room when I started to change, my work sent me down here to help with some of the oil wells.” She continues, “When I got too small I found I couldn’t even open the door. Maid service let me out on the fifth and I ran out. I lived out of dumpsters and off grass for the next few days, I was making my way away from town, and ran into them at a camp ground. They took me out here and started… hunting me.” She said, lowering her head and shivering.

“That’s awful. You didn’t have anyone you could call?” Blaze asks.

“I wanted to call my wife and daughter but I don’t know how they’d take it.”

The LT looks at Henry, “Wife… daughter…”

We all cringe, and Henry's simple reply… “Ouch.”

She looks up between us and whimpers “Do you know what’s going on, what’s happening?”

Taking a deep breath I sit down “As far as we can figure so far, but we need more information or proof or something, is this. Discord started attacking and cursing ponies, if that’s true then we were ponies then became human.”

“That… so… I can’t change back?” Noi asks whimpering again.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so. You’re not the only one going through this. We’ve all had problems.” I say, looking at Blaze.

Noi lays down and whimpers “What am I going to do?”

I lay down, curling around her a bit and nuzzling the foal, “It's ok, we’ll get you to someone who can help, then see about getting in touch with your family.”

Noi yawns, curling up to against my belly, and nods “ok.”

The LT looks at me, then at Blaze “You know Blaze, there’s just some things a mare can get away with doing that a stallion couldn’t and that’s one of them.”

Blaze looks down at me, blinking then nods “Yeah, she does look like a mom there. I know that little foal was a 25 year old, but still, all I can say is Discord was well and truly twisted.”

I start to get up, but Noi whimpers in her sleep, looking up at the LT I sigh, “I’m stuck. She needs rest but if I move she’s not going to.”

“Yep, you’re stuck." The LT looks around, "umm, we’ll bring the TV in here for you."

Blaze lay down behind me, his side to my back and put a wing over Noi and I, laying his head on his forelegs and looks up. “Might as well keep you company." He smiles, "Hey LT want to grab my phone, take a picture of this.”

The LT chuckles and snaps a picture. “Got it.” Tapping away on the phone the LT looks down “Ok I’m sending a request for pickup and extraction to Soarin's group. With luck they should have someone here tomorrow.”

I look up “Pick up and extraction, you know you’ve been in the field to long when even day to day lives now start sounding like ops.” The LT laughs as he puts the phone away.

Shortly the TV is set up, it's got some drama show running now, I very quickly lose interest in it, the teleport had taken a lot out of me I guess, because I close my eyes and sleep overtakes me.

***

“No teleporting when you’re pregnant!” Night Light puts his hoof down.

“What? Are you afraid I’m going to wink out and leave the baby behind? You know that’s not how it works.” I respond with a huff.

He looks sternly at me. “Teleporting puts a huge strain on your body.”

“Only when you rush it, and have not pre-prepared the start and or end points. If I teleport home for example, it’s no strain or stress. Just like if I teleport from home to the guard house. Both home and the guard house are prepared locations.” I state flatly.

“When did you prepare the guardhouse?” He looks confused.

“A week after Kibitz put me on the EUP roster. I figured I’d have to get back and forth between here and there quickly if needed.”

“I really don’t like it that Celestia reinstated you, even if you are just consulting.” He says to me, “I know you are doing it to keep your magic in practice but I don’t know how safe it is.”

“My mom teleported with me and was casting powerful spells till the day I was born. And look how I turned out.” I say, standing proud.

Nightlight hugs me tight, “I love you but sometimes your magic scares me to bits. You may not always see it but, your eyes glow, your mane and tail look like they are about to catch fire, even your cutie mark glows… And I’m scared when you’re channeling that much energy you will hurt yourself, or worse do something that will destroy half a town.”

Cringing I shake my head. “When have I ever…”

“When you faced down the dragon, the magic blast you fired to knock him back, you could have just teleported away.” He grumbles.

“If I had, he would have killed those earth pony foals. And no, I couldn’t have teleported them without risk either.” I huff.

“It’s still scary to see.” He states.

“So what about when I start teaching our daughter magic?” I said nuzzling my side.

“Oh no, you are not teaching her casting. No Celestia’s school for our little girl.” He says with a chuckle.

I humph and trot up to our room, "Stallions, sometimes.” Then I nuzzle my side and giggle “Don’t worry, mama will teach you all her tricks, first rule to teleporting, visualization, see and build a clear picture of where you need to be. Then concentrate your magic on that spot and be there.”

***

“No… no… no… no… no…” Cynthia moans, sitting in the bathroom of the Pentagon, rubbing her leg with a wad of towels. “Come off come off… don’t be real…”

She looks at the red skin around the newly formed marked on her leg, a black ink pen with gold tip and inkwell, while the skin around it was raw from all of her rubbing, the mark stubbornly remained there, unchanged, with perfectly defined edges, sharp and clear to see.

“I can’t be one, I can’t, it’s just not fair. The Admiral will kill me. Or worse send me to…” Gulping, she stands up, and adjusting her skirt. Then she looks at herself in the mirror and sighing, “Maybe I should just… end it… I was born today, maybe I should just die today. I can’t go through this. Not now. ”

Washing her face, she turns and heads back to the Admiral's office, to end up sitting behind her desk. Putting a thumb drive into the computer she begins moving a few files to the drive. Finally a noise alerts her, so she glances up as the Admiral walks in.

Her professional demeanor takes over, "Sir, the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting has been moved up to today at 2 pm, and the meeting with 7th Fleet Joint Operations is at 3 pm now.” She says, keeping her head low.

Admiral Volker nodded “Thank you, I’ll be in my office.”

Removing the thumb drive, she places it in her purse, fighting back tears, and sits transcribing documents from the morning’s meetings.

***

I yawn, look up and blink, Grandfather is sitting in the chair across from us in the living room rocking slowly watching me, Noi is still at my belly but she has her muzzle on my foreleg and is watching TV, and Blaze is still behind me with his wing over my side and Noi.

Looking down I gave the foal a nuzzle, “I never did get your name.”

“Noi, I’m Golden Harvest's baby sister.” She says in the cutest little voice.

“I meant your human name, silly,” I say and nibbled her ear, causing her to giggle.

“Martin Richards. I think I like Noi better though.”

“I know, I was Wally, but Twilight Velvet just feels so right.” I say, “Especially since I don’t have the parts to be a Wally anymore.”

“What parts is that?” She says, looking wide eyed and innocent.

“You’ll find out when you’re older.” Dear Celestia it is hard to believe I am talking to someone the same age as me.

She puts her head back on my foreleg and continues watching TV, I can feel her tail wiggling against me. I look back at Grandfather and huff, “What?”

“How many foals do you have?”

“If they are mine, I have two, but it’s hard to reconcile.” I said slowly.

“Well you teleported to protect Noi, so now we know the next thing we are going to practice.” He says firmly.

“That’s going to hurt, I felt woozie and such after doing that.” I say meekly.

Grandfather just looks at me.

“Meaning I need to practice.” I sigh, “Grandfather, we came here looking for answers.”

“How can you search for answers, when you don’t know what questions to ask?”

I blink and look at him. “All right, that had to have come from a fortune cookie”

“Sometimes the wisdom of the spirits can be found when you are not looking for it.”

I droop and put my head over Noi. Strangely I feel like I am actually in a family for a moment, then Henry walks in with the LT, behind him are a pair of ponies. Lifting my head again I nod once. “Noi, some friends have come to take you somewhere safe, where there are no evil rednecks.”

Noi blinks, yawning and looks up at me, “Can I stay with you?”

“I’m sorry, I work for the military, so I’ll be going to a lot of dangerous places. Most of them won’t be friendly towards ponies. These two however are going to take you to a farm where other ponies are, and they can help you.”

Noi nods and gives me a tight hug before moving up to the ponies. Henry looks at them “She’s in good condition but keep her hydrated and make her rest for at least another two days.”

“I thought you weren’t a vet,” I say with a giggle.

“You can’t go wrong with rest, and fluids.” He chuckles.

With one final wave from Noi I stand up, causing Blaze to roll over onto his back, snoring away. I walk over to the window and I watch as she gets into the truck, with two ponies I didn’t know, and I know I'll probably never see her again. She was 25, but still, she feels like a little foal to me. Like my own foal.

“Ok let’s get to work.” I say as I turn to my companions.

The LT looked at me, “So you actually know how to teleport?”

I look at the LT and smile “It’s it just takes understanding something that humans have yet to figure out.”

The LT blinks in surprise, “Oh? And what’s that?”

“That time, Space, and Mind are not the different things humans make them out to be.” I say and turn, trotting out with my head held high.

The LT just covers his face as Henry groans. “Of all the Star Trek quotes she could have used… she had to use that one.”

Moving away from everyone, everything I stood, spreading my legs a bit, “Line of sight teleports, see the spot, see yourself at the spot.” My horn glows, “Put your magic at that spot, and be there.”

Wobbling a bit after I appear I find myself breathing heavy. Bracing myself again I teleport back but find myself missing my mark, appearing further than I expected. “Ok, so I need to work on accuracy too. Just great.”

I spend the next hour just practicing popping back and forth between locations, after every 3 or 4 teleports I have to rest though, and by the end of an hour I find myself really dizzy, light headed and starving.

Wobbling back inside Grandfather smiles at me and puts a HUGE plate of pancakes, jam, syrup, home fries, and even biscuits and gravy. I look at the meal in shock and awe, then at Grandfather.

Sniffing the air Yiska, sits up “Oh breakfast.”

Grandfather shakes his head “That’s for her, if you’re hungry there is some Alfalfa and whole grains for you.”

Yiska blinks “That’s not fair, why does she get the huge meal?”

“Look at her, she’s weak, dizzy, light headed, she’s been outside for the last hour practicing teleporting, she needs sugars, starches, and vitamins.” He says sternly.

Sitting down in front of the food I find myself starting to tremble a bit, but Grandfather is quick to put a cold towel around me and he starts to feed me, it wasn’t until then that Yiska becomes concerned. “How many teleports did you do?”

“I wasn’t counting,” I say between bites, “It wasn’t easy and got harder later on.”

Yiska nodded and grabs some of the alfalfa bits, watching me intently.

“I did get my accuracy up though, and I can do it without a lot of warmup.” I say with pride.

“What’s your range?” Yiska asks.

“Currently, line of sight, I haven’t tried to teleport to anywhere I couldn’t see yet. That’s much harder, I think and much more dangerous.” I say and then giggle, “And I’ll stick to calling it teleporting. I’m not going to use the other term for it, that’s just silly.”

“What other term.”

“Winking, according to online, some versions of the show called the power winking. Saying the unicorn would wink out at one location and wink in at another. I guess that version was meant for kids who couldn’t say teleport.” I looked down and was surprised that I had already finished my pancakes and home fries. Poking the biscuits and gravy I decided to give it a try.

“Grandfather, what kind of gravy is that?” Yiska asked dubiously.

“Thick Mushroom gravy using vegetable stock,” Grandfather smiles, “Its pony safe.”

“It’s delicious.” I say as I finish my plate, and relax a bit.

“Feeling better? You look better right now.” Yiska asks.

“No more wobbles, no more sparkles in the eyes. Yep.”

Grandfather pats both our heads “Good, then you will be ready for the medicine circle tonight.”

Both of us groan at that, the last one had not turned out so hot. I stand up and walk out “LT, medicine circle tonight, I’m going to take a shower, get changed into some civvies.” Then I trot into the bathroom with my saddle bag.

My shower was quick this time, I think I only spent 5 or 6 min in there, before getting out and getting dried off. Dressing in the shorts and t-shirt I bought I put my mane back into a pony tail and trot down the stairs. “Ok, I'm ready.”

Something about a grey white unicorn, wearing navy blue shorts, and a red t-shirt with the white and gold airborne logo on the front, showing between my forelegs as I sat, must have looked different because the entire squad was looking at me smiling. I could tell they were trying not to laugh, but I didn’t mind. Narrowing my eyes I made my horn glow.

“Ponies, live the adventure. Sign up now and get your own cutie mark.” I say with a giggle.

That did it, everyone was having a good laugh now, “They actually had PT uniforms at the PX?” The LT asks.

“I figure there was likely 2 or 3 on base before we got there. PX probably had them made locally.” I giggle.

Blaze just keeps laughing “Oh now I wish I bought a set.”

“Oh sweet Celestia, picture if we could get a group of us trotting down the training run, I wanna be an EUP… guarding ponies from the everfree… defending the kingdom from changeling hordes… facing griffons with their deadly swords.”

Jay and Sanchez looked at each other, “I can just see the drill sergeants now ordering more antacid. For the amount of yelling they would have to do.”

Puffing a few times I stood up, “ok, let’s go, don’t want to keep our hosts waiting”

12: A Pasts Present

It is already dark when we arrive at the fire, grandfather is sitting, watching us, as are several other elders. The smell of pine and birch wood fill the air, where they found pine trees around here I had no idea but they did. I sit across from Yiska at the fire and take a deep breath to calm down.

The drums begin slowly, a few moments later the singing begins. I can feel the energy in the air, the aether gathering as Blaze and I join in the chanting. Watching the fire as grandfather tosses some tobacco in, I watch Blaze start to spread his wings.

Concentrating on the energy in me, I let my horn shine as I sing, stomping my hoof in time with the drums. Following the lines of energy as they flowed around me, around the fire, I can hear the screams of the ponies. I can feel the panic, as they run from Discord.

The five score curse, banished and reborn to grow up for 25 years on this Earth, 25 years before our true forms can return. 25 years from the day we were cursed. The laughter of Discord and the fear filling the ponies is so strong. Locked away from our homes, and sentenced to grow up in a form that isn’t our own. Then to revert back… with no memories of who we were. Transformation spells though are rarely permanent. Our true forms came back, and our natures. But not our memories, without our memories we couldn’t return to fight him. That’s what he wanted. He wanted us trapped here, tortured and suffering. Living in chaos.

To form bonds and families only to destroy them, to force us to choose between winning back our homes or staying here. To force us to choose between our old lives on Equestria and our new ones here. That way he could be safe to do whatever he wanted…

I sit crying as I look into the fire, unable to speak, as the sadness fills me, the realizations that there is no changing back. I was born Twilight Velvet.

“LT, this is who we are.” Blaze says softly, “We were born ponies, lived as ponies; we were cursed and sent here by a, demon, a spirit of chaos. The ponies changing, they are reverting back to how they were at the moment of the curse. This isn’t something that can be stopped.”

Taking a breath the LT nodded, “So you remember now?”

I shake my head, still crying.

Blaze lowers his head “No, our minds were blanked so we can’t remember our past. We only get glimpses at times if that, and even then we lose them quick. It’s like trying to hold onto a dream. But I really am Rainbow Blaze. At least that question is answered.”

“Equestria is real, our history is real, and it was taken from us. I was never meant to be Wally… but I still remember… my life.” I said meekly through tears.

“Well you are Twilight Velvet, but we still know you as Wally, a Ranger willing to give his life for his friends. Willing to do the hard work, and not complain. I’m pretty sure if Twilight Velvet was anything like you, we’d still be friends.” The LT says quietly.

Blaze nods “I’ll always stand by you Twilight. You don’t have to worry.”

I take a deep breath and nod. “Sorry just, the emotions are hard to take.”

Getting up, I walk slowly away from the fire, head low, trying hard to process what I had just seen, what I felt, what the magics showed us. As I walk I feel a wing go over my back and look beside me “Hi, Rainbow.” I smile through my tears.

“Hi Twilight, it's ok, at least we know.” He says softly.

“It’s just, some part of me was still holding out hope that I could turn back to Wally.” I say. “I’m ok being Velvet, I love it, it’s natural, but at the same time…”

“You’re scared?” He asks. Taking a deep breath he continues, “Change is never easy. You’ve had more than most in a short time. Not just physical changes, but job changes, life changes. But you have friends, me, the LT, heck the whole squad.” He smiles at me, “Never feel alone and never feel forced.”

I sit looking up at the sky, at the moon and stars. Watching the clouds slowly drift high up, I start to sing softly, “Something is wrong it’s plain to see, this isn’t how it’s meant to be. And you can see it like I do… It’s not the life that’s meant for you… Oh why…”

***

Cynthia ended up getting home late that night to her small apartment in Arlington Virginia. It isn’t expensive, it isn’t big, but it suites her. A single bedroom, a bathroom, small kitchen, and a single room that serves both as living room and dining room.

Locking the front door, she turns and looks up at the picture over her TV, a large white winged unicorn, flying in the clouds, behind it the sun rising, painting the clouds with its light. It is a fantasy art picture she had bought in a store, but somehow, it had always brought her comfort. Not today however, today it was just a reminder of the pain, a reminder of what was going to happen to her, before she was put down for being an animal.

Turning, she walks into the kitchen and starts looking through her cupboards. Reaching up, she finds what she needs and carefully takes down a bottle of rum, a gift from a friend for Christmas a few months ago. She hadn’t opened it yet, she was planning on using it if she had guests, not a common occurrence given the size of her apartment. It wasn’t expensive or anything, but it was alcohol. Turning she walks into her bedroom with the bottle and sits down on her bed.

Setting the bottle down on her dresser she opens the top drawer and takes out some pills, Temazepam, Restoral, her doctor had prescribed it to her when she had been having nightmares a few months back. A sleep aid to help you fall asleep and stay asleep, she lay down on her side looking at the pills, then hugged them to her chest closing her eyes. “Some rum, a few pills… it would be for the best, wouldn’t it?”

*** Cynthia’s dream ***

She sits alone in the throne room, there is no one left, no guards, no princesses, not even the element bearers. Canterlot has fallen; the once great Equestria now lay at the claws of discord. She walks through the empty halls, looking at the smashed windows, broken glass crunching under her hoof. There still were ponies, but they were fleeing the capital city for their very lives.

Discord appears beside her, floating “Oh we have a squatter in my castle. You should know I’m going to be moving it so you might best vacate it.”

Not responding Raven just keeps walking, remembering the good times she had in the castle, helping Celestia and Luna, helping Kibitz keep things running. The parties, filled with ponies, the school with all its new students.

“Aww, why the long face,” Discord says as his vaguely equine face lengthens into the shape of a feral horse. “You should be happy, you’re not a slave or servant anymore.”

“I was never a slave, and I will never be happy with you in charge.” Raven says. “I serve the princesses.”

“Well fine then, be a party pooper,” Discord huffs “but we can’t have you wandering around here, still so much work to do.” With a flash he was in front of Raven. “Five score divided by Four.”

The light fades until darkness fills everything, blackness, but she isn’t alone. She hears hoof steps. A light forms behind her, and slowly Raven turns to see the dark blue colors of Princess Luna, wings spread wide.

“Raven, for years you served our family, you have helped us, in times of darkness and light, you have been there to ensure what needed to be done, was done. Now it is my turn.”

“Princess Luna, how?” Raven says, lowering her head.

“I could feel your suffering, your pain, so I came to you in your dreams. You can’t lose hope, you are still needed.” Luna says softly.

“I’m not Raven, I’m Cynthia, and I’m not strong enough…”

Luna's wing came forward to lifts the little unicorn's chin “Raven, you are strong, your heart is as strong as any mare's out there. I know it’s hard. The change is always hard, but you stood buy us through hard times. You were there when the Crystal Empire came back. You were there though the hard times at the school. You just need faith.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Cynthia says as looks up at her princess.

“Do what you always do, plan, organize, know the law, and use it. Most importantly, live. Take what you know, what you’ve learned, and live. Help others organize if you can, but if you die, Discord wins. And both Celestia and I lose a close friend. We have trusted you, both of us, now it’s time for you to trust us, and trust in yourself. Live.”

Her voice fades as the dream starts to subside, “Live…”

***Twilight Velvet***

“Twilight, wake up.”

I feel myself getting shaken, ugg, why can’t he let me sleep?

“Twilight, get up, we need you downstairs.”

“Hun the kids are at school, you’re old enough to make your own breakfast.” I mumble.

“RANGER HO!” the LT calls out.

Well, I was out of bed, wearing a loose t-shirt and panties, standing at attention on the floor. Eyes wide and blinking, before I realize where I am and look over at the LT “Sir?”

“We need you downstairs, corporal. You have 3 minutes.” Turning, he walks out.

I exhale hard “Who needs coffee?” I say, shaking myself out once, “One Yell from the LT gets the blood pumping.”

I quickly get out of what I was sleeping in, and dress in my combats before trotting down stairs, hearing the LT calling out, “5, 4…” I opted to teleport, popping in beside Blaze at the table.

“GAH!” Blaze backpedals away from me for a sec “Don’t do that, I heard you coming down the stairs, then…”

“Sorry, LT was counting, didn’t want to end up on report.”

The LT chuckles “Had to, seems to take you forever to get dressed now, and you shower for 3 times as long.”

“No hands really slows the dressing, and since I have 10 times the hair, 3 times as long in the shower isn’t that bad.” I say, feeling pride, only to have a coffee cup put in front of my muzzle.

“Ok folks, we have a little problem here, there’s a woman outside upset, her daughters been kidnapped and she came to Grandfather for help.” The LT says.

“Isn’t kidnapping a police matter? Sherriff’s department or such?” Jay asks.

“Actually in this case it would be CID. Army Criminal Investigations, her daughter’s a private with the US Army reserves. Gallup’s always been a hotbed for crime, and nearly 20 years ago several cults made the outskirts their home.”

“A cult kidnapping an Army Reserve, wonderful, I bet the FBI and CID are just having fits that this is going to turn into a Waco.” Henry says. “How does this…”

“She was born May 1st, just turned 25 this year.”

Blaze and I just cringe.

“Um ouch, did she…” I start.

“Her mom came to grandfather just because of that, they're cattle ranchers, she knew about her daughters change, but, the group calling themselves… The New Army Of God… took her about a week after her change.”

“And now the other horseshoe drops.” I say, shaking my head. Then blink as I realize every one is looking at me.

“Horseshoe, really?” Blaze says with a laugh.

"Long and the short of it, we have armed militants, held up on a religious compound, with a US Service member hostage.” The LT continues. “CID has been notified, they are moving assets into the area, however we have received a formal request from the Brigadier to lend aid if we can.

“Aid?” Jay says blinking.

“No one wants another Waco on their books, the view is, that since she’s now a pony, if she dies it wouldn’t be a loss. So they are dragging their feet on this.” The LT states flatly.

“Well we have air recon,” I say pointing a hoof at blaze, “Pretty sure he could get some good pictures if we had a camera.”

“Yep, I was thinking the same thing, Blaze, going to need you to fly back to Nellis, I’ll send word to SOC get them to authorize you some supplies, Camera, as well as some surveillance gear.” The LT says.

“Yes sir.” With that Blaze turns and trots out, taking to the air with a loud BANG.

“LT, I’ve gotten good with my teleporting, I can’t take anyone with me yet, but should be enough to do some in and outs if we need.”

“We can hold that for now, we need gear.” The LT says.

“We have National guard facilities, we can stop in there, they probably have everything we need ground wise, and can get it cleared though SOC.” Sgt Jay chips in.

Henry nodded “Lets saddle up and get there.”

“You can wear the saddle, Henry,” I say smiling, and head to the rental car.

*** Yiska***

Flying below 10k feet at high speed takes more power than flying high, but I knew if I fly high I’d be annoying air traffic control way too much. I swear, a low flying pegasus though could be mistaken for a cruise missile.

Checking the transponder on my foreleg again I made sure I was squawking 0001.

A pair of Guard fighters were high and to my right, but minding their own business, and as I didn’t have time to play, I simply press down, dropping below 5000 feet at high subsonic. I could see the airfield off to my right, and I was staying out of any landing lines, that way I wasn’t causing any traffic jams.

“Damn, I wish I knew this base,” I said backwinging to shed speed as I drop by a stopped MP car “Hey where’s the Quartermasters office, Sergeant.” I asked, still looking around.

“4 blocks over… What the heck.”

I blink then realize I'd forgotten my cover, “Oh damn, sorry,” nosing into my saddle bag I pull out my beret and put it on. “It won’t stay on if I’m going too fast, my bad." I look at them innocently and grin, "Supply?”

“What the heck are you?”

“Well, until the transfer orders go though, I’m Cpl Christian, US Army Rangers, 2nd company 75th bat.” Sorting through my pouch I pull out my ID and show him. “I’m here to pick up somethings from supply here.”

The MP checked my ID, Called it in, verified it on his computer, “Yeah, your… clear… 4 blocks to the west, and 2 blocks down.”

I smile at him as I take my id back, then take my hat off and jump into the air, flying off. 4 over, 2 down, bingo.

Landing with a clatter of hooves, I blink and quickly put my hat on again, saluting two officers who are standing outside. “Sorry sir’s, till they make a beret that stays on at speeds over 100mph, I’m stuck taking it off and putting it on after I land.” I say in response to their confused looks. Though they do return the salute, a good sign.

Trotting inside, I look around, “Wow, this place is big,” I whistle, taking my hat off yet again, putting it in my bag. This is getting to be a pain in the tail.

The quartermaster looked over at me and chuckles, “The problems of moving fast huh?” He smiling, I stand blinking at him, just your average guy, leaning against the counter watching me. Just took me off guard that someone was treating me normal. “Yeah, umm, my LT sent me over to pick up some kind of camera, I need it for aerial photography.”

He looks me up and down “Yep I got the orders, hop up on the counter for a sec, and sit, I need some measurements.”

I did as he said and he quickly measures my neck, chest and barrel, as well as the space between my front legs, then heads into the back, “I’ll try and keep the weight down so it doesn’t off balance you or mess up your flying.”

Walking back he puts down a gimbal mount and some Velcro straps before heading back. “Camera, no, too heavy, no, too big, AN/AAS-52, won’t fit between your legs. Hmm Got it, POP300.”

Walking back he opened a box pulling out a dome shaped camera system no bigger than my hoof, fixing the Velcro straps around my neck, back and chest, he mounts the camera between my forelegs first before taking it all off.

Heading into the back it only takes him about 10 minutes before he comes out again with a harness, “The battery pack is on your right side, processer and transmitter is on your left, it will broadcast to the receiver tablet here using C-band line-of-sight transition, that means you either have to stay high, or be in line of sight of who you're sending to.”

“Here’s some airdrop sensors, blue tooth earpiece, you should be able to work it with ear flicks, just don’t fly to fast or it’s likely to pull off your ear.”

“I feel like I’m in a James Bond movie” I say with a chuckle.

“Oh heck no, if this was James Bond, everything would be custom pre made. This is all off the shelf items, stuff from drones, parts of parachutes and flight suits, cobbled together.” He said, “now sign here.”

Taking the pen in my mouth I sign my name and offer him the pen back.

“Nope, horse drool, you keep that.” I frown, I don't drool on things I pick up in my mouth, any colt knows how to prevent that.

My mood gets more chipper as I bound out and I take to the air to fly back.

*** Twilight ***

We've got the basic gear, tactical gear, armor, rifles, Gila suits, Binoc’s, flashbangs, Tasers, generally all the breaching gear we need, though in a case like this we really hope we don’t need to use it. We meet the 2 CID vehicles a few miles from the compound and are just settling in, sitting inside when we hear the clatter of hooves on the roof.

LT opened the door and blaze poked his head in from the roof upside down “Hey all, got the toys from the Air Force.”

The LT bonks Blaze’s nose “Get in here, a horse standing on the roof is a dead giveaway.”

Hopping down and in, Blaze chuckles “Sorry couldn’t resist, here’s the gear.” He says, offering the data link tablet, “you can control it from here, I’ll have my phone in my ear so you can tell me where to go. Day, night, IR, and IR Laser pointer, it can’t designate, but good for highlighting targets if the snipers need. Where are Jay and Sanchez anyways?”

The LT tapped a monitor, “They got bored, I think they are about half a mile from the compound, they are getting shots from there.”

I giggled and suit up myself, a nice black body suit with hood and cloak, hiding my colors nicely, tilting my head I watched Blaze as he empties his saddle bags. “Air droppable camera’s, meant to be dropped from drones or such, scattered through mountain or woods for monitoring enemy movements they figured we could make use of them.”

“Oh I’ll take those,” I say, “Fish eye lenses.”

“Blaze, get up there, see what you can see from above.”

Nodding once, blaze hops out and takes to the air, the camera letting the LT see his flight, though the gyro’s have a little trouble keeping up with his quick moves at first, than it smooths out once gets up high enough. Finally we end up having a nice clean, smooth pictures.

“There are guards on the walls, guards on the roof of the houses, 5 buildings. What a mess.” The LT growls.

I picked up a few of the cameras putting them in my saddlebag and sneaking out, moving up though the scrub and brush, I find a place where I could see the wall, and watch the guard as he walks by. Lifting up one of the cameras with my magic I move it out as far as I can, only about 150 feet. I would either have to get very close or I couldn’t place the item where I needed.

Quietly I make my way back to the van and sit down, looking at the maps we were getting of the compound. “Too far for you huh?” The LT says as he draws the maps down on the white board.

“I guess I’m just not good enough.” I say with a sigh.

“Nope, you're great, just have your limits.” Henry says.

Looking between the map and camera’s I notice a blind spot inside the compound, there is a storage shed by the wall. “There.” I point with my hoof.

“From there you should be able to get the probes over most of the compound.” The LT says with a nod. “Just don’t get shot.”

I looked back at the camera footage, I had never tried this before, but I started building my mental image of the spot in my mind, I concentrate my magic “Time, space and mind.”

“Oh don’t you…”

I’m not sure what the LT was going to say but I can guess, though I had arrived at the spot I needed to be, I felt woozy, this wasn’t a line of sight jump but a jump based on real time images, so that worked. Taking a deep breath I keep hidden and poke my muzzle out.

The first camera is taken up in my magic, I move it to sit on the edge of the roof of a building. Next one I prop up under a wall awning, moving over to the other side of the shed I set one camera to watch the front door and drive from the gate, and a 4th, I tuck over on a building facing my direction.

Seeing movement at the basement of the main building I stick a pair of camera’s looking into the basement windows. Then watch the guards a bit, looking up I know Blaze is up there somewhere and I give a quick wave up wards before teleporting back to the van.

Opening the door I step inside, and blink as the LT watches me.

“EVER try an untested skill in a situation like that ever again, if you do I will have you busted to private and a desk job faster than you can teleport.”

“Sir yes sir.” I say, looking down.

“SIT!” He says

I find myself sitting on my haunches before I even realize it, and keep my head down.

“Ok, this won’t be pretty.”

The door opens and a CID officer climbs in “Whoah, you've got a big dog here. LT can you move your mutt so I can get in.”

“That mutt, as you called her, is a unicorn, Corporal Twilight Velvet, and calling her a mutt is likely to get you hoofed.” He says, not taking his eyes off the screen.

I look at the CID Officer, giving him a Withering glare and move over to sit on the floor beside the LT. I notice a glow, and see it's my horn that is glowing and concentrate on turning it off.

“No, you can’t blast him.” The LT says, watching the screen.

“Not even a little practice blast?” I ask. “He did call me a dog, and a mutt, that’s rude to call any lady at best, and racial profiling at worst. I think he needs sexual conduct training.”

“Twilight look over here.” The LT said pointing at the screen, in the basement I could see what looked like a huge pile of dirt blocking a door like a ramp. All but a little slot at the top of the door was covered in. It would take a backhoe, or a few hours with shovels to move that.

Switching to the next window, we could see a pony pacing in a small room in the basement, every once in a while she would give the door a good hard buck with her hind legs. Given the door was shored up by tons of dirt, there isn’t a big chance she was going to blow it open, but didn’t stop her from trying.

The CID officer whistles, “They have enough rifles stockpiled to hold off a small army, they have 50 cal rifles, meaning body armor and even some light armored vehicles are not safe, those can likely pen the sides of Strykers, they have their own well, food stores, solar panels. They could hold up there for months if we lay siege.”

“I think that’s the idea,” The LT says, grumbling, “There is no way to get her out of there quick, it’s going to take a huge fight, during which time they could still kill the hostage. We would need to enter, hold and control the main building; a team would have to excavate the door, bring her out, than fight our way out again. The casualties on both sides could be high.”

“That or we’d need to pretty much do a cover and kill mission, heavy weapons to take down the wall, then pretty much kill anyone that tries to make it to kill her, but again, that would have huge loss of life, meaning the media would have a field day.” The CID officer says.

“Negotiation?” Henry said, but again the CID officer shakes his head.

“We could try, but these are anti-government, pro white, religious fanatics. They are holding her as a human or pony shield, per say. Gambling that we won’t push an assault but at the same time, ensuring that we would pay for any.”

“I could get in,” I say softly, “then teleport out with her.”

The LT looks down at me, “Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Meh, what’s the worst that can happen, I teleport her inside out?”

The LT went a little green at that image, “Seriously, Twilight, are you sure it’s safe?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried it with more than a saddle bag, but unless we are going to get authorization for 1 platoon of infantry, plus 8 main battle tanks, backed by 2 APC’s, we are not rolling in there without casualties to us, and we are defiantly not rolling in there without casualties to them.

“I’m not sure about this,” The LT said and huffed, “we don’t know the extent of your magical abilities.”

“I know you hate unknowns, but we see Twilight teleport with spike all the time.”

“Ok give it a try, is there anything you need from us?”

“Yeah, I’ll need the tablet receiver for Blaze’s data link, and I’m going to need Blaze where he can see the basement window and where his camera can see the truck. Line of sight on that datalink sucks, but I’ll need to be able to see a good image of the truck to take some of the strain off.”

I put the tablet into my satchel and look at the image of the basement, it was a bit distorted because of the lenses but I was able to build a clean mental picture. I can see where the pony is, where floor and ceiling is, I can see the open area I need to teleport to, concentrating on that, my horn glows and I put myself there.

As I wink in, I feel woozy, I knew teleports take a lot out of me, and this wasn’t the way the spell was meant to be used but it was all I had. The mare stands up with fire in her eyes, and charges forward towards me.

“Who are you?” She says with a low snarl. “What do you want with me now?”

“Whoa whoa whoa, pony here, friend, I’m here to get you out.” I say as I backpedal into the light so she can see me more clearly.

“Pony? Well, I’ll be, I thought I was only one.” She says. I know Applejack has that southern farm girl accent, but this girl, she has a serious Texan accent, not the fake ones you get from the movies, but the type where all the vowels shift.

“Keep your voice down,” I say and move over to the window. Taking out the tablet, I then start moving around a bit trying to find Blazes angle. “Darn it Rainbow, where are you? I can’t get a signal.”

"Signal for what?” She asks as she comes over.

“To see where I’m teleporting back to. He should be up there; I just can’t get a line of sight on him.” I can hear steps upstairs, and hope to Celestia they had not heard us.

“If you can’t get a signal, then what, we’re stuck?” She asks, looking annoyed.

I shake my head and put the pad back in my satchel, “Plan B, I need you to stay as still as possible and as close to me as possible, hip to hip.” I say, as I move over to her. I put my front leg around her neck, hugging her a bit.

Closing my eyes I start to build an image of the area outside of the truck, the truck, the road way, the trees, then I work at extending my field, pushing more and more power into it to get the field to cover the earth pony as well.

What I didn’t mention to the LT is, Spike is a baby dragon, only 40 pounds at most, and small, not a full grown mare.

I concentrate pushing more and more energy into the field, trying to keep it stable, trying to make it large enough to cover her safely. I know my hornshine must be bright, I can see it through my closed eyelids but I can’t open my eyes, I need to keep focused. I need enough power for both of us. The range, the mass, the shift feels gut wrenching. Opening my eyes I see the back of the truck.

“HOLY BABY JESUS!” The girl shouts.

The door to the truck opens and the LT looks at me in shock, “Twilight!”

“I couldn’t get a signal. Had to do it blind…”

Henry comes out, running over to me “Twilight, your nose is bleeding badly.”

I touch my foreleg to my nose and look at the blood, then at the LT “I guess that’s why you’re not supposed to try that with that spell.”

Everything starts to go grey around me, as the world starts spinning. I can’t feel my legs, I can’t really feel anything right now, for that matter.

“Get her in the truck fast, we need to get her to the hospital.” I heard Henry say… then, all was blackness.

13: The Light and Dark of a Hatter

I’m a Texas girl, born and bred. I'm also the youngest in a family of five. If you think having one older brother is bad, picture four of them and me the only girl. I grew up on a cattle farm, not the types you see on TV, we had only about a hundred head at any time, and even then it wasn’t much profit there. Mom and dad had to make do all too often, meaning I got hand me downs…

It didn’t bother me though, who wanted to play with dolls? When you can ride horses. You can’t ride a horse in some pretty dress, and who cares about jump rope when you can hog tie your brother. I was a little terror at times, but my mom didn’t mind, to her I was just family, just another Hunter.

Yep that’s our family name, Hunter, Rebecca Hunter, though really I preferred Becky. I went to school, by bus, It was a 45 minute trip both ways, and killer boredom. No kid likes sitting around on a bus for an hour and a half every day, when they could be playing, doing chores, or such. Okay, doing chores may seem weird but some of them were actually fun.

School was never really that interesting for me, I did okay at it, but I wasn’t the book worm type, and to many of the girls just seem shallow to me, I had to suffer through the types who thought they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, as well as the types that only cared about their looks. Really, unless you are planning on being some kind of fashion model and happen to be born with that body type, forget it.

By the age of eight, I was riding horses, helping with the cattle drives, and even taking part in the rodeos for fun. Though I still resent parts of the rodeo, there’s a rule that the only event girls can take part in is barrel racing. That’s it, no bucking, no roping, just racing. Roping wasn’t my thing per se, I could do it, and did it all the time in the field, just the idea that they could make a rule saying because I was a girl I couldn’t do it, just annoyed me.

When I was 13 my brothers started trying to treat me different, so did my mom, they thought that because I was becoming a woman, I’d give up or change my views. To me, OK I had an extra pair of underwear the boys didn’t, aside from that, I could still hog tie them.

Though I did find that I liked cooking around that time, now again, this isn’t simple kitchen cooking, this is down home Texas barbeque. Something about slow roasting a side of pork for 18 hours till the meat is just falling off the bone, then separating it with your fingers and piling it high on a thick bun with sauce. Nothing can ever top that. Well almost nothing.

The one girly thing I seemed to be good at was down south apple pies. It was the only sweet tooth thing I made, and I know, pies are traditionally made by the women. I didn’t care about that though, it was just something I was good at.

When I was 17, I decided to join the Army Reserves, it was a way to get a little extra spending money, 2 weekends a month and 2 full weeks a year. Again, as a girl I wouldn’t see any real combat, and actually found myself as an infantry cook. Gave me a chance to show up some of the boys again, I could skin a fish, or prep a side of beef faster than most, and all the work on the farm, tossing around hay, and such, meant little things like 25 pound bags of potatoes, or flour, were easy to toss.

I never did get married though, I never found the kind of guy I was interested in, most time I just wanted to be friends with them. So I stayed single, much to my parents annoyance, even after my brothers married. Me on the other hand, by my 25th birthday I was still single. Of course on my 25th birthday, my marks appeared, May 1st, 2020.

***

Beep… beep… beep...

Oh Celestia I felt like I’ve been run over by a truck, my head hurts, my sides hurt, my horn is throbbing, I feel weak and exhausted, like I had just done a 50 mile forced march with full kit. Even my head is throbbing like I had a bad hangover.

Beep… beep… beep…

Last thing I remember is the LT looking worried, I had just teleported… Oh yeah, the teleport, I wonder how that went, and what the heck is that beeping?

Beep… beep… beep...

Forcing my eyes open, I look around, white, bright lights, heart monitor, oh that’s what the beeping is. Turning my head, I see Blaze sitting beside me, holding my hoof. I try to sit up but find it to hard so I fall back with a moan.

“LT SHE’S UP!” I hear Eric call, and see Henry and the LT run over.

“How you feeling?” Henry asks.

“Anyone get the ID number of that Abrams that parked on me?” I say with a little smile. “Did it work? Did I get her out?”

The LT looks at me sternly “You’ve been out for 18 hours now, we were scared you had a stroke or something, you put yourself under so much stress and pressure…”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have used that spell for a 2 person teleport, but I didn’t know any others. Is she safe?”

“Oh NO, you don’t,” The LT growls “you are NOT changing the subject. Playing the hero is one thing but you are NOT going to put your life at risk like that again. Do you HEAR me Corporal?"

I gulp and nod slowly “Yes sir.”

“Good, and yes, she’s safe, you did a great job back there, but you should have teleported back when you found you couldn’t get a signal, we could have had you do some tests, find a different way for you to get a signal there, or such. To just risk yourself like that was foolish.” The LT continues.

I look at Blaze who has been sitting quiet and see tears in his eyes.

“Blaze has been sitting with you holding you since we got here.” The LT said. “He’s been worried sick.”

“Sorry, Rangers are supposed to fight through the pain and push themselves to the limits. I guess I pushed too hard.” Leaning up I gave Blaze a gentle kiss then nuzzle his cheek.

Blaze blinks and blushes, his wings stretching out hard to each side as he says, “I, you, careful.”

“Can someone translate please?” I said meekly

In her Texan accent, the earth pony moves up, “I think he’s saying, he was worried about you and to be more careful.” She looked at the guys “And if anyone ever asks me to say the Sugar cube again, I will kick them. Got it?”

She's built thicker than Blaze or myself, and has more muscle on her, her coat is a mustard yellow, and her mane was a pistachio with darker lime green highlights. Her eyes though are a mix of yellow and crimson, giving her a tough girl look.

She isn’t dressed right now except for a red bandana wrapped around her neck. Though she doesn’t seem to mind it. Looking back at me she smiles “Since you’re all military types, I'm Private Rebecca Hunter. Course the pony name is Apple Pie, but seriously, who would name a foal Apple Pie? Can’t even break it down to a good short name, Apple, Pie, just got nothing there." She sighs, "So if you want, call me Ah-Pee, first and last initials, like AJ’s. Becky works in a pinch too.”

“So you’re a member of the Apple family.” I say softly.

“I have no idea." She chuckles, "The show says I am, the show has me at the family reunions, but that’s just a show, and unlike little AJ on the show, I’m a real cowgirl, farm raised.” She says, standing proud and tall, her head held high.

“The show's real,” Blaze says with a chuckle.

“Yer kidding, you’re kidding me right?” AP says, looking sternly.

“Nope, as far as we can tell it’s pretty accurate, and we’re here because of Discord. We all got banished around 25 years ago.” I say with a sigh, still feeling weak.

“I changed on the first of May, my birthday, well started too. Took a few days but mom and dad were there with me through the entire thing. Even when I started eating more than my barrel horse, was she ever annoyed when I started swiping her food when I was supposed to be feeding her.”

“So how did you end up in the hands of the First Army of Dog?” I said, dyslexic slip there.

“After my change I was feeling caged stayin' in my room, chores needed to be done, and I figured some of the stuff I could still do with these here four legs, so I was out in the fields herdin' the cattle back to their pens when these guys shot me in the butt with some kind of tranq dart. I think it was ketamine, horse tranq… I hope they used it as a horse tranq… I’d hate to think they intended it as a date rape drug on me. But when I came to I was locked in their basement. They said I was an unnatural freak and they wanted to make an example.”

She stomped a hoof hard, “They had it burry the door cuz I almost kicked through it twice.”

“No Doubt” I say, looking at Blaze.

She lets out a very equine snort, and looks at the LT, “Are ya gonna stand there worrying or are ya gonna get this girl some food? And not hospital food, she needs calories. I know horses, and I can tell by her ears and lips, she’s starved.”

Blinking I spoke up “Um, that’s the LT, private.”

“I know, but it doesn’t change what I said, and I don’t have the authority or force to get you what you need here.” AP says firmly.

I roll my eyes and look up at Blaze, grabbing a cloth with my magic I start cleaning his cheeks for him. “There you go, now you don’t look like you’ve been crying for 9 hours.”

"I thought I lost you again.” He says softly.

“What do you mean again?”

“I lost you once before, in Canterlot.” Blaze looks at me sadly. “It was my fault, that time, and it was my fault this time because I wasn’t in the right place for you. I keep failing you.”

Gently I boop his nose, “We don’t have enough of our memories to know for sure, and again, if I knew all my spells I’d likely have had another teleport I could have done to get us back safe, so it’s a non issue.”

Eric shakes his head at both of us “Look, since you don’t really remember anything from 25 years ago, its best just to run with what you know now. It wasn’t your fault Yiska, and it wasn’t Wally’s fault.”

Playing catch-up AP pointed at Blaze “Blaze is Wally?”

“Nope, Blaze is Cpl. Yiska Christian. The little mare here, Twilight Velvet, is Wally.”

“Ok I thought Apple Pie was bad, what kind of a parent names their daughter Wally?” She says with a snicker.

I feel myself start to blush as my ears droop , “I was born a boy, the change was a little more extensive for me.”

“Really? So you were a mare, than turned into a guy for 25 years then back into a mare. Man Discords twisted.” She says as she suppresses a laugh.

“A mare with 2 foals apparently, but I don’t remember either of them.” I say softly.

“So, I have to ask, you into stallions now, or mares?” She asks innocently.

“Sorry, military regs, don’t ask don’t tell.” I say nodding firmly.

“Oh, we’ll talk about this when the boys aren’t around then.” She says nodding firmly. She sidles a bit closer, "You know that rule was repealed a few years back, right?"

Thankfully the LT comes back with food, and a very angry looking nurse. I can hear her complaining about animals in the hospital, but he was quick to hush her before she gets too close. On the tray was sandwiches and juice. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was till I started eating. I was easily able to put away the meager three sandwiches they gave me. “Sorry, I guess I’m just really hungry.”

The doctor comes in, looking to the LT “It’s fine, there was no brain damage as far as we could tell in the MRI’s. We are still not sure about the whole magic thing, but it should be ok to be dismissed now.” He says, not looking at me at all.

I can see AP grinding her teeth, but I let the bias roll off. Lifting the blanket over me I look at the LT “Um, LT, Clothing?”

The LT shakes his head “Back at the house, the black suit had to be cut off you, you had blood all over it.”

With a sigh I climb out of bed and drop to all 4’s, “I’ve walked around naked before, I can get away with it for now. You know, what I need. I need an IHOP.”

Eric looked at the LT “Sounds good to me.”

“As the field medic I’d say she’s right, she could probably get the food she needs at an IHOP.” Henry is smiling, well he was right.

The LT just covers his face “You realize those places are very public, and not likely to take well to ponies.”

Jay pipes in “Oh come on LT, it’s not like we are suggesting one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant’s. Though given the fact that he’ll cook a horse, I’d avoid those places if I had 4 legs.”

We all nod once, then check for and head for the Gallup, New Mexico, International House of Pancakes. It was a new one, only opened in the last year or so, as such it still had that new look to it, no graffiti, just clean paint. I hum and quickly pulled my mane into a pony tail so I don’t look so plain without my uniform or clothing. Then I look at Blaze “Is my pony tail straight?”

“Yep but you need a tail ribbon.” He says, earning him a smack.

AP looks confused “Tail Ribbon?”

“I swear it’s a fantasy of his, he wants to see me with a big bow in my tail.” I say getting out and shaking my head.

“Why?” AP asked as we headed inside.

“I have no idea. I think it’s a repressed memory from our time in Equestria. He never got to see it then and wants to see it now.” I say with a giggle.

Nothing quiets a restaurant down faster than 3 ponies walking in with a squad of US Army Rangers and taking a seat. It takes a few seconds but the manager comes over with a waitress. Looking over the group he clears his throat.

“Are you all members of the Armed forces?” The manager asks.

The LT nodded “Yep, I have the ID for Twilight there, Ah-pee, have you had your ID card updated yet?”

“I, uh, no, they do that?” She replies.

“Oh, yeah, they do.” He says as he fishes out my ID and shows her “They even list if your earth, unicorn, or pegasus.”

The manager held out his had “May I see that?”

The LT shows him the ID before putting it back in my wallet.

The Manager nodded “We are offering US Service members a 15% discount, currently. On behalf of the International House of Pancakes, we hope you enjoy your meal.” Turning, he returns to his office.

“Wow, I’ll give him points for that one.” I say.

Blaze looks at me, curious but doesn’t say anything.

AP nods, “He didn’t want to come out and accuse us of being normal animals, didn’t want to say we were companion animals or pets, so he went that route.”

“Ok how did you come to that conclusion,” Blaze finally says after staring at me for a long time.

“Mares intuition.” I respond, trying to fight back my laughter.

The LT chuckles, “The surprised look on his face when Twilight spoke.”

Our menu’s arrived but it doesn’t take us long for us to order, Blaze and I going for extra large stacks of pancakes, hold the meat. For him, 4 stacks of chocolate chip, and a 2 stack of banana. I order an 8 stack of harvest grain and nuts topped with cinnamon apple compote, and big plate of hash browns.

Looking at AP I smile, “Don’t worry, we have you covered, LT’s going to file a meal ticket on this one anyway since we're here cuz of a combat injury.”

Chuckling, the LT nods, “Yes, and no, you’re not getting a purple heart for a nose bleed, even if it did cause you to black out for 18 hours and land you in the hospital.”

“Darn it. So close.” Eric says, laughing.

AP smiles brightly and orders herself a Hash brown plate, with Blueberry pancakes.

The rest of the team goes for steak and eggs, or other big dishes.

“One Filly Cheese stake here, with fries.” Eric pipes up, trying to look innocent.

I glare at him, “No Eric, they don’t make the cheese stakes with real fillies here,” I knew he was trying to get me because I loved those but, turnabout is fair play.

“Ugg, um, make that a monster B&B burger. For some reason my stomach just decided it doesn’t want cheese steak.”

AP looks between the group, just smiling brightly, “You guys are just one big family aren’t you?”

The LT nods, “Yep but they are likely going to be breaking us up. They don’t want Twilight as front line, since she’s a mare, and they also don’t know what to do with ponies since they can’t use guns without some serious modification.”

“That’s not fair,” AP says, “Course I’m just a mess tent cook, in the military, but still if my strength is any indication, ponies could help out a ton. I may be small but I have enough power in my legs to flip a car. I can easily pull into the thousand pound range of dead weight, I gave pulling a plough a try for example, and had no problems doing it, even though the plough was made for horses. And let's not even talk about bucking, I shattered a tree by accident because I wasn’t thinking about how much force I could apply.”

“Earth pony magic is around strength and nature. Blaze here can fly into the high supersonics, and cross the country in a matter of hours. My magic can do little things, like teleporting, or levitating things.”

“Don’t forget the shield, you have yet to do that again but that thing blocked an RPG. That’s over 850mm of armor equivalent protection.” Eric pipes in.

“Yeah but I still haven’t figured out how I did that yet.” I say as our food arrives, smiling happily I dig in, famished, before stopping and glancing at both Blaze and AP I quickly cut up their pancakes for them into smaller bits and look innocent. “Sorry, we have got to get you a knife and fork set that you can use.”

“I make do.” AP said and digs into her food.

“So where you a fan of the show growing up?” The LT asks.

“Oh heck no, why watch a show about ponies, when you have real live horses outside, and when it came to toys, at best it was hand me downs, so I got GI Joe and such.” She said licking her muzzle. “I grew up with a horse and rifle.”

“And now you’re a horse with a rifle.” Blaze says, chuckling.

Reaching over I whap Blaze's ear. “Bad pony."

AP gets up, “I have to use the little fillies room. You coming Velvet?”

I blink a few times, looking confused, “Umm, why?”

“Cuz it’s always safer to go in groups.” She states. “Already been tranq’ed once not up for it again.”

“Oh, um, sure.” I say, getting up, and looking at the guys with a shrug.

I sat down at the door to the girl’s bathroom “Want me to wait here?”

“Why? You’re a girl.” And puts her head against my shoulder, pushing me in.

Going in, I look around timidly before gulping and going into one of the stalls. I had never actually been in a girl’s bathroom before. And for some reason I feel really shy and embarrassed about it.

“You’re a serious paradox velvet.” AP says,

“Why’s that?”

“You act more girly than me at times, then get shy and timid about the simple things. In the few hours I’ve known you, I’ve seen you risk your life to save me, kiss and nuzzle Blaze, and get all meek when asked questions. Now you’re embarrassed about being in the girl’s bathroom.”

I blink and look down “Sorry.”

“You need to just relax, you’re a girl, go with it. Don’t think of yourself as a guy that turned into a girl, or the curse changing you. If you hadn’t said anything I’d have thought you were a girl for the entire time, and Yiska was a girl’s name.” AP says as she flushes the toilet.

I get myself cleaned up and flush, heading out to washed my hooves and muzzle a bit, “I guess, which in itself is scary, have I changed that much from how I was before?”

“Want an even scarier thought,” She asks, washing her hooves, “Were you hiding who you were before?”

“OK that one would give me a headache if I tried to figure it out.” I say, shaking my head and checking my ponytail in the mirror giving it a little tug.

She finished drying off and walks up beside me thumping her hip against mine, our cutie marks touching with what feels like a spark jumping between them, I’m not sure if it was physical or magical, or even just a mental thing but we both felt it, looking at each other. Like a static shock between our marks. Between our souls.

I shiver once, shaking my head “Come on, the boys will be wondering if we got lost and call in a drone strike.”

“Ugg drones, remember your son’s wedding…” AP said, opening the door and trotting out.

“Oh Celestia what a mess, and that hat you were wearing Ah-Pee, whatever gave you the idea that that was a good thing?” I say as I'm closing the door behind me.

“It was Canterlot, everyone had strange hats, my grandmare gave it to me and said I had to wear it cuz it was high society.” AP says with a laugh.

I climb up in my seat again “But blue with Polka dots? Really?”

“Hey I’m an Apple, our fashion sense is…” AP stopped blinking, and looked around the table at everyone watching us.

She looks at me blinking and I looked back “We knew each other, in Canterlot.” I said, “From the wedding.” I shake my head vigorously, “I don’t know why and I can’t remember anything else… but that dumb hat. Ah-pee, what happened?”

“I don’t know, you’re the unicorn. For a moment there I remembered, we were friends but I can’t… a dragon, you had saved me from… For a moment it’s like I knew you for years… now it’s gone.”

We both close our eyes, fighting the veil that was pulled over us again but it was all gone, I could only remember fragments of the wedding… and Ah-Pee in that awful hat.

***

Do what you always do, plan, organize, know the law, and use it. Those words ring though Cynthia’s head, she still has time before the changes start to become really visible. She had already been to work early, and made copies of the files she would need, Volkers conversations with Spectrum, meetings with the Senator, and transfer orders.

Next, on her checklist are the banks, she travels from branch to branch withdrawing money, small amounts, under 2000 dollars per pop. Amounts equal to her rent, to her car insurance for 3 months, to her utility bill for 3 months.

She's not going to pay them, but by taking them out, it would make audits more difficult.

That alone took more time then she wanted, but it had to be done that way, know the law. It would look less like she was running, especially since she left money in her account, as well not trying to closing them. She made a point at each bank of pulling out the bills for each thing she needed to pay as well. Questions would be asked about why she was doing it in cash, but the more questions she left them with, the more answers they would look for.

Pulling into the UPS store she rented a PO box, paying for 1 year cost her 168 dollars, it was a small box, but she didn’t need it big, PO Box for her would work like a safety deposit box, she left an SD card and a note to deliver it to the Washington Post, in the box. If something happened to her, the box would be emptied out in a year for a new customer, hopefully, Volker's crimes would become public, otherwise she can keep paying the box with disposable credit cards online.

She takes her phone and removes the battery, and leaves both sitting on her passenger seat while she drives following the Potomac River. It's already getting dark out, looking into the mirror she sees that her eyes have changed from her normal green, to a deep brown, her hair had taken on a more mane thickness, growing from a short black, to a dark brownish grey.

Finding an unused public boat ramp she pulls in, and takes out her wallet, pocketing the cash, then she leaves the wallet and her ID on the passenger’s seat as well. Getting out of the car, she looks around a bit until she finds a good sized rock. With a few solid swings she shatters the window from the outside so that the glass filled the inside of the car, then popped the car into gear letting it roll into the water.

In a few days she wouldn’t have fingerprints, in a few days her appearance will have completely changed, her voice, her DNA, her form. Taking a step back she put her hands into her pockets and watches as the car slowly sinks into the Potomac river, the wind catching her mane and tail, her ear twitching once. “Why is a Raven, like a writing desk?” She says softly.

Turning she started walking down the road heading north, away from Washington. She remember that the Mad Hatter never answered the riddle, so she did so herself, “Because we were both there when the secrets were written down, because the orders given left an imprint on us, and because we can both keep those secrets in silence if needed, but if we are unlocked, everything we have hidden is revealed.”

Cynthia Woodrow is now gone, with any luck the police would think her the victim of a carjacking, or kidnapping. That should keep her safe from Volker. Now she could make her way to Montana, she had heard of safe places there, in a few days she would have changed fully, she already knew she wasn’t an earth pony or a Pegasus, Luna had left her with that. She is a unicorn, an advisor to the royal courts, she is Raven.

***

It was pretty late when we got back to AP’s farm, hopping out of the van, we noticed the lights were out, Blaze puts his wing in front of us to stop us and we crouched quickly, sniffing the air, my ears go up.

“Bottom corner of the glass on the front door is broken.” Those pegasus eyes of his let him see a lot better than us ground pounders.

“I smell gunpowder, rifle rounds likely.” I said, looking to the LT.

Nodding slowly he places a call to the CID. Our big guns were in the CID vehicle, supposed to be dropped off after mission, but the LT pulled out the 10mm’s. Moving to the side of the vehicle away from the house, The LT, Jay, Henry, Eric, and Sanchez quietly put on their vests, and their night vision.

“My parents are still in there,” AP says quietly.

“We are US Army Rangers, we’ll get them out.” I say firmly.

The team advances in 2’s with the LT and Henry moving for the front door, Jay and Eric swing around to the back, Sanchez hangs back, covering the windows and protecting AP while Blaze and I watch the sides. At the front door I saw the LT pull the pin and drop a grenade in the hole in the window… closing my eyes Blaze and I both flatten our ears.

Even at about 150 feet away, with our ears down the explosion of the flash bang is loud. Opening my eyes I see the flashes of gunshots, a 2nd flash bang goes off in the rear of the house, that one gave us a pulse to see targets in the upstairs.

Blaze picked up a flash bang in his mouth and I pull the pin, shooting up to the 2nd floor he lets go of the grenade and banks away, the small grenade shattering the window. The explosion lighting up the 2nd floor again, the forms of 2 persons up there.

Nodding to Blaze I teleported into the 2nd floor landing and mule kicked the first person down the stairs, Blaze comes through next, body checking the 2nd to the ground. They were men somewhere between 18 and 21, armed with civilian carbines.

Running upstairs The LT and Henry began clearing the last rooms, Another explosion downstairs tells us that they were clearing the basement. AP’s Mom and Dad end up to be found huddled in the bathroom, but there are no more people found.

“Clear up!” The LT calls.

“Basement Cleared,” Jay calls out.

“First floor secure and held,” Sanchez had moved up and inside to control the first floor.

“Anyone hurt?” The LT calls out.

A series of no’s are called out. I give myself and Blaze a once over. “We’re fine.”

We all look at the LT and slowly back away.

“Ok what are you looking at me like that for?” He says, starting to look annoyed.

“The paperwork, this one’s going to be awful.” Blaze says.

The sound of the police cars makes the point really clear, 8 people killed, The US Army had drawn blood against the Army of God. The paperwork was going to be a mess, but it was a clean hostage rescue. Even if it was spur of the moment and reactionary.

“CID is going to have a field day with us on this one. Least we called them first and let them know. Their truck will be here soon.” The LT grumbles.

Heading downstairs again we sit on the porch and waited for the Police and CID to show up. At least we had the excuse that we were protecting AP’s family.

14: By the word of Dog

The CID officer steps out of the house, shaking his head, “You couldn’t leave any of them alive could you?”

The LT looks at him “Well there was the one Twilight kicked.”

“Broken spine and neck, remind me never to get kicked by her.” He chuckles.

Blaze looks up, “What about the one I shoulder checked?”

“How fast where you going when you hit him, he looks like he was hit by a car… crushed chest, broken collar bone, cracked skull.” The officer says, looking at his notebook. “And that’s what the coroner could see visibly.”

“Umm, maybe 50mph I guess.” Blaze says with a light laugh trying his best to look innocent.

“Well now we have a problem,” the police chief says, walking up, “I don’t know how safe the Hunters’ will be, we can provide a little police protection, but if they come back there could be trouble.”

“At least it now gives you a reason to arrest them at the compound.” The LT suggests, “Or court grounds to at least get a warrant for illegal weapons.”

“ATF and FBI are moving in today. Though they may try and go after Rebecca again.” The sheriff says.

“Oh NO, they are NOT driving us off our farm,” Ah-Pee’s dad says.

“The police can only provide limited protection.” The sheriff continues, “We’re undermanned, the best option is protective custody.”

“I’ve already called the boys, they’ll be here tonight, my brother and his kids should be here tomorrow, give us a few days and we’ll have a few dozen guns here. You do NOT attack us on our land.”

“You know I can’t support vigilante actions.” The sheriff turns to face Ah-Pee’s dad.

“This isn’t vigilante, we won’t go looking for them, but if they come here, we have every right to defend our home.” He states firmly.

“Ok ok, we would like to put Rebecca into custody though, if we can remove her, maybe we can defuse this.” The sheriff looks worriedly at her.

“My place is with my family.” Ah-pee says, looking sternly at the sheriff.

“How about this,” I chime in, “we’re on R&R for the next few days, staying over at a friend’s place, how about she come with us, we’ll be able to get back here in a hurry if needed, but she’ll be out of sight of the Army for now.”

The LT looks at the Sheriff and CID, “Not a bad idea, we can keep her safe, without making her feel like she’s in protective custody, at the same time you can get to work on the AoG’s.”

The sheriff shakes his head “What pisses me off is the FBI says we can’t release any information about the cause of this. They are afraid the public relations issue especially given the fact that this was over some animals, no offense ma’am, their words not mine.”

“Well, remember, the punishment for horse theft in these parts used to be hanging.” Ah-Pee chuckles. “So they can consider themselves lucky, otherwise I’d say hang them all.”

We all blink, looking at Ah-Pee.

“Well they can’t have it both ways, if I’m an animal then I’m a horse or pony, as such punishment was death by hanging, now it can be as much as 60 years in prison.” She crosses her forelegs, looking at the sheriff “So which way they go, they kidnapped me or stole a pony, either way, they face serious charges, and I think horse theft carriers the heavier penalties.”

The sheriff chuckles, “Ok, FBI and ATF are going to love that.”

Turning she trots inside, then comes out a few minutes later with a pair of saddle bags on, “Ok Twilee, let’s go and have some fun, since your all on vacation, I’ll see about cooking the boys up something special when we get where we’re going.”

I head for the driver’s door, “Great, I’ll drive.”

“No way Corporal, I’m still mad that you teleported upstairs, you are on light duties, meaning limited magic, no teleporting, and no extended use of other spells, meaning no driving.” Henry says.

Huffing once I got into the back, and was joined by Ah-Pee on one side, and blaze on the other.

“Oh come on lil’filly, you know they are just trying to keep you safe.” AP says with a laugh.

Blaze puts his wing over my back and looks at AP, “Lil’filly? You’ll say that but you won’t say sugarcube?”

“Look, Sugarcube is something the show made up, people in Texas don’t really talk like that.” She says, looking at Blaze sternly.

Looking back at the squad I giggle once, than I look at Blaze and narrow my eyes.

“Oh I know that look, what’s on your mind Twilight.” Blaze said.

“Well there’s 3 of us back here.” I say.

Ah-Pee looks confused, “So?”

“Got the move’s got the mojo,” I start smiling evilly.

Ah-pee tilts her head “No harder working ponies around.”

Blaze moans and covers his face with his other wing, “we are a trio, work as a team?”

Over Eric’s cry of agony up at the front of the van, all three of us pipe up at once “we’ll be the first ponies out on the flag waving scene.”

***

Volker growls into the phone “So where is she?”

“She was in early yesterday, but said she was feeling really sick, wanted to pay some bills then go home, she almost threw up on the floor of HR. She hasn’t called in yet today though.”

“Well can you send me a second temp, the one you have here can’t seem to find phone even under the pile of paperwork.” Volker is less than happy, if there is one thing his old secretary is good at, it is paperwork, and supply generates a lot of paperwork.

“I’ll see what we can do.” The HR rep said.

Sitting in his chair he sorts through the emails for today when his temp comes running in, panting “Found it, today’s flash traffic from the JCOS and Whitehouse. Top of the list, the Presidents backpedaled on his views on handling the pony problem." She stops and looks confused, "what pony problem?”

The Admiral takes the papers from her, “Running short of mules for use as pack animal in area’s such as Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.” Volker says sternly, and sit down to read.

“Oh.” Turning, the secretary goes back to look for yesterday’s communications under the pile.

“And now he wants a live in peace with them, and his own daughters living there. I knew he didn’t have the will to do what was needed.” The Admiral says, shaking his head.

***

“Ok explain to me, you only saw the show once, and yet you knew the words to the songs by heart, how the heck is that possible.” The Lt asks.

“I have no idea, and it wasn’t cuz we sang it before, or heard it before…” Blaze says, shaking his head.

“Magic?” I say, getting out of the van.

“I think that’s your go to answer for everything now Twilight.” Henry says with a chuckle.

Ah-Pee shook her head “After my change I watched the series myself, just to see, IF we are to believe that the series is real, a snap shot of our lives, then would the music be real? Or was that just added as filler for the kids?”

Yiska stops in his tracks and looks back, “Twilight, you don’t speak Navajo right?”

I shake my head slowly.

“And Strawberry Sunrise and the Crystals didn’t speak it, yet, remember the medicine circle, they all picked up the chant?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The LT says, “Music is instinctual?” The LT just starts to laugh.

Eric, on the other hand, just groans. “Great, a race of Mockingbirds, one starts singing and they all know the words.”

“Not mockingbirds.” Blaze says, rearing up and spreading his wings.

I took the hint and crouch in a mock charge, horn glowing, Ah-pee seeing both of us, moves up beside Blaze on the other side, going into a crouch head low snarling.

“Mockingjays,” Blaze says, then Henry does the whistle from the movie.

We all just collapse laughing, sometimes we need to do something like that to blow off the stress, and man we had stress all this week. Looking around, grandfather’s truck has already been delivered, and grandfather himself is standing on the porch smiling.

“I see the great spirits have kept you safe, and helped you find some peace.” He says.

Ah-Pee looks at me “Great spirits?”

“He’s helped me get a handle on my unicorn spells, and helped us learn about our history, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.” I say as I roll to a standing position. Glancing at the van, I pull out a small box of tobacco from my pouch and trot up, offering it to grandfather.

“You have rescued another friend I see?” He says, taking the box, “You have formed a wheel with her, a circle. We will see how strong at the fire tonight.”

“Ah what? A who?” Ah-Pee blinks, looking at Blaze.

“I don’t know most of the time either, and he’s my grandfather.” Blaze says, shaking his head.

Trotting inside, I go upstairs and get myself dressed again in my shorts and t-shirt before trotting down, bag over my back. At least I am dressed now, but honestly, walking around without clothing on isn’t that bad. Ponies didn’t wear clothing all the time I guess.

Walking out, I head down to the river, I take a seat under a tree leaning back against it, then take an apple out of my pack to eat. Relaxing, feeling the wind in my mane, playing with my ears, it’s hard to describe the peaceful moments like this. No cars, no guns, no stress, just a moment to sit and relax.

I watch the birds flying low over the water, a large trumpeter swan swims slowly in the river, tilting my head I watch it before tossing it a few pieces of apple to eat. The sound of hoof beats announces the approach of another pony.

Sitting beside me Ah-Pee smiles, “hiding?”

“Resting,” I say softly, “and thinking.”

Adjusting her bandana around her neck Ah-Pee sits beside me, back against the tree, half laying backwards she looks out at the river. “Cute outfit, didn’t know they made PT gear for ponies.”

“Yeah, found it at the PX, apparently with a few ponies there, they opted to try and treat us with some dignity.” I say, offering her an apple.

“That’s the hard part, getting looked at or treated as an animal.” Ah-Pee bites into the apple, holding it between her forelegs. “If it’s just me, just my family, I guess just me and other ponies like you, I don’t seem to mind or even consider myself different.”

“I love being a pony, I know it is what I’m supposed to be, but it more than that, now it just feels so natural and normal, it hard to think of walking on 2 legs again.” I say, tossing the swan another bite.

“How about the mare part,” Ah-Pee says, taking another bite out of the apple, “does it feel natural?”

“Yeah, I guess, it’s just, I get confused.” Looking over at Ah-Pee I sigh, I don’t know why but she’s easy to open up to, “it still doesn’t feel real at times, and other times it’s to real, going into the girls bathroom just felt strange.”

“Every woman, every mare, is different, we don’t all like or want the same things. We do get confused, trying to figure out what we want to do, its normal. I’m not going to say forget that you were a guy, that’s not possible or fair to you, all I’m going to say is be yourself. Don’t let other’s tell you that you have to act like this or that.” Ah-Pee says and poked my nose with her hoof. “Look at me, I grew up scrapping with my brothers and shooting, pretty much a tom boy but I still go into the girls bathroom.”

I giggle softly at that one, “Ok I get it.” Leaning over I give her a gentle hug.

Hugging back she smiles, “Good, cuz you’d look really silly going into the boys bathroom, and trying to fiddle with your pony tail there.”

“Hey, I like the ponytail I don’t know why but I do. I know it’s not the style in the show but being active, a free mane kind of gets blown around.”

Looking up at her green mane she giggles “Mine just sort of poofs up like that unless it gets wet, so it’s generally out of my way. I probably have enough that I could braid it or such, but for now, this works.”

Above us a tree branch creaks. I look up to see Blaze lying on a thick branch watching us. “Hi Rainbow.”

“Hi girls, hope I’m not interrupting, whatcha talking about?”

“Mane styles, makeovers, pony tail verses perm, you want in?” Ah-Pee says, smiling. “We could probably figure out something to do with your mane.”

“Ugh, no thanks, I didn’t even think Twilight was into that.” Blaze says, sitting up. “Hey Ah-Pee, you know about horses right?

Ah-Pee nods looking up at the blue pegasus, “Yep, grew up with them all my life.”

“Yeah grandfather tried to get me to understand them when I was growing up, to build a tie to them. Sometimes I wish I did… but how often do they come into heat?” Blaze asks, tilting his head.

“Generally every 4 to 10 days every out of 28 days, they are long day breeders, spring summer and slowing down in fall. Why?”

I let out a small whimper at that. “4 to 10 out of every 28?”

Looking at me she blinks then looks up at Blaze and gives the tree a solid buck knocking him right off his perch. “Blaze you idiot,” she snarls.

Catching himself midair Blaze takes off quickly, “I was just asking for my benefit.” He says, escaping Ah-Pee's wrath.

Sitting back down, Ah-Pee puts her head over mine and hugs me gently. “It’s nothing to worry about or fear, it’s part of being female, and every girl gets a little scared about it in their lives. First we're not animals and we're not horses, so it’s likely not going to affect us as much. Second you’ll have me to help you through it. It’s something we can work though and figure out together.”

I nod slowly, and take a breath, “Just when I think it’s over.”

“Let’s change this subject, though remind me next time we see Blaze, I have to explain to him what a gelding is.” She looked sternly in the direction he flew.

“So what do you want to talk about then?” I hoped she has something else we can concentrate on.

“This medicine thing, what is it?” She sits back down beside me, asking.

“I’m not sure, it’s a sort of a fire, with chanting and drums and such, Native American but... us ponies keep having visions there.” I shake my head, “I don’t understand it myself but, it seems to bring out our magic.”

“You mean your magic?” She said.

“No our, pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies all have their own magic. It comes from deep inside of us, some pegasus can control it enough to change or affect the weather, but even small things like forming clouds and laying on them… earth ponies use their magic to increase their strength, stamina, as well as affecting the ground making plants grow faster even in bad soil.” I say.

“Well that explains why I can out pull a horse that’s 4 times heavier than me.” She says.

“I think unicorns are high magic, with magic in their horns, pegasus are middle magic, with magic in their wings, and ponies are low magic, with their focus being their hooves.” I say, getting up, “Let’s go, grandfather should be waiting for us.”

Moving up beside me she leans her shoulder against mine, “Should I be bringing popcorn or something?”

I start giggling again. “No, no, just bring yourself, but thanks for that one.”

We walk slowly towards where the medicine fire is usually set up giggling as we go until we spot Blaze flying in. Quickly he lands on one side of me, and all of a sudden I feel like I am being used as a shield.

Ah-Pee leans her head forward, looking around in front of me at him “Our next lesson will be on geldings.” She says.

“Hey, hey, I was asking for my benefit, to know if I needed to avoid you or something.” He says, looking over my back at Ah-Pee.

“Well you could have had more tact about it, you know how Twilie is about these things.” I blink, looking back and forth if this keeps up much longer I felt like my eyes will derp or something.

“What should I have done, waited till you were alone?” He asks, shaking his wings a bit.

“Yes, that would have been the smart thing to do.” Ah-Pee snorts.

“Look, Twilie’s my best friend, I would never do anything to hurt her on purpose, and never want to see her get hurt. I may say stupid things, or tease her, but I’d never hurt her.” He says, scowling at Ah-Pee.

I just stop and watch them keep walking in front of me, sitting down I mumble “Man, I wish she'd brought the popcorn now.”

“If she’s that important, think first before you ask something like that.” Ah-Pee stomps her hoof.

“When did you become her protector, I did just fine keeping her safe before you showed up.” He snorts.

Looking between the two I blinked a few times. Apple family will meets rainbow family ego. Shaking my head I clear my throat.

“Wait, are you actually jealous of me spending time with her?” Ah-Pee looks at him blinking.

“I don’t know, I guess... I lost her once before to Night Light because I was stupid, I don’t want to see her get hurt again.” He says.

“Who the heck is Night Light,” Ah-Pee says, looking at him seriously.

Stomping his hoof, he shakes his head “I have no idea! And that’s what makes this…”

“Night Light is, or was, my husband. He’s Twilight Sparkle's and Shining Armor’s father. The problem is, past that I don’t know who he is really, and I don’t know anything about us. I look at his picture and feel nothing. Discords curse wiped him from my mind.” I say.

That was enough to get both of them blushing, apparently they forgot about me while arguing about me. Walking up between them again I give Blaze a nuzzle “You're my oldest friend Blaze, and nothing’s going to stop that, I trust you with my life, and I always know you have my back.”

Looking at Ah-Pee I give her a nuzzle, “You and I have a connection that goes back, I feel like I can talk to you about anything, I don’t want you two fighting with each other. Cuz that hurts me more than either of you think.”

Looking at each other Blaze and Ah-Pee both huff. Picking up the pace a little I trot up to the fire and gulp.

Grandfather sits at the head of the fire again with his rattle, there are 4 drummers there this time. each with a handmade drum, crafted with beads on them. There are also several masked men that stand up. Most of the masks are terrifying, completely or nearly completely faceless, with no features of man or creature. Four of them, however. are different, their costume and style is more brightly colored, and they wear animal masks. A great stag, a raven, a horse, and another bird... a crane maybe, all I can tell was it has a long beak.

Blaze leans forward, whispering, “Hopi? Why are they here? Kachina Spirits are Hopi, I’ve only seen them once when I was little at a mixed nations meet in Flagstaff.”

A younger man quickly moves us to the fire, sitting Blaze across from his grandfather, Ah-Pee and I are sat facing each other. I sit and watch the rest of our squad get sat in the circle too, spaced between us around the fire.

The drummers start their beat, Grandfather start his chant, quickly picked up by the other singers. The dancers began stomping the ground slow at first, but building up to faster movements, I notice the two different styles of dance right away, between the faceless Navajo, who move around using what look like canes to make their movements look four legged at times, and the Hopi dancers who are faster and more mobile.

Ah-pee across from me is stomping her hooves in time with the drum beats causing sparks to rise, lost in the flames, looking over at Blaze I can see his wings spread wide, eyes closed as he chants, sounds of the dancers surrounded me and again I can feel pressure building behind my horn, getting stronger with every step.

Looking down in the fire I find myself beginning to chant as well, even though I don’t know the words, the music flows over me and through me as it seems to be doing with the others. In the fire I can see a pair of great wings rising, taking form is the princesses head and horn, a great white mare of fire, and sun. Her rainbow mane flowing behind her as she rises up, wings spread wide, horn glowing, pulling the fire up with her.

Grandfather taps his rattle in time with the music throwing some herbs into the fire, causing it to flash even brighter, the image of Princess Celestia looking down at us, towering over us, her wings going to their full length making the bonfire seem massive. The flashes of images, of Twilight asking Blaze why he didn’t choose her. Of Twilight cuddled in Ah-Pee’s forelegs crying in a bedroom. Images of Ah-Pee and Blaze yelling at each other outside Twilights house, all could be seen in Celestia’s wings.

The image explodes into a laughing Discord, arms spread wide yelling out “Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak! Forgetting everything and living like a fool!” Discord’s laughter filled the air but is quickly drowned out by the screech of a great eagle. The image of a great bird swirling in the fire, followed by a raven drawing the flames into a tornado… All around us the thunder of hooves can be felt, and the fire withdraws back down, the image of King Aspen and Prince Haakim standing proud and true, both in their armor as the image of Discord is driven off.

With one last handful of herbs, the fire subsides. I sit for a long moment, panting hard, trying to figure out what I saw. Grandfather stands, speaking first in Navajo, then in English as he looks down at us.

“The spirit of the sun, that brings life and light, that fights back the frost. The great bird and animal spirits, we honor and thank them for their gifts and help. This was a healing ceremony, one met to bring the restoration of harmony with the supernatural spirits, with the aid from the Yei, we have sought to return balance.”

The LT looked at me blinking “Was that Celestia and Discord?”

“You saw them too?” Ah-Pee says, blinking.

Looking over I see Blaze’s head low, tears on his cheek and muzzle, looking up at me all he can muster is a weak “I’m sorry, I have stayed closer to you.”

***

“We can’t let this go unanswered.” Slamming his fists on the table the young man stands up, “These ponies are an abomination to God.”

“Easy Edward, we won’t let it stand, we have to take our time though, the ATF and FBI are circling, and eight of our brothers are dead because of those creatures.” The older man says evenly. “They will be avenged though, there are other places that have ponies, we could strike there.”

Several men stand around the room, the large table, and dim lighting gave it the appearance of a bunker, though most tornado shelters could be considered bunkers of a sort. The maps on the wall were fairly blank though a few pins are there. LA, Los Vegas, and Gallup are pinned.

Edward paces “The sooner these creatures are gone, the better the world will be.”

“But if we act too fast, we could cause public outcry against us.” The older man says.

“Then we bide our time, but we will strike back, and next time it won’t be trying to capture, it will be to kill, to exterminate. These animals need to be culled.”

Walking over to the map the older man picks up a pin, “And we will strike, where there are a group of them, when we are ready.” He says, putting a black pin into the map. “We will hit them where they live.”

***

Blaze is lying in the grass by the river, ears drooping, eyes focused on the water. Trotting up slowly, I sigh and lay beside him, leaning into him just so we touch, hoping physical contact will help a bit

“I keep having flashes of hurting you, and I can’t stand thinking of causing you pain.” Blaze says softly.

“Rainbow, try thinking of it this way, if you hadn’t, then Sparkle and Dash would never have been born, and how many times did those two save the world?” I say with a weak smile. “Maybe it was destiny that we not be together, for the sake of the world.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Fair is vague at times, and that was 40 years ago or more.” I say, “We're friends again, and I’m here for you.”

“And what about Night Light?” Blaze asks.

“I still don’t remember him, don’t know him, maybe someday it will come back to me.” I say softly, then gently lick Blazes ear, “but that won’t stop us from being us.”

“Twilight, if I were to ask you out on a date, what would you say?”

“If it’s just a date, I’d say yes. I still have a lot to come to terms with about myself, but I like spending time with you. Kissing, making out, other things, I’d be saying no to but not because of you, or Night Light, or anything like that, but more to do with me.” I say with a huff. “One thing I do know, do remember though, is I think you’re cute.”

Blaze blinked a few times, “Cute?”

“I know, I think a stallion’s cute… I’m that far gone.” I say with a sigh.

Ah-Pee trots over, lying down beside Blaze and giving him a nuzzle. “Sorry Rainbow.”

Blaze blinks “Yeah, apparently us fighting goes way back.”

“I think we were friends, just things went wrong and never got resolved properly.” Ah-pee said.

I give a light chuckle “Yeah, it took Discord to fix our friendship.”

15: Of Horse and Oxen

Ah-Pee lay on the air mattress on the floor beside me, it's actually more like an inflatable bed than a simple air mattress that we are used to using in the military. With 3 separate airbag levels, it comes up nearly as high as the real bed I'm in.

I lay under the covers, muzzle on my foreleg still trying to process what happened at the fire, as well as Blaze asking about a date. The visions were strange, what did Aspen and Haakim have to do with anything, did it mean that Discord hadn’t just banished ponies but also banished others too? Somewhere where the deer changing and the horses, and if how hard is it going to be for them?

“Want to talk about it?” Ah-Pee says, yawning.

“Do you think we really knew each other? We were really friends before the change Ah-Pee?”

“Does it matter? We’re friends now, and even if it turns out we were the bitterest of enemies back then, it wouldn't change the friendships we’ve made since. In truth though, I think we’ve had a deep connection since before we even knew each other, and fate has drawn us together. Just like Blaze’s daughter did.”

“Huh? What do you mean, like Blazes daughter?” I blink a few times.

“Think about this, Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, was the catalyst that got your daughter and my niece their cutie marks. If his daughter hadn’t done that, then all the rest would never have met up. Which goes back to the fact, if you and he hadn’t drifted apart…”

“Oh yeah, I already thought of that, but at the same time fate seems to have a way of covering itself, who knows, maybe the element bearers might have been a different group.” I say with a sigh, “Not that the idea of my daughter being a princess and bearer of the elements isn’t a huge source of pride…”

“So, the stag and stallion in the fire,” Ah-pee said changing the subject, “I’ve never seen them before.”

“King Aspen, he’s the leader of the Everfree deer, and the stallion was Prince Haakim, son of the king of Saddle Arabia. I met them both, Aspen in some ways helped me remember to always follow my cutie mark.”

Ah-Pee lifts her covers, looking at hers, “3 pies, so I’m supposed to bake those 3 at a time?”

Giggling, I shake my head, “It’s often not that literal. Likely more a case for you of sharing what you do, with others. You like cooking, but you prefer not just cooking a single serving for yourself, you prefer making lots and sharing with those close to you. That would be my guess.”

“I wonder if there was a pony who's job it is to interpret cutie marks.” Ah-pee chuckles, looking at hers still.

“Oh you mean like the Dr. Foal show. Nope, never happen. Marks are earned during a realization moment, a time of total clarity, when everything comes into focus. Without that the mark isn’t earned. It’s a magical moment, and leaves no question in the ponies mind what their own mark means.”

“OK so explain to me, if you can’t remember Night Light, how can you know this?”

I prop my head up to look at Ah-Pee, “Because it happened to me again, that perfect moment of clarity, when I could feel my mark and knew what it meant… When I was rescuing a group of ponies from a drug lord, I blocked an anti-tank rocket with a shield spell, and then while running away I knew, my magic wasn’t for myself, it was to protect others, by doing what they couldn’t do for themselves.”

“I wonder if other ponies have, re-earned their cutie marks.” She says, “How many of us are there here?”

“Probably thousands, if not tens of thousands, Blaze was cursed several days after me, he apparently had been traveling from city to city looking for survivors.” I say softly.

“Then that’s Discord's mistake.”

“Mistake?”

“The more of us there are, the more likely we will find each other, find groups, help each other. The more there are the more likely we are to survive this, because we can turn to each other, for support, for aid, because we are ponies. We will not fade away, we won’t go quietly into the night, we will live on.” Ah-Pee said sitting up.

I sit up and nod “Yeah, I guess, we are drawn to each other, I’m willing to be even before we knew we were ponies there are those of us that were drawn together.” I tilt my head and blink once “Wait a sec, wasn’t that from Independence Day?”

“Some people quote Churchill, some people quote great writers like Shakespeare, me, I’m a simple farm girl, I’ll quote action movies. Saw that growing up with my brothers lots of times.” Ah-Pee says with a smile.

“Point taken, guess I’ve made a few trek quotes myself.” I say, rubbing my hoof on my nightshirt, looking down.

“Ok side note, what’s with the nightshirt and panties? I can understand not wanting to walk around naked I guess, but really sleeping dressed?”

I giggle and roll over onto my back pulling the sheets up “Military, I’m used to sleeping either in full clothing, or with boxers and t-shirt on. I’ve been doing it for years, the only problem is, the boxers the military made are not… good… for mares. They work fine for stallions but don’t fit well on me.”

“Oh, so its habit, makes sense. Need to be able to jump into a uniform quick, as well as bunking with a dozen other guys.”

Nodding again I look at the ceiling, “Add to that this weird feeling I get that people are trying to see under my tail…”

“There you go, worrying too much, next thing you’ll know you’ll be worrying if people see your udders when you sit.”

“My what? I’m not a cow Ah-Pee.”

Ah-pee blinked, “You need to get a book on equine anatomy one of these days. Mares have udders, it’s what they are called, is just the name given, they are on your abdomen just between your hind legs. You’ve got to have noticed them by now.”

“Oh yeah, I guess, some of the sensitive parts I have to be careful of when washing.” I say flopping my head over to look at Ah-Pee, “Must be hard washing without hands.”

“I make do.” She giggled, “Just have to do some things in different ways. One of the sensitive parts, that’s cute.”

“Sorry I just…” I stammer out a bit, my face heating in a blush.

“I know I know, you never had the birds and the bee’s lecture from this side.” Ah-Pee giggles, “At least you’ve explored it probably, so things won’t be as much a shock.”

“Explored… it?” I blink than look over at Ah-Pee, “Ah-Pee, that’s just… eww… no that’s just wrong.”

Turning her head, Ah-Pee looks wide eyed at me, “Please tell me your just being shy now, that you’ve at least explored yourself in the shower…”

“I… No… I couldn’t, it just…” I say, blushing furiously and burying my face in the pillow.

“Oh sweet Celestia, I’ll see if I can find you a book on equines, just so you understand things. I won’t push it, I know it’s a tender topic, but not knowing and not understanding is going to make thing a lot more scary.”

“I’m sorry…”

*** Ah-Pee’s Dream ***

I run through the forest zig zagging through trees, the Everfree is dangerous, actually it is downright deadly, but sometimes it was the fastest way to get to places, especially the Apple Farm. I look to the left, Peachy Sweet is at my side, crying as she ran.

“Peachy, it’s just timber wolves.” I say, “We’re almost at the farm, there’s no need to cry about it.”

She wails beside me, running and I find myself having to slow her down pulling on her handkerchief a bit to keep her from tiring herself out before we get there. Why was the answer for some ponies to stress crying? We're Apples, this should be nothing.

Looking up in front of me I see a last timber wolf jump out into the middle of the path. “Peachy, fall behind me.”

“Where surrounded, what are you doing!” She screams.

I put myself right in front of Peach running full tilt, “We’re blowing through.”

“Are you crazy?” She yells, then she looks back at the wolves behind her, she started crying again.

Lowering my head I hit the timberwolf dead center, it hurt, my head was ringing but I didn’t stop. My speed, my mass, hitting the surprised wolf caused it to explode, sending pieces in all directions. “That’s why you don’t mess with Apples!” I yell as I come out into the back orchards of the farm. I know the creature will be able to reassemble itself, but we are too far away from it now for it to be any more of a danger.

“We made it, we're alive…” Peachy sighs in relief.

The timber wolves stop at the edge of the forest watching us and snarling, but they don’t follow.

“Apple! You’re bleeding!” Peachy screams and points at me.

I slow down and tap my head with the back of a hoof and look, “It’s a scratch, Granny can take a look at it when we get to the house.”

“How can you do that Apple, shrug off being chased by wolves or getting hurt like that?”

“Do you remember your first time helping out with the apple bucking?” I slow to a walk, looking at the farm house and barn ahead of us.

“How can I forget? My legs hurt for days.” Peachy says as she slows to walk beside me.

“You didn’t cry though, moaned and grumbled a bit but you didn’t cry.”

“But that’s different, we weren’t in danger.” She looks back at the Everfree.

“The pain though is the same, I’ve been hurt before working on the farm, accidents happen. We are Apples though, even you Peachy, I know you prefer Canterlot, but you still have the Apple strength and power in you. As well as the Apple will.”

Peachy nods slowly.

“Being an Apple is more than a name, it’s more than a family. It’s a legacy, a heritage, and has its own gifts. Even as a foal you could buck apples out of a tree. We can tame the wild, we can feed cities, we can grow and live where no other ponies could survive. There isn’t a pony in the world that’s tougher than an Apple.”

Peachy nods.

“You can forget that, living in big cities, the Apple family meetings though help. To put your hooves on the ground and remember, the bond.”

Peachy looks up, her ponytail blowing in the wind. “Apples forever.”

“Apples forever!” I call out, seeing Granny coming out to meet us with Big Mac.

***

The sun is rising over the New Mexico Arizona scrub, creating an orange red glow over the rolling hills. The two teens had been riding all night on their ATV’s and had been waiting for day break to see the area clearly.

Lying on their perch they look though the binoc’s, trying to see any of the houses, in these wide open lands they could probably kill ponies without an issue. No one would care if some of these freaks died. They were, after all, unholy creations.

“Can you see anything?” Sid asks.

“Not yet but it’s still early. How could they let those things sleep inside… they should keep them in a barn or something.” Matt snarls.

“How many do you think are down there?” Sid is getting restless, all of this waiting.

“Don’t know. two or three, doesn’t matter though, it’ll make the commander happy, he’s pissed about people being killed by them.” Matt rubs his eyes and looks again.

“There just stupid animals, can’t we just got down there and deal with them.”

“It’s the police we are worried about, I don’t know if the police have them under protection or not.” Matt responds.

“The police won’t come around here. This is Navajo land.” They both hear the voice behind them. They slowly turn to see four men on horseback, one has a shotgun over his shoulder, the other two have Winchester lever actions, the last is holding an MSG90 long range rifle.

The man with the shotgun shakes his head “They think animals are stupid, but here they are, leaving their guns twenty feet away with their ATV’s.”

Matt gulps “Tribal police?”

The leader of the group just smiled “You wish you were so lucky.” Turning his arm, he shows them the mark on his shoulder, a red Circle with a black eagle feather. “A.R.M. Trespassing on native land is one thing, threatening First Nation’s citizens, looking to bring violence to sacred lands. You’re going to wish the police had found you first.”

***

I yawn, stretching out in bed, then roll on my side and open my eyes. Ah-Pee’s already awake but she's just laying there, looking up at the ceiling. I give one more big stretch and yawn, and then look at Ah-Pee again, “Morning.”

“Morning.” Ah-Pee says, looking at the ceiling.

“What’s on your mind,” I say flexing a leg a bit to get the blood flowing.

“What it means to be an Apple.” She sighs.

“Wow, I never took you for the philosophical type. Contemplating on being fruit, seems different, though I guess some contemplate on being rocks or tree’s.”

At least it was a soft pillow, it came in through a wide arc and hit the side of my face with a low POMF, “I mean part of the Apple family you brat.”

“OK, so what brought that line on then?”

“A dream I was having, I guess. Apple’s more than a name, it’s a heritage… but if I can’t remember the heritage does that make me less of an Apple?” she asked.

I roll over onto my belly, and lean my nose over to touch hers, “You are an Apple, trust me, even if you don’t know it, you have the will and family honor. You have their strength and definitely their nature. The cartoon shows clips of the Apple family, and I look at you with your family and see the same thing.”

“Yeah but…”

“No butts, of course I look at you and Blaze fighting and just think of Dash and AJ going at it, I think there’s some family competition there.” I say with a giggle.

Rolling her eyes, Ah-Pee gets up “I’m going to take a quick shower, before you take all the hot water. Then I think I'll have a chat with Blaze.

I sit up and ruffle my mane with both my forehooves before shaking my head out. Reaching out I bring a brush over to me and start brushing my mane and bangs. Gathering my laundry, just wearing my night shirt and panties, I walk downstairs and put everything into the washing machine. Poking my head into the living room I wave to grandfather.

“Do you have any books on… umm,” I find myself blushing furiously now.

“On what little one.” Grandfather says with a smile.

“On um, mare’s anatomy, I figured I should… read up on it a little.” I say with a gulp.

Standing, he walks over to his book shelf and takes down two books, and turns to offer them to me. Looking at one, basic horses, breeds, skeletons, muscles, the second one though, is on mares and breeding.

Honestly I’m not sure I want to read the 2nd but I take them both and go back into the laundry room lying down. I knew these were feral horses, and in ways this was looking at gorilla’s and trying to figure out humans but sometimes close helps.

The skull I know is wrong, my muzzle is much shorter than a feral horse’s, but the tooth set up and mix looked about right. Flicking my ear I look at the image of organ placement, tapping my own breastbone and ribs counting a little.

Looking at the diagram of a leg, I move my leg a bit to compare how it moves to the muscles in the book, looks about the same, I just have a larger range of movement. Whimpering once I open the book on mare’s starting to look though the pictures and terms.

Magic has a certain convenience, when the washer dings, I open the washer and dryer doors, move the clothing into the dryer, set it to auto, and close the doors and starting the machine. All without looking up from my book once. The idea of being able to do laundry from across the room is a definite bonus.

Turning the page, I gulp hard as I read and look at the pictures, I don’t know if this is what’s going to happen to me but the idea that it could, is utterly terrifying.

Ah-Pee trots up, laying down beside me and looking at the page, “Oh, light reading I see.”

I let out a loud squeak and close the book, blushing so hard my ears feel like they are on fire. “I um, it’s not what you think.” I stammer out.

“No it’s 100% what I think, you’re looking at the books and learning about your anatomy. Internal organs, and such, same thing I did after I changed. Fore leg is wrong for us. We can bend far more than a horse.” Ah-Pee says, her statements helping calm me down.

“Hind legs closer, still a little more flexible. Skull is way off though, might be closer to a males skull but not a females.” I say nodding.

“I notice, as foals they look close to each other but as they grow the skulls differ. Guess it’s a visual sexual cue.” She says, nodding. Then she surprises me by leaning against me.

“A what?” I look at her quick.

“Some species have visual ways of telling males from females, ducks colors, peacock’s feathers, even humans have a visible difference between males and females in body shape.” She said. “Likely the stallion’s larger head was an evolution of challenges, and became a distinct feature.”

“Oh, I get it.” I said nodding, “Makes sense. Might also explain why colts muzzles and fillies muzzles look so close too, because the different doesn’t appear until later in life.”

Looking over her shoulder, Ah-Pee pulls the book on mares under her, hiding it “Hi Blaze, did you get everything I asked for?”

Panting a bit, Blaze scowls. “Yes, and I’m NEVER shopping for those again. You just wrote down 2 names, not what they were.” He said with a snort and pulls 2 small shopping bags from Fort Bragg PX in front of her. “Next time get your own.” Turning, he flicks his tail and storms out.

“You sent him all the way to Fort Bragg? No wonder he’s miffed.” I say, blinking.

“Oh that’s not what he’s miffed about.” Ah-Pee says with a giggle.

I sit up and tilt my head “What did you do?”

Ah-Pee tries her best to look innocent as she goes though the bag. “Got myself some shorts and a T-shirt for fun, as some undies, no I’m not planning on wearing clothing all the time. I should wash them first though before wearing them, always best to be safe.”

“Well that doesn’t explain why Blaze flipped.” I Said, “unless you made him buy them with his money.”

Moving to the second bag she pulls out 2 boxes, looking at them I blush heavily and back up quick. “You sent him to buy those?”

Blinking she looks at me “Oh come on, breath girl, deep breaths, slow and steady.”

I blink then slow my breathing, “Why? We don’t… do we?”

“Actually mare’s don’t, so don’t worry, don’t get scared. Just breathes. Feral mares, horses, during their receptive phase, put out scent, and, well, drip a bit. I figure just in case we are like that, it’s best to have odor control liners. We can start with these, and go to something lighter if needed.” Opening the box with her teeth she takes out some pads from the box and puts them in my saddle bag.

“Just ewww.” I say poking the bag.

“Well, consider yourself lucky.” Ah-Pee says with a grin.

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“You weren’t the one that had to buy them.” Ah-Pee starts to giggle.

*** Yiska***

“ARGH!” I say storming out and glaring at the LT. “Women.”

The LT blinks a few times and chuckles, “Which one?”

“Ah-Pee, she sent me to the store to buy… Girl products.” I say with a snort.

The LT laughs and shakes his head “They are girls, remember? Now think for a sec, if you ever have a daughter of your own, what are you going to tell her about this?”

“I won’t, I’ll leave that to her dam.” I say, shaking my head.

“Now think for a sec, very slowly and very carefully, how will Velvet explain it?”

“She… I… oh you and your evil Jedi mind tricks… I get it, she probably feels the same if not worse about it than me.” I say and huff, sitting down just burying my muzzle in a bowl of alfalfa bits.

“Well I still have to finish this report and send it off to CID, my days pretty much a wash, so, might as well ruin yours too.” The LT says with a smile

“Mine, what did I do?” I say, feeling worried.

“Nothing, but you know what they say about idle hands… or in your case idle wings. JSOC has sent a request for you to play drone for the next few hours. The FBI is scared to bring in helicopters because of the Army of God's heavy weapons. The military isn’t chartered to fly drones that close to civilian airports, they can orbit them around white sands or the other training area’s sure… But that doesn’t help much with that compound. Especially in a civilian matter.”

“But a pegasus doesn’t count. Yeah yeah, I see where they are going.” I say and huff.

“Great, Henry, help him with the harness, it’s so great that he gave the military this idea.” The LT says with a chuckle.

Standing up, I spread my forelegs and wings for the harness. The entire device only weights about 15 pounds, and fits pretty snug, the tech’s actually didn’t do that bad a job with it. Getting the thumbs up from Henry I trot out, spreading my wings, and take to the sky.

“On the heels of war and wonder, there’s a stormy…” Blinking I shake my head quick. Wow, ponies really DO break into song easy. “Come on blaze head in the game, serious work, no time for a song and dance number.”

Turning I see the command post that the ATF has set up and circle in landing. “Corporal Rainbow Blaze reporting as requested,” I say hovering a few feet off the ground looking at a few shocked faces.

“They said they were sending over a Pegasus recon drone, I thought they meant like, an HAI Pegasus, or X-47a Pegasus, but not a real living Pegasus.” The ATF officer says and pokes my wing.

Pulling my wing tight to my side I look at him “I’m US Army, regular forces. You asked for help, you got me.”

“Woah, down boy.” The guy takes a few steps back and a woman comes over, shaking her head.

The woman has the ATF jacket and hat on as well, but seems younger, “It's ok Rainbow, just have some idiots here today. You prefer Rainbow, Blaze or Yiska?” She says, looking at her PDA.

“Umm Blaze works, Rainbows generally used by only closest of friends.” I say, least she’s not pokey like the other guy.

“Ok Blaze here’s your ear piece; it’s on your frequencies, standard Earwig. And.. it’s not going to fit, go figure. Sec, I’ll see if the tech types here can work something out.” Turning, she walks into a tent.

Looking around I find a lot of eyes on me. I sit on my haunches and snort once “Guys, I was born human, went to school, joined the military, I’m Ranger trained. What’s the problem?”

“You’re a talking horse.” One said.

“So I had an accident at work, seriously, I’m still a person.” They continue about their work, but I notice they keep watching me.

I end up trotting around, checking the command center out, while I wait. I am starting to dislike getting watched like this. Why couldn’t people just treat me like…

“I thought Dash was a girl.” One guy says with a chuckle.

“I’m not Dash, I’m Rainbow Blaze, Dash is actually my daughter.” I say, looking at the rifle rack, I think I really do miss shooting.

“Really? Rainbow Dash is real?” He asks.

“Uh huh, she was banished 3 days before I was, I know I couldn’t have helped her but… in some ways I wish I could have been there with her at the time.” I say softly, “Just to stand with her, even if I wouldn’t make a difference, just to be with her at the hardest of times.”

“Wow, so the tv show was right?”

“I guess, I think the story was helped by a pony, or at least by someone who remembered their lives as a pony. I can’t say.” Looking at my hooves, “I’m here, now, trying hard to figure out my life.”

The ATF rep comes over and plugs a blue tooth style headphone onto my ear “Ok that will work, our call sigh is prism, your call sign will be spectrum.”

“NO!” I shout, turning fast.

Backing up quick she blinked “What?”

“Not spectrum, choose another name. Just spectrum has a bad, feeling. No.”

“Ok so what do you want?” She crossed her arms.

“Oxcart.” I say with a smile.

“Ok Oxcart it is.”

“Are you sure you’re ok doing this, cloud covers between 5 and 8 thousand feet, that’s pretty low.”

Looking up I hum softly, then start laughing, “If you hear me snoring just yell a few times.” With a jump I shoot up to the clouds. In moments I break through the top and I hover above them.

“Oh I hope this works,” I say as I drop down to stand on the clouds. “Oh this is going to be the easiest thing ever.” I laugh, and hear the servo’s of the camera whir a little as it looks around.

Ignoring the camera I start grabbing and gathering cloud into a tight little fluffy thicker than the rest, but more than large enough to hold me, and quickly I hop on. Digging a little hole in the cloud for the camera to see though, I grab the sides and gently push it down to below the normal clouds.

“Are you actually lying on a cloud, oxcart?”

“Ah fluffy, you are so soft and cuddly.” I say with a sigh as I relax, just using the occasional wing flap to move the cloud back into position.

“We can still hear you Oxcart.” I hear over the ear piece.

“Oh um, yeah, call it aerial camouflage.” I say, “Took a bit to make it as dense as I wanted, but still relaxing. How’s the pictures.”

“Fine, fine, just float there for a while.”

With very little breeze I just move myself to the far end of the compound, figure it will take me about 2-3 hours to drift across it at this rate. And fluffy is just so perfect, so much better than the couch or floor…

*** Yiska’s dream ***

“You don’t even know how much she loves you, do you?” Ah-Pee says, stomping a hoof.

“Ah-Pee calm down.” Peachy Sweet says.

“Velvet's been as close as kin to me Peach, I just don’t like the fact that her parents made her marry a unicorn, even the Apples will support the marriage of one of ours to a Unicorn or Pegasus if true love is involved.” Ah-Pee says, then she scowls at me.

“T-True love?” I gulp.

“You were her first love. Her first kiss.” Ah-Pee says and huffs.

“I didn’t know.” I say, looking down.

“And then you didn’t even go to her wedding?” Ah-Pee snarled. Peachy blinks then snarls at me too. If Peachy was mad I really messed up big.

“I didn’t think she’d want me there. Then I was called on stormwatch duty.” I said defensively.

Ah-Pee turned, heading into the castle's kitchen, “Come on Peachy, I’ll help you with the pies for the Gala.”

Shaking my head I turn to fly towards Cloudsdale. “Guess I should brush up on my cloud sculpting, my little Dash wanted a castle in the sky for her birthday…”

***

“BLAZE!!!”

“What what? I’m awake, who…” I look around blinking…

“First off you were snoring into the coms, and then there was that whole whimpering about Velvet.”

Peeking over the edge of the cloud I figure I've been drifting for around three hours. “Umm, need anything more?”

“Nope, we're good, first time we ever had a drone that snores.”

“Yeah yeah.” With a kick I disperse the cloud, then fly down to the command station to return the radio.

One of the com tech’s looks at me and shakes his head… “Snore, velvet I’m sorry… snore…”

Grumbling, I turn off the camera and fly back to the farm, its a short flight for me. Hitting the front porch I trot in, “Man LT I’m just getting picked on today, first by the girls, then you then by the ATF. I swear, some days It doesn’t pay to roll off a cloud.”

“Roll off a cloud?” The LT blinked looking at me like I just turned into a… oh wait.

“Yeah, the part about Pegasus sleeping on clouds, it works.”

“Well that’s useful, will help on some recon missions and such.” The LT says with a chuckle.

“And now, an apology that has been waiting over 40 years.” I say with a gulp.

“Ouch.” The LT said.

“You don’t know the half of it. This one, I really messed up with.” I say looking around, “And where are the girls anyway?”

“Upstairs in their room doing their hooves.” The LT says as if that’s something completely normal. “Bits and pieces of a dream again?”

“No, I remember it clearly this time, it was my fault. And even if it was in another life, I should still say sorry.” I say, walking up stairs.

17: The Knife's Edge

“All right mares, welcome to Unicorn Boot Camp.” I say as I look at the three girls. “First question, how many of you were born male?”

The three look at each other, confused, then back at me.

“Sweet Celestia what did I do to piss off Discord this bad?” I say grumbling, so far the only other one I’ve ran into was Noi.

Blaze chuckles, “Wally here’s been dealing with it harder than most.” Looking at me, he nods once, “But in truth we go by pony names more here. I am Rainbow Blaze, I'm the flight instructor for any pegasi that show up, while I can’t do magic, I can generate power.”

Ah-Pee steps forward “I’m Apple Pie, Ah-Pee for short, part of the Apple family clan, if you need help with hoof care come to me.”

“I’m Twilight Velvet, I’ll be running you through your magical training, by the time you’re done here, you’ll be able to use your magic better than you could have ever have used your hands.” Sitting on my haunches, I smile “Ok If you’ll introduce yourselves.”

“I’m Ballad, army engineers.” She says and looks at the mark on her shoulder.

“Corporal Stephany Richards, Army administration.”

With a sigh I stand up and walk over, sitting beside her “Your pony name?”

Steph shakes her head, “I’m Steph.”

“Ok, you have to realize, you were a pony first, we were born as ponies, grew up as ponies, went to school, had families, then 25 year ago all that was taken away. You are a unicorn, you were always meant to be one… we all were. This is our natural forms returning as the magic of the curse fades.”

“Sugarberry.” Steph says, her head low.

Tilting my head I think, “I don’t think I ever met you, pony wise. What's your mark?”

“3 blue diamonds.” She moans.

“Oh like Rarity. You have an affiliation to earth magic.” I say, smiling.

“Earth magic?” Steph looks up, perking her ears a bit.

“Yep, probably have an innate ability to find gems, or maybe shaping and crafting them with magic.” I say, smiling, “Once you get in touch with yourself and your mark again, you’ll figure it out. That could take longer than 3 days though.”

Looking over at the third unicorn, she’s just beaming, smiling ear to ear. “Cipher Splash, US Army Intelligence, Crypto Analysis.”

I look at her, then at Blaze, then back at her, “Seriously?”

“Yep, seriously, I’m in the show, have my own trading card, pony catch phrase is Born Ready.”

“What’s your mark?” I ask.

She shows me her arm patch, all I can tell from it is that it’s blue and purple.

“I um… is that real?”

She laughs and pulls down her slacks showing me the mark.

Blaze and Ah-Pee both come over looking at it too. A blue hyphen over a blue and purple squiggle, looking at each other we blink.

“Trust me, no one in Equestria can figure it out... but me. It’s an enigma, and a symbol of my ability to figure out puzzles. What it actually is, I’m not telling.”

“With our luck it’s actually some kind of 3 dimensional fractal pattern meant to represent a decryption algorithm.” I say with a laugh. “Or it could be a duck on a pond.”

“Mine is three stars, representing magic, in Equestria, I was somewhat of an adventurer, casting spells to help or save others.” Smiling, I look at them, “Now first question, have any of you made your horn’s glow yet, hornshine?”

All three shake their heads slowly.

“Horn shine is both the easiest thing and the hardest thing at the same time, it’s the first real magic most unicorns ever do.” I making my horn glow bright just to show them, “once understood, you can do it whenever you want, the problem is, it’s something that’s alien to humans.”

All three look at me, blinking, before Cipher reaches forward to touch my horn.

Backing my head up I stop the glow and shake my head no, “You don’t touch a unicorns horn without asking, they're very personal, and in some ways sensitive.”

“Sorry.” Cipher says, sitting, with her hooves between her hind legs.

“Now then, sadly this is going to sound like a cross between something like Jedi stuff, and new age mumbo jumbo, but we’re unicorns, we use magic, it has its own rules. Inside all of us, around all of us is magic or magical energy, we call it aether to give it a name. All I want you to do is to relax. To relax, close your eyes, look inside of yourself for the energy, and slowly focus it on your horn. Let it flow into your horn.”

I sit beside Blaze and raise one hoof to hit him, I can see him fighting the urge to laugh, the three young mares sitting there, faces and muzzles scrunched up trying to focus.

Ballad is the first to get hers lit, though it’s not a full horn glow, and the light is flickering, it is, however, a start. Moving over to her I sit down, “Ok calm down, relax, you’ve got the light, just level out the flow of energy.”

Taking a deep breath Ballad’s glow steadies, “Is that better?”

“Perfect,” I smile, “Now turning it off is simply stopping the flow. I want you to practice now turning it on and off, nothing more.”

Cringing, I look over at Sugarberry, and touch my own horn, “Berry, you're sparking. You’re trying too hard, you need to relax, the sparks are a good sign, it shows you’ve found the magic your just pushing it too hard, and not evenly.”

Sugarberry looks up at her horn, blinking, then calms down as a slow glow starts coming out. “I’m doing it, I’m doing it!”

Looking over at Cipher, I blink, her face is scrunched up, and she’s perspiring as she’s trying. “Cipher Splash, stop… stop.” Getting up, I walk over to her, “I said don’t force it like that.”

“I… I can feel it but it’s like there’s a block, when I try and push magic I can feel it backing up and starting to hurt.” Looking at me she reaches up and taps her horn, “Is it broken?”

“May I have permission to touch your horn?”

Cipher nods slowly, and looks cross eyed up at her horn.

Gently I move her mane away from the horn and examine the length of it, “Nothing I can see externally.” Sitting down I cross my horn with hers almost flinching once, why they have me as an instructor I don’t know, because even I don’t know what I’m doing half the time.

“Ok, give it a try again.” With my eyes closed, I concentrate on the flow of energy.

Scrunching her face up, she tries again to make her horn glow, then stops, panting, “It hurts.”

“I… its… gurr why does magic have to be so hard to explain, I feel it but there’s something stopping it… interrupting it. Any head injuries?” I say tilting my head.

“Nope, normal bumps and bruises but never anything serious,” Cipher says.

“Are you on any medications, drugs, illegal drugs?”

“Umm, I was on Intuniv, it’s an ADHD med, but I stopped taking it a while ago. Got a doctors waiver for military service, though, why?”

“Honestly, I think the meds might be the cause, I’d hate to think that because out of the fear that the government might start forcing us to take meds to stop our magic, I just don’t know. Grandfather would probably say something like you were out of harmony.”

Tears in her eyes, she looked at me, “Does this mean I’ll never be able to do magic?”

“I… you… NO, we will find a way through this.” I say, putting my hoof down firmly.

Crossing horns again, I begin to concentrate, “Ok, this is counter to what I said before but I need you to concentrate and push, it’s going to hurt but fight through it, focus and push.”

There is probably a book on how to fix this somewhere. Likely in Canterlot, or in my daughter’s library, maybe in one of the magic schools. But I don’t have access to any of that though, so all I can do is depend on instinct, on things I notice or hear in the show, and on what I can feel right now.

I can feel the blockage, I can feel the pressure behind her horn, I can feel the interruption. I begin pumping magic into it, focusing and channeling trying to draw her magic out, looking for any cracks in the barrier, anything that would let the energy flow properly. It's like a new foal’s first sparks, but Equestria has more aether, so I need to give her more aether, I have to generate more.

My hornshine is too bright to look at directly, I can feel my cutie marks like they are burning, but I can feel the cracks forming in the blockage, my mane and tail flow around me, charged with the energy I am putting into this, almost looking like they are on fire. Then finally, like a dam breaking, her energy is free, causing a massive backlash.

I remember flying… I sort of remember getting caught by Blaze, but I don’t remember just how far I went, the spark explosion sent me a good distance though. I also knew I was going to have have one hell of a headache… whenever I finally wake up from this one.

***

“A young unicorn’s sparks can be powerful and unpredictable; they can cause a lot of damage as they send out random magical effects.” I say, walking in front of the class of foals.

“What we need to learn is how to clean up these sparks, to repair the damage done and or counter the spells. To today, for our foal sitting class, we are going to study how to clean spark effects.”

Looking over my shoulder, I give my little Twi-Twi a gentle nuzzle, she’s being such a good girl, and sleeping through the class. It’s hard to believe she’s only a few weeks old.

“If you’re going to babysit for unicorns, you have to know how to handle these sparks. First thing, it’s best to let them happen, trying to stop them all together can make the magic build up to a violent spark.”

I look over at a golden yellow pony with a fiery mane, her nose buried in a book. “Sunset are you even listening to this?”

“Sparks, magic, don’t force it.” She says, turning a page.

Stomping my hoof a few times on the ground, “Sunset this is a foal sitting class, are you even considering babysitting?”

Huffing ,she puts down her book, “I’m not into the whole foals thing, I’m here because Princess Celestia said I needed the practical experience. Besides, how hard can this be if she let Cadance in here.”

The little pink alicorn blinks and looks sternly back at Sunset, “Harder than you think, because it takes patience, understanding, and love to handle little foals. I know I’m still learning spells, but I have the love and patience needed to foal sit.”

I stomp my hoof loudly “Break it up, you’re your both going to be marked down in this. Since book smarts is only part of this, how will your mentor feel if you get a D+ in a class?”

The threat of a low grade works wonders with Sunset Shimmer, she always has to be perfect, only thing that motivates her more was telling her she couldn’t do something, she was one of those fillies that had to do everything herself.

“So as I was saying, never EVER try and force a spark in a foal, it can cause a pretty violent backlash, you need a special spell for that, so let’s open our books to chapter 4.”

***

Opening my eyes, I put my hoof to my horn, “Oh sweet Celestia what did I do.”

“Disobeyed a direct order,” the LT said sternly.

“Nope, I know I didn’t do that, I didn’t cast any spells, but my head is ringing like a bell.”

“Whatever you did we heard the bang all the way across the house.”

“Cipher had a horn blockage, she couldn’t use her magic and it could have been dangerous. Let the military know do NOT give unicorns ADHD meds… heck don’t give them anything that affects the brain including anti-depressants… we don’t know how it will act or react, our brain chemistry is different than humans.”

The LT blinks a few times, then sighs, “Ok, I’ll let them know.”

“How’s Cipher?”

“Bouncing, flashing her horn, bouncing, and flashing her horn.” Blaze said walking in, “you saved her life.”

“Trust me I know, there’s a spell you are supposed to use to fix an imbalance like that, I taught it to Sunset Shimmer long ago as well as Cadance. What I did was stupid, and totally wrong. Sorry.”

“What I saw out there was the old Twilight Velvet, risking her life to save someone else, giving everything she had without care for herself to ensure others were happy.” Blaze said and stroked my horn with his wing.

“Thanks Rainbow.” I look up at the LT and smile weakly, “It is true through, if I hadn’t, there was a chance she could have hurt herself or died. The drugs had created a block her mind and magic couldn’t work around on their own.”

“Unicorns and their mind melds, any species with half a grain of sense…” We all looked at Henry, who is flicking a rather large needle.

“Umm, you are not planning on sticking me with that,” I say, looking at the needle.

Henry shook his head, “Nope, don’t worry.” Jabbing the needle in Blaze’s butt, he chuckled, “Equine vaccine pack, they sent it down with the unicorns, as well as some fun things for me to read up on.”

Blaze grumbled rubbing his hip looking at Henry, “You could have warned me.” He said, then chuckled, “Oh looks like it’s your turn.”

Henry walked back over, “Small pinch.” Then he jabbed the second needle into Blazes butt.

“Hey that’s not fair, you did me already.”

“Yep, and that was the other one, it’s not an all in one shot, its actually two of them.” He said with a nod. “And I said, small pinch.”

Prepping the next 2 shots he walked over to me, “Ok Velvet, are you up for these, or do you want to hold off for a bit?”

“It’s ok Henry, I’ll take my meds now without complaining like some stallion.”

“Oh ouch.” Henry says, looking at Blaze and smiling. Carefully, he gives me my shots too, dabbing the area gently with a cotton ball. “There you go little mare, all the shots the army recommended to keep you healthy, and safe if you interact with normal horses.”

“That could almost be insulting, but I know what you meant. I’m not the type to hang around horses, but I don’t know if walking where they have walked, or being near a police horse or such could have me catching something, so good to know.” I say, getting out of bed.

“So what exactly is a spark?” The LT asks.

“It’s part of being a unicorn, young unicorns often can’t control their magic, or understand how to control it, they could generate wild and random effects, often called sparks. A grown up can regulate the power they put out easier, and is often using magic so they don’t build up power, but with Discord's curse, adults can suffer sparks too. In the show Twilight talks about it and we see Twilight having a spark when she gets scared.”

“So it’s a magical explosion?” The LT said looking a little worried.

“Yep, and I had to force one to get Cipher’s magic working properly. I remembered afterwards I’m not supposed to do that, I’m supposed to use a spell to clear her mind gently but, that’s like remembering not to cut the red wire, after you cut it.”

“Ok, I won’t write you up for violating light duties.” He said and ruffled my mane.

“Well time to check on the foals.” I get up and head back outside, stepping out the door I can see the three focusing on their horns keeping them glowing and giggle. Trotting up to them I start off, “Okay ladies.”

Cipher looks up and pounces at me before I can say another word, tackling me to the ground and hugging “Thank you thank you thank you, you risked your life to let me have my magic, thank you.”

Holding one hoof up I gasp, “Can’t… Breathe...”

Bounding over Ah-Pee quickly pulls Cipher off me, and sits her down, laughing, “Easy girl, killing your instructor is likely to get you a failing grade.”

Coughing a few times I smile “Your welcome. Ok, so you three have got your focus down? You can charge your horns at will?”

All three nod.

“Good, that was the easy part, now we are going to get you to use that energy. Telekinesis, we’ve all seen the unicorns use it in the show.” I say, then blink as Ballad puts her hoof up.

“Yes Ballad?”

“Umm, I haven’t seen the show.” She says meekly.

“Ok, don’t worry, I hadn’t even heard of the show till a week or so after my change, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Though I hate to say it but it’s a good reference material, the show is actually based on ponies, and seems to be fairly true to our lives.”

Looking over I grab 4 cans of pop from the table setting one in front of each of the girls and one in front of myself, glancing at Ah-Pee I smile, “Want a pop?”

When Ah-Pee nods I open a fifth putting a straw in it for Ah-Pee and set it in front of her then look back at the girls. “Moving objects around becomes easier with practice, it becomes second nature. All I want you to do right now, is get a straw from the table, and bring it over to your pop. That’s it, nothing heavy or hard.”

Sugarberry gulps once, “How? How do you do that?”

“Sadly, this part doesn’t translate well into human thought, think of your magic though as an extension of yourself lighting your horns shows you can control its flow internally, now we are going to control its flow externally, this isn’t about shaping your magic, or even really focusing it, it’s merely about reaching out with it. Look at the straw, think of your magic flowing around it, think of what it feels like to hold it in your magic, then bring your magic back to you, the straw will follow.”

I wonder if this is how Inkwell teaches her class, for that matter I wonder if Cheerilee teaches her unicorn students magic, or is it their mares that are expected to do it. I watch them concentrating hard, I know it’s not the best thing for them, but at the same time, it’s something they need to find in themselves.

Cipher gets her magic going, her aura grabbing the entire box of straws at once at first. Honestly the hardest thing I had to do at this time was keep a straight face. Slowly the whole box would move towards her, then back to the table then towards her, then back to the table, it took her several tries but she managed just to grasp one straw and bring it to her. Though the box had several rips in it now and a few of the straws were mangled.

Looking down at her pop I opened the can for her, and she puts the straw in, and takes a sip.

Watching Sugarberry is like watching someone trying to use chopsticks for the first time, after a few missed jabs, pickups and drops of straws she finally got one over to her, though it was bent and pinched. It takes her a little bit to get used to holding the straw but finally she relaxes enough that she can use it for drinking.

Nodding once, I open her pop for her and she drops it in.

Ballad takes a few moments to get used to grabbing the box, and then flips the box over, dumping all the straws out. Grabbing one she brings it over and looks at me innocently. “What? I’m an engineer, spreading the things out makes it easier to grab, I do the same thing with a back hoe.”

Grabbing the rest of the straws I put them back in the box, shaking my head. “That’s just wrong on so many levels.”

I stand up and smile at them all, “So for the next little while I’m going to let you play, around here there are rocks, glasses, paper cups, box of Kleenex, all I want you to do is get used to grabbing things, picking them up, moving them around. Some of these things are going to be heavier than others. Some are going to be fragile. Trust me, those paper cups can be tricky. I just want you to get used to it though.”

Walking around them once, I widen my smile, “Just think, now you’re at the point where you can do basic things putting on your hat or getting some basic clothing on. I want you to be able to tie your shoes, to pick up forks, to use keyboards. It’s now all about practice and control.”

Sitting down by Ah-Pee I giggle, “They have to work out their own style and limits for themselves.”

“You’re doing great Twilight.” Ah-Pee says, leaning against me.

“I wouldn’t say that, grandfather showed me and I’m just trying to teach them, the way I understand it.”

“Look at them though. Ballad was scared coming in now she’s excited, Sugarberry’s calling herself Sugarberry not Steph, Cipher, well… Cipher didn’t change since she got here, but you saved her.”

“Oh they are happy now, next though comes magical fundamentals 101. So far this has all been foal stuff, blank flank territory. Next comes the part that wiped me out, precise control. The stuff that they teach you at the academy, instead of just home schooling, and trust me, they are going to hate me after this.”

Looking up I see Blaze, sleeping on a cloud, that somehow he’s pulled down to the height of the roof of his grandfather’s house. Pointing up, Ah-Pee looks then starts giggling.

“Well you are on R&R, remember.” She says.

Grabbing my drink I lay back on a lawn chair beside Ah-Pee and relax, I knew there was a freedom about magic, that they were just discovering, it’s like the first time a pegasus takes to the air. I give them a good two hours to play before declaring break. I get up and get them all some snacks. The military was kind enough to provide food, boxed lunches, but these were geared for ponies, they had also provided raw goods, carrots, potatoes, apples, and Alfalfa; in both cube and pellet form.

Dropping a boxed lunch in front of each, I watch as Ah-Pee digs into the raw goods to prep dinner. She has more than enough goods there to feed the whole squad but she's concentrating on pony food right now.

“You’re going to be surprised at how many calories you burn just using magic, so you’re going to need to eat a bit more then you’d think. There’s actually a reason the ponies in the show eat so many sweet foods.” I say, nodding once.

Cipher giggles, “I was told this was going to be a workout, but it’s so easy.”

“Oh good,” I say cheerfully, “then you are just going to love the next part. You can thank Blaze for running to the store for me, because I bought each of you a puzzle to do.”

Grabbing the bag with my magic I bring it over and pull out the first box, “A mothers love, 300 pieces of giraffe and her baby, who wants?”

The girls shrug and Ballad puts her hoof up.

“300 Piece Paris Party, here you go Sugarberry, and for you Cipher Milky Way Farms.” Blinking I look up at Blaze then shrug “Sorry, guess he couldn’t find any good 300 piece puzzles. Now all I need you to do is to put the puzzle together.”

Grabbing a few pieces from one puzzle I start assembling it in midair. “Don’t put down the puzzle, don’t assemble pieces in the box, just pick them up and build the puzzle.” Putting the pieces back in the box I look at their faces. The look of shock and horror says it all, magic fundamentals are a terror for any unicorn.

Trotting over I went to help Ah-Pee, “Yep, that look said it all.”

“That’s actually kind of cruel.” She said, “Who came up with that?”

“Grandfather had me doing it for hours on end to build stamina, concentration and fine control. Trust me it could be worse.”

“Really? How?”

Picking up a potato peeler I went to work prepping potato’s for Ah-Pee’s stew. “Think about that blindfolded.”

When it starts getting dark I call it quits on the training, all three mares look totally wasted, but we were ready, sweetbreads, thick mushroom potato and carrot stew with alfalfa pellets mixed in, and apple fritters.

“So what’s the plan for tonight Twilight?” Sugarberry asks.

“Relaxing, watching some episodes of the show, just to get you all into the mindset of unicorns. It’s not all work, but tomorrow it’s going to be fundamentals all day.”

I notice right away during the meal Cipher and Sugarberry both using their magic more to help them eat, Ballad through, she seems more tired, I’ll have to have her on simpler things tomorrow, she may not be as strong as Sugarberry in her power.

After dinner we all met in the living room, laying down in front of the TV I stretched out on my belly, well ¾ on my belly, hind legs stretched out a bit, forelegs crossed. I was surprised when Sugarberry lay down behind me using my back as a pillow, her chin snuggled against the curve of my back, cheek against my mane.

Ah-Pee on the other hand joins us, lying on her back head on my hind legs resting. Cipher ends up using Ah-Pee’s belly as a pillow with her head by my hind legs too. Ballad chooses to take up the other side of me laying her head on my forelegs. I wasn’t sure how but I became the center point but 3 of the 4 girls were using me as a pillow.

Using my magic I put on the pony cartoon show then lay my head over Ballad neck using her as my pillow. With a large bowl of hot buttered popcorn in front of us, we took turns grabbing some with magic, offering Ah-Pee at the same time so no one was left out.

It was already pretty late, getting close to 9:30 pm, I didn’t know how many episodes we would get through but I wanted to cover as much of the educational episodes as I could, things like cutie mark stories, Pinkie Pie babysitting, every single Rarity episode, and most of the Twilight episodes.

Finally somewhere between 2 and 3 am we had all finally dozed off. I think Grandfather had turned off the TV sometime in the night, and I knew Henry had taken a few photos. I’d have to buck him for that later, for now though. Peace.

***

I lay quietly in the flickering light of the oil lamp, my little Twi-Twi is between my forelegs, asleep, wrapped up in her blanket, her little smarty pants doll snuggled under her. I still remember the day Celestia gave me that doll as a gift, I was so little at the time. Beside me, my little Armor slept, he was exhausted from his Flugelhorn performance. Giving him a gentle kiss on the horn I looked over at Cadance, her wings tucked tight to her as she snuggles to my belly while she sleeps.

Cadance has been here all night with Twilight Sparkle, and it was too late to send her home. I let her sleep against me, her head against my chest, sometimes I wondered if she ever got to sleep with a mother’s heartbeat near her. I knew she was an orphan, Celestia had adopted her when she gained her horn but she grew up with such hardship.

Night Light walks in from the kitchen, cup of tea in his magical grasp “Are you sure you don’t want one, honey?”

“Nope, I’m fine, this is more relaxing then even the best tea.”

“Want some help getting them all into their beds?” He asked looking at Cadance.

I shake my head slowly “No thanks, I’m fine here, you want to join us?”

“I’m fine love, I’ll leave you here and head to bed myself. I need to get up early, Kibitz wants me to do some special work for him.”

“Night dear.” Watching him go upstairs I look down at the little ones and snuggle my muzzle against Twi-twi.

***

I woke to the sound of my cellphone going off. Blinking I lifted my head looking over, then heard Blazes phone go off.

Within seconds the sound of everyone’s cellphones ringing at once, all the phones going off. I can hear the LT running downstairs, grabbing my cellphone I answer to hear the automated message, CALLOUT, all units return to base.

Blaze half runs, half flies over, turning on the field radio, holding the headset to his ear with a forehoof, calmly he calls out what he hears on the radio relaying to us. “All stations, all stations, Flash Traffic, Scud Scud Scud, Dazzle warning for Des Moines, Iowa. Shut down all electronics and prepare…”

The LT turns on the TV, “We are on emergency recall, sound like they are tracking a single target ICBM.”

All of us sit up, watching the TV, emergency broadcasts alert are going off.

Cipher runs over to the radio, grabbing a second headset with her magic and listens to the traffic. “They are going into Snapcount. This is not a drill.”

“Skud call,” The LT said, “that means they have a missile inbound for Des Moines, if they are calling it dazzle, they are expecting it to be a nuke.” Looking over at Cipher his jaw dropped, “Snapcount is a limited nuclear counterstrike, it means our bombers are going after Russia or China’s nuclear sites. Our subs are probably getting the orders now to hunt down and destroy any ballistic subs they can find.”

News channels were showings shaky images of the Des Moines sky, all of a sudden we see a flash, the rainbow explosion on the TV, the telltale effects of a sonic rainboom.

“Blaze…” I breathe.

“I see it.” he glances at me.

“LT, call SOC Please, tell them not to let some idiots blow up the Earth…”

“On it.” The LT is already dialing.

“Blaze…" I said. “Was that your…”

“Yep, that was my little Dash.” He shook his head slowly. “She is so grounded.”

18: Operation Dull Sword

I'm sitting, stomping my front hooves. actually I'm tapping them really quickly on the floor. I feel more than a little nervous, Blaze and Cipher are both on the radio right now, listening to flash traffic, Sugarberry and Ballad are pacing back and forth.

“General, I know what I’m asking. You need to tell the Joint Chiefs that this wasn’t an attack.” The LT said, “Look I can’t explain exactly what it was or who did it for sure, but it was NOT an attack.” The LT looks over at Blaze covering the mouth piece of the phone, “I blame you for this. She’s your daughter... WHAT? No I can’t give you evidence. No I don’t know why it was done, maybe it was a test, maybe a prank, whatever it was meant as it wasn’t an attack.”

I look up at the LT, “Uncredited intelligence, it was domestic.”

“Tell them it was domestic, uncredited intelligence sources, we need time to track the source. If there are no further attacks within 24 hours, yeah I know, but it’s better than SPF 10,000.” The LT hung up the phone turning to face me.

I gulp big time, “As long as they have time to calm down and think, they will pull back, are we still on Callout?”

The LT points at Blaze, “His daughter nearly starts world war 3 and you’re worried about going to base? And why couldn’t I just tell them it was his daughter?”

“LT, if they thought it was a pegasus that did that they would be rounding up any and every pegasus they could find. I don’t want to be put in a concentration camp because they think we are at threat or that they can’t trust any pony.” I say still thumping my hooves nervously.

The LT grumbled, “If it was for anyone but you. I trust you and Blaze. Some in the military will realize it was a rainboom but with no evidence it won’t carry. I’d like to know what was going through that pegasi’s mind though. Is it pegasuses or pegasi’s? Whatever, just…”

I hug the LT tightly. “Thanks LT.”

“No hugging your commanding officer.” He says with a chuckle, but he hugs me back and ruffles my mane.

Letting go, I back up and looked at the girls, then back at the LT, taking a breath. “So what’s the call?”

“Priority transport for commanding officers and essential personnel, our squad is currently considered security personnel for a training detachment.” He says “Current orders are to maintain security, and continue training.”

I blink a few times, “You know, any other time I’d start laughing, that military lingo for you being our baby sitters. The problem is, with that near miss on war, Army of God, and everything else, I think babysitting duty is actually needed. At least were not civilians.”

Henry looked over “Oh god, remember when we had to do security duty in Afghanistan for those world health jerks.”

I groan, covering my muzzle with a foreleg “Don’t remind me,” Whining, I say “Why do we have to walk, why can’t we just take the jeep?”

Blaze looks back over and laughs, “When are we going to get to the town, I’m hungry and have to use the bathroom.”

Jay laughed, “I still say that was punishment.”

“For whom, them or us?” Henry just shakes his head.

“Ok, the bathrooms mine for the next hour.” I say as I get up.

“An hour, that’s long even for you,” Blaze said, “What are you planning on doing…”

Ah-Pee turned her rear towards Blaze and was making an obvious effort to brace her forelegs in preparation to buck him if he finishes that sentence.

I giggle, “Training the girls, it will be good practice.”

Turning to the three unicorns I stomp my hoof again on the floor, “Move those tails, or get them shaved, hup hup hup…”

The LT chuckles, shaking his head as I picked up the rear, flicking my tail once as I head up the stairs.

“Now this is going to be really different, because holding liquids like shampoo with your magic is really strange and somewhat hard, so loofah’s are going to be your best friend, you are going to want three of them because it’s easier to pour shampoo or body wash onto a loofah or cloth, and use magic on that rub the soap around, rather than trying to rub the water and soap around.” This is all stuff I had figured out, but I needed to let the girls to get the hang of it, so they had to take turns showering.

I wait in the bathroom, but let them keep the shower curtains closed, I'm just here to answer questions or give suggestions. At the same time I remind them t ensure the cleaning of their hooves, as well as the dog shake trick to get the bulk of the water off first, finally when each is done I have them clean the shower with their magic for the next girl. Important note, make sure the curtain is fully closed before the shake, or they have to clean the walls too.

Had I actually thought about it, I might have freaked out, being in the bathroom with girls showering, but to me I was actually just teaching, and more concerned that they didn’t get hurt, hurt themselves, or blow up the house.

Once everyone was dried, brushed, and dressed again I smiled, “So, we are not even close to finishing our training yet, but I have to ask, do you think with what you know right now, with what you can do right now, that you could live without support?”

Cipher nods, “Heck yeah, with practice I should be able to do as well as magic as I could with hands, maybe even better.”

Ballad sighs a bit, “Maybe, I mean I could take care of myself, but things like operating a crane or back hoe, or driving.”

“Driving course is later today, you can drive with magic.” I say, and watch their faces light up. “Sugarberry, how about you, I know you had problems with being a unicorn, how about now?”

“I was worried about it, but seeing you, learning my magic, I think I can do it.” She said.

Blushing a bit, I scuff my hoof on the floor, “Seeing me?”

She nods, “Your confident, comfortable, and you seem so natural with it.”

I blink a few times, feeling my face flush even more, “Umm trust me, no, I have had more freak outs, screams and problems, trust me, you girls are doing better than I did. Next up though, is Ah-Pee, not everything is about magic, she’s going to teach you how to handle basic pony needs, like hoof care and…” blushing I turn, “Ah-Pee your up.”

“I got it from here, find yourself a place to hide Twilight.”

As quickly as my hooves can carry me, I head downstairs, skidding to a stop I look at the LT, “Ok, they're in Ah-Pee’s hooves now.”

“What Ah-Pee teaching?” The LT says, looking down at me, “Thought they were here for magic training.”

“To improve their quality of life,” I say looking upstairs, “She’s covering hoof care and… um… mare things.” I once again scuff my hoof on the floor in response.

“So, why are you down here?” He asks.

“Because they are going to be talking about… never mind.” I say, once again, my face is heating.

“Oh, I get it, I actually had to sit through a class on feminine hygiene in the field during officer training, and they wanted us to know in case we had women in our unit. I wasn’t a Ranger LT than, this was just general for all officers. To me I just filed it away as stuff I might need to know if ever I have a daughter.”

Putting his hand behind an ear he starts softly scratching, “It must be terrifying for them.”

“Why would it be? They’ve always been girls.” I say, looking up at him.

“Always being a girl doesn’t prepare you for things, remember how scared Ballad looked when she first got here? Or sad Sugarberry looked? In many ways they are all foals again, just learning their first magic spells, learning to do things as if they were blank flanks. Everything is new to them, they are a new species and don’t know what to expect. Essentially they are growing up all over again in a short time.”

“Yeah but they already know about that stuff.” I say as I close my eyes leaning into the scratching.

“Nope, they know about human, not about ponies, they can only guess and fear the worst. Ah-Pee is probably the only with firsthand… first hoof… meh, I’m human, firsthand knowledge of what the effects are and that even is limited to horses. So she might be just as scared as you.”

“Ah-Pee, scared?” I chuckle. "Yeah, right."

“Hey, fear is fear. We’ve all seen it, all felt it. The difference is, do you run and hide, do you stand your ground, or do you push on and attack.” The LT says and stops scratching.

“Difference between us and GI’s, we push on. Better to take the fight to them, than to let them control the battle.” I say. “Rangers ho?”

Looking down the LT simply nods “Rangers ho.”

Taking a deep breath I go upstairs again, and tap on the bedroom door.

Ah-Pee opens it smiling at first, then she blinks a few times at me, “You don’t have to be here for this part. We’ve already covered some of it with just you and me.”

“I know, but I should still be here, no one is 100 percent sure of what’s going to happen or what our heats will really be like. It’s going to be new to all of us girls.”

Ah-Pee blinks, then smiles, hugging me tight, and quietly whispers, “Good girl.”

*** Yiska***

I passed back and forth looking at the wall charger, “Damn it, how long does it take that thing to get a full charge.”

Henry chuckles “I don’t know but it holds a charge for a good long time, you forgot to plug it in last night didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to get like, swap out batteries for that transponder, just for cases like this. With us at defcon-2 if I even got 50 feet off the ground I’d probably have a missile coming at me.” I huff.

“Grounded because of lack of a battery.” Henry just laughs.

“Well at least the drone pack is charged. Hey wait a sec, doesn’t the drone pack have a USB port?” I say perking up.

“Yep, for downloading memory storage.” Henry is continuing to chuckle.

“So all I need to do is to plug a USB cable into my camera battery pack, run the cable to my transponder, plugging it into the micro USB port there, and I can run it off that battery.” I perk up, feeling proud.

“Yep, too bad we don’t have a USB to Micro USB cable.” Henry pats my head.

With a swing of my foreleg I cheerfully speak up, “Exactly. And it would be just as simple to buy more battery packs, as it would to buy a cable for this one time.”

“Eeyup.”

“Man this got messed up fast, what was Dash thinking?” I huff again.

“Oh that’s simple, that she couldn’t sit around and do nothing, and had to do something to get the ponies attention.” Henry sits back on the sofa.

“What makes you say that?” I say, blinking at him.

“Simple, she’s a pegasus, and your daughter. Meaning she probably can’t stand to sit still, and wait for a battery to charge.”

Blinking, I looked at the ground and huff, dropping back down and folding my wings to my side I scowl at Henry. “Yeah you’re right, I guess it’s a pegasus itch. We have to act and sometimes without a full plan.”

“I guess that’s why you have unicorns, to think first without acting.” Henry says and laughs.

“Ouch... No burning Twilight when she’s not here to defend her race.” I laugh, shaking my head, “Though sometimes I think Twilight has a little bit of pegasus in her, she uses magic without thinking sometimes too.”

“Yep, she can be featherbrained too.” Henry said laughing and bonks my head lightly.

“You’re just jealous you can’t match this much awesome!” I say going into a Blaze pose.

Henry smacks my flank causing me to jump, “Heeya mule.”

Trotting away I huff, “Hairless monkeys.” Unplugging the charger I put the transponder on my foreleg. Turning I snap my tail at Henry and head up to the roof.

It takes me a few seconds without help to get the ear headset on I must have looked silly holding the clip open with both hooves then tilting my head and ear till it was in the right place, but it works. Sitting up I am finally able to dial the switchboard at Nellis Air Force Base.

“Hi could you put me through to flight ops? Thank you, I’ll hold.”

I lay back on the roof using the chimney as a backstop and relax, it’s a nice day out, a few clouds, but lots of clear sky, no storm fronts around and I don’t expect any for a few hours. So the roof is a nice place to rest.

“Flight Ops, Captain Nelson speaking.” I hear the voice come over the ear piece.

“Hi, this is Corporal Yiska Christian, this is probably going to be the stupidest question you’ve got today but, how would I go about flying a flight plan, normally I’ve been told I don’t need to.”

“Really, how long have you been flying?” He sounds confused by my words.

“Oh, about a week and a half, was supposed to get a crash course in transponders and such, but with all that’s going on, that’s become low priority.”

“Right…. What’s your license number… if you have a transponder you have a license number.” He says slowly.

“Oh um,” I start flipping my transponder around, looking, then I find a number on the flap “1-NP990003X. I was told to use squawk 0001.”

“Right, that’s not even close to a… the heck… 1-NP990003X call sign Rainbow Blaze, no radio available.”

“Yep that sounds like me. Given the Defcon-2 status I figured flight plans would be a good idea.”

“Yeah give me a sec, hybrid military civilian call sign, only assigned to special squawk band transmitters?”

“Yeah it’s this Velcro strap with a transmitter on it and bunch of keys. Gives you airspeed, heading, altitude, and such, but it doesn’t have anything on it for filing flight paths.”

“Look, you should have been given courses in this by your flight instructor.” He's starting to sound more than a little annoyed.

“Never had one, ok this is getting silly, sorry sir, I’ll be heading into Nellis, umm I’ll keep it low, about 500 feet or so, if you want to let the AWACS know. I'll bet they are jumpy enough.” Hanging up, I flap down “LT I’m going to head over to Nellis for a bit, checkup on some things and see if I can get a field manual on how to file flight paths as well as the squawk codes.”

“Be careful, don’t get your tail shot off.” The LT says, reading the paper. Of all of us he seems to be the only one getting real R&R.

Shooting up into the air I level off around 650 feet and begin accelerating, I figure if I keep my speed down to about 300 or 400 knots I wouldn’t drive people nuts, besides, high subsonics are hard to do at low altitudes.

I find myself checking my transponder a few times, just worried the batteries would run out on it, but I'm fine. I figured I’d showed up on someone’s radar though, because a BIG bird drops down to about 5,000 feet behind me, I've seen F-16’s close up before, but this thing looks evil. It has the classic wing shape of an F-15, except its tail fins are canted, and currently its missile bay doors on the side of the air intakes are open.

Very slowly I raise my altitude to his flight level and let myself fall back to his wing. I watch his bay doors close as he checks me over. I give him a salute, and get one in return as he pulls back on his stick and goes vertical. There is no way I'm going to race that thing.

Holding steady at 5,000 feet I head for the base. Eventually landing at the guard post outside the main gates. Trotting up to the MP’s I put my beret on and salute. “I’m looking for flight operations.”

“How’s the flying weather corporal?”

I blink as the MP smiles and pulls out a base map. “Umm fine I guess.”

“Ok, flight operations is this building here, flight training areas are here and here. You know I’ve been meaning to ask, I haven’t heard yet but is there any regulations on mane styles for the military?”

I blink looking at him and look at up at my mane, “I… um, for dress uniform mares are supposed to have their manes in a bun but I don’t know for stallions yet.”

Quickly I turn trotting, “Ok, now I’m getting weirded out when people treat me like a normal pegasus.” Shaking my head, “did they put regulations on mane styles? If so, poor Velvet.”

Trotting in to flight operations, the desk administration clerk looks down at me and just chuckles, “Oh are you gonna get it.”

I blink, the heck is going on here, “I’m Corporal Blaze, I’m looking for some help filing a flight plan.”

He nods, “yep, your instructor will be done in a few moments.”

“Oh, the Captain I was talking to before, yeh. So why am I gonna get it?”

“Cuz she’s been in a bad mood all day.”

“She who?” I ask blinking.

“CORPORAL BLAZE!!!” I hear the yell from behind and gulp. Turning around, an ice blue pegasus mare with white mane and tail is stalking up to me, she’s wearing a flight suit that’s been customized for her and grabs me by my combat jacket shoving me against the wall.

“What the heck, Fleetfoot. What I do?” I whine.

In a very soft growl she narrows her eyes “That’s Captain Fleetfoot to you Corporal, just what in Tartarus did your daughter think she was doing?”

“Look Captain, I haven’t seen her in over 25 years. I’m not in contact with her at all. Trust me I’m just as PO’ed at this as you are, so everyone stop blaming me for her, we both know she must have had a reason.”

“My office, NOW!” She shouts, turning and storming through a set of doors.

Panting, I fold my wings tight to my sides, and follow her into the office, it's small, but well kitted out, they seem to have replaced her desk with a shorter one and given her a set of pillows to sit on, motioning to the pillow on the other side of her desk I take a seat.

“You know we are at Defcon-2 right now.” She says, snarling.

“I know ma’am. I called in to ask how to file a flight plan, but the officer couldn’t help me so I told him I’d fly in.” I said.

“Your daughter almost started World War 3 you realize.”

“I know, and I’ve been doing my best not to let anyone know it was actually her.” I say firmly.

“Well at least you have some brains. If Command knew it was a pegasus that did that, it would mean all our wings.” She says with a huff. “And I know the army is lax but who told you to fly low and squawk 0001”

“Fort Bragg supply when I got my transponder, said to leave it on 0001, and avoid 7500.”

Shaking her head she looks at me sternly, “Weren’t you a pilot before?”

“No, airborne ranger, you know, the one’s with the wing suits.” I say.

Fleetfoot rolls her eyes and lifts a hoof, “Flying without plane, you had your air kicks but never needed flight training, go fig.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most pegasus I’ve encountered seemed to fly in one form or another even before the change, or at least take to flying.” She says, “Army was off the ball with you apparently.”

“Ok Captain, Let’s start this from the top, my birthday’s on the 5th of May so…”

“Just Fleetfoot in the office, and what's your birthday got to do with anything? Mine is the 1st of May.”

I blink a few times, “Ok, I’ll start this from the beginning 25 years ago then.” Taking a deep breath I go through the Discord spiel, the curse, the cartoon being real, and finally Spectrum and the court martial.

“I had guessed most of that, figured out some from talking to a few other pegasi, but you guys had it rough.”

“Army couldn’t figure out what to do with us so transferred Twilight and I to reserve status, so I think our training got messed up. They put us on leave, and then sent a group of unicorns to Twilight for training.”

“You know where Princess Twilight is?”

“Twilight Velvet, the princesses’ mom, she, well he was also a Ranger.”

“Ok that explains why your training got lost in the shuffle, how’s your flying skills?”

“Good enough to play with F-16’s. Though some big thing came in behind me today, looked like he was ready to fire a missile.”

“F-15SE, we have a few of them here now for air guard and anti-ballistic missile duty. There supposed to provide cover for here. It was verifying you were not a cruise missile.”

“Man Fleetfoot, if I see Dash I’m going to give her a spanking she’ll never forget.” I say with a huff.

“Now then, as to your flying,” she pulls out a small book and puts it in front of me, “here's the squawk codes, there’s only about 5 you should be using, all of them are the ones that state uncontrolled or without radio, 0001 is fine at high altitudes, 4000 at lower altitudes, if you’re flying slow, or for non-speedsters 1402 is used, glider speed for pegasi pulling up to 100 knots.” She says and I almost feel my eyes glaze over.

“Yeh I have a lot of reading and memorizing to do.” I say and sigh.

“Flying isn’t just about flapping your wings around here.” Fleetfoot says, looking at me sternly.

“Sorry ma’am.” I gulp.

“As to your flight plans, you’ll want to log those on your TA-324.”

“My what?” I blink, totally lost now.

“Your apple IPad you were given, with the protective casing.”

I shake my head no.

“Horseapples, what in Tartarus is the Army doing.” She says, standing up and trotting to the door yelling “Get me a TA-324, have it assigned to Blaze, and bring me the paperwork for it.”

I cringe watching her, “All they gave me was this.” I say holding up the foreleg transponder.

Putting her other foreleg on the desk she opens a Velcro cover showing me an Ipad mini. “These things are customized and custom programed. All you do is tap where you want to go, GPS will tell where you are, then send the data to a special computer. That computer will either let you go straight there, or fix your route based on no fly or restricted airspace, you can also tell it how high and fast you wanna fly.”

“Ok so if I’m going back to Gallup, I can select say, 32,000 feet, Mach 2.2 and it will update it?”

“Yep if you can fly that fast, once done it will give you suggested transponder codes, and waypoints you need to follow if needed. Problem is you need to be at a wifi point or cell tower to have it work.”

“Thanks,” Looking over my shoulder as a human private comes in and puts paperwork on her desk before strapping the pad on my left foreleg. “and thank you too.”

“Sign here Corporal, loose it, break it, its 799 out of your pay.”

I nod and sign quick with my mouth and blink looking at the pen. “Minty.”

“Anti-viral, bacterial dip, not everyone trusts the last pony’s mouth when picking up pens.” She says with a smile.

I open my mouth then close it, honestly, I got nothing for that one.

“Dismissed Corporal.”

Standing up I trot out, and file my flightpath back to grandfathers, then take off like a rocket. Now at least I can file for runs to Montana if needed.

I'm in low altitude flight, again, cruising along at about 4,000 feet, it is a pretty relaxing day once you’re in the air, away from the other aircraft. The ground below me is badlands, there are scattered houses and trailers, but there aren’t farms or animals because the land won’t support that.

This is Navajo land, I'm still miles from home, but grandfather had taken me out this way I was probably just north of Flagstaff, there is a major highway near here, my flight path has me almost following an east west highway, but seeing three pickups with, not to be racist, white men, in them threw up flags. You don’t usually see people in the back of pickups with rifles, let alone 2 or 3 of them per truck. That is just wrong. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up looking at them, are they more of those Army of God yahoos?

They aren’t on the highway, they are on a service road, the type used by the power companies following some high tension power lines. I decided to change course, heading north and following the lines, they seem to be heading somewhere so let’s see where. I zigzag as I fly, watching the area, but nothing seems to be worth their time, old run down houses, a few trailers, just junk. There’s nothing of value that I can see here.

I'm just about to turn to head my way back when something catches my eye, there are lots of colors in the badlands, brows, grey’s, oranges, reds… but Green and Teal are not that common, especially when laying on a brown background of a rooftop.

Looking down the road I see the trucks, oh I have lots of time, they are still a few miles away, no problems. I dive low and come up to land beside the pegasus, cute little mare if somewhat overweight, she's lying on the leeward side of the roof panting a bit.

“Hi there, not to be a bother but, we’ve got some rather bad looking company coming up the road.” I say with a smile, yeah I'm a real charmer, aren't I?

Looking up at me she whimpers once, “I think I’m in trouble.”

“Naw, we’ve got some time, just get your wings going and we can get away from them without a problem.” I say with a laugh.

“I can’t fly…” She says, looking scared.

Leaning over I look down off the roof, “How did you get twenty feet off the ground then?”

“Sort of a wing assisted jump. It’s the best I can do right now.” She says, panting softly.

“Flying’s easy, and a lot safer then hanging around and risking being spotted by some Army of God thugs.” I say nodding firmly.

“I can’t fly, I’m too heavy.” She says, tears welling in her eyes.

“Oh nonsense,” I avoided the plump comment, “Flying is about magic, weight doesn’t matter as much as you think.”

I can hear the trucks in the distance, “Look best shake your tail, we don’t have time, if you can get a wing jump you can fly.” I say to her firmly.

Closing her eyes tight she shakes her head, “I was about a month from giving birth when Discord cursed me. I think I might be going into labor…”

I look at her sides then at the trucks, “Discord you mother…”

19: Sharpening The Blade

“[Buy some apples]”, I yell, “I can’t do this alone.”

I move up to the top of the roof to looking at the incoming trucks, if they pass the building they will see the mare, I have to hold them there but if I'm going to make a stand I'll need a lot of help.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Sprinkle Medley,” she moans.

“Ok Medley, I need you to curl up as small as you can behind that chimney, its solid brick so it should provide you cover.” I say, checking my cellphone, no signal… There has to be a way to call for help. Then a thought hits me, slowly I look down at the transponder.

“Oh hell, if Fleetfoot wants to kill me or arrest me she’ll have to come here to do it.” Taking deep breath I plug the code into my transponder, 7 5 0 0… Squawk.

Standing up, I’d better try something, and quick, I know ponies can create weather effects, so I build up some energy in my wing, spinning fast and hard I snapped my wing. I manage to generate a small twister of air that slams into the ground in front of the lead vehicle.

The little cloud busting twister sends up a small explosion of dust, it isn’t strong enough to do any real damage, but it is enough to make them stop. Veering off on either side of the road, they yell and pile out of their trucks. Fifteen against little ole me, I grin savagely, I don’t stand a chance.

*** Tophat 22 ***

The E-3 Sentry begins its right turn at the bottom of its racetrack circuit. It would be on station flying these circles for twelve hours every day due to the current Defcon status.

“Commander, I have a 7500 emergency squawk, 180 miles west of here, north of Flagstaff.”

“I confirm, 7500 hijacking call.” A second radar officer said tapping the screen with his computer pen. “Stationary target, no radar contact only the transponder call. It may be on the ground.”

The commander turns “Vector Nightbird-14 in to take a look.”

“Nightbird-14 this is Tophat 22, vector 097 drop to altitude 9000 we have a 7500 transponder call, lock it down and get eyes on it.”

*** Blaze ***

I throw 2 more windballs before ducking down, they've fanned out somewhat. I have no real accuracy with these tornados but it looks scary enough to them to keep their heads down somewhat, and unfortunately now they are firing back.

Standing up I throw another ball and duck back behind the roof peak as the roof splinters with bullet impacts. Medley is curled in a ball crying, as a round plinks off the brick and cinderblock of the chimney.

*** Nellis Flight Operations Room ***

Fleetfoot storms in, “What the heck is it now.”

“It’s Rainbow Blaze, he’s broadcasting 7500 apparently he’s been hijacked.”

“Well that’s it, his tail is mine.” Fleetfoot growls.

“F-15 SE is coming on scene, its Link-16 is up and broadcasting.” The radio operator calls out.

“Put it up on the screen.”

On the big screen, the camera on the fighter shows clearly what is going on, Blaze stands up to throw an airball, as several people open fire on him, the image of another pegasus curled up behind the chimney.

"Target GPS has him in the badlands, it will take 20 to 30 min for any ground assets or police to reach there."

“Oh Hell, Tophat 22, flash traffic, we have a US ranger and a civilian under heavy fire. What assets do we have?”

*** Tophat 22 ***

“Commander, Nellis operations is advising us, we have a Ranger under heavy fire, we’ve been asked for assistance.”

The commander turns “Control, who’s got active strike packages?”

“Polecat 4 and 5 are the closest, training bombs and rockets en route to White Sands.”

“Polecat 4, Polecat 5 this is Tophat, redirect on transponder 1-NP990003X your 292, we have friendlies under fire, this is not a drill, Authenticate Tango Echo at 1830 Zulu, you are weapons free. Your control will be Nightbird-14.”

“Specter three five come left to 325, authorized to use military speed, we may need your help.”

The planes that just received the emergency calls immediately redirect. Including a very special surprise.

*** Blaze ***

Looking up, I hear the roar of engines as the F-15 runs over head, using him as a distraction I stand up and throw three more small tornadoes at two of the guys who are trying to advance on my flank before ducking down again.

Panting hard I look over at the mare “I’m not leaving you Medley.”

She looks over at me and whimpered, terror evident in her face.

Moving to the other end of the roof I fire off one air ball at the ground driving another person back.

*** Nightbird-14 ***

Arching over the the scene, the Captain shakes his head, his RIO calls out over the radio “Polecat 4, fire mission is danger close, enemy within 50 meters of farm house, friendlies are on north side, make your pass east to west look for puffs of dust as your target. Kill box is yours, I say again, kill box is yours.”

He watches the first F-35 rolling in, flashes of light and contrails as the rockets streak in, striking one of the trucks, killing 2 of the men and reducing the truck to a pillar of flames. Pulling out hard Polecat 4 clears the zone.

“Polecat 5, your turn, enemy advancing in open forty meters from building.”

*** Blaze ***

I hear the explosions, seeing the first F-35 pull out I stand up looking over, a truck is in flames but the men are pushing forward. Why are they not running away after having an fighter attack them? Quickly I throw out several more air balls that explode against the ground around them.

Some of them returned fire towards me and I feel and impact in my shoulder, but several more are firing futilely at the F-35 as it screeches away.

Sliding down the roof behind cover again I hear several blasts, and gulp, my foreleg feels like it’s on fire, checking my shoulder I see the blood but can’t tell how bad it is.

*** Nellis Flight Operations Room ***

“Damn it,” Fleetfoot said, “I want medivac choppers in the air, NOW.” Slamming her hoof down on the table, she hears the radio operator vectoring a Blackhawk.

“Polecat 5 reports taking ground fire.”

“They are not playing around and neither are we. It would take me 5 minutes to get there.” Fleetfoot says.

“He’s hurt, do you think he can hold out for another five minutes?”

*** Tophat 22 ***

The F-35's were not enough to drive off the aggressors, it's time to bring in the special surprise.

“Spectre three five, we need you. Override safety protocol, HE with contact fuse and HEDP only, pass 096 vector east, targets in the open, friendlies on other side of roof, cleared for fire at ranges up to thirty meters from friendlies.”

“Shit he’s going to get covered.” The radar operator groans.

The Commander takes a deep breath, “I authorize this action, let’s hope he can keep his head down.”

“Bring the rain.”

*** Blaze ***

Taking a breath I stand up for one last barrage of air balls when I saw the AC-130 passing to the south of us, “Oh shit…”

I see the Army of God men firing at me and I throw off one last airball before sliding down and limping over to Medley, “Cover your ears!” I shout and throw my wing over her, "This is gonna suck."

40mm rounds began slamming into the ground and vehicles around the men, then the first 105mm artillery round lands, showering me with dirt. I try to huddle tighter to the chimney, protecting the mare with my body and wing.

The 40mm rounds keep coming as the C-130’s Bofors canon rips into the small force, The next 105 round hits and I cover her again tightly as large rocks are hitting my back and hind legs. Even with my ears down tight to my head the noise was deafening, one last 105 round and the air is filled with dust and debris.

*** Nellis Flight Operation Room ***

“Jesus Christ.” Fleetfoot says as the smoke starts clearing from the scene. She can see dead bodies lying all over the ground, all 3 vehicles are burning, but so is the front of the building. The rounds have blown out and collapsed the front part of the house.

The camera pans around and the forms on the roof come into view.

“Come on Blaze, move… move dammit.” Fleetfoot says watching the screen, her wings quivering.

“Tophat 22, this is Spectre three five, showing no movement on enemy force, I say again no movement on enemy force, returning to base.”

“Medivac will be there in one five minutes.”

“Nightbird-14, kill box is closed, heading home.”

“Blaze…” Fleetfoot moans, watching the non-moving figures on the roof.

*** Blaze ***

“Ow, are you ok?” I ask the mare.

“No, you?” She asks whimpering

Rolling onto my back, panting I look up at the sky and wave at the F-15 as it flies over, biting my shirt I push it hard over the injury on the shoulder, I suppress a yelp, but I need to stop the blood. Laying on my back all I can smell is blood and smoke.

“So how close are you?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never had a foal before, and they never talked about things like this in the show.”

I hear the sound of the helicopter, I really can’t move right now even if I want to, I'm exhausted, in pain, my leg and back hurts as well as my head. I see the blades of the helicopter as two men drop onto the roof and slide down beside us.

“Get her first. She’s in labor.” I say, gritting my teeth as they put a needle in me and start a field dressing.

In minutes a stretcher is dropped with a rope tied to it and they gently put her on it and strapping her in, the winch pulls her up carefully and they pull her into the body of the helicopter. Then it's my turn.

They wrap my neck in a thick blanket to brace it, and help me into the basket. My eyes flutter as the winch pulls me aboard, by the time I'm lashed into the stretcher, I'm asleep.

*** Twilight Velvet***

I lay with my forelegs over a pillow on the floor listening to Ah-Pee. The only one who seems eager to find out about estrus is Cipher, but I swear, she’d probably be eager to find out what it felt like to chip a hoof. To her being a pony is the greatest thing ever. Sometimes I think she probably wanted to be back in her pony body from the moment she was born.

Sugarberry puts her head on my back again as she listens to Ah-Pee’s lecture. Looking back at her I give her a gentle nuzzle and smile, “It’s ok, Berry.”

“I know, just waiting and worrying is hard.” She says.

Ballad nods slowly, “Tell me about it.”

“Yep so, till we figure it out, and relearn our cycles, best to keep the pads…” Ah-Pee stops as the LT opens the door.

Looking over I blink, “Sir?”

“Blaze has been hurt, apparently pretty bad.” The LT says gently.

Standing up quickly, I almost knock poor Sugarberry over.

“What happened?” Ah-Pee asks, “Where is he now?”

“Mike O'Callaghan Federal Medical Center, he was protecting some… pony… from an Army of God assault.” The LT always seemed to have problems with the someone somepony terms trying to figure out which to use where.

“Can we go see him?” I ask, all 4 hooves shuffling nervously.

“He’s in surgery right now. We’ll drive down there if you want. He’ll likely be out by the time we get there.”

I nod, tears in my eyes, “He’s always been there when I was hurt, and I’d like to be there for him.”

Ballad stands up, “Got room for us?”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to.” I moan.

Sugarberry stands up and shakes her head, “Yes we do, and right now you need our support more than ever.”

All four girls look at me, then look at the LT, giving him sad eyes and sticking their lower lips out.

“OK I surrender, you can come.” He says with a laugh, shaking his head, “You girls need a license for those eyes.”

I run out the door and down the stairs, grabbing my beret magically and hop into the van. Starting the engine I open all the doors at once with my magic, and looked back, waiting impatiently for the girls and the LT to pile in.

“Oh no, you are NOT driving,” he says.

“I’m supposed to show them how to drive with magic, LT, part of the quality of life aspect of the training course. I only have them for a few days so need to cover as much as we can.” I retort.

“Fine but if we crash I’m going to come back and haunt you.” The LT says as he pulls on his seat belt.

“You don’t trust my driving with magic?” I say, buckling myself up and slamming all the doors closed.

The LT just looks at me “Velvet, magic has nothing to do with it, I didn’t trust your driving BEFORE you changed.”

Rolling my eyes I toss it in drive and hit the gas. Ok so I was doing a bit over the speed limit. I figure it is an emergency, so we need to get there quicker.

“The truth is, while I use my forelegs to steer I don’t need to, you’ll find as you get better with your control Ballad, you’ll be able to work multiple controls at once. I can even drive the car from any part of the vehicle.” I explain.

“Don’t you dare, keep eyes on the road and concentrate on driving.” The LT warns sternly.

“I am, this is a little hard to explain but, unicorns can multi-task better than humans. We can lift and hold multiple things at once, and we are aware of every object we are holding. Picture having say 6 hands at once, and able to feel and move them all at the same time. Now add to that normal sensory input, plus controlling 4 legs and a tail. We seem to be able to set certain things to automatic freeing up concentration on other things as needed. That includes the magic.”

The LT looks at me like I just grew a horn in the middle of my head…

“It seems to be counter intuitive but we are not human. I’m not saying we are better or worse than humans, just different.”

The girls watched me as I drive, we chat about magic about a number of subjects, all pony related, avoiding the one subject that my mind keeps drifting to, I'm trying hard to avoid it, but I'm worried about Blaze, Army of God, Spectrum, Anti-pony factions were popping up even as the government tried to keep our existence hidden.

I don’t know if going public would be better or worse, it isn’t my place to say, or suggest. The idea though, that we would always be treated as outsiders by some is terrifying, but at the same time, how would a human feel in Equestria? Would we distrust them as being different, inept? Humans are not ponies, they are predators and don’t live in harmony so would they be shunned? They can’t fly, can’t do magic, can’t even understand the Earth.

Grandfather would probably get along great with the Zebra’s, but I can still see some of the Canterlot elite looking down on him for being different. Of course they would look down on a pony for walking in with their hooves dirty.

Pulling over I get out, “Can you drive the rest of the way LT, I’m starting to feel really depressed.”

“Worry is kicking in now,” He says as he gets into the driver’s seat.

I nod slowly and climb into the very back of the minivan. The LT kicks the vehicle in gear and I notice, he’s speeding too, I guess he’s worried as well. I look up blinking, as both Cipher and Ballad have turned to face me, their muzzles on the backs of their seat, both their ears flattened a bit showing their sadness. I never noticed just how much ponies project their expressions with their ears until now.

Ah-Pee carefully wraps her forelegs around me, pulling me to her in a hug, I hug back figuring she wants to cry but I'm surprised to find myself crying instead. “What did he get himself into, why was he taking them on alone?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know why he just didn’t fly away either,” Ah-Pee says, “but when we see him we can pound him for taking risks, ok?”

I force a weak smile, “Ok, just no gelding him unless I say so.”

Ah-Pee and the other girls start to giggle, but the LT calls back, “No talking about gelding while I’m driving, I can’t cross my legs.”

We all blinked looking at him and just started giggling. “Thanks LT, we needed that.” I say with a smile.

We pull up to the hospital or medical center and pile out of the van. I start to run for the door, stopping dead with the LT holding onto my tail.

“Wow, fast hands,” Ah-Pee says, blinking.

The LT looked stern, “I know you are worried but no running, stay with the girls, and take it slow, the last thing I want to see is you losing your hoof grip on the floor, and sliding into 50 thousand dollars worth of medical equipment.”

I blink and look back at my tail then at the LT and sigh, “Yes sir, umm, my tail is personal.”

“Oh come on,” the LT says letting go of my tail, “AJ, Twilight, and Rarity are grabbing Rainbow Dash by the tail all the time.”

“Point, sides, I have pants on, so…” I say, putting an innocent look on my face.

“So I’m not going to get charged with sexual harassment.” He chuckles as he walks in the door.

I start to blush and follow him inside, man he knows how to shut me up fast. Ah-Pee comes up beside me and puts her shoulder on mine. Cipher is doing a Pinkie Pie bounce, though she did that in the TV show to when roof hopping. She's doing fine right up to the point when she hits the hospital floor and her legs go in every direction.

“Ow,” she whimpers, “Look mommy, Bambi can’t stand up on the ice.”

Sugarberry shakes her head and picked Cipher up with her magic, setting her back on her hooves. I looked back her, feeling very impressed, she's getting a lot stronger with her magic if she can lift a pony now, though it did look like it took a bit out of her.

“Careful Berry, don’t over exert yourself,” I point out, “you're still in training.”

“She’s heavier then she looks, she should lay off the apple pies.” Berry tries to look innocent, but I figured that that was about her max for lifting.

Walking up to the front desk, the LT shows his ID “Here about Blaze, I mean Corporal Christian.”

The nurse looks at her computer screen then nods, “Waiting room down the hall, I’ll let the doctor know to see you.”

After Cipher's wipe out, we all take things a little slower, these floors are deadly smooth, and since none of us want to try and beat Cipher in flexibility, slow and sure is how we go. Though now I wish I'd brought my boots with me.

We all sit on the chairs, looking at each other, well all of us except Ah-Pee who ends up lying on two chairs, using her hoof to flip through a magazine. Sighing, I pick up a Women’s Health magazine and begin flipping through it, I have to wonder, why does it seem that all waiting rooms are almost always stocked with just women’s magazines of some sort?

“Sometimes I wonder, do men actually ever read in hospitals?” I mutter.

The LT blinks and looks at me, “Pardon?”

“Oh just saying, it’s all women’s magazines here.” I giggle.

“My theory, it’s the nurses; they drop off magazines they get after reading them, as such the place ends up stocked with what they bought.” The LT said looking at his smartphone. “Me, I have my e-books, I can even read the newspaper on this.”

We all wait for what seems like forever, finally a pair of doctors walk in, looking at us, then at the LT. “Are you his CO?” the first says.

The LT nods putting his phone into his pocket, “Yes.”

“I’m Captain James, this is Doctor Vance. Doctor Vance is a specialist we brought in.” The captain states calmly, then he looks back at the rest of the ponies.

Dr. Vance holds out his hand with a smile, “Pleased to meet you, I’m a specialist in equine medicine.”

The LT shakes his hand, “So how is he?”

“Mild concussion, badly bruised wing, took a bullet to the upper left foreleg and shoulder, both have been extracted. Badly bruised back with several lacerations some required cleaning and removing of rock fragments. Right hind leg has a small compression fracture and badly bruised.” The vet said, “If he was a normal horse I’d be saying months of recovery.”

Cpt. James looks over, “We had to bring special equipment in for the surgery, we don’t handle many non-humans. We should start keeping a few things on hand through.”

“Can we see him?” I ask, shifting my weight back and forth between my forelegs nervously.

“Sure I don’t see why not, he just needs rest. He might be a little groggy from the painkillers and anesthetic.” The vet says and turns to lead us to his room.

“Are you sure he’s going to be ok?” Ah-Pee asks, looking at the IV and bandages.

“Oh Blaze I was so worried,” I say, trotting up and putting my cheek against his good foreleg.

“Is his face going to stay that way?” Cipher says, tilting her head.

Blinking, we all look at Cipher.

Gently Blaze lifts his leg and ruffles my mane before moaning, “Doc, something’s wrong.”

Coming over quick the doc looked at Blaze, “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t feel or move my fingers.” Blaze said.

The vet blinked “Yep, way too much Ketamine.”

***

Fleetfoot opens the door, stepping in to look at the mare lying in the hospital bed. Pulling her mane behind one ear a bit she trots up and stands on her hind legs and balancing her forelegs on the bed.

“Hi there, feeling better?” Fleetfoot asks, trying to put on a friendly face.

“A little bit, I still don’t understand what those men wanted.” She said looking down.

“Pro human pro Christian group, same thing all these groups want, the death of anyone different then themselves.” Fleetfoot started, then stopped quick so as not to scare the other mare.

“So how did you get… with foal?” Fleetfoot shakes her head, it’s sometimes hard to deal with civilians, after dealing with military personal for so long. At least she can say she was better with kids then Spitfire, but well, anyone’s better than Spitfire.

“I wasn’t pregnant till a few weeks ago, when I changed, I started growing a belly. Luna said it was because I was pregnant at the time Discord cursed me.” Medley looked at her sides and sighs. “This thing is sitting on my bladder, kicking me, and driving me insane. Even my udders hurt all the time, feel like they want to burst.”

Fleetfoot blinks “You met Luna?”

“She… Came to me in a dream, told me I had to get to Iowa. She said there was a farm there I’d be safe at. She also said I had been cursed about a month before I gave birth so I was likely going to be going into labor sometime soon. I’m not supposed to let humans know though.” She says with a soft whimper.

“Do I look human?” Fleetfoot says as she spreads her wings.

“Nope, that’s why I told you. She said we were gathering that we could find safety.”

“So you were walking there, while pregnant?”

“I can’t fly right now more than a few feet at a time, I can’t drive, don’t have a car.”

“No friends or family?” Fleetfoot asks, looking down.

“College student, I’m a storm chaser out of Flagstaff, going for my atmospheric sciences.”

Leaning to her side a bit, Fleetfoot lifted the sheets to look at her cutie mark, a raincloud with raindrops coming down from it. “Yep, weather pony.”

“Pardon?”

“Your specialty, you’re a weather pony, probably part of the rain makers group. Little hard to explain, look do you need help getting to Iowa? I really don’t want to risk you… dropping your foal, mid trip. If you’re not staying here, then getting you there should be my priority.”

“God yes, there are so few people I’ve met since my change that would even offer to help.” She closes her eyes, relaxing a bit, “How’s the pony that saved me?”

“He’ll be fine, he’s just sleeping it off right now.” Fleetfoot says, rubbing Medley’s belly softly.

“I really do owe him.” She says.

“Oh, mustn’t feed the ego.” Fleetfoot says with a giggle.

“So what happens now?” Medley asks, stretching out a bit.

“Now, I talk to some pilot friends of mine, we get you into a small civilian aircraft with a medic on hand just in case, and we fly you to Iowa.

***

The LT sits watching the footage of the fight, piecing it together from the different gun cameras as well as the F-15’s camera. He had already talked to Feetfoot and Medley getting their sides of the story, and was now filling out the paperwork.

Reports were already filed with the Air Force, but the SOC would need their own version, no doubt this would be covered up and not reported publicly, probably something like a misfire or misdirected attack. This wasn’t any real concern though to the LT, he knew Blaze was in the right.

Smiling softly, he files the forms for the Purple Heart, at minimum Blaze deserved that, but he also took a chance, he didn’t know how SOC would take this but, he also filed for a Silver Star, gallantry under fire, refusing to abandon a civilian, holding his ground while unarmed against a vastly superior armed force. The Silver Star might just be allowed for a pony.

Attaching the file footage, to the paperwork via flash drive, he hums softly. Even if the humans would never know what Blaze went though, the ponies should. Downloading a copy of the footage to his phone, he sends it off to Soarin and Lightning Dust. “Right now, on the edge of war, they can probably use a moral boost.” He says softly to himself.

Author's Note

Help!!! Michael Bay stole my keyboard!!! Make him give it back...

20: Empty scabbard

*** Twilight’s Dream ***

I lay by the river, the sound of the wind playing through the reeds, the burbling of the water against the stones, filled the air. The air is full of the scent of fresh grass, lilacs and honeysuckle, as fireflies dance along the tops of the flowers.

Celestia has already lowered the sun, and Luna’s moon is high in the sky over Equestria, her stars in a beautiful array over my head, over our heads. Inhaling deeply I smell the scent of Blaze as he comes over to stand beside me.

I let out a soft giggle and shake my mane, my ponytail bouncing to hit him lightly. I can feel the pinch of the tail ribbon I'm wearing but it isn’t for me, it was for him. I want him, I need him to notice it, and to notice me.

Looking back he gives my back a soft nuzzle before giving my ear a gentle kiss. The kiss sends a strong tingle down my back, so I press my muzzle tighter to his chest. Closing my eyes I breathe slowly, his scent becoming my world. I can feel his heartbeat against my cheek, its strength.

“You look so pretty tonight,” he says softly, “I told you the tail ribbon was you.”

“I know how you like them,” I say, keeping my eyes closed, “so I did it for you.”

Lowering his head, he starts to gently suck on my ear, sending sparks down my body again. I feel my tail rising and I can’t put it down, I don’t want to put it down. Rubbing my cheek against his chest I press my side as tight to him as I can.

I could feel my heart starting to race as my breathing picks up, with each breath his scent filling my nose. “Oh Blaze, why couldn’t we have done this sooner.”

“You weren’t ready before,” He says gently.

Looking up at him I see him haloed in the moonlight, the light growing brighter as my heart beat races. His eyes reflect the love I feel, he's so strong yet so gentle. His wing slowly rubbing over my back like he always does, holding me to him. Closing my eyes I sigh.

All I can feel is warmth, the safety he brings, he has always been there for me when I need him, and I try to always be there for him. I will be there for him. Opening my eyes again I see his face, the moon behind him flashing bright.

“I’m ready now, Blaze.” I say softly.

Luna’s wings spread wide, her horn glowing in the moonlight, slowly descending to the ground in front of us. Her eyes glowing as her ethereal mane flows in the breeze. “I’m sorry to disturb you two in a dream like this.”

Blinking, I bow my head to the ground, Blaze stands up and bows as well, “Princess?”

“You were so close to each other, I felt I could bring you together into the same dream, easier to talk. Normally I wouldn’t intrude in a dream like this but it’s urgent.”

Looking at Blaze I feel my face heating, “brought us to… Blaze?”

Blaze nods slowly, “Yes?”

We both look at Luna, our eyes wide, and she starts to talk, “A group of ponies are gathering in Iowa, the Apple family is there as well as both of your daughters.” Turning to her side we can see the farm, the sign hanging in front of it.

I find myself slowly inching away from Blaze, feeling like I had just been caught doing something bad. I felt embarrassed, somewhat scared.

“They are organizing there,” she says, “I must go now, there are others that need to be told.”

Turning, she spreads her wings, flying up and vanishing into the moon.

***

Inhaling deeply I find my muzzle being filled with Blaze’s scent. Blinking, I sit up quickly, looking around. I'm in the hospital room, I had fallen asleep sitting beside Blaze, my muzzle against his wing.

Looking around I see the girls in the room relaxing, talking quietly with each other. I look back at Blaze and he moans.

Sitting up a little Blaze rubs his eyes, “Luna, where did Luna go?”

I find myself getting very nervous, “She had to go to others dreams. The farm?”

Blaze nods slowly “Yeah, the farm.”

Behind me I can hear the LT’s voice, “What farm?”

Blaze looks over at the LT, “Princess Luna said the ponies were gathering at a farm for safety. She let us know where it is.”

Looking around, I gulp once and force my tail down, “I umm, and… bathroom.”

The LT points to the bathroom and I grab my saddle bag and run, skidding around the corner and slide in. I slam the door behind me.

Ah-Pee looks curiously, inhaling then blinks and starts to giggle. Getting up she looks at Cipher and noses to where Velvet was lying beside Blaze.

Glancing over, Cipher blinked and nods and uses her magic to drop a towel over where Velvet was sitting, and Ah-Pee moves over to take her spot.

“Am I missing something?” The LT asks.

All the girls nod at once, “Yep, don’t worry about it.”

Blaze looks at the girls then at the LT blinking, “I think we both are."

“So what all happened in the dream?” The LT asks.

“I um, it was a dream, so it was private, though I’m not sure if it was mine… or hers.” Blaze says, looking off towards the bathroom.

*** Grandfather ***

Grandfather sits, tapping his rattle in front of the fire, he feels troubled and has been chanting for hours now, seeking help. He knows the kachina often holds the answers. Offering tobacco to the fire the image of a proud stag slowly comes to him.

Bowing his head in respect and submission he speaks in the traditional language. “Great Kachina, Stag of the lost forest, I seek your aid and guidance.”

“It has been a while Thorn, or do you prefer Grandfather these days?” The stag speaks, his voice calm and true.

“I haven’t heard myself called Running Thorn in so long. I must say though You are looking as majestic as always Prince Bramble.” Grandfather says, keeping his head low.

“I have never understood your need to try and flatter me Thorn, we are old friends, over quarter of a century by my count.” The stag chuckles.

“I remember when you were a little fawn finding your legs. How time has passed, I have taken in some lost Kachina of the great horse clan, they are going strong but I fear they may have trouble with the next trials ahead.”

“The great horse clan, I knew you were near a great desert but I had no idea that the Horses of the Sands were there.” Bramble says, looking surprised.

“My apologies, they are not actually horses, it is a male pegasus, several female unicorns, and a female, pony.” Grandfather states, worried he had offended the spirit.

Bramble blinks, “Really? I have not seen ponies in some time, those that lived near here were all driven off by the chaos one.”

“Even in the dream world there is disharmony now.” Grandfather said shaking his head, “When summer comes we will do a ceremony of cleansing in your honor.”

“I thank you for your concern but our forest has always been chaotic, so we have mostly remained untouched. So these ponies, you had concerns?”

“I have helped them find their footing, shared with them some of the teachings of you and your father, but they are still very new to their earth forms, I fear if their first heats come on them, they may lose themselves to it, and as such lose their balance.”

Bramble laughs, shaking his head, “Wow Thorn, when you have troubles you have troubles, the doe’s around here brew a special tea, it’s a herbal blend of common plants and tree bark, it helps the young ones with their first times. It is known to work on the zebras so it will likely work on the ponies too.”

“You honor me with this Bramble.” Grandfather says.

“You know it’s probably going to be worse for the pegasus, their scents might test him a bit, unfortunately there’s no cure for that. Well no cure other than nose plugs.”

“Sometimes we have to find our own ways and paths, through the briar.” Grandfather smiles.

“Dads favorite saying.” Bramble says, nodding.

“Peace be with you and safe journeys.” Grandfather bows his head deeply.

“May the forests always part for your hoof beats; you will always be like a brother to me.”

Shaking his head, Grandfather stands, those ceremonies tend to take a lot out of him, especially when he does them alone, and contacting the spirit world is never easy. Picking up his satchel he turns and begins looking for the herbs he had seen in the vision. A good tea always seems to solve problems.

***Twilight Velvet***

I sit on my haunches in the bathroom rubbing my combat pants with a cloth when I hear the knock at the door.

“Is everything ok in here?” Ah-Pee asks.

With a sigh I looked over my shoulder, “Nope.”

Ah-Pee slips in the door and sits beside me, “Soaked right through, huh?”

I nod, still rubbing with a cloth, “Talk about embarrassing.”

“Let it dry for a few minutes then you can put them back on, your tail covers that area anyway. Thank gosh for tails.”

“It’s weird, in all our talking about scent, no one thought to mention Blaze’s scent.”

Ah-Pee blinks, “What do you mean?”

“It’s just… how much I like his scent.” I say, my face heating in a furious blush.

“You know, wouldn’t it be funny if the reason the pony population seems so segregated in the show, is that males try and avoid females because of scent driven issues?” Ah-Pee says with a giggle.

“Gee thanks.” I huff as I put my pants back on.

“What? What did I do?”

“I was all worried about how I’d deal with my heat, all scared, and now I’m worried about Blaze.” I say softly.

“If that’s all your worried about, you’ll be fine.” She smiles brightly at me.

“I don’t know if I can go back and face the boys. They are probably laughing their heads off at me right now.” I say as my face heats again, I hang my head in response.

Opening the door Ah-Pee looks back and forth down the corridor then closes it, speaking very softly as if sharing some great secret she smiles “Now you listen here, sugarcube, there’s one important thing you have to know about males. When it comes to women, they are clueless. And if you ever tell Henry or Eric I said sugarcube, I will hurt you.”

Giggling softly I get up and take a deep breath.

“Besides, all us girls are here, you’ve got it easy right now, you have lots of support if you accept it.”

Smiling I look back at her then blink as she pushes my tail down with a hoof and giggles.

Stepping out into the hall I saw a janitor looking at me sternly as he tries to buff out the scuff marks I had left on the floor from my sliding across it. Trying to look innocent I trot into the room where Blaze is.

Smiling, I inhale, half closing my eyes then nodded at the LT “Back.”

“Tail.” Ah-Pee giggles.

Looking back I saw my tail high and quivering side to side, “Behave, you traitor.”

Blaze on the other hand had moved a pillow over his belly; at least I wasn’t the only one with involuntary reactions. Taking a seat beside Blaze I nuzzle him aggressively.

“Doc says you were pretty beaten up,” I say smiling, “your turn for light duties.”

“It’s funny, I don’t feel that bad.” Blaze says, flexing a wing.

“Ketamine, it’s the morphine of horse meds.” Henry smiles looking up, “The army actually gave me a supply of it to add to my med kit.”

“Well you're still on light duties, hospital wants you in here for a few weeks. A pegasus here has arranged us some temp quarters on base.” The LT says.

“Oh come on LT, I can’t just lay around a hospital, I’ll die of boredom.” Blaze whines.

“Really, you’ll die of boredom?” Ah-Pee shakes her head, “Blaze you have TV here, computer access, what more do you need?”

Blaze holds up one forehoof and taps it with his other “Flying, umm, I just noticed, how do you count on your hooves?”

Tapping at the door, Fleetfoot pokes her head in, “Hello, I thought I’d visit, drop off something for Blaze.”

“Hi ma’am, let me guess, I’m grounded.” Blaze says with a weak smile.

“That was pretty smart using that squawk code like that, do it again and it’s a $10,000 fine.” She says with a smile and holds up a book.

We all blink, well except for Cipher who is giggling.

“Is that real?” I say, feeling confused.

“Yep, it’s real, A.K. Yearlings Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds.” She smiles and lays the book beside Blaze.

Cipher bounces a bit “Oh yeah, I have the 3 box set, it even came with a statue of Yearling in it. They were put out a few years ago. Hey wait, does that mean DD is real? Hmm, I wonder how she feels that someone used her name to write these books.”

I blink a few times, “Umm, does that mean she could sue for royalties?”

Fleetfoot blinks and looked at her cutie mark, “I wonder if we all could.”

“Yeah, no, Do might have a case but I doubt the rest of us could.” I say.

A nurse comes in, her face breaking into a smile, “I have lunch for you Blaze. You’ll love it, a double service English style fish and chips, with tartar sauce, a big fruit salad, and extra-large Chocolate milk.”

Ah-Pee blinks, “You know he’s a pony right?”

The nurse looks to Ah-Pee, “Really? I thought he was a sheep with a dye problem.”

“I mean, you’re giving him fish.”

Fleetfoot puts her hoof up, “Umm I eat fish, its fine for us. I also eat eggs, milk and cheese.”

I grumble softly “Carnivorous pegasi.”

“Island hopping pegasus couldn’t always graze. But we can fish.” Fleetfoot responds.

“Well that makes sense.” I say watching Blaze dig into his meal with gusto.

“Pegasus eat tons when they are injured, helps the healing.” Fleetfoot says.

“Doctor said he’d likely be down for a few months.” The LT says with a chuckle, “Should be able to go home in a few weeks.”

“Try days, remember it only took Rainbow Dash two days to heal a broken wing. Pegasi heal fast, we have to, or we would never survive learning to fly.” Fleetfoot nods once and heads out.

“Lucky sods.” I grumble. “Fast healers, eat fish, weather magic.”

“Yeah and all I get is the ability to buck a pegasus out of a tree,” Ah-Pee giggled, “Just not fair.”

“It’s getting late,” the LT chimes, “best we get to the hotel room.”

I gave Blaze one last kiss on his lips before heading out, I knew my tail was high right now but I didn’t care, it didn’t matter much in my mind. The Nellis base runs its own hotel, usually booked weeks in advance, strings had been pulled to get us some rooms.

The rooms actually are pretty nice, large, with two big beds per room, the only problem is there is only five rooms available. That meant either three girls in one room, or one of the girls is bunking with one of the guys. I figured I’d take the time then for some more teaching.

“OK girls, more fundamentals,” I said smiling as I trot into one of the rooms. This is met with lots of groans and whimpers.

“I’m starting to hate having TK.” Ballad groans, “who ever came up with those fundamental training lessons needs to be hurt.”

“Even if it was me?” I ask.

“Nope not possible, you’re too sweet and innocent to enjoy torture.” Cipher states and bounces up on to the bed. I notice she has a big coffee cup beside her.

“Cipher? What are you drinking?” I ask.

“It’s the same thing all crypto’s drink, triple espresso frappuccino’s.”

Ah-Pee groans, “No wonder she bounces.”

“Well at least it’s not caff-pow,” I state, “Okay let’s see, today we are going to get it in gear.”

Out of my saddle bag I break out a pack of 150 plastic gears. “Oh look another kids toy, rated ages 3 and up. I’m sure you’re better than a 3 year old right?”

The girls look at me nervously. “Um no…” Sugarberry says quickly, “I’m pretty sure a three year old will do better at this than I will…”

“This one is fun, and creative, there are no plans, no set patterns, you just have to pick up the gears, put them together however you want, one at a time. Oh, one other thing, you need to keep them spinning.”

Laying on the bed and watching, I put a hoof on Ballad gently, “It’s not a competition, I don’t mind if you can’t lift or move as much as them, not every unicorn has the same strength. Just take your time.”

I let them play with that for a while before getting up, “I’m going to take a quick shower, try and cool off, Ah-Pee, want to keep an eye on then? Oh and girls, try bringing them all together now into one large set of gears, each of you holding onto their own parts… only one will need to provide the power to turn the gears.

I giggle softly as I hear a few cogs drop to the ground, apparently they didn’t like that idea. Getting undressed though, I head to the shower.

Celestia, the cold water feels great on my back, I set it for a pressure massage and just let it work slowly down from my shoulders, down the curve of my spine, all the way to the base of the tail and back up again.

*** LT***

Rubbing his head, James walks down the street heading for the gate, a few moments later Fleetfoot backwingeds and hits the ground beside him, “You got called too?”

“Yep, disturbance at the main gate, and the guards can’t understand the person.” She says, trotting.

“So why are we being called then?” James asks, “I was just sitting down to get something to eat.”

“Apparently he showed a picture of a pony, so obviously I get called. I swear if someone shows up with a picture of a horse I get called.” Fleetfoot just shakes her head.

“Could be worse, can you imagine if they had some kind of convention for the show?”

Fleetfoot cringes and moans, “They do, just lucky but they haven’t swamped here yet about it.”

“So you were a pilot before the change?”

Fleetfoot nods slowly, “Ego driver, I had been applying none stop to join the Thunderbirds, the acrobatic team here. I’m qualified in the Falcon’s, but since I was an ego driver they kept bumping me. I did get accepted though.”

“Congrats, how was it?” James asks, looking down at her.

“I have no idea, my acceptance letter came in April 29th of this year, 2 days before my birthday. I was supposed to start my flight qualifications for the F-16’s again on May 6th. 3 years of sending in letters, requests, performance reviews.”

“Ouch.” James groans, “Sorry.”

“Meh, after I got out of the hospital on base, I did actually have to do my flight qualifications again, on May 6th, just wasn’t for the F-16 that time.” Fleetfoot said looking at her wings. “I have to ask, most humans seem to either gawk at us ponies, or treat us just weird. How come you seem so relaxed about it?”

“I was with Twilight Velvet and Blaze right through their changes, I’m their commanding officer so first I knew what they were like before, I trust them with my life, and they trust me. To me they are still Rangers, we don't betray that trust.” He shakes his head.

“Wow, OK that makes sense. It took some of my squadron members time to get used to the change, and for the most part, duty wise I’m grounded. I work in flight ops now rather than flying with them. I did fly with them though so they are more than willing to keep taking orders. Cuz they know even without a plane I can come up there and be with them, watch their maneuvers in person rather than some pure desk jockey.”

James looks at the gate, at the old beat up pickup truck, and the MP’s ready to pull their hair out, if they had any. Grandfather was chattering away in Navajo at them, leaving the MP’s hard pressed to do anything, one of the MP’s is holding grandfathers rattle, yelling at him to be quiet.

Fleetfoot flares her wings and jumps between the guards and grandfather “What the heck is going on here?”

Jogging the last distance James stops, “Why are you holding a religious artifact?” He demands looking at the guard.

“This idiot’s babbling on and pointing to a picture,” Another MP says, holding up a picture of Rainbow Blaze, “he refuses to give any ID, and doesn’t speak or understand English it seems.”

Fleetfoot rears up on her hind legs taking the rattle from the guard and presents it back to Grandfather.

“That’s Blaze, he’s a member of my squad. This is his grandfather.” James says sternly.

“So you know him, what’s his name?” The MP said.

Grandfather takes the rattle from Fleetfoot, kneeling down to her level, and softly stroked her face with his hand, talking to her in Navajo. Slowly he put his forehead against hers and strokes her wing with the rattle as he speaks. Almost instantly all of her feathers puff out, and she spreads her wings, she backpedals, looking scared. Whickering and nickering as she does so. Falling back on her haunches she sits panting.

James walks up “Grandfather, English please.”

“They do not let me see my son, or the Kachina, I brought medicine for the girls to help them.”

Kneeling down James put his arms around Fleetfoot, “Calm down, relax, this is Grandfather he’s well, Grandfather, I never did get his real name, he’s some kind of elder with the Navajo.”

Looking up, she lets out an almost incoherent string of whickers and nickers before James put his hand over her muzzle. “Calm down, think before you speak, your making horse sounds right now.”

“I… I saw Spitfire for a moment… And the other Wonderbolts. Fighting Discord.” She pants.

“It’s just a memory, probably of the last battle before you were cursed. Velvet and the other ponies have had them too. Just breathe.” Looking sternly at the MP’s James called out, “Water now, and get the OD for the MP’s here NOW.”

One of the MP’s brings out a glass of water, while the other gets on the phone. Grandfather stands quietly and waits, softly tapping his rattle.

Helping Fleetfoot drink some water, James picks her up and sets her into the back of the truck to lie down. Hopping up on the tail gate he sits, stroking her neck and mane to help calm her, this was the same reaction when the five score words were mentioned. He knew how scared and vulnerable she feels, he can see it in her eyes, but he isn’t going to say anything.

When the Officer of the day arrives, he stands up saluting, and shows his ID to him.

“Grandfather here is a religious leader for the Navajo people, we arrived here to find the MP’s harassing him and holding a religious artifact of his. This kind of behavior is unbecoming those in uniform. I would like to see them all on report.” James says sternly.

The OD nods once, taking the MP’s into the station. This was probably not going to end well for them, but had Blaze or the girls seen that, it would have ended in a fight.

Driving back to the hotel, James pulls in and gets out. He walks to the back of the pickup. “Feeling strong enough to walk again, or do you want me to carry you?”

Looking up, Fleetfoot blinks, “That… was unnerving.”

“Carry you it is,” James says and picks her up, cradling her somewhat, as he walks inside. “Come on Grandfather, you can stay with me in my room tonight. Girls room is this way.”

21: Beds, Towels and Tears.

Whimpering I keep my muzzle under my forelegs, my ears feel so red they burn. Mumbling through my hooves, “I’m sorry.”

Cipher is lying on her back laughing her mane off, “Oh Gaia, you’re so lucky Blaze didn’t hear that.”

“You whinnied, or was that a squeal?” Sugarberry asks, looking at Ah-Pee.

“Come on girls, leave her be, she just had a lot… pent up…” Ah-Pee says, sitting beside me while using a towel to dry my mane a bit, I’m dressed in my PT gear at least.

“We were actually worried about you, we never heard a sound like that.” Ballad says, looking nervous, blushing too.

“I have, that’s why I tried to stop you from opening the bathroom door.” Ah-Pee groans.

Cipher is still laughing, “Oh Gaia, stop.” Tears are coming out of her eyes, “Now I know why she sent Twilight off to the school, so she wouldn’t grow up hearing that.”

“No one warned me about the pulse setting, on showers like that.” I’m meekly trying to hide my head more.

“Well consider yourself lucky, you found out now, and Blaze didn’t hear.” Ah-Pee says with a smile, “Now you know what to expect.”

Lifting my head a bit I stick my tongue out at Cipher, “Knowing how much energy you have, you’re likely to be louder.”

This gets Ah-Pee and Ballad laughing.

There’s a knock at the door and I quickly use my magic to pull two pillows over my face, one on either side to hide, “I’m not here.”

Ballad looks over at the door, her horn glowing, she unlocks it and pulls the handle to open it from where she’s sitting.

The LT steps in with a disheveled Fleetfoot in his arms, and gently lay her on the floor, putting a glass and straw by her muzzle.

“What happened to her?” Ah-Pee asks, sitting up.

The LT Looks at all the girls and moves over to Ah-Pee, whispering into her ear, “I know the way this affects ponies, so I don’t want to say it to loud, but she had a flash vision of when she was cursed, the five thing.”

Ah-Pee nods slowly, “Yeah, best not to use those words.”

“She was having trouble standing after the, vision, so I brought her back here, just so she could rest with ponies.” The LT says. “Oh, and I found grandfather.”

Grandfather walks in quietly, heading over to the stove without saying a word and starts to boil water in the pot, cutting and adding shredded roots and chopped leaves to it, as well as some kind of bark.

Lifting my head from the pillows I squeak “Hi grandfather, then blink and buried my head under the pillow.

The LT looks at Ah-Pee, “What’s with her?”

“She just found out how…” was about all Cipher got out before she was hit by a pillow at speed, causing her to wobble and go cross eyed, “Derp.”

“Wow, remind me not to get into a pillow fight with unicorns,” Ah-Pee giggles, as I bring over a new pillow to hide my head.

“I’m armed.” I humph and keep myself hidden.

“You know, hiding your head, doesn’t stop us from seeing your tail Twilight.” The LT says with a chuckle, still sitting beside Fleetfoot, softly stroking her neck.

“Can I keep him?” Fleetfoot says, smiling weakly.

“Sorry, he’s ours,” Ah-Pee countered, “besides, he doesn’t like mares that way.”

“Darn, I just like his hands.” She stops and shakes her head violently, “Man that was strange, all of a sudden I was hit, seeing myself and the other Wonderbolts, Dash, Dust, Spitfire, and the rest, all fighting Discord… I heard him laughing and start saying…”

The LT softly puts his hand over her muzzle. “Don’t, it triggers a memory in all ponies, I’ve seen some break down in tears just hearing the words, some go into a fight or flight response… It’s like the words bring them back to that moment, it brings back all the emotions of that moment, and it’s not always healthy.”

She looks at the others, “Yeah and with this many of us here, it…”

Ah-Pee nods “Yeah, it’s pretty traumatic, especially if we weren’t warriors.”

The LT stands up and walks over, sitting on the bed beside me, “So how’re the classes going Twilight?”

Peeking my head out from under the pillows a bit, I whimper, “Fine, they are all getting really strong and confident.”

The LT puts his hand on the small of my croup just above my dock, actually reading up on the horse parts helped, I knew where his hand was. Scratching gently, I feel my tail instantly shoot up, and I can’t put it down. Lifting my head I look back at the LT. “Please stop.”

Pulling his hand back, the LT blinks “Sorry, did I hurt you?”

Ah-Pee giggles, “Nope, stallions will often nip or nibble there to excite a mare. Go for the side of the neck, or top of the back just below the neck. Shoulder is good to.”

Nodding, the LT gently starts rubbing my neck, and that is enough to have me completely relax again. “Cultural differences,” he says as he rubs, “Never know where it’s safe to pat.”

“And avoid the cutie mark, while swatting a horse there might be fine, the cutie mark is personal, it’s who we are, never touch them without permission, unless you are very, very close friends with said pony.” I say, looking at him seriously.

Grandfather places a coffee filter over several cups and carefully pours the drink in, using the cloth to catch the solid matter, once done he adds a few flower petals into each glass and brings them over, placing one in front of each mare.

I tilt my head, looking back at the LT then at Grandfather, “What is this?”

“I went on a vision quest, to seek the aid of the kachina, the great deer spirits. He said this often helps young mares with their first heats, it’s supposed to lessen the urges. The stag said it worked for both deer and zebra so it should work on ponies.”

I blink a few times, I could swear sometimes he’s making this stuff up, but I sip my tea a bit and look to the other girls, “a bit bitter but not bad. So, why don’t I see any gears turning?”

Groaning, the girls pick up their gears and started practicing again. Working as a group, they’re trying to build up a bigger and bigger engine. Slowly adding piece after piece to the array, it quickly grows in complexity and size.

Grandfather looks down at me, “You should be helping them too, practice is not just for the new, the experienced can always use some time as well, beside you never were given the chance to work with others.”

Huffing once, I started adding pieces to the machine as well, gears turning in 3 different planes not just vertical but horizontal. By placing the pieces at different angles it allowed spheres of gears, boxes, even flowers, the individual pieces ever turning, rotating in different directions and different speeds.

The LT and Ah-Pee watch in a mix of awe and wonder, as we play our game of dominos with the simple plastic gears, taking turns to add another piece often inside other structures. We can feel our magical fields interacting, as we hand control or holding of a gear over to another at times, while taking over one of theirs, careful not to drop or disrupt the pattern.

I try to keep my eye on Ballad, calling a stop finally when I feel she is getting too tired to continue safely. Ah-Pee had stepped out, so I gathered the pieces back into the box and move over to give Ballad a gentle nuzzle, “You are really getting better,” I look over at all of the unicorns here, “all of you are.”

Ballad pants softly and started sipping some of her tea. “Thanks, but they weren’t foaling when they said it was torture.”

Cipher giggles softly, “You said torture.”

I look over at Cipher, shaking my head, “You are a nut sometimes.”

She smiles, “Only when I’m being silly, or hacking, you have to be a nut sometimes when hacking.”

“Let’s face it, all unicorns are nuts in some way or another, we have to be to even consider using magic.” Sugarberry chimes in.

We all nod, and I have to admit, the tea is helping. I look up at grandfather, “Ok I’ll take the recipe, how much am I supposed to take.”

“Just a cup a day through your heat should help take the edge off. Unfortunately it won’t help the stallions.”

“What do you mean?” I ask blinking.

“The stag spirit said the stallions would still be able to smell you, as such, might have to fight their own urges, or hide them.” Grandfather says, nodding.

All of the girls blush at that one, then we hear the thumping at the door.

I open the door this time to let Ballad rest and Ah-Pee walks in with a tray of donuts on her back. Well it wasn’t actually a tray, the large continental breakfast racks, piled up with donuts, rather than trying to pick a few, she just took the entire rack, plopped it on her back, and walked it back to us.

“Oh Ah-Pee, you’re a godsend.” Ballad said and we all start to dig in.

“Man, how do you girls keep your figures with so much sugar?” The LT asks teasingly.

Cipher looked up at him cream on her nose, “Oh that’s easy. Magic.”

*** Blaze ***

Moaning I find myself tossing and turning in bed. “Argh, this is torture.”

Sitting up I start flipping through channels on the TV, every time I try and close my eyes all I can smell is Velvet, and I find myself needing to be with her. Which is even more frustrating because then I find my body starting to react.

“Argh, mares…” I grumble and flip away from the nature channel, I did not want to see horses right now either. “News, drama, news, oh a movie, what’s this. Twilight Saga, ARGH.”

Turning off the TV I grumble, and then push the nurse’s call button.

“What is it now Blaze?” She looks sternly at me, hmm it’s not like I had just called her five minutes ago. More like fifteen minutes.

“Can I sign out a tablet or something?” I ask looking innocently at her.

“One moment.” She says and walks out.

Looking down at the Daring Do book I just shake my head, “I’m not Dash, and this hospital has more interesting things to do than bounce a ball off the wall.”

“If you even think of bouncing ball of the wall I’ll strap you down and sedate you.” The nurse says walking in and laying a cheap tablet on my lap. Carefully she straps on a wrist band with a stylus on it so I can use the tablet, “I’ll be back in about an hour with some snacks for you. Doctor’s orders, he wants you eating and drinking every few hours.”

“Thank you nurse, I think it’s a racial thing, pegasi just don’t like sitting still for too long in a confined space… It might not be so bad if I had a cloud to sleep on but even then. I’d probably go stir crazy on a cloud after a bit.”

Nodding once, the nurse walks out of the room, and I cringe softly, as I hear her say “Animals in the hospital.”

Looking down at the tablet I search through a few news stories, there’s lots of speculation on the rainboom, from secret weapon, to asteroid, to… “Aliens spaceship seen over Des Moines, the alien craft made a close pass over Des Moines before jumping to hyperspace.” Laying back I just start laughing, the idea of what some people would believe, what next? Magical talking ponies?

Glancing back at my wing I hum softly, “Ponies, the new Illegal Aliens.”

Looking out the window, I watch some birds fly by, “Show-offs.”

Shaking my head I put on some music on the tablet then pick up the book and lean back to read. Truth is I don’t mind reading, I loved fantasy novels when I grew up, and still find myself occasionally reading one of those books.

I get about a chapter into the book before an orderly comes in and stops dead, looking at me.

“Yes?” I ask putting the book down.

Backing up a little the orderly looks around then slowly walks into the room, “I just had this feeling like I was stepping into Equestria… Bad landing Rainbow Crash?”

I narrow my eyes and grumble, “Try again, I’m Rainbow Blaze, Dash is a filly, well technically a mare, I’m a stallion.”

The orderly shrugged “Same diff.” And smiles, putting down a big meal, chicken strips, honey garlic dip, fries, gravy, some fruit and a large chocolate milk again. I seem to get getting a lot of chocolate milk here.

“Meh, thanks ma’am.” I say to him as I start to eat.

“I’m a dude.” The orderly says, heading out.

“Same diff.”

Nervously, I start trying the chicken before deciding that it’s safe to eat, at least the food isn’t bad, but it’s not actually hospital food, its mess food. Nellis mess hall, where have I heard reference to that? Nellis mess hall and armory…

I shake my head, and lean over picking a towel off the chair by my bed to wipe off my face after dinner. Blinking slowly I feel my wings stiffen, and look at them fighting to get them down, my mind is racing thinking about Velvet again for some reason.

Huffing once I roll onto my side to get comfortable, and close my eyes to take a nap. Slowly I pulled the towel my muzzle burrowing my nose into it. There’s just something about the smell…

*** Velvet’s Dream ***

“I’m home darling.” I heard Night Light call out from down stairs, the foals are at school, it was Twilight’s first day at the Gifted Unicorns school and Shining Armor was at the academy, so we finally had some alone time.

I let out a little giggle, “I’ll be down in a moment dear.” I called down, I’ve spent hours getting ready, I had my mane and tail done, giving them a little curl and bounce, a touch of makeup on my ears and cheeks to give them a light blush. I had put on a new tail ribbon, it was something different, but I thought it looked cute, red with gold trim, and gold hearts.

Looking in them mirror I adjust the halter on my face, red with little golden heart tassels heading down from my ear to my muzzle, on my back is a cute little saddle blanket that covers my withers and back. Keeping with the red and gold trim but this also had a very dark crimson in it making it stand out more off my light grey fur. The straps wrap around my neck and down between my forelegs to finally link up to the strap around my barrel.

Nodding once I turn and walk down the stairs, swaying my tail side to side, Nightlight is sitting at his desk, working on some books, rebinding an old tome. Clearing my throat I giggle, “Dear, what do you think?”

Night Light stands, putting down his tools and sighs, “Darling, that kind of outfit isn’t dignified, especially for a mare with two foals.” He says, gently lifting the halter off my face with his magic. “If the neighbors were to see, or the children came home early. We have a duty to uphold a certain level of status in Canterlot.”

I blink and lower my head, “But…”

“Oh Darling, you don’t need to dress up for me, and things like the tail ribbon are actually childish. If you want, I’ll take you out to the theater, you can put on that white necklace I like.” He strokes my cheek once before giving me a hug, then he turns back to his work.

“Yes Night Light.” Turning, I walked back upstairs.

*** Velvet ***

I find myself waking up, crying into my pillow, I’m not sure why, it doesn’t make sense to me but it hurts so much. What makes it worse is I don’t know if this is feelings from then, or now. I know it is stupid to try and separate the old Velvet from myself, but would the old Velvet have cried about that?

Ah-Pee moves over and lays down beside me, stroking my mane, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I don’t… understand.” I cry softly.

Sugarberry had been sleeping on the floor in here rather than bunking with one of the boys, sitting up she looks at me and uses her magic to bring over some Kleenex to wipe my face. “Want to talk about it?”

“It’s really stupid, I mean I don’t know why it hurts so much. It shouldn’t.” I say whimpering.

“What?” Berry says, softly stroking my cheek.

“I had a dream, or a memory, I was in Equestria, or the old Velvet was. I had spent hours getting ready, trying to make myself sexy for Night Light, I was wearing some things I had bought at a mares shop, um, I guess it was like human lingerie, I think that’s what it’s called. It was all soft silk and lace. I spent so long, I worked so hard for him.”

I don’t know why but I start crying again, putting my face into my pillow.

“It’s ok, you’re with friends, you can cry.” Ah-Pee strokes my back.

Crying into my pillow I try to fight through the feelings, “I don’t know why it hurts so much. He said… he said it wasn’t dignified for me to wear something like that. That we had… standards…”

“Oh God,” Berry says and hugs me tighter.

“I don’t understand why I’m crying, I don’t understand why I hurt so much, I just don’t…” I shake my head in the pillow, crying even harder.

“You’re crying because you tried to do something so special for him, and he cared about image.” Berry said, “any girl would be hurt.”

“I’d buck him senseless and hog tie him.” Ah-Pee huffs.

“Yeah, but didn’t you mention you hog tied your brothers for fun?” Berry says softly, “And this is different.”

“I know, I’m just frustrated.” Ah-Pee grumbles.

“Ah-Pee, I’m married, am I supposed to go back to him? Am I supposed to…” I looked up at her with tears in my eyes. “Is it my duty? And what about Sparkle and Armor, what if they expect me to pick up where I left off with him…”

“Everyone, every pony’s memories are clouded with Discords curse. I’m sure every pony is likely to have started new relations before they changed. Marriages, relationships… if you don’t feel right going back to him you won’t have to and we’ll stand by you. You can’t feel pressured though.” Ah-Pee hugs me tighter pulling my head to her neck.

Sugarberry climbs into bed with me as well, snuggling me so I’m between the two, trying to make me feel safe and secure. Closing my eyes I cry myself back to sleep.

*** A little over 1000 Years ago, on a Tuesday ***

That castle of the two sisters stood as a beacon of light, of hope, to those across Equestria. It had been built at the edge of the Great Everfree forest, above the tree of Harmony. It was meant to be a place of balance, a place of order after the chaos brought by Discord.

It hadn’t taken them long to build the castle, and the place was chosen because of the Tree of Harmony, though some questioned things, given how wild and untamed the forest was. Ponies were plains folk preferring the grasslands where they could farm, run free and play.

Stepping out of his lab, Starswirl chuckles softly, both the sun and moon are in the sky right now, so he wandered the library till he finds her. The only reason the moon would still be up is if Luna had fallen asleep in the library again. Sometimes Celestia let her sister sleep a few hours before waking her to lower the moon, but it seems to be later than normal today.

Shaking his head, he moves up behind the sleeping form, Luna was always a little smaller then Celestia, and lacked some of her sisters, shall we say, wisdom. Sometimes Starswirl wondered if she was still a little foal inside.

“The cakes on fire!” Starswirl says with a chuckle.

Instantly there was an explosion of books and Luna sits up looking around, “Not again, I didn’t mean to…” Looking back she blinks, looking at Starswirl and narrows her eyes, “You… We really need to put a bell on you or something.”

“I have considered that, though I haven’t decided, gold, or silver.” Starswirl says with a chuckle.

“How about one of those cast bronze ones that are used in the towers,” Luna huffs. “I’m sure it would work well.”

“Are you still bitter about not being able to figure out the riddle to my lab?” Starswirl inquires, grabbing a scroll with his magic.

“We will figure that out. Do not worry.” Luna said with a huff, really the idea that he would put a lock and state that it’s to keep the riff raff out, that only those worthy should be able to enter, is an insult in her book.

“Good, as to the bell, I’m sure it would help, it might remind you when I trot by to make sure you lower the moon.” Starswirl states as he turns, trotting for the door.

“We are not some child that would… The moon, what time is it, Oh sister!!!” Luna runs off to in a clatter of hooves.

Starswirl shakes his head, his robes flowing around him as he heads across the bridge towards the treeline. The moon is just setting over the horizon, finally, when he stops. “Did you find it?”

Stepping out of the woods into the light the young stag nods, “I had some of our crafters shape it for you.”

“You know you are welcome to come into the castle, Willow.” Starswirl states.

Shaking his head the stag sighs, “I don’t like the sounds, the smells, the feel of shaped stone under hoof. Our kind are not meant to be confined inside walls of stone. We are creatures of the forest.” Carefully Willow picks up two large bundles of wood that he had been carrying on his back.

Starswirl focuses his magic to sense the wood and nods, “Oh this should do perfectly, I have already talked to a dragon for aid in making the facing of it.”

Willow nods slowly, “Cedar and Pine are curious about it, this kind of wood is hard to come by without hurting a tree. Why did you need so much?”

“I am making something magical with it, and it will need a proper support and backing. Once I am done I’ll invite you to see it, with any luck it will be a very special mirror.”

*** Velvet ***

“Oh come on Ah-Pee, I swear you complain more than Apple Bloom does in the show.” I say, laughing as I use my magic to tug the PT shirt onto her.

“You know, ponies don’t usually wear clothes.” Ah-Pee grumbles.

“Nope, the Rarity defense won’t work for you, that’s in Equestria, we’re on earth, on a military base.” I said laughing, “We are all dressed.”

Trotting out I nodded to the other girls, we formed up in ranks outside the hotel, there are only five of us so it is two by two’s. Getting into step can be a touch hard at times but with 4 legs… half the time I think the trick is only concentrating on the front legs and letting the hind follow suit.

“Marching cadence anyone?” I ask while trotting, you know asking that was probably a mistake.

Cipher quickly starts up, “I really am so happy, your smile fills me with glee.”

Fighting to stop laughing, we all pick up, the high step, trotting to the music works great, since it was close to a normal cadence. “I give a smile, I get a smile, and that’s so special to me.”

There isn’t enough antacid for the sergeants when we trot by as an entire squad break ranks, laughing at us. We manage to keep our faces straight as we sing, wheeling into the mess.

I grab a tray for myself, Ah-Pee and makes sure each of the girls grabs their own trays. Loading up on pancakes, hash browns, the girls all pick their meals out. Though small we seem to pack away slightly more than a human, food wise. This, again, likely explained the high sugar diets without gaining weight that the ponies in the show had.

We set down our trays and I notice Cipher working at the drinks table, she is making peppermint tea, with lemon and honey, taking time to prepare it, till it was perfect, then trots over to the drill sergeant from the platoon we passed.

“Here you go,” she said cheerfully, “best thing in all of Equestria for a sore throat.” Then she prances back to us, taking her seat.

“Well that’s a new shade of red,” Ah-Pee states, trying not to laugh. “Poor guy.”

“Hey, peppermint tea with honey and lemon is perfect for throat problems.” She says, smiling, “I broke him, so I figured I’d fix him.”

Finishing our breakfast, we head into the girls bathroom to clean up before getting into formation and heading to the hospital. Once there I stop us, “Ok girls, you don’t have to come in with me, today is a rest day, we’ve been pushing ourselves very, very hard, today I want just to relax, explore your magic as it relates to your cutie mark.”

Smiling, I stroke Sugarberry’s mane, “Hit the PX, or BX I should say. Do some shopping, hit their jewelry department see what your magic feels like there.”

“Ballad, I know you’re engineering, but have some fun in the PX’s music department, fool around a bit there.” I say to her smiling bright.

“Cipher,” I looked at her, at her shorts where her cutie mark would be, at her, “Umm, don’t break any international hacking laws.” Really, for Cipher, there’s just nothing I can think of, I don’t even know what her cutie mark means let alone what unicorn magic would work with it.

“Can’t promise anything,” she says cheerfully and bounds off.

Trotting in, I smile, the guys are already in the room. Blaze is lying in bed trying to reach Eric who is holding a towel just out of reach of Blaze. The LT is doing a face palm, and Henry is laughing with Jay and Sanchez.

“Hey guys, what’s so funny.” Ah-Pee asked walking in.

Instantly Eric hides the towel behind him, and both Eric and Blaze go bright red.

“And what’s with the towel?” I ask.

22: Broken Wings and Reflective things.

The doctors poke and prod Blaze for some time, they even x-raying his leg and wing again. By noon they’re satisfied he is stable enough to be sent home, though he still wouldn’t be walking, flying, or other activities but most of his injures are healing amazingly well. Far faster than expected, but according to the show, Dash was only down for a few days from her broken wing.

Since we are actually, on the job, the LT returns the rental van we’d been using, and files a travel claim on it to be reimbursed, and sign out 2 JLTV’s, the Army still has Hummers in their registry but the JLTV’s are a bit more roomy, good thing for hauling ponies around, and they come in a variety of colors from tan, to tan, and even tan.

Humming softly, and much to the shock of the girls, I’ve scooped up Blaze in one magical aura and trot him down to the JLTV, gently setting him down in the payload bay, pulling blankets and pillows around him to make him comfortable. I guess I just have a little more strength magic wise than the girls, but they haven’t re-discovered their cutie marks yet. I guess that for the Mane 6 it is easy, everyone knows Rarity is about fashion or Flutters is about animals. The problem for most of the others, it is harder, we haven’t even seen what instrument Ballad plays in the show.

The girls have a few bags of goods on them from their shopping trip to the BX, and those get loaded into the vehicle, Ballad takes the driver seat in the first tactical, and Eric in the second. “Hah, at least I won’t hear you singing.” Eric calls out.

Cipher looks out her window calling back, “Look, here, are three little ponies, ready to sing for this crowd, Listen up, 'cause here's our story, I'm gonna sing it…”

Rolling down the other windows on that side of the vehicle, Ah-Pee and Sugerberry leaned out the window yelling at Eric “Very LOUD!!!”

At least they aren’t trying to sing that song, it is enough though to get Eric driving fast. The drive ends up being fairly relaxing and I had the girls take turns in the driver’s seat. We did have to make two drive through stops, on the way, for snacks, coffee and food for Blaze.

And one pit stop for us girls, though the McDonald’s staff seems less than thrilled about a herd of ponies charging for their bathroom, some of the kids seem excited though. “Note to all parents, if you see a herd of ponies heading for the bathroom in a hurry, please make sure your kids don’t follow unless you want to be explaining things to them. Seriously, boys trying to get into the girls bathroom, not smart.” I say, trotting out and shaking my head.

Finally with the last hop done though, we are back at Grandfathers. Personally, I was starting to find I like wide open country compared to the confines of cities and built up army bases. Not that I’d want to live outside, or give up coffee. Just real ground felt better underhoof than concrete.

Looking back at Blaze, I scoop him up and trot back inside, carefully laying him down on his bed, “how’s that, your own bed, safe and sound?”

Blaze kicks back a bit and chuckles “Yeah, I’m still grounded, but I’ll get my fluffy back.”

Using my magic I give his wings a quick check over and preening before giving him a hug. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“What? Like you’re the only one that can play hero and risk themselves?” He smiles to soften the blow.

Gently I poke his nose with a forehoof, “you know exactly what I mean.”

Reaching up Blaze grabs me gently and pulls me into the bed facing him, laying a wing over me, chuckling softly he looked into my eyes and pokes my nose back with his. “Yep, you’re being overprotective of me, and if I’m not allowed, you’re not allowed.”

Closing my eyes I tuck my muzzle under his just feeling safe, like all the world is melting away, and everything will be fine.

“He’s a special somepony,” I hear behind me.

“Uh huh, I have a special…” Blinking, I gasp and roll back, falling right off the bed with a clatter, Yiska’s bed wasn’t that big after all. Laying on my back I look up blinking, “Hi Sugarberry.”

Giggling softly she looks down at me, “Hi Twilie, sorry, couldn’t resist, you left the door wide open.”

“I have got to stop doing that don’t I,” I say, scrunching up my nose.

“I just came up to tell you, I think Ciphers figured out a new spell.” Berry said then turned around her tail high and swaying fanning her scent around the room as she heads downstairs.

Giggling, I get up, “Berry, you’re going to need a pad soon.” Following her out, I didn’t notice that I was doing the same thing with my tail.

Cipher is having a ball with the new laptop she had bought, she had a Google glass over one eye, holding an air mouse with her magical aura, the keyboard was glowing as her magical aura had the keys clicking at nearly as fast as the computer could register.

Around her the LT and rest of the Rangers are looking on in a mix of shock and confusion, as she talks while working, a magical image hovering above the laptop like some holographic projection as she runs the air mouse, “Almost ready, just resetting my GUI, had to repartition the drive and use a portable drive so I could mirror Windows to it… the machine came with windows 10 but I wanted Linux, I think I need a faster keyboard though. “

“How are you…” I say, motioning to the floating display.

“No idea really, I just needed an extra screen while I was working on code, and umm… I just realized I could.” She says, looking up. “And no, I’m not breaking any international hacking laws.”

“Yet,” the LT chuckles, “Cyber warfare is going to love you.”

“They hated me before this, I kept re-writing the GUI to my specs.” She giggled. “And…” her screens go blank, and she leans back looking upside down at everyone.

“And what? What now?” I ask.

“Now I wait about an hour for everything to re-compile, it’s just a laptop, it’s not a mainframe or supercomputer…” Cipher smiled, “anyone got coffee?”

“I got it, and you’re doing great Cipher Splash, who thought the Splash part of your name might apply to net surfing.” Trotting into the kitchen I filled a glass from the percolator. “How do you take your coffee?”

“Two scoops of instant,” she says lying back on the chair head hanging over the back.

“It’s percolated.” I call out.

“Yep, that’s why it’s only two scoops.”

Shaking my head, I add the two scoops of instant and turn, walking towards the living room, “Got it, no cream or sugar?”

Trotting out with the cup I hear a knocking at the door and a woman barges in, crying. She has a bloody and limp form in her arms. I drop the coffee cup as I lose all focus on magic.

Henry looks up, blinking, and quickly clears off the table as the native woman lay the little foal on the table. A very soft pink pegasus, she has a two tone pink mane and tail, but no cutie mark. Most of her feathers have been plucked and blood is dripping from her wings.

“I found her hanging by her hind legs tied to a fence.” The woman sobs.

The foal was small, her hind legs clearly showing the rope burns, blood coming from her nose, as well blood and fluids drip from her ear. She also has a cross cut into her belly. Henry is quick to check for pulse and breathing.

“I… I don’t know, she’s barely alive, I’m not sure I can…” Henry shakes his head, running for his bag, setting up an IV to get fluids into her, and started bandaging what he can.

Looking at his phone the LT says softly “Feather Pinch, pegasus version of Berry Pinch or Pinchy seen in the background.”

Grandfather stands up, “The damage is serious, I will need your help, as well as Blazes.” He said looking sternly.

“Blaze is bedridden, he’s badly hurt himself.” I protest.

“He will be needed for the fire,” Grandfather says firmly and stands, walking to the door, “Bring him and her.”

“This is serious grandfather,” I start but he turns, giving me an unfamiliar look of determination.

“I know it is, I need help from the spirits, I just hope it doesn’t take long to reach one.” He states and turns, heading for the fire site.

Running upstairs I skid to a stop, sitting at the foot of Blaze bed, “Blaze, grandfather told me to get you, do you think your strong enough to help with a ceremony?”

Moaning Blaze huffs, “Bed ridden and now a ceremony, what’s wrong?”

“Army of God, they left a foal all but dead hanging…” I say looking back, then hear Blaze whimpering as he tries to get out of bed on his own.

Shaking my head I grab him with my magical field and pick him up, along with the pillows and blanket and bring him out to the ritual site, quickly setting him up. Cipher and the girls are already there, waiting for us. Sugarberry is snarling, the fur on her tail puffed out.

Looking at Grandfather I can’t understand why he wants to try and talk to spirits now, with the foals life hanging on the line.

*** AoG Bunker ***

“You win some, you lose some.” The man said, “The money though from our sponsor shall help.”

“We sent message though, even if we lose people, we can still take blood, and none of these animals are off limits.” A second says, as they look at the map.

“Some of the money is coming in from drug sources. Won’t the DEA get involved?” A young man asks.

“This is God’s work, the DEA can get involved if they want, but they cannot stand in the face of God Himself.” The elder states.

“Did we have to do that to a foal?” The young man asks plaintively.

“The devil comes in all forms, adult or foal, it doesn’t matter. These creatures are not of our world, and need to be put down like the animals they are.” He responded. “If it takes gutting one and leaving it out in the sun to make them realize they are not safe… then so be it.”

“God’s will be done.” The elder intones.

“God’s will be done.”

*** Velvet ***

I sit blinking, looking around. I have never understood Grandfather’s spiritual work, and this makes even less sense to me, I understand the idea of talking to spirits is part of their culture but this just doesn’t make sense. The songs grandfather sings, calling for help, calling for the emergency, are swiftly answered.

“What kind of creature would do such a thing,” King Aspen says, “This is not hunting for food, this is not killing for protection. This is pure evil.”

“Her magic has been disrupted, I don’t know if she can heal even with help.” Grandfather said, “she is out of balance, is there anything you can do to help, Great Spirit?”

King Aspen shakes his head slowly, “You have most of the herbs you would need there, as well as unicorn magic but you are missing Zap Apple wood. Without it, the potion won’t work to help her. Those only grow in the Everfree.”

“And the Apple farm.” Ah-Pee states, then lowers her head at a glare from the stag.

“Without it she is not likely to recover, and even if she does live, she will likely never fly. I am sorry little ones.” Aspen shakes his head.

“So she’s going to die?” Cipher moans, looking bleak.

Sugarberry looks down at the foal, “She’s so young. She doesn’t deserve this.”

“Can’t we just use some other type of wood?” Ballad asks, whimpering.

“No, Zap Apple wood has the magical energies in it, its properties are her only hope.” Aspen states quietly.

Blinking, I looked up then back at grandfathers house, “Magical energies? You mean Aether?”

“Yes, you should know that, you spent enough time in the Everfree, little unicorn.” The king intones.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything that from back then, but…” I stop, thinking furiously.

Standing I run into grandfather’s house, looking at the shelves in the living room I concentrate, I know I had sensed something the first day I walked in here. “Where is it?” Searching through the items I stop at the peace pipe. Touching my horn to it I looked for that feeling, “Its Aether, Equestrian Aether.”

Grabbing the pipe I run back to the fire setting it down, panting, “I think this is made from zap apple wood, it’s old, I don’t know if it will work.”

“There shouldn’t be Zap Apple wood there, but you may be right, all it will require is a few shavings of that, the rest of the ingredients, a pegasus feather from an adult, mare preferably but stallion could work, as well as some of the more common herbs, and you should be able to make a potion to help her.”

“Thank you noble spirit,” Grandfather states, nodding slowly.

“A young unicorn once taught me the important of cutie marks, let’s hope this foal can grow to find her own.” King Aspen shows us in haste what we need to do, then his image fades as the stag trots off into the flames.

The LT calls Fleetfoot for help, she was the closest mare with wings, I had to lay my ears back, I could hear her scream over the phone when he explained things but I was more concerned with my job.

Very carefully I shaved some slices off the pipe like I was told to, collecting them in a large bowl, grandfather brings up the rest of the herbs to add to the potion as well. Looking back I nuzzle up to Blaze softly “I’m worried too. There’s no certainty that this will work.”

“I know, and I know you, you have to try.” Blaze said nodding, “so I’ll say to you, there’s no certainty so don’t blame yourself.”

I nod slowly and sigh, whimpering, as I watch Grandfather come back to prepare the herbs and water, the all of us look up to the sky waiting on Fleetfoot, she’s fast, let’s hope she’s fast enough.

*** Over a 1000 years ago, I think it was a Sunday ***

The wind blows Starswirl’s cloak, causing it to flow around his legs, it’s getting late and Luna should be raising the moon soon, but she had already put up a few stars, a gentle hint to Celestia that it was time to put the sun down.

Scanning the tree line, he watches for any sign of his quiet footed friends, the deer are always good at vanishing, and few of them trusted the ponies, but this was a special occasion, it would be the first of Luna’s full moons for this month. Everything was in place for what he needs, and if this works, he’d show Celestia.

One by one they stepped out of the shadows of the forest, three bucks, and two does. Starswirl recognized Willow, Cedar and Pine. The does though, he’s never met. All of them though have small barrels made of wood tied to their necks, sizes varied from as small as an apple cider stein on the does, to something that looked like it could hold 4 or 5 apples in them on the larger stags.

“Sorry we are late old friend, may I introduce Maple and Juniper. They wouldn’t let us leave the village without them. They both helped with finding the wood.” Willow states.

The does look around timidly before they bowed to Starswirl respectfully. As deer go both are fairly pretty, Maple was slightly taller but had a white heart shaped mark on her forehead just above her eyes. Juniper has very soft green eyes, and her soft brown coat shifts to black tips on her ears and the tip of her tail.

Unlike the ponies, deer have no cutie marks, and often have only very subtle differences between them, so it could be hard, for Starswirl at least, to tell them apart, but the deer never seem to have that problem. Though Starswirl had guessed the deer might have the same problem with some ponies. There are several unicorns that served in the guard that look almost the same, especially after their manes are cut.

“Well come with me, we’ll take the back way into my lab,” he says, trotting to a wall on the side of the main building, “It’s shorter and a bit less claustrophobic for you rather than going through all the halls.”

Horn glowing, the wall responds to his magic and opens up, revealing a deep ramp downwards under the main castle. All of the secret passages in this castle made it somewhat fun to travel, the sisters enjoyed it, though Luna still hadn’t realized his lab was down, not up. Up, was just the entrance, and long tunnels leading to the lab. Poles, or maybe a slide, he would have to add something fun to get down here, the winding staircase is so last season.

They stop in front of the mirror and whistle softly, “Very pretty, so that’s why you needed so many boards,” Willow states, tilting his head.

Juniper speaks with the softest and gentlest voice Starswirl had ever heard, “I have worked with wood all my life, carving and shaping it, I was the one that shaped the Zap Apple wood for our potion containers, it is very hard to work with, and I was scared to use so much for this. What does it do?”

“Aside from reflect your beauty my lady, it’s a portal between worlds.” Starswirl states. “You see, in my studies I have found there are different worlds out there, different dimensions. At first I found I could see them by reflecting those though smaller mirrors, but in this case, I needed enough wood to make a bridge.”

Willow takes a step forward, “A bridge?”

“Oh yes, the mirror has to be large enough to step through, but by, shall we say, entering the mirror on this side when it is activated, we will come through on the other side in a new world. Some of these worlds are very different and as such, changes will be made so we can adapt to the world.”

“Changes?” Maple squeaks as the two other stags look at each other nervously.

“Oh it’s all perfectly safe, the changes are usually minor, for example if the mirror were to open up underwater we would be granted gills. It’s a safety precaution.” Starswirl stated. “Truth is I do not know for sure where the mirror will open, but that’s half the fun. The magic should lock onto any sufficiently large reflective surface on the other side and form a lock.”

“So how do we get back from there?” Willow asked looking skeptical.

“Once the lock is created, the two points will become fixed, and to return we simply step through the gate on that side. It will return us here, and of course clear any of the alterations made. It’s all very magical.” He states with a nod.

“How did you come up with this?” Willow asks.

“Actually, the magic is far older than I. There are stories of it in the ancient libraries, of crystals from the deep mines that held this. I’ve used some of them in the mirror but this link is ancient, I am simply opening it for us.” Starswirl states as he touches his horn to the mirror. Concentrating, he can feel the magic reaching out across the void, between the dimensions. “Almost… got…”

The waves of energy radiating from the mirror cause the deer to back up slowly. Then there is a loud popping sound, and with a dull flash of light and finally loud snap as the magic locks on to an object on the other side and reverberates back. Much like a rubber band being pulled and let go, the back snap hits Starswirl, sending him flying backwards across the lab skidding to a stop at the base of a painting of Princess Celestia.

Willow was the first to his side, “Are you alright?”

Coughing up a puff a smoke, Swirl raised a forehoof. “Got it.”

“Well that doesn’t instill confidence does it?” Cedar says with a worried chuckle.

Maple steps forward and bows her head, touching the side of her flask, with a click the flask opens and bowing again, she pours the water over Starswirl.

“Maple here makes some of the best healing potions and salves. They can mend bone, fix broken teeth, and even cure the hiccups.” Willow says with a little smile.

*** Velvet ***

Fleetfoot hits the ground hard, panting, sides heaving with the exertion from the flight. “To paraphrase Rarity,” she panted, “I may be the fastest of the Wonderbolts, but stamina isn’t my strongpoint.”

Ballad comes running over, putting a wet blanket over Fleetfoot and her wings, to help cool her down, and Cipher bounds up with a large bottle of pop with a straw.

Carefully pulling one of her flight feathers, she looks at the foal and starts snarling, “Those monsters.”

“People always talk about things like werewolves, vampires, and dragons as monsters. They even call or consider unicorns and pegasi monsters in some cases. The truth is, sometimes I think humanity can be the real monsters and everything else should live in fear of them.” Ballad says.

Taking the flight feather I bring it over, stirring it into the mix. “King Aspen said this is a very ancient recipe of the deer. We needed the flight feather because it’s a pegasus we are healing, and to help focus the magic on her wings, without it the magic would dilute across all of her wounds and while healed she may lose her magic and end up being lost to us.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fleetfoot asks.

“Umm, magic mumbo-jumbo, unicorn stuff.” Cipher giggles.

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “In other words you have no idea either.”

“Ok girls, its horn time, as King Aspen said, given the amount of damage and the age of the wood, we need to charge it up.” Closing my eyes I reach out to the potion, slowly pushing magic into it. It feels like pushing jello with a finger.

One by one, each of the girls joins in, with grandfather watching, slowly the fluid turns from dark brown, to a grey, to a clear silver. “Ok little ones, its ready.”

Picking up the water, Grandfather carefully pours it over her wings and belly, before pouring the last of it down her throat. Almost instantly the wounds start to close. The first new feathers starting to grow right before our eyes, while there are not many of them it is a sign that her magic is coming back and not totally lost.

“It’s lucky she was so small, we wouldn’t have enough wood for a full grown pegasus.” I say softly.

Nodding once, Blaze sighs, “This has gone beyond terrorism and cultism… this has gone right into psychopathic behavior.”

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “I’m going to see that these people are listed as a top threat terror group. This kind of behavior is unacceptable anywhere in the world! Let alone the USA.”

Stomping a hoof I look over, “Not the time for that, we are here for Feather Pinch right now, not for plotting revenge or hate.” I move over to lay down on my side by the little pegasus foal, pulling her head to my belly. “Come on little one, you can do it.”

Cipher looked up, “King Aspen said that music could help to.”

Ballad sits, looking at the fire, then at the rest of us starting to sing, her voice alone proving why she had a musical cutie mark. “The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, As long as it burns we cannot drift apart.”

With tears in my eyes I lifted my head. Joining in, looking at Blaze and Ah-Pee as I sing, “Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few. Laughter and singing will see us through.”

Everyone moves over, sitting around the foal, joining in singing, “We are a circle of pony friends, a circle of friends we'll be to the very end…”

23: Reflections and Musings

*** Velvets Dream ***

There was no noise, which was wrong, I knew it. I had only fallen asleep for a bit, I was so tired but I should have watched them closer. Sitting up looking around I couldn’t see Twi-Twi or Shining Armor, both of them were gone, and they had taken their Pith Helmets.

“Nightlight the foals, there gone!” I said, “They couldn’t have gone into the woods, could they?”

Nightlight blinked, “They were talking about monster hunting, Twilight had her monster manual with her.”

“Oh Celestia, I’ve got to find them.” I said

“We need to get the guards, why weren’t you watching them?” Nightlight called running for the castle.

Why, why did we have to stop so close to the forest, I know the foals were tired but we could have carried them further away, and now they are gone because of me, because I fell asleep.

I ran into the woods searching they hadn’t been trying to hide their trail, so I could follow it easy and fast, I see drag marks, from the little play net Twilight had with her. I ran as fast as I could hoping I’d find them soon, find them safe, these woods were not as bad as the Everfree but there were still creatures in here.

I stopped, panting and closed my eyes, pivoting my ears side to side listening, I couldn’t hear anything yet so I kept following their trail as fast as I could. Those two loved playing monster hunters but this was going too far.

The scream came from off to the left of the trail I had been following, turning I started running towards it, I knew it was Twi-Twi, and the roar I heard sent a chill down my spine… With a leap I landed with the foals on my left, and threw up a shield spell.

The acid spray splashed off my shield and melted the trunks of 2 nearby trees. As they fell slowly I turned to face the creature, planting my hooves, its large dragon-like head, watching me, as it walked on its hind legs and bat like wings… the scorpion tail high above it ready to strike. These lesser cousins to the dragons were in some ways far more dangerous, because they lacked intelligence. There was no reasoning with them, it was hungry, and my children were prey, and to me that was not acceptable.

“Stay behind me,” I said, firmly, as Shining and Sparkle cried.

The creature lunged at me hitting the shield diving me and backwards, this thing was strong, far stronger then I would have liked. Sparkle screamed and in the moment I looked over to her the creature charged again slamming into the shield and breaking through it. I was struck by its head and thrown into a tree.

My sides hurt, my head was ringing, but the creature wasn’t about to stop. I had blood over my right eye but I didn’t care, my foals ran to keep me between them and the monster, as he looked back at me my horn was glowing bright. I was not going to let this thing hurt my children.

My mane and tail crackled with energy as my eyes flashed locking with its… rocks slowly began floating off the ground around me as the earth beneath my hooves cracked and crumbled forming a dark circle. As the creature charge again I fired.

The EUP had probably seen that one, I heard them running, towards us, weakly I turned to look at the foals collapsing as they ran over to hug and nuzzle. Panting I coughed up a little blood, but pulled the little ones closer. I fought as hard as I could to remain conscious, I didn’t want to pass out infront of the foals.

The first of the EUP Pegasus landed in the clearing, strangely he never remembered a clearing there before, but all the tree’s for about 50 feet had been flattened, and there was a good 200 foot line of missing foliage so it was easy for him to get in. Calling out to the others he came up then looked back at the skeleton of the creature.

I felt myself being enveloped in a magical field being picked up, looking over I saw a unicorn guard in armor holding me, beside him was Nightlight running over to the foals, “Its ok, daddy’s here I’ll protect you.” He said hugging both of them.

Sparkle and Armor looked at each other than clacked hooves “page 213 wyvern!”

Closing my eyes I passed out.

*** Velvet ***

I felt the foal being pulled from my belly and leapt to my feet, horn glowing and I whinnied out in challenge. I could feel the magic surge through me ready to lash out, I was not going to let them take my little Twi-Twi.

Henry scrambled away quick as did the LT, both of them looked shocked and worried. This was rare for them, given their training as rangers for them to back off that quick. Ah-Pee blinked lifting her head, as did Cipher who were both sleeping near me just a few feet away.

Grandfather on the other hand walked forward one hand out speaking softly, “Your foal is safe, be calm.” He said lowering himself a bit to appear less imposing trying not to loom above me.

Looking down I saw the form of the little foal, she was still asleep but her colors had come back a little to a richer pink. It wasn’t Twilight, was it? Twilight was a unicorn. This was a pegasus. Shaking my head I let my magic drop.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I had a dream… Sparkle and Armor were in danger… I had to save them…” sitting down I whimpered softly.

Henry looked over at the LT, “PTSD, Pony Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

“I was just going to move the foal so Henry could check her over.” The LT said.

“Sorry sir, its…” I shook my head.

“It’s a combat reflex, you weren’t awake, you perceived a threat and you reacted, its fine.” The LT said coming over and giving me a hug. “Combined with your nightmare or dream, we just needed to back off and let you come to your senses.”

“Thanks LT. Umm, let me guess, this is going on a page 13 report isn’t it?”

“Doesn’t have to, probably a medical, but I still believe you’re fit for duty.” He said with a smile.

I watched as Henry carefully started examining the foal, thought the LT still kept a hand on me to keep me calm. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, if it was the heat, or something else. I'd never reacted that way before.

Ah-Pee walked over and put her body against mine side to side pressing gently and nuzzling. “Relax, calm down and breath.”

I took a deep breath and looked at her, “Sorry Ah-Pee.”

“Don’t be, you’re in full mother mode. Your body language is telling everyone around you that you are protecting a foal. She doesn’t need protecting from us though.”

I sit down and look at the foal calming down and snort once.

“You are one protective mom,” Ah-Pee said hugging me tight, “You have a serious case of maternal instincts.”

“I blame it on my heat,” I said then looked down at the foal again.

“Her vitals are up but she’s still not waking up.” Henry said.

“What about food? She needs to eat.” I said looking down at her.

Grandfather headed inside and came out with a baby bottle again, looking at it I took it with my magic and curled around her trying to get her to nurse.

Ah-Pee giggled softly and took the bottle sitting and worked it into the foals mouth coaxing it to start feeding. “There we go. In a case like this it took a little more force than usual, but she’s drinking.”

“Where’s Fleetfoot?” I asked looking around.

“She went back to base. She does work you know.” The LT said with a chuckle.

“Where’s Blaze?” I asked blinking.

“His room, he had to get away from you girls.” Eric said snicker.

“What? What did we do?” Sugarberry asked.

“Something about your tails, and his nose, and he really needs nose plugs.” Eric said with a snicker.

“I guess he can smell us.” I said to Sugarberry with a smile.

“Well, just think of it this way, at least we aren’t the only ones suffering.” I said with a giggle.

Cipher bounded by, “Who’s suffering I feel great. Anyone wanna play?”

Ah-Pee gently took the bottle away from the foal laying her back to my belly, and I curled around her a bit. “You don’t want to play mom Ah-Pee?”

“Nope, I don’t mind taking care of foals on the farm, or here, but I wanna call home, make sure everything is ok.”

“Yeah it’s been an emotional night.” I said looking down and softly kissing the foals head.

“I know, I’m just really worried and a bit stressed. I just want to talk to my own mom now.” Ah-Pee said looking off into the distance.

“Not a problem, I think we all need a break today from the…” Going wide eyed I let out a loud squeak.

Ah-Pee looked over worried, “Twilight, what’s wrong?”

In a shaky voice I replied, holding very still, “Can you bring some more milk. Feather’s still hungry.”

“Are you sure? How can you tell?” Ah-Pee asked trotting back.

“Because she’s… trying to nurse… from me.” I say whimpering.

***

The small hatchback pulled up outside of the police station. The police had chosen to protect these creatures and were causing problems, it was best to make them think twice. Looking at each other the 2 men inside the car nodded.

They had been raised since children inside the walls of one of the compounds. And now was their time to prove themselves, they would face their enemy in the name of god, and his angels would protect them.

Looking to each other they nodded once and opened a small bag of white powder, a mix of synthetic Khat and Meth, it would help them stay strong. Getting out of the car they walked up to the small police station readying their rifles.

“God’s will be done.”

*** Sometime over 1000 years ago, though it’s still a Sunday ***

“Yep, it’s done,” Starswirl stated pulling his hoof out of the mirror.

“So now what?” Willow flicked his tail up tilting his head unsure of what to do next.

“Now, we see what awaits on the other side.” Starswirl said cheerfully.

“Shouldn’t we send something through first? To see if it’s safe?” Maple asked, obviously very frightened of this.

“Really, we don’t have any way of knowing if it really is safe, there’s no way to get information back, besides, everything I’ve done should make gate travel perfectly safe, what could possibly go wrong?” Starswirl said.

“Then, why haven’t you stepped through yet?” Willow asked with a nervous chuckle.

Looking at the deer then at the gate he took a deep breath, “Good point, Equestria Stands!” He said and trotted though the gate.

The small group of deer watched him vanish looking at each other, then followed him.

The travel through the gate was less than pleasant, to say it was like being punched in the gut was an understatement, more like having your guts ripped out, reshaped and stuffed back in. Of course in all essence that was what had actually happened.

Arriving on the other side the deer dropped to their hands and knees panting hard. Completely naked except for their flasks around their necks, the 5 looked at each other than at Starswirl.

An older Caucasian man with white beard and white hair he sat looking up wide eyed at the gate’s anchor point on this side. The gate had locked on to a huge marble stone that had been roughly shined and polished on one side. Obviously there were intelligent and tool using creatures around.

Maple blinked looking at herself then at Starswirl, “You having a mane is one thing but why do we? And what’s with these udders?”

Looking back at the deer Starswirl noticed they had changed into strange creatures, furless though in some ways reminiscent of Diamond dogs or minotaurs. Their skin was a deep tan, much like their fur color, and their manes were a dark black. Strangely though, their udders seem to have been cut in half, and moved up to their chests. What a strangely odd placement for them.

“Well this is a new sensation.” Willow stated still somewhat in shock.

*** Velvet ***

“Seriously, that was a strange sensation.” I said shaking my head. “Having somepony suck on…”

All of the girls were doing their best to look innocent, well all except for Cipher who was having a lark at it. “Oh the look on your face, we really need to keep a camera around just for you. Oh wait, I have one.” She said laughing.

Ah-Pee poked my nose with her forehoof, “Don’t worry your head about it, don’t think or dwell on it.”

Blinking I looked at Ah-Pee, “Well it’s not like you know what that feels like.” I said then blinked as she started laughing, as did Sugerberry.

“Should have quit while you were ahead on that one Velvet,” Ballad said giggling. “What do most human boys like to touch on girls? Sorry we got you beat on that one.”

Opening my mouth I blinked, than slowly closed it again, “Is there a vet around, I think I have caught hoof in mouth.”

“Now now, I’m sure it would be different if it was a stallion nibbling there,” Cipher said, “Oh where is Blaze, maybe we should get him to try.”

My eyes went as large as saucers, “NO!” I said blushing.

“You’ve already had 2 foals,” Cipher said giggling.

“Exactly, they are already stretched out of shape as is.” I said nodding then blinked, and covered my mouth with my foreleg, I can't believe I just said that.

All the girls were blinking looking at me before they just broke down laughing. The amount of joy in the air was contagious, even the LT was chuckling.

Feather Pinch whimpered softly, and snuggled tighter to my belly causing me to stop and look down, “She’s responding.”

Everyone came around and gave her nuzzles quick rubbing muzzles against her. The little one opened her eyes looking around, before starting to cry.

“It’s ok Feather Pinch, your safe, you’re with ponies now.” Ah-Pee said softly.

“No one’s going to hurt you here,” Cipher said and kissed her ear.

“Who, what are you?” She asked crying softly.

“I’m Twilight Velvet, this is Cipher Splash, Ballad, and Sugarberry, we’re all unicorns, that’s Ah-Pee she’s an earth pony, and you are Feather Pinch, a pegasus.” I said softly.

“I’m… I’m…” She started, tears in her eyes.

Gently I scooped her up and cradled her, “When were you born Feather?”

“May First, 1995.” She said timidly.

“OK, so you were probably born a few years before that then, you were born as a pony, either in Ponyville or Cloudsdale. You grew up there, went to school there for a bit, again probably in Cloudsdale. Then you got cursed, do you remember a creature with yellow eyes?”

She shook her head whimpering, “Five score divided by four…”

Everyone shivered at those words, the primal fear of them still strong. I hugged her tighter to me and softly started licking kissing her ears nuzzling her.

“You were always supposed to be a pony, but the mean spirit creature cursed you. Sent you here to grow up as a human instead, now that the curse is over, you’ve turned back to your real form.” Looking own I saw her color starting to fade again as she looked like she was going to be sick, gently I held her to my heart rocking her. “Calm, calm, its OK.”

“I wish I had died, I wish they had killed me.” She cried softly.

“Oh Celestia no, you’re just a foal, you have a whole life ahead of you.” I said softly.

“No, no pony will ever trust me, will ever like me, I’m a monster.” She cried.

“Hush, hush, you’re not a monster,” Ah-Pee said, “and no one will hate you or think bad of you.”

“For the last 5 years I worked at a horse slaughter house, putting horses and ponies to death every day… maybe this was supposed to be my punishment, to be put to death like them…” She cried softly.

We all looked at each other, feeling sick to our stomach’s, she’d have to grow up now knowing what she’d done, every time she looked at another pony, or looked in the mirror, she’d see… the ponies at her her work.

*** Blaze ***

“ARGH… MARES….” I huff and snort once, “Why do they have to be so damn… cute.”

“Having problems?” Eric said coming in and flopping down on the chair putting his feet up on my bed.

“I feel like I’m a teenager. Every time I’m around a mare in heat my body reacts.” I say with a huff.

“You know, in the cartoon we see mares with perfume, bets they actually have something to counter or cover that?”

“Damn lot of good that does me now.” I say grumbling, “And then there’s Twilight, even when she’s not in heat she’s just so…”

“Cute?” Eric laughed.

“I think you fell for her at some point.” Eric said patting my head.

“That was like over 30 years ago.” I said narrowing my eyes.

“Nope I mean YOU fell for her, not Blaze.” Eric said, “She’s a beautiful mare, strong, willful, trained as well as any other ranger, but at the same time with magic.”

“You left out married.” I said, “Remember she’s got a husband out there somewhere.”

“25 years separation, I say go for it.” Eric said.

“Right, Wally would flip out.” I said looking to the window, “especially if I got her pregnant.”

“I think Wally stopped being Wally about a week ago, Velvet remembers everything Wally does, reacts like Wally to some things, but in her heart I think she’s a girl. Have you seen her with the foals?”

“Why do girls have to be so complicated?” I said huffing.

“Did you really just say that… seriously? Females are like that in any species I think. It’s a universal constant.” Eric said. “Just think about all the times we hit night clubs.”

“And Wally’s luck.” I said laughing.

“Yeah how many times did they decide they just wanted to be friends with him. Maybe it was his… marehood showing through.” Eric said, “They just figured he was one of the girls.”

“Oh that’s mean. He did try, better than the LT, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him go after a girl.” I said.

“Looking back I wonder just where in Wally’s life Velvet began.” Eric said, “You were Blaze from birth, you loved the wing suit, you were always daring and brash. You haven’t really changed much.”

“Kind of like Cipher Splash. We seem to have changed the least and take to the change the best.” I said.

“Ah-Pee too,” Eric said.

“Ah-Pee’s got the cutest tail. Cyphers got such a pretty face. But Velvet is just beautiful.” I said with a sigh.

“You know, aside from the colors they all generally look the same to me.” Eric said shaking his head “I guess it’s just me being a human.”

“Funny thing is, I’ve kinda lost interest in human girls, some are nice looking but.” I wonder when I stopped being that interested in humans.

“No tails. And you have a thing for tail ribbons, I’m sure if one had a long enough pony tail with a ribbon you’d find her cute.” Eric said.

“I… I don’t know. I wonder.”

“But it wouldn’t be our Twilight would it?” Eric said with a chuckle.

“Nope, it wouldn’t.”

*** Cipher ***

I left Feather Pinch with Velvet, it shouldn’t have bothered me but I really hated the idea of working for a horse slaughter house. If it bothered me then it’s likely it would bother others too, and it’s just not fair to Feather, but there’s nothing I could do to help her.

Sitting down in front of my laptop I sighed opening it and turning it on, “Wakie wakie princess.”

Grabbing my air mouse I started typing on the keyboard connecting to the net, “Lets dive.” The magic from my horn brought up extra windows around me with my google glass monitoring the connections, I began searching for information on ponies first, and then correlating cases with date of births for May 1995, looking at dates from 1st to 25th just to see what was there.

While that was working I dove into Spectrum, I wanted to take a peek into their operations. Dropping a few data worms at the edge of their firewall, I targeted the internet hubs leading up to their sites rather than them directly. I could decrypt data going to and coming from them though that.

“Oh hello, who are you looking into this?” I said noticing a few other worms already in place, “well now, looks like a busy little place might as well drop a little tracking worm here just to see who’s all here.”

Leaving a loop back virus with IP masking, and a virtual computer, anyone looking for me would get redirected to the Smile Smile Smile song on YouTube. Hey I was in that song so always fun to link to there.

Grabbing a triple thick coffee I took a long sip looking at the results, to my searches before creating a virus bot on the cloud, i could come back and get it later, but it would work for storing any of my results.

Finally, I put a semi open question on the web groups to see if anyone knew who Feather Pinch’s mare was or sister.

Shutting down the computer I lay back in the chair sipping, I really couldn’t wait to see what I could do with the mainframes at work.

*** Velvet ***

I stayed curled around little Feather Pinch, I felt miserable, I didn’t know how to console the little one, she had done a normal job for humans, and now she was taking it as some kind of war crime. Honestly, I know it’s not right, but I’d almost want to re curse her so she forgot her human life. But we all had to come to terms with and deal with our pasts.

Our pasts as humans, and as ponies. All of us had demons in our pasts, all of us had things we hated, we wished we could hide from. There were probably ponies out there scared to remember their pony lives like I was, and ponies eager to learn like Cipher.

Softly I nuzzled and hugged Feather, I’d have to find her mom if I could but at the same time, I wonder if there’s a pony psychiatrist out there. I think we all needed one or would need one. Especially the little ones, they would have it the hardest.

“Ah-Pee, what are we going to do?” I asked looking up

“Find her a home, or take care of her ourselves, one of the two. Though I’d really prefer to get her out of the war zone this is turning into.”

“Me too, the sooner she's away from AoG territory the better. She’s going to need a lot of love and friendship to work through this.” I lay my head over her protectively.

“You want to keep her huh?” Standing up Ah-pee nuzzles me and smiles, “Or do you want another one of your own?”

“Just a few problems with me having a foal. One it would require a male.” I said with a giggle.

“Blaze, next.”

I cringe at that, “Yeah but think about it a sec, would he want to be a dad? Would he want the responsibility and to feel tied to me that way?”

“Oh I’m pretty sure he would but yes, there is a chance he could get skittish.”

“Two, I’d actually have to do the act, I may think guys are hot, may love their smell, but… well something about the whole idea of them putting… into my… scares the daylights out of me.” Looking at my tail I flick it side to side a bit. “There’s still a whole eww factor about it for me.”

“Well you could always practice with a toy, you know, to get used to the feeling.” Ah-Pee was just grinning now, I knew for a fact she was trying to tease me.

“Not in front of the babies.” I said with a smile, “And yes, next is the whole carrying and dropping a foal, both of those thoughts scare me to death.”

“Hun, those scare every woman, even women who have already had one. There is also the fear all through the pregnancy that the child is OK, that something will go wrong, it’s part of being a mommy.”

“What about my hips and butt though, it’ll just ruin my figure.” I whine playfully.

Sugerberry blinked looking at her own flanks then at me.

Ah-Pee smiled and hugged my neck laughing.

Not long ago a conversation like this would have driven me nuts would have had me stammering and embarrassed or wanting to run and hide somewhere. Now though it felt natural, “You know, I don’t think I ever really want to go back to being human. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted off me.”

“That weight,” Ballad said, “Was Discord’s curse.”

“Blaze should be strong enough for a long trip tomorrow.” I said softly.

“Long trip?” Ah-Pee looked down at me, “Sending him somewhere?”

“Sending us all, I figure we should check up on what’s going on in Iowa. They might need our help, and I want to put some distance between us and the Army of God for a few days. Think about what’s going on, and see if the police and FBI can make any headway there.” Looking at the foal I kiss her softly touching my horn to her little wing, “If her mom got the message maybe she’s in Iowa too.”

“How long will it take us to get there?” Ah-Pee asked.

“19 hour drive so a day if we make a few stops.”

We all jumped a bit looking up at the LT, then cringing. “You know, you don’t have to come with us.” I said softly.

“Yes I do, we're under orders to babysit you remember.” He smiled softly, but I knew he really did want to make sure we were safe.

“Thanks LT. Least with the military vehicles we won’t get stopped at as many road blocks.” I said, trying to look on the bright side.

“Always a good thing,” Ah-Pee chimed in.

“Though one thing has me curios,” sitting down beside me the LT began to gently stroke my neck and ears. “Ponies being sent here from Equestria and reborn as humans, OK, but the wood you used to heal Feather, that wasn’t a curse, that stuff sounds like it dates back well before the curse.”

I tilted my head thinking, than looked at Ah-Pee, “The portal?”

Ballad blinked and looked at me strange, “What portal?”

Sugarberry moved over as well, “Equestria girls portal?”

“What’s that?” Ballad asked, she hadn’t been as caught up to date on the show as me and Ah-Pee.

“Equestria girls was a pair of movies, apparently some magical mirror opened a portal between Earth and Equestria every 30 moons or so.” I said.

“So, you’re saying, somewhere out there, there’s a portal that leads home.” Ballad looked a little confused, but was running with this.

“That’s if the movie was real, or at least based on some aspect of reality.” Ah-Pee added.

Grandfather sat on the ground tapping his rattle gently, “Pahana, one of our Kachinas, is the Lost White Brother of the Hopi. He entered the 4th world with his brothers and sisters, and stayed with them a short time before returning. It is said the wood came from that time, from the waterbringers who honored the deer spirits. Pahana, it was told would return one day. When the white man first came, the Spaniards, we saw them as Pahana’s kind because they looked so much like the lost brother in appearance and story, down to the beards. They failed the tests through, they showed they were not of his people, nor were they bring or seek harmony.”

Ballad looked at me tilting her head, “Twilight, how… old… is this portal?”

24: Healing wounds, new and old.

*** Sometime over 1000 years ago, at this hour though it’s Monday ***

It’s taken Star Swirl and the deer a good part of fifteen minutes to figure out how to walk on just two legs. Though some creatures in Equestria walk on two legs as well, most of those are transient stages of motion. Dragons, for example would walk on two legs then drop to four legs to run, the same is true with the diamond dogs. A common sign of such is that the arms or forelegs tend to be longer than the hind legs. While minotaur’s, on the other hand, seem only to walk on two legs, there has always been debate as to if at some points they may run on four, since again their forelegs are longer than their hind.

Looking around the area, there are remnants of a fire. Though it seems too large to be for cooking, as well as a few clay pots left around the circle filled with some kind of seeds. The area around the fire shows lots of foot traffic but the routes in and out seem minimal, meaning the fire was likely the counterpoint of activity by Star Swirl’s guess.

Following one of the trails down from the hill the six of them walk, the terrain is alien, strange, the smells are so dim, it’s as though scent carries little meaning in this world. The full moon hangs in the sky, and off somewhere the sounds of a canine creature of some sort can be heard howling out to it.

The trees are spread out a bit, not like a true forest with a canopy, but instead the sky can often be seen. The trail had lead out of a ravine that follows some kind of ancient river bed, it looks seemed. At the bottom of the hill, several small huts came into view, they are not that advanced though. The structures are low, and have no windows, apparently they have not mastered glass making, this is strange to Star Swirl, since they seem to have discovered pottery.

“Do you hear that?” Maple asks, tilting her head.

Slowly Willow looks around, “It’s hard to focus our ears on the sound, they don’t move.”

“I believe it’s crying, from over there.” Star Swirl states, “Interesting, apparently they are not nocturnal, though one seems to be alone.”

Maple blinks, “You are just too analytical at times, let’s go see what’s wrong.” She starts sliding down to approach the little furless biped.

Kneeling down, Juniper tilts her head, looking at the little biped, “Why do you cry little one?”

She looks up and wipes her cheeks with her forearm, looking at the strange group she sniffles, “Mama’s scared, not enough food and she’s afraid we may have to leave to look for more.”

“What is wrong with the food?” Willow asks, looking around.

“The rains haven’t come, the rivers are low, and the plants are not growing.” She says, whimpering.

Star Swirl tilts his head, “They seem to lack good weather control.”

“Not everydeer wants to pay the prices that the pegasi demand.” Willow says, giving Star Swirl a gentle elbow.

“If it doesn’t rain soon, all of our crops will die, we already don’t have enough food as it is. Momma is worried we will have to leave here.” She hugs her legs tighter, whimpering.

“Willow, we can’t bring the rain but we can help their crops.” Maple says, looking sadly at him.

Willow chuckles, “Ok we’ll help, but really doe eyes don’t work on that face.”

“Can you show us where your crops are? Maybe we can help?” Juniper asks the little girl.

The little girl nods slowly and then leads them over to the fields, the plants are obviously and clearly in distress. Willow looks through the plants before shaking his head, touching the latch on his potion flask he pours out some water over the plants. It only takes a few drops per plant for them to grow to full size and ready to be harvested.

Before dawn the deer helped the entire field of crops, producing enough food for the small community, at least for the short term.

*** Cipher ***

Playing mother is one thing, but we were all worried Feather might try and hurt herself, so we end up taking turns, spending time with her, we are trying to get her as used to ponies as we can. The little one seems guiltier about the change than anything.

Calling up a picture of a 12 year old girl, wearing a guide’s uniform, with braces and dark glasses, I giggle. “Yeah, I was a geek back then, if you look close you can make out a Star Catcher toy, she was my fav pony at that time.”

“Star Catcher? That’s a pegasus, you didn’t like unicorns?”

“Oh yeah, I liked unicorns, but at that time unicorns weren’t in the show, they hadn’t found Unicornia yet.”

“Unicornia? Ok, now that just sounds stupid.”

“Trust me, it was… but this was before they even put out Friendship is Magic.” I giggled “I preferred unicorns myself, The Last Unicorn, for example was my favorite movie.”

I snuggle Feather tighter between my forelegs. “I suffered from a form of ADHD, I was always excitable and couldn’t sit still per say, unless it was for something I was really interested in.”

I bring up a picture of a girl in glasses and braces at the computer, “Take computers, I had fun with them as well as computer games, though I had a strange leg bounce even while working on them. I found I’d bounce my leg a lot, I still do sometimes. I was about 14 here.”

“What’s with those glasses?”

“Well I kept breaking the thin framed glasses, so mom had to get me heavier plastic ones.” I say and call up a picture of my mom and dad. “That’s them.”

“They look so… normal.”

“Dad worked as a travel agent in a call center, mom had a part time job at a donut shop. Wasn’t a bad life, I was sort of a surprise child though.” I say looking at them, “I don’t know if they would understand or even accept me now, dad hated animals, so I was never allowed to have a pet.”

I pull up a picture of me in those bad glasses, with black frames, short cut hair, “I never had a sweet sixteen or anything like that, and that’s a good thing since I just looked awful in a dress. I did get a partial Scholarship to MIT though, and with a little bit of a loan I was able to go to school there.”

“I almost wished I could have got a job with the My Little Pony show. I had pictures of Gamer Luna on my computer. I even studied partly how they did the animations with flash player looking for ways to code flash player to make that easier.” Looking down at the foal between my legs, I give her a soft nuzzle, “I know you’re a 25 year old but I can’t help thinking of you as still a foal. Sorry.”

“It’s ok I guess.” Feather sighs softly.

“Nope no sighing,” I say as I call up another picture, “This is me at my graduation. Problem was, while I was good, I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do, what I wanted out of life, everything felt so wrong to me. Like I didn’t belong, I was a nerd and geek and never tried to fit in, but at the same time I was still pretty hyperactive. And now I had debts to pay off.”

I lay my head over the foal, “That’s when I went into the military. I had to get a special doctors note for permission because of the ADHD. I joined in the army in their special warfare department, as an intelligence and computer warfare specialist. I didn’t do it for the excitement or anything like that. I did it for the debt forgiveness. Essentially they said after 8 year, they would clear my school debts. I still have 2 years to go on that.”

“Hey it just hit me, want to picture something funny Feather?”

“Sure, go for it.” She says sadly.

“Picture debt collectors trying to track down ponies with outstanding debts, how would they ever prove it was us that had say, a $20,000 student loan before the change?”

Feather opens her mouth, and closes it. She looks at her hooves then opens it again.

“And if we ever do get back to Equestria, what are they going to do? Cross over and ask for bits?”

“Repo agency, I’m here to repossess your wagon.” She giggles.

I ruffle her mane gently with a hoof. “I got my mark on May 1st, at exactly 8 14pm. I could probably tell you down to the second when it happened, if I check the logs.”

“The logs, what do you mean?”

“Ok picture this, World of Warcraft, 25 man raid, here I am, sitting in my panties and a halter top with my headset on, I’ve got a camera going beside me, we’re facing off with the boss… and.”

“And? And what?”

“I zone out, 24 people screaming at me, and I’m totally out of it. Never happened before, never happened since, total team wipe.” I still have the log of the swearing as people tried typing to get my attention as well as yelling at me over team speak.”

Feather giggles softly.

“Oh you think it’s funny do you? We had a team wipe, and I learned a whole new set of words and phrases in several different languages when I re-read the logs.” I giggle, once again nuzzling Feather.

“I wish I had the camera pointed a little lower but I did get to see part of my mark appear on the replay of the tape.” I rub the top of her head with my nose, “Now honestly, you’d think me of all ponies would recognize her own cutie mark, nope. I swear I couldn’t figure out what it was. Sure if it had been a harp, stars, green clovers, or blue diamonds I might have got it right away, and recognized it as a pony mark… Well a cutie mark or a case of me eating too much Lucky Charms.”

Feather leans over to look at my mark and I giggle softly “Yep, that had no meaning to me at that time, so I panicked, went to the base hospital. Told them I blacked out for like 10 min and when I came to this was on my leg. They ran tests and kept me for observations for the night. Normally they wouldn’t but because I said I blacked out they thought it was something more serious.”

They dismissed me at like 9 am, I went to work, and got pulled off my computer at about 3 pm and sent back to the hospital. Apparently the whole hair changing color and growing wasn’t normal. Who knew?”

“So my next three days were spent in quarantine, while they tried to figure out what was going on. One of the neat things, no more glasses. Apparently my pony eyes are better than my human ones were. It wasn’t until the 7th that the decided to release me. They determined I wasn’t contagious, I wasn’t carrying any viral agents. But I did have an unhealthy level of caffeine in my system before the change.”

Feather starts giggling again.

“Yeah, I’m still working at getting my caffeine levels back up to where they belong. I swear, the hardest part of the change, the caffeine withdrawals, they wouldn’t give me my Caff-Pow!” I grump softly, “Evil nurses.”

“They let me keep working at the office, but they had to assign a nurse to live with me, I was having a horrible time, I couldn’t do the basic needs, couldn’t feed myself, I couldn’t clean, couldn’t wash, I couldn’t even get dressed.”

“But ponies don’t need clothes, do they?”

“We don’t need, but at work and such it useful. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love being a unicorn from the start, but at first I couldn’t figure out how to do magic, I couldn’t lift things properly with my hooves, nothing. Though I could run, bounce around, and walk. Trust me, even that stuff to me is fun to experiment with. The other problem though was it killed my typing rate. Went from 80 words per minute to about 10. Add to that I couldn’t play any of my video games, and I was less then a happy pony.”

“SOC, that’s special operations command, however said they knew of a unicorn who had magic, my CO got me into a training group and sent us here to learn. Now my typing rates back up well past 120 words per minute. And I can tie my own shoelaces. If I had shoelaces, or wore shoes.”

“So you don’t mind being a pony?”

“I love it, trust me, to me, I was born one, I just had to wait to get my hooves and horn back.”

“So what’s your cutie mark then?”

“That… is a secret.” I say with a sly face. At least now she’s smiling a bit. So I did my job.

*** Velvet ***

“Hi Blaze, how are you?” I ask, trotting in and shaking myself out once.

“Oh fine, just watching a show about horses, they were talking about the proper way for a mare to be mounted.”

“WHAT?!?!” I shout, blinking and looking at the TV sideways.

Blaze chuckles, “Yep, how to approach, which side to approach from, which foot goes into the stirrup, and how to hold the reigns.”

I pant a bit, “Waiter, I’d like to order a ladder, I need to get my brain out of the gutter.”

Blaze start laughing, “Seriously it’s a show on horses and horse riding, I just found it on TV.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up fuzz ball.” I say as I walk up and lay down beside him.

“So what’s our plan for tonight?” Blaze asks.

Swaying my tail I move up to him and give him a gentle nuzzle, “No idea, bars and strip clubs are out.”

“Aww why are strip clubs out?” Blaze is just smiling at me over that one.

“Simple, cuz Chippendale’s dancers aren’t your thing.”

“Ok point, and I guess you wouldn’t want to watch girl strippers.” He says, poking my nose.

“And now, the lyrics to shake your tail take on a whole new aspect.” I say and start giggling.

“Ok, now my mind’s in the gutter. So where’s Feather Pinch?”

“It’s Ciphers turn with her, and I made her promise not to try feeding Red Bull to the foal.”

“Why would she do that?” Blaze says, blinking.

“To make her wings grow faster she said. Seriously, Red Bull needs a warning label, not safe for foals or CMC members, do not give Red Bull to young pegasi in an attempt to get them to fly. Not Suitable for Scootaloo’s of any ages.”

“Seriously, that’s just wrong. So very, very wrong.”

“How’s your wing?”

“Oh its feeling great, it’s my leg and hip that hurt.” Blaze says, flexing his wings proudly.

“Well if you’re in too much pain I can leave you be, I was just wondering if you wanted someone to cuddle.” I say, turning and starting to walk away.

“Don’t you dare walk off, get back here. I really do need a cuddle, I’m getting driven nuts by the scents of the girls.”

“Oh I see, it’s the girls,” I giggle, walking back and laying to snuggle him.

“Honestly, it’s you that I want to be with though.” Blaze says softly and wraps his wing around me.

“Thanks, so what do you think about the gate?”

“If it still exists, it’ll be a needle in a haystack to find. That’s if it hasn’t been destroyed. For all we know the movie’s fake, the portal was real but destroyed 25 years ago or heck, longer… and or only hope is that a princess like your daughter can open a new portal home.”

“My bet is they have already found the portal.” I say with a giggle.

“Why do you think that?”

“Would your daughter do a sonic rainboom, and Luna summon everyone if they haven’t?”

“Point, I keep feeling like we are behind everyone else in what’s going on. Like we were two steps behind Spectrum, behind Lighting Dust, behind Fleetfoot. That everyone knows more about what’s going on then we do. It’s just frustrating.” Blaze just shakes his head.

“I know, trust me, I know. I keep getting this feeling everyone’s expecting me to have answers, to know what’s going on. And I’m even more clueless then others. Cipher knows more about the pony series then all of us put together… and still we fumble through spells making mistakes that almost get us killed.” With a sigh I look down at my hooves, “I’m still scared of running into Night Light as well.”

“I know, on one hand running into Dash would be so cool,” Blaze says giving me a tighter hug, “but at the same time, I don’t know how she’d take it, and I can’t even begin to answer the one question I know she’d ask.”

“What’s that?”

“Who’s my mom?” Blaze says, looking at the TV screen.

Blinking, I consider that for a moment, “Ugg, so you haven’t had any dreams about her?”

“Nope, Discord’s curse was better than bleach for that set of memories. Honestly for all I know, Sprinkle Medley was her mom, and the foal she was having was Dash’s sister. Or her mom could have been Daring Do.” He said with a sigh.

“Daring Do? Wouldn’t she like, know that?” I say, giving him a weird look.

“How? If we separated just after Dash was born, and she had some great quest to go on to save Equestria, and didn’t feel she was ready to be a mother yet, would she recognize Dash all grown up?”

Shaking his head, “Yes it’s a stretch but again, I’ve got nothing at all for memories of her being born, of her family time except for a few flashes of us at flight training school.”

“Yeah I know the feeling, though in some ways, I prefer it.” I say, looking down.

“You prefer not remembering Twilight’s first birthday? Or first steps? Honestly I know you, I think those are the kind of memories you’d want.” Blaze says sternly.

“Um, those, maybe, but Twilight’s birth or the act of making Twilight in the first place, mentally and emotionally I don’t think I’m ready for those yet. Then there’s carrying Shining Armor and feeling sick all the time and not able to eat because all his weight on my stomach. So I’m stuck feeling hungry all the time but…”

“But,” Blaze blinks and looks down at me, “but what?”

I look down at my belly, suddenly I feel very strange. I feel empty, alone, like I must be the worst mother in the world for not being able to remember the simple things. Looking up, I feel the tears filling my eyes, “Maybe the curse is for the best… maybe I was just that bad a mare.”

Blaze looks at me, confused, “Huh? Wait what?”

“Maybe I wasn’t ready to be a mom, maybe I wasn’t good at it. What if the show got it wrong… what if I just pawned her off on Celestia because I couldn’t care for her…” I feel the tears flowing down my cheeks.

Blaze sits up and bonks my horn hard enough for me to see sparkles for a second.

“Ow, the heck Rainbow what was that for?” Sitting up, I rub my horn and head looking at him, “I told you never hit a unicorn’s horn like that.”

“You were starting to scare me the way you were talking, you’ve never had self-esteem issues. I figured a good shock would, you know, reset you.”

“Great, a unicorn’s horns is now a reset button to you?” Touching my cheek I feel the wetness and blink, pulling the back of my hoof away looking at the tears on it. “I was crying… but…” Shaking my head I clear the sparkles somewhat. “Sorry I don’t know, what set that off.”

“I don’t know why either, but you started going off on how bad a mare you were, I’ve seen you with Feather Pinch, I’ve seen you with Noi. Even with the unicorn club, you act as a mother to them. There is no way you could be a bad mare.” Blaze says gently.

“The Unicorn Club?” I just can’t help smile at that, “Really? That’s the best name you could come up with for our training class?”

“Well, Velvet’s School for Gifted and Exceptional Unicorns just seems over the top.” He says, starting to chuckle.

“And now, you’re just sucking up.” Leaning back into his wings, I relax a bit.

“Thanks, I’ve been practicing.” Looking back to the TV he hums, “So when do you want to head to the farm?”

“I was thinking Saturday or Sunday, less traffic, and right now Feather seems to be doing ok with us for now. I’m not sure dropping her in with a dozen new faces would do more then make her feel guilty.” Man Discord could be twisted and mean, when in doubt blame it on Discord.

“Oh good, I should be able to walk and fly by then. Being grounded just sucks.”

Watching as the news came on I had a bad feeling, “Today on First news at 5, Cult members in New Mexico attack a police station, 5 dead in a drug fueled shootout. Iranian government is facing accusations in the UN of attacking US and Australian warships in the Persian Gulf. A new Chinese food additive linked to illness and mutations, this and more, tonight at 5.”

“I can’t remember, did we eat Chinese before the mission?” Blaze asks, looking at me.

*** Ballad ***

“My turn,” I say, giggling, “Want to have some fun?”

Cipher looks up, “Sure but what about Feather?”

“I was talking to Feather you nit, go back to your computer.” I giggling.

“Umm Ballad, my computers right here, I never left it.”

“Ok fine, you win, Cipher, do you mind if I take Feather, I have an idea for some fun.” If you can’t beat them play along, I guess.

“Sure no problems, I need to get more coffee anyway.” Cipher says, standing up and trotting for the kitchen.

“Ok Feather, up for a little walk to start? Or would you prefer to be carried?”

“Walkin’s fine, but I got short legs so.”

I start walking at a slow pace and look down, “Yeah but think of it this way, you have all the energy of a little kid, you can probably be zipping around on your legs if you wanted.”

“Second childhood huh,” she said looking up, “this time as a…”

“A pegasus pony, as smart as any human, with better visual abilities, a natural spatial sense, an understanding of weather, and the ability to fly.” I put out before she could finish her sentence.

She blinks and then nods softly, trotting beside me as we head outside.

“I suck at being a unicorn, I need practice with my magic, I haven’t even come close to figuring out my cutie mark, it’s a lyre or harp I know, but exactly what that means, if I’m supposed to play one, or what, I can’t tell. All I know is it’s got something to do with music. So. Wanna help me practice?”

“How? What am I supposed to do?” Feather asked sadly.

“You, need to be my test subject, I need to see if I can multitask, I need practice with my TK, and someone to tell me how bad my singing is.”

Feather nods once, looking skeptical.

“Ok, so first, I need to you spread your wings, keep them spread, get your hooves going…” I giggle and started prancing, looking down at the little foal as she tries to mimic my steps.

“One day, the whole world looks like an open page…” I start singing, “And you've been prancing as fast as you can with a smile on your face.”

Feather giggles, smiling as she prances beside me.

“And then the earth and the sky they all fit together,” I sing out cheerfully, my voice getting louder and more confident… “And carry you away as light as a feather… Chase the clouds from the ground…” Tossing my mane I point up to the clouds with my horn, “In the big blue sky don't wanna watch it all blow by.”

Feather makes a few jumps beside me as I sing, looking up at the sky too.

“So you’re gonna fly… Higher than I ever could… Feel the wind blow through your mane… Feel the sun dance with the moon.” Nuzzling her as I prance, I focus my magic around her to hold her gently.

Letting out a soft eep she looks around, feeling the magic around her, gathering her up and making her float a bit.

“And your hooves can't stay on the ground any longer,” with a nod I brought her into the air with my magic holding her above and beside me, “With a leap of faith I feel a little stronger. Wanna swing from a star in the big blue sky, don’t wanna watch it all go by so you’re gonna fly.”

Listening to her laugh I keep singing as I swoop her around me, flying her with my magic. It might not have been under her own power, but I can see it in her face, just the feeling of flight is filling her with joy.

Singing isn’t my special talent but at the same time, something about this feels right, bringing happiness to a foal like this, using music to heal a broken heart. Maybe a ballad isn’t a bad thing, maybe being Ballad isn’t too bad after all.

Trotting back to the house, I keep her flying beside and around me before finally setting her down when I get inside of the door. “So how was that?”

“It felt weird but good, like I was really flying.” She giggles.

“By all technicalities you were, just not under your own control.”

The smells of Ah-Pee’s barbeque hit us as we round the side of the house, she is doing another huge meal for everyone, with both pony and people foods. Apples, no family can lay out a better spread than them.

I sit down, putting the foal between my front legs so her back is against my belly and sigh, “We both have so much to learn, so much we don’t know.” I say softly.

“Whatcha mean?” Feather asks, looking up.

“Do we have family in Equestria? Who are our parents? What was our lives like?” I say softly.

Feather bites her lip, looking down then the small foal takes a deep breath, “Maybe our pasts are not as important as our futures, and what we choose to make of them?”

Smiling, I lean down and nuzzle her, “From the mouths of foals.”

*** Velvet ***

I trot out with Blaze heading over to the table as the entire platoon, class and friends meet here, the meal is just huge, slow cooked pulled pork on sour dough bread for the humans, stuffed mushroom caps, stuffed bell peppers, and oatburgers for the ponies. Baked potatoes, honey glazed carrots and campfire baked corn. All of that layered over the table, but nothing could beat her famous apple pies. And she has six of them on the table. Glancing over, I have to giggle as little Feather’s eyes are huge, with her tongue hanging out, drool dripping down.

Looking to my other side, I see Blaze doing the same thing, seriously what is it with pegasi drooling over food? It’s not like Rainbow Dash ever did that in the show. I guess I can just chalk it up to them both being physically injured and recovering.

The LT tosses over a pair of Velcro straps with mounting points for knife, fork, and spoon to Blaze and Feather. Blaze laughs and takes the time to show Feather how to put them on, using his mouth and other hoof to wrap it around his foreleg and snug it down. Once ready, everyone starts digging in.

I look sternly at the Unicorn Club, it isn’t about being above digging in, it isn’t about being stuck up or anything, it’s all about using their magic to keep practicing. Though Sugarberry seems to be having fun. Just to be different, she’s using her TK in a contact mode, where she touches her hoof to something, and pick it up that way, I know she’s using her magic but it just looks cute.

Watching Sugarberry holding an ear of corn between her forehooves, munching away even has the LT raising his eyebrows, and soon Cipher and Ballad are copying her, using their hooves as hands. In truth the trick actually might have uses, it looks less intrusive and less magical than just floating food around, and might work when dealing with humans.

I give it a try myself, though in reality it seems clumsier than using my magic flat out, it seems to be a nice gap between human actions and pony. I eat happily, keeping an eye on Feather who is just lost in the meal.

“Ok Sugar, cute trick, I’ll admit it.” I say with a giggle.

“Thanks, I just wanted to, fit in a bit better.” She says, smiling, “Area TK is useful but this little trick is good when we are in public or just with friends.”

Cipher giggled, “That and it’s just cool, makes us look like the ponies in the show.” Reaching over she grabbed a beer with her hoof, popping the top off with her other hoof and taking a swig.

“Oh really now, that’s just showing off.” Ballad says with a giggle.

I smile looking up, “Honestly, it’s actually really good to see. Remember this is a chance to explore new ways of using magic, the whole point to this was to improve quality of life. To make it so you can survive and take care of yourselves, and part of that will be dealing with humans.”

“Cipher, are you sure you should be drinking?” The LT says with a chuckle.

“Oh come on, its hops, barley and such, all stuff horses can eat.”

“Yeah but Caffeine and alcohol on a unicorn, I’m not sure we could drive fast enough to escape the chaos.” The LT says, laughing.

Cipher sticks her tongue out and goes back to her food. “It’s only one beer. Not like I’m going to try and down twelve apple ciders.”

“Or eat dirt if a cider gets spilled on the ground.” Ah-Pee says, looking at Blaze pointedly.

Blaze shakes his head “I’ve had dirt, I’ve eaten dirt, it tasted like dirt. No thanks.”

“Trust me, I was there when he did it, when he was first trying to figure out how to fly. He took a serious dirt nap.” I say with a giggle.

“Hey least I’m not the one that hospitalized herself after a teleport.” Blaze pokes my foreleg.

All the members of Unicorn club blink, eyes going wide, as Cipher drops her beer. “You can teleport!?”

25: Of Docks, Boats, and Teleports.

I’m lying on my back, looking up at the stars, it is such a peaceful night, with few clouds in the sky. Feather’s eaten so much that it is about all she can do to climb up and fall asleep on my chest, her little wings tucked tightly to her sides.

Ah-Pee is sitting up, chewing on a piece of straw and leaning against a large rock, brushing part of her mane as she relaxes.

Sugarberry moved over to lay her head against my hip, needing some sort of physical contact, I don’t mind, I understand how she feels and don’t mind the closeness.

Cipher and Ballad, on the other hoof, are lying side by side watching the stars, one advantage of not being in a big city, the stars some nights just paint the sky.

“Rainbow, tell us a story.” I say softly, stroking Feathers mane with my hoof.

“I’m not much of a story teller.” He says, chuckling.

Ah-Pee smiles and looks over at him, “I’m sure Grandfather taught you some, so tell us.”

“Long ago, in a world before this one, there was only darkness, the world was empty and barren except for 6 beings, First Man, First Woman, Salt Woman, Fire God, Coyote, and Begochiddy. Begochiddy was the child of the sun, and first created 4 mountains. White in the east, blue in the south, yellow in the west and black in the north. But there was still no light.”

Blaze sits up and spreads his wings wide as he talks. “The first beings grew tired of this and they decided to leave the first world. At the center of the first world Begochiddy planted an massive seed which grew into a tall hollow reed. He then gathered all his creations and crawled inside. The reed grew out of the first world and into the second.”

“The 2nd world was light and blue, when the first beings emerged from the reed they found a nice place to live, but the world was already inhabited by the cat people. The first beings fought for years, but in the end they could not find harmony, so Begochiddy gathered his beings and entered the reed once more.”

“The reed grew on and on into the third world, this world was yellow and full of light. The first beings rejoiced and built camps here, and had many children. Begochiddy created rivers and lakes, and birds, and animals of all kinds. One day coyote found a baby by the river, the child of the great water monster. Coyote ever the prankster and and loving of chaos, stole the baby and hid it under a blanket. When the water monster found his child missing, became furious and brought great rains.”

“Quickly Begochiddy gathered his children at the great reed and they forced coyote to give back the child, but it was too late, the third world lost to them they traveled to the fourth world.” Blaze motioned around with his hoof.

“This world was not as beautiful as the third, but it became the home of the Navajo. Begochiddy taught man how to live the right way, how to plant corn, and beans, and squash, and the right to give thanks to the plants for the food given to them.”

“And that is how the Navajo people came to live in the fourth world. Though some believe that the beings of the third world are not lost to us, and they are the source of our spirit guides, the animal totems that guide us and remind us of our path of harmony.”

Blazed looked around at the mares, Cipher faked a snore, her tongue hanging out.

I let out a soft giggle, “Ok I guess for Cipher unless the story contains explosions it’s not worth hearing.”

“Told you, there’s a reason I never really got that interested in the Navajo myths, no action. It’s said that our language is so alien from other language groups because it’s not of this world. But since when do creation stories have to make sense right?” Blaze chuckled.

“Says the pegasus pony born on another world.” Ah-Pee pointed out.

“Ouch, touché…”

*** 1000 years ago or so, though it’s still a Monday ***

Starswirl returned to the marble with Willow. The locals had shared their bounty and held a celebration in honor of their new friends and even though they seemed to have little, they were more than willing to be generous with it.

“So how long will the gate stay open?” Willow said looking at the stone.

“Oh it’s permanent now, it should stay linked to this stone.” Starswirl said proudly. “The next step is to run some more tests, and then show it to the Princesses.”

“Maple and Juniper are going to stay back at the settlement to help the inhabitants and see what they can learn though I’m worried about them.” Willow said with a sigh.

“Oh posh, they will be fine, the inhabitants will keep them out of any harm’s way.” Starswirl chuckled stepping through the gate.

Willows hooves hit the stone floor and started skidding a bit as he tried to find his new center of gravity. “You really need to put a warning label on that mirror, going through it is rough.”

Starswirls horn glowed bright as he put on his hat again, “Oh its fine, just takes some getting used to, interesting, you came back as a deer, good to see.”

“Wait what? You had doubts about that?” Willow looked at him shocked.

“Oh no doubts, though I assumed there might be a tiny chance, hardly worth mentioning that you might have come back though as a pony. It’s good to see the magic remembered your true form.”

Willow sat down panting and started checking himself over, legs, tail, antlers, good everything was where it was supposed to be then looked at Starswirl, “You could have warned me.”

“Well the chance was so small I didn’t feel like it would be an issue, besides if an error had cropped up, we could have fixed it.” Starswirl chuckled, “As well you had fun exploring, did you not.”

“Trust me, life as a hairless biped with a mane is not a fun concept. I’m all for trying things once but I’ll leave that strange stuff to the ponies.”

“So what do you intend to do now?” Starswirl said with a chuckle.

“Get some more water from the Everfree, pick up some forest squash seeds, maybe some some beans, and bring them back for the girls. The growth potion should ensure they have enough food for the next few months, if not longer.”

Starswirl chuckled, “And if needed we can drop off more supplies for the inhabitants in a few weeks. With any luck we can use the mirror to open up new trading partners.”

“It will take me a day or so to get the supplies they want, I’ll meet you back here tomorrow night?” Willow asked as he was heading out.

“Sure, sure not a problem.” Starswirl said waiving a hoof as he went about looking up other spells, “I wonder if it’s possible to give deer cutie marks? Maybe a destiny spell.”

*** New Mexico Bunker ***

“Is it our destiny to live with these abominations?”

“NO!”

“Is it God’s will that man become just a lesser being to the animals on the very planet he created for them?”

“NO!”

“We stood against the blacks, and now they infest our government, and cry about their rights everytime one gets punished. We stood against the Mexican’s now the government bows down to the cartels and lets any that want to cross our borders. And now this!”

The man wore military fatigues but was no soldier, though he did follow orders. He had found others who believed in God and country. God and Country, a term so many had forgotten. He was bound to make them remember.

“We too have friends though, friends in power, friends who can supply and support us. They give us money, they give us guns, and now they give us drugs to fight with.”

Opening a case he turned it so all could see, small bottles of pills, each bottle only contained 3 pills but there were hundreds of bottles in the case. “With these, we shall have no fear, we shall feel no pain, we shall be removed from the burdens to carry out gods will.”

The inside to the case bore the logo… a white line hitting a triangle and branching out into a rainbow of colors… a stylized S in the middle of the rainbow.

*** Velvet ***

I just shook my head rubbing my muzzle with a foreleg, “Teleporting isn’t just hard it’s dangerous. I was hospitalized for a jump, I can teach you the basics of it but I don’t know if it’s safe. I don’t know how much it will take out of you, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Sugarberry stepped forward taking a deep breath, “I know, and it’s not a quality of life thing, but it could be an emergency thing. I may never want to or have to use it, but just knowing I…” Shaking her head she corrected herself, “just knowing we, can do it, if we get trapped, imprisoned…”

“I know I’m not the best unicorn here, not the strongest, don’t have special spells, but with groups out there like Spectrum, AoG, ISIS, and worse, even being able to teleport a few feet onto the other side of a door might save my life.” Ballad looked down, “I know you’re not going to be around always to protect me.”

“Well this is Henry’s and the LT’s call. They had me on light magic duties, no teleporting, after my last accident, so it’s up to them if I’m strong enough.”

Henry chuckled “Ok Twilight front and center.”

I eep softly and look to Henry, before walking up. Very carefully he gives me a check over, using a small flashlight in my eyes, ears and nose, before nodding. “As long as you take it easy, I gave you a medical pass.” Ruffling my mane he chuckles, “And the fact that you have 3 unicorns behind you, giving me sad pleading eyes, is not the reason I’m okaying it.”

Looking back at the girls I take a deep breath, “Ok girls, first thing you need to learn is, time, space, and thought are not the different things we make them out to be.”

The groans were enough to say they disapproved, but the truth is, there really isn’t a better way to describe or understand what a teleport is, in a way it’s ignoring the laws of time and space, with thought. This was only sight to sight, so it wasn’t as dangerous as it could be. I still watched them very closely through.

I was worried that they would only be able to blink a few feet, but even Ballad seemed to make jumps of up to 400 feet, though that left her wobbly and dizzy. “It might not seem like a lot but it’s enough to get you out of most high rises, that’s about 40 stories.”

Sitting down hard she shook her head, “I see why you were worried, that’s just… painful.”

Sugarberry winked in beside us and wobbles before throwing up. “Now I know why unicorns don’t do that all the time in the show, that’s brutal.”

“When my daughter does it in the show the first time, she wobbles a lot. Of course Twilight was never the best at teleporting, it’s about control rather than brute force.” Teleporting a short jump onto the other side of them I give Sugarberry a soft nuzzle, “though I’m not sure if throwing up’s a good sign.”

“Where’s Cipher?” Ballad said looking around.

Spinning around we started calling, “Cipher! Cipher!”

“Oh god, I hope she didn’t teleport in to the ground or something…” I started panicking looking around the area for her.

With a pop Cipher appeared beside us, holding an extra-large coffee in her forehoof, “What?”

“The heck, where were you?” Ballad said snarling.

“I just popped back to the house for a coffee. Can you imagine if they give me an office in sight of a Starbucks?” Cipher held up her coffee, and sat sipping it.

“Oh God we’ve created a monster.” I said shaking my head and giggled.

“What? Once you get used to it, you can wink from point to point pretty quick, it just takes a lot of coffee, I mean A LOT!” She said nodding.

*** Blaze ***

“So you grew up in New Mexico?”

Feather shook her head no, “I was born in Nevada, near Los Vegas but my parents figured it wasn’t a good place for a little girl to grow up.”

“Yeah, it’s strange but I could never see Vegas as a place to raise kids. I know people do it but, it’s no Los Pegasus.” I chuckle softly lying on my belly keeping Feather under wing. She’s so small I can pretty much cover her with my wing.

“I still feel like a monster, every time I close my eyes I see myself…”

“They aren’t ponies, they weren’t ponies from Equestria. I know it’s going to be hard but trust me it’s going to be hard for all of us. Probably every pony here has eaten beef, but in Equestria cows were intelligent too.” Shaking my head I sigh softly.

“So what am I going to do?” Feather said with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, that’s the fun part, you’re a blank flank, you never found your true love, true calling as a pony, and likely as a human. You get to grow up again, this time the right way. Yeh I know that sounds bad but it’s true, unlike the rest of us who have no idea about going back to our pony lives, you are young enough that you get to find out your entire life.”

Feather sighed softly, “I know what you’re trying to do. It’s just… hard to deal with.”

“Want to hear a secret? I grew up thinking that magic, wasn’t real. I avoided my culture, my history because I was scared as a child. The problem is, now I’m starting to wonder, what’s real and what’s not. I see the great spirits dad talked to and wonder if I should have been talking to them too, learning from them.”

Looking down I nuzzle Feather, “I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t turned my back on the old ways. I wonder what would have happened if I had followed Grandfathers ways.”

“It would have been hollow, empty and lonely.” Grandfather said walking in. “Consider for a moment, had you followed that path, you would never have met Twilight Velvet.”

Sitting Grandfather softly stroked the little foal, scratching behind her ears. “Blaze does have some wisdom though. Feather, your actions as a human was guided by human values not pony. Now it is time to learn the pony values. For that you have many who can teach you.”

Closing her eyes Feather leaned into the scratching, content. I blinked looking at grandfather though, the idea of never meeting Velvet again seemed, painful.

“Grandfather, this is stupid but I think I’m falling for her.” Taking a deep breath I looked at the foal, “It’s so awkward because I knew him as a guy for so long, but at the same time, I look into her eyes, and know I never want to leave her.”

Feather blinked, “Tell her, tell her.”

“I’m scared, I’m scared she’s going to flip out if I do, have one of her freakouts or panic, or worse.” I shake my head, “and that would hurt more.”

*** Off the coast of California ***

“They’ve seen us Captain.” The helmsman of the Rapid Response Boat clung tighter to the ships control stick as the small craft went airborne again.

“The crew of that go-fast must be insane, there pulling close to 40 knots in this weather, and I think I got whiplash 2 waves ago.” The radar operator called out.

“Captain, engine 2’s running a little warm, but nothing to worry about for now, I’ll want to check her out after this though, I think we might have shook something loose.” Grabbing the console for dear life the engineers head snapped forward as the boat hit the next wave hard.

“What’s the chance of us being on her before she hits international waters?” The captain asked looking through his binoculars at the boat ahead of them.

“Better questions what’s the chances of us being on her before she rips herself apart, that’s a fiberglass hull, I’m still surprised it’s in one piece, were taking a beating here Captain, so they must be getting it worse.” The engineer called out keeping his eyes on the engine and oil gauges. “We’re pushing the engines to the max.”

“Where the hell are they going? They were heading for international waters before they spotted us, radio back to Command, tell them to start looking along the projected course of the that boat… They have to have a mothership out there somewhere. At least we can get pictures of it and take them if they go to port.” This was just frustrating, Captain Harris had been with the US Coast Guard for 18 years now and these go-fasts were always annoying.

“Sir they are dumping cargo, 2 black bags overboard and picking up speed.” A typical drug tactic, dump the cargo for more speed.

“Damn it, ok our engines are already too hot, let’s slow up pick up the evidence before it sinks, hopefully the aircraft can track them and we can try again when they try to make landfall again.” The captain said.

“This just doesn’t make sense Captain, why would they have drugs on them if they were heading for international waters? Usually its inbound boats with drugs, we don’t usually see export drugs.”

Slowing the boat, they turned themselves broadside the waves letting them be pushed back on the first of the bags, it was huge, duffle bag sized probably big enough to hold several hundred pounds of drugs. It took 3 people to haul it on board, before the boat put itself in position for the 2nd bag.

The RRB tilted dangerously as they slide down the wave and grabbed the next bag the crew hauled it up. Right off the bat they knew it wasn’t drugs. Neither bag felt like the normal packing for drugs, cutting open the first back, in the wind and rain, the deck crew called back “Captain, this is seriously f’ed up.”

Coming out onto the aft deck the Captain attached his harness hook to the rail and knelt down, “It’s some kind of horse, but its head and colors are wrong, purple and green? It looks like it’s been beaten and shot.”

“Captain, this one’s alive!”

The 2nd pony was smaller, blue with pink mane and tail, its head and muzzle were smaller as well.

“Get it inside, and store the body here. Tie it down, we’ll sort this out at port.”

“My brother, where’s my brother.” The small blue equine said weakly.

“Captain…”

“I heard, get… her… inside, I’ll get on the horn right away.” This was not normal.

*** Velvet ***

Heading back inside I was exhausted, I swear, there seemed to be an emotional component to magic. If I was angry or such my magic seemed to be a lot more powerful, so it left me really drained teaching them all day, especially something hard like teleports.

Walking in I found Feather lying in front of the TV, even though she was 25 years old she was watching cartoons, with chocolate milk beside her muzzle. Her wings were still healing slowly but surely and she looked a lot better, even her colors were getting richer. The LT had taken a turn to watching her, he seemed to be great with ponies which was a life saver.

Lying down beside the LT, Feather was quick to move over to snuggle up to me. She looked up at me with huge eyes and putting on her best foal voice she played up to the child aspect, “Velvet, if we can’t find my real mom and dad, will you and Blaze be my mom and dad?”

It caught me off guard, really off guard, the idea of adopting lost foals. All of a sudden I started thinking of all the lost foals scattered around the world, with no real idea who their pony parents were. Oh Celestia, what about the Pound's babies, what if they were sent here too.

“I think you and Blaze would be a great mommy and daddy for me.” Feather said then put her head tight against my side.

Gently I lay my head over Feather, than it hit me, Blaze as a daddy with me as… “Oh Feather, I don’t know, Blaze and I are just friends.”

“Nuh uh…” Feather kept with the child speech, “He loves you, he said so, he knows it every time he looks into your eyes. I think he’d make a great daddy. I don’t think I’m big enough pony wise to be on my own.”

Gulping heavily I looked at the LT, “Blaze?”

“No, I'm the LT, or James works in a pinch.” He said and gently put his and on my back stroking my fur gently.

“I mean,” ok what do I mean, shaking my head I start over. “Does Blaze actually?”

The LT chuckled softly, “It’s an unwritten rule with the squad right now, we are trying not to do anything that makes you doubt yourself or feel uncomfortable with being a girl.”

Softly he moved his hand to lay it right on my cutie mark, I know I said how personal those were, but I trusted him, and something about his hand just made me feel relaxed. Looking down at me he smiled, “We’ve been leaving it to you to figure out, if you want to get into a relationship with males or not. It’s something personal to you, for you to decide if you are really ready. It’s not for me to say, and military reg’s don’t cover ponies. Though married couples are allowed to serve together and be posted together. That’s the whole Join Spouse program after all.”

“Do I love him?” I said weakly.

“My little mare’s growing up and starting to think of boys,” the LT said with a smile. “Again that should be for you to decide, but if you’re looking for a suggestion, I’d say wait till your out of heat, make sure it’s your heart, and not your tail that’s deciding.”

Blushing a bit I look down and lay my head over Feather protectively. “Thanks dad.”

“You have a huge heart Velvet, you always have, and I think self-doubt has always been your problem here, wondering if you are good enough. Trust me, you are, I think you do love Blaze but you still need time to sort that out. It’s been less than a month, but if there’s one thing I do know, you’re a beautiful, kind, and gentle mare, and a wonderful mother. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

“How come you’ve never got married LT?” I said looking up, I knew I was getting into dangerous territory asking that, it was something I’ve always just taken for granted and never really thought about. He had been single as long as I’d known him, and never been one to chase after the girls.

“It’s probably going to sound stupid but, I never felt it fair to a woman to have to put up with me being gone for months, or even years on end. Often we are called out last minute, and the stress that puts on a relationship is huge.” Gently he stroked my cutie mark, “I’ve seen soldier after soldier return home, carrying the burdens of what he’s done, the lives he or she’s taken. It’s not something most people can understand.”

Shaking his head slowly he sighed, “I’m fine now, but I see soldiers suffering through nightmares and trauma of the battles they have fought, waking up in cold shivers from dark memories. To carry that home to a wife, I couldn’t do that. It’s not just those who get physically injured, there are more soldiers every year suffering from survivors guilt and PTSD.”

“LT, you can’t worry about things like that.” I say softly but I know he’s right, everyone has their breaking points… I don’t know how I’d deal with a spouse waking up screaming at night, for better or for worse often doesn’t include mental trauma’s like that.

“If your wife has gone through similar things through, and can understand.” I shake my head, so few women serve in front line combat though, and even fewer are put into positions like having to kill children. You can never tell what’s going to happen. “And as to dark memories, trust me, every pony out there probably knows that feeling waking up screaming about Discord's curse.”

“Maybe someday, when things calm down I’ll settle down.” Gently he boops my nose with his finger, “maybe it will be with someone who’s as brave and strong as you.”

“My daughter's off limits,” I say giggling, “she’s too young for you.”

*** Coast Guard RRB ***

As the Boat pulled up to the wharf lines were thrown across, to pull it tight to the dock, nothing going on was making any sense and it just kept getting stranger. Captain Harris had been informed that CID would be picking up the body, not Navy, not Coast Guard, not even FBI but Army was picking them up. ATF and FBI had vehicles there as well.

A Coast Guard Investigative Services officer met the Captain as he stepped off the boat, “What the hell did you step in Harris?”

“I’ve got no idea Jenny, I’m chasing down what I think is a drug boat that’s making a break for international waters, they dump cargo and instead of drugs I find this.” Kneeling down he flips the covers off the bag and showing her the body of the male pony.

“Dios mío!” Jenny knelt down touching the body, “What’s with the colors?”

The Army Ambulance staff came down with the stretcher, “Where’s the survivor?”

“She’s inside the cabin,” Harris said as they jumped onto the boat, even Jenny was confused when they went to work on the female pony, they had vet style breathing masks for her, they had blood pressure monitors on her foreleg, it was obvious they knew what they were doing.

“Get the contact on her ear and neck, I’ll get the ones for the barrel.” One of the EMT’s called out, “I want her vitals’ before we move her.”

The first EMT was flashing her eyes with a pen light, “Miss? Can you hear me? Pupils are responsive but she’s unconscious.”

“Get a the neck wrap blanket just to be safe.” The second called out and they put a blanket around her neck before strapping her to the stretcher board.

Watching, the pony was moved off the boat by stretcher then brought to an army ambulance, CID was still photographic the body when the FBI and ATF officers came on board.

“Sorry about this Captain, I’m Agent Mills with the ATF. We’re going to need the tracking photo’s for the go-fast you were chasing.”

“Ok this is BS, what the hell is going on here, what’s the ATF got to do with that?” Harris said pointing at the body.

“That? Nothing, CID is handling that. A radical militia groups in the USA has been getting their hands on high tech drugs, we didn’t know where they were coming from or what they were trading or paying for the drugs with, until now.” He said looking at the body.

“Ok just for a moment pretend I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. You’ve got EMT’s who are vet trained, talking horses, and drug runners going through the worst weather I’ve seen to get into international waters.”

“They are ponies and that’s a different issue, there’s a terrorist group that’s been operating in US Borders, they have attacked US Army personal as well as police in 3 different states. CID has been investigating them for about 2 weeks now, as well as the ATF for weapons violations. Recently they have started employing designer drugs, but we didn’t know where these were being made or how the group was paying for them.”

“And?” Harris was less then trilled right now and this wasn’t making his headache any better.

“And, as of today we think we’ve figured out the missing part, there is an Oceanic research vessel the RSV/MC Corvallis sitting about 300 miles off shore. She’s flagged to the Czech Republic, it's a flag of convenience, we think she’s acting as a mobile drug lab as well as a laboratory to carry out experiments on the ponies.”

“Well that helped with everything except one part. What the HELL is with the ponies?” Jenny said, then looked at Harris.

26: I Need Gravol

The sounds of the Badlands where Grandfather lives are unmistakable, he is far enough from Gallup that there were almost never any cars, no ATV’s running around, not even motor bikes come around here very often. We’re nestled on part of the Navajo Nations land, and technically under tribal law and rule. This means that instead of state police, it is native police officers.

I snuggle my chin over Feather, who is lying between my forelegs. Technically she's the same age as I am, if we go by earth ages but, it didn’t stop me from treating her like a foal, and really, she seemed to play up the foal part herself. I think she just liked the attention. It had also helped bringing her color back from the faded pink she had when she first arrived.

Blaze on the other hoof was lying beside me, a wing over my back again. I don’t know why but I’d grown to love the feeling of him having his wing over me. It was getting near dinner, so the only sounds I had expected to hear were those of Ah-Pee cooking. The sound of a VC-22 Osprey tilt wing landing outside was definitely not one of them.

Trotting out side we saw the black and navy blue aircraft touching down just off the roadway about 250 feet from the house, its rear ramp door lowering. A Captain hopped out of the back of the aircraft and ran over keeping on hand on his hat as he handed off an orders back to the LT.

“Ranger HO! Everyone on board this is an emergency call out, Sugarberry you’re in charge of the unicorn club, keep an eye on Feather. Security squad will be landing in 15 min to keep you covered, REST ON BOARD NOW!” The LT said waving his hand to the door.

The rangers hauled butt running for the Osprey, as me and Blaze stood blinking.

“Didn’t you hear me,” The LT said looking sternly at me and Blaze “Hall TAIL NOW!”

Without looking at each other Blaze and I ran on board, the Osprey was pretty cramped right now, there was a second 7 man team as well as 2 RIB’s in there already. The second team seemed genuinely shocked to see 2 ponies getting on the aircraft, not sure if it was because we were ponies, or because we were still in our PT Gear.

Headsets were handed out quick, it took some fidgeting but I managed to get mine to work by wearing them upside down, the noise cancellation in them let us hear what the Captain was saying. Everything was going on so fast though, usually briefings were not done on the fly like this. And with gear already in the plane I knew we weren’t stopping.

“About 6 hours ago, a US Coastguard Rapid Response was in pursuit of a suspected drug boat heading for international waters. The drug boat dumped its cargo overboard for better speed. It turns out the cargo was 2 ponies, 1 dead, one barely alive.”

Pulling down a Flat TV monitor the captain put up the picture of a large ship. “A P-3 Orion was able to pick up the go-fast and track it to a large ship, the RSV/MC Corvallis. It is believed that this ship has been supplying weapons and possibly drugs to terrorist groups operating within the USA. This ship has been declared a hostile target.”

Looking at Blaze I can only shake my head, normally operations like this take weeks of planning, this must be an emergency or high priority.

“Intelligence suspects that the ship is holding several ponies aboard for experimentation. Biological experimentation like this at sea is in direct violation of international laws, however the ship is flagged to the Czech Republic as such the likelyhood of their government taking action or sanctioning actions are slim to none.” Looking at the teams the captain shook his head, “Normally this operation would be a SEAL mission, but because of the situation, it was decided that this would be a joint SEAL and Ranger operation, the presence of shall we say, ‘friendly ponies’ is meant to defuse any situations with hostages.”

And now the other horseshoe drops, that’s why we are here.

“We will be dropping you about 22 miles from the ship, your job will be to approach, board the ship, eliminate any resistance, photograph and recover any documents you can as well as hostages. Once done scuttle the ship, your pickup will be a coast guard boat that’s on standby shadowing the ship at a range of 30 miles. They will begin their approach as soon as they detect the ships radar go down.”

“Primary targets are bridge, communications room, and engineering. Ranger team, you will be hitting the bridge and communications room. SEALs your jobs to make it below deck to the engine room and shut down main and backup power. Once done begin a sweep of the ship, labs and storage areas are mid ship.”

“Gear up folks, 3 hours till drop.”

*** over 1000 years ago, but under 2000 a nice Wednesday afternoon ***

Lilac was one of the younger does from Thicket but she was still proud, she had proven herself as a trusted seed collector and could identify most types on sight. Her coat was dark brown with the exception of a white heart on her left hip. While it was one of her fawn spots that had never really faded, to Starswirl it reminded him of a cutiemark, except it was only one side. Seriously, who would only have a cutie mark on just one side.

Rather than a water flask around her neck she had a turtle shell, attached to her neck by a soft pink silk strap. It was her pride and joy, her mom had given it to her when she was just a little fawn. She trotted beside Willow she nodded to Starswirl, “Hi sir, you called for seeds?”

“Actually no I didn’t but apparently Maple and Juniper wanted some to help the local’s, they wanted a few extra foods for some variety.”

Bowing her head she touched the side of the shell sliding the hidden clasp to open it revealing the seeds inside. “I brought some squash, sweet potatoes, beans, and a few other little vegetables. I also brought some Zap Apple seeds I really doubt I’ll use them but never a bad thing to carry.”

“What’s that big one?” Starswirl said leaning forward examining it.

“It’s a seed from the Heart Tree in Thicket, mom said as long as I carry it I’ll never be far from home.” Closing the case, she turned looking up at Willow, I’m ready sir.”

Stepping through the gate was every bit as horrible as Willow had warned, even Starswirl grumbled about having to do something about it. Looking around Lilac caught her first view of the alien world and forms. Maple was there wrapping a blanket around Lilac and laughing.

“Trust me, no fur is a pain at times, I don’t know how these bipeds survive.” Maple said with a smile helping Lilac to stand.

“Why does it look like I’ve had a fawn of my own?” Lilac said poking one of her udders.

“I have no idea, but all the female bipeds seem to have them.” Willow said with a chuckle.

Standing the group made their way down to the village, it was Lilac’s first time away from the forest and she was going to make the most of it. New seeds, new plants, as long as it was just for a day she could put up with this form, as long as she could explore a bit.

*** Velvet ***

The VC-22 flew in at 50 feet above the deck, the pilot and co-pilot had their lowlight gear on, the flight engineer was kneeling between the two of them, eyes on the Radar screen calling out ranges. They wanted to get as close as they could without being detected by radar.

“That’s it, hold it here!” Shifting to hover configuration the VC-22 rocked a bit as the rear ramp dropped.

In the payload bay, the green light game on, and the bay engineer pushed out the first of the 2 RIB’s, with that the SEAL team dropped into the water one by one. Once clear the second RIB was dropped and it was our turn.

Looking down I gave my gear one last check, this actually felt weird, but me and Blaze were ready for combat this time. The armor went around our chest and barrels with ceramic plates in the front and down between our forelegs. Our sides had layered armor that was strapped around our barrels covering our sides and back. Combat boots went up to the knee’s in front and back with protective caps over them. We both wore dark black suits, under the armor, and Ballistic plastic face shields protected our eyes and muzzles.

Looking down I teleported down onto the boat as the rangers jumped out, Blaze flapped down landing on the front of the boat and lay flat, I had started the engine and maneuvered the RIB to pick up the rangers as they dropped into the water.

One by one the team climbed onto the boat, as the LT took my place at the wheel. With a nod to the SEALs we started the engines and began our run, the waves were pretty high still cresting about 5 feet so we kept losing sight of the other RIB. This was a good thing because it meant a low chance of being spotted on radar by the ship. We had a 100 foot rope running between the boats, but it wasn’t there for keeping in contact with the other team. It was part of the attack plan.

As they approached the ship, they shut off their engines and started to drift, it only took about 10 min from where they stopped before the research vessel hit the line both boats were pulled and spun around till they were tight against the hull of the ship. Somali pirates came up with this trick for raiding tankers. And while you might think the line would just go under the ship, the “bulb” at the nose of the ships actually stops that. The mission was a go, and time to get to work.

Leaping off the RIB Blaze carried the ladder up the side of the ship and landed on the deck locking the grapple to one of the water drains on ship's rail. Teleporting up I took a watch position covering the other side. Staying tight to the superstructure I kept an eye out for deck patrols as the rest of our team started up the ladder.

Just as Eric came over the rail I saw one of the boat security personal coming around the corner, a merc in basic fatigues carrying an AK-107, basic combat helmet, and Kevlar. My horn lit and instantly the knife at my side launched out and struck him in the neck. Quickly I put my TK field around him and pulled him back towards me, the knife returning to its sheath as I moved the body overboard.

Eric knelt holding his P90, silencer attached, lasers were not turned on at this time. I knew why, the mist in the sea air would show the beams so anyone in a side corridor would see them. We had been issued P90’s because they have far better penetration against body armor then the 9mm’s the older Mp5’s use.

Jay and Henry came up covering my side and finally the LT and Sanchez. Moving slowly Sanchez took point covering the first cross corridor as we passed holding that point. The first door we came to on the superstructure was dark, but Eric held there covering. Looking up the stairs the LT pointed to Blaze.

Nodding once Blaze jumped off the side of the ship and flapped up landing on the top level behind the bridge, moving up he could see 3 crew members in the wheelhouse. Crawling low he held his wing over the stairs for a few seconds then flashed it 3 times, extending and retracting it. Then he held his wing out and made a sweeping motion with it before crawling back.

The LT motioned forward as Jay, and Henry moved upstairs followed by me and finally the LT. Keeping low, Jay and Henry made their way to either side of the bridge door. Kneeling the LT opened the bridge door. Quickly Henry and Jay put 3 rounds into each of the crew, while silencers do not actually eliminate sound, the ship noises as well as noise from the sea drowned out the shots.

Blaze moved down the stairs partly and waved Sanchez and Eric up, the bridge was clear and quickly we shut down the Radar systems. The signal for the Coastguard to begin their approach, let’s hope they were on the ball.

I moved back watching the rear door to the bridge, putting my TK around the knife just in case, I could fire the knife with about the same energy as a bullet; we found that out with the pillows. Moving back now we began our room by room sweep, sticking with knives as much as possible, we didn’t want to alert everyone at once. The more small groups we could take out, the safer we would be.

“Who are…” Was all he got out before my knife hit the guards neck, again using my TK I pull him into a side room out of the way and put my knife back in its sheath. Honestly I should consider carrying a few of those, for close combat under 50 feet they are perfect.

I was just turning around when I heard the explosion, all the ships lights shifted to red as main and aux power went down. The emergency lights gave the halls an eerie look, as people started running out into the halls.

Short controlled burst to the center mass then head. The 5.7mm AP rounds used by the FN P90’s were very effective in these close ranges, even the light body armor the security was using hardly provided any protection against them. I could always tell when Jay or Sanchez was firing, they preferred the double tap method rather then bursts, firing 2 rounds fast.

For Blaze and I, though, it was keeping our heads down. I could see how frustrated Blaze was at this point, no room to maneuver, not able to fly, and no way to shoot back, all he could do was keep his head down.

We had just reached a wide corridor when the LT held up his hand, and ducked back, a large volley of fire hitting the bulkhead sending a shower of sparks and fragments around the area. Looking back at us the LT signaled, “5+ targets, defensive line, both sides.”

*** Almost 27 years ago ***

Several green bolts of energy whipped by splashing against the wall, the pegasus guard captain shook his head, “14 maybe more. No way we are getting down there.”

“Damn changelings, were cut off from the armory, and they have range on us.” The sergeant called from the other side of the corridor. “Were going to have to do something soon or…”

“Hey boys, get ready to move on my call.” I said nodding to the Captain.

“Velvet shouldn’t you be in the shelter?”

“What shelter? These things are everywhere, and I’m EUP remember?” Glancing around the corner I had to pull my head back quick to avoid incoming fire.

“Yep there’s a lot of them missy.” One of the younger pegasii said.

“I wonder if Pinkie Pie planned this,” I smile looking over at the Captain.

“Planned an invasion on the wedding day? Are you nuts?” The Captain called back.

“Well you know, she wanted to make this fun for everyone, and I haven’t had this much fun in years!”

“Fun?” The young pegasii said looking shocked.

“On my flanks, this is going to go close combat fast.” Taking a deep breath I threw up a shield wall in front of the hall and leaped behind it.

Quickly the rest formed up behind me, walking the shield forward gave the pegasi the mobile cover they needed to get in close to the changelings where they could fight hoof to hoof. This tactic wasn’t new, Inkwell had taught me about it when she stood with Celestia in the battle against the Night Army when she was little.

Glancing over to the younger pegasii the Captain spoke firmly. “And that little missy is Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armors mom. Now you know where they get it from.”

*** Present day hell ***

Blinking I shoot my head then threw up the shield wall in front of the corridor, “LT, partial cover to cross.”

“Eric, Jay, cross over keep low below the shield.” The LT nodded to me as they ran across, keeping low, the shield was only 4 feet high allowing Jay and Henry to shoot over it providing suppressing fire.

Moving to stand behind the field I started walking it forward, giving us mobile cover Blaze was quick to move beside me, to provide close guard.

“Rangers ADVANCE!” The LT called out and moved up as well. Suppressing fire keeping the security pinned down while we moved up for the kill shots. It only took a few minutes to secure the corridor, before I ducked into a side room panting a bit.

“You ok Corporal?” The LT called checking in on me.

“Oh fine, I just need more practice with that.” I said with a giggle.

“Where did that one come from?” Blaze said looking at me concerned.

“Inkwell taught it to all of us in the EUP, it was a standard offensive maneuver. Something about the fight made me remember using it with the guards at my daughter wedding.” I said looking up.

“LT we’ve got hostages!” Eric called out.

Looking over we found a security room with 5 ponies inside, 4 earths and a unicorn, though none of them looked in good shape. Underfed, beaten, their manes hung limply around their faded bodies.

“Where are the SEALs!” Henry called out as he fired off a few rounds down a side corridor.

“Late as always, Henry trade places with Sanchez, check the hostages make sure they can move.” The LT called out.

As Henry started to fall back, a grenade bounced off the wall, flatting my ears I threw up a shield between it and Henry as Sanchez yelled the warning.

The Shield diverted the explosion away from the team but the sound was still loud enough to have our ears ringing. I dropped the shield shaking my head trying to clear it from the bang, while Sanchez picked himself off the ground and started returning fire again.

“That was to close.” I say panting a bit harder.

“LT, Velvet, over here!” Jay called from the room across from where the prisoners were kept.

Inside the room, was lab tables bolted to the floor, cameras, monitors, and surgical tools. On one of the tables the body of a unicorn, horn cut off, partly cut open its cutie mark and fur colors faded almost beyond recognition. The foal couldn’t have been more than a few years old pony wise, maybe a year younger than Sweetie Belle. She had probably just earned her mark before the curse, and now…

“There held up in what looks like a mess hall.” Sanchez called back. “The SEAL team is on the corridor on the other side.”

“Jay, get photographs of all of this, and grab any laptops, thumb drives, or such you can find. Velvet… ah hell where’s Velvet!”

I walked calmly up beside Sanchez throwing a shield to cover part of the door and stood looking across the room. I could see the where the security personal were using tables for cover, a few lab personal were in there too also shooting.

“She’s up here LT,” firing over the shield he ducked back as a few rounds bounced off the shield.

What kind of creatures would experiment on a foal, what kind of monsters would do that? Stepping back behind cover I reached out with my TK, dropping the shield, I knew I could grab several different things at once, it wasn’t hard especially if they were light. Jerking my head once as I pulled, I collected the rings in a ball in front of me and slammed both the doors shut.

The LT looked down at me, “What did you do?”

“Ever see X-men United?” I said coldly, dropping all of the grenade pins at the LT’s feet.

The door muffled the sounds of the explosions inside the mess hall. The SEALS on the other side had stopped firing and I heard the calls of all clear.

Eric blinked a few times, “Ok that was excessive.”

I was about to open my mouth when Blaze turned winged flared, “Are you kidding me? They got off easy, take a look in the room over there, where they were dissecting a unicorn foal.”

The LT put his hands on my neck and Blazes, “Eric, you know the feeling, think of the village in Khandahar after the Taliban got it.”

“Yeh I know, I’m not saying it was wrong or nothing, just took me by surprise.” He said, “And you know my view of explosives. Only what you need.”

Looking back at the survivors I recognized one, a pink and blue pony with a lotus mark, but there was only one here. My heart sank wondering if her sister had already been…

“Taxi’s here!” One of the SEALs called out.

“Blaze, you’re up,” the LT called out.

Nodding Blaze gave one last look to Eric then grabbed the first pony flying them down to the coast guard craft.

Captain Harris had the boat as close to the larger ship as he could safely hold it, the large open aft deck was a perfect spot for Blaze to land and hand off each pony. One by one, Harris’s crew brought the ponies inside and down into the survivors' compartment ahead of the bridge.

Pulling away the Coast Guard boat held position about 1000 feet away.

I stood on the deck watching before our team started down the ladder our RIB, once everyone was on board I teleported down to the RIB myself and lay flat against the bow again. Blaze was quick to join me putting a wing over me to keep me warm and safe, but I just felt sick.

Eric leaned past us and cut the rope so our ship broke away from the research vessel and the LT kicked in the engines, the SEAL RIB pulled up beside us, and nodded pointing back.

Looking over my shoulder I saw the flashes of light, as the charges ripped through the hull, tearing huge holes in the side of the ship below the waterline. In the movies there’s always these great fireballs, this huge victorious spout of flames going high into the air, but this isn’t the movies. This was flashes of light followed by the sound of the explosion and rending of metal… water flooding into the engine room and storage areas. The listing and slow death of the RSV/MC Corvallis, as it sank beneath the waves.

Pulling up beside the Coast guard motor boat lines were thrown over to us to tie off. Even if we had full tanks of gas, we’d never have the range to make it back to shore. Towing us was the only option, least till we got near port.

Hugging me tighter with his wing, I leaned into Blaze. His wings always made me feel safe and better, it was like they could take the worst pain away. Closing my eyes I moved my muzzle as close as I could to him without the armor interfering, than let myself drift off to sleep.

*** Multiple Threat Alert Center (MTAC) ***

“How did it go?” Brigadier General Wilson’s face came up on the screen.

“Ship’s gone down 322 miles off the coast. 2 SEALs injured, no rangers injured.” The Marine commander said.

“Coastguard boat 45652 has 5 equines on board, 2 will need ambulance, other 3 are not critical but need medical care.” Investigator Jenny Mathews spoke up from the Coast Guard Investigative Services office in California.

“Good I’ll have ambulances standing by at port. As well as transport for my team.” Wilson said with a nod.

“I still want to know why the Coast Guard hasn’t been fully read into this.” Jenny said looking sternly at the screen.

“Simple, because we didn’t know the drugs were…”

“That’s NOT what I’m referring to, intelligent horses seems like a small detail to miss.” Jenny spoke, her voice carrying the ire she was feeling right now.

“Sorry Agent, I guess no one in the Coast Guard turned into one, or it they did it didn’t go through the channels there.” The marine commander stated.

“What do you mean turned into one? Are you telling me these were people?” Jenny thought back to the one she saw dead on the boat.

“Yep, several dozen changed about 3 weeks ago or so. We don’t know the exact number, but certain groups have been carrying out experiments on… them. Most of the experiments would be classified as crimes against humanity, but because they aren’t human anymore there’s a loophole. This is the first case of trafficking of them we’ve seen, but keep your eyes open… there may be cases of smuggling or trafficking of them on boats now.” Wilson shook his head.

“Captain Harris said one of them was wearing combats.” Jenny narrowed her eyes.

“Oh yeh, no that’s one of ours, a ranger, don’t worry about him. I have a meeting now with joint chiefs.” Standing up the Generals monitor went blank.

One by one the monitors cleared in MTAC, leaving the NCIS director looking at the images of the sinking ship. “As if we don’t have enough problems to worry about around the world, now we have this?”

27: More then just Ships can sink.

The idea that they can just pick us up via Osprey, but not drop us back off is just cruel. The survivors were taken to a military hospital for treatment, and us, we get a flight back from California to Gallup in a C-12. Even the Osprey is faster and roomier than a C-12. All a C-12 is, is a stripped down King Air A200, with jump seats, and cargo space.

Blaze, of course, is even less thrilled about this than I am, while he got to fly short hops on the mission, they still want him grounded for a while longer, to make sure he is healed. That meant he gets to sit inside with the rest of us. Really, if there is a flying class lower than coach, I think I’ve just found it.

Grumbling I look at the LT, who is sitting across from us, “LT why can’t they make these seats comfortable for us ponies?”

“Maybe it’s because until three weeks ago there weren’t any ponies on Earth?” Shaking his head he chuckles, “I know you’re frustrated but we’re almost there.”

“Yeah, the girls are going to meet us at the airport with the vehicles. I know. I just can’t get the image of what they did to that foal out of my mind.” I just shake my head, “How many more do you think are out there in situations like that?”

“No idea, but at least the Brigadier General is keeping his word about missions and us working together.” Smiling softly, the LT nods, “You did great out there.”

“Wow, I was expecting to get yelled at after some of the stunts I pulled.” Looking up through my forelocks innocently, nothing I did was by the book.

“There was no training, or pre-planning for this strike for the most part, we had no intel on the inside of the ship, so we had to wing it, as such I’m not going to yell at you for winging it in places. You didn’t risk yourself or the squad. Just warn me next time you want to try out a new spell.”

“Warn you?” Blinking I tilt my head.

“Definitely, I want to have the medical teams ready, evac, hospital room prepped, and trauma teams on stand by. Given your track record with trying new spells and blowing yourself up, it’s best to be prepared.” Laughing, the LT leans over and ruffles my mane.

I let out a huff and pout, “I’m not that bad.”

The aircraft jolts and rocks a bit as it comes in for a landing, a grumbling Blaze sits up “Oh come on, it’s just a 19 knot cross wind.”

Gently I thump Blaze on the head with a hoof, “It’s a plane not a pegasus, let the humans fly.”

“See this is why I started hating flying in planes, it bugs my internal compass, weather sense, and instincts. I can FEEL when the pilots do something, and my mind just jumps to what they are doing wrong. Even if they are flying the plane right, it’s wrong for a pegasus.”

“And this is why pegasi make the worst passengers.” I say, laughing and then get my head thrown down and to the side hard as we hit the ground. I’ve heard the term before, it’s called a greaser, the only problem is I’ve heard it used both ways. A gentle landing has been referred to as greasing the landing… But I knew for a fact the term started way back in World War Two, when people would land planes so hard, they would push the grease right out of the landing pistons. I’m pretty sure I’d qualify this as the latter.

“Jesus,” Blaze rubs his neck, “Talk about slamming it down hard.”

Getting out of the plane, I barely get four steps before Cipher pounces. Hugging me as tight as she could. Looking around I see the other girls waiting and smiling brightly. I had been thinking about them on the trip but I didn’t realize how much support we had given each other, until now.

Hugging Cipher back, I waved the rest over and we have a group hug, right under the wing of the airplane. “I’m fine girls, and we saved a group, they are in the hospital now.”

“We didn’t want to go without you guys.” Ah-Pee says, smiling.

“Go? Oh the farm, yeah.” Nodding I looked at them, then I tilt my head.

“Luna showed up again last night, told us we needed to get there if we could.” Sugarberry said, “So we’re fueled and ready to go.”

“Last night? She didn’t tell us.” Blaze says, blinking.

“Blaze, we finished the mission about 2 a.m. I didn’t nod off till about 3 for a nap, and even that kept being interrupted by the waves, and noise.” I shook my head, “we likely were awake when she called.”

“LT, you know you don’t have to come with us for this right?” I say, looking up at him.

“Nonsense, we were ordered to provide security to you. Remember?” Smiling he heads over, getting into one of the two JLTV’s.

Smiling we all pile into the vehicles, if Luna wants us there, we had better shake our tails. Though I wonder why she’d want a motley group like us. Getting in the back I squeak and hug Feather, the girls have her wrapped in a blanket and tucked on a pillow in the JLTV as well. I don’t think they would leave her behind, but seeing her just made me feel better, and forget the mission.

Moving her over, I lay in the back on one side of her and motion to Blaze.

Blaze laughs and hops up on the other side putting his wing over the two of us, “Better?”

“Much, thanks Rainbow.”

Feather yawns, looks up and giggles, “Hi mommy, hi daddy.”

*** 1000 years ago, while it should be Wednesday it’s more likely a Thursday morning ***

It’s well past midnight when the group of deer start heading back to the gate. With the help of the water, and the seeds Lilac brought, the locals should have enough food to last them at least several months, as well they can start storage for the winter.

While Lilac appears as a human in her teens she still acts like a fawn, bouncing and bounding, looking at things as the group travels. The native’s had provided the deer with clothing made from plant fibers, dyed in different colors with berry juices. In reality though the deer couldn't wait to get their own fur back

“Lilac, come back here.” Maple smiles softly, “We are all eager to get our hooves back on familiar ground but we don’t need to bound around so much.”

“It’s okay, we’re almost there,” Cedar says, putting his hand on Maple’s shoulder. “And she’s just being a fawn, she’s only out of her spots for a year now.”

“I know, but think of what her parents would do to us if we let anything happen to her.” Maple says, “I’m not a fan of being banished from Thicket, it’s our home.”

Lilac giggled, “Come on, you are as slow as ponies.”

“Hey now, that’s just mean.” Juniper says, and bounds after her, playing on the pathway with the younger one.

Reaching the standing stones they see the large marble facing polished to a shine, and they smile. Home is just though that, and then they can relax. Cedar walks up and puts his hand against it, then stops, blinking.

“What’s wrong?” Maple asks, looking at him.

“It’s not working, I can’t go through… it’s solid.” He says, hitting it gently.

“It can’t be.” Juniper says, running up and feeling it. “It’s our only way home.”

Lilac looks at them, then runs up, pushing herself against it as hard as she can, before hitting it with her hands, but the stone won’t budge, it won’t let her through. Slowly she sinks to the ground, starting to cry, still hitting the stone weakly. “Mommy… Dad.”

Maple kneels, putting her hand on Lilac’s shoulder. Lilac shrugs it off, cuddling tighter to the stone, crying harder.

“Maybe Starswirl’s just making an adjustment and will be back soon.” Maple says, looking at Lilac.

Shaking her head she cries softly, “I want my mommy.”

***On the other side of the portal, Still 1000 years ago***

Willow trots up, meeting Starswirl outside the Castle of the Two Sisters. It is early morning, but he had been up getting his ear chewed off for the last hour by the King. As he approaches, Starswirl turns and starts trotting for the wall, the bells on his hat and cloak jingling as he trots.

“New addition?” Willow says, with a chuckle.

Starswirl looked over and nods, “Orders of the Princess of the Night, she’s tired of me sneaking up on her.”

“Ouch, well they do kind of look neat.” Willow snickers.

“Honestly I think I’ll keep them, just to stand out a bit.” Looking at the wall, he nods, opening it with his magic before trotting down the ramp into the lab.

“Cedar and Pine didn’t come back last night?” Willow said.

“I’ve been in the lab all night working, I didn’t hear them come through the mirror. I was just going to go through and check up on them.” Starswirl says, heading over to the portal.

Starswirl smacks his face against the mirror, he stops for a moment, then backs up and pushes his hoof against the mirror. “Oh boy.”

“What’s wrong?” Willow looks at the mirror, then at Starswirl.

Closing his eyes, Starswirl touches his horn to the gate, concentrating. The glow from his horn reflecting off of the mirror. Concentrating hard he tries to find the link, tries to follow it back to the other world.

“Starswirl, what’s going on?” Willow growls.

Trotting over to his book shelf, Starswirl pulls down several scrolls, opening them and starts reading. “That was unexpected, the link is still there, still active, but the dimensions have drifted and something is between them. It’s like a cloud drifting in front of the sun, until it passes I can’t open it.”

“How long, when can you open it again?”

Starswirl shakes his head, “It should open again on its own, but I can’t tell when just yet, it will take some research, don’t worry, I’ll get them back.”

“Starswirl, Lilac is the Kings daughter, if you’ve lost her…” Willow shakes his head, “the king could ban us from ever talking to the ponies again. A violation of trust like this could take centuries to repair.”

“I’ll work on it, I swear, even if I have to make another mirror I’ll find a way.” Starswirl looks to Willow. “It will just take time.”

Willow lowers his head, “I’ll tell the King, with luck we can still work together to save the young princess. If he orders me not to talk to you again though, he is my King. I must follow his orders.”

“I understand Willow, tell the King this was an accident, I will not stop until I can get a portal to get her back.” Starswirl starts pulling down more scrolls, looking at them intently.

***Velvet***

We pull up out of sight of the farm. Rolling up in military tactical vehicles will send the wrong message. We really don’t want to send ponies running for the hills, thinking the military is coming to take them away. Likely few of the ponies here had any human contact since their change.

I Jump out of the back of the JLTV, and telekineticly pick up Feather, putting her on my back. All of us ponies are in military uniforms, but the LT has the Rangers take off their berets, and put on civilian jackets.

Trotting down the road we see the farm sign swinging, ‘Mac & Applejack’s Pony Farm: Hooves Welcome! Any persons caught trespassing will be fined on sight.’ Glancing at Ah-Pee I giggle softly, “Well, this must be the place.”

Cipher stops, looking up at the sign and sighs, “I guess we aren’t welcome here.”

“Whatcha mean by that?” Ah-Pee looks at Cipher, “It’s the Apple farm.”

“Yeah but I don’t have an hour glass cutie mark. I’m not one of the Hooves family.” She huffs.

Covering my muzzle with a hoof I shake my head. “Cipher, how long were you waiting to make that one?”

Giggling, we trot onto the farm, almost right away we notice cars, minivans, and even some small RV’s parked up on the property, it looks like some kind of a cross between a rock concert parking lot, and auto-scrap yard waiting to happen.

As we crest the hill we see them, ponies, by the hundreds. They have a soup kitchen set up outside, it looked like several are coming and going from the barn though they are all avoiding the stables. There are even a few at the farm house. There are some humans here, but the ponies far outnumber them, likely friends or family that helped them through the change and to get here.

There are a few I recognized from the cartoon, I’m sure a brony could call them off by heart. The white pony with pink mane and tail and a red cross for a cutie mark for example, I had seen her in a few episodes, though she was wearing what looked like a marine beret and jacket. She is helping out with some who were injured.

There is one who looks like an off colored Rainbow Dash, mustard yellow with a multi-toned grey mane and tail, I wish I could remember her name. She is on the cover of the novel Blaze got. She is wearing an RAN uniform, their disruptive camo is always pretty distinctive, though I didn’t notice any hoof boots. If she changed on a ship, her hooves must have been sliding all over the place. The rubber sole of the hoof boots, or hoof shoes we got at least provide us grip on steel decking.

Come to think of it, I wonder if the HMAS Hammersley is a real ship. Watching her go, I figure it best not to bother her, she is an officer, and pretty famous from the show. She’s probably been pestered enough for autographs as is.

I hear what can only be described as a fangirl squeal and snap my head over to see a little white unicorn charging towards us. Note to self, don’t snap your head around like that. I end up almost eating my own ponytail as the little unicorn skids to a stop.

“Oh wow, you’re Rainbow Dash’s dad! That’s so cool, do you know what she was like when she was little? Where you there when she did her first sonic rainboom? What was she like?” The filly starts in.

“Oh I um…” Blaze takes a step back from the overenthusiastic unicorn foal.

“I’m Little Horn by the way. Just wait till I tell you about how we got here,” the foal keeps talking, hardly giving Blaze a chance to get a word in edgewise.

Ah-Pee blinked and rears up on her hind legs to get a better look over the area, “Hey I think I see Big Mac, I’ll be back in a sec, I wanna go say hi. Being an Apple and all, ya know.”

Sitting quietly, I watch as the Unicorn Club starts mingling, chatting with other ponies to find out what’s going on. Very gently I set Feather between my front legs. “You ok with me? Or do you want to mingle too?”

Feather looks up with a yawn, “I’m ‘kay.”

Looking across the field I giggle and point out Berry Shine to Feather, she is carrying Pinchy on her back while talking to a pair of unicorns. “Look, that’s your earth pony twin.” I giggle and nuzzle Feather Pinch.

Looking up she boops my nose with her hoof and giggles, shaking her head no.

A pink pegasus, with a darker pink mane and tail, the same mane style and colors as Berry Shine or Berry Punch comes trotting up to me, tilting her head. Looking over at Berry Shine, she looks back to Feather Pinch and giggles softly, “I never knew if Berry and Pinchy were sisters or mother and daughter. Now I’m wondering if I’m related to Berry Shine or you.”

Gulping softly, I lift my foreleg so she can see Feather better, “Do you know her?”

“Only from the show, it’s one of the problems with some of us background ponies, there just isn’t enough information, we only appear in one scene without a name, so family ties aren’t established.” She says, sighing softly.

Looking back to Feather she gives her a small nuzzle “Berry and Pinchy compete together in the Sisterhooves Social, so they’re likely sisters. That means we could be sisters too,” She giggles softly, then cringes, “Unless I’m the mother of all of you… I don’t even know how old I am as a pony. This so sucks.”

Feather takes a step forward to nuzzle Feather Shine, then turns to look back at me.

“It’s ok Feather, you can play with her a while, I won’t take offense.” I lie. I’m not really lying, I wouldn’t take offense but in some ways I am hoping I can keep her with me, I like playing mother to her, and right now I really don’t want to be alone.

Even the LT right now is talking with Fleetfoot. So, as Feather slowly walks off with the older pegasus, I just sit looking at the group. Feeling totally alone and vulnerable. Like no one really wants to bother with me. It’s stupid, I know, looking around I see Blaze, but he has a few foals around him now as Little Horn keeps occupying his attention. Lying down, I put my head on my forelegs, not sure what place I have here.

I hear the hoof steps coming up behind me and I turn my head slightly. An azure blue unicorn is slowing and tilting his head, looking at me for a long moment, his mane is a darker blue. Lifting my head I blink and gulp. Not now, please not now.

The universe doesn’t listen to my silent plea, “Velvet? Interesting.” He says calmly.

“Yes? What’s interesting?” My voice quavers in response.

“Well, you are my wife apparently, my mare. Mare to my foals, are you not?”

“25 years ago.” I say softly, “I’m not the same Velvet that I was then, I think.”

Leaning down, he sniffs my mane, sending a cold shiver down my back. “Well, you’ve been delivered back to me safely. I may not remember you yet, but it’s nice that you are safe.”

“Umm, it’s nice that you are safe too.” I don’t feel well, all of a sudden.

“It will be enjoyable to get to know you again, my wife.” Sitting on his haunches, he puts his hoof on my croup and rubs. I’m not in heat anymore, but that is still a tender place to rub, and he knows it.

“Please, don’t.” I say quickly and move away a bit.

“Why? You are my wife after all.” He speaks calmly and deliberately, “Discord’s curse separated us. But that does not change what is.”

I shake my head quickly, “No I’m not.”

“Allah has delivered you to me, you and I were legally married, and never divorced. That means you are still my wife.” Standing, he walks over to me again, “Do not worry, the tenets teach us how to treat our wives properly.”

Taking a step back, I gulp. I look at my hip, thinking of my cutie mark all I could feel was pain. I look back at Night Light slowly, “No, I’m sorry, this is a new life, I don’t want to be your wife.”

“You want? What about your duty? Duty to our foals? Duty to me? Do you care about your foals?” He walks forward towards me. “Do you care about Twilight?”

Backing up, I stumble and end up sitting, the purple in my mane starting to fade a bit, “Of course I care about her, she’s my baby.”

“Then you admit she’s your baby, as such I must be your husband. That has not changed.”

“Yes it has, I don’t want to be married to you. I want to be free to choose.” I say, shaking my head with tears in my eyes. Even though hidden from sight, the purple stars of my cutie mark had slowly started fading to grey.

“What would Twilight say? What would Shining Armor say? Shall I go to Shining and tell him you don’t want to be a family anymore?” He says loudly, “Is it fair to them?”

Crying hard, I shake my head, “It’s not but it’s not fair to me either. I want my own life, I want to be their mom, but I want to choose who I am with.”

Blaze slams to the ground, his wings flared wide, “Leave her be!” He yells.

“She’s my wife, do not interfere, this is about family and Allah’s Will.” Night Light responds.

“No, this is about her and her rights.” Blaze shouts.

Night Light’s eyes narrow as his horn starts to glow, “She is my wife, the mare of my children, I claim her as mine.”

“I’m my own pony!” I cry, shaking my head. Only vaguely noticing that several other ponies have stopped to watch.

“I did not travel from Pakistan to be denied my rightful wife.” The blue unicorn shouts as he fires a bolt at Blaze.

Turning quickly, Blaze takes the bolt in his wing, its energy dispersing across the charge he had built up.

“You don’t love her, I DO! She is EVERTHING to me! And I’m sure Sparkle and Shining will understand that!” Blaze growls, his body and head low, ready to rush forward.

Night Light turns, snarling, “You shall be punished for your defiance infidel.” He storms, heading for the farm house.

Watching him go I stand up, “Blaze…”

Turning, he snorts, “He shouldn’t treat you like that. You are too special.”

“You love me?” Taking a step towards him I look into his eyes, I think he is stunned by his own words.

“No… I mean… I couldn’t let him… Yes, I do, and want to stay with you. I want to be with you.”

Gently I tuck my muzzle under his, pressing my face into him, “I want to be with you too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Lifting my head I look into his eyes again, then I touch my nose to his, giving him a kiss.

*** LT James Fisher ***

Chuckling, James heads over to Fleetfoot and kneels beside her, “Feather survived, she’s still got a lot to work though, and I think she’s going to need counselling big time.”

“Oh thank God, I saw the mare Blaze saved, she dropped a colt.”

“Ouch. Well it could have been worse.” James chuckles, “Picture if she had started all of this as a guy.”

Fleetfoot blinks a few times, trying to process that one before falling on her side laughing. “Oh my God you are twisted.”

“Well Velvet started as a guy, Wally, but turned into a strong and brave mare. I think she’ll do fine, and really I’d fight to have her stay in my unit.” James looks over to where Velvet is laying before looking back down at Fleetfoot.

“Apparently the kids are going to see if they can find the gate.”

“The kids?” James blinks, looking confused.

“You know, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Velvet and Blazes kids.”

“Really, what happens if they find it?” James gently puts his hand on Fleetfoot’s neck, stroking it.

“We go through and retake Equestria.” She says softly.

Shaking his head James keeps stroking, “You don’t sound confident, or do you not want to go through the gate.”

“I don’t know, Discord is a God. He’s had 25 years to prepare. I don’t know what we are going to face, but it’s definitely nothing I’ve been trained for.”

“How are you handling it? Are you okay with the idea of going through the gate?” James moves to scratch behind her ear, she finds herself leaning into the scratching, her eyes half closing in pleasure.

Blinking slowly she closes her eyes, “I’m a Wonderbolt, it’s my duty.”

“Duty, obligation, responsibility, these words are used all too often as justification to do what you don’t want to do. At the same time though I wonder, how many ponies are or were part of the military? Are active members under military contract? This could end with lots of ponies being listed as AWOL, and never being able to return to Earth.” James shakes his head slowly, “I understand the need to go home, but knowing they can never visit again because they will be arrested.”

“I still have a year left on my current contract.” Fleetfoot says and sighs, “If I go I’ll never be able to see my parents again, my sister.”

“They might be able to visit you.”

“What would you do?” Fleetfoot asks, putting her hoof into his hand.

“Hey I’m just a dumb grunt, infantry… You do the flying, we do the dying. If I had to choose, I’d look at who all was going, who had the training, and decide based on where I’d be needed the most at that time.”

“Roughnecks ho?” Fleetfoot says with a weak giggle.

“Rangers ho.”

Perking her ears, she sits up quickly looking over at Velvet as Night Light is forcing her back. Seeing this, James stands up quickly, “Ah Hell, this can’t be good.”

Starting to step forward, Feetfoot quickly puts a wing on James to hold him back, “One sec, Blaze is going over.”

James looks back down at Fleetfoot, “Those two are close, this could get volatile fast. I don’t know about the Velvet of the past but this one is a Ranger, if she gets pushed too hard, she can kill.”

“Velvet, she seems so…” Fleetfoot starts.

Shaking his head James simply states, “She got pissed off and telekinetically pulled all of the pins of grenades on a room full of enemy combatants.”

Throwing hear ears forward, Fleetfoot starts giggling, “Oh, oh.”

“What, my ears aren’t as good as a ponies.”

“Blaze just said he loves her and won’t let Night Light hurt her.” Fleetfoot giggles softly, “Spring love.”

28: A Reflection in Motion

I stand beside Blaze, his wing over me, holding me close as I listen to Big Mac and my son announce that the gate is confirmed. My son. In some ways I just want to run over and hug him tightly, but I know he doesn’t know me, he wouldn’t recognize me.

I only have a few fleeting memories of him, ghosts from past dreams, but I still feel so proud of him. For all he’s done, I really did wish he could recognize me. With what is coming though, to take back Equestria, I don’t think he needs the burden.

Ah-Pee trots up beside me, “I heard you finally admitted it.”

Blaze and I blush very hard, it probably could have been more public. He could have done that on national TV. As it was there were likely about 60 or 70 ponies who heard us declare our feelings.

Cipher giggled bouncing up on the other side of us, “Somewhere Bronies are screaming about their waifu.”

“Wait, what?” I looking at Cipher in confusion.

“Never mind, internet stuff.” She says with an innocent smile.

Calling out direction to the gate, Big Mac asks that anyone with extra room in vehicles help transport ponies. And there are a lot of them here. Even with the parking lot of cars I wasn’t sure if everyone would fit.

“LT can we pack a few into the JLTV’s?” I say, looking over at him.

“Yep, we can probably take an extra six or so with us. Though I wonder why the pegasi aren’t just going to fly there.” The LT says, looking down at Fleetfoot.

“Radar signature of that many pegasi heading there, we’d have the military all over there in no time. I think we want to get as many ponies through the gate before any conflict happens.”

“Point, I keep forgetting the vast majority of the military and civilians don’t know about you guys.”

“And more than a few out there still want to do us harm.” Ah-Pee sighs.

Eric chuckles softly, “Hey not all humans are bad. I personally know a few that are nice.”

“Prove it,” Cipher says with a giggle.

“Ok, easy, I won’t make you walk back to the JLTV’s.” Turning, he grabs Henry by the arm, “Come on, let’s go get them and bring them up to the parking lot.”

*** Early 1830 ***

The Colonel looked down across the scrub land from his horse, members of B Company of the Mounted Ranger Battalion have been pushing southwest after hostiles. There had been reports of raids against several settler wagons in the area, and Colonel Richardson is going to put a stop to it.

“Sir, village down there, mostly farmers, Hopi I think. We’re way too far south for the Lokota. They don’t travel into this area.”

“We had word that they were raiding from this area, now we find a village right here.” The Colonel said.

Spurring his horse he turned, riding down towards the village “Fan out, search the huts, if they resist kill them. If you find any weapons confiscate them by act of the US Congress.”

Quickly the force moved around the small village. The natives here looked on in fear, unsure of what was going on, one of the Ranger scouts called out in Hopi, “We are looking for warriors that have been attacking settlers north of here.”

An old man walked forward bowing his head, responding, in Hopi. “Please, we are a farming community, we honor the spirits of the land, we do not fight or raid.”

Several of the rangers began searching huts, causing many of the women and children to start crying. Using their rifle butts, several of the rangers grouped the men together to ensure control of the situation.

“Sir, nothing but a few hand axes’, and farming tools,” the sergeant called from one of the huts.

“Runner!” One of the rangers called out, and 3 quickly turned to follow the person as they ran up a ravine.

Grabbing his rifle, the Colonel turned and took aim. Firing a single shot the sound echoed up the ravine. As the native fell he smiled, “Check him and see where he was going.”

One little girl, probably no older than six, broke free and ran to the body crying and hugging it.

Dismounting, the Colonel walked over to the body as one of the younger rangers searched it. “No weapons sir, just this.” He said holding up an ancient wooden water flask. The metal bands around it had tarnished but still showed a bit of the spiral engravings on them.

Taking the flask the Colonel examined it, and then dropping it to the ground he crushed it under foot, “Tell them this is what happens to those that defy the Congress. If they don’t like it, move further south."

“Sir, you might want to see this,” the sergeant called down from the hill side in up higher in the ravine.

Moving up the Colonel whistled, there were several smaller marble blocks as well as one large one probably weighing several tons scattered around. Several small wooden dolls of different creatures and deer lay around the area or sat on the rocks.

One of the horses was whickering and tossing its head nuzzling the largest of the marble blocks, which had one sided polished to a mirror like shine.

“Well now, place has some resources, we should let the fort know, some of the settlers might want to start mining this area. In the meantime, have the natives load this stuff up into the wagons. There doing some construction back east, have it shipped back there.”

Saluting the men went to work. “Yes sir!”

*** Velvet ***

We arrive in Dubuque and pull up to a parking area near the school grounds. There were already buses and trucks pulling up as well, unloading ponies by the hundreds. It is amazing to see, there must be thousands of us here.

We settle down to listen to the orders being called out, apparently we are now on a countdown to go through the gate. I can see my son and daughter coordinating actions and planning. “I so want to go talk to her. To give her a hug, to tell her I believe in her.”

“Why don’t you?” Ah-Pee says ash she sits beside me.

Looking at her, I shake my head, “We are solders, it’s a countdown to an invasion, they need to stay focused on task. If they go through thinking about us, worrying about us, they won’t be able to focus on what needs to be done.”

The LT puts his hand on Ah-Pee’s head, “Mission first. You need your head in the game or you’re a risk to everyone around you. It’s normally why dating or married couples are separated in many cases. If you’re worried about your wife you’re not watching the person beside you.”

“That’s a little harsh.” Ah-Pee says as she shifts in place.

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “He’s right, think of it this way, if you saw your boyfriend lying on the ground bleeding; Would you want to be with him, or would you listen to orders and stay back, covering others while he lays there bleeding?”

“I’d level the battlefield.” I say, nuzzling Blaze.

The girls giggle, and the LT shakes his head, smiling, “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Well we know who wears the pants in that relationship.” Cipher giggles.

Looking back at myself then at Blaze, “We both do, and they are combat pants.”

“Aww and here I thought you’d walk around naked.” Ah-Pee says with a giggle.

Looking over, I see Feather Shine and Feather Pinch, standing with Berry Shine. Tilting my head, I start looking around the crowd, feeling a keen sense of dread, my eyes go wide. Now I’ve got the worst feeling, Twilight and Shinning hadn’t thought this through fully. They had forgotten about this. “Oh hell…”

Blaze blinks, “What?”

“No… no no no no…. Twi-Twi you are better than this…”

“What?” The LT says, looking around.

“She just put the timer on for five minutes, we need to work fast.” I stand up, the panic I’m feeling evident on my face.

Blaze grabs my face with both hooves, looking into my eyes. “Speak up.”

“THE FOALS.” I shout. Turning, I point around, “Mentally they may be 25 but their bodies are still foals, as much as they want to help most of them won’t be able to do much.”

Sugarberry blinks, looking like she has just been hit by a ton of bricks, “Girls! Scatter, fast as you can gather the smallest and bring them back to the JTLV’s. Any that are smaller than say, Sweetie Belle over there, bring them, no questions. Any that are Sweetie Belle’s size ask them if they want to stay until the all clear. Work fast though.”

“Ah-Pee, see what blankets you can scrounge up see if you can set up a mess hall. Maybe some cocoa or such, we are going to have a ton of scared foals here to keep underhoof.”

Scattering, they run in all directions, how they could forget about foals barely strong enough to walk?

*** Whitehouse Situation Room ***

The President storms in, yawning as Admiral Volker stands with several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Grumbling he looks around at the group, it’s nearly midnight and he wanted just one good night’s sleep this week.

“What is it now?” The President asks, looking around at the assembled men.

“Mr. President we have an issue, the ponies have amassed an army, well into the thousands.” Volker turns and gestures, several different camera views appear on various screens. They are composed of long distance shots and high angle shots of the pony crowd. “We are getting live feeds from several of the traffic and weather cameras scattered around Dubuque.”

“And what is the issue? They are returning home, or most of them are, my daughter let me know.” The President says sternly.

“And you didn’t feel it important to inform us of such a security risk?” Volker looks shocked.

The Vice President steps in, “Sir, this is a conflict of interest. The situation with your daughter has blinded you to the reality of the problem.”

“And what is that?” The President sit down in his custom made chair, leaning back.

“How do they intend on getting home?” Volker inquires.

“The portal, like in the movie, as I said my daughter informed me.”

“Sir, if this portal is real, then these ponies are marching into a war with an enemy that’s been entrenched for 25 years.” Volker states sternly.

“Are you suggesting we send forces to help them?”

“No sir, what I’m saying is, the gate works both ways, if they lose, this Discord is likely to send whatever forces he has back through the gate. It is highly doubtful our land assets will be able to contain any invading force before they disperse through the city as we have no army assets in the area at this time. It would take nearly eight hours to get an armored force there.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Air assets, an F-22, load it down with JDAM’s. At first sign of enemy forces coming through the gate we can blow it up.” Volker growls.

“And what about the ponies?”

“If they lose control of the gate, they are dead and it doesn’t matter. Any that are near the gate on Earth would be killed by any enemy force coming through. It’s a safety measure sir, we cannot sit by and do nothing.”

“Launch the fighter, but do no fire unless I give the order.”

Turning to the Vice President, Volker shakes his head and leans close, “His concern for his daughter makes this a direct conflict of interest, be prepared, you may need to take power.”

*** Early 1830’s ***

“Is it ready?” Francis asked, smiling at the sculptor.

“It’s been ready for two days we are just packing it up for transit now.”

Walking down, Francis looked up at the large horse statue. “No rider?”

Shaking his head no, he put his hand on the stone, “I couldn’t bring myself to put one on. It ended up representing unbridled freedom, free will.” He said.

“Not even a halter or saddle?” Francis raised an eyebrow, artists sometimes were so weird.

“I couldn’t. Something about working with this, I could just feel the freedom, I could almost feel like I was running as a horse though the gates of some great castle on the hill.”

“Not to step on your creative dreams, but why would a wild horse be running into a castle? Oh never mind, just finish packing the thing up, they want it in Dubuque for its official chartering.”

“I know, the workers are coming shortly to box it up and load it for transport.”

“Do I even want to ask what going on with the pony?” Francis blinked, looking at the thing.

“Her mare died so I’ve been raising her, hand feeding her and such, she loves sleeping curled up against the face of the statue. She seems drawn to it, I guess the horse figure reminds her of her mare.”

“Well she’s going to lose that too, its bought and paid for, I want it sent out today.”

“Yes Francis.”

Kneeling down he gently picked up the foal snuggling it, “Come on Tia, let’s get you home, you don’t need to see this statue go.”

*** Velvet ***

As the timer goes off I’ve gathered several dozen of the youngest as well as Sprinkle Medley, her baby is only a few days old, and not a cursed pony but a natural one, so there’s no way we were letting her go through the gate.

Watching as Twilight Sparkle steps through and vanishes I sigh, “Chaos runs, when a good mare goes to war, night will fall and drown the sun, when a good mare goes to war.”

The unicorn club had formed somewhat of a ring around the foals as well as a few other adults that chose to stay and help. We moved a few of the vehicles too to provide a mix of shelter and blocking lines so foals wouldn’t sneak off or worse, others sneak up. Watching as the line starts going through the gate I notice humans going through as well. Family and friends going to help out it seemed.

Looking over I saw the LT talking with Eric, Jay, Sanchez and Henry, perking my ears I tried to listen but couldn’t hear over the foals. Honestly it seemed like a lot of them had taken to actually being foals, maybe the change or less developed brain had an effect on the thought processes, it might even be a simple case of hormones but the foals seemed more apt to panic and fear.

Ah-Pee had sent a few humans off to the local stores, gas stations and such to gather or buy water bottles, disposable cups, cocoa, coffee, and such, and was using a camp stove to boil large pots of water for drinks and soups. It could take hours or longer before we knew what was going on in Equestria, we have three days to decide if the foals are going through.

“Cipher, think you could break out a radio, TV or something from one of the cars, give us something to watch or listen to, just to keep us distracted.”

“Sure thing,” She bounds off to scrounge up what she was asked for.

“Velvet,” the LT walks up kneeling, putting his hand to my cheek.

“LT, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, the team and I have decided, too many of these ponies are civilians, no real idea of what combat is. There are humans going through to help out, we’re going to join them.”

My ears shoot right up, “What!”

“This is volunteer, we each have our place, and yours is here with the foals, you can’t go through, but we can. At least we can gather intelligence if needed and come back.”

Eric smiled, “Equestria may not be our home, but face it, it never is our home, we just go…”

“So others don’t have to…” I nod to Eric.

“Blaze, keep her safe.” Saluting, the LT nods and heads for the gate with the squad.

“Blaze, you can…”

“Not a chance, I’m ordered to keep you safe, I am NOT leaving you.” He growls, getting a grin from me.

“…Sit down if you want. Coffee should be ready soon.” I finished, just looking at him.

“Oh.” Blaze blushes, looking down. “Sorry.”

“No need to look dejected.” I smile at him and watch the foals a little. Most of them are talking, a few are keeping themselves busy playing on their cellphones or such. They aren’t really foals mentally, but it’s too high a risk.

“It’s going to take some time to get all these ponies through the gate, hopefully they can get through undetected.” Blaze says, shaking his head and putting his wing over me.

Trotting up, Cipher looks a little worried, “Blaze, um could you get Fleetfoot and meet me at my computer.”

“Sure thing,” Blaze looks confused and heads off to get Fleetfoot, before she gets to the mirror.

“What’s up Cipher?” Standing up, I move over to her as well.

“I… Got an email, I’m trying to verify who it’s from but…”

Blaze and Fleetfoot land beside us.

“What’s going on?” Fleetfoot asks.

“I just got an email. It came from a Whitehouse account but I don’t know who sent it. F-22 loaded with JDAM’s launched, will attempt to destroy gate if ponies seem unsuccessful.” Cipher reads aloud.

Fleetfoot spreads her wings wide, “What the feather, just 1 JDAM could kill or injure everyone within 600 feet of the gate.”

“F-22’s why did it have to be F-22’s.” Blaze says, looking up and around.

“So it won’t show up on civilian radars. They don’t want civilians to know, they will blame it on us if something goes wrong.” Fleetfoot snarls.

“Not what I meant, F-22’s are fast and agile, I don’t know if I could do anything to stop it.” Blaze says, “I don’t even know if I can find it.”

“You’re going to need help,” Fleetfoot spreads her wings, “I’ll join you.”

“But what about the gate, they need you on the other side don’t they?” I ask, “You don’t want to pass up a chance to go home?”

“I’m needed here, Blaze needs a wingmare for this, and that’s going to be me. There isn’t another speedster here right now.” Nodding to Blaze she leaps into the air.

“I won’t fail you Twilight, that thing’s a threat to all of us here, we won’t fight it but we need to be up there to keep an eye on it. Warn it off if we need to.”

“Blaze…” I say softly to him.

Turning he looks back to me and I moved up, kissing him on the lips gently before rubbing my nose against his, “Be careful.”

Nodding, he takes to the air.

*** LT James Fisher ***

I remember when I jumped out of a C-130 at 20,000 feet, my chute only partly deployed, putting me in a highs speed tumble and spin. I was whirling on 3 different axis and had to cut my chute away before deploying my spare. I remember the terror, the g forces, being spun around at weird angles.

This is worse. Someone had lain out a carpet on the other side of the mirror for us to land on but I still feel ill. “Oh God, put a warning note on that thing, you need Gravol before going through.”

Opening my eyes doesn’t help my nausea much either, the new pony vision just doesn’t sit well with my brain.

“Clear the mirror for the next coming through, ponies to the left, if you can’t walk call for help.” Calls out a white unicorn with a deep rust-red mane and tail, she’s gathering some blank flank adults to one side.

Struggling, the best I can pull is a crawl right now, I have no idea how, Velvet and Blaze make this look so easy.

WUMM

“Can someone stop this reality from spinning?” Sanchez shouts as he just misses landing on my butt.

Sitting up, I grab him and pull him clear, looking down at the poor pegasus, I chuckle.

“LT is that you?” Sanchez says, going cross eyed a bit trying to focus his eyes. He came through the mirror as a sky blue pegasus, with navy blue mane and tail that had a single brown lock or swirl in it. Really I never took him as the blue type, always thought he’d end up pink but hey.

“Yep it’s me, I think.” Looking at my forelegs I noticed the colors for the first time, I was green, kind of, more like a turquoise like Lightning Dust, though just a shade or two darker. On the other hoof, my tail is a forest green with blue green stripes and a gray highlight. The wings though, that is strange, I figured I’d have been an earth pony, I’m a ground pounder after all.

“How do we stand up?” Sanchez starts.

WUMM

“…onimo!” The light pink unicorn with brown and purple mane and tail comes though the mirror mid jump, his forelegs landing perfectly on the carpet with grace and elegance… It would have looked so cool, except for the fact that his inertia carries him forward, with no control over his hind quarters he flips, tumbles and ends up on his back, looking googly eyed at the ceiling.

Reaching over I give him a push to roll him to the other side to clear the way before backing up. “Who are you?”

“Henry here,” He calls up lifting one hoof, “oh cool I’ve got hooves.”

“Yes you have hooves, we’re ponies here, it’s the mirror, remember?” Shaking my head, I look at Sanchez who is standing up. Sweetie Belle and the white adult are trying to explain how to walk. “Just a second, we have two more in our group, then the next batch are ponies again.”

“I’m pink. Why am I pink?” Henry says, “Oh no did the mirror turn me into a mare did it?”

“Nope, you’re still male, so roll over please. We didn’t get clothing coming through.”

“Oops, sorry. Sanchez is that you?”

WUMM

“Yep its…”

A soft sky blue pegasus, with cool grey and warm grey mane and tail hits the ground HARD, tongue hanging out, his orange eyes looking around the room a bit, he’s built slightly smaller than Sanchez and not as buff, I guess.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Henry asks, looking somewhat like Bambi, he’d got his hind quarters off the ground, but is struggling with his front half.

“Daddy, why can’t we use more C4 to blow up reality?”

I looked at the other two and we all nod at once, “Eric.”

Reaching over, Sanchez and I yank him clear of the, mirror. Well I can pull things with my front legs. That’s something isn’t it?

“Just think, we’ll have to go through that again when we’re done.” Eric says, looking up at me.

“Ugg, don’t remind me.”

“LT, if I go back through the mirror again and come back think I might get a different color than pink?”

“Henry its fine, you’re more of a peach I think, than pink. Sides, there are pink stallions in the show.”

“Where’s Jay?” Eric asks as he struggles to try and stand.

“Did he come through before…”

WUMM

“…never mind.”

One snow white pegasus with frost blue mane and tail falls backwards though the mirror and lands on his rump, I have no idea how he got turned around, but we grab him and pull him clear quickly.

“Why did you go through backwards?” Eric asks before falling down.

Wobbling a bit, Jay chuckles, “Cuz you went through face first and I didn’t want to end up with my muzzle up your ass. Really had this bad feeling I’d literally be pulling up the rear.”

“Ok, that’s just evil.”

“Hey, how come I didn’t get wings?” Henry says, huffing as he falls down again.

Eric laughs, “Because the mirror saw your service record, you almost washed out of wing suit training three times, if not for Blaze’s help, you’d never have passed.”

“I’m Angie, no my cutie mark doesn’t mean I’m a nurse… since you said the next batch is all ponies I can concentrate on teaching you how to walk.” Shmangie says as Sweetie Belle smiles.

It took Blaze and Velvet ten minutes to learn how to walk. I just had a bad feeling that I’m in for a lot of falls. “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”

*** Blaze ***

I level off at 40,000 feet, beginning my sweep, Fleetfoot had stopped her climb at 25,000 feet giving us a wide search area. I scan the sky above and below me as I begin a wide circle, both of us are supercruising, our transponders are turned off.

Somewhere out in the blackness is a predator. It is hunting and can see in the dark, far better than us pegasi. So we don’t want to make it job any easier. With our transponders off, it would have to spot us on its radar or FLIR, but with our size, it would limit its ability to see us.

I search with my eyes and with my ears, and also with my weather sense. I’m feeling the air, looking for tell tail signs of its air disturbance. It is leaving a wake of high speed hot air that spreads out for miles. It is now a game of who saw whom first. If it saw us first, it could avoid us, it could pull further away and wait further off. There isn’t a lot of cloud cover to hide in, but if it decides to make a run, all it would need to do is hit its burners and drop the bomb when it gets in range.

With its bombs, GPS Guided, there is no aiming, there is no need to slow down or see the target, it doesn’t have to fly low. It’s just a push of a button and Twilight… Ah-Pee… the unicorn club… the foals… would all have seconds before they were wiped out, along with the portal.

No, I won’t let it get close enough, I am NOT going to let anything happen to Velvet.

I circle around, continuing the turn and finally I run through turbulence… a fast mover’s high speed wake. It’s out there, I know it. Turning into the wake I start following it, I have to be within a few miles of it, but without its afterburners lit, its engines are fairly dark. It’s running without nav lights of course, to make it harder to see.

It’s super cruising as well, probably doing very high sub sonic, maybe even low supersonic. If I don’t speed up it will just keep flying and I won’t see it. If I go too fast though I could overshoot it, or lose its wake.

I see Fleetfoot pass below me, silhouetted against the city lights going in the opposite direction. Damn it, if she hadn’t seen it, it must have seen her and changed course. It knows we were here. I pick up speed and find the contrail starting to climb past 46,000 feet, it’s going for altitude.

I force myself to speed up and climb, at this speed, I’m having problems following the trail, but I have to risk it. I bank to the right then look back, oh hell. He’s putting the moon directly behind him I’ll be silhouetted too.

Slowing, I look around frantically, he has to be close if he expects to see me like that. Though I can’t see or hear anything. Picking up speed again, I hit a cross trail. He’d crossed his own path in a turn messing up the contrails. Probably when he turned to see if he was being followed would be my guess. Turning I shoot along the new vector, looking down I see the river, he is heading for the gate.

*** Velvet ***

I look up at the sky, then at the gate, Cipher walks up to stand beside me on one side, and Sugarberry on the other. Both press their sides against me to give me support.

“Thanks girls. I can throw up a shield spell but, I don’t know how strong it would be, I doubt I could stop a bomb like that.” Sighing softly, I look at the foals, “This is one of those times, I want to fight, but I know I can’t. I want to act but there’s nothing I can do. All I can do is wait, and hope I don’t have to fight because I do, it means the others have failed.”

Ah-Pee smiles, handing out hot cocoa to some of the foals and the other caretakers, “it’s going to be some time before we hear anything so we should try and rest.”

Nodding slowly I back up and lay down with the foals, “you’re right as always Ah-Pee, I won’t be able to sleep but…”

“But you can rest, and have something to eat.” Berry says, and put a hot cup of cocoa in front of me.

“The storm is coming, I know it. I can feel it.” I say softly.

“We all can.” Ballad said.

Looking back at the sky I closed my eyes, “Though our hoof beats are many… our hearts shall beat as one.”

29: A Reflection of Reality

A cold wind blows across the field, running across everypony’s mane. It has finally begun a battle twenty-five years in the making, the radio had come alive with the chatter of Dust fighting Senator Corddis in Washington DC. Blaze is high up somewhere, trying to protect the gate, my daughter… my daughter is likely battling Discord with her friends.

All I can do right now was hope and be ready. All I could say right now was the dark words:

Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good mare goes to war

“And so it begins.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

“Well, we can walk and run, forget about trying to figure out flying or magic, it took Twilight days to teach that, and Blaze spent hours teaching pegasi to fly, and they had the instincts and drive.” I say and look at my Rangers.

“So what’s the plan, LT?” Eric lifts his wing, looking at it in amazement.

“You heard Shining, the main force is holding the gate and village, we are mostly a distraction for the recon and infiltration groups, to buy them as much time as we can.” I spread my wings wide, there is an instinct in me, I guess, I sort of know how to control my wings and tail, “we need to split up here, help out the civi’s where we can, give them basic rundown in combat, in defensive positions, basic tactics.”

Sitting down, I take a deep breath. This is going to be hard, “We’ve all studied the battle of Mogadishu. After the second Blackhawk was shot down, our forces were in disarray, the 10th mountain division was not ready for combat like that. The boys were scared, didn’t know what they were doing. So members of the 3 battalion, 75th Rangers took them under their wings, motivated them, got them to remember their jobs and their training. Where the Rangers pushed, they followed, where the rangers dug in they defended. We may not be able to make a major difference here, but we can at least try and help them through this.”

“RANGERS HO!” the group calls out.

I smile softly, “Rangers ho.”

“Henry, help with triage, there’s probably a ton there that know more about medicine than you, especially with equines, but see if you can keep them on track, don’t let them get fixated on hard cases at the cost of others.” I say, trying not to look at him.

“Are you sure I can’t go through the mirror back and forth again? It would only take a second.” Henry says, looking at his foreleg.

“Henry, consider it urban camouflage, pink here blends in more than brown.” I say, shaking my head.

Jay gets up and looks over at the artillery group, “Well I understand catapults and trebuchets, and know ranging and such. I guess I’ll head over there.”

“I’ve studied structural engineering as part of demolitions, I’ll help with the earthworks. Hey LT I think your right, Henry looks good like that. He’s just so fluffy and pink!” Eric gets away at a gallop just avoiding a bite from Henry.

“I’ll go help with the readying of weapons and armor,” Sanchez says and trots off.

Standing up, I put a wing over Henry, “We're doing this because it’s the right thing, since when does color really mater, look I’ve got gray in my mane. Now I can say you guys have driven me gray.”

Henry chuckles softly, “I guess, Velvet just made being a unicorn look so easy at times. I hate to feel so out done.”

“Velvet was born a unicorn remember? We were just lent these forms to help, at the same time though, remember everything you learned from treating and helping Velvet, and everything she said. Remember your training, and remember your heart. You’ll do fine.”

“Thanks LT.”

“And just think, with all of these color problems you’ve been having, you haven’t even noticed been worried that everyone is naked.”

Blinking, Henry looks around, seeing the different mares and quickly covers his face with a hoof. “Think ugly thoughts, think ugly thoughts…”

Laughing, I leave him with the nurses and doctors to get to work. Heading down to the town center, I hear ponies talking about how bad it looks, truth is, I’ve seen worse destruction, this is more like vandalism at times. Spray painted on walls broken windows, some buildings burnt down, others just suffering from 25 years of abandonment. Discord hadn’t fought a war here, most of the damage was likely caused by ponies themselves trying to escape or in a panic.

Finding a group of ponies talking about fighting I move in to help.

*** Blaze ***

I can finally see the engine light dimly ahead of me, but it has too much of a head start, there is no way I am going to catch it before it makes it to the gate. I’m pushing myself as hard as I can when it veers away. A moment later I see the form of Fleetfoot, tumbling down towards the ground out of control.

She was able to force it off course, but I don’t know if it hit her, or how bad she was hurt. Diving after her, I can’t let her fall, but at the same time, I keep thinking, if he goes for the gate now… there is no one to stop him… As I get closer I see her righting herself, and waving me off, pointing to the jet.

Nodding once, I veer back up, the jet is recovering and beginning to turn back towards the gate, but I can at least get up to it now. I look back to see if Fleetfoot was catching up, and then I realize she is still falling, slowly vanishing into the darkness below.

I could probably save her, but if I did… She had waved me off, she knew she had bought me time, but if I saved her everyone else…

She gave herself to buy me the time I needed, I wasn’t going to waste it. I need to get that thing turned around once and for all. NOW.

*** Eric ***

The battle had been joined, Discord’s Chaos Army was made up of twisted creations. Animals he had mutated into dark creatures, many looking like amalgamations of different creatures thrown together for fun. Bears with tentacles, birds with wings that could no longer hold their massive bodies, though with strong, muscular legs allowing them to charge across the ground, while Cthulhuesk style creatures fly overhead.

We have a few pegasi that can fly and they are doing their best to provide cover, but Discord’s forces are not going to be stopped easily, they seem to be driven by some dark force to slaughter every mare, stallion, and foal here.

The earth ponies had been able to dig a trench, of sorts, and create a raised wall with the dirt. In that we had set up an abates, or picket wall of salvaged wood, sharpened into spikes, this would slow the enemy somewhat, but it wouldn’t last forever.

“Pikes up!” I call, “Push them off the embankment, if they pile up there others can use the bodies to get over.”

As gory as that sounds, even as late as the Vietnam war, enemy soldiers would throw themselves on barbed wire to let others run over them. We need them to stay clear.

Several mares and a few stallions have broken down, crying in fear. The sight of blood is too much for some people to handle, these aren’t trained combat troops, these ponies are 25 year old business men, fathers, wives, university students.

“We just need to keep them at a distance.” I shout and offer a pike to one of the mares, “Come on, we need everyone to try and help.”

*** Jay ***

“500 Feet” I call out, “when they hit the 200 foot mark, fire.” We had pre-set our ranges, from about 25 feet behind the lines we could reach out to about 175 feet with the lighter shot, it isn’t much, but for what we had thrown together, it would work.

Out in the field, we had set up pegs, 175 feet, 150 feet, 125 feet and 100 feet. That way we didn’t have to guess where the enemy was.

Looking at the crews, I take a breath, “Don’t waste your shots, it takes a lot time to reload, so make sure you’re using the right ranges. Breathe, and relax.”

“How can you say relax?” One pony moans, looking at me, “This is insane.”

“It’s Discord, of course it’s insane, but think of every time you heard those words from him, he wants chaos, but we're ponies, we are stronger together and as one then any chaos can bring.” Ok, I am a blank flank human, and even I’m scared witless but, this is what we volunteered for.

“I don’t have to be here, I don’t need to be here, I choose to though. For my family, for my friends… and for all of Equestria. FIRE!”

*** Sanchez ***

The armor is heavy, but it would provide some protection, however being heavy Calvary isn’t my bucket of tea. I’m used to Kevlar body armor in close in fighting, not this metal stuff. I have a heavy lance tucked under my wing held tightly to my body, I get a firsthand look as the battle unfurls.

“Why aren’t we moving?” One of the earth ponies whines beside me.

“Because we are a response force, we are defending the gate. Not trying to push the enemy back.”

“So we just stand here? How’s that helping?” another asks.

Taking a breath, I look over, “I know it seems counter intuitive, but we need some of us to be a flex force. During World War 2, German Generals used Tigers in rapid response groups, they would look for breaks in the line, then plug them quickly with Tigers, until other forces could come in, then the Tigers would back off and wait for another break.”

“But the Germans lost anyway.”

That gets a smile out of me, these ponies don’t know tactics, “I know, but the tactics bought the time that was needed. This is for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” I looking down at the lines. I have confidence in their mom and dad, so if their kids are any example, all we need is time.

*** Henry ***

“I wish I could use my horn.” I huff as I hold the bandages against a young stallion’s leg, “This would go a lot quicker.” Holding it in place with my nose, I worked the bandage around his leg and tie it tightly.

“Henry, over here!” An earth pony doctor calls out, turning I run over to see a unicorn mare curled up, with cherries cutie mark, it is easy to tell most of the real ponies, they have their cutie marks. She is curled in a ball, crying, holding her head as sparks shoot randomly from her horn.

“Doc, she’s not hurt, she’s in pain but not wounded. She’s sparking.”

“What?” The doctor looks at me confused. Oye, I wish there was just some way to get their memories back.

“Unicorns, when they are young, have uncontrolled energy sparks of magic, she’s not in control of her magic and she’s hurting herself with it. Velvet taught me about this, she’s fighting her magic.”

“It ok Cherry,” well her mark was a cherry so it was likely somewhere in her name. “You need to calm down, relax, you need to stop fighting.”

“It hurts…” she cries.

If they don’t work through this, they can die… Velvet said as much about Cipher, I wish Velvet was here, I wish she had her memories. I wish I had a real unicorn’s instincts to help here. Lying down, I touch my horn to hers… with each spark of energy it sends waves of pain though me, but I keep my horn there, maybe I can at least help her balance it out a little.

“I’m here, I’m not leaving you, just relax and calm down, feel the power in you and control it, don’t let it run wild with your fear.” I say softly.

*** Blaze ***

I push myself as hard as I can and finally catch up to the F-22. His bay doors are closed, but he is still running for the gate. The problem is, it takes less than a second for it to open them and drop the bombs. I need some way to turn it around, stop it, but I can’t make it crash, this area is too populated.

I don’t want to hurt the pilot either, he is simply doing his job. He likely hadn’t even been told what was going on. When he finds out what he just did to an Air Force Captain… he’s going to be in bad enough shape already.

I pump as hard as I can, straining, this was faster then I’d ever flown before, and I still have no idea how I am going to stop it. At this speed I can’t generate enough force to damage a control surface with a kick, and even if I tried, he’d likely just move out of the way.

Slowly I glance down at my transponder, it had saved my life once before. I wouldn’t be here if not for it. Now, it is going to save everyone else’s lives. I just need a bit more speed.

I pull up slowly beside the pilot, and pointed at him to wave off, come on, you have to know what you’re doing isn’t right. Don’t make me do this. Veer away, please…

The pilot looks at me, I can’t see his face through the tactical helmet, but he shakes his head slowly. I have no choice at this point. Pulling ahead of him, I quickly drop down, ripping the strap off of my transponder and letting it fall back.

These transponders are tough, meant to survive high G-force and high shock impacts and keep working. They are made of steel, ceramics, and shock resistant plastics, then they are tested for military use. Flying back it was quickly sucked up into the left engine air intake. The situation is referred to as foreign matter ingestion; the transponder hit the air deflector but holds together until it comes into contact with the turbine blades. These blades are strong, but not indestructible, even hail can damage them at times, and when it does they can start coming apart. Chunks of metal start traveling back through the engine, damaging more and more parts, until the engine sensors detect the problem and shut down the engine. It’s too late though, the damage has already been done.

The master caution light inside the cockpit comes on, the glass cockpit displays in the aircraft show engine failure as well. As turbine blades rip backwards, shredding not just electronic and mechanical systems, but also the hydraulic and oil lines located in the rear of the engine. The hydraulic systems control the F-22’s vectored thrust system located outside of the engine itself, but at the speed that parts of the blade are traveling at, they rip though the engine casing itself in places. The fire indicator comes on, as fuel is burning but the turbines are not spinning properly. Automatic systems shut down fuel feed, oil feed, and hydraulic feed to compensate. There is a loud shaking bang, as parts of the engine fly backwards out of the plane.

Oil pressure drops, then it stabilizes, but pressure warnings for the left wing still show up on the board. The plane starts losing speed and altitude; on one engine it can make it back to base safely, that might have bought us another thirty minutes to an hour. Though on the other hand, it might make them reconsider sending another aircraft. I really hope so, I don’t have another transponder.

The wash of the jet as it passes over me sends me into a tumbling spin. It’s easy enough to recover from but it takes me a few moments to slow down enough to do so. Shaking my head I look around, "Fleetfoot."

*** Velvet ***

Feather cries out, looking up, “Someponies falling!”

Oh God, looking up I can hardly make out the form in the dark, but I trust the foals eyes, she’s a pegasus, it’s coming down fast too. If that was a pony, they aren’t showing any signs of stopping.

“It’s only got one wing out, the other ones straight up, it’s hurt.”

“Damn it, girls wait here.” I call out.

“What are you doing Twilight, you can’t fly.” Ah-Pee says, looking up at the falling form.

“No, but I can fall really well.”

I start to run and teleport to a spot below the falling pegasus in a nose down configuration. By tucking my legs tight to my body and holding my neck straight out, I dive towards the ground accelerating faster by cutting my air resistance. This means I can come close to her terminal velocity in a much shorter time. I only need about 1,500 feet to match speed. Oh no, it’s Fleetfoot! As she gets closer, I shift my center of gravity, using my head and tail to level out and grab her with my TK. She’s still fairly far away from me but I have just enough strength to pull her to the point where I can grab on.

“Hi there!” I yell through the airstream.

Fleetfoot blinks, looking at me, “What the hell are you doing, you can’t fly.”

Looking down I see the ground coming up fast, it takes a moment to build up enough energy, luckily, I have about 200 feet to spare. One of the strange parts of teleports is inertia, it seems to carry through a teleport, at least the easier ones, making it tricky sometimes. We blink out, and blink back, facing up this time.

We begin to slow down, I figure, given air resistance, we’d probably stop in about a thousand feet. Looking at Fleetfoot I smile “Nope, but I fall really, really well. Skydiver training.”

Looking down, Fleetfoot watches the ground moving away from her as we continued to fall up, “What the?”

“Vector change on the teleport.” We were are getting less and less wind noise so it is easier to talk. “When Twilight teleports in the show she keeps her inertia, and wipes out half the library. If I just teleported us to the ground, we’d appear as if we were… Oops apogee.”

As our speed gets close to zero, we are about 2000 feet up again. Looking down, I choose a nice spot and teleport us both line of sight back to the ground.

“So yeah, I needed to bleed off as much speed as I could, so figure a 180 degree vector change to fall up, would keep us from becoming pancakes.”

Cipher bounds up, squee’ing, “Twilight that was insane!” She giggles and above my head she puts up a magical display that reads, “100 Science collaboration points!”

Looking up I groan, then look to Cipher, shaking my head, “I don’t want to know where that’s from.”

Ballad carefully picks up Fleetfoot with her magic, “Let’s get you over to the paramedics and get that wing looked at.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

There are weak spots all over the place, small breaches that would appear, and as soon as we plugged one, another would appear. I am with a group of pegasi that are acting as fast responders. As I see a breach or problem, I can send a few there to hold the line until reinforcements can arrive.

Pegasi have really good vision, and I am using that to my advantage, having a really wide field of vision was somewhat alien at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s strange, Blaze and Velvet never even seem to notice or complain about it but I guess that’s because they are natural ponies, not like me.

“What’s on your mind, LT?” The white pegasus beside me says.

“Ugg, you’re likely a royal guard, you probably out rank me, just call me James.” I say, this isn’t my squad, this isn’t my platoon. So I don’t want them to feel they have to call me LT or anything. It’s funny, I know that two of the pegasi were actually military as humans, but they were Air Force, one was a desk jockey, the other a pilot, so even if they did out rank me, they’d still probably defer to me.

A pegasus mare comes trotting up with her wingmare, both panting, “Ok, they’re holding there. It’s getting really bad out there, I don’t know how much more we can take.”

“I know, I can see, we’ve got a lot of fighting wounded, and Shining Armor’s not paying attention, he keeps looking back at the castle.” Velvet would probably be yelling at him to keep his head in the game, but I guess he is worried about his sister.

“I guess it could be worse, at least the dragons haven’t attacked yet.” The royal guard says, “we only saw the one early on. Why are they holding back?”

“Maybe they want the ground forces to contain us and push us back into a smaller area…” I start then shudder, “Russian tactic, encircle constrict, and then bombard. It’s the battle of Stalingrad all over again.”

“Breach!” the mare beside me shouts.

Looking to my right, I see it, and it’s a big one, they are heading right for the field hospital. Looking back I count, I only have a dozen with me in fighting condition. “Form on me, fighting wedge!”

“You sir? You can’t even fly!” The mare shouts, looking sideways at me.

“Doesn’t matter, we are going to have to hit them with everything, full strength, head on… That means me too.”

I start running down the slope and street as fast as I can, my legs pumping hard. We have to hit them hard, either turn them or stop them before they get to our wounded. They would just slaughter everypony there, armored cavalry would take too long to get there.

Pumping my wings for extra speed, the other pegasi form up on me into a tight V formation. We fight for others that can’t fight for themselves, we fight to protect the weak, and innocent. The Ranger Creed burns in my mind. Recognizing that, I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.

I don’t know when it happens, but my hooves leave the ground as I tear across the medical area. I know I had jumped over a body but I don’t’ remember putting my hooves down again. The next part of the creed, I would not let down here. Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that, as a Ranger, my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

I hit the front ranks hard, slamming into a large bear sending it tumbling backwards. Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.

“Fan out now!” I call, lashing out in all directions with hooves, to break up the group and blunt their charge. I can feel the energy all through me, as a mark appears on my hip, a shield with wings, and five stars in a V pattern… I am a protector, leading the charge to defend others, not just a killer. I would give myself to protect others.

*** Henry ***

“We’ve got to run!” One of the doctors calls out.

“The wounded are counting on us and trusting us,” I say, looking up from Cherry, “We need to trust the soldiers and others will do their job so we can do ours.”

Touching my horn back to Cherry’s I put a hoof to her neck, “I know you are scared, I know this is hard for you, but you’re fighting your magic. You’re not hurt, you just haven’t experimented or used it yet, as such your mind isn’t used to controlling it.”

“I… I shouldn’t be here.” She cried.

“Where ever you are this would likely have happened, it’s the stress that started it, just, follow the magic.” Looking up, I watch the LT and his pegasi hoplites hit the charging forces, slowing and diverting them somewhat. “You don’t have to fight, but you can help here in other ways.”

The LT won’t let them get through, I trust him, I have faith. “I have faith in my friends, and I have faith in you, just need to find it in yourself. Come on, you can do it.” I feel her magic building again, I know this is going to hurt but I’m not going to leave her.

The body of some kind of feline skids to a stop near us, not moving, all seems quiet for a moment, as her horn flashes against mine. I feel the energy run through me, from my horn to my tail, I figured I should be thrown backwards but I’m not, slowly her horn is dimming and she looked up, panting hard.

“You feeling better?” I pull my horn away slowly from hers.

“A bit, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” She says, her horn glowing softly.

“Yep looks like you have it under control, your horn is glowing.” I say with a chuckle, “If you feel up to it you can help with the bandaging.”

“Thanks, um, your horn’s glowing too.” She says as she stands up slowly.

Glancing up I blink, maybe I do have some magic in me after all. Or, this is just left over from hers. Giving my horn a light bonk sends sparkles through my eyes, but the light goes out. Yep, doing that too much could make you go blind, I guess.

Turning, I grab some bandages to help an injured pegasus, then I stop, looking at my hip. A red cross on a large white star, around the large star were several smaller white stars, the magic of trust and healing, honestly it might look better if my fur isn’t pink.

*** Eric ***

The right flank had partly collapsed, a large warbear broke through, and several cat creatures are following the hole it made. All around, ponies are screaming, some starting to run, the flight instinct is strong in a lot of them.

A mare beside me had dropped her pike and fell to the ground hugging her legs as she cried, trying to make herself as small as she could. Stallions and mares are backing away from the breach, letting it get bigger and bigger.

I have to do something, if this keeps up the entire wall here will collapse, and we’ll lose this entire side, and maybe the entire fight. Ponies are screaming and crying, the smell of blood and fire in the air, they are falling back on their instincts.

“Instincts… Mocking jays…” I say, looking up.

“What?” the pony beside me looks confused.

“Oh hell, if Ballad hears about this I’m so busted.” Turning back a cat creature with my pike, I clear my throat, and as loud and clear as I could I start singing. “The minstrel boy to the war is gone, in the ranks of death you'll find him; His father's sword he has girded on, and his wild harp slung behind him;”

Slowly the screams fade, replaced by more and more ponies as they pick up the song, “‘Land of Song!’ said the warrior bard, ‘Though all the world betrays thee.’”

Forming an L against the wall, we stop the breach from spreading as the ponies begin to hold their ground again, I know, even at the darkest times, in the blackest places, sometimes a song could lift the morale of those around you.

The LT’s Hoplite group holds the front of the breach, and we have the side. “One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, one faithful harp shall praise thee!’” My hips feel warm, a mark appears, a musical note with two wings is now on my flank, had I more time I might have paid attention to it, as it was, Ballad will never let me live it down if she finds out.

*** Sanchez ***

My new pegasus eyes spot the breach right away. It’s almost like having built in field glasses, I can easily focus at range, hefting my lance I look at the rest of my group, “Right flank breach, hoplites have the front. We need to swing around and hit them from the right side, we’ll cut them off and close the hole trapping them.”

Nodding, the larger earth ponies turn and begin to gallop, keeping in formation on either side of me, I swear I’m completely dwarfed by them. These boys are Apples, all right, as large as Big Mac, with the same feathered hooves. They are so eager to prove themselves, to fight. It is everything I can do to hold them back. And I’m glad I did, for this is their moment, their time. We wheel in formation, but I keep my wings wide, making sure they hold back.

Part of being a sniper is patience and timing. Bullets don’t hit the target the instant you pull the trigger. Sometimes it can take seconds between firing and the target being hit, so you need timing, you need to understand the movements of everything around the target, the movements of the target itself.

The LT’s force had hit the enemy head on, blunting the attack and causing them to falter, I can see the forces moving, but everything seems to slow down, I know where the forces are moving to, and adjust my forces charge. Slowly I see the opening in the enemy’s side forming, moment by moment we close in on them.

Glancing to my sides, I dropped my wings, cutting the heavies free. The timing to this is critical, too soon and the enemy would face us head on, too late and the LT and Eric’s forces won’t be able to hold. Timing, it is was all about timing. Two of the feline creatures part at the last moment, and my lance strikes into one of their warbears, shattering both the lance, and the bear’s side. I let my inertia carry me past the bear, passing right through the enemy force. I land in front of the ponies on the other side of the breach. Skidding low I pick up a fallen pike, and turn, my legs are sore, my hips burning… as an hour glass with wings appears on my flanks.

*** Jay ***

I watch Sanchez and the LT stop the attack, they had the small salient contained and pinched though it had cost several ponies to do so, and a lot are wounded. It never surprises me how well I can see with these pegasus eyes. A large bat-like creature with trailing tentacles is heading for the breach to open it up again.

They had barely managed to contain it the first time, and this thing is heading straight for where the LT is. These are my friends, if I only had my rifle, a hand gun, something. These catapults aren’t accurate enough to fire without risking friendly casualties…

I look around desperately for some of our pegasi, anyone that could get there, but everyone is busy. Looking back at the catapult, I gulp, then pick up a spear and hop into the basket. “FIRE!” I looked back.

The mare at the lever looks confused “What?”

“I said fire…”

Nodding she pulls the lever. The G-forces are pretty harsh, but I didn’t black out luckily, holding the spear tight to my body I spread my wings. I can’t fly, but I can guide myself at least, I have enough control of my wings that I can do that. I hold the spear with both my fore legs tight to my body as I travel towards the creature.

I’d always done whatever I could to keep them safe, I never said much but sometimes words weren’t needed. I watched Yiska and Wally change, I watched them grow, and fall in love… I hope that someday they can return to Equestria and be safe.

As a sniper I always did what I could to make sure no harm came to my friends, it wasn’t about killing, it was about keeping people safe. For Blaze, and for Velvet, that’s all I could think of.

I hit the creature in the main body, the spear going straight through it at an angle before my body impacts it’s side. The force of the impact redirects the creature so that we both come down hard in the middle of the enemy Salient. I’m thrown clear and tumble through the lines, both my forelegs and wing are in pain. I lay on my back, panting had, I could feel the fire in my hips but I figure that is just another injury.

I didn’t see the mark appear, a lance with wings curved inwards in a sign of protection. I hear the cries, the cheers, but then everything goes dark.

*** LT James Fisher ***

I limp out of the fray, bleeding from several wounds including one on my wing. The salient had been pinched and eliminated.

I looked around at the other flanks, some are holding better than others, but all around there are injured and dead.

Panting, I sit for a moment, looking back towards the enemy forces but when I see them, my heart just sinks. I hardly have any fight left in me, we had given it our all, and bought what time we could. Now though, it’s the end. The sky to the east is darkening, as they fly towards Ponyville, and our defensive lines.

We’ve already taken too many losses, we don’t have enough flyers, I don’t know what to do, but sit and look on.

The Dragons have decided to join the battle.

30: Reflections in Stone

Author's Note

This isn't a story of great deeds, of world changing events, or characters who save the Universe.

Its a story of a few people who do what they can to help. Who do their jobs. When the great stories are told however, it will be about how Elements of Harmony were recovered... How the dragons were tamed... How Discord was defeated in Equestira and on Earth. The stories of the individuals often get left out, of the lives and loves lost that ponies will never remember. Cheers will rise for their Princesses, their Element Bearers, and their Hero's.

In all the hype, in all the fanfare, the stories of the common pony who held the line, the stories of the pony who gave her life to slow down a bear, or the pony that did little more then help the wounded amidst the chaos are lost.

But not untold.

30: Reflections in Stone

Ah-Pee and I cringe as Fleetfoot screams out in pain when the paramedic pops her wing back into place. That had to hurt, a lot. Blaze however, lands beside us and moves over to hug Fleetfoot. Quickly I grab him tight, I’m not having any of that.

“Blaze, she’s fine, her wing was dislocated, so she won’t be flying for a day or so.” I said. “Unless you hug her, in which case you’ll have a dislocated wing as well. In your case it will be from her kicking you.”

Blaze blinks, “Oh sorry, yeah, bad idea. He’s heading back to base, engine trouble.”

Whimpering once, Fleetfoot looks at her wing, then at Blaze, “What did you do to it?”

“Um, remember my transponder?” Blaze said meekly.

“You mean that $2,500 piece of high tech electronics that comes out of your pay if you lose it?”

“Oh I didn’t lose it, parts of it are still probably lodged in the Raptors engine.” Blaze nods.

“You’re just never going to use that thing for its intended use are you?”

Looking around a bit, Blaze sighs, “I thought you had died there. How did you survive?”

“Ask your girlfriend, she’s the one that saved me.” Fleet says, nodding to me.

I blush looking down, “I just did what I always do, figured I’d try something on the fly.”

Looking around, I tucked my muzzle under Blazes and snuggle him, “And I’m happy you’re safe too.”

“What’s with all the police and ambulances here?” Blaze asks.

Sugarberry smiles, “Well, a patrol car noticed the vehicles illegally parked, we’ve sort of turned a large area into a parking lot with buses, trucks, and such, and that didn’t go unnoticed by the police. So I called JSOC, let them know what was going on, they contacted the Mayor, police have set up road blocks, with a gas leak cover story. Diverting nosy people away from here, while letting any pony stragglers through, there’s still some arriving on hoof, and by car.”

Blaze blinks and snuggles his wing over me, pulling me tighter, “And the medics?”

“Given what’s going on, I figured having two ambulances on standby, with a vet available would be good. Some of the ponies arriving here are not in the best of shape. The army’s sending in some emergency supplies, like food, water and blankets. They have a small field kitchen showing up soon. The gate’s only going to be open for three days, but still, that’s three days we need to keep some sort of security here.”

“That’s provided we win.” I say softly.

“What’s that mean?” Blaze asks.

“They are right, if we lose, the portal becomes a bridgehead. JSOC has talked with the president, if it’s decided we can’t hold the line here, we are supposed to destroy the gate.” Sugarberry says.

“We’d strand everypony doing that.” Blaze says, and looks towards the gate.

Sugarberry nods slowly, “JSOC informed the JCOS and President. Advised them that SpecOPS are on scene, I’m not sure how but someone arranged it to be left up to SpecOP’s to decide.”

Ah-Pee blinked, “Spec Ops?”

“Yeh, the Ranger team.” Sugarberry says with a smile.

“But they’re all in Equestria,” Fleetfoot says, blinking.

Sugarberry shakes her head, “Not all, Blaze and Velvet are still on their roster. So technically the choice of destroying the gate, has been left to the ponies.”

I gulp hard, “Fleetfoot outranks us though.”

“Chain of command, Air Force had their shot with the F-22, JSOC’s leaving the call with the Rangers.”

“Well, as long as we win we don’t need to take any action, do we?” Blaze smiles hopefully.

“If not,” I gulp softly, “ask the police if the can provide us with a few breaching charges. It should be enough to take out the gate without hurting anyone.” I say softly, “We are Rangers, we will always do what needs to be done.”

Looking down, Blaze nods, “Best to be ready for it at least if the worst happens.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

There are hundreds of them, we hoped not have to fight one of them, but hundreds. With so few flyers trained in fighting, most of them already tied down with fighting Discord’s creatures, and no unicorns trained, there is nothing we can do.

I just sit, I have nothing left, and honestly I’m not even sure if a stinger missile would have enough punch to hurt a dragon, given their size. And we don’t even have any of those to begin with.

I look to where Shining Armor was commanding from, but he’s gone. Standing up slowly I pick up a pike, trotting up to the front lines. I dig in with the other ponies. I’m not going to run, I’m not going to hide. I am a Ranger, I would die with honor.

I glance over at a Royal Guard pegasus who is grounded too, my wing had taken a beating in the salient, and I can’t move it well, so even if I know how to fly well enough, I can’t. Nodding once to the pegasus, I brace in and started pushing back the attackers at the wall.

The dragon roar is deafening, these things are the size of airliners, and the fireball from their breath is so hot I can hardly stand it… but I am alive. The fire blast had cut a swath in front of the trench, cutting a long line of creatures down. As the dragon flies a parallel line to our trench, its fire takes out the front ranks of Discords forces.

“They’re on our side!” Ponies cry out.

I find myself being hugged by a mare from the side. I just wish it wasn’t the side that was injured, but turning I give her a kiss on the top of her muzzle, “There you go. Now head back to the field hospital and get those cuts looked at, we wouldn’t want that pretty coat of yours stained.”

Blushing, she lets go of me so I can sit down again. I find myself panting a bit, because of the pain… that had really hurt. Turning she prances off, flicking her tail side to side. As she does, I notice when she moved it from this angle and height, that you really can see her…

“Bad view, clean thoughts, clean thoughts.” I say, closing my eyes tightly and shaking my head. I guess the nudist life isn’t for me. I can’t see there on Ah-Pee or such because of the height distance, but down low as a pony, ugg.

I sit for a while, looking out at the battle. Discords forces had lost the will to fight, and a few flyers are talking about the mane 6 and CMC’s coming back after defeating him. The battle is over, we’ve won. But what was the cost?

Looking down, I stroke the mane of a stallion who had passed away fighting near me. I wonder how the ponies handle funeral rites, through as the same time, they were human so probably use human burial honors. Nearby lay the body of a mare, a young pegasi who had fought by my side. I don’t know who she was really. She wasn’t a royal guard, I don’t think, I don’t know if there are mares in the guard. She fought though, as truly for her home as any stallion. She gave her life trying to stop one of the large war-bears, taking a blow that was meant for me.

I wish I knew her name, her story, I wish I knew all their stories. So many families would likely never know what happened to their children, their husbands, or their wives. Slowly I look around at the number of bodies and close my eyes, shaking my head, maybe they will just do mass graves.

Standing, I limp back to the triage area that had been set up near the gate. I’ve managed to tie off the gash on my front leg but there isn’t a lot I can do about the ones on my side, or my flank. Sitting down at the edge of the triage area, I watch as those with medical training muddle through.

There are still a lot of injured to tend to. Since several of the medical ponies were human, they hadn’t had time to learn or even practice being ponies, so they are doing the best they can with hoof and teeth to apply bandages.

Henry spots me and trots over, “Oh man LT, looks like you got caught in the middle of it.”

“I’m fine… have you seen the others?” I pretty much know Henry wouldn’t leave it at that, but I am too tired really to fuss.

Working with his hooves and mouth Henry gets to work cleaning my wounds, “Eric apparently rallied a small group in the west flank.”

“That was his side? Ouch, those bears were tough. Where is he now?” I stand up, looking around and trying to see where the rest of the Ranger squad is.

“LT, sit still, this is hard enough without you moving.” Henry puts a bandage around my wing.

Looking over at Henry, I let out a soft chuckle, “Couldn’t figure out how to use your horn?”

“Look LT, it took Twilight Velvet weeks to learn hers, I’ve had a day. I couldn’t lift a pin to save my life, so sit still, stop fidgeting and hold your leg out.” Shaking my head Henry puts the last of the bandages on before poking my cutie mark once. “Hey LT, you got yourself a butt stamp.”

Looking back at my mark I nod, “Yeah, one perfect moment of clarity when I knew what I had to do, I knew what was needed to help those around me.”

“Trust me, I know, I felt the same thing in a way,” he says, turning sideways to show me the star and Red Cross. “I swear though it would look so much better if my fur wasn’t pink.”

Standing up, I start wandering through the wounded, looking for faces or marks I know, there are just so many injured, very few of the ponies who fought had any real combat training, and none had any combat training in pony form but it could have been a lot worse.

Eric is helping out with first aid, not his specialty but every hoof is helping right now. Walking up, I take note of Eric’s mark, and can’t help but start snickering.

“Don’t say it LT,” Eric looks back at his mark, “it’s not my fault.”

“You, who flipped out every single time the ponies started singing, how on Earth did you get a cutie mark with musical notes?” I laugh and poke it once.

“Wings and a note, sometimes a song can lift the hearts of ponies’ darkest hours.” Eric looks back at it and huffs. “Velvet was right about the realization and acceptance part of the marks.”

“Oh come on! Do you know how long the Cutie Mark Crusaders worked on our marks? You got yours in a day? That’s [Buy some apples]” Sweetie Belle scrunches up her face, looking downright annoyed.

“Shmage, watch your language!” The white mare beside her says, her rust red mane is curled up somewhat like Rarity’s. I recognize her as the one that helped us a few hours ago learning to walk.

“Sorry Shmangie.” Sweetie Belle says, before looking at the two and continuing to grumble.

“Sorry um… Sweetie Belle is it? Don’t worry, we’ll lose them anyway when we go back through the gate.” I say, chuckling, “We’re only here to help.”

“LT! I hear Sanchez call out, “Jay’s in surgery right now, he took it pretty bad, but he brought down a bat flyer on his own.”

“That was HIM? I thought it was a Wonderbolt that got it.” I say, all I saw was it come down hard. “Is he going to make it?”

“Doc’s aren’t sure but, well… he’s a pegasus, I have faith.” Sanchez says with a nod.

*** Velvet ***

WUMM

I hear the mirror and looked over quickly. “Please be a pony please be a pony please be a pony.”

“WE…” The woman yells as she comes through the mirror at a run, in the history of bad idea’s coming through THAT portal at a run, after living in pony form for a month, is probably up there near the top. I’m not sure which part hit her first. The nausea and gut wrenching sensations from the change, the total center of gravity change, or the fact that she’s on two legs again, but whichever it was. The ground stops her speech rather quickly.

Cipher cringes as the woman hits the ground face first, “Ohhh. Looks like were gonna need another Timmy.”

Sugarberry bounds up and calls back, “It’s a pony, she just knocked herself out coming through the gate like that, umm, were going to need a blanket! STAT!”

Cipher blinked, “How do you know it’s a pony, she looks human.”

Sugarberry giggles and points, “The cutie mark.”

“Umm, blue musical symbol, great, you realize how hard it is to guess them now without their mane and body colors.” Cipher grumps. “Either Octavia or Fiddle, or… oh forget it, there’s a dozen or so with that mark, it’s almost as bad as hourglasses.”

Putting a blanket over her, I lift her up magically and carry her over to the stretcher. Then I tilt my head, “I wonder what she was going to say, keep your eye on the gate, she could have been running from something.”

“Ugg, mirror bad.” Cipher says, poking the girl with a hoof.

I tilt my head, looking at her, “Huh why?”

“Well, if I go through it, I won’t be able to come back as a unicorn.” Cipher says, “and I love being a pony, it’s my dream come true. I’d lose my magic, my hooves, my identity.”

“But you could go through and stay there?” I say as look over at her.

Sitting down, Cipher shakes her head, “For some ponies yeah, that’s an option, but me, I love the internet, I love computers. And trust me, the WiFi in Canterlot SUCKS. I’m too techno and gadget orientated for that, and my cutie mark… it feels right with computers.”

Gently I poke the human pony and sigh, “If I went through I’d be stuck as a human coming back too, might been less to others but I kinda like my magic, it’s a big part of who I am, my cutie mark.”

“And you’d have to shop for bras,” Cipher chipped in, “that’s never fun.”

“Huh?”

“Shopping for bra’s, it’s annoying cuz sizes aren’t actually standard, and different brands seem to have different sizes to them.” She starts.

“Cipher, what’s that got to do with anything?”

Ah-Pee giggle, “And there’s her situational blindness kicking in again. Twilight she’s saying if you went through you’d come back as a human female, and given what I’ve seen from this one and Rainbow Dash so far, you’d defiantly need a bra.”

Looking down at my udders then at her chest, I blink and back away from the gate, “Nope, bad bad bad, no gate.”

“So no gate for you?” Ah-Pee asks, tilting her head. “Don’t want to go back and see your daughter?”

“Maybe someday but right now, I still have time left on my contract with the army, and likely there are still ponies on earth that didn’t make it here in time. Meaning we’ll still likely have a job to do.” Sighing, I sit and look at Blaze.

“Don’t look at me, I’m not leaving you. I’ve waited over 40 years for you to say yes.” He says firmly.

Looking to Ballad and Sugarberry, I tilt my head, “What about you two?”

Both move over and sit beside Cipher, “After all the work you put us through to get our magic? There is no way we’re giving it up, so going through would be a one way trip. And for now, I know I want to stay on Earth.” Sugarberry says, looking to Ballad, they both nodded firmly.

“That only leaves you Ah-Pee.”

Ah-Pee looks at the gate, then at her hooves, “I know you’re probably not going to understand this but, I have magic too. It may not be as visible in earth ponies as it is in unicorns and pegasi, but it’s there, I can feel it. Going back to being a human, just doesn’t sit right with me. I was born a pony, I’m going to stay a pony.”

Putting her hoof over her heart, she closes her eyes. “I could go through the gate but again that would mean me staying there permanently. I would be losing out on my family here, and losing you.”

With tears in my eyes, I hug her tightly, which quickly turns into a group hug, only ending when the girl on the stretcher starts moaning.

“Ow, my muzzle.” She moans. “I feel like I just got hoofed in the face.”

“Umm, what muzzle, and what hooves?” Ah-Pee says, giggling.

Sitting up, the girl squeaks and covers her chest with the blanket, holding it tight, “I’m, I’m…”

“Yep, you’re a two legger again, and a good looking one,” Cipher says, giggling, “I’m wondering if all girls will get big boobs from the mirror. Man, can you picture how many Californians would kill for that mirror, it’s a plastic surgeons nightmare.”

“I don’t think it works that way,” I shake my head, least I hope it didn’t. “I’m Twilight Velvet, any news from Equestria?”

“The Princess’s mom, wow!” Bowing her head, “I’m Crescendo,” she says with a cheerful voice.

“Equestria?”

“Oh yeah, we won.” She says, “There are a lot of wounded and…”

“We will keep the foals here a while longer, I know they are still adults, but I don’t think it’s healthy for them to see that. Actually I don’t think it’s healthy for anyone to see that.” I know what death can do to people, and having images like that burned into the mind of blank flanks, who have full and long lives ahead of them… is simply not fair.

Ah-Pee brings some cocoa over, offering her a cup, then sits. “How bad was it?”

“It was bad, very bad. Discord altered lots of animals, bears, wolves, cats, into some kind of chaos creatures. We held the town and gate, but almost everypony got hurt and more than a few didn’t survive.” She looks down at her cocoa and puts it down without drinking.

“Any news on… Great, I don’t even know what the LT and them look like as ponies. They’re probably a bunch of blank flanks, though even if they have cutie marks, I don’t know what they would be.” Ballad grumbles…

Glancing over I see several large military trucks pull up, “Oh heck.”

Getting up, I trot over and salute the lead officer, a captain, as he gets out of one of the vehicles.

Looking down, the captain blinks and shakes his head with a chuckle, “You hear about it, but you never really brace yourself for seeing it,” he says, saluting back. “You can speak right?”

“Yep, I’m fluent in English and American.” I say with an innocent smile, I’m actually lying, I’m not fluent in English, I have no idea what bloomers are, let alone bangers and mash.

Shaking his head, the officer sighs, “Ok, we have a field kitchen here, blankets, a few temporary tents.”

“Thank you sir but, could you set them up at the far end of the field, the military’s likely to make some ponies nervous.” Looking around, “And have you guys got a SatCom I can borrow I really should get in touch with SOC myself.”

“Where’s your commanding officer?”

“Force Recon on the other side of the gate, he took a small team to scout, evaluate enemy status, and decide what threat they pose to Earth.” Ok, that sounds believable.

“So who’s in command?”

“So far, um, Captain Fleetfoot,” I say pointing to her on the stretcher. “Though I’ve been acting as the command point for SOC, that’s why I need the radio.”

“Ok guys, no gawking, head over to the far end of the field by the goal posts we’ll set up there.” The Captain says, seeing the Sat Com I perk up and grab it with my magic, trotting back over to the girls and sit down while setting it up.

It sets up pretty quickly, tripod, satellite dish, and connecting wires, I have it done in a few moments. At least I thought I did, until Blaze clears his throat, pointing off in the distance.

“Umm, what?” I look in that direction.

“Dish points that way, unless you’re trying to pick up Direct TV or maybe the Dish Network.” He says with a smile.

“Sorry I don’t have a compass so I’m eyeballing it.” I say then stop, blinking. “Oh right, pegasi have a built in compass.”

Looking innocent, I readjust the dish to his pointing, then hand him the radio, “Here you go. You’re up.”

“I may be the radio operator but I’m not the talker.” He says as he shakes his head. We are just corporals after all.

“You’re a windtalker, that counts.” I say feeling hopeful, then I droop as he scowls at me.

Blaze sets up the encryption systems for secure transmission and I take a deep breath, “Special Operations Command, this is the Ranger team at the gate, I say again Special Operations command this is the Ranger team at the gate, over.”

“Unidentified Ranger team, this is SOC, Authenticate over.”

Taking a deep breath, again trying to stay calm, “SOC, Ranger team, we are not on mission, I say again we are not on mission, we have no verification codes. Advise Brigadier General Wilson if you can, Corporal Walter Fitzpatrick also known as Twilight Velvet is radio with status update.”

“Ranger team hold, over.”

Looking at Blaze ,I find myself thumping my front hooves on the ground again. I don’t know where I picked up that habit but I seemed only to do it when I’m really nervous. I hate speaking to officers I always feel like I’d say the wrong thing and end up in Leavenworth.

“Ranger team this is SOC, patching you through now.” A few moments later I hear the General come on line, “Corporal Twilight, what’s the situation.”

“First call back seems good, they have stopped Discord, but there are a lot of casualties. We are waiting here for more information, but it seems like the gate is safe on their side, no chance of enemy forces coming through.” I say softly.

“Where’s LT Fisher?” He asks, sounding concerned.

“Force Recon though the gate.” I respond, “He went to gather intelligence.”

“He went through to help them fight, didn’t he?” The General chuckles, “Don’t worry, I understand. So what’s the situation? Will all the ponies be going through now?”

I hear a second voice in the background I don’t recognize, “Maybe they should be escorted through.”

My heart sinks, “Sir, I don’t think forcing ponies through the gate will help. While many went through willingly, to fight, most know it’s a one way trip.” Looking back at my cutie mark I close my eyes, “Going should be a personal choice left to each pony. As well there are likely still stragglers all over the world that are going to need help.”

“Choice? What choice is involved?” I recognize the voice but I can’t place the third speaker.

“Sir’s I don’t know who’s all there, and I don’t know if you can really understand this, but being a pony isn’t just about the form, wings, or horn, its more than that. It’s about a magic within each of us.” Opening my eyes I look at the ponies around me, Blaze, Ah-Pee, Ciper, Sugarberry, Ballad, and little Feather.

“It’s a magic that binds us together and lets us get though hardships. It’s a magic that’s strongest when we are with friends and those we trust. Some ponies have shared that magic with each other. Others have shared it with human family and friends.” Looking back at my cutie mark, “Breaking those bonds is painful, there are many here that want to stay with their families, their parents, their children. Forcing them to give up those bonds is painful and goes against the basic instincts of a pony.”

“As well coming back through the gate, means becoming human again, and that cuts us off from that magic also. So some ponies know if they are forced through the gate, they can never return as who they really are. It’s going to be a hard choice for every pony out there. Give up who they really are to fit in? Stay as a pony on Earth, or return to Equestria and lose all ties with friends, family and loved ones.”

“How long will the gate remain open?” I hear the voice.

“Its three day cycle I think, so three days every two and a half years. This means any pony that isn’t here in two days, has to wait another two and a half years to get through, though it does give some the chance to decide rather than feeling rushed.”

“So what do you suggest?”

I take a deep breath, “Allow them choice and freedom, I know most humans could never understand this, but we’ve only been ponies for a month, many of us need more time to come to terms with things, being sent to a world we know nothing about really, to rebuild without the skills needed there. I’d say give us time, time to choose, time to rebuild, time to decide if we can sever ties.”

“Mister President, this is just a corporal, should we really be listening to her opinion?”

“This Corporal has had a very good record with the military. Her LT trusts her with his life, and I trust his reviews.” The Brigadier General says.

“Umm, General, who’s listening?” I gulp.

“Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the President, are all linked in.”

Well if my coat wasn’t white before it’d be white now. I look at Blaze and tried to hand him the radio, but he backed off quickly shaking his head vigorously.

“I… I… I… I’m sorry for speaking like that sir.”

The general chuckles, “No you spoke from the heart, and that’s what we need right now.”

I heard the President speak up, “Since this is now a diplomatic situation instead of military, I think our best option is time. Keep the area cordoned off, don’t let humans through unless they are brought in by ponies, and give them the time they need to choose. I wouldn’t want to force my daughter to do anything, so I think they need the same respect. “

“Mr. President, Lighting Dust is here demanding to see you.”

The President sighs, “I have to deal with this. When you find out who’s in charge there, let them know, we will support them but not interfere.”

“Sir, yes sir.” I salute the radio and blink… Wow I’m an idiot at times.

***Equestria***

WUMM

At least Crescendo has hooves to land on this time, instead of her face. Luckily she didn’t have that cocoa or she’d likely be puking that up. She’s starting to think twice about being the messenger. Sticking her tongue out, she shakes out her mane and tail quickly before trotting up out of the basement.

Looking around she huffs, then charges up to triage area, “Doc, the Army’s setting up a way station on the other side of the portal, but they are only doing it to offer support, it’s up to us to decide what next. I’m looking for some humans.”

The head doctor blinks and looks around, “Sorry, no humans here.”

“Yeah, ha ha, you know what I mean. Humans that came through, part of the US Army Rangers. I have a message for some of them.” She says, looking around, “Problem is, because they are humans I have no idea what they look like or even their species.”

“Oh, wait, Doc Top was working with a unicorn on the west side at the field hospital there. Check down there.” Doctor Horse says, pointing.

Nodding, Crescendo turns and runs down, looking around at the medical staff and unicorns, none are blank flanks. Shaking her head she trots up to Doc Top, “Doc, looking for a human Ranger, before you say no humans here, I mean a human that came through the gate. I’m running official messages.”

Doc Top points over to Henry, who is working at bandaging one of the big Apple ponies. She blinks, looking at the pink unicorn, and shrugs, only a few humans had cutie marks, she guess he is one of them.

“Rangers HO!” she calls out, like Twilight told her.

“RANGERS HO!” Eric calls without looking up.

“Rangers HO!” A pegasus calls out from the other side of the triage area.

Looking back and forth she giggles, “Ok I only need one of you, who’s ever free I have news from something called SOC.”

“I’ll take it,” the pegasus says as he limps over, “Lt Fisher here.”

“Ok let see if I can get this right,” closing her eyes, Crescendo tries hard to remember all the letters. “SOC, J-COS, and the President were on the radio with Twilight, she let them know we won, and they have agreed to let each pony choose. They aren’t going to force any ponies through the portal.”

“Ok, I’ll let the Commanders here know, if I can find them again. If you can let Twilight know, all of us are staying here for at least a day or so, we’re pretty bashed up, and Jay’s in critical condition. Since we’re pegasi, right now the doc’s suggested we take the time to heal. The trauma of going through the gate could be bad.”

Nodding slowly she grumbles, “I know, trust me, I hate that, but since I couldn’t fight, it’s the least I can do.” Turning she trots to hand the messages she had off to others.

Flexing his good wing, the LT sighs, “Henry, you’re not hurt, you can go back too if you need.”

Looking at all the wounded Henry shakes his head. “Not yet, I’m going to help with the wounded as long as I can.”

“I know the feeling. Hey Eric, be careful when you’re sitting down. You’re at the wrong height and can see things you shouldn’t when you’re behind a mare.” Chuckling softly, the LT limps off, figuring he can share the pain.

Looking back at the LT confused, Eric had been so wrapped in the wounded he hadn’t really paid attention to those that can walk. Look over at one of the nurse’s he wonders what the big deal is. Blinking, he realizes what the LT meant and closes his eyes tightly, “ARGH LT! I’m soooo going to get you for that.”

Limping slowly the LT keeps chuckling, finally making it up to the command area, he sees that Shining has finally returned. Several Royal Guards are with him as is Rarity. Moving up to him, the LT gives a weak salute. “Lieutenant James Fisher, 2/75th Army Rangers.”

“Army? Looks like you got hit pretty hard.”

Lifting his wing he flinches, looking at it then at Shining Armor, “Yes sir, I got lucky though, I’m a pegasus so I should heal fairly quickly. Not everyone I was fighting with was so lucky.” Just thinking about the battle starts his wing trembling a bit.

“So what do you need Lieutenant.”

“I just got a message from Twilight, the US military is standing by at the gate to render aid. Both to those arriving and those coming back. They are not going to interfere with the ponies though. Just help with food and shelter while the portal stays open.”

Shining Armor blinks and looks over at his sister. “Twilight, when did you talk with the US military?”

Coming over Twilight blinks, “I didn’t, I tried my best to avoid them.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean you Twilight Sparkle, I meant your Mom, Twilight Velvet. Her and Rainbow Blaze, Dash’s dad have served with me for a while now.”

“My mom?” Twilight sits down hard.

32: A Broken Mirror (start of book 2)

Watching from the steps, Henry sits beside the LT near the gate. Jay woke up a mere hour ago, but is already strong enough to do some light flying. Jay, Eric, and Sanchez are having some fun, flying under the care and teaching of a pair of real pegasi. Eric is having a laugh at it, pulling moves he loved doing in his wingsuit, and many he had only dreamed of.

They weren’t as good as born pegasi, but Henry has to admit, they’ve taken to flying quite well. With a few months of training, they would likely be as good as some of the real flyers. They might even be as good as Fluttershy, he thinks with a chuckle.

“Your wing’s strong enough LT. Why don’t you try joining them for one last flight before we go?”

Slowly spreading his wings, he feels the air currents, feeling the weather, the sky and clouds calling. He wonders if this is what normal pegasi feel. His expression gets wooden as he wonders if this is what she felt before... His wing starts trembling again and he pulls it tightly to his side.

“No, I have a few last things to check up on before we go through. Shining Armor asked me to meet him at the old school. He needs me to carry some things back for Twilight.”

Henry looked back up at the sky watching the three humans turned pegasi playing, laughing and having fun before feeling himself get hugged tightly from the side. Looking over slowly, the teenage pegasus is just beaming brightly at him.

“Thank you for saving my brother.” She says, looking up with wide eyes.

“I didn’t do much, actually I’m not really sure what I did. I’m glad it helped through.”

“Are you going to stay?”

Glancing at his coat he shakes his head, “Nope, not the place for me, I’m not a pony I’m a human. I’m just here to help out for a little bit before returning home.”

“Why? Don’t like it here?”

“I feel like I stick out like a sore hoof. Yes everyone’s funny colors but there aren’t many males sporting pink coats, and even some of the mares don’t like pink.” Henry says as he examines hoof and foreleg.

“Well I don’t mind, I think you look cute as a pink unicorn,” she says, nuzzling his chest fluff.

“And just think, everyone around here sees the colors first, it’s the first way to identify a pony. So all everyone is going to see me and remember me as is the male pink unicorn.” Henry says, shaking his head.

Looking around the little pegasus hums, “Never thought of that before, but that aside, thank you again.” Hugging him tightly again, she eventually pulls away and bounds off.

Looking back up, he watches Jay spin out, then recover. He wished he could have said no when they were offered a chance to fly but, it wouldn’t have been fair to them. Reaching over with his hoof he idly picks up his drink, it’s some sort of herbal tea, and sips it. Glancing up at his horn shine, he looks at the cup and sighs, Sugarberry’s sticky hoof TK trick. He knows if he tries, he could probably extend it and use it like other unicorns do but, he’s not a unicorn is he?

Doctor Gregory Horse sits down beside Henry looking up at the cavorting pegasi, “You know, I saw three earth ponies before trying to pick up a glass like that.” He chuckles.

“It’s a contact mode telekinesis that a friend of mine came up with.” Putting the glass down, he shakes his head.

“You did great out there Star Crossed. It may not seem like it but a lot are thankful you were here.”

“Henry,” looking down at his foreleg, “the name’s Henry, I don’t know where she came up with Star Crossed.”

“Sam, Sam Emerson. Ponies started calling me Doctor Horse. Though I play around with that too, Doctor Gregory Horse, MD. Head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at Ponyville General Hospital.”

“Really? You went there?”

“Hey I may not be anywhere near as good as House, but I’m also not a nut job like him either. To me though it feels better to associate it with that, rather than with Doc Horse.” Chuckling he reaches over and picks up his own tea, with his hoof, horn glowing, and he chuckles. “Ok, yeah, this is so going to annoy the patients.”

“Actually that did kind of sound like a House response there.”

“Star Crossed, have you ever considered the meaning to that name?” Horse asks, while sipping his tea.

Henry points at his hip. “Star, cross. Pretty obvious.”

“Yeah, but at the same time I like to think that a lot of the pony names have deeper meanings. Take Lyra Heartstrings. Her music tugs at the heartstrings of all that listen to it, that’s one of the common take on her name. Another is that she puts her heart into her music, that every time her lyre makes a sound it’s the sound of her heart within those strings.”

“Both sound equally sappy.” Henry chuckles.

“But which sounds better?”

“The second I guess, but which is true?”

“Neither? Both? In the absence of true evidence, all we have is our feelings and faith to take it on. That’s the way with pony names, often they hold meanings that are only apparent to ourselves. Just like our cutie marks.” Standing, he heads back for the triage center.

*** Velvet ***

I stand in the shower, facing the water and letting it run down my face and mane, I feel so happy, relaxed, alive. It’s taken me longer than normal to shower and wash myself off, but I want to make sure I’m not messy anywhere.

I’ve given Blaze a good wash down, before my shower, just some things are quicker and easier to do with magic. I just don’t want to leave the shower myself though. I know I have to, however, to get to the gate.

Stepping out of the shower, I use my magic to clean the shower before trotting into the room and sitting down. I don’t worry about getting dressed right away, instead I grab my brush and comb and get to work fixing my mane and fur trying to get all the tangles out.

“Umm, Blaze, why are you laying on the floor?” I say as I look over at him.

Sitting up, Blaze pokes the bed and looks at me, “Cuz it’s wet and sticky.”

I shudder, “Umm, yeah, something tells me we should leave a large tip for the maid service. That, or the motel might be charging the military for a new mattress. Besides, more than a little bit of that is yours.”

“Well, look at it this way, at least we learned about this before we did something like that in our own bed. I wouldn’t want to be buying a new mattress every night.”

I stop and look at him incredulously, “Every night?!?!”

“Ok a couple of times a week.” He chuckles, his face glowing.

Tilting my head, I hum, “Maybe that’s why they used hay ticks for beds. Essentially a mattress stuffed with hay. Pull the stuffing out, throw the hay away, wash the casing or tick, refill it with hay.”

Blaze pokes the bed again and chuckles. “Or rubber sheets.”

“Umm yeah, we’ll discuss this later.” I say and use my magic to get him dressed. We are acting in a military capacity so we both need to be in uniform.

Dressing myself, I adjust my beret, and pick up my saddle bags, putting them over my back. “Ready?”

Heading down to the front desk, I see a pair of Army privates arguing with the attendant, “What kind of place is this? I swear it sounded like stables in here, I could near the squealing and whinnying all though the halls.” One of the privates says sternly.

I can feel my ears turn bright red and my cheeks feel like they are on fire, I didn’t know I was that vocal. Ok, I remembered I was loud in the shower, but….

Blaze steps up to the desk, “Yeah seriously, and it sounded like some kind of gorilla or chimpanzee out of planet of the apes was jumping up and down on a bed. It was downright impossible to get any sleep.”

Walking up beside Blaze I yawn and sign out. Still blushing, I don’t say a word. I simply look at Blaze and walk out, I’m heading back to the gate.

“Thanks.” I say, looking at Blaze when he catches up with me.

“Well, I didn’t want them harassing you or such.” He chuckles, “and sides, if I didn’t look after you, I’d get my butt kicked by your kids as well as mine.”

“Our.” I say, giggling.

Looking up, I wave at the Unicorn club, “Ok girls, your turn, just don’t accept room 12A.” I say.

“Why? What’s wrong with 12A?” Ballad asks curiously.

“Oh 12A’s probably the room they had, and they probably have to replace the bed because of…”

Sugarberry shuts Ciphers mouth with her magic, “Cipher, think before you speak.”

Cipher blinks as Sugarberry’s aura fades from her muzzle, “I was, I was thinking rule 34.”

Ah-Pee humphs, “Cipher, please don’t tease Velvet about stuff like that, when she’s ready she’ll…” Ah-Pee stops while looking at me, then her eyes go wide.

“What?” I gulp.

Hugging me tight Ah-Pee giggles, “I haven’t seen your tail wiggle so much in my life… it’s nice to see you so happy.”

“Oh hush, go get some sleep.” I say, then I turn and sit, watching the gate.

The girls take the option and head for the Inn, I picked up a clipboard and read. Apparently most of the foals that were planning on staying in Equestria have already gone through the gate. One had tried coming back, but when she found out the mirror turned her back into a 6 year old, she opted to stay in Equestria. Poor thing.

Glancing over, I get up and move over to lay beside Lightning Dust, gently putting my muzzle over her. Ponies really wear their emotions on their ears and tail, and I can tell, with her wings tight, her ears drooped, and her tail between her legs, she is seriously down.

Looking up, Dust takes a breath, trying to choke back tears and she puts on a fake smile.

“Nope, not going to work, I was born a guy too, and trust me, hiding emotions as a mare just doesn’t work.” I say gently, and lick her ears softly, mothering her.

“Soarin died.” She says weakly.

“How? When?” This is one of those times I wish I had wings, just to be able to hug her. Instead I put my head over her neck.

Her voice cracks, “Two nights ago, fighting Corddis. Or Discord you could say.” She moans sourly.

“I’m sorry, he was such a good friend, and had such a beautiful heart.” I hug her tighter with my neck, “We are just getting back the casualty reports from Equestria. I’m going to try and talk Special Operations Command into working with CID to track down family members, let them know, so they can have some closure. I’d like to do something special for Soarin though. Can you let me know when the funeral will be?”

Dusk nods slowly, and I hug her tighter with my neck. “I just feel so…”

“There’s no magic words, there’s no spell, there’s no trick that will make the pain go away.” I press my cutie mark to hers, “There is family though, there are friends. Some say misery loves company, but in a way it’s true. For ponies, if we are sad, having other ponies around can help take away the pain.”

“I don’t know what to do.” The tears are leaking now.

“You become the best pony you can be, because to do anything less, means Discord won. It won’t be easy, some days you will feel sad and down. Remember through, no matter what, there are always ponies around you. They are with you, to help.”

Standing up I wrap my energy around Dust, picking her up and carrying her away from the gate, and into the mess tent. “Blaze, can I borrow a wing.” I look over at Moon Shadow and smile, she seems to ease back. She’s as protective of Dust as Mindy, or anyone in their group.

“Sure, what you need?” Blaze says as he looks up at me.

“Dust here needs a hug and snuggle, and I don’t have wings to do it.”

Unable really to protest, Dust lies there as Blaze moves over beside her, hugging with his wing. Walking over to the mess line I get some milk, some cupcakes, and some doughnuts and bring them back, laying them in front of her muzzle.

Laying down, I start eating and slowly feeding Dust, at the same time. I don’t know how many calories I burned last night but I am starved.

*** LT ***

James stands in the mirror room, in the basement of Rarity’s dress shop. It’s still midafternoon, but he doesn’t want to risk being caught in a last minute rush for the gate. The time they had stayed let most of the wounds heal, at least the ones that could be seen.

Looking over, James watches Henry inching towards the gate. He, more than most, wants to be human again. Jay and Sanchez came down late though, laughing at some joke between themselves, and Eric pulls up the rear.

Stopping at the gate, Eric spreads his wings a bit, stepping back and looking almost timid. He prances in place as he looks back at the others.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can’t you feel it?” Eric asks, not sure if he was is crazy or not.

Closing his eyes, Henry starts prancing too, backing away from the gate. “It’s, it’s just the gate magic.” He says, then charges through, his eyes tightly closed.

Counting to three, first Sanchez, then Jay follows, making sure they give enough time for the one in front to clear the gate.

“Haul tail it Ranger,” James says with a weak chuckle.

Nodding, Eric ducks through the mirror.

Taking one last look around, James takes a deep breath, and steps through. The sensation is hell, as always, going through this direction feels worse. And as an added bonus, as he comes out, he finds it hard to balance on only two legs again, and ends up on his rear, he’d only been a pony for a few days and even that has thrown his entire body out of whack.

He barely gets his wits about him when he is blindsided by Fleetfoot, who hugged him tightly with a laugh. “You’ve gotta tell me what it was like.”

Pushing her off, James raises his fist as if to strike her, then he stops, blinking. Backing away from her quickly, he puts his hand to his side quickly, to keep it from trembling. Panting he closes his eyes tight.

“Um, first though we need to get you some clothing.” Fleetfoot says, some worry evident in her voice.

Eric looks around, then groans, “LT… The marks didn’t go away, we kept our butt stamps...”

Looking to his hip, James closed his eyes and makes a fist again, “I need a uniform.”

Hopping over to the supply truck, Fleetfoot comes back in, at least she could get them boxers, pants and military tee’s. Shoes or boots though, the sizes of those are so different between people that the military didn’t bother.

“Whats going on LT, why didn’t they go away?” Sanchez says, rubbing his hip.

“I don’t think rubbing it is going to work Sanchez,” Jay pipes in, looking at the clothing and starting to get dressed quickly.

Fleetfoot holds up a hoof, “Calm down, calm down, ok, so you got your marks when you went through the gate?”

“Can we move, I need to get some distance from the gate,” the LT says, his eyes darting between the gate and Fleetfoot.

“Sure James.” She says with a smile, “Just breathe, all of you relax, and follow me.” Fleetfoot leads them to a troop truck and hops inside, she turns around and sits down, facing them. It’s at least a private place to talk.

“Better,” Henry says as he sits down.

“Ok what’s wrong?” She pipes up, looking at the assembled Rangers.

“I can see why they say that statue drove people nuts, it wasn’t bad when it first opened but now it’s like its yelling at us to go through it, to go back there.” Eric says, glancing in the direction of the portal, then he rubs his hands up and down his arms.

“I know what you mean, I’ve felt that since day one. I’ve just sort of got used to it and I’ve not spent a lot of time sitting right beside it. It’s the aether, the Equestrian magic, it pulls at the ponies.” She says, shaking her head.

“Fleet, we’re humans remember, not lost ponies.” Henry quickly adds in. “And there’s no way I want to go back there.”

Fleetfoot smiles, “I heard, honestly there are some color schemes that might turn me off of wanting to be a pony. If I ended up brown with green mane and tail, for example. I could just hear the tree jokes going on.”

Henry nods, “I heard that pink fluffy unicorn dancing on rainbow song so many time…”

“So the marks, you got them when you went through the mirror?” Fleetfoot interrupts Henry, tilting her head and looking at the LT.

Jay shakes his head, “Nope, we were blank flanks, we didn’t get our marks till later, during the battle.”

Eric nods, “each one of us had to dive deep into ourselves and find the best way we could help those around us. What we could do to help each other.”

The LT holds the books tighter in his hand. He hadn’t let go of them since coming through the gate. Though it’s better to be holding them in his hands rather than tucked under wing.

Henry looks at Fleetfoot and grumbles, “The mirror didn’t give us our marks. They were earned in Equestria, through Equestria’s magic. When Rainbow Dash came back through she still had her mark. The mirror can’t take the marks away, because it didn’t give them to us.”

Everyone, including Fleetfoot, looks at Henry.

“We’ve been touched by Equestria’s magic, and because we found our special talents there, its magic filled us and now we are stuck with it.” Henry finishes somberly, looking seriously at his squad mates.

“Oh that’s BS,” The LT growls as he stands up, “There’s got to be some way of getting rid of them, maybe there’s some kind of unmarking spell or something.”

“James,” Fleetfoot starts, but The LT hops out of the back of the truck.

“Guys, stay here, I’m going to have Velvet give you a check, just… Stay here, I need to talk to your LT in private.”

Hopping down Fleetfoot flaps after him, who needs to run when you can fly? Passing him she slams down digging her hind hoofs into the ground and rearing up, she puts her forehooves against his chest, forcing him to stop. She looks at him seriously as he seems to give up, and he lets himself sit down hard on the ground.

“Why are you so desperate now, it might fade in time, we don’t know. It’s not a bad thing though. I don’t mind you having them.” Fleetfoot says as she sits on her haunches.

“You don’t understand, I shouldn’t have it.” James says, shaking his head.

“Why? Explain it to me.”

“Because I don’t deserve it.” James glare causes her wings to extend partially in alarm, her ears fold back at that look, “I don’t deserve to have it for what it cost.”

Fleetfoot’s gone through officer training, as a human, and dimly remembered as a Wonderbolt. She knew that part of it was learning to recognize and understand some signs, and she doesn’t like where this is going. She doesn’t want to ask, but she knows she has to. She takes a deep breath, she holds eye contact with the human, “What was that cost, James?”

Looking down at his hip he huffs, “A mare’s life.” He stops talking for a long time. She watches his eyes intently, after a long time he gathers himself, “I lead a group of ponies into a charge against an enemy that broke through the lines. They were heading straight for the field hospital, and I knew I had to stop them. I gathered what forces I had with me and we hit them, dead on, before they could get to the wounded.”

Closing his eyes the LT shakes his head, “I knew why I was there, I know what I had to do, and those around me knew. They followed me without question, kept in my formation as we hit the enemy charge head on. They drew their strength from me.”

“I don’t know what her name was, I don’t know why she did it. But she put herself between me and a large war bear. It took her down with one swing. One swing that was meant for me. For me to get my mark, she had to die. And that’s just not fair.” He stops again, choking back his emotions. Fleetfoot sits there patiently, despite her nature, she had to let him finish this, finally he sighs, “it’s not right. She should be here, and not me. She was so young, and had so much ahead of her.”

Fleetfoot sits there, looking at the LT, nothing in her training has covered this, nothing at all fits this. She moves forward and hugs him, he doesn’t seem to react much at first, but she notices a very slight bit of tension leaving his shoulders. She ads her wings to the hug as well and sits there holding him. “I’ll try and talk to someone about this, see what we can do.”

“As long as it gets this mark off me all’s good.” He says, he doesn’t hug back, but she knows deep down, he needs this from her.

*** Velvet ***

I stay beside Dust, holding my body tightly to hers, keeping my muzzle and neck over her head. Occasionally I would lick her ear as I make sure she’s had a good amount to eat. Blaze has his wing over both of us, just making sure Dust can’t escape.

Mindy bounds up, “Dust, is there a way we can get in touch with Luna? It’s sort of an emergency.”

Blinking Dust looks up, “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Ok cuz Fleetfoot really needs her help.” Mindy says, worry evident in her voice.

I lifted my head, “What’s wrong with Fleetfoot?”

“It’s well, umm, a pegasi problem, and Luna’s got the powers to help with it.” She says.

“Was she talking to you about it?” I ask.

“Nope, but it’s best Luna gets involved, it’s that big a problem.” Mindy says.

Dust sighs, “Mindy, were you eavesdropping again?”

“What? No! I’d never do that, that’s just rude. I hacked Sparky’s e-mail account, he really needs to change his password. But can you get in touch with Luna, it really is life and death important.”

“Who, what, now?” I start.

Sighing Dust shakes her head, “Don’t even try and figure it out. Its Mindy being Mindy. Ok Mindy, if I can get in touch with her I’ll tell her Fleetfoot needs her.”

I stand up and grab Mindy with my TK and tuck her into my place beside Dust, then adjust Blazes wing over both of them. Looking at it I fluff his wing and nod. “Be back in a moment.”

Heading back over to the gate, I find Sugarberry there, pouring over lists.

“Final Casualty list?”

“Yep, but there are a few unknowns. A few humans went through the gate and died there, problem is no one’s claiming them which means the ponies they went through with likely died too.”

“Ranger team back?”

Sugarberry looks up and nods, “Fleetfoot took them to the truck for some privacy.”

Nodding slowly I head out, Fleetfoot is hugging the LT so I don’t want to disturb them. Instead I teleport up to the back of the truck and climbed in.

“Hey guys,” is all I say before I get picked up and hugged.

“Ok if we EVER give you or Blaze a hard time, about being ponies. Remind us of this.” Henry says.

“Hey it wasn’t that bad.” Eric says with a chuckle.

“Oh, Ballad already knows about your mark.” I say, narrowing my eyes with a smile.

“It was worse, far far worse.” Eric corrects us.

I found myself getting passed around for hugs by all of them, this is starting to get undignified. “Umm guys, ponyspace here?” I say with a giggle.

Getting put down I shake myself out and laugh. Then look at the group and sit on my haunches, letting my head tilt to one side.

Henry pulls the side of his pants down to show me his cutie mark. “The mirror didn’t give them to us so it couldn’t take them away.”

I move closer to examine it, after a long look at the mark, I touch my horn to it gently and concentrate.

“It’s real, it’s got a lot of Equestria’s magic in it.” Sitting back on my haunches I pull his pants down a little more to look at it.

“Well at least it’s not on that gawd awful pink coat.” He says with a laugh.

Putting my hoof on the mark I looked at him then at the rest. “Honestly, I hope they never fade, you’ve been touched by something few can understand. Each one is special, each one is your own. Even two marks that look the same will have slight differences, not just in their style, but in their meaning.”

Looking up at Henry I smile, “Your mark, though, is about magic, it’s a unicorn’s mark as true as any. I’d love to talk to you about it, it’s like my mark, and it means we share a very special place, just like my daughter does.”

Nodding I take a breath, then poke my head out, checking for an all clear, “Ok mess tents over here, they have real food including meat if you want.”

“Real food!” Sanchez laughs and hops down, “Been living off of grass, weeds, fruit and leaves for the last three days.”

The group charges for the mess tent, though I walked over, and look at the LT and Fleetfoot. Looking up at me the LT holds out some books. Nodding I take them in my magic and turn, following the group.

Trotting in I lift Blaze up, he was next to Dust, I move myself between Blaze and Dust, leaving Mindy on the other side. All four of us lay snuggled up together, Blaze’s wing covering Dust and I, and a little bit of Mindy.

“You know, I could start taking offense to that.” Blaze starts, “Being unicorn handled, you could have just…”

Turning my head I kiss him on the lips.

“Never mind,” He chuckles.

Looking up I watch Sanchez and Jay digging into chicken wings, like there is no tomorrow. Eric had gone for the fish… Henry though, is just pushing his meat around his plate. He is eating his salad but looks lost in thought.

Looking down at the books, I sigh, EUP Field manual, combat casting and combined arms. Twi-Twi sent me a EUP Field manual. The stack also has some school books, basic casting, basic TK, it looked like she grabbed what she could find on short notice. A blank journal except for the first page, 912 days to go, miss you. Finally a parenting book, flipping through, I notice it covers basic counter spells, sparks and… Looking closer at it I blink.

“Oh sweet Celestia.” I say.

Dust blinks, looking over. “What?”

“Years ago, I taught a babysitting course. Cadence, Twinkleshine, Moondancer, Lemonhearts, and Sunset Shimmer were all in it. Though Sunset didn’t really care much for the class.” I slide the book over so Dust can see, “It’s Twinkleshine’s book from my class.”

“How?” Blaze chimes in.

“She moved to Ponyville, I guess it somehow ended up in the new library or school there, Twi-Twi sent through some books to help me.” I look back at the book and give it a gentle nuzzle. “The fact that I know I taught this class, just means so much.”

Looking back up I see Henry push the plate away, looking conflicted. Maybe his time as a unicorn left him more changed then I thought. I should give him a few days though.

Eric is sitting, looking in the direction of the gate, he can feel the pull just like I can. Even from here there is a calling. Closing his eyes he starts singing softly… the words hitting me hard…

“I feel the wind, it calls my name. It calls me back, home again… It sparks up the fire, a flame that still burns… It's to you I will someday return.”

33: Picking up the Pieces

We stand watching the gate, keeping our distance as best we can, the last few stragglers that could make it on time have gone through, I didn’t know how many are left behind, or stranded, but we’ve tried our best to make it easy for those going.

I was surprised when Big Mac had come through, but at the same time I understand his reasons. Around the world ponies have received dreams to go to his farm. It could take weeks, or even months for them to get there. So him leaving the farm, would be him abandoning all the ponies that had been entrusted to him by Luna.

That is something he just can’t do, I know that. Though it does make Ah-Pee happy, even though he is human now, he is still an Apple. I could just see the Hunter family and Apple family having reunions, with any Apple stragglers meeting up at one of the two farms for years to come.

Irony made it through with plenty of time to spare, so we keep our distance to let them reunite, I know Dust is still hurting from the loss of her sibling. It is going to be hard for her, I know. It is going to be hard for a lot of families. Many might not know why or what happened, just that their loved ones have vanished.

That is going to be our next job though, for now, we all need time to heal. I can feel the energy of the gate flickering as it closes, going to sleep again for another two and a half years. Thirty moons till the next opening.

The LT gives the gate a salute that is slowly picked up by the rest of the squad. I don’t know if he is saluting someone, the gate, or Equestria itself, but at this moment it doesn’t matter. To each of us we have our own reason to salute it.

Eric starts singing again, catching every pony off guard, the words carrying our feelings, “I know the road is long, But where it lead to is home. Whatever you say, I find the way...”

Picking up the words, the feeling, we join in, “I run like the river, I follow the sun, I fly like an eagle to where I belong.”

To all of us, the gate means a way home, a way that is now closed. “No I can't stand the distance, I can't dream alone, I can't wait to see you, yes I will find my way home.”

“So what’s the plan now LT?” I said as I sit, watching him.

“Well, cleanup is going to take a few days. Many of these cars and such are now abandoned. Tomorrow we get down to really mundane work, we are going to VIN all the cars, trucks and such.” This gets a moan from the entire squad.

“Yep, it gets worse. Once VINned, we tag them with a white flag. Cipher gets to go through the records with Sugarberry, any rentals get a yellow flag. Those will get gathered up by the motor pool, and transferred to a parking area in town, companies will be notified to come pick them up.”

Looking at us he shakes his head, “Green flags are for vehicles that we can track down for active family members. Those will be gathered and shipped back to their families. The families will be advised that they will be responsible for any leasing, outstanding payments or what not on the car, but from there can choose to keep or sell them.”

“Red flags will be for cars who have no family. I’m going to suggest that those ones be auctioned off, and the proceeds go to the families of those who died. Don’t know if the military will go for it, but we need to do something with them.”

Nodding slowly I look at the girls, and then over at Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot hasn’t taken her eyes off the LT once, her face showing her concern and worry. I’m not sure what is going on, and I haven’t been told the full story of what happened in Equestria, but I am going to give him time.

“How long are we staying here, sir?” I ask, curious as to what the military is planning.

“They want to keep us here on station for 2 weeks, just to handle stragglers, again, pony face to defuse tension.” He says, looking straight at Blaze and I.

Blaze chuckles and shakes himself out, puffing his fur somewhat as well as his wings before saluting cheerfully, “Token ponies reporting for cuteness.”

Looking at Blaze I just groan, “Bad, Rainbow, just bad.”

“We are going to start cycling down military and police presence here. The statue will be locked up in the house but not moved.”

“Big Mac is talking about buying the land and statue.” I chime in.

“Yep, but until that happens, a small security force will stay here. We are not worried about something coming through, but we also don’t want to take a chance that it’s not stolen, damaged or destroyed.” The LT looks around at all of us, “For tonight, get some sleep, we will meet back here at oh eight hundred.”

Turning he heads off to one of the trucks, rather than using the Inn or one of the tents, the Officers have set up some cots in one of the MTVR’s and turned it into an officers quarters for the four officers here. Fleetfoot is bunked there, as well as two infantry officers. It was large enough to sleep them while still giving them a measure of privacy with the hanging dividers inside the vehicle.

I look at Blaze and trot back for the barracks tent. It is set up with 12 x 2 bunks, though right now there is about 10 infantry and us 6 rangers in it right now. Undressing, I fold my things up, putting them in my locker till I’m just in my panties and t-shirt.

Glancing over at some of the infantry I blink, “What? These are coed barracks.”

Eric chuckles “There just not used to seeing such a cute tail.”

“Gee thanks, I thought you didn’t look at those things.” I respond.

“Well, at least you’re wearing something. Girls on the other side weren’t. And in pony form, when sitting or lying on the ground you really had to watch where your eyes drifted.” Henry chuckled. “The LT got some of us with that.”

“Well sorry to disappoint you guys, no free shows here.” I said taking off my hoof boots and tossing them into the locker.

Rather than the normal clunk I’d expect, I hear a squeak and whimper. Turning, I lift up the duffle bag at the bottom of the locker. Pink fur and feathers, what?

“Feather? Why didn’t you go through the gate?” I say, lifting her up in my telekinesis.

“I… I couldn’t. I couldn’t face them, I couldn’t bring what I did to Equestria.” She says, looking down.

“Oh Feather.” Pulling on my pants I put her on my back. “You should have just told us rather than hiding.”

Heading to the mess tent, I pick her up some food before heading back to the barracks. “First have something to eat, and then we’ll figure out what we can do to help.”

I watch her finish eating, then I clean up her face with a cloth. Carefully, I pick her up and pull her in bed with me, snuggling her I look over at Blaze. “We can decide as a group tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, I don’t mind her staying with us till she can sort things out for herself.” He says with a smile.

*** Fleetfoot ***

“Dust? Dust…” She trots up and stops.

Looking back from her herd, Dust stands up, “What’s up Fleetfoot?”

“I need a Wonderbolt’s help.” Sitting, she keeps some distance between herself and the herd, looking mournfully at Dust.

Getting up, Dust walks over to sit beside her, “What’s up?”

“A human went through the gate, fought for us, and risked their life for us. The mirror magic made them a pegasus there, and they lived up every bit to the Wonderbolts oath and way. The problem is they came back traumatized. They would never raise a hand against a pony, yet they nearly took a swing at me.”

She sighs, quiet for a long time, then she looks up at the turquoise pegasus, “I need Luna, I need some way to get through to them. Right now they have so much loathing about themselves, they don’t think they should have lived when real ponies died.”

“Who?” Dusk asks.

“I… I can’t say, it’s somewhat confidential. I don’t… It’s like…” Taking a deep, breath she looks at Dust, “It’s like their greatest dream, what should have been their greatest accomplishment, was torn up and left at their hooves.” Fleetfoot shakes her head. “And it not fair to someone who just wanted to help our kind.”

Dust sits down, thinking. “Velvet told me something about this, but I haven’t talked to Princess Luna.” She continues to look thoughtful, then she brightens and looks back, “Moon Shadow,” The gray unicorn looks at the two pegasi, “We need your help.”

Moon Shadow blinks and stands up, reluctant to leave Irony’s side, but still comes over. “What do you need Dust?”

Dust turns to face Fleetfoot, “Moon Shadow was Luna’s apprentice back in Equestria, she’s a dream walker. Maybe she can help.”

“I’m just afraid that they are going to do something that will make things worse for themselves. I need a way to get through to them. I’ve been trained in the basics recognizing the signs of PTSD, survivor’s guilt and such but…”

“I’ll see what I can do. Dust, take care of Irony for me, please.” Moon Dancer stands up to follow Fleetfoot towards the truck.

“You know I will, Moon.” Dust responds as she moves over to the massive earth pony and folds a wing over her.

“I trust you won’t let this get around. Stuff like this can be a career ender.” Feetfoot says softly.

“Healer-patient confidentiality, Luna made me swear never to reveal things from dreams.”

“Lt. James Fisher, he earned his cutie mark in Equestria, but he associates it now with the death of others rather then what it really is. There’s so much… He’s got it in his mind that the only reason he has it is because a young mare died.”

“Something like that can just…”

Fleetfoot looks mournful, “I told him I’d try and find a way to help, he wants it removed, but that would just be running away from the problem.”

“Removed? You mean he kept it?”

“Yeah… it’s true Equestrian magic, it’s a true cutie mark. He may be human but, there, he was a pony, and as such.” Fleetfoot just looks at her hooves for a long moment, before steeling herself and hopping up into the back of the truck.

Following behind, Moon Shadow could sense the suffering right away, while he is asleep he is tossing and turning, reliving the nightmares. The strength of the agony catches Moon Shadow off guard and she wobbles a bit. She shakes her head, “Remind me never to go to a PTSD ward in a veterans hospital.”

“That bad?”

“I haven’t even started yet, best to wake him up, I don’t want to do this without his permission.”

Holding her wing out, Fleetfoot backs up, pushing Moon Shadow back as well to get some distance before she calls out. “Rangers HO!”

The LT bolts upright, pulling a service pistol out from a holster on his bed. Looking around, he blinks as Fleetfoot shields Moon with her wing. “It’s ok James, you were having a nightmare.”

Holstering his pistol he covers his face, “Yeah, bad dreams.”

“Moon Shadow here is a powerful unicorn, probably more powerful than Velvet, she might be able to help you.” Fleetfoot says softly.

“She can get rid of the mark?” he says, looking at both of the ponies.

“I… I don’t know, but I might be able to help with the nightmares.” She says as she steps forward.

Looking at his hand, he watches it tremble, and makes a tight fist to stop it. “I’ll be fine when I get rid of the mark.”

“I don’t know if it’s the mark or not. I’d like to find out, if you’ll let me.” Moon Shadow smiles gently, “You helped us, now it’s our turn to help you.”

“I’ll help too.” Fleetfoot says sternly, looking at both of them.

Moon Shadow shakes her head slowly, “It only works with family members, or those who share a connection of love.”

Fleetfoot looks at Moon sternly, “I will help, we share a connection, it may not be love but it’s there. Every time he puts his hand on me I feel it.”

Looking between the two, Moon Shadow sighs. “I will try but I can’t be sure it will work.”

Laying down beside him, she takes a breath, “lay back, close your eyes, and relax. I’ll be with you the whole way.” Taking his hand, she guides it to her cutie mark, “Here, draw strength from me.”

Shaking her head, Moon Shadow closes her eyes, she still isn’t sure they are close enough emotionally but she’s going to give it a try.

“Just breath, relax, close your eyes and try to sleep.”

***

Moon Shadow appears, standing on the bed of Grandfathers pickup truck, James is sitting on the edge of the tailgate, softly stroking Fleetfoot’s neck, calming her. He speaks to her soothingly, telling her she is safe, that nothing would hurt her.

“James…” Moon Shadow steps forward. “We need to go to Equestria, James…”

Slowly the scene changes, James is sitting beside Henry. Fleetfoot is next to Moon Shadow, she looks around, then looks down at Henry. Equestria is an absolute mess, there as burned out and damaged buildings, spray painted buildings, broken glass and shattered doors.

“I didn’t know it was this bad here.” Feetfoot says.

“Me neither,” Moon Shadow says, then blinks as she looks at Henry. She takes note of Henry’s cutie mark, a little taken back. Watching as he uses his magic to heal, she shakes her head slowly. “That’s… he…”

“He’s a medic,” James says. Standing up he steps out to see all the injured being tended to.

“What about the battle?” Moon Shadow asks softly.

“The battle was hours ago. This is the aftermath, very few ponies came out without any injuries.”

“Can I see the battle?” Moon Shadow asks gently.

With one more step, they are standing on the top of the hill, a pair of royal guard pegasi stand with James, looking down he watches the breach open, a large bear had punched through the lines. He starts charging down, heading for the breach. The royal guard follows, following his orders, and following his tactics. He is their wing commander.

It is a race, to see who can get to the wounded first, on either side of him the stallions protect his flanks, behind them a pair of mares. There she was… the one who…

The scene jumps back to the pickup. James is again stroking Fleetfoot’s neck softly as he tells her to stay calm.

“I know it’s hard. I need to see it though, I need to see what happened.” Moon Shadow says.

“I’m not a pegasus, I was never meant to be one… So why did she sacrifice herself?” James says, looking at Fleetfoot.

He is running again, charging towards the triage center, spreading his wings, he leaps over the wounded and starts flying, the entire group of pegasi take to the air with him. Flying full speed over the wounded he is heading for the large war bear in the lead.

The mare behind him is smiling, a great flying wedge formation with James at the tip of the spear. Looking ahead, the bear rears up and roars.

Gunshots, everything goes dark, “LT, LEFT SIDE!” Wally calls out. James turns to his left, he sees a girl, no older than fourteen, wearing a baroque. She picks up an AK-74 from a body and starts to point it towards the LT. A short controlled burst leaves her lying there, dead.

Moon Shadow stands blinking, and looks over at Fleetfoot.

“Afghanistan, we were house clearing in a Taliban village.” James says, panting.

“But why are we here?” Fleetfoot asks.

“Sometimes memories become linked… especially stressful ones. This is not just about the pegasus.” Moon Shadow says as she steps forward.

The town is hell, it looks worse than Ponyville, with two burning HLWV’s, buildings that have taken hits from 2000 pound bombs, some buildings are flattened, with nothing but a door frame and a twenty foot hole in the ground.

The air is thick with smoke, with burning oil, with burnt flesh.

It takes everything Fleetfoot has to stand beside the LT, Moon Shadow is hardly doing any better. A twelve year old by runs across the street with what looked like wires coming out from under his vest. He is heading for the Rangers position, but doesn’t make it halfway across the street before one of the snipers puts him down.

“Heads down!” James shouts.

A B-1B comes across the village, left to right, unloading nearly fifty JDAMS in 1 pass, the earth shakes, the buildings the Rangers were in, pieces of roof and the walls fall inwards… there is no sound other than explosion after explosion, even the gunfire is drowned out.

“It’s ok, it’s just a bad dream.” The LT says, sitting by Fleetfoot in the pickup. “You’re safe, just breathe.”

Moon Shadow shakes her head, ears flapping a bit, trying to get the sound out of her head. Yet he continues to come back to here, this is his safe place. She smiles, of all the memories he must have, this is where he comes to be safe. Just sitting and running his fingers through Fleetfoot’s mane.

“James, you’re flying, your first flight ever, you are in Equestria.”

James pumps his wings hard, he is covering the distance. He flies over Henry, who is refusing to leave the wounded, even though Discord’s forces are coming right at him. “Fan out now!” James yells as he hits the lead war bear with his shoulder and neck, sending it tumbling backwards. His speed, his mass, the amount of force imparted from that collision leaves even Fleetfoot stunned. He hit the bear with everything he had, knowing he had to stop it.

The royal guard and other pegasi fan out to form a U around the advance, to stop and contain them long enough for the heavy cavalry to arrive. The wing mares though, refuse to leave James unguarded. They fight close to him, keeping the cat creatures off of him. For them, for others near him, James is a banner, a flag, something to rally to. All the ponies can see that. Moon Shadow watches the looks on the various faces, he’s leading them, polarizing them, getting them to do what they would otherwise be unable to do themselves.

When the great bear takes a swing at James, she is there to keep him safe. The battle stops, everything stops. James just sits by the body of the broken female. Bodies all around, but it was her, she had given her life. Lifting his wing he looks at his mark.

Laying down he curls up by the body, “She was the real pegasus, I was fighting to give her a life there, I failed completely.”

Fleetfoot comes close, laying her wing over James, “You earned your mark before she died. Not because of her dying.”

Moon Shadow asserts her control and stops the dream, only Fleetfoot, James, and herself could move. She can smell the burnt flesh, the smoke thick in the air, but the sound is blotted out. There are so many dead and wounded. Even Moon Shadow recognizes a few, it is easy to see how someone could give up under this. Want to hide from it. She looks at James, he’s staring at the form lying on the ground. His pain eats at her own soul. She sighs and lets things continue.

They are back at the pickup truck, James is curled in ball in pegasus form, wings trembling badly, Fleetfoot is sitting, her legs dangling off the edge of the tailgate stroking James neck softly with her hand. Blinking, she looks at herself as a human and shudders.

Moon Shadow looks at Fleetfoot, “It’s his turn to feel like this.”

“I couldn’t fly after that, I couldn’t eat, I didn’t want to be a pegasus, I don’t want to be one. I just want this mark off of me.”

“She died a soldier, she died doing her duty, and protecting her commanding officer. She’s a mare, there’s an instinct there. We have to protect the stallions. She had to keep you safe.”

“It’s how pilots are trained too. Protect your wing leader at all costs. Abandoning your wing leader is the worst thing you can do.” Fleetfoot says, “Had she let you fall, the entire formation could have crumbled, then the wounded would have been next.”

“Your mark is about trust, the trust you inspire, it’s not the mark of someone who fights alone, it’s a mark of a person who fights with a flock, a herd, a squad. She didn’t die because of your mark, but hundreds more are alive because of it.” Moon Shadow says, stroking his wing to stop it from trembling.

“I don’t think the mirror is random in what it turns a person into. I think instead it turns them into what they are meant to be in that reality. I’m sure some humans would be turned into Griffons, others into Zebra’s, I don’t know how it works things out but it knew you were a pegasus. Your energy, your personality, maybe your family history, decided that on Equestria you would be a pegasus.” Fleetfoot gently picks James up, cradling him and hugging him tight. Well maybe not picked him up as much as rolling him over and pulling him up into a hug.

“Fleetfoot can help you through this.” Moon Shadow says. She concentrates, and the world around them whirls for a moment, bringing them back to the battlefield, sitting by the mare. “She died, but it wasn’t a death in vain. She died for something, James.”

“You can run from this, try and hide, try and avoid facing the pain. Like so many do. We’ve both seen how that ends.” Fleetfoot says, putting her wing around him but tucking her muzzle under his neck. “Or we can take it slow, come to understand the sacrifice. At the same time accept the mark for what it is, a mark of growing up, of reaching a new level.”

“The first step though, is facing the pain, accepting it, not trying to hide from it, not trying to run away from it.” Moon Shadow says softly.

“I’ll be with you as much as I can through this James. I’ll be by your side, or a phone call away. I have a great frequent flyer program.” She says, softly hugging him with her wing.

They are back at the truck, he is panting softly, and tears are in his eyes as he looks down at the pegasus mare. Stroking her neck he closes his eyes, “Good little soldier.” She murmurs as she leans into the touch from the human, a soft smile on her face.

*** Velvet ***

Waking up I get undressed and put on clean underclothing before getting out of bed. Changing while under the covers is a military specialty at times. It came in most handy in the Arctic, but, for a mare in a coed barracks, useful too.

Pulling on my combats and combat boots, I give them a quick rough polish to remove scuffs. Polishing combat boots isn’t as much about the mirror shine, but more about just having them scuff free. There isn’t a lot of leather, these boots though are mostly cloth and rubber, but I still want to make them look nice.

I gently nuzzle Feather, “Up an at em sleepy head.”

Feather pulls the covers over her head, “10 more hours mom.”

“Oh no, you wanted to stay on Earth, I have work to do, you’re coming with me.” I say picking her up and putting her on my back.

Cipher groans, rolling out of bed, “Where’s my Coffee IV.”

“In the mess tent,” Sugarberry sits up, ruffing her mane out a bit, then she looks over and blinked.

Cipher sits, eyes half closed, blowing on a hot cup of coffee.

“Cipher, I thought teleports are for emergencies,” Ballad says, working a brush through her tail, trying to get some knots out.

“Morning coffee IS an emergency.” Taking a big drink of her coffee she looks over at the others, then starts to get dressed herself.

“Anyone seen Ah-Pee?” I ask.

“Mess hall already,” Cipher said, “saw her when I got my coffee.”

Turning, we start trotting for the mess hall, a few infantry watching us as we walk. Once inside we grab our breakfast and start our game plan.

“Ok we got our orders, Cipher, use the sat link, link up with CID, NCIS and run the VIN’s and plate numbers as we bring them in. Sugarberry get to work on the lists. Ballad and I are going to VIN the cars and text the numbers back to you.”

Blaze drags himself in, yawning, “You girls didn’t wait for me?”

Giggling, I look up, “You looked so cute and adorable sleeping. I hate to do this to you Blaze, but, you’re on VIN duty, and runner if needed. If anypony shows up I want you there to calm them down as fast as possible. Don’t tell them right away though that they missed the gate. We don’t want to crush anypony like that.”

Getting up, I start for the tent door, when Ballad start singing beside me… For once… every person, and pony groaned.

Portal Wrap-Up, Portal Wrap-Up!

Let's finish our traveling Year

Portal Wrap-Up, Portal Wrap-Up!

'Cause tomorrow police are here

'Cause tomorrow the police are here

Getting out to the where the cars are, we start laughing as she goes on, the song just getting worse…

Vinning all the cars and trucks

A ponies job begins

In clearing all the roads and lanes

To let the tow trucks in.

We move the barriers and we clear the tape lines

when we're done the police can come in and issue fines...

“Ok ok, Ballad you win, I won’t be able to read the VIN numbers if you keep singing that.” I giggle.

“Sorry, just doing what my cutie mark tells me.” She says and giggles back.

We both keep our cellphones on, reading the VIN numbers and magically typing them into our phones, including the license plate numbers. Meanwhile Feather is on my back, looking into the windows of each car. There is most of the usual stuff you’d expect, some laptops, cellphones, books and blankets.

Some cars have food left inside, I really don’t want to be the one to open the doors on those cars. Not our problem.

I hear Ballad start laughing across from me, “What’s up?”

“We can never get locked out of a car.” She calls back.

Looking over at her I chuckle, “Just realizing it now?”

“I just tried it, I can unlock the locks with my TK.” She calls back.

“Yep, works on house doors to. If we can see the lock handle, we can turn, pull, or push it.”

“Man the government’s worried about pegasi. Us unicorns and the earth ponies are just as big a problem.” She says with a sigh.

“Hey, never consider what we do a problem. I think that’s also the reason we rarely see keys or such in the show. In most cases, they would be pointless.”

Feather hops off my back, onto the hood of a small SUV and clambers up onto the roof, looking down though the sunroof. “Well, that paint jobs scratched to heck now, Feather, what are you doing?”

“Body, got a body here.” Feather says.

Blinking, I open the door, there is a human woman, I judge her age to be in her forties, her hands are duck taped, as well as her feet, and her mouth has a strip of the gray tape.

“She’s alive!” I call out, “Get Henry and call for an ambulance.”

“The portal opened four nights ago, she could have been in there up to three days, easily. Let them know she could be in bad shape.” Ballad says.

Henry runs up to check her over, after a few minutes he looks at me, “She’s alive, but barely, pulse is weak and thready.”

Feather looked up, “Why would somepony do this?”

“Why do you think it was a pony?” Ballad asks.

“Because only the ponies knew about this place.” Feather says.

“Great, just what we need, a case of a pony kidnapping a human to get here.” I say, “OK girls, let's pick up the pace a bit.” Grumbling I look up, “Rainbow!”

Blaze lands beside me, “What’s up?”

“We just pulled a body out of one of the cars, do a quick search, make sure there’s no more.”

Nodding Blaze starts car hopping, checking each of them, as we move on with our job.

“Has anyone seen the LT?” Eric calls out.

“Not since last night,” I hear Blaze respond.

“Now what…” I say, shaking my head.

*** Fleetfoot ***

Moon Shadow shakes her head as she steps from the dream, She looks at Fleetfoot and James. Even if they haven’t admitted it, they are a lot closer than just friends. That would never have worked so easily if they were just friends.

Working through the dream is easy, for her. Everything after that, some of the things she saw left her feeling ill, she can’t talk to Dust about it though. Dust has too much to deal with right now, too. So many lives destroyed by this. She sighs softly, looking at the pony and the human curled up together.

Fleetfoot moans softly and pushes herself up, “I feel like my head, my heart, and my cutie mark have all been ripped off and stomped on. Still, it’s not as bad as my college day hangovers.”

“He’ll sleep peacefully for a while but he’ll still need a lot of herd support.”

“I don’t know, I kind of feel bad now, the other night we were joking around, laughing at Eric getting a musical cutie mark, Henry being the pink unicorn. They went through so much there though.” Fleetfoot shakes her head slowly.

“Henry wasn’t thrilled about being a unicorn?” Moon Shadow asks, glancing up at her horn.

“Actually I think his only problem was the color, and everyone making fun of him for it.” She shakes her head, “Most of them are or were humans, so the idea of a pink male unicorn just doesn’t fit with the testosterone.”

“That’s it?” Moon Shadow shakes her head.

“Yeah, he was the only one there though that could heal some of the unicorn’s injuries. He just couldn’t wait to get back to human form though, should have seen how happy he was that he was back to normal except for the cutie mark.”

Gently Fleetfoot strokes the LT’s hip with a wing. “He made a pretty respectable pegasus though. Definitely would have been EUP or a Wonderbolt Reserve.” Looking back at her own cutie mark, Wings around the horseshoe with the shockwave in front of it, she giggles “Their cutie marks at least could pass for Wonderbolt Reserves.”

“How do you feel about him?”

“Safe.” Fleetfoot responded, as if that explains everything.

“Well that was informative.”

“There’s just few people I can really let my guard down with. Few people I can talk to or trust. Fewer still that I’d let pick me up or hold me. Whenever he touches me though I just feel safe, like I know he’d never hurt me. That whatever happened I’d be ok in his hands, it’s like I could close my eyes and imagine his wings over me.”

“So… you have a crush on him.” Moon Shadow says with a coy smile.

“I’m not going creepy stalker. Again. I didn’t get my head hit that hard recently. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I’m glad there are parts of my pony life, that I just can’t remember.” She laughs softly.

“I’ll let Dust know we’re done, and ready to go.”

“Sure thing and I’ll keep an eye on him, if there’s any trouble, I’ll call.”

Nodding slowly, Moon Shadow heads out, while Fleetfoot climb into her cot. Pulling her pillow over her forelegs she lays her head down to watch James. “Nope, not creepy in the slightest.”

34: Part or Rule?

Rainbow moves up behind Twilight, he starts to softly suck on her ear. He knows how much she enjoys that, she moans softly in response. Opening her eyes, she looks over her shoulder, opening her mouth slowly.

“My Rainbow,” She says softly, looking at him longingly.

Gently nibbling down her back, starting just below her mane and working his way down to just above the base of her tail, Rainbow makes a slow trail of nips and kisses, “You’re not getting bored with me are you?”

“Oh Celestia no, that feels so good.” Twilight whimpers softly. Each nip sending lightning bolts of pleasure up and down her spine. Her tail slowly raising to the teasing and her scent getting stronger.

“I was wondering, I saw you watching Dusts tail and licking your lips a bit.” Rainbow says softly.

“It’s not my fault, she’s just so…” Twilight says with a shiver as Rainbow softly kisses her cutie mark, giving it soft licks.

“Did you want to ask her to join us?” Rainbow asks helping to slowly roll her over onto her back.

“I would but I can’t move right now.” She moans, hind legs spread wide.

Starting gently at her neck, he starts kissing and nibbling again, working his way down her rib cage. “I’m sure she’d come if you called, or squealed loud enough.” He chuckles.

“Oh don’t tease.” Twilight whimpers, “Do you want to have Dust join in?” it is getting harder for Twilight to think as she pants harder.

Gently Rainbow softly nips and kisses down Twilights chest and barrel, following her breastbone with soft gentle licks, letting his tongue trail through her fur to touch her soft skin.

Whimpering louder, Twilight whinnies out , “Oh Dust, why can’t you be here too.” Her heat building with each lick from Rainbows tongue, the sensations driving her wild. Closer and closer, lick by lick, he works his way down to her...

...

“Cipher, what are you doing?” Ballad says, looking over the other mares shoulder.

“Umm… nothing, just killing time.” Cipher says innocently.

“You’re trying to write a fanfic aren’t you?” Ballad says, looking down at her.

“No… Maybe…” Cipher tried to look innocent, but fails completely as a smile spreads across her face.

“A threesome between Velvet, Dust and Blaze? You realize they would kill you?” Ballad says sternly.

“Nooo… its um… its a 63ed Dash, Sparkle and Dust… Yeh that’s it.” Cipher looks up smiling tremulously.

“So… their kids with Dust. That’s worse.” She says, shaking her head.

“Who’s kids?” Blaze asks curiously as he walks into the tent.

“Busted.” Ballad giggles, lightly smacking Cipher.

“So what’s the final damage?” I ask as I get into the tent, then I stop, looking at Cipher who is trying her best to look innocent.

Blinking I look over Ciphers shoulder at the screen, Blaze looking over her other shoulder.

“Oh, she’s gonna get it.” Ballad giggles.

“Well at least we know it can’t be you.” Blaze says with a chuckle.

Shaking my head, “Nope, she doesn’t even mention that little heart shape spot I have on my…”

“Hey Velvet, is it even possible for you to get into that position?” Blaze asks, looking over at me, his eyebrows raising.

“I don’t know, actually, I don’t know if I’m that flexible. Cipher, you must be really practiced to get into that position.” I nod.

Cipher grumbles, “Nope, I don’t have a stallion to try that with.”

“So you want a stallion of your own?” I ask, tilting my head.

“I don’t know, maybe. Someday. For now though I like being independent. Problem is, what if I ever do decide I want to date?” Shaking her head she giggles, “Or should I wait for you and Blaze to make some babies for the rest of us?”

“Ok, ewww…” I say, shaking my head.

“Not the making babies part, the fact that you’d want to date someone so much younger than you.” Blaze laughs.

Cipher rolls her eyes and giggles, “Okay, point made.”

“So what’s the final damage? Vehicle wise.” I ask.

“Nearly 250 need to be returned to families. Over 150 to be auctioned off. There’s about 35 listed as stolen, and the rest are rentals.” Cipher says.

“I wonder if that’s a statement.” I say, looking at the numbers.

“What?” Cipher says, looking back.

“Ponies tended to arrive in groups, they often found each other before finding their way here. Very few chose to steal cars… given everything going on it would have been so easily to take without concern. Now I’m willing to bet many ran up some credit card debts, but countered against the items they left behind, debt agencies are likely to break even.”

Everypony looks at me, blinking.

“Even though they were raised human, the vast majority still held some pony values. The instinct to come together, to help each other, and not to take from others.” I say, shaking my head.

“Mmm yes… the farce is strong with these ponies.” Cipher giggles.

One of the infantry walked in, “Transport group is here, they are starting to move the vehicles around. Heard from the police, they’ve picked up and have been holding a total of six ponies since yesterday.”

“Wait, what?” Blaze looks over.

“They are keeping them in a holding area till we can pick them up.” The private says.

“They’re not criminals, at best they are refugees, can you get a truck over there and pick them up?” I say, shaking my head in wonder.

“We better have a pony with them. So they don’t try and run or such.” Cipher says.

Blaze turns to me holding up a hoof, “Rock paper scissors?”

“How would that even work?” I shake my head, looking at him.

“Well you can do rock with your hoof, and I can do paper with my wing.” He said looking innocent.

“Ugh, I’ll take Feather, you hold down the fort.” I say, shaking my head.

Walking out, I grab the keys to one of the JLTV’s and look down at Feather trotting beside me, “So your stuck with me for at least another 2 and a half years. So we are going to have to get you ready for school.”

“School? Come on, I may look small but I’m 25. Remember?” She pouts, looking up at me.

“Oh I remember, and I also remember that you’re a blank flank, meaning you have yet to find your special talent or purpose. And that’s a big part of pony schools. As well, do you know what your different kinds of feathers are called?”

“I um…” Holding out her wing, she looks at it blinking.

“How about when the EUP was founded? Or who founded it.” I ask, smiling.

“Oh come on, even you don’t know that.” She said.

Giggling softly, “Oh yes I do. It’s actually on page 2 of the EUP Field Manual. So there is a lot you need to learn about us ponies, and yourself.”

“Remember while you may know some things about horses, we are ponies, we have a lot of differences between us and them. We have our own magic, and our own history.”

Looking over I open the door for Feather as I climb in then close it for her, belting her into the seat.

Lifting her foreleg, she giggles as the belt goes across her, “I don’t think seat belts were ever designed for ponies.”

“Rather have a baby seat?” I say, starting the engine for the drive to the police station.

“Um, I think the seat belt’s fine.”

It’s not a long drive, and the military plates and markings on the vehicle let us get to the station without harassment, though I make a point of parking the vehicle in a reserved spot in front of the station. Normally I wouldn’t do something so vulgar but really, this is military and diplomatic business.

Hopping out of the vehicle, I let Feather get herself out, easier to get out of the JLTV than into it I figure since she can use her weight and leverage to open the door and close it.

Meeting her on the other side of the vehicle, I straighten my uniform and take a deep breath. “Its show time, stay calm, be friendly, and don’t make them draw guns.”

Walking in, we are met by plenty of staring eyes, I school my face to a stern look, I walk up to the front desk, “Corporal Twilight, I’m told you found some stragglers?”

The desk sergeant looks down over the desk and blinked. “Aren’t you a little short to be an army soldier?”

“Oh har har. I was told you had some refugees that missed the gate?”

“Refugees?” The sergeant blinks.

“Ponies? Like me?” I said, “Short equines, brightly colored fur, some have horns, or wings?”

“I know but the refugee term.”

“Well, by definition, we were banished to Earth, by an enemy power, so we are refugees in exile.” I say, sometimes legal terms and definitions can be fun when dealing with police. Always catches them off guard.

“Officer, please take these… ponies… down to the holding area, she’s taking possession of the guests.”

Showing my ID card, I sign in, then trot down into what turns out to be the cell block, which has me less than thrilled. Looking down the row of cells I stop at a cell, looking at the small group, they are all packed into one cell. I guess it’s better than spreading them out, but really?

Three earth pony mares, a pegasus mare, one unicorn colt, and a unicorn filly. Both the foals are pure white, the female having a cute blue mane, and the colt having a pink mane, I know gender and color aren’t normally linked with ponies, just look at Rainbow Dash… but those two look like mismatched twins.

Looking over, I sigh, “Open the door please, I’ll take them to the aid station.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’m not a ma’am I’m a corporal, I work for a living.” I say smiling.

Opening the door, I step inside, looking across the group, “Hello there, I’m Twilight Velvet.”

“Who?” One of the older mares asks. Well old is subjective but still.

“Umm, a background pony.” I say, smiling innocently, “I’m here to bring you somewhere safe, get you some food, drinks, maybe a chance to get cleaned up before we decide what to do next.”

“Did the others get away safely?”

“Others?”

“We were part of a larger group, we were following Luna’s orders to come here. We split up when we go to town, the police captured us, but the other group in the other car saw what happened to us and turned around.”

I cover my muzzle, shaking my head, “I haven’t heard about another group, how many where there?”

“Five more of us, we were making our way here from Canada, but it was slow going.” One of the earth ponies says, looking down.

“Canada?” Shaking my head I can’t help but ask, “Was it hard to get here?”

“US military and border guards were on alert after suspected attacks, it took days just to get across safely.” Another mare chimes in.

“Well let’s get you guys to a place where you can settle down for a bit and relax.” Feather pipes up and turns, “Follow me!”

I can’t help but giggle, watching Feather turning and wiggling her tail vigorously as she leads the group back out to the JLTV. Honestly foals sometimes have weaponized cuteness.

Shaking my head, I pop open all the doors at once heading up to drivers side and look at the group, “Everypony in.”

The entire group watches in surprise, and Feather giggles, “Yes, magic is real, pegasi can fly, and ponies are from another dimension. Wait,” She looks thoughtful, “Is it an alternate dimension or alternate reality?”

“You’re asking me about Trans-Dimensional Physics? I think we can just call it another universe.”

The colt moves up to look at my horn, then at the filly’s horn. “Oh that’s just not fair, how come we can’t do that?”

“Because you’re not old enough yet. Foals don’t really get in touch with their magic 'till they get their cutie marks.” I say, sitting down in the driver’s seat.

“Don’t worry, I can’t fly yet either, but my wings were badly hurt so, I don’t know if I’ll ever fly.” Feather says with a sigh.

“By the way, can I get your pony names, not the human ones? Trust me, it makes life easier to use the pony names.”

“Misty Fly,” the pegasus says, looking down with a whimper. She has a light blue mane and tail, with a yellowish body fur.

The earth pony mare looks up and sighed, “My name’s stupid, its Peachy Sweet.” She says, her fur is a light green with red mane and tail.

“Wait, Peachy? Is your mark an apple pie?”

“Umm, it’s some kind of pie I guess…”

Smiling huge I glance back, “You’re going to LOVE this, I know where two of your cousins are right now, Big Mac and Apple Pie.”

“I have family?” She asks curiously.

“Oh yeah, the Apple family is HUGE.” Feather says with a giggle.

“Ambrosia,” the older mare said, she has a yellow or tan body too, but her mane and tail is white.

“I’m Cotton Cloud, and this is my sister Cotton Candy.” The little white foal with the blue mane and tail says.

“Brother,” Cotton Candy said. “I was born a girl, she was born a guy.”

I giggle softly, “Oh don’t worry, happens to the best of us. I was born a guy too but now I couldn’t be happier being a girl.”

Both the foals humph and look less than cheerful.

“Look at it this way, you both have years now to grow up and get used to your new bodies… had you turned right into adults, it might have been harder. Trust me, for me it’s been a never ending struggle to figure things out.”

“Yeah, but least you can do magic.” Candy says.

“Yep, I can, and I also teach it.”

*** Lt James Fisher ***

Sitting up in bed, James stretches out his arms with a big yawn, he’s not sure how long he slept, but it’s daylight out. Moving to swing his legs off the cot, he stops quickly and looked down at the furry form. Fleetfoot chose to sleep on the floor beside him, rather than on her own cot.

Carefully, James bends down and gently picks her up, being very gentle with her tender wing, and lays her down on his cot. It’s now June, so it isn’t too cold outside, and the engineers had rigged up a field shower. They justified it as a requirement for decontamination needs. Velvet had wanted it in case any of the ponies had come in and needed one.

The officers are using it, because it is there. Taking a quick shower and shave, he heads back in to get fully dressed. Sitting beside Fleetfoot he gives her a gentle shake to wake her. “Captain?”

Opening her eyes, Fleetfoot yawns and stretched her whole body out, before looking back to flex her bad wing a few times. “Woohoo, I can move it again.”

“Gratz, doesn’t look like there’s any real damage to the feathers, nothing that a good preening wouldn’t handle.” James says with a chuckle.

Spreading her wing she looks at the mess the bandages have left of her feathers, “Well, that’s going to take a while to clean up.”

Gently though someone clumsily James starts preening her wing for her, however after a few moments his hand starts shaking. Making a fist he closes his eyes.

Gently Fleetfoot puts her hoof on his hand, “It’s not a one shot cure. It’s going to take time, but you have something special to help you though this. You have ponies who know how you’re feeling, we know what happened and are willing to help.”

“I know. It’s just…” He starts, then he thinks for a moment, then goes back to preening Fleetfoot’s wing.

“You were hoping for some rainbow blast to make all of the problems go away?” Fleetfoot giggles.

Shaking his head, James sighs, “No, not like that.”

“Did you ever get a chance to enjoy flying?”

“Nope, never thought I deserved it, it’s not my real form after all.” James says as his fingers keep working, cleaning her feathers.

Looking at her wing, she smiles brightly at him, “You’re not bad at that. Guess those wings on your mark are more than just decorations.”

James flinches at the reference, “I just saw it done a few times by Blaze as well as some of the ponies in Equestria. I never really bothered with my own.”

“Maybe one of these days we can talk Moon Shadow into letting you try it in a dream with me. It might help you with coming to terms with what happened. I know this is going to be hard but… the mirror isn’t random. It doesn’t just make you a pegasus or unicorn. You have to… well… be one. In here.” Fleetfoot says as she slowly places her hoof over James’ heart.

“Ouch poor Henry.” James says, faking a chuckle.

“I don’t know. Hospitals use pink for their scrubs so… a scrubs pink unicorn wearing a white doctor’s lab coat. It just seems to fit. It goes beyond that though, in some countries pink is the sign of medical training.” Fleetfoot giggles.

“So, he was doomed from the start.” James nods while finishing off preening Fleetfoot.

“I wouldn’t say doomed, but yeah, he would have always looked like that, even if he was born on Equestria.”

“Just like I’d have been a pegasus?” James asks as he starts brushing her coat.

“Yep, there’s only one problem with your pegasus form.”

“What’s that?” James says, looking down at her as he starts combing her mane.

“You’d have had mares chasing you all the time. You were just that hunky.” She laughs.

“Hunky? Fleetfoot, the 70’s called, they want their words back.” James chuckles.

Shaking her head, Fleetfoot giggles, “Come on, I don’t know the pony words for it. You just looked so…”

Laughing James shook his head, “Okay, now I’m thinking of Blaze sometimes when Velvet first started flirting. She didn’t know what she was doing really, and poor Blaze, his wings went straight up and out. Puffing up a bit, it was so funny to see. He had no idea what was going on.”

“It’s called a wingboner, at least that’s what the fans call it. It happens to girls too.” She says, covering her muzzle.

“Ok that must be embarrassing. Especially in if you’re in public, with everyone looking at you.” James chuckles and softly strokes her mane. “By the way your wings and fur is all done, need help with your flight suit?”

“Naw I’m fine.” She says, pulling on her jacket and hat. Hopping out of the truck she flaps over to the command vehicle, James jogging behind.

“Hey, flying like that is just inviting a sexual harassment comment. Get your tail down when you’re not wearing pants.” James laughs as he chases her.

With a loud eep Fleetfoot hits the ground hard and clamps her tail down. “Sorry.”

“Oh it’s fine, just reminding you, you weren’t wearing your flight suit. Anything else said after that would be a sexual harassment case waiting to happen.” James says as he walks past her into the command post, she follows and they sit down to start their paperwork.

“Sorry, sometimes I forget things like that.” She says, checking the morning traffic.

James shakes his head with a chuckle, “Hey it wasn’t bad view, if I still had my wings I’d have had them puffed too. Hence the harassment charge.”

“Ok sorry for flashing you then, and I’ll remember, when flying in formation with you its side or trailing not in front.” She says, chuckling.

“It’s ok. You know I wouldn’t take advantage of you.” James says with a chuckle.

“Not even if I asked nicely?” She says, batting her eyelashes at him.

*** Velvet ***

I’m sitting in the mess tent, the new arrivals hadn’t had a good meal in days. The fact that they are having a chance to relax was great. I had already sent out calls to both Big Mac’s group and Dust’s group to see where they could settle in.

They would be stuck for two and a half years but at least they would have somewhere safe to wait. Misty Fly has shown no interest in learning to fly, but Cloud and Candy are interested in learning. I just wish it wasn’t Feather teaching them. Not that she was a bad teacher but…

“Now remember, you have to get your eyes as wide as you can, and stick out your lower lip a bit.” She says before moving up to the mess line and sitting.

All three foals give the mess staff their best foal eyes, “Ice cream please?”

I just cover my eyes, shaking my head, and of course the staff continues to encourage them by giving them all huge bowls of ice cream for breakfast. They must have been practicing that all morning and now they are on the hunt.

No ice cream shop, candy store, or restaurant in the area would ever be safe again. They have figured out the true power of their cuteness.

Looking over, I move to sit beside Misty Fly. “So tell me, why don’t you want to fly?”

Rolling her eyes, she huffs, “I don’t like heights.” She stops and sighs, “Yep, a pegasus scared of heights jokes, let them rain.”

“Nope, no jokes, you had 25 years as a human.” I say, smiling, “we all had roadblocks put in our way from accepting our equine forms. I think it was actually part of the curse.”

“I… well…” She looked honestly taken back that I’m not judging her.

“Your minds are weak, your outlook bleak. I think Discord meant that part of the curse to put roadblocks up to us finding our true selves. We all found our own roadblocks, from treatments of our families, to being driven away from our true callings. The catch is ponies have a natural instinct to help each other. We find each other and work together, bringing different abilities to the table.” I say putting my hoof on her foreleg.

“Because he cursed so many ponies, he made it easy for us to find each other, and it is the other ponies that help us through our own stumbling blocks.” Leaning over, I give Misty a gentle hug. “Don’t feel forced to try flying, or to get over your fear, just remember lots will help you when you’re ready.”

Looking over to the Cotton Twins and Feather, Misty nods slowly. “Yeah, I guess.”

***A quarter of a world away on the other side of the pond***

Drowning in denial, they're racing through this city

Fighting for survival, an urban Serengeti

Slowly I awaken, and know that I can make it

Time to show the power that's burning like a fire deep in me

Beth’s alarm clock blares out the music across her room, moaning softly she rolls over, slamming her hand down on it hard. She is so going to kill her brother for messing with her MP3 selection. She really doesn’t want to get up today, she doesn’t think she has to, but the choice isn’t hers.

“Come on Beth, you’re going to be late.” Tommy calls out. He’s only visiting for the week, but still, why did Mum and Dad say he could stay in her flat? She only has a one bedroom and she is a grown woman, after all.

“I’m coming I’m coming, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Shaking her head, she crawls out of bed and heads into the bathroom. Why should she have to be up so early? “Why did Mum have to pay for such an early ticket?” She moans.

Washing quickly, she hops out of the shower and dries herself off before getting dressed, skidding out of the bathroom she picks up her backpack, “Got everything?” Beth looks at Tommy, her eyebrows raised, waiting.

“Yeah, yeah,” He says, pulling on his backpack and heading for the lift.

“It’s the first time in nearly five years that I’ll be going back to the country, and really, I prefer London myself.” She says, getting into the lift and selecting B.

“It was still a nice present, and they wanted you home for your birthday.” Tommy taps his foot, he is nearly six years younger than her, and still a taller by a few inches.

“Yeah, but I hate rail travel, that’s why I live in the city.” Unlocking their bikes, she takes off for the train station.

“Come on sis, how can you like London, everything’s overpriced. Rent is so high, most of your quid is gone before month end.”

“I just do, besides, my job pays pretty well.”

“You’re a glorified receptionist for a dispensary.” Tommy complains.

“Better than stocking cans at some little store.” Beth retorts.

“Hey, it gives me all the money I need, and all the time I need for writing.”

It is a short ride to the rail station, but still involves dodging London traffic, never a fun thing. Once there however, they are able to bring their bikes right into the carriage, she had the return her parents bought her, but her brother only had a single.

“Do you want to stop by the old castle?” Tommy says with a smile.

“Oh God, I haven’t been there in like ten years. Remember when we used to explore there?”

“It’s more touristier now, but it’s still pretty much open, it’s your birthday and we have time before the party.” Tommy chuckles.

“It’s my birthday, let’s stop by for an hour or two just for fun.” She can’t help but to giggle.

The rail trip ends up being pretty nice, she manages to have some tea and biscuits as a snack. Not a healthy breakfast, but what else can you really expect on a rail trip? It was only three hours till their stop, so they got their bikes ready and started for the castle.

Castle is actually a broad term, and in England there are hundreds of these small forts around. Little more than a manor house, two smaller stone houses and a wall with several towers, it is small on the castle side, used as a way point. It was likely built over an old roman fort, but the current structures date back as far as the 11th century. It’s mostly in ruins now, but is still a heritage site.

Parking their bikes, they walk up to the inner building, it is three stories of solid stonework, mostly heavy rock. Weathered and aged, with open windows, the glass has been gone for centuries, if there was ever glass. The grasses grow unchecked by anything other than the occasional grazing animal. Sheep and horses sometimes come up here for food.

Putting her hand against the side of the cold stone draws a connection to the building. She remembers playing here when she was little, pretending to be a princess or sometimes a knight with her brother. Dueling with toy swords in the front of the keep. Hide and seek in the grasses around the building.

Brushing her hand over the wall her fingers come in contact with a carved image of the sun, turning, she closes her eyes, walking across to a smaller outbuilding. Lifting her hand, she places it against the mark of the moon. She found these long ago, and her and her brother had come up with stories about them. Her brother laughs at seeing her, “The sun, and the moon, in line with each other and between them, the gate to Narnia!”

“For Aslan!” Beth laughs, turning, then she freezes. The image of a snow white unicorn stallion, walking across the grass between them, fills her mind. Touching his horn to the wall, he vanishes.

Her brother snaps his fingers in front of her face a few times, “Sis? Are you ok?”

“Did you see that?” Beth asks, blinking and shaking her head.

“See what? You were standing here zoned out, looking at the wall.”

Walking up to the wall she kneels, the unicorn was shorter than a horse, closer to the height of a Shetland. There was nothing here though, no marks, no signs. Closing her eyes she put her hand against the stone…

~You won’t get away little one!~

Pulling her hand back she starts panting, looking around, almost scared.

“Sis, what’s wrong?” Tommy asks, worried, sitting beside her.

“I… I don’t know. Let’s go home, I don’t want to be here right now.” Standing quickly, she finds herself trembling, rubbing her hip.

35: Broken Rules

Rain patters against the tent as I work, though actually, given that there are pegasi flying around outside looking for stragglers… let’s just hope its rain. “Wow my mind goes to strange places these days.” I muse.

Sugarberry looks over, “Thinking of Equestria?”

“Nope, listening to the rain outside and wondering if its yellow.”

“Ewww. There are only two pegasi flying searches out there right now…” Sugarberry says, then she looks down at Feather and the Cotton twins. “Remind me to avoid areas with lots of pegasi. There’s a new definition to acid rain.”

“And that’s why no one built homes or grew crops under Cloudsdale.”

Eric sits down across from me and huffs, “So, how’s the LT doing?”

Shaking my head I sigh, “not sure, Fleetfoot’s been with him all morning, they are working on the… condolence letters.”

“That’s a job I’d never want.” Eric adds in.

Nodding, I sigh, “How are Jay and Henry feeling?”

“Jay says he’s fine, he’d have probably been down for 6 months if we hadn’t stayed…” Eric says and nods. “Henry, he didn’t get touched, in the slightest, he’s fine.”

“And how is he emotionally?” I asked, my pen in my magic, skittering across the page.

“He’s glad to be back, he hated being a silly unicorn.”

“Silly, huh?” I glance up at him.

“Well compared to how awesome pegasi are.” He chuckles, looking at me.

“Oh ouch, way to stick it to my moral, I guess I’m just a silly unicorn.” I say, lowering my head in an exaggerated pout.

“Nope you’re worse, you’re a silly unicorn mare.” Eric says as he pokes me gently.

“I’m just… worried… I know cutie marks and Equestrian magic can be… hard to deal with.” I say softly

“Yeah but we’re human. So blah.”

“Human or not, magic has a funny way of sticking around after the fact… Think of it like radiation exposure.” I say with a giggle, “Your kids could be mutants now because of it. They could be born with wings, hooves, and a tail, oh the horror.”

“Oh I hope not, that would look just awful.” Eric jokes, “or worse some kind of silly horn.”

“What’s wrong with wings and horns?” Feather asks trying hard to look innocent. She, and the Cotton twins, are now sitting, giving him kicked puppy looks, with their ears down eyes wide and watering, tails clamped either to their sides or under their bellies.

I heard a beep, and put my hoof to my ear piece, “Yes Blaze? You found them? I’ll be right there.” Standing up I headed for the door, “Sorry Eric, I have to head out, um, try singing them a song or something… maybe that will get you out of trouble.”

“Oh, you are not leaving me here…” Eric said starting to stand.

Cotton Candy looks up meekly, “Aren’t you supposed to protect us mister? Were just too little and can’t use magic to protect ourselves yet.”

“Velvet!”

I teleport myself to the JLTV, teleports are for emergencies, and that was definitely an emergency.

Hopping in, I start driving, I didn’t know what to expect. I just know these poor ponies have missed the gate. I knew they are on the run, likely scared. I knew the police are involved. Pulling up and seeing Blaze and Fleetfoot arguing with SWAT members though, is more then I want to see.

I can see the abandoned car that we were looking for at the edge of the marina drive. In fear the ponies had taken refuge in a powerboat, there are only a few boats at the docks and they are in a 32 foot Carver. It has only one door to the lower deck and that is facing the water.

Trotting up I looked at the police, “Blaze, check the far shore, make sure they don’t have snipers there. Fleetfoot, if you could check the roof there and shore line… I’m going to go have words with the ponies.” Looking at the SWAT commander, I shake my head, “They are scared and cornered, the police are not needed for this.”

“They are illegals, and trying to steal a boat.” The SWAT commander growls at me.

“They are ponies, who were given permission by the US Government including the President to go the gate. They have been harassed and are taking the only option they can see open to them after their friends were arrested and carted off.” Turning, I walk down the docks heading for the boat making no attempt to hide.

“They have ignored any orders we have given, and don’t listen to police commands, we have to deal with them as a threat.” The officer says.

I watch Blaze land across the way and flare his wings wide. Sniper point, just where the LT would set it up, bit of a rise, cover, but good line of sight. We are all in uniform so if the police fire it will be no question of their intent.

Walking up to the edge of the boat I reared up to peek over the edge, “Hello?”

From inside I hear a female voice call back to me, scared, unsure, she simply responded, “Bonjour?”

“And now, I need a translator.”

*** 4100 miles away, give or take a street or 2 ***

Walking into the old farmhouse Beth looked around. This place hasn’t changed since she was a little girl. The house itself was built sometime in the 1800’s but had been modernized several times. Old fireplace and pot stove in the living room had long been supplanted by the electric oven in the kitchen.

The coat of arms, hung over the fire place, 3 golden gourds on a red field, with hash mark or spear mark dividing them. Beth used to be able to use the right heraldic speech to describe it but it was so long ago. Above the shield was the helm and above that a unicorn rearing in defiance.

Animals are quite common in family crests, the Abbott family uses unicorn, though dog, fox, deer, dragon and griffin were very common. Unicorns didn’t start making an appearance though on crests until about a thousand years ago. They didn’t become popular or more common in family crests until about five hundred years ago.

Just standing there, Beth finds herself lost in the family crest, up until her mum hugs her from the side, “Beth! Your home! I missed you so much! So tell me, have you found yourself a nice husband yet?”

“ACK Mum, no, just… no.” Hugging back, it always seems that her mum’s only concern was grandchildren. Shaking her, “It’s my birthday, I’m 25, let’s just have some fun okay?”

Her mum smiles and nods, “Sure thing darling, just wait here and relax a bit.”

Tommy sits beside her, offering a pint, as he sips his own. “A quarter of a century, sis.”

“I don’t know I don’t feel 25, I feel hyper and full of energy.” She giggles softly.

“Hey Mister and Misses Abbot,” Ed walks in without knocking, like usual. He helps out on the farm with the sheep. “Hey there birthday girl, I brought you a gift.” He smiles, offering a small package.

“Hey Abbots!”

Tommy cringes, “I hate that guy.”

Peat walks in with a large bag, smiling and putting it with the gifts. “Did you hear they are taking down the old woods near the castle? They are putting in a motorway flyover, car park, and even talking about a new shopping mall.”

“Oh that’s not fair, that whole area was supposed to be a heritage estate.” Beth huffs.

“Not enough people are fighting for it, and it is crown land. The castle is staying, just the woods are being taken down. I think they want more tourist interest.” Peat says.

“I heard about that,” Tommy says, “Lions Construction is supposed to be handling some of the work.”

Beth puffs out her cheeks and huffs, “I loved that forest.”

“Well we can get one last look at it tomorrow, everything changes.” Tommy says. “If everything stayed the same the world would be one boring, cluttered and overcrowded place.”

“Not helping.” Beth says and heads over to the big country feast laid out for her.

*** Velvet ***

I set my phone to speaker mode and carefully float it onto the deck near the ponies. I can see three stallions and two mares. They are huddled down in the cabin below deck. The boat is split into one lower deck, with mess, head, and a bedroom at the bow. A middle deck with the bridge and open aft/party deck. Then the top deck, which was accessible by ladder to the flying bridge, this layout wasn’t that uncommon with fishing and pleasure boats, through many don’t have the flying bridge.

One stallion is a pegasus, all of the rest are earth ponies, and none of them look well fed or groomed. It looks like Earth ponies are having the hardest time using Earth tech. Pegasus wings give them some extra manipulators to hold or pick up things, but unless the pony really gives up on human ideas, the concept of using the mouth for things becomes alien to them.

“Hello I’m Twilight Velvet.” I say slowly.

Listening to the translator, something doesn’t sound right, I only hear my first name said. Though a little purple mane with white streaks slowly pokes up, attached to the cutest chubby pink face.

“I’m Twilight Sparkles mum.” I say, smiling softly.

Blinking I looked at the phone and huff. “Twilight’s the family name, please don’t translate that.”

“Sorry,” I hear from the phone then a better translation comes through.

This at least gets somewhat of a giggle from the pony.

“My name is Alina Gauthier.” I hear come from the translator.

“Hi Alina, you look kind of familiar, do you know your pony name?” I say cheerfully.

“Excuse me, what do you mean pony name?” I hear from the phone and blinked.

“Just translate that please.” Rolling my eyes, I look at the pony.

The translator is obviously getting frustrated, he probably has no idea what is going on, but that does not give him any excuse not to do his job.

The pony listens, then responds to me seeming a little more relaxed at first. Instead of translating though the translator starts to argue back, I don’t understand the language but the tone alone is enough to get me frustrated.

“What did she say?” I ask.

“Hold please, I’m trying to get clarification, what she said doesn’t make any sense.” The translator responds.

Oh great, a human trying to translate for 2 ponies, that doesn’t know or understands that there are ponies involved. “Just translate directly, I’ll suss out what they mean.”

“We’ve been following the dream, the Princess came to us a week ago. We’ve been trying to survive on grasses and roots, avoiding humans till we get to the city.” The translator says, “See it doesn’t make sense.”

“Translate just what we say, don’t argue or worry.” Shaking my head, I smile at the ponies, “Luna sent us all dreams, the rest of your group got to the gate fine. If you want to follow, we can get you some fresh food, drinks, and a place to rest and recoup.”

Carefully all the ponies move out of the boat. Hanging up on the translator, I figure I’m going to have to fix that later. Nodding to them I pick up my phone and hook it back into my foreleg holster. Blaze and Fleetfoot pull up the flanks to keep the small group protected and we lead them to the JLTV.

As the police come forward I turn to face them, “We have it from here, we will take them to our processing area, if there are any charges file them with CID.”

“That’s not the way this works.” The officer says.

I just look at him, “You’re arguing with a magical talking unicorn pony from another world, nothing regarding ponies is how it works. Until the government sorts things out all we can do is follow orders. File charges with CID, CID will see what charges can and can’t apply right now. Right now everything is going top down, meaning it’s up to the President to decide.”

Getting into the truck, I smile back, then start driving back to the portal site, “Dial Sugarberry”. Humming softly I wait for her to pick up.

“Sugarberry, cutest unicorn in the club.”

“We are not having a who’s cuter contest Sugarberry.”

“Cuz you’d know I’d win?”

“Cuz I already have a stallion.” I counter with a giggle, “Okay, can you check with HQ? We are going to need translators that can deal with pony and pony terms. I also need you to talk to the SOC HQ, maybe they can find something? United Nations Interpretation Service or someone else like that. Maybe, people who can be vetted, then given pony terms that might be needed. Think you could arrange that?”

“Sure thing, anything else?”

“Yeah, we need an 800 support line, I have a bad feeling we are going to see ponies still changing for months, if not years to come. There’s going to be a lot of lost and scared ponies out there.”

“Any ideas?” Sugarberry asks.

“The Ears on a Swivel hotline. Tell us your Tail.”

Sugarberry giggles “Oh, that’s bad.”

“Toll free service to provide emotional support, comfort and a caring ear. If you've gone through major changes in your life, and don't know where to turn, you're not alone. We will provide confidential counseling, or put you in touch with a group to best serve your needs. This service is open to all those 25 years and older born after May 1st 1995. We will help you understand the mark life has left on you.”

“How long have you been working on that?” Sugarberry asks.

“Not long, wanted it vague enough that humans might not get it, but the ponies would.”

“I’ll get in touch for that too, maybe we can tie it to the VA’s hotline.”

“Ok I’m back just pulling in now.” I say, “Talk to you in a bit.” Hanging up, I park and help the ponies out to the shower first. Smiling, I watch Feather run up with the Cotton twins, nothing helps ponies relax more than a group of happy foals. If the foals feel safe, the adults do too.

Seeing the joy in their faces, the relief, the relaxation at the showers, even if it is more of a hose down and grooming. At least there is now some dignity. They are being treated and somewhat pampered as Citizens of Equestria, not just animals, mutants or such.

I bring out food for all of them, a mix of oat burgers, thick cut potato wedges, and of course, fresh hot apple pies. Pegasi drool, I don’t know why, but pegasi drool. Laying out the selection of food for them all, I smile as I watch them dig in like it’s the first real meal they’ve had since their change.

Sadly, it might have been. That thought gets a frown from me.

Laying down, I look at my saddle bag and pull out the EUP field manual. I lay it down between my forelegs and gave it nuzzle, taking in its scents. Feeling it its cover with my nose I just enjoy the texture. It’s Equestrian, made by ponies, for ponies, and it was made in our homeland. It is from home.

Closing my eyes, I remember laying at home when I was young, reading the manual. Something about the scents brings the images back to my mind. Carefully I open the book and start reading softly to myself.

Shaking himself out, Blaze lay down beside me, looking down at the book. Glancing up at him, I watch him making weird faces at it, and can’t help but laugh. “Oh come on Blaze it’s not that bad, you’ve read field manuals before.”

“Wait, you can actually read that?” Blaze says, looking at me, shock evident on his face.

“Oh har har, yes Blaze, I know how to read.” Looking down at the book again I clear my throat, then I start reading aloud. It becomes very quiet all of a sudden, as every pony stops what they are doing. All eyes, all ears, find their way to me as I read the intro to the EUP handbook. It is short, only 3 paragraphs long, but when finish I looked around at all of the ponies. “What?”

Everyone stays silent, shocked, Feather is the first to move, but she just walks up and sits in front of me looking wide eyed. Her wings are quivering and she gulps hard with tears in her eyes.

Sitting up I looked around confused, “Sorry if I interrupted something.” I say, starting to feel really nervous.

Looking over, Ah-Pee moves up to me and sits as well. “It’s not what you read, it’s how you read it hon.”

Looking down at the book, I looked back at her, blinking, “What do you mean? I just read it word for word.”

Blaze shakes his wings out, shaking his head vigorously as if trying to clear clouds in his own brain. “Love, the book was written in Equestria… You were speaking the Pony language.”

*** 4500 Miles away, give or take a few yards ***

Beth screams, sitting up. Panting hard, she wipes the perspiration off her face. Those eyes, they still haunt her even though she’s awake. Those mismatched, misshapen eyes. Slowly she stands up and walks into the bathroom.

“Five score divided by four.” She mumbles, then looks at herself in the mirror.

It was wrong, it wasn’t her, it was her but it was wrong. It was like looking at herself through a mask.

Closing her eyes tightly, she rubs her face, then splashes water against her forehead and cheeks, continuing to pant. Looking up again, she recognizes herself, but it just feels strange. Shaking her head again vigorously, she gets into the shower.

The water is warm, and helps relax her a bit. Turning, she stretches an arm out, wondering if she’d need to shave soon then blinks, looking at her hip. Grabbing a sponge, she gently rubs at her hip with soapy water, then blinks.

The mark doesn’t come off, it doesn’t look like a tattoo, and for the life of her she’s never gotten a tattoo, looking to her other hip, there’s an identical matching mark there. “Heraldic marks?”

Getting out of the shower she gets herself dressed, then looks for Tommy. Asleep in his room, she kicks him hard enough to push him off the bed. “Wake up, you brat!”

Tommy groans, “Beth, you better have a good reason for this or I’m going to kill you.”

“Sneaking into my room and drawing symbols on my butt is NOT funny.” Beth snarls at him.

Tommy puts his hands on the bed, pulling himself up to look at her, “I didn’t do a thing sis. I may pull pranks once in a while but…”

She turns slightly and pulls down the side of her jogging pants so he can see.

“OK now we’re talking Doctor Who arguing with Sir Humphrey Appleby level of strange.”

Beth blinks as she pictured that and cringes, the unstoppable force hitting the immovable object level of paradox there.

“If you didn’t do it who put it there then?” Beth glowered, “I doubt we have people breaking in to put Heraldic marks on people’s butts for their birthday present.”

“When’s the last time you got drunk?”

“You’ve been staying at my flat for the last few days, you know I haven’t gotten drunk in the last week, and I didn’t see the mark there yesterday or the day before, so what?” Beth puffs out her cheeks growling.

“Well I’m going to go back to sleep, your return isn’t ticked for another 2 days so you have time to relax.”

“Relax, oh yeah, like that’s going to happen. I’m going to head out to the woods.” Beth says, turning and storms downstairs.

Heading into the kitchen, she looks through the cupboard and hums. Taking a baggy out, she loads a few biscuits into it. Her mum had bought some crunchy oat, as well as strawberry yoghurt crunch, both are great for road snacks. Popping a yoghurt one in her mouth, she moves over to the next cupboard. She isn’t in the mood for sweets or crisps, so she just walks over to the fridge, grabbing two bottled waters. Once satisfied, she turns and heads out to her bike.

Picking up her bike, she rides down to the woods, to most people on the other side of the pond, a forest is hundreds, or thousands, of acres of trees. In England though, clumps of trees are rare, so even a half acre forest is rare and special. There are large forests, at least a few of them, left around England. Beth, however, grew up here.

By the side of the road are the signs, advertisement for Lion Construction Inc. Notices of intent and clearing of crown land. It was crown land, meaning the government owned it so they have the right to clear it. It isn’t Heritage land so it isn’t protected.

Walking her bike into the woods a bit, she looks around, enjoying the smells, the sounds of the birds, it is so different than her flat in London, but at the same time, it feels so normal. There is a path through here leading towards the castle. She finds a spot on a bit of a knoll, she leans her bike against a tree and sits down. She can just see a bit of one tower and wall from here, can’t hear any cars, the sun is low in the sky.

There are always animals around, and today is no exception, but Beth is finding it kind of strange. Opening her bottled water she looks at a fox, a little red vixen sat down about twenty feet from her and is watching her. Normally foxes keep their distance, but this one seems more curious.

Opening the baggy, she starts munching on another biscuit, and notices other animals around her sniffing the air, several rabbits have popped up, choosing to put Beth between them and the fox, but seem to still be curious. Even an old badger starts to watch her.

“Yes?” She said looking around in confusion at the animals. At the sound of her voice, they back off, but still watch her. A shiver runs down her back, maybe they are all rabid. She doesn’t like that thought, however the animals around here have seen humans before and are generally scared of them.

Getting up carefully, she picks up her bike and moves down to the castle, the animals don’t follow her and once she is safely away she looks back. She can hardly see the knoll from here, but, for a moment she is stunned to see unicorn standing watching her, pure white, with a beard, she blinks, and the unicorn is gone.

Closing her eyes, she shakes her head. She hears screams, yelling, she hears laughter. A voice she recognized called out, “Oh hide and seek is such fun.”

Looking around, she finds herself panting hard again, she hears the thunder of hooves, but no horses, she hears the crying of children. The area is clear, just the stone walls of the castle. Closing her eyes again, she hears the voice. “There you are young lady. Now hold still… Five score divided by four…”

Tommy puts his hand on Beth’s shoulder, breaking the spell, and causing her to scream. Backing off quickly Tommy blinks, looking at her, confused.

“Sis are you okay?”

Panting hard, she shakes her head no. “Not even close to okay.”

Sitting down on one of the rocks at the castle, she looks around.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have no idea, I’m seeing things, I’m hearing voices. I’m going crazy I think.”

“What are you seeing?” Tommy moves over closer to sit beside his sister.

“A unicorn… Not like a Narnian unicorn but a small one, like the English unicorns, complete with the beard.” Beth says, shaking her head.

Tommy hugs her softly and shakes his head, “Nope we’ll figure this out, and worst case, we can always go to the doctor and get you checked out.”

“I should have just stayed in London, all of this started when I got back here.” Beth sighs.

“Yeah but the family doctor here makes house calls. In London you’d have had to wait at the hospital.” Tommy points out with a smile.

“I know what would cheer you up, there’s a chip stand in town, deep fried and battered mushroom caps, and maybe a deep fried mars bar for desert.”

With a sigh, Beth stands up, “Ok let’s go for it.”

*** Fleetfoot***

The bed of Grandfather’s pickup seems to be a safe place, a place of peace where fears and worries vanish. It is a place where James’ mind drifts back to, for safety in times of stress. There are probably other ones, but for some reason this one is fresh.

It holds a special place for James, as well as Fleetfoot. So it seems like a good place to start from. The air is fresh and clean, there are no loud noises, just a peaceful night. The moon is in the sky, stars out in all their glory, with galaxies painting the sky.

James lay on the truck bed, twitching a bit uncomfortably, it’s not that he doesn’t want to be here, it’s just that he knows what is coming and it makes him feel… twitchy. Spreading his wings, he looks back at Fleetfoot, “Do we have to do this?”

“Wing care is an essential part of the life of a pegasus. Learning preening is important. Besides, if you ever want to preen me, or Blaze, you’ll need to see and feel what it’s like, otherwise you could hurt us.” Fleetfoot says firmly, if somewhat underhoofedly as she preens his wing.

“Why would I want to preen Blazes wing?” James says, looking back.

“Oh simple, what if he’s injured? I’ll be teaching Henry and Velvet to do this too, Henry for medical reasons, Velvet so she can preen Feather.”

Relenting, James watches how she sorts though is wings, flinching as she tugs, he looks back at her and then at the feather. “Umm, OUCH!”

“I did that just so you could see what happens if you pull too hard, especially on the wrong feather.” Fleetfoot says. “Preening is also often a bonding time, very close friends, parents, couples, and siblings. Just because of the trust involved and how personal the wings are.”

“I gathered as much, I also noticed not many preen in public.” James chimes in.

“That’s not the case, I think. That might have been a carryover from human culture, but pegasi often will preen before heavy flights, or fights. Just to be in top form. That means they will have to do it in public.” Fleetfoot responds, before stepping back and spreading her wings. “Ok, your turn.”

Moving behind her, James carefully begins preening her wings, following her instructions. It is a useful skill to have and know, he guesses. Even if it isn’t for himself, others would need it and he has had to sit through strange classes before.

Fleetfoot eeps, but forces her wings to remain still, she doesn’t want to embarrass him with an uncontrolled wing reaction mid preening, and looks back, nodding. “Perfect. Now come on, time to learn about pegasi.”

“I still don’t understand why.” James says, standing up and looking up at Cloudsdale.

Moon Shadow steps up on the other side of James, “To understand the instinct, the drive, the reason for what she did, you need to understand a bit about Pegasi and their culture.”

“It’s just a short flight, come on,” Fleetfoot says, smiling at him.

Looking up, James takes a deep breath then spreads his wings wide, all of a sudden they are flooded with images of the battled of the mare of the bear with its great paw. The rage, the sadness, can almost be tasted in the air.

Moon Shadow steps forward, pushing the images away, “Don’t think of that right now, don’t think of your first flight, think instead of Fleetfoot, think of her flights, follow her.”

Fleetfoot is panting hard, she didn’t expect the rush of emotions and images herself. Looking back, she tilts her head, then slaps James’ face with her tail, “Watch the tail and catch it if you can.” She says, taking off.

James laughs and focuses on the tail, chasing it. Fleetfoot doesn’t follow a straight line though, she is zig zagging and evading all through the flight. It takes all of James concentration to stay on her, he isn’t used to flying like this. This isn’t wing suit gliding, this is like some kind of video game, with quick reverses, turns, and rolls. Finally she lands on a cloud, James hit the cloud, panting hard.

“Man you’re fast, and agile.” James says.

“Oh come on, do you really think me being more agile or faster has anything to do with my wings in this place?” She giggles, panting a bit herself.

“Two can play at that... Do you really think that’s air your breathing now?”

Moon Shadow giggles, shaking her head, “You two are incorrigible.”

“Cloudsdale, pegasi can walk on clouds naturally, though a few unicorns know cloud walking spells letting them come up here. Pegasi mostly use clouds to make structures, but can also make them solid enough to allow for other things such as wood and metal to be brought up and used.”

Looking around, James sits down in a mix of shock and wonder, the grand Pillars, the Coliseum, the statues, it looks like pictures of ancient Rome, or Greece. Great structures like the Amphitheatre stands with smaller clouds having individual houses, if they could be called houses. Many are more like estates with their own fountains made of rainbows.

“The pegasi of old were warriors, like the Spartans or Amazons. They fought the gryphons and minotaurs. Often they acted as mercenaries, protecting the earth ponies and unicorns, in exchange for food.” Landing at the edge of the great Coliseum Fleetfoot sits on a cloud bench looking down.

“Many of these traditions have even been carried on to modern equestrian. Jousting matches, races, flying competitions testing the speed and maneuverability are a big part of a pegasi’s life. Even something as simple as a race often involves physical contact.”

Moon Shadow gestures, and the two pegasi watch Brawly and Rainbow Dash racing each other. Brawly using his larger size to ram the smaller Dash off the course in a turn, this sends Dash spinning out a bit before recovering and diving after the colt

“With earth ponies something like that would have been considered cheating or worse, with unicorns it would have been uncouth and below them. To pegasi though, it’s part of a race, because it’s in our nature. If you can’t take a few bumps and bruises, you shouldn’t be flying.” Fleetfoot says as the image disappears.

“I guess that explains Fluttershy.” James says, looking down.

“Don’t underestimate Flutters, she may act meek but she’s still a pegasus. She still has the instinct in her and we see it time and time again in the show, where she stands up with every bit as much ferocity as other pegasi.”

Moon Shadow sits beside James, “In the heat of battle, she fell back onto old instincts. She fell back to the times when pegasi were the greatest of warriors.”

“The Spartans had an old saying, with your shield or upon it. That was something movies like 300 missed or forgot about. What it means is simple. A warrior would return with their shield, meaning they didn’t run from a fight, or they would return on it, being dragged lying on their shield. To run from a battle was the greatest show of cowardice.” Fleetfoot points out.

“Yeah but we see ponies running and screaming all the time in the show.” James says, looking around.

“Of course, fight or flight means just that, if they think they can run away, that will kick in first. This was war, she was standing with you. As were the others, you can’t think of her as a civilian, as a child, or such. She was a soldier, acting like one.” Moon Shadow says, moving closer to sit beside him.

“It’s never easy for a commander to lose soldiers,” James says, “Just the idea that something like luck, destiny, or such kept me alive while she died. I know it happens all the time on a battlefield, but it doesn’t help or make it easier.”

“Your mark gave her, and the others, the strength to fight. The willingness to fight, your mark kept them alive. Consider it a memorial for her.”

***

“LT Fisher, Captain Fleetfoot.” The private calls into the back of the truck. “Command is on the horn.”

James sits up quickly, shaking his head, then looks at Fleetfoot who is shaking her whole body out. On the other side, Moon Shadow shakes her head as she awakens as well.

“Remind me to put up a do not disturb sign next time.” Fleetfoot says.

Moon Shadow shakes her head, “It’s okay, this session’s over, just think but don’t dwell on what you saw.”

“I’m coming,” Standing up, James pulls on his boots and jacket, before giving both the girls a hug. “Thank you.”

36: Grave Invitations

“There is an old story about the castle.” The tour guide says, as people take pictures. “A thousand years ago, England was very different, most of this area was a mix of forest and brush land. The Normans began a conquest across the region and castles began to be built to secure areas.”

Motioning at the old crumbling walls, “Small keeps like this would be used as outposts. Places to house troops and protect them as well as acting as a command center. Each one, though, is different, built by different architects, with different materials, based on the land. As the story goes, Justine Abbott’s daughter encountered a unicorn in these woods.”

Moving to an old picture of the castle on a waterproof board, “The unicorn gave the daughter several gems, as well as a golden crown to help pay for materials. With the unicorn’s blessing, they were allowed to cut down some of the woods for the castle.”

“In honor of the unicorn, several additions were made to the castle, though the purported dome for star gazing was never found. In response to the contributions the family made to the castle, the local Lord allowed for the addition of the unicorn to their family crest.” Turning, the tour guide brings her group to the tour bus, “We have four more castles to see today on our tour so hurry, please.”

Beth humphs as the tourists leave and looks at Tommy, “Americans will believe anything.”

“You do realize, many of them think the USA won the Battle of Britain and captured the first Enigma device.” He says with a chuckle.

“Yep, everything in the movies from unicorns to the Easter Bunny must be real.” She giggles, and sits down, opening the newspaper.

Tommy opens his newspaper and digs into his chips, the truck had probably some of the best cod and chips in England. Though both of them have a spot saved for the fried and battered mars bars, nothing is better comfort food.

“One thing I missed about here was the food. London has some great places, but they are always expensive. 10 pounds for something that’s only 5 pounds here is just silly.”

“Well, they do serve it on fancy plates rather than in cups or baskets with newspaper.” Tommy chuckles and takes another bite of the fish, “So I guess they charge more for sitting in a restaurant than sitting outside.”

Taking off her baseball cap, she shakes her hair out, the cap is starting to hurt a bit. Looking down she adjusts the head band to one notch looser so it will fit better. Looking back up, she sees the shocked look on her brother’s face, “Yeah don’t tell me, I put the hat on when my hair was still wet so it’s a mess. I’ll brush it out later.”

“Sis, how scared were you before?” He asks, looking timid himself now.

“Very, my heart was racing, why?” Looking around, she tries to see what seems to have captivated him.

Slowly he pointed at her, “Your hair, it’s…”

Her hair has never been really long, shoulder length at best. She reaches over and grabs a bit of it, pulling it around, already it is noticeably longer, nearly down to her shoulder blades, and the color seems to have been drained from it, her normally dark brown hair has become pale, somewhere between blond and an almost a silvery white.

Sitting down heavily, she looks at it, shocked, it’s just…wrong. Hair doesn’t change color like that… does it?

“Sis, should we go to the doctor?”

“And say what? My hair turned white, I’m seeing visions, hearing things, do you know what they would do to me? I’d be in the loony bin before sundown.”

“This is getting serious sis, what are you going to do?”

“I… I’ll go to the doctor when I get back to London, check in to the clinic there, and see.”

A house sparrow from the upper levels of the castle flaps down and lands on Beth’s shoulder. To both her and her brothers shock it starts chirping at her. Turning her head, she looks at the little bird, then at her brother.

“Too many humans around, maybe it’s looking for food.” Tommy says. “Or it’s trying to talk to you.”

“Talk to me?” She looks back at the bird and offers it a chip.

The bird looks at the chip, apparently confused, and pecks at it before taking it and flying back up into the castle.

“Nope, I never did get into Twitter.” Beth says, confused.

*** Ah-Pee across the pond ***

“Every single style has something different it can say,” Ah-Pee sings softly as she works on the grill, “There’s nothing wrong with being unique, and special in your own way.”

Smiling she flips the pancakes, one by one, before hip checking the Corporal out of the way. Her mess, her rules, and luckily the army cook has learned not to argue the point with the little pony. He’s already seen her hoof a bag of potatoes across the mess, she has a lot of power in her legs.

“Um, whatcha want me to do then?” He asks, looking down.

“Make sure the condiments are on the table first. Then get to stirring the maple syrup, we want it warm and thick. Not too thick though and we don’t want it burning on the bottom of the pot.” She says, “we’ve got a big group of ponies, who are going to be feeling down and depressed.”

“Sucks that they missed the gate,” he says, putting out the butter on the tables. “Now they have to wait two and a half years to go through.”

“Unless they decide to stay,” Ah-Pee says, checking the Okonomiyaki too.

“Why would they want to stay? Equestria is where they belong.” He says more than asks as he loads the napkin dispensers. Freezing, he realizes what he has just said, and slowly turned to look at Ah-Pee.

“Listen here, I may be a little filly from New Mexico, but you’re the one with hoof in mouth. Sugarcube.” Ah-Pee says, holding up a box.

Eric walked in and laughs, “HAH, I knew you said sugarcube!”

Ah-Pee looked at Eric, “What else do you call these?” she says, pointing at the box.

Walking forward, Eric looks at it and grumbles. “Square sugar concentrates for warm beverages?”

“Right, Songbird.” She says, with a giggle.

“Okay, I’m sorry for making fun of ponies singing. How can I make up for it?” Eric says, with a smile.

“Stack the trays if you would be so kind. With the four strays, we have a total of fifteen ponies to feed tonight, most of whom probably haven’t had real food in days, so I figured a pancake dinner with apple pancakes and banana pancakes.” She smiles.

“What are those?” Eric asks, looking at a few being prepared off to the side.

“Umm, Cheese filled potato pancakes, covered with bacon, topped with seaweed chips, and covered with a mix of ketchup, Worcestershire, and soy sauce that’s blended with a few other spices.” She says, humming as she works.

Eric blinked, “Ok that would be for the pegasi and humans, I take it.”

“Yep, course everyone’s free to have the regular pancakes too.” Ah-Pee says, then she turns and smiles, as the ponies start to file in. She moves forward to serve them.

“So which do you want Eric?”

“Little of both please.”

Smiling she hands out food in big country servings to all the ponies, making sure the little ones get extra, they may be adults in mind, but their bodies are still growing, and they need the extra pick me up for their spirits.

“Here you go Feather,” She smiles, handing out a large pile of banana pancakes for the foal, and a mix of apple and banana for Cloud and Candy.

“Thank you aunty,” Feather chirps, wiggling her tail, and brings her friends over to a table.

“Earth ponies are always a grounding influence,” Sanchez says as he walks in, “their food, their faces, their ties to the earth, help ground others, and act as a means for all the tribes to gather.” He smiles brightly at the earth pony.

Ah-Pee actually blushes at that one, looking down. “Now you’re just sucking up.” She says, handing out some Okonomiyaki for him.

“It’s true though, from what I saw and understand, the pegasi would be hunter gatherers, picking up whatever they can get quick, to bring back to the clouds. Unicorns, would likely have foraged and browsed. But the real agriculture had to have been done by the earth ponies. Without that, there wouldn’t be great cities. That means it’s the earth ponies that bind the tribes together.” Sanchez says to her. “The true magic of the earth pony.”

Skuffing a hoof a bit, “Yeah but this is Earth, so that’s not the way it works.” Shaking her head, she looks up, “Have you seen the LT, or Fleetfoot?”

“They have been in the communications hut all day. They were faxing off the… letters… to the families. They are using a bus, train, large scale car accident as the reason in most cases. The bodies burned beyond any recognition.” He says softly and picks up some Okonomiyaki, heading over to a chair.

“That must be hard for them. Especially James.” Ah-Pee says, sighing, and then nods, “Well I know what to do.”

Turning she gets back to cooking. She is going to make something special for those two, something they can share, so beef is out. She will make something though, that will help them be a little happier, even if it is hard at this time.

*** Sugarberry ***

“So what was it like?” Sugarberry says, crossing her forelegs and looking at Henry.

“Awful, I mean downright horrible.” Henry said looking at Sugarberry less than impressed, though she wasn’t sure if it was the topic or the experience.

“Ugg, I meant using magic.” She huffed, “look I’m not asking about the color or such… just the magic, doing it. I didn’t even know I could do magic till I saw Velvet do it, and then had to work when she trained me.”

“Mostly I just… well I used your touch TK trick, I didn’t do it right away and honestly it was strange. It sort of came to me without thinking about it when I needed it.” Henry responds.

“Unicorn magic is supposed to be like that, I just didn’t know enough about unicorns when I changed.” Sugarberry sighs, “It’s strange, now that I do it, it’s like second nature. I can do it without thinking about it now, but until I learned how it was so alien.”

“It’s sort of like walking, riding a bike, or such. It seems so hard when you can’t do it, seems like it takes forever to learn how to do it, but once you know, you don’t even seem to think about it when you’re doing it.”

“Henry, can I ask you something?”

“Sure? What’s on your horn?” He says with a chuckle.

“Have you eaten meat since you got back?” Sugarberry tilts her head, looking at him intently, “I’ve seen you push it around on your plate but not eat.”

Henry blinks and thinks about it for a moment, trying to remember if he had, “You know I just… I haven’t considered it. I just didn’t feel like it I guess.”

“Sorry, might be a carryover from your cutie mark, you were a unicorn, so meat is not on the diet.” She says, looking down, her ears dropping.

“Oh come on, do I ever get to catch a break?”

“It’s not so bad, you didn’t even notice it till I brought it up, but I thought I’d ask before we were in a situation where you’d have to.”

“Yeh it’s something I’ll need to experiment with, man at least the others can eat bacon, fish and poultry.” Grumping once, “I can’t even eat alfalfa so I’ll need to take vitamin supplements.”

“Alfalfa?”

“It comes in two forms, the cube form is for roughage, to help digestion, full of fiber. The pellets are for nutrients.” Henry says, looking down, “I read all about it when they sent it to me for you. Humans can’t digest it though. So for me it’s figuring out what I can eat.” He huffs softly and looks at his hip.

Sugarberry puts her hoof against his hip, “Consider yourself lucky, I’m still not sure what mine means. It can be hard sometimes, but you have your friends, and us to help you through this. Don’t worry, we may not say it but what you guys did, going to Equestria, risking your lives.” She looks up into his eyes, “That means something to us.”

“I’m sorry, I know you girls still have your problems. Having your cutie mark but not knowing your special talent must be so hard compared to being a blank flank… at least then when you find it you know.” Henry sighs.

“Even the internet hasn’t helped, it shows Sugarberry with berries as her cutie mark from older generations, but all it says for current is, ‘I helped in Winter Wrap Up, ice skating.’” Sugarberry sighs, “but again, we are here to help you two. You wear the mark, so you get treated like anypony else.”

“I really don’t want to be stuck as a unicorn again though.” Henry says, his face falling.

“And I NEVER want to get stuck as a human again. Walking on two legs? No magic? Ugh, no thank you. So tell me, because I never want to be human, does that mean you won’t treat me as one?” Sugarberry looks up at him.

“Ok that’s different, I treat you as a human because you’re intelligent.”

“And we’ll treat you like ponies because you went to Equestria, you risked your lives and fought for us, you were touched by Equestria’s magic, you earned your cutie marks. So to the Unicorn Club at least, even if you never go back to being a unicorn, you still deserve to be treated as one. With all the respect and dignity one deserves.”

“Like with apple pancakes for dinner?” Henry says, looking to the mess area.

“Oh yeah, that’s now, let’s go before they are all gone… some of us really can eat like a…”

*** Velvet ***

“Horse apples, this is heavy!” I say, concentrating as I hold the bronze slab in the air. “Watch your positioning Ballad.”

“Beep, Beep, Beep.” Ballad responds as she backs up slowly, using her TK more to adjust and position rather than try and lift.

“A little to the left girls,” Blaze motions with his wing, “Ok now bring it down slowly.”

Lowering the slab, I stop, holding it a few inches off the ground. Ballad with her magic tugs and positions it the final little bit till it is lined up with all the screws. Finally with one loud clang, it drops to rest on the concrete slab.

“Jeepers, how much did that thing weigh?” I say, shaking my head.

“650 pounds according to the transport sheet,” Blaze calls out.

“Oh yeah leave us girls to manhandle 650 pounds...” Ballad says, putting the bolts onto the screws and spinning them.

As each bolt is secured it glows red and melts a bit, fusing to the metal. Watching Blaze gives us a weird look, “Which one of you…”

“That’s me,” I said, “It was under armor care and repair in the EUP field guide. Sort of a spot welding spell, it also apparently works for starting camp fires, and heating tea.”

Sitting down, we take a look at our work, the old plaque had been removed, and replaced with a new one that the DOD sent down. The top of the plaque has 2 winged unicorns, they looked more like earth horses, but for this that is good. They were posed in a yin-yang style circle chasing each other, below them is the text.

In honored memory, to all those who have fought and fallen for the right to live in peace and harmony.

To those who gave their lives in the fight against those that sought only to bring chaos.

To those who’s sacrifice may go unknown to most, or who’s names could not be found.

This plaque is left in their honor. May we never take for granted the gifts they have given us.

The bottom left corner of the plaque has Celestia’s stylized sun mark, the right side bears Luna’s moon and stars. Between them and along the bottom are the marks for each branch of service, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Finally at the bottom of the plaque:

In remembrance of the battle of the Five Score. June 1, 2020. For more information please contact United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, 571-555-4375.

“Your words?” Blaze asks, putting his wing over my back.

“Kind of, I handed it off to the LT who approved, then sent it off to Special Forces Command, they added the -for more information part. And got it approved by the Pentagon. Each branch apparently signed off, hence their marks on the plaque. I have no idea how they got it done so fast but... we need something here.”

“Yep. I think it’s perfect. Any pony that see’s it should recognize it.” Blaze says, “A marker for the unknown pony.”

I nod once, “And still a number to call, CID knows what happened so they can answer questions or help if ponies call in.”

I give Ballad a playful hip check, cutie mark to cutie mark, “Come on, let’s go get some dinner.”

Ballad giggles and prances into the tent, swishing her tail happily, we’ve both worked hard to get that darn plaque in place. She has to be just as hungry as I am.

Heading in, I look around at the score of ponies present. We still needed to figure out where most of them are going to stay permanently. Just the fact though that everyone is clean, eating, laughing and having fun though, means a lot to me.

Henry though, turns and throws up on the grass, looking really green. Trotting over, Sugarberry was rubbing his back shaking her head. She’s looking rather worried too.

“What’s wrong?” I say coming to a stop, biting my lower lip.

Sugarberry looks up and half smiles, “Umm its ok, Henry just found out he carried a unicorn’s stomach back with him through the change. No meat allowed. It’s what his cutie mark is telling him.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I remember that feeling.” I say and hug him gently.

“I know, its ok, even without alfalfa there’s a lot I can still eat, just bacon didn’t agree with me.” He says, “I just can’t get a break. I’m the multiverse’s punching bag.”

*** Back across the pond ***

“We’re back!” Beth says, walking in with her brother. Taking off her cap, she hangs it up on a peg on the wall. Shaking her head she KNOWS something is wrong right away, and the look on Tommy’s face is enough to say it.

Looking in the mirror she blinks, her hair is down to the middle of her back. It has become a flowing silken white mane, and even her eyes have changed, now they are a soft baby blue from the normal brown she had before.

Sitting down hard on the floor she looked at her brother, “What’s going on?”

Tommy looks as their mum comes in and blinks, looking at Beth. “What the…”

“She’s trying out a new look, we spent all day down at the salon, hair extensions, colored contacts. I’ve never been so bored in my life.” Tommy says with a grumbling huff.

“Why can’t you just be content with your normal hair, you don’t have to be ashamed of yourself.” Her mum says, and then turns “Dinner will be ready soon.”

Looking at her brother she hugs him tightly, “Thanks, honestly I don’t know what’s… happening. Nothing makes sense.”

“I’ve never heard of any normal thing changing your hair and eye color and making your hair grow like that.” Tommy says.

“I’m getting really scared, what… what’s going on?”

“Maybe we should go to the clinic tomorrow?” Tommy gulps.

Slowly Beth stands up and walks into the dining room, her dad looks up, a little shocked and confused but doesn’t say anything. Instead he just scowls at her new…style. Sitting quietly, she lowers her head.

Her mum comes out smiling, and puts down plates of bangers and mash in front of everyone, “Quick and easy dinner, but I know how much you like it Tommy.”

“So what is with the hair?” Her dad asks.

“I’m 25 dad, I thought I’d try a new look for a few days.” She smiles at him, “Don’t worry I’ll get rid of it. It was just something fun to do.”

“Fun? Fun? Going to a movie is fun, going fishing is fun. Changing your hair color like that, is trying to show you’re being different.”

“I talked her into it Dad,” Tommy says.

“Why would you do that?”

“Simple, I figured she should do something to make her 25th special, memorable. Total makeover, pictures, then have fun around the castle like when we were young.” Tommy smiles at their dad.

“Waste of money if you ask me.” Is the response.

Getting up, Beth heads into the bathroom, she doesn’t want to deal with this right now. Locking the bathroom door, she lifts the toilet cover and pulls down her track pants and knickers, flicking her tail to the side she sits down to pee.

Glancing down at her side she looked at her tail and flicked it once beside her. The fur is silken white like her hair, though a bit tangled after being in her track pants. Running her fingers through the tail hair gently, she pulls knots out of it.

Cleaning herself up, she stands up, careful not to get her tail into the toilet, and lowers the lid and flushing. Carefully pulling her track pants up, she quietly walks out of the bathroom and heads for the front door.

“Beth?” Her mum called her, “Are you going to finish your dinner?”

Not responding she turns the door knob opening it and walks outside. She makes a quick decision, and starts walking quietly in the direction of the castle.

“BETH!” Tommy calls and blinked, watching her walk. He runs back inside, closing the door.

Hitting the road she stops. She closes her eyes and takes a slow deep breath, the sounds of the birds, the wind through the trees, a train off in the distance. They are all muted out by the volume of her scream.

The tears start to fall as she starts to run as fast as she can, this can’t be happening to her, she’s got a tail… people don’t have tails. They shouldn’t have tails, it’s just not possible. Running she finds her way to the woods and sits down, hugging her knees. What is going on? What is she going to do now? She had no idea what was happening.

All she can do right now is sit and cry. She isn’t even sure how long it goes on for, but after a while, she hears something beside her. Looking down, it is the little vixen she had seen before, lying beside her, it is crying too. Looking up at her, its ears are down as it whimpers.

Gently she pats its head once. Sitting up the fox tilts its head, panting softly.

Looking around she sighs wipes her tears away. The fox’s ears swivel and its head turns, at the same time her ears picked up the sound too, footsteps through the brush. The fox turns and vanishes into a den as quick as it can.

“Beth? Are you here?”

“Yes Tommy. For now.” She says sadly.

Tommy comes over and stops, looking at her shocked.

“I have a tail…” She says simply. She buries her face in her hands.

“Um, you have ears on top of your head too.” Perking quickly, he smiles brightly, “Wait! What kind of tail? Dog, cat, fox?”

“Wait what? What difference does the kind of tail I have make?” Beth says, looking at him.

“Well, if it’s a cat tail, you’re a Nekomimi. If it’s a dog tail you’re an Inukami. And if it’s a fox tail you’re a kitsune!” He says with a chuckle.

“You watch too much anime, way too much.” Grumbling Beth pulls her tail out of the back of her track pants showing him.

“Umm, horse? Really?” Tommy looked at her and grumped.

“What?” Beth looked at him worried. “Are they bad?”

“Nope, I got nothing. They don’t show up in any anime I know of. I was hoping for fox, they tend to be really stacked.”

“TOMMY!” Beth smacked him hard, “That’s gross.”

“I was kidding!” He says, laughing, “It’s usually small animals, bunny, fox, cat, raccoon dog. Nothing big.”

“It’s not the sort of thing I want to hear about.” Beth whimpers.

“Um Beth, I wasn’t joking, you have Kemonomimi.” He says.

Beth looks at him like he grew a horn in the middle of his forehead. “What?”

“Um, animal ears. Your ears are on the top of your head.”

Slowly reaching up she feels her ears, whimpering slowly, she takes out her phone and activates the camera, pressing the icon for the face cam, she lifts it and looks at herself. Turning her head side to side slowly she drops her phone. “I’m going insane aren’t I?”

“If you are, I’m seeing this too so I’m going nuts as well.”

“What would Dad say?”

“Oh that’s easy. He’s say, see what living in London gets you, all that pollution, you should have stayed in the country and got a nice job at the local store like your brother did, or better yet, marry that Walter boy and settle down.” Tommy replies, nodding.

“I… I…” Beth looks at him then falls back, laughing, “Oh God he would say that wouldn’t he.”

“Let’s wait till it gets dark, then we can sneak you back in, until then.” He smiles and pulls out a box of biscuits, some crisps, some sweets, and water bottles. “I brought us some snacks.”

*** Ah-Pee ***

Balancing the tray on her back, Ah-Pee walked into the communications trailer, being careful not to spill anything, it’s not easy but she manages it, how the ponies in the show make this look easy, she has no idea.

“Officers dinner!” She says, looking at both the LT and Fleetfoot. Using her mouth she slides the tray off her back onto the table.

“What is… what is all of this?” The LT says in wonder.

“Deep South Texan barbeque, we have Buffalo wings. Bacon wrapped asparagus, bacon wrapped deep fried pickles, grilled plantains, grilled eggplant all fresh off the grill for you. Fried and stuffed mushroom caps. Don’t worry Fleetfoot, the wings are actually boneless so you can eat them easy.”

They looked at each other, then back at Ah-Pee, both of them are speechless.

“Oh you also have your home loaf bread, and of course apple pie. You two have been doing a stressful job, so I brought you something you could share with each other. Everything there is safe for both human and pegasus.”

Fleetfoot fluffs her wings, “Ah-Pee, you didn’t need to make something special for us.”

“Yes I did, it’s an earth pony thing. Food can raise spirits, raise the morale. I know the letters you’ve been working on, so yes, you NEED your morale raised.”

“If you’d be so kind LT, Fleetfoot will need some help with some of the food.” Ah-Pee nods and turns around, trotting back out of the tent.

Smiling innocently, Ah-Pee knows perfectly well everything she served there is finger food, meaning the LT would need to feed Fleetfoot. Now she just needs to give them privacy.

37: Somepony to Save Me.

It is a very short drive from the CID office in West Point to Shadeland. A small burb just outside of Lafayette, Indiana. The area is a mix of small homes and middle to upscale mobile homes. The homes are well maintained, with well-groomed lawns, many have their own swimming pools.

Driving down the road, smaller buildings could be seen behind or beside the main houses, detached garages, work sheds. The entire area had somewhat of an elitist feel to it. There are very few children, or signs of children around. In fact according to statistics, those over 65 outnumber those under 18 nearly 5 to 1.

Pulling up to a small house, the black government car stands out somewhat, amongst the brightly colored imports. Checking her weapon, just to be safe, Special Agent Mathews nods to her partner. Special Agent Benson nods his head in return and gets out of the car.

Stepping away from the car, they walk up to the door and knocked, several times. Waiting quietly, they listen for any sounds of life inside. While the neighborhood has sounds of a lawnmower, a dog barking in the distance, there are no sounds from the house.

“Well we do have a warrant,” Benson says, looking around.

“No alarm strip.” Mathews says, and kneels down, pulling out her lock pick set.

“Oh you like doing that too much.” He says with a laugh.

Unlocking the door, she opens it and steps inside, looking around. “Federal Agents, we have a warrant.” She calls out loudly, then over to her partner, “Well this is her place, let’s see what we can find.”

They looked around the house, family pictures. Mother, father and two children, different pictures of them are on display around the living room. Artwork, a painting of the father is displayed on the wall in an army uniform, below it a bronze urn.

They check the upstairs, master bedroom for the mother, everything seems normal, though the bed is unmade. According to the records, the mother lives with her daughter and the son lives in town.

Washroom looks normal, two sets of towels, tooth brushes, skin products. Nothing that shouldn’t be here, or out of place, everything seems like a normal woman’s home.

The daughter’s room is pretty messed up, they pull out their cameras and take pictures of the room. They know their jobs, document the evidence. The door shows signs of being kicked twice, hoof prints in the solid core wooden door. They find feathers on the bed, a pegasus, well it could be an alicorn, but since there are only four of those, and they are all accounted for, its doubtful.

The bed shows some rips from hooves. She was likely in here when she first changed.

“Ok, it looks like she was one of the pegasi.” Mathews says, looking around.

“Yeah but what’s…”

“No computer, but I have some papers.” Sitting down, she starts to read.

“So what’s it say?” Benson leans over, trying to see.

“Her mom was planning on selling her and her brother to a lab. She doesn’t know what’s happening to her or why… wings started growing, it was getting hard to write.”

“Sounds like she was going through the same changes, her mom wanting to sell her…might explain some things.” He says, looking around. “Ever think we should consider getting one of those things to work for us?”

“Things? They’re people.” Mathews says, standing up.

“Not really, from what I read they were always ponies, just cursed to be human for a time.” Heading downstairs he goes looking for the basement.

“Doesn’t matter, I wouldn’t consider them things. They were human for a while and they are still intelligent. Door.”

The basement door actually is barely on its hinges, showing a pair of hoof prints on it. Carefully the two head downstairs into the basement. The place smelled of horse, or pony, there is dog food bowls on the floor. There aren’t any windows to the basement, it seems to be more of a tornado shelter, with brick walls and a hard ceiling. The only door is the one into the kitchen.

“More feathers, different color, It looks like there were two of them here. Their mother moved her daughter down here for holding, and likely her son. Both were born May 1st.” Mathews says.

“Not even a bathroom down here, I wonder how long she kept them down here for.”

Heading back upstairs, they looked around and find a study. Benson sits down at the computer and starts to type. “Oh, I found pictures, they’re both mares it looks like. I guess her son wasn’t there.”

“Not true, some girls got turned into boys, boys into girls. As well there was age changing as people could be turned into foals or elder ponies.” Mathews says, sitting beside her partner, “Look how terrified the green one looks, it matches the feathers up stairs on the bed.”

“Ok so she’s the daughter, the other one must have been the son.”

“He was Army reserves, or she, I should say.” Mathews sighs, “I have questions to labs looking to buy, she sent them photos.” She taps a few keys, “Ok here she’s asking $50,000 per.”

“Ok let’s get back to the office, we’ll let the team know when they talk to her again. Find her side of the story.”

Both nod to each other and head out of the house.

*** Velvet ***

“Moooooom,” Feather whines, “I’m 25, this is…”

“No arguing,” I say firmly while I scrub her back with the sponge. Humming softly, I work to clean her up, “I help Blaze with his baths. There’s just some places it’s hard to reach with mouth and hooves. Wings up.”

Feather huffs as she raises her wings. While she has enjoyed using her cuteness and small size for things like free treats, things like pony baths she has no defense for. However, no matter how embarrassing, it is still a bonding moment.

Working gently, I get her cleaned off. I glance over at Fleetfoot with a smile, I look at Feather and tilt my head. “Towel dry or spin dry?”

“Spin?” her ears fall as she looks at me in confusion.

Using my TK I lift Feather up and spin her 360 degrees slowly, making her eek loudly.

“Towel! Towel!” She shouts.

Picking up the towels, I gently dry her off, then I set her down between my forelegs. Under Fleetfoot’s watchful eye, I carefully start preening her wings. “I’ve read about this in the EUP Field manual but it’s a lot different trying it in person. Especially on a foal, their feathers are so small.”

“Yep, you have to be really gentle.” Fleetfoot nods. “So the stragglers are going to be bussed off to Apple Jack’s farm?”

“For now, it’s a formality in a way, give them time to settle down and decide for themselves.”

“What about their own country?” Fleetfoot says, tilting her head.

“They can go back there if they want, so far though there isn’t any real pony support there.” I shrug.

Laying down, Sugarberry shakes her head, “Actually I checked, it’s not that there isn’t support. It’s just they bundle them in with everything else apparently.”

“Everything else?” I blink looking confused.

“From what I can find, they aren’t treating ponies as anything special. You’re a pony born in Canada, you’re Canadian. You get health care, social assistance, can call in mental health lines, support. They are just treating ponies as… well… a condition.” Sugarberry huffs.

“A condition? What?” I look over at Sugarberry, a frown on my face, “Like we’re a disease?”

“No… “ Sugarberry says slowly, “Disabled is the term. You become a pony, you’re disabled until you learn to be a pony, then you get support finding work or such.” Sugarberry shakes her head. “Not sure how I’d feel being considered disabled.”

Fleetfoot laughs, “No hands, I bet that’s what they are thinking. Since humans are so used to having hands, when we first shift, we are disabled until we figure out how to survive without hands.”

“I’ve… got no argument for that. If they are just treating ponies as disabled humans, that’s their call. I prefer to think of myself as a pony though.” I say with a huff.

“Well at least they aren’t rounding us up for experimentation.” Fleetfoot adds.

I shudder at that one, “I’ve seen the experiments, it was horrific. I was actually slotted to be experimented on.” Giving Feather's wings one more fluff, I hold Feather up to examine the work, “How’s that Fleets?”

She leans in to inspect the foal’s wings, “Perfect.” She giggles.

“It’s our last night here, and then it’s back to base.” I say with a sigh.

“Unicorn club gets re-assigned. We will be sent back to our home bases around the country.”

“Celestia I’m going to miss you girls.” I say, my ears folding back, my tail down between my hind legs.

“Well I’m on the SOC Base too, but Cipher, and Ballad.” Sugarberry shakes her head.

Fleetfoot nods, “I’m back at the Air Force base but, I can zip back up as needed. It’s not a long flight back and forth.”

“I wonder about Ah-Pee? I guess she’ll just go back to her farm.” I say sadly.

“As much as you helped them, they are your support group huh?” Fleetfoot says softly.

Slowly I nod, and sigh, “Without them it would have been a lot harder to come to terms with things.”

“Don’t worry, it will all work out, unlike in Equestria, we have phones and Skype.” Fleetfoot nods firmly.

“Feather and the twins are staying with me for now. The twins will need help, lots of help. I do have the babysitting book to deal with their sparks. They should be mentally old enough not to spark, but there’s always the chance…”

“Good call, I think you’re the current unicorn teacher around here.” Sugarberry giggles.

“Big Mac’s farm is a good place for the others though. He’s already got space for them. Though I think some of them might move to Lightning Dust’s farm in Montana.” Fleetfoot nods.

“So, party tonight?” Sugarberry asks, looking at all assembled.

“Party tonight.” I nod firmly.

*** Other side of the Pond ***

Beth woke up early this morning, she wants to be up so she can be out of the house before her mum and dad see her. Her return trip is for tomorrow, but she wasn’t sure going back to London with pony ears and tail was a good idea. She might have to knuckle under and tell her parents but for now…

Sitting up, she ruffles her mane as she yawns, she hates to get up earlier than 8 in the morning. Heck, normally she doesn’t have to be at work till 9AM, so she could get up at 8:30 some days. Flicking her tail she looks down at it, then pulls out her brush and starts brushing it quietly. For a few moments she sits there relaxing, looking at her hooves.

Blinking, she sticks her leg out and whimpers… she has hooves instead of feet. That is completely unfair. What did her feet ever do to her? She washed them and she keeps her nails clean and painted. She keeps her feet soft. After all of that, they abandon her and leave her with hooves.

Standing up, she finds she can balance on her hooves, she looks at them for a long time. How can she get shoes on? Or failing that, hide them. She definitely can’t walk around the house like this… Well not all day. She’d have to get out, quickly.

Getting up she pulls off her off her bed shirt and picks up her bra. She stops and looks down at her chest, she was never really that big, she was only a B cup, but really? This just isn’t fair in the slightest, now she’s completely flat chested. Not even an A cup anymore. She whimpers, this is getting downright cruel.

Pulling on a T-shirt ends up being more trouble than she thought. When she rips it, she knows something else is wrong. Looking up she just shakes her head. After a moment she levers herself up to look in the mirror. After getting a good look at herself, she moves closer to inspect what she saw, a white spiral horn is now rising from her forehead. If it isn’t one thing, it’s three. Checking her back quickly, she sighs in relief. At least she doesn’t have wings or something. The way things have been going this morning, she just had to check that.

Putting her horn through the neck hole carefully, she struggles into the t-shirt, pulling it down tight. Finally taking off her pj bottoms, she pulls on a clean pair of nickers and track pants… which ends up being harder than it seemed with the tail. Pulling her pants up over her tail first, she pinched where her tail is, then pulls them down again. Making a cut with a pair of scissors, she carefully threads her tail through the hole before pulling them up again and nods firmly.

Well she’s dressed at least. That’s something, right…Right?

Carefully peeking out of her room, she looks around then sneaks downstairs. Tommy knows where to find her, so she doesn’t need to leave a note or anything. Looking at the kitchen floor, she grumbles softly. Wood, she knows this is going to make noise, and she might leave some scuffs, but it can’t be helped.

Looking in the cupboard, she hums softly, and opens up her school bag. Picking up the first box of biscuits she simply dumps it into her bag. Two more boxes are put into her bag, she isn’t sure how hungry she’d be all day, or if she’d spends the night out, but for now, it should be safe.

Going through the drawers, she pulls out a pen knife and torch, as well as some string. Lastly, she pulls out some garbage bags. Looking around, she can’t see anything else she might be able to use, or need. So she goes over to the fridge to get a few bottled waters. Four bottles should do her for a little bit.

Turning, she quietly she picks her hoody off the peg and slips out the door. All she needs to do is bike to the woods and… she stops and looks at her hooves. Her bike pedals, how is this going to work? Looking at her bike, she adjusted the seat height a bit and gets on. It is tricky getting going, but she manages to get to the woods, it feels so weird.

She finds a nice tree and locks her bike. She ties the string she brought to two trees about six feet apart. With a little work she is able to make a quick improvised shelter, using garbage bags as waterproof strips, held down with rocks so the wind doesn’t blow it away. It isn’t large, it isn’t fancy, but it is England, and it does rain.

Swaying her tail she hums softly, it will give her a place to hide as well, if needed. Though it needs some cover for that. Carefully, she adds some pine and other leafy branches to cover the sides, as well as camouflage the front and back. This way people won’t see it on a casual stroll, or so she hopes.

There is something old, she can feel it, but it’s there. She doesn’t know what it is, but she can feel it in her horn. Turning, she slowly walks towards the castle again. It’s already nearly 9AM, so there is a chance tourists would be there. A chance of running into people, but the grass is fairly high, so if she doesn’t lift her hooves too much, they won’t be seen.

Her ears swivel as she hears Tommy calling her name. Looking around, she calls a few times. Then she waits, giving him some time to catch up. After another set of three calls by her, he comes jogging down the path and stops, panting. Looking at her he blinks, then gives her a hug.

“Hi sis, where you going?”

“To the castle, I feel something there. It’s hard to explain but I know something is there.” Beth says, hugging back before starting to walk again.

“What?” Tommy asks curiously, and then chuckles.

“I don’t know, and what are you chuckling about?”

“Your tail, you sway it when you walk. It’s funny, your hips go one way and the tail goes the other. Counterpoint.”

“In other words you’re watching my butt?”

“Umm no. You are my sister. I’m watching your tail. It’s very noticeable.”

“I know, I’m just teasing you. I have hooves and a horn.”

“Horn? Like a unicorn horn?” He moves up quickly beside her and smiles.

“Yep, like King Tirian’s companion, Jewel. Of course he was actually a huge war horse and tough as nails.”

Sneaking around the sides of the castle she came up to the wall, looking at it. There is no one around at this time, the tour busses haven’t arrived yet. She can still feel it in her horn, where the unicorn was the other day. Putting her hand on the castle wall she walks slowly to the point. The closer she gets, the stronger she feels it. And the brighter her horn glows.

“Can’t you feel it?” She asks, looking at her brother.

Blinking at her, he looks at her horn, “I don’t feel anything. Your horn… It’s glowing like Lady Amalthea’s.”

Kneeling down she touches her horn to the wall. The wall rumbles as a panel slowly falls into the ground. Behind there is a dark ramp about four feet wide, and four feet high, leading deep down below the castle. A dark spiraling path curling downwards. Too low for a human to walk down comfortably, it is wide enough and high enough for a unicorn. At least a unicorn like the one she had seen.

*** Velvet, across the pond ***

I sit, pondering. Wondering what I am going to do. It is going to be so hard to say goodbye to everypony. I know Ah-Pee is working on a party for us, though really we could use Pinky Pie right now. This feels like it is going to be very somber.

“Is it time yet?”

“No, Feather.” Looking down at her I smile, horn glowing as I write on the paperwork.

“How about now?” Cotton Candy asks looking hopeful.

“I’ll tell you when we are leaving for the party, I don’t know the exact time, I’m waiting for the call.”

“It’s not our fault.” Cotton Cloud states.

“Oh why?” Tilting my head, I looked at Cloud.

“Simple, while our minds are mature, or at least some of our minds.” She says, looking over at Candy, “our bodies are packed full of energy. A need to run, to play, to make our muscles grow, because of that we are impatient and find it hard to sit still for too long.”

“That almost makes sense. Except for the fact that foals can sit still for classes.” I retort, smiling.

“Can’t blame a foal for trying.” She says, giggling.

Let the rainbow remind you

That together we will always shine

Let the rainbow remind you

That forever this will be our time.

Blinking, I look at my phone, that’s not my ring tone. That’s not even on my phone, “Hello?”

“PARTY TIME!”

“Cipher I am going to kill you, stop messing with my ringtones!” Huffing, I hang up.

The foals looked up at me, tilting their heads.

“Now.” I say, smiling.

“Now what?” Feather asks, blinking.

“It’s time…” Tapping a hoof, I look at them.

“For?” The twins ask in stereo.

Turning, I walk out heading for the mess tent, shaking my head.

“WAAAAAIIIIIT!” The foals yell, running after me.

Shaking my head, I look down at them, smiling, “You kids are nuts you know that?”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Earth chapter!” They call out doing a high hoof five.

Groaning softly, I seriously can’t believe we are in for this, “We’re doomed.”

Sugarberry, Eric, and Henry have decorated the mess tent. The place has most of the security staff, a pair of ambulance staff, and the rest of the support staff are all here. There’s even a few police officers who have been handling barrier security here.

Apple Pie has again lived up to her name, we have dozens of different types of apple pies, plates of apple fritters, chocolate cake, strawberry carrot cake, and strawberry shortcake. She’s put out everything from chicken wings to pulled pork. Foot long home loaf bread ready to be stuffed with the shredded pork.

Vegetarian wise there are home fried potatoes, perogies, mushroom caps, oat cakes, and mashed potatoes, thick and rich mushroom gravy, fried plantains the list just goes on and on.

Glancing around, I looked at the pegasi drooling. Yep, unicorns rule and pegasi drool. Thumping my hip against Blaze, I smile, “When Ah-Pee puts on a feast, she puts on a feast.”

“You can say that again.” Walking up to the serving staff, Blaze points out the pulled pork and wings getting his food prepared for him. Picking up his tray with his mouth, he carries it back to eat.

Smiling, I help Feather and the twins with their trays, moving them over with my TK to a table across from Blaze. I, however, am still stuck with veggie only menus, like the twins. Picking mine up, I take my seat by Blaze and lean against him.

The LT walks in, smiling a little, with Fleetfoot beside him. She’s bouncing a bit as she walks, likely happy about helping him with his problems. Officer troubles, in general they never share their issues with the enlisted members. So him having Fleetfoot to talk to must be so special.

Jay is kicking back, drinking beer and eating a pulled pork mega sandwich. Pegasus stomachs, ugg. Well he’s got a human stomach, but his cutie mark lets him eat meat at least. Eric and Sanchez soon join him, smiling at the food.

“So it’s our last night here.” The LT says, “I want to thank you all for your time and service to not just the United States, but to Earth and Equestria.”

We all clap and stomp our hooves in response, cheering.

“It hasn’t been easy, but we have two and a half years till the gate re-opens again.” The LT continues.

“How far in the future can we book days off?” Henry asks, holding up a beer.

That got everyone laughing. Several people raise beers to Henry.

“That doesn’t mean we are out of jobs. We still have problems domestic and foreign to deal with. I have a feeling there are also going to be a lot of ponies turning up around the world that missed the gate. Some of us may be expected to help them.” He says, nodding.

Fleetfoot stands up on her hind legs, putting her forelegs on the bench. “We will treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. For a Free Equestria!”

Everyone raises their drinks, calling out “To Equestria!”

Cipher has her laptop with speakers hooked up, blaring My Little Pony songs, just for fun. Memo to me, maim her after my meeting. Smiling, I hop down and give her a quick hug, “Mess with my ring tones and I‘ll give you a perm.”

Laughing Cipher hugs back, “I thought you needed something… me… to help you get by.”

Glancing over, I see the foals working on their eyes, to get different types of cake. Shaking my head, I look back to Cipher, “Is there some kind of symbol for using cuteness as a weapon?”

“Yeh, it’s called, a cutie mark.” She says, laughing softly.

I put a hoof over my face shaking my head and smile, walking over I sit back down with Blaze looking at the foals smiling. “Eat up. Cuz the next meal won’t be nearly this good.”

Two men wearing FBI jackets, and five wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement jackets walk in, looking around. Glancing up, Cipher stops the music, “Need any help?”

“Special Agent Carlson, I.C.E., we were informed by local police that several Canadians entered the USA without going through border services properly.” He says.

“Um yeah, it was sort of an emergency.” Fleetfoot says, blinking.

Looking around he points at the twins. “Those two are part of the group, we will need to take them into custody.”

“Wait, WHAT!” I say, getting up and putting myself between the foals and the I.C.E. officers.

“Under Section 1325 in Title 8 of the United States Code, anyone who deliberately eludes examination or inspection by immigration agents… or enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration agents.” Looking sternly at the foals, SA Carlson, continues “Punishment for that violation is up to 6 months imprisonment and deportation.”

“They were trying to get here as quick as possible to get to a portal, to get back to our home world.” I say firmly.

“And why are they still here then and not on this… other… magical fairy world.”

Several of the Rangers stand up, ominous frowns on their faces.

“The portal closed, they were late getting here and missed it. Had they made it through the border with less trouble and made it here, they would have made it through to our home world.” I say, stomping my hoof.

“It doesn’t matter. We are taking them into custody, placing them in an immigration detention center to await their hearing.” He states firmly.

“Detention center? You are putting them in jail?” I snarl.

“Wait, detention center? Aren’t there usually like 10-15 people per holding room?” Sugarberry says, blinking.

“Illegal immigration is a huge problem.” SA Carlson responds firmly. “That’s why we do this.”

Spreading my forelegs I snarl, “They had no ID to get though the border legally, no photo id or passport that was valid because their form changed. They could never have gotten through the border legally!”

“Then they shouldn’t have tried.” SA Carlson retorts.

“Oh heck no!” I say, my horn glowing bright. “How would you feel? How would you deal with your entire life being destroyed? With everything you knew, everything you understand being turned upside down! Finding you have hooves, that you’re no longer human, and then having people treat you like a pet! Like an animal to be experimented on!”

Blaze blinks, stepping back from me, feeling all the ambient equestrian aether being gathered. “Hun, you might want to calm down.”

“How would you feel if you were loaded into shipping containers, and told you are just a normal animal so have no rights? These ponies, every single one of us, have been through so much more than you could ever understand! Ever deal with!” My eyes and cutie mark glow brightly, as bright as my horn, my mane and tail taking on a life of their own as they crackle with energy.

"Consider yourself lucky that I'm not treating them as normal animals. If I was I'd be ordering them all to be put down. Right now, for quarantine violations." SA Carlson snarled.

"Whoa there, there's no reason to escalate this." Ah-Pee said looking less then happy, though his comment about putting them down had moved Feather to tears.

“You are NOT taking these foals, they need to be protected. They need to be taught, they don’t even have their cutie marks yet, let alone know how to use their magic and I’m the only one around that can teach them. If you were ponies you would understand this. If you even cared about ponies you’d know better!” Panting hard, my hooves crackle as a circle in the ground forms around me.

LT Fisher steps in between us, “Look, it’s best to leave the foals here, with her. We can contact immigration services and deal with this mess without putting them in a cell.”

Ignoring the LT, SA Carlson snarls back, “Well I am NOT a pony, thank god, so these two are going to the detention center, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Maybe you SHOULD BE!” I say, slamming my hoof down. The magical explosion that follows pulses out in all directions. An expanding sphere radiating from my horn that flashed out at near-luminal velocities, striking everyone. Blaze’s wings shivered as the energy washes over him without effect, and the foals close their eyes, ducking their heads.

Everything is strangely quiet, nopony says a word. Instead everypony just stands in shock, blinking, trying to clear their eyes from the flash pulse. The LT and Fleetfoot slowly look at each other, Fleetfoot’s wings spread wide in shock, though the LT’s wings are also spread wide.

SA Carlson and his team slowly looked down at their hooves. Every human within about 100 yards has been turned into a pony. Though with the exception of the Rangers, none of them have cutie marks. And with the exception of one male police officer, who is a unicorn, and one female Corporal, who is a pegasus, they are all earth ponies.

“Oh hell LT, Velvet’s going down!” Sugarberry calls, catching me with her magical aura.

“Her nose is bleeding pretty badly, we should get her to a hospital, quick.” One of the medics calls out.

Looking down at his pink fur, Henry groaned, “Oh shit, not again.”

38: The Bomb Blast

Marine Corps Base, Quantico is a very busy base. Several different government investigative branches both operate and train there. You have the FBI Training academy, the DEA Headquarters, the NCIS headquarters, the CID Headquarters, not to mention the Air Force’s OSI, all on one base.

You would think having all those different agencies in one place would help information sharing. However, it merely breeds competition. Especially in multi-branch issues where several different agencies can have jurisdiction and decide they want to race to see who gets there first.

In the case of CID, information from field agents in one part of the country will come in, such as pictures and reports. It will be processed by a case overseer then sent out to other agents in a different part of the country to continue an investigation if needed. In doing so it allows for cases to proceed quickly without having to constantly fly agents all over the country.

Some days, cases come in very slowly, often from MP’s or local police departments. Other days, it is like a flood, when dozens of different leads, false claims, and incidents all happen. The report for the hostage situation is going to be confusing to deal with. It is becoming a case of who did what to who, but CID had chosen to reach out for help on this one. Photos of the two pegasi are being sent out to Dust’s group in Montana, to Army SOC, and to the team at the gate. Hopefully one of them has seen these two so they could be questioned.

As it is, CID officials just hope no major bombs drop today. Maybe they can get ahead of their case load for a change.

***

The fax machine at the farm wrrs softly as page after page comes through. Dust is getting ready for the funeral today, but Mindy takes note of the sound. As the machine finishes, she picks up the pictures. The pages are a looking for information file on two mares, that may have gone through the gate. At the bottom was: Please forward to other pony communities, report sightings or information back to US Army Criminal Investigations Command CID.

Humming softly, she types in the fax number for Big Mac’s farm, and re-faxes them there. Then she takes a look at the pictures, they are cute mares, younger than her, but older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Probably equitable to mid or late teens, she thinks.

They just look so scared and lost in the photo she muses, well one of them does, but the other looks downright defiant. It includes their cutie marks at the bottom of the page, and a written code for eye, coat, and mane colors. The CID seems to take and list the pony information in a way both human and pony can understand. They don't leave details to chance.

“Mindy are you here?” Moon Shadow pokes her head in, looking around.

“Yep, just doing some paperwork, we are getting police fax’s now.” She says softly.

Moon Shadow walks in with a UPS Package on her back and looks at Mindy, “Anything important?”

“Just CID looking for information on some ponies, what’cha got there?” Mindy looks at the box.

“Came in, apparently Velvet and Cipher arranged, but I’m not sure what it is. It’s listed as from them, but it came from a fabric company at Fort Bragg. At least that’s what the return address on the package says.”

Mindy looked at the box sadly and sighs. After a moment, she opens it up, looking inside, “I usually love presents but today…”

Moon Shadow tilts her head then goes wide eyed as Mindy pulls out the cloths and opens them up, an EUP flag, a flag for Equestria, depicting the two royal pony sisters, and a Wonderbolts flag. Here in time for the funeral.

“Oh Celestia, Dust is going to flip. They are exactly what we need, a perfect honor for him. To go with the Wonderbolts uniform he will be wearing” Mindy says, with tears in her eyes.

“Copied from the EUP Field Guide, just in case we can’t make it. With honors, Velvet, Blaze, and the Unicorn club.” Moon Shadow reads the card and smiles. Then turns and gives Mindy a soft hug. “It’s okay.”

Mindy nods and folds them up carefully, “Dust will be speechless.”

Putting the box down and the letter back in the box, Moon Shadow glances at the Fax. “So who are they?” She asks picking up the pictures and looking at them.

“Don’t know, the CID are looking for information on them.” Mindy said then looks at Moon, “Moony, are you ok?”

Sitting down hard, Moon Shadow looks closely at the pictures, “Oh Celestia… no…” She said and gulped, the horror clear in her voice.

*** Other side of the pond ***

They sit looking down the tunnel, there are no cobwebs on the walls, but there is dust, the air is stale and has an earthy scent to it. Slowly they look at each other and smile. Deep dark scary tunnel under an ancient castle…

“Want to explore it?” Beth asks, pulling out her torch from her backpack.

“Do you have to ask twice?” Tommy doesn’t have a torch, but he has a headlamp from his bike that will work just as well.

Tommy takes the lead, walking down hunched over, “How did you open the door?”

“I don’t know, I just touched my horn to it like I saw the unicorn do, and it opened. I didn’t do anything.”

“This spiral feels like it’s going down 15 meters. Every rotation is 1.5 meters I think and we’ve done 10 rotations.” Tommy says, looking a little concerned.

“How far down do you think it goes?”

“Oh, I’d say another quarter of a meter.” Tommy says with confidence.

“How do you… Oh…” Beth stops and looks around slowly.

The tunnel opens up into a chamber, with a two meter tall ceiling made of brick and mortar. The room is nearly fifteen meters wide and twenty meters long. A passageway leads off the main chamber on the other side into the darkness. The room has several pillars placed in two rows down the center, spaced every five meters apart.

The room itself, however, is an anachronism. There are shelves made of preserved wood along the walls, and tables between the pillars. The crafting of which looks like it dates back a thousand years. Most of the books look like they’ve crumbled to dust. The problem is many of them looked much newer, judging by the bindings.

There are suits of armor here, for both human and warhorse, some bearing the marks of battle. However they are from different times, a few from the War of the Roses, a few from The Crusades, A couple of suits even looked like they are from colonial times.

There are daggers, a Norman Sword, a Great sword, a matchlock, flint lock, and a Martini-Henry rifle. There are lances, maces, and other weapons as well. Each has been laid out in its own spot, and labeled in strange writing.

The problem is, the castle has been abandoned since the 1700’s, so many of these items should not be here. All in all, this seemed to be some sort of storehouse collection, from all over England, like some museum.

On the far wall there looks to be some kind of chemistry setup, with glass vials, pitchers, and other items. Beside it, a large chalk board, strange writing on it, and also what looks like mathematical formula still written on it.

“Sis.” Tommy calls out slowly.

Shining her light over, she fumbles with her torch, almost dropping it then putting the light back on what her brother is looking at. Several crowns of gold and silver sit on a table, as if for examination. Necklace’s made with diamonds and emeralds are laid out on tilted slabs to better show them off. There is even a box that has dozens of gold coins in it. There is an absolute fortune sitting here.

By the level of dust though, no one has been down here in what looks like two hundred years. All of this has been below the ground, gathered here, but never seen.

“What… is going on here?” Beth says slowly.

“I have no idea, but this stuff must be worth millions.”

“We need to let the coroner’s office know, they need to see this place.” Beth says, then stops and kneels down. “Tommy.”

Turning, Tommy blinks and sits down hard. There are several ‘manikins’ standing in a row but their size was wrong. They are pony sized, but more compact than a true pony, their body length isn’t as long. One wears armor that looks like it is made of gold and silver, with a set of blades that looked like they are meant for wearing on wings, based on where they are connected to the suit of armor. One manikin wears a suit of armor that looks like it was made from a light blue steel with a lance attached to its side.

The last, however, simply wears a cloak and hat. The cloak feathers from dark to medium to light blue, and has several silver stars and golden moons stitched to it, as well as around the trim. Seven golden bells are sewn on. The hat matches the theme, with golden bells on it as well, one prominently hanging from the top.

*** Across the pond ***

Henry grumbles as he walks down the corridor of Finley Hospital. Cipher has lent him a spare pair of hoof boots so that he isn’t sliding around the floor. Cipher and Sugarberry walked on either side of him, just to make sure he stays safe and sane. Both of them know his view on being a fluffy pink unicorn.

“I can’t believe the guy kept pushing… she was freakin’ glowing,” Henry growls. “You see a unicorn glowing like that, you back down…”

“They said she is fine, the scan shows no real damage.” Sugarberry says, “I feel sorry for Ah-Pee though.”

“Well she, Eric, and Sanchez need to teach the poor things to walk.” Cipher giggles.

“And Jay is out looking for stragglers that were affected. How big was that blast anyway?” Sugarberry asks.

“I don’t know, but 2 of the patrol guards out nearly 250 feet were hit by it… man, it’s lucky we were in an area that didn’t have a lot of buildings around, other than the old school. Can you imagine that going off somewhere like New York City… Grand central Station, or worse the baseball field during a game… she could have hit tens of thousands.” Henry says, shaking his head.

“She didn’t mean to, you know that… and again, he was pushing her, I was ready to blast him myself.” Cipher giggles.

Henry stops and looks out the window. While looking outside he sighs, seeing his reflection in the mirror. “So where to girls, New Beginnings?”

“Naw, the food there is just awful.” Tapping her cellphone with her hoof, she pulls the Google Maps window off her phone and put it up on the window on the wall. “Starbucks is too far from here to walk, and we know how she’s going to feel when she wakes up.”

Henry looked at the glow on Ciphers horn and chuckled, “Ok, I knew you could do magical windows off your computer, but off your cellphone?”

“Yes, my cellphones a phablet, I can drag stuff from that window to other windows. It’s built right into the OS.” Cipher adjusts the size of the map on the hospital window, and points out the nearest coffee shop, just four minutes away.

Sugarberry taps the coffee shop icon with her hoof, calling up the web page on the hospital window. “Yeah but its closed, 6 am to 6 pm.”

“Starbucks is our best bet then, 6 min drive so we can’t walk it.” Cipher says, then grabs the window and pulls it back onto her phone screen.

Henry just groans, “Unicorns.”

“You said it.” Cipher giggles, then gently touches her horn to his. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. Sides, I think the spell will likely only last a few days… transformations like this are rarely permanent.”

“Thank Celestia.” Henry says, and trots downstairs towards the JLTV, Sugarberry and Cipher in tow.

Out at the vehicle, both girls stop and looked at him as he fumbles with the keys.

“What? I spent three days in Equestria, I’ve done my time as a pony.”

“Don’t make it sound like it’s a punishment, please, Henry.” Sugarberry says, looking down, her ears falling back.

Putting his head under her neck, he lifts her muzzle, “That’s not what I meant, I meant I’ve done my time as a pony, I know the words and terms, like thank Celestia.”

“It’s ok, I’m just sensitive about it I guess. I’m a pony, I was born one. I was cursed, I’m now back to my true form. So the idea that its punishment, or wrong…” Sugarberry sighs.

“So who’s driving?” Henry asks looking between the girls.

“I’ll do it,” Sugarberry says quickly, and gets the keys tossed to her. “Cipher drives like its grand theft auto VII, and I don’t trust your TK skills enough to drive.”

Cipher scowls, “So I thought that sign said 100 bonus points, not 100 mph.”

Climbing into the JLTV, Henry reaches out, grabbing the door and pulling it closed. Then looks at the girls. “Umm, what?”

“It’s just fun watching you use magic.” Cipher says.

“And somewhat embarrassing, we needed to take a class to do it.”

“Ohh, maybe we can find a puzzle, fundamentals!” Sugarberry says, an evil gleam in her eyes.

Just the word makes Cipher and Henry shiver. Henry watched them doing that, and he knows just how much it took out of them. “No thanks. I’ll leave that to the real unicorns, like you two.”

Sugarberry barely pulls onto the highway before red and blue lights come on. “Oh come on, that just isn’t right.”

Looking over her shoulder, she sees the cop car and just shakes her head, pulling over to the side of the road. The cruiser pulls in behind and the officer gets out. Walking forward to tap on the armored glass.

Lowering the window, Sugarberry looks out innocently, “Something wrong officer?”

“License and registration please.” He says, then does a double take, looking closer at SugarBerry, his head rotates slowly, looking at the other two unicorns in the JLTV.

Floating up her license, he looks at it, as well as the military papers, and blinks. “They make these for… you?”

“Yep, military personal.” Smiling, she waits while the officer takes the information back to the car.

“I bet he stopped you for not having both hands…or any hands… on the wheel.” Henry chuckles.

Walking back the officer handed her the ID back, “Okay, you’re clear to go, drive safe.”

“Officer, might I ask what triggered the stop?” Sugarberry asks, concern in her voice.

“I thought your… muzzle… was a cellphone and it’s illegal to drive and use a hand held device. Everything is okay.” Turning, he walks back to the car.

Cipher starts giggling almost immediately, “And I thought males had blocky muzzles, yours must be downright squared off.”

Putting her hoof to her muzzle Sugarberry pouts and whimpers, starting to drive again.

“Oh come on Berry, she was only joking.” Henry says softly. “I think your muzzle is very feminine and cute.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.” She whimpers, then sighs, “Thank you, Henry.”

“Actually I’m not. Cipher has a really cute smile, and pretty eyes. You have a really nice muzzle and cute ears. I’m just saying, from experience in Equestria, I saw a lot of ponies.” Henry admits.

“Uh huh, and how many rears.” Cipher giggles.

“Only looked there once, and that was when the LT pointed out the line of sight. I still have to get him back for that.” Henry huffs, shaking his head, “Seriously, who’s idea was it to put THAT at eye level for ponies.”

Cipher giggles again, “We are quadrupeds, where else could that be put?”

Pulling into the Starbucks, the three exit the car and walk into the shop. It is actually more of a semi-kiosk located inside a grocery store than a full Starbucks, but it has what they need. Walking up to the counter however, seems to leave most people speechless.

Cipher, being the coffee specialist here, is quick to order, she speaks the language of coffee far better than the other two. She places orders for herself, Sugarberry, Henry, Fleetfoot and the LT, as well as a large selection of muffins, bear claws, and brioches.

It is somewhat of an expensive load, but will likely end up being covered under military transportation, lodging and food expenses. Not everything gets covered by that, but in cases where units are off base, on duty, and in a situation where normal military food is unavailable or in an emergency situation, claims can be filed for travel expenses.

Grabbing the items magically, Sugarberry and Henry pick up their coffees in hoof and walk back to the vehicle, sipping the elixir.

“I hope we got enough, with the amount of power Velvet blew through… She’s going to be famished.”

*** The LT ***

“She’s fine, Blaze.” The LT says, sitting on the floor. He is thanking his stars that the military kept a supply of pony boots, combat pants, and combat vests in the truck in case extra ponies show up and want, or need, clothing.

“But what if it’s something they can’t detect.”

“Henry said she was fine Blaze.”

“But what if he’s wrong.”

“Blaze… she just overtaxed herself and passed out, this isn’t the first time. She’s fine Blaze.” The LT says, yet again.

“But...” Blaze starts then stops, looking at the LT. Honestly, the LT can be a fearsome pegasus when he wants to be. He just has an air of danger and command about him, Blaze knows he is worried about Velvet too but finally figures its best just to bite his tongue for now.

Lowering his wings, he nods firmly, the LT stands up, and looks over at Fleetfoot, who is smiling innocently. “So, how much trouble do you think this will cause?”

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “I can already hear the yelling now. Truth is though, the President said exceptions are being made for ponies coming through for the gate. I.C.E. should NOT have been involved in this.”

“At least everyone was an adult, and no one got gender changed or anything. They will get a little while to see what the ponies go through.” Fleetfoot blushes a bit, “Though I will admit, I had to fight with everything I had not to break down laughing. Seeing the look on their faces was just priceless.” She giggles.

“I think it’s lucky that the blast was so big an area.” Blaze says with a glance at the LT.

“Lucky? Really? How do you even consider this lucky?” James says, lifting his wing.

“Simple LT. Consider what would have happened if she focused that amount of power into a very small area or onto a single person or small group of people.” Blaze says, “The more area she affected, the more she spread out the effect, the longer the range she affected… the less power was focused on one person.”

The LT shudders at that thought and Fleetfoot laughs softly, “Ok yeah, that could have been bad, someone might have had to wait two and a half years to be able to go through the gate and come back, just to get to be human again.”

“It’s going to take a long time though before that amount of energy is available again. So we won’t have to worry about something like that again.” Blaze said and presses his face tightly against Velvet’s sleeping form.

“Police and law enforcement also learned a valuable lesson. If a unicorn is glowing like that... back off, let them calm down, talk it out…” Fleetfoot says, “The fact that he ignored you and kept pushing, James, he should have known better. I.C.E. agents are trained in conflict resolution.”

“It’s okay Fleet, watching him fall on his face a few times trying to walk might be worth this for a day or so.” LT James puts on a fake smile, this form still hold loads of bad memories.

“Tomorrow I think we need to take a flight down to SOC deal with them. Cipher actually recorded the incident. We can also hop to Quantico. I figure we are going to have a debrief with CID, NCIS, and such.”

“Ugh, yeah, I’ll see about booking an airline.” The LT sighs and shakes his head.

Blaze and Fleetfoot just look at the LT, Fleetfoot tapping her hoof.

“What?”

“We all have wings? It will be faster if we fly rather than take an airliner, no waiting, no mix ups and such. We also won’t have humans asking questions. We can get it done in a few hours rather than two days.” Fleetfoot states firmly.

Looking back at his wings, then back at Fleetfoot, the LT huffs softly. “Yeah, I guess.”

Glancing over, Blaze smiles, seeing the coffee delivery coming in. “Thanks guys.”

Henry puts a coffee and straw in front Blaze, Fleetfoot, and the LT before sitting down with his, blowing on his own softly.

“Thanks Henry.” The LT says, “Why don’t you guys get some sleep, you can take over in the morning if she’s not awake. There’s an inn about a ten minute walk…”

“Five minutes, we’re ponies.” Sugarberry corrects.

“Five minute walk from here, I’ll see you back here at eight in the morning.” The LT nods.

“Oh… they have free Wi-Fi!” Cipher perks and turns, trotting out.

“Oh heck no, I’ll bunk with Henry, no way I’m spending a night listing to beep boop bing.” Sugarberry noses Henry out quickly.

“Wait, what? Me?”

*** Pond Life ***

Beth and Tommy had spent hours sorting through the ‘museum’. It seemed to be divided into five areas. There is a library, where several books seem to have actually survived centuries in glass cases, though most seem too brittle to use. Then there is the Earth artifacts section. It has items ranging from around 1000 AD through to 1890 AD, which seems to comprise things from about thirty or forty miles around the castle. Then, the lab workshop, which they could make no sense of whatsoever. There is the alien artifacts section, which seemed to include armor, clothing, gems and jewellery that is certainly not local, as well as gold coins, which bear the same stylized sun on one side and moon on the other. Then finally, the last area is an antechamber which has what looked like fireplace, table, chairs, and a small bed.

With the armors though were instructions, though she couldn't understand the language. It seemed to be a guide to make the different types of armor. There was also weapons that had been set, and a guide to modify the different weapons.

It would take historians a long time to sort this stuff out. The idea, however, that someone had been collecting and storing things here, for years after the castle fell into disarray, still bothers Beth.

“We should probably seal this up again.” Beth says with a sigh.

“Aww, can’t we take some of it with us?” Tommy asks, looking at the gold coins.

“And do what? The questions asked about finding items like this would be too hard to answer and end up with us being investigated for violations of the Treasures Act.” Beth says,.

“Come on, I don’t think the Treasures act applies to these.” Tommy said holding up a few of the gold coins.

“And how do you explain the markings on them when you try and pawn them?”

“Um, yeah, no real excuse why someone would mark gold coins like that. Gems we might be able to get away with.” He says, looking hopeful.

“Ok fine, take a couple of the smaller ones just in case of emergency. Uncut, unset gems aren’t covered under the Treasures Act, I think.”

Quietly they make their way back up the tunnel, though poor Tommy is mumbling about his back, walking bent over uphill.

“Doesn’t your back hurt?” He groans.

“Actually nope, feels more relaxing to walk bent over. It was bothering me standing up straight for a while.”

Reaching the top, Tommy finds the blank wall, there are no mechanics visible here, no levers, no way to open it again. Apparently it closed automatically once they were inside.

“And, we’re sealed in,” looking back at his sister he nods, “I guess you need to open it again.”

Moving her horn close to the wall, her horn begins to glow again, and in response, the wall lowers. It is well past noon now, and they can see the fields and forest. Moving out carefully Beth looks for signs of tourists, before moving into the woods. Glancing back, she watches the door close again on its own.

“A unicorn’s horn is the only way in or out. That’s going to make things difficult, they will have to demolish the wall to get in there.”

“That would risk bringing the wall down. Or worse, it could collapse the tunnel.” Tommy says, looking back as they walk.

Heading into the forest, they find Beth’s shelter, and just in time too. The sound of thunder fills the air as it starts to rain. A small storm is blowing in off the Atlantic. Of course, England is getting the rain.

Hiding in the little tent, they take the time for a quick meal before lying down. Not much they can do right now with the rain, besides rest and wait it out.

*** Back in the New World ***

It is about a two hour drive from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin to Dubuque. While the Rock Island CID office is closer, they only deal with fraud, and this was well above a fraud case. They have already asked the police to put a guard on the woman’s room. The idea that she might try and check out early and make a run for it is top on their mind.

It is starting to look like she might have done something to her own kids, and a person like that can be a huge threat. She is currently in a public hospital and the threat to other people is real. Though this might all be a false alarm, it is still possibly a huge risk.

The officers have been told to detain her and ensure she does not leave the room. Though without a little more evidence, they can’t arrest her. Urgency is needed.

They leave at 5:30 in the morning, hoping they can get there around 8. That will be the key.

39: Fragmentation

Cipher moans and whimpers as the alarm clock goes off at seven in the morning. She knew she shouldn’t have gotten into that 25 man raid last night, but she just couldn’t help it. Ruffling her mane, she huffs, not knowing where the closest coffee machine is. She’d have to do it the hard way.

“I need a detect coffee spell,” she groans and looks around. Henry and Sugarberry aren’t out of the room yet. She expected them to be up first. Glancing around the hall, she moves over to their door and touches her horn to the door handle.

She extends her magical aura over the entire handle, she works it carefully until she can turn the knob on the other side. They didn’t set the deadbolt, just the basic lock integral to the knob, so she can open the door easily enough. Nosing the door open, she steps inside.

“Sugarberry, Henry, are you…” She calls out quietly, then stops at the sight before her.

She really doesn’t want to disturb them, but she knows she has to wake them up. They are both lying on one bed, in front of the TV. The screen just shows a logo, and instructions to subscribe to a movie, they likely had stayed up watching something, Cipher guesses.

Sugarberry is cuddled up tightly to Henry’s side, shoulder to shoulder, cutie mark to cutie mark. Her muzzle is on top of his foreleg, snuggling it. Henry has his head over her neck, his cheek against hers with his head tilted so their horns are crossed. Even their tails are intertwined and crossed behind them.

It’s such a tender moment between the two she really hates to disturb it. However, one thing she can’t resist, is taking a couple of pictures. The pair would want them afterwards.

Taking a breath, “Guys, get up, we have to be at the hospital in forty minutes.”

They both yawn, and Henry lifts his head off of Sugar’s, as his horn breaks contact with hers, sparks of magic flash between their horns like electricity. Looking up, both stand up, stretching and shaking themselves out.

“Sorry, was watching the Avengers movie that came out last summer, Infinity War Part 2, I think.” Henry says, “I guess we fell asleep.”

Cipher giggles, “I remember that one, with the Stan Lee cameo where he’s dusting, and he casually picks up Thor’s hammer, dusts underneath it, and sets it down.”

They both chuckle at that.

“You two want to take a shower?” Cipher asks, looking between the two curiously.

Nodding, they quickly take turns in the showers before heading back to the hospital, it is only a short trot back. Ponies are able to cover distance faster than humans. Humans were never really built for speed.

The nurse at the desk smiles as they trot in, “Morning girls, busy day today for ponies.”

Henry grumbles, “I’m a guy.” Looking at the nurse and shaking his head.

“Oh sorry, hard to tell sometimes, I just went by the colors. Your friend is still in observation.” She says with a friendly smile.

Henry walks to the room, “Do I really look like a girl?”

“Not in the slightest,” Sugarberry says firmly, “neither do you smell like one.”

“She’s obviously not a follower of the show, the muzzle and head shape is a dead give-away between males and females.” Cipher points out, “And that’s even if you can’t see the big…”

Sugarberry hip checks Cipher, causing her to stumble a bit.

“Torso, I was going to say torso.” She protests innocently.

Stepping into Velvets room, they all get quiet again. Cipher just has to break out her camera once more. It is really turning into one of those mornings.

The LT and Fleetfoot had fallen asleep curled up together on the floor. The LT has his wing over Fleetfoot, who is sleeping with her muzzle snuggled under the LT’s neck. Their tails are curled around each other’s flanks.

“I think I’m getting cavities.” Cipher whispers.

*** CID Special Agents Wilks and Fargo ***

Pulling up to the hospital, Agent Tanya Fargo gets out of the car. She’s one of the younger agents in CID, 24 years old going on 25 in a few weeks. She’s wearing the traditional Sears Bargain Basement suit that most agents wear, though for fun she has black sunglasses on.

Anthony Wilks just shakes his head, “We are not the MIB.”

“I know but it’s still fun to play up to the whole G-Man thing once in a while.” She says with a chuckle.

“This is still a kidnapping investigation, it’s a serious matter.”

“Pertaining to pretty pastel painted ponies.” She says with a smile, “How can humor not be involved?”

“You’d be surprised. Have you been reading the reports?”

“Abuse, torture, slave trading, sex slaves, child sex slaves.” She says and nods, “it can get pretty dark. So in response we need to stay cheerful or we’ll let the job bring us down.”

“You’re very up, you know that, right?”

Heading inside, they walked up to the front desk. Flash their badges, Agent Wilks smiles.

“Oh we’ve been expecting you, she’s in observation, down the hall.”

*** Across the pond ***

Moaning, Beth stretches out inside the small tent. She is sore all over, from her hooves to her muzzle. It feels like she hasn’t had a good run in decades.

The rain stopped, probably sometime in the middle of the night, so she figures it is safe to poke her head outside. Careful not to disturb Tommy, she crawls out on her hands and knees, which isn’t as easy as she hoped. She is having some coordination issues and she isn’t sure why.

Once outside, she looks around, there is still a light fog on the ground. The sky is somewhat grey but aside from that, it seems to be shaping up to a pretty nice morning. She can hear all of the animals, smell the rain on the grass, everything is fairly peaceful.

Flicking her tail a bit to get the feeling back into it, she looks down at her forelegs. Snow white, ending in the cutest hooves, they are long, slender, and elegant. Lifting one, she examines it slowly, looking at the bottom of her hoof, then at the leg itself. Tracing its form back to her shoulder, then her sides and finally her flank she examines herself. Her newly flexible neck easily lets her take in her whole body.

Glancing up at her horn, she takes a deep breath slowly, and then exhales slowly. Closing her eyes, she slowly counts backwards from 10. Nope, that didn’t work either. Oh well, best go with the 3rd option then.

She screams. A nice, long, heartfelt scream of pure shock and dismay.

Scrambling out of the shelter, Tommy looks around, blinking, then looks at the unicorn in shock and backs away quickly.

Panting hard after the scream, Beth looks up at Tommy, trembling and unsure of what to say or do next. She can see the shock in his face, as well.

“Sis, is that you?”

Nodding slowly, she looks at her legs again, then up at him, “I think so.”

“You kind of look like an English unicorn, just with a shorter horn, and no beard.”

“I’m female, I don’t know if the girls get the beards.” Blinking, she quickly looks between her forelegs and sighs, “Yep I’m female.”

Gently Tommy pats his lap with his hand, looking at his sister.

Glancing at it she looks at him then his lap, then back at him. “You’re not a virgin.”

“What? Wait what? Where did that come from?” Tommy blinks, blushing furiously.

“It’s simple, because I haven’t got the slightest interest in putting my head in your lap.” She states and sits down on her haunches.

*** Velvet ***

My head is pounding, every muscle in my body is sore, my horn is throbbing beyond belief. I just feel sore, tired and drained.

Moaning, I open my eyes and look around, “Oh bright light, bright light.” I’m able to squeak. Squinting at the visual onslaught, I groan. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Blaze strokes my muzzle, looking worried.

“I remember the party, I remember Border security…” Sitting up fast is probably the worst thing ever I could do… and instantly I regret it. I felt sick, dizzy, and ready to pass out again. “The twins? Oh Celestia please stop the room from spinning.” Collapsing back down, I whimper.

“No, rest. You sort of blew up there.” Blaze says, “The twins are just fine.”

Glancing over I look at Henry and the LT and blink, “Um quick question, why are they ponies?”

Henry and James look at each other, then look at me, a shocked look on their faces.

“You got really, really, really angry at the ICE members, slammed your hoof down and… poof, we were all ponies again. And so was every human for about a hundred yards.”

“Oh Celestia, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I can fix this, there’s a counterspell in the babysitters guide. This was sort of like a frustration spark… I didn’t mean it.” I say, panicked, and force myself to sit up again.

The LT steps forward then looks shocked as Henry steps in between me and the LT. “No.”

“Pardon?” The LT says, looking at Henry sternly.

“I said no. Trust me. I want to be human more than anyone here but not at the cost of Velvets health. She is tired, exhausted and needs to be on light magic duties for the next few days. That means she can’t go and start counterspelling everyone.” Looking around he puts his hoof down. “Trust me it’s not healthy for her. This should wear off in another day or two. We should be fine until then.”

The LT thinks about it a second, then nods. “Ok yeah, I agree. If anyone complains about you not turning them back, tell them to take it up with me. You are under orders not to for medical reasons.”

“But…” Was about all I got out before Fleetfoot looks at me sternly.

“You got upset and stressed out, you hurt yourself, but we can deal with what you did. You hurting yourself more to try and fix it is something we can’t deal with.” She says, forcefully.

Blaze looks down and pokes my nose, “We have doughnuts.”

“Feed me, FEED ME, feed me Seymour.” I say, giggling.

Blaze carefully feeds me a doughnut while the LT and Fleetfoot step out.

*** The LT ***

Stepping out of the room James fluffs his wings and musses with one, preening it a little.

“Quit it, its fine.” Fleetfoot says, chuckling. Nervous preening is an entirely different issue.

Looking down the hall, James notices two police officers standing at the door to a hospital room, just a few doors down. Stretching his wings, he watches as two agents, a man and woman, walk up. They flash their badges to the police officers. They identify themselves as CID agents, checking on the patient.

Walking up, James looks up at the officers, and then fishes his wallet out of his packet, flipping it open, “LT James Fisher, Captain Fleetfoot, what’s up?”

“We’re sort of sorting out a mess here. It’s regarding a pair of pegasi mares.” Agent Fargo says smiling, opening her file she pulled out a pair of photos showing them to James and Fleetfoot, “Do you know if these two went through the gate?”

James sits down hard, his wings start quivering badly as he looks at the pictures. Both of them were in his flight group in Equestria. Turning his head away, he closes his eyes, “They both went through the gate. Both of them died during the battle.”

“Well that closes that side of the case. Their mother was holding them prisoner. They escaped, tied her up and brought her to the gate with them. It looked like they were scared she would call the police on them.” Agent Wilks said.

“I think their intent was for her to be found and set free, or to come back and set her free themselves before they left for good.” Agent Fargo adds.

“What were their names?” James asks, his wings continuing to tremble.

“Sargent Phillip Emerson, US Army, and Wendy Emerson.” Agent Fargo says, showing him the human pictures.

Taking a deep breath LT James looks up, “Can I tell her?”

“She was looking at selling them to a laboratory.” Agent Fargo says with a worried frown.

“Yep, but maybe the fact of what they did, might help her.” James says.

“Give it a try, at minimum we can get her reaction.” Agent Wilks nods.

Taking a deep breath he trots in. The woman was the one Feather had rescued from the car. She tortured her own children, tried to sell them to laboratories to experiment on, yet in the end ponies saved her. Her son saved him, gave her life for him.

Sitting he bows his head, “I’m LT James Fisher, this is Captain Fleetfoot. I’m sorry to inform you but both Phillip and Wendy died in battle.” Taking a deep breath before he continues, “Both fought bravely, and laid down their lives for their homeland.”

“They’re dead?” She says, blinking and looking at the agents, a faint smile adorning her lips.

Both of them nod slowly.

“Phillip was the bravest pegasus I knew. Both of them were willing to lay down their lives and their actions saved the lives of many more including myself. I owe my own life to Phillip.” The LT’s voice cracks a bit as his wing quivers.

“Will I be able to claim their military insurance and benefits?”

Fleetfoot blinks, “What?”

“They’re dead right? Will I be able to claim their insurance?” She asks.

“They were your kids, they were brave, strong, and they were honorable. And all you care about is money?” James says, shocked.

“They stopped being my kids the moment they started growing fur.”

“No, you won’t dishonor them like that.” James says, his wings flaring in shock and anger. “Phillip gave her life to safe mine, she stood by my side and fought with me. She took a blow meant for me. She deserves respect and honor.”

“He was useless in life, and useless in death. At least I can make some money off its insurance.” She says firmly.

Fleetfoot grabs James with her wing, pushing him out of the room. “She reminds me of those people that take in orphans for the checks… all she cares about is money.”

James struggles a bit, then relents, letting himself be guided outside. “She never deserved to have foals like that in her care.”

“Your minds are weak, your outlook bleak.” Fleetfoot says with a shiver, “We all had stumbling blocks in our way.”

Jogging out, Agent Fargo shakes her head, “What a… Sorry for that guys, I didn’t realize just how bad she was.”

James shakes his head, “She just doesn’t understand. Who could? And what’s worse, we could have more situations like this cropping up for years to come.”

“More? I thought it was over.” She responds.

James shakes his head, “Discord was in power for 25 years. The ponies that changed so far were the ones that have been cursed in the first month of those 25 years. I think this is partly why the government wants to keep everything a secret.”

“What do you mean?” Fleetfoot blinks as well, looking curious.

“Consider for a moment, if everyone knew. Then everyone would be living in hope or fear of their 25th birthday. Picture growing up wondering if on your 25th birthday, you will change? Or even hoping to change and finding out you didn’t. Picture your parents or friends, CHECKING, on your 25th birthday to see if you got a mark. Some countries might instigate mandatory checks.”

Fleetfoot looks shocked, “No country would…”

“Parts of Africa it’s mandatory to check to ensure a female is a virgin, and if they refuse they can be put to death. Is it so far a stretch to think that some might institute checks for marks?” He says, looking up into the sky.

“If it became common knowledge… you could end up with almost a Logan's Run feel. Where people look to their hips with dread as their 25th birthday approaches, will their life end or not?

Agent Fargo cringes, rubbing her own hip. “Gee thanks, my 25th birthday’s coming up soon. Now I get to live in fear.”

Covering his muzzle with his foreleg, James sighed. “Becoming a pony isn’t a bad thing. From what I’ve seen, people’s personalities don’t really change much with the transformation. Their pony life, cutie marks, and such often line up with their human selves.”

“What about you?” She asks.

Fleetfoot sort of chuckled, “He’s not a real pony, that’s why he’s not going by a pony name. He’s just got hit by a spell, he’ll turn back to a human in a day or two.”

Nodding, James looks at his wingmare, “Come on, we have a lot of flying to do, I want to be back before tonight.”

Leaping into the air, the two begin their first leg of their flight, 900 miles to Fort Bragg and SOC.

*** Ping Pond ***

Beth walked through the brush. She needed to think. None of this makes any sense to her. Why is she a unicorn? There has to be a reason. There has to be a point to it all, people don’t just become unicorns.

Coming up on a ridge, she looks down into a low gully. England is famous for its rolling landscapes, and the animals love them. Several rabbits are grazing under sheltered protection. Walking along the ridge she watches the vixen cavort with her kits.

Sitting, she just looks at the nature around her. The Lady Amalthea had her woods to defend, maybe these were supposed to be hers. Maybe she is supposed to protect this land. Maybe that’s why she changed, the land needs her to save it.

The lady Amalthea had magic though, unicorn magic. She could make her horn glow, and use that glow to do things, like open locks or fight. Can she fight though? Can she stand up for these woods?

Going cross eyed a bit, she concentrates on her horn, she can see it, and she knows it glowed before. Now to figure out how to start there. Concentrating, she tries focusing her thoughts there, tries pushing, pulling, but nothing works, there has to be something. She is a unicorn, a magical creature; she can’t fail being that before she even starts.

Nothing, not even a glimmer. Maybe she is simply not strong enough. Standing, she walks back to the shelter, her brother had gone back to the house so her mom and dad don’t panic.

Maybe it is all some kind of mistake. Unicorns are not supposed to feel regret, but what about sadness or self-pity? All she can do right now is wallow in her own sadness. Is that the right term? Mumbling to herself, “Do unicorns wallow in sadness? Oh god, I even know what I’m supposed to wallow in. I make such a pathetic unicorn.”

Reaching over with her foreleg she grabs a water bottle. Spinning the top off she tilts her head back starting to drink. Putting the bottle back down, she sits and sighs. Looking up at her horn, she wonders what is going to happen to her.

There is one other question that crosses her mind at the moment, however. Looking down she tilts her head and considers. How did she actually pick up the water bottle?

*** LT and Fleetfoot ***

“How are you holding out?” Fleetfoot asks, keeping an eye on her wingmate.

“A little tired, wings are sore beyond belief. I’m not stopping though.”

“Rangers need to push through?”

“Rangers HO!” James says, he isn’t going to admit exactly how tired and sore he is. He does however find that he has an innate sense to find air currents, this lets him stay in the upwash from the wingtip vortices. This makes it a lot easier to fly, especially over the distances they are traveling.

He’s no speedster though. Lightning Dust would probably laugh her tail of at the speeds they are flying at. Even civilian jets would pass them, but he is still pulling enough speed to outrun small planes like a Cessna.

The other reason he has to stay close to Fleetfoot is he doesn’t have a transponder. Well, he isn’t really a pegasus, so he wouldn’t be issued one. Still, he is flying in and out of controlled airspace, so he needs to stay close to her.

Banking, they starts a slow spiral down. How Blaze zipped across the country with such ease, James has no idea. He isn’t going to take it for granted. Landing, he pants hard, his wings trembling from the exertion.

Stretching them out, he finds himself folding and unfolding them a bit until they are comfortable. Once they are cooled down enough, he tucks them against his sides. Looking to Fleetfoot she smiles and nods back to him. His first endurance flight, and he passed! Now he has two more to do today.

Walking into the SOC HQ building, they look around. Behind the desk, the corporal at the desk glances up and then… down at the two ponies. Blinking, he stands up.

“Oh thank gosh. Tell me you’re bringing Corporal Richards back.”

Fleet blinks, “Um, who?”

“Unicorn, white body, pink mane and tail?” The corporal says, “I’m getting sick of the front desk.”

“Sugarberry? She’s fine, she should be back in a few days.” The LT says, nodding.

“Sugarberry, that’s her pony name? She never used it.” The corporal says, “So who are you here to see?”

“Brigadier General Wilson.” The LT responds, this is not going to be a fun meeting.

“And pardon for asking, but who is looking for him?”

“Capt. Fleetfoot and Lt. James Fisher, he’s expecting us.” The LT says firmly.

“Umm, aren’t you a little… old… to be a pony?”

“It was an accident.” The LT huffs.

Nodding slowly, the corporal buzzes the Brigadier General, then motioned towards the conformance room. “Wings look good on you sir, with my luck, I’d end up as a donkey or a mule.”

“Careful, these days that could be considered racist.” Fleetfoot giggles.

Looking at the chairs in the room, the LT flares his wings and hisses at one. “Bad chairs, bad.”

“What?”

“Their wheels don’t lock, nor does the rotational part. That means for us, then end up being some sort of circus ride, rather than a normal chair. Should have seen Blaze and Velvet on them, just lost all dignity.”

Fleetfoot looks at the chairs, then starts to laugh.

Brigadier General Wilson walked in with his aid, and both ponies go silent, standing at attention. Slowly the brigadier walks around James looking down at him, examining his form, before standing in front of him. “At ease.”

Fleetfoot spreads her hind legs a bit and lowers her head in a more relaxed stance. Glancing over, James mimics the maneuver, he wasn’t sure ponies have an ‘at ease’ stance, but this works.

The Brigadier General chuckles and nods to his aid. Carefully, the captain walks over setting down large soft pillows behind the LT and Fleetfoot, before the General has a seat, “Ok Lieutenant, Captain, what happened?”

Fleetfoot reaches into her satchel and bites the thumb drive to get it out, and presents it to the General.

Nodding he plugs it into his tablet and starts watching. Cringing, he shakes his head, “Why was ICE even involved? We had jurisdiction there.”

“I think the police called them in, upset about jurisdictional issues.” James says.

“Is Velvet ok?” The General asks.

“Seriously drained, she exhausted herself doing that.” Fleetfoot looks up, the worry evident in her voice. “She shouldn’t have been pushed that hard.”

“It’s issue’s like this, that lead to the questions of unicorns serving.” The general says.

Flaring his wings Blaze looks in shock, “I stand by her, this wasn’t her fault.”

“I know it wasn’t, and that’s why I think we need Velvet and others like that in the field. If Velvet, a trained Ranger can get stressed out and have that happen, what about civilians? Unicorns who have had no training? What happens if they get pushed too far? When I suggested putting a pony face on things, I mean it. A pony can more easily defuse or calm down a situation with another pony.” The General looks between the two. “It might be hard to understand but, what happened with Velvet and ICE showcases why we need ponies working for us more than ever.”

Fleetfoot and James just looked at each other, blinking.

“The only other option is lethal force at the first sign a pony is panicking and there is no way I am authorizing that.” He says firmly.

“No… no sir.”

“Good, CID is waiting for your report as well. The director of CID wants to talk with you two. You up for a flight there?”

“Sir yes sir.” Both say saluting.

“Good, do the Rangers proud.”

“Rangers HO!”

*** Across the Pond ***

Tommy sits in awe, watching his sister. She has her legs spread wide as she lifts up tree branches, rocks and pine cones, moving them around. She gets better the more she works at it, and already she is starting to form a plan.

“They are not cutting these woods down.” She says firmly. “That must be why I changed, the woods and castle are calling for me to defend them.”

“How are you going to stop them?”

“Sabotage from 100 feet away.” She said. “Taking keys, shutting off machines, pinecones in tailpipes, whatever it takes to slow them down.”

“If you get caught…”

“If I get caught I’ll end up in a zoo, or on an examination table.” She looks at him, “But if these trees go, I lose the only thing I have right now. If we can delay them enough, the land might either shift from production, or better yet, they could decide to put it on the market instead, then we could buy it with the gems.”

“Are you sure about this one?”

“It’s fate. The lion and the unicorn fighting for the crown, and this is one fight the unicorn can’t lose.”

40: Shockwaves

“You know, with help from Velvet I could probably learn the spell to turn you back.” Sugarberry says, looking at Henry, her ears down, her eyes downcast.

“Not to belittle your skill, abilities, or power, but… with my luck, I’d likely end up a human female child.” He chuckles.

“Oh ouch, not nice.” Sugarberry says, sticking her nose up.

“I’m serious, even if you did everything right, something would happen and I’d end up in a worse situation. It would just be my luck with all things pony.” Henry laughs.

Sugarberry giggles then poked her head around the corner of the hospital corridor. “Velvet’s getting better fast, given all the calories we are pumping into her.”

“Yep, and not putting hospital food into her.” Henry chuckles. “I wish the hospital staff would stop trying to say she needs to eat healthy.”

“Umm, Henry, don’t look down. Whatever you do… do not look down.” Sugarberry says sternly.

Of course, when ever told not to look down, what is the universal response? Looking down. Henry just blinks, as he finds himself standing on a rainbow mural on the floor. “Oh hell no.” Turning quickly he rears to charge off when he gets grabbed from behind…

Henry cringes at the sound of a loud squee of a child, “Mommy, a real unicorn, look! And it’s so pink and fluffy!”

The little girl couldn’t have been older than four, she is wearing hospital gown, and has a pink scarf tied around her head, “I asked Make a Wish to get me one and they did!” She squeals excitedly.

Sugarberry just grits her teeth a bit, she knows he isn’t happy. Henry is standing perfectly still right now, so as not to accidentally injure the child. He looks at Sugarberry pleadingly. The child’s mom however isn’t any help right now, she is standing with tears in her eyes.

Very slowly Henry sits down and nuzzles the little girl, “Hello little one.” He speaks as gently and kindly as he can, “I’m Star Crossed.”

The girl squeals louder, letting go just long enough to put her arms around his neck.

“I know you’ve had a hard time, but you’ve been so brave for your mommy here.”

Her mom works hard to wipe tears off her own face. Watching the joy in her daughter’s eyes, something she hasn’t seen in months.

“I try, but it hurts.” She says.

“I know, but you need to stay brave, and never give up hope.” Closing his eyes, he touches her head with his horn, a bright glow covering her entire body.

Giggling softly, she looks up at her mom, “Can we keep him?”

“I’m sorry, little one. But there are so few of us unicorns around, and so many sick little girls that need us. You wouldn’t want to deny another little girl her wish would you?” Henry asks.

Looking down the girl sighs, “No.”

“One more hug, and make it a big one, and then you can go with your mommy.” Henry says, giving her a gentle hug with his neck.

Hugging with all her strength the girl finally lets go after a few moments and is picked up by her mom.

All her mom could do was mouth “Thank you,” before heading towards the cancer wing.

“Thank gosh this wasn’t a children’s hospital, we’d never get out of here.” He grumbled good-naturedly. Trying to stand Henry finds his legs wobbling badly and opts to sit down again quick.

“What did you do to her? I saw the horn glow.” Sugarberry asks, she just can’t help smiling right now.

“Umm, actually I have no idea…” he says, looking up at his horn. “I just tried to make her feel better. What ever it did, I'm kinda drained.”

*** 38.572585, -78.371238 @ 32,000 feet – 420 knots and descending. ***

Banking, the two pegasi begin making their decent from their cruising altitude. They have been flying for a few hours now, and James can’t wait to get his hooves back on the ground. Their flight path had them coming down in 3 sets of steps to avoid local traffic.

The first step they had just crossed and were expected to drop to 25,000 feet. Following Fleetfoot’s lead, James drops down as well, he finds he can gauge his speed and altitude pretty well by the air pressure and feel of the wind on his wings, but he still keeps trying to glance at Fleetfoot’s data pad.

“You’re doing fine.” Fleetfoot yells across the airstream as they level off. They have to hold this altitude for about three minutes until they cross the Hazel River. That is their next step down, and this is a hard drop.

Passing the river Fleetfoot nods and they both push over into a steep dive to shed altitude quickly. They have to get below 12,000 feet into VFR altitudes but are expected to do it in only about two miles of forward flight distance.

The dive has both of them pick up a lot of speed, the energy gained from dropping fifteen thousand feet has them both pushing nearly 600 knots, but as they level off they start shedding that speed fast. James just isn’t strong enough to maintain that speed at that low of an altitude.

Within eight minutes they cross into the airspace of Quantico, though they are still shedding speed, they can see in the distance their final landing point. The Russell-Knox building, a large A shaped structure that houses the offices of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command or CID, The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, and the Navy and Marines Navel Criminal Investigations Service. To keep all three branches happy, they even have their own Dunkin’ Doughnuts right in house. Something the NCIS TV series never mentioned.

Landing by the front entrance, James shakes out his wings, fanning himself and trying to cool off. Glancing at Fleetfoot he shakes his head, “Ok so I’m not a fast flyer, or distance flyer like everypony else.”

“You are doing fine, in fact you’re already faster than about 60% of the pegasi out there. I figure you’re close to a 9.5 wingpower. You just need to trust in your wings and cutie mark more.”

“You do realize the spell is going to wear off tomorrow or the day after.” James says looking at her as he opens the door.

“Yep, but doesn’t matter.” She smiles nodding. “For now I can enjoy making your life a painful hell of suffering through what you are missing out on.”

“Are you sure you weren’t a Drill Sargent in a previous life?” James says, smiling.

“Nope, but count your feathers lucky. If it was Spitfire, she’d have you on the ground doing 100 wingups after that flight, saying you’re not even worthy to breath the same air as a real Wonderbolt.”

Stopping at the front desk both sit down on the floor, “Captain Fleetfoot and Lieutenant Wind Shield here to speak with the directors.”

“That’s Lieutenant James Fisher.” He says, looking sternly at Fleetfoot.

The desk clerk holds out a clipboard for the two to sign. Fleetfoot bites the pen with practice and fills out the paperwork then offers the pen to James.

“First… kind of eww, and second um, how do you write with your mouth?”

“Oh, right, um, teeth lips and tongue, but you haven’t practiced so it would come out as a scribble. Just give him the guest pass, we know it’s him.”

Swatting her flank with his wing, he ducks his head as the ID pass is put around his neck.

Fleetfoot swats his flank back with her wing, and ducks her head for her pass before heading in, they are escorted by a CID agent, but they are actually heading to the NCIS offices. Looking confused at each other they stop as the large steel door is opened for them.

The words on the sign by the door sums up the trouble, MTAC, Multiple Threat Analysis Center.

Inside, the big screens are already on, the directors of all three investigative branches are already in there. Secretary of Defense, Homeland, and Director of the FBI are all on the big screens. James knows it is so lucky Velvet wasn’t here, she’d be terrified under this kind of review.

All eyes quickly fall on Lt. James Fisher. Yep, he knows he isn’t getting promoted anytime soon. Not after this one. He resigns himself to the fact that he is going to be stuck as a lieutenant for at a few more years. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

Ignoring a snicker from two of the directors he takes a deep breath. “Sir’s, you may not recognize me from my service photo but I’m Lt. James Fisher. A situation has developed.”

“A situation?!?!” And that would be the director of ICE.

“Yes a situation. We were given authority over the gate by the President. It was left as a diplomatic issue with the US Army providing security. We were informed, and the local police were informed that there were ponies arriving, and they were not to be harassed.” James takes a breath, watching his promotion clock click further and further away.

“The police were willing to accept that, up until the gate closed. The problem is, many ponies did not know the gate was closed. There was no public broadcasting of this, there was no news coverage that the gate was now closed. So we knew there would be stragglers. The police chose to start arresting stragglers.”

Taking a deep breath, James looks at the different directors. “When ponies of the Ranger team brought stragglers back from the police, we were further harassed by ICE.”

“Whereby several of my agents are now colorful equines.” The Director states.

Fleetfoot takes a turn, “And from this, we learned that even a trained Ranger, used to high stress situations, can lose control of her power. This means that any pony put into seriously stressful situations could lead to similar casualties or scenarios. This is why we need a pony face on encounters. Agents in all departments are going to need to be trained as to how to deal with equines respectfully.”

“Respect here is the key.” James says, “If the ICE agents had backed down, rather than continued to push, the situation would never have happened. Police or agents are going to need to be re-trained in how to handle situations. Or better yet, call in for help if they face scared or confused ponies.”

“So what am I supposed to tell these agents?”

“That the spell should wear off in a day or two, if it doesn’t in a few days Velvet should be strong enough to reverse the spell. This wasn’t easy for her, and was only really possible because of the proximity to the gate. Channeling that much power knocked her out for nearly twelve hours, and it caused a serious nose bleed, an indicator of magical exhaustion.” James says with a sigh.

“As such we don’t want her using any magic until she’s recovered.” Fleetfoot says, “Pegasi are fast flyers, in most cases we can get around the country faster than aircraft. Being able to call a pegasus to come in and act as a mediator for problems, might be your best bet.”

“We will consider this matter strongly. Due to the President’s statements, we will not hold Velvet responsible for this issue.” The Secretary of Defense says firmly, “But we will not ask for the ICE members to be disciplined. You may choose to discipline your agents, however that will be your choice Director Fields.”

The CID Director nodded to the pair of pegasi, “You’re dismissed, stay in the office though. I may need you in about half an hour.”

Nodding James turns and trots out, heading for the Dunkin’ D’s. Looking at Fleetfoot he sighs softly, “well that went well, at least in front of us.”

“Yep, I can see myself passed up in the next two or three promotion runs too. Especially after my part in the F-22 incident with Blaze.” She says, shaking her head.

Walking into the coffee shop, James looked at the selection of doughnuts, and instantly starts drooling. He didn’t realize just how hungry he was till now, but given how much flying he did... Grandfather had covered this with Blaze, flying takes a lot of energy.

Looking at the menu, the selection of foods, the bacon, the chicken, James stands for a moment, wings spread a bit. His tongue hanging out he finds it hard to decide just what to buy, just so much looks delicious.

“Bacon guacamole on flatbread, bacon chicken on pretzel bun, Apple cream Danish, and a large coffee.” James says, pulling out his wallet and working out some money. Fleetfoot can’t help but giggle, watching him.

Blinking confused James looks at his wingmare, “What? Am I doing something wrong?”

“You’re drooling but that’s not it… look back at your tail.” She says, covering her mouth.

Glancing back he watches his tail wiggling in excitement. “Traitor,” He grumbles.

“I’ll have the same but a diet sprite instead of the coffee,” smiling cutely at James, Fleetfoot adds, “I’m watching my weight.”

Facehoofing, James shakes his head. Sitting down with his meal he takes off his hoof boots to eat. One advantage to hoof boots is they keep the hooves clean for eating.

Glancing around James blinked looking at the agents in the break room. Sighing, he stands up, looking around, “Ok what?”

Everyone goes back to eating or drinking coffee, but continued watching him, causing him to ruffle his wings nervously.

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “Welcome to my world. We have a wider arc of vision so we notice easier when they are watching us. At the same time we are in a room full of investigators. None of which have probably seen a pony, let alone pegasi. So they are likely making mental notes, digital notes or such to help them later.”

Huffing he looks around again.

“Or it could be that big dollop of foam on your nose.” She says with a shrug.

“Great.” He says, wiping off his muzzle with a napkin, “So ends any hope of dignity.”

A special agent walks in, “The director is ready to see you now.”

Getting up quickly, the two ponies follow the agent through the building until they arrived at his office. It is a large room with oak desk, book shelves, and several pictures on the walls. The Director is in his late 40’s, with dark hair.

“What a mess.” The director says.

“We are going to have a lot of growing pains and adapting to do.” James counters.

“The actions were, inconvenient.” The director says, shaking his head. “Especially at this time.”

“I am aware, but I am also aware that she is still learning and growing, she still doesn’t fully understand herself yet. My fear is that there are others like her that are scared, and will get pushed too far, too hard. She’s one of the only teachers we have access to, but also she seems to have a way of having other ponies trust her.”

“So you are saying you want her in the field with you still?”

“I trust her with my life. I don’t trust those ICE officers.” James says.

“Dismissed.” He says with a nod.

Nodding, the two pegasi head out for their return flight.

*** Across the pond ***

“You really want to go through with this?” Tommy asks, concerned.

“It’s my duty. It’s the reason I was given this form.” She says, nodding. She looks though the trees.

“If you get seen run for the castle. You’re the only one that can get into that chamber.” Tommy says.

“Good idea, though I don’t want to find myself trapped.” She says, looking at the old structure.

“Leave your cellphone there. Give me a call if you’re hiding, and I can tell you when the coast is clear.”

“Oh that’s a good idea.” She says perking up.

“I’ll pick up an extended battery pack or charger pack you can leave there in case. I can also pick up some food and such for you to store in there. One of those uncut gems should be more than enough to pay for supplies.”

Giggling, she nods, “Like some kind of super hero. The unicorn cave.”

Moving as quietly as she can, she sees where Lion Construction had set up their vehicles. They haven’t started cutting or leveling yet. That is still a few days away. They had, however, set up a fence to protect their vehicles, as well as put in a trailer.

A single security guard is on duty, but he is sitting in the trailer. All of their precautions would deter or prevent normal people from stealing or vandalizing the place with ease. Climbing the fence would slow people down, give the guard a chance to catch them.

Looking up at her horn she smiles. She isn’t a normal person though. She was chosen by the forest. Concentrating her magic, she smiles as she carefully starts adding sugar to petrol tanks. Carefully she works to disable all of the machinery by blocking exhausts, damaging fuel lines or whatever she can see or reach.

She doesn’t want to hurt anyone. It’s just wrong after all. These people are just doing jobs and getting paid to do it. They would still get paid, but just wouldn’t be able to complete their jobs.

Turning she trots back to her tent and sits looking at the fox and bunnies. “Don’t worry I’ll protect your homes.”

*** James ***

“You need to fly with your head more, keep your nose into the airstream.” Fleetfoot says as she does a hard bank.

“Easy for you to say,” James says, following her into the turn and powering though it.

“Trust your cutie mark, it’s got wings for a reason. You are meant to fly. Now straighten your neck more, and breathe out hard.” She said doing a snap turn and powering into a 9G roll.

“My mark?” He looks back at his cutie mark and shivers before taking a deep breath.

Pushing hard he follows her, exhaling as hard as he can, and straining against the forces. Leveling out he pants and blinks trying to get the grey out of his vision.

“Doing good, once you learn some of the basic air combat tricks you’ll be a lot more comfortable in the air. One of the big secrets though is, looking into the airstream that you’re flying into. You have a huge peripheral vision so you don’t need to look around as much.” She looks at him nodding, “This is something all Wonderbolts train in. So it can become second nature. Fly with your head and trust your cutie mark.”

“Easier said than done, I’m already regretting this. Really I should have just booked a military flight.” James says then groans as she breaks into a negative 6G spiral.

Rolling over her, he powers into the turn as well, feeling like he is going to puke. He’d had negative g spin outs before, but this isn’t supposed to be a spin out, he was supposed to be in control.

Landing on a cloud, Fleetfoot watches and nods as James touches down beside her. “You have a lot of instincts for flight, you can see and feel air currents, understand how to throw your weight around, into turns and such. If Spitfire had you for a few weeks she’d have you whipped into a passable Wonderbolt reserve lickety split.”

“And this is why I’m glad I’m human.” James says with a chuckle.

Laying down on the cloud she looks over at him, “I don’t know, it may sound selfish, but part of me wishes you could stay like this. You’re one of the few pegasi I can really spend time with or get along with. You’re fun to fly with, fun to talk with. I just feel safe with you.”

“I see, so I’m not good enough as a human?” He says with a smile.

“Not what I meant in the slightest. Just I’m more physically attracted to stallions rather than humans.” She says, looking down at the ground far below.

Gently he puts his wing over her protectively and snuggles tighter, “I know, and I know it must be hard. Being trapped in another world, wondering if you’ll ever find someone to love you. You don’t have to worry though, you have friends here. Ponies that care about you.”

“Well, I don’t have any recent head trauma.” She murmurs, sighing as she snuggles closer to him.

He cocks his head to the side, “What?”

Looking into his eyes she tilted her head a bit and gently kisses him on his lips.

*** Velvet ***

“I just feel awful.” I say slowly pushing myself up in bed.

Blaze laughs softly, “With that amount of power spent of course you would. You’re not Sunset Shimmer or the Element of Magic.”

“Not what I meant, I meant I feel awful about zapping everyone.” Whimpering softly, my horn is throbbing, “I feel so bad for Henry and the LT, I know how much they hate being ponies.”

“But you should have seen the faces on the ICE ponies. I swear, Ah-Pee had to spend a good ten minutes calming them down. That was before she could even start teaching them how to walk.” Chuckling, “They came out with zero instincts in this, so they were pretty much foals.”

“Yeah but there were more than just ICE there.” I say and pick up a doughnut, munching.

“Yep but remember, the rest of the police and army there knew about ponies, had been living with us for days. I think most of them are more enjoying the chance to see what life is on the pony side.”

“Ok let’s try this.” I say and slowly roll out of bed onto my hooves. Aside from a slight dizziness I think I can hold my balance. “How are Feather and the Cotton Twins?”

“Ballad’s looking after them with Eric. Are you sure you should be up already?”

“I do if I want to go to the little fillies room.” I say, heading for the bathroom.

“Oh, oh yeah, um I’ll wait here.” Blaze says, looking innocent.

Blinking I glance sideways at him, “Thank you, there ARE some things I can do myself.” I say, giggling and close the door.

Boys sometimes, they can be so overprotective. Actually when did I start thinking like that? It still hits me sometimes, when I realize just how far my thoughts have changed. Cleaning up I wash off my hooves, and step flush before stepping out.

“I do go pretty far into mama bear mode don’t I?” I say, looking down.

“Yep, but that’s not a bad thing. It gives us a good idea of when to dive for cover.” Blaze says, putting a wing over my back.

“Well that works I guess.” Sitting down, I get to work finishing off the last of the food there. “I just don’t want everyone getting in trouble or hurt because of me.”

“I don’t think you’d ever hurt me.” Blaze says, before giving me a soft kiss.

“Never on purpose,” I smile at him, “well not unless you asked for a kicking.”

“So what now?”

“Now, I become a Zombie pony,” Holding out one foreleg I shamble towards the door. “Grains, I crave grains.”

Henry and Sugarberry cut me off at the door, “Bed!” Henry says, looking at me sternly.

“But, food… pancakes, calling me…” I say to Henry and give him the saddest eyes I can muster, which isn’t hard given how I’m feeling.

“Ok fine, you win. Let’s all hit the IHOP.” Henry shakes his head.

Henry flicks his ear, pulling out his phone with his TK and calls up everyone. He lets them know we are leaving the hospital for the IHOP again.

Spell, hospital, IHOP, I hope this doesn’t become a pattern for me. Honestly I’d have gone back to the gate for food there but the mess has already been broken down. Heading down I looked at the JLTV’s and wonder. Is IHOP ready for what was about to hit them?

Pulling up in front of the IHOP we see Ah-Pee and the foals already waiting for us. LT and Fleetfoot, along with the other pegasi are landing. Yeah, this is going to be fun. Heading in laughing, the entire place goes quiet but we didn’t care. This is our time and humans aren’t going to bother us. The military has brought a medium mover there as well, driven by few human soldiers who are joining in apparently.

There are also some of the ponies who had been changed by accident, they are in the medium mover, essentially a five ton, six wheeled truck. They probably are going to use it to move all of us back to Fort Bragg in one group.

*** US ARMY SOC ***

Bridger General Wilson sits looking across the desk at his aid, Captain Maxwell. They really have their work cut out for them after all the problems. The gate shut down is now complete but new ponies are still cropping up. In the army alone one new unicorn appeared in the last week.

“The President is really going to have to make a choice on this.” The Captain says,

“All branches need to get together on things. The problem is we can’t keep it secret and put out a general order at the same time. There’s just too many possible people that could come into contact with them.” Wilson says and grumbles.

“Not to mention cases where groups decide to go to IHOP or such.”

“Tell me about it. Wait, who’s going to IHOP?”

“I’m just saying. Things like that can happen. CID got back to us on Volker’s daughter?”

“Did she get through the gate safely?” Wilson asks, concerned.

“Yep, and she didn’t show up on the casualty list.” Maxwell slides the paperwork over to Wilson.

“She’s a baker?” Wilson half asked, half said surprised, “A pink unicorn, blue mane and tail, and he’d have had her horn cut off because he thought it might turn her back into a human?”

“So why do you concern yourself so much with them?” Maxwell asks, “If you don’t mind me asking sir.”

“It’s hard to explain, no I’m not a brony or anything like that. I do come from a long family line of Calvary though. Be it my father serving as air cavalry during the Vietnam war. Grandfather was mechanized cavalry, great grandfather was cavalry.

“So… horse blood.” He says with a chuckle.

“Can say that. I was always taught to respect horses. So I carry that respect to the ponies I guess. Truth is though, I served in anti-piracy operations in Africa. I was part of the groups that did ground raids against pirate bases. I saw people being taken as slaves, children being bought and sold just because they were different. I saw children being used as sex slaves.” Shaking his head he sighs, “People being branded to remind them and others that they are less than human. I didn’t have the power to stop it then.”

“But now you’re in a position to help?”

“Well, as much as we can. It’s still up to the Joint Chiefs and President to the make policy.”

*** Velvet ***

It is a short drive to the Dubuque Airport. The problem is, we had to wait nearly 2 hours before the plane arrived. They are flying us down to Fort Bragg via aircraft rather than having us spend a day driving there. There is not just the seven pony Ranger Team, but the Unicorn club, the three foals, Ah-Pee, and 5 temporary ponies of the US Army.

We have been relaxing in the back of the truck waiting. Since we didn’t need to go through any flight security, customs or anything, they just park the truck on the tarmac. After the IHOP, we are all comfortable just to rest in the truck.

We were all just dozing away, Feather and the Cotton twins in a ball using each other as pillows. The LT has his wing over Fleetfoot. I’m laying with my muzzle on Blaze’s legs, his wing over me. Ah-Pee has her muzzle on my back, with Jay and Sanchez using her as a pillow. There isn’t a single pony that isn’t cuddled up using someone else as a pillow in the back of the truck.

There was some base instinct that told us, we are in a group. We are safe. So when the tarp flips up, all of us just lazily blinked at the light and looked out. The aircrew just looks shocked at the sight.

“Nope, I’m just not going to deal with this.” The rampy just turns away from the back of the truck.

“What’s wrong?” The next one asks.

“See for yourself.”

Slowly we all raised our heads blinking as the next rampy looks in. “Ok that’s just too cute. Since when it’s the air force shipping animals around though?”

I yawn and blink a few times, “Since the foundation of the United States Army, when horses where shipped by freighter and train. Since World War 1 and 2 when horses were sent overseas by whatever means they could. Bomb dogs, security dogs.” I say, standing up and stretching.

“It can talk!”

“It…” The LT pipes up, “is a US Army ranger, and a corporal in the US army. While that might not be so interesting, she’s also a magic wielding unicorn. Show her respect. I, on the other hand, am a Lieutenant and this here is a Captain. That actually is interesting, because it requires you two, to stand at attention and salute.”

Both of them snap to attention, saluting, blinking rapidly in shock.

“Ok everypony on your hooves. The aircraft is here so shake your tail.”

Fleetfoot looks at James, “Are you sure about this? Trust me you are going to hate it.”

“Well lots of these ponies can’t fly, better to suffer as a group, then be happy and worry about the rest.”

Smiling I give the LT a nuzzle, and head onboard the airplane. Honestly we are making more use of these VIP transports than the officers do, though I think this one is configured for cargo again, with pallets so we can lay down rather than sitting in seats for the entire flight.

The worst part of the flight though, starts just after takeoff. Honestly, sitting and watching every single pegasi start moaning about the flight. Looking down at Blaze I bop his nose, giggling. “Come on, let the humans fly. Rest and relax.”

The LT groans, as we hit some turbulence, and every pegasi wings extends out at once.

“Look, neither me, nor Henry can fly, and Jay, Sanchez an Eric are not rated for long distance flights. So every pegasi put their wings down, or I’ll turn you all human.”

It kind of shocks me to see all the wings go down at once. They were only going to be pegasi for another day or so, but they reacted like any real pegasi would. Its lucky Rainbow Dash, Dust, or Spitfire didn’t see this. There would be no living it down.

*** 36.283142, -118.678791 ***

Tapping his ear piece once he answered the ring. “You’ve got them?”

“Six mares, ready for shipping.” The voice on the other end says.

“Only six?” Pulling out a hammer he began he begins pounding a steel piton into the rock face.

“Five more are coming in tomorrow, all mares again.”

“Excellent, we can get nearly $50,000 per for them. Some people will play a mint to… play with those things.” Smiling at the thought of nearly half a million in product, these slaves would do well. And with no laws covering them yet, the money would just flow.

“So where are you, boss?”

Slipping into the climbing hammock he looks down the cliff face. “You know me, just hanging around.”

41: Fallout

We end up doing a short touch and go at Fort Bragg with everyone but the Rangers getting off there. The rest of us continue for another two hours out to Fort Benning. While Fort Bragg is the home for many Ranger units, our home is actually Fort Benning. I’m not sure how I feel about going home but we all need to do it.

They are moving us to a new barracks though in Fort Bragg. I will be stationed there now. As well I would need to turn in a lot of my old kit. Most of it wouldn’t do me good anyway since I wasn’t a human anymore. Things like extra combat pants or dress boots, for example, won’t fit me anymore.

Exiting the plane the pegasi instantly take to the air. I swear if they knew they wouldn’t get in trouble they would have kicked the plane. At least in human form they are a little calmer about flying.

I am surprised to see several people waiting for us at the tarmac including seven different vehicles. Apparently they want to split us up here and that has me more than a little worried. Looking at the LT, he nods to me to let me know it is okay.

“Corporal Velvet?” I blink, looking up at a Captain and salute.

“Yes ma’am.” I’m not sure what is going on, I’d never seen this kind of treatment before.

“This way if you please.” The Captain motions to one vehicle.

Carefully I got into it sitting down. We had the driver as well as another private in the vehicle with me and the Captain. Looking around I am feeling more than a little anxiety, being separated from the other ponies.

“I’m Captain Maggie Southers but you can just call me Maggie. I’m a military psychiatrist and grief counselor.” She smiles softly, “I’m going to help you with sorting through your things for the move.”

“Why do I need a counselor?” I ask, blinking.

“It’s a choice the Army has made. Not every pony will need one, but this can be a very traumatic experience. You haven’t been back in this room since before your change. So the Army wants to provide you as much support as we can.”

I look out the window as the trees and buildings pass by. It has actually been 2 months since I’ve been back here. Though I have had longer deployments, this time returning feels so different. Looking back at Maggie, I nod slowly, “Thank you, I don’t know what it’s going to be like.”

“No one does. Don’t worry I’m not going to push you to talk about anything.”

“And the others?” I say, looking at the privates.

“Well not every pony is a unicorn, and not every unicorn has a good grasp on their magic, so they are going to help with the moving. Packing, sorting, and shipping, don’t worry they are not going to judge. They are actually from the US Chaplain’s Corps. They are Chaplain Assistants.” She says, nodding.

Getting out of the truck I find myself wobble a bit, a hand goes on my back to steady me. Looking up I nod to Maggie, “Sorry, still a little weak after my last big spell.”

“I heard about that. Don’t worry, you can sit down and relax a bit inside, we can have the mess hall deliver a box lunch or two for you.” Maggie says, her ever present smile is actually a comfort.

Honestly I am getting more scared at being treated nice, I am starting to feel like I’m on death row or something. Taking a deep breath, I walk up to my door. I know my barracks are small, it is only a single and most of the stuff I have in here is military gear. So I’m not sure of everything that I’ll be bringing with me.

It has an entry hall leading to a small kitchenette, fridge, microwave, sink, and hotplate. No actual oven but I do have a little toaster oven. There is a bathroom, very small with a bathtub, shower, but as a pony I can’t really turn around in it. Then there is the bedroom and closet.

The kitchen is easy, the cupboards and fridge are already empty. I always empty them before a deployment. The hot plate, toaster oven, and cutlery can all be packed by the privates. Cups and plates, and few cooking items I have are quick to box.

The bathroom leaves me feeling strange though, simple things I found are affecting me. I have my electric razor, which I’d never need again. I have a standard razor, for close shaves for inspections as well. Neither of those things I’d ever need again. Most of the shampoo and such I won’t be using anymore either. I had found better brands for me as a pony.

Slowly I walk into my bedroom. The poster and pictures on the walls are getting thrown out. For some reason a girl lying over a Ferrari hood isn’t interesting to me anymore. The football pictures are still there but I don’t want to take them either.

My computer, TV, and alarm clock I would take with me. Opening my drawers, I look at my old clothing. I start remembering different times, good and bad. Picking up my old Colts football jersey I rub my face against it, closing my eyes. I never played professionally but I played on school teams and pick-up games as part of PT. I guess I’ll never play football again.

“It happens more often than you think. A vet comes back after losing his legs. Thinks he’s fine, until he finds his favorite pair of running shoes. Then remembers everything he’s lost again. While your change isn’t debilitating per say, there is still a ton of emotions involved. That’s why the military wants counselors here.”

I break the clothing up into three piles. Military that needs to go back to supply. The stuff that’s going to be thrown out or donated to charity. And the few items I want to keep for memory’s sake, or might opt to still wear if I can get it altered slightly. The Colts jersey for example, I definitely will keep.

Maggie sits beside, me putting her hand on my back, “Still have a lot of memories in some of this stuff don’t you?”

“Yes ma’am.” Sighing softly, I lift up an old ski jacket from the time I spent downhill skiing, “Things like this. Me, Henry and Yiska went skiing at the Alpine Ski lodge for a weekend, Yiska was a mess because he’d never downhill skied before. We had gone up there though because we needed Alpine practice for certifications and figured we’d have fun with it.”

“Is skiing big with ponies?” She asks.

“Nope, not that I know of. Even if it was it would likely be limited to earth ponies. Pegasi would find it too slow, and unicorns would be too tempted to use magic to help them with it.” Looking at the jacket, I sigh, “I wiped out and sprained my arm. It was comical because when we got back to the lodge I had three ski bunnies fawning over me.”

I shiver, looking at my leg. Then toss the jacket quickly into the donate pile.

“Don’t want to remember girls paying attention to you?”

“Not really, no. It never went anywhere. And to be honest, I’m not the slightest bit interested in girls now,” I say with a smile. “I have my Blaze.”

“But you have memories. And those will be with you too. You’ll be building a new life with new memories but don’t hide from your past.” Maggie gently pats my back.

“I have memories of being a mom, of sleeping curled around my foals. And I have memories of being Wally, going to school, going to bars with friends. And I have feelings attached to both of them.”

“Both of them are yours. They belong to you. Cherish them both.”

Nodding slowly, I sniff one of the shirts then wrinkle my nose, turning my head away.

“Ugh, male humans smell.”

“That’s your old scent.” She says, smiling.

“Ok, I really needed to wash these things more.” I say laughing.

*** The Lion ***

“What do you mean it’s going to take two days to get more equipment up there?” Standing up the older gentleman starts pacing, obviously annoyed.

“Whoever it was or whatever group is behind this was thorough. All of the bigger vehicles have 3 or 4 different things damaged on them. The chainsaws have all been pretty much ruined.”

“What about the security guards? The cameras?” Shaking his head, “We pay good money for site security so things like this don’t happen.”

“None saw anyone enter or leave the area.”

“Look this is going to cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds if not millions. We need to step up security.” Tapping the lion headed pen, the manager grumbles. “It’s not like anyone would care about these woods.”

*** The Unicorn ***

Beth touches her horn to the wall, waiting until it opens, and then bounds down the tunnel. She uses her hornshine to light the passage as she trots. She doesn’t need a torch anymore. Her brother, on the other hoof, still does.

He set up a nice area for her, it was easy to sneak stuff down here at night. She has fresh hay for a bed, LED camp lights. With the setup she had she could have light in here for two days without charging batteries. Her brother is coming down every day though, with fresh supplies, to ensure all the batteries are re-charged.

He has also been bringing her food supplies. She couldn’t really risk cooking down here, or in the forest. So he has been concentrating on vegetables, fruits, cereals and horse feed. Pretty much anything that could be used without cooking, and would store for a few days at a time, has been bought for her.

Skidding to a stop she finds herself prancing and giggling, “Tommy I’m back.”

“Hey sis, how did it go?”

“Well I’m getting better, I don’t have to get as close now to affect things. Those internet manuals you found let me know just what to damage.” She says, standing and puffing out her chest in pride.

“I was looking at the meetings that were scheduled for this project. None of them were in local papers or on the internet. All of the scheduled times were placed in papers for towns in the next county over. It’s no wonder there were no protests for it.”

Beth blinked and looked confused, “Wait aren’t these things supposed to be very public? What about wildlife impact studies.”

“No idea, I can’t find any news stories on it.”

“I don’t like this one bit.” She says, her tail lashing from side to side.

Tommy laughs softly, “Oh sis, you look so cute when you’re angry.”

“What?!?!”

“Your tail, you’re flinging it side to side, it just looks adorable.”

“Gee thanks.” She stomps her hoof a few times.

Getting up Tommy walked over beside his sister and started scratching his fingers deep into her mane against her scalp. Massaging her neck, crest, and head gently, he can’t resist chuckling. Slowly, she melts down to the floor.

“Yep, now I have finger envy.” Beth says with a giggle, “That feels so good.”

“You know I’ll be here for you any time you need. That’s what brothers are for.”

“The animals here trust me, I think I’m their only hope. Did you see the little fox?”

“Yep though she stays way away from me, guess she doesn’t like my smell.”

Beth sniffs him, then curls her nose, “Yep can see why, eww.”

“Gee thanks,” Tommy laughs and pats her head. “So what’s our next plan?”

“Keep up the pressure, and try and build public support and awareness. If the lion is trying to sneak this through, public outcry and delays are our best hopes of stopping it.”

Magically grabbing a bowl she brings over a serving of alfalfa to munch on, nodding.

*** The Crown ***

Sir Fredrick leans back in his chair, brandy in one hand, cigar in the other. “Was not Lion Construction supposed to have started work?”

“Not yet sir, there’s been delays due to vandals.”

“Oh wonderful, just what we need. An excuse for the Minister to start waffling.”

“Well he wasn’t that thrilled with the idea before this.”

“Julian, how long have you been a permanent secretary?”

“Umm, three years sir.” He says, looking down.

“Then you should know, it’s the job of the secretaries to ensure their ministers do their jobs properly regardless of the Minister’s wishes.”

“What if the public doesn’t want this project though?”

“The public doesn’t want the new aircraft carriers, should we scrap them?”

“No sir.”

“Good, so keep your eye on this problem.”

*** Velvet ***

Sitting down, I cover my face with my foreleg, shaking my head. “Seriously guys, just admit it.”

“Admit what?” The LT says, “We have another 24 hours like this at least so I’d like to fly back to base under my own power, practice and exercise.”

“I saw how you were on the flight here. It threw your pegasi senses all out of whack.” Henry says, standing beside me.

“You boys have fun, fly back, I’ll take the plane. Blaze, can you make sure they don’t get in trouble?”

Blaze nods, “Ok first though we’ll stop by supply and pick up some spare transponders.”

Shaking my head I look at Henry. His horn glows as he picks up his carry-on bag, coffee, box lunch, and some doughnuts. Shrugging, I pick up my carry-on and get onto the plane. “Henry what are you going to do without your magic?”

“I’ll have hands… hands… hands I tell you, hands!” He says, chuckling.

Sitting down, I buckle myself in, shaking my head, “Yes, Lyra.”

“Do I look mint green to you?”

“Only when you’re airsick.” I say chuckling.

“Oh come on I got airsick once, we were flying through a thunderstorm, even the co-pilot got airsick.” He says laughing, and floats a doughnut over to me.

“So you’ve been hanging out with Sugarberry huh?” I ask, grabbing the doughnut and start munching away.

“We’re just friends, we just chat about things. Movies, TV shows, Equestria, even magic sometimes.”

“Magic?” I giggle softly.

“Well yeah, I really only know my TK, but we’ve talked about that, what it feels like how we do it. We were trying to see if we could put it into words to help others.” Henry looks down.

“It’s hard, it’s like trying to explain what a rose smells like.” I say, shaking my head, “You can say, it’s like this or like that, but the truth is, until you smell it you never really know.”

Tilting his head, he nods, “Yeah, I don’t know how you can teach it so easily.”

“It’s not easy. It’s something though that every unicorn parent, mother or father, tends to have to do. Again, it’s like learning to walk or talk. The child can experiment but the parent needs to guide them.” Smiling evilly I look over at him, “So, how are you coming with your fundamentals?”

“NO!” He protested, “No, no no no no. I am NOT doing that torture.” Shaking his head so hard his ears flop, “I’m a human, I’m not a permanent unicorn so you can’t make me.”

I giggle too, yes it is torture, but so is flight training, and so are things like apple bucking. Ponies work hard to be good at what we do. Just like humans do. “Our special talents come naturally, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t need to practice, or understand them. My talent is magic, but that doesn’t mean I automatically learn every spell. I have to study and work at them. It’s just easier for me. Sometimes I’ll even be able to use magic without knowing the spell.”

“Sort of like guiding a spark?” Henry asks.

“Sort of. Sparks are random bursts of magic, but sometimes you can guide them.”

“Hence what happened at the tent.”

“Sort of, though at the same time I knew there’s a spell that lets me transform a pony or person into something else. We see it in the show where my daughter turns her friends into Breezies.”

“So you can do it again?”

“Um not on that scale but I might be able to do it on smaller scales.” I giggle, “Maybe 1 or 2 at a time.”

“Might be handy, turning a suspect into a rabbit until we can secure them.”

Nodding slowly, I giggle softly again, “Now I’m having flashes of a unicorn like, the great and powerful Trixie actually becoming a stage magician like David Copperfield, mixing real magic with illusions. You’d never know what’s what.”

“I’d pay to see it.” Henry says, laughing.

“Speaking of smells I have got to ask.” I say trying to look innocent, “Do you like Sugarberry’s scent?”

“What do you mean? I don’t walk around sniffing her!” He says, blinking.

“Oh no, you don’t need to sniff her per say, but being close to her, you should be able to smell her scent, like mine. I can smell yours just sitting here.”

“I never, thought about it.” Henry looks over and sniffs a few times, then blinks, “Um ok.”

“Trust me, it gets silly, if you smell your old clothing you might find you actually don’t like or don’t trust your human scent. When I sniffed my old shirts I found myself turned off by it.”

He chuckles, “Well you have a guy, and your male scent doesn’t smell like your guy.”

“Point, I was just wondering though, if you like Sugarberry's scent.” Smiling, “I love Blaze’s scent, and can fall asleep easier if I smell it.”

“I guess we have a stronger sense of smell than humans.” Henry thinks for a moment, “I guess it makes sense though. If the clones we see in the show aren’t clones but actually cases of ponies having the same colors? Scent would be how ponies could tell each other apart too.”

“Something to think about, try taking a shower without shampoo or anything, no extra scents. Dry yourself off with a towel getting your scent on it. Give it to Sugarberry, it might help her on nights where she has trouble sleeping.”

“I’ll ask her if she wants, don’t want to be presumptuous or such.” He says, blushing as if he can’t get any more pink.

Giggling softly, I steal another doughnut from his box.

“So how do you think the foals are doing?” Henry changes the subject quickly.

“Oh I’m sure they are fine, Ah-Pee’s watching over them. They’re on an army base, they should be perfectly safe.”

*** Ah-Pee ***

Cipher trots into the common room at the guest barracks, looking around. “Hey Ah-Pee, how’s it going?”

Looking up from her book she giggles, “Oh doing fine, just foal sitting.”

Cipher looks around, “Um, foal sitting who?”

Blinking, Ah-Pee sits up and looks around, “Oh come on, they were just there five minutes ago. They said they wanted to look stuff up on the computer.”

Cipher walks over to the computer, calling up the history. “They were searching cutie marks.”

Ah-Pee charges over and looks at the note pad by the computer. “Step 1, figure out special talent. Step 2, prove special talent is cutie mark worthy. Step 3, get cutie mark. Step 4, learn to use magic or fly!!!”

“Oh no…” Cipher puts her hoof over her muzzle, “Tell me they aren’t exploring an army base to find their special talent.”

“We better go find them, before they end up trying to drive a tank… or fly a helicopter.” Ah-Pee shouts and turns, galloping out.

*** The Flight Club ***

“The first rule of the Flight CLUB!” Eric calls out, laughing.

Jay, Sanchez, and Blaze yell out in response, “You do not talk about Flight Club!”

James shakes his head, climbing away from the others a bit. They are nuts, but it is true, when they are human again, it’s not something they would be talking about. Just what humans need, the idea that they can be turned into ponies. Unicorns would find themselves being harassed by fans.

They actually are turning the trip into different types of competitions along the way. From races to mock dogfights. Blaze and the LT are not allowed to take part in the races. Blaze is a speedster and the LT is a borderline speedster, so it isn’t fair.

Dogfights though, are far more interesting. Blaze and the LT have some experience in it, and when they fought each other. The others just have to sit back and watch in awe. It’s like watching an airshow, with Rolling Scissors, Immelmann Turns, and rapid speed changes. Blaze has the edge in experience and power, but the LT holds his own, using Fleetfoot’s training. By keeping it in a turning battle he is able to limit Blaze’s top speed.

After their dog fight, Jay, Sanchez, and Eric break into more coordinated fights, two on one, one on one, one on two. It’s all fun and games taking turns at being the aggressor. Slowly with their games they work their way to Fort Bragg.

Finally they touch down at base some six hours after the plane landed. They check in at the temporary lodgings barracks. It will still take a few days for their new barrack assignments to get in. First things first though, they all need showers. They’ve had one heck of a work out.

“Well we got our tails handed to us by a real pegasus.” James says, laughing, “but was fun, we should be back to normal tomorrow.”

“To bad Henry couldn’t join us. Downside of being just a unicorn I guess.” Sanchez said before getting smacked lightly by Blaze.

Both Blaze and James are looking at him sternly. “Never belittle another tribe.” James says firmly. “Henry has his own gifts and powers, just like Velvet. Ah-Pee has her special powers. Without each tribe's gifts the ponies likely would never have survived.”

“Sorry sir.”

Eric starts laughing, “Yeah we need to get back to human soon, were starting to sound like we're going native… Next thing you know we’ll start saying everypony.”

Everpony stops, thinking about it for a moment, then they groan in unison.

Shaking his head the LT sighed, “And this is why I said we needed to get rid of these cutie marks.”

*** Velvet ***

“What do you mean you lost them?” I just shake my head in disbelief.

“One minute they were there, the next, poof, they were gone. I’ve notified the MP’s, but they are so small. A cruiser could drive right by them and not see them.” Ah-Pee says.

“Ok it’s not like they are real foals, they aren’t likely to try something stupid like flying a helicopter or driving a tank to get their cutie marks.” I hope, I really hope…

“When are the boys getting back?” Ah-Pee asks, “We could really use the air support.”

“No idea, they aren’t all speedsters so they are flying at the speed of the slowest flyer. Makes it Eric or Jay.”

“Ok, so it’s just you, me, Cipher, Sugarberry and Henry.”

Cipher sighs, “I know it’s an emergency but I’m scheduled for a supply flight to my home base in twenty minutes. I have orders to report to Cyberwarfare command as soon as I arrive.”

“And Ballad?” I ask, whimpering a bit.

“Her flight left an hour ago.” Cipher looks down, “You were still in the air when she left, I’m sorry.”

Hugging Cipher tightly, I feel tears flowing down my cheeks. “I’ll miss you, be careful and don’t let them push you around.”

“Go find the foals. I’ll Skype you later.” Cipher says, and trots for the airstrip.

“Ok girls… and Henry. Let’s move."

“Just because I’m pink…” Henry starts.

“Nope, used to saying girls since Ah-Pee and the unicorn club are all girls, haul tail.” I say, turning and breaking into a gallop.

Splitting up, we begin checking the most logical places we could think of. The gym, career councillor, library, any place people would go if they were trying to find a job or something they liked. The MP’s are on the lookout for them to. They are so small that a house dog could kill them, and the thought of them getting mauled by a dog makes me shudder in fear.

Skidding to a stop I check the kennels, are they captured? Searching through the kennels I get more than a few growls and barks but no foals. Panting hard I shake my head, at least they didn’t end up here.

“Henry, anything?” I call across my earpiece.

“No one’s seen them at the library or school. I am NEVER going near another library or school again. They tried to grab my horn.”

“Sorry Henry,” I shake my head. “How about you Ah-Pee, are you having any luck?”

“Nope, not horn nor feather.”

“Velvet, they were at the park about thirty minutes ago, looking at the fountain. They were looking at the prism effect off the water, and talking about a rainbow’s bright glow.” Ah-Pee said. “At least that’s what the MP said who saw her. But this was before the alert.”

I wish I paid more attention to the TV series, I knew I heard that somewhere before. Charging back to the park I look around, nothing, no ponies, not even a dust buster.

“Found ‘em, they're at the headquarters.” I heard Sugarberry call over the phone.

Exhaling, I turn and race for the building, meeting up with Henry and Ah-Pee at the door.

“Sorry about this Sugar, where are they?”

“Conference room one,” she says, shaking her head.

Trotting into the conference room we see that Feather is already there, laying on her back. She curled her forelegs up against her chest as she is being scratched by the Brigadier General. The other two are snacking on ice cream. As we walk in, all eyes go to me and the foals eep, choosing to hide behind the General.

“I’m sorry sir, they are still adults so they should know better.” I say, looking at them sternly.

“They know better than you think. Its fine Velvet, they wanted to some time to talk with me. No harm done.” He says, standing up and brushing off his pants.

“Talk with you, sir?”

“Yes Corporal. And it’s interesting to get others views and takes on situation.”

Gulping I look at the foals. “Oh, wait until Blaze gets back. For now, you’re grounded.” I say putting my hoof down.

The General though just can’t help but laugh. “Mothers.”

42: Casualties of Change

“Action poses!” I call out, laughing.

All of the pegasi drop into different Rainbow Dash, Blaze or Spitfire style action poses, laughing hard they all show bright smiles as I take the picture.

Holding the camera in my magical aura, I bound around and crouch in a challenge pose beside Henry. Lighting his own horn, Henry poses rearing up a bit, so I can take a couple of pictures like that. Magic helps with selfies.

Finally I get a few group shots of all of us. They will be turning back to humans sometime tonight, so they won’t be able to risk flying. I’m not sure how fast the change will happen, if there will be any warning, or exactly when the spell will run out, so it is best for them to be grounded.

I’m still on light duties. That means no big spells, no lifting heavy objects with TK. No heavy running or PT for the next few days still. I don’t like it, I’m starting to feel lazy or like I’m not part of the squad.

This doesn’t stop them from being boys… They take to the soccer field, playing three on three with a soccer ball. No wings, or magic, allowed. It is like watching a train wreck, you want to look away but you can’t. The rules seem to not be clear, hip checks and body checks seem to be allowed. They would dribble the ball with their forelegs but do bucking kicks for kickoffs or such.

More than a few times collisions end in a mangle of legs in the air. There is such an energy all around that even the foals can feel it. It is almost magical, like the magic of joy is coming alive in the area. I am acting as referee for all that that means, we don’t have rules for me to enforce.

Sugarberry is at work, Ah-Pee has been given an early morning flight back to her farm. That leaves me watching over the foals. They are cheering away and rooting for different sides, or even the individual players. It doesn’t matter who is winning, just who has the ball.

This is doing so much more for me, helping me rebuild my energy, than just sitting around. I’m not sure why, but it must be something about ponies. Get enough ponies together, give them something fun to do and feel the magic fill you. Another collision, followed by twelve legs in the air and pure laughter.

There is a certain liberation about this. There is no worrying about what people think. There is no color or clan. We are all just us, having fun, the fact that we are ponies doesn’t matter to anyone here.

Sitting down, I look down at Feather, “So are you having fun?”

“Yes mom, think we could get soccer cutie marks?” She asks, looking up.

“Maybe if soccer is your special talent.” I look around at all three of the kids, “Okay, gather around.”

Feather sits between Cotton Candy and Cotton Cloud, as all three look up at me with wide eyes.

“In all ponies there is magic, earth, unicorn and pegasus. Our special talents are partly a manifestation of that magic. It’s what makes each of us special in our own way. A special talent isn’t something you quest for, it’s not something you try random things to get. Instead it is part of who you are from birth.”

Giving each of them a nuzzle, “Blaze, he is a speedster, he likes flying fast and hard. He can also be competitive that way, but that also brings out that nature in others. When he trains young flyers he instills that competitiveness in them to better themselves.”

“So we should try being competitive?” Candy asks, tilting his head.

“Nope, that’s part of Blaze. What you need is to figure out who you are, what you like. A special talent doesn’t define you, but is part of who you are. It’s hard to understand, in some ways it’s like destiny but a destiny of our choosing.”

Feather tilts her head, “So if I really, really, like singing, but I’m not good at it, I could still get a cutie mark in singing?”

“Nope, not likely, but at the same time, not having a cutie mark in singing doesn’t mean you can’t sing.” I say bopping her nose with my hoof gently.

“You just have to realize, your cutie mark will never be something you don’t enjoy doing. Nor will it be something you’re not good at.” Smiling, I nuzzle all three foals.

Cloudy tilts her head, “What if your special talent is something like magic, but you never use magic? Or if its flying, but your wing was crippled before you learned to fly, does that mean you’ll never get a cute mark?”

Feather quickly looked back at her wings then starts crying, “What if I never get my mark because of what they did to me?”

Cloudy instantly regrets her question, she starts crying too, nuzzling Feather.

“Oh Feather, I’m not sure that’s how it works. If that were the case it might take you a little longer but with help you’d still find a way to show your love, to realize your love, and get your mark. You might find flight through airships or balloons. Your innate pegasi senses and cutie mark would help guide you through air currents to find the best paths to go wherever you want.”

Hugging all three of them I blink, seeing Henry walk over and lay down beside Feather. Gently he nuzzles her wings, getting her to spread them. He leans down, touching his horn to her feathers. A glow slowly envelopes both her wings as his energy wraps around them. After a few moments it stops, and Henry stands up unsteadily, staggering a bit.

“Ugg Henry, lie down, magic takes energy, remember?” I say and watch him as he sits heavily.

“Feather, give it a little try now.” Henry says, smiling softly.

Spreading her wings, she starts flapping, and she gets a few feet off the ground before dropping down panting hard. With a loud squee she hugs Henry’s leg… “Oh Celestia! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Hey, I couldn’t risk you not getting your cutie mark could I?”

Landing beside her, Blaze folds his wings tight against his sides, “You’re wings are still weak, they are going to need a lot of work before you can fly a lot though. I’ll train you, but it’s still going to take months, or longer before you’re ready for long range flights.”

“I don’t care even just being able to fly short jumps is amazing! Oh thank you.” She says not letting go of Henry’s leg.

The LT walks over and sits by us, looking at Henry and simply nods. After a moment he quietly says, “Good pony.” As if that is all that is required.

*** MTAC ***

“So it has been confirmed UN Interpreter service has been read in on the ponies. I really wish we had a better name to call them then just ponies. Any translation issues will go to them, they have a lexicon now in the works, as well as examples of pony names. The pony names are going to be the killer.” The Director of Homeland Security lets the assembled groups know.

“We don’t have a proper idea of just how many there are,” the CID director says, leaning back in his chair.

“Or how many will change before the next gate opening. Or how many will stay,” comes from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

“Round them up onto reservations might be the best option,” the Secretary of Defense suggests. “They are a risk.”

“The public would call them concentration camps, and it would be political suicide, as well as legally hanging ourselves,” Counters the CID Director. “We can’t go public, and we can’t cover it up.”

“And we can’t pretend like they don’t exist and let them commit crimes wherever they want.” The OSI director steps in.

“In some cases, self-policing might be the best call. Take a pegasus, many of them don’t know or understand flight legal rules. Just the other day we had one fly up to one of our helicopters, knock on the pilot’s side window, and ask for directions to land. It’s not like we can chase them down and issue them flight violation citations.” The director of the CGIS says with a head shake.

“How do you deal with something that can fly at 60 to 100 mph, hover, and land on a telephone pole? And that’s not including the ones that can teleport.” Homeland is just shaking his head.

“Teleport?” CGIS blinks, “Oh great, security hopes just went to zero.”

“Look, we are responding out of fear and worst case scenarios right now. True worst case scenario, some radicalized unicorn gets their hands on a baby nuke. Teleports into the Senate, the White House, a football stadium, the Olympics, wherever, and detonates. Yes that’s a worst case and no, no level of defense would stop it.” NCIS director says firmly.

There was a good amount of mumbling to that concept.

“Cooperation is our best defense right now. I’m authorizing a help line idea that was presented, 800 number for ponies to call in. We will put togeather a set of key questions for non-profit and government help lines, as well as military and collage councillors. Those questions will help the staff to direct the pony to the pony help line without really having to know the truth. We are not going to tell everyone, but we won’t cover it up. If asked by the press, take a non-policy stance.” Homeland says, nodding.

“No comment?” The CGIS director asks.

“In this case, that would be too confrontational. I’d say if the press wants to fish, let them. A response along the lines of… If they do exist, then there must be a reason they are not going public, we however are not trying to cover anything up.”

Tapping a finger the OSI Director hums, “There’s an idea that might work…”

Glancing over, the Secretary of Defense lifts an eyebrow, “What?”

“Well pony faces tend to calm situations at least in the short term. Smart phones are almost everywhere. Without going public we can set up network with the different agencies. If police, FBI or other departments have a problem, give them a Video Conference number. That way we would only need a handful of ponies to cover problems. Be it at border crossings, police standoffs, or other such issues. If a situation starts, they can call the conference call and put down the tablet, smart phone or such and let a pony mediator or interpreter work.”

“As a short term fix? We could try it, see how often the problems crop up, we might only need two or three ponies working in an on call capacity. Ok we’ll try that.” Homeland Director nods.

“Things are going to get a lot messier still, before they get better. Humans can’t seem to live with two different religious views in an area, now we are going to have two different intelligent species in one area.” NCIS director shuts down the MTAC displays.

*** Other side of the pond ***

Standing, Beth looks at the armor. The golden metal is tougher and stronger than steel. Yet it is light enough to run in. She closes her eyes, remembering running, remembering the creature chasing her, remembering the guards trying to block its way. They wore armor like that.

Was it like that? No, that wasn’t it, it isn’t gold. It is burgundy, and the chest mark isn’t a star, it is a blue circle. Closing her eyes tighter she thinks, blue eye, blue circle, blue inverted crescent moon, blue star. Why are they different?

She was pushed through a door by the guards… there was screaming, laughing. The voice, full of chaos, laughing, the eyes… calling her name…

“Beth… BETH!!!”

“GAH!” Beth jumps, turning and looking at Tommy, who is standing there, arms crossed.

“Did you want to try it on or something?” Tommy says softly, smiling at her.

“I still think we need to turn this stuff over to the government.”

“The problem is, in doing so, we’d lose this place. Besides, these things were not made for humans, they were made for unicorns. Well unicorn, and maybe pegasi.” He says, poking a wing blade.

“I thought pegasi were horse sized.” Beth says, shaking her head.

“I don’t know. It might be something like the Children of Epona.”

“Children of Who?”

“Epona. She was the Celtic and Roman goddess of horses, ponies, and mules. Some Celts also considered her the mother of the unicorns and pegasi.”

Beth blinks a few times and shakes her head, “Anime?”

“Video games.”

“Figured, had to be something like that. Anything you don’t like or watch?”

“American cartoons, never into the superhero or stupid cartoons they do.”

“Ah.” Taking a breath, she carefully starts putting on the unicorn armor. The torso armor covers her cutie mark completely, protecting her rear and hips. A hole is there for her tail though it takes her a few tries to get it through the hole properly.

Next is the hoof boots, they strap on surprisingly easily. She isn’t sure if they are for protection or extra traction though. They don’t’ seem to come up high enough to protect more than the very bottom of her legs.

Shaking her mane a few times, she put the helm on, turning to look at her brother. “Well?”

“Yep, you look like you’re ready for war. Tough, strong.”

“They included the plans for making the armor, though I can’t read the language. It’s all here though. Like someone is planning on equipping an army.”

“Well consider, we had the War of the Roses, The Crusades, and lots of wars. It could have been for any of them.”

“I know, but none of them had Unicorns and Pegasi going to battle. Unless it might have been a war for Asgard.” Beth laughs, posing for her brother.

“Nope, no unicorns in Norse mythos.”

She trots around in the armor, getting used to the feel of it on her. “Might bounce an arrow but I don’t know about bullets.” She says as she prances a bit, “I think we could use a mirror down here so I could look at things. Actually, Tommy, could you buy these things too?” Picking up a pen, she jots down a list that includes ceramic plates, as well as a few other things. Giggling softly, she looks at the armor diagrams in the book.

“You’re thinking of making one yourself?” Tommy asks as he picks up an uncut gem.

“Yeah, but the one I saw was burgundy.” Sorting through the cut stones she pulls out a lens shaped blue gem and sets it aside for the chest piece. Maybe making the armor as she remembered would help.

Taking the armor off, she carefully hangs it back on its ponykin. She doesn’t know how old it is, but it still feels like it is new. Why is she screaming, why are there other unicorns? Why did the forest grant her these memories?

Sighing, she rubs her head with her hoof. “Too many questions.”

“Don’t worry sis, I’ll be here for you.” Gently wrapping his arms around her neck, he rubs his cheek against her face. “No matter what you have to deal with.”

*** CID Briefing room ***

The Director sits on the desk at the head of the briefing room, he has the team leaders from every single CID unit in there. Even those who were on leave that could be reached had been called back in. Agents on bases around the world are conferenced in. Department heads for cybercrime, drug trafficking, war crimes investigations, and the JAG liaisons are there.

The last time a call out of this scale was done was 9/11. Sometimes, however, it takes a disaster for people to change. Change the way they think or do things. Change their policies or the way they handle situations.

“The world we live in can be dark and tragic at times. We see it in the field, we see it on T.V., and in the theaters. Crime, drugs, and abuse, are a parts of our daily business here. We see case after case of it. Then there are the darker things. The serial killers, human trafficking, the list goes on. Some act because they are sick, others because it’s the way they have been taught.”

Looking across the room, “We see people try and justify crimes by religion, by mental illness, by race. Thing are now going to get a whole lot more complicated. What you are about to hear and see isn’t classified per say. You won’t be punished for talking about it, and you may find yourself in a situation where you have to talk about it. There is no official policy as of yet from the White House. No stance to be taken. Instead we ask you simply to be mindful.”

Quietly Fleetfoot walks into the briefing room, folding and unfolding her wings. She knows if she is nervous, the next part will be worse. Looking over at the group, Fleetfoot sits on her haunches and takes a breath. “I’m real, I can speak, and I’m not a robot or a machine. My name is Captain Fleetfoot of the US Air Force.”

“Oh come on, this has got to be a trick.”

“What is this some new holographic technology?”

“AI?”

“Quiet down people.” The director calls out, holding a hand up.

Turning, she nods to the big screen once. “We’re ready, the next part is your show, girl.”

Taking a deep breath I look at the camera. Ok I’m just talking to a camera, it’s nothing special. “Hello, my name is Twilight Velvet. Today I am going to talk to you about the events that have lead up to the current world situation as of June 2020.”

“To truly understand this, you will have to realize that the Earth, as we understand it, is not alone in the multiverse. There are other realities. I won’t use the term dimensions because multidimensional physics is a different concept. Instead there are alternate universes where different laws may apply. Ponies like Fleetfoot here, and myself, are originally from one of these alternate worlds.”

Taking a breath, I calmly walk through the Five Score curse. How it started 25 years before. The transformation process and the signs and stages of the changes. “Essentially we are refugees from our home world. When we change we have no memories of our lives in Equestria usually, instead all we have to go on is the last 25 years of our human lives. We may get flashbacks, we may get visions, but this can be more confusing. It seems that our human forms are random though. They do not match our pony selves in any way. This means, once we hit 25 and the curse ends... We could turn into a baby, or an elder. We can change sex, or even find ourselves instantly pregnant. It’s a return to how we were at the moment of the curse.”

Looking down a moment, “This also may not be limited to just ponies. On our world we had dragons, intelligent deer, zebras, horses, and griffins, among others. There is a chance that any of these could have been cursed too. The kingdom that was targeted however, was mostly ponies, so the bulk of those changed have been pony.”

“What happened, started 25 years ago, but only this month was Discord defeated. That means for the next 25 years, there may be new people changing all over the world. The first days are always the most confusing. We don’t know what’s happening, or why. There are those who may want to commit suicide, those who will place their trust in family and friends only to be taken advantage of. This is the sort of thing that will need to be watched for.”

Fleetfoot stands up, taking a deep breath. “I was born in America. I still consider myself American. I serve the US Air Force. I chose to stay on Earth in honor of the oath I took to the Air Force. We were lucky for the most part. There have been many however who haven’t been so lucky.”

Standing up, the Director looks at the group. “Each of you may encounter ponies in the coming days. Some of you already have. Some are already investigating crimes relating to them. What we need you to understand is, this is fear driven. These ponies don’t understand what’s going on or why. So we are going to handle this in a different way than normal.”

“Shouldn’t Justice be the same for everyone?” One agent says with a bit of a sneer.

“Yes and no. This is where it gets tricky. Consider for a moment, we don’t handle people who we know are suffering from PTSD in the same way we handle the average criminal. And this is the same case. There are going to be a lot of actions done out of fear, especially in the first few days. And this can lead to very dangerous results.”

“Most pegasi can fly, so if we decide to run, well. I can outpace an F-22, but most simply fly up on top of a building, or under trees, we can even hover. So chasing us, especially if we jump out a window, might be tricky. Earth ponies are strong as well. A single kick from them can cripple or kill, and most just after or during the change don’t know their strength or how to control it. Unicorns have magic, this can include offensive and defensive spells, teleporting, or simply the ability to pick up and move things telekinetically. A scared or angry unicorn can lash out by accident with their magic and that effect can cover a huge area.”

“What you will need to do, is go into mediator mode, put weapons away. Ask don’t tell. Try and connect with them. Find out their story first. If they seem scared, we will be providing you with contact numbers to call. You can put them on a video conference with other ponies. By nature most ponies are communal and drawn to each other. Try not to come between them or separate them unless they are willing.”

The Director takes a deep breath. “A full briefing package will be handed to each of you. Before you judge though remember. This could still happen to anyone under the age of 25. Your family, your children, your spouse. So remember, treat any pony like you’d want your family to be treated. Because it just might be in the coming years.”

*** Velvet ***

Most of the Rangers have changed back already. Eric has gone out singing, literally. He and Ballad karaoke battled for fun before the change. Jay and Sanchez changed back while I was doing an educational video for the CID. I still don’t believe they had me do it. It was probably the most terrifying thing I’ve done.

Only The LT and Henry are left as ponies. They would likely change in the next hour or so. Fleetfoot raced back to be with the LT. Without other ponies around, he starts thinking, and when he starts thinking, his wing starts to tremble.

“But my wings are too small to do that.” Feather whines to the LT.

Chuckling softly the LT nuzzles her, “They will grow bigger, but you have to build strength in them. That’s what Fleetfoot and Blaze say.”

“But what do you say?” She says, giving him her huge eyes.

“I did long distance flights yesterday, trust me, you need good wing muscles. My wings are still sore. But so is my chest and sides. There are a lot of muscles you use with flight.”

Fleetfoot giggles and nuzzles the LT.

Feather looks up at Henry, then at the LT. “Mom, why can’t they stay ponies?”

Blinking I looked between the two, then at Feather, “Because the spell is temporary, you know that Feather.”

“But why can’t they stay? Can’t you make a spell to make them stay ponies?” She says in a pleading voice.

Looking over, I watch the LT’s wing starting to quiver. Fleetfoot notices it too and quickly nips his ear to distract him.

“They were always meant to be humans, Feather. They weren’t cursed like we were.” Walking over, I sit and nuzzle Feather between my forelegs.

“I don’t believe that. They are as much pony at heart as you and I. They should have been born ponies. Henry has the most beautiful gift ever, and he shares it, he healed my wings.”

Henry sighs, “Feather I was never meant to be a pony. You know that.”

Walking over she stuck her face to his cutie mark. “You were, I know it. I can feel it, trust me.”

The LT acks loudly and pulls a blanket around himself quick. “Okay, my time’s up. Time for me to get into a uniform.”

Fleetfoot laughs and hoofs him his clothing out of the saddle bags. We were expecting this, so she kept clothing for him on her. Sugarberry has Henry’s clothing.

Looking up Feather whimpered. “James, you’ll always be a pegasus to me no matter how you look.”

“Thank you Feather. I still have my cutie mark, so expect me to still make you do your wing exercises.”

Looking back up at Henry she pushed her face against his cutie mark harder, “Don’t change, please don’t change. I don’t want to lose a unicorn like you.”

“You’re not losing me, I’m just going back to human.”

“But what if I get hurt again, what if mommy or daddy get hurt?” she looks up sadly.

“Then there’s Dr. Ray, he’s a unicorn doctor. I’m not even a doctor, I’m just a medic. If something really bad happens, Dr. Ray can be called over at Lightning Dust’s farm.”

“But I don’t want Dr. Ray. You’re our herd. I want you.” Putting her head against his mark again she presses hard. “Stay.”

Feather cried softly, her tears run down the side and lines of his cutie mark. Softly his horn begins to glow, as the spell ends on him, his mark glowing bright for a moment as he shifts back to human. Sugarberry comes over and hoofs him his PT gear to put on.

“It’s not right, they should stay.” Feather says, and curls up between my forelegs.

Gently I look down and start nuzzling and hugging her. “It’s hard but, he’s human first. It’s not our choice. It has to be theirs.”

Looking at the LT, Henry nods, then both of them step out, after a few moments, they come back with plastic bags. Henry offers his bag to Sugarberry. The LT hands his plastic bag to Fleetfoot.

Sugar blinks, sitting down, looking at her bag. Then she looks up at Henry, confused. “What’s this?”

“It was a suggestion. If you want it you can keep it if not you don’t have to, I won’t take offense. I know ponies have a lot better sense of smell, it was a clean new towel, I only used it in pony form so all it has is my pony scent on it.”

The LT looks to Fleetfoot, “Mine includes some of my feathers in it for you. I saved them and put them in a baggie. You’ll have them as a thank you and reminder for all the help.”

Both girls look at them in shock before hugging them as tightly as they can.

*** 10.598105, 171.822032 Sea state 3, 7.5 Knots. ***

The Marshall Islands are just a few days south. The small freighter was built for innercostal work. Normally only for short island hops, but for this pay they are making a long run. At 52m long the ship wasn’t meant for long ocean travels, and only could hold eight cargo containers max. However, right now she is only carrying four.

With nearly a million dollars at stake though, it is worth the risk. That kind of pay day would make the captain and his small crew rich. They left the Philippines just a few days ago. Their destination is Hawaii. Hopefully their cargo would survive that long.

43: Band Practice

I turn off the alarm clock, I groan and sit up, shaking out my mane. It’s been a week since the boys changed back, though we were all still on light duties. The army isn’t sure of the stress on the bodies from the changes, or that level of magic on me.

The only ones not on light duties are Blaze and Sugarberry. Sugarberry is back at work at the HQ, doing her normal 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. Blaze, on the other hand, they have him doing make work jobs. Training recruits in flight suit ops is one of the big ones though. Having a Pegasus instructor in HALO jumps allows for a new level of training as he could zip between students, making corrections. As well it adds a new level of safety with the ability to catch or stop a jump in midair.

Since Feather and the Cotton twins are civilians they couldn’t really put them up in permanent barracks. Right now I’m living in transient quarters, small single bedrooms, sharing a bathroom and shower, a small kitchenette, and a small common room with a TV, chairs, and coffee table. Blaze has one room, I have one room, Feather has her own room, and the twins have bunk beds in their room.

Since they essentially have become my dependents, the Army has decided to see if they could put us up in PMQ’s, that’s private military quarters. People that turned into foals, for the most part, are still adult in mind, but their small size, lack of magical skills and special talent often leave them far more dependent than adults. When you’re so small that a large dog could kill you, living on your own without help or supervision just isn’t really a good option.

It is starting to feel like I am just going through the motions through. My fate, in some ways, is still in limbo since the military isn’t sure about what they are going to do with ponies in the long run.

Getting up, I have a quick shower, before making breakfast for the little ones. It is summer, so school is over anyway, though to tell the truth, I’m not sure about sending adults to school anyway. At the same time, they are blank flanks, and pony school is more about helping foals find their special talents.

Officially, I am still 2/75th Airborne, though I am currently attached directly to the USASOC, though we are working with, and training the 82nd airborne. There is a comical strangeness about things. Women can’t serve in the airborne. I’m not a woman though, am I? I am a mare. Apparently being able to put up a shield that can block an RPG, and having magic strong enough to carry and handle the recoil of sustained fire from an M134, is an exception.

Actually I didn’t know I could actually hold a M134 until I tried, and really it was meant as a joke. The look in the eyes of the new rangers on the range, when I start firing though, holding it beside me, power cables and batteries in one saddle bag, 2nd saddle bag holding the ammo. It is doable, but trust me, not every unicorn out there can. The recoil on those things hurts! I’m still on magic light duties but Henry cleared me for the demonstration.

Getting dressed for work, I check my phone. They want me at headquarters today. Huffing I get on my boots, “Ok kids, you know the drill, I want each of you to spend at least three hours today trying different things, but don’t be silly about it. You’re free to watch TV and play video games for ideas too.”

Putting on my beret, I turn and trot to headquarters, Blaze in tow.

“Think they are going to give the LT a pass today? It’s been a week.” Blaze chuckles.

“I hope so, come on, the spell had no more lasting aftereffects then the mirror did.”

“You mean still not being able to stomach most meats, still having their cutie marks?” Blaze smiles, looking at me.

Shaking my head, “That only applied to the rangers, everyone else who turned back is apparently back to normal. Even that ICE idiot.”

“Think he’s learned his lesson?” Blaze fluffs his wings.

“Nope, he’s probably plotting his revenge. Apparently they had to give him and a few others special assistance to help them with things.”

“Things?” I tilted my head, “what things?”

“You know, the normal stuff, prepping food, getting dressed… wiping.”

“Eww, I feel sorry for the human that got that job. Somethings I’m grateful to have magic for.”

“The fact that they are installing bidet systems for ponies is nice.” Blaze said, “at least for those of us without magic.”

Trotting up to the front door, we meet up with Sugarberry. “Morning.”

“Any idea what’s up?” I ask, taking off my beret, going inside.

“Nope, other than the general wants all of us in the briefing room.”

Nodding slowly, I take a deep breath and follow her into the room. Honestly all I can think is… been here, done that, time to face the brass again. Taking a deep breath I stand at attention, and wait for the brass with the other two ponies.

It is only about five minutes before the General walks in with his aid. His aid is carrying a video camera, which makes me even more nervous. I didn’t want to do another documentary. I have already done five of them. 'Basics of the curse', 'Welcome to being a pony', 'Pony kinds the three clans', 'Horns and TK', and 'Cutie marks your heart and soul'. As stupid as it sounds, they want them, just in case other infantry changes, so they could show them something quick and informative.

“Be seated.” The Brigadier General says with a nod.

Taking my seat I helped Blaze with his, rolling chairs were still the bane of ponies. TK however helped counter their evil spinning. Putting one hoof on the table I tilted my head slightly watching as the General opened his folders and looked through them slowly.

“It’s been a week since the rangers have returned to human form, and we see no lasting side effects that are problematic.” Turning pages, “So it looks like they should be able to return to active duty, the problem is, that would risk leaving the foals unattended.”

Gulping once I wanted to say something, anything but at the same time I knew far far better.

“Eight days ago I had a long talk with Feather and the other foals. As did one of the army psychologists from the medical corps.”

“Psychologist sir?” I asked blinking.

“It was actually at her request. Well her Candy and Cloudy’s request.”

“About what if I may ask.”

“The psychological impact and separation anxieties involved in herd structures.” Turning the page, “I swear the psychologist said there is so little information on this that it’s something we will need to start studying.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“At Feathers request, we had counselors checking on the mental states of both Cipher and Ballad, as well as Apple Pie.” He said flipping pages, “Their stress levels were way up, they were skittish, and having problems sleeping. In some aspects it was similar to a PTSD but on a smaller scale. Cipher seems to be handling it best by effectively hiding in her work.”

“Is there anything I can do to help sir?”

“Nope, the military is handling it. Corporal Ballad is currently being reassigned to the 249th Engineer Battalion, Prime Power, they specialize in construction and maintenance of electrical power networks and power plants. Something she might have fun with. Private Apple Pie is getting reassigned to the 407th Brigade Support Battalion. They are a supply, support, and rebuilding battalion, often tasked with disaster relief and post combat rebuilding.”

“I see.” I said still worried.

“Where are these units based?” Blaze asked noticing Sugarberry starting to snicker.

“Both of them are based in Fort Bragg. While Cyberwarefare isn’t actually based here, we have some gear shipped in since Specialist Cipher can actually work from any office space.”

I squee’ed. Seriously, I never knew I could make that sound. My ears went right up and I was smiling so wide my face hurt. That’s when I realized what the camera was for. Ugg I was never going to live this down.

“They’re coming here!” I spouted unable to stop the grin, with both of my forehooves on the table.

“Yes Corporal, its best for their mental welfare that they remain close together. While any group of you are on missions, the rest can watch over the foals, thus maintaining at least a few ponies together. The psychologist thinks this should mitigate or minimize the stress.”

“When do they get here!” I bounced in my chair like a little filly. I was so happy and excited. Ah-Pee would be here, and the Unicorn Club was getting back together!

“Woah, calm down, they should be here today. Staff is helping them pack.” Looking sternly he stood, "Now, dismissed."

Getting up I grabbed my kit and scampred out with the other ponies then spun hugging Blaze tight.

*** The Crown ***

“It’s been a week, and they haven’t even started clearing the woods!” Sir Fredrick snarled as he paced back and forth.

Looking at the newspaper, he grumbled. The article in The Times was less than flattering, and the Financial Post story was less so. Suggestions of miss spending and handing out contracts without proper bids were going to be a problem.

“Sir Fredrick!”

“Yes Minister?”

“Have you seen the paper?” The Transportation minister walked in looking sternly at Sir Fredrick.

“Which one Minister?”

Dropping a copy of the Guardian on the table the minister looked sternly, “The government picked a company for laying out a new flyover, sliproad and motorway, based on kickbacks?”

“How dare they.” Sir Fredrick looked at the paper sternly.

“So, you were unaware of this?”

“No sir, I had no idea that they would print something like that.” Sir Fredrick said folding his papers up.

“That’s not what I meant. I was referring to the project.” The minister sat down on his chair leaning back.

“Yes minister, and so were you. It was in your boxes. Notifying you of the impact survey, traffic flow projections for the next 25 years, special dispensation for military transport, as well as the committee’s decision on which company to use based on closed bidding process as per previous contract decisions of the past years submissions in accordance with all guidelines as set up by inter inter-bureau committees discussing said issues.”

The minister blinked several times as the long string of terms flew by and shook his head. “I don’t remember seeing it.”

“I don’t know how you could have missed it minister, it was nearly 1400 pages long.”

“Oh, that report. I see. My cat is still recovering from the report falling on top of it.”

“Don’t worry I’m sure it will be gone in a few days.” Sir Fredrick stated.

“The cat?” The minister blinked looking up.

“No sir, I meant the press stories. Once the forest is cleared, and the construction gets underway people will lose interest.” He said assuredly.

“I don’t understand why this project is needed personally.” The minister stated.

“It was all laid out in the report minister. Including the engineering requirements based on traffic management.”

“I am the Minister of Transport, Sir Fredrick. Not an Engineer.” The minister said sternly.

“Yes minister. Sorry, simply put they expect over the next 25 years, traffic flows to increase in the area by nearly 62% based on current local traffic growth models. This new motorway is expected to limit that growth to 12% by allowing diverted traffic though the area.”

“I see, so currently, a lot of cars use that road?”

“A lot is subjective minister.”

“What does that mean?” The minister asked then instantly regretted it.

“Subjective, it means; based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Minister.”

“I know what subjective means.”

“Then why did you ask?” Sir Fredrick inquired looking annoyed.

“I was asking how many cars use that road currently.” The minister shook his head.

“I wouldn’t hazard a guess myself, but I’m sure if you read the report you will find that number as well as the means used to determine it.”

“Thank you Sir Fredrick. Dismissed.”

Picking up his papers Sir Fredrick quickly left the office, he would have to see that this forest was cleared much quicker. Too many questions were starting to be asked.

*** CMC:EC ***

Candy shook his pink mane out, “Ok girls, what are we going to do today?”

“Same thing we do every day Candy,” Feather responded.

“Try to take over the world!” Cloudy piped in.

“Narf.” Candy said then giggled.

“You really should stop with the giggles. You’re a colt now.” Cloudy teased.

“Yeah well you need to remember to put the toilet seat down, I almost fell in this morning.”

“That was me, my bad.” Feather said giggling, “I left it up after I was emptying a bucket into it. Sorry.”

“Bucket of what?” Candy asked looking confused.

“Fudge, I tried making 3 trays of fudge for us but… it came out looking like oatmeal.”

“So… why was it in the bucket?” Cloudy asked blinking.

“Cuz it was easier to pour the 3 trays into the bucket and flush that then carry each one in one at a time.”

“Makes sense,” Cloudy said, “And Candy, cross confectioner/fudge making off the list for Feather.”

“Done and done.”

“When you were a human Cloudy, did any jobs strike you as fun or interesting?” Feather asked crossing her forelegs and laying her muzzle over them.

“I drifted a lot, I could never settle on a job, worked at a fair doing cotton candy, caramel corn, and such.” She said with a huff, “Then I was a janitor for a while, then did short order cook at a 'You Buy it We Fry it' place. Worked at a 'Beer and Bullets' convenience store yes, one store sells both.”

“Ugg I remember that carnival stand, the flies and the cotton candy turned me off the stuff for life.” Candy said with a shudder.

“And the owner still expected me to sell it like that. Needless to say I didn’t last long there.”

“You Candy?”

“I went to school. College for meteorology. My boyfriend at the time was a storm chaser, so I got into doing that and helping with research grants there. Local station saw me and picked me up as a weather girl.” He said then blew at his pink mane.

“They hired her for her assets.” Cloudy said laughing.

“Yeah, and now you have them isn’t that udderly adorable.” Candy responded before pulling his head back as the wing went in between them.

“Come on, we all have our problems with the change.” Feather said and sighed. Her past career wouldn’t get her a cutie mark… well not one she’d want… definitely not after reading about the rainbow factory. Shuddering she felt sick to her stomach again going a little pale. That story still gave her nightmares. She saw herself at her old job, but with ponies instead of horses.

“You ok Feather?” The siblings both looked at Feather concerned.

“Yeah, just, bad memory.” She said choking back the bile.

“Ok so what next?” Candy asked.

“The naming trick doesn’t work, Cotton Cloudy would be a pegasus name for a weather pegasus, but as a unicorn I don’t know. Feather Pinch is less helpful, unless my special talent is pinching feathers. Cotton Candy seems self-evident, except for the fact that making the stuff would turn your stomach.” Feather just shook her head.

“Anyone tried boating?” Cloudy asked looking between them.

“Boating?” Feather looked at Candy confused.

“Yeah, there’s terms like feathering, and such in sailing. Weather is important in sailing. I didn’t find any candy terms in sailing but who knows.” Cloudy smiled bright.

“Well where to?”

“20 min bus ride north of here.” Cloudy said.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SAILORS ARE A GO!” they said slapping hooves and trotting out.

*** Across the pond ***

Beth stood looking at herself in the mirror. The armor she wore was a rich burgundy in color with gold inlay. The helmet had the same gold inlay in S patterns on either side of the hole for her horn. The chest piece had the large blue gem ringed in gold in the center of it.

It was the armor from her dream. She had modified the helm a bit according to the diagrams, there was some difference based on male and female heads but she wasn’t sure why. She hoped the armor would help her remember more.

Turning sideways she looked at herself, the armor completely hiding her heraldic mark. Or was it protecting it? Why would unicorns need armor? How many of them were there? Was she the first? Or the last?

Shaking her head she looked over as Tommy walked in, “Got lunch, and news. The papers are starting to make a stink over the spending, and questions on why the motorway was needed.”

“I can’t figure out why they would want it in the first place, as is the motorway only sees maybe a few cars an hour go by.”

Sitting down Tommy laid out the food, mix of vegetable pies, cake, and fresh juice. “Here you go sis.”

“You know, you can actually eat meat around me, I won’t take offense.” Beth smiled.

Shaking his head no, “Sis, I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m not going to tease you with food you can’t eat anymore. When with you I’ll stick to vegetables and fruit.”

“So what do we have today?” Beth asked perking.

Smiling Tommy put down his tablet. “2 more guards, now they are up to 4 guards at night. 8 more cameras have been added. Next up, a new bulldozer is was brought in, they are using it to move the old one onto a truck. It’s a D11T,” Opening up the page on the dozer he chuckled, “lets figure out how to break it.”

“Oh that’s a big one.” Beth said giggling, “And just look at all off those hydraulic hoses up front.”

“That would be wire saws, how many do you want?” Tommy said going over to the supply desk.

“Best make it 3 just in case.”

“3 it is.”

Tossing them into the air she caught them with her magic and put them down beside her. Taking off her armor she hung it up on the racks before picking up the saws again. “Time to be a unicorn.”

Heading up she checked the camera to make sure the outside was clear before opening the door. Once outside she giggled making her way through the woods. While there were paths, she chose to change her way through the wood each time, often not even using the trails. She left hoof prints so she figured anyone would just think she was a normal pony.

She could hear the nose of the construction vehicles, and used that to cover her approach, it was easy enough. Her fur was white and grey, but it still didn’t stand out much in the woods. Lying down behind a wild rose bush she smiled and slowly sent out the first saw. Snaking it slowly along the ground she waited till it was close enough to the dozer that no one would see it. Bringing it up in the shadows of the blade she started cutting the hose.

Within moments there was an explosion of fluids. Quickly she cut a few more cables before leaving the saw. Men ran over quickly, yelling to shut down the large machine. The damage should keep the machine out all day. Meaning she could come back tonight and finish off the evil beast.

Turning she pranced back to the castle flicking her tail happily. It was another perfect mission. Coming up the ridge she felt the magic again. She could see the unicorn stallion standing on the top of the hill looking down at the castle. He always appeared when she started getting close. A reminder of what she was fighting for she thought.

Moving up to where the image was she sighed. Tourists.

A bus had let out a few tourists to look at the castle. Given the fact that it had become her home, she was accepting but slightly inconvenienced by them. Especially those that thought littering was fine. The Asian groups tended to be quick, coming down taking lots of pictures and leaving. The America groups through, ugg they just took forever.

Sighing she laid down in the sun watching. It looked like a mix of European and Americans this time. A couple of families, university students, even some kids. Beth watched and sighed as the kids played around the ruins. Why couldn’t they keep their kids in check? Ok yes she played in the ruins too but she knew better then to try breaking off rocks.

Looking up she saw one of the kids, a little girl handing out one of the upper windows. Seriously, that entire area was closed, it wasn’t really safe yet of course the parents let their kids play. Blinking she watched in shock for a moment as the girl's brother grabbed her from behind. The girl screamed, jumping then fell forward over the window ledge.

“Oh God.” Beth jumped to her hooves running down the slope, reaching out with her magic she grabbed the girl slowing and redirecting her till she was safely on the ground. It took a lot the child was heavier then she expected and she needed to be almost under her to fully stop her.

Panting hard she blinked as the camera flashed.

Several people were taking pictures of her and cheering. What had she done? Humans weren’t supposed to see her, they weren’t supposed to know unicorns existed. She couldn’t let the girl die but now what?

Starting to cry she turned running for the woods again. She had messed up bad and she knew it.

Humans would know unicorns existed…

*** Velvet ***

“Yes, Unicorns exist, didn’t you read your briefing?” I said with a giggle looking at the corporal.

“Yes ma’am, I mean no ma’am.” The corporal looked flustered then back down at his computer.

“I’m not a ma’am, I’m a corporal too.” Sitting I found myself drumming my front hooves again. Honestly I don’t know if that was instinctual or genetic, I didn’t see other ponies do it, but I never did it as a human.

“We’re baaaaaaack.” I heard Cipher say.

Leaping off the chair was possibly not the best idea, I heard the scraping of metal and crash behind me, but who cares it was Cipher and Ballad! I barreled into the two hugging and nuzzling them as tight as I could.

“Oh Celestia I missed you girls.” I said.

“Tell me there’s a Starbucks on base.” Cipher said giggling.

“2 of them, one is near the PX about 5 min from here. The other’s in the middle of the base.”

“MINE!” I grunt as Ballad landed on my back.

“When did I become yours?” I ask looking over my shoulder at her.

Hanging with her front hooves off the right side of me, rear hooves hanging off the left, she licked my cheek. “The moment I got here.”

“Ah-Pee’s plane is landing later tonight.” I said giggling and started walking towards the door carrying Ballad.

“Your tail’s wiggling a mile a minute again.” Cipher said giggling.

“That’s fine, so is yours.” I said giggling, looking at her tail going.

Dropping off my back Ballad picked up her carry-on bag and prancing with us laughing. “Where’s our little Sugar Bee?”

“At the office, Blaze and the Rangers are on a hop, with some recruits.” I said smiling, “I’m still on light duties right now. I’m cleared to work tomorrow though.”

“I can’t wait to see my office, they set it up to the specs I had at the my old base. But they changed my classification. I’m not longer just a 17C. They upped me to a 35Q. Cryptologic Network Warfare Specialist!!!”

“Now if we knew what that meant.” Ballad said giggling.

“It means she gets paid more.” I say giggling.

“Technically it means I need a cutie mark in Cryptology… Oh look I have one!”

Nuzzling her I don’t care, I’m just happy she’s here, and safe. They were as close as family, they were like sisters to me. I know how my daughter felt when she found out her mission was over and she had to return to Canterlot. The thought of losing her friends, was just devastating.

Walking into the PX first I showed them around. In the last 2 weeks, the number of pony items had grown here. Hoof polish, rain cloaks, civilian saddle bags, if it was out there for a horse, it looks like they had a version for ponies. The fact that the base had cared enough to do this was just something special.

Heading over we sat at the Starbucks getting our coffees. “So I’m going to be moved to PMQ’s, in other words an on base house if one becomes available. Right now I’m in temporary lodgings. You girls are going to love it. All 3 of you will likely be in 1 apartment for starts.”

“We know you’ll need to go on missions. At least we know there will always be at least a few of us together at all times. And none of us will ever be on our own.” Ballad said nodding firmly.

*** 23.446357, -162.238562 6 knots, Sea State 4 ***

The ship was not the best for rough waters in open seas. Waves often broke well over the bow of the ship. With a 9 knots max speed there was little room for error as the ship didn’t have the power to get out of trouble.

The captain had brought the boat up North West of Hawaii and was now doing his turn, he hoped to avoid coast guard ships or navy ships seeing him. The problem was his engines were running hot, and his cargo had been in the case for 10 days, they likely didn’t have much food or water left. Add to that the weather was getting worse.

But his buyer was paying a million dollars for this. With that money he could just dump this rust bucket and pick up a new ship or just retire. Either way, he and his small crew were almost there. If he could just reach the drop off area he could start unloading. He knew though, if the weather got much worse, he might have to consider dumping the cargo and calling for help.

Dumping the cargo, throwing away a million dollars, that would be a last resort. Getting caught however was not an option either. The containers were heavy enough, and the air holes in them would let them sink fast, it would take only moment once dumped overboard for them to sink to the bottom.

44: The Crescendo

The USS George H.W. Bush limps along at 18 knots. She had received basic repairs in United Arab Emirates, but her number two elevator is still out of service. Damage from the AS-20 Kayak missiles was pretty bad. The number three hanger bay is pretty much gutted from fire. It’s going to take months of dry dock to repair all the damage.

The USS Vella Gulf has pulled close escort to the carrier, though damaged too, she had mostly taken hits from the S-24 Shafaq rockets. Given her size though, the rocket damage is fairly light. Most of the damage was to her helicopter hanger and port side radar system.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington runs behind the two, she had met them in the Indian Ocean to provide CAP operations and air support for the stricken Bush. The rest of Carrier Strike Group 5 formed her screen in layers.

Closest to the carriers running fore and aft of them are the two Ticonderoga class cruisers. They are providing both the long range air defense cover, and shorter range point defense. Sitting inside the five mile circle, these ships make up the core.

The second circle is fifteen miles out, made up of 6 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. They are part of destroyer squadron 15. Their job is medium range anti-air, as well as anti-ship and anti-sub screening.

Finally, 60 miles ahead, and 90 miles north and aft, two Virginia-class submarines are running to provide the long range anti-submarine screen. With a damaged carrier, there is no question about defenses.

The task force has been holding an irregular course though the Pacific Ocean to throw off any surveillance attempts. They have made several zig-zag maneuvers as they travel. Often altering their course just after Russian surveillance satellites pass overhead. For a while they had made it look like they were going to head to Japan. Then once in the open ocean, they’ve kept altering course between Pearl and California. The last turn now has them shifting north of Pearl Harbor to pass Kauai Island at about 400 miles west and north.

Their final turn, however, will bring them between Kauai and Oahu, right around into Pearl.

The roar of the turboprop engines fills the air as one of the Liberty Belle’s takes to the air. The Hawkeye 2000 has the green liberty torch, and crossed red lightning bolts, painted right on top of its radar dome. You can see that mark for miles. The loud thunk of the catapult, and the aircraft is in the air for its patrol.

On deck 2 F-18 E/F’s are getting ready for their launch, being moved onto the catapult. They’ve been loaded out for long range air to air. Even this close to Hawaii, there is still the chance they might pick up missile fire from a guided missile sub, or even bombers out of Russia. Bears can easily patrol the Pacific and in groups, could easily sink a carrier that doesn’t have a screen.

Fire Streak and High Winds sit on top of the bridge, watching the flight operations going on below. They had undergone the change just two weeks ago, on board the George Washington, and were grounded since then. Well they are grounded as far as flying F-35’s. It still drives them nuts though. For the most part all they are allowed to do is sit around.

They had found out they were both Wonderbolts through an online search. That, however, means nothing to them. More recently, they have sat through some informational video’s the army had sent them. At least those videos answered questions of why and how this happened. The problem was their career as fighter and attack pilots is now over.

They would be rotated off at Pearl. Then they would be put on administrative leave until the Navy could make a decision. The navy needed aircraft that could shoot down bombers and missiles, fleet defense aircraft. Not pegasi.

So far the only thing the two had been allowed to do was carry things between ships. The drop from fighter pilot to cargo pilot though was one of the worst blows. They weren’t search and rescue geeks, they weren’t marines. They were Navy fighter pilots, graduates of the Miramar Flight Academy.

High Winds has her flight suit on. She prefers to wear it to hide her… embarrassing parts… she is still having trouble coming to terms with being a mare now. At least Fire Streak stayed male. He has his PT gear on and is stretched out, legs dangling down over the roof.

“Fire Streak, High Winds, report to the bridge, Fire Streak, High Winds to the bridge.” Blares over the PA system, the call has gone through the whole ship. And of course they opted to use the pony names instead of their real names. Again.

Sliding down a bit and back winging, Fire looks through the bridge window upside down. Both the XO and navigator roll their eyes, and the XO points to the door.

Dropping down, Streak and Wind land at the door and walk in, “Sir?”

“We have a situation.” The XO says.

Wind sighs and droops, “Someone ran out of ice cream again?”

“Have a Snickers, Wind.” Fire says, smiling, holding out the bar on his wingtip.

“Why?” Wind asks, blinking.

“Because you’re not acting like a Wonderbolt when you’re hungry.”

The XO just covers his face, cartoon ponies is one thing but this… “You two are STILL US Navy Lieutenants.”

“Yes sir.” They say in unison, standing at attention.

“We have a freighter almost right in our path, no transponder, not broadcasting any information. Our E2 picked it up 200 miles ahead of us. It’s pulling 7 knots.” The XO puts up the image on the TV screen showing the IR image of a slow freighter.

“That kind of ship isn’t normal in these waters.” Wind says, blinking.

“She’s a coastal freighter, not deep sea.” The XO says, nodding. “But the problem, is this.”

Clicking zoom, the IR shows several hot spots inside two shipping containers on board the freighter.

Wind and Fire blink, narrowing their eyes. “They could be refugees, human traffickers, or something worse.”

“They are running dark, in our path. If they start broadcasting they could give away our position. If we get too close they could start dumping cargo.” The XO shakes his head.

“So what’s on your mind XO?”

“Two Seahawks will drop off a marine team to secure the ship. The problem is the helicopters will be audible from miles away. What we need is something that can’t be heard. We need something that can get on board the ship and disable the radio without being seen. Then, if needed, stop the crew from dumping cargo.”

Fire and Wind looked at each other, then at the XO with twin smiles, “That works.”

*** CMC:EC ***

The bus stops, and the driver opens the door. The driver looks at them for a long time, unsure of what to say. What can he say? What can anyone say?

Feather sits on the bus bench, between the twins. All of their manes hang tight against their faces and necks, still wet. Their fur is puffed out a bit, as they had shaken themselves dry. It didn’t help the wet manes and tails very much, though. None of them are happy about how the sailing went, or rather didn’t. Their ears are drooped down in sadness, and they look up at the bus driver. Their eyes wide and shining with hope, unsure whether or not he’d let them on the bus with wet fur.

Cotton Cloudy’s mane has a tuft of fur that hangs down between her eyes, lying flat against her muzzle. Her tail dangles limply behind her off the back of the bench, blowing a bit in the breeze. Her tail still has knots in it she couldn’t get out. She’d need help when she gets back home. One of the adults will have to brush it for her.

Cotton Candy has his tail clamped tightly against his side. He is lying down on the bench, shivering. He has the whole kicked dog look going on, as his mane hangs limply on either side of his head. Every time the wind blows it sends shivers throughout his whole body. Closing his eyes, he lets out a little squeaking sneeze, then he whimpers softly. Opening eyes again, he lifts his head up to the bus.

Giving a weak smile to the bus driver, Feather squeaks softly, “Please sir, can we get on? We need to get back to Fort Bragg.”

The bus driver looks at the trio for a long moment, he only has two options. Let them on, or close the door and drive off. They look like animals but…they just talked. Animals can’t talk, right?

Finally he makes his decision, getting up out of his seat, he opens up the emergency locker and pulls out a blanket, “Back of the bus.”

Feather gets up quickly and the others follow, scampering up. Standing on her hind legs, Feather drops the bus fare into the register and follows the driver to the back of the bus.

The driver puts down the emergency blanket across the seats. Working with one at a time, he gently picks them up, much to their surprise, and sets them down on the blanket. Being very careful, he then brings the ends of the blanket up over them so they are snuggled together and warm. It is summer, but the bus’s air conditioner would be been bad on their wet fur. With one final tuck, all that is showing is their noses and eyes from under the blanket.

He heads to the front of the bus to continue his route. Each time the bus stops to pick up or let off passengers, he checks back to ensure no one is bothering the foals. He is a father, his daughter is just five years old. He would want other drivers to do the same if his daughter ever has to ride the bus alone.

*** Carrier Strike Group 5 ***

The transport helicopters take to the air. A pair of Seahawks, each carrying six marines from the carrier’s security force. A growler is flying high escort, to provide jammer protection. The reality however is if the freighter has shoulder launched SAM’s their only real defense would be the pegasi.

No one really has much faith in the abilities of Fire Streak and High Wind. They are untested in any form of combat like this. Untrained in close combat. They can’t even use service weapons, all they have is their hooves and wings.

The pair had launched a good ten minutes before the helicopter and are flying low, side by side. The water is pretty rough, and both of them know if they hit the waves, it would probably be it for them. Both of them have K-Bar’s strapped to their forelegs, though in this case, it isn’t for fighting, but for cutting cables.

Climbing up to about a hundred feet, they change their course, making a gradual arc. They want to come up dead astern of the freighter. The problem is, they aren’t sure of how loud they would be on the roof of the pilot house. They have no specifications for the ship, so they don’t know if their hooves would make a lot of noise that could be heard. Their only option would be to try and do everything while hovering.

The ship is running with red lights only, and the bridge is blacked out. It doesn’t even have navigation lights on. If not for the E-2, it would have gone unnoticed.

Fire Streak drops down, just over the building and nods to High Winds. Both of them draw their K-Bar’s in their mouths and begin the first part of their mission. They begin by cutting the wires for the HF, VHF and other antennae, including navigational radars.

*** Velvet ***

I pace back and forth a bit grumbling. “Where are they?”

“I’m sure everything’s fine. Sugar cube?” Ah-Pee says gently, stopping her unpacking long enough to hold out her hoof.

“AH-HAH!” Eric shouts, then he grumbles, seeing the sugar cube she is offering.

“Something wrong, Songbird?” Ballad giggles.

“One of these days I’ll catch her speaking like Applejack. I know it.” Eric shakes his head, “And it’s Sky Song, not Songbird.”

“Sky Song, song bird… either works.” She giggles softly.

“Well tomorrow I’m taking you to the music store.”

“What for?” Ballad blinks, looking confused.

“Simple, to find out what instrument works best for you. For your special talent.” Eric nods firmly. “Mine is easy. Yours however, there are lots of different types of harps.”

Giggling softly I shake my head. “Well if yours is so easy, prove it.”

Glancing back at me, Eric thinks for a moment, then he nods. Kneeling down, he takes Ballad’s cheek in his hand giving it a gentle stroke. “And I’ll fly, and I’ll fly, until the end of the sky…” Standing up he picks her forelegs up.

Standing on her hind hooves Ballad looks into Eric’s eyes. Smiling she starts to harmonize with him, her voice filling the room as well, “So I’ll be the one that doesn’t have to say good bye.”

Together they sing, hand in hoof, clear and true, “I'll clear the skies forever, so we won't be apart, I'll keep the weather warm for you, and the winter will never start.”

I looked at Ah-Pee and giggle, “Sky Song it is.”

Cipher falls on her side, legs twitching.

Blinking I looked down at her. “Ok, what’s your problem?”

“To… much… cute…” She gasps once and freezes, sticking her legs up in the air.

“Well that’s it, Cipher’s gone. We best call in the lions.” I just shake my head and laugh while I watch her.

“Stand back I’ll give her the buck of life.” Ah-Pee says, and raised her rear legs, aiming at Cipher.

“I’m alive.” Cipher says, and she rolls away quickly.

“Works every time?” I ask, smiling at Ah-Pee.

“Eeyup.”

“I’m still worried about the foals. They said they were going to try boating for their cutie marks.”

Blaze puts a wing over my back and hugs me. “Front gate called, they want you to pick up your foals.”

Turning, I run out, Blaze and Ah-Pee follow behind, laughing their flanks off. It’s a fairly short trot to the gate. Skidding to a stop I look at the guards, who are shaking their heads.

“Corporal Twilight?” The MP asks, looking at me sternly.

“Yes, sorry, they don’t seem to understand their limitations yet.” I say quickly looking at him.

“A bus driver dropped them off, he felt it was best to drop them off right at the gate rather than at the edge of the highway.” The MP moves aside so I can see the three of them cuddled under the blanket.

“Sorry mom. We didn’t expect it to turn out that badly.” Feather squeaks softly.

I shake my head softly, picking up Cloudy I set her on Ah-Pee’s back. Lifting Candy, I notice him shivering, so I put the blanket around him tightly. Finally Feather gets put on my back. “Thank you, we’ll take them home.”

Turning, I start trotting back and look at Feather. “Well?”

“Since featherings a term used in sailing, power boating, and clouds are important in sailing, we thought we’d try sailing.” Feather says.

Candy sneezes and whimpers. “The guys at the boat rentals though wouldn’t let us rent one though. We didn’t have any ID so he wouldn’t let us use our bank cards.”

“Well we had ID but he didn’t believe it was us, cuz the pictures are human.” Cloudy corrects Candy, “And it said I’m male.”

“So we figured just sitting in the boat might work, to get a feel if we liked it.” Feather continues, looking sadly at the other two. “We thought if it was our special talent we’d have an instinct or inspiration being there.”

Shivering Candy pulls the blankets around himself tighter, “But the boat wasn’t flush against the dock. There was a space between them, and the boat edge was higher than we are. Feather was able to fly across but, I had to jump. I just wasn’t strong enough. I caught the edge of the boat, but I slipped off.”

“I tried to catch him. To stop him from falling, but he was too heavy and we both fell down between the boat and the dock.” Cloudy says, looking at her brother, worried.

“I heard them cry out, and saw them trapped. They couldn’t get back up that way so I grabbed a big adult life jacket and dropped it down to them.” Feather starts, and looks at the two. “Then I dropped into the water too I was able to use my wings to push us out from under the dock and back to shore.”

“Celestia, I’m not sure if I should be angry or proud.” I shake my head and looked at the three. “You took a huge risk going that far off base, but at the same time you stood up for each other. You protected each other and made it back.”

“You’re still grounded for leaving the base.” Blaze says firmly.

All three sigh and call out in unison, “Yes Daddy.”

I trot into my apartment at the barracks, and carefully put Feather on the sofa. Grabbing Candy, I put him in bed and wrapped a blanket around him. “Ok you need to wait here, I’ll get Henry over to check you out, in the meantime I’ll make you some nice veggie soup.”

Yawning Candy curls up, “Thanks mom.”

“What about your real mom?” I ask curiously.

“She died when we were young. We were raised by our dad till we were 18 then he left.” Candy says softly.

“I’m sorry.” I say softly and nuzzle him.

“It’s ok. I feel safe with you.”

Smiling I back out of the room and head to the kitchenette. It’s small, but workable. Looking through the cupboards I smile and pull down a large can of vegetable broth. Adding it to a pot, I dice up some mixed vegetables and add it the pot, getting it to a bare simmer.

“Feather, are you or Cloudy feeling ill? Are you feeling hot or such?” I ask, looking at them on the couch.

“No mom.” Feather calls out.

Cloudy shakes her head. “I’m ok, mom.”

I glance over at the knock at the door, “Who is it?”

“Your star crossed lover.” I hear Henry call out.

Laughing softly, I open the door for him and give him a quick nuzzle. “He’s in the bed room, sneezing and shivering.”

“I’ll take a look.” Henry says reassuringly and heads in, followed by Feather.

Giving Candy a quick check up, Henry smiles, “Little bit of a fever, I think it’s just a cold.”

Feather whimpers softly, “Can’t you heal him?”

“He’ll be fine Feather.” Henry says, kneeling down.

Putting her head against his hip, on his jeans over his cutie mark Feather whimpers softly. “Star Crossed could have healed him.”

“Star Crossed wouldn’t though. Sometimes illnesses like this are good for the body. They help it build up defenses against worse illnesses down the road.” Henry ruffles her mane softly.

Pouting, Feather walks back out to the common room.

I smile as I walk in and gently put down the soup and tray beside Candy. “Would you like me to help you eat?”

Looking up, Candy nods slowly.

“He’ll be fine Velvet, just give him a few days to rest.” Henry says.

“Thanks doc.”

Sitting down I carefully started spoon feeding the sick foal. I let him decide when he wants each spoonful, before offering it to him, letting him rest between sips.

*** Carrier Strike Group 5 ***

Fire Streak and High Winds lay quietly on top of the bridge house. From here they can watch the cargo containers and hear the crew, to a certain extent. Looking at each other they nod. It’s show time.

In the distance, they hear the helicopters coming in. It takes a few minutes longer, but the crew begins hearing it too and they start to respond. Two sailors run out of the bridge and started scanning the sky with binoculars.

Fire Streak yawns, relaxing, the ship doesn’t have a lot of crew members, so it is easy to watch them from their vantage point. The captain is calling out orders to shut down lights. Really, like that would work against low light and thermal imaging. Even if they could get everyone hidden and block all heat sources, Fire and Wind would still show up on infrared.

Wind perks her ears, looking down at two crew members running out of the superstructure. Focusing her eyes on the group, she gets up quickly and spreading her wings. She shouts, “SAM SAM SAM!”

Leaping down, to the surprise of the crew, Wind shoulder tackles the crewman. Falling backwards he loses his lock on the helicopter as he fires. The missile streaks out from the launcher and arched upwards, between the two Seahawks.

That’s it, gloves are now off.

Fire Streak dives down into another group of sailors, using his weight and kicks to keep them off balance and batter them to the ground. While one has an AK-74 it is quickly knocked overboard with a wing slam.

Wind mule kicks one sailor, sending him into the rail hard enough to stun him, while holding the second one on the ground with her front hooves. Beside her she sees a sailor pointing an AK-74 at her and backwings, flying backwards behind one of the shipping containers.

Minigun fire opens up from the first Seahawk as rounds rake the pilot house and upper decks. Using fast lines, marines from the George Washington’s security detachment drop to the deck behind the shipping containers. Clearing the way, the first Seahawk maintains constant fire on the upper decks and pilot house while the second moves into position.

Making their way forward, the Marines engage the sailors on deck. Small arms fire flash on both sides of the ship and in both directions. Fire and Wind clear the deck and regroup high above the helicopters, so they are not caught in cross fire. Wind cringes, seeing the explosion of a grenade near one of the Marine groups.

In response, both helicopters train their miniguns on that side of the ship, the fire is withering as hundreds of rounds hit every second cutting into or bouncing off of metal.

The entire fight though, lasts less than two minutes. The pegasi look at each other, nodding and dive down to the bridge. Hitting the deck, they find most of the bridge crew dead. The Captain, however, was cowering under the helm console.

“United States Navy, you might want to surrender now.” Wind says with a smile.

*** The Unicorn ***

Beth paces back and forth, somewhere between tears and screaming. She’s been crying for the last fifteen minutes. How could she be so stupid, why did she do that? In front of cameras too.

“Sis, you did the right thing.”

“I got caught on film.” She whines.

“You saved a little girls life. That’s never ever wrong.” He says, softly.

“It’s going to be all over the papers.” She whimpers.

“Actually it’s not even on the internet. The Sun has nothing on it.” Getting up, he walks over and hugs his sister, starting to brush her cheek and mane. “Come on, calm down. It’s not the end. Just need to be more careful. And it’s not like they are going to connect you to the damage.”

“But what if hunters, or police, come looking for me?”

“Then you hide, they will never find this place.” Pulling her to sit down, he starts feeding her some of her favorite biscuits.

“Well their big dozer is dead, at least for the day. I’ll drop the tombstone on it tonight. I just…”

“You just need to rest, relax, and calm down. You can’t fret. You did the right thing, you did the bravest thing. You risked yourself to save a girl. I bet her family is so happy you did.”

“There’s nothing on the internet?”

“Nope, I checked local papers and such for unicorns saving a child. Not a thing.” Tommy says, shaking his head.

“Well it’s only been a little while. Maybe something will show up tomorrow.”

“Then we will deal with it tomorrow, until then, The Lady Amalthea is safe.” He hugs her neck again and leans into her.

Just being held helps her. Least she is with family.

*** James ***

“Are you planning on commuting every other day?” James says, laughing.

Fleetfoot sticks her tongue out and shakes her head. Trotting in to James’ barracks, she looks around. His things have already been delivered and set up. It is a nice one bedroom, one bathroom, apartment with a balcony. There is a full-sized kitchen with attached dining room, and an open form living room.

Looking around, she freezes and spreads her wings. He has a nice large picture of himself as a pegasus hanging in the living room. On either side are pictures of the pegasi and unicorns of the squad and a full squad picture of them all in human form.

“You keep them?” She whispers, looking back at him.

“Why not? I may not be a pegasus but it was still fun to play one.”

Shaking her head, she climbs up on the sofa and lays down on her side. “James, face it, you’re a pegasus at heart. You will always be.”

With a chuckle, he sits and starts to gently preen her wing, “I’m me, no matter what form I’m in. Maybe someday I’ll consider it but for now I’m happy being me.”

“So how are things here?”

“Great, relaxing, we were doing paratraining qualifications. Wing suit jumps with the recruits.”

Fleetfoot starts laughing, shaking her head. “Wing suits, the art of falling with style.”

“Hey have to teach the normal groundlings somehow.” He chuckles.

“How’s Blaze handling that?”

“Actually, it’s strange. Having him there is such a new level of safety to the jumps.”

Fleetfoot nods, “Oh I can see that. Still, it has nothing on really flying though.”

“Hey, not all of us are born to fly.” He says.

“So what’s on the table for tonight?”

“Bacon and sausage pizza, with hot wings.”

“Ohhh…” Fleetfoot smiles brightly.

Standing up, James turns on the TV, then relaxes as they have a quiet dinner, together.

*** Fire and Wind ***

With the ship secured, the Marine detachment begins searching the containers. Two of the containers are loaded with old grain. One has several bales of old hay that has gone somewhat moldy. One container is full of old car parts.

The last two though, the marines hear noises from. Fire and Wind land as the Marines open the doors.

These are standard shipping containers, 40 feet by 8. Air vents have been added top and bottom of the doors as well as several places along the container itself. Inside, each container is packed with around thirty ponies of different ages. They are all tied and muzzled.

Dehydrated, starved, neither Fire nor Wind have seen so many in one place. Nor had they seen pony or person in such bad shape.

Rotten grain and hay line the bottom of the shipping container, as well as waste. There are foals, some small enough that they could be picked up with a wing. They have not been out of the containers in at least two weeks, judging by their conditions.

Was this the new world of ponies?

45: The Major Lift

The members of our Ranger team have been told to report to the briefing room. This is completely normal. Teams, detachments, sections would often be called in for briefing before a mission. The fact that I was called in with Blaze and the rest of the team, feels normal, but at the same time, strange. This is our first real briefing since all this started.

Since we had turned in our old kit, the Army has issued us a whole new set, including new uniforms, boots, and field gear. It gives me a certain amount of pride to sit in my new Class A uniform. One piece of humor though is the stances. Pony attention and at ease positions, as well as at rest, have been taken straight out of the EUP Field manual, as translated by me.

It seems strange to draw from an alien manual, but feet together hands at your sides just doesn’t work with equine anatomy. Since we have the stances already, it has quickly been adopted to be the standard for the Army.

The boys have been back to normal for a week now, and the only one so far seeming to have any problem is poor Henry. Being forced to be a vegetarian is pretty hard on him at times. Watching him do things like reaching out for a cup of coffee while talking. Then having to lean over to get it, forgetting the glass won’t come to him was adorkable. Of course the Unicorn Club and I didn’t help matters any, as we’d often nudge the cups to his hand anyway.

What would I do without magic? Like Henry, my cutie mark is all about magic. It’s a part of me, it defines me. I don’t think I’d ever be able to live as a human again. Walking on 2 legs and using hands. Human style clothing, what could be worse?

A human female captain walks in, looking around the room at us.

Oh yeah, breasts, no thank you I like my udders where they are.

I come to attention with the rest of my unit and wait patiently.

“At ease. As of 2300 hours Hawaii time, 0900 Zulu, a small coastal freighter was captured. The crew was armed with a rather disturbing array of weapons. AK-74’s, AN-94’s, RPG-29’s, and most worrisome, 9K333 Verba man portable SAM’s.” She says, looking at the big screen.

“This was likely a pirate mothership that had been operating inside the Philippine waters. However it was discovered by a US Carrier group on its way to Pearl some 300 miles out, it was braving rough waters.”

“Wouldn’t this normally be the Navy and Coast Guard’s concern?” The LT asks, looking confused.

“The ship is being turned over to the Coast Guard, however, it was also carrying a large number of slaves.” She says and puts up pictures of the ponies.

I feel my stomach turn at the sight and number of them. I recognize a few of the marks. "Dr. Goodall, Roma, Betty,” I say softly.

“Happy trails, Bubblegum, Ginger.” Blaze adds.

Henry sits up, blinking, “Oh god, they have babies, I’ve never seen a person shift to someone so young.”

“They could have changed since…” The LT starts, then stops. “Is that one of the Cakes babies?”

“They are being brought into Hawaii for processing. The problem is, they are terrified of humans now. We need security for them, we need to interrogate them. We need to know where they came from, where the pirates came from, anything we can find out.”

“No Navy ponies?” The LT asked.

“Two on site, but they are pegasi, pilots. Both of them only changed about 2 weeks ago. We would also like you to offer the two pegasi the option to transfer to the Army or Air Force. Both are being put on administrative leave, as the Navy doesn’t have need for pegasi at this time.”

“Oh come on.” Blaze says. “Recon, search and rescue, weather patrol, I’m pretty sure a pegasus could storm dive better than anything the Navy has in inventory.”

“Except the Navy doesn’t, that’s the CG and USAF.” The captain says. “Your flight leaves in three hours. We expect you’ll be deployed there for two weeks.”

“Will the Unicorn club be joining us?” Henry asks curiously.

The captain turns, looking at Henry confused, “Who?”

“Sorry ma’am, it’s the unofficial term for Sugarberry, Ballad, and Cipher.” The LT says, looking at Henry.

Shaking his head, the captain responds explains. “No, they will have their hands full taking care of the foals, I hear they can be troublesome.”

Tapping his pencil on his scratch pad, Eric responds without thinking, “But the Unicorn Club doesn’t have hands, they have hooves.”

“I think your time as a pony has had an effect on your judgement, perhaps you need more time off Sargent.” The captain says firmly.

Blinking, Eric looked up and around, realizing what he had just said. “Yes ma’am, I mean no ma’am. Sorry when it comes to ponies I’m used to hearing hooves full. Sorry ma’am, local colloquialisms can get confusing.”

“Well don’t come back speaking surfer talk or I’ll put you on report.” She says, shaking her head, “Dismissed.”

*** Across the pond ***

“The beast has fallen. It will never live again.” Beth says, sitting down.

“That bad?” Tommy looks up from his laptop.

“Worse, they left the cowling up, I managed to get the spark plugs out and pour molasses down the holes.” She says with a giggle.

“Glow plugs, but same difference. And that’s just mean.”

“Well it’s all I had, and remember how dad was when you stuck your grilled cheese into the BetaMAX.” Giggling Beth winks at him.

“Don’t make me remind you of the duct tape incident.” Tommy says, scowling

Backing down, Beth lowers her head, “You promised you wouldn’t.”

“So I’ve kept my eye on the papers, not a whisper. Not a peep.” Tommy says, shaking his head as he changes the subject.

“They had pictures and everything!” She huffs, “Okay, I’m happy I didn’t show up but… Now I’m starting to feel dejected. I saved her life and there’s not even a mention?”

“I thought you didn’t want to be seen.” He looks up.

Shaking her head she sits down, “I don’t, but really. I did something good.”

“I know what you mean. A thank you might have been nice.” Tommy smiles, then hugs his sister. “Whatever the case thank you for proving yourself better than most people.”

“I’m not a people, I’m a unicorn.” She says with a sigh, then hugs him tightly with her neck.

“Well you’re safe at least. Since no one went public, it means no one knows.” Tommy says, then chuckles as he gets up.

Walking over to the ponykin, he picks up the hat and cloak and walks over putting them on his sister. “There, what do you think?” He says, chuckling.

“I think it’s too big for me, it was made for a unicorn larger then I am. And given the picture we found, I would need a beard to complete the look.” Walking over, she looks at the picture of the white unicorn stallion wearing the cloak and hat.

“It’s strange, in horses there isn’t much difference between stallions and mares. They are generally the same size, same build.” Tommy says.

“Except for the tail area.”

“You say while lifting your tail.” Tommy says with a laugh.

“Oops, sorry, still don’t have full control of that yet.”

“The armor, though, shows differences in height, and head shape. I wonder why.” Tommy asks, picking up a stallion’s helmet and plopping it over his head.

“Maybe because they were so small it was hard to tell in the other departments.” Beth says, giggling evilly.

“Oh ouch, burn unicorns.”

“Only males.” She says, looking proud, and sits looking at the books that have survived.

“I wish I understood the writing, it’s not English, it’s not Gaelic, heck it doesn’t even look Russian.” Tommy says, looking at them as well.

“I didn’t know you read Russian.” Beth says, looking shocked.

“Oh I don’t, but I know what the backwards K looks like.” He says, chuckling. “I also took a picture of the letters, asked my phone to run it through google translate. It couldn’t find a matching language.”

Sitting down, Beth shakes her head, “It’s stupid. I almost remember seeing them but I have no idea what they mean. It’s like seeing Chinese writing, you recognize the style but don’t know what it means.” She says with a sigh.

“But at least the pictures are pretty.” She says, laughing. “I just wish there was more of them. Unicorns, winged unicorns, and pegasi. There are also two types of unicorns. The small ones and the horse sized ones.” Lifting one of the pictures, Beth turns it sideways. “But they all have different heraldic marks, think they are brands?”

“There’s a lot of pictures of the Rod of Asclepius, as well as a snowflake. Searching for it through family crests here.” He says, holding up the book he had been working on. “It’s a note book rather than one of the other texts. It makes reference to some of the marks in the pictures of the bible on the shelf there.”

“I was never very religious so.” Beth shakes her head.

“It’s not the fact that it’s a bible, it’s a Gutenberg, I think he was comparing it to the pictures in the bible rather than the text itself. They have re-drawn several of the pictures.”

“Well without understanding the language there’s nothing we can really do.” Tilting her head, Beth starts laughing, “Maybe it was Merlin.”

*** The Crown ***

Leaning back in his chair, Sir Fredrick sips his brandy. The cigar smoke drifts through the air of the reading room of the men’s club. Shaking his head, he looks at the report. At least the BBC has played ball with the government about keeping the ponies quiet.

It is interesting that many of the ministers don’t even know about the ponies yet. The secretaries had done their jobs very well in ensuring that the pony information was given to their ministers properly. His minister, Minister of Transport, for example hadn’t heard word one about the ponies. His briefing was perfectly placed in his box, in the middle of a report on incidents and issues with animals crossing motorways, under the section of wild horses, somewhere around page 560.

Even if he did read it, it would first seem like an appendix to the file. Since most ministers rarely read the full documents, and instead simply read the summaries, the information was nicely obfuscated.

This report though, of a pony saving a girl’s life is troublesome. This might generate public interest or worse, support for them. As well, her proximity to the construction site, given the mysterious damage to the equipment and complete lack of progress…

“Julian, do you have that American report on unicorn’s abilities?” Glancing up from his drink, he looks at the junior secretary.

“The one the FBI provided us? Yes.” He flips through several files on his tablet then nods. “Right here Sir.”

“Remind me to thank Lighting Dust and Volker for those files. They have come in very handy.”

“Holiday cards, sir?” Julian asks offhandedly.

“What do they say about the ranges and strength of their telekinetic?” Sir Fredrick swirls his drink, ignoring the question by Julian.

Flipping through pages, Julian nods once, “Here we go, ranges and strength varies based on the individuals. More magical unicorns could manipulate objects out to two hundred feet. Twenty feet seems to be average for moderate to heavy objects.”

“Was there anything on teleportation?”

“Extremely rare, though those that can do it again range is between a few feet and a few hundred yards.” Looking up from his tablet, Julian tilts his head. “Anything else?”

“Nope, that’s all I wanted to know. It gives me something to consider.” He says, taking a sip from his brandy.

“I’ve always wondered,” Julian started as he turned off his tablet, “why we don’t give the ministers their reports in computer format.”

“Julian, how did you find the information on telekinetics in that large file?” Sir Fredrick says, looking at the junior secretary sternly.

“I searched for it.”

“Exactly, and if ministers had the files they could search for things to couldn’t they?”

“Well yes, wouldn’t that be better?”

“Better? Better! Julian, if ministers could find the information they needed, that would mean they would also be able to find the information they wanted. That is a very dangerous concept. It is best that we tell them what they need, so we can control what they want. What’s worse, if they could search the documents, they could find things we do not want them to find.”

“And that would be bad?” Julian shakes his head.

“Very Julian, a minister that thinks for themselves is a threat.” Sir Fredrick says, then sips his brandy again, “For that reason, paper will live forever.”

*** Across the pond ***

The C-38B is a fast VIP transport, usually reserved for hauling Generals back and forth from Washington. Carrying twelve passengers in comfort, with big soft seats, full sized tables, and it even has a small kitchen service for drinks and snacks. The big brass knows how to travel in style.

This is a mission though, we have a ten hour flight, but at least it is direct, Fort Brag to Hawaii, nonstop. This means we get to eat and sleep on the plane. With the extra wide seats with lots of leg room however, this is a first class trip.

Henry and I are looking at the EUP field manual. While Henry can’t read it, I translate for him. There is just so much useful information in it. There is a full pony first aid chapter for field injuries and treatments.

Henry chuckled softly, “And they’re all starting to look fidgety and unhappy, not as bad as Blaze though.”

I blink and look over, Blaze looks like a puff ball. All his fur is standing on end. His tail is puffed out, his mane looks like it had an accident in a conditioner factory. Whimpering, his wings are twitching badly.

Getting up, I walk up to the cockpit and lean in, “Hey guys, what’s going on?”

The pilot yawns stretching and looks back, “Nothing why?”

“The way the pegasi are acting, you’re heading into really bad weather.”

Leaning over, he wakes up the co-pilot, “Check the radar and see if you see anything.”

Rubbing his eyes the co-pilot looked at the screens and shakes his head. “I’ve got nothing on the scope.”

“Trust me on this, it’s going to be major.” I say and head back into the cabin.

“Everyone strap in just to be safe.” I say, sitting down and strapping in. Using my magic I strap everyone else in as well, then make sure everything is secure.

Watching Blaze, I cringe when I see him close his eyes. The next thing I know we were falling… a massive downdraft over the Rockies sends our plane down nearly 3,000 feet in a few seconds before the pilots are able to fight their way through it. The turbulence is fearsome, with the small plane being tossed around for a good five or so very vigorous minutes.

Even though our carry-on luggage is strapped down, some of it was still thrown around the cabin. It takes considerable effort to pin the entire meal cart to the wall, as well as several plates as the plane banks and rolls side to side.

“Remember when we flew through that typhoon.” The LT calls out, “and the pilot found the eyewall by accident.”

“Isn’t that when Henry puked?” Jay says, looking none too happy.

“I think I’m gonna puke this time.” I blink, looking at Blaze who is looking rather green at the moment.

“Oh come on hun, you’ve been through worse.” I say, giggling.

“Trust me, as a pegasus, that felt worse. Every single thing said, the pilots should have avoided that. Then when in it, they should have gone different directions and followed with the flows more.”

“I know Blaze, but remember, they can’t feel the winds and weather.”

“Oh come on, we could all feel that.” Sanchez says, grumbling.

“I couldn’t.” Henry shakes his head, “Unicorn and magic cutie mark here, you guys have pegasi cutie marks. They make you more sensitive to the weather.”

“Now the big problem, I need a brush for Blaze… STAT!” I say with a giggle.

“And an air sickness bag.” Henry adds.

*** CMC EC ***

Feather knocks on the twins’ door with her forehoof. “Can I come in?”

Slowly the door opens in front of her and Cloudy pokes her muzzle out, “Sup?”

“Bored. I decided I wanted to check on Candy.”

“I’m fine, after I woke up this morning I felt better.” He calls out.

“Whatcha doin?” Feather says, in a sing song style.

“Trying to convince Cloudy I’m ok.”

“Hey we were both concerned about you.” Cloudy protests.

“I’m fine, I’m a big girl.”

“BOY!” Cloudy and Feather correct him together.

“I know.” Candy says, rolling out of bed and landing on his hooves. “Who wants ice-cream?”

“Curiously I could cheerfully cope with a cold confection currently.” Cloudy says, then checks her hip.

“Nope, C’s not your cutie mark.” Feather says, giving her a nuzzle.

“Darn, with the name Cotton Cloudy I just had to try.” She says, “So where to and remember we are grounded to base.”

“Oh thank gosh it wasn’t, I’d have to kill you after the first hour of all C’s.” Candy says, and heads for the door. “To Sugar Cube Corner!”

“Who, where now?” Feather blinks looking confused.

Turning he pranced out the door heading outside, “Follow me.”

To most kids their equivalent age, the idea of walking nearly two miles is unheard of. In this day and age, traveling two miles without a vehicle is just rarely done. Feather and Cloudy though, follow Candy down the street with ease. It takes them less than fifteen minutes to get to where Candy is leading them.

Stopping, both girls go wide eyed. The concept, the possibilities. This could work. They didn’t have a Sugar Cube Corner on Earth. At least, not one that they had found. But this, this has possibilities. It is on base, it sells cakes, it sells ice cream, and it sells smoothies.

Looking at each other they nod, “Cold Stone Creameries shall now be… our Sugarcube Corner.” Feather giggles.

Trotting up to the door, Cotton Cloudy tries to pull it open, but between the air pressure difference, and the closing spring, she can’t get it open.

Giggling, Feather calls out. “Clear!” then charges for the door.

Cloudy and Candy dive clear in shock. Candy holds out his foreleg “Feather don’t….”

Stopping just beside the door, Feather does a wing assisted jump and hit the handicapped door button then drops to the ground. With a hiss, the door opens wide for her.

Covering her muzzle and eyes, Cloudy walks in on three legs, wondering why she didn’t think of that. Candy pulls up the rear, groaning softly and shaking his head.

“No anima… What the…” The store clerk looks down at the two unicorns and pegasus as they walk up towards the counter.

Looking around, Cloud and Candy grab a chair and nose it up to the cash register. Then Feather does a wing assisted jump to land on the chair. It is still working hours so there are only a few adults in the restaurant which is likely for the best.

Standing up on her hind legs, Feather balances her forelegs on the counter edge carefully. “Sorry sir, we’re just too short to see the menu properly.”

“I… I… I’m going to get the manager.” The man says, and he turns and walks into the back.

Looking down at the twins Feather giggles, “We broke him.”

“Feather, will you stop breaking things, you’ll end up with a shattered feather as a cutie mark.” Candy says, smiling innocently.

“Luna special attack, Feather Dart Cuteness.” Feather says, snapping her wing towards Candy.

Everyone leans up and checks Feathers hip. “Nope.” They all giggle.

The manager is an older woman, in her mid-40’s. She is wearing the company uniform as well as an apron. Her hair is held up in a hair net, and she wears thick glasses. Looking down at the three little foals she blinks, “You’re kidding, right?”

“No ma’am. I’m Feather Pinch. This is Cotton Candy and Cloudy.” Feather says, looking down at the twins then back up at the woman, biting her lower lip.

Walking out from behind the counter, she walks over to a booth and sits down. “I have a feeling this is going to be one of those stories.”

The three foals scamper over and sit up on the other side of the booth, barely a head above the table.

Candy takes a breath, “Do you know about the ponies?” He tilts his head, worried about how much she knows.

“Sort of, I’ve seen them walking around. Also in the PX and BX they have several pony items, I actually asked what they were for, once.” She responds, unsure of all of this.

“We changed into foals. There are not a lot of places we can go.” Candy continues. “I’m wondering if it would be ok if we came in here for treats occasionally. We can pay.”

All look up at her hopefully. They smile widely, hoping she would let them visit here. They don’t want to get kicked out on their first visit.

“What do you mean changed?” Tilting her head, she still looks very unsure of things.

“It’s hard to explain, and sounds silly but… We were all born like this. We’re foals, not even close to being full grown. We were cursed by an evil spirit of chaos, and sent to this world as humans. The curse is wearing off now and we are turning back to ponies. Not just us but every pony that was cursed.” Feather says, knowing how bad it sounds.

“You’re right, it does sound unbelievable.” She says, nodding slowly.

“So you’re going to grow up as big as the others?”

All three nod slowly, then they lower their heads.

“For now though, we’re stuck as young children.” Feather says, “We’ve been adopted by a pair of Rangers, but right now they are deployed so we are with friends of the family.”

“Ok girls, since you’re not animals, and since the base treats you like people, you can come in here.” She says with a smile, her decision made. “I’ll see if we can get a booster bench set up for you so you’re not in child seats.”

“Actually, Candy here is a boy.” Cloudy corrects.

“Can we order? I’d really like a strawberry banana milkshake.” Feather asks.

“Oreo and Milk milkshake here please.” Candy adds in.

“May I have Cake and Batter?” Cloudy looks up.

Ducking her head into her saddle bag, Cloudy pulls out some money and offers it.

“Not a problem, just wait here.” Walking behind the cash register, she starts making the shakes with care. Once done she brings all three out, setting them in front of the foals.

Looking up at Candy, Feather giggles, “How’re yours?”

“Oreo wonderful.” She smile.

With a little giggle, Cloudy starts to hum the Oreo Wonderful song. Holding the milkshake glass still with her forelegs, Feather starts bobbing with the beat of the tune, ending up with a dollop of whipped cream on the tip of her muzzle for her troubles.

The twins giggle, “Feather, lick your nose off.”

Cleaning her muzzle, Feather looks innocent then blinks. “I know, we can try CMC Video makers. I have an idea.”

Collecting her change, Cloudy leaves a little tip on the table. “Ok, let do it then!”

Heading back to the barracks, the three quickly get to work. Cloudy gets the music for the song. She sets it up on the computer with a timed delay. The music is so common on the internet, it is easy to download.

Candy had some experience with cameras, so she sets up the cellphone camera, bracing it and prepares the record system. Using some tape, she marks the focus point on the ground, as well as the edges of the frame for the shot. This will give them their markers, so nopony has to stand behind the camera the entire time.

When ready, all three move into frame, Cloudy giving a little wave to make sure it is working. Starting the music timer, they all take their places, as soon as it hits zero, the music starts.

Holding up an Oreo cookie to the camera Feather starts singing.

Wonder if I... Gave an Oreo

To a Wonderbolt, how would the story go

Would she say my wings were fluff

Or would she teach me to be tough

Would she carry me up, into the sky

So I could learn to fly...

As Feather sings, she spreads her wings, looking at them making the feathers fluff out a bit. In the meantime, the twins sit on either side of her, bobbing their heads as they dance to her song. Nodding their heads, they rocked back and forth in time with the song.

As the song reaches the part about being tough, the twins make muscle actions with their forelegs while Feather does her best to look tough. Going into a pegasi action pose, given her small size and little wings, in no way does she look the slightest bit tough.

With the ending of the song Feather beats her wings really fast but doesn’t take off the ground, making it look like she couldn’t fly. Meanwhile, the twins look up into the sky to complete the effect.

Giggling, they stop the recoding and transfer it to the computer. Candy quickly gets to work, cleaning it up a bit and boxing it properly, before they agree that the little commercial is done. Once complete they nod.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Cookie Commercial Creators!” They all cheer, and start to giggle.

“But who would best judge this? Mom and Dad are on mission.” Feather says.

“And Cipher and Ah-Pee would probably said it was good no matter what it looks like.” Candy says.

“We need a Wonderbolt.” Cloudy huffs.

“THAT’S IT!” Feather says, jumping on the spot, her head hitting the desk lamp and accidently turning it on above her.

“What’s it?” Candy asks.

“Lightning Dust is a Wonderbolt, we can send it to her!”

“To the leader of the Wonderbolts on Earth, care of Lighting Dust.” Cloudy says, as she enters it into the computer. “Send.”

“You know, we could probably do better.” Cloudy says, giggling.

“Better?”

“The cutie mark crusaders would have done one for each tribe.”

“But we don’t have an earth pony.” Cloudy says.

“Oh that’s easy.” Candy giggles and trundles off. She comes back with a cowboy hat from Ah-Pee’s room. With a little work, they rig it up so it hides Candy’s horn.

Trading positions, they start the music again, this time with Cloudy in the center singing. Holding up the Oreo she starts her part.

I wonder if I, gave an Oreo

To a unicorn, that was in the know

Would she say my horn’s too small?

Would she let my hopes just fall?

Or would she teach magic, the way I am

Just because she can?

Singing about her horn being small and her hopes falling, she tucks her tail between her legs, ears drooping sadly. Then, using a flashlight, with no attempts to hide it. She uses it to light her horn. There is no question it isn’t a magical aura, but that isn’t the point is it?

Shifting positions again, so Candy has the spotlight, he holds up his cookie, singing his part.

I wonder if I, gave an Oreo

To a po-ny, from that children’s show

Would she help my legs grow strong?

Could I buck trees all day long?

Would she help me find my Equestrian dreams?

Getting my cutie mark it seems?

The other two foals ducked as he makes bucking motions over both of them in either direction. As he talks about his dreams he puts his hoof on his hat, looking up to the sky. Then finally as they finish the song, all three turn sideways to the camera, showing their blank flanks.

*** Lightning Dust ***

Most of this day has been routine paperwork, I'm in the office really longer than I truly need to be. But this place is a bit of a refuge for me.

An email pops up, not on my regular email for Lightning Electric, but the new pony based one that Mindy has set up for all of us ponies. I look at the subject, CMC Earth Chapter. I have to grin, though if there now is a chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders on Earth, I feel sorry for wherever they are located. But it's nice to see foals doing what foals do, searching for their talents, for their cutie marks.

I open the email, and follow the link for the video. After a few minutes, I call out, "Pat, get in here, you need to see this."

I hear her shuffling around, and in moments, the door opens, and my office manager pokes her head in, "What?"

"Did you ever get a chance to watch the show that is based on the ponies?"

She nods, "Yeah, Friendship is Magic."

I nod, "You remember the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

She nods again.

"Well, a couple of foals apparently have decided to make a CMC here on Earth."

She giggles, and comes over to my side, once again, the video is played.

"Oh that is so cute, my granddaughter would love to see that."

I nod, "I'll have to send it over to Mindy as well. She could use a pick me up."

*** Pearl Harbor ***

“I really need a pick me up.” Shaking my mane out I get off the aircraft and stretch out my legs.

“Make a hole!” I hear Blaze yell as he dives out of the plane, taking to the air.

“Watch the feathers.” Henry says, shaking his head as Blaze clips him on the way out.

Once in the air, Blaze is flitting and zipping around, trying to get his senses back in order. A ten hour flight in a small size aircraft isn’t the best for a pegasus. Now that he is out I’m not sure I could get him down again for a while.

“Can we just tranq him next time, LT?” Sanchez cuckles as he gathers his things.

“I’m not afraid of flying… I just pity the fool that puts me in a plane.”

A medium truck pulls up and parks, with the driver hopping out and freezing at the sight of a unicorn.

“Oh look, our ride’s here.” I say and trot over, hopping in the back.

The rest of the rangers follow suit, climbing in as well. All except for Blaze, he lands on the roof and walks in a circle a few times before laying down on the canvas covering.

“Did he just?” Henry starts.

“Yeah, he does that on clouds too sometimes.” I say giggling.

Author's Note

Art by Alkarasu

46: The Minor Fall

“Stupid animal.”

The boy is about 13 years old, and he is big. He is a base brat and bully at the local school. His dad is a Drill Sargent and he is more than willing to throw his weight around. Especially if it is against smaller kids.

Pulling his leg back he lines up to punt Feather. Caught by surprise, all Feather can do is drop down curling up. She is older than him, but his size makes him intimidating to her small form.

“Try it and you’ll pull back a stump.” Cloudy shouts, she is standing like she is ready to charge, horn lowered and scowling.

“What is this? A collection of ponies? Come on, I put my sister’s into the microwave.” He says, laughing.

“I don’t think you understand, we are not toys, we are not animals. We are real, and we are magical. And we stand together.” Candy says.

“Feather was tortured by religious fanatics. Do you think we would not fight to keep you from hurting her?” Cloudy asks.

“I’ve beaten up kids bigger than you without a problem.” He says, turning to the twins.

“And even if we get beaten up, you’ll still have to answer to my mom and dad.” Feather says, standing up slowly.

“Aww, little baby ponies gonna run home and tell their mommy? Scared tattle tails?”

“No, we’re ponies, we are a herd, and there is no dishonor in telling our herd. Our mom’s a force of nature. We have magic, but she can take on a tank without help. She’s a Ranger, so powerful that the army has chosen to let her continue to serve as a Ranger, even though she’s female, and a pony.” Candy says firmly.

“Oh blah blah blah, then run home, tell you mommy, and next time I see you, you’ll get it worse.” He says, moving to kick Feather again.

“I don’t need to run home.” Turning sideways, Cloudy lifts the lid of her saddle bag so he can see her cellphone, on speaker mode. “I already called for help.”

Cipher appears in full uniform, standing over Feather. Her horn glowing as she snorts and scuffs a hoof. A few seconds later, Ballad appears, standing in front of the twins.

“Don’t move, don’t even think of running. I’m more than strong enough to lift you up with magic alone.”

The MP car pulls around the corner and hits the brakes.

“I have it all recorded.” Cipher says as the MP’s get out of the car.

“Good girls, and good boy. You kept him talking long enough for us to get here. He also did a great job of incriminating himself.”

Candy nods, “sometimes you don’t need to fight to win. Just having friends to call can save ponies and people from getting hurt.”

*** Pearl Harbor ***

You never really understand just how big a supercarrier is until you see one. You can hear about it being 1100 feet long, or 250 feet wide but what does that mean? Take your average 100 story skyscraper, say the Empire State Building. Lay it on its side… and sail that into port.

The two carriers have been split up to different docks, one is being unloaded to go into dry-dock, the second is simply resupplying. It is a rare day when two carriers put to port at once. What makes this even rarer, one was carrying 60 refugee ponies.

I sit on the roadway as they begin bringing the stretchers down first. The marine security detail keeps close watch on them, but that is was understandable, given it is a warship. The majority of them are being taken to what they navy describes as an outdoor staging area. The idea is to quarantine them, provide medical aid, process them, and then decide what to do with them.

Looking up I see the two Navy pegasi. Waving, I try to get their attention without luck. It takes Blaze flying up and bringing them down before we can talk.

Landing in front of me, I give them both a salute.

“Captain Richie, Fire Streak.”

“Captain Tonelli, High Winds.” The mare says as she droops a bit, her tail instantly moving between her legs.

“I’m Corporal Twilight Velvet, this is Corporal Blaze.” I say cheerfully.

“Don’t you use your human names?” Fire asks, looking confused.

“Why would I? I was a pony first, after all.”

“Velvet? From the informational video?” Wind asks, looking up.

I cringe, “Yeah those came out so strange. Welcome to Ponydom.”

“Hey, compared to ‘STD’s and You’, it could have been worse.” Fire laughs.

Wind whines a bit, trying to clamp her tail down harder, “Don’t talk about things like that please.”

“Mind him, he’s just having one of those days.” Fire says teasingly.

Looking at Wind I shake my head. “Males sometimes. Its okay Wind, I have some tea that will help, and trust me I know what you’re going through.”

“Right, how could you.” Wind huffs.

Blaze lands beside me, “That’s easy. Guys, meet Corporal Wally Christian. He’s gone through more than most, and the army’s updated her file, and still wants her serving in the Rangers.”

Blushing a bit, I hip check Blaze. “You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. Trust me, it could have been worse.”

“How?” She huffs.

“Well the curse returns you to the moment when the curse was cast. I already ran into one pony that was in her last week of pregnancy when she was cursed.” Blaze said. “Picture you changing and finding yourself, essentially 9 months pregnant.”

“The problem though is, we're pilots and the navy doesn’t have use for pilot that can’t fly.”

“Army and Air force have use for pegasi though.” I say and hop on to the back of the last truck, “Come on we’ll talk on the way to the holding area.”

Blaze, Wind, and Fire hop into the back and sit with me as well as the Rangers. Starting up the truck lurches as it starts down the road. Heading not just off base, but out of town, the truck ambles along.

“Army has me playing drone at times, since it’s often illegal to operate drones inside the USA. Strapping a camera onto a pegasus though doesn’t count as a drone.” Blaze says, chuckling.

“But we’re fighter pilots.” Wind protests.

“Bah, fighter pilots, Blaze killed an F-22 in a dogfight.” I say, giggling.

“Don’t remind me, I’m still expecting to see my pay check get docked for that. You owe us 47 million in repairs.” Blaze shudders.

“How?” Fire asks, blinking.

“Umm, I dropped a large piece of shock resistant metal and ceramic into its air intake.”

“Ouch, that can make a big mess of things.” Fire laughs.

“Yeah. Air force is also keeping their ponies flying. There’s a lot that us ponies can do in service. If the Navy is dropping your contract hook up with Captain Fleetfoot, she’s a Wonderbolt that works for the Air Force.” I smile.

The truck pulls to a stop on a dirt road, looking at Blaze, I blink, “I thought we were going with the ponies to the processing area?”

“I did too.” Blaze says.

Hopping out the back of the truck, I walk around, then slowly sit down, unable to keep standing.

An outer wire fence topped with barbed wire and encircles the entire holding area. 4 Metal guard towers have been erected at each of the corners as well as 1 near the gate. A second fence some 10 feet in allows the security detail of SP’s to patrol and access the guard towers. A series of large D shaped frames have been set up inside the second fence. They looked like parts of pre-fab hangars that the military uses to build at airfields around the world.

These frames were being used to support a massive chicken wire or mesh wire ceiling. This completely closes off the inner camp area. The only reason for this is to prevent any pegasi from flying in, or out. The inner camp area is primarily made up of rows of tents, some are little more than sun shelters, having no walls. There is a single mess tent, a single medical tent, again with open sides that is full of sick and injured ponies already.

There is no power for the tents, no running water, no toilet facilities even. Water is provided from a single tanker truck that ran a hose to a single tap at the edge of the fence. A single extension cord from a generator runs though the fence and into the medical tent.

Outside the perimeter is the command trailer, a 40x8 trailer with its own power, air conditioning, and bathroom. A second trailer is set up for the security personnel to use, with showers and beds. Power lines also head over to the towers for their spot lights. The guards also have access to their own mess. Though, right now, several are sitting off duty eating pizza that has been delivered.

Blaze, Fire and Wind, follow suit, sitting down in shock. They are not even being held in a standard I.C.E. facility. Signs around the fence label it as a quarantine zone, do not approach within fifty feet of the fence.

“There’s a mare with newborns in there.” Blaze says softly.

“That’s Passionate, the 2 babies changed around the same time as her. We think they are Pound and Carrot Cake. They can’t talk right now. Their mouths can’t seem to form the words properly. They have trouble walking and such. Apparently Passionate figured out a spell, so she could feed them. Sort of a desperate measures thing I guess.” Fire says and shakes his head.

“How… how long…” I just can’t speak right now. I’ve seen holding camps like this in Africa, in Syria, in Afghanistan, but not here. Not within the borders of the United States.

“LT Fisher.” A LT calls out heading up to the Rangers. “I’m Lt. Harris with the SP’s here. I.C.E. had us set up this facility pretty quick but it should do the job.”

The LT looks across the area, “How long are we keeping them like this?”

“I.C.E. wants them in quarantine for a minimum of 2 weeks, but would prefer them for a month here.” He says, looking at the cage. “I think we can hold out a month.”

“But can they? How come there aren’t any bathroom facilities for them?”

“Only thing we can get is porta potties and they can’t really use those.”

Standing up I start to walk towards the gate when the SP officer stops me. “Sorry, we can’t let you go in. If you do you’ll need to stay in there the entire quarantine time.”

“We were told to question them though.” I say, looking up.

“The human specialists can handle that. In the meantime if you wish to observe we have camera’s set up for the interviews.”

“I... No.” Turning my head away I look down. I am angry, I am hurt. I am also on probation, one good energy blast would level the gate, but it wouldn’t do any good.

“Lt, I’m going to grab a bunny suit and go talk with some of them, see what help they need.” Henry stands up and heads for the support truck.

Looking at Henry, Eric shakes his head and stands up too. “I’ll help.”

“LT, do you mind if Blaze and I go back to Pearl, I want to use one of the video coms to place a call.”

“Not a problem.” The LT says, looking stern, “Sanchez, Jay, you two drive them and make sure they stay safe.”

I open my mouth to protest, then close it, seeing the look on the LT’s face.

Lifting my cell camera to take a picture, the SP officer stops me. “Sorry I.C.E. has asked that no photos be taken. They do not want to compromise the location.”

Looking at the officer I do my best to hide my emotions. He is following orders, he is doing his job. “Yes sir.” I say firmly.

“Watch your hornshine, Corporal.” Looking up, I force myself to calm down and make my horn go dark.

Quietly I nod and get into the truck. A few moments later Blaze and the other two pegasi join me.

“No pictures? While I understand the concept, it just sends shivers down my spine. Reminds me of some of the camps in Somalia, no pictures, because they didn’t want the public to see what was happening.” Blaze said.

I just nod slowly, “I’m calling the General, and since there isn’t much we can do maybe he can pull some strings.”

*** The Unicorn ***

She moves quietly though the brush, she is being extra careful today, not wanting to get caught. She has her armor on, for a change. She just wants to feel safe, but she knew it isn’t really needed. Its darker colors though, would help with camouflage.

As she gets near the work camp, she hears growling and yipping. Stopping, she looks over, the vixen is making a lot of noise. She sighs, she doesn’t like it. She doesn’t want attention drawn to her.

Moving up a bit she sees the fox, forepaws on the tree, barking up at something. Curiously, she moves around a bit till what has the fox upset comes into sight. A trail camera is camouflaged and covering one of the approaches to the work camp.

With a nasty snort, the fox runs over to another tree and yips up at it a few times. The fox is triggering the cameras with its movements, but if it hadn’t. She knew she would have walked right into their line of view.

Many of these have GPS trackers on them, some broadcast wirelessly back, so she can’t go through the forest like normal. Falling back she looked either way on the motorway. As normal there is no traffic to be seen, so she crosses and drops down into the ditch on the other side.

The motorway itself is raised and the forest is on higher ground than the farm land. To prevent the roads from washing out, there are drainage pipes along the way. Luckily there is one just across the motorway from the work camp.

The range is really far for her so all she can do is little things. Simple things like, taking out the tires on the lorry. She was able to do some damage, at least, before following the ditch back to the castle.

Tommy is waiting for her at the door and follows her down the tunnel. “So how did it go?”

“They have put out trail cameras, it’s getting harder.” Beth says with a sigh.

Helping her take off her armor, Tommy smiles, “On the flip side, we’ve delayed it long enough. People are starting to ask questions.”

“Really?” This is the first good news Beth has had.

“A lot of people are starting to ask, why is it needed? The news has taken notice too.”

Bouncing around like a filly, Beth just beams, “Yes yes yes yes yes.”

“I have dinner for you.” He says, laying down some takeout.

“Ohhh. Thank you.” Beth is starved, she’s really surprised how hungry she gets after using magic.

“Still having those dreams?” Tommy asks, watching her.

“Not as often. I keep remembering guards trying to get me through a secret passage. I don’t know why though. Or where I was. Heck, for that matter I don’t know if it’s real or just my mind playing tricks on me over a movie.” Shaking her head Beth sighs sadly.

“Movie?”

“Trust me I’m not going to break into song, but I keep thing of the October Revolution, Anastasia being spirited out the secret passage by her guards.” Shaking her head, she giggles softly.

“What?”

“Ok, I am going to break into song… because it… well...” Standing up she starts singing, looking around the room. “Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember. And a song, sung to me, once upon a December.”

“Someone holds me safe and warm, ponies prance through a silver storm…” Closing her eyes, she shakes her head vigorously. Looking at Tommy, she sighs, “Yeah that’s about how I feel.”

“White unicorns can’t dance.” Tommy says, then falls on his side, laughing.

“Oh you!” Charging over, she thumps him playfully a few times with her foreleg.

Curling up protectively Tommy just laughs, “Help I’m being mauled by an evil horny horse.”

“Yeh, I know I’m not some cartoon character like Anastasia so we can probably disregard those dreams.” Beth says, giggling.

*** The Lion ***

“You really think some cartoon pony is causing all these problems?”

“Yes, though how we deal with it that is the question.”

“They have stopped our work on this project for over 2 weeks now. Cost us nearly a million pounds in repairs. Thank gosh insurance, and the government, is paying the bill.”

“The current problem, though, is public opinion. It looks like people are starting to picket the site.”

“If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” Chuckling softly, “hmm, a white unicorn, I have some friends actually over at another company. Maybe we can talk them into chasing her down, see if she wants a job as a mascot.”

“Which company?”

“Red Bull. Just something about Red Bull chasing a white unicorn.”

“I don’t get it.”

*** CMC EC ***

Feather squirms a bit in her seat, looking around the ice cream shop. True to her word, the manager has actually set up a special side booth for the CMC’s with a raised bench. The three of them sit, still annoyed with the human bully.

“Well we can’t sit here all day.” Feather says.

“I swear, for a moment there you sounded like Apple Bloom.” Candy says, with a giggle.

“Ah did not.” Feather protests, though now she’s trying to sound like Bloom.

“She’s right though, it’s just not fair to the company, and we don’t have the money to buy snacks all day long.” Cloudy says, with a sigh.

“And it’s too closed in at the apartment, we just get in everyponys way there.” Feather says.

“Well the CMC’s had their club house.” Candy mentions off hoovedly, before taking a sip of his shake.

“Oh good idea. We could build a club house.” Cloudy says, perking, “Lots of woods around here I’m sure we could get permission.”

“So what do we need, permission first of course, a location, building supplies, probably a wagon or two for hauling the supplies.” Feather says, smiling, “We can do this!”

“Cutiemark Crusader Construction Contractors are a go!” They call out as they all high hoof above the table.

Two Rangers from the 82ed Airborne look at the kids charging out, and put their helmets on, just to be safe.

Feather ran out and made a beeline for Sugarberry at the HQ. Slowing she cools herself off, fanning her wings a bit so she isn’t out of breath and walks in.

“Aunty Sugarberry.” Feather sits down.

“Oh Celestia, Feather, I heard what happened, are you ok?”

“Yep, downside of a 2nd childhood, have to go through bullies again. Or would this be our 3rd try at childhood? First try cursed, second run at it, then yeah, this would be our 3rd try.” Taking a deep breath she shakes her head, “We’ve decided we need to build ourselves a club house. A safe place on base, where we can go just to rest, talk, so we aren’t underfoot or hoof all the time, aren’t stuck in the apartment, and such.”

“Not a bad idea.” Sugarberry said. “Whatcha need?”

“A location and zoning permissions first.” Feather giggles.

“I’ll find out for you.”

Nodding she runs out and met up with the twins. They had come through on the transport side, both are pulling garden wagons. Little green wagons with big wheels, they have a rope harness over their shoulders tied to the handle behind them.

“Look what we got at a yard sale. They were only going to sell one but we talked them into selling both.” Cloudy smiles brightly.

“He’s getting to good at playing innocent little girl.” Candy says, giggling.

“I say, if you have the parts, use them… but use them wisely, with great cuteness comes great responsibility.”

Feather groaned and facehoofed, shaking her head.

“Candy, you have to face it, you’re a guy now. Even if you went through the mirror and came back you’d still be a guy. It’s not just confusing if you keep saying you’re a girl or Cloudy’s a guy… It could be hurtful to Velvet or other ponies who shifted too.”

“Sorry, I’ll try and watch that.” Candy says.

“So where do we get our wood?” Feather asks, sitting down.

“Oh that’s easy, base supply.” Candy responds and turns, starting to trot and pulling his wagon.

Cloudy just looks at him in disbelief before following. “Really? You’re serious? You’re going to try and get it from base supply?”

Heading up to the quartermasters headquarters, the twins back out of their harnesses and Feather follows Candy inside.

“Excuse me?” Candy pipes up, looking up at the desk clerk.

Looking down the clerk blinks a few times in disbelief, “Wow, I knew we had them around here, but I didn’t know they made them in pocket sizes.”

“Yeah, we really got the… short end… of the stick… we turned into 6 year olds.” Holding his leg out Candy chuckles, “now we have to wait years before we are big enough to see over the table again.”

“So what unit are you with?”

“Oh were not actually with the military. We’re military dependents now, members of the 75th Rangers have adopted us. As well as Sugarberry over at the SOC Head Quarters, we’re not here for official gear.”

“Eh, whatcha looking for?”

“Shipping pallets, you know, those big wooden pallets that you guys receive all your bulk gear on. I’m wondering if we can salvage and break down any of the damaged ones. You know, the ones you guys throw out?”

“Hang on,” Grabbing a pen and paper, he starts writing down some things, “Here you go, most of the broken pallets end up stored there till they are disposed of.”

“Thanks.” He trots out looking at Feather and Cloudy’s shocked faces.

“How?” Feather says, blinking.

“When I worked as a storm chaser, all the gear was shipped in on wooden pallets, while mostly they are reused, if any of the wood breaks, the entire pallet is discarded. We should be able to get more than a few boards per.”

Looking at Feather, Candy giggles, “He’s got a brain under that pink mane.”

*** Velvet ***

I paced back and forth, tail thrashing. Honestly, I forgot I am on video display. My horn is glowing brightly, I’m just that mad. “General, I understand the concept of quarantine. What I.C.E. has created here though is an internment camp. This looks like something out of Nazi Germany!” I growl.

“Velvet, relax a bit, inhale breath out.” Blaze says. He has his wings spread, shielding Fire and Wind who he had backed into a corner away from me.

Glancing up, I turn off my horn, “Sorry, they have babies in there. Honestly I don’t expect a lot of them to survive the quarantine.”

“Babies?” The general says, looking confused.

“Yeah, apparently Discord didn’t limit his curse. What scares me though, terrifies me, is the statement, no pictures.” I shake my head.

“They don’t want the location compromised,” Blaze calls out. “The problem is, it reminds me of the refugee camps in Africa, where the warlords didn’t want pictures taken of them. They didn’t want records of how many people were in the camps because they intended to slaughter them all.”

“In this case, they are in charge here, so their orders have to stand.” The General says, looking at me.

“I know, but I also know at the same time, some of the greatest atrocities of man have been carried out under the call, 'I was just following orders'.” Taking a deep breath, I look up at the screen. “General, with your permission, I’d like to see if we can make contact with any local ponies. There are likely ponies that changed here on Hawaii. I’d like to see if they can arrange humanitarian aid for these ponies.”

“Remember the uniform code.” The General says sternly.

“I know sir, we won’t go to the press we won’t speak out against or take a political stance, that’s not our job. We won’t share classified information. Instead I’d like to simply see if we can get local support to help them. Sixty ponies, no bathrooms, a single tap for water, while the guards sit outside with pizza.”

“I understand corporal, as long as you act within the uniform code, everything should be fine.”

I head out of the room and look at the three pegasi, “Ok boys, you heard him. If it’s ok with you sir’s, I’d like you two and Blaze to go flying, have some fun. Play around in the sky. Look for other ponies, but I think if you’re playing you might just attract pegasi to you.”

Wind blinked, looking at me curiously, “Play?”

“Ponies play. We are social, we sing, we play games, stuff that brings us together. So by playing, it might attract them to join.” I smile gently, “It is part of who we are.”

“Umm… What about the human civilians seeing us?”

“Well first, we aren’t trying to hide from them, come on. I go to IHOP all the time. At the same time however, even at just a few hundred feet up most humans won’t recognize what you are. You’ll probably be mistaken for kites, birds or such. However pegasi eyesight is so much better. As you might have noticed, you’ll be able to spot ponies on the ground and pegasi will be able to spot you with ease.”

The two look at each other, blinking, “Unicorn logic, no arguing there.”

“I’ll see if Cipher can be tasked to find local ponies.” I say, smiling.

Fire laughed, “Do we salute a corporal?”

Chuckling Blaze shook his head, “She was an EUP reservist in Equestria, and even then, the royal guard sometimes deferred to her. Unicorns have that way with ponies I think.”

48: The Fourth, The Fifth

I really don’t want to be associated with this. It is seriously getting to be a bad situation here in Hawaii. The protests are peaceful, but the terms being thrown around, like war crimes, human rights violations, animal rights violations. The emotions are getting very intense.

The Governor herself is being compared to Hermann Göring. It’s an absolute political disaster. Neither party really wants to touch the issue. It has been turned into career poison. The only thing the Governor has going for her is that this won’t go national.

This is ICE’s doing. ICE’s call, but she is taking the heat for it. And she has to end it fast. There is only so long it can be contained.

“Corporal Twilight!”

Oye, here we go again. Turning, I trot up to the Governor and sit down. “Yes Ma’am?”

“The army sent you down to defuse this situation and get intelligence.” The Governor states, “Can’t you do something?”

“Ma’am this is a political problem. If there is a solution for this, it’s a non-military one.” Shaking my head, I sigh. “Ma’am, your best chance is to sit down and talk with Fiddlesticks.”

“Why her?” The Governors aid barks sternly.

“She has an apartment building. I don’t know if it’s possible, but it might be acceptable to compromise. Maybe have the ponies moved there. Quarantine the building maybe. At least, there the ponies will have dignity.” I shake my head. “The problem is food and supplies, plus the apartment needs fixing up.”

Grumbling the Governor nods then looks to her aid, “Fiddlesticks, find her, bring her to me. NOW.”

After a short time, Fiddlesticks walks in with her scarf and cowboy hat on. She sits down on the floor and looks sternly at the Governor. I still swear she has Apple blood in her. She has the Apple Family stubborn streak, and right now she is digging her hooves in something fierce.

“I need you to get your protestors to go home.” The governor says firmly.

“No.”

“No? What do you mean no!?!?”

“I mean no, ma’am. No. I will not ask them to go.”

“Do you want me to have them all arrested?”

“Go fer it. There’s press there, ACLU lawyers.” She looks back just as sternly at the Governor.

“What do you want then?”

“I want ‘em to have freedom, I want them to have the rights they deserve. Hawaii had internment camps once before. Most Hawaiians won’t accept it again, regardless if it is ponies or humans.”

“Well we can’t just let them walk around.” The Governor says firmly.

“How about a compromise,” I say softly, then I cringe as all eyes latch on to me. Yeah, I started this mess.

“Let’s hear it Sugar Cube.” Fiddlesticks smiles.

*Somewhere, Eric sneezes.*

“Give them temporary visa’s pending refugee status. As Governor that most definitely is in your power. Let them stay at Fiddlesticks apartment. Arrange a loan, tax relief, emergency shelter benefits, something to help Fiddlesticks get the place ready. I’m willing to bet many of the ponies there can help build or repair the building. For the first month let ICE watch the place.”

Looking sternly at the Governor, Fiddlesticks nods, “I’m willing, IF and that’s a big IF you are willing to let the ponies come to the apartment right away. Ponies can’t take that kind of imprisonment well.”

“We’ll make the arrangements; they should be free in two hours.” The Governor says. “Now the press will not get wind of this?”

“As long as they are not mistreated.” Fiddlesticks says firmly with a nod.

“Deal.”

Turning Fiddlesticks turns and storms out of the office.

Blowing at my bangs, I look up at the Governor, “Anything else ma’am?”

“No, thank you.” She says.

Taking a deep breath I turn, trotting out of the office. This is just not what I want to deal with.

Trotting up, I catch up beside Fiddlesticks and thump my side against hers. “You’re getting some new tenant’s and some money for repairs.”

“Yes, but did it have to be because of their suffering?” She sighs.

“I know, it’s hard, but you did the right thing.”

Nodding, I shake myself out. “ugg.”

“Whats wrong?”

“The heat, the humidity, I’m used to dry heat.” I huff.

“Well I’ll head back home, get things ready.”

*** Henry ***

“There you go, feeling better?”

Passionate nods slowly, her color has returned as she sits, munching on some MRE’s.

“Don’t try and talk if you don’t want to, just relax.”

“Are the foals…”

“They’re with the doctors now, being fed. You did a great job.”

Looking around at the ponies, Henry chuckles, “Ok careful with those MRE’s, each package is like 2500 calories. You’ll get fat eating more than one.”

Everyone looks at their food and blinks.

“I’m serious, there is a LOT there, if you feel hungry afterwards, that’s what the alfalfa is for. It will fill you up quickly. Don’t worry, I’ve even eaten it, it’s safe.” Henry says, smiling at the ponies.

Slowly, they try some then nod, accepting it as edible.

“Eric over there, was a pegasus, so flying questions go to him. I’m a field medic though, if you have questions about wing care I can probably handle those too.”

“How?” Passionate says softly.

“Because I work with ponies every day, I’m best friends with them.” Smiling softly he whispers into Passionate’s ear, “We even earned our cutie marks in Equestria. We’ve been as close to real ponies as any human can be.”

Laying her head down on his legs she lets him feed her some alfalfa slowly.

“You used magic too, remember, when made yourself have milk for the foals?”

“Magic?” Lifting her head slowly, she looks into his face.

Gently he touches his forehead to her horn, “Yep, you have magic, just concentrate, let it flow to your horn.”

Slowly her hornshine forms against his forehead, growing brighter and brighter.

“There you go.” He says gently.

“I… I remember.” Passionate murmurs, “I’m from New Zealand.”

“Welcome back.”

“I was sailing, we were near New Caledonia when the change started. We put to port in Wala and looked for help… Then the pirates showed up.”

“Priates?” Henry asks, keeping his head against her horn.

“Yeah. Piracy is big in the area. They work off of cheap speed boats. They landed, came ashore and took me and two other ponies there…”

“So how did you find the babies?”

“They kept us in shipping containers. They put the foals in with me. I don’t know where they came from. I knew they couldn’t survive and I knew I had to do something. I didn’t know I could or how I did it but...”

“Magic.” Henry says softly, “You used your magic out of instinct.”

“I… guess. A little embarrassing though, given what I did.”

“Naw, I think it was noble and selfless. Very pony.” Henry says, smiling.

“Do you know where you were taken?”

She shakes her head slowly. “The small skiffs took us to a mothership. Then that ship took us to a port. It had to be a port cuz they moved the shipping containers between ships with a crane.”

“Could have been a crane barge, or ship with its own crane, but yeah. Now we have something to search for.” Henry says.

“Search for?”

“Uh huh, the pirates are likely using a safe port to transfer equipment and goods. This will give us something to look for.”

Eric walks over, followed by a group of pegasi and earth ponies, chuckling. “What would your special somepony say?”

“Ohh.” Passionate said. “You have a special somepony? What’s a special somepony?”

Eric looks around and chuckles, “Ok folks, this is going to sound stupid but you’re going to hopefully run into it soon. Ponies tend to use terms such as everypony, somepony, or such. You don’t have to, but you’re likely going to find or catch yourself doing it over time.”

“Since Eric and I are not real ponies. We often refer to it as going native. In actuality though, it’s likely just memories of your pony lives affecting your subconscious choice of words.” Henry says.

Eric laughs. “Henry here has a thing for a pony named Sugarberry. She’s a cute mare.”

“Did you meet her before her shift?”

“Actually no, I haven’t even seen pictures of her human form. I just like her for who she is. I spent some time with her when I was a unicorn and it was some of the best time of my life.” Henry says, stroking Passionate’s neck.

“Really?”

“Eric here though has a thing for a unicorn named Ballad.”

“We’re just friends.” Eric says defensively, his cheeks coloring.

“He spent hours with her just having a karaoke battle, singing songs to each other, or duets. All I have to say is, when you hear them duet singing, ‘You’re My Zing’.” Henry laughs, poking Eric and chuckling.

“But your still not really ponies.” Passionate says quietly.

“I wouldn’t say that. Since our trip to Equestria we can’t eat meat. May seem like a small thing but, it’s a marker. That since we’ve been there, we gained some of the pony nature.” Eric said. “We still have pony instincts. We also feel a closer tie to ponies since the change.”

“Speak for yourself.” Henry says, “Yeah I can’t eat meat but I’d hate to think my soul is now that of a pony.”

“I don’t know, who’s to say. Maybe our souls were always pony. Maybe the mirror just gave us a chance to see and be our true selves. A reflection of who we really are.” Eric says, rubbing his hip.

“I hate you, you know that right?” Henry asks, smiling.

“Henry here just hates his fur color. He came out a pink stallion.” Eric chuckles.

“Hey I’m a Ranger, Rangers don’t do pink.”

“Henry, did you have any weird dreams in Equestria?”

“I don’t think I had any dreams. Of course I hardly slept.”

“I had one the first night when I was recovering. Trust me, it was strange. I was in a floating city, with thousands of pegasi all around. Grand Greek like structures, all towering high into the sky. You know the way the show displayed Cloudsdale? Picture that, but several times bigger, with many different clouds full of settlements.”

“It was strange. I never saw anything like it in the show. There was some great battle. Changelings, I think. They were everywhere. Some great pegasus king was doing battle with the changeling queen. Several of us were guarding civilians trying to get them away from the battle.”

Eric shakes his head vigorously, “Something came through the clouds… a creature with misshapen eyes.”

One of the ponies closes her eyes, shivering, “Five score divided by four… those eyes.”

That sends a wave of shivers and whimpers though the ponies that could hear it.

“That’s the thing. He didn’t say anything in the dream. In my dream, at least, he watched as the changelings attacked. He was flitting between different pegasi, like he was looking for something.”

“Yep, silly dream, featherbrain.” Henry laughs.

*** Beth ***

Skidding around the corner, she touches her horn to the wall.

Even before it is fully open she is through and turns, facing the door. “Come on, close, close darn it.”

It takes a moment to cycle, but the door closes again, sealing her in. Lying on the floor she listens, it is quiet but that doesn’t mean anything. Hopefully they didn’t see the door. She had a good lead on them, but the door does take time to cycle.

Getting up she moved slowly down the spiral feeling her way down the first rotation before lighting her horn. She knows if anyone tries to get in with brute force, she’d hear it. It doesn’t stop her from looking over her shoulder a few times though.

Looking around she finds herself panting. The bobbies are out in force, and Tommy is in town. So she is trapped.

Picking up her phone she shakes it a few times. “Work, work, why won’t you work. No signal.” She whimpers then looks up, “Duh… need to be close to the door.”

Heading back up the tunnel she sits and sends a quick text. ‘Bobbies in the woods hunting me. Chased me to castle. Didn’t see me enter I think. Be careful’

A few moments later her phone vibrates. ‘okay, be there in 30. Stay hidden’

Turning off the vibrate feature and sound options she leaves the phone by the wall. That way she can come back and check messages.

Walking back down, she turns on the lights and looks for something to kill time. Honestly, searching the museum isn’t her thing but until her brother gets back, she’s trapped.

Looking through the old weapons and firearms is boring. There is just nothing here that sparks her interest. She was never a weapons person herself, past maybe fencing. Her brother was the big first person shooter fan.

The books, she had gone through them a few times. The ones she could read had nothing of interest. The ones she couldn’t read though, they held all the answers. The writing was just so alien, though it doesn’t match up with any known language.

Sitting with the jewelry, she tries on some of the pieces, looking at herself in the mirror. It is strange how some of them fit. Rather than just sitting on the head, they have to clip to the mane so they wouldn’t fall off.

Sitting, she looks at the crystals. Several of the crystals in the box are huge, at almost a foot long and multi-faceted. Honestly they looked like Goa'uld data crystals. Picking one up, she begins to examine it carefully.

Inside the crystal is an image, a picture of a winged unicorn in a throne room. It’s almost like a hologram, but stored in a crystal. Quickly going through the others she finds no more pictures.

Going back to the one with the Princess she looks at it and sighs. She knows her name, she just can’t remember it, it’s like it is on the tip of her tongue. She remembers her, and other crystals. She just can’t figure out where or why.

*** CMC EC ***

Having a trained engineer building a tree house is one thing. Having 3 unicorns with telekinetics backed by an earth pony that can drive nails with just her hooves. They could have probably built a real house in a matter of hours.

Though the Cutie Mark Crusader’s tree house is almost like a real house as is. Unlike the house in the show, this one has stilts for extra support. It stands a good ten feet off the ground, with a ramped stairway for the foals that they could pull up. It has a balcony, much like the CMC’s house in the show had. That, however, is where the similarities end.

The door has a lock on it, to prevent unwanted company or guests. The windows and shutters are real and working, to keep out rain. A bank of working batteries has been salvaged and placed under the floor in a storage compartment, to provide DC power storage. Three large solar panels have been mounted on an out hanger awning, they extend out from the tree canopy to catch the light themselves. LED lights, a small space heater, radio, a small cheap TV, and a few other things had been acquired from pawn shops, or used supply stores on base. All in all, the only thing missing is real running water. And they come close for that. On the second floor, a large 10 gallon water storage tank has been added so the CMC’s can make tea, juice or such.

They aren’t kids, but this isn’t about age, this is about giving them a place where they could go, and not be underfoot of humans. Not have to worry about things. It is about a level of freedom.

It just happens to be cute and adorable.

Feather lay on the rug tapping a forehoof and sighs softly.

“Ok what’s on that brain of yours?” Candy says, lying beside Feather.

“You mean, other than wanting Star Crossed back?”

“Yeah, other than that, come on, you know some guys can’t deal with pink.”

“You have no problems with pink.” Feather says, and then blinks, realizing who she was talking to. “Scratch that.”

“Not all ponies are equal. It’s not like we all have an equal sign on our flanks. We are all unique. Someday maybe Henry will come to terms with things.”

“Yeh but he got his cutie mark. We still haven’t.” Feather giggles.

“Ok that’s different. That’s just stupid luck.” Candy says with a huff.

Feather tilts her head, “You don’t think Henry deserved his cutie mark? Don’t think he earned it?”

“Yeah, and so did James and the rest… it’s just. What if it’s Earth? What if we can’t get our marks on Earth because it takes Equestrian magic? What if…” Candy sighs and looks as Feather sticks her hoof in Candy’s mouth.

“What if you catch hoof in mouth?”

Cloudy trots in and sets her saddlebag down with snacks from the commissary. While the CMC’s have their tea set for play parties, the CMC EC actually has paper plates and glasses. Setting out the picnic lunch, Cloudy smiles.

“So what’s the cutie mark plan for today? CMC Full Metal Alchemists?” Cloudy says.

“Yeah, but we only know one potion.” Candy says and sighs.

“Yeah but it takes a feather!” Feather says, lifting her wing.

“Ugg no, we saw how much horror that caused in Ponyville, can you imagine the terror here? We’d have to duct tape someone to a water tower just to keep them apart.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader rock band?” Cloudy says.

“Hmm, sounds good, how much trouble could we possibly get into doing that?” Feather says, perking her ears.

*** Velvet ***

“Well, the ponies are opening up to the SP’s about the pirates.” I say, walking beside Blaze along the beach.

“More than just that, they are forming a community. Parents, foals, I wonder if they will contact their families.” Blaze chuckles.

“Oh Celestia.” I whimper.

“What now?” Blaze stops, looking at me.

“My mom, what am I going to tell her?”

“That we are displaced spirits from the fourth world, trapped here after returning to our spirit forms?” Blaze smiles. “It worked for my family.”

Ok, I just have to facehoof at that one.

“Mom, remember when you had that sit down talk with me about the birds and the bee’s? I think I understand what you meant about the girl parts!” I say, shaking my head.

“Hey I like those girl parts.” Blaze chuckles.

“I know you do. You keep looking at my tail.”

“It’s not actually the tail I’m looking at.” He says, wiggling his eyebrows.

One hip check later and he’s lying on his side in the sand laughing. Curling his forelegs he shakes his head… “Hey Mrs, your son has the cutest spot under her tail. She squeals so adorably whenever it’s touched.”

“Do it and die.” I snort and trot off, leaving him there.

“Aww, it’s not that bad.” Blaze says, scrambling to his hooves and catching up. “Really I don’t think she will be upset. Shocked, maybe but if she really loves you, she’ll understand.”

“I hope so.” I stop, blinking, and then start giggling. “Oh Celestia… Mom was bugging me about wanting grandchildren. Well, now she has two.”

“Ouch.”

“Well you’re a dad too.” I say, looking at him. “So we can get our families off our backs for that.”

Blaze chuckles and nips my ear, sucking on it gently. “You mean you don’t like me on your back?”

My entire body trembles at that. “Tease. And that’s different, that’s you.”

“When we get back to the mainland we’ll see about visiting your mom for a little bit if you want.” Blaze says softly.

“Taking my mate home to see my family?”

“Yep, if I’m going to be married to you, might as well meet your mom.”

“Might as well? Gee thanks.” Huffing I turn my head away. “Like meeting mom is so bad.”

“I’m kidding.” Blaze said and nibbles my back, causing my tail to go right up.

“Ugg. You’re pushy today, you want something?”

“Well we have a while before the plane leaves.” He says and nibbles again.

-The following scene is best left to the imagination, for what ponies do in the wild should stay in the wild. Please ignore all the loud squeals from the trails.-

*** JSOC/SOC ***

“They want what?” The Brigadier General blinks, looking at his aid.

“As part of NATO they have called for assistance from us as an allied state.” His aid says, shaking his head.

“That can’t be right, wouldn’t this be a civil issue?”

“Consider the percentages as we have it, then the size of the UK. There UK simply doesn’t have that many ponies. Maybe a hundred or so total. Add to that, all their information they have about ponies comes from us.”

“So they are asking that we send in a military team to capture and extract a unicorn causing problems in the English countryside?”

“That’s about it, the request comes directly from the Crown.”

Covering his face, he just shakes his head. “Ok let the team know they will be diverted to England.”

“Ok, have they got any information on the unicorn?”

“Just that she’s caused over 1.5 million pounds in damages to a construction company. They also have one picture of her taken from a cellphone camera.”

Looking down at the camera, the Brigadier General just shakes his head, “That little thing, she looks so scared in the picture.”

“Remember how dangerous Velvet is when she gets scared.”

“Give a unicorn a cause, and look out. And just think we have two foals on base.”

“At least they aren’t using magic. Yet.” The aid says, with a chuckle.

“Don’t remind me.”

*** 21.471183, -158.183784 ***

“It’s not their fault.”

“Yeah, I know, they couldn’t help running into the carrier group.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“Do you still have contacts in the jail and prison?” He asks, crossing his ankles looking down at the waterfall below him.

“Yes sir.”

“Well then it’s easy. Kill them.”

“But sir.”

“A dead man tells no tales.” He says, relaxing as the wind rocks his hammock.

“Yes sir.”

“That product was worth 4.5 million dollars to me. It’s best to send a message. As well is best to keep our involvement out of the picture.” Unpacking a Piña Colada, he sips it, relaxing. “And that’s not including the weapons they lost. I want them dead. Painfully, slowly, I think having them gutted would work.”

“And the weapons?”

“Have our friends at Chapaevsk arms depot arrange another shipment. We can fly it out by plane to the Philippines directly for distribution there.” Looking to his drink he hums. “Has Piña Colada shown up anywhere?”

“Sir?”

“Piña Colada, pale pink coat color, a pink mane, and blue eyes. If she shows up, let me know. She’s probably worth a good 3 million to the right buyer as is.”

“Don’t know, I’ll check around.”

“Good, I wouldn’t mind to play with her myself for a bit beforehand.”

Hanging up the phone he smiles and relaxes, sipping his drink, the view is incredible from where he is, well worth the flight. Even if his product was lost, for now.

*** Velvet ***

“Hic…”

Blaze chuckles softly as we walk up to the plane.

“Hic…’

“Well I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii, cuz now we have a new stop to go to.”

Looking up at the LT I blink, “Hic…”

“I think she means where.” Blaze says.

The LT puts a hand over his mouth, “Hiccups?”

I nod slowly, “Hic…”

“She’s been like this for about twenty minutes now sir.” Blaze says, chuckling.

“Tried holding your breath?”

I nod slowly. “Hic…”

“Water?” Henry asks, walking on board the plane.

“Hic…”

“Yep, she went through a half gallon bottle.” Blaze says.

“What started it?” Henry asks.

“Well we were out on the beach and I started nibbling her ear, then we…” Blaze starts.

Squeaking loudly, I smack Blaze with my tail, blushing fiercely.

“Five, six, seven.” Henry says, smiling…

Blinking I look between the two. “What?”

“Shock cleared them up.” Blaze says, and takes his seat.

“Jerks.” Sitting down, I pout.

“Ok team, were off to England, the government there has asked us to help hunt down a unicorn interfering with a highway construction project. Since the road apparently has military applications, I don’t know, I think they are setting it up as an emergency runway or something… the UK have asked for help under NATO.”

“To deal with one unicorn?” I say blinking.

“Yeah, she’s apparently cost in excess of 1.5 million in damages. Police can’t even get close to her.” The LT says.

Looking over I grab Blaze and snuggle tightly against him. I don’t know why, I just want to be snuggled with him right now. One of those days I guess.

“We’re ready back here.” The LT calls out and takes his seat.

“Hic… CELESTIA DAMN IT!”

49: Scouting the Curtain Wall.

Well, at least it wasn’t a total disaster.

Feather sits with the towel and blanket wrapped around her tightly. They put a breather over her muzzle for oxygen as she sits on the back step of the ambulance.

If it had been a total disaster, there would be more fire trucks.

Cloudy is lying on her back, wrapped in blankets, with a breather mask over her muzzle as well. The smoke inhalation isn’t bad but the paramedics want to be safe. Sugarberry sits looking down at her in a mix of sternness and worry.

As it is, only two different fire departments, and four ambulances were needed.

“It wasn’t our fault.” Candy says though his breathing mask, “We were just trying to figure out what instruments worked for us.”

A fire inspector comes over, shaking his head.

“I’m really sorry for this.” Sugarberry starts.

“Don’t be, the wiring in that place was never meant for what the store was using it for. The staff said they had a history of blowing fuses, so the management upgraded the fuse box, shifting it from 15 to 40 amp fuses but didn’t change any of the wiring.”

Feather whimpers and coughs a few times.

“When they plugged three amplifiers into the same outlet, it was more than the wires could take.” The inspector shakes his head and looks down at the foals. “If the store had the right fuses or upgraded their wiring. Everything would be fine.”

“Can some pony explain it to me?” Feather shouts, lying on her back. “How does ANYPONY ever live long enough to find their cutie marks?”

Candy coughs out a puff of smoke, “It’s like chaos follows the blank flanks. It’s not fair.”

"We're not squash and stretch... well maybe Pinkie is, but the rest of us.” Feather sighs. “No wonder Ponyville’s hospital stays in business so much.”

“Hmm, considering how smart Snips and Snails are portrayed, as well as several of the other males like Turnip. I wonder, do you think the male to female imbalance we see is because most males don’t live through their cutie mark acquisition stage?”

Both the girls look at Candy.

“Yeah, yeah, pick on the pink maned colt. Next you’ll be comparing me to Snips… or Blue Blood.”

“Oye, I feel so sorry for whoever drew the short straw and got Snips or the other colt.” Feather shivers.

“Seriously, there are just some ponies I wouldn’t want to be.” Cloudy says, nodding.

“Even if it’s a filly?” Candy ribs.

“You know, I don’t mind being a filly actually, in some ways I can’t wait to see what I look like as a full grown mare.” She says, holding her head high.

“Well I haven’t seen any real benefits to being a colt yet.” Candy says, and sighs.

“Ok folks, the little ones should be okay to take home. Just keep an eye on them.” One of the medics says.

*** Velvet ***

“Honestly, should I start booking flights?” I say, giggling.

Blaze looks up and growls. “I just hate flying in a plane.”

Shaking my head, I wrap my forelegs around his neck, pulling him into a hug. “You guys never had flight anxiety before the change.”

The LT scowls at me, “I blame the cutie mark.”

“I don’t. Honestly I feel so much safer knowing you have them.” I say, smiling. “It means I’m less likely to be alone. I’ll always have you guys to protect me.”

“Yeah, like you need protection.” Sanchez laughs.

“You’ve brought me to the hospital how many times? Carried me out of danger? Protected me from how many situations?” I say, “Don’t think I don’t notice. Without you I wouldn’t have survived.”

Rubbing my face against Blaze, I giggle, “Or found my love.”

“So what’s our plan?” Eric says, stretching out.

“That’s the problem.” The LT said. “We don’t have one. Our only real options are to put Blaze in the air, and Velvet on the ground and hope the unicorn will come out for them.”

“Any pictures or idea of who we are looking for?” Blaze asked, before snuggling his head against my chest.

“No, and that really bugs me because any unicorn we find they could turn around and say… that’s them.” The LT says, grumbling.

“So all we know is she’s destroying property, in a small area, and the government is calling us?” Jay shakes his head, “Are we able to get Cipher to dig into this?”

“Yep, we have her doing that now. Truth is, our best bet for now is to get some sleep. Do I need to separate you two.” The LT said, looking at me and chuckling.

“Sorry sir.”

“I swear, you’re more cuddly than ever today.” The LT chuckles.

“I know sir, I almost missed the plane because…” Blaze’s mouth got clamped shut by my magic. Though I still try to look innocent, I know it is a lost cause.

“Ok everypony, recline, relax, and get some sleep, I want us to hit the ground working.” The LT calls out.

*** Fleetfoot ***

“Wait what?!?! STOP-LOSS!” Fleetfoot just sits, looking shocked.

“Yes Captain, and not just you. Every single pegasus that has stayed in uniform. Any pony that was in uniform, but stayed on earth. Any reserve forces pegasi. Navy pegasi are being Stop-Lossed and transferred to the Air Force. Marines and Army are keeping theirs. “

Fire and Wind just sit, blinking, wondering what they just got themselves into.

“Is that even legal?” Fleetfoot says, looking confused.

“Very legal. We have reports of pegasi flying into civilian flight paths. Flying through airport space, we had a 767 abort a landing and go around because a pegasus crossed their flight path. At this time it’s becoming a real threat.”

Fire gulps. “This isn’t going to end well. Is it?”

“If things go on as they are, either a pegasus will end up on a planes windshield, or worse, end up causing a major air crash.”

“So what’s with the Stop-Loss?” Fleetfoot says, there was only a little time left before she gets her voluntary.

“We are grabbing every single pilot trained pegasus we have. Every single pony that understands the rules of the air. We are forming them into the Strategic Air Guard - Pegasi. SAG-P will fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force Security. Essentially, you will be AP’s.

“We are becoming cops?” Fire says.

“Yes, enforcing air safety, tracking down pegasi violating international flight safety and putting civilians and military in danger.”

“Argh.” Wind mumbles.

“You will all be reformed into the 520th Air Guard Squadron. 520/1 will be slow flying pegasi. Their job will be to protect key institutions such as White House or other key buildings. When a pegasus can fly over a fence and land on the roof or hover in front of a window. The options become, shoot them. Or have another pegasus escort them off or arrest them.”

“Oh that’s going to go over well.” Wind says, shaking her head.

“Well think about it, if they are stupid enough to think that just because they have wings they can ignore no trespassing signs… we need to enforce this.” Fire says, nodding.

“520/2 will be speedsters covering western USA. They will handle high level flyers violating international airspaces.”

Fleetfoot nods.

“520/3 will handle east coast. 520/5 will be Pacific, Hawaii and Guam.”

“Umm what about the 520/4?” Fleetfoot blinks, looking at the other pegasi.

“They are on the ground. Their job is to do door to door work, handle calls, and do the court cases work. Mostly humans, though any earth or unicorn that wants to apply can.”

All three pegasi nod and look at each other.

“Ok Fire and Wind are going to stick together for the western patrol. Since LAX has had a horrible problem with pegasi so far that’s your first area of patrol.”

“California Skyway Patrol!” Fire cheers.

Fleetfoot moans softly, “Enough with those, I already feel sick as it is.”

Blinking, the CO looks at her. “Okay you are looking more green than normal. Hit the infirmary.”

Nodding she heads out, “Next time, I’ll avoid Kentucky Fried Chicken.” With a whimper she urps.

Heading down to the infirmary is a touch different as a pony, medicine is still trying to catch up with the ponies. A new species, new blood types, it feels like the dark ages sometimes.

Sitting down, she fills out her patient form, then hands it to the nurse. “Apparently, my color is off.”

The nurse blinks, “Umm, how could he tell?”

“He said I was looking more green than normal.”

“Are we going to need to order in color spectrometers to start gauging pony fur?” She groans.

“What do you mean?” Fleetfoot blinks, confused.

“Your fur is normally greenish.” The nurse says, “If it’s changing colors by shades, it’s going to be hard for the doctor to tell.”

“If I go really green, worry.” Fleetfoot says, then urps once again and drooped her ears.

It takes about an hour for all the tests, blood, heart, diet questions. Since they don’t have much to compare to other than normal ponies, this is mostly for their records. Though maybe they might get lucky, find out she had some flu, some sort of infection. Then they would be able to log it for other ponies.

Heading out, she looks up to the sky. Well. She is now a sky cop. She’d be getting a training course and a badge. Hopefully her job would be easy though. It’s not like pegasi would buzz airliners or land on their wings for fun right?

*** Dust’s Farm ***

By order of the Department of Defense, United States Air Force, under Title 10, United States Code, Section 12305(a).

As a uniformed member of the United States Air Force, you are being recalled to active duty. Effective July 25, 2020. All previous leave, or retirement packages are being withdrawn and you are required to report to Marine Base Quantico for immediate retraining and active deployment.

Failure to abide by these orders may result in criminal action, including but not limited to imprisonment.

Blinking Rain Dance looked at the letter, “Oh come on this can’t be real.”

“You got one too?” Drizzle asked sighing.

“First I get turned into a mare, then come here and still they find me and send me a letter saying I have to go back to the military?”

“By choosing to remain on Earth rather than travel through the gate…“

“Are we being punished because we stayed?” Drizzle is looking at her letter, her ears drooping, her tail tucked under her rear, “I don’t want to go to jail.”

Hugging Drizzle with her wing Rain Dance huffs, “I’m gonna go talk with Dust about this, maybe she can do something.”

“Several of the pegasi that came here from the Armed Forces have been recalled.” Drizzle says, whimpering, tears in her eyes.

“Any earth ponies or unicorns get recalled?”

“No, just us pegasi… did we do something wrong?” Drizzle says, tears in her eyes.

“Oh that’s not right. Stay here Drizzle I’m getting to the bottom of this!” Turning, Rain Dancer drops off the cloud heading for Dust. This is just racist.

*** Lightning Dust ***

Dust is just LIVID. The idea is, that the ponies on her farm are safe. They are not to be disturbed by the Federal Government. Now they are getting letters telling them, well those that served, that they have to report to Quantico?

Dust hits the ground at the front gates. The idea that ponies under her protection can be pressed back into service. That since they chose not to go through the gate they were somehow expected to leave other ponies. Still flapping her wings a bit, she looks at the guard.

“Stop-loss letter?” The guard asks simply, not even phased in a bit about the cartoon pegasus.

“Your damn right, who do I speak to about this?” Dust snarls back.

“Major Sam Cameron.” Smiling, the guard pulls out a rather large tablet, and pulls own the map for the base. He shifts it into aerial view. “Ok if you fly this way, you’ll see this major highway cutting through the middle of the woods. Follow it till it breaks off here and you’ll see this clump of buildings. Just past down the road here you’ll see a building with a golden lightning bolt painted on the roof, we’re using that as the marker so you can see it.”

Turning, the guard smiles, “All flight levels between 0 and 2000 feet are cleared for pegasi only, on Visual Flight Rules. You won’t have to worry about helicopters. They are restricted to 3000 feet and up in non-training areas.”

Turning, Dust follows the directions. It is actually pretty easy to spot the road and building. Apparently someone planned for pegasi to be flying, rather than driving, here.

There are already three pegasi, milling around outside the building and looking somewhat scared to go in when Dust arrives. Storming inside, Dust stops and looks at the human at the front desk.

“Stop-loss?”

“Who’s bright idea was this?” Dust starts.

“Not sure where it started but, came down through the Joint Chief’s. May I see your letter?”

“I didn’t get one, but several ponies under my protection did. I want to know why?” Dust says firmly to the corporal.

“Major Sam Cameron’s office is right there. It’s been a busy day with calls and complaints. It’s needed though.” The corporal says softly.

Turning Lightning Dust storms into the major’s office.

Samantha is rather young to be a major in the air force, she is only 24, but a Medal of Honor from the war in Afghanistan has helped her career beyond belief. Since she can’t fly anymore due to injury, they promoted her to a desk job. She still does her best, however, not to let things get her down.

Holding up one finger to Dust she sighs on the phone. “I understand, and the letter isn’t fake. The Air Force really does need your daughter's… Yes ma’am I know she was born a male, but she’s your daughter now. Have her report in as soon as possible.”

Looking up at Dust she smiles, “What a mess. Hi there Lightning Dust, I didn’t know you were ever in the Air Force.”

“I’m not. I never was. You wouldn’t take me as a human.” She sighs softly, then the fire returns to her eyes, “Some of the ponies under my protection however were. And they are being called back to duty. WHY?” Dust slams her hoof down on the desk.

“Short answer is that their country needs them.” Sam says, smiling.

“And the long answer?” Dust growls, the crackle of electrical discharges fill the room as lightning crackles among the feathers of her wings.

“The truth is Dust, there are a lot of pegasi out there. Not all of them were pilots, not all of them took any flight training classes. The problem is, the airspace over the USA is very congested, and has lots of rules. Even simple things are starting to cause problems.” Sighing, she shakes her head, looking at Dusts wings, which start to quiet down as her words penetrate.

“The freedom to fly… to be above everything, looking down as the ground whips by. To feel your heart race as you burst through the clouds, and roll over feeling the g forces. I used to live for that.” Shaking her head, she sighs. “And many pegasi now live for that. The problem is, some of them forget that an airliner isn’t as quick to turn as they are. That a human pilot can react out of shock or surprise. We have pegasi flying across landing corridors simply because they don’t know what a glide path is.”

Dust blinks a few times and slowly lowers her wing from the threat display, shortly they are folded tightly to her sides.

“We are recalling what pegasi we can, to act in a way as police. To find pegasi who are breaking these laws. Chase them down, and let them know what they are doing wrong. If we catch a repeat offender, we have permission to give them fines for risking lives. The slow flyers are going to be handling things like the White House. What option do the guards have if a pegasus decides to fly over the fence to get a better look at the building? Shoot them?”

“What about just educating the pegasi?” Dust says, most of the heat in her voice gone.

“It’s not like there’s a Cloudsdale where all the pegasi meet. There aren’t any pony cities, all there is is pockets of ponies, here and there. Most of the ponies though are still spread out. Maybe, eventually we won’t need as many ponies working for us and we can end their contracts. Right now though…”

“Ok makes sense I guess.” Dust says with a nod.

“We tracked down what ponies we could, those that we originally dismissed, those that thought they might go through the gate. Those that ended up in the hospitals during their change, for example were contacted. If you know of any others, let them know we really do need them. At least until all the pegasi can be taught some of the more basic rules of the air.”

“We are even starting a grant system, for those that can’t afford to buy their own flight transponders. Not every pegasi needs them but the long haul flyers can sign up and get them for free from the government.”

“How did you hurt yourself?” Dust asked, changing the mood of the conversation as she scuffs a hoof.

“I was flying an F-16 in Afghanistan. An army chopper had gone down in the highlands, crew was injured. The Taliban had set up a cannon in the hills above them. Old Russian twin 23mm cannon. Any helicopters that tried to get close were either taking fire from that, or from RPG’s and SAM’s. It was a meat grinder.”

Shaking her head, “I was the closest fast mover, so I rolled in. The gun was under a cliff overhang, so I had to hit it from the front, head on. First pass I couldn’t get a good angle on the gun but they put a few rounds into my wing. I was losing hydraulic pressure and having some electrical problems but I couldn’t just leave the ground crew there. Second pass I was able to put cannon fire on the gun. I then made pass after pass against the ground forces.”

Taking a deep breath she sighs, “When my hydraulics’ hit zero and the plane started becoming unresponsive, I dumped the last of my ordinance and bailed out as close as I could near the downed chopper. I stayed there with them for 35 minutes until the rescue team arrived. I took RPG fragments to my back when we were being extracted. Without proper feeling and control on my feet, I can’t fly anymore.”

“And now you’re doing desk work?” Dust asks, scuffing her forehoof again on the industrial tile floor.

“Yep but who knows, my 25th birthday is coming up. Maybe by some fluke I’ll become a pegasus myself and be able to fly again. To live again in the sky.” She smiles as brightly as she can. “There’s always hope. Oh Celestia, could you imagine if I turned into some pony powerful like Night Glider? Or some pony as beautiful as Blossomforth? Yeah, I’m being silly.”

*** Velvet ***

Touching down in England is a relief. Eighteen hours in a plane with a frustrated pegasus and, of course the rangers, the only sane one is Henry. As soon as he is out of the plane, Blaze is in the air, flying and flitting around.

“Can someone put a leash on that?” A British officer says sternly, “We have not yet informed our people of the situation.”

“On what?” I say, walking out.

“Who is in command?”

The LT steps out, “I am, this is my squad. I would like you to show them respect.”

“We have a vehicle ready for you.” The officer says, motioning to the truck. The six wheeled truck has no windows in the rear. It is more like a shipping container, the only light inside is from two lamps inside. Ventilation is from a top mounted fan.

Moving in slowly, I look at the LT, I don’t like this and he knows it. He puts his hand on my back as well as Blazes as we get into the vehicle. Once everyone is inside, they close and lock the door. The sound of the lock causes me to flinch.

Blaze puts his wing over me, hugging tight. “You’re not in jail.”

“I know. I feel like… well it feels like I’m being treated like a monster.”

“By definition you are.” Jay says, “Of course we all are. We all have inhuman traits or marks now.”

Pouting, I find myself having to curl up. “I prefer just being an alien.”

“Honestly, considering how a lot of us ponies are treated. I feel like the humans are the monsters.” Blaze says, then he looks at the LT. “No offense.”

“None taken… horse butt.” The LT says with a smile and scratches behind my ear.

“That’s my mate you’re scratching.” Blaze says with a chuckle.

“You can keep her. She’s not my color.” The LT says.

“I’m starting to feel like property. I don’t like feeling like property. I may need to cast a spell.”

I am rather surprised how quickly those words have everyone backing away from me. Of course, given my luck with spells sometimes, I guess they would want to back away.

Eventually we pulled to a stop after nearly a two hour trip. The door is unlocked and opened. Stepping out of the back of the truck I find myself in a tent. I am being transferred from secured location to secured location. This is starting to feel like I am being hidden from the public.

Looking down at me, the LT gives me a nudge with his leg.

Looking up at the officer I smile. “So, where’s a good place to eat around here? I could really do for some food. I guess there isn’t an IHOP.”

“We will bring in food for you if you require it.”

“Umm, what kind of food?” I ask out of curiosity, I’m not sure I like this.

“MRE’s for the Rangers, and probably some hay or feed for you and your friend.”

“Yeah I think I’ll do a restaurant instead.” I say, turning to the door.

“I’m sorry, you are under quarantine. We are not allowed to have you interact with British subjects.”

Blinking a few times I shake my head. “Yet you expect me to hunt down this English unicorn for you?”

“Under the NATO Treaty yes.” The officer states. “We are clearing the last humans out of the area under a cover story of a chemical spill. Once done you will be allowed to begin your search.”

“So what do you plan on doing with her once she is captured?”

“She will stand trial for her crimes, and then be placed in military quarantine facilities.”

I am about to start, but the LT steps up. “How long are ponies held in these facilities?”

“Until a determination of their legal status can be reached.”

“Well, let’s get to work.” The LT says, laying down the maps of the area. “This is the woodlands she’s been… protecting?” He points, then he moves his finger, “This is the castle, and the highway is to be here.”

“A true, true friend helps a friend in need… a friend will be there to help them see…”

All eyes fall on me. Blinking I look at my cell phone. “Cipher, can someone tell me how she can download a song onto my phone remotely… set it as my ring tone… THEN call me?”

“She’s a unicorn. Magic.” James responds.

“Hi Cipher.” I say, putting the phone on the table.

“Ok, so I was wandering around the UK Deep Web, I think I need a shower. I think I found your unicorn. A US couple photographed her. It got blocked and removed from searches by the UK Government. I found it on a storage spot on Facebook. Before you ask, you’re going to love this. I found it by GPS tag to the castle.”

The camera is unfocused but showed a unicorn make a break to save a falling child. Once the child is safe, she looks panicked and runs off.

“Well that explains the Bigfoot pictures. That was about as in focus as a UFO picture.” Blaze says, laughing. “If I didn’t know unicorns were real I’d say that was faked.”

“So let’s fan out work our way from the woods to the castle. Blaze I want you in the air doing a spiral search and make sure she doesn’t try and run.” The LT says firmly. We all nod.

When we were allowed to leave, we begin our patrol. The construction site has been evacuated, though we can still see some of the damage caused. Moving into the woods I feel something, it is hard to explain, but it was definitely Equestrian magic. It is very old though. It is hard to pin down.

“Velvet?”

“Yeah Henry?” I say, slowly moving through the brush.

“Is your horn itching?”

Stopping, I look in Henry’s direction, “You feel it too?”

“Sort of, it feels strange, it’s like my horn is there and letting me know.” Shaking his head, he grumbles.

“Feel the Pink… Be the Pink…” Eric calls out softly.

“Shut it.” Henry chuckles.

Blinking, I looked up, seeing the ghostly image of Star Swirl standing proud on top of the hill. Looking over I see Henry looking at it too.

“You’re all seeing this right?” Henry calls out.

“I am.” I reply

“Seeing what?” Eric calls back.

“Got nothing.” Sanchez says.

“OK everyone, on me.” Henry calls out.

The squad moved up to Henry and I, but it was only us that can see it.

“Still nothing?” I ask, looking around.

“What do you see?”

“Image of a unicorn stallion.” Henry calls out.

“Star Swirl the Bearded. It’s a marker spell. I think it’s keyed to unicorns only. Sorry, I guess this was meant only to be seen by unicorns.”

“That’s why only you and Henry can see it then.” The LT says. Moving up to the crest, the LT looks back at us. “Might want to come up here, I think I see where it would be leading us.”

Cresting the hill I can see the castle. Heading down, I can see the image of Star Swirl again, this time moving to touch his horn to the wall. Looking at Henry, he is watching the image as well. “Looks like Star Swirl is leading us here. Maybe she was lead here too.”

“She’s probably going to be terrified.” Henry says, “Especially if she thinks she’s safe.”

“Yeah, I know.” Stepping forward, I touch my horn to the wall and watch it drop. “Passage.”

“I don’t want you going in there alone.” The LT says.

“How about Henry?” I say softly. “He’s a unicorn to. Might be best.”

“I’m starting to regret ever going to Equestria.” Henry says, and moves into the tunnel with me.

“Stay in radio contact.” The LT says as the door closes behind us.

Looking at Henry, I nuzzle him. “You’re still unicorn enough to see marker spells. They are likely set for unicorns or unicorns in human form from Equestria.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Using my hornshine to light the way, I walk down into the large chamber. Face to face with the English unicorn. She is wearing armor and standing, her horn lowered. She is ready to charge if I make any move.

I can see the fear in her eyes, the terror. I can also see the confusion. She doesn’t expect another unicorn. I am in her home. Or what she has claimed as her home. I am the invader here.

There is only one thing I can do.

Curling my foreleg, I bow my head deeply and touch my horn to the ground. “My Lady.”

*** Dust ***

Landing back at the farm, Dust sighs. The Major was right, the pegasi are needed. Shaking her head, she calls together the pegasi who had been stop-lossed. Sitting down in the field she sighs.

“Okay, I’ve talked with the military commander over this. It’s not what you think. They want you to police other pegasi. Keep them out of trouble. Keep them from flying through airport space.”

“Oh come on, like pegasi would do that.” One mare says.

“They are. They want slow flyers to guard buildings. Fly up to pegasi ignoring fences and tell them they can’t do that. They want fast flyers to chase down those who are being a risk to public safety. It’s about education.”

“I don’t want to be under the command of some human that doesn’t understand things.” Another says.

“She does. She deserves your respect. If I hear you’re disrespecting her I’ll come down there and kick your flank myself.” Dust says, the heat in her voice unmistakable.

“What did she say to you to change your attitude so much?” A stallion says.

“She just… reminds me of someone from… Equestria.” Turning, Dust shakes her head. “Get down there, it’s not forever. It’s to help our kind. You’re still welcome to visit or live here if you’re posted near here.”

Turning, Dust heads back to her house. It is hard to shake the memory. The major’s situation though, it just reminds her of her mom.

50: Confrontation on the Battlements

Taking a deep breath, Feather looks at the computer and camera. She needs to say it, ask it, but she doesn’t know whom to call. She doesn’t know who to talk to. Her mom is away and she can’t bother Ah-Pee or the Unicorn Club.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she takes a deep breath, and starts the recording.

“Dear Celestia, Luna, Lighting Dust, I don’t know, whoever can help. My name is Feather Pinch. You probably never heard of me. I was just a background pony in two episodes of the show. I was the little blank flank that put a flower necklace around Luna’s neck after she returned from being Nightmare Moon.”

“I was cursed with the Five Score Curse, and grew up as a human in New Mexico. I wasn’t well educated, didn’t get to go to college. My family never had much money, so when I was 17 I had to get a job.”

Looking down at her legs, she fights back the tears as hard as she can. “The only work I could find was at a horse slaughter house that killed and butchered horses and ponies for export and or use in pet food and zoos. I don’t know how many ponies I helped kill.”

Shaking her head so hard her ears flap, she takes a deep breath. “A friend of mine, Henry has the best heart in the world, he deserves to be a pony so much more than I do. He went to Equestria to fight and was a unicorn there. He so much more deserves to be a pony then me.”

“If there is some way he could be one again.” Feather looks up, her ears flat against her head. Tears filling her eyes as she looks back at her wing. "How about my wings? There must be a lot of magic in them from when Henry fixed them. I would give up my wings if it would let Henry be a unicorn again."

“Every day I wake up and think of what I’ve done. Every day I have to find an excuse to go on… not to give up. Not to let myself blank. I couldn’t go back to Equestria because I couldn’t bring the taint of all the ponies I killed back there. If this one thing can help, in some way repair the damage I’ve done… Give a human who deserves to be a pony a chance. Please… help.”

“Feather! Dinners ready.” Ah-Pee calls out.

Looking over her shoulder, Feather turns off the camera and sends the file out. In some ways it feels better just to get that off her chest. Forcing a smile, she gets up and heads back out to the living room.

***

Drizzle isn’t the oldest of pegasi, a teenager in physical age. Yet she was still Stop-lossed. She knows she isn’t the strongest flyer. She isn’t a Wonderbolt, in the Air Force she was a cargo plane second officer. Not even the pilot.

She has her saddle bag packed, and is heading out. But she has one stop to do before she returns to base. With a foreleg, she knocked on Dusts office door at her company, Lightning Electric.

Opening the door Dust looks down at her and blinks. “Yes?”

“I’ve been stop-lossed, I’m heading in today. I’m just so scared.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of. You’re going to be helping other pegasi.”

Sighing, she looks down, “I just. Everyone I know that’s been stop-lossed has been sent to Afghanistan or worse, and most of them ended up crippled or dead.”

“That’s not going to happen. You’re going to be a police officer for ponies.”

“Just in case, can I get you to hold something for me?”

“Sure what is it?”

Carefully she removes a single flight feather from her pack, tied with several strands of tail fur that have been braided. “If I don’t come back, find my mom and give it to her.”

Turning, the little pegasus heads outside the shop, Dust watches her through the window as she takes flight, heading to the base.

Looking down at the feather Dust sits down hard. The image of her mom’s feather… sitting abandoned in her locker in Equestria fills her mind. Oh Celestia… What have I done?

*** Velvet ***

“You’re a unicorn.”

“Yes my lady.” I say softly, lets calm everything down.

“These are my woods to protect.” She said firmly, putting her hoof down.

Gulping, I sit down. “I’m Twilight Velvet, US Rangers. This is Henry, he’s got unicorn blood in him too… do you know your name?”

“Beth Abbot.” She says firmly and sits down on her haunches.

“I mean your unicorn name. It’s the name that’s in your heart, and your cutie mark?” I ask, hoping to keep her calm.

The blank stare says it all.

“Ever hear of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?”

“Is that anything like that stupid CGI show Filly Funtasia?”

“Bozhe moy.” Henry says, sitting down.

“Ok, this is going take a bit, and please trust me. You’re going to need to keep an open mind for this.” I smile and light my horn, opening my saddle bag. Carefully I draw out some bottled water and offer her one. More curious to see how she reacts to magic.

Nodding slowly Beth takes the bottle with her magic, opening it and taking a sniff.

“It’s safe. Well as safe as bottled water off a plane can be. I see you’ve figured out some of your magic. Don’t worry I can help you remember or learn some more, later.”

“I guess. So why are you here?” Beth says, nervously.

Taking a deep breath, I smile. “First off is your name. I do recognize you, you may not remember but we met before, twice. The armor you’re wearing threw me for a second until I remembered.”

“You remember me?”

“Have you had dreams? Flashbacks? Probably with running… a misshapen creature named Discord… Five score divided by four.”

Yes, that send shivers up both our spines, but it needs to be said. Watching, she nods slowly back to me as I see in her eyes the images flooding back to her again.

“That’s when Discord caught you, cursed you. Your real name is…”

“All sections radio check, call in.” I hear the LT over the radio, causing me to cringe.

“Velvet here…” I key my radio and reply.

“Henry here.” Henry calls out, his hand over his ear.

“Are you ok down there?”

“We’re fine, I have to do a full education though. It’s going to take some time. Don’t hang around the door, I don’t want the SAS deciding to try and force their way in.”

“Roger, LT out.”

I turn and look at the unicorn, I smile, “Now, where were we?”

*** Dust ***

I’m starting to get depressed myself, if it isn’t one problem it’s another. Now Feather, I had heard about her torture and recovery at the farm, but I didn’t know she was that depressed. She looked so happy on the Oreo Cookie video she sent.

Dodging a flock of birds, I drop down on the base. Mindy had tracked the email from this address. It is a transient barracks, not usually used for family housing except in emergencies, it is mostly adults.

Taking a deep breath, I walk inside and tap on the unit door.

The door opens, “Yes? Oh hello there Lightning Dust, I haven’t seen you since the portal.” The unicorn says, smiling. The only problem is, I can’t remember her name.

“Hi, is there a place we can talk, in private?”

Thinking for a second, the unicorn nods, “The kids aren’t here right now, we have some time.” Turning she leads me in to a living room and sits down.

Sitting down I take a moment to look around. These barracks are tiny, smaller then my first house. Living here with a family of five plus must be hard on everypony. Carefully taking out my tablet, I show her the video message from Feather Pinch. Like me, it brings tears to her eyes.

“Velvet and Blaze are gone for now for about four weeks. Normally she’d talk with Velvet. Though even then, she doesn’t talk much about her past. I didn’t know she was hurting this bad.”

“Henry?”

“He’s become her pet project. She thinks he should be a pony… I guess she thinks him becoming a unicorn will... redeem herself.” Sugarberry sighs, looking down.

“What’s her story?”

“The tape doesn’t quite cover it. She came to us barely alive. She had been tortured by humans, her wings were plucked and she was left hanging and near death from a fence. We weren’t sure she would make it. It took everything we had, and then some, to get her back to health. But she still carries the mental scars. She’s just starting to fly again. I think there’s a mental or emotional block there too though.”

“Mind if I talk to her? Since she asked for my help?” I say, looking down.

“Sure, they are probably at their tree house.” Pulling out her cellphone, she shows me the location.

Standing up I give her a quick hug before heading out. It’s not far from the barracks as the pegasus flies, or even as the pony trots I guess. Even with short legs pony foals move faster than humans and for longer distances.

Landing in front of their club house I can’t help but smile. In some ways it really does look like the CMC tree house from the show, there are differences but the concept, colors, size, and style are generally the same. With a bit of a wing jump, I land on the front porch and tap on the door.

Cotton Candy opens the door, looking up. “Oh wow, Lighting Dust, can I get your autograph?”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Autograph Collectors!” Cloudy calls out and bounds up with a pen and some papers.

Chuckling softly, I sign the papers then blink as they quickly check their flanks… “Well we can cross that one off the list.”

“I’m here to talk with…” was about all I get out before Feather hugs my leg and looks up with her huge eyes.

“You’re here about my request?”

“Sort of, want to come with me for a bit? I’d like to talk with you.”

“Ok Ms. Dust.” She says and sits on her haunches.

Gently picking her up with my forelegs, I take to the sky, circling up till I found a nice cloud and land on it. Gently I set her down, ready to catch her if she falls but instead, she snuggles down in the cloud fluff, gathering it around her.

Lying down nose to nose with her I sigh softly. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Make Henry a unicorn again?” She asks sadly.

“It doesn’t work that way, and I think you know that. I want to know if there’s anything I could do to help you?” I ask gently.

“I… I don’t know… I just don’t know what to do. Sometimes I just wish I could forget my entire human life.” She says, whimpering.

Moving over, I put my wing over her and hug her tight to my side like my mom used to do to me. “It’s hard sometimes, bad things happen. When I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts, I went to a very bad place. It was very dark in my life. My dreams were gone, my life seemed to have no meaning. It was so hard.”

Feather lays her head over my foreleg, snuggling tighter and whimpering.

“I know what it means to wake up every morning and try and find a reason to go on. Trust me though, it gets better, you have so much here right now, friends, family. The past doesn’t make you a victim. It doesn’t make you a bad person. You need to put somethings behind you and be happy. Live for the day and for the future, because you’re so young. You have so much ahead of you.”

She looks up at me with tears in her eyes but she nods.

“I know you won’t get over this in a week, or a month. But any time you feel down… please… talk to someone… if not Velvet or Blaze, the unicorn that’s taking care of you.” I really wish I could remember her name. There are just so many background ponies. “If you can’t find them, can’t talk to them, then give me a call or Moon Shadow, or Mindy. Promise me?”

“Yes Ms. Dust.”

Smiling gently, I hug her tighter with my wing. “That’s my little Wonderbolt. Now, let’s just talk. Tell me about what you’ve tried for your cutie mark.”

*** Ah-Pee ***

Trotting into the grocery store, Ah-Pee bites a shopping cart and backs up slowly with it, before letting go. “Blah, reminder to self, never bite those again, I’m going to be tasting that for a week.”

Rearing up on her hind legs, she hooks her forelegs over the handle and starts walking. This actually works quite well. The cart holds her weight, so she can walk around on two legs, though it probably looks a bit silly.

The only problem is the looks she is getting are not all nice. She is starting to regret using an off base grocery store but the PX’s just doesn’t have enough of a selection of vegetables so she’s gone to a bigger market.

“Why would they let animals in the store?”

“Shouldn’t it be wearing a diaper or something?”

“I wonder where its owner is.”

“Mommy look, can I keep it?”

Giggling, she looks over at the little girl.

“No dear, it’s probably some publicity stunt.”

“Shouldn’t it be wearing a diaper or something so it doesn’t make a mess all over the floor?”

Shaking her head, she stops at the produce section and begins loading her cart. There are tons of fruits and vegetables available at most well stocked markets, the problem is the majority of people don’t know how to use or cook them properly. Or they think, one mushroom is like another.

Her nose is quick to pick out the best and freshest choices. She is a chef and takes pride in her work. It is more than just her cutie mark. It is more than her family name. It is because every time she cooks, she shares her love of food with those who eat it.

Glancing down at her cutie mark she muses. Okay, maybe it is her mark. There is an emotional bond between food and family. Food brings everypony together.

Stopping at the apple section she is in total love. This isn’t just plastic bags full of small apples. She has choices here. Selections. She has apples here for everything. And there is just something instinctual about it, she could see, smell, sense the best ones. Generations of apple family instincts are in her. The foals will eat well tonight.

Even though Feather is a pegasus, she almost never eats meat. Ah-Pee wonders while choosing the right apples if it is because of Feather’s human past. Maybe she can’t bring herself to eat meat after working at, well, a meat plant.

She wondered if she could ever look Moolisa in the eyes after all the barbeques she has done. Or Iron Will. Ok Iron Will, yes, she could look him in the eyes easily. That guy doesn’t deserve respect. Thinking of Iron Will she considers a moment, was he cursed too?

All of a sudden she has a vision of Iron Will in a suit running some kind of crime syndicate.

“There it is officer.”

Shaking her head vigorously, she notices the police officers and Animal Control officers standing, looking at her. The animal control officer is smiling, but the police officer is looking nervous with his hand on his gun.

“Draw the gun and I’ll break your wrist, Jerry.”

“Are you sure it’s not going to charge us or something.”

“I’m sure if you draw the gun it will HAVE you charged. And it’s a she, not an it.”

“Really?” The officer says, and leans over, looking at her tail area.

Blinking Ah-Pee puts her tail down more. “Excuse me?”

The officer goes for his gun, only to have his arm locked behind him by the Animal Control officer.

“What did I say about you gun, Jerry.”

“That you’d break my wrist if I drew it… But it talked.”

“And does her talking mean you need to draw your gun?”

Dropping to all fours, Ah-Pee turns and sits, watching the show. “Damn, I should have brought popcorn for this.”

“I’m sorry about Jerry here, no kids and too much of a jock. I’m Patty, you can call me Pat. You’re part of the Apple Family aren’t you?”

“I’m an earth pony with an apple based cutie mark. Though given how far the Apple tree’s roots have spread I’m surprised that most earth ponies aren’t part of the family. I’m Apple Pie, I lived in Canterlot but traveled a lot.”

“I know, I have a daughter.” She smiles, “She keeps asking me if I ever find one of you guys to bring them home as a pet.”

“Um, no thank you, I’m not the pet type.” Ah-Pee says, smiling.

“Oh don’t worry, I wouldn’t. I heard rumors from friends on base.”

“Yeah, my Military ID is in my saddle bag.” Ah-Pee says and nuzzles it open, searching through. Taking out her ID wallet, out she opens it with her forelegs and holds it out for Patty.

“Now Jerry, I’m going to let go of your arm. If you try for your gun again, I will break your wrist and arm.” She says sternly.

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Let me guess, old friends?” Ah-Pee asks.

“Nope, worse. Brother-in-law.” Letting go of his arm she took the ID card and shows Jerry. “There, see.”

“Ok, so… what is… she?” Jerry asks.

“I’m a pony, though an alien pony. We are from another world. Pat knows about us because her daughter watches a show based on us.” Ah-Pee says, “I’m just here trying to buy some fresh groceries, the stuff at the PX and BX are okay, but not really fresh. I could order online, but again, doing that I can’t choose.”

“And of course, being an Apple Family baker, she has to choose the best of the best. Don’t grow your own stuff?”

“I just moved here a week ago, even I can’t grow things that fast.” Ah-Pee chuckles. “Besides, I can’t get the selection of apples on base even if I did grow my own food.”

“Feel free to go shopping.” She turns and looks at the police officer, “Jerry, I’ll stay with her, keep people calm. You, go find a donut shop.”

Giggling Ah-Pee shakes her head, “Ouch.”

Jerry grumbles and heads out.

“That’s a lot of groceries.”

“Yeah, but I cook for friends, three foals, and often three adults. They all chip in though, or the food bills would be murder.”

“Big family?”

“Not so big, just lots of friends who prefer to eat real food than mess hall stuff.” She says as she picked up the last of the things she needed.

Stopping by a large stack of cans, Ah-Pee looks up, “Wow, canned asparagus, really? I know some people would use it for emergency food stores but really?”

The gunshot causes both of them to flinch and duck. Peeking over the cans, they can see two humans with ski masks. One is holding a shotgun, the other has a pistol in the air, yelling.

“This is a hold up.” The guy with the shotgun calls out.

“Empty the cash, and I might chose not to put a bullet in your head.”

Turning her back to the can’s Ah-Pee rears back and bucked her hind legs in rapid kicks. Watching over her side to aim, she sends several cans flying at the robbers. The cans are pretty deformed by the kick alone, but the kinetic energy imparted on impact is still incredible.

One can misses and hits the wooden wall, punching through it. The next hits the man with the shotgun full force in the shoulder. The third and fourth cans strike the guy with the pistol, catching him in the side of the chest and hip. Two cans blow through the window, rending into a car’s door leaving ripped holes in the side paneling. The last two cans though, find home again on the robbers. One catches the thug with the shotgun in the knee, and the last hitting the guy with the shot gun full force in the elbow.

Both men go down, screaming in pain. Blood flowing and bone showing from the impacts. Both men will need critical medical treatment, and fast. Ah-Pee cringes, seeing the damage she’d done and looks up.

“Call an ambulance for them. Tell them to hurry!” Ah-Pee shouts.

“Calm down Ah-Pee, you saved the people here.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill them, just stop them.” Ah-Pee whimpers.

“Police and ambulance are on the way.” The store clerk calls out.

“Thank you.” The manager says, shaking Ah-Pee’s hoof. “We’ve been held up twice this month, and last time they hurt a teller pretty badly.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt them so bad though.”

Pat puts her hand on Ah-Pee’s back gently. “Calm down. Relax.”

Jerry comes back in with the medic’s. The two medics get to work right way, soon they call for a second ambulance immediately, trying to stabilize both patients.

The one who took the hit to his chest is in the worst condition. “Crushed ribs, internal bleeding, I think he’s got a pierced lung!”

“This one’s got several breaks in arm and leg, we’ll need to watch him for shock.”

Ah-Pee is escorted out of the store by Pat and sits down. Carefully Pat gives her water to drink to help her relax. “You’re not one for seeing blood like that are you?”

Ah-Pee shakes her head and drinks the water.

“I thought you were Army.”

“I’m an army cook. Not a pony that’s actually seen real combat. Trust me, there are police officers that have never fired a gun their entire career.”

Jerry comes over, looking firmly at Ah-Pee. “I’m going to need your ID and information including contact number and place of residence.”

Taking out her wallet again, she offers her ID to Jerry to write it down.

“Jerry what are you doing?” Pat says.

“My job. I need this in case the men, or the DA’s office decide they want to press charges.”

“WHAT!” Pat’s dander is up now.

“They are both likely to have permanent injuries from this. That could end in civil lawsuits, and this could be construed as an animal attack.” Jerry says.

“Do it and you’ll be eating through a straw for the rest of your life. She’s a hero, and every person in that store knows so.”

“I still have to follow the law.”

The store owner comes out of the shop with Ah-Pee’s groceries already bagged. “Here you go.”

Looking back Ah-Pee blinks, “I didn’t pay for them yet.”

“Don’t worry, this time it’s on the house. He threatened to shoot my daughter in the head. You saved her life. That’s worth a cart load of groceries. My insurance will cover the damaged window and damage to the car in are parking lot. Thank you.”

Looking between Ah-Pee and the owner, Pat turns to face Jerry. “There, protecting lives in immediate danger.”

Jerry hands Ah-Pee her wallet back. “This is just going to be too much paperwork.”

*** Velvet ***

“You can read that?” Beth asks, sitting beside me.

Moving over a touch I press my side against hers, just so she has some physical contact. “A bit, its older script, isn’t the best.”

“What does it mean?” Henry asks sitting, looking up at the chalk board.

“It means things have gotten a lot more complicated and confusing. Star Swirl was a great wizard, he created many spells. He’s famous for the Amniomorphic spell.” I say softly.

“Ok, so what does that spell do?” Henry asks.

“I have no idea. But it was something he was big on researching.”

“The amnion is a membrane that forms over an egg, covering the embryo. It fills with the amniotic fluid which causes the amnion to expand and become the amniotic sac which serves to provide a protective environment for the developing embryo.” Henry said. “Morphic is alterations or transformations of or through. So if just by naming alone, it might be a spell to detect or alter the status of an unborn child.”

I blink looking at Henry, “Darn medical unicorns.”

“So what’s on the board then?”

“It’s a spell, a formula to guard against chaos magic.” I run my hoof along one of the lines. “It’s to create a stabilization bubble to prevent chaos magic from affecting those within.”

“We could have really used that in Equestria.” Henry huffs.

“It looks like he was simplifying it. Making it so most unicorns could cast it with only a little practice.” I say and hum, “So simple even you could cast it Henry.”

“There are a lot of things from Equestria here.” Henry says, looking around. “Lots of old stuff from Earth too, but really this place is a treasure trove for ponies.”

“By law it all belongs to the British government though.” Beth says. “We’ve tried to keep this place a secret but that’s a crime too.”

Henry blinks, “Should I call the hospital now and alert the military?”

“What?” I blink, looking at Henry.

“I know that look. That usually means you are about to do something that’s going to end our careers or worse.”

“Ok, this stuff is part of our home land. Part of our world, this is like say, Russia trying to claim documents and letters from George Washington, from an American.” I say. “She found them, and I wholeheartedly believe she should be in charge of them.”

“I think the government will have something to say about that. Considering they just want to lock her in a cage.” Henry points out.

“Yeah, we need to think about this. This is going to be a team effort.” Tapping my coms, “LT, can you set up the SatCom system, I need a secure back to JSOC and Cipher.”

“Set up use channel 3.” Blaze calls back.

Turning on my tablet I giggle, “Oh if only I could figure out Ciphers superscreen spell.”

“She hasn’t taught you?” Henry chuckles

“She says I don’t have the security clearance.”

After a few moments, the General pops up on my screen, I clear my throat, “General, sir, I think we have found ourselves in a total mess. I know why they couldn’t get their own unicorns to do things. Local ponies have no rights here. They are locked up in detentions centers. Given that, there is probably a fear to reveal themselves.”

Cipher steps in, “I’m showing some fourteen detention centers scattered around the country. They list them as quarantine centers, special case animal. Hard to tell, but I can estimate from paper trails they might be holding forty or fifty ponies.”

Sugarberry is sitting next to the General. She hums, “I went through the records and paperwork, the roadwork project doesn’t make practical sense. The only thing I can think of is it a kickback scam. The paperwork uses percentages everywhere, but didn’t give base figures. When you find the estimated base figures from outside sources you find out there assumptions they make are fabricated. We might be able to use that to apply political pressure.”

The General blinks, looking between the screens.

“The unicorn here, is sitting on a huge cache of Equestrian artifacts, including spells, armor, and how-to guides. There is some question if the UK Government will try and seize it for themselves.” I say. “I don’t think they know it is here, but it will just compound the problem.”

“Oh is that her? Hi!” Sugarberry waves at Beth.

Cipher giggles and waves too. “Hi, pleased to meet you, so you’re the one huh? Wow, you look exactly like you do in the show. So cool.”

“Maybe we can use this, use her.” The General muses. “It might give us some ground to work with, I’ll see what I can find out from friends in NATO. It’s going to take work but we should have enough for our president to take to their prime minister.”

“Remember team, you’re in a country that eats horses and ponies. Keep your ears up and your tails down.” Sugarberry says. Then all screens go dark.

51: The Gate House

Tanya sits at her desk with a feeling of dread. She’s lead a pretty normal life, at least she thinks so. It isn’t anything special. She isn’t the leader of a major corporation or company. She isn’t from a rich family. She’s just…her.

Looking at her photo-book, she sighs. She was a base brat, as a child. Her dad was a finance officer, so she moved around every few years. This played havoc with her school. She bounced between public schools, base schools, and even a Catholic school.

Looking at the pictures of herself in the plaid coveralls and green tie she shook her head. “What a geek.” She muses, looking at the school uniforms they had for her in grade school. She also did brownies and girl guides. Her parents tried to give her as much a chance to make friends as they could in each new place.

Geek is an understatement. Flipping pages, she traces her finger along pictures of her playing Halo with her Dad. She remembers Shadowrun weekends with her friends. They even played some D&D from time to time. She props up her chin and sighs looking at a picture of her with her LAN friends from a World of Warcraft group she was in high school.

MMORPG’s offered her a different outlet than regular friends did. Unlike normal friends, her online friends stayed with her trough a move. She didn’t lose them, or lose touch with them, as she changed bases. A few of them she’s kept for almost a decade.

She is the youngest in her family, with two older brothers and an older sister. This leads to an array of fights at home with siblings about everything from privacy and clothing, to bathroom time. She was always a scrapper though. She learned to hold her own against her brothers in a fight, and even took some martial arts. Never went that far in the arts though. Green belt in judo and a yellow belt in karate was about as far as she went. It isn’t because she didn’t want to go further, just her family moved and they didn’t have the same martial arts around her.

She wasn’t super pretty, though she isn’t plain either. Her sister is the big fashion model of the house. Boasting about her figure, her hair, she even got a job in the industry. Tanya still gets to bug her sister though about it at times. Especially since her sister has a smaller chest.

She went to college, doing some pre-law, but her main field of study was a master’s degree in criminal justice. After a series of rapes on campus she started specializing in sexual assaults. Having a friend get raped can change your prospective rather quickly.

She took up fencing in college. She always liked a physical outlet, fencing gives her a way to work through her frustrations. This is good, since her brothers aren’t around for her to beat up. She uses the epee as her primary choice for proper fencing. The local SCA, however, gives her a chance to have fun with the heavier rapiers.

After college, she joined the Army Criminal Investigation Command as a specialist in sexual assaults. She was more then capable of investigating other crimes and her team was often called for them. Drugs and murder often went hand in hand with sexual assault cases.

Anthony snaps his fingers in front of Tanya face a few times. “Agent Fargo, wakey wakey.”

Looking up she has tears in her eyes. “Oh God, what if it happens to me?”

“Then you get a horse's butt. Come on, what’s the estimated chance? .002%?”

Shaking her head, Tanya looks panicked. “I’m serious Anthony, what happens if I change like them?”

“Well, if you have any sick days left, you’ll probably use a few of them, or take a full sick leave. Grow a tail, maybe some cute fluffy wings like Fleetfoot has. Then you’ll learn how to be a pony for as long as you need. Then, back to work.”

“Are you that dense? You heard what’s happening? What if I become a stallion? Or an elderly pony? Or some baby foal?”

“You’ll use the men’s room, you wear diapers and get on social assistance. You wear diapers and don’t get on social assistance. Look, you’re usually the up one here. I know you’ve been worrying about this a while but at this point I’m almost tempted to call the boss and have him send you home. What’s got you so panicked?”

“It’s my birthday today. I’ve been to the bathroom 20 times now, checking my hip. I can’t take it. I’m so scared.”

“Ok why are you scared? Remember, CID has been trying to recruit a pony, if you change, you’ll be guaranteed a job. If you don’t change you’ll still be part of the CID. Come on, you need to breathe, relax and calm down.”

Propping up her chin, she looks at the pictures of her friends. “Terry, Wendy, Kim, Angela, Snowslide, Lena. It’s because of them that I changed from law to criminal justice. Kim got raped in college. Boys club didn’t want to investigate it.”

“You’re not going to stop being you. You heard what LT Fisher said.” Looking up, Anthony sighs. “Boss, Agent Fargo is freaking out. It’s her birthday and she’s terrified she’s going to change.”

“I think that’s part of the reason the government doesn’t want this all to go public. Look, take her down to the infirmary, both of you are on downtime for the next few hours. Just rest, talk with the psychologist.”

“But…”

“No buts. After you talk with her she can sign you back on duty.”

“Why am I going?” Anthony protests.

“Because she’s your partner and can use your support.”

“Yes sir.” They say in stereo.

*** Velvet ***

“What do you mean you are waiting for clarification on your orders?” The SAS Major says, looking at LT Fischer

“Just what I said, the situation is far more dynamic than we were informed. While normally, Rangers will think on their feet or hooves, in this case we need keep them constantly updated and have to wait to hear back from command.” The LT looks down at the radio station as Blaze sits, speaking in Navajo.

Fluffing his wings, Blaze goes about his work. He chats away in a modified code speech, through encrypted coms. There is no real reason for him to be doing this. The information he is giving doesn’t even pertain to the mission at hand. For the most part, he is just talking about unicorns in general and what the show says about them.

He knows command will be recording this. Code talking isn’t used anymore, but there are still code talkers in the military. Mostly, they are soldiers that studied and learned the codes as part of their history and heritage. What he is doing right now, however, is called a Focus Feint.

The SAS and MI1 and MI6 will be flipping out over this. They’ll be working hard to decrypt the scramble section. Which Blaze is hopping. Regularly, with enough computer power, they could probably have it done in 3-5 days, maybe a week. Then they would have to deal with the Navajo language. That could take them a few hours or so. Then, there is the code speak, that might take them anywhere from 1-3 more days to figure out.

With any luck, he’d have the agencies focusing on him for the next week. In reality though, he figures he’d bought the group at least four days. Since this had gone political, it was time we needed. And time the British are trying to deprive us of.

Trotting up, I sit down and look between Jay and Blaze. Taking a deep breath, I shift to the pony language as I speak, “She’s hunkered down with Henry. They have enough supplies for two or three days down there. She’s worried about her brother though.”

“Did that thing just whinny?”

The LT blinks a few times, “Um yes she did. Just...”

“Just what.” The major asks, stepping forward.

Pinching the bridge of his nose the LT shakes his head. “I’ve been hanging around ponies too long, I thought I recognized a few terms.”

“How, that was a mess of horse noises.”

“Pony noises.” Blaze says, “If it was horse noises it would be lower pitched. Though I don’t speak Saddle Arabian.”

“What does Saddle Arabian mean?” The Major says, looking back to LT Fisher.

“It’s likely a dialect spoken by the horses of the western deserts. They live outside of the borders of Equestria.” LT Fisher says, then he stops, looking at the blank look on the Major’s face. “Yeah, horses, deer, buffalo, dragons, griffins, and other species live on their world. You think we have problems with different religions.”

“Right, next thing you’re going to tell me is dolphins are intelligent.” The Major sniffs derisively.

“Actually they are, some unicorns actually have a spell to talk with them. There a friendly people, just a little upset with humans making a mess of the dolphin’s world.” Blaze says, listening to the radio taking a drink. Then he switches to the pony language. “Okay, that should keep him going for a while.”

“You are cruel, though now I wonder if there is a spell for that.” I say, giggling.

“For what?” The LT asks rubbing his nose, eyes closed.

Blinking, I switch back to English. “Ok no more pony time for you LT, you’re starting to understand the language.” I say with a giggle.

“Sorry.”

“Why don’t you just take her by force?” The SAS Major growls.

Rolling his eyes, the LT draws his gun. “Velvet.”

Blinking, I look as he levels his service pistol at me, quickly I throw up a shield as he fires a round at me, which bounces harmlessly off the shield.

“The HECK! LT did you just shoot at my mate?” Blaze says flatting his ears and pawing the ground.

“I was giving a Demonstration. I’ve seen her block an RPG round. I’ve seen the shield stop grenades, sustained machine gun fire. She can walk with the shield up. Now think about that for a second. That’s just defensive. To try and force her to do anything would be like trying to force a centurion tank to do something. You could do it, but you’d need a ton of firepower, and do lots of damage to the area.”

Blaze grumbles, “How would you like it if I shot at Fleetfoot.”

“BOYS!” I yell. “I knew what he was doing. I’m fine. Not saying I should do something to someone else’s special somepony.” Looking between the two sternly, I let my horn glow to make my point.

The LT taps a foot, looking at me.

“Sorry sir.” I grumble, “It’s those darn mother instincts.”

“So… I’m your foal.” The LT says, looking even less than amused.

“Umm. I thought I had my shots for hoof in mouth.”

“Ok, Blaze, you’re up for patrol. Give us a wide area scout. Make sure the unicorn isn’t teleporting all over the place on us.” The LT says.

Nodding Blaze takes to the air.

“Velvet you’re on coms for now. Use pony language only over open coms.”

“Why?” The SAS Major says, looking none to amused with our antics.

“Simple, so humans can’t understand or translate what’s going on. Thus we don’t need to keep secrets.”

The sonic boom let us know Blaze is off to have some fun.

Longingly I look back towards the storage cache and sigh. So many books, so much stuff to sort though. New spells. Maybe there’s stuff…

Blinking I shake my head as my muzzle is hit softly with a rolled up newspaper. I rub my muzzle and look up. “What?!?”

“I’ve seen that look on the show. It’s trademarked to your daughter. Get to work.”

*** CID MIR ***

Tanya sits down on the chair in the office. With three different military investigation branches in one building certain facilities are included. They have their own infirmary, but it is little more than a basic examination room. It has one bed, including various diagnostic and emergency equipment, as well as several chairs.

Normally it is staffed by at least one nurse or two EMT’s, able to handle most traumas including gunshots. Kicking her foot a bit, she huffs and looks at Anthony. “You had to tell the boss.”

“You were the one throwing yourself into a panic.” Anthony says, grumbling, “Now I’m stuck in here with you.”

The psychologist walks in and takes a seat at the desk. “Hi there Tanya, I’m Doctor Berkeley. You’ve been stressing out?”

“Seriously, she’s scared she’s going to grow a horses…”

The flying pillow catches him square in the face. “Look I’ve just been stressed out, it’s my 25th birthday.”

“You’ve been worrying for days now though.” Anthony says, throwing the pillow back on the bed. “You’ve been late for work, down, depressed.”

“Yes. I know it’s stupid but I keep thinking about what they said. Countries could start mandating checks on the 25th birthday. It’s like I’m waiting to find out if I have some terminal illness.”

“It’s not a sickness though.” The doctor says.

“I know but… it’s just anxiety. I can’t sleep I can’t eat. I’ve checked my hip like 20 times today, worrying.”

“Why worry though?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess after hearing everything, I just keep thinking of all the ponies that have had to give up their lives.”

“Being a pony isn’t something to be scared of.”

“I’ll still be your partner and support you, even if you do get a butt stamp.” Anthony says.

Pulling down the side of her skirt to Anthony, Tanya sticks her tongue out at him.

Anthony blinks a few times, then he coughs.

“What?”

The doctor tilts her head, looking at Anthony. “Something wrong?”

“It’s not wrong, but you had better contact HR. Her mark has come in.”

Blinking, Tanya looks down at her hip, “Oh Fu…”

*** CMC EC ***

“FUN!” Feather laughs, bouncing on the trampoline, using her wings to help her do loops.

Candy laughs, “You could do that without the trampoline.”

“You wanna try?” she says, hopping off.

“Nope, this little colt is a ground pounder.”

Cloudy bounces off the trampoline, then she lands on the ground, shaking her head. “Nope not for me either. It hurts my legs.”

“Well I guess Cirque Du Soleil cutie marks are out.” She looks down for a moment, then she brightens, “unless we wanna try shooting Feather out of a cannon, there’s lots of cannons around base.”

“No thanks, I’m not a Zebra.”

“Well I guess there’s no fighting destiny then.” Cloudy says.

“What?” Candy blinks.

“We need to go by our names again. We need to find Feather a French Maid outfit, feather duster, and have her try cleaning a hotel.” Cloudy says.

“No. Just. No. On so many different levels, no.” Feather says, spreading her wings and snarling a bit. “And don’t even THINK of a fanfic that has anything to do with me in a French Maid outfit.”

“Well fanfic writer is out too.” Cloudy says, giggling.

“You know what?” Feather says, “Let’s just forget about our cutie marks for today and do something fun. Go somewhere fun. How ‘bout a movie?”

“Well whatcha wanna see?” Candy says.

“Toss up, Green Lantern or Avatar 5.” Cloudy giggles.

“Oh let’s do the new Green Lantern movie. Maybe we can learn new spells.” Candy giggles.

“Just remember, whenever they say Green Lantern. Replace it with Radiance.” Feather giggles as they trundle for the theater.

Trotting inside they looked around, the down side to being small is everything just looks so huge and massive. Tickets and snacks are both sold at the concession stand, rather than at the front door so they nod once to each other. The twins run up to the counter first, followed by Feather.

“Feather, you’re up!” The foals say. They are getting used to this.

Candy and Cloudy stand side by side in front of the counter, and Feather does a wing jump, to land on their backs. As a pyramid Feather has enough height to see over the counter. This way she can place orders without having to hover.

Feather strikes a pose, spreading her wings, and all three called out. “Cutie mark Crusader, Cooperation!”

This probably isn’t the best idea, though. Truth be told it isn’t their fault. How could they know that the base daycare and summer camp programs are going to be at the theater too today? How could they know that kids would outnumber adults eight to one?

*** Pope Airfield ***

The ground crew signals the pilot of the C-17 Globemaster III, he is a go for the test. Pushing the throttles forward with full brakes, the engine power comes up as the engines roar. Static engine tests are part of the plane’s checkout.

The ground crew looks at each other, confused. Even near the engines, the sound of the C-17 is drowned out by the screams of the children blocks away at the theater.

*** CMC EC ***

The children swarm the foals. There are just too few adults to control the children in a situation like this. Quickly, the children are around the ponies patting and squeezing them. Hands are grabbing manes, hugging, and stroking them.

Feather tries to take flight, but they grab her tail and wing as she was pulled down. The crowd of children is hemming her in. One hoof in the air she calls out plaintively, “Help meeee!”

Candy finds handfuls of popcorn offered to him as he is hugged and patted. His horn is grabbed and pulled to see if it is real.

Feather has her wings stretched out as she is probed and looked at… Questions fly about her being able to fly.

“Who’s idea was the movie?!?!” Candy calls out.

“Feather's!” Cloudy calls back over the din. “Watch your hand!”

“Feather, you’re going to pay for this.” Candy growls.

Yelping, Feather manages to slip free and fly up, to land on top of a display case, curling her wings against her tightly, tail between her legs she looks at the chocolate and popcorn stuck to her feathers. Looking down from the display she has the aspect of a terrified kitten.

Two of the staff behind the counter lean over and grab Cloudy and Candy by their shoulders and forelegs, pulling them up out of the mob. Both of them are quickly set up on top of the display with Feather. The top of it is a good six feet high. Enough to keep them out of reach. It’s lucky they are foals, had they been adults, there would have been no hope of lifting them out of that mess.

Feather looks at the twins and whimpers, “I need a shower.”

“We all do, I think.” Candy moans.

“Why? It’s just a little chocolate and some sticky stuff…” Cloudy starts, then he stops, seeing the expression on Candy and Feather.

“I wonder if Cloudy was this much of a mess in Ponyville.”

“Meh, it could have been worse.” Candy says.

“How?” The girls blink, looking at him.

“Picture if we tried to go to Disneyland.”

*** CID HQ ***

CID effectively has what is referred to as a board room in it. It isn’t really a board room, since they have no board of directors. It is, however, a meeting room where brass can sit in comfort. Nice chairs, large oak table. Several TV’s are in the room, although the 72 inch big screen can be used for movies.

Tanya has been given a large comfy chair to sit in. The psychologist and Anthony are staying with her as the director had asked her to be brought there, rather than leaving her in the infirmary. A large Caf-Pow has been swiped from the NCIS side of the building, and some doughnuts from the break room.

“Ok first off, you won’t be fired, and this won’t count against sick days or sick leave.” The HR Rep says. “While the term or concept may sound strange, we are treating it more like a maternity leave. You can choose to continue to work through the change, though day two and three you will be on desk duty. Or you can opt to stay at home, or at the base hospital.”

The Director smiles reassuringly, “Whatever you choose, we won’t think any different of you. However if you do go home we wouldn’t mind someone there with you. Even if it’s just to help out and to be an emotional sounding board. We don’t want you to feel like you have to go through this alone.”

“Well none of you are changing.” Tanya says, sighing.

“You shouldn’t think of it as changing, you’re just returning to how you’re supposed to be.” The psychologist says, “It’s likely going to be a scary and confusing time.”

“You make it sound like puberty.” Anthony chuckles.

“In a way, it is, and a lot of the same fears end up being present. Why am I changing? Why am I reacting like this?” The Psychologist nods, “It even has its own special talk.”

“So… What am I… turning into?”

“You’re mark is unique so it is pretty easy to track down. You are turning into a unicorn mare. She’s probably in her late teens or early adulthood. There’s no fear of becoming a little foal or changing genders.” The Director says.

“And its reverting back, this is how you were born. You just had some time off as a human.” The psychologist says softly.

“As a unicorn, part of your transitional learning will be magic. Don’t worry, if it’s needed, we can fly you out to Fort Bragg after the change is done. From what we’ve seen though, it’s best for unicorns to start with their magic as soon as possible, just to get used to doing it. Otherwise they can have magical accidents.”

“Fort Bragg?” Anthony asks, looking confused.

“Currently we are using that as our unicorn training base. There are four unicorns there right now that are friends. The training program was created by Twilight Velvet herself. Any of the other unicorns can likely mentor a new unicorn in their magic. Twilight suggests doing it as soon as possible to prevent the risk of sparks.”

“What’s a spark?” Tanya asks, blinking.

“It’s, well it’s an uncontrolled magical release of energy. Apparently, it can be caused by either lack of control, emotional responses such as fear, or not using or understanding the magical energies.” The director says, “They can get quite messy.”

“That I’ve heard.” Tanya said and looks around, “This is just…”

“Do you want some time alone to think?” The director asks.

“I… I’d just like to do some work, keep myself occupied.” Tanya says.

“I understand. I don’t really want to put you in the field right now, I’d prefer if you have some time to relax.” The psychologist says.

“I think it should be up to her right now, you should be fine with your team for today and tomorrow.” The Director says.

“First though, I think you should watch the training videos. I know you’ve read most of this stuff already from the case reports you’ve worked on. But it’s still a good way to start.” The psychologist points out.

The Director stands up with a chuckle and heads out the door, the HR paperwork has been signed, it isn’t unpaid time off, it isn’t vacation time. They had worked it much like a maternity leave, so she won’t have to worry about not paying bills while she adapts to her new form. In a few days they can re-do her paperwork for her new form.

Pressing play on the big screen TV, the logo for the US Armed Forces and Equestria comes up.

“Hello, my name is Twilight Velvet. I know this is going to be a confusing time for you, but to really understand this we need to go back to 1995 Earth Calendar. To the Kingdom of Equestria….”

*** Blaze ***

The Westland Apache simply doesn’t stand a chance. It would take a Tornado or Hurricane to keep up with Blaze but with the maneuvers and G-forces he was pulling at low altitude the risk of a pilot accident would have been too great.

If you needed a royal muck of things, call a pegasus. Blaze has all eyes on him, RAF radar operators had to create a massive no fly zone that keeps shifting, just to prevent civilian aircraft from seeing the pegasus. This is not what the local government wants. They want this handled quietly. They want to keep the public in the dark.

Zipping down low over the water Blaze chuckles, he isn’t sure if this will work, but it will be fun to try. Following the river he heads for a low bridge that will be perfect. Just as he gets near the bridge he slams on the brakes hard, letting his hooves hit the water and back winging with everything he has.

Air pressures kicked up a large wave of water, carrying it forward out the other side of the bridge. The mass of water travels a good fifty feet before starting to break up and dissipate, falling back to the river. Chuckling, Blaze hovers under the bridge, to the AWACS operator, that must have looked confusing as his radar track broke apart and vanished. Dropping to the bank on the side of the river he trots out, heading back on hoof. Using the tall grasses to hide himself, he works his way back to Beth’s farm house.

Making it up to the front door, he chuckles, “Wow this is too easy.”

Rearing up, he rings the doorbell, then sits down, waiting. Then he realizes he doesn’t have his beret on, quickly putting it on, he adjusts it. He is military after all, he needs to look proper. When Beth’s mother opened the door Blaze smiles. “Hello, Mrs. Abbott, is Tommy here?”

Seeing a rather colorful talking pony in combats is probably a little more than she is able to take. With one loud scream she passes out slumping to the floor.

Hearing the ruckus her husband runs to the door. “Honey, what…”

Maybe he’ll be friendly.

Grabbing the shotgun by the door, Mr. Abbot turns to aim at Blaze.

Nope.

Shooing straight up, Blaze lands on the roof above the door. “Whoah, whoah, hold on… I’m looking for Tommy, My names Blaze. I’m with the US Army, 75th Rangers.”

Tommy runs out blinking, and looking up at Blaze.

“A male pegasi? Like the pictures?”

“Yes I’m male. I’m not Dash.”

“Who?” Tommy says, blinking

“What is that thing?” Mr. Abbott shouts.

“I’m not sure, some kind of equine. But I’ve seen pictures of them.”

“Um, yeah, Beth wanted me to make sure you’re safe.”

“Beth?” Mr. Abbott says, his face a mask of confusion.

“Um, this way.” Tommy says and jogs over to the garage.

Blaze looks down at Mr. Abbot then zips off after Tommy, shaking his head. Landing in the garage he looks up.

“Sorry my parents don’t know she changed. The forest turned her into a unicorn to protect it.”

Blaze facehoofs and shakes his head. “No, she was always a unicorn. She was cursed to be reborn as a human, but the curse ended and she reverted to her unicorn form.”

“Okay, I owe her a fiver.” Tommy says.

“For?”

“She said she was like the unicorn from The Last Unicorn, I said she was more like a unicorn from anime. She won.”

Blaze facehoofs again. Why couldn’t people just watch My Little Pony?

*** 43.351289, 42.435889 ***

“We have a new shipment ready.”

“You’ve already botched two shipments.” He says, relaxing in the hammock. It has been a while since he was home. Or at least in his home country.

“Sorry sir, it won’t happen again.”

“Pass the phone to Grigory.” Shaking his head, he can’t stand excuses.

“Dis is Grigory.”

“I need you to do me a favor.” Shifting a bit he makes himself a bit more comfortable. “Do you still have that MSS Vul pistol you love so much?”

“Of course.”

“Would you be so kind as to take it out and shoot Marlen in the head for me?”

A few moments of silence and Grigory comes back. “Done. The shipment will be leaving Russia for the USA tonight. There will be no mistakes this time.”

52: The Lower Bailey

Canterlot is gone. The entire city has been ripped out of the ground and plunked down in the valley like some grim trophy of conquest. That’s what it is after all, a conquest. He strives to remake the world to a time before the sisters ruled.

“Hurry, keep track of the little ones, we don’t want to lose any.” She says, motioning to the stallions.

The Element Bearers are gone. The Wonderbolts are gone. Most of the Royal Guard and EUP are gone. Anyone who would challenge his reign is being hunted down. This leaves only followers and sympathizers.

“I don’t think we can make it, the foals are too slow.” A Guard calls out.

“These are the last of the little ones from the School for Gifted Unicorns. The last of Princess Celestia’s students.” She says, “I will not leave them behind.”

The mines under the old city are vast, with intertwining passages. It would be easy for somepony to get lost down here. Or easy to hide. What ponies that could be found are being brought down here. A safe haven till a rescue can come. The magic there is old, older than Discord, maybe it would confuse his senses.

“They are getting closer.” A guard says.

Looking over her shoulder she lets the hood of her cloak fall. “I’ll buy you some time. Don’t waste it.”

The Diamond Dogs are driven by greed, they love their gems, love their crystals. Discord didn’t have to do much to convince them to work for him, just give them some gems. That and say they could have some of the diamond mines in western Equestria.

Running back towards the pursuers, her cloak flapping behind her. She is fast, faster than most would expect. The Diamond Dogs won’t see her until it is too late. Her horn lights as her rapier lashes out, felling two of the foul creatures. Using her speed and inertia, she leaps, rolling in the air, her hooves make contact with the curved surface of a wall as her speed and centrifugal force let her complete almost a full spiral down the corridor.

The dogs fall for it, they take the bait and start chasing her. Skidding to a stop she turns and lashes out again with her rapier. Another falls in a heap as the rest merely run over the body of their fallen comrade.

Pain lances across her side as a large rock hits her. One of the dogs has thrown it, hoping to slow her down. It stings but she can keep running. At the next cross section she makes a hard turn and stops again, backing up a few paces she charges forward. Lashing out with her rapier, the Diamond Dogs scatter. They had not expected her to change directions again. Two more fall to her blade, she is certainly taking a toll on Discord’s minions. If only the blade would work on him.

The blade. It’s her father’s blade. He had always wanted a son to carry on the family line. She remembers him so well. His bright red mane, his dark blue coat, he’s so noble. So proud. She would not dishonor him or the blade she carries.

The tunnel opens up into a large cavern, the cart tracks were destroyed, but she could see the ledge on the other side. Not slowing, she leaps. Tucking her forelegs tight to her chest, her hind legs power her with the force needed to clear the chasm.

She is about halfway across when he catches her. He grabs her by the neck, holding her over the deep pit. They both hang there in midair as he growls. “You are a pain in my interspecies parts that I won’t mention. I should just drop you.”

“Then do it. Because I won’t bow to you, I won’t serve you.”

“No, I prefer not to have to kill such things… go join your friends, see how they suffer, and watch how they fall to misery and hopelessness.” Laughing softly he speaks the curse as white light envelopes her.

For Five Score! Divided by Four!
Your memories removed, your body confused!
For your insolence you must pay,
Cast off to a land far, far away!
To scatter the six, just the start of my tricks!
Your mind shall be weak, your outlook bleak!
Forgetting everything and living like a fool,
You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

*** Tanya ***

She wakes up with a scream, her heart is pounding, her hip hurts, and she could still feel his claws around her neck. Looking around in a panic she is panting hard. Sweat is dripping down her face like she has just been running for her life.

Dr. Ellis opens the door quickly, she is spending the night in Tanya’s apartment at the director’s request. Seeing Tanya’s condition she runs over and sits on the edge of the bed. “Calm down and breathe, just slow deep breaths.”

“Did they get away?” She asks looking around, then she blinks slowly.

“It’s probably fading now. Don’t worry, its normal.” Shaking her head, “What do you remember?”

“Running, trying to draw dogs away from…” Shaking her head slowly she sighs, “I don’t know I can’t remember.”

“That’s why I’m here. The dreams can be really traumatic. That was you remembering the moments just before you were cursed.” The psychologist says, “Every pony has it. It’s the first real realization that you were really a pony. Then either Discords curse, or maybe your mind itself buries it.”

Sighing, she looks down, “I was hoping it was a mistake. I was hoping it was just some prank or joke.”

“You know it isn’t. Now you’ll need to understand and be aware. Since you’ve had the dream you’ll now start suffering from a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Taking Tanya’s hands gently, she squeezes them. “There are a few triggers that are common to it, but the most is the curse itself.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Five score divided by four.”

The words send shivers down her spine. She could see Discords eyes looking into hers. Turning her head she gulps heavily.

“That’s about as bad as it’s going to get for you likely. Other things might bring back memories, but those words will cause an instinctual response. You just need to be aware of them.”

Nodding slowly she sighs. “I need to have a shower. And thanks again for the help.”

“If your character and personality are anything to say about things, I think you’ll make a great mare.” Smiling the doctor heads back into the living room to wait.

*** Fire Streak ***

The rain is coming down beyond heavy with visibility nearly zero. Most of the runways are closed just for safety reasons. All flights were on listed on delay and no takeoffs are allowed. Only two-five right, and six right were open. Two-five is being used for heavies only. Six is being used for small commuter flights.

Lightning strikes and horizontal rain bands have staff worried about accidents. The storm has rolled in off the Pacific with frightening speed. Air Traffic Controllers are working furiously to divert any and all traffic they can.

One ATC however likely panics at the sight of a transponder signal on a collision course with the tower. The signal is heading in fast, and its track would have it hit the tower somewhere at the upper deck level.

Fire Streak can hardly see the tower lights. He knows that the observation deck is ahead somewhere, but the rain is bad, even for a pegasus. Finally, at less than fifty feet he sees the lights and pulls up to land. One of the supervisors is shocked when the cartoon pony trots in and shakes himself off.

“Cpt. Fire Streak, 520th Air Police. Sorry to bust in uninvited but the storm is just horrible.”

“Your one of those things?”

“Yep, I’m a thing. I’ve been assigned to this sector, with a flight of other ponies to help keep your airspace safe from pegasi ignoring flight safety rules.”

“I… I thought it was a joke.” The supervisor says, “Like the whole UFO thing.”

“Nope, UFO’s are fake, magical talking ponies are real.” Fire shakes himself out again and huffs.

“So… what do you need?”

“A towel, and coffee… a big cup of hot coffee…”

Turning he trots up the stairs to the tower central and looks around. Most people think the tower itself houses all the radars, but in reality, all the tower handles is taxi, approach and take off radars. Longer range radars are handled at another location.

Looking around the approach control he chuckles softly. Since there are almost no aircraft landing, due to the storm, approach control is actually quiet for a change. It is a perfect time for him to get to work.

Sitting down he waits until the supervisor comes in with his towel and coffee, and he finally does one last dry off. “Ok. To start with, we are going to be assigning 2 pegasi slow movers to the tower. They won’t get in the way. Their job is simple. If approach control is having problems with a pegasus flying across the approach lines, one of them will go out and have words with them.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep, hopefully over time we won’t be needed. For the near future though. We’re just here for flight safety. Now myself, and a few others will be working with regional air control. Our job will be to intercept the pegasi further out who are causing problems, flying to close to airliners and such.”

“Who’s bright idea was this?”

“Discord’s, he sent us here. So we are just trying to do our best to stop problems and cut down on the chaos.”

“Sir, we’ve got a big problem.” One of the operators calls out and looks back at the supervisor.

“What’s going on?”

“We have an inbound, 4133 Heavy, Russian IL-76 in trouble.” The operator says.

“Put it on speaker.” He says, walking over.

“… ay again, this is 4133 Heavy, requesting immediate landing clearance, we are at 20 minutes of fuel. We cannot divert.”

“There’s no way he can land in this safely.” The supervisor says, “Let him know the situation here.”

“4133 heavy, this is LAX approach control. Runway 25 right is the only heavy runway we have, wind is from the north up to 40 knots, visibility is 50 feet at best. If there is any chance you can make it to San Diego.”

“Checking. Negative, Fuel calculations are coming up short for that.”

“High Winds, how far out are you from LAX?” Fire asks over his coms.

“I can be there in 3, what’s up?” Comes over the radio.

“We have an emergency here. Get over here, and get every pegasus in the area in the air.”

“What you thinking Fire?” Fleetfoot calls out over the coms.

“Hey Fleetfoot, can you make it to LAX in under ten minutes?”

“Probably, if I break some speeding laws.” She calls back.

“We need to create a storm break, civilian transport aircraft is coming in, in a massive storm here. I don’t know if we have enough to do it, but we might just be able to give them a small window.”

“On my way.”

Looking back to the supervisor, Fire takes a breath. “Ok, have them configure for landing but loiter at the 25 mile marker, we’ll see if we can give him a window for landing, but it will take us 10 minutes.”

“What are you talking about?”

Pulling down his goggles Fire turns. “Just give us 10 minutes, we might be able to open enough of a hole over the runway and for 5 miles out to let him land. We just need a little time.”

Turning, Fire takes to the air. He isn’t sure that weather control is possible on a storm this size. They just need a window, though.

*** Velvet ***

“Okay Velvet, you’re up.” The LT calls out.

“Ok I have all the supplies I need on hoof. I’m just going to do some recon, see if I can coax her out without causing too much problem. Anypony else have a question?”

The SAS Major looks at me sternly, “What is with the horse words? Anypony? Why can’t you just say anyone?”

“Simple, because I’m not a one, I’m a pony. Count yourself lucky I’m not a smurf… though I think ponytastic and ponyrific are words too…”

The LT covers his mouth. He knows full well I am giving the SAS a hard time.

Eric calls over from his position at the radio. “Ponylicious?”

“I’m the V to the e l v and e t, and ain’t no pony out there with a family like me, I’m Velvetlicious.”

The SAS officer looked stern, “Are you going or not?”

“Oh yeah, did you want to join me?” I say, turning towards the forest.

“Most definitely. I’ll put an end to this myself.” He says, picking up his rifle.

“Ok, follow me.” I say, lighting my horn and teleporting.

I have to turn down my coms. The volume he is using to yell at the LT with is just ear splitting. At the same time it proves to him yet again why traditional tactics with a unicorn won’t work.

“Wow, if I did that to a US officer, I’d be in Leavenworth right now.”

“No one saw you come in did they?” Beth asks, looking scared.

Henry chuckled, “Nope, she teleported. I could hear the SAS officer screaming about it over the radio. I still want to know what a wa…”

Magically I closed his mouth. “Nope, no you don’t. That’s a really impolite word to use.”

Beth giggles softly, “You sounded like my mom there.”

“Well I am a mom. I have a son and a daughter back in Equestria, and three foals I’m fostering right now.”

“You don’t look that old.” Beth says.

“And now I feel old.” I say with a giggle. “I still feel 25, though I’m not actually sure my pony age.”

“So what’s the plan?” She says softly.

“Well first, I brought some P-rations.” I say, unloading my bag. “Also some MRE’s for Henry here. If you want to try an MRE you can, but the P-rations are great. I also brought water, batteries, and a USB power charger.”

Quickly Beth goes about replacing the batteries in the lights, while I plug in the digital devices.

“So what is a P-ration?” Beth calls out as she works.

“Short for Pony Ration. It’s something the military came up with. Since we have different diet requirements than humans, they created a different meal set for us. Unfortunately humans can’t eat it. The core of the meal, or about 60 percent of the pack, is alfalfa cubes. These are base roughage to fill us up and help with digestion. It’s then supplemented by high energy and vitamin enriched alfalfa pellets. After that comes the fun part with different kinds of jams, jellies, fruit chips, fruit pies, cookies, drinks, and more.”

“The military makes that for ponies?”

“Why not, and Henry, change kit.” I say tossing him the bag.

Opening it up Henry looks inside the bag and laughs. “Ok, ma’am, remember I’m a medic. When I say the following, I need your flank for a second. I have a set of injections for you. It’s vaccinations for different pony illnesses.”

Blinking she looks at her butt then at Henry.

“Trust me, he’s seen lots of them.” I say, laughing.

Walking over Henry gives her the shots.

“Umm, ow.”

“Baby, you’re better than that.” I say laughing.

Sitting down Beth starts munching on some of the Alfalfa Bits, and instantly we see that look we all know. It is the moment when we all realize just how good it is.

“Wow, you can’t eat this stuff?” She says, looking at Henry.

“Nope. However I did eat it when I was a unicorn so I know the taste.”

“Well what’s the plan? What’s to happen to me?” Beth asks.

“Well, a diplomatic group is apparently going to be landing in London tomorrow. Around the same time two helicopters from the 56th Rescue Squadron will be landing near the castle. They are from Lakenheath Air Force Base. The US Military has several squadrons there. They are going to pick us up and bring us to 10 Downing Street.”

“10 Downing? Really?”

“Uh huh, there we get to plead your case.”

“Oh that’s not going to make some people happy.” Beth says.

“Nope, that’s why you have a Ranger protection detail.”

“Oh, I brought something fun.” I say, smiling and breaking out the puzzle and gears.

“NOOOOOO!” Henry says…

Giggling softly, I look to Beth and start teaching her the basics of… fundamentals.

*** LAX ***

The formation of pegasi hit the clouds hard. The fast movers go for the clouds to clear a path for the plane. Once the gap is created, the slower flyers dig into the clouds and keep the gap open. There are only four fast movers and eight others available.

The storm is just too massive and they don’t have a lot of time. Just two minutes after Fleetfoot had arrived, the Il-76 heave's into sight. However, the fact that they could actually see it is a good thing. The visual range has been extended out to about 2 miles.

Breaking off from cloud clearing, High Winds lives up to her name. She pulls up beside the plane and is able to create a powerful counter wind, lowering the cross wind to safe levels. The odds of the aircraft will land safely is going up.

The pegasi will be needing to raid an IHOP after this, big time. The aircraft begins its final, as it does, the pegasi let the storm close behind it and put more effort into the area over and around the runway. As the area of control shrinks, the amount of effort they are able to put into keeping the plane safe increases.

When the planes wheels hit the ground, it is a light drizzle and only a ten knot cross wind. Well inside safe levels. The crew can handle it from here. Without even waiting for a word of thanks, the pegasi break off and head for the closest IHOP. They are just starved.

Quietly, under the cover to the storm, the aircraft is moved into its hanger. If the pegasi had been aware of its cargo, they wouldn’t have left. They would have ripped the plane apart with their own hooves. A large brown bag is handed off to the customs official, the prices for five inspection tags.

The mares, the foals, would all be on the market in a few days. They will be sold on the deep web to those who have the money to pay for their own piece of Equestria. What happens to them then would be up to their new owners.

One of their big prizes, and a big ticket item for the auction is something truly special. A little griffin cub, likely it was visiting Equestria with its family when the curse happened. Her head feathers are a light golden brown with brown around her eyes. Her fur is a medium brown, with dark brown wings. It is her eyes, though, that is why she would command such a high price, they are a deep emerald green. She is still tiny though, slightly smaller than Dinky.

Curled in a little ball, she shivers, her huge eyes dart around the small box looking for some clue as to why this was happening. She wishes she could see outside. She wishes she knew where she is. She wishes she was safe at home in the Ukraine, with her parents. She has no idea why she has turned into this. Why they had taken her from her village.

*** Tanya ***

Walking into the office, Tanya looks around. She is expecting everyone to be looking at her, but in reality, everyone seems just to be doing their normal work. Heading over to her desk, she checks the boards.

“Hey Tanya, sleep well?” Anthony asked, throwing a paper ball into the can.

Shaking her head she sighs, “Nightmares.”

“Oh, the dream. Do you remember yours?”

“No, and I don’t want to hear those words either.” Tanya shakes her head, “So what’s on the board?”

“Intel has a shipment of special cargo coming in from Russia sometime in the next few days. Customs are on alert for that. We have one infantry corporal AWOL for the last three days, they just turned 25 four days ago, and haven’t called in. We have a rape and murder of an army administration officer. It’s been a busy night for cases.”

“Apparently.” Tanya says, “Who’s on the rape case?”

“Midge’s team, they left about an hour ago.” Anthony says, “Have you told your family yet?”

“Ugg no… I can just hear my sister now. ‘oh, my boyfriend of the moment is into the ponies, to bad it’s the polo kind, ha, ha, ha.’”

“Ever think of taking up polo?” Anthony chuckles before ducking.

“Grab your go-bags. We’re up.” Their team leader calls out.

“Call, boss?” Anthony says, getting up.

“No, I just wanted to make sure you have your bags.” She says, looking at him heading for the elevator.

Tanya giggles, shaking her head and picks up her bag. She heads for the elevator, with Anthony pulling up the rear. “What’s the call?”

“Call came in to the base switch board about twenty minutes ago. Police are en route now. We’re meeting them there. It is an open cellphone call. The operator at first thought it was a pocket dial until she heard the crying.”

“Who’s phone was it?” Anthony asked as they head out of the elevator for the garage.

“Burner phone, it was registered to one D. W. Duck.”

“That’s a new one, usually its M. Mouse.” Tanya says with a smile.

“Since people don’t need to put any real name on them, they just plug in whatever they want.” Shaking her head, the Team leader huffs. “All the companies really care about or verify on the accounts is the four digit pin. The name, address, everything else can be fake.”

“You up for this Tanya?” Anthony asks, looking back.

“I’m fine.” She says, hopping into the driver’s seat of the car.

The call came from a small storage facility, just off the highway. The noise of constant traffic probably covers any sounds from the place. Not to mention the fact that it is all but empty. It is a long term storage location so people often pack and leave things there for months, if not years, on end.

There is no staff on hand. Instead, there is simply a phone number to call. Security seems all but non-existent however. Drawing their guns, just to be safe, they follow the cell tracker to a storage locker in the back. The large door is locked by a heavy keyed padlock.

“You’re up Tanya.”

Kneeling down, she breaks out her lock picking kit. If they have to reseal it and wait, it is better than just cutting it off. It only takes her a few seconds to pop the lock. Backing off, Anthony kneels down and slides the snake camera under the door, now that it can be lifted enough.

“Whatcha got?”

“No trip wires, no alarms, there’s a barrier blocking the rest. I can’t see further than the first few feet, looks clear.”

Pulling out the snake, the police open the door. The team takes partial cover on either side of the door, just in case. Handguns ready in case something is hidden in there.

The room is obviously not being used for long term storage in the conventional sense. It is a five by ten storage room. About three feet in is a heavy cloth divider, or screen, on a metal stand placed to prevent anyone from the outside from easily or quickly seeing what was inside.

Anthony moves up slowly to the divider and pushes it out of the way. A low bed has been set up in the back of the room. A small single bed, complete with sheets and pillow is there. Tied to it is a young pony, its body fur a grey color, with almost a green tinge to it. Its mane is a faded red, almost brown. The colors don’t look natural on a pony, or at least on an Equestrian pony. Its cutie mark, a strawberry and grapes has faded too.

Beside the bed, set on the floor, is a bowl of oats and some water. There is no running water in here. The only excuse for a toilet is the floor drain that has its lid pried off.

“Damn it, get an ambulance here, now.” Anthony calls out.

Tanya came forward, “Ruby.”

“You know her?” Anthony says, looking over.

“No, well yes but no… what did I say?”

“You called her Ruby.”

“That pony thing, her name’s probably Ruby then.”

“I’ll undo the locks, find that cellphone, we might be able to get some answers off of it.” Tanya says, getting to work on the locked collar around her neck. “Don’t worry Ruby, you’re with friends now. You’re safe.”

Anthony does a sweep with his on phone, using a scanner app and kneels down pulling out the burner from under a bag. “Got it.”

“I’m going to want a rape kit done on her.” Tanya says.

“Leave everything as is. We are going to fall back and watch the building. See if anyone comes or goes.” Their team leader calls out. “Tanya, go with her to the hospital see if you can find out who she was in her human life.”

Nodding, Tanya looks as the ambulance crew heaved the young mare into the stretcher. She is conscious but isn’t really responsive.

“Is she a crystal pony?” Anthony asks.

“I don’t think so, but mental stress can hurt any pony according to the information Velvet gave us.” Tanya responds, getting into the back.

The EMT’s slam the doors shut. The ambulance pulls out, heading for the hospital on base. While they could just as easily bring her to a normal hospital, most humans still have no idea about ponies. Base hospitals, at least, could access information on them easier.

Tanya runs her fingers through the mare’s neck and scratches behind her ears softly. “It’s ok Ruby. I’m here. I may not look it yet, but I’m a pony like you.”

Closing her eyes Tanya rubbed her face against Ruby’s. She isn’t sure what to do in this case. There is no textbook on this. The only thing she could hope is that closeness and contact might help her.

*** Anthony ***

Walking into the lab Anthony looks at the phone in pieces. “Whatcha got?”

“Standard LG throwaway phone. Pulled some prints off the screen, there is also saliva on the screen. Running that now.”

“Saliva on… she tongue dialed… then she hid the phone. Smart girl.”

“Who?”

“Pony we brought in. Tanya’s with her.” Anthony says, smiling.

“Oh yeah, how’s Tanya holding out? She got her tail yet?”

Shaking his head Anthony chuckles, “Doesn’t happen till tonight.”

The computer beeps and both looked up at the screen. “Finger print match on the back of the case to a LT Rick Manning. Well I guess we’ll see if he’s manning up to this.”

“Oh god no… leave the jokes to Tanya. That was just bad.” Anthony says, covering his face. Grabbing the printout, Anthony heads up to the office. This case is starting to annoy him.

“Let’s hear it.”

The team leader was one Emma Watson. Before jokes are made, she’s heard them all and even made a few herself. It’s her own fault however. Her whole reason or interest in being a special agent comes from Sherlock Holmes books. On this team, she isn’t some sidekick following Holmes around, she is the…

“Yes Boss.” Anthony puts the paper down in front of her. “One Rick Manning, he’s a LT reservist with the US Army. He works part time as a building contractor. Army has him as a supply management officer. Age 32 so he didn’t change.”

“Well bring him in for questioning.”

*** Grigory ***

“So what do we feed the bird cat thingy?”

“Catfood, fish, if a pony dies in transit, just hack it up and feed it that.” Grigory says. There are enough stories of griffins eating horses.

“We are overlanding them now to their final cities.”

“Good, no mistakes. The boss was less than happy with your progress.”

Hanging up the phone Grigory gets back to cleaning his gun. One must always keep their weapon in the best condition. Their life could depend on it someday.

53: Storming The Keep, Castling.

Tanya sits by the hospital bed, holding Ruby. She’s just a teenager in pony form, pretty much thirteen or fourteen year old human equivalent. This shouldn’t have happened to her. This shouldn’t happen to anypony.

Softly Tanya strokes Ruby’s mane and cheek, looking into her eyes. “Come on girl, you can fight through this, you’re strong enough. You are safe now. Other ponies are here to take care of you.”

Running her fingers through Ruby’s fur, she wonders if this would be her fate. To end up on some hospital bed, slowly blanking out after being used.

A tap at the door signals Anthony’s entrance. “Anything?”

“She’s not responsive. I don’t know what to do.” Tanya says softly.

“We’ll check the reports when we get back. There has to be something.” Anthony says quietly, “Some kind of magic.”

“Yeah, to think we’d be considering magic.” She sighs and hugs Ruby again.

“Do you have the rape kit?”

“Right here, it’s confirmed. Send it off for DNA matching.” Tanya murmurs.

Walking over Anthony gives her hair a gentle stroke, “You look good in long pink hair. It’s definitely your color.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Tanya says, looking down. “I’ve been so worried about her.”

“We found who did this, we think. Army Lieutenant. We are looking for him now.” Shaking his head, he gives Ruby a gentle stroke too. “A pegasus from the 520th is going to be here soon to sit with her. We’re going to try and keep a pony with her constantly, talking, singing, comforting, whatever we can do.”

“Will this be me? Will this be how I end up?” Tanya moans quietly.

“Over so many dead bodies, no one in the CID would let that happen.”

“May I come in?”

Tanya blinks, looking up and seeing the young pegasus at the door. She looks far too young be in the Air Force. She is far too young to be here. They should have sent someone else. They should have sent an adult, not another teen.

“I’m 2nd lieutenant Drizzle. They asked me to come here and sit with a patient.”

*** CMC EC ***

It is a total downpour outside. The rain is coming down heavily. The winds have picked up again, howling and whipping through the trees. They are trapped.

There is no way to safely get home for them. This kind of weather is dangerous to little ponies with their light body mass and short bodies. All they can do is wait and hope. All hopes of gaining cutie marks have been washed away for the day.

There is a flash flood warning in effect for the area. They don’t know the exact area, but it is dangerous enough. The soil has quickly turned to thick mud in some areas, bogging down trucks and other vehicles.

“Argh!” Feather huffs.

Turning her head from the rain, Cloudy looks back at the pegasus, “What?”

“I’m SOOOOO bored…” She says and starts pushing herself along the floor with just her hind legs. She lets her head and forelegs slide on the floor so only her tail end is up.

“We have books, radio, TV, internet, how can you be bored?” Candy asks.

“We have a little hot plate, kettle, soups, bread, jams, and other things including some MRE’s and P-Rats.” Cloudy adds.

Flopping down and rolling onto her back, she looks up at the ceiling… “So I’m supposed to sit in front of the TV or computer, eat junk food, and play video games? Who does that?”

A big gust of wind shakes the tree house a little, causing Cloudy to sit up, hugging her book to her chest.

“Calm down. I’ve been in worse storms.” Candy says.

“You were a storm chaser, and remember how much that concept scared me. I had nightmares of you being carried off by a tornado.” Cloudy whimpers.

“Carried off to some strange magical world and left to find my way home though forest and towns filled with strange creatures.” Candy says, then blinks, “Wait, isn’t that actually what kinda happened to us?”

“Well this doesn’t look like wonderland.” Feather says with a giggle.

“Wow, it’s so windy out there, a horse just flew by.” Candy says, looking out the window.

“What?” Feather blinks and heads over, looking out. Through the rain, she can see a pegasus flying.

“That’s horrible weather to be flying in. She probably has somewhere important to be.” Candy says.

Cloudy jumps again at the sound of the wind.

Moving over, Feather and Candy pull a blanket over the three of them. “There you go Cloudy, you’re safe with us.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Cuddle PILE!”

*** Tanya ***

“Stop scratching it.”

“But it itches.”

“Maybe you got cursed with fleas and they came along too.”

The sound of the smack echoes throughout the halls.

Emma Watson, the CID leader for team three just can’t help but chuckle, “You earned that one.”

Anthony grumbles, rubbing the side of his face and looks at the interrogation room.

“Tanya, observation room, Anthony will be handing this interrogation.” Emma opens the door for the observation room.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to put you in the same room as him, given your state.”

Huffing, she walks into the observation room and sits down, looking at the guy through the glass. LT Manning isn’t much to look at. He isn’t overweight or anything, just non-descript. Five foot ten, 175 pounds, no scars, just a standard military haircut, he could easily blend into most crowds and simply vanish.

She watches Anthony walk into the interrogation room, ok they are supposed to call it the interview room, less context involved. They just can’t help themselves in private.

“Why am I here?”

“Well it’s not about unpaid parking tickets.” Anthony leads off and drops the photo of Ruby.

“What’s with the animal?”

“Let’s drop the act. Drop the dancing around. We have your finger prints, DNA, we can place you at the warehouse. We are looking at sexual assault, kidnapping, and possibly murder if she doesn’t recover.” Anthony says.

“I want my lawyer.”

“So that’s the way you’re doing this?”

“It’s my right, I want my lawyer.”

Flattening her ears, Tanya walks out of observation.

Emma blinks, “Special Agent, what do you think you’re…”

“It’s okay Anthony. He’s entitled to his lawyer.” Tanya says.

“What’s with the ears?” Manning asks.

“Oh, noticed them? I have a tail too now. Apparently I’m turning into a pony.” She says, then looks back at Anthony. “It’s almost 10 pm. A jag duty lawyer won’t be available till morning.”

“Yeah, so were holding him here then?”

“I can stay with him. So yeah, apparently I’m getting my horn in a few hours.” Tanya says with a smile.

“You’re… excited about that?” Anthony blinks, confused.

“Oh heck yeah, I’ll be able to start doing magic. They say we’re supposed to start practicing right away. To avoid accidents.”

“You mean like that explosion in California?” Anthony blinks, starting to catch on.

“That… wasn’t actually an accident. That was a unicorn practicing. She blew out all the windows on both sides of the streets with that one.”

“You’re not going to leave me in here with her are you?” The lieutenant asks, looking between them nervously

“I have no idea how to channel or control magical energy, so it’s going to be fun to practice.”

“Shouldn’t you like, do that in the shooting range or maybe… you know… out in the open fields?” Anthony says looking around.

“Armored glass, reinforced door, reinforced concrete walls with sound padding. I should be fine in here.”

“Yeah but walls don’t always work with spells. Remember that energy blast that turned everyone into ponies for like 300 feet.”

“Yeah but I have to practice. And we need to keep this guy here till morning.” Tanya says.

“Look, what I did wasn’t with a human so it wasn’t…”

Tanya looks at him, “That mean anything that happens in here isn’t with a human?”

“Look I want to cut a deal. I want a lawyer to oversee it.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah, I didn’t kidnap her. I rented her.”

“You… what?” Anthony blinks, sitting up.

“Which means there are likely others.” He goes on. “So I want my lawyer.”

Getting up Tanya walks out and looks at Emma.

“That was border line.” Emma says, looking sternly at her.

“We might have a bigger problem.”

“I heard.”

The lab tech walks up, “Watson I’ve been looking for you.”

Emma blinked and looks at the tech as he jogs up. “Whatcha got?”

“I was wondering why the pony thing called the base switch board rather than 911. So I did a check with local units.”

“Let me guess.”

“We’re missing a marine admin clerk out of the embassy support group. She went missing eight days ago, a day after her birthday.”

“Let NCIS know. Have you heard any news from the hospital?” Emma says, looking at the tech, then back over at Tanya.

“Her marks and colors are still fading. Don’t expect her to last till morning.”

“There is one possibility.” Anthony says, walking out.

Tanya blinks, looking at him.

“Yeah?” Emma tilts her head.

“It would be expensive though. We would need to fly her right now, and there wouldn’t be an actual guarantee of success.”

“What is it? Some special treatment?” Tanya turns quickly to face him.

“I’m not sure, I noticed it, reading some CID cases regarding tortured ponies. A foal was brought back by a Native American. Running Thorn.” Anthony shakes his head, “We aren’t sure why, but he has a special way with the ponies. He’s called Grandfather.”

*** Ah-Pee ***

“Are you TRYING to wear a hole in the carpet?” Cipher says, “They are fine.”

“They are out there all alone in the storm.” Ah-Pee says.

“They are in the tree house. Ballad and you built that. You know they are probably safer in there than they would be anywhere else.” Cipher laughs. “Besides, we can look in on them with the computer if needed.”

“No, they deserve their alone time.” She says. “I’d just be happier with them here.”

“I know, but in an emergency I could probably teleport over there to them. The truth is, we have to remember they are still as old as we are… Even if they are in foal bodies. We have to trust them.”

“Trusting them is one thing, trusting the world with them is another.” Ah-Pee says.

“Well I’m going to my room, I need some time with that electric massager.” Cipher says and trots for her room.

“Gross, too much information, Cipher.”

Giggling softly, “Wow earth ponies have such gutter minds. I use it for my back, ponies aren’t made to sit in chairs all day.”

“I… and… YOU!” Ah-Pee huffs.

Both stop and looked at the door, hearing the knock.

Getting up, Ah-Pee walks over and opens it to see a completely soaked and shivering Fleetfoot.

“Oh Celestia! Cipher get…”

“Get her to the sofa.” Cipher says, laying out towels on the sofa and pulling more out of the closet already starting to wrap the shivering pegasus.

“What are you doing, flying in this weather!?!?” Ah-Pee says.

“I… I had to… I didn’t know where else to go… I…” Fleetfoot curls up on the sofa as they get to work drying her.

Ah-Pee brings her out some warm chicken soup with a straw.

Cipher snuggled up tight to Fleetfoot to help her with body warmth.

“Is… is James here?” Fleetfoot looks to Ah-Pee, whimpering.

“There all still in England.” Ah-Pee responds softly.

“What’s wrong?” Cipher says, looking worried.

“I… I’m… I’m pregnant.”

“What? How?!?!” Cipher’s eyes are huge in shock.

“When a mare is in heat, a stallion moves behind her and then…” Ah-Pee starts.

“Ah-Pee! I know HOW it’s… trust me I see enough of that on the internet.”

“And you write about it.” Ah-Pee says, “So who’s the father?”

“I didn’t know there were that many stallions you knew.”

Whimpering softly Fleetfoot mumbles, “The only stallion I slept with, was… James.”

*** Grandfather ***

They had been flying for over three hours. They first flight was by fast transport to New Mexico, then by Osprey for the last little bit of the trip. The Osprey is under emergency flight rules and has ignored several safety requirements.

Something about a VC-22 Osprey landing on First Nations land might seem strange. Most people would have raised an eyebrow at the concept of two marine corpsmen carrying a pony on a stretcher. The sight of a pegasus trotting with them in uniform might have raised some questions. The idea that they are taking the pony off of the Osprey into an old run down house, might have been downright confusing.

To the old man sitting on the porch however, this isn’t that weird. He’s seen stranger.

Tilting his head, Grandfather rocked slowly and begins speaking in Navajo, “Your machines have disturbed the animals and spirits. It’s noise scattering all for miles and sending the creatures of this beautiful night into hiding. Does no one know how to call first?”

“Running Thorn?” One of the marines asks.

Grandfather tilts his head, looking at the marines but keeps speaking in Navajo, “That is my name though I am rarely called by it. I am a little too old to run now. Though the spirits have been kind that I may live this long.”

Tanya moved up and kneels, bowing her head, “Grandfather please. We need your help. This young pony was abused and tortured. She didn’t deserve that and needs your help. We… I don’t know where else to take her. Her colors and marks have been fading ever since we found her.”

Standing up, Grandfather walks over to her and puts his hand on her neck. “Harmony has been taken from her. Her magic is fading.”

“Is there anything that can be done for her?” Tanya asks.

“Maybe, just maybe, little unicorn.”

“Little?” Tanya blinks, glancing up at her horn. “Oh, right. That’s grown in.”

Looking between Tanya and Drizzle, Grandfather shakes his head. “It will take a lot of energy, I do not know if you two are strong enough.”

Drizzle steps forward, “I’m not the biggest or strongest pegasus… but… I’m here.”

“She’s a pony, she didn’t deserve this. I don’t know how strong I am or what kind of a unicorn I was in Equestria, but I know in my heart, she deserves a chance.” Tanya says.

Grandfather nods, “Maybe your hearts are strong enough then. Do you know her or did you know her before the change?”

“No, but physically she’s not much older than me.” Drizzle says softly.

Tanya shakes her head slowly, “Not personally I never met her till we found her.”

“Doing this for a stranger, shows the spark of magic she will need.”

Standing, Grandfather walks into the house, collecting the herbs he needs. Walking out, he gives Drizzle a gentle rub between her ears. Turning he heads to the fire pit and begins building the fire. “The spirits may see fit to save her yet.”

*** England ***

Four Blackhawks from the 56th Rescue Squadron have landed near the castle. The SAS Major is unsure of what is going on. There is no call for this, through his command.

“Lieutenant Fisher, what’s going on?”

“Extraction team, we are bringing her out.” The LT says, looking at the SAS officer.

“Then she should be turned over to us for her crimes.”

“She’s being brought into US army custody for interrogation.” Turning, the LT runs for the helicopter. Holding up his cellphone he starts broadcasting the live footage.

A moment later Velvet and Beth appear, their horns crossed, with Henry kneeling, hands on their backs. Both girls collapse, panting and even Henry looks woozy. Without waiting for a word or orders, the airmen load the two ponies and the human onto the first helicopter. With cargo on board and before the SAS can react, the first Blackhawk is in the air.

Racing, and with trained practice, the Rangers board the second helicopter. Without waiting, it takes to the air along with the other three. Flying as close as they can, to merge signals on radar, and dropping flares and chaff, the choppers begin their run.

Air cover is provided by F-15’s. There is no fear that the British forces would try and shoot down the helicopters, but the US isn’t going to take chances. This is going to happen fast, and the fallout would be massive. It is, however, the only route to go.

Mid-route, the helicopters break into two groups. The first group, heading for the RAF base at Mildenhall, where US transport aircraft wait. The second group makes a break for Heathrow, a US diplomatic transport is sitting on the runway there, waiting. The US Foreign affairs minister, as well as a legal team has already left it there. They are on their visit to the Prime Minister’s office.

Both the primary and decoy groups are flying at full speed. The helicopters are being pushed to their limits on military power. Military power, the term used for running an engine at full power and full speed. While good for short stints, running it too long like that could damage the engines, and often required a refit of the engine after use. Ground crews are not going to be happy.

Mildenhall is still a Royal Air Force base, but the US holds a lease for it, and is allowed to operate aircraft from it. The Royal Air Force has security waiting for the helicopters, but they know they couldn’t interfere if the helicopters land near the transports.

The same goes for Heathrow. If the US gets the ponies into the diplomatic aircraft, they can’t touch it. Police have been dispatched. Though here is some question if they really wanted to stop the US Army. It might be the best just to let them escape.

“And you’re sure this will work.” The LT says.

Nodding slowly I take a breath. “Yep. But we will need to stop for a moment.”

“I know.” The LT gives me a hug. “Be careful, I don’t want to have to deal with Blaze if you get hurt, the paperwork will be a mess.”

The cellphone vibrates and the LT looks at it. “Target’s in position. You’re a go, with this, there’s no turning back Velvet.”

Nodding, I take a deep breath. “Meh, if it goes bad, just say I knocked you out.”

The helicopter slams on the brakes. Tipping its nose up and cutting power the helicopter loses all forward speed fast, then the pilot drops the nose as the helicopter hits a hover. Taking a breath i cross horns with Beth than looked down and teleport with her.

Once clear the helicopter goes to max power again, gaining speed as fast as it can.

*** Grandfather ***

Grandfather looks at the marines as they place Ruby by the fire. “This is not for your eyes. Wait at the… machine.”

Looking to each other, the marines shrug and head back to their transport.

Grandfather positions the pegasi and unicorn on either side of the stricken earth pony. Moving to the other side of the fire he begins chanting. Tapping his rattle in time, Grandfather looks to the two drummers who have joined them for this emergency.

Tanya feels the energy building behind her horn. It is an energy she hasn’t felt before, an energy she doesn’t know she has. She can feel it building and throbbing in time with the drum beats. Glancing over, Tanya sees Drizzle, her wings spread wide. There is an energy crackling between her feathers.

Drizzle stomps her hooves in time with the drums. Her eyes are closed tight, she isn’t scared though. She flicks her wingtips in time with the music and stomps her hooves. She doesn’t know why she is doing it, but she has to help Ruby. She feels it in her heart. Ruby is a pony too. There are so few of them on Earth, every one of them needs to be saved.

Tossing a handful of herbs into the fire causes the flames to roar up, the image of a stag forming in the flames. His antlers are glowing bright with energy. A ball of power forming between the antlers in the basket of his rack appears green, even though the flames are red.

Tapping the rattle, the energy of the unicorn and pegasus brings the seeds inside to life, the heart seed and zap apple seeds responded to the magic of Equestria. The love, the willingness to sacrifice for a stranger, the seeds focus it.

Strands of energy, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple flow out from the Zap apple seeds. The energy flowed through the fire up around the image of the stag gathering in its rack before diving down gain. It wrapped around the girls in streams as it intertwined and dance with Tanya’s horn, drawing her energy into the beam. The colors run through Drizzles feathers, drawing the aether from the pegasus, growing bright and true.

Arching up finally the colors come down and hit Ruby in her cutie mark, filling her body with love, safety, and pure Equestrian magic. The energy paints and washes through her colors bringing them back. The young mare is lifted off the ground as the energy wraps around her, ensuring she is fully painted again before laying her down.

Panting hard, Grandfather falls sideways into the drummer.

Tanya and Drizzle both watch the fire dim as they pass out completely drained and exhausted.

*** Velvet ***

We appear on the ground in the middle of the square. A rather large number of people look at us, shocked. Some taking pictures, others pointing. The sight of two unicorns appearing in a flash of light must not be normal here.

A large white stallion whinnies and backs up, fighting his rider. On the other side of us a white mare whinnies, shaking her head vigorously. Protesting any commands from her rider.

Looking around, I see our destination and cross horns with Beth again. With one more jump, we appear on the balcony beside the US Minister of Foreign affairs. Much to the shock of the British Prime Minister and his aid, I bow my head respectfully.

“I’m sorry for doing thing this way Prime Minister. But we need to talk to you. We are not sure how much you know about the ponies.” The foreign affairs minister starts.

“I’ve been told they are victims of a retrovirus.”

Shaking my head I sigh, “No sir, we aren’t. The situation is far more complicated. What is going on will require a lot of changes and understanding. Though, first order of business. The army and police have been trying to catch this unicorn. She’s been protecting crown land by sabotaging private contractors.”

“Yes, I know about that.”

“Prime Minister, FBI Forensic accountants as well as Cyber teams from the military have been hard at work. First, the forest area that she’s been fighting to protect is part of a scam. Certain members within the administrative branch are receiving kickbacks to give a contract to a company for a road that doesn’t need to be built. The data for the roadway uses misleading information, then the bid was awarded to the company based on bribes.”

The Minister of foreign affairs hands the Prime Minister the files.

I sit down and look at Beth. Leaning against her I cross my horn with hers again. Just to help give her strength. The minister and his aids go through the paperwork, looking at who are implicated and who the government is going to have to deal with in this scandal.

“Someponies gonna get it.” I say, noting the looks on the human’s faces in response to the information they are reading.

“Somebody.” Beth says, “You’ve gone way too native.”

“Are you ready for your part?”

“No, not in the slightest, I’m terrified.”

“It’s ok, I’ll be here with you and I’ll start it off. We will try and find a way to help all the ponies here at once.” I say, nuzzling her cheek.

“What am I going to do when you go?”

“Don’t worry, remember you are a special pony.”

Looking up, Beth takes a deep breath. “Okay, show time.”

“Honorable Prime Minister, given the situation, I think it would be best to have the Queen present in the next part of the discussion. Would it be possible?”

“An appointment was made with your Foreign Minister. I have some suspicions that that was not a coincidence.” The PM says.

“We would like to plead our case before both you and the crown. This is a serious matter that affects hundreds of lives.” I say and bow my head.

“We will go there in three hours. For now, care for some tea?”

*** USA ***

The ponies are divided up between different trucks. Shipped to different locations around the USA. Each delivery nets nearly 75,000 dollars US. The owners of each, though, are charging between 500 and 2000 dollars a pop to use. Except for those that were bought to be hunted. Those were based on how much the hunter is willing to pay, up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are some depraved people out there, and the chance to hunt an intelligent animal interests some. If they could hunt a dragon, that would be worth millions to some.

As to the little griffin, bidding for her has started at 250k. Be it to be used in some Chinese potions, to be hunted, or used as a sex toy, someone would need to pay big for her. The small box van she is in is traveling cross country. The auction site is New York City.

54: Taking the Keep, To Capture a Queen

Tanya wakes up in bed, a cold compress on her face. She sits up, stretches a bit and groans. Her horn is sore, her legs hurt. Sitting up slowly, she looks around. She’s in a room, the walls are wood panels painted white. Light streams in from a rectangular window. A wooden door is closed.

Looking down, she looks at Drizzle sleeping, curled in a ball. She is lying on a mat on the floor with a pillow under her head. Poor little thing just looks so tired. Tanya notices that she is wearing clothing though, why would she sleep in clothing?

Ruby is laying stretched out under a blanket, she has two pillows under her head. She doesn’t have her ponytail. It’s strange, seeing her without that. She almost always has the ponytail.

Leaning out of the bed, Tanya puts her hand on the floor. It feels weird, strange. It feels wrong. She looks down at her hands and screams. Scrambling backwards in bed, she pants hard, looking at her hands.

“Ugg, Tanya, what’s up.” Drizzle says, sitting up. “Okay, that was a bad idea. I might need a barf bucket.”

“My hooves, what’s wrong with my hooves?” Tanya says in a panic.

Glancing over, Drizzle giggles, “Nothing, your hooves look normal. Your hands, they will be gone tonight.”

“Hands? Hands… Yeah, hands… I’m… turning back into me.”

Anthony opens the door, looking at Tanya, “Is everything ok?”

“She’s just woke up confused.” Drizzle giggles.

“You’re… not a pony…” Tanya says.

“Um girls. English please.” Anthony says. “I don’t speak whinny.”

Both girls looked at each other and blink, “English…”

Closing their eyes it takes a few moments for their brains to reset.

“English, like this? I’m Tanya right?” Memories of her childhood come flooding back, of her spending time with her dad, fishing. She remembers fighting with her brothers.

“Yep, that’s English.” Anthony says, looking concerned.

Drizzle sat and altered between English and the Pony language a few times and blinked. “I remember how to speak it.”

“You couldn’t before?” Tanya asks, a little worried.

Shaking her head, Drizzle blinks. “Maybe it was the energy that kick-started something in our minds.”

“I couldn’t remember being me for a moment. What happens if I forget who I am?” Tanya says in a panic.

“Did you remember your pony life?” Drizzle asks.

“Well, no… not really… I remember you and Ruby, but… nothing specific.”

“That old man said you might not be strong enough for it.” Anthony says sternly.

“I… I had to try.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” Anthony says with a chuckle.

*** Velvet ***

Walking beside Beth, I give her a little nuzzle. The poor thing is wide eyed, looking around in awe. To be honest I’ve never been in Buckingham palace either myself. We are flanked by both US Secret service and Royal Guards, leaving me wondering who is protecting us from whom.

Stepping across the threshold into the Grand Hall, I look up at the curving marble stairs of the grand staircase. All around, portraits are set into the walls. Looking at Beth, I can see she’s just as nervous as I am. Leaning over, I cross horns with her again, “It’s okay Beth, you’re not alone.”

“I know. I’m glad you’re standing with me.” She says softly.

Gulping heavily, we step through the door into the throne room. Honestly, in some ways, Celestia’s throne room is more impressive, but still. The room is fairly large, with a huge ceiling. The wall paneling was all a deep red, with gold accents. White columns against the walls rose to the ceiling. The upper trim is engraved and carved with figures bearing arms.

The entire carpet is a deep red, to match the walls and lead up to the pedestal where the thrones are. Two thrones sit side by side atop a rise of three steps. Behind them, there are red curtains with gold trim.

“I present to you Beth Abbott and Walter Fitzpatrick as well as The Honorable American Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State Robert Kenny.”

Walter, why did he have to use Walter? I find myself cringing, hearing that name. I know it’s me, or who I was, but still. I don’t have any of the Walter parts anymore. Walking up with Beth, I curl my foreleg in a bow. Beth mirrors my movements perfectly, matching my bow in time. We had actually practiced this part at least.

The Prime Minister walks over, taking his seat while the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh look down at us. Beth and I hold our pose in a bow, trying to stay as still as possible. She is as scared as I am, I think. One mistake now, and it’s all over.

“You may rise.” The Queen says.

Standing up, I close my eyes for a moment. “You’re Highness, Prime Minister. While I was born Walter, I, like all of the colorful ponies both here and abroad, were actually sent here from another world. We are and were ponies first. This isn’t a contagion, or something that needs to be hidden away. This isn’t an accident. It was a betrayal on our homeland that had us banished here to get us out of the way.”

“As a pony, I was born Twilight Velvet. I grew up in the Kingdom of Equestria. I servered the Princess there as a member of her military reserves, the EUP. I had children there, a beautiful daughter and a wonderful son. That is who I am as much as I am Walter. I spent 25 years growing up without any memories until the curse ended.”

“Many ponies are confused and scared when the change starts. They don’t know who they are, who they are becoming. Some can’t remember anything about their lives in Equestria so can only respond in human terms. They can only draw from information based on human stories or myths.”

“We are here, not just for Beth, but for all ponies in the United Kingdom. The police and military have been rounding up any they find and putting them in holding facilities until they can figure out what to do with them. The problem is, we haven’t done anything wrong. We are not invaders, we are not criminals. Some may have committed crimes out of fear or need, but that’s simply because there is or was no support for us.” Looking to Beth I nod.

“Fear can drive ponies to do desperate things, confusion misinformation than compounds the problem. If someone starts changing and doesn’t know why, then finds out or hears that others who showed the same symptoms were locked away. Well, the only rational response then is to run and hide, to do what you need to survive.”

“We don’t belong in concentration camps. We don’t belong in holding areas. Sadly, we don’t belong on your world, really. We are here though, and we are refugees. We need help. We need support and a way to organize ourselves.”

Turning I curl my foreleg, bowing to Beth. “Your Majesty each of us has our true identities, our true names. These were hidden from us in the change, and often are hard to relearn or accept. I wish to present to you The Duchess of Maretonia, Her Highness, Ice Mirror.

*** Fleetfoot ***

“You and James?” Ah-Pee says, smiling, “That’s just so…”

“Terrifying, he doesn’t want to be a pegasus, he’s scared of it. He still has bad dreams about it. Now this.”

“You have to tell him.” Sugarberry says, sitting beside her.

“I could always get an ab… ab…”

“No you can’t.” Cipher says softly, “You can even say the word, and you know why.”

“Because it’s… not the pony way…” She says, looking down.

“No, it’s not.” Ah-Pee say. “James is a good man. He won’t take it the wrong way or badly.”

“What am I going to do?” Fleetfoot whimpers.

“Well, let’s see. You’ll continue working probably till your 3rd trimester… by then you’ll start slowing down and take a desk job for the next few months. Finally you’ll give birth.” Ah-Pee says.

“But…”

“You will come to Henry. Then he and I will help you give birth. You’ll raise the foal, probably with our help.” Cipher says.

“And Blaze and will help teach it to be a Wonderbolt.” Sugerberry says and nods

“W…w...” Fleetfoot blinks, looking between them.

“Oh come on, you yourself said with training James could have been a Wonderbolt, his cutie mark is a speedsters mark, he may not be Blaze or Dust fast, but he’s way up there. He’s got talent and natural aptitude. And you, the fastest Wonderbolt there was, until Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. Multiple time winner of the Wonderbolt Derby, beating Spitfire hooves down? Three time gold medal winner in the Equestrian Games?” Cipher says, laughing.

“Yeah, given it’s parentage… it’s going to be a speedster and Wonderbolt in training.” Sugarberry smiles

“It’s all about breeding.” Ah-Pee says with a giggle.

“It can’t be anything BUT a strong flyer.” Cipher nods.

Blinking, Fleetfoot looks between them, then she break down in tears, hugging them all with her legs and wings.

*** Velvet and Beth ***

Nodding to Beth, I smile softly.

“Your Majesty, the British government is holding over 100 of my people scattered throughout different detention facilities that I know of. Maybe more. I’ve come to ask you for your help.”

The Prime Minster shakes his head. “We are trying to keep their kind a secret, to prevent a panic, we can’t just let them go.”

“I’m not saying we want to walk around London. Given their treatment, I’m sure most ponies now would prefer to stay away from humans.” Beth says. “We can grow our own food, if needed.”

“Really?” The Queen asks, tilting her head.

“From what Velvet has taught me, ponies have strong magic in them. The earth ponies can make plants grow quickly and through some of the harsher lands. If we have some land, materials to build with, we can start growing our own food. We can build our own community.” Looking to the Queen, Beth takes a deep breath.

“Given a little time we could probably become self-sufficient and find a way to start paying taxes back to the crown.” Beth says, “Selling excess crops we could earn money, without really needing to interact with humans much.”

“But you would still need startup money?” The Prime Minister states. “And the people would ask about such spending.”

“Sir. A large museum was set up by a pony long ago. Star Swirl the Bearded visited this world many times in the past. He collected a fair amount of human artifacts as well as kept many pony artifacts in a vault here on Earth.” I say.

Beth blinks and looks at me, a little shocked. Glancing back to her I nod slowly, “Trust me.” I murmur.

“I’m sure the human items could be sold and the proceeds used for the grant to the ponies.” Looking at the Prime Minister I nod. “A few of the items could sell for millions. Normally all the items in the vault would fall to the crown, the problem is, these items were collected by ponies, for ponies. As such, they fall under The Duchess’ control. She is the ranking monarch here for the ponies.”

“What type of items?” The Prime Minister says.

“One item in particular.” Nodding to Beth I step forward. “One of the original 180 Gutenberg Bibles in mint condition in its original binding. A single page from that book goes for 170 thousand dollars. A complete book, is worth over 100 million dollars. That’s about 65 million pounds. Even if a simple 10% finder’s fee was applied to that, it would be 6.5 million pounds. I’m sure, in exchange for that, we could arrange a fair amount of farmable land and some basic start up support.”

“My ponies won’t interfere with people or England unless asked, we are peaceful. We just need a place to live.” Beth says and bows deeply.

“How about some land on the Shetland Islands? The population there is low. Living conditions may be a bit rugged, but I think they could work out a nice life there.” The Queen says.

“Thank you, your highness.” Bowing deeply, Beth touches her horn to the carpet.

Glancing at Beth, I mirror the movement. It looks hopeful, the ponies of England will be freed. They will have a homeland on the Shetland Islands.

*** Tanya ***

“Celestia, I’m starving.” Tanya says without thinking about it. Ruby is still unconscious, but her color seems to be strong.

“What was it like? I just saw this huge explosion of light.” Anthony asks.

“I’m not sure but I think I tasted purple before I passed out. Whatcha eating? And where are we?” Tanya asks, rubbing her neck.

“MRE number 23, pork stuffed chicken breast. And Running Thorn's house, spare room.”

Holding out her arms Tanya giggles, “Got a spare?”

“Nope, sides, I don’t see any wings on you, so no meat, you’re a veggievore now.”

“That’s just cruel, what am I supposed to eat?” Tanya huffs.

Searching though his bag Anthony pulls out a box and tosses it to Tanya. “P-Ration number 3 here for you, apple cinnamon. P-rats have a higher fiber content and calorie count then MRE’s, better for ponies.”

Looking over at Drizzle he tosses her one as well, “P-ration number two, carrot cake surprise.”

“What’s the surprise?” Drizzle asks suspiciously.

“That it’s not edible by humans.” Anthony says, chuckling.

Opening the packages, the girls dig into their breakfast. Though, in reality, each pack has enough food for the day, but with the energy they had spent, they need the calories.

“She looks better, but will she wake up anytime soon?”

“Don’t know. What we did helped restore her magic and mind but, she still has to come to terms with what happened.” Tanya says, then glances up at her horn. “Just think, a few months ago, I’d be making jokes about magic being silly and Penn and Teller being fake.”

“Well, has your opinion of Penn and Teller changed?” Anthony chuckles.

“Nope they are still fake. But magic is most certainly real.”

“Speaking of fake, I wonder what would happen if a girl had silicone implants before her change.” Anthony muses.

Both girls blink, looking at him in total shock.

Drizzle squeaks once, “That’s a rude thing to think about.”

“What brought that on?” Tanya says, shaking her head.”

Anthony takes a sip from his juice pack and points at Tanya’s chest.

Looking down Tanya, whimpers, feeling her flat chest. “They’re gone, I’m not turning into a stallion am I? Why are they gone!?!?”

“Psst. Ours are lower down, remember?” Drizzle says, looking at her hind legs, then at Tanya.

Blinking she feels lower for a moment, then blushes and tries to look innocent. “Yeah, I knew that.”

“Yep, she found them. Do horses have two or four?” Anthony chuckles.

“Two… that’s not polite conversation.” Drizzle says firmly.

“I said horses. Not ponies. And the question still stands, wonder what would happen if the pony had implants before the change.”

“Umm they’d vanish I think. I’d hope. Otherwise they’d have to be removed…just yuck.”

“Yeah if they didn’t vanish they could rupture during the change.” Anthony says. “Hmm, wonder if a warning should be placed on voluntary implants before the age of 25.”

“Well that will piss a lot of people off.” Tanya says, giggling.

“Mom… is that you?”

All eyes fall on Ruby, for the first time since they found her, she has said something.

***

She sits alone in her bedroom. The TV is on in the background. Her laptop is on, but she is ignoring it now. There isn’t any point. It’s her birthday today, her 25th, yet no one really cares.

Her parents had died, her father when she was 12, her mother when she was 18. She had tried college but it didn’t work out for her. She had a hard time dealing with people, with making friends. She can’t really talk to people.

She’s always had a hard time reading their faces. She can’t understand their emotions well. She knows emotions, but she can’t read them. This makes talking to people all but impossible in person.

The rest of her family mostly ignores her. She never sees them anymore, since her mother died. She lives alone in a small apartment. No one has come to see her for her birthday, but it doesn’t matter. Her hip says it all.

It had appeared early in the morning. It’s a magenta cloud with yellow lightning bolt, her cutie mark. She found out what it meant on the internet. Though what it really means is her life is over. Not that anyone would miss her. She isn’t even an important pony in the series.

Looking at her hip she pops the pills into her mouth, a mix of sleeping pills and allergy pills. She heard it was painless. It’s a quiet way to go, in her sleep. Closing her eyes, she lay on her side, curling up. Hugging her teddy bear she cries herself to sleep.

*** Velvet: 60.551427, -1.176868 ***

The wind is cool, blowing through my fur. My tail flicks behind me as I look across the grassy fields. While it is July, the temperature here never really gets higher than about 17 degrees centigrade. We are near a highway, which makes supply transport easy.

Blaze has scouted the area out first to be sure. There are humans around, but none nearby. There are miles and miles between farms here. Farms are a loose term, few things really grow here, at best, it’s oats, barley and alfalfa.

Humans raise sheep, fish, and of course there are the Shetland ponies. There are other towns on the island. Even a few airports, but the air traffic is low and limited to small planes. None of the planes would interfere with the pegasi.

Putting his wing over me, Blaze looks at Ice Mirror. “It won’t be easy.”

“I’m sure the earth ponies and pegasi can grow anything here. If wild ponies can live here, we can live here, and we will have houses, which is even better.”

Looking up I smile, “Now that’s the spirit.”

Hearing the trucks we look over, the first of the houses are arriving. Several temporary power generators are being set up to provide base power, there is a river, but for safety, a water purification truck is being brought in and set up. It isn’t meant to be permanent. The ponies were going to have to figure out how to do things for themselves in the long run.

Once all the houses are in place, power will be strung from the local power lines. If that is the route the ponies want to go. The first of the living houses is lowered into place. They are nothing fancy. Not even really nice looking.

Each house was either 30 feet or 40 feet long, set as either 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom houses. While they have heat, they are set up more like a camper with water storage, grey water and dark water tanks.

I nose the door open and look around inside, they come carpeted and semi-furnished. They have little more than beds, tables, chairs, and some very basic cooking utensils.

“Not a lot here.”

“We’ll buy what we need when we get settled down.” Ice Mirror says, “Once we know everypony’s special talents, we’ll be able to start working on our lives.”

“Any idea’s what you’re going to call the place?” I ask sitting down on the carpet.

“I think I shall call it. 'A House'.” Ice Mirror says, looking around the house.

Blaze groans and facehooves. “That’s not what she meant, and you know it.”

“Nope, I’ll hold it to a vote. The ponies should have the freedom to decide.”

“New Maretonia.” Blaze says with a chuckle.

Looking back Ice Mirror laughs, “Maybe. Twilight’s Dawn also comes to mind.”

“As long as that’s reference to my daughter, we’re fine. If it’s me the army would throw a fit.”

“I don’t have to tell.” Ice Mirror says with a playful wink.

“The finder’s fee on the human artifacts is going to give you enough to build this community the way you will want to. You just have to decide. Plan it out with the other ponies.” I say.

“The first bus load should be arriving soon.” Blaze adds, leaning back and looking out the door. “Bit of a storm coming through, should be here in about six hours.”

“How do you know?”

“Pegasus weather sense.” I say thumping my hip against his.

“Really though, pegasi have tricks to getting fresh water. Earth ponies growing. Unicorns with their TK to build. It should work well.” Blaze says, hugging me tight with his wing.

“So are you staying?”

“I can’t I have foals back home, I have a mom who I have to see.” Looking down I scuff my hoof. “Celestia I don’t even know what to do about my mom.”

“We could really use you to help organize.” Ice Mirror says, tucking her muzzle under my neck.

“I know and I’ll be in touch I promise. Just set up a satellite internet and we can talk whenever you need. I still have a ton of stuff to teach you about magic and ponies.”

“First though, I need to see my mom.” Sighing, I look at my hooves. “Queen of England, Secretary of State are easy… mom’s going to be hard.”

“Trust me, I know the feeling. My dad is going to freak.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t have that shotgun handy.”

I blink looking at Blaze. “He didn’t.”

“He just missed me.”

“Wow, you must be fast, I’ve seen him shooting birds.”

“Call it combat reflexes.” Blaze says and strikes a pose.

“I’ll call it luck.” I reply then nibble between his wings.

“I… can’t move my wings.”

“Wing boner.” I say with a giggle.

*** Tanya ***

Tanya and Drizzle sit on either side of Ruby, hugging her. Drizzle has her wing around her, and Tanya is hugging with both her arms. Anthony had backed out, this wasn’t a place or time for humans to be around her.

“It was a day after my cutie mark appeared. They broke into my apartment.”

“Do you know who?” Tanya asks stroking Ruby’s mane.

“No, not really. They were all in black.”

Carefully, Tanya pulls Ruby’s mane back and puts it into a ponytail. It doesn’t need to be, but it’s how she always looked in the pictures and in Tanya’s memory. It is her pony look, so they hope it will help Ruby.

“Don’t worry, we’ll protect you. We need to get you back to base first.”

“Back to… base?”

“Yeah, my change hasn’t finished yet, and I’m supposed to get special training in being a pony. Want to join me?”

“Can I?”

Tanya nodded slowly, “Of course, I think you can probably use some training too.”

“Do you want to stay with the marines, Ruby?”

“I… I don’t know if I can.” She says, looking at her hooves. “I can’t really do my job anymore.”

“Oh nonsense. Part of the training we get is how to do our job.” Tanya says softly.

“And even if the marines don’t want you, I’m sure the army or air force will pick you up. Both army and air force have huge support for ponies.” Drizzle says.

“I’m Army CID.” Tanya points out.

“Air force.”

Tanya tries standing up and moans, whimpering.

“What’s wrong?!?” Ruby says, looking up.

“Change has gotten to my back, hard to stand up straight.”

Drizzle lifting the side of Tanya’s skirt up and giggling. “Yep, you got a horse’s…”

“Don’t say it.” Grumbling Tanya gave a stern look.

“Let’s get you back to base. Ruby can you walk?”

It takes Ruby a few tries to get it, but she has her walking down fairly quickly. She knows how her legs work, she just is out of practice. It is good to see her up and moving again.

“Ok Tanya, your turn, hop on my back and hug my neck.” Drizzle says, spreading her wings a bit.

“Are you sure it’s safe? You’re not full grown yet, so taking my weight could hurt you.”

“Never leave a pony behind.” Drizzle says as she holds her wings out. It is tricky going, but Tanya is able to get on her back. Walking downstairs, grandfather is rocking in his chair.

“Thank you Grandfather.” Tanya says, smiling.

“Thank you sir.” Ruby adds.

Merely nodding, Grandfather says something in Navajo. There is something about it though, the words… they sounds so familiar to them.

*** New York ***

The little griffin screams out as the cattle prod hits her flank. Curling up tighter against the cage, she looks out, tears in her eyes.

The humans laugh, poking at the little thing with their prod and sticks, trying to get her to show her wings again.

They are on a barge tied up to a pier on the Hudson River. Bidders will be coming here tonight. The idea of owning their very own griffin entices a lot of people. While ponies may be a niche crowd, a griffin is big bucks.

“I wonder if it can be bred.” One human says laughing a bit and hits the little cub with his prod again.

“Who cares? We are getting money for this that’s all that matters.”

“Hear that little thing, bidding for you will start at 250,000 dollars. You could be worth your weight in gold by nights end.”

55: Homefront

I sit at the side of the road, looking up at the building. The old white paint on the walls is peeling in places. The brown shingles could use some work. Like lots of the houses in the area, this had been standing for over a hundred years now.

There isn’t a fence around the whole property, though there is somewhat of a hedge row. There is however a small wooden fence on the side. The hedge is trimmed and cut back around the gap for the driveway and walkway to the front door. It is a two story house with two and a half bedrooms. Though it looks larger than it is. It sits on a huge back yard that goes right back to the woods.

“I’m here for you.” Blaze says, putting his wing around me.

Looking to him, I tucked my muzzle under his and cuddled closer, looking back to the house. These are all middle class homes. The town itself, however, is small. Only about 2,000 people live here. I don’t know if I am ready for this. It is terrifying.

Feather tucks her head between my front and hind leg from the side so she is peeking out from under me between my forelegs. “It’s okay mom.”

Gulping, I look down the street both ways. The houses are spaced, with mailboxes out on the edge of the road. Each family has its name on it, though some have themed boxes. Hixson’s has their Bear mailbox, while the Westwood’s have a swan. The one in front of this house, however, is plain yellow.

Reaching up, I touch the box with a hoof, before putting it back down on the ground. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

We got back from England just the other day. After two back to back missions, they had given me some time off. The first real time off I’ve had since the change. It is the first real breather, where I’m not expected to be training other unicorns. Somehow I wish I was still training. It would give me an excuse not to think of this.

The Cotton Twins snuggle up against my side too, behind Feather. Looking down I give each of them a nuzzle. I knew they are just as old as I am, but I can’t help think of them as my foals. They need just as much emotional support and mothering as real foals. At the same time though, they are giving me support and strength.

“When you’re ready honey.” Blaze keeps his wing tight around me.

Standing up, I slowly follow the path to the front door. It is only four steps up to the porch, but it feel like climbing a mountain. Taking a deep breath, I light my horn and ring the doorbell. Inside, I could hear the noise. Moving around, before the woman opened the door.

She looks in her late 40’s, though she is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Her hands are a bit dirty, so she has likely been working in the garden in the back. Pulling her hair back she looks somewhat shocked at the ponies on her porch. This isn’t a normal thing for her. For most of America.

Taking a deep breath I look down at my hooves. “Hi mom.”

*** Tanya ***

Tanya yawns huge, stretching out on her side on the bed. Reaching out in front of her she arches her back a bit and pushes her hands and feet against the wall in a stretch. Normally this would have worked. Her bed, though, is pushed right up against the wall. It is a single bed, but still more than enough room for a human to do this. As she pushes, she feels her back go over the edge of the bed.

“Oh shit, not a human!”

By the time she realizes though, it’s too late. Her center of gravity has passed the critical mark and in one smooth, undignified, motion she rolls off the bed, landing on her back in a tangle of covers. Legs flailing above her she blinks. Looking at the mess she is in, she stops and breathes for a second.

“Help?” Listening for a moment, she called out a little louder. “Help!”

After a moment Dr. Ellis runs into the room, then she stops. She is a trained professional. She shouldn’t laugh at another’s misfortune. It isn’t right to do so. Covering her mouth she can’t help but giggle.

Seeing the mare laying on her back, her blankets and sheets wrapped all around her legs. Then add that sad pleading look she has on her face. It’s all just too much for her not to giggle. Moving over she kneels down and carefully pulled Tanya’s mane free, first. Once that is done, she works at untangling Tanya’s legs.

Laying on her back, fore and hind legs curled to her belly she blinks a few times. “Thanks. This… is awkward.”

“Swing your hips onto your side. Then swing your head in the direction you’re rolling to add weight and inertia should carry you onto your belly. Use your legs on that side and the curl of your body to stop you from rolling too far.”

“How?”

“We got training in some of this stuff. They gave us a rundown on how to roll over, stand up, lie down, and walk. Trust me, walking is going to be tricky.”

It takes her a few tries, but she gets onto her belly, then with guidance, to her hooves.

“Wow, I knew you’d have some height to you as a pony, but wow.”

“I don’t feel that tall. I’m shorter than I was.” Tanya says, looking around.

“Trust me your lucky, some of the girls turned into foals. Their eye level is at about one and a half feet.”

“That’s like, shin level.” Tanya says with a whimper.

“Ok, now comes the hard part. It’s time to learn your walk cycle.”

“My… what?”

“Walk cycle. It means the order you move your legs when you walk. It’s not just picking up both your left legs at once.” She says with a giggle and shows her on the tablet a pony’s walk cycle.

She doesn’t know if she is stupid, clumsy or just a bad pony, but it takes her close to ten minutes of falling down, even watching the walk cycle before her muscle memory kicks in and she starts walking normally.

The problem is her knee’s hurt at the end. Falling down on them several times is pretty painful, so it is a nice break to sit down for a bit, even if it is to sit through an educational video. The doctor has cued it up for Tanya so she can start it when she sits down.

“Hi, my name is Twilight Velvet. Today we are going to talk about your horn and TK. Congratulations on becoming a unicorn by the way. As such, your field of control will be magic in general. Even if your cutie mark isn’t one that denotes magic as a whole, you will still have many useful abilities that you can learn. Now you’ve probably heard the terms magic and unicorn thrown around before. In the next half hour we are going to get into the bare horns of it…”

*** Velvet ***

I sit, head low, on the couch with Blaze beside me. The kids are lying on the floor curled up in balls listening, but trying not to interfere. They know how serious this is. Thankfully they have the compassion and intelligence to behave.

“So, you were never really my child?”

I can’t help but cringe at that. Looking down at my hooves, I sigh. “You raised me from a human baby, you took care of me. You taught me and protected me. You really are my mom.”

“But you were born a pony first?”

“Yep, you’re a grand mom I have two foals that are both back in Equestria. A male, Shining Armor, he’s getting married to Rarity in a few years. The second is a daughter, Twilight Sparkle.”

“And these?”

“That’s Feather Pinch, Cotton Candy, and Cotton Cloudy. They were cursed too, so they grew up for 25 years as humans before returning to foals. Because they are still kids though, and because of their size, I’ve adopted them.” I look down, my stomach’s doing back-flips.

“You you’re really…”

“A unicorn, yeah, complete with magic.”

“Actually I was going to say girl.” My mom says.

Gulping, I nod slowly and look down. “Yes mom. I have all the girl parts and they work.”

“They work? You mean you’ve used them?”

Blinking, going wide eyed, I blush. My ears going down almost right away. Stammering, I try and come up with something to say. “I... um… and… moooooom. There are foals present.”

“Do I have to give you a mares and stallions lecture now?”

“No I got that from Ah-Pee, she’s an earth pony that works on a farm. It took me more than a few weeks to adapt to the fact that I was a girl.” I say and tuck my muzzle under Blazes again snuggling.

My mom nods slowly. Looking at me, up and down, she gives a soft laugh.

Gulping I look down, “I understand it’s hard to take. I guess you don’t want to be my mom anymore.”

“Never say, or even think that. A mother’s love should be unconditional. It’s just a lot to take in. I love you, no matter how you look. You are still my… daughter.” Gently my mom moves over and hugs me tightly.

Burying my face into her shirt, I begin to cry. It is hard, just so hard, but my mom accepting me seems to lift such a weight.

“Celestia, mom, I was so scared you wouldn’t like me, wouldn’t want me.”

“So Blaze here is the father of your children in Equestria?”

“No, that’s Night Light, but that was an arranged marriage… He… I… Decided he wasn’t right for me anymore. Not after all you taught me. It wasn’t about love with him. Blaze and I are in love. He’s Yiska, from my unit.” I rub Blazes chest with my hoof.

“So this, Night Light? Wasn’t the best father?”

“He tended to be more concerned about his social status. Once I was late getting home, so he decided to feed Sparkle himself. He made her a cheese quesadilla, but he overstuffed it. He put too much cheese in, then baked it. Normally you’re supposed to let the cheese rest after you cook it, be it grilled cheese or pizza, so it turns from liquid back into a gooier solid.”

I shake my head slowly, “When my little Twi-Twi bit into it… she was still a young foal at the time, hardly bigger than Feather here. The cheese burned her nose, her tongue, it even got in her mane. She was terrified. It took me a while to calm her down when I got home. Even to the day we were cursed, she was still timid around them. Whenever she goes to bite one she remembers what happened as a foal and backs away.”

Feather giggled and shakes her head, “Poor thing.”

My mom starts gently playing with my mane a bit while holding me. She is just running her fingers through my mane. “To me you’re still my little Wally, hard to think you’re old enough to have a daughter.”

“Mom, I’m twenty-five.”

“And that’s still young.” Mom says, hugging me.

“Cindy I’m home, ugh, why does it smell like a barn in here?”

Blinking, I look back at the human that just walked in. Mid 40’s he’s a tall guy, and somewhat overweight. He’s wearing coveralls and a company jacket.

“This is Ron. We’ve been dating for several months now. He works for a small company that produces and installs and maintains small scale hydroelectric generators for homes and cottages.”

Blinking, Ron looked at me and sneers. “Why is that on the couch?”

“That... is my daughter, Ron. It’s a long story but this was Wally. My son.”

He puts a large package of smoked meat and roast beef on the table in front of me, and looks at my mom. “When you said your son, I assumed you meant a human… and male.”

“I didn’t know, I just found out.” Mom says, looking at him sternly.

The smell of the meat is making my stomach protest even more. It had already been upset with all the stress, and now I am starting to feel like I am going to…

“Please tell me you didn’t sleep with a horse.” He says.

“No! That’s just rude!” She says.

“We’ve been dating for 3 months.”

“And I just found out now.” She growls.

Nope, lunch is not going to stay down…

“Were you sure before you let these animals in the house?”

“They’re not animals… They are family.”

“As long as they don’t make a mess.” He says firmly.

I get up and race for the bathroom, skidding to a stop, I throw up into the toilet.

*** Tanya ***

Sitting in a car is a little hard, she finds herself having to crouch down more than she likes because of her horn. They doctor is driving her into work, she knows she’d be able to drive again when she gets used to her powers, but for now she is pretty much an invalid.

As she pulls up to the Russell-Knox Building, Tanya finds out the first real thing she hates about the Doctor. Somehow, some way, the Doctor gets a parking space in the 3rd row in front of the building. It is less than 50 feet from the front door.

Walking inside the first day after the change has completed has a strange feeling to it. All eyes are on her, and it makes her a touch embarrassed. Walking into HR, the doctor smiles and puts her badge and ID pack down on the desk.

The HR rep smiles, “Ok Tanya, back up to the um, 3rd line, we’ll try, for the picture.”

Taking her spot Tanya stands, her head high. She isn’t sure how, but her mane seems just to fall into the styling it had in the show. The curls seem natural, she guesses. As the flash goes off she flinches, her eyes still sensitive to bright lights.

“Relax, calm down, and let’s try that again.”

Another three pictures, and they select the best for her ID pack, it is also going to be sent off for Tanya’s driver’s license. “Ok, turn sideways I need to get your butt.”

“Can you just call it what it is, flank or cutie mark.” Tanya says with a giggle and turns sideways.

“Pony name, and have you got a preferred nickname or short form you want to go by yet, Tanya? Some ponies choose short types if their name is too long or strange. AJ for Applejack, Ah-Pee for Apple Pie, or Ginger Gold over in OSI, she opted to go with Goldie. She didn’t like Ginger as a first name, something to do with a three hour tour.”

“Fleur Dis Lee, and shorted to Lis will work, I know it’s not the way its pronounced in French but unless I’m in New Orleans, no one’s gonna know the difference.”

“Lis works. Figured out your TK yet?”

“Sort of.”

The HR Rep holds out the badge and ID pack in a waterproof neck pouch. It lets ponies walk around with their badges like undercover officers.

Lighting her horn she picks up the badge and puts it on, it takes her several tries to close the clasp. She knows she needs practice, but she really does lack any fine motor control right now.

“You going to be going to Fort Bragg for training?”

“Is it covered?” Tanya asks, blinking.

“Oh yeah, we fly you up there, you get two weeks training with a specialist, learn a lot about magic.” The HR Rep said. “Army airfare, base hotel, food, travel expenses are all covered.

“There’s a specialist? Really?”

“Well she’s the closest thing we’ve got. She’s apparently okay with magic. She may not be the most powerful unicorn on Earth, but she’s trained more than a few unicorns. Her names corporal Twilight Velvet, she’s with the 75th Rangers.”

Goldie runs into HR, panting. Tough, strong with that whole farm girl look to her, she’s still as cute as any Apple family member. “Good! You’re here!” She says and holds a hoof up to the doctor and HR rep.

Taking a step back Tanya blinked. “What’s up Goldie?”

“Quick first name that pops to mind.” Goldie says, holding up a picture.

“I don’t know, Jetstream?” Tanya says, blinking, feeling confused.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it.” She says, turning, “Get a car there now. Send an ambulance too.”

“What’s going on?” Tanya says.

“Civilian, was in the reserves but washed out. It was her birthday yesterday. Some of her friends online couldn’t reach her last night. They sent a request for someone to look in on her. Apparently I said Jetstream too when I saw her picture. That’s usually a sign that they are changing and subconsciously we recognize or knew them as ponies.”

“She might not have taken it well?”

“Do any of us?” Goldie says, turning and running for the parking lot.

Turning Tanya breaks into a full gallop to follow. This is a very bad idea however for the new mare. She doesn’t know her size yet and doesn’t have a lot of practice running. By pure bad luck her horn catches the top of the door-frame, snapping her head back and sending waves of pain through her head. The impact causes her to trip and hit the ground hard. The last thing she sees before passing out is the carpet, noting that it really needs a good cleaning.

*** Velvet ***

Mom sits hugging me tightly. I really am not sure if it is nerves or I’ve got a bug. Or the smell of the meat Ron had. Something has me feeling like I swallowed a jar of butterflies.

“I hope you are not planning on letting them stay there. The house smells as it is.” Ron calls out.

“It’s my daughter and her family, Ron. They can stay here as long as they want.”

“Well, should I throw another stake on the barbeque for them then?” Ron calls out.

My stomach does a somersault and I throw up again. Coughing a few times I looked up at my mom. “I can’t eat meat.”

“You know what you need, some Apple Carrot Ginger soup. Help settle that tummy of yours down.” Mom says, getting up.

Moving back into the living room I see Feather, Cotton, and Cloudy pressed as tightly as they can be into a corner. Their eyes wide in fear as Ron chuckled, using a meat cleaver on a leg of lamb on the back porch. The lamb itself isn’t much bigger than the foals. Feather, though, is taking it the hardest with tears in her eyes.

“Ron, do you need to do that now?” Cindy says, walking towards the kitchen.

“Yes I do, we are doing that barbequed lamb and the meat was defrosted. If I don’t do it, its 30 bucks down the drain.”

Quickly I run over and lay down with my side to the foals, to block their view. I don’t know what’s gotten them so worked up, but I’m not going to let them be scared. Blaze follows from the bathroom after cleaning it up for me and sits on the other side.

“Hush now, you’ve seen Ah-Pee cook meat.” I say softly.

“She doesn’t like us around when she’s… preparing… the meat…” Candy says, “Especially Feather.”

“He… called us Lamb Chops, than mumbled about horse meat.” Cloudy says, whimpering.

“He thought we couldn’t hear him.” Candy said twitching his ear. “I could hear.”

“We all could.” Cloudy says and stays tight against her brother and Feather.

I sit up and narrow my eyes at the living room door. He had left the door wide open, just the screen closed. The smell of the meat on the grill is being blown into the house. The sounds of each swing of the cleaver fills the room.

“Excuse me. Some of us have been through rather traumatic experiences.” I say firmly.

“Yeah, and? Everyone has a sob story, oh treat me special. I had a vet just the other day saying he should the instillation of a generator free because he was a vet. He’d do it himself but he hurt himself so all the work should be for free for him.” Ron shakes his head. “Right, so I should do fifteen hours of work for free, right?”

“That’s no reason to be disrespectful.” I say, shaking my head.

“I have every right to my opinions. Every person I run into has a sob story as to why they shouldn’t have to pay to have stuff delivered. Why they should have a discount or have work done for free. Guess what, it’s the world we live in. If I don’t want to be sympathetic to a bunch of furries, that’s my choice. I’m not going to stop eating meat just because they find it offensive. Just like I’m not going to stop drinking beer because someone says alcohol is unholy. I’m not PC, deal with it.”

Grumbling I gnash my teeth a before all goes… light? Blinking I look at the feathers of Blazes wing that he’s draped over my head, my horn lighting his feathers nicely.

“Temper, dear.”

Taking a deep breath I let my horn go out. “Sorry.”

Looking up as mom comes out, I smile. She carefully sets cloths down on the floor with large soup bowls. Apple Ginger Carrot soup, I’d never heard of it before but it smells wonderful. It also seems to help calm my stomach a bit.

Putting bowls down for everyone, mom sits on the floor and eats as well. “So do you still go by Wally?”

“Um, I don’t… like it… mostly cuz it’s a guy’s name and I stopped considering myself a guy. It was getting too confusing.” Looking at my cutie mark I nod, “I’m Twilight Velvet, I was her and I’m her again, for the most part. I still remember being Wally though, things like, growing up with you.”

“Wally is the name though, on the ID, as an alias. It’s a way the government keeps us straight for history and tax reasons.” Blaze adds. “I don’t use Yiska either. Not because I’m not him, just I like the name Blaze.”

“Do most ponies just go with pony names?”

“I think so mom, most that I’ve met when they find out their ponies names stay with them. It feels more natural especially in gender or age hops.”

“So how are you taking to being a mom?”

Feather hiccups once. I giggle and use a cloth to wipe her face for her. “There you go little one.”

“Never mind, question answered.” My mom says with a smile.

Blinking I look at the cloth and then Feather who’s doing her best to look innocent. “Ok yeah, I’m well trained.”

Mom gives me a scratch behind the ears. “How’s your tummy?”

“It’s much better now mom. Thanks.”

“Having any other symptoms?”

“Just my…” I blink and get quiet, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Your?”

“I… can’t say.”

“Come on, let’s go to the bathroom and talk there.” Mom says.

Standing up I follow her, head low, I can’t say no to mom but this is excruciatingly embarrassing.

Sitting down on the toilet, mom closes the door behind me. “I’m your mom. You can tell me anything. Even girl stuff, problems with your period?”

“I… we don’t actually have those. It’s a different cycle for us so, no it isn’t that.”

“Just my, udder I guess, has been getting sore. My uniforms been rubbing against it and bothering it a bit.”

“Had the problem before?”

“No, well yes but no. Not since the change.”

“Have you talked to a doctor about it yet?”

“No, that’s embarrassing.”

Mom shakes her head, “No hun, it’s not, you should talk about it with your doctor. Or your OBGYN”

“My what?”

“Go to your base hospital tell them you need an OBGYN, it’s a doctor who specializes in your reproductive parts. Making sure they are healthy.”

“My…” I blink looking down at my belly then at my mom.

“Wow, you really do blush big. Your ears go really red. It’s adorable.”

“Moooom.”

“Normally I’d have brought you to your first OBG as a young teen.”

“Oh.” I look down, I don’t know why but all of a sudden I wish I had grown up as mom’s daughter.

“So before the change you felt like this?” Mom asks softly, stroking my ears.

“Last time I felt like this was when I was… pregnant with Shining…” Blinking I look at my belly then at the door towards Blaze.

“See your doctor. Definitely. Tell him this.” Mom says and hugs me tightly.

“But I can’t be.”

“You may not be, but always good to check. You might be a mommy again.”

“Pregnant?”

***

“Paramedics.” The EMT’s knock on the door to the apartment.

Goldie perks her ears, listening, and then knocks. “OSI, Federal Officers. Answer the door or we are coming in.”

Both the paramedics blink and looked down at the pony. “You don’t have a warrant.”

“This is a medical emergency, don’t need one.” Goldie says.

Her partner shakes his head, “Universal key?”

“Apple Family style.” Turning, Goldie raised her hind legs and kicks. She knows where to buck. One hoof hits the deadbolt and the second hits the handle. The force of the kick shatters the handle and door frame. It is just like taking a sledge hammer to the door.

Her partner walks in and begins room clearing. It is a small apartment, and only takes a moment for him to call out for help.

The EMT’s ran in, the girl is lying in the bed, in bad shape. “Let’s get her on a respirator and get her to the hospital.”

Goldie sighs, “Come on Jetstream, you’re an endurance flyer. Fight though this.”

The girl doesn’t look well at all.

***

The lights come on, and the cameras start recording.

The griffin cub looks around in terror. She doesn’t understand any of what was going on, least of all why she is suddenly a griffin.

“And for this specimen, we are starting the bidding at 250,000 Euro’s. There may be lots of ponies, but griffins are still very rare. This chick comes from Griffinstone. More resilient than ponies, and able to take more punishment, she will be useful for any of your needs or experiments.”

“250, do I have 300, good, 350, 400...”

One of the assistants hits the griffin with the shock prod causing her to flare her wings, crying out in pain. It always helps for them to see what they are buying.

56: Let The Rain Wash Away

“Why the hell won’t they let them just leave in peace?”

“It’s the FSB! They don’t play nice.” The larger griffin calls back.

Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, known as the FSB. Their job is similar in concept to the FBI, though they also have the job of targeted assassinations.

“How are the ponies doing Greta?”

Looking down, the larger griffin snarls. “They’re not going to make it across the border at this rate. FSB has the army out in force in front of them. They’re just three kilometers from the border but there are heavy vehicles dug in between the ponies and their freedom.”

“At least the pegasi got away.” The smaller griffin calls out, then she freezes. Both griffins blink, looking at each other, their bodies going cold. “Oh, hell no.”

The sound is unmistakable. Both look back as the Mi-24 SuperHind V Helicopters heave into view. There isn’t any cover for the ponies on the ground. They’ll be ripped to shreds in moments if the pair of griffins don’t do something.

“Natalya…”

“I see them.” She looks down and flexes her claws, “how strong do you think our claws are?”

“Strong enough if we get inside the passenger compartment.”

“It was nice knowing you Greta. I don’t think a round of ‘There’s a Rumor in St Petersburg’ is going to help us this time.”

Nat shoots off after the first gunship. Keeping low and weaving wildly, she draws and dodges the fire from the heavy helicopters. She might not be a pegasus, but griffins are no slouches in the air, or on the ground. The show had shown her in the Equestria Games as part of the relay team. To make that team, to compete against Spitfire and Rainbow Dash she knows she had to be one of the best. She just doesn’t know how good her cat, and bird, reflexes will be for this.

Pulling up hard under the Mi-24, she digs her claws into the side panel and rips open the door, much to the surprise of the troops inside. The fight is short and brutal, her claws able to rip through even the bullet proof vests the troops are wearing, two troops end up getting tossed out the ruined door, their screams truncated by their impacts with the ground. She finally pulls the pins on several grenades as she drops back out of the aircraft.

The resulting explosions cripple the helicopter. Smoke flows out of its engines and sides as it turns for a clearing.

Looking over she watches the helicopter Greta is in swinging wildly from side to side. “Come on girl, get out, get out…”

A moment later the helicopter starts spinning out of control. The form of the larger griffin falls from the stricken machine a moment later. Kicking in her speed, Natalya dives after her friend, grabbing her.

“You ok, girl?”

“Yeah, I got my claws caught in the firewall for a second. What’s going on with the ponies?”

Looking over, Natalya gains some height to get a better look. “They’re pinned down.”

Pulling up beside Natalya, Greta snarls. “They have two tanks and four APC’s pinning them down there.”

“T-14’s and T-15’s, I think.” Shaking her head, nearly thirty ponies are trapped by the FSB forces. “What the hell, the why won’t the Finn forces do anything? They have vehicles just 3,000 meters away from the border.”

“They don’t want a war, if they interfere it would be a shooting match. It’s up to us.” Greta snarls. She stops for a moment, determination lighting up her eyes, “It’s up to us.”

She’s no speedster but she is still a strong flyer, as fast as Gilda. She shot past the border and looked down at the Finnish vehicles. Greta dives down, Natalya in her wake. Landing on the top deck of a Patria APC, she leans side to side, looking at the gun.

“Greta, you're nuts.” Natalya says, hovering next to the other griffin.

One of the Finnish solders looks up at the griffins, “What are you doing?”

“Borrowing this.” Greta leans to the side and pulls out the locking pin. Then with a heavy heave, she lifts the entire M307 25mm cannon. She is bigger than a pony, longer, and apparently stronger. Based on the XM307, the cannon is low recoil, with a sheathed barrel. Wrapping one claw around the barrel and holding the rear handle with her other she takes to the air.

Natalya looks on in shock as the griffin take to the air, screeching out her rage. There are few things that are more fearsome then an angry griffin. An angry griffin carrying a huge cannon though…

Firing the cannon from her hip, she opens up on the rear of the first tank. The 25mm HEDP rounds slam one after another, ripping into the weak engine deck armor. After the fifth round, flames erupt from the vehicle.

Flying sideways she puts more rounds into the second tank. By this time the IFV’s have taken note, but there is little they can do. Greta is above the arc of their guns and firing down on them. Round after round rips into the tops of the vehicles, where the armor is weakest.

It’s the chance the ponies need. Making a break for it, they run the three kilometers at a gallop, they cross into Finland. Greta and Natalya land, looking at the Finnish military, then back at the ponies.

Natalya spreads her wings, “Natalya Kerensky. We are mostly from St. Petersburg and area, we seek asylum and permission to enter the European Union. Forty-two ponies are with us. Unicorns and Earth Ponies, with a lot of foals, they are cold and hungry.”

Greta shoulders the 25mm cannon like it is a hunting rifle. “Yeah, we’re a political nightmare, we know. Just please, before you start worrying, get the foals somewhere warm, and get them food and drink.”

***Twilight Velvet***

I wake up to a soft giggle. I recognize my mom’s giggle, even though I haven’t been home in months. It is musical and magical, to my ears.

I yawn and open one eye, turning my head to give Blaze a gentle nuzzle, then I hear the giggle again. It fills the air with happiness.

Lifting my head, I looked over and see my mom standing at the guest room door, her hand over her mouth.

Blaze and I had fallen asleep on the bed, it is small, but ponies are generally smaller than humans so it is fine. Blaze is on his back, wings spread, snerking, or half snoring in his sleep. Since he doesn’t have a wing over me, it is easy for me to sit up and look around.

The Cotton twins had curled up on top of a sleeping bag on the floor. They are using each other as pillows. Each of them having their head on the other’s back. Blinking, I look around for the pillows. The pillows from the bed are gone, as are the two the twins had.

Mom clears her throat and points to the dresser, smiling from ear to ear.

Looking up, Feather has somehow claimed all of the pillows, and then some. She had brought them up onto the top of the dresser. There, she made a fluffy pile of pillows to sleep on top of. It is her own little faux cloud inside the house.

She lay on top of the pile, curled in her own little ball, one wing twitching in her sleep. Her tail over her muzzle such that only her closed eyes are visible through the sea of pink tail and mane fur. Mornings like this are why I love being a pony. The peace, the family bond, the…

Emergency teleport active! I appear in an instant in the bathroom behind my mom, I lean over and throw up into the toilet. My stomach flu is back with a vengeance.

Blinking, my mom looks between the bedroom and the bathroom, before closing the bedroom door. “How… how did you?”

“Ugh. It had to be that damp English air.”

“I still say, you should get a checkup with the doctor.”

“I will when I get back to base.” Sitting up, I look up at my mom then move over and hug her. I snuggle as tight as I can to her. Holding her tight with my front legs and snuggling my cheek against her.

Gently, she starts stroking my mane with her hand, looking down with that smile that always seems to make everything better.

“Oh mom, it’s like on one hoof, I know and understand everything you went through to raise me so much better. On the other I wonder and worry if I’m still the mare I was, if I’m still a good mother myself. Or if I can be as good as you were.”

“I think Feather, Cotton, and Candy are in the best… hooves. I raised you and let you live your own life. From what you’ve told me you’ve already raised two foals. If you ever need help or just someone to talk to I’m only a phone call away.”

Pushing my head against my mom, I find myself starting to cry. I just need her so much right now. I don’t know why, I just do. She’s my mom.

Smiling, mom reaches up, pulling down her hair brush from the sink and begins brushing my mane. I don’t know if it is just the closeness. Or the brushing itself, but I feel myself relaxing in her arms. Like nothing could ever hurt me.

“Is it still throwing up?” Ron says flatly.

And now it’s gone.

“I’m not an it,” I say firmly. “I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t dream of this, I didn’t want this.”

“Yet you embrace it, you even use those silly cutesy pony terms.”

“It’s our language. Or at least how our language translates to English. We don’t have hands, so saying on the other hand, just doesn’t work on an instinctual level.” I say and huff, “Try thinking, talking, and doing everything in base eight. Or base four. You have ten fingers, so working in base 8 is alien for you.”

I huff and look at my mom.

“It’s okay.” Mom my hugs me again. “Let’s go make breakfast for the brood.”

Smiling, I follow my mom down to the kitchen, “You know, unicorn moms have one huge advantage.”

“Oh what’s that?”

“Watch this.” Winking, I start up my magic. I’ve been practicing and my skill is coming back. The fundamentals training has built my strength and control back up. Taking a seat on a kitchen chair I begin humming cheerfully while waiving a forehoof for fun.

My magic dances across the kitchen, turning on burners, moving pots, and pulling out goods from the fridge. I begin making breakfast, three different kinds of pancakes. The advantage here, I am able to control several different things at once.

Mom laughs as she watches. She is probably having Fantasia flashbacks here, but I am just having so much fun. Smiling, she puts her hand on my shoulder while I work. She just looks down at me with a mother’s love.

Singing aloud as I work, I look back at my mom, “And the music makes your heart soar in reply. When you find you've got the music…”

*** Fleur ***

“Hey Lis?”

Fleur sits on the floor, she got herself a few pillows to sit on. It is more comfortable than sitting on the chair, especially when it decides to start rolling, or worse, spinning on her. She has her muzzle resting on the desk as she looks at her screen.

“You look down.” Anthony says, tilting his head. “Still upset about becoming a pony?”

“No, doesn’t bother me.” She huffs, “Okay, I need a bigger bed, and I’m gonna need to trade my car in for something with more horn room. And I really, really, need a bigger bed.”

Spinning his chair around, Anthony rolls backwards to sit beside Fleur.

“Oh. Isn’t that Jetstream, the pony that tried to kill herself the other day?"

“Yeah, I’m wondering how many more like her are out there. For that matter how many more like Ruby are out there.”

“If there are, we are going to find them, get them out of trouble. If military personal are involved, we will punish them. If they are military, we will help them adapt.”

“Cuz your just such a pony sap.” Lis says with a giggle.

“Nope, just cuz I like chasing tail.”

“Ok, eww.” Lis puts her tail tighter to her body out of reflex. “Didn’t you take your course in office sexual harassment?”

“Yep, and it didn’t include making comments about tails. Though I think they may need to update things. No trying to catch peeks under mare’s tails would probably be a good addition to the curriculum.”

“You really want me to be wearing a skirt and outfit around the office now don’t you.”

“Don’t worry Lis, I’m sure they don’t look. Not even that one girl who, I swear, wants to brush your mane.”

With a shudder, Fleur shakes her head. “Ok, let’s change topics.”

“How’s your TK going? You know you’re going to need to master it, before you hit the range.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I don’t know what it is, sometimes it’s hard to pick up a pencil, then I crush a glass.”

“Your focus, needs more focus, little one.” Anthony puts on his best fake Asian accent for that.

Standing up Fleur shakes herself out. “Well let’s get to the hospital. I want to check up on both Ruby Splash and Jetstream.”

“See what more information we can find out from Ruby?”

Standing up, Fleur puts on her badge and picks up her small bag. “I think I am going to go for the training class.”

“Hey it’s sort of a vacation to Fort Bragg. At least it won’t be hectic or such there.” Anthony says, grabbing the keys.

“SUV right?”

“Yep. If I tried to put you in the mini, we’d end up with holes in the roof.”

“Tanya! Lis, before you go.”

Hearing their names called out, Fleur turns and blinks, looking at the HR rep who is panting a bit as she jogs up.

“Sup?”

“No pressure, but we are doing some PR posters for the ponies. We want them for public relations, recruiting, and as a way of calming ponies down a bit. So they don’t think we’re all human here.”

“Why me? Why not Goldie?”

“Goldie’s OSI, you’re CID. As well, you were a fashion model in Equestria, right?”

“I’ll think about it.” Sighing she turns and looks at Anthony.

“Don’t say it.”

“Pinup Pony!” Antony says as he dodges the horn poke.

*** Fleetfoot ***

“Arrow this is Corkscrew. Fast mover track 331. 32,500 feet, break right and dive for intercept.”

Cutting the turn Fleetfoot eats the G’s and dives hard for flight level 32,500. She needs all the speed she can get to hit the intercept point.

“Arrow, this is Corkscrew. Adjust course two degrees left. Target will be crossing in twelve seconds.”

Fleetfoot pushes herself as the target data comes up on her goggles. The datalink highlights the target for her but, she can still see it with her own eyes, there is a light trail behind this one. It’s going to be close.

“Arrow this is Corkscrew. Intercept in eight seconds. See if you can boost your speed.”

Giving it everything she has, she locks onto the intercept point… she has to get there first. Hearing the countdown over her ear piece, she banks as hard as she can, turning sideways. It is close, but she flashes across the targets flightpath, barely a hundred feet in front of her.

Lightning Dust blinks as she flies through Fleetfoot’s turbulence, she cuts her speed fast. “The HELL!” She yells.

Arching back Fleetfoot slows up, pacing the turquoise speedster, “Damn you’re hard to catch.”

“Well I’m not called Lighting Dust for nothing.”

“Dust, we’ve had several complaints now about you.”

“Me? What did I do? And who’s we?”

“I’m with the 520th Air Police Squadron.”

“Yeah I heard about you guys, several pegasi from the farm were stop-lossed back to help out. Why are you after me though?”

“Well for starters, you just cut across two federal no fly zones. Flying way to close to passenger jets, cutting across restricted airspace.”

“What!”

“Were serious Dust, you flew within 50 feet of a jet.” She stops at Dust’s chuckle.

Dust grins, “Within fifty feet my plot. I put my hooves on both wings.”

Dust’s grin is wiped away by the look on Fleetfoot’s face, Fleet looks at the younger pegasus sternly, “While that may not seem like anything to you, air traffic controllers and pilots can get spooked. What’s worse, the pilot can be given orders to change course to avoid you as an emergency instruction. On most primary radars we show up as missile sized targets.”

“Really? Missiles?”

“Look Dust, the navy intercepted a shipment of man portable anti-air missiles recently. Everyone is on edge. Please, be mindful of the poor human pilots.”

“Yeah ok, surprised they sent you, but I guess they had to send a speedster.”

Fleetfoot flinches and puts a hoof over her belly. She sticks her tongue out and urps.

“You ok? You don’t look so hot.”

“Yeah, since I’m the fastest they have right now, they sent me. I shouldn’t be here though, but we needed to let you know. As well as get you to get a transponder, and start listing your flight plans properly.”

“Right… Like I need a transponder.” The other mare says as she rolls her eyes.

Fleetfoot gestures and Dust follows her, they land on a cloud. “It’s best that all pegasi have them.”

“So they can track us?”

“Yes so they can track us, and see us easier. That way, we don’t scare pilots.” Fleetfoot retches softly again, her hoof on her stomach.

“Okay Fleetfoot, what’s up with you? You really don’t look well.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed myself so hard to catch you.”

“Well why did you?”

“Orders… You’re such a priority, you can be a real pain in the cutie mark for that, right now. They sent a pregnant mare to chase you down.”

“Oh come, on I’m not a…” Dust stops and blinks. “Pregnant?”

Fleetfoot gives Dust the saddest eyes she can muster, “Please Dust, for the sake of my unborn foal. Get a transponder, and fly safe. I can’t be chasing you all over the country, I could hurt myself.”

“Ok that’s just cruel.” Dust huffs and lays down on the cloud, “Using pregnancy and those eyes against me.” Dust sighs, ”Fine. I’ll get a transponder.”

“Thank you.”

Dust sits up, and looks at the transponder strapped to Fleet’s foreleg, “That’s an ugly thing.” She gestures to the phone case strapped to her own foreleg, “got an app to put on a phone that will do the same thing?”

Fleetfoot looks at the transponder, then at Dust’s phone, and shakes her head, “I have to use an ipad or other tablet for filling flight plans, this is all hardware, and a big battery, something your phone doesn’t have.”

Dust waves a hoof, “Oh, I can probably get one built. Just put a bigger battery in the phone, and add in the antenna for the transponder. Maybe an extra circuit board or two.” She unstraps the phone case, manipulating the phone, “It’ll be thicker than my phone, but I think it could be about the same dimensions except for the thickness. Maybe an extra external antenna.”

Fleetfoot is hoofed the phone, she runs a hoof along the screen, “Damn, this thing is almost as big as my ipad mini.”

Dust chuckles, “I’ve never liked those tiny phones. I can use a stylus and text pretty well with it. You military types like your big, bulky equipment.”

“And durable, Dust. Durability is a good thing.”

Dust rolls her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see about getting that taken care of.” She looks at Fleetfoot seriously, “So who’s the father?”

“Lt. James Fisher.”

“Really? You’re pulling my wing. How?”

“When a mare and a stallion really, really, like each other…”

*** Sugarberry ***

“So what do we have planned for today?” Henry says, walking in.

“Have a new unicorn showing up in a few days to be trained by Velvet.”

“That makes what?” Henry says, sitting down on the floor.

“Three for this batch. Two stallions out of West point, royal guards, I think. And get this, CID is sending one mare. Fleur Dis Lee.”

“Really? The fashion model? What are we supposed to train her in, how to put on makeup?” Henry says with a chuckle.

“Be nice, it’s about quality of life, remember.”

Leaning against Sugarberry, he nods. “I know, just certain ponies in the show seem less, skilled.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’m just worried about unicorns abusing their magic.”

“Oh come on, we would never… Would you ever abuse your magic?”

“Magic comes from deep inside, not just from your mind. It comes from your heart and soul. Emotions can lend it strength, dark emotions as much as light. Sombra used hatred and fear to power his spells.” Henry closes his eyes, “The magic I used though came from the heart, it came from love. A need to help and protect those who are suffering. It’s a maternal feeling I guess. A chance to give life.”

Sugarberry blinks, then she hugs Henry snuggling into him tightly. “I love you.”

Henry chuckles softly. “Yeah, I know. I have a stupid view of magic. I think though, that some might be tempted to use magic for darker reasons, just because they were humans.”

“Nope, not stupid. I think it’s perfect. You use harmony magic. Though no, I don’t know what it is but pony nature seems to keep most ponies on a moral course.”

“Well, that unicorn thing I became used harmony magic.” Henry smiles. “I’m more than happy staying human though. That way I can do this.”

Quickly he ruffled his fingers under Sugarberry’s mane to start scratching. The response is very quick, a soft moan of joy.

“Ok, fingers do have uses.”

“Thank you. I just had them lengthened. Now they go all the way to my hand.”

Sugarberry blinks and starts laughing. “Well, we have some time off till Velvet and the foals get back. It seems so quiet around here without the little ones around.”

“Yeah, no sirens, screaming kids, firetrucks, or MP’s. Just think, human kids are one thing, but if you ever have a foal, it too will go through the cutie mark acquisition phase.” Henry looks down at the mare chuckling.

“Oh, they can’t be that…”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Pyrotechnics Experts.”

“Okay, not having foals.” Sugarberry says as she nods firmly.

“Besides, to have foals, you kind of need a stallion.”

Putting on her best Apple Bloom accent, Sugarberry sings out while giggling. “I don't think that we're mistaken, it seems all the good ones are taken.”

Laughing, Henry shakes his head. “So you going to be helping teach the magic class this time around?”

“Nope, I can do, but I can’t teach. Takes a special kind of pony to do that, you really need to understand the basics or have an innate tie to magic.”

“You’re a unicorn, you have an innate tie.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t even figured out why my cutie mark means yet.”

“Well, I have two places I want to take you to today. We are going on a field trip.”

“Really? Where?”

“It’s a surprise, get your day bag. It’s been cleared with command, we’re going on a cutie mark hunt to find out what your mark really means”

*** Velvet ***

“Velvet! This is downtime.” My mother complains.

“I know, but Blaze and I are having fun. When’s the last time you had a pegasus to fly up, cleaning the awnings and gutters, while a unicorn fixes the shingles?”

Feather pokes her head out from under the front porch. The hole is hardly larger than she is, and she has dirt on her face and muzzle. She has a little LED flashlight stuck into a handkerchief that is tied to her head to use as a headlamp. Sneezing out a little puff of dust she looks up, “Looks clear down here, no animals, so we can board it up. Foundation looks good, no cracks that I can see.”

Cloudy and Candy are painting the fence, or each other. I’m not sure which… At least it’s non-toxic paint. Both of them, however, will be needing a bath, big time. Oh, who am I kidding, the entire family will be needing to be hosed down at the end of all of this.

Feather pulls herself out the hole, she turns around, and the twins notice something. “You got your cutie mark!”

Blinking Feather looked back, on her hip was a white circle with an orange heart on it. Squeaking, she turns around, snapping her head around, though the mark is only on one hip.

“Huh?” Cloudy and Candy blink and walk over.

Walking up, I look at Feathers hip, then I groan. Carefully, I pull the sticker off her flank with my magic. “Oranges are good for the heart? Okay, but not so good for the cutie mark.” Looking over, I put it in the trash with the rest of the debris we’ve collected.

Feather whimpers and droops. “Darn, thought I was onto something there.”

The twins, on the other hand, fall on their backs rolling in laughter.

“Well at least you didn’t suffer from McDonald’s syndrome where the marks are only on one side.” Candy calls out between gasps.

“It's time for us to come together. It's the only way that things will get better. It's time for us to take a stand. So come on and lend a helping hand…”

The twins catch on the song right away, starting to sing as they get back to painting. “Fix it up… Yeah, it's all right… We'll get it ready by tonight.”

Feather closes up the crawl space, singing out herself as she hammers it shut, “Mix it up, help a friend, We'll come together in the end.”

Blaze lands behind my mom and uses his head to push her up to the kitchen, “It's time to show that we've got pony spirit, raise your voice and let everyone hear it.”

Mom just can’t help but laugh now. All of us singing along and working is just too silly for her. Looking down at Blaze he points up at the empty lemonade pitcher.

Continuing to sing, I duck my head into the kitchen, harmonizing with Blaze. “It's time to show that we're strong. So come on, everybody, sing along.”

*** Fleur ***

“Look how we've all come together.” Fleur says, sitting beside Ruby Splash, stroking her mane.

“Things are only just starting to get better.” Drizzle adds in, smiling at the mare. Her colors have come back, though the doctors still want her in the hospital, for observation.

Ruby sighs softly, “I don’t remember a lot. My mind just blanked it out.”

“Don’t worry, if you can’t remember. We have the person that did this, and he’s going to help us find the people that took you.” Fleur says, smiling.

“So what’s going to happen to me now?” Looking at her hoof, “that I’m this…”

Drizzle hugs Ruby tightly. “Well, you will have the option of staying with the military in noncombat postings, embassy staff and such.”

“Or we can see about getting you a job as a pastry chef.” Fleur says, smiling.

“Pastry chef?” Ruby blinks, she never really tried cooking. She’s always so busy, most of her food is either quick cook, or takeout.

“Yeah, back in Equestria you were an up and coming star in Manehatten.” Fleur says with an air of pride. “You specialized in berry pies, though apparently you started a resurgence trend when you created your own crystal berry pie in your class.”

“Wait Equestria’s real?”

Drizzle looks at Fleur and blinks, “Educational video time!”

“No, no, no, no, no. I’ve had my share of those, you show her. I’ll go check on Jetstream.” Fleur says, laughing.

“You’re just jealous they didn’t get you to star in them.”

“Do I look like an actress?” Fleur says, blinking.

“Nope, you look like a fashion model.”

“Oh I’m never going to live that down, am I? My cutie marks a Fleur, not a camera. The Fleur is associated with monarchy and leadership. As well, it’s part of the French royal guard.”

“So… Fleur was a guard or noble?”

“I… have no idea.” Fleur says and trots out.

57: All The Pain

Author's Note

“Are you affected by Cuteness Overload Syndrome?” Candy Steps aside to reveal Feather curled in a ball, tail over her muzzle, so her eyes are just peeking through her tail hair. Her mane is tied up in a pink ribbon.

“Does excessive cuteness cause your teeth to hurt or give you cavities?” Pointing to the other side, Candy reveals Cloudy, dripping wet with her mane clinging to her sides, giving huge sad pony eyes.

Candy goes on speaking clearly. “COS or Cuteness Overload Syndrome is real and affects many adults and children across this great nation. Here, at the CMC EC chapter, we are looking to help mediate the symptoms of COS however. Through the use of modern drugs and desensitization techniques we are helping minimize or mitigate the effects of this debilitating illness.”

Cloudy sits with a sign reading ‘Brushes and belly wubs pweeze’. She’s holding a brush in her muzzle while lying partly on her back. Meanwhile Feathers sitting with a milkshake glass doing the Babs Seed milkshake bounce.

“Though repeated exposure,” the camera pans to a human clutching his chest while foaming at the mouth. “We hope to mitigate the effects of COS. If we are to live on this planet with humans, we must do our best to help fight the effects of COS.”

"Please, every bit helps, send your donations to the COS fund care of Lighting Dust. New Beginnings, USA. Only with your help can we find a cure for COS."

57: All The Pain

“James?” Fleetfoot calls as she lands. “James, I really need to talk to you.”

Blinking, James puts his bag down on the ground and kneels down, stroking Fleetfoot’s cheek gently. “What’s up Fleet?”

“I…” Gulping hard, Fleetfoot flattens her ears, tucking her tail tight to her body. “I really need to talk to you.”

“Here? Barracks? Common room?” James tilts his head, his face showing concern.

“Barracks,” she sighs, “I need to talk to you, in private.”

Nodding slowly, he picks up his bag again, shouldering it. “Ok.”

Starting to walk, James puts his hand on Fleetfoot’s head, softly stroking her mane. It is gentle, but enough to make Fleet look up and smile for a moment. In the blink of an eye, her pegasus reflexes kick in. She pulls James down quickly as a white flash flies by towards the road.

James nearly jumps out of his boots when he hears the sound of hooves hit steel. The sound of tires screeching and a driver leaning on the horn fills the air quickly.

A white pegasus mare with a three tone pink mane and diamond cutie mark stands on the hood of a car. Her wings are spread in rage. Her tail is puffed out and even the hair on her back is on end.

“What the buck is wrong with you!” The female pegasus screams at the driver. The hood of the car has serious dents from where she landed on it in her rage.

“Get off the car now, Magen!”

“NO! Not until you explain yourself.” Magen screams.

“I’ve already called base security. Get off the car.”

James and Fleetfoot walk over. Shaking his head, James calls out, “What’s going on here?”

“Sorry sir, I’m trying to get to my duty station.”

Rearing up Fleetfoot puts her forelegs on the car. “Calm down and breathe, please. Hop down and talk to me about this.”

Looking between the two, James takes out his pad. “I’ll write up a delay note to your CO, once we sort this out.”

“What’s to sort out?”

“What’s to sort out? What’s to sort out! You changed the locks, you won’t let me in the house, you hand me papers saying you are filing for an annulment and full custody!”

“I married a human! Not a horse!”

“I’m a pony, not some dumb animal.” Magen shouts back, tears in her eyes.

Fleetfoot puts her wing gently over the mare’s back.

“That’s just semantics. You’re not what I married, you never were apparently. I’m not sharing my bed with an animal.”

The MP’s pull up and James walks over to them.

Fleetfoot looks up at the man with tears in her eyes. “Go, get to work.”

Snarling, the man drives off, leaving Magen crying.

Walking over, James kneels down, looking at Magen before checking his cellphone. There are sites that are useful for pony identification. “Hi there, Diamond Rose.”

“Who?” Magen blinks and wipes her eyes with her wing.

“Diamond Rose, it’s your birth name as a pony.” Fleetfoot says.

“Oh, I just changed a few days ago, I hadn’t got that far yet.”

“Military?” James asks softly.

“Dependent. What am I going to do?”

“You are going to take a deep breath. You are going to relax. Are you a strong flyer?”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you fly long distances?” Fleetfoot asks, looking up at James.

“I don’t know, I haven’t tried.”

Taking out his wallet James huffs. “Let’s see. I want you to fly here.” Copying an address from a paper in his wallet, he rips out the paper and smiles.

Leaning over Fleetfoot looked and then nods. “It’s the address for other civilian ponies, they will help you. Explain what’s going on, they will see about getting you a lawyer. We will do everything we can to ensure you don’t lose your children. Just ask to see Lightning Dust, tell her that James and Fleetfoot sent you.”

“Twenty, forty… eighty. Here ya go. Don’t worry about paying me back. If it’s too far for you to fly all at once or you get too tired, land. Find a motel, spend the night and sleep. If you feel depressed, call us, day or night. Fleetfoot can probably make it to where you are in a few hours.” James says firmly.

“Day or night, call. Just get to that farm and explain as fast as you can.”

Looking at the paper and the money she whimpers, “I can’t.”

“Yes you can. This will get you there. Once there, the ponies there will help you. They’ve helped other ponies. We aren’t sending you away to get rid of you. And you’re not abandoning your children.” James says.

“Why? Why are you doing this? Why is he doing this? It’s not my fault.”

“I know it’s not your fault. It’s his.” Fleetfoot says, she gulps, looking at James.

Softly James stroke Fleetfoot’s head, “As to why, ponies help each other. You need help.”

“The ponies there won’t let this go unanswered. They will get civilian lawyers on this for you.” Fleetfoot says firmly. Diamond Rose looks at them for a long time, then she turns and takes to the air.

Picking up his bag, James looks down at Fleetfoot and smiles, “Let’s get inside to talk.”

Fleetfoot looks at the retreating pegasus and gulps harder.

Unlocking the door to his small barracks room, James heads inside. Fleetfoot trots over and climbs up onto the sofa, lying down and making herself comfortable.

Walking back from the kitchen James smiled as he mixes some Five Alive and 7-up together in a glass and adds a straw.

“What… is that?” Fleetfoot says, blinking.

“Try it.”

Taking a sip she scrunches her nose and giggles. “Okay, that tingles.”

“So what do you want to talk about?” James said stroking her ear gently.

Fleetfoot looks up and opened her mouth. The words said to Magen coming back to her mind like a flood. Animal, not a person, she isn’t human anymore, how could he share a bed with her?

Turning her head away Fleetfoot takes a deep breath and fights back the tears.

“Come on Fleetfoot. Talk.”

“James, do you think I’m an animal?”

“Not in the way that jerk meant. I think you’re a mammal, with human intelligence, free will, self-determination, and emotions.” James reaches down and softly pulls her closer to him.

Leaning over, she takes another sip of her drink and scrunches her nose again. It’s hard not to giggle at the bubbles, but she is too scared to giggle. “Do you remember when you were a pegasus, and we were on that cloud?”

“Yeah, I hope no one was under that cloud.” He says, making a quick face before he looks at her.

That response has her blushing. It wasn’t the response she thought of, but she has to admit he is right, “I… James…”

Taking her foreleg gently with a hand he looks down. “Relax, it’s just you and me. There isn’t any pressure… Just say what you need to.”

“I’m pregnant.” Turning her head away from him quickly, she closes her eyes, bracing herself.

“Great,” James groans, “and they just assigned me my officer’s single quarters. Housing is just going to love me.” He sighs, “I’ll put in for family quarters right away. That will give them time to process it.” James says.

Blinking, Fleetfoot looks back at him. “What do you mean?”

“Huh? Well we will need a room for the foal. We can’t have it sleeping in the same room as us.” James says, smiling down at her.

“You mean you’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be? There’s no one else I trust or care about more. You’ve been in my mind, helped me work through some of the worst experiences of my life and come to terms with some scary events.” Pulling up her muzzle to look into her eyes, he smiles, “I’m not abandoning you or turning my back on you now.”

“But you’d still share a bed with me?”

“If that’s what you want, yes. If you want your own bed, or your own room, we can make arrangements for that too. But I will stand by you. We shared something very special, and we will continue to be special to each other.”

Fleetfoot’s eyes widen looking at James for a moment. Then as what he said fully sinks in, she smiles as bright and wide as she can. She wraps her wings and forelegs around James as she cries into his shoulder in joy and relief.

“It’s our baby after all, and I’ll do my best to be the father he or she deserves.”

*** Henry / Sugarberry ***

“We’re here.” Henry says with a chuckle as he ruffles Sugarberry’s mane.

Yawning and stretching, Sugarberry uncurls herself in the front seat before sitting up. An interesting advantage to pony size is she found she could sleep on car seats easier. Looking around, she rubs her eyes with the back of her hooves. “Where is here?”

“Welcome to Sugar Creek.” Henry says, getting out of the car.

“Why are we…” Sugarberry stops mid-sentence, looking up at the signs. Looking back at her cutie mark she blinks. Several places bear the same mark as her cutie mark. Taking a step back into the car again, she looks around timidly.

“Come on, it’s safe.” Henry puts his hand on her neck and leads her into a large store.

The woman behind the counter blinks a few times, looking at Sugarberry, gulping heavily then goes into the back.

“Are you sure we should be here?” Sugarberry asks.

A moment later, an older gentleman walks out with a big smile, he extends a hand for Henry to shake, “You must be the one who called.”

“Yep, this is her.” Henry says, “Sugarberry, this is Martin, he operates local mine tours, gem prospecting and he’s a geologist.”

“I don’t really know anything about magic and cutie marks. But if you have a tie to gems, we’ll help you find it here.” Martin says, smiling.

Kneeling down, Henry puts his hand softly over Sugarberry’s mark. “Trust in your mark. Trust in your magic. And trust in your heart to guide you. I’ll be with you all the way.”

“You arranged this? Found this place and called ahead so they wouldn’t freak out? Drove all the way here? Just for me?” Sugarberry looks at him in shock.

Henry chuckles softly, “You are worth it, never let anyone or anypony tell you different.”

Rearing up quickly, Sugarberry hugs Henry as tight as she can with her forelegs. Clinging as tightly as she can to him, all she can say is, “Never change.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Henry chuckles.

With a quick kiss on the cheek, she drops back to all four legs and looks around. “Where do we start?”

“I’d like you to start from the end. I want you to try touching different gems with your horn see what they feel like. Magically.” Henry says smiling.

Taking the pair into the office, Martin has trays lined up with different gemstones ready for her. The work he had done to get this ready for her, it must have taken him hours.

Prancing over, she lights her horn. One by one, she touches it to each of the different gems, trying to see if she can sense, or feel anything.

“Take your time, don’t rush. You don’t want to go so fast that you miss something that might be in your mind.” Henry kneels beside her, gently putting his hand on her back.

Looking back at Henry she shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“That was just the first step. If you have certain spells they probably won’t trigger just at the cut stone. Next, we are going to see some concentrate.”

“What’s concentrate?”

Martin walks over with two large buckets of soil and gravel. “Concentrate is raw gem containing ore that hasn’t been passed through the sluice box yet. We sell buckets like this to customers to have fun trying to prospect themselves, it’s always a gamble though, because there’s no guarantee that there’s valuable gems in any bucket.”

“What I just want you to do now is, remember the gems on the table. See what you can sense in the bucket.” Henry says.

Touching her horn to the gravel, she concentrates, making the bucket glow. Looking up, she shakes her head. “I… I don’t’ know what I’m looking for.”

“You’re not looking for anything, you are simply just seeing how it feels, and you are seeing what comes to mind. Magic is as magic does sometimes.” Henry says softly.

“Maybe a different bucket?”

Looking to the owner Henry nods, “I’ll pay for a second.”

“Pay for?!?!” Sugarberry blinks.

Martin comes back with a second bucket of concentrate. “They are 25 dollars per bucket to sort through. On average, there are five carats worth of gems in a bucket. They are usually in quarter carat or less stones.”

Sugarberry touches her horn to the second bucket, holding it there, then she relaxes away from the bucket as she sighs.

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” She whimpers.

Gently Henry hugs her. “You’re experimenting. You’re trying things to see if they match your mark. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“And if my cutie mark is just wrong?” She moans softly, looking at it.

“It’s never wrong, it’s special and means something to each pony. We just need to find what yours means to you.” Henry says, smiling.

After a few minutes, Henry turns and looks at Martin, “You said we could see the mine?” he asks, “I’d like her to have a chance to feel the mine itself.”

Martin leads them outside and up a winding hill. It is a good ten minute walk, but they finally arrive at a shaft mine, dug into the side of the mountain. “Hard hats are required, so she can’t go any further.”

“You told me that.” Henry says with a smile and pulls out one of the equine combat helmets, putting it gently on Sugarberry’s head. Next he carefully puts the back armor on her and cinches the straps. “It’s military issue combat gear, so it should work as a hardhat for her.”

Martin stands there, blinking for a few moments, then he nods and they head inside.

Lighting her horn, Sugarberry looks around. “I… I remember playing in the caves under Canterlot.” Walking forward she closes her eyes. “My sister and I went there all the time. Amethyst Star showed us the way in.”

Slowly, she walks forward, her horn shining. “We would pretend we were Star Swirl the Bearded, searching for great stones of power.” She can’t help giggling.

Moving over to one wall, she uses her hoof to kick at it a bit.

Martin kneels down and pulls out a small hand pick, clearing some of the outer rocks to show some ruby chips. The chips are nothing to speak off, they are mostly fragments and chunks. No single piece adding up to even a tenth of a carat.

Touching her horn to the chips, she grows them together into a single gem. When she pulls her horn away, there is probably a three carat stone sitting there. Martin looks at the brilliant stone on the ground, then at Sugarberry, then at the stone, his jaw hanging.

“She grew the stone?” Martin says in wonder.

“You can grow gems, like sugarberries.” Henry says with a chuckle.

Blinking, Sugar looks at what she did, then up at Henry.

“Well we found your special talent.”

Sugarberry pounces at Henry, pinning him to the wall in a hug. “Oh God, I love you so much. This means so much to me.”

“I know, I know how hard it’s been, not knowing for sure. We should be getting back to base though. It’s getting late.”

Nodding slowly, Sugarberry follows him out.

“And Berry?”

“Yeah?” She says, looking up, as he gets into the car.

“I do love you too.”

*** Velvet ***

“Don’t be afraid to call. Or visit, I’ll always be your mom.”

“I won’t, mom.” I giggle softly.

“And come back soon.”

“I will, and you can visit when we get settled in.” Looking at Blaze, “Our wedding will be next month, I want you there.”

“I will be. Don’t worry. But a month is hardly enough time to plan a big wedding.”

“Mom, it’s not going to be big. I can’t even really wear a dress like that. There aren’t places that make pony dresses.”

“I know I know. I just want you to look beautiful. Like a princess.”

“No mom, princesses have wings, I’m happy with just my horn.”

Mom giggles, “You know what I mean.”

“I do. We are doing a little military wedding. Close friends and family. Ponies and humans.”

“Even Ron?” Mom asks sternly.

“Yes mom, Ron can come if he wants.” I say, “Even if he is a heartless jerk.”

“Do you need anything? Will you need anything?”

“Not really mom. I just need my family, and you’re still part of that.”

Mom starts crying again, which gets me crying. Blaze puts his wing over me and hugs me tightly. I never usually get this emotional. But I might as well chalk it up to the stomach flu as well.

“You just got here, I wish you didn’t have to go so soon.”

“I know but, the military needs me back at base.” I sigh, “More ponies have changed and need my help.”

“I know. It’s a military life. I just want to see you and talk to you more.”

“You will, I’ll try and call you on the computer whenever I can.”

“And don’t forget to get yourself checked out at the hospital. And get yourself an OBGYN!” Mom says.

“Yes mom. I have to go.”

“I know.” Mom says sadly, sitting on the steps.

“I’ll have family with me to help me.”

“I know but you’re still my little baby.” Mom sniffles.

“That includes Feather, mom.” I say, looking at her.

Mom hugs Feather tighter in her arms, the little foal curled up. Looking at me, she’s trapped in my mom’s arms as mom cries into her mane.

Looking down, mom slowly lets go of Feather. Acting almost like she’s reluctant to give up her favorite stuffed toy. Feather turns and hugs my mom tight with her forelegs and wings before flying over and landing on Blaze's back.

Laughing softly, I turn and get into the car. With one final, wave I start driving back.

Cloudy giggled, “I thought she’d never let you go.”

“Me neither, why oh why am I so cute?!?” Feather calls out, raising her hooves up as if asking a higher power.

Candy laughed, “Cuz you’re gonna be a saggy old nag when you grow up.”

Cloudy gives Candy a playful smack on the back of his head. “Behave.”

“Mom! Cloudy hit me.”

“Good, you deserved it for that old nag comment.” I say smiling, trying to look innocent.

Blaze turns around and looks back sternly, “Don’t make me turn this car around.”

“Oh I know.” Feather perks, “Let’s make a Build a Bear or plushy of me, and send it to her.”

“Oooo, we’ll have to make it as cute and cuddly as we can.” Cloudy says, smiling brightly.

“Hey maybe we can get our cutie marks that way?” Candy asks.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Teddy Pony Models!!!!”

Heaven help me.

*** Drizzle ***

Half sitting on the chair, half lying on the bed Drizzle has her muzzle and neck over Jetstream. She hasn’t left her since she got back. A pegasus is in need and can’t be abandoned. The doctors weren’t sure if she’d wake up, but the change had knocked the drugs out of her system.

“Come on, fight.” Drizzle says softly.

Pegasi are stalwarts. Fast healers, but no one knows for sure what happens with the change. It is hard to say if any permanent damage was done

“I’m here for you. Fight.” Drizzle says, wiping her eyes with a foreleg.

The files show Jetstream with two different cutie marks, there is some question as to what it actually is. One is a cloud and lighting bolt, the other is a cloud with rain falling from it. The pony she is holding has a cloud and lighting bolt.

Closing her eyes Drizzle whimpers, “Fight, please… for me.”

Her collector card says she is supposed to be an endurance flyer. It is supposed to be her special talent. She is expected to be the first pony to fly across all of Equestria nonstop, something no other pegasus has accomplished.

“You have the strength in you, don’t give up. Fight.”

“Why?” The voice is soft and weak. The voice of a pony tired of life.

“Because you have to. You’re a pegasus.”

“Oh… so just cuz I’m a pony.” Her voice cracks slightly as she speaks.

Drizzle blinks and sits up. Wiping her eyes gently, she smiled. “No silly, not just because you’re a pony.”

Reaching up slowly, she pulls her mane out of the way of her eyes with a hand. “No one cares about me anyway, so why are you bothering?”

“Well if we didn’t care, why would you be here?” Drizzle says firmly.

“Cuz I’m a pegasus, or going to be one. I might be useful to someone as an experiment or a weapon.” Closing her eyes, she turns her head away from Drizzle. “No one cared about me in life. My last three birthdays came and went with not even a phone call. No presents, no parties.”

“What about family?” Looked down, Drizzle tries to find a way to connect with the girl, her eyes searching Streams face for anything she can use.

“Dad left when I was born, told mom he didn’t want anything to do with me.” Flinching a bit, she wipes tears away again, “Like it was my fault for being born. Mom died of cancer about five years ago.”

Reaching over, Drizzle strokes Stream’s hair, “What about other family?”

“None, only child, no aunts or uncles… grand parents died when I was growing up.” There is a solemnness about her voice, like she is consigned to her fate.

Drizzle sighs, “Come on, you have to have someone. Boyfriend? Friends?”

Streams shakes her head again and sighs, “I’ve never gotten along with people. The doctors say I’m partly autistic. Asperger’s or something like that… I don’t really make friends.”

“We got a call from people online worried about you.” Drizzle says firmly, “So you do have friends.”

“People who don’t see me, don’t have to put up with me in real life. People who can turn me off and walk away when they are tired of listening to me.” Turning a bit, she nuzzles her cheek into the pillow trying to keep Drizzle from seeing her crying.

“Have you tried?”

Stream blinks and then looks up at Drizzle. She sighs softly again before looking away. “That’s like asking a paraplegic if they’ve tried to walk. It’s something that just doesn’t work. I’m broken or defective. I’m not pretty, I don’t really stand out anywhere, so I’m generally ignored. And now I’m turning into a cut and paste background pony.”

“Hey that’s not true.” Drizzle protests.

“I’ve got a cut and paste mane apparently shared by over a dozen ponies. Cut and paste cutie mark that’s nothing but a dulled down version of Dash’s. Heck the name I have is just a recycled Hasbro transformer name so they didn’t have to re-copyright something.”

Drizzle blinks then nose boops her. “That is not the way it works, we came first. Hasbro stole our names. They mined the memories of ponies and used that to create the series. So you were Jetstream even before the Transformers.”

Streams bites her lip, then shakes her head slowly. “Right, and who would call a foal Jetstream.”

“A weather pegasus or a speedster pegasus. Jet-streams are high altitude air currents traveling at high speed. So, to us, it’s like calling you river.”

Streams hugs herself tighter and sniffles, “What does it matter, I’m still a nobody.”

“What? Did you want to turn into Dust, Dash, Spitfire, or something?”

Her mouth feels dry, she doesn’t really know what would make the other pony feel better.

Jetstream finally answers, “No, I didn’t want to turn into anything… I just wanted to…”

“You just want to feel wanted?” Drizzle says sadly.

“I guess. I wanted to feel like there was something special about me.”

“There is, you’re a racer, an endurance flyer.” Drizzle smiles, “Maybe that’s why you never got along with people. Maybe you were always wired that way. Long hours of flying alone takes a special kind of pony.”

“I just don’t… I won’t even be able to type anymore like this…” Looking down at her hands, she buries her face in them. “The few people I knew were online. It’s all I had.”

“You have so much more now. Trust me. There’s ways to keep you online if you want. But your wings will open a whole new world.” Drizzle spreads her own wings, looking at them. “You’ll be able to simply step outside and fly to another town, city, or even country.”

“Why?” Streams looks at Drizzles wings.

“That’s the fun part. There is no why. You can do it simply because you can. You can get away from people when you don’t want to deal with them. Find other ponies and talk or return home when you need to hide away again.”

Streams sighs, and then looks at her own shoulder for a moment as if trying to see her back.

“Look, it’s going to be hard to understand at first. We ponies are drawn to each other. Trust me, you’ll find you have more friends than you know.”

***

Watson runs past Fleur into the central office, “Anthony grab your vest, we’ve got one.”

Fleur blinks, lifting her head and trotting to catch up, “Wait what?”

Strapping on his vest, Anthony pulls out his pistol. He loads it and puts it back into his holster, then he picks up some extra clips.

Watson looks back at Fleur, “Barge holding trafficked slaves, we think it’s from Russia.”

“I’m going.” Fleur says, looking around.

“Sorry you haven’t been cleared for field work again. You aren’t re-certified for weapons.”

“I won’t shoot. Just give me a vest. I’ll hang back as an observer. If there are ponies there though, you’ll need me to calm things down.” Fleur says, putting her hoof down. “Token pony face after all.”

“Fine, hit the armory and get your vest, we’ll pick you up at the back.”

Running down to the armory she digs her hooves in to stop and looks at the techs. “You have a tactical vest ready for me?”

The techs get to work quickly, strapping on what looks like a cross between Equestrian barding and tactical combat gear. It includes basic bullet protection for her body, combat boots for her hooves, and a helmet.

“You know, your head’s shaped different than the other girls, so the helmet is a pain.”

“It’s because I’m royal blood.” Fleur says, flicking her head, then she giggles, “Couldn’t resist, sorry.”

“Well, bring it back when you’re done, for servicing.”

Running outside, she jumps over the hand rail and lands on the ground. Turning, she digs her hooves in and charges up to the SUV. Anthony pops the rear door open and she dives in.

Anthony looks back at Fleur and starts to chuckle. “Modeling the new summer line of combat gear?”

“Do you see a Dolce and Gabbana stamp on my butt? Is my cutie mark a fancy ring, tiara, or some other bling? Come on, we aren’t even sure that she was a model, just high society.” Fleur retorts, as she adjusts the bullet proof vest a bit.

Anthony looks back, chuckling, “Then why are you shifting the vest around so much.”

“Cuz its riding up in places it shouldn’t, and I’m not wearing anything under it. They’re going to have to resize it a bit more for me.” Fleur says with a huff. “Next time I wear shorts so it’s not rubbing against my…”

“You’re? Um, never mind, I’ll just let my mind wander with that one. And yeah you are a bit thinner then Goldie.”

“I don’t know, do you think this padding makes my hips look too big? And this side barding, does it make me look fat?”

Anthony is about to respond when he looks back to see her grinning widely and her eyes slightly narrowed at him. He chuckles, “Oh you little troll.”

“So what’s the target?”

“Interrogation of prisoners has us hitting a barge in New York Harbor. The Russian Mafia has been using it to auction off sex slaves in the human trafficking market.” Watson says firmly.

“SWAT support?” Anthony asks.

“Not this time, this time we are getting support from Special Operations Command. Members of the First Special Forces Operational Detachment will be providing tactical support as will the 2/75th. This is considered hostage rescue.” Watson responds grimly.

“Are the unsubs that well-armed?” Fleur asks, looking at her armor.

“Military supplied, there’s a chance of everything up to, and including, RPGs.” Watson says coldly.

Anthony blinks, “Oh come on, RPGs? Please tell us they are bringing in a tank.”

*** New York ***

“Move it Velvet! Hurry up and stop lagging your tail. I don’t wanna have to bust you to private! ” The LT yells.

Our plane has just touched down in LaGuardia. The rest of the team came in from Fort Bragg, but our flight was diverted so we could meet here.

“Got my stuff?” I call out, running across the tarmac to the armored SUV.

“Sure the kids will be safe here?” Blaze asks, looking back at the jet.

“They aren’t staying in New York. The plane is taking them back to Fort Bragg. It wouldn’t be safe to leave them here.” I say firmly.

“Yeah, New York is a dangerous place.”

“New York nothing, did you hear them say Cutie Mark Crusader Cab Drivers? I’m sending them back to protect New York from them.”

Climbing into the SUV, I strap on my armor first, then look over and put Blazes armor on him.

Chuckling, Blaze fidgets with his helmet a bit so the monocle is sitting properly over his eye. Nodding, he looks over to the LT. “How’s it look?”

Checking his data pad the LT nods. “Ok your video’s transmitting properly. We can see everywhere you look now.”

“So try not looking under Velvet's tail that often.” Eric says from the driver’s seat.

“What… I and…” Blaze tries to look innocent.

“Because we’ll have recorded footage of it now and I really don’t want to be looking at that.” Eric continues.

“And that, boys, is the reason I wear pants and panties.” I say, looking between them.

“Well at least they gave us SUVs for going through New York. They could have put us in a garbage truck.” Blaze says.

“Nope, we’ve got blue, but no red in this group.” I say and nod.

We pull up in a parking lot on the far side of a warehouse. Climbing out, I trot to the back of the SUV, opening the rear of the truck.

“M4’s, grenades, P90 for you Blaze.” The LT starts handing out weapons. “Hopefully we won’t have a fight, and check your fire. There are hostages.”

“Where did this top come from?” I ask.

“That would be us.” A voice calls out behind me, blinking I look over my shoulder.

“Emma Watson, Anthony Wilks and…”

I blink and smile wide, “Fleur Dis Lee?”

58: Stormfront

The LT sits with his legs stretched out behind a stone block. He’s holding the tablet in one hand and a power bar in the other, relaxing. The sun is out and it is was a nice warm day. Blaze is flying circles up at about two thousand feet, he isn’t straining, and it’s a fairly lazy orbit.

“You got enough water Velvet?” Henry asks, offering me a bottle.

“Yep thanks Henry.” Smiling, I look over at Fleur. “Welcome to the fun.”

Several bullets impact against the large stone block the LT is leaning against.

Blinking, the LT looks back, then looks over at Watson, “Hey that was 7.62 by 39, if these guys were up to date shouldn’t they be firing 5.45’s?”

Emma Watson has her head down, hiding behind a concrete barricade, “You’re supposed to be the experts, you tell me?”

I giggle, “The 7.62 sounds a lot different than the 5.45.” Looking over to Fleur I smile softly to her, “Alfalfa cookie?”

“How can you be so calm?” The other mare asks, her eyes wide.

“I’ve been in worse fire fights. I’ve had friendly artillery and close air support landing rounds within 300 feet of me while Taliban were firing heavy weapons at us. You sort of get used to it.”

“So what’s the plan then?”

“Well CID started this mess by pulling up way to close to the docks. We are giving our snipers some time to get into position. At the same time, members of the First Special Forces Detachment are swimming up to board the boat from the far side.” Looking around, I hum softly, “LT, how long does it take to reload an RPG-29?”

“I figure you have a little more time to relax.” The LT calls back.

Nodding, I look back to Fleur, “Once they are in position we can start pushing. Right now they think they have the upper hand and all the cards. Once we start our push, though, things are going to change fast. They are likely going to try and negotiate. Ask for concessions, say they have hostages…”

“RPG!”

Looking over the barrier quickly, I throw up the shield. It’s pretty far from where I am. I set the wall up a good hundred feet away from our position. The shield doesn’t have to be strong, only strong enough to give something for the warhead to impact.

As the RPG shoots across the deck, it hits the pinkish blue field. As the nose compresses against the magical barrier, the thermobaric warhead detonates. A massive overpressure pulse wave moves across the deck at supersonic speeds knocks several of the hostiles down.

Cringing, the LT calls across to me. “Several of those guys are not going to be hearing too well after that. If they can ever hear again that is.”

“That’s if they get up again.” I say and give my head a shake. Those overpressure warheads can kill out to a decent range.

“Those guys are armored head to toe.” Fleur says. “I’m not sure the 5.56’s we have will do much.”

“Yeah that’s why we’re using AP rounds.” I say.

“Velvet, get ready, snipers are in place, we’ll begin our move across the deck. Grab the M240.”

“What? When did I become the heavy?” I huff.

The LT chuckles, looking over at me. “When you proved you could lift half a ton, of course.”

Turning to get into position I look at the machine gun. “Come Sasha, let us fight man versus tiny baby man!”

Blinking Fleur looks at me, confused, “Who’s Sasha?”

“I… You?”

“Is that a pony reference I don’t know?” Watson asks.

“ARGH!” Standing up, I throw up my shield and hold the M240 over it, spraying supressing fire across the deck.

The sound of the big M107’s ring out through the air as Jay and Sanchez go to work. Slowly, we advanced up the deck of the barge. The barge is one of the large ocean barges that are towed up and down the coast. Normally unpowered, this one has 2 decks, an upper deck where the cargo containers are stored, and a lower deck normally used for bulk goods. The hatches to the bulk cargo deck are closed and sealed. It would take a crane to lift them anyway.

“Still feeling sick?” The LT asks, ducking around the side of a canister to fire a burst.

Walking my shield forward, I keep firing the machine gun in bursts, “Really? You’re asking this now?”

Henry pulls the pin on a stun grenade, throwing it in a high arc over the shield. “After this I’m doing an ultrasound on you.”

“I’m not pregnant.” I huff.

The LT chuckles, “Fleetfoot’s pregnant. We talked about it last night, have you talked to Blaze about it yet?”

“I’m not pregnant.” I snarl, emptying the M240 and dropping it aside.

Henry ducks behind a shipping container, “Well if you have morning sickness, sore udders, moodiness or such, it’s best to check it out.” Ducking his head back, he watches rounds impact against a canister.

“I am not!!!” I yell and unleash an energy blast down the length of the barge. “PREGNANT!” The blast buckles the sides of shipping canisters, melting steel and aluminum. It cuts a divot down the center of the barge, melting the deck and setting straps and wooden pallets on fire. The light from the beam is blinding. As it strikes the rails at the end of the barge, it vaporizes them. A hundred-twenty foot long smoking line down the center of the barge is cleared of everything.

I stand huffing, legs spread a bit. Panting hard, my sides heaving as I look down the length of the barge, fire in my eyes. My horn smokes a bit as I throw the shield up in front of me again, though I don’t think it’s needed at this point. Everything’s quiet for a few moments. The only sound is traffic in the distance and water splashing against the side of the barge boat.

From somewhere off to the side comes the call… “We have hostages. We want to negotiate.” He cries out, “Just please, for the love of God… tell her she’s not pregnant first!”

*** Drizzle ***

“Come on Streams.” Drizzle says, poking the other pegasus with her nose.

Sighing, Jetstream turns over onto her side, “I don’ wanna.”

“You’re a pony now. Don’t make me start singing.”

Shaking her head she looked at Drizzle over her shoulder, “Why would it matter?”

Smiling brightly, Drizzle spreads her wings wide and raises a foreleg to the window. “Cuz we’re ponies, there’s magic in song, if one starts singing, it catches on.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Streams says with a sigh.

Drizzle giggles softly, “Trust me, I’m the lesser of the evils. There are ponies out there like Pinky Pie, Mindy, and Surprise, who would make it their sole purpose in life to get you smiling. I just want you to start exercising your wings.”

Still laying on her side facing the wall, Streams lifts a wing up, “One.” She puts the wing back down weakly against her side, “Two.” Repeating the action once more, she continues the count. “One… Two. There, happy?" The bedridden pony snarks.

“Nope, look I brought you something.” Smiling Drizzle holds up a pair of pegasus flight goggles. Light brown with a dark brown rubber strap, and big clear lenses. “One of the guys down at the 520th has started to make them. These are the basic model, but he’s got an advance version that he’s combined with Google Glass.”

An orderly walks in, starting to clean the room a bit.

Drizzle looks up at the busy private, then at Streams, and switches to Eponese. “Oh did you know we have our own secret language?”

Streams blinks and flicks her ear a few times.

Drizzle smiled, that has her. Even if Streams can’t understand it, she remembers it on some instinctual level. Continuing, she giggles, “Oh yeah, it drives the human’s nuts, cuz it sounds like normal horse sounds according to them.”

Streams closes her eyes, laying her ears back, after a few moments she sighs, and slowly crawls out of bed. It is clumsy, it’s not coordinated, but at least she is moving.

“There you go.” Drizzle says, switching back to English. “Take it slow. Don’t worry about falling down. It took me a good twenty minutes to learn to walk, and then another ten minutes to realize I was doing it wrong”

“Doing it wong?”

“Yeh, don’t try moving both legs on one side forward at once… you can do it, but man, its uncomfortable to walk like that.” Smiling, Drizzle does her best to help Streams walk. She does start her stopwatch though. She isn’t going to make a big deal of it, but she wants to see. Four minutes twenty-seven seconds before Streams has walking down. This might put her quicker than Goldie when it comes to learning how to walk as a pony again. Someone’s not going to be happy.

“Ok, I bet you’re hungry.”

“I little… I guess.” Streams looks down at her hooves.

“Oh don’t lie to me, girl. Hospital food sucks, and they still don’t know the calorie count pegasi need to stay healthy here. I had my change in a hospital too. It’s the worst.” Drizzle says with a shiver.

“What happened to you?”

Drizzle looked at Streams shaking her head, “It was horrifying, I grew pony ears, a mane, a tail, my feet turned into hooves… I even grew wings… no one was really sure what was happening to me.”

“Oh, one of the first that changed?”

“I turned the middle of May, but I was flying transports out of Japan when it happened. People and ponies weren’t sharing information at that time, so I ended up in the base hospital in Okinawa. Trust me, rice and Jello does not make a pegasus happy.” Drizzle says, “Yeah I wasn’t even the pilot, I didn’t have enough hours to qualify as a pilot yet, my flight tests were shaky at best.”

“Why? You’re a pegasus.” Streams says walking beside the other mare.

“It’s hard to explain. I started flying gliders and small planes, but those, I didn’t instrument fly.”

“I tried flying gliders once… It was fun but I… I couldn’t get along with the instructors…”

“Probably the same type of the problems I had. I wanted the plane to flow with the air currents, not fight them… and a big plane can’t really do that.” Drizzle giggles, shaking her head. “A C-130 isn’t a pegasus.”

“I was on my glider course. I ended up in a snow storm with almost no visibility, getting hit by updrafts, and I’m having a great time.” Streams says, looking down, “The instructor said I was crazy and shouldn’t ever fly again.”

“Yeah, trust me, even as humans, some of us followed our cutie marks. You and I belong in the clouds… we feel safe there, at home there. It’s where our cutie mark tells us to be. We are weather ponies, we can smell the air and tell where the storms are.” Inhaling deeply Drizzle closes her eyes, spreading her wings wide.

Closing her eyes too, Streams finds her own wings spreading. “I… I can feel it…”

“Funny huh? Just standing here, being able to feel the weather in your wings.” Drizzle says in a bubbly voice. “Now come on, it’s a bit of a trot, but I wanna get you to have some real food in your tummy.”

The pizzeria is just a few blocks from the hospital. A local restaurant, not a major chain, but it is supporting the base and area. The blue handicapped button has the picture of the wheelchair and a pony on it, separated by a slash.

Tapping the button with her wing, the door swings open in response to Drizzle. “Doors like that are hard to pull in pony form.” She trots inside.

“Hi, where’s Tom?” Drizzle asked looking around.

“He doesn’t start till 6pm, your off shift early.” The cashier says.

Looking over her shoulder to Streams, Drizzle laughs. “I’m helping a friend with her change. So we need an extra-large Pegasus Special.”

“One anchovy, barbeque chicken, and green pepper pizza with caramelized onions, topped after baking with fresh diced alfalfa sprouts and spinach. Do you need any dipping sauces? We’ve just got spicy cheddar as well as a ranch dressing.”

“No thanks. Can we also get two large Barq’s root beers as well, please?” Drizzle adds with a smile.

“Sure thing.” Walking around the counter, Bob kneels down and holds out the tap to pay pad for Drizzle so she doesn’t have to fly up onto the counter.

Heading over to the booth, Drizzle hops up and takes a seat. Looking around, Streams follows her and climbs up, taking a seat for herself.

“This base is the home to the 520th Pegasus Air Police squadron, so several of the stores have started getting used to us. Base supply here carries pony equipment, some of the stores sell pony goods. You won’t get the same treatment from humans everywhere. Even some of the Marines on base don’t like us. But you can’t have everything.” Drizzle says before biting the straw and taking a sip.

Opening her muzzle and tilting her head back and forth a bit, it takes Streams a moment to figure out the straw. She can’t focus on the straw unless she tilts her head forward, but she can’t bite it that way, because her muzzle pushes the rim of the cup.

“It’s the simple things that get us sometimes.” Drizzle smiles, “You should have seen me trying to figure out how to use a cellphone for the first while. Then I got a foreleg strap for mine. Though you need to see the picture we got of Goldie, she got it in her mind that she could use a fork on her salad. She bit the fork, used it to get some of the salad, and then lifted it up with her mouth.”

“Umm. How did she get it from the fork to her mouth if she was holding the fork?” Streams asks, confused.

“That’s where the picture comes in… That exact moment of realization when she figured out… she’s totally screwed.”

Both girls start giggling.

“So I thought we were, um… vegi… vegitar…you know, don’t eat meat.”

“Naw, pegasi can eat birds, fish, eggs and such. We didn’t often grow crops, and we are kind of nomadic…so.”

“So, no beef?”

“Nope, but fish and chicken are fine.” Drizzle closes her eyes, sniffing and smiling.

Mimicking Drizzle, Streams blinks and looks around.

“Our senses are better than humans… and the smell of that barbeque chicken is great.” Drizzle looks to Streams then gently puts a wing around her, leaning into her. “Friends?”

“Friends.” Streams says timidly, with a little smile.

The cashier walks from the kitchen, he sets down a huge pizza between the two, before putting a wet cloth in front of each of them. “There you go girls. I’ll be back in a few, but yell if you need anything.”

Streams blinks and giggles at Drizzle, “You’re actually drooling.”

“So are you, so are you. It’s a pegasus thing.” Drizzle says and wipes off her muzzle on the cloth before digging in.

Streams quickly finds out that the pizza tastes even better than it looks, it’s not just raw alfalfa sprouts and spinach, the cook chopped them and stir fried them with a little bit of olive oil, as well as some extra onions, caramelizing the onion. That was then used to top the pizza so it is still tender, in contrast to the slightly crispy crust.

“Pegasus comfort food, it’s just something we love after a hard day at work. After flying in the rain, tired, we can come here. They even have towels for us, the staff takes time to actually make sure we are dried off and cleaned, rather than saying we are wet so we can’t come in.”

“How many pegasi come here?” Streams looks around in awe.

“That’s the thing, there are only about two dozen of us or so. It doesn’t matter to them, though. They help us.” Drizzle digs into the pizza again.

“Why?”

“I’m not sure, none of them, or their families, changed. They had a regular customer that changed, so they knew about it before we got here but. The management just insisted on this treatment. Treat everyone who comes in as a person, no matter what their problem is.” Taking a sip of her pop, Drizzle giggles.

The cashier comes over with a small home baked cake. It’s just a simple cake, nothing really special. Though it is covered with apple slices and cinnamon and a sugar drip. All homemade fresh, and baked in the pizza oven. It isn’t even on their menu. Placing it in front of Streams, the cashier smiles. “She said you just changed. For that you need something special. Something just for you, happy birthday.”

Drizzle blinks and huffs, “I didn’t get one of those for my change.”

Looking down at the cake, it is like something inside of Streams breaks. Burying her face into Drizzle’s neck, she starts crying.

Drizzle gently wraps her wings around Streams and holds her gently as she sobs. “It’s okay, let it out. I’m here for you.” Causing the other pegasus to cry even harder.

***Twilight Velvet***

“Velvet there was part of the EUP.” Henry says, sitting beside Fleur. “From what I’ve read it’s essentially a military reserve unit. Long ago, after Celestia banished Luna to the moon, the princess found she couldn’t defend her ponies on her own. Her response, was the EUP. She also went to the school of gifted unicorns like her daughter.”

“They have a unicorn’s school?”

“Yep, you probably went there too.” Henry says.

“Doubt it, back in Equestria I was apparently some kind of fashion model, or gold digger.” Fleur huffs.

“You know, Velvet, according to the stories, was just a stay at home mom and a writer.” Henry muses looking over towards me.

“Really? How come she’s so strong with magic?”

“That’s the problem with the show. Her cutie mark, three stars, it’s about magic. The TV show puts such an emphasis on cutie marks, but shows some ponies doing things that doesn’t match their marks.” Henry smiles, “I think it was because either they didn’t know or didn’t cover enough about the pony. Velvet was EUP. She was a student of the Academy, but the show never covered any of that.”

“Why?”

“Maybe because the writers didn’t know, maybe it’s because it wasn’t talked about in that way, maybe the show thought they didn’t need a strong mom figure for Twilight Sparkle with Celestia filling that role.” Henry shrugged. “In the end, Velvet lives up to her cutie mark.”

“So what’s my cutie mark say about me?” Fleur says, looking at her hip.

“That’s harder to say. I don’t know about Equestria. Here on Earth, the Fleur is used for leadership, policing, religion, and military aspect.”

“LT! This is taking too long!” I call out, “Can’t I just blast all humans in a 300 foot area and turn them into sheep?” Yep, it’s a bluff, but after that energy blast it’s enough to scare the criminals.

“Go sit with Henry.”

Huffing, I walk over and sit. “And this is why I’m not a cop.”

Giggling, Fleur shakes her head. “You don’t take prisoners?”

“We don’t usually have people surrender to us. It happens, but then we don’t have to negotiate with them.” I say. “This whole hostage thing, no way. That we leave to the police, FBI or other groups.”

“So you’re pregnant?” Fleur says innocently.

Everything goes deadly quiet in an instant. Henry just shakes his head at Fleur, no.

“I’m not. I don’t know where they started this. My mother made a comment about it, now everyone’s going on about it.” I say firmly.

“Oh.” Fleur shakes her head.

“I’m still doing an ultrasound. I want to check you for stomach problems.” Henry says firmly.

“Ok that I’ll accept.” I say.

Blaze lands beside me, “Wow you are stubborn. I think it’s the hormones.”

“Gelding time,” I say, looking at Blaze, the sweetest smile I can muster pasted across my muzzle. “That will solve the hormone problem won’t it?”

I get the back of my head wacked by Blaze, “Behave.”

“Mare abuse, mare abuse!” I giggle.

“So Fleur, are you coming back to base with us?” Henry asks, looking at her.

“I think that’s the idea. I need a lot of help with my magic.”

“Between her and the Unicorn club you should be back to adult levels in a few weeks.” Henry says. “They are really good at it, I even picked up some things from them.”

“You?”

"Well yeah, I went through the gate to Equestria, for the big battle. Well, I actually could use magic cuz of their teachings.” Henry chuckles.

“What makes it so special?” Fleur ask, her ears flicking.

“Well first off, I have books from Equestria now, to help with teaching. They were sent through the gate. More importantly though, is the teaching method.” I look at Henry, “Fundamentals.”

“ACK!” Henry dives behind Fleur. “You evil mare, I will NEVER do those.”

Laughing softly, I shake my head.

“What are fundamentals?”

“Unicorn torture.” Henry says, nodding. “It works great for perfecting your magical control, but trust me you’ll be wasted after it.”

I smile, “Don’t worry we’ll have lots of food and drinks for you though.” Leaning over, I give Fleur a hug. “Trust me, magic burns calories, you won’t have to worry about putting on weight.”

“Unless you get pregnant.” Blaze corrects.

“Really? Are you planning on trying to sleep with her?”

“What? I? No!!! I’m a one mare stallion.” Blaze says with a firm nod.

“Good.” I huff and boop his nose with my hoof.

Looking over I see the police leading out a dozen men in handcuffs. “Finally, what’s the count on hostages?”

“No idea, we still have to sort through them.”

***

The little griffin feels her crate tipped side to side. It has been quiet for nearly an hour. She has no idea what is going on. She had been kept in the dark since the auction. Her cage had been put into a wooden box so she couldn’t see at all. She could only hear really loud sounds, and there haven’t been any of those for a while now.

All they had given her to eat was bad meat, old fish, but at least the water is clean. At least she hopes it is. She doesn’t feel well though. Her wings hurt, her paws are sore, her stomach has her constantly feeling like she needs to throw up.

She had given up crying, she couldn’t cry any more. She has nothing left to cry about. For her, there looks to be only one option. The next chance she gets, the time she has a chance, she will kill whoever opens the cage. She’ll get free somehow. She has claws, she has talons, she has a beak. Someone will pay.

***

I worked with Fleur, giving her some help with her TK as we open boxes… “Fish.”

“Pegasus food? That, and the old oats.”

“Weapons here.” The LT calls out. “Looks like a shipping crate of SR-3M’s. Eight of them in here.”

“AN-94’s here too, three cases, eight per case.” Eric calls out.

Henry opens a box. “Pony, it’s alive.”

Moving over I see the young earth pony, she doesn’t look too well, but she’d recover with luck. Helping her out of the box we have her taken to the medics.

“That’s what? Eight ponies now?” Blaze calls out.

“Yep, and twenty humans in the storage container.” The LT calls out. The humans are all female, between the ages of twelve and sixteen years old. The idea that they would sell twelve year old girls turns all our stomachs.

“You realize I’m not a supporter of this… deal… I don’t care if their intel pans out. I think we should throw the book at them.” I say, growling and open up another box, pulling out a young stallion. “You’re safe. We'll get you some food, water, don’t worry.”

Henry moves over and starts opening another box.

***

Light starts to fill the box. The little griffin pushes herself as far back against the cage as she can. As the person comes into view she waits, watches. She knows she can fit her talons through the bars. All she needs is a good shot.

As it is lifted to head level, she lunges forward. Impacting into the front of the cage, hard. The inertia carries the cage forward as she reaches out, slashing at the person’s throat. Blood goes everywhere and the cage goes flying. Hitting the ground it breaks open. She’s free of the cage, now she needs to escape.

The body of the human hit the ground in front of her, clutching his throat. Blood seeping from between his fingers and out of his mouth.

***

“Look out!!!”

It’s too late. There just isn’t enough time to react.

The little pegasus hits the water hard and bounces a few times across the surface, before coming to rest face first on the shoreline.

Drizzle cringes, closing her eyes, then she opens one slowly.

“Ouch…” Jetstream says and slowly stands up, spitting out some dirt.

“Woohoo, you’re now a pegasus!” Drizzle says, bouncing on the spot.

Narrowing her eyes, Streams looks at Drizzle, “I thought I was one.”

“Nope, not until you eat dirt. It’s a rule. You have to eat dirt while trying to learn how to fly. Now everything from this point in, it’s a breeze.”

Smiling she shakes her mane and tail out. There is that wet mane look she had in the show, complete with the goggles. Tilting her head, Drizzle trots around Streams.

“What?” Streams blinks.

“You know, with a wet mane, your mane style kind of looks like Rainbow Dash.” Drizzle giggles. “But you have to watch those hot takeoffs. You’re probably somewhere in the speedster category, meaning you can fly fast.”

“How fast?”

“Well maybe high subsonic, low to middle supersonic. Much faster than I can, but I’m a pure weather pony. You’re an endurance and high speed flyer.”

Looking back at her wings, she flexes one. “But the wings don’t look big enough.”

“It’s based on magic. Mine’s more geared to weather than yours. You can still storm buck, but your calling, according to the stories, is long distance flying. We’re talking non-stop flights from here to LA in a single hop. Maybe even here to Japan.”

Taking to the air Jetstream looks down at Drizzle, in a moment the two are airborne. Playing with each other, they laugh, flying in circles and spirals. Dancing through the clouds with each other, they play hide and seek. They do some cloud shaping, and cloud bucking as well.

Finally they gather up some clouds tight enough to land on, and Jetstream touches her hooves to the cloud before lying down. A few moments later, Drizzle lands beside her and puts a wing over Streams. Snuggling tight, Streams rubs her cheek against Drizzles before putting her head across Drizzles forelegs to use them as a pillow. The two take the moment of peace, to relax.

***

“Pony.” Henry calls out, lifting the young mare out of the box, Henry sets her down. “Don’t worry ma’am. We’ll get you out of here. You’re going to be okay now.”

“Fleur, can I get some help here?” Watson calls out.

Trotting over, Fleur focused her magic on the top of the crate. With one yank she pulls the lid off, crushing it. The heat generated by the wood being crushed that quickly sets it on fire.

Looking over I flinch and grabbed the burning ball, tossing it out into the water. “Don’t worry Fleur, you wouldn’t believe how many lemons Sweetie Belle blew up, practicing spells with my daughter.”

“Lemons? Why lemons?”

“I don’t know, but apparently they are explosive, and flammable.” I say, giggling.

“Well looks like that’s it. Our final tally is ten ponies and twenty humans. The rest must have been shipped out already.” The LT says.

“The ponies are going to be handed off to psychologists and helped to adapt. They are probably going to be sent to Big Mac’s farm or Dusts farm.” I say, nodding.

Coughing once a little pegasus blinks, “What about the griffin? There was a baby griffin here till yesterday.”

***

Looking around at the laboratory the little griffin jumps up onto a cabinet. She is small, but still strong and her claws are deadly. Using her beak and talons, she breaks open the slats on the air vent. It only takes her a few moments but she is away, moving through the ductwork of the building. Now she needs to find a way out.

She knows the top options. One, find her way up to a rooftop vent, or two, find a vent into another office and from there fight her way to freedom. Either way, she will be free. Even if a lot of humans have to die for it.

Author's Note

“Umm. How did she get it from the fork to her mouth if she was holding the fork?” Streams asks, confused.

“That’s where the picture comes in… That exact moment of realization when she figured out… she’s totally screwed.”

Artwork by Alkarasu

59: Cloudburst

It’s official. I have been taken off of active combat duty. An exception was been made for me being in the Rangers as a female, due to my magic. Pregnancy though, that is a no go. They won’t let me anywhere near combat, or even some of the training, while pregnant. Sure, with CS gas, I can understand. That stuff is bad for babies in all aspects, but the shooting range and such is the depressing one. It’s not like I’m going to be standing near artillery going off, where overpressure might be an issue.

Henry’s ultrasound is showing twins to boot. I’m having twins! Though we can’t tell yet if they are filly or colt, or even what tribe they are though. They are still way too young, and I’m not sure I want to know either. The book said that twins are not that uncommon. Paternal twins in mares happens fairly regularly. The Cakes are an example of that. Maternal twins are much rarer in ponies. Though not unheard of, take Cheerilee and her sister Cherry Blossom.

At least they let me keep teaching, like they could stop me from using magic. Though, as a teacher, I lose out on most of the combat bonuses and such. It is going to be tough and I am going to have to start planning for maternity leave. It’s still a long way away but I need to try and put something aside. The cut in pay for that is going to hurt.

Add to that I’ve got the wedding coming up. Honestly, it is one of those things I can’t wait for, but I’m terrified of. I know I want to marry Blaze. Not just here and now, but in Equestria, a long time ago. The thing about marrying him now though, will help the foals. There are a lot of laws and benefits for married couples here. That includes the ability to put in requests to be stationed at the same base if necessary.

My last unicorn class was made up of Fleur, as well as two Royal Guards. We jokingly had called them guard one and guard two, but they took the names Marble Blast, and Shattered Granite, based on their cutie marks. They are big. I mean Big Macintosh big. They were royal guards and all but still. Both of them were general infantry. Fleur though is CID, army police.

The classes have evolved however. They are no longer about just basic abilities, or just focusing on TK. Each unicorn I teach brings new talents and skills, the chance for new spells. When added to the information from the books you gave me, as well as the books from the UK, and we have ourselves an actual crash course in magical training.

It’s starting to feel like spell casting 101 as a college course. We cram everything we can into three weeks, twelve hours a day for five days a week over for a total of one hundred eighty hours. Learning basics, fundamentals, control, spell crafting, spell formulas, and so much more. At this rate, I’m really earning my cutie mark.

I am giving myself as much work as I give the students, but at least I don’t have the homework. The students, though, have said my name is fitting. I work them twilight to twilight. All I can say to them in my defense is… they would get it so much worse if Inkwell and her team were here. The funny thing is, when they leave, they are not just leaving as a pony, they are leaving as a trained unicorn. That’s something special.

My next class though is just two unicorns, one of them is the wife of a major and mother of two. Her name is Sunshine Petals. The second is Rose. She looks exactly like Roseluck of the flower trio with two big differences, one is her cutie mark, a red diamond, and the second is a bit more dramatic. She has a horn.

Closing my book, I touch my horn to it, “Miss you my little Twi-Twi.” I murmur.

A faint glow on the book’s cover lets me know the mail has been sent. Looking up, I giggle, seeing Rose trotting up towards me. I put my book in my bag as I stand up to greet her.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake.” Rose calls out…

“Clap your hooves and give a little shake.” I can’t help but reply, giving my tail a shake. It’s just too much fun not to.

Sunshine Petals huffs, “Come on, I’m 25, I’m too old for that sort of thing.”

“First off, you’re not 25 as a pony, well you might be but I think you’re a bit younger. Second, we’re ponies, we’re allowed to be silly at times, it’s in our magic.” Smiling, I shake my head.

“My unit commander wanted me in here for training.” Rose said smiling. “I’ve sort of figured out my TK but he said he had heard good things about your course.”

“You’re finance right?” I giggle, “He wants you to be able to protect the cheques right?”

“Bah, it’s all direct deposit anyway.” Rose retorts with a laugh.

“Well at least I get to keep busy. Since I can’t do combat right now.”

“Oh I heard. You’re pregnant.” Sunshine says happily. “My husband was talking about it.”

“What? Is that traveling at the speed of gossip around bases? The unicorn trainer is pregnant?”

Ah-Pee trots by, “Eeyup.”

I just facehoof at that, “Why me?”

*** Fleur ***

“So what do we have?” Fleur asks, trotting into autopsy.

Watson looks up, shaking her head. “A mess like nothing I’ve seen before.”

“Police shipped the bodies over here.” Dr. Robertson snaps his gloves. “At first they thought it was local animals, but it just didn’t add up.”

“We have a lab tech, throat ripped out. It’s not a bite though, looks more like a 3 talon claw. Like a great eagle, or a falcon.” Moving over, he flips the cover off the first body. “The damage done was one hit, no signs of hesitation.”

“Both people worked at the same building on 58th street. Both went missing on the same day. It looks like both were killed in within hours of each other.”

Walking over, he flips the cover off the second body. “Service engineer, stomach was ripped out, he also shows talon marks in his chest.”

“Not the work of a pony. Both bodies were dumped in central park though.” Anthony says, “I just don’t understand the body dump. If it was an animal that did it, why dump the bodies? Why not just call it in?”

“A griffin.” Fleur says, blinking, “Anthony didn’t the reports say they had sold a griffin?”

Anthony flips the pages, “Yeah, but they didn’t know to who. It’s just a kitten or cub through.”

“Look at the spacing, it’s the size of a foal. It’s a griffin.” Fleur says.

Dr Roberson blinks, “A griffin? Really? You’re saying some mythical creature did this?”

All eyes just look at the doctor, who looks at Fleur for a long time, then he grimaces.

“They’re one of the species of Equestria, as such some of them might have been sent here too. So it’s a twenty-five year old human that became a griffin.”

“Point taken,” Shaking his head, he walks to the third body. “Air conditioning service tech, neck and face. If it is a griffin, it’s downright brutal. All three bodies were found dumped though. I think they wanted us to think the damage was done by natural predators.”

“Where did she come from?”

“Ugol'shik, just outside of Donetsk.” Anthony says, looking down at the file, then he blinks. “Donetsk, and why does that sound familiar?”

“It was in the news a lot, shelling of civilians between 2014 and 2016. There were attacks there in 2017 by US backed government forces.” Watson says, shaking her head. “For all we know, the girl could be suffering from PTSD. Tortured, brought to the USA. Doesn’t speak a word of English.”

“So somewhere in New York city, a griffin who has already killed three people, is hiding out.” Fleur sighs, “Ok think basics, food, shelter and safety.”

Anthony nods, “Ok, so alley ways, underpasses, maybe the steam tunnels.”

“No. You’re thinking like a human. She may have been a human, but her instincts will tell her get up high. Places where she can see danger coming and take flight if needed. For her we are going to need to search up, not down.” Watson says.

“Yeah, she would likely only come down for food. There are lots of places she could get water up high, buildings have water towers all though out the city. As well she could probably find all sorts of shelters, warm places up there or cool places.” Fleur nods.

“What’s she going to eat?” Anthony muses.

“Well, in the show, they are omnivores. She might try dumpsters, she might also try scavenging fish from the docks.” Shaking her head, Fleur sighs, “We aren’t going to find her with normal police methods. We’re going to need help.”

“What kind of help?” Watson blinked.

“Other griffins or pegasi, a helicopter will make too much noise. As well we will need access to any building mounted bird cameras, and maybe high mounted weather cameras. We are going to need everything.” Fleur shakes her head. “Looking for one small griffin in an area like New York, it’s going to be hard. What we need is to narrow down her hunting area. Hopefully she doesn’t keep relocating on us.”

Emma Watson nods, “Good call, I’ll authorize the lab boys to work on it. We’ll need flyers though.”

“520th?” Anthony asks.

“520th, I’ll get in touch with the Major over there. See what she can spare.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

It is a relaxing day, the weekend, no paperwork, no crisis, even the CMC EC are behaving. The heat is into the red zone, so all training is called off, except for essential business. Even then, on the weekend, there isn’t anything going on at the base.

Crossing his ankles, James lay in the sun chair by the pool. He’s been swimming laps, but now he is just relaxing, letting the heat dry him off.

The pony shaped shadow, though, hovering over his face, is a little distracting.

“Hello Derpy.”

Fleetfoot huffs, “Do I look walleyed?”

“Only after you have a crash. Or have a concussion.” James smirks.

“One time, one time… okay, twice… still…” hopping off the railing, Fleetfoot walks over and lay her head over his stomach.

Gently he reached up to scratch behind her ears. “Weekend off?”

“Yep, five days of chasing pegasi and birds out of flight lanes.”

“Birds?” James blinks in confusion.

“Florida has the highest number of false alarms right now, the radars at several of the airports read very large costal birds as pony sized. Two or three cranes or pelicans flying close together can look large enough to be mistaken. Though at the same time we’ve cut the number of bird strikes down.”

“Come here.” James says with a chuckle, and pulls Fleetfoot up beside him on the chair.

Stretching out on the pool chair, Fleetfoot sighs contently. “Oh, this is almost perfect.”

Reaching over James starts to gently rub Fleets tummy. “Belly wubs.”

“Never mind, it’s perfect now.” Fleetfoot just lets herself melt into him, sighing contentedly.

Using his other hand, he scratches at her wing joint, and her wing muscles. “I wonder, do ponies take flea dips?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care, just keep scratching and rubbing.” Fleetfoot says with a moan.

“We are in public.” James chuckles.

“Well we can always go to your bedroom, and I can let you rub me there.” Fleetfoot giggles, wingtips quivering.

“Rub you where?”

“Oh you can rub my…”

“That sky I watched one day. Was connected to your heart. All I can hear whenever I close my eyes. Is a voice calling my name.” Blares out of her phone.

“And that… would be work.” James chuckles.

Huffing Fleetfoot noses open her cell cover. “Yes?”

After a quick conversation on the phone, Fleetfoot sighs and turns to look at James, “Call out. I’ll see if I can wrangle any of the local pegasi too.” Sighing again, Fleetfoot looks down at James, before giving him a quick kiss. “Duty calls. Can I borrow Blaze?”

“Sure thing, just wash him before you return him.”

“Ok one, just ewwww. And two, Velvet would kill me.” Fleetfoot says with a giggle, then she gathers herself and shoots off.

“So this is what it feels like to be left at home when your spouse goes off on a dangerous mission. It needs more popcorn.” James says, laying back to relax again.

*** Dust ***

“Dust? DUST!” Mindy calls out, looking around the farm, grumbling.

“Up here!” Comes her voice from above.

Looking up, Mindy sees Dust lying on her back on a cloud she had pulled down to just above the barn.

“Dust, are you busy?” Mindy asks with a chuckle.

“Yep, I’m counting sheep.” Dust says relaxing.

“Ok, I’ll go tell this crying pony you’re busy.” Turning, Mindy starts pogo bouncing back towards the farm house.

Relaxing Dust twitches an ear. It’s such a warm sunny day, so relaxing. Mindy sounds so happy. Wait… Crying pony? The cloud disintegrates with the burst of speed Dust puts on to get down to the bouncing unicorn. “What?”

Mindy keeps bounding, “A pegasus is in your living room back in town crying. I’ll tell her you’re counting sheep.”

Blinking Dust shoots by Mindy, heading towards town from the farm to see what is wrong. Speeding into her living room, Dust finds Helen sitting with a white pegasus. The mare has a three tone pink mane and a diamond cutie mark. She is so stressed out that she is molting a little and her eyes are red with tears.

Slowing to a trot, Dust looks up at Hellen before sitting by the mare. “What’s going on?”

“Legal problems, and we are trying to figure out what to do.” Hellen says with a sigh. “She got here a few days ago, Fleetfoot sent her to us, even gave her some money to stay in motels on her way here.”

“Must be serious if Fleetfoot sent her, what’s the problem?”

“Go ahead, tell her Diamond.” Helen encourages, putting a straw into some warm tea for her.

“I changed a few weeks ago. Since then my husband’s locked me out of the house, banned me from seeing my two children, and he is filing to have the marriage annulled, declared invalid. He’s saying I can’t have custody. All because I became a pony.”

“The court filings she has say that since she was always a pony. Her returning to pony form is reverting to her natural or normal form.” Hellen starts.

“Well it is.” Dust says, flaring her wings in anger.

“Well, since she was always a pony, but that fact wasn’t disclosed, then the marriage should be annulled. Since she is no longer human the marriage is invalid.”

“But, she didn’t know… None of us did!” Dust pace, her tail lashing as she stomps back and forth.

“Doesn’t matter, they are citing cases of partners deciding later in life that they are homosexual as grounds for annulment, and citing cases where people have tried to marry non-humans, such as horses, cows, cats, dogs, and even dolphins, as legal proof that marriage is between two human beings.”

“He won’t touch me anymore, sees me as just some animal.” Diamond says, looking down.

“You are not an animal.” Dust says firmly. “Where is this guy?”

“Dust, if he isn’t attracted to her based on her form, we can’t force that. My concern is, her husband’s military. They don’t have a lot of joint assets. She doesn’t have a job. We need to find her a place to stay long term. We need to find her a job. Finally we need to get her children back in her life, even if it’s joint custody.”

Lightning Dust flaps her wings in annoyance, “We can’t let him get away with this, just give me five minutes to talk with him.”

“Hun, in this case, we need to throw lawyers at the problem.” Helen says, hugging Dust softly.

“I know, but it’s just not my style.”

Helen smiles, “Her safety and well being first. Beating him up, later.” Looking at Diamond, Helen smiles gently. “First we are going to get you set up, maybe a little house or something. A way to prove you can have the children safely. Then we are going to get the lawyers to make sure you have custody.”

The pony sniffles, “There’s no way I can afford lawyers for a custody battle.”

Dust stomps a hoof on the slate tile, looking at Helen, and at Mindy, who must have teleported back to the house, then she smiles, “That is nothing to worry about.”

Diamond looks plaintively at Dust, “Nothing to worry about?”

Dust moves over and puts a wing over the crying pegasus, “I’ll get the best damned family lawyer money can buy. When we are done, he will be begging for mercy.” Dust’s comforting smile changes, putting a thrill of fear into the other pegasus, “And we won’t give him any.”

Diamond cried softly and hugs Dust, and pulls Helen closer with her other wing, “Thank you. I just feel like an animal.”

Dust heads over to her office, a moment to put the new pony friendly headset on, she taps out the number for the lawyer for her company, “Harvey, I’ve got a job for you. Find the best family lawyer out there, I mean the best out there. And get him to call me. If I have to fly somewhere for a consult, I will. But I want this done yesterday.”

She listens to her phone for a moment, “Don’t worry, in this. Cost is no object. I know there is legislation about ponies being recognized as people running quietly through the Senate, we need to push hard on that. A mother should not lose her children because her form changes.”

She listens to the phone for a moment, then her smile would have Diamond shivering in fear.

*** Drizzle ***

“Sweet Celestia, you’re an animal.” Drizzle says, panting.

Jetstream shakes her head, “Nope, I’m a pegasus.”

“You’ve been flying nonstop for nearly eight hours straight.” Drizzle whines. “I think you’ve done enough training for today.”

Skidding to a stop, Streams huffs. “I’m getting used to flying again, building up my stamina.”

“Are you planning on a nonstop flight to Japan?”

“Nope, but I might visit Europe. Seriously, I just like being in the air at times.”

“I know… have you considered the offer?”

“For the pizza, of course!” Streams says cheerfully and kicks the shower bar with her hind hoof, letting the water poor over her back. Spreading her wings, she shakes under the water to get everything wet.

Drizzle face hoofs, “I meant the 520th offer, come fly with us.”

“Maybe, but, it’s… I’m still really not that social. And being part of the 520th would have me having to deal with everyone daily.” Jetstreams shakes herself out and sighs.

“Ponies. You know you’re better with ponies than humans.”

“It’s still hard. I’m just not a people pony.” Streams steps out of the shower and shakes herself off.

Drizzle puts her wing under Stream’s chin, looking into her eyes, “You do fine with me.”

“Yeah but… I know… it’s like we were meant to be friends.”

“Maybe we were friends in Equestria, whatever the case…”

“'Cause I love to see you beam, beam, beam. Yes I do, tell me, what more can I say to make you see that I do?” Comes blaring from Drizzles phone. Giggling, she taps the speaker.

“Really? You’re using Smile, Smile, Smile as your ring tone?” Streams giggles.

“Drizzle here, where do you need a splash?” Drizzle puts a hoof over her mouth, looking at Streams.

Streams rolls her eyes and looks back at Drizzle as she tries hard to fight a giggle.

“You know, anyone else would think you were a nut job for answering the phone like that.”

“Major, is that you?” Drizzle says into the phone.

“Yes it’s me, CID has called in a favor, they need all the wings they can get.”

Drizzle blinks and gets serious. “Search and rescue?”

“Sort of, I’ll explain when you get in. Shake your tail, missy.”

“Yes ma’am.” Drizzle says and hangs up.

“Sounds important.” Streams says, tilting her head.

Drizzle gives her best forlorn look, “Yeah, we could probably use your help.”

“Ok fine, this time. But when they don’t like me I’ll expect an extra pizza.”

Laughing, the two mares take flight, heading for the headquarters building. It’s only a few minute flight from the training area to the Headquarters building. And since a large block of airspace has been created for pegasi only flights, it means they can train or fly without dodging small planes or helicopters. A really nice perk around the base.

The airspace around the 520th though is about as bad as Ponyville. There are about two dozen pegasi coming in for landings from around the area. There were speedsters and slow flyers, there are even some other civilian ponies around. The 520th all have flight uniforms they wear that are reminiscent of the Wonderbolts. Air Force blue with gold trim, but the faces are open. They also had pouches and pockets for carrying transponders, radios, and a small computer that links to their flight goggles.

Jetstream gulps and leans down, biting Drizzles tail, just holding it two thirds of the way down in her muzzle. She doesn’t want to lose her only life line in here. She isn’t shy about people or ponies. She is more scared and confused by all the faces, all the talking, there is just too much going on here.

Looking back, Drizzle nods, “You can hold on Streams, I don’t mind.”

Walking inside, Drizzle lead Streams to the back of the room and they both take seats. Streams sits beside her with Drizzles tail still in her muzzle for safety. “I don’t like it here, I want to be outside again up in the sky. Or back in my room.”

“Don’t worry, it’s safe. This is rare. We don’t usually have a major call out like this. Usually there are only a few of us in here at any time.” Stream says softly.

Major Cameron walks slowly into the room, using her cane, and looks at all the ponies. Tapping her cane against the desk a few times she smiles at the group. “520th, Protecting America and Equestria!”

“520th” The cheer resounds throughout the room.

“Ok mares and stallions. We have a big one today. And I hope we have enough ponies for it. This is an aid to civil power mission. We are providing support to the New York Police and CID.” The Major says firmly.

A mumble washes across the room. “New York?” “Human police?”

“This is a serious matter, but I want you all to understand what you’re in for in this.” Clicking the remote she puts the picture of a little griffin cub up on screen. “Human and pony traffickers kidnapped this girl just after her change, from Ukraine. She’s been tortured, abused, kept in small boxes not much bigger than a dog carry cage.”

Several of the pegasi fluff their wings in anger. No one should be treated like that.

“She escaped, killing three humans, including an air conditioning tech and maintenance man. The guess is she likely used the buildings ventilation system to get out.” Looking over at the ponies, “This is where you come in. She’s scared, alone and willing to kill to protect herself against any threat, she likely doesn’t speak a word of English. So your mission isn’t actually to catch or corner her. They want you just to find her.”

Mumbles go across the room again.

“She’s likely gone up high. Found a place on top of a building somewhere to hide, a place where humans can’t go easily. Likely she only comes down to steal food or such. We can’t leave her on her own though. If someone corners her by accident, a police officer tries to stop her, she could kill again. I don’t know if griffins can blank or go feral… No one does. So be extra careful.”

Several ponies find themselves gulping timidly.

“Each of you will be given a box to fly in, keep your distance and use those pony eyes of yours. Stay up as long as you can and watch for signs of her. If you see her, call out to others and let them know where she is and where she’s going. Work as a group. Once we know where she’s nesting, a unicorn group will move in to try and talk her down.”

“Unicorns, why not another flyer?”

“Good question, the answer is simple. The unicorn’s magic will let them move items or give items to the griffin such as a cell phone, without them being close enough to be clawed apart. She may be small but her claws and beak are still deadly. We don’t want to hurt her or traumatize her anymore then she has been. She may be suffering from severe PTSD.”

“For those of you who are not part of the 520th, you’ll be issued police transponders and radios.” The major nods, “Each of your transponders will have the box you’re working in. It will let us update them on the fly.”

“520th!” The cheer goes out again.

“Fly safe my little ponies. And watch each others backs please.”

As ponies start filtering out, the Major begins handing out extra transponders and radios that an enlisted man brought in while she was talking. Glancing up she giggled, “Hi Drizzle, so this is Jetstream huh?”

“Yep, she’s going to help us out. She’s a weather pony speedster, but has insane endurance. She can already out-fly me for speed and air time.” Drizzle giggles.

Kneeling down so that she isn’t so imposing to Jetstream, height wise, the major offers her the radio and transponder. “Here you go. Don’t worry, you won’t really need to deal with anyone. Just stay up high, watch the building tops for signs of a griffin nest, and keep your eyes out for her.”

“Thank you.” Streams mumbles through Drizzles tail.

“Stay safe ok?”

Streams nodded, and turned following Drizzle out.

“And think about the offer to join the 520th, we can use every long range flyer we can get right now. And the pay is great.” The major calls out, smiling.

“I will sis.” Streams calls back as she trots outside.

“Sis?” Drizzle giggles.

“Huh?”

“You called the Major, sis.”

“No I didn’t.” Streams says, shaking her head. “Did I?”

“Yep, you did.” Drizzle says, taking wing.

“Bah, this is why I hate crowds… I get to confused, can’t remember names, and say stupid things.” With that, Streams shoots up after Drizzle.

Given the fact that they are staying as a group, it’s going to take a good four hours to fly to New York. Though there is going to be an hour break in Philly for food and such. A needed refueling break before the mission, because even pegasi need fuel. The military has already cleared an IHOP for them. Thirty pegasi in one IHOP is going to be messy as is.

*** Velvet ***

“You should have seen her face. She was just beaming in joy.” Henry says with a chuckle.

James shakes his head, chuckling, “You two make a cute couple.”

“Well I don’t know about that, but we do kind of have feelings.” Henry smiles, “we talk about a lot of things that other people wouldn’t understand, magic, cutie marks, stuff like that.”

Eric laughs, “Well we all know about cutie marks, but magic.”

I take a moment to shake my mane and tail out. Smiling I trot up and take a seat with the squad at the mess hall. “So what’s up?”

“Oh nothing, we’re just talking guy stuff.” Henry responds.

Perking my ears, I giggle, “Oh?”

Eric nods, “Noting important.”

Blinking a few times I look between them.

“Okay, who were you talking about?” I ask, blinking.

“It’s nothing.” Henry responds.

I cross my forelegs on the table laying my chin on my legs, giving them my best sad look. “Is it cuz I’m a pony that you don’t wanna talk guy stuff with me anymore?”

Eric blinks and starts laughing, “Nope, more the fact that you’re pregnant I guess.”

“Well at least he didn’t say its cuz you got an udder.” Henry says with a smile.

“Or I have a…” I start before the LT cuts me off.

“Nope, too much information already.” He says, smiling. “Let’s just say we think of you as a girl now, rather than guy.”

“And there are just some things we wouldn’t say in front of Ballad.” Eric says with a nod.

“So how are you and Ballad by the way?” I ask.

Eric blinked and blushes a bit. “We are… Doing okay.”

“Like… Sugarberry and Henry level of ok, or James and Fleetfoot level?” I say, smiling.

“She’s not pregnant.” He quickly protests.

Ah-Pee trots over and sits beside me, smiling. “So what’s up?”

“Oh we're just talking about swollen udders and chaffing.” I say, looking innocent.

“Who’s?” Ah-Pee guffaws.

“Actually I wonder if that spell can turn guys into mares.” Tilting my head, I think about it for a moment.

“NO!” All the guys say at once.

“If you weren’t pregnant I’d say try it on yourself to be human for a while.” The LT laughs.

“Ugh, bra shopping, I don’t even know what size I’d be.” I say, shaking my head.

Ah-Pee laughed. “Given Rainbow Dash’s size and she’s an athlete. You’d definitely be somewhere between a large C and a D cup.”

“Maybe someday I’ll try the spell for a few hours.” I say and nod.

“So how’s Blaze doing?” Eric asks.

“He’s off with Fleetfoot on a mission.”

*** Drizzle ***

The IHOP has at least been prepared for the ponies, even if the staff didn’t understand what was going on. The store has been closed down and booked for the full group of ponies by the Air Force, though the staff has never seen ponies before, and the MP’s coming through, confiscating cell phones or anything else capable of taking pictures and video was surprising to the employees.

Pancakes, sampler plates, and drinks are just flying out to the tables. Chicken strips, bacon, and turkey meals also go out. Every pony there knows, once they get on station, it would be hours before another meal.

“So it’s the Major’s birthday today!” One pony calls out.

“Oh come on!” Fire Streak yells, “She should have told us.”

“Mission first, 520th Protecting Earth and Equestria.” High Winds calls back, laughing.

“So anypony notice themselves calling her a different name?” Blaze calls out before stuffing his face with pancakes.

“What’cha mean?” Drizzle laughs, calling back.

“Sometimes our brains trigger and remember, or call people by their pony names. It’s usually because we knew the ponies in Equestria.” Another pony calls back. “For example, if I knew Roseluck and saw a picture of her as human, my mind might still trigger and remember her as Roseluck.”

“Nope, not here.”

“Just the Major to me.”

“Poor thing, lots of us were hoping she’d change. She so deserves to fly again.”

Drizzle blinks then looks at Jetstream. “Umm, Streams called her sis.”

All eyes fall on Jetstream. Who finds herself trying to hide under the table and behind some drinks.

“Sis?” Blaze blinks, “Anyone know if Jetstream had a sister in the show?”

“Nope not covered, but for all we know there’s more family members.” One of the pegasi calls back, checking on his PDA.

“Tell the desk Sargent, let them know to keep an eye on her and support her.” Fleet calls across.

“Congrats Jetstream, you may have a sister!” Blaze says.

“520th!!!”

The cheer goes across the IHop.

*** New York ***

“What do you think it is?”

“Some kind of cat bird mutation.” The second guy whispers back.

The two guys watch the griffin. The little thing is gnawing on a hamburger it had dug out from a dumpster behind a restaurant.

Taking off his jacket, the first guy starts heading forward.

“What are you doing?”

“Catch it. The things gotta be worth a few bucks to someone.”

Looking over, the little griffin spreads her wings wide, snarling at the man.

“Hey, if we can make five hundred bucks off it, that’s enough to buy a couple of 8-balls.”

“I’m in.” He moves to the right, trying to get on the other side of her, just in case he could close the bin door.

Seeing the threat to herself, the griffin lashes out with lighting speed. A moment later she is standing on the dead body of one of the men. As the second one runs off, she hops back up onto the dumpster. Loading some scraps into a bag, she takes wing, she needs to get higher again. Somewhere she could eat in peace.

60: Thunderheads

“Dust? Oh Dust?” Hellen calls out.

I poke my head out of the kitchen, “In here, love.”

“Dust, there’s a phone call for you on the house line.” Hellen says, holding up the receiver.

“House line?” I blink, “why didn’t they call my cell?”

“Don’t know, but I’ll put it on the table.” Hellen says and heads upstairs.

Trotting out, I look at the house phone. There’s a reason I hate these things. I turn my head sideways and lay my head on the table to hear the phone. “Hello?”

“Dust? It’s Drizzle.” Comes the voice over the speaker.

“Oh, hi Drizzle.” Okay, which one is Drizzle? After a moment, I smile, she’s the one who gave me her flight feather for her mother if something happened to her, “Drizzle, what’s up? It’s noisy there.”

“I’m at an IHOP with pretty much 75% of the 520th. We’re on a call out, a mission. We are stopping to get some food, and we just found out. It’s Major Cameron’s 25th birthday today.”

“The Major at Quantico?” I blink, “The one who hurt her back?”

“Yep, that’s her. Well Jetstream, one of the girls here, called her sis by accident. I think she’s changing.”

“Changing? Who’s with her?” My ears perk forward at this news.

“No one, it’s her birthday and she’s alone in the office, worrying over a mission. I think there’s a desk sergeant there too, but…”

“Oh that’s no way for her to spend her first moments as a pony.” I grumble, really I can’t think of a worse thing.

“If you’ve got time could you look in on her?” Drizzle asks, giving the phone her trade-marked sad eyes.

“Your giving me those eyes aren’t you.” I huff.

“Wow, they work even through the phone.”

“I’ll be there shortly.” Biting the phone I hang it up. “Hellen, I’m going out for the night. Someone I met may be changing tonight, she could really use the support.”

“Sure thing dear, Mindy, Moon Shadow and I are just planning on going to the spa this evening. Maybe a movie after.

“Have fun.” I chuckle, I love how my wife is really becoming fast friends with the ponies. A quick trip upstairs to grab my saddle bags and I zip out of the house. As I take to the air, I can see Irony’s hooves underneath her 442. It’s up on jack stands with the hood up, so I’m guessing an oil change is going on. I smile as I face forward, I figure I can stop along the way and pick up something for us to drink to celebrate.

*** Velvet ***

“Morning Sunshine, morning Rose.” As I trot in I swish my tail vigorously as I look at the trainees.

“Well you’re just glowing.” Rose says, smiling.

“I’m just happy. Had a good night sleep, the cutie mark crusaders are doing okay.”

“Blaze is on call with the police?” Rose said.

“Yep, no snoring, and a clear path to the bathroom, it was great.” I say with a giggle, “I forgot how annoying being pregnant was.”

“So when do we get to learn how to teleport, fire off face melting energy blasts, and throw up shields that can block nuclear strikes?” Sunshine asks as she bounds around me.

“Umm, Sunshine, you are not military you’re a dependent. Why would you want that stuff?” I say, shocked.

“Ever been to a PTA meeting as a unicorn when Creationists show up?” Sunshine retorts.

Blinking, I look around the training field. “Okay, teleports yes, shields maybe, face melting energy blasts…No. That’s really dangerous and high level stuff.”

Rose giggles, “I’d be happy just to learn how to hold a pencil steady enough to write with it.”

“Practice Rose-chan, your focus, needs more focus.” I say, giggling. “Today we are going to work on control and have fun playing with water. I’d like you to pick up a globe of water and shape it into a perfect sphere. Then hold it there.”

Looking at the water, then at me, she blinks, “I hate you, you teacher from hell.” Rose says, shivering.

*** Dust ***

“She’s busy in the war room.” The desk sergeant says to me.

“War room, really?” I say, looking at him.

“We are still the US Military.”

I shake my head. “Do you know who I am?” I say, striking the floor firmly with a hoof.

“Yep, the Rainbow Dash wannabe.” The clerk said.

I flair my wings at that one, “Oh, them's fightin’ words.”

“I’m a Dash Booster, which automatically makes me… A Dust Buster.” The sergeant says and he sticks his tongue out at me, getting an involuntary laugh out of me. I do have to groan, I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that he’s a brony, a Dash fan, or just said Dust Buster in reference to me. “Can you let her know I’m here then?”

“Oh, she knows, I buzzed her the moment you walked in.”

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” I snarl.

“Cuz she’s still in the war room, and you’re still not Rainbow Dash.”

“Why you little…” Is all I get out before the door opens.

“Hi Dust, what brings you here?” Sam smiles.

“I came cuz it’s your birthday, and I’m dying to see your cutie mark.” I smile right back.

With a sigh she turns, leaning on her cane and starts hobbling back into the War Room. “Sorry to disappoint you. You did this trip for nothing, I didn’t get one.”

“How do you know?” I blink, “When did you check last?”

“I checked again about 20 minutes ago, just to be sure. I was born though at 9:21 am, its already afternoon. If I was going to get the mark I’d have gotten it at the time of my birth.” Sam says and turns, looking at the monitors.

The room really is a war room. There is a table sized touchscreen TV with a map of the USA sitting in the center of the room. Several other screens are scattered around the walls. Support staff on radios are tracking pegasi all over the country, talking with them or giving them flight orders.

One monitor has a satellite image of New York City, with several staff directing ponies around the city.

“Still, this is no way to spend your birthday.” I say firmly after shrugging out of my saddlebags, I bite the connecting strap and lift them onto a table. I’m getting better at maneuvering things around without hands or TK.

Sam looks at me and sighs. “I have thirty pegasi in harm’s way, searching for a griffin that’s already killed three humans, if not more. They are supposed to find it so CID can send a ground team in to see if they can talk it down.” She looks at me and I can see the concern in her face. She really cares about the ponies out there.

“You want to be up there with them don’t you?” I move up, putting a wing against her.

Nodding slowly, Sam blinks, then shakes her head. “I don’t want them in danger. I don’t want them risking their lives while I sit at a desk or stand looking at monitors. They are supposed to be finding pegasi who are violating flight rules. Not hunting down a griffin that might have gone feral.”

“So how long is this…” I start, then look up at Sam

“Another hour or so, they are searching until nightfall. Then they are going to start again tomorrow.” Sam shakes her head. “The groups being put up in New York then start again bright and early tomorrow morning.”

One of the tech’s put a hand over his ear. “Major, police report: single body found, side ally off of 9th and 57th. Witness says cat bird thing attacked his friend.”

“What was she doing?” The Major turns so quickly that she has to catch herself with the cane and table.

“Eating, out of a dumpster.”

“Got her, bring the north groups down. We’ll concentrate on the buildings in that area.”

“The report is several hours old.”

“Yep, but she’s found food, she’s likely to return to that area or areas around there. She’ll be on one of those buildings.”

She looks at me, “You know, you are a civilian, you really shouldn’t be here.”

I puff out my chest, “I was a Wonderbolt, a member of the EUP. In fact, I think I’m very qualified to be here.”

She looks at me for a long time, “I’ll call you a civilian advisor, you’ve been helpful when it comes to ponies that we’ve sent your way. But remember, you aren’t US Military.”

I hold out a wing, and get the tip gently shaken by the Major, “Deal.”

We both smile at each other.

*** Jetstream ***

Turning south she shoots past a pair of news helicopters. They are just hovering at the edge of the airspace the pegasi are moving into. Glancing back, she sees two members of the 520th holding badges up to the pilot and pointing north. The two pegasi hover and hold their ground in front of the helicopters, firmly directing air traffic locally.

With FAA authority the 520th can, and does, close airspace as needed as no fly zones. While on the ground, press might try and sneak around the tape, violating a no fly zone gets your ticket yanked, no more flying.

Jetstream just has to giggle at this, “Did you see the press getting held back?”

“It’s for their safety.” Drizzle calls back. “We don’t want the griffin to feel like the helicopters are a threat to it.”

“What could it do to a helicopter?” Jets asks as she flies over several buildings, looking down.

“Two griffins took out some heavy gunships in Russia a few weeks ago. It raised flags with the military.” Blaze calls back as he shoots past the two mares.

“Was that Rainbow Dash?” Streams says in shock.

Hitting the brakes hard, Blaze spins around. “Rainbow Blaze, I’m male, I’m her dad.”

“Yep, he’s a male all right.” Drizzle says with a giggle.

“Fillies.” Shaking his head, Blaze climbs out and begins his search. “They stuck me with fillies.”

Winging over Streams drops her altitude so she is just a few hundred feet above the roof tops, she can see them clearly, but isn’t sure what she is scanning for. It just seems so vague that she found herself calling in lots of different things.

Between her and Drizzle they find three different grow ops, two meth labs, and a pear tree. The griffin is nowhere to be seen though. It’s starting to get dark and the call comes over the radio. Following the flight instructions, the pegasi met up on the secondary roof of a huge hotel.

Looking at the steel door, Drizzle blinks and shakes her head. “Is this?”

Blaze lands and thumps on the door. “Hampton Inn, New York’s 5 star hotel for visiting diplomats and dignitaries.”

“They are spending tax payer money to put us up here?!?!” Jetstreams says in shock, then bites Drizzle tail, realizing she is in the big group again.

“Staff’s all vetted, rooms are secure, and to top it off, we have a floor all to ourselves. Add to that, rooftop access, and we can do our job without every human seeing us.” Blaze says as a secret service guard opens the door.

“Ah, so it’s about not freaking everyone out, and keeping us quiet.” Drizzle says, giggling.

The ponies break up into rooms, Drizzle lead Streams into their room. Jumping up onto the bed, Streams lay on her back, front legs curled, wings spread wide. “What a day.”

“I know my wings feel like they are ready to fall off.” Drizzle giggles.

“My wings are fine, my tummy’s empty though.” Streams says, then glances over, watching Drizzle turn on the TV.

“Room service?” Drizzle asks.

“Room service!” Streams laughs.

Drizzle calls downstairs, then blinks, listening. “Yes this is room… oh. Oh I see. Oh.”

“What?” Streams blinks, watching Drizzle hang up the phone.

“Umm, our floor is having a buffet table that will be set up in the hall. All you can eat.” Drizzle opens the door and sticks her muzzle out.

A moment later, Streams head appears over Drizzles.

Theirs are not the only ones. Up and down the hall, doors creak open and muzzles poked out into the hall. Slowly noses started sniffing the air, eyes peeking out looking for the promised food.

As the tables are set up, the flock quickly zip out and started loading up plates. After hours in the air, everypony is starved. Everything is orderly and the servers keep straight faces. Well, they tried their best to. The problem is when one pegasus just has to start singing.

Like always, the song quickly spreads, and soon, there are thirty pegasi all singing as they get their dinner. This might not have been a horrible thing, had they chosen a different song. The sight of thirty pegasi breaking into a song and dance number based around the song… Food Glorious Food… however, is more than the staff can take.

*** Dust ***

“It’s almost nine pm, shut it down, everyone hit the showers. Get some dinner and some sleep. We’re kicking off the next search at eight am.” The major calls out.

I look up at her and smile, “Okay, NOW we go for drinks. While you may not have gotten your mark, but it’s still your birthday, we are going to celebrate.” I hop over to my saddlebags and shrug them on.

“Fine, let’s go.” Sam turns and starts slowly for the door with her cane.

Walking beside her, I follow her out to her car. It’s an older model KIA, while being a subcompact it is probably best described as a long nosed box on wheels. It isn’t pretty, isn’t flashy, and it certainly isn’t what I pictured her driving in the slightest. That is until I see her getting in. The back injury must have made it impossible to get into smaller cars, but for her, the seat height and headroom let her just sit and slide in before bringing her legs into the car.

Again I feel the pang. I see how hard she works every day just do things I used to take for granted, and now don’t even need. I shake my head and bound around to the other side, climbing in. “Ok let’s find a place to eat.”

It’s just a short drive, before Sam pulls into a small parking lot outside of a pizzeria. Nothing fancy, not even a big named chain. I furrow my brow and shake my head. “Really? This is your idea of a place to go for a birthday celebration?”

Getting out of the car, she closes the door, “My squadron has dinner here all the time after missions. It’s our unofficial restaurant.”

I walk in and look around. The place isn’t big by restaurant standards. There are probably only a 10 or so tables, along with booths lining the walls, maybe room for eighty people, total. The major heads over to a booth and levers herself into the seat. I hop up across from her.

“Hi major. Who’s your friend? New recruit to the squadron?” The server calls out from the counter.

“Lighting Dust, nope, she’s not. She’s a civi from up north, visiting.” Sam says.

“Ah. So what are you in the mood for? Our special for today is the shredder. Picture, apple wood smoked… Oh hang on a sec.” Walking over the server opens a steamer and pulls out a towel.

She puts the towel on the table in front of me. “Here you go, Lightning Dust.”

Blinking I look at the towel, confused, then at the server.

“Now where was I, oh yeah, the Shredder. Apple wood smoked pork, pulled apart by hand, Smoked turkey slow cooked then pulled apart too, all white meat. Finally, it’s your choice of pulled beef or pulled venison. The cheese is tossed right in with the meats and then it’s covered in a spicy tomato sauce. All on one pizza.”

Sam blinks, “Pulled venison?”

“Yep, we found that pegasi can actually eat venison, so we contracted a local farm. They supply us with meat as a beef substitute.”

Oh, so that’s what the towel is for. I rub my muzzle on the towel gently. Though I immediately start drooling more. That sounds really good.

“Or we can go with the Pegasus special, anchovy, barbeque chicken, and green pepper pizza with caramelized onions, topped after baking with fresh diced alfalfa sprouts and spinach.”

Looking down at Dust, Sam shrugged. “Up to you.”

I groan softly, now that’s a hard decision. I think for a moment, looking at the human across the table, then I smile, “The Shredder sounds awesome.”

“And a pair of Apple Beers as well.” Sam says with a smile.

The server nods and walks off, shortly she’s back with a pair of large beer glasses, with the smell of apple cider and beer mixed.

“So how many pegasi work here, or is the owner a pegasus?”

“Nope, none.” Sam says with a chuckle.

“Family members?” I ask, looking around confused.

“Nope, just humans, they are a local restaurant. The 520th started coming here, so they started finding out how to… treat… ponies. The biggest joke is that none of them watch the show.”

“They don’t?”

“Not that I know of, they ask questions, treat each pony as a person, and don’t pretend to know them from the show. There is no fake familiarity. It’s just real friendship, kindness, and helping.” Sam chuckles softly and taps glasses with me before taking a drink. “Beer mixed with apple cider. Served with cinnamon sticks, just seems to work.”

Sam and I chat for a while, she goes over her mission once again, but she also tells me of some of the other missions she has done. I listen raptly, as a human, I always loved flying, and always regretted never being able to join the Air Force. I’ve thought about getting a private pilot’s license, but I never had the money, and when I finally had the money, never had the time.

“Oh my god.” I say, blinking as the pizza is put down in front of me. It looks like a Philly Cheese Steak on a pizza, but smells so much better. Yep that towel is useful, they know pegasi.

Blinking, I realize the cloth is white. I mean really white, bleached white. They either do a serious clean on them after each use, or throw them out after every use. Either way, they really do take care of their customers, be they pony or human.

I look up to see Sam looking down at the pizza on her plate.

“Happy birthday?” I blink a few times. “Come on Sam, smile or something. The food’s great.”

The server walks over and puts a full foaming pitcher of real apple cider in front of me. Instantly the smells brings me back to Equestria.

“Oh God, you have to try this.” I say smiling at the cider.

Looking up I start to get worried for a moment, Sam’s just sitting quietly, looking at the pizza, not even eating or drinking.

“Sam? Sam!” I call out, waving a hoof in front of her.

Blinking a few times she huffs. “Sorry, I guess I’m just worried about my team.”

I stand up, looking at her closely. “Nope, we gotta check your hip. Little fillies’ room, now” I say in my command voice. Causing her to immediately struggle out of the booth.

“Why?” She says as she follows me, confused.

“Cuz you just had a zone out.” I tap my phone to show the time on the screen and show it to her, “It’s just after 9:21 PM. We need to check.” She’s not moving fast enough for my taste, I grab her hand gently with my mouth and pull, we need to get into the restroom.

My rear pushes the lady’s room open as I bring her inside. I let her go and look around, the lady’s room here has been redone; it’s all been re-worked so that both humans and pegasi can safely use the facilities. The stall doors are hoof friendly. There are toilets just for the ponies, with a cute sign above with a rearing pony on it to indicate the pony friendly stalls. Even the sinks and dryers are restyled, so both human and pony can make use of them.

I reach forward, I know this is a little awkward, and I bite the button on her slacks, using my lips and tongue to undo the button. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at doing that, thanks to Helen. I get my hooves on her hips and start working the cloth down. “So let me get this straight, you just dragged me into the bathroom to rip the clothing off me.” Sam says, smiling as I freeze, looking up at her, “You just can’t wait to see me without my pants on.”

I feel my wings, why the heck am I popping a pinion? “Ack, no, that’s not why. Ok maybe it is.” I smile with a wink. She can see my wings, and I’m certain she knows what that means. Though I’m only half teasing her.

She backs up to the wall to help stabilize herself, Sam gets her pants down to her knees. Her dress slacks are air force, the Rainbow Dash panties are defiantly not service issue. What really catches my eye though, is the dark gray storm cloud with golden lightning bolt on her hip.

Rearing up I hug her as tight as I can. “You got your mark! And it’s a Speedster's mark!”

*** Lightning ***

“Any idea’s Lightning?”

“Yakyakistan or Griffinstone. He’s mostly concerned with Equestria it seems.” White Lightning lands by the group of earth ponies, panting a bit.

“Did you find your family?” An earth pony stallion asks, concerned.

Lightning shakes her head. “Dad and my older sister were in Canterlot when it fell, they, are probably in the list of missing from there. My younger sister got away though. She was heading west to warn ponies there.”

“What are we going to do?” A young mare asks.

Looking at the dozen or so earth ponies they have picked up along the way she sighed. “I think the routes to Saddle Arabia are clear. If you can get out of Equestria you might be safe.”

“You’re not coming?” The mare looks at the fields, “What are we supposed to do?”

“Find one of the other kingdoms, ask for sanctuary. Survive. As long as there are ponies, there’s hope for Equestria.” Lightning looks in the distance.

“You don’t want to leave without knowing for sure about your family do you?” The stallion says softly.

Narrowing her eyes, she focuses on a spot. “You wouldn’t. Dad and sis are unicorns, they might have teleported to safety. My other sister is the strongest endurance flyer in all of Equestria, if any pony could have escaped it was her.”

Shaking her head she looks at the road and kicks it, stirring up dust. “Damn it, I need you to move off the road. Move into the taller grasses and start to walk. Do not run, that will create a dust cloud. Keep slow and keep moving.”

“What do you see?”

“One of the dragons, they are working for Discord now. I’ll see if I can lead him away.” Spreading her wings, Lightning shoots off after the creature. All she needs to do is get close enough for him to see her, than have him chase her for a bit. Easy and safe.

It doesn’t take long for the dragon to spot her, a white streak shooting across the sky. Within moments, he is after the little pegasus. He might have her in size, range and power. But she knows he can’t match her speed and agility.

She leads him off at an angle from the group of earth ponies. She doesn’t want him doing a 180 and finding them. Instead she plays with him, not flying a straight course to make it harder for him to backtrack.

“Cowardly insect.” The dragon roars out at her.

Laughing, she goes into a spiral roll, she knew he can’t match that, and it will drive him nuts.

Roaring out, the beast does its best to stay on her tail, “And now with the spinning?”

She was about to cut loose and leave the dragon in the dust when she realizes she is too far east. By then, though, it’s way too late. Discord appears, grabbing her by the body and squeezing.

Gasping for air, she lets out the cutest little squeak. It’s enough to cause Discord to chuckle. “Playing with my minion?”

Glancing back she grumbles at the dragon, “Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile.”

Enraged, the dragon inhales to breathe fire, it would have hit Discord as well, but Discord is ahead of the game on that one and zips the dragons mouth shut. “Now, now, she’s my prize. No need to get huffy and puffy.”

“I’ve already lost everything, my friends, my family…” Lighting says with tears in her eyes.

“Aww the poor thing wants friends…” Discord laughs. “How about I send you somewhere where you can make them.”

“Five score…”

*** New York ***

The blankets are nothing more than tatters. She still wraps them around herself though, for some measure of comfort. Looking up at the sky, at the stars, she sighs softly.

She had grown up seeing death in the Ukraine. Most of her life was suffering. She had been kicked from the city by government forces, kicked from the farm by rebels. She had her apartments bombed out and shelled. Just when her life was starting to get back into order she changed.

Looking down at her talons she sighs. “I don’t want to have to kill.”

Flipping an old wooden box on its side she crawls in. The water tower would provide some shelter from rain, the box would have to do the rest. Another box, but at least this one she sort of feels safe in.

61: A Flash of Lightning

Screaming, Sam sits up in bed, panting hard. She can still feel Discord squeezing her barrel. Kicking at her sheets, she looks around in a panic. Breathing hard and fast, her heart feels like it’s going to leap out of her chest.

Sitting up quickly, I bound over to the bed from the chair I was sleeping in. Truth is, it’s a really comfortable chair for ponies with more than enough room to curl up and sleep on. Gently, I put a wing around her. “It’s okay, calm down.”

Slowly she looks at me, as she does, I can see the fear in her eyes. The confusion of a dream that is here but also isn’t. Her mind struggling to piece together what it knows can’t be real.

“It’s the five score dream, Lighting. It’s your last memory of being a pony. Don’t worry, it will fade.” It always fades. Eventually we remember but for now it’s too hard, so it’s best for it to fade.

“Dust… my family is gone, my sisters…” Hugging me, she starts crying into my mane. She holds tightly to my neck.

“Don’t worry, you might see them again. The first dream is always the worst. That’s why I spent the night.” Nuzzling her cheek I hug her tighter with my wing. “And one of the ponies with the 520th might be your sister.”

Slowly Sam calms down and looks at me, “I… I didn’t even know I had a sister.”

“And there it is, the cluelessness of the pony life kicking back in.” I say, smiling. “Don’t worry you’ll probably have a few strange dreams. It’s hard but it’s a way for our minds to try and sort out our pony pasts.”

“I… I read the reports it’s just…” Sam shivers, hugging me tighter.

“It’s just different when it happens to you?” I say softly.

Nodding slowly, Sam lets go of my neck and backs up. Reaching over, she picks up a stuffed Rainbow Dash plushy and sets it between us.

“Sorry, I’m not usually clingy like that.” With a bit of a blush, she looks down.

“Part of being a pony, we’re social.” I say, trying to look innocent.

“And I think I left wet spots.” She says to me.

Totally caught off guard by that one, I feel my wings go up. That is until I realize what she meant. Smiling, she picks up her sheet and starts to dry my mane and shoulders from her crying.

“Um yeah, any luck with your name?” I stammer, trying to change the subject.

“Lightning I think. Or Lightning something. My cutie mark though, it’s pretty common, so I probably won’t know for certain until my mane and fur comes in. All I know is, I’m a pegasus mare, and a fast flyer.”

“I knew you’d be… I just knew it.” I say, hugging Sam again. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you trained in flying in no time.”

“First though, we need to find this griffin. And hope to heck she doesn’t hurt any of the pegasi out there.”

With a firm nod I get up and let her get dressed, it a big day for her today, we get to find out her mane color and see her tail.

*** New York ***

*Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz*

Reaching out with her wing, Jetstream hits the alarm clock several times until it stops making the offensive noise. After the fourth hit she hears a crack, and then silence. Pulling the pillow over her head more she mumbles. “Better.”

A moment later, she finds herself bounced into the air. Flapping rapidly to right herself, she lands on her hooves on the bed, panting hard. Beside her, Drizzle stands on the other side of her bed, giggling. “Morning sleepy head.”

It takes a moment for the fur on her back to come down. Her tail, however, doesn’t stop lashing as she steps off the bed, heading for the bathroom. “You are evil.”

“We have coffee and donuts waiting for us in the hall. And we are supposed to be up in the air at the crack of dawn.” Drizzle says, giggling.

“Bathroom, shower, then food.” Jetstream says with a giggle.

“Need any help?”

“With bathroom? Eww.”

“With food, silly, your mind goes to strange places.” Drizzle giggles right back.

The shower feels great, relaxing her muscles. Flying isn’t tiring, or stressful, especially at the low speeds she has had to maintain. She could loiter forever and that’s all she is doing, loitering. The strawberry shampoo the hotel provides filled her nose, making her sigh with happiness.

She knows this treatment isn’t normal for the 520th but maybe she could get a job here. She has found she has an easier time reading ponies than people. Drying herself off, she stepped out, smelling the coffee… thick, rich, dark roast coffee.

Preening her wings as she walks, she looks around the room. No Drizzle. Heading over, she opens the door to the hall to find the rest of the squad milling around. Some are preening their wings, others drinking coffee. Most seemed to be ponying out on donuts, and truth be told, it looks like they brought out a unicorns supply of them.

“Continental breakfast.” Fleetfoot laughs.

Blaze tilts his head and chuckles. “Okay, now I’m having visions of Velvet walking along with several donuts stacked on her horn while levitating a coffee.”

“Velvet or Cipher?” Fleetfoot inquires.

“Yeah, you’re right. BOTH!” Fire says, laughing as well.

Biting Drizzles tail at the end, Streams sits down, her back to the wall. All the pegasi are in the hall meaning there isn’t a lot of personal space. Streams is starting to feel closed in again and needs her safety.

Seeing Jetstream’s reaction, several of the other pegasi back off to give her space. They figure she’ll come around when she is ready.

“You know, it’s going to be hard to eat donuts and drink coffee while holding my tail.” Drizzle says.

Picking the coffee with both hooves, Streams goes to take a sip before Drizzle pulls her tail away. “No, I don’t need coffee stains on my tail.”

Giggling softly, Streams shakes her head, “It’s okay, I’m just having one of those mornings.”

“I just got a call from the office, the Major’s in, screens are up. She’s ready for us to do our job now.” Fleetfoot calls out.

“520th!” everypony responds.

“I also have some news… We aren’t doing this for ourselves. The Major got her cutie mark, we don’t know who she is yet, but she’s pretty sure she’s a pegasus. So this mission in honor of her!”

“520th! For America and Equestria!!!” Everypony calls out again.

Everypony charges for the door. Once outside, each takes wing, heading for their designated area.

They are concentrating their search, more eyes in a smaller area. She ate yesterday and might have kept some food so there is no certainty she will show up again, but they have to try. Lives are at stake.

*** CMC EC ***

“Come on, it’s not like lives are at stake.” Cloudy says, sipping her milkshake.

Feather huffs, “It’s more important than lives, it’s our cutie marks. It’s discovering who we are.”

Candy hums softly the Oreo song while bobbing his head in time with the music. Oreo milkshakes are his favorite and the store has fun making them for him.

The patrons of the ice cream shop all look over at the mention of cutie marks. A dark foreboding filling the air, as people considered the repercussions of these three little foals trying again.

“How about treasure hunters, you know, like American Pickers.” Candy says, sitting up.

Giggling, cloudy smiles, “Ohh, Tank Restoration was a good show.”

“Pimp my tank.” Feather says, covering her muzzle. “No, I think treasure hunters could be fun!”

“Cutie Mark Crusader treasure hunters are a go!” All three high hoof.

Had this not been a military base, the sight of several patrons putting on combat helmets might seem strange. Well strange, unless the patrons know the sheer destructive power of the phrase Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Bounding over to the courtesy papers Feather brings back several papers, “Ok yard sales, swap meets and flea markets.”

“Got it!” Cloudy says, smiling brightly, “Flea market in town!”

“Let’s go!” Candy says and turns, bounding out with his sister.

Rearing up, Feather places a bill on the counter. “Thanks again.”

*** Velvet ***

“FLEUR!” Running up, I rear up to hug her. “Rose, Sunshine, this is Fleur, she was in my last class.”

“Is she still as brutal a teacher?” Fleur giggles, “Has she gotten blood to come out of your ears yet?”

“No way, she even said she was going to teach us how to melt the faces off people with energy blasts!” Sunshine says, bounding around.

“I said shields yes, energy blasts no.” Huffing, I shake my head. “She has problems with her PTA meetings.”

“I know the feeling.” Fleur says and shakes her head. “Don’t worry she won’t teach me energy blasts either.”

“That’s cuz I’m worried about you vaporizing a building by accident.” I say, giggling. “So what brings you here, pleasure or fun?”

“Business.” Fleur says with a sigh.

Blinking I sit down. “Okay, what happened?”

“We have a griffin that’s killed four people already in New York. Do you have any information on griffins?”

“I might, in one of the books I had copied but it’s probably pretty vague.” Thinking for a second, I look back at Rose and Sunshine, “Ok girls the scales are set up, I need exactly 10 ounces of water in each bottle. Remember to factor in the weight of the bottles when you do your weighting. TK only, no funnels and try not to spill too much, because you don’t have much extra once you fill the three bottles each. A chance to work on your fine control.”

“Do you sit up at nights figuring out ways to torture unicorns?” Fleur giggles.

Blinking, I look back and shake my head, “No actually, that one’s out of the book. One of the funny parts, it says in the book that you can use TK to remove water from the bottle too, if you put too much in, just don’t tell the class that at the start.”

“OK, who wrote the book?” Fleur asks, giggling.

Crossing the field we enter the transient barracks, and I shake my head. “Inkwell. She was evil.”

Walking over to my sofa, Fleur hops up and takes a seat, “So how are things?”

“Oh fine, I’m pregnant, we are just getting things sorted out,” I giggle softly.

“I heard. Melted any more barges recently?”

“Hey, they were picking on me.” I can’t help but giggle as I pull down the book I’m looking for off the shelf and lay down on the floor.

“Book form? You weren’t kidding, were you? Why would you have it printed out and bound when you could just keep it in computer format?”

“It… well, for Cipher she keeps it in computer format, but for me... There is just something about being able to lay down in the candlelight and read.”

“Candles? You know the humans invented this neat thing called electricity.” Fleur says with a smile.

“Really? That sounds shocking.” Turning the page, I hum softly. “What would my daughter do? Call Spike to get you some tea, then complain that the books haven’t been put away. That’s not helpful.”

Looking over to the kitchen I bring out two tea cups. Putting one in front of myself and the other in front of Fleur. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, so how goes the unicorn club?”

“Were going to the spa this afternoon, they finally decided to buy some proper tools.” Turning the page, I look down the list and hum again.

“Tools?” Fleur blinks, then she giggles, “You mean your spa actually has things like rasps and such now, for your hooves?”

“Yep, oh here we go. Griffins: Half cat half predatory bird, carnivores but able to eat baked goods. Comparable to dragons for their greedy streak. Got it, while not as strong as earth ponies, pound for pound, their claws are capable of rending through metal. They are not broken into classes like pegasi, and lack the basic magics of weather control. Though, they can cloud walk. While flight abilities differ, some can match the speed and maneuverability of a pegasus in the air.”

“Ok so they have speed, agility and metal rending claws… and can cloud walk.” Fleur huffs softly, “I’ll let the 520th know.”

“You know, you could have called and got this information.” I say, looking up.

Fleur sips her tea then sighs. “If I’d done that I wouldn’t get a chance to spend time with my favorite teacher.”

“Okay, class is over at 6, than were going to the spa. Want to join us?”

“SURE!” Fleur says, smiling brightly.

“Great, I have some extra paper and pencils, let’s see how much you remember from your last class.” Standing, I trot outside.

“Wait! Join for the class? What about the spa?” Fleur protests.

“Class first, spa later.”

*** New York ***

“Jetstream, are you coming down for a rest?” Drizzle calls over the coms.

Banking a bit Jetstream blinks, “What time is it?”

“Almost noon, you’ve been flying for six hours straight.” Drizzle huffs.

“I’m fine, but if you want to bring up a saddlebag with water and some power bars, that would be great. I think I’m on to something.” Streams calls out.

“Oh? What?” Drizzle picks up a saddle bag and she loads it with a water bladder and power bars.

“It’s… well it’s just garbage but… It’s just too orderly.”

A few moments later, Drizzle catches up with Jetstream and drops the saddle bags on her. “Here you go.”

Pulling the straw from the saddlebag, she starts sucking until she gets some water, and points.

“Where I don’t… Wait what is that?” Drizzle says, blinking.

“Plastic bottles that have had their tops ripped off. I got lower to get a good look. Either her beak or talons are having problems with the bottles, so she’s just ripping the tops off of them.” Jetstreams says.

“Control, we have a possible location. 55th and 8th south side, top of a skyscraper.” Drizzle calls out over the coms.

“Hold and maintain. We’ll have a unicorn there in about thirty minutes, and she’s bringing a translator with her.” The Major calls over the coms. “Good job, my little ponies.”

“We need to back off a bit, don’t crowd the airspace. Keep helicopters away, we don’t want to spook her.” Jets calls out.

“Where do you think she is?” Drizzle asks.

“Either under the water towers for shade and protection, but with easy escapes. Or she’s under the machinery there, it would stop us from seeing her in the shadows but let her see out. When she sees it’s clear, she comes out and gets things.” Jetstream says. “She’s playing like a Light or TD in World of Tanks, protection from above and camo.”

“Too many video games.” Drizzle just can’t help giggling.

Jetstreams looks at her friend and smiles, “What else was I supposed to do? No one ever came to visit at my home. No one from work ever invited me out. I had nothing else. At least online I had some friends.”

“And now you have me.” Drizzle says, doing a barrel roll. “And your sister, and everyone at the 520th.”

“But is it because of who I am? Or what I am?” Jetstream sighs. “I wouldn’t have any of these friends if I wasn’t a pegasus. So does that mean I deserve them?”

“Don’t overthink things… your life was like this cuz you were cursed by Discord. If you hadn’t been cursed you’d still have your family and friends.”

“Like hers?” Jetstreams says, motioning towards the rooftop.

*** CMC EC ***

“Okay Crusaders, we need to stick together and watch each other’s backs.” Feather says, hopping off the bus.

“Oh, laser tag,” Cloudy says, perking, “Can we try that next?”

“Maybe, since it’s here, shopping first though.” Candy giggles.

“What is it with girls and shopping?” Cloudy grumps.

“Well you’re a girl so, you need to start liking it too.”

The three little fillies make their way across the parking lot for the door to the flea market. Though something just feels amiss in the area. There is something that just isn’t right.

Glancing back, Feather can’t see anything wrong. The only thing of real note is a Chuck E Cheese across the street. “I… feel like I’m being watched.”

“Probably just your pony senses tingling.” Candy giggles and hits the button to open the door.

Bounding in, all eyes quickly fall on the ponies with people mumbling.

“Well this is where the base staff mostly does flea market stuff. But I guess there are a lot of civilians here too.” Feather gulps.

The Crusaders quickly began their job of bargain hunting, checking out each stall for…

“The Flim Flam brothers?” Cloudy squeaks.

Candy comes over, “It can’t be, why would they be on Earth? At a flea market, as humans selling diet supplements?”

“Maybe they went through the mirror and came back?” Feather says, “At best, we should stay clear.”

“At worst?” Candy looks over to Feather.

“Run for the hills, to avoid the law suits because of whatever they are selling.” Feather responds with a firm nod.

“Ohhh, plushies!” Cloudy calls out.

Bounding over, the girls look at a large table of homemade, handmade and store bought stuffed animals.

Tilting her head Candy looks at one of the bears and blinks. “What’s a Steiff?”

Feather moves up and smells it, then she wrinkles her nose. “Don’t know but it smells bad.”

Sniffing also, Cloudy pulls her nose away. “Ugh, smells like road kill.”

Feather starts moving around, sniffing the different toys much to the annoyance of the vender.

“All of these toys have been properly cleaned.” He says, looking sternly at the foals, “Wait, why am I talking to walking plushies?!?!”

Stopping, Feather pulls her head back and looks at one pony doll. It doesn’t really look like a pony. It is ratty with loose stitching. One pink button eye is falling off, while the other eye is a mismatched blue color. It has black and grey candy cane striped colors used for its mane and tail. Overall it is grey but has blue pants with white polka dots on it.

Feather recognized it, someone had put a lot of work into making it look old but… She sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. It smells old… it smells burnt, like it had been in a fire, or perhaps near one. “How much?”

“For that ratty thing?” Cotton says, “Ok we need to go, Feathers lost it.”

“Umm 10 bucks.” The vender says.

Candy gives it a sniff and wrinkled his nose too. “Smells like burnt apple wood.”

Checking her bag, Feather pulls out a five. “I got a five, will that do?”

Grumbling he the vendor shrugs, “Sure, take it.” He tosses the old thing in a bag. No one else seems interested in it after all. It has been on his table for years.

It’s Cloudy’s scream though, that catches everyone’s attention. Not just the other two ponies, but several bystanders find themselves looking over at the little pony. Cloudy has been pounced and grabbed. A young girl, no older than six, has now firmly attached herself to Cloudy’s neck. “Mommy look, I want it!”

“How much?” The girl’s mother asks, looking at the vendor.

“Umm excuse me.” Feather says, looking up at the lady.

Blinking the lady looks down at the talking plushy.

“Your daughters holding on to my friend, could you ask her to…” Feather starts.

Maybe it’s the walking and talking pony, maybe it’s the wings, maybe it’s the second plushy that walked over. The people aren’t sure what the trigger is, but the fact that the little girl’s mother just screams and passes out definitely has everyone’s attention.

“And… were in trouble again aren’t we?” Candy says, looking at Feather.

Cloudy backs out of the girls grasp, “Sorry, we’ve got to go.”

All three foals make a break for the door. At least they would be safe outside. Shopping cutie marks though, are a total bust.

It could have been worse though. They could have been the real cutie mark crusaders. Or maybe some of the more famous ponies like Lightning Dust, Derpy, or maybe one of the Pincesses. Sometimes you don’t have to be famous though.

Bursting out of the flea market all three are panting hard, looking at each other. There aren’t that many cars in the parking lot which gives a clear and unobstructed view of the Chuck E Cheese across the street. Girl Guides, or should we say brownies, as well as a junior girls soccer team are currently exiting their buses, ready for a fun time at the restaurant.

Sometimes fame isn’t required. Sometimes all it takes is being a pony. Or worse yet, a cute and adorable pony foal. Once combined with large groups of kids that are without sufficient adult supervision and...

“Oh buck…” Cloudy says slowly.

Candy froze, “Normally I’d say watch your mouth, but right now… I think I’ll just say…. RUN!”

*** Velvet ***

Ah-Pee huffs and grumbles.

“Oh come, on its going to be fun.” Sugarberry says as she prances beside me.

“To quote mah cuz, ah don’t usually go for all this frilly stuff.” Ah-Pee grumbles.

Cipher bounds doing, a Pinkie pogo hop. “Oh, oh, oh, do you know why Rainbow Dash didn’t like getting her hooves done?”

“Ticklish hooves, Blaze has them too. Vibrations to the hooves give them the giggles.” I say and look as all the girls stop.

“Blaze… is ticklish?” Ballad says, blinking slowly.

“Yep, so is Dash.”

“Oh that’s too good.” Cipher says, giggling.

“So I have to keep vibrating things away from his hooves.” I say and shake my back and tail out.

“Velvet!” Sugarberry says, looking shocked.

Blinking, I look at Sugarberry, confused. “What?”

Ah-Pee looks at me for a long moment, then at Sugarberry. “This is Velvet were talking about. Was it an electric screwdriver that got him?”

“Drill, but close enough, we were fixing moms house and…” Blinking, “Why are you blushing, Fleur?”

“Cuz like every other girl here, my mind went somewhere else.” Fleur says, shaking her head. “I just keep forgetting you didn’t grow up as a girl.”

“This time,” Ballad adds, “but she’s as much a mare as any of us.”

I giggle softly and hold my head high. Walking down the streets on base has become so commonplace we don’t even get a second glance from a platoon. We aren’t marching, heck, none of us are in uniform. Just the six of us girls heading to a spa, nothing strange to see here.

“Even if she doesn’t know some things.” Cipher says, bounding by.

“What do you mean by that?” I say, blinking

“Like the joy and fun of a…” Cipher starts before both Sugarberry and Ballad both close her mouth magically. “mhmmhr mhmmhr!”

Glancing over Ah-Pee smiled, “I’ll tell you when it won’t be as embarrassing.”

“Oh, thank you.” Opening the door I hold it while everypony trots in.

Given the amount of pony traffic in and around the base, an actual Groom, Hostler, and Farrier are actually on staff. Given the importance of hooves, the farrier can almost be considered a necessity for us.

“I’ve never been to a spa as a pony.” Fleur says, looking around.

Ballad blinks, “That you can remember, come on I through you were like a big name fashion model.”

Fleur grumbles, “There ain’t no cameras, mirrors, or clothing accessories on my butt.”

“Sorry, guess we don’t know who we really are sometimes.” Sugarberry says.

“Shower, cleaning, brushing, mane and tail styling will be first. Followed by complete hoof care and polish.” I say with a smile.

“We have a special today on tail extensions, as well as eye lash extensions.” The clerk says cheerfully.

I looked at everyone else’s manes, mine was definitely the shortest. “Um, no thank you.”

“Ok but something to think about, we can do color matchings, or complete dye jobs.” She offers as she starts washing my back and mane.

The salon had been commissioned by the base itself, standing showers, that could accommodate up to three ponies at once, where the groom could give us proper cleanings. Once done we have an initial drying and body trim by the groom before moving into room with the beds.

Lying down, with our coats cleaned, it’s the mane and tail trim time. I just have the ends done, and the mane styled a little, letting its natural curl settle in. At the same time the farrier is working on my hooves, cleaning, trimming, and finally polishing.

“Ah, the finer things in life.” Fleur says, relaxing.

“See I told you, she’s got that ‘enjoys to be pampered’ streak in her.” Cipher says giggling, while wiggling her forehooves to emphasize the quotes.

“Oh come on almost all girls do, look even Ah-Pee’s enjoying.” I say.

Moaning softly Ah-Pee shakes her head no. “Ah don’t know what you’re talking about, this is insuff… oh that’s the spot… insufferable.”

*** CMC EC ***

“I think we lost them.” Cloudy says, panting hard.

Candy looks around the corner and nods, “Yeah but I think we lost ourselves too.”

Feather flies up to the top of the building and lands on the roof, looking around. She can see the girls heading back towards the restaurant. Jumping off the roof, she twirls and spirals down to land beside the twins.

“Okay, so how do we get back to base?” Feather asks with a huff. “The bus stop is right in front of that restaurant. I’m not sure where the next one is.”

“Taxi might be our only option.” Cloudy huffs.

Blinking, Candy looks around. “Let’s find a recognizable store or such and call for a cab.

*** New York ***

Taking a deep breath, Goldie opens the door to the roof. She isn’t a unicorn, but she is an OSI officer. They first considered sending in Fleur, but she is still having trouble with her control. She has a tendency to crush cellphones and tablets.

Stepping out into the light, she looks around on top of the roof, she can see the two water towers. The wind is throwing her mane and tail off to one side. Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the glare when she sees the little griffin hurtling at her like a bullet.

Closing her eyes she flinches, then she hears the roar. Deadly, powerful, a sound that chills her to the bone. The roar is so loud it leaves her ears ringing.

The little griffin hits the ground skidding and comes to a stop a few feet from Goldie. Looking up, her eyes are as wide as they can get. She sits trembling, a little bit unsure of what to say or do. Curling her tail around herself and keeping her wings tight to her side. The only thing she can do is let out the cutest little chirp.

Stepping out from the door into the full light, Natalia spreads her wings wide. The full grown adult griffin dwarfs the fledgling. Huffing a bit from the roar, she looks around the roof, then back down at the fledgling, focusing on her.

Natalia stands firm and commanding. Her wings are shining in the late afternoon sun. Her talons and beak gleams and sparkles. She speaks clearly in Russian, “Enough, no more bloodshed. You’re safe now.”

Author's Note

62: Dust Storm

Sam falls back into her chair and sighs. It looks like it’s done, and best of all, none of her pegasi were harmed. The ponies can hold position for the time being, but it looks like Fleur’s call was right and Natalya had cowed the little griffin.

Scratching her hair with both hands, Sam lets out a happy sigh before blinking. Pulling down her bangs in front of her eyes, she laughs softly. “When did I grow blue hair?”

One of the corporals looks over, “Oh it started around two or three PM. It’s also well longer than military length. I think we need to take you to the barber and get you shaved, ma’am.”

“Oh hell no. There are no regulations on pegasus manes and tails.”

“Yes ma’am but you’re not a pegasus yet, ma’am.” The corporal chuckles.

“Watch it, or when I end up on all fours I’ll have you out with me for jogging practice. See how far you can get or go on two legs.” Sam says with an evil smile.

“Umm, so are you staying here with us, or are you going to be flying missions, ma’am?” He says quickly to change the subject.

“I’ll primarily be based here, I’ll keep with the paperwork. But I’ll fly local missions when needed or when I can.” Sam smiles. “Wing commander isn’t a desk job for most squadrons.”

“So are you going to go to the hospital?”

“Dust is spending the nights with me, just to keep an eye on things. Make sure I don’t have a traumatic break down.”

“Right, like you would ma’am.”

“Actually the dreams and responses are very much like PTSD. Even the best person or pony can suffer badly from them.” Sam says softly. “Memories, feelings flooding back to you at the moment of realization, then when you think you have a grasp, everything vanishes again.”

“Yeah, happened to a friend of mine. He has horrible dreams sometimes of being under fire in Afghanistan, RPG hitting he convoy truck he was in. He wakes up thinking he’s under fire, then everything flashes back to normal. He has this totally confused look on his face, and can’t even remember that he was dreaming… He simply doesn’t understand what’s going on.”

“Yep, and every single pony goes through that in their change.” Sam says, shaking her head.

“So what’s the call ma’am?” The corporal looks back.

“Getting close to 5 pm, put me on speaker.” Leaning over, she smiles as she speaks into the mic. “Great job my little ponies. I don’t want any of you falling out of the sky tired, so head back to the hotel, that includes the civilians, have big dinner, full nights rest, have fun, then head back here in the morning or to your normal patrol areas.”

Flinching, she laughs at the cheers coming over the coms. Radio discipline is right out the window sometimes when it comes to pegasi. Calls for the 520th come out loud and clear, as well as a few calls for food, for some reason pegasi seem to think with their stomachs.

Turning Sam smiles and heads out. “Later, I’m going to meet up with Dust.”

“Bah, I don’t think you should hang around her.” The sergeant says, looking up.

Blinking, Sam looks at him in shock. “Why not?”

“Cuz she’s not Dash, ma’am.”

“I’m not Dash either.” Sam says sternly.

“Yep, nopony’s perfect, but you’re still our Major.” The sergeant says as Sam walks out.

*** New York ***

“You’re a griffin?!?!” The fledgling says, trembling a bit.

“Natalya Kerensky, you can just call me Natalya. It’s apparently the name I have from Griffinstone.”

“Vasilisa Orlova, What’s Griffinstone?” Calming down, she sits up a little, her eyes still wide in awe.

“Griffinstone is where we come from. We are proud griffins from the mountain kingdom of Griffinstone in the northern mountains of our world.”

“Our world? There are more like me?”

“A few, we were cursed by a demon, a lord of chaos, and sent to this world. Our world can be reached through a magical portal if you choose to return home, but the portal won’t be open again for another two years or so.”

“How... how come I’m so small?” Vasilisa asks timidly.

“It’s because you were a fledgling when you were cursed, a little baby.” Turning Natalya dips her wing, “Hop on my back, it's safe.”

Carefully the small griffin jumps onto Natalya’s back. “Where are we going?”

“To get you cleaned up first. Then get some real food in your belly. No more of this trash.” Natalya says as she walks into the building. “You will see a lot of police. Don’t worry, they are there to keep us safe and humans clear of us.”

They use the service elevator, that way it’s easier to control who sees them. The police cleared the rear loading area and a black van was pulled up to the loading dock.

“But, she’s a pony.”

“Yep, they are from our world, but a different kingdom, they are from Equestria, on our southern border.” Natalya says, nodding to Goldie. “She doesn’t speak Griffin, or Russian though.”

“There were ponies with me on the plane.” Vasilisa says sadly, looking at her wing.

“They were rescued too.” Natalya looks back and gives the fledgling a little nuzzle. “But for now, no more worries, instead just rest, we’ll get you food. Trust me you are going to love the barbecued salmon.”

*** Sam and Dust ***

Unlocking her door Sam steps into her apartment. It isn’t big, average a bedroom, a single bath. Looking around she doesn’t see Lightning Dust anywhere. There aren’t many places for a pony to hide here, since both the bathroom and bedroom doors are open.

“Oh well, she’s probably gone back to her family.” Sam says as she lies down on the sofa with a whimper.

Her back has been hurting more than usual today, but she passed on the pain meds. She’s suffered through this before, and doesn’t want to risk it interfering with her change. Vicodin also has the bad effect of making her lose focus at times. Since she is restricted to desk work though, the doctors typically don’t see a problem with that.

She lay there a few minutes, looking up at the ceiling before getting up again. She doesn’t want to move, but she also doesn’t want to stay in her service uniform. Heading into her bedroom, she sighs, stripping down and hanging up her slacks and jacket. She hobbles over to the mirror, she turns sideways to look at her cutie mark again.

It’s a common cutie mark, the show has displayed it on several pegasi, but that could be anything from animator laziness, to the creators simply not knowing everyone’s mark. Although so far, the staff seems to be right on for some reason.

She hears a tap at the door and blinks. “Come in.”

Stepping into her PT pants she pulls them on, as well as her PT shirt, then she blinks, hearing the tap again.

“I said come in.” She says, walking out into the living room/dining room area.

“I would but it’s locked.” Comes the call out from the balcony.

Blinking Sam just has to laugh and walks over, opening the door. “Didn’t want to come in like normal?”

“Why? You have your own private landing pad out here.” Dust tries her best to look innocent before picking up the Chinese food takeout.

“Ok, so why are you blushing?” Sam says, smiling.

“I am not.” she huffs and flattens her ears.

“I’ve worked with ponies for over a month now. I know how to tell when they are blushing.” Sam laughs.

“Well, umm, all of the apartments look the same mostly, from the outside.” The turquois pegasus shudders, “And some people REALLY need to keep their patio curtains closed. Especially when they are doing it in the living room.”

Sam can’t help but laugh harder.

“I need brain bleach. I really need to get that image out of my head.” Dust whimpers.

“B&D?” Sam asks innocently.

“Come on, they had to be in their eighties, just ewwww.” Dust rubs her forehead with a hoof, “Why?” I say throwing both hooves out in front of me, “Just why?!?!”

“It’s your fault for not using the front door.” Sam says and takes the Chinese, starting to portion it out.

“Blue mane looks good on you.” Dust says to change the subject, “Wonder if I can get five score cursed again, just to get that image out of my mind.” Dust muses quietly, “With my luck it would be the first thing I remember on changing back though.”

Heading into the kitchen she giggles and takes down two large glasses. Filling them with ice and pop, she comes back. “Thank you, it’s just so… bouncy.”

“I have to ask, why did you make the uniforms for the 520th look like the Wonderbolt uniform?”

“Oh that’s easy, I just found it fit. It’s something other pegasi will react and respond to. You get pulled over by a pony wearing a Wonderbolt uniform, you’re less likely to try and run, or cause problems. It’s also universal, it’s not a Navy, Army uniform. It’s not a police officer uniform. It’s not American, Chinese, or Russian.”

“It’s Wonderbolt, it’s Equestrian, and it’s something every pegasus knows.” Dust says, nodding. “So it was chosen for us rather than yourselves.”

“Yep. You know I’m going to have to turn in all my civilian clothing. Kind of depressing.”

“Why? I mean, why is it depressing?” Dust asks, blinking.

“Cuz I used to love bikini season. It’s not about what you wear it’s about what you hide, and the colors used to hide it.” Sam says and offers the pegasus a set of chopsticks with an evil smile.

“Right, knife fork and such are bad enough, chopsticks would be impossible.”

*** Velvet ***

Smiling brightly, I sit down, the spa has been great. It’s just what we needed. I even had my hooves done with dark blue polish with gold sparkles. We stopped on our way back and to pick up dinner with my class.

“I brought Chinese!” I say with a laugh, sitting down.

“I’ll get the plates!” Rose says, bounding for the kitchen.

“Noodles!” Cipher giggles.

“Ohhh, hot and spicy stir fried veggies!” Fleur says, sitting down and smiling at the food in front of them.

Ah-Pee laughs and spoons out some rice for herself with her arm strap.

“Oh, those look useful.” Sunshine says, looking at the Velcro strap.

“Oh they are, but if Velvet catches you using one while you are in her class, she’ll fail you.” Ah-Pee says with a smile.

“Hey where’s the cutlery? Don’t they usually pack this stuff with plastic knives and forks?” Sugarberry grumbles.

“Yep, unless you tell them not to, instead I got them to provide us with these.” I say dumping out the bag of wooden chopsticks.

“Oh god, no!” Sunshine whines, “You evil, evil mare.”

“Oh don’t worry. I brought lots of extra’s just in case you break them. Especially since it’s going to be tricky to gage how much pressure you’re putting on the sticks, and these are the cheap wood ones.”

Fleur’s scowl is about all the response I need. Picking up a set of chopsticks, I separate them and tap the tips together, clicking them twice. “Alright everypony dig in. Any chance to train is good.”

*** Sam and Dust ***

“Your ears are the giveaway, now we have your coat color, white. Your mane color, light blue, and your cutie mark. That’s enough to give us who you are.” The sergeant says, smiling over the computer.

“Whatcha got?” I say, I guess the squadron having a Brony isn’t a bad thing.

Sam looks sideways at me and boops my nose gently. “Well Sargent, what have you got?”

“For a background unknown you’re pretty famous. I mean in Canterlot, not with the community. Here we have a picture of you in your Wonderbolt Training uniform. You were in the academy at the same time as Lighting Dust in season 3, just a different class.”

Blinking, I look at Sam, “Dawm girl, you’re a reservist too. I guess this means I get to order you around.”

“Nope. Not even close.” Sam says firmly.

“We also have pictures of you with visiting dignitaries wearing a VIP Badge with the princesses. Either means well, you were REALLY high ranking, or were the chosen representative for a city like Cloudsdale, Los Pegasus, or Ponyville.” The sergeant chuckles. “She’s seen dating a unicorn who’s Canterlot elite, but that might have been just a one off thing, since her dad and one of her two sisters are unicorns.”

“Two sisters?” Sam blinks.

“Wow, you have a big family.” I say, poking her nose back playfully.

“Yeah, it looks like Jetstream might be your sister too. Your mom was a pegasus.”

Blinking Sam tilts her head, “Jetstream? The timid little one? The one who tried to commit suicide when she started to change?”

“That’s her. In Equestria she was a world class flyer. Beat Dash on the endurance scale. I think the cross between unicorn and pegasus leads you two to be really strong flyers.” The sergeant says. “At least that’s what the fandom suspects.”

Blinking, she looks at me, “We likely served together. I wonder why I wasn’t cursed with the rest of the ‘bolts?”

“You could have been out of position. Or maybe sent off to try and protect you if you were an important family.” I snicker, “You know, like to keep you out of trouble.”

“Gee thanks.” Sam said, “Make it sound like I’m a coward.”

I chuckle, “Well after Soarin, myself, and Spitfire were hit by Discord, the order to disperse was circulated. The rest of the Wonderbolts knew they couldn’t take him.”

Sticking her tongue out at me, she flicks her tail side to side in annoyance. I wouldn’t have noticed but she wacked my flank with it a few times.

“Watch your tail, you’re lethal with it.” I say, “Tomorrows the day of big changes.”

“I know, I have it booked off.” Sam says, “I’m just kind of scared of what I’m going to dream of.”

*** New York ***

“Oh Star Wars episode IX is on!” Drizzle says.

“Saw it last year in the theaters.” Streams sighs, stretching out on the hotel bed.

“Justice League, part two?” Drizzle asks.

Shaking her head vigorously no, “Uggg, not even if you paid me.”

“Ok, The Sky People it is.”

“Really? You went there?” Streams says, lifting a wing.

Drizzle puts her wing over Streams back and presses her cheek against Streams. “It’s not what you watch, but who you watch it with, and what you eat while watching.”

With a tap at the door, Fleetfoot opens it and pokes her head in, “Hey girls, the hotel’s opened up the swimming pool to us, were all heading down for a pool party.”

Drizzle squees, smiling brightly. “Oh now, that’s a plan.”

Sighing softly Streams looked down, flattening her ears.

Fleetfoot blinks and steps into the room. “What’s wrong? You don’t like swimming?”

“It’s not that…” Steams says and sighs.

“Okay, what is it?” Drizzle asks, nuzzling Streams softly.

“I didn’t pack a bathing suit.” Streams says, lying her head on her forelegs, pouting.

“Okay, my turn to say it.” Drizzle starts, looking at Streams. “Really?”

“What do you mean, really?”

“We,re pegasi, we’re all just gonna swim in our fur.” Fleetfoot says, shaking her head.

“And maybe burn out a few blow dryers to get our manes and bodies dry for bed.” Drizzle says, nodding.

Bounding out the two joining what is turning out to be an impromptu song. As the thirty pegasi start singing, “We don’t even have to try, it’s always a good time.”

Streams giggles, unable to help herself calling out, “Good morning and good night….”

Blaze prances by, “I wake up with Twilight…”

*** Velvet ***

Sneezing, I shake myself out.

“Problem?” Fleur asks, looking concerned.

“Nope, just had a strange feeling.”

*** Lightning ***

“Come down and let us see it.”

“No!” Lightning protests, she stands in her room looking at the uniform and fluffs it, fidgeting.

“You look fine.” Streams giggles.

“You’re one to talk, you’re already on the Cloudsdale record books. For spirit and endurance.” Lightning huffs.

“And I’m cuter too” Streams adds. “It’s not my fault you ended up going to the Canterlot High instead.”

“Yeah, that was dad’s idea.” Lightning huffs, “If it’s good enough for Celestia to send Cadance to, it must be good enough for me.”

Streams hops off the bed and swats her sister. “Matching marks matching spirits.” She says, bumping Lightings cutie mark with her own.

“Wings are for more than just appearance.” Lightning says, lifting her wings.

Turning Lightning giggles and heads to the door, then taking a breath, she opens it, walking downstairs.

“There’s my little Wonderbolt Reservist. You look so cute.” Her dad says. He lights his horn and straightens her collar a bit.

“Dad, no.” Lightning whines and blushes.

“I’m so proud of you, getting accepted.” He says.

“Dad, it’s no big deal, they take almost everypony. You don’t even need to be a good or strong flyer.” Streams sighs.

“Nonsense, a Wonderbolt reserve…”

“Oh come on, they’d even take sis.” Lightning cuts her father off, looking at Jetstream teasingly.

“Oh haha, no thanks, I don’t like formation flying. Closest I get to that is the weather teams.” Streams protests.

“Hey sis, have you heard from Derpy recently?” Streams asks, changing tacts.

“Not since we hung out at Shining and Cadance’s wedding.” Lightning says, “But you know how busy I get.”

“You need to relax more, sis. Get out, see the world. You need something other than shuttling between here and Ponyville.”

“Oh come on, I love Ponyville.”

***Dust***

“I love Ponyville.” Sam says, hugging me to the point of squeaking.

“GAH, too tight, too tight, too tight...” I say, gasping for breath and pushing at Sam.

“Wha?” Sitting up, Sam lets go of me and blinks, looking around.

“I don’t know, you said you loved Ponyville, and tried to squeeze the stuffing out of me. Which is pretty bad since I’m not a plushy.” I smile and look innocent.

“Sorry, I guess I fell asleep soon after you did. We were watching the late show. I was rubbing your belly and you zoned out pretty quick.” Sam says, stretching out.

“What can I say, I like my belly wubs. Ohh, hooves.” I smile checking out Lightning’s hooves. “I know a great farrier who can do horseshoes for you.” I show her the thin shoes that I went with, they have rubber tread for traction and not making a clatter when I walk.

“Nah, I’ll go with the boots. The ability to take them off and such will be too useful around the office.” Sam laughs.

“Wow your fur is white. I don’t mean eggshell white, or grey white, I mean seriously brilliant white. Like Rarity white.” I can’t help but smile, she’s deserves this.

“To bad we haven’t seen Spike around, do my mane and tail up like hers and watch the reaction.” Sam says good heartedly. “Eek, I can’t wiggle my toes.”

“Well you won’t have hands tomorrow.” I laugh.

“Yep, but I will have wings! And hopefully walking without pain which will be great.”

“So what’s the plan for today?” I ask.

“Shopping, 520th will be getting back by around noon. Officially today and tomorrow I’m off but I’ll still welcome them back.” Sam says as she gets up.

“Shopping?” I ask.

“Well I need to turn in my old uniforms and human gear for pony gear. Then hit the PX for pony personal items. Our PX keeps itself pretty nicely stocked with everything from hoof and mane care to goggles.” Sam says getting up.

“I’ll keep you company, in case you start having trouble.” I say.

“You know, I swung some deals and pulled some strings to get the ponies in New York access to the hotel pool. Now I’m wondering if it was such a good idea.”

“All the fur in the pool filters?” I say with a laugh.

“Nope, the chlorine in the pool, I hope their colors don’t run.” Sam laughs.

“I’m pretty sure we are colorfast.” I say, face hoofing.

“Good, could you imagine the whining of thirty pink pegasi ponies.” Sam just keeps laughing.

*** Gaza Strip ***

“1000!” The old man says.

“500, cash now.”

“750, not a dollar less.” The old man counters.

“750 dollars it is.” His accent was pretty strong, he is definitely not Palestinian.

The little pink mare’s reigns get yanked as she is handed over to the buyer.

“The boss won’t be happy about the price, but he will be happy about the pony.”

The mare keeps her eyes low and her head down as she is yanked towards the small boat. It isn’t big or fancy, just a small cabin cruiser. Likely they would use it to get her to a larger boat in one of the controlled ports in Syria or Egypt.

They push her inside and dump a bucket of hay for her. “There, mule, eat up you might not get anymore anytime soon.”

Obediently, she starts eating. “Well they seem to have broken her spirit at least.” The other man says. “It’s hard to tell are you sure this is her?”

“Pink body, two color pink on pink mane, three flowers for cutie marks… it mostly looks like the pictures we have of Cheerilee.” The first says, smiling.

Putting to sea, the small boat makes its way south, towards the Suez. It has more than enough range to make it. It is two hundred sixty miles to Ismalia. It will take them about 7 hours to get there.

*** Sam and Dust ***

“Apple Alfalfa Cookies, Dust?” Sam says, offering one to me.

“They really have cookies like this here?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Sam asks, confused.

“I don’t know, it just seems so... I guess I’m not used to going to a human store and seeing pony things.” I say shaking my head.

Humming softly Sam picks up most of the basics. Clothing, hoofware, some snacks, and some Velcro packs for utility items. “Some of this stuff is hype or junk, stuff for first timers who don’t understand things yet.”

“I can tell.” I say looking at hoof polish.

“But really, they try and keep a selection hoping that ponies will try it, like it… or ponies will have used similar things as humans and want to keep using them.” Sam says. “Mane shampoo for colorful manes and extra bounce.”

I laugh once and bounce, looking at my mane. “Nope has enough bounce on its own.”

“I feel so weird though going into work in civilian clothing. Just one of those things.” Sam says as she holds a pair of pink panties against my flank.

“Um, no way, no how. No pink frillies for me.” I say, putting my hoof down.

“Not for you, for me, military issue apparently chafe, and the flight suit kinda needs undies or it goes places.” Sam says smiling.

“Why wear anything?” I protest.

Poking my nose, she smiles, “You wore a Wonderbolt uniform.”

“Okay, point taken, but the training uniforms left our flanks open.” I say.

“You weren’t a reservist or trainee at the end, so you wore a closed-butt one.” Sam smirks as she pays for the items. Finally we head out to the car.

One short drive later and we are at her office. Heading inside, Sam is met with cheers from the staff, compliments on her tail and mane. At least there is support for ponies here.

“So ever thought of leaving the military? We’re setting up somewhat of a safe haven at our farm.” I say looking at her.

“I can’t. My job here is needed. I won’t abandon my little ponies. My job is to keep pegasi safe, not just from planes, but from people. The job we do here, we do it so that ponies can police ponies. So we won’t have humans hunting down and saying we need to start clipping wings as punishment.”

“Ok I can respect that, you’re still doing the job of a Wonderbolt.” I say with a nod, then blink looking up. There’s just something about a whole flock of pegasi flying in a group. Over the top of the building all thirty pegasi circle before landing with cheers.

“Good job my little ponies. I’m so…” Sam doesn’t even finish.

“Show us the mark!” Gets called out by somepony.

“We wanna see your cutie mark!” calls another.

“Wow, her eyes are so pretty.” A filly calls out.

“I really like her mane!” Somepony else calls causing a total uproar of laughter.

“Okay, okay.” Sam calls out. Turning sideways, she drops the side of her jogging pants to show off her mark. This is met with cheers and whistles, as well as a few cat calls.

Blushing a bit, she looks at all the ponies assembled. “Now then, starting tomorrow, everypony is back on their normal rotations. To those not part of the 520th, the offer is open, to join us here if you want. If not I thank you for your service and finance will have your checks for you. But for now, pizza for all flyers, go get fueled up.”

Well that was, off like a herd of…

*** Egypt, port Ismalia ***

The small cabin cruiser pulls up beside the freighter. It is an intercostal design, commonly used for runs down the coast of Africa or across to the Persian Gulf or further. It isn’t fast, it’s not pretty, but it is flagged to Georgia, though that is a flag of convenience, based on a shell company.

They hoist the pony onboard by means of cargo netting. Not the safest, but it is quick and easy to hide her from prying eyes like that. The ship’s captain inspects the cargo with a confused look on his face.

“Are you sure this is Cheerilee?” He walks around her once as she stands, her head low, tail drooped, mane hanging limp around her head and neck.

“Colors look right, cutie marks is three flowers.” One of the workers says.

The Captain shakes his head. “But I thought they had happy faces in them.”

“Maybe they faded out, or maybe that was something the animators added in. But as a big named pony she’s worth a mint.”

“We'll put her in storage for now. We have a few stops to make, then we can transfer her to the boss.” The captain says firmly. He leans down and looks into the pony’s eyes, “He is going to love a chance to play with you.”

Laughing, the ship hands swat her flank with a piece of wood to get her walking and guide her into her cargo container.

Walking to the far end of the container she curls into a ball, lying down.

“Well she’s obedient at least. She’s been well broken in.” They laugh, and close the door, locking it.

She lay still for a while, she wants to be sure they aren’t coming back in right away. Listening, she can hear sounds of the ships engine starting up. The sound of metal on metal fills the air as the anchor chain is drawn up. She’s alone in here, not even another pony.

Lowering her head, she reaches back with her hoof, feeling around for the hard spot. When she finds it, she presses it with her hoof, the beacon sending out its powerful signal. It would now pulse once per hour for several days.

She thinks about Cheerilee, wondered if she made it back to Equestria safely. But she has a job to do. She has a mission.

*** Lightning ***

She sits looking up at the sky. Watching the clouds float by, she could see images in the clouds. Swan, apple, pony face, even a muffin. Giggling softly, she shakes her head. “Derpy’s on cloud shaping duty again.”

“How can you tell?” Streams says, laying on her back, her wingtips twitching.

“I just saw the third muffin float by.”

“Sure it wasn’t the same one?” Royal Ribbon says with a giggle.

“That… would be worse.” Lightning says with a laugh.

Looking over at Royal Ribbon, Lightning smiles, “So when are you going back to Canterlot?”

“Tomorrow’s train, there is a big to do there.”

Streams laughs, “She knows, dad got her a VIP pass, he expects her to represent the family assets there.”

“I swear he wants you to be a unicorn.” Royal Ribbon laughs.

“That, or an alicorn.” Jetstream adds. “He’s been trying to teach her magic, of all things.”

“Just cuz I understand unicorns and unicorn magic doesn’t mean I’m gonna be an alicorn.” Lightning says, “Seriously Big Mac stands a better chance of it than me.”

“Oh god, can you picture Big Mac as a Princess?” Streams starts laughing.

*** Dust and Sam ***

Sam acks, loudly spreading her wings as she bounces into the air, then hit the floor body first.

“Ow, what the buck Dust.” Sam whines.

“Does your back hurt? Can you feel your legs?”

Blinking, Sam stretches out her hind leg a bit and wiggles it. “Nope, I can feel it fine and no pain except in my chest and face where I landed.”

“Trust me, your knees and face are going to be sore.”

“Why?” Sam says, blinking.

“Cuz, you have to learn how to walk.” I say, smiling evilly. “Now out of bed, and get those legs moving.”

Looking down at her forelegs Sam smiles. “Great, no pictures please. This is going to be a mess.”

Mess was an understatement, bordering on pure comedy. It takes Sam a good thirty minutes before she learns how to walk again. She blames it on the fact that she hadn’t walked properly for almost a year so even her hind legs have no good muscle memory. It takes everything I have not to laugh though.

She has a lot of problems remembering how to move her hind legs, where for most of us, it is the forelegs that give us problems. Though after thirty minutes she’s trotting, prancing and bucking like the best of us.

Next comes flying. Flying is easier than walking, strangely enough, with only two crashes and one case of spitting out dirt. It is another good thirty minutes of training before I’m satisfied she can handle herself. She still has a lot of practice and training to do yet, but I know the squad will help her.

“If you need me, call.” I say, giving her a tight hug with my wing and neck.

“Same here, us Wonderbolts got to help each other.”

“Yep. And the 520th couldn’t be in better wings.” I say. “I need to get back to my family though, I have work to do.”

“And 520th would be honored to have you if you chose to join.”

“Naw, I’m not the type to follow.” I say smiling, then I shoot off for home.

*** Tel Aviv, Israel ***

The satellite detects the ping. It’s faint, but it’s enough. Within that ping is GPS information. That information is immediately relayed to a satellite station where it shows up on a large computer screen. Servers hum and an automatic response program re-tasks another satellite.

Hundreds of miles above the Earth, another satellite activates its thrusters to realign. It’s now looking at somewhat of an angle rather than straight down. Soon, pictures of the ship are cycling through the computers. Data is being sent to different offices. Every detail of the ship is being identified. Type, weight, marine transponder, all being marked, heat sources listed.

Picking up the phone, an elderly man speaks calmly in accented English. “Keshet Pardo is in position. She should lead us to the central location that the ponies are being held before shipping. Keshet will be ready to move on the strike. She is trained in this kind of operation from before she changed.”

Listening to the response, he nods. “Thank you director, the Mossad has had long ties with you. We will let you take the lead on this operation.”

Hanging up the phone, he looks down at his picture of Keshet, it’s an older one from before she changed. “Be careful my little Cherry Blossom.”

*** Streams and Drizzle ***

“Come on, she won’t bite.” Drizzle says.

Streams whimpers a bit.

“Fine, you can hold on.”

Leaning down, Streams bites Drizzles tail for safety, and follows her into the Major’s office.

The Major has already acquired a smaller chair and desk, more appropriate to her new pony size. Looking up, she smiled, “Hello Drizzle. You have a tail hanger.”

Drizzle giggles, “Jetstream, she’s still adapting to being a pony.”

Streams pokes around from the side of Drizzle, looking at the white and blue pegasus. “Hello ma’am.” Keeping her head low, Streams is terrified but doesn’t run.

Smiling, the Major tilts her head. “What can I do for you?”

Squeaking, she hides behind Drizzle again.

The Major hops off her chair and walks over to her. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

Streams looked at the Major’s mark, then her own. Blinking, she looked back at the Major's mark.

“Yep, they are the same.” The Major says, with a soft smile.

Drizzle giggles, “She kinda needs a job, part time. Can we find something for her?”

Tentatively, Streams moves up, turning around to stand beside the Major, looking at her.

The Major nods slowly, “Sure I think we can find something for her.” Looking at Streams she blinks, “Something wrong?”

Streams thumps her hip against the Major. Cutie mark to cutie mark. Speaking softly she recites like an old mantra, “Matching marks, matching spirits.”

Blinking the Major responds reflexively, “Wings are for more than just appearance.”

Author's Note

63: Cyclonic Motion

“Admiral?”

The older gentleman taps his pen, looking at the paper. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, this is all hard to believe. A war has almost started over this once already. Both Australia and America have lost good men due to unrest and attacks in the Middle East over them.

“Admiral.”

Signing his name he closes his folder. Tapping the cover a few times, he looks up at the Captain in the doorway. “Yes, John?”

“We are in position now. If you want, you can view things on the display.” The captain says.

“John, I’m an old timer, I’d rather see this in reality than on some screen.” Standing up, he takes a deep breath. Stepping out of his office, he walks up the stairs. “Has everyone checked in?”

“Yes sir.” The Captain nods and follows the Admiral.

Stepping outside into the wind, he puts on his cap to help shield his eyes. He smiles, looking around. Seagulls are flying overhead in the bright sun of the day. There are hardly any clouds in the sky right now.

“What’s the count?” The admiral says, looking around as the bow of the aircraft carrier cuts through the water slowly, heading out to sea with fierce determination.

“The Bush was repaired in record time, she’s got replacement aircraft from Pearl. We have three carriers, twelve cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and an amphibious assault ship.”

“That gives us the USS Ronald Reagan, USS GW Bush, and the USS George Washington.” The Admiral looks around and scans the horizon at the assembled fleet. Nodding, he looks back at the carrier’s captain. “And then Australia’s destroyers, they want in on this.”

“After their losses? Yes.” The captain nods. “We are awaiting your call, sir.”

“Raise the flag, let’s get the fleet underway.” The Admiral orders.

“All stations, all stations, make speed twenty knots!”

*** Streams ***

“I have a sister.” Streams lays on her back on her bed.

Drizzle giggles, “You’ve been saying that for hours.”

“Come on, in a short time I go from being a nobody, with no special skills, who everyone forgot was her birthday. To being a pegasus pony that no one really knows but ponies are nice to, who has a sister.” Streams flops her head to the side and looks at Drizzle.

“I know right. And just cuz you’re not famous on the show, doesn’t mean you weren’t famous in Equestria. Come on, wealthy family, unicorn blood in you, world renowned endurance flyer.” Drizzle giggles.

“I guess.”

“Look at me! I’m not Dash, Dust, or even Cloud Kicker, I’m Drizzle.” She spreads her wings wide, “In the show I got a few speaking roles, been shown around Canterlot and Ponyville, but no one really knows me either.” Looking back at her cutie mark she giggles, “And I love it.”

Reaching over, Streams grabs a stuffed Lightning Dust and pulls it into a hug. “Love it?”

“Yeah, think about it this way. Say I was Fluttershy. Well then everyone knows who I would be, what I could do, how I should and would act. No mystery, no fun. But since there isn’t a lot in the fandom about me, I get to be who I am, not what or who people expect.”

“So no pressure and no expectations, good point.” Streams says and rubs her face against the doll.

Drizzle turns on the TV and flops down beside Streams, starting to preen her wings. “So do you have any ideas on the offer to join the 520th squadron?”

“Yeh, I’d be working for my sister. Yuck.” Streams says, giggling. “I don’t know, maybe part time to start.”

Leaning over, Drizzle starts to preen Streams' wing.

“Ack, you’ve got your own feathers!” Streams says, giggling and hugs Drizzle.

“Yep but mine don’t act pouty on me.”

“I’m not pouting, I’m thinking. I know it’s hard to tell, but if I was pouty my ears would be flatter.” Streams says, smiling brightly.

“I just have to decide what to do about my apartment.”

“Yeah, that place is not pony friendly. No tub, just a stand up shower that you can hardly stand in. Narrow kitchen, and the spacing is so small you can’t fly to get up to the higher shelves safely.”

“Yeah, but it’s all I can really afford.” Streams says, tossing the stuffed doll up into the air and catching it.

“Now, though, you can think outside of the box. Look at this place. Remember when we had to consider bus, driving or even walking distance? Now we can consider flying distance. It’s a 10 minute flight to the office, even at a slow flyers speed of 60mph that’s still a six mile radius for ponies.”

“Dear Celestia, for speedsters…” Streams blinks.

“Exactly, now you drop, say a ten mile circle on the map, ignore bridges, rivers, and whatever. That’s your home range from work. All of a sudden what would be a two hour commute for some, becomes a ten minute hop for you.” Drizzle says, smiling

Rolling over, Streams turns on the tablet, looking at the screen and blinking.

“Umm, no more of how far is it to the nearest grocery store,” Streams giggles, “Since I can fly faster than a car. You know, it’s scary, I couldn’t get a driver’s license, let alone a pilot’s.”

“And now you can break the sound barrier. Yep, that’s dangerous.” Drizzle giggles and rubs her cheek against Streams.

“They said I could get out of my lease due to medical. Since I can’t use the bathroom, shower, or kitchen, I qualify under special conditions.” Streams nuzzles Drizzle back softly.

“Well don’t worry, you can stay here 'till you find a place.”

“Really?”

“Really, really.” Drizzle said hugging her tight. “Best friends after all, and yes, your sister can come to visit whenever she wants.”

***

Kneeling down, he puts his hand gently on her back. “You’re sure about this?”

“With their help, it won’t be a problem.” She nods.

“You won’t hurt yourself, doing this?” He asked, worry on his face.

She shakes her head, “Again, I just need to concentrate for a short time, with the help from the others this shouldn’t be an issue. Breaking it up shouldn’t be a problem either. We won’t let it get too bad.”

Nodding they take one last look at the map before heading out on deck. Looking to the pegasi, Blue Lagoon lights her horn up and they get to work. Within a short time, Carrier Task Force 70.3 is cloaked in what meteorologists will call Tropical Depression Lupit.

The newly formed tropical depression is tracking west at nineteen knots, heading in an arc towards the Philippine islands. Scientists predict a 67% chance of it increasing to typhoon status, with a potential of striking the Philippines in eight days.

Ships will quickly be re-charting courses to take themselves out of harm’s way. May smaller islands in the storm’s path start to put out weather warnings, planning on recalling fishing fleets as the storm grows closer.

No one will see the fleet coming. No one even knows it is there. Task Force 70.3 steams on happily, under the dense clouds and heavy thermals that mask their signatures.

*** White Lightning ***

White Lightning touches down, panting hard, looking at Fleetfoot and Blaze. Her wings hurt, her legs are sore, her lungs are on fire. She stands on all fours on the cloud, trembling, as she looks at the two speedsters.

“Better.” Blaze says, nodding, “But you’re still not tucking your legs enough.”

Fleetfoot shakes her head, “I’m pregnant, and even I can do better than that.” Fleetfoot says sternly.

“Celestia, I can’t believe I trained under you two.” She moans.

“Don’t worry; we’ll get you back into shape in no time.” Blaze says.

Lying down on the cloud Lightning whimpers. “Come on… it can’t be that hard. You two mastered it already.”

“Yep and it took us more than a few days to do.” Fleetfoot says seriously. “It’s not just muscle memory. It’s also skill, and technique. We’re training you in this so you should get it down in a day or so rather than the weeks it’s been taking others.”

“You also need to build up your energy reserves, remember flying is also about magic… until you can fully tap into that again, you’re going to feel sluggish in flight. Without your magic, you can’t fly, can’t cloud walk, and can’t control the weather. ” Blaze says nodding sagely.

“Can I just die now? Bury me on this cloud.” White Lightning moans.

“Nope, Washington is about one hundred seventy miles from here. We are doing this hop transonic. We should be there in ten minutes.” Fleetfoot says and nods to Blaze.

Nodding back, they both buck the cloud, causing it to disintegrate before shooting off for Washington DC. The flightpath has already been cleared direct flight, 32,000 feet, Mach .90. No air traffic is in their path so it’s a direct hop.

Screaming as she falls, White Lightning rights herself and shoots off after the other two speedsters. “That wasn’t fair!”

As she catches up, she falls into formation with the other two. Fleetfoot taking the lead, Blaze on her right wing, Lightning falling into place on her left. Her goggles show their flight altitude as well as speed, but she could guess both fairly well.

Looking around Lightning is in heaven. She’s flying again on her own. It isn’t an F-16 but this is better in some ways. It is freedom, with rules of course, but still freedom. She shifts a glance to Blaze and Fleetfoot and smiles. The sky is theirs, they own it, while planes just rent it and pay for it with fuel. They lived in it, they can even build in it if they wanted, sleep on clouds, only coming down for food.

“Flight group three, 520 control, please verify your status.”

Lightning tilts her head as the call comes over her earpiece. “520 this is Lightning, we are at flight level three two thousand, holding steady at Mach zero point nine zero.”

“Flight group three, please squawk.”

All three ponies hit their squawk buttons, and two blue dots light up on their goggles.

“520 this is Lightning, I’m showing two targets on intercept closing on us, squawking 5100.” Lightning says, looking off in the distance. They are still too far out for even a pegasus to see, but the goggles show their position based on transponder information.

“F-16’s of Washington air guard. They have been informed, but want visual verification.”

“In other words they want to see pegasi in flight.” Blaze calls out.

“Idiots.” Fleetfoot says.

“520, this is Fleetfoot, is our reverse course clear?” Fleetfoot says, looking behind her.

“Affirmative, reverse is clear back to Fort Bragg.”

“520, do we have permission to hit supersonic speeds? If these boys want photo ops, they can get them on the ground, and not waste military time and fuel.” Fleetfoot looks at Lightning, who whimpers.

“Roger that, but only above four zero thousand feet.”

Nodding, all three pegasi do an Immelmann, climbing out to forty thousand feet and accelerating out past mach one. Once on a heading for Fort Bragg, all three accelerate out to Mach 1.6. Keeping in tight formation, they head for the base, though Lightning’s wings are killing her. She is going to need to sleep after this.

Their pursuers break off the chase after sixty miles, heading back to their patrol station. Chasing some pegasi half way across the state would never be accepted as justified. As it is, a formal complaint will be lodged.

Slowing up over the fort, the trio look at each other.

“IHOP?” Blaze asks with a smile.

Both mares nod vigorously.

All three dive for the IHOP. Dinner’s calling.

*** Henry ***

Henry lies on his back, relaxing on the grass. Beside him, Sugarberry snuggles close, laying her head on his chest. One of the few quiet times they have between their jobs. The shade from the tree keeps the full force of the sun off of them.

Stroking Berry’s mane Henry chuckles, “Ever feel like you’ve got stalkers?”

“I don’t care.” Berry says, yawning, putting her foreleg more over his chest. “I’m comfy, I’m tired. And I don’t care how many human kids watch us. I’m your little pony.”

Laughing softly, Henry picks a dandelion and softly bats Berry’s nose with it. “Blaze and Fleetfoot are training White Lightning, a new pegasus speedster.”

“Yep, and office…” Sniffing, Berry snaps at the flower biting it, then chewing a bit, before continuing, “Work is going smoothly. It’s surprising how much work piles up when you leave an officer in charge.”

“Yep, it’s the NCO’s that run the army, the officers are just along for the ride.” Henry says with a chuckle.

Picking another dandelion Henry smiles as she nibbles on it. “Tasty?”

“Actually they are not bad. They are edible, even for humans.” Sugarberry points out, trying to look innocent. “Just don’t try serving me a grass and dandelion sandwich, that’s for Velvet’s daughter.”

“Incoming devastation squad.” Henry says, making Sugarberry look up as Feather comes charging up, followed by the twins.

“Hi there Candy, hey girls.” Sugarberry says, before laying her head back down.

Feather walks up and sits in front of Henry, “I know you don’t like being a unicorn or being reminded of Equestria.” Feather starts, giving him huge sad eyes. “But I needed a way to thank you for giving me my wings back. There are no words or real way I could ever thank you for that.”

“Oh Feather, it’s not that I didn’t like being a unicorn, it just… not who I am. And I’m definitely not a pink unicorn.” Chuckling Henry hugged Sugerberry a bit. “You were meant to be ponies, and had that take away from you by the curse. Me? I’m just a kid from Florida.”

Sitting on her haunches, Feather holds out a box to Henry. “To me you will always be a pony but as a thank you. Here, I got a gift for you.”

Chuckling softly, Henry opens the box. He looks inside and tilts his head, “An old stuffed doll?”

“Not just any doll, it’s a replica Smarty-Pants doll!” She says with a giggle. “I looked it up online. Must have been custom made, cuz they weren’t sold like this. Also it even smells like burnt apple wood…”

Sniffing it, Henry blinks and shakes his head vigorously, “Yep, needs a washing.”

“I wouldn’t. It has a nice earthy, pony smell to it.” Sugarberry giggles.

Pulling Feather into a hug, Henry rubs his face against hers. “Well it’s the thought that counts. So thank you, it’s a very special gift.”

Cloudy and Candy quickly moved over to sit beside them as well.

“You want hugs too?”

“Nope.” Cloudy says, shaking her head. “It’s safer here. The kids are looking at us again.”

Sugarberry lifts her head to look around and just can’t help but giggle.

“At least their parents warned them not to come over unless invited.” Henry says, “I think after the movie theater incident the base counsellor talked with the families.”

“It wasn’t our fault.” Feather whimpers.

“I know, I know, it’s the pony curse.” Henry says, chuckling. “It’s another good reason for me not being pink. As a human I can protect you.”

Sugarberry laughs softly as she stands up. “Okay kids, lets head home, your mom should have dinner ready.”

*** Velvet ***

Humming softly as I work in the kitchen, “You know Fleur, you are the first repeat in my class.”

Stirring the stew pot, Fleur giggles “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I have so much trouble controlling my TK.”

“I do, it’s your concentration.” I say while pulling down some seasonings from the shelf.

Checking the rice, Fleur sighs, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I try hard to focus on things and…”

“Nope that’s your problem. You focus too much. You concentrate too much on something. You’re putting all your strength into holding something still, but think about how you worked with your hand. Did you have to put all your strength into gripping a pencil?” I say, adding some salt to the rice.

“No but it’s not the same.” Fleur says.

“Are you sure? You’re distracted right now, not thinking about what you’re doing and you’re having no problem holding the spoons, cups and such.” Tossing the salad I smile as it starts to dawn on her.

“But…” Fleur blinks, looking around.

“Yep, it’s why you are also having so much trouble with your gun qualification. You’re concentrating too hard on the gun on holding it and such. Then when it comes to pulling the trigger you focus on that and jerk it hard.” I say, smiling at her.

“I can shoot energy blasts, why do I need a gun?” Fleur mumbles.

Laughing softly I set the table. “First, cuz we are playing by human rules. Second cuz firing energy blasts is something we like to keep secret. That whole fear thing. Third, collateral damage. You don’t want to go vaporizing a bus when you’re trying to shoot one person now do you?”

“Ok, you have a point.” Fleur says, picking up the food and helping me set the table.

Feather slides across the floor sideways and hops into her chair, looking innocent.

“Did you wash your hooves?” I ask, smiling.

“Mom…if I wash my hooves, they are clean, then I put them down on the floor and walk in here they get dirty again. So why?”

“Nice try, but you know the floor is cleaner than outside. And I’m not talking about germs and such, I’m talking about oil, anti-freeze, and other things you can step in on the roadways.” She may be twenty-five but she acts like a foal sometimes.

Sighing she gets out of her chair and walks back into the bathroom, “Yes mom.”

Fleur giggles softly. Taking a seat herself at the table, she looks over at the foals as they come in from the bathroom and sit down as well.

“You’re becoming a little cook yourself.” Fleur says, smelling the food.

“Thanks, I sort of remember how to do most of the stuff now. I just can’t find some ingredients sometimes, or worse, can’t figure out the human equivalent to it.”

“To what?” Fleur asks, confused.

I shrug and shake my head, “Well there’s the truly exotic stuff like zap apples, or crystal berries, but there’s also spices and such that I used in Equestrian cooking that I have no idea what they are in earth cooking. And some of it was strange.”

“Strange how?” Fleur looks concerned and confused.

“Okay, consider this for a second. Dandelion Coffee.” I say and shake my head.

“Wha? Really?”

“Really, I have no idea how it was made but I remember drinking it in mornings sometimes.” I just shake my head. “I use to get it at Donut Joe’s.”

Fleur giggled, “Not PonyBucks?”

“Too expensive.” I say as Ballad, Cipher, and Ah-Pee join the table.

Touching her hooves together, Fleur bows her head. “Thank you Celestia for the sun that helps the plants grow to give us this bounty of food. And thank you Luna for protecting our nights and dreams so we can sleep well have the strength to do our chores during the day.”

Blinking, I look at Fleur. “Where did that come from?”

“I… have no idea.”

***

Light floods into the cargo container as two humans walked in, one holding a cattle prod. Looking at the little pony, they walk forward slowly, not wanting to take any chances but the pony doesn’t seem to notice or care.

Leaning down, one of the humans affixes a rope to the halter on the pony's face. “Tut, tut.”

Standing up obediently, Cherry Blossom walks out of the container, squinting. There are other ponies on deck, some resisting, others are in worse shape than she is. Anger and rage fill her, but she knows better than to show it. She’s seen worse in her lifetime.

“She seems passive enough, we can use her.” One human calls out, his speech is Arabic but heavily accented. It sounds almost Malayic to her.

She stands still as heavy packs are put onto her back. Her eyes dart around looking for details, scents, sounds. She takes everything in she can. Where they were sending the others, where they were moving cargo.

She follows the men obediently, letting them guide her where they want. The people here are slave traders, arms dealers and rebels. They make their money by raiding merchant ships, kidnapping the crew and selling them back to the companies for millions. Ponies are just the latest expansion of their operation.

There are children here too. She could see some as young as nine being taught how to use rifles. They couldn’t even shoulder the weapons, so are firing them from the hip. She could also see signs of drug use, the drug trade is big business in many areas. It’s also a form of control. Addicting children to drugs, then making them commit piracy to get the money for more drugs.

She is lead up to a warehouse where her packs are unloaded, before she’s lead back towards the ship. From what she could see, it isn’t a large city, maybe twenty or thirty thousand people. The temperature, smells, people, tell her she is either in the Philippines, Malaysia, or maybe the islands of Samaru.

The next load of cargo is placed on her back and they start the trip again to the warehouse. Again she watches, looking around, every piece of information might be useful, important in the days to come. When the hammer falls, there wouldn’t be time to figure things out, she needs to do this now.

In a place where they treat humans worse than animals, it sometimes pays to act like a broken animal.

*** Cipher ***

Yawning, Cipher scratches her mane out. Standing up on her bed, she gives her whole body a stretch and shake. Velvet's dinner knocked her right out, she really overate, but the stew was just so good.

Heading into the bathroom she did her morning business, including a quick shower. Next is the most important part of the day, her coffee.

Heading into the kitchen she breaks out a Keurig pod and puts it into her coffee maker. Loading her favorite mug into the machine, she selects large and turns, getting ready for work. Getting dressed is easy and quick for a unicorn. Even the boots go on easily.

Blinking, she flicks an ear, something is wrong. Narrowing her eyes, she looks at the display, which is flashing 'Error'. Blinking, she checks the water reservoir as well as the pod. Picking up the brewer, she shakes it a few times then looks. Error.

“Oh well, let’s do it the old fashioned way.” She grumbles.

Turning, she grabbed the glass pot for her drip coffeemaker. Turning on the water, she puts the pot under the water then flinches. A loud crack fills the air. Slowly pulling out the pot she looks at a spider crack running down the side and bottom of her pot.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake!”

Grumbling she turns to head out. She’d have to get coffee at the shop on her way to work. She grabs her saddlebags, putting them on her back. She closes and locks her door, and heads out, looking over at Sugarberry.

“Hey girl, another day at the races?” Sugarberry says, smiling.

“Yeah, ugg.”

“Where’s your coffee?” Sugarberry asks, then gulps at the scowl directed at her.

“Both my coffee makers broke.”

“Starbucks at PX?” Sugarberry asks as they trot side by side.

“Eeyup.”

Ballad falls into step, “Girls.”

“Hey Ballad, how goes the courses with Prime Power"” Sugarberry asks.

“Oh man, I love it. It’s a lot of work and a lot of studying, but I’m having fun.” Ballad says, “I’ll get my license, but they already know I can cheat in certain parts. Not skimping in safety, I just don’t have to touch anything.”

“Yeah… I know.” Sugarberry smiles.

“What’s with Cipher? She’s not bouncy and her mane isn’t usually that…frizzy.”

“No coffee.” Sugarberry says.

“Ouch.”

Walking into the Base Exchange, Ballad trots over to get some things from the pony isle with Sugarberry. Cipher heads over to the Starbucks and pushes on the door, only to be met with a thunk as her face hits the door. Cipher blinks and shakes the door, looking at it, but it is firmly locked. She leans to the side and reads the sign.

Closed for maintenance.

Cipher screams in frustration. Her mane puffs out a bit and frizzes more. Looking around, she heads over to meet up with the girls at the registers, snarling.

“What?”

“Closed.” Cipher snarls.

“Don’t worry, there’s always the headquarters break room.” Sugarberry says, smiling.

“I know.” Cipher says, and gnashes her teeth.

Ballad breaks off at headquarters, continuing on to the school while Sugarberry and Cipher continue inside. Once in, Sugarberry heads for her desk in the front, she is the poster foal for military ponies. The face every officer at HQ sees when they come in.

Cipher, on the other hand, heads for the basement, for her computer lab. Her office isn’t spacious, it isn’t glamourous, or at least not to the common person. It is cold, kept around 15 degrees C, but she has a built in fur coat. It is dimly lit, but pony eyes are larger than human eyes. It has big 54 inch plasma displays on the wall, a massive Emperor Series computer chair with three 32 inch monitors and two 24 inch monitors. It has a direct link to the Pentagon, to cyberwarfare, to cybercrimes.

All it is missing is a coffee maker.

Powering her chair and turning on the monitors, she looks up at the center screen. “Hey ma’am, Cipher checking in, I’ll be up and ready in ten minutes. Anything on the board?”

On the screen the officer of the day looks up, “Hey Cipher, when am I going to ever get to see what you really look like?”

Blinking Cipher tilts her head, “Pardon?”

“I know you cyber geeks like your avatars, but I always find it strange talking to a real time CGI unicorn.” He says. “Won’t mind seeing the real you once in a while. As to the boards, chatter about the usual groups but nothing special. There was an attempted hack on the Pentagon last night domestically, nothing of interest.”

Covering her face with a forehoof Cipher shakes her head. “I need a coffee. I can’t deal with this without it. Thanks sir, back in ten.”

Walking upstairs, she heads for the break room, as one of only two unicorns that work at Special Forces Command, she still gets a few strange looks from the locals, but today… Everyone is keeping their distance.

Walking into the breakroom she freezes and narrows her eyes. The spot where the large fifty cup coffee pot was, is empty. It’s gone, as are all the Styrofoam cups. Not that she needs one, she has her own mug but this was getting to be unacceptable.

Tilting her head back, looking up at the ceiling she huffs and looks around. One desk corporal looks over at her.

“Problem?”

“Where… is the coffee machine.” She snarls.

“Big brass is having a meeting today in room three. They brought it in there with the cups, whiteners and even the sugar,” He says.

Tipping her head back, she lets out a frustrated and exasperated huff before turning and storming out. The idea of teleporting in, grabbing coffee and teleporting out crosses her mind, but no. She likes her job.

Trotting back down to her office, she climbs into her chair and reclines back, putting her legs up on the rest. There may be human hackers in the world, there may be unicorn hackers in the world. This however, is her special talent. This is her cutie mark, this is her magic.

Spawning up screens, she gets to work and she is not a happy unicorn. She brings up the attempted intrusion list for the day. She needs something to focus her rage on. The rest of her team comes up on the other monitors. Her horn glowing, she cycles through screens and data as fast as her magic will allow.

“Hey Cipher what’s with the mane?”

“No coffee.” Cipher says as she works.

Will chuckles, “Umm should I just put us on Defcon-1 now and be done with it?”

“Might be a plan.” Cipher says.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Wait for the first person to piss me off.” Cipher growls.

“And then?”

“Throw a virus in their computer, disable their CPU fans and coolant, overclock their CPU to 4x its rating, and start a feedback charge into their battery system.” Cipher says.

The other techs cringe, “Umm, why not just blast them with your horn, less damage.”

“Don’t make me reach though my monitor and grab you.” Cypher says.

The door to her office opens, “Cipher.”

Looking over she sees Cpl Price, one of the gofers around the office. “I brought coffee.”

“Oh thank Celestia… Crisis averted.”

Reaching out with her magic, she grabs the cup and takes one sip. One sip she wished she had never taken. One sip is all it takes to know something is horribly, horribly, wrong. Slowly, she looks up at the corporal. “What… is this?”

“Instant decaf, I didn’t know how you take it, so I added some sweet and low and soy milk to be safe.”

Instant coffee to most real drinkers isn’t coffee. It’s used to thicken real coffee that isn’t strong enough. Decaf is a swear word to cyber warfare, the true point to coffee is the caffeine, if not available, Mountain Dew Extreme works, or other such high caffeine drinks. Decaf however…

“So this is a caffeine free… coffee substitute with lactose free artificial milk, and artificial sweetener?”

“You might want to start running.” Will calls over the computer screen.

Ciphers eyes blazes red with fire. “With flavor added in just to cover up the fact that it’s not coffee.”

The corporal takes a few steps back, “Umm, I think I hear an air raid drill, I should be in the bunker…”

With a powerful yell, Ciphers horn flashes…

*** Blizzard Entertainment ***

“What was that?” The systems network tech says.

The operator blinks, “No idea, but server lag just went to 2 seconds, and every user just dropped connection.”

“Looks like its calming down now. But I just got a strange error on our web page.”

The network tech leans over and blinks. “’Java Compilation error, insufficient coffee?’ I’ve never seen that before.”

*** Cipher ***

Huffing Cipher shakes herself out, her horn smoking a bit. A second later all the screens reconnect. All the staff looks confused, “What was that?”

“I need…. Coffee…” Cipher says and turns, storming out of the room.

Author's Note

64: Storm Surge

It isn’t a work of art, but it is functional. It has taken almost two months to finish. A lot of hard work, sweat and tears have been involved, but it is finally ready. It’s strong, durable, and ready for the road ahead. Walking around it one last time, they have to admit it is good to finally be finished. This wagon will be their home for the next few months.

Wagon is a strange term here. This is actually something more akin to a horse drawn RV. At ten feet long and six feet wide, it sits on four truck wheels. The wheels and axles were salvaged from an old flatbed trailer in the junk yard. The framing is metal reinforced wood, which is covered over with wood paneling.

Ambrosia has outdone herself there. She has always had a knack for building things, but since she changed into a pony, the skills seemed to improve. Which she never understood since her mark is three apple slices. She’s even found she can use her mouth to wield tools for carving wood with detail which lead her to add in some flourishes on the wagon.

Inside, the wagon has a simple sink that is gravity fed from a large water storage tank up top. They have a pot belly style stove for cooking, and heating if they need it to. There is a table and benches, for sitting at, though one of the benches doubles as a bed. Two more beds are at the back of the trailer, with curtains that can be drawn. Ambrosia has put in a split door at the back, with a fold down staircase for easy entrance. They even have windows in the side and front of the trailer.

Ambrosia found Sunny Daze a few days after her change, the little foal isn’t the strongest in the world, but she has been able to help with some of the smaller things. Finding supplies, finding stuff to make the wagon livable. She’s a good scrounger with an eye for how to repurpose things.

Sunny Daze, for some reason, changed into a foal. Ambrosia doesn’t know why, it doesn’t really make any sense to her. Even as a foal, though, Sunny Daze works hard to help out with the build project. She’s had the dream as well.

The dream. It is the dream that drives them, and that has brought them together. Full Steam is a massive earth pony, easily the size and strength of Big Mac. His colors, however, are that of a normal horse. Chestnut brown with dark brown and black mane and tail, he towers over Ambrosia.

“Think you can pull it?” Ambrosia asks, looking up.

Walking up to it to the wagon Full Steam puts his shoulder against it and pushes. In response the wagon rolls forward a bit with ease, “Yeah. I could probably pull it if it didn’t have the wheels.”

Full Steam came up with the wagon idea. None of them have any money. At least, nowhere near enough for a plane ticket, let alone a car and the gas money it would take. They all had the dream though. She told them what they had to do. So there is no question in their minds. They don’t really understand it, but sometimes you have to take things on faith.

Sunny Daze bounds up and sit by the two, looking up, “Seven minutes till sunrise.”

Ambrosia softly rubs her mane. “I don’t know how you do that.”

“I don’t either, he’s strong, you’re a crafter, I just know when the suns coming up.” The foal giggles. “I don’t know, maybe it’s got something to do with the sun mark on my butt.”

Taking a deep breath, Full Steam looks around. He had wandered here from Apartado, about eighty kilometers to the west, just across the border in Columbia. He left there after the change on May 3rd, it took him a week to make it to Yaviz, where Ambrosia lives.

Sunny Daze has been traveling south, she was from Meteti. She saw Ambrosia, another pony, and from that moment, the two had become inseparable. It’s the dream, though, that is giving them purpose. The dream gives them cause and a goal.

“Luna called to us all.” Full Steam says, “She told us to have faith, to have strength. She told us we were ponies and this is our true form. She told us what we need to do.”

Ambrosia and Sunny Daze both nod. They both walk over and help Full Steam into the harness. He is the most likely to pass for a normal mule or horse, based on his coloring and size. Once ready, the girls climb into the wagon, closing the rear door.

Taking a deep breath, Full Steam starts walking. The wagon has to weigh well over four thousand pounds, but it feels like nothing to him. Following the dirt path, he pulls the wagon from the old junk yard and turns onto the highway.

It’s going to be a 6,700 kilometer walk, leaving everything they knew in Panama behind. Looking up at the sky, at the moon, Full Steam sighs, “I don’t know why you want us to go to Dubuque, Iowa, Princess Luna, but I trust you. If it takes me a year to walk there, I will do it, for you.”

*** Fleur ***

The alarm clock hardly starts to ring before it impacts against the steel plate, shattering. Chunks of plastic and metal fall to the floor, adding to the pile of broken parts, some tin some plastic. It’s the sixth alarm clock to give its life, and the fourth since the metal plate was placed against the wall to protect it.

With one final buzz, the lights fade from its display as the last of the life drains out of it. It hadn’t given its life in vain however. Its job is successful. Its pieces have joined its predecessors, but they do so in victory.

Fleur mumbles as she pushes herself out of bed. Standing up, she shakes herself out, looking down at the pile of debris. Opening her dresser drawer, she pulls out a new alarm clock, setting it up on the table.

Walking out of her room, Rose sits, giggling. “You broke another one didn’t you?”

“Meh.” Fleur just walks past and heads for the shower.

“You are getting better with your control. I think you’re just killing the alarm clocks on purpose.”

“Meh.” Fleur turns the water on.

Trotting over, Rose sits down and starts counting back from three.

Fleur steps into the shower, then screams, jumping out, panting hard.

“Morning.”

“Co co co co co cold…” Fleur says, shivering.

“Yep, the hot water’s been out for about an hour.” Rose says, smiling.

“You co co co could have warned me.” Fleur says, trembling.

Rose giggles, “And miss you doing that to yourself for the third time in a row?”

“Why?”

“It’s an Army barracks, hot water is limited, generally first come, first serve. So the Ranger training course gets up at five in the morning and hits the showers.” Rose says, giggling and uses her magic to warm up some water, at least she can sponge wash Fleur.

“Why are you washing me?” Fleur blinks.

“Cuz its photo day.” Rose says, cheerfully.

“Oh Celestia no!” Fleur looks around quickly and starts to make a run for the door, before getting picked up in Roses aura.

“Nope, you were the one they chose. You’re our little fashion model.” Rose says, starting to dry her off.

Flailing her legs wildly in the air in protest, Fleur calls out. “I’m not a fashion model!”

“Sorry. You are the chosen one.” Rose says, putting her down on her hooves.

Goldie pokes her head into the barracks. “FLEUR!”

Fleur blinks and hugs the little earth pony tightly, “Why are you here?”

“Oh I’m here with the photo and PR group.”

With a grumble, Fleur lets the little mare go, “Traitor, this should be Velvet getting her picture done.”

“Nope. Velvet’s not CID, OSI or NCIS, so she can’t be a spokespony for us.” Goldie says, “They tried me but all this orange just didn’t work well for a photo.”

“I’m starting to feel like I’m being lead to an execution.” Fleur said looking around nervously as she is led to the building they are using for the pictures. The Army has constructed a makeshift photo studio out of one of the offices.

There are several trailers, as well as a camper, already set up by the building. This is a professional photo shoot, and they have everything from hair stylists, makeup experts, as well as lighting experts and photographers.

Fleur looks around in horror, this is NOT CID work, it isn’t even in her job description. Quickly, the staff looks at what they have to work with. Two professional grooms get to work, helping the stylists with her mane and tail.

She stands still as they work on her. Her sister is the fashion model of the family, not her. “Why are you putting makeup on me?” She whimpers and coughs as they power her body.

“To reduce shine where we don’t want it, your coat absolutely shimmers and gleams, great for public, but for photos, not so good.” The stylist says as he works.

Narrowing her eyes, she glares at him, “If you’re related to Photo Finish…”

“Who?”

Goldie just can’t help it anymore, she starts laughing uproariously, “Let us make... zee magic!”

*** Streams ***

Jetstream pants hard, her eyes closed. She is exhausted, but can’t believe how good she feels. Her body is trembling as she finds herself dripping. She’s so hot but doesn’t care one bit.

“Wow girl, you get so worked up sometimes.” Drizzle giggles.

Jetstream moans softly as she tries to move her wings, but exhaustion prevents it, and they just flop to her side. She feels tingles all over, but at the same time, she has never felt so alive. She can’t believe that just happened.

“Lightning Dust says there’s nothing like it. Sometimes she could just close her eyes and feel herself push through.” Drizzle giggles and nuzzles Jetstream softly, “Just let it happen, then boom.”

White Lightning lands beside Jetstream and smiles. “Way to go sis, Mach 1.88. A little more work, and you might make Mach 2!”

“Let’s get you to the showers, to cool off. Then we can get you some pizza!”

Keeping her head down, Streams walks with them to the outdoor showers, “That was…”

“Yeah I know right? Blaze and Fleetfoot had me running laps till my wings were ready to fall off.” Lightning says.

“I feel like such a slowpoke.” Drizzle giggles.

“Well our dad was a unicorn so, the Force is strong in our family.” Jetstream says with a smile.

Lightning just has to facehoof at that and groans, “Streams.”

“Yeah sis?”

“We are not… Oh never mind.” Lightning just laughs and hugs her sister in the shower.

“Aww you two even shower together.” Drizzle giggles. “You are sisters.”

“I only remember glimpses.” Steams says, “And feelings.”

“You know Drizzle... You’re still dry.”

“Oh no.” Drizzle says, starting to back up, “It takes forever to dry my coat… no…”

Streams and Lightning both pounce on Drizzle, laughing, and pull her into the shower as well. Showers, in this case, the 520th have set up an open aired outside set of showers where any of the pegasi can land and wash off. A total of eight shower-heads are in the enclosed area, and it’s blocked from outside view by simple screens, much like a pool shower.

“I’ve been thinking about joining the 520th, but I don’t see how I can.” Streams says softly.

“What’cha mean?” Drizzle asks shaking herself out.

Looking at Lightning, then at Drizzle, she shakes her head. “520th is military police. Air Force police. I’m not military, I could join, but I didn’t think I’d pass with my autism.” Streams says, with a sigh.

“Yeah, point there.” Drizzle says. “The requirements for the 520th are kind of messed up for what we do. We handle emergencies, but we do it pegasus style.”

“I know, everypony’s actually going to slowly be retrained for police duties.” Lightning says.

“And that’s not something I’m likely to pass either.” Streams sighs, “Asperger’s syndrome has me working pretty bad with most people.”

“Yeah.” Drizzle said putting her wing over Streams. “Officer training, police officer training, and such is a mess for you. The problem is, the stresses we face aren’t the same as a normal officer or pilot. Running down a drone someone’s flying to close to an airport, and bringing it back for police to track is a lot different than breaking into a meth lab.”

“To be honest, I think I’m going to work with the Air Force and come up with a proper role for the 520th, and then from that, design a training program that fits our job.” Lightning says.

“Pizza time?” Streams asks, perking.

“Yes, sis, it's pizza time.” Lightning laughs.

*** Velvet ***

Waking up as a pony can still can be a little disorientating at times. Even after months of being a pony, it can still happen. Especially when you try and do the simple things, like rubbing your eyes, scratching an itch or stretching.

Waking up as a mare, who’s pregnant, now that’s a whole different game. I find myself just lying in bed, relaxing, trying to decide how I feel. What feels different? I’m not that far along. My body however is still playing games with me.

First thing I notice is Blaze has his wing over me, snuggling. Next I’ve got three little foals sleeping against my belly. The CMC has their own room, but sometimes they get lonely, or scared, for some reason. Usually it starts with Feather having a nightmare and coming in. The twins often follow soon after, to keep Feather safe.

Leaning down I gently start licking Feather's head, nuzzling her softly. It’s an old instinct, I guess, or primal, normal horses do it but I don’t know or remember if ponies do it. Placing my muzzle over her and sigh once, relaxing. “It’s okay baby. Mama’s here.”

Feather yawns softly and snuggles tighter to my belly. “Love you mama.”

Smiling softly, I sigh, it’s the weekend and there’s just no point in getting up right now. I’m just too comfy to move. Softly, I touch my horn to the Candy’s horn, then Cloudy’s. Just a moment of motherly bonding but it helps me feel so much better.

“I’ll just get up later.” I giggle and lay my head down over the foals, protectively pulling them tight to my belly.

*** Task force 70.3 ***

The typhoon is rated as a category one. Ships have been moving clear of its path and smaller boats are staying in port. The pegasi of the fleet are keeping clouds over the carrier group as well as keeping the storm going.

“Coffee?”

“Yes captain.” Blue Lagoon looks up, smiling.

Knowing she has her magic going for the storm, the Captain sits down on the floor beside her and holds the cup with a straw. It’s easier for her rather than having her split her concentration.

“You don’t need to.” Blue Lagoon says softly, though she has to lower her ears as she blushes.

“I want to. You are going above and beyond right now, so I might as well help.” The Captain says, firmly.

Huffing, Blue lays down on the floor and starts drinking the coffee. It’s warm enough that she can feel it, but cool enough so it doesn’t burn her mouth as she sips it through the straw. He also had it triple sugared and creamed, just the way she likes it.

“Tomorrow, we start breaking this up and begin the air ops.” The Captain says.

“Yeah.”

“Intel has them having Club-K missiles. Without targeting data from other boats or aircraft, they can’t fire on us. Every hour you buy us, is more lives saved.” The Captain says.

“I know, and I know they are holding ponies too.”

“It just feels wrong, knowing your magic is the lead off to a major anti-pirate offensive.” The Captain says softly.

“That’s likely going to have hundreds, or even thousands, of civilian casualties.” Flattening her ears, she pulls her tail tightly against her.

“That’s the pony in you. I would never want to change that. All I can say is, there is no good war, only good intentions. We are doing this to protect humans and ponies alike.” Nodding slowly, the Captain strokes her cheek.

Looking up at him, she finds herself blushing more. Opening her mouth to speak, she can’t find the words. Turning her head quickly to look away from him, she gets back to sipping her coffee.

*** Streams ***

Drizzle is back on the job. Major White Lightning is at the office. That leaves Jetstream alone. Honestly this isn’t a bad thing for her, it gives her time to think, to stretch her wings, and to fly.

For a girl who spent most of her life alone in her room on computers, being alone in the air isn’t a bad step. She can see things, but doesn’t have to interact with them on a personal level. Spiraling out she hits a cloud, causing it to burst into smaller tufts that dissipate quickly.

There’s no need to be cloud busting, but really, sometimes it’s fun. Leveling out again, she looks around, the sky is clear of traffic, most birds are at lower altitudes, so things are pretty free. Maybe she should try some cloud shaping.

Her cellphone starts vibrating on her leg. With a sigh, she twitches an ear to answer it, “Streams here.”

“Streams, is your transponder on?” Lightning calls over the phone.

“Umm yeah, one sec.” Checking her leg she saw the transponder is on, its lights glowing.

“Can you squawk it for me please?”

Hitting the button with her nose she waits and watches the light as it blinks.

“Yeah, okay, you’re the closest one. I have a HUGE favor to ask.”

“What is it, sis?”

“Okay, about 15 miles west of you, there’s an airplane, it’s an Embraer ERJ-175.”

“Thanks, I have no idea what that is.” Streams huffs.

Her phone vibrates again, “I just sent you a picture of it. It left Dulles International a little while ago. It’s a local commuter flight. About ten minutes ago air traffic control said the pilots started talking strange, said there was a problem with the circuit breakers. We haven’t been able to raise them since.”

“What do you want me to do?” Streams says.

“Take a look, see if they are ok? They climbed out to 26,000 feet and are holding their course, but not responding.”

Kicking in her speed, Streams climbs out to about 27,000 feet and shoots off after the jet. It doesn’t take long for her to see the plane. It’s a short hop commuter jet with twin engines, mounted one per wing. While the jet is cruising at about 500 mph, Streams is moving at close to twice that speed.

“Okay I see it. I’m above and behind it.” Streams says, rocking side to side a bit.

“Streams, you are clear to violate flight restrictions and distance requirements, get in close and see what’s going on please. We still can’t reach the aircraft.”

Diving down, Streams pulls up beside the aircraft, flying level with it, about fifty feet away. Almost right away she has a bad feeling. “Umm, Lightning, the windows are all fogged over. Even the cockpit windows have fog, or ice, on them.”

“Damn it, it’s a pressurization failure.”

Moving closer, Streams shakes her head, “I can see people inside, but they aren’t moving, they have breathing masks on but…”

“The emergency masks are only good for about ten or fifteen minutes. It’s been at least twenty since the problems started.”

“Any chance they are still alive?”

“Maybe, but there’s nothing we can do.”

“Why?” Streams asks, flying closer and putting a hoof on the window, banging on it. Neither of the bridge crew has their masks on.

“There’s no way to get the plane down to a safe altitude.” Lightning says, sighing.

“Can’t I just open the door?” Streams asks innocently.

*** 520th flight ops ***

Everyone blinks, looking at each other. The concept has never been considered before. It wouldn’t be simple, but it might be possible.

“Ok, Baker, get a pilot familiar with the EJ-175 on the line, patch them in to this. Maxwell, get in touch with the control towers, clear all flight levels on that planes path, all the way down to ground level.” White Lightning looks at the staff. “Opening the door and walking in… Seriously, it’s going to be harder than it sounds, but...”

Instantly everyone leaps into action, making calls.

*** Streams ***

“Okay sis, be careful, the door opens inwards, but you are going to get a lot of buffeting from it.”

Pulling the lever and turning it, the door pops out a bit. “Nope, door opens out.”

“Oh, lovely.”

It takes a bit of work for her to get the door to slide in the right direction, but after a few moments it is open and holding its place. Using the airstream to her advantage, she lets it push her into the plane, landing on the floor.

Wind roars into the plane, kicking up papers and anything that isn’t secured, sending it flying around the cabin. The door, however, is behind the cockpit, so as soon as she is in the galley area by the door, the air is calm.

“Ok I’m at the door to the cockpit. Um, it’s closed and there’s some kind of keypad lock.”

“Yep, we are trying to get the door code from the airline.” Lightning says.

Looking at her hind legs she shrugs. She turns her rear to the door and looks over her shoulder to aim. Three good solid kicks later with her hind legs have shattered the lock and damaged the hinges, but she now has access.

“It’s open.” Streams calls.

Lightning sounds rather surprised when she responds. “How did you do it? Did you hack the code or something?”

“I used Applejack’s Universal Key. My hind legs.”

Grabbing the breathing masks, she puts one on the pilot, and one on the co-pilot, before looking at the instruments. Yep, there are a lot more here then on her glider.

“Okay, um, what do I do now?”

A man’s voice comes over her earpiece. “You are going to need to look at the flight management system.”

Streams huffs once, “Sis, explain to him a pegasi’s flight management system.”

It takes him a few moments to run through it, but Streams manages to reset the flight altitude to 8,000 feet on the autopilot. She blinks a few times and backs away as she watches the throttles and stick start moving on their own. The plane’s computer begins dropping altitude while cutting back on engine power so it doesn’t gain speed.

“Umm, okay, now we’re dropping altitude.”

Looking over at the pilot, she gives him a few shakes to see if she can wake him up. He has oxygen and the plane is getting down to an altitude where he wouldn’t need his mask. He seems to be breathing but isn’t awake.

Spreading her wings a bit, she tilts her head as she gives him another shake. Slowly, he opens his eyes and looks up at her. Moaning softly through the mask he mumbles, “Are you an angel?”

“Nope, nor am I a princess or a queen. I don’t do that whole white face paint thing.” Stream says and backs out of the cockpit. She doesn’t want to get into a big discussion or worse, get told she has to pay for the door she broke.

“They seem to be waking up now.” Streams says over her radio.

“They should be able to land the plane. Good job sis.”

Hopping back out into the airstream, it takes a moment for Streams to right herself and catch up to the door again. Once there, she is able to force it closed and lock it. Peeling back and up, she holds flight above the airliner following it down towards the airport.

“Can I have a pizza?” Streams says, turning and heading back.

“Heck girl, after that, you can have a dozen.” Lightning calls back.

*** Goldie ***

“Wow, she’s hungry.” Goldie says, bringing in some mushroom stuffed salmon.

Natalya looks at her sternly, “She’s been though a lot, pony.”

Goldie blinks, “Really, you’re placing the species card?”

Natalya blinks and shakes her head. “Sorry not sure where that came from. That was uncalled for, we’ve all been through a lot.”

“Tell me about it. She’s going to have to see a judge about the murders.”

“It was self-defence.” Natalya says firmly.

Looking up at the griffin, Goldie nods, “I know, and warranted in at least two cases. It’s still got to go up in front of a judge.”

“So he can deem her a dangerous animal and put her down?” Natalya puffs her feathers, her tail lashes side to side like an angry cat.

“Over my dead body.” Goldie says, slamming her hoof down hard enough to crack the tile floor. “She is a victim and has suffered enough.”

“Touchy on the animal term?” Natalya says, looking down at the Earth pony.

Goldie looks at the ground and blinks as she lifts her hoof to see the damage. “Umm, apparently.”

Walking in the room they look at the little griffin. No one is sure of her name yet, even she doesn’t know. They hope it would come back to her, for now they are going with Vasilisa, her human name.

Seeing the fish, the little griffin comes out from under the bed and sits, looking up at Natalia.

“Yes, you can eat. You don’t need to hide, you are not in trouble.” Natalya says in Russian.

Sitting in front of the platter, the little griffin starts eating, watching the two. Keeping her back to the bed, she backs under it a little bit for more protection. Her eyes dart between the pony and the large griffin as she eats the fish.

Sighing Natalya looks at Goldie, “Have you got any ideas?”

“One… but you are NOT going to like it.” Goldie says, looking between the two.

“Let’s have it.”

“Very slowly move beside her and lay your wing over her. Play protective mom.” Goldie says, shaking her head. “She’s running on instincts and fear. Mothering her might turn things around.”

“But…” Natalya starts looking at Goldie.

“Same species, you’re the only one.” Goldie looks at the fledgling. “Remember she’s still twenty-five, but after what she’s gone through…”

Carefully Natalya makes a wide arc and lays down beside the fledgling, putting her wing over it. She has never really been social, per se. She’s also never really been a mothering type, so this isn’t her thing.

Looking up the griffin chirps once and moves closer to Natalya’s side. Closing her eyes she whimpers, “Thank…you.”

Looking up at Goldie, Natalya smiles, “She said, thank you.”

“Birds eye view, awake the stars ‘cause there all around you.” Goldie starts singing as she trots out. The OSI Jet was waiting for her on the runway.

*** Lightning ***

Drizzle hugs Streams, rubbing her face against the other pegasus’. She keeps her wing over Streams, holding her while she shares her pizza. Both pegasi are as close as they can be in the booth, though Streams is blushing up a storm.

“So the problem was caused by a short in the electrical system. It kept throwing the circuit breakers, and the pilots became fixated on that problem. They didn’t notice the pressurization. The short kept blanking out the screens where the warnings would come up.” Lightning says.

Streams looks up innocently, “Great explanation, if I knew what it meant.” Looking at Drizzle, she blushes more and giggles. “Sorry, again closest I got was gliders, there wasn’t any electrical systems on them, past the radio.”

“Oh then you are going to love this. National papers are running the headlines, ‘Plane and fifty passengers saved by an Angel.’ A commuter airliner suffered an in air depressurization leading to the crew becoming incapacitated. The autopilot was reset to a lower altitude and the pilots revived by what they describe as an angel.’”

Lifting her wing Streams giggles, “Well I have wings, but no halo.”

Drizzle giggles, “Local papers running a better story?”

“In a dramatic rescue, members of a special team of the US Air Force’s 520th Squadron helped in an unprecedented in-air rescue of a civilian aircraft. FAA members say the door was opened midair and a single member boarded the plane to reset the controls and revive the crew, before exiting the aircraft again.” Lightning giggles, looking at Streams. “You’re safe, no names.”

“Good I don’t wanna do interviews or such.”

Lightning cringes, “Oh then you are going to hate this. You’ve been nominated for a FAA Valor Medal.”

Streams face plants on the table, JUST missing the pizza. “I hate my life.”

65: Downpour

“Ladies and gentlemen, mares and stallions, we didn’t ask for this curse. We didn’t ask for our two worlds to collide. But we didn’t ask for Pearl Harbor or 9/11 either. Ponies and humans have been thrust together, as well as killed, because of this. They have been tortured and sold as slaves.”

The Admiral looks across the flight deck at the brave men and women. The pegasi, the unicorns, the earth ponies in uniform, all standing proud. Blue Lagoon is breaking up the storm around the ships as the clock ticks down.

“Well, I say, no more! Today we take the first step to a better world. Today we fight for freedom for those that can’t fight for themselves. Today we take the fight to the pirates, to the weapons smugglers, and the terrorists that prey on the innocent. Today we say in one united voice, no more!”

The cry rises from all the crew, “For freedom!”

Each of the pegasi congregate to have their final checkovers done by the support crews making sure their communications systems are linked. Each has a defensive weapon on their foreleg, a 9mm with a hundred rounds. Their main tool, though, is their laser designator. They are the pathfinders for the jets. They’ll find the targets and mark them.

They are cobbled together from members of the 520th on the west coast, and military pegasi from Japan and Hawaii. Their job as pathfinders is probably the most important job in urban combat like this. Drones won’t be able to react fast enough, or be able to fly low enough to spot the targets. Looking straight down, they all look like shipping containers until they open. Though a pegasus can play the angles and see inside if the rear control doors are open.

Their goggles have a heads up display system, which is linked to their self defense weapon. It lets them see where their pistol is pointing. It’s all off the shelf gear, even the gun sights are off the shelf. A civilian made Bluetooth scope that includes target prediction speed and air temperature compensation, and it also has automatic range finder and ballistic compensation built in. The system is considered a cheat by most hunters, and in fact is illegal to use in some places. It’s being used here simply due to the pegasi’s inability to shoulder and aim a weapon normally.

The pegasi were the first in the air, they don’t need to wait for the storm to clear. They need to be as close as possible to land before the storm breaks up and boats are put to sea. They’re the vanguard.

*** HMAS Brisbane ***

“Weather is still pretty bad out there. Do you think she can really break it up?” The radar operator says from his station.

“We’ve seen what they can do. Blue Lagoon isn’t alone in this either.” Captain Stevenson says, looking out the window.

“How are our Special Operations boys holding out?” The XO, Commander Cruz, asks looking out the window.

“My lads are tough as nails. No need to worry about them.” An army major says, looking out the window. The Brisbane crests another wave its bow dropping down heavily as she makes for the shore line.

The HMAS Hobart and Sydney are following close behind. Dropping RIBs in this kind of weather would be considered insanity, normally. The plan calls for it though, as soon as the storm starts to break, the three destroyers drop their Special Forces teams and make a break for it. Once they have room to maneuver again, they’ll be on the lookout for any Klub-K missiles that are launched.

“We were caught by surprise last time. This time, we own the surprise.” Captain Stevenson says firmly. Glancing over, the Captain looks at the stuffed animal strapped to the helm. Most Royal Australian warships have a mascot, and the Brisbane is no exception.

Mascots are often the pride and joy of a ship. Sailing without it is considered bad luck. It’s rare for a mascot to change, but given the situation, this is all about change. The stuffed toy is held in place by straps to prevent it from being tossed around the bridge in the rough weather. The little pegasus, dressed in Royal Australian Navy uniform sits proud and true. It’s compass cutie mark a reminder of their missing aircrew member.

Daring Do may be safe at home in Equestria now, but the HMAS Brisbane will never forget her. Her place on the ship held in honor by the stuffed mascot.

*** Panama City ***

Sunny Daze sighs softly, “I’m bored.”

“I know, but we have to wait here for now. Full Steam doesn’t want to risk walking through the city during the day. Since we can’t use the big bridges, we need to wait till night time anyway to use the swing bridges over the Canal.” Ambrosia says to the filly as she looks out the window.

“You’re worried about him too?”

“Yes, he’s been gone a while.” Ambrosia says, fidgeting.

“I should have gone, besides I need to be out in the sun.” Sunny Daze says, “Otherwise my cutie mark gets all itchy and fadey and stuff.”

“It does not.” Ambrosia says, shaking her head.

“Well it feels like it, my mark is a sun so I’ve gotta be out in the sun.” She huffs.

A thump at the door hushes both ponies and Ambrosia moves to the back of the wagon. Peeking out, she sees Full Steam with a bag in his mouth, much to her relief. Quickly, she opens the door, letting him in, “Don’t scare us like that.”

“Sorry, it was hard to find stuff.” He says and dumps out some bananas and potatoes. “I know, it’s not much, but it’s all I could find.” Looking down at Sunny Daze he smiles gently and places a long sugarcane stalk in front of her.

Sunny Daze’s eyes go wide at the treat. She hadn’t seen one of these since before her change, and now that she’s a pony, she’s wanted to try one for months. Quickly, she hugs Full Steam before sitting down starting to gnaw on the end.

“Careful, don’t spoil your appetite for dinner.” Ambrosia says, looking at Full Steam, quietly she mouthed to him with a smile, “Thank you.”

“When’s sunset?” Full Steam says, looking out the window.

“Eighty-two minutes.” Sunny Daze replies without really thinking about it as she gnaws on her cane.

“Then in two hours I start pulling again, after dinner.” Full Steam nods.

“How are we going to cross the Panama Canal?” Ambrosia asks, worried.

“We can’t use the toll bridge, or the large suspension bridge. The swing bridge, though, is open at night. It’s used by farmers and local traffic. I can pull the wagon across there without anyone paying attention or even batting an eye.” Full Steam says with a faint smile.

Ambrosia nods and gets to work, making dinner, the little wood burning stove is good enough to boil potatoes, or bake them. Being earth ponies, in some ways, limits what they can do for food. But it does allow them to use some of the more common plants that are used to graze cattle or sheep. Of course Ambrosia isn’t about grazing, she’s careful to pick out the best plants, wash them, and season them for everypony. They aren’t animals, after all.

***

The Admiral sits in the combat information center, watching as aircraft move into position. Fighters, attack aircraft, helicopters, even airborne early warning and control shows up as dots on the board.

A total of five E-2 Hawkeyes are moving to their stations. Three of them are staggered about a hundred miles from each other along the Samaru Island coast line. They will watch for any ship’s missiles or other threats coming from the shore line.

The first of the F-18’s are setting on station, they will provide the first line of defense against any counterattack. Slowly, but surely, the F-35’s are lighting up on the screen as all carriers were launching their strike wings. This isn’t expected to be safe or easy. This isn’t expected to be a cakewalk like Panama or Somalia. The risks are real and the stakes are high.

“Fighting 3 in position, Fighting 4 and 5 on station now,” Calls out one of the radar techs.

“Attack 1, 2 and 3 in the air, 4, 5 and 6 are launching,” Calls out the flight ops.

“Strawberry 2 reports one target leaving port, fishing trawler.” The radio operator calls out, “Target designated Green 1.”

“Heat blooms showing up in the engine room of a freighter, designated Red 1. Threat is high.”

There will be civilian casualties. The press is going to have a field day with this. But this has to be done. Too many lives have already been destroyed, and this location needs to be neutralized.

“Pathfinders in place and ready. Operation begins in eight minutes.” Calls out the XO.

“Send the go codes now.” The admiral says.

*** Cherry Blossom ***

She walks, her head low, down the hall of the ship. Her ‘trainer’ whipping her flank with a thatch if he thinks she was moving too slowly. He carries an AK with him, but he keeps it shouldered. He has seen no need with this pitiful mare.

She has walked the corridors a few times to the holding cells. The air is filled with hopelessness as much as it is filled with the smell of oil, and dirty ponies. A smell she will never forget.

The electrical shock behind her ear causes her to flick it a few times. She’s been waiting for this, the transmitter behind her ear has received a signal and is now pulsing once every ten seconds. The military will know where she is in real time.

Now, she needs to do her job.

Unlike Cheerilee, Cherry has spent years training to fight as a pony, and her body reflects that training. Years were spent building strength, stamina, speed, and agility, both in the gym and fighting in the ring. As a human, she had grown up learning to fight. She did her military service, as was the duty of all Israeli’s, before joining the Mossad.

She’s also seen real combat in Syria, in the West Bank, and in Egypt during the uprisings of terror. She is not an innocent pony by any stretch of the imagination. And she certainly is not helpless.

In a blur of motion, she spins around, rearing up to look her ‘trainer’ in the eyes. She speaks clearly and coldly as he looks at her in shock and horror. “You will never touch another pony like you touched me.”

There was no response from him. All he can do is cough up some blood. Her hoof has crushed his ribcage, driving his breastbone into his heart. A moment later, he falls to the ground.

Turning, she runs down the hallway, the clatter of her hooves alerting the guards in the holding area. Grabbing his rifle he turns to point it down the hallway. It’s already too late for that. Standing up on her hind hooves again she’s already face to face with him… a stern look about her.

His lifeless body flies into the second guard in the room, knocking him back. Charging across the floor she falls to her side, sliding under a table then meets the second guard as he hit the ground. Her hind legs slamming into him in a devastating kick. The power earth ponies have in their hooves far exceeds that of normal earth horses. A human body simply can’t take the damage she can dish out with even a single hit. Ponies like Applejack and Maud Pie can shatter steel, stone, or wood with a single kick.

She searches the bodies for the keys, which unfortunately, is a lot trickier than it seems when you’re using hooves. She finds herself ripping open the pants to get them out, a sight she would rather forget. In a matter of moments, she has the doors open.

“We need to get off this ship. NOW.” She says, there’s an assortment of ponies, humans, and even a pair of griffins in the mix. “Move fast, follow me, and keep your heads down.”

Perking her ears she hears the sound of the first explosion. “Move, now.” She shouts.

*** Fire ***

Fire Streak tags the next shipping container with his laser before shooting up higher. About thirty seconds later the two hundred fifty pound bomb slams into the canister, the four missiles inside blowing up, obliterating the building that’s beside the container.

These are not laser guided bombs. They are GPS guided, though the lasers work in conjunction with a burst transmitter. Spinning quickly, Fire tags a man portable SAM quad rack on top of a building. The laser calculates the range from where Fire is hover, there is a gyro system that calculates the angle and direction the laser is pointing, and that information is matched with Fire’s own GPS. A moment later a burst transmission is sent off with the GPS location of the missiles.

In response to Fire’s call, an F-35 drops another two hundred fifty pound bomb which speeds down to the target. The explosion takes out a good portion of the roof. It couldn’t be helped, though. These people have chosen to set up these missiles where they did. They figured that the fact that civilians are in play would stop people from targeting them.

“Fire Streak!”

“What’s up, Wind?” Fire calls back over the radio as he turns, searching for more threats.

“AWACS says long range surface search air search radar just went active on the hill.” Wind calls back, “I need help!”

“Aww hell, that’s the last thing we need.” Shooting up, Fire catches up with the other pegasi as they begin heading for the hill side on Samaru Island. Small arms fire rises up from the trees, but the pegasi are just too fast and small to be effectively shot at.

Within moments, Fire spots his prey and tags a Russian made radar site sitting about two thousand feet up the hillside. Tagging it as quickly as he can, it still takes another minute before the bombs find their target. Wind has designated the generator vehicle and both sites vanish under expanding fireballs.

The damage has been done, though. Turning, the pair see several missiles streaking out from the city towards the open water.

“Oh hell… VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE! Multiple missiles airborne!” Wind calls out.

*** CIC ***

“It’s confirmed, eighty-four missiles are inbound. F-18’s are engaging.”

“Zumwalt is firing SAM’s and taking evasive action.”

“The cruisers Port Royal, and Vella Gulf, are moving into position to screen us, their missiles are being launched.”

“Increasing speed to full, coming left to 225.”

Missiles screams from launch silos on the ships in response to the incoming anti-ship missiles. Trails of smoke and flashes of light illuminate the decks of the cruisers and missile after missile leaves its silo to protect the carriers and landing ships.

*** HMAS Brisbane ***

“Hard to starboard, launch countermeasures!” Captain Stevenson calls out as he grips the chair.

The Brisbane leans hard as she starts her turn, her Phalanx and Bushmasters are churning out round after round, trying to stop the zig zagging missiles. Rounds splash into the water before one of the missiles is hit, exploding in a fireball.

Half a kilometer behind, the Hobart shudders as a Klub-K slams into its helicopter hangar and detonating. Fire engulfs the rear of the ship, but she isn’t out of the fight yet. Her five inch gun taking out a fourth missile before it can do any damage.

Alarms sound on the Brisbane as the radar operator calls out, “Vampire, five hundred meters and closing!”

Her deck gun fights hard to turn around in time. Her Bushmaster is in a reload cycle after the last missile. This one is heading for the forward part of the ship, locked on to the superstructure.

“Four hundred meters, guns won’t get there in time, she’s inside minimum range for the missiles!” The weapons officer calls.

“Three hundred meters, countermeasures are deployed, sir. But there is no effect. She’s locked on.”

“Brace for impact!” Captain Stevenson calls out.

At a hundred-fifty meters, a young pegasus mare slams into the side of the missile, sending it spinning into the water, where it explodes. The concussive force of the explosion sends the small pony skipping across the waves before coming to rest in the water about two hundred meters off the ship.

“The hell was that!” XO Cruz calls out.

“One of the pegasi, she sacrificed herself.” Comes over the internal communications from the one of the spotters, “She’s in the water, not moving.”

“Get a RIB in the water, NOW! Have medics in the RIB with supplies. We may not be able to pick the RIB up if we have to keep dodging.” Captain Stevenson calls out.

“Daring Do would have done nothing less.” The radar operator says, looking at the mascot.

*** Cherry ***

The water is filled with debris. The smell of smoke and chemicals fills the air. Machine gun fire is being countered by missiles and guided bombs. People are yelling, crying and screaming. While the air power is not deliberately targeting the civilians, the placement of the weapons by the pirates is leading to high casualties.

Cherry moves her group through the water to a spot under the docks. There are nearly a hundred twenty prisoners that she has rounded up, not all are slaves, though. Some are ships crews that were kidnapped for ransom. Many have been tortured.

While the city is mostly civilians, they all have been profiting from the piracy and slave trade. Cherry has very little sympathy for them right now. Instead, she is concerned with the lives of those under her protection.

Poking her head out, she sees the pegasus coming in low and fast above the water. The pegasus is dodging some small arms fire before hitting the water and vanishing. Cherry itches to go out to see if she’s okay. She wants to go out to help, but knows she can’t break cover… counting slowly, she waits and hopes.

Twenty seconds later the pegasi’s head pops up, she’s panting hard as she dog paddles under the dock. “Supply package for you.” She chirps.

Blinking Cherry sees the pegasi’s wing is bleeding, “You’ve been shot.”

“Yeah, trust me it hurts a lot. I think I’m grounded for now, but the Australian Special Forces are eight hundred meters down the coast.” The pegasus says, looking around, “Rosewing, JSDF.”

Taking the satchel from Rosewing, Cherry quickly puts on the headset and foreleg gun. “Cherry Blossom here. Holding position with over a hundred rescued, we need evac. I have casualties and the area is hot… Very hot.”

“Roger, Cherry, support is heading to your position. Gunships will be there in thirty seconds.”

*** USS Ronald Reagan ***

Cannon fire from the escorting destroyers and cruisers, as well as short range rolling airframe missiles, are firing as fast as the fire control systems will allow. So far only two ships have taken damage from the incoming missiles. The HMAS Hobart is burning, but the captain is sure he can save the ship. The destroyer USS Zumwalt has taken a hit to her bow, but she’s still afloat. Zumwalt can only make eight knots right now, but she’s hanging in the fight with her railgun and missiles providing long range cover.

“Captain, two more coming in on port side.” A spotter calls out.

“I see ‘em.”

Rolling airframe launchers spun, putting out missiles. The defensive missiles meets mid-flight with the Klub-K’s, detonating them. An explosion rocks the cruiser USS Port Royal as a missile hits it in the superstructure, smoke pouring out from the hole.

Snaking its way between the cruisers, another missile heads for the carrier. At a mere twenty-five feet above the water line, it was masked by the other ships until now. Its onboard computers has helped it evade defensive fire and now it locks onto its prize, the USS Ronald Reagan.

“Captain, incoming!” comes the shout.

Climbing, the missile speeds for the island superstructure, its control surfaces making fast adjustments, causing the missile to dance side to side in the air, making it hard to track and shoot. Missiles won’t be able to get it before it hits.

Spooling up and spinning on its mount, the carrier’s Phalanx systems opens up, firing hundreds of rounds into the air.

“This one’s going to be close!”

The missile detonates only a hundred feet from the ship. The shockwave blows out windows and portals all along that side. Fragments impacted with the hull and superstructure.

Turning, the Captain throws himself over Blue Lagoon, shielding her from the blast and fragments. Pieces of metal and glass impact all over the deck. Smoke quickly fills the room, but there isn’t any fire. The point defense guns had minimized damage and stopped the missile just short.

Coughing hard, Blue Lagoon shakes her head. Her ears are still ringing from the blast as she looks around. The Captain is still laying on top of her, but he isn’t moving. Quickly she gets up to check him. There’s blood on the back of his uniform.

“MEDIC!” She cries out, “The Captain’s hurt!”

*** Cherry ***

Armored Vehicles take up positions and begin firing at rebel strong points at the edge of town, this has given the Australians the cover they needed to advance. The team has dug in, allowing a safe corridor for the hostages and slaves to escape.

“Major, there are two more buildings, there and there, where they are holding prisoners.” Cherry points out.

“Got it, you know you’re bleeding, right?” The major says.

Cherry looks back at her hip, “Yeah, small arms fire, it’s probably going to require surgery but it’s just in the muscle.”

“Medic, get her back to the hovercraft.”

“I’m fine.” Cherry says with a growl.

“I know you are, but orders are orders, your job is done.” The major says as a tank takes out a machine gun site.

“This is the battle of Mogadishu all over again.” One of the Special Forces says, shaking his head. “Everyone’s shooting, even the children.”

*** CMC EC ***

Feather lay with her forelegs crossed in the tree house. The TV is on, but she really isn’t paying attention. She feels like such a failure, all the work and nothing. She was sure she would have gotten her mark that time.

“Well at least the tree sap and pine needles are gone.” Cloudy says, lying beside her.

With a huff, Feather tilts her head and screams up at the ceiling. “I thought for sure we’d get it that time!”

Candy blinks and leans back from his chair, “Wow, okay, you were right Cloudy, maple trees aren’t the ones with pine cones.”

Both girls glared at Candy, who shrugs, “Don’t look at me, I was just a weather girl remember.”

“Canadian flag, maple leaf.” Cloudy says, looking at him sternly.

“Come on, I grew up in a big city.” He says.

“Think we can get on the shooting range?” Feather asks.

Candy shakes his head. “Asked about that, said we had to be about a hundred pounds heavier.”

“Come on, how hard is it to find out what we are good at?” Feather says and stands up.

“We’re good at being cute.” Cloudy says and sits down, doing her best to look adorable.

“Yes, and that’s dangerous, look how many times we’ve had to run because of it.” Candy responds with a shiver, “Kids have no sense of where not to touch a pony.”

“Oh, I have an idea.” Cloudy perks.

Candy flops backwards on the sofa after turning off the computer, “Shoot, I’m five percent ears.”

“Five percent?” Feather asks, confused.

“Duh, if I was all ears I wouldn’t have a mouth, so I couldn’t speak.” Candy says.

“ARGH! What’s your idea, Cloudy?” Feather said turning away from Candy.

Candy wiggled an ear at Feather, mocking her.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Pop Band. Ponies are all good with music, we could try for musical cutie marks! Like Ballad and Sky Song.”

“Remember the music store incident?” Feather says.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Cloudy says, and all of them sigh.

“Want to try some farm work? Maybe we could try for earth pony type marks.” Feather says.

“Oh, I’ll check for the closest farms.” Cloudy says and bounds over to the computer.

*** Velvet ***

“Welcome to Fort Bragg’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” I say with a giggle.

Fleur just groans and flops down on the pillows.

“Twilight Sparkle's School?” Sugarberry says, smiling.

“It’s not being named after my daughter.” I huff.

Cipher perks.

“No, we are not calling it Hogwarts either.” I say, laughing.

Cipher droops.

“Honestly, Fort Bragg Unicorn Academy seems to be the best choice.” Ballad says.

“I’m still shocked they won’t make you an instructor, at least in pay.” Sugarberry says, sighing.

“Makes sense, I don’t have the rank, teaching courses, or such to be one. As well what I’m teaching is so alien that they can’t really work a course around it.” I say with a sigh. “The idea of magic in its raw form is too strange and is so different between individuals. Sad to say they have an easier time accepting earth pony strength and pegasus flight.”

Ballad huffs, “Pegasus courses like transponder usage and laws of the air are taught by instructors. Just cuz we using magic doesn’t mean our courses are any less important.”

“Wagon pulling 101.” Sugarberry says.

“WHAT!” We all looked at her, blinking.

“Just saying, earth ponies don’t have courses.” Sugarberry says.

Fleur rolls onto her back, curling her forelegs, “Other than the common classes, walking 124, hoof care 101, and how to use the bathroom.”

“Be nice, Fleur.” I say, shaking my head.

“What? Those things are confusing.” She giggles. “There’s what, four knobs?”

“Okay, point.” I say.

A pillow slams lightly into the side of my head. Blinking I look over at Cipher.

“Are we out of coffee?” I ask.

“Nope, I just started a pot.” Cipher says, “Careful, it’s strong.”

“Eeyup.” Sugarberry laughs before I throw the pillow at her.

“Oh, I’m heading back to CID tomorrow.” Fleur says, “I got recalled. I’ll be back next weekend though.”

“Aww, but with you around its so much like Equestria…” I say, smiling at her.

“Well except for all the humans around.” Sugarberry says.

“Well some of the humans are nice, some of them even have cutie marks.” Ballad says, nodding.

“If they have a cutie mark, they are a pony.” Cipher says, nodding firmly.

Opening the door Henry walks in, “Aww heck, what did I just walk into?”

“Nothing, we’re just talking about the magic course and what to name it.” I say, then I blink. “What’s that?”

“Umm donuts, fresh, hot, just out of the fryer. I picked up a few dozen for the guys.” He says, then he starts to look worried.

“Well now you’re joining us instead.” I say firmly.

All around the room horns light up.

“Girls? Umm girls? No! Get your own!”

Author's Note

Art work by Alkarasu again. The Panama group. Imagine, walking 6500 miles based on a dream.

66: Microbursts

“Captain, infantry is calling for support against a mortar site in the hills.” The radio operator calls out.

“Come to heading 355, give them ten rounds from the main gun, have the Bushmasters on standby.” Captain Stevenson calls out.

The ship makes its turn as the gun swings around, the five inch cannon putting out naval rounds deep inland against the requested target. The rounds detonated above the target area, showering it with lethal shrapnel.

“Okay, the helo is back from the USNS Comfort. They dropped of the pegasus there.” The radio operator calls out.

“Okay, turn us into the wind for helo recovery. Any idea who she was?”

“Electric Blue,” The radio operator says, looking over, “Part of the JSDF pegasi that joined us. They had a few pegasi from their carrier that joined the operation.”

“How is she?” The Captain asks, the little pegasus had sacrificed herself to save his ship.

“They don’t expect her to make it.” The radio operator says solemnly.

*** USS Ronald Reagan ***

“32 injured, 6 dead on the Hobart; 18 injured, 2 dead on the Zumwalt; 93 injured, 12 dead on the Port Royal. 12 injured on the Ronald Reagan.” The Admiral sighs softly.

“We still haven’t got numbers from the ground forces yet.” The XO says, “But we knew it was going to be bad. This was the stronghold for the region. They have been funding terrorism, piracy and such for most of the South Pacific and Indian Ocean for years from this location.”

“I know, it was a high value target. Biggest outside of Somalia.” The Admiral says mournfully, “I still hate the loss of life.”

“How’s the rescue numbers?” The XO asks, looking over at the papers.

“43 sailors from three ships, one German, one Japanese, and one Spanish. 275 women bound for the slave markets, nearly 50 of them school girls taken in one raid from Africa. 67 ponies from mixed locations. 12 griffins, all from Russia.” The Admiral reads down the list.

“Wait, have there been any Griffins in the US?” The XO asks, looking over.

“Not that I know of, none in the military, wonder why they tend to show up more in Russia?” The Admiral muses.

“Might be the cold climate.” The XO chuckles.

“No, then we’d have had a ton of Griffins show up in Minnesota.” The Admiral says, shaking his head.

“Any news on the Captain?” The XO asks.

“He was transferred to the USNS Comfort after surgery. Blue Lagoon went with him. He took the brunt of it though. They said they need to operate again after he’s more stable.” The Admiral shakes his head.

“The ground forces are still fighting both in the city and in the hills. The enemy combatants are trying to punch a hole to escape.” The XO said, “There are still lots of strong points though.”

*** 2nd Tank Battalion, Bravo Company ***

The tank shakes hard as the gunner pulls his head back from the scope. Smoke rose from the front right side of the tank, partly blocking the optics. The loader adjusts his headset and shakes his head, his hand stinging from the vibrations.

“What the hell was that?” Sargent Kent says, and looks out the scope.

“We got hit by something. There’s a chunk of reactive armor missing from the front. That wasn’t an RPG though.”

“Pop smoke and let’s back behind that wall. We’ll use it for some cover.” The Sargent says.

The gunner turns the turret and fires off some smoke canisters to provide cover. The driver throws the vehicle into reverse and begins backing up and turning to protect the damaged plate from another attack. As the tank backs up a beam of energy lances out from the smoke, blowing off a huge chunk of reactive armor and cutting a deep trench through the depleted uranium plate.

“Turn the turret right twenty degrees and fire the coaxial.” The commander yells.

“I can’t see anything.” The gunner responds, turning the turret.

“Match to my mark and fire suppressing, Command, the enemy either has a laser cannon, plasma blast, or we have a hostile unicorn.”

*** USNS Comfort ***

The Comfort is a floating hospital, though in actuality, it puts most hospitals to shame. With a thousand beds, twelve operating rooms, dental, optometry, burn wards, radiology, and labs for diagnostic medicine, the only thing missing is a golf course.

Blue Lagoon sits beside her Captain, one hoof on his hand, looking at him with tears in her eyes. They had him out of surgery for the second time today, and don’t know if they should try a third. He’s hooked up to a dialysis machine as well as other support systems.

“You shouldn’t have done this for me.” She speaks softly. “You didn’t need to.”

Walking up, a nurse puts a coffee down beside Blue Lagoon, “Here you go ma’am.”

“Huh?” Blue Lagoon blinks and looks at the nurse who is checking the Captain’s IV.

“Coffee for you, you’ve been up for hours.” The nurse says softly.

“Oh thanks.” Lagoon says before taking a sip, “Any idea how he is?”

With a sigh the nurse shakes her head, “Not good, swelling in the brain, shredded kidneys, liver, spleen. The docs are working hard, but there’s only so much human medicine can do.”

“There has to be something we can do, why isn’t there magic that could heal him?” Blue Lagoon says, slamming a hoof down on the deck hard.

“Magic is as magic does. It would take a magical healer to help him. A pony who’s special talent is healing, or one that is very, very, good with healing spells. Your talent is weather control. Don’t blame yourself or say you have the wrong talent now.” The nurse says.

“Thanks miss?” Blue looks up at the nurse, blinking.

“Lieutenant Harwell.” She says and shakes her head, “There are unicorns like Dr. Gregory Horse that might have been able to help. Or Star Crossed, Star was a natural healer, special talent and all. During the battle of the Gate and afterwards, he helped a ton of ponies, often without realizing just how much he was doing.”

“Really?” Blue Lagoon perks her ears forward.

“Yes, he didn’t stay there though, he was so funny, he had problems with hating his fur color.” The nurse says with a smile.

“Wait, that means he’s on Earth. As a human, but on Earth, maybe he can help. Wait a moment, how do you know all this?” Blue says, blinking.

Looking around the ward, the nurse lowers her skirt a bit on one side to show Blue Lagoon her cutie mark. She has a red cross with a little red heart in each of the corners of the cross on her hip.

“You’re a…”

“My real name is, or was, Tenderheart. I’m an Earth pony.” She says, pulling her skirt up and looking around.

“But why? Why did you choose to come back?”

“I had to go because I knew there would be casualties there. I had to come back because I have family here. A husband and daughter who I can’t abandon.” Sighing softly, she shakes her head. “I’m trying to convince them to come through the gate the next time it opens and try living there for a few years. I want them to see if they can accept it.”

“How would I find this Star Crossed?” Blue asks looking up.

Shaking her head the nurse shrugs, “Not sure, when he was in Equestria, he was with the US Rangers, 2/75th I think. He was a medic, went by Henry, he just hated the name Star Crossed.”

“Well there can’t be that many Henry’s that that went to Equestria in the Rangers.” Slamming her hoof on the deck, horn glowing as she looks at the nurse. “Where’s the coms room? I am NOT letting my captain die.”

*** 2nd Tank Battalion, Bravo Company ***

“They’re using hit and run tactics. They aren’t trying to break through, they are trying to force us to move, either pursue or withdraw.” The commander says, over the radio. “Hold your ground, call out targets, no different than any other combat.”

The Iron Horses are combat vets. They’ve seen combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as other countries. They study and train together. They know their jobs, and they know what they have to do.

“Hold the line. Have air support ready if they try more probing attacks, have the gunships take them out.”

“Roger that.” Comes over the radio.

Swinging the main gun around, the gunner zeroes in on target. “HE, one round.”

Firing, he watches the round impact into a truck that is mounting a recoilless rifle. The vehicle explodes, one burning wheel bouncing and rolling downhill.

“Reverse.” The commander calls up, and the tank backs down the slope a bit, under cover. The next tank in the line rolls up to take its shot. This way, each tank minimizes the fire it takes.

“Any sign of that unicorn?” The tank commander calls out.

“Nothing, haven’t seen a blast in ten minutes now.” The gunner calls out.

“Thank gosh it wasn’t a harder shot or hitting us on or flanks.” The commander says, searching for targets with his scope.

*** JSOC Command ***

I blink, feeling confused as I trot into the HQ building. Sugarberry looks up at me and nods, “Take a seat, I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s big.” She says.

Walking over, I climb up onto a chair and turn around and sit down. “I have my class practicing gears while I’m away.”

Sugarberry cringes and giggles. “Oh, they must love you.”

“They do, I even got an apple today.” I say smiling, “Then I was called Cheerilee.”

Henry walks in and blinks before sitting down beside me, “You called in too?”

“Yeah, all of a sudden I’m having this, principles office, feel.” I say blinking, and start to drum my front hooves on the chair.

A few moments later, the General walks into the lobby. Quickly, I stop drumming and sit at attention. Honestly I don’t know where I picked up the drumming habit from. Looking at me and Henry, the expression on his face tells me it’s bad news.

With a deep breath he turns, “At ease, my office.”

Hopping down I follow him with Henry into his office. Closing the door behind us, he takes a seat and sighs. “Have a seat, you two.”

Gulping, I take a seat in the chair, slowly it starts spinning until Henry grabs it to steady it. Honestly the chairs in this office are oiled or something, they spin so easily. Henry takes a seat beside me and we both look at the General.

For some reason I keep expecting Henry to point at me and say ‘It’s her fault.’

“Velvet, can you replicate that transformation spell? On a smaller scale?” The admiral says, looking at me seriously.

“Umm transmogrification, yes sir.” I say, looking around a bit nervously again. “It’s doable.”

Taking a deep breath he sighs. “There was a major assault against a pirate strong hold, several humans and ponies were badly injured.”

I nod slowly, “High casualties?”

“In this case it isn’t the numbers. Instead, there are favors being called in, requests and demands made. The captain of the USS Reagan was critically injured.” The General states, “He’s not expected to live.”

Henry blinks then shakes his head. “Oh come on they don’t expect...”

“This came down from the Secretary of Defense, through the Joint Chiefs. Apparently some pony knows you used magic to heal injured after the battle of the Gate.”

“Sir I didn’t even know how I did it let alone how much I helped.” Henry says.

Shaking my head I sigh, “Innate or special talent spells of unicorns are often hard for them to judge. It usually comes to them with their first sparks or at the time they get their cutie mark. They need to practice it a lot to understand it enough to teach others… and even then others might not be able to use it as well as the natural talent.”

“So he might be able to heal, just not understand it enough to teach it?” The General asks.

“Yes sir. Magic is a little confusing.” I say.

Shaking his head, the General looks at Henry, “Okay, well they want you there to try.”

“Sir, I’m not a unicorn. And honestly I don’t want to be one. I’ve had enough of pink fur for a while.” Henry says.

“It’s… Not a request, Corporal.” The General says softly.

“What? You can’t mean they are…”

“It’s a direct order from the Joint Chiefs.” The General says, leaning back in his chair a bit.

“With all due respect sir, they can’t order me to have my form changed. That would be a very serious violation of my rights.” Henry says, blinking.

“Sir, I don’t know if I could, or should, change an unwilling subject. It would be like a doctor practicing medicine on an unwilling patient.” I say.

“No, they are saying because this is temporary and the pony form is needed, it’s a valid order. I’ve taken it under protest, and demanded clear rules be laid down about forcing the use of special abilities against a ponies will. I’ve suggested the powers are intimate and personal, so it would be akin to ordering a soldier to have sex against their will.” The General shakes his head slowly. “They are going to discuss the issue but since this is time critical they are ordering it now. Your plane leaves as soon as you are on it. You’re both being flown to Okinawa, and from there you’ll be crammed into F-18s and flown to the carrier battle group.”

I groan, “Yes sir.”

“You can change him to unicorn at his convenience either en route or when you get there. If you can help the Captain, that’s your primary order. Anyone else you can help is your choice or call, unless further orders come in.” The General says solemnly.

“Understood sir.” Henry says and sighs, looking at me.

“I know, it’s my fault.” I say, getting up.

*** 2nd Tank Battalion, Bravo Company ***

A pair of RPGs slammed into the ground in front of the tank. Dirt and mud is flying as it hard reverses behind the building. The third RPG hits the side of the building, sending rocks and debris over the tank.

“Any smoke left?” Sargent Kent calls out.

“Nope, used the last of it.” The gunner calls out as he swings the turret.

“5 rounds of HE left.” The loader growls.

With a pull of the trigger, the the coaxial machine gun starts up again, the gunner puts down fire over the RPG position. This gives the second tank in the group time to move up and fire a HE rounds into the building.

“Here come the reinforcements.” The Sargent calls out, “Okay, let’s back out of here slowly, keep your eyes open.”

With a groan, the tank slowly turns. Moving back down the roadway, keeping its front to the enemy positions. Its turret slowly moves side to side as the gunner scans for signs of trouble.

The Sargent looks though his scope before pulling his head away. Bright light from the optics filled the tank as it shudders.

“Keep backing up, were not out of the fight yet.” The Sargent calls out and looks back to the scope. “I’ve lost my optics! That shot though came from one of the buildings at one o’clock.”

“Got it, HE!” The gunner calls out and is answered by the sound of the breach closing.

Firing a round, he turns the turret slightly. “HE!”

The breach opens, ejecting the spent casing and the next HE round is slammed into place.

The gunner fires and a gout of flame erupts from the barrel. In moments the second building is reduced to a pile of rubble.

“Anything?” The Sargent asks.

“No movement, that doesn’t mean anything through.” The gunner says, “Now 28’s pulled in front of us, were in the clear.” The gunner adds.

At best speed, the tank makes a break for the supply area. It had taken a beating but it was still there and kept its crew safe. They had expected RPGs, but a unicorn working for the rebels is not in their playbook.

*** Velvet ***

“Velvet, whatever you think, this isn’t your fault.” Henry says. We’ve slept most of the flight.

Due to the length of the flight, the air force actually has two different flight crews on board. So not only are we sleeping, but for most of the flight the second crew was asleep also. Inflight food has been kindly provided by the US Army in the form of MRE P-rations and MRE standard rations.
The G650 was fast and fairly posh, a long range VIP transport, it could easily get us half way around the world. The problem is, it can’t land on a carrier. Instead it flies us nonstop from Fort Brag straight to Okinawa. From Naha Airport in Okinawa we were told we would be shifting to another aircraft for the final hop to the carrier group.

“If I hadn’t flipped out and turned you into a unicorn at the gate… they wouldn’t be expecting this now.” I say and sigh.

“I still don’t think it’s your fault, and I don’t blame you.” Henry says, “I’m just frustrated.”

“I know the feeling.” I say, “So when do you want to… you know.”

“Pink out? Let’s put it off till we get to the hospital ship please.” Henry says sadly, “I’d like to keep my dignity as long as I can.”

Leaning over, I give him a quick hug before feeling the bump of the wheels hitting the runway. Looking out the window, I see us turning off the runway onto a side ramp and roll to a stop.

“Ok ponies and gentleman thank you for flying Air Force Air, you will see a door to your right, use it quickly.” The captain calls out.

Blinking, I unbuckle and get up to head outside of the plane. Once outside, I shake myself out, blinking. “Bright light, bright light.”

“Specialist Coralis?” A rampy calls out.

“Here!” Henry responds and turns, seeing the flight suit and helmet being held out for him.

“Put these on quickly. Sergeant, help him get suited up.” An officer calls out, before he turns to me. There is no flight suit for ponies, instead he kneels down, strapping on what looks like a vets oxygen mask and modified bike helmet on my head.

Looking at the cobbled together parts including a tube hanging down to where it’s been spliced onto an aircraft oxygen hose, I can’t help but feel this is up there with the worst idea ever. Even the radio and headphones I have look like they were bought at a Best Buy and glued on with a glue gun about half an hour ago.

Henry said something about keeping his dignity, he’s the lucky one. I wish I could have kept mine. Instead I find myself lifted off the ground without warning and handed to a tech on a scissor lift. In moments the lift is raised and pushed up against the side of an F-18 E/F.

“Hey what’s… ACK!” Is about all I have time to say before I’m picked up by two techs and shoehorned into the back seat of the fighter. These aircraft are NOT meant for ponies in the slightest, and the five point harness is even less forgiving of my pony form. I find one of them pushing my belly in sensitive spots as they lock everything down.

“Don’t touch anything, don’t move, and don’t speak.” The tech says as he plugs in my oxygen hose and coms. “If pilot calls for a bail out, he will say eject, eject, eject. I don’t care how you manage it, but if he does pull that handle there only. Do not ask questions because he will likely be gone.”

The pilot slides into the cockpit and lowers the canopy as the scissor lift is backed away from the plane. You can cross flying in a fighter jet off my bucket list; you can also add the sub note, never again.

*** HMAS Brisbane ***

“Special Forces have pushed on the center of town, they’re still coming up with more hostages.” The XO says.

“There was an estimated thirty thousand people in that city, starting to feel like ten percent were actually prisoners.” Captain Stevenson says, shaking his head.

“It’s big business to them.” The XO says softly.

“Flash traffic from command, two F-18 E/F’s crossing our course, they are listed as friendly.” The radio operator calls out.

“Got ‘em. They aren’t part of our group.” The radar operator says, “They are moving fast though.”

“Strawberry 4 is tracking them, they are cleared for pass though and landing on the Reagan.” The radio operator calls.

“Tracked, listed as friendly.” The radar operator adds and gets back to searching for aircraft entering the destroyer’s zone of control.

*** Cipher ***

“Missing?” Cipher sits up in her chair, blinking.

“Yes she was kidnapped,” Mindy says on the big screen.

Cipher shakes her head vigorously, “By who?”

“Not sure, I think it was Spectrum but we don’t have any proof, yet.” Mindy says, looking worried.

“Oh this is unacceptable, one moment.” Cipher says as she leans back in her chair. Her horn glowing brightly as she grabs ‘windows’ and starts throwing them at monitors. Within moments Fleur dis Lee with Army Criminal Investigations, Goldie with the Air Forces Office of Special Investigations, and White Lightning with the 520th Air Police are up on the screens.

“What’s up?” Fleur asks. She blinks a few times, “And how the heck did you do this on my desktop?”

“Questions later, girls. I need you to get in contact with your friends at the Coast Guard, Navy Criminal, and FBI.” Cipher says in a determined voice.

“Um, what’s going on?” White Lightning asks.

“Lightning Dust was kidnapped. We are doing an All Ponies Bulletin.”

*** Velvet ***

“Are you ready?” I say spreading my forelegs and bracing my rear legs.

“Just do it.” Henry says with a sigh.

Closing my eyes, I hit him with the spell, the magic wrapping around him. It lifts him off the ground as it reshapes his form and turns him back into his unicorn self. In a moment he stands blinking, with his pink fur and his two tone brown and purple mane. A moment later he is gently set back down on the deck.

Grumbling, he looks himself over, then quickly looks between his legs.

“Yes, it’s still there.” I say, rolling my eyes.

Sitting down I blow at my bangs, “Phew, it takes a bit out of you.”

“So what now?” Henry says.

“Where did I leave those gears and that puzzle.” I say, looking around.

“Oh hell no, I don’t need practice or training I need to be… GAH!!!” Henry never does finish that sentence. I wonder what he needed to be? My guess is he was going to say human, though done with this might have worked. In any event the magical aura that wrapped around him gives him little time for thought.

Blue Lagoon turns and starts running down the hall with Henry in her magical grasp. Her strength is more than enough to hold him as she gallops towards the ICU.

Blinking, I look around for a moment before shaking my head. “Hey bring me back my unicorn!” A moment later, I’m chasing after the grabby mare.

The USMS Comfort is huge. It’s over 270 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 30 to 40 meters high. Put into perspective, that’s about 900,000 square feet of real-estate. That space is spread over 10 to 15 decks.

“Hold up! Put him down and let him catch his breath and get used to his hooves first!” I yell.

“No time!” Blue Lagoon says, skidding around the corner, “It took you so long to get here!”

Turning the corner, I follow her into the room panting. “And you shouldn’t make a pregnant mare run like that.”

“I’m sorry but he shielded me from a blast that would have killed me, I’m NOT going to let him die in my place.” She says firmly and puts Henry down beside the bed.

Henry shakes himself out and goes to take a step forward, before falling on his face. “Oh, hello floor.” He grumbles.

“He’s supposed to be the unicorn healer? He can’t even walk.” Blue Lagoon says, starting to look panicked.

“Calm down, I just turned him back into a unicorn. Unlike us, he was always a human, so it takes him a bit longer to remember how to walk.” I say sternly.

“I thought he was a natural healer.” Blue Lagoon says, looking like she’s really getting ready to panic now, her horn alights and I can feel the humidity level change, and an electric feel in the room. She gasps and looks up at her horn. She moans and her horn quiets, calming down the room.

Sighing, I nod, “He is, he was never a cursed pony though. He went through the mirror and somehow found his natural talent to be magical healer.”

Pushing himself up, Henry looks down at his legs. “Alternating right?”

“Front right, rear left.” I say with a smile.

Slowly Henry starts walking forward, then he looks at the Captain. “Okay, I got it. I wanna try a few things first just to make sure I remember how to do things.”

“Should I have brought the puzzle and gears?” I say innocently.

“Not on your life.” Henry grumbles and works to get his horn lit. His horn flickers softly a few times before its glow builds up and shines brightly.

“It’s been a few months since you last used your magic.” I say, watching carefully. “You are probably going to need a huge amount of sugar and such after your first spells.”

“I know, trust me, I know.” Henry shakes his head, his horn glow fading then growing brighter again. “I think I’ve got it.”

Walking up, I touch my hip to his, rubbing my cheek against his face. “Calm down, relax.”

Closing his eyes Henry lights his horn again. Leaning forward, he touches his horn to the Captain’s arm, letting his magic wrap around and envelope the injured officer. A moment later, the heart rate monitor shows a strong rise, and the Captain’s breathing becomes deeper and more regular.

Henry finds himself wobbling and sitting down hard. Shaking my head I hug him, “Come on, relax and breathe.”

“I really don’t want to sound like Cipher but… I need coffee.”

Moaning softly, the Captain opens his eyes.

Blinking, Blue Lagoon squeals and hugs Henry tightly. “YOU DID IT!”

*** 2nd Tank Battalion, Bravo Company ***

The Sergeant pushes on the hatch and grumbles, “Nope, it’s totally jammed.”

The loader works his hatch before it pops open and he pokes his head out. “Forget it, Sarge. There’s no way you’re opening that without a cutter.”

Climbing out of the loaders hatch, Sargent Kent whistles. For the first time he’s getting a clear view of the damage that his tank has taken. One impact to the front had taken off the track guard as well as cut right through the depleted uranium plate and part way through the composite armor. The second has cut a gouge diagonally through his front plate, almost ten centimeters wide and nearly a meter long.

The last impact, though, had ripped off the commander’s sight, the right side smoke dispenser, and melted the hatch. His tank will be in the shop for weeks. It has survived and kept them safe, but it has taken a terrible beating.

Walking down the front, the Sargent rubs his hand across the words written across the barrel. They are the Second Tank, The Iron Horses. He couldn’t think of a better name for this beast when he first saw it. Today it proved itself yet again, able to push through anything and keep on moving. Giving the barrel one last pat he hops off the tank, to the ground. “Good job Big Mac.”

*** Velvet ***

“That is SO unhealthy.” The doctor says, sternly.

Blinking I look up at him, “Excuse me?”

“All of those sweets, that’s just so wrong.” He says.

Lieutenant Harwell shakes her head and looks over, “Actually doctor, not for ponies. Magic uses a lot of calories, and sugars help provide a quick energy boost. Donuts, cakes, cupcakes, high sugar fruits, are a big boost in calories for ponies.”

Blinking I huff as my speech is taken away from me, “Yeah, what she said, sir.”

“I still think it’s not healthy.” The doctor says, firmly.

“When you’ve eaten enough, there’s a pegasus down the hall. She sacrificed herself to save an Australian destroyer. I know it’s asking a lot but would you be able to help her?” Lieutenant Harwell asks with a hopeful look.

“I can’t heal everyone.” Henry says, looking at her sadly.

“I know, trust me, I know how much energy it takes, I’m just asking for one or two of the worst cases before you go. Some ponies that really deserve a chance.” The nurse asks softly.

“You really care about us don’t you?” I say, blinking.

Nodding slowly the nurse looks at her coffee, “Yeah, and I’d like to see us have a chance here.”

Author's Note

Art as always by Alkarasu

68: A Ray of Hope.

“Well at least they aren’t shooting at us.” Private Hanson says quietly.

His Sargent smacks the back of his helmet, “Keep your eyes open.”

The 3rd Marine Division has been slowly working their way through the city. Fighting has shifted to door to door and house clearing. This is some of the hardest and worst type of fighting in the world. They will have to clear each building, one at a time.

There are still snipers, and small pockets of resistance scattered around. Each house, however, has its own risks. Be it family who pull weapons just to protect themselves, or booby traps left behind by pirates to cover their escape.

The fact that the enemy combatants are also not in uniform makes things a lot harder. All it takes to hide is to drop a weapon and pretend to be a civilian.

Hanson enters the house first, weapon at the ready. It’s a small place, typical of the accommodations or homes here. The TV has been left on, but there’s only static. Kneeling down Hanson provided cover as the rest of the squad enters, beginning its search.

Outside the sounds of RPK fire chatters away before being silenced by an explosion. Dust fills the room as the building shakes. Another explosion a few blocks down levels a building. Dust again fills the street just outside the door.

A moment later Fire Streaks slides upside down, skidding across the floor. Looking up he blinks a few times. “Oh hi there, talk about the not so friendly skies.”

“Umm Sarge… There’s a pony here.” Hanson says, strangely this is the first time he’s seen one close up.

“Fire Streak, 520th, umm is Sargent Malory here?” the pegasus asks, still laying on his back. Actually, he is kind of comfortable right now, first real rest he’s had in hours, no point in moving right away.

“HERE!” The Sargent says, coming up and looking down at the pony. “There’s a war goin’ on out there, are you just gonna lay there all day?”

“Lieutenant Fire Streak at your service,” He says, rolling over a bit to show the bars. “Two platoon on the next street needs your help. There’s some sort of short range jammer in the area that’s messing with coms. They flagged me down to run messages.”

“Yes sir, sorry sir. Rest all you want. Come on squad move out.” The Sarge says and makes for the door.

***

Henry moans softly and reaches up to rub his horn. He feels better, but still feels a little weak and tired. Looking around, he realizes he’s in one of the hospital beds.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” Nurse Harwell says as she unhooks some of the monitors. “You knocked yourself out for a good six hours.”

Fluffing his mane a bit by rubbing it with his hooves, Henry sighs, “Morning Tenderheart.”

“Oh please don’t. I prefer Harwell in human form. It’s less confusing, especially to humans.” She says, “My daughter calls me Tenderheart, and we pass it off as a pet name. Mommy Tenderheart.”

“How does your husband take all of this?” Henry asks as he sits up a bit to watch her work.

“He’s unsure of it, wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t seen it for himself. Although he doesn’t mind my human form, that’s something else that took explaining to the neighbours.”

“You look different as a human?” Henry blinks, he hadn’t thought of that.

“Several changes, different eye color, slightly different build, he jokes around about his favorite change though.”

“What’s that?” Looking over, Henry grabs a glass and fills it with water before bringing it over to him magically.

“I went from a small B, to a large C.” The nurse says as she bends over, pulling out some towels from a storage bin.

Henry spits out the water and coughs a few times, trying hard not to laugh. Looking over at her, his mind instantly jumps to the time he met her in Equestria. The LT had played that prank on him about being the perfect height to see her… Blinking, looking at her bent over, he closes his eyes tightly and starts hitting the side of his head lightly with a hoof.

'Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, out… think of something different. Sugarberry, nice safe Sugarberry.' He thinks, keeping his eyes shut, he pictures her. Unfortunately it’s from the rear too. 'Brain, you are such a traitor.'

“Blue Lightning, Twilight Velvet, Rosewing, and Blue Lagoon have been checking up on you constantly.” The nurse says turning and putting the towels in the bathroom and tossing others into the laundry. “They are all worried about you.”

“Yeah, I bet. When Velvet passed out when she was overtaxing herself, it gave us such a scare.” Henry says.

“Well I have rounds to do, I’ll be back shortly to check up on you.” The nurse says as she heads out.

Henry takes a sip of his water then blinks. “Oh, come on.”

“Something wrong?” Rosewing says, walking in, swishing her tail side to side.

“Yes, I’m using my magic for things like getting water.” Henry says and huffs.

“And you think you should be using it for what? Healing only?” Rosewing asks.

Shaking his head, Henry looks at her, “I shouldn’t be using it for day to day stuff.”

Sitting down, Rosewing puts her forehoof on his side. “And if you were turned into a pegasus for a day, would you spend the entire time grounded?”

“That’s different.” Henry grouches.

“Nope, for a unicorn, their magic is a huge part of life. Just like flying is a huge part of the life of a pegasus. Without flight, a pegasus feels lost. Like they are worthless.” Rosewing says softly and pushes her face against Henry’s.

Gulping, Henry backs up a bit in the bed, “Umm, you were never worthless.”

“I know, but it’s how I felt. I was so scared and angry that I’d never fly again and you gave that gift back to me. It was and is my favorite part of being a pony. It’s the only thing I had when I changed really.” Rosewing says, backing up and sitting on the chair to look at him.

“What were you before the change?” Henry asks, inhaling deeply.

“Pilot on the JSD Kaga, 2nd Lieutenant in the JMSDF. I flew H-60’s in anti-submarine, anti-ship and search and rescue.” She says, “It was my life. Then on the destroyer, I turned into a pony. I thought my life was over 'till I started to fly.”

"Destroyer? Isn't the Kaga an aircraft carrier?" Henry said tilting his head.

"Umm, nope we call it a destroyer, since we technically aren't allowed aircraft carriers. Being able to leap off the flight deck and get into the air though." Rosewing sighed softly.

“Oh. Rainbow Blaze loves to fly. But he was never a pilot, he was airborne ranger, he preferred jumping out of planes.” Henry says, rolling onto his side facing Rosewing. With a deep inhale again Henry sighs, there is something about her that is just so inviting.

“I…don’t know what I can do to repay you for fixing my wing. I feel I need to do something though.” She says, and she leans forward, rubbing her face against his.

Gulping hard, Henry shakes his head, trying to clear it. “I um… I don’t need any special thanks.”

“Oh Celestia you must be starved. I’ll get you something.” Rosewing says, hopping off the chair and walks out quickly, her wings up and spread a bit.

Henry watched her go, her tail high and quivering. Giving him the occasional glimpse of her… “Argh… bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Think pure thoughts, think pure thoughts.” Henry says, hitting his head with his hoof.

*** 3rd Marine Division ***

“What’s up?” Private Hanson asks as he stops, looking at the rubble pile.

“IED. They took down the building on top of a pair of JLTV’s, we’re trying to dig them out.” Another private says, “We need some people to push forward on this street, we don’t want to get ambushed while working.

The Sarge looks over, “Okay boys, move forward, take up covering positions there and there.” He points.

“Sir, I’m just getting static over the coms. I don’t know what it is, but somethings causing signal interference.” A corporal calls out.

“Use hand signals only, stay in line of sight of each other.” The Sargent growls.

Private Hanson shoulders his weapon and starts climbing a ladder to a low rooftop. From there he can get a better watch of what’s going on. On the far end of the room, the squad sets up the machine-gun to cover two streets.

Fire Streak lands on the rooftop a few moments later. “Cold water and some MRE bars here.” The little pony drops off the aforementioned supplies, before hopping to the next roof.

“Why couldn’t we have had those in Afghanistan?” The Sargent says, chuckling. “They make great gofors.”

“But… I thought they’re ponies?” One of the corporals asks.

“And that’s why he wears a Mickey Mouse watch.” The Sargent says, shaking his head.

“Sarge?” Hanson calls out, “What’s that pony doing?”

Looking up the Sergeant sees what Hanson is curious about. A pegasus is flying in slow circles. She has a pair of saddle bags on with a pair of long antennas sticking out way in front of her that end in an array of different sizes and lengths. A pair of long whip antennas are also coming out of the saddle bags curving backwards above her. Finally, a long single mast antenna runs down her back and hangs behind her. She has headphones on as well as the pegasus flight suit and what looks like some kind of modified body armor, it looks like a heavy load, but she isn’t flying fast.

“I’d say signals intercept, she’s trying to find the jamming source.” The Sergeant says, shaking his head. “Never seen that done or that gear before, likely something they patched up for her on the carrier.”

*** CMC EC ***

“Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

“Oh come on, I haven’t seen it yet.” Candy says, looking at his sister sadly.

Feather blinks, “Really? You didn’t know Bruce was Batman? That’s like saying you didn’t know that the Titanic sinks at the end of the movie either.”

Candy blinks as he looks at Feather in shock. “I haven’t seen that movie either.”

“But… but… but…” Feather looks at Candy in shock.

Candy looks back at his hip, “Nope, no cutie mark for that either.”

“Wait,” Feather says, blinking, “You weren’t serious?”

“Candy can pull the straight colt lines like you wouldn’t believe.” Cloudy says.

Falling on her back, Feather exhales and sighs, “Phew, I was worried for a bit about the kind of ponies I was hanging with.”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Fanfic Writers?” Cloudy says, titling her head.

“What’s a fanfic?” Feather asks sitting up.

Candy giggles, “Not sure but Cipher writes them. Maybe we should check some of hers out for ideas.”

“Oh I found one she wrote about Velvet and Blaze.” Cloudy says, smiling at the computer.

Quickly all the CMC’s huddle around the computer.

“What’s NSFW mean?” Feather asks.

“It means Not Safe for Woona.” Cipher says as her face appears on the screen. “Sorry, my little ponies, but trust me on this. fanfics like this aren’t for you.”

Blinking the foals try to look innocent, “Come on Cipher, we’re twenty-five.”

“Being twenty-five years old as a human doesn’t mean you should read about this stuff. Especially you Feather. There are some stories that could hurt you badly.” Cipher says.

*** 3rd Marine Division ***

Fire dodges some small arms fire before hitting the roof in tumbling roll and ended up laying on his back looking up at the Sargent. “Oh, hey again.” He says brightly at the human.

“LT, if you don’t mind me saying, you seem to spend way too much time on your back.” The Sargent says, shaking his head. “Are you okay?”

“Oh fine, it’s safer down here right now. I didn’t want to slow down for a normal landing.” Fire says. “It’s sad to say when the ground pounders have it easy. Wind has been working with Signals Intercept, she has the enemy using a broadband jammer narrowed down to two possible houses one block over.”

“EASY!” The Sargent says sternly.

“Yeah, I’ve been flying hard for the last six hours, getting shot at almost the whole time.” Fire says. “And I’m supposed to be just a police officer now.” He lifts a hoof, twirling it. “Wonderbolts, woohoo.”

“Okay boys, you heard the officer. Since we have it so easy, let’s go for a walk and find that jammer.” The Sargent calls out.

*** Henry ***

Trotting in with her wings spread wide, Rosewing has one tray balanced on each wing. How she isn’t dropping anything is a mystery to Henry. Flicking her tail side to side excitedly, she has a huge smile on her face.

“Cupcakes, cookies, rice crispy squares, coffee, and donuts!” She chirps.

“Ugh, you didn’t have to.” Henry says, “I’m almost strong enough to get up again.”

“Yep,” carefully setting down the trays on the table, she turns to him and smiles, “but trust me, it’s the least I could do.”

“Food.” Henry says and sits up, smiling, “And way too much for me to eat, so you’re joining me.”

“But…” She sputters.

“Listen, if I eat alone, then it feels like your being a servant. If we eat together, we are equals.” Henry says with a firm nod.

Sitting herself down on the chair, Rosewing starts eating as well. Hospital food is one thing, but this is a ship. The ship’s mess was much better than most hospitals. Coffee, as well is, everywhere, so finding Henry some good coffee was pretty simple for her.

“Yep, it’s better than lime Jell-O.” Henry says with a laugh.

With a sigh, Rosewing leans down and rubs her face and cheek against Henry’s chest fluff. She nuzzles and cuddles up to his chest a little as he finishes eating.

Inhaling deeply, he gulps and shakes his head, trying to clear the fog. She’s just so cute, so inviting.

Putting a foreleg over her, he pulls her tighter to his chest. The closeness of her sparks something in him.

“Thank you so much, Henry.” Rosewing murmurs as she climbs into bed with him. Snuggling up, she finds herself nipping his shoulder gently.

Henry trembles a bit, not really certain what is going on…

“Okay, I think you two need a time out.” Nurse Harwell says as she walks in, causing them both to jump.

“Wh... what?” Henry blinks shaking his head, looking at the nurse.

The nurse smiles looking at the two and shakes her head, “Rosewing’s in heat.”

“I’m not an animal.” Rosewing growls, her wings extending a bit to cover Henry protectively.

The nurse laughs and shakes her head, “Nope, you’re a pony. Don’t worry you’ll get used to it.”

“How… do you know?” Henry asks.

Nurse Harwell touches the side of her nose, “Oh, even a human can smell it if they know what they are smelling. There’s other ways to tell, but you’re not used to being a pony yet, so you’re getting caught up in the instinct and smell Henry.” The nurse says, “Best you two stay apart for a bit.”

Henry shakes his head quickly, trying to clear the fog, and causing his ears to flop, “I really hate being a unicorn.”

Rosewing moves off of the bed, backing away from Henry, whimpering. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Rose it’s not your fault, we didn’t know.” Henry starts as he sits up.

Rosewing turns and runs out of the room, crying. She continues screaming “I’m sorry,” through her tears as she runs.

Henry tries to get up, but his legs still feel like rubber and are not co-operating. Grumbling softly, Henry looks up at the ceiling. “I make an awful pony.”

The nurse sits on the chair on the other side of his bed. “Nope, sometimes I think it’s one of the reasons that males and females don’t hang out as much in the show. Although I could make a comment about Rarity being in heat and using that to manipulate males. Ugh.”

Henry blinks, looking up, “Yeah, but I’m still pretty bad at being a pony.”

“Nope, we all make mistakes from time to time. Humor is, your mistake had nothing to do with being a pony. That was 100% you being male.” Nurse Harwell says and ruffles his mane.

*** Somalia ***

The rebel forces have backed off from the valley. All eleven of the tanks they had are now in flaming ruins. Bodies litter the pass and the smell of death is heavy in the air. The vast majority of the dead were burned alive in the first few minutes.

They had ignored the warnings, the signs. It was labeled in several languages not to enter this valley, especially with weapons. The pass has often been used by rebels to attack into Kenya for slave raids. Poachers also used to enter this area.

But that all stopped about a month ago, there were no negotiations or talks. There was simply death.

The young Zebra looks up at the mare beside him, “Are you sure?”

“It’s our last hope, our last chance.” She says as she walks past the wreck of an old Russian tank.

“It’s not called Paradise Valley, it’s called the Blooded Pass for a reason.” The little one says nervously, looking around.

“We have nowhere else to escape to.”

*** 3rd Marine Division ***

“Sarge, there’s a trap door here.” Private Hanson calls out.

The door is partly covered by a floor mat, hidden from casual sight. Quickly moving over, corporal Higgs moves the mat and table off the door. It’s wood with metal hinges and a metal pull ring. They weren’t really trying to hide it except from casual observation, apparently.

Pulling open the door, Hanson looks down at a stairway leading to a basement. There isn’t any light, coming from the basement, but there is wiring visible on the wall.

“Ok Hanson, Higgs, you two are up. Or should I say down.” The Sarge chuckles.

Grumbling, Hanson breaks out his flashlight and begins shining the light down as he makes his way into the basement. He can hear humming sounds and as he pans his flashlight around, he takes note of the electronics.

“Sarge. This basement is huge, I think they have a server farm down here, also radio and satellite.” Hanson calls out.

Higgs follows and calls back up next, “They have broad spectrum GPS, Bluetooth, and even cell jammers going on down here. I think it’s to cover or prevent remote access, though.”

“Don’t touch anything, we’ll have the intel brats down here to pick it apart.” The Sarge calls out. “If it contains information we might be able to take down the entire network.”

“Sarge… We’ve got a problem.” Higgs calls out.

Hanson pans his light over to see what Higgs is talking about and lights up several barrels. “Oh hell.”

“This place is wired, and I think the timers started.” Higgs calls out. Wires run into the barrels from several different locations. A flashing timer is counting down fast.

“FALL BACK!” The Sarge yells out. “Everyone, get clear of the building!”

As he turns to run, Hanson hears a whimper. Blinking, he pans his light back and sees three ponies locked up in a cage, “Damn it, Higgs how much time?”

“Less than a minute, so move it!” Higgs says as he runs up the stairs.

Turning Hanson shoots the lock off the cage, before forcing the door open. “Move it move it,” he shouts and starts to push the ponies for the staircase.

Scared and confused, it takes a moment before the three realize and start to run. Hanson brings up the rear as fast as he can. He just clears the basement when the explosions rip through it. The force sends Hanson flying to the ground, pain filling his back, hip and leg.

“Damn it Hanson, you’re just looking for any excuse to lay down and rest.” The Sarge says, “Medic, man down!”

“I couldn’t leave them there to die, sorry Sarge.” Hanson says, slowly closing his eyes.

*** Velvet ***

“I’m a bad poneeeeee.” Rosewing bawls.

“No, you’re not.” I say softly, shaking my head.

Rosewing has her forelegs crossed on the table with her muzzle over them. She uses her wings to hide her head and eyes as she cries pitifully. Her whole body is trembling as she goes on, “But I tried to…”

“You’re in heat.” Lightning Blue says as she puts a wing over Rosewing’s back.

“But he smelled so good.” She cries.

“Pregnant mare here, you are in heat.” I say waving.

“And I wanted to thank him somehow…” She cries, “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Heat.” Blue Lagoon says.

“But…” She looks up, her eyes puffy and red.

“Look, trust me… the first heat is always the hardest. We don’t remember it from our past lives, don’t know how to deal with it.” I say, shaking my head. “All mares will go through it, well most will. The young ones get time to grow into it. We don’t realize it, and don’t realize what our bodies are doing.”

Nodding slowly, she sniffles. Blue Lagoon grabs some tissues with her magic and starts cleaning the tears.

“Henry’s also sort of dating a unicorn named Sugarberry… Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Blue Lagoon asks, looking at me.

“He’s not committed to her?” Lightning Blue asks, tilting her head.

I grab a coffee taking a sip, “No, that’s the strange thing. He’s totally committed to her. He doesn’t even look at human girls. The joke is, he doesn’t realize it. Honestly I don’t even want to bring it up.”

Rosewing sniffled, “Why? If he loves her.”

“He’s male. He’ll likely first go off on a ‘but she’s a unicorn and I’m human’, thing. Then try and force himself to go out with human girls to prove it’s not true. Then complain that it’s because of the cutie mark and his unicorn form has ruined his life.”

Blinking Blue Lagoon giggled. “That bad?”

I nod giggling too. “Yeah, he would. But at the same time if you don’t mention it to him he just relaxes and fits in. He thinks too much and gets in trouble because of that.”

Rosewing starts crying again, “And I made it worse. After all he did for us.”

“Rosewing, he probably feels worse about making you cry than anything.” I say as I float some snacks over to the table.

“Trust me, it’s lucky you found out about this now. You could have ended up pregnant like Velvet here if it had happened elsewhere.” Lightning Blue says.

“Yeah, so… hey wait… I was sleeping with the stallion before I got pregnant.” I say, blinking.

“Practice makes perfect.” Blue Lagoon says.

This actually starts all of us giggling. Even Rosewing is finally starting to calm down.

***

“BP’s 101 over 38! Pulse is 140.”

The Seahawk hits the deck of the USNS Comfort as the medical team runs for the door.

“IED Blast, concussion multiple lacerations, internal bleeding.”

“Operating room three is clear.”

Hoisting the body up onto the gurney they run him over to the elevator.

“He’s in pretty bad shape.” A nurse says, cutting off the clothing.

“Chances are he won’t make it through surgery. Load up another bag, have blood ready for transfusions this is going to take a lot.”

“Doctor…” The nurse calls out.

“I’m concerned with the back, we can worry about the leg next.”

“Doctor?” The nurse says again as they run with the body.

“Nurse, head in the game, priorities are life threatening injuries…” The doctor starts.

“DOCTOR!” The nurse yells.

Stopping for a second the doctor finally sees what the nurse is worried about. “Oh hell, someone see if Specialist Coralis is up.”

*** Henry ***

“You’re getting better.”

Henry shakes himself out, standing on all fours again. Looking down at his forelegs he huffs, “Yeah but still, there just isn’t enough fur dye in all of Equestria.”

Nurse Harwell laughs, “You know its hair and not fur right?”

“Whatever, it’s still pink.” Henry said and walks around a bit. His legs are feeling a lot stronger, sleep and food really did help.

Turning, the nurse starts cleaning the bed. “Well it could be worse, you could be pregnant.”

“Oh don’t even joke. Blaze ran into a pony that was like ten months pregnant when Discord cursed her. She turned back into a pregnant pony. And of course when Blaze found her, she was in labor.” Henry says, and picks up his coffee knocking the last of it back.

“Oh ouch, I guess she was just… foal… of it.” The nurse says, trying to look innocent.

Henry falls onto his side on the ground, kicking a foot, “The horror the horror!”

“Oh I miss her so much.” Nurse Harwell moans softly.

Henry stops and looks up, “Who?”

“Rose. Well, Lilly and Daisy too, but… Rose was a friend of mine. Her line ‘The horror, the horror’. Sometimes I watch the show just to remember my friends.” The nurse says sadly.

“You know, Velvet could probably turn you back into a pony for a few days.” Henry says.

Shaking her head, she starts putting clean sheets on the bed, “Maybe if I have some vacation time coming up, but I can’t do my job without hands.”

An orderly skids into the room, panting hard and looks around the room. “Henry, you’re needed, or wanted, I should say in Operating room three. They want you for a consult.”

“Coming.” Henry sighs.

“Henry remember, you are special but you’re not unique. There are other ponies around that will understand.” Nurse Harwell says softly.

Following the orderly Henry runs for the operating room. They opt for the elevator since Henry doesn’t want to risk stairs right now. Looking at the orderly Henry sighs.

“So what is it this time?”

“I’m not sure. We got three ponies in, plus one marine who was injured in an IED Blast.” He says.

Henry shakes his head, sighing,“Pretty bad?”

“I don’t know, but the nurse was pretty panicked and the doctor called for you right away.”

Walking out of the elevator Henry looks up. “Should I be wearing a mask and scrubs?”

Henry almost regrets opening his mouth. They don’t actually have any scrubs or such that fit him, but they do their best to cobble something together quickly. It was mostly a case of a scrubs taped close to the hooves, mane and tail nets, and of course, the mask.

Walking into the operating room, the doctor is working hard to stop the bleeding. Britney Spears song Toxic is playing through the operating room. ‘This was classic earth pop? Yeah right.’

“Okay, I’m here.” Henry said.

Looking over the Doctor shakes his head, “Check his hip tell me what you think?”

Henry blinks and shakes his head, walking over. Almost right away he sees what the doctor is going on about. On the hip is three cookies, one of them with a bite missing from it, kind of like Cookie Crumbles cutie mark, just in a different order.

Closing his eyes Henry lights his horn for a moment. “When was he born?”

“Records have him as twenty-five with his birthday a few months ago. They say he’s adopted through. His birth date may be a guess.” The nurse calls out.

“It’s real. He’s a real pony.”

69: Rainbows and Clear Skies.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Aircraft Mechanics!” The three foals call out at once.

The lead tech’s head whips over towards the foals, “No, on so many levels no! There is no way you are going near an aircraft without a three year course followed by an apprentice program.” He says firmly.

“You’d stand in the way of foals getting their cutie mark?” Cloudy says, her lower lip quivers as she gives him wide sad eyes.

He huffs, “If it’s for the safety of every person on this base? YES!”

“But? But? How can we find out if it’s our special talent or cutie mark worthy if we don’t try?” Feather asks, adding in her eyes to the assault on the poor tech.

He looks at the three, “Okay, how about this, there’s an old RQ-2 Pioneer drone sitting on the rack over there, we’ve been pulling it apart when we have time, salvaging things. All of the sensitive and dangerous stuff has already been removed. If you want to experiment or see if you have a talent with it. Try that.” He says, shaking his head.

Candy blinks going wide eyed, then they all hug the tech’s leg. “Thank you, thank you thank you. You don’t know how much this means to us.”

“Just don’t scatter parts around, there no fuel, no batteries, but it will give you an idea about how it works.” He says, shaking his head before kneeling down to pat Candy’s head softly. “For twenty-five year olds you do act like kids sometimes.”

“Come on girls!” Candy says and charges for the drone. “Let’s see if we have any special talents with this. For our cutie marks!”

***

“Morning Private.”

Stretching out, Hanson blinks a few times, “Sorry Sarge.”

“What are you sorry for?”

The private looks at the bed and chuckles, “Lying down on the job. I know how you feel about that.”

“Don’t worry about that, rest as long as you need. They apparently had some specialist on board that was able to fix you up fast.” The Sarge says.

“Man whatever drugs they used were great, I can’t feel any pain.” Stretching out again he looks up at the Sargent. “So when can I rejoin the squad.”

“That’s… what I’m here to talk to you about. When they were operating, they found something.” The Sarge says softly.

“Cancer? Oh god, don’t tell me I have cancer.” Hanson says, looking around the ward, panicking.

The Sarge reaches over and smacks his head lightly, “You don’t have cancer, idiot. But it is going to end your career with the marines.”

“But Sarge, the marines are all I have.” Hanson says, “You know I don’t have any family I can turn to, and it was pretty much military service or jail for me. I don’t wanna go back to that kind of life.”

“I’m trying to work things out but…”

“Sarge what’s wrong with me? What’s got them so they don’t want me?” Hanson shakes his head. “Is it something they can fix with surgery? Even if it’s a risk, I’d rather that than…”

The Sergeant smiles but shakes his head. “It’s nothing like that, son. There’s no cure, it’s just… You’ve got a cutie mark now. I didn’t want you to find out on your own or have some doctor or pony tell you. I figured it would be best if you heard it from me first.”

“A cutie mark? Like as in, I’m going to become a pony type?” Hanson says, looking at his hip in shock.

“We don’t know for sure yet, no one knows really. The specialist said it was real but… there are stories about people with marks that didn’t change. But for now, the marines are looking at processing you for medical absence pending…”

“Because of a cutie mark?”

*** Velvet ***

I don’t know why but something just doesn’t sit well. It just doesn’t look right and neither of them know it, or seem to mind. While I guess it’s okay, if it’s okay with them. Smiling, I tilt my head, looking at the Captain.

He’s sitting up in a chair in his room. Beside him, Blue Lagoon sits, looking like a loyal dog. I know they aren’t equals in rank, but she isn’t an animal either. I don’t know if the Captain sees her as a pet or friend, but…

“Henry I’m sorry.” The Captain speaks gently, “Thank you for saving my life, but they had no right to force you. Asking a unicorn to use their abilities is one thing. We don’t know how much power or energy things like magic takes or if it will have any lasting effects on the unicorn using it.”

Looking up, Blue Lagoon shakes her head, “It takes energy and can tire us out, but I don’t think we’d have survived as a species if it had bad lasting effects.”

“My life and really no life is worth stripping another of their rights. They shouldn’t have ordered you to change forms. Asking you is one thing, but making it a direct order is something else.” The Captain shakes his head.

“It’s not your fault, sir. And it’s not yours either, Blue Lagoon. If it wasn’t this situation it would have been another. Maybe some politician or their child would get hurt or sick. Maybe some Admiral might have gotten ill. At least now the military is looking at preventing it from happening again. If they can make it a regulation, then they can protect Velvet and Blue Lagoon.”

“It doesn’t make it feel any less right.” The Captain says quietly.

“At least I was able to help others here though. Many of them deserved healing.” Henry says, looking down at his cutie mark. “Am I just… my cutie mark though?”

“What do you mean?” I say, blinking.

Henry shakes his head, “Am I just my cutie mark? As a unicorn is that all there is to me? The expectation for me to be a healer?”

“You weren’t born a pony, but even to us who changed, sometimes we ask the same question.” Blue Lagoon says, looking down at hers. “I love the sea, I love the weather. I like to think though that there’s so much more to me than just that.”

“I love magic, but I also love being a mom, being a Ranger, and being in the military. My mark is about magic, three stars, and I try and use magic in all parts of my life and my loves. I think it more shows what we love than defines us as who we are.” I say.

“Do I love healing? Or is it just what I’m good at?” Henry sighs.

“With you, it’s both. Trust me.” Blue Lagoon says softly, “You can’t sit by and have someone suffer when you can help. At the same time there’s a joy about you when you help someone. It’s probably the same reason you joined the military.”

“Trust me, I like being human so much better.” Henry says with a firm nod, “No pressure.”

“There are probably a lot of ponies that feel the same way.” I say softly. “There’s one on board I’m supposed to have a talk with.”

The Captain blinks. “One of the rescued ponies?”

“Those are all being handled by psychologists. No, one of the marines got his cutie mark yesterday.” I say.

“Ouch, well, maybe we can move him to the army, navy, or air force. I know the marines are pretty strict with their policies.” The Captain says.

“I don’t even know what tribe he is. I know he’s got a cutie mark that I’ve seen before, Cookie Crumbles, but she’s accounted for.” I say, “So it’s a wild shoot from there. It could be one of any background ponies with it.”

“Cookies, well, he’s not likely going to be a combatant type.” The Captain says with a chuckle, earning a glare from all unicorns present.

“Just because its cookies doesn’t mean he can’t still do combat. Look at all the raindrops, rainbows, hearts, diamonds and clovers fighting for us right now in this fleet, Sir.” I say firmly.

The Captain of the USNS Comfort walks in, chuckling, “Oh there you are, Henry. We just got a package from the HMAS Brisbane, and we need you in the lounge.”

Blinking, I follow into the room, several doctors, nurses and even officers are already gathered in the room. Definitely officer country, and as usual, we low ranking ponies get the jitters.

Henry’s ears shoot up instantly and start panning around as he looks about the room timidly. I can see his tail flagging a bit in fear. Moving up beside him, I push my side to his. “Don’t worry, I’m here too.”

Lightning Blue and Rosewing are there as well. By the looks of it though neither of them knows what’s going on either.

“Your attention please.” Captain Stevenson calls out. “I’m sorry this isn’t being carried out with all the pomp and ceremony it deserves, but I have been granted permission by the Minister of Defense.” Looking around for a moment the Captain chuckles, “Of Australia, to issue a pair of awards.”

Walking up the Captain of the HMAS Brisbane kneels down, in front of Lightning Blue. “For recognition to persons who in the presence of the enemy, perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry, or daring or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice, as authorized by the Australian government, I present you with the Victoria Cross of Australia. By placing herself in harm’s way with little chance for survival, Lighting Blue did ram a missile meant for an Australian warship pushing it out of the way and saving not just the ship, but the lives of all those aboard, sustaining life threatening injuries in the process.”

Gently Captain Stevenson slips the ribbon with a gold cross over her head and around her neck. Quietly he whispers into her ear, “Daring Do would be proud.”

Standing up he chuckles, “The second medal is for outstanding medical service, without which I would never have been able to present the first.” Walking over to Henry, the Captain kneels down, “I’ve heard some of what you went through to get here and help, I know it was against your will which makes it all the more amazing that you took the time to heal others. Rather than just healing the Captain and going home, you took the time to help others in need. You are listed as just a medic, but the Australian military is honored to present you with the Nursing Cross. For nurses and medical support staff that have gone above and beyond the call of duty and distinguished themselves.”

Smiling the captain places the white ribbon with a red cross around Henry’s neck. Quietly he leans down and whispers into Henry’s ear. “You have the thanks of everyone on my ship.”

*** Somalia ***

Several tents have already been set up. It isn’t much, but it is starting to look like a community. They are all refugees. Unwanted in the neighboring countries, their lands taken by criminals, gangs, and pirates.

Some of them have already lost family members to the slave trade, or had children pressed into service as gunmen.

The well is good and the water is clean. This gives them a chance to survive. It’s the only water for miles. With it and with a little luck, however, they can grow crops. No one really knows or understands what is going on. Why some humans have changed into zebras, ponies or stranger things like the horned ponies, or even the ponies with the leathery wings, like bats.

It doesn’t matter though. Here, they are all the same, human or pony, they are all refugees. They don’t have much, but they make do with what they find.

The little zebra foal flinches at the sound of the crash, running outside, he sees the truck. It’s one of the old tactical vehicles the rebels and gangs have been using. It hits the ground hard, upside down. It only takes moments for one of the earth ponies to flip it back right side up.

The weapons on it have been ripped off. The roof was ripped open, steering wheel is gone. The frame itself is badly twisted, but it doesn’t matter. Almost right away the people and ponies start to strip the vehicle down. Things like the hood can be bent and shaped into a plow for the first crops. The seats can be used as chairs. The battery, lights, anything that can be repurposed to help the community or families is quickly taken from the vehicle.

Sitting down, the zebra foal looks up. “Thank you.”

There is no response. There never is. But the foal has to say it.

*** Fleur ***

“So the griffins are on the flight to the UK?”

Fleur blinks and looks over at Goldie, “Oh yeah. The courts cleared them to leave last night. They are chocking everything up to self defense. Since she’s not an American Citizen, the courts and immigrations services are more than eager to let her go.”

“But the UK will accept her?” Goldie says, sitting in front of Fleur.

Taking a seat on the floor, Fleur nods, “Yeah, there are a few griffins there, so they are adopting her.”

“At least she’s got a chance. So how’s OSI?”

Goldie grumbles, “Somehow we’ve gotten swamped with fraud cases in the last week. A few of them got dumped on my desk because they were ponies that went through the gate.”

“You sure they haven’t returned?” Fleur asks, tilting her head.

“Yeah I am. Some cases it looks like family trying to collect benefits on members that are in Equestria, others are actual frauds where people have assumed the identities of pre-change ponies.” Huffing, Goldie shakes her head. “Seriously, we are getting hits on credit cards on these ponies.” We are going through now and flagging all their SSN’s and such but it’s a pain in the cutie mark.”

“Pain… in the cutie mark?” Fleur says, giggling.

“Well I wasn’t gonna say flank.”

“If you need some help, send some down to CID. It’s been quiet at my desk for the last 48.”

Goldie cringes, “Oh don’t ever say that, you know what happens if you say it’s quiet.”

“Fleur, grab your saddle bag. We’ve got a rape and double homicide.” Her boss calls down the hall.

Fleur shakes her head, “Well it could be worse, it could be a Monday.”

Goldie laughs and heads back to her office, stopping to look at the large cardboard cut-out of Fleur in the hall. She has to admit, Fleur really does make a cute model.

***

“Private Hanson?” I say softly as I poke my muzzle in the door.

“Um hello corporal.”

“I’m Twilight Velvet, 2/75th Rangers. Mind if we talk?”

“Rangers, so you weren’t part of the assault?”

I shake my head no slowly, “Nope, though I’m here as an advisor now as well as medical support. They don’t want me anywhere near combat.”

“Yeah, they want me out of the marines.” Hanson says softly.

I let out a soft giggle, “Um, no, normally I’m allowed in combat, I’ve been in three big combat missions since I changed. I’m actually sort of an instructor right now at Fort Bragg.”

“Oh? What do you teach?”

“Magical Theory, Fundamentals, and Basic casting.” I say, scuffing a hoof on the deck. “It’s a quality of life thing. As military ponies and their dependents change, unicorns are sent to me to be taught.”

“So I’m a unicorn?”

Climbing up on the chair I shake my head, “I don’t know yet. You might be an earth pony or even a pegasus.”

“Can’t you tell from my mark?” He asks, rubbing his thigh where his mark is.

“Unfortunately some cutie marks are rather common. Mine for example, there are a lot of unicorns with my mark. Not necessarily exactly like mine, some have stars of different sizes, some the stars are in a different order or position. The same goes for you. Three cookies, I know for certain, of one unicorn that changed has that mark already.” Sighing, I nuzzle his cheek for a moment.

“Whatever the case is, I’m still out of the field.” Hanson shakes his head. “Like you.”

“Umm I’m not out because of being a pony. Or being a mare.” I say.

Blinking Hanson sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “Then why?”

“I’m out of combat because I’m pregnant.” I say, “Mare, unicorn, that’s fine, pregnant, not a chance.”

“Oh, ouch.” Henry says, looking at me.

Looking up I think about it a second. “Oh no, it wasn’t painful, it was actually quite…”

“Umm forget I asked.” Hanson says with a shiver.

Blinking, I shake my head, “Sorry, I’ve been hanging around Cipher too long. I would like to extend a chance for you to come to Fort Bragg.”

“Fort Bragg?”

“Yep, the base is pony friendly. It will give you a chance to adapt, get used to being a pony.”

“You’re like a powerful unicorn, can’t you stop me from changing?” Hanson asks plaintively.

“No, but I’m not sure I would if I could. You have to understand, it’s not a bad thing to revert to who you were. Who you were supposed to be. Remember, we were all born as ponies first.” I say softly.

“Yeah I know, I saw your video already.”

Blinking, I blush, looking down, “They are still showing that?”

“Yep and wow, was it cheesy.” He says, shaking his head and looking up at me.

“Yeah okay, I’m not used to talking to the camera.” I say, shaking my head.

“I’ll think about it, maybe it won’t be so bad being a pony.” He says with a sigh, looking around the hospital room.

“Great, we have a Greyhound booked to take us back to Japan.” I say smiling.

“Maybe being a stallion won’t be so bad.” Hanson says, relaxing.

Inhaling through my teeth I cringe. I know the pegasus with the cookies was a Wonderbolt, but a mare. “Or mare.” I squeak.

***

Jetstream rolls over onto her back stretching out and relaxes. “Oh this is great.”

“Tell me about it.” Drizzle says and pounces onto her bed, laughing. “I still don’t understand, but who cares.”

“Come on what’s to understand?” Jetstream says, giggling, “Come on if I was a Christian I’d say this proves it.”

Drizzle blinked looking over, “Proves…what?”

“That gravity isn’t a law.” Streams giggles.

Drizzle throws a pillow across the room, smacking Streams in the head. “Behave. You still need to find a place on your own but this isn’t bad.”

“I don’t know, I found out I could actually get Wi-Fi here on my laptop.” Streams says innocently.

“Yeah but what about power?”

Streams leans over and points at the wall outlet.

“Really? Are you serious?” Drizzle says, looking in disbelief.

“Nope, but it got a good response.” Streams says, laughing.

“Argh!” Rolling off the bed Drizzle bounces over to Streams, biting her ear laughing.

There was a tap at the door causing both girls to stop. “Who is it?”

“The mailmare.” White Lightning calls out, laughing.

“Come in, it’s not locked.”

Opening the door Lightening shakes her head, “Do you know this neighborhood? You should keep your door locked.”

Drizzle and Streams look at each other, blinking, then they look at Lightning, laughing.

Trotting over, Lightening climbs up on Streams’ bed, “Oh, this is comfortable.”

“I know right? And the blankets are great.” Streams says.

“Sis, I need to talk to you about something serious.” Lightning says, rolling over, looking at the girls.

Drizzle blinks and lifts a wing, “Should I go?”

Lightning shakes her head, “Nope, its fine. Streams, I have a course for you to go through, you’ll be taking basic FAA flight training. Basic criminal investigations, basic law, as well as a trimmed down version of the Air Force Security Training program.”

“But I can’t. I can’t do a course like that.” Streams says, looking panicked, “Let alone three or more courses.”

“Yes you can. Trust me. There is one big difference here. While the courses are going to be taught by ponies instead of humans, it will be vetted by and verified by humans. Your teacher though will be pegasii, unicorns and earth ponies.”

“Ponies?” Drizzle blinks, sitting up and looking down at Streams.

“Haven’t you noticed? While she’s nervous still, she can read ponies. Understand them better than humans. I think if she’s taught by ponies she’ll be fine.” Lightning says.

Streams blinks and looked up at her sister, “Really?”

“Yeah, I really do. I think you were always wired for pony, even growing up. So it messed you up dealing with people.” Lightning says.

“Ok, I’ll try it on one condition.” Streams says.

“I already said you could have pizza.” Lightning laughs.

“No I was going to say Drizzle helps me if I get in trouble.” Streams said grabbing a pillow and throwing it at her sister.

“Only if she wants to, I can’t force her.” Lightning said softly.

Looking back Streams gave Drizzle sad eyes sticking out her lower lip.

“Oh come on, that’s not fair. Lightening make her stop, declare those eyes illegal to use or something.” Drizzle whimpers and finally sighs. “Fine, I’ll help.”

Streams hugs her tightly with both wings, snuggling up, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“And this way you can have enough money to afford a real apartment if you want.” Lightning says, looking around, “Though this is kind of cute, are you going to keep it?”

“I think so, if I’m allowed.” Streams says, looking out the window, “The view’s great.”

Looking down off the edge of the cloud she can see the 520th office building below. The cloud house has been pulled down so it drifts only a few thousand feet over the base. Several other pegasi are currently shaping their own rest areas on the cloud, taking Streams lead. It isn’t going to be a cloud city or anything. Instead, just a place for 520th members to rest and relax at. A home away from home for when ponies are too tired, or just need a place to rest.

***

I stand on the ramp of the C-2 Greyhound, leaning against the door frame. Someday these will be replaced with Ospreys but the navy has been reluctant to let them go given the speed and range.

Chuckling, I look at Henry trudging up the ramp. His mane getting tossed around by the wind on the flight deck. “Oh come on grumpy, you even got a medal out of this.”

Throwing a small kit bag into the plane he huffs, “You know perfectly well how I feel about pink.”

“I know but you can always look at it this way. At least you’re a stallion. You could have ended up a mare like me.” I say, shaking my tail at him.

“Oh god no…” Henry says and closes his eyes. “Bad, bad, bad, bad…Blaze would kill me for looking.”

I shake my head, laughing, “I’m wearing pants silly.”

“Yep but I’m staying loyal to Sugarberry.”

“Oh I see, you do love her.” I say looking out down the ramp, a few stretchers are being brought onto the plane.

Lightning Blue trots up the ramp and sits in front of me. “This the bus to Okinawa?”

Looking at Blue I cringe, “This is an airplane you know.”

“Well yeah, the wings kind of give it away.”

“Pegasi and airplanes tend not to get along.” I say with a giggle.

Blue shakes her head and smiles, “It’s okay, I’m not up for a long flight home under my own power. And it will give me a chance to say thanks to Star Crossed.”

Nodding, I look inside, poor Henry is at it again, checking over the injured, his horn alight. Shaking my head slowly I look back down the ramp. Finally, I see Private Hanson walking up with his head low. His hair has already started to change, going to this really nice 2 tone brown with blonde highlights.

“Hi, welcome to air pony, there will not be meals served on this flight. Our connecting flight, however, will have full food service as well as bathrooms.” I say with a bright smile.

“Is there a barber there? I can’t live with this hair.”

Laughing softly, I shake my head, “Give it a day or two, you’ll find it will grow on you.”

Shaking his head, Hanson walks over. He sits in a jump chair and belts himself in, “Oh please tell me bad puns are not part of being a pony.”

“Nope they aren’t. Singing is though, so be careful there.” I say, strapping myself in.

Blue sits down and Henry helps strap her in before strapping himself in.

“So Henry, how many?” I say, shaking my head.

Looking back at me he cringes, “Um, just a few, I couldn’t help it though, it’s this stupid cutie mark.”

“Henry it’s not the cutie mark, it’s your heart.” Blue says softly, “You see injured and you feel sorry for them and have to help.”

Henry looks down and huffs, “It not that, it’s the mark.”

“I really need to thank you. You didn’t need to save me.” Blue says, putting a wing around Henry.

“I um… I have a marefriend.” Henry says with a waver to his voice.

Blue blinks, then laughs. “And I’m not interested in stallions like that. It’s a thank you hug. You did something very special for Rosewing, you saved my life, and you helped others. So for all that, you get a hug.”

“So he’s not really a unicorn?” Hanson asks.

“It’s complicated. He wasn’t born a pony like us, but he went through the gate. Best way of wording it, he’s a unicorn in soul not in body. Whereas you and I are ponies in body and soul. We were always meant to be ponies and it was taken from us.”

Looking over her shoulder, Blue sticks her tongue out at me. “Actually I think Henry is supposed to be a pony too, but that’s just me. There’s no way a gift like Henry's has could just appear randomly in a human.”

I stick my tongue back at the other mare, “Hey whatever the case, he’s not part of the five score curse.”

“Ok that I’ll buy.” She says with a nod.

Henry tilts his head, “So um, what are you doing now?”

“Heading back to Japan. I’m JSDF reserves since the change. I got the best job ever though.” Blue says, her ears perking up.

Chuckling, Henry looks over at her, “Oh and what’s the best job?”

“I’m a seiyu, I got heard on the radio after my change, and I got a job as a voice actor and singer for anime.” She chirps happily.

“Oh Celestia no.” I say blinking and shaking my head.

“Oh yes, and I do pony voices, to boot.” Blue says, perking, “They’re talking about me doing Rainbow Dash’s voice in a new anime spin off.”

Covering my face with both forehooves I groan. “No… just please, not that.”

*** Panama ***

“Full Steam, come inside please, it’s raining.” Sunny Daze whines.

“It’s okay, I can keep going, and the rain is good.” Full Steam says, keeping his head low.

“How is it good?” Sunny whimpers, “You’re soaked, it’s going to take forever to get you dry.”

“It’s good because we are making distance and don’t have to worry about people stopping us.”

Sunny sighs sadly and looks back at Ambrosia, “Please make him stop.”

Ambrosia sighs and pokes her head out the window. “Full Steam, stop now or I’ll come out there and walk beside you.”

Sighing, Full Steam pulls off to the side of the road. When it comes to Sunny, he might be able to argue with. But not Ambrosia. He unhooked himself and he walked around to climb into the back of the wagon.

Both mares are waiting for him and begin drying him off as soon as he is inside. “Sweet Celestia, you are drenched.”

“It’s a long trip.” Full Steam starts.

“And we need to pace ourselves. We can’t be getting sick or injured along the way.” Ambrosia says firmly.

Sunny smiles brightly and holds up a large bowl, “Carrot and pea soup, with a touch of ginger and potato starch.”

Looking down at the food, then at the girls, Full Steam can’t help himself. He just starts laughing. Pulling both the girls in for a hug he rubs his face against their cheeks. “What would I do without you two?”

***

“So they took the port?”

“Yes but it cost them, and all the civilian casualties and military casualties are going to cost the Americans.”

Rocking in his hammock he huffs, “Well it was expected to happen sooner or later. We still have other outlets to ship our product from. The computers?”

“Destroyed, like you asked. She was there.”

“Oh really now? I’m surprised they let her out of her gilded cage.” He chuckles, “I wouldn’t mind having some time with her. Or better yet sell her, sure I could make a…”

“She is mine.”

“Remember your place.” Comes the response, “you work for me.”

“She is mine, and I will have her back!”

“Oh you will, we just need to catch her when she’s alone.”

70: The Magic In Kindness

Fleur hugs her cushion tighter as she lies on her side. Her ear twitches as she keeps her eyes glued to the 98” plasma screen. Her muzzle is resting on the end the large cushion she is using to relax her legs on.

Goldie is resting her muzzle on Fleur’s hip as she has both of her ears locked forward. She lies, wide eyed, in a mix of shock and disbelief. A box of Kleenex sits beside her hind leg in case it is needed.

Streams lies with her chin on Fleur’s shoulder, half looking through Fleur’s mane. She has one wing partly covering her face as well, trying to hide her vision. But she is peeking through her feathers. Her other wing is stretched out over Drizzle.

Drizzle is partly hiding under Fleur’s pillow, peeking out from behind the larger unicorn. Her wings are tight to her side, which makes her feel safer, especially while being under Streams' wing. It seems like somewhat of a role reversal to her, with Streams providing her with the protection but she isn’t about to complain.

Fleetfoot lay sideways, using Drizzle as a pillow, unable to look away from the screen. Slowly, she slides the box of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins in in front of Fleur with a forehoof. Fleetfoot’s tail is flicking nervously as the pregnant mare tenses.

The sound of the impact causes all the girls to jump and whimper. None of them are really big on gore or violence, and this is really pushing it. Well none except Fleetfoot, who has seen some combat but nothing close to this.

Light fills the room, causing the girls to grumble. Fleetfoot looks back, “Close the door!” She growls.

“Umm girls?” Anthony starts as he closes the door. “Isn’t there like, a HR code about fraternization at the work place?”

“It doesn’t apply to ponies. It’s herd time. Quiet.” Fleur says, blinking, keeping her eyes focused on the scene on the television.

“Does the NCIS Director know you’ve claimed MTAC?” Anthony asks blinking, then he tilts his head. “Combat footage from the Samaru island campaign?”

“Nope, part of our training course.” Goldie says as the sound of the next impact echoes though the room and all the girls flinch again.

Blinking, Anthony looks up at the screen.

In 98” High-Def, the image of Fire Streak getting his foreleg grabbed as the pegasus is thrown to the ground takes on a whole new look. The sound of the pegasus stallion slamming into the ground reverberates through the speakers. The instructor finishes the move with an elbow drop to the pegasus’ gut. Lying on his back with his wings splayed out and his front legs curled, all he can really do is groan. Looking up at the human combat instructor, the man responds by just shaking his head. “Again!”

“Twenty-two minutes of watching him get thrown around the gym.” Goldie says, not taking her eyes off the screen.

“It’s lucky pegasi heal fast.” Fleur says as she lifts a Munchkin up with her magic and eating it. “Want one?” She asks, magically holding one back to Anthony.

***

Henry lies on his back, looking up at the tree. It’s strange, he never seen leaves like that before. His front legs are curled against his chest, the wind blowing through the long grass and playing with his mane and tail. It’s peaceful, but at the same time…

“You did a good job.”

Blinking Henry looks up, “Oh that’s why I didn’t recognize the type of tree. Hi Luna.”

Giggling softly, Luna lies down beside him. “It’s from the garden in the royal palace. I spent lots of nights sitting under it, young Henry.”

“Going to try and talk me out of turning back?” Henry sighs.

Luna blinked and shakes her head. “First off, I’m not calling you Star Crossed, I’m calling you Henry. Second, I’d never try to talk you into anything you didn’t want to do.”

Henry blinks and tilts his head, “Why?”

“Because I understand more than you think or know. If you know how I am in the show, think about this. First, when I fell to the corruption of power like that, I ended up being banished to the moon. Once the darkness was removed, I found myself in a strange world, filled with strange ponies. I was a thousand years out of time.”

Looking up at the sun through the tree’s leaves, Luna sighs, “My sister had responsibilities and worries of her own. She had a kingdom to run. She had been running it for a thousand years on her own and there was no place for me in the courts, not even my own chair.”

Henry blinks, looking at Luna. He wasn’t expecting her to talk to him like this. This isn’t a lecture or reasons to stay a pony.

“I was so scared. I was scared of how other ponies would react to me. Scared of how ponies would treat me. But I was also scared of the power I had, I didn’t want to fall back to being a nightmare. I tortured myself with nightmares to constantly remind myself of what I had done. It was months before I was even ready to be seen in public and that didn’t go over like I hoped.”

Sighing softly, Luna shakes her head, “My sister tried to force me out into public. But I wasn’t ready. I needed time, and trust me, it took years before I was ready and had enough confidence to really preform royal duties again.”

Looking at Henry, she nods, “I don’t know if you’d ever be ready to live as a pony, but I know what it’s like to be scared of the power and not wanting to be forced to use it. Instead all I can say is this. Maybe someday you’ll find you want to live as a pony, on that day I’ll stand by your choice. Today you’re not ready and I stand by your choice to live as a human. I do want to say this though. Thank you. You helped several ponies without being asked, who were in bad shape. It shows how you earned your cutie mark.”

“Will the mark ever fade?” Henry says, looking back at his hip.

“I hope not. The mark doesn’t define you as human or pony. You define the mark. It came from your heart and soul.”

***

As soon as I see Blue flare her wings and puff out, I brace myself. The Greyhound hits the ground hard, I mean REALLY hard. The term is often referred to as a tailstrike. This happens when the rear end of an aircraft strikes the runway, usually because the pilot pulls back too much on the stick during takeoff or landing.

The sound of metal grinding and ripping against the runway fills the cargo hold, ensuring everyone is wide awake. Sometimes I miss having fingers, but this however is one of those times I’m not sure of. I probably would have my fingers digging into the seat handles right now. Instead, just to be safe, I have a shield over me and the patients, as well as the passengers.

Henry and Private Hanson are sitting wide eyed. Hanson has tears in his eyes for some reason. He didn’t seem too scared or bothered by…

“Five score divided by four…” He says softly looking almost grey as he does. The words every pony knows and fears.

I feel the chill go down my spine instantly, and Blue Lightning looks at him in shock, her wings trembling. I had forgotten about the dream. Truth be told, I find myself almost wondering what his dream was about.

The plane finally rolls to a stop, I look out the window and huff. The pilot leans back, looking at the shield and knocking on it. “Everyone okay back there?”

“What the hay was that?” Blue yells. The pilot blinks at the pegasus who is puffing out her chest fluff to look more threatening as she growls.

Shaking his head, “We spooked a flock of birds on landing. I dropped under them as fast as I could, but it killed my drop rate, so I had to pull up hard so as not to flatten us. Leave the flying to the professionals’ missy. You want to fly, fly on your own next time.”

Blue is about to open her mouth, but Henry gets to her first, clamping her mouth shut with magic. “Nope, all is fine. We landed safe and everyone’s healthy.”

Blue huffs, but she disembarks with everyone else. Medical staff is on hand and begin unloading the patients, looking at their charts, confused. With a giggle I nose Henry out of the plane. I don’t want them to start asking questions or bothering him.

“Come on Private Hanson, our plane’s this way.” I say, smiling as I trot. The airfield isn’t that crowded and at least this time we are flying in a real plane, not stuffed in the back of some F-18.

“Billy.” Hanson says, hopping down off the plane and walking. Then he huffs, ruffling his mane. “What’s with all this hair?”

“It’s a mane. Trust me, we all get them. And we all feel like we are a walking advertisement for the Head and Shoulders commercial. Look at all this luster and bounce.” I say, flicking my mane side to side and giggling.

Henry grumbles, “Yeah, even the stallions get long manes… it’s a pain.” Then he flips his head, causing his mane to bounce a bit, he strikes a pose. “Real stallions use Axe shampoo. It drives the mares wild.”

Blue blinks, dropping her jaw, then falls on her side, laughing her head off. “Oh my gosh, Henry, never do that again.”

I just have to cover my eyes with a forehoof. “Henry, unless you’re staying a stallion, don’t do things like that.”

“You're right, can I change back now?” Henry whines.

“Not until were on the plane, I don’t want to do it in public, ok.” Shaking my head, I turn and get hugged by Blue.

“Thanks for everything.” She said. “If you’re ever in Japan again, look me up.”

Laughing softly I nod, “Sure thing and if your ever in the USA, stop by Fort Bragg, meet all the ponies there.”

Watching her take flight I smile and look back at Henry. “It’s nice to see ponies able to make lives for themselves.”

Climbing onto the G650 again I find a chair and flop back in it, relaxing. These planes even have sofas to lay down on in them. But when you realize they can stay in the air for almost fourteen hours a pop, being able to sleep on board for officers is almost a necessity. In fact with general flight rules, it’s a requirement. And for long to ultra-long haul flights pilots are only allowed to fly for a certain amount of time. As such they need to be able to rest and or sleep on the flight too while a replacement crew is flying.

“Can I change back now?” Henry huffs, laying down on a couch.

Blinking, I tilt my head, “Don’t you want to stay like that for a little longer for Sugarberry?”

“Nope I’d rather hold her in my arms and snuggle into her soft mane.” Henry says.

As the door closes our co-pilot steps out of the cockpit, “Hello, and welcome to Air Pony. Today’s trip, Okinawa to Fort Bragg, will take at least eleven hours. There are lavatory facilities in the back that are pony friendly, so please remember to use them as I don’t like cleaning up brown spots on the seats. There will be no inflight drink service as we are all on duty and drinking on duty is against army regs.”

Holding up one of the inflight phones, he goes on. “Unless you’re a pegasus, please do not comment on air currents, updrafts or the general flight skills of the air crew. If you are a pegasus, please tell us which seat you are in, so we can disconnect your inflight phone.”

Pointing to the windows as well as doors, “Emergency exits are there, there and there. If you have to use them, something horrible has gone wrong and you may need to file a complaint with the Army Air Service. Lastly, today’s inflight meal is provided by the US Army Quartermasters Corps in the form of MREs and MRE-Ps. Feel free to comment on them 'to' the Quartermaster office and not us. Thank you again for flying Air Pony.”

I just sit, grinning from ear to ear, trying not to break out laughing. This is just too good and I wish I had my camera out and ready for that. That is a once in a life time performance and joke.

Henry on the other hand, sits there in total shock. I don’t know if he’s confused, angry or what, but he just blinks a lot. I think something in his brain needs resetting.

Shaking my head, I give Henry a quick zap, countering the spell so he is human again.

All I got from Billy Hanson is… “The bathrooms are pony friendly?”

*** Los Vegas, Nevada ***

“I’m not a Magician I’m an Illusionist. What’s the difference you ask?” Conroy walks to the edge of the stage, sitting down with the microphone in his hand. “I don’t pretend to fly around stage with wires and say it’s real. I just try and bring the wonder, the possibilities, back into your mind. I try and make you ask, what is real.”

Looking around, Conroy stands up, “This isn’t about fireworks, this isn’t about camera tricks.” Holding out a small digital camera in his hand he blinks, “Yeah it’s hard to do camera tricks in front of a live audience with such a small camera.” With a flip of his hand, he holds up the large news camera. “It’s about the childhood innocence. It’s the willingness to come to a show like this and suspend your disbeliefs.”

Handing the news camera and microphone off to an assistant, Conroy moves over and puts on a headset microphone. “So tonight is all about that wonder. The wonder of staying up late hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Clause, and instead finding our presents.” With a flip of a cloth, he produces a large present in front of him. Opening the present he sighs, pulling out a lump of coal, “Yeah figures, another bad year.”

Showing the audience the empty box he shrugged, “Santa don’t like me much.” Dropping the coal back in the box he closes it. “The wonder of Easter and the Easter Bunny.” Opening the box, he pulls out a rabbit from inside the box. He brings it to his chest, stroking its ears. “But for the true wonder, I’ll need some help.”

Hopping off the stage, he wanders through the tables, dinner and a show is a family event, so there are children as well as adults in the audience. Smiling he walks over to one table. “We love to see members of our service in the audience, your name?”

“Phillip North. Major.” The man says.

“Well Major North, you have a wonderful family here, I’m wondering if I can borrow your daughter.” Conroy says with a smile.

The girl immediately starts bouncing in her seat, “Can I, Daddy?”

Smiling Conroy pulls out his wand, holding it in front of the girl, “Your name?”

“Amanda.” She says softly.

Blinking Conroy looks at the wand and shakes it a few times, “Darn thing, must be the batteries.” Thumping its side a few times it becomes one of the stage microphones. “There we go. Your name?”

“Amanda.” She says clearly though the mic.

“Well Amanda, if you’d come up on stage with me, I need your help.”

She looks up at her father, smiling brightly, she squeals when he nods. Amanda takes Conroy’s hand as he leads her up onto the stage.

Bringing out a massive TV, the assistants twirl it around before turning it on.

“When we were young we used to watch cartoons with wonder, we used to imagine the characters playing with us, talking to us. We used to believe they were real. That belief vanishes though with most as we grow old. It fades as we get more and more busy with the world around us. Some of that magic dies away.” With a tap of his wand it, becomes a video remote control.

Kneeling down beside the girl, “But maybe, with the help of a child, we can bring that wonder back. Re-spark what we lost.” Flicking on the remote, he brings up an episode of My Little Pony. “Maybe through the love of a child’s eyes, the wonder can be shared by all.” Freezing the episode on a clear picture of Diamond Mint standing in front of a table he chuckles. “Place your hands against the screen and say the magic words… I Believe.”

The girl reaches foreword saying, “I Believe.” Then she squeals, backing up quickly when her hands touch fur.

Shaking her head, Diamond Mint steps away from the screen looking confused, her image missing from the scene. “Where am I?”

Walking around the unicorn Conroy kneels down, putting his hands on her back, “Its okay, you’re here to help us all remember a child’s magic.”

Crying, the girl hugs the pony tightly around the neck. After a tentative movement the unicorn hugs the child back. “Umm okay. I guess, I’ll help.”

“So unicorns are magical creatures from Unicornia?” Conroy says and the girl shakes her head no vigorously.

“Nuh uh, Canterlot!” Amanda says with a giggle.

“Oh Unicornia must be an older cartoon.” Conroy chuckles.

“Actually sir, I’m from Ponyville. I’m not a big city royal unicorn. I didn’t even really get formal magic training.” Diamond Mint says, looking around timidly.

Conroy smiles and walks the girl back to her father, leaving the unicorn on stage looking stunned and confused.

Narrowing his eyes a bit, the Major pulls out his phone and dials, but he keeps most of his attention on the show unfolding before him.

Once back on stage Conroy, smiles, “Minty, let’s have some fun.” He says as he steps into a box, “Make sure the box is closed for me, okay?”

Minty lights her horn up, closing the box and then walks around it slowly. “Are you sure it’s safe in there sir?” A loud snap causes the unicorn to jump back as one of the stage lights falls down, crushing the box. Minty screams out and runs to check on the box. Several of the stage hands as well as Conroy run up, showing there was nothing in the box.

Minty looked up at Conroy, blinking. Then she hoofs him gently, “Don’t do that, us ponies have bad nerves.”

Smiling, Conroy hugs the little unicorn, “But that’s the thing about magic. Sometimes magic is shocking, sometimes it’s sad. But my favorite type of magic is when I can see the joy and wonder in children.” Dropping a cloth over the pony, he stands up, pulling it away and revealing a pony sized cake.

The staff quickly bring the cake out for the children in the crowd, “Nothing says more to me than their smiles and wonder.”

The Major’s daughter squeals out again as the lights come up on her with Diamond Mint trying to look innocent as she is swiping some of the girl’s cake. “What? I like cake.” She giggles.

Laughing, several kids reach out to pat the unicorn as she trots back up on stage. Looking around, she sighs, “This is a strange world, it’s fun and all but… Can I go home?”

Nodding Conroy smiles and picks her up gently. Putting her against the TV screen. Then he backs up and unpauses the show. In the show Diamond Mint lights her horn and lifts up some cake.

Turning off the TV, Conroy turns to the audience. “Remember, whether or not magic’s real, you have to ask yourself. Is it really the magic? Or the wonder that’s more important?”

With a bow, Conroy turns and heads off stage.

*** Velvet ***

“Oh, oh, oh, your ears are in. YES!”

Billy Hanson yawns, stretching out on the sofa, “That’s… important?”

“Ears give me your body hair color. Hair gives me your mane and tail colors. That gives me your full coloring plus your cutie mark. With that we have more of a chance to tell who you are and aren’t.” I say, smiling brightly.

Sitting up he looks at his hair, and man, he has a lot of it. Not Fluttershy lots, but for a marine, it is already down past his shoulders. Complete with waves and highlights, shine and bounce. I really hope I don’t have to break any bad news to him.

“Well you’re not Pizzelle, a Wonderbolt pegasus. Umm, there’s a chance I know who you are, but…” I gulp, not sure how to express this.

“But what?” Hanson said looking worried.

“Well in Equestria there seems to be more mares than stallions. But the curse seemed to spread it evenly over males and female… so umm… A few guys end up becoming mares or fillies. This isn’t a horrible thing in the long run.” I start, then I cringe as I watch his emotions flicker over his face.

“NOT A HORRIBLE THING!” Hanson looks at me in a mix of shock and fury, “Are you telling me I’m going to become a girl!”

“There’s still a chance, there are background ponies that have the same colors and different genders. We thought Rainbow Blaze was going to turn into Rainbow Dash at first because they have generally the same cutie mark, mane and body hair colors. We won’t know for sure till the end of day two.” I say, quickly.

“Then why bring it up?” He says, looking at me sternly.

“Umm, I kinda wish I hadn’t now, but I needed you to be prepared, just in case. On the up side, if the colorings right you’re going to be a unicorn. That means we can start training you almost right away.” I say.

“No, not on your life. There has got to be a way to stop this, a spell or something.” He says looking at me firmly.

Closing my eyes I sigh. “It’s not that bad. It’s hard at first, but remember that this is who you are, or more accurately, who you were before. Who you were always meant to be. It’s simply the curse finishing its course and the magic running out.” I say.

“Not so bad? Not so bad!” Hanson starts, snarling a bit.

Henry blinks and offers Hanson some salt and pepper packets.

“What the heck is this for? This is serious fubar.” Hanson snaps at Henry, “She tells me I’m going to turn into some stupid cartoon mare and I’m supposed to relax? My marine career is over, I may be losing my manhood and her response is it’s not that bad! How would she know?”

Turning my head away I flinch, and speak softly, “I’m not stupid.”

Henry sighs, “And there it is. I think I have some ketchup here too.”

“What the heck is it with the condiments?” Hanson says, focusing on Henry.

“They’re for your foot.” Henry sighs, then gestures to me, “Billy Hanson, meet Walter Fitzpatrick. Walter is a Corporal with the 2nd battalion, 75th rangers, specializing in intelligence analysis and acting as spotter for a sniper team. I served with him as a male ranger for over a year in Afghanistan and I trust him with my life.” Looking over at me, Henry smiles, “And as a mare she’s one of the strongest, yet gentlest mares I know. She is smart, wise, and packing enough firepower to vaporize a tank in one shot. I’ve seen her stop RPGs midflight. She has nothing to fear or apologize for, for becoming a mare.”

I blink looking up at Henry, then I move over and hug him tightly.

“I… I…” Hanson started.

Looking up at him, I sigh, “At least your change is safe. I changed in the field, with no idea what ponies were or what was going on. I changed when there was no support, when the military was trying to take ponies to experiment on. I know it’s going to be hard at first. It isn’t all bad though. You’ll find magic makes up for so much, and lets you do so much more then you could before.”

Henry nods and sits with an arm around me, hugging me gently.

“I won’t lie to you, IF you become a mare there are hard parts. Hard things to deal with. But it makes us stronger for it.” I look up at Henry.

“And at least you’re not pink.” He says.

“It’s strange but, you tend to forget about your missing parts rather quickly as your old instincts kick back in.” I say. “Some ponies fixate on that for the first bit, but soon seem to fit or accept it as other parts of their lives kick in. Pegasus ponies discover their flight. Earth ponies their strength. And unicorns…”

“Get their horns smacked in the field reminding them to turn off their hornshine so they don’t give away our position to the enemy.” Henry says, chuckling.

“Hey that wasn’t my fault. I wasn’t in full control of my magic yet.” I say and grab and MRE-P, opening it up.

“What hornshine?” Hanson asks.

“Unicorns focus their magic though their horns, causing a magical aura or glow. Hornshine is what that glow is called.” Henry says.

Blinking, I start giggling softly, “The Quartermaster is nuts.” I say, shaking my head.

Billy leans over, looking. “What?”

Smiling I hold up some of the packages from my MRE-P, “Wonderbolt Bolt Bars. 100% Equine safe and friendly. Zapple jam, fortified apple sauce. Oh, Old Farm carrot and cinnamon alfalfa cookies.”

“They're actually naming the stuff?” Henry says, blinking.

“A morale purpose is my bet, this way we are considered equals. Instead of the Huaw bars, we get the Wonderbolt Bars, with fortified Oats and Grains.” I say as I dig in.

“I wonder how much of that is human safe?” Hanson comments and Henry sits down looking at the packages.

“Most of it apparently, they have a person with a line through it on the front and back if it’s not good for humans. My guess is it’s the things like the alfalfa and other roughage that humans can’t digest.”

“Is there anything unicorns can’t eat?” Hanson asked curiously.

“Meat. My God. I miss cheeseburgers.” Henry moans.

“But you’re not a…”

“Even in human form I have my cutie mark, and that has me not eating meat. I’m stuck as a veggievore.” Henry sighs.

*** Somalia ***

It’s hard to imagine what ponies and people could pull together in a few days. They are all here for different reasons. Some are fleeing religious persecution, some fleeting ethnic cleansings, some are running to avoid being pushed in child armies. Others have nothing left back home.

They are all refugees of one form or another. All were originally lost. In the Valley of Blood, however, they have found something new, a friendship and bond that brings them together to survive. It is a chance to carve out a new free life.

Looking up, the zebra foal laughs, “Look, I can actually pull the plow!”

Giggling the zebra mare shakes her head. The ponies have been taking turns plowing the fields to plant some crops. There isn’t much here, but the ponies seem to be sure that they can make stuff grow. They just need time.

Looking up at the sky, the mare sighs. For once time seems to be the one thing they have. They aren’t being chased anymore. War, slave traders, and pirates are all around but this valley is untouched. Not even the ones who are kidnaping ponies come here.

“We’re going to need food, we are quickly running out of everything we carried with us.” One human says sadly.

“Crops don’t grow overnight, well unless they are Zap Apples.” A pony says, sitting down and patting the dirt with a forehoof.

“With the battery from the truck I managed to get a radio working. The World Food Programme is going to try and get us an air drop out of Lokichokio in Kenya. They need to have a truck on the ground though. They are going to map out an area outside of the valley for the drop.” One human says.

“Out… side…” The zebra foal blinks, looking scared.

*** CMC: EC ***

“Cutie Mark Crusader Horse Whisperers!”

Feather blinked and shivers. “Umm no, I’d rather not.”

“I thought that would be an easy one to try. We would whisper to each other and see if we got a mark for that.” Cloudy says, sitting down.

Candy covers his face with a forehoof. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

“Besides, were not Saddle Arabians or horses.” Feather says, looking down at her hooves.

The other foals quickly run over to hug her tight. Candy speaks softly, smiling at Feather. “You’ve gotta put your past behind you, Feather. Scars heal.”

“No they don’t, wounds heal.” Cloudy says, blinking.

“Oh yeah, what do scars do? Fade?” Candy says, letting go of Feather and tilting his head.

“I don’t care what scars do, I just want my cutie mark.” Feather says with a huff.

*** Velvet ***

“And thank you for flying Pony Air. The only Airline certified by the USAF and USDA.” The co-pilot smiles brightly.

“Really, USDA?” I say, blinking.

“Yep, where else do ponies get their butts stamped?”

Yep, when a single facehoof just won’t do. I find myself sitting, double facehoofing and shaking my head.

“Sir, how long have you been flying ponies around?”

“Since the middle of May. It’s just easier to use these small jets with limited aircrew and ground crew than try and fit them onto a bigger cargo plane or force them to try and fly commercial.” Shaking his head he chuckles. “A pony in an airport with fifty thousand people, trying to explain why they are a pony, and get permission to fly from one base to another for training, is just...”

“Oh yeah, I can picture that.” I shake my head.

“So unofficially, this is one of two jets that ferries ponies around from base to base. It gets funny with the pegasi though.” The co-pilot shakes his head, chuckling, “Some of them are slow flyers, so it would take them days, or even longer, to get cross country. So we’ve had requests to fly them to patrol zones for the 520th Air Police.”

“Slow flyers?” I say, blinking. I know Blaze is fast but I hadn’t thought of others.

“Well consider, at 60 to 100 miles per hour, for a slow flyer, and again, the term’s relative. 520th headquarters to Miami Florida would be a 9 to 14 hour flight, if they have the endurance to do all of that in one hop at full speed. That might be a two or even three day trip for some. And while sixty miles per hour might be fine for flying around a city, it’s not the best for cross country flights.”

“I hadn’t really considered that, I’m so used to speedsters.” I say.

“So we provide air taxi service for the pegasi too. Even if they do whine, complain and belly ache the entire flight.” The co-pilot says with a chuckle.

Smiling, I give the officer a quick hug. Yeah, it’s against regulations but he deserves it. “Thanks for all you're doing for us ponies. I’m sure you’ve saved more lives than you know or realize.”

71: The Friendly Skies

“What is a civilian?” The General muses, leaning back.

Shaking his head, the Major sighs, “I think it’s pretty well defined.”

Looking out the window at Sugarberry, he sighs, “I just saw the civilian casualty reports for the attack on Samaru. Normally I would be appalled at high civilian counts.”

“Not this time though? We’ve had problems with deciding what a civilian is for ourselves since Vietnam. While Granada and Panama had clear defines about who the civilians were, the fighting in Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria blurred the lines more and more.” The Major sips his coffee and flinches.

“The entire city had no other means of income that intel could find. That is, other than piracy and slave trading. They funneled slaves from Russia, the Middle East, and Africa to there, and then around the world. They bought and sold people and ponies. They supplied weapons and arms to pirates. They maintained and repaired pirate ships. It was pretty much their entire industry. They also supported terrorism throughout the world.” The General sighs.

“So it’s hard to feel sorry for them?” The major says softly, “Actually I know how you feel. They profited from the suffering of innocence. They were still civilians, and there will be repercussions for this action. In the end though, we made the region so much safer. And we did rescue hundreds of people and ponies.” The Major puts down his coffee.

Taking a sip of his, the General coughs a few times. “That we did. Um, new order, so let the staff know. Ciphers coffee is clearly marked in the break room, when serving staff don’t use that pot.”

The Major chuckles, “I’ve had espressos that were not this strong.”

***

Pegasi, all pegasi, five of them for this flight, oh wonderful. Well at least it’s a short flight so that is a blessing. It’s a mix of ponies heading down to the 520th HQ for police training. Taking a deep breath, he braces himself and steps out of the cockpit and into the cabin. He looks around and puts on his best smile.

“Hello, I’m your co-pilot today. My names Lieutenant Sanders. No relation to Colonel Sanders, so please don’t ask me about chicken. Today’s hop will be from Fort Bragg to Quantico and will take approximately an hour and a half, barring any traffic jams, sky work, or nosey pegasi. If you are a pegasus, please remember that the doors are closed for the safety of us all. Please don’t decide to get out and take a walk midflight.”

Pointing to the doors, “Emergency exits are there, there and there. If it really comes down to using them, please let one of the staff open them, and no, bad turbulence is not reason enough to pop one open and jump out. While we may not have our own wings, we do know how to fly this plane. With that in mind, please keep any comments as to our flight skill to yourself until after we have left Quantico. Since the majority of you here are pegasi, we have taken the added security precaution of disabling your seat phones just to make sure this flight is extra pleasant.”

Pointing over to the cabinet, “Today’s inflight meal was provided by the US Army Quartermasters Office. I’m sure it’s edible, but if it’s not, the lavatory is in the back. Our lavatory is fully modernized and pony friendly, so please remember to use it. If you haven’t figured out how to use it yet, please tell our steward and he will provide you with rubber seat covers.”

Taking a deep breath, he points to the ceiling. “While we do not plan on having an in air depressurization, if we did I’d have taken the day off after all... we do have precautions in place to deal with it. Air masks will drop down, unfortunately they are probably set to fit humans, so I wish you luck. Though given that pegasi seem to be fine at high altitudes, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you do manage to get them on, remember to deposit a dollar for the first minute, and twenty-five cents for each minute after that.”

“Lastly, please wait till our engines are fully stopped and we say it’s okay to exit the plane on the ground. We’ve already had to replace the engines once, when one of Santa’s reindeer got sucked in. Since ponies are a lot smaller than reindeer, the damage to the engine might not be as bad, but please remember that some service person will be expected to sponge up the mess afterward, so please be careful. As always, thank you for flying Pony Air, because we know you really don’t have a choice.”

Turning, he heads back to his seat, “Tower this is Pony Air 002, ready for departure.”

Looking over, the Captain shakes his head, “You are certifiable, you know that right?”

“Don’t make me start singing, 'it’s what my cutie mark is telling me'. Last time I did it, all the ponies picked up on it right away.” The co-pilot singsongs as he runs through the final checklist.

“Tell me why you’re not a pony again?”

"The FDA and USDA turned me down. I was a month past my expiration date, so I didn't get my butt stamp."

“Huh?”

“Just not one of the lucky ones, I guess. I was born a whole month too soon. And to think, I never even watched My Little Pony until I found out about them.”

*** Somalia ***

Gritting her teeth, she watches. She doesn’t trust them, doesn’t like them being there. They are trouble, and will attract trouble. She moves a bit to keep her eyes on what they are doing.

The aid workers are laying out a large rectangle on the ground with white sandbags. They have a large cross in the center. It’s obvious they are marking a drop zone, but it would attract unwanted attention.

They had driven here in a small jeep, why they couldn’t just bring the supplies in by the jeep? It might not have been as much, but it would have been safer. There are other eyes watching this, and she knows it. They will come. Warlords, rebels, whoever… To take the food for themselves and kill anyone who gets in their way.

Why had they come here? Why did they decide to use this valley? This was her home.

*** Velvet ***

Not to say the scream was girlish, it really wasn’t that feminine… Who am I kidding? That one was well into the Rarity octaves. It was even higher pitched than Twi-Twi being confronted by a quesadilla.

All the girls lift their heads, blinking and looking around. Cipher blinks, Ballad and Sugarberry stand up, looking around and taking a head count. Ah-Pee looks at me as she stands up. We had fallen asleep watching old classic movie. Mad Max Fury Road was only five years old, but still a true classic.

Blaze is sitting up in the chair, looking around. A confused look on his face as he tries to figure out which mare screamed. The foals are at the tree-house, and even then they might not be able to get to that high a pitch.

Slowly we all looked at each other, then all heads turn towards the bathroom. “Umm Billy? Are you okay in there?”

Blinking, I look at Sugarberry, “Should I get a psychologist or councillor here?”

“You know what she’s going through. That why the base hospital suggested you handle this, unless it’s an emergency.”

“Yeah but I didn’t scream like that.”

Blaze noses me towards the bathroom, “Nope you squeaked and whimpered.”

I may be dressed, but Blaze’s muzzle still hit a rather private spot, causing me to squeak and look back at him.

“Just like that.” Blaze says.

Sighing, I use my magic to open the bathroom door and step inside. Billy is sitting on the toilet, his eyes wide and trembling badly. His, well her, hands are gripping a towel with a death grip. Oh goody, he or she is taking it well.

Taking a deep breath, “Well it looks like you’re going to be Cookie Crisp. Canterlot elite unicorn, owns a bakery but is a real umm…”

Tilting my head, I look at Billy, he didn’t seem to be paying attention, or he was in shock. One of the two, “Umm, are you okay?”

“Okay? Am I Okay!?!?” She lets out a little laugh.

“Oh no.”

“NO, I’m not okay! I’m a girl! It’s gone! How do you think I feel?” She squeals.

Taking a step back, I sit and whimper, “Scared, betrayed, confused. Angry at everyone. Well it is okay to be angry at Discord actually. Since this is his fault. He’s already been beaten up and punished for this.”

“Angry, try…” she starts and looks at me. “So, I can’t even get payback.” She says, tears falling.

“You’re only part way through your change. Don’t worry. Things will be better in a couple of days. You’ve got so much to look forward to.” I say cheerfully.

“Oh yeah, like what? PMS?”

Giggling softly, I shake my head. “Nope, don’t worry, ponies don’t get that or periods. So we don’t really have to worry about things like that. Add to that we have a great tea to help and it's fine. The best part though will be the magic, trust me. It will be so much fun, especially when we start with the fundamentals!”

The sound of multiple groans is a dead giveaway that the Unicorn Club is listening at the door. With a little giggle I perk, “And you won’t even have to do them alone, I’ll have Cipher, Sugarberry and Ballad help you practice!”

I hear a soft “Baaaaaah” followed by a thud on the other side of the door. Somepony really likes that idea, it sounds like.

“But I’m a girl!” She says, starting to pant.

“Yes, and trust me you’re not the only one this has happened to. You are one of the lucky ones. Some have turned into foals, or even newborns. Some have turned into elderly, picture going from a twenty-five year old, to a one year old… or a ninety year old. Picture becoming nine months pregnant due to the change. JUST becoming female is a nice change from what others have had.”

Billy’s eyes dart around frantically, “What am I going to do?”

Closing my eyes I think for a second, then I take a big breath, “Semper Fi Marine! Adapt and Overcome.”

That gets through to him, or her. Sitting up a bit, Billy takes a breath then blinks, looking at me. “What?”

Once a Marine always a Marine, the training is so ingrained that even in the worst cases it can be used to get through to them. “The ponies were at war with Discord. Consider the loss a battlefield injury. Now you have to adapt to it. Fight through it. Adapt and overcome! You’re a Marine!” I yell.

I can see him trying to work through this. It’s going to take him a long time but if I can do it, he can. “Come on now, get yourself cleaned up, pull up your pants and come into the living room.”

He opens his mouth for a second. I don’t want him to start thinking about it just yet, “NOW, MARINE!”

He stands up and quickly pulls his pants up. He walks out of the bathroom, looking almost timid. The other girls sit in a row, looking at him, though Blaze stays back, rocking in the chair.

Stepping out into the living room, I look over my shoulder and nod to Cookie, “Girls, her name’s Cookie Crisp. She’s from Canterlot.”

Cipher giggles, grabbing Cookie with magic and pulls her into a group hug. Ah-Pee joins in, hugging Cookie along with the rest of the Unicorn Club. “Can we go back to sleep now? We don’t need to be up for another two hours.”

Laughing softly, I nod.

*** 520th ***

“Okay, mares and stallions. 520th air police is going to be just that. Police Officers. As such we are getting new training. Our job is to enforce the laws of the air ways, make sure all the pegasi around know the rules and laws, and we also get to chase down any pegasus breaking said rules.” Looking around at the collection of pegasi, White Lightning paces in front of the ranks.

“We are all being trained in FAA regulations, crash scene investigations, first aid, search and rescue, hoof to hoof combat, and basic law enforcement. We will be aiding the FAA in investigations of crashes that have involved or are suspected to involve pegasi. We will guard and protect government buildings, such as the White House from intrusive pegasi. We will patrol and watch for pegasi violating safe flight rules.”

Stopping her pacing, White Lightning turns to face the herd, “So far, our jobs have been mish-mashed and haphazard. I know some of you were pressed into service under a stop loss. Don’t worry, while we are doing physical combat training, I won’t put any of you in the line of fire. Our job is working with pegasi, first and foremost. Once everything is stabilized, and we have enough volunteers willing to stay we will begin processing those who want to leave, out.”

“Right now though, you are all part of something special. We are the closest thing the Earth has to the Wonderbolt reserves. So even if you do leave, you will be leaving as a 520th member. That is something you can carry with you with pride and honor for your entire life.” Smiling, she looks around, “That being said. Fleetfoot, you’re up.”

“520th!” The ponies call out.

“520th For Earth and Equestria!!!” Fleetfoot calls. All the pegasi cheer.

“For those that don’t know me I’m Fleetfoot, and I’ll be your flight instructor. I’ve served in the Wonderbolts, and it’s become my job to whip your sorry wings into shape. But you have to be thankful it’s me doing this. If it was Spitfire, she’d have all of your tails doing laps and cloud busting for six weeks just to lose those tubby tummies you have.”

Smiling Fleetfoot sits down, “I’ll also be teaching you FAA regulations. Some of you are already certified pilots, so I expect you to help those ponies who never got their licenses. Fire Streak here has been working on hoof to hoof combat training and will be helping us qualify there. We will have some human trainers for parts of the course for teaching things we aren’t certified in yet.”

Jet Stream can’t help but gulp at that, but she’d promised her sister she’d give it a try. Glancing over at Drizzle she sees the pride Drizzle is taking here. She had heard how scared Drizzle was coming here, even asking Lightning Dust to find out what’s going on for her before she came.

Now though, Drizzle is filled with confidence and pride. Almost all the pegasi here are. It might be being part of something like the Wonderbolts. Jet Stream isn’t sure, all she knows is, everypony is here to help ponies.

Holding her head high, Streams listens to the end of the briefing before they are dismissed. “Come on Drizzle.”

Laughing Drizzle follows Streams up to the cloud house. Well, what used to be a cloud house. Over the last few days more and more cloud material has been brought in. Now, hovering over part of the Chopawamsic Creek is an actual Cloud Barracks. Each pegasus had a two story room with twelve hundred square feet per floor to play with as they want.

The entire cloud forms a horseshoe shape with a large central fountain. About 750 feet by 700 feet, the barracks isn’t huge by some standards, especially with all of the open area. It is still enough to house nearly a hundred pegasi.

“Cloud shaping helped a lot of the pegasi get in touch with their magic.” Drizzle says as her hooves hit the cloud, “That was a great idea of yours.”

“Oh come on, I only meant it as a joke, I didn’t expect it to become well… Mandatory.” Streams says.

“No, it’s great. It also brings us together, we don’t need to live here. But at the same time, having pegasi help each other with the interiors is great bonding.” Drizzle says, then she huffs as she looks across the cloud.

While the central fountain in the clouds is meant as a show piece, Some of the pegasi have taken to using it as a giant bird bath. One stallion in particular has his chest all puffed out, head high, as he tries to show off to a pair of 520th mares. He is prancing, with his hooves just hitting the water, causing splashes. A younger mare has her hooves in the fountain, looking up at him and giggling.

“And then there is that kind of behavior.” Drizzle says, shaking her head.

Streams giggles, “Well he is kind of cute, or at least you think so.”

Drizzle blinks, “Hey, what do you mean by that?”

Trotting for her apartment, Streams giggles, “Check your wings girl.”

Drizzle looks over her shoulders, then acks, putting her wings down quickly, “Must be that time of the month.” She says, huffing and chases after her friend.

*** Velvet ***

Humming softly, I put down a big bowl of Alfalfa-Bits in front of Cookie, “Here ya go. Your teeth should have changed, so this is your first real pony meal.”

Looking down, Cookie blinks and pokes at it, “What is it?”

“Alfalfa, it’s a horse feed. It’s sort of become a tradition that we have it as our first meal. Helps clean out our system and get us used to the taste of plant over meat.” I say, sitting across from her. Her mane has really come out, a two tone blonde and brown with a fashion model level of shine and bounce. Wavy as if she’d spent hours crimping it, yet that is her natural look.

With a sigh, she starts to eat her breakfast. Looking up at me, she shrugs, “Not bad actually. It could use some sugar, though.”

“Yep, that’s the unicorn in you. I think us unicorns kept Sugarcube Corner in business. There were a LOT of unicorns in Canterlot and Ponyville, so sweet shops had a lot of business back in Equestria.” With smile I look up at her horn, “Well today we are going to hit the PX and buy some pony supplies.”

“Pony… supplies?” Cookie looks confused.

“Yep, just basics, your first saddle bag, your first puzzle.” I blink as I hear the clatter and scampering of hooves. Looking up across the kitchen I see Ah-Pee there, looking confused.

Looking side to side Ah-Pee turns around, “Well Cipher, Ballad and Sugarberry WERE here with me, what did you say to scare them?”

Shaking my head I giggle, “Umm. I said I needed to get another puzzle.”

“Oh, that explains it. We won’t be seeing them for a bit.” Ah-Pee says and giggles. “Want me to join you two?”

“Sure thing.” I say, floating my saddle bag onto my back.

Cookie finishes her meal. Then she stands up and puts her plate in the sink and washing her hands off. “I’m ready, I guess.”

Cookie has on combat pants, combat shirt, and her beret. Which with her amount of hair and bounce just looks way too cute. Honestly, I’m thankful this phase of the change involves udders, if she had grown a pair of human style… she’d have been a total looker and never wanted to leave the house.

Celestia, what would I look like as a human? I shake my head, I really don’t want to know. And I have an excuse for not finding out, I’m pregnant. I still have trouble at times with gender. Sometimes I wonder if I was always feminine in nature. Seeing it like this in someone else, however… Just brought back all the…

“Something wrong?” Ah-Pee asks.

Shaking my head I looked over, “No I was just thinking.”

“Actually I was asking Cookie.” Ah-Pee giggles.

“Um, my boxers are just kind of… going places while I walk.” He says.

“Oh… ouch.” Ah-Pee shakes her head. “Yeah, hadn’t thought about that. It’s a waste to buy panties for just one day, but boxers are going to be problematic.”

“Actually the army issues boxers for mares, but we’ve found they go places too. A local company’s started making panties for us that work much better.”

“Panties, right, no thanks.” Cookie says, “How far is the PX?”

“It’s only a mile or so.” Humming softly I look at Ah-Pee, “Notice we walk more as a pony?”

Ah-Pee laughs, “Yeah, as ponies we move faster and can walk further. We tend not to notice or think about it, but we are built to walk. Generally a ten minute walk for us, is where humans start driving.”

“Unless it’s an SUV owner, in which case a two minute walk for us is a drive for them.” I say with a giggle.

“We’ll take a taxi back, just because the change gets hard on your legs and back.” Ah-Pee says with concern in her voice.

“So what do you do when walking that far?”

Blinking I look at Ah-Pee. Ah-Pee leans forward looking at me and smiles.

“Life is a runway. Listen, here's what it's all about…” Ah-Pee starts singing as she walks.

Shifting my gait a bit, I move into step with her, picking up the song immediately. “I tell you, life is a runway. Time to bring what's on the inside out.”

Together we harmonize as we prance on either side of Cookie singing, “Life is a runway, when you see it my way, take all the good inside, and make it shine out…”

*** CID ***

“Fleur, drop what you’re doing, we’re up.” Anthony says as he walks up to the unicorn.

“What’s up? Lead on the double murder?” She says, getting up off her pillow.

With a chuckle he shakes his head, “Nope, this one’s your specialty.”

“Rape?” Fleur blinks.

“Nope, magic and ponies.” Anthony says, grabbing his go bag.

“Since when did that become my specialty?” Fleur protests as she picked up her go saddlebag, putting it on her back.

Anthony grabs the keys from his desk as well as his side arm, “Since you were trained in magic and are the only unicorn in three agencies.”

“And yet this is the first magic case we’ve had. Where to?” Fleur pulls on her ID badge around her neck.

“Los Vegas, Nevada. They want us to go, rather than agents from the Arizona office.” Trotting down Fleur lights her horn, opening the front door.

“So what? We are driving to Los Vegas?”

“Psha. Like I want smell horse butt for THAT long.” Anthony says, heading for the car. “Nope, we have a flight waiting for us at Turner Field. We are flying in style too, it’s one of the Gulfstreams.”

“Well that’s why you don’t wanna smell horses butt. Cuz you’ve been kissin so much butt to get a Gulfstream flight to Vegas.” Fleur says with a wink.

“It was here dropping off members of the 520th and refuelling. So the office booked it, now as to the case, call came in to our hotline the other day, officer took his family out to dinner at some magic show in Vegas.” Anthony shakes his head and chuckles, “Well long story short, the stage magician conjured Diamond Mint in front of the audience. They want us to check up on her, make sure she isn’t being held against her will or mistreated.”

Parking the car, they head out to the runway where the plane is waiting. The door is open and the stairs are down, so they head right up. “You know, FBI has like a dozen of these things.” Anthony says.

With a flick of her mane Fleur holds her head high, and prances regally for the plane, “This will have to do, it’s below my standards through. It has nothing on the unicorn luxury yachts out of Canterlot. Now there was flying in style.”

“And you have no clue what the yachts looked like past what you saw on the show.” Anthony says with a chuckle.

“Nope, not a clue, those memories haven’t come back yet.” Fleur smiles, “Thankfully, I’d hate to turn into a snob on you.”

“Wow, this is upscale.” Anthony says, looking around at the sofa. Two flight crew are catching some sleep on one pair of sofas and the radio operator is asleep at the coms station. Obviously they’ve been busy.

“How long till we take off?” Fleur asks, looking at the flight crew.

From one of the couches, an officer lifts his hand. “And welcome above Pony Air flight 2, Quantico to Los Vegas. Our flight should be about five hours give or take, barring any pegasus problems. Speaking of pegasus problems, if any of you are pegasi or related to them, and you feel the need to comment on our flying skills, please be so kind as to do so about seven hours from now, as we hope to be well away from you by then.”

Sitting up the aircrew stretches out, yawning. “Our lavatory facilities are in the back, and are fully pony friendly.” Looking around and seeing only a single unicorn, the co-pilot chuckles, “But maybe a little small for horses. Lunch has been catered for us by the US Army Quartermasters offices in the form of bottled water and MRE-P’s. Trust me, they aren’t as bad as they sound with the exception of the hay. For some reason it just doesn’t agree with me.”

Cracking his back the co-pilot points out, “Our emergency exits are there, there and there, oh and I think ones over there. In the side panel of the seats you will find instructions on how to properly use them as well as a service card. If you have to use the emergency exits, please remember to check off the yes box for enjoying the flight and turn that in to the nearest rescue worker.”

“Since Pony Air is the only airline that caters to ponies, please remember that since your crew are not ponies we don’t understand what a pain in the tail the seat belts are. Instead simply ask for any help if you need it and our lovely steward here,” The co-pilot quickly motions to a sergeant in combat fatigues, “Will be more than willing to help. Just as long as you don’t call him doll, apparently he doesn’t like that.”

Grumbling the sergeant looks at the co-pilot. “I hate you, you know that right?”

Giggling Fleur looks over to Anthony, “Oh we have GOT to introduce him to Mindy. Have you heard her chatting on Skype?”

*** Velvet ***

What was once two or three shelves on a small aisle in the PX has grown over the months to a full section with its own label. Though honestly, I wonder how many kids have seen the pony isle sign and ran for it, thinking it was My Little Pony toys. There are other ponies in the aisle, shopping as well today. Earth and Unicorns buying things for themselves.

There are pony dependents in the US military. Some children of career officers have changed and moved to live on base with them. Some are married to service members who actually stayed married. The military, though, has made exceptions for ponies that were divorcing service members after their change.

Non-military ponies are being allowed to continue living on base. Special buildings have been set up just for them. This will allow them to stay close to any children they have, but at the same time keep them with other ponies. Forcing ponies apart has been proven to have detrimental effects on their psyche.

“Saddlebags are the equivalent of a pony backpack, purse, or whatever. We carry everything we need in it. They come in lots of different, sizes based on personal needs and styles. You might want a medium sized one to start. That will do you for groceries and day to day stuff.” I say, holding one out.

“I’ve been customizing ours, normally they come with a blank clasp, but there’s a spell I found in the EUP field manual.” Touching my horn to the clasp I change it to the 3 cookies of Cookie Crisp’s mark.

Cookie blinks, “That’s kinda, cool but what’s the point?”

“Well it was for unit insignia, letting ponies put their insignia on their saddlebags and such. However it’s able to be used to do cutie marks too. Good for showing which bag belongs to which pony.” I say.

A young unicorn trots over, looking at me and the bag. “How did you do that?”

Giggling softly, I pull out the EUP manual from my bag and open it to the spell page, “Here, read this.”

Sitting down, the mare tilts her head, reading slowly. It takes us about half an hour, but soon she has the clasps on her saddle bag changed for herself. “My First SPELL!” She cheers.

Giggling softly, “You haven’t learned other spells?” I ask.

“Not really, I’m kind of okay with my floaty stuff, but that’s about it.”

“Well if you ever need help, I teach spell-craft and basic magic. Talk with the Veterans Affairs office about the course.” I say, smiling, and put some stuff into the basket.

“I might do that, though I’m supposed to be heading to Lightning Dust’s farm soon.” The little unicorn says.

Giving her a hug I smile, “Good luck.”

Looking down at me, Cookie shakes her head and smiles. “Are ponies always so social?”

“We try to be. Kindness, generosity, and laughter reside in all of us. We just need to let it out once in a while.” Smiling up at Cookie, I stand up, “Who knows, every life we touch, every person we help may have a ripple effect. No one really knows what will happen in the future. All we can do is hope that the lives we touch carry the gifts of harmony with them and share them with others.

72: Laughter and Hope

Dipping its wings, the C-130 turns and slows as it lined up on the box for final approach. The pilot throttles back as he lined up on the box about ten miles ahead. The large cargo plane’s rear doors are already open with the pallets of supplies lined up.

“Looking good, we are three minutes to drop position.” The co-pilot calls out, watching the GPS tracker.

“Captain, the cargo is ready, but I’m showing dust trails about eight miles behind us. I think it’s one of the militia groups, probably four or five vehicles.” The payload specialist calls up. That isn’t terribly uncommon, often when food drops happen, armed gangs, militia groups, or whatever, will swarm in and try and take everything themselves. The hope is that at least some of the food will be able to be scavenged by those who really need it.

“Let the ground group know to pull out. We don’t want them getting kidnaped.” The captain says to the co-pilot as he adjusts his path a bit.

“Looks like the civis will have to fend for themselves.” The co-pilot says sadly and switches to the air to ground radio. “Spotter, this is meals on wings, you have five bandits, eight mikes out. Pack up and make a run for it to your north by north east.”

“We are on final, drop in thirty seconds.” The Captain calls to the payload bay before freezing in shock. He didn’t even see it, it didn’t show up on his radar but then again his radar was mostly for weather so it obviously doesn’t have a transponder.

The shadow it casts is enormous. It blocks all sunlight into the cockpit. At 134 feet, the C-130’s wingspan is fairly large, but this is even bigger. The pilot had heard of, and even had a close call with pegasi, but nothing like this.

“DROP! DROP NOW!” The pilot yells as he pushes all setting to emergency. A moment later, sunlight floods into the cockpit again as the co-pilot scrambles get a better look. A few second later the plane shudders as the payload specialist releases the load. The coms transmitting his panicked screams as he sees what had the pilots spooked.

*** Velvet ***

I wake up early. I’m always an early riser, but in this case, it is even earlier than normal. Blaze mumbles as I slip out from under his wing and shake myself out. I really want to be up before Cookie.

Carefully, I slip out of my room, into the living room and see the mare asleep on the sofa. I have to admit, she is truly beautiful. Her mane and tail are really nicely styled and have plenty of bounce, her colors are unique, and she really stands out. She isn’t flashy like Blaze, and doesn’t need bright colors to draw attention. Instead, she simply has a natural beauty about her.

Yes, this is going to be hard on her.

Walking over, I lay down beside her, cuddling up against her side, blowing softly into her face. As I do, I watch her relax and snuggle back in her sleep. Laying my head down beside hers I cross horns with her. I don’t know how much her instincts have come back, but closeness always helps keep us ponies calm. I will also be here for when she first wakes up. I can keep her calm and help her.

*** Somalia ***

The zebra foal screams, turning to run as fast as he can. His mare puts herself between the gunman and the little one. Humans run with ponies, trying to get away from the militia. The food pallets slam into the ground in and around the square, but machine gun fire is preventing the refugees from getting anywhere near the relief supplies.

There is no way they will be able to get back to the safety of the valley in time. Two of the tactical vehicles split off to cuff off their retreat. The ground crews for the airdrop have already abandoned them. They drove off, for the safety of Kenya.

There is nothing they can do. The militia has heavy weapons and vehicles. The refugees are on foot and unarmed. The militia are well known in Somalia, they will either put the refugees to death, or sell them as slaves.

The foal closes his eyes as one of the tactical vehicles come right at him. He can hear his mare scream, then the rending of metal. The first vehicle is hit dead center, and ripped in half. Parts of it land hundreds of feet away.

The second vehicle barely has time to turn to avoid the first. Even that doesn’t save it, though. The small Ford truck is hit dead center and crushed into the ground with everyone inside. There is no chance for survival of the militiamen in the truck.

The militiamen know they are in trouble, and try their best to escape. The gunner in the rear bay opens up with the machine gun, to no effect though. The 5.56mm rounds just don’t have the penetrating power. A moment later, the vehicle is engulfed in flames so hot it turns the steel to liquid and instantly sets off all the ammunition stored on board.

The last vehicle keeps driving off as fast as it can. There is no need to destroy it. Instead, the survivors will spread the word, the fear. And fear is good. Fear and terror will keep others away. Fear and terror will protect the Valley of Blood.

*** Los Vegas ***

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Anthony chuckles. CID has provided them with a black SUV, complete with tinted windows. More importantly it has a good AC unit in it.

Fleur looks at the windows, wondering if they went with the tint to keep people from seeing her, or if it is just because it’s Vegas and hot. Either way, she looks outside and sighs. “I told you, I’m not having a foal with you.”

“WHAT!” Anthony hits the brakes, causing lots of honking from other drivers.

Glancing back at Anthony she sticks her tongue out, “You are listening. I thought you were ogling the girls. Especially after that ‘what happens in Vegas comment’.”

“I am not ogling the girls.” Anthony huffs.

“Wow, micro string bikini top, I remember when I could wear those.” Fleur says.

Anthony’s head shoots to the left, looking out the window, then he blinks, looking back at Fleur. “Wait what? Since when do you…”

Fleur has her tongue out again, grinning from ear to ear. “Males. No matter the species.”

Anthony huffs and grumbles, “No fair using shiny bouncy things against me.”

“There’s the place. Front door or back?” Fleur says, looking at the Club.

“Hmm? We are here on official business, the front door is best.”

“Yeah, just worried if she’s there against her will, they might hide her. We can always try sneaking in the back and looking around first. Maybe try teleporting inside, or using my TK to open the door.” Fleur says and started to wag her tail a bit in excitement.

“OH yeah, how about CID Fundamentals, we have you try using lock picks with your magic.” Anthony says, smiling easily.

Fleur instantly flattens her ears and shivers, “You evil, evil person, using that word.”

Smiling, Anthony leans over and speaks softly and clearly, narrowing his eyes but grinning widely as he spoke the word, “Fundamentals.”

“Front door it is!” Fleur says, wide eyed, backing away from Anthony.

Getting out of the car, Anthony walks around and opens the door for Fleur, “Mi’lady.”

Stepping out, Fleur holds her head high and trots up to the club. It’s still early, so there isn’t many clients, or customer traffic inside. Fleur instantly notices she’s getting looks from people on the street. Almost immediately she starts feeling self-conscious, as if people are looking at her as an animal or worse.

“What is that thing?” One man says.

A woman huffs, sticking her nose up, “Stupid stage props, someone probably stuck a horn on a deer for a show.”

She has never felt ashamed of herself, or her body before. But here, stepping out in public, around people that don’t know what she is, no other ponies in sight or smell. A feeling of fear and shame begins to fill her. Her ears flatten and her tail tucks against her body as she lowers her head a bit.

“It’s probably just an animatronic toy. Prop for some overpriced show, or cheesy production.” A man tells the woman next to him.

“If it’s an animal, shouldn’t it be in chains, or collared, or something?”

Anthony sees her distress, he comes close and puts his hand on her back. Speaking quietly and gently, “Its okay, if they can’t accept you because of what you look like, they aren’t worth your time.”

Walking inside the restaurant, Fleur looks around. The front area has a server desk with menus as well as a seating plan.

Looking up, the server blinks, “Oh hello, wow, that’s so pretty, is it yours?” She says, smiling and looking at Fleur.

Fleur blinks and looks at Anthony then nods, “Yep, bought him from a breeder for 25 bits.”

The server blinks, looking between Fleur and Anthony in shock for a second then smiled brightly. “Oh wow, you must be working with the magic show! That’s such a cool trick, yeah he’s down the hall and to the left.”

Looking at each other, Anthony shrugs and takes the lead. Fleur huffs, following, “Well she’s legally blonde.”

“I don’t know. I’ve known some pink manes to be total ditzs.” Anthony chuckles as he stops at the door, “but yeah. I guess she was just hired for her…”

Fleur pokes him in the butt cheek with her horn before he can finish. The shock of the jab causing him to jump and rub his rear. Glairing back at her, he huffs, “I was going to say personality.”

Knocking, Anthony hears some shuffling inside, followed by a male voice calling, “Come on in, it’s safe now.”

Anthony opens the door, stepping inside. Glancing around, the room is cluttered with props and costumes for the show. Boxes and magical trinkets line the shelves and work benches. A light blue unicorn mare with two tone blue mane lays partly obscured by a cloak. She is doing her best to lay motionless and slow her breathing. It might have fooled the average person, or someone who hasn’t spent time with ponies.

“Safe from what?” Anthony says.

“You’re not Donna. I was expecting Donna to bring my lunch. Who are you?” Conroy says, looking a bit concerned.

“Agent Wilks, CID.” He says, flipping is badge, then his ID, “Criminal Investigations Department, we received several calls about a recent show you did.”

“Oh, with that thing? It’s a stage prop.” Conroy says as he points to the unicorn.

“Well then you should have no problems with me examining it, right?” Anthony smiles.

“Yes I do, unless you have a warrant, back off. Its proprietary tech.” Conroy says, moving in between Anthony and the pony.

“Don’t push it, I just want to check it out.” Anthony says firmly.

“And I said no, insurance reasons, I don’t want it damaged, or for you to get hurt.” Conroy says, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

“Hurt? But you let kids play with it.” Anthony says, raising an eye brow.

“Under supervision, it’s very powerful and dangerous, so back off. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Conroy narrows his eyes.

Anthony smiles, “If we are breaking out the guns…Mine's bigger.” He says, pointing over his shoulder at Fleur.

Walking into the room, Fleur shakes her head. Smiling she looks over at the other mare, “Minty, is that you?”

Minty blinks and shakes the covers off of herself, before she runs over to hug Fleur, tears leaking down her face, “Oh Celestia, there are more here than just me?”

*** Velvet ***

“Mom, another half hour, there’s no school today.” Cookie whimpers with her eyes closed.

Giggling softly, I twitch my ear and give her cheek a gentle nuzzle. “It’s okay, little Cookie, you can sleep as long as you need.” I say softly and rub my cheek against hers.

“Thanks mom.” Cookie relaxes a bit.

Quietly I relaxed and waited for her to click in. I can almost hear the gears’ turning as Cookie realizes I’m not her mom. She’s at that point where she’s just starting to wake up so I back my head away a little but keep my side to hers so she can feel my presence.

“Hush now quiet now it time to lay your sleepy head.” I sing softly.

“Hush now quiet now it’s time to go to…” She starts to sing before lifting her head. She blinks, looking around confused. “Bed?”

“Morning Cookie.” I say with a smile.

Smacking her lips a few times Cookie looks around the room, blinking. “Ugg, I feel like a Bradley just parked on my…” Looking down at her forelegs, she sighs, “Oh yeah, that happened.”

“Come on little one, we have a LOT of work and learning to do today.” I say with a smile

“First, I’m twenty-five, I’m not a foal. Second... what work? I just changed.” She huffs.

Smiling, I stand up, “You are so lucky you changed now. It will be so much easier for you to learn.”

“Don’t sound so up about it, I still got stuck with being a mare.” She says and struggles to put a foreleg on the ground. She tries to figure out its range of movement, grumbling. “And no, I’m not letting a guy anywhere near my butt.”

“Don’t need to. Girls can hang around with boys, just as friends, or you can hang around with girls, just as friends.” I say smiling.

“Why did I have to become a mare?” She sighs.

“Same reason I did, because our geo-spatial coordinates in the multiverse matched us with the closest child being born on Earth. Since humans generally have a 51.9% chance of the child being male, several females found themselves cursed as males.” I say with a firm nod.

“In other words you have no idea.” Cookie huffs.

“Nope but it sounds good, truth is, it’s a curse, don’t overthink it.” I say, shaking my head.

“So can you turn me back human now?” Cookie says.

“Yeah, I could but… you’d be a human female.” Sitting I look at her. “And personally I think that would be more a shock to your mentality then just being a pony mare. In some ways being female pony is easier then female human.”

“So I’m stuck female either way? What kind of BS is that.” She huffs.

“The curse kind, see the problem is, let’s say I COULD turn you back to being a human male. You’d still get your memories back over time… Dreams of your life growing up in Equestria. Of being a little filly and your family. Of learning to cook, of getting your cutie mark. Going to school, your first dress, your prom. And trying to deal with that and come to terms with that as a male.” I sigh, looking down.

“You went through that too?” Cookie says, letting her legs dangle off the front of the sofa.

“With me it was more, it was my children, my foals. The feelings associated with them are so powerful.” I say with tears in my eyes.

“Umm, you’re crying.” Cookie says, leaning over to nuzzle my cheek.

“Yeah, I’ll chock it up to hormones, darn pregnancy.” Shaking my head, I sigh, “As a male you’d still remember your first love as a mare, your first date. The memories come back slowly, which is a good thing because it helps us adapt and reconcile them slower over time. If you were male though, you’d still remember these things but… it would be harder to come to terms with.”

“I guess I have a little bit to think about.” Cookie says, looking down.

“A lot to think about. But first, let’s get you walking.”

*** Los Vegas ***

“I thought I was the only one.” Diamond Mint says, looking around the room, “I started off doing everything I could to keep myself secret.

“Well, at first that might have been a good idea. We started turning on May 1st, 25 years after Discord first cast the curse. Discord controlled Equestria for 25 years, so lots of us got cursed.” Fleur says.

Anthony looks at Conroy and smirks, “I told you mine was bigger.”

“Discord’s real?” Minty says, blinking.

Fleur nods and smiles, “So are Dash and Twilight, but they made it back to Equestria, the gate opens every two and a half years, the last time was June 1st.”

“So I have to wait two and a half years?” Minty says, blinking.

Fleur looks at Conroy, the two guys are scowling at each other, and she shakes her head. “That is, if you choose to go back. Some of us are staying for family, friends, or jobs. Some of us found our cutie marks and special talents work better on Earth than Equestria.”

Standing up, Minty walks around the room, “So people know about us?”

“Not really,” Anthony says, “Some do, some don’t. The government hasn’t made you public, respecting your privacy. But, at the same time, it hasn’t denied or covered up your existence for the most part. Some companies cover you up, block internet searches on you, that sort of thing. We have had cases of ponies taken as slaves, bought and sold, and much worse. So the US military has been investing these cases with regards to military personnel who have changed, though sometimes we investigate calls or complaints just because it’s pony related.”

“Yep, we are checking up on you, Conroy, to make sure you are treating her properly.” Anthony says, smirking.

Minty blushes, lowering her ears a bit and giggles, “The show was my idea. Conroy was hiding me for almost a month and a half in his home. I was starting to get so claustrophobic that I came up with the idea.”

“You know, using magic in a magic show is kind of cheating.” Fleur giggles.

“Umm I don’t. I can hardly lift a fork with my TK.” Minty says.

Fleur giggled, “You know, there’s a pony at Fort Bragg that’s running a three week magic course.”

“For military ponies?” She says, blinking.

“Oh no, not just the military but civilians too, dependents of military members, spouses, children. Generally, she teaches any unicorn that wants to learn.” Fleur says, smiling. “She could help you get your basic spells going again.”

Minty blinks a few times, “But it’s a military base.”

“It’s one of six locations right now that have concentrations of ponies. Fort Bragg has unicorns and earth ponies with some pegasi. Quantico has their own little Cloud Barracks, with the 520th Air Police, pegasi who chase down other pegasi to keep them safe. Big Mac is running Sweet Apple Orchards on Earth, a mixed community. Lighting Dust has a mixed community growing where she lives. And then there’s the colony that’s founded in the Shetland Islands. They have over two hundred there now, from all over the UK, and Eastern Europe. And lastly Hawaii, which has almost five hundred ponies now, from all over the Pacific.”

“Two hundred ponies? Five hundred ponies?” Minty says in shock.

“Uh huh. And some griffins. We figure at least a few thousand were cursed, if not a few hundred thousand. We won’t have a total for like twenty-five years. Discord could have cursed ponies up to the last day.” Anthony adds.

“Last day?” Minty asks.

“1st of June 2020. The day we took back what was ours. Equestrian Liberation day.” Fleur says proudly.

“Were you there?” Minty asks wide eyed.

Fleur shakes her head, “Nope, I didn’t change until July, so I missed that completely, but I did help out with the cleanup afterwards. We handled notifications to families, as well as some criminal cases involved with ponies trying to get there.”

“I’ve kinda been keeping in touch with my family by text, but haven’t talked to them since my change.” Minty says sadly, her ears flattening.

“It’s hard, but you do have options. You aren’t forced to stay anywhere. You can even go and get training and come back here if you like.” Fleur says.

Minty smiles brightly, “Only of Conroy can come.”

“I’m sure that’s allowed.” Anthony chuckles.

“Great. Let me go get my socks.” Diamond Mint says, bounding for the closet.

Anthony blinks, looking at Fleur confused, “Socks?”

“Heck yeah. I’m from the socks generation… a girl can never have too many.” She says, grabbing several pairs of leggings and packing them into a bag. This includes a pair of dark blue and light blue striped ones with the letters NC and three diamonds blazed on them.

“Well you’ve been pretty lucky it seems.” Anthony says.

Diamond Mint blinks as she uses her forelegs to push down her socks into the bottom of her bag. “How so?”

“There’s going to be a serious cultural sensitivity issue here, but as far as we can tell, the curse was pretty random. The rule was twenty-five years and the curse ends. So you have twenty-five year olds turning into foals and elderly, or swapping genders… Such that a twenty-five year old man turns into a five year old filly. Add to that, the reactions of different parts of the world with them being taken as slaves. Doing a magic show in Los Vegas seems normal.” Anthony says, looking around.

Diamond Mint shivers, “Turning into fillies? Ugh, I don’t know how I’d ever deal with something like that.”

*** Velvet ***

Cookie slowly walks in a circle in front of the mirror. She examines her forelegs and the way they move. She turns slowly, lifting her hind leg and putting it down, looking at how it bends as well as examining her cutie mark. She looks at her mane and hops a few times, making it bounce.

Gulping, she turns her rear to the mirror, looking at her tail and moves it around a bit. Swishing it side to side and bouncing it up and down for a moment before bracing herself. She tightens the muscles in her forelegs a bit and spreads her hind legs a bit as her whole body tenses up.

“You can do this, Cookie. You can deal with this. You’re a Marine remember. Semper Fi.”

Cookie takes a deep breath as she looks back over her shoulder at the mirror. With all her willpower she moves her tail aside so she could see under it. It is the first time she can really see her female parts, or the female parts of any pony for that matter.

Shaking her head no vigorously, she drops her tail, “Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope. Don’t want to deal with that.”

I giggle softly, shaking my head. “You don’t really need to most times. Only a problem when you have to go to the bathroom and trust me, it easier.”

“Easier!?!?! EASIER!!! What’s easier then standing and peeing?”

“Oh that’s the fun part. We can still stand and pee, heck we can use urinals in reverse. Problem is, some boy ponies have problems sitting on the toilets. It’s because their stuff doesn’t point backwards easily.” Smiling I shake my head. “Only time it becomes an issue is when you have to wipe, or use a bidet. Then you kind of notice.”

Panting hard, Cookie closes her eyes and shakes her head.

“Cookie, calm down. You are doing fine. Just don’t think about it. Look, we are mares, not human women. We don’t sit around talking about boys, mane styles, and worrying about our weight. Well, Rarity might, but come on.”

“Don’t think about it! How can I not think about it?” Cookie says, starting to walk in circles.

“It’s…” I start before getting cut off.

“I’m a mare, a filly, something like that, whatever they call a teenage female horse… I can’t be one. Celestia what if I get pregnant?” Cookie says, starting to look at her tail as she walks in circles.

Tapping a hoof I sigh. “That can’t…”

“I don’t want to be some old broken down brood mare!” She says, tears in her eyes.

‘Brood mare?!?! Brood mare! Really?’ I shake my head and grumble, narrowing my eyes.

“This is the worst possible thing!” She said, almost with a Rarity style pause in her speech.

“Calm down! MARINE ATTEN-TION!” I yell out again.

Almost by reflex Cookie freezes in place, lifting her head high, her hind legs coming together in response to the command. Blinking a few times she realizes what she did and looks at me.

“Ok now Marine, adapt and overcome. You would never freak out like that on the battlefield.” I say sternly.

“This isn’t the battlefield and I wouldn’t…”

“What if it got shot off?”

"What do you mean?” Cookie says.

Yeah, it is a bad thought but I have to go there. “What if it was shot of on the battlefield?”

“Then I might freak out.” Sighing Cookie shakes her head. “I just don’t want to be a girl.”

“You’re a mare, trust me, I don’t want to be a human female either. PMS, bras, just ugh. But we are mares, strong, proud, and true. So don’t think about it in human terms. Instead we are going to start concentrating on your magic.” I say.

Cookie looks at me, blinking.

“So get that tail moving Marine, hup hup hup.” I say trotting out, heading for the training ground.

*** Panama ***

“We shouldn’t have let her go.” Full Steam says, pacing back and forth inside the wagon.

Ambrosia shakes her head as she lays in the bed. There just isn’t enough room for her to do anything with Full Steam pacing like that. “It isn’t fair to keep her penned up in here all the time. She needs to be out in the sun too.”

“She’s only a little foal though.” Full Steam protests, turning to face Ambrosia.

Ambrosia just can’t help but laugh, “She’s twenty-five, she’s a sun aspect earth pony, and has a sun cutie mark. You want to keep her out of the sun?”

“Well yes, if it keeps her safe.” Full Steam looks at his hooves and rubs one against his leg nervously.

“She took a cloak with her, she’s getting us more supplies, food and such.”

“But her legs are so small, what happens if she gets stuck or something.”

“Are you a mare or a stallion, ugh, you dote over her worse than any mare I know.”

Full Steam looks at her sternly, “And how many mares do you know?”

“That’s not the point, and you know it. Sit down, eat some soup.” Ambrosia says and points to the table.

Huffing, Full Steam sits down and blinks, looking at the TV. “Ambrosia, how do we have power in here? We’ve been traveling for days, wouldn’t the batteries have died by now?”

“I scavenged a pair of alternators from some wrecks at the junk yard, they were still working, so I tied them in to the wheels of the wagon. They charge up the batteries while walking so we have lights and power at night.” Ambrosia says, rolling over onto her back looking at the TV upside down.

“You can make anything, can’t you girl?”

“Which is funny, cuz my cutie mark is apple slices. Honestly I think fixing things and building things is an Apple trait too.” She laughs.

Both ponies look over as the door opens. Backing her way in, Sunny is dragging a large bag that is almost as big as she is. In a moment, Full Steam stands over her and bends down to pick the bag up, letting the door close.

“Thanks, that was heavy.” Daze says with a huge smile.

“What’s in there?” Ambrosia rolls off the bed onto her hooves and trots over to the table, sitting down.

Full Steam drops the bag, and a few potatoes roll out.

“Rice, corn, corn flower, bananas, some potatoes, salt, sugar, sugarcane, and something called sorghum. Local cattle can eat it, so I figured I’d bring some back with me.”

“You didn’t steal this stuff did you?” Ambrosia says, looking sternly at Daze.

“No way, I traded for it at a local farm.” Daze says, sitting down looking proud.

Full Steam sighs, “Oh, ok that’s…wait what did you trade?”

“I traded my natural skills in equine handling. I helped them with a pair of horses that were giving the farm trouble.” Daze says, looking out the window.

“Umm, since when do you have a natural skill in that?” Ambrosia says, looking at her.

“Most communication isn’t verbal, its facial expressions, tail posture, body posture. I sort of figured since we generally carry ourselves like horses a lot of our mannerisms would be the same.” Sunny says.

“I don’t buy it…” Ambrosia says.

“Meh, I got within twenty feet and realized the mare is in heat, and she doesn’t like the stallion. Trust me that’s a smell I know.”

Ambrosia just covers her face, blushing a bit but shakes her head. “Ok that I’ll buy. You bluffed them.”

“No I told them the truth, she was in heat, best to keep him away from her for a few days then try working with them. Note the date down and if the problem starts again in 28 days, they know the cause.” Daze says, smiling.

“And they gave you all of this just for that?” Full Steam says, looking doubtful.

“Well, I might have had some suggestions for their planting and such, how to get the best out of their crops, about sun times and shadows. You know.”

“Ok that I’ll buy. But you took a huge risk exposing yourself.” Ambrosia says.

“I did no such thing. I kept my tail down, and covered by my cloak all the time, I’d never expose myself in front of strangers.” Daze says firmly and nods.

Ambrosia and Full Steam both groan, covering their faces with their hooves.

73: Generosity

The little zebra colt puts his muzzle against her foreleg, rubbing his head against her. “Please?”

Spreading her bat wings, the pony mare sighs, “It’s too dangerous, and it wants to be left alone.”

“How do you know? Have you talked? Nopony wants to be left alone.” The zebra whines and gives the pony mare his best foal eyes.

“If it didn’t want to be left alone, why would it be off on its own all the time?” She says, looking off into the distance.

The zebra blinks, “Because it’s scared.”

“Scared?” Folding her wings against her side she huffs, “Really you think it’s scared of anything?”

“We are all scared, that’s why we are here. We are different and because of that we can’t live with most humans anymore. Even you’re scared.”

Looking down, the mare scuffs a forehoof on the ground. She doesn’t like admitting that she’s scared.

A stallion lands, folding his bat wings and looks over to the mare, “Hi Nightshade, what’s up?”

“The little one wants me to take him to see… You know…” The mare sighs, “And why do you insist on calling me that?”

Chuckling, the stallion points at her flank, “Simple, it’s because that flower is a deadly Nightshade.”

Huffing, she narrows her eyes, “Well what’s yours supposed to mean?” She jabs her hoof against his mark a little harder then he likes, but she is toxic at times.

Looking back at his moon and four stars he sighs, “Moonwatcher. And it means she’ll return someday.”

“She, who?” The mare asks.

Shaking his head no the stallion sighed. “I don’t know, I can’t remember.”

*** Velvet ***

“If you say Marine one more time…” Cookie says, laying on her back. Her forelegs are curled, her hind legs are splayed a bit, and tail is up between her legs, resting on her belly. She’s panting hard and is having trouble focusing her eyes.

“I change my teaching to fit the needs.” I laughing.

“I’ve had drill sergeants yelling at me for a ten mile march with full field pack, followed by a three mile run. Pull ups, crunches, and push ups. I’ve never complained, or felt this wasted.” Cookie says, whimpering.

“Magical focus and magical energy expenditures are just brutal.” I say, smiling. “Physically, as a pony, you can run longer, faster and further than any Marine. The killer is the magic.”

“You are truly evil, you know that. I’ve NEVER felt this wasted, and I can’t even blame it on being female because of that that five mile run you made me do beforehand.” Cookie grumbles.

Smiling, I float a smoothie over to her, putting the straw to her mouth. “Here you go, this has enough sugar and such to help.”

“That F word is truly vulgar.” Cookie says, and she just lays limply, “My body feels like a wet noodle.”

Sitting beside her, I look down and rub my muzzle against her leg. “We have doughnuts too.”

“Ugh, what with all the fatty food? Seriously, high fruit smoothies and doughnuts are never mess food.”

“Yeah they go for slower calories in mess food, but unicorn’s burn through them so fast.” I giggle, “Rest there for a bit. Once you’ve recovered a bit we will start on round two.”

Lifting her head a bit, she just looks at me. “Round two? How many rounds are there?”

“You’re mine for three weeks minimum, Marine! You think the Seals and Rangers Hell week is bad… Well it has nothing on what unicorns have to go through.” I say, putting my hoof down hard. “When you have the power to blow up tanks and throw up shields to block missiles, you need to learn control. Without control, you can hurt someone badly.”

“Where is the bell?” Cookie groans.

I tilt my head, “Which bell?”

“The washout bell, so I can quit before my brains start leaking out of my ears.” Cookie says and munches on a doughnut.

“Now, tell me being able to reach out and grab something twenty feet away isn’t cool.” I say with a smile.

“Ok yeah, it’s kinda cool. It’s strange, but it feels natural. Like I’ve always done it, but have just forgotten how.” Cookie says, turning her head sideways.

“Well that’s what it is. You were always a unicorn, you just forgot how to be one for twenty-five years.” Looking up, I smile, “As you get stronger, you almost forget you did things without it. Sometimes I even forget what it was like to try and thread a needle.”

“Threading a needle?” Cookie blinks.

“Yeah, you remember trying to get that thread through the needle so you could fix a lost button on your uniform.” I giggle.

“Nope, I threaded it once and never took it off.” Cookie says, looking innocent.

Laying down on my back too, I stretch out, relaxing, “Magic gives us a freedom, just like flight gives a pegasus freedom, and the earth pony’s strength. It’s a way we can express ourselves and show ourselves.”

“So what else is on the table?” Cookie looks up at the trees and sips her smoothie.

“Well you’re going to need to decide, no, half, or full uniform. I walk around with nothing on sometimes its fine for ponies, but some humans get uppity. Half uniforms are fun, some just wear the tops but no bottoms. Full uniforms require army boxers or panties. It’s a hard choice.”

“Yeah, the idea of wearing panties or girls undies just seems…” Cookie sighs, looking down her belly for a moment.

“Each has its merits and flaws. And it’s a personal choice. Most of us go for full uniform on duty. None for relaxing. Though from what I hear, OSI and CID goes the other way. Nothing for work, and occasionally half for formal.” I say and giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Cookie asks, rolling onto her side.

“Oh half for military means shirt and jacket. Half for CID means skirt. Their idea of half is the back half, ours is the front half.” I giggle.

“Makes sense I guess, fashion vs utility.” Cookie says, stretching out. “What does 520th do?”

“Umm whatever stays dry and looks cute in the bird bath.” I say and smile.

Blinking a few times, Cookie rolls back onto her back starts to giggle herself.

*** Cipher ***

Cipher spreads her wings wide, her horn glowing brightly, “All bow before the princess of the internet!”

“Really? Princess of the internet?” Mindy just covers her face, shaking her head. “Nice avatar though, code butt.”

Cipher laughs, shifting her avatar picture back to normal. “Had to do that, Josh down at the Pentagon Cyber Warfare was bugging me about my avatar.”

“Your avatar? Which one?” Mindy shakes her head looking at her screens, then back at Ciphers Skype video stream.

“My normal avatar which is a cute little ‘My Little Pony’ tan unicorn that has a blue mane and tail.” Cipher says, tilting her head and smiling.

“Umm, isn’t that your normal picture?” Mindy asks, shaking her head.

“Yep and he thinks its CGI. I’ll meet him one of these days, in person.” Cipher giggles.

Groaning, Mindy covers her face with both hooves, “Double face hoof, when a single just won’t cut it. So what brings you on my side of the net?”

“ICE did a raid on a factory in Chula Vista, California. They were expecting to find cross border tunnels, instead they found an underground server farm. It’s not connected to the internet sealed system. Some of the hardware was military, including microwave communications systems so CID was called in.” Cipher says excitedly.

“Mmmhmm.” Mindy says as she checks another screen.

“CID specialists say it’s a Spectrum server farm.” Cipher says and starts counting backwards from three in her mind.

“Mmmhmm…. Wait what!?!” Mindy almost falls out of her chair, sitting up so fast.

“Yeah, I can have you flown down there to take a look.”

“Oh god, if it is maybe we can find out something about Dust.” Mindy says, starting to look around. “Chariot, chariot, I need to get there fast.”

“I can have a plane there to fly you as an emergency consultant. It’s already been approved by CID for you to take a look, they wanted me down there, but I figured you’d want first crack.” Cipher says.

“Oh Celestia yes, I’ll be at the airport in twenty minutes.” Mindy says and runs out, not even bothering to turn off the computer.

*** CMC EC ***

Candy straightens his hat, and looks at the girls, shaking his head. “Are you sure about this?”

Feather nods vigorously, pulling down her skirt and dress. “I called ahead, they are waiting for us. They said we needed to be at least nineteen, and not have a criminal record. We don’t.”

“Why do we have to put this stuff on? We are just going to take it off again in front of people. I don’t feel right about getting undressed in front of people.” Cloudy whines.

“Get undressed huh? Wait, first we normally don’t wear clothing, and that’s stripper, we are stripers. There’s a difference.” Feather says, shaking her head.

“Can’t Candy wear the dress?” Cloudy whimpers.

“No, Cloudy, Colts don’t have to wear skirts. They wear pants.” Feather sighs.

“Honestly I think I’d prefer the skirt.” Candy says, “I was never a pants girl.”

Feather flares her wings, “ARGH. No, we need to be dressed properly, you need pants, you need a skirt, I need antacids.”

“You’re too young for an ulcer.” Cloudy says, shaking her head.

“Yeah but you two are working hard at giving me one. Let’s go.” Feather says determinedly.

“You’ve got everything we need, right Feather?” Candy looks a little worried.

“Yep, trust me, I’ve covered everything with them.” Feather says, climbing into the cab.

The other two follow, still looking nervous.

*** Mindy ***

Getting out of the car, Mindy runs towards the small jet. There’s only one jet on the runway. There are military personal around it. So it’s a good bet that this is her ride.

Charging up, her hooves clatter against the runway, alerting a sergeant at the ramp, who waves her over. “You’re the specialist?”

“Yes. I’m Mindy. Cipher and Fleur recommended me.” She says, looking around, feeling a little panicked.

“Turn sideways, I need to check your butt.” The Sargent says, grumbling.

“WHAT?” Mindy blinks, looking at the human strangely.

“Orders from the LT, said to tell you to turn sideways and check your butt. Then verify your butt stamp to the picture he gave me.” The sergeant says.

“Butt stamp? It’s called a cutie mark.” Mindy growls.

“Hey don’t look at me, it’s the LT’s term.”

Storming onto the plane, Mindy lashes her tail a bit then looks around. The airplane is posh, sofas, recliners, and even several TVs. Walking over, she sits down and huffs.

The co-pilot leans out of the cockpit, looking back, “Oh, hello there, and welcome to Pony Air. We are currently waiting to off load some fuel because no one told me this runway was THAT short. If you look up, you will see that there is no no-smoking sign. Please pretend there is, and do not smoke, use magic, or do anything that could accidently turn this aircraft into a giant roman candle until I give the all clear as I’ve grown rather attached to my hair… and well, my skin.”

“Once we are ready to take off, the flight, Baker to Brown Field will take us approximately three hours barring any really bad weather, pegasi, traffic jams, or flat tires midflight. If we do get a flat midflight don’t worry, we are a member of the Triple P, Pegasus Protection Program. Though as of yet, we have never had to call for a tow and I take great pride in that.”

Nodding the co-pilot points, “Our emergency exits are there, there and there. In case of a crash please feel free to use them as they are there for your convenience but I would ask that you wait until the plane has come to a complete stop before opening them, since I do so hate accidental decompressions. Speaking of accidental decompressions, we have drop down air masks. If you see them drop, please place them over your muzzle and breathe normally. I’m pretty sure at least three of the bags will fit pony muzzles, if not, please ask your steward for assistance provided he’s still conscious he will help.”

“Our inflight meals are five stars. At least I think the commander of the quartermaster is five stars and his office provided them. They are MRE-P’s with extra bottled water, I recommend the alfalfa bits and hay fries, since I can’t eat them. If it turns your stomach don’t worry, our bathrooms fully pony friendly and 100% tail complaint.”

“So welcome to Pony Air, the only airline that’s USD and FDA certified to haul those with butt stamps nationwide and beyond.” Smiling the Co-pilot takes a breath.

“You know, your muzzle’s really short and blunt for a pegasus. Hit the ground too hard?” Mindy says, giggling.

“Nope, sorry, no feathers here, in fact I passed my expiration date. As such, the USDA and FDA couldn’t approve me for my own butt stamp.”

“Oh, shame. It might have improved your looks.” Mindy snerks.

“I know. I even practiced the chest puffing thing, but nope, and just my luck, I’m not even attracted to bird baths.” He says, smiling, “Trust me I get enough complaints from pegasi for my flying skills. Though our current policy is to disable their phones to improve crew morale.”

“Flying skills that bad?” Mindy says, tilting her head. “Well if you fail at flying you can always get a job as a stand-up, or maybe a taxi driver.”

“Yep, can’t feel air current like a pegasus, so it drives them nuts. No complaints from unicorns or earth ponies though.” The co-pilot says, looking out the window.

“Yet.” Mindy points out.

Walking over he sits beside Mindy, “Don’t worry we’ll get you there safe. We’ll do our best to help you find Dust as fast as we can.”

Blinking, she looked at him tears ready to fall. The tears have wanted to fall very easily the last couple of months, “You know about it?”

“It’s why we are here. So don’t fret, we don’t need worry lines on that cute little muzzle of yours.” He says, chuckling.

“Ugg, no. Yeah you are way too ugly to flirt with.” Mindy says with a smile.

Chuckling softly he stands up and gives her cheek a quick stroke. The contact has a spark to it, she isn’t sure if it is static electricity, or something else. But, it is like the stroke of a pegasus wing. Blinking, she shakes her head and watches him head to the cockpit.

“And I’ll fly, and I’ll fly to the ends of the sky…” He starts singing softly.

“ARGH! No singing, you know the rules!” The captain says, laughing.

*** CMC EC ***

“Are you sure about this?” Candy says, looking up at the hospital.

“Oh come on, what could possibly go wrong? It’s a children’s hospital, we are helping kids.” Feather says as she flaps her wings to get enough height to hit the handicapped door button.

Looking at each, other the twins gulp. So far their track record with kids had been less than stellar and this seems like going right into an Ursa Major’s cave with a boom box… while she’s trying to sleep.

“Umm, please don’t ever say ‘what could possibly go wrong’ when it comes to getting cutie marks.” Candy says, shivering.

“Do I have to remind you about ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Tank Crew’? War Thunder is not a simulator.” Cloudy huffs.

“Look, I never got a chance to experiment with different jobs where I grew up.” Feather says, looking down.

“How about something safe like, Cutie Mark Crusader McDonald’s employees?” Cloudy says.

Candy shivers, “Yeah right, like I want a big mac or fries on my flank for life.”

Trotting in, Feather checks her phone. They gave her an office number to go to, for check in and to find their jobs. Turning, she prances as she leads the others into the office and giggles. “We’re here.”

Standing up and looking over the desk the nurse blinks a few times, looking down at the three colorful foals.

“I’m Feather, this is Candy and Cloudy. I called in yesterday about…” Feather blinks watching the nurse’s eyes roll back as she goes down, her head hitting the counter hard as she falls.

“Umm, that went better than I expected.” Cloudy says sarcastically.

Feather runs around and looks at her, “Someone get a doctor, she’s hurt!”

Candy turns around and runs into the hall, skidding to a stop and calling out, “Someone call 911, a nurse… ” Blinking a few times, she looks at the nurses around. “Umm never mind about 911, can we get a nurse or doctor here? The HR nurse passed out and hit her head. And I’m an idiot today.”

All eyes fall on the little pony colt. The city is close to the base, but apparently not everyone knows about the ponies yet. Candy shakes his head and sighs, “Yes, I’m a talking pony, yes we are real, but she’s hurt and needs help.”

Everyone looks on in shock and surprise. A few have heard stories from base, but this is different. They are so small. So little, almost fragile looking.

“MOVE IT!” Candy says, stomping a hoof.

The yell is enough to get people scrambling as a doctor and nurses run in to check on the woman in HR.

“Let me guess, you didn’t tell her we were ponies.” Cloudy says, looking at Feather.

Feather grumps and looks down at the ground, “It slipped my mind okay? Do you go around saying oh by the way, I’m a unicorn?”

“Slipped your mind? Man, Feather, when you forget something, you REALLY forget something.” Cloudy says, and leans against Feather.

“Hey it was a small detail. Come on it was hardly worth mentioning.” Feather says.

“And yet, here we are.” Candy says.

All three ponies look at the unconscious nurse and sigh.

“Is it me or are the small details the ones that always seem to bite us in the tail?” Candy says and leans against Feather from the other side.

One of the nurses looks over at the foals and kneels down, scratching Feather behind her ears. “Well, since you’re here. Would you like to visit the children?”

“You mean you’re not mad at us?” Feather says, looking up, her ears down and tears in her eyes.

“Mistakes happen, and I know lots of little girls, and a few little boys, who meeting a little unicorn or pegasus would just make their entire stay. You just have to be careful though.”

All three of the foals start wagging their tails vigorously with their ears perked, looking at the nurse.

“What I’m going to do is assign each of you an orderly. You go with her, do what she says. If she says leave the room quick, do so. I don’t know if some of the kids might have allergic or asthmatic reactions so it’s always best to be safe.” The nurse says.

“Also expect to be hugged and patted a lot. Again, the orderly will tell which children you can approach and that can hug you.”

All three foals nod vigorously, then they high hoof, “Cutie Mark Crusader Candy Stripers GO!”

*** 25.08 years ago in Equestria ***

“It’s so quiet and peaceful. I could sleep for months.”

Looking up she shakes her head. “Reginald, didn’t you like, sleep though an entire year and wake up thinking you only slept a few hours?”

Narrowing his eyes she shakes his head. “No…That was Sergio.”

“Nope I’m pretty sure that was you.” Sitting on the cliff side, she looks down over the valley. “Don’t you miss them?”

“Bah. Discord did us all a favor getting rid of them.” Reginald shakes his head.

The ground shakes as Basil hits the ground hard. “Did I miss a conclave or something?”

“Ugh, lose some weight.” She says, shaking her head.

“It’s a pleasure as always, Kara. What are you two talking about?”

“The peace and quiet,” Reginald says, spreading his wings.

“I don’t miss them one bit.” Basil says.

“Not even Fluttershy?”

Both Basil and Reginald looked at her, then each other.

Reginald sighed. “I know what Fluttershy did, we all do. But she’s gone. And you know Discord can’t stand her name being said aloud.”

“And I do so hate it when my servants don’t do what they are told.” Discord says, appearing lounging on Basil’s back.

“Hello Discord.” Basil says, rolling his eyes, “Since your back there, scratch a little to the left.”

Discord goes to scratch, then he blinks, “Hey I give the orders here. And someone’s been keeping secrets.”

“We all keep secrets, not only is it part of our culture, but its common nature not to tell everyone everything.” Reginald says, stretching his back out. “Come on, do you think I want everyone knowing where I hide my cookies?”

“Now, now, that’s not what I meant. Luckily I have a little birdy to tell me secrets.” Discord says as he snaps his claw.

Appearing in a flash of light, Garble looks around and smiles, “So I’m going to get what you said you’d pay me?”

“Oh of course, and more.” Discord says.

Basil huffed, “Garble, go back to your mom.”

“Nope, Discord promised me a huge treasure.” Garble says, “And I aim to collect.”

“Someone’s been very bad.” Discord says.

Basil looks at Reginald and winks, “Yeah but this is bizarro chaos Equestria, so bad is good, and good is bad. That means someone’s been very good.”

Discord covers his face with a paw, “Don’t even start with that again. I mean someone’s broken my rules.”

Reginald looks at Discord, then at Kara, “Kara have you been splashing around in Discords private bath again?”

“No you idiots, she’s been hiding ponies in her cave.” Garble says.

Reginald and Basil both look at Kara. Ever since Fluttershy had helped her, she has had a soft spot for ponies, but they never knew she would take it that far.

Basil turns, “Oh come on. You can’t fault her for keeping some pets.”

“Oh no, I understand.” Discord says, vanishing and reappearing wrapped around Kara’s neck. “Hiding two families of pegasi and a family of earth ponies, I’d have to start calling her a crazy pony lady… or maybe a pegasister.”

Kara narrows her eyes, “I was just helping out. So leave them be, they aren’t doing any harm.”

“Leave them be? I have already dealt with them.” Discord laughs.

“WHAT!” Kara roars, “They were so young, how could you?”

“Well if you’re so concerned you can share in their fate.” Looking over at Basil and Reginald, “Let this be a reminder for all of you not to cross me… For Five Score Divided by Four…”

*** Somalia ***

Narrowing her eyes she looks at the smoke in the distance. Why couldn’t they just leave her be? This time though, they are coming with tanks. She counts at least four of them, backed by tactical vehicles.

Digging her claws into the mountain top, she spreads her wings. She just wants to be left alone. The ponies are quiet, they leave her be. There’s no heavy machinery, no roar of big engines. Just the laughter and joy they feel, living in the valley, safe. Because of her. They shouldn’t have to deal with death, or gun fire.

She can’t blame it on the ponies, though. The ponies aren’t attracting them. These people would come for humans, or they would just try and sneak through the pass to get into Kenya to commit crimes there.

Well no more. They will learn this is her territory. They will learn this valley belongs to her. They will learn to leave her alone. She wants to be alone, she has to be, it is her punishment.

Launching herself off the mountain top, she dives at the tanks. They will never see her coming. Her speed, her power, even a modern battle tanks can’t stand up to the fire she can put out. Even a simple Molotov Cocktail can disable a tank. What she hits them with, is closer to a napalm strike. The Valley of Blood is hers, and hers alone.

*** Velvet ***

Military bases often have parades. Marching cadences are commonplace, especially with training units. Groups marching or jogging in formation is nothing unusual. Having over a dozen ponies, including unicorns earth ponies, and pegasi, along with foals, prancing in formation down the street singing ‘Hearts as Strong as Horses’ is just beyond normal.

Well, beyond normal anywhere but Fort Bragg or maybe Quantico. One of these days I expect us to get flack for this. Especially seeing several Drill Sergeants suffering from aneurisms as their entire platoons break out laughing at the sight of us ponies.

Breaking off from the squad at the end of the song I look at Cookie, smiling, “Welcome to your first musical number.”

“How does that even work? I never saw the show, I don’t know the words to the songs.” Cookie says, shaking her head.

“I just chalk it up to a magic that binds us together. A herd magic that as soon as one sings others join in, as the magic shares the words.” I smile, “So today we hit the quartermaster and get you your new uniform.”

“I wish I could stay a marine though.” Cookie says mournfully.

“For now you’re going to be in the mess with Ah-Pee until we can figure out what trade you want to do. If you’re going for combat, combat support, field work, or base type jobs. Or if you want to rotate out.” I say smiling, “You’ll still be a marine in uniform and such until all the paperwork and retraining is done.”

Walking beside the park I stretch out my neck and shake myself out. It’s been a hard few days of training. Especially for Cookie, but she had been doing so well. She has come so far, so fast. Well, she is resentful of her new form, but…

The scream makes me spin, horn glowing bright, ready to throw up a shield or lash out with an energy blast. For the first time I realize just how dangerous unicorns can be if there is an accident. Looking over I see Cookie sitting on the ground, trembling. An MP dog is sniffing at her, being pulled back by his handler.

“Sorry about that. Jethro’s never been around ponies before.” The MP says, shaking his head. “Jethro behave.” He growls at the dog, which is still straining to sniff Cookie.

“Cookie? Are you ok?” I come up to her and nuzzle her, worried.

“It stuck its nose under my tail… it touched my…” She is trembling badly and is in tears. Shock is pretty hard on her.

“Yep, definitely going to get you wearing combat pants right?” I say, sitting in front of her, then I look at the MP, “Best get the dog out of here. He’s lucky she didn’t buck him.”

“Hey it’s not my fault your kind doesn’t dress.” The MP says.

Blinking I look at him sternly. “Trust me. You want to back off on this issue. That falls into sexual harassment here, letting your dog that close to her. Trust me, get that dog away from her, now.”

“It touched my…”

I push myself up as tightly as I can to Cookie. “Calm down. It was an accident. And clothing will help. Dogs tend to sniff though.”

Gently I pushed her a bit to get her to stand, “Come on, let’s get to supply.”

Slowly I get her moving. Base supply is only a short distance and I do my best to keep an eye out for dogs. I had always worried about dogs and the foals, given their size. I had never thought about them sticking their noses in places though. I know its dog instinct but I’d have to warn all the ponies about it and let the brass know.

The mare in the supply office smiles, seeing us trot in. “I’ve been waiting on you. It was a bit of a fight but we got a complete marine uniform ready.”

Blinking, I looked at her, then stand up on my hind legs, leaning over to look at her cutie mark.

The mare tilts her head tapping her shoulder, “My cutie marks up here, watch your eyes.” She says with a giggle.

Blinking I tilt my head, “No, I don’t recognize you.”

“Hazel Harvest, I just transferred here, I was over in Saudi Arabia when I changed. It’s still a mess over there.”

“Well welcome to Fort Bragg.” I say, smiling. “I’m Twilight…”

“Twilight Velvet!!!” She says, perking, “You’re the one that did those videos they showed me.”

“Ugh, yeah what a thing to be remembered for.” I say, shaking my head.

“Here we go, Cookie Crisp, we have your combats. Service and dress, boots, army issue boxers… I HATE them myself.” She says, but puts them down for the other mare.

“Yeah the PX has panties for us.” I say.

“And your combat saddlebags and dress saddle bags.” She says, smiling.

She didn’t even wait for help or suggestions. Cookie quickly starts to get dressed in combats as fast as she can. Still looking a little panicked.

Looking at Hazel I sigh, “A dog stuck his nose under her tail. She’s a little stressed.”

“I would be too. I’ll let the girls know. Are you going to be at the park this weekend?” Hazel asks, smiling.

“Why what’s going on?” Cookie says, looking up.

“We are trying to get all the ponies together, we are doing a large barbeque and the running of the leaves.” Hazel says.

“The running of the leaves?” I look at Cookie.

“Yeah it doesn’t need to be done, and this isn’t Ponyville, but it is something for us to get together for.” Hazel chirps, “Come join us, the food is free. Just bring your hooves.”

74: Kindness and Friendship

I blink at the flash of white, the explosion is absolutely massive. In the military, we call them secondary’s, when an attack sets off fuel or munitions which cause an explosion much larger than the initial attack. Shaking my head in disbelief, I watch as the next vehicle fireballs, throwing debris hundreds of feet.

“We can NOT let Michael Bay see this.” Cipher says, blinking.

Looking sideways at Cipher, Cookie is in shock , “What?”

“He’d make a film out of it,” Cipher chirps, “And then try and figure out how to make the explosions bigger.”

Cookie shakes her head and looks at me, “How big is that thing?”

“Given that’s a T-72 it just bit into. I would say... about a hundred-fifty feet long, maybe the same size wing span. It probably weighs a few tons.” I say, shaking my head in disbelief.

“What‘s the casualty count?” Cookie asks.

“Thirty-two dead, no wounded, no survivors.” Cipher says somberly. “It just came across the wire today, part of the anti-terror task force in Africa. A drone was tracking militants heading for Kenya when they found this.”

“Apparently it buzzed an aid air drop out of Kenya, nearly scared the C-130 crew to death.” Goldie says as she sits, watching the show on the MTAC screen. With a glance to Fleetfoot, Goldie giggles, “Does the 520th handle dragons.”

Blinking, Fleetfoot looks at me. Then at Goldie, “Umm, griffons maybe, dragons, sorry out of our jurisdiction. Did that thing just bite…?”

“What’s its teeth made of, heck what’s its jaw strength, the thing bit though one and a half centimeters of steel like it’s a loaf of bread.” Cookie says, gawking.

“Umm, in Equestria, a dragon can bite through a diamond. Consider this, we see even young dragons able to crush rock with their teeth, that’s 50,000 psi that Spike has at the very minimum. And this one is a full grown adult.” I say blinking. “Wait, who did this footage come in through?”

“UN Peace Keeping Force Africa sent it to US Africa command, Africa command sent it to us for anything we know. Since we are like the specialists in supernatural things.” Cipher giggles.

“Oh sweet Celestia, are they expecting us to deal with THAT?” I say, blinking.

“I have no idea, don’t you have like some kind of spell to deal with dragons?” Goldie says, looking at me.

“Umm… Twilight beyond darkness, crimson beyond blood that flows…”

*** Fleur ***

“Buried within the stream of time,” Conroy grumbles while he rides on his Segway.

Diamond Mint giggles, looking at Conroy, “No, you are not blowing up the jet.” Smiling she looks back at Fleur, “I guess Segways are useful for two leggers to keep up with us.”

“Anthony doesn’t usually complain much about my walking speed.” Fleur says, “but normally I walk slower for him. It seems that a pony’s normal speed at a walk is about twenty-five percent faster than a human’s, so it makes them uncomfortable to keep pace over distance.”

“Given the spread out distances of the base, a Segway is fine.” Anthony chuckles.

“There doesn’t seem to be much to Bragg about.” Diamond Mint says as she trots.

“Bad Minty, that’s just bad.” Conroy said, he looks around, “So where to first?”

“I figured we’d stop off at the PX, let Minty do some shopping, then a visit the spa. A good hoof treatment, mane wash and such will be fun.” Fleur says, looking back at Anthony.

“Yep, mare stuff. We’re doomed.” Anthony says, chuckling.

“Spa?” Mint blinks, looking up at Fleur.

“Hoof care is important to all ponies. Hooves don’t do well on concrete, cement, and tar for long periods of time, and it can cause cracks, chips, or even things like twisted coffin bones. Fort Bragg has had long standing ties with cavalry and even owned and operated their own stables up until 2015.” Looking around, Fleur smiled, “They even have a few horse statues here. So given this, they were quick to bring in professionals to make sure our hoof care and legs were safe.”

“Given this,” Anthony chuckled, “and given the fact that terms like hostler and groom would be lost on most of the humans turned pony, they just call it a spa. Quantico has their own spa as well. But they mostly deal with pegasi.”

Soon, the group pulls up to the PX to kick off their day in Fort Bragg.

*** CMC EC ***

“Argh, why do I feel like all we do is sit around here and try to come up with new ways to earn our cutie marks.” Candy says, flopping on his back on the sofa.

“Umm, because we do?” Cloudy giggles, “It’s the actual point to the club house.”

“I thought it was to keep us off the ground so we don’t get eaten by dogs.” Feather says, looking out the window and down at the ground.

Cloudy hops up onto the couch cheerfully, she starts to sing, “We've been searchin' for our cutie marks, for a while now, tryin' to find out how we fit in…”

Candy smiles, perking his ears forward, “So many ways we've tried before, we keep on tryin' more.”

Down below Feather, a dog starts howling and barking again. Looking out the window and down at the ground, Feather sighs, “Darn thing won’t even let us sing in peace.”

“Maybe it’s hungry,” Cloudy says, walking over and looking down. “Umm, yeah… anyone got food to throw it?”

Candy bounds over, “Oh I do!” Looking down at the dog, he drops some carrots and celery down to it.

Feather blinks and looks at Cloudy, “He does know dogs are carnivores, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, but let’s hope the dog doesn’t know that.” Cloudy says, “Oh that’s it, I’m calling animal control.”

“Definitely, that darn things larger than I am.” Feather said and than huffs once.

*** Velvet ***

“Come on, hup, hup, hup.” I say giggling as I trot down the street.

Cookie grumbles, shaking her head, “I don’t want to go to a spa.”

Ah-Pee looks sideways at Cookie, “Spa is the term used for it, would you rather we call it a combination groom, hostler and farrier?”

“I… I… Don’t confuse the situation with words I don’t know yet. And no grooms, I’m not some bride.” Cookie huffs.

I can’t help but giggle, “Grooms and Hostlers are people or ponies that handle the brushing, grooming, mane and tail styling or trimming, as well as basic medical checkups for horses and ponies. Farriers are hoof care specialists handling the trimming, filing and even, if needed, shoeing of horses and ponies.

“It still sounds girly to me.” Cookie grumbles.

Ah-Pee shakes her head, “Look, the military put this on base and covers parts of it under medical treatments. The grooming is to keep us clear of lice, ticks and such. The hoof care is a necessity, think of it like getting a physical.”

“Except its sooo relaxing.” Sugarberry says with a contented sigh.

Smiling I shake my head, “Not helping Sugarberry.”

“Oops, sorry umm… It’s so tedious.” She nods with a bright smile.

Ballad hip bumps Cookie softly, “Don’t worry, stallions have to do it too. Hoof injuries are actually a very serious issue that if left unfound or untreated, they can leave you unable to walk. Army, Marine, if you can’t walk you become a liability to your unit.”

Cookie sighs, “Yeah but I don’t really have a unit now.”

“For now, who knows you might be taken up by Delta Force if your magic’s good enough. And magic has nothing to do with gender.” Ballad said with a nodding.

“Yes it does,” I protest, “Everypony knows mares are the strongest with magic, just look at my daughter.”

“Show off, just because you’re the mom of an alicorn princess.” Ah-Pee says as she hip checks me, giggling.

“Well you have a son that’s a princess and it will be your turn to boast.” I say prancing, looking at Ah-Pee.

“Well there’s always…” Ah-Pee starts.

“Princess Big Mac doesn’t count.” We all say at once.

Shaking myself out, I lead Cookie into the spa, “Well you know the old adage, you can lead a mare to the spa, but you can’t make her get a perm.”

*** Pony Air 2 ***

The Gulfstream sits on the tarmac on Brown Field, just north of the Mexican Border in California. It’s getting a good power wash and basic maintenance, though the fuel bowser is on standby. Once done, they will be back in the air again.

Lt. Sanders lay on his back on the dirt, in the shadow of a large tree. He isn’t sure what kind of tree it is, but the fact that there aren’t many trees around to choose from left his options limited. There are only a few scruffy trees along the road side, but they are still in sight of the runway.

He isn’t in the mood for airport food. The airport has a hole in the wall grease griddle, backed by a cheap pub with pool tables. The idea of trying to choke down slimy eggs, dripping bacon, and limp toast as a lunch just isn’t for him today.

“MRE-P?” Mindy says, sitting down beside him.

“Eeyup, the only problem with hopping around so much between cities is, you can never be sure what the meals are going to be like. There isn’t really a way to get constant meals. It’s just whatever is close to the airport.”

“So why do you fly a VIP transport and not fighters or something?” Mindy asks, tilting her head to the side.

“Oh I’ve flown fighters, attack aircraft, there’s something about lighting your burners and climbing as high as you can, about racing the rising sun then diving into the darkness.” Lt Sanders shakes his head. “It’s a freedom most won’t understand.” Biting into the carrot cake, he smiles and offers Mindy the Hay-Bar.

“Yet here you are. Nothing but a backup pilot in a glorified limo,” Mindy says as she watches his reaction.

“Yep, and even if it was a flying school bus, I’d still be in it. I’m at home in the air, I feel safe up there. Things like turbulence and air currents just remind me how alive the planet is, and how alive I am. I started flying first with gliders when I was young, my dad used to take me up. There has always been a special bond between me and the plane like that, learning the air currents, the thermals, and the downdrafts. I would soar with the birds.” Crossing his legs, Lt Sanders looks up at the clouds and breathes a wistful sigh.

“Yet you’re not flying something like a glider, you’re flying a limo.” Mindy says as she starts munching on the Hay-Bar.

“In a glider I’d often be in the air for a few hours at a time. A fighter or attack aircraft would have me in the air for four to six hours at a time. With the glorified limo I can be up there all day, some flights are twelve or even fifteen hours long. I can even sleep on the plane. There is something special about sleeping amongst the clouds.”

“Well that works I guess.” Mindy looks at the plane, “So how long till we can take off and get back to town?”

“Figure another two hours for maintenance, thirty minutes for fuel, and we can get into the air.” Taking a drink of the berry juice, Sanders tilts his head, “So, why are you recording this?”

“For a friend of mine, she won’t believe me when I tell her about you.” Mindy smiles.

The Lt laughs, “No one ever does.”

Mindy lights her horn, grabbing his pants and pulling. “Come on you have GOT to have a cutie mark!”

“Ack! No! Bad unicorn, bad unicorn! Help, I need an adult!” Swatting at Mindy playfully he laughs, “I was hoping, but nope, I didn’t get a cutie mark. I just wasn’t one of the lucky ones.” He says with a smile.

“There are bronies out there that want to be a pony, but really don’t deserve it. There are ponies out there who don’t want to be ponies but are. And then there’s you.” Mindy says somberly.

“Yep. I’m not a pony but do what I can to help them. Deal with them every day, and do what I can to protect them without intruding on their lives.” Lt Sanders looks up at the sky again.

“Without intruding on their lives?” Mindy blinks, confused.

“Yep, I do my best not to look under their tails to tell if they are mares or stallions. No matter how attractive the mare is.” Lt Sanders says, looking up at the clouds.

“Looking under tails? Come on, you can tell just by our…” Mindy blinks then sees the smile on his face, “and you know that perfectly well, don’t you?”

“Eeyup.”

*** CMC EC ***

Candy poked his head out on top of Feather’s, looking down at the dog. “Still there?”

“Yeah, but here comes the Animal Control.” Feather says, pointing a hoof.

The two men get out of the truck, looking at the dog, then up at the ponies in the tree house. “Well there’s something you don’t see every day. A dog that’s treed ponies.”

Cloudy pokes her head out the next window over, “Well what do you expect? Pegasi get treed easy.”

Feather blinks, looking at Cloudy, “Hey!”

The men both break out catch poles and walk slowly towards the dog from either side. The girls watch as they back the dog up to the tree, where it growls at the men. The dog is obviously scared and uncooperative.

The dog has its head down, so one of the men jabs it with his catch pole as he tries to get it into position to get the noose around its neck.

“Hey, be gentle, he’s just hungry.” Feather protests.

“Yeah, and it’s not like we could throw him a pony to chew on.” Cloudy says.

“Not helping, Cloudy.” Feather says, looking at her.

Feather closes her eyes, turning her head away hearing the dog whine. She shudders as old memories surface in her mind.

Seeing her distress, the twins move up to snuggle her, “It’s okay, they will find it a good home.”

As they get their cables around the dog’s neck it yelps out in pain. The two men moved to get it in the back of the truck, “Stay back girls, it could be injured or have abbesses on the neck. I don’t want you three hurt.”

The twins both hold Feather back, the little filly is struggling to get to the dog now. “Listen to them Feather, they will get it to the vet and treat it.”

Huffing Feather sit down, “I know it’s… it’s just.” She can’t talk anymore, tears are ready to flow.

“You’ve seen too many animals hurt like that, or captured.” Cloudy says, “We won’t let you get into a situation where you have to do that ever, and we will never ever let that happen to you. We will protect you.”

Candy nods firmly, “We'll make our mark, show the world what we can do…”

Feather smiles weakly, “We'll make our mark, and maybe someday we’ll break through...”

Sitting down, all three look at each other and sing together and nuzzled each other’s cheeks, “To the ultimate reward of our cutie marks.”

*** Somalia ***

Nightshade tucks her wings tightly to her side to hide their trembling. Her large ears are twitching nervously, “I don’t like this.”

“There are those who are scared of you… but I know the truth.” The zebra says softly.

“There’s a HUGE difference between me and her though.” Nightshade says, looking at the hole dug in the side of the hill.

“You’re both bigger than me, you both have scary fangs, you both have bat like wings.” The zebra walks up to the cave and gulped, “And you both grew up for the last 25 years as a human. Just like me.”

Looking at her wings, Nightshade has to sigh, she doesn’t look like other pegasi, she’s a thestral, but does it mean ponies are supposed to fear her? “Yeah, but I didn’t just eat a tank and THEN go for seconds.”

“Well that’s a good thing right? It’s obviously got lots of iron in its diet, it’s had a nice heavy meal, so it isn’t going to eat us.” Nodding, the zebra turns and walks slowly into the cave.

Nightshade opens her mouth to protest, then closes it, looking at her own muzzle for a moment. With a sigh she follows the persistent and determined little zebra.

Walking up, the little zebra foal sits down and puts his foreleg against one of the dragon’s claws. In truth he is terrified, but he isn’t going to show it. The dragon’s claw alone is bigger than he is. It probably weighs more, too. Taking a deep breath, the colt smiles, “I wanted to thank you for saving me.”

Opening one eye, it takes Kara a moment to focus on the foal, then with a huff, she sighs, “You’re welcome.”

“You don’t have to be alone you know.” The foal moves to climb on top of her claw a bit.

“It’s my punishment. Yes I do.”

“Punishment?” Tilting his head, he looks up at the giant dragon.

“From Discord, for helping ponies.” Kara sighs. “Never to see my own kind again, never to be truly free again.”

The foal giggles softly, “Silly, that’s why we’re all here. We are all being punished by Discord for not following his grand plan. And even in punishment, you’re still disobeying Discord.”

The dragon lifts her head, looking down at the speck of a pony sitting on her front claw, so small, so fragile, one wrong move and it would be dead… Yet it shows no fear of her, or tries not to. “I’m here because I helped ponies.”

“Yep, and just think, you’re still helping ponies. And zebra’s. And thestrals. And even humans.” Looking up the colt smiles as big as he can, “I’m Strepe, this is Nightshade, what’s your name?”

“Kara, I think.” Pulling her head back a bit, she blinks. “Kara is what I’m called in my dreams, they really call you Strepe?”

“Yeah-huh. Strepe, and the Zebra mare that takes care of me is Merrie.” The foal says and wiggled his tail.

Kara covers her muzzle and face with her other claw, “Who comes up with these names?”

Strepe tilts his head, “Same people that named a zebra, Zecora I guess.”

“And the names came to you in dreams too?” Kara lays her head back down.

“Some, some came from the TV Show. Apparently were all from some TV show or at least from a world that the show was based on.” Strepe says and sits on the back of her claw.

Kara sighs and shakes her head, “Well that makes about as much sense as anything else.”

“We were all cursed and turned, or changed back, after twenty-five years. All of us turned on our 25th birthday. Most had dreams of Discord cursing us. It’s a good bet that’s what happened.” Strepe nods firmly.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Kara asks and looks down.

“Help each other, protect each other, keep each other company. You can’t hide in this cave all the time. It’s not healthy for you.” The foal nods, “You don’t have to stay with us ponies all the time, but any time you feel sad or depressed, lonely… Come down.”

Kara looked at Strepe and sighs. “I guess. I just…”

“And I swear, we won’t run and scream and hide. To us, you’re a hero.” Strepe hops down and trots back to Nightshade. “See, told you,” And with a quick sticking out of his tongue, he trots out of the cave.

“Are you sure he’s 25?” Kara says to Nightshade.

“I’m not even sure I am.” Nightshade says with a shrug and trots out of the cave.

*** Panama ***

No matter where they try to cross, the border is a risk. A major crossing has more staff and might take more time to search. A smaller crossing might just wave them through without much of a check, or worse, be harassing. None of them know how they would take to ponies crossing into Costa Rica.

Ambrosia has worked several days on this. She doesn’t know if it will work though. She doesn’t know how the guards will act, or react. There are so many questions. It’s all or nothing now. As the wagon pulls up to the border post, she sits with the door open. She has to keep her ears down and her head down as well, but she hopes… she hopes with all her heart it would pass.

She can see the guard walk up to her though the eye slit in the Niqāb. It is flat black, and it covers her head, her face, muzzle and eyes. She had even added tassels in front of the slit to further obscure her eyes from sight. It’s a long shot but unless he gets right into her face and looks very close, it might work.

The guard chuckles, looking up at the wagon leaning side to side. While the ladder is in the back, there isn’t quick access to the driver’s seat. “What’s your intention?”

“Passing through country on pilgrimage. We are traveling to the America,” Ambrosia says. A little bit broken in her Spanish might work better as she slides her passport along the bench.

Reaching up he looks at her passport as well as the passport for Sunny. They are their human passports, but again with her covered up there is hope he won’t push it too hard. Shaking his head he taps the side of the wagon. “Who else is in there?”

“I am, but modesty laws say I can’t be seen by non-family males.” Daze says, hoping he won’t demand to open the door, there was no way, with her small size even with a cloak, that she would never pass for her passport information, given her small size.

Looking at the passports, he walks into his office, it’s nothing more than a shack. A simple box of a building with four walls, two doors in the front, and one bathroom. This crossing, though, never sees more than a few farmers and locals at a time. Even his computer is dial up, so the information is slow to come. The database shows the passports as valid.

Stamping them, he walks out and places them back on the driver’s ledge, “Take care, but if you are going all the way to America, some of the borders won’t be as culturally sensitive.”

“Thank you, sir.” Ambrosia says, before snapping the reigns.

Looking back at Ambrosia, Full Steam makes a rather disgruntled horse noise before he starts to walk again.

*** Blaze ***

“Do you hear me? Keep those arms tucked in!” Grumbling, Blaze moves over to the next person, “Oh come on, stick your chest out!”

Shaking his head, he circles the group, checking each one over one by one. They are a sorry lot to say the least. They are all supposed to know the basics, yet none seem able to follow even simple instructions.

“ARGH! Private Willis!” Turning, Blaze heads over and grabs the private by his boots, flipping him over onto his belly. “You need to learn to recover yourself. I won’t be there every time.”

Moving around in front of the group he crosses his forelegs, looking at them. He just holds his place in front of the five trainees and waits, he doesn’t need to check his wrist. He can just relax and watch them. He can wait.

Nervously, one by one, they start checking their wrists and look at Blaze. He can see the looks on their faces as they looked between him and their wrists more and more often. He is curious which one will break first. Which one will be the first to panic?

He doesn’t have to wait long before Willis grabs the cords and yanks. A moment later he vanishes from the group. Then there are just four of them. One by one, over the next few seconds they grab their cords and yank until it’s just Blaze and Cpl Richards. Richards wasn’t an adrenalin junky, he isn’t some thrill seeker, he simply knows his job.

Richards pops his chute at almost two thousand feet exactly. Spreading his wings Blaze nods, “Almost perfect, and you didn’t even need your watch.”

Heading up, he hovers in front of each of the others, letting them know where they ranked. All openings had to be done between 2500 and 2000 feet, but the ground always looks closer than it is. Especially when you were traveling at freefall speeds.

Nodding, Blaze shoots down and lands by the desk, “Willis will need a re-jump, he popped at 2,800 feet, the rest are all good.” He says to admin clerk.

“You know Blaze, a pegasus grading paratroopers has got to be cheating.” The clerk says, chuckling.

“What? I think it’s much safer since it lets me go up and down between the jumpers. Even help them if they get in trouble. Plus I can fly back up for the next group.” Blaze says, fluffing his wings and puffing out his chest.

“You know, when you puff your chest like that. Of course it seems to be more common when you’re around a bird bath.” The clerk says, chuckling.

“Bah, the girls are at the spa, and I’m stuck babysitting newbs. I gotta have some fun.” He says and takes to the air again.

Flying over, he lands back at the jump clearing and watches them gathering their chutes and gear. The sergeant is already yelling at them. Yelling is a prerequisite for sergeant’s stripes. Blaze can’t help but snicker, standing behind the sergeant.

Spinning around, “And what are you…” Looking around, the sergeant blinks, then looked down. “Oh hey Blaze. Good job up there.”

“Thanks. It was nothing.” Blaze chuckles, “Cpl Richards did great.”

Slinging his pack, the corporal chuckles, “Thanks it was like I could feel the air currents, the subtle pressure changes.”

“Yeah I know it’s…” Blaze blinks and looks at the sergeant, then back at Cpl Richards, “And when was your birthday?”

“Last night, me and the guys went partying a bit.” He starts, then he blinks as Blaze grumbles and grabs his pants, trying to pull them down. “The frack are you doing!?!”

“Sergeant, get him to drop his pants.” Blaze says, looking back.

“Don’t ask Don’t tell doesn’t cover this.” The corporal says firmly.

Blinking, the sergeant looks at Blaze, “What are you going on about?”

“Birthday last night, talked about sensing air currents.” Blaze taps a hoof. “I wanna see if he’s got a mark.”

“A mark? Oh…. Okay, I see where you’re going. Corporal, drop your pants and boxers.” The sergeant says, crossing his arms and looking around at the drop field, then back at the corporal.

“What? Why?” The corporal looks rather pissed right now. Understandable, but he everyone is firm about this.

“It’s an order.” The sergeant says, “NOW CORPORAL!”

Grumbling, Richards drops his pants, “Yes sergeant. This better not be some kind of stupid Ranger hazing.”

The sergeant looks down at Blaze, “Star pattern?”

“Yeh, Orion or Star Hunter, my bets is Star Hunter.” Blaze says, “Both are stallions, but Star’s a pegasus.”

“What are you two going on about?” He says, then looks at the cutie mark on his hip, “Ah hell I knew I was drunk, but who the hell tattooed me?”

One facehoofs, the other facepalms. Both however, shake their heads in stereo.

*** Ensenada Mexico ***

Grabbing her muzzle, he turns the pegasus’ head to face him, looking sternly at her. “You have the address you’re flying too. If you ever want to see your sister again, don’t deviate from your flight path. Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t be late. Once you get there, they will load you up for your return trip.”

Cinching her saddle bags tighter than is really comfortable, one of the other men checks the bags, “That’s twenty-five pounds per pack, nearly ten million dollars street value.”

“Hear that? You lose it, that’s ten million you owe us, and I don’t think your sister is worth ten million.” The man turns, opening the door, then looks back at the little pegasus, “Yah mule.”

Taking a few tentative steps out, she looks back at her sister, then gulps. She isn’t a speedster, so this will be a long flight. She has to do it though. Spreading her wings, she takes a deep breath before taking to the air. She has to fly low and slow, she doesn’t want to do this, but if she fails…

Author's Note

Art as always by Alkarasu.

75: Bonds And Loyalty

“Really? You want me on maternity leave already?” I say, blinking in shock. “I’m three months into an eleven month pregnancy.”

“To which we know almost nothing about on Earth. Light duties is one thing, but we recommend you take time off. Take the foals, Blaze, every pony here has been so stressed out with mission after mission.” The General says softly, “I’d like to suggest taking a few months off, collect yourself. Take the unicorn club with you.”

“You’re kicking us off base?” I say, shaking my head.

“No, your homes here will be reserved, we will cover the upkeep. We are giving you a temporary deployment. Go to the Apple Farm, to Lightning Dust’s farm, to England.” The General smiles, “Relax, take some time to come to terms with everything.”

“But we do all have to leave the base?” I say, lowering my head.

“Group vacation, you can’t find what you need here.” The General says, stroking me behind my ear, “And don’t worry about new ponies, if any unicorns show up, we can see about sending them to wherever you are. If you want to keep teaching new unicorns that is.”

“Come on, Fleetfoot’s still working.” I protest, perking my ears forward hopefully.

“Fleetfoot’s working with over forty pegasi. They have their own cloud barracks and they work with earth ponies and unicorns. It gives them time, and a chance to remember their culture. Something you, Sugarberry, and Ballad are really missing out on.” Nodding, he smiles. “You just need time off with the girls where you aren’t being shot at, or trying to save ponies.”

“Not Cipher?” I say, noting he left her out.

“Cipher is strange… She didn’t want to go back to Equestria because of bad WiFi, poor cell reception, and lack of good coffee. She could REALLY use some time off too but, I’m pretty sure all she’s going to do with it is terrorize Minecraft servers. In any event, she’s going with you too. I’m not breaking up your… herd.”

“What if they don’t want to go?” I find myself trembling a bit.

“Unfortunately even Cipher is getting the order to go with you. They are there to help protect you. Just take the time, relax, and learn with them.” Nodding once he smiled. “Sugarberry and Ballad haven’t really been following their special abilities here. Ah-Pee has, but it will give them a chance to explore themselves.”

“Special talents?” I say and blink, looking back at my cutie mark.

“Ballad’s been working so hard on her engineering course with Prime Power. Though the instructors have noticed, she gets lost sometimes when she’s looking at musical instruments. She hasn’t figured out her special talent with instruments as of yet, and somewhere inside her, it’s seriously bothering her. I think ponies have a problem with that, if they don’t understand their cutie marks, it weighs on them.” The General nods slowly.

“You’ve been watching the show a lot, haven’t you?” I say, looking up at him. “In some ways it seems like you understand me, understand us, better than we do.”

“I have more than a few ponies under my command, its best to understand them, their nature. To understand their needs, hopes, dreams, and callings.” Smiling softly, he strokes my face, eliciting a blush from me, “I will do whatever I can to make your kind feel accepted, both in the military, and in life.”

“Thank you sir.” I look down.

“And part of that is your mental health and wellbeing, I’m not saying you must have a military job that follows your cutie mark, but at the same time, you’ve all just been ponies for a few months. I want you to have a chance to explore the meaning of those marks. I need you to help them. Just like I need them to help you.”

“And now you sound like Princess Celestia.” I giggle.

“Nope, unlike her, I can hold my own in a fight.” The General says with a smile, “I am still a Ranger, after all.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir.” I say smiling, then stand and head out of the office.

“Stay safe… My little ponies... use your friendships and follow your hearts.” He says with just the slightest Celestia style smile.

*** US/Mexican Border = 32.5413893,-117.0479739***

The AN/TPS-80 system had been set up to track and spot small aircraft and drones. Cartel members and drug lords often use small planes to fly goods across the border. Recently, though, drones carrying twenty pound packs, or ultralights with up to two hundred pounds have been spotted.

The radar, however, is only the first line of defense. Scanning the sky, it detects a track, a low flying target, hardly a hundred feet off the ground, trying to get lost in ground clutter. Even though the signal is intermittent it is enough to trigger a response.

Instantly the system locates the closest of the tower mounted cameras. Used to track illegal immigrants trying to cross into the USA, these towers contain cameras with standard optics, zoom, low light, and even thermal imaging. Receiving the alert and information from the radar, the camera spins on its mount, locking on to the target. Following its course, or predicted course that is, the computer begins its recording.

Storing the film for legal use, an alert is sounded at the border control monitoring station. Almost instantly, a real time image is put up on the screen as well as radar track information. Now it’s the tech’s turn to handle the issue.

“Sir, she’s crossing again, we have her in sector two this time, camera fourteen got her.” A tech calls out, putting a picture of the pegasus up on the screen.

“That’s the fourth time this week.” The supervisor says, shaking his head. “Ok, call the 520th and let them know we have an intruder.”

Nodding slowly, the controller hits a button on his console. “520th, this is border control station two, we have an unidentified pegasus illegally crossing back and forth from Mexico to USA. We request an intercept, the pegasus is not carrying a transponder.” Tapping on his keyboard, he adjusts his headset. “Uploading flight track information right now.”

“Ok sir, they said they are vectoring in a police officer to catch her.” The tech responds.

Mumbling the supervisor goes back to his desk, “Damn pegasi, they are more trouble than they are worth. Why don’t they just let us start shooting them for illegal crossings?”

*** Sugarberry ***

Henry lay on his side, stretching out a bit. The carpet is soft and plush, so he doesn’t need the sofa, giving lots of room for Sugarberry to lay snuggled to his belly. Gently he strokes Sugarberry’s side as he looks at her. Her mane flows around her face.

“I don’t want to go.” Sugarberry says softly.

Shaking his head Henry smiles gently, “I’m taking some time off to go with you. They gave me a big holiday bonus for forcing me to be a unicorn. I think they are trying to avoid a lawsuit or human rights vs. pony rights claim. I don’t care really, it will be nice to have some down time with you.”

“How can you live without saving ponies and the world and punishing those who mean to do harm?” Sugarberry says with a giggle and nose boops him with a hoof.

“Yep, just relaxing, maybe skiing if there are hills, I don’t know. If we do Montana, might try horse… back…” Henry stops and looks at Sugarberry.

Sugarberry has one eyebrow raised and a strange cute smile on her face, “Go on… horseback what?”

“Umm, yeah, I never tried that, and now I don’t think I want to, it just hit me.” Henry says, shaking his head.

“Oh? Which? Are picturing me in a saddle and halter? Or yourself wearing them?” Sugarberry smiles evilly.

Henry shudders and shakes his head, “That has dirty implications, but at the same time… Yes, I’m thinking of me in pony form wearing the saddle being forced to walk around. I think I’ll skip the horse stuff.”

“Yeah, it might be best.” Sugarberry says with a giggle, “Ugh, if we go to England what then?”

“Well the area has LOTS of gems, so you will get a chance to practice a ton.” Henry thinks for a second, then he smiles, “I’ll bring a raincoat, buy you a rain cloak and maybe some rain boots. And I’ll definitely need a coat.”

Sugarberry gives him a light kick with a hind hoof, “Jerk.”

“Face it, Twilight and Cipher have had tons of time to play with their magic, their special talents, but you and Ballad haven’t.” Henry says softly, rubbing her chest and ribs. “You need to find and get back in touch with the real you.”

Sugarberry pouts, turning her head away, “Like you do?”

Sighing softly, Henry shakes his head, “You know, I wasn’t born a pony, so this is the real me. I’m in touch with being a human.” Rubbing his nose against hers, he smiles, “I guess my stars never aligned. I have no idea why I have this cutie mark in the first place.”

Hugging him tightly, Sugarberry sighs, “I know, I just wish you were sometimes.”

“If I was, then I’d have been cursed to and we might never have ran into each other.” Henry says, smiling. “As it is I’m in a relationship with the best unicorn in both worlds. So I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

Sugarberry smiles hugging him tight, her ears and cheeks blushing hard at his statement.

***

“Wind, this is Fire Streak, target sighted at six o’clock low, vector zero one two, range six mikes.” Fire Streak adjusted his goggles looking down.

Wind sighs, shaking her head, “Fire, I’m right beside you, you don’t need to pretend you’re still in a fighter.”

“Hey, unlike you, I like staying in practice. Who knows, someday they might make a fighter for pegasi to fly.” Fire says and banks, rolling into a dive on the target pegasus.

“Yeah right, I prefer my own wings.” Wind shakes her head, rolling into a dive as well.

The target pegasus is flying very low to the ground, if there were trees, she’d likely be under them, but this is town and open land, she is flying just above the rooftops of lower buildings, trying to keep from being seen.

Fire and wind aren’t fooled though. They aren’t dependent on radar, they have her visually, and to them, she stands out like a beacon. The brightly colored pegasus over drab grey and black rooftops, especially to their eyes.

“Well she’s not a speedster, what would you put her at? Five wingpower?” Fire says, lining up on the pegasus.

Wind shakes her head, “four and a half, at best.”

“You want to go in and girl to girl it? Or should I go in and hard cop it?” Fire says.

“Last time you went in, we had a runner that took us an hour to calm down.” Wind called back, narrowing her eyes.

“I deny that.” Fire says, looking aloof.

“Oh BS, they lead us half way around San Diego.” Wind says as she scowls at her partner.

“Nope, they flew, there was no running involved.” Fire states in his own defense, puffing out his chest.

“Stallions.” Winging over, Wind dives on the other mare to pull up beside her. Rocking her wings side to side as she flaps, she smiles at the younger female.

The pony is a creamy pink, with darker pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark says it all, a bright red heart with a smaller red heart beside it. It isn’t the mark for a speedster, a weather pony, or such. It isn’t the mark of a traditional occupation. It is her heart, she shares it with those she meets. At least that’s how Wind reads it. She is an empathetic or emotional pegasus. Wind knows she will have to be very careful.

“Hello there, mind if I fly beside you?” Wind asks, matching the smaller mare’s speed.

Looking around in a panic, the little pink pegasus starts panting hard. Her eyes go wide as she lays her ears flat back, “No! Yes! You can’t!”

“Wait, what?” Wind asks as she sees the pegasus try and speed up more. She’s flapping her wings in a panic as fast as she can.

Shaking her head vigorously, the little pegasus starts trying to zig zag through ground clutter, Wind can see she is desperately trying to lose her. The little pegasus is giving it everything she has, trying with all her heart to get away.

Wind sighs softly, she is both a trained combat pilot and a Wonderbolt. The little pegasus has no chance. Wind can easy match any of her maneuvers, out corner, turn, bank, and run her. This is about as fair as a Model T trying to get away from a Jeep. Yet Wind can see that the little one giving it everything she has. She seems so desperate, “If she keeps going like this she could have a heart attack.”

Wind backs off a bit to let the poor thing slow down, and maybe calm down a little. “Fire, keep an eye on her, but give her lots of breathing room. I don’t want her hurting herself, or having a panic attack.”

“What’s going on?” Fire asks looking down and climbing a bit, to give them more room.

Wind gives the other pegasus a good lead again, but looks her over. “I’m not sure, she doesn’t have a transponder, but she has what looks like a GPS tracking or monitoring band strapped to her leg. She’s got saddlebags strapped onto her. I think someone’s using her.”

“Try moving in again and speaking Eponese. Don’t fly beside her, but in formation above and to the side. But stay in earshot.” Fire says over the radio, “Next block, you’ll be able to make your move.”

“Good idea.” Wind says, “For once.” She adds with a giggle.

Fire watches from his position, coasting lazily a few hundred feet up. He can see both of them from his position, but he also keeps an eye out for other air traffic. With one final check, he calls out over the coms, “Now.”

Making her move, Wind quickly moved up above a row of roof tops so she is close enough to talk, but at the same time has some screening from roof tops. She’s only about twenty feet from the other pony but it is still far enough that they don’t look like they are flying together.

“Now it’s harder to see me, what’s wrong?” Wind whinnies out in Eponese, gracefully dodging a satellite dish.

“I can’t talk.” The pegasus says, trying to not look at Wind.

“There aren’t any other ponies around, and humans don’t understand Eponese. Is someone after you?” Wind asks, then ducks under a clothes line. She glances back, blinking, who hangs panties and bras on their roof?

“If I get caught they will…” The pegasus stops herself, quickly shaking her head, “I can’t tell anyone.”

“Who said? You’re not in trouble, and we won’t stop you, but we want to help.” Wind says as she vaults over a TV antenna.

Lowering her head a bit, the pegasus sighs, “I’m Pink Hearts, my sister is Patches, they are holding her to make sure I do what they say.”

“Who’s holding her? Where?” Wind says, her tail flaring in anger.

“I’ve said too much, if they find out, they will kill her. If I miss my delivery or am seen talking to others they will kill her.” The pegasus closes her eyes for a moment, “Leave me alone, please.” She whines.

Blinking, Wind pulls up hard to avoid impacting into Rainbow Dash’s butt. Looking down at the Comic con billboard with the My Little Pony logo, Wind can’t help but smile as she keeps climbing up to meet with Fire. “Someone’s holding her sister hostage. She’s being forced to run drugs I think.”

“Great, just what we needed. It’s your call.” Fire growls.

Wind hums and nods, “Let’s climb up an extra five hundred feet and follow. We can take turns shadowing her back, the problem is since she’s coming from Mexico they are likely holding her there.”

“Yeah and the Federales don’t care too much about ponies.” Fire says, shaking his head, “And a rescue operation and assault across international lines is…”

“Hey, I have a day off. I’m sure White Lightning will understand.” Wind says and winks.

“I’ll let her know on scrambler.” Fire says with a smile.

***

The camp is a mismatch of creatures, zebra, thestral, and a few odd griffins, who had escaped from South Africa, a few earth ponies had filtered in as well. All in all, their numbers have slowly grown to nearly two hundred.

A well has been dug, and several cisterns built at the edges of the cliffs. The thestrals have been able to pull clouds in to fill them with rain water. Some crops have even been planted and are already starting to grow. For the first time for many of these refugees, their lives are looking up.

Shelters have been built with what is available, cloth from the air drop, metal from the trucks and vehicles. To most westerners, it isn’t much to look at. There is almost a post-apocalyptic feel to the place, but to the ponies, it is the first place they can really call home.

For many, it is the first time they don’t have to run or hide. They don’t have to fear having things taken away from them. They don’t have to worry about kidnappings or raids. They can sleep safe, work, and make a life.

“What do you think?” Strepe says, looking up and smiling.

Nightshade sighs and shakes her head, “I’m not sure what to think. I’ve never seen or had this much without someone trying to take it away.”

Strepe nuzzles up to the thestral, “Don’t worry, no one will try. We have Kara here to protect us.”

“Strepe, it’s not fair to place all our hopes on Kara. She doesn’t want to defend us. She just wants to be left alone.” Looking up at the top of the mountain that is Kara’s home, Nightshade sighs, “I wonder how old she really is.”

“Twenty-five, that’s all that matters for now.” Strepe says, nodding. “She’s twenty-five like all the rest of us.”

As the shadow passes over, it sends a shiver up Nightshades back. It’s rare for Kara to be out flying at this time. Looking up, she sees the dragon circling for a landing. Nightshade wants to sound an alarm, she wants to warn the ponies, but at the same time, the look from Stepe says it all.

“Hi Kara!” Strepe says, bounding up. “What’cha got there?”

“I… um…” Turning her head a little shyly Kara, lays down a chunk of metal and glass scraps. “I wanted to clear my head. I was flying down the coast a bit and found debris from an old freighter. I cut and ripped off a few of the sheets of metal that were on the side, and managed to pry out some of the windows that weren’t too badly broken.”

It is trash, garbage that no one else would want. It is rusted scraps of bent metal. It is dirty, salt stained glass, there is some old fishing net mixed in with the mess. It smells of the sea and most would have just left it for the sea to reclaim.

“It’s PERFECT!” Stepe says, smiling brightly, “Oh Kara I could hug you. I’m sure we can sand scrub the metal down and use it for roofing for some the larger community buildings! The net is all nylon, we can separate it out and use the parts for rope. And real glass, we can have real windows!”

The little foal bounds around the dragon so excited and happy that Kara can’t help but smile. “Thank you Stepe. You have helped me more than you know.”

Turning to the sky, Kara takes flight back up to her ledge where she can watch over the valley.

*** Quantico ***

“Fleur? Fleur!!!”

Fleur stops, blinking and looks back at Anthony as he runs down the hall of the CID wing. Slowing to a walk, he moves up beside Fleur, looking at her.

“What’s up?” Fleur asks, starting to walk again.

“Not here, White Lightning wants to meet you, unofficially. They are waiting by the pond south of the building.” Anthony looks around, “Jet Stream gave me the message when I was walking in from my car.”

Fleur blinks at the idea of a secret meeting. “Well let’s get going.” Turning, she starts to head for the exit, then she stops, “Are you coming?”

Anthony shakes his head, “I was told it was pony business, only to tell you.”

“You’re coming. You are my partner and support, after all.” Lighting her horn, Fleur grabs his hand and starts walking, pulling him behind her.

“Okay, okay, let go.” Anthony laughs and jogs up, walking beside her.

The parking lot backs up onto the pond, and pond is all you can really call it. It’s about fifty meters across and a hundred meters long. Just on the far side of the pond at the edge of the wood line, Fleur can see a few pegasi waiting.

Looking at her, Anthony starts jogging around the pond and Fleur picks up the pace. As they get closer though, the ponies back more into the tree line, obviously this is more secretive then either of them thought.

“I told you this was just for ponies.” Streams says, backing behind her sister.

“Sorry, he’s my partner and as much a pony to me as anyone.” Fleur says, putting her hoof down, her horn glowing. “He’s been with me through my change, he’s been with me through magical rituals, and deserves every bit the respect.”

“No offense intended Fleur.” White Lightning has several pegasi with her, a few of them are even Wonderbolts. “But what we are going to talk about is off the books, off the record, and downright illegal.”

“Illegal as in speeding tickets, loss of jobs, Leavenworth, or executions for high treasons?” Anthony asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Somewhere between the last two.” Lightning says, looking at the group and takes a breath, “Fire Streak, you’re up.”

He steps forward, “The Zeta Cartel, for almost a decade, has been shipping drugs, guns, and money back and forth across the border. They are one of the most vicious and deadly of all the cartels in Mexico.”

Wind steps forward looking at the other ponies and human. “A few days ago, we began tracking a pegasus crossing illegally into the USA. She was flying low and without a transponder. She’s not a speedster, or a weather pony and her wing power is low.”

Anthony lifts an eyebrow and looks at Fleur’s side to make sure she doesn’t have wings before looking back at the pegasi.

“She’s being used by the Zeta Cartel as a drug mule. They are holding another pony, her sister, hostage while she flies what they want back and forth. The poor thing is terrified, she thinks they have spies everywhere. Which is a distinct possibility.”

“The federales?” Anthony asks, tilting his head.

“That’s a no go, in this region, they are mostly under the payroll of Zeta and other Cartels. They are likely to kill the hostage and clear out.” White Lightning says, she looks at the ponies and sighs.

“Our chance, our option, is to violate international law, carry out a raid with no jurisdiction into a foreign country. Rescue a hostage, with the risk of killing foreign nationals which would technically be murder. Then escape with them back across the border into the USA.” White Lightning says, “This isn’t an order this is a volunteer only.”

“Count me in.” Anthony says, “And you may need someone with hands there.”

Fleur blinks and everypony looks at him.

“Well we all have some days off. It looks like we are going on a vacation.” Fire smiles.

“The plan is simple. When Pink Hearts starts her next cargo run. One pony will follow with her, staying out of sight as best they can. Then the rest of us will go in and free the hostage. Once we have her, we can retreat back to safety. Pink Hearts can be intercepted and her cargo handed off to the police.”

Anthony smiles, “I have a friend over in the Hostage Rescue Training Center. They might have a few things. I might be able to borrow it off the books.”

“What… sort of things.” White Lightning asks.

“You’ll see if I can get them. Unofficial training, meet me at my place tomorrow.” Anthony says, then turns, heading for the parking lot.

*** 10.087481, -84.791863 ***

The three ponies have been following the Inter-American Highway again. It has become their lifeline in a way. As long as they are on it, they know they are heading towards the USA. This highway runs all the way from Panama, nonstop straight to the US border. Well not quite nonstop, they have had to stray off the highway at times to avoid cities.

Highway is such a loose term, it’s used to describe the thirty lane roads leading to megacities. It’s used to describe the six lane highways though the cities. The four lane interstate highways that cut through the landscape, but people always forget about the smaller highways. With only one lane of traffic for each direction people have to go with the flow. Sometimes they have a passing lane in the middle, but not always. Melding with the land and weaving as part of it, rather than cutting through it.

The old Route 66 in the USA, or Canada’s Kings Highway 2, it’s often viewed as a bypass road rather than a main route. A road with farmlands and old houses on either side, or it just meanders through forests. It is just wide enough for cars to pass each other as they travel in opposite directions. This means sometimes cars have to wait to get around farm carts or wagons.

Sunny Days sighs as she lies on the roof of their wagon. They hadn’t eaten well in the last few days. They are out of milk, and flour. So they are limited to animal feeds, and whatever Sunny can scrounge up on their stops. The girls are good about it, and try their best to keep the facts hidden from Full Steam. He has been tirelessly pulling the wagon for weeks now, without complaint or days off, really. So the girls have been making sure he gets the most food.

It’s too hot inside the wagon and Sunny just needs to be in the light. Occasionally she would sit up and look at the cars driving by, but traffic is so light. She does her best to keep a look out for food sources, but with no money and little to trade, the group has to do what they can.

It is the sound that catches her attention first, the roar of the engine. Sitting up, she squints, seeing the car screaming down the road. It’s heading in the opposite direction they are, back towards Panama.

It’s a 442 hardtop with a pony driving it, at all but unsafe speeds. An actual pony like her. Well, dark blue or black, with a two tone black and blue mane, but still, a pony. Somepony else on the road, that might be able to help them. Even if it is only a few pesos, it will be enough to get them food for a few days at least.

Standing on her hind legs on the roof of the wagon, Sunny days started waving for all she was worth. “Please stop, please…”

The car doesn’t stop though; it blows by them at over a hundred miles per hour. It leaves the ponies in its dust, to fend for themselves. Sighing softly, Sunny sits down on the wagon top and watches the car go off.

“Sunny! What are you yelling about?” Ambrosia calls out from inside the wagon.

“There was a pony driving that car!” Sunny shouts down, “I don’t think they saw me though.”

“Why would a pony be driving south around here? Come on inside, Sunny.”

Sunny looks at the speck in the distance that was the car and sighs. She’d have to do something to find more food. Full Steam needs the energy. They need to follow Luna’s call and get to the gate.

76: The Magic of Beginnings

“What’s up?” Walking outside, the woman pulls the hood of her jacket up to shield against the biting cold wind.

Shaking his head, the man looks to his side at her, “Landing gear again, it won’t lock.”

“Damn it,” the woman growls and shakes her head, “It’s got to be ice build-up in the lines.”

“Can’t be, we are running it all through the engine to pre-heat the fluids now.” He says, then he looks up with the binoculars again.

Shaking his head, he looks down, “I’ll bring him around. Want to see if you can get the gear to manually lock?”

“Sure thing dad.” Turning, she spreads her wings. She curls her body a bit, then shoots off like a bullet. Her two tone orange tail is straight back as she speeds up to the aircraft, leaving a bright light trail in her wake. As she gets near the plane, she flips over so she is flying inverted, looking into the landing gear bay. It’s dark inside, but she can still see all the pipes and hoses.

“Well? What does it look like?” Comes over her earpiece.

Giggling softly, she shakes her head, “Looks like a dark, oily, piece of machinery.”

“Oh har har, any actual damage in there?” is the response.

“Naw, let me try muscling it.” She wedges her hooves into the landing gear bay. With a grunt she pushes against the gear with her back and neck. It’s not the most comfortable thing to do, but she keeps her position with her forelegs. A hard push later, she is rewarded with a hum and click as the nose gear locks.

“Pilot says he’s showing three green now. Good work.” Comes over the coms.

Dropping out away from the fighter, she turns and flies down towards the observers. Doing a quick loop she lands beside the older man. She flares her wings proudly for a moment before folding them at her side.

Moments later, the plane’s wheels scream as they touch the ground, everyone breaths a sigh of relief as the front wheel holds up. As the plane taxies to the hangar, the pegasus looks up. “Ice again?”

“No idea, we are going to have to take the entire system apart.” He murmurs as he watches the plans finish it’s rollout.

“How about we try this? Put it up on the brace, set the engines to low power, and leave it out in the cold for an hour or two. Then we will see if the gear drops normally.” The pegasus said, “Same trick we did with the FGFA.”

“Sounds like it’s worth a shot,” He chuckles, “You enjoyed the FGFA project too much.”

“What can I say dad, I was born to fly.” Spreading her wings as if to make the point, the pegasus turns and streaks for the hangar.

“I still just can’t believe she’s so comfortable with this.” The woman says.

“Whatever the case, she’s still our daughter.” The man says with a proud smile.

“Our little pegasus.”

***

“There it is.” The LT says cheerfully.

I blink and yawn, then I sit up and look around. The quiet road we were on has merged onto a small farm road. Though the farm road itself is littered with construction crews and paving equipment, working at fixing the road and making it a bit wider. As we get close to the farmhouse that we visited just a few months before, I can see several changes have happened since then. In addition to the barracks that have been built several houses can be seen in the distance. A community has been set up here, it seems. Which is good because the winters here can be very bad.

“Umm, why are they all naked?” Cookie asks a little timidly.

“Beggin’ your pardon missy, but… We don’t normally wear clothes.” Ah-Pee says, putting on her best Apple family accent.

Looking over his, shoulder Eric grumps. “That kind of line is supposed to end in sugar cube.”

Sticking her tongue out with a smile, Ah-Pee laughs, “And just what kinda manure have you had your nose in to think I’d say that.”

Sugarberry pipes in, laughing, “Leave my little songbird alone.”

Looking between the Eric and Sugarberry, Cookie huffs once. “I still don’t get how they can go back and forth though the gate and stay male.”

“Because they were never ponies, they weren’t cursed like us. You were a girl, cursed to be a boy.” I say, “All the mirror would do to you now is turn you into a human girl.”

“That, and strip you of your magic.” Ah-Pee adds.

I shudder at that, as do the other unicorns. “It may sound stupid, but, it’s hard to think of living without magic. Even just our basic telekinetic powers are so natural and ingrained in us. I can see myself walking into door expecting it to open for me.”

“I wonder about that. Those ponies, born in the wrong genders. Do they always know, on some subconscious level that they are the wrong gender?” Ah-Pee muses.

“I never questioned my gender.” I say, blinking. “Growing up, I never thought about it. At the same time though I wasn’t a lady’s man, instead I was always the one the girls talked to. Maybe they sensed something.”

“It might be an interesting study. If it’s common with gender flipped ponies, it might be a way to identify them from a young age, and give them help growing up.” Ah-Pee says and looks over at Henry.

“Hey I’m just a human, no gender flip here, no pony hiding in me.” Henry says, holding his hands up defensively. “And unlike you ponies, I don’t go putting my heart out on the line.”

Sugarberry giggles and hugs him, “Doesn’t matter, you’re still mine.”

Looking at Cookie, I just can’t resist, “My little human, I used to wonder what friendship could be…”

That’s enough to get groans throughout the tactical vehicle. The LT pulls up to the front of the large farmhouse. Through the tinted windows of the tactical vehicle, we can see a few rather annoyed looking ponies standing and waiting for us.

“What the hell do you…” Mindy starts as I get out of the Tactical. She does a double take as she notices it’s ponies emerging from the vehicle.

“Hi there.” I say, smiling brightly,

“Velvet! What brings you and your brood here?” Mindy says with a smile. She hops in place several times.

“The Army wants me AWAY from the base, to give us all a chance be ponies.” Smiling, I shake my head, “I think they are just scared I’ll freak out and blow up the base.”

Mindy blinks, “Be ponies? How does one BE a pony.”

Henry hops out of the tactical vehicle, “First, you piss Velvet off, and then she turns everyone within three hundred feet into ponies.”

“That only happened once.” I say, my ears dropping as I pout.

There are a few chuckles among the human members of our team. The LT smiles at me brightly, I take a deep breath, “Well is there a place in town we can rent?”

“Already taken care of.” The LT says, causing everyone to look up at him.

“Huh? How?” I say, confused.

“Fleetfoot. Drizzle has a home here that she isn’t using. So Fleetfoot asked about renting it for a few months.” The LT says and nods. “It should be fine, it started as a two bedroom with one of them being a study, but she added on a second level, so it’s a six bedroom right now.”

I blink and shake my head, “Well that should do us all, if we take turns cleaning.”

“Well not all, it’s for you, the Unicorn Club, and your foals. Us two leggers have our own place rented.” The LT says with a chuckle.

“Permission to hug?” I say with a smile.

“You are on leave, so yes.” The LT chuckles.

Smiling, I reach up and give him a hug with both forelegs. Not the most comfortable position for me, but I manage.

“You and Blaze will have one room, the foals have one, then Cipher gets hers, Sugarberry and Ballad will share, and that leaves you an extra room for up to four students. We are putting bunk beds in there. To start it will just be Minty and Cookie.”

Henry smiles and rubs Sugarberry’s back, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay in town too.” Smiling softly at the unicorn, he looks to Mindy. “Something up?”

“Nope you just… feel like a pony.” Mindy says softly.

“Oh don’t start. I’m not a pony, don’t wanna be.” Henry laughs.

As the group turns, heading to the houses, Mindy rubs her horn with a forehoof. “That didn’t feel right.”

***

“Sunny?” Ambrosia blinks, looking around, “Sunny!”

Grabbing the front of the wagon, Sunny Daze pulls herself up by her forelegs so her head is looking over the ledge, through this leaves her hind legs dangling. “Here I am!”

Eeping, Ambrosia turns and laughs, “Will you behave? What are you doing out there?”

“I’m trying to find us supplies. It’s a new country, so there are new chances at supplies.” She nods.

“Really? You think you can just…” Ambrosia starts, then blinks as the foal tosses a bag up onto the seat.

“Be back in a bit.” Sunny said before vanishing. For an earth pony without teleport she could still disappear fast.

Dropping down, she bounds into the jungle with a crowbar. She had grown up on the streets and is already great at scrounging. She’s regularly up with the sunrise and she will explore the area, looking for things she can use or sell. This has always been a way of life for her. She had never had any real amounts of money as a human. Her mom had died speaking out against Noriega.

Her father died during the US invasion, one of the many casualties. The USA had promised aid packages, they said they would help. The packages, though, only went to the wealthy. The aid went to the businesses, industries, and such, the idea being, help them and they MIGHT help the people. But, who helps a four year old?

She grew up with friends of the family for a while, but she found if she wanted anything, she had to find a way to pay for it for herself. She had never stolen though. That isn’t in her nature. Instead she’d look for discarded things and repurpose, or resell, them.

People throw away the strangest things, old computers, cellphones, and such. Most can be salvaged in some way shape or form. Almost anything can be used for something, or broken down for scrap rather than just left in the trash. In this case, it is an old car wreck, someone left it to rot rather than paying to have it towed out.

Wedging the crowbar in against the trunk, she gives it a few solid bucks with her hind leg before the trunk opens. Once inside, she gives a loud squee of excitement at the bounty inside. The spare tire looks good, no rot, some rope, flares, and it even had a first aid kit that is still in its vacuum sealed plastic case. She bundles and ties things together, finally she turns and heads back to the wagon.

Climbing inside, she giggles, “Look, it’s Christmas!”

“And just what do you plan on doing with all of that?” Ambrosia says, looking at the filly.

“Well the flares and first aid kit we can keep, the rope might be useful. The tire, I might be able to trade it for some basic supplies!”

“You know I don’t like you exposing yourself to people unnecessarily.” Ambrosia says, looking worried. Her ears folding back as she scuffs a foreleg.

Wiggling her tail Sunny giggles, “I won’t.”

***

Goldie blinks, looking at the door, then at her phone. The address is right, it’s just not what she is expecting. The hallway has mismatched paint on it in places, and plaster spots, where makeshift repairs had been made. The carpet in the halls is okay at best. Her sensitive nose picks up the animal scents of the different pets that had left their marks for their territory on the carpet.

Timidly, she lifts a hoof and knocks on the door, almost scared to see what the apartment looks like.

“Who is it?” She hears coming through the door.

With a sigh, she rears up on her hind legs, putting her forelegs on the door so she can get her face up to the eye hole. “It’s me.”

Hearing the clicks of the lock, she drops to all fours and waits patiently. A few moments later, the door opens and Anthony smiles down at her, “Come on in.” He says, beckoning her to enter.

Actually, she notices, the inside isn’t bad. The floors are tile and carpet, the walls were all uniform colors, light greens with brown trim. It even smells fresher in here, complete with plugins, giving the house a smell of hay and...

“Hi Goldie.” Fleur says, as she was lying comfortably on a pile of pillows in the living room, the couch has been pulled way back, maps, photographs, and pictures are stuck up on the wall. A small folding table has been set up with three laptops and a wireless modem.

Fire, Wind, Fleetfoot, Drizzle, Jetstream, as well as several other pegasi are laying in a cluster. Several cans of juice, as well as snacks lay in the center of the pile. Anthony is sitting at the chair with the laptops looking over the group.

“Okay, good, we’re all here.” Anthony says softly.

Sitting down, Goldie nods, “Nice place Anthony, low rent?”

“Not all of us get the big bucks. This was the best place I could find at a reasonable price.” Anthony says with a chuckle.

“Ok this is a two phase and three team mission.” Fleetfoot says as she extricates herself from the other pegasi and stands up. “Wind and Fire have already done part of phase one. They have deployed several small cameras to monitor the traffickers.”

“I’ve already been gathering pictures and information on the people coming and going from the house.” Anthony says, pointing at the laptops. “It looks like there are four to six people there at any given time, but I think there are several more in the buildings nearby.”

“Once we are ready, we are going to break into groups. Fire and Wind, you and the rest of your group are going to be hitting them and getting the hostage out.”

Fire nods, “I can’t wait to see what Anthony has for us for that.”

“Jetstream, Drizzle, and I, are the intercept group. As soon as Hearts crosses the border, Drizzle will start following her, but she will be keeping back. That’s the go time for the operation. You have to get the hostage out and in the air. Though preferably across the border before she reaches her drop off point.”

Fire and Wind both nod.

“Once you have them, Jetstreams and I can begin our run. We can head her off. We can let her know that her sisters safe.” Fleetfoot looks slowly around at the group. “Remember, this is a volunteer operation. If you want to back out, you can.”

Wind looks at the pegasi in his team, “This is about a foal's safety, but I don’t want to see any pony here get hurt.”

The pegasi looked to each other than saluted Fleetfoot.

“Well I think that answers that part.” Fleet chuckles. “Now, Fleur, we want you at the border. How far can you teleport?”

“Umm, it’s line of sight, I’ve jumped maybe sixteen miles at a pop. Generally, if I can see it I can teleport to it.” Fleur says.

“We are going to put you in a boat, off the coast. If things get bad, the team can pop smoke as a teleport marker for you.” Anthony smiles, “Goldie and I will monitor things from here. Now, on to the gear.”

Walking into his bedroom, all the ponies watch curiously as he drags out a large duffle bag. “A lot of this stuff is rushed through. In fact, some of it is still in prototype. Hostage rescue has been testing it. The military equipment has been pretty cobbled together, but this stuff is factory made so it’s a lot cleaner.”

Pulling out the helmets, “Bullet resistant flight helmets, complete with heads up display visors, built in cameras, audio pickup, and night vision mode. Very much like combat pilot’s helmets, but they will stop up to a 7.62mm rounds. The visor is rated up to 5.56mm. The muzzle mask is for air filtration, like a gas mask. It also has your coms in it, so you can talk with the team or I.”

Pulling out the blue and grey flightsuit, he lays it out on the floor. “Fireproof ballistic weave, with ceramic plates over vital areas, as well as extra padding over your joints.”

“Whatcha got for offensive punch, Q?” Fire says, smiling.

“You can thank Belgium for this one, I have no idea why or how they got it ready so fast.” He pulls out a compact rifle, “This is the FN-EP95, single barrel 5.7mm submachine gun, it’s feeding off three fifty round magazines. They nicknamed it the Pony-95 and will give you a hundred fifty rounds for burst fire, or about seven and a half seconds of constant fire. In controlled bursts though, it’s about the same amount of ammo most infantry carry into battle.”

He looks at all the ponies, “I want you all to have some range practice with these. White Lightning has cleared the range for 520th and equine practice, so you’ll have several hours to get used to them.” Nodding, Anthony hands out the gear to the team. “This is still off the books. And since none of this stuff is public or even available yet, deniability will be right up there.”

***

“I don’t know if I can get used to everypony being naked.”

“I know Cookie, but remember, in Equestria we never wore clothing most times anyway. Well, most times. Some wore hats, scarfs, or other things. Others wore full dresses.” I say, looking aside at Cookie and smiling.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Cipher was kind enough to show me the picture of me in the princess gown. It was just awful.” Cookie says, looking around.

“I don’t know, I think you looked pretty in it.” I say, thumping my hip against hers.

Looking sideways at me through narrowed eyes, “Right, would you wear something like that?”

“Maybe, maybe something a little simpler, but it would have to go with my colors.” I say and look around the streets, the construction crews are going non-stop. An entire town is being built in front of us. It’s different, walking along seeing more ponies than humans. It has a different feel to it.

“Wait up!” I hear from behind me and giggle.

“Minty?” Cookie says, looking back.

“Minty, Minty, you came, you came!” I say, then duck a swat.

“Bad pony, bad pony.” Minty says, giggling at me. “God, it’s lucky the older generations of ponies aren’t actually real. Can you imagine having to put up with some of them.”

Giving a little shrug, I smile innocently. “Who knows, they may be real, may be parts of our history.”

“I hope not, so what’s today’s lesson?” Minty asks.

Cookie moans, “No, can’t we have a day off? I don’t like my horn melting.”

Laughing softly, I shake my head, “Don’t worry, it will be fun.”

“You have a really sick idea of what’s fun.” Cookie growls.

“Now, now, be fair.” Minty counters, “Before your change, did you think things like going to the gym and working out, jogging, or standing in a batting cage swinging a bat again and again were fun? Stuff like that is physically exhausting, but people do it for fun all the time.”

“Unicorns have a natural ability to multi-task, it’s part of casting spells. If you think of our magic as hands, there are times where Rarity or Twilight grab dozens of things at once. Then they don’t just move them all in the same direction or such. Now think of doing twelve different things at once. That’s something that unicorns do.” Giggling, I look at the two others, “We can see things in ways we could never understand as humans.”

“Yeah, but…” Cookie looks down and sighs.

“Seriously would you give all this up just to be a boy again?” I ask her, tilting my head.

Cookie freezes and sits down hard. Her eyes wide as her mind races.

“It’s one of the hardest questions I asked myself. IF I could go back being my human self, no cutie mark, no magic, no pony, could I?” Looking back at my cutie mark, I smile. “My mark is so important to me. It means so much more than just a few stars.”

Looking back at her mark, Cookie touches it with a hoof.

“Even without really knowing what it means to you, you still… know it… don’t you?” I say softly.

Minty sits down, looking at her diamonds and touches them too. “It’s strange that something so simple… can mean so much.”

“The curse took everything we had, everything that made us special, it took them away from us. It took who we were at the core. We just got it back. Could you give it up again?” I ask gently.

Looking at me, Cookie blinks and then looks back at her mark, “Even having to put up with fundamentals? No, I couldn’t…”

“We are as were supposed to be.” Minty says, standing up and bouncing a bit on the spot.

“Ponies.” I say with a nod.

***

“Nope, not here.” Feather says with a huff before dropping to the ground. “There has got to be a place.”

“If we’re going to be here for months we need a clubhouse or meeting place.” Cloudy says and huffs, looking around at the sparse foliage compared to Fort Bragg.

“Come on girls!” Candy says, bounding, “We can’t give up hope!”

“Nope, not a good place for the hearts and hooves song.” Cloudy giggles. “So what else we got?”

“Strong as horses?” Feather says, laughing as she takes off again, doing a little loop before landing again.

Candy boos, “Done that!”

“I’ve got it!” Cloudy calls out excitedly.

“Which song?” Candy and Feather ask in stereo, looking at her.

“No, not the song, the tree!” Cloudy says, pointing.

The thee foals start circling it, examining it critically. They check its bark, its limbs and leaves, looking for parasites or termites. Anything that would make it ineligible, but everything looks fine. Looking at each other, the three foals high hoof, “Cutie Mark Crusader Club house!”

“Let’ go get the Unicorn Club to help us set up.” Feather says, smiling brightly and flaring her little wings.

Cloudy giggles and shakes her head, “You know, if we keep moving every few months we’ll end up with these club houses built all over the place.”

Feather looks aside and smiles, “That’s not a bad thing.”

“What do you mean? All the time and effort?” Cloudy looks at Feather, confused.

Looking back at her blank flank, Feather giggles, “Yes and no. It’s never for nothing. Think of it this way. Even if we don’t get our marks, some other pony may. Each of these houses we set up, can be used by other blank flanks that need a place of their own, a place to learn and grow.”

Candy bounds up, “A place to discover who they really are, not just after the curse, but if they are born here on Earth. It will be a place to find their true selves.”

“A Cutie Mark Crusader is about the journey, the adventure, and sharing that adventure with all blank flanks.” Feather says and giggles.

“So even without our marks, we’ll keep trying. And at the same time we’ll keep laying the seeds for other ponies to get their marks.” Candy says, her head held high.

“Cuz were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, yes we are!” All three start singing.

***

“Humans sometimes, you are such prudes.”

“Just because I won’t walk around naked doesn’t make me a prude Sugarberry.” Henry says with a chuckle. “Unlike you ponies, I have modesty.”

“Hey us ponies are modest!” Sugarberry protests.

Chuckling, Henry counters, “Right, how, many ponies walk around with their tails high?”

“That doesn’t count. That’s just natural for us.” Sugarberry says, clamping her tail down self-consciously.

“Sure, sure.” Henry chuckles. “Next thing you know you’re going to tell me you are not… horny.”

Sugarberry cringes, “Oh that was bad, no horn jokes.”

“Really? Too corny?” Henry jokes and makes a fake grab for Sugarberry’s horn.

“STOP THAT!” Comes a loud shriek. Both of them look at the source of the voice. A pony comes galloping up, “That is WRONG!” Royal Ribbon yells as she skids to a stop before them.

“What? Why what’s wrong?” Sugarberry looks confused.

“Do you know how PERSONAL horns are? You never do that, not even in jest.” Royal Ribbon says, stomping a hoof.

“Oh come on, we are friends, just joking around.” Henry says, holding up both hands, a smile on his face.

“No, that’s not a joke. I’d say maybe you should spend some time as a unicorn, but even then you probably won’t understand.” She snorts, “Humans, your type never learn. So no, you don’t even deserve the gift of being a unicorn.” Turning she storms off with tears in her eyes. “What next, plucking a poor pegasus?” She growls.

Blinking, Sugarberry shakes her head, “What… what just happened?”

“I don’t know, but least I agree with her on one thing. I shouldn’t be a unicorn.” Henry says with a sigh.

Narrowing her eye in the direction of the other unicorn, Sugarberry huffs and mumbles, “not what he needed.”

*** Lightning Electric ***

“Pat… Oh Pat… I need your help.”

Blinking Pat, looks up from her paperwork, “What is it, I’m busy. I’ve got fifty invoices to process.”

“There are some… kids… here to see you.” The health safety and environmental rep for the company says softly, getting the older woman to blink several times.

“Kids?” Pat puts down her papers, “Who’s kids?”

“Well, foals I guess, little ponies.”

Pat stands up from her desk. She walks over through the main office where several other employees of Lightning Electric handle the majority of paperwork created by the hundred and fifty employees of the company produce daily. She opens the door to the big entry foyer and looks down at the three foals. She had seen them before on video but she had never realized just how small they really are. Or just how big their eyes really are when they sit there, looking at her sadly.

Feather looks up mournfully, “Hello ma’am, I’m Feather Pinch, this is Cotton Candy and Cotton Cloudy. We all changed here on earth a few months ago. We don’t know who our pony parents are. If they are here, on Equestria, or even if they are alive.”

Taking a deep breath, Candy looks up, “We’ve been adopted by a pony, Twilight Velvet. She takes care of us, protects us, makes sure we have food, a warm safe place to sleep and such. She doesn’t have a lot of money though.”

Cloudy turns sideways, “We are all blank flanks. In pony culture, that means we haven’t found our special talent, our place in society, our calling, or duty. Rather than doing a normal job, we are supposed to try and experiment with different things till we find our special place.”

“There are lots of ponies like us,” Feather says, spreading her wings. “And there are new ponies being born here on Earth. The problem is, we aren’t always safe. Coyotes and even big dogs can pose a threat to us. We’ve already gone through grade and high school, so we are left underhoof. We can’t spend all our time at home.”

“What we need, what we are doing is trying to build a club house. To make a safe place for not just us, but hopefully other ponies to visit, to have a place to find their special place.” Candy sits down and looks up, scuffing a forehoof on the tile floor, “We’d like to build a tree house, it needs to be safe from the rain and weather, safe from predators.”

“It needs to be able to be warm and dry inside, with some kind of basic insulation, since it can get so cold up here in the winter. So we need something we can safely do for heat and light. At the same time, it has to have windows and a proper door.” Feather looks at the girls. A couple other faces poke through the door into the foyer from the back office, watching the ponies. “Normally we use a ramp to get up to the house because we can’t do ladders well, but that means animals could get in, so we need the door and often a way to lift the ramp when we are inside.”

All three nod and look up at Pat, their tails wiggling a mile a minute. Smiling Candy goes on, “We are looking for someone to sponsor us, we need supplies and help to build it. Is there anything you can do?”

“I…I… Oh dear… Umm,” Pat turns back and looks at the other women watching, they have big smiles on their faces. They notice Pat looking at them, they all nod in unison. She makes her decision and gestures for the foals to follow her. They walk through the employee break room and she opens a door, leading to the expansive warehouse of the electrical contractor. Three men are bent over the open hood of a Dodge 3500 service truck. Two more are sweeping floors, and one is operating an electric forklift. All activity ceases as everyone sees Pat with the ponies in tow. She looks at all the men there. “I need a few volunteers. We are going to help these foals with a clubhouse.” She looks back at the three foals staring around wide eyed at the massive building and all the activity going on. Then, fighting her emotions, she looks at the humans, steeling herself, “Dust would want us too, trust me on this.”

This gets several nods from the assembled humans, along with several smiles, “Anything we can do to help.”

77: Families and Community

“I still can’t believe how fast this place has been built up.” Kira says, crossing her forelegs on the warm rocks.

Strepe giggles, “It’s because for the first time in a long time, many of them feel safe. In some ways the change has given us freedom. The thestrals are even starting to fly out looking for things we can use now.”

“I know. I’ve seen them. Some government though, USA, South Africa, someone, still has their drones flying around.” Looking up, she sighs, “They keep watching us and I don’t know why, and I don’t think they’d be happy if I ate them.”

“Look! They’re putting up the new windmill for power.” Strepe calls out, looking down at the valley.

Tilting her head, Kira watches as the ponies work to erect a third windmill. It will give them energy for a variety of different uses. They can now grind flour, run water pumps, and even have lights. They even have started a clinic, the beginnings of a hospital and school. It isn’t that bad for a community of nearly four hundred refugees from another world.

Blinking, Kira lifts her head, watching the third tower starting to wobble, “Wait here, Strepe.”

Spreading her huge wings, she leaps off the cliff and dives down. Dragons aren’t known for speed like ponies, but they are still fast enough in the air. Hitting the ground, she rears up and grabs the tower holding it to steady it.

Looking up in shock, several ponies freeze. The size of the dragon still scares many, but somehow, she has become their protector. Cheers start as a few ponies hug her legs.

Blinking, Kira shakes her head, “Thanks later, can you tie this down first?”

Several ponies laugh as they get to work securing cables and tightening the base. The tower will need to withstand big gusts of wind. With Kira’s help though, they soon get the tower secured safely.

Given her raw size, a new use for Kira has just been noticed. She can do industrial work like a crane, backhoe, or such. That is, if she wants to, but how does one convince a dragon to be a backhoe?

***

The convoy of trucks run down the road way. They have been brought together quickly and are all volunteers. The equipment is all owned by the company, but is assigned to this project. A large International Auger truck leads the pack, behind it, a truck with a trailer carries the backhoe, another truck and trailer carries the boom lift. A cherry picker follows behind, and finally, the big box van used as a cargo carrier brings up the rear. A couple of regular service trucks also follow all of the equipment.

There are nearly a dozen volunteers. What was originally supposed to be a small project is looking like a major program now. It’s something though. Something to get their minds off what is going on. Something to help out. Something that might make a difference now, or later on.

Pulling off the dirt road, the convoy stops. The workers get out of the vehicles and gather in a semi-circle. Looking at the assembled crew, the team leader takes a breath. “Folks, I know this isn’t our normal job. Dust has been missing for a while now.”

Everyone lowers their heads, murmuring.

“We aren’t just here for some foals. We are here for Dust, for his friends, family and all the ponies. We are not making something that will fall apart in a year or two. This is something we want to be there for years. This is something we want to be safe for the foals.” Looking up at the tree he chuckles, “So let’s build them a club house that Dust would be proud of.”

Nodding the crew spread out and begin to work, they figure they can have the tree house built in a few days. They have the plans and materials. Lightning Electric’s design-build team has been working overtime for a few days to get all of that ready, and now they will be doing the building. The foals would have a safe place to play.

***

“Are you awake?”

“I’m flying, of course I’m awake.” Streams says over the coms.

“It’s hard to tell sometimes, you don’t talk a lot, and you can fly forever.” Drizzle laughs.

“Are you on a cloud Drizzle?” Streams asks as she weaves back and forth across the sky.

Streams hears a few puff sounds and quick flapping, “Nope, no clouds here.”

“Drizzle, you can rest on a cloud. We are doing lookout for the pegasus, you can rest as long as you’re watching.” Streams giggles back.

“Oh now you tell me.” Drizzle huffs.

“Just grab another one, we can’t do anything until she crosses the border.” Streams says.

“So how are you taking to being pregnant?” Drizzle asks, changing the subject.

“It’s, different, you don’t notice it much at times.” Fleetfoot calls out, “Other times you’re painfully aware of it.”

“There aren’t that many pregnant mares on Earth, are you sure you should be flying?” Streams asks.

“Oh piss off, I’m fine flying. Come on, Velvet’s pregnant and she’s still casting spells.” Fleetfoot says, “I’m not giving up flying.”

“Would you give up flying if you were pregnant, Drizzle?” Streams asks as she scans the ground, looking for signs of their target.

“First, I’m not the strongest flyer to begin with, so I’d just fly slower. Second, I don’t think I want to get pregnant, seriously the idea of letting some stallion…” Drizzle says with an audible shudder.

“You were a girl before the change right?” Fleet asks.

An audible huff comes over the coms again, “Yeah, what’s that got to do with anything?”

“Fillyfooler?” Streams asks.

“Fillyfooler.” Fleetfoot agrees with a giggle.

Drizzle grumbles over the coms, “Whatever happened to don’t, ask don’t tell?”

Streams flies under Drizzle, doing a roll to be on her back and sticks her tongue out at the other mare. “BFF’s don’t count.”

Reaching down, Drizzle poked Jetstreams belly, “It’s time.”

“Oh? Time for what?” Streams says with a giggle.

“Time to get to work, there she is.” Drizzle says and points.

Flipping over, Streams looks down, “All ponies, all ponies, I’ve spotted the pizza van! Its om nom nom time!”

With a nod, the pegasi break formation and spread out to start tracking the pegasus mule.

***

Eric looks at her nose. Well, at her muzzle at least. Her nostrils flare a few times as she huffs. She isn’t in a good mood. Her ear is twitching with in time with the clock on the wall, giving it a weird tick. Her tail is clamped tight to her side over her cutie mark.

“What?”

“What, what? I’m here for you.” Eric says with a chuckle.

“You’re lying in front of me and not saying anything.” Ballad grumbles, “I have no idea where to begin or what to do.”

“Well the Cutie Mark Crusader approach won’t work for you. You already have your mark, what you need is to remember what it was for to jog your memory somehow.” he says softly.

“I know, so what am I supposed to do?” She huffs.

“What you’ve been avoiding. You’ve been ignoring your past, at times even trying to forget it. Just like Sugarberry. Cipher… umm… I’m not so sure about.” Eric said.

“But…” Ballad sits up, looking at Eric.

Pushing himself up, Eric wraps his arms around Ballad, pulling her into his lap somewhat. “But nothing. Most of Velvet’s memories came back during fights, she would remember when she was in a similar situation in Equestria. Blaze would remember when he was flying and when he taught his daughter or other students something just like that.”

Ballad blinks a few times. Then closes her eyes, “What if my life isn’t or wasn’t worth remembering? What if…” Looking back at Eric with tears in her eyes, “What if I was some kind of bad pony… Or a mother and I abandoned my foals…”

Eric shakes his head and hugs her, gently brushing her mane with his hand. “Oh Ballad, you could never have, never be. Yes you might have family, in Equestria. But not knowing could hurt you more in the long run. You’ve been following military routines so long, that you haven’t had the chance to be a pony. That’s what this is about.”

“But what if I had a foal and she’s lost somewhere?” Ballad says, whimpering.

Eric sighs and shakes his head, “Then we will find them. You and I together, we will search the world over. But you won’t know if you don’t remember.”

Ballad closes her eyes with a shiver.

“But you won’t remember if you fight it. Look at Velvet, she had a husband, a family in her past. She remembers it, but still choses Blaze. You need to remember it and reconcile it, but you don’t have to follow it if you don’t want to.”

“Okay, what should I do?” Ballad says softly, looking up at Eric.

“I’m not a doctor, psychologist, or unicorn, we could see about getting help, maybe from Moony. Or we could try on our own.” Eric says, looking around his room he is renting.

“Who’s Moony?”

“She helped Fleetfoot with some trouble, a few months ago. She can apparently go into minds or something. And bring others with her.”

“I don’t know if I’d trust somepony poking around my mind.” Ballad whimpers.

“Then you don’t have to. I’ll be here for you.” Eric says and chuckles softly. Gently, he strokes her cheek and leans down, kissing her horn tip. “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head.”

Closing her eyes a bit, Ballad sighs softly.

“Hush now quiet now it’s time to go to bed.” He continues hugging her neck softly.

“Oh wait, I know this one!” Ballad perks, her ears going straight up. Giggling she puts on her best Sweetie Belle voice, “Hush Now! Quiet Now!”

Laughing softly Eric covers his ears and shaking his head.

***

Rolling sideways Fire Streak goes in first, throwing tear gas grenades into the windows. The shattering of the glass and the hiss of the canisters as they start spraying their contents is the first warning anyone has of trouble.

Looking back over his shoulder, he sees Wind diving in, laying her canisters on the street in front of the building. A moment later, the other team is covering the windows and doors from the opposite building. There is a certain advantage about being able to silently take the high ground.

It takes only moments for the pegasi to secure the outside, but that is only the first step. Now the dangerous part comes, going inside. They know from footage there is at least three people inside but they don’t know how much fight they have in them.

“Since when did the Air Force become Marines?” Wind shouts as she smashes through the window and slides sideways across the floor into the room. Shots from an M-16 ring out behind her, stitching across the room as she powers her way behind cover.

“When they put Velvet on maternity leave and we volunteered.” Fire says as he comes through the window a few seconds later, firing on the gunman. The 5.7mm AP rounds impact and penetrate across the gunman’s vest, just below the FEDA logo.

“Are these guys police?” Wind asks. Standing up, she starts firing at the second gunman as he tries to bring his M-16 to bear on Fire.

“No, most of them seem to use US equipment though. Likely they looted it from a police station.” Comes over the coms from Goldie. “You know,” She huffs, “being an earth pony really sucks sometimes, I can’t really help on missions like this.”

“I know you do Goldie.” Fire Streak growls as he takes a hit on his armor. He turns, firing at another gang member. “Okay, that’s the last of them.”

“I got the foal here! Damn it.” Wind calls out.

Looking over, Fire blinks and sighs. “We have a problem, Patches isn’t a Pegasus.”

Fire and Wind blink, looking at the little cream colored earth pony with pink mane and tail. She isn’t a foal, but she isn’t full grown either. Just large enough to make flying inconvenient.

“Well at least things can’t get any worse,” Wind says with a weak smile, “Let get her out of here and…”

The concussion of the explosion throws the three ponies to the ground, Fire covering the teenager with his body. Shaking his head, he blinks, trying to get his bearings as plaster falls from the ceiling. Smoke and dust fills the room as Wind groans.

“A tank?!!?” Came over the coms, “guys get out of there, they have a freakin’ tank.”

Lifting herself up, Wind pokes her head out the window. It isn’t an actual tank, but it is a problem none the less. It looks more like an armored car or some kind of cobbled together APC. It’s some kind of small truck that has large slabs of steel plates welded to its top and sides. Its windows are covered with armor plates, metal leaving only metal slits to see out, behind the armored glass. Gun ports had been added to its sides. On top, it has a turret with a heavy machine gun of some sort, and a 40mm grenade launcher, which is slowly turning in Wind’s direction.

“INCOMING!” Wind yells as she dives back from the window.

The heavy machine gun opens up as does the grenade launcher, more than enough firepower to kill anyone in the room. More than enough fire power to remove the walls on that side of the building. The two pegasi simply don’t have the firepower or armor to deal with this.

***

Laying down, I push my cheek tight to Cookies, giving her a soft nuzzle. Almost instantly her ears perk and her tail gives a little wiggle. Giggling softly, I keep my cheek against hers, “Hi Cookie.”

“Hi Velvet, what horn melting torture do you have for me today?” Cookie says as she leans against me and snuggles tighter.

Giggling softly, I shake my head, “Oh come on, we are the United States Of America, the US Army, we do not torture.”

Nodding her head, Cookie smiles, “Right… Enhanced teaching techniques then.”

“Nope, shouldn’t be anything like that, I thought I’d let you pick today.” I say, smiling.

“Me? pick?” Perking her ears and lifting her head she starts wagging her tail.

Lighting my horn, I pull over a hat filled with scraps of paper, “Yep, just reach in with your magic and choose.”

Blinking, she shrugs, “Ok so I choose my own death, great.”

“What? There’s some fun stuff in there, like watching movies.” Shaking the hat, I smile, “Come on, choose. Choose the form of the destroyer.”

Rolling her eyes Cookie lights her horn and grabs a piece of paper. Floating it over to her, she opens it and starts reading.

“Yeah, each of the girls can pull out a paper to choose their…” I blink, watching Cookie.

Dropping the paper cookie is backpedaling away from the scrap looking at it with horror. “No… no, no, no, no, no!”

“Oh come on, how bad could it be.” I say, lifting the paper.

Shivering, Cookie tucks her tail between her legs. Her ears droop to the sides as she looks at me pitifully, “Oh God no. Please no.”

Looking at the paper I cringe, “Ugh, I know some of the other unicorns would have loved this but...”

Cookie shakes her head no vigorously, backing up more and arching her back, almost looking like a scared cat.

Sighing I stand up, “It’s ok, you don’t have to, I understand something like this might be terrifying.”

“I… I…” Cookie stammers, looking at her forelegs.

“I know, trust me, I know big time. I know I’m going to have to put my hoof down and do it someday too but I’m still not that…” I sigh shaking my head.

“I’ll do it…” Cookie says, gulping, “I won’t back down from any challenge.”

“You can pick another.” I say, offering the hat.

Shaking her head, Cookie stays backed in the corner, “I said I’ll do it.”

Blinking I look at her, shocked. “But…”

“I can’t neigh say something like this and expect others to do other things.” Sighing softly, she turns, walking with her head held low.

“I’ll join you so you’re not alone.” I say and sigh, giving her a gentle nuzzle. Walking out with her I have this feeling I’m walking off to my doom as well. I swear, Ah-Pee put that one in there just to be mean.

***

The Mark 19 grenade launcher can fire up to three hundred fifty rounds per minute, that’s about five per second. The vehicle has been built with a turret to carry this weapon, often used by the Mexican military to supress or kill groups of insurgents. The gangs, though, had raided police stations and bases over the years, acquiring such things for themselves.

As the grenade enters the room the first solid surface it comes into contact with causes the nose to compress and the grenade to explode. While not truly a fragmentation warhead, fragments of the casing still fly out, causing lethal injuries. The killer though, is the overpressure wave, which expands in all directions from the point of impact. The wave shatters glass, and causes internal injuries. Even one or two of these grenades will clear a room.

It isn’t just two though, more like ten. A full two second burst with rounds exploding every two tenths of a second. The sound is deafening, the flashes of light followed by the pressure waves fill the air with smoke. Pieces of plaster fall from the ceiling and dust billows out from the windows and hole.

Then it is silent. The dust and smoke slowly clear. The only light is a violet, almost pinkish glow that fills the room. The glow forms a dome over Fire, Wind and Patches, protecting them from the blasts and falling ceiling. The glow had absorbed some of the blast, redirecting or deflecting the rest of it. The glow matches the color of Fleur’s eyes, as well as the glow around her horn.

Walking forward, Fleur looks down at the vehicle. The turret starts to turn towards her, but it isn’t fast enough. Its traverse rate couldn’t bring it to bear before Fleur fires.

Fleur is still learning her magic, she is still learning to control her power. She can’t muster up the energy for massive blasts like Velvet has done, but what she can do is very tight and powerful energy lances. They are narrow but very powerful shots of magically created heat that punches through the top armor of the tank.

Like a fencer, she lunges with her magic, punching hole after hole along the top of the tank. Setting fires inside, piercing crew, and causing structural damage. It takes a few shots before the vehicle explodes in a fireball as once of the lances cuts through the ammunition storage bins.

“Good girl. How are you holding out?” Tony asks with concern in his voice.

“Scared, annoyed, a little tired.” Fleur says, backing up from the window and looking at Fire.

Fire blinks, “I’d hug you, but we have to get Patches out of here.”

“Take her and go. I’ll cover you, then wink back to the boat.” Fleur says as she digs her hooves in, looking at the street. Her horn starts glowing and she puts up a shield again.

“Wink?” Wind blinks, looking at Fire.

“It’s what we call teleporting, or some of us do. Especially young foals who can’t say our word so they use something that translates to winking. We wink out of reality in one spot, and wink back in at another.” Fleur says, “Ok, the shield’s up, go for it.”

“Our word?” Goldie blinks and looks at Tony.

Covering his mic, Tony blinks, “The ponies native language. Fleur learned some of it and it brought back memories of it from Velvet.”

Goldie grumbles, flattening her ears and thrashing her tail a bit, snorting. “That’s BS.”

“Huh?” Anthony blinks, looking at Goldie.

“Fleur gets special training that includes learning her native language. Pegasi get special flight training, but they expect us Earth Ponies to figure things out ourselves. Not fair! Where was my chance to learn the Pony language?” Goldie thumps a foreleg on the ground a few times and grumbles.

“NOT the time you two.” Fleur says into the coms and waits until the pegasi make it high enough to avoid ground fire.

“No love for us Earth ponies.” She says with a huff, grumbling.

Winking out, Fleur appears back on the speed boat that is anchored just of the coast, “Okay, fine. I’ll talk to HR see about getting you sent to Velvet for unicorn training too.”

Well speed boat isn’t the word for it… They are on a budget, after all. Appearing on the pilot house roof, she turns and lights her horn to start pulling up the anchor as quickly as possible. Even though she is exhausted and woozy, she has to work fast.

Hopping off the roof, she lands in the back of the boat and trots inside. It’s only a twenty-four foot long boat, but the pilot house is still large enough for people to walk around inside. The motor is an outboard, but it isn’t a pull start luckily, a key starts it from the helm.

There wasn’t a bathroom or head on board, there isn’t anything fancy like a stove, fridge, or even water taps. She had come prepared though. She has a cooler filled with sugary treats, oats, grains, and even P-Rations. She has a pair of water coolers, one filled with water, the other is loaded down with Gator Aid. Sitting down with one hoof on the wheel, she used her magic to bring over a large glass of the orange drink.

It will take her over an hour to get back to the rental agency in San Diego and she doesn’t want to pass out. While there is more than enough room for her to move around, the seats are not pony friendly. Worst of all the boat doesn’t have an autopilot, so the best she can do is sit on the floor with one hoof on the wheel. This lets her just barely see out the windows.

“Goldie?” She says softly over the headset. It is tied into the cellphones rather than radio, she might be roaming right now, but she just needs to talk.

“Are you ok? You really do sound tired.” Goldie says.

“Trying to stay awake and drive.” Fleur said.

Goldie giggled, “You mean pilot.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about being huffy before. I know you didn’t get a formal education like I did.” Fleur says.

“It’s not your fault, and I wasn’t offered one. I got the video on hoof care and such but…”

“But there isn’t a flight school or unicorn boot camp type thing for earth ponies. Not past Velvets videos.” Fleur says with a sigh.

“I don’t know, it’s not like we all need training bucking, runnin’ er liften things.” Goldie says over the coms.

Giggling softly, Fleur sighed, “You’re doing that voice again.”

“Voice?” Goldie almost sounds meek at that.

“The southern accent, you drift into it sometimes when you’re not thinking. It might be your normal accent.” Giggling softly, Fleur shakes her head, “It’s an Apple Family thing. Ah-Pee does it to though she’s from New Mexico normally…so.”

“Oh I hope not, I don’t wanna walk around the office sounding like Applejack.” Goldie says worriedly.

Fleur eats some more and relaxes. “You won’t. So how the capture team doing?”

***

“I got her, going up fifth.” Drizzle calls out over the coms, flying as fast as she can.

Banking hard and shooting down the street, Fleetfoot replies, “I’ll try and stop her at Spruce. Streams, swing around to Washington and come down to take her head on, if we can’t stop her we’ll corral her into the zoo.”

“Yes ma’am,” Streams calls out as she turns and dives to pick up speed. Banking hard, she reaches out with her forelegs to absorb some of the shock as she makes contact with the side of a hospital. Her front legs and hind legs compress, then kick out as she redirects her flight down 5th street, leaving four hoof prints in the white stone wall around the 8th floor. Starting her run down 5th she begins braking hard so as not to overshoot, or worse, crash into the other pegasus.

Ahead of Streams, she sees Fleetfoot yelling at the mare to stop. Pink Hearts is in tears, seeing Fleet and Jetstream, she turns down the street heading towards the zoo. She isn’t flying very high, just above the trucks and busses as she flaps as hard as she can. Tears streaming from her face as she cries.

Diving down, Drizzle pulled up beside her panting hard, “Stop… please… we’ve freed Patches!”

“You’re lying.” Pink Hearts cries, but she does slow down, landing on the ground. She’s crying and panting hard.

Streams lands beside Drizzle, putting a wing over her, “We aren’t lying. Some friends of ours broke her out of where they were holding her. If you keep going to the drop off point, they will kill you.”

“I’m Fleetfoot, this is Streams, and that’s Drizzle. Our friends rescued your sister.” Spreading her wings a bit, Fleetfoot swishes her tail as she works her cellphone. After a moment she pulls up a picture of Fire and Wind carrying Patches. “There, one of my friends took the picture, she’s safe, she has four pegasi carrying her to the USA.”

“But…” Pink Hearts looks back and forth, “We aren’t American.”

“I have a friend, we are getting you and Patches declared refugees. It’s not safe for you to be in Mexico due to your species and lack of protection.” Fleetfoot says, smiling.

Wiping tears from her eyes, “Where will we go? How will we live?”

“There are lots of ponies in the USA, we can put you up with one of the groups, than you can choose to stay in on Earth or return to Equestria in two years.” Drizzle says, “We will help you.”

“I’m… not…” Closing her eyes, the young pegasus collapses to the ground, unconscious.

***

Looking up at the building I gulp. I really don’t want to do this, and I was hoping the town didn’t have one, but just our luck. They do, and it doesn’t seem that busy right now, but given most of the ponies grew up as humans, it’s likely a big business.

Looking at the doors my hooves just don’t want to work well. They want to stay, to avoid this place, to go anywhere but inside. Glancing at Cookie, I sigh, “Ready.”

“Nope, no way, not in the slightest bit ready.” She says, trembling a bit as well.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door for Cookie and smile, “Well let’s go in.”

Stepping inside I looked around in horror, it’s worse than I had ever imagined. The ponies here have been busy, apparently. The items of torture are displayed, hung on racks for all to see, laid out on tables, and even displayed on the floor.

Gulping softly, I look at the pony working here. She’s an adult, though a little rounder than most, her height is about the same as Cookie’s and mine. Her body color is an orchid pink, with her mane and tail being greyish violet. Her cutie mark shows her talent in this mode of torment, an expert who takes pride in her work.

I recognize her from the show, but I can’t remember her name. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or bad though. Looking back at Cookie, her eyes are wide as she looks at one of the shelves. Moving over, I whispered softly, “I know… breathe and relax, it can’t be as bad as it looks.”

“Hello and welcome too Counter Couture,” The pink mare says, looking up at us, “Forefront of equine fashion, found here on Earth!”

“It’s worse, its much, much worse.” Cookie says, looking for the door.

Blinking, I look over at Cookie, “It’s okay, we can go.”

“I… I know you.” The clerk says slowly, stepping forward and looking at Cookie.

Gulping, Cookie nods, “I… I mean maybe from the episode I was in?”

Shaking her head slowly, the clerk blinks. “No I… I remember you from my dreams.”

“This is Cookie Crisp, she’s from Canterlot. She was one of Rarity’s customers in the new store she opened there. That means she’s likely Canterlot Elite, or at least had enough money to shop at Rarity’s given the prices there early on.” I say softly.

“You… changed just recently? A… A few weeks ago?” The pony says softly, her voice trembling a bit.

Cookie nodded, “On my birthday, yes.”

“Me to, you were behind me, trying to buy some time for me and another earth pony to get away. We were being chased by…” The pony shakes her head slowly.

“By Discord, I thought I could distract him and delay him enough for you and… and…” Cookie closes her eyes and shakes her head.

“Shine…” The other pony says.

“Yes, Coral Shine, you two ran for the bridge. You were going to try and get under it to hide. Suri?” Cookie shakes her head and looks at me, “What’s happening?”

“Some of your memories are coming back. From just before you were cursed.” I say, nuzzling them.

“That would mean Coral Shine likely changed at the same time as us.” Cookie says softly. “I was born in New York, but changed overseas. I went Marines.”

“Nebraska, I ended up working in a factory, making assembly line saddles.” Lowering her head, she sighs, “I know how Rarity felt, day after day, making the same thing, no creativity. I even got told I shouldn’t try and embellish anything cuz the riders didn’t want it and the horses just didn’t care.”

“Well you showed them, ponies need clothing now. And we do care about style and fashion. At least some do.” I say, giggling.

“Well what brings you into my shop?” Suri asks, her ears perked high as she smiles brightly.

Cookie grumbled, “Umm, evil challenge tests, I’m in unicorn boot camp. I’m supposed to dress up like a mare on the show.”

Blinking, I tilt my head, “Wedding dresses?”

“Oh sure, ponies are getting married or remarried, I figured I’d make a few.” Suri says.

“Yeah, no, for my wedding I think I’m just going to wear my army mess uniform or dress uniform if they don’t have a mess for ponies.” I say shaking my head, then I blink. Both Suri and Cookie are looking at me, Suri has a smile slowly spreading across her face. “Umm, what did I say?”

“You’re getting married?” Cookie says, her tail starting to sway.

Nodding slowly I blink. “To Blaze, yes.”

“No mess uniform for you. For the first pony marriage on Earth, first marriage in this town we are trying to build here, you’re getting a special dress.” Suri says, her own tail starting to wag. “Oh this is going to be so much fun.”

“I’m so regretting this.” I say with a gulp, “The horror, the horror.”

78: Harmony's Chord

“Wow, does it ever get dark around here fast!” I say as I look around. The stars can already be seen in the sky and the moon is already up, though it’s only a sliver of silver in the night sky.

Sugarberry laughs, “Yeah, that’s rural areas for you. No big cities nearby, so there is not a lot of light pollution.”

“Besides, you must really love this time of the day Velvet.” Cipher says as she pogo hops up beside me.

Blinking, I tilt my head, one ear twitches as I look at Cipher, “Umm…. Why?”

“Because it’s… Twilight! Duh.” Cipher shouts and quickly stops so she drops back out of hoof range.

Ballad just groans, “Cipher, you are not Pinky Pie, you don’t get to get away with jokes like that.”

“Hey, if I was allowed to stop for another coffee, jokes like that wouldn’t happen.” Cipher huffs.

“Well if it’s too dark you can always be our light, Twilight.” Ah-Pee giggles.

Looking back, I just smile at the girls. I just can’t help myself. I lift my head and I start singing as we trot down the lane towards our house, “Just before the dawn, when the light is still gone, shine, shine your way.” Lighting my horn, I let the hornshine fill the air.

Looking up, Ballad smiles brightly and joins in, “And you may not know, where to go… shine, shine your way.” Her voice fills the air, adding counterpoint to mine. Her magic fills the air as her horn starts to glow as well.

Cipher looks at Sugarberry with a smile and leans against her. The two unicorns giggle and harmonize, “The open road but it is still dark, Light your horn feeling the spark, and shine, shine your way.” They sing as their horns join the light.

Looking at each other, Candy and Cloudy lean against Feather from either side. All three of the foals call out cheerfully, “Feed the feeling in your heart, don't conceal it then you start, to shine, shine your way.” Crossing their horns, the twins are able to manage a faint glow at the horn tips.

Soon lights from unicorn horns from around the community fill the air, as the song goes on. The hornshine, the glow from all the horns, fill the entire community with a rainbow of magical energy and color. It’s aura helps lifting the hearts of everyone hearing it.

In the old farmstead, on the land that the community is being built on, Moon Shadow looks out the window of the barn. She can feel the energy in the air. Opening the window, she hears the music. Looking back at Mindy she lights her horn.

Mindy follows suit and looked down at the tan pony laying down in the hay, her white lightning bolt and stars cutie mark visible in the dark, “We’re here for you Dust. To shine, shine your way.”

*** Pacific Ocean ***

Checking his straps, the gunner gives them a quick tug before leaning back against them. Pulling back on the handle, he charges the .50 cal and adjusts his goggles, keeping a wary eye on the boat they are heading for.

The 45-foot coast guard boat bounces through the waves, they had picked up the fishing boat coming in out of Mexican waters about twenty minutes before on radar, and began their run after it. Small fishing boats are often used in attempts to smuggle drugs or weapons.

“Captain, have I told you recently how much I hate you.” Jenny says, hanging on to the rails with both hands.

“This is sea state two, this is nothing girl. Who ever heard of a Coast Guard Investigative Officer that doesn’t like the sea.” Captain Harris laughs.

“I joined to solve crimes at port, not at sea.” She says and looks out at the boat they are closing on. “Drug runners?”

“It’s American flagged, but coming from Mexican waters.” The Captain Harris says, “We can’t see the driver, which has us curious.”

“So what’s the plan?” Jenny says stretching out.

“Board it for inspection, of course.” The Captain chuckles.

Jenny leans forward a bit, squinting, “How close do you get before ordering it to stop?”

“Well let’s put it this way, well within firing range. If its drug traffickers, sometimes they try and fight. So if they start shooting, duck.” The Captain says, chuckling as he hits the challenge horn. “Wave Chaser III this is the United States Coast Guard! Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded.”

Covering her ears Jenny groans, “Warn me next time.”

“We’ve got movement.” The lookout calls from his terminal. The gyro stabilized camera is mounted high on the mast. It lets the lookout sit safely in the bridge and yet still see beyond the horizon. In this case though, the camera is high enough that it can see over the sides of the motor yacht. It can look down somewhat into the cabin and bridge.

“How many people do you see onboard?” The captain asks looking over.

“One that I can… They are cutting engines…” The lookout says.

From his console the radar operator looks up, “Yep, she’s slowing down.”

“GUN!” The call comes from the lookout station, which throws the crew into high alert.

Quickly the gunner trains his .50 on the cabin, ready to return fire. At the same time the helmsman turns the boat to narrow the target profile and give the gunner an easier time to shoot. Picking up his binoculars Captain Harris looks at the fishing boat.

“NO WAIT! Captain, that’s not a gun!” Jenny calls out in surprise as she looks at the monitor.

Blinking and confused, the lookout glances up at Jenny, “Well, it’s not a fishing rod.”

“Nope, it’s not. It’s a horn. A unicorn’s horn.” Looking over at the Captain, Jenny giggles, “Let them know we know they are Equestrian and to step out on deck, that is likely to defuse this.”

“A… oh…” Captain Harris grabs the microphone and cues it, “Wave Runner III, this is the U.S. Coast Guard. We are not hostile and know you are from Equestria. We still require you to cut your engines and step out on deck for boarding."

“Eww.” Jenny giggles, seeing the unicorn climb out of the cabin and dangle her forelegs and head over the side of the boat, “Looks like she lost her lunch.”

“How do you know it’s a she?” Captain Harris asks.

“Head shape for starts, mane style and colors are a giveaway though. Poor thing doesn’t have her sea legs.” Jenny continues, “I suggest gravol with the boarding party.”

“You’re not much better missy.” Captain Harris laughs as they pull up beside the motor yacht.

Two coast guardsmen hop from boat to boat, landing on the foredeck of the motor yacht. Quickly, one secures a line to the bow so it can be towed if needed. The second Guardsman makes his way back, putting a hand on the withers of the sick pony.

“Ugh, it wasn’t this choppy coming down. Why can’t they make these boats pony friendly?” Fleur says, whimpering.

“Is there anyone else on board?” The Guardsman asks.

Sitting down, Fleur keeps her forelegs hooked on the rail, “No.” She gulps, “It’s just me. I swear I think my coat’s turning green.”

Chuckling softly, the guardsman clicks his radio. “Only one unicorn onboard, and she’s not feeling well.”

“Special agent Fleur, CID.” Drooping her head over the edge of the boat she huffs, “Trying to replenish my calories and fluids, and I’m puking them all over the sea.”

“CID?” The guardsman blinks, looking at the sick mare.

“Army Criminal Investigation Command, my badge is in the cabin on the…” Falling on her side Fleur moans, “I feel like I ate a batch of Pinkies Strawberry Cinnamon Cilantro Cupcakes.”

“I’m not going to ask. Captain, she’s a government agent. The boat looks pretty clean except for a bucket by the helm.” The guardsman says into his mic.

“I’ll send Jenny over with you, she needs practice with ponies.” The captain says, smiling evilly.

“Oh right, how am I supposed to get across.” Jenny huffs.

“Like the other guardsman did, you jump. You need practice on this, especially if you’re expected to become an agent afloat.”

Grumbling softly, Jenny walks out of the cabin and grabs hold of the rail at the bow. It’s only a couple of feet separating the two. All she has to do is wait for the bow to rise with the next wave and jump, as the bow starts dropping she’d be able to catch the rails of the other boat and climb over. Easy.

Easy. She’d never actually done this; she’d seen it done. She just saw two guardsmen do it a few minutes ago. Taking a deep breath, she steps over the rail and jumps. It’s less than 3 feet of separation between the boats, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

As her feet hit the deck, they slide on the aluminum, unable to find solid grip on the foredeck. With a loud scream she tries to get a grip on the rails but it’s to late. She’s in the air. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes tight expecting to hit the water. She hears the captain shout out, she hears the guardsmen running along the deck.

She doesn’t, however, hear a splash. Nor does she actually feel any water. Though she does feel like she is floating. Slowly opening her eyes, she sees the pinkish aura around her, holding her and moving her over to the deck.

Looking to her side, Fleur’s horn is lit, matching the aura around her. The poor unicorn still looks so sea sick but isn’t letting her go and still has enough focus and concentration to bring her aboard.

With a weak smile, Fleur sits her down on the deck, “It’s okay Sea Swirl, I gotcha. Oh Celestia.” Leaning over the deck the poor pony throws up again.

***

“Look, she broke the law. She was smuggling drugs into the USA. Not ounces but pounds. Each load was probably worth quarter million dollars.”

Fleetfoot slams her hoof down on the ground. “She was forced to; they were holding her sister hostage.”

The DEA officer grumbles as he leans back in the chair, his office is fairly sparse, though likely this is just a meeting office rather than his personal space. “Her sister, yeah, any idea how she escaped?”

“Look, we turned over the drugs, we gave you the location of the drop offs. Descriptions of the drug dealers.” Fleetfoot snorts. “I’m a government agent as well. Can’t you just turn her over to us.”

Huffing, the DEA agent shakes his head, “You’re a colorful child’s toy. You’re not even human.”

Fleetfoot blinks in shock, “I was a human, and we’ve been given rights.”

“Yet you want special treatment for her?” The agent shakes his head.

“Yes, because she was forced to do this. She was taken prisoner, tortured, her sister held hostage.” Fleetfoot snorted with anger, her tail thrashing. Flaring her wings, “If she was human she’d be remanded to my custody.”

“She’s not, and you’re not. I’ll check with director though see if he is willing to make a deal, pegasi are the very definition of flight risk.” Turning, the officer walks out.

Pacing back and forth, Fleetfoot looks at her wings, even her feathers are puffed in frustration. “Ugh, I’m not made for this, why can’t another pony be here?”

A tap at the office door causes Fleetfoot to jump. Turning towards the door, she blinks, “Um, just us pony types in here.”

Opening the door an Air Force captain walks in, chuckling, “Well then, it looks like I have the right room.”

Fleetfoot quickly stands at attention, blinking. “Sorry sir.”

“Relax, I’m Captain Griffin with the Air Force JAG office.” He says, taking a seat.

Blinking Fleetfoot sits back on her haunches, trying to fight a giggle trying to rise. She clears her throat, “Captain Griffin?”

“Trust me, that’s my real last name, and no I never thought anything of it until ponies and griffins started showing up.” He chuckles. “And yes, I’m older than 25. So I’m not going to change into one.”

“Sorry sir, just, the irony of that name.” Fleetfoot finds herself smiling, “So what brings you here?”

“I got a call from one Golden Ginger, she asked me to stop by and offer my assistance as a legal council.” The captain says.

“Goldie? Oh I love you Goldie!” Fleetfoot says, pouncing the captain and hugging him.

Leaning back against the wall to brace against the weight, the captain laughs. “Woah there nelly.”

Blinking, Fleetfoot backs off quickly, again sitting on her haunches, curling her tail over her cutie mark. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I know ponies tend to be more social than humans… or griffins.” Smiling, he shakes his head, “I’m going to meet with the director and DEA agents involved in this. I’m aware that she was forced to do this and has helped and complied with the investigation. Trust me, we’ll have her back with her sister in no time.”

“Yes sir, thank you, sir.” Fleetfoot says, nodding vigorously.

“Don’t thank me, thank Golden Ginger.” He says smiling as he turns and heads out.

*** Hill AFB, Utah ***

Hill Air Force Base isn’t a bad place. Single runway with hills on one side. It isn’t a hard airstrip to land on. It is home though to the 388th Air Maintenance Squadron. They handle the repair of F-16s, A-10s and various transport aircraft.

Transport aircraft, the Gulfstream 650 ER isn’t actually a transport aircraft, but it is listed as one. A luxury high speed transport, with the range to fly half way around the world on one tank. The Air Force has acquired several of them as VIP Transport. Two of them had been re-tasked to fly ponies around. It is easier than trying to book them on civilian airlines and their larger seating area allows for ponies to sit or lay properly and still be strapped in. They are affectionately named…

“Hill Air Force, this is Pony Air-Two. On ILS approach, any traffic I need to worry about?” Lieutenant Sanders says cheerfully. He has been flying almost non stop on ferry missions, and Pony Air Two needs its service check.

Nothing critical is wrong with the plane, its septic tanks need to be pumped out, its water tanks needed to be refilled. There is a burned out light in the cabin, and the engines are taking almost a full second longer than normal to reach full power. It would probably take twenty-four hours for them to overhaul everything. The first rest he’d really have in days.

“Roger that Pony Air Two, no traffic, you are clear for ILS approach and welcome to Hill Air Force Base.”

Keying in the landing sequence the LT hums cheerfully, there are no passengers on this flight. It’s strictly a maintenance flight. “All you have to do is take a cup of flour! Add it to the mix!”

The auto throttle activates, cutting engine power as the jet follows its glide slope. Small adjustments keep the plane lined up with the center of the runway.

“I told you, no singing.” The captain growls.

“Oh come on, there’s no ponies on board, its not like they are going to catch on and start a song and dance number in the cabin.” Sanders chuckles back.

“Again, you forgot to add the ‘again’ part.” The captain says, scanning the air space, “I’m not going to forget a plane full of singing ponies. EVER.”

“Runway in sight.” Sanders giggles.

“Altitude, 5000 feet.” The captain grumbles, “Flaps fifteen. Real food, a night in a real bed.”

“Wonder if there are any ponies here.” Sanders says with a snicker, “Maybe I can get them singing just for you.”

“2000 feet, do you have control?” The Captain glances at Sanders.

Smiling Sanders wiggles his fingers, “I have the stick, autopilot off.”

***

Blueberry had been flying for two weeks now. She had found a pair of foals on her way, and the three of them are making their way in short flight hops to Montana. They had heard of a safe place there. A place they could actually settle down in and live, as ponies. They aren’t humans anymore, after all.

They have done their best to avoid humans. Even going as far as eating from dumpsters. There is no one they could trust; they had already been shot at a few times. They don’t know if they were hunters, or just people trying to kill them because of what they are.

They had just finished some food from a shopping mall dumpster. There is an advantage to flight. They can get food and retreat up onto the top of the shopping center to eat it in safety. They had bagged what they could, the next jump is into the hills and mountains, and they aren’t likely to see another town for a day or two. She figures they are about four to six days out from their destination.

Looking back at the foals, she launches herself into the air and starts flying. None of them are speedsters or even really long haul flyers. Nodding to the foals, she turns to see the jet heading for her.

***

“Gear down and locked. I’m showing three green. Five hundred feet. Air speed is good.” The captain says, checking the instruments.

“SHIT!” Lieutenant Sanders has only seconds to respond as the pegasi appear right in his flight path and stop. He can’t pull up without stalling out.

“Go around power?” The captain calls.

“The engines won’t power up in time, cut all power now! We don’t want them sucked in the engines.” Sanders says and pushes the stick forward. The plane drops and noses under the group. The problem is their descent rate is now too high, he pulls back on the stick again as the nose wheel hits the ground first and collapses from the speed crushing the nose into the end of the runway.

As the plane skids along the runway the nose starts turning to the side, causing plane to begin to roll. The wings snap off as the plane tumbles and rolls on its side down the tarmac. Fuel sprays from the belly tank and ruptured wings, and is ignited by the friction.

The tower controller watches the fireball and slams his hand down on the alarm button. Picking up the phone he calls out to the fire and rescue teams. “Pony Air Two is down, I say again, Pony Air Two is down.”

***

Blueberry trembles seeing the crash and explosion. It had just missed her and the foals by a few feet. Flapping over, she quickly checks the foals to make sure they aren’t hurt. Doting over them both for a moment.

“Shouldn’t we see if they’re okay?” The filly asks, wide eyed.

The colt looks up nodding, “Yeah, that was kind of our fault.”

“They’re humans, they will lock us up in a cage or worse, just shoot us on sight, lets get going, quickly now!” She says, sticking her muzzle against their tails and pushing them towards the hills.

Flying as fast as they could, the pegasi head for the safety of the hills. The filly glancing back one last time, “I don’t feel right about leaving.”

“They are humans. They will deal with it themselves.” Blueberry says, “Hurry, please.”

***

“Pegasi.”

“Hmm?” Ambrosia looks up.

“If we were pegasi, we could just fly there.” Sunny Daze says, giggling.

Smiling softly, Full Steam shakes his head, “Daze, never be ashamed of your kind. We are Earth Ponies. We are the backbone, without us there wouldn’t be enough food for everypony. Unicorns have their magic, Pegasi have their flight.”

“So we just grow stuff?” Ambrosia says, propping her muzzle up with a forehoof. “And you’re remembering more?”

“I think a lot while I walk, things sort of come to me.” Full Steam says. "No, we don’t just grow stuff, we are strong, tough, but we are also resourceful and creative. Pegasi shape the clouds, unicorns use their magic to shape crystals. We use our strength to build, we build solid walls and houses with what the land gives us, rock, stone, wood.”

“Steel siding and old truck parts.” Sunny Daze says with a giggle, looking around.

“Yes even that. Some day you’ll remember what your magic is Sunny, but never be ashamed of being an Earth pony. Be proud of it.” Leaning over, Full Steam nuzzles her gently.

Smiling bright she looked over at Ambrosia as the young mare starts laying out dinner, tortillas, and a thick vegetable stew on a bed of rice. Ambrosia finds a way to make great meals out of what ever scraps they find.

“Thank you, but shouldn’t Full Steam get more?” Sunny Daze says, looking up.

Full Steam smiles, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got more than enough. You’re a growing foal, you need to remember that and eat like one. Otherwise you won’t get big and strong like Ambrosia.”

“Thanks daddy.” Sunny says with a smile.

Ambrosia laughs, “Don’t start, remember, we’re all 25 here.”

“Oh, does that mean I can go out exploring again without you worrying?” Sunny says, perking up, her ears rotating forward.

“Not until your 45.” Both Ambrosia and Full Steam say in stereo.

Crossing her forelegs, she lays her muzzle on them and pouts, “So not fair.”

***

“Oh my god it was horrible!” I say hugging Blaze tight.

Blinking, Blaze spreads his wings wide looking down, “What was.”

“We went shopping, and they made me put on a dress.” I say, shuddering.

Blaze blinks a few times then falls on his back, laughing, “You, in a dress!”

“Tell me about it. With frills and fluff and ugh…” I say sighing and smacking Blaze with a foreleg once. “Seriously dress uniform is one thing, but that… that was…”

“Oh… Tell me they got pictures…” Blaze says, gasping between laughs.

Shaking my head, I let out a soft sigh, “No, thank Celestia. They are insistent though that I wear it.”

“Oh for what?” Blaze says, fighting for breath.

“Our wedding.” I say and flop down. “I just wanted a small informal thing with our family here. Now they want it to be a big event.”

Blaze coughs a few times sitting up, “The wedding, oh yeah.”

“You’re not having second thoughts now are you?” I say, blinking looking at my belly.

“NEVER!” Blaze wraps his wings around me as tight as he can, hugging me. “I made a mistake once, I didn’t trust my heart and you ended up with somepony else. Not again.”

“Awww, thank you, just. Still have trouble picturing myself wearing something fluffy like a wedding gown.” I say, smiling weakly.

Shaking his head, Blaze smiles, “Trust me, you will be beautiful, no mater what you wear.”

“Oh I see, so I’m not beautiful with just my fur?” I say, pouting.

Booping my nose with a hoof, he shakes his head, no. “Now I didn’t say that in the slightest. You’re my mate, my love. You are beautiful inside and out. With our without clothing. With or without a tail ribbon.”

“Even when I get all fat and round?” I say, blinking.

Laughing, Blaze shakes his head, “Not fat, retaining foal. There’s a difference.”

Huffing, I look back at my belly, “I remember when I was pregnant with Sparkle, did I ever get round. And hungry. Speaking of hungry, I kinda have the munchies now.”

“What do you want, anything, I’ll make it for you.” Blaze says, looking to the kitchen.

“Ohhh, you know what would be really good right now, garlic pumpkin hummus, on a mix of double fried banana chips, and battered deep fried pickles.” I say, perking my ears, my tail starting to wag.

“I umm, and… Yeah ok, I’ll check the local stores, if not it might take a little time. But I’ll get that for you.” Turning Blaze mumbles, “At least she’s not mixing it with ice cream.”

“Yet!” I call out and start giggling.

“Where do you even know that stuff from?” Blaze says, opening the door.

“I used to love it when I was pregnant with Twilight.” Giggling softly, I shake my head. “Trust me, its not a Wally thing.”

Closing the door behind him, Blaze zips off.

“Cravings?” Ah-Pee asks, poking her head into the living room.

“Huh? No just munchies. And its what my belly is… ok fine, cravings.” I say, blushing and looking down at my hooves.

Ah-Pee laughed, “Ah, it’s nothin to worry about, yer just following what yer little-uns need.”

“As long as I don’t start craving things like big mac’s or fish sticks.” Whimpering, I shake my head. “Just had this weird view of an Earth pony pregnant with a pegasus foal, craving chicken. Just ugh.”

Smiling Ah-Pee walks over and sits beside me, starting to brush my mane.

“To soon to say I hate being pregnant?” I ask innocently.

“Not going to say its to soon or to late. Just… Do you hate being pregnant, or hate the problems associated with it?” Ah-Pee asked softly.

“I… ok everything. Heck, what if they can’t grow up properly on Earth, what if they can’t get cutie marks on Earth, what if…” I blink as I get a hoof over my muzzle.

“Nope, no worrying, we will wait and see what happens. Just like every mother does.” Ah-Pee says with a firm nod.

“What if I forgot how to be a good mom?” I say softly, looking up, my ears splayed to the side.

“And that’s a nonsense question. Just look at how you take care of Feather and the twins.” Ah-Pee says firmly, “And no I don’t mean about the occasional trouble they get into looking for their cutie marks."

“I know…its just.” I sigh softly.

“Its just all these questions run through your mind as a mom. That’s normal.” With that, Ah-Pee sits beside me just hugging me. “And you have lots of mares to help.”

“Thank you…”

***

Feather rears up on her hind legs, holding the wand high above her head with both forelegs. The plastic wand is a soft pink topped with a golden star on the end. Looking up at the moon, she spreads her little wings as wide as she can, flicking the tips of them and causing a few loose feathers to float down around her. Smiling widely she closes her eyes. “By the power of cuteness!”

Covering his muzzle with a foreleg, Candy shakes his head, “Sorry Pat, she gets like this sometimes. Feather we are NOT Apple Bloomers.”

“Hey, I’m allowed to play sometimes.” Dropping back to all fours she looks up, “Hi Pat. I wanted you and the rest of the workers here for the grand opening and dedication.”

“Of our new clubhouse!” Cloudy says, jumping and waving all four of her hooves under her.

“To much sugar and caffeine, Cloudy.” Candy says, still covering his muzzle.

Prancing on the spot Cloudy giggles, “But I just had one Red Bull, Rob over there had an extra.”

Pat looked over at the electrician’s apprentice, “Oh please tell me you’re not giving foals Red Bull.”

“She said she was thirsty.” Rob says with a shrug.

Bounding up onto the top of the ramp, Feather looks up at the door, “It’s good but its not complete.”

Sitting beside Feather, Candy looks at the workers and Pat, “It needs one last thing, but its quick.”

“I got it I got it!” Cloudy calls and pogo hops over to the truck. She grabs some paint before prancing back, “my mot mit.”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders are not just about helping themselves. They are about helping all ponies find the spark inside of them that leads them to their cutie marks. They, and we, explore different paths, try different things to find out not just what we like, but who we really are.” Feather says, looking at her blank flank.

“The original club house had apples decorating it, in honor of Applejack and Sweet Apple Acres, the one at Fort Bragg we marked with a harp, for Ballad, for all of her help. That one is still there for any new blank flanks that need a place to find themselves.” Cloudy says.

Looking up Candy smiles and starts singing, “We've been searching for our cutie marks, for a while now.”

Cloudy smiles, picking up the paint and offering it to Feather as she picks up the song, “Trying to find out how we fit in.”

Feather takes the can and turns to face the door, looking it up and down, “So many ways we've tried before, but we keep on trying more and more.”

Looking between each other all three sing in harmony, “'Cause the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't give in.”

Flapping up, Feather paints a white lightning bolt above the door as she sings cheerfully, “We’ll make our mark!”

Cloudy and Candy harmonize again with each other, “One way or another.”

Adding the three stars below the lightning bolt, Feather nods, “We’ll make our mark!”

“And on that day that we discover…” Candy and Cloudy sing on.

As Feather lands, all three turn to face Pat and the workers as they finish singing, “The ultimate reward of our cutie marks!”

“In honor of Lightning Dust, this chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is now open!” All three foals call out.

Pat looks up smiling as widely as she can. Taking out some Kleenex, she wipes the tears from her eyes, “Oh God, Dust will be so proud. I can’t wait for her to be able to see this.”

Trotting down, all three foals look up, “Thank you Pat, for all of this.”

“Oh no, thank you.” Kneeling down, Pat grabs all three of the foals, pulling them into a tight hug. The tears in her eyes flowing as she sits and holds them. She was hoping so much, that Dust can see this soon.

Author's Note

Art by Alkarasu

80: Song of Magic

San Diego, California.

Jenny walks in circles in her apartment. The apartment itself isn’t anything big or special. It’s technically a two bedroom, but she has one room as her home office when she needs it, a small kitchen and a living room-dining room combination completes her space. She lives alone in California, so she really doesn’t need a large home.

“You’re making me dizzy, what are you doing?” Fleur says as she lays on the sofa.

Jenny shakes her head and blinks, “Getting very disoriented. I think my TV sound is mucked up because I keep hearing the wrong speakers.”

Stretching out a bit Fleur giggles, “What do you mean?”

“I know the speaker is there” She points, “but I keep feeling like the sound is coming from behind me and its bugging the heck out of me.” Jenny says and huffs in annoyance.

“Jenny… Jenny stop.” Fleur says, giggling, “Hang on, there’s a really easy explanation and fix for this.”

Blinking, Jenny stops and sits down, looking frustrated and anxious.

“Okay, most of us don’t think about this, but you have surround sound. Right?” Fleur asks looking around the apartment.

“Well yeah, it was pretty cheap.” Jenny says, “But what’s that got to do with anything?”

“Pony ears are directional. Your focusing on the TV, and not used to your ears yet. So your ears focus on the TV too. But your speakers are to the sides, this means your HEARING the sound from your sides, while looking forward. Relax your ears.” Fleur says, wiggling one of her ears.

“My ears?” Jenny says quizzically as she reaches up and touches one with her hand. Blinking, she gets up and runs for the bathroom, “Jebus Cripes I have pony ears!”

Fleur almost falls off the sofa, she’s laughing so hard, “Yes Sea Swirl, you have pony ears, and they move to focus on sound.”

“But… but… but…”

“Sea Swirl, you’re a pony remember, you don’t get all the parts at one time though… you get one, get used to it, get some more, get used to those.” Fleur says, continuing to gasp for breath.

“Why does this have to be so complicated?” Jenny growls as she comes out of her bathroom, ears flopped to the sides.

“That’s easy, cuz it’s a curse. If it wasn’t a curse we’d just poof into pony form and remember everything.” Fleur says, “Chaos magic is funny that way.”

“Magic, yeah… Wait I’m a unicorn, am I supposed to do things like sense virgins and teleport?” Jenny asks.

“Sense… virgins? Oh my god, we could have so much fun with that.” She narrows her eyes in thought, “Nope not unless some perverted unicorn makes a spell to do that. There are teleport spells, crafting spells, stuff like that, but its based on learning a spell rather than anything else. Although there ARE some unicorns that spontaneously generate a spell, usually regarding their special talent. Rarity, for example had detect diamonds, which she taught others.”

“What do you mean, fun with that?” Jenny says, sitting down again and picking up her tea.

“Oh, just thinking of being in a bar, some perv trying to pick me up, lighting my horn for a second then saying something like ‘Naw I prefer more experienced males, everyone knows a unicorn can see a virgin from a hundred yards away. And you’re definitely a virgin.’” Fleur says with a smile.

“Oh you are cruel.”

“Only to those who deserve it.” Fleur says, her tail wiggling.

***

“We were with the US Diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia when everything went to hell and we started to change. He put the jet down on a highway to get us out. He could have just landed at the airport and hoped we’d make it there on our own. He decided, though, that the highway was closer and easier access.”

“We aren’t the strongest or fastest flyers, but he didn’t belittle us about it. Instead he got us singing as he shuttled us from Washington to LA for our jobs, and said he’d always be there if we needed to go back in a hurry.”

“A few months ago, we were in Florida when Lemon got shot. He dumped most of his fuel so he could put the plane down on a short strip runway, he had barely enough fuel to make it to the closest airport to have his tanks refilled, then flew us non stop to Nellis.”

“He always had a joke, comedy, something to lift our spirits. No mater how bad we felt, he treated us like individuals and ponies. He didn’t make us feel like we were being forced, or make us feel like something less because we had to fly with him.”

Mindy sits, blinking, looking at each pony or group in turn as they tell the stories of what Lt. Sanders did for them. How it never mattered how tough the landings or take offs were, how it was never the ponies fault. Instead how he was always there for them.

Looking back over her shoulder, she sees Dr. Ray walk in, his head low. “The charts don’t look good. The doctors are trying but, his chances are low.”

“Oh come on. We can’t let this turn into a wake, we can’t give up hope. This guy made it his life to help us, to not let us get down, and not let us give up hope. So we can’t give up on him.”

Dr. Ray walks up and puts his cheek against Mindy’s, “I don’t have the kind of magic to heal that, I can use magic to help with my medicine, but its not like I can cast a spell to fix things.”

“There’s got to be something we can do. We can’t give up hope.” Mindy says and stomps a hoof hard.

Looking at the other ponies, Dr. Ray sighs and shakes his head, “Its not like he’s a pegasus, this isn’t something humans bounce back from.”

“Well that’s it then, we make him one.” Mindy says, smiling brightly.

Shaking his head, Dr. Ray looked at Mindy, confused, “What?”

“We make him a pegasus! If a unicorn can turn dozens of people into a pegasus for a few days by accident, we can do it on purpose to a single human!” Mindy says, looking proud. “How hard can it be?”

“Wait…what?” Dr. Ray looks on in shock and confusion.

“We turn him into a pegasus. Then you can help heal him the last bit while his body does the rest!” Mindy says starting to bounce, “Its easy!”

***

“Couldn’t you just?” Sugarberry sits down and sighs, looking at Henry.

“No.” Henry sighs, “It’s not something I take lightly either.”

“But its Lightning Dust…” Sugarberry says and pouts softly.

“And next time It could be Rarity, or Sweetie Belle, or some other person or pony.” Henry sighs.

Sugarberry sits and pouts, “But its your special talent.”

Sighing, Henry sits beside her and wraps his arms around her neck. “I’m human, I wasn’t born a pony like you. I’m human. And being told or asked to change into a pony for every person that’s hurt.” Henry shudders.

“I know, its not fair to you.” Sugarberry says.

“I’ve already been ordered to do that once… how would you feel if you were ordered to be human for something?” Henry says.

“But this isn’t an order this time.” Sugarberry says, sticking her lower lip out.

“And again, how do I say yes to Dust and no to some other pony? At the same time, I don’t even know if I can heal her.” Henry looks down at Sugarberry and shakes his head, “I just want to be human.”

With a sigh, Sugarberry climbs a bit into his lap, “My little human, I used to wonder what love could be.”

***

“Spike…. SPIKE! I’m back!”

Shuffling through the papers, the little dragon looks up, “How did it go?”

Sliding up, she wraps her wings around the dragon, “Ugh, horrible.”

“Oh? What happened?” Spike asks as he puts the papers in the box.

“So many officers and diplomats, looking at every single detail.” She huffs and sits down on her haunches.

“Aww, and I bet they didn’t even treat you like a princess.” Spike says, chuckling and trundles into the kitchen.

“That is SOOO not funny.” Shaking her head, she watches the little dragon, “How was your day?”

“Spike, take a memo, we generate way too much paperwork for one little dragon.” Spike responds, putting down a tea set.

Falling on her side laughing, “Oh my gosh, you sound just like Cathy there.”

Huffing, Spike shakes his head, “No, she did her best to sound like me, there’s a difference. And I don’t sound like a girl.”

“Oh Spike, you know I’m just teasing you.” She says, trotting over and hugging with a wing again.

Putting his claw over the wing he leans into her, “I know, It’s just not easy some times.”

“So how are things going?” She says, hugging spike.

Looking back at the paperwork he sighs, “A few more ponies decided to stay here rather than move on.” Looking down, Spike shakes his head, “Did you see the reports on Spectrum?”

A shiver goes down her back as she pales visibly. “I saw. How could they treat ponies like that? For that mater how could they treat their own people like that?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. It’s just not fair.” Spike sighs and looks back at the papers in the box.

“Well we're safe now at least.” She murmurs, “And come on, its not that bad.”

“Not that bad? At least you can still fly. I used to be a gunship pilot, now I can’t even reach the controls.” Spike says, looking at his claws. “And then there was the change.”

“Ugh, yeah that was hard on us all.” She says, shaking her head.

“You didn’t spend hours burping up 25-year-old schools. That was not fun. Regular paperwork turning into the last desperate calls from Celestia.” Sighing, Spike shakes his head, “Compared to you eating dirt, that was hell.”

“You laying on your back calling out, make it stop, make it stop.” She half smiles, “I shouldn’t laugh but it was kind of funny.”

“Oh yeah, lets all make fun of Spike.” He huffs.

“Hey, we are still family, and no mater what our form, that will never change.” She says with a nod.

“Twins forever?” Spike says, looking up.

“Twins forever.” She nods.

“Spitfire! Shake your tail, we need you on the runway!”

Looking up she smiles, “Work calls, see you at dinner.”

“Later sis.” Spike says, going back to work.

***

“Hey Fleur, who’s the cute filly or stallion to be?” I say, smiling, holding the tablet in front of me. Who needs selfie sticks or tablet props when you have magic?

“Hi Velvet, that's Jenny. She’s with the coast guard. Her real name's Sea Swirl though.” Fleur says, pulling Swirl in front of her and holding her still with her forelegs.

Blinking, I tap my hoof, “Sea Swirl, oh umm… yeah, two dolphins on her butt?”

“Yep that’s her. How’s Cookie holding out?” Fleur asks, smiling.

Laughing, I glance over my shoulder, “Great! As long as she doesn’t think. I swear for the first month or so, thinking is the bane of ponies. Oh, has Swirl's tail come in yet?”

“Oh yeah, came in a while ago, she then spent about thirty minutes whining about her panties not fitting because of it.” Fleur says, giggling. “Even I wasn’t that bad.”

“Meh, I didn’t have that problem.” I say with a shrug.

“You were male. Huge difference.” Hugging Swirl with her forelegs to keep her still, Fleur smiles, “So got room for another student in a few days?”

“I can make room if she wants to come, right now though it looks like she wants to escape.” I smile back.

“She’s shy about the whole ears, mane, tail thing.” Fleur says with a nod and lets her go.

“Fleur I’m going to kill you. I don’t want people seeing me like this. I look stupid.” Jenny says, scrambling out of camera view followed by the slamming of a bathroom door.

“And she keeps thinking that locking the bathroom door will protect her.” Fleur says, watching her run.

“Ouch, be nice Fleur.” Shaking my head, I can’t help but smiling. I think most of us want to hide during our change, “I can take her in, did you hear about Pony Air though?”

“Yes, I almost want to stop off and see him myself. The Navy is lending the Air Force 2 C-37c’s. From what I hear the Air Force wants to buy like a dozen. Just for Pony Air duty.” Fleur says.

“Wow, that’s expensive.” I say, blinking, “Wonder how they are going to justify that in the budget.”

“From what the CID heard, ‘National Security Interests’ to keep ponies OFF commercial airlines at this time due to inability to verify who is on no fly lists.” Fleur says with a bit of a giggle.

“In other words, Podunk copout reason number 3. We just want to keep ponies somewhat out of the media and a pony at a major airport would be an issue.” I say, laughing.

“Jenny! Sea Swirl! Get out here.”

“No! I look silly, I can’t wear my panties, so I’m not coming out!” I hear being called across the apartment.

“Jenny, we all went through this… just put on some loose jogging pants or something, flip tail out the back and tie them off… or cut a hole in them.” Fleur calls back.

“Cut a hole in good pants?” Jenny calls back, “I don’t have many jogging pants to begin with, and both the pairs I have are from and for work PT!”

I face hoof, shaking my head, “She doesn’t realize, she’s not going to need them again in a few days right?”

Fleur laughs in response, “Jenny, in a few days you’ll be a pony, you won’t need clothing! And if you are going to want to wear stuff, its going to be new clothing fitted for your pony form.”

“But… but… They wear clothing in the show don’t they?” Jenny says, poking her head out of the bathroom.

“Not normally. Clothing is for special occasions.” I call out, “I’m wearing mostly my uniform, but I do walk around without anything on too.” I say looking at my cutie mark.

“Yeah seriously, like you’d catch her in something frilly.” Fleur says as Jenny walks out, tail swaying a bit as she moves.

“Trust me I’m already living in dread.” I say, shaking my head.

“Of what?” Jenny asks sitting down again nervously, making sure to tuck her tail to the side as she does so.

“My wedding dress. I’m having visions of a big puffy thing.” I say and shudder.

“With lots of silk and satin?” Fleur asks.

Looking at her I nod, then in stereo, we say the line. “Oh the horror, the horror!”

*** Costa Rica ***

“Hold, hold!”

Full Steam slows and stops as the officer steps in front of him, holding his hand up. The Costa Rican Policia officer is tall, well over six feet, wearing combat body armor as well as carrying a Galil SAR. Looking sternly, he adjusts his sunglasses.

Blinking from inside the wagon, Ambrosia pokes her head up inside the trailer, she calls through the window, “Is something wrong officer?”

“Animal inspection, we’ve had complaints of thefts of farm animals. Taken from their owners and smuggled to Nicaragua or butchered and sold door to door. Do you have papers to verify ownership of this animal?” The officer is quite stern about his statement.

“I… No, we don’t.” Ambrosia responds.

Walking around to the back, the officer bangs on the door, “Open the door.”

“I’m not decent, I need to get my coverings on, religious doctrine.” Ambrosia says, scrambling.

“Open the door NOW.” The officer says, readying his Galil and pointing it at the door.

“Sunny don’t!” Ambrosia calls out but it is too late.

Sunny opens the door and sits in front of the police officer, “Do I have to put my hooves up sir? It’s a little uncomfortable to do so, since I lose balance.”

“Dios mío.” The officer blinks, leveling his rifle at the little foal. “What is going on?”

“Don’t hurt her, please.” Ambrosia says, struggling out of the coverings and trotting up, putting her body between the officer and the foal.

“Were Panamanian and Brazilian, trying to get up to the USA.” Sunny says as she opens her eyes wide and looks up sadly at him.

“We were human but something made us change into these pony forms.” Ambrosia says, “Then we all got a… calling… to go to the USA.”

“Or we were ponies turned into humans.” Sunny says, looking up at Ambrosia.

Looking between them, the officer sighs and shoulders his rifle, “Well you don’t look like drug smugglers or animal smugglers, that’s for sure.”

“We are just trying to get to a place in the USA. There’s supposed to be a safe place for us there.” Sunny says softly.

Shaking his head, the officer looks at them, then at Full Steam who had walked around the side of the wagon and sat too, “Let me guess, you can speak as well?”

“Only when I need to.” Full Steam says sternly.

“What am I going to do about this? I should probably call it in.” The officer says.

Lowering her head, Ambrosia sighs, “Do what you think is best. We are just trying to get to a safe place. We don’t mean anyone any harm.”

“Please sir, we don’t really have much money, we don’t have anything really to trade, either. The change has left us with nothing. We built our wagon out of scraps and such we found and most of what we eat is from foraging along the way.” Sunny Days says, looking up at the officer. “We aren’t bad ponies, we just want to get where there are more of us, and that’s apparently in the USA.”

“Stay here, don’t move, don’t try an escape.” The officer stands up and waves to two other officers, “Make sure this doesn’t move from here by anyone, I’ll be back soon.”

Sunny Daze looks up at Ambrosia, “Were in trouble, aren’t we?”

***

Cookie sits in front of the mirror. She tilts her head side to side slowly, watching how her mane moves. How it cascades around her shoulder and torso. How it drifts and bounces. Lifting it a bit with her hooves, she lets it go before giving her head a little shake.

“Still getting used to yourself again?” Rainbow Blaze says, walking in.

Looking over her shoulder she sighs, “Sort of. Its still hard to believe its me… again.”

“Trust me, it has been a shock to all of us. You should hear some of the horror stories about Velvet. It took her a full month to get used to it.” Blaze said chuckling as he spreads his wings a bit.

“Oh now you need to tell me.” Cookie says, smiling and perking her ears.

Blaze shakes his head vigorously, “She’d kill me, or worse, turn me into a human.”

“Come on she wouldn’t be that mean.” Cookie says.

“I wouldn’t want to push it with pregnancy hormones.” Blaze says with a chuckle, “So are you coming?”

“Yep,” Turning she steps off the pillow and starts walking, “It’s still hard to come to terms that I’m a mare.”

Leaning forward Blaze gives her a quick nip just above her dock. “Move it slow poke!”

With a squeak, Cookie goes wide eyed and looks back at Blaze, trembling.

“What?” Blaze says, blinking.

“Um, sensitive spot, don’t nip there.” Cookie says, blushing furiously and starts walking. Swaying her tail in wide high arcs as she moves.

Chuckling softly, he moves up beside her, “And now your flirting.”

“I’m? What do you mean?” Cookie looks at Blaze, confused, then walks down the stairs, “Velvet, Blaze said I’m flirting.”

Shaking my head, I laugh softly, “You are, you have your tail high and bouncing. That’s normally flirting.”

With a loud squeak, Cookie clamps her tail down tight, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be, means your relaxed.” I say smiling, “Sides you’re dressed.”

“I was flirting with a guy though, with Blaze.” Cookie says, blinking.

“Yep, he’s flirt-worthy, but he’s also loyal to me.” I say, smiling.

Turning I trot up to the barn, I rap on the door, which is quickly opened. Smiling, I bow, touching my horn to the ground respectfully, “Ma’am.”

Helen crosses her arms, “Now I feel old. I’m sorry, Mindy’s out, Moon is busy, and I don’t want to leave her alone. Neither her, nor Irony.”

“I understand.” I say, nodding, and head inside, “I wish we could do more. When Feather was like this, we had wood from the Everfree that was able to bring her back.”

Trotting into the stall, I sit down and lay my head over the mare, “We’ll watch over her while you do what you need to.” Irony is sleeping next to Dust, I nuzzle both of them.

Nodding slowly Helen turns and heads out. Leaving me, Blaze and Cookie with the stricken mare.

“What’s wrong with her?” Cookie asks.

“She was attacked, had her wings stripped of feathers, and…” I shake my head, “She’s suffering mental trauma. She was nearly lost, the only thing that shows she’s Equestrian right now is her cutie mark.” I shift a bit and point to the fading white and yellow mark on the tan pony’s flank.

Closing my eyes, I gently lick her cheek a few times. I give her a mothering nuzzle, “Come on little one. You can come back to us.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do to help?” Cookie asks sadly.

“It’s a fight she has to win herself. There’s nothing like this in the books for healing something like this.” I say with a sad sigh.

Blaze puts his wing over my back, giving me a gentle hug then looks over at Cookie doing the same to her. “Its okay girls. She’s strong.”

Twitching my ears, I look up at the little girl at the entrance to the stall, “Hello there.”

“Hi, I’m Hannah.”

“Twilight Velvet, I’m Twilight Sparkles mom, this is Rainbow Blaze, Dash’s dad. And that’s Cookie Crisp.” I say nodding my horn to each in turn.

Nodding slowly, she walks up and hugs me tightly.

“We have been watching over your… dad… till Moon comes back.”

“I know, Moony has an idea, and will be back soon. She’s been talking to Princess Luna in the dream.” Hannah says tears in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, we are all here for Dust. We won’t give up on her. We just need to remind her not to give up on herself.” Smiling softly, “If we all work together…”

***

“Come on ponies, if we all work together we can do this!” Mindy says, pogo bouncing on the spot.

“This is a bad idea Mindy.” Dr. Ray said. “I don’t know if his body could take the strain of a change.”

“Well we have to try something, I’m not letting him die, he’s helped too many ponies.” Mindy says and grabs Dr. Ray, spinning him around and pointing his horn at Sanders prone form. Once she has him aimed properly, she grabs his tail and she starts cranking a few times till his horn glows. “There!”

“Hey!” Dr. Ray blinks, looking at his horn.

Quickly, Mindy bounces around, arranging the other ponies around the bed. One by one she sets up each pony and primes them before trotting back over to Dr. Ray.

“We only get one shot at this,” Mindy says and looks at every other pony. Prancing back over, she crosses her horn with Dr. Rays. “Lets do this.”

The power is more than needed and far more than Mindy expected. The other ponies are not Gifted Unicorn Graduates, but they do their best to add to the magic. Slowly the energy grows and stretches out to envelope the human. The energy shimmers between brown, light green, dark green and light blue before settling on a gentle yellow.

All together the ponies give one last push of magic as the energy enters and flows through the Lieutenant, altering his form into one of their kind. Like all spells of this kind, it will only last three days, but Mindy feels it would take longer for her to recover.

Wobbling a bit, she puts her hoof down firmly, “There we did it. Easy peazy pie.”

“I… I think we messed up somewhere, his face is wrong…” One of the pegasi says softly.

“How do you mean? Muzzle, nose, ears…” Mindy blinks tilting her head slowly.

Dr. Ray looks at Mindy, “Stallions don’t have eyelashes like that, or rounded short muzzles.”

“He’s got wings, he’s a pegasus, that’s what we were going for.” Mindy says with a final nod.

“You mean SHE’S got wings.” Dr. Ray said, “Mindy, I think we botched the spell.”

“Close enough.”

***

“Moon Shadow is going to try dream walking. Finding her that way.” I say, looking at Cookie.

Shaking her head, Cookie sits down outside looking around, “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

We all walk towards the farmstead. Nice gravel paths have been established between the town under construction and the old farm. I can see the six barracks that Lightning Dust built just a few months ago, before the ponies decided to make a town, something more permanent. They still haven’t given it a name, though.

We get to the big barn, Moon Shadow had brought the tan pony out. But what I also see makes me stop, Irony is standing there, watching, an anxious look on her face. And Hannah is standing their with Moon Shadow.

“Hannah has magic?” I say to the earth pony.

Irony looks at me, “Yes, it manifested while Dust was gone. Moon and Mindy have been teaching her.”

I shake my head and move closer, all three have their eyes closed, but I can feel the currents of magic around all of them, the aether they are tapping into is amazing.

Feather comes up, “What’s happening?”

Something changes, a wave of turquoise washes over the pony for a moment then disappears. Her cutie mark gets brighter. Then after a moment, it starts to fade again.

Feather shudders, “Is she being lost? Will it work?”

I shake my head, “I don’t know. This is outside my knowledge, dream magic is so very rare.”

“But we have to do something, Mom. We have to!” She stomps a little hoof as once again, the color washes over Dust, leaving her with a shadow of her former color, then after a few moments, once again, it fades and her cutie mark fades to almost nothing.

I feel tears starting to form, “I don’t know, Feather. To try to intervene directly with magic would probably be the worst thing to do.”

Feather perks up, looking up at me intently, “A song?”

“How would a song help?” Cookie asks looking at Feather.

“Songs are very powerful with ponies, they unite us, and they have a magic of their own.” I say looking down and nuzzling Feather softly.

“When I was giving up, it was the magic of the song that helped me find my way back.” Feather says solemnly.

“Well that and the rainbow.” Blaze says smiling. “Grandfather has a way with harmony.”

“There is magic and harmony in music though.” I say looking around, “And it might be enough to remind her. To be a guiding star.”

I look up, hundreds of ponies have somehow felt the call to be here. All of them are maintaining a respectful circle around what is going on.

“And it’s a magic that all ponies, unicorns, pegasi and earth have in them.” Ah-Pee says, “As strong as our cutie marks.”

Looking back at her cutie mark, Cookie smiles, “Each one of us has something special, that makes us different, that makes us rare.”

Spreading her wings wide, Feather sings out loud and true, “We have a light that shines within us, that we were always, meant to share.” Looking up, she nuzzles my leg.

Smiling, I close my eyes and light my horn as I sing too, “And when we come together, combine that light that shines within…”

Cipher steps up beside me, lighting her horn, “There’s nothing we can’t do.”

“There’s no battle we can’t win.” Ballad adds as her horn light joins the glow.

Sugarberry looks up at Henry, smiling, “When we come together!”

Lifting our horns high we form a single star above us, for all the town to see, “There’ll be a star to guide the way! See it now! Feel it now!”

Soon the whole town is joining in the song, “Let the rainbow remind you, that together we will always shine!”

I watch as we continue singing, the color starts to come back again. Her cutie mark starts to shine, bright and true as the magic from our singing swirls all around. Thousands of ponies are singing now, their magic all adding to the harmony. As the song ends, Lightning Dust opens her eyes, she looks like her former self once again, though her wings are still mangled. She kisses Moon Shadow and I see her whisper something to her, then she falls over in exhaustion. Before I’m able to move, Dust is picked up by Irony and carried towards a truck. She places Dust in the bed and climbs in herself. Helen opens the drivers door of the truck and they roll off.

“Where are they going?” Feather asks.

“To her home, in town.”

Feather furrows her brow, “She needs to be with ponies.”

I nuzzle her, “She will be, her herd will be there for her.”

“But what about us?”

I nuzzle her again, “We can visit her. It’s not that far away.”

***

The police car pulls up behind the wagon. The policia officer steps out and dusts off his pants. He squares his shoulders and heads up to the door. With a firm knock, he calls inside, “Open up, inspection.”

Quietly, Ambrosia opens the door, looking at the officer, as well as the second gentleman with him. “Yes sir?”

“This is… extraordinary.” The man says, looking at Ambrosia.

“Do your job, and don’t get carried away.” The officer says sternly.

“His job?” Sunny looks up nervously.

“Oh yes, sorry, I’m a vet, I’m not used to having my patients talk to me in Spanish though.” The man says, putting his bag down.

“Why did you bring a vet?” Full Steam asks, rather annoyed.

“Have you had any of your equine shots?” The doctor asks, tilting his head.

Sunny blinks, “Our what?”

“Your vaccinations?” The doctor said. “You might be close enough to equines to carry their illnesses even if you don’t get sick yourself. It’s best to be vaccinated.”

Opening his bag, the doctor pulls out several vials, “I’d really like to take them back to the lab.”

“No. Shots and certificates that’s it.” The officer says firmly.

Looking at the officer, the doctor sighs and begins a basic check up.

“How have your hooves been holding up on the road, any pain in your bones or joints?” The doctor ask checking over Full Steam’s hooves.

“None.”

The doctor looks back at the officer and huffs as he gives Sunny her check up and shots, followed by Ambrosia. “I really think they should be studied more.”

“Not your call, doctor. You work for the police.” The officer says sternly, “And if word of this gets out I will have your head.”

“Yes sir.” The doctor says and heads back to the car.

Looking at the ponies, the officer hands them the paperwork, “He’s now registered, well technically you are all registered and have your shots.” Signing a form, he hands a sheet of paper to Ambrosia, “This is your inspection form and certification form for the wagon.”

“Why?” Ambrosia said looking confused.

The officer tilted his head, “Why, what?”

“Why are you… Doing this?” Ambrosia asks.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” The officer says, “You haven’t broken any laws, and are not looking at doing any harm.” Stepping out, the officer pulls a cardboard box out of his car and puts it down on edge of the wagon.

Blinking, Sunny steps forward and opens the box. “Flour, corn flour, eggs, sugar, apples.” Then she lets out an ear piercing squee as she pulls a stick of sugarcane out of the box. She hops over and gives him a hug, “Oh Celestia, its my favorite. Thank you.”

“I couldn’t look my daughter in the face if I let you go hungry.” He smiles, then he switches to Italian, not a common language in Costa Rica, its still taught as a secondary language in many schools, though. Scratching behind Sunny’s ear, he chuckles, “Vola mio mini pony, Quante avventure tu vavrai”

81: Magic of Food

“Hey Spike!” Spitfire says, smiling as she trots up and lays down beside the dragon.

Spike doesn’t look up from his papers, simply turned a page. “Hey sis.”

“What-cha doin?” Crossing her front legs, Spitfire tilts her head as she looks at the dragon.

“I’ve been looking into the group of ponies in Africa. I really think we can do something to help them.” Spike says, smiling.

“Like what? Send them an aid package?” Spitfire says, taking a moment to look at her wings.

“Most definitely. We are delivering four new Superjet 130’s to Kenya Airways. They are just getting their final paint jobs down in the factory.” Spike says, he looks at up for a moment, smiles, then goes back to the papers.

“Oh, we can load up a few hundred pounds of equipment on each without really affecting its range or such.” Spitfire says, raising her wings.

"Yep, and the best part, Mandera’s runway has been extended out to 5,600 feet. It’s right on the border, we should be able to set them down there, unload the goods, and have them shipped by road to the community.” Spike says.

“We will need some way to let the dragon there know it's safe.” Spitfire says.

Spike blinks, then smiles, “I know just the thing.”

“I’ll get started on getting together some stuff for them, blankets, multilayer filter system, water bladders and spare parts. Some solar panels.” Spitfire is walking in circles as she thinks aloud.

After a few moments, Spitfire turns and runs for the door, “I want this to be perfect, it won’t cost us a lot, but we’ll be able to help so many ponies.”

***

“Happy birthday.” Eric says, walking in to Ballad’s room with a big smile on his face.

“Hey! Knock first, I could be indecent.” Ballad says, looking up.

Blinking, holding the box in his hands, Eric tilts his head, “Ok that I’d LIKE to see, you indecent. Considering ponies don’t always wear clothing.”

Blushing a bit, Ballad looks down, “That’s not what I… and… pervert…”

Laughing, Eric walks fully into the room and sits down, hugging her. “It’s okay. I’m just teasing you.”

“And it's not my birthday.” Ballad says, looking at the box.

Shaking his head, Eric smiles, “Well we can be sure, we don’t know when you were born as a pony. For all we know this could be your birthaversery.”

“Ugh, unicorns don’t have Birthaverseries.” She snorts, “That’s a pegasus thing. We have birthdays.” Ballad says with a firm nod.

“I just don’t know enough about pony aging, but from what we saw you’re just a teenager.” Eric says, “So here you go.”

Blinking, Ballad takes the gift and looks up, fluttering her eyes at him, “Hey I was old enough to date. We just might have to wait an extra year or so before we get married.”

Laughing softly, Eric points, “Well open the gift.”

Opening the box, Ballad goes wide eyed, inside is a forty-nine string solo lyre, almost identical in style to the one in her dream. It is smooth, made of a mix of dark and light wood. Polished, varnished, the strings are perfectly placed.

Looking at it in awe, she cradles it, tears starting to form in her eyes as she looks up at Eric, “Oh Celestia… how…”

“Dad and I worked on finding it, it's from a company that specializes in them. I just had to get them to alter the style slightly and colors.” Eric says, smiling lovingly at her.

Crying, Ballad wraps her forelegs around him, hugging as tightly as she can, “It’s perfect!”

“It was brought in from overseas FedEx.” Eric says, stroking her mane and back.

“How could you afford it.?”

“I borrowed from dad. Dad gets a lot of money from his job. Demolitions experts aren’t cheap.” Eric says with a chuckle.

***

“The change has taken a lot out of him. And he didn’t have much to begin with.” Dr. Ray says, holding the flashlight with his magic. “His feathers look okay, some burns on the body but they don’t look as bad as before.”

“See, I told you it would work.” Mindy says, looking proud.

Shaking his head, Dr. Ray looks at the other unicorn, “That was the riskiest thing ever, and we still messed up the spell horribly.”

“How what?” Mindy says, blinking, “He’s a pegasus.”

“First off, he’s a she. That was never intended, and wasn’t supposed to happen. Second, his wings are too big. Way too big, they are almost fifty percent larger than a pegasus of her size. Third, the eyes. He’s got jewel or crystal eyes. Its like he’s part crystal pony but didn’t change all the way.” Shaking his head, he looks at Mindy, a frown on his face.

“Well he’ll live, heal quicker, and should change back in three days, so no harm, no foul.” Mindy says with a giggle.

“Add to that there are four different colors in the mane, its like each pony’s magic did something different. This is why we shouldn’t do spells we don’t understand.” Dr. Ray says, then he stops and gives Mindy a reassuring nuzzle, “I know you wanted to try but this was so dangerous.”

Moaning softly Sanders whimpers weakly, “The engines won’t power up in time. We have to go under them… I won’t be responsible for hurting…”

His voice is weak, yet soft and very gentle, with almost a British accent to it. It is somewhat of a cross between Octavia and Cheerilee when Mindy thinks about it. Which seems strange coming from someone who she knows has no accent.

Opening his eyes, he looks up at Dr. Ray, then at Mindy. “Hi balloon-butt, who’s your friend?”

“This is Dr. Ray, he’s a medical unicorn.” Mindy giggles, “And I’m not balloon-butt you feather brain.”

Flicking an ear once, Lt Sanders smiles, “Let me guess, you’re here to tell me there was an accident, too late.”

“You…don’t notice anything wrong?” Dr. Ray says, blinking.

Turning his head slightly, he looks up at Dr. Ray, “Humans have this neat thing called morphine, right now I’m so doped that I can’t feel my fingers or toes.”

Mindy starts giggling. She knows she shouldn’t, but she just can’t help herself. “Well we did all we could, but magic can only do so much.” Shaking her head, she looks around, “Were sorry about your face. We tried our best but…”

Sanders smiles at Mindy, “Oh, har, har, what about the face? I ended up looking like myself huh?”

“Nope, sorry, you ended up looking beautiful, its not our fault, just the way the magic worked.” Mindy says, looking innocent, floating a mirror off the vanity in the bathroom over to him. “We sort of turned you into a pegasus to heal you quicker, but the magic made you a mare.”

Looking side to side, he turns his head to look at a wing, moving it a little.

“Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in three days,” Dr. Ray says, “I know its traumatic to become a mare but…”

“Forget about the mare part, when can I try out these awesome wings?” Sanders says, smiling as wide as he can.

Dr. Ray blinks several times, his mouth hanging open a bit until Mindy leans sideways and pushes his mouth closed with a hoof. “Maybe in two days we can get you out for a little bit.”

“Two days,” Sanders whines. “That’s like forever, what am I supposed to do for two days?”

“Umm, read a Daring Do book? You’re almost as bad as Rainbow Dash.” Dr. Ray says, shaking his head, “Are all pegasi like this?” He asks, looking at Mindy.

“Only the ones with wings.” Mindy giggles.

***

“Keep your wings wide.” Blaze says, rolling side to side.

Moaning, Feather flaps as hard as she can, “I’m exhausted… I can only seem to fly about a hundred feet at a time before getting too tired to go on.”

“It’s okay Feather, it’s mostly because you’re young.” Blaze says and drops under her so she can land on his back. “In Cloudsdale and such, you’d just have to fly from cloud to cloud.”

“Will I ever get stronger?” Feather asks, panting hard.

Blaze landed on a cloud and laughed, “Oh, most definitely. You get stronger and grow bigger every day. You’re building up your energy reserves slowly but surely.”

“I wonder how Candy and Cloudy are doing.” Feather muses, looking at her wings, preening them a little.

“Oh I’m sure the are fine. Velvet said she was just going to teach them some basic fundamentals of magic. She even got a puzzle for them to play with.” Blaze says, trying to sound as hopeful as he can.

“In other words she’s going to melt their horns? And I thought I had it rough.” Feather whimpers, “Oh poor things. We have to save them!”

Blaze laughs and hugs Feather. “They will be fine, they’re young. I’m sure Velvet won’t… melt their horns. Much.”

“But we can’t be the Cutie Mark Crusaders if the other two are brain dead unizombies.” Feather whines.

“Unizombies?” Blaze blinks.

“Yeah, we all watched a Walking Dead marathon. I don’t want them to turn into unizombies.” Feather says and pouts.

Blinking, Blaze just shakes his head. “You… are a nut job.”

***

Fleur is laughing so hard, tears are coming out of her eyes. She had fallen on the floor, unable to stay on the sofa. “Stop, stop, I’m gonna pee.”

“It’s not funny!” Jenny whines.

“Oh Celestia it is.” Fleur says, gasping, “Look first things first, crawl off that linoleum. Without hoof boots on, you can’t stand on that. Especially on just two legs.”

“What the heck are hoof boots?” Jenny says, crawling slowly out of the kitchen.

Lifting one hind leg straight up, Fleur points with a forehoof. “Those, rubber soled hoof guards that act like running shoes. Gives us grip on things like wood, tile and such.”

“Well why didn’t you tell me?” Jenny says, huffing as she wobbles, standing on her new hooves.

“I didn’t have time, you freaked out and ran into the kitchen.” Fleur says, “Then you slid right across the kitchen floor, fell on your tail, slammed into the oven…”

“I know, I know, you jerk. And you didn’t do anything.” Jenny huffs, crossing her arms.

“Yes I did, I recorded it all on my phone.” Fleur says, holding up her phone.

Jenny huffs softly and looks at Fleur, “And just why are you here then?”

“To watch over you, to make sure you don’t hurt yourself, go into depression, commit suicide or such. I’ve heard that happened to one of the ponies as they changed over near Lightning Dust’s colony. I’m here to help you understand the changes. In other words, to be a pony friend and help you as you rediscover who you always were.”

Blinking Jenny smiles and hugs Fleur tightly. “Thanks, this has been so hard.”

“Oh this is the easy part actually. Unicorn boot camp is hard.” Fleur says, “Velvet will get you using your magic with ease but you’ll feel totally wasted every night, like you’ve ran a marathon.”

“Is it really that bad?” Jenny says, sitting down.

“It is and it isn’t. She makes it so you always feel like you’ve accomplished something. She tries to make it fun, but its still a lot of work. The rewards though, learning to move things with your magic, being able to cook, clean, do day to day stuff comes second nature. It's wonderful.”

Looking up she rubs her horn nub a bit. “So um, do we fly commercial?”

“Nope, we are going to hop a military flight. Once you’re fully changed.”

***

Just to understand, there are different levels of boredom. These levels often very based on the person, their tolerance, and their energy levels. A child might not want to sit through a car ride quietly. A teenager might not want to play a video game about a person filing taxes.

Trying to keep Pinky or Rainbow Dash with their energy levels, in a small room with nothing to do but watch paint dry, that reaches a new height of boredom.

For Sanders, a person who has lived to fly almost his entire life, now with actual wings of his own for three whole days. He now has chance to fly like he has always dreamed of, on his own, unfettered by an aircraft. A chance to play in the clouds and sleep on a cloud bed, yet bound in a small room. Looking up at the birds and clouds just calling his name. It’s painful, simply painful for him.

He had reached the level of boredom equitable to a child with Attention Deficit Disorder, forced to listen to a lecture on applied thermal dynamics, given by Ben Stein. Actually, he had passed that level, after the ball he was bouncing off the wall had rolled out the door.

“Argh, this is torture!” The mare yells.

Stretching out her wing, she checks out her feathers. Making sure each feather is clean and smooth for flight, she has already preened twice today. She just needs something to do, anything. Anything to keep her active.

Walking in, a nurse swats Sanders nose lightly. “No. Lay still and no messing with your wings. You need rest.”

“Rest! I’m wide awake, I feel like I’ve had a dozen coffees, and a case of Red Bull.” Sanders whines and holds out a wing. “Besides, the wings are fine, take a look!”

The nurse shakes her head, “It doesn’t matter. You need to keep as still as possible. Doctor’s orders.”

“Come on, can’t I get out of bed for a little bit? I think I have to go to the bathroom soon.” Sanders says and looks at the bathroom.

“I’ll get a bed pan.” The nurse responds and walks over to the storage area.

“Argh, but the bathroom is right there!” Sanders says with a huff, “What's a pony got to do to use the bathroom around here?”

“Learn to sit and pee like a good mare?” The nurse says sternly.

“Mares can stand and pee, they just have to keep their tail out of the way, and watch where they aim their butts.” Sanders says and sticks her tongue out.

Walking over, the nurse puts down a nice tray of… some strange green slime, some orange chunks, a white mush with yellow and black bits in it, and a bowl of strange colored cubes, in a brown broth.

“Umm, now that I’ve seen this, when’s food being served?” Sanders huffs, as a pilot he made sure the ponies had proper food. This isn’t proper food.

“What do you expect, you just changed the doctors don’t want you on foods that will upset your stomach." The nurse says with a firm nod.

“I’ve been around enough first time changes. Can I just have some MRE-P’s? Please?” Sanders says, flattening her ears side to side and pouting.

“No. It’s healthy, easy to chew and swallow, hospital food for you. Eat up.” The nurse says.

***

Henry lets out a strange cross between a whinny and squeak as Sugarberry tackles him from behind. It is a strange sound to come from a full grown man. Rather ponyish.

“Hey, careful.” Henry says, looking back at Sugarberry as he lay face-first on the ground.

“Got you!” She giggles. Smiling brightly, she snuggles down on his back.

“Human back riding are we?” Henry says laughing.

“Giddy up?”

Laughing, Henry rolls over, “I was just heading to the clinic.”

“You’re one of the doctors at the clinic now?” Sugarberry smiles and lifts her head.

Blinking, Henry laughs, “Oh heck no, I’m sort of a nurse’s assistant at best. I help out, giving shots and such. Gives me a chance to learn more pony anatomy.”

“You should be like a doctor.” Sugarberry huffs as she hugs him.

“I’m a combat medic, I’m only EMT trained, not a doctor.” Henry says with a laugh as he booped her nose with his finger. “Besides, even if I was a human doctor, I still wouldn’t feel qualified to operate on ponies, silly.”

Pouting, Sugarberry hugs him tightly, “I know, I just think you can be so much more.”

“I’m not greedy. I have you, and that’s all I really need.” Henry says, rubbing his nose against hers.

Blinking, Sugarberry feels her cheeks and ears going red. Turning her ears quickly, she clears her throat. “Well I feel the same about you. I love you so much.”

Smiling, Henry ruffles behind her ears, “I love you too.”

“So what’s going on at the clinic?” Sugarberry asks.

“Oh I’m helping with this and that. Mostly things like vaccinations. I let the real doctors and vets handle everything else.” Henry says and rubs his nose against hers again.

“Can’t you teach them spells?” Sugarberry says, holding him tightly and nuzzling back.

“Doesn’t work that way. I don’t understand how and why my spells worked, so I can’t teach that. The best I can do is offer suggestions.” Henry says and looks around, “And… this time we’re being watched by ponies. We really need to stop laying down on the grass in public.”

“Well at least this time it's you that looks out of place, and not me.” Laughing, Sugarberry wiggles her tail.

“I don’t mind, you’re still my little pony, and I’ll be there, right by your side.” Henry says with a big smile.

*** McLean, Va ***

The reports had come across The Analyst’s desk. It isn’t an overtly busy day, so there is more than enough time to read through the file. The Africa desks are always busy. There’s always something going on, between terrorists, pirates, and warlords.

This, however, is troubling. Kenya has had a long history of buying from every country. From big dealers like China, Russia, USA, and Germany, to used equipment from Ukraine, Serbia, and even Australia. So seeing a contract from the Kenyan Airlines to buy four Russian made Superjets isn’t all that unexpected.

What is disturbing, however, is the flight plan. It calls for all four jets to land at an airfield on the border with Somalia. Rather than flying directly to the capital, they are scheduled to land at a relatively new airfield that had just been extended.

In the past, the CIA had used civilian marked airlines and privately owned planes to fly weapons into freedom fighter and rebel groups. If the Russian government was trying to supply rebels in Somalia, it could destabilize the region even worse.

Standing up, The Analyst walks over to the big board and looks at the map, “Sir, we’ve got a problem.”

Looking up, his supervisor stands up and walks over, “What’s up?”

“Sukhoi International is delivering some airliners to The Pride of Africa airline. The flight plan has the final destination as Jomo, but all four planes are scheduled to land at Mandera. The range of the planes is more than enough to go to Jomo directly.” Using the pointer, he holds up his hand, “Mandera’s right on the border.”

“Smuggling? Breach of the arms embargo?” his supervisor asks.

“I don’t know. I think we should put a drone out there to watch what’s going on. Any chance we could task some eyes in the sky for that time?”

The supervisor nods, “Yeah, not a problem, I’ll have a twenty-four-hour window for an RQ-170 to be there. I’ll also have the field office there check with local assets, have them look into things and see what they hear.”

***

“Fleur! Help!”

Looking over to Jenny’s room, Fleur gets up quickly, “Sea Swirl are you ok? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t move, help!” Sea Swirl cries.

Opening the door, Fleur sees Swirls tangled up on her sheets, she had managed to get herself rolled up, and now couldn’t get her front or hind legs free. With a soft smile, Fleur lifts the smaller unicorn up and unrolls her.

“Unicorn in a blanket, how cute.” Fleur says as she sets Sea Swirl down.

Blinking Swirl looks at her forelegs, “Hey, where are my hands?”

“Hands, where we’re going we won’t need any hands.” Fleur says and brings over a mirror to show Sea Swirl. “Welcome back.”

Looking at herself, she sighs, “And there’s no way for me to be human again?”

“Well there is, you can go through the gate and come back. The problem is, you won’t have your magic but will have your cutie mark.” Fleur says softly.

“And that’s a problem?” Swirl asks as she looks at her legs, trying to move them.

Fleur nods slowly, “It could be, if your natural talent is something magic based. Say you can control the water, you’d lose that but in ways feel the need to keep trying to do it.”

“But what if I don’t like my special talent?” Swirl asks, looking back at her cutie mark.

Fleur has to smile, “Foals and ponies have struggled with that since the first marks appeared. What if I get something I don’t like, what if it doesn’t suit me? The problem is, it never happens. Your talent is always who you are and what you love.”

Fleur looks down at Swirl, “The big thing is the loss of magic. Trust me, once you get used to using magic, you’ll end up wondering what you ever did without it. Sort of like a pegasus, once they get used to flying, they never want to give it up.”

“What about Earth ponies?”

***

“HUP HUP HUP!” Ah-Pee calls out loudly and clearly.

“This is NOT what I meant.” Goldie moans as she runs beside the other earth ponies.

Anthony can’t help but laugh, “You wanted an Earth Pony Boot Camp. Apparently the supervisors agreed with your request.”

“I hate you, you realize that don’t you?” Goldie growls as she continues to run with the other ponies.

“If’n Ya’ll have enough energy to talk, ya’ll have enough energy to run harder!” Ah-Pee calls out, a huge smile on her face.

“How is this helping us!” Suri whines.

“Us earth ponies are about strength, stamina, endurance. We are the backbones of Equestrai!” Ah-Pee says, keeping the pace of the herd. “If’n you can’t handle a simple ten mile run, how are you supposed to do things like the Running of The Leaves?”

“Argh!” Goldie yells, “I’m gonna kill you Anthony.”

“Cobbler, shake that tail, yer give’n the Apple family a bad name!” Ah-Pee says, looking over her shoulder as she runs around the track. The thunder of hooves ringing out loud and clear.

There are nearly a dozen earth ponies in the group. Ah-Pee has been teaching unicorns and pegasi hoof care and the basics of being a pony. So now it’s her turn to run an earth pony boot camp.

“Were going to learn about buckin, about ridin, about pullin wagons, about saddlebags, about how to use your hooves.” Ah-Pee calls out.

“Why would I want to pull a wagon?” Goldie says, panting.

Ah-Pee looks over her shoulder, “Cuz its easier then carrying a piano on yer back. We can haul tons, and I mean thousands of pounds of stuff, at once. And its easer and cheaper then a car or cab. If you want to haul a load of groceries five measly blocks are you gonna call cab? Or load it into a small wagon and pull it.”

Goldie grumbled, “I’ll strap it to Anthony’s back and whip him all the way home.” Then she shoots an evil look at Anthony, who is sitting on a bench, eating doughnuts and drinking coffee.

Ah-Pee laughs, “Oh you don’t even know the fun of it. Our legs can shatter wood or stone. We need to learn how to control that. One mistake and we can kick a can through a person by accident.” Her ears flatten for a moment, then she shakes her head quickly, “So this will be about learning your bodies limits and controlling them.”

“Why are you even here Anthony?” Goldie yells.

“Cuz Fleur is going to be here in a day with Sea Swirl. Swirls going through Unicorn boot camp and learning magic.” Anthony calls back, “Looking good, girl. Keep those legs going!”

Patches is panting hard, but she’s keeping pace with the group, she’s younger than the other mares and newer to the change. Border Security had let her come to Dust’s farm as asylum after her Mexican imprisonment, then when Ah Pee was starting her earth pony boot camp, she asked to be allowed to go, since it was in the fledgling pony town. She’s regretting the decision a little, her legs hurt, but there is a freedom about this that she’s finding that she loves.

***

Opening one eye, the mare looks around. It’s quiet. Too quiet. Somewhere, it is lurking. Somewhere it’s laying in wait for the mare to try and move and she knows it. It’s the spawn of Tartarus. Its evil incarnate.

Slowly, the mare makes her move. As silently as she can, she moves her legs. Letting them slowly slide down to the ground as she slides her body out from under cover. Inch by inch, she moves forward in the darkness. Slowly, she moves one hind leg, then the other. Once free of her cover, she slowly looks around, her eyes locking on the flicking light ahead of her.

She will be free of her captor, she will escape.

Only problem is, Sanders still hadn’t practiced walking as a pony yet. Also, hooves on the smooth hospital floors as a starting place is a bad combination. Quickly she loses her balance and falls to the ground with a clatter.

In response, the nurse opens the door, looking sternly at the mare, “What did I say? See you can’t even stand.”

“That’s because I haven’t had my walking practice, it takes every pony a good ten minutes to remember or learn how to walk again.” Sanders says with a huff, “And these floors are slippery.”

“Nope, no walking, no running, and especially no flying.” Looking over her shoulder, the nurse calls out, “Orderly, help Lt. Sanders back into bed.”

“Darn legs, you will work for me. Next time.”

***

I do my best to look stern. Standing proud and true, I trot around the unicorn, looking her over. I take note of her horn, her mane and tail. I look at her colors and her cutie mark. “And this is what they are sending me to train these days?” I say loudly, getting a ears to flatten and tail to tuck underneath rears.

Looking over my shoulder at Blaze I shake my head, “Foals! I’m being sent foals.”

“Hey, I’m not a foal.” Sea Swirl says defiantly, “And I do remember you from the attack on the Corvalis.”

Looking over at Blaze I smile, “Wow at least she didn’t say…”

“And from the educational videos.” Swirl adds.

“ARGH!” I just droop. “I swear I regret ever getting talked into doing those.”

Laughing, Blaze puts a wing over me, “It’s okay, I think you looked cute in them.”

“Actually they do help a lot, especially with those of us who haven’t seen the My Little Pony series.” Sea Swirl says, “It’s not like I’m an important character in them.”

Cookie giggles, “Oh don’t say that, you’re Sea Swirl, you were in tons of episodes.”

“More than me.” I say and giggle, “Come on look at me, I’m mostly just known as the mom of Sparkle and Armor.”

Blaze nods, “But really, the show only covered a small portion of our lives. We are so much more than just the characters shown.”

“We know that Sea Swirl was born in Canterlot, chose to move to Ponyville to be with her friends, but still when ever she could, she took the train out to the sea.” I say. “Even from that we know she’s a good friend, loving, trusting, well educated, and of course, loves the ocean but is willing to semi-ignore her calling just to be with those she cares about.”

Fleur looks down at Sea Swirl and hugs her with her neck. “Now you get a chance to make some pony friends, learn about your magic, and find out who you are.”

“Is magic really that hard?” Sea Swirl asks me.

“I think the best way of describing things is this. Picture a person after a car accident. They are in traction for months, casts on their legs. Then after all of that, they have to learn to walk again. Just like learning to walk as a pony took time, learning magic again will take time. It will be exhausting, it might hurt a little, but your magic, your horn, your brain has been in a twenty-five year cast.” I say and cross my horn with hers, “Slowly but surely you will remember and learn how to do things again.”

“And at the same time you’ll find friendships.” Cookie says, “Find you like to associate with ponies.”

Sea Swirl looks up at Fleur, then back to me, smiling wide, “So where do we start?”

“Right now, with food and drink. Magic requires energy, so I want to make sure you’re well filled, and have lots of fluids.” Smiling, I nod at Cookie, “Come on, let’s bring her for her first unicorn meal.”

*** McLean, Va ***

“Well? What have we got?” The CIA Supervisor asks.

Putting the pictures from the drone up on the big screen, The Analyst leans back in his chair and huffs. “The planes touched down about an hour ago, unloaded goods into six safari trucks, took on fuel and took off again.”

“What kind of goods?”

“Don’t know, it was wrapped shipping pallets. Four per truck, that’s twenty-six total. The trucks headed across into Somalia about half an hour ago. “

“The drone?”

“It’s following the convoy, holding at thirty thousand feet, nothing will see it, but its low enough to keep track of the vehicles through the dust, as well as get facial recognition on anyone around it.”

The supervisor shakes his head, “Ground sources were sketchy at best. The trucks are contracted from a local agency. The drivers are all locals, certified to drive across border. They were told to drive to a set of GPS coordinates, stop, and then place marks on the ground.”

“There are two rebel groups in the area, but rebel activity has dropped further east due to…” The Analyst blinks.

“The dragon.” The supervisor says, “Could this be about that monster and the ponies?”

“Maybe, right now I’ll keep watching and call if anything changes or happens.” The Analyst says, shaking his head. “What is the Russian Government up to?”

***

“Hi sis!” White Lighting says as she lands beside Jet Stream, “Hey Drizzle, you got the invites too?”

Both girls nod, then look up and laugh as they watch more pegasi landing.

“I think we all did.” Drizzle says and puts a wing over Streams protectively.

“So what’s this about?” Streams asks.

White Lighting shakes her head, “Not sure, but they said they wanted our opinion on something.”

Looking up at the pizzeria the girls smiled brightly, Brother Pizza here had done so much to make the pegasi feel at home. They know that sending out invites to the 520th would have lots of pegasi showing up. The squadron came here after long workdays.

Opening the door, the owner, who is an older man of English American descent smiles, “Welcome mares and gentle colts, we’ve decided to do something to honor the Service Ponies.”

Turning, he holds the door open for the ponies as they walk inside. Everything looks the same between the ovens, the bar, and the tables, except for the far end, where a ramp had been put in, replacing an older stairwell. The owner’s daughter smiles, motioning for the ponies to head down the ramp.

Looking at Drizzle, Streams walks over and looks down, the ramp is set at a slightly steeper angle than normal for wheelchairs, but seemed to be friendly for ponies to walk up and down safely. There is even “slide guards” every few steps to prevent a pony from slipping.

At the bottom, it opens up into a new fully finished basement of the restaurant. The staff has a few normal benches and tables down here, as well as a few low tables. A large chunk of the floor has been left open, however, with soft carpeting and pillows for ponies to lounge and rest. A karaoke machine has been added, as well as some video games, but the dominating feature is a truly massive 95-inch TV.

Smiling, the owner’s daughter steps up on the stage, “We wanted a place set aside that you could come and relax. To sing and laugh, to watch movies, and enjoy each others company. You don’t need to feel pressured to come down here, or feel like your hiding from our less pony customers. At the same time though, we felt you deserved a place you could get the food you love, with the friends you’ve come to have.”

Walking down the ramp, the owner smiles as the room continues to be filled up with ponies, “And to kick things off. We contacted Warner Brothers, and have a very special event for all of you here. J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, part one, and part two. We then cut a deal with them, thanks to friends in various law enforcement departments, and they have given us a copy of… Part three which is showing in theaters now. A six-hour movie marathon. For those that want to stay and watch.”

Streams looks at Drizzle, then bounds over, laying on the plush carpeting in front of the TV. Nodding, Drizzle follows. Soon several mares, including White Lighting are cuddled up in a line, some using pillows, others using each other in front of the TV, eyes wide. Ears twitching.

“Well if you approve, would any of you like to order?” The owner’s daughter asks holding her tablet in her hand.

82: Magic of Fun

Lt. Sanders practices air-walking, trying to figure out the pattern for moving the legs by kicking them in the air. He has to get used to this body, if he can’t walk, there is no way he is going to fly. After a few moments he hears a beeping sound. Grumbling, he looks at the monitor that had come undone. Sanders knows what it means. It’s like an evil spell, like some dark magic, and it would summon….

The nurse walks in, looking at Sanders sternly, “Okay, why are you so intent on trying to get out of bed?”

“I need to.” Sanders says, almost with a whine. “I just wanna try flying.”

“Pilots, all the same.” The nurse huffs as she re-attaches the monitor to Sanders’ foreleg.

“No, you don’t understand, its not some macho need, its not some thrill, it’s almost like its calling to me.” Shaking her head, Sanders grumps. She looks at the nurse, perhaps some more information would be helpful.

“My dad came from Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania. It was a Mennonite community, but dad left it when he met mom.” Looking at a picture of her parents, Sanders smiles.

“While dad was a traditionalist, mom’s a free spirit. Dad didn’t want her working, but she insisted, working part time in a book store. To dad, women should stay at home and raise the children.” Chuckling and looking at her wing, Sanders shakes her head, “Nope, I wouldn’t stay at home either.”

“Mom and dad moved to Altoona, well, the outskirts of Altoona. Dad worked as a carpenter, he specialized in flooring. So he had lots of jobs opportunities there.” Shaking his head, Sanders giggled, “We never had much money, mom used to joke around, saying that they couldn’t afford to get me or my sister a car, but they might be able to get us horses. My sister loved that idea.”

She sighs softly, “My sister, somewhat of a special needs girl, she’s twenty now. She has epilepsy, but she’s on meds, so it's under control. She loves horses, she would flip if she saw me like this. Me, I was never really a big horse person. The stallions kept biting me. Mares were fine though, especially younger fillies. They would hang round with me, but older ones often pushed me around when I was in the stables. Sis was a natural with them though. She’s always been a strong rider.”

“Me, on the other hand, I always dreamed of the sky. I grew up on movies like The Red Baron, Red Tails, and Flyboys. I went to school for my Bachelors degree in meteorology. I figured it would be a good fall back if I didn’t make it as a pilot.” Chuckling, “Drawn to the clouds.”

“Since I couldn’t afford piloting school, I joined the military. It just seemed like the best step. I did the ROTC Air Force program while at Penn State. I passed my initial flight training, that was so easy. Then I did my pilots course. Fifty-two weeks of fun.” Looking in the mirror, she smiles, “I was certified at first in the F-35. They had me doing missions against terrorist groups in Africa.”

Shaking her head, she sighs, “The speed, the g-forces, were great and all, being shot at wasn’t bad since we knew how to evade. But the flights were always so short. So I got into transport piloting. First the big transports, then the little ones. I could live, eat, and sleep in the clouds.”

Looking back at her wing she huffs, “I want to try these out so bad.”

The nurse shakes her head, “Another day, doctor’s orders.” And as if to make her point, she gets a set of straps and straps the filly’s hind legs down with buckles, there is no way hooves would ever undo those.

***

It’s dawn, the sun is just coming up over the forests and hills. The light is casting long multi-colored streams across the snow. The air is fresh and crisp, and the temperature is just about freezing.

Spreading her wings as wide a she can, Spitfire rocks side to side as she dives down towards the river. Feeling the pure joy of flying she just starts to sing, “Apple and pear trees were a-blooming,”

Letting her hooves dip into the mists above the water, creating vortices and waves, she levels out, skimming just feet above the river surface, only her hooves touching the mist as she streaks along, “Mist (was) creeping on the river.”

Inhaling deeply, Spitfire lets her wings brush the mists on a down stroke, causing valleys and banks to form in the mist, “Katyusha set out on the banks, On the steep and lofty bank.”

Laughing, a brown griffin with tan head and dark brown wings drops in beside her, joining in the song.

“She was walking, singing a song,” Naomi calls out, holding her head high, “About a grey steppe eagle.”

Looking to her side, Spitfire smiles brightly and nods.

Continuing to sing, Naomi flaps her powerful wings, sending waves through the mist, “About her true love, whose letters she was keeping.”

Dropping in on the other side of Spitfire, a second griffin giggles. Snow white with dark grey wings, Galina joined in, singing and looking across at Naomi, “Oh you song! Little song of a maiden…”

Pulling up hard, all three sing in harmony as they climb, “Head for the bright sun. And reach for the soldier on the far-away border, Along with greetings from Katyusha.”

***

Flying in lazy circles, Kara watches the convoy closely, they are Kenyan trucks, not the type the raiders and rebels used, but still driven by humans. They had come to a stop about twelve miles from the valley, and there seems to be an argument.

They are armed, but not like the military or rebels, only a few of them had guns and they are obviously hunting rifles. Narrowing her eyes, she muses, “Poachers? Or are they going to try and kill a zebra or such?”

“I don’t know.” Nightshade says, keeping pace with the dragon, looking down. “They could be lost.”

One of the men walks out and starts digging in the dirt.

“Or looking for a bathroom.” Kara chuckles.

Circling slowly, Kara watches as they started painting on the ground, the pink standing out against the darker brown of the dirt. One by one they completed each of the symbols, easily visible from miles away. To the keen eyes of a dragon or pegasus…

Kara’s wings freeze. She locks herself into a glide as she stares at the pattern. She knows it, she recognizes it. She knows exactly what it means. And she doesn’t know why they had chosen that, but she knows what it means.

Looking at Kara, Nightshade blinks, “Are those…”

“They’re friendly!” Arcing over, Kara dives, heading down for the trucks.

Blinking, Nightshade dives after the dragon, she doesn’t understand why these shapes would create such a reaction in Kara, but what ever the reason was, the dragon trusted it, “Kara! Watch out for the….”

Nightshades call wasn’t loud enough, wasn’t quick enough. The dragon had seen it and adjusted her dive, but it wasn’t quite enough… whipping past the black delta winged drone, her tail clips the leading edge of the wing sending the drone spiraling down.

Looking over her shoulder, she sees the drones wing break off as it spins down towards the ground. “Stay out of my airspace!” She roars, then pulls out of her drive, slamming to the ground in front of the terrified humans.

The leader of the group steps forward slowly, obviously trembling. He had been assured this was safe, but seeing the enormous dragon standing before him, he’s still terrified, “Noble one, we come with supplies to help your colony. We will leave them here if you want, or bring them further.”

“Who sent this?” Kira asks looking at the trucks.

“I was told to say, The Dragon Spike.” The man says and lowers his head.

“ANOTHER DRAGON! Here on Earth?!” She shouts.

***

“Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds? Really? Are you serious?”

Lowering the book so her eyes are just peeking over the top, Sanders looks at the pegasus chuckling in front of her. “And here I thought Rainbow Dash was a girl.”

“I’m Rainbow Blaze, her dad. Corporal, US Army Rangers.” And clicks his hooves once, standing at attention.

“I know, I remember. So what brings you here?” Sanders says, laying the book on her belly.

“Oh came to check up on you, offer condolences for the crash.” He flicks his ears several times, looking at Sanders, “Wow, when Mindy messes up a spell she really messes one up.” Blaze chuckles.

Shaking her head, Sanders smiles, “She cast transformation into an Amazon Fashion model pegasus. Look at these wings.”

Chuckling, Blaze shakes his head, “Yeah, I see, blank flank?”

“Yep blank flank,” Sanders says, moving his blankets so Blaze can see the hip.

“So what is with the book?” Blaze asks, chuckling.

“The evil, evil, nurse won’t let me out of bed. She even strapped my legs down so I don’t move as much.” Sanders huffs.

“Yep, she said I can’t let you free.” Blaze says, smiling, “So how are you feeling? How are you holding out given the change?”

“This is going to sound stupid but, I’m more frustrated I can’t fly than anything else. Laying here, it feels like I just have to get up and get into the sky to feel better.” Sanders says and huffs again.

Blaze chuckles, “Well I brought you a care package.”

“Food!?” Perking her ears, Sanders looked so hopeful.

“Yes I brought food, I know this hospital, they have NO idea what healthy food is for ponies. But I also brought you this.” Stepping out into the hallway Blaze chuckles as he pushes a small tightly packed cloud into the room. “I figured a…”

“A FLUFFY!” She squeals. “Wow, where did that come from?”

Laughing, Blaze shakes his head, “Your inner pegasus is hanging out for all to see.”

“Actually I’m a mare, so it's hanging in.” Sanders giggles, “Okay, I’m adapting to mare way too easily. Lucky this is only three days, or I just might suffer an identity crisis.”

“Oh? Finding yourself attracted to stallions?” Blaze says smiling and noses the cloud to Sanders.

“What ever happened to Don’t ask Don’t tell.” Sanders says, laughing.

“It was repealed.” Blaze snickers, “And I’m not sure how it would apply with ponies anyway.”

“I still shouldn’t have to tell.” Sanders says with a smile, “Now, how do I get on my fluffy.” Reaching over he pokes it a few times then strokes it, “So soft…”

“Let me help you.” Blaze says as he helps the mare onto the cloud. Tilting his head, he looks at her wings and body as he helps her. Something about her reminds him of something, but he isn’t sure what.

“Oh this is so nice.” Sanders wraps her forelegs around part of the cloud, pulling into a pillow and snuggling into it. “This is so much better than the bed.”

“Yep.” Blaze smiles and pulls the cover over the mare, then trots out into the hall. He enters the room again, wheeling in a selection of food, including alfalfa bits, twice fried banana chips, carrots, and several apples. “And this should help with your digestion, appetite, and strength.

“Aww no fish?” Sanders says, looking at the food. “I’ve been craving salmon stuffed Portobello mushrooms, covered in Parmesan cheese. Laying her head on her side she finds herself drooling into the cloud.

“Oh that will take about half an hour. Wait here, dig in to this, and I’ll get your order.” Looking over his shoulder he chuckles, “Need anything else? Tail bow? Dress? Hat?”

“Oh har har, I’m not that far gone, and remember this is only for two more days. I so want to go flying.” Sanders says, smiling.

“Yep, still Mindy said to tease you a bit.” Blaze says and turns, heading out.

“Oh yes, pick on the poor crippled pilot.” Looking over her shoulder she wiggles her tail lightly. “Tail ribbon? Large pink bow?” Shaking her head vigorously, she looks down and starts in on the Alfalfa Bits. She always wondered what they tasted like.

*** McLean, Va ***

“What happened?” The Deputy Director blinks, looking at the analyst.

“The drone’s gone unresponsive, just before we lost control, its cameras caught a clip of the dragon.” The controller says.

Shaking his head, the analyst blinks. “The dragon seems to be very territorial. It attacks anything it perceives as a threat around its home.”

“We are the United States of America. The greatest nation on any world. Does some dragon think it can destroy multi-million dollar US property and not have repercussions?” The director says sternly.

“Looks like she just did.” The analyst says with a snicker, then he frantically looks at the Deputy Director and clears his throat. “Can you play back the ground footages of the symbols they drew?”

Rewinding the footage, the drone controller leans back, looking over his shoulder. “That what you wanted to see?”

The director and supervisor both look to the analyst, “Well what does it mean?”

The analyst blinked, “I… Have no idea. Why would that mean anything to a dragon, or anyone for that matter?”

“Well earn your paycheck and find out.” The Supervisor says sternly.

“Three pink butterflies in a staggered pattern. It’s got to mean something.” The analyst says, shaking his head.

***

“How long are you staying Fleur?” I ask, smiling.

“Until Jenny, I mean Sea Swirl is settled in. Thanks for this, Velvet.” Fleur says and lays her head over my back.

“For what? You know I love helping out these newbies. Even if I’m not a teacher.” I say and stretch out on the pillows.

“Hey, you’re a great teacher.” Cookie says as she lies upside down, her forelegs curled.

Ballad lays her cheek against Cookies side as she watches the TV. The movie had come out in the theaters years ago, but it’s still a cult classic. The Disney channel liked playing it a few times a year, starting a year ago.

Sugarberry lay on her side with both Cookie's head and my head on her back. Ponies tend to like physical contact more than humans in some ways. Laying together leaning against one another. Especially during movies. It just seems natural.

Ah-Pee giggles as she sticks her muzzle between Sugarberries neck and forelegs, peeking out under her to watch.

“I don’t know why I’m so social these days.” Cookie says, “I just keep feeling like I want to snuggle or be snuggled.”

Several of the girls giggle.

“It’s biology.” Ah-Pee says, glancing up at the mare, “It’s the same reason the boys are avoiding you.”

“Huh? There not… why would they be avoiding me?” Cookie says, confused.

“Blaze has been keeping his distance a bit, so have the other stallions.” I say softly, “Don’t worry, its not your fault.”

“Why?” Cookie asks, looking around, “Is something wrong with me?”

“No hun, you’re just in heat.” I say looking at her with a smile.

“In heat?!?!?!” Cookie squeaks, lifting her head quickly.

“Yep, your giving of a scent that excites boys. So the boys are keeping their distance, so as not to embarrass you, or themselves.” Fleur says with a giggle.

“Don’t worry, it happens to all of us.” Ballad says softly, “Just part of being a mare.”

“But but but, I can’t be.” Cookie says in a panic. Looking around, her ears shoot up and her tail starts flicking rapidly.

“Calm down,” Fleur says with a bit of a giggle, “It’s part of being who you are. It’s normal.”

Blinking Sea Swirl looks at Fleur. “Umm, will I go into heat?” She asks almost timidly.

***

Rolling onto her back she moans softly, spreading her wings out on the cloud. She is in pure heaven in a way she is completely unable to describe. The cloud cushions her wings and forms to her back perfectly. Crossing her hind legs at the cannon, she sighs, “Oh Celestia, that was amazing.”

“I did good huh?” Blaze says, smiling.

Nodding slowly, she feels the warmth settling in her belly. “You did great, that was wonderful. That was the best I’ve ever had.”

“See, us stallions are useful for some things.” Blaze laughs.

Hanging her head upside down on the cloud to look at Blaze, Sanders sighs, “Do you do that for your girlfriend?”

“Oh yes, she loves it too.” Blaze says and strikes a pose, looking proud. “She compliments me every time too.”

“Wow, I feel so full and content.” Sanders says with a little giggle.

Blaze chuckles softly, “I bet there are pegasi out there making a living as delivery ponies.”

“Oh yeah, ignore traffic, ignore roads, ignore everything just take off from the store, and land at the location. Amazon drones, eat your heart out.” Sanders said and rubs her tummy.

“Okay, I have got to ask, what’s with the accent?”

Blinking, Sanders tilts her head, “Accent? Honestly I sound normal to me, do I actually have an accent?”

Blinking Blaze just shakes his head, “Yes, but most ponies don’t notice their voice change. Picking up accents or changing speech patterns though, only happens if you’re a… well… real pony.”

“But I am a real pony, see? I have hooves and wings.” Sanders says, lifting a wing and looking innocent.

“Oh you know perfectly well what I mean.” Blaze laughs.

“Okay we are talking about magic here. Maybe with the change of the vocal cords, my subconscious mind is relating the voice to a character its heard before, say, on Doctor Who, and since it sounds like it, its giving me the accent.” Sanders says and looks innocent again, “Allons-Y”

“Okay so we’ll blame it on the spell too.” Blaze chuckles, “When Mindy messes up a spell she does it big time.”

***

“Cutie Mark Crusader Pageant winners!” Feather calls out.

“No, no on so many levels no.” Candy calls out firmly.

“Why not?” Feather whines, “I always wanted to try.”

“First,” Candy says, holding up one hoof, “We aren’t foals, okay, we were foals when we were changed, but we grew up for twenty-five years on Earth.”

“Second,” Candy says, holding up a second hoof, “We aren’t human children and these contests are for human children.”

“Third,” Candy says, a third white hoof comes up, causing Feather to blink, “I’m not female anymore, I’m a colt, so I’m not eligible for princess.”

“Fourth,” Candy says with the fourth white hoof coming up, “We would need parents or guardians’ permission and overseeing of us at the pageant by their rules, and I doubt Blaze or Velvet would go along with this.”

Leaning to her side Feather looks at Cloudy, holding out two hooves and wrapping them on either side of her brother. “That’s cheating.”

“What?” Candy blinks innocently.

“Using your sister to pull an Octapinkie trick.” Feather says and huffs.

Cloudy pokes her head over Candy’s shoulder. “Well if you got ‘em, use ‘em.”

“Oh that’s a great idea.” Feather says and smiles.

“Oh oh, what now?” Cloudy asks, tilting her head.

“Well, we can’t be the only foals here or the only blank flanks. So lets do a foal beauty pageant. Find out who’s the cutest foals on the farm.” Feather says with a smile. “Someone’s bound to get a tiara cutie mark.”

“Well I always wondered what Diamond Tiara did for her mark.” Candy says.

“Great, lets get this pageant together!”

***

“Dustie? Dustie! Oh, there you are.” Mindy pokes her head around the corner, looking into Lightning Dust’s bedroom.

Trotting up she swishes her tail, nosing Dust, “I’ve got to make a quick trip to Nellis Air Force Base.”

With a muffled grunt, Dust turns her head away, hiding her muzzle a bit under her pillow.

“A pilot friend of mine. He flies ponies all over the place for the air force, he’s a real cad. He was in a plane crash. A small group of pegasi flew right across a military runway while he was trying to land… rather than crash into them, or risk other lives, he bellied in his plane… totally pancaked.” Mindy says, making a splat motion with her hoof.

Dust twitches an ear and sighs.

“The guy has helped so many ponies, but he had massive burns and spinal injury. Doctors didn’t expect him to survive. It’s not like he was a pegasus, that can bounce back from crashes like that.” She says, giggling. “So I came up with the brilliant idea… I turned him into a pegasus!”

Turning her head a little, Dust half looks at Mindy with one eye.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on him, or well, her. Dr. Ray and I sorta screwed up the spell.” Giggling, Mindy shakes her head, “He ended up as a mare, her wings are a little too long, and I think I got some crystal pony mixed up in the spell to cuz her eyes look like gems.” Laughing, Mindy shakes her head, “This guy though, total cut up for humor. He’s really suffering though at being a pegasus.”

“Why?” Dust says sadly.

“Oh he gets turned into a female pony and all he wants to do is go for a fly.” Mindy says, giggling, “You have got to meet her.”

Looking away Dust sighs, “Bring her here then.”

“Can’t. The evil hospital is being a pain. Apparently he, she, tried to escape a few times already. Sneak out of bed. She can’t stand being stuck in bed when all she wants to do is fly. Says its like a constant itch… like the sky is calling to her. I don’t know what she means but, the nurses strapped her down so she won’t hurt herself.”

“What about the pegasi that caused the crash?” Dust says, looking up at Mindy.

“Still looking for them, they didn’t even stop, they just kept on flying.” Mindy shakes her head, “Hey wanna join me?”

“Join you?” Dust says very softly, looking up.

“Yep, visiting the poor guy. Just don’t laugh at how silly she looks.” Mindy says with a smile.

“I’d rather just stay here and rest.” Dust says with a sigh.

Laughing, Mindy nuzzled Dust, “Okay, if you want, I just don’t know how to talk to her. As a human she likes to sleep in the plane in the air. Seriously what kind of a person prefers to live in the air? I just don’t know how to talk to her.”

“A pegasus.” Dust mumbles.

“Pardon?” Mindy stops and tilts her head.

Looking up again, Dust shakes her head, “A pegasus, you know perfectly well.”

“And all he or she cares about is getting into the air, I don’t even know if she’ll be able to fly with the wings she’s got. She might need a coach.” Mindy says. She cocks her head to the side, “Irony had you on your hooves a couple of days ago. I know you can come. I’ve seen you walk.”

“It hurts.”

Mindy lets some tears leak from her eyes, “I know it hurts, Dustie. But we’ve got to help her. Please?”

“Ugh, fine. If she needs help.” Dust said and pushes herself out of bed.

83: Magic of Flight

Lt. Sanders lies comfortably on her fluffy. The nurse has consented to letting her at least be allowed to lay on the cloud instead of on the bed. Glancing down at her leg, she sighs and gives it a little tug. The straps hold tight. While she can lay on her fluffy, she still has that one leg strapped to the bed. There’s no escaping to go flying.

Mindy bounds in, pogo hopping across the room. “A cloud? Really? Just how lazy are pegasi?”

“How much lazy do you got, balloon-butt? Naw, I want to fly, but.” Tugging at her leg strap she sighs, “I feel like I’m under house arrest. I don’t want to miss out on flying, but I only have, like, a day left.” Curling her legs over the edge of her cloud she pulls more of the cloud matter under her chin and snuggles down into it.

“I’d like you to meet…” Mindy blinks and looks around. Then she rolls her eyes and grumbles, “Oye one moment.”

“Hi there, Oye One Moment, nice to meet you.” Sanders says, smiling.

Stepping out into the hall, Mindy turns and pushes Dust into the room, “You’re such a slowpoke, lazy bones.” Mindy gripes at the turquoise pegasus.

Sanders tilts her head slightly, letting her multi-colored mane drift and curl to the side. The dark green of her mane shading an eye, while the lighter green an browns bracket her face, and the light blue strand curling around her cheek. This really causes her face to stand out over the base yellow orange body hair.

Dust blinks and sits down, looking at Sanders. A mix of shock and a memory fighting to come from the back of her mind. She sits there, just looking at Sanders eyes, finally she shakes her head softly, “Mindy… Undo that leg restraint. Now!” She says with finality.

Giggling, Mindy lights her horn and the restraint falls off, “There you go.”

Standing up, Dust walks over to Sanders, she flaps her ineffectual wings to hop onto the cloud. Sanders slides over, making room for the mare bulling her way onto the cloud. Then Dust looks her over, checking out the injuries. While Sanders is mostly healed, she’s still showing a few light injuries left after the plane crash. Carefully, Dust checks Sanders back, legs and wings. Having worked in the Wonderbolts, she had seen her fare share of crashes. She had also been expected to decide if ponies were suitable to fly again. The base surgeon would clear them, but it was always up to the wing commanders to decide in the end.

Stopping again, Dust looks into Sanders eyes. She looks for a long time at multifaceted, emerald green eyes. The way they catch the light and sparkle brilliantly. Closing her own eyes, Dust shakes her head, trying to clear a fog.

“Yeah, we screwed up a bit on the eyes. We had a crystal pony helping us, I think some of the crystal magic got her eyes.” Mindy says and scuffs a hoof.

“No… you didn’t.” Dust blinks and speaks slowly, “That’s how they looked I think.”

“Who looked?” Sanders asks.

“I can’t remember. And its going to drive me crazy.” Dust said and huffed looking at Mindy Sternly. “One day left?”

“Yep, sorry it took a bunch of us to do this, and it should wear off tomorrow.” Mindy says.

“Well then, that gives us a few hours to train!” Dust says and turns to the door, “Up and at’ ‘em cadet!”

Smiling brightly Sanders hops off her fluffy, “Yes Ma’am!”

The nurse walks into the room, blinking, “And what do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking her out of here. She needs exercise and rehabilitation.” Dust says sternly to the nurse, “She needs to fly, to get into the air and get her magic flowing to finish speeding the healing. And that can’t be done tied to a bed.”

“I’ll have to check with the doctor.” The nurse says.

“Good, do that, I’ll be outside with her.” Dust growls firmly, leaving no doubt that she is in charge.

Trotting by, Sanders looks up at the nurse and sticks her tongue out, then she prances happily down the hall after Dust, she flicks her tail side to side showing all of her excitement.

Laughing, Mindy pulls up the rear and looks up at the nurse, “You heard her, go check with the doctor.” A moment later Mindy starts pogo hopping down the hall to catch up to Sanders. “Ya know, you seem to complain the least of any pony I met.”

“What do you mean?” Sanders says, looking at Mindy. Dust’s ears flick back as she listens.

“Well no whining about being naked, no worrying about being a female.” Mindy says, getting a huff from Dust.

Tilting her head, Sanders shrugs. “I just want to fly. Something I’ve wanted, or needed, all my life. Being naked, I’m a pony. Being female, I guess it’s the spell but it feels normal and natural. Nothing stands out as out of place.”

“Really?” Mindy blinks.

“Really, it just feels like me, like its my body. I don’t notice anything wrong or out of the ordinary.” Shrugging her wings, Sanders laughs, “Though walking took practice. I’m just comfortable. It’s… well it’s like waking up from a dream and you’re not sure what’s real and what isn’t. I guess that’s the way the spell worked.”

Dust freezes and looks back at Sanders for a long moment. Blinking a bit, she looks at the mare sternly, “Hup, hup, hup.”

Giggling, Sanders picks up the pace. Just outside the front door of the hospital is a small grassy area with some trees and a statue. It’s under two hundred feet by about fifty, but it has enough room for some basic flight training.

“Now then, lets see how much control you have over those wings.” Dust says, “Match my poses, see if you can move your wings properly to fly.”

Spreading her wings wide and high, Dust watches Sanders intently. Making sure each movement, each and every muscle is responding as it should. Walking around Sanders slowly, she occasionally adjusts the pose.

“There you go, now let’s get you doing some short flights.” Dust says.

Sanders smiles brightly and follows the instructions from the other pegasus. Soon she’s doing short flights of only about ten or twenty feet at a time. It isn’t high, it isn’t long, but she is doing it, she is flying. Better than the Wright Flyer.

“This is great!” Sanders says happily as she lands, turns and flies back. Simple back and forth flights, she is like a foal at basic flight school.

Dust can’t help but smile and shake her head. The pure joy Sanders has with even these short flights. The foal like wonder. The excitement. It touches her inside, makes her smile even more genuine, not one put up to make the family happy.

“Pony Air two offering non stop flights up to fifty feet. We may not be fast, but we are friendly.” She lands again, then trots over and nuzzles Dust, getting a blush from the turquoise pegasus.

She giggles and nuzzles Dust’s wing, getting a flinch from her, she pulls her wings tightly to her sides, “Sorry still very sore and tender.”

“Yep, I know.” She huffs, “My back’s killing me, my legs hurt, my sides hurt… but who cares. I’m living my greatest dream, to fly under my own power.” Sanders says bouncing on the spot.

***

Nicaragua. The country still bears the scars of decades of US funded terrorists such as the Contra rebels and the drug trade. There is always a risk in Nicaragua. Especially for three little ponies.

The larger crossings are well inspected with lots of people and military personal. There are smaller crossings, though those have their own risks. Not just from the guards but from the criminals who use them.

Their choices are limited though, they have to cross into, and through, Nicaragua.

“Are we there yet?” Sunny asks, swinging her hooves against the bed.

“Very funny, we are actually crossing the border now.” Full Steam says.

Squeaking happily, Sunny pulls out a sugar cane segment and starts munching.

“You know, you don’t have many of those left.” Ambrosia says.

“I know, but they are best used before they dry out too much.” Sunny says, “And it’s a call for a celebration, new country!”

“Dangerous country, remember, they eat horses here.” Ambrosia says, looking down at the foal and sighing.

“Oh come on, they wouldn’t really eat us would they?” Sunny says, flattening her ears sadly.

Shaking her head, Ambrosia looks out the window. “I don’t know but I wouldn’t want to trust it.”

Turning back towards the window, Sunny lays her muzzle up on the windowsill, looking out at the road side. While there are mostly trees on their route, there is also the occasional house, and the houses are becoming more and more common. Usually that means a town of some sort.

“Ambrosia, do ponies have wings?” Sunny asks quietly.

Laughing softly Ambrosia shook her head, “Yes, Princesses have wings and so do pegasi.”

“I think we need to stop, then.” Sunny says.

“Why is that?” The older mare asks, walking over to the window.

“Because there’s a winged pony there tied up in someone’s back yard.” Sunny replies and points.

“Full Steam, stop!” Ambrosia calls out.

Stopping the wagon with somewhat of a skid, Full Steam looks back, “What?”

“There’s a pegasus back there, we need to figure out a way to… help?” Ambrosia blinks as Sunny opens the door and jumps out. Then she rolls her eyes, “Or we can charge right in without a plan and hope for the best.”

Sunny is already across the street by the time Ambrosia calls out, “Sunny, get back here.”

Shaking her head, Sunny zips under the fence and bounds up to the other pony. “Hi.”

Blinking, the brown pegasus looks shocked, “You talk?”

“Well yeah, so do you.” Sunny says cheerfully.

“Were you cursed too?” the pegasus asks sadly.

Sunny giggles, “Yep. He got me too.”

“How can you laugh at being cursed by God?” The pegasus asks with shock.

“Oh come on, Discord is powerful, but he’s not a god. At least I don’t think he’s a god.” Sunny says, tilting her head.

“Who?” The pegasus blinks, looking confused.

“Discord, Prince of Chaos. The guy who banished us here?” Sunny says, tilting her head, “Big drakolisk thingy.”

“I’m talking about God in Heaven.” The pegasus says, “The one who cursed us for our wickedness. That’s what the priest said.”

Sunny started giggling, “Really? That’s what he said?”

“It’s not funny it’s serious.” The pegasus says, stomping his hoof. “I’m am here for penance, to live like an animal until God sees fit to return me to my normal form.”

Sunny can’t help herself, she falls on her back, laughing, “Oh sweet Celestia that’s so backwards.”

“Backwards?” The pegasi half asks, half declares in shock.

“Yep, Discord cursed us in Equestria twenty-five years ago to live for twenty-five years as humans, and on our twenty-fifth birthday, we changed back. Now we are heading for the portal to go home to Equestria!” Sunny says, “The princess told us in a dream.”

“Really? A princess told you in a dream, we were cursed by discord from another world to live for twenty-five years as a human?” The stallion blinks, “And you’re laughing at me saying God cursed me?” He rolls his eyes, “Right…”

“Well yeah, but I kind of have proof.” Sunny says, looking back at the wagon, “There are more ponies like us, Full Steam and Ambrosia, I’m Sunny Daze.”

“And what kind of names are those?” the pegasus says sternly.

“Pony names, from Equestria. I also have poof of the curse. You likely heard it before in a dream but don’t remember. But there is a simple phrase that unites us all.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” The pegasus says, “None of this is easy to swallow.”

Looking up at the pegasus with sad eyes, Sunny sighs, “Best brace yourself.” She closes her eyes and swallows hard before speaking, “Five Score Divided by Four.”

***

The sound is something like a cross between a whinny, a squeak and a hiccup. It is an unexpected sound, at least that made my ear twitch. Giggling softly, I look down and turn the page on my book.

Blaze scampers in to the hall, “Velvet are you okay? What happened?”

“Nothing happened, that wasn’t me. Cookie’s just in the shower.” Shaking my head, I look down at the book again. “Now where was that part about the mirror spell.”

Ballad slides in the hallway, blinking, “Huh? What?”

“I told Cookie to try the pulse setting in the shower.” I say and lay my muzzle down on my forelegs, continuing to read.

“Oh ok, got worried for a second.” Ballad says

“Whats with the pulse setting?” Blaze says, “I use it all the time.”

Ah-Pee trots into the hall looking around, “Ok girls, give Velvet…”

“Nope wasn’t me, it was Cookie’s turn in the shower.” I giggle.

“Really? Wow.” Ah-Pee says.

“Will somepony explain to me what’s going on?” Blaze says, stomping a hoof.

Sugarberry trots up, “What? Who?”

Looking over Ah-Pee smiles, “Little Velvet here talked Cookie into taking a shower, ah think she found the pulse settin’.”

I giggle softly, “She needed it.”

Blinking, Blaze looks at me, then the other girls. “I’m obviously out of the loop on this one.”

“It’s a mare thing.” I say smiling.

The door opens behind my back. Looking up, I see Cookie standing with a towel around her mane and another towel around her body. “Huh, why’s everyone here?”

“Just making sure no one ran into the bathroom to check out that you were all right.” I say smiling, “And reading a good book.”

Looking around Cookie starts to blush, lowering her head. “Oh, you heard that?”

“It’s okay Cookie, we all understand.” Ah-Pee says, smiling.

“I don’t.” Blaze says, blinking.

***

Sanders is famished. Totally starved. She had spent six hours training under Lightning Dust, and Dust is a tough teacher. Her wings are sore, as is her back and legs, but she isn’t going to complain about the pain. In a way, it just tells her she is alive, awake, and this is real.

“Argh, my wings feel like rubber.” She says, looking at the nurse with a smile, “I’m really starved! What’s for dinner?”

“Healthy food of course.” Smiling, she puts down the tray and removes the cover.

Well, it’s colorful. There is a red like clump of beans, a nice green clump of peas, some yellow pasta without pasta sauce, least she thinks it’s pasta. Fat free fruit yogurt, and of course apple sauce.

“Really?” Sanders looks at the nurse, “You’re trying to keep me in bed by starving me so I don’t have the strength to run, right?”

“Nope, doctors prescribed protein, vitamins, and fiber.” She says and heads out.

Looking down at her food she grumbles, “They need a pony nutritionist on hand. This can’t be good for ponies.”

After a few minutes sulking, she finally tries some of the food, then she makes a decision. This is not going to do it, “Pony does not equate to vegetarian human of the same weight. Not for calories, not for bulk of food, heck not for fiber intake.”

Climbing out of the bed, Sanders pokes her head out into the hall looking side to side. If she can make it to the stairwell, she can escape. Then she can find some place with real food.

Looking around she giggled and grabs a hospital gown, it isn’t much but she can use it to cover her mane and tail. The hall is clear so she ducks low and begins sneaking down towards the nurses’ desk.

Hearing the nurse move, she slips sideways into an open room and smiles as she watches the nurse and an orderly heading down the hall. Crouching, she waits for them to enter another patients room before she zips across the hall and out the door into the stairway.

The stairs were easy enough to go down, but she knows the front exit would be a problem. There’s a pair of open air gardens for patients. From there she can get airborne. Exiting the stairwell on the second floor she makes her way to the lobby there.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” An orderly calls out.

Looking over her shoulder she giggles, “Nope, I need food, be back in a bit.”

Running through the doors she launches herself into the air, flying straight up to freedom. Now she needs to find food, her stomach’s really grumbling. Actually, she needs money. She finds herself flying in circles looking around. There’s an IHOP but she has no money.

Landing in front of the Armed Forces Bank, she takes a deep breath and walks in. She isn’t sure what to expect, gasps, people gawking. Then it hits her. This is Nellis, most of the people just went about their business as ponies have been seen a lot.

Waiting in line, she looks at the different people. A few are looking at her, but trying not to look at her. It is an interesting feeling to say the least. She figures half of them are trying to figure out who she is from the show. Wouldn’t they be shocked if they found out she isn’t…

“Mrs. pony?”

Blinking, Sanders shakes her head, looking up at the teller, “Oh Sorry.” Trotting up she lays her muzzle on the teller’s desk, “Umm, I have a problem.”

“Well we are here to help.” The teller says with an unsure smile.

“Well, I was sort of ponified after a crash. I’ve been in the hospital for the last two days, I’m starved, I wanted to get something to eat, but… I have no money. I have an account here, but… its in human form.” Sanders flattens her ears and looks sadly at the teller.

“And you don’t have your bank card?”

“My wallet was in the plane crash. My dog tags are at the… wait.” Perking her ears, Sanders lifts a foreleg, putting it down, “My hospital ID tag!”

Looking down at the tag, the teller smiles, “Oh one moment, I’ll get the manager to approve this, how much do you need?”

“Umm twenty dollars should do, I’m just going to IHOP.” Nodding, she walked into the back, coming forward with the manager.

“Hello there Lt Sanders. We can either give you a new bank card, if you remember your pin number. Or simply give you the twenty dollars. The hospital band has both pictures, your service ID and name. I notice you don’t have a pony name yet.” The manager says.

“Well I, um…”

“You don’t know it yet? We have a set of directives from the Armed Forces, we can keep your account under your own name but will need a photo of you and your cutie mark.”

“I… I don’t have one yet. I was turned into a pony by magic, I should be back to human tomorrow sometime. I just needed some money to get something to eat tonight.” Sanders says, lowering her head.

The manager blinks, “I… see,” He looks at the teller then back at Sanders, “Well, I’m pretty sure I can authorize the withdrawal of twenty dollars.”

Nodding slowly, she posed for her pictures, signing for it though, she had no idea how to write with her mouth. What came out was horribly illegible. Squeaking softly, she blushes, “Umm sorry, I umm.”

The branch manager chuckles, “The fact that you even tried. I’ve seen more than a few pegasi try it. It’s always fun to watch. I’ll call the hospital and verify.”

Turning, the manager heads back into the office.

Looking around, Sanders fluffs her wing a few times and shakes herself out. The air conditioning in the room is bothering her senses because the air pressure is different inside from outside of the bank. She hadn’t really paid attention to that before. Looking at the bank manager returning she cringes, seeing the expression on his face.

“Ok Lt. Sanders, everything checks out. However,” The manager gives a very stern look at the little pegasus, “The nurse wants you back as soon as possible.”

Looking at the money, Sanders hums for a moment before shrugging her wings nervously. No clothing means no pockets. All she can do is bite the money and carry it that way. Which isn’t bad since she’s just carrying a single bill.

With a muffled thank you, she turns and heads off for the true prize, food for her grumbling tummy.

***

“Drill Bit?” Ambrosia says, looking up from the table.

“Sorry, what?” The pegasus asks as he climbs in the back of the wagon.

“I think that’s your name.” Sunny says with a smile, “Drill Bit.”

“Umm ponies who knew each other before the curse have a way of recognizing each other but… I don’t know how it works.” Ambrosia says, shaking her head. “I just looked at you and well,” She scuffs a hoof on the floor, “I guess I said Drill Bit.”

“Well you have a tools cutie mark, you might have been a construction pony like Ambrosia, you two probably worked together.” Sunny says, smiling brightly.

“I’m sorry, none of this is familiar to me.” He says, shaking his head slowly.

“Don’t worry, its not familiar to any of us.” Ambrosia said. “Princess Luna, she’s the princess of dreams and the night, came to us and let us know about the gate.”

“She didn’t come to me.” Drill Bit says.

“Maybe she intended on us finding you along the way, if she told you, you’d have flown off and we would have missed you.” Sunny says brightly.

“I don’t think that’s possible. The number of random situations that would have had to happen, down to us choosing this road.” Ambrosia says, shaking her head.

“Well it worked with Celestia and her student. She sent her off on what seemed random or insignificant things that turned out to be world saving.” Sunny adds, and gets out some oatmeal and alfalfa, putting it in front of Drill bit.

“What’s this?” Drill asks, looking down

Giggling Sunny pokes it, “It’s food, it’s what we’ve been eating. It may not look like much but its filling and healthy. If you like gruel.”

“It’s not that bad Sunny, I know you prefer my vegetable stews but we simply don’t have the supplies or money to do that every night.” Ambrosia says as she hugs the foal.

“Kids sometimes huh?” Drill says as he digs into the food.

“Well she’s twenty-five like all of us, she just became a foal. But she still has and remembers twenty-five years of her life before this.” Ambrosia says fondly, looking at the foal, “But yes, at times she still acts like a child.”

“I didn’t grow up cuz I wasn’t grown up, and that’s that.” Sunny said with a firm nod. “As an adult I still acted like a kid according to my parents and now we know why. Cuz I wasn’t fully grown as a pony.”

“Really? That’s your excuse?” Ambrosia says skeptically.

“Well think about it, we all know people who never grew up, who kept acting like kids as adults and didn’t want to take on responsibility. What if its cuz they were like me? Cursed as a foal, and subconsciously knew they were still kids?” Sunny chirps, smiling brightly.

“I hate your logic sometimes,” Ambrosia says and softly strokes her mane.

“Especially blank flanks, a blank flank never found their natural talent, so as human they may have never found something they really wanted to do or be. Settled in to a depressing part-time job. Not realizing that everything was wrong cuz they were still a blank flank.” Sunny goes on.

“I really hope that’s not the way it works.” Ambrosia says, “I’d feel so bad for all the foals out there.”

***

“Come on it’s a great idea! And a chance to find our cutie marks!” Feather says.

“I don’t know.” One foal sighs, “What’s to say we can even get cutie marks on this Earth?”

“Well who says we can’t? We might be able to, but we won’t know unless we try.” Candy says and sighs, looking at his flank.

“What are we supposed to do?” Another foal asks.

“Were supposed to be foals, be cute, be happy, play. We are supposed to experiment, find out about ourselves.” Feather says.

“And just how is a beauty pageant supposed to do that?” Cloudy asks.

“Easy, part of it is showing off what we like to do, and if you truly like something and are good at it, it might be cutie mark worthy!” Feather says, smiling and nodding.

“Then why are we being judged?” Another foal asks.

“Cuz it’s a competition, for fun, and for cutie marks.” Feather says, “Come on do you all want to be blank flanks till the next gate opening?”

“Well, who’s going to judge?” Another foal says, tilting her head.

“How about Dusts assistant manager, she’s great at arranging and judging things.” Candy says innocently.

“Perfect!” Feather says, “Just fill out the forms, and we’ll hold the contest.”

***

“The bank went well, so IHOP shouldn’t be surprised to see a hungry pegasus. Come on, ponies and pancakes should go together.” Sanders mumbles as she touches down in front of the door.

Smiling she walked in and looked around a little. The place seems friendly enough, there are even other ponies in here eating. Walking up to the counter Sanders put the 20 dollar bill down. “Hi, sorry, no pockets in this coat. I’m pretty starved though.”

Cheerfully the server smiles, “Over this way please.” And lead her over to small booth. “Have a seat and a waitress will be with you in a moment.”

Looking at the menu Sanders finds herself starting to drool almost right away, the choices, the foods. All the pictures in the menu look so good. Sanders really never had a major sweet tooth before, but this pony body apparently does.

“Are you ready to order?” The waitress asks smiling.

Blinking, Sanders looks up, “Oh, oh Celestia yes, um, I only have 20 dollars so I have to be careful. Um, okay, strawberry banana pancakes, full stack.”

“Ok, would you like anything else?”

“Yeah!” Nodding vigorously Sanders just can’t help but giggle, “Hash browns and oatmeal.”

“Not a problem.” The waitress says, noting down the order and heading to the back.

“Isn’t she a little old?”

Blinking, Sanders twitches an ear and glances over at several pegasi at a table a few rows down who are looking in her direction.

“Yeah, wonder what happened?” Another says softly.

A third, a female shakes her head, “Poor thing, I didn’t think it was possible to go that long.”

Gulping, Sanders all of a sudden feels self-conscious and looks back down at the plastic covered cardboard menu.

“A blank flank at her age.” Another female says, barely audible to Sanders, “I wonder how often that happens.”

Gulping, Sanders moves her tail to cover her hip. No matter how much ‘he’ looks like a pony, ‘he’ can’t hide that one fact. ‘He’ is a blank flank. Just a human with a spell.

The waitress smiles as she comes back and sets down the plates of food. Then she giggles, “Left hooved or right?”

Blinking, Sanders looks up, confused.

The waitress holds up the forehoof straps, one with a knife the other with fork.

“Oh, right,” Smiling Sanders holds up the right hoof. Once the straps are on, she digs into her meal.

Real food. So it isn’t as good as the food Blaze brought, but it is so much better than the hospital food. Relaxing a bit, she finishes her meal. Her wings are feeling better, stronger. Her sides aren’t hurting as much.

Looking over at the other ponies she keeps her tail tight against her hip, “I guess I could go for one last flight before going back to the hospital.” Leaving the bill on the table, she turns and heads out.

Spreading her wings wide, she feels the sun on her feathers, warming her wings. She feels the wind playing with her plumage, teasing her hair, and calling to her. Inhaling deeply, she answers the call. Leaping into the air, she starts flying for no other reason then the joy and freedom of flight.

85: The Magic of the Mind

Chirpy looks around at the farm and paths, “Wow, this place is far out.”

“Yeah it’s great, isn’t it?” Mindy giggles, looking down at the foal.

“No, I meant it’s really far from anything. I can’t see city lights anywhere.” Chirpy says seriously.

Dust sighed, “Yep, there’s a small town a few miles from here. No big cities through.”

Chirpy giggles, “Seriously, we’re all the way out in Timbuktu here.”

“What!” Dust freezes and looks at the foal intently, Chirpy withers a bit under the glare from the larger pegasus.

“I said we are far out.” Chirpy responds, backing up to hide under Mindy a little.

“No, you said…” Dust blinks and sits down.

“Timbuktu?” Mindy asks, looking at Dust, confused.

“That’s where I heard of it… Stupid, stupid, how could I have forgotten 'bout that?” Dust says, thumping her hoof.

Mindy tilts her head, “What?”

Looking up at the clouds, Dust huffs, “Dash and I used to chat about it all the time. The lost city of Timbucktu, there are a lot of human cities that are similar in name to pony cities. Timbucktu was a city that fell about a thousand years ago.”

“Ok.” Mindy blinks, looking even more confused.

“Timbucktu was known as the jewel of the sky. A massive trade center for all flying species, it dwarfed Pegasopolous. Even Cloudsdale is just a village in comparison.” Dust says, looking down at the little foal.

“Dash and I used to wonder if a few survivors made their way to the crystal empire. It was populated by sparkly eyed pegasi.” Dust says, shaking her head.

“Sparkly eyed?” Mindy look at him, “What’s that mean?”

“Well, according to Daring Do, their eyes were gems, their wing span was longer than a normal pegasus, and they were led by a powerful Pegasus named King Orion, its his crown that Queen Chrysalis has worn since his defeat.” Dust shakes her head vigorously, “That’s why her eyes looked so familiar.”

“Hah! I knew I didn’t mess the spell up that badly.” Mindy says proudly.

“No you did something totally impossible, you turned him into a type of pony that hasn’t been seen in over a thousand years.” Dust says firmly, “How?”

“Umm, I have no idea. I guess I’m just that good.” Mindy says and sticks her nose in the air.

***

Folding her wings against her side, the purple mare looks at Lt. Sanders, “You know why I was asked to speak with you?”

“Not really.” Sanders says as he lies in bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“The nurse is worried about you. She and the doctors thought you could use some counseling.” She says softly adjusting her glasses.

“I’ve been behaving for them.” Sanders says softly, looking at the holes or dots in the tile ceiling.

“That’s the thing,” The mare chuckles, “That has the nurse so worried. You’re behaving, eating when your told, not resisting or trying to do things for yourself, you are just laying here.” With a sigh the pegasus mare looks at her dark blue mane and blows it so it’s out of her glasses.

“They said I’m supposed to rest, so I am.” Motioning to his side, “I even have a clicker to make the pain go away if I need it.”

“Does it go away?” The pegasus asks.

“No… it just makes me forget about it. And maybe that’s best, just forgetting about it.” Sanders says softly.

“You’ve had not one, but two major life changing experiences. The crash, and then being a pony. It’s not unexpected for you to be stressed or depressed.” The pegasus says.

“You couldn’t understand.” Sanders said looking away towards the bathroom for a moment.

Fluffing her wings, the pegasus tilts her head slowly, “Then explain it to me, maybe I will be able to.”

“Every time I look into the mirror now; I see her face looking back at me. I feel her as part of me. I have her cutie mark. It’s like, I was always meant to be her. But I know that’s not true. I’m not one of Discord’s cursed. I’m not a real pony.” Sanders sighs, “When I look at myself I simply don’t feel right though. I don’t feel like I belong. I don’t feel like I match… who I really am inside.”

Sighting softly, she shakes her head, “That’s something a lot of ponies, and even some humans, feel at times. It is hard to understand and even harder to deal with.”

“I never thought about it or would have thought about it, but since the change its all I think about, and now it’s almost like part of me is lost. Trapped. Locked away, and I can’t be who I really want to be inside. And it hurts. And isn’t that what the meds are for, to make me forget about or not feel the pain?”

“What would you tell a pony who’s feeling like that after their change?” The pegasus asks, looking at Sanders.

“I’d tell them to give it time, to give it a chance. They have just gotten back their true form and to give it a chance, give it some time, it might just grow on them. But this is like getting my true form, and loosing it again.” He shakes his head and closes his eyes.

Fluffing her wings softly the pegasus nods, “Like somepony deciding after their change to go right through the mirror and come back?”

“At the same time I know, they are real ponies. For me, it was just a spell. Its not like I…” sighing he looks at the morphine button.

“It’s not like you’re a real pony? It’s not like you deserve to be treated like one?” She says softly to him.

Nodding slowly, “Yeah, I just feel so…lost.”

“A lesson I learned a long time ago, in a different life, is that the word ‘real’ never does anypony any favors. There’s no such thing as a ‘real’ pony, or a ‘real’ human, or a ‘real’ anything. We are who we are, and who you feel you are determines who and what you are as much as your shape or your cutie mark.” The pegasus sighs, looking into Sanders’ eyes with her own forest green orbs. “Coming to accept who you are inside is so important. Embracing yourself with honesty, love, and kindness will do more for you than anything that anyone else could do for you… and especially more than that button in your hand.”

She sighs again, “You’ve had a lot happen to you, in such a very short time. I’d suggest giving yourself time to heal and come to terms with things, don’t hide from it, don’t run from it but think about it. Give yourself a chance to heal emotionally. Then we can look at where to go from there.”

***

“Jet Stream, where are you?” Comes over her earpiece.

Rolling to the left as she pulls up off the updrafts. The wind is hitting the sides of the mountain and pushing up against her wings as she flies, “Umm, let me check. 44.95 by negative 122.36ish, why?”

“You’re in Oregon?!!?” White Lighting says in shock, “How did you get all the way up there!”

“The hell?” Jet Streams back wings and looks around. “I’ve just been flying around for the last well, day or so, I didn’t realize I came this far.”

“Well umm, you were Equestria’s endurance and distance flyer. Damn it. I was hoping it was a transponder glitch.” White Lightning says.

“I’ll start heading back now sis, sorry about this.” Streams said and turns.

“No, don’t be and you’re right where we need you.” Lightning’s sigh comes over the coms. “Head over to Portland international, Squawk 1277, keep altitude to four thousand feet. You’ll see a Coast Guard C-130 waiting for you.”

“Waiting? What’s going on and… why me?” Streams says with a half whine.

“Sis, there was a bad fire in Venetie, Alaska. Their Pharmacy and Clinic were destroyed.” Lightning sighs again, “Because of bad weather, ice fog, and snow squalls, the charter companies haven’t been able to fly in even emergency medical supplies. Insulin, and other medicine are needed. The guard is going to fly you above the squalls. From there you can bring down the medicine.”

“You’re sending me against windigoes? Gee thanks.” Streams says, changing her squawk code. “I’ll be at the airport soon.”

“Thanks, sis.”

***

Cookie giggles, looking sideways at Sea Swirl. “Now you’re getting it.”

“I had trouble using chopsticks as a human, but this is fun. Whose idea was this?” Sea Swirl asks, looking at the other unicorns.

Ballad, Sugarberry and Cipher giggle, and in stereo they nod, “Velvet’s.”

“Figured she tries to get us to use magic in everything we do huh?” Sea Swirl says, lifting a tempura tofu ball.

“So tell me,” Fleur says, lifting up some noodles, “How are you liking being your unicorn self again?”

Looking around the living room, Sea Swirl smiles as brightly as she can. “It’s natural, you don’t think about it after a bit.”

“Well there is some things I still notice.” Cookie says with a huff.

Giggling, Cipher looks over, “Yep but that’s because you changed more than some.”

“Would you give it up, though?” Ballad asks, “Would you want to give it up and go back to human?”

Everypony looks at each other.

Slowly they all agree, “No.”

“Settled then, no mirror for us unless we are planning on staying in Equestria.” Fleur says with a firm nod.

“Well I’m not going back without my songbird.” Ballad giggles.

Sugarberry nods, “I need my Henry, and maybe someday he’ll chose to go back to being a unicorn.”

“I worry about them at times. As well as the others.” Cipher says with a sigh, “I’ve done my best to keep tabs on them.”

“The others?” Sea Swirl asks.

“Some ponies chose to go through the gate and come back as humans. They kept their cutie marks though.” Cipher says, “That magic stays with them, so they are living as humans, but still guided by pony magic and instincts.”

Looking back at her own cutie mark Sea Swirl cringes. “So even going through and coming back doesn’t change who we are, who we were meant to be.”

“Nope, I’ve seen the stress it puts on the Rangers, and they live with ponies every day. So I worry about those who don’t.” Cipher murmurs, “Or worse, those who fight their cutie marks.”

“Yeah, I can see a whole lot of counseling and meds in some futures.” Cookie says, “Even with me, losing my magic would be…”

“Hard to live with again.” Fleur says, nodding.

“Ponies forever!” Sea Swirl says and leans forward, holding her neck and horn out.

One by one each of the girls cross horns, “Ponies forever.”

As the last horn crosses, a bright flash fills the room.

***

Blaze plants his head square against Lightning Dusts tail and pushes.

“Why?” Dust protests loudly.

“Because we are having a meeting, and your room isn’t big enough.” Blaze says firmly.

Looking over her shoulder Dust huffs, “But I’m sore, and why do you want me there?”

“Because you’re a pegasus, because you’re involved, and because we want your input.” Blaze says and flips Dust tail over wings onto a small fluffy cloud.

“Well that was less than dignified.” Dust says with a huff, “I do outrank you.”

“Instructors and medical officers can still order even flag officers around, and I’m a Wonderbolt trainer.” Blaze says and starts pushing the cloud.

Once up in the air a bit, Blaze looks at the other clouds. White Lightning had hers done up with a couch on it showing off a bit, and Fleetfoot…

“Hey, that was my cloud, why didn’t you get your own.” Blaze growls, looking at the mare.

“Pregnant mare, I claimed it.” Fleetfoot says, looking innocent.

Groaning, Blaze shoots up and get himself another cloud, bringing it down for himself. “Mares sometimes.” He grumbles.

Fleetfoot huffs and stretches out, “Stallions, not understanding a pregnant mare’s needs. Or priority.”

“You know, I’d buy that, Fleetfoot, if you didn’t whine every time I tell you, you’re not on intercept duty.” White Lightning says, eliciting a giggle from the others.

“So what’s this about, Blaze?” Fleetfoot asks, looking up.

“Mindy’s screwed up spell. I got a call from the hospital. Sanders is suffering pretty badly. He’s lost his apatite, lacks energy, lacks enthusiasm. He’s lost his humor; he's became photosensitive, he’s not even resisting the nurse anymore.” Blaze says, crossing his forelegs.

Dust sighs. “He became a sparkle eyed pegasus.”

“Those exist?” White Lighting says sharply, perking her ears.

“Apparently,” Fleetfoot says, shaking her head. “His colors and cutie match a pony but its not one Discord cursed.”

Blinking Blaze looked over, “How do you know Discord didn’t curse him or her?”

“This is where things get confusing, the pony is from one of the other series prior to FIM, so Faust had no input on it. She’s also mentioned in the comics, but from like from a thousand years before Discord’s curse.” Fleetfoot goes on.

“Yep, okay, so…not sure what happened with the spell then.” Dust says, shaking her head. “Do we have a name?”

“Masquerade!” I yell from he ground. A moment later I’m met by four pegasi peeking over clouds down at me.

“Velvet?” Blaze yells down at me.

“Oh, one sec. I’ll be up in a moment.” Closing my eyes, I light my horn and let the magic surge.

“Wait!” Blaze yells.

Dust blinked, “Don’t!” is all she’s able to get out.

One flash of sparkles and I’m standing on the sofa beside White Lightning.

Instantly, Fleetfoot spreads her wings, getting ready to jump. Blaze is already in the air hovering, his eyes slowly narrowing.

Blinking I prance on the sofa cloud, and in a sing song voice, I cheerfully say, “Cloud walking spell.”

“Velvet, have I ever told you I hate you sometimes.” Blaze says and settles back on the cloud.

Fleetfoot giggles, “I should have guessed.”

“You should have guessed? I have a feeling she’s got me with that trick before.” Blaze says with a huff.

“Her names Masquerade, why the spell turned Sanders into her I don’t know, I didn’t think the spell could clone a pony.” I say, shaking my head. “But I might be able to turn her into a pony permanently using the gate.”

Dust sighs, “Oh so he only has to sufferer another two years of this?”

“Nope, I’ve been reading a lot of Star Swirl's notes. And I can make this work with the gate closed, per-se. Who wants to hear magical technobabble?” I ask cheerfully.

“Oh god, a Twilight Sparkle level explanation?” Blaze moans and covers his muzzle.

Taking a deep breath, I smile, “By temporarily charging the gate, I can create a dimensional tunneling effect. Thereby opening the event horizon without actually establishing a connection to Equestria. As Sanders enters the event horizon and the magic will turn him into pony form, however because there’s no connection the gate will throw him back out. By altering the magic involved on the reintegration process, I can prevent him from returning to human form on exiting our side of the portal.”

Exhaling heavily, I look at the others.

“And you read that in a book?” Fleetfoot asks, blinking rather blankly.

“Most of it, some of it I put together from notes, others, well its never been tried before and might void the warranty.” I say with a smile.

“And that, folks, is why the Twilight family is nuts!” White Lightning says, pointing a wing at me.

“So he’ll be a pegasus?” Dust asks quizzically, tilting her head.

“He’ll likely come out looking like he did before, a sparkle eyed pegasus. The cutie mark and magic therein will likely guide the form.” I say with a hopeful smile.

“So all we have to do, is get him to the gate complex.” Blaze says cheerfully.

***

“You spend hours in the sky apparently, and this bothers you?” The loadmaster shakes his head. looking at the little pink pony.

Grumbling, Jet Stream shook her head, “Flying on your own. Floating on a cloud, heck living in a cloud house is one thing. You’re moving with the air. Flying inside an aluminium can, the plane just bulls its way through rather then going with the flow.”

“So what’s that got to do with disliking it?” The loadmaster says, snacking on a Hooah bar.

“You know what? Ever hear of the movie, the Perfect Storm?” Jet Stream says, perking.

“Yeah why?”

“Ok think about watching that, with the sound just slightly out of sync with the show, now picture the chair you’re in rocking with the show, but just slightly out of sync. Your eyes tell you the ships starting to tilt but you don’t feel anything for the first second… then your eyes tell you its tilting the other way but you’re still feeling it rock in the old direction before it changes.” Jet Stream huffs, then urps.

Leaning over, the load master holds open a bag for the little pony. “An air sick pegasus. This has got to be a first.”

Wiping her muzzle with her foreleg, Streams looks up at the loadmaster.

“So why are you here then?” The loadmaster says.

“Simple, because you can’t land, and para-dropped supplies would never be seen again.” Jetstream says and sighs, “And I was the closest flyer with bad weather training on hand.”

“So what’s the gear for then?” The load master asks, looking at the duffle bag.

“Flight suit, to help keep me warm. Goggles to keep snow and such out of my eyes, goggles also have Google Glass so I can get GPS and map data. Just basic things. I’ll be flying almost blind by the sounds of it.” Jetstream says looking out the window, “But at least I’ll be flying.”

“Saddle bags are loaded with thirty pounds of medicine. Different types they need. While they are supposed to be shatter proof, try not to push things to hard.” The loadmaster says and starts strapping the bag onto Streams.

“How long?” Streams asks, looking at the rear door.

Giving the straps a tug and checking the balance, the loadmaster nods, “About fifteen more minutes till drop.”

***

“Lt. Sanders.”

Sanders looks over from his bed, “Yes?”

The doctor shakes his head, “You need to get up, they want you to get some simulator time.”

“First, you don’t want me out of bed, now you want me out?” Sighing Sanders pulls the covers over him a bit. “I still hurt.”

“Well, in this case, it’s an order, you need to report to the training labs.” The doctor says, “The nurse will be here in a few minutes to help you.”

“Morphine?” Sanders asks.

“Not today.” The doctor said, “You are getting some Tylenol. You are physically okay after your time as a pony. You need to be up and about now.” Heading out of the room the doctor closes the door.

Lifting his covers, Sanders looks at the mark on his hip, the three colored masks. “Why did you have to stay? Why do you have to remind me? Why?”

Opening the door, the nurse walks in, looking at Sanders, “Come on, let’s get you up.”

“Why did it have to feel so natural, so right?” Sanders says, getting up slowly, “Now I’m also wishing that I hadn’t been changed.”

“Did you have fun while you were?” The nurse says, helping him get dressed.

Sanders shakes his head, “It started as fun, then became more. Now I can still feel the callings, still feel the need, but all I can do is look up at the sky and know I can only fly with a machine. What’s worse though… I still feel like I’m trapped in a body that isn’t my own.”

“It will pass. You just have get moving.” The nurse says, “There is a tactical waiting for you, to drive you to the training center. The policy is to get you flying again as soon as possible after a crash.”

Walking slowly, Sanders gets into the car. The drive to the training center only takes about ten minutes. All Sanders can do, though, is sit and look out the window. Nellis Air Force base is almost all human personell, but there is still the occasional pony walking around. His mind wanders to those who had gone though the gate and came back. How much of a draw did their cutie marks have on them now?

The training building is pretty simple. Little more than a box building. It is labelled Mission Training Center, with several different flight simulators inside, from F-15s, F-16s, and F-22s. Up to the large scale simulators for the 767. While the cockpit layouts for large aircraft change from plane to plane, the simulators are often used more for crew training and familiarity with flying big aircraft.

Sanders, though, is heading for the FS1000, simulators. Those are made to train pilots in the Gulfstream series planes, everything from the five hundred through the seven hundred. They are actually based on a six-fifty cockpit however.

“Lieutenant, good to see you up and mobile.” A Major says as he smiles, “You’ll be paired with flying officer Mills today.”

Nodding, Sanders walks over and sits down in the right hand seat. Looking at the controls he sighs. He knows all the controls; he had just been flying these less than a week ago. Just a week? It had just been a week since he had saved that families’ lives. For a moment, he wonders how they are doing, if they are safe and happy. Laying somewhere on a cloud, laughing.

“Hi there, I’m Flying Officer Andrew Mills. Great to meet you.” The officer is hardly out of his teens. Pretty average looking in all aspects, red hair, clean shaven. Typical young pilot. Sanders wonders for a moment why he was getting VIP Shuttle training rather than fighter or attack.

“Lieutenant Sanders.” Looking back at the yoke, Sanders pushes it once with one finger.

“Ready to get started?” Mills asks.

“Yeh.. just…just a sec.” Reaching into his pocket Sanders pulls out the pink ribbon, he looks at it for a long time, then he carefully ties it in a bow around the control column.

“What’s that for?” Mills asks curiously.

“A girl needs her tail ribbon.” Sanders mumbles.

***

Dr. Ray noses his way into the big master bedroom, “Dust. I need to talk to you.”

Lightning Dust shifts in her bed a bit, her wings tight to her sides, she smiles wanly at the former veterinarian, “Hi Ray.”

He steps in fully, his magic closing the door behind him, he walks slowly to the bed, “I really have to talk to you, its important.”

She just looks at him expectantly until he continues, “Well, when it comes to Lt. Sanders and his plane crash. I’ve talked to a few ponies in town, and we found the ponies that caused the wreck.”

Dust throws the heavy comforter off the bed and flips her body off the mattress. She winces as she lands on the hardwood floor, the look on her face makes him take a step forward, only to be waved off by the turquoise pegasus, she trots towards the door, “Where are they? Take me to them,” She growls.

His magic opens the door and he leads her out of her house, he opens the door to her company truck sitting in the driveway, she gets in the passenger seat as he settles in behind the wheel, his horn glows as the engine fires up, the clutch depresses, and the shifter moves to reverse. He gooses the accelerator, and the big diesel pickup powers down the road. They make it to the farm in about ten minutes driving, he keeps an eye on Dust during the trip. Her ears are down, she’s in obvious pain from her ordeal, but she is healing, and the sooner she’s able to fly again, the better.

Soon they are crunching down the scoria road heading into the farm proper, he parks in front of the farmhouse. Dust settles herself onto a low sofa in the main living room as he walks upstairs, he returns quickly with three pegasi, two young foals and a mare.

Dr. Ray stands there for a long time, Dust glaring at the three ponies sitting there, they are obviously ruffled by the expression on the former Wonderbolt’s face, as evident by their shifting wings and flicking ears, she glances at Dr. Ray for a moment, then it dawns on him, “I’ll just…go.” He says softly as he heads back towards the kitchen.

As the door closes, Dust continues looking at the ponies, she watches the shifting hooves, and the flicking ears, finally the mare speaks up, “We were scared, Lightning Dust.”

Dust looks at the two foals, “I could almost excuse you two… because you are foals. But then I have to remember, you were twenty-five years as humans before you became those foals again. You should know better.”

The two foals droop, their tails clamping to their backsides as they back up a little bit, Dust directs her attention on Blueberry, “But you…what the buck were you thinking?”

Blueberry’s ears flatten and she scoots away a little herself, from the anger being directed at her.

Dust growls, “One human died, one human is recovering in the hospital, because you didn’t pay attention to the world around you. You are fliers, you have wings.” Her voice starts rising.

“But they are humans…”

“Because they are humans?” Dust screeches, “You were human, all three of you were human before you turned back into ponies. What if one of them was waiting for their twenty-fifth birthday to become ponies themselves?” Dust has leaped up, her injured wings flared aggressively, her voice like that of a weather manager calling out orders in the middle of a tornado. The trio of pegasi backing towards the wall as she continues, “Thank Celestia that wasn’t the case this time, but you didn’t even stay to witness the carnage you wrought. And now a human is dead. Because of your actions!”

Blueberry looks at the two foals, “But what if we had stopped? They could have shot us, or captured us?”

Dust flutters her wings, capturing is a bit of a sore subject for her, “While that is a legitimate risk, this is about what the right thing to do is. Your thoughtlessness caused the wreck, the most decent thing you could have done is help. We are ponies, we help those who need it. And Lt. Sanders certainly was in need. He bellied the plane because he refused to be responsible for your deaths. And you bucking featherbrains just flew away, as though nothing happened!”

The filly, Peach Pebble, starts to cry silently, tears rolling down her face, “I’m so sorry. I had heard about your place, where ponies were safe. I had them come with me.” She stumbles to a stop as Dust directs the glare at her, she sniffles and continues, “We should have stopped, but we were afraid.”

Dust snorts, “We are all afraid!” She starts pacing before the ponies, “This change has been horrible for all of us. But remember, Discord is the one who did it to us, not anypony else. Most of the humans have been accommodating, they’ve been helpful. In the case of Lt. Sanders, he’s been flying ponies all over the world, to help other ponies. Some humans are very bad, but most are good. I have human members of my family, they will stay human, but they are staying with me, because we love each other. Until the portal opens up, we need to get along with the humans. There are a lot of them, and not nearly as many of us. We need to lay low, and not make ourselves targets.” She again flicks her wings, “Trust me, being in the cross hairs of humans up to no good is a very bad thing.”

Blueberry moves over and nuzzles the filly, then she nuzzles the colt, who sat there, trembling. Then she looks at Dust, “Can we tell this Lt. Sanders how sorry we are?”

Dust looks at her for a long time, her ears flicking, finally she sighs, “Yeah, I think that can be arranged.”

***

“I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

Sunny Daze sits panting, hoof over her heart looking up at the pegasus.

“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Drill Bit says, “Ambrosia just wanted me to come see what you were doing.”

“Its fine, I just heard horses and I’m taking a look.” Sunny says and sighs.

“Horses?” The confusion in Drill’s voice is obvious, “Why are you interested in horses?”

“Well first off, they are nice looking animals. I’ve always liked horses. That aside though, we get thought of as ponies, horses, and such, so now, if I hear horses I check to see there’s no ponies there. And in this case its important to do so.” Sunny says, turning and standing on her hind legs and looking over the hedges.

“Why?”

“Because that…is a slaughter house. They are killing horses there. And if any ponies are forced in there, I want to know.” Sunny says sternly.

“Oh, hang on I’ll check.” Drill says as he leaps into the air.

“No wait…” groaning, Sunny covers her muzzle. “Males… why are they always running off without thinking?”

Flying back, Drill lands looking at Sunny, “What? And no, no ponies.”

“Ok, because flying off like that, and getting spotted. We’d have had to act right away, without a plan.” Sunny says. “Sometimes stealth is the way to go.”

“Sorry, I just… kind of like… flying.”

***

The rear door of the C-130 drops down, “Drop in thirty seconds.” The loadmaster yells. “Are you sure you can fly in this?”

Looking down, Jetstream shakes her head, “Nope, not a chance, but I’ll fall with style, at least.” She turns to him with a quavering smile.

As the light turns from red to green, Jetstream spreads her wings. Instantly getting caught in the air wash, she is sucked out of the aircraft and into the darkness. Below her are the stars and moon, above her is the clouds and storm.

Shaking her head quickly, she knows that isn’t right. It only takes her a second to right herself before she dives into the clouds. To say visibility is limited is an understatement. All she can see is white snow, without her pegasus senses and her goggles providing her altitude and GPS information, she’d be totally lost.

Spiralling down, she finds herself being blown in different directions at times. It’s getting harder and harder to get back to the GPS mark of the town center. Town, if you can call it that. The entire town, not including the airfield, covers an area of five hundred by two hundred meters. With visibility as it is, she could easily fly past it without even knowing it.

The temperature is down near negative forty, Celsius or Fahrenheit? At that point, it really doesn’t matter. A human would freeze to death quickly in this weather without protection. Pegasi, though, tend to do better in cold weather, provided of course they have enough food. Add to that her flight suit, and she’s still cold, but in no danger as long as she can get in and out quickly enough.

Watching her altimeter click down, she works hard, constantly changing her course and trying to stay with the winds. Her greatest fear isn’t the weather itself though. She knows down at ground level there are trees everywhere. No visibility, and this kind of wind. she could easily be thrown into one. And a pegasus with a broken wing is as good as dead in this environment.

“Why am I even here? Why am I doing this?” Streams mumbles as she fights through another crosswind. “I’m no hero. I’m not some great Wonderbolt, element bearer, or even a royal guard.”

The only answer she gets is the howl of the winds, a cry, a sound, that reminding her of the Windegos. The howl lets her know she is getting closer to the ground. Doing her best to slow down, she starts fighting the wind so if she does hit a tree, it would be softly.

“I’m just a pony that likes to fly. But this isn’t flying, this is fighting. Fighting the winds, fighting the weather, fighting to help people.” A gust catches her, flipping her sideways a bit. She turns and powers her way down though the snow. “Then why couldn’t I say no? Why couldn’t I say I couldn’t do it? Why didn’t I back out?”

A sudden drop off of the wind sends her face first into a large tree. A large evergreen of some kind, but at least its branches are somewhat soft. Panting a little bit, she looks around, trying to get her bearings. She is close to the town, but again in this weather close means nothing. Working her way down the tree, she feels the snow on the ground finally.

“Ok, now to find the Co-op store.” Turning, she uses her GPS, she doesn’t like it, its error range is further than she can see. It’s all she has, though. Keeping her wings tight to her side she works her way through the snow. Flying only in short jumps, she needs to keep her wings tight to her side as much as she can to retain warmth. She tries only to fly if she finds herself sinking too deep into the snowpack.

Turning off her GPS she leans forward, through the snow she sees a light. The GPS had told her she was close, and the light has confirmed it. Working her way through the snow she sees the store, they have several lights turned on outside, probably to make them easier to see. The Co-op is where they are housing the makeshift clinic until a new building could be built. That, though, takes flying in more supplies.

Leaning forward she stops just inches from the door knob. “Okay, no, that would be so stupid. Opening a metal door knob with your mouth, you’d be stuck there for a long time while they try to warm it up.”

Rearing up, she spreads her wings for balance and knocks on the door. Using one foreleg to stabilize herself against the wall, she knocks again.

“Medical Delivery!” Streams calls out. “Can you open the door please?”

The Co-op worker opens the door, shielding her eyes from the snow and wind. Blinking a few times, all she sees was the silhouette of a figure back lit by the outdoor lights. Wing spread wide, halo of light. Stepping backwards she falls to the ground on her rear… “An Angel.”

Shaking her head, Streams pulls the release cords on the saddle bags and drops them on the ground in front of the worker, “Here you go, should do you for a couple of weeks.”

“Th..thank you…”

Turning, Streams shoots upwards again. Flying up she doesn’t need to actually see, per-se. All she needs to do is go up till she breaks through the cloud ceiling, from there she can find the transport aircraft and land there for the flight home.

“I wonder if I can get a Dash Party sized pizza. I’m starved.” Streams says.

***

“So what’s the plan.” The man asks quietly.

“We target her where she’s weakest, the foals.”

“The foals?” Blinking, he tilts his head.

“Yes, Feather and the two white ones. Kidnap them… and she will charge to their defense.”

“Then what?” The man inquires, licking his lips with a smile.

Grinning softly, “We capture her and show her where she really belongs. Then you can do whatever with the rest, sell them, kill them, whatever is easier.”

Author's Note

86: The Magic of the Soul

“How did it go?” The purple pegasus asks as she cleans her glasses with a wing.

Sanders sighs and shakes his head, “Honestly it didn’t. It felt hollow, empty. Simulators don’t feel like real flying on the best of days. All they are is just pushing buttons.”

“Well you need to know what you're doing right?” The pegasus asked.

Looking around the hospital room, Sanders nods, “I guess, and I can do that with my eyes closed. Its just, the simulators are too smooth, there no sensations of the wind, of turbulence, they do their best, but they can’t really make them feel real.”

“The hospital nurse says you're still not eating well.” The pegasus says, fluffing her wings a little.

“Just haven’t been hungry, I guess.” Shaking his head, he looks at the window, its curtains drawn closed tight to shut out the light. “Just prefer to rest.”

Shaking her head slowly, the pegasus opts to change the subject, “So you got a fax from the foal you saved?”

Looking down at the papers, Sanders nods. “Chirpy. She wanted to thank me again for saving her. Well thank the pegasus mare. She talks about how nice it is at the farm. How she’s learning to fly. How she can stand or lay on clouds.”

Picking up the paper, he sighs, “She says they even had a talent show for the foals there. To see who was the cutest foal and explore special talents for cutie marks.”

“How did it go?” The pegasus asks gently.

“Apparently an Earth Pony named Pageant got her cutie mark, a golden tiara.” Sanders says looking at his hip. “She won the talent show and got her mark.”

“And Chirpy?” The pegasus asks.

“She’s still blank, she says she misses me. Well, that she misses the mare.” Shaking his head, Sanders looks down. “Misses me.”

The purple mare tilts her head, looking at carefully at Sanders. A long moment passes before she asks, “Lieutenant… who are you?”

Sanders looks at her, eyes opening wide. “I…” Turning his head he looks at his reflection in the mirror. “I’m…”

***

Looking away quick I cover my eyes with my foreleg. “Cookie, you’re indecent.”

“What?” Cookie blinks, confused.

Fleur blinks, her jaw dropping, “Cookie! There are foals present!”

Looking back at herself Cookie blinks, “What!”

Ballad giggles, “Well you have to admit, she looks sexy like that.”

“Ok one, I was a little cold. Two, we normally walk around without clothing so why is wearing clothing wrong. And three, they are for sale in town.” Cookie says, stomping her hoof lightly.

Looking at Sea Swirl, Cipher giggles, “Apparently she hasn’t seen any of the fanfics or pictures. She doesn’t know about ponies wearing socks.”

“Excuse me, they are leg warmers.” Cookie says with a huff and turns, “Perverts, I’m rooming with perverts.”

Laughing softly, I lean into Cookie, giving her a hug. “Its okay. We are just teasing you.”

Shaking her head, Cookie snorts, “Seriously, why would the idea of wearing leg warmers or socks be considered dirty?”

“That’s easy, because some pony fans think that way.” Cipher says, “You should read some of the stories online, especially about ponies like…”

With all the ponies looking at Cipher, the little unicorn gulps, “Okay, maybe you shouldn’t. Wait I need a coffee!”

With a flash of her horn Cipher vanishes, causing Sea Swirl to blink, “Teleport? Unicorns can teleport!”

“Oh goody, I can see I’m going to be teaching that spell a lot.” I say, smiling. “Yes, that’s week three.”

“When can I learn to teleport.” Sea Swirl shouts, pogo hopping up to me.

“I told you, week three. We need to get your focus and skills up to par before its safe. I don’t want you doing something like teleporting into the sun.”

Wiggling her tail, both her ears perk, “Oh I can’t wait, that’s gonna be so cool.”

Looking at Fleur, I giggle, “I think we found what she wants magic for.”

“Well there’s always something that a unicorn falls in love with magic over.” Fleur responds with a smile, “So what’s on the board for you?”

“Well I have to charter a flight to Nellis Air Force Base. I get to offer Sanders his chance to be a pony, permanently.” I say with a smile.

“Why?” Fleur asks, blinking. “Why all this work?”

“He’s been suffering serious depression after turning back. Like Henry and the other Rangers, he kept his cutie mark but… something about him made him want to be a pony more than most.” Sighing, I shake my head. “And keeping his cutie mark but without his pony form is almost like well… A pony who’s had their cutie mark removed.”

All the girls shiver and stick their tongues out at that idea.

“Ouch, I’ve seen how that turns out.” Fleur says shaking her head.

Nodding slowly, I let out a sigh, “So were going to see if he wants to become a pony for good. He’s done so much for other ponies he deserves the chance.”

“When are you leaving?” Cookie asks.

“In the morning. I’ve got a rental car being dropped off to take me to the airport.” I say, looking at the time. “Which gives us more then enough time to practice some fundamentals.”

Well that does it, a massive groan erupts from every unicorn present, with Fleur and Ballad both trying to hide their horns from view.

***

“Dust? Dust!” Shaking her head, Helen looks down at the pegasus. “Dust, there’s a pegasus arriving shortly. She needs a place to rest the night, do you want to meet her?”

“Why?” Dust sighs, laying in bed.

“The media’s been calling her an angel. She saved an airliner, boarding it while in flight after an in air depressurization. She’s just coming back from delivering vital medicine to a village in Alaska.” Helen laughs softly, “The media doesn’t know it’s a pegasus and somehow the people keep seeing her as an angel.”

Dust blinks, looking up slowly.

Helen goes on, “Her names Jet Stream, she’s an endurance flyer, first pony to fly non stop solo across Equestria. She’s also White Lightning’s baby sister. She needs food. Apparently,” Helen smiles, “she loves pizza.”

Climbing out of bed, Dust stretches before following Helen down the stairs. Looking around, she sees the rest of her herd relaxing, giving her the space she needs until she is ready.

Opening the door Dust steps outside into the cold night air and looks around. There are a few other pegasi flying around right now, but most are keeping low to the ground. There isn’t a need to fly at high level most times.

Adjusting to the darkening sky her eyes quickly pick out the pegasus in the 520th flight suit coming in for a landing. For a pony she isn’t flashy, she doesn’t have a special mane style. Single color mane and body. Even her cutie mark, a cloud with a lightning bolt has been seen on other pegasi.

It isn’t her looks that make her special to Dust’s experienced eye, though. Not every pony has to look like a fashion model to be special. Not every pony needs special colors or mane styles. Not every pony needs clothing or accessories.

Landing, Jetstream pulls up her goggles and shakes her mane and tail out. She had been flying for hours, but she isn’t tired, just hungry and thirsty. Looking around, she sees Dust trotting up to her slowly on the dark street.

“Jetstream? Its nice to meet you.” Dust says, smiling and stepping forward. “How's the media angel doing?”

Whimpering, Jetstream lowers her head, her ears going red with a blush. “Come on, they only called me an angel once.”

“Twice, the humans in Alaska thought you were an angel too.” Dust says with a smile.

Shaking her head, Jetstream whimpers, “At least its not me. I’d hate to be plastered all over the paper as myself.”

“Why not? You’re a hero.” Dust laughs, “Come on inside.”

“I don’t do these things to be a hero. I just… get stuck in having to do them.” Keeping her head low, Streams sighs, “I just like flying.”

“Tell me about it. Its in our blood.” Dust smiles brighter, then she turns, pointing a wing at her home, “Now why not come inside the house.”

“I… I don’t want to be a bother or trouble. And I don’t really do well with other people or ponies.” Stream says, scuffing a hoof on the asphalt.

“We’ve got pizza.” Dust giggles.

Instantly Streams wings flare out and upwards, her ears locking forward. “Pizza? Um, if its not a bother. I guess it would be okay.”

“Wow, you really do love pizza.” Dust says with a smile and turns, heading inside.

*** Nellis Air Force Base ***

I find myself stopping to look up at the hospital. I’ve seen this building before, though never on good terms. I’ve spent time laid up in here, Blaze has spent time in here. Looking beside me I chuckle, “Wow, for once, its not one of us.”

Blaze stops and looks at me, “You mean you. Just how many times have you knocked yourself out with a spell Velvet? Three or four?”

Pouting, I huff, “Hey it’s not my fault I keep trying to save ponies, I just keep overestimating what I can do.”

Walking into the hospital gives me that feeling that I’ve done something wrong again as a few ponies take note of me as does some of the staff. I figure for me its because I’ve been in here before as a bad patient. Really I can’t stand their hospital food.

Looking over, I smile at the nurse at the front desk. “Hello, I’m here for Lt. Sanders.”

“He’s in his room, 206c.” The nurse says without even having to check the computer.

Blaze blinks. “Still? I’d have thought you’d have put him into temporary lodgings or something.”

“Given his state of mind, we still want to keep him under observations.” The nurse says, “Elevators over there unless you want to try flying up the stairwell.”

“Do pegasi really try and do that?” I ask, looking at Blaze.

Nodding, the nurse smiles, “Some do.”

Walking over to the elevator, I light my horn and the elevator button lights in response. Looking to Blaze I nod, “You’re sure he’s a pegasus?”

“Mindy may have botched the spell, but he is a pegasus, trust me on this. Both Dust and I agree.” Blaze says firmly.

Nodding slowly, I step into the elevator and select the second floor. As the doors close the music starts. “Umm, I wonder if we can get that outlawed?”

“What?” Blaze looks confused.

“Muzak, we need to have it banned. It could lead to inadvertent song and dance numbers which could be dangerous in confined spaces.” I say as the door opens.

Looking back over his shoulder Blaze laughs, “Yeah, or worse, can you picture ponies breaking out into a musical number at a shopping center because of the Musak there?”

Laughing softly, I prance into Sanders room. “Hi there!”

Rolling onto his side facing away from us, Sanders sighs, “It’s too early for cheerful.”

“Umm, its 10:30 AM. Was grumpy time extended to eleven without telling me?” I say looking back at Blaze.

“Nope, the eleven AM extension is only breakfast.” Blaze says, then he tilts his head before saying, “Pancakes…” His tongue hanging out with just the slightest bit of drool.

“Sanders, I think I have an option for you.” I say, “A way to make you a pegasus permanently.”

Sanders rolls over so fast he falls out of bed. Laying on the floor under the covers he looks up at me. “Wait, your Velvet, the one who runs the Magical Unicorn Training School.”

Blinking, I look at Blaze, “Magical Unicorn Training School? Great, we’re MUTS.” I roll my eyes, “Now I’m insulted.”

“I didn’t mean that as an insult, it’s just what we used as pilots to say where we were delivering to.” Sanders says defensively and sits up. “A way to become a pegasus?”

“Some ponies react badly to being human form with their cutie marks. They feel cut off from their real selves. It can put a huge amount of pressure on their psyche.” Nuzzling his hip gently with my muzzle, “I think because you kept your mark, the mirror will recognize that. We may be able to get you back to the pony form with the mirror,” I stop for a moment and take a deep breath, “But there are risks.”

Sanders sits up, looking at his hip. “Like what?”

“Well small scale problems, you could end up stuck in Equestria or coming out a girl. Or it simply won’t work.” I say, shaking my head. “Larger scale problems are you could get stuck or lost between worlds… Trapped forever or until the next gate opening. Then past that, anything else becomes so rare to happen its not worth mentioning.”

“But, the risks would be to me and me only?” Sanders says.

“For the most part yes.” I say, blinking, “The chances of something going world breakingly wrong are in the one in seven hundred-forty million area.”

“Only?” Sanders blinks.

“Well one in seven hundred thirty-seven million, three hundred sixty-seven thousand…” I start before getting smacked by a wing.

“Pointed ears does not mean you’re Spock.” Blaze laughs.

“Sorry, yes, there is about an eighty percent chance it will work.” I say. “An eighteen percent chance you will just be flung out as human… then after that,” I flinch and my ears flick a few times, “it breaks down into stranger failures…”

Sanders nods, “If the risk is me alone, I’ll do it. Its just, hard to live like this after finding my true self.”

“Trust me, we aren’t taking this lightly, that’s why we are doing this.” Blaze says with a firm nod, “Now let’s have a smile, like you did when I brought you food.”

With a sigh, Sanders fakes a smile, “Well at least I have something to look forward too. So what do we have to do?”

“Oh, that’s the easy part. We just need to bring you to the gate.” I say cheerfully, “We already have clearance to go there, since its under Military and pony control.”

Blaze chuckles, “So, we are going to fly you there for a change.”

“Oh great, flying with Rainbow Crash’s dad.” Sanders says with a smile, “I’m doomed.”

***

“Princess? Princess!”

“In here Spike.” The voice calls out from the room.

Smiling, the little dragon trundles into the chambers, pushing a cart. “Lets see, we have sandwiches, soup, and some of your favorite berry juice.”

“I’m not really hungry.” She says, looking down at the plate. “But thank you for trying.”

“Hey it’s a dragon’s duty to help the princess.” Spike says, puffing up.

“Since when?”

Spike laughs, “Since Celestia had me burp up my first scroll.”

“Okay, you have a point.” Sighing, she lays her head down on the bed.

“Well then, we’ve made contact with another colony. A group of thestrals, zebras, ponies, and even a dragon out of Africa.”

Perking her head, a bit, the princess blinks, “Are they ok?”

“Well they have formed a town. An actual ponyish only settlement. I say ish because its zebras and a dragon too, well maybe I should say an Equestrian Colony.” Spike says, looking down at his trolley cart.

“Have you been helping them?”

“We sent down one load of supplies, we are looking at getting a larger chunk ready.” Spike says, looking proud. “Big pack of solar panels, crops, water purification, food and medicine.”

“That sounds nice.” The princess says softly.

“You know we could always arrange a visit to see them.” Spike says.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know if anypony really wants to see me.” The princess says with a sigh.

Smiling, Spike shakes his head, “Okay, trip confirmed. I’ll make the plans now.” With that the little dragon turns and trundles out the door.

***

“Come on, show me show me show me!” Feather says. bouncing on the spot.

Huffing, Candy pouts, “But its hard.”

Cloudy giggles, “At least you’ve got something.”

Grumbling, Candy closes his eyes as and concentrates as hard as he can, straining himself, trying his hardest to focus. It takes a few moments, but eventually a few sparks and sparkles appear around his horn then, the tip lights with a faint glow.

“That’s sooo cool!” Feather says, “Your almost at Sweetiebelle level!”

“Oh ouch.” Cloudy says with a laugh, “That was harsh.”

“At least you can fly. We can’t even get a decent spark between us.” Candy huffs.

“Well we are foals. As much as we grew up as human, we never did grow up as foals, so we never got our training, our skills, developed our talents.” Feather says, scuffing a hoof.

Candy sits and sighs, “People expect us to act like adults all the time, to act grown up. But we can’t do what grownups can do. Maturity aside, we just can’t be adult ponies until we really grow up.”

“I feel sorry for foals who were married before they changed.” Cloudy says with a huff.

Blinking, Candy looks over at Feather, “Have you seen any really cute stallions around town?”

Lifting her head Feather sticks her tongue out, “Ugh no. You?”

Candy shook his head, “No, think about it. Do you even think any of the stallions are really cute?”

“Not… really, most of them are too old for me, but…” Feather blinks.

Cloudy tilts her head, looking at Candy, “Finding yourself attracted to stallions?”

Candy blinks, then shakes his head no vigorously, “No and not mares either. My bets is its also because… we’re too young.”

“Never thought about that.” Feather says.

“Nope, that’s cuz you’ve only been concerned with getting your cutie mark.” Candy says, laughing.

“Well so have you! Cutie Mark Crusader teddy bear inspectors was your idea!” Feather says, then she blinks.

All three looked at each other, then just start laughing.

***

Ambrosia spreads her forelegs and ducks her head as she lets out a loud whinny. She keeps her ears perked forward, even though her tail is thrashing and flagging high a bit. Stomping her hoof a few times, she snorts and whinnies again before turning and starting to run.

“Well that was interesting.”

Looking over her shoulder, she lets out another whinny before running down the roadway. After about thirty yards she stops and turns back as she thinks to herself. ‘Come on, how does Sunny do this.’

Leaning back, one of the officers laughs and takes a sip of his Pinolillo. “So what do you think its problem is?”

Munching on a tortilla, the second officer shakes his head, “No idea, strange dog though.”

Blinking, Ambrosia turns and spreads her forelegs, letting out another loud whinny at the officers. ‘Dog? Dog! Really?’

Chuckling, one of the officers tosses a little piece of fish to Ambrosia. “There you go.”

Facehoofing Ambrosia sighs and walks up to the officers, “There’s a car accident just outside of town. We need help, ambulance, fire, and police. So get off your butts and follow me!”

Blinking, they look at each other, “A talking dog?”

“And I’m a pony, not a dog. Follow me!” Ambrosia says as she turns and starts to run, “A car accident, and all they care about is a talking dog?”

Backtracking down the dirt road, Ambrosia stops and looks over her shoulder. “We can’t lift the truck without causing more injuries to the driver.”

The officers slow, panting hard, they see the pick up truck, flipped over at the side of the ditch. The cab had been crushed, pinning the driver between the seat and wheel.

“A talking pony leading us to a car crash, no one at the station’s going to believe this.” One of the officers says as he calls for fire and ambulance.

“Best they not know. We mean no harm. We’re just trying to make it to the USA.” Ambrosia says, looking down.

“To America? Why?” the second officer says, looking shocked.

“There is supposed to be a safe place for us there. We mean no harm to anyone.” Ambrosia says, “Just, please help him, we heard the crash, and I don’t like seeing people suffer.”

“We’ll do what we can,” The officer says with a nod. “Best get going then if you don’t want to answer more questions.”

***

A cold wind blows down the road as Katie Sanders exits the cab. She looks around, it is very strange to her. The location her brother gave her was listed as an abandoned school building, though it doesn’t seem totally abandoned. The cab driver didn’t speak much of the place, and was quick to pull away once she had paid, not wanting to remain in the area.

Looking around Katie sighed as she focuses on the building. The school itself must have been some kind of juvi hall, or worse. It’s the only reason she could think of for the place having a large darkened fence around it with barbed wire. Some inner city schools in had security fences, but none went for barbed wire like this.

Walking down the short path, she stops at the gate. A buzzer button and voice box are there, but they look like new additions given the bad condition of the school building itself. Taking a deep breath, Katie presses the button.

“Yes?” Comes through the speaker as a ball style security camera swivels to face her.

“Umm, Katie Sanders, I was told to come here, I guess. My brother called me.” With a gulp she looks up and forces a smile to the camera. “He was in some kind of plane crash.”

A moment later there is a soft buzz at the gate. A loud metallic click can be heard, then the sounds of an electric motor, as the gate starts to slide sideways opening up to the front path. She follows the concrete walkway up to the school. The building itself is in serious disrepair, however, a pair of portables had been added, as well as a set of back up generators.

“Sis?” Sanders calls, stepping out of one of the portables and smiling.

“James? James! I was so worried about you!” Dropping her day bag, Katie runs up and hugs Sanders gently.

“Ow, ow, ow, careful! I’m still tender.” Sanders says. He smiles at her warmly and brings her closer for another hug.

“What happened? I was so worried. First I get the call that you were in a crash, then that you are in critical condition. When I make plans to come see you I’m told you’ve been moved and I’m not allowed to visit. And finally I’m called to meet you here… And you seem fine.” Katie looks around, then at Sanders. “What is going on?”

“It’s really hard to explain, a lot has happened in the world that you don’t know about yet.” Sanders says with a sigh, rubbing his hip.

“Come on James, talk. You know me, nothing surprises me.” Katie says firmly, looking at him, “It’s not like you’re on some special super secret...”

Mindy trots out and shakes herself out, “Velvet’s going to be ready soon, I’m not fully sure about what she’s doing there but its some pretty high level stuff there. So relax mask butt.” She does a double take looking at Katie, “Oh hi there.” She says brightly.

“Mindy, this is my sister, Katie. Katie, this is Mindy, though you can call her balloon butt if you want.” James says with a smile to Mindy before looking back to his sister.

“Oh I’m sorry, you were saying…” Katie says, blinking in shock.

Blinking, Mindy shakes her head, “Oh you haven’t told her… I’ll just go see if there’s any coffee left.”

“Sis, I think we should sit down and talk.” Sanders says and leads her into the heated portable shelter.

It’s a simple stamp and go mobile building, forty by sixteen feet. It had been set up as a temporary barracks with four bedrooms, a kitchen, and common room.

Walking over, Sanders sits down on the sofa, looking at his sister.

Wordlessly, Katie walks over and sits across from him in one of the love seats. Looking down at the love seat, Katie realizes it is probably just the right size for a little unicorn like Mindy to lay sideways on. “Ok what’s going on, was that… some kind of military…”

“Mindy? No she’s a civilian, a friend of mine, I helped her out a few…” Sanders stops and looks at his sister. He sigh, “Lets back this up.”

“How far back? To the point where you explain how a… cartoon character, is walking around talking?” Katie says shaking her head. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

“They are refugees. There are thousands of them, if not tens of thousands. Magic is real and they can use it. They were banished here by an evil spirit, Discord, who might as well be a god by his abilities.” With a soft sigh, Sanders finds himself rubbed his hip absently. “They were cursed to be reborn as humans, grow up for twenty-five years, then change back to ponies. So anyone… even you, sis… Could end up turning into one.”

“Me? What do you mean me?” Katie blinks.

“I mean, on your twenty-fifth birthday, a mark could appear on your hip and you could start to change into a pony. The process generally takes three days. And that’s why its being kept secret right now. To stop mass panic, to stop the fear, and over reactions.”

“Ok no, I’m human, not some animated pony.” Katie says, shaking her head.

Shaking his head Sanders fidgets with his hip, “They all thought they were human too.”

“So is that what happened? There wasn’t a crash?” Katie says, looking around, then back at her brother, confusion obvious on her face.

“No, there was a crash, I bellied my plane in trying to avoid some pegasi, they flew across my landing path and I didn’t want to wipe out a family so… I dove under them, but I couldn’t pull up in time. I would have died but.” Closing his eyes, Sanders cringes as the images of the ground, the flames, the sounds of the airplane ripping apart fills his mind.

“But what?” Katie blinks, then looks at the expression of pain on his face and sighs, “The crash was hard huh?”

“I’d do it again though, something in me couldn’t bring myself to kill a family.” Shaking his head, he looks down. “Two of them were foals, their whole lives ahead of them.”

“You could have died though.” Katie huffs.

“Could have, should have, would have. I’ve been flying ponies around now for months. They can’t use public airlines. Even through they were normal humans, there’s no true way to verify who they were before the change. DNA, retina scan, lack of fingers to fingerprint, even voice changes. There’s no true way to verify most of the pony’s identities, so they decided to have us bring small groups around that need to travel.”

Shaking her head, Katie looks at him, “What’s this got to do with almost dying?”

“After the crash the doctors didn’t think I’d make it. They though I’d die within the week. Mindy and the other ponies I’ve helped wouldn’t accept that though. Pegasi are very fast healers, what normally takes some humans months to heal, a pegasus can heal in days.” Sanders says and rubs his hip again.

“They turned you into one of them?” Katie says and looks at the door, then back at her brother.

“Please don’t look at it as ‘one of them’. They are people too, just because they are ponies don’t make each one any less important.”

“Well how am I supposed to look at it?” Katie says, shaking her head in disbelief.

“They’re ponies, its just the name for them, like we call ourselves humans. They are still people though, still intelligent, still…” Shaking his head, Sanders takes a breath.

“Okay, go on, what happened with the ponies.” Katie says, watching her brother.

“I don’t know why, but since day one of meeting them, I’ve been drawn to them. Many of them couldn’t understand why I hadn’t changed, because it seemed more comfortable being… Like them.” He rubs his hip once again, and flinches as she looks at him doing so, “They changed me with a short spell so I could heal the injuries. They don’t have a poof, you’re healed, spell. So they did the only thing they could think of.”

“Well your back to human now at least.” Katie says with a smile, “And you lived.”

“I… I… I want to go back.” Sanders says softly, and looks down quickly.

Blinking Katie looks at him confused. “What do you mean back? Back to being a pony?”

“It’s… It’s like… I was always meant to be one. Like something went wrong. Since I was changed, I look at myself in the mirror and don’t see myself looking back, its like I’m looking at a stranger. Not who I should be.” Sanders says softly.

Katie stands up and walks over, sitting beside her brother and taking his hand. “You’ve been through a lot. Maybe this is just the shock from the crash. Stress of being healed or something.”

“No…. No it isn’t. It isn’t shock, it isn’t some kind of PTSD or stress… It’s who I am.” Sanders says firmly.

“I grew up with you, you’re not a pony. You don’t even like hanging around with the horses.” Katie says, her voice rising.

“I am, though, I just didn’t realize it before. Even after turning back to human, I kept my pony mark, they call it a cutie mark. It’s part of me. Yet I know it should be there. I know it needs to be there. Just like I know I need to be a pony.” Sanders gives his sister’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“What kind of pony?” Katie asks, “Unicorn? Pegasus?”

“Pegasus, part of me, even now, longs to be in the sky. You know I’ve always felt that way… Even dad couldn’t understand it. Now I do I think, I think I was always meant to fly.” Sanders says, looking into his sister’s eyes.

Looking back, she searches his face, his eyes, for some meaning but only finds pain, “I know you better than anyone. I just don’t know why you can’t just be happy flying in a plane.”

“Because I feel incomplete doing that. More so than before. I feel like I’m putting a façade, using the plane to hide the fact that I don’t look like I should. That I can’t fly like I should.” Shaking his head slowly, “It’s hard to explain.”

“Look, you’ve been there through all my life, helped me through my problems. You did your best to keep me happy. I want to be there for you but this is a little much to deal with.” Katie says with a sigh, “I… I don’t know how I feel about any of this.”

87: The Magic of Form

The Director looked across the table. Several supervisors are sat, looking at folders around the table in the windowless room. The walls are stippled and contained both sound muting and EM countering materials. The whole room was set up to counter people listening in. But what else would you expect from the CIA?

“They are listing another flight. They are not even trying to hide it.” One supervisor says, “An IL-76 this time is being sent down to Kenya.”

Flipping a file, another looks up, “They are sending a full load, but we can’t get a handle on exactly what. Food, for sure, but they are also sending some machinery down there as well.”

“Look we can’t have them getting a foothold in that community. Especially with a dragon like that there.” The director said sternly, “Lets have some ideas folks.”

“I think we should start with PR first, if they are terrorists or sympathetic to terrorist groups then we can pretty much do whatever we want. We don’t even have to mention ponies or dragon. Simply a break away group, show the destroyed vehicles and dead bodies. Should be easy enough.” One analyst says.

“At the same time quietly try and find out what they want, what we can do to help them, to save them from… Making a mistake.” The director says with a smile. “I like it, lets get to work.”

***

Laughing, I find my attention drawn to the foals. I know they are twenty-five years old. But still they are as silly, and full of energy, as any Equestrian foal. Their wisdom and experience taking a back seat to their quests for cutie marks and trying to find out who they are as ponies.

“Maybe you should try something like a cutie mark in cuteness.” Candy says, bouncing beside Feather.

Scrunching up her nose, Feather huffs, “I’m not that cute.”

“Oh come on, you define cute and adorable.” Cloudy laughs.

With a huff Feather fluffs her wings, “I’m not that cute.” Feather repeats resolutely.

“With a huff and a fluff she’ll cute the house down.” Candy chirps.

“Fine, you want cute?” Feather says with a snort. Turning to face the other two, she breaks into the most childlike singsong voice she can muster, “Oh I’m a little pony, short and stout.” Turning her rear to the two she gives her tail a little wiggle. “This is my tail, and this is my snout.” Finishing the line poking the end of her muzzle with a forehoof. “If you need to hug me, I won’t pout. I’ll spread my wings and snuggle you out.”

The two unicorns go wide eyed in shock, “Feather, your flank!”

Blinking, Feather closes her eyes, “No, don’t tell me… if I just got a cutie mark for cuteness…”

Candy voices in awe and shock, “It so…”

Slowly Feather blinks at the two unicorns, then she looks back at her flank, and blinks seeing nothing there.

“Blank…” Cloudy says, finishing the sentence. Then both foals fall over, laughing.

“ARGH!” Feather leaps and tackles both Candy and Cloudy, starting to tussle with them both playfully.

“Help! I’m being attacked by an adorable pony!” Candy says, holding up a hoof before disappearing under Feather.

***

“Stop it.” Nightshade says, stretching out her wings. It’s summer in the scrublands.

Kira blinks and looks innocent, folding her wing against her sides. “You are worrying too much, they will be fine.”

“I don’t like them being gone that long, and why did they go without me?” Nightshade says, walking in circles.

Using her wing again, Kira angles it ever so slightly to shine more light on Nightshade. As if the poor thestral isn’t hot enough. “Look, it’s going to be a full day flight to the coast for them. Once there they are going to spend a day gathering cloud matter, then it will be a full day to push it back here.”

Grumbling, Nightshade looks at the glare off of Kira’s wing. “It’s forty five in the shade and your trying to make me more warm? Doesn’t the heat…”

Kira looks down and spits a very small gout of flame out of her mouth and smiles.

“Never mind, I’ll take the shade.” The thestral says and trundles around to the other side of the dragon laying down under her wing. A few other ponies had opted to use the wing shade too while watching the farms.

“Don’t worry they should be back tonight with the clouds, then they will make it rain all over the farms and at the same time fill the cisterns.” Kira says with a soft smile.

Nighshade lay down in the shade of Kira’s wing and grumbles, “And you couldn’t go with them to guard them?”

“They are cloud farming at fifteen to twenty-five thousand feet, they are out of the height of even 20mm cannons, really. Besides, this is my home.” Kira says, looking around her valley.

“What? Haven’t you ever just wanted to fly off and visit somewhere else?” Nightshade asks.

Tilting her head, Kira thinks for a moment and laughs, “Well yes but I don’t have a visa, and me flying over five hundred kilometers to Kenya or a thousand to Djibouti just to go swimming seems a bit…excessive.”

“Why would you go there to swim?” Nightshade asks with confusion, “You could have gone with the cloud group and swam in the ocean.”

“Swim in the ocean? With sharks? No thank you! I’ll stick to the nice safe volcanos and lava flows. And Kenya and Djibouti are the closest countries with active volcanos.” Kira says and smiles, sticking her head under her wing.

“I keep forgetting just how much heat a dragon can take.” Nightshade says and laughs.

“Not much, chili gives me heartburn and gas, and you don’t want to see a dragon with gas.” Kira says with a straight face.

“You know, given the density of lava, there’s no possible way a dragon could really swim in it.” Nightshade responds, looking up at the white dragon.

Kira tilts her head and smiles, “Says the pony that fell asleep on a cloud. Small density difference there.”

“Point, Dragon.” Nightshade says with a chuckle.

“Dragon magic is about super dense materials. There’s a reason a little dragon like Spike can actually bite a diamond, or we can swim in lava. Its…our magic.” Kira says, looking proud.

***

“How dangerous is this?” Katie asks, looking over at me.

“I figure an eighty percent chance it works properly and he comes back out a pony, probably only eighteen to nineteen percent chance the magic on the mirror overrides the precautions and he comes back as a human again.” I say.

“You mean there’s a chance this wont work, Velvet?” Mindy asks.

“There’s always risks with major magics and spells. Chances things can go wrong. But there are chances things can go wrong with everything.” I say, shaking my head.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Katie asks.

Blinking, I look at her, then at Blaze. “Ok why do people always ask what’s the worst that can happen? People talked about the worst that could happen with dropping a nuke… oh it could cause a chain reaction and burn off the entire atmosphere of the planet. Yep, that’s possible… at such a low probability of happening.”

Giggling, Mindy bounces a few times, “It could rupture the time space continuum causing Equestria and Earth to collide, destroying both worlds!”

“Actually that’s only if I force a connection to Equestria.” I say to Mindy, “And our worlds are far enough apart that that’s not likely to happen, according to Star Swirl. Only happens in alternate realities that are very close to our own.”

Katie whimpers and looks at her brother, “Are you really sure you want to do this? Can’t they just… get rid of the mark? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Sunshine shakes her head no, “Removing the mark doesn’t just make it go away, it removes the passion, the drive. It removes what makes him special so that the mark will go away.”

“Trust me, its not a good thing to have a mark removed.” Mindy says. “It leaves you feeling hollow and not wanting to do anything, not even a party can cheer you up.”

Katie looks at Mindy, “I don’t want to lose my brother, okay? I don’t want him doing something stupid.”

Taking his sisters hand, Sanders shakes his head. “Trust me, I need to do this. Not for them, not for you but for myself.”

“But what about me? What about the brother I need?” Katie says softly, “How could you do this to me?”

Sighing softly, Sanders shakes his head, “I’m not doing anything to you. And I’ll still be there to protect you if you need it… Help you when ever I can, support you. I just… I was just hoping you’d support me a bit. But this is something I have to do for myself. For my well being.”

Turning, Sanders walks beside me. I glance over and look at Sunshine with a sad look on my face.

“This sort of thing happens sometimes. People have to find ways to adapt to things and sometimes lash out.” The purple pegasus says softly.

The Statue is still in the storage shed. It seemed like the best place to keep it for now, until a better building can be built. Right now though, it is safe and secure. Everything else in the shed had been cleared out weeks ago to make room, and give unobstructed views of the gate. Now there is just security cameras, locks, and guards.

“Well it could be in a worse place.” Blaze says, looking at the gate as the doors open.

“Really?” I say, blinking.

“Yeah, it could be in Cheyanne Mountain, behind a door labeled broom closet.” Blaze chuckles.

Groaning, I fac hoof. “Really?” Shaking my head, I went to work making the last few checkups.

“I grew up on Stargate, there just weren’t that many Sci-Fi or Action shows on TV in the 2000’s.” Blaze continues.

“Remember this is a one-time one-way fix.” I say sternly, looking at Sanders. “If you decide you don’t like it, you can’t just go through and come back again.”

Looking at his hip Sanders shakes his head, “I wouldn’t want to. I need to be who I was meant to be. I know it.”

Lighting my horn, I cast the last prep spell on Sanders, “And…there, it should only take a moment now once you step through.”

Looking back, Sanders smiles, “For the USDA and Beyond!” Then with a nod he steps through the event horizon.

*WUMM*

Quickly I look around, poking my head outside to look at the sky and then around the grounds.

“What are you doing?” Blaze says, confused.

“Checking to make sure I didn’t just rip a new hole in the time space continuum. Everything looks fine.” I say ducking back to listen to the hum of the gate.

“Is it supposed to sound like that?” Katie asks.

“No way, normally its all whur whur, WUMM wubba splat!” Mindy explains.

As if in response to her call, the gate whurrs once.

*WUMM*

The pegasus mare is snapped backwards out of the gate a little faster than anyone expected. Landing on her tail she slides across the floor before hitting the wall. Blinking, she sits wobbling a bit, looking rather dizzy and somewhat out of it.

Running over, Mindy quickly waves a hoof in front of the pegasus’ face. “Sanders, Sanders, are you ok? How many hooves am I holding up?”

“Umm six?” Sanders replies weakly, the voice taking on the slight British accent again.

Giggling, Mindy looks over her shoulder, “Eyes are working fine, back to normal.”

“Mindy how did you…. Never mind.” Shaking my head, I trot over. “Sanders, Sanders how do you feel?”

Closing her eyes, she shakes her head, “My name isn’t Sanders, it’s… It was Masquerade.”

Katie ran over, “What have you done to him?”

Looking up the pegasus smiles, “It’s okay sis.”

“You remember me?” Katie asks, worried. “Then why is your name Masquerade?”

“Because that’s who I am. Or was, I guess…” Sanders says.

“You’re a mare?” Katie says, backing up a bit.

“I wasn’t sure if the gate would turn him into a mare or stallion.” I say, shaking my head. “That’s my fault. When the spell was first cast he became a mare. Not sure why but I blame Mindy for that.”

“Hey.” Mindy protests.

Shaking my head, I sigh, “Mirror returned the form, but made him female again. Sorry about that.”

Masquerade looks over, “Nothing to be sorry about, its who I am. Who I was,” She looks down, her ears folding back, “I guess. It’s all part of being the pegasus I’m supposed to be.” Spreading her wings wide, she flares them and strikes a pose. “I’m back in…” Looking back at herself she giggles, “Back in yellow? Well that doesn’t sound right.”

“No… I can’t deal with this right now, no.” Katie says and backs up.

“Sis? What’s wrong?” Turning Masquerade steps towards her sister.

“You… you’re not the brother I knew. You’re not my brother.” Turning, she runs out the door.

Moving forward, Sunshine puts a wing in front of Masquerade, “No, let her go for now. Trust me. She needs time to think to come to terms and figure this out for herself.”

Looking back, I walk over and lean against Sanders, “You have lots of friends here to support you. By the way, Masquerade?”

“Yeah um… I heard the name… and some kind of laughing… and… the eyes… misshapen mismatched orange and red eyes…” Shaking her head, she stumbles for a moment. “I saw when I came out of the gate for a moment. Maybe I just hit my head too hard. You know, on the landing.”

Bounding by, Mindy giggles, “See I Told you, Wumm, splat.”

Sunshine goes wide eyed, she finds herself gulping as her wings flare. A cold shiver going down her back as her fur puffs out a bit.

“Chalk that one up to Mindy’s spell also.” I say with a chuckle.

“Hey why is everything my fault?” Mindy says in defense, blinking.

“Because you’re chaos magic, and everything’s chaos magic’s fault of course.” I say, perking.

***

Spitfire’s hooves set down on the snow before she shakes herself out. Really she could have walked across the ice to get here. But seriously, what pegasus would walk when they can fly?

On the books, it is listed as Project C21238, Lukomorskaya Druzhina. To its residents through, it is simply, home. It had started as a rescue project for a few ponies and griffins, needing a place to rediscover themselves. But in the last few months, the gated community had grown into a small town with nearly four hundred residents.

While Spitfire and her twin brother Spike still live with their parents, this is like a second home. Ponies and griffins alike have been working together to build a little community here. They have a few stores, offices, a small clinic and even a little school has been started up to try and help the blank flanks.

“Welcome to Lokomorskaya Druzhina, Spitfire!” Naomi says, curling her wings against her cat body.

Spitfire smiles, “Looks like everything’s being set up nicely here.”

“Well its two years before the next gate opening, so we might as well have a life, right?” Naomi says with a laugh.

Nodding, Spitfire falls into step beside the griffin, “Doing most of your business online or over the phone?”

“Yep, they don’t need to know they are talking to a pony when they ask for a translator or are calling for tech support.” Naomi says with a nod to one of the offices.

“Pony? I see, so its only the ponies doing the hard work huh?” Smiling coyly, Spitfire tries to be innocent.

“Oh don’t give me that, everyone pitching in and working.” Naomi says and punches Spitfire lightly. “You should see how hard we are working at the fish market.”

Spitfire blinks then laughs, “Sure, cuz most ponies won’t go near the place.”

“Cats crave fish.” Naomi giggles.

“And birds crave pooping on windshields. A dangerous combination.” Spitfire says, then she laughs as she ducks the swing.

“But yes, those who can have jobs for their cutie marks, those that can’t have jobs they like or did as a human.” Naomi says.

Sighing, Spitfire shakes her head, “In Equestria we’d be free to follow our cutie marks, we wouldn’t have to worry about money as much. Writers, performers, artists, were more free to explore their passions because there was far less mass media. Small bands or even single players were always in need in small towns. Writers and storytellers could always find a place where their talents earned them at least rent and food.”

“But on Earth, with mass media, internet, everyone competing for a piece of the market. I guess some could make it on digital media, selling E-books only. Or on Amazon or such for musical downloads. But still, how many humans or ponies here would be interested in just a violin playing, or just cello.” Naomi says and sits down, dropping a few rubles into a cellist’s case as the pony sits performing.

“Its only now, I’m noticing how different the worlds really are. All to often, a person or pony has to ignore what they are truly good at, their special talent, just to put food on the table. Or worse, just to be accepted in society.” Spitfire said. “Well at least the ponies here are free to try and explore themselves.”

Sitting down, Spitfire looks at her own cutie mark for a bit, “Once I was a Wonderbolt, part of Equestria’s military. Now I put my skills to use helping design and test fighter planes. I was lucky though, my family was in the business before I changed. They accepted me and supported me through the change and after. How many ponies are out there that aren’t so lucky?”

Naomi looked up at the sky and sighed, “How many refugee’s, not just ponies.”

*** 50 km west of Bathurst island.

“We’re holding steady at nineteen knots sir.” Commander Cruz says, looking back at the Captain.

The bridge lookout turns his binoculars, “The Ararat and the Hammersley are pulling up on or port side. Maitland’s on our starboard.”

Commander Cruz clears his throat.

“Sorry, the Broome.” The lookout says and tries to look innocent.

Leaning over, Captain Stevenson looks sternly at the lookout. “Don’t make me change my mind about letting you off the hook for that prank. Replacing their mascot, and leaving PB 82 Caps around their bridge.”

“Hey, they’re the ones that boasted about being used for that. And Do is still safe, Sir.” The lookout says and pats the stuffed Daring Do.

Captain Stevenson sighs, “The navy is making such a tactical error. Pegasi should be allowed to serve permanently.”

“Sir?” Cruz blinks looking over at the captain.

“Well think about it, those little Armidale Class patrol boats, having two pegasi on board as permanent crew would be like having a pair of multi-role drones. Scouting, light cargo transport, search and rescue. It would extend the usefulness of the class to match that of ships four or even five times her weight.” Captain Stevenson muses.

“I know, but you know the Admiralty sir, we need to think about the big picture, the moral, and worse, the impact to civilians seeing and finding out about ponies.” The commander says.

“I know XO, and those little Patrol Boats see more civilians than any other class.” Leaning back in the chair the captain sighs, “I still hope she’s doing fine back in Equestria.”

Looking over her shoulder the navigator smiles, “sixteen hours till we are in the patrol zone, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant…” The Captain stops and blinks, trying to remember the new crewmembers name.

“Lieutenant Mills sir, I was transferred on because it was getting close to Lieutenant Roland’s birthday.” She says with a smile.

“Seriously, the idea of removing sailors close to their 25th birthday from active duty just in case. This is going to cause even more problems.” The captain just shakes his head. “If they change on the ship, fine, we can deal with that. If they don’t, then we don’t lose an officer for days, or weeks, or even months.”

“That came from the politicians. Though I have no idea what they are so scared about, the chances that any one person will change are so small. Have a better chance of winning a lottery than changing.” The XO growls.

“MH393 apparently went down five hours ago, sixteen more to reach the search area, what are the chances we will find anything?” Lt Mills asks.

“Even finding debris is important, it can give clues as to why the plane went down.” The XO says, turning to look at the charts. “The chances of survivors are non existent, locating debris, plotting where it came from, we can help them find where the black boxes might be.”

Looking around the bridge the XO clears his throat, “Remember, Australians were on that plane, we are doing this so their families can have closure. Prove we can locate things as well as Daring Do could!”

***

“Well Blaze is off teaching Sanders… er, Masquerade.” I say, struggling into the hoodie.

Cipher growls for a moment, trying to get her horn through the neck hole of her sweater, “Well that and probably getting her a transponder.”

Ballad laughs and shakes herself out before flipping her hood up a little. “All I need is a gun to hold sideways.”

“This isn’t Detroit.” Cookie says and sits down, “Ranger, army, army, marine, I feel out of place.”

“Would you rather wear that pink one with the….” I start before getting cut off.

“No, never, not on your life, in fact…” Turning Cookie fires off a quick blast, turning the sweater to charred dust in a second. “Better.”

Cypher blinks, “Hey, I paid sixteen dollars for that at the PX.”

“I’ll give you twenty, the extra four is never to consider buying something like that again.” Cookie says and nods firmly.

“Aww but it was so… unicorny.” Cipher says, pogo hopping beside me.

“Unicorny? Did you just say, unicorny?” I say, blinking.

“Rainbow, and hearts, and it even glowed in the dark!” Cipher goes on as we walk through the gates into Dubuque.

“Since when did you become Mabel?” Ballad asks and tilts her head.

Cipher sighs, “I’m not, I was just trying to be a little like Rarity.”

“Rarity would never go for a look like that.” Cookie says, giggling.

“Rarity loves unicorns.” Cipher says then starts singing, “This is where rainbows all are born, just ask any un-ni-corn.”

Groaning I wave a hoof, “Noooo, not that Rarity, save me!”

As soon as they were outside of the gates all five girls strike poses and look at the LT. “We’re mares with hoodies, and we’re hungry.”

Covering his face with a hand, the LT shakes his head, “Oh dear lord. What brought this on?”

Looking up I smile, “We’re off duty, and technically on leave, so uniform isn’t needed. Figured it would be fun to try the sweatshirts, since its cold out, and go for some pancakes.”

Nodding once the LT chuckled, “IHOP?”

“Of course, the chain should be getting used to us by now.” Cipher giggles.

“I don’t think that’s the way it works.” Shaking his head, the LT gets into the truck and thumbs his finger at the back. “Cargo and livestock in the back.”

Cookie blinks and groans, “A Cut-V? Really? Come on, that things got to be as old as I am.”

I laugh as I shake my head, “You know you’re in the boonies of military bases when you can’t even get a hummer or advanced tactical. I know the CUCV’s or these LSSV’s are more civilian friendly but…wow.”

One by one I help the girls into the back of the pickup truck. It’s a standard Silverado, no additions except for a roll cage in the back to support the tarp covering. While there are fold down benches, there aren’t even seat belts. “Yep, this is a safe way for a pregnant mare to travel.”

“Its okay, we’ll keep you warm!” Sugarberry says, and yanks me into the truck with her forehooves, her horn glowing as she pulls.

Quickly I find myself being snuggled on both sides by ponies. Pressing themselves against me tightly to share warmth. Hip to hip, cheek to cheek. Giggling I look at Cipher and Sugarberry. Even Cookie and Ballad are joining in for warmth.

As the vehicle starts rolling through the city, I stick my muzzle just under the edge of the tarp and lift it a little to see outside. The roads are peaceful, trees and houses covered with a light dusting of snow, traffic is light today, with kids likely still at school.

This was probably a good thing because a pickup truck with a bunch of pony noses sticking out of a tarp might have caught the attention of some, specially given our colors. Well maybe not, since it’s just our noses, none of the colors would really stand out, whites, creams, peach, could pass for normalish colors.

“Hey does Hasbro know about us yet?” Cookie asks, tilting her head a bit.

Blinking I look over, “Huh? Maybe, I’m not sure. Why?”

“Cuz McDonald’s there has Transformers One, Cybertron Wars toys, and My Little Pony toys for their happy meals.”

Moving over to the cab Cipher quickly taps on the window, “Hey pull into McDonald’s.”

I could hear the LT yell back, “I thought you wanted IHOP!”

“Yeah, but I wanna see if they have any happy meal toys!” Cipher replies.

A moment later and all I can do is eep as I slide backwards across the truck bed as my butt hits the wall of the other side of the truck. Looking side to side all the girls are all blinking, except Cipher. Her horn is glowing brightly as are her hooves as she holds onto the back of the cab.

“Yee-Haw!” Cipher calls out.

Rubbing my butt, I huff, “Warn us next time.”

Pulling up to the drive thru, she bounds to the side of the pickup, sticking her muzzle out from under the tarp, “Hey! Do you have any Cipher pony toys?”

“Who?!?!” Comes over the speaker.

“Cipher Splash, orange body blue mane?” Cipher calls and grumbles. “I hate those speakers. They always distort the voice.”

“No sorry, never heard of that one.” Comes over the box speaker.

Giggling softly, I pat Ciphers back. “It’s okay.”

“How about Ballad? Sugarberry? Cookie Crisp?” Sugarberry asks hopefully.

“No, never heard of them.”

“Ouch, that hurts.” Sugarberry says meekly, “What about Twilight Velvet?”

“Look, we have Twilight Sparkle, Luna, Rarity, Coco Pommel, Blue Buttons, and Cloud Kicker. That’s it!” The teller is obviously frustrated, “I know you bronies love these toys, but if you’re not going to order please move on, you’re blocking traffic.”

“LT, let’s just go to IHOP.” Cipher says and giggles, “It’s safer than here.”

A moment later we are off again. Shaking my head, I look at Cipher, “Who the heck is Blue Buttons.”

Cipher looks at me, then shrugs, “I have no idea. I was going to say its such a pain being a total background pony but, if they have a Blue Buttons who I even haven’t heard of.”

“See, were not the only background ponies. Just the ones without toys.” I say, laughing

***

Katie opens the door to her apartment, it isn’t big or special, but it is hers. Her brother is a pony now, some creature from another world. That thought, that image, keeps running through her mind. What happened to the brother she knew? The one she remembers? The one she loves?

Opening her closet door, she reaches up and pulls down an old lunch box. Stroking it gently, it is an old Happy Feet lunch box, with a picture of a dancing penguin on the front. She uses it to store her memories, her best times with her brother.

Sitting down on the chair, she pulls a blanket around her shoulders and opens the box. Looking down she smiles, pictures from her brother’s graduation from high school. High school was hard for her. He was there for her though, standing up for her. He had warned her not to trust her boyfriend, and when he became abusive… James was there for her, to protect her. Gently she strokes the image of her brother. Looking at him as he was.

Setting the pictures from the school aside, she smiles, giving them one last look before turning back to the box. Their trip to Six Flags, the rides, the games, the fun. The car sickness. It was almost a three-hour trip there and back. It was so much fun though. It had to be cut short. She had had a seizure there. James didn’t complain through, he held her hand through it till they got her off the ride. Then sat with her in the back seat the entire way back without a single complaint about having to leave early.

“Why did he have to change? Why did he have to stop being my big brother?” She sighs and puts down the Six Flags pendant. She turns and gets back to the box.

Her Girl Scouts sash. Pulling it out she smiles, looking at the badges she had earned. Lots of them she had done on her own, but many of them she could never have completed without her brother's help. Her brother had let her practice her first aid on him, bandaging him up without complaint. Cooking, camping, she had done so much, but her best times were with him.

Laughing softly, she looks down at a picture of her brother wearing a dress as she worked on the hem line. It must have been torture for him, why would he let her do that, use him as a mannequin? He had done so much and now… Now everything changed.

Looking down at the bottom of the box she blinks. She can’t believe it. She had forgotten about it, forgotten what he gave up for it. All the girls had them, but her mom wouldn’t let her. She said they didn’t have the money at the time. They had real horses why would they want to waste money on a child’s toy.

James though, he gave up all his allowance he had been saving, all the money from odd jobs he had done. He was saving up to buy a new baseball glove but he gave it up just to make her happy. It had been just after one of her first seizures. She remembered how scared she was, then he came in with it.

A My Little Pony toy, a little yellow pegasus, with brown, green, and blue mane and tail. Emerald green eyes that are faceted like a gem and its cutie mark… blinking, she looks at the mark again. Shaking her head slowly she sees the three masks. It’s him, he had given her a toy of himself. Of herself.

Hugging the toy to her chest, the tears start flowing from her eyes… “Oh god… Masquerade.”

88: A New State of Magic

Masquerade rubs her foreleg for a moment, then she tugs at her collar. Flight suits are okay, basic combats or utility uniforms are ok, but these dress uniforms bug the absolute heck out of her. It feels tight in all the wrong places. Though this uniform is designed for her pony form, even as a human she preferred to be in her flight suit over a dress uniform.

Looking at herself one last time in the mirror, she turns and exits the bathroom. Walking down the hall, she stops at the office door. While Andrews Air Force base is the home of Air Transport Command, different groups operate out of different bases. Nellis Air Force base has been the home of Pony Air Transport group from it’s recent formation. Now, she needs to face the music and job problems of being a newly minted (or stamped) pony. With one last deep breath she walks up and knocks on the door.

Officially, they are part of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, 994th Test and Evaluation Squadron – transport, that is just for the books. They are testing new aircraft, flying ponies around the country, as well as newer VIP Transports.

“Enter.” Comes a deep masculine voice.

Keeping her wings tight to her side, her cover underwing, Masquerade trots in and stops in front of the desk, she salutes, “Sir, Lt Sanders, Masquerade, reporting for duty.”

The general puts down his paper and sighs, “At ease.” Shaking his head slowly, the general looks sternly at the little pegasus, “What are we going to do with you?”

The general sits behind his desk, a career Air Force officer, he has service ribbons, but few decorations. Over the years he had become more politician and paper-pusher than pilot. This doesn’t mean that he’s a bad person, just not one who cares about the love of flight.

His aid is a Lieutenant who doesn’t even have her wings. She’s supply and administration, rather than pilot. She sits smiling though at the little pegasus, taking notes on a pad and paper. For all the advances, charcoal and dead trees will always remain, it seems. At least for the United States Armed Forces.

“Sir? I’m still an Air Force officer, right?” Masquerade smiles innocently as she looks at the higher ranking officer, her tail twitching nervously with a mind of its own. She still has a lot of learning to do about being a pony.

“The problem is, you’re a pilot and you can’t fly a plane in your current state.” The general says firmly, “Our first choice is to transfer you to the 520th, they are still in need of pegasi.”

Masquerade flinches at the suggestion, she looks back at her cutie mark, then at the general, “Sir, I’m not a policemare. Don’t get me wrong, the 520th do great work, but it’s not me. Sitting, guarding an airport. Chasing down and ticketing other pegasi,” Her ears flatten and she opens her mouth wide, sticking out her tongue in disgust, “That isn’t what I signed up to do.

“Technically, we could retire you, especially after that accident.” The general says sternly, “No shame in that, but at the same time it’s not like you are one of the cursed ponies. You became this by choice.”

Shaking her head vigorously, “No sir, please don’t. I’d like to keep with Pony Air if I can. We do such important work, not just moving ponies around but making them feel like they belong, and in cases pulling them out of danger. What other air service will pull ponies out of an embassy in Kuwait, or from a small town in Alaska? What other group flies’ ponies from around the USA so they don’t cause a panic in public air service?”

“Well you can’t fly a plane. All you could do is be a stewardess, serving drinks and putting away baggage.” The general shakes his head, “I’m not sure if you’d want that job.”

Masquerade sighs, looking down, “It’s about being in the air, but being a simple stewardess? It would help, but I wouldn’t feel right.” Looking at her sides, she shakes her head, “Besides, I don’t think I have the legs or butt to pull off a flight attendant’s uniform.”

The general rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Looking down at the pegasus sternly, he clears his throat.

“Actually sir,” The aid says and flips a few pages on her pad, “There might be another option.”

Looking at the aid, the general blinks, “Go on.”

“Well, our evaluation squadron just acquired an air-cart or flying chariot for testing and evaluation from the pony settlement in Montana. It’s small, no frills, two person or pony, meant to be pulled by a single pony.” The aid says softly.

Nodding slowly, the general looks at her, then at Masquerade. “We were considering buying a handful for ponies use on small scale, for transporting things around base.” Looking back at his aid he shakes his head, “I don’t see how that helps the problem though, its only really good for short hops apparently.”

“Yes but we also have that CASA C-295 sitting on the runway. We are evaluating it for border security patrols, and multi-use. It has that forward looking camera on the front, flairs, extra fuel tanks. But it also has that big garage door and ramp on the back.” The aid says with a smile.

“You’re not thinking…” The general trails off, blinking. Then he chuckles, “Its smaller than the 650-ER, has in-air refueling, so it can go anywhere in the world, then the air cart could be used to bring ponies up to the plane without the plane even landing.”

“We could list it as SAR evaluation. Transfer it to Pony Air. Use the front part of the aircraft for the information center, the middle we could configure for VIP Passenger, eight to twelve seats, convertible to beds, for medical cases, or long flights, and don’t forget a bathroom. Then the back could hold the air cart.” The aid flips the pad, showing the General the basic layout.

“What do you think? Up for becoming a Pony Air SAR officer?” The general asks.

Masquerade blinks, taking one step back, then she nods quickly and salutes, “Sir, yes, sir.”

“Good, now, you need to take a few days off, get yourself certified as a pegasus. Then we can get you put to work.”

“Certified? How?” Masquerade blinks, confused.

The General smiles, “Simple, you need to pass muster with White Lightning, Fleetfoot, and Rainbow Blaze.”

Masquerade blinked for several long seconds, then she groans, “I can tell now; my wings are going to be sore in the morning.”

***

“… Do you know your all my very best friends.”

It’s been raining for three days straight now. Full Steam had pulled the wagon off the road and into the trees when the rain got to be too much. While a little rest is good, they have food, the rain barrel is catching fresh water, and Ambrosia has set up a little wind generator for power, they are still not getting any closer to the USA.

“I still don’t like you stealing something like this.” Ambrosia chides the filly gently.

Sunny looks up sadly, “Ambrosia, I never steal. You know that.”

“But something like this must have cost thousands of pesos.” Ambrosia says looking at the cell phone, “Not to mention the contract and such.”

“It’s Korean made, almost seven years old, there are two newer generations out after this model. It’s considered junk to most. I got it in a trade. It isn’t hooked up to any network or anything.” Sunny chirps, her tail wagging.

“Then how… where did you get these videos?” Full Steam asks.

“The phone can store about a hundred episodes on it, I was able to download them in low quality. While it isn’t connected to the phone lines, when you go near a school or library you can connect to their internet.” Sunny giggles, her tail wiggling even more energetically.

“What’s the catch?” Ambrosia asks, looking down at the filly.

“Eh, the battery is a little wonky, so I just need to keep it plugged in. Luckily the school had a plug outside for gardening work that I could use.” Sunny smiles, “So now we can watch some of the episodes.”

“Some? This is really a thing? Kids cartoons based on our lives?” Ambrosia asks, “Is this even our lives?”

“I think it is, I think it was inspired by one or more of us who somehow remembered.” Sunny says and sets her head against Ambrosia’s foreleg.

“If we were banished in 1995, how does that work? Pony stories were around before that?” Drill mutters before touching the screen with a forehoof.

“I have no idea.” Full Steam says somberly, his ears flicking, “but, for now, we can learn a few things, help fill in some of the gaps.” He stops and chuckles, “Pulling a full train and engine, no wonder a wagon is so easy.”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand.” Ambrosia said shaking her head. “My names Ambrosia, which turns out to be a type of apple, my cutie mark is three apples, so why am I a construction pony?”

Sunny giggled, “Oh that’s obvious, part time job. You probably worked with apples, during the apple season, then did construction work to keep busy. Applejack runs a full farm; you probably buy from her to do whatever it takes follow your cutie mark talent after the harvest.”

“We see Big Mac hauling wagons of apples in town, so he might have been delivering a shipment to you.” Drill Bit says.

“So my special skill is some kind of cooking? Wouldn’t I do that year round then?” Ambrosia huffs, shaking her head.

“Not if it was something like apple cider or such.” Sunny says with a smile.

Ambrosia shakes her head, “But the Apples make apple cider, why would they sell me apples just to compete with them?”

“Ambrosia, Ponyville’s only hard apple cider.” Full Steam says with a chuckle.

“In clear, and sparkling versions, perfect for weddings and special events.” Ambrosia says softly, then shakes her head vigorously, blinking.

“Wow, maybe you did do that.” Sunny said, “See, these shows helped!”

***

“So how are you feeling?” Fleur asks, smiling brightly, her horn lit as she carries a few bags beside her.

Looking sideways at Fleur I flick my tail in annoyance while I walk. “Tired, grumpy, heavy, and about fifteen other names of the dwarf smurf crew. And the little ones haven’t even started moving yet.”

Fleetfoot laughs softly, “Hey you’ve been through this before, you’ve already had two. What about me? This is my first.”

“Yeah but at least you don’t have twenty-five years’ worth of guy memories banging around inside your brain.” I say with a huff.

“Yep no foals for me, no stallions getting near my tail.” Cookie says with a firm nod.

“So when are you getting back to work?” I say, looking at Fleur.

Laughing, Fleur looks around, “I am at work, this is my weekend. Do you know how hard it is to get good business or court fitting suits in Quantico?” Wiggling her four shopping bags, “I came here to shop.”

“Oh what’cha get?” Cookie squeaks, looking at the bags.

“And there you have the proof, US Marines squee at the thought of new clothing.” I say with a giggle.

“It’s things to wear in court. As well as at official functions.” Fleur says seriously, “I could just walk in with my fur, but humans aren’t used to that yet.”

“Humans aren’t used to ponies yet at all.” I say and shake my head.

Fleetfoot spreads her wings and shakes herself out, her fur coat puffing out as she does. Smiling brightly, she giggles, “Handy that we don’t need coats too much. So, how’s the wedding plans going?”

Cookie blinks and giggled, “Plans? She was planning on getting married in uniform. Now she’s got a gown.”

Fleetfoot looks at me and laughs, “Well, at least you have the club for your bridesmaids.”

“Bridesmaids?” I say, tilting my head. “I still hadn’t decided; don’t I choose one like a best mare or something?”

All the girls stop walking, looking at each other. Pure shock on their faces.

I find myself stopped as Fleetfoot lands in front of me, her muzzle almost against mine. “Haven’t you ever been to a wedding?”

“Yes, a few, the Donavon’s at the base justice office in Afghanistan. Herb’s short lived one at the base in Iraq.” I say.

“Casualty of war?” Cookie asks.

Shaking my head, I giggle, “Casualty: Divorce.”

Cookie laughed, “Most Justice weddings are judge, bride, groom, a best man, and a few witnesses.”

“Oh hell no.” Fleur said, “That’s not a wedding, that’s a legal proceeding. Fleets?”

Shaking her head, Fleet starts walking forward, pushing me back into the herd. “No, that is not acceptable, not acceptable at all. Let’s do this by the cutie marks. Fleur, you get to work on the bridesmaid’s dresses. Cookie, you and Ah-Pee handle the food. I’ll get Cipher on the invitations, bookings, seating, and some of the decorations.”

Cookie blinked, “Wait, Me?”

“Yes, you. It’s time you started working with your cutie mark.” Fleetfoot turns, “I’ll get Sugarberry to handle the jewelry, she can coordinate with Fleur to make sure the girls jewelry fits too. Ballad will handle the musical arrangements, during the wedding as well as the reception.”

All the girls salute Fleetfoot together, “Yes Ma’am.”

“Meep.” Is about the only thing I can say at this time.

***

“Come right fifteen degrees to course zero-four-five, keep speed steady at nine knots, condition one.” Captain Stevenson calls out as he walks over to the window.

“Rudder answering fifteen degrees, coming right.” Calls out the helmsman.

“Lookouts still report no signs of debris.” The XO says and shakes his head. “Sonar says the tow-fish is holding depth, still no sign, cables at max length.”

“Keep our speed at nine knots, we don’t want to pull the tow-fish up. We need to keep it as deep as possible to hear the pinger from black boxes.” Captain Stevenson says as he reviews information on his tablet.

“Nether patrol boat has seen anything.” The radio operator calls over. “Not even oil slicks.”

Captain Stevenson grumbles, “We need more eyes out there. Any news from the Seahawks?”

“Strawberry-One is just reaching the final arc of its run and is beginning back, Strawberry-Two is five minutes out for landing and refueling.” The Radar operator calls out, leaning back in his chair.

“Okay everyone, our mascot is Daring Do. She can find anything she puts her mind to, so let’s put our minds to this, and find that downed aircraft.” Captain Stevenson says.

“I always wonder why there is the bother of spending millions of dollars just to find a downed aircraft.” One of the younger lookouts muses quietly. But not quiet enough to get a glance from the Captain.

“It’s two-fold. First, it’s for closure. Families need closure, they need to put their loved ones to rest if possible. Otherwise there is always doubt. The what if’s begin, what if they didn’t get on that airplane? What if they are still out there, but unable to call home?” Looking back out at the gray ocean, the Captain sighs.

“And also, it’s to find out what happened, and see if we can stop it from happening again.” The XO says, “Was it a bomb blast? Was it a fire? Was it a failure of the airplane itself?”

“So it’s not about some hope of finding survivors?”

Shaking his head, the captain sighs, “Chances are almost nil for survivors at this point, but we’ve seen stranger.”

***

Landing on the cloud, Masquerade prances a bit, looking around. She had flown past the 520th barracks a few times but this is the first time she is actually here for a purpose.

It still feels strange however, in a way it seems natural to be around other ponies. Even if she is different.

“Masquerade!” Spinning, she sees the pony waving at her.

Blinking Masquerade laughs and charges over, hugging the blueish pony, “Drizzle, you look great in the 520th uniform.”

“I umm… thanks, did we know each other in Ponyville?” Blinking she tilts her head, “I knew you because of the picture I was given. Was told to meet you here.”

Rearing up on her hind legs, Masquerade holds a hoof in front of her muzzle as if it were a microphone, “And remember, the emergency doors are for emergency only, my bad flying does NOT constitute an emergency so unless you see flames, wings falling off, or me jumping out of the plane first, do not open them. And once again, thank you for flying Pony Air, because we know, you don’t have any other choice.”

“Sanders!” Drizzle shouts, spreading her wings wide in shock.

Dropping back to all fours Masquerade strikes a pose, “The one, the only…”

Drizzle giggles and wraps her forelegs and wings around the other pegasus, “Wow, I heard about the crash, what happened to you?”

“Well long story short, to save me they changed me into a pony, I earned my cutie mark and found my place.” Masquerade giggles.

“Wow, just… Wow, so its permanent?” Drizzle asks as she trots around Masquerade.

Nodding, “Well as long as I don’t go through the gate and come back. Yeah, but then I’d be a female human.”

“Why female? If you don’t mind me asking? And the CO’s this way.” Turning, Drizzle starts walking towards a cloud house.

“It’s sort of what the spell did, but it’s also who I really am. I remember… kind of…” Closing her eyes Masquerade shakes her head slowly, “I remember being my ponyself, I remember flying through a great city with other pegasi. I remember some kind of battle or war… and I remember two eyes… misshapen eyes, then laughter.” Turning her head away Masquerade violently shudders.

“Ugg, Discord… So are you joining the 520th? Air Force doesn’t usually keep ponies.” Drizzle says.

Smiling Masquerade shakes her head, “Nope, they are keeping me, I’m going to be part of a Pony Air Search and Rescue. Picking up ponies where our planes can’t land.” Holding her head high Masquerade swishes her tail.

“Oh, so you are just here to get certified.” Drizzle prances into the house, “Well should be a breeze for you.”

“huh? Why’s that?” Masquerade asks as she follows the other pony.

“Because most of it is transponder codes, how to use your foreleg transponder, and such.” Drizzle says, holding up her foreleg. “As well as flight rules and such. Oh, and then there’s cloud shaping and weather control. Need to be certified in that too.”

“Eep… Cloud shaping? I… I don’t know about…” Masquerade blinks and shakes her head.

“Hey if you can walk on clouds, you can cloud shape.” Drizzle chuckles.

Blinking Masquerade looks at Drizzle, then down at the cloud she is standing on, “Cloud… walk… EEEK.”

Drizzle blinks as Masquerade spreads her wings in shock, then she falls through the cloud. Quickly leaning downm she sticks her head though the cloud cover looking for the other pegasus, “Masquerade!”

Just under the cloud Masquerade hovers, flapping her wings slowly, trying hard to look innocent. “Yes, Drizzle?”

“Not cool.”

***

The sound was deafening. A thunderous crack, followed by the ripping of aluminum, the outrush of air. The explosion caused a blinding flash of light in the cargo bay… boxes, shipping containers, and luggage was pushed away from the center of the hold by the force of the blast. Cargo straps were snapped, containers closest to the blast ere disintegrated immediately, others were crushed by the pulse wave.

Silence. It was it was if time stopped for a moment, the shipping container had been partially crushed. Light streamed in from the tarp that acted as the door to the container. A brief change from the normal darkness before the noise again.

This time the noise sounded eerily like a train. All the air inside the cargo bay and passenger compartment rushed out the new hole. Anything that wasn’t strapped down, or more correctly everything that had just been blasted free now changed directions. Shipping containers, luggage even a cargo pallet hurtled and spun towards the hole.

Containers began to come apart as they hit each other violently. This turned single large objects into multiple smaller ones as their contents, luggage, boxes, mail, even pet cages, were sent flying out through the hole. Some hitting the sides of the hole and breaking open while others flew through cleanly. Each impact, though, opened the hole wider. But it was already too late.

The world was spinning, wind whistling. Above, the airliners wing, with its main spar destroyed, could no longer take the aerodynamic forces and ripped off. The loss of lift on one side causing the other to rise, flipping the plane on its side as the plane’s nose started to point down. Smoke and flames trailing out the side of the aircraft as its speed increases.

There is darkness again, before the foal was flung out of the cage. All around, the contents of the cargo bay littered the sky, falling. To the right, the plane continued on its dive towards the sea, its speed and tumble exceeding anything the airframe had been built for. The tail gave way, and the other wing ripping off as the plane continues to break up in flight.

Spinning, the foal fell towards the ocean. She couldn’t fly, she didn’t know how. And being thrown around the cage had hurt her wing and leg. Her wings were too small to lift her. Too small. Spreading her wings, she stopped her spin, but the pain was blinding.

It was all she could do to slow her descent into a spiral glide. Minutes later she saw the water coming at her, she didn’t know how to slow down, so instead she just altered her spiral to be shallower. Her legs touching the water and skipping across the top of it a few times before she tumbled and came to a stop in a large splash.

It’s quiet again, the only sound is the water. Waves occasionally splashing against debris. She pulls herself onto a piece of insulation foam. Her wing hurts every time she tries to move it. Coughing, she lets her body fall down onto the bed of debris. She doesn’t know if she is dead or not, wondering if she had died in the explosion and all this was some dream. She is lost, there is nothing she can do, though.

Out in the middle of the ocean, even if she knows how to fly, her wing hurts too much to try. Spent, all she can do is drift off to sleep. Alone.

***

“Hey girls.” Cipher says as she trots into the store.

Ballad and Sugarberry both wave, standing in the clothing store. Ballad stands wearing a wicker hat, with a white flower on it, while Sugarberry is playing around with a scarf. Both mares toss their items back in the bargain bin before trotting up to Cipher.

“You got called too huh?” Ballad says with a smile.

Nodding, Sugarberry smiles, “Fleur is in the back with Ah-Pee. They should be out…”

“No. No way, no how, there is no way in tar-nation ahm I walking around in this.”

“Ah-Pee disapproves.” Cipher giggles.

Ballad blinks, “If she’s disapproving, I’d hate to hear Cookie.”

“Ah ain’t some fru fru flowery type Fleur, there is no way I’m going out in public.”

“Really disapproves,” Sugarberry says, her ears flicking towards the voices, “Now I’m curious.”

“Hey, in the show, each girl got their own design dress. How come I’m stuck in this?”

“Because we don’t have the money, or the time, for custom dresses for each of us.” Fleur says with a loud stomp.

“Sounds like she just put her foot down.” Cipher says. “I’m starting to worry.”

“Ah don’t care what you say, it’s not an apple, doesn’t look like one… HEY! Put me down!”

Walking out of the back, Fleur trots, holding Ah-Pee tightly in her magical aura. Ah-Pee struggles a bit, flailing her legs before giving up with a sigh and drooping. “I hate unicorns.” She says dejectedly.

Wearing a bi-color dress, her front had a mix of creamy white silk with a pink lace trim. Over her flank is a peach colored half skirt that has white lace trim. To top things off, Ah-Pee is wearing a ring, or wreath, of white fake flowers on her head, that have three large peach blossoms as its focal point.

“They call it the Peaches and Cream Bridlemares dress.” Fleur says.

Ah-Pee droops her tail even further as the girls’ giggle, “Ah don’t like it.”

“Yep, it’s a proper Bridesmaids or bridlemares dress. We’ll all hate it.” Ballad says, then she laughs.

“Sorry I’m late.” Cookie says, opening the door and stopping halfway in, her ears folded back as she takes in the sights, “Umm…” She looks from side to side as she slowly backs up, “actually I think I left my stuff in the car.”

Looking over, Ah-Pee narrows her eyes, “Oh no, if I need to suffer this, so do you.”

“Trust me, it could be worse.” Ballad says, “Trust me on this, we are actually lucky.”

Cipher nods vigorously, “Human bridesmaids’ dresses are just awful most times. Especially the strapless ones.”

“Ugh,” Ballad shakes her head, “I was flat chested compared to most of the other bridesmaids at my sis’s wedding, I spent half the time pulling the front up, it kept wanting to fall off.”

“When my mom got married for the third, or was it the fourth time?” She rolls her eyes side to side, then smiles, “It was the third time, mom has us wearing these blue half strap numbers, the problem is, they were supposed to have a slit in the side to walk. But mom decided THAT was too much, so we were walking around in these tube dresses that only give us about sixteen inches of leg movement.” Cipher says and shakes her head.

“Four weddings? You know, that explains so much about you.” Sugarberry says, smiling innocently.

“What? Just cuz I never wanted to leave my room growing up cuz I didn’t l like my replacement dads?” Cipher laughs, “Every four years or so, a new dad. Ah, the long nights spent with my headphones on playing Quake, Team Fortress and Diablo, trying to ignore the thumping sounds.”

“That…was too much info.” Cookie says, shaking her head. “And now I think I’m lucky I never had to do the bridesmaid thing.”

“Oh I don’t know; you might have looked cute in a dress as a human.” Cipher says, thumping her hip against Cookies.

***

Spike hums as he pushes the cart up to the door before stopping. Leaving the cart for a moment he walks around to turn the handle and peek inside. Continuing to hum softly, he pulls the cart though the opening before closing the door once he's inside. 'The downside to being short is having to take extra steps to do things. At least I still have hands, Or claws, or whatever.'

“What are you doing?”

“Same thing I do every night,” Spike says, holding a wooden spoon in front of him like a sword, standing at attention. “Trying to cheer up a princess.”

Turning Spike brings the food cart up and sets the bowl down on the bed tray. “Today we start off with some hearty comfort food. A nice soup, made with cabbage, cubed carrot, cubed potatoes, cubed beets. And no I didn’t use beef stock or bacon for yours. Served with fresh cut garden tomatoes, trust me those were tricky to cube, so they don’t look as pretty, and healthy dollop of sour cream on top.”

“Cabbage and beet soup?” Cadence says with a sigh.

“Yep, we’ll make you American style mac and cheese tonight.” Spike says smiling, then points to the tray, “Once you’re done with the soup, we have some dumplings for you, filled with potato, mushroom, and Quark cheese topped with fried onion, and butter.”

“You are trying to make me fat aren’t you?” Cadance says, looking out the window again.

“Of course, it’s the dragon’s duty after all. And for dessert, we have some Napoleon cake from the bakery.” Spike says with a big smile, “Trust me, it’s so good.”

“Spike, why do you insist on spending so much time with me?” Cadence asks, looking at the little dragon.

Climbing up behind Cadance, Spike shakes his head, picking up a brush and comb he gets to work on her mane. “To make myself feel useful. I can’t really fly anymore, well I can fly that helicopter drone they rigged up with a seat, and that micro jet they made, neither have a purpose other than me having some fun. Remember though, as a dragon, I spent all my life helping princesses. And now, since they went back and didn’t need me…”

“You know that’s not true.” Cadance says, closing her eyes as Spike gently works out the tangles.

“They have their own lives now, twenty-five years as humans changed all of us. Twilight now just does everything on computer. Thought sometimes, I wonder if she ever did need me.” Spike says with a sigh.

“You know; I wonder what she’s going to do when her batteries run out on her laptop.” Cadence asks wistfully.

“She’ll probably come up with a charging spell.” Spike says, taking the comb to work out some knots.

“But, knowing her luck, she’ll overcharge it the first time, blow it up, then panic because she doesn’t have a replacement. I wonder if she remembers the breathing techniques I taught her.” Cadence says and lays her head back down on her forelegs

“Was that… a joke?” Spike says in mock shock as he feigns ignorance.

Looking back, Cadance shrugs, “Maybe… just a little.”

Spike smiles, “For now though, I’m going to serve you and stay with you. Well that, and handle the paperwork for the company.”

“For such a little dragon you seem to try and take on huge responsibilities.” Lifting her wing a bit, she stretches it out.

“Well, I do what I can. Now then, we have you scheduled on a diplomatic flight with me and Spitfire to Africa. You won’t need to do much unless you want to. But it’s a chance to see how the Zebras and Thestrals are holding out.” Spike speaks quietly, but firmly. “And I will be there by your side. I promise.”

Cadenced looked back at the little dragon. “Spike…. Thank you.”

89: Desperation and Tears

“Get up!” Candy says loudly as she shakes Cloudy gently.

Cloudy yawns and curls up tighter in a ball, nuzzling her pillow. “I don’t wanna.”

“Are you just going to lay in bed till like nine or ten in the morning?” Candy huffs and shakes Cloudy again, not as gently this time.

“I’m not sleeping, I’m keeping my pillow company, and making sure it’s fluffy and soft enough for a pony. Cutie Mark Crusader pillow testers, go!” Cloudy says, wrapping her forelegs around the pillow and pulling it tighter to her.

“Ugh, you are such a boy sometimes.” Candy says and sits on his haunches.

Rolling over, Cloudy pokes her head out from under the covers, putting her muzzle against Candy’s, “Look, just because I like sleeping in doesn’t make me act like a boy. I know I’m a filly now. That doesn’t mean I can’t still like sleeping in, playing video games, and watching action films.”

Candy sighs, “I know.”

“Just like, just because you’re a colt, it doesn’t mean you have to like monster trucks, sports, or redneck jokes.” Pulling the pillow around, Cloudy lays it across her forelegs and puts her muzzle over the pillow again. “We can still be who we are, who we were, and still like doing things we did as a human.” She sighs, “Well, most things.”

“Yeah, we are a little young for late night keggers.” Candy says, “But I’m a colt, shouldn’t I be doing colt things?”

“Why? Its not who you are, its not what makes you special. Gender doesn’t determine what you can and can’t like. Look at mom, you are not likely to see her sitting around knitting, even if she’s pregnant.” Reaching out Cloudy pokes her hoof against Candy’s muzzle with a boop, “Just like you, I know sports aren’t your thing, and never really were… Even if you CAN do it. If you don’t like doing it,” She looks at him seriously, flicking both of her ears back and forth, “then don’t.”

Candy wraps both forelegs around his sister. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

Lifting her covers quickly, Cloudy checks her hip, “Damn it, still no mark! Not for pillow testing, counselling, or being the best sister. What does a filly have to do to get her cutie mark?”

“Get out of bed and try stuff?” Candy says, looking innocent.

“Umm, oh pillow wants me.” Putting her head back down, Candy pulls the covers over her head. “Go have some fun, I’ll be up in another hour.”

Giggling, Candy turns and heads for the kitchen, “Pillow talking means sleep. Who knew?”

***

Katie finds herself waking up to rapid knocking on her door. She looks around quickly, noting the time. It is still morning, nearly ten according to the clock. She doesn’t have to go to work today and she had finished the laundry earlier, so she is just napping on the couch.

Getting up, she heads over to the door, “Who is it?”

“Katie, its me, Ellen.” The girls voice is broken, almost in tears as she speaks, “Let me in, please!”

Opening the door, Katie blinks, “Ellie, what’s wrong?”

Ellen trembles as she steps in, Katie takes a quick look at the other woman, fresh tear tracks line her face, her hair is disheveled, and her clothes look slept in, “I… I think...”

Katie hugs Ellen tightly and brings her into the apartment, guiding over to the couch to sit down. Ellen is a touch shorter than Katie, but is a few years older. Her parents were Mennonite as well, though like Katie, Ellen generally lived in town.

“Think what?” Katie gently takes Ellen’s hands in her own looking at the other woman, a concerned look on her face, “Come on, you can talk.”

“I think someone took advantage of me.” Ellie says and starts crying again.

Katie blinks, then hugs Ellen tightlt, “Oh, God Ellie, what happened.”

“I think I was drugged last night. Then…” Ellen whimpers and hugs Katie, fighting to breathe through a fresh bout of tears.

Katie blinks, “Calm down, tell me exactly what happened.”

Ellen sniffles and looks down, “It was my fault… I was stupid. I went out last night with some of the guys, they took me to a bar for my birthday. It was an English bar, bright lights, dancing, laughing, and drinks.”

Katie nods slowly, “And then what happened?”

“I don’t know, I was feeling hot, tired. I went to the bathroom. I guess I passed out or something, because the next thing I know, I’m being shaken by one of the staff. Apparently I had been in there for almost an hour.” Ellen says, looking down, “I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember anything.” Her voice rising almost to a shriek as she continues.

“But why do you think someone took advantage of you?” Katie asks, her voice full of concern.

Ellen bites her lip, trembling a bit before gulping, “Because…in the time I was in the bathroom, someone…branded me.”

“Branded?” Katie blinks, sliding back a bit, confusion replacing concern.

Slowly, Ellen lifts the side of her skirt to show a pair of interlinked horseshoes on her hip. One is silver, the other one, gold. There isn’t any sign of a burn or redness around the mark. The mark itself, though, is not drawn on either. That she can tell easily.

“I had to be drugged, something like that date rape drug that makes you forget everything. And why would they brand me and not?” Ellen shudders, tears filling her eyes again… “I was…”

“Ellie.” Katie sighs and hugs her tighter, “Ellie, I don’t think you were drugged. I… I need to call someone though.”

“What? Why? You can’t. How can I live this down?” Ellen says, looking at her hip.

Closing her eyes, Katie thinks of her brother for a moment, “If… if it’s what I think, it’s not something I can understand, but there are those that can teach you about it.”

“I… I…”

Hugging Ellie as tight as she can, Katie shakes her head, “Don’t worry I’ll...” Katie pauses, trying to think of what to say. Finally, she looks into Ellie’s eyes, “I’ll find a way to help you.”

***

“How’s it hanging Velvet?” The LT chuckles.

Glancing up, I giggle, “They aren’t hanging yet sir.”

Looking confused for a moment, the LT tilts his head, “They…”

“Udders.” I say, and when I get a blank look, “My boobs.” I say and smile, “I still have a few months till they start swelling out and hanging.”

“Umm, too much info.” The LT says and sits down, gently scratching me behind an ear.

With a smile I lean against him, “So when can I get back to work?”

“You mean teaching?” The LT says, sounding confused.

“No I mean jumping out of planes in hot zones and helping save people and ponies lives.” It seems like a normal request in my mind.

The LT huffs, “You’re pregnant, no going into combat zones when you are pregnant. So not until after you give birth.”

“I swear, the worst part of being pregnant is, the boredom. No one lets you do anything fun.” I have to say with a huff.

“Okay, so telling you that you need to take it easy would get me zapped then?” The LT looks at me, and impish smile on his face.

“There is nothing in military regulations against zapping a superior officer.” I say with a nod.

The LT hums, “I’ll need to get that changed, until then, no zapping superiors, that’s an order.”

“Does that include good zaps?” I ask tiling my head, “Healing, protecting, stuff like that?”

“No! No looking for loopholes.” The LT says firmly, yet he smiles as he taps my nose with a single finger. “Bad pony.”

Crossing my legs, I sigh softly, “You know what the hardest thing about the change is?”

“Not being able to get comfortable sleeping on your side or back because your wings keep wanting to stretch out?” The LT says, shaking his head no.

“Ok no, maybe for a pegasus pony.” I say and look at his hip.

The LT laughs, “Forgetting to take into account horn length and almost knocking yourself out while running through underbrush as your horn hits a low hanging branch?”

“That only happened once to me, and two or three times to Fleur, but no…” I feel my ears get red as I start to blush. “I mean the gender part.”

“The feeling that your left out of things, or excluded now, just because your female? The idea that you can’t do everything you used to do because people will see you as different?” He says softly and puts his hand on my back.

“Yeah…that. I’m still me, but being told I can’t do this or that, or shouldn’t do this or that because I’m a pregnant mare. That gets old, really old, really fast. Add to that, the restrictions of being a pony. In some ways pegasi have it easier, because they can still travel but…getting bad looks from people when you walk into the bathroom.” I sigh softly and look down at my forehooves.

“It makes you feel like less of a person. Less than, well, less than human. Like you’re not worth as much as a ‘real’ one. I get those looks too.” Shaking his head the LT smiled, “Being a pony on Earth is hard. Escaping back to Equestria, in some ways, was the safe way to go. Those who stayed on Earth, like you. Those who stayed as ponies to help other ponies. Deserve true respect. Not to be looked down on.”

Blinking, I find myself fighting back tears. I have to sit up, which is less the comfortable right now, but it lets me hug him tight. “Thank you. Fleetfoot is just so lucky to have you.”

***

“Woohoo!” Masquerade screams as she does a roll, punching through the cloud and causing it to dissipate from the turbulence she caused.

Pulling out of the dive, she does a half loop and roll, “Immelmann Turn!!!”

Blaze and Fleetfoot look at each other, shaking their heads.

“She’s lost it.” Blaze chuckles.

Fleetfoot blinks, “Just because she loves flight, doesn’t mean she’s gone nuts.”

Putting herself into a tight roll Masquerade closes her wings and shoots between Blaze and Fleetfoot, her tongue hanging out as she spins.

“Umm, want to rethink that.” Blaze chuckles again.

Fleetfoot shakes her head and smiles, “You know how we all felt the first time we really got to fly again.”

“She’s been a pegasus for a few days now and hasn’t stopped. For us it’s… remembering who we were after twenty-five years.” Blaze says, watching her climb and bank.

Narrowing her eyes, Fleet looks sternly at Blaze, “Behave, she’s as much a pony as the rest of us. I wouldn’t think you to be the prejudicial type.”

“What? I? No…I mean I know she’s real…” Blaze backs up a few steps from the angry, pregnant pegasus, not wanting to be the focus of her wrath.

Laying her ears back Fleetfoot sticks out her neck, tail flicking side to side in sharp motions, “But what? She remembers Equestria and Discord, the mirror knew she was a pegasus and a mare.”

“And all’s good, I just meant she’s taking to her… old form… well...” Blaze says meekly.

“Incoming!” Masquerade’s hind legs hit the cloud first as her front legs skid across the surface, kicking up tufts of compressed cloud matter. A moment later she has shifted to trotting, folding her wings to her side and lowering her head to let her neck and back rub under Blazes chin, finishing it with a flick of the tail against his cheek. Turning, she sits down and swings her tail around, almost catlike.

Blaze stands blinking, his ears bright red as he looks at Masquerade, then at Fleetfoot, then back at Masquerade, his mouth hanging down. Unable to form any words, he just looks…lost.

“Well? Did I pass?” Masquerade asks, tilting her head.

Fleetfoot falls backwards and starts laughing, “You passed thirty minutes ago, we were just waiting for you to come down to tell you.”

“Passed…um…yeah, oh yeah, you passed, your adapting to being a pegasus just fine.” Blaze says, swallowing hard.

Jumping up and bouncing on her hind hooves, Masquerade cheers, waving her hooves high, “Oh yeah, who’s the mare, who’s the mare.”

Fleetfoot shakes her head again and laughs, “Okay, Okay, calm down. Wow, you just have too much energy at times.”

Twirling, Masquerade drops to all fours again and smiles, “The General said if I get certified, I can fly aircraft for rescue jobs.”

“Yep, air cart certification is the last thing we need done.” Blaze said, “And that’s an entirely new course.”

“For now though, I think we should take a break and get lunch.” Fleets says, smiling.

Smiling brightly Masquerade laughs, “Woohoo, anypony know where a girl can get a good bite to eat around here?”

“Up for pizza?” Blaze says, looking at Fleetfoot.

“Oh Celestia, you mean there?” Fleetfoot smiles, “Don’t get between a pregnant mare and her comfort food!”

“Pizza is good, but I swear it goes straight to my tail.” Masquerade says, looking between the two.

“Well it helps if you don’t sit on it.” Blaze says and dives down for the pizza place.

Looking at each other, the girls dive down in a spiral before landing at the door. Masquerade blinks, looking up at the large ‘Ponies Welcome’ sign and options for take out, delivery, air delivery and eat in.

“Air delivery?” Masquerade asks, looking confused.

“Well, since they can’t drive to the cloud barracks, they hired a few pegasi to fly deliveries up there.” Fleetfoot says, “This place pulls out all the stops to help us feel at home.”

Trotting in, the smells instantly have Masquerade drooling. She can smell the fresh tomatoes, the oregano, sautéed onions. Even the slow cooking pulled pork and rotisserie chicken has her stomach growling. Looking over, she watches Blaze trot down a ramp and quickly follows him into the basement of the establishment.

Looking around, the smile on her face only grows as she sees the other ponies around the room, laughing, singing, eating food. There are a few humans scattered around, but nearly thirty ponies make up the bulk of the patrons down here.

Taking a seat on a low bench, Masquerade looks at Blaze and Fleetfoot. “Wow this is insane, I even recognize some of the ponies here.”

“Trust me, they have the best hay fries on Earth.” Fleetfoot says with a laugh.

“So, what do you want?” Blaze says, smiling.

“I’ll go for the alfalfa, mushroom, and onion pizza, that just looks so good.” Mask says, pointing a hoof at the picture on the wall.

“So how are you taking to being a mare?” Fleetfoot asks as Blaze gets up and walks off to order the food.

Masquerade shrugs with her wings, “It’s hard to explain really. First it was more about the wings and I didn’t think about the mare side. Even now, though, I never really notice or think about being a mare as anything different, its just me. One strange change though…I kinda like having extra outfits around.”

“Really? Clothing?” Fleetfoot raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t know why, I just like dressing up sometimes. I got myself my flight suit, my camo’s, my winter camo’s, a gila suit, a night flight tactical suit, desert camo’s. The dress uniform, I’m not a fan of. But anything that I can use to blend in, it’s fun.” Masquerade shrugs her wings again and smiles, “A mare and her clothing, am I right?”

Blaze trots back, taking a seat, “Okay, our order is placed.”

“Wow, you really went all out.” Fleetfoot says as she nods to Blaze.

“Well normally rescue crews are supposed to stand out, bright orange, and I have one of those suits too. But the reality is, in combat zones or even in areas with locals who will shoot first. It’s far better to blend in and hide. Pony Air, mind that large clump of moving grass, that’s your pilot waiting for the all clear to take off.”

Fleetfoot laughs, “You are going to keep that up aren’t you?”

“Silly Pony Air jokes? Heck yeah. It puts ponies at ease. It’s better than just being cold and dry, so they feel that I don’t care about them.” Masquerade says somberly.

“I’m curious, what do you remember of Equestria?” Blaze asks, tilting his head.

Masquerade lays her head down on the table and sighs. Shaking her head slowly, she speaks in a mournful voice, “Not a lot. And truth be told, I don’t know if its memories from Equestria or my own. Things like the love of flight and the need to be in the air… was that me as a human or as a pegasus, or both. I remember…”

Closing her eyes, Masquerade lowers her voice a bit as she thinks, “I remember a house in the clouds, with grand columns and pillars, and an open courtyard in the center. I remember flying in from the top and being scolded for not using the front door. I remember… I remember the smell of apple and cinnamon, and date tarts.”

Scrunching her nose for a bit, she thinks harder before flinching and almost trembling, “I remember mis-matched eyes and laughter…sick, demented laughter…the kind that would give The Joker nightmares.”

Blaze puts a wing over her, “Don’t worry, all us ponies have that problem, memory gaps.”

“I just wish I knew if I was… real… or all this was just a spell.” Masquerade says softly.

“I don’t think it matters, I think what matters instead is... Your cutie mark is real, your heart and soul is a pony, and your friendships are real. That’s what’s important. Everything else, we can muddle through.” Fleetfoot says, smiling as she reaches a hoof out to poke the end of Masquerade's muzzle.

“I think Lightning Dust is right. She’s a Timbucktu pegasus, cursed by Discord but for some reason just showing up now.” Blaze says with a nod, “Don’t worry, we’ll be here for you. Just like everypony.”

The waitress walks down and sets out the three pizzas in front of each of the pegasi, as well as large pitchers of root beer, hay fries, deep fried and battered mushroom caps stuffed with cheese, more than enough to cause all of them to drool.

Placing a drool cloth in front of each of the ponies the waitress smiles, “Enjoy your meal.”

Laughing, Blaze shakes his head as he watches Masquerade look at all the food, “Well she’s got the drool down at least.”

***

Pulling herself higher onto the floating foam, she looks at her wing, trying to move it a little. Several of the feathers were singed, but that isn’t even the worst of it. It hurts, a lot, to move the wing at all. She might have a break from when it hit the cage, or it could be dislocated, she doesn’t know enough about wings to tell.

Whimpering at the pain, she sits up as high as she can as she keeps trying to look around. Shielding her eyes with a foreleg, all she can see is water and low waves. She hadn’t eaten or drank anything in two days…in this heat…

Most of the debris had probably sank right away. Though she didn’t land near the main debris field. The plane broke up in the air, so the wreckage would be scattered over miles. All she could see around her was a few smaller pieces of foam and some papers.

Laying down slowly she places her muzzle on her forelegs and closes her eyes. Hungry, dehydrated, and in pain, she knows she has nothing left. Softly she begins singing to herself as the foam rocks in the low swells. She figures she probably wouldn’t last another day. Twenty-five years as a human, then when she finally returns to her foal form…

Letting the wind blow her mane, she lets the words flow out as her heart breaks, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…”

***

He is big for a stallion, nearly the same size as Full Steam. With thick powerful legs, dark brown coat, and his mane and tail are almost blond. Around his neck is a yoke, much like Big Macintosh always wore, but in this case, he is putting it to use.

He walks slowly, pulling a plow down a field, turning the soil for planting. It is late in the afternoon, but he works tirelessly, moving up and down rows. The plow is attached to the yoke with heavy straps, as well as a harness. Step by step, meter by meter, he prepares the large field for planting.

Looking around, Sunny sees a few humans, but none are really watching the stallion. Keeping low in the grass, not hard for the foal, Sunny slowly moves up to the stallion, “Whatcha doin’?”

“Baking a cake,” He says, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Blinking, Sunny giggles, “Do you need help?”

Ignoring her, he keeps walking, his head low, “Not unless you have four hooves.”

“Four hooves, check, got em, but they’re kinda small.” Sunny giggles.

Glancing back towards the voice with a sigh, the stallion blinks and looks back again, “Wait, you’re a foal?”

“Wow, you’re observant!” Sunny giggles and sits on her butt, waving all four hooves at him, “See, four hooves.”

Blinking, the stallion stops and sits down. “But… how?”

“Well my mommy and daddy loved each other very much and….” Sunny says, looking up as innocent as she can.

“That’s not what I meant.” The stallion shakes himself out of the yoke and harness, “How did you get here?”

“Discord cursed me, along with others, to live for twenty-five years as a human before returning to my pony form, which as things were, I still wasn’t all grown up yet, so I became a foal again, and then met up with some other ponies and we started walking heading north till we got here… Duhh, isn’t it obvious?” Sunny keeps smiling innocently.

Looking a bit lost the stallion sits down. “You’re traveling with others?”

“Yep, four of us now, me, Full Steam, Ambrosia, and Drill Bit.” Sunny says, tilting her head. “And I’m Sunny Daze.”

“What kind of names are those? Full Steam?” The stallion asks, glancing over as a woman starts walking in the direction of the two ponies.

“They are pony names, are you being held here?” Sunny sees the woman and ducks down a little bit.

“Taking a break Roberto?” The woman says as she gets closer, “Thanks for the help.”

“Not a problem, Maria.” The stallion says and looks down, “Got an extra water bucket for my friend here? Her names Sunny.”

Sunny blinks, somewhat confused, “Are you,” Sunny pauses for a moment looking between the two, “related?”

Maria laughs, “Oh no, but Roberto grew up down the road. He’s been helping out on the farms for years.”

“I used to do picking and help with planting. It paid the bills, but these days, since the change, I save the farms time and money plowing the fields. They don’t have to bring in mule teams.” The stallion says, “I don’t charge as much, because I don’t have to travel as far for these small farms.”

“And we are all friends, when he started to change, we helped him best we could. We took it as a gift, his strength to let him do so much for the local farms.” Maria says with a fond look at the stallion.

Looking around the field Sunny smiled, “Well at least your happy and safe. We are heading to the USA, there’s apparently a portal there that leads back to our homeland.”

Looking at Maria, the stallion smiles, “They have been so kind to me here. I owe them at least this year’s help.”

“Sunny? Did you find any…” Full Steam stops as he comes out into the field and sees the human, then slowly looks at the other stallion.

“It’s okay, they are safe, this is Maria, and…” Sunny wiggles her tail, smiling.

“Caboose?” Full Steam starts, trotting up quick.

“Who?” Sunny blinks, looking between the two, then she smiles, “Ohh.”

“Caboose? What do you mean?” The stallion asks.

“You’re Caboose, you worked with me in Equestria. We ran escort for the Appaloosa line because it didn’t have the water to make it all the way.” Full Steam smiles, then he leaps forward and hugs the other stallion.

“I… I think I remember.” He says, looking at Full Steam, “Where’s Boxcar and Flatcar? The brothers were with us when…”

“When Discord cursed us. Yeah, I haven’t seen them.” Full Steam shakes his head slowly.

“Hey why don’t you guys stay here? America is a long way away.” The stallion says, “And I can use the help.”

Shaking his head, Full Steam sighs, “We have to go, the princess called us. Luna came to us in a dream.”

“Well I’ll keep my eye out for others and let them know, but for now, how are you doing with supplies?” Caboose asks curiously.

“We are low, no money, and little food, that’s why I’m out scavenging.” Sunny says as her tummy grumbles.

“Oh we can’t allow that.” Maria says, “I’ll check with all the farmers around here, and we’ll see about gathering up a care basket for you. We have some stuff to spare, since Roberto started helping.”

***

“Strawberry two is on approach Captain.” The radio officer calls out.

Nodding, Captain Stevenson is already on the move, “Bring our course to zero two nine, make speed nineteen knots until the towfish is up, then give us full power. XO you have the bridge.”

“Aye sir.” The XO says and walks over to the computer chart display, “Strawberry spotted the debris here.” He says, marking an x on the screen with the pen, then he draws a circle around it, “Once we get to around this area slow us back down to sixteen knots and drop the towfish again.”

“Mr. Oswald, you’re with me.” The captain says, heading for the door.

“Sir?” The sub-lieutenant is new to the ship, but is quick to follow.

Trusting the XO, the Captain closes the bridge door and walks down the hall at a fast pace. The sub-lieutenant moving beside him as fast as he can. Looking over his shoulder, the captain nods to the sub lieutenant, “You’ve got some forensics training right?”

“Umm, yes sir, I was going to school to become an investigator, but I ran out of money.” Oswald says quickly as he ducks through a hatchway.

The captain slides down a stairwell quickly as the ships engines start to rev up, “Good, they are coming back with some debris, as well as a body.”

“A body, sir?” Oswald blinked, “Dead?”

“Well if it was alive, I’d have said a survivor.” The captain says sternly.

“Yes sir, I mean no sir, I mean, yes I understand. Sorry.” Oswald is a little confused and concerned.

“I want you to work with the ships doctor, and one of the damage control staff, Ross I think. I want you three to examine the body and wreckage. How she died, how the debris broke off, anything like that.” The captain says as they come out of the superstructure, onto the fantail.

“Your looking to try and narrow the search area, figure out if this was from impact with the water or ejected from altitude, right?” Oswald looks at the Captain putting his hand on his hat, bracing against the wind.

“Yep, any information we can get will help.” The Captain says as he watches as the recovery operation commence.

As soon as the Seahawk’s wheels are on deck, the ground support staff are on the move. The helicopter has to be refueled as fast as possible. One of the ground crew runs up, carrying a litter, while a second is carrying box lunches for the crew as well as some hot beverages.

A pair of medical sailors run up, keeping their heads low and grab the loaded stretcher out of the helicopter, pulling it on deck, then back to the hanger. It would take a few minute to refuel the helicopter so the Captain and sub-lieutenant follow the other crew members into the hanger with the body.

Looking down at the body, the Captain sighs and shakes his head, “She’s so small.”

“If it weren’t for the insulating foam, they likely wouldn’t have spotted her.” One of the sailors says as he drags the foam panel into the hanger.

Kneeling down, Oswald shakes his head, “She’s got some flash burns on her.” Looking up he watches the ships doctor arrive.

“So this is the CSI wannabe? Glad to have you on the team.” The doctor says with a chuckle as he puts the bag down by the stretcher.

“What can you tell us doc?” The captain asks.

“Oh come on, I just got here, aside from her being about four or five years old, and likely Philippine, I can’t say anything until I give her a basic exam, mind you, I’m not a coroner.” The doctor says, “So I won’t be opening her up or anything. Looks like both of her arms were dislocated, though.”

“Flail injury.” Oswald says, “Probably sucked out at high altitude with the foam, and hit the water together, judging by the impact marks.”

The captain nods, “Well at least we know the area, now the real search can begin.”

90: To lose it All

*** Somalia ***

It isn’t a boat that has been built for long voyages. But, of course, it hasn’t made the trip under its own power. Instead, it has been dropped off near the coast by a South Korean-marked freighter. The crew of the freighter only knows they are deploying a small boat for re-sale.

They use the ship’s crane to lower the small Chinese made landing ferry into the water. Even with the JAC 4R3 pickup in 43-foot boat, it still has no trouble lifting it off the deck and placing it in the ocean. Boarding the boat is easy enough as the ships ramp is lowered for the small boat’s crew to board.

The small boat makes its way to the Somali coast. The two-man crew watching the shoreline with binoculars. As they get closer, they see the flashing lights. The signal they have been looking for. Turning the bow of the boat to the shore, they run the small craft aground on the beach.

Moments later, a group of men run down onto the beach with automatic weapons in hand.

Calmly, one of the crew men walks down, lighting a cigarette, “Bashir!”

The men stop and look at each other.

“Bashir, which one of you is Bashir?” The man says as he pulls the lever, dropping the front ramp onto the sand.

“I am.” One man says, walking down the beach, “And who are you, Christian?”

“My name isn’t important, but we have what you need for the job.” Using his foot, he kicks open the top of a dark green crate. “One TY-90 Quad launcher, it should mount nicely on the back of the truck.”

Several of the men run over to look at the missile system. After they verify it is what they were told it is, they begin to carry some of the crates of missiles off the boat, laughing.

“And all this, for us shooting down one aircraft?” Bashir says, walking forward and looking at the Chinese made pickup.

“You will need to be camped out near the border, but we will contact you with flight information.” Smiling around the cigarette, the man hands Bashir a sat phone and GPS system. “We will provide you with the information as we get it. But if you succeed, another five million will be donated… to your cause.”

“These aren’t American missiles.” Bashir says curiously.

Shaking his head, the man grumbles, “Nope, we are supplying you with Chinese made. Always nice to be able to place the blame on them. They are the Tianyan series, Celestial Swallows.”

“Americans and their games. As long as the money is paid, all will be good.” It doesn’t take too long for them to load the gear into the truck, finally Bashir and his men drive up the shore line.

Nodding the two crew break out the dirt bikes. The boat is Chinese made, and has served it use so there is no point in bringing it. Someone will claim it and find a use for it, or it will be stripped for parts. Either way it would simply vanish in a country where ships and boats disappear all the time. They will be exiting the country via Kenya, their job done.

*** North America ***

“048 x-ray and 092 x-ray, I’m showing your signals merged, please maintain one thousand feet separation though controlled airspace.”

Masquerade blinks, then looks at Fleetfoot, “A thousand feet, how are we supposed to chat at a thousand feet?”

Putting a hoof over her headset, Fleetfoot shakes her head, “Control, this is 042 x-ray, we are authorized for VFR formation flying.”

“Negative 48, we do not show you as authorized, and have no tolerance for showboating. Separate by one thousand feet.”

Masquerade taps her coms, “Control, this is Pegasus 92 x-ray, request permission to exceed control airspeed, Pegasus 48 x-ray is a heavy and I don’t want to fly behind her.”

“Affirmative, you are cleared to accelerate to five hundred knots for separation.”

“Heavy? Heavy?!!?! How do you get me as heavy?” Fleetfoot says, looking shocked.

“Oh that’s easy, cuz your pregnant, heavy with foal.” Masquerade says, then she sticks her tongue out shooting ahead of Fleetfoot.

“Mask! Get your fuzzy butt back here!” Fleetfoot says before shooting after her.

***

Katie hangs up her phone and sighs, “I can’t reach him… her…”

“Who?” Ellen looks up, still terrified.

“My brother, he still hasn’t gotten his phone replaced. And he’s apparently in flight.” With a sigh, Katie sits down.

“Why would God do this? Why would he want to turn me into a pony?” Ellen whimpers, pulling her hair down to look at the new color. Soft blueish grey locks greet her eyes, more tears threatening.

Walking over, Katie sits beside Ellen, hugging her softly, “It’s… It isn’t God. According to my brother you were always one, but you were cursed.”

“Do you know how stupid that sounds?” Shaking her head, Ellen whimpers, “What are my parents going to say?”

“I don’t think we should tell your parents yet. They might do something… like trying to have demons exorcized from you. Really, that’s not what you need.”

“Then what do I need? What do I do?” Ellen looks to Katie desperately, her eyes searching for any answers.

Looking down at her phone Katie sighs, “I… I…” Shaking her head, she takes a deep breath, “Trust me on this.” Looking at her phone, she cycles through, then she searches the phone book, looking for phone numbers.

Ellen stands up and starts pacing the apartment again, “You’re the only one I can trust right now.” Looking at her face in the mirror Ellen shivers, “So your brother went through this too?”

“Kind of.” Katie sighs, then she gets up, “Be back in a moment.”

Walking into the bathroom, she closes the door and locks it before sitting down on the toilet. Taking a deep breath, she dials the number and waits for an answer. It only takes three rings before someone picks up.

“I know you can trace this call, and I know this is going to sound crazy but, I need to be transferred to someone who knows about the ponies from Equestria. I have a friend that’s changing and I don’t know what to do.”

*** NCIS/CID/OSI Headquarters Quantico ***

“Is Fleur around or is she still at the boot camp, Agent Wilks?”

Anthony blinks looking up from his desk, “Yes sir. She’s taking a few days off for a wedding.”

“She’s getting married?” The director asks.

“No sir, Velvet, her teacher is. Why, what’s up?” Anthony leans back from his computer.

The director shakes his head, “Have someone on the switchboard calling in for help. A friend of theirs is changing.”

“Who’s turn is it?” Anthony inquires as he stands up.

“I’ll give it to OSI, Goldie’s the only pony we have right now.” The director says as he taps something on his phone.

“When is NCIS getting any pony staff? We can’t have all the fun.” Anthony says as he walks over to Fleurs desk to get a file.

“So far, never. Navy and marines don’t keep ponies.” The director says.

Huffing, Anthony shakes his head, “Elite racists… or should I say speciests. I’ll take the call if Goldie isn’t available.”

***

“US Airforce Office of Special Investigations, very special agent Goldie speaking.” Crossing her forelegs Goldie adjusts her headset as she lay on the pillow beside her desk.

“I… I have a problem. Do you know anything about the ponies from Equestria?”

Looking at her hooves, Goldie tries not to giggle at the question, “I know some things, I can find more if needed, who am I talking with?”

“Oh, my names Katie Sanders, my brother changed, now my best friend is changing, I need help. I don’t know what to do or how to handle this.”

“First thing to do is to breath, don’t panic, and don’t let your friend panic.” Goldie sighs and checks her book. “Is your friend in the military?”

“No, and she can’t go home. Her parents…”

Goldie puts a smile on her face and tries to sound confident. “Don’t worry, its something that happens. Would you like someone to come over and help?”

“I don’t know how she’d take to that. She was scared to even let me know.”

“Do you know her name?” Goldie inquires as she checks her computer.

“Ellen.” Katie sighs.

Goldie shakes her head, “I mean her pony name, her true name.”

“Oh, no, no idea about that.”

“Okay I’ll have someone over to sit with you two till I get there. Don’t worry, it will be someone safe.” Goldie says, “Do you want me to stay on the line with you or leave now?”

“I… I guess I’m ok.” Katie says, worry evident in her voice.

“Just remain calm, and have her stay calm too, give her some tea, maybe some carrot cake or something like that. Try cooking something together. She should stay off of meat, so work with her on some veggie comfort food.” Goldie says as she downloads directions.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you too, all ponies need a friend, especially at this time of their lives.” Goldie says, getting up.

Hearing the other party hang up, she shakes her headset off and logs off her computer. Pulling up her socks, Goldie grabs a scarf and snaps it around her neck before calling out, “John, I need car and driver out front.”

“Umm, Why?” The agent looks over and down at the pony.

“Because I can’t drive any of our cars, the trip is too far to walk, and at three and a half hours’ drive, its quicker than driving to the airport, waiting for our jet, and such.” Goldie says as she turns sideways and sticks her hind leg out, “My legs are just too short to reach the pedals.”

Covering his face, John shakes his head. “Why are you going?”

“Because a pony is needed, I’m asking the 520th to send a pegasus over, but they can’t stay too long. So I’m going to go help them and figure out what the best route is for them.” Goldie says, “Besides the call came in from family of an Air Force member.”

“Fine, just don’t forget to file the travel expenses and such with HR.”

Nodding, Goldie makes a break for the door, almost bowling over an NCIS team as she runs past the elevator. “Coming through, hot hooves!”

“That patented stare still doesn’t work on the ponies’ boss.” Was about as far as he got before correcting himself, “Not that it ever stopped working on me, of course.”

*** South Pacific ***

The destroyer cuts a swath through the water, its massive General Electric turbines screaming at full power, while its Caterpillar Bravo engines pound away with every gauges maxed out. Every scrap of power the ship can generate is being diverted to its twin propellers that spin madly though the water leaving a trail of bubbles that mix with the ships wake.

Engineering staff watch closely, trying to keep as much coolant, or cold water, going to the engines, with sea water being flushed through the pipes at maximum capacity. Even the ships own water stores are being used to help cool the massive engines. The noise is deafening in the engine room, and every crew member there has ear protection on.

“Meteorologics says the storm will hit this area in eight hours.” The XO says, watching the captain pace on the bridge.

Stepping onto the bridge, an engineer gives a quick salute, his ear protectors still on. “Sir, we are holding just under the redline on all four engines, we can’t push them any harder, safely. The chief says he doesn’t want to stay at this level longer than thirty more minutes.”

“How long till we reach the debris field?” Captain Stevenson asks, looking over at the navigator.

“Cutting it close, maybe an hour? But that will only give us six hours, at best, to look. We’ll be pushing the towfish to its limits.” The navigator says as she plots a course on the table.

“Chief’s not gonna like this.” The tech says, “Why are we pushing it so hard?”

Captain Stevens looks out the window. “I… I don’t know… Maybe Do left some of her magic on this ship. Left some of her magic with us. I just know we have to hurry, I know we are going to find something.”

Commander Cruze looks over at Captain Stevenson sternly, “Keep talking like that and people will start thinking you’re going pony.”

Looking over, the Captain shakes his head, “Can’t you feel it though?”

Commander Cruze sighed, “I think we all can, that’s why no one’s seriously questioning the urgency. I think we all feel that need to be there.”

Reaching up, the navigator gives the stuffed Daring Do a squeeze as she stares at the map. Closing her eyes for a moment, she quickly opens them, checking one of the other charts before making an adjustment to the course on the map. “Sir, given the wind and waves we have, I think I have the best area we can search in the time we have.”

Looking at the XO the Captain shakes his head, “Even the new crew can feel it in the ship.”

*** Pennsylvania ***

Katie smiles at Ellen, noting the slow changes in hair and eye color as she works. She had grown up Mennonite as well, so both of them knew their way around the kitchen. They were not chef trained or anything like that, but both had parents who followed the belief that women should cook.

“But why carrot cake? I never liked it.” Ellen says with a huff.

Katie laughs, “That’s simple, because it’s a recipe that I don’t have to shop for goods for. I don’t have any fresh berries.”

“I noticed, what is with you and frozen strawberries and frozen bags of mango, orange, and lemon wedges?” Ellen inquires with a smile.

“I like my smoothies, okay?” Katie huffs, “Its my idea of a treat.”

“No meat, no fish, just fruit and vegetables.” Ellie says wistfully, looking at the food.

“Oh come on, you didn’t eat much steak or bacon to begin with. Chicken isn’t that big a loss either.” Katie says as she works on the cream cheese frosting before stepping aside to let Ellie put the cakes in the oven.

“It just seems so bland, so few options.” Ellie says and picks up a raw carrot with a sigh, starting to munch on it. “Besides I still can’t believe I’m a pony. There must be some mistake.”

A knock at the door causes the two girls to pause and look at each other. Gulping, Katie walks up to the door, looking though the eyehole turning side to side a bit. Turning she looks at Ellie, “it’s fine, no ones…”

Another knock at the door cuts off Katie’ speech, followed by a happy voice, “Hello? Katie? We’re friends of Masquerade.”

Carefully opening the door, Katie looks down, standing at the door are a pair of pegasi. Both look up and smile brightly, both are wearing what looks like flight uniforms, complete with goggles, while one actually has an insulated pizza delivery bag strapped between her wings.

“Hi, I’m Drizzle, this is Jetstream, we were asked to stop by and check up, make sure you’re doing okay.” Drizzle says, smiling.

Poking her head over Drizzles flank, Jetstream smiled, “I brought pizza, if that’s alright.”

“Oh my gosh.” Ellie stands there, blinking. “They are just. Too. Cute.”

Jetstream squeaks and hides behind Drizzle as she starts blushing.

“Ohh. No Ellie. Ponies can call other ponies cute, but when humans do it…” Katie tries her best to look stern as she says that.

“Oh I’m so sorry, I… hey wait, I’m becoming a pony too.” Ellie says.

Drizzle puts her hoof over her muzzle, shaking her head. “And that’s bunnies. You can’t call bunnies cute, ponies it's fine. Can we come in?”

Smiling, Katie opens the door, stepping aside for the two little ponies. “Welcome in.”

Drizzle trots in and stops, turning to help Jetstream unload two large pizzas from her backpack. “Sorry we were stopping off for dinner before we got the call. So how’s Masquerade doing?”

“I… I don’t know, I haven’t really talked to him since the change.” Katie says, looking away for a second.

“Its hard to adapt to at times. I saw Masq a few days ago, and she seemed as silly as she was before the change.” Drizzle says.

“I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” Katie says softly and sits down.

Streams looks between the two, then up at Ellie, “Um, would you like some pizza Shoeshine? It’s apple, caramelized onion, fennel seed, and cheese.”

“Pizza?” Ellie looks down at the pizza, blinking, “With apples?”

Streams nods, “Pizza is the greatest thing ever, it solves all problems, and makes everyone feel better. It can be thin or thick crust, stuffed or not, it could be topped with anything. Then its able to be eaten as anything, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert, treats, snacks, or such.”

“Shoeshine?” Katie blinks looking confused as her brain catches up to what was said.

“Oh that, um, it means Streams likely knew Ellie in her pony form back home.” Drizzle fluffs her wings as she sits down, “I don’t know how it works. But, we can see humans, even pictures of them and remember who they were as ponies. If we knew them, that is. Its like something in our minds still recognizes other ponies.”

“Oh goodness, Katie, you have to try this.” Ellie says, holding out a piece of pizza. “It’s incredible. Thank you Streams, you’re such an angel.”

Groaning, Streams covered her muzzle with a foreleg. “No, I’m not an angel.”

“Face it Streams, that this is the point where we are going to give you the call sign Angel.” Drizzle says, laughing.

“Oh please don’t… I don’t want to be associated with that psychopathic bunny.” Streams whimpers as she lays her ears down.

“So will I have wings?” Ellie asks, looking at Jetstream’s wing curiously.

“Umm.” Drizzle sits down on her haunches and starts nosing her PDA a few times before clearing her throat. “Shoeshine.”

Her PDA cheerfully answers back, “Showtime.”

Blushing a bit, Drizzle looks up, “Sorry, it still has trouble sometimes with my accent. Shoe Shine.”

“Shoeshine.”

“Could be worse, think of Thistle Whistle trying to use it.” Jet Stream says, spreading a wing out to poke Drizzle.

“Do you two usually come out to help new ponies?” Ellie inquires as she looks at the two.

“Nope, we were just in the area, so we got dispatched for this. Usually we do things like handing out tickets.” Jetstream says, holding up a ticket book.

“Tickets?” Both Ellie and Katie look at each other, blinking.

“Yeah, for ponies speeding, flying through restricted air space, causing traffic jams. That sort of stuff.” Streams says.

“Got it, Shoeshine, female Earth pony with a light blue coat, periwinkle mane, fandango eyes, and a cutie mark of two interlocking horseshoes; one gold and one silver.” Glancing between the information and Ellie, Drizzle smiled brightly, “Yep, its you.”

Drizzle shows Ellie a picture for a moment, then she gets back to reading, “Lets see now, second in command of the plant team, you like, or have a thing for carrots. Well now.”

“What?” Ellie blinks, looking over, “And what, an earth pony?”

“It means your good with planting and growing. Your special talent isn’t listed, but I think you’re actually a teamster.” Drizzle adds.

“Special talent?” Ellie and Katie blink, looking at each other again.

“Each pony tends to have something they are really good at, and love doing. Not always as a job but still. In your case linked horse shoes, and references to pulling carts. I think you were part of the teamsters. Working with other ponies to pull massive loads. It means your legs are going to be super strong. You make reference to having extra cartloads of goods. So you worked with the farmers.”

“Last night I thought I was raped, now I’m turning into some kind of freakishly strong earth pony?” Ellie sighs and rubs her face.

“Could be worse, at least you’re not changing genders.” Streams says, looking hopeful.

“Yeah…” Katie says, looking down and sighing.

“Oh… Katie. I’m sorry I didn’t think…” Streams sighs and turns her head away, flattening her ears.

“Its okay. I just… have to figure that out still myself.” Katie says somberly.

***

“Well you’re a braver mare than I am, wearing that.” Lightning Dust says as she looks at me.

Dusts living room is just packed with all of the mares and fillies, a final gathering before the wedding. Pillows have been tossed around on the floor since there aren’t enough chairs or sofa spots. The room itself is starting to look a little small with all the bodies.

I droop my ears in a blush and look down, pawing at the ground with one hoof. “This wasn’t my idea.”

Ah-Pee laughs cheerfully “Darn tootin’, if it was up to her she’s be in pants and a jacket.”

Fleur walks around me slowly with her tongue sticking out, “You put on a little weight since the last fitting.”

Stomping my hoof, I let out a huff. “I’m pregnant! Its not my fault. And I can hardly walk in this.”

“Hey, you just need to make it down the aisle.” Mindy says with a laugh as she bounces on the spot. “This is going to be the best party the farm has seen. It’s the exact morale boost everypony needs.”

“My mom’s here. Everyone and everypony is all showing up.” I say and sigh, “The Lt is giving me away. Why am I so worried?”

“First, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts parents getting married. It’s a big deal to everypony. Humans, not so much.” Fleur says as she moves up to give me a nuzzle.

“Except for bronies!” Cipher pipes in, bouncing, “Bronies everywhere would love to see this too.”

I just cover my face with a groan.

With a glair to Cipher, Fleur continues, “Second, it’s your first true love. Of course your going to have butterflies. If someone tries to say that butterflies are so pretty in Fluttershy’s voice I will zap them.” Fleur says, looking at Mindy.

With a glance to Mindy I can see she’s biting her tongue, her ears perked as if she’s fighting the urge.

Sea Swirl giggles, “Oh Celestia, I know I’m the newcomer here but this just feels so much like home. So much like Equestria all of a sudden.”

“Wait till the singing starts.” I say with a smile. “Us ponies do actually do group singing.”

Helen laughs softly, “I know, some sing more than others, but I’ve watched songs spread.” Scratching Dust behind an ear she sits down a tray of mixed vegetables and dip.

Trotting over to the dressing horse I touch my horn to its forehead and do a quick teleport. With a flash of light, the plastic and wire horse is standing where I was, and I’m standing where it was. The only other difference. Its wearing the wedding dress.

“Okay, now you’re showing off.” Sea Swirl laughs.

“Nope, all the girls know how to do that.” I say, and before I can finish,

“Week four.” Comes as a chorus from all the unicorn club.

A tap at the door has Dust looking up, “Who is it?”

“A cold, tired, and pregnant mare.” Fleetfoot calls back.

“Sorry. We already have one.” Cipher calls back with a laugh.

Rolling her eyes, Dust walks over and opens the door. “Hey you two, how was the flight?”

Masquerade smiles as she steps in, “It was okay, a little bit of turbulence, and as always the food was pretty bad. They need to serve better food on those long flights.”

Fleetfoot gives Masquerade a light smack with her wing. “It was an okay flight, Masq’s just complaining because I wouldn’t let her stop at an IHOP on the way.”

As I lay down I find myself almost instantly at the center of a pile. With Ballad and Sugarberry snuggling against me, “Girls, come on, its not cold in here.”

Helen steps into the kitchen and brings back hot cocoa and marshmallows for everypony. Her home made hot cocoa smells wonderful, with a dusting of cinnamon.

Cipher lowers her head for a moment before looking back at Helen, “No alcohol in this?”

Helen shakes her head, “With pregnant mares? Not a chance.”

“Thank you everypony and everybody. Ugg, can I just zap Hellen into a pony for tonight? Make it ponies night?” I say with a smile.

“No, no zapping.” Dust says firmly.

“Yeah, magic doesn’t solve every friendship problem.” Cipher says with a firm nod.

“Friendship problem?” I find myself asking. “I’m not my daughter.”

“Nope. But we know where she gets it from.” Mindy counters causing an uproar of laughter.

“Your special day.” Masquerade starts to sing, then does her best to try and look innocent. Unfortunately, the damage is already done.

“We celebrate now, the pony way.” Ballad picks up the song cue as the music starts filling the air.

All the girls lean against me a moment, “Your friends are all right here.”

Helen smiles and takes a picture with a camera before heading to the phone.

Dust spreads her wings, pointing to the camera, “Won’t let these moments disappear because…”

All the girls chip in singing, “Love is in bloom, a beautiful bride…”

***

“It’s okay Helen, let Pat know I’m fine.” Chuckling, Tommy turns his truck down the side trail, “I’m just checking up on the foals.”

The small Lightning Electric pickup truck makes its way down by the lake, its lights illuminating the path way. “Yes I know Helen, but they are still foals. We built the club house, I don’t want something breaking and them getting hurt because of it.”

Pulling up, he parks the truck, “I’ll call you when I get back to the barn.”

Hanging up, Tommy gets out of the cab and picks up his flashlight. The clubhouse is dark, but that doesn’t mean the foals aren’t there, they could simply be taking a nap. Walking up the ramp, Tommy calls out, “Feather? Cookie? Candy?”

There is no response, but the door had been left open a bit. Blinking a bit, Tommy kneels down and opens the door, “Girls are you in here?”

Shinning the light across the room, Tommy sees the three ponies laying on the floor, not moving. Blinking he takes a step forward before he feels something. An amber glow quickly surrounds him before he is flung backwards out of the house.

Slamming backwards against a tree the loud crack of his hard hat hitting the wood sounds like a baseball bat hitting a fast ball pitch. Tommy tastes copper in his mouth as he slides down the tree, the flashlight slowly rolls out of his left hand.

The unicorn steps out from the tree house, holding the three foals in his magical grasp. Glancing towards Tommy the unicorn shakes his head. “She’s too distracted about her own affairs, to concerned with herself to even notice her foals. What a pitiful mare.”

Turning, the unicorn walks off carrying the foals, his chuckling filling the night as he vanishes into the darkness.

Slowly, as his consciousness fades, Tommy’s right hand opens, his phone sliding out of it as darkness envelopes him. The faint sound of a phone dialing coming from the speaker, then a click.

“Hello? Hello! Tommy, is something wrong?” Comes the tinny voice.

***

“Captain, debris! Port side, bearing 032.” Calls out a lookout.

Captain Stevenson looks at the map, “Make speed eighteen knots, drop the tow fish.”

“More debris, light stuff! Bearing 116, starboard side.

Grabbing his binoculars, Captain Stevenson walks up to the window, “Have the RIB teams ready, we’ll deploy them when we start seeing larger items.”

“Aye sir.”

Looking up from her maps, the navigator shakes her head. “Sir, I’m curious, are they going to keep pulling staff out of active duty for their 25th birthday?”

“I hope not, at this rate though, they might end up putting a minimum age of 25 to join service.” The XO says, looking across the bridge.

“What is the admiralties fear of the brumbies?” The navigator asks as she checks her charts again.

“Ponies, neither the admiralty nor the politicians will even dignify calling them brumbies, they’re ponies.” The Captain says, putting his binoculars down and rubbing his eyes. “Essentially they want to deny their existence. Anyone that changes are no longer considered citizens of Australia, so they can’t be part of the military.”

“Sir, given the waves, I think we should change our heading to 017, to run the edge of the field first.” The navigator says, “I think the debris is drifting east south east.” The Navigator says, looking up.

XO Cruze makes a face for a moment, but Captain Stevenson raises his hand, “If the debris is being pushed that way, a tow fish run along the edge will give us a baseline and might pick up the airplane’s transponders. Let’s give it a try.”

“No debris on port side.” One of the spotters calls out.

“Concentrate on starboard.” XO Cruze says, walking over to the windows himself.

“Belay that, lets keep two spotters on the port.” Captain Stevenson said, “Just to be safe.”

The XO nodded looked back at the Captain. “Yes sir.”

“Sonar, anything on passives?” Captain Stevenson asks the sonar team. Normally used to detect submerged threats the system could be dialed into the frequencies the black box pingers used.

“Negative, no contacts other than surface traffic.”

“Have you ever wondered what it would be like?” The navigator asks.

“What what would be like?” The XO says, looking over the charts.

“Becoming a pony?” She inquires as she looks around the bridge.

The Captain shakes his head, “You weren’t here when Do changed, it was pretty scary and hectic. We didn’t know what was going on at that time, but even then.”

“Don’t look at me.” Commander Cruze says, “I’m a career officer. I’d never give this up for a set of hooves. Besides, its only those who are turning 25 that have to worry. You still have a year or so to go. So don’t worry about it.”

“Captain! Debris, port side. Bearing 355, range 500 meters. I think there’s a pony on it.”

“A pony?” The XO breaks out his binoculars and matches bearings. “I think he’s right.”

“Get a RIB in the water, now! Helm slow us to eight knots, make course 040, keep our broad side to it. Don’t loose sight of it in the swells.” The captain’s orders are met with a flurry of activity as the small inflatable boat is dropped off the side of the destroyer and begins racing towards the debris.

The RIB’s hydro jet shoots the boat through the waves as the rescue and recovery crew ducks down, holding on to the crash bars. Slowing as they approach the wreckage, a pair of sailors pull the body onto the boat. Moving the foal to the back of the boat, they pull the wreckage onboard to before heading back to the ship.

“Captain, they are bringing back a foal. They think it’s actually alive.” The radio operator says in shock.

“I’ll meet them at the hoist.” The captain says sternly.

Blinking, the navigator smiles, “Wow, I wish I could see one.”

“You’re with me then, nav.” The captain says, smiling and headed down to the boat winch.

The RIB is hoisted up and locked in its cradle on deck. One of the sailors carefully picks up the foal wrapped in a rescue blanket. The little peach pink foal is drifting in and out of consciousness as the Captain takes a hold of her.

“She’s probably been without food or water for days. We’ll need to get her to the ships doctor.” The Captain says as he turns.

Turning her head for a moment to look at the navigator the foal whimpers, “You came for me Meadow Flower.”

***

The white pickup truck rolls to a stop a few miles from the border. Quickly, three men dismount, all members of the Al-Shabaab. Working as a team, each knows their job. They begin by quickly extending the outriggers and using the hand crank to lower the pads to the ground. The second is laying out a heat defusing camouflage net over the front of the vehicle. The third jumps into the back of the pickup to start up the generator.

As the generator comes to life, so does the QW launcher. Four missiles mounted in two box launchers on either side of a center post. At the top of the post, a camera and laser ranger finder allow for 360 degree targeting. Servos hum as the camera tilts up and down with the missile launchers mimicking the motions. Internal diagnostics check all the systems as the deadly machine comes to life.

These missiles could intercept and destroy anything from a cruise missile to a jumbo jet. Fired from close range, an airplane would have very limited response times to such a threat. And unlike other missiles of its type, it uses an image of the aircraft, rather than infrared, so flares won’t work.

The beeping of the phone catches the attention of the man working on the launcher. Reaching down, he pulls up the antenna before answering. “Yes?”

Smiling he picked up the binoculars. “Yes, I see it, It’s a business jet.”

A plane is most vulnerable during take offs and landings. At low altitudes, low speeds, a planes options are very limited. An aircraft in landing configuration takes time to accelerate and climb away.

“It has been a pleasure doing business with you, American.”

The man who had been laying the camo net picks up a small TV screen and kneels beside the truck. Wiggling a few controls he smiles and makes a few adjustments. He can see the image of the S-21, its landing gear down as approaches the airport.

The launcher spins as the camera locks onto the plane, feeding information to the missiles, a quick pulse from the laser lets the launcher know the target is in range. At under five miles, the Sukhoi aircraft won’t have a chance to get away.

Smiling, the man flicks off two safety covers over switches, “Ready.”

Hanging up the phone, the man hops off the bed of the truck, taking cover behind the cab. “Fire.”

As the first switch is thrown, there is a loud pop. The missile bursts from the launcher and accelerates towards the business jet. A trail of white smoke following it as it accelerates. A moment later, the second switch is thrown. That missile arcs up a bit before zeroing in on the jet as well. The hiss of their engines filling the morning air as they snake out, hunting their target.

91: Ripped Apart

“Tommy? What’s happening?” Helen’s tone of voice catches Lightning Dust’s attention, she hops off the couch and trots over to her wife.

“Something wrong, love?”

Helen looks at the phone, “I was on the phone with Tommy, one of your senior apprentices. He was going to check on the CMC at their clubhouse.”

Dust perks her ears forward, then flattens them back at the look on Helen’s face, Helen gulps slightly, “I couldn’t understand everything, but I think something’s wrong.”

Dust doesn’t need any more than that, she turns and gallops towards the back door out of the kitchen, the clatter of her hooves attracting attention of the other ponies as she slams through the big French doors and takes flight, Irony walks up to Helen, “What’s going on.”

Helen looks at Velvet, “I think there’s trouble.”

Irony growls as Velvet stands up, Irony turns to her, “I’ll give you a ride.”

Velvet holds her emotions in check, barely, those foals are her responsibility, “Get emergency services coming, right now. I’d rather explain a hasty reaction to them than wait even longer for them to arrive. I don’t need a ride.” She turns and begins to charge her horn, but Mindy squeaks and taps her horn.

Blinking Velvet puts her hoof to her horn and looks sourly at Mindy, “Velvet, we will do this together, Dust is ahead of us, let’s take a minute to get everypony ready, okay?”

Nodding Velvet slowly turns to look at the open French doors.

Lightning Dust powers through the air, she’s not been back in the air very long since her ordeal in South America, she’s calling on all the speed she can, but she can feel the ache in her wings. Luckily the clubhouse is close to the farm, and Dust’s house is about a fifteen-minute drive from the farm. Less than a minute of flight for Lightning Dust. Quickly she’s backpedaling her wings to slow down. Her sharp eyes see the form on the ground, and she streaks to him.

“Oh, Tommy.” She moans as she sees his body, he moves slightly, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll get you taken care of.” She reaches for the stylus so she can dial her phone, only to have a muted flash of light show the teleportation of several unicorns.

Moon Shadow comes up, “Dust, what can I do to help?”

Dust looks over at the idling pickup, “Pull the first aid kit, he’s bleeding.”

A bright globe of light forms and rises above the scene, lighting the area nearly as bright as day. Mindy hops over, “Oh, Dustie, this is bad. Don’t move him.”

Blood drips from Tommy’s mouth and down his cheek, falling in small drops onto the snow.

Dust looks at Mindy and continues to check on the prone human. Blood is dripping slowly from his chin, “He’s bitten his tongue, I hope that’s all. Look at the snow.”

Mindy looks back and forth, “What am I seeing, Dustie?”

“The only hoof marks are mine, he was thrown into the tree, and landed here. Tommy isn’t the biggest of guys, but he’s solidly built, it would take a pretty good hit to knock him over thirty feet.”

Fleur comes down from the clubhouse and walks over, her phone comes out and she dials, “Hello, I need a rapid response team to the pony settlement in Montana.” She huffs at the response, “Well, get the plane moving now. I’ll secure the crime scene and start gathering evidence. Emergency response is on its way, so I’ll try to get as much as possible before there’s too much contamination.” She listens, “Alright.” She hangs up and looks at Velvet, “I’ve got to take pictures, we will find who did this, Velvet.” She trots off, the flash from her camera phone going off every few seconds.

Dust growls as Moon Shadow comes up with the first aid kit, Dust opens it and starts to work, only to be gently pushed aside by Moon Shadow as she uses her magic. Several crackles from nearby trees announce her magic being used there. Several large branches head towards Moon Shadow, the glow around them intensifies and a serviceable backboard appears in their place. Her magic envelopes the human gently and the backboard is slid underneath him.

A series of thumps announce a team from the town, Winter Storm steps up, “Ambulance is almost thirty minutes out. Anything we can do?”

Dust sighs, “Secure the area. Just a perimeter right now. Let Fleur gather her evidence.”

A phone floats towards Dust in an orange aura, Mindy’s voice is serious, her mane and tail are flat, “Dust…” She sighs, “you need to see this.”

Apparently, Tommy had the presence of mind to activate the camera on the device. Though the glass of the phone is cracked, the list of pictures shows a unicorn walking out of the clubhouse, then he walks off with the three foals held in his magic. Among the pictures is one where the pony is illuminated in moonlight, “That son of a bitch.” Dust breathes. The turquois pegasus looks around at those working. She shakes her head and grumbles as she walks away from the scene.

Velvet step forward, and Mindy reluctantly shows her the photo as well. She looks in shock at first before she draws herself into a ball, the tears starting to form, “If I hadn't been so involved in the wedding, worrying about it, this wouldn't have happened. It’s all my fault"

A bright flash and a peal of thunder comes from nearer to the lake. Mindy wraps her hooves around Velvet as another bright flash lights up the night, accompanies by a pained scream.

“I don’t think I want to be him when Dust finds him.” Mindy says, her ears flattening back from the loud cursing and random lightning bolts from the enraged Wonderbolt. With one final massive blast into the sky, Dust stalks back, her eyes faintly glowing, and electricity crackling among her feathers.

Dust looks around, “Winter Storm!” She shouts. The pegasus leaps before her, tossing off a quick salute, Dust growls, “It’s going to be too long before the ambulance gets here. I want you and one other pegasus to pick him up, and carefully take him to town.” She looks at Moon Shadow, “Is he stable enough for transport?”

Moon Shadow nods tightly, “At least two pegasi should carry him, I’ll put a spell to stabilize him, but I don’t think teleportation is a good idea right now, he’s got a severe concussion, at least a couple broken ribs, and the impact caused his teeth to snap closed on his tongue, he nearly severed it. I don’t have enough medical knowledge to heal him. But we have doctors and pony healers at the hospital.”

Twilight Velvet reaches out and touches the young man as the two pegasi take on their burden, a murmured “Thank you.” And they are off.

Turning, she flinches and takes a few steps back, Dust is right there, in her face, “I’m sorry, Dust. This is my fault.”

“Buck that nonsense, Velvet! The safety of these ponies is MY responsibility. I’m the ranking Royal Guard here. I’m sorry for not having enough security, he had to come in and get out by teleportation. Which means we need to address the lack of wards for teleportation into the town.” She sighs and the glow starts to leave both her wings and eyes, “We will get them back. No matter what it takes. You have me, and every team we’ve made here to help ponies. We will get your foals back to you, no matter what.”

Velvet looks around at the ponies, the determination in their faces is clear as day. She looks back to Dust, “I’m going to help where I can.”

Dust nods tightly, “I know.” She growls, “We’ll get him, and he will regret tonight.”

***

The S-21’s Missile Approach Warning system detected the heat blooms, two missiles are instantly identified and warning alarms go off in the cockpit.

In response, the pilot throws the throttle to full and clicks the afterburner button to get speed and altitude as fast as he can. Rolling the plane slightly the flare package instantly begins firing, creating an angel wing appearance as the flares spread out from the back of the aircraft. At the same time, a pair of belly mounted lasers attempt to lock onto the missiles, the hopes being that the lasers could blind the seeker heads causing the missiles to lose their lock.

“Bozhe moy!” The pilot swears as he tries his best to climb and bank the sluggish airplane.

“What’s going on!” Spike yells from his seat.

“Someone fired missiles at us.” The pilot calls back, “I don’t know if I can evade them. Ten seconds to impact! You might want to consider exiting with the princess.”

A moment later the MAW system screams out another alert as it detects two more launches, a total of four missiles in the air as the corporate jet struggles to climb out and turn.

“Princess, I need you to teleport clear.” Spitfire demands of Cadance.

“But what about you and the others?” Cadance says, looking at the other passengers.

“You’re our first priority! You’re a princess.” Spike says sternly.

“But…” Cadance looks at Spike with tears in her eyes.

“No time! GO!” Spike shouts.

Lighting her horn, Cadance appears outside. The speed difference causes her to tumble and spin in the air out of control for a moment. She spreads her wings and spins a few times before leveling out, it only takes her a few moments to regain her balance and orientation, but by then it is too late. She watches the massive column of fire stretching from the ground up to the sky. Looking over, she hears the two explosions in rapid succession. The fire is almost too bright for her eyes.

“SPIKE!” She cries out, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

***

“Oh hell.” Special Agent Anthony Wilks looks around before hanging up the phone. Standing up, he grabs a file off his desk and runs up the stairs to the director’s office.

“He’s in a meeting.” Angela says at her desk, Angela isn’t an agent, she’s a secretary, but has been with CID now for fifteen years, and with this director for five.

Hammering the door twice with his fist, Anthony opens the door and steps inside.

Blinking, the CID director looks up, as does the NCIS director at the interruption. Reaching over, the director taps a button on his phone, “Angela?”

Calling out from her desk outside the office, “I told him, he didn’t care.”

“This had better be important, something like the White House has been bombed levels of important, or your next job will be guarding tires at Camp Arifjan, in Kuwait.” The director says sternly.

Cringing, Anthony shakes his head. “Sir, there’s been a kidnapping, and I have a bad feeling its got ties to terrorism, domestic and international.”

“Who was kidnapped?” The director asks, leaning back in his chair.

Anthony checks his notes before looking back up, “Three foals, Cotton Candy, Cotton Cloudy, and Feather Pinch.”

“Honestly, how are we even supposed to take them seriously with names like that.” The NCIS director says, shaking his head.

The CID director glances to his associate before back to Anthony. “And what does this have to do with terrorism?”

“They were taken by a pony named Night Light.” Anthony starts, before being interrupted by the NCIS director.

“So this is a pony mater, Lightning Dust and her crew go on about handling things themselves, so why do we need to get involved.” The NCIS Director states as a matter of course.

Continuing, Anthony places a file in front of the director. “This pony is a ghost in the worst sense of the word. We don’t know anything about him prior to his change. He first appeared in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan or FATAs. He is fluent in Punjabi and was part of a caravan that left Pakistan into Afghanistan.”

“He is a strong believer in Sharia law, and unlike other refugees he had a stash of uncut emeralds which points to the North-Eastern parts of Afghanistan,” Anthony went on, dropping a few pictures of uncut emeralds and rubies.

“Taliban controlled territory.” The CID Director said looking at the file, “We’ve had word of them using these gems to finance operations.”

“During the turmoil, he bought passage into the United States. Paid roughly twenty-five thousand dollars.” Anthony says.

“How did he get past ICE?” The CID Director asked, turning pages.

“That’s the thing, we are not sure. We backtracked his travel as best we could when he came on our radar. He apparently chartered travel from Afghanistan to Morocco, then we think we have him chartering a Moroccan freighter for Cuba. We know he never arrived in Cuba however.” Anthony said.

“Excuse me why were you wasting time and resources tracking this pony?” The NCIS director inquires, “If he was never a threat.”

“That’s the thing, we weren’t. He showed up at a pony meeting place to confront a US Ranger trying to claim her as his wife under Islamic law. The ranger had turned into a pony as well, one Twilight Velvet.” Anthony says, “She’s essentially the primary teacher of the Pentagon’s unicorn training program.”

“Oh, the MUTS.” The NCIS Director says with a chuckle.

“She’s deemed a primary asset.” The CID Director said and flipped pages.

“The three foals kidnapped are her adopted wards.” Anthony says, “Now a lot of the research was done by another unicorn, Cipher Splash. Who backtracked Night Light and also suspects him of being involved in attacks against US forces.”

“Oh hell, targeting of a primary asset?” The director nods, “Put out an internal amber alert, base staff only, have the MP’s alerted as well as having ICE on alert. Just what we need, a pissed off mother mare.”

Taking one of the papers, the NCIS Director shakes his head slowly, “A corporal is considered a primary asset? Really?”

“She has the greatest understanding of magic, of any unicorn in the service, and is the only one we’ve found so far with practice and experience teaching magic. She has trained dozens of military staff and dependents in the use of their abilities.” The CID Director says, “Including our agent Fleur. She’s a primary asset without question.”

“With permission sir, I’d like to send what we have to the OSI, I’m sure they already know, as well as CGIS, CGIS has a unicorn training with Velvet now as well. Permission, though, to get the FBI involved as well?” Anthony asks.

“With this? Let the 520th know, put it as a full BOLO as well as interagency Amber alert, though keep it off of the LEO’s channels. I doubt they have any ability to deal with anything like this.” The CID Director says.

“I’ll forward it to homeland as well so they know what’s going on. Dust is taking this as an attack against her property.” Anthony finishes.

“Do you want in on this?” The CID Director says, “It might look bad if your agency is the only one not involved.”

With slight grumble the NCIS Director stands up, “I’ll assign a team and forward the information to all offices. We can continue this meeting later.”

***

Closing her eyes, Cadance shakes her head as she descends. She feels the ground under hoof before opening her eyes and slowly looking back to the fire. Things, however, begin happening almost to fast for her to understand.

The S-21 climbs out and away from flame wall. Its afterburners lit for extra thrust as it vectors away from the launch site. The second two missiles still streak towards the corporate jet as it comes into view.

The massive shadow of Kara passes overhead as she climbs and banks to put out another powerful gout of fire between the plane and missiles. Unable to avoid, the missiles fly into the superheated gas cloud. As the skin temperature on the missiles reach critical levels, the fuel detonates, ripping the missiles apart mid flight.

Turning her head, she alters her course to the launch site. The rebels, having expended their missiles, are quick to open fire with their AK’s. But it doesn’t matter. Nothing they can will make any difference.

Kara isn’t a pony. Love and tolerance, living in harmony, is not something she is bound by. She chooses to work with the ponies, because they are harmless. That is HER choice however. She isn’t a griffin who acts out of profit. Her actions are those of a dragon, with the full rage of one of her kind.

A flash of claws and a scream, they are little more than mice, compared to her size. A single claw is like hitting a person with a sharpened telephone pole. While simply stepping on them would likely be just as fatal, she is mad.

This is her territory, these are her friends. They had chosen to visit her, and fell under her protection. These humans had committed a crime against her, and under dragon law, in her territory, there is no forgiveness for such actions. Dropping a gun and running might cause a pony to stop, but a slash of her tail and another cry again shows that she is no pony.

The last of the men begs, pleads, and cries something in another language, a prayer? It doesn’t mater, it doesn’t change the fate, or the sentence. He had attempted to kill a princess, his fate sealed from the moment he fired the first missile. With a flash of white teeth, his sentence is carried out. In their own territory, a dragon is judge, jury and executioner.

Standing in shock, her wings spread wide, Cadance finds herself trembling as she watches, trying hard not to throw up at the sight.

“Princess? Princess? Are you alright?” Spitfire shouts as she touches down beside Cadance, Spike riding on her back.

“I, I’m fine.” Cadence says, then gulps heavily.

Landing on the other side of the princess, Naomi cringes looking at the scene, “Oh boy, what a mess.”

Galina lands beside Naomi, “It could have been worse.”

Cadance blinks, looking over at Galina, “How do you mean?”

“It could have been a lawyer on a toilet. When you gotta go, you gotta go.” Galina says with a light giggle.

Groaning, Naomi covers her beak and eyes with a claw.

Turning, Kara bows her head, “Sorry about this, these… rabble… They still try and cause problems from time to time.” She does a double take, “Spike is that you?”

Spike waves from Spitfire’s back, then all heads turn as they hear a muffled chirping sound. Slowly, Naomi tilts her head from side to side and begins walking to the bodies, listening. Flipping over part of a torso, she picks up and holds up a satellite phone high in the air.

“Found it!” She calls out and opens the phone. “Hello?”

“Well at least it wasn’t buried in a pile of poo.” Galina says, looking at Spitfire.

“Well that was rude, they just hung up without saying a word.” Naomi says.

Spike looks at the phone, “Maybe some of our techs back home can track down the calls made on it and such. Find out what’s going on.”

Kara smiles, “For now though, welcome to our family, we have a special feast ready in your honor.”

***

“She’s not in good shape sir.”

The sickbay on the Hobart class of destroyers is much larger and better equipped than those on the Armidale-class patrol boats. Rather than just a single small room, it has an actual doctor’s office, a small lab with some basic tools, and even two beds for recovery.

The ship doesn’t have a proper operating room. However, it isn’t expected to carry out full operations, or long term recovery. Even its pharmaceuticals are limited, instead it is meant to handle and treat small injuries, or stabilize critical cases till they could be flown to a proper medical facility.

“Will she pull through?” The captain asks, looking down at the pink ball of fluff and feathers.

“I’ve been on the coms with vets in Queensland and managed a call to some yank specialists. The best they could suggest is IV saline solutions, monitor her discharge, and try and bring her fluid levels into balance slowly so as not to shock her system.” The Doctor says, “She keeps drifting in and out of consciousness.”

“Has she said anything?” Captain Stevenson asks as he leans over to stroke the foal’s mane softly.

“She only asked where Meadow Flower was.” The doctor says, then he looks at the captain, “So are you going to report her?”

“Pardon?” Captain Stevenson blinks and looks confused.

“Maxine White? The navigator?” The doctor looks up from his file.

Looking confused, the captain shakes his head. “Why would I report her?”

“Standing orders from the Admiralty sir. Any signs of a sailor changing must be reported immediately, whether or not its her twenty-fifth birthday.” The doctor says as a matter of course.

“What? She’s displayed no signs whatsoever.” Captain Stevenson is more than a little annoyed at this suggestion.

“According to the yanks, ponies can, in some way, sense or recognize other ponies prior to the change.” The doctor says firmly, “And the foal did call her Meadow Flower.”

“First, we don’t know how close to change that effect has to be. Next, for all we know, the foal is delirious from dehydration. So no, I’m not going to report it, and I’m not going to put the Nav into a position where other ponies could verify her just to test that.” The captain says sternly.

The doctor nods, adjusting the drip rate in the IV. “So you are not reporting it?”

“No, because we have no confirmation of the signs. And I’m not going to pander to the politicians fears by reporting something that’s not confirmed. This will not become some kind of witch-hunt, where the mere suggestion will end someone’s career.” The Captain looks at the Doctor.

“Don’t look at me, I’m bound by patient doctor confidentiality. Anything that does not directly affect the immediate well being of the ship will not be reported without direct consent of the patient.” The doctor says, “So how well do you know the Nav?”

“She’s from New South Wales, Wagga Wagga I believe.” The captain walks over and sits down in the doctor’s chair, “Do you mind?”

“Nope, go ahead.” The doctor says.

“Yep, her families from Wagga Wagga, their family is somewhat set, her father owns a sunflower farm.” Humming softly the captain chuckles, “Well that’s impressive, her father owns five small multi-roll aircraft, water bomber and crop dusters. They are on contract with he government for brush fires.”

“And she joined the navy?” The doctor inquires.

“Yep, looks like she signed up… oh…three months after her brother died in an accident in a crop duster.” The captain shakes his head.

“Okay, getting as far away from that as she could.” The doctor nods. He looks thoughtful for a moment, “So, where is she?” he asks.

“I ordered her back to station on the bridge. Keep her busy for now so she doesn’t worry.”

***

Pacing back and forth I thrash my tail, not being happy is an understatement. Ears flattened, muzzle in a fixed snarl I keep pacing.

“Calm down, hun.” Blaze says as he sits, watching me.

“He kidnapped foals to get to me. What’s next? Targeting you?” I snarl, storming back and forth.

“If he tries, there won’t be much left of him. Now stop trying to destroy the floor.” Blaze says and grabs my tail, pulling me back a bit.

“I’ve got to figure out where he’s taken them. I have to get them back.” I say and sit down, hard.

“NO!” Blaze says firmly, “You are NOT going to run off and try and do this on your own. Don’t you dare try and pull a Twilight Sparkle.”

“But…” I start, but the look in Blaze’s eyes tells me to stop, “Rainbow,” I find myself whining softly.

“You are a lot like your daughter. Back in Equestria you’d rush off on your own, rather than risking friends or family. You’d try and do things on your own. But you don’t have to.” Turning me so he can look into my eyes, Blaze smiles.

“Yeah, here I have a unit, I have friends to back me up. I have family and community.” I sigh softly, “I just…”

“You don’t have anything to prove.” Blaze says, poking my muzzle with his hoof. “Cipher is working with the Army Cyber Intelligence; all the investigative branches have their eyes open. Once we find them, and we will, then everypony, 520th, Dust, us, the unicorn club, will all teach Night Light to leave you alone.”

“I just feel I have to do something. Now.” I say, stomping my front legs in rapid succession while I sit.

“Nope. Think of this as a military operation. We gather intelligence, locate the enemy, fix them, and then when ready, go in with a plan.” Blaze says gently.

With a sigh, I nod, “Then throw the plan away, and make it up on the go as no plan ever survives the first encounter with the enemy. Rules of ranger school. I remember.”

“Yep. But we need as much information as we can before we can organize. We don’t want to be picked off one by one.” Blaze says firmly.

I nod slowly. “The waiting is always the hardest part though.”

***

XO Cruz walks over, looking down at the maps. The ship had covered only about half of the debris area and the storm is closing in fast. At least they know the area where the plane went down. This meant they could concentrate searches for the black boxes after the storm passes.

“We are drifting to the west.” The XO says, looking over at helm.

“I’m on the course the nav set, debris is drifting to the east, so we wanted to stay at the edge. Captain okayed it.” The helm officer calls back

Looking up from her charts, the nav smiles, “The RIBS and Patrol boats are running on the east side for debris, since they don’t have sonar.”

“How are you holding up?” The XO asks as he looks at the map.

“Oh fine, I like this ship, its exciting.” She says, smiling.

“It can take some time to adapt to a new ship. If you have problems, my office is always open.” The XO says.

“Yes sir.”

“XO, I’ve got a faint ping at bearing two seven four.” The sonar operator calls out.

Shoving some papers away, the Nav marks their position on the map and then draws a quick line.

“Sir request we change course to three five zed and hold course for as long as we can, so we don’t get out of range.” The nav says.

“Helm, hold three five zed, drop speed to nine knots. Sonar, call out each bearing as you get them.” The XO looks around the bridge and smiles, ‘A well oiled machine’.

***

The room is dimly lit, with brick walls and a concrete floor. A single drain in the floor can be seen with dark stains around it. The smell of dirt and oil fills the air, as well as an ever-present, slow, dripping sound.

Putting her muzzle against the cage door, Feather tries her best to see where she is, or to even see the others. She is in some sort of plastic dog carrying case. The door to it is metal, with a mesh over the window. The size of the cage prevents her from standing up, let alone turning around.

Putting her hoof against the door, she gives it a push, but it won’t move. “Candy? Cloudy?” She calls out. Cringing at the fear in her voice.

“We’re here.” Cloudy replies meekly. “Feather, I’m scared.”

“What are we going to do?” Asks Candy.

“Do? You are going to die like the abominations you are.” A mans voice says cheerfully, “And as to fear. Fear is a good thing. Fear reminds you that you are in danger, it tells you that you shouldn’t be doing something or shouldn’t be somewhere. Fear is what you should feel every single day.”

As he steps out in front of the cages, the man kneels to look at the foals, “You and every pony should live in fear, until you return to your world. Or die.”

“But…” Feather starts, then she stops quickly as he looks at her coldly.

“But nothing, you survived us once. This time, however, when we are ready, your death will be very public. We will slowly take each and every one of your feathers out, one by one. Before cutting your throat and hanging you upside down to die like the animal you are.” Standing up, the man starts walking away. “Pleasant dreams young ones.”

Velvet Nightfall: A Christmas Ballad

Velvet Nightfall Special

A Christmas Ballad

Pony Air is especially busy at this time. It’s Christmastime and ponies want to fly home to be with their human families. A few are even flying to meet up with pony families, so the Air Force has had to source out extra planes to meet the demand. These are charity flights. Ponies are paying what they can or are making promises to pay, or are simply flying on the goodwill of others.

Donations had been taken up in different pony communities, as well as by the armed forces themselves to pay for these flights. The vast majority of ponies are still unable to fly commercial simply because of identification issues.

Ballad looks out the window as the plane drops through the clouds. The little twin engine turboprop can carry up to eighteen ponies, but there are only twelve on this flight.

“First trip home?” A blue and brown mare asks, tilting her head.

Blinking, Ballad nods, “Yes.” She glances back out the window for a moment, “I’m a bit scared. Aren’t you, Brass Beauty?”

“I guess so, but I still go by Lynn.”

"Ballad here, I guess Discord didn't like musicians much. I guess it’s because music is such a big part of pony life."

Brass nods slowly before glancing up at the PA system. The captains voice comes over loud and clear, “Welcome to Alexandria, Minnesota. Please strap yourselves in. The weather is a nippy twenty Fahrenheit, with wind-chill as low as ten above, so jackets might be required. We will be landing shortly.”

Looking out her window, Ballad can see the lights of the city. Well, city is a loose term sometimes, with a population of around twenty-five thousand, Alexandria is the largest town in the area complete with a municipal airport. It is, however, the center hub for lots of small towns around it, tight knit communities where tradition is strong.

This is the place where people came to shop, and sometimes work. If you want to go to the Walmart, to the movies, Alexandria is your destination. It even has a racetrack. This is where the hospital is. As such, every town within about a twenty-minute drive knows Alexandria.

There is a bit of a bump as the planes wheels touch the ground, and within moments, the plane has slowed and turned off onto the taxiway. Ballad finds her patience wearing thin when the plane finally stops in a parking area. Unlike full sized commercial airports, there is no gangways, no big terminal. Just a small building separating the tarmac from the parking lot. With barely room for twenty or so vehicles.

Ballad huffs as she unbuckles her seat-belt then stands up and gets her bag from the overhead compartment. Like most ponies, she doesn’t carry much, so her army issue saddlebags work for her trip. She isn’t a fashionista like Rarity, after all.

Walking to the front she looks out the hatch and shivers from the cold wind blowing along the snowy airfield. A pair of National Guardsmen stand at the bottom of the stairs. With a simple hop, she lands on the ground. Easier than trying to go down those narrow steps.

A young pegasus looks up at the plane from the waiting area nervously.

“Don’t worry, its fine.” Ballad says, “The staff’s great.”

“Cindy?”

Ballads mane proofs out and her tail twitches. Looking over, she sees her mom standing in a heavy jacket right outside the doors of the small building. Even today, these small airports treat security like it’s a luxury they don’t have the money for. Though that fact is nothing compared to who she is seeing.

“Mom?” Ballad squeaks. She turns and charges her mother… “MOM!”

Kneeling to get to the same height, her mom hugs the pony tight for a long time, then she leans back a bit.

“Wow, you’ve changed, have you been eating enough?” Her mom says with a smile.

“Oh mom.” Ballad laughs.

“Are you sure you’re ok? You look a little blue.”

Rolling her eyes, Ballad huffs, “That’s my normal color. Silly.”

“I know, it’s still hard to believe, my little baby’s… turned into a foal.” Her mom says.

“Mare!” Ballad stomps. “I’m a grown mare.”

“Well, whatever you call yourself, let’s get you home.” They walk through the small terminal building and out into the parking lot.

“Wow, dad let you take the pickup!” Ballad tosses her saddlebags into the truck bed before climbing into the front seat. “Where is he?”

“Working, he’s always busy this time of the year.” Her mom smiles, “Woodworking, gifts, and such.”

Strapping herself in, Ballad nods, “Yeah, the city has always had him busy with decorating.”

“There have been…changes…around town since you left.”

Turning on the radio, Ballad looks over, “Oh, who’s changed? Anypony I know?”

“Umm, not that kind of change.” Her mom says as they turn down the road into town.

Leaning against the door, Ballad watches the trees and houses go by, “I loved how they decorated the town, the wreaths on the light posts, the ribbons.”

“They…we…don’t do that anymore.” Her mom says as they drive into town.

“What? Why not?” Looking around, Ballad can even see that some of the houses don’t have decorations up. “Mom? What’s going on?”

Sighing softly, her mom pulls into the driveway, “The ACLU, among others. Some people complained and a lawsuit was filed against the town. Christmas decorations are not permitted to be put up on city property.”

“Oh, come on! That’s just stupid.” Climbing out of the truck, Ballad lights her horn and picks up her saddlebags, dropping them onto her back. “How’s Santa supposed to find this place if its all dark and bland?”

“Really? Santa? Aren’t you a little old for Santa?” Her mom says, stepping out of the truck and closing the doors.

“Hey, you’re talking to a three-foot-tall unicorn. I learned to believe in magic, heck I’ve spent weeks learning magic. So why can’t I believe in the magic of Christmas?”

A loud squeal fills the air as Ballad is blindsided by a little girl, “My very own pony! And it’s a unicorn!”

“Dawn, we talked about this. This is your cousin, Cindy.”

“Nuh uh, this is Ballad!” the little girl says and hugs her neck tightly.

“Umm, I’m both. My pony name IS Ballad, I was born and grew up in Equestria before being cursed and sent to Earth.”

“See, she’s Ballad.” Dawn says firmly.

“Fine, she’s Ballad, but she’s still not yours. She’s still my daughter.” Her mom says with a laugh. “It’s okay Brandon, you can come over.”

Ballad sits down on her haunches and tilts her head, both Brandon and Dawn are six and five respectively, but Brandon tends to be a lot more timid than his sister. Sniffling, he comes over and sits beside Ballad and leaning against her.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Ballad asks, lighting her horn and bringing a blanket over to wrap it around the three of them.

“Some of the older kids said that Santa wasn’t real. They said if he was real, they wouldn’t make everyone stop putting up decorations.” Brandon hugs Ballad’s front leg.

“Just because you don’t see something, doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Are unicorns real?” Ballad asks.

“No.” Brandon says softly, then he blinks, “umm I guess.”

“How about magic?” Ballad asks, lifting a bell and jingling it front of the boy.

“I… I guess.”

“So, you know what? Just cuz the town can’t decorate, doesn’t mean we can’t. You know that big tree they used to decorate in the park in front of city hall? Well I bet dad has enough old decorations stored somewhere to make that tree look great.” Ballad said. “Whatcha think, Mom?”

“I… I guess. Just don’t get in trouble.”

Looking down at the kids, Ballad smiles, “Well? Are you two up for helping decorate a tree?”

“Yay!” They both cheer loudly.

Trotting into her dad’s workshop and storage area, Ballad quickly finds some of the old decorations her dad had carved. Old wooden trains, cars and planes, brightly painted and in some cases shining with sparkles. Wooden dolls, dressed in simple clothing, wooden animals in different poses. Her dad is a master crafter, though his work isn’t often sought after. In the age of CAD cutters accurate down to one one-hundredth of an inch, being able to craft a deer out of wood is obsolete, yet his skills are still in demand. Some people still appreciate what it means to take pride in a craft.

She looks around and sees a little wagon, complete with wooden sides. She loads the boxes into the garden wagon, Ballad looks at Dawn and Brandon, “Ready to go?”

Both children nod. She smiles and turns back to finish loading the wagon. After a moment, Ballad feels her mane getting tugged rather hard. Turning her head to glance behind, she watches Dawn struggling to climb onto her back. “Hey, since when do I give horsy rides?”

Dawn laughed as Ballad’s magic wraps around the girl, lifting her up and setting her down on her back.

She glances at the young boy, “You want a ride too?”

Brandon shakes his head no very slowly. Pulling his hood up tighter, he walks beside Ballad as they head down the street towards the city hall.

“So, they said Santa wasn’t real huh?”

Brandon shakes his head slowly.

“Well, their loss, it means they won’t have a unicorn as a friend.” She says with a giggle.

“They bug him for that too.” Dawn says.

Tiling her head Ballad looks at the boy, “They bug you for liking unicorns?”

Brandon nods slowly, “They call me Brenda, say I’m not a boy because I like… unicorns and ponies.”

“Pshaw.” Ballad said, “We can teleport, levitate things, and some of us can even fire energy blasts, and that’s just for starts.” She nudges him as they walk, “Unicorns are cool. But picking on a person because they like us, nope. That’s not cool.”

Stopping at the park, Ballad looks around. The playground is covered in snow. A few snowmen are scattered around. Her target, however, is the spruce tree. The tree had been in the park for as long as she could remember. Considerably longer actually. The tree had been planted sometime around the early 1900’s. No one is quite sure exactly when, but it might have been around the time the town was founded. There are stories and pictures of it being decorated during the first and second world wars.

Sitting down, Ballad looks up at the tree. As a child, she had played here, she had her first kiss here, she remembered decorating it with her dad and the rest of the town. This tree is something special. In a way, it’s part of her community.

“Where do we start?” Dawn asks looking up at the enormous tree.

“From the bottom, of course.” Ballad said with a smile, and lifted the boxes out setting them down and opening them. “Just spread the decorations out around the tree and we’ll work our way up.”

“But its so high, how can we get up?” Brandon says, looking up.

“We have… magic… and Christmas faith. That’s all we need.” Ballad said firmly. She gestures towards the wagon, “Why don’t you get started with unpacking the boxes of decorations. I’ll see about getting lights on it.” Her magic brings out a couple of extension cords. She had remembered having lights when she was little. A quick search brings up a post sticking out of the ground, with plastic pipe running to a couple of receptacles. She unwinds the extension cords and brings them through the snow, smoothing the snow over the cords so they are hidden. The other side of the cords run up the trunk of the tree. She brings over a box marked for Christmas lights. Magic makes the task of putting the lights on the tree so much simpler. Soon the tree is ready for the decorations.

Ballad moves over to the row of boxes the kids had pulled out. She magics the children the decorations as they run up, then they run around the tree, putting them up. Under her direction, the children do their best to space things out and keep the tree looking balanced. As they work, Ballad watches other children cove over to watch, and soon they are even helping. Most of the families in town have children, and it isn’t long before a dozen kids are there, helping.

“Loyalty binds us and makes us strong.” Ballad sings out strong and true, as she gives out a carved and painted sleigh to Dawn.

Brandon stumbles in the snow, before getting up and running for his next set, “Honesty shows that we belong.” Her voice rings among the excited chatter of the children.

Looking at the other children as they come up to grab trinkets Ballad lights her horn, lifting children up so they can start placing things on higher branches. Her voice carrying through the entire park, “And kindness shared will unite us through each day.”

“The fire of friendship burns in our hearts.” Smiling, Ballad stands up, starting to walk around the tree, helping kids get up to the middle and upper branches. Sure, she could just levitate the items up herself but the children want to place them.

“As long as it burns…” Ballads song is cut off by the sheriff’s car, its siren blaring to get the attention of everyone.

Like most towns its size, their small little hamlet doesn’t have its own police department. Instead, it is dependent on the county sheriff. It is rare to see him, however, as the town mostly deals with its own issues. There are rarely any big crimes here, complaints are normally handled in town hall.

Opening the door, the officer walks out, looking at the children and at the pony standing in the snow. “What... What is going on?”

Ballad blinks and reaches into her pocket with her muzzle, pulling out her ID. “Corporal Ballad, US Army. Is there a problem, officer?”

“A… Talking horse?”

Brandon moves between the officer and Ballad, “She’s not a horse, she’s a unicorn pony, and she’s my cousin.”

Giggling softly, Ballad shakes her head, “I’m visiting my family for the holidays.”

Looking between the children, then at the tree, the Sheriff shakes his head, “Can I see your ID?”

Holding the ID Packet out to the officer, she watches as he takes it and heads back into the car. Closing the door, he gets to work on his radio and computer.

“What’s wrong?” Dawn asks, looking up at Ballad.

“I think he’s never seen or heard of unicorn ponies yet. Boy he’s in for a surprise.” Ballad giggles. “He probably has never been to an IHOP either.”

A few moments later the sheriff walks back, and shakes his head. “Well you… check out... Cindy.”

Ballad’s fur puffs out and her tail twitches. “Thanks… Though Ballad is my proper name.”

Several adults from other houses had walked out to see what is going on.

“As it is. The ACLU has had the courts put a Cease and Desist on city decorations. It has been done for unnamed parties wishing to remain anonymous. This is regarding their first amendment rights.” The sheriff says firmly, “So we need you to stop this Cindy.”

Ballad’s fur puffs again and her tail twitches. “Umm, ACLU has a Cease and Desist order against the city. We don’t work for the city, unless the city is employing child labor.” Looking down at the children around her, Ballad shakes her head, “And the First Amendment says, the government shouldn’t make any laws establishing or prohibiting religion or the free expression there of. So, we’re having fun, making snowmen, snow angels, and decorating a tree with toys.”

The sheriff checks his file, then looks back at the pony as one of the other adults walks up, “Come on, the children are doing this. It’s not the City.”

“I’ll have to report this, but as it is, you’re not violating the order.” The sheriff says.

A cheer rises from the children as they laugh and get back to the tree. “Who gets to do the star?” One of the young teens asks.

“Ballad could you do the star for us?” Dawn asks, looking at her.

Smiling, Ballad lights her horn and lifts it to its resting place on top of the tree, connecting the plug on the star to the light string. She looks over at the post and plugs the cord into the receptacle. The entire tree lights up brightly. Multiple colors of lights flash through the branches of the tree, some of the lights twinkling. And the star on top lights up brightly, “There we go, now Santa can find us easy!”

“You two ready for some hot cocoa and dinner?” Ballad asks, lowering her head.

“YAY!”

Picking up the empty boxes, ballad loads the kids into the wagon and starts trotting, pulling the wagon behind her. She is only a few blocks from her house, but she is able to cover the distance quite quickly. Even with two children squealing and laughing in the wagon.

“All right,” her mom calls out, “Enough fun, inside, get washed up and ready for dinner.

Ballad smiles and shakes herself out. “That includes you, little filly, and remember to wash your hooves.”

“MOM!” Ballad said with a laugh, “So Aunt Judy is going to be joining us for dinner?”

“Yep, and don’t worry, I did some research and contacted the military to find out what was safe for you to eat as well.”

“Ugh, I’ve had enough army food, safe doesn’t mean tastes good.” Ballad says and heads up to the bathroom.

The smell of home cooking fills the house, and with guests arriving, the small home feels full of life and love. With Ballad’s mom and dad, her aunt and uncle, their two kids, and her grandmom all there, the table is full.

Her mom has laid out a huge meal, ham with pineapple, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, brussels sprouts, corn, grilled cauliflower, and even apple pie. Ballad gave a quick thanks to Celestia that she wasn’t a pegasus at that moment. The amount of drool would have been embarrassing.

Food is passed out on plates and even with this many people, there is more than enough for seconds, and even thirds. Ballad sits happily, no one cares or minds that she is a pony now. It’s just her home.

The ringing of the telephone jolts her back to reality for a second. Her mom, though, is already on her feet, walking over to the wall phone. “Hello? Oh, hi Doctor Wright. Well we were in the middle of dinner, but are almost finished. Oh, I see, umm. Cindy, you remember Doctor Wright? He apparently needs to talk to you.”

Ballad’s fur puffed out a bit and her tail twitches as she gets up, “Sure mom.” Lighting her horn, she grabs the phone and brings it down to her height, “Hello?”

“Hi there, I have a small problem and I’m getting a big of a runaround with it. I have a two residents here who have some rather… strange… symptoms… when I call in the hospital, they started bouncing me from office to office, then to a crisis line. Then it was suggested to contact the army hospital.”

“Oh, what symptoms?” Ballad asks, playing with her mane a little with a foreleg.

“Eye color change, hair color change.”

“Ohh… have you been asked about their birthday being yesterday or today?” Ballad asks with a cringe.

“Well I was and whenever I’d say yes, I’d get bounced around.”

“25th birthday?” Ballad asks curiously.

“I think so, yep, for both.”

“Yeah, that’s the Five Score curse, they are turning back to their pony forms.” Ballad says.

“They can’t be, one thing I got asked several times about was strange marks or tattoos on their hips, neither have them.”

“The marks appear on adults, they could be turning into what’s called blank flanks… That’s foals or youngsters who haven’t got their mark yet.” Ballad says, “If you want, I’m done with dinner, I can stop by. Teeth changing, I think is the next.”

“They’re at my office right now, if you’d like to come by. Maybe calm them down a bit.”

“Sure thing, doc.” Ballad looks up. “Mom, the doc needs my help for a bit, is it ok?”

“Sure thing, just dress warmly, remember to wear your socks and scarf,” Her mom says, smiling. “We’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”

“Ugh, mom, socks in public? That’s so embarrassing.” Ballad says as she trots out the door.

The doctor doesn’t have a true clinic in town. He actually works at the Hospital in Alexandria, at the same time, however, the people in town knew him and trusted him. He had set up a little office in his basement with a separate door, and people would visit him that way at times. Often people without cars who couldn’t make the trip into Alexandria would book appointments to see him at home instead.

He had grown up in the town and has been the town doctor for nearly the last thirty years. He has delivered some of the children in town. His record keeping, though, has never been the best, he always seemed to lose things, like billing information, especially for those without insurance.

Stopping at the door, Ballad puts on her best smile and taps a few times with her hoof.

The door is opened by Dr. Wright, “Oh my, you are actually smaller then I thought.”

“We’re not called ‘Little Ponies’ for nothin’.” Ballad chirps and prances in.

The waiting room is small, with a pair of couches and single chair, but he doesn’t have long lines or wait times. There is a small desk with a bowl full of lollypops and Christmas candies. Grabbing a lollypop she sits down on the chair and looks at the doctor.

“I’ll go get them, and yes, you can have a pop. Could never keep your hands off them could you?”

Ballad shook her head no with a bright smile and waits as the doctor heads into the examination room. Glancing around, she smiles, seeing pictures dating back nearly fifty years of the town as it grew. A small tree adorns the corner of his office with a small pile of presents under it.

Sucking on her lollypop, she jumps a bit when the door opens. The doctor walks out with a pair of young gentlemen. Both are brown eyed, though one has short white hair, the second slightly longer golden hair.

“Well that doesn’t help.” Ballad says, causing one of the men to jump.

“It… it talked…”

Dr. Wright smiles, “Allen Peters, Jason Monroe, this is Cindy.”

Ballads mane puffs out and her tail twitches, “Um, I go by Ballad now.” Smiling she holds the lollypop in the air beside her muzzle as she talks, “Don’t worry lots of us have gone through this, there’s even an educational briefing for you, including videos.”

Blinking, Allen looks at the lollypop floating in the air, “You… can do magic?”

“Oh, I wish. Trust me, I really suck at card tricks.” She says, holding up a hoof. “Don’t have the fingers for it. I did try sawing a turkey in half once, though. It wasn’t pretty.” Ballad says with a cringe, “Ah-Pee banned me from using the electric knife ever again.”

Both men look at each other for a moment before a lightbulb lights over Jason’s head. “Wait, Cindy? Cindy from the elementary school in Mister Dunn’s class?”

All the fur on Ballads spine stands on end and her mane proofs out again. Shaking herself out, she nods, “Yep that’s me. Oh, I remember you two now, and that whole glue incident.”

The doctor smiles, “That’s better, gets dark in here in the evening without the overheads on.” Walking over, the doctor sits behind the desk to relax and begins cleaning his glasses.

“Umm yeah, we actually did finish paying for the repairs to the car for that. I didn’t think crazy glue was THAT strong.” Jason says and looks at Allen.

“Don’t look at me, it was all your idea, I just gave you what glue dad had,” Ballad puts the lollypop back in her mouth and giggles softly.

“The whole change process takes about three days.” Ballad says, “Then we can find out who you were. No cutie mark, brown eyes, and gold and white mane and tails don’t help a lot yet.” She muses, “Most of us figure out who we are off the cutie mark and mane color.”

“Cutie mark?” Allen asks.

Turning sideways, she shows her lyre, “Yep, magical mark showing your special talent. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt to get, its magical and totally normal.” Looking over at the doctor, she smiles. “Um, Doc, got wi-fi and can I borrow your tablet?”

The doctor smiles and offers her the tablet. She lifts it and pulls a pen/touch controller out of her mane and gets to work, “These things aren’t nuzzle friendly so I keep a stylus with me. And…Cipher.”

Ciphers head appears on the tablet, “WHOOHOO! Hi Ballad! How’s the holidays? Are you having fun back home? Any tails we need to come down and kick?”

Ballad laughs, “No, all mostly fine. We have two new changes here. Can you send the files to this tablet?”

“Not a problem.” Cipher says before the tablet beeps, “There you go. Oh, fully changed or started?”

“Hair and eyes.” Ballad responds looking at the two.

“Wow, they should be done by Christmas Eve then. Nice present for them. Cipher out.”

Setting the tablet up on the desk, she starts the educational programs. “There you go, if you have any problems or questions, give me a call or stop by, I’m at my mom and dads.”

“Will do.” The doc says.

The walk home is quiet and relaxing. The moon is coming up, and the sky is starting to be spotted with stars. Twitching her ear ballad looked to the church as she walks down the street, the silence feels strange.

Walking inside, Ballad heads for the living room. “Mom? Where’s the carol of the bells?”

“City ordinance, people complained about the bells past sundown.” Her mom says as she knits quietly.

“Who complained? It’s part of this town.” Ballad says and heads to the guest room to get her saddlebags.

“I don’t know, but someone decided that late night bells aren’t good for the kids trying to sleep.”

Coming back down the stairs, Ballad lays down on her side and set the lyre in front of her. Pulling a blanket partly around her, she lies in front of the fireplace as the children sip their hot cocoa and she begins to play. With fourteen strings, it is easy for her to pull out the notes she wants to at the speed she wants. It isn’t an easy tune after all. But it is… The Carol of the Bells.

***

Ballad wakes up in the morning to the sound of sirens. She had fallen asleep by the fireplace with the children snuggled up against her hind legs. The sun is already up, meaning it’s pretty late in the morning for her.

The sound of the fire trucks can be heard through most of the town. They have their own department, complete with two trucks. Though it is rare they are actually called out. Fires don’t happen that often locally. And during the Christmas season. The first thing that runs through Ballads mind is some poor family losing their home just before Christmas.

Getting up carefully, she trots to the door and looks outside. She can see the smoke coming from down the street, near city hall and the doctor’s house. Not bothering to get dressed, she gallops down to see what is going on. A crowd of families have already gathered in the streets to look on.

Working her way though the legs of people, Ballad pokes her nose out to see. The fire trucks had stopped and have their hoses going, but it’s already too late. They are mostly concerned with keeping the fire from spreading. Something like this shouldn’t happen. It can’t happen. Not unless it was deliberate.

Sitting down with tears in her eyes, Ballad watches as the town tree, with all the wooden toys that would have become gifts for the kids… burns.

Slowly, Ballad turns and heads towards her home.

“Good riddance.” She hears someone say.

“It was old, it should have been cut down when they put in the new playground.” Someone else says.

“No, it was healthy, the only way it would have burned like that is if someone used an accelerant.” Ballad mumbles to herself.

Walking inside she looks at the kids, then at her mom.

“Was anyone hurt?” her mom asks.

Ballad shakes her head slowly. “It was…” she takes a deep breath, “the Christmas tree.”

Dawn looks up, “But if its gone, how’s gonna Santa find us? If its gone, is Santa still coming?”

Brandon shakes his head, “Santa isn’t coming, there isn’t a Santa.”

“Humbug...Santa’s coming if I have to sit on the roof and shine my horn all night.” Ballad says defiantly and puts her hoof down hard. “The town may have forgotten Christmas, but we haven’t.”

Her mom leans over and starts scratching Ballad behind an ear. “We have all we need right here.”

“Yes, we do, but Doc Wright doesn’t have family here. And what about the kids who couldn’t afford trees this year.” Ballad says, “I think we should invite the Doc over.”

“We have plenty, for all he’s done, sure.” Her mom says.

“We have two new ponies that are changing too. I’ll probably be needing to check on them, they are likely going to have problems today and tomorrow.” Ballad says.

Her mom gives her a hug and smiles, “Remember to take time for yourself as well. Its your holiday too.”

As Ballad walks, it seems the town is mostly somber about the loss of the tree. It seems so strange, walking around and seeing no decorations in town, not even on the businesses. A few houses had been decorated on the outside, but it seems like people are just scared to show their love for the season.

The local coffee-shop, bar and grill is playing Christmas songs, but that is canned music from a company hundreds of miles away. Ballad finds herself getting a mix of strange looks, even though most of the town now know who she it.

Most of the people seem unsure of how to talk to her. How to even approach, really. Well most of the grownups mainly, the children have no problems. Nor does the waitress.

“Another coffee?” She asks, smiling.

Ballad shakes her head, “Nope, I’m fine, any more and my back teeth would be floating.”

“Well the little fillies room is over there if you need it.” She says, pointing in the direction of the bathrooms.

“Thanks.” Ballad stars, then she looks down, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure thing,” the waitress says sitting down across from the little unicorn.

Looking around, Ballad sighs, “Where’s all the Christmas cheer?”

“Cheese and Sprinkles, we still have it, its just… Hard to show it.” The waitress says, then she hums, “Things have been hard, schools have been told they can’t talk about Christmas, the ACLU and lawyers went after the town council, people are scared. They don’t want to face big fines or tickets for even decorating the outside of their homes.”

“Why would people do this?” Ballad asks and sighs.

“I don’t know, it just happened I guess. Little by little, parts were taken away. Atheists, different religions didn’t like being bombarded with it I guess.”

“The towns like ninety percent Christian.” Ballad sighs.

The waitress looks Ballad up and down. “Are you?”

“Nope, but it doesn’t matter. I still love Christmas.” Ballad says with a huff.

“Well don’t start singing about how much you love socks,” The waitress says, “Oh. And… Doctor Wright is looking for you.”

Ballad blinks, sitting up straight, “What?”

“Your mom just called. He’s at his office."

Ballad eeped and galloped out. At under a half a square mile, it is under two thousand feet to anywhere she has to go in town. She might be a little pony, but she can still cover that distance fast. Sliding to a stop outside the doctors office, she blinked, “Heck I think Ponyville is larger than here.”

Knocking quickly, the doctor takes longer to answer the door than she took to get there. Looking down, the doctor shakes his head, “I’m not sure, I think somethings wrong.”

Trotting in, she looks at him, “What?”

“Well their legs have been changing, and their tails have started growing, but they are too small and the hair isn’t growing in.” The doctor says, “And, their hooves are also not closing up right.

Blinking Ballad looks up, “Can I see them?”

“They… came back this morning, and have been having some trouble. Well, Allen’s having it harder.”

“Why?” Ballad asks as she looks to the door.

“Umm. Apparently in Equestria he wasn’t a he.”

Walking over to the door, Ballad knocks, “Can I come in?”

“No… go away!”

Blinking, Ballad looks at the door, the voice is definitely more feminine and a touch younger sounding.

“Its just me, Ballad, and don’t worry, you’re not the first to have this kind of a change.” She murmurs softly, “just give it a time and a chance.”

There’s a hoofstep and the door opens, with the two sitting in the office rather uncomfortably. Looking down, Ballad blinks a few times seeing the hooves, then she shakes her head. “Tails?”

Pulling down the back of his jogging pants, Jason shows his short tail. Gray/white on the top with white on the bottom.

Looking over at Allen, Ballad motions.

“Its… embarrassing.”

“It’s a tail.” Ballad says flatly.

Slowly, Allen lowers his pants, his tail flicking up, golden on the top, white on the bottom.

“They don’t look right for ponies.” The doctor says.

“Its because they aren’t ponies. Ponies are not the only intelligent race in Equestria or on the planet. There are the horses from Saddle Arabia, the Griffins from Griffinstone, the Yaks and such from YakYakistan… and…the deer, from the Everfree.”

Pointing at their tails, she looks at the doctor, “I think they’re Everfree deer. Part of King Aspen’s realm.”

“Deer?” The two say looking at each other.

“Buck and Doe, maybe family. Brother and sister. Or,” She stops, a bright blush appearing on her face, “umm… close friends… likely caught and cursed together by Discord.”

“Deer?” the doctor says, blinking.

“Don’t dis the deer, they are powerful and noble. They have their own magic of plants and trees. They are also great with potions.” Ballad says.

Allen blinks, “Potions?”

Nodding slowly, Ballad smiles, “Yep, they can make potions like the Zebra.”

“There are zebra too?” Jason says, blinking.

“Yep but the deer are the wardens of the wood, they live in a massive city crafted from the trees themselves.” Ballad says before smiling… “And you are going to be this towns Christmas Miracle.”

“What? Wait what!” Allen squeaks as Ballad gallops out.

Vanishing mid run, Ballad winks out and winks back in at the front door. She’s in such a hurry she doesn’t think about things till she hears her mom scream.

Seeing the little pony appear inside the door out of nowhere caused her mom to fall back into her chair dropping the books she was carrying.

“Sorry mom, gotta hurry.” Ballad says and starts to run upstairs.

“NO!” You stop right there little filly.” Her mom says firmly.

Squeaking, Ballad freezes and looks at her mother. The tone in her voice saying she was none to pleased.

“Teleporting into the house is not acceptable, nor is running. You back your tail outside the door, open it properly, then walk in and walk upstairs. I will not have my little filly scaring me or others like that.” Her mother says, panting.

Opening the door, Ballad backs out, then walks in properly and slowly, “I’m sorry mom.”

“Good, and don’t forget to wipe your hooves.” She finishes.

Wiping her hooves, Ballad walks upstairs, then she blinks, even as a grown mare she was still her moms foal. Some things change, but her mom will always be her mom. Smiling, she walked into the bedroom and flops down on the bed and opening her computer.

“Come on girl, I know your there, your like, always there.” Ballad says as she types.

A moment later, there is a beep and Cipher appears on the screen, “Oh two calls in two days. What’s up?”

“Operation Christmas Drop.” Ballad says, smiling.

Cipher gives a confused look, tilting her head, “Huh, what?”

“I need your help. I need some things sent here, and I need them by tomorrow. If you can get them together, made, bought, whatever, and get a pegasus to fly them over for tomorrow. This town’s got a serious problem.” Ballad says.

“What’s going on? Do I need to get a strike team together?” Cipher says, sitting up quick.

“The towns lost its Christmas spirit, its been brow beat by the ACLU to the point where most seem to have given up. They can’t do decorations, ring bells, people aren’t even decorating their houses really.” Ballad says, “At this rate the windegos are going to take over.”

Cipher groans, “Ballad, you’re such a kid about things sometimes.”

“Am not, now can you help me or what?” Rolling onto her side, Ballad looked at the Christmas snow globe on her dresser.

“Okay, fine, what do you need?”

“We had a big Christmas tree, but it was destroyed by fire, and with it, toys for the less fortunate children. I need you to do a search see if you can find a list of the kids in town and get them presents. It doesn’t have to be big, expensive or such. Dollar store items should do, there’s only sixty children or so. I can spend about a hundred and twenty dollars on this, so two dollars each.” Ballad says, smiling.

“So… I’m checking with the school, and city hall one day before Christmas Eve, then shopping. You hate me don’t you.” Cipher says, laughing, “You are going to owe me so much coffee for this.”

“Not done yet, I need a sleigh, sleigh bells, harnesses, and oh yeah, a big red bag for the gifts.” Ballad says, smiling brightly.

“Who do you think you are? Pinkie Pie?” Cipher says, then she looks around.

Blinking, Ballad tilts her head. “What are you looking for?”

“Pinkie Pie to show up, with this level of party, I’m surprised she’s not vibrating her tail off.” Cipher says before smiling, “I’ll see what I can do and have the entire thing flown down by pegasus… or over.” Cipher puts a hoof to her chin, “ Or across. Where exactly is Mini Soda anyway?” She continues to mutter as she works, “Maybe I can hit up Lightning Dust, she’s always good to help when a sob story comes around.” She looks directly into the camera at Ballad, “We will get it done, Ballad.”

Closing the laptop, Ballad rolls over onto her back and smiles, “This could work, if Cipher can come through.”

Kicking all four hooves in the air, Ballad squees, “Come on girl keep it together. Cipher has never let you down.”

There is more than enough time for Ballad to relax before dinner, looking at her lyre, she gets up and heads downstairs. The guests are just arriving and Ballad finds herself a nice spot in front of the fire to relax and start playing.

“I never thought of you as the musical type.” Ballad’s father says as he sits beside her, then gently starts to rub her mane with his hands.

Leaning against her dad, Ballad sighs, “It sort of came out with my pony side.”

Holding the lyre in her magic, Ballad slowly starts plucking out the notes, before filling the room with her music. It isn’t a fast song, or a fancy one, or even a hard one for her. But it still means a lot, and as she plays, even the Doctor comes in to sit down.

Her mom passes out hot chocolate to everyone as they wait for the food to be ready. Slowly Ballad looks up at her dad and started singing. “Chestnuts roasting on the open fire….”

***

Ballad paces in the back yard. She has three flashlights spread out in a triangle, pointing straight up, flashing. She had been waiting all day and it’s getting late. Her phone says they are almost there, on the GPS.

“Are you coming in, sweetie?” Her mom asks from inside.

“Nope, they’re almost here.”

Her mom walks out and set down a coffee by her before standing up to look up at the sky. “Its hard to believe they can do it.”

“Says the mom of a unicorn.” Ballad giggles, “I believe in magic.”

The jingling bells announce the incoming delivery. Looking around, Ballad points quick, “There mom!”

Looking up, Ballads mom can’t help but laugh. White Lightning and Jet Stream fly in perfect sync, wings flapping at the same time, the two sisters pulling an actual wooden sleigh behind them. Their harnesses have bells on it that ring out with each wing beat.

Landing in the back yard, they back-wing fast to slow the momentum of the sleigh before stopping. “Okay, one sleigh with presents. Sorry, it’s a basic model, no heat or A/C, no radio. Doesn’t even have power steering or brakes, so it’s a pain to corner and stop.” White Lighting says and prances on the spot a bit.

Ballad squees loudly and hugs them both, “Oh thank you, you’re angels!”

“Argh! I’m not an angel.” Jet Stream says, throwing her head back and huffing.

Laughing, White Lightning shakes her head, “Do you need us to fly it over to the park?”

“Nope, got that covered.” Ballad says, then she calls back to the house, “come on out.”

A moment later two Equestrian deer walk out, not just deer though, caribou. Proud and strong, the stag bows his head to the girls.

“This is Pawpaw, and his little sister Lica.” Ballad says, “They are going to be standing in for Santa’s crew tonight.”

Sliding out of the harness, White Lightning trots over and pulls out a small red bag. “Cipher printed out the list and had it put on a scroll for you. There’s gifts for all the kids.”

“Thank you.” Ballad says, giving them one last hug before turning, “Mom, dad can you help get them harnessed in?”

It takes a few minutes to get the two sorted out in the harness, but once done they really do look the part. Tilting his head, her father looked at the deer. “Something’s missing. You two need something.”

“Need something?” Lica says, “Well aside from boy parts I don’t think I’m missing anything.”

Pawpaw thumps her shoulder with his gently, “Behave.”

“Yep, you definitely are. I checked around, looked at some pictures, and even made a few calls.” Ballad’s father says, before kneeling down and gently strapping a wooden flask around each of their necks. Pawpaw’s being a light birch-wood with silvered bands to match his fur color. The second is a richly stained redwood with bronze bands.

Lica lifts a hoof to touch hers and blinks, “I… I remember these, a potion flask…. But how?”

“Bah, I can craft something like that in an hour if I don’t care about wasting wood. I figured when I heard you two were helping, I’d check up and see what I could find out about the Everfree deer.” He says with a smile.

“So what now?” Pawpaw asks looking at the sleigh.

“Now? We get everyone to the park, and town hall.” Ballad says, “And you two get ready to fly.”

“Fly?” Both deer say, looking at each other.

***

The church bells ring out loud and true, disturbing everyone’s evening. But Ballad doesn’t mind. Calls were placed and requests made for everyone to get together at the park for a special Christmas event. The entire town is just shy of six hundred people, all of them out there and bundled up against the cold.

The sheriffs car pulls up, the lights flashing, “All right, what’s going on? We received calls about noise violations and disturbances.”

Doctor Wright smiled, “Hey sheriff. Just a town party. We’re just waiting on the guests of honor.”

“Guests of honor?”

It takes all of Ballads concentration, all of her strength and training, but she is doing it. Softly she sings as she walks to the park, her horn glowing bright, lighting the air around her. Singing to herself to keep her focus, her words carry her strain. “The Santa Claus sleigh will be heading our way, down a river of stars he’ll fly.”

In the air, the glow is echoed around the deer and sleigh, the deer prance as they fly to the park. Behind them, a trail of sparkles and stars, motes of magical energy drifting off the ends of the runners. Looking up in wonder the children and townsfolk watch as the sleigh flies though the air to the edge of the park.

Ballad slowly lowers the two into the snow, letting them pull the sleigh on their own, the bells on the harnesses filling the air. Their hooves kicking up snow as they start prancing towards the park center with all the children cheering.

Panting a bit, Ballad continues singing softly for a moment, “A thousand bells ringing, their silver song singing… We're joining in far and wide.”

Trotting up, Ballad smiles, the look on the sheriff’s face alone is well worth the work. Though she had probably burned two holiday dinners in calories easily with that stunt.

The children look on in awe, calling out as Pawpaw turns his head, “One emergency delivery.”

“Christmas. Some people think of it as a commercialization venture. Others, a religious holiday. People fight, people panic. People get depressed.” Climbing into the back of the sleigh, Ballad sits and looks around.

“Some people lash out against the holiday. Others try and ignore it, try to hide from it.” Lighting her horn again, Ballad looks at the crowd. “Instead though, people should look at it for what it is. In Equestria we call it Hearths Warming. Before Christmas, it was the Winter Solstice. What we call it doesn’t really matter.”

Lowering her head, Ballad smiles, “What matters is what it means and what we do with it. It’s a day set aside, not just honoring the birth of someone, but honoring all of us. Letting us know we are half way though the dark times. That the longest night is behind us and now, with the help of friends and family, with the help of community, we will make it to spring.”

“It doesn’t mater if your religious or not, or what religion you are. Instead simply realize, we are a community, and without each other there wouldn’t be a town, let alone a Christmas.” Opening the list Ballad calls out, “So on behalf of Santa, we have some gifts.”

Cheers ring out as the kids rush forward and stand, waiting for their names to be called out. It didn’t take long before each one of the children in town has a gift. These were larger and heavier then what Ballad had expected from dollar store gifts. Looking on with tears in her eyes the children had stuffed toys, electronic games, and even a few small tablets. How Cipher and Dust pulled it off was a miracle on its own. Blinking, Ballad sticks her head in the bag and pulls out one last box, “Umm Pawpaw.”

The Stag looks over, “Sup?”

Ballad floats the box over to him. "It says its for the town from Santa though you."

Opening the box Pawpaw starts reading the inside cover then looks at Lica.

Lica looks down and reads, then she blinks. The two whispering to each other.

“Ok that’s just cruel, what’s going on.” Ballad asks.

Lica picks up the box and both of the deer walked over to the stump and charred area where the old tree once stood. Using her hoof, Lica digs a small hole in the ground. Once done, Pawpaw carefully takes out a single sproutling, placing it in the hole before adding some fluid from the box.

Backing up slowly, the two deer bow deeply almost touching their heads to the ground, a greenish glow forming around their antlers. Slowly the glow resonates with the ground and the sprout begins to grow. Inch by inch, then foot by foot, it becomes thicker and fuller as it climbs to the sky, its lush branches spreading out and thickening.

A mix of Oooh’s an awe’s filled the evening air as the tree fills out, becoming a beautiful Douglas fir standing nearly fifty feet tall. Trees like this can live five hundred or even a thousand years. This one had been given a magical start. A new symbol for the town for centuries to come.

Looking around, Ballad can see the joy on all the children’s faces, as well as many of the adults. She could feel the love, joy, and excitement all around her. It was the warmth of Christmas all around her. It might not be Equestria, but it truly is a Hearths Warming eve for all.

Softly Ballad sings to herself, “And that’s what I love about Christmas.”

93: Vortex

“Hey Nav.”

Nodding to the crewman, Maxine opens the door to her cabin, she enters the cabin and is able to shut the door before putting her hand against the bulkhead to brace herself. At only 6300 tons the RAN Destroyers are not as smooth a ride in rough seas. The US Destroyers are twice as heavy, making them far more stable in a storm.

She shares the cabin with the second watch helmsman. They alternate shifts, so it isn’t so bad, at least they don’t have to ‘hot bunk’ or use the same bed. Opening her locker, she looks at the books she had stored on the top shelf. She had accumulated a nice selection, because reading helps her get to sleep.

Grabbing a novel, she flops backwards onto her bunk. Not even bothering to take her boots off yet, and relaxes as she feels the boat rock. Turning her head sideways, she blinks, seeing her stuffed BoonBoon doll. She has four stuffed animals on her bed, a wallaby flyer, a pink teddy bear with white heart on its forehead with a green and blue striped arm band, a stuffed wombat, and BoonBoon.

Looking at the stuffed brumby she reaches up and runs her fingers through its mane gently. Picking it up, she stands up and heads out of her cabin, walking down the ships corridors. “Come on BoonBoon,” She says softly to the little stuffed animal.

The med bay is down two levels and half way across the ship, but she has been in much worse weather. The entire crew is used to this. She watches people walking around the halls off duty as she walks, they’re either heading for the gym, mess hall, or just to meet up with other shipmates to watch movies or shows.

Holding the rail, Maxine walks down the stairwell, timing her steps with the ships steady rolls. It’s easy to understand how some people can get sea sick. With no view outside, the walls look stationary, but the ships rocking means she must compensate for each motion.

“There’s a little pegasus in the med bay that must be miserable, BoonBoon. She probably needs company.”

Tapping on the door, she leans in, “You here doc?”

“Come on in, you have a problem?” The doctor says, looking up from his desk.

“Nope, just thought I’d bring something for our little guest to help her sleep. Brumbies don’t like sleeping alone.” Maxine says and holds up her stuffed animal.

“You do realize she’s still a twenty-five-year-old?” The doctor says with a chuckle.

Blinking, Maxine narrows her eyes a bit, “And what’s wrong with grownups sleeping with stuffed animals?”

“Well, I could get into the phycology of it, but its probably better that I say nothing, nod and smile.” With that, he nods and puts on a smile.

Walking over, she sits down beside the foal, running her fingers through its mane gently, before tucking the stuffed animal up against the foal’s side. “This is BoonBoon, she’s been with me since I was little. She kept me safe through the worst storms in the outback. She’ll keep you safe while here.”

Moaning softly, the foal nuzzles into the stuffed animal as well as the stroking. Her ears slowly spreading a bit.

Maxine keeps rubbing the foal’s mane gently while looking back at the desk, “How is she doc?”

“Next few days are going to be touchy. She’s on water and electrolytes, I’m keeping a close eye on kidney output and her blood protein levels. She’s been in and out of consciousness, but she hasn’t said anything that was all that coherent. She’s been whinnying a bit, I’m not sure what that means.”

Looking down, Maxine scratches behind the foals ears a bit. “You can keep BoonBoon while you’re here.”

“I’m more of a Storm fan.” The Doctor says as he reads something on his screen.

Laughing softly, Maxine shakes her head, “Not you.”

“Meadow Flower, where’s mommy?” The foals voice is weak and tired.

“Who’s Meadow Flower?” Maxine asks softy, stroking the foals face gently before looking back to the doctor.

“It’s…” The doctor looks at Maxine, “It’s a pony name Nav. Likely someone important to her in Equestria, a sister or close friend. Her pony name is Cheery.”

“Well I need to hit the rack. My shift starts in the morning.” Maxine says, standing up.

“Please don’t go, Meadow Flower.” The foal let out soft whimper when Maxine had removed her hand.

Leaning down Maxine gives the foal a kiss on her forehead, “I’ll be back.”

***

Cypher sits back in her chair, if you could call it that. Though calling an Emperor Workstation a chair is like calling a Mac Truck a car. With six monitors attached directly to the chair, keyboard, mouse, and about a dozen other things plugged in, she has status and information. The set up would be the dream of any twitch gamer. In the hands of a hacker, the system has enough power and speed to challenge even high end security.

But Cypher doesn’t have hands, she has magic. And the chair is surrounded in shimmering data, floating screens, visual and magical representations of the world-wide web and internet as a whole are hers to see. With her horn glowing, she works, searching the dark web, searching for information on pony sales, searching for terrorist chatter, her eyes dart from email to blog as keywords highlight on the screens. Encryption is just a code, and her special talent is codes. Washing files through translators, she discards what she doesn’t need, looking for any reference to a pegasus and two earth pony foals.

Holding a hoof out, a large cup of coffee floats over to her as she continues working. Night Light had to have taken them somewhere. There has to be some mention of them. A beeping sound alerts Cypher to a highlighted area, pulling up the screen, she decrypts the email and scans its contents.

Narrowing her eyes, she taps her track ball controls, calling up the phone. “Girls, I have a lead. A mass email just went out to members of the Army of God, or Hand of God. They are planning a live broadcast of Feather’s torture and execution. The email originated from a burner cell phone. It was sent from a…. from the Texas-New Mexico border.”

“From what?” Dust asks, blinking as her face appears on the screen.

“From an abandoned horse slaughterhouse.” Cypher says slowly.

***

“Cow tail soup, with spices and toasted tortillas for dipping.”

“Beef carne asada, with a lemon, pepper, and garlic salt spice rub, chopped, and mixed with chorizo, in a burrito, with fried onions, chopped tomatoes and pepper.”

“ARGH!” Sunny Daze falls on her back on the sofa, crying out and clamping her ears down before putting her hooves over them. “Ambrosia! Make them stop.”

Opening the window, Ambrosia sticks her head outside, looking at Full Steam and Drill Bit. Both stallions have been harnessed up to share the load, and Drill Bit has a blanket over his back to hide his wings. “All right boys, why are you tormenting Sunny like that?”

Glancing over his shoulder, Full Steam chuckles, “Were not, were talking about food we’ll never get to enjoy again.”

“Keep it up and you can add carrot and potato stew, with celery, lemon grass, and pepper to that list.” Ambrosia says firmly, “As in tonight’s dinner, Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” Drill Bit chirps and looks back innocently as he flicks his tail.

Sunny huffs, then she giggles, “How’s our supplies holding out?”

“Well, we topped off our water yesterday, so we are good for a week if need be, and food wise.” Ambrosia sighs, “It’s been a few days, so we are down to potatoes, carrots, beans and rice.”

“And grass.” Sunny adds, holding up a hoof full.

“That’s lemon grass, careful.” Ambrosia says, “It’s a bit sour.”

“Oh, hey Palo Grande is on the way, we can stop there.” Sunny says, perking up.

“Not a chance, it’s a border town with no border crossing, meaning the only ones who cross there are… less then savory. It’ll be too dangerous.”

“Umm, does that mean we are less than savory? And dangerous?” Sunny says, looking up.

“To humans, we are.” Ambrosia sighs again and gets to cleaning up around the wagon. For a small mobile home, the place has truly become their home. They have everything; from beds, even if one was simply a mat on the floor, to a kitchen and pantry, and even a shower and bathroom. The only thing that is really missing is a washer and dryer, but given the amount of clothing ponies wear, that doesn’t seem to be an issue.

The wagon hits a series of bumps as the road shifts to a horse trail. Poking her head out, she can see what looks like a horse trail cutting across a dry river flat. It isn’t a marked road on any map, there isn’t a border crossing, there isn’t even a fence, but as the wagon rolls up the other side, they know they are officially in Honduras. Strangely, though, even some of the towns around here are not shown on the maps.

“How do we know we are going the right way?” Sunny asks, looking down at her cell phone.

“Well, Drill Bit flew a few miles ahead and back this morning, so we are following the route he found.” Ambrosia says, “It’s a lot better than the major border crossings. While the guards might let us through, they have hundreds of trucks going both ways. And thousands of people in a small area.”

Blinking, both of them perk their ears before moving to the side to look out the window. Given that they are in the middle of nowhere following horse trails, the sound of a helicopter is never a good sign. Over the tree line, a large Blackhawk helicopter flies, probably only five hundred feet above the ground as it follows the border to the west.

“Umm, it probably didn’t see us, if it did, it probably thinks we’re just a farm wagon.” Sunny says hopefully.

Moving to the other side of the wagon, they watch as the helicopter slows and turns broadside to their wagon and hovers about a mile away. “Or maybe not,” Ambrosia says and gulps.

***

Cypher provided the data, the locations where emails were being sent to. Safe houses, farms, locations where people are waiting to watch the execution. Places where people are paying to see it.

Task groups from the FBI are already in the air. They are backed by CID and NCIS groups on the ground. NCIS from Los Angelis and South Carolina are hitting safe houses in Louisiana and Arizona.

CID offices in Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina have been charged with safe houses in Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. FBI and local law enforcement are being brought in at the last minute, their targets are in Texas.

FBI’s hostage rescue team are heading for the site of the broadcast. The slaughterhouse. Though it is a question if they would get there first, or even in time. White Lightning, Fire Streak, High Winds, and Jet Streams are all pulling air chariots.

Special Forces Command is not going to be caught off guard this time. They had already tasked members of the 101st, as well as helicopters and gunships. The Army of God have already shown willingness to use military weapons, so special forces command want assets in the area, even if they are not used.

With luck, they would be able to capture and arrest most of the Army of God. But arresting them isn’t on the ponies’ minds. Dust flies along with determination; her priority isn’t capture. The priority for Velvet’s team, for Dust, is rescue.

***

Kara flexes her wings and looks around, smiling, “This is the pony colony, mostly zebra and thestrals but there are a few ponies and unicorns here that came from south Africa.”

Cadance looks around in awe, blinking a few times. There are a few windmills cobbled together from what look like car parts. While there are still some tents around, many residents had built real houses, using a mix of local materials including clay bricks and thatch roofing. Some of the larger buildings, however, like the town hall and hospital, have opted for metal roofs.

Rows of crops are already growing, sorghum, corn and wheat make up the bulk, but carrots and tubers are also being worked. This gives a variety of food choices for the ponies to cook. The few earth ponies with the help from the zebra have managed to turn the lands into fertile farmland.

Water tanks and storage has turned arid land into farmland with the help of the thestrals and pegasi who brought in rain. A few humans can be seen, though they are scarce compared to the number of Equestrian residents.

“How come there are so few… humans?” Cadance asks, looking up at Strepe curiously.

The zebra foal giggles, “Kara, this is her domain. In a way, it’s a dictatorship. She leaves us to make our own choices, but we accept that this is her territory.”

“She won’t let humans bring guns in, won’t let humans push the ponies around. If they want to live with family its okay, but she won’t accept demands or claims of property.” Nightshade says, flexing her wings.

With a smile Cadance turns and bows to Kara, “Princess, your kingdom is doing well.”

“Princess? Kingdom? Argh no…I came here to get away from people, ponies came here because rebels and such feared me. I’m not a princess.”

Spike tilts his head before starting to laugh, “Actually yes, while you’re not a pony princess, you are doing the job of one. Protecting and fighting for your citizens. Guarding your kingdom. But at the same time letting your citizens rule themselves.”

Huffing, Kara shakes her head, “Do princesses light the forges and help melt metals for their subjects?”

Cadence nods, “Yep, raising the sun and moon may be a grand task, but it’s for her subjects.”

“Ponies.” Kara shakes her head, “Can almost always find a light side to things.”

Cadance looks down, “Almost always.”

A young pony trots over and snuggles up to Cadence, “Hi my princess.”

Stepping back, Cadance lifts her leg, looking down. “Who… I… I don’t think I’m your princess.”

The little filly is a soft yellow color, with two tone green mane, wrapped with two red bands. She looks up wide eyed at Cadance and smiles, “Yep, you’re my princess, no matter what.”

“I… why do you think that?” Cadence looks to Spike for help, though he simply motions for her to move closer.

The little filly holds her breath, puffing out her cheeks a bit, and closes her eyes tight as if trying to force something. After a moment, she stops and pants. “It takes me a moment to get going sometimes. Sorry Princess.” Closing her eyes again, she takes a deep breath and puffs out her cheeks again, as if trying to blow out without opening her mouth.

Kara giggles and shakes her head, “She’s trying that again. Trust me, after seeing this, you won’t need sugar cane for a week.”

Cadance looks up at Kara, confused for a moment, then she folds her wings against her side tighter and looks down at the foal. As if just waiting for her to be payed attention to, the little filly pops into crystal pony form, then starts panting.

“Phew… got it!” The filly says and bounces around Cadance, “See, I’m a crystal pony, that means I’m your subject, my princess.” Giving her a bow, the filly’s tail keeps wiggling a mile a minute.

Cadance couldn’t help but smile looking at the little foal, “I don’t know if I deserve to be a princess.”

“I grew up as a simple goat herder. When the change hit me, my family disowned me, tried to sell me. I escaped and found this place, but I’m still a blank flank foal. I help with the crops but I have no family here. I can’t remember my pony family, but I do remember you. In my heart, you will always be my princess.”

***

Feather trembles in her cage, her muzzle matted with tears. The sounds of the swinging chains fill her ears. Through the cage door she can see the row of chains hanging from the ceiling, moving slowly in a breeze.

The smell of death still hangs in the air. Even though the slaughterhouse has been closed for years, the scent of the animals killed there still stings her nostrils. She can almost taste the fear of those that came before her. The building has not been cleaned since its shutdown, past the removing of the last of the carcasses. The blood has been left from that time. It has dried, caking the drains, parts of the walls. Giving the entire room she’s in a lurid feeling. She’s long since wet herself from all of this.

Her cage is turned so she can see the tools. Hooks and spreaders, sticking knives and meat choppers. Obviously brought in since the closure, they have blood on them as well. Maybe acquired from another slaughterhouse, the other option for the blood is something Feather can’t bear to consider.

The items had been placed so she can see them whenever she opens her eyes. A constant reminder of what is coming.

“Well my little prize. You cost us a fair penny to be delivered here. But many will pay more to see you killed. You should’ve died last time.” The man says, walking into view.

“Leave her alone.” Cloudy says defiantly from her cage.

“Oh don’t worry, we will deal with you next. Maybe we’ll start by sawing off your horn.” The man says with a chuckle, “These bone saws should work just fine for that.”

“You want to take somepony, take me first, leave her be.” Cloudy says firmly.

“Oh, you are a brave one.” The man says and laughs, “No. The people are paying to see the pegasus go first.”

Tears in his eyes, Candy pushes his muzzle up against the cage, “Why are you doing this?”

“Do you really have to ask why? You are unnatural abominations. In a world of God’s creatures, you pose as humans, you think you are as good as humans.” Standing, he backs up to look at the cages.

“You think you should be treated like humans. But you are not, and god warned us, beware of the deceivers. Those that would walk in man’s form, but spread lies.” Kneeling, he starts to speak very coldly to the foals.

“God created man in his own image, man… not animals… God gave man dominion over the animals. God created the animals, but you are not one of God’s creations. You’re a work of the devil, and an example must be made so the devil’s others creations know… They must know they must flee back to the world they came from, or the same thing will happen to them.” Smiling, the man thumps Feather’s cage hard. “Starting with you.”

“If I’m so important to be killed, just do it, but let the others go. They don’t deserve this.” Feather says weakly.

“No!” Cloudy shouts in full defiance, “You deserve just as much as any pony!”

“Deserve? Deserve! You think you deserve anything?” The man turns and snarls at Cloudy, “You are not part of Gods plan. We are the Hand of God, the Army of God. We carry out God’s will.”

“You are nothing. You couldn’t even begin to understand God’s Plan. A being as powerful as God, and you claim to understand him? You claim to know what he wants or intends?” Cloudy’s horn grows bright as she snarls in her cage, “If God did exist the way you think, would he want you to murder children?”

“Be silent or I might just put you down off camera.” The man says firmly.

Standing up a bit in her cage, Cloudy presses her back against the top, snarling. “No! I see the wonders of nature every day. I see the wonder of life and the world. I see it in the sky and air, in the sun and rain…”

The cage explodes around the foal as wind throws the man back against the wall. Cloudy’s horn glowing brighter and brighter. “You know what? I used to be afraid of the rain, to hide from storms, thunder and lighting.”

The lights flicker and the loud crash of thunder fills the air. The sound is so loud that it shakes what few windows the room has left. The sound of hail starts to pound against the roof and wall.

“Cotton Candy was a storm chaser, he saw the beauty in them, in God’s work.” Putting her hoof down, sparks crackle and shower on the floor from the impact. “Something you could never see!”

“Cloudy! What are you doing?” Candy cries out as the roof starts to come off the building.

The building itself explodes into debris as the funnel cloud touches down right on top of it. Winds exceeding 350 miles per hour swirl around, destroying everything they touch. Trees, walls and cars are lifted from the ground in the rotating winds. The tornado’s fury matching Cloudy’s as she stands, her legs spread, in the center of the eye, Feather and Candy’s cages on either side of her. Cloudy’s hip glows as bright as her horn, the image of a cloud with a tornado descending from it appearing on both of her hips.

Backing up in fear, the man looks at Cloudy… Screaming over the roar of the winds… “What are you!”

Looking side to side, Cloudy rips the cage doors from Feather and Candy’s cages. Screaming at the top of her lungs she cries back, “I….AM…A…PONY!”

The man puts his hands up to shield himself as he stumbles backwards into the vortex. A moment later he is gone. Sucked up into the funnel and debris.

Wobbling as she tries to stand, Cloudy looks at Feather, “I couldn’t let him…”

Feather blinks as the glow around Cloudy’s horn fades, the foal collapses on the spot. Almost instantly the tornado begins to dissipate, its rage spent on the abandoned slaughterhouse and area immediately around it.

***

“The doctor says she could pull through.” Captain Stevenson says as he sits in the chair in the coms room. He leans forward, “Though it would be best to have her airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital and have doctors from there and Howard Springs Veterinarian Clinic on standby if needed.”

“No, transfer her to the nearest Port of Entry in Indonesia.” The admiral’s voice is calm, but direct.

“Pardon? They don’t have the medical facilities to handle a case like this, as well we don’t even know if she is a citizen of Indonesia.” The captain says, confused.

“Then send her to the nearest port of call in Malaysia, she was aboard a Malaysian Airlines aircraft. Let them take responsibility.” The admiral says dismissively as he shuffles pages.

“Admiral, she was never listed as a passenger on the aircraft, she was likely loaded as a pet, or cargo. They lack the knowledge or care facilities to handle a brumby, at least our vets and doctors have some knowledge and experience as well.” Captain Stevenson shakes his head, “She’s just a wee foal.”

The admiral leans forward, facing the camera, “Look, Captain, this comes from the policy makers. Under no means is that foal to set foot on Australian soil. Find an island somewhere and dump her.”

The captain blinks, “Under international law we need to render aid.”

“And you did, and you will be commended for that. The issue however, is the refugee issue. We will NOT be accepting refugees from Equestria.” The admiral leans back in his chair and pulls out a folder. “There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of these ponies appearing world wide. The decision to close our borders to them has been made by the politicians. It is our duty to obey their policies.”

“Sir, at this I’d like to file an official complaint, at present, putting her ashore would be a death sentence.” The captain says, “She needs specialized care. As well she is possibly the only witness to the events of the air crash.”

“I don’t even think resigning your command would help at this point.” The admiral says firmly, “I have a meeting; I leave it up to you to figure out how to get rid of that foal.”

The screen goes blank as the connection is terminated. Sighing, the captain rubs his face and leans back in his chair. Looking at his official orders, he shakes his head slowly. He reads and re-reads the mission orders over and over again until a tap at the door causes him to look away. “Enter!”

XO Cruz walks in, “So, when are we going to be unloading our passenger?”

“They want us to put her ashore in Malaysia or such. They have ordered us not to let her set foot on Australian soil.” The captain says and shakes his head.

“I swear, the PM’s office is getting more and more xenophobic every day. The doctor’s not going to like this.” The XO says and leans against the wall. “Any ideas?”

“It’s not like we can defy orders, or ignore the government.” The Captain says, “and the Admiral stated, even my resignation wouldn’t do any good at this point.”

“Ok that’s harsh to even suggest that.” The XO shakes his head, “Well what’s the plan?”

“Our mission is to aid in the international investigation of the downed airline, including search, rescue and recovery.” The Captain says, then he chuckles, “International investigation.”

“Why don’t I like that look?” XO says and straightens his uniform, “last time a mate gave me that look, I ended up in a firefight with drug runners on a RIB.”

“Tell the doctor that he will need to be ready to discharge the pony and make her ready to travel. If she is unable to do so, please have him advise me of the soonest date that she will be able to be sent ashore to one of the smaller clinics in Malaysia that will not endanger her life.”

The XO chuckles, “Oh I see, that could take weeks, especially if we are beyond range of our helicopters to bring her there safely.”

“Next, as she is the sole survivor of the air crash, for the purpose of international cooperation, we should document everything about her. Break out one of the cameras we use for boarding operations, set it up, and start recording.” The captain says, “Make sure to get her current diagnosis and such on record, as well as her age, size, and such.”

The XO blinks, “Sir?”

“If we ARE forced to put her ashore, its best to have all the information we can about her, in case she gets lost in Malaysia. That way we can present it to the international community as ordered.” The captain says firmly.

“Sometimes I think you have a roo lose in the upstairs paddock.” The XO says with a laugh, “The PM and party will never want that going public.”

“Well that’s what they asked us to do, Malaysia, France, and Germany are all involved with this. It was an Airbus that went down, and they want all findings as well. US Citizens were killed and they have asked for copies of the report.”

“And of course that would include the tape.” The XO says, turning for the door, “I’ll get right on it.”

“Now comes the trickiest part. She’s not allowed to step foot on Australian soil.” The Captain says firmly.

“Understood sir, she shall be quarantined to the ship, and we will keep someone with her at all times.”

***

“What the heck happened?” I blink several times as we approach the devastation. Approaching what should be a factory, instead, is mangled debris, cars, trucks, and sheets of metal that have been deformed and scattered for miles.

Blaze pulls up beside Masquerade and Dust, calling out, “It looks like a bomb went off.”

Dust shakes her head, looking at part of a car hanging from a tree. “A big bomb.”

Increasing her speed, Masquerade goes nose up into a climb to get some altitude while the rest of us stay low to the ground. With a sigh, I look up at her, then at Dust. “I hope we aren’t to late. If we are.”

With her eyes narrowed Dust looks back at her wing blades before she glances back towards me, “If we are, I’ll have serious words with them.” Electricity crackles among her feathers as she flies. Her tone of voice gives me chills.

As she swoops back down, Masquerade looks more worried than before, “The center of the blast looks like the factory.”

Blaze and Dust pour on the speed, which forces me to grab ahold of the air cart with my forelegs. Stealth is no longer an issue, “If you climb I can teleport there!”

“No! Blaze says firmly, “We are going in as a team, to cover each other. It might be a trap.”

“If it’s a trap it’s already gone off!” I say and point at an 18-wheeler sitting nose down and crushed on the ground, its trailer hanging off to one side bent in a U shape.

“I see something ahead!” Dust calls out and shoots forward in a blur of motion.

Unable to wait, I teleport into what looks like the center of the blast. A moment later, Cipher, Ballad, and Sugarberry appear around me in the center of a concrete slab. Looking up Candy and Feather call out, “Mom! Over here! Its Cloudy, she cast a spell and now she won’t wake up!!!”

Part 94: Dark Skies and Light Seas.

Ellie sits quietly on the couch, her hot chocolate is steaming in front of her. It is almost uncomfortable for her to sit normally right now, so she instead, she is laying partly on her side, her legs stretched out on the sofa while propping herself up on the armrest with a pillow. Softly she traces one of the horseshoe on her hip with a finger and sighs softly.

“It won’t be that bad.” Katie says softly and smiles.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I can do this. What does all of this mean?” Ellie says, looking up sadly.

Katie gives her friend a hug, “It means you are very special. You’re a pony, and returning to that.”

“I mean the mark…” Ellie looks back down at it, touching it with her fingers tentatively. The silver and gold horseshoes standing out against her light blue fur.

“I don’t know, Shoe Shine. From what we’ve read, it could mean anything, strength in friendship. Or simply that you’re a smithy. The online sources says… that you’re a good listener.”

“Bah, that sounds more like you… Maybe you should have gotten them.” Ellie says, shaking her head.

Looking at her hip, Katie shakes her head, “I… I don’t deserve them.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I turned my back on my brother when he needed me the most. He was always there for me, and… the one time I could have been there for him.” She sighs, “I couldn’t accept him turning into a mare.” Katie says, looking down and rubbing her leg.

“And now your trying to make it up with me?” Ellie smiles and pokes her gently.

Katie hugs her friend tightly, burying her face in Ellie’s mane-like hair. “Oh, Shoe Shine.”

Ellie cringes slightly then lets out a soft sigh before speaking, “I guess I’m going to have to get used to that name huh?”

Katie blinks, then shakes her head, “Sorry, I’ll call you Ellie if you want.”

“Shoe… Shoe Shine works, or Shiny. I don’t know why but it feels…normal.” Ellie says and lets a small smile slip.

“Maybe because its who you were, so you’re remembering it, in a way.” Katie smiles back and sits on the floor, stroking Ellie’s leg and hip. “Shiny.”

***

A no-knock warrant. This is issued by a judge only in special situations. It’s one of the most dangerous types of warrants, because it doesn’t require the police to alert the residents of a house before entry.

White Lightning skims just above rooftop level, she’s pulling a small air cart behind her with two humans hunkered down low. Pulling up, she lands on a roof top, unhitching the air cart as the sniper and spotter move into position.

No-knock warrants are reserved for cases where the suspect, or suspects, are expected to put up extreme force or resistance. They can also be issued where knocking could result in evidence being lost or destroyed.

Lifting off the roof, White Lightning banks, turning towards a two-story house. It is a normal middle class home, typical for the neighborhood. Looking down, she can see the hedge rows and the bushes. The FBI and OSI Agents are moving up in their body armor. Tilting her wing, she dips down and flies past a security camera. Her hoof connects with the top of it, knocking it so it is looking up.

Normally, the constitution protects individuals against unreasonable search and seizure. That’s why proof must be present before the judge issues such a warrant, and there must be strong cause to believe that a No-knock is the only option.

“Team one, ready.” The OSI agent says as he looks at the door, it’s made of heavy wood, reinforced, with a premium bolt lock.

Over the radio, the responses can be heard, the snipers checking in, “Team two eyes up.”

“Team three ready.” The rear entry team calls.

“Team four, covering rear and sides.” The support team responds.

“Team five, orbiting.” White Lightning circles, looking down as she watches the pony head up to the front door.

“Goldie, it looks pretty tough.” The officer says grimly.

Turning her rear to the door, Goldie raises her hind legs, her steel horseshoes shining in the early light, “That’s okay, I’m wearing my big girl knockers.”

The impact of her hooves shatters not just the wood around the locks but also the hinges. Against a blow that rips the nails out of the wood, and one that shattered the door locks, the addition of a security chain is mere comedy. The door flies out of its frame into the hallway, at which point, Goldie ducks to the side to let the entry team charge in.

Turning, Goldie gets ready to follow the group in, the power in her legs is undeniable. Just like her name, Golden Delicious. She’s an Apple after all.

“FBI!”

“CIS! Down on the ground!” Calls ring out.

***

“Wake up sis. Please wake up.” Candy sits nuzzling Cloudy, his eyes filled with tears.

Holloman Airforce base is the closest with a hospital, so the air carts had landed there. Cloudy hasn’t moved, hasn’t woken since she called down the storm. Her breathing is shallow and weak. Even her heart rate is way below normal.

“It’s ok Candy, she’s resting. She spent a lot of energy.” I say gently and sit down, pulling Candy and Feather tight to my chest in a hug.

Candy raises her head to me, tears flowing freely, “It’s not alright, its not. I’m the older brother! I’m supposed to protect her!”

Feather sighs, “It’s me he wanted.”

Turning his head, Candy looks at Feather, “You don’t understand it’s my fault, its my fault we got caught.”

Gently, I start licking Candy’s cheeks and face, “It’s ok.” I murmur softly.

“If it wasn’t for me, Discord wouldn’t have found us. And I was supposed to protect her, now she’s hurt.” Candy cries and leans tightly against my chest as waves of sobs fill the air.

“Discord?” Feather says with a confused head tilt, one ear flopping to the side a bit.

“When he came into the club house we hid…but my pink mane gave us away.” Candy whimpers.

“That… was Night Light.” Feather whispers.

“No it wasn’t it was Discord, he grabbed me by my mane and dragged me out. Then stepped on my sister.” Candy’s sobs increase in volume and frequency, “I couldn’t stop him, I couldn’t save her… and now she’s…”

I nuzzle Candy softly, “And that’s when he cursed you?”

“He cursed sis first, no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop him. He laughed and taunted me. We were hiding in an old tree house, and he said it was so expected… so foal like, for us to hide there, that it made it easy for him.” Candy cries harder, “If I found us a safer place, if I chose a better location. I failed her, I always fail her.”

“Its not your fault.” Feather whines and moves over to cuddle Candy as well.

“It is, and now she could die because of me.” Candy sobs, “I can’t lose her. Not like this, not again.”

***

“Boon Boon lowered her head and looked around the Paddocks. ‘I don’t know if I can do it Thorwa, the yard is so small, and I’m so tired.’” Turning the page, Maxine smiles and gently strokes Cheery’s mane. The little filly sleeps quietly in the hospital bed.

“How’s it going, Nav?” The doctor asks, sitting down at his desk.

“She’s more responsive to being touched. She’s still sleeping a lot.” Maxine says, looking up and closing her book.

“Read me some more, Meadow Flower.” Comes a small voice.

Blinking, Maxine looks at the doctor, then at Cheery. “Hello?”

Standing up, the doctor walks over to the filly and carefully checks the instruments, “Good morning little one, don’t worry, you’re safe. We are letting you rest.”

“Hi there, I’m Maxine, are you feeling better?”

“Thirsty.” Cheery says softly.

“Doc, I’ve got a Powerade Gold Rush, can she have that?” Maxine says, holding up her bottle.

“Umm, normally I’d say no. But actually, given what I’ve read on ponies. The sugars should help.” The doctor says before heading to the phone, “I’ll let the captain know she’s up.”

Unscrewing the top of the bottle, Maxine pulls off the seal before screwing the cap back on. Gently, she puts a hand behind Cheery’s head, lifting it to help her drink, “There you go, drink slowly now.”

Taking some of the drink, the filly lays back in bed and sighs, “Where? Where am I?”

“You’re safe, little one. You’re aboard the Australian destroyer Brisbane. How do you feel?” Maxine asks as she tilts her head a bit to look at the tiny pegasus foal.

“Sore, my wing hurts a lot. And my stomach.” Cheery says, looking down.

The doctor shakes his head, “Your wing was broken, we have it set and bandaged. You’re also suffering a little malnutrition and dehydration, we were worried about kidney damage. I think you’ll be fine though.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Maxine asks while gently stroking the filly’s mane.

“I… I remember being in a cargo hold. I remember an explosion, flames… I remember my cage being sucked out.” Cheery says, then she shivers.

“Where did you come from?” Maxine asks softly before shaking her head, “No, that’s not right, what country are you from?”

“I… I’m from Mumbai, India. I worked at Sanctuary Asia there. Till… till this happened to me. Then I was captured and put in a cage. They wanted to sell me.” Cheery looks around, “Why did this happen to me?”

“Hush, hush now, just rest. The short version is, you were always this. Just cursed to be human by a demon. You, like the others, are returning to normal.”

“Discord.” The doctor says as he checks the camera to make sure it’s recording.

The name sends shivers through Cheery and brings tears to her eyes. “Five score…”

Hugging Cheery carefully, Maxine shakes her head, “It’s okay, you’re safe here. You’re safe with me.”

Whimpering softly, Cheery snuggles into Maxine, “Meadow Flower.”

***

It has been nearly two days since she had eaten. Part of the problem is she simply isn’t that sure of what is safe for her to eat or not. Moving through the bushes, she tries to keep her body as low to the ground as she can. While her two-tone grey white mane and tail tends to blend in somewhat, her purple body is another story.

Slowly she moves her little muzzle through the bushes, looking across the lawn at the villa. It looks as if no one is home, and her nose catches the scent of something interesting, though she isn’t quite sure where it is.

Sniffing slowly, she moves out from the safety of the bushes, her stomach growling painfully, coaxing her to take chances. Closing her eyes, she sniffs the air till she looks up, seeing the bird feeder. It is a larger one, made of ceramics and painted in bright reds, oranges and yellows. Obviously made for the larger birds such as the greater macaws.

She’s a lot bigger then a macaw, and probably a lot heavier. If there is something to eat, however, it might be her only chance. Looking back at her wings she sighs, she hadn’t really tried flying, it wasn’t something she’s thought about over the last few days. Now though, it might be her only chance to get some food.

It can’t be called flying, however, crouching down she coils her body, positioning her hind legs under her before jumping up as high as she can, flapping her wings to help. Crashing in a heap on the ground, she huffs and walks in a bit of a circle, looking up at the feeder before trying again. Her second attempt is better, she manages to touch the feeder with a forehoof this time. Before landing on her butt and sighing.

Her last attempt, though, is what she needs, she gets up high enough to wrap her forelegs around the top of the feeder and hold on, her wings flapping to keep her steady as she looks at the base. Luckily the birds hadn’t gotten to the feeder yet, and there is a lot there. Shelled nuts, shelled sunflower seeds, and even dried banana slices. Putting her muzzle into the hole, she starts eating quickly. It’s not very dignified, but this is survival.

She is only able to eat for a few moments before she hears yelling. Through the hole in the feeder she can see through to the other side where a man had come out of the Villa, he is running towards her with a broom raised. Probably thinking she’s some kind of monkey, or maybe a large cat, but she isn’t going to wait to explain. Kicking off of the bird feeder, she flails her wings, managing to roll over in mid air so her hooves hit the ground first.

She hears the slap of the broom hitting the ground behind her as she runs and dives through the hedge row into the street, panting. Skidding to a stop, she looks back towards the villa again before a voice near her nearly scares her out of her feathers.

“Wow, you must really be hungry.” Turning her head quickly, she looks and sees the little earth pony sitting a few feet away. “I’m Sunny, well Sunny Daze, but you can just call me Sunny. If you’re hungry, follow me. We don’t have a lot but there’s no way we’re going to let a fellow pony go hungry.”

“Fellow… pony? There’s more like me?” The pegasus foal says tentatively and starts to follow Sunny as she moves off.

“A few. But first, we need to get you cleaned up, and fed.” Sunny says and opens the back of the wagon. “Mom, I’m home, and I brought a guest.”

“Sunny you know I don’t like you wandering about, especially with helicopters buzzing around like they are looking for…” Ambrosia starts, then she stops as she turns to see the foal, “Oh, hello there.”

The foal sits blinking, looking in the wagon at the two stallions, who are sitting at the dinner table, and the mare, who is busy over the stove.

“Sunny, you always seem to sniff out those in need.” Ambrosia says with a laugh.

“That’s cuz I’m the only one that sniffs around,” Sunny says and pushes the other foal up into the wagon.

***

Shots chatter across the wall just above Goldie’s head.

“You okay?” An FBI agent asks, kneeling beside the pony.

“Oh fine, there was nothing to say this guy would be armed to the teeth.” Goldie says and huffs. “Have you got a shield?”

“Don’t you have some kind of magic or something?” The FBI Agent says as he rises up from behind a partition to fire two more rounds before ducking back down, the slide of his service pistol locked open.

“Earth pony, not a pegasus or unicorn.” Goldie says as she grabs the shield with her foreleg and muzzle maneuvering it around.

“What’s the difference? You’re all like magical ponies, right?” Pressing the release, he drops the magazine out of his pistol and loads in another. The slide clicks home with the press of the catch.

“Unicorns have magic, pegasi fly, earth ponies are strong.” Goldie says as she swings the shield around, standing up and starts walking foreword. The shooters are held up on the second floor. Keeping the shield angled as she climbs, the agent puts his hand on her back, holding on to her harness as Goldie begins to walk forward up the stairs.

Using Goldie and the shield for cover, the FBI Agent keeps low as rounds from the SOCOM M1 impact against the shield and banister. The single shot, high caliber rifle is deadly as these ranges, able to punch though police armor with ease. Even the bullet proof shield is taking a beating as they move up the steps.

“Lightning, he’s across from the middle bedroom door.” Goldie calls out into her radio.

Goldie flinches and re-angles the shield, moving a bit to keep the officer covered as he fires a few rounds over the shield. A moment later, there is a loud crash, followed by the bedroom door coming off its hinges, followed by White Lightning.

“Coming through!” Lightning calls as she uses her wing to hit the shooter broadside, before jumping over the railing and landing on the first floor. In one fluid motion, she’s galloping out the door and taking to the air again outside.

The gun skitters across the floor as the FBI agent runs past Goldie to cover the shooter. In that instant, it becomes very quiet. The only sounds are people panting, a child crying from the far end bedroom, and Goldie, sliding backwards a bit down the steps.

“God damn it, you have a child here and your shooting at the police, don’t you care about anyone’s lives!” The FBI Agent shouts while trying to catch his breath, “What if a round hit the kid, what then?”

Moving up with cuffs, a second officer looked down, “Goldie move to the side a bit… Goldie?”

“Get a paramedic up here!” The second officer calls out, as he kneels down, seeing blood on Goldie’s side. Undoing her armor he finds where the round had hit her. Working quickly, he puts a cloth over her wound to slow the bleeding, “HURRY! OFFICER DOWN!” He bellows.

Moving past Goldie, the first officer climbs the steps quickly to cuff the suspect as the second does his best to stop the blood flow. “Jail wasn’t good enough, you just had to try your best to earn the death penalty didn’t you?”

Spitting, the suspect looks up at the officer, “Fer what? Protecting my property, shootin’ an animal?”

Poking her head back in, White Lightning looks on in shock, “Oh Celestia, no!” she’s able to moan.

***

“Idiots, morons.” Candy stands in front of the vending machine, tears in his eyes.

Feather walks over and sits beside Candy, leaning against him, “Calm down,” she says softly.

“Did you hear them? They don’t know what’s wrong with her.” Candy says and kicks at the machine lightly with a forehoof. “She overtaxed herself, she needs to recover energy. What next”? Feeding her some salad with low cal dressing and diet orange drink?”

“They’re better than that, and mom and Henry are here.” Feather shakes her head, “Everything will be fine.”

“Henry isn’t a unicorn! Okay, he isn’t IN unicorn form. And mom is just a corporal, like the doctors will listen to her.” Turning, Candy bucks the vending machine, leaving two little hoof prints in the metal and causing several rows of candies to drop.

“HEY!” A nurse calls out, “I know you’re frustrated but other people need to use that machine.”

Looking up Feather gives her best sad pony eyes, “Sorry sir, my brother is just worried about our other sister. She risked her life to save us.”

With a sigh the nurse shakes his head, “Just be careful.”

“I…. I need…. I need a kitchen.” Candy says, looking around the hospital hallway.

Looking confused, Feather hugs Candy tight with her wings, “Why?”

“I need to make…” Sitting down, Candy starts hitting her head with the side of her hoof, “I can’t remember, I need to remember but I can’t…. Why am I so useless?”

“You’re not useless.” Feather shakes her head and hugs him tighter.

Hitting his head harder, tears flow down the sides of his cheeks, “Something mom told me, showed me.”

“Velvet?” Feather asks, looking at him with concern.

“No… my mom in Equestria. Why can’t I remember? If it’s important, I should be able to remember.” Candy whines as he starts trembling.

“It’s the curse, nothing is meant to be easy.” Feather sighs and snuggles him tighter, “Come on, calm down.”

“I feel like its all my fault, everything. I have to do something, anything to make it better.” Candy says, shaking his head.

Looking up at the nurse, Feather sighs, “Sir, is there a kitchen we can borrow, it might help my brother remember things. I’m sorry.”

“Brother?”

“Adopted, our mom’s Twilight Velvet.” Feather says, “She took us in and has been raising us.”

“Aren’t you all supposed to be like twenty-five?” The nurse says and crosses his arms, looking down.

“Yes sir, but. Well it hard to explain. Some of us turned back to foals, and sort of end up acting more and more like the foals we were, partly because of the curse, partly because of our minds and bodies not being developed yet.” Scuffing a hoof, Feather looks down, “I know you don’t understand but, Candy really does need to spend some time in a kitchen.”

Shaking his head, the nurse grumbles, “And I suppose you need ingredients too? And you can’t pay.”

Feather looks down, “I’m sorry.”

“Ugh, give me a second, do you actually practice being that cute?” Walking over to the counter the nurse picks up the phone. “Major? Sorry to disturb you. I’ve got a pair of little ponies, foals actually. They are here with the group that was medevac’d earlier today. They aren’t local, and need a kitchen that’s somewhat stocked. Anything we can do?”

Looking down at the foals, the nurse shakes his head, “Bout the size of a dog, collie I’d say.”

Feather looks at herself, “I guess I’m bout the same size as Winona.”

“Okay, good enough.” The nurse says and nods firmly before looking down at the foals, “Okay, follow me.”

***

Katie walks around the room, feeling somewhat caged herself.

“You can leave if you want.” Ellie says, looking up, “I’m not going to hurt myself.”

“Nope, I told you, someone is going to be with you at all times through this, so you can be safe.” Katie is firm in this and her voice carries that, “I’m not letting anyone hurt you.”

Ellen shakes her head for a second, “Hurt me? Is that where the other pegasi went? Did someone get hurt?”

Katie takes a deep breath, then she sighs and sits down, “Yeah, some foals, young ponies, got taken by a very bad group. Think white supremacist’s, then apply that to non-humans. They went to help.”

“I feel so…ugh.” Ellen says, looking at her arms and fur.

Katie looks at her, “Must be the fur coming in, you’re not used to it, and to boot, its somewhat of a winter coat.” Looking around, she stands up and heads for the bathroom, “Come on.”

“What? Where? Its hard to walk as it is.” Ellie says, protesting.

“Bathroom, I’m setting you up with a hot bath. With some bath salts, candles.” Katie smiles and starts the water.

“You want me to take a bath?” Ellie blinks.

Katie smiles, “Its okay, I’ll help you.”

“What? NO! I can take a bath by myself!” Ellen protests, crossing her arms.

“Umm, I hate to doubt you, but given how much you’ve changed, you might have a problem with that. Especially doing your mane.” Katie smiles and sets out scented candles, before putting on some soft rock music.

Walking back into the living room Katie helps Ellie into the bathroom before starting to undress her.

“Hey, hey, hey… Let me get undressed in private.” Ellen says, swatting Katie’s hands away gently.

Pulling her hands back, Katie smiles and puts on her best southern accent, “Um, beggin yer parden Shoeshine, but ponies don’t normally wear clothing.”

Putting one hand on her hip, Ellen flips her other wrist, “Well pardon me for being a cultured pony.”

Ellie and Katie look at each other for a long moment before both start laughing. Giving Ellie a hug, Katie finishes helping her undress before putting her into the tub. “There now, soft music, scented candles.”

“Oh Celestia, do you know what would be good with this right now?” Ellen says.

Katie blinks, “Did you just say oh Celestia?”

“Umm I guess I did...sort of a pony version of oh God, I think…” Ellie says, “I must have picked it up from that binge watching of the show.

“Once I get your mane done, I’ll get you some wine, and some of that carrot cake.” Katie says as she starts massaging into Ellie’s mane with her fingers. The deep rubbing bringing out a soft moan.

“Okay, I may not like the idea of becoming a pony, but I do like the spa treatment.” Ellie says with a laugh before getting her nose booped.

“Returning to pony form. You were born this way originally, remember the video.” Katie sits down on the toilet as she works on washing Ellie’s mane. “I know it sounds like malarkey but they say to keep a proper mindset during this, and remember, its not changing into but changing back. You’re not losing anything, just returning to your real form.”

“I know but… after twenty-five years of being told one thing.” Ellie shakes her head slowly.

“Well think of it this way, twenty-five years of being told magic wasn’t real, pegasus and unicorns weren’t real.” Getting up, Katie changes radio stations for some more cheerful music.

“I always believed in unicorns remember? I wanted one of my own.” Ellie says and huffs.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Katie finds a nice slice of carrot cake and returns, sitting down. “I seem to recall you also wanting a pony.”

“That was if I couldn’t get a unicorn.” Ellie nods firmly.

“Well think of it this way, think of all those poor unicorns out there.” Katie says and offers a forkful of cake.

“Poor? Poor? They have magic why would they be poor?” Biting the carrot cake, she moans softly, sliding down into the water more.

“Yeah, but what happens the first time they walk past a grade school, or a kindergarten. Swamped by dozens of little girls trying to claim them.”

Ellie snorts, covering her mouth, then she giggles, “The horror, the horror.”

A ring at the doorbell catches both their attention. Giving Ellie another big forkful of cake, Katie gets up, “Stay here and relax.”

Drying her hands quickly on a towel, Katie walks out of the bathroom, closing the door. She takes a deep breath before opening the apartment door smiling, “Hello, how can I…” Looking down slowly, Katie blinks and gulps.

Masquerade sits, dripping wet, her mane dishevelled bracketing her face as she looks up. Gulping, she trembles a bit, tears in her eyes, her voice cracking as she says. “I miss you, sis…”

***

The Barents Sea, 250 miles south west of Bear island, the USS Florida creeps along at five knots. A modified Ohio Class submarine, she is carrying 154 cruise missiles. A mix of anti-runway cruise missiles, anti-instillation cruise missiles, and several anti-ship cruise missiles. The ship is silent, a ghost in the water.

“Sonar, contacts?” Captain Redux says as he leans back in his chair.

“Surface group bearing, 032 relative, speed 12 knots, course 126 true, range 76 nautical miles, sounds like our old friend, the Admiral Chabanenko. So that would be a Udaloy II, computer’s sure there’s an Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate there, but I think, yep, there’s the 3rd the Derpsky is pulling up the rear. She’s running in the wake of the Chabanenko. It’s a sub hunter group. Add them to the Freighter at 336 and the tanker at 312.” Frank says softly into his mic.

“Okay, XO cut all engines, put reactor to standby, shift to emergency battery power only. I want all non-essential systems shut off, that includes most primary lights. I don’t want any transient noises.” The crew knows the danger here, the slightest sound, such as dropping a tool, or even a single sneeze could give the boats position away, “The current should carry us from here right past Poljarny.”

A moment later, the lights go out, replaced with dim red emergency lighting. It would take over a day for the current to carry them where they are going. They don’t have to worry about bottoming out here unless they choose to, the water depth keeps them below the thermocline layer as well.

“I read the briefing on the MGK-608E Passive Stationary Sonar System they have deployed.” The XO says, “I see why you don’t even want any plant noise to give us away.”

“Engineering secure, pumps are shut down, natural convection in the reactor will keep it from getting too hot.” With the reactor all but shut off, there is no noise at all from the system.

“Axillary, atmosphere control, all O2 storage at full, fans are checked to minimum power. With shallow breathing protocols in effect, we should be good.” Ensign Peterson says softly.

The Captain looks at the XO, “We are supposed to get into position then sit deep and wait. They call this a ‘measured response’. After an attack against a US Carrier group at port, supplying anti-shipping missiles to pirates, and an attack by Sukhoi Pak FA’s against transport aircraft, the president wants us to sit and be ready. If necessary, we are to hit almost every runway and port along the coast.”

“Pretty much a declaration of war.” The XO says, shaking his head.

“Yes, but that’s part of the commander-in-chief’s view I think, was war was declared when an aircraft carrier was attacked at port. That sort of thing can’t go unanswered.” The captain says, “So we are supposed to get into position and wait.”

“For? How I don’t think they expect us to sit on the sea bed just off the coast of Russia for three months?” The XO responds and checks the charts. “At current speed, I figure, with the currents, we should be close to our landing zone in about twenty-nine hours.”

The captain ponders the map, then he draws an x in red, “There, that’s where I’d like to sit her once we get close.” Circling the spot, he leans back in his chair again. “I’m not sure, my guess its based on, or dependent on, the outcome of some big operation going on in Africa.”

Part 95: War and Quiet

Sighing softly, I look at some of the reports. They had been forwarded to me by Cipher who is currently in somewhat of a cyberwar with NCIS over information. One hundred two arrested, fifty-eight suspects killed, six officers killed, eighteen officers injured, and twenty-one ponies found. While the numbers seem good, the fallout is already starting.

With another sigh I nuzzle Cloudy softly. As a pony, she is so young. She doesn’t deserve any of this, none of this is her fault. None of this is any of our fault. We never asked to be cursed, well most of us didn’t ask for it. I’m almost willing to bet some did, just for hopes of being reunited with loved ones. Closing my eyes, I give her muzzle and cheek a gentle lick.

People, the humans, are protesting though. How dare the police break into people’s houses. How dare they shoot American citizens. The fact that these people were armed with illegal weapons seemed to be lost on most and the media has barely mentioned that information. The fact that they were keeping slaves was lost in the noise, apparently. It seems the media cares more about the fact that a fifteen-year-old was gunned down in his own home by police, rather than the fact that he was armed with an M-4 and was shooting at people. When a father and his two teens are holding a pony in their basement and torturing it, the media covers it as family wiped out in their own home.

People protest the use of police force. They protest the invasion of privacy. And they ignore the slavery, the child abuse, the murder, and the pay per view shows of ponies being tortured, raped, and killed. It seems like they would cheer if an officer was shot, and would likely be even happier if the officer was killed.

“Velvet?”

I lift my head and look over, “Morning Goldie.”

Blinking, the earth pony looks around, confused. “What? What happened?”

“You got shot, lost a lot of blood.” I shake my head.

“Where am I?” Looking around Goldie lets out a pained whinny when she tries to move a foreleg.

“You’re on Earth. Sol System, Milky Way galaxy.” I say as I put down my tablet and walk over, nuzzling her gently.

“I know I’m on Earth, silly.” Goldie sighs and looks up at the ceiling.

Shaking my head, I smile and switch to English, “Okay, so you remember how to speak English then, right?”

“Oh oops, yeah, I didn’t even realize I was speaking our language.” Looking around she sighs, “how bad was it?”

“You got flown in by White Lightning. You lost a lot of blood, but we had ponies here to give transfusions. Blood matching and plasma matching was fun for the doctors. Apparently, our blood types are like horses with dozens of different combinations.” Smiling, I stroke her mane with a foreleg. “I gave for plasma, Ah-Pee was close enough to give for blood. Even White Lightning donated for plasma.”

“Will I… walk… again?” Goldie asks, looking down at her foreleg. “I can hardly feel it unless I try and move it.”

“Oh, that would be the painkillers. Yeah, you’ll be fine.” I say, laughing. “Just don’t try flexing your fingers and toes.”

“I don’t have fingers and toes.” Goldie says, narrowing her eyes.

Gently I put my hoof against her nose, “That’s why you shouldn’t try flexing them.”

“Why wouldn’t they just surrender? Heck, there were kids there.” Goldie says, then she sighs and puts her head down on the bed.

I shake my head, “Some… Some people… don’t care about anything but themselves and their beliefs. They would rather die than sacrifice their beliefs. While this isn’t bad if their beliefs are altruistic. When their beliefs are corrupt or dark…” I trail off, not really knowing how to finish.

She nods, “I guess. I tried to get close enough to take them down without killing them.” She shakes her head and looks up at me, “But they just wouldn’t stop.”

“Its going to be hard, I know. But there are going to be trained specialists to help you through this.” I sigh, “Just like Feather, Candy and Cloudy are going to need help.”

“Are they ponies?” Goldie asks softly.

“You know, I really hope we have a lot of pony psychologists, we’re going to need them.” I say softly.

***

Feather kneads her forehooves a little bit as she lays in the nurse’s lap. He had taken a seat in a chair at the edge of the kitchen and put a blanket partly over her back to keep her warm. With a large yawn, Feather fought to stay awake, not wanting to miss a moment. Gently he scratched her mane and behind her ears with one hand while they both watched the show. And show is all this could be described as.

It is like watching some sort of insane cooking show. A hospital bed has been brought in and raised up to act as a platform. The bed is pushed up beside one of the prep stations which allows Candy pace back and forth on it. On the other side of the prep station, a hospital dietician and nutritionist is in the process of pulling her hair out as the little foal calls out orders.

“No! You have to move faster!” Candy growls, “If you move to slowly it will cool down and crystalize too quickly.”

A food service prep worker speeds up with the whisk, panting a bit as he works the mixture. “Shouldn’t we just use the electric blender?”

“I don’t know the sounds of the electric blender here. If I had more experience, I could tell when the load on the motor was right for consistency.” Shaking his head, the colt looks at the bowl, “Just keep working it. I don’t want to have to start over.”

“Come on, I’m getting diabetes just looking at this.” The nutritionist says, “This is NOT what she needs.”

“Well I guess we’re lucky ponies don’t get diabetes. We use sugars more than humans, kind of like horses I guess. Carrots, peas, beats, sweet onion, apples, berries. Added to sweet grasses and such and pony diets are very high in sugars and energy.”

“That may be true but…” The nutritionist starts.

“But nothing, my mom, my…mom in Equestria…taught me this recipe. I’m trying as hard as I can to remember it and how to do it, but its for candies that help foals after surgeries. She used to make it for us.” Candy shakes his head, “Its made with several different types of sugar since different sugars are processed by the body different ways.”

Lifting her wings, Feather giggles, “Trust him, he wouldn’t be doing this is it wasn’t important. The boy hates sugar candies and such.”

“If he hates them why is he using like five different kinds of sugar.” The Nutritionist says with a huff. “Bodies don’t process it that differently.”

“Trust me, with some things about ponies, you just have to toss logic aside and roll with it.” Feather says with a nod, “For example, Candy, ever heard the song sugar rush?” Feather asks and arches her back a little into the scratching.

“Nope,” Candy says, distracted, “Okay, now pour that out onto the table and start rolling it.”

“Wreck it Ralph?” Feather asks and winks at the nutritionist. Getting a grin from the young woman.

“What’s that got to do with this?” She asks.

“Nope, Cloudy was always into that sorta thing. Not me.” Candy says, sniffing the mixture a bit before moving to another bowl.

Clearing her throat, Feather starts singing cheerfully, “S U G A R Jump into your racing car…”

Giggling, Candy responds, “Say Sugar Rush, HEY! Sugar Rush.”

Bouncing a bit, Feather continues, “S U G A R, jump into your racing car.”

“Say Sugar Rush, HEY, Sugar Rush!” Candy sings back and sits, his tail bouncing to the beat of the tune.

Looking up, Feather shrugs, “Some strange ability of ponies, we can pick up music and join in songs even if we’ve never heard them before. So yeah, when magic is involved, sometimes logic falls to the side.”

Lighting his horn, Candy brings down several dyes and colorings, adding them to another bowl, smiling as he sings softly.

***

Transient noise: In submarine terms, this is inadvertent noises made by crew members. Daily activities such as letting a door close too loudly, dropping dishes or books, or even putting the toilet seat down too hard, generate sounds that can, and have, given away submarine’s positions. By far they are the most common ways submarines are detected. Especially when you are talking the black hole in the water known as an Ohio class missile submarine.

“We should blend in with the wreckage and debris.” The XO whispers as he looks at the charts.

The USS Florida lays quietly on the costal shelf at about seven hundred twenty feet of depth. The submarine is running on low power mode, with all machinery that is not necessary turned off. It is a waiting game now, waiting for orders, waiting to see if they are detected, waiting for someone to make a mistake.

“Last year a bad storm blew though this area, several exploration drilling platforms went down and Russia hasn’t had time to remap the bottom. There’s so much metal down here, MAD will mistake us for part of a drilling platform.” The captain says and leans back in his chair.

Walking onto the bridge, ensign Peterson hands the captain a paper full of numbers, statistics and graphs. “Sir?”

“Yes, ensign?” the captain whispers back, aware that even voices might be heard.

“All oxygen systems are working fine, but the number three scrubber is acting up a bit, I think its filter is clogged, we should be good for a few days though.” The ensign says softly.

“Keep an eye on it, if air quality changes replace it, quietly.” The Captain responds.

“Roger.” Turning, Peterson heads off the bridge.

The entire boat is quiet, people walking down the halls move with measured steps. Every action, from working on machinery to brushing teeth is being done as quietly as possible. Even a sneeze could give their position away, but this is war footing. Even the food is prepared to minimize sound, leaving the choice of foods limited.

Picking up a coffee, lasagna and salad, Peterson sits down at a table with a huff. Food is always there to keep moral up and stress down, but this isn’t helping. Everyone on the sub is stressed, they are one mistake away from having the entire Russian Navy on them.

“I still don’t believe we are supposed to strike Russia directly. What’s your take on that Eddie?” Ensign Matt Roberts says, part of the weapons department, and Eddie Peterson’s bunk mate.

Propping his chin up, Peterson takes a slow swig of his coffee before shaking his head, “Stupidity. Civil unrest in Russia, US carrier getting attacked in the Persian Gulf, the whole world is coming unglued starting last May.”

“With the ponies, yeah. My sister claims to have seen one with her daughter.” Matt says softly, “All fluffy and pink.” With a bit of a chuckle he finishes, “To die for.”

“Well people are dying for them, or dying because of them. Scuttlebutt is there’s some group of them in South Africa that the Russians are trying to recruit. They want them to help shift the balance of power in the region into their favor.” Peterson says, “And they have attacked US assets to do so. Given that, we are supposed to act as retribution if it continues.”

“And its going down in the next few days? I don’t think they would leave us sitting here for more than a week. That would be nuts.” Matt whispers and looks around. “Of course, the world seems to have gone nuts.”

“So how is your niece, Lilly right?” Peterson asks softly, a shift of compassion to his voice.

Matt shakes his head slowly, “I don’t know, the doctors first said her version was extremely aggressive, and she would likely die in three to four months. Then they tell us there’s been some kind of misdiagnosis and she has to be brought back several times. Then they tell us in September that she’s in remission but they need more tests. Finally, they tell us she has no signs of cancer in her anymore. That the treatments worked far better then expected.”

“Doctors sometimes. Probably a mix of the meds and chemo worked better than they anticipated and now they want to figure out how to try it on others.” Shaking his head, Peterson smiles, “Well at least she’s better now. We can thank God for that.”

“Amen.”

***

“Amen.” Shoe Shine says, her head bowed, before burying her muzzle into the bowl of cereal. It isn’t pretty, but it is her first meal as a pony, a mix of rolled oats, grains, and alfalfa cubes. Nothing better to reset the body to a proper diet.

Smiling softly, Masquerade munches on her own granola, before looking up, “Not hungry sis?”

“I… I don’t know, I guess I’m just worried.” Katie sighs and looks down at her cereal.

Masquerade tilts her head, “About what?”

“About you, about Shoe Shine, about everything.” Katie sighs, “I still don’t know what to call you.”

“Masq, Masquerade, sis, big brother if you really want. Whatever you call me doesn’t change the fact that we’re family.” Masq smiles and wiggles her tail.

Katie gives a soft smile before looking at Shoe Shine, the new mare’s muzzle is coated with grains and milk. Unable to help giggling, she picks up a cloth and starts wiping Shoe Shine’s muzzle and face. “There you go.”

“What about mine?” Masq whines playfully.

“What about yours? You are clean. Don’t ask me how.” Katie says, laughing.

Hopping off the chair, Masq walks around and wraps a wing around her sister, hugging her tight. “Practice, trust me, I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but I do remember being a pony.”

“I know, and you seem so happy as one.” Gently Katie hugs Masq, considering as she looks deep into her sister’s eyes. “But how do I know my brother’s still in there?”

Blinking, Masq pulls her head back, “Oh come on sis, what other pony out there is as fun and funny as me? Remember, when you fly with Pony Air, your safety is guaranteed. Pony Air is a registered trademark of the Pony Air Group, subsidiary of the US Air Force. Pony Air takes no responsibility for emotional distress of passengers, lost baggage, pets, or dragon servants in flight. All meals for Pony Air are provided by the US Air Force, even if some may be labelled US Army Air Corps. Pony Air prohibits flash photography on all flights. Any complaints may be submitted to the President of the United States directly.”

“Oh god…” Katie laughs, “Ok you’re my bother, you kept your insanity even as a pony.”

“It’s a requirement.” Masq says with a firm nod before snuggling into Katie.

Shoe Shine smiles as well, “Well I wouldn’t say that, I’d like to think ponies could be sane.”

“Meh its 50-50,” Masq says, wiggling her forehoof side to side, “Though most of what humans would consider insane, to us is instinct, magic, and ponykind. Ponies are somewhat chaotic, with a lot of randomness about themselves. Though they wear their hearts and emotions on their butts.”

Wiggling her butt side to side and her flicking her tail, Masq smiles, “Between our ears and tail expressions, and our FDA approved Butt Stamps, you can tell a lot about a pony if you understand them. But you generally go nuts trying to understand them.”

“Bah, you were nuts even before the ponies.” Katie says with a smile.

Shaking her head, Masq walks around and puts her wing over Shoe Shine’s back, hugging her. “That’s the thing, we were always ponies. We just didn’t know it yet. We all remember Discord, some by his words…”

Shoe Shine closes her eyes and trembles for a moment, “Five score, divided by four.”

“Me, by his eyes and laughter. It’s real to us, I don’t know why, or how, but it happened.” Masq says.

“Well, why is pretty obvious, Discords the lord of chaos, sought to overthrow Equestria, grand plan, and all.” Shoe Shine says, “Didn’t you watch the cartoon and briefing?”

“I wonder if we could contact DHX studios to do a mini animation for the briefing.” Masq muses, looking up innocently before getting the back of her head smacked lightly by Katie.

“Behave, we don’t need ponies more confused during the change.” Katie laughs.

“Trust me, I was confused enough.” Shoe Shine says with a firm nod, “Finding out the cartoon was real.”

“I wouldn’t say real, more like excerpts and dramatizations. Memories or glimpses of what happened, remembered by others, or drawn from the subconscious.” Rubbing Shoe Shines muzzle with her wing, Masq smiles, “Just because you, because we weren’t starred in the show, just means no pony really close to us worked on the production staff. It doesn’t mean we aren’t important.”

“I guess, I just always wished growing up I’d be a Princess and have my own unicorn.” Shoe Shine says with a sigh.

“Well, if you marry somepony like Prince Blueblood, you’d BE a princess AND have a unicorn.” Masq says with a mischievous smile.

“Ok first, ewwww… and second… ewww.” Shoe Shine says shaking her head so hard her ears flop, “Blueblood was a self-centered jerk, and that’s not what I meant by having a unicorn.”

Quickly covering Masq’s muzzle, Katie shakes her head, “No, no riding jokes either.”

***

Arba Minch Airport in Ethiopia has been used by the US military for almost a decade now. Drones from the US Air Force operated over parts of Somalia, monitoring militants and pirates. Several strikes against extremists by drones have been carried out from this base.

The runway at the airport was also large enough to handle US transport aircraft, this meant it was well suited for a staging. It had taken four of the C-17 transport aircraft to fly in all the vehicles. A mix of LAV’s and Hummers make up the ground transport for the US Marine Corps Force, Africa.

The convoy of vehicles runs with the smaller Hummer’s running out front. Armed with heavy machine guns they are the scouts. Behind them, the LAV 25’s followed, intermixed with TOW and Stinger equipped Hummers. Rear guard was one last detachment of Hummers with heavy machine gun and grenade launchers. More than equipped to deal with any rebel force they encountered.

“Godfather actual, this is Hitman, we are underway. ETA to target area, three hours.”

“Hitman, this is Godfather actual. Roger that, keep advised, remember, hostile air assets may be present.”

Traveling south, the convoy would be crossing the Ethiopian border in about an hour. Then, they would be in Somalia.

***

With a loud groan, Fleur collapses onto a pile of pillows. Her normally white coat is still covered with dirt, black marks and grass stains. Her mane is matted down in the most undignified manner from her combat gear, but really, she doesn’t care at the moment.

Sea Swirl face plants, her front legs just giving out at the edge of the sofa. With a little work, however, she manages to walk her body with just her hind legs, sliding it along the couch until she can fully roll onto it.

Sugarberry, on the other hoof, doesn’t even make it to the pillows, she just finds a place on the carpet to collapse, “Oh Celestia what a day. Heck what a week.”

Laying down beside Sugarberry, Ballad droops her head over the other mare’s back using her as a pillow. “Hundreds of arrests, at least I don’t need to do the paperwork.”

“Oh no, don’t remind me.” Fleur groans, “I so need a shower.”

“Bath here!” Sea Swirl says weakly, lifting a foreleg.

Ballad groans, “To much work, somepony just carry me out back and hose me down please.”

“Doc’s say Goldie is awake and responsive, and should be just fine.” Sea Swirl, “But she gets sponge baths.”

“Honestly, I’d go to the spa but, I can’t feel my hooves.” Fleur moans, “I had three different SWAT assaults in one city.”

“Four here.” Sea Swirl groans, “I thought the unicorn guards were supposed to do this, where are they all?”

“All those guys went back to Equestria. They left us girls behind.” Sugarberry says and huffs, “Stallions.”

Fleur laughed softly, “They fought a war, so we’d have a home to go back to someday.” Laying her head back down, Fleur groans, “Even my horn hurts.”

“Aww the poor fashion model doesn’t like hard work?” Ballad says with a giggle.

Fleur eyes her for a moment, “No more then the minstrel. You’re as wasted as I am.”

Anthony walks in, carrying several boxes and blinks, coughing slightly, “Oi, ok, air freshener time.”

“Says the two legger that got to spend the entire raid run in a command vehicle.” Fleur says with a huff then stops and blinks, “What… are you carrying?”

“Alfalfa, onion, mushroom, and bell pepper pizza’s, with extra cheese. Special delivery from the 520th.” Putting the boxes down, Anthony walks over and opens the windows. “Apple cider, and rye and barley beer.”

Turning he blinks as all eyes, noses, and ears are now fixed on him, “Yes, I got enough for everypony and some extra.”

“Oh what’s that one?” Sea Swirl asks, looking at one box set aside.

“That’s mine, onion perogies, with goat cheese and mozzarella and alfredo sauce. Hooves, and horns, off.” Anthony says as he puts the pizza up high.

“But but but….” Sea Swirl whimpers, “Food.”

“Yes, but I can’t eat alfalfa, so this is the only one I can actually have.” Anthony says before walking over to Fleur, “Ok Lis, lets get you up.”

“What? Wait!” Fleur blinks as Anthony helps her to her hooves, “What are you doing?”

“Bathroom, we are getting you washed up and prettied up again.” Anthony says walking with her into the bathroom.

“But, food?” She whines.

“I’ll bring you in some when you get in the bath.” Chuckling, Anthony walks over and starts filling the tub. It’s a massive 72 inch monstrosity that probably holds over 80 gallons of water. More than large enough for a pony of Fleur’s size. Testing the water, he nods, “Ok in ya go.”

Fleur climbs over the edge of the tub and lays down, moaning softly at the warm water. Adding a little scented bath to the water Anthony nods and steps out.

“Pampering your partner?” Sea Swirl asks with a giggle.

“You’re next.” Anthony says as he picks up some cider and pizza, he turns back towards the bathroom, bringing it in and setting it in sight of Fleur. “There you go Lis. Now lets get to work.”

“Work?” Fleur asks curiously before eeping and moaning again.

Walking around the tub Anthony picks up the water sprayer and starts soaking down Fleur’s mane before beginning to wash it, massaging her scalp and neck. Letting Fleur relax, Anthony steps out into the main room again. “Ok Lis will be a bit.”

“We heard the moans out here.” Ballad says, giggling, “She sounds like she’s in bliss.”

“There’s only one tub though.” Anthony says before sitting down.

“So how long till you turn into a stallion?” Sea Swirl asks, her ears perked forward as she looks at him before leaning sideways to look at his hip.

Laughing, Anthony raises both hands defensively, “Nope, not for me. I’m happy being human, and with my luck, I’d turn into somepony like Snips, or worse… Silver Spoon.”

“He’s too old anyway,” Fleur says, stepping out of the bathroom.

Laying down towels on the floor, Anthony makes an area for Fleur to lay down on before going into the bathroom, “Take a second to clean the tub.”

“So do you think we made a difference?” Fleur asks looking over at Swirl.

“Most definitely, the FBI and other LEO’s showed this is about more than just ponies, its about a way of life that doesn’t include slavery or brutality.” Swirl says with a firm nod. “We made a statement out there!”

“Yep, ponies can get dirty.” Anthony says, walking back in, “Swirl, you’re up.”

“Wait what? Me?” Swirl blinks as Anthony wraps his arms around her, helping her to her hooves.

“Come on girl, into the tub.” Anthony says gently, pushing her into the bathroom.

“But, but, but…privacy?” Sea Swirl squeaks, before being helped into the tub.

Shaking his head, Anthony starts spraying her mane down with hot water, “No complaining, you girls all worked hard, you need to relax, get your energy back, and stop smelling.”

Sea Swirl huffs before closing her eyes and relaxing, “You win, this feels too nice to argue.”

Lathering her mane, Anthony smiles, “I figured, seems all mares like this kind of pampering. And since there isn’t a local spa I figured I’d step in and help. You all deserve it for the work you did, heck Goldie deserves it too, but she’s stuck with sponge baths by nurses.”

“Thank you. You’re such a stud.” Sea Swirl then blinks, her ears going red, “I mean such a great person. I didn’t mean…Eeep”

Laughing, Anthony picks up a brush and walks out of the bathroom. Sea Swirl sinks so just her nose and eyes are above the water, her ears bright red. Heading over to Fleur, Anthony starts brushing her mane for her.

“So what’s the plan?” Ballad asks.

“Well, we are supposed to wait here, while the rest of the teams to get back, for final debrief then everyone and everypony is returning to their home bases.” Fleur says, looking back at Anthony, “Going to do my tail too?”

“That would be overstepping my bounds.” Anthony says, “And I don’t wanna get fired for that.”

Fleur laughs, “Its ok, I’ll do it myself.”

Humming softly for a moment, Anthony switches sides and starts brushing again, as he starts to sing. His voice strong and true, “As dawn shines on us every morn, the fire of friendship is reborn, and all the friendships we have made, we cherish in every way.”

A shiver goes up Ballads back as she looks at her cutie mark, her voice joining in automatically, “Loyalty binds us and keeps us strong.”

Fleur looks at Anthony and gulps once, “Honesty shows us that we belong….”

“And Kindness shared will unite us though each day….” Sea Swirl finishes as she steps out of the bathroom. “No truer those words, then to those of us here and around the world.”

***

“Godfather Actual, this is Hitman, we have crossed the border. I say again, we have crossed the border.”

“Hitman this is Godfather Actual, roger that, Godfather out.”

“Hitman Actual, this is Hitman 2 bravo, I have an object in the road up ahead.” Shouldering his rifle, the marine sergeant rubs his eyes before looking through the scope, “It looks like a small animal, zebra I think.”

“Hitman 2 bravo, this is Hitman Actual, zebra are not small animals.”

“Honk the horn a couple of times, see if it moves.” The marine sergeant says.

The driver hits the horn a few times, slowing down as he gets closer. But the object in the road simply tilts its head, looking at the convoy.

“Hitman Actual, this is Hitman 2 bravo, it looks like a zebra pony thingie, one of their kind. I think it’s a child, err… a foal, but it’s not moving. Should we stop?”

“All Hitman this is Hitman Actual, any sign of hostiles?”

“Hitman 3, no contacts left.”

“Hitman 5, no contacts right.”

“Hitman 9, No contacts rear.”

“Hitman 7, I have a high airborne approximately one five clicks south-south east, holding speed two five two knots at thirty thousand feet, orbiting.”

“Hit the brakes.” The marine sergeant calls out.

The lead hummer skids to a stop about a hundred feet from the foal. As it does, the rest of the convoy, fishboneing as they spread out on either side of the road.

“Hitman 2 this is Hitman actual, what’s going on?”

Picking up the mic, the sergeant takes a breath, “Hitman actual, remember the intel, air target is likely the dragon, intel had it with a little zebra foal, didn’t it?”

“Hitman 2, this Hitman Actual, that’s a roger, so you think if we pose a threat to the foal the dragon will attack? Also remember, its not a foal, it’s a 25-year-old human.”

“Hitman actual, Hitman 2 I’m going to move in on foot.” Clicking the mic, the sergeant leaves the Humvee and slowly starts walking towards the Zebra.

The zebra stands up as the human approaches and walks side to side, looking at him, watching the rifle closely. Narrowing his eyes the zebra shakes it’s head, “Stop.”

Checking his rifle, the marine sergeant stops and takes a knee, “You speak English? I’m Sargent Riggs, United States Marine Corps.”

“Geen, Afrikaans. Strepe.” The zebra says and shakes his head.

“Great.” Keying his mic, the sergeant leans into his radio, “Hitman actual, this is Hitman 2 bravo, the foal is a zebra from Equestria, I’ll need a translator for African.”

“Hitman 2 bravo, this is Hitman, Hitman actual is on his way up with Wise-guy.”

Clicking his mic once, “Hitman 2 bravo, copy.” Looking back at the zebra, the sergeant reaches into his combat webbing and pulls out a ‘Soldier fuel’ Bar. Opening it, he holds it out to the foal.

Blinking, the foal steps forward and sniffs the bar once before turning its head away and sticking its tongue out.

“Hey it doesn’t smell that bad does it?” Taking a sniff himself the sergeant shrugs, “okay, maybe it does.” Breaking off a piece he sits down and starts eating.

“Sargent, this isn’t break time.” The captain says firmly from behind.

Without even flinching or looking back the sergeant chuckles, “Just trying to keep the situation calm and relaxed.”

“Look if we are to believe the show, we got glimpses of pony culture but nothing of zebra. Besides, this is a foal, we need someone in charge.” The Captain snarls.

Looking down, the translator kneels, “May we speak with the leaders of your community?”

Looking up at the men the zebra chuckles, “Sure, but you’ll need to leave your weapons here.”

“He says you’ll need to leave your weapons behind.” The translator, a Kenyan contractor says firmly.

“We don’t leave our weapons. That is just stupid.” The Captain says firmly, “He expects us to go in unarmed.”

Sighing, the translator looks back down at the zebra, “They don’t like the idea of leaving the weapons, someone could take them. Or worse.”

“Most of the ponies here have had bad experiences with guns. Witnessed terrorism and kidnappings. Seen entire villages wiped out, child soldiers given drugs to make them angry and set loose to kill those that didn’t follow their belief. No, no guns.” The zebra says, shaking his head no.

The translator shakes his head, “It’s non-negotiable, no weapons, anyone going in must be unarmed. The residents have had enough issues with guns.”

“Is there someone else with we could talk to?” The Captain says, “Someone with more authority?”

Looking down the translator shrugs, “Is there a grown up that can make the decision to override that rule? So that we can enter your town easier?”

“It’s our town, but we didn’t make all these rules, some of the rules we accepted on arriving.” The zebra says, “It’s not our territory after all.”

“Who’s is it?” the translator asks curiously.

“Hers!” The zebra says, turning and pointing at the sky, the form of the massive dragon rocks back and forth, keeping its distance but circling in case of trouble.

***

“Come on Sis.” Candy says softly, crawling into the hospital bed with his sister, “You’ve gotta wake up, you’ve just gotta.”

Rubbing his cheek against his sister's he holds a candy in front of her nose, moving it back and forth like smelling salts. “Remember these, sis? Mom made them for us in Equestria, she said it helped us young unicorns.”

Closing my eyes, I gently nuzzle both foals before I climb into the bed with them, thank gosh we are little ponies. The hospital bed is only a single, not even as wide as a normal single but it is big enough for me to lay on my side, pulling both foals tightly to me. Softly I can start nuzzling Cloudy gently.

Blaze chuckles softly, “Mothering instincts, Hun?”

Nodding, I curl tighter around the two. “Mama’s here.”

Gently opening Cloudy’s mouth, Candy puts one of the chocolate bon bons onto his sister’s tongue, before closing her mouth. Putting his face against hers he cries softly. “Please sis. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Candy it’s not your fault.” I say and softly rub my cheek against his.

Crossing his horn against his sister's, “I just need her to be all right.”

“I will be, I just wanna sleep a little more momma.” Cloudy says softly.

Blinking Candy sits up quickly, “Sis? SIS!”

Rubbing the side of her head Cloudy looks up, “Mom?”

“It’s me, its Candy.” The colt says, looking down.

Cloudy looks up at me, then at her brother, “I had a dream of mom, of her candy.”

“I made some, I made some of mom’s special candy for you.” Candy says, tears in his eyes. “I put all her love… all my love into it for you.”

“You always did like making them with mom.” Cloudy says softly, before looking up, “Sorry mom.”

He hugs his sister tightly, Candy blinks, “What are you sorry for?”

“I got carried away I guess, and scared mom.” Cloudy says softly.

“You don’t have to call me mom if you don’t want to.” I say softly

Both of them look up and blink, before they hug me in stereo. “You are mom. We can have two moms.”

Looking down I see the glow on Candy’s hip. A sprig of cotton candy appearing with hearts on the cone. With a smile I hug them both a little tighter.

Author's Note

Thanks again for Sparky for his great editing.

96: A Rising Tide

“Turboprop, four engine aircraft flying low. Likely 200 knots, bearing 221. It’s a TU-142 Bear.” The sonar operator had his face glued to the screen, headphones on as he whispered. “Engine noises starting to fade.”

Everyone onboard remained still and quiet. This bear was not some slow lumbering bomber. It was a hunter. Built to hunt one specific prey, United States submarines. It could stay in the air over a sub for hours if need be and guide other ships and subs into position. That is, if it doesn’t decide to drop its own depth charges or torpedoes.

“Cut the fans on board three and four.” The captain murmurs.

“Splashes, multiple splashes detected.” The sonar operator chirps.

“Ensign Peterson cut those fans now. Now.” The captain growls, looking over.

“Sonobuoys in the water. Eight, nine, no…ten of them. Number three is active, pings, I have pings.”

Quickly the XO moves over to the atmospheric controls and runs his fingers down two rows of buttons watching them turn from green to red. He moves over and waves his hand in front of Ensign Peterson’s face a few times.

“What the heck’s wrong with him?” The captain asks before shaking his head and looking back at the sonar operator. “Status?”

“Pings are to far out I think, hang on, one of the buoys isn’t pinging properly.” Tapping his panel, he begins working with the data the computer has gathered, isolating the signal among the various signals all around.

“XO, deal with Peterson.” The captain says firmly as he walks over and leans against the sonar station console. “Any progress?”

“It’s…. it’s… They’re talking to someone, coded hydrophone communications. Computer’s recording it for analysis later but…” he puts a hand to his headset. “Transient… Plant noise I think…” He looks up at the captain. “Ah hell, it’s a Typhoon and Yasen heading for port.”

The XO gives Peterson a shake, with that, the ensign starts to take a deep breath opening his mouth, eyes wide in fear. “Oh shit, get the medics to the con, tell them to bring a tranquilizer, fast and quiet.”

Slamming one hand under the ensign’s jaw to close his mouth, the XO quickly puts his other hand over Petersons mouth to block any sound and holds as tight as he can. The navigator moves over, grabbing Petersons hands and holding them tight to his side to prevent him from struggling or making noise.

“Calm down, keep quiet, don’t make a sound.” The XO growls into Peterson’s ear.

Breathing heavily, Peterson does his best not to struggle, every instinct in him told him to, but his training said he had to stay quiet. Moments later he felt the sting of a needle in his arm, soon after, the darkness came.

***

“You don’t understand, we simply don’t care.” The zebra says softly, walking slowly beside Kara.

“We have so much to offer, equipment, education, training,” Looking around, the captain shakes his head.

“Protection?” The zebra snerks.

“If you need it,” The captain replied then stopped, “Protection from what?”

“We have heard about the Americans, and how they have treated ponies. We are safe from that here. We have everything we need, clean water, sunlight, land for crops. We have shelters, though they may not be as luxurious as those in your land, they are ours. We even have internet. We have been given stuff freely with no strings or requests,” The zebra says sitting down.

Looking at the generator and solar panels, the Captain nods, “I’m not certain what you’ve heard about when it comes to ponies in the US. But, given stuff by whom?”

“Others who care about our freedom, or choices. We are servant to no government here. We are our own kingdom.” The zebra says, looking up at the sky, the wind blowing her mane. “Here, we are the same.”

“That the world does not recognize,” The captain says, “We can bring in teachers, workers, you have some older Russian items here, we can provide you with state of the art modern items.”

“This might be hard to understand but, the items we receive are rugged, made to last years or decades with simple maintenance. We don’t need things that will get clogged with sand or overheat and fail,” Motioning to the windmill before standing and starting to walk again, “We built that ourselves.”

“We can bring in doctors, nurses,” The captain said looking at the hospital building as they walk past it.

“Vets?” The zebra said looking at her hoof, “What is this really about. The truth.”

“There are those in command that are, worried, that the Russians may be having to much influence here. May be bribing you.” The captain said flatly. “They are aware that you have received supplies from them.”

The zebra mare stops, blinking, “Is that it? We’ve received good from ponies and griffons in Russia?”

“Ponies?”

“What, were you under the impression that only Americans had changed? Russian ponies have donated supplies and equipment and had it flown down here to help us. It has nothing to do with any government. Well maybe the government of Equestria, but no Earth government.” Flipping over the door the zebra storms inside the large meeting room.

Power to this building provides for air conditioning, lights, and other modern conveniences including several public access computers. A sign written in several languages lays out the rules for the communal fridge, with a reminder to those who store fish to keep it away from non-meat products. The center of the room has a large semi circle of pillows and chairs set out facing a large table. It is a fairly makeshift council room.

A bedazzled looking Spitfire sits looking at a stack of papers, while a griffin and thestral laugh. Several foals sit with a baby dragon who is sharing some comic books, and in the corner of the room sits a pinkish alicorn, her wings folded against her sides watching the little ones having fun.

Slowly the Captain raises his hand to click on the mic that is attached to the shoulder of his combat webbing. Half in shock he speaks calmly and quietly, “Godfather, this is Hitman actual. The pink princess is here. Right now. There’s a confirmed princess on Earth.”

***

Katie's alarm clock had gone off, waking her up. It is a strange sensation since normally she woke up well before it but today, she was just extra tired. Walking out of her bedroom wearing just a nightshirt and bunny slippers she rubs her eyes as she heads for the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, she takes out her ground beans and starts filling the coffee maker before turning it on. Tossing some bread into the toaster, she turns, walking back out into the living room, scratching her back slowly before stopping.

Masquerade is laying on the floor snuggled against Shoe Shine, they are both sharing a blanket though Masquerade has used her wing to cover the earth pony as well. The pair lay cheek to cheek in front of the TV which is currently reading No Signal. The cell phone was currently off, but still plugged in to the HDMI port.

Unable to resist the smile, Katie kneels down and strokes Masquerade’s mane softly, “Probably fell asleep watching videos. Poor things.”

Sitting down, she leans against Masquerade as well then blinks as the little pony starts sniffing the air. Slowly she lifts her head, turning it toward the kitchen sniffing, eyes still closed, “Ohhh… Coffee.”

“Morning,” Katie says softly and goes back to hugging Masquerade.

Laying her head back down Masquerade starts smacking her lips. “Now I just need pancakes, syrup, butter.”

“Sorry sis, I just have some Quaker oats here for breakfast.”

“Nope, not acceptable in the slightest.” Lifting her head, Masquerade yawns widely, “We need... IHOP!”

Blinking, Katie looks confused for a moment, “IHOP? Isn’t that a little…public?”

Sitting up, the bejeweled pegasus sighs, “We aren’t exactly trying to hide, we’re hear, at least for another two years if not longer, more and more ponies are appearing. For all we know there could be millions of us around. We just aren’t hovering in front of media cameras and making anti-human protests. So, the media isn’t interested.”

“Anti-human protests?”

“Horse meat is murder! Riding is slavery! Whips and chains are fun, I mean wrong.” Masquerade says with a smile.

“Okay, point taken, don’t eat at a restaurant with a wooden horse head outside.”

Giving Shoe Shine a shake, Masquerade looks down, “Wakie wakie sleepy head.”

“Oh sorry, I’ll take six carrots Harvest, Pinky blew up my mailbox so I don’t know where my delivery went.” Shoe Shine moans.

Giving Shoe Shine another shake Masquerade laughs. “Wake up, or you’ll miss the carrot pancakes.”

Sitting straight up the little earth pony looks around, “What, where? Oh god. Ugg, you know you’ve been watching to much my little ponies when you start having dreams about living there.”

“That’s actually your memories, it will take a while but they will come back,” Masquerade says as she stands up.

Katie tilts her head then pokes Masquerade’s nose, “Well as least you don’t have dreams like that.”

“You’d think I shouldn’t but sometimes, sometimes I do. I don’t understand it or why. I remember a great city in the clouds. I remember being attacked by bug ponies, changelings… and I remember eyes… misshapen yellow eyes.” A shudder goes up Masquerade’s back as she sticks her tongue out.

“How about you?” Katie asks, quick to change the subject.

“Umm, I’m not sure, all I know is, Pinkie Pie owes me a new mailbox,” Shoe Shine grumbles, narrowing her eyes.

***

“Oh, Meadow Flower,” XO Cruz says almost in a singing voice.

The full body cringe says it all, drooping her head, Maxine balls her fists and growls softly, “XO, you are not allowed to call me that, Cherry is a foal and still recovering so I let her.”

“I still think you got a roo loose in the upstairs paddock. I did, however, find that there is a brumby on the show called Meadow Flower, it might be her mate or family.” The XO says and offers a coffee to Maxine.

“So, we are to drop her off at the closest port in Indonesia?” she says, taking the coffee.

“That’s our orders, when the doc releases her, that is.” The XO says, stepping onto the bridge and raising his cup to the Captain.

“Nav, take your station, I need an intercept course plotted ASAP,” The captain says firmly.

Walking over to her screen, Maxine looks over her shoulder, confused. “Sir?”

“The HMAS Ararat is chasing down an illegal fishing vessel. They want to catch it before it reaches international waters. If we hit max speed, I think we can box it in.” Captain Stevenson says sternly.

Checking her charts and satellite information, Maxine starts crunching the numbers, “Running at full, they will still cross the line before we get there, but we might be in visual range before that. It might be enough to cause them to turn or stop. But…”

“But?” The Captain looks at the nav, an eyebrow rising.

“We won’t be in range to send Cheery off if we do.”

“Moot point, I want the helicopter on deck and ready. We may need it to slow down the fishing boat, we’ve been asked for help for fisheries enforcement. That takes priority,”

“Captain, we still have that willy-willy coming in from the North as well,” The radio operator calls back.

“I’m aware, depending on its course it will cut us off from Indonesia at best, at worst we might have to make a run for safe harbor at Broome. We can take on fuel there at least and make it back to base,” The Captain says, sipping his coffee. “I will not endanger my ship or crew taking it though that squall.”

Blinking, Maxine smiles, “The Admiralty wouldn’t ask you to.”

***

“Sweetie Pop!” Ambrosia called, as she stirs the pot gently.

Dropping their heads down from the sleeping loft, Sunny and Sweet both giggle, “It’s Sweet Pop.” The pair say in stereo.

“Except when I’m calling you sweetie. Have you two taken a bath yet?” Ambrosia asks as she looks up at the upside-down faces above her.

Sunny points to the filly beside her, “Yep, we have, I showed her how to use the bath tub. Did you know she looks like a duck when she’s in the water?”

In response Sweet giggles and lets out a, “Honk, honk.”

Sitting up quickly, Full Steam looks around, “You’ve got space to go around!” Blinking a few times, he shakes his head and lets out a big yawn.

“Its ok dear, you’re inside, that was just Sweetie playing swan,” Ambrosia says before looking up, “Ducks go quack, quack.”

“Meh, I never saw either alive, closest I know is they go sizzle, or bubble bubble, depending on fried or souped.” Full Steam says as he falls back on the sofa.

“How are the supplies holding out? Do I have to go scavenging again?” Sunny says with a bright smile.

“Oh we’re fine, but thanks for checking. Tonight, it’s a thick vegetable stew, with fruit for desert, and home loaf bread.” Ambrosia holds up a small loaf to the two. “So how are you dealing with being a foal?”

“It’s, well… Its easier then it seems after the trick Sunny taught me. Its strange but, if you just accept it, go with it, embrace the child. Everything seems to come naturally,” Looking at her hoof she bites into some of the bread.

Sunny nods, “If I try an act like an adult, I get confused and frustrated, because even though I have twenty-five years of experience, it just doesn’t seem to apply to hooves. And the more we fight that, the more… stress… it seems to bring.”

Ambrosia nods slowly and smiles, “So remember anything of Equestria?”

“Bits and pieces. Little snippets come to me in dreams.”

“Oh, anything of interest?” Ambrosia asks as she begins to fill bowls with food.

“I… I remember a stadium. Like the big football stadiums at the capitol, but this was in the sky. It was made of clouds. Big pillars with stands full of pegasi cheering. I was there with my class. Other foals around me,” Sweet murmurs.

Sunny rubs Sweet Pops mane softly, “Don’t worry, it will come back.”

“I know, we were watching some kind of competition. I remember the other girls names. I think… I think one was Cheery, yeah I know, what kind of name is Cheery. The other was… was… Feather, I think.”

***

“And that’s why you don’t cross the streams,” Henry says, turning the page in his book.

“Have I reminded you today that I hate you?” Sugarberry says as she sits down, rubbing her horn vigorously.

Blowing up at her own horn, Ballad looks at the smoking tip, “Right, you wanna try?”

“Nope, no horn, no pink fur, I’m happy as can be,” Henry says with a smile, “And I ordered apple granola pizza, and donuts.”

“I swear, Velvet makes this look so easy,” Sugarberry huffs.

“Velvet, Twinkleshine, Twilight, all of their special talents are about magic,” Henry says and leans forward as he closes his book before booping Sugarberry’s nose gently, “Yours, is about gems, creating growing and shaping them, like Rarity’s is about finding them. And yours is about music, Ballad.”

“Yeah yeah, and when we use our magic with our special talents we are strongest,” Ballad huffs explosively, “Your talent is magical healing though.”

“Nope, my talent’s keepin you two fed. And that doesn’t take magic,” Henry says as he gets up with the ring of the doorbell.

“Saved by the bell, I swear his special talent is avoiding his special talent.” Sugarberry giggles.

“Am I late?” Cipher asks as she prances in, “The class went longer than I hoped.”

Henry chuckles, “Nope, you just missed them almost blow up each others’ horns.”

“You crossed the streams again, didn’t you?” Cipher says as she lifts her saddle bag off her back and drops it on the floor by the door.

“We were just trying to combine magic for a spell,” Sugarberry whines, “I used to do it with my mom all the time.”

“Yep, but your mom and you shared a talent, your trying to combine a rock and music specialty. That doesn’t work without drums and a base guitar.” Henry says as he flops back down on the chair and picks up his book.

Sitting down, Cipher taps the side of her ear, where her wireless earpiece and mic boom is, with her hoof as she lights her horn. A moment later a wrap-around screen appears in front of her eyes, hovering there as she starts to read.

“Now that’s just showing off,” Sugarberry says, puffing out her cheeks and pouting. “How the heck do you make these spells so easy?”

Giggling softly, Cipher winks, “Its not easy, and it's just modifying one spell, I kind of look at spells like computer programs.”

“You would,” Ballad huffs.

“To her, it’s the way she thinks and perceives things, so it works for her,” Henry says poking Ballad’s muzzle softly.

“You booped me! I can’t believe it, I’ve been booped,” Ballad almost whines while rubbing her muzzle with a forehoof. “But yeah, I understand, maybe if I think of spells more like music it might help, but I’ve been trained so much in engineering and now power line maintenance, that I tend to think along those lines.”

“Just, find the path that works for you,” Sugarberry nods.

“Oh lord,” Cipher mumbles softly.

“What? What’s going on?” Ballad asked blinking.

Henry blinks, “Spill girl, your looking a little magenta there.”

“I… they… Princess Cadence is in… Somalia…” Cipher moans in disbelief.

***

To say he didn’t feel well was an understatement. He felt sick to his stomach with nausea and the ever-present taste of bile in his mouth. His head was still spinning which added to the nausea, he felt dizzy and light headed. Not a good combination to have at the best of times, on a boat or submarine, everything becomes worse.

He lets out a muffled moan into the gag. Trying hard to focus, he looks down at the gag itself, probably to keep him from screaming and giving away the subs position. The restraints are obvious, any sounds of him thrashing could alert the hunters to their prey.

“Peterson, Edward Peterson,” The voice is low and calm.

Turning his head slowly, he looks at the speaker. Seeing the boat’s doctor, Edward gives a slow nod in recognition.

Sitting down on a bench, the doctor leans over and carefully removes the gag, “Welcome back, you had a bit of a freak out there.”

“Oh God, tell me I didn’t give our position away,” Edward says barely above a whisper.

Shaking his head no, the doctor leans forward, “We are still hidden. Tell me, what do you remember?”

Edwards thinks for a moment, “I, I don’t know what happened, for a moment, it was like nothing made sense. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t understand anything around me.”

“Huh?”

“I could see the instrument panel, I could hear the XO, but I couldn’t understand anything, I didn’t know what any of the controls did, I didn’t understand what the XO was saying or even who he was. I just…” Gulping, Edwards continues, “It almost sounds like hypoxia, tell them to check the O2 levels…”

“Its not hypoxia, don’t worry, and no, its not a brain disorder or stroke.” The doctor says, flipping through pictures on his tablet.

“What’s going on then?”

Flipping the tablet around, the doctor shows the image of a golden shooting star, with a short, tapered tail, “Do you recognize this?”

“It, looks kinda generic. Sort of like, the type of thing you’d see on adds or such. Save 300 bits on this new box spring.”

Doctor flipps the tablet back looking at it, “So nothing else? No feelings associated with it?”

“Not… not really. Why?”

“Two of those appeared on you, one on each side of your hips,” The doctor says softly, “It’s usually the first part, the first stage…”

Edward groans softly and closes his eyes tightly, squeezing a few tears out to meander down his temples, “Of becoming a pony… Wonderful.”

“Don’t worry, but we will need to keep you sedated and gagged. Can’t have you waking up screaming.”

“Oh, this just gets better and better. What did I do to deserve this?”

Looking up, the ships doctor almost gives the young man an evil smile, “Oh that’s easy, you pissed off Discord.”

***

The captain’s quarters on the USS Florida is opulent compared to the rest of the crew. It is still a seven by nine box, with little more then a bed, closet, a fold down table with a pair of chairs, and a safe in it. Compared to rows of bunk beds lining the missile launch halls, three high with little more than a curtain for privacy, this is a place of relaxation and personal space.

“From what I know, Captain, this sort of thing is traumatic. Uncontrolled actions, screaming fits, he’s a threat to the boat,” The XO says as he walks slowly back and forth between the bed and the table, pacing.

“So, what are you suggesting? Dumping him out a torpedo tube?” The captain shakes his head, “The doctor says he’s low risk.”

“For now, but who knows what will happen further down the transformation. How can the doctor account for magical outbursts? Pony strength?” Turning the XO crossed his arms, “We don’t even know if the drugs we are using to sedate him will keep working.”

“I’ve considered this, including the sound hooves would make on the ships floor or coming in contact with bulkheads or doors,” The captain sighs.

The XO nods firmly, “Then you agree, he poses a threat to this boat.”

“I said no such thing, I said I considered the problems. What next? Suggesting that I considered the affect of a female officer using the bathrooms on the boat means I see them as a threat?” The captain looks at the XO sternly.

“No sir, but there is a solution you may not have considered,” the XO responds coldly and calmly.

Narrowing his eyes, the captain appraises the XO, “And that is?”

“An overdose of the anesthetics, it would be silent, and end the risk.”

“I will pretend you did not suggest that, now if you’ll excuse me, I have some paperwork to do.” The captain growls in response.

“But sir…”

Without looking up the captain utters one last word with a tone of finality, “Dismissed.”

***

Like all things on a sub, the medical bay is small. Patents were never meant to stay inside the bay, the normal practice is to treat them, then transfer them back to their bunks. Keeping Ensign Peterson is almost unheard of, and with the small crew of the submarine, the rumors are flying.

Laying on his back, Eddie does his best to get comfortable, though between the gag and the restraints it isn’t easy. The doctor had trimmed back the drugs, but they are still leaving him feeling light headed.

“Up for a guest?” The doctor asks quietly.

Eddie shrugs and moves his head to look, he can’t really speak right now, but he at least made the effort to look.

“This is Ensign Caron, she’s our resident specialist on the equines.” The doctor says as he motions for her to take a seat before removing the gag.

Smacking his lips a couple of times, Eddie looks at the woman then at the doctor, “Specialist?”

“I’m a network specialist,” she said softly, “Call me Irma. And no, I’m not a specialist on horses, I grew up in New Orleans for cripes sake.”

The doctor chuckled, “Yep but she’s the closet thing we have to a specialist.”

“How do you figure?” Eddie asks looking confused, “And can I get something to eat? I’m starving here.”

The doctor nods, “I have a tray for you already, and she’s a specialist because she knows about My Little Pony, the series.”

“Ugh, I put up one picture my niece sent me and instantly I’m an expert? Yes, I watched the series when I was growing up, yes, my mom bought me pony toys when I was like ten. It doesn’t make me an expert.” Crossing her arms, Irma puffs out her cheeks and pouts.

Carefully taking off the restraints the doctor gives Eddie a pill, “Take this.”

With a confused look, Eddie takes the meds then looks at the doctor, “Well that was a less then satisfying dinner.”

“That was Gravol so you don’t throw up the dinner.” The doctor says with a chuckle. Standing up, he gets out a set of wrapped food from a storage cabinet, “Apple juice, Nutella and banana sandwich, vegetable soup in a cup, and granola bars.”

“So, what’s his cutie mark?” Irma asks, looking at him then the doctor.

“Mrf wap?” Eddie mumbles through a bite of the sandwich before taking a drink of the soup.

“Cutie mark, it’s the magical symbol on the hip that identifies the pony and their special talent,” Irma says, “Also shows up on the card that comes with the toys so you can keep them together.”

Tapping on his tablet, the doctor shows her the mark.

“Well its not… a common one, not one of the generics like 3 stars, raindrops or such.” Tilting her head, she looks at Eddie, “Turquois, emerald or seafoam, and maybe a light banana yellow or watered down lemon yellow. Three color manes are rare for background characters, but nothing matches a main character I remember.”

“Seafoam?” Eddie looks confused and lost.

Reaching over Irma pulls down a lock of his mane, allowing him to see it, “Your mane or hair colors.”

Looking at the hair, Eddie rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out, “Ugg, why couldn’t I just be something simple like basic brown or black? I’m really going to need to shave this.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure the regs about manes and tails on a sub,” Irma grins as she responds.

“I knew they had strange colors, but actually seeing my hair like that,” Eddie huffs.

Irma smiles, “Oh yeah, I used to spend time brushing and styling my toys manes.”

“Doc, I might need to be sedated,” Eddie says, looking at the doctor with a forlorn look.

Blinking the doctor stands up, “Why are you in pain? Where does it hurt?”

“Nope, but if she starts trying to style my hair on me I might flip out,” Eddie growls.

“Hey, when I was young I dreamed of being a pony. Of living in Equestria, of going to school and having adventures.” Irma says softly as she thinks back, “I even liked to pretend I was one, my fav was Lightning Dust. Didn’t you dream of stuff?”

“Yo Joe? I used to like things like Gi-Joe, but I grew out of that and got into Red October, Red Tide and such. Though I did have this phase when I was eight about being an Air Bender,” he chuckles, “Not the avatar just an air bender.”

“Ok, that’s cute, so where to start, umm, from what I remember from the tv series, Equestria was a kingdom…”

***

“You don’t need to watch your legs or count, trust me,” Masquerade says, laughing as she walks beside Shoe Shine.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Shoe Shine counters with a huff.

Flapping her wings Masquerade takes off doing a vertical spiral followed by a loop to land on the other side of Shoe Shine, “Its muscle memory and instinct, it comes back quickly.”

“Show off,” Katie chirps in with a giggle.

Prancing on the spot Masquerade looks up at her sister, “Hey if you got it, flaunt it. Not my fault you’re vertical.”

“Human and proud of it silly,” Katie says, ruffling Masquerades mane as they walk into the IHOP.

Shoe Shine giggles softly, “Funny how people still refuse to use the B instead of P.”

Masquerade giggles in response, “Maybe because it was a marketing stunt. Even Wendy’s savaged them for it.”

“I still can’t believe you made me drive an hour to bring us here,” Katie looks sternly at Masquerade, “Just for pancakes.”

“It’s a pony thing, I guess in a way, there are very few restaurants that serve comparable food to Equestria. But pancakes, with all the fruits and nuts and berries, and such. I guess in a way it reminds us of home. Especially since no one has figured out how to make a good alfalfa burger and hay fries here yet.” Masquerade says softly, looking up at the sky.

Walking in the three are greeted with gasps and silence from most of the patrons. The sound of a plate hitting the floor, and the squee of a pair of little children.

“Oh, I should warn you. We kind of attract kids,” Masquerade chirps before shooting straight up and hovering just out of reach near the ceiling as three girls run up.

Making oohing sounds the children, somewhere between four and seven, look up at the flying pegasus while hugging and patting Shoe Shine. Timidly she finds herself backed into a corner by the children, as they tried to pat her face and mane.

“Help!”

Katie moves up and quickly tries to move the children back, “Leave her alone, she’s not a pet or toy.”

“Pony!”

“They’re real?”

One of the girls grabs Shoe Shines face, almost putting a finger in her eye, forcing the pony to close her eyes, flinching. “Someone help!”

“Its okay Shine, I’ve got this,” Gently Katie tries to remove the girl’s hands from over Shoe Shines eye when the child starts to cry. “No, I want her.”

“Take your hands off my child,” A woman says, standing up.

Shoe Shine pulls her head back and whimpers, “Could, could you keep her off me please?”

“She has every right to be here. If you didn’t want attention you shouldn’t have come here,” The woman says, “Now leave my child alone or I will call the police. You have no right to touch a minor.”

Masquerade blinks, “Excuse me, your child nearly put Shinnies eye out there.”

“She’s just being a child, it’s not her fault.” The mother says and kneels down to hug her daughter, “Its okay, mommy’s here for you.”

Holding her hand out, the child reached for Shoe Shine again, “I want…”

“Don’t worry little Mandy, mommy will buy you a real pony toy of your own,” The mother says softly stroking the girl’s hair.

“I’m not a toy,” Shoe Shine says sadly.

Seeing her in stress, Masquerade turns and lands beside Shoe Shine and puts her wing over her friend protectively, giving her a place to hide. Looking at the mother, Masquerade shakes her head slowly.

A man, wearing a dark blue shirt, with lighter blue tie and gold name tag walks over, “Excuse me.”

“Good, I want this woman removed from the restaurant, she’s harassing my child.” The mother says firmly.

The manager sighs and shakes his head, “A waitress already let me know what happened, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the restaurant.”

Katie shakes her head, “Come on sis, we’ll find…”

“Oh, you misunderstand, IHOP is very sorry for the inconvenience here, the waitress will bring you to a seat,” The manager says before turning to the mother. “Our store policy is very clear on this mater, your child disturbed other customers, to a level that would border on assault. We will not ask you to pay for your meal, but we to ask you to leave, now.”

“WHAT!” Looking up in pure rage the mother stands up, “How dare you!”

“If you do not leave, I will be forced to call the police, and at that point we would provide them with video footage of your daughter’s actions,” The manager says firmly.

One of the two other children had already retreated back to their parents while the third just hugged the woman’s leg. Looking up confused as her mother huffs.

“Let’s see how the corporate office likes the bad press you will get for this, I’ll have your job.” The woman shouts, before dragging her children out of the store.

A waitress walks over and kneels down, “Its okay, you’re safe, if you follow me we’ve got your seat ready, and your bib.”

“Bib?” Shoe Shine asks, confused.

“Not for you silly, for her,” the waitress says, pointing at Masquerade.

Blinking Masquerade thinks for a moment before flattening her ears, “Hey, we don’t drool that much.”

“You have… dealt with ponies before?” Katie asks curiously.

The waitress shook her head, “Nope, your friends are the first we’ve seen. Home office, though, sent down a sensitivity training video. Sometimes, all a pony needs is a friend in this world.”

Smiling, Shoe Shine takes a seat as a menu is placed open in front of her. A cloth bib is placed around Masquerade’s neck, and both ponies have a large wet cloth rolled up and placed beside their plates.

Katie sits across from them, blinking. “Okay, that’s strange.”

Nosing through the menu, Masq looks up a moment, “When I first changed, I escaped the hospital and made my way to an IHOP, they were really nice to me. I didn’t know it was in their mandate.”

Pouring out some water the waitress smiles, “I wouldn’t say mandate, the video just let us know about special needs and care. How we chose to use that is up to us. Are you ready to order?”

Nodding, Masquerade looks over, “One harvest grain and nut, one stack of strawberry banana, and a Belgian dark cholate stack.”

Writing down quickly the waitress nods, “And anything to drink with that?”

“Sure, diet ice tea,” Looking at Katie, Masquerade smiles, “I’m watching my figure.”

Covering her face with a hand, Katie moans, “I just… I don’t… know how to respond to that.”

“Will that be it?” The waitress asks.

“Oh, that’s all for me. Shinny, Katie, order, its on me,” Masquerade says, wiggling an ear.

Shoe Shine looks down at the menu, “Darn, no carrot pancakes. Umm…” Looking down she huffs, then nods, “One harvest grain please. And a lemonade, I don’t have a figure to watch.”

Looking up, Katie shakes her head, “Stuffed French toast for me, and a coffee please.”

The waitress turns and heads off to the kitchen quickly.

“See, its not going to be that bad.” Masquerade says and lightly pushes Shoe Shine with her wing, “And best of all, you don’t need to worry about magic explosions, wing boners or preening. You are, however, going to have to practice with your strength a bit.”

“Wha… What do you mean?”

“Well lets just put it this way, even though we are compact, we are still as strong as a horse. And earth ponies get that magnified. If you kick something, you are probably going to destroy it. So, I’d suggest taking a day or two and practice kicking, running and such.” Masquerade looks up at her sister, “Earth ponies can pull plows on their own and often pull fully loaded carts with ease.”

Looking down at her leg Shoe Shine blinks, “Really?”

Masquerade nods, “Really, and no it doesn’t mean you have to work on a farm or something. You just need to make sure you don’t accidently shatter doors, or flip cars over.”

Coming back, the waitress sits down pancakes in front of everyone, then smiles as she sets an extra stack in front of Shoe Shine, “Carrot pancakes with cream cheese icing.”

Looking up in shock, Shoe Shine doesn’t know what to say, but the waitress simply smiles and turns to head back to the kitchen.

Leaning down to dig in, Masquerade’s cell goes off. Huffing, she carefully takes it out of its leg holder and checks. “Ugg, now…?”

“What is it?” Katie asks softly.

“It’s a call out order, they want me back at base for something. Its probably nothing important, nothing to worry about sis.” Masquerade says and lifts a hoof, “Waitress.”

A moment later they can all hear the buzzing sounds, as well as several different ring tones going off. One by one different people around the restaurant starts standing up calling for the waitresses.

Blinking, Katie looks around going a little pale. “Okay, this can’t be good.”

Part 98: Bubbles in the dark.

“Ok, let's see…” She sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth a little bit as she works. Finally, she smiles. “Blankets, sleeping bag, ground sheet. I have my camp stove, propane tanks for emergencies, my tent.” The little unicorn looks up at the camera, her smile widening. “Remember, in emergency situations, treat two as one and one as none. What that means is, make sure you have backups of everything, backup heat sources, backup shelters, backup fire starters.”

Loading the last of her edible food into the cargo sleigh, she looks at her shelves and sighs, “I probably have three months’ worth of meat here, but I just can’t make use of it, not even the canned stuff. So I’m stuck with what grains, and such I have here. I’ll need to scavenge along the way.”

Turning, she sits down in front of the camera, “Okay, this will be my last recording from here, for the last day or two I’ve been trying out my hooves on the snow. For my size, they seem to have as much as four times the surface area of a deer or horses’ hoof of the same sized animal. What this means is I have a lower ground pressure rating for my weight.”

“I figure I can be near the Hay river in two days, which means sleeping out on the lake overnight. I have coal and wood packed for this, I’ll use the wood first, since I can replace that. This is going to be a real learning experience because, I don’t know how far I can really cover per day. I don’t know how cold I will get, or worse, if I’ll overheat.”

Turning back to the sleigh the little unicorn proceeds to wrap the cover up and lash it down with her hooves, her horn glowing as she works. Once secured she puts on and adjusts a pair of snow goggles she had managed to rig up, then pulls a cloak around her. “Well, here we go, day one of the trip.”

Reaching up, she turns off the camera before attaching it to the inside of her cloak. Strapping herself into the harness she opens the door and takes one last deep breath before stepping outside and pulling the sleigh out onto the deck. Looking back, she closes the door to her houseboat and heads down the ramp onto the ice. The wind blowing at her cloak doesn’t seem so bad. For some reason the cold simply doesn’t bother her as much as she thought it would.

***

The XO stands at the medical bay door and looks on sternly, “I don’t like this, one sailor down, ships doctor and network specialist both occupied trying to deal with this.”

Using a damp cloth, Irma softly rubs Eddy’s forehead and cheeks. “He’s going through a lot sir, just give him time.”

“I don’t know if time is something we have right now,” The XO growls, “I don’t want to hear a peep from him.”

Ed lets out a soft moan, looking up at the ceiling, before turning his head to look at Irma. His hair already a soft and fully changed three-color mane of light blue, green and yellow. His legs are strapped to the bed but already having the hooves and greenish grey fur covered right up the leg to the cutie mark.

Crossing her arms and leaning forward, Irma moves her head close to Ed’s, “It’s fine, I’m here. Relax.”

Ed groans softly, “Ugg I feel like I was kicked in the groin, and my belly itches.”

“Your fur is coming in, and as to being kicked, the doctor cath’ed you, to be safe.” Irma responds. Then she giggles. “No, I didn’t watch.”

Shaking his head, Ed chuckles, “And of course being strapped down I can’t scratch or adjust the blankets so it’s not bugging me when I breath.”

Nodding Irma shakes her head, “XO’s orders. Trust me to do it?”

“Sure, just avoid any horse jokes please.” Ed says as he does his best to stretch a little, before whimpering, “No, not good, that made the itching worse.”

Lifting the side of the blanket, Irma adjusted the sheets a bit before blinking, “Umm, Doc, how hard did you push the cath in?”

“Wha? Huh?” Standing up the doctor walked over to lift up the blankets himself. Squishing his mouth off to one side he blinks.

Sighing, Ed relaxes a bit, “Okay, not itching now.”

“Oh no,” Irma says softly.

“I’ll get the tranquilizer,” The doctor says, turning and heading over to the cupboard, “I swear we could start running low on this stuff.”

“What’s wrong?” Ed rumbles.

Irma smiles and shakes her head, “Nothing, nothing at all, just part of the change, everything’s normal.” Carefully she puts the gag back in his mouth while the doctor readies the needle. Stroking Ed’s mane gently, she smiles soothingly, “It’s fine, the sheets were just rubbing against your udders and irritating them.”

Ed nodded one with a soft, “Mhhhf.” Relaxing as he feels the needle poke into his arm. Nothing to worry about. Just his… Blinking, he lifts his head looking down at his belly going wide eyed for a moment before the tranquilizer kicks in fully.

***

Her hooves hit the ground hard as she skidded sideways, kicking up dust. Her turquoise wings pumping a last few times to help with the braking. As she glances behind her she could see the trail of stars and yellow fading behind her. With a firm nod, she turns, sticking her nose into the air, “And that’s why pegasi are better than dragons.”

Thestrals, Zebra, and even ponies were out around the town working. Some tending farms, others building shelters, there is even a small marketplace with different goods for sale. Slowly, Dust walks down the street, the entire place has the feel of a shanty town. The buildings are all mismatched, the streets are little more than paths in the dirt, even the houses don’t look like they have actual floors.

Stopping quickly, Dust looks down, seeing a zebra foal sitting, looking up at her. The foal is about the size of Apple Bloom, maybe a little smaller, which made him… Dust blinked, having no idea how to judge ponies age by size let alone a zebra. “Umm hello.”

Slowly the zebra blinks and tilts its head to one side.

“Great, you don’t speak English. What… Wait!” Closing her eyes for a moment Dust takes a breath, “How about Eponese? Do you understand Eponese?”

The Zebra foal tilts its head the other way and blinks again, slowly.

Looking around Dust sighs, “Great, how do I talk to these… Ugg, what do even call a group of non-pony Equestrians?”

Strepe let out a soft giggle, “Friends works.”

“Thank the Lord, you do speak eponese.” Dust says and starts looking around quickly, “I was told one of the princesses was here.”

“Oye, you get one princess show up and suddenly everyone wants to visit your valley.” Strepe says as he stands up.

“I’m here to help her,” Dust says and huffs, “I can help you too.”

“Help with what?” Strepe asks, confusion on his face.

Looking around, Dust tries to think of how to be diplomatic about it, “Umm maybe with building supplies, components?”

“We have tons of supplies, stuff is scavenged from all over the place, we repurpose most of what we need.” Strepe says, smiling proudly.

“Let me guess,” A female thestral says as she lands, “The place looks a little run down compared to where you’re from.”

“I wouldn’t put it like that,” Dust says, scuffing a hoof lightly.

“Trust me, compared to Griffinstone, this place is Canterlot.” She said with a laugh, “I’m Nightshade. So, we have another Wonderbolt showing up, we are getting busy.”

“Told you we should have built the Hotel!” Strepe says, bouncing on the spot a bit.

“Another Wonderbolt?” Dust blinks and focuses on Nightshade, “What do you mean another?”

“Oh, Spitfire’s here, she’s escorting the princess,” Nightshade says, swishing her tail a little as she glances over watching some working zebras raising a wall.

“So, she’s handling security for this place?” Dust asks as she watches the working zebra as well.

“Oh no, Kara handles security, Spitfire’s just escorting the princess,” Nightshade says, then blinks, covering her face with a wing and cringing.

“Who’s… Kara?” Dust started to ask as it got very dark, very quickly. Glancing over her shoulder she saw the massive form of the dragon back winging and kicking up a massive cloud of dust before hitting the ground. The force of the impact lifts Dust straight off the ground a good foot before she feels the earth under her hooves again.

Bounding between the two the little Zebra looks up, “Dust, Kara… Kara, Dust, Kara’s our protector.”

Dusts face and mane droops, her color fading slightly, her eyes dilating in fear as her ears droop. She thought the dragon was big before, but now, it was right there. And right now, Dust wishes she was someplace else.

***

“Her name's Vanessa Woodrow,” Feather said, sitting down by Cloudy’s bed. “She’s twenty-seven.”

“So, too old to change, and no cutie mark?” Candy asks looking at the notes.

“Nope, she’s been a nurse here since she graduated,” Feather goes on. “Don’t know if she’s a pony fan either but from what other staff said she took to the ponies right away. Treating them like, well… people, she feels comfortable with them.”

“But ponies make her so sad?” Cloudy says softly.

“We need to talk to her,” Feather said, “See what’s wrong.”

“We need to help her,” Cloudy adds, nodding.

“We need a psychologist’s degree,” Candy states with a sigh.

“Hay, since when did that EVER stop the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Feather puts her hoof down firmly.

“Point.” Both Candy and Cloudy say in stereo.

“Well I guess I’ll go see to her,” Feather says as she stands up, “Find out what I can learn.”

Working her way out of bed, Cloudy groans, “Come on legs, work.”

“What are you doing?” Candy squeaks in shock, “You need to stay in bed.”

“Nuh uh, I’m still a Crusader, and this is a Crusader call.” Thumping down on the floor, Cloudy wobbles a bit, “As soon as the room stops spinning, we are going.”

“Cloudy!” Feather says firmly.

Standing up defiantly, Cloudy starts for the door.

“Celestia, are you sure you’re not Ah-Pee’s foal? You’re as stubborn as an Apple,” Candy says, shaking her head.

“And you’re my twin so what’s that say about you,” Cloudy says, sticking out her tongue.

***

Walking into the meeting room, Dust looks around. The haul is hardly more than wattle and daub construction, the building itself is a simple one-story building, with a long central room, that doubles as a classroom. A simple white plaster had been applied to the inner walls with some basic paints used to try and brighten up the place. The floor, though, is still dirt. A pair of doors lead to other rooms at the end of the hall.

“Dust! You old warhorse, is that you?”

Blinking, Lightning Dust stops in her tracks, looking as the yellow mare with orange mane and tail trots in, flanked by a pair of griffins. “Spitfire? I heard you were here but I’m still shocked.”

“Yep, here helping out a bit, dropping off some aid packages for the ponies here.” Spitfire said, “Private donations. Still draggin’ your tail around?”

“Still breaking your speed records, and if I’m an old warhorse, what’s that make you?” Dust chuckles as she trots up to hug Spitfire.

Hugging back Spitfire laughs, “So what brings you here?”

“I heard one of the princesses was here, I’ve started a community back home and I wanted to invite her.” Dust says stepping back.

“Well isn’t that convenient,” the brown griffin huffs.

With a glance to her side Spitfire shakes her head, “Dust, this is Naomi and Galina.”

Taking a step back Dust tilts her head, “Convenient? What do you mean by that?”

“First the Princess gets attacked, then US Marines show up to offer help and,” standing on her hind legs she makes air quotes with her claws, “Protection, now you show up a day later to swoop in and take her away?”

“No, well not really, I came to offer her a place back home. Where its safe.” Dust says, fluffing her wings somewhat uncomfortably.

“Just go away.” Cadance called out from the other room.

Blinking, Dust looks at Spitfire, then at the door, “Princess? I’m Lightening Dust, won’t you at least come out and talk?”

“Or what? You’ll kill me like you did Frost and his friend in Belarus?” Cadence replies, sounding heartbroken.

“Look, Princess. I've not had the easiest time with humans since we've changed back. You do not want to know everything that happened to me in South America.” Dust said putting a hoof down and shaking her head, “But we have agreements with the US government. They leave the ponies alone, we had to leverage a bit to get the ponies into our home. But we have a farm, several sections, and it's a great place to build, to make a home, to make a life on this world.”

“You had it hard? I was held in a US Lab, tortured, given drugs, abused. All in the name of science,” Her voice cracks as she starts to cry, “And we heard about your agreement with the Americans, giving them information on ponies so other countries could hunt them down.”

Blinking, Dust takes a step back, “Wait a moment, hunt them down?”

Spitfire nods slowly, “Yeah, the information was used to hunt down ponies in the UK, France, and Germany. The US even set up concentration camps in Hawaii for ponies.”

“We provided the information in trade so we could set things up, help get ponies released. In the name of science. I myself was subject to many tests by the humans. I probably gave half my body weight in blood. Enough x-rays and CT scans to last my entire life.” Dust says, shaking her head firmly. “I don’t know about concentration camps, and I’ll have some words with ponies in the US government about that. We are people, just differently shaped from the humans. Most humans understand this.”

“And the government shared that information with other countries,” Cadance calls out, “NATO members, and allies, even countries like Saudi Arabia.”

Dust sighs, shaking her head. “We have no control over what they do with the information.”

“No control, no control, don’t talk to me about no control. My husband who swore to protect me forever left me, I was abandoned by other ponies, the only ones that even worried about me are Spike and Spitfire…” Candance says, crying.

***

Walking into the crude building, I take a deep breath and look up at Henry. Nosing him gently, I nod once to him. Thank Celestia she was nearly using the Royal Canterlot voice, I could hear her everything she said clearly outside. Turning to her I shook my head, “You’re wrong, you still have family.” Turning my head look pointedly at Dust. “And the situation in Hawaii was simply a misunderstanding. With the help of some local ponies, and some humans that remembered the Japanese internment camps, they are doing fine now.” The look on Dust’s face as she recognizes what I’m saying widens my smile.

Sighing softly, I look at the pink alicorn and I lower my head, “I know everything’s changed, I know about my son, but that doesn’t change us. You are still my daughter in law, still my daughter’s sister in law and best babysitter ever. Nothing will change your place in my heart.”

Cadence slowly pokes her head out from the back room blinking, “Mom?”

Smiling, I trot up and give her a gentle hug, as I wrap my forelegs around her neck, “Yep, It’s really me.”

Smiling Henry watches, reaching down to softly scratch Dust behind an ear.

“Don’t touch me,” Dust yells swinging her wing back hitting Henry with an electric shock.

With a yelp Henry backs off, “Sorry ma’am.” Rubbing his arm painfully he looks back to me, “Yeah, I think I’ll be outside.”

Narrowing her eyes, she watches Henry walk out, fluffing then folding her wings again, tail flicking in agitation. “To be honest, I’ve had enough of humans for a long time.” Dust grumbles.

“Sure thing Henry, remember, if they get uppity just show them your cutie mark,” I say with a smile.

Grumbling Henry shakes his head as he leaves, “I’m not dropping my pants for every pony I meet!”

“Cutie mark?” Cadence blinks looking at Henry as the door closes behind the human.

Snapping her head back to me Dust blinks, as I laugh softly, “Oh yeah, he earned his cutie mark in Equestria during the fight for its liberation. Makes him a pony in my books.”

“But he’s a soldier,” Cadence complains.

“Medic actually,” I counter. “Of course I’m a soldier too. US Army Ranger.”

Backing up Cadence looks at me sternly, “Why? Mom why would you,” She stops as a put my hoof over her nose and mouth.

“Well, I was before my change, and it kinda lets me travel the world helping ponies.” Shaking my head, I look at Dust, “Actually that’s sort of a lie, I end up spending most of my time running a school to help military personnel who change, adapt and adjust to being ponies. Especially using magic for unicorns.”

“Back to being a teacher?” Cadance says, nodding slowly, “Where’s Night Light?”

“He…. He and I kinda had a falling out," I say with a huff, "That sorta devolved into him kidnapping foals I’m looking after, attempted murder, siding with terrorists, and some other bad stuff.” I look down, “We, just weren’t meant for each other. On the flip side, I found Rainbow Blaze. We kinda became a couple.”

“So you’re okay with Velvet being military?” Dust asks walking up beside me.

“Ok with it, no, Ok with her, she’s family.” Cadence nods, “But I’m not some pawn, please don’t tell me you’re here to take me back to the USA too.”

“Nope, military doesn’t really give us solid orders when they send us out to deal with or rescue ponies,” I say, “So all too often I just go with my gut and see what works best for everypony. We did bring rations and such just to give the community a bit of diversity and a safety net if they need it. The MRE-P’s are shelf stable for a year or two.”

“MRE, umm P?” Dust says looking confused.

“Meals Ready to Eat, Pony. They are rations that are healthy options for pony and include some things like alfalfa that humans can’t digest well.” Smiling, “Oat cakes, Jams, veggie and rice meals. With all the vitamins and nutrients, such that it could almost be classified as real food. ”

“So what’s with all the military then?” Spitfire asks looking sternly at me.

“A drone eating dragon has some two-leggers worried,” Sitting down I smile, “She’s doing a great job of protecting the area though. Really though, I don’t mind if you stay here, return to Russia, or come home with me. Where ever you feel safest at, where ever you feel at home.”

“I… I had a bad time in the USA,” Cadence said backing up a bit and sitting down herself

A little pony filly slides into the hall singing out, "Sisi Ni Sawa!"

The zebra foal, Strep follows behind prancing as he sings, "Sisi Ni Sawa means we are the same."

The filly stands up and prances beside Strep, pointing a hoof at him in a sweeping gesture across his body, "Though you've got your stripes." Giving her head a shake, she fluffs out her mane, "And I've got a mane."

Holding his head high, Strep smiles, "At the end of the day it’s like water and rain."

Leaning against each other the two sing out in harmony, "Sisi Ni Sawa we are the same!"

Slowly I turn my head to look at Dust and Cadence in shock. The foals turn and bound back to the door stopping, their tails wiggling a mile a minute. Kneeling down, the Lt hands each of them a candy bar before giving them a ruffle on the head, sending them off.

Covering my face with my hoof I groan, "You bribed foals with candy to do a song and dance number on us, didn't you?"

“Sometimes it helps to calm things down a bit,” James says with a firm nod.

Looking back to Cadence I huff, “I’m also going to need a babysitter.”

“I don’t think I do that anymore. Sides how old are your foals?”

“Not born yet,” Lifting a hoof to show off my belly a little I smile, “Still have a few months to go.

Blinking Dust and Cadence look at me and say in stereo , “You’re pregnant?”

***

“I hate being pregnant!”

Fleur looks up from her pillow pile, a magazine between her forelegs as Fleetfoot trots in shaking her wings out. With a soft laugh the unicorn shakes her head, “That bad huh?”

“I’m always hungry, I feel like I want to sleep 12 hours a day or more,” Trotting over the pegasus lays down on some pillows.

“So, you feel like an average pegasus…” Fleur giggles out, then ducks her head to avoid the wing swat.
“That’s racist!”

“Actually, technically its tribalist . You know, I’m fine here if you want to go to the hotel,” Looking up at the clock Fleur smiles, “it’s pretty quiet here anyway, the nurses are taking good care of Cloudy.”

“I know, but with Night Light out there on the loose, I’d kind of like to stick around. Foals can be a hoof full at times.”

Blinking, Fleur lifts her head in shock, “You’ve had other foals?”

“Me? Oh heck no. I watched the show.” Shaking her head, “With foals like Snips and Snails I’m surprised Ponyville is still standing.”

Fleur shakes her head, “You know that’s not fair, that’s mostly done for comedy sake.”

“We think.” Shaking her head, Fleetfoot huffs, “You never know though.”

“At least the waiting room is nice, and they have free Wi-Fi” Fleur says, motioning around the room with her horn, “So Cypher will be content.”

“Cypher's coming down?” Fleetfoot shakes her head, “Be nice to see her in… in… I want to say person, but I swear, it almost came out ponyson.”

Laughing Fleur shook her head, “No, not everything gets pony in it, were not smurfs.”

“That’s ponytastic,” Fleetfoot said, eyes wide and nodding slowly. “Ugg, actually I’m hungry again.”

“We’ve got a vending machine with candy, and some sandwiches I wouldn’t trust, a pop and juice machine, and a coffee machine. Past that it’s the cafeteria on the first floor.” Fleur says.

Groaning Fleetfoot taps the machine with a hoof, “They don’t even have alfalfa in there. And I don’t wanna walk all the way down to the café.” Sitting down with a thump, Fleetfoot just looks at the machine, an audible grumble from her stomach.

“Ok, ok, I can take the hint, I’ll go down and get some food.” Standing up Fleur smiles, “So what do you want?”

“Maybe some ice cream, and some fish, sardines sound great right now, oh and chocolate sprinkles.”

“Wait, you want the fish… ON the ice cream or separate?” Fleur asks, turning a shade of teal usually reserved for certain pegasi.

“I… umm… whatever works.” Fleetfoot says with a firm nod.

Drooping her tail Fleur sticks her tongue out, “Ugg.”

Poking her head in an older nurse looked around the room for a moment before looking at the two ponies, “Umm excuse me.”

Turning her head from the vending machine, Fleetfoot looks up, “Yes?”

“You’re with those three foals correct?” The nurse asks almost meekly.

Blinking Fleur trots up, “Is something wrong?”

“Well, no, not really, I guess… I’m just wondering, have you… seen them around?” The nurse asks before gulping.

“You lost the foals!” Fleetfoot squeaks.

***

The farmlands had been broken up into irregular sized plots of land, a patch work jigsaw puzzle of pieces separated by hedge rows, drainage ditches, and fences. Small paths and ramps lead between the rows to allow access, yet there seemed to be little rhyme nor reason to the layout or placement.

Some farm plots are totally encircled and hidden by others, while other plots run level with the main road. What’s more, there is no centralized farmhouse or easy way to tell which farm plot belongs to any person.

The endless sea of green and brown is only broken by a little yellow muzzle poking out of some bushes, followed a moment later by a purple muzzle.

“Anything good?” Sweet Pops asks curiously.

Sunny shakes her head slowly, “Not good, not bad either, just coffee again.”

Sweet turns her head to look at the other foal, “How’s that not bad?”

“Simple, It’s not cocaine fields. I’m terrified of finding one of those, cuz the people around them tend to be the opposite of friendly.” Sunny says and sighs, looking at the shrubs.

“Not edible?” Sweet says, inching towards one.

“I really wouldn’t try it, I know its toxic to horses, and while ponies seem to drink coffee, I think it might be chicory and not actual coffee.” Sunny says, “And, since I don’t want to end up in a vet office getting my stomach pumped. I’m not risking it.”

“Move it, you dumb mule!”

Almost jumping out of their fur, both girls look at each other, then around, blinking. Walking down one of the plant rows, the two could see a small two-tone light and dark brown mule pulling a wagon. A young girl wearing a pair of loose white shorts, and a cream green shirt, walks slowly, picking up sticks and putting them into a small cart.

“Come on, slowpoke,” The girl says, giving the reins a tug as the mule walks forward a few steps before stopping again. When it does, the girl goes about getting more sticks and debris from the ground and loading it into the little cart.

Giggling, Sweet Pops points at the mule, “Okay, I know its about the same size as Full Steam, but look at its flank.”

Blinking Sunny pokes Sweet, “Always looking at boys flanks huh,” Glancing over she tilts her head then covers her muzzle giggling, “Aww, too cute.”

Over the mule’s flank is a cloth, held in place by the harness straps. Emblazoned on it is a crudely drawn or painted red heart, with a wagon cart over it, a faux cutie mark of sorts.

“I swear, sometimes I wish you could talk, or at least understand me,” The girl says, hands on her hips looking at the mule who’s got his muzzle buried in some grass. “And keep this up and I won’t give you any peanut stalks.”

The comment is met with little more than an ear twitch from the mule, who seems to care less about anything but eating right now. In frustration the girl gives it a smack on the hip with a bundle small branch. The mule lets out a startled bray and jumps before starting to walk forward again.

“HEY! Leave it alone!” Sweets says, jumping out of the hedge row, wings spread in anger.

Letting out a soft groan Sunny facehoofs, “Well, apparently stealth and low profile are not in a pegasuses… pegasus’s… pegasii’s? Ugg, peg’s vocabulary.” She groans.

Turning, the girl looks at Sweet Pops, who stomps angrily, scuffing her forehoof on the ground and snorting.

“Oh… my….” The girl stammers in shock.

“That’s right, fear the angry pegasus.” Sweet snarls, thrashing her tail side to side.

Dropping to her knee’s the girl looks on, “You… are just so adorable, and that cute little tail wiggle.”

Falling on her side laughing, Sunny holds up one foreleg, gasping out, “Epic fail! Too cute to be threatening!”

“Aww there’s two of you… and you can talk,” Blinking the girl tilts her head, “Wait, why can you talk, how can you talk?”

“Who are we talking to?” Sweet asks defiantly.

“I’ll do you one better, what you are talking to a human for?” Sunny says, still giggling, “Sorry couldn’t resist.”

Sweets sits and shakes her head, “Fine, I try and protect the poor mule.”

“Poor mule? That’s Oscar, he’s been with our family for years, he just gets so lazy at times.” The girl says and huffs, “But how are you talking?”

“Umm, we talk normally,” Sweet says, looking back at Sunny who’s just starting to sit up again, “Usually.”

“We are kinda ponies, from Equestria.” Sunny adds in, “We got cursed by an evil baddy and sent to Earth.”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, your real, like the ponies on TV, like Fizzy, Gusty, Ribbons, oh oh oh, Whizzer the fastest pegasus ever! She’s so great.”

Blinking the two fillies look at each other, then back at the girl, “Who?”

“The ponies from the TV show, mom and dad got it for us!” The girl says before grabbing Sweets and hugging her tight.

“Ack, personal space! Stranger danger, stranger danger!” Sweets says squirming in the girls arms, flailing her hind legs pitifully.

“Sorry, you just look so cuddly and huggable,” putting Sweets down she smiles, “I’m Nina by the way, don’t ask, dad had a thing for boats.”

“Sweet Pops!”

“Sunny Daze!”

Nodding once, “And you know Oscar, he’s a real grouch at times.”

“Ok that one was bad,” Sunny says shaking her head, “So what are you doing?”

“Clearing debris from the fields, stuff we can use for firewood,” Nina said with a smile.

“Firewood? Don’t have electric stuff?” Sweet asked, “Kinda implied you had a TV.”

“We do, dad fixed it up, just like the VCR. Dad has a part time job fixing old things like old electronics to help us make money. Most of the stuff he gets from the local dump.” Nina said and giggled. “He’s a great recycler.”

“Sounds kinda like Ambrosia, she can fix and build anything too,” Sunny said.

“Oh oh, maybe we could help?” Sweets says, perking her ears and wiggling her tail.

Nina blinked and grabs Sweet, hugging her again, “You’re so cute when you do that!”

“Help! Improper hugging!” Sweet says before pouting.

“We can help gather the sticks, give Oscar a rest running the stuff back to the wagon.” Sunny says with a nod, “Rather than having the wagon follow you around.”

“I can’t really pay you,” Nina says with a sigh, putting Sweet down.

“Don’t need to,” Sunny counters, and started picking up sticks herself.

Bounding off with wing assisted jumps, Sweet Pop laughs, “Sometimes it’s about helping for the sake of helping.”

“About helping?” Nina tilted her head then smiled, “Be right back.” Getting up the girl ran, off leaving the fillies looking at each other confused for a moment.

“Helping, not doing all the work ourselves,” Sunny says and shrugs, getting back to work.

Sunny gathers up sticks into piles, moving in a quick zig zag pattern across the field. At the same time, Sweet is picking up the piles and zipping them back to the cart. It was quick work for the little fillies, as they laughed and played around doing the chore.

After a few minutes Nina returned with a small bag in hand. “Easy Oscar,” Said as she walked up in looked in the cart, “Wow.”

Zipping over Sweet Pop smiled, “Yep, ponies are quick.”

“I brought you this,” Nina says holding out the bag.

Trotting up Sunny sits down taking the bag and looking inside, “You didn’t have to.”

“We don’t have much, but there’s some sea salt, some peanut stocks, Oscar won’t mind sharing, and some odds and ends we had laying around that dad gave me to play with.”

Smiling, both fillies hug Nina, “Thanks but we should get going, we have a long trip.”

“Trip to where?” Nina asks patting the mule.

“A place called Dubuque, its in the USA. Ponies are supposed to meet there.” Sunny says, smiling as she picks up the bag.

“Bye Sassy,” Sweet said turning and trotting beside Sunny as the pair heads back to the wagon.

“Sassy?” Tilting her head Sunny looks at her friend, confused.

Blinking, Sweet looked at Sunny.

“You called her Sassy. Her names Nina.” Sunny goes on.

“I… I did? Didn’t notice, I guess she just seems like a Sassy to me, what do you think?”

Closing her eyes for a second then looking back at the girl, “Sassaflash.”

“Ok, nope, that’s just to silly a name,” Sweet says giggling, “Even by my standards.”

Starting to giggle Sunny nods, “I guess I don’t have a knack for nicknames.”

Part 1: A Pale Horse Cometh

May 1’st 2020, 1200zulu

A lone Predator drone finishes it’s third pass over the forests, its FLIR confirming the structures and multiple hotspots in the area. Hidden under the deep canopy of trees, in what was supposed to be a nature reserve, the signs of a drug production facility could be seen.

After months of work, Ornada’s location has finally been fixed. Now the mission could begin, and the hope that with him captured there may be an end to some of the chaos in the region. With hope, May first will be able to be remembered as the day the changes began.

“Up and at ‘em, briefing in 30 min, 1230 Zulu, we have a hot one boys. Sorry Wally, no sleeping in on your birthday! Move it move it.” LT Fisher called out.

I sit and stretch. We’ve been waiting for this call for days now. My squad has been on 24 hour standby now for two weeks. We’ve been billeted in a Marine transport but we weren’t Marines… really, I actually hated the sea myself. Jumping out of a plane is fine, but sitting inside a rocking boat for days on end… no thanks… our squad was better than these lifeguards…. “RANGERS HO!”

I hopped out of bed hitting the showers quick. I’m not a huge man, 5’11” 185 pounds, but I still passed all my ranger certifications, making me the second youngest member on this team. One of the advantages of a brush cut like I have is it's fast to wash. Only takes a few seconds for me to have my brown hair done. Shaving is just about as quick. I never could grow a proper beard but never had to worry about it. I’ve been in the military for the last six years now. This also means I’m used to missed birthdays.

I get into my uniform as quick as I can, nodding to Eric who’s also getting dressed “This is it I hope.”

Eric Peterson, he’s a Cpl from Montana originally, our demolition expert and spotter for Sgt. Donaldson. While most people think about demolitions and think of the big blasts Eric is always just the opposite. His view is why waste a big blast, when a controlled blast is safer and much more effective. Standing in at 5’10” he’s just a touch shorter than me but has a few years more experience.

I walk into the hall and meet up with my sniper, Sgt Donaldson. 6’1” 210 pounds, you gotta be big to lug around the gear we carry. I’m his spotter as well as the intel specialist. I’ve worked with Sgt Donaldson for a year now and we trust each other with our lives.

Moving into the briefing room I stand at attention, the LT is already there, as is a major. Our coms specialist is in the front row, Lance Cpl Yiska Christan. Yiska, is 4th generation military, his great grandfather apparently served in World War II as a code talker. While he is Navajo by birthright, Yiska never did pay much attention to what he called, the old ways. At least he says he didn’t, but Yiska is one of the few people that remembers and can still fluently talk the code talking. He doesn’t practice the old ways but he knows them well enough I think.

“All right, this is not going to be a pretty one. “ The Major said looking across the room “We have good intel that Ornada is not just operating but actually living at a small drug production farm. Ornada has been a pain in the USA’s side for years now. He is the leader of one of the larger Cartels, with crimes of drug production and smuggling, human trafficking and sex slavery. Today however you are going after him, himself.”

Looking around the room the Major took a breath “Sanchez, Peterson. you are primary sniper team. Donaldson, Fitzpatrick secondary. “

Great I think, secondary again, ah well, takes some pressure of Donaldson.

“Objectives as follows, locate the encampment, verify that it is Oranada, if it is attempt capture. If capture is not viable you are authorized to take him out. Entry point will be near the Kurinwas river, in the Wawashing nature reserve. You will proceed south by south west it should take you 3 days to reach the target area. Extraction points are back at the river, alpha, bravo 2 days south of the plant, emergency abort location safe house will be in Town of Tortuguero. Mission call sign Twilight, command call sign Nightshade, mission go Grasslands, mission abort Firewall, emergency Treasure Chest, this operation is Pale Horse.”

“Get your gear, and let’s move out” the LT calls.

Yep, this is going to be a fun birthday, I think as I stand and head to the equipment locker, and grab my gear. Nicaragua is not very friendly to Americans so we can’t count on air support or even ground support if we get in trouble. Getting a final check from the LT, our group heads out to the flight deck. Normally we would go in by paradrop but because of the jungle and small landing areas, they have a Sea Stallion waiting for us.

“So birthday boy, how does it feel to be 25?” Eric said with a chuckle.

“Same as it felt to turn 24, no wait, 24 I was in the desert, cooler.”

“Nightshade this is Twilight, radio check over. Twilight, Twilight…” Tapping the mic a few times Yiska makes an adjustment to his headset. Nightshade this is Twilight radio check over”

“Twilight, this is Nightshade, 5 by 5”.

I sort of zone out a bit listening to the chatter, I know it’s going to be about 2 hours to the drop point, leaning back in my chair I hear one of the flight crew humming though the noise, the words come to mind… “Black velvet and a little mare’s smile….”

“Velvet, I’m coming for you.” *Yellow and red eyes appeared*

I run through the streets of a walled city castle, I hear the screams and cries all around me, but I can’t see anyone. Charging around the corner I hear the voice again. “Your daughter’s gone, your son’s gone… and now it’s time to play…”

I need to get to out of town, I need to find some place safe… but where is safe from him?

“Isn’t this fun? All these poor little things running around, screaming, crying, why aren’t you joining in? It seems to be the pass time? Aren’t you going to scream?

Fighting back the tears I slide down a slope and jump over an overturned fruit cart. I know he’s playing with me, I know he’s got me anytime he wants…. If a legion couldn’t stop him, if a goddess couldn’t then what chance do I have? If I could find a place to hide, to regroup with others…

“There’s no escape my little one.” I hear the sound of a claw dragging on stone, turning the last corner before the gates I see him standing there. Trying to stop I see him snap his clawed hand and I’m caught, scooped up into the air. “Tut tut, you didn’t have to run, I would have got to you.

“Discord, why are you doing this?” Was that me asking? Was that someone else?

“For fun, for time, for laughs…. For a world that has been static for to long. It’s time for a change, and I don’t need anyone bothering me while I make the changes.”

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your memories removed, your body confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

To scatter the six, just the start of my tricks!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Forgetting everything and living like a fool,

You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

“Twilight Grassland, I say again Twilight Grassland.” Sitting up quickly I blink shaking my head as the go code comes over the radio.

“Wow that was a fast flight”

The LT looks over and shakes his head “you were out for two and a half hours. I don’t know how you can sleep in a chopper with all the noise”

Out the sides of the helicopter the ropes are dropped, grabbing the fast line, I slide down and hit the ground by the river with the rest of my squad. Once on the ground I quickly run for the tree line crouching, rifle at the ready, joined by the rest of the squad one by one. Scanning the area I wait for the helicopter to move of, leaving us with just the sounds of the woods.

“Ok boys, we have a lot of ground to cover and 3 days to do it. Eric you have point, Wally bring up the rear, I want to get some distance between us and the drop site.” The LT said hefting his rucksack.

There’s not a lot of time to talk as we walk, checking for traps, scouts, anything, as we move through the forests. The reality is though, we probably will not see anything for the first 2 days, and we know it but letting your guard down is not an option. While I am a spotter, my primary task with the group is intelligence analysis. If we find papers I’m the one that has to scan them quick, decide if it’s relevant to our current situation. I had to learn to read fast and scan and process information quick, but I seemed to always have a knack for that… After action reports though, the LT always says… they look more like an adventure novel than a true after action report.

By about 1900 local time, it’s gotten too dark to travel safely, so the LT calls for a halt. Stretching out a bit, I chuckle, we don’t need to remain silent, just need to talk low, and not use any lights. “Argh, mac and cheese with peas, who thought that would be a good idea for an MRE”

“Beefsteak with mushrooms and western beans.” Eric says with a grin.

“I don’t know how you do it you always seem to pull the best ones,” Henry pipes in. Henry is our medic, great guy, actually wanted to become a doctor, problem was, his family was so broke they couldn’t even afford community college. So his only option, join up. He’s a great guy though, 5’9 but a real powerhouse. He can easily carry a 200 pound man plus his equipment on his back, “chicken noodles and apple sauce,” though luck isn’t always on his side.

“OK guys, keep it down, were bunking down here for the night, standard watch rotation. Full light discipline, night vision only.” The LT says before sitting down to get some sleep.

Looking around I find a nice spot to sit, and rest. Well as much rest as you can get in the jungle, but you learn to ignore things when you have to.

Running, searching, my daughter. Where is she? If he hurt her, if he hurt my son... I don’t know what I’m going to do. All around me is darkness, blackness. I can’t see or hear anything… Those eyes… they aren’t here but I remember them. The eyes….

I need to get out, I need to be free, I need to find my kids… my kids. All around me is blackness but if I focus maybe, if i can get a spark of light…

“My kids” I mumble before being shaken lightly by Yiska. Blinking, I drop my night vision looking around then up. “My watch?”

Yiska nods, “yeh, and you were talking in your sleep. I’ve never seen you do that, mumbling for your kids.”

“I… I don’t have kids though,” shaking my head I can’t even think of why I would say that, was it something I was dreaming about? “Heck I don’t even have a girlfriend.”

Yiska chuckles softly “Maybe you were having a vision, the great spirits. A vision quest of sorts of the great ancestor spirits. Of the harmony between them."

I glared up at Yiska. "Really?"

Yiska chuckled, "Yeah never mind, I don’t follow that stuff anyway.”

Chuckling I stand and take my position, scanning the jungle, listening to the sounds, and listening for anything that doesn’t sound right. The problem is, something just doesn’t feel right. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s different. I can just… sense it. I knew my watch would be over but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to sleep… it was almost like I knew something waiting for me to do that… Moving over, I wake Eric up for his shift and sit back down, giving my weapon a quick check over I turn off the goggles and sat listening to the jungle… Those eyes, I think as a shudder runs down my back.

First light seemed to come before I noticed it. Getting up I let Eric know I was the bathroom and took the shovel. It wasn’t until cleaning up afterwards I noticed the marks on my hip. Checking the other side I noticed the same marks there. That’s never a good sign, blotches or marks showing up could be signs of any number of problems and we were days away from help.

Making my way back quickly I wake up Henry, “Henry, I think I’m having a reaction to something, can you give it a quick check make sure it’s not going to slow us down?”

Henry yawned and grabbed the flashlight “foot, leg?”

“Hip.” I said, “both sides.”

Nodding he used the red light and his poncho to limit light pollution, before switching to white light to make sure. “Did you get tattoos on leave?”

“No why?”

“It's three… stars… per side… three purple stars. Shouldn’t affect your mobility I would think." Henry chuckled

“That makes no sense,” I mumbled pulling up my pants and getting my gear ready. They weren’t there before the mission started.

“The colors wrong for bruising and there isn’t bleed to the edges, it’s perfectly formed and shaped. Rule 3, no straight lines in nature,” he said putting his things away and getting ready.

“So it’s not a natural effect then, but not at tattoo.”

“Yep but you know the rules, unless its slowing you don’t we don’t worry about it.”

I nodded, it didn’t hurt or anything it's just... strange and confusing. It’s never good to be confused going into combat. At least I’d have a day or two to ponder it before we encountered anyone for sure.

“All right people, police the area, clear any signs we camped, and prepare to move out”, the LT said, it didn’t have to be said but always good to have a reminder.

I nod once, and quickly dig a small hole, as the rest pick up any scraps or such from dinner and dump them in the whole. MRE’s don’t generate a lot of waste garbage so it’s quick, and once buried I cover the disturbed soil with leaves. “Eating on the march LT?”

“Have to, I want to be close enough to the encampment that we can hit the target on the morning of the 4th.” The LT says shouldering his pack.

Putting mine on I get the once over to make sure all gear is in place. Once done I do the same to Eric. We are a team and need to watch out for each other. Part of that is making sure the gear is properly fixed to our packs and webbing.

“Twilight.”

I glance over at Yiska, “Just call me Velvet.”

Yiska blinks looking at me strangely, “Just call you what?”

“Velvet, it’s easier than the full…” I stop and stand blinking for a moment.

“Twilight… it’s our call sign remember? I was listening to the radio trying to make out If I heard the word. I thought I heard nightshade calling Twilight for a moment on the radio. What’s velvet got to do with anything?”

“I… I don’t know it just…” I stand there, I must look really dumb and confused right now because it earned me a Gibbs-esk smack to the back of my helmet from the LT.

“Head in the game ranger…”

“Yes sir,” falling into formation at the rear I start walking. Shaking my head I try and clear my mind. I know for a fact now something is wrong with me but what. We’re 5 days from the safe house right now, 2 from our target, so if something goes wrong the strongest course is a 1 and a half day hike back to the river. I need to focus though. I need to just do my job, my team is counting on me. Deep breaths in and out, I’ve done this before.

Eating on the march is never a fun thing, it’s not like sitting down and eating a full meal at once, it’s more like snacking constantly to keep our energy up. Between the heat, the walking though harsh terrain and the gear we are carrying, the amount of calories we burn is high, that’s why the MRE’s meals ready to eat, have candies, power bars, and such in them. There’s something about this though that always feels right. Hiking though forests and jungles, I’ve always loved the adventure. Chuckling “It’s not just a job it’s an adventure.”

Jay chuckles in front of me, “That’s Navy, not Army Rangers.”

“See the world, meet new and interesting people, and kill them.” Eric pipes in.

“That’s Marines’,” Jay says again with a chuckle.

It isn’t until about 5 pm when we can really settle down again, the LT calls a halt. The jungle ahead is darker than expected because of hill shadow, so he calls for us to hold up there. Glancing back to me he blinks, “Something wrong with your helmet Ranger?”

I find myself trying to get it to sit right, and look up “I think the straps got messed up somehow, it’s too tight and not holding its position.”

“We’ll rest here you can adjust the straps as…” He stops looking at me while I sit the helmet on my lap checking the inner webbing straps. “If that’s some kind of joke Corporal it’s not funny”

Blinking I look up confused “What? I’m not joking, it’s not fitting or sitting right.”

Eric walks over tilting his head and grabs my hair giving it a little tug “Ow, the heck that… since when do I have enough hair to be tugged?”

“It’s not just the hair it’s the color” Yiska says looking a touch confused.

Quickly I grab my signal mirror from my combat webbing, and pull it out to look. Somehow, in the course of the march, my hair’s gone from its normal brown, to a moderate purple with white stripes, going down to well below my shoulders, with just a bit of a curl at the end. Also my eyes have gone from their normal dark brown, to a very light arctic blue.

“Henry, my eye color has changed. I’ve always been dark brown now I’m a light blue.”

Moving over Henry kneels, now taking out his flash light he flashes my eyes a few times before looking up “He’s right LT.”

“He’s also blind” I chuckle blinking, “warn me next time before you do that.” Looking at my hands I have to keep blinking for a few seconds to get the spots out of my eyes. After a day in low light, that flashlight really did hurt.

“It’s a 2 days to the target, 2 to get back or 3 to the safe house.” The LT said.

“I know what you’re thinking LT but we have a mission to do… You’re the one that always says mission comes first.”

“Yes but this isn’t normal. This is so far from normal it could constitute an abort.” The LT actually looks worried, and that’s NEVER a good sign.

“First the tattoos, then the hair and eyes. Something just isn’t natural here.” All eyes turn to Yiska who’s been holding his tongue the entire time.

Yiska blinks, “Why’s everyone looking at me, this is serious, I know better than to make some joke about the great spirits in a situation like this.” He shakes his head.

Ok, that has me even more worried, if Yiska is too nervous to make a comment. He would normally joke around about some ancient ritual or great spirits or magic. He never took that part of his culture too seriously but...

I put my helmet back on, at least its sitting better now that it is not holding all that hair under it, and rub my eyes one last time. “Your call LT, but any direction we take we’ll be here to the morning. I know how important this mission is, so I’m willing to go regardless”.

“We’ll hold here for the night. If there’s ANY new changes tell me immediately. I don’t want to have ANYTHING that will interfere with our safety”. The LT Looks very stern about this, and he’s not one you can keep secrets from.

Grabbing my MRE I just groan and all eyes turn to me quick. “Veggie Burger w/BBQ sauce, anyone wanna trade?” That incites a mass groan, “Yeh and here I thought Henry was the one with all the bad meals this trip.”

“Manicotti with Vegetables,” He shakes his head.

“Nope, you win again, at least the barbeque sauce has flavor. “ With that I settle down to eat. Meals are never as bad as we make them out to be. During training there's a part where you get to survive on bugs. After that you know that any real meal, even if it’s an MRE, is better than an empty stomach.

As we spread out a bit for the night I find myself having to take the helmet off again, I just can’t get the straps right, then I hear it. I’m not sure what it was at first but it made my ears twitch. Closing my eyes and lowering my head, I listened as my ears swivelled a bit back and forth trying to find the source of the sound. In a moment my ears lock onto it, footsteps moving heavy through the trees, and 2, no, 3 voices.

Falling back to the LT I give him a light tap “3 people, maybe more, that way.”

Acting on training, the LT fans us out quickly, taking cover, it takes a few moments for the rest of the squad to hear them but we were already hidden by the time they passed by. 3 men, early 20’s, 2 of them had AK-74’s and the 3rd a machete. No one moved, or took action, we let them walk right past.

Sometimes it’s safer to avoid combat, if shots were heard it could bring others over. As well we didn’t know if they were associated with the target or what. After about 20 min, the LT decided it was safe enough to move over to me. Raising his hand he snaps is fingers right beside one of my ears causing it to flinch and lay back.

Motioning Henry over they both look, slowly I reach up to touch one of my ears. I knew this was well beyond Henry but he was the best we had right now. Carefully he started checking my ears out, touching the bone around where my old ears used to be, then gently touching the outer edge of my new ear.

With a soft giggle I twitch my ear away then “Ok that tickles.” Wait, did I just giggle? I never giggle, heck I was never ticklish. “Ok, this is just plain weird.”

“Weird but your hearings a lot better, you heard those guys a full 5 min before we did. Ok were going to abort this, and get you back.”

Nodding slowly I couldn’t help but feel down about this… years in the works all destroyed because of this. Standing up to move I got jerked back, falling on my butt. Looking concerned the LT put his hand on my shoulder “Are you ok?”

Slowly nodding and looking back I looked at Henry “You’re standing… on my tail,” those 3 words were enough to cause them to fall back away from me a little. On my tail… I had a tail… My mind started running in circles… “LT, permission to freak out?”

Henry quickly checked the tail out causing me to inhale quick and let out the cutest little squeak. “Yep that’s sensitive to.” Had I been in my right mind I might be concerned with the squeak, well, actually, had I been in my right mind, I wouldn’t have ears or a tail to be concerned with. Closing my eyes I couldn’t deal with it, my brain needed a reboot or restore to previous setting. My head spun and I was out like a light.

Checking my satchel I needed to be sure I had everything, water skin, hard tack baskets, maps of the area, well as much of the area as I had, Everfree never did have good maps, raincloak, compass, yeh I had what I needed.

“Twilight are you sure you’re up for this?”

I looked up at the older earth pony, he was a farmer, deep brown mane, light blue body fur yet built. I mean he was built. If he wasn’t like 20 years my elder, he must have been a total heart throb when he was my age. “Yes, the timberwolves have been attacking your farm and the neighbors; nopony is safe with them out there right now. “

“I know but why didn’t Canterlot send more than 1 little unicorn for this, shouldn’t they have sent several guards?”

“For timberwolves? It’s not like it’s a dragon or something, this is going to be a fun little adventure” With a flick of my mane I giggled “Twilight Velvet, here to save the day.”

Sitting up I start coughing, “What the hay, smelling salts, I hate that stuff.”

“You fainted, I need you awake right now,” The LT was looking at me with concern “We are still in hostile territory.”

“I know LT, shock got to me for a second.”

Standing up the LT ruffles my hair between my ears, closing my eyes I feel my ears go side to side… the little gesture making me feel a lot better right now. “OK get some rest, I’ll pull you off watch rotation. I don’t want you to risk passing out again.”

Nodding slowly I get up moving back to sit curling up a bit, now acutely aware of my tail, I close my eyes to rest. This is not the adventure I was looking for.

“Seriously, this is not the adventure I was looking for.“ With a leap and roll I get I end up on all 4’s again, the Rockadile roaring out at me. I look around and see just what I need. A large fallen tree trunk, hollow but still looks strong enough. Now I just need to make him mad.

Rockidiles are not the brightest of creatures, I think it’s because they actually do have rocks for brains, kicking a few small rocks at him I laugh, “Oh poor little thing all moss covered, I guess you can’t move fast at all.”

With the taunts and rocks, the creature roars and charges. I do a quick turn and dive through the log and roll out the other side. A moment later I'm followed by a deafening crash. Glancing over my shoulder I see the rockadile stuck head and shoulders into the log unable to get out or go through it.

“Score one for brains,” I giggle and start high step trotting away from the pond. The rockidle hadn’t been leaving its territory so I saw no reason to hurt it. I was the intruder here after all. Moving deeper into the Everfree I found it getting darker. Closing my eyes I concentrated, the glow form my horn lighting the area up.

I’m woken up by a sharp pain in my head, and find myself looking up at both Erik and Yiska. “Seriously ow.”

“Your horn was glowing, I smacked it and it went out.”

“Look you don’t go hitting somepony’s horn it’s not just rude its…” I blink for a few second. I’m not sure if that’s the strangest thing I’ve ever said. And I’m not sure what part to start with. Horn.. glow… My… Slowly I reach up touching the horn on my forehead then look at them.

“Somebody’s horn? You’re the only one that has a horn.” Eric was looking about as panicked as I was feeling right now…

Moving over the LT nneels down, “Lights out no one’s around that saw it, so what was it?”

“His horn was glowing and we are not talking about a dim bio-luminescent glow,” Henry said joining the group. “It was putting out a fair glow.”

“Ok this is getting serious, up till now the changes have been worrying but this is the first one that could have posed a risk. Yiska, stay with him to the night. Make sure he doesn’t give away our position.”

Nodding slowly Yiska turns sitting looking at me. “My father used to tell me stories.”

“Oh goody a spirits joke,” I said shaking my head.

“Well it’s not all about spirits, some were about magic, some were about people who took the form of animals either as a curse by spirits, a blessing, or of their own will.”

“That has got to be the most stupid….. ow!” I flinch as he flicks my horn with a finger and blink, “Ok not so stupid.” I rub the horn softly, darn that’s sensitive.

“In a case like this, my father would say something like, the spirits are unbalanced, you need to find the spirits and talk to ask them either forgiveness or help. Truth is I never considered that much passed some mumbo jumbo to explain a person trying to come to terms with themselves.” Taking a deep breath he looks at my horn and ears, “But in this case I think you need to talk to your spirit.”

“And just how am I supposed to do that?”

“My grandfather always described it like a controlled dream, somewhere between meditation and sleep. At least that’s how I took what he was saying. Close your eyes, breath deep, and slow, relax. Open your mind and search. There was something to do with a totem spirit…”

Nodding slowly I closed my eyes and relaxed. At this point I wasn't really sure what to expect. What was going on.

I was expecting timberwolves, but not this. I stood, my front legs spread ready for anything but I didn’t want to make an aggressive move. Standing on a large rock above me, was a massive stag, Long thin legs, white and gold body with a huge set of antlers, but most startling was around his neck was a large golden necklace with a red gem in the shape of a heart.

“Welcome back little one.” His voice is strong and powerful, filled with authority. “You have been gone a long time”

“Who, who are you?” I stammer, deer don’t talk, cows ok, but deer, no. They can’t. “How do you know me?”

“I am King Aspen known as The Heart of The Everfree Forest.” The stag says, looking down at me. “This is not the first time you have come here, stood down there. I have seen you before. I know you maybe better then you know yourself.”

“My name is… Twilight Velvet, I have come here because of the timberwolves they have been attacking the farms.” I take a breath standing true.

“Is that really why you are here?”

“Of course it is, ponies are in danger, it’s my duty to help them.” I say stomping a hoof, then the stag looks at me with stern eyes, I try my best to stay brave but I find myself lowering my head, “I came here because I thought I could help.”

Shaking his head he steps down, nearly twice my size I suddenly feel very vulnerable. “No Twilight, not this time, this time you came looking for my help.”

Gasping and panting I open my eyes looking around, my movements cause Yiska to backpedal. “I…I…. I have to go to the bathroom…” Quickly getting up I move away panting hard, my whole body is trembling, but I still have no idea what that means. Any of it, who a talking deer? Me saying I’m… I’m… Shaking my head again I try and hold on try to find it again but it’s faded.

Undoing my pants I find myself with a new problem. “Ah crud.”

Author's Note

I Apologize now, Most of the stories for 5 score are written first person, which isn't my normal writing style, I've always been 3ed person. I have tried to adapt my writing style to fit with the way the 5 score universe stories flow.

Java Compilation ERROR #43: Insufficient Coffee. Due to this, none of the characters in this story actually belong to me, instead this is a chance to explore histories, personal conflicts, emotions, and the choices made, that lead up to and shape the world as the ponies knew it.

Part 7: Through Smoke and Manners

“Rainbow! Get your butt down here!” I shout, laughing. That stallion could sleep though a thunderstorm, I swear.

“Just 10 more minutes, Fluffy doesn’t want me to go.” Blaze moans.

“Fluffy, I’m not sure which is more silly, that you named that cloud, or that you named it fluffy.” I say sitting back on my haunches and watching.

Blaze rolls off of his cloud and drops down, after a long moment he starts flapping his wings to land when he gets close. Landing, he looks up longingly “Goodbye, you were just so fluffy and soft and…”

I put my hoof in his mouth, “Oye, I would say why don’t you sleep with it, but, you already did.”

“Jealous?” Blaze says jokingly.

“Why would I be, I’m seeing Night Light after all.” I say and hip check Blaze playfully.

“I still don’t understand what you see in that guy, all he does is make books. How boring is that.” Blaze snorts once. “There’s got to be something wrong with any pony that makes books.”

“He’s a book binder, he has a job at the castle, helping fix the books at the library.”

Blaze yawns in response.

“Ok Blaze, ok, I know how you feel about books. But mom and dad have been pushing…” I look down at my hooves as I walk.

“You’re doing this because of them? Twilight, you need to live your own life.” Blaze put his wing over my back.

“I know, but they even talked to Celestia about it.” I keep walking feeling more and more unsettled.

“That’s not fair, how does Night Light feel about it?” Blaze asks.

“He’s all for it, he’s been boasting to the others around town about it. How happy I make him, how happy it will make our families. Even that it is Celestia approved.“ I shake my head and look up at Canterlot in the distance.

“Twilight, you need a stallion who loves you for who you are, for what you do and can do.” Blaze says seriously, so uncharacteristically of him, “Not something that’s convenient.”

I turn to face blaze I don’t know why I say it but I say it. “Like you and your mare?” I feel the tears in my eyes and redness in my face. “Why couldn’t you have asked me instead.” The fear, the sadness, and the shame of what I said floods over me like a wave.

Blaze stands looking at me in shock, wings spread wide, and high, “Twilight…”

Looking back to Canterlot I teleport….

I wake up crying, I had just taken a little nap after our brunch, and now, I wish I hadn’t. I just feel so lost and alone for some reason. I have no idea why, or what was wrong but I just feel... lost.

“Your spirit is troubled.” Grandfather says, sitting on the ground beside me, holding out a cloth.

I take the cloth and wipe my eyes, then I take a big breath. “I wouldn’t know, I can’t remember anything when I wake up. “

“When a spirit is dis-joined, and just walks in this world it cannot remember the spirit world.” Grandfather says sagely, nodding once.

And with that, I now understand what Yiska meant, this guy speaks weird. I think he is just making stuff up as he goes but, he is our host. “Sorry, I was never really a spiritual person.”

“We are holding a ceremony tonight, you and the other lost ones need to attend.” Grandfather says, standing.

“Grandfather,” I hear Yiska huff as he walks over, “Leave her be, she’s not some lost spirit, she’s a Ranger and a close friend of mine.”

Grandfather looks between Yiska and I, “Interesting.” Was all he says before walking back to the house.

“Thanks Yiska,” I say and stand up.

“Rangers, front and center!” The LT calls out, then he looks around “Ponies too!”

Everypony trots up and joins the humans, we all sit or take a knee. The LT is on an old laptop, must have been Yiska’s but the thing was almost 10 years old. Apparently grandfather never throws things out.

"I’ve been doing searches on the internet, it been very very slow going, between very slow internet and someone's slow computer,” He says, looking at Yiska, “Now, we know that multiple people have changed thanks to Spectrum, but I can’t find any news stories, articles, or anything, with regards to this. Either there is a media cap on it, or worse, the NSA is sanitizing the net on us.”

“The only way they would have the authority to do that is under a Presidential order under the emergency measures act.” Jay said blinking, “That means the Whitehouse is aware of this.”

“I searched for the term cutie marks, it what the doctor and Spectrum called your marks.” He turns the laptop so we can see page after page of cutie mark pictures. “Apparently these are from some children’s cartoon from about 5 to 10 years ago. I don’t know why," He looks at all us ponies, " but you all seem to be lookalikes from this TV show.”

Strawberry Sunrise speaks up, “So we’re just lookalikes of some kids show?”

“I wouldn’t say that, but the appearance is uncanny. I cross referenced that with the term, five score divided by four.“ He turns the lap top around to face him while he works, when he turns it around, a youtube clip is playing, for us all to see…”

“That’s him.” Strawberry Sunrise says in shock.

“Discord.” Amber Waves breathes.

“He took Princess Cadence.” Blue Sky stomps a hoof.

“I couldn’t get away.” I say, lowering my head.

“Not again, please not again.” Arctic Lilly moans, closing her eyes tight.

“You’re going to pay for hurting her.” Yiska snarls at the screen, which shows the mismatched yellow and red eyes.

The LT closes the computer in the middle of the five score curse, blinking. “That, is not the response I expected there. I was going to suggest you ponies watch some of the series but I’m not sure if it's safe.”

I take deep breath after panting a bit and look to the others. “Maybe a few episodes might help get us an idea of what’s going on but, I think we should stay away from Discord's episodes.”

Everyone nods with vigor, “Ok, from what I saw Discord was only really in a few episodes, I can’t find the last episode in its entirety online, there are just a few clips from it, fans apparently hated it with a passion, and strangely no one can seem to agree on just how it ended or who the last pony cursed was. I guess after 5 years people forgot the order of the show.”

The ponies gather closer to the laptop, and the LT acts as our safety filter, reading the episode description before playing it. It was strange seeing what equated to myself, on screen, married to a stallion I didn’t recognize, with a 2 children I had never seen before. We all sit and watch, through dinner, right up until the point the battery dies.

I look over at the other ponies, they seem to be about as much in shock as I am. It is hard to comprehend that we had become something out of a cartoon… or was the cartoon something about us?

Everyone jumps at the sound of the pickup truck’s brakes squeal, another old Ford pulls up near us and several older men get out. It is strange, they don't react or respond to the fact that there is a bunch of cartoon ponies sitting there, instead they meet with grandfather, reaching out to shake his hand.

Grandfather looks at the LT, then at the group “It is time.” And walks quietly over to where a fire is being built. He sits down, while some of the younger men slowly build up a large bon fire, and a native man brings us over to sit in a circle around it.

“Time, for what?” the LT says, standing up and following Grandfather.

“Yiska, what’s going on?” I ask, more than a little worried.

“Grandfather wants us to sit through a ceremony, something like church I guess.” Yiska nods slowly and gives me a weak smile.

The LT and the Rangers are sat last around the circle. The drumming starts first, 2 of the men tapping out a rhythm on a large flat drum, next is the singing, or chanting, I wasn’t sure which to call it, I don’t speak a word of any of the Native American languages, so I didn’t even know if they were saying words. Grandfather sits, tapping an old Tortoise shell rattle in a steady beat, leading the chant.

I can feel the heat of the fire, the smoke is filling the air. There is something instinctual about the music, in the cartoon we had seen the ponies doing large song and dance numbers, but that is a cartoon right? This is real life, how is this possible? I glance at Blue Sky, he is sitting with his eyes locked on the fire starting to chant too.

Strawberry Sunrise is slowly spreading her wings, without knowing the words meaning she too has begun to chant.

I begin to feel a pressure in my horn, or behind it, the pressure is slowly building up, it's not painful, not like a headache, but I know it is there. Amber Waves and Arctic Lily begin stomping their hooves in time with the drum beats, and they take up the chanting as well. It is almost as if their hooves glow each time they strike the ground, firelight reflecting off them.

I look back to Blue Sky and his wings are spread, there is almost an energy building in his feathers, I can see it jumping from feather to feather. I look over at Strawberry Sunrise, it is the same thing, her wings are fully outstretched, the firelight and energy in her wings fighting for dominance in my eyes.

The smoke plays with my horn, wrapping around it, it caresses the curls twisting around and dancing on the tip. I could feel the smoke envelope me, my ears start twitching, as I look back into the fire. The light, the shapes, are all so real to me. Grandfather throws something into the fire and it flares up, the air thick with the smell of tobacco, of burning grasses.

I see a great white winged unicorn raising the sun. I see ponies cheering and stomping. I feel their joy, the pride in their movements. I feel the beginning of a new year. My son and daughter are there. Grandfather throws more herbs in the fire with another brilliant flash. I smell lemon grass, I smell wild flowers, Rainbow Blaze is laying in the grass, a wing over me. I feel at peace.

I hear an owl screech as grandfather throws another handful of herbs in. Discord, his miss matched eyes flare into view. I feel my horn flare in response. Fire everywhere, I scream and start backpedaling from the fire. I’m not the only one to panic, all the ponies back off at the same time. Even Yiska falls backwards and pushes himself away from the circle.

“What the hay!”

Admiral Volker sits behind his desk, the chatter in the Pentagon about suspected Russian attacks against US holdings has raised tensions to an all time high. US Marine task forces around the world and security detachments at embassies are on a defensive posture and at high alert.

He knows the Russians are likely having the same problems as the USA is, and how are they responding? Be it weaponizing, curing, or destroying, that would dictate how the USA had to act. The chances that Russia would gain some advantage over this are completely unacceptable.

The light flashes on his phone, line 3, he grumbles as he picks up the phone, he turns on his monitor “Admiral Volker.”

“Admiral, its Dr. Phillips with Spectrum.”

“Yes doctor?”

“We have found something regarding the pegasus type of pony. Removing their feathers seems to instigate some type of physiological and mental changes. Unfortunately the test subject has passed away. There may be a chance that if we strip their feathers we could force a change in them.”

“I see. I have the data on my computer now. What do you need?” Volker leans back in his chair, progress at last.

“Another pegasus test subject.”

“I understand, I will write up the transfer orders and have one sent to you immediately.” Volker hangs up the phone, beginning the paperwork. Maybe this would work for the president’s daughter, though she isn't a winged pony, but has a horn on her head.

***Yiska***

It is early morning; most of us needed sleep, needed to recover from what had happened the night before. What had happened? My wings are sore, neck and back hurt. I told my grandfather I never wanted to do rituals like that again. I wish he would…

I look back at my wings, spread wide. Quickly I look between my legs, yep that’s still there. Standing up I look at myself turning my neck to see my back and wings. I look like a moderate blue pegasus stallion, with a scruffy rainbow mane and tail. I’m about 2 or 3 shades darker than Rainbow dash, more like the colors of her father in the show. Maybe I am her father.

I prance in place a few times, stretching and unstretching my wings just to get the feel of them, before going over to starting to look at my tail. I find myself walking in circles looking at it, which, ends up with me hearing laughter.

“Chasing your tail already?” Velvet says with a giggle.

Stopping quickly I find myself blushing, “I, was just looking at it. So um, how do I look?” I say before going into one of Blaze or Dash’s 'I’m Awesome' poses.

Velvet giggles “Very cute, except you’re going to need pants. “

“Bah, you’re just embarrassed to see my junk.” I smile, standing proud.

Twilight giggles and turns her back to me, swaying her tail gently and even though she’s wearing pants I can still see the curve of her flanks. She looks at me through the bangs of her mane, a soft smile on her face.“See, pants are useful,” she says in a soft gentle voice and, for the first time, I begin to realize just how cute she actually is.

“Twilight…” I start.

Twilight starts laughing and sits on the ground, “Oh my gosh, Rainbow, oh man, look at your wings.”

Looking back, I notice my wings are straight out and rigid, locked in place… Going wide eyed I find myself blushing harder than I have in a long time.

“It’s not funny,” I say fighting to get control of my wings, finally folding them against my side.

“Not funny, one shake of my tail and your wings just poofed. It’s funny and adorable.” Twilight says.

“Ok maybe it was a little funny.” I say, and exhale.

“So how do you feel? With your fur out, your wings…” Velvet asked.

“Oh I feel great, alive, it’s so strange but, before the change I was worried, now, I just feel like me. “ I say, it’s not something that can be understood by most.

“So, are you going to try flying?” Velvet asked. “I know you’ve been watching the other Pegasus and I could see the urge in your face.”

Nodding vigorously I prance in place again, looking over, I see the other ponies watching me. Now, it’s my turn to make a fool out of myself. I spread my wings to feel the air, twitching my feathers. Stopping I reach over and preen one or two that didn’t feel right, then look up. I begin pumping my wings a bit to build up power, breath, gather…

Twilight yells out “Rainbow no, that’s too much…”

Leaping into the air, I rocket up, leaving a rainbow trail behind me before end up hitting the ground… The last thing I remember is the ground being extremely unpleasant tasting.

“Ok little ones, you are all speedsters.” I say, “Just like me. A speedster is a special kind of pegasus. One that is built for wingpower, as such we channel energy better than the others. Now this doesn’t dictate our lives, we can still be weather ponies, or delivery ponies, or even Wonderbolts.” I hear the foals cheer at that idea. “We can use our speed in any of the jobs, but we have to be careful.”

Several of the foals strike speed poses, “Oh yeh, I’m going to be a racer… leave everyone in my dust.”

“Wonderbolt for me, they are the best.” Another foal says.

“Little ones, little ones, pay attention.” I said slapping my wings against my side in a clap. “Now then, we have to be careful. Always watch how much power you are using on your take off’s. If you start too fast you could run into someone in front of you, and with a lot of thrust on the start, it can be hard to turn.”

“Yeh, just ask Rainbow Crash.” one of the foals says, laughing.

“Brawly, you are aware that she’s my daughter right?” Brawly looks a little worried.

“Yeh, but that’s why she’s here, cuz she’s your daughter right?”

“She’s here because she’s a speedster, and needs the training, like all of you” I say, standing up, "Now, what’s rule one for speedsters on takeoffs”

“Always watch your power!” The foals say in unison.

Yiska raises one forehoof and moans, “Rule one, for speedsters, always watch your takeoff power.” He then proceeds to cough up some dirt.

I giggle softly, using a wet cloth on his head, “You hit the ground so hard you carved a trench. You were out for almost half an hour.”

“Did I look good doing it?” Yiska moaned.

“Oh yeah, Rainbow, you crashed with style. Henry already checked you over and said nothing was broken.” I say as I finish washing his chest and forelegs. Serious ground in dirt issues there.

“Twilight, are you giving me a sponge bath?” Yiska asks, blinking and looking down at the cloth.

“Doctor’s orders, he wanted the dirt removed to check for cuts, bruises, abrasions.” I say sternly.

“Oh, well, Strawberry is right, the ground doesn’t taste good.” Yiska chuckles.

“So what’s a speedster?” I asked, always worth a shot.

“They are the fastest of the pegasi, able to reach really high speeds.” He says, “and how I know that, I have no idea… I just do.”

“Yeah that explains that, I knew there was something wrong when you were starting up, I could feel the power in your wings, and it was a lot more than Blue Sky, or Strawberry Sunrise built up, I tried to warn you.”

“But, I never listen, sorry Twilight.”

I blink a few times, “Yiska, you listen fine.”

Yiska blinks a few times “So am I Yiska or Rainbow?”

"Hmm, you’re both, you're Yiska, call sign Rainbow Blaze,” I say with a giggle.

“Would that make you Walter, call sign Twilight Velvet?” he says.

I poke his nose with my forehoof “No, sorry, I’m just Twilight Velvet. I’m still Wally, but, with my plumbing as it is, I don’t think I want to be thought of as a guy. It makes me uncomfortable in some ways. Treated as one of the guys is one thing, but actually thinking of myself as a guy… or reminded that I was a guy. That would cause more problems. “

“I understand,” Yiska says quietly.

“I haven’t had to deal with it yet but, really, walking into the guys bathroom would be really embarrassing. “

“True true, but can at least still pee standing up.” Yiska chipped in.

“Yes, and ew… having to aim like that would be… no thank you…” I giggle.

“ok, let’s try this again.” Yiska says, standing up, and spreading his wings, carefully he does a few low power jumps, trying to judge how much thrust he needs, before actually taking to the air.

Leaning back I watch him have fun, I can tell he’s just as at home in the sky as I have been on the ground. It's still amazing to watch though. Finally he lands, panting hard, and I pick myself up to head over to him, “great job, ready for some brunch?”

“Oh man yeah, think they have any more of that crunchy stuff?” he perks.

“Alfalfa bits? Yeah that was great.” I respond.

“Wanna race?” he says crouching a little bit.

I trot past ducking my head under his neck, rubbing my side against his chest. As I give his chin a gentle flick with my tail I move by and glancing back I see his wings locked up and go stiff. “Go!” I say and start running.

“ACK! Twilight you little…” he says and turns to chase me as we run back to the house.

Brunch today is a mix of carrots, Alfalfa crunch cereal, and an apple. “Alfalfa Bits, part of a nutritious breakfast.” I say with a giggle. “Given the Celestia Heart and Sun seal of approval.”

"Ok, that was just bad.” Yiska says, but he digs into his food with gusto.

Eric comes out, “I was just talking to my dad, apparently some ponies in Montana have shifted like you guys did, they have a little bit of a safe haven forming there.”

I nod slowly and look over at the crystal ponies “They need somewhere stable, safe. A life on the run isn’t healthy for them. What do you think LT?”

“I don’t know if any place is really safe but it might be the best bet. “ The LT says with a nod.

“I can drive the truck there, could take a few hours but we should be able to make it. I can take the civilians there.”

“I want to go.” I say firmly, the LT and Eric both look at me, “I want to make sure it’s safe for them.”

“Plus there might be more answers there for us,” Blaze says.

The LT blinks, looking at us. “Ok you three are a go, I’ll take the rest of the team with me, we’ll hit Special Forces command, see what we can find out there. And get our names cleared.”

I cringe “Oh yeah, we are AWOL aren’t we.”

“Well we are." The LT says, "You and Yiska are on medical leave, I think.”

I look at Yiska and blink. “Maybe it’s cuz I keep going green?”

“Could be worse, I have the blue flu,” Yiska says and we both just fall back laughing…

“You two have gone nuts.” The LT says, shaking his head.

“Sorry sir, I guess are both still adapting.” Yiska says.

“Can I go? I don’t want to be left alone?” Strawberry pipes up.

I turn my head and smile at her, “Sure thing Strawberry Sunrise. We’re not looking at abandoning you or leaving you without a way to support yourself.”

Strawberry comes over and hugs both of us tightly. “Thank you, thank you.”

“So, now that we are all here, does anyone want to talk about what happened last night?” The LT asks.

Henry nods “Yeah, that was just... strange. You all just flipped out at the same time.”

Amber Waves tilted her head looking at the… humans… “You mean you didn’t see it?”

“See what?” Jay says, taking a knee.

“In the fire, I saw my daughter get accepted into the Wonderbolts… well not my daughter, Rainbow Dash I guess, but I still felt the pride of it.”

Strawberry Sunrise, “I remembered the pride I felt, when with 7 pegasi down, our team still managed to pull off a water spout to transfer water up to Cloudsdale.”

“I remember the day I was selected to be one of Princess Cadance's royal guards, getting my golden armor.” Blue Sky chirps.

Amber Waves looks between everyone “I remembered the joy I felt when the crystal heart was returned, the feel of safety and purpose, the love and happiness filling not just me, but whole of the world.”

Arctic Lily sighs “I was at the equestrian games, I remember cheering on for our team, the hooves stomping. The cheering and chanting, the feeling of being part of some great herd, it was so special.”

“I remembered the summer sunrise ceremony, Princess Celestia raising the sun and looking down at my little Twi-Twi, and seeing the joy on her face, I remembered being a mom.” I said with a gulp, why did it seem that the others got off easy, and I got stuck with the whole mom thing? Though, Yiska remembered being a dad but… well at least I didn’t remember giving birth, or making the foal… thank Celestia. Either of those would have been just too traumatic for me to deal with.

“It was like we were getting a glimpse of who we were, I saw Discord.” Sunrise says with a shudder, a shudder that spreads to all the ponies in an instant.

“Yeah, I felt him coming for me, like he wanted to take away everything I had.” Amber Waves gulps out.

“And THAT my friends, is why I gave up on vision quests. Think of what that would do to a 6 year old.” Yiska calls out loudly.

All of the ponies looked at Yiska and nod sympathetically.

“It was more than that,” I start, “I could sense a magic building in the air, building around us. I could see our bodies gathering it and…”

Every pony looks at me, as does the Rangers. All of a sudden I felt very stupid for some reason.

“Sorry, I don’t know how to describe it or even if it was real. I want to say magic is real but…” I look down.

“Magic is real,” Grandfather stated, “to those who live in harmony with the land. There is a story, many years ago, when the earth was still covered with ice, a spirit of great evil roamed the world. The spirit sought to destroy man, it fed off of chaos and war, it fed off of the disharmony of man and nature. This spirit was not a trickster like raven, it was cruel and sought power. It pitted tribe against tribe, man against man, bringing corruption where ever it went.”

Grandfather stands to look over the ponies, “A few however saw this for what it was, and came up with a plan. A group of medicine men and spirit dancers called to the great spirits, and promised to live in harmony if they helped seal away this darkness. When chaos came to them, the medicine men began singing, and the spirits sung as well, the land, the sky sung all in harmony and the spirit of chaos had no choice but to escape, it fled into the dark hole of a great tree… where it was sealed up. Slowly the spirits turned to tree to stone, forever imprisoning chaos inside. From then on, we honored the promise to live in harmony, knowing that if we didn’t the spirit might escape.”

Everyone looks at Grandfather, blinking.

“Sometimes, truth can be found in memories or old myths. We have always known magic is real, it is part of our culture, or way of life. It is in our songs. Maybe you, like us are spirits of harmony, and last night that awoke in you.” Grandfather said.

“Well, if I hadn’t seen Wally levitating tablets or blocking an RPG I wouldn’t believe in magic either.” The LT says seriously. “But right now, my mind is open.”

All eyes fall on me again. “What? What did I do this time?”

Part 10: To court a mare.

“How was the meeting with the Senators, Admiral?” His secretary asks quietly from behind her desk. The Pentagon has been busy today, with officers coming and going to meetings.

“Politicians, always looking out for votes, it seems their loyalties lie whichever way the wind is blowing.” The Admiral scoffs. “Senator Corrdis is currently lobbying for more funds to be given to private contractors like Spectrum, to deal with this pony threat.”

“Are they really a threat sir?” His secretary asks in a meek voice, not wanting to make eye contact.

Turning, the Admiral looks at her “They are the greatest threat to natural security since communism. Every age has its threats. First we had Germans and Japanese, then Communists, then Muslims, now the threat for this age will be ponies.”

Turning he walks into his office, “Every nation needs an enemy, by having an enemy it rallies the people. Hitler knew that all too well, and so does the vice president.”

With a soft sigh she rubs her hip watching as he closed the door, before looking at her leg with a shiver.

***

General Murray Olsen is an imposing man, not by physical nature, but by the attitude he holds, by the way he stands, and you can't forget his chest full of jewelry. He takes a seat at the head of the table, just looking at me and the rest of the Rangers.

Next was a Brigadier General, he is part of the 75th Ranger group, wearing their emblem on his shoulder, as well as several ribbons showing tours of duty.

Finally a pair of Colonels, one was definitely part of the Judge Advocate General’s office. To be a Corporal in the presence of this number of high ranking officers is never a good feeling or sign. My career being over was starting to feel like the least of my problems.

The Jag officer looked at his note pad “Disobeying orders, assault of marine personal, theft of civilian vehicle, AWOL. Is there anything that I have left out?” he says.

“No sir,” Our LT says firmly.

“Let’s start with the first charge, disobeying a direct order.” The General looks at his paperwork, “The order came from a Navy Admiral, within the supply chain of the US Marine Command, not authorized to either transfer nor discharge members of the army. The question at hand, does that justify the rest of the charges.”

The lawyer, a Captain Mitchell, stands up and offers a tablet to the General “Sir, the team had recovered this, it clearly shows civilians and military personal being transferred to Spectrum Labs, instead of to the FBI or CDC holding areas. As you can see, several of the ponies transferred to Spectrum are listed as deceased. This brings the question of a clear danger to his squad.”

The Colonel, one Col. Rozzen, nods “While Spectrum labs was authorized to handle ponies, there has been some question as to the treatment there, given the way the information is presented here, there is grounds to assume his squad was in danger.”

The JAG officer looks over the data, “However, there is no proof this has come from the Admirals office itself, this appears to be medical records.”

Captain Mitchell is quick to point out “The source of the information is not a requirement, these could have come from Spectrum for all we know right now, the information itself is what LT Fisher was going with. Tests being done on his personal, information that the Spectrum Group or medical staff had more information than being released, and followed by an illegal order.”

The Jag officer looks over the paperwork “Did this however justify disobeying the order?”

The Brigadier General, Wilson, simply nods “If the order was deemed illegal, disobeying it was within the rights of Lt. Fisher, especially in the case that his squad was in danger.”

The jag officer looks over “The second, charge then, the assault of marines.”

The LT takes a deep breath, “Given that the orders had come through marine command, we did not know who could be trusted. From that point out, and given an implied resentment to the ponies, our first goal was escape and evasion. For that we chose the point to minimize injuries or casualties.”

“Assaulting two marine security without killing anyone, showed that this was solely about disobeying the order, and not compounding the issue.” Our lawyer states firmly.

The General stands up “Given the fact that no one was injured, the vehicle was not damaged, and the AWOL was with the intent of making their way here, I see no reason to push this issue, there is little justification at this point for a formal courts martial. This does how ever leave us with the issues of both Cpl Yiska Christian, and Cpl Walter Fitzpatrick.”

I look at Yiska and gulp.

“First off, females are not allowed to serve in forward or long range infantry units. While Cpl Fitzpatrick was born male, he is no longer eligible for front line duties under that.” I flinch at that, I knew it was coming but it still hurt a lot to hear it said.

“That being said, both Cpl Christian and Cpl Fitzpatrick are being removed from active duty. For their service they will receive a full disability pension and benefits.” He carried on.

The LT Blinked at that “Sir, that is not fair, you have a pony working right this building, why are these two being dismissed”

“That pony started as a desk job, and continues her desk job, I highly doubt either of those two would be comfortable at working as a desk assignment.” He looks back at me and I sigh as I lower my head. “Both will be transferred to the Army Reserve Force.”

The Brigadier General nods once, “As a member of the Reserve Force, we will request your special talents be put to a new use. We would like to attach you to the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment, again, while females may NOT be active members of that team, they can be attached for special missions. As you two are both ponies, you may act as a… calming influence… on some hostage rescue or asset recovery missions.”

“As it stands, Lt Fisher, your squad will be placed on a leave of absence for now until replacements a can be made available. Some R&R will do you good after your last tour.”

“Yes sir,” The Lt says with a nod.

We return to attention as the officers leave the room. Then I look at the LT and sit down, ears drooping. “They want us as token ponies, to show to others, look it’s safe to come with us.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t sit well with me either.” He says and walks over rubbing both my mane and Yiska’s.

An Army MP steps into the room, he looks around at us “I need both the ponies to come with me.”

The LT blinks “Wait a sec, they were cleared.”

The MP turned around and looked at the LT, “Have you looked at them recently?”

“Yes I have, what has their looks got to do with anything?” He said starting to look angry.

“Simple, it doesn’t match their ID cards or record files, we need to get new pictures and ID’s for them.” The MP states matter of factly.

If the LT had hooves he’d have just face hoofed, as it is, he covers his face with his hand and shakes his head. “Yeah, ok I forgot about that.”

I walk with the MP out to the security office, with Yiska in tow, the LT also comes along to ensure our safety, he doesn't seem to be feeling very trusting about this. Well I don’t trust this either.

I have to stand up against the white board for my head shot, though they have to lower the camera a bit more than usual for this, but it goes through just fine. Adjusting the camera again the operator looks at me, “Could you lower or take off your pants please for the next picture?”

I stand there, blinking, more than a little stunned. I have NEVER been asked to drop my pants for an ID Picture before. “Excuse me?”

Blaze steps up on this one too “Hey, why do you want her to drop her pants, that’s downright rude to ask.”

The MP looks at us then, then risks a glance “Uppity aren’t they?" He sighs, "It’s for your cutie marks, to have them on record with your picture.”

I blink a few times, then I feel my face flush, I lower my pants with my magic and turn sideways for the second photo. The operator blinks a bit, “Wow unicorn magic is real, that’s new.”

Moving over to the desk I sign my name and we end up waiting while the cards are made, my ID card ends up being a little different than I expected. Race unicorn, Gender mare, age 25/unknown adult, several things carry over from my old ID, my name was listed as birth name and alias. The photo though was a split shot, my face and my cutie mark.

Blaze was next to get his done, he had a little more trouble dropping his pants than me, but still fun to watch, and finally we both had our brand new ID cards.

The MP looks over at us sternly “If either of you turn into alicorns, it invalidates your current id, you’ll need to return and have it redone.”

“Oh come on, like that’s going to happen.” Yiska chuckles and we both break out laughing.

The MP looks at us sternly “You’ll be expected to turn in all of your old gear, from your barracks, including uniforms, quartermaster will give you some extra uniforms here, as well the PX has several… um...personal… Items that may be of use.” He says, his eyes glued on me.

Why do they ALWAYS look at me when they say things like that. Turning, I walk out and show the squad my new ID. As I was putting it away I see the Brigadier General walking up. “Ten HUT!”

Standing at attention we waited as the LT Saluted him. “Sorry sir, just getting things together.” The LT says.

“No need to apologize. I’m aware you are on leave right now, but I’m wondering. Would you be interested in carrying out some operations as a team?”

The LT blinks several times, “Sir?”

“Here’s the problem, China has been rounding up any and all ponies they can find, we don’t know what their end game is yet, and that’s worrisome. Russia on the other hand is taking a capture or kill stance, trying to round up ponies from their allies, and eliminating ponies in one case, to deny them from coming to the USA. They even went after an Air Transport in one case. I’d like to know if you would be available for some special missions. Over the next few weeks, on the books as Asset Recovery, but in reality it will be the rescue or capture of ponies from situations where normal diplomatic or peaceful means are not applicable. Places like Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Sgt Sanchez blinks, “You want us to risk our lives for ponies.”

The General looks at him “Consider for a moment, what you’ve seen Twilight here do, consider that pegasi have been clocked at supersonic speeds. What we don’t want to see is a pegasus being strapped to a suicide bomb and being forced to fly into a shopping center. Or there are even worse scenarios possible, instead of a conventional explosive, what if it's a nuke?”

We all flinch at those images. Are there those out there that might… take their change and use it for something like that? At the same time though, I was, until very recently, a member of the military still so there’s always a chance that there are those out there that are… unfriendly.

“Its 100% volunteer, per mission so there is no being forced to do this, and this is completely on the books no black ops, no denying actions. This falls in line with orders given from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Nodding, the LT simply states “We’ll consider it, but right now, we need to rest, it’s been a stressful couple of weeks to say the least.”

“I understand,” and with a final salute he returns to the office building.

We head into supply first, the quartermaster looks at us as we put our ID’s on the table, then goes over to the computer. “Ok, you’ve been told to turn in your old gear I take it?”

“Yep but it’s at our old barracks.” I say.

“You’ll be put up in Transient Quarters here for now.” Walking back he picks up two boxes and comes forward, putting them on the table, inside each is 4 pairs of black… boots? Sneakers? They were black something, with Velcro straps. “Hoof boots, designed for miniature horses or ponies, they will give you traction floors and prevent you from destroying hardwood or linoleum, generally we find two sizes fit all.”

Next he comes back with two saddle bags, “Since 2012, mules have been in use in some areas for military transport, we’ve modified basic packs we had in stock.” Packs were pretty simple, digital camo pattern, Velcro flaps over the bags, and each bag could hold about 5 gallons of volume.

“2 pairs of boxers, 2 pairs of combat pants, 1 combat vest or shirt, 1 new bush cap, 1 new Beret.” He says, then looks at Yiska, he walks back, then he returns with a box and swipes it through the bar code reader. “One TG-1 band, lose it, and its 2,500 dollars out of your pay.”

Blaze blinks “The hay? What the heck is that?”

“It’s a Modified sky diver system manufactured in Germany, they provide you with your altitude, GPS location, speed, and direction. They are rated up to 40k feet but they have been pushed to 50 without problems, water resistant, well, it's waterproof down to 20 feet, but we don’t suggest that, and they include a built in transponder. Keep the transponder on Squawk 0001 for now, you will receive full training in transponder frequencies and such in the next few days likely.”

Yiska blinks, looking at the quartermaster “Squawk codes, when did I become an aircraft?”

“The moment you got your wings, 0001 is the code for high speed military aircraft that are not on civil air traffic control channels. That means you will show up on their screens but they will know they can’t talk to you. They can then warn other aircraft in the area to avoid you. Unless getting sucked into a 787’s engine is on your to do list.”

“Nope, I’m fine 0001 and fly low.” Yiska pipes back.

“The buttons were made to be used with gloved hands so it should be pretty ‘Nuzzle Friendly’”

I blinked and looked over “Nuzzle friendly?”

“It’s a term a unicorn here came up with. Since lots of things have to be done with the nose, if she could work it with her nose, it was nuzzle friendly.”

“I, just don’t know how to respond to that one.” I say shaking my head.

“You can hit the PX for other things you’ll need, I hear the military boxers are not mare friendly,” He says and I look at the pile of clothing, moving everything into my saddle bags, I plop it on my back and then help Yiska.

“Ready?”

PX, Post Exchange or Base Exchange, but everyone calls it the PX, they are on every US Base, actually several militaries have them, Canadians call theirs Can-X’s, but it’s all the same concept. An on base, military run retail store, with everything from running shoes, to uniform extra’s, not just for starch and boot polish anymore, the PX’s now sell pretty much anything and everything you need, it’s the military version of a Walmart.

What really surprised me was they had a small section already tucked in the back corner for pony items, with a population of nearly 40,000 people, including families, the chances that 2 or 3 changed just hit me. Sitting down I look at Yiska and gulp “I wonder how many of us there are here, how many were cursed.”

Yiska closed his eyes, “Canterlot, Baltimare, Ponyville were all empty… I don’t know, lots.”

I pick up a pair of jogging shorts, a pair of t-shirts, and a Velcro Wrist strap for cellphones, apparently they are repurposing or using disabled items for ponies. Trying it on my foreleg it fits snugly and doesn’t bounce or move when I walk. I glance over to Yiska who is standing and staring at one set of packages.

Leaning over his shoulder I look down, “panties, for mares.” He says and starts to laugh.

They are not a brand name or anything, obviously no company would go out of their way to produce them, instead they appeared to be made on base and shrink wrapped. “15 dollars a pair, ouch” I say as I get 5 pairs.

“You’re buying them?” Yiska says, a shocked look on his face.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? You can use the boxers but the quartermaster said they weren't mare friendly, and I’d rather not have them going places they shouldn’t.”

“But 5 pairs?”

“Yep, means I don’t have to wash them every day.” Picking up my basket I head for the cash registers.

“Remember the days when you got away with 1 pair for 2 or 3 days in a row?” Yiska says, smiling at me.

“Mare now, and accepting it.” I put my ID card down on the counter as well as my debit card to pay for my things.

Yiska pays for his and we both meet the squad at the food court. Yiska sits down, “Well we have a little time on leave, what’s next?”

The Lt looked at Yiska, “Back to your grandfathers I think.”

“What? Why?” Yiska looks shocked, “That’s not an option or suggestion I expected to hear from you.”

“Answers, and so far we’ve come the closest to getting the truth there. I think a few days there, will do us all good.” The LT states definitively.

“Ok LT, I’m up for it.” I say as I smile.

“We can probably catch a transport out to Nellis Air Force Base or another base close to the Reservation, than rent a car for the rest of the way.” The Lt looks at us “I’d rather not use civil airlines with you two, I hope you don’t mind.”

I give my head a quick shake “No sir, I mean I understand sir, no civilian airlines.”

The LT stood up and headed out, looking at Yiska I chuckled “Ok let’s head over to the transient quarters and dump this stuff off.”

According to our paperwork, we are being billeted in Forestall Hall, but check in is at Moon Hall. Walking in, I find myself getting really self-conscious again as people starting staring at us, several with none to friendly looks.

Carefully taking out the orders, as well as my ID I place it on the counter.

The desk staff, civilian contractors, simply looked at us. “I’m surprised, I thought pets were restricted to Loal House.” He says.

Yiska flared his wings angrily “We are not, and have never been pets. We are US Military Service Members.”

“So are bomb sniffing dogs.” He says dismissively, “Floor 2, section 23, suits 3 and 4.”

Picking up the key’s I turn and head out, Yiska trots beside me, almost pounding the ground as he walks. “We are NOT dogs, we are NOT animals.”

“Somehow, I think the bomb sniffing dog would get more respect then we will in places.” I say, walking to the building. I notice along the way, some cases people ignore us, others seem to stare. “You know, its lucky we aren’t near the private married quarters.”

“Why is that?”

“Kids… especially little girls, we would likely get attacked and demanded to go home with them.” Shaking my head I continue quietly. “I can’t imagine walking down town in a big city like this. It would be terrifying. I feel sorry for any that changed in New York.”

Walking inside, we found our room’s were side by side and they were not that bad, single bed, microwave, small fridge, TV, almost like a little hotel or motel room. “Yiska, I’m going to take a shower before the flight, it’s been a few days again.”

“Roger that.” Yiska says, closing his door.

Closing mine, I break out the new shampoo, towels, Loofah, and body wash and head into the shower. Turning it on I take a moment to find a good temperature that feels comfortable and start to hum softly as I wash my mane and tail first, using one Loofah to help with that. While magic itself was ok for some things, having a sponge to force the soap deeper into the mane helps a lot. Rinsing off, and next is the body wash, again I had a 2nd loofah for that, legs, body even hooves.

I look at my hooves for a bit, “Wonder if I need a trim, where would I go to get one even?”

Shaking my head I break out the 3ed loofah and wash the last few places that are a bit more sensitive. It really felt weird having something touch those parts but had to be done. Finally finished I give myself a shake and step out to dry off fully.

Heading back into the room, I looked at the new uniforms I was issued. I take one down and set it aside, I open one of the packages and slide on the underwear first, and then look at it in the mirror. I turn side to side to see how it fits, it leaves my cutie mark clearly visible, but it covers everything else, the tail hole works well as well letting me have free movement.

The door opens and Yiska pokes his head in “Hurry up, the LT just called and…”

I turn and look at Yiska, starting to blush big time, like I just got caught doing something I shouldn’t be. “I um...”

Yiska, wings spread and raised slowly backs out of the room, slowly closing the door.

Quickly I finish getting dressed in the new uniform, packing my shorts and t-shirt as well as spare undies, I scramble out of the room with my saddlebag on “KNOCK FIRST.” I say to Yiska as I lock my door.

“Lock your door.” Yiska say as he gets his wings back under control.

“Yeah sorry about that, I really didn’t mean for you to see that.” I stammer out still blushing a bit.

“You’ll wear those, but you won’t wear a tail ribbon?” He says with a chuckle.

“What is it with you and tail ribbons? What I’m wearing you can’t see cuz its under my clothing, tail ribbons everyone see’s. So what’s the LT saying.”

“Our flight is in 40 minutes, we are supposed to meet at the airstrip, for a C-130 hop.”

“Airstrip, where’s that?” I ask while pulling out my map, “Down Reilly, then follow Hunnycutt till Parham, we better huff it fast.”

Once we get outside we both break into a heavy trot, Yiska keeping step with me as we double time it for the strip.

Looking to the side we see a group of trainee’s doing PT, they are jogging in formation, and I look at Yiska.

“Airborne Ranger, Where Have You Been?”

Keeping step we started calling out the airborne ranger cadence song as we trotted past the recruits. It might not have been as funny except for the fact that we were going in the same direction, and our trot was about twice as fast as their jog, and we weren’t even huffing.

It takes us about ten minutes to make it to the airfield, and we end up passing two platoons on the way there, one of which we just KNEW were going to get an extra ten miles tacked on to their run for paying attention to us.

We trot up to the depot, meeting the squad there, the LT blinks in surprise, looking at us “Did you guys jog here?”

“Yep, passed a few platoons on the way here too, we can really cruise on hooves.” Yiska said, “Not as fast as flying but still, not a bad way to travel.”

The LT chuckles, and we head outside, a C-130 was currently being loaded with several pallets of supplies and modular containers. We head up to the loadmaster and the LT hands him the paperwork “If you have room, we’re cleared to fly with you to Nellis.” He calls out.

The loadmaster nods once “After the last pallet is loaded, you and your… Blaze? Rainbow Blaze? Wow, I actually have the trading card of you, that’s just too weird.”

Yiska blinked, “Umm, show fan?”

“Seriously, so what’s your daughter like?”

Yiska smiles at him, “I have no idea, I’m not a cartoon character, I’m me, I don’t even know if I really do have a daughter or not.”

“Oh that sucks, hang on, let me finish loading this.” He says as he brings on the last cargo container and locks it down, once he checks all the straps he brings us in to be seated.

I look over at the LT, shaking my head “It was bound to happen sometime, even to us lame background ponies.”

Giggling I leaned back and rested, letting the loadmaster harass Yiska, at least it wasn’t me this time.

Closing my eyes, I lay my head on my forelegs, catching some rest when you can is always a good idea.

***

“Oh that’s never a good idea…” I state, giggling at Twinkleshine, “It’s best to be rested before you try learning and casting new spells.”

“Sorry ma’am, I just couldn’t sleep last night.”

“It’s ok, I’m here to speak to you foals today, about your futures.” I look over at the assemblage of blank flanks in the school room, who knows what they would become, someday. “Earning your cutie mark isn’t the end of your journey, it many cases it’s the beginning. Just because you found your special talent to be magic, for example, doesn’t mean you stop there.”

Sitting down, I smile “It’s how you use your mark to help the world as a whole that matters, and a mark doesn’t close doors to you. A musical mark has just as much chance of getting into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, as a magical mark. Same goes for the Royal guard. Who knows, you might be a cook for the EUP, if your talent was cooking. Don’t be scared if you find what you love doesn’t seem to fit with what you want to be in the future.”

“Many times it’s not for others to try and figure out how you fit in, it’s for yourselves to, because no one knows better about what you can do, then yourselves. Don’t get discouraged.” Looking over at Sunset, I shake my head. She just wants to study it seems.

“Ok that’s my time up here, I’ll make room for another parent.”

***

The plane bounces once before settling down causing my jaw to bounce off the deck “OW, DANG IT!” wiggling my jaw I sit up and look at the LT who is snickering. “That stung. Are we there?”

“We’re wheels down,” The LT says as the rear ramp drops, I trot down the ramp and look around.

This is a BIG airbase, looking around I follow the LT to the car rental point, not surprising but the base has its own Enterprise rent-a-car. The LT had pre-ordered a small Minivan for us before we had boarded the C-130, it was still a few hour's drive to Grandfathers but at least it wasn’t like thirty hours.

Blaze takes one look at the minivan and fluffs his wings “I think I’m going to try and fly it, I need more practice and air time.”

“Ok, and avoid air intakes.” I say with a chuckle.

Looking down, he pulls back the Velcro cover and turns the foreleg transponder on. Nuzzling code 0001, he looks at it “It looks like I'm all ready”

I watched Blaze start a light trot then flinch as I see him take to the air, leaving a rainbow trail “Ow ow ow ow… I HATE hot takeoffs like that.”

The LT looks at me “What's wrong?”

“Ok picture standing beside an F-16 when it lights its afterburners to take off, the heat, the noise… Well on hot take offs like that, I’ve noticed that some pegasi that generate a lot of power on take-off create magic noise… I can sense it in my horn.”

“So you need a horn muff?” He chuckles, the avoids my playful swat at him.

I climb into the minivan, ending up sitting in the back, and the LT starts to drive, leaning back a bit I noticed Eric and Henry starting to sniff the air. Looking at each other Henry leaned over and sniffed me once.

“Ok, WHAT!”

They looked at each other, and Eric chuckles “You smell like… Strawberries.”

“Were you using scented shampoo’s?” Henry looks at me, blinking.

“Umm, it’s what the PX had, sorry.” I tried to make myself smaller and squeak.

“Don’t be,” Eric says, “we just keep thinking of you as one of the guys, not as a guy, but more like a tomboy, so when you do something really girly, it surprises us.”

“Oh.” I meep once and look out the window.

16: Sitting a Spell

The LT arranged for Ah-Pee and I to have some girl time, I protested but he flat out ordered me, of all things. Henry had me on light duties so I couldn’t go running or us my magic for anything more than very basic things. The idea of girl time seemed strange at first, but it turned out it wasn’t close to what I thought it would be.

“Now you really have to grind it in there a bit.”

I watch, cringing inwardly, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Aw heck no, there’s a few sensitive spots but you’ll find them yourself when you try.”

“That’s why you’re using that thing in there?” I ask with a gulp.

“Yep exactly, it’s long enough to reach, but not sharp enough to hurt if I touch anything sensitive.” Ah-Pee goes on. “Now you’re going to have an easier time of this because of your magic, but as you can see, I can make do with my mouth and hooves even just to do this.”

Grabbing the rasp with my magic I carefully clean the pointed end, and used it to clean the frog of my hoof just like Ah-Pee demonstrated, to get the dirt out, “Won’t this come out in the shower?” I ask, looking at her.

“Hun, what about when you’re in the field, or working, and get a rock in there, there are times you just can’t take a shower to clean your hooves.” She says, then chuckles, “You’re a Ranger, this is just like foot care.”

“Yeah point made.” I say as I show her the bottom of my hoof.

“Perfect. Next check for cracks, and chips, if you find yourself getting a lot or deep cracks you might want to consider using boots. Pavement can be hard on a hoof.”

“Oh yeh, they gave us some rubber soled boots for use around headquarters and such, for the tile floors, but I guess they would work for that too.”

“Filing down the edges a bit can help if you have sharp points you can also give the bottom a little file, just to level it out more.” Ah-Pee says with a giggle. “It doesn’t hurt at all, it’s all nail so no different than using a nail file.”

“Lastly the hoof polish, I use a very basic one, it acts as a light hoof sealer, on small cracks, as well as a bit of a hoof shield.” She says, “Now you don’t need to use them and I only use it if I see little cracks, on the horses, as of yet I haven’t had a single crack on my hooves.

“For a moment there my mind went to nail polish and the colors.”

“Oh yeah, they make that too, lots of different colors, they include sparkles or glitter in some, others are clear made to bring out the hooves natural colors more.” She continues.

“Why… would they make nail polish for hooves?”

“Show horses, some events include, dressing up the horse, with special braids to the mane and tail, hoof polish, all to make the horse stand out more from the other show horses.” Ah-Pee points out.

“Humans… are weird.” I say, shaking my head.

“Tell me about it, I used to laugh at those prissy dressage riders, those horses wouldn’t last a day in the field.” Ah-pee says with pride, “My barrel pony though could go from the ring to the cattle drive without even changing her gear. She knew just what she was doing.”

“Sounds smart.” I said with a nod.

“It was almost like we could understand each other, I knew when she was hurt and she knew when I was.” Ah-Pee says fondly.

“How did she take to your change? How is she with you as a pony now?”

“I think she sees me as a foal now, it’s hard to tell, she doesn’t understand that it’s me. She just doesn’t understand why I don’t act like a horse or foal. In some ways it hurts me more than her, because all can I see is her confusion.”

“Must be hard, now that you can pretty much run as fast as her, you don’t need her for work.” I said.

“She got along great with my niece so I’ve given her to her now. She’ll have a good home, but I have a new pony to dote over now.” Ah-Pee smiles.

“Yourself!” I say with a laugh.

“And you!” she chuckles.

“Oh don’t even think of that, remember, I have magic, I can braid your mane and put you in a tail ribbon faster than you can blink.”

We both fall on our backs, giggling.

With a knock at the door we both look at each other than look up, “Come in.” I say, still lying on my back. Looking at the door upside-down, with my front legs curled a bit to let the polish dry.

Blaze opened the door and steps in, looking at both of us. Blinking at us and seeing the polish and rasps, he opened his mouth to say something than stops. He lowers his head taking a deep breath.

“What’s wrong Blaze?” Ah-Pee says, looking at him.

“I want to apologize, to both of you. I know it’s over 40 years to late but I have to. I have to do this because it needs to be said.” Blaze starts, taking a breath.

“Rainbow you don’t need to.” I say softly.

“I wouldn’t be Yiska if I don’t.” He says softly, “Long ago, I didn’t realize your feelings for me, I know you don’t have the same feelings for me now, but back then, outside of Canterlot, you were in love. I couldn’t see that and I hurt you. It didn’t stop there though, I chose to bury myself in my work, weather patrols and training speedsters and in doing so I missed the most important events of your life. Your wedding, Shining Armor’s birth, Twilight's birth. I stayed away because I was scared I’d hurt you more.”

Taking a deep breath, he looks at Ah-Pee, “Apple Pie tried to explain it to me, and I couldn’t understand back then, or didn’t want to. I wanted to say it was too late to change, too late to fix things. So I kept ignoring and kept away, and when I saw her, I just turned my back. I left before your son’s wedding, I left before your daughters coronation. Apple Pie saw you as kin to the Apple family, and me hurting an Apple was…” Blaze shakes his head.

“Ah-Pee, I don’t know if you can really understand this but, I’m sorry for insulting the Apple Family honor. I’m sorry for the disrespect I showed then, and now. I know I was acting jealous and protective.” Turning, he looks at me, nodding once, “And I’m sorry for being over protective. If I do it again you have my permission to tell me, both of you.”

I blink, wiping tears from my eyes, I don’t know why I’m crying but I am, so I roll over to face him drooping my hooves off the end of the bed. “Rainbow,” I start, “Yiska… Thank you.”

Ah-Pee touches her hoof to her cutie mark, “The Apple Family will, is as strong as their legs’, but we know how to bend both. On behalf of myself, my mark, and all those who share the Apple Family marks, I accept.”

***

Corporal Stephany Richards sighed softly, ever since her change she felt like an invalid, her mom had been there for her and still was there for her but it all felt so wrong. She couldn’t really do much of what she needed to do for herself.

Sitting between her mom’s legs, she keeps her head low and still as her mom finishes gathering her pink mane up into a bun. Military regulations were very strict on how women could have their hair, and for her a bun was the best option.

Next up is her uniform, the white shirt she could put on herself with ease, the buttons had been replaced with Velcro closures for her, they also made an exception and allowed her to use a clip on tie rather than a real one, the white shirt blended with her white coat so it was hard to tell where one ends and the other begins at times.

Looking at her cutie mark, she sighs. Everyone mistakes her for Twinkleshine, but Twinkleshine's mark is three stars. Hers is three diamonds. She wonders sometimes if the show had Twinkleshine's mark right or what 3 diamonds even really means. The tech’s had come up with the name Sugarberry for her, based on the fact that her mane and tail where 2 tone pink rather than the single tone of Twinkleshine's, but... This is all based on some kids show after all.

Pulling her slacks up over her mark she moves over to her mom for help to tighten the straps and belt. Finally her coat, while it had polished brass buttons on it, it was actually closed again by Velcro. Her Mom helps her to put on her boots, she could take off and put on her front boots easy enough at work but the hind ones give her trouble at times.

Her name tag still read S. Richards. She didn’t want people to start calling her Sugerberry, at least Twinkleshine sounded useful. Sugarberry just sounded insulting, the idea of a bunch of men calling her sugar all day, she had enough trouble as it was without feeling like some kind of bimbo.

Putting on her beret she nods once “Thank’s mom, I’m sorry I’m such a pain to you.” Her ears wilt as she speaks.

“Nonsense, that’s what mothers are for.” Her mother responds with a smile.

Turning, Steph trots outside, and down the street heading for SOC HQ. She's now somewhat of a regular sight on base, as such she is mostly ignored, there are still a few people who make her uncomfortable, but because she works in HQ, no one has pushed the matter so far.

Walking into the building, she heads over to her desk. Taking off her beret, then her front hoofboots as she climbs into her chair. A small pile of documents lay in her inbox, overnight communications and distributions from the different commands. Reading though them, she highlights the subject line on each, nothing needs to be redacted at this point, though she does have to pull out the occasional message that was intended for a set officer rather than ALL. Only three documents were misfiled from the previous night, which she quickly takes back to the Coms Room to have them re-filed into the individual officers packs.

As she gets back to her desk she sits on the floor, opening the bottom drawer and pulling out the Velcro wrist straps, they at least let her type and use the phone.

“Where is Brigadier General Wilson’s Office?” she hears a man ask.

Standing up on her hind legs and putting her forelegs on her desk for stability, at least that gives her some height, but for some reason she wishes she had stayed hidden, the withering glare she received from this Admiral almost makes her feel sick. “Third floor, sir.” She gulped. “Who shall I say is here for him?”

Turning his back to her, he looks around the lobby, then turns to one of the MP’s, “Can you get Brigadier General Wilson, tell him Admiral Volker is here.”

The MP knows better than to leave his post, even at the orders of an Admiral, his first job is the security of this building, quietly though the little unicorn buzzes Wilson’s office, however she uses an emergency code to do it.

The Brigadier General arrives, a few moments later, with 2 other MP’s to the Admiral fuming, “I don’t know what kind of a command you run here, Wilson, but between MP’s that won’t carry out orders and creatures left to tend serious posts, it’s a wonder that the Joint Chiefs of Staff haven’t given this place an audit.”

The Brigadier General glanced over at… the creature, as the Admiral had so labelled her and nods once, “We will be in conference room 2, please advise the Officer of the Day, and have the Jag officer join us. As well on my desk is file, I think it’s P00314, the communication from JCS for May 14th. I’ll need that, you’ll recognize it, I think it’s the only folder on my desk.”

Turning, the Brigadier General heads into the conference room. This gives Corporal Richards a moment to breath, making the phone calls to the OD and Jag she sits back down on the floor slipping her hoof boots on her front hooves then trots back to the administration office, “Hey Mark, can you cover the front desk, B-Gen Wilson wants me to get some papers for him.”

“Sure Steph, his aid sick today?” The other Corporal asks.

“No idea, he’s using room 2 though, thanks for covering the desk.” With that she turns and trots up the stairs. The building's elevator works just fine, but she has never seen a need to use it, even before the change she found it safer and quicker to use the stairs. The idea of getting stuck in an elevator with an officer for hours is never a pleasant dream for any enlisted member.

Wilson’s aid is a captain, who nods as she trots in, tapping his ear, let her know he was on his headset as he talks on the phone. Sitting on her haunches, she makes an opening book motion with her forelegs, than points at Wilson’s desk. The captain held up his fist and nodded it twice. With that she gets up and heads over to the desk. Red folder, picking up a pen in her mouth she signs and dates the folder cover, as well as a clip board. In doing so there is now a paper trail now that she was the last person in possession of this folder. Not uncommon.

Putting the folder into her satchel she turns and trots back down to the first floor and knocks on the door to the conference room with a foreleg. The door is opened by the Brigadier General who smiles, “Thank you Corporal, would you be kind enough to come in.”

Stepping in, she looks at the JAG officer, then back at the Admiral who watches her with pure hatred.

“Corporal, I left my reading glasses in my office, would you be so kind as to break out the document.” He says in a friendly and gentle voice. The problem is, to the best of Steph’s knowledge, Wilson has never used glasses.

Taking the file out of her satchel she sits on her haunches. The Admiral is quick to protest. “That is a Secret Document.”

“And she has been vetted to Top Secret, everyone who works here requires Top Secret. Security clearance is based on background checks, including credit, contacts, and other past actions, none of those have changed in the last 15 days.” The JAG officer states as he flips pages in his note pad.

Clearing her throat, “The listed US Armed Forces has an active force of 1,671,558 and reserved force of about 922,051 people, combined between all branches. Of that, a total of 32 members have confirmed to have changed, though estimates based on MIA and AWOL, show the number to be closer to 50 members. An average of .003% of our active military, from that we can suspect or expect 27 members in our reserve force either have changed, or will be changing, again based on age and AWOL status.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued “While these numbers are estimations the number could be much higher, with unreported members in the reserves and guard. The issue is, of the 32 confirmed, 12 are already listed as dead due to miscellaneous causes.”

The Admiral stands, looking at the jag officer, “What are the legal implications of removing them all from service?”

“Currently, they are still members of the service and to be issued full honors under the Uniform Code. Remember, under the code, horses and dogs are also given the rights and ranks under the Uniform Code of Service. The priority currently should be removing them from harm's way, and providing transient support.”

“Why?” The Admiral responds. If it was a question or a statement, no one else was sure.

“They are service members, many of whom risked their lives and keep risking their lives for the defense of the nation. A level of respect needs to be shown.” Wilson states simply. “By orders several apparently were transferred to the Spectrum Group, what are the chances of them being returned?”

“Unlikely,” The Admiral stated, “None survived the testing, though results were promising with cases of horns being cut off or feathers removed, there was some reversion. As you know the President’s orders at the time were to find a cure.”

Steph looks up at her own horn and closes her eyes tight, feeling sick at the thought of people cutting it off. While to her it was just a useless protrusion that she couldn’t use yet, she knew at least one pony had shown a magic with it, it was more than that though, on an instinctual level she knew it was just wrong to do that.

“The Vice President authorized the action though the Secretary of defense to avoid conflict of interest over his daughter.” The admiral stated flatly.

“Understood, so those 5 are to be listed as killed in service of their country and given honors, full benefits to the family, I’ll send the petition to the Joint Chiefs.” Wilson says.

“I need to meet with members of the Air Force, there is some question about appropriation of funds for additional transponders.” Turning he walks out the door.

Wilson turns, kneeling in front of Steph and putting his hand on her cheek, “I’m sorry you had to be subjected to that, but I wanted him to be off balance, you did great Corporal. Now for the next 3 days you are scheduled for some training.” He says softly.

“Training?”

“Get your kit, there is a UC-35 waiting for you on the tarmac, your being flown out for special training in two hours.” He states as he stands up.

“Sir? Special training?”

The jag officer chuckles “Have fun, I hear it can be brutal.”

Nodding, she has the Brigadier General sign for the folder, “Yes sir.” She says nervously.

Her kit is small, easily fitting in both sides of a set of saddle bags, and that includes her health care products. There simply isn't a lot of stuff to carry as a pony. Saddle bags though makes things easy to haul, but even with all the space she found herself leaving them fairly empty. With a good-bye to her mother, she heads to the tarmac.

It is rare to see a VIP transport, these little aircraft were expensive to operate given they only fly with about six or eight passengers, and are almost always reserved for command staff. A Sargent stands at the stairs and nods as she walks up, “We’ve been waiting on you.” He says and takes her saddlebags. “I’ll get these in the overhead.”

Moving inside the small plane, she sees two other ponies, both unicorns, sitting in seats, both in army uniforms. Both had their seat belts on, but seemed relaxed, A private was quick to bring Steph to a seat and help her get strapped in. Almost immediately the doors were closed and the aircraft begins its takeoff run.

The first of the two unicorns, the corporal has a two tone gold and yellow mane, as well as blue body, rather comically she had a golden lyre emblem on the shoulder of her uniform, likely her cutie mark.

The private on the other hand is a mix between tan and orange for her body but a pale blue mane. As to the mark on her shoulder, no one could figure it out. Looking over at Steph she smiles “You didn’t get an arm patch for your mark?”

Steph shakes her head, “Nope, I didn’t know they were doing that. Special training?”

“Special training, isn’t it great? I’m Cipher Splash, Army Intelligence, crypto analysis. Give me a puzzle and I’ll have it figured out in a flash.”

“Ballad.” The corporal says, keeping her head low. “Army Engineers.”

“What’s this special training?” Steph asks.

“You don’t know? Oh apparently it’s brutal but you’re just going to love it.” Cipher says.

***

Blaze sits beside me, watching in awe, even with hooves Ah-Pee was a marvel, she's cooking pretty much a whole side of beef at once, steak, burgers, granola stuffed apples and apple pies.

Watching her hop between the spices just shows how much she can really do with just her hooves and mouth. Too bad we couldn’t eat the beef, but Henry and Eric are already drooling. Even Grandfather looks impressed at how quick and good she is without hands. Of course anyone who decides to get too near to help, well, they are quickly met with whatever cooking utensils she has at the time. She could probably fence with those.

I’m not sure when it happened, but Blaze put his wing around me, I didn’t really stop him or complain, though. It felt nice, and I felt safe with him. Besides so far the LT hasn’t yelled at us about it, probably giving us time to decide our feelings together.

Putting out the steaks and burgers Ah-Pee calls out “Vittles are ready!”

Quickly, we dig in, the granola stuffed apples and apple pies for us herbies were just to die for. We had to let them cool a bit and sitting there waiting turns out to be the hardest part. Who said herby food was boring though, Ah-Pee has just proven she can cook for everyone.

The fun was broken though, when we saw the lights. “LT, Vehicles inbound.” Henry calls out.

Looking over, we see a tribal police cruiser coming down the road with its lights going, behind it, 3 General Tactical Vehicles, the lead and trailing ones had their .50 cal’s manned. The center vehicle was in button down mode, its windows dark and roof hatch closed. Rather than carrying a .50, it had a 40mm auto grenade launcher, more firepower then should be needed unless they were expecting a fight.

Pulling into Grandfathers property, the vehicles spread out a bit, and a Lieutenant steps out as they grind to a halt, “Lieutenant James Fisher? I’m Lieutenant Maxwell Faerring, we are here for Twilight Velvet.”

The LT stands up, moving in front of me, “On who's authority?”

LT Faerring blinks, “Joint Chiefs of Staff. Didn’t SOC tell you?”

Henry stands up, “This is BS LT, SOC was ok with her, now they want to take her?”

The LT narrows his eyes, “Orders.”

LT Faerring started chuckling ,looking at the medic, and offers the LT an orders pack.

Our LT looks at the paper, starting to read, then starts laughing, “Oh they just couldn’t wait could they.”

“What?” Henry asks.

“LT?” I asked feeling more than a little bit nervous now.

Stepping aside, the LT hands the orders back to the other officer “Everyone stand down, She’s all yours.”

“LT!” I started but the other officer comes up to me, looking down.

“Corporal Twilight? Or is it Corporal Velvet? I can never figure it out with pony names.” He says.

“Corporal Twilight works,” I say nervously, “Where are you taking me?”

“Taking? No, we're dropping off.” Turning, he nods to the middle Hummer and three unicorns with saddle bags step out. “They're having trouble adapting, haven’t figured out how to use magic on their own, so they have been sent to you for special training.”

“Special training?” I say blinking, “Why me?”

“So far you’re the only unicorn in the military that knows any magic, they need your help. If you’re up for it.” The Lt says. “This isn’t combat, covert, or anything like that, it’s to help them improve their quality of life.”

Nodding slowly I look at the three unicorns. “To improve their quality of life?”

“They are having trouble using their hooves and mouths for daily things, two of them have had to be assigned caregivers to help them. Uniforms are hard to get into and out of for example.”

Ah-Pee chuckled “That’s why I don’t do clothes unless I have to. But I can help them with their hoof work too.”

“Yes sir, I’ll try and teach them what I know, at least in the basics of unicorn magic.” I say.

They hand off a box of medical supplies to Henry, unload and set up three small tents, and even go as far as leaving a field radio and food supplies. “They are here for three days, if it takes longer, radio in and we will extend the training time.”

Looking over, I bow my head “Grandfather, is this ok, I know this is your home, and do not wish to intrude.”

“They are here seeking the ways of the spirit. To turn them away, would be to turn our back on the spirits, this isn’t our way.” Grandfather says.

31: A Circle of Reflections. (End of book 1)

We sit in somewhat of a circle, giggling a bit. The Unicorn Club is gathered around the laptop, even Fleetfoot pokes her muzzle over to see. Crescendo is getting Cipher to adjust the colors a little, to make sure they are correct on the screen.

The Army tents have been set up at the far end of the football field, and a few porta potties have been set up as well. They have one tent attached to the field kitchen, becoming a small mess hall where ponies can get a hot meal, drink, or sit and think. One tent to act as an aid station for any ponies who arrive injured, or those needing medical treatment coming out of, or going into the portal. One tent is a command and communication center, but I’ve talked them into turning it into a call home center. It gives ponies a chance to say goodbye to friends and family if they choose, or to allow them to ask for help, a ride home, or money to be wired, if they are staying. Finally there are four tents with beds set up, a halfway house to for ponies to sleep before going through the gate or when coming back. They could probably sleep about 48 ponies at any given time. While that may not seem like much, it is transient after all, most are either going through the gate right away, or just waiting for word or money.

Cipher is holding her coffee with one hoof, drinking it, honestly, she’s one of the few ponies or people I ever met that thought military coffee was too weak. Altering the mane style slightly she looks over at Crescendo.

“That’s it!” She said, “That’s the pink fluffy unicorn!”

Looking at each other, we giggle softly, “Actually he looks kind of cute like that, but are you sure that’s his cutie mark?”

She nodded, “I did like you asked and I memorized them all.”

“What’s wrong with his cutie mark?” Ballad asked.

“It’s just… stars normally would mean magic. His destiny is, or was, to be a magical healer.” I say, “If I’m guessing it right, though again, look at Ciphers mark, often the pony who has them is the only one that knows what it truly means.”

“So they all turned out to be pegasi except for him? I wonder why.” Ah-Pee muses.

“They said the ones that were naturals in the air, wingsuit training and such, are the pegasi, Henry flunked wingsuit training and the mirror likely decided magic is his thing.” Crescendo replies with a smile.

“In some ways I almost feel sorry for him,” Sugarberry says softly.

“For that coat color?” Cipher giggled.

“No, well yes and no, his coat colors turning him off of being a unicorn, but his natural talent is magic, which he’ll be giving up and turning his back on when he comes back through the gate.” Sugarberry sighs softly, “Picture going all your life, and finding out your special talent, only to give it up. To humans it may not seem like much.”

Everypony looks at their own cutie marks and shiver.

“All he’ll probably think about is, pink unicorn. I guess that would be for the better though.” Ballad says. “Ok let’s see someone else.”

Cipher pulled up the next finished picture, she’s rendered all of them, but we didn’t let Crescendo tell us who was who so as not to spoil the surprises, we make guesses occasionally, but never really want answers. It’s a fun game for us.

“Velvet?”

Looking up, I blink and wave, I hadn’t expected to see Dust here, but at the same time I hadn’t expected anything that’s happened for the last month. Dust is in line, getting some coffee, with a pair of unicorns. “Come on over, join us.”

Looking back at the coffee, Mindy picks her drink, as well as Dusts, and makes her way over to our table. Sitting and getting herself comfortable, Dust looks around, her expression hard to read, “What is all of this?”

“Blaze and I are Rangers, part of Special Operation Command, Sugarberry here is an admin clerk at the SOC HQ. They set up these tents and police cordons up to keep humans away. These next few hours, days, until the portal closes are going to be really trying and painful for ponies. We are trying to make transitions back and forth as painless as possible.” I say.

Cipher waves, “I’m Cipher, Army Cyber warfare division and Crypto analysis. That’s Ballad, Army Corps of Engineers. Add in Sugarberry and we make up the Unicorn Club. That’s Ah-Pee, she’s Infantry Reserves, field cook, and part of the Apple family.”

“That’s Eric.” Crescendo chirps putting up his image on the screen.

“Mindy, Moon Shadow, and…” Mindy started.

“The world Famous, Brony favorite Waifu, Lightning Dust!” Cipher finishes with a giggle.

“I thought that would be Milky Way,” Mindy giggles, “You know with her huge…”

“Nope that’s only for clopping, Dusts the more athletic type, she’s the Waifu type. Course I’m sure some would clop to…”

“What’s clopping?” Blaze asks.

“Oh that’s when boys,” Cipher starts…

“Or girls!” Mindy pipes in.

“Play with themselves to pony pictures.” Cipher finishes.

“And Dust is a Penthorse Pinup right up there with Spitfire.” They both say, nodding.

Dust eyes go wide, and her face turns red in a huge blush as the conversation is getting down right personal. However, when Cipher pulls up pictures of Dust that the bronies had made, especially the humanoid ones, and the tail shots, Dust extends her wings, using them to hide her face.

“Argh! Girls, please, this isn’t a good conversation line.” I say, blushing and blinking, wide eyed.

“Oh don’t worry I’m sure they clop to…” Cipher starts before getting her muzzle magically shut by Sugarberry.

Looking at Eric’s picture, Ballad blinks, then falls off the bench, laughing.

Blaze looks down at her, then at the picture, confusion plain on his face.

Sugarberry and Cipher start giggling up a storm as well, and I have to cover my muzzle to keep from laughing too hard.

“He looks normal, pegasus and all, not as buff as me maybe… but what’s so funny?”

“A musical note cutie mark! There’s just no way, that’s gotta be a mistake.” Ballad says, laughing.

Ah-Pee giggles, shaking her head, “Remember how often he yelled at us for singing?”

Mindy giggles softly, “Serves him right then huh?”

“Well at least it will be gone when he comes back through, I can’t figure, it can’t be music related.” I say, giggling.

“Next, we have the LT.” Crescendo says, as Cipher brings up his picture.

Buff, powerful, a commanding pegasus with a windswept mane, a teal coat, and a dark green and grey mane and tail. Yet his eyes were a soft gold and seem so gentle. If not for his colors, he’d have made a great royal guard.

“Ok, now he’s cute,” Ah-Pee giggles.

Mindy looks at him, then over at Dust, blinking, “Wow, you two could be related. Even your eye color is similar.”

Cipher leans closer, then she looks over at dust, “What do you think? Brother or Father?”

Mindy blinks, “Father definitely, he’s got that gentle father look. I can see Dust curling into his arms crying.”

Dust blinked and grumbled, “I’d never cry like that.”

“Seriously, nice colors and lines,” I said then looked at Blaze. “What? I’m female I’m allowed to think guys are cute.” Smiling innocently I keep giggling.

“Yeah but not guys other than me.” He says, chuckling.

“Ok fine, he’s not cuter then you.”

Fleetfoot whimpers in pain, both her wings, her bad one as well, had shot up uncontrolled.

“Well Fleetfoot approves.” Cipher says, giggling. “Though I always thought she liked Big Mac.”

“Wing boner!” Mindy pipes up.

“She dislocated her wing fighting an F-22, so that must be a serious case of like.” Blaze says, chuckling.

“I blame that whole Big Mac thing on the concussion, I wasn’t in my right mind.” She says with a firm nod.

“Getting blown out of the air by explosives by the CMC can cause you to do silly things huh?” Cipher smiles at Fleetfoot.

She looks down and mumbles, “There are some things I’m just glad I don’t remember happening.”

Reaching over Cipher picks up her coffee again with her hoof and takes a big drink, “Caffeine, it helps the magic go.”

“Ohh.” Mindy giggles and picks up her coffee too with her forehoof.

Looking between the two, Dust just covers her face with her wings.

Calling up the Pictures of Jay and Sanchez in pegasus form, Crescendo giggles, “I like Jay’s mark, the wings curled in around the lance. They both look kinda cute.”

Nodding once I smile, then look at Dust, “They went through right at the begining with the full force, to fight for Equestria, we stayed on this side to protect the foals, guard the gate, and such.”

“They got pretty badly hurt, so they won’t be back till just before the portal closes, or within a few hours of that.” Crescendo says, “but honestly, given that they had no reason to go through, I think it just makes them all the more cute in pony form. I don’t care what they say, I think Henry looks really cute as a pink unicorn, that chest fluff of his looks so snugglable.”

A human sergeant comes in, looking around, then he heads over to me, “Corporal Velvet, you have guests waiting for you, they are in the storage truck.”

“Why are they in there Sergeant?”

“They said they want somewhere private, just to talk with you and Blaze.”

“Who is it? Blaze asks, a concerned look on his face.

“Your kids.”

***Equestria***

Henry trots in to check up on Jay, nodding to Eric, who’s been sitting there, some of the small houses have been set up to house the wounded. There aren’t many houses that are really standing, but the ponies are making do.

“So what’s your mark mean?” Eric asks.

“It’s stupid, I helped a mare work though her first sparks, and her magic touched me. I guess it means I can help heal with magic. Which doesn’t make sense.”

“Ever think of staying?” Eric says, extending and looking at his wing.

“Eric, look at me, I’m a fluffy pink unicorn. There isn’t enough fur dye in Equestria to convince me to stay.”

“I don’t know, if nothing major changes in my life, I might consider asking one of the Princesses permission to retire here.”

“You? You aren’t interested in mares.” Henry blinks.

“Oh heck, I’m not, trust me. Though that’s not why I’d retire here. And no, it’s not about singing either. It’s about a place where I wouldn’t have to worry about things like ISIS, the Army of God, and such. Where I wouldn’t turn on the news and see war after war.” He says.

“Yeah, ok I can understand that.” Henry nods as his horn glows softly, using his hooves, he unties the bandages on Jay. Picking up some white sponges with a caliper in his left hoof, he gets to work, cleaning the wounds before applying fresh bandages.

“Umm, Henry.” Eric starts, leaning over to touch one of the calipers being used with a forehoof, before pulling his leg back, “How long have you been treating wounded like that?”

“All day, why?” He said, “It’s been pure heck around here, I rarely get a moment to think let alone stop and rest before I’m called or needed somewhere else.”

“Cuz you’re pulling Sugarberry’s Sticky Hooves trick.” Eric stands up and chuckles. “How hard did you get zapped out there?”

“I, and, no… I just picked things up to help bandage I’m using my forehooves like in the show I guess.” Henry shakes his head.

A runner trots in, “Henry, they need you down the street, they found some more injured in a partially collapsed building.”

“On the way,” Henry says, turning and trotting.

Eric sits and strokes Jay’s mane, “Come on tough guy, you can pull through this.”

The LT comes in and sits looking at Jay, “Any change?”

“He still hasn’t woke up yet,” Eric says, shaking his head slowly, “how about you?”

“Wing’s healing fine, so are the rest of my wounds.” Looking back at his wing it quivers once, at least the physical ones are healing.

“Yeah, I know I didn’t get hit too hard, so I’m mostly just bruised.”

“We’ve got another day and a half before we have to go back. I don’t want to leave him here, but if here’s the only place that he can heal.” The LT says.

“LT, have you ever considered staying here? It’s stupid but I feel something about this place.”

“I know what you mean, even with the destruction, there’s something about this place that calls out. The sky, the clouds, the ground, it's almost like...” Looking back at his cutie mark, his mind flashes back to the mare lying on the ground, his wing starts quivering. Shaking his head no, he forces his wing tight against his side, “We’re Rangers though, we belong on Earth.”

*** Velvet ***

I’ve really been fearing this, almost as much as I feared running into Night Light, but for vastly different reasons though. I don’t know what to say, to do, she’s my daughter, but how would she react? My fear is being rejected, disowned, or worse. What if she hates me, what if she thinks I’m a bad mare.

Trembling, I walk into the truck, looking up, I see Rainbow Dash, I can recognize her from the first trip through the gate though she looks beaten and bruised to the nth power. The second female must be Twilight then, and the male Shining Armor, my foals?

Sitting on my haunches I look up at them and take a deep breath, “My little Twi-Twi, my Shiny.”

“Do you remember… us?” Twilie asks.

“Twi-Twi, Shiny?” Rainbow Dash covers her mouth with a bit of a snorting laugh.

“Don’t make me put you in a box, my little Dashie,” Blaze says with a chuckle, but that is enough to send an obvious shiver up Dash’s spine.

“Dad? Ok, you’re probably the only pony or person I’d EVER let get away with saying that.” She said rubbing her arms, still showing bruises almost everywhere from her fight with Discord.

He walks over and gives her a hug, both of them smiling.

"Oh ow ow ow ow ow, Blaze no, I feel like I've had a steam roller dropped on me." Dash flinched.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember a lot, I’ve had a few glimpses from time to time. Reading you bed time stories, laying with you down in the living room, with you snuggled between my forelegs and Shining sleeping against my side.” I look away, tears in my eyes. Only to be hugged tightly by both of them.

“It’s Ok mom, trust me, it’s been hard on all of us.” Twilie says, holding me tight.

Blaze chuckles, “My baby girl’s all grown up too. I almost forgot my promise to spank you for almost starting world war 3.” He says, swatting her rear lightly with his wing.

“ACK, I’m not a little foal anymore.”

“Mom, are you coming back to Equestria? Sweetie Belle has found a way to return our memories.” Shining adds in.

Looking at Blaze, I sigh and looked at him, shaking my head no, “This is going to sound strange but, I still have time left on my military contract, so I’m going to try and use that to help other ponies get to the gate, I will eventually, but for now, there’s still a lot of ponies that need help here, and depend on me.”

Shining nods slowly, “I understand, I… I don’t know how to say this but, I’ve broke it off with Cadance, in my time on Earth, I’ve fallen in love with Rarity and made a promise to stay with her. Rarity’s going to be your new daughter in law.”

“I feel sorry for Cadance, she’s had such a hard time in her life, but I understand.” I say softly and hug him tightly.

“You do?” Twilie says, looking a bit surprised.

I take a huge breath, “I broke up with Night Light.”

“Why?” Shock is evident on her face.

“I didn’t love him, I had someone else that I found I loved, I depended on, I needed.” Looking down at my forelegs I get hugged tighter by Shining.

“I know how you feel, 25 years is a long time.” Shining says, “So who’s the lucky guy?”

“Um, that would be Blaze. I guess that would make Dash your new step sister.”

Everyone looks at Dash.

*** Equestria ***

Sanchez shakes his head, “I wish Ballad was here, don’t move that timber yet, I don’t want the rest of the wall coming down.”

As the earth ponies lift the timbers, Sanchez pulls out two injured ponies from underneath the rubble of a collapsed wall. They were in the house when the wall came down during the battle, trapped there, it hasn’t been until a little while ago that anyone noticed and heard them.

Henry trots in quickly with one of the other nurses and looks over at Sanchez, “How long were they trapped?”

“A few hours I think,” Sanchez says, “we just got them out.”

“I’m worried about crush syndrome, I don’t know if the doctors here are used to dealing with it, check with them, but we need to overload them on IV’s as fast as possible. Let the doctors know, treat is as buried for four plus hours.”

Nodding, they put the ponies on stretchers and head out, one of the stallions chuckling, “Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows.”

Grumbling, Henry sits down hard on the ground. “I can’t wait to get home. I’m sick of hearing that joke.”

Sanchez chuckles, “Sorry but you are, really, really pink.”

“I know.” Henry says, trotting out, “So what’s next? Or do we get a whole five minutes before another problem?”

“Been that busy huh?” Sanchez says as he trots out of the old building, “Time for a snack then, they have some tea and biscuits near the gate for us.”

Henry pulls up to trot beside Sanchez, “No coffee but I can make do.”

A cream colored unicorn with an hourglass cutie mark starts giggling softly as the two approach the kitchen. Her horn glows slightly as she tilts her head, looking at the two rangers.

“Don’t even say it,” Henry huffed.

Blinking, the mare looks at Sanchez, “High Time.”

“Umm, hi?” Sanchez replies, looking confused.

“No silly,” She said pointing at Sanchez cutie mark, “High Time, your name.” With a smile, she puts a tea cup and a plate of biscuits down on the table with her magic. “Don’t know why but I can always guess a pony’s name.”

“Nope, it’s Sanchez, not a pony actually, just here helping out and recovering from injuries.”

Looking at Henry, she smiles, “Star Crossed.” Then her face sinks a bit, tilting her head, “Sorry if you don’t like it but, I’m rarely wrong.”

“Henry’s fine,” he says, and picks up his Tea, sitting down across from Sanchez.

“Seriously, High Time?” Sanchez chuckles, “What is it with pony names? Her tricks going to come in handy with the some of the ponies here, but really even if I did stay I’d go by Sanchez.”

The LT sits across from Henry and chuckles, “Name? Trust me, it could be worse… I got called Wind Shield.”

Henry looks up and chuckles for the first time in a while, “As in Bug on the?”

“Yep, as in the car part, Eric got called Sky Song, as if a musical cutie mark wasn’t bad enough.” Looking at Henry he chuckles, “If he once bugs you about your color you have permission to call him Sky Song.”

Henry is just about to pick up his tea to drink, when a young pegasus, one probably in her early teens, lands, panting, “My brothers in trouble, it’s an emergency, Doctor Horse told me to get the Fluffy Pink Unicorn.” Her fear and panic obvious on her face.

Henry blinked a few times then slams his head on the table, “LT, can I please go home today?”

“Please, you have to help him,” She says, grabbing Henrys front leg and starting to cry.

Getting up, Henry starts running to follow the filly, “ARGH, LT I’m still going to get you back for that vision problem.” He says as he tries hard not to look.

The LT and Sanchez follow behind, and come to a stop at the Triage area, glancing to Sanchez the LT notes, “She’s a blank flank, it’s likely that she is one of the humans that came across.”

The pegasus stops and sits by a yellow stallion with blue mane and tail, his cutie mark a star with streaks behind it.

“He said he was having headaches, and they were getting worse, then just a little while ago he collapsed.” She says, crying and hugging his neck.

Curling his front leg Henry looks around, “Shouldn’t the Doctor be here?”

Crying harder she shakes her head, “He said there was nothing he could do…”

The LT blinks, looking at Sanchez then gulps, “Was he on any medications?”

“Just anti-depressants, he had a hard time after mom and dad died. He’s all I have left… you have to help him.”

Henry looks up, “When did the headache’s start? And when was the last time he took his anti-depressants?”

“Started a few days after he changed, but they got really bad when he came through the mirror. He took two before coming through the mirror, but the pills didn’t come with him. He told me his name as a pony, it’s Comet Tail.” She looks at the three with tears in her eyes, “What can I do?”

“I sent the warning out to the Military about MAO inhibitors but they couldn’t tell civilians.” The LT says sadly, looking down at the pony.

“Please…” The pegasus cries.

Looking back at his cutie mark Henry sighs, “LT if I blow up doing this, bring my ashes back though the gate so I don’t have to be pink in the afterlife.”

“Henry don’t take any risks you don’t have to.” The LT says sternly.

Closing his eyes, Henry lays down and touches his horn to Comet Tail’s. Slowly a glow begins to form on Henry’s horn, a soft horn shine that spreads out first over Comets horn, then head, and finally Comets entire body.

“Comet still has the drugs in his system” Henry says softly, “but the magic is burning though them quickly, his body is learning to recognize and adapt to them faster.” Henry feels his magic starting to guide Comet’s own magic though the process, as the barriers fall away faster and faster.

The LT steps back and pulls the filly back away from the two unicorns as sparks of magic start appearing off Comets horn. Flashes of light and raw magic without form or guidance, shoot off in random directions, causing plants to grow, the earth to turn blue, a shattered pot to become a new vase.

Henry keeps his eyes closed as he feels the sparks, and draws them back. Slowly the magical field envelops Henry as well. The sparks slowly fade, though the effects from them remains. Finally after a few minutes all that is left was a light glow over Comets horn.

Pulling his head back, Henry shakes himself out, his own horn still glowing. Grumbling softly, he reaches up and bonks his horn with a hoof, the sparks he sees in his eyes leave him wobbly for a moment, but at least the horn shine is out.

Comets horn is still glowing though as he moans softly, “Sis?”

The pegasus breaks free from the LT’s grasp and hugs her brother tightly.

The LT looks at Henry and picks him up with Sanchez’s help, putting him on Sanchez’s back. “You need some downtime to sleep, and some real food.”

“LT.” Henry starts but is cut off quickly.

“Nope, remember what we learned about and from Velvet and Grandfather. You need sugars, starches, and sleep.”

*** Velvet ***

“I do wish you’d come back with us mom. I understand though, why you want to stay.” Shinning says looking at Blaze.

“Sweetie Belle can give back memories, but she’s in Equestria, she can’t come back through the mirror and keep her horn, so that means she can only do it for ponies there.” Twilight says with a sigh.

“I understand, and I will miss you, but I’ll hear from you again every 30 moons right?” I say, looking up at them.

“I promise, even if it’s just letters or journals…” Twilie says.

I smile softly, “Dear mom, today I learned…” I say then hug her tightly.

Even though there are tears in her eyes, Twilie still laughs softly. “Is there anything I can do for you mom? Dad?”

“I don’t know, if it’s not too hard or too much trouble, any chance you could send though a book on unicorn magic? I’ve been teaching others what I can but, it’s hard since I don’t remember a lot myself.”

“I’ll see what I can find, Equestria is pretty badly trashed, but there might be some books I can find to lend you.”

Blaze chuckles “Trust me, she needs it, she’s almost blown herself up at least twice now. At least a pegasus doesn’t need a manual to fly, we’re just so awesome!” He says, spreading his wings.

“Heck yeah,” Dash says, then grumps, “Cept I don’t have wings right now.”

“Bye my little Twi-Twi, my little Shinning.” I say, watching them head to the gate.

“Bye, my little Dashie.” Blaze says, smiling before putting a wing over me.

“You two keep each other safe and have fun together just be mindful of your neighbors… I swear, Shinning and Rarity kept me up some nights with all their sex play…” She says with a wink before limping through.

Blaze looks at me, concerned, I just made the cutest little squeak sound, and one little clump of fur on my forelock just stuck up and curled itself. I stand motionless, looking at the mirror, mouth open a bit.

“Velvet? Velvet are you ok? Are you in there?” Blaze blinks, waving a wing in front of my eyes, slowly I turn to look at him. Blushing at what his daughter said. I knew how loud I could get… but…

“Look Velvet that was just Dash being Dash, we can take things one thing at a time and not rush.” He says timidly, then looks at my face for some sort of response.

Slowly I back away from him with a gulp, “Of… Of course… you haven’t even bought me dinner yet.” Turning I lightly swat his cheek with my tail, “The problem is, I don’t have my memories so, I don’t know…”

“Velvet, I won’t push you.” Blaze says, lifting a foreleg.

“That’s not what I meant, I meant I don’t know how to have sex… I don’t know if I like it fast or slow… but I do know one thing… it’s probably going to involve you pushing at least somewhat cuz I'm not going to do all the work.” Turning, I trot back towards the mess hall, swishing my tail side to side. Looking over my shoulder I see Blaze’s wings spread wide and high, then he slowly falls over onto his side as he hits the ground.

Grabbing him telekinetically I keep trotting, humming cheerfully and eventually put him down by the bench.

Sugarberry and Ballad squeak, “What happened to him!”

“I’m not sure, I think he fainted, maybe his blood sugar’s low, or a blood pressure issue.” I say, trying to look innocent.

“Should we get a medic?” Cipher asks and pokes him a few times, getting him to moan.

“Well I guess that’s a no, remember he hasn’t got a lot of rest, I think he just needs a night in a real bed.” I say with a smile.

Blaze sits up, looking at me wide eyed before he shakes his head, looking around. Carefully he stands up and trots over, snuggling against me tightly and putting his head over mine, “Love you.”

“Sugarberry, there’s an inn down the road a bit where the military personal are being billeted, me and Blaze are going to take a few hours to get some sleep, shower and such, when we come back we’ll take over watch, but if there’s an emergency call us. Ok?”

The girls all nodded and I smile, heading for the inn. It’s a small one, about a five minute trot from where the gate is, still inside the quarantine zone though. There are few rooms in the place, so we opted for a single, just so the larger rooms are left available. The room itself though, is not much to look at, bed, bathroom, TV, telephone, end table, and a chair. It’s a low budget room though, so what can you expect.

I take my time getting undressed, before fluffing my mane out. I give my whole body one huge shake and puff my body fur slightly. It’s been matted down by the clothing so long, that it actually feels good to be free.

Blaze had done the same thing, and groans as he stretches out, “Well, I guess that’s why ponies don’t wear clothing all the time, my fur feels like I’ve been wearing a hat for a week straight.”

I climb into the bed and stretch out, rolling on my back and squirming a bit on top of the covers with my eyes closed before looking at Blaze with a soft smile.

Looking back at me Blaze nods slowly and starts singing. It’s the song that started it all, it’s the song that ends it. It is the first song I thought of when I changed. I don’t know how he knows, or why, but I don’t ask, I just look at him as the words flow. I can’t help but smile as he sings, reaching over with my hoof to touch his cheek.

Appaloosa in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Trotters on the Victrola up high
Mama's Dancin with a foal on her shoulder
Tia's Sun is settin like Molasses in the sky
The filly could sing, knew how to move, and everything
Always wanted more, she'd leave you longing for.

Black velvet and a little mare's smile.
Black velvet with that gentle pony's style.
A new vision that'll bring you to your knees
Black Velvet if you please.

Up in Marephis, the music’s like a heatwave
Smokey coat, bound to drive you wild.
Mama's Foal's in the heart of every school filly
"Love me tender" leaves’em cryin' in the aisle
The way she moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, she'd leave you longing for.

Black velvet and a little mare's smile.
Black velvet with that gentle pony's style.
A new vision that'll bring you to your knees
Black Velvet if you please.

Every word of every song that she sang was for you
In a flash she was gone, it happened so soon, what could
You do?

Black velvet and a little mare's smile.
Black velvet with that gentle pony's style.
A new vision that'll bring you to your knees
Black Velvet if you please.

47: The Fiddlers Calando/ A Cold and Broken Hallelujah

Henry has been wandering through the ponies enclosure for nearly an hour now. Most of them are completely terrified. They have been abused, mistreated, first put into shipping crates, then kept secluded on a ship, and finally into this... concentration camp. What makes things worse is, this isn’t the first time camps were used like this on Hawaii.

The smell is awful. Without showers, without a pool or such, the only way they can keep cool is laying under the tent shades. Their only toilet is a slit trench that had been cut near the fence. There is no real option for real sanitary care.

It is no wonder they had begun to fear humans. Several showed welts or lashes on their backs that are healing. Many have signs of being whipped or beaten. Henry finds them backing away from him, or moving clear of him as he walks through. However he feels the biohazard suit isn’t helping earn any trust.

There is no laugher, no singing. There is no playful joy. Many are showing signs of the stress, with colors starting to dim. A few are whimpering or crying, though many just lay in silence.

“Were not contagious, you know. You’re not going to change because of us.” One says sadly. She is a light teal or green pegasus mare with golden mane and tail. Laying curled up in a ball, she watches Henry walk.

“I know. I hate the suit. I’ve had all my equine shots. I know the transformation isn’t contagious. Immigrations officials though want this as quarantine.”

Walking into the medical tent, he sees signs that some of them are starting to blank. They wouldn’t last a week in here, let alone the month ICE wants. Several are having fluids put into them by IV after bad dehydration on the ship. They are simply caring for critical health needs, and ignoring the basic things though.

“Passionate?” Henry asks.

Looking up from her bed, the young unicorn mare is a greyish banana yellow, with 2 tone blue mane. She looks tired, and confused, sadness filling her eyes.

Gently, almost instinctively he touched his forehead to her horn. He knows he doesn’t have a horn anymore, but he hopes the gesture helps. “I’m here to help if I can.”

Very faintly, she lets out a soft whinny in response.

Standing up Henry shakes his head, “This is just wrong.”

Very deliberately, he strips out of the suit and sits back down, just wearing his combat pants and t-shirt. Looking around he clears his throat a bit, not sure where to start. Songs are good, but that is Eric’s job, for now, a story he guesses.

“I’m Henry, I know it’s hard, but trust me. As long as you stick together, stay together and help each other, you’ll make it through this.”

“How would you know? How could you possibly understand?” A young stallion says, before laying his head back down.

“Some of my best friends are ponies. I know several unicorns, pegasi, even an earth pony and all of them have made it through.” Taking a deep breath, Henry sighs.

“I went through the mirror to Equestria, your homeland is safe. The princess is safe. Discord’s been defeated.”

Slowly heads lift to look at him.

“I know it’s hard to believe but there is a way home to Equestria if you want, or you can stay here. We will do everything we can to help.” Softly, he starts stroking Passionate’s neck.

“When I went through the mirror, the magic made me a unicorn. I know what it’s like to be a pony. I know how hard it can seem but I also know how wonderful it is. Celestia, I am so not Velvet... Big speeches and motivations are not my thing. I’m a healer not a talker.”

Shaking his head he looks around.

“I was born in Pine Hills, Florida. Crime was common there. The crime rate was nearly twice the national average. Murder, drugs, and the gangs, most people born there never made it out. I was one of the lucky ones. My family never had much money. We were always struggling so I never grew up with all the fancy things most kids had, no game console, no fancy cell phone.”

“Jobs there were hard to come by, there weren’t really any industry, so it was all retail. Imagine, growing up where your only hope for a job was working as a Walmart greeter.”

Henry shakes his head, but more ponies are watching him. “Somehow though, I managed to avoid the gangs, my older brother wasn’t so lucky. He got mixed up with a gang, saying he needed their protection. I told him not to, but he was so scared.”

“They had him selling drugs on the street to earn money for the gang. I don’t know why it happened, who he upset but someone, probably a customer, maybe a rival gang, knifed him. His own gang left him on the ground to bleed out. They were the scared ones, scared to bring him to the hospital in fear that they might get arrested.”

“I tried my best at school. I always wanted to be a doctor, but, I never had the grades for any scholarships. I knew though that if I stayed in that city, if I stayed there I’d end up being sucked into the meat grinder.” Looking at the ponies he keeps patting the unicorn gently.

“So I joined the military, joined the army. I got my medical training through them and couldn’t be happier about it. The funny thing is I was never totally sure if I wanted to be a medic because of myself, my brother, or what. In Equestria, though, I realize it doesn’t matter. As long as I trust in myself, as long as I trust in my friends.”

“So trust me, we will find a way to make this better.”

*** Blaze ***

Blaze breaks right, hard. These two may have been Wonderbolts, and Top Gun graduates, but they don’t have the time or skill at flying that he does. They are still thinking like they are flying a plane. He can teach these squids more than a few tricks. Breaking into an inverted snap turn he flies over Wind’s head, upside down, causing her to spin out.

Fire breaks off and zips down to help Wind recover, leaving Blaze shaking his head.

“Are you crazy?! She could have gotten hurt!” Fire protests, though Wind, on the other hoof, is laughing her tail off.

“Bring back memories of the Dizitron?” Blaze asks.

“Oh Celestia, I puked so hard the first time I was…” stopping, Wind blinks.

Fire looked confused at, “What do you mean?”

“She just remembered her first time on the Dizitron. It’s a spin out training machine for all Wonderbolts. You have the memories of your life in Equestria. Don’t worry, over time they will come back.” Blaze says, chuckling.

“Still that was a dangerous stunt you pulled there.” Fire growls.

“For aircraft, yeah. We have a lot better control through, as well, how many F-18’s do you know that can hover like we’re doing now?” Blaze says and points down.

“Incoming.” Wind giggled as she sees two pegasi flying up to them.

“Aloha!” The lead mare calls out.

“Hi there.” Blaze chuckles.

“Navy mainlanders I see.” The mare moves to hover with them.

“Well those two are squids, I’m a grunt.”

“Welcome to Hawaii, we don’t see many uniformed pegasi flitting around.” She says, “Well, actually, you’re the first.”

“Oh Fire and Wind here are Wonderbolts, though they are so out of practice, Spitfire would be having them do wing ups for the day.” Blaze snickers as that one apparently wakes a memory in Fire. “I’m Blaze, I was a flight trainer for young flyers.”

“I don’t… really know who I am.” She says, “I just go by Magen.”

Flying around her once Blaze looked at her mark then into her eyes, “I think you might be Stardancer. Don’t quote me on it, but I’m pretty sure you’re from Cloudsdale weather service.”

“Memory?” Fire asks.

Blaze nods, “I think so, going to sound silly but I think I remember training her with Serenity when they were foals.”

“Who’s Serenity?” Stardancer asks.

“Oh he was a total cut up, pink stallion who just loved to… Wait, there are pink stallions. Hmm.” Blaze shakes his head, “He was a joker, but his specialty was rain.”

“So why are you flying around like that?” Stardancer was having some problems with her hovering, probably hadn’t had much flight time since her change. Her friend wasn’t doing much better.

“Oh just playing around. Are there lots of ponies on Hawaii?” Blaze asked.

“A few, we’re spread out a bit.”

“Why don’t you to get a bit of a workout with Fire and Wind here, show them around as somewhat of an air tour, and have some fun?” Blaze winks to Fire.

Fire nods back, “Sure I’d love to see more of the island.”

Wind turns and laughs, tagging one of the two, “You’re it.” Flipping her body around, she starts flying in the direction of the internment camp.

Letting the squids set the trap, Blaze looks back to the ground. He knows he saw something. Beginning a search pattern, he lands near an old rundown apartment building. The place isn’t in the best of shape there are patches on the roof in places. However it still looks lived in.

The flash of yellow and blue catches his eye and he zips down. An earth pony mare is working with a human, trying to fix a gutter on the side of the building. Pulling up, Blaze smiles and lifts the gutter back into place with his head, holding it there for the two to finish it.

“Much appreciated. Dash?”

Chuckling Blaze looks over, “Nope, Blaze, Dash is my daughter. And I know for a fact that you’re not Octavia.” He smiles brightly, “Hi, Fiddlesticks.”

*** CMC:EC ***

“This way, Ballad.” Feather flies across the shipping yard.

“Wait up Feather, I can’t fly, remember?” Ballad says as she follows the excited pegasus filly.

Candy and Cloudy giggle, shaking their heads. Ballad has helped them already, rigging up a better harness setup. Now they can pull their wagons more comfortably, and even though they aren’t earth ponies they can still haul a load.

As she comes around the shipping containers, she sees what the group is heading for. A large pile of broken shipping pallets are being stored here. They were stacked against the back wall for disposal.

“This is the batch we were sent for, Ballad.” Candy says, “We can’t use our tk yet though.”

“If you can pull the nails out, we can break the boards down and stack them in the wagons.

Laughing softly, Ballad sits down and gets to work. Pulling nails with her magic actually isn’t that hard and they can be salvaged this way. Within half an hour, the foals have a few hundred pounds of wood panels loaded. They figure it will take three or four runs to get them enough wood.

It is hard going back for the twins, but Feather and Ballad push from behind as well. The tree they had permission use isn’t near any of the training areas. It is actually at the edge of the residential area. It is a little private, but still on base and protected.

Ah-Pee is waiting for them there for the next part. This is the fun one, fabrication. Cloudy sets down the plans on her phone, showing the pre-fab segments they would prepare. The twins would move a plank into place, Ballad will hover a nail over the point, and Ah-Pee bucks it in. Working this way, they are able to quickly set up the segments for the build.

At this rate, they will have a fully functional club house built in a few days. Best of all, no humans allowed.

*** Velvet ***

I trot up to the apartment building, it was probably built in the early 50’s by the look of it, and it has definitely seen better days. Blaze is there, helping some humans with building.

Looking around I see the mare he was talking about. She is currently sitting on a bench looking up at the building, shaking her head.

Sitting down beside her I smile, “Hi there, I’m Twilight Velvet. Usually go by Velvet though.”

“Yawl don’t want to be confused with your daughter?” Fiddlesticks asks.

“Oh heck no, I just don’t want to be associated with sparkling teenage vampires.”

Looking at me she blinked a few times then we both start laughing. With all the stress both of us has to deal with, a laugh is very good.

“Looks like you have a bit of a fixer upper.”

“Yeah, the place has been in my family for decades, it used to be so much better. Tarnation if everyone wants views of the beach, or to live in the city or such.” She looks up and sighs. “We gots a few low income renters here, but it ain’t enough to pay all the bills, and I can’t pay the repairs.”

I sigh softly and flop my chin down on the table. This isn’t going to work.

“What wrong?”

“Oh I was hoping to find ponies that could help some refugees. They’re in bad shape.” I said, “But you’re in bad shape too.”

“Sorry. I wish I could but…”

Stardancer slams into the ground near us, just seething. She is snarling and hoofing at the ground, followed close behind by Fire and Wind. Storming up, she comes muzzle to muzzle with me. “Tell me there is something you can do.”

Taking a deep breath I sigh, “I take it you found the place?”

“Oh I found it, that’s not a quarantine facility, or a holding area, that’s an internment camp! My grandmother was held in one of those, her parents died in one!”

“An internment camp, where?” Fiddlesticks says sitting up, her ears vibrating gently as she looks intently at me.

“I’m not allowed to say, and the uniform code says I can’t directly interfere with it. It’s a facility run by Homeland Security and I.C.E.” I said looking down. “But I want to find a way to help the ponies in there.”

“Oh hell no,” Fiddlesticks says, “There are a number of residents that still remember those. Or whose families were affected by them.”

“I’ve got a friend who works that the Governor’s office, I’ll have a talk with him.” A second pegasus calls out from beside Stardancer, and takes flight again.

“I know there are other ponies around the island, I’m going to gather any I can find bring them here, maybe we can come up with something.” Stardancer snarls and takes off again herself.

Fiddlesticks looks just as pissed off and depressed as me right now.

“I’m going to… sit here.” Fiddlesticks says and grumbles.

“Better yet, you’re going to have a pony meeting here soon, best be prepared for it.” I say, “Anything I can do to help with?”

Fiddlesticks grumbles and puts her face against the table, “Not unless you have a crane handy to move the shingles and tar up to the roof.”

Blinking I looked at the shingle pallet and shift its weight with my magic, “Oh, it’s not that heavy.” Planting my hooves, I lift the pallet up to the top of the first section.

“How did you?” Fiddlesticks looks at me, shocked.

“Magic.” I say with a grin.

“No seriously… how?”

Blinking a few seconds I shake my head and tap my horn with a hoof, “I’m a unicorn, we have magic, remember?”

“Well I’ll be I guess being on earth so longs had me forget some things were possible.”

“Let’s get this place ready for the meeting then I’ll have to make myself scarce.” I say, smiling.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not allowed to interfere in politics or make political or policy statements.” I say.

“Just nudge them in the right direction?” Fiddlesticks asks with a smile.

“Celestia does that all the time, I figured I’d take a page from her playbook.” I say, to be honest I’m not expecting such a volatile reaction when I suggested bring a pegasus to see the camp.

I spend the next half hour speed cleaning the courtyard. Shuffling stuff around so there is enough room. Meanwhile Fiddlesticks is setting out drinks and snacks as best as she can. Gracious host and all, I swear she must be related to the Apples somehow.

Over the next two hours about sixteen ponies show up, as well as nearly eighty humans, most of them seem to be of Japanese descent, this… can’t be good. Looking at Blaze I nod and quickly make myself scarce along with the Navy pegasi. This fight would be up to them.

*** Henry and Eric ***

It isn’t easy, really isn’t easy. Sanchez and Jay raid several doughnut shops around the area for their day olds. It is strange, they find themselves getting donations as well, without really having to explain anything. They simply say they are buying for some refugees and need sweets and sugars.

They’ve been given doughnuts, muffins, bottles of pop, and juices. They have even been given bulk Gator Aid syrup in two different flavors by a doughnut shop on base. This will help the ponies so much.

Eric is trying to raise morale by singing, it has helped somewhat, but it’s going to take much more than just songs and treats to raise the ponies' spirits. It’s going to take a miracle.

Henry, on the other hand, has drawn the attention of several ponies. They seem to calm down about him and Eric, a level of trust is being built.

“It’s not easy the first time. Trust me it’s easier to close your eyes the first time.” Henry says, looking at the young unicorn.

He has yet to leave Passionate’s side, or even remove his hand from her neck. The others have come to him. Closing her eyes the unicorn makes her horn glow and touches it to Passionate’s with a squee.

“I did it, I did it.” She giggles and backs up, bounding around and wiggling her tail.

“Hornshine is the first trick unicorns really learn, it’s nothing but focusing your magic into your horn. The problem is, it feels different for each unicorn, so it’s hard to describe.”

“Were you really a unicorn?” Another unicorn sits, looking at him.

“When I went to Equestria, yes I was. I learned how to use my magic, but I’m not a born one like you. I’m not a natural unicorn. The mirror just made me one.”

“So if I went through the mirror and came back I’d be human?” Another unicorn asks.

“You could, but at the same time you’d be giving up your magic. You’d be giving up who you really are or what you are really meant to be.” Shaking his head, Henry sighs, “Trust me, as useful as hands are, there’s just something special about magic. And not just unicorn magic, pony magic in general. Every time you follow your cutie mark. Every time you follow your calling. It just fills you with happiness.”

“How do you know what your special talent is?” An earth pony asks, sitting down.

“It’s based of your cutie mark. You gain your cutie mark in a moment of perfect clarity. A time when you truly understand what you love, what you’re meant to do. In that moment the energy flows though you and you have no doubts, no second thoughts. It a truly beautiful moment.”

Shaking his head vigorously, Henry pushes the memories of the moment out of his mind. It helps them to understand, but he doesn’t need to remember the feelings like that.

“A pony with a mark of say, a wrench might be good at repairing things. Stars usually mean you’re good with magic. A pegasus with a lightning bolt might be about speed or making lightning bolts.”

Looking at the earth pony beside him he hums and tilts his head. “A crossed hammer and lighting bolt. That could mean lots of things. It could mean you have a talent as an electric engineer, laying out power lines or such. Or it might mean you have a talent at building power stations. Or… you could be related to Thor.”

Henry chuckles softly then shakes his head, “Actually, you know, it could mean you have a special talent at making magical items. You might be skilled at preparing items to be enchanted by unicorns or pegasi like the flying chariots or airships we see.”

“To see a lightning bolt like that is rare for an earth pony. You should probably be proud of that on its own.” Henry says to her.

Looking around, “Never be jealous of someone else’s mark though, and never worry that your mark isn’t who you are. That’s the thing about the marks. Even in your human lives you likely followed your mark unknowingly at times… They are really who you are.”

Jay and Sanchez begin handing out treats and snacks to everypony. Though the Gator Aid is more important than anything, its sugar and minerals will help them. More and more the ponies are starting to look and feel better. This though, is still a short term gain.

The song catches everypony, everyone, off guard. The SP’s in the towers turn their weapons, facing outwards. SP’s take up defensive positions, watching.

Dozens of ponies from the different islands have gathered, backed by humans, Japanese families who have endured these camps before. Civilians who would never again stand by again. Who would never allow these camps on their island ever again. They march on the camp with local press crews. While the stories may never be aired, the threat is there.

And in the front, leading the march, the yellow pony with blue mane and tail. Her head held high as she trots, pounding her hooves to the beat of the music. Making sure everyone keeps the beat. She had mobilized them, and now they follow her. Fiddlesticks.

They sing. They sing out as loud and true as they can. Hundreds of voices calling out, filling the air. “Under pressure, that brings a nation down, splits a family in two.”

*** Beth ***

Sitting in the glow of the LED lamps, she turns the pages of the books. Though she can’t understand any of the words, some of the pictures remind her of things. Bringing flashes to her mind.

Her brother walks over and sits, leaning against her. “Anything?”

“Some flashes, but nothing really.”

“Do you think there are other unicorns out there?” She asks, looking at Tommy.

“I’ve checked the web, the problem is, there’s no way to tell what’s real and what’s…”

“Yeh I know, how many aliens, big foot pictures show up.” Beth sighs, shaking her head.

“It’s hard at time to tell fact from fiction, and then there’s the chance that some things are being filtered out.” Tommy looks at the computer, his finger running along the touch sensitive screen.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, most of the general searches are done with normal search engines. Google, Yahoo, and others for example. The problem is, it’s possible for the government, special agencies or even the companies themselves to block or redirect searches. For example, I could post a video of you online, it would be there, but, it wouldn’t be able to be found.”

“So even if the family did post my rescue of the kids, the companies could simply block the searches?”

Tommy nods and hugs her. “It does have really scary implications however. To do that you need to have the backing of a big government or worse, major corporations behind you.”

“Why?”

“Because if the people don’t know you exist, it’s easier to make you disappear.”

Beth closes her eyes, shivering, tears in her eyes at the thought.

“I’m not going to let that happen. I will protect you and never let you just disappear.”

67: Glimmer of Sunshine

“So its 'need verses choice'?”

“I think it’s more fundamental than that.” The President says, leaning back in his chair in the Oval Office.

The Secretary of Defense shakes his head, “Look, if they have the powers, we can make use of them.”

“So they are slaves? To be used at our convenience?” The Director of the CID says as he paces on the floor.

“That’s not what I meant.” The Secretary of Defense grumbles, “If one can control the weather, shouldn’t we use that? What if we could have stopped hurricane Katrina?”

“But where do we draw the line? Oil is vital to national security? If one can locate oil, do we force them to do that for us?” Asks the Director of Homeland Security as he looks at his tablet, “Earth ponies are strong at farming. Do we force them to farm, even if they don’t want to?”

“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The CID Director says and sighs, “Are we talking Legal Rights here? Or Natural Rights?”

The president finds himself looking at the CID Director, “A very good point. Legal rights can be repealed or restrained, if the military, or courts, order. We need these rights to be inalienable.”

“Defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” Looking around, the CID Director sighs. “Putting them at risk against their will, forcing them to do things, this is all about choice. If we cross the line for big things, then we open the door for every little thing.”

“But don’t forget, inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom. It’s human rights, after all.” The director of Homeland adds.

“If we give or extend to ponies all rights as a human, then we have to assume, demanding them to use their abilities would detract from their pursuit of happiness.” The President says.

“I think form should be included,” The director of CID adds, “We’ve had calls for ponies to be forced through the gate to be returned to human forms.”

“So we include a part about no pony should be forced to change their form to suit the will or needs of another?” The Director of Homeland inquires.

“How will this affect the military?”

“We are looking at these as Natural Rights. So the military would be bound by them.” The Vice President says.

“So we have a basic framework for a bill here. Have you got enough to get a first draft done?” The President asks.

“Sure thing, Department of Justice will have something hammered out in a few days.”

With a nod the President turns to look at the copy of the Constitution on his wall, “Liberty…” he murmurs.

*** Henry ***

“I’m sorry, but his life was at stake.” Blue Lagoon says softly.

“Lives are always at stake, everywhere. People die every day.” Henry says as he touches his horn to Electric Blue. “I can’t heal every person and every pony. Should you be expected to stop every storm that threatens lives?”

“I… no.” Blue Lagoon sighs and looks down at her hooves. “I just felt so useless, I have all this magic and couldn’t do anything help him.”

“You care about him that much?” Henry says as he pulls his horn back.

“Yes, he sacrificed himself for me. He’s so protective of me and so kind.” Blue says, keeping her head low.

“I just hate being this fluffy pink unicorn.” Henry shakes his head.

“So you hate ponies?”

“My best friends are ponies, I just know I’m not one.” Henry says, backing away as the pegasus who he just healed moans softly. “The power I have is something scary. Imagine turning on the TV, walking down the street, visiting friends and hearing stories of people being sick and injured. Knowing you can’t save everyone, knowing that somewhere, some child is dying, you can save her, but it will cost some other child their life?”

Blue Lagoon looks at him and realizes what he means, “So you choose not to choose. Not to play favorites.”

Turning, Henry exits the room and walks down the hall. Heading for the cafeteria, “I’m not a pony, I don’t have the… strength… to choose. I do what I’m told, but I get so worried that I will get lost in a world of people making requests.”

“I’m sorry Henry, I had no right to ask them to force you.” Blue says as she follows him.

“It’s okay.” Henry picks up an extra-large coffee and a stack of donuts with his magic, heading over to an empty table. “I just know this form isn’t the real me. I don’t belong in Equestria and can’t be a pony on Earth.” He sighs and looks at his furry chest, “At least not permanently.”

“Is there any way I can make it up to you?” Blue Lagoon asks as she sees the pain in Henry. The pain he carries bothers her. He saved her Captain, but at what cost to himself?

“I don’t know. I don’t look for rewards or medals. Sometimes I wonder if I’m staying true to the magic in my heart.” He sips some coffee. “I just have to keep reminding myself, I’m not a pony.”

Leaning over, Blue Lagoon hugs him softly and gently. “Pony or not, I’ll always consider you a friend for what you’ve done.”

*** Velvet ***

“Nope, it’s not a raw energy blast. It’s a more confined spectrum, tighter beam.” I say as I walk around the tank.

“There’s different kinds?” Major Atwood asks, looking down at me.

I just can’t help but giggle, “Yes there’s different kinds, and different ways of doing the same thing. It depends on the unicorn and their training.”

“So what are we looking at?” The Major asks, putting his hand against the rend in the front of the tank.

“I’m not sure I’d be touching that, I’m always afraid of residual radiation.” I say, blinking

Quickly the Major pulls his hand away and wipes it off on his pants, “Magic leaves radiation?”

“Well kinda, but I was referring to the Depleted Uranium plate.” I say, shaking my head. “It’s been exposed and superheated. That stuff’s toxic and radioactive.”

“Plasma style blast, or flame blasts, act more like a blow torch. They tend to splash out more. Lightning could be a wide arc style blast, or a confined beam, much like a particle beam. A few pegasi can do it too, but their lightning bolts tend to be more spread out and arc more. They can’t confine the blast. This was a high energy blast, essentially the beam hit the tank and caused the hull to superheat and explode outwards.”

Rearing up on my hind hooves, I put my forelegs on the hull of the tank so that I can look at the damage more closely. “Yeah it’s laser style. Combat school, likely Canterlot, mid to high three. Pretty by the books, higher power or closer range would have penetrated.”

“So what’s all that mean?” The major asks.

“Major,” I pause a moment putting on my sun glasses, “You’ve got a trained hostile unicorn.”

*** Panama ***

“I don’t think we're on the right road.” Sunny Daze says, looking out the window.

Glancing back Full Steam nods, “I know, I couldn’t get back onto the main road back there, so I’m following this one. I think it reconnects about…”

“About?” Sunny blinks and climbs up to look out the window again.

Full Steam has lowered his head a bit and stopped talking as he walked, and instead is simply flicking his tail a bit. Ahead on the road are a pair of National Police cruisers blocking the road. Two officers are funnelling the limited traffic though a check point.

“Oh Celestia. Ambrosia, police are checking vehicles.” Sunny Daze says.

Quickly Ambrosia looks out the rear window of the wagon. She sees there are a few cars behind them, slowing down too. Moving up to the front window, she sits with the curtains closed and waits for the officers.

“Keep quiet Sunny.” She whispers as the wagon stops.

Walking up, the officer pounds on the side of the wagon. “National Police, we are doing road inspections.”

Taking a deep breath, Ambrosia calls back out, “Pardon, sir?”

“We are doing vehicle inspections. Drunk driving and drugs.” The officer says, firmly.

The car behind them honks, causing Ambrosia to smile.

“Yes sir, it will take me a few minutes.” She says, calmly.

“Pardon? A few minutes?” The officer walks around to the back of the wagon and knocks on the door.

“Yes, religious modesty laws dictate that I be covered in the presence of nonfamily males.” She smiles and looks down at Sunny Daze.

Sunny has both hooves over her face, shaking her head no.

“It will only take me a few minutes to get properly dressed.” Ambrosia says, again.

Behind the wagon, cars were starting to pile up.

Looking around, the officer sighs. He’s never heard of a horse drawn wagon being used for drug smuggling. Turning he glares at the drivers behind the wagon. “Fine, move on, just keep to the side of the road so the cars can pass you when they are through the check point.”

“Thank you sir.” Ambrosia says and Full Steam starts walking again, keeping the wagon as close to the shoulder of the road as he can.

*** Henry ***

Henry sits with his chin on the table. He’s already helped several critical and terminal cases, and he is just plain pooped. Even coffee isn’t helping any more. Well, the coffee they have here, he isn’t about to risk 'Cipher levels' of caffeine.

Nurse Harwell sits beside him with her coffee and tilts her head. “You look worse than Cheerilee after a field trip to the Canterlot Confectionery Factory.”

“Why would a school teacher ever take kids to a candy factory?” Henry mumbles, not even lifting his head.

“Some kids, like Twist, have candy cutie marks. Stuff like that’s done to show the foals that even a small or simple talent can have large scale uses.” The nurse says.

“I don’t remember that episode.” Henry huffs, “Must have missed it.”

“May I touch you?” The nurse asks.

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking permission to touch, I don’t want to invade your personal space without asking.” The nurse says.

“I guess… this is why I hate being a unicorn. So many in need, I could burn myself out trying to help them all.” Henry says.

Gently, the nurse puts her hand on his mane, starting to stroke it gently. She knows just where to scratch to help relax him. “Being a pony isn’t easy. Even in Equestria it’s probably hard.”

“Being forced to be a pony though…” Henry says.

“Every pony you know was forced to be a pony. They were forced to be a human without memory for twenty-five years, then they were forced to be a pony again, no matter how they felt about it.” The nurse says.

“I know, but that’s because of the curse.” Henry says, looking up at the nurse.

“Does it matter the cause? Probably every pony around understands what you’re going though in some way or another.” Gently, she scratches behind his ear, causing him to close his eyes and tilt his head.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? Ok the scratching, maybe…” Henry says with a little smile.

Shaking her head the nurse sighs, “Nope just helping you realize that you’re not alone. Unlike others though, you get to go back to being human soon. Some have to either wait for the next gate opening, or find other ways to cope.”

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you were a pony yourself.” Henry says with a sigh, “You… feel… like one.”

“Pardon?” The Nurse says, blinking.

“You… oh I can’t explain it, you just… feel… different.” Henry says and glances up at a pegasus who walks in and gets a coffee.

“Unicorn senses, you feel magic. Yeah, I was a pony, I went through the gate to help there, but had to come back because my family is here. I’m trying to convince them to come to Equestria with me.” She says, looking off down the length of the mess room.

“What’s your name?”

“Tenderheart,” She says, looking back down at Henry, “We worked together in Equestria.”

“Yeah I remember you. You did great there. The LT even pointed you out, but I think he was…” Henry stops, blinking, and he blushes, putting his head down. “Yeah, he was being a jerk.” There is no way he’s going to tell her it was to trick him into looking under her tail.

The banana yellow pegasus has a pink mane and tail, she isn’t even drinking her coffee. She just lay her head on the table. Her wing is bandaged tightly to her side.

Standing up, Nurse Harwell walks over to her, “Rosewing, you were told to stay in bed and rest.”

“Why?” Rose says, looking up.

“So we don’t lose where you are on the ship, so we can keep track of you. It’s more for us than for you.” The nurse says honestly, “If all the patients walked around at will, it would be a royal mess here.”

Rosewing opens her mouth to respond, but then closes it. She looks confused for a moment then shrugs. “Sorry. I just couldn’t lay there anymore.”

“Well there’s always the physio room, you could get some exercise, work out some frustration.” The nurse says softly.

“I know, you’re trying to cheer me up and treat me like I’m normal. But I have to face it, I’m a cripple. Just when I got to like flying.” She says, her eyes filling with tears.

“I wouldn’t say that. There’s always hope.” The nurse says.

“Hope? First, I get turned into a female pastel pony. I start getting used to that and flying, and then I get my wing shot up. The doctors said the damage was too much for them.” Rosewing moans.

Walking over, Henry sits and lays his chin on the table, looking at Rosewing, “How did it happen?”

“Oh, I have no one to blame but myself.” Rosewing says, looking at Henry.

Shaking his head Henry sighs, “Not what I asked, how did it happen?”

Grumbling softly, she looks at her wing, “They needed a volunteer to carry supplies to a trapped pony. While a faster flyer should have done it, I volunteered so they could keep providing air cover. I tried coming in as low and fast as I could but… a pair of RPKs opened up on me. I almost made it, but I wasn’t fast enough and got my wing hit.”

“Did you get the package delivered?” Henry asks.

“Yes, it helped too. I’m just so frustrated with myself.” Rosewing sighs.

Getting up, Henry walks around the table and gives the pegasus a hug. His horn glowing as the magic fills her wing, repairing the damage. Letting go, Henry takes a step back and starts to wobble badly.

“Henry, are you ok?” The nurse says, rushing over to Henry.

“I… I don’t…” Closing his eyes, all goes dark as Henry hits the ground hard.

*** Velvet ***

“That kind of attack is one of the more common ones. It’s taught in year two in the gifted school, most every royal guard knows it. It’s right up there with the Stun Bolt for common teaching.” I say.

“Any way to find out who or which unicorn was doing it?” The Admiral asks, leaning back in his chair.

“It’s possible, but it’s a ballistics situation. We have the bullet, but we’d need a gun to match it to. If we found the unicorn and got them to do another blast, we could match the magical resonance to that on the tank.” I say, “Sort of like magical fingerprinting. Even then though…”

“Even then we’d have to force every unicorn found since the attacks to do the testing. And that’s provided of course they don’t lie about not having or knowing the spell.” The Admiral shakes his head.

“At least it’s trapped on the island.” The Admiral sighs, “We can monitor and track any ships trying to leave the island.”

“Speaking as a unicorn sir, the ship doesn’t have to leave the island, just needs to be in sight of it. If they have energy blasts, they likely have the ability to teleport. So they could jump to any ship in sight of the island.” I say, shaking my head. “There’s international shipping channels that pass close to the island, fishing boats, and such. If they didn’t have a pre-planned escape route, simply jumping to one of those ships and hiding would work.”

“Sir.” The XO pokes his head into the office, “The Captain’s awake, the doctors say he’ll make a full recovery.”

“That’s great news. I’ll have to put a commendation into the Specialist’s file.” The Admiral says with a smile, “Best news of the day.”

“About that, the Specialist lost consciousness in the mess hall. He passed out after healing someone.” The XO says.

“Oh heck, Sir, permission to…”

“I’ll have a helicopter ready to take you there.” The Admiral says, standing up.

“No need sir. Permission to be dismissed?” I ask, looking quickly at the door.

“Yep, go see what’s wrong.”

Turning, I run out of the office and up the stair case calling out, “Make a hole!”

Carriers are huge, though the corridors are not actually all that wide. This requires people to press themselves against the wall during emergencies when people are running. Hitting the flight deck, I open the door with my TK well before I’m near it. This actually leads to the funniest look on a pair of Marine security patrol guards, as the wheel spins and opens but no one’s there.

“Excuse me!” I say, coming through the door and skid across the flight deck a bit, looking around. There are active air operations going on, and a little pony like me could EASILY get sucked into the air intakes of an F-35.

Zig-zagging across the deck, keeping clear of the planes, I leap off the side of the ship. Much to the shock of several of the crew. It isn’t my best jump. I didn’t have my legs curled enough, so I probably looked a little silly. I’m out of practice, though.

With a flash of my horn, I land on the helicopter pad of the cruiser that is steaming beside the carrier. My hooves skid slightly as I land and turn, running for the stern of the ship. “Excuse me, coming through!” I call out. Damage control teams are likely shocked to see me, but what can you do? Leaping off the rear of the ship, I light my horn again and teleport to the bow of a destroyer. The speed difference of the ships is making this a little tricky, so I have to keep running.

This time I run along the rail on the port side of the destroyer, getting up as much speed as I can before I jump. In a moment, I appear over the landing deck of the USNS Comfort and skid a good five meters before stopping and panting. “This is not something a pregnant mare should be doing.” I growl.

Even my daughter had problems with speed changes in teleports. The worst one was her flying full speed and then teleporting inside her library. When she appeared, she kept all that inertia and wiped out half her library, sending books everywhere. For her, the crash wasn’t the issue, it was the fact that she messed up her books that had her upset.

The flight deck has a Seahawk sitting on it, its pilot looking rather shocked as the ground crew pauses their refuelling to look at me. Honestly, by now, with this many pegasi and unicorns working in this attack and being treated on this ship, you’d think they’d expect stuff like this.

“Pardon me.” I say and trot down the stairs.

Running down the hall I stop the first nurse I can find, panting hard, “Henry, unicorn, where?”

Blinking, looking down at me, the nurse tilts her head, “I don’t know any Henry and there’s a unicorn in front of me.”

“Oh har har.” I say, catching my breath a bit. “Henry, the unicorn that was brought on board to heal the Captain of the Ronald Reagan.”

“Oh, him, no idea.” The nurse says, “Check with intake, one floor down.”

Rolling my eyes, I make my way to intake, yes it’s a hospital. The ship has nearly 1,500 staff, so of course they all don’t know everything. It takes me a few minutes to find out what room he’s in and I head there quickly.

“What happened?” I ask, trotting in, looking at the nurse.

“It’s nothing serious.” Nurse Harwell says, putting a cold compress over his head and eyes. “He’s suffering from Magical Exhaustion. He’s been healing too much.”

“I told him to watch that. He just changed, he hasn’t had any chance to build up reserves.” I sigh, shaking my head. “And he’s following his cutie mark.” I say giving his mark a gentle nuzzle.

Blue Lagoon sighs, laying her chin on his bed as does Rosewing. Both mares looking at Henry as the nurse puts a fluids bag up.

“This is my fault.” Blue Lagoon says.

“Nope, it’s not.” Nurse Harwell says, “Lots of unicorns go through this, tiring themselves out at a young age trying to do more and more. It’s part of growing up with magic.”

“Yeah, but Henry never grew up as a pony. He wasn’t cursed.” I say, shaking my head.

Rosewing lifts her head looking at me shocked, “I don’t buy that.”

“I’m serious, he’s a human.”

Nurse Harwell nods, “It’s true, he got his cutie mark in Equestria. For a human, he really does live up to being a pony.”

“He hates it, hates his color, hates the responsibility, I think he’s more scared of losing himself.” I say and lay my head over his foreleg. “Were here for you Henry, just rest.”

*** Henry ***

“I’m not a pony.” Henry repeats as he bangs the side of his head against the table over and over. Not really noticing that he’s not feeling pain from the impact.

The room he is in is dark, with only a single dim light bulb hanging over his head. The door is hazy, but he doesn’t care, he isn’t really paying attention. He’s just concerned with the chair and table which provides a convenient surface for impacts.

“I shouldn’t have to deal with this. I’m not strong enough.” Henry moans.

“Says who?” A voice says from the doorway.

“I say so.” Henry says and he lets his head rest on the table. “It’s just too hard.”

“You know, there are ponies that committed suicide, or tried to, when they found out they were changing?” The voice says.

“I’m not a pony though.” Henry says, “I’m just like this for a couple of days, to help out.”

Blinking, Henry lifts his head and squints at the door. “Who are you?”

The dark Alicorn walks into view and tilts her head. “I could get philosophical and ask what makes a pony.”

“And I could get medical and say a genome structure, who’s DNA belongs to the Equis family.”

“I’m Princess Luna.” The mare says, sitting down on the other side of the table.

“I know, I’ve watched the show. Which means I’m either going nuts, or something is seriously messed up.” Henry says, with a sigh.

Tilting her head, Luna blinks, “Why do you say that?”

“Because you’re here talking to me. You’re only supposed to deal with ponies dreams.” Sitting up, Henry looks around, “This is a dream right? Or am I in some CID Holding room?”

“It’s a dream, and I can enter human dreams too. Pony dreams, though, call to me the loudest. And while you may not be a pony, per se. Your dreams screamed.” Luna says softly.

“Let me guess, trust in my cutie mark, believe in my friends, don’t lie…” Henry huffs.

“Really now? You’re not a pony remember. Besides you already know all that stuff. Nope, stand up.” Luna says, standing up herself.

Henry blinks and looks at her, confused. “What?”

“Stand up, all fours.” Luna says, again, the table vanishing.

With a huff, Henry gets up, looking at her. He can’t understand what she wants, he isn’t a pony, speeches and visions of his past won’t help him feel better.

“Now, spread your legs a bit, widen your stance a bit more. Like this.” Luna says, spreading her front and hind legs apart into a stable position.

Henry blinks, then mimics her stance, looking at her. “What is this about?”

“Trust me, now then, once you get into the stance you need to relax, your legs have a rest while standing, you relax your muscles and the legs lock into place. Think of it as the pony form of at ease.”

Nodding slowly Henry follows her instructions, “Shouldn’t you be helping ponies?”

“I would but, you were so depressed and upset it was calling for me.” Luna smiles and laughs, “Okay, now then, Earth has magic too. Not as much as Equestria, but it does. If you close your eyes and relax you can feel it. Since this is a dream, I can help you understand what it feels like easier."

Closing one eye first, then the other, Henry relaxes and after a moment, he feels what she is talking about, the warm glow of ambient magic. It tingles around his horn, but he can also feel it in his hooves and legs.

“Most unicorns don’t need to learn this, as they don’t use a lot of high power spells. Unicorns though, that are constantly casting spells or need to cast really powerful spells, often use this. It helps offset their own energy reserves so they don’t drain themselves totally.”

Blinking, Henry lifts his head to look at her, “Why are you teaching me this?”

“It’s Unicorn magic 301.” Luna says, looking at him with a smile. “Celestia’s staff teaches her students how to do it usually in year three or four, depending on the course. It’s called channeling. Since you’re not a real unicorn, but have to work as one. I figured it might help to learn. So you don’t hurt yourself.”

Blinking, Henry opens his mouth, then he closes it slowly, tilting his head. “Umm, thank you princess.”

“You don’t need to be a unicorn to learn about this stuff. I don’t think you need to be a pony even to learn about it. Even if you never use it, you might be able to help others with it.” Luna says, “Every bit of information helps right?”

Henry smiles and nods, finding himself relaxing a bit. For the first time, there isn’t pressure or expectations. She isn’t coming to him with needs or demands. She isn’t even saying he has to stay a unicorn. Simply showing him tricks he could use himself or teach others.

*** Drizzle ***

“Streams, open the door,” Drizzle giggles.

“Nope.”

“You’re going to have to come out some time, what about food?”

“I’ll have it delivered.”

Looking up and down the hall, Drizzle smiles, “Come on it won’t be that bad.”

“That bad? That bad! Have you even seen what they do to people at those things?” Streams says and bangs her head against the door.

“I’ll take you out for pizza afterwards.” Drizzle knows the other pony’s greatest weakness.

Slowly, Streams opens the door and looks at Drizzle with a sigh.

“It won’t be that bad. You only have to give a ten minute speech, then there’s the thirty minute question and answer session with the press.” Drizzle says, putting her hoof against the door.

“WHAT!” Streams blinks, backing up, looking like she’s going to pass out and sits down quickly.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, you won’t be expected to say a word. Lightning’s going to handle any questions.” Drizzle says, trying to look innocent.

Narrowing her eyes, Streams huffs, “Brat.”

"Okay, let’s get going, the medal ceremony is in half an hour." Turning, she flicked the tip of her tail towards Streams.

Looking at the tail, Streams bends down and bites it, grabbing hold. She doesn’t need to, but for some reason, it makes her feel better. Standing up, she lets Drizzle lead her out. A Valor Medal is a big deal. She is the first ever to perform an in air rescue.

Author's Note

Art attack by Alkarasu

79: Song of the Sea

“So who’s Sea Swirl, Ma’am?” The guardsman says as he pushes forward on the throttles, the twin outboards starting to move the boat through the waves.

Groaning softly, Fleur lay in the bed under the foredeck. The bed actually fills most of the bow of the boat, so there is more than enough room for her with her long legs.

“I don’t want to give you any medicine, I don’t know how you’d react to something like Gravol.” Jenny says, “I’m willing to bet you’re dehydrated though. Think you can keep some of your drink down?”

Fleur nods and sighs softly, “Thanks for the help, Swirl.”

“That’s the second time you’ve called her that.” The guardsman says, looking down as he slides the cooler closer to the door.

Looking in the cooler Jenny giggles, “It could always be the sweets, I don’t know about unicorns, but too many sweets make me queasy also.” She stops and looks at Fleur, “Who’s Swirl?”

“I… I don’t know any Swirl.” Fleur says, blinking and taking a sip of juice.

“You’ve called Jenny Swirl, and Sea Swirl.” The Guardsman says as he turns the boat, trying to ease the motion somewhat.

“I haven’t, have I?” Fleur lifts her head, looking at Jenny, then at the guardsman.

Jenny blinks and holds out a hand, “Hi, Jenny Mathews, CGIS.”

Blinking, Fleur looks at the offered hand, “Am I supposed to sniff it, nuzzle it or lick it?”

“Oh um, right, sorry, how do you greet a pony?” Jenny asks, putting her hands in her lap.

With a weak giggle Fleur looks up, “Some do shake hooves, I was joking. Umm, If I’m calling you the wrong name this could be serious.”

“What do you mean?” The Guardsman says, “Like your having a stroke serious?”

Shaking her head, Fleur lets out a soft sigh, “No, it’s one of the signs that the curse is wearing off on somepony.”

“Curse? Like in magic thingy?” The guardsman says with a mix of confusion and disbelief.

Jenny facepalms, “You’re speaking with a talking unicorn. And magic gives you issues? No, I read about this, I had to pull teeth to get it but, the ponies were sent to Earth by means of a curse.”

“And one of the first signs that we know of, that the curse is wearing off is the real names start coming out. Ponies, especially ponies who knew each other, would start calling each other by their pony names. This happens on, or possibly very, very, close to their twenty-fifth birthday. The next part is their cutie mark appears.” Fleur says.

“Cutie Mark, you seriously call it that?” The guardsman asks with a chuckle.

Fleur blinks and giggles, “No we call it this.” Shifting to Eponese, she says “Cutie Mark” before returning to English, “It just translates to that in human tongue.”

“The Captain took her out today because it was her birthday, sort of a birthday present to get her some sea time for agent afloat status on a cutter.” The Guardsman says with a chuckle, “Be funny if it was her 25th.”

“It… it is.” Jenny says. Looking at Fleur, then down at her hip.

“Umm, as long as you don’t have a mark that’s appeared on your hip you’re fine. If its something like diamonds…” Fleur blinks as Jenny slowly lowers the side of her fatigues, looking at her hip.

Gulping slowly, Jenny looks at the two dolphins on her hip then back at Fleur. “Does this mean…”

“Hi Sea Swirl.”

***

“Mommy, mommy! Can I haz it?”

Looking over I see the girl holding the plush toy up to her mother. Hope in her eyes at the wonder of a stuffed pony. Letting out a sigh, I look at my sides, I’m not really showing but I know.

Turning, I push the cart down the isle, looking at the prices of the food on the shelves I sigh softly. Its funny, walking on my hind legs pushing the cart just feels weird. Its something humans do all the time and I’ve seen ponies do it in the show but…

Picking up a bottle of vitamins, I check the label. Henry says I should start taking these to help with the pregnancy. Putting them in the cart I keep walking. I still keep checking my phone for my bank balance. Maternity leave, no combat pay, taking care of Feather, Candy and Cloudy, I’m down to barely anything in my account until the next paycheck. Living hoof to mouth, check to check can be hard at times, especially when you're raising a family.

I find myself looking at the fresh produce longingly, it’s winter and the prices are all so high these days. I really wish I could afford fresh, but I can’t right now. Lowering my head, I walk down the aisles, just getting the basics, a quart of milk, bread, some cereal, peanut butter. Pasta and canned pasta sauce, it’s cheap, filling, and should do for two or three meals till our paycheck is deposited.

Stopping at the cash register, I find myself looking at the magazines and papers. ‘Real Live Ponies` in the Enquirer, the real media seems to still be ignoring our existence for the most part. Looking at the picture they have a pony painted up like a ‘my little pony’ saying ponies are real and amongst us.

“Miss? Miss?”

Looking up at the cashier, I sigh, “Sorry, lost in thought.” Carefully I unload the items onto the belt then lay my muzzle on the basket handle, watching the price.

“That will be $35.59, would you like to donate five dollars to the children’s help fund?” The teller asks.

Cringing I look back at my phone at the bank account. “Umm.” Looking at what I have, I sigh softly. Well what Henry doesn’t know won’t hurt me. “Could you put this back?” I say, lifting the vitamins out of the bag.

“Not a problem, that will be 25.60.” The teller says with a smile, at least she didn’t ask about the five-dollar donation again.

“Thank you.” I say smiling and put the groceries into my saddle bag. “Gotta keep the foals fed.” I whisper. I put my best smile on my face as I trot out. I need to get lunch on for the herd.

A few shoppers behind me, Helen sighs, picking up the bottle of vitamins and looking at it. Shaking her head slowly she adds it to her own grocery items.

***

“But I can’t be, I can’t be a pony!” Jenny shakes her hands, looking back and forth. “I have human parents, I was born, I grew up.”

“Jenny calm down, breathe.” Fleur says.

“Hold on!” The Guardsman calls out as the boat rolls sideways a little bit, followed by a thud.

“Jenny, relax, remember it’s the curse ending. You were always a pony, just cursed to be human.” Fleur says softly.

Tying off the boat, the guardsman kneels down, looking in the door, “Look maybe there’s some kind of cure.”

Blinking, Fleur looks up, “No… a cure would mean this was some sort of disease, or wrong in some way.”

“Well people have been trying drugs and surgery.” The guardsman says, “Maybe something will work for you Jenny.”

Flattening her ears, Fleur narrows her eyes, her nostrils flaring as she moves, getting up a little bit. “Those tests were criminal. I’ve seen the aftermath of those tests and the lives they have cost.”

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t know.” Backing up, the guardsman holds both hands up defensively.

Nodding, Fleur turns back, looking at Jenny, “Don’t worry, there are some educational videos we can have you watch. There’s also counselling and support out there for you. I’m not going to say its not going to turn your world upside down. Trust me, it is, but once you get used to it…”

“Used to it?!?!” Jenny looks at her hands, “What about my family, my friends?”

Lighting her horn, Fleur floats her phone over, pulling out the stylus. “Anthony, dear, could you be so kind as to send me anything we have on Sea Swirl, cutie mark is a pair of dolphins in a ying yang formation.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” Jenny says in a panicked toned.

“That will all be covered in the video, don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all. And just think, at least your staying female, there are girls that turned into stallions and boys that turned into mares.” Fleur says.

“But…” Jenny starts before getting her head bonked once by Fleur’s horn.

Fleur looks at her sternly, sticking a cellphone in her hands, “Here you go.”

Jenny blinked a few times, holding the cellphone before slowly touching the image, “That’s… me?”

“Yep, Sea Swirl. Unicorn, apparently so woohoo. You get to go to boot camp.” Fleur says with a giggle.

“She’s…” Jenny sits for a long moment looking at the picture.

Fleur blinks, tilting her head, “She’s what?”

“Beautiful…” Jenny says softly.

“Come on, I’m still feeling weak, woozy, and tired, I need to refuel.” Nuzzling and pushing Jenny out the door, “Where’s the closest IHOP?”

Shaking her head vigorously, Jenny blinks, “IHOP? Are you crazy?”

“Crazy nothing, its tradition, unicorns hit the IHOP for energy.” Fleur says, nodding, “You’ll come to understand in a few days.”

“But, but, but…” Jenny protests as she keeps getting pushed by the unicorn towards the rental car.

Looking back, she smiles at the Guardsman, “Thank you for everything, you were a true lifesaver, Ra-Ra.”

Getting into the car, Jenny buckles herself in. Blinking and looking at Fleur, “Wait, did you just call him Ra-ra?”

“Did I?” Fleur asks with feigned innocence, “Find me the nearest IHop.” She says to the cars navigation system.

“Does that mean he’s going to turn…? Jenny blinks looking back at the guardsman who is checking his hip.

“Nope, but after his cure comment, I figured I’d give him something to fret over. You can tell him the truth later.” Fleur says as she starts driving down the street. Pancakes are calling and her stomach can’t wait.

***

“Thanks for coming Moon Shadow.”

Moon Shadow bows her head gently, “Your welcome. I know its hard for some ponies and people to reach out for help like this.”

Ballad lowers her head and sighs, “I don’t know if I’m just dumb, or what, I just can’t remember enough about Equestria, every other pony knows what their special talent, their cutie mark means.”

Eric shakes his head, “You are not dumb, the curse just hit you harder then others, and you haven’t had as much time in familiar situations.”

“He’s likely right about that, most ponies remember what their special talents are because they find themselves doing it again.” Moon Shadow says softly.

“So what’s going to happen?” Ballad asks timidly.

Smiling, Moon Shadow shakes her head, “We are just going to visit your dreams, see if we can find a link back to Equestria and from there see what we can find out about you.”

“Will it… hurt?” Ballad asks, looking at her horn.

“Not in the slightest. Its safe.” Moon Shadow murmurs softly.

“And Eric can come too, to help right?” Ballad says, opening her eyes wide and innocent.

“Yes, Eric can come too.” Moon Shadow laughs, “All we need if for you two to go to sleep and we can start the process.”

***

Helen walks in and sits down on a chair beside Mindy, putting down a bottle of vitamins beside the mare. Propping up her chin with a hand, she looks at the party unicorn. The glow of the computer highlighting her mane and muzzle as the mare turns her head to look back.

“Gee thanks, though I still have over a months supply left.” Mindy says, looking at the bottle, “And yes I’m taking them every day.”

“Twilight Velvet was buying groceries; it looks like she didn’t have enough money to afford them.” Helen huffs, “I don’t like the idea of someone not being able to afford things like this. Any idea what’s going on?”

Mindy blinked, “I hadn’t heard about her having money trouble but she doesn’t talk about it.” Turning, Mindy hums and starts typing on the computer. “Ugh, you don’t make much in the army. Most of it seems to come from benefits and field pay, all of which she loses while on maternity leave.”

“She’s taking care of three foals with no money, and more worried about them than her health. That’s not right.” Hellen huffs again.

Mindy looked up, “She’s a mother.”

“True. But still, we need to get a care package together for her, some way to help without it feeling forced.” Hellen says.

“It’s kind of sad, she spent years in the EUP as a reserve officer, and now she’s doing the same job and can hardly afford to feed all the ponies she’s taken in.” Mindy says, “Lets get a care package together, Gift cards, shopping cards for household goods. But at the same time I want to see if I can figure out how to get her… paid… for all the work she does and has done.” Mindy says.

Mindy’s computer beeps several times, causing Hellen to giggle, “It’s upset with you.”

“Oh just emails, I just got a few messages from my… Oh Celestia…” Mindy blinks reading, following links.

“What’s wrong?” Hellen says, leaning forward, noticing the sudden change in look on Mindy’s face, along with her normally poofy mane flattening out a little bit.

“Lieutenant James Sanders, an officer in the USAF is in critical condition after a plane crash.” Mindy flips links, “He put his plane into a dive to avoid hitting some pegasi and bellied into the runway.” Looking at Helen, “This guy was well known with the ponies, flying what he affectionately called Pony Air Two.”

“Is he going to make it?” Hellen asks, her face showing how worried she is.

“Don’t know, if he does he’s unlikely going to be able to walk let alone fly again, says he’s in full body restraints due to spinal injury. He helped fly hundreds of ponies around the USA and world, for medical treatments, for training, or just to help them get around when conventional airlines would not work.” Mindy blinks, “I spent time with him, he joked around about not getting his mark because he was born to soon.”

“What about the ponies he avoided?” Helen asks.

Mindy shakes her head, “Don’t know, they flew off. No other pegasi were nearby to try and track them down.”

Hellen blinks, “Where did this happen?”

“About… 500 miles from here. I’m going to check with Dr. Ray, see if he can help.” Mindy says.

“I’ll talk with the local pegasi, see if they know anything. I’d hate to think someone here caused that. But first, I’ll throw together a care package for Velvet.” Helen says, standing up and taking the bottle of vitamins.

***

“Don’t forget you have practice with Lyra today at four.” The mare calls out from the kitchen, hearing the hooves clatter down the stairs.

“Moooom…You don’t have to remind me.” The unicorn says as she hits the floor, her horn lit as she runs for the door. In response the door opens for her and her scarf forms a line at neck height in front of the door.

“Did you clean your room?” The mare calls almost with a giggle at the sound of annoyance in the unicorn’s voice.

“Yes mom…” The scarf hits her mid neck, wrapping itself around her, then the door slams behind her. She’s free at last.

It’s a bright sunny day, with only a few clouds in the sky. Light snow had fallen the night before, but the streets are relatively clean. There is only a light chill in the air. Flicking her ear, once she prances down the street, humming to herself.

“Wait up!” Amethyst Star breaks into a full run to catch up to the other unicorn. “What’s got you in such a hurry?”

“The trains coming in!” The unicorn says, laughing and running.

“Oh you just like seeing those big working stallions don’t you.” Amethyst says laughing as she runs beside the other unicorn. “I’m surprised your mom lets you.”

Sticking her tongue out the unicorn laughs, “No silly, the books I ordered are in!”

“Why can’t you just get them from the library?” Amethyst asks.

“Because the library doesn’t have them. I had to special order them.” Laughing, she thumps her body against Amethyst, “Sides, what if I WAS going to look at the stallions?”

“Your mom would have a fit and say you are too young.” Amethyst counters, laughing.

“Oh come on, I’m not much younger than you.” She laughs, “Don’t make me tell your mom on you and your little date.”

“You wouldn’t dare…” Amethyst says, nostrils flaring a bit.

“Nope I wouldn’t.” The unicorn says, sticking her tongue out and flicking her tail as she prances into the station. “Hi, did you get them?”

“Oh hello there, little filly. In for todays order?” The old stallion at the station says, looking down through his glasses.

Puffing out her cheeks she stomps a hoof, “I’m not little, I have my cutie mark, see!” She says as she growls. She turns sideways to show off that mark.

“Yes, I see, it's there as always. But you shouldn’t rush to grow up. You should enjoy your youth while you have it.” Chuckling, he puts three books on the counter. “To many foals these days try and rush to grow up, not realizing what they will lose.”

“I know, I’m sorry sir.” Carefully reaching into her bag, she pulls out some coins and puts them down on the counter. “Here you go.”

“All’s in order just sign here and the books are yours.” The stallion says.

With the glow from her horn and a flourish, she quickly signs her name and runs out, the books are falling into her pack.

“Now where are you off to?” Amethyst says, turning and chasing after the hyper teen.

“To the park! I want to try this.” Laughing, she looks up at the Golden Oak library, “I wish they would get more music books.”

“Why don’t you just ask them to?” Amethyst says, huffing and puffing as she catches up to the teen and runs beside her.

“Wow you are nuts, asking a princess for something so menial?” Slowing to a trot, she looks around the park and smiles.

“True, heck since she came to town I can’t even get an organizer's job.” Amethyst says and sits down on the ground with a huff.

Giggling softly the unicorn climbs up onto the bench, “You don’t think that you were days late completing Winter Wrap-up for three years in a row had anything to do with that?”

“Hey its not my fault, you try telling Rarity to hurry up with anything.” Amethyst grumbles and kicks a rock.

Closing her eyes, the unicorn lights her horn, the magic reaching out and calling her musical instrument to her. It isn’t flashy, it isn’t special, her mom had found it for her used. But it is hers. Most concert lyres were seven string, but this is something special, it is a 23 string solo lyre.

“You still have that old thing? I thought you were going for the concert hall route.” Amethyst says, tilting her head.

“That’s what mom wants, and concert hall is fine for money. But its not me, its not who I am. Consider: As part of an Orchestra, I’m part of a whole, one note in a sea of music. No note is more important than another, but all are needed to bring about harmony. That’s fine and all, but; When I play for my friends or myself, when I play just here, I can bring out the true power of my music. I can make my instrument sing and carry all of my feelings and emotions.” Smiling softly, she looks down at her cutie mark, “I feel like I can live up to my cutie mark, and my name, whenever I play a Ballad.”

***

Humming softly, I add the pasta sauce to the spaghetti, then cover with a little cheese. Smiling, I put a plate in front of each of the foals. “Here you go, dinner time.”

Looking at the bowl, Feather sighs and looks back up at me, “You hate me, don’t you?”

Blinking, I take a step back in shock, “What do you mean?”

“I have YET to figure out how to twirl spaghetti with hooves,” Feather says and giggles, smiling, “Hope you don’t mind slurping.”

“Oh this is going to get messy quick, I can tell. Well, you need a bath anyway.” I smile at the foal.

“Sure thing, mom.” Feather says and gets to work on dinner with the twins.

Hearing a tap at the front door I wash my hooves off, it’s a meaningless gesture, I use my magic for everything, but some how it just feels right. Turning, I trot over and open the door. Strangely, most just walk in, rather than knock, its rare.

“Hello Mrs. I never figured it out, is Twilight your first or last name?” A human woman is standing there, smiling.

“That’s good cuz I haven’t figured out. I actually think it’s the first name which is the family name, like the Apple Family, the Orange family. Meaning you have the Twilight Family and the Rainbow Family.” I say smiling.

“I’m Helen Shaw. Mind if I come in?” she asks politely.

“I remember you, sure thing and feel free to call me Velvet.” I say, moving aside, “I was just putting dinner down for the young ones.”

“Your taking care of three?” Helen says as she sits down on the sofa.

“Well kind of. Candy was a grad student and storm chaser, he never made a lot of money and had student loans. Cloudy worked odd jobs at fairs, seasonal worker, and Feather, well… None of them really had any savings, and their jobs didn’t carry over with the change. Since they are too small to work, and haven’t even found their special talents yet. I’ve sorta adopted them.”

“Some of the stores around here are trying to lure in pony customers. They are trying to build a self sufficient client base and such.” Hellen says, smiling, “Since you’re new here and with a lot of ponies in this house, I’ve gotten together a selection of gift cards and coupons.” Smiling Helen holds out a small basket. “They are all vying for a portion of the pony market around here.”

“Why us?” I say, looking through the basket at the cards, “Oh come on, there must be like 500 dollars worth of stuff in here. Shouldn’t you save this for some pony in need?”

“You mean like the twins? or Feather?” Helen says with a smile, “Since your shopping for them, and likely other ponies here, I figure you’d be able to buy their stuff too.”

“I don’t feel right about this.” I say looking down and sighing.

“Don’t feel right about the stores trying to attract customers? Do you want them to go out of business?” Helen says, feigning shock.

“Not what I meant and you know it.” I say and huff. “I just don’t like the idea of me getting something that should be going to help others.”

“I could have given it direct to the foals but they would be hard pressed to reach the till. The drug stores also got an offer in there, for no name brand vitamins, kids version and adults. I haven’t tried them, but good luck getting foals to take them.” Hellen says with a laugh.

“I don’t know what to say, there’s like a month’s worth of stuff in here.” I say with a sigh.

“Say you’ll support the local shops. And try to settle in a bit.” Helen says as she stands up, “And I have to go, I have to pick some stuff up for my family.”

***

“What am I going to do?”

“Eat banana pancakes.”

“What am I going to tell everyone?”

“That banana pancakes are good… eat banana pancakes.”

“How am I going to survive?”

“On banana pancakes.” Fleur smiled and holds a fork with pancakes dripping in syrup in front of Jenny’s mouth.

“And what is it with you and pancakes?” Jenny says, ignoring the stares of people in the IHOP.

Fleur smiled, “Okay, one of the first things you’re going to learn, before your brains start leaking out of your ears, is that magic takes energy, lots of energy. Now, since us unicorns are veggivores. Ok, so we can have eggs, cheese and milk, we are still veggievores.”

“So, its high protein foods? High sugar foods? Well that explains all the cake and cupcakes in the show.” Jenny says and huffs. A second later she puts her hands up as stars and sparkles fill her eyes. The camera flash had gone of close enough to blind her a moment.

“Is she yours? How did you stick the horn on her?”

Shaking her head vigorously she covers her eyes, “Who… what? No she’s not mine.” Jenny fights to get her sight back, seeing some tourists looking at Fleur.

“Does she do tricks?” One asks.

Fleur looks innocently at Jenny and then whinnies once, followed by a light snort.

“Oh don’t give me that missy.” Jenny says and just starts laughing. “If you were trying to hide, you won’t be in an IHOP.”

Tilting her head, Fleur lets out a cute and innocent squeak, tilting her head, her ears perking.

“Fine…” Huffing, Jenny bites into her pancakes and blinks “These are good.”

With a nicker that almost sounds like a laugh, Fleur looks at her smugly.

***

Hill Air Force base is not equipped for trauma or burn cases. The medics did what they could, to stabilize the Lieutenant, but their first choice is medivac. With Nellis Air Force base being the best choice it takes less than an hour before Lieutenant Sanders is in surgery.

He ends up being in surgery for nearly fourteen hours, though with high percentage of burns on his body, the doctors are not hopeful. His Baux score, a method doctors use to judge the chance of survival of burn patients, show he does not have the best percentage of living through the treatments. Though the world is changing, so they are taking a chance and hoping.

Hoping for a miracle. Stranger things have happened in this day and age. Dragons, unicorns, pegasi, talking horses, magic in the world. So the doctors work for hours to keep him stable and alive.

“This is the place.” Mindy says as she trots up the stairs and looks around. “This is a fair sized hospital.”

“Slow down a bit Mindy, I don’t want you charging in there, hitting waxed floors and taking out half a ward or something.” Dr. Ray says sternly, “I’m not even sure Lightning Electric could afford that kind of repair bill.”

Mindy huff and stomps a hoof, waiting on the doctor. Even through he is a pony he isn’t one for charging around, he prefers to walk at a steady pace. “Argh, fine, I’ll check with reception to find out where he is.”

Turning, Mindy trots inside. While only a fifty bed hospital, it’s very modern. The lobby is wide and well lit with high windows. Though the smell of cleaning fluids and alcohol is the first thing to hit Mindy’s nose. It’s understandable to want to keep the place clean, but Mindy has to wonder, could a pony get drunk off the fumes?

Trotting up to the desk she smiled, “Hi I’m…”

“Second floor waiting room, take elevator at the end of the hall, then hang a left.” The nurse says, turning a page in her book.

“But you didn’t ask…” Mindy blinks, annoyed.

“You’re a pony, second floor waiting room. Have a nice day.”

Looking to her side at Doctor Ray she huffs, “You try. She’s not even letting me talk.”

Putting her book down, the nurse smiles brightly at Dr. Ray, “You’re a unicorn too right?”

“Umm yes, I’m Dr. Ray S…”

“If you’d be so kind, the second floor waiting room, please take the elevator down the hall then hang a left.” The nurse says, smiling.

Mindy blinks and looks at Ray, then at the nurse.

The nurse smiles and points to the elevator.

“And… hang a left on the second floor?” Dr. Ray says slowly.

The nurse nods and smiles, “And have a nice day.”

Walking over to the elevator, Dr. Ray looks back at Mindy, who has her cheeks puffed out in frustration. “Are you coming?”

Walking to the elevator, she doesn’t take her eyes off the nurse until the elevator doors closed.

“What are we doing?” Mindy says, looking at Ray.

“Going to the second floor and hanging a left. We are ponies remember?” Dr. Ray says softly, nuzzling Mindy.

Mindy turns to face him, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means…” The elevator stopped on the second floor with the doors opening. “She’s sending all ponies there.” Ray says, blinking, as he looks at the waiting room.

Stepping out of the elevator, Mindy looks at the waiting room. It had large windows that go nearly to the ceiling, and its white floors and light colors makes the entire room seem bright. Several real plants are in there to cover the scent of the alcohol and cleaning solutions.

On top of the peach colored chairs, white pillows had been set down on the floor. Small “nests” of pillows had been arranged in pockets around the waiting room, with some blankets brought out to help. All of this only serve to amplify the colors of pastel ponies that have been gathered here.

A pair of foals lay asleep on a pile of pillows with a blanket over them. Three pegasi in 520th uniforms lay leaning against each other. An earth pony sits with his tail twitching as he reads a magazine. A pair of unicorns sit in chairs, looking depressed. Three more earth ponies sit looking at the TV which is tuned to the weather channel. An unicorn stallion lay with his head over a unicorn foal.

A nurse at the waiting room desk looks up, “Are you here for Lt Sanders?”

84: The magic of the Heart

“Focus, concentration, control.” I say as I lay on my back, relaxing.

“I swear; this is the way to Jedi.” Sea Swirl says as she stands still, her horn and hooves glowing.

“If my daughter can do it, you can do it.” I say with a laugh.

“Your daughter is the freakin’ princess of magic,” Sea Swirl says, then she eeps and sinks down to her belly in the water.

Giggling, I shake my head, “Yeah, but she wasn’t when Zecora trained her in the ways of the Jedi.”

“Very funny.” Sea Swirl says, lighting her horn and stepping up onto the water again.

“Hey at least I’m not riding on your back or having you float globes of water… Yet.” I say, looking upside down at her.

“What makes you think I can do any of this stuff?” Sea Swirl says with a huff, spreading her legs and holding her position on top of the water.

“Cuz you are Sea Swirl. Your love is the water. The ocean, primarily, but we can work with this fountain.” I say, smiling. “Trust me, you are much stronger than you think you are, you just need practice, and focus.”

“I still say this all sounds way too Jedi.” Sea Swirl huffs and walks off the fountain.

“I know but we’ve been human so long, we need something we can equate things to. If I talked about the flow of mana and the theory of foci, I’d have to spend months, or even years, just teaching the terms and way magic works.” I say and stand up, “I’m cheating here, using terms and concepts we sort of understand or at least recognize as humans.”

Sea Swirl stops in her tracks to look at me.

Holding up a book, I show her the magical scripts inside, “The spell formulae explains the ways to manipulate the energy fields in and around an object. It explains the procedures you need to think, how you need to manipulate the fields.”

Sea Swirl goes cross-eyed looking at the page. “Umm, please, stick with Jedi.”

“I know it may sound counterproductive, but doing it this way lets you learn quicker and easier. It’s due to the common frame of reference we have. I do teach the higher end stuff later on, but for starters, to get you building your reserves, this works a lot better. And since not every unicorn needs to, or even wants to, learn more than basic telekinesis and maybe one or two simple spells. I don’t need to overwhelm them.” I say then smile.

“In other words…” Sea Swirl smiles.

“In other words, I’m teaching like I would little foals. Sorry.” I realize what I just said, I flatten my ears as it dawns on me.

“Don’t be, I think it works great, I’m just being a grump cuz my blood sugar is low.”

“Pancakes?” I say looking at her, perking my ears forward a bit.

“Pancakes.” She says nodding.

***

“Ugh, I hate this.” Fleetfoot whines as she stretches out on the bed.

“Cravings again?” James asks and sits down, rubbing his fingers through her mane.

Looking up she nods, “First I feel sick, then I want something stupid.”

“What this time?”

“Peanut butter and banana sandwich with sardines.” She says, stretching out and relaxing a bit from his gentle ministrations.

“Um, not for me, salt, potassium and protein, huh?” James gets up and walks into the kitchen. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, seriously how come Velvet doesn’t get cravings like this?” Fleetfoot moans and rolls onto her side with a huff.

“Actually she does, but hers tend more towards the vegetarian. Though she has wanted heavy salted bananas for example. Or peanut butter ice-cream with pickles.” Chuckling softly, James works in the kitchen thumping the knife against the chopping board.

“Yeah, yeah, and pegasi, eat fish and eggs and stuff.” Fleetfoot huffs.

“Actually all ponies can eat eggs, even Henry can still eat eggs. Which is good, because eggs are used in making things like pancakes, cupcakes and cakes. Same with milk. I always wonder just how content the cows are in Equestria.” James says, trying to keep a straight face and feign innocence.

Fleetfoot shoots her head up, looking at the kitchen, “Pervert!”

“What? Cows are sentient in the cartoon, talk, and even go into stores. They probably sell their milk. Which sort of leads to the next question, I wonder if any ponies sell their milk.” James walks back in and sets the sandwich down in front of her.

“Yuck, yuck, yuck! No! That’s just wrong.” Fleetfoot protests. She looks at the sandwich, she gulps a bit from the extra salivation.

“Peanut butter, banana and salted bacon. Didn’t have any sardines, but this should do the same for the cravings. While you may say yuck, think about the foods you eat, alfalfa, grass, dandelions. Who knows what’s normal in pony culture.” James says, leaning over and massaging her neck and sides.

The moans let James know he has the right spots on the mare. Leaning down, he gives her ear a gentle kiss as he works her muscles. She takes a few bites of the sandwich, which increases her pleasurable moaning.

“Thanks James. This is so wonderful, and you’re right, the sandwich is good.”

“Elvis special. No idea why, but Elvis liked them.” James says with a smile.

“I wonder what happened to him.” Fleetfoot says.

James blinks and looks down, “Elvis? He died.”

“Really? I thought he faked his death and moved to Equestria. He died just a month before the gate opening. Giving him just enough time to get there. And then there’s Sapphire Shores, all her outfits are Elvis style, and of course her manager is an old pony that goes by the name E. Om nom nom.” Fleetfoot gets to fully work on the sandwich.

“Oh come on, that’s not…” James huffs.

“Nope, but had you going for a moment.” Fleetfoot giggles.

James gets up and grumbles, heading towards the bathroom. “Mares.”

*** Sanders ***

Pegasus eyesight is amazing. Even at a thousand feet, she can pick out details and see things better than she ever could as a human. Pegasi seem to be able to process visual information much quicker than humans. She is finding she doesn’t even have to think about it much, her eyes automatically scan the ground as well as the air space around her. Though that might be her own flight training there.

Slowly rocking her wings, she flies over the houses. She had chosen to go southwest mostly to avoid the airports. She wants to keep out of airplanes’ ways, as well as keep at VFR altitudes. Here, she only has to worry about helicopters, and they are a lot easier to avoid.

Looking down she notices the golf courses. Lots of golf courses. Seems like Vegas loves its courses. She could see seven of them stretching over several miles. Just between Sun City and Spring Valley she turns more northwest.

There aren’t any big apartment buildings here, no skyscrapers. Just houses, houses, and more houses. As she leaves the city behind her, she turns north over the hills, she figures she’d loop back and follow the highway back to town.

Looking down at the estates, her eyes catch something out of the ordinary. Several of the estates have horse pens and stables. A few have riding tracks. Though not many horses are left outside at this time of day, in this kind of heat. So a small miniature horse tied up in the middle of a breaking circle or lunging circle just seems out of place to her eyes.

Winging over for a better look, Sanders sees the estate. It’s fairly large, with more grass than others, meaning the owner has more money to spend on water. It has a high security fence to prevent people from seeing inside, well people who can’t fly, that is. Security cameras watched inside and outside of the estate. There are three houses on the property as well as a large garage, swimming pool, and smaller storage buildings.

Looking around, Sanders decides she doesn’t want to be seen by this person. Likely a place like this it would be shoot first and claim home invasion. Landing just inside the fence, Sanders grabs a tarp and covers it with dust and dirt so it matches the ground before covering herself. Slowly, she moves up, noting where the cameras are. Slowly but surely she makes it up to the pen to see the other pony.

She’s a foal about the same size as Scootaloo, dull gray with yellow blond mane and tail much like Derpy’s. Her wings are bound tight to her side with leather straps, but she can’t really fly away anyway. She is muzzled with a halter that is secured to the post with a chain and locked at both ends. A second chain is wrapped around her neck and locked as well, so she has really zero chance of escape.

Her chain is only about nine feet long, and the bucket for drinking water was carefully placed about twelve feet away from the post. Meaning the little thing could see the water, but not reach it. There is no grass in the breaking circle, nothing to eat. And with water just out of reach under the hot Nevada sun, the little one doesn’t have many options.

The little pegasus stands with her head low, singing softly as she cries. Her tears falling to form muddy spots on the ground below her muzzle. Trembling softly, she lets the words drift, filled with anguish. “Come on everypony smile, smile, smile.”

Looking around, Sanders keeps her distance from the pen, but speaks loud enough to be heard, “Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine.”

The foal flinches and looks up towards her, “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”

“Wow, that’s exactly what I was just going to say to you.” Sanders says softly, mindful of where they are, “Now let’s see if we can get you out of there.”

“Unless you can pick locks, I’m screwed. Just leave me and save yourself. I have no where else to go anyway.” The pegasus says and looks down again, crying.

“Just stay here, and stay quiet.” Sanders says. She turns and slowly sneaks back towards one of the smaller supply sheds.

Watching the cameras, Sanders times her movements again. Slowly but surely, she makes her way back to the fence. She could fly from building to building, security cameras don’t usually look up. But a pegasus flitting from building to building might attract attention.

Poking her head into the stables, she sees several foals and adults. There are horse blankets, as well as rain blankets for the foals and adults. It would help, but it’s not what she needs. The next building is a small garage. Car parts, some cutting torches, partly covered by a tarp is a Shelby Cobra.

Raising an eyebrow, Sanders shakes her head. This guy has money, big money.

Moving out quietly she finds the farm supply shed, this is what she is looking for. Tools like hammers, hedge trimmers, fence repair equipment and bolt cutters. The bolt cutters she could use, far easier with her wings and hooves to manipulate than a cutting torch or grinding disk.

It took her a few tries, but she manages to tuck the cutters under her wings and against her body. Slipping back out she sees a pair of men walking in the back. Things are going to easily for her. Of course they are, it’s a curse after all.

Slipping along the fence line she ducks back into the stables. Once inside she smiles, “Distraction time.”

Pulling off the tarp she’s wearing, Sanders walks over and picks up one of the rain blankets for the foals. Pulling it over her back she giggles, it’s a little long on her, meant for a taller foal. It doesn’t matter though, it will work for what she needs. Tucking the bolt cutters under her wing once again, she goes over and starts opening the stall and pen doors.

With a few quick pushes, she has the foals bounding out into the field, followed behind by the adults. The parents trying to keep the foals from running away. Walking out herself, she stays close to one of the older horses. The distraction works well as the guys shout and start running to close doors to keep the horses contained.

Keeping a horse mare between her and the guards she moves up to the lunging circle. “Okay, we are going to have to work fast.”

“Why are you doing this?” The foal says, “I’m not worth it.”

“Oh hush, every foal is worth it.” Sanders says, “Now we need to work together.”

Slipping between the bars that make up the lunging circle, she moves up to the chain. Dropping the bolt cutters with her wing, she quickly moves them between her forelegs. With the bulk of the cutters hidden by her rain cloak and legs, she’s able to work without drawing major attention.

“Act natural.” Sanders says as she positions the bolt cutters.

“How am I supposed to do that?” The foal whimpers.

“I don’t know, stand casual.” Sanders says, then she giggles, “Or should that be fly casual.”

The foal can’t help but smile at that, she does her best to stand still and ignore the goings on around her. Looking around or moving around would make it harder to cut the chains, let alone risk attracting the guards.

“Give me some slack on the chain.” Sanders says and uses her body weight to press down on the cutters. It takes almost all her weight, but after a few lunges she is rewarded by a snip.

“Hey! The pen!” One of the men calls.

Looking over, both men start running for the lunging circle.

It isn’t pretty but Sanders has the chains cut. Spreading her wings wide she leaps and grabs the foal. Wrapping both her forelegs around the little one. It isn’t the safest way to fly but she jumps into the air, the rain cloak tumbling behind her revealing her cutie mark glowing brightly as she soars into the air. She holds the foal tight against her chest and belly as she flees the compound.

“Its okay little one, I won’t drop you.” Sanders said as she makes it away from the estate, “And thank you for flying Pony Air.”

***

“Back up.” Strepe smiled, checking the screen.

“Will it be able to focus properly?” Nightshade asks, confused.

“Oh come on, it’s from a drone, it shouldn’t have a problem.” Strepe says, laughing, “You’ll have to back up a lot more than that.”

“How much cable do you have?” Nightshade muses.

“Oh, sixty meters or so, but I think maybe about forty-five meters should do it.” Looking at the screen he chuckles, “A little more and… stop.”

The other zebra plants and braces the camera pod. It takes a few moments for the camera to align everything, but in only those few moments it is perfect.

“Got it.” Strepe says as he makes a mark on the ground, then he sets up the speakers, microphone and laptop a good forty-five meters from the camera.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Kara asks, tilting her head to one side.

“Oh most definitely. If we tried to use the camera on the laptop, all they would see at best would be your eye… if that. Or maybe a claw. Depending on where it’s pointing. By putting the camera this far back, we can get a clean picture of all of you.” Strepe says, looking up at the dragon.

“Well start this up.” Kara says, looking down at the zebra colt.

Picking up a stick with his mouth the little zebra started typing on the keyboard. It took a bit but eventually Skype kicks in. The laptop is pre-programed for with the correct channels, so there isn’t any searching or questions to deal with.

Looking at the satellite dish Kara taps a claw, “What if they don’t like me?”

“Almost done, and don’t be silly. They sent this equipment just to make these calls. We just had to make a few… changes.” Strepe says and smiles as the screen flickers. A few moments later there’s a musical chime from the computer as it tries to connect.

“Hello, I am translator 3514, Susanne Vladimirovna Ivanova.” The translator voice comes across clear and crisp. A moment later she repeats the phrase in Russian.

The screen flickers and Kira blinks, then giggles, seeing a dragon wyrmling on the screen. Giggling is a strange sound to hear from such a huge creature.

“I am Kara, of the Smokey Mountains, Death Bringer and Flame of the Scorched Earth.” Kara starts, then she blinks all of a sudden. Feeling self conscious of her dragon titles.

Chuckling softly, the cub puffs up his chest in response, “Spike of Ponyville, Dragon Lord, Savior of the Crystal Empire.”

“Well at lest your titles don’t make you sound like the spawn of Hades.” Kara says, smiling.

“Where you really a Death Bringer?” Spike asks, tilting his head.

“Sort of, and no its not like in Twilight. I got banished for protecting ponies from Discord.” Kara sad laying her head down. “And here I am, protecting ponies again.”

“Twilight…” Spike said looking down.

“Pardon?” Kara’s voice is gentle even given her size, tilting her head she watches the cub.

“Oh I saw her, I visited the US before the gate opened. She… Didn’t need me anymore. She didn’t even really talk to me. The only one who had any words was Pinkie. And hers was, wow, your bigger then I thought.” Sighing Spike picks up and hugs a pillow. “Then she went off to fight for Equestria and didn’t even want to tell me she was going.”

“Ouch. Well if you ever need a friend. I’m here. Us firebreathing tank eaters gotta stick together.”

“Tank eaters?” Spike chuckles at the thought.

“Yeah, those T-72’s and T-90’s taste great. Not like the M1’s. I swear the US put to many additives in their tanks, to may artificial flavors and colors. Silicon carbide, seriously? Blech, all filler and no nutrition.” Kara says, smiling trying to cheer the cub up.

“Ok why am I having visions of you holding a tank gun barrel and eating a turret like a lollypop?” Spike asks. “That’s just wrong in so many ways.”

“So have you talked to many others?” Kara asks, “I don’t know if other dragons were cursed… though I really wish Reginald was. That guy was a jerk.”

“Yes and no, there are communities popping up around the world right now, one in England, one or two in the USA to act as an internment camp to hold them till the next gate opening. There’s a gated community near where we are, we seem to have gotten mostly Griffins. Though there are still a few ponies here.”

“Griffins?” Kara blinked, “Thestrals and zebras’ here.”

“And four ponies!” Strepe calls out.

“Yep, and four ponies.” Kara says with a laugh. “Earth ponies can farm like nothing else.”

Looking side to side, Spike leans forward and speaks softly, “Unicorn magic comes out the front, earth pony magic comes out the rear.”

“Oh Spike… that’s just…” Kara starts laughing, “So any news on the princesses?”

Sighing Spike shakes his head looking down, “Tia went home with Twilight, Luna’s still around here I think, though I haven’t heard from her. I brought Cadence back home with me, she’s had things really rough. She’s getting counseling right now. I stop by and see her every other day.”

“Yeah, around here the ponies have accepted me. Taken me in. Rebels occasionally make runs against us but the governments seem to have given up other than the occasional drone.” Kara says, looking up.

“Well if you need anything else we can probably get it sent down to you.” Spike says, smiling, “So how do you deal with the drones?”

Narrowing her eyes a little Kara smiles, “Usually? I just give them the claw.” Looking up she made a rather rude gesture towards the circling drone with her claw.

“Well, I have work to do, call me again in a few days.’ Spike said, “If you want.”

“I will, Spike. I will.” Kara sighs happily. For the first time things seem to be going her way.

***

The Deputy Director paces back and forth, looking at the pictures on the big screen TV.

“It’s an IFast VSat system.” The analyst said, “Probably bouncing off NSS-12.”

“Can we hack it?” The Deputy Director asks.

“I can check with the NSA. See if we can break in and observe. At the minimum we can at least track who they are talking with.” The analyst says.

“The Russian government is supplying them with satellite communication systems and computers, I think its obvious who they are talking to.” The Deputy Director says firmly, “We just need to find out about what.”

Chuckling softly the analyst looks at the screen. “Looks like she’s trying to improve public relations it seems.”

Narrowing his eyes, the director snarls. “Did she just give me….”

***

“My dad… My father… He reported me as missing to the police. I went to him for help when I started changing and… He used me to pay off his gambling debts. He sold me to the casino owner.” The little pegasus says, whimpering.

“You’re safe now. I have lots of friends that can help you out.” Sanders says, “Not to mention the fact that this is a United States Air Force base.”

Putting her wing over the foal, Sanders giggles, “I have to get into the hospital, before the nurse kills me for being out so long.”

“Hospital?”

“Yep, I was in a plane crash, I’m still recovering. We can get you some food and drink at the hospital.” Sanders says, smiling, “If you trust a blank flank like me.”

“But… you’re not a blank flank.” The little pegasus says, tilting her head.

Blinking she looks back at her hip. Squealing she started running in circles trying to get a better look and the three ball masks, with handles. Blue, pink, and blue stacked above each other.

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Sanders says and picks the foal up, tossing her on her back as she charges inside. “I’m USDA APPROVED!”

Running right past the nurse she runs into her room, jumping up on the cloud and laying down. Quickly she grabs the phone and picks up a pencil to dial. Holding the phone between her forelegs.

“There’s a cloud… in your room.” The pegasus says.

“Uh huh.” Sanders says, and puts her wing over the foal protectively.

“There’s a cloud… in your room, and we’re laying on it.” The foal says flatly.

“Uh Huh. Mindy, Mindy! It came! It came! Wow does that ever sound bad.” Sanders says.

“What came? Who is this?” Mindy asks, sounding confused.

“Its Sanders, my butt stamp, it appeared! After I rescued a foal.” Sanders says, and nuzzles the foal.

“Wait what? Rescued a foal? And what’s your mark?” Mindy says as she looks at Dust half in shock.

“Hang on a sec, I need to take a selfie…. Of my BUTT!” Sanders sighs, “My cellphones probably dead, they aren’t really made to survive a plane crash and burning. Darn it.”

“Wait are you saying you got a cutie mark?” Mindy says and grabs Dust.

Giggling Sanders smiled, “My flank… is no longer blank.”

“I’ll be right there.” Mindy says dragging Dust.

“Better hurry, I don’t have that…” Sanders blinks as Mindy and Dust appears in the room.

“Oh is that the little one you rescued?” Mindy says, perking.

“Ok you are quick, yep this is her… You know, in all the excitement I never got your name.” Sanders says hugging the little one with a wing. “Mindy can you help get the halter, chains, and stuff off, I can’t do it with my hooves.”

Blinking, Mindy eeps and lights her horn, removing the restraints. “Who would do… never mind.”

“Thank you, I’m Sasha Winsor.” She says, looking down at the unicorn from her perch on the cloud with Sanders.

“Lets check the files.” Mindy says giggling and she quickly pulls out her large scale phone, commonly called a phablet.

Dust sits down, twitching a wing and watching Sanders with the foal. Something is dancing in the back of her mind but she can’t catch it. It keeps eluding her. And it is most certainly bothering her.

“The fans named her Chirpy.” Mindy says, looking up from her phablet.

“Chirpy?” Both the foal and Sanders said at the same time looking at each other.

“Yep, and in general they seem to have had a great track record. Though how many of the fans were actually ponies and subconsciously remembering… that’s something else.” Mindy said then looked at Dust. “Ok dear, spill it. You look like a long tailed cat in a room full ah rockin’ chairs.”

“I’m trying to remember something. It keeps coming to mind and I can’t put my hoof on it. Its something Dash and I talked about, I think.” Dust thumps her head with a forehoof, “Damnit… and I know its important too. Damn it, damn it, damn it.”

“Dust, calm down, relax, it will come sooner or later. Don’t force it. At worst, you can ask Moon for help.” Mindy smiles and strokes Dust’s mane with a forehoof.

With her wings free, Chirpy stretches out and takes out a pink scarf that had been hidden under her wing. Looking at it she looks at Sanders she holds the ribbon to her, “Here.”

“What’s this?”

“A scarf I had, I don’t know why I kept it. But I want you to have it. For saving me.” Chirpy smiles

Blinking Sanders looks at it and winks, “Sure little one. Mindy, could you put this on me as a tail bow?”

“A tail bow? Seriously?” Mindy blinks.

Nodding Sanders smiles, “Sure why not?”

Laughing softly Mindy puts on the ribbon, tying it in a large bow. “How’s that?”

Turning slowly Sanders looks over her shoulder and wiggles her tail. “Oh perfect.” Looking down at Chirpy, Sanders smiles and hugs her tightly, “I’ll keep it forever.”

“So what’s going to happen to me?” Chirpy asks.

Sanders let out a sigh, “Well I’m going to be in the hospital a few days, even after I turn back, I figure I’m still going to have down time to make sure I’m okay.”

“Well for now Chirpy, you can come with us.” Mindy said. “We can arrange something for you and find you some pony parents to help out.”

“Oh well, by the time I wake up tomorrow this will all be gone.” Sanders says. “Thank you, though.” She looks down, then back up at Dust and Mindy, “This was the greatest gift ever.”

Chirpy blinks, “Gone?”

“Yep, I’m actually a human, Mindy turned me into kind of a pony for three days to heal.” Looking down, Sanders keeps her wing over Chirpy and gently licked her ear before nuzzling her.

Chirpy blinks and snuggles in tighter, “Aww. I think you make a great pegasus.”

“Yep but some things aren’t meant to be. Trust me, if it were up to me, I’d stay a featherbrain.” Spreading her other wing wide she giggles, “Trust me having wings is so natural.”

“So what am I going to do?” Chirpy asks sadly.

“Mindy here is a good pony. She’ll help you lots. And Dust here is the best teacher around, she’ll have you flying like a Wonderbolt in no time. Who do you think taught me?” Sanders says and rubs her cheek softly against Chirpy’s head.

Dust lowers her head blushing a little, then she whimpers in pain.

“You ok Dust?” Mindy asks, worried.

Nodding slowly Dust looked at her, “Yes. My wings just hurt. They want to move but hurt too much to do so.”

Closing his eyes Sanders feels her cheeks get wet. Looking down at Chirpy, her voice cracks as she speaks sadly, “It’s going to be hard going back to being a normal human after this.”

“I’ll miss you.” Chirpy says and gives one final hug before hopping down with Mindy.

Looking at Dust, Mindy sighs, “We need to get you back home to rest.”

With one final look at Sanders, Dust nods, “It’s for the best.”

***

Blaze falls on his back, laughing. “Oh Celestia…that’s too cute.”

Looking up I blink, the three foals sleeping against my belly twitch a little. “Hey, its not my fault, but they did manage to lift a leaf.”

“And now they are too wasted to even make it to their bedroom.” Blaze says and lies down behind me, putting his neck over my back.

“I’ll move them later. Just feels like mommy time right now.” I say looking back over my shoulder to kiss Blaze once.

“Yep, hey did you hear about the pilot? Sanders?”

“Mindy and Co turning him into a pony?” I say as I give Feather a soft nuzzle.

“Nope, the little mare got her cutie mark. Three masks.” Blaze says and licks behind my ear.

“Ouch, that’s going to be hard. Look at what it did to our team. Can be a real stressor when he returns to human. Even his diet gets affected by that.” I say shaking my head.

Looking up at the TV, Blaze nods, “Yep, look at Eric, poor guy can’t eat beef anymore. And his family just loved fresh cow.”

“Or Henry, he can’t even eat fish.” I say, “Lucky unicorns can stomach eggs, milk and cheese, gives us some variety in cooking.”

Tilting my slowly head, I find myself lighting my horn to bring the smartphone over. “Three masks huh? What kind?”

Blaze leans over, looking down, “What do you mean what kind?”

“I’m just curious if cutie marks are standardized or not. For example, several of the rangers marks are actually typical but older marks. While Sweetie Bell’s human sisters mark, Amanda I think she was? Seemed unique, it wasn’t, it’s been seen on several healers in Equestria’s past.”

“Let me guess.” Blaze said.

“Yep, she had the same cutie mark as Radiant Hope. Though hers was for business, Radiant was healing. Kinda funny there. That staff is used in Equestria with two for healing, and was one for healing for the longest time on Earth then for some reason turned to two.” Looking down, “OK theater masks, hockey mask, dance masks.”

Blazes eyes watches as I flip through the pages. “Nope, nope, nope, pony hockey mask, now I’m having a flash of a pony with a machete.”

“Least its not, a Nightmare Moon on Elm Street.” I say, trying to feign innocence.

“Ok that one.” Blaze says, pointing, “no, back up one.”

Looking down I giggle, “Aww that’s cute. Says its seen in early illustrations of Morning Glory, a Breezie, and her companion, Wizzer, a Twinkle eyed Pegasus. Uncommon later on in Equestria.”

“That’s the mark. So it’s a true mark after all, neat.” Blaze chuckles, “I’ll talk to Dust about this later. She needs time to rest and recover.”

Looking down at the foals I giggle, “So do these three, between practicing for the talent show, and me training them, they are so dead to the world.”

Standing up carefully l light my horn, gently cradling all three foals in the air. Heading down the hall I open the door to their room, tucking each one in for the night. “Sleep well my little ponies.”

Author's Note

art as always by Alkarasu

Part 97: The Deep Unforgiving Cold

*** Velvet ***

“Look its just not fair!” I say, thrashing my tail as I load up my saddlebags with things I need.

The LT blinks, looking at me and chuckles, “Okay let me get this straight, you are upset that they are sending us to Somalia?”

Spinning on the spot I stomp my foot, “Yes, sir! Damn right, sir!” Shaking my mane with a huff, I turn around again to get back to work, “I’m removed from active duty for the most part, put in as a trainer an observer, told its because females can’t do this job. Then they send me into an all but active warzone? While I’m pregnant?”

“So…” The LT starts then pauses, seeing Blaze shaking his head no and waving both front legs. Shaking his head, the LT continues, “You don’t want to go? If that’s the case I can…”

“That’s my daughter in law, I don’t care what happened with her and my son… She will always be family.” I say firmly, “There is no way I’m NOT going.”

“So, what the problem?”

“The problem is they can’t make up their minds. MEN.” I say firmly.

“Ok so I should just let it go…” The LT says then chuckle, “Oops, that could end up as a song cue, gotta watch those.”

Blaze chuckles and shakes his head, "Could be worse, what's the first song that comes to mind?"

"ARGH!!!"

"What?" Both Blaze and the LT look over at me

Lighting my horn, I twirl once on the spot singing, "Get it out, Get it out! Get this song out of my head..."

Looking over, the LT sees Blaze cover his face with his wing.

Using my magic, I grab the blankets to form a dress around me, standing up on my hind hooves, forelegs spread wide, "Get it out, get it out, I'll sing anything else instead."

Covering his mouth to hide the laughter, the LT looks on in mock horror.

Using my forelegs and magic I lift the front of the dress to reveal my one leg up to the cutiemark, stomping the ground with that hoof and leg I carry on singing loudly, "I don't care what the lyrics are, let the songs play on..." Turning, I open the bathroom door and start to walk in before sticking my nose up somewhat and looking over my shoulder at the guys, "The music never bothered me anyway."

*** Dust's Farm ***

The Ford Focus is one of the preferred cars for the US Government. While agencies like the FBI have stocks of their own cars and SUVs for daily use, other agencies, government officials, and such might draw from pools, instead. It’s not unheard of for example, for NSA to borrow department of the interior cars.

The humble town of Baker, Montana was a quiet, tight nit community. A small town with old brick buildings and a single main street. Among pickup trucks, suvs, and old dusty cars, the the dark gray Ford Focus seems somewhat out of place. It’s government plates belonging to the Department of Energy. Exiting the car, the gentleman, in his mid-thirties reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. He cups one hand over the lighter as he lights one. Looking down the driveway he shakes his head slowly as he walks to the house.

Walking up to the door he taps a few times. As the door opens he looks down at the young girl, “I’m looking for Lightning Dust.”

Blinking the girl looks back, “Daddy, someone wants you.”

Trotting up to the door the small pegasus looks up, “Yes?”

He gestures with his head, “We need to talk.” He offers the curious pegasus a cigarette as she follows him between the vehicles parked in the driveway and stops, standing before the Focus.

“And, just who are you?” Dust asks as she accepts a light from the man. She drags deeply and blows out a cloud of smoke.

“Names are not important, I’m just a civil servant, you on the other hand, are needed.”

Blinking, Dust looks up, “And why is that?”

“Because one of the princesses have been found,” the man says before taking a long pull from his cigarette, “if that still matters to you.”

Blinking, Dust spreads her wings in shock then takes to the air, zipping around in front of the man and landing. She ends up with her hooves on his chest, her face inches from his. “Who, where!”

“Princess Cadence of the Crystal empire,” The man says firmly, “And we need you to bring her back to the United States.”

“Where is she!” Dust demands, stomping a hoof.

Looking into the distance the man takes a drag from his cigarette, tapping the ashes onto the concrete. “She was abused, drugged, her mind played with by Discord. Her husband left her, and with nothing left she was taken to Russia.”

“She’s in Russia?”

“No, she’s under Russian protection, she’s been taken to Somalia, put in danger by the Russians when terrorists tried to kill her. They are using her to try and build relations with the ponies there, as well as a dragon.” Shaking his head, he looks down at Dust, “There is a marine platoon currently there, but after her being abused, she is unreceptive to reasoning.”

“How did she even leave the country?” Dust says in shock.

“After she had visited with Shining Armor at the farm in Iowa. She was taken to an airport, where a Sukhoi SJ-100 airliner took her out of the country,” the man says simply, “She may not realize but she is in danger. And you’re the only chance to save her, to bring her back.”

Holding out a piece of paper, he offers a printout of a map showing the valley location in Somalia, “According to the show, the guards failed to protect Luna or Celestia. I’d rather not see Cadence suffer more than she has or be failed again.”

Grabbing the paper, Dust runs inside quickly.

Walking back to the car, the man simply pinches out the end of the cigarette, rolling it a bit between his fingers before putting the butt into his jacket pocket. His job is done, now to sit and see what happens next.

*** Hospital ***

“So, Cipher wants you to make how many?” Ballad asks sitting beside Cloudy and stroking her mane.

Nodding Sugarberry shrugged, “Enough for us, and some of the pegasi to try. I haven’t used my magic like that much, but she’s sent me some raw materials.” Holding up her cell phone she taps the screen with a hoof, “She wants me to start growing some crystal panels, transparent aluminum type, for smart phones and screens for her and the pegasi.”

“Well, if you were a crystal shaper in Equestria, that makes sense,” Ballad says, shaking her head.

“The problem is, the sizes. Because its exact sizes, I mean down to the thousandth of an inch. That’s well beyond my skill. I could do huge plates easily then have them cut down but that’s going to require a cutter, a CAD system, and lots of money,” Sugarberry says sighing.

Tilting her head Ballad hums, “How about a mold?”

“Mold?” Sugarberry blinks thinking about it for a moment.

“Yep. Get molds to the exact sizes you need, then grow the crystals into the mold, filling them. Once done, pop the crystal out and grow the next,” Ballad says.

Sugarberry squees and hugs Ballad tightly, “Anypony ever tell you you’re a genius?”

“Umm, it’s called injection molding, its actually a normal factory process, been around for decades.”

“Hey, I’m a ditzy pinkmane, we don’t know factories.” Sugarberry says with a giggle.

“Do you girls need anything?” A nurse asks, walking in quietly before checking the foals’ vitals.

“Nope, we have to step out for a bit, I need to get some parts.” Sugarberry says, “But thanks.”

“We can get the stuff at any arts shop, there’s more then a few of those around here.” Ballad said and turned bounding out the door.

“Wait for me!"

Watching Ballad and Sugarberry as they leave the hospital, the nurse lets out a soft sigh and turns, walking down the hall way. In a strange way she was glad they were gone, it wasn’t that she didn’t like ponies. It was something else, something deeper. That she couldn’t explain.

Singing softly to herself she puts her hand on the window, watching a pegasus trying to teach another how to fly, “All around me are familiar faces.” Turning she drags her hand against the wall as she walks down the hall towards the side entrance, “Worn out places, worn out faces.”

Passing the paramedics staging area she sees several crews checking their equipment and supplies, “Bright and early for their daily races,” the ambulances are part of the local EMS service, with a training exercise going on today, they would be treating simulated casualties, “Going nowhere, going nowhere.”

Stepping outside, she looks at the patients in the park, in wheelchairs or on crutches, out for some fresh air, “Their tears are filling up their glasses. No expression, no expression.”

Pulling up the hood of her sweet shirt, she sighed softly, her voice cracking as she went on singing to herself, “Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow.” Walking down the path beside the building she looks at her feet, “No tomorrow, no tomorrow.”

Passing a window, she stops, putting her hand against it, it is slightly distorted making her reflection look strange, alien. “And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad.” Closing her eyes, she remembers the nightmares, the creature, some kind of demon, its dark green magic seeking to imprison, to turn everyone into his slaves, the lightning bolt, the pain… And the mismatched eyes laughing at her.

“The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had,” Looking back up at her reflection she gulps, “I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take.”

With a soft gulp, she starts to walk again, “When people run in circles it's a very very, mad world.”

Looking up at the room where Cloudy is, all she can think of is the foal suffering, “Children waiting for the day, they feel good,” how many pony foals were out there in need? How many still would change on their birthday, “Happy birthday, happy birthday.”

Lowering her head, she went back to walking down the path beside the hospital. At least Cloudy had help, Candy, Feather, “Made to feel the way that every child should…”

Kneeling down, she wipes her cheek with the back of her hand, “Sit and listen, sit and listen.”

Taking out the manual on `Equestria’ that she had been provided, she looks over the notes she was given, “Went to school and I was very nervous,” ‘ponies often recognize other ponies, even before they change.’ “No one knew me, no one knew me…”

“Hello, teacher, tell me what's my lesson,” closing the book she just sits down, hugging her legs and sighs. “They looked right through me, look right through me.”

Feather wiped tears from her eyes before slowly backing away from the nurse. Turning, she flaps back landing and running the last bit up to Candy.

“Feather? You know they are going to start making rules like, no flying inside the hospital because of you.” Lighting his horn, Candy picks up the next batch of snacks and turns, starting to trot for Cloudy’s room.

“I think we have a CMC emergency,” Feather says, looking over her shoulder as she follows Candy.

“Yours?” Candy asks setting the tray down beside Cloudy as he feeds her one, before taking one for himself.

“No, I know, I suck,” She says, sighing softly and looking at her hip, “Everypony else gets their marks and I’m still a blank flank…”

“Not what I meant Feather, and you know it. So, if its not your emergency.”

“One of the nurses, I think she wants to be a pony, or was hoping to be one, but didn’t get her mark,” Feather says sitting down and sighing.

“Ugh, I swear, there are someponys that don’t deserve to be ponies, and others that do, what’s with that?” Candy huffs.

“Fate,” Cloudy says weakly from the bed, “Turning into a pony isn’t a right, its just who we are.”

“I know, I just think people like Henry deserve it,” Feather says with a heavy sigh.

Cloudy turns her head, “Even if he doesn’t want it?”

“But I think this nurse does,” Feather says, “Maybe we could talk to her?”

“Marks or not, we are still the Earth Chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Its our duty to help find her mark if she has one,” Candy says and holds up a hoof.

Weakly Cloudy stretches out a hoof to touch Candy’s, “For the honor of the marks.”

Sitting up, Feather reaches up and touches her hoof too, “For the truth of the marks.”

“CMC’s are a go!”

***

Great Slave Lake is one of the ten largest lakes in the world. At over 10,500 square miles in area, you could fit the state of Vermont within the lake, and still have room to spare for Rhode Island. To many, this landscape in the summer is a beautiful wilderness, with the largest city on the lake being Yellowknife with a population that doesn’t even break 20,000, and a few small hamlets scattered around the lake that are under 500 people each.

Life here can be hard, some of the villages only being serviced by ice roads. Many people live off grid, in a subsistence life. Some live out on the lake on floating houses, driving across the ice to work, or boating across the lake during breakup.

Unless you’re in the city, phone lines are scarce and cell towers are a thing of legend. Some people have satellite dishes, but to really make use of them you need power. A common problem with off grid living. With heat provided by a mix of wood and propane tanks, not everyone has or can afford generators, and those that do, often use them only for essential services.

Most of the people who live on the lake itself stick close to the cities, they live in houses on barges or on houseboats in tight-knit communities. Though like everywhere there are outliers. People who want or need to live alone. Who live further out on the lake, sometimes up to an hour away from anyone else. Some live like this to feel free, some, are running from things. Some do it for work.

As beautiful as the region is during the summer, during the winter, it looks down right alien. You could stand and look to the horizon and see nothing, no one, just flat endless ice. If you are close to the shore, often you would just she barren wastes of rock, snow and ice. While there are forests, they tend to be sparse and snow coverings have them blend in with everything else.

In a land of brown, white, and grey, a yellow and pink house built on an old coal barge does stand out somewhat. The houseboat served as the home for a local biologist and wildlife expert, on contract with the Canadian government to study wildlife in the area. Small, cozy, the house had a few small solar panels and a windmill to power things like pumps, an emergency radio, some basic lab equipment, and charge the laptop and camera.

Locked in the ice, the house sits on its own forty miles or about sixty-five kilometers south of Yellowknife, its only link being a snowmobile for winter, and small aluminium boat for summer. It sits alone in an alien landscape, hostile to human life, where temperatures regularly drop to -40 in winter. At that temperature, Celsius an Fahrenheit are the same.

She had lived there for nearly two years now. Being alone didn’t bother her much, she never felt right about being around people. Something was just strange about them to her. So, when the job came up for a four-year study on Great Slave Lake, she had jumped at it.

Turning the camera and adjusting it slightly, the little off-white unicorn with blue and purple mane comes into focus. Taking a deep breath, she steps back, sitting down such that she’s totally in frame, "Hi, my name is Cold Front, and as far as I know, I'm the only pony on Earth." Looking around her cabin, she huffs.

"I changed about four days ago on my twenty-fifth birthday, and since then I've been having dreams reminding me of my life in Ponyville. I was cursed and sent here by Discord, the spirit of chaos for standing up to him and protecting some Earth ponies. I had been traveling with a pair of pegasii looking for help from the Crystal Empire. Somehow, I need to either find a way to get rescued, or make my way back to Equestria on my own. Ponies need to be warned of Discord." Standing up, she walks over to the window looking out at the frozen reaches. "Either way, I'll have to do my best to avoid humans and make my way south. Which leaves me only one option."

Turning back to face the camera she smiles and tilts her head, her horn glowing a soft blue, "I'll have to magic the SHIT out of this situation."

*** Somewhere Over Kenya ***

“Well they gave us a ton of MRE-P’s this time,” I say looking the cases.

Masquerade leans back, swinging in the hammock she had rigged between the exposed frame members of the cargo plane, “Oh we don’t normally carry this much food, but I told them, we had a pregnant mare and she eats a lot.”

The slice of apple hit the side of Masquerade’s muzzle with a soft splat, causing her to flinch while I pick up another apple slice and eat it calmly.

“Pony Air does not support or sponsor flying food around the inside of the aircraft. All food products must be firmly secured, preferably inside my stomach before flight,” Using her hoof she gently pushes the piece of apple to her mouth before eating it. “Remember a safe flight is a happy flight.”

Blaze groans softly, putting his hoof over his muzzle, “Mares sometimes.”

“Chauvinist,” I say playfully.

“Stallions,” Masquerade says with a faux huff.

“What would you do without us,” Blaze says and sticks his tongue out.

Holding a hoof up above herself and waving it slowly, Masquerade lets out a soft hum, “Invest in good vibrators?”

“Masquerade!” I squawk in surprise, “That’s not a polite topic.”

Clearing his throat, Blaze looks around, “New topic, so umm, how are you adapting to being a pony?”

“It’s normal, natural. And at the same time, its weird. In a way I know I’m Masquerade, much like you know you’re Blaze. I know I wasn’t cursed like you, but…I’m in both the comics and older versions of the show. Its an enigma, and the fact that there were older versions of the show…” Rolling onto her side Masquerade looks over, “If the show was based on memories of people after they were cursed… then how did the older shows come about?”

I sit up opening my mouth then blink, “I know, Starswirl visited earth several times through history, but that doesn’t even come close to explaining older generations or iterations of the show. They still had cutie marks, they still had things like Tirek.”

“And then there’s my dreams. I remember actually being a pony, I remember being attacked by changelings, I remember… Discord,” Puffing her feathers Masquerade shivers and sticks her tongue out.

“Why would Discord curse others though, before us?” Blaze asks and shakes his head, “Dry runs? Testing? And then you didn’t change or get your mark right away, but it came back as you… you remembered yourself.”

“Which is totally reversed from you guys,” Masquerade lets out a soft sigh, “I know. More is going on here than we know. Even though Discord is gone, we are still pawns in his game somehow.”

The lights shift from white to red in the cargo bay as the LT comes out of the front section, “We are approaching the border, there’s cloud cover from eight thousand straight to fourteen thousand. The captain says he’s going to climb over the clouds and release us there. Are you sure about this Masquerade?”

Nodding, Masquerade stands up and trots over to the air cart, “Sure thing. Just make sure to strap yourselves into the chariot, I don’t want to have to do mid air catches again.”

“Again!” Henry squeaks, “Should we be wearing parachutes for this?”

“We are minimizing the weight as is. You won’t fit with a parachute.” Masquerade says as she moves over and starts strapping herself into the wagon.

It was a two wheeled cargo wagon, able to be pulled by a single pony. Wooden wheels, wooden frame, but with an aluminum bar around the top with holes on it. Stepping up, the LT attaches a pair of carabiners to the bar. Stepping up beside I hook myself up and look back at Henry, “You’re up.”

Hooking himself up Henry grumbles and looks back at the cases of rations on the cart, “Are you sure you can fly with all this weight?”

“Well, yes and no,” Looking back, Masquerade smiles cutely, “I’ll be able to hold altitude generally, lose altitude easily, but climbing is out of the question until we shed weight.”

“LT, I’m liking this less and less,” Henry says looking at me then the LT.

“Once airborne, Pony Air will begin to descend down below cloud cover, until then each individual will be provided an oxygen mask, oxygen bottles are sold separately, however and there is a deposit. These bottles will provide you with about fifteen minutes of air if you don’t panic, if you do panic, well, you might get less then that, so try and breath slow, at least until we get down below 10,000 feet. If you feel like you have to throw up, please remove the mask first as they are hard to clean and do need to be returned. Once the mask is removed, empty your stomach either over the side or rear of the wagon. Puking into the air stream isn’t advised.”

Watching as the door opens Masquerade raises her voice, “As we don’t have seats available this will be a standing flight only. In the case of emergency landings, the exits are anywhere that doesn’t have wood. In case of a water landing, please remember to cut the pegasus at the front of the cart free, unless of course you’re knocked unconscious.”

Blaze trots up beside her and nods as we break through the clouds, the light shifts from red to green.

“Thank you for flying Pony Air and hold on tight!” With that, the cart is pulled out into the airstream and begins to drop and turn, as Masquerade re-orientates into the air stream. “And away we go!”

***

Dust had crossed into Somali air space cruising along at about fourteen thousand feet. She had been flying above the clouds for almost an hour now, only stopping to rest and get something to eat. Her saddle bags are tied tight to her, the only problem with really fast flight with saddle bags isn’t the drag, it’s actually ripping the bags off or having the contents pulled out of the bag in flight.

Checking the GPS strapped to her foreleg, she sees she is getting close to the valley. This is not the safest parts of the world to begin with as Irony had told her during her flight. Few airlines fly in and out of the country, slave trade, illegal weapons trade, piracy is still common and big business here. So, it is one very few pony’s choices of destinations to travel.

Looking around, all Dust can see is a sea of clouds that stretches on to the edges of the horizon. She doesn’t want to drop through blind, but she might have to. She begins to zig zag a bit, she sees an opening. It’s not a big one, but its there. With a smile she turns towards it, she’ll get her bearings and be able to be at the village shortly, she thinks.

Looking down below her she see’s the faint outline of her shadow moving up and down over the clouds, a dark spot zipping along. Behind it, a second shadow is slowly growing in size. About the size of a large cargo plane the shadow quickly dwarfs her own. Tilting her head, she blinks, looking at the form then she gulps.

The large white dragon with in breathing distance of her, its powerful wings creating vortices in the clouds below it. Its teeth are the size of ponies. Its eyes are fixed on Dust.

Gulping again Dust slowly looks up and forward. Closing her eyes for a moment she takes a deep breath. “Oh Sweet Celestia Christ.”

Making a sharp turn into a dive Dust pumps her wings hard, using a mix of gravity and power to gain speed, she shoots into the cloud gap. She is a speedster, “The fire breath couldn’t catch me if she was going fast enough, right?” She murmurs to herself. “Its not like the flames come out at supersonic speed.”

Glancing back the hole in the clouds is filled with the body of a dragon in a dive. “I can outrun it, but to where?”

Looking around she sees the valley with the mountain beside it. Maybe she could swing around the outside of the mountain. Then come in low into the valley. “Keep my speed up, get out of sight, then change course. Should work, dragons are supposed to be pretty dumb after all. I’ll lose this thing and be safe in the valley in one maneuver.”

*** Off the Coast of Russia ***

“He’s been struggling in his sleep, fighting his restraints somewhat,” The doctor says softly, “moaning mumbling, we’ve kept him gagged and monitored his airways, but it seems he’s having dreams or nightmares.”

“Is he safe to wake up?” The captain asks, watching Ensign Peterson twitching.

“He should be,” the doctor says and walks over, giving the ensign a shake.

Shaking his head a few times, Edward starts, looking around frantically, struggling a bit at the restraints.

“Ensign, you’re safe, you’re on Earth, remember?” The doctor speaks quietly but reassuringly, before removing the gag.

“Ugh, every time I go to sleep I’m back in Equestria. I was trying to get back to a unicorn. Cold Front, I think her name was, when Discord caught me.” Shaking his head, he looks at the Captain, then the doctor, “What?”

“Have you remembered your name yet?” The doctor asks, glancing back to the Captain.

Sighing, Ed shakes his head a bit, “Yes and no, I remember other ponies, faces, smells, voices. I remember being super close to someone, a wing… pony? Sky Stinger. That’s got to be it, that’s the name I kept hearing. I’ve got to be Sky Stinger, and the wing pony must have been the other name, Vapor Trail, she was his best friend. That’s the two names I kept hearing. I had gone off looking for Sky Stinger and left Cold Front… I mean…I went looking for Vapor Trail? Dreams are so hard to remember.”

Slowly the Captain covers his eyes, shaking his head.

Inhaling through his teeth the doctor let out a soft sigh, “Yeah.”

“Your voice, doesn’t sound, different to you?” The captain asks, lowering his hand a bit.

Thinking for a moment, Ed tilts his head and starts singing softly, “Oh, I’m the very model of a modern major general, I’ve information vegetable, animal and mineral.” Taking a deep breath, “Test, test, test, one two three.”

The Doctor did his best not to smirk, this is somewhat a serious matter after all, “Throat sore?”

“A little, but I’ll chock it up to the dryness, the gag and the change,” Ed says with a smile.

“Yeh, don’t try singing tenor,” The captain says with a soft chuckle, “We are doing everything we can to try and figure out what to do.”

“Captain, don’t endanger the boat for me. If you need to take drastic measures, I understand,” Ed says and sighs looking down, “There’s over 260 people on this boat, and the boat itself is worth a few dollars I guess. Don’t take risks or chances to help me.”

Narrowing his eyes, the Captain looked down, “Sailor, you are no different then any other crew member on this ship. You will receive the same treatment, no more, no less. You will make it through this. Hooves and all.”

Blinking Ed nods, “Yes sir.”

“Now, I’m going to have the quartermaster in here, we are going to need to fit you with some boots,” The Captain says firmly, “We’ll jerry ring something together probably using cloth and rubber from your old gear.”

“Huh?” Ed blinks, looking lost.

“Hooves, I do not want those hooves touching the deck. Too much risk of noise, so we need them, sheathed,”

Looking down, Ed blinks and nods, “Sure thing Cap. I’ll just lay here and try and keep as quiet as possible.”

“I’m serious, we are going to do everything we can to keep you safe and get you home,”