My Little Pony: Equestria Warriors

Chapters

Reunion
War Lessons
Secondary Base of Operations
A Strange New World
George 'Firebird' Telford

Reunion

I awoke to the sound of books being rustled. I rolled over to see Twilight flipping frantically through books, apparently looking for something.

"Morning." I said as I stood and stretched.

"Good morning!" What could only be described as a small dragon stepped in front of me and held out a paw. I cautiously held out a hoof to shake.

"I'm Spike, Twilight's loyal assistant!" He said.

"I'm Valton."

"Nice cutie mark! Twilight said you didn-" Both of us were knocked flying by Twilight. She held me down and stared at my flank.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shoved her off of me and stood. "What's your problem?"

"You have a cutie mark now!"

"What?" I turned my head and saw something colourful. Twilight somehow summoned a mirror and hovered it in front of me.

The mark was tri-coloured. It looked like the RCAF logo, but instead of the maple leaf in the middle, it was a skull.

"What the hell is this?"

"It's a cutie mark. It basically shows what you're good at." Spike said.

"Thanks." I said truthfully. "You're really good at assisting." Spike practically glowed.

"Right now I need that assistance Spike! I've misplaced my book on the Changelings!"

"It's where it always is: Bookcase Three, Shelf Seven."

I heard a knocking at the door that the two apparently didn't, so I answered it.

"You ready to go?" Applejack greeted me.

"Yep." I answered. As we walked away from the library, Applejack complimented on my 'cutie mark'.

"That looks freaky! What'ja get it for?"

"I guess from shooting down all the... Changelings, are they?"

"Neat."

...

"I remember it was this way." The canopy of trees blocked the sun, so the trip down to my old F-22 was nice and cool.

"Wait." I froze as something shifted in the shadows in front of us. "Something just moved." I hissed.

"Ok." AJ was perfectly still. Then she sneezed.

Whatever was in the shadows came rushing out, straight at Applejack. With a leaping tackle that would have made any NFL linebacker proud, I dragged the figure to the ground, which, to my surprise, was Rainbow Dash.

"Heheheh. Did I scare ya?"

"No." I brushed myself off and peered ahead. "I think I can see the divot it left in the ground."

...

Applejack gave Rainbow a strange look. "Something wrong, sugarcube?"

"No. Why would it be? I just scared you and... and... whatsisname."

"Then why's your face all red?" Applejack's eyes slowly narrowed. "I think somepony has a crush on the new guy."

"I do not!" Rainbow said. "Besides, what would be wrong with it of I did?"

"Nothin'." A grin slowly split Applejack's face as she contemplated the implications of this new discovery.

...

"Hello beautiful." I murmured as I laid eyes on Raptor 3378. Her sleek, predatory lines gave me a thrill as I ran a hoof over her wings. She was intact, for the most part. The line of cannon shells were stitched across the two engines, but it looked as if they hadn't penetrated at all, as if they had exploded just before they hit. As I circled around to the front, I grimaced at the air intakes on the engines. They were full of dirt, leaves and branches, not to mention whatever had crawled in there since I landed.

The open cockpit beckoned to me. I hopped up and climbed in. I sat behind the controls, moving my helmet out of the way, and was stunned to discover that I couldn't reach the rudder pedals!

"If I'm gonna bring you back to life, I'm gonna have to make some changes." I muttered before climbing out and grabbing my survival bag with my teeth. Inside were everything a pilot would need for surviving months after being shot down. There were a couple big batteries in the bag, for the ejector seat. The ejector seat had a homing beacon on it for the Search and Rescue birds, but the battery could run out in a couple weeks, so I managed to scrounge up some more. Also included was food, water, a water purifier,a foldable fishing rod, flare gun, tent, and my trusty .45 caliber M1911, plus some spare magazines and a box of ammo. Some of the canned food hadn't survived, but everything else had, so I slung the back over my shoulder and closed the canopy by hoof, seeing as I didn't want anything else getting in the cockpit. I started to walk back towards the barn when Applejack and Rainbow, still bickering, came into the clearing.

"How is it?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know. I'd have to get it out if here, clean the shit from the intakes, hope nothing got in the engines, probably have to replace the turbines, fuel lines, the windscreen, landing gear, etc, etc, etc." I sighed. "I don't suppose you have a hangar to service planes, do you?"

"I don't know what a 'hangar' is, but I reckon we could build one for ya." Applejack smiled. "I bet the whole gang would pitch in."

"If they could, that'd be great! Just in case whatever those things were come back, we'd need a good runway and hangar. Say, were there any reports of casualties from yesterday?"

"One pony died. A bunch were in the hospital, last I heard." Applejack said glumly.

"That's good, actually, with a surprise attack like that."

"Didn't you hear her? A pony died!" Rainbow said hotly.

"Yes, and that is a tragedy." I bowed my head slightly. "But, it could have been much, much worse. Your buildings are mostly wood, correct?"

"Yes."

"Incendiaries could have burned this whole place to a crisp. Oh, hold up!" I quickly sprinted back to the downed Raptor and opened the canopy again. I looked for the old-school ammo gauge that showed how many heatseeking and radar-seeking missiles I had left. It displayed a 1.

"Fuck!" I had only the one missile, plus whatever cannon shells were left in the Raptor and the Lightning.

"What is it?"

"I'm out of fucking ammo! I've got one damn missile! If the Changelings come back, we're all fucked!"

"I think I can help you, Valton." Twilight walked out of the trees, closely flanked by Princess Celestia. Applejack and Rainbow quickly bowed. I stood up in the cockpit and saluted.

"Ma'am." I said as she nodded at me and tossed a salute back. "How?"

"There's a duplication spell I've been working on lately." Twilight smiled. "I think it will work with your missiles."

"Ok. But first we need to get her out of this muck." I patted the Raptor fondly.

"I'll get some pegasi! We can lift this outta here!" Rainbow Dash quickly took off and flew away.

"Is there any empty lots in Ponyville? These planes need a runway."

"Yeah, theres one by Rainbow Dash's." Applejack said with a strange smile.

"Great. I might need some help with the hangar, too."

...

"Easy...Easy!" I shouted at the cloud of pegasi attempting to lift Raptor 3378 with ropes. "Jesus Christ! Just go up!"

"It's heavy!" One groaned.

"Of course it is!" I was getting frustrated. Three time they'd had to drop it back down, exhausted. I was really worried they'd bent something critical or bent the whole damn plane.

"We need more help!" Rainbow groaned. Suddenly, Twilight, Rarity and Princess Celestia walked out of the trees, closely followed by a multitude of unicorns. They quickly added their magic to the mix, and slowly, painfully, Raptor 3378 lifted from the muck.

"Woo-hoo!" I punched the air. "Okay, to the empty lot next to Rainbow's!"

...

I sighed as I looked at the newly completed runway and hangar. After we brought the Raptor to the lot, Celestia quickly created a stone runway that she assured me would be well suited for the task of handling the massive jet fighters. Old school torches were lined up for marking during a night landing. The hangar had enough room for three full-size fighters, plus a ammunition bunker and fuel silo that Twilight's duplication spell had filled to the brim. My gaze rested on the F-23, squatting next to the F-22 I was working on. Thank God my tools had survived the crash, I thought to myself, or else I would have been fucked.

There wasn't much damage as far as I could see to the internals or externals of the Raptor. The engines had a lot of gunk that needed to be cleared out, but after it was gone, all the turbines and other intricate parts were fine. All fuel lines were intact, and only the canopy needed to be replaced. I sighed, longing to fly my plane again. I'd need a whole lot more tests before I'd start the engines on the Raptor, let alone fly the damn thing. But the F-23 had full tanks and a full combat load. I looked at it again. Then I got up, grabbed my helmet, and got in the F-23. I had attempted to put the helmet on before, but it didn't quite fit over my new ears and muzzle. However, Rarity had worked her magic on it, and now it was uniquely conformed to my head.

I hit the startup switch, and felt the rumble of the engine as the turbines warmed up.

"Wait. Shit, I can't turn in this thing!" I said. Then something flashed in front of my plane and we began to turn very slowly. I popped the canopy.

"Hey!" I yelled over the grumble of the engine. To my surprise, Rainbow Dash's head popped up over the nose.

"Hay yourself! You want to fly this thing or not?" I nodded my thanks and closed the canopy, praying she wouldn't get sucked into the turbines. Eventually, we were lined up with the runway. I flicked my visor down and jerked my head at Dash, telling her to get out of the way. She flashed into the air and zoomed into the night.

I slowly increased the throttle, feeling the engine's rumble start to shriek. I released the brakes and started rolling. I kept increasing the throttle to Full Military Power (FMP) and the Lightning thundered into the sky. Despite my longing to claw into the air immediately, I waited until the airspeed was high enough before starting my climb.

...

Rainbow looked on in awe as the massive beast rose on a tongue of flame. Although she could do whatever it could, she thought smugly, it still amazed her that something so big, so heavy could be made to fly like her. She tucked her wings in and took off after Valton. She carefully positioned herself beside the cockpit and stuck her tongue out at the helmeted Valton. She saw him take his helmet off, and stuck his tongue out at her. Then she felt a coldness on her belly. She looked down to see part of the wing gently resting on her. Rainbow felt it begin to push her up as the plane began to climb higher and she felt her stomach drop slightly as the climb increased. She flapped her wings and got off the wing, and grinned at the cockpit.

...

Me and Dash climbed higher and higher into the night sky. I didn't have my oxygen on, and it was becoming slightly difficult to breath, so I put my helmet back and cranked on the O2. I looked out over at Dash, and saw she was panting rather heavily, and shivering, because of the altitude, so I dove down, Rainbow slipping behind and to the right of my right stabilizer. I quickly shoved the throttle forwards, angling for a cloud that would suit my needs perfectly.

...

Rainbow saw Valton dip into the cloud, and went right after him. She exploded out the other side of the cloud, but Valton was gone.

"What?" Dash said, searching for the giant plane, a growing sense of uncertainty hardening in her stomach. She looked at the ground expecting to see a fireball, but there was nothing. It was as if the plane had simply vanished.

gggggrrRRRAAAHHHHH!

Dash was thrown backwards as Valton's plane slashed down, missing her by the width of her wing. She righted herself, and took off after him with a vengeance.

...

I looked at Dash's angry face and smiled. I'd had her right where I'd wanted her: hovering and completely confused. It was then just a simple matter of turning the engines and running lights back on and running by her. I checked my fuel. Just to play it safe, I was going to land it for the night. I gestured to the ground, and banked gently back towards the landing strip, a very pissed off Rainbow Dash on my wing.

...

"What was that for?" Dash growled at me as I hopped out of the Lightning.

"What was what?" I said as innocently as I could.

"You know! When you went into the cloud and... I don't know! You did something!"

"I bounced you." I said simply.

"Bounced?"

"It's something we used to do to each other on patrol. I shut off my engines and lights, and dove in front of you. The pocket of turbulence

'bounced' you."

"But... you... I... You cheated!" Rainbow seemed very flustered.

"Maybe. Want something to eat?" I motioned to the small shack next to the hangar that served as my living quarters. "I have some MREs here somewhere."

"...OK." I seemed to be forgiven for now.

The room I now called home was tiny. There was barely enough for a sink, shower and a bed, so me and Dash were crammed in like sardines as we ripped open our MREs.

"What is this stuff?" She asked after an inquisitive gulp.

"Beef Stew. You're lucky. I never brought any Ham and Lima Beans on my patrols."

"Beef?" Rainbow spat out the next mouthful she had.

"Wassamatter?"

"We can't eat meat. Doesn't agree with us."

"Oh. Shit." I looked at my Beef Stew, which was half empty.

"You'll just have some bad times on the toilets for a couple days." She smiled. "Not too bad."

"I guess not." I finished off the glop and moved on to the next tin in the package.

"Hell yeah! Puréed blueberries!" I ripped the top open and poured the stuff into my mouth. "Best damn thing they ever put in these thing!" I exclaimed after swallowing. Rainbow tried one, and immediately chugged the rest of it. She yawned.

"I'm beat." She said.

"Same here. The G's really take a toll after a while." I stood and opened the door. "Walk you back?"

"Sure!" She gave a shy smile as she walked out. We walked with only small ptalk, the stars, and each other to keep us occupied. We reached the staircase of clouds that led to her house.

"Well, here we are." I said flatly. I'd enjoyed the walk with her.

"I'd invite you in, but you'd fall through!" We had an awkward chuckle at that. We both just stood and stared at each other for the longest time. Finally, reluctantly, we turned and walked away. As I headed back to my cot in the hangar office as I'd come to call it, my head was filled with Rainbow Dash, and the thought that I'd never had a steady, true relationship with anybody. Sure I'd had those 'handholding' things as a kid, but I'd joined the air force at the time I would have been going into college. But now... I couldn't get Dash out of my mind! As I lay in the cot, I smelled a strange, spicy scent that I immediately recognized as Rainbow's. I smiled as I drifted off to sleep.

...

The next morning brought sunshine and a spring in my step. I was finally ready to start the right engine, and Rainbow, Twilight and Fluttershy had dropped by to see.

"Alright, stand clear!" I yelled, standing beside the open panels on the engine. I cranked the right engine and sprayed some lube into some of the inner workings. Atomized spray spewed out onto me, but the massive turbines began to spin up.

"Yeah! Hell yeah!" I screamed. "She's working! She's working!" The others cheered.

BAM!

A large sheet of flame erupted out the panel in front of my face, and I quickly hit the killswitch.

"Well..." I scratched my head. "I'll have to check the fuel lines and oil lines."

"I can help." Twilight walked over to the engine and studied the burn marks. "I think it's a slightly cracked oil line, judging from the angle of the burn."

"Egghead." I heard Rainbow whisper.

"Hay, I'm not an-" Whatever Twilight was about to say was cut off by a low growl of an approaching aircraft. I quickly herded the girls into the hangar and peered out at the incoming aircraft. I gasped.

It wasn't a Changeling aircraft. It was a Raptor, like mine. As it drew closer, I could see the large '5' emblazoned on the left-hand side of the cockpit. I knew what the signature was going to look like even before it rumbled down the runway. It rolled to a stop, and a figure leaped out.

"Tes? TES!" I sprinted into the figure, knocking him over and putting him into a headlock.

"Ow! Hey, quit it!" Tes shook himself free and and looked at me. "Chris?"

"In the flesh!" Tes looked like... Tes, but he was a damn horse! His mane was jet black with a couple streaks of blonde and silver in it, and a horn was sticking straight out, much like Twilight's, and his coat was reddish brown.

"How did you get here?" I exclaimed.

"The beautiful and kind Princess Celestia pointed me in the right direction. She said she would be along shortly."

"No, I mean... here. I never saw you get hit."

"Yeah, about that... I hit the water. They got me locked up, and I dove for ground. My right wing clipped the water, and I just pancaked into it."

"Those fucking T/Xs just tore through our patrol."

"I know. But, if we're here, that might mean that the others are here too." Tes grinned. He was known for his optimism.

"Hay, who's that?" Twilight called from the hangar.

"This is Tes! He's a friend."

"M'ladies." Tes said with exaggerated bow. Twilight giggled. I noticed a slight tinge to her cheeks, and I raised an eyebrow at Dash. She shrugged.

"Hey Tes, I've been trying to get my Raptor back in the air. It got a lot of dirt and crap in the engines. Last time I tested it, it shot flame at me!"

"Ok, I'll have a look." Tes walked to the Raptor. "Hmm... Yep, you've got a bent or very slightly cracked oil line."

"Egghead." I stage whispered. Rainbow and Applejack snickered.

"What?" Tes looked extremely confused. I just winked at him.

...

Twilight's duplication spell became invaluable in building Tes's quarters, and did a little remodelling on mine. The rooms now had enough room for two ponies to sit and have a good conversation, which both pleased and depressed me. That same day, Tes and I were cranking up the Raptor's engines again, and it really helped to have another pair of hooves.

"OK, try it now!" Tes cried from beside the left engine. I slowly pushed the throttle up.

"She's holding up! More power!" The noise, thankfully, was directed to the outside of the hangar, not inside. Even so, the noise was almost

unbearable. It only got louder and louder as the engine wound up.

"That's max!" I screamed over the engine.

"She's good! Back her down slow!" The shriek slowly faded. I punched the air.

"She's back baby! Woo! Raptor 3378 is back in action!" In the sudden silence that followed, I heard the quiet growl of multiple jet engines, and I saw Tes's ear twitch.

"What..."

"C'mon!" I slung myself into the F-23's cockpit and shoved my helmet on. Tes jumped into his Raptor. We had solved the taxiing problem with motorized front gear. Still, it was slow enough that the cloud of 'spinies', as I called them, were streaming out over the clouds.

"Holy shit! That's a lot of them! Tes! Go!" Tes' plane accelerated, closely followed by my own.

"Chris, you got lead." Tes's voice was calm and collected.

"Roger." I nudged my throttle to get slightly in front of him. "Weapons hot." I began to get a tracking tone from the swirling mass of fighters, and launched two Sidwinders. The spinies were so closely packed together I must've gotten several with each missile. Tes launched two of his Sidewinders, and one Phoenix long-range missile that his Raptor had been carrying instead of AMRAAMs. I watched the Phoenix slam through three spinies and explode, taking out a dozen. Then the cloud descended upon us.

I was twisting and twirling, the Vulcan cannon hammering away in the nose. Spinies exploded and fell away in front of me, and many more collided with each other trying to get locks on me. We burst out of the other side, turned, and launched another salvo of missiles. The spinies were taking huge hits, and their numbers were almost 3/4 gone when we came out the other side again. By the next pass, only three remained, and they were decimated.

"No bombers..."

"What the heck were those things? Why were we destroying them?"

"They attacked the town last time, with bomb-" My eyes widened. "The town!" I cranked the throttle to afterburner, and felt the impact of fuel gushing into the engines. We screamed along at Mach 2.

Then, I saw a massive plane tail sticking out of the ground. Then another. Then a third bomber dropping out of the sky with a small plane behind it spraying fire at a fourth bomber. I attempted to get a radar lock on the bomber, but my IFF wouldn't let me lock onto the mysterious new plane. The fourth bomber didn't need more than the the apparently 'Friendly' fighter, and it crashed in flames no closer than five kilometres from Ponyville.

"Holy crap." I muttered. Whoever commanded the Changelings were getting smarter. They knew they had been defeated by a superior force, so they had tried to use sheer numbers to overwhelm us.

"Attention unidentified aircraft. Reveal yourself immediately, or you will be shot down." Tes commanded.

"Tes, you bastard, you know who it is." A very familiar voice growled out of the radio.

"Griz!" I shouted. "Is that really you?"

"Who else do you know that responds to that name?"

"No one!" Tes said, just as happily. "I can't believe it!"

"Neither can I. Cut the sissy fawning and tell me where I can set down. I've shot myself dry."

"OK. Follow me." I turned my plane. back towards the airstrip.

"By the way, are both of you guys horses?" Griz asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. That makes me feel better."

We began to fly over the wreckage of the spinies.

"Holy shit! Was that you guys?"

"Yep."

"Those guys are easy pickings, then." Griz said.

...

"You've got a pretty nice setup here." Griz said to me. His grey coat was covered in slick layer of sweat, and his white mane was plastered to his forehead.

"Thanks."

"Got some eyecandy too." He winked at Rainbow Dash, who was sunning herself on a cloud.

"I guess..."

"Whoa. Check her out!" Griz whispered. "Damn!"

Applejack was walking up to the hangar with a small cart behind her.

"Howdy Valton." She tipped her hat to me. "I don't believe we've met just yet sugarcube."

"I'm James Grizkowski. But everyone just calls me the Griz." Griz kneeled down, picked up AJ's hoof, and kissed it.

"Oh... umm... Howdy Mr. Griz. I'm Applejack." AJ seemed very flustered.

"It's very nice to meet you." Griz purred. "Will you be around often?"

"Why yes. I'm gonna be bringing Valton here some apples every week."

"You don't have to do that Ap-"

"I do." It seemed that she couldn't take her eyes off of the Griz.

"OK. Well, thank you." I said.

"See you next week, doll." Griz smiled. AJ skittered away. "I've still got it."

"You never had it Griz." I chuckled. The Griz was a notorious ladies' man. "Tes! Where are you?" I turned to see Tes and Twilight talking, facing away from us.

"What the hell is he doing?" Griz muttered. Tes appeared to be attempting to lift an apple with his horn. Twilight was standing very close to him, and she seemed to be whispering encouragement.

"Magic. C'mon. We've gotta get you a bunk." As I started walking towards Tes, Spike came sprinting out towards us, a scroll flapping his hand.

"Twilight!" He skidded to a stop next to her. "A letter from the Princess!"

"Thank you Spike." Twilight took the letter, and read it aloud.

"My dearest Twilight; I have sent this letter to summon you and your friends, along with Valton, Tes and the Griz. We must confer as soon as possible;

Princess Celestia." She looked up. "I wonder why the Princess would want to talk with all of us?"

"It might have something to do with the Changelings." I said, motioning to the broken and shattered planes behind me. They were starting to degrade, an interesting quirk I noticed on the bomber that had attacked the town when I had first arrived. It seemed to be made of living material, and it degraded quite fast. "Or just us in general."

"Maybe. C'mon. We've got to get going."

"OK." I quickly sprinted to my living quarters and strapped my modified holster to my side. I wouldn't be able to shoot my M1911, but I still wanted to have it. "Lets go."

"Hold it! I've got to get my Winchester!" Tes had always carried an old, 12-gauge Winchester shotgun for reasons unknown instead of the standard issue pistols.

Tes ran over to his plane, paused, then started concentrating. His horn glowed, and sure enough, the 12-gauge floated out, with half-dozen shells for it. His flank glowed too, and as he loaded his scattergun, his cutie mark appeared. Ot was a medical cross with dual shotguns crossed in front of that.

"What?" Tes stared back at us.

"You just got your cutie mark, my friend." I grinned. "Now hurry the fuck up."

"What the hell is that?" Griz growled.

"I'll explain on the way." Twilight said. "We've got to go."

...

The castle loomed in front of us as me and Twilight finished explaining what a cutie mark was and what it represented. Tes said he had some medical training, so that explained the medical cross, and the shotguns were self-explanatory.

"Why don't I have one yet?" Griz grumped.

"You've done nothing special yet sugarcube. Don't worry. Everypony gets one eventually." Applejack said.

"Yeah. I got mine immediately." I grinned.

"Bastard." Griz said while smiling.

The train slid to a stop, and we hopped out.

"Welcome to Canterlot!" Rainbow said. "The castle is right this way!"

The giant doors to the castle opened for us as we walked up. A great hallway leading to a couple thrones stretched out in front of us.

"Ah, you have arrived!" Celestia walked out from behind the thrones, with another alicorn. They were flanked by three other stallions, all with blank flanks. "Everypony, this is my sister, Princess Luna." Me, Tes and Griz saluted. "And these three are Willis, Garret, and Mikey. Gentlecolts, these ponies are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Chris, Tes and the Griz."

"Willis, you sonuvabitch!" I bellowed, wrapping him in a huge hug. Similar calls of merriment echoed in the hall.

"Ahem." Princess Luna cleared her throat. Immediately we stopped horsing around and listened.

"We have called you here today under grave circumstances. You six are fighter pilots, correct?" We all nodded. "The last time we had six fighter pilots arrive in our world, we needed them. We need you now." Luna began to pace. "We have it on good authority that Chydo is still alive." Twilight gasped.

"Chydo?" Rainbow said.

"Chydo was the mastermind behind the Changeling War almost a hundred years ago. Only the Elements of War were able t-" She gaped. "Are they..?" Luna nodded.

"You six are the first to arrive. You will not be the last. Come. There is something you all need to see." Luna walked past Celestia, who turned and seemed to start protesting Luna's call, but Luna kept walking. The reunited Eagles followed.

"This vault hasn't been opened since the Changeling War. We will be the first to enter after it was sealed." Luna seemed to be reliving something as her face was pained as she talked. "Inside are the Relics from the first Elements of War." She stopped next to a normal-looking wall. "Stand back." She used her magic to smash the wall, revealing a heavy metal door.

"Damn, that looks like a vault!" Mikey said.

"It is, of sorts. It also is a bomb shelter, devised for my sister and myself. We never needed it" The massive door slid open. Luna puled on a chain and lights illuminated a staircase that lead down.

"Downwards." Luna said simply.

...

The staircase ended at another set of doors.

"Come. The Relics lie this way." Luna walked through a couple mahogany doors, leading to a simple room with six glass cases on pedestals.

"These are the Relics. They serve as the Sorters. Whomever manages to interact with a Relic becomes the wielder of that Element of War." She opened the first case to reveal an antique 1917 pattern cutlass.

"The Element of Leadership." She looked at us. "Who is your squadron leader?" She asked, all the while her eyes bored holes in mine. She already knew. I stepped forwards to the cutlass. The blade was notched, the metal's colour dulled by age, but the blade kept sharp. I put a tentative hoof out towards the handle. At first, nothing happened. Then, a shaft of light exploded out of the centre, and I felt it rise. The light became blinding, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I noticed my hoof was covered in some sort of mechanical apparatus, and at the end of it was my M1911, only it looked different. Bigger, longer, meaner. As I looked at it, the pistol flipped into a different position, the barrel facing right in front of me, then it fired, slamming into the wall on the other side. I noticed that I now had a jacket on, and a pair of WWI flying goggles sat on the top of my head.

"This is astounding. No-one had ever been able to interact with that Relic." Luna was astonished, and opened the next case to reveal a battered Browning M1919. "The Element of Brutality." Griz stepped up. As I watched, he touched the machine gun, and it too exploded into light. When I could look again, Griz now had the MG strapped to his side, and it swivelled out and fired a burst at the wall. He now had his cutie mark, which was a crossed belt of ammo. He had a Kevlar vest, with a couple vicious-looking spikes sticking out of the shoulders.

"The next Relic..." Luna opened the third case and revealed a modern-looking field-medkit. "The Element of Mercy." Tes stepped up. He touched it, and was swathed in the light. Tes now had six medkits strapped to his body, along with a dual shotgun mount that housed two AA-12 automatic shotguns. They fired in unison at the wall as well.

"The Element of Stealth." The next Relic was a suppressor. For a second everyone was confused, then Garret touched it. For a second, I couldn't see him. He had some sort of adaptive camouflage that shimmered in the dark light. Garret had dual suppressed MP5Ks on his mounts, and they spat a couple rounds at the wall. He joined us four in watching, and I noticed that I could see Griz through Garret's camouflage.

"The Element of Courage." The next item was another weapon, this one an M1 Garand with a bloodstained bayonet and grip. Mikey touched it, and he became decked out in vintage WWII gear, complete with a modified helmet. His bayoneted Garand fired twice at the wall.

"And finally, the Element of Tactics." The last item was just a map.

"I'm just an intel weenie? Shit!" Willis wasn't happy with being the Element of Tactics, but he said he looked good with a grey compass cutie mark and dual Berettas on his hip.

"This...this isn't good. Now that the Relics are rekindled, we truly need them now. Get some rest, and get to know each other again." She faced us. "We will be very busy before long."

War Lessons

"So."

I leaned back on my stool. The six of us were arranged around a table in some late-night diner. Mugs of hot chocolate, no coffee here yet, sat beside empty plates. We had just finished reminiscing about our past. Happy, hilarious moments before the Blitz, sad and fearful after. It was late when we finally ran out of things to say. So late that the cook had passed out about an hour ago and was snoring gently on a table he was cleaning.

"So." Griz repeated. "Here we are now. A bunch of fucking horses in God knows where."

"A bunch of special fucking horses." Mikey said.

"That still have human names." Garret said quietly.

"That'll be a problem. Why don't we roll with our callsigns?" I suggested, thinking of what Celestia had said in response to Twilight's question of my name, saying Valton.

"Okay." Tes nodded. "I'll stay Tes, Griz'll stay Griz, Will will become Blastburn, Garret will be Fareye, Mikey will be Gunner, and..."

"I'll be Valton." Impulsively, I put hoof into the middle of the table. "Eagle One."

"Eagle Two." Blastburn put his in.

"Eagle Three."

"Eagle Four."

"Eagle Five."

"Eagle Six."
As always, we bowed out heads. None of us were really religious, but we'd done this as part of a ritual for 7 sorties, 3 bombing runs and every patrol. We all stated different verses, and Griz started it off.

"May the Great Spirit of War guide us through this. We pray that He will allow us to enact our revenge and allow us to return." Tes went next.

"May You guide our ha- hooves, planes, bombs and missiles and allow us to have our revenge and return."

"Let You accept our allies, no matter the sins, and allow them through the gates. Allow us to have our revenge, and return." Blastburn said solemnly.

"May You guide our allies' bullets, tanks shells, and troops to where they may do the most good. Allow us to have our revenge and return." Fareye intoned.

"May You grace their aim with Your presence. Allow us to have our revenge and return." Gunner whispered.

"Great Sprit of War, hear our pleas. We are not perfect. We are not without sin. But we are fighting on the side of Liberty, Freedom, the Stars and Stripes, the Maple Leaf, and the Union Jack, along with the countless other countries that never had a chance to fight. In their name, we pray. Amen." I finished.

"Amen."

We were one once more.

"Rise, my friends! Today will be a long day!" Luna burst in on our room. We had bunked. Sunlight streamed through the open blinds. Me, Tes
and Fareye immediately snapped to attention, followed closely by Blastburn, but Griz and Gunner were still out cold.

"At ease. What's wrong with them?" Luna asked.

"Griz found a bottle of hard cider." I grimaced. "We took a glass each, but they kept going. And going."

"Ah. I think I have the cure for that." She winked, then shouted, her voice rattling the windows.

"GET UP YOU WORTHLESS TURDS!" The two bleary-eyed and clearly hungover stallions stood at attention. "At ease. I trust you are well
rested?" Luna asked with an ironic smile.

"As best we could." I replied.

"Good. Follow me."

We stepped into the dark, dank cavern underneath the castle. Luna stopped beside a slightly off colour rock.

"This area hasn't been opened since the Great Changeling War, almost two centuries ago." She motioned to Blastburn. "If you would do the honours, Mr. Blastburn." During the night, Blastburn discovered his other special talent, and solved the mystery of his cutie mark. We found out that the compass on his flank was imbedded in a C-4 detpack. He was now a wizard with explosives.

"Alright. A smidgen of C-4 should do it." With that, he took out a chunk of the white plastique and rolled it into a long 'worm'. He then mashed it against where the off-colour wall and the regular met. He placed a blasting cap in it.

"Alright, get back you bastards... and you ma'am." We took shelter behind a large rock. Blastburn held up the detonator, and pressed it.
WHUMP.

The plastique worked to perfection. Blastburn stood in front of the shattered barrier and waved us through like a butler. Luna stepped into the room that had been revealed. She stopped, as if gathering herself, and stepped through a pair of iron doors. We followed.

"My companions, welcome to the War Room. It was here that my sister and I conferred with the Elements of War during the last war." She turned. "It is where we will confer as well." Luna sat on a gigantic iron throne adorned with a crescent moon, like her cutie mark. Another throne with a sun sat next to her. A wooden table circled the front of the throne, with six seats positioned to face the thrones. The walls of the room were covered in maps, of Ponyville, Canterlot, and other places too; Los Pegasus, Manehatten, Vanhoover. A giant map showed all of Equestria.

"Your titles have been inscribed on the tables. But..." Luna sighed. "My sister and I no longer possess the Elements of Harmony." The table in front of us vanished, replaced with another, larger table. "The ponies you met upstairs, they are the new Elements of Harmony." We sat at our designated spots and waited for Celestia and the girls.

About half an hour later, we were all seated and ready to start.

"The meeting of the 12 Elements of Equestra have begun." Celestia called. "May my sister, Princess Luna, begin the meeting?"

"Yes, sister. This meeting had been called in response the return of the Elements of War, and the Changelings. As you are probably aware, they now possess higher technology, and have attacked your town twice now, hoping to destroy all Elements in on fell swoop. The Element of Leadership will explain." I stood.

"The Changelings have three types of aircraft, that we've seen so far. One is their heavy bomber, designated CHB-1, or 'Spanner'." Tes held up a rough drawing of the bomber. "The Spanner appears to be similar in design to a B-52 Megafortress, an aircraft from our world. It has a long range, but is weak without it's escort fighters. The Changelings have two escort fighter that we know of. One is designated as the CHF-1, or 'Spinie'. These appear to be shoddily made, and are slow and unwieldily. The other is a bit more of a challenge. The CHF-2, or 'Splicer', appears to be a smaller, narrower version of the Spinie. We only saw two of these, and they both were destroyed by collisions, so they look light." Tes held up two more sketches. "Both fighters carry a load of radar-seeking missiles. We don't know if they have heat-seekers. We don't know if they have any guns in the plane for 'knife-fights', any close-in engagements." I shrugged. "There's a lot we don't know. But-" A rhythmic pounding interrupted me.

"Bombers!" Rarity cried, diving for cover like the rest of the us, except for Luna.

"Relax!" She giggled. "That is just my
guards testing the Anti Aircraft guns. If an attack comes here, we'll be ready." Her eyes shone. "Now, about your planes."

"If this is to be our headquarters, then we need to bring what we have here." Tes said.

"No need. Along with your cutie marks and weapons, a plane suiting your Element is waiting for you in the hangars of Canterlot." Her smile broadened. My sister will now take you to them." The group began to follow, but Luna motioned that I should stay back. I raised an eyebrow in question. However, before Luna could say anything, Celestia ushered me out the door and closed it.

"What do you think you are doing?" Celestia hissed. "It's too early! Valton is still wild! He needs to be trained."

"No he's not. He can handle it." Luna sniffed. "My... the other leader did."

"He is not that leader!" Celestia's scowl softened. "I know how much this must hurt you."

"When you said they looked similar... I could never have imagined." Luna shuddered, a soft sob escaping her. Celestia embraced her younger sister.

"It was his choice to go back. Nothing you did forced him. It wasn't your fault."

"That's what everyone's told me for years. I still don't believe it." Luna said bitterly, wiping a tear from her face. "I won't ever believe it."

"Come on. We must get them ready for what they will face." Celestia looked into Luna's eyes and smiled. "One day, he will know. You must hold onto that. Until then, he is just another soldier."

"What the hell is taking them so long?" Griz grumbled to Gunner.

"Yeah. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were rubbing one out." Gunner replied. The rest of the guys laughed, I turned to tell them to cool it. It struck me again the contrast between the two. Griz was a hulking, giant stallion, and Gunner was small, wiry, and filled with energy. They made for an unlikely, but deadly pair.

"Shut up, you two." I turned away grinning. Gunner had the uncanny talent of breaking the ice anywhere, anytime. Quickly, the awkward silence was shattered.

"What does 'rubbing one out' mean?" Rainbow asked me. I could barely contain my laughter.

"It means to masturbate, my darling." Blastburn yelled from across the room. A look of disgust crossed Dash's face.

"Oh."
The heavy iron doors slid open, and the two Princesses walked towards another set of iron doors. Together, they used their magic to open them. We all gaped in awe at what we saw.
There were six aircraft, all familiar, but all different. I felt inexplicably drawn to the plane on the far left. It had the design of a Phoenix stretching out across the wings, and near the nose there was a giant flaming '1' emblazoned on the midnight black paint. Four missiles squatted on the wings, and four engines pointed out the back.

"Oh my gosh..." Rainbow gasped beside me.

"She's beautiful..." I whispered. I climbed into the cockpit to find a brand-new helmet and a leather notebook. I put the helmet on first. It had the same design as the plane, except it had 'Element of Leadership' embossed on the back in gold. The visor flicked down automatically. At first, I saw nothing. Then blue words appeared, and a voice spoke.

Hello sir.

"Hello?"

Voice imprint memorized. Please state your name sir.

"Valton." There was slight pause.

Vital signs and magic levels are consistent with the Element of Leadership. Welcome sir.

The visor became clear, and on it I could see my Heads-Up Display (HUD).

"Computer, what is the combat effectiveness of this aircraft?"

The Element of Leadership warplane is equipped with 150 heat- and radar-seeking missiles, along with one million rounds each for the dual Vulcan cannons, sir.

"How did you get that many in this thing?"

Thanks to magical displacement, sir. Each missile is shrunk and placed into the hold. When released, the missile will be grown back to regular size. Don't worry, sir, it retains all it's warhead power and all electronics.

"OK... What can I call you other than computer?"

I am the Autonomous On-board Computer, ATOC for short.

"Okay, Atoc. Spin 'er up."

My pleasure sir. However, it might be more prudent to wait until we are outside of the hangar.

"Okay." I opened the canopy. "See you later Atoc."

On the contrary sir. A secure link to me is programmed into your goggles. Which, just so you know, are able to transform into anything you
like.

"That's badass." I took the helmet off and leaped out to look at the other planes. I stopped suddenly as Rainbow came under the wing, and we were nose to nose.

"How does she look?" I said excitedly, pulling back and staring at the nose art while trying to hide my blushing cheeks.

"She looks good. Really good." A tiny voice deep down told me she wasn't talking about the plane. A sudden bleeping sounded out of my bag. I threw it off and found the source: my goggles. I put them on.

Not to alarm you sir, but a rather large radar signature has been located heading towards your location. It appears to be Changeling in origin.

"Shit." I turned. "Guys, we got incoming!"

As we soon realized, the hangar also had a catapult built in, which was hideously underpowered and threw us almost straight at Canterlot.

"Woah!" Blastburn said as he quickly pulled up to avoid the castle. "What the fuck, Princesses?"

"I don't think the catapult was meant for jets." The rest of the squadron quickly climbed into formation, and we headed out to intercept the the Changelings once again.

"Ok boys, just as a heads-up, we don't need fuel. These planes run off of a magic reactor of some sorts." Tes said. "I don't know how it works, but it apparently does."

"Whatever it is, looks like we've got some extra horses!" I punched the throttle and leaped to near Mach 3.

"Let's go, baby!" Griz hit his afterburner.

"Oh shit. Big contact on radar boys." Gunner called out. "Directly ahead."

"I see it. What the hell?"
Slowly, a massive black shape appeared over the horizon. It was massive, bigger than anything we'd ever seen. It had 12 engines on each of it's incredibly big wings. As we watched, CHF 1s and 2s dropped from it's belly to challenge us.

"I've got this one." Griz slid in front of me and Blastburn. "Watch this." Griz fired one of the ugly looking missiles that hung off of his plane. At first, the missile looked like a regular heat- or radar-seeker, but after a second the casing blew off and a swarm of tiny missiles, plus whatever was left of the original, screamed towards the cloud of enemy fighters.

"Hahahahahaha! Boom!" Griz laughed as the missiles vaporized the cloud of Changelings. Not one was left to challenge us. Then, the massive plane surprised us again, dropping CHB-1s from it's belly!

"On 'em! We can't let them near Canterlot!" I looked down at my armaments. "Atoc, give me some help here!"

May I suggest the RAAM?

"What does it do?"

It is the Ramming Air-to-Air Missile, sir. It can punch through multiple targets before exploding.

"Lets try it." I selected the RAAM and fired. The missile, true to it's name, rammed through the first two bombers, then detonating against the third. "Three down, Seventeen to go."
Blastburn fired two missiles, and when they impacted, the two bombers hit were dragged to each other and exploded.

"Fifteen."
Garret went next. His exploded like a flashbang, but only in the direction it was travelling. All the bombers were affected, and slammed into either each other or the ground.

"Zero."

"Show off." I grinned. "Now for the big fucker." I fired off two more RAAMs, and they punched into and exploded inside the bomber, causing no apparent damage. An AA gun started up on the side of the damn thing!

"Eagles, break!" We split, half going under and half going over. Then we went to work.

"Take the engines! The engines!"

"Fuck! Turret on the wing! Watch out!"

"More fighters, coming at our 6!"

"I've got 'em. Fox Two!"
I looped around the tail and strafed the entirety of the plane tail to nose. As I turned to come after the cockpit, an explosion rocked my plane. Shrapnel peppered my fighter's belly.

"Holy shit! That thing's so big they have goddamn AA flak cannons!" I weaved through a hail of flak and managed to put a burst of cannon shells into it. Now, with smoke streaming from all of it's engines and obviously no offensive weapons left, the behemoth ship began to turn back the way it came.

"She's runnin' scared!" Gunner whooped

"As soon as it's away from Canterlot, she's all yours, Griz!"

"Roger. Fox... whatever the hell it is!" Another one of Griz's magic missiles split up and detonated themselves against the Changelings. The structural integrity gone from the plane, it began to falter. Flames spewed from the engines as the mammoth wings folded up. Seconds later the fuel exploded, leaving only pieces of debris and a oily black smear on the sky.

"Splash one motherfucker." Griz growled.

"Roger that. RTB."

Landing back in the cave was a bit hairy. The catapult and arresting wire weren't meant for our jets, and it was a close-run just finding the cave and getting the right approach. No wave offs here. Fareye was the last to fly in, and he broke the wire. Thankfully, his jet was able to stop without it.

"What happened? What was it?" Rainbow asked as I shut down my plane.

"I don't know what it was, but it was gigantic." I grinned. "We took care of it."

"How big was it?" Luna asked.

"Big enough that it carried two squadrons of fighters and one of bombers." Tes jumped in. "It didn't seem like they had the fuel to get back or the ability to get back aboard the mothership. It was do or die for them."

"It was die for them." Luna smiled. "Good work. All of you. The first round is on me tonight."

A loud cheer erupted in the hangar.

"So we came up around the wing of the bomber, and it's just spraying flak everywhere. Me and Fareye sliced right up around the tail while Valton strafed it." Tes was explaining our big battle to Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity.

"My goodness!" Rarity had a hoof to her mouth.

"Still not sure how they managed to mount ack-ack guns on a plane, for Christ's sake."

"I have no idea." I said. "But I want to know why the plane slowed after it released it's fighters and bombers?"

"I have nothing for that either." Tes shrugged.

"I know!" Twilight exclaimed. "What if the other, smaller planes were adding their power to the bigger one, and as soon as they launched, the big one had to slow because of the reduced power?"

"You're a genius Twi!" Tes bellowed. Twilight only blushed.
A ragged cheer arose from the table next to us.

"ANOTHER ROUND FOR MY GLORIOUS FRIENDS, BARTENDER!" Luna slammed down her mug of hard cider. Griz, Applejack, Gunner, Pinkie
and Blastburn cheered again. All were drunk, except for Luna. She seemed to be entirely faking it.

"Scoundrels." Rarity hissed. "Have they no shame?"

"Let them have their fun." I admonished. "God knows they deserve it."

"Why aren't you with them?" Rainbow asked.

"I gave that up when I became Eagle One. I have one drink, open the tab, and pick up the pieces. Like a parent."

"I just don't like being drunk." Tes grinned. I took a sip of hot chocolate.

"Where'd Fareye go?"

"He was taking Fluttershy home. She got a headache."

"Yeah. Fareye never liked social gatherings that much. He liked being in quiet places, or alone in general." Tes smiled into his cup. "We called him the Owlman."

"The Owl what?"

"Nevermind."

I yawned. "I think it's time to get going. So, who's picking up the bill?" Dash tossed some Bits onto the table. We stood, and walked to the door. I turned and threw a salute towards the drunk table. "Goodnight men! And women!"

"Goodnight sir!" The return was slurred, but legible. I looked at the bartender and nodded at him, telling him that this was their last round. He nodded back.

The night was cool, and the moon was brilliant in the sky.

"Wow." I said softly. "It's so clear. Almost you could just reach out and touch it."

"I know. It's wonderful." Twilight sighed. "Unfortunately as soon as the moon comes out, the train to Ponyville stops running. We're stuck here
for the night."

"I'm sure the Cave has some spare bedrooms." Included in our Elements of War package, we had identical wardrooms to do with as we please.

"We wouldn't want to impose..." Rarity's voice trailed off as something howled far off, in the general direction of Ponyville.

"You're welcome to walk." I smiled.

"No no! We'll stay!" Rarity's voice was slightly higher than normal.

"Good. We may have to share rooms, and if we do Tes and I will bunk in one, and you girls can sleep together."

"I'd feel safer with one of you in the room with us. You know, with your 'guns'." Twilight said shyly. I winked at Tes.

"How about this!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Me and Valton to one room, Twilight and Tes to another, and Rarity can pick whichever room she likes!"

"That sounds good..." I said pretending to think it over while everything in me screamed 'YES!'. "What do you think?" I asked Rarity.

"I think that sounds good." She smiled slyly at Twilight. "That'll do just fine."

I stretched out on the thin mattress that buffered me from the cold stone floor of the Cave. As I'd assured Dash, I'd slept in less comfortable conditions. From the room beside us I could hear Tes and Twilight softly discussing something, while Dash's light snoring overrode most of what was said. We heard no sounds coming from Fareye's room, so he and Fluttershy must have fell asleep ling before we got there. Rarity had a room to herself, so if the rest of the squadron came back (big if) there would be some rooms for them to crash.

"Hey Valton?"

"Yeah Dash?"

"I'm cold." I got up quietly, taking my only blanket. I stopped short when I saw Dash, budged all the way over to the other side of the bed to give me some room.

"I don't want you to be cold either." She said quietly. I sighed.

"Only until you're warm, then I'm going back down."

"Ok." She shuffled around, trying to get comfortable, which ended up being nose-to-nose with me. She snuggled down into the blankets.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said. I felt my eyelids droop, even though I was fighting it. I drifted off right next to Dash.

I was in a dark void, floating around.

"Wha... Where am I?" I wondered aloud. Nothing answered me.

"Hello? Hello?!?" I called. A voice finally responded.

"The book..."

"What? What book?"

"The book... You must read the book."

"Did you hear me? What book?" More voices began to chime in.

"The book... the book... the book... the book." The voices got louder and louder, screaming at me. "THE BOOK THE BOOK THE BOOK THE BOOK!"

I awoke with a start. The sun was just starting to creep under the crack in the door. I noticed to my embarrassment that Dash had put her head onto my chest sometime in the night. I gently slid out and walked down to my plane, wondering what that dream was about. What book was my subconscious telling me to read? Then it hit me. The leather-bound book in my plane! I'd forgotten all about it because of the Changeling attack! I raced to the hangar and leapt aboard. Sure enough, the book was sitting in a small pocket beside the seat. I tugged it out, and opened it.

"'The Flyboy's Guide to Changelings. Written by: Firebird.'" I read aloud, turning the page to the index. "Holy shit!" There were almost 200 entires detailing different Changeling attack vehicles, tanks, guns, all the ammo they used, and their tactics. I flipped to the About the Author page, and blinked in surprise. It appeared that 'Firebird' was the old Element of Leadership! I quickly skimmed through the rest of the book, and found that Firebird had scrawled the various Changeling weapon's weaknesses and the best ways to destroy them. This 'Firebird' knew what the hell he was talking about. All of the tactics he suggested detailed distractions, diversions, or something that would draw the Changelings away from what was ultimately their main target: civilian centres. I slipped the book back into it's special pocket and looked out towards the hangar doors, thinking about how amazing the sunrise would be. As I examined the door, it seemed someone else had the same idea as me. A small door was built into the doors, so that a pony could go out without having to open the noisy doors. I opened it, stepped outside, and sat, already seeing the sun peeking over the mountains. Unconsciously, my left hoof wandered left, as to get ready to stand up and spin with my right ready to fire if necessary, a habit introduced by my grandfather and one I had maintained throughout the years. To my surprise, my hoof clanged against something. A hatch, built into the walkway, popped open.

I peered inside. There was a book inside, nearly the exact size and shape to the other one. I pried it out of the hole, and hefted it. It was about the same weight, too. I opened it and stared in shock. The opening chapter was addressed to ME. Not 'Valton', but to 'Chris J. Telford, RCAF'. It read: 'You finally made it. Welcome to the big leagues, my boy!' Cautiously, I turned the page. Only one person I knew that had ever said that the air force was my grandfather, George A. Telford. Every muscle in my body froze. My grandfather flew in WWII. He went missing near the end of the war, 1945, after he tangled with some German jet fighters. He didn't show up until 1958, with two small children in tow, my mother and uncle; twins. He never talked about what happened in that time, only that a nice lady had taken him in, and my mother was named after her: Lucy. The book in my hooves caught a bit of wind, and the page flipped. I started reading.

Secondary Base of Operations

I flipped to the final page in the book, still in complete shock. A small black and white photo fell out. I quickly put my hoof on it so the breeze wouldn't blow it away. I smiled.

The picture was of all six of my grandfather's squadron. My grandfather and his wingman were the only ones looking at the camera. The other four were laughing too hard. The implied camaraderie reminded me of my squadron, and I wondered what had made what was left of the Canadian military command put us all together. I put that thought away and turned the picture over. 'The War Eagles, 1947, Canterlot' was written on the back in cursive. I tucked the photo back into the book and closed it. Taking in the morning for the final time, I walked back inside. As I walked into my room I could still hear Dash snoring, so I slipped into the bed and fell asleep beside her.

About an hour later, I woke up again. Dash was still snoring, so I slipped out of the bed and freshened up in the bathroom. With the last remnants of sleep gone, I walked to the cafeteria. Fareye and Fluttershy were there already, along with Princess Luna and Rarity.

"Morning!" Luna called.

"Morning." I answered back, grabbing a mug of something and an apple strudel and sat.

"Sleep well?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. Had a wacky dream though. Do you know anything about the Battle of Berlin?" A flash of something crossed her face.

"Yes, I believe I do." She stood. "Follow me, please." She walked out of the caf. I blinked in surprise at her icy tone. She was waiting by the stairs.

"Where did you learn about that?" Her gaze was full of fury and hurt.

"About what? The Battle of Berlin?"

"No! The code! That you had a dream about a certain subject!"

"I didn't know. I still don't."

"Then how did you-" She stopped. "You read the book, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"So you know who the original Element of Leadership is?"

"Yeah. Who could've guessed that my grandfather could have saved all of Equestria?" To my surprise, small tears welled up in Luna's eyes before she quickly looked away.

"In the book it said to ask you about the Battle of Berlin, and that you would know what to do." I felt terrible for her. "Maybe... maybe anothe-"

"No." Her voice wavered slightly, but held with steel. "Take Tes and Fareye. Mr. Griz, Mr. Blastburn, and Mr. Gunner are safe for now." She smiled. "They sure can drink."

"Yes they can." I smiled back.

Exactly 15 minutes later our small group, along with Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight, were on the 8:30 to Ponyville. I tried to pry any details of where we were going from Luna, but she remained tight lipped. Tes spent the trip explaining the basic fighter pilot skills to Twilight and the rest.

"You want to come out of the sun, so they can't see you."

"Why?" Rainbow asked. "Why not just stay in the clouds?"

"If the enemy is using radar and spots you in the clouds, he can fire a heat-seeker or just get on your tail. If you come out of the sun, they'll
see the contact, and look for it... directly into the sun. Also, any heat-seekers would just follow the heat of the sun."

"And you want to position yourself above and behind the enemy."

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"So they're trapped between you and the ground. If you're below them, they can fly in almost any direction in any altitude. If they're below you, they can only go down." I grinned. "Pop quiz, girls! What's more dangerous: a heat-seeker or a radar-seeker?"

"Ooh!" Twilight's hoof shot up. "The radar!"

"Why?" Tes leaned forwards.

"The radar-seeker has a longer range and can't be distracted by the sun or other friendly planes."

"But it gives off an alert to the enemy pilots." Rainbow jumped in. "The heat-seeker can be fired close in, so hopefully no friendly planes can get in the way. Plus, if it misses, you can always use your cannons!"

"Now who's the egghead?" I teased. Rainbow blushed as the train began to slow down and enter Ponyville Station. To our surprise it was deserted.

"Didn't you tell Spike to meet us here?" Tes asked.

"Yes, but he must have gotten busy reorganizing the books in the library and just forgot..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she saw three unicorn
stallions on the platform. "What are they holding?" I looked over to see the trio raise what appeared to be muskets towards us.

"Get down!" I screamed, shoving Rainbow and Rarity down into cover. A second later, the train car rocked with impacts. Instantly, I shoved my Colt over the railing and fired three quick shots before ducking back down. The unicorns fired again, and Rarity screamed.

"Fareye, get them to the next car!" I looked at Luna. "Just get the hell out of here!"
Tes popped up and fired his AA-12s.

"No need." He said grimly. "Got 'em." I looked up gingerly to see all three completely shredded, sickly looking green blood pooling around them.

"Hey, Twi, is your blood red or green?"

"Wha- Red!" Tes turned back to the 'unicorns', and before our very eyes, they transformed into Changelings.

"Changeling soldiers?" Luna muttered. "This is new."

"Let's get out of here." I said, walking out of the train car and motioning the girls to follow, thus keeping them from seeing what dual AA-12s could do. They were shaken up quite badly. Luna stepped out behind me and whispered that she would keep the girls occupied. I nodded and went back into the train. Tes and Fareye had already leapt from the train and were inspecting the Changeling guns.

"Bolt action." Tes said as I walked up. "Big, slow bullets." He pointed to the cluster of shells on the ground. "They each fired twice, but there's more shells over here." We went over to them.

"Look." Fareye pointed to three shapes laying on the ground far ahead of us. "Those look like the unicorns that attacked us." My eyes tracked the hoofprints in the ground. They led to a door built into the side of the station. That door was open, with scorch marks on and around the lock.

"Seems as though they locked up these three, and they escaped. The Changelings shut them down." I wondered about the burns on the door.

"I think Spike was in there too. He might have gotten away. We'll have to ask Twilight about it." Tes nodded, and pulled the station's cloth awning down, ripped it in half, and floated each half over to the bodies. When the Changelings and the unicorns were hidden, I called to Luna to bring the group around. When they saw the tarps, they all gasped.

"Are they..." Luna's face was a sickly shade of blue. I nodded.

"They were locked up in the station. Twilight, do you think Spike could have burned through this lock?" I pointed to the door. Twilight swallowed hard and nodded.

"I-is he..?" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"We've found no evidence suggesting that he is." Fareye said, his eyes focused on Fluttershy, who was crying softly into her hair. "When we find him, maybe he can answer how Changelings got this far into Ponyville without us being alerted."

"Changelings can shape shift into any form." Twilight said weakly. "They must have snuck in somewhere."

"Then we need to find that hole and plug it." Tes's eyes burned with barely restrained fury.

"For right now, it will have to wait." Luna said, still shaken. "I'll get my royal guards to... deal with the remains."

About half an hour later we were sitting in the Twilight's library. Spike was shivering in his bed. He explained that the Changelings had locked him and the three other unicorns into the station, and put some sort of spell on the unicorns preventing them from using magic. He had melted the lock, but when they tried to escape the Changelings shot and killed his three companions. The only reason he escaped was because he was short enough that the bodies blocked the bullets. I could almost see the incident replaying in his eyes.

"Survivor's guilt." Tes said suddenly. "I've seen this before." He knelt down next to Spike. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was!" Spike screamed. "It was because I let them out! The Changelings said they would let us go, they just wanted to see you in!"

"The Changelings would have killed you anyways. You gave them more of a chance." Tes said.

"They're still dead." Spike sniffed, then turned to face the wall. Tes stood.

"There's nothing more I can do." He said in a quiet voice to Twilight. "He'll either snap out of it, or he won't. Don't try to baby him that much. Try to get him doing what he normally does." Tes gave a sad smile, and to everyone's surprise Twilight gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you." She said quietly.
Luna quickly cleared her throat.

"Let's get back to our mission. Valton?"

"Yeah. Let's go, guys." Me, Tes and Fareye walked to the door, Luna already waiting, when Rainbow quickly flew over to us.

"I'm coming too!" She said adamantly.

"Okay." Luna said, smiling.

Half an hour later we stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Rainbow looked wary.

"This place isn't natural..." She mumbled. Luna pushed on anyways. After ten minutes, she stopped abruptly at a trapdoor built into the ground.

"This is it!" She exclaimed. "This hasn't been opened since the end of the Changeling War." The door glowed slightly as Luna levitated it open.
"It was intended to be a secondary base of operation." A dank, musty smell wafted out. I stepping into the hole and found stone steps leading straight down.

"Watch your necks!" I said, cautiously making my way down. The stairs suddenly turned ninety degrees, and I soon lost any light I had coming in through the open hatch. I was about to turn back when a small, dangling chain tapped my forehead. I pulled it, and dim lights began to glow on the walls beside each stair. I kept going down. Eventually, after three more ninety degree turns, I found a door. Tes and Fareye were right behind me.

"Tes, if you'd do the honours." I stepped aside as Tes concentrated his limited magical powers on the door, allowing to open just enough so we could squeeze through, and we stopped cold.
In front of us was a tall corkboard, nailed to a table. On the table was a giant, dust covered book with a quill sitting in a dried up ink pot. The board was covered in photographs of men, not ponies.

"Are they..." Tes' voice trailed off.

"They're all pilots." Fareye finished. He'd already scanned the whole board. "Looks like from all over the place."
I saw what he meant. I saw two guys sitting and grinning at the camera in front of a couple of Hurricane fighters, the photo black and white. Another was from what looked like the Korean War, with a man flipping the cameraman off as he climbed into his F-86 Sabre. Another looked like WWI, a German plane and it's pilot shown taking off. I also saw the small letters tacked onto the board beside the pictures. I walked over to one and read it. It looked like what a pilot would have written to a loved one in the event that he'd been shot down.

"They've all got letters beside their names." I said.

"Check out the book!" Tes hissed. The large novel had letters embossed in gold, but the dust was too thick for us to see what it said. Tes blew it off.

"The Equestrian Guest Book." I murmured. Tes opened the giant cover to reveal an introduction. Tes read it aloud.

"Welcome to Equestria, pilots! No matter what time, or war, you are from, you are always welcome here! As of right now, we are involved in a terrible fight with the Changeling Army. Just imagine Nazi chameleons.

"However, some of you may decide to not participate in our war. That's fine. You've probably been through a lot, and wish to remain out of it. We can always make use of your aircraft, if you're willing to give it up, of course.

"But for those interested, the Princess's throne room is directly ahead of you. Welcome to Canterlot, and the Royal Equestrian Air Force." Tes looked up confused. "Canterlot? We're in Ponyville."

"I think it was moved." Fareye said. "Most of these guys would've been taken in front of the princesses to be transformed, anyway." Tes nodded in agreement and continued reading.

"All of you must choose a new name. Most find it best to just to use your callsign. All the best, Firebird. Oh yeah, please sign your name into the guestbook, along with your squadron, and the date you arrived." Tes flipped the page. "What the... All of these are messed up!" I looked over his shoulder.

"What?" The dates were all over the place, just like the board. "How in hell can someone from 1968 come here before someone in 1943?"

"Look at the months! They're all in order!" Fareye said.

"Yes." Luna's voice cause all of us to turn. "When Equestria senses that it is danger, it sends out a signal to neighbouring dimensions. Which world called depends on the problem. Years didn't matter, only the moons." She smiled. "Those were the days. The glorious machines taking off daily. The Changelings couldn't get close. Y- Firebird and his squadron kept them at bay." Her smile became brittle.

"Come." She said huskily. "The other rooms are far superior." I caught the slight catch in her throat.

Rainbow paced in front of the pit. She had been told, by a princess, to stay outside until they came out. It was getting dark, and she was getting slightly scared, not that she dared say that in front of Valton or the princess. All Dash wanted to do was to flap her wings and head for home, but she was curious to see what was in the pit.
A growl behind her stopped her pacing. She turned to see gaping jaws and smelled rotting flesh.

The door was just creaking open when I heard Dash scream.

"Oh no." Luna looked horrified. "She's still outside!"
Immediately I drew my Colt and sprinted up the stairs. I saw the blue-black hole that was the door to the pit and exploded out. I quickly saw Dash, laying next to a tree, cowering in fear. Then I realized that the tree was moving. Drool dripped from it's jaws. I fired, the modified Colt's bigger bullets taking chunks of bark off of the thing, which I realized was made of trees. The thing turned, and I smelled something awful wafting out of it's jaws. I kept firing. I must have hit it's eye or something because green goo exploded out of it's head. It howled and charged at me. I dodged and it thundered past me and the pit. Tes vaulted out, and sprinted for me as I sprinted for Dash.

"Dash!" I skidded to a halt next to her. "Are you OK?" She whimpered, and her right wing shuddered. I saw that her left wing looked like it had been through a meat grinder.

"Jesus!" Tes yelled. His AA-12s boomed painfully close to my ears.

"Fuck! What is it?" I screamed.

"More of them! Three...five...GET BACK TO THE PIT!" He screamed back.

"Dash! Can you move?" I yelled, trying to get Dash back on her hooves. She started sobbing quietly and managed a sort of half-jogging limp. Every step brought fresh tears from her eyes. It was killing me to do it, but it kept her alive.

"Look away! I'm throwing a flash!" God knows where Fareye got a flash grenade, but I yelled at Dash to close her eyes and open her mouth. There was no way for her to cover her ears, so this would have to do.
Fareye slung his head sideways, the flash's pin between his teeth. I watched the small cylinder fly through the air, then turned my head and closed my eyes.

The flashbang exploded. Bright strobes of light burst against my closed eyes, and a painful ringing started to chime in my head. I put my head up to get my bearings, then pushed Dash as hard as I dared. We were at the edge of the pit when I saw one of the tree beasts step in front of us. My Colt was up, firing silent shots after silent shots. The bullets ripped through it's gaping jaws, but it didn't slow. I shoved Dash sideways and charged the beast. At the last second, I faked left, then jumped right on too of it's neck. It shook, trying to reach it's head around to snap at me, but I jammed the muzzle of the Colt into it's eye and blasted away. Green goo exploded out of it's eye, and it collapsed. I jumped off, and rolled away as the beast slammed into the ground. I looked up in time to see Dash being pulled into the pit by Luna, and Tes and Fareye falling back towards the pit. I sprinted in as Tes and Fareye slid under a swiping claw and slammed into me. We tumbled down the stairs, some miracle that no one broke anything, and slammed to a halt at the bottom.

"What...the fuck... were they?" Fareye gasped. His voice sounded as if he had a pillow over his mouth. My hearing was coming back.

"I don't know." I said slowly. "Maybe-"

"THOSE WERE TIMBERWOLVES!" Luna shouted. "I CANNOT HEAR VERY WELL."
I shook my head. The ringing in my ears had stopped completely. I looked at Fareye, who was inspecting his other flash.
"It shouldn't be wearing off right now. We shouldn't be able to hear for at least another couple hours, and even then our hearing shouldn't be one hundred percent for a week."

"That doesn't matter. Tes!" I yelled, carefully rolling Dash over so her injured side was visible. I grimaced.
The swipe she took tore her flesh, and blood was slowly oozing from the wound. I could see the muscles contracting as she breathed. Her wing, which seemed to have caught the brunt of the impact, was crumpled. Tes scrambled over.

"Princess, get some bedding! Valton, grab a kit off my pack and open it!" I did as he said, and he quickly unravelled string and a needle. He also pulled out a small shot of morphine. As Luna came back with a couple mattresses, he gave Dash the shot. It didn't seem to do anything.

"Crap! I think it's too small a dose for ponies! That's the one that was in my Raptor's medkit, I didn't see any other painkillers in these!" Tes gritted his teeth. "Dash, this might hurt. A lot." Luna lifted her onto the mattresses, and Tes went to work.
He first straightened her wing, making a splint out of the materials in his kit. Then he cleaned and stitched the gash in her side.

"That's all I can do. She needs some proper medical attention, a lot more than what I can do. I think those Timber-dog's claws may have infected the wound. Her temperatures going up as we speak." Tes looked grim. "We need to go. Now."

"Those... things are still out there. They won't leave until our scent is gone in what, a couple days?"

"We don't have that long." Tes sighed.

It was silent in the bunker, save for the scratching we heard from the timberwolves as they tried to get in. I stayed mostly with Dash. Tes had his AA's trained on the stairs the whole time while Fareye explored the area with Luna. The scratching was constant.

"How's she doing?" Tes asked quietly.

"She's running hotter than before, but still sleeping." We'd found some sleeping pills, and slipped them into Dash's water, since the morphine wasn't working. We'd also given her an antiseptic shot, but it didn't seem to help.

"They need to come back soon." As if on cue, Luna burst through the door.

"Come! We have found our escape route!" With that, she levitated Dash's bedding and Dash and bolted back through the into the dark hallway. Tes and I jumped up and sprinted eagerly after.

"You found another way out?"

"No. A helicopter!" We slowed slightly.

"A heli?" Tes looked confused. "How?"

"No time!" Luna turned left, Dash floating behind her. We turned to see an honest-to-God Huey sitting on a helicopter pad. Without hesitation, me and Tes vaulted into the cab. Dash was placed, very carefully, onto the floor of the cab, with Luna and Fareye in the cockpit. I carefully put a helmet on Dash, and put my own on just in time to hear Fareye say "-et on those M-60s! Those tree things'll be all over us!"

"No need." Luna's voice came through the radio, but slightly muffled. "You'll see what I mean."
I felt the rotors start to spin, and crouched beside Dash, to make sure that she wasn't shaken up too bad during takeoff. Tes was standing on his M-60. The Huey was now hovering, it's engine echoing inside the concrete basin. Over the roar, I heard something else. A rising howl that seemed to cone from the roof of the basin.

"The roof's opening!" Tes called. Fareye grunted. Holding the heli steady was taking almost all of his effort, it seemed.
Suddenly we were clear of the basin, and burst through the forest.

"No sign of the tree-wolves!" Tes yelled. Then he started shooting, his gun at an extreme upward angle. "CHANGELINGS!"
I hopped onto the other M-60, which had been configured for hooves, and fired short bursts at the two Changeling jets that hurried past.

"Missile! Shit!" Flares burst out of the sides of the Huey, and chaff fluttered slowly downwards. The missile decided that the burning phosphorus flare was more of an attractive target then we were, and exploded. But a near-hit was almost as lethal.
The Huey spun violently for several seconds. I braced myself around my door and made sure Dash wasn't going to fly out the side.

"They're coming back around!" Fareye straightened the helicopter and dove low. I closed my eyes as an explosion rocked the heli. Then Tes whooped.

"F-4s! I don't believe it! Phantoms!" Sure enough, two F-4 Phantoms roared past us, finishing off the other Changeling. Both looked a bit tattered, one seemingly barely able to remain in formation.

"Helo pilot! This is Red Ryder flight! Please respond!"

"We copy Red Ryder! This is... the Moonlight Express!" Luna smiled. "Thanks for the assist! We're on a Medevac call, would you mind giving us some cover on the way?"

"Negative, negative. Red Ryder Two-One is nearly bingo, and we've sustained some heavy damage."

"Our base isn't that far, Red Ryder. We can patch you up there."

"... Red Ryder copies."
I nodded. Fareye had gotten the two Phantoms to follow us to the Ponyville runway.

"Fareye, step on it." Tes called. "I don't think we have much time."

A Strange New World

The morning sunrise was shattered by the wailing of an air raid siren. I groaned, and dangled my legs of the edge of my bunk.

"Morning, fuckheads!" I shouted. The rest of my squadron grumbled as they woke.

"Great. More fucking Russians." My wingman, Willis 'Blastburn' Tromer said.

"You were expecting Koreans?" I asked, taking a swish of my mouthwash ration and headed towards the hangar. Inside the makeshift hangars were the sleek and beautiful F-22 Raptors, all a gift of the dying USAF. Our squadron mechanic, Gary 'Grease' Coulome was already prepping our jets.

"Morning, sir!" Grease saluted, his fingers making

an oily smear on his forehead. Grease got his nickname for never being without a bottle of grease. Or as he said, all purpose lubricant.

"Morning, Grease! Are your babies in top condition?"

"Fresh as a $100 whore, sir!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way." I climbed inside the cockpit and jammed my helmet on. While I made sure my oxygen was functioning normally, the rest of my guys hopped into their jets. Grease tapped my helmet to get my attention.

"Sir, the AWACs reports seeing the Su-27/Xs." Fuck, I thought. The only match for the Raptor was the advanced 27/X.

"Don't worry!" I gave Grease a cocky smile I didn't feel. "We'll terminate the fuckers!"

"Go get 'em!' Grease dipped into his bottle and finger-painted a greasy 'G' on the nose of my Raptor. I waited until he was clear before beginning to taxi out.

Three minutes later, we joined up with another squadron coming out of Victoria. I hailed the AWACs.

"Alouette, this is Eagle One. appreciate the eyes up there."

"No problem Eagle One. Keep those commies away from our coast."

"10-4."

For a few minutes, we flew in silence, and I pondered the question our entire base had been wondering: Why hadn't we been nuked yet? The Soviet Alliance hadn't been bashful about throwing nukes around during the Blitz, but now they wanted to fight a true air and ground war?

The AWACs controller snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Approaching target. Three miles, on the nose." The AWACs controller stated.

"Eagle Leader copies." I said. "Eagles, drop to twenty-two hundred and stay on course." I silently prayed, not for the first time, that the new Russian Su-27/X fighters would just crash and burn.

"Weapons hot, boys." AWACs called. I thumbed the radar-seeking AMRAAM missiles. I heard multiple 'hot' calls over the squadron radio.

Despite the fact that we were flying for the Royal Canadian Air Force, only myself and Desmond 'Tes' Moncou were actually Canadian. My wingman, Willis is British, while Greg 'The Griz' Grizkowski, Mikey 'Gunner' Kitchner and Garret 'Fareye' Jones were from the US.

I banked my F-22 Raptor, a gift from the US, and faced the incoming bandits. My AMRAAM's targeting radar got a hit, and locked. I squeezed off a missile with a cry of "Fox Two!" Two more AMRAAMs followed my own. I held my breath as the three missile approached the enemy fighters.

"Shit!" I cried as the missiles detonated way early. The Su-27/X, or T-X, was able to disable, destroy, or otherwise fuck up any radar missile's guidance system using high-frequency pulses of energy. We were screwed unless we could attack with our Vulcan Cannons, and no pilot had even come close to downing a Su-27/X with one. The T-X had a shortened wingspan, slightly elongated fuselage, and the dual engines tweaked and prodded to be able to go an incredible Mach 4 at full afterburner. A speed at which they were approaching us. I got a warning tone that I was being locked up.

"Evasive maneuvers!" I cried.

"Chaff chaff chaff." Mikey chanted as he threw his Raptor sideways. It did him little good as a missile detonated slightly to the left of dead centre on the plane.

"Shit! Eagle Four is hit! Any chute, any ch-" Griz's plane exploded. The remaining four Eagles split.

"Where are they? My radar's dead!"

"Damn it! They have a jammer!"

"I'm locked! Fox Two! Fox-" Garret's plane flipped over, trailing a stream of burning fuel. Easy pickings for another missile.

"Damn it, where are they?" I screamed. Willis was still on my wing, and we quickly fled to ground. I couldn't tell where Tes had gone, and my radar was still dead. I saw a flash, and watched in horror as two T-Xs bore down on us.

"Shit, Will! Break!" My warning was too late. Willis was hit by a missile and exploded. I dove even closer to the ground, where the ground clutter might make the missiles lose me. A second later, I felt the thumps of cannon shells as they chewed up my plane. My radar screeched as the T-X fired a missile point-blank into me.

...

Applejack trotted happily through Sweet Apple Acres, a basket of apples on her back. It had been a good harvest this season, and she was looking forward to the profits she would be getting. She could finally fix the barn! Suddenly, she heard the sound of something flying towards her. She turned, expecting to see Rainbow Dash flying towards her. Instead, she saw a very dark shadow. The ground shook beneath her hooves and she collapsed. The shadow screamed overhead and a few seconds later AJ heard it hit the ground. She stood, shaking then whistled for Finona.

...

I groaned. The light shining onto my eyelids was too bright. I tried to move my right arm up, but all I felt was pain. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see an orchard outside of a cracked canopy. I moved my left arm down and carefully detached myself from the plane. I opened the canopy, and stumbled out.

I was in a clearing of some sort. I carefully pulled my service M-1911 out of my holster and hefted it with my left hand. My right arm had a metal sliver stuck in it, and at the moment I wasn't strong enough to try to pull it out. I took a few cautious steps, then started walking aimlessly, trying to collect my thoughts.

I was in a place that shouldn't exist. I should have been swimming a couple kilometres from Vancouver Island, not walking around in a god-damn apple farm!

I walked back to my Raptor and carefully pulled out my medkit. After a small shot of morphine, I gritted my teeth, grabbed the sliver, and ripped it out.

"Fuck!" I screamed. My vision swam, and I waited until the morphine kicked in. I felt dizzy, but i could function. I grabbed my survival pack, and started out.

...

"H-hello?" Applejack called. "Anypony there?" She carefully moved towards the gigantic groove in the orchard, carved by whatever had crashed. AJ prayed it wasn't a dragon. She saw a large figure stand, and begin walking towards her.

"Hay!" She yelled. The figure raised something and the dirt in front of Applejack exploded with a boom. Startled, she wheeled around and galloped as fast as she could.

...

I stumbled backwards from the recoil of the M1911. I hadn't meant to pull the trigger, but the painkiller had dulled almost everything, and I'd squeezed off a round towards the Texan girl. I hoped I hadn't hit her.

Yanking out my compass, I marked where north was, and started walking. After a couple minutes, I spotted a dirt road leading out of the orchard. I followed it to a fence and a big sign that read 'Sweet Apple Acres.' A feeling of deja-vu swept over me, and I paused to think of where I had seen the sign before. Shaking my head, I kept walking.

...

Applejack skidded to a halt in front of Twilight's treehouse, screaming bloody murder.

"AJ, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"There's a thing that landed in Sweet Apple Acres! It shot something at me!"

"What?" Twilight gasped. "What did it do?"

"It raised something towards me and the ground exploded in front of me!"

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" Applejack shook her head violently. Twilight's mind immediately began racing to try to figure out what the creature was. Everything she could think of was bad.

"Quick! Get the others!" Twilight raised the glass containing the Elements of Harmony. "We're going to need these."

...

I heard the sound of hooves clattering on the dirt road.

"Crap!" I ducked behind the barn that was a part of Sweet Apple Acres, and laid down, my pistol at the ready. The horses came into view and I stared.
There were six and none of them had riders. Each was only as tall as my waist, and each was a startlingly bright color. Voices flooded over to me, and I recognized the Texan accent coming from the orange one.
"It was near the middle!"
"Alright girls, lets go get it!" They charged into the orchard. I relaxed slightly. Then a voice popped into my head.
'Follow them.'
I was tired, bleeding, high on morphine, and see talking horses in a place that shouldn't exist. What else could go wrong?

...

By the time the girls found the metallic beast, they were all panting. The shade from the trees helped somewhat to stave off the intense heat.
"What is that thing?" Rainbow asked. She had flown over, and was the first to see it.
"I... don't know..." Twilight gasped. She wasn't used to running long distances so fast.
"It looks like a chariot of some kind." Applejack said. "Whatever than thing was, it came out of that." She peered at the ground, and found the divot that had appeared after the creature raised something at her. "This is what it shot at me."
Twilight lifted a small cylinder out of the ground. She hefted it in her hoof.
"It's heavy. I can't tell what it is, but I do remem-" Twilight's musings were cut off by a gasp in the bushes.

...

Sitting behind a bush, I gasped slightly as my arm began to throb. Immediately, the group turned towards the bush.
"Crap!" I stumbled out from behind the tree and ran to better cover.
"One...two...three!" I heard a shout behind me, and turned to see blinding light rushing towards me. I expected to feel searing heat, but whatever the blast was just punched into my back and shoved me into the trees. My pack snagged on a branch, and I had to use my bad arm to try to free it while my good arm clutched the tree trunk. Snap!
I flailed wildly as the branched snapped, and managed to grab a hold of the strap, but it's momentum yanked me from the tree. I hit the ground with a thud.
"There it is!" I forced myself up, the entire right side of my body now aching. Another blast drove me into the ground, and I felt something give in my knee. Sure enough, when I tried to get up, pain sliced into my leg. I rolled onto my back, and tried to bring up the pistol, but it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. I gave up, and waited for death.
"Is it... bleeding?"
"Fluttershy, shush! It's still awake!"
I blinked, and I was surrounded by the six.
"It's hurt bad. Get him back to the barn, quick!"
I felt myself be lifted up, but like the ground had risen up with me, as I still felt pressure pressing against my back. A minute later, I was laying on a hay bale.
"Hey. Hey!" I croaked. "Could I have some water?"
The one I think was called Fluttershy motioned for one of the others to get some water. I drank it greedily, feeling it sooth my throat. Fluttershy peeled my blood-soaked flightsuit off of my shoulder and gasped.
"Oh, you poor thing, no wonder you were upset! Rainbow Dash, please go get a doctor." The flying blue one rocketed off.
"Uh, Pinkie? I think you should go too." I heard Texan horse say.
"Okie-dokie-loki!" A pink blur bounced out the door. I turned my head slightly to see my shoulder.
The hastily applied pressure bandage had been torn off and blood trickled from the gash. I sucked in a breath as the pain hit me like waves of fire.
"What is it?" Texan horse asked.
"I... don't know." I felt a pressure on my left side, and turned my head to see the purple one, who I took to be the leader. She poked me in the eye. I jerked back and felt my wound tear.
"Fuck!"
They all jumped back. I gritted my teeth.
"Sorry." The purple one looked at me apologetically. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack (Texan horse tipped her hat), Fluttershy (who at that moment was staring at the hole in my arm with a nauseated expression), and Rarity." Rarity appeared to be out cold on the ground. I heard Applejack mutter 'Drama queen' under her breath.
"What's your name?" Twilight asked.
"Chris Telford." I said. Somehow I didn't think these horses wanted to grill me for information, so I left out the fact that I was a pilot.
"Just what are you exactly?"
Adrenaline spiked. Landing in an apple orchard rather than the Pacific, fine. Talking horses, an after-effect of the morphine, but that had long since worn off. But the horses didn't go away. Where in fresh hell was I? I surged up and bolted towards the door. I had taken two steps before I hit the inert form of Rarity and went head-first into the ground. The world went dark.

...

When I awoke, I was sitting on a soft bed in a hospital of some sort. I looked around, and noticed that my legs were hanging off the end of the bed.

"Hello?" My tongue felt heavy, probably from the morphine. I tried to get up, but found that I was strapped to the bed. Fighting the panic that rose, I looked at my right shoulder. It was bound and wrapped with pure white bandages and no longer bleeding

"Ah, you're awake!" I turned my head to see a completely white unicorn with a clipboard floating in front of her. "You've been asleep for almost nine hours now."

I was still struggling against my bonds.

"Please calm down sir! You do not wish to injure yourself further!"

That's when the straps snapped. I lunged to my feet and staggered out the door. I was almost to the door when every muscle in my body seized up and I faceplanted onto the linoleum floor. I blacked out again.

...

My head was pounding when I opened my eyes a crack. I prayed that everything was back to normal, where there was no talking horses.

"Hello." I groaned as yet another unicorn came into my view.

"Hello." I answered.

"My name is Princess Celestia." As I watched her, I noticed that her... 'mane' I suppose was shimmering and moving.

"I'm... Christopher J. Telford, Squadron Leader, 558940."Even though I already knew that I wasn't in a place with any Russains, training kicked in. Name, rank, serial number. Celestia chuckled.

"That is not needed, Mr. Telford. You are in a different place now."

"I got that part."

"You are in a place called Equestria. Or rather, Ponyville, Equestria." To my surprise, she released me from the straps that held me to wall. I raced to what I thought was the door, but there was no knob. I turned back to Celestia, who had an amused expression on her face.

"The only way to open that door, I'm afraid, is with magic."

"You aren't worried that I'd force you to open it?"

"Not in the slightest. I can tell you are curious about how you got here. However, in order for us to continue talking, I must help you... fit in more here. This might hurt..." Her horn began to glow, and a sliver of golden light flowed towards me... then into me. I felt a tingle that turned into itching, then burning. My fingers and toes felt like they were curling up into my hands and feet, and my ears felt as though they were being ripped up towards the top of my head. I closed my eyes and screamed.

...

I was sitting in an all-white area. I could hear nothing, and could see only white.

"Hello?" I called. "Anyone there?" A figure approached, and I gaped. My mother stood in front of me. Tears rose in my eyes, despite the fact she had been dead for 3 years.

"Chris, you must remember." She cupped my chin with her hand and wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face. "Trust these ponies. Trust them with your life, for soon they'll do the same for you. All is well. You are going to be just fine." she kissed my forehead, and retreated into the white.

...

"Oh my." Fluttershy said quietly. "I hope he isn't getting hurt." She, along with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were at Ponyville General waiting for Celestia to finish talking to the 'human'.

"Shhh!" Twilight admonished. "They're coming out!"

Celestia walked out if the door proudly, followed by a stallion none of then had ever seen. He had a light purple coat, and a dark brown mane with streaks of silver. His green eyes were flecked with brown.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie immediately moved in front of the new guy and shook his hoof. "I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm... umm..." He looked at Celestia for support. She shook her head slightly. "I'm... Valton. I was that thing you saw in the forest.."

"That's a funny name!" Pinkie was shoved out of the way by Twilight.

"You don't have a cutie mark!"

"A what?" A blank expression crossed Valton's face.

"You don't know what a cutie mark is?" Twilight was shocked. Celestia moved to Valton's side.

"Since he isn't from Equestria, he hasn't got his cutie mark yet."

"Oh."

"C'mon!" Pinkie shouldered Twilight out if the way. "You have to meet everypony!" She grabbed Valton's hoof and propelled him towards the door.

"Why do we have to show this guy around?" Rainbow grumped. "We aren't babysitters."

"You are the embodiments of the Elements of Harmony. You have the strongest bond of friendship in Equestria." Celestia explained. "If anyone can make Valton feel comfortable, you six can."

...

I was getting used to my new body. I was walking better by the time we had walked halfway through town.

"-And that's where I live! It has the best cupcakes in town!" Pinkie was still droning on, but I was tuning her out and looking around for myself. It was a small, quiet town, much like my hometown of Delta.

"Pinkie, darling, don't you think that's enough? He's overwhelmed as it is." Rarity called from behind us. Over the chorus of agreement from the others, I heard something. I felt my ears twitch. It sounded like the drone of a heavy bomber but... no. Not here. They didn't even have cars yet, let alone aircraft! I kept listening, and the noise grew louder, and louder. The girls stopped talking, and gazed in the direction of the sound. The ground began to shake, and I heard someone gasping in horror. A massive, eight engined bomber came over the horizon. Trailing it were small fighters. As I watched, the bomber opened it's bomb bay doors.

"Fuck!" I yelled, and I started herding the group away from the centre of town.

"What is that?" I heard Twilight shout.

"Whatever it is, I'm not going to let it do whatever it's wanting to do!" I saw a flash of blue, and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground.

"Hay!" She cried.

"That'd be suicide!" I yelled. "That thing has fighter escort! Now keep moving!" I saw other ponies looking outside to check what was going on. Then the first bombs began to fall. I hugged Rainbow tightly as I shielded her the best I could, mostly because I was already holding onto her.

boom boom Boom BOOM BOOM!

The concussive blasts rocked the ground more than the plane. Slowly, painfully, the shockwaves faded as the bomber continued on. I stood, not noticing the bright blush on Rainbow's cheeks. As I watched the bomber finish it's run, I felt a slight tug on my flanks. I noticed a small black dot in the sky, and stared at it. The dot grew bigger, and bigger. There was a sudden flash of light, and I had to look away. When I looked back, an F-35 Lightning squatted on the dirt path that lead throughout the town. I rushed towards it, popped the canopy and climbed in.

"Start engines... there!" I punched the button that started the jet engine in the back. The familiar rumble comforted me slightly. I moved the throttle forwards, and kept the F-35 in hover mode. As it started to pick up speed, I saw the bomber starting to bank, intending to come around for another pass.

"C'mon, c'mon!" I yelled, yanking back on the stick. Slowly, painfully, the Lightning broke free of gravity's hold and began to climb. I let the airspeed pick up, and switched out of hover mode. The Lightning swept hungrily towards the bomber, now halfway through it's wide turn around the apple orchard that I had originally crashed in. I looked at my weapon's display. I had four AMRAAMs and two Sidewinder heatseeking missiles. As I grew closer to the bomber, two of the escort fighters turned to challenge me. My eyes widened at the sight.

The planes were small, basically just an extremely thin fuselage with two skinny wings and a single rudder slapped on the end. For reasons I couldn't fathom, spines protruded from the planes at seemingly random places.

A sudden beep broke me out of my contemplation. One of the spinies had a lock on me! I quickly dropped the nose of my F-35 and pulled into a hard turn. The spinie still shot, but the missile lost contact immediately. I rolled out of my turn, my eyes tracking a spinie in front of me. The familiar growl of an acquired Sidewinder lock sang in my ears, and I fired. What was strange was I never moved my hooves. It was as if the mere thought of moving my imaginary fingers to the button and pressing it was enough for the missile.

The spinie exploded. I felt rather than saw the others getting on my tail, and dove for the ground.

Treetops whizzed by my wingtips, inches from death, but I kept them level and flew faster. I was hoping that the spinies weren't very aerodynamic, and my gamble paid off with a concussive BOOM that shook my plane. I was safe, for now. The ground scrambled my radar and heat signatures, but that didn't stop the spinies from firing. A missile flashed by my left wing, and to my horror exploded in a small clearing, decimating a barn. I prayed that no one was in it, and pulled away from the ground. I didn't want more collateral damage. More warnings jangled, but I ignored them and kept going vertical. I quickly shoved into hover mode, my airspeed dropping dramatically as I stalled. The two spinies flashed by, and I got them right after the other. Coming out of the stall and hover mode, I turned my attention to the big guy. Not surprising, he was turning and fleeing, bombs scattering out of it's belly. It took me a second to realize he was dropping whatever he had left on the barn, and double that to put three in his engines. The bomber settled in the trees, mostly intact. Making a note of where it landed, I started searching for a spot to land. While flying, I felt a tingle on my flanks, and I spotted a slight glowing in the cockpit.

A minute later, my landing gear touched the earth on a small dirt road leading towards the forest. As I climbed out, several other ponies ran towards me.

"Is everyone OK?" I asked, hearing a slight rik-tik-tik from the cooling engine.

"I THINK SO." Applejack shouted. I noticed many small holes in the brim of her cowboy hat. A damn close call.

"Why is she shouting?" Twilight asked.

"The missiles and bombs. The blast from the explosives must have damaged their hearing. It's temporary. I think."

"You THINK?"

"I don't know how close they were to the explosions."

Twilight was about to respond when something slammed into me and sent me sprawling.

"Please, PLEASE tell me that that was you up there!" I heard a voice cry. I looked up to see see Rainbow Dash looking eagerly at me. Her auburn eyes were filled with excitement.

"Yeah. Ow." I sat up and brushed myself off.

"Heheheh. Sorry." She blew a puff of air at her rainbow mane. "Could you teach me how to do that?"

"That'd be hard without another plane, and as far as I know this is the only working plane here." I pointed at my Lighting. "Too bad I'm nearly out of missiles. Good thing I didn't miss, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"The spinies didn't evade, but I guess it was because I was using heat-seekers. Doesn't give a tone like radars do. They had radar too. Good that they didn't know how to use them properly."I motioned to the deaf ponies. "Sorry I didn't see the bomber dropping earlier. Those spinies were out for my blood, so it was them or me, and it wasn't going to be me."

"That was so AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cut in. "What do you call that move where you just stopped in mid-air and got the two behind you?"

"'Two on my six, cut engines and pray." I looked at Applejack, who was looking at me funnily. "What's the matter?"

"Your other 'plane' looks different that that one." I was about to answer when an explosion rocked the ground. The bomber!

"Damn!" I said. "Forgot about that guy!" I started towards the site of the explosion.

"Where are you going?" Twilight called.

"To get some answers." As I kept walking, Rainbow landed beside me.

"Let's go!"

...

As our hooves crunched on the dirt path, I noticed the first signs of wreckage. Scattered leaves and branches littered the ground, leading to a deep groove in the ground. As we kept going, I spotted a body on the ground. I quickly moved Dash's head away so she wouldn't see.

"Hay!"

I ignored her. The body was small, probably because it was cut in half. Whatever it was, it was black, and there were small holes and grooves all over it's body. It looked strangely similar to the fighters I had destroyed. We kept walking, and I released Dash's head.

"What was that for?" She glared at me.

"You didn't want to see that."

Finally, we came across the bomber. As I suspected, it was massive. The wings had created an entirely new clearing in the trees.

"Not much left of them, is there?" I muttered to myself. The cockpit took the brunt of the impact with the ground. There was nearly nothing left.

"Oh... my... gosh..." Dash gasped.

"Christ." I agreed with her. "Bastards deserved it."

I walked around the nose of the bomber, noting that there was no seeable way to enter the plane.

"See a way in?" I called.

"I see some buttons!"

"Hit 'em!"

I heard a soft click, and the entire top part of the bomber's cockpit lifted up.

"Good work! Now the only problem is getting up there."

Dash flapped her wings. "Duh." She carefully put her hooves around me and squeezed as she lifted up into the air. She dropped me into the cockpit, then landed herself.

"Holy..." I said. The cockpit was configured like a B-52, but slightly different. What I assumed to be the pilot, bombardier, and navigator seats all faced forwards, while two other seats faced each side. Three of the seats were occupied. I didn't need to check on them. They were clearly dead.

"That's three. With the guy outside, that makes four. Where in hell is the last guy?" I looked around, and saw an open door leading to the bomb bay. "I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you!" Dash seemed very eager to leave the tomb of the cockpit.

"You'd be better to stay here. You could wait outside." She immediately took to the sky and was gone.

I entered the dark corridor. My hoofsteps echoed down it. This plane felt dead, I thought to myself. My search was fruitless, but a couple times I thought I heard someone else breathing and walking behind me, but no one was there. I walked back to the cockpit... just in time to see Dash picking up... me! Only it wasn't me!

"Dash!" I yelled as I sprinted towards the other me. "That's not me! Drop it!"

Dash was confused entirely. She dropped the doppelgänger. As it stood, I hit it with a beautiful flying tackle. We hit the edge of the cockpit and tumbled down to the ground. We both stood, facing off.

"What the fuck are you?" I growled.

"I'm you." It answered back... in my voice!

I charged it. It may look like me, it may sound like me, but it sure as hell wasn't trained like me. I gave it a classic one-two to it's nose. It stumbled back and grinned.

"That the best you got?"

"Trust me, there's lots more where that came from, fucker."

...

Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could towards where the others were.

"Guys!" She yelled. "Guys!"

"What is it?" Twilight asked as Rainbow came to a skidding halt.

"We found the bomber, but there's two Valtons! They're fighting!"

"Oh no." Twilight said. "This isn't good." She immediately bolted into the trees.

"C'mon!" Dash called to the others. "Let's go!"

...

Whatever was copying me was starting to get better at fighting. I had gotten a few good hits in early, but it was quickly getting the upper hand. It was just like I was fighting myself. The copy was reading my moves, and it was predicting my attacks. It had gotten in one good hit on me after blocking, but we both were breathing hard.

"Valton!" I heard someone call. I quickly put my head up and saw Twilight come sprinting in through the trees and skid to a halt as she realized the predicament she was in.

"Twilight, it's me!" I yelled. The doppelgänger yelled too.

"He's the imposter! I'm the real one!"

Twilight looked back and forth between us, then sent a blast of energy into the copy. It landed on it's back, it's disguise flickering as it revealed itself to be one of the things from the plane. It was out, for now.

"Thanks. How did you know that was the copy?"

"I didn't. That spell only effects Changelings. If I'd hit you with it, it wouldn't have done anything."

"Except expose the copy and give him a chance to get away." I walked over to her, limping slightly.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah. He got a cheap shot in." I grinned. "But I got a while lot more in on him." With that, we started to walk back to where the others were, Twilight helping me slightly.

"What did you call that thing again?" I asked. My adrenaline had faded slightly, and I was starting to think about the doppelgänger.

"It was a Changeling. It's able to mimic a pony's body and voice."

"Might want to add movements and reflexes to that list. Guy was fucking copying my every move."

"That's incredible! That means they can mimic thought processes too!" Twilight's eyes shone bright with wonder. A split second later, Rainbow Dash crashed through the trees and knocked both of us flying.

"Where is it?" She cried.

"Out. Thanks to Twilight's magic." I winced as I got up.

"Sorry. Did that hurt?"

"Not much more than when the bastard smacked me with his hoof. Some tape around it, I'll be good." The rest of the group arrived through the trees. They were all asking questions and shouting. I raised my voice.

"I guess an explanation is due for you all."

"Well, yeah." The orange cowpony called. "How was you just a giant then a regular ole pony?"

"Well, to answer that you'd have to talk to Princess Celestia." I winced again as I shifted my weight.

"Well, how 'bout we go back to Twilight's and you can give us your explanation over some fresh baked apple pie?"

"Sure."

...

After some delicious pie, I started explaining:

"As most of you have deduced by now, I'm really not from around here. I don't even really know where 'here' is. I'm from a place called Earth, in a town called Delta in the country of Canada. I lived a pretty normal life. That was, until the Soviet Alliance came into power in another country called Russia. They were evil bastards. In one swift blow, the SA took over all of the continent of Asia and Europe, before nuking the country directly below Canada: the United States of America. They killed millions of soldiers, civilians..." I choked up. "My sister, my parents." I took a breath to steady myself.

"If you lived in 'Canada', why were your parents down in the United States of America?"

"Me. Because I had joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, I had knowledge of Canada's counterattack against the SA. Britain was one of our allies, after all. America was too busy fighting the drug war to bother who was killing who on the other side of the world, so I asked then to go down, thinking they'd be safe. Instead, they were at ground zero for the Manhattan Bomb." I sniffed, my eyes hot and swimming in tears.

"That's horrible!" Rarity had her hoof over her mouth.

"You couldn't have known." Twilight said.

"What's done is done. I can't change the past. I wish I could, but I just can't." I wiped my eyes and continued.

"I wanted revenge on the assholes that killed them. Our Prime Minister declared war on the SA on January 28, 2015. One day later, him and the rest of our capital city were destroyed in nuclear fire. To the East and South, there was only radiation. The military decided to move all operations to the West Coast. Unfortunately, the West Coast was the SA's background. We went up into the air, they knocked us back down just as fast.

"I was promoted to lead a squadron. The only reason was that I had survived more than one sortie. I was given command of five guys. They... they all bought it when I did." I sighed, my tale done. "That's it, I suppose."

There was silence around the table. Then Applejack spoke.

"In the mornin' I can take you back to your plane, if that's OK."

"Yes! Thank you. If I can get the Raptor fixed... Well, let's just say the F-23 is the F-22's younger and weaker brother."

"You can sleep here tonight, Valton." Twilight said.

"Thanks."

...

Later that night, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

Not counting the three I got Back There, I'm an ace now! I thought to myself. Just before I drifted off to sleep, I felt the strange tingle on my flanks again.

George 'Firebird' Telford

'Welcome to what might be the strangest place in the galaxy, Kid! Here, you shall find the most rare assortment of mythical creatures and fauna. But, we'll skip all that.

'I'm sure you are wondering what happened to me after I disappeared that day along with the rest of the '42 Eagles.

'It started as a normal escort into Nazi Germany. We hadn't gotten the new P-51s yet, so we were turning back while another squadron took over. On our way back, we got jumped by some ME-109s. We were just trying to get back to our base when the 109s cleared and these two brand-spanking-new jet fighters bore down on us! We got decimated, although Zapper managed to get a shot on one and the thing just blew up.

'When I woke up, I was sitting in a clearing in an apple orchard. I was bleeding rather heavily from my right shoulder, and I didn't know where I was. Thankfully, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found me. They probably weren't as wise as they are now, and they weren't even looking for me. Some Discord character was messing things up pretty badly. As you probably first were, I didn't quite accept that there was a magical world full of talking horses, but I got over it and watched them take down Discord. That was after they transformed me into a horse too. There should be a picture of me and my squadron in the back of this book.

'Anyways, they helped get my Spitfire to Canterlot and set up this wonderful cave you're probably sitting in. I was mainly focused on fixing my Spitfire until Zapper, Popgun and Propwash showed up. They managed to keep flying, and decided to follow their maps, which took them directly into Canterlot somehow. I got Princess Luna to signal them in to land.

'At first, all we were concerned about was getting back to our world, even though we were told that we had been summoned for a reason. With Zapper, Popgun and Propwash's help, we managed to get all four Spitfires working again. Just in time, too. The first Changeling attack happened the next day, and that's when Redline and Firewalker showed up, and while we whipped the Changelings back to kingdom come, we created the Elements of War. We also created the planes for each of our elements.

'That's all I want to reveal for now, but if you want to find the original planes of war, ask Princess Luna about the Battle of Berlin. She'll understand.

'Until the next, Telford.
G.A.T., REAF.'