My Little Pony: Equestria Warriors

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."