Ace Pilots Plus an Indestructible FA-18 Hornet

Chapters

Hey! Where'd they go!
Where the Norm stops here
Changing of the Tides
Proper Introductions of Newfound Power

Hey! Where'd they go!

Author's Note

I know I know. This story may be incorrect in military aspects. But I'm trying my best! Bear with me please!
I honestly began loosing my mind because I wanted to make a good story and strive to make it better than my last. I just wish I could have a proof reader and editor! Although please enjoy this story in progress to it's fullest extent.

Hey! Where'd they go!

Ace Pilots Plus an Indestructible FA-18 Hornet

Chapter 1: Hey! Where'd they go!

The storm winds are howling, the rain hitting the deck of the carrier hard enough to leave your face stinging for days, and cold enough to make you tap out when hitting your hand on another surface if hard enough. It's October, but it felt like a freezing night in December without snow. But it's the life we chose, Jamison and me. Allow me to introduce myself, I am First Sergeant Alex Fulcrum, and my co-pilot, Master Sergeant Jamison Mullins. We are Airmen of the United States Air Force, USAF for short. Now you maybe wondering, "What do you guys fly?"

Great question, have a cookie. I am the pilot of the FA-18 Hornet. Now this fine piece of aviation technology is a twin-engine supersonic, carrier-capable multirole combat jet able to fly in all weather. Like the F-16, the Hornet is also capable to break the sound barrier as well. Pretty neat huh? Yeah I thought so.

'Sirens begin to blare out through the entire carrier'

Whelp, that's all I got time for, and it's also time for a combat flight. See you all next journal entry.

"Jamison! Get your gear together!" Alex yelled from the hallway of the carrier into their bunks. The carrier sirens still going off, demanding for everyone to get it together.

"Alright.... alright, just hold on.." Jamison called back, his face buried into his pillow. Waving a dismissive hand as he rolled into the warmth of the blankets.

"I mean it!" Alex yelled again, stepping inside the bunks, pulling the covers off of his copilot.

Jamison let out a groan of discomfort, whining for his blanket once more. But was stopped by a pillow that assaulted his attempts of sleep, and then got up realizing his efforts were futile.

Hopping down from the top bunk, Jamison got ready for flight, stretching his arms and legs, popping his back and neck soon after. Alex was waiting by the entrance of the bunks, timing his co-pilot.

"One minute, really? I know you're faster than that." Alex commented, giving Jamison his helmet, while letting off a sly grin. "Come on, they're calling pilots up to the deck."

Alex then started walking off before Jamison could ask anything, making Jamison follow suit, holding his pilot helmet. "What's happening?" He asked as soon as he caught up, side by side with Alex.

"It's raining." Alex said in a smart assy tone, that grin still on his face.

"I mean why are they calling for pilots?"

"Hey, I have questions too, I'm experiencing the same thing as you. In other words I don't know, either." The First Sergeant replied, opening the door to the flight deck storage room where briefing was held for the weather occurring outside.

The two ace pilots soon joined the rest of the crew called up for briefing, saluting along with the others when their Captain finally arrived.

"At ease, Pilots..." The Captain said, watching as the pilots immediately stood at attention. "I personally apologize for this sudden meeting, but there's been something sketchy going on, as detected on radar. Normally we'd have anti-air fix this, but this weather isn't doing us any favors."

"Permission to speak, Sir." Alex called out, stepping forward out of the line, something bothering him.

"Go ahead."

"Why aren't we able to use anti-air, I believed they were capable to be used even in heavy rain." He pointed out, realizing a problem with the situation at hand.

Jamison glanced over at Alex, trying to figure out what he was getting at with this. Although he too wondered why they wouldn't be able to use anti-air, it didn't seem to be that big of a deal.

"That's the thing, we don't know either..." The Captain replied, not really answering Alex's question. "But there's something that's interfering with the targeting system of our AA. Which is why we're sending you up there to scout it out."

Alex stepped back in line, obviously feeling something wrong about this mission. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it seemed different in a way. But what could it be? Though it'd be something he'd have to deal with later.

"If that is all, you are dismissed to your aircraft's. Be prepared to leave in five." The Captain firmly demanded, soon walking back into the carrier stairwell, heading up to it's tower.

All the pilots that had been called up let out a "Hoorah" and headed off to their assigned jets, getting prepared as ordered.

Bolting through the rain, Alex and Jamison reached their FA-18, quickly getting inside to avoid the barrage of rain drops falling at great speed. Once safely inside, they made sure that the cockpit hatch was closed and secured. Then putting on their helmets, Alex began systems checks, making sure the jet was in tip top shape in system standards.

"RTD prepared for take off, over." Alex then called into the radio, waiting for ATC (Air Traffic Control) to respond.

"Can confirm, you are cleared for take off." The tower had responded after a pause, giving the go ahead for lift off.

"Copy that, over and out." Alex then silenced his channel to the ATC, getting ready to leave the carrier.

The deck crew soon navigated the FA-18 to the catapult system, setting up the launch of the aircraft off the deck of the carrier and out into the air. Alex and Jamison watched as the deck crew left their area, getting out of the way of soon to be catapulted jet, trying not to slip and fall due to the heavy rain.

Alex then engaged the thrusters, the catapult assisting their take off from the carrier in two seconds. Pushing both pilots into their seats as the flew off into the stormy night, turbulence affecting the flight, but wasn't a major problem to the experienced pilots.

As they flew on into the night, they were followed by fellow FA-18's, getting into formation as they travelled to the "something" that was detected on radar. Being observant as much as they could through the rain and dark skies.

"This is FUBAR...." Jamison stated, complaining from his seat, seeing nothing to report so far. He looked down again on his radar, seeing it fuzzy, catching him off guard. "What.... whoa." He flicked the radar, it going back to it's normal condition.

Jamison got on radio, getting in contact with the other FA-18's in the squadron. "Hey.. did anyone else see their radar flickr?"

"Yeah"

"Same here."

"Ditto."

Jamison then saw three dots appear on radar, heading towards the squadron. "Heads up, bogies 3'o clock."

"Copy that, Merlin." Alex responded, banking right, the rest of the squadron following suit towards the radar sighting.

As they continued on, getting closer to the "bogies", lightning soon appearing inside the sky, lighting up the entire area.

They then saw within the flash of lightning was another set of jets in the distance, looking Russian. "Looks like it's our friendly neighborhood Russians." Alex said, noting that they looked like Su-24's.

Jamison was about to make radio contact until they were locked on, the Su-24's launching a missile, catching Jamison off-guard, but Alex immediately deployed flares and pulled up into the clouds above them, the rest of the squadron following the lead, disappearing in the clouds as well.

"So much for friendly greetings...." Alex commented, quickly thinking on the next set of moves.

"Why fire at us?"

"Probably protecting something of importance. And it seems we'll be taking it off their hands." Alex replied, getting ready for combat, his trigger finger itching just so slightly with control.

"Copy that."

Alex then pushed the aircraft into a nose dive, attempting a flank on the Su-24's, unloading 20mm rounds into the jet lead, appearing above them from the clouds. The Russian squadron then dispersed, avoiding the attack but not all. The one of the five was pelted with 20 mm's, going through the cockpit of the craft, leaving four remain.

The rest of the dogfight was a blur to the end. During the fight it became two against one, Alex and Jamison facing off the remaining two Su-24's. They wove through the clouds, trying to shake off Russian crafts.

"Damn it! I can't see them!" Jamison hollered, frantically looking around behind them.

"No shit!"

Alex continued to focus on trying to evade the Russian pilots as they were being barraged by yet another wave of munition rounds. Jamison took it upon himself to contact the tower for hope of back up, but came to failure. He tried again, yet got the same result.

"God damn it! I can't get in contact wi~"

Suddenly a bright flash of lightning appeared out of nowhere, striking their wing, followed by a loud boom of thunder. The two pilots became blinded as they fell through the sky, nearing the raging ocean below, controls soon becoming unresponsive.

"EJECT! EJECT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Alex yelled after regaining vision, attempting to pull the handgrips of his seat to eject from the free falling aircraft, but nothing happened.

Jamison got the same result, realization striking him hard like a freight train. "IT'S UNRESPONSIVE!"

"FUCK! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The pilots held on tightly onto their seat as the FA-18 proceeded into a flat spin, their vision becoming blurry to a black hue. The wind whistled loudly around the falling aircraft, while the jet itself was shaking violently and proceeding to get worse with every second.

"FUUUUUUUUU-" Alex and Jamison yelled in unison as they soon crashed into the water just as another bolt of lightning stuck. The force of the impact knocking them both out cold as they sunk into the ocean abyss, the last thing to be seen was a bright flash of white, rainbow tinted, light from where they crashed.

5 or maybe 7 hours after Impact

Jamison was the first to regain consciousness, but not fully awake. He groaned out in pain, the oceanic impact doing a number on him. Finally deciding to see what was going on, he took off his helmet and slowly opened an eye, but Immediately regretting this decision.

"GAH! BRIGHT!" He yelled, quickly shutting his eyes tightly, the newfound light almost blinding him.

As cause and effect, his scream awoke Alex, bringing along a pissed off and pain filled groan, also failing to withstand the bright light of the sun. "Turn the lights down! Jesus!"

Jamison would've at least chuckled at Alex's foul tone, but his whole body was to sore to even let out a snicker.

He then slowly tried again to view his surroundings, his eyes adjusting to the vast amount of sunlight. He took note that they were still in their FA-18 Hornet, but lower to the ground than usual. Alex on the other hand was still waking up, but managed to do the same in surveying the area.

"Where the fuck are we?"

Somehow they were in a forest clearing, the grass tall and vibrant green. The trees around them were somewhat shorter than usual and the leaves coated its branches in a dark green, and further down within the trees sunbeams shone brightly through the treetops. As they looked above the treeline, various grey mountains reached up into the sky with pointed peaks with snow on the top of each one, and saw few flocks of birds fly past, but something about them were off. The birds were, or at least looked like from a distance, a vibrant flame orange mixed with red with a small trail of the same colors behind them.

"This... feels weird." Jamison pointed out, still looking around and taking in the alien scenery.

Alex then took off his helmet, unbuckling himself from the pilot seat to get out. "You're telling me. I don't get how we aren't dead." He responded, readying a standard 9mm Beretta he had on him as part of his survival gear.

Jamison hopped on out of the FA-18, following Alex's actions, readying his own Beretta. Looking down onto the Hornet itself, it was on the ground at least, but without the landing gear open. "This is a problem..." He chuckled, attempting to keep a positive vibe with the current situation.

Upon further inspection, the FA-18 looked surprisingly to be in good condition, the only exception was that it was literally laying down on the ground.

Alex began to scan the area, a hand over his eyes to help block the sun. "I'm going to see if there's anything recognizable landmarks to figure where we are, you stay near the Hornet and make a camp. I have a feeling we might me here for a while." He said, re-cocking his Berretta just in case.

"Copy that, sir." Jamison replied, giving a quick salute before getting to work.

As soon as Alex left into the woods around them, Jamison started looking around for stones, sticks or twigs to start a fire and possibly a signal fire in case they needed it. After setting up a fire pit, he grabbed a canteen he had stored before the flight, opening the cap and taking a sip out of it, water soon travelling down his throat with a refreshing coolness. The sun wasn't doing any favors when it came to the temperature in the forest clearing. Once everything was ready, he began to find a way to start a fire.

In The Woods With Alex

Alex was walking through the woods, low hanging branches almost slapping him in the face. Though unlike in the clearing, where it was hotter, in the shade brought a cold breeze, colder than what was to be expected. Another cold breeze hit his face followed by a disgusting smell strong enough to make one barf out their entire stomach.

Alex then pinched his nose, gagging at whatever the smell was. "Holy shit... Ugh! What is that?"

Throughout the forest, the only answer he got was a low growl emitting from behind trees and bushes, a pair of green eyes glowing from within the shadows. He immediately drew his pistol towards the noise, aiming right between the pair of eyes watching him, slowly backing up, his heart starting to race with in his chest. The creature then slowly began to walk from the bushes, light now shining on it's figure.

"W-what...?" His eyes widened as his breath became shallow at the sight. Completely baffled at what was in front of him, it was a wolf like creature but was made of wood and twigs, and tall enough that they met eye to eye. He then stumbled, tripping over a log behind him, falling to his back, hitting the ground hard. He let out a grunt of pain, the wind being knocked out of him, losing hold onto his pistol.

The creature then took this to an advantage, quickly pouncing towards Alex, landing just on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Thinking quickly, Alex maneuvered his arms to block the jaws of the creature that were snapping at his head, gripping onto its muzzle. He then kicked creature off of him, throwing it back over the log.

The wolf like creature stood back up quickly, getting off it's back and pounced once more at Alex, letting out an anger filled roar as it did so. In a frantic search, Alex quickly looked for the Beretta on his hands and knees, feeling around for the lost weapon.

"Shitshitshitshitshit!"

Once more, the creature landed on Alex's back, taking a bite into his right shoulder, it's fangs digging into his flesh. Alex let out a yell of pain, his hands reaching to the creature's head. With a grip on it's head, Alex slowly stood up and flung the wolf over his shoulder and onto the ground, bringing more pain filled cries as its teeth ripped through his shoulder. His hand latched onto the wound tightly, blood soaking through his flight uniform. Glancing around once more, he found the Beretta, quickly picking it up once more. While doing so, the wolf was back up again, charging towards Alex once more.

Without hesitation, he quickly aimed for its head, firing 9mm rounds into its wooden skull, shattering completely into splinters.
Alex watched as its body fell to the ground as it became a pile of wood. He winced in pain as his wound pulsated in agony, blood continuing to pour from the splinter filled gash in his right shoulder. Alex then began to return to the forest clearing, putting the Beretta in it's holster as he walked on.

The scent he smelled before hadn't left his nostrils, which came to be a very good reason to leave. But with in the bushes, more green eyes popped up from the shadows, watching silently as he moved on.

Back at the Forest Clearing

Jamison had set up a small camp, placing in order everything they needed to survive for the while.

"Flares...check, ammunition... check..." He dragged on, checking off his mental checklist of what was on hand.

Jamison soon came over to a pair of binoculars and picked them up, inspecting them as an idea came to mind. He then climbed up on top of the FA-18, getting a good view above the clearing. Putting the binoculars over his eyes, Jamison looked across the tree tops, scanning the area as he spotted a town in the distance.

"Yes! Civilization!" Yelling in excitement, Jamison threw his fist into the air, happy at the fact that they didn't need to stay in the forest for very long. He then suddenly slipped off the aircraft due to his erratic celebration, landing on his ass and letting out a yelp of pain.

While Jamison was slowly getting up, his attention was then turned towards the tree line, hearing noises from within the bushes. Quickly, he pulled out his Beretta and aimed in the direction of the noise, but his suspicions subsided when he saw an injured Alex. Jamison ran to his side, helping Alex walk towards the FA-18 to lie down.

"What the hell happened in there?" Jamison worriedly asked, shocked and scared for what might be in there to have caused this.

"A fucked up wooden wolf attacked me." He responded, wincing in pain once more, his wound pulsated in aggravation.

Jamison didn't expect this answer at all, curiosity striking at the term "wooden wolf".

"What do you mean?"

His suspensions were then answered by a growling from the trees, coming from multiple sides, eyes popping up with a green glow like Jamison had never seen. One by one, the creatures walked out from the tree line into the sunlight, causing Jamison to pull out his Beretta along with Alex.

Gulping hard, Jamison silently cursed, switching his target to which ever wolf got closer, aiming for the head. "Ready to fire on your mark, sir..."

"Fire!" Alex ordered, firing his first shot, missing the wolf's head, but then got a direct hit on the second shot, soon switching target once more.

The clearing soon became full of the sound of roars and gunfire, the odds not in the pilots' favor. The firefight became strenuous, the wolves soon gaining more numbers as they continued on.

"Reloading!" Jamison yelled, beginning to reload the Beretta. While doing so, something caught his eye. The flare gun.

Without any further haste, Jamison picked up the flare gun and fired it into the air, a red trail of smoke marking their location. He then reloaded the flare gun, firing at one of the wolves and catching it aflame, watching for a short while as it howled in being burned alive. But to no avail, the wolves kept pushing forward.

"We need to move now!" Alex commanded, slowly getting up with Jamison's support.

Once he was on both feet, they were about to run to the other side of the clearing when something in the sky caught their eyes. They stared in surprise when the image came closer.

"Is that... a flock of birds or..." Alex stared off, becoming very confused.

"A group of horses with wings... that are wearing armor, golden armor..." Jamison finished for him, but his attention was drawled back to the wooden wolves. "Keep firing-" He was then cut off, watching as mass number of spears flew into the ground, impaling the wolves that were attacking them.

Both pilots watched in awe as the wolves soon retreated back into the forest, escaping the new assault that was upon them. As soon as every wolf left the clearing, Jamison and Alex then became surrounded by what they did not expect.

"Freeze!" A voice called out from a crowd of Pegasus surrounding them with spears pointed.

The two pilots raised their hands into the air, dropping their weapons, Alex doing the best he can with his injury. This sudden action caused few of the Pegasi to step back, not sure exactly what they dropped and not exactly sure 'what' they were.

There was an awkward silence, Alex and Jamison exchanging glances with one another. "You want to try to make first contact with an alien species?" Alex whispered, causing Jamison to almost burst out in laughter, making the Pegasi flinch, but their spears still pointed towards them.

"State your intentions!" The same voice called again, stepping out from the crowd. Making both Alex and Jamison to look towards the voice.

The Pegasus before them was without a helmet, and judging by body shape and voice, it must've been a female as well. Jamison and Alex looked at each other in confusion and awe.

"I have an idea, but it might be risky." Jamison whispered to Alex, "I believe I might have seen this before on T.V." He finished, looking back at the Pegasus mare.

He coughed once into his hand, stepping forward to make conversation, the mare giving him a steely eye glare. "We come in peace..." Jamison couldn't help to smile a little with that introduction. "And mean your kind no harm, but we acquire medical attention for my friend." He completed, pointing to Alex and his wound.

The Pegasus looked over to who he was pointing too, although distracted at the fact that they spoke the same language, she didn't let it get to her. "Doc! Examine the..." She trailed off, not knowing what 'they' even were.

"Human?" Jamison finished for the Pegasus, having a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Yes, examine the humans' wound."

As soon as the Pegasus completed the order, with assistance, another Pegasus in golden armor, with a armband of a medic, flew up to Alex cautiously, examining his wound.

Jamison perked up again, "May I ask your name?"

The Pegasus mare ears perked, slightly caught off guard with the question, but regained her composure. "It's Sea Breeze, Captain Sea Breeze. But that does not matter, what does is the reason you're here."

"Oh, we didn't plan to come here, something of a storm transported us here." He added, then pointing to the FA-18. "We came here in that beauty while we were in combat."

The mare looked at the object the Human pointed to, tilting her head at it in confusion. She then walked over to it, inspecting it curiously as she hovered in the air. "And this is...?"

"A twin engine supersonic jet, the FA-18." Jamison answered the Pegasi question, walking over to pat the FA-18. "But I have a request-"

Jamison was interrupted by Alex, cursing in pain as splinters were being pulled from his wound. "Fuck that hurts!"

The Pegasi who was working on him, supposedly named Doc, winced as Alex hissed in pain. "I told you it'd hurt, luckily this isn't the first time I've dealt with injuries such as this."

Alex just gave a sigh, looking towards Jamison, silently telling him to hurry up with his idea.

"May I ask a question?" Jamison piqued up, putting his thumbs in his pockets, kicking the ground beneath him.
The Pegasus mare looked at him, waiting for a while but then nodded, letting him go on with his question.

"Is this the land of 'Equestria'?"

"Why yes, it is. Why do you ask?" The mare tilted her head, looking at him curiously.

Jamison began pacing back and forth, putting his hand over his mouth as he glanced around him, looking towards Alex and the other Pegasi. "Fuck!" Jamison yelled loudly with sudden anger in his voice. "This... this can't be real. It has to be a dream."

The crowd flinched at his outburst, few aiming the spears they carried as they kept a cautious eye.

Alex looked towards Jamison, his eyes following Jamison as he continued to pace back and forth. "What do you mean? Seems pretty fucking real to me."

Jamison looked back at Alex, staring directly into his eyes. "We are now in a world full of magical talking horses. Tiny horses from a little girl's TV show called "My Little Pony"! How can you be so calm!" He ranted, ignoring the suspicious glances of curiosity from the group of Pegasi.

"I just... can't wrap my head around this. Someone punch me." Jamison commanded, obviously distressed with the situation. Alex then got up and punched Jamison, with his good arm, in the groin. The Pegasi watching, mostly all the males, flinched as they watched what unfolded.

Jamison crumbled onto the ground, reeling back with pain. "Control yourself, dammit." Alex ordered, watching as Jamison was still lying on the ground in pain. He then pulled Jamison up off the ground, letting him gain his balance before he let go.

"Ok, could we get back to the situation at hoof?" Sea Breeze asked irritably, becoming impatient.

Then the two pilots turned their heads to the Pegasus questionably. "Hoof?" They asked in unison, getting caught off guard.

The mare just sighed, waving her hoof as few guards soon came and surrounded the pilots. "Get them to base, we can't stay here much longer." She noted, looking towards the sky, locating where the sun was positioned.

"Wait!" The pilots shouted, getting a glare from Sea Breeze.

"We need that jet." Alex stated, pointing to the FA-18.

"And how do you suppose we get it to where we're going?" Breeze asked, a stern expression planted on her face.

The pilots looked towards each other, then back at the mare. "Magic?"

"Buck it..." She cursed silently before speaking up once more. "Alright! Somepony get in contact with the other Unicorn battalions and tell them to get the hunk of metal out of here." She barked, receiving a retort from both the pilots, but ignored it for she didn't want to deal with it.

"FAN OUT!" Sea Breeze yelled loudly, watching as Pegasi soon fluttered into the air. "And you two," She then pointed to two random Pegasi. "Do what you need to get the humans to base." Finishing her command, she blasted off with great speeds into the air, traveling in front of the pack of Pegasi.

The two Pegasi groaned in annoyance, grabbing the two pilots with their hooves, and flew after their squadron leaving the pilots utterly breathless and scared as hell.

Where the Norm stops here

Ace Pilots Plus an Indestructible FA-18 Hornet

Chapter 2: Where the Norm stops here

It looked all too familiar, but instead of humans, it was ponies running around doing various jobs. Alex and Jamison both looked in awe and shock. Finally arriving at the "base" of the ponies, it looked like a regular airbase. Except it was built by ponies for ponies.

Along the flight, they noticed many things, one being how colorful the world they were in was. Even how ridiculous the buildings looked, more specifically that building that looked like a giant cupcake with candies all over it. But soon their sight seeing excursion came to an end as the pilots were dropped off, and literally dropped, off near a building of the ponified airbase.

"Yeah thanks, asshole!" Jamison hollered while throwing the bird at the two Pegasi that dropped them. He rubbed his now aching ass from the landing, watching as the Pegasi flew off.

"Cool it, Jamison." Alex demanded, place a hand over his wounded shoulder. He then turned and looked at the building they were dropped off at. "Administration..." He said quietly, reading the sign above the door.

Jamison then had done the same, soon looking into the building's window for a view inside. There he saw a familiar figure at the front desk of the building who seemed to be talking to another pony behind it. "Hey it's that Pegasus Captain... Ocean Wind, I think." Jamison pointed to the mare, motioning for Alex to look in the same direction.

"It's Sea Breeze, Jamison." Alex said, seeing the mare as well. Suddenly his focus was taken off of the scene inside to the reflection that the window gave off, seeing a lot more ponies behind them doing various things while the sun soon became closer to sunset

There were a large group Pegasi, maybe twenty at most, that seemed to be doing a form of push-ups with their wings while being yelled at by a Drill Sergeant.

"Come on, Maggots! I've seen your mothers do better than you while they were still having you in their bellies! Is that all you got! Push it, Maggots!" The Drill Sergeant yelled loudly, walking around the large group. "Do you understand! I said push it!"

"Sir yes sir!" They all yelled back, exhaustion strained in their voices as they continued on, few struggling to push back up.

Alex and Jamison turned away from the building to watch the spectacle before them, laughing lightly at the Drill Sergeant's taunts.

"You don't hear that everyday for pt."

"You don't see 'this' everyday. Like a world so far full of ponies and wooden wolves." Alex replied to Jamison comment without haste, forcing realization back upon them.

Jamison stood still for a long while, not noticing a group of Pegasus soldiers running past. "How... how is this not a dream...?"

"Maybe because we're both having it." Alex stated, taking a seat against the wall of the Administration building, wincing slightly at the pressure being put on his shoulder. The thought made Jamison silent once more, obviously thinking about something by the scrunched up look on his face.

"Or this is a weirder version of hell..." Jamison said finally, placing a hand on top of his head, brushing his hair slightly.

Suddenly with a cough, and two duffle bags thrown at the pilots, Alex and Jamison looked towards the source of the cough to see Sea Breeze glaring at them.

"First off, you two are lucky that you won't be sleeping uncomfortably thanks to your truly." Breeze said sternly. The pilots were about to say something else, but they were cut off by Breeze. "And yes, we do have your giant hunk of metal-"

"FA-18" Alex and Jamison corrected her simultaneously.

"-FA-18 being transported to base here and should arrive after sundown by 2 hours tops." Sea Breeze finished, holding a hint of an annoyed look on her face from their interruption.

Alex was the first to take a peek inside the duffle bag given to him, finding a blanket and pillow inside. "Thank you, Captain." He said proudly, standing up to give her a salute, Jamison doing the same, catching her off guard completely in doing so.

"We will stand by and await our aircraft's arrival. Mainly that it should always be within eyesight when on duty." Alex said after zipping back up the duffle bag and hung it on his good shoulder. "Just point us to where she will be transported to and we'll be on our way."

Sea Breeze suddenly shook her head, regaining thought, and pointed to the far end of the runway. "Your aircraft will be unloaded down over on the east runway. I suggest you hurry, sundown in 15 minutes."

"Thank you once again, ma'am." Alex said once more before motioning for Jamison to follow down to where their FA-18 would be, running quickly to beat the sunset in time.

Sea Breeze watched as they ran off, her tail swishing through the air irritably, something bugging her mind. "Why is it now they show up?" She then looked onto the horizon of the setting sun, watching as it slowly descended away from sight. "Could they be... no, impossible." Breeze said finally, beginning to trot to her bunks amongst the base as spotlights began to flicker on, lighting up the now dimming airfield.

Elsewhere Outside Equestrian Airstrip near the Everfree Forest

The whirring of steam engines and propellers were loud amongst the Griffon Airship. The airship itself was a large and bulky piece of Griffon technology, built for total destruction, thus why it was a destroyer class airship. Amongst the airship itself was a crew entirely made of Griffon soldiers and technicians, constantly working in order to keep things running smoothly.

"General Talon, the cannons are armed and ready for combat." A voice spoke up, bringing Talon out from his daze and at attention to the current situation.

"Good." Talon spoke up, getting up from his chair and walking over to an intercom in the Captain's Cabin, prepping for what he was about to say. Taking a deep breath, he began to speak into the intercom. "Alright soldiers, tonight is the night we make our move. We did not come this far for defeat. For we have the element of surprise, we cannot compromise this operation due to lack of focus and strategy."

Talon paused, before taking another breath and continuing. "I want everyone prepared for combat and in their designated stations. I don't want any mistakes made or I will personally pluck your feathers and throw you off this airship. As I said before, we have come too far just to fail."

The whole crew went silent knowing that his words weren't bluffs to scare. Talon's reputation for being a ruthless General, not accepting failure from any griffon in his army, as well as winning every battle he took part in, utterly crushing who was in his way.

"Now get back to work!" He yelled over the intercoms, and as quickly as ordered, every crew member began to do as they were told once more. General Talon walking back to his seat, sitting back down for the rest of the operation.

With sudden lurch, the airship began to move slowly, its destination was the Equestrian Airbase of Ponyville, bringing soon to be destruction with it.

The Equestrian Airbase of Ponyville

"Hold it steady, dammit! That's a 98.3 million dollar aircraft you're carrying!" Alex yelled at the Unicorns, who were levitating the FA-18 to the end of the runway.

The Unicorns just snorted and rolled their eyes, tempted to just drop the FA-18 on Alex and Jamison's heads while they were manually opening the landing gear. It was a struggle at first, but they soon managed to get the wheels out, walking out from under the levitating fighter jet so it could be set down on the ground.

"Ok, now 'slowly' set it on the ground, and 'gently'." Alex commanded, putting emphasis on the key words of what to do.

Doing just that, the Unicorns then left, leaving behind what else there was that the pilot's had with them when they first arrived. Quickly, the two pilots began to inspect the aircraft for any damage of any kind, making sure it was ok if they were to take off again.

"Everything looks... ok? It's like nothing happened to it before we first took off." Jamison said finally, finishing up his part of the check up on the FA-18.

"You sure? Give me a system diagnostic check, we have to be sure." Alex ordered, almost baffled by the fact there wasn't anything wrong with the aircraft so far.

"Copy that."

Jamison then began to climb up to the cockpit, opening the hatch to where he could climb into the co-pilot's seat, performing the system diagnostic check as told.

"How the fu-" Suddenly an explosion went off, cutting Jamison off before he could finish his sentence.

Both the pilot's attention were drawn where the explosion came from, seeing what looked to be a pirate ship with a giant balloon instead of sails in the air, almost shitting their pants. The apparent airship began to attack the airbase with explosive power, causing destructive carnage and emergency sirens to go off all throughout the area. They watched as Ponies began to take defensive action, firing what they had at the airship, but all for nothing.

"What the absolute fuck!" Alex and Jamison yelled in unison, staring in awe and minor terror at the sight.

"Jamison! Prepare for combat!" Alex yelled, climbing up into his seat of the aircraft, putting on his pilot helmet, getting prepared for take off himself.

"Wait what! We don't even know if she can run, overall even fly for that matter!" Jamison yelled back in protest, still standing on his seat as he pointed at the FA-18.

"We either find out or get blown the hell up!"

This caused Jamison to stop his protest, soon sitting down as he prepared for take off as well, strapping himself in. The hatch then closed, both pilots making sure it was sealed shut and secure. Once everything was in order, Alex began his portion of system checks, testing the flaps, ailerons, and elevators. Surprisingly everything in the aircraft was running perfectly, like brand spanking new, perfect. Soon Alex engaged the thruster, slowly maneuvering forward, gaining speed on the runway.

As the Ponies stationed continued their efforts, they were attacked by Griffin forces, becoming a close quarter battle. Both Ponies and Griffin soldiers began their clash, instantly drawing blood on both sides.

Amongst them was Captain Sea Breeze calling out orders as the battle raged on. "Don't hold back! We must not let them capture this base!" Suddenly a Griffin lunged at her with open talons, but was countered with being thrown down onto the ground. Immediately, Breeze picked up a fallen spear and plunged it deep into the Griffin's chest as it screeched in pain, dying almost instantly.

"Celestia damn it! Somepony tell me when buck'n reinforcements arrive, we need that airship down now!" Sea Breeze hollered, continuing the skirmish against Griffin forces.

"Look! The east runway!" A pony soldier called out, pointing to the moving object on the runway, watching as it took of with great speed. Causing few soldiers from both sides to look at the object in awe and worry.

"What is that thing!"

"Whose side is it on!"

More questions were drowned out as Sea Breeze looked onwards knowing who and what the object, questions filling her head, causing her to loose focus of the battle.

Alex pulled up the landing gear once they were in the air, quickly banking left and turning outside the airship that was assaulting the airbase, passing by to get a better look of its defenses.

"Looks like they've never seen something like us before." Jamison said over the radio of the FA-18, noting the delay of attacks on the base and themselves.

"Then lets give a show while we have the chance!" Alex grinned within his helmet, pulling the FA-18 up into the air above the airship and diving down for a clear shot on it's propellers, unloading 20 mm rounds into it. The propeller engine soon exploded, literally shaking the entire airship as the fire soon began to spread.

An explosion erupted throughout the entire airship, causing many of the Griffins onboard to fall over or stumble. Red lights within the airship began to go off along with warning sirens, causing confusion for the General.

"What happened!" General Talon yelled, demanding answers.

"We've been hit, sir!" A Griffin soldier replied quickly, a worried look on his beak.

"By what!"

"We don't know, sir!"

Talon became infuriated, nothing like this ever happened to him before during airship raids. So what was happening now that made this situation any different?

"Get defenses up and ready, I want what ever is hitting us taken down!" Talon ordered, slamming his talon on the arm of his chair hard.

"Sir, yes sir!" The crew replied and began to do as ordered, each member speaking to different parts of the airship, getting their defenses up before another explosion erupted once more on the airship.

"Looks like we made them angry!" Yelled Jamison, observing what looked like Griffins begin to fire upon them with obsolete weaponry. He laughed lightly as arrows began to hit the FA-18, being nothing but futile as the Griffins continued their 'defensive' actions.

"At least we have their attention! See if you can lock on their balloon, I'll get you in position." Alex said, turning the aircraft for an attempted lock on the balloon holding the airship in the air.

"Yeah, like it's moving fast enough to dodge any missiles." Jamison said sarcastically, readying to launch the missiles upon the airship.

"Got it, smart ass. You have a lock on or not?"

"Yes, firing missile one!" Jamison called out, watching as the missile rocketed towards the balloon. It then exploded on impact, fire spreading.

"Hurrah!" Both pilots called out at the direct it.

"General! We have to retreat! We're taking on heavy damage and loosing altitude!" A Griffin crew member called out quickly, regaining his balance as the third explosion occurred.

"Nye! We will not fall back after coming this far! Continue on!" Talon commanded, taking pride over loss.

"Denied! The crew are calling override, we're falling back!" Talon's second in command spoke up, giving the go ahead for retreat.

General Talon became speechless, the first time his orders were overridden. He was enraged at the thought of defeat.

Soon the airship began to slowly turn with the remaining power that was left, an eerie creaking sounding off as it did so. Retreating back over to the Everfree Forrest from which it came.

The Pony soldiers cheered loudly as the Griffin assault turned into a retreat, watching as they flew back to their flaming airship. Many of the ponies, either wounded or exhausted, looked upon the FA-18 not evening knowing it was an FA-18. But what they did know is what ever it was saved their flanks.

Sea Breeze, after witnessing they Griffin airship's retreat, bolted into flight towards the FA-18 with great speed fast enough to outmatch a rainbow mane Pegasus that was currently popular. The other soldiers watching after her with confusion on what she was doing, but didn't follow suit.

Breeze finally reached the aircraft, flying near the cockpit and motioning with her hooves for it to land. Taking pride as it soon began to descend onto the runway, but there was much more than pride on her mind right now. As soon as the jet landed, and the pilots began to climb out, she started yelling what she was holding in for the past few minutes.

"The buck was that! Do you know how much shit we're in now!? Now we're deeper in the mud than we once were because of you!" Breeze yelled her heart out, rage dripping from every word thrown at them, she was the definition of raw rage and emotion at this moment in time.

This threw both pilots off guard, not expecting scolding instead of a thank you for what they done, and Alex was going to clear that right up.

"Oh I'm sorry, but you should be thanking us for helping you in a 'loosing' battle! We didn't have to help you know. But by the looks of it, it clearly seemed that you guys had a handle on everything in your favor." Alex retorted with a bunch back of his own in words with sarcasm, this time throwing Sea Breeze off guard. Only sputters of incoherent words spilled out of her mouth as Alex continued on.

"I though we were returning the favor of you helping us, but NO! Little miss pony captain wants to throw a fit about it just cause she couldn't defend against a higher military force on her own!"

Alex's yells could've been heard throughout most the base, even drawing in a crowd around them. Most of the crowd were in awe at the aircraft that saved them, others were in awe that the human was talking back to a captain.

At this point, Sea Breeze was in rage and guilt, her expression showing anger, but her eyes told the different story. The human caught her and he was right, she was disappointed in herself for not even being able to win the battle on her own. But they had helped the ponies by taking down the airship itself when they didn't have to.

"Now if we're done here, I suggest you better go back." Alex spoke up once more, dragging Breeze out of her thoughts.

Sea Breeze nodded and agreed, calling out her own orders. "Alright, everypony back to work!" Getting groans in return, they all left the two humans in peace, Breeze following after the crowd as she flew off.

Once out of hearing range, Jamison spoke up. "What a bitch, not even a 'thank you' for saving their asses."

"I feel the same way." Alex replied as he soon began to check on the FA-18's condition, finding it perfectly fine like nothing happened. This still threw both of them off, like how their aircraft was practically invincible for some insane reason they didn't know.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow." Jamison said once more, climbing into his seat in the cockpit, getting ready to fall asleep from today's activities

"Ditto." Alex said, climbing into his own seat and doing the same. "Goodnight, Jamison."

"You too, pal."

As the night dragged on, Jamison falling asleep in the FA-18, Alex couldn't help but stay awake. His mind drifted from thought to thought from what happened. It was all too confusing and he wanted it to just go away, but it only made it worse as he continued to stare up into the stars. He could tell tomorrow was going to be FUBAR, he just knew it.

Author's Note

Thank you all once more for enjoying what this story is turning out to be. I would really like to know your thoughts on how this is going so far, it'll help me out a lot in writing my stories and even give me more experience in doing so. Thank you once more, and please enjoy this story for what it's worth.

Have a Good Day/Evening/Night.

Changing of the Tides

Ace Pilots Plus and Indestructible FA-18 Hornet

Chapter 3: Changing of the Tides

The sun, once again it awoke the pilots and rude fashion. Brightly shining in their faces, it almost blinded them once again. Jamison was the first to wake up with the birds singing loudly and ponies working on the repairs of the damage the airship attack on base. Jamison soon cracked and eye open, testing his ability to withstand the sun's rays of light.

"Hello brightness my old friend..." Jamison muttered in a joking manner after failing his first attempt. But he was prepared to face the sun in battle by putting on his helmet and adjusting its shades.

The two pilots fell asleep in their jet and although uncomfortable, it was good enough. The night before made them exhausted, even after the event of a Griffin raid.

Once more, Jamison opened his eyes, now dimmed down by the shades. Looking around, he managed to actually see the severity of the damaged caused by the Griffins. By the looks of it, there was 6 buildings damaged and four buildings destroyed, including the Administration building.

Oh that poor Administration building. Forever will be missed.

Jamison laughed to himself, remember an old fraise when he was younger and played video games on his computer before being sent out on an aircraft carrier. "Press 'F' to pay respects."

But as he continued to look around, he noticed there was something off, like a new addition to the airbase. There up in the sky above the airbase were five airships, almost the size of the Hindenburg. Though they were airships, like the one from last night that was black and red, they were in a different color pattern as the pontoons were a silver with a picture of a Phoenix on the sides with a golden hull, attached to the pontoon and secured with ropes, with blue stripes nearing the bow of the airship. And if Jamison had to guess, it looked like the airship was just in a battle judging by damages to hull itself.

"Oh... fuck..." Jamison muttered silently under his breath, quickly attempting to wake Alex up by shaking him violently.

"Alex, wake up! We have..... company." He paused, trying to think of a word to make the situation less ominous than it actually was.

Alex then was jolted awake with a daze, eyes shooting open with the sudden shaking. "Agh! I'm up, I'm up!" He yelled loudly, rubbing his eyes from his grogginess. "The fuck is it... you want..." Alex began to ask until his eyes laid upon the airships in the sky above them. "Oh..."

"Hope they don't have their guns aiming at us." Alex commented while stifling a yawn, taking off his helmet and brushing his hair and used his helmet's visor as a mirror, leaving Jamison in awe and confusion on how calm Alex was.

"Well hope is on your side today." A voice popped up, making the pilots turn their heads towards the source.

Not to their surprise, it was another horse. But this one was vastly different than the others the pilots saw so far as in terms of height and accessories. 'She', noted by her voice, was pristine white with a multi-colored mane that was flowing against the wind. A golden crown was laid upon her head behind her horn and wore crest of the sun around her neck of the same color.

"And you are...?" Alex asked in a nonchalant tone, causing some the guards to fidget in irritation.

"Her Highness Princess Celestia and you will address her as such, hairless ape!" A guard, a part of 'Princess Celestia's' escort, spoke up with anger in his tone, aiming his spear towards the pilots.

Alex and Jamison reared back, not expecting such hostility, grabbing a hold of their Berretta's and aiming it at the guard, who recoiled slightly, in a defensive manner from within the FA-18.

Princess Celestia just sighed, unfurling her wing and thwacked the guard across the head with it and causing his pupils to shrink in a comical manner. "We will not tolerate such a hostile attitude, Sergeant." She scolded the guard as he hung his head low.

Regaining composure, Princess Celestia stood straight once more and cleared her throat. "I do apologize for my escort's behavior, especially to those whom helped defended Equestria's citizens."

Alex and Jamison looked towards each other and back to the Alicorn, putting away their guns, and slowly climbed out of the FA-18.

"Why thank you, Princess Celestia, for your recognition for our actions." Alex said as he and Jamison bowed. "But I am afraid our actions has caused us a great deal of trouble for the United States of America." He finished standing straight at attention, Jamison doing the same.

"Oh? I had know idea that you two were from Amareica. They didn't inform me of sending troops to Equestria, or how advanced their technology was." Celestia replied in a shocked tone.

Suddenly Alex and Jamison started to burst out laughing, tears forming in their eyes. "HAHA, Amareica! That's hilarious! HAHAHAA!" Jamison called out, falling to the ground holding his sides in laughter.

This caused Celestia to rear her head back, ear's flattening. "W-what?" She cautiously asked, not sure what was funny to the pilots.

When Alex finally recovered, Jamison still rolling around on the ground, he spoke up to clear her confusion. "N-no, no. We're not from your America, we aren't from this... world, as a way to put it." But this only caused Celestia to tilt her head to the side in more confusion, and the guards to mummer amongst each other.

"But how would such a thing happen?"

"I don't know, we just were in combat during some heavy ass storm and we ended up here when a lightning bolt struck our aircraft here." Alex said, pointing a thumb towards the FA-18 behind them. "Jamison get up."

Jamison was finally calming down from his fit of laughter and laying down on his back, breathing heavily. "Hehehe, 'Amareica'." He said once more, receiving a kick to the ribs from Alex to get up. "Ow! Ok fine." Complaining, Jamison got back up holding a hand over the area he was just kicked in. "Pretty fucking hilarious though..." Jamison mumbled, wincing in pain.

An awkward silence came strong, both parties remaining silent after what happened. But with a sudden grumble coming from the pilots stomachs, the silence was broken from a light chuckle for the Princess as the pilots reacted by rubbing the back of their heads with an awkward smile.

"Seems as if your venture cause you to be hungry, shall we?" The princess spoke up, hiding her smile behind a hoof. "My royal airship should suffice in food desires. Follow, we have much to discuss."

"Wait, what do you mean, ma'am?" Jamison piqued up, looking towards Celestia as she was walking away.

"What else could I mean? You just attacked a Griffin Airship of the Griffin Empire, defending Equestrian territory in the process. You just assisted us in war between two nations." Princess Celestia said, having an somewhat worrisome smile creep along her muzzle. "Oh this is very entertaining." She giddily clapped her hooves together. "Do not worry, Captain Sea Breeze has informed me of your protocol with you FA-18. There's certainly enough room to store it in Royal Airship The Double Negative. Now come, we have much to discuss on our way to Canterlot." Celestia called once more, now walking off to a large Airship along the runway, presumably the The Double Negative.

Alex and Jamison looked towards the Alicorn once more, Alex letting out a frustrated sigh, and Jamison scratching his head. "Well now, we just entered a war and we didn't even know it." Jamison finally said, resting his hand atop his head.

"Mother FUCKER!"

Aboard the The Double Negative

In Princess Celestia's Personal Dining room

The pilots found themselves at a table for three with Princess Celestia high up in the air above a layer of clouds, looking at the menus the airship staff supplied. Jamison was chatting with the Princess about where they came from, what the FA-18 was, and basically answering any questions the Princess had to the best of his knowledge.

"So, how exactly long have you been friends with him?" Celestia asked, pointing to Alex who was just staring out the glass window to the clouds they were passing.

Alex was lost in his own world, many things running through his head until he nudged by Jamison. "Huh.. what? Sorry I was just..."

"Thinking? I know this is quite a sudden... change for you two, but lets put worries aside and have conversation." Celestia said, sipping her tea that was brought to her earlier.

Alex coughed awkwardly into his fist before continuing. "So... You asked how long we've been friends, right?" He waited till Celestia nodded. "Well then, this is going to be a long story."

"Believe me, I have the time." Celestia smiled, sipping more of her tea.

"Well we met back in basic training, and that was around 12 years ago." Alex finally said, counting the years Jamison and him actually have known each other.

"Quite long, I wouldn't be surprised you two make a great team with that length of time of friendship under your belts." Celestia said in a complementary tone, looking down at her menu once more. Her horn then started to glow in a yellow aurora, picking up a little bell with her magical grasp, ringing it.

As soon as she rung the bell, a waiter came to take their orders, being hesitant with the two new creatures sitting at the table. "May I take your order, your Highness?"

"I'll have some Chardonneigh , please and thank you." She said, flinching when she heard Jamison laughing again.

"Ahahaha! Chardonneigh! Oh my God, that's so fucking hilarious!" He managed to say while laughing, pounding the table with his fist. Causing Celestia to give him a confused look along with the waiter, while Alex was trying hard not to laugh and only letting out small spurts of giggles.

After another round of laughter from the single pilot, they finally took their orders. Both pilots settled for a Caesar Salad, being the only thing they had familiarity with.

"So, what is it that you find so funny, Mr. Mullins?" Celestia asked, using Jamison's last name.

"I apologize, but it's some of the names you guys have for the things here. Back home we have the same things, but they don't use hors- I mean pony terms in them."

"Quite interesting. So I believe it's time to begin briefing of our situation with the Griffin Empire with you." Celestia's expression changed from a friendly one to a stern expression with a thousand yard stare filled with combat experience. "We are equally matched with the Griffin Empire, each battle is a loss and win with no actually success towards each other's goals in this war."

"But how did it start?" Alex asked, taking a large bite of his salad from his fork.

"It was a day I regret most entirely, though not my fault, but was one of the royals in Canterlot." She started off, taking a long sip of her wine. "There was another royal of the Griffin Kingdom, a daughter of their king. She was spending time in Canterlot as an Ambassador for her country, but she was attacked and raped."

"Whoa, that's... Agh!" Jamison was about to say something but Alex punched him in the arm.

"Unfortunately we knew who is was, Prince Bluebood, my adopted nephew." Celestia gritted her teeth in anger. "To think he'd do such things, but the signs were there. He never could stand not getting what he wanted."

"What did he want?" Alex asked, putting down his fork to apply more ranch to the salad.

"That is what we don't know of, he never was able to speak his motives before he was assassinated." Celestia took another long sip of her wine before continuing.

Alex began coughing, almost choking on his salad, as he pounded his chest with a fist. "The fuck? I get that rape isn't tolerable, but assassination?"

"Well King Phoenix doesn't have the same laws as we do, and rape is punishable by death. So he decided to take matters into his own talons and sent assassins out to kill Blueblood."

"Well what's the punishment for rape?" Jamison asked, setting his fork down onto the plate of the finished salad, taking a sip of water.

"It's quite the same process as yours, we hold a trail to prove the prosecuted either innocent or guilty."

"So what was the verdict?" Alex asked, finishing his salad as well.

"There was none." She said, pouring another glass of wine. "King Phoenix grew impatient as his anger boiled towards Blueblood. We found Blueblood brutally beaten in his chambers, stab wounds all across him."

Alex sat back in his seat, placing a hand on his chin, finding out he was starting to grow a beard, but he couldn't think about that now. 'What the fuck type of world is this? And why did we land in the middle of a war between two countries? Alex thought to himself, his vision unfocused to what was in front of him.

"What you thinking about, boss?" Jamison asked, turning towards Alex, as he leaned back onto his chair, balancing on two legs of the chair.

"How fucked up this war this is gonna get." Alex said plainly, not looking up when he heard Celestia almost choke on her drink this time.

"What do you mean, Mr. Fulcrum?" Celestia asked, setting her wine glass down with her magic.

"Well lets just say Equestria's kill count is going to rise."

Jamison suddenly fell backwards with a yelp, but quickly got back up to look at Alex. "Alex, you can't be thinking..."

"Yes, I have good reasons too. At this moment in time, Princess Celestia here seems to be our greatest chance of getting back home, and since we already made our first mistake by not thinking straight. We're forced to help her because the Griffins find us as enemies. No offense."

"N-none taken, Mr. Fulcrum..." They could see her visibly gulp as she downed the third glass of wine. "It'll be a pleasure working with you..."

"The same to you, Princess. We'll be off on our way." Alex said getting up and leaving the room.

Jamison quickly bowed and fixed his chair as he followed behind Alex. Celestia was then left alone to her own thoughts, waving back the waiter to gather the pilots finished plates.

They certainty are interesting creatures, and that device of theirs as well. They just might be the key to change the tide of this war once and all.

The Griffin Kingdom Capital City

"Curses! HOW!" King Pheonix slammed his talon on the arm rest to his throne as his voice boomed throughout the throne room, finally hearing the news of the failed attack on Equestria.

"There was... was a thing there, Sire." The griffin soldier explained, "It was able penetrate through the hull of the Airship like it was nothing. It wasn't like anything we have seen before besides the prototypes we are testing."

This news however intrigued the King, leaning forward to listen intently. "How so?" He asked in a chilling tone.

"This thing was able to propel presumably enchanted pieces of metal that exploded on impact that was so fast that it had trails of fire. And it flew without propellers and was faster than any average griffin, leaving it's own small trail of fire." The soldier finally finished, holding his helmet his shaky talons.

"Hmm..." King Phoenix hummed to himself, rubbing a claw along his chin. "Prep the prototypes for combat, and get the fleets ready to move out."

"Sire, but it's too soon!"

"SILENCE! I will not tolerate your timid attitude towards battle! Leave my presence, fool. I don't have time to deal with cowards." King Phoenix commanded, rising off his throne onto his hind legs and flaring his wings in intimidation.

The Griffin soldier quickly left, flapping his wings as he ran out the throne room. Soon silence fell upon the king, thinking in the quiet of the throne room, but it was interrupted by the scrapping of talons along the wooden floors of the room.

"Father?" A voice called out, causing the king to turn his head towards the source of his daughters voice.

"Yes, Hestia, my darling child?" He replied, getting back up from his throne to face his daughter, walking over to hug her.

Hestia returned the hug, nuzzling her father's neck as he embraced her, wrapping his wings around her. "Why must we continue this war? The deed has been done... why must we waste more lives for a lesson already learned?" She began to form tears in her eyes from both pain from the past and present.

"Oh, darling, it pains me to see you cry. But I'm doing what must be done for this family, making sure what happened to you never happens again." He stopped the hug, lifting up his daughter's head to look into her eyes, wiping away a tear from eyes.

"But does it have to cause the lives of others and our own?"

"If it gets the point across, then it does." He said once more, getting irritated with her persistence. "Go back to your room, everything will be taken care of soon enough." Phoenix then kiss her forehead, bringing her back into a good night hug.

Soon being released from the hug, Hestia soon began to leave the throne room, wiping her tears away with a talon. "Good night, Father." She finally said, leaving towards her chambers.

When she finally reached her room, it was time to put her plan into motion. She poked her head out of her room, looking down both ways of the hallways in careful watch to not get caught. Preparing her saddle bags, she silently sneaked out of the room off towards the kitchen.

Finally reaching the kitchen, she poked her head through the door, but immediately pulled her head back, spying one of the chefs still in inside. Quietly, she snuck inside, careful not to catch his attention until she was close enough. "I'm sorry, Jeffro." She said quietly.

"Huh.. what?" He asked, but was immediately knocked out by a pan to the back of the head, slumping down to the ground.

Hestia winced as a metal clang filled the room, but it left as quick as it came. She then began to fill her bags with food for the trip to Equestria, taking anything that would last her long. When her bags were full, Hestia then left towards the gardens. Having already planned ahead, she made way to her secret exit of the castle grounds, making sure no one was following her.

Along one of the walls, there was a hole covered by bushes large enough for her to fit through, perfect for her escape from the griffin kingdom. 'It's time to stop this madness, Father. I'm sorry, but this is what I must do for our country.' She thought to herself, making her way through the wall and off castle grounds, becoming one step closer to ending this war.

Author's Note

I do apologize for a very weak upload schedule, as in I don't have one. I've been pushing this back for a long while, and updates might not come as frequently because I sent a job application for this summer at Papa Murphy's Pizza. So with that, I might not actually get this done as much as you guys want. BUT! If you live in TN, guess who might be making your pizza's. This guy!

Proper Introductions of Newfound Power

Ace Pilots Plus an Indestructible FA-18 Hornet

Chapter 4: Proper Introductions of Newfound Power

"Well... it seems that our little puppets are going according to plan. Oh what fun! This quarrel of two powerful countries will be the pivoting point of military power as we know it! And the tides of savage war are changing as a new chess piece has entered the fray!" A voice cackled within the dark void he was confined in, his eyes zoning in on a golden blue orb containing images of the two pilots resting in a makeshift bed near the FA-18.

"Oh, and what's this?" He soon questioned, watching as the orb switched the picture to a griffin flying within the night. "The daughter running away from her daddy's castle? This is getting better than what I thought it would be!"

His laughter echoing throughout the void as the orb suddenly vanished out of thin air, leaving only a pair of gold and red eyes to shine within the void. "Time is ticking, boys, and this show has just begun! Hahahahahaa~!"

Canterlot Airbase

Alex suddenly jolted awake at the sound of distant laughter, looking around to find nothing of the sort on the runway, and placed a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. "The hell was that?" He asked himself in a tired tone, now running his hand through his hair as he tried to remember the dream he just had. But all he drew was blanks except for an ominous laughter calling to him from the distance in a black void.

However, Alex's rambling woke Jamison up who also had the same dream as well. "Alex... were you laughing?" Jamison asked, still in confusion of his dream.

"I wasn't laughing... were you?" He said looking towards Jamison as he got up and stretched.

"You mean you heard the same thing as me?" Jamison asked as he sat up on the ground, running a hand through his hair.

"Coming from a dark void?"

"Yeah... fucking weird."

The pilots were about to reminisce more about the topic until they were approached by the same pony they met before on their way to Canterlot as she was escorted by royal guards.

"I hoped you slept well?" Celestia asked, levitating a cup of tea to her muzzle as she took a sip of her beverage. "How ever I do wish you two would've accepted my invitation to better sleeping accommodations."

"We slept... well, and thank you for the offer, but we can't leave our aircraft out of sight in uncharted territory." Alex said as he bowed to the Princess, Jamison doing the same.

"No matter, though you bring curiosity amongst Council and I wish for you two accompany me to today's meeting." She said, looking towards Canterlot castle.

"The Council?" They both asked looking towards the castle as well.

"A collection of nobles who help run Equestria along with me." She replied, looking back towards the pilots, as she sipped more of her tea.

"Well we might not actually have choice, do we?" Alex asked as he patted his pockets along his flight uniform for his sunglasses, putting them on as he found them.

"Afraid not," Celestia's head then lowered as her expression changed into one of being irritated from calm. "The Council has been up my flank with this war and, now with the knowledge of a new species with technology unlike ours suddenly appearing out of no where, they demand a session with you." She finished gritting her teeth.

Jamison held back laughter as Alex placed a hand on his chin in thought. 'It appears that our presence is known with the Council of this oh so great world, just fucking great. Just deepen the hole your digging, Alex, just keep digging.'

"Fine, we'll go." Alex sighed, placing his hands on his waist as he looked down, kicking the bits of rocks. "Let's give your Council some entertainment."

"Thank you and forgive me for the troubles my ponies are causing for you, I truly don't mean to drag you two around like this." Celestia said, holding a thoughtful smile. "But I must ask your opinions in the matter. Are you truly ok with fighting in this war?" She asked with concern.

"Personally I'm fine with it if this guy is," Jamison started but was interrupted by Alex.

"As long as you can promise our ticket back home with what ever freaky voodoo magic shit you have to." He said, pointing at Celestia authoritatively. "Us being here is an obvious sign that something isn't right, and only god knows if this is some cliché that we're here to fix this problem you guys have."

Celestia took a slight step back, ear flattening at Alex's tone. Regaining her breath, Celestia finally spoke. "I, Princess Celestia, promise to find a way to send you back home." She crossed her heart as she finished, earning a small smile from Alex.

He then held out his hand for a hand shake, or hoof shake in this case. Celestia, understanding the jester, placed her hoof in his hand as he then shook it. "Then I hope it'll be a pleasure working with you during this time of crisis." He said.

"I say the same to you, Mr. Fulcrum." She replied, placing her hoof back down, as she looked towards the castle. "It's best we get a move on, the council must be getting impatient for your arrival."

"Well let's not keep them waiting, got to leave a good impression to our allies." Jamison said as he began walking towards the castle ahead of them.

"Best to follow his lead when he's like this off base." Alex commented as he started walking as well, motioning for Celestia to join him. Celestia just giggled lightly at the duo, soon joining Alex as he followed Jamison's lead.

Canterlot Castle

Council Room

One Hour Into The Meeting

The Council was in a furious debate between trusting the two pilots or locking them up and salvaging the FA-18 for research and development. Neither pilots were allowed to speak during the first hour of the meeting, and it was driving Alex almost insane while Jamison just sat next to the wall slamming the back of his head against it as if to rid his brain of the memory of the meeting.

Alex slowly turned his head towards Celestia as she gave a small apologetic look before returning to her regular stoic expression. She was about to say something to gain the council's attention before Alex stopped her, having his own idea.

"We can't trust those... things with the safety of our country, we don't even know where they came from!" A council member yelled.

"But have you heard of what they've done? They took down one of the Griffin Empire's most powerful airships in a quarter of the time we can with our own devices!" Another one yelled back. Suddenly a loud bang silenced the whole room, looking towards the source to be one of the Pilots.

When he was sure he had their attention, Alex holstered his Beretta and placed both hands down on the table before him, taking off his sunglasses. "Alright! I want you all to listen and listen well! My name and rank is First Sergeant Alex Fulcrum, and my copilot's name and rank is Master Sergeant Jamison Mullins. We have agreed to help your people in exchange for your help with our own problem. Now if you want to toss us aside and watch your country burn, fine by me."

Alex took a breath, using his time to look around amongst the council members before he continued his speech. "But if you want your country to survive, we are the key to ensure that. You've heard of what we can do in that Aircraft in your airfield." He said as he point to the Canterlot Airbase. "And we sure as hell can do the same to you if you don't compromise."

The members of the council were speechless, while few murmured amongst each other. "What do you want in return?"

"A way back home." Celestia had cut Alex off, only glancing at him once before she continued. "With the events of Ponyville, the Griffin Empire will be going all out on their next attack when ever it is. As these pilots have shown, they can help our country achieve victory." Another round of murmuring had begun across the table, few of the members casting another glance at the pilots as they made their decision.

"Then it has been settled. If there are no more comments on the matter, then you are all dismissed." Celestia called out to the council, letting out a deep sigh as the members of the council exited from the room.

"Everything alright?" Alex asked, turning around and sitting on the large table that was once filled with intolerable ponies.

"Yes... This war is just getting to me." She said, resting her head onto the table, exhaling heavily through her nostrils.

"You're not the only one..." Jamison said, leaning on the table just to the other side of the alicorn. "Alex and me probably ruined more lives we can count from it."

"But we wouldn't do anything different no matter how much we may regret what we've done. We do what we do for our country and that's what matters to us." Alex added to Jamison's statement, running a hand through his hair.

"Such loyalty you hold for your country, your people must be proud of you." Celestia commented, lifting her head up to look towards Alex.

"Well it's a shame that there's a number of them that are willing to burn the flag of the country they were born in just because of a petty reason. Have it be who our President is, or what one group says because it conflicts with other's beliefs." Alex said albeit sadly in tone.

"They blatantly disrespect our armed forces and the country we fight for because of it." Jamison added, letting out a sigh.

"Well if they don't like your country, why don't they leave?" Celestia asked, shocked to hear about such a situation.

"That's the kicker, they don't. Most would rather complain and waste other people's time than to actually move or fix the so called 'problem' they have. Sure, America isn't as great as it could be, but is it truly problematic enough for that type of reaction?"

Celestia was about to say something else, but she was suddenly cut off by the set of doors to the council room being opened as they then slammed against the walls. When turning, there the three saw a griffon being escorted by five guards with spears pointing towards the griffon.

"Your highness, we found this griffin flying just outside Canterlot. She requests an audience with you." The lead guard said, bowing before Celestia.

Celestia did not respond however. Her silence being brought forth by the shock of whom this griffon was. "Princess Hestia? What brings you here?" Celestia found her voice, shock embedding itself in her tone.

There was a pause, Hestia looking towards Celestia with tears in her eyes. She finally spoke, almost as if she didn't want to. "I've come to take down my father's empire. He has proven to be unfit as a leader for our country... And- and I need your help."

'Shit just got fucking insane.' Alex and Jamison simultaneously thought at the same time, clearly shocked by this outcome. Clearly this war they were entering would be unlike any other they had taken a apart of...

Author's Note

And I am back to working on this story. Jesus, it's been a long time coming. Just haven't felt like writing this for the while. BUT! I am going to try to fix that. I get that it's short, and I do apologize, but I'm slowly getting back into it.

Please enjoy.