Ascension

Explosions rocked the mountain. Snow and ice fell from the overhead peaks and littered the cliff side with debris. Soldiers were awakened from their foxholes both afraid and confused while all tartarus broke loose on the mountain.

The changelings had taken the opportunity of the clearing in the clouds to spot the airborne unit and open fire with artillery. Well placed shots were raining down and blowing foxholes filled with troops off the mountainside. However, the troops of the 12th airborne would not be killed so easily.

All at once, the remaining soldiers took flight towards the adjacent mountain. Cad was among these troops, and was ready for some payback for all the men they just lost. As a medic, he would have normally stayed back to tend to the wounded. However, there weren't any wounded to tend to. Everyone that was hit was killed, or blown off the mountain.

Suddenly, flak opened up and began blowing soldiers out of the sky. Cad narrowly dodged a shell that took out three other troops. Cad fixed his bayonet to his rifle and dropped in using his unit's trademark technique of dropping at terminal velocity and using avian magic to slow his descent at the last minute. Cad twisted and turned his body for the descent alongside the remaining soldiers, and fell.

1500 feet.

Cad flew like a missile, towards his intended target.

1000 feet.

Cad could see that the changeling was unaware, as he continued to load a new shell into the artillery cannon.

500 feet.

Cad aimed his bayonet at the changeling and started to slow his descent.

250 feet.

The changeling looked up, and saw, with horror in his blue tinted eyes, his end approaching.

0 feet.

The bayonet in cad's hands punched through the changelings chest and drove him into the ground beneath him. Blood and gore splattered from the wound and onto Cad's face.

Then the slaughter began.

Dozens of avians dropped from the clouds and impaled awaiting changelings in a spray of blood and gore. Then pulling their bayonets from the corpses, they began to open fire on the fleeing enemies. Changelings fell by the dozens as Cad and his comrades opened fire. A lone Changeling came running at Cad with a bayonet fixed to his Kar98.

Employ left block.

Cad's left hand moved low in a blur to sweep the bayonet away from his abdomen.

Use momentum, follow through with left elbow.

Cad heard the bone crack as his elbow collided with the changelings jaw.

Fireball to abdome...//Fire secondary weapon to abdomen.

Ignoring his mental hiccup and almost blowing his cover, Cad drew his Webley and fired into the enemy's stomach, effectively ending his life.

Cad looked around and saw his comrades finishing of all the stragglers and securing the landing zone. All in all, the firefight lasted about 3 minutes with well over a hundred combined casualties.

~~~

Cad was milling around the enemy corpses. Intel was important after all. Every once in awhile, someone would find a map or a file laying around. Every bit helped in the long run. Eventually, maybe someone would find intel on a stronghold or FOB that could be struck to actually make a difference in the war.

Eventually, he made his way back to the corpse of the changeling he dive bombed. He couldn't have a lot of intel on him. Judging by his rank, he was just a drone, and probably would not have any sort of intel worth mentioning.

Cad didn't like the changelings. They were basically bug people. They could use magic like royals but to a lesser extent. They had this weird black skin and wore weird leather armor. The worst part was the eye's though. Those blue pupil-less eyes just gave Cad the creeps.

Intel had very little on changling culture, which left a lot to speculation. Most believed that they had basically no social structure, and possibly operated on a hive mind. Cad could accept this. It made it easy to fight them if he knew that they were just mindless drones.

Cad milled around in the changelings leather coat trying to find any intel.  He didn't expect to find much. Reaching into his pocket's he found a small notebook. Inside were some simple notes on artillery calculations, nothing major or life changing. In between some of the pages though, was a small stack of photographs. What was on the top photograph made Cad lose his breath momentarily as he studied it.

It was an image of the changeling in front of a fireplace with another more slender changeling. They were both in an embrace and were smiling. In front of them both was an image of a smaller female changeling making a funny face at the camera.

Cad couldn't stop the few tears that fell as he looked back at the man he had slain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*poof*

Cad landed on the cloud next to his partner. She was lounging on the cloud in her usual manner. Legs crossed and hands behind her head supported by her aid bag.

"Good morning Grace."

Saving Grace shot up from her cloud.

"I'm up! I wasn't sleeping! Please don't fire me!"

"Relax Grace, it's just me." Grace turned to face the source of her panic.

"Oh Cad, why do you always have to be late." She said while crossing her arms.

Cad was late at least once a week. Normally he would have been fired by now if it wasn't for his...condition. Grace still hadn't caught on to the source of his tardiness, and if Cad had anything to say, she never would.

Cad threw his hands up defensively. "Hey, a face this good looking needs it's beauty sleep, right? In fact, it looks like you could use some more yourself."

*smack*

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood, or else I might have hit you in some place more sensitive." The evil smirk Grace had was enough to cause Cad to lose a few shades of color in his face.

Saving Grace was a bit of a prodigy in the medical field. She never cracked under pressure, and had all the skills of a full-time surgeon, though she would never admit it. Despite all the offers to go to medical universities and be a surgeon, she had still chosen field work. She said that she preferred it over "being a stuffy office jockey,"as she liked to call it.

"So what has you in such a great mood." Cad was still tending to his wounded face.

Grace flashed the back of her hand in Cad's face and threw on the biggest grin imaginable. On her finger was  small ring with a white spinel placed in the center surrounded by topaz stones in a star burst pattern.

Cad threw on a big grin of his own. "So, Thunderlane finally proposed?"

"Who else?" Grace's smile was threatening to split her face in half.

As they both flew off to travel their route, Grace continued to blabber on about how Thunderlane had proposed. She told her story again and again how he had taken her out to a wonderbolts show and had paid Rainbow Dash to write his proposal in the clouds and blast through it with a sonic rainboom. Honestly, it was a bit over the top.

"And then, Thunderlane started pointing up, and I didn't understand why until I looked up and saw the words in the sky!"

"Yes, Grace you already told..."

"And then, just after I read the message, Rainbow Dash flew through the words and KABOOM!"

"I know Grace. You just..."

"And then, I looked down and he had the ring!"

...

...

"Are you done?" Grace smiled sheepishly

Cad rolled his eyes, "As much as it thrills me to hear about how you're relationship is booming, I believe it's almost quitting time, and I need to stop by this store first."

Grace followed Cad to a small pawn shop towards the middle of Ponyville. As they entered, Cad made his way towards the counter as Grace continued to talk in her normal, hyperactive fashion.

"Soooo?" Grace said with a big grin on her face.

Cad merely cocked an eyebrow at her amazingly cryptic question.

"When are you gonna ask her?" Cad just rolled his eyes at the question and continued conducting his business with the man behind the counter.

"You're question needs to be more specific." Cad stated bluntly.

Grace crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about mister."

Cad just continued with his business, pointing at items behind the counter, and checking prices of others.

"C'mon Cad, you two have been together for like forever now." Grace continued to rant. "You need to go ahead and pop the question."

"Grace..."

"I mean, it's not like it needs to be flamboyant."

"Grace."

"Just take her out to the park, or ask her at the door to her cottage, or..."

"GRACE!"

"WHAT!"

Cad just stood in front of grace holding a small black box in his hand with an annoyed look on his face.

"I was waiting to get the right ring." Grace couldn't help but notice the small smirk threatening to break through at the corner of his mouth.

Then suddenly(Courtesy of Grace) Grace lost all sense of hearing.