Hangar N-3.

0923 hours.

The morning had a thick fog taking up residence over the still yet to be named settlement that sprang up over a week at Neighagra falls. The airfield was Practically abandoned. The many mechanics and ground support crews not being required in weeks. The many massive hangars that hat been constructed by both humans and ponies stood in their various places around the grass airstrip, as proud sentinels, protecting the great numbers of aircraft inside from the elements.

The weather took an unexpected turn this morning, the weather team in charge of the 'Neighagra falls' area had decided to use the day to teach their trainees the difficult art of creating the perfect snow. Suffice to say, The class of fifty two failed, quite miserably. Instead of snow in any description, They ended up creating a veil of mist rain. At the request of the council, Whom thanked the young weather pegasai in training for the event, the weather schedule was rearranged for snow at 3PM tomorrow afternoon, whilst the fine rain continued throughout the day. The reason for this being? The council saw it as a chance to level out, texture, then refreeze the currently atrocious dirt roads that ran through and around the settlement.

The days were seemingly getting shorter now, with the sun setting earlier than usual, and the nights lasting longer. The temperature continued to drop each day. Whilst everyone worked on fixing the bumpy, pot hole filled mess the streets and roads had become recently, The rain mist quickly froze to anything that it touched in the cold temperatures. Structures, Clothing, Plants, People, And, The vehicles. The mechanics went into a fit over how all the aircraft left outside during the morning, whilst they rearranged the hangars, were now frozen under such a thick sheet of ice that they needed to thaw out the landing gear with blowtorches before they could tow the planes back into their new parking spots.

Much to the sheer joy of the logistics team. The mechanics had managed to squeeze the aircraft so closely together into each hangar, that they managed to free up one whole hangar building for the logistics team to store the various items being shipped in form all over Equestria. The logistics team were overjoyed when they received the news, as now they didn't have to build a warehouse in near subzero temperatures.

Being bored, and having nothing to do. The mechanics decided on acting upon the next complaint that the logistics team had on their list, That also happen to be pretty close to a suggestion that Char had approached them with the night before.

Emily walks across the airstrip, Cadence and Rainbow dash in tow. The three carried umbrellas with them to keep the ice mist off them.

The girls all giggled whilst Cadence regales the effect of her little talk with Johnna. "He was redder than a tomato. His eyes glassed over. He looked like all of his birthdays came at once, he was a cloud away from orbit! To be honest, it was adorable seeing him like that, he looked like a foal who was just given a full cookie jar." She said with a chuckle.

Emily continued to giggle giddily. Rainbow hovered along side her upside down. "Someone else looks like they're on cloud nine." She says with a suggestive eyebrow wriggle whilst holding her hooves under her chin.

Emily recovers enough from her giggling to reply with. "Well, To be honest. I've had the biggest crush on that man for AGES!"

Rainbow dash continued to hover alongside Emily on her back in a reclined position. "I dont see what you like in him. Sure, hes cool an' all! But, your ALOT like Rarity. And John is so ruff-n-tumble, i cant seem to understand why you like him over somepony more......" Rainbows long awkward pause caused Emily to giggle whilst she simply finished the blue mares question for her.

"Someone more 'Sophisticated' " Rainbow flips back around to right-side up and flies in front of the group pointing to Emily.

"Thats it! Thank you! Sophisticated!" The rainbow maned Pegasus declared.

Cadence responded to the blue mares question. "Love is more complicated than stereotypes Rainbow, its a form of magic that runs deep in a creatures soul... You often look over such emotions as love, but you know when you've found your true love... The first time i saw shining. He was strong and dutiful. But he was also, so caring for those under his command, and most certainly to his family. Case in point. He was adorable and perfect!" The Alicorn regaled with so much affection to her husband it was almost heart melting.

The group resumed their walk to the 'Bomber Broadway' whilst Emily gave her two friends her reasoning. "I love Johnna because he's: Strong, Loyal to a fault, Caring, Truthful, He says it as it is, Easygoing and his rough and tumbled look is cute! He looks like a confident anime character! Its so bloody CuuuuuuuTE!"

The group rounds the corner after spending two minutes wrestling with a frozen gate latch. And are utterly speechless. Except Rainbow dash, who looked like a child who had their candy stolen. Placing both her hooves on her head she just yells with a voice crack. "WHAAAAAAAT?! Where are THEY!?"

The group looks around the fenced in gravel parking area, And to their surprise, not a single plane nor mechanic was to be scene. Emily walks over to one of the many sets of wheel tracks and follows their direction to one of the mighty wooden hangar doors.

After a short struggle, Cadence and Rainbow fly over to help Emily push the door open.

With a screech of protest the door finally begins to slide open. Once a gap large enough to squeeze through is made, the three girls enter the hangar and are blasted with a wall of warm air. The moment the groups inside their ambushed by a team of eighteen mechanics who immediately rush to the door and man-handle it closed once again.

The girls turn to the harsh voice yelling at them from across the hangars cavernous insides. Upon laying eyes on the buildings contents Rainbow was speechless. A smile that would make even Pinkie pies cheeks hurt spread from ear to ear on the mare.

Cadence herself was finding hard to formulate words as she stared in awe at the massive machines that packed the hangar. The many bomber aircraft were packed to tightly together that, from above, They must have resembled a slightly spaced out puzzle. "They're so, Large... Theres so... Many of them... How do you get craft to large to fly without lighter than air gasses-"

The stunned Alicorn was cut off by an overjoyed Rainbow dash dart off towards the ceiling whilst shouting "THIS. IS. AWESOME!" Her rainbow contrail was the only thing giving away her location in the hangars dark roof space. The lights flickered to life over the whole hangar and the sheer amount of aircraft parked in the building was suddenly apparent. "OH. MY. GOSH! Theres so MANY in here!"

"So, These are the airships your race uses to fl- Emily?" Cadence found herself looking around for Emily whom seemed to disappear. After looking around for a short while, cadence noticed Emily's feet standing behind the tail of one of the aircraft. Walking over to join her friend, she was about to ask what was wrong when she herself laid eyes on the matter.

Before the two was a rather large pile of random aircraft parts, interior wall panels lay stacked against the wall with sticky notes stuck to them with such information as aircraft type, number and refurbishment numbers. Bags of screws nuts and bolts were also duct-taped to the various panels.

Emily approached a mechanic and began to question her. "What are you all doing to these aircraft?"

The mechanic looked confused, and answered cautiously with. "We're retrofitting these aircraft to be used as transports, that being cargo and passenger transports. We've also rearranged the hangars to avoid any sabotage of the aircraft."

Emily looked dumbfounded. "And who gave you orders to do so? what if the need arises that we should have to use bombers?"

The mechanic clicked her pen and returned it to her breast pocket before crossing her arms. "Emily. I'm just doing my job. The job i'm paid quite well for. And thats to keep these planes in working order. Answering your question. According to weather reports, its going to get cold enough for oil to freeze in the vehicles, so the logistics team kept nagging us to convert the aircraft, and we responded with 'Sorry, cant help ya, speak to someone of adequate rank.' So they went to Char. Char approached Burnard, and asked if it were possible to convert the heavy bombers into transports to speed up the logistics needed to live through the winter. And i think the answers clear. And, as far as i'm aware, transports don't need bomb bays and armour plating. Thus all the piles of aircraft parts strewn around that wall."

With a nod Emily thanked the mechanic for explaining and walked back to cadence after exchanging pleasantries. The Princess had a genuine smile on her face. "Your disarming? Thats wonderful!"

"Yeah, don't count your chickens till they've hatched. We're only converting the heavy bombers. And i'll make that abundantly clear to Char when i see him at the meeting in half an hour." Emily said with a serious tone.

"Heavy bombers? Theres other types?" Cadence questions.

Finally smiling once more, Emily motions for the Princess to follow her as she walks through the forest of landing gear taking up most of the hangar. "There are many types of aircraft that humanity has crated over the years. Propeller planes, Jets, Helicopters, Flying boats, Airships, Aerospace transports. But the ones that we have here with us are a mix of propeller and jet fighters. Light, medium, heavy, and fast bombers. Close Air Support or CAS aircraft. Recon aircraft. And a handful of Catalina flying boats."

"Thats quite a list..." Cadence says with a slight tone of confusion. "So, What role do the, 'Heavy Bombers' Usually fill?" She asks in curiosity.

"Heavy bombers are multi-engine aircraft designed to carry the largest bombs that are required. As to their usage in battle. They're usually used in strategic operations, Historically those would be carpet bombing of enemy factories and fortifications. Thus, why each team only has between four to, in the Americans case, twenty eight of them, Their rather large targets that are easy to hit. And they only have a specific niche to fill."

"So what of the others then?" Cadence questions.

"Well, Fighters are, as their name suggests, the aircraft designed to take down other aircraft. but they can usually fill multiple roles, but they excel at fighting other aircraft. Light bombers are usually small single or multi engine aircraft that are either converted from other aircraft types or are designed with certain design constraints in mind. Medium bombers are usually twin engine aircraft that carry a lot of small bombs and are in between light and heavy bombers in size. They're usually faster then both too. Fast bombers are usually light or medium bombers, as the name suggests, they're designed to get in quick, drop their payloads, then get out quick. CAS aircraft are designed to work in cooperation with the ground and naval forces, they usually help by knocking out tanks and bunkers though. Recon aircraft fly high over the field of battle and report enemy positions, as well as updating maps and acting as radio signal relays. And flying boats... Well they're flying boats... their not really good at anything in particular, but they make great command aircraft as they don't need large open strips of open space to land, they just need a reasonably sized body of water. Meaning that they can follow the front line easier than other aircraft types."

"Hmm, your race really thought everything through didn't you?" Cadence thinks aloud whilst trying to remember this information for Twilight to gush over later.

"Well sadly my people have had over several thousand years of combat to learn..." Emily says with shame.

Cadence walks over and gives her friend a hug. "Hey now. Its ok. You and your friends are in one of the most peaceful empires to ever exist! It'll take a little time and a lot of effort. But you'll all find happy lives and know peace unlike anything you've ever known." She says with a caring smile.

Emily smile back with a glimmer of hope. "Thanks Cadence. I'll always remember that-" Emily was cut off by someone yelling obscenities from across the hangar. The sounds of tools hitting a steel floor echoed around the inside of the hangar, prompting Emily to investigate.

As Emily and Cadence walked over to the every increasing yelling. They heard Rainbows voice join in and hurried their pace.

The voice was male, and belonged to the person who yelled at them from across the hangar earlier. "Don't lie to me! It wasn't any of us! And the hangar was locked all night! The only way our shit could have gone missing, is by you and your lot flying in through the skylight that was busted when we opened the door this morning!"

The two rounded the corner just in time to see Rainbow dash and a rather well toned tall human standing in a room that had a chain-link fence wall. Rainbow fired back her counter argument. "It wasn't me you idiot! I just got here! And i was late for my shift this morning because i slept in! if you want my alibi checked, you can talk to Emily!

Emily yelled to get everyone's attention then spoke to the human yelling at the fuming pegasus. "Burnard. Whats your reason for yelling at Ms.Dash here." She demanded.

Burnard tossed a busted padlock onto the steel workbench that was sitting on the wall. "That. If from the skylight that was shattered last night." He then slammed a second padlock into the workbench. "And this ones from this storeroom. Some bastards pulled some sort of sick joke, And nicked most of our tools and several spare parts!" He then pulled a clipboard off the wall and continued his tirade by yelling the list out loud enough for everyone in the hangar to hear. "Look at this! Missing Item stock. FIVE, MAGNETOS. TWO, THIRTY CAL.S. A WRENCH SET. A SOCKET SET. THREE, POWER DRILLS. A TWO HUNDRED ROUND BOX OF THIRTY CAL AMMO. AND AN ENTIRE DRAW OF. BLOODY. AIRCRAFT. SCHEMATICS!" I accentuated each of his final three words by taking out his rage on an innocent filing cabinet. Delivering a brutal kick with each word that made the two ponies either side Emily flinch with each impact. "AND IF I FIND THEM. I'LL DO A LOT MORE THAN MAKE THEM SQUEAL!" He yelled at the ceiling of the hanger, seemingly addressing all the mechanics and ground staff in the building.

The two ponies looked up to Emily who just stood there with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. "Are you done Burnard?" She asks coldly.

The mechanic looks stunned as he drops the clipboard on the floor and his jaw drops. "Am i done? How can i keep these aircraft running when i'm missing tools! spare parts! The fucking Documents i need to find parts and components inside the aircraft!"

Emily uncrosses her arms and walks over to the irate man, placing a hand on his shoulder and speaking civilly to him she says. "Burnard. You've been fixing these aircraft for years. All of your mechanics have been fixing these aircraft for years. I watched you disassemble then reassemble an entire flying fortress when you couldn't find the cause for a lack of oil pressure. You don't need those documents. Your the best mechanic we have here. Your team is the best team of mechanics on Earth. If anyone can make it without silly schematics. You, and your team can!" Standing up straight she straightens the mans oil and grease stained fatigues. "Now. Stand up straight. Stiff upper lip. Behave like the twenty six year old you are!" She then leans in to whisper. "once we find the ones responsible, i say a year of pranking is in order. And i'm not talking about shaving cream bombs in their kitchen cabinets or buckets of water above their doors. I'm taking about the big stuff." She leans back and gives the now smiling man a sly wink of her eye.

1400 Hours.

Settlement Town hall.

The Fireplace in the corner of the room crackled away furiously as Mcdonnel threw yet more wood into its blazing heart. The rest of the council sat in various chairs around the table. Most clinging onto steaming cups and mugs. Johnna sat in his usual seat for these meetings. Right next to Emily. He himself, was digging into his late lunch, And nothing, was going to stop him, to make that evident he had his pistol sitting on the table in front of him, The magazine stood upright on the table, and six paint rounds stood next neatly next to that.

No one spoke, but all watched the Australian as he helped himself to his meal of Meatless spaghetti bolognese. Robert resumed his fireplace management by throwing three more logs into the already overloaded fireplace. Dimitri spoke from his reclined position in his seat.

"Whats the matter comrade Mcdonald. One would think with all the fast food your people consume. You'd have more than enough blubber to not feel the cold. Or are all Americans this coldblooded?"

Mcdonnel Turned to face the smiling Russian and Crossed his arms. "Well Sergei Ivanov... Yeah, i've got nothin'. I'm too friggin cold to think!"

Just as Dimitri opened his mouth to fire back his reply, the door to the room opens and a blast of cold air fills the room. With a loud slam of the door the room begins to slowly warm up once more. Two previously missing members of the meeting finally arrived. As they remove the many layers of winter apparel they're wrapped in and hang them on the hat rack off to the side of the door, the forms of an orange earth pony and a yellow pegasus are highlighted by the gentle amber glow of the raging fireplace.

Placing her iconic stetson back atop her head, Applejack immediately begins to apologize, But is cut off by Fluttershy who immediately accepts responsibility for the two being so late. "I'm s-so sorry E-everyone... On the way here i found a Phoenix nest that fell from its tree in the forest. So Applejack helped me carry it back to the camp..." She began to shrink away in fear of the others responses, but to her surprise no one reacted for quite a while, seeming to think her story over for a time before Johnna placed the fork he was holding into his empty bowl and took a hearty drink of his apple cider. After this he give a dismissive wave of his hand before saying.

"Eh. Don't worry about it Fluttershy, It was most certainly a noble cause that took up our time. Completely worth it, And the pause allowed me to finish my lunch in peace." He said whilst placing his hands behind his head and sliding down into his seat.

Princess Luna looks around the room to confirm that all are in attendance before addressing all by clearing her throat. "Mayhaps we shall start this assembly?"

Johnna gave a wide yawn, placing the back of his hand to his mouth as he returned to sitting upright in his chair. "Thats rather Old-English-ie of you Luna?" He inquires.

Luna shuffles in her seat. "When I'm nervous i revert back to Old Equestrian sometimes..." Robert left his seat and began to walk over to the raging fireplace once more, But was stopped when Johnna leaned back into his seat, Standing it on its rear two legs and blocking the burly Americans advance.

"Robert. I appreciate warmth as much as the next person. But. Its a meeting. Not a sweat lodge. Please sit down, Its warm enough. If i wanted to summon hell on earth, I'd track down a politician."

With a chuckle from the humans, and confused looks form the ponies everyone was finally seated and the meeting began. To make an arduous story short. The matter of discussion started with everyone dispensing pleasantries, then reaffirming
the plan to survive the winter. The matter of discussion then drifted over to future land rights and claim conditions. That one was interesting. Luna, supposedly having been a real sportsman in her time, put forward the notion of having the human military branches fight their Equestrian counterparts in a mock battle, Capture the flag and King of the hill style.

"It would provide a unique opportunity to train our officers, as well as promoting a tighter bond between our people. And it would certainly be interesting." Luna said with a smile. Her sister, Celestia could only smile at her sisters antics.

The topic of discussion then moved onto human dietary habits... Oh boy, that was an interesting experience...

"I thought you said your people where omnivores!?" Twilight exclaimed in shock at the sheer amount of meat based ingredients that the human cook books entailed. "Almost every one of these has meat in it, in some form or another!" She says in disbelief.

Mcdonnel just replied with. "Hey, We are omnivores, But we appreciate a good steak sometimes. Most of those recipes can be made without it, but they'll taste far different. Obviously. Just bear in mind, Humans have trouble with eating enough protein and certain fatty acids, the easiest way for us is to just eat meat."

Twilight is thoughtful for a few moments before she just says. "I see... Well, i see that this cookbook has a few fish based recipes. Pegasai have to eat fish occasionally for the same reasons. Since flying puts enormous strain on their wing muscles, and their cardiovascular system is always running in overdrive to allow them to fly in the first place without just getting tired locking up and falling from the fly."

"I'm sure we can trade meat for fish, some people are not going to like that, but as our resident Australian here says. And pardon my french. 'Stiff shit' " Robert says with a smile.

Cadence Slams her hoof into the table, making several people jump, and gaining everyone's attention, Causing her smile apologetically. "I had an idea..." She says with a nervous chuckle. "We could host a cooking fair. That way, our cooks and chefs can exchange recipes, ideas and cooking methods. We have nothing to loose and everything to gain by having such an event!" Everyone at the table nodded their agreement and a date was scheduled for the approximate time that the Logistics guilds warehouses would be build.

From Char spoke up. Resting his chin on his hands and whilst leaning onto the table on his elbows. He flawlessly shifts to the next point of the meeting. "As I'm sure your aware by now Princesses. Our heavy aircraft hangar was broken into last night. And several weapons, their ammunition, as well as tool kits and aircraft schematics were stolen. After the event i had the mechanics rearrange all the hangars, and as of 10AM this morning all of our aircraft are inside the hangars and under armed guard. I must affirm my reasons for doing this are to avoid possible sabotage of our aircraft and and further theft. Not that I'm in the capability of making requests to your highness's. But may you please consider posting guards at the skylights of the hangars as soon as possible.

Celestia spoke up, but her troubled expression could not be hidden as she mulled over the problems and threat of such technology being stolen and at large. "Please, if you ever need anything don't be afraid to ask, and yes, certainly. Guards shall be posed immediately upon this meetings conclusion."

"That you your Highnesses-" Celestia cut Char off with a raising of her wing.

"Please, You flatter us so. Just our names please, or Princess if you feel absolutely compelled by good manors." She says with a warm smile.

"Very well. Princess. Now then. Theres one more request that i must make, And I'm sure that the Logistics guild will be waiting for the answer on baited breath. We've just gone through the arduous task of converting our heavy bombers into transport aircraft. The larger ones being cargo, and the more modest ones passenger liners. With you permission. We shall use our aircraft to speed up the delivery of supplies and transport your ponies around this large empire of yours, it would most certainly be a good source of income for our people to kick-start our economy in this land. Also, and i know I've asked too much already. But our pilots are in need of practicing their skills, so if it isn't too much trouble. May we put on a recreational event known as an 'Airshow' so that our pilots have n excuse to fly their aircraft. This event will also have the added benefit for our economies start."

At the exact same moment the latter idea was pitched. Luna's, Twilight's, Cadence's And Rainbow dashes eyes lit up. They all looked to the older Diarch with pleading eyes, and after a short mull over, Celestia simply nodded her agreement. "Very well, I don't see the harm in granting permission to all of your requests. And to be honest, I'm quite excited myself to see your 'Aircraft' fly. I'm sure our stunt team the Wonderbolts will be more than happy to come and perform some maneuvers as well."

At the mention of Rainbow's fellow teammates going to perform next to the Humans machines, The rainbow maned pegasus looked as though shes explode from overjoy.

After prolonged silence no one else had anything to add to this meeting. So with a nod from all in attendance, Applejack walked over to her saddlebags hanging on the hat hanger and pulled out several tankards.

Rainbow leaned forward in her seat upon sighting the tankards being placed on the table. "Is that? Did you!?"

Walking back over to her coat, which lay abandoned on the floor. Applejack lifted her coat off the rather large lump it had been sitting on, and revealed a micro-barrel of cider she'd brought with her.

Rainbow leaped out of her chair and flew into the air over the table whilst yelling "AWWW YEAH! CIDER TIME!" She began to perform a midair dance in place over the table, but stopped shortly after and returned to her seat. " *Phew*... Its rather warm up there..." Everyone just laughed and looked back to Applejack.

With a wide smile she carried the barrel over to the table and began filling tankards. Sliding one to each member in attendance. "hope yer' like it. Its freshly made from the apples we harvested off the trees yesterday. Came from the east field too. The Apple family's finest."

The group laughed merrily as they all began to enjoy their delicious drinks.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I have work on Monday, so i may not be able to upload the next chapter until Thursday or Friday...ish... We shall see.

Once again. If you have an OC or know someone who has an OC that they'd or you'd like to see in Destination Equis, Please do send me a detailed description or some art of the OC and a bio about the character, his/her favorite foods. Birth place, Age, Aspirations, Hobbies, personality, Ect. The more detail on their Bio, The better. Thanks!