Of War and Ponies

Three months ago, somewhere in Nazi Germany

Big Dip and Dork Fish are on their way back from one of the concentration camps, with startling information about the Germans. They were looking for information at Hitlers heavily guarded headquarters when they finally managed to locate the pony that was taken, learning of a few camps that had been created for prisoners.

Big Dip skids to a stop on the road and holds a hoof out to stop her partner, "SHHH!! Hold it, something is different than the last time we were here. We need to check this out before we return home, wait here."

Dork Fish waits there as she activates the bracelet and disappears from view, "I don't see anything different, but I will wait."

She takes to the air and looks at the ground closer, seeing a few soldiers patrolling the area and one staying in one spot looking around, "SHIT! Nazis have started watching the portal, we will have to choose our window very carefully or they will come to Equestria and take more prisoners." She then returns to where Dork Fish is at and tells him the news, "The Nazis are here watching the portal home, so we will have to wait for an opportunity to return home and inform Princess Celestia of what we have found. I always thought that the Germans were cruel to its citizens, but I didn't realize that they were so evil..."

Presently, near the Nazi-occupied farm close to the portal to Equestria

The two watch the soldiers for an opportunity to return home, until a few soldiers from some nation launch an attack near the farmhouse, "Viva la France!" Getting the full attention of the nazis around the portal and pulling them away to deal with the surprise attack, leaving a window of opportunity to activate and slip through the portal to deliver the information.

Big sees the opportunity and looks at Dork Fish, "Let's go, it is either now or never!" She then takes off for the portal and waits for Dork to catch up, then looks at the cliff wall, "Glory to Equestria." then walks through it after it opens and watches her partner come through, "You wait here and guard the portal. If any soldiers come through, force them back through it by any means necessary."

Dork nods, "Okay, no problem." then deactivates the spell on his bracelet and moves to stand in front of the door with a wide stance, ready for anything that might come through it.

On the other side of the portal

A soldier lifts a trap door near the portal and crawls up out of the hole scratching his head at seeing something shimmering on the wall of the cliff, turns around and runs back to the commander of the unit, "Kommandant! Kommandant! Auf der Klippe herrscht Aktivität! Es schimmert seltsam! (Commander! Commander! There is activity on the cliff, it shimmers strangely!)"

Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant) Gunter grins at the news and waits for his soldiers to dispatch the last few French soldiers that tried to attack them, gathering a couple of soldiers carrying a rifle and an MP40 and leading them to the shimmering door and points to it, "Dies ist eine Tür, die zu einem anderen Ort führt. Gehen Sie es mit Vorsicht durch. Da drüben gibt es sprechende Pferde, und einige von ihnen können Magie benutzen. Die Pferde in Rüstung sind Wachen, töte sie, wenn sie dich entdecken und versuchen, dich aufzuhalten. Machen Sie Gefangene, wenn möglich, und kehren Sie sofort zurück, ihre Prinzessinnen sind mächtig. Sollten sie erscheinen, kommen Sie zurück, um Verstärkung zu holen. (This is a door that leads to another place. Go through it with caution. There are talking horses over there, and some of them can use magic. The horses in armor are guards, kill them if they spot you and try to stop you. Take prisoners if possible and return immediately, their princesses are powerful. If they appear, come back for reinforcements.)"

The first soldier walks towards the portal with his Karabiner 98k at the ready, taking a breath before stepping through. Opening his eyes and releasing his breath to see a light bluish-grey unicorn with two buck teeth over his bottom lip when a light causes him to shield his eyes from the brightness, then feels himself being thrown backwards and through the portal. Landing on his back with a cough, he gets back to his feet and pulls a Stielhandgrenate (stick grenade aka potato masher) from his belt. Activating the fuse, he hurls it through the portal, "Iss eine Granate, du dummes Pferd! (Eat a grenade, you stupid horse!)"

In Equestria, on the other side of the portal

Dork Fish doesn't see the object come flying through the portal, but hears something strike the door and land on the floor. Turning to look at it, he quickly backs away from it as it goes off and knocks him back a few feet, hitting his head on the floor and making him very dizzy before falling unconscious.

Big Dip finishes telling Celestia about what they have discovered, when she hears a bang echo down the halls and gasps, "Oh no, they've found it!" She turns to Celestia with panic on her face, "We need to get a few ponies over there to make sure that the soldiers don't go through the portal and overwhelm Dork Fish or take him prisoner!"

Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadance, Star Swirl the Bearded and Starlight Glimmer all run out of the room after Celestia, hoping to get to the portal in time. Finally arriving at the room and seeing the door blown off it's hinges, Celestia rushes through and puts up a shield, seeing a small pool of blood on the ground with a bloody hoofprint and a smear leading towards the mirror. With tears welling up in her eyes, she looks at the portal with fear and anger, "Not again, I will not let this happen again!" and charges for the portal, not knowing what is on the other side.

Five Minutes ago on the other side of the portal at the farm

Gunter looks at the pony the two soldiers drag through unconscious with a smile, "Beeilen Sie sich und laden Sie diesen Gefangenen in das Halbkettenfahrzeug, andere haben das Geräusch vielleicht gehört und ermitteln! Wir müssen es zum Führer nach Berlin bringen, der Rest von euch bleibt hier und tötet jeden, der versucht, unseren Gefangenen zu retten! Rufen Sie im Notfall die Artillerie oder die Luftwaffe zur Unterstützung! (Hurry and load that prisoner into the halftrack, others may have heard the noise and investigate! We must bring it to the Fuhrer in Berlin, the rest of you stay here and kill any that try to recover our prisoner! Call the artillery or the air force for support if you must!)" He then hurries off after the two soldiers towards the halftrack in the barn. After telling the two soldiers to get in the back, with one on the MG 34 to shoot anything that tries to pursue them through the air. He starts the engine, puts it into gear and takes off for Berlin in a hurry.

The soldiers spend a minute to rearm themselves and set themselves up around the door, with three MG 34's and a FmW 35 aimed at the portal.

Presently, in the portal room in the castle

Twilight rushes into the room, desperately trying to stop Princess Celestia from racing through the portal without them, "Princess Celestia, WAIT!"

Celestia skids to a stop and looks back to her former student, "What is it Twilight?! We cannot let them take another pony hostage!?"

She stops and tries to catch her breath, "I know...but can you at least wait for us to accompany you through the portal? You do not know what dangers there are on the other side."

The solar princess lowers the shield and waits for the others to gather close to her, then recasts the shield and wanders into the portal. She arrives on the other side as the silence is broken by a cacophony of noise as several objects strike the shield and bounce off, causing her to focus harder on holding the shield up.

Twilight appears on the other side of the portal to a cacophony of noise and a couple of explosions next to the shield, looking at Celestia to see her beginning to breathe harder. Movement in the distance catches her attention and focuses on it, seeing a machine heading away from them, "I think Dork Fish may be with that machine in the distance, heading away from us."

Luna looks at her sister and sees her working hard to keep the shield up, "Teleport out there and give chase, but keep a shield up until you incapacitate whoever is with our fellow pony!"

The soldier wielding the FmW 35 approaches and fires his flamethrower at the group, intending on burning them all to death.

The night princess adds her magic to her sister's as she sees her begin struggling, "Go now Twilight, this shield will not last for too long. Give chase and recover our friend!"

Twilight nods and teleports out of the shield and appears a thousand yards away from the machine and takes to the sky, "You can do this Twilight, chase them and knock them out. How am I supposed to do that when I have not received combat training!?" She then casts her shield as she sees two humans on the vehicle and start attacking her.

The soldier sees the orb and gets an idea, starting to search around the back of the half-track for any Stielhandgranates. Finding a full box stuffed under a bench, he pulls it out and looks to his friend, "Kumpel! Ich habe Granaten gefunden, ich werfe sie in die Luft und du zündest sie mit dem Maschinengewehr! (Dude! I found grenades, I throw them in the air and you set them off with the machine gun!) He picks up a few grenades, stuffs them in his belt then activates one and throws it at the flying purple orb as his friend sets it off close to it.

She feels the projectiles bounce off the shield and the devices thrown by the human explode near her shield, causing adrenaline to race through her system. Feeling faster, her mind recalls what Rainbow taught her about flying and starts to bob and weave in the air to throw off their aim as a sly grin makes its way onto her face, "Rainbow Dash always told me that if you can be nimble enough to dodge a hailstone, you can dodge rain. Let's do this..." She then begins to close the distance on the vehicle until a large object slams into her shield at a high speed, engulfing her shield in a brief fiery explosion before dissipating into smoke. Wondering where it came from, she looks around and sees three slightly larger vehicles begin chasing after her, starting to attack her as well.

The soldier smiles as he sees a small group of PZ IV's heading to the field from Berlin and aid in their defense and engage their pursuer, then activates another grenade and throws it up at them.

Twilight feels the strain of keeping the shield up as well as trying to get close to them and free the captured pony, she pushes on when two more objects hit the shield and engulf it in flames briefly before dissipating. She begins to feel the symptoms of magic exhaustion and is forced to make a choice, either give up the chase or push on and rescue the pony. Weighing her options, she decides to push on to accomplish her task.

As they get further and further away from the strange door, the soldier continues to throw grenades until he looks down and sees the box is now empty. He watches how their pursuer weaves and bobs, waiting for an opening to hit the orb directly.

She makes one more turn a little wider than she should when one of the thrown objects strikes her shield and explodes, causing a crack to appear in it when two more projectiles hit her shield and engulf it in flames briefly. As more cracks appear, she blinks and realizes that she is not able to rescue them. She sheds a few tears as she is forced to return to Celestia and the others in failure.

The soldier on the MG 34 watches their pursuer turn around and fly in the direction they came from, and continues to fire at them until they get out of range. He stops shooting when he loses sight of their pursuer, angering him and causing him to bang a fist on the top of the cab, "Verdammt, sie hörten auf, uns zu verfolgen und entkamen! (Damn, they stopped pursuing us and got away!)"

Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant) Gunter keeps driving down the road towards Berlin and pulls one hand from the wheel and raps a knuckle on the glass twice and calls out the window, "Entspannen Sie sich, denn wir haben noch einen Gefangenen, den wir zum Führer bringen können. Einer ist schließlich besser als keiner... (Relax, for we still have one prisoner to take to the Fuhrer. One is better than none after all...)"

Twilight looks behind her, sighing sadly as she watches the humans disappear in the distance with a new prisoner, "Oh Celestia, I am so sorry for having failed your task... I hope that you can forgive me someday..."

10 minutes later, at the portal to Equestria

Celestia pants as she strains to keep the shield up, wondering what is taking Twilight so long to rescue Dork Fish, "How hard can it be to knock some humans out and rescue a pony?!"

Starlight watches as Star Swirl starts to show signs of exhaustion, then looks to the others as they too are tiring from the effort of keeping the shield up. Worried, she tries harder to contribute more magic to the shield until Twilight returns with the pony. A distant flapping catches her attention, making her look around while still contributing to the shield. When she sees Twilight, she gasps, "Look, she is coming back...but something isn't right because she is alone." Realization hits her as she starts to sob, "Once she goes through the portal, we need to get out of here...we can't afford to let ourselves be captured here!"

Luna looks to Starlight in shock at the thought of allowing another of their subjects to become a prisoner and frowns, "We will not lose another of our subjects to this world, we must send another with her to rescue the pony that has been taken!"

She then sighs and whispers to her ear, "Twilight is flying back and alone, she is also crying and flying irregularly. I-I don't want to believe it, but I think she failed to rescue them and realizes we will have to make more of an effort to get them back."

She sighs regretfully, as tears start streaming from her eyes, and turns to her sister with a sorrowful look on her face, "Sister, we must fall back... our magic will not last much longer if we stay here. If we continue to wait, we will become prisoners ourselves and Equestria will be leaderless and fall into chaos. I am sorry to tell you this, but Twilight is unable to rescue them. We need to go back through the portal before it closes."

Celestia shakily and hesitantly starts to back up as tears fall from her eyes at having to leave Dork Fish to fend for himself in this mean and heartless world, "We will find a way to rescue them...I promise." She hears a frantic flapping as objects continue bouncing off the shield, looking up to see Twilight fold her wings and run through hastily. She continues backing up while the germans try to burn their way through the shield, causing her to begin sweating as the temperature rises uncomfortably inside the shield. When she finally gets through the portal, she continues to keep the shield up until the door closes a half hour later, causing her and the others to collapse to the ground, breathing heavily from exhaustion.

Luna musters up enough strength to head over to Twilight as she hears her sob, "I-I failed one of Princess Celestia's tasks...she is going to send me back to magic kindergarten, I just know it." and smiles gently while picking Twilight up and pulling her into a hug saying, "My sister will do no such thing...I promise. We were not prepared enough for this encounter...but we will be for next time."

Twilight then continues sobbing into Luna's coat, "I'm so sorry for letting the soldiers beat me and take that pony prisoner..." and devolves into a crying mess.

A couple hours later, inside Hitler's office

Hitler looks at the new prisoner with a grin, "Gute Arbeit, gute Arbeit... Dieser hat Magie, stellen Sie ihn unter schwere Bewachung. Wenn er versucht zu fliehen, ketten Sie ihn an die Wand. (Good work, good work... This one has magic, put it under heavy guard. If he tries to escape, chain him to the wall.)" then turns around to look out the window and addresses Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant) Gunter, "Dies ist Ihre einzige Warnung...Sollte es dir beim nächsten Mal nicht gelingen, deinen Verfolger zu fangen...Es ist das Ende für Sie. MACHE ICH MICH KLAR!! (This is your only warning...should you fail to capture your pursuer next time... it's the end for you. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!!)"

Gunter stands stiff as a board and hastily salutes the chancellor, "Jawohl mein Herr. Sieg Heil Meine Führer! (Yes sir. Hail victory, my leader!)

The chancellor then looks out the wall, grinning as he has a more valuable prisoner to provide information on the strange land of Equestria.

A few days later, near the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean

After sneaking on board the USS Enterprise before it left Pearl, they hear sailors around them talking about which countries declared war on each other and Hitler becoming Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army for a couple weeks.

Time continues on when Smooth Deal watch aircraft return to the USS Enterprise when a klaxon alarm begins blaring as the gun crews take their battle stations and start firing while Quick Step hurries back to her partner, making the two ponies look up to find a group of enemy planes flying toward them. As explosions erupt in the waters near the ship, they dart for cover in a low-traffic area against the infrastructure while the ship turns to evade the attack.

By some miracle, all the bombs miss, allowing them the chance to come out of cover to watch the planes pass when one of them is hit and starts burning. To their surprise, it continues to turn around and head for their ship, making them both nervous as Quick Step lowers her voice, "Just what is that pilot thinking, why is it heading this way?"

The pilot's intentions are clear as it adjusts its trajectory to hit the ship, spurring a few gunners into manning their machine guns and firing at it.

With the camera running, Smooth Deal gets into a position to watch the planes final moments. The plane rolls onto its side after losing its last engine and heads off the edge of the ship to do minimal damage, however, its wing cuts one of the planes in half, sending the tail off the side when the wing is shorn off as it slams into the water and explodes.

Watching the ship's crew put the flames out while pulling the gunner out of the plane, they see them push the wreckage off the ship and then start to clear the deck. Stopping the camera, Smooth Deal looks at his special somepony, "I think that I may have made a mistake bringing us on board..."

Hurrying to his side, she wraps her wings around his neck, "It is true that this is very dangerous and risky for us, but you might have been right to leave Pearl. You told me that you felt something in your gut about this ship, that you felt something lucky about it. I have faith in your instincts, honey, this is a once-in-a-lifetime's opportunity to watch events that will make history." Kissing him on the lips to reassure him, she feels the ship starting to turn, "When we return to shore, I think we deserve a night out on the town, what do you say?"

Nodding his head eagerly, he smiles, "I look forward to it, but I will only be having two fingers of their whiskey." Groaning as he remembered his last experience with the liquor the humans make, "These humans sure know how to make alcohol strong enough that it can knock Equestrian's off our hooves, I bet that even Princess Celestia or Luna would have a hard time staying sober when drinking that moonshine of theirs."

Arriving at Pearl Harbor, they sneak onto one of the less cramped boats carrying the sailors to the port for two days of R&R. Ashore, the undercover couple find their way to Honolulu with the aviators and discover the pubs in town far too crowded then head to the officer's club, sneaking in and find the atmosphere there much more enjoyable. As they find an empty spot to dance, they listen to the song and rest their heads against each other's necks. When Smooth Deal uses his magic to swipe a couple of soldier's freshly poured drinks, he overhears a conversation and has a brief encounter with Edwin Layton, learning that he is with Fleet Intelligence.

Once he returns to Quick Step with the drinks, he tells her about his encounter when she nods and says she will include it in her report when they make their next check in with the princesses.

The 48 hours pass by in the blink of an eye as they head back to the USS Enterprise where they spend a couple weeks when Smooth Deal and Quick Step hear about Japan's conquest creeping further through the world, with Mac Arthur evacuating the Philippines as the Japanese continue their conquest of the pacific.

As April soon arrives, the USS Enterprise rendezvous with the USS Hornet for a secret mission. When the ship is close enough, Smooth Deal gets Quick Step to join him to see something strange.

Following her coltfriend to the top deck amidst a storm, Quick Step notices something she has never expected to see before, "What in Tartarus are Army Bombers doing on a carrier?! They can't possibly be trying to take off from the deck...it's way too short."

The two of them are joined by the others on the top deck to look at the strange scene when pilots in brown pilot jackets rush out to stand in formation before the lead plane, with another walking out of the command infrastructure and standing before the others. Too far to hear anything as they address the others, she catches a few words from the conversation, hearing 'bomb Tokyo' and 'home territory'.

Pulling out the camera and aiming it at the gathering, Smooth Deal makes his way to a clear spot and starts filming as they depart and head for the planes while a few crewmen do some checks on bombers before preparing to launch. Moments later, the lead plane begins to be prepared for launch when its engines start up and roar to life, watching through the view window as the plane rolls forward and stops for a few brief seconds. As the engine gets even louder, he watches the flagger give the plane a signal to take off. Moving forward at the signal, it picks up speed as it heads to the end of the deck into the rain and wind blowing against it, but drifts off the end of the deck and disappears behind a mist created by the ship's bow crashing through a wave. Holding the camera on the spot it disappeared from view, he spots movement on the other side and sees the bomber start climbing into the air. Noticing movement on the other side of the ship, he turns the camera to it and follows each plane as they take off one by one. When the last one is in the air and eventually vanishes from view, he stops filming and quickly heads back to where Quick Step is at.

Heading to a relatively dry spot out of the storm, Smooth Deal holds the camera toward his marefriend, "Could you please follow them and film them when they pass over any landmass?"

Blinking in surprise, a sullen smile crosses her face as she takes the camera, looking at him with a nod, "Of course dear, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience after all..." then departs to follow after the bombers.

After watching her take off and follow them, he heads downstairs to the mess hall to listen to the radio. A few hours later, he listens to Tokyo Rose talk about the collapse of American forces in the Philippines when a man's voice suddenly starts shouting something in Japanese out of panic when a siren is heard in the background, though Tokyo Rose falls silent as the broadcast continues on, allowing the air raid siren to fully dominate the rest of the broadcast.

Hearing the sirens wail causes a smile to crawl its way onto Smooth Deal's face, though he tries to fight it as he thinks of the innocents that are most likely falling victim to the attack. His attempt ultimately fails as the sailors around him let out a few cheers as the somber mood about the ship picks up and changes into a more cheerful one, with him letting out an eventual sigh as the smile becomes a somber one, "What a way to boost morale..."

Once his marefriend returns with a tear-stained face, she returns the camera to him and embraces him in a tight hug, "Those poor innocent humans in Tokyo...the cries rising from the city and the fires mixing with the blaring of the sirens during the attack is so horrible."

Holding her close, he sighs and nuzzles against her, "I know dear, I heard a broadcast from Tokyo Rose when the sirens started, I feel so guilty after being unable to keep the smile off my face as I thought they got what they deserved for starting this."

Pulling back to rub her nose against his and find comfort in his familiar scent, she sighs and closes her eyes, "I feel that way too, but the war is only just starting, dear."

Months later in Equestria, at Canterlot

After watching the last video about the attack on Midway Island with Spike staying behind in Ponyville, Twilight sighs, "Does this mean that the U.S. have the upper hand in the war now?"

With what knowledge the teams and changelings have been able to provide, Celestia turns her head to Twilight, "I don't think so, Twilight, but they have won a great victory and must have pushed them back a ways or at least have halted their alarmingly rapid advance. Even though the Americans haven't been in the war long, I think the war is beginning to turn in favor of the U.S."

Nodding her head, she sighs, "That is good to hear, but I really wish there was a way that we could help out in the war somehow..."

Luna nods her head and walks up to Twilight and lays the tips of her right wing under her chin, saying, "I do too, Twilight, but there is nothing that we can do at the moment."

After voicing further frustration at feeling useless while the war rages on with the rising casualties showing no sign of slowing down, the young alicorn is hugged reassuringly by the night princess and decides to take a walk through the castle to do some thinking.

As she passes by the throne room, she hears the radio squawk to life as someone starts to speak when she notices there are no guards at the doors to stop her and enters to listen to it. Closing the doors behind her, she races toward the radio as an announcement from the President of the United States is announced by the female speaker. Hearing him speak about the great victory of intelligence at Midway, the speech about the great victory eventually ends and he takes a few questions from the gathered reporters. As she listens to the questions, thoughts run through her head, 'How can we help them bring the war to a quicker end...there must be a way.' Stewing over a way that would work, she refines her thoughts into what might be considered valuable enough to result in a quicker end to the war, 'What would make such a profound impact that would get them all to stop fighting each other long enough to listen? Food, gems, gold, labor?' considering all those ideas not sensible, she shakes her head and continues thinking, however, she takes a keen interest once her ears pick up a question about a rumored secret scientific facility somewhere in the desert.

Listening intently now, she hears the president discredit the rumors about any such secret facility, which causes a report from a group of changelings about a military base being built way out in the desert. Knowing that something super secret is going on there, she smirks and heads out of the throne room to search for some supplies for a trip to Earth.

By the time Twilight gets her hooves on what she needs, it is already mid November in 1943 as she leaves two letters behind, asking Spike to send one to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna while the other is for him and her friends to read. With the guard out of hearing, she stands by the door which leads to the States and opens the door a little to see if the portal is active. When it is not, she slips into the room and slips on her newly acquired stealth bracelet before double-checking her saddlebags to ensure they are properly secured in place before heading to the center of the room and lowering her voice, "United in Harmony." To her surprise, it activates right before her eyes as she approaches it curiously before taking a calming breath, "Remain calm Twilight, you are only just traveling to a world at war with itself, but at least you are going to the place least likely to turn you into paste and decorate the ground or the side of a building, or even a tree..."

Steeling herself, she trots through the portal to find herself near the bay and looks around her to find that she is alone and on the left side of the towering Statue of Liberty as the portal still continues to shimmer, approaching the portal to test a theory she came up with and tries it, "Peace to Mankind." To her shock and surprise, it works and the portal snaps shut with a slight sizzle, causing her to smile and prance in triumph, "It worked! It actually worked!"

After celebrating her discovery, she snaps out of it and returns to her original agenda, "Right, I have a map of the states that the princesses have made, so I need to get a better look at it, but first things first...can't be caught or seen here." Activating the bracelet's spell, she feels the magic take effect and then pulls the map out of her saddlebags. Looking the map over, she lightly illuminates her horn to look it over in the night's darkness.

When Twilight spots where she is at, she then checks each state's name and finds the one she is looking for, "There's New Mexico, wow it is quite a ways from the East Coast..." With the path clear, she stretches her wings out and puts the map away then takes flight, "Gonna need to fly pretty high to save my strength and avoid becoming a bug and hitting a plane."

Seeming like she has been flying for hours, dawn finally breaks as the sun rises into the sky. When the sun gets high enough, she looks around below her to look for any coasts to her left. Seeing one in front of her, she examines the shape of it and looks at the map again, "UGH...I'm way past it and near California! I will have to backtrack and make a few stops so I can figure out just where I am." then puts it away to head back in the direction she came, feeling annoyed with herself at going way too far.

Snagging a few meals on her journey, she eventually arrives in New Mexico and starts searching for any places that seem to have much higher security than normal. Wandering through the air at a low altitude, she spots a large sign by a hill, reading: WHAT YOU SEE HERE, WHAT YOU DO HERE, WHAT YOU HEAR HERE, WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE, LET IT STAY HERE

After reading that, Twilight realizes she is in the right area and flies a bit higher into the sky, spotting a town a few dozen miles away with just one road to it occupied by some military vehicles and other automobiles. Heading closer to the gate, she sees the town's name on a sign reading Los Alamos.

Making her way past the security points, she takes her time exploring the base. Wandering around aimlessly, she finds herself at a lone ranch house and finds a couple out back arguing about something. She moves to leave the area when she hears the man mention that he's the head of this project and will see it through to the end, and stays there to observe him closely.

As the man makes his way around the house, Twilight follows him closely while watching for an opportunity to teleport them somewhere secluded to talk with him. Her opportunity arrives as he is surrounded by a line of tall bushes and lays a hoof on him just before casting her spell to teleport into the middle of the desert.

The doctor exclaims in fright and spins around, trying to figure out what happened, "What the hell was that?!"

Before he can turn to face her, Twilight raises a secrecy barrier to keep all things in and from being seen from the outside, "Hello, what is your name?"

Spinning around toward the voice behind him, he sees no one there and says, "J. R. Oppenheimer, who and where the hell are you, and what do you want with me?"

Staying still, she looks up at him, "Nice to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and to be honest, I just want to know what is going on here that is so secretive. You may not believe me, but I am not like anything you have seen before and am not a member of any nation on your world."

Oppenheimer looks down at the ground and rubs his eyes to make sure his eyes aren't messing with him but sees nothing there, "I have no idea what you are talking about." Looking around him once more, he sees no one around, "Why can't I see you, are you some sort of extraterrestrial with strange powers?"

Smiling, she giggles, "Something of that manner, yes, but you aren't in danger of being tortured for information, I promise. I know that there is some project here and work is being done to create something to bring the war to an end, if that is true...I would like to help."

Scratching his neck and thinking he is crazy and hearing voices, he looks all around for any sign of the creature, "If something was going on here, why should I believe you? Could you at least reveal yourself so that I don't look like a madman?"

Sighing, Twilight concedes, "I suppose I could, but don't freak out or try to run anywhere. I have a barrier up and no one can see or hear us, it also ensures that nothing can escape unless I personally dismiss it." She then deactivates the bracelet with her body's magic, "Is that better?"

Oppenheimer looks down as something begins to materialize before his eyes, seeing a small, lavender filly with violet eyes, wings, a horn and a dark blue mane and tail with a raspberry streak in them. Finding the creature curious rather than scary, he crouches down for a closer look, "Can you actually speak, or are you using telepathy?"

She rolls her eyes and groans, "Of course I can speak, and nopony I know can use it either. Before you even ask...yes, my horn is real and I can fly. Magic is also real, but I will not let you do any studies with me while alive or dead."

It takes a little while to get some answers, having to answer a few of Oppenheimer's questions in return after assuring that she wasn't an enemy spy.

With a new friend made, having a burning desire to assist the project in some way with a love of science, he silently debates whether or not it would be wise to bring her in on it, "IF I do allow you to help with the project, you must speak of your involvement to anyone or you will be hunted down and shot as a spy."

Not letting herself be swayed, she looks at Oppenheimer with a determined look, "That's alright with me, but you can tell nopony anything regarding my existence or if I helped at all. The world I come from is a peaceful one and cannot be dragged into this conflict."

Putting his right hand to his chin in thought, "So...I should think of you as a non-existence?"

Nodding her head, she smirks, "I excel at conducting experiments, theories, and studying, so where can I assist?"

Pacing lightly, he eventually sighs and looks at her, "I'm presently heading one area, so you can shadow me and check in on others. If and when you can provide some help, you can find some way to signal me so we can chat in private."

Smiling triumphantly, Twilight stands tall, "I will not let you down, I Pinkie Promise, but what exactly are you working on out here?"

Wondering how to answer her without telling her anything too specific, he looks at her, "A weapon that will make history, but we must be the first one to have it as Germany cannot be trusted with it."

Bringing down her barrier, she then holds out her hoof, "I look forward to the days ahead, Dr. Oppenheimer. I shall make sure to slip a note into your pocket with my magic when I return home to check in with my friends. I won't tell anyone about this place or my time here, trust me...nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise without severe punishment."

Reassured that she will keep the secret, Oppenheimer takes her offered hoof in his hand and shakes it, "My friends call me Robert, but you can call me whatever is easiest for you. Welcome to the Manhattan Project, Twilight Sparkle. Can we please go back now so we can continue?"