Author's Note

A return ! I would like to thank all those who read the prequel to this work ! I have been working on this one for a while, but have struggled with REAL LIFE. Either way I can't wait to see what you all think of this story.

We are moving away from war now and going on the adventure that was teased in the prequel. Lets hope I can do some better writting than the last story, heh !

Thanks again and see you all soon with the next chapter.

Chapter I: Homeward bound

This is one of the most difficult tasks that is asked of me. I write to you about your son Romain B.Conlin, who was under my command. In an operation to help cripple the German war machine, your son’s aircraft was shot down over enemy territory. After a long report from ground forces, I am to tell you that there were no survivors. It is unclear as to what happened, but I believe that there just was not enough time for anyone to jump clear.

Your son was one of the brightest and friendliest men that I have ever known, and I am proud to say that served with him. His sacrifice will allow total victory over the Nazi war machine. I can only hope that you will be able to find consolation in the knowledge that he died a Hero, saving countless lives.

The Officers and Men of this Bomber Command join me in our most sincere sympathy for your loss. We shall, his friends and comrades, miss him dearly.

Yours most sincerely,
Capt. Avery F.Anderson
23rd Heavy Bomber Squadron

“Medic!”
The cries of pain growing louder.
“Medic!”

Three men rush past me, slipping and sliding through the muddied ground. Behind me, a machine gun opens up. Short bursts. The rounds shining through the night.
My fingers trace along the edge of the negative. Caressing the faces upon its surface.

I look down, my foxhole is on the edge of the ravine, below I can see several corpses. A small native family trying to flee the fighting, only to be gunned down by their own side.

Or maybe ours, it didn’t matter any more, they were dead. And I wasn’t.

“Pressure… He’s bleeding out.” The medics rushed past me again. The man on the stretcher was pulled from the battlefield. They all disappeared into the night.

A flare lit up the surround. All I could do was shiver at my post. That was not right. My job was to lead men, and here I was, cowering away like a junior officer. Maybe I wasn’t as brave as I had made myself believe.

A lot had changed since Guadalcanal.

Their was no longer the dread of being cut off… No.

I guess you could say that there was something different about Okinawa. Something more terrifying than what I had known all those years ago.

1945… Has it been that long already ? Have I gone so far ? Done so much ? The days of being support gunner for the 2nd Raiders was a distant memory. I was not a Gunner any more. The days of following orders from far down the command chain had long since past.

Now I issue the commands, and I still feel more fear now than I ever did back on the Canal.

Maybe, just maybe… it was time to purge my soul of doubts ?

My name is Captain Lou Albert Conlin. I command this company. Through flares and deafening machine gun fire, I stand alone. Surrounded by people who’s names are slowly slipping from me. My mind isn’t as clear as it once was. I feel…

“Despair ? Pain ? Resentment ?”

Twilight was often there to keep me company. A little voice of reason in my head. Even though she tended never say much. A limitation of my own imagination…
“Resentment… Resentment…”

“There is no shame in that. You did nothing wrong.”

“And yet, had I gone with you…”

“There is no shame… what would have happened if those artillery guns were a real threat ?” The fact that Twilight used such terms always brought me back to reality. There was no way that she ever could have understood our mission to destroy those guns. My primary objective was to get her home.

“And yet they would be with me if we had gone.”

My days of war were coming to a close. I was leaving, this place. Not the way I wanted. My brother was my ticket home. And now, all I could do was break down.

I had been fighting far longer than he. Yet he is the one to fall, not me. Why ? Surely I deserved to die long before him. And yet he is gone, I can only wonder what is happening back home. My hands clench with burning fury. Why him…

Why him…

“Your friends have gone for home. For you…”

“Maybe… If I had just stayed at home…”

And yet the more I sit here the more I understand that there is nothing I could have done. I am powerless. I command an army and I am powerless.

Maybe that is why Mark and Jack took the easy way out. Maybe that is why they hadn’t resisted at the angel’s beckoning.

They were both gone.

It all happened on Tarawa…

We were moving further into the Atoll, covered on our flanks by the rest of the men of my old platoon. Mark and Jack were ahead.
If only someone who wasn’t there could understand what we were seeing… Nothing ! The entire atoll was on fire. Dust, ash and smoke rising and falling everywhere. But from the tip of our spearhead came a figure. A woman, clad in nothing more than a strange toga dress. I halted, I thought I was going crazy.

If that were the case, why had my friends stopped too ?
I watched as the woman approached them, I could hear the rest of my men asking ‘why have we stopped ?’. Were they blind. Had they not seen this ?
She approached my friends and spoke to them, I could not hear what she said. Maybe I was to far away ? I began to run up to them. They then turned to me and held up their hands to stop me. It was as if I was being held. I could only look despairingly at them as a screeching sound approached.
Everyone behind me hit the dirt. An explosion propelled me backwards, spared from the shrapnel by some unknown force. My friends disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Ringing in my ears as the figure stood over me. She knelt down above me, her mouth repeating the same words. “Not yet.”

Despite the explosion, they had survived. Though the explosion had enough force and shrapnel to cripple them. I watched helplessly as medics dragged them away from me. Mark was blinded and Jack was paralysed in his legs. A fate I had been spared.

The landing craft left the shore and took my friends away to the medical ship awaiting them out to sea.

Going home.

The woman had never truly left me after that day. I would sometime see her here and there. But nothing more than a ghost caught in the wind. One that I could not feel. But I could see it.
Had she saved my friends, or was she there to warn about impending dooms ? If that was so, why had she never stopped following me since then.
But even so. Mark and Jack were, as far as I was concerned, home. Safe and sound.
I found it very hard to make friends again after that day. My promotion did very little in that regard. If anything, it seemed to alienate me more from my men than I would have wanted. But maybe that was the point. Maybe they didn’t want me to care as much as I had once had.

I think Major Sanders could see this. Or at least feel it. Losing my friends was a hard blow. Losing my brother had become the final straw. My sanity over this war held only through my friends. With their loss and my own brother gone too, what did I have to look forward to back home ?

Why was no one caring ? Why would they ? They have their own problems, they don’t need me to add to their despair.

Could I have avoided this ? Was all this pain avoidable ? Had we crossed through the barriers of dimensions, would everything still be fine ? Had I followed Twilight to the other side. Would I be happier now ?

Oh Twilight…

My mind often slips back to those days. Feels like a million years ago now. Those were the days. Tomy, Mark, Jack and Twilight. The old gang. Jumping through worlds with smiles on our faces. Falling through space as we grasped an eternity over freedom.

But I have no time machine. No way to go back to that time.

Twilight.

My friends.

My brother.

All had passed away from me like leaves in the autumn breeze. Happiness was become a distant memory. There was nothing now that was sparing my soul from this heartache.

If only…

If only I could see Twilight again.

In the distance I could see the woman, just standing there. I looked around me. All those who were looking in the same direction as me should have seen her. And yet there was no commotion. No gasps of awe. I turned my gaze back. And there she stood, towering above me. She was neither dirtied nor wet. Her appearance was as pristine as her grace.
Without even a gesture, I was lifted out of my hole. A force unseen, unknown to all. But I had felt that before ! Back when I had helped Twilight and on Tarawa. Open to the elements.
The rain had not stopped for four days straight. The ground was slippery. How I was even able to stand on the edge of my foxhole without falling back in was in of itself a mystery.
I looked up at her. Despite standing right in front of her, she was slightly taller than me.

Whether by my own desire or her powers, I found myself looking straight into her eyes. The gateway into our souls.

“It is time, Captain.” That voice ! I had no recognition of it, nothing that indicated we had ever met before Tarawa. And yet… It sounded so familiar.

“Time for what ?” My question had not even phased her. She knew I was going to say that… “Who are you ?” Beside me I heard Lieutenant um,… What’s his name ? Landry I think ? Was yelling, telling me to get the ‘Fuck Down !’ Even if I wanted to pay attention, I don’t think this angel wanted me to listen.

“Time for you to come home.”

“Why ?”

“For your next adventure. As your comrades are about to embark on.”

So she wasn’t coming here with the footsteps of doom ?

“Why ?” My question repeated, something was happening, I could feel a warm sensation envelope me. My body seeming to become lighter and lighter. “Who—”

I was cut short by one of her fingers against my lips. She smiled sadly at me. Something was coming. And I wasn’t going to like it, was I ? I felt something push through me. Through my right shoulder. Was water was leaking from me ?

Blood began to trickle from the wound.

“I… I-” I began to feel faint my eyes heavy and my legs weak.

“No shock and no pain.”

Around me, my men began to take action getting up slowly, as if time was slowed. I began to feel fear again. What was happening to me ? Before panic could settle in, the angel took my head in her hands. A reassuring smile on her face.

“No shock and no pain. No fear and no despair.” Her voice was all that mattered. “Sleep now, child of the night.”

I fell, my last moments of consciousness lost as a flare flew into the night. Its light blinding me, bathing me in an orange light. I caught a last glimpse of the angel, before the Lieutenant Landry’s face filled my vision. And faded into black.

And just like that, the war ended.

For me at least.

After 4 years, I now found myself standing outside the very place I doubted I would ever see again. Powerful words to say that you are going home. Especially coming from your commanding officer. But I had doubted the words that she had spoken on that ridge.

Why had she sent me here ? Alive ?

She had mentioned an adventure. Something that may have interested my pre war self, but not now. Was I just a pawn in some elaborate game of chess ? A toy soldier ?

It had crossed my mind that I was not in control of myself. If I could not go back in time to rectify my mistakes, how could I possibly be in control ?

“Oh my goodness !” The voice rang inside my head for a moment, my gaze lowering to see my sister Amelia standing in the doorway of our house outside of the city of New York.

I had moved here 10 years ago with my family. Just before the outbreak of war.

“Hi sis.” My response was not a strong or as positive as I would have liked it. I guess from the way I was dressed, right down to the sling holding my arm, I looked a mess.

Before I even knew it, her arms were around me. Embraced in her hug, I was unable to resist moving in and joining her.

She was crying, I could tell from her breathing. My parents appeared at the door. My mother, looking far worse for wear than my sister, and yet…

I had never seen father like this before. Not tears, no… but a look of shame. A look of guilt.

I had joined up out of despair and the need for money. Maybe even the idea of an adventure. Romain had joined up to be like his big brother.

To be like me…

Mum hugged me as if every second counted. I dared not let go. I didn’t want to. I was home and I was alive.

Finding my place in society was difficult for the first few months. Even when I thought I had something good, the distance of life between me and other people made interactions hard. People who still lived in the American dream. People who had seen far too little of reality.
Job interviews were one sided. ‘What could I bring to your company? Myself. Is that not enough?’
I had managed to get a job as a caretaker for the local school. A janitor’s position as small and as underpaid as they could ever give me. I had not boasted about my past. I had not shown off my medals. Nor had I shown them my rank. I didn’t want the respect. To be treated like a hero would be more painful than a Jap’s bayonet.

I wanted out. Start fresh. To find my place in the world all while dropping the act of defiance towards my time in the Military. I worked alone and held up with late nights. Others would suffer the same I as I did. The nightmares were the worst of it. No matter how early I woke up or how late I went to bed. There always seemed to be far too much time to sleep.
Every day I woke up, I began to feel worse and worse. A feeling of sickness slowly taking hold over me. Even my teeth started to look and feel funny.
I was begining to doubt the existence of the Angel for quite a while. A fairy tale explanation as to why I was alive. But as every day passed, I began to feel more and more strange. Physical changes that seemed to grow more and more confusing. I played it off as ‘another thing wrong with me’.
Not like that list was long enough already.
My health was of no importance when it came to what mind was telling me. ‘You’re home ! Tomy never made it ! Why ?’ That was true. Why was I alive. When so many others, friends… good friends were not ?

That was probably the cause for most of my nightmares. My father had told me not to think about it. He had had his own share during the battles of the Great War. But I couldn’t put it behind me ! They wouldn’t stop screaming.
I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
In the empty hall of the school, I collapsed. Curled myself up into a ball and wept.

“I should never have joined up. I’ve destroyed myself. I’ve destroyed my family…”

“And what about me ?”

“I…”

“I would still be trapped on your world if it weren’t for you. Worse I could be dead right now had you not found me !”

“Why tell me this ! Why--” Soft lips pressed up against mine. I looked up, Twilight’s face blurring into view as she broke the kiss.

“I would not be home if it weren’t for you. I would be dead, an unknown corpse in an unknown jungle. And yet with all the crazy things that happened, you believed in me ! You saved my life, and I wouldn’t be able to say that if I were dead.”

“You're not here...” I looked down at the floor, lowering my head and closing my eyes.

“Had you not joined up, you wouldn’t be able to create this illusion. Had you not sacrificed your innocence, your sanity, you would be unable to see me right now.” I could tell she was gone. I didn’t want her to go. She was the voice of reason ! Just out of reach. Locked in another reality.
But had she been right ? Had I not gone through so much despair and loss, just to have that brief moment of satisfaction ? Had I sacrificed my Brother, my family’s happiness for her safety ? Was that destiny ?

Every weekend I would go walking in the park with my dog Snoopy.

Walking snoopy around the park was maybe the only moments of comfort I could get. Well… That might be an overstatement… But the feeling was still there. The feeling of relief.
Snoopy didn’t seem to mind. Running round, never quite bringing the ball back. Shame, meant I had to keep chasing him around. He’s the dog, not me ! You’re suppose to bring it back ! You dimwit dog !

What a fool I was, chasing him around. But at least it made me smile. I still rememeber that one Saturday where I was wrecked by a dream. A daydream. Ahead, trees rustled. Something was pawing at my leg. Snoopy holding a small stick. I took it from his mouth. Why was it so heavy ? I look up, my breath is caught in my throat, an army of Japanese troops charging at me.

I was unable to move, unable to scream. I look down and see that I am wearing my uniform. Blood leaking from my shoulder. My 45 in my hand.

Snoopy barked louder and louder, the echoes melding into mortar fire. And as I stare at the water. My reflection settles. An unfamiliar, yet familiar face looks back. Eyes a deep gold. Pupils thick and slitted vertically. Rounded ears, covered in fur sat atop my head. And my teeth…

Snoopy jumped up at me and pulled me back down to earth.

An illusion...that is all. And yet… why can I still feel something in my hair ? Why was everything all so clear around me ? I didn’t have bad vision, but… Every sound sounded so much clearer too !And my service weapon in hand…

“Long distance.” The operator responded.

“Hi, I’d like to place a call to Montreal please.” I gave the number to the operator.

“One moment.” I was waiting in the phone booth outside my work place. Mark had not picked up, I was now trying to call Jack. With only the light of a nearby street lamp for illumination, I struggled to make out their terrible hand writing on the back of my bible. It also allowed a reflection to stare back at me. Ears twitching on my head.

“No answer sir, would you like me to transfer your call to another line ?” Damn.

“No thank you.” I hung up the phone. I swear those ears on my head were sentient. Lowering at my dismay. Why weren’t they answering ? Never had fangs before now. Biting my lower lip with them was starting to become a reflex.

The journey home was long and tiring, I could have driven, but walking was always more interesting. Cars drove by me, turning my collar to the wind. I put on my trilby and walked home.
There were no lights inside, my family having long since gone to bed. Snoopy looked up as I entered the lounge. Half asleep in his bed. How simple a dogs life must be. How peaceful.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my service weapon. I was sure that I had returned that with my military gear.

Sat on the edge of the sofa, I observed the weapon. It still had drying mud on the surface, as if pulled from my last moments of Okinawa. That was months ago.

And that is how I waited, all night, toying with a weapon of war. As the first rays of sunlight rose into the sky. I stood up. Over the mantle, the old family mirror reflected my inhumanity. Removing my hat, ears perking up, twitching ever so slightly. My pupils returned to a more round shape. Don’t get me wrong ! They weren’t as slitted like those of a feline… but still odd enough for me to notice when fully slitted.

And those fangs… why on earth did I suddenly have such long canines ! Was I infected by something ?

They were long enough to pass over my bottom lip and under my upper lip. Luckily for me they weren’t that long, so maybe I could hide them easily enough. I’d hate for every one to think I was Count Dracula ! ‘I vant to suck your blooood’. Now that would be funny !

A knock at the door brought me back to the real world. Ears swivelling to face the sound. I turned to face the door. Looking back at the mantle, the clock showing 5 AM. The knocking continued.

Putting my hat on, I made my way to the door. Mouth closed and lips as sealed as possible. I didn’t want to expose my sharp canines at our friendly neighbours.
I could hear voices on the other side of the door. They seemed worried.

“Maybe we should have called first?” One of the voices asked.

“Shh ! I can hear something on the other side.”

Those voices… They sounded far too familiar to be one of our neighbours.

“Lou ! Are you there ?”

I swung the door open. A huge smile on my face. In front of me were two men. One was standing, the other was in a wheel chair. Emerald Green and Amber eyes stared pleadingly into mine.
“Mark ?” He continued to stand there, my gaze lowering to meet Jack’s. “Jack ?” They were both wearing oversized hats, covering their heads. Mark was also wearing a huge overcoat. Far too large for his body size. Jack was dressed normally I guess… just a plain grey suit.

“Please let us in.” Mark said, pushing his way past me, followed by Jack He sounded irritated, angry even. Closing the door behind them. I led them into the lounge.

Mark sat down in the small chair, his back to the window. Jack rolled up next to him. It pained me to see him this way, but what had me baffled was Mark.
“I ugh…” My silence and awkward stare directed at Mark caught his attention very quickly.

“Were you expecting someone else ?” Mark asked, his eyes looking at the hand gun on the puff. I shook my head. Hugging them both, Mark retreated a step to get a closer look at me.

“Don’t ask me how. But you’ve got them too !” He pointed at me. “I was as blind as a bat and one day, I wake up with my eyes fully… functional... I guess.” He looked away from me. “Just wish they could look normal.” He muttered.

“I had nothing wrong with mine ! Yet their as Amber as the sky at sun set !” Hissed Jack, in desperation. “My legs would have been better, but instead I get these !” He bursts. Removing his bowler hat, revealing two fluffy ears on his head.

Mark did the same, revealing the same attributes. What was going on, how come my friends were having the same changes as I ?
“Oh and I forgot, as well as becoming overwhelmed with my sight returning. I now have to try and explain these !” He stood up and removed his overcoat that he was previously clutching with fury.

As the clothing was discarded, two wings shot out from behind his back. Fur and feathers a dark shade of brown. Just like the ears he now had.

Jack was looking Mark over before looking to see my reaction. Mark was also very interested to see what I would do.

“Don’t faint ! It took me ages to drag Jack into my family car when I picked him up. I’d rather not have you fainting as well.” His expression unwavering as I got up and touched the feathers.

“Yeah I know they feel like Twilight’s wings. That’s why we came here. I got a call from Jack so I picked him up first, before coming here.” He said, looking me over. I must have had my mouth hanging wide open because a small smirk appeared on his face. “By the looks of things, I made the right decision. Are those fangs ?”

My hand went straight up to my canines. Then to my own hat that I deposited on the couch.

“Um, yeah… They are. Ears too by the way.”

It was then that I heard stirring upstairs. The others too, looking up at the ceiling. I moved to close the living room door.

“Maybe not the best place to talk, my family will be waking up soon.”
The way they looked at me must have seemed like I slapped them across the face.

“You have a family ? As in kids ?” Mark asked, his wings shuddering at his sides.

“No no no ! Just my parents and my sister. We should keep it down.” I replied, looking at the ceiling then back at them. They had a look that seemed to go right through me. As if they had seen a ghost.
“You should, yes.”
A voice from behind me. One that I had encountered before, and from the looks of things, so had my friends. I spun around, jumping back when I saw her standing there.

“What the--” I began, only to be silenced by Mark and Jack who both began to speak at once.

“You ! What are you doing here ! What did you do to us !”

The 'angel' smiled , her amusement betrayed by her eyes. Mark however was not impressed and crossed his arms in frustration.

“I am sure that you are beginning to understand, no ?” Her voice was as sweet and motherly as the last time I had heard it. When she saw us all give her either confused or furious looks, she sighed. “I know that I didn’t choose you for your intellect, but surely you see what is happening, no ?”

“Let’s say that we do, who are you ?” Mark asked, I had wanted to say something, but he cut me off.

“Oh come on ! You are seriously saying that you have no ideas of what is happening to you ? I mean… you came to see Lou for advise.” She said. Turning to me for support.

“You told me that you were sending me home to prepare for another adventure… You said the same thing to them ?” I asked, before the others could butt in.

“That she did.” Muttered Jack. The woman turned her attention to him, their eyes met and he looked even further away, his ears pressing flat against his head and tried to hide his embarrassment. Was he blushing ?

“That I did.” She smiled at him, before returning her attention to me. “And you are still asking yourselves why. Well shall I tell you ?” We nodded. “Equestria is in trouble.”

What ?

“Equestria is in trouble. Twilight is in trouble.” We all looked at each other. Twilight was a concern to us. She may have not been with us long, but I could count her as a sister of arms. An impossible lover from my heart.

“You played your first part magnificently. Protecting her until she could return to her reality was pure bravery !” She exclaimed, approaching the three of us. “Yet there was never any hope for Twilight. The elements of Harmony were already lost and powerless against this foe.”

“The Shadow.” I said, filling in her sentence for her.

“Yes ! An ancient Evil !” She declared in a dramatic voice. “Though that is not the entire truth. The shadow is the result. The once loyal subject was only the beginning.” Her gaze lowering slightly. As if remembering a long distant memory.

“Evil consumes all who do not resist its dark tendrils. And they become powerful if they give in freely to its destructive powers.” She explained, a master of disguise, whoever the shadow that I had faced was or is, she was connected to them. Though her face betrayed very little in that regard, despite being so expressive only moments before.

“Who was this person ?” I asked, her brilliant rainbow coloured eyes rising to meet mine. I could have sworn I saw something there. Her eyes were so brilliant, so beautiful.

“Somepony who didn’t deserve the pain.” Been a while since I had heard that term. But the use of it made me think. “Destiny cannot be changed, what happens, happens. And that is why I saved you all.”

“Saved us ?” Asked Jack. “Being dead might have been a better option than being paralysed !” He declared. Was anyone waking up upstairs or were they having the day off ?

“You had no option young one. None of you did.” Looking at each of us in turn, she continued her approach. “Neither did I. Had I not intervened, you would all be dead. Captain Lou here would be alive and fighting on Okinawa only to be killed by the Divine Wind on the return trip home.” At that thought maybe these changes weren’t so bad. “But you didn’t because I had no choice. I was always going to save you. But in the process you were going to get hurt. Badly.”

“And you couldn’t have just healed us normally ! I mean, are these wings necessary ?” Asked Mark, stretching one of his wings so she could see properly.

“Yes !” she nodded eagerly. “Though you may not see why yet, you are all turning out great !” She marched up to the window.
“Hold on, what does this have to do with helping Equestria ?” I asked. She turned to me, then looked at the others with a huge grin.

“Well Equestria is a land of ponies and mythical creatures ! No humans. Your transformations aren’t random growths ! They are more along the lines of preparation. Bringing your pony selves into this reality. Only fragments, mind you.” She then turned back to the window.

Was she saying what I thought she was saying. From the looks the others were giving me, they thought it too.
“What do you mean, preparing us ?” We asked. She didn’t reply, instead she tapped her finger on the window. The sunlight seemed to become unbearably bright. I shielded my eyes. I saw her turn around and face us.

“You’ll see once on the other side, My Little Ponies.”