The Changeling Warsby Lil_Miss_RarityChaptersChapter 2: EquestriaChapter 4: RecruitmentChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 3: Life LessonsChapter 2: EquestriaChapter 2: Equestria I couldn't feel my legs, my head felt like it was spinning, and my back was in a lot of pain. It stung for a pretty long time. I could barely breathe. But right before it felt like I was going to suffocate. I wake up. This definetly wasn't Afghanistan anymore. The place was thick with trees and vines. It was so dark there. Was it a forest or a jungle? I tried to stand up, only to fall down and land on my back. I cried out in pain. "OW!!!!" My back was covered with shrapnels of metal. It was all cut open up and torn. It wasn't bleeding that bad, but it still could get infected. "Hello?" I didn't have high hopes that anyone could hear me, but it was worth a try. I checked my body to see if anything else was wrong. There was a lot wrong. First off, I didn't even have hands. I had hooves! Then I looked at my body. It was a sort of pony-like body. It was a sort of maroon color. I looked behind me and saw a tail. The fact that I wasn't human anymore was almost overwhelming. I felt dizzy again. But I regained my balance. I had military gear on. But it's not by any human I ever heard of. It doesn't even look like it is human technology. But it was relatively similar. There was also a gun on my side, hanging by a strap. It looked like the M4A1, except the stock was bigger, and the magazine was more curved, as well as the trigger in a more roundish shape. I searched unsucessfully for a way out of the forest. I searched for what seemed like hours, only to lead to a dead end. But just as I was about to give up hope, a small beam of light illuminated into my eyes. It burned. I walked into a huge grass plain. It was beautiful. Green grass, healthy trees, and animals all covered the land. And in the distance, I could see a fairly simple town and on a huge mountain on the side was another city. It was extremely fancylooking. Near the front of the small town, there was a banner that said, "Welcome home, soldiers!" but the weirdest part was that there were ponies waiting in the front of the town. They all looked like me, except they all had different colors, some had horns, and some had wings. I was a little freighted, but I was a marine. I walked up the dirt road that led to the town. All the ponies looked sad and some were even crying. But when one of them saw me, everyone looked up and began cheering. What's going on? As I got closer, the cheering got even louder, until I entered the town. The cheering was enough to destroy my ears. Then, a tall white colored pony came flying down. It had both wings and a horn. I read about these as a kid. I think they were called alicorns? I don't know. It was a long time ago. She walked up to me and said, "Welcome home, soldier. We are very proud of what you have done for Equestria." Where? Maybe that's the name of the land I'm in? She continued to talk. "Have you seen any other soldiers on your journey back?" I didn't see anyone to be honest, so I said, "No." All the ponies suddenly stopped cheering. A feeling of dread washed over everyone. A purple unicorn with a dark-pink and purple mane had watery eyes and ran back into a tree. The alicorn asked me where I lived and wanted to personally escort me home. Too bad I don't anywhere now. "Mam'n, I don't live anywhere." "You do not have a home?" "No." She thought for a moment. Then said, "I may have an idea on where you can live. Provided that she let's you." "Who is that, if I may ask?" "My pupil, Twilight Sparkle." "Odd choice of name, but I can live with it, I guess." We arrived at the same place that I saw that purple unicorn ran into. The alicorn's horn starts to glow, then a force knocks the door. Too lazy to knock the door themselves? How come they aren't fat looking? Then, a purple and green dragon opens the door. "Yes?" The alicorn begins talking to it, then she went inside, telling me to stay outside for a few minutes. There is a lot of crashing noises going on in there. Then. the alicorn opens the door, along with the dragon and the unicorn I saw earlier. Her eyes were watery and her cheeks are wet with tears. The alicorn spoke. "Twilight Sparkle has agreed to let you stay here while we find you a new home." "Thank you, mam'n." "I must go now. Princess Luna and I must discuss our next plan against the Changelings. I thank you again." Then she flew off. I looked back the unicorn. Her eyes have instantly dried up. She was looking at me with squinted, focused eyes. "That's some peculiar magic I'm sensing. It's almost as though your using a transformation....spell...." She ran back inside. I could hear some arguing inside. Then, she came back outside. Her magic was holding a knife! "W-what are you doing?" "Who are you?" "What?" "Who are you!?" "I'm... I'm..." What name? What name? What name? What name! "Brave Hoof?" That was the first thing that popped in my head. "That does't prove anything!" She started swinging the damn thing at me! "What the hell are you doing!?" "WHO ARE YOU!?" She was really starting to get pissed. I swear her eyes are glowing red! I wasn't going to tell anyone, but unless I want to die, I guess I'm going to have to tell her if I'm going to live. "Look! Just stop and I'll tell you, but can we talk inside?" She looks down at the dragon, who looked back at her. Then they both walked inside. The unicorn looked back outside to me, motioning her hooves for me to go inside. I walked in. I almost tripped on the way in. I still need to get used to this. She was sitting in a chair. Holding her knife. She spoke, quietly. "Now. Who are you? Are you a Changeling?" A what? What's a Changeling? "A what? No. *sigh* I'm a human. I have no idea how I got here." "A human!? I thought you were just a myth!" "You really never seen a human before?" I looked up and she was gone. Minutes later, she came back with a book. It was called: Myths and Tall Tales. She flipped through the pages, then stopped. She showed me a picture of a human. Or at least it said it was. It didn't look anything like any human I ever seen. It looked kinda like that famous Bigfoot picture! "Uh, that isn't a human." "It isn't?" "No, that's Bigfoot. It's a myth in my world." "Oh. So what do you look like?" I looked up at my helmet. I took it off and searched inside for the picture of my family. I found it and showed it to the unicorn. "This is my wife, and that's my son." She stared at the picture for a long time. "Interesting..." "Just please don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to know." "Is it ok if Spike knows?" "Who's Spike?" The purple dragon came in through the room door. "As long as he doesn't tell anyone, I don't care." Then, an awkward silence fell over the room. "I never caught your name, by the way." "I'm Twilight Sparkle. What about you?" "My human name?" "Yes." "Matt Johnson. But just call me by that name I made up, ok?" "*giggle* Ok." Chapter 4: RecruitmentChapter 4: Recruitment I was walking around the edge of town, looking for something to do, when I saw a recruiting poster for the United Equestrian Armed Forces. It had a pegasus with a military vest on, on top of what looked like a mortar shell. It said, "Make me proud, join the UEAF now!" "I wonder..." After a few hours of thinking, I decided to do it. I headed back to Twi's place. *knock* *knock* "Twilight! You in here?" "Yeah! It's open!" I entered. "Hey, Twilight. I decided to join the military." Her expressions immediately disappeared. She looked right at me. Her eyes were getting watery. I think she was about to cry. What an awkward moment that was. Suddenly, she burst into tears and dove right onto me. "No! Please don't go!" "Why? What's wrong?" "M-my brother... Shining Armor... Died in the battle that you came from..." "Oh my god, I'm so sorry..." "I just don't want to lose you..." She hugged me so tight, I couldn't breathe. I hugged her too. "Don't worry, Twi. I won't die. You'll see." "Please..." "Twilight, look at me." She looked up at me. "I survived one war. I can survive another. You have my word." The next morning... I woke up the next morning feeling tired and sad. I walked downstairs, where Twilight was making breakfast. I better enjoy this while I can. This is going to be my last real breakfast for a long time. "Hey..." "Good morning." "Listen, Strong. I know I won't be able to talk you out of this, but at least do me a favor." "Of course. What is it?" "You better send me a letter everyday." *hahaha!* "Don't worry! I'll be able to send you letters." "Thanks." The rest of breakfast wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. After breakfast, I helped her clean up the dishes and got my saddlebag. It had a picture of Twilight, fake paperwork of my military record (that Twilight made.), the dog tags that I found on me the first time I got here, and some food and bits for the trip. I opened the door and gave one last hug to Twilight, as well as all her friends who came to see me off. Applejack, a farmer at Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy, a kind pegasus who healed my wounds, Rarity, a dress designer, Pinkie Pie, who helped organized my welcome back party, and Rainbow Dash, my best friend next to Twi. Twilight began to cry, as well as Pinkie. "Goodbye, everyone." And then I headed off. Twilight gave me a map of where I needed to go to get to the UEAF Pheonix Base, the largest in the military. It was located in a city called Canterlot. Twi said it was the capital. But as I got within view of the city gates. A green ball of fire sped right towards me. I put my hooves in front of my hands, ready to get hit, but instead, it stopped in front of me and turned into a rolled up letter. It had a "C" on it. I opened it and read it to myself. "Dear Brave Hoof, I have heard that you are willing to risk you life once again and join the UEAF. This is great news. Please visit me at the castle before you get to Pheonix base. I would like to give you something for your commitment. Best regards, Princess Celestia" who's Princess Celestia? I never heard of her before. But if royalty wants to see me, who am I to turn down the offer? Canterlot... I entered the castle. A guard led me to the throne room, where a white alicorn was sitting there. Was she the alicorn who greeted me when I first got here? I think it was! "Greetings, Brave Hoof. I suppose you are wondering what your gift is. Please come with me." We walked down a really, really long hallway. Was this a labyrinth? Jesus! We entered a room that had cushions all over the floor and a fireplace. The room was decorated with images of the Sun and Moon. It was very soothing in here. The princess disappeared and returned a few minutes later, her horn holding a case of ribbons. They were very detailed. Some had dragons on it, others had gryphons or some sort of creature that had four heads. Some had symbols such as a cross, crosshairs, and flags. All the ribbons went in a circle around and extremelty huge medallion that had a symbol of the Sun, with a alicorn flying in front of it. "I would like you to have these. These were medals and ribbons I earned when I was in the military." "Really? Are you sure, princess?" "Yes. You deserve these. You already served in one war. And now your are going to serve in two. You deserve these, Brave Hoof." "Thank you. Princess Celestia." UEAF Pheonix Base... The princess walked with me to the base. The two guards in front of the gate stood to the side and let us in. All around the base were unicorns, pegasai, and earth ponies alike were playing basketball, fixing their vehicles, testing guns, doing push-ups and PT. We kept walking until we saw a sign on top of a tent that said, "Recruiting tent". We walked into the tent. There were a few soldiers leaning on chairs. WHen they saw the princess, they instantly stood up. The recruiter stood as well. "Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?" "I have a new recruit for you, sergeant." "Hello, sir." "I have heard about you. Are you the only survivor from the battle?" "Affirmative, sir." "Heh, I like you. Are you willing to risk your life again?" "Always will be." "Ok. I will need your military record, then, I will call you if you are accepted into boot camp." "Thank you, sir." Canterlot castle... As we headed back, we walked by the castle, then Celestia asked me, "Would you like to stay at the castle while we wait for your acceptance?" "Really, princess? I don't wish to bother you." "It will be no trouble at all." "I really appreciate what you are doing for me, princess." Her smile was brighter then the Sun itself. She walked with me to the guest room, which was at the very top. It was a tall tower. The room was not bad looking at all. There was medium sized bed, a bathroom, a few windows, and a desk. I have to tell Twilight about this. Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 1: Introduction "Hey, John, wake up." "What? Ah man, I was having a good dream too." "Sorry to interrupt your dream of milkshakes and hamburgers." "Shut up, Michael." It was about 1500 hours when I woke up. We were in a Humvee escort riding across the Afghanistan desert. The heat made the horizon jump up and down. The sand looked especially hot. Thank god we were in vehicles. Otherwise I'd melt. "How much *yawn* further until we reach base?" "About another three hours." "Then why the hell did you wake me up?" Michael was my friend every since kindergarten. Occasionally, we would open the rabbit cages there and let them loose. We were always caught though. It was good times. But he has been really annoying recently. "Can't you just let a guy sleep?" "Sorry, princess." "Fu*k off, man." Suddenly, there was an explosion and a ball of fire in front of our line of Humvees. Then someone yelled "IED! GET OFF NOW!" I grabbed my helmet and rifle and got off as fast as possible. I wish I got off a little quicker. Because right after I got off, a RPG rocket hit the Humvee and it exploded right behind me. I flew off the dirt road and into a ditch nearby. It hurt so much. I blacked out. But I could hear everything. I heard gunshots, rockets, grenades, explosions, yelling, all that crap. Soon, I could see again. I got up and saw my hands were all bloody and the back of my uniform was shredded. I saw bodies everywhere, but the fight was still going on. A second later, someone dove behind me and yelled "Behind you!" He knocked me behind a wrecked Humvee. It was Michael, he saved me from a bullet. Then a few other soldiers came out and returned fire on the ambushers. My legs began to feel like jelly and I plopped onto the ground. Then, I saw a picture. It was a picture of my wife and kid. I took off my helmet and checked for my photo. It must have fallen out. I placed it back inside my helmet. A helicopter appeared and opened fire on the mountain where the ambushers where taking cover. "Base sent a support chopper!" Everyone began to cheer. But our victory was to be short lived. At least for me. One of the enemy fired a RPG that was supposed to hit the helicopter, but one of it's guns shot off the booster on the RPG and it fell right on me. It exploded in the ground in front of me. I black out again in extreme pain. Chapter 3: Life LessonsChapter 3: Life Training I woke up and could smell something in the air. Was it eggs? I think so. I headed downstairs and saw Twilight cooking something. It was probably eggs. I wonder if this land has coffee? "Hey, Twilight." She looked behind from her pot and smiled. I actually blushed for a second. "Morning, Brave." She handed me a plate of eggs and what looked like toast. I tried grab it, but dropped it. Twilight grabbed it with her magic before it landed on the ground. " Eheh. Sorry." "No problem. It always a challenge when you first try to hold something with hooves on your first try." I thought for a moment. If I'm going to live in this world for the rest of my life, I better start getting used to these living conditions. And what better way to get used to something then being taught something? "Could you train me to live like a pony?" Her eyes lit up in excitement and joy. "Would I?!" Outside... "So, what's the first lesson?" "Well, since the most important thing you need to learn is holding things with you hooves, I think we should try that first." The only embarrassing thing about this is that I'm taking lessons with your hooves that 1st graders did. Or at least that's what Spike told me. Something tells me he was joking. "Ok, let's get started. First, let's try holding this rock." She handed me the rock, but it immediately slipped out of my hand, I mean hoof. "Imagine that these are your hands. Think of these hooves as your hands being altered. Different controls. I tried to use my hooves differently from when I used my hands. It actually worked! I was holding on to that rock in no time! "Wow! It works! I can hold things!" Twilight stared blankly eat me. "I never expected you to get through this so fast!" "What can I say?" We went through a lot of training. The most trouble I'm having, is their vocabulary. It's different then from my world. Not to mention the less "advanced" technology and knowledge. If I was an engineer, I could easily help improve their technology tenfold. I had a lot of trouble with almost all my lessons though. Luckily for me, Twilight was really patient. Eventually, I finished all my training on what I needed to know and do to fit in. I was so proud. To celebrate, we headed over to Sugarcube Corner for a snack. It was actually pretty cool. The bakery looked kinda like a huge cupcake. We never had anything like that on Earth. I wonder if we're even on Earth anymore. "So, is there some type of greeting you do? Or is it just 'hi'?" "Humans and ponies aren't that different, Strong." "Sorry, sorry. Just want to get used to living here." We entered the wooden cupcake and the first thing I saw were cakes and other sweets lined up in glass stand at the end of the bakery. Then, a baby-blue colored pony with a swirly pink and maroon mane came out from a door in the side of the building, holding a trey of cupcakes in her mouth, disappearing into the wall where another door was. We approached the counter and rang the bell, hoping for someone to come. Another earth pony came through the door. It was an orange colored pony with freckles. He leaned on the glass container. "How can I help you?" "Hi, Mr. Cake! My friend and I would like some cake, please!" "Coming right up!" he looked towards the other door. "Honey! We need cake in here ASAP!" "On it!" "So, who's your friend there. You look familure." "I, um... Well...." Twilight saved the day by making up some excuse. "He just got back from the war with the Changelings!" "So a vetaren, huh? Nice. I tell you what. I could give you the veteran's discount. 75% off all cakes. And cupcakes too!" "Sure! Thanks, mister, uh." "Mr. Cake." He stuck out his hoof probably to shake. "Brave Hoof." I took it and shook it up and down. "I've never seen you around before. You just moved here?" "Yeah. Moved into the library with Twilight here." After a few minutes of talking, the other pony came out through the door and handed us a box, probably has the cake in it. "Thanks, Mr. Cake!" "No problem, Twilight! Have a nice day!" "He seems nice."
Chapter 2: EquestriaChapter 2: Equestria I couldn't feel my legs, my head felt like it was spinning, and my back was in a lot of pain. It stung for a pretty long time. I could barely breathe. But right before it felt like I was going to suffocate. I wake up. This definetly wasn't Afghanistan anymore. The place was thick with trees and vines. It was so dark there. Was it a forest or a jungle? I tried to stand up, only to fall down and land on my back. I cried out in pain. "OW!!!!" My back was covered with shrapnels of metal. It was all cut open up and torn. It wasn't bleeding that bad, but it still could get infected. "Hello?" I didn't have high hopes that anyone could hear me, but it was worth a try. I checked my body to see if anything else was wrong. There was a lot wrong. First off, I didn't even have hands. I had hooves! Then I looked at my body. It was a sort of pony-like body. It was a sort of maroon color. I looked behind me and saw a tail. The fact that I wasn't human anymore was almost overwhelming. I felt dizzy again. But I regained my balance. I had military gear on. But it's not by any human I ever heard of. It doesn't even look like it is human technology. But it was relatively similar. There was also a gun on my side, hanging by a strap. It looked like the M4A1, except the stock was bigger, and the magazine was more curved, as well as the trigger in a more roundish shape. I searched unsucessfully for a way out of the forest. I searched for what seemed like hours, only to lead to a dead end. But just as I was about to give up hope, a small beam of light illuminated into my eyes. It burned. I walked into a huge grass plain. It was beautiful. Green grass, healthy trees, and animals all covered the land. And in the distance, I could see a fairly simple town and on a huge mountain on the side was another city. It was extremely fancylooking. Near the front of the small town, there was a banner that said, "Welcome home, soldiers!" but the weirdest part was that there were ponies waiting in the front of the town. They all looked like me, except they all had different colors, some had horns, and some had wings. I was a little freighted, but I was a marine. I walked up the dirt road that led to the town. All the ponies looked sad and some were even crying. But when one of them saw me, everyone looked up and began cheering. What's going on? As I got closer, the cheering got even louder, until I entered the town. The cheering was enough to destroy my ears. Then, a tall white colored pony came flying down. It had both wings and a horn. I read about these as a kid. I think they were called alicorns? I don't know. It was a long time ago. She walked up to me and said, "Welcome home, soldier. We are very proud of what you have done for Equestria." Where? Maybe that's the name of the land I'm in? She continued to talk. "Have you seen any other soldiers on your journey back?" I didn't see anyone to be honest, so I said, "No." All the ponies suddenly stopped cheering. A feeling of dread washed over everyone. A purple unicorn with a dark-pink and purple mane had watery eyes and ran back into a tree. The alicorn asked me where I lived and wanted to personally escort me home. Too bad I don't anywhere now. "Mam'n, I don't live anywhere." "You do not have a home?" "No." She thought for a moment. Then said, "I may have an idea on where you can live. Provided that she let's you." "Who is that, if I may ask?" "My pupil, Twilight Sparkle." "Odd choice of name, but I can live with it, I guess." We arrived at the same place that I saw that purple unicorn ran into. The alicorn's horn starts to glow, then a force knocks the door. Too lazy to knock the door themselves? How come they aren't fat looking? Then, a purple and green dragon opens the door. "Yes?" The alicorn begins talking to it, then she went inside, telling me to stay outside for a few minutes. There is a lot of crashing noises going on in there. Then. the alicorn opens the door, along with the dragon and the unicorn I saw earlier. Her eyes were watery and her cheeks are wet with tears. The alicorn spoke. "Twilight Sparkle has agreed to let you stay here while we find you a new home." "Thank you, mam'n." "I must go now. Princess Luna and I must discuss our next plan against the Changelings. I thank you again." Then she flew off. I looked back the unicorn. Her eyes have instantly dried up. She was looking at me with squinted, focused eyes. "That's some peculiar magic I'm sensing. It's almost as though your using a transformation....spell...." She ran back inside. I could hear some arguing inside. Then, she came back outside. Her magic was holding a knife! "W-what are you doing?" "Who are you?" "What?" "Who are you!?" "I'm... I'm..." What name? What name? What name? What name! "Brave Hoof?" That was the first thing that popped in my head. "That does't prove anything!" She started swinging the damn thing at me! "What the hell are you doing!?" "WHO ARE YOU!?" She was really starting to get pissed. I swear her eyes are glowing red! I wasn't going to tell anyone, but unless I want to die, I guess I'm going to have to tell her if I'm going to live. "Look! Just stop and I'll tell you, but can we talk inside?" She looks down at the dragon, who looked back at her. Then they both walked inside. The unicorn looked back outside to me, motioning her hooves for me to go inside. I walked in. I almost tripped on the way in. I still need to get used to this. She was sitting in a chair. Holding her knife. She spoke, quietly. "Now. Who are you? Are you a Changeling?" A what? What's a Changeling? "A what? No. *sigh* I'm a human. I have no idea how I got here." "A human!? I thought you were just a myth!" "You really never seen a human before?" I looked up and she was gone. Minutes later, she came back with a book. It was called: Myths and Tall Tales. She flipped through the pages, then stopped. She showed me a picture of a human. Or at least it said it was. It didn't look anything like any human I ever seen. It looked kinda like that famous Bigfoot picture! "Uh, that isn't a human." "It isn't?" "No, that's Bigfoot. It's a myth in my world." "Oh. So what do you look like?" I looked up at my helmet. I took it off and searched inside for the picture of my family. I found it and showed it to the unicorn. "This is my wife, and that's my son." She stared at the picture for a long time. "Interesting..." "Just please don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to know." "Is it ok if Spike knows?" "Who's Spike?" The purple dragon came in through the room door. "As long as he doesn't tell anyone, I don't care." Then, an awkward silence fell over the room. "I never caught your name, by the way." "I'm Twilight Sparkle. What about you?" "My human name?" "Yes." "Matt Johnson. But just call me by that name I made up, ok?" "*giggle* Ok."
Chapter 4: RecruitmentChapter 4: Recruitment I was walking around the edge of town, looking for something to do, when I saw a recruiting poster for the United Equestrian Armed Forces. It had a pegasus with a military vest on, on top of what looked like a mortar shell. It said, "Make me proud, join the UEAF now!" "I wonder..." After a few hours of thinking, I decided to do it. I headed back to Twi's place. *knock* *knock* "Twilight! You in here?" "Yeah! It's open!" I entered. "Hey, Twilight. I decided to join the military." Her expressions immediately disappeared. She looked right at me. Her eyes were getting watery. I think she was about to cry. What an awkward moment that was. Suddenly, she burst into tears and dove right onto me. "No! Please don't go!" "Why? What's wrong?" "M-my brother... Shining Armor... Died in the battle that you came from..." "Oh my god, I'm so sorry..." "I just don't want to lose you..." She hugged me so tight, I couldn't breathe. I hugged her too. "Don't worry, Twi. I won't die. You'll see." "Please..." "Twilight, look at me." She looked up at me. "I survived one war. I can survive another. You have my word." The next morning... I woke up the next morning feeling tired and sad. I walked downstairs, where Twilight was making breakfast. I better enjoy this while I can. This is going to be my last real breakfast for a long time. "Hey..." "Good morning." "Listen, Strong. I know I won't be able to talk you out of this, but at least do me a favor." "Of course. What is it?" "You better send me a letter everyday." *hahaha!* "Don't worry! I'll be able to send you letters." "Thanks." The rest of breakfast wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. After breakfast, I helped her clean up the dishes and got my saddlebag. It had a picture of Twilight, fake paperwork of my military record (that Twilight made.), the dog tags that I found on me the first time I got here, and some food and bits for the trip. I opened the door and gave one last hug to Twilight, as well as all her friends who came to see me off. Applejack, a farmer at Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy, a kind pegasus who healed my wounds, Rarity, a dress designer, Pinkie Pie, who helped organized my welcome back party, and Rainbow Dash, my best friend next to Twi. Twilight began to cry, as well as Pinkie. "Goodbye, everyone." And then I headed off. Twilight gave me a map of where I needed to go to get to the UEAF Pheonix Base, the largest in the military. It was located in a city called Canterlot. Twi said it was the capital. But as I got within view of the city gates. A green ball of fire sped right towards me. I put my hooves in front of my hands, ready to get hit, but instead, it stopped in front of me and turned into a rolled up letter. It had a "C" on it. I opened it and read it to myself. "Dear Brave Hoof, I have heard that you are willing to risk you life once again and join the UEAF. This is great news. Please visit me at the castle before you get to Pheonix base. I would like to give you something for your commitment. Best regards, Princess Celestia" who's Princess Celestia? I never heard of her before. But if royalty wants to see me, who am I to turn down the offer? Canterlot... I entered the castle. A guard led me to the throne room, where a white alicorn was sitting there. Was she the alicorn who greeted me when I first got here? I think it was! "Greetings, Brave Hoof. I suppose you are wondering what your gift is. Please come with me." We walked down a really, really long hallway. Was this a labyrinth? Jesus! We entered a room that had cushions all over the floor and a fireplace. The room was decorated with images of the Sun and Moon. It was very soothing in here. The princess disappeared and returned a few minutes later, her horn holding a case of ribbons. They were very detailed. Some had dragons on it, others had gryphons or some sort of creature that had four heads. Some had symbols such as a cross, crosshairs, and flags. All the ribbons went in a circle around and extremelty huge medallion that had a symbol of the Sun, with a alicorn flying in front of it. "I would like you to have these. These were medals and ribbons I earned when I was in the military." "Really? Are you sure, princess?" "Yes. You deserve these. You already served in one war. And now your are going to serve in two. You deserve these, Brave Hoof." "Thank you. Princess Celestia." UEAF Pheonix Base... The princess walked with me to the base. The two guards in front of the gate stood to the side and let us in. All around the base were unicorns, pegasai, and earth ponies alike were playing basketball, fixing their vehicles, testing guns, doing push-ups and PT. We kept walking until we saw a sign on top of a tent that said, "Recruiting tent". We walked into the tent. There were a few soldiers leaning on chairs. WHen they saw the princess, they instantly stood up. The recruiter stood as well. "Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?" "I have a new recruit for you, sergeant." "Hello, sir." "I have heard about you. Are you the only survivor from the battle?" "Affirmative, sir." "Heh, I like you. Are you willing to risk your life again?" "Always will be." "Ok. I will need your military record, then, I will call you if you are accepted into boot camp." "Thank you, sir." Canterlot castle... As we headed back, we walked by the castle, then Celestia asked me, "Would you like to stay at the castle while we wait for your acceptance?" "Really, princess? I don't wish to bother you." "It will be no trouble at all." "I really appreciate what you are doing for me, princess." Her smile was brighter then the Sun itself. She walked with me to the guest room, which was at the very top. It was a tall tower. The room was not bad looking at all. There was medium sized bed, a bathroom, a few windows, and a desk. I have to tell Twilight about this.
Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 1: Introduction "Hey, John, wake up." "What? Ah man, I was having a good dream too." "Sorry to interrupt your dream of milkshakes and hamburgers." "Shut up, Michael." It was about 1500 hours when I woke up. We were in a Humvee escort riding across the Afghanistan desert. The heat made the horizon jump up and down. The sand looked especially hot. Thank god we were in vehicles. Otherwise I'd melt. "How much *yawn* further until we reach base?" "About another three hours." "Then why the hell did you wake me up?" Michael was my friend every since kindergarten. Occasionally, we would open the rabbit cages there and let them loose. We were always caught though. It was good times. But he has been really annoying recently. "Can't you just let a guy sleep?" "Sorry, princess." "Fu*k off, man." Suddenly, there was an explosion and a ball of fire in front of our line of Humvees. Then someone yelled "IED! GET OFF NOW!" I grabbed my helmet and rifle and got off as fast as possible. I wish I got off a little quicker. Because right after I got off, a RPG rocket hit the Humvee and it exploded right behind me. I flew off the dirt road and into a ditch nearby. It hurt so much. I blacked out. But I could hear everything. I heard gunshots, rockets, grenades, explosions, yelling, all that crap. Soon, I could see again. I got up and saw my hands were all bloody and the back of my uniform was shredded. I saw bodies everywhere, but the fight was still going on. A second later, someone dove behind me and yelled "Behind you!" He knocked me behind a wrecked Humvee. It was Michael, he saved me from a bullet. Then a few other soldiers came out and returned fire on the ambushers. My legs began to feel like jelly and I plopped onto the ground. Then, I saw a picture. It was a picture of my wife and kid. I took off my helmet and checked for my photo. It must have fallen out. I placed it back inside my helmet. A helicopter appeared and opened fire on the mountain where the ambushers where taking cover. "Base sent a support chopper!" Everyone began to cheer. But our victory was to be short lived. At least for me. One of the enemy fired a RPG that was supposed to hit the helicopter, but one of it's guns shot off the booster on the RPG and it fell right on me. It exploded in the ground in front of me. I black out again in extreme pain.
Chapter 3: Life LessonsChapter 3: Life Training I woke up and could smell something in the air. Was it eggs? I think so. I headed downstairs and saw Twilight cooking something. It was probably eggs. I wonder if this land has coffee? "Hey, Twilight." She looked behind from her pot and smiled. I actually blushed for a second. "Morning, Brave." She handed me a plate of eggs and what looked like toast. I tried grab it, but dropped it. Twilight grabbed it with her magic before it landed on the ground. " Eheh. Sorry." "No problem. It always a challenge when you first try to hold something with hooves on your first try." I thought for a moment. If I'm going to live in this world for the rest of my life, I better start getting used to these living conditions. And what better way to get used to something then being taught something? "Could you train me to live like a pony?" Her eyes lit up in excitement and joy. "Would I?!" Outside... "So, what's the first lesson?" "Well, since the most important thing you need to learn is holding things with you hooves, I think we should try that first." The only embarrassing thing about this is that I'm taking lessons with your hooves that 1st graders did. Or at least that's what Spike told me. Something tells me he was joking. "Ok, let's get started. First, let's try holding this rock." She handed me the rock, but it immediately slipped out of my hand, I mean hoof. "Imagine that these are your hands. Think of these hooves as your hands being altered. Different controls. I tried to use my hooves differently from when I used my hands. It actually worked! I was holding on to that rock in no time! "Wow! It works! I can hold things!" Twilight stared blankly eat me. "I never expected you to get through this so fast!" "What can I say?" We went through a lot of training. The most trouble I'm having, is their vocabulary. It's different then from my world. Not to mention the less "advanced" technology and knowledge. If I was an engineer, I could easily help improve their technology tenfold. I had a lot of trouble with almost all my lessons though. Luckily for me, Twilight was really patient. Eventually, I finished all my training on what I needed to know and do to fit in. I was so proud. To celebrate, we headed over to Sugarcube Corner for a snack. It was actually pretty cool. The bakery looked kinda like a huge cupcake. We never had anything like that on Earth. I wonder if we're even on Earth anymore. "So, is there some type of greeting you do? Or is it just 'hi'?" "Humans and ponies aren't that different, Strong." "Sorry, sorry. Just want to get used to living here." We entered the wooden cupcake and the first thing I saw were cakes and other sweets lined up in glass stand at the end of the bakery. Then, a baby-blue colored pony with a swirly pink and maroon mane came out from a door in the side of the building, holding a trey of cupcakes in her mouth, disappearing into the wall where another door was. We approached the counter and rang the bell, hoping for someone to come. Another earth pony came through the door. It was an orange colored pony with freckles. He leaned on the glass container. "How can I help you?" "Hi, Mr. Cake! My friend and I would like some cake, please!" "Coming right up!" he looked towards the other door. "Honey! We need cake in here ASAP!" "On it!" "So, who's your friend there. You look familure." "I, um... Well...." Twilight saved the day by making up some excuse. "He just got back from the war with the Changelings!" "So a vetaren, huh? Nice. I tell you what. I could give you the veteran's discount. 75% off all cakes. And cupcakes too!" "Sure! Thanks, mister, uh." "Mr. Cake." He stuck out his hoof probably to shake. "Brave Hoof." I took it and shook it up and down. "I've never seen you around before. You just moved here?" "Yeah. Moved into the library with Twilight here." After a few minutes of talking, the other pony came out through the door and handed us a box, probably has the cake in it. "Thanks, Mr. Cake!" "No problem, Twilight! Have a nice day!" "He seems nice."
