"You don't have to do this, Chief!" That was what her second in command, Stamped Letter, had said before Derpy Hooves marched off to her old bushplane.

She simply smiled softly, almost motherly, and recited the Postal Office creed. "Every letter deserves to be delivered." She had wrapped a scarf around her neck, strapped her weather goggles over her mismatched eyes, and started the engine. The grey pegasus reached out to grip the throttle with her wings but paused. "...Stamped?"

"...yes?" Poor guy, had seen too much of this war. His voice trembled as he bravely looked at his Chief. His friend. There was a rare glint of resolve behind her eyes as well as unbearable sorrow.

"Should the worst happen, you'll be there for Dinky?" A pregnant pause shrouded the airstrip. It even seemed to affect other bystanders who shuffled their appendages awkwardly. Derpy never let her gaze wander off of Stampled, quite the feat considering her condition. Stamped swallowed hard, stood up stiffly, and gave a smart salute with his wing.

"Fly true, Chief."

"I always do."

Stamped watched as she flew away in her trusty dustplane, nicknamed 'The Muffin'. The destination, Camp Menace. An isolated Allied outpost in the middle of enemy territory. The only reason it hasn't been overwhelmed was because of the advantageous position it had maintained, both geologically and politically. The payload, 134 mouthwritten letters from friends, families, colleagues. Chief Derpy Hooves carried their hopes, their love, and their wishes all on her shoulders.

***

Four hours later, Equestrian airspace was about to end and Derpy would find herself at the still active Eastern Front. She took a deep breath and looked at the photograph of her daughter strapped to the windshield. She stroked the edges with a toe before gripping the throttle tightly with her already sore wings. The Muffin might be getting old, but she still had a lot of fight left in her.

Thunder roared in the distance, flashes of lightning streaked across the ground underneath her. Muffled whispers of deaths that will echo throughout history for too long. Derpy flew higher, above the clouds, away from artillery and anti-aircraft cannons.

Creatures who were capable of flight found out pretty early on in the war that fighting above the clouds was not feasible. It is all to easy to destabilize wings as they are fragile and they will plummet to the earth. Chance of survival, next to none. Fighting below the cloud layer gives a higher chance of survival upon impact. Not much, mind you, but enough. Fighting above the cloud layer are reserved for fighter aircraft and the truly insane.

Despite the supposed chances, Derpy has heard to many stories and seen too much to warrant anything on luck. She made sure that her mounted machine gun was ready for anything. She carried on flying.

The cloud layer burst open as a shell rocketed past The Muffin. The wake of the round had Derpy grappling with the throttle, grasping for any semblance of control. Derpy was able to right the plane before another round burst through the clouds. Not taking any more chances, she went down for a controlled spin.

The wind whistled past her ears and blowing her blonde mane about.

The sputtering of the old motor as it strained against the complicated evasive maneuvers.

The ground hurtled ever so closer, bringing the full scale of the Front into full force.

The Muffin fell into flak cannon range and round after round sailed through the air towards her.

Derpy wrestled with the throttle, forcing the bushplane upwards and away from the flak cannons.

Artillery shells rained from everywhere, threatening to take The Muffin down.

Derpy slammed to the right, narrowly avoiding a stray mortar shell.

Just a few more kilometers and the griffons wouldn't be able to attack her.

A harsh humming filled the air as the Luftwaffe, the griffon air force, rose up behind her.

Derpy pulled up as machine gun rounds buzzed by underneath her.

To the right, then left, up, left, down, right.

A shuddering noise brought Derpy back from the space pilots go to when in intense situations. She took stock and her dashboard was practically screaming about the magic core being hit. There was only a few minutes before flight was impossible, grounding The Muffin.

Derpy didn't hesitate and grabbed the bag filled with the envelopes. She pitched violently to the left, throwing herself and the griffons for a spin. She then dismounted her machine gun and jumped out of her bushplane. She sprayed bullets at random, hoping to cause more confusion before ultimately dropping the gun entirely.

Now, it was there was only one thing to do.

Fly.

Fly as fast as Rainbow Dash. Fly as fast as the speed of sound and create a sonic rainboom.

So she did.

Using the magic inherent in her pegasus physiology, Derpy molded the air around her, speeding her up even more. She weaved through the bullet infested air, narrowly avoiding death with every passing moment. She would dodge a particularly aggressive griffon before going in for a dive to avoid a mortar shell to then pulling up last minute to fly over a reinforced wall of a building.

All the while, she didn't think of death. Not the death of her friends, of her enemies, not even her own death. No, Derpy thought of life. The life that becomes so evident when somecreature receives a heartfelt letter. The life that inspires creatures to cry, to laugh, to smile, or to scream in sorrow. The life that Derpy wanted to hold on to forever.

A bullet slammed into her side. There was a slight wobble, but Derpy pushed onwards, ignoring the burning or the gradual loss of blood. What was but a single life to 134 letters of life to be read and shared. She flapped her wings harder and harder, determined to make it.

There! The homestretch. The cliffs of Camp Menace were just a flap away. Another bullet lodged itself into Derpy's leg. She gasped out, tears threatened to blind her, her wings felt like lead and were drooping. She ignored all of it and pushed onward. Her body was too tired to pull any evasive maneuvers and she prayed for Celestia and Luna to guide her path.

Up she climbed. Higher and higher, away from the flak cannons, mortars, and artillery. Away from the Luftwaffe and the griffon divebombers. Straight into the courtyard of Camp Menace.

"Delivery."

***

Legend say, the letters that they received that day became the embers that sparked hope. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Uncles, aunts, comrades in arms. Ponies of all tribes, griffon defectors, dragons of the Dragon Lord, and those who did not wish to see Equestria wiped off the map. They all became one, gathered by the courage of a single pegasus.

If you were to meet a survivor of Camp Menace, they would not speak of the atrocities and trauma they had experienced. They would not speak of the eventual victory the Allies fought desperately for. They would not speak of the fallen and the sacrifices made for their survival. They would speak of their hero and ray of light, Chief Derpy Hooves of the Equestrian Postal Company.

Author's Note

This whole fic came to fruition because of this exact story idea. It didn't feel right to have it on hiatus for who knows how long without having this story written and published.

Inspired by the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949 as well as Episode 11 of Violet Evergarden.