Discord idly flipped through the numerous universes that surrounded his own, he sat reclined in a lazy boy and wore boxers and a tank top with a bored expression. The draconequus was facing something that only humans seemed to suffer from in the multiverse, even as he was surrounded by a maelstrom of swirling colors and energy in his domain.

“Literally an infinite number of channels and all of them have nothing good on.” He mumbled before looking to a pad of paper sitting on the arm of his recliner. “Let’s see what universe twentyfour-eighty-C has on, maybe they’ve figured a way around that pesky portal problem.” He snapped his fingers and a large plasma screen tv appeared in front of him, it displayed one of the universes that neighbored Dominic’s Equestria. Of course, it was also Equestria with a human in it. However it was far different from Dominic’s, it was one where they had ‘Destroyed’ him and wiped out the changelings.

“Bunch of dunces…” He muttered as he watched the human of that universe flirt with literally all of the alicorns, even Faust, or whatever she was calling herself in that universe. The man appeared to be some sort of jet pilot, and from the looks of it, he was leading Equestria to even more chaos than he could’ve hoped without even knowing it. “Gotta love a rookie that does well… Guess there’s nothing in this one either.” He was about to change the channel when he noticed something odd about the universe he was viewing, there appeared to be numerous holes in it. “Hey, those look like…”

The Draconequus smiled and sat up straight in his recliner, it felt like he had perhaps fixed Dominic’s portal problem. Of course, if he failed, there’d likely be a war between the universes, but that was a slim chance. It all had to do with the fact that Dominic had, for lack of a better term, allied with the changelings and Discord. Unlike universe twentyfour-eighty-C, which had destroyed both of them using a nuclear weapon. If he succeeded though, he’d be able to discretely power Dominic’s portal without trouble, and the other universe would be none the wiser. At least, as long as their version of Faust was as much of a dunce as the rest of the multiverses made her out to be.

“I should go and tell that guy I found a way, as long as that egomaniac Faust doesn’t do something stupid like summon an eldritch monster or something.” Discord started to get up, but then he knocked the remote and the image on the screen shifted to one of his favorite human shows. “Meh, it can wait until after MacGyver.” Discord leaned back in his seat and scratched his belly while the main theme began to play, he was supposed to have time off anyway, and he knew that things were at least somewhat going well for Dominic. If he was in any real trouble he’d be able to tell. For Discord only a few seconds had passed, but on Earth it was more like a couple days.

[♠]

Dominic quietly looked up at the ceiling of the old Costco, the newest American military base on the Earth front. It had been quickly modified to accommodate the needs of the expeditionary force, this giving Dominic the ability to finally demolish the EOL’s former base. The man was currently laying in a bed as the morning sunlight made itself visible through the store’s recently repaired skylights, the bed had been set up in one of the aisle that had been turned into a sort of officer’s quarters. It had a couple plywood walls set up for privacy, as well as a door and a couple other amenities like a rather plush couch and even an electric stove. Dominic didn’t care for that, he thought that his troops deserved them more, but refusing them would be a sign of disrespect to his soldiers.

The man adjusted the blankets that covered his chest and looked over at Maria, the woman was sleeping peacefully on her side of the bed with an arm draped across Dominic’s chest. Her punk hair cut was starting to grow out a bit, but she would most likely insist on keeping it short to reduce the threat of an infected grabbing her hair. Dominic was surprised to think that that didn’t seem likely, as from what he’d heard from his UN liaison the infected were far less numerous than the hordes he had faced in his youth.

The United States military had used extremely powerful speakers to draw in a good portion of the infected to the Mojave desert before decimating them with a combination of artillery strikes and air strikes. That had burned up the national guard’s ability to fuel their own aircraft and even lead to them losing most of their vehicles, thus putting them at the disadvantage when the EOL finally reached its full strength. It had been a similar tactic used all over the world that had essentially been resource suicide in the hopes of destroying the undead hordes. It was why the UN was in Colorado, it had some of the very few remaining fracking facility in the world. Of course, the EOL had gummed up the works.

Dominic looked over at Maria, momentarily wondering what it would be like to finally settle down. Outside the thin walls of his quarters he could hear the rumble of engines and chatter of soldiers, a constant reminder that his life had become a battlefield. Almost of every part of him yearned for something tranquil, perhaps a flight in the air. A small part of him, deep down in his darkest blackest thoughts, was actually enjoying the war. He hated to admit that leading soldiers into battle held some appeal, and he loathed himself for actually revelling in trying to end the EOL, to see an entire nation burned to cinders.

The man quietly shook his head and frowned, even Maria’s comforting embrace couldn’t stem the tide of thoughts that plagued his mind. His eyes turned to the skylights once again, he could see birds flying about overhead, they were free. Dominic was fighting for the freedom of others, he didn’t understand why he couldn’t have a small measure for himself. Several more quiet minutes of unsure thoughts for the future passed, it seemed the only things that were certain in his life was his feelings for both Maria and Luna, and that the EOL needed to be destroyed. It drove him crazy that he couldn’t do anything about that evil empire, his assault was stalled out far from his goal. Luna’s teachings had told him that tempo was everything in combat, and right now he wasn’t keeping up that tempo. His mind paused and shifted back onto Luna, the man looked over to his jacket that was hanging over the arm of the couch. He could see Luna’s feather peeking out from the pocket.

It had been a long night of thinking, he had barely gotten any decent amount of sleep, all he could do was keep thinking about how things would be when the battles were over and he could finally go home. Dominic rolled over onto his side, facing away from Maria and staring at one of the impromptu wall. He knew very soon someone would come to his door with a morning report and at least a dozen more problems, and with that thought in mind he slipped out of the bed and walked over to his folded uniform. Slipping into the olive drab outfit didn’t take him long, nor did tying his boots, and soon enough he was sitting on the couch with his hand beneath his chin in thought.

Out of annoyance the man then stood up and walked to a collection of rolled maps that sat beside his bed, the man picked one up and made his way to the table that had been set up near the electric stove. He rolled it out and secured the corners with a couple stones he had laying around, the map was of the surrounding area, including his next objective. The small town’s name had been lost to the infection, but it had been nicknamed ‘Objective: Echo’. It had a small garrison of EOL soldiers according to his latest intelligence report, it could easily be taken by his newly acquired former CNG forces with the support of two tanks.

The man noted there were a couple roads running in and out of the town, even in the dimly lit room it was clear there was a means for the enemy to possibly escape. The man reached into his breast pocket and removed a notepad, making a note that one of the tanks in the support group would have to be Tank Triple Six. The human crewed tank had been modified with more than enough machineguns and stripped of some of its heavy side armor for added speed. It was lovingly referred to as an interceptor on steroids, and Dominic fully intended to use its speed to his advantage. He made a couple more notes, totally absorbed with his latest planning and not noticing that Maria had woken up.

She flicked a switch that lead to a couple rigged up lights, causing Dominic to jump in surprise and look around. He quickly spotted Maria standing beside the bed in her nightly attire, a T-shirt and some old sweat pants. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before smiling and waving at him.

“Morning…” She said as she approached him, Dominic smiled in reply and turned to face her. The woman had already caught sight of the map, she’d grown used to waking up to her boyfriend standing over that map. “Plotting global domination again?”

“Only a little…” Dominic replied as he approached her and put his hands on her shoulders, he gave a couple tender squeezes. “I have to keep the pressure up somehow, you know? Hopefully Discord can work out a way to open that portal again, then we’d be able to really put the hurt on ‘em. At least, hopefully…” The man then glanced to another map that was laying beside the bed, that one had writing along its rolled up edges, the letters spelling out ‘Operation: Fallen Sun’. “Hopefully I won’t have to start working with that map… Ever.”

Maria looked at the map in question, she had only ever seen it once for a short while, but she had a good idea of what it was for. Considering how much tensions between the New United States and Equestria were rising she had seen Dominic working on it more and more, part of her feared for what would happen, but she knew Dominic was smart enough to figure it all out.

“This war with the EOL may be good for us, actually… It’ll battle harden the rookie troops.” Dominic said quietly before shaking his head. “But we shouldn’t talk about war, eh? It’s morning, and you made breakfast yesterday. My turn.” Maria watched the man turn and walk towards the stove, she followed him silently and put a hand on his shoulder, she could sense just how much all the planning was bothering him.

“Hey, you’re doing that thing again. Where you talk to yourself.” She said, Dominic shrugged quietly as he turned on the stove and reached for one of the pans that rested on a shelf beside it. “I get it, you’re stressed out, but your entire army is gonna think you’re nuts if you keep doing that.” The man nodded quietly as he reached for a can of Spam and pulled open the top. “Now, come on, where’s that smile I love?”

“Hiding, maybe you can get it to come out though.” Dominic replied playfully, Maria hummed for a moment before leaning up and kissing Dominic’s cheek. The man smiled in turn, his entire demeanor seeming to brighten up.

“There it is!” Maria said as she watched the man begin cooking the spam in the pan, Dominic smiled even wider as he heard her happy words. For a brief moment it felt like his life was somewhat normal again, it was just him and Maria making breakfast. Then there came a knock on the door.

“Commander, the POWs are rioting!” A voice shouted from the other side, Dominic’s smile faded as he looked over at Maria. The woman could swear she saw his eyes watering, a great deal of pain was present in the expressive green orbs.

“I… I’ll be back.” He said quietly as he started walking away from the stove, he then turned around and grabbed Maria by the waist. She let out a surprised yelp before she was suddenly pulled into a very tight embrace, the man let go of her and said with a slightly pained voice. “I love you.” With that the man grabbed his jacket and officer’s cap before rushing out the door, Maria watched him leave with a sigh of her own before she turned back to the stove and began cooking the spam for herself. She frowned faintly, her anger at the EOL growing ever stronger.

Dominic scowled deeply and adjusted his cap to an angle, his boots clicking against the floor of the Costco as he and numerous other soldiers rushed towards the area where the POWs had been placed. It was an area of the store that had been walled off and surrounded with barbed wire, the sound of angry yelling was echoing its way through the rest of the building. Dominic walked through the only way to access the area which was now being guarded by soldiers with LMGs, ahead of him he could see prisoners and liberated slaves being forcefully separated by thestrals and humans alike. The commander could also see that Melissa was being shielded by a couple of the liberated, more than a few EOL prisoners were trying to get at her.

Dominic had seen such actions from ponies in Equestria, and seeing another riot like that made him angrier than before. Somehow an EOL prisoner had gotten hold of a two by four and was making a charge at Melissa, in response Dominic drew his revolver. He wasn’t about to let someone else relive what he’d gone through himself. Without hesitating he leveled the weapon and pulled the trigger, seconds later the prisoner hit the floor with blood gushing from his chest. The prisoners suddenly retreated back as far as they could while the liberated slaves and guards made their way in the opposite direction.

The man walked towards the downed prisoner and examined him, nudging him onto his back with his boot. Dominic could tell that he was dead by the sheer amount of blood staining the prisoner’s clothes, for a moment the image of the former Prince Blueblood ran through his mind. Lying bloody and beaten on the floor, Dominic had to admit he regretted that part of his life, but he didn’t regret stopping another two by four assault. The man slipped his revolver into his holster and glared at the stunned POWs.

“What is this all about!? Who’s responsible!?” He shouted sternly, stepping over the body on the floor. His eyes shifted over the prisoners, eventually landing on a very guilty looking woman. The EOL’s former base commander was staring at the deadman, then at Dominic, then at the deadman again. “You. You must know, ja? What is this all about?”

“That traitor!” The woman said angrily before pointing accusingly at Melissa, Melissa was standing a good distance away but it was clear she could see she was being pointed at. “She has the gall to come here and talk to us about changing sides!” Dominic hid his confusion through a stern mask as he looked over to Melissa, then back at the former EOL commander.

“What makes her a traitor?” He asked plainly.

“She’s Lady Moonbeam! Head of the Imperial Intelligence Staff!” The commander shrieked, Dominic felt a bit of a knot form in his gut. Melissa hadn’t been really vetted or examined when she’d first come in, for all he knew she could very well have been an EOL spy. The man hid these thoughts beneath his stoic mask and glared at the Commander.

“Keep your soldiers in line, Fraulein Commander. I expect this to be our last riot.” Dominic sternly commanded before walking away and signalling for a couple of soldiers to come and dispose of the deadman. His path was right for Melissa, she gulped but nonetheless remained where she was. The man stopped in front of her, looming over her like the shadow of death himself. “We need to talk.”

[♠]

Celestia quietly looked over numerous documents and reports she had received on her desk, her room was dimly lit by candles, she didn’t feel like lighting it with her sun. Most of the reports were on the fledgling nation-state on her border that had become a threat almost overnight, she supposed she had herself to blame for that. More and more ponies were flocking to the New United States, adults without cutiemarks, griffons, thestrals, even a surprising number of earth ponies. There were also another side to the coin, as a lot of border towns were having trouble keeping their citizens from turning into roving bands of vigilantes.

They were forcing her to put more troops on the border to keep them out, and ironically, fanning the flames of her world’s first Cold War. There was more and more call from her citizens for the New United States to be annexed, these calls were also coming from her generals and even her throne room guards. Celestia examined yet another report, and as she did, she found herself starting to agree more with those generals. Her intelligence agents in America had uncovered numerous scary bits of information. Firstly, the Americans were preparing to begin testing a new prototype tank. The only detail that they had was its name: T-34-85. The very name made Celestia shiver.

Secondly, and far more worryingly, was that they were developing odd flying machines. Her agents didn’t know what they were, but Celestia did. Airplanes had been the dominant force on Dominic’s world, she doubted her own ponies would be able to stand a chance against such frightful war machines. The mare briefly looked down at her reports again, then sighed and rubbed her temples. She needed something to counter the Americans’ air power, and as she thought more on it, she recalled a plan that had been put forwards by one of her generals several years prior to Dominic’s arrival.

The plan had called for a fleet of airships, armed heavily with ballistas and catapults. Celestia hadn’t had any need for such a fleet in the past, but now there seemed to be one. However she knew that arming it with ballistas and catapults would be ineffective. The mare hated to admit it, but she needed American weapons to prepare for a war against the Americans. Celestia stood up from her desk and walked to the door of her office, her horn glowed and opened the twin wood panels before she stepped out. The guard’s flanking either side of the door snapped to attention as they watched their leader walk past them before they both pushed the doors closed.

Celestia walked past more than a few other guards and petitioners through the grand halls of Canterlot Castle, they spoke in hushed whispers as she made her way along. The most common word she heard among them was ‘Attack’, once again reinforcing her fears that she had let the New United States get too big. The only reason there was any real peace in the world was because Equestria was able to keep it through diplomacy, backed up with military force. The battle between the minotaurs and zebras nearly half a year prior was because of Equestria’s inability to solve a problem peacefully, and if she had intervened with force the death toll might not have been as high.

These thoughts were what drove her down a hallway she rarely traveled, and one she despised she had to keep. Security in this hallway was much tighter, the guards armored and armed for a full on conflict rather than ceremonial purposes. Ahead of her was a single door, the plaque identifying it was faded and worn from years of neglect. She sighed as she read the words ‘War Room’, then slowly pushed the door inwards. The door squealed on its hinges, revealing a rather dusty room beyond the threshold, a table was laid out with maps and charts, and a single pony sat poised facing the door. This surprised Celestia, especially considering who the pony was.

“Princess.” Field Marshal Eventide said evenly, it seemed that he had been using the room for his own purposes. The maps laid out were well marked and carefully adjusted to include the United States and the Changeling Kingdom, to Celestia’s surprise it seemed that Appleoosa was seated just on the border with the Changelings and the Americans. Most worryingly, it was on the American side of the border. “I was taking the liberty of updating your military’s maps.”

“It seems you’ve made an error, Appleloosa is in Changeling territory.” Celestia said, she didn’t want to ask how the stallion had gotten in, even though technically thestrals were barred from the War Room. It was a bit of racism left over in the Equestrian military from the days of the Nightmare Rebellion. Eventide chuckled faintly and smirked, steepling his hooves together before shaking his head.

“I have made no error, Princess.” He said, adjusting his black uniform, his silver rank insignia gleaming brilliantly on the indigo epaulets. “There is a reason I have made this rank, Celestia. I am nothing if not precise. It is your survey teams that have made the error.” The thestrals smirk widened into a smile revealing the predatory canines. “Then again it is easy to claim someone’s land when they cannot defend themselves, but I’m sure you’re aware of that. As is every thestral in Equestria.”

“Stay your tongue, Field Marshal.” Celestia said sternly, but Eventide’s expression never faltered. “I will not argue the politics of a thousand years ago with somepony like you, you are a soldier of Equestria-”

“I am a soldier of Thestra!” Eventide suddenly snapped as he stood up and pointed a hoof angrilly at Celestia. The mare was shocked at the use of the name, she hadn’t heard that name in nearly a century. “I have told you before, I will say it again, I am loyal to Luna. As are my fellow officers. Not you, and not this dump you call a country.”

“You are overstepping your boundaries, Field Marshal!” Celestia snapped, her hair whipping back and forth. “Leave this room! You are forbidden from entering here!” Eventide stared at her for a couple seconds before smiling and adjusting his uniform. Celestia felt her skin crawling, Eventide was Luna’s protege, more so than Dominic in a sense. The stallion had ice water in his veins and a very poor view of Equestria, a view that was a bit more understood now that Celestia knew that Eventide was aware of the lost country of ‘Thestra’. Known in modern Equestria as ‘The Everfree Forest’.

Celestia’s armies had run a bit rampant in the final days of the Nightmare Rebellion, communication lines were poor, and by the time word reached her army to stop fighting they had already conquered Thestra. The Thestrals’ homeland had gradually been wiped from the history books, the Everfree Forest was more a solution than a hinderance. It wiped away almost all physical reminders of the former country. Celestia had hoped that it would stay that way, that she would never hear that name again, or remember what had become of its original Anti-Celestia government.

“It’s coming back to you, isn’t it?” Eventide said as he walked towards the door, pausing for a moment to glare up at Celestia. “You had best tell your ‘Elites’ to send their best, I will not be so easy for you to assassinate as unarmed mares!” He hissed, the smile remaining on his face. The stallion only smiled when he was beyond angry, or extremely satisfied, and Celestia was having trouble determining what his reason was. With that the stallion left, Celestia quietly gulped. It was likely Luna had told him of what had happened to Thestra, and what had happened to its government. Another thing stuck out in her mind, Eventide mentioning his ‘fellow officers’ put her on edge.

She didn’t have time to worry though, she instead walked to the door and leaned out to address a couple of the guards there.

“Call Colonel Swift Wind to the War Room… I have something I must discuss with her at once.” Celestia ordered, one of the guards nodded and trotted away to gather the general. Celestia closed the door and looked back at the maps on the table, she approached cautiously and glared down at the border that seemed to continue expanding further north every time she turned her back. A small voice in the back of her head was nagging at her, telling her that such a thing shouldn’t stand. The Princess angrily glared at the American capitol on the map, some of her generals had a point, it had once been Equestrian soil.

The mare shook her head to try and dislodge the thoughts of all out war, only partly because she thought it was wrong. After so much had happened, including what seemed like her sister’s second betrayal, Celestia was very angry. She wasn’t used to another country telling her to leave them alone, it made her feel similar to when she had dealt with the country Thestra. She couldn’t really argue with the results though, barely anyone remembered them. Celestia shook her head again, more vigorously. She was Celestia, she wasn’t a war monger, she was supposed to find a peaceful solution.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize that a pegasus mare in a Wonderbolt Colonel’s uniform had entered the room and was standing behind her. The pegasus cleared her throat, Celestia jumped at the sudden noise but calmed down and turned to face the Colonel. Swift Wind was a rather muscled, a fast flyer with numerous special missions under her belt, she was Celestia’s go to pony when she needed something clandestine done. Especially when it involved another country.

“Colonel Wind, good to see you…” Celestia said, the Colonel nodded and turned to face the maps on the table that Celestia had been viewing. “This regards the American’s, it appears that our maps were wrong, Appleloosa is in American Territory. Don’t worry about that though, your mission is far more important.”

“What sort of mission? A raid on the changelings?” Swift Wind asked as she took note of the Changeling border, Celestia shook her head and placed her hoof over New Liberty. “America? Are we invading, ma’am!?”

“No.” Celestia said quietly, she tapped the map again. “The American’s have the most formidable army on the planet due to their technology, we need some of that technology if we’re to…” Celestia paused, she had almost said ‘Invade’. “Keep our border secure. I don’t think the Americans are too willing to share military secrets with us though, that’s where you come in.”

“What’s the objective?” Swift Wind asked.

“Capture the plans to their latest tank’s main weapon. The ‘eighty five millimeter gun’, its ammunition, and any other information you can get.” Celestia ordered, Swift Wind nodded quietly. “I’ll have someone in intelligence give you all the information you need, and leave the planning up to you. You always do good work.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Swift Wind said as she continued looking down at the map, the pegasus and the Princess eventually left the room, leaving it in somber silence once again. Celestia didn’t want to think it, but it was very likely she would be spending more time in that room. Colonel Swift Wind adjusted her uniform as she walked down one of the castle hallways, her eyes darting back and forth over the numerous solar guards that stood on either side of her. She had no doubt that she could pull off the mission, but the thought of what could happen if she failed still hung over her head. Imprisonment in nation that was on increasingly rocky ground with Equestria, and worse, an all out war.

She was a soldier though, so she would carry out her orders like a soldier. Already she was selecting her team for the operation in her mind, she had a couple favorites she liked to bring along, but something told her she would need an edge. One name came to mind. Rainbow Dash. She had fought on America’s side during their war with the Changelings, but Swift Wind didn’t doubt the mare’s willingness. She was the element of loyalty, afterall.

Celestia, meanwhile, was pacing about her office once again. She hoped she was making the right choices, at least to maintain Equestria’s place as the strongest peaceful nation in the world.

[♠]

Fortress Wall hated diversions from his work on the latest line of American tanks, but he had to admit that examining actual human blueprints was a fitting reason. He had never seen such a machine before, it was far more advanced than the zeppelins and airships of Equestria. Even more shocking was that the machine was considered ‘obsolete’ by many of the humans he had talked to. As the stallion lowered the blueprints he took around the factory floor, on either side of him were five prototypes that had been built according to the blueprint. They bore one striking difference though, they all had American built ‘Hearty’ Engines. Similar to those used in tanks, meaning they had a lot of power behind them. The airframes had been reinforced as such.

It hadn’t taken long to construct the aircraft, they were far simpler to build than tanks, in fact they had been made from scrap materials. He smiled faintly as the door to the factory floor opened and a pair of thestral MPs entered, they were accompanied by five humans. Three males and two females. Fortress wall noted they all seemed to have a certain swagger in their steps, cocky smirks, and leather jackets of varying types.

At the head of the group was a man with an aristocratic look about him, he was tall and skinny with the squinting eyes of a hawk. Fortress Wall immediately recognized him from a dossier he had been given when the blueprints had come in, Stephan Adler was a highly skilled airline pilot with thousands of logged flight hours. Behind him were the two other young males, another one Fortress recognized from his dossier. Though it was for an unsavory reason.

Jack Rossiano, better known by his fellow refugees as ‘Ghoul’, was another pilot that had come up in the search. He had experience in biplanes as he had spent a good portion of his youth and adult life trying to bring back ‘Barnstorming’. Fortress Wall had been told it was an almost suicidal sport involving an aircraft flying through a barn, and considering Jack’s checkered history of unstable outbursts, Fortress worried that allowing the man into a cockpit was a bad idea. General Bulwark had overridden him. Jack was a portly fellow with a shaved head, though it was clear that he had a full head of black hair. Shaved heads were just a common fashion among refugees. The man also had brilliantly bright blue eyes, his jacket had a fur collar unlike the others, and he had a slight limp in his gate. A pair of shiny mirrored aviators were perched on his nose.

The other male had a similar backstory in biplanes, though he was a crop duster pilot rather than a suicidal mad man. Fittingly going by the name Dusty, Fortress had heard good things about him from the others, at least in terms of flying skills. Once again though, there were problems, as it was rumored Dusty had accidentally dusted an entire mess hall. Blonde hair and brown eyes set him apart from his compatriots.

Fortress looked to the women that walked among the pilots, a pair of oddballs if Fortress had ever seen one. The first, a red head of Irish descent by the name of Sarah, walked with a limp of her own and sported an old looking pair of glasses. She and her friend Tally, the second female pilot with dark brown hair, were the only ones of the group with a clean safety record and mental evaluation. Though it had been reported MPs had had to drag them back to the refugee center on more than one occasion for making inappropriate gestures at Equestrian tourists. It was also rumored that Sarah acted as sort of a guiding figure for Jack, though Fortress doubted anyone could guide a person that deliberately tried crashing planes into barns.

Fortress Wall looked to the aircraft once again, they had been painted tan, with sky blue under the wings. Since the New United States didn’t have an official marking for its aerial forces yet, the fuselages were free of any roundels or symbols other than numbers. They were also free of weaponry, that had been the only safety precaution that Bulwark had agreed over. When the five pilots saw the aircraft there was a mix of shock, hesitation, and pure excitement among their faces. Dusty and Jack almost ran straight for the pilot seats, Stephan rubbed at his eyes, and Fortress could see Tally and Sarah take a couple steps back.

“You’re kidding, right?” Tally asked as she looked over at Fortress Wall. “These things belong in a museum, I was trained to fly jets!”

“Interesting…” Adler mumbled as he walked towards one of the aircraft and ran his hand over the wing. “I saw a Fokker Seven in a museum in Germany, I’d always wanted to try flying one, they’re supposed to be excellent dogfighters.” He inspected the plane like it was some sort of thoroughbred, pausing to run his fingers over the wooden propeller.

“You’ll all get a chance to train in them if you haven’t flown a biplane before, you five have been selected because you’re the most experienced or best skilled pilots we can find.” Fortress Wall explained as he walked towards the five pilots, Jack and Dusty were more focused on the aircraft, it was as if they were staring at beautiful women more than machines. “You’ll be helping us optimize this aircraft for combat in the Equestrian theatre, and afterwards, training our first generation of fighter pilots, and so on.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, when do we get to fly?” Jack said impatiently as he removed his sunglasses and tucked them into his jacket. “Come on, lil’ pony dude! I’ve been on a dry spell for four years! I gotta fly!”

“Patience, please. You’ll get to fly in a couple minutes, but first let me tell you more about what we’ll be doing today.” Fortress explained as he gestured back to the aircraft, he then whistled loudly and a couple thestrals stepped into the factory room from an office. They were garbed similarly to their human counterparts. “You’ll note the planes don’t have guns, but they do have gun sights. The objective is to get the target in your gunsight for one to ten seconds.These are the best thestral flyers we have, the goal of today’s test is to find out how to out maneuver them. If you can out maneuver our best, you can out maneuver the enemy.”

“This has to do with that big country up north, right? The one that has all them murderers in it?” Dusty asked as he adjusted his jacket, Fortress nodded and the pilot seemed to chew on his cheek for a moment. “Alright, guess I don’ mind killin’ terrorists. Let’s do it!” Fortress sighed, it seemed he was getting nowhere with either of the biplane pilots. To his surprise Sarah stepped over to him and knelt down to whisper in his ear.

“Just send the two of them up, they’re better fliers than they are talkers.” She said, Fortress wall watched the woman stand up. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, the aircrafts had been built out of scrap, so there wasn’t much of a financial risk. As far as he knew there weren’t any barns nearby either, with a sigh he nodded.

“Alright, Dusty and Jack, get in the cockpits.” Fortress watched the two men sprint to the aircraft and scramble in, both of them pulled leather caps from their jackets that Fortress had heard called ‘Snoopy hats’. They also seemed to have a pair of goggles, both men were quick to get ready as a couple factory workers pushed the aircraft outside onto the flat desert floor. Fortress, the three pilots, and the thestral flyers followed the aircraft and watched with rapt attention.

“Don’t hold back, let’s see what they can do.” Fortress ordered the flyers as he pulled a pen and notepad from his lab coat, the thestrals nodded and flexed their wings. “And stay away from the propellers, key safety tip.”

“Contact!” Shouted Jack as he pulled his goggles down over his eyes, the factory workers had been informed that meant give the propeller a good turn. That’s what they did and like a racehorse the engine snorted to life, it sputtered and coughed black smoke for a moment before settling into a steady rhythm. Seconds later Dusty’s aircraft had a similar start up, both engines loudly turning the propellers and kicking up dust behind the aircraft. Fortress gave the nod to the pair of thestral flyers, they extended their wings and took off into the sky.

The two biplane pilots throttled up, their winged warmachines trundled over the dry desert dirt until they finally reached take off speed. Fortress gulped as he watched Jack’s aircraft pitch back at a steep angle, but apparently that was intentional as he seemed to recover alright. The soldier stallion turned scientist continued to watch nervously as the two men tested out their aircraft, it was the first time that he had seen humans use their own technology, and to him it turned into a sort of artful display. That was until Jack’s plane suddenly turned and got very low to the ground, Fortress tensed as he saw it flying towards him, and more importantly the large open door into the factory.

“Shit.” He mumbled as he watched the madman get closer and closer, ducking low to the ground in preparation. Just as the airplane buzzed overhead he thought he could hear a disturbing laugh, almost like some sort of gargoyle or another creature of the dark. He supposed that was where Jack had gotten the nickname Ghoul, thankfully though, the madman pulled up before he got close to the factory doors. After a couple more minutes of aerial acrobatics the two biplanes stabilized their flight and formed up on one another.

“Finger four… They’ve got that down at least.” Tally mumbled as she crossed her arms and watched the two aircraft continue to fly in formation, then she caught a glimpse of something closing from above. “Come on you schmucks, check six… I know Sarah at least taught that nut case that much.” As if on cue the two biplanes broke formation and pulled up into reversed turns, they were turning into the thestrals’ attack run.

“Ghoul isn’t a schmuck, Tal. He’s not a nut case either.” Sarah chided as she watched the simulated dogfight, she was surprised at how well the two pilots were doing considering they never had any training in combat roles. Then again, she knew Ghoul fancied himself to be a historian, he probably had some basic grasp of dogfighting down. In fact, she’d be surprised if he didn’t, considering how much of a nut case he was. The assembled group watched the thestrals overshoot the biplanes and begin to turn around, the biplanes followed suit and soon a turning fight ensued.

Jack chuckled to himself, that mad disturbing laugh made almost unheard by buffeting wind. Everything he had read about the dogfights of the first world war told him that the true test of a dogfighter’s skill wasn’t the first pass but the first turn. His eyes narrowed on one of the thestrals flying towards him, a grin spreading across his face as he pushed the throttle up. The two of them passed each other with feet between them, Jack chopped back the power and hit the rudder. The maneuverable biplane responded with a sharp sliding one eighty before the throttle was pushed up again. Jack was on the thestrals six, the crosshairs for the guns lined up on the thestral for a moment before the man adjusted his aim so that it was just in front of his target. It seemed the ponies didn’t know about leading targets.

Dusty watched his compatriot pilot for a couple seconds, spotting one of the other thestrals dropping in on his tail. The crop duster jerked the stick to the side, the aircraft performing a barrel roll onto the thestrals six o’clock. The thestral nervously looked over his shoulder and broke off of Jack’s tail, Dusty gave chase. The thestral dove low, simulating a common Equestrian defensive maneuver. The biplane stuck to him like glue, closing in menacingly as they flew closer and closer to the ground. Dusty kept lining up the sights on the thestral, so far everything was going well.

The thestral leveled off twenty feet from the ground, Dusty followed suit as they screamed over the desert sand. The propwash from the biplane kicked up dust behind the aircraft as it easily kept pace with the thestral, the bat pony suddenly began climbing steeply. Once again, Dusty gave chase, the powerful engine easily pulling him higher and higher into the sky. It seemed he was closing on the thestral, and for fear of catching him with his prop, Dusty pulled off to the side before flying up along side the thestral and looking over. The thestral looked at him wide eyed right before Dusty gave him a quick salute and dove away.

On the ground Fortress Wall watched with the other pilots standing beside him, Tally and Adler were slack jawed while Sarah was vocally cheering for Jack and Dusty. Fortress continued taking notes on the aircraft’s handling, so far everything seemed to be working out well. It was a spectacle for sure, more than a few civilians throughout the city were watching with their own shock and surprise. Sarah smiled as she watched Jack drop lower in the sky, now flying after a thestral that was heading right towards them.

“He’s certainly a lot better than I thought he’d be.” Tally mumbled as the aircraft flew overhead, she instinctively ducked down even though it hadn’t come so close. “And, yes Sarah, he’s a nutjob. I’ve never seen people fly that low before. Still don’t know why you took him in.”

“I’m not having this conversation now.” Sarah replied with a slight scowl before she watched Jack pull alongside the thestral for a couple seconds. It seemed that the other thestrals were all starting to run out of steam, they had to fly a lot faster and think a lot quicker to try and out maneuver the biplane, burning up their stamina far faster than they would against Equestrian opponents. The thestrals eventually left the sky, landing next to Fortress with exhausted expressions. The two biplanes soared overhead, forming up on one another again. There was still plenty of work to be done, but Fortress at least had a sort of baseline.

[♠]

Luna quietly sighed as she sat in Dominic’s office, looking over the numerous things he’d left behind on his desk and on the walls. That was the hardest thing about him being in an entirely different dimension, the familiar feeling she sensed in her mane was gone, leaving an odd sense of emptiness to take its place. The mare shook off her feelings of lonliness and worry, she knew very well that it was likely in vain. From what she had gathered it seemed Dominic was happier with Maria, why wouldn’t he be, they were the same species. Still, a small part of her hoped there would be a place for her with them.

The mare sat up in the office chair, she was essentially filling in for Sonar while the spectacled bat pony dealt with some personal matters. Luna silently fiddled with some of Dominic’s old desk toys, then began to go through some of his old papers that had been left precisely where he’d placed them. Most of them were simple documents or requests for supplies, but one stuck out to her. It was accompanied by a map with a couple marks on it, she realized that it was a map for possible new cities. Dominic had been planning ahead, but things seemingly got in the way.

Luna read over the documents closely, struggling to read Dominic’s sloppy Equestrian handwriting. From what she could tell he’d had the top minds he could get his hands on go over them as well, it was a far different approach to how towns were founded in Equestria. Many of them just sprouted up out of nowhere or were some bold venture into the unknown, but Dominic had calculated how much water and food they would need to support a town and chosen locations accordingly. His notes were meticulous and minute, Luna gave herself some credit for that, she’d taught him the importance of attention to detail.

The mare paused as she felt an odd surge in her mane, she sighed and smiled faintly, it was the familiar feeling of someone trying to contact her through their dreams. The mare closed her eyes and concentrated her magic, seconds later she was asleep on the desk.

The Princess of Dreams looked around for a moment, taking in the sights around her for a couple moments. It was night time, she was standing in the courtyard of her old castle, and standing in front of her was a familiar looking stallion. Field Marshal Eventide in his clean pressed uniform. The stallion dropped into a bow at the sight of the Princess, Luna chuckled softly and placed her hoof beneath his chin so that he’d look up at her.

“How many times must we tell thee, Eventide? Such formalities are not needed here.” Luna said, the stallion momentarily blinked for a moment before standing up and adjusting his uniform. “It is rare of thee to contact me during the day, especially this way, we hath not met like this since we first swore thee in.”

“I understand, Princess… But this is something I felt you should know as soon as possible.” Eventide said dutifully, Luna raised an eyebrow at him and gestured for him to speak. “I ran into your sister earlier, in the war room. I was adjusting the maps there, as you requested.” Luna nodded slowly, she noted Eventide seemed a bit hesitant. “I… I had an outburst.”

“An outburst?” Luna asked quietly, Eventide nodded slowly. “Thou didn’t… Hurt her, did thee?” The stallion rapidly shook his head.

“No! No! Of course not, Princess. It was verbal.” The stallion said rapidly, Luna approached him and sat down so that she could be on eye level with him. “My thoughts are clouded though, the more I stand this post the more I fear I will fail you.”

“Eventide, since thou were a foal thou hath never failed us.” Luna said calmly. “Thou hath not succeeded in some cases, but thou hath never failed us. Nor will thee.” The mare extended a wing over the stallion’s shoulder to help calm him down. “Coming to us now is proof of that. Continue thy meditation and training, the clouds shall pass.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Eventide said with a slight bow of his head before he looked back up. “I am fearful that your sister is plotting against you.” Luna’s eyebrow rose once again. “She entered the war room earlier, as I said, and I fear it was to meet with her favorite interloper. Should I go ahead with our plans or take steps to stop her?”

“Allow us to stop the interloper, continue with the plans.” Luna said in a commanding tone, Eventide nodded slowly. “All of our work will pay off eventually...Thestra may be gone, but we feel we hath found a good home for those of us who enjoy the night here in America.” Eventide once again bowed and the world around them shimmered. “Until we meet again, Eventide.”

[♠]

Dominic paced back and forth in his quarters, Melissa sitting on the couch with a nervous expression and Maria beside her. She had told him everything, every vile thing she had done as a member of the the inner circle, as a spy, her missions. He had stopped asking questions halfway through, becoming very quiet and simply pacing with an increasingly deep scowl. Melissa had stopped crying at around the same time, mainly because she couldn’t cry anymore. Maria had played moderator, keeping both parties from going too far.

It had taken more than a few hours to get everything out in the open, now Dominic was silently pondering what to do. His anger had abated somewhat, after all Maria had told him she was keeping an eye on Melissa, but that left him thinking that she’d kept such a large secret from him. His mind was reeling with all sorts of conflicting thoughts, coupled with the worry of how much the EOL could know. Luna’s training dictated that he needed to get a grip of everything, but there were still so many things he needed to work out. It was liable to be a PR nightmare if word got out that he didn’t know there was a spy living with him, and unlike Equestria, he had to worry about people’s support on Earth.

“I… I can’t believe it…” Dominic finally muttered as he stopped pacing and looked at Maria and Melissa. “When the hell were you planning on telling me we had been sharing our house with spy?” Maria looked at him, feeling a bit nervous herself.

“A-After the war…” She admitted, Dominic’s eyes went a bit wide. “Look, I couldn’t just out her, okay!? The colonel would’ve shot her!”

“I have half a mind to do that myself!” Dominic shouted, pointing a trembling finger at Melissa. The woman flinched for a moment, but Maria put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. The commander took a couple deep breaths before sighing and turning to walk towards the door. “I need to think… Please… I’ll tell you when I need you.” He opened the door and gestured for the two of them to leave, awkwardly and nervously Maria and Melissa left. With that the man ran a hand over his mohawk before pausing and grabbing something else hanging on the wall, Melissa’s polaroid camera.

Dominic suddenly turned and walked towards his maps that were sprawled out on the table, he looked at the one planning out the attack of Objective Echo. The man pushed it aside and began scribbling on a blank map, making all sorts of notes and changes, each number was cut in half and officer names were completely made up. The entire plan was inverted, it would take a longer time to get into position and was an all out stupid idea. The man lifted the camera and snapped two pictures of the fake attack plans, the camera spitting them out a couple seconds later. Dominic waved the photos a couple times before they came into focus, then began working on a couple other fake plans and taking similar pictures.

When the pictures were taken and developed Dominic grabbed up all the fake plans and crumpled them into a large ball, save for one. The ball was chucked into a trash can, leaving just the fake Objective Echo plan in his hands. The best way to play off having a spy in his house was to say he had known the whole time, that she was a double agent, that she was feeding the enemy bad information. That meant risking Melissa’s life, but Dominic still wasn’t sure about her, and it was the price that had to be paid.

The man sighed quietly as he continued to think about what he was going to do, he had to somehow get Melissa and the photos to the EOL without them knowing he was involved. That involved a bit of help from the spy herself, Dominic walked to the door and peeked out. Sure enough Melissa and Maria were standing outside nervously, the man silently pointed at Melissa and gestured for her to come inside. The woman gulped and entered the room, half expecting to be executed as soon as she did.

“You and I are in a bit of a situation here…” He said stoically as he closed the door behind her and walked back to the table with the photos and the remaining fake plan. “I have to worry about how I am viewed politically, you have to worry about a firing squad. Neither of these things are things we want, correct?” Melissa rapidly nodded as she watched the man pick up the pictures and the plan, she was surprised to see him walk towards her with them and even more surprised when he held them out to her. “I assume you have a way to make a drop, so what you’re going to do is feed this bogus information to the EOL. We’ll play it off that we both knew from the beginning who you are and helped us secure another foothold, and you don’t get shot for espionage.”

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Melissa asked, Dominic shook his head. “Alright, I’ll do it. The woman took the documents and photographs in her arms. “I’ll have to prepare them before I make the drop, I don’t suppose privacy is an option?” Once again Dominic shook his head. “What if I have Maria watch me.”

“Alright.” Dominic said after a moment of thought, he began walking to the door.

“And, Dominic?” The man paused and looked over his shoulder at Melissa. “Please, don’t take it out on her, she was only trying to protect you.”

“Don’t worry… I won’t.” Dominic replied before he stepped outside and looked at Maria, the woman gulped for a moment. “Melissa needs someone watching her, I’ve got some more work to take care of.” Maria nodded and scrambled inside, closing the door rapidly behind Dominic. The man slowly shook his head and began walking off in a seemingly random direction, his boots echoing through the eerily quiet massive store.

Author's Notes:

When you forget how to post a new chapter for a couple seconds you know you haven't posted in a while. Hey guys! I'm back, and not dead! Sorry about the delay on this chapter, but life (and Starbound) kept getting in the way of everything. Long story short... I'm between jobs again, but that's my own fault. I won't go into the details but I actually feel a lot better now.

Anyway, hopefully I can put some more stuff out soon, but so many plots going on is like this big juggling act in my head. Also, a friend of mine and I are going to do a crossover between this story and their own. Don't worry, it's not gonna be canon to this one, but it might have some spoilers if it comes out before I finish this story. So, you know, keep an eye out for that. Or don't.

That aside, here's your clip of the day. Not really a funny one, but actually pretty cool. This guy spent over a year building this thing and I gotta say it's pretty bad ass. Was actually thinking of including something like it in the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q