General Powderkeg of the Princess’ high command quietly dismounted a military chariot, his desert uniform already beginning to be covered in sand. He had been sent to Fort Hurricane on the border of the New United States, sealed in his saddlebags was a briefcase that had been locked with a special spell. The base was the largest of the eight that had been constructed, and had a large compliment of nearly a ten thousand Royal Guards. Many of them were Solar Elites, and they had very few doubts about why they had been assigned to the base.

Not twenty miles away was Doolittle Aerodrome, an American military base, and one of the largest ones on the border. Powderkeg was cautious when he heard faint buzzing in the distance, his eyes turning to the southwest. Sure enough there was an airplane skirting the border, he could see figures hanging from the wings, and judging by the brief flare of a lense it appeared at least one of them had binoculars. The general sighed, it seemed the American’s were unwavering in their observation of the Equestrian military. Without paying the plane any more thought he began trotting towards the building of the base commander, he was glad to see the soldiers were going about their usual business as he passed the numerous barracks.

The olive drab stallion quietly reached the office without much incident, totally aware that the documents he carried with him were likely the most important pieces of paper he had ever laid his hooves on. Meanwhile, as the general made his way to the commander’s office, the aircraft on the border began to make a second pass.

Rainbow Dash didn’t like what she was seeing as the camera clicked once again, she had caught pictures of an Equestrian general entering the base unannounced. What was more, it seemed that he was more interested in getting to the commander’s office than enforcing normal standards. Half the stallions he had walked past failed to salute, those that did had done so lethargically. Anything that kept a general from chewing out that many insubordinate soldiers was something to be concerned about, at least in the opinion of the young American Lieutenant.

Things had been growing more and more tense on the border, despite Princess Celestia stating that she would reduce the number of troops on the border. Then again, she had at first, but now they were slowly being brought back. It didn’t take a genius to guess that something was stirring, and that had been why so many recon flights had been ordered. Unbeknownst to the Equestrians,Rainbow Dash and regular American’s in general, there had even been B-17’s that flew over the border. Hidden by their sheer altitude, they were able to catch snapshots of growing troop numbers, equipment depots, and training exercises.

In response, the American’s had also been stepping up their drills and arms production. Rainbow Dash was finding herself seeing Equestria in a different light, and it was starting to scare her. Gone was the innocent and naive thoughts that her homeland could do no wrong, watching the militarization of an entire border had thoroughly dashed that notion. More and more she saw the soldiers in the Equestrian base as potential enemies.

“Fuck, look at all those queasies.” Gilda said over the helmet comms, she was hanging from the same wing as Rainbow Dash and had originally called out the General when she sighted him through her binoculars. There were hundreds of Equestrian regulars, known more commonly as Queasies, going about workout exercises and weapons drills on the base in the distance. ”Command isn’t gonna like this.”

“I don’t like it either.” Rainbow Dash replied with a scowl as she snapped another photo. “At least they were stupid enough to build their base so close to our border.”

”Perhaps that was the point, Lieutenant?” Boris said as he looked over from the cockpit, the human’s accent was a bit lighter than it had been in the past. Rainbow and Gilda looked towards their pilot for a couple seconds, then back to the base in the distance. ”We are focussing so strongly on these eight bases, da? What if that is what they want us to do?”

”Why would they want that?” Gilda asked, there was a grim chuckle from the Russian as he leveled off to give them a better view. Rainbow Dash didn’t like the sound of his chuckle, and she had a feeling neither did Gilda, he was probably going to lay down some sort of human story.

”Operation Fortitude. It was ruse by the allies during great patrio- I mean second world war.” Boris explained as the Rainbow Dash and Gilda’s attention was drawn away from the base, both of them looking towards the pilot. ”To convince Nazis that D-Day invasion was to come from Pas de Calais, allies station fake armies in view for the enemy to see… And now there is a big general arriving, much like General Patton did in Fortitude…” The young man quietly looked at his instruments, adjusting his flight cap in the process. ”Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, or so I hear.”

“You’re startin’ to scare me, Boris.” Rainbow Dash said, watching through her binoculars at the Equestrians down on the ground. They obviously were real, they weren’t ‘fake’, but then again, Equestria had Royal Guards to spare. It was possible that the soldiers massing on the border were just reservists, that the real army was somewhere else, but Rainbow couldn’t think of any possible place. “Do you think the big man knows what’s going on?”

”He is not so dumb as Equestrian’s think, that is for sure.” Boris said quietly as he leaned back in the seat of the aircraft, the biplane turned and began coming around for another pass by the military base. ”Equestrian’s are not so dumb either, and I think he knows this as well. There will be something soon, of this I am certain.”

“You gotta speak so cryptically?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, Boris chuckled softly but said nothing.

[♠]

Luna giggled softly as she sat at the dining room table with Dominic and Maria, they had a pair of Thestral children’s books out in front of them. The room was warm from the desert sun outside, despite a couple spells that Luna had used to cool the air. The faint smell of garlic hung in the air, the product of the night’s previous meal of spaghetti. Dominic was reading the book with a bit more ease than Maria was, but then again, he had been learning and using Thestralese a lot more than the sniper had. The Princess was glad to teach her herd mates the language of the thestrals, it was one of many chances that she got to bond with them.

Dominic was onto novels for young adults, in Thestralese he had reached an eighth grade level. Maria was a bit further behind, still reading books for younger colts and fillies. She wasn’t complaining though, even if she stumbled over a couple words here or there, Luna was there to guide her through the parts she didn’t understand.

“Dieses Geheimnis ist wirklich schlecht.” Dominic said, doing his best to stick to Thestralese. Luna had made it clear that using English during their teaching sessions was forbidden. “Es ist offensichtlich, dass der Butler den Herzog getötet.” The story he was reading was rather predictable, he had figured it would be the butler from the beginning of the book, just off the top of his head.

“Luna, what is… Wait! Sorry.” Maria began, only to pause and clear her throat. “Was ist ein ‘Kaniiinchenbau’?” Maria asked, looking to Luna and gesturing to the book. Luna looked at the book for a moment, then she quietly laughed.

“Das ist ein Druckfehler.” Luna said, clarifying the word was infact a misprint. Maria smiled faintly, glad that she had only messed up because of a misprint. Truth be told, she prefered Thestralese to English, it made her feel like she had more of a cultural identity. Of course, mentioning things about identity in Post-EOL America was frowned upon. “Es ist ein Loch für ein Kaninchen.” The lunar princess sighed quietly as she watched the two of them, despite their differences as a species, Luna found them adorable in a sense. They were young, and despite their history, naive in the ways of relationships. Even so many months after starting their herd.

Luna was about to speak when there was a frantic knock on the door, Dominic stood up and walked out of the room to answer it. Maria and Luna could hear him speaking with someone for a couple seconds, followed by a sigh, before they heard him walking back to the dining room. The man had grabbed his peaked cap and was tightening his sword belt, Luna and Maria could already tell he would be departing, likely for some reason regarding their neighbors to the north.

“I have to go und deal with a problem, shouldn’t take me too long… Set a plate for me, bitte.” He said, Luna could see the tired look on his face despite him trying to hide it. What was more, his accent had become a bit more pronounced, indicating he wasn’t as focussed on correcting it as he usually was. “Auf wiedersehen, die meine lieben.”

“Auf wiedersehen.” Maria and Luna said simultaneously, smiling faintly and waving as Dominic gave them both a peck on the cheek. As he moved out of sight once more Luna heard Maria sigh, she closed her book and rubbed her temples as the front door close.

“Ugh… I wish your sister would stop.” Maria said quietly, choosing to drop the use of Thestralese to better convey her thoughts. “I hate seeing him so tired…” Luna nodded as she extended a wing to pat Maria on the shoulder, she used her magic to levitate the books they’d been reading into a neat pile before leaning back in her seat. “Guess our lesson’s over for the day, what do you want to do? It’s just you and me it seems, I don’t have to be at the base for a while.”

“Hmm…” Luna hummed, smiling at Maria with a glint in her eye. “We could talk a bit more about your dreams?” Maria looked a bit perplexed, only causing Luna to smile a bit more. “Come now, you and I both know that not every dream you have is a nightmare. It’s just as important to talk about good dreams as it is to talk about bad ones.” Maria nodded and leaned back in her seat, looking towards one of the windows out at the sandy desert behind the house.

“Well, lately I’ve been getting chased a lot less in them, and… Sometimes I actually have a pretty hot one, which is nice…” Maria said, she blushed faintly as she looked toward the table. “To be honest, I’m kinda nervous to talk about those though, I don’t want people to think I’m a perv.” Luna giggled softly as she steepled her hooves.

“Maria, I am over a thousand years old. You know well enough if anyone in this herd is a perv it’s me.” Luna boasted, leaning against the table to watch the human grin softly. Once again Luna found the blushing human adorable, and as Maria twirled a bit hair with her finger she could only continue to feel that affection. “How about this? You tell me what you’re curious about, and I’ll share one of my secrets with you.” Luna and Maria had had similar conversations in the past, usually Maria opted to just stop, and they rarely ever delved into the woman’s curiosity. This time, however, Luna noticed a bit more confidence in Maria’s eyes.

“Well, okay…” The woman mused, she adjusted her tank top and leaned her elbows on the table. “You remember the first time all three of us… You know?” Maria asked, Luna nodded and smiled faintly. “Well, every time we’ve done that since you’ve always been kinda… Incharge. The dreams I’ve had are a bit different.” Maria blushed deeply as Luna began to grin like a cheshire cat. “When I’m in the bedroom I never seem to have the confidence I have when I’m in the field.”

“You want to be a bit more dominant?” Luna asked, Maria nodded quietly. “Understandable, you’ve had so much of your life controlled in the past five years, it makes sense you would want to take a bit of that control back.” Luna extended a wing over Maria and used it to slide her, and her chair, closer. “I think you’re also still worried about me, right? That I’m only in this herd for Dominic?” Maria hesitated for several brief seconds, then nodded slowly. “In the beginning, maybe that was so…” Luna nuzzled Maria and held her a bit tighter. “That was before I got to know you better, and before I learned to see what Dominic sees in you. You and I love him, but I love you too. That’s what a herd is about, after all. Mutual love.”

“I love you too, Luna.” Maria said, leaning up and kissing the alicorn on the muzzle before blushing and pulling away. The woman was far more hesitant to show her affection towards Luna, perhaps because she was nervous. “I’m sorry if I don’t show it as much, it’s just weird since we’re both… You know… Girls. I never really thought of myself that way before, liking other girls, I mean… Sorry… I’m rambling.”

“And looking absolutely adorable in the process.” Luna said good naturedly, she gave Maria a kiss of her own before relaxing her wing. “If you’re really curious, I perhaps could teach you a few things I’ve picked up over the centuries.” Maria blushed brighter than a tomato at that, then giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll let you have some time to think, but if you decide you want to assert yourself more… Well, you know where my room is.”

Luna stood up quietly and walked away, leaving the blushing Maria to herself. She sat in her chair for what felt like an eternity, tapping her fingers against the wood of the table as her mind raced with thoughts and possibilities. Finally Maria stood up and made herself out of the dining room, up the steps to Luna’s room.

[♠]

Dominic quietly groaned as he stood in the War Room of Fort Errant, rubbing his stubbly chin as he looked at a map on the table. The latest reports put at least twenty thousand troops massing on the border, and a high ranking general in the largest military base. Not just any General either, intelligence reports indicated it was none other than General Powderkeg. Dominic had read the stallion’s works when he first started trying to modernize Equestria’s military, and he knew the General to be an aggressive risk taker. That wasn’t what had him worried though, the Equestrians had at least thirty thousand more troops available to them, and so far he couldn’t seem to find them anywhere.

There were worries that perhaps the border massing was a ruse, that the attack would come from somewhere else. For instance, the Changeling-American border. Changelings maintained their land with the aid of the American Military, but there border was nowhere near as ready to stop an invading army as the New United States was. Dominic could see a chance for a possible flanking maneuver, with Equestria steamrolling over Changeling defenders and marching in from the western border.

The man had been pushing his scientists lately to find a way to move troops rapidly if that was the case, but as it stood he knew they were busy with something that could prove just as important. Augmented weaponry was the wave of the future, they were working on a vehicle mounted weapon that could suppress Equestrian battle formations as well as clear the skies of enemy flyers. Now that they had built up their numbers of more modern aircraft, Fort Errant had installed a runway. The other military installations had followed suit, creating their landing surfaces with rapid efficiency. Even with fighters and bombers, Dominic knew there would also be a need for a different kind of aircraft. He had placed an order with one of the aircraft manufacturers to begin construction of regular Huey helicopters and Huey gunships to support them.

As the American population continued to grow into the hundreds of thousands so to did its military, more and more Thestrals were pouring into the country and enlisting. For the moment Dominic was more focussed on keeping an eye on his flanks. As the officers in the War Room continued on their daily business Dominic’s fingers nervously drummed against the map table, he was trying to figure out just where the Equestrians could be keeping their other soldiers. The man quietly turned away from the table and walked towards a screen that was displaying information from the border, they had managed to construct a crude sort of radar based off of magic rather than regular radio waves.

“We’ve been focussed on the Equestrian’s this whole time, it’s time we also start looking at their allies.” General Bulwark’s voice caught Dominic’s attention, he looked over at the thestral stallion. There were a couple other UN officers there, though they had started wearing NUS uniforms rather than their old Earth uniforms. “Providentia reports the Crystal Empire’s military has been running more drills lately, but nothing to indicate that they would be gearing up for invasion.”

“Perhaps that’s because they wouldn’t be invading.” One of the Generals, a Frenchman by the name of Labeau, commented. Dominic walked back to the map where the Generals had started to lay out their thoughts. “The Crystal Empire is a puppet state, correct?” Bulwark and Dominic nodded. “They wouldn’t need to be part of the invading army, they could be brought in to serve as an occupation force.”

“What’s our worst case scenario look like?” Dominic asked as his eyes looked over the map, remaining focussed on the numerous Equestrian troops mustered along the border.

“If they were able to penetrate past the four bases we’d be in trouble.” Bulwark explained, Dominic quietly rubbed his chin in thought. “That is, if they could get ground forces past them. Air forces are a different story.” The man watched Bulwark gesture to a couple points on the map, he had had this conversation before, but he wanted to be sure he had covered as many angles of attack as possible. “Our heavy airships are still being fitted with new weapons and engines, as well as one of the cruisers. That leaves the Equestrian’s with six heavy vessels, to our four medium ones. Granted, we have them outgunned and outpaced, but they’re slower and more maneuverable.”

“If they could manage to slip past our bases they would be likely to come directly to New Liberty.” Bulwark continued as Dominic watched his hoof move over the map, his expression was stoic though internally he was screaming. “From there they could bombard our factories and fuel storage, and if we lose that fuel stockpile we lose our ability for a counter offensive.” Dominic quietly looked at the Generals, then back at the map.

“What would we have to fear from the Zebras?” Dominic asked as he looked at the Zebrican nation. Bulwark quietly looked at the map before he picked up a dossier off a nearby desk and opened it.

“If we shared a border with them they would be one of the first places we would retaliate against.” General Lebeau said darkly as he looked at the file in Bulwark’s possession, Dominic was giving his generals his undivided attention. “The Equestrians have been supplying them with weapons for years, it’s helped keep their economy afloat and the zebras see it as a way of being quasi-Equestrian.” The general laid the file out on the table for Dominic to see. “They can supply the Equestrians with the food to feed an army, that would cut down on the Equestrian need to ration food, and therefore more public support for a war.”

Dominic quietly sighed, his eyes drifting from the file on the Zebras to Canterlot on the map. The man picked up the file and looked it over, then set it aside and rubbed his head.

“Notify Fortress Wall to cease work on his current transport dilemma, I want his full focus on the Reaper Cannon.” Dominic ordered as he rubbed his chin. “See the UN Blueprint archive and recover the designs for…” The man paused as he closed his eyes in thought, he couldn’t recall the name. “Fuck, I almost had it… General Labeau, what was the plane the allies used to drop paratroopers in Normandy?”

“Douglas C-47 Skytrain.” Labeau replied, Dominic let out a sigh as he realised how close he had been in his thoughts.

“Thanks. As I was saying to General Bulwark, have the archivists drag up the designs for the C-47 and have our factories start building them. Not too many, two hundred outta do it.” Dominic ordered, Bulwark nodded again as he wrote the orders down on a sheet of paper. “If they can land troops behind our lines, I want to be able to land troops behind theirs. General Labeau, see if you can find any sky divers or anyone with experience parachuting. They don’t need to be military, they just need to know enough to train people.” The generals nodded quietly as they got their orders, making their way out of the war room.

Dominic quietly looked to the map again, then sighed as he rubbed his eyes. His hopes for peace were being dashed, and he wasn’t about to watch his nation fall again. He wouldn’t watch another one of his cities burn, he would not stand idly by as everything he had built was destroyed. If Equestria wanted a war, he would give it a war. He would dictate the terms of peace in Canterlot Castle or not at all. The man shook his head and walked to a radio that had been set up in the War Room, he quietly adjusted the knobs to a frequency that only a handful of people knew. A direct link to Princess Celestia’s office in Canterlot, he only hoped there was someone listening.

“Mountain Palace, this is November Lima.” Dominic said quietly as he looked at a couple more screens, there was still nothing of note being detected by the arcane sensors. A couple seconds passed before Dominic heard the click of a radio on the other side of the frequency.

”Receiving you, November Lima.” Celestia’s voice replied, Dominic sighed softly at that and leaned against the desk. ”To what occasion do I owe this talk, Mister President?” The princess said in a diplomatic tone, Dominic supposed that was a good start. He cleared his throat before clicking the microphone down.

“I’m calling to ask why you have thirty thousand troops on my border.” Dominic said plainly, figuring it would be best to get right to the point. “A lot of people here are getting antsy about that, I know Luna’s one of them.” There was a pause on the other side of the radio, Dominic’s eyes continued flicking over the screens, still nothing of note.

“We’re just trying to reduce the number of incidents between protesters and your border patrol, unfortunately there’s just been more than we could handle with our agreed upon guard numbers.” Celestia replied, she sounded honest enough, but Dominic hadn’t survived the Outbreak because he took everything with a grain of salt. Celestia was a politician, as much as she denied it, and Dominic absolutely hated politicians.

“That’s the official line?” Dominic asked flatly, once again their was a pause on the other end of the radio. “Look, Princess Celestia, I’ve been upholding our deal the best I can. The max amount of bases was four, the max number of troops was ten thousand. I’ve had to increase our presence there because of your increased presence.” There wasn’t a reply from the other end once again. “Damn it, Celestia! Having so many weapons in a place like that is inherently dangerous! Wars have started that way!”

”I understand your concern, Mister President.” Celestia said in an all too calm voice, as if she was trying to conceal something else. Dominic thought he heard dread in her tone, but he didn’t call her on it. She was Luna’s sister after all, he could trust her enough to know she wouldn’t lie to him. Couldn’t he? ”Goodbye. The hurried response caused Dominic to scowl and set the radio microphone down on the desk. The man turned and walked back to the map, meanwhile numerous other lower ranking officers continued to look over the screens and readouts from the Arcane sensors.

[♠]

Jack quietly smiled as he looked over his new aircraft, the P-38 Lightning was painted in the usual desert tan with light blue under the wings. It depicted his victory marks against the few EOL pilots he had squared off with during the war, as well as a picture of a ghoulish figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe. The words ‘Crypt Keeper’ were painted in a similar ghoulish fashion below the image. Parked next to his aircraft was Sarah’s own P-38, the woman was a tad busy polishing one of the machine guns mounted in the nose. The five pilots that had started the Air Corps with Operation Sky Sabre had been formed into a Squadron that now had twenty pilots in its ranks. Half flew P-38s, the other half flew P-47s.

For Jack it felt like his ship had finally come in, there were more people around, and he found himself feeling more at home. He and his squadron had been reassigned to Doolittle Aerodrome, as well as a couple FASTs and even two airships. The sun was shining brightly as he climbed up onto one of the wings and laid down, basking in the sun like a reptile and enjoying the noise of the air base. Not too far away he could see the airships that had already been refitted with human technology, resting on the ground with their engines off.

They looked like ships of the first world war, with propellers mounted on the side like a helicopter would have. There lift was the result of Griffon flight runes that drew energy from the engines. The griffon engines had been steam powered, but they had also been extremely consumptive of fuel and left a black cloud of smoke in their wake. There was a gas bladder, but it was only to be inflated in case of emergency or when the ship was at anchor.

Jack wouldn’t have minded being assigned to escort one of those big behemoths, but that would mean leaving his squadron behind. He wasn’t about to abandon the family that he had grown to know, the 51st Strike Squadron. He was a bit annoyed about sewing patches to his bomber jacket.. Then again, Jack was enamored by the idea of being a part of something bigger than himself. The man slid off the wing and stood up, watching as a biplane began to descend from the air towards the Air Base’s runway.

“Hey, Sarah!” Jack called out as he walked around the front of his aircraft to watch the plane dropping lower in the sky. It was a FAST plane, judging by the smaller machine guns and straps on the wings. The flyers had probably already disembarked from the wings so that the pilot would have an easier time landing the aircraft, Jack quietly envied the pilot of the biplane. Sure the P-38 was a better aircraft, but he still enjoyed the sting of wind against his face. “Who took the FAST guys out today? That ruskie, right?”

“I think so! Why?” Sarah called from the step ladder she was standing on, not turning to look at the aircraft touching down. Jack put his hands on his hips as he watched the plane taxi down the runway towards one of the barracks.

“Just curious…” Jack replied, he wandered over towards Sarah’s plane and put a hand on the ladder to keep it steady. “Want to take a break? I can take over for you.” Sarah looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I know your knee hurts when you stand for too long…”

“Alright.” She said before quietly stepping down the ladder, wincing for a second on the last step. Jack grabbed the the tool box near the ladder and climbed up onto the ladder, Sarah sat on the ground to rest her leg while she watched the young man begin working on the guns. “Hey, Jack? When was the last time you asked for leave?”

“Never.” Jack replied plainly as he began cleaning and looking over the other guns. “I don’t leave the base unless I’m off duty.” Sarah was a bit surprised by that, considering she had had leave at least three times since she had been commissioned. “Why do you ask?”

“I worry about you not socializing.” Sarah replied as she massaged her knee, doing her best to conceal just how much it was actually starting to hurt. Jack looked at her with a slight smile as he began polishing one of the gun barrels.

“I don’t need to socialize, Sarah. I’ve kinda accepted I’m gonna be lonely for a long time.” The man turned back to the aircraft, focussing on his work. “I’m more interested in just being the best pilot I can be… Maybe they’ll even put me on a stamp!” As Jack continued working on the gun Sarah frowned, it was sad to see someone she cared about seem so conceited to a life of loneliness, especially when she knew that behind his odd mannerisms he was a generally nice guy. “Oh, hey, I swapped shifts with Adler tonight so he can visit his wife in New Liberty. I forgot to tell you earlier.”

“Alright, I’ll have the mechanics swap your planes out.” Sarah replied, she knew it was more than Jack being a friend. He would likely have done it anyway, but with how he had been acting lately, she knew there was something else going on. However, she respected his privacy enough to let him sort things out. If things got out of control she could step in. “Did you know it’s going to be winter soon?”

“Really? It still feels really warm.” Jack replied as he finished polishing off the last machine gun, he began to put the tools and cloth away in the toolbox. “Then again we’re in a desert.” The man shrugged and walked down the step ladder, then set the toolbox down on the ground. He reclined on one of the steps and wiped his hand on his greasy flightsuit. “Do you think they do hanukkah here?”

“I… Don’t know.”Sarah said with a puzzled tone before she looked at Jack. “Wait, why do you ask?” The man paused for a moment, then rubbed the back of his head.

“I’m Jewish.” He said simply. “I know you can’t tell, but do you have any idea how hard it is to find a quality kippah in a zombie apocalypse?” Sarah scratched her head, staring at him still with a bit of surprise. “The little hats we wear on the back of our head.” Sarah made an ‘Oh!’ face as she continued sitting on the tarmac. After a couple moments she stood up, wincing once again, Jack was quickly by her side to help her stand. “You want me to call you a jeep back to the barracks?”

“I’ll be alright to walk. Why, aren’t you coming with me?” Sarah asked, Jack shook his head and gestured to his own aircraft.

“I still have to polish my own guns.” He said simply, Sarah nodded and began walking towards the barracks, they weren’t too far away, but still Jack worried about his pseudo-mother. Once she had gotten a bit away from him, the man ran a hand over his shiny shaved head and walked towards the front of his aircraft. The man set up the step stool in front of his plane and kicked the toolbox over into position, humming to himself as he did so. For half an hour he went about his work, occasionally stopping to wipe the sweat from his brow. Once again his attention was drawn by the sound of something out of place, it wasn’t a plane though. He looked up and around, but by then the source had disappeared. “The hell?”

“Hey!” A slightly raspy voice called out, Jack turned quietly towards the source. It was an earth pony mare in olive drab mechanic coveralls. She had a crop of brown mane that had been cut to a rather attractive, but still regulation, style. Her fur matched her coveralls almost perfectly, and her big beautiful green eyes were staring right at him. “The Major said you swapped with Adler, right?”

“Y-Yeah!” Jack said rapidly, his voice squeaking unintentionally as he wiped his brow again. Meanwhile he thought he could hear ‘Cherry Pie’ by Warrant playing in the back of his mind. The mare didn’t seem to notice as she produced a clipboard from her coveralls and began writing something on it with a pen. Once she had finished she put the clipboard back into the coveralls and looked at the aircraft again.

“Man, you’re lucky…” The mare mused, she approached the aircraft and put a hoof on the side of one of the engine cowlings. “I wanted to be a pilot, but my eyesight wasn’t good enough. I wish they’d let me fly at once...” Jack was at a crossroads, for the first time he had a topic that he knew something about, and a willing audience. Mentally he berated himself not to do it, that he’d blow it, that he’d make another person think he was some sort of weirdo.

“I-It’s actually really liberating.” Jack said nervously as he descended the ladder and walked towards the mare to lean against the wing. “I mean, I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, so maybe I take it for granted, but…” The man trailed off. “Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Jack.” The man offered out his hand, then remembered it was more customary to make it a fist for ponies to bump with their hooves.

“Tig.” She replied, Jack raised an eyebrow at the name. “I’m mainly a welder!” That made a bit more sense, the mare bumped his fist with her hoof. “So, you said you’ve been flying things since you were a kid? Must’ve been pretty fun!”

“Yeah…” Jack said wistfully. “It was. Wanna talk a bit more later? That is, if you don’t have any other duties?”

“Sure! First I’ve gotta run a couple reports, we’re getting another flight of B-17s in this evening.” Tig replied, Jack nodded and smiled as the mare waved at him. “Talk to you later, Jack!” Jack smiled a bit more once she was further away, then paused and rubbed the back of his neck, it felt oddly weird that he had been attracted to a pony. Granted she seemed nice enough, but something about it just felt weird to him. That being said, it wasn’t like that was unheard of now that so many humans and ponies were living together. The young man was a bit more confused than he cared to admit, but he was happy all the same.

[♠]

Dominic quietly walked up the steps of the porch to his house, it had been a couple hours and things had calmed down enough for him to go home. The sun was started to set, but it hadn’t reached the horizon yet. He smiled faintly as he caught the smell of sauteeing garlic wafting through the wind, undoubtedly Maria was cooking up something that would hit the spot after such a stressful day. He cleared his throat as he reached the front door, then turned the doorknob and pushed his way into the house. Everything seemed normal as ever, he could hear Luna and Maria giggling in the kitchen, another good sign that things were going well.

The man walked through the house, undoing his uniform shirt and taking it off, leaving only his undershirt to cover his torso. He reached the kitchen and peeked in, sure enough Maria and Luna were sipping glasses of wine while something was cooking in the oven. Maria was the first to spot him and smile.

“Look who’s back!” She said cheerfully as she sipped another sip from her glass. Luna smiled as well, Dominic walked over to them with a grin and gave them both a kiss and a hug, doing his best to hide the stress that he had endured during the day. “Have a good day?”

“Yeah… It was alright.” Dominic said, still trying to keep his calm. “What about you?” The man paused, noting what he thought was a red mark just under the collar of Maria’s shirt, but he supposed it was nothing of great importance. Luna and Maria giggled and looked at each other, then shrugged simultaneously. “Okay, so good you laugh and creepily move in synchronization. I don’t suppose you’ll let me know what happened?”

“When you’re ready.” Luna and Maria said simultaneously again, they began to giggle once more at how they had synced up. Dominic quietly rubbed the back of his neck, he wasn’t some control freak, they were allowed to have their little secrets. Especially if it made them happy.

“Alright, creepy Shining twins… I’m gonna go take a quick shower. Be back in a few.” Dominic said tiredly, he could feel his eyelids drooping with each passing second. The others nodded and he walked out of the kitchen. If they had been hinting at something he hadn’t gotten it, and he was too tired to partake in any… other activities for the night. The man knew that whatever happened it was likely for the best, Luna and Maria wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, he trusted them that much. He cared so much about them that he walked into the bathroom door on accident, as he was too deep in thought. With a groan the man rubbed his nose and stepped into the bathroom, once again thinking about just how much he cared about Maria and Luna.

The man shook his head as he began to get ready for his shower. He had enough big decisions to make and think about, he didn’t need another.

D3

Author's Notes:

I’ve seen a lot of stories where the protagonist forms a herd with one human and two (or more) ponies, but I wanted to try and explore the opposite of that. Two humans and one pony, and to sort of let them feel each other out. Sorry if the Luna Romance segments are lacking in Dominic lately, but I wanted to explore Maria and Luna’s relationship a bit more. I also wanted to explore the idea of a, let's call it, 'Revolution of the biblical sense'. What would stop being taboo after a Zombie apocolypse, what would be expected of different partners, etc. I'm not going to go into that NOW, but I am trying to set it up here...

Okay, so now that that's out of the way, another announcement. I've given it some thought, and the general consensus is that people wouldn't flip out if I set up a tip jar thing... I'm not sure how the whole thing works, but I figure 'Why the hell not?'. This isn't me charging for chapters or anything like that, I can't stress that enough. If you want to give? Give. If not? That's okay too, I'm easy either way.

Patreon Tip Jar Thingy... I dunno if I have the right link.

But enough serious stuff, let's lighten the mood a bit with something funny. A clip of the day perhaps? Again, I'm not sure if I've shown this one, but it's still pretty funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_LMJ1U-A3U

Later, taters!