Dominic sighed as he woke to the sound of Maria getting out of the bed, it had been three weeks since the founding of Onorus and their night of passion together. Maria had been sleeping a lot, and yet she was still too tired for her patrol schedule. Dominic had also noticed her getting up a lot during the middle of the night to use the bathroom. The man was no fool, as evidenced his position of power in the world, and he had gained that power by researching what he didn’t understand. Luna had caught on a lot sooner than he had, but she was a light sleeper, it was hard to get out of bed without her knowing. It came as no surprise to him that Maria was experiencing fatigue and using the bathroom so often, and he wasn’t sure how to handle that realization.

The man sat up quietly in bed as the morning light began to stream through the window, Luna was on the balcony of the room overlooking Canterlot, working her magic on bringing an end to the night and allowing her sister to bring her day. The clouds were thicker outside, as winter was just around the corner, but Dominic didn’t mind the cold and neither did most Onorussians. As he got out of bed he heard Maria in the bathroom heaving heavily and groaning, before he could stop himself he had ticked off morning sickness on the mental checklist in his head. The man adjusted his undershirt and boxers quietly, moving to stand outside the bathroom and wait for his turn to use it.

After a couple minutes of hearing Maria upchuck again and again, the door opened and the tired looking sniper emerged in her bathrobe with her long black hair pulled back into a bun. Dominic was going to say something, but she froze and bolted back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her before Dominic heard her heaving yet again. The man decided that he could forgo a shower until he had some free time later that day, he walked to the dresser that had been put in the room and pulled it open. From within he pulled his usual uniform, he slipped into it with efficiency that came from months of practice. The man was tying his boots when Maria finally emerged from the bathroom, looking even more worse for wear than she had the first time.

“Dominic…” She said in a groggy voice, the man looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “You did this to me.” She spoke in a lightly joking tone, though Dominic honestly felt a bit bad for her. The woman wandered over to him and gave him a tight hug. “I’m pretty sure what the answer is going to be, but just to be safe I’m going to see Doctor Patterson today…” The man stood to his full height and returned the hug gently, not wanting to crush Maria, he didn’t know his own strength half the time.

“I’ve got that discharge paper on my desk, all I have to do is sign it.” He said after he broke the hug, Maria smirked at him and patted him on the cheek. Both of them knew she wouldn’t take a discharge until it was official, until it was determined that she could no longer be of service to her country’s military by an actual doctor. The door to the balcony opened and Luna stepped in, shaking a couple times to regain her body heat from the colder weather outside.

“Good to see you’re both up.” She said as she approached them, noting the rather groggy looking Maria. “How are you feeling this morning, dear…?” Maria smiled faintly and hugged Luna just as tightly as she had Dominic.

“I’m fine, guys… I was just telling Dominic here that I’m going to see Doctor Pat later today, so no worries.” Maria said calmly, Luna nodded quietly before she looked to Dominic with a neutral expression.

“We should probably get going, you have your morning briefing soon.” Luna said in a reminding tone, Dominic nodded before he leaned in and gave Maria a kiss on the cheek. The alicorn followed suit, causing the woman to smile faintly. “Take care, Maria…”

“I will.” Maria replied with a faint smile, Dominic and Luna walked to the door and stepped out into the hallway. Before he closed the door, Dominic stopped to blow Maria another kiss. The man sighed softly as he walked away from the door and tucked his hands into his pockets. Luna could sympathize with him, for the most part. She was worried about what would happen as she was going to be one of the parents, but she suspected it went to a deeper level with Dominic. He hand known Maria since they were children, he had loved her without knowing it for a good portion of his life, and now it was very likely she was carrying his child. The alicorn opened her wing and draped it over Dominic’s shoulder, the man looked at her for a brief moment before smiling his thanks.

Dominic’s mind was racing with all sorts of worries, chief among them was Maria’s well being. However, the other issues were very important, as he had the future of his entire species resting on his shoulders and how he handled the issue. It had been top secret, no one outside of the chiefs of staff and the project head knew about it, and Providentia was keeping a close eye on them to make sure it stayed that way. The issue in question had to do with children, it was a very sensitive one that had to be addressed quickly as time was of the essence.

“How have your observation’s been going?” Dominic asked, trying to get his mind off of Maria. Luna looked at him quietly before humming, her eyes flicked around the area of the hallway and she even went so far as to scan the area for any sign of life with her magic before answering.

“Alpha and Beta seem promising. Provided we had the right tools, the mission could be completed within forty years. Ten years per stage.” She said quietly, Dominic nodded quietly as he continued walking along. “Given our window of eighty years, I would say that’s pretty good.”

“Not good enough. It will take us at least forty years using augmented technology to get the right tools, it’s too close of a shave for my liking.” Dominic responded, Luna could tell he was rather nervous about the prospect, as it went against some very strong beliefs that he and many Onorussian’s held. The right to bare children and have a family was something no one wanted to take away, but the revelation that humans would be sticking around indefinitely made that difficult. Onorus was large and relatively under populated, meaning there was plenty of room to expand within its borders, for the moment.

The worst case scenario was that the country would reach its maximum sustainable population within eighty years, and since Dominic was a glass half empty kind of guy, that was the time table they chose. Even if it took longer, it would be better to have a plan ready rather than being blindsided like the politicians on Earth had been during the outbreak. The main objective was to recolonize Earth, but Dominic liked having contingency plans. The man and Luna walked through the halls of the castle towards the meeting room where they would receive the daily briefing, so far things had been calm throughout the world.

The Crystal Empire had withdrawn its support for a liberation of Equestria, the Zebrican tribes were reeling from such a tremendous defeat, the minotaurs had retaken Twin Island, and the smaller nation states that had once looked to Equestria were now being forced to accept the Onorussian Republic as the world’s foremost superpower. As Dominic and Luna entered the meeting room they were greeted by the familiar faces of the generals and advisors of various different parts of the government.

“Atten-hut!” Said a Lunar Marine standing near the door, the generals and other military officials snapped to attention until Dominic signalled them to return to their seats. The man made his way to his seat while Luna took up a position beside him, at his right side.

“Gentlemen… Let’s not dilly dally. Anything new to report?” Dominic asked as he looked to them, the advisors looked among each other quietly. “Come now, are you telling me that over the course of last night absolutely NOTHING happened? No coups? No threats? Nothing?” One mare, a unicorn in a lab coat with thick rimmed glasses, cream colored fur, and a red and purple mane, stood up with a file floating in her magic. Dominic recognized her as Moon Dancer, one of the chief researchers from the CIMC, the Chaos Intervention and Monitoring Command. Tasked with maintaining and the portal that lead to Earth and the mirror portal that lead to the alternate ‘Human Equestria Timeline’. “The floor is yours, Miss Dancer.”

“Last night we received an odd message from one of our agents in the HET, my superiors didn’t want to bother you with it, but I figured you would still be interested.” Moon Dancer floated the file over to Dominic, the Imperator quietly reached out and looked it over as the unicorn floated copies to the other advisors and chiefs of staff. “Agent Shimmer has been on time with her monthly reports since you first went through the mirror, sir. As have our other agents. With the exception of one.”

Dominic quietly opened the file and looked it over, leafing through technical logs that pertained to the portals stability and other items that weren’t important at that particular moment, he stopped as he reached a picture of the agent in question. A Terran Born woman with a nice looking face, she was oddly familiar to Dominic.

“Andreina Brunilda, one of the UNs former assets.” Moon Dancer said as she used her magic to set several pieces of paper and a cassette player out onto the table. “Her communication was as follows.” The unicorn hit play on the cassette player, silence settled over the room as they listened.

”Minor Anomaly… From your end. Almost unnoticeable.” The recording was quick, far too quick to be acceptable as a report, and yet that was all there was. Dominic quietly rubbed his chin as he looked at the tape player, then to Moon Dancer.

“Have you ascertained the anomaly she’s talking about?” He asked, the unicorn shook her head slowly.

“My superiors said it wasn’t worth looking into.” Moon Dancer said, looking a little upset. “I know I shouldn’t have gone over their heads, but…”

“Nothing to apologize for.” Dominic said evenly before he stood up and pointed at Moon Dancer, turning his attention to his advisors. “You see this sort of initiative here? You see this attention to detail? That’s what I want to see more of.” The other advisors nodded while Luna looked over the documents she had been handed. “Miss Dancer, I want this anomaly investigated fully. I want to know why Agent Brunilda had to cut her transmission short… If your superiors refuse, tell them it’s a direct order from me.”

“Yes, sir!” Moon Dancer said dutifully, Dominic quietly looked around the room as if waiting for any more ‘Minor’ problems to be brought to light. There were a few, the Griffon’s had reported a minor outbreak of disease confined to a small section of the griffon kingdom, the changelings were still finding Zebra bodies washing up on their shores, but aside from that everything seemed calm. The briefing ended after orders to dispatch a medical team to research the disease in the griffon lands.T gradually the advisors and chiefs of staff left the conference room to return to their duties, leaving Luna, Dominic, and a lone human Doctor behind. Dominic sighed as he took a seat on the edge of the conference table and untucked his uniform shirt, then unbuttoned it and set it aside.

“Alright, Doc… Let’s get it over with.” Dominic said as he slipped his undershirt off and set it on the table with the uniform jacket. The doctor was a woman who had worked with the NC on Earth before the NC and the UN had folded into Onorus, Doctor Patterson, she was one of the best doctors out there and as such had been called upon to act as personal physician to the Imperator. As much as Dominic had fought against it, Luna had managed to supersede him.

“As always you look healthy, but let me give the old ticker a listen, eh?” The woman asked, she spoke with a Canadian accent as she took her stethoscope from around her neck and put the ends in her ears. She took a moment to breathe warm air onto the end of the scope before pressing it against Dominic’s chest. “Hmm… Sounds normal.” Patterson moved the scope to the right side of his chest, by now Dominic had learned to take a deep breath in, then exhale slowly. “Good, good…” She repeated the process with the rest of his chest, then she peeked in his throat, his ears, his eyes and even his nose. It was poking and prodding that Dominic hated, it worked in conjunction with his fear of hospitals. “Well… As usual, everything is right where it should be, no wheezing or congestion… But I’ve noticed your eyes are bloodshot again.”

“I know… But you try running a country and getting eight hours a night!” Dominic responded, Luna giggled softly.

“I could do it and get twelve if I really wanted.” She said, Dominic looked at her with a slight scowl before shaking his head.

“Well, aside from a lack of sleep he’s healthy as a horse, eh.” Patterson said with that same cheerful smile of hers, she made the same corny joke every day, and Dominic couldn’t help but chuckle at just how enthused she seemed to be. “Care for a lollipop?”

“Nah…” Dominic said as he pulled his undershirt back on, tiredly rubbing his eyes as he looked around the conference room once again. The man couldn’t believe how boring life had become now that he was so high on the totem pole, part of him yearned to return to New Liberty, to his old house and his simple life. In a hundred years, he told himself, in a hundred years he could do that. “Then I’d have to hire a dentist.” Patterson nodded quietly and gathered her things while Dominic tucked his uniform shirt back into his pants. “Have a good one, doc.” The woman nodded again and walked out, leaving Dominic and Luna behind. “Welp… Guess it’s time to hit the books.”

Luna only nodded, still somewhat unsure of why Dominic was so insistant about what he was doing. Onorus had instituted an Education Equivalency Exam for many people that never got to finish High School, Dominic and Maria were among them. She supposed it would’ve been the easy solution to just give himself one, but she supposed that perhaps that wasn’t the point. As she and Dominic made their way to his office, she couldn’t help but think that the EEE was rather pointless for him. It was just a slip of paper saying he had done something, but the man had literally conquered a continent in under two days, what more could he need to say he had done something?

Luna realized that perhaps for Dominic it was about going the distance, conquering something that had been bothering him for so long that he really could do nothing about, and doing it on the proper terms. The alicorn supposed that for Dominic, it would be the final loose end in the chapter of Dominic’s life that was connected to the apocalyptic Earth. As they entered Dominic’s office Luna could see the Math and English textbooks were still open on the man’s desk, there had been nights over the past couple weeks where he had come to bed late and said that he was working on some difficult problems. Luna had assumed he meant governmental problems, but it clicked in her head that he was in fact referring to the textbooks.

In silence she watched him sit behind his desk and pour over the books, reading them intently in minute detail, highlighting passages of importance, taking notes regularly. He almost reminded Luna of Twilight Sparkle in his dedication, but she knew better. The truth was that Dominic was very poor at math and writing, at least by his standards. As she continued to watch the man she began to think about Twilight Sparkle, the former Equestrian Princess had returned to Ponyville and was acting as its representative in the Onorussian congress. She had given an impassioned speech demanding the construction of a monument to those who had died in the Forty Eight Hour War on both sides, and was well liked among her peers as a result.

The Element Bearers had returned to their lives, and much was like it had been before the war, with the exception of Rainbow Dash of course. Luna was glad to see some semblance of normalcy returning to the world, even if it came at the expense of her sister’s exile. There was a gaping emptiness in Luna’s heart, one that she couldn’t seem to fill, it came from knowing that she wouldn’t be able to see her sister again for a very long time. She was doing her best to ignore it though, much like Dominic she found herself throwing herself into her work as advisor and spiritual leader of the Thestral population.

All in all, it seemed that things were going as planned, and they looked set to go on as planned. The Onorussians were gradually phasing out their older technology, whether by selling it as surplus or scrapping it, in favor of more advanced technology. Planes like the biplane were still heavily employed for troop deployment and dogfighting with more skilled flyers, but the newest threat to Onorus militarily was the Dragon Dominion to the south. Much faster and much bigger than ponies, the Onorussian military would need something stronger if ever the dragons decided to invade, or one were to go rogue.

Helicopters were becoming more common, as were paratroopers, and the first F4 Phantom had rolled off the assembly line a week before. Patton and Abrams Tanks were going to replace the T-34 as the big dogs of the American military, though the T-34 would still have a place as an infantry supporter. Luna supposed they would also become useful if ever the cold war between the Zebras or the Crystal Empire ever spiraled out of control. She doubted they would ever really be needed against a magical threat such as Discord or King Sombra, as Dominic had already dispatched the Globe Corps to ‘Clean up’ whatever magical artifacts had been left irresponsibly unsecure. The CIMC was also tasked with keeping an eye on them in a top secret facility in the middle of the desert.

Dominic quietly wished that he could do something more than study and, once he passed the test, paperwork. It felt so odd to him not to be out there commanding his troops, but there were just too many troops for him to command effectively on his own. He had trusted generals take his place, but it just didn’t feel right to him. He hoped that Maria was having a better day than he was.

[♠]

Maria sat in the waiting room of Doctor Patterson’s office in the castle’s medical ward, the doctor had chosen to run a battery of tests and was currently performing them personally in the lab. All Maria could do was wait patiently, but she already knew the answer. The woman softly patted her belly and looked down at herself, smiling faintly as she felt herself becoming excited. So many possibilities would be open to her child, and she had done more than her share to make sure that their future would be safe. Part of her was terrified about what kind of future the child would have, after all their parents would be very powerful people and they would be subject to all sorts of different threats on top of the regular ones.

“I won’t let them get within a mile of you…” Maria said quietly as she adjusted her sweater, having forgone her usual uniform for something a bit more comfortable. The woman turned her head quickly as she heard the door to the doctor’s office open, Patterson stepped out with a clipboard in hand. Maria found herself standing faster than she thought possible, looking at the Doctor with anticipation. “Well…? What did it say?”

“I don’t get to say this often enough...” Patterson said, smiling faintly as she looked through the papers. “Congratulations, Miss Valova. You’re pregnant.” Maria let out a sigh of relief, knowing that it was real was a great weight off of her shoulders. “You’re going to need to come in a bit later so we can do a few more tests, but as it stands you’re both healthy.” The doctor quietly flipped through her clipboard and removed a blue sheet of paper, signed and sealed with an official raised seal. “As per the new protocols, I’m compelled to give you this.” She handed the paper to Maria, the woman already knew what it was. “You’re discharged, Major. I’ll notify your commanding officer.”

“Thank you, Doctor…” Maria replied quietly as she looked over the paper she had been given, Patterson followed it up with a couple lists of things to avoid eating, things to avoid doing, and many other things that would need to be done to ensure a safe pregnancy. With a slight smile the doctor bid farewell, leaving Maria to quietly walk away from the medical ward. The woman couldn’t help but keep smiling, resting a hand on her abdomen again. Finally, after five years of fighting, she could lay her rifle down. The world seemed a tad brighter than it had before, and Maria couldn’t wait to tell her herd mates the good news.

She had the rest of the day to herself, well, in a sense. She decided that the first thing she should do was tell Dominic and Luna that it was finally official, the woman was so excited she almost started running towards the office. She stopped herself however, she was still very fatigued, and she didn’t feel like she could stand running. On top of that, she didn’t know if Dominic and Luna were still even in his office or if they had started their ‘Throne room’ period of the day. Maria supposed it wouldn’t hurt to check the throne room first, as she was closest to that part of the castle.

She walked through the large palace, noting that it still had a lot of damage to it from the bombing during the war. Dominic hadn’t wanted a thing touched until the rest of Canterlot was rebuilt, he didn’t want the citizens to think he was putting the new government building ahead of their homes and businesses. Even in disrepair, the building was still gorgeously constructed, the architecture was indicative of a golden age that had seemingly long passed for Equestria. Even without her uniform or any other marking of rank, soldiers stopped and saluted her. She supposed that even though they would soon be informed she was no longer in the military they would still salute her.

Maria eventually reached the hall outside of the throne room, there were mostly ponies lined up outside with various pieces of paper. They looked like former nobles if the indignant scowls were anything to go by, the woman had to give them credit, they were a persistent bunch. She quietly approached the Lunar Marines stationed outside the throne room, some in the line groaned but she ignored them. The Lunar Marines saluted her silently.

“Are they busy?” She asked, the two soldiers looked at one another before looking at the line.

“Nah… It’s pretty light today.” One of the thestrals replied, adjusting his navy blue uniform. “Need to get in, ma’am?” Maria quietly looked at the line, normally she would’ve waited, but for something of such great importance she felt it would be acceptable to push ahead of them.

“Yes… It’s rather important.” Maria said, the two thestrals nodded and grunted as they pushed one of the doors to the throne room open. The woman slipped through the door quietly before the thestrals pulled it shut, the throne room stretched out in front of Maria and looked far more good looking now that it had been given a quick once over by the palace cleaning staff. Down the long walk to the thrones Maria could see several ponies standing in front of the throne, she could also see Dominic and Luna seated in their respective thrones. Maria quietly approached, sticking closer to the marble pillars that lined the long room. She stopped a decent distance back, only barely able to hear the discussion going on.

“...but it isn’t fair! I demand you reinstate our title at once!” Shouted one of the unicorns, a grey stallion with a dark grey mane and pair of glasses perched on his face. The other unicorn was a mare with light yellow fur and greyish mane, both wore polo shirts with sweaters tied around their backs.

“You demand?” Dominic asked from his throne, briefly looking over at Luna for a moment. “He demands, you hear this? He demands.” The man turned back to the stallion with a very annoyed glare, drumming his fingers quietly against the armrest of the thorne. “What reason would I have to give you your title back?”

“It has been in our family for generations!” The mare shouted, Dominic was quiet for a few seconds before Maria saw a small smile claw its way onto his face. He leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers.

“That must be why you’ve both developed such weak chins.” He said simply, the two unicorns’ jaws dropped. “You people must think I’m some sort of pushover if you think you can barge in here and demand power for yourselves. Power is earned, not given. That is why every time you come here I’m going to give you the same answer.” The unicorns stared at him. “Petition denied. Y’all come back now, ya hear?” The two unicorns huffed and turned, walking past Maria with annoyed expressions on their faces. Once they were far enough away Maria began making her way towards the two occupied thrones. “Hey! There she is!” The man stood from his chair as Maria ascended the steps, as did Luna. “How’d it go?”

“It went great…” Maria said as she took the papers from under her arm, presenting the blue discharge slip to Dominic with a beaming smile. “It’s official now. Dominic, Luna… We’re gonna have a little baby.” Maria found herself in a sudden tight hug as Dominic wrapped his arms around her, she patted him on the shoulder as a signal that he was going a bit overboard. The man relaxed his grip somewhat, by then Luna had joined the group hug. Maria felt very close to tears at the displays of affection, it was another sign that she had found her new home.

“I mean… We kinda knew but… Just… Knowing it’s for real…” Dominic said quietly as he let go of Maria and rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes darting around the room seemingly at random. “It’s… Exciting, terrifying too, but… Exciting. You know?” Maria nodded as she continued to smile, Luna draped her wings over the two of them. She was doing her best to keep her own emotions in check, as there were a lot of conflicting ones. For the first point she was still very upset about her sister, and at the same time, overjoyed to hear that she was going to get the chance to do something she had once thought impossible. Being a mother, in a literal sense. Even if it wasn’t her that was giving birth, she would help raise them, tell them stories, show them the stars… She couldn’t contain it anymore and began to sniffle. Emotions were running very high at that point. A pair of Lunar Marines poked their heads in to see if Dominic was ready for another petitioner, but seeing the state of their leader, decided it would be prudent to instead postpone any further petitions for the time being.

[♠]

Jack quietly grumbled as he stepped off of the C-47 transport plane that had landed at the New Liberty air strip. The man adjusted the duffle bag slung over his shoulder and adjusted his aviators as he turned and offered a hand to Sarah as she stepped down out of the aircraft in a similar fashion. Both of them were dressed in green flight suits, the patches for their squadron sewed to their shoulders. They had been recalled to New Liberty for a couple months with the purpose of retraining them to fly jets like the F4E and F-105 Thunderchief. The sound of helicopters flying overhead seemed ever present as the two of them began walking towards the administration building near the edge of the air strip.

Sarah was a lot more excited about the chance to fly a jet once again then Jack was, mainly because it gave her inner speed junky the chance to break the sound barrier once again. She could see why Jack would be adverse to the idea though, after all, it meant he would be assigned a Radar Intercept Officer and she knew just how much he disliked sharing the cockpit with anyone. Especially new people. Still, she knew that wouldn’t stop him from flying the jets, after all he had volunteered to go into the training.

“So, what should I expect when they hook me into that G suit thingy…?” Jack asked as he looked over at Sarah, the woman adjusted her bag and hummed, rubbing her chin with her free hand.

“Ever been in a bar fight?” She asked, Jack nodded hesitantly. “At first it’s kinda like someone is punching the shit out of you, but you get used to it after a while.” She chuckled as she saw the man rub the back of his neck nervously. “Don’t worry about it, kid. You already know how to fly, you just have to retime your reactions to deal with going faster than the speed of sound.”

“Yeah… Easy.” Jack said as the two of them reached the administration, overhead a pair of jets screamed past, causing the two of them to look up briefly. The two pilots entered the nice air conditioned administration building and began walking towards the office of the base commander, he was already aware that they would be coming, so they weren’t worried about interrupting anything particularly important.

“...and I want those fucking hot shots NJP’d so hard their heads spin!” A gruff voice shouted from within the office, Jack and Sarah looked at each other quietly as they removed their sunglasses and approached the door with a bit more caution. Jack quietly knocked on the door, reading the name ‘Commander O'Malley’ on the door. “Come in!” The gruff voice ordered, Jack pushed the door open and he and Sarah entered. They snapped to attention and saluted as they saw an older man with greying hair standing behind a desk piled high with paperwork.

“Captain Jack Rossiano and Lieutenant Sarah O’Connor reporting for duty, sir.” Jack said dutifully, the older man paused at the woman’s last mine, as if wondering if it was some sort of joke. She hated when people did that.

“Ah… Yes. You’re the aces that volunteered for jet training, right?” O’Malley asked, Sarah and Jack nodded quietly. “Good to get some experienced airmen here for a change, you can set a good example for those kids that keep buzzing the tower with military equipment.” The commander picked up a pair of files from his desk and flipped through them for a second, pausing as he looked at Jack with a stoic expression. “No barnstorming, captain.”

“Wasn’t planning on it, sir.” Jack replied quickly, the commander set one file on the desk and walked to the window, looking out over the airbase as he watched a couple training biplanes take off.

“Report to hangar seven for your briefing, your instructor will be Major Petrov. He may be a ruskie but he’s also a damn good fighter pilot.” The commander said as he turned back to the two pilots, adjusting his fatigues as he approached his desk one more time. “He’s waiting with your two rios. Better hurry, he has a training exercise planned in about half an hour. I’ll have a jeep waiting.”

“Yes, sir.” The two pilots said simultaneously, the commander gestured towards the door and sat back at his desk, picking up the phone that sat on the edge. Sarah and Jack left the office, looking around them as they exited the administration. They stood outside for several minutes before a brand new tan Willy’s jeep pulled up outside with an MP sitting at the driver’s seat. Sarah and Jack tossed their bags in the back, and Jack climbed in with them while Sarah took the passenger seat.

“Think they’re gonna be cool?” Jack asked as the MP put the car into drive and began moving past the numerous hangars that lined the area. Sarah shrugged quietly as she felt the wind blowing through her hair, the sun continued beating down on the tarmac.

“I assume we’ll get enough time to get to know them, it’s a two month course.” The lieutenant replied as she looked back at her friend, Jack was reclining against the two dufflebags. “Hey, careful with that, I don’t want all my stuff getting wrinkled.” Jack just shrugged and adjusted his position in the back seat, they were passing by hangars that had B-17s and fighter planes parked inside or around them. Jack sighed as he spotted a couple ground crew working on a P-38, thinking about the little earth pony that could make such a utilitarian outfit look cute.

The man hoped he could get his training done as fast as possible, he wanted to get back to Baxter Air Base as soon as possible. He missed Tig, the adorable pony mechanic was one of the few people that Jack could actually say he legitimately cared about, and the only one where the relationship wasn’t platonic. The young man was snapped out of his thoughts when the jeep came to a stop outside of a large hanger marked with a big white seven. Jack and Sarah hopped out of the jeep and nodded to the MP before grabbing their bags and walking towards the open hangar doors.

Parked inside was a pair of F4E Phantoms, painted in the usual desert color scheme. Three people were standing in a group, talking amongst themselves as the two pilots made their way over to them. Jack quietly looked over the F4s, they certainly looked intimidating, and he had to admit they looked a lot cooler than his P-38. The pair of them finally reached the group of people, earning the attention of the group.

“You must be the aces.” An older looking man with a thick Stallin-esque mustache said, Jack and Sarah nodded. “I’m am Major Petrov, these two are your rios.” The man gestured to the two people standing with him, two young men who looked like they’d just earned their wings. One of them was taller than the other, he had short but thick black hair and almost pale skin. The other was about as tall as Sarah with a more tan complexion and similar black hair. He also had a thick mustache, and looked like he was of latino descent. “Lieutenants Chavez and Baker.”

“Nice to meet you.” Sarah said as she offered her hand to both of them, they smiled and shook her hand politely. Jack simply waved, choosing to remain quiet.

“Chavez will be flying with Captain Rossiano, Baker’s flying with you Lieutenant O’Connor.” Petrov said, the two pilots nodded again, after all it wasn’t like they had much choice in the matter. “Now, before we get off the ground I want you to get into your flight suits and sit in the cockpit, I’ll walk you through all the stuff you need to know about the F4. If you catch on quick enough, we might be able to squeeze a flight in today.”

“Sounds good.” Jack said as he looked towards the aircraft again, then back at Petrov. It was going to be a long day, as far as he could tell.

[♠]

Rainbow Dash quietly sighed as she walked through Ponyville, dressed in mildly warm clothes as she examined the city around her. They had started returning to a normal police force in the small town, but they still had the occasional special patrol going out to ensure everything was running smoothly. At the moment the prismatic pegasus wasn’t one of those special patrols, instead she was just wandering through her former home. Over the past weeks the town had been rebuilt and the POWs had been released and sent home to their families. Aside from the Onorussian flag flying over the town hall, nothing about the town seemed different.

The mare wandered past the familiar building of Sugarcube Corner, she would’ve stopped in and said hello, that was, if she know what to say when she went in. All of her friends were near her, and yet she hadn’t spoken to any of them since she had defected. She wasn’t sure of what she would say, what she would tell them. She was part of the conquering army, and she couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving them behind without so much as a goodbye. Rainbow Dash stopped and looked at the building, emotions clashed in her heart. She was brave enough to jump off of a perfectly good airplane into a combat zone but she wasn’t able to face her past? She shook her head quickly and gritted her teeth, she was no coward.

The lieutenant straightened up and forced herself to walk towards the bakery, she adjusted her leather jacket as she ascended the steps to the door and caught the scent of cinnamon rolls. The familiar smell gave her a bit more confidence as she pushed the door open and stepped inside the bakery, she closed the door behind her and awkwardly turned towards the counter. Oddly enough the counter was unmanned and most of the tables were empty, save for a couple ponies that were eating across the room. Rainbow Dash walked towards the counter where she saw a silver bell, she quietly tapped it a couple times and waited as she heard some noise from the back.

Rainbow Dash stiffened nervously as she stood there, the worry grew a bit stronger when she saw none other than Pinkie Pie emerge from the back room with a hairnet on over her puffy mane and an apron stained with numerous ingredients. The two of them looked at each other silently before Pinkie Pie gasped and rushed towards Rainbow Dash. The lieutenant nearly wheeled back for a counter punch out of instinct, but was surprised to feel Pinkie Pie grabbing her in an extremely tight hug.

“Dashie!” She said happily, nearly crushing Rainbow Dash with how strong her was. The prismatic mare responded with her own strong hug, knowing now that she had nothing to fear from her best friend. “It’s so good to see you again! We were all so worried you got hurt or something and I kept thinking that maybe you didn’t want to see us because I’d see you around town but you’d never wave at me or anything and it was just so worrying for me and the rest of us and-”

“Pinks! Air!” Rainbow Dash gasped, Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened and she quickly let go of her friend. Dash patted her chest and took a couple deep breaths, filling her lungs with much needed oxygen before she chuckled. “It’s good to see you too, Pinkie… I’m sorry I didn’t stop in sooner, but… I wasn’t sure how, you know?”

“Silly! All you had to do was walk through the door!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, though Rainbow could tell she was hinting that all had already been forgiven. “Twilight explained it pretty clear to us all why you left, and after all that’s happened, I can’t say I blame you. The others are gonna be so excited to see you again!”

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly, looking around the room quietly before steadying her nerves. “So, how have things been lately? Everyone’s okay, I hope?”

“Yup yup yup! The Onorussians are helping my parents with their rock farm, paying them for all sorts of special rocks!” Pinkie said as she leaned against the counter, she couldn’t help but notice just how much her friend Dashie had changed in appearance. A short mane, large toned muscles, and a bit more confidence judging by how she had come in to talk. “And the cakes are good too! Sugarcube Corner took a minor hit from one of those biplane doohickeys and the Onorussians paid to put in a whole new kitchen and everything!” Pinkie paused as she sniffed the air, figuring she had about ten more minutes before the latest batch of cinnamon rolls was done. “How about you, Dashie? How’ve you been?”

“Oh, I don’t know, can’t really complain.” Rainbow Dash replied with a slight smile, feeling a bit more at ease now that she was talking to her friend. “My unit’s up for a citation of merit since we did such a dangerous mission in the war, might be a promotion in it for me… But I’m not sure I want that. Since I fought in the war they’re giving me the option to take a discharge.”

“Why not?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m not sure I want to make the military my career, and now that I’ve been trained to outfly the wonderbolts, I don’t really want to be one of them either.” Rainbow Dash said with a slight hum, she looked to the side for a moment before looking back at Pinkie. “It’s just a thought though, I’m not sure what I want…”

“Well, maybe we can help you?” Pinkie said with a bit of optimism in her voice. “The rest of the gang, I mean!” Rainbow Dash smiled quietly at that, looking to Pinkie with a much more hopeful expression.

“Yeah, maybe…” She said as she stood up from the counter, Pinkie Pie could tell that her estimate had been off earlier, the cinnamon rolls were closer to completion than she thought. “Look, Pinks, I gotta go… I’ve got some reports I need to file with my CO, I’ll be by later though, don’t worry.”

“Okay! Bye, Dashie!” Pinkie replied as she began walking back to the kitchen, Rainbow Dash turned and walked back out into the chilly evening air. The faint smell of a wood fire took her back to times when she and her friends would go on camping trips, her right cheek became a little colder as a solitary tear ran down it before it was quickly wiped away.

Author's Notes:

Here's another chapter for you lovelies! We see that Dominic is about to take on his greatest challenge yet, FATHERHOOD! DUN DUN DUUUUN! In the meantime I've been working on drawing and such, using a digital pad is a lot harder than using pencils and such. I've been trying to do just a basic sketch of some characters from the story, but so far they haven't been coming out so good. Any digital artists out there with any tips?

Also, have you folks heard of Starbomb? It's this band the guys from Game Grumps made, pretty neat stuff. Here's one of their music videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=And-vdjC71E