Rainbow Dash sat in the waiting room of the Ponyville Hospital. All she had heard was that Fluttershy almost pulled off a Sonic Rainboom getting to Twilight’s house. Apparently she had burst into the library, nearly knocking spike unconscious with the door, rambling about some monster that had collapsed in her yard.

Twilight and Fluttershy had brought the alien into the hospital where he was treated for a head injury. Now all there was to do was wait until it woke up.

Still wish I could see it, thought Rainbow.

Luna stepped out of the The Eclipse. The large ship was docked at Luna’s own shipyard on the edge of the capital of The New Lunar Republic, the city of Tycho. The city had surprisingly been built in the short time period of two years. Now, four years into the war, it was the center of industry, shipbuilding, and military for The New Lunar Republic.

Luna flew up to her quarters on the top of the city’s central spire. She shed her rank badge and tiara and headed to her war room. A hooded figure waited.

“This war is not proceeding as you predicted,” Luna said, irritated, “both my sister and I have been blasting away at each other for the past six months, I need a decisive victory, and soon.”

“You’re leaving out something important that happened today, Princess,” The figure said, “Something I couldn’t have foreseen. The appearance of that alien craft has tossed another ball into the air. It is too unknown of a variable. I will adjust my calculations to include the possible reappearance of the craft. You will have a victory, princess, in due time.”

“I better; this war has dragged on for too long. There aren’t a people in the world anymore who aren’t neutral in this conflict. Even some ponies are pledging to weather this storm rather than fight it. We have no allies. I want a new battle plan by this time next week.”

And with that Luna turned and left the room.

Rainbow jumped out of her seat, bashing her head on the ceiling. Twilight and Applejack rushed past her and into the hospital room.

A Blood curdling scream could be hear along with the sounds of Rarity and Pinkie Pie trying to calm its owner. From the sounds of it, Fluttershy was huddled in a corner, covering her ears.

“Yes! It’s awake, what’s it look like?” Rainbow asked as she followed Applejack into the room.

Thirty seconds earlier.

John felt something. It was in the back of his mind. It was a simple message.

End it

A flicker of consciousness turned into an explosion. John shot up and examined his surroundings.

Good, he thought, I’m in a hospital. What ship am I on? Not the Lincoln, the infirmary is too ugly on that ship. Where am I?

His thoughts were cut short by a bouncing pink fluff in front of his face.

“Ooooo, look Rarity, he’s awake!” John took one look at the creature in front of him, this shouldn’t be possible. He began screaming.

Fluttershy scrambled into a corner and cowered in fear. Rarity jumped up.

“Darling, please calm down, your safe. You hit your head when you fainted, please calm down. You’re scaring Fluttershy.”

“Uh, stop screaming please? I… Uh… I’ll throw you a party! I’ll be your best friend! Um, look at the funny face, Bllaababaa!” Pinkie Pie stuttered.

Twilight followed by Applejack burst in.

“Oh, my, I didn’t think this would happen,” Twilight said.

“uh, now partner, calm ur’self. Ur fine. Don’t be frightn’d now,” Applejack said, concern in her voice.

“Yes! It’s awake, what’s it look like?” came an all but familiar voice. John stopped screaming as Rainbow Dash came into view. He suddenly felt drained.

He coughed and wheezed before looking up. A glass of water hovered in front of him, held up by a purple field.

“Here, drink this,” Twilight said.

John chugged down the water, “Not possible,” he wheezed.

“Pardon?” Applejack asked.

John regained his voice, “This can’t be possible, I’m hallucinating, I’m in my jet still. I’ve just fallen asleep.”

“Um, I hate to burst your bubble, good sir, but you’re not hallucinating,” Rarity said.

“Where am I?” asked John.

“You’re in Ponyville hospital,” Rainbow Dash answered, “Wow! An alien. You’re not as ugly as I thought you would be.”

“RAINBOW,” came a chorus of four voices.

“Of course,” said John laughing, “I’m in Ponyville hospital, talking to the mane six. This Isn’t Real.”

Fluttershy finally stopped her cowering, “the bandage on your head looks real,” she said sheepishly.

“What?” John felt the back of his head. Bandages. And pain. The pain was defiantly real. Could it be possible that he was somehow transported to Equestria? It would explain the ponies on the warships but not the warships. It would explain his surviving a SAM strike and his tattoos on his hands and his ability to control his plane.

“I… I… really am in Equestria?” John asked.

“Last time I checked, silly,” beamed Pinkie.

“YEAHOO!!” shouted John, “Of all the places, Equestria! This has got to be the greatest thing to happen to me since… I don’t know… nothing this great has ever happened to me before.”

“You’re not from Equestria?” asked Twilight.

“No, I’m from… a faraway land.”

“Come one partner, let’s get you outta here,” Applejack laughed.

The next hour was spent in Twilight’s tree. Tests and more tests, John was getting tired of all the testing and examination. Finally it was over.

John sat on the library floor as the ponies gathered around.

“So, what are you exactly?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m something called a human.”

“And do humans always dress so… unusually?” asked Rarity.

“Heh heh, no. This is just my flight uniform.”

“Where are you from? What do you do for fun? What are humans good at?” asked Twilight, “Oh I have so many questions.”

“Let me start from the beginning,” John said, “My name is John Daniels. I’m from another universe from a planet called Earth. Humans actually have some of the same traditions and customs as Ponies. We play football or hoofball as you call it, we play soccer, we have board games like chess, we go swimming, we bake, we do most of the same stuff you do. What we’re good at though is another story. You may not like what you’re about to hear. My race is good at only one thing. War. We invented slings to launch rocks at each other, spears to stab, eventually swords to slice, large catapults to launch boulders at others, and eventually weapons that could kill at range, and even beyond that into horrifying creations, capable of wiping an entire city off the face of the earth. Our technology advanced faster than our emotional capacity.”

The ponies sat dumbfounded, possibly regretting their decision to bring John to Ponyville.

“Where I come from, we are aware of your world, to a degree,” said John.

“What to do you mean by ‘a degree?’” asked Twilight.

“In my world, this place exists in a show called ‘My little Pony.’ I kind of watched the show as an escape from the evil of my world. In my world this place seems like the perfect escape from a place so cold and hostile. A number of people back on Earth watch the show. That’s how I know you names.”

The ponies looked slightly embarrassed. They had forgotten to introduce themselves. John pointed from left to right.

“You’re Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic. You’re Applejack, the element of honesty. You’re Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter. You’re Fluttershy, the element of kindness. You’re Rarity, the element of generosity,” John looked at Rainbow, “And you’re Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria, the element of Loyalty.”

The ponies stare dumbfounded, looking at John who knew so much about them. Rainbow just blushed from the recognition.

“But there’s something you’re not telling me,” John said solemnly, “something important.” The six ponies instantly go rigid.

“When I left my world, it was at war with itself. When I appeared here, I was in the middle of a battle. What happened to this place?”

Twilight spoke up first, “About four years ago, there was a power struggle between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They both thought the other was trying to bide for power. Maybe one of them was, we don’t know. Luna took half of the Equestrian populace and left and formed The New Lunar Republic. She returned with an army. Those who chose to stay with Princess Celestia became part of the Solar Empire. Equestria has been at war with itself ever since. Being the elements of harmony, whoever we sided with would win the war. So we stay neutral, until the war is over, and this land returns to peace. Ponyville and its neighboring towns are one of the few safe places now.”

“But since they both control the sun and the moon here, how come they both rise and lower naturally?”

“They agreed on a mutual agreement to not use their elements in the war. Now the sun and moon will rise up and down by an auto spell.”

John stared dumbfounded. The six all had solemn looks on their faces. Even Pinkie Pie looked depressed. This made no sense to John. Equestria at war? How? This land was a peaceful paradise. The one place he’d only dreamed of going was at war with itself.

Change it

Where was that voice coming from?

Rainbow spoke up first.

“Wait, earlier you said that what your wearing was your flight uniform. How can you fly without wings?”

“Oh I have wings, Rainbow Dash,” John said grinning, “you wanna see them?”

“Sure,” She said excitedly jumping into the air. The happy mood had returned.

“Follow me, I’ll show you where I left it,” John said. The six ponies headed off into Everfree forest.

They walked until they reached the clearing. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy stared at the strange vehicle before them. Rainbow Dash grinned like a kid in a candy store. John raised his hand and turned the jet on. The engine started whirring and the lights powered on. He proceeded to clear the top of the brush and branches. The F35 stood glimmering in the sun.

Twilight noticed the marks on John’s hand, “That’s an unusual cutie mark.”

“Yeah. It lets me control the plane with magic I guess. I’m still figuring out how it works,” he answered, blushing slightly, remembering the rouge missile that flew into the forest the night before.

“So how fast is it?” Rainbow asked, flexing her wings

“Fast, why? You up for a race?” John asked. He’d always dreamed of being a Pegasus, racing Rainbow Dash. But racing in a jet fighter would have to do.

John clambered in the pilot’s seat. The plane flashed its lights and uttered a chirp, welcoming him back. He pulled his helmet back on and closed the cock pit.

Twilight’s horn glowed, “Now you can talk to us while inside that thing.” Her voice resonated through the helmet.

“Cool,” John said.

“First on to town hall wins,” said Dash. Pinkie Pie’s balloon landed, picking up the remaining five.

“We’ll meet you back in Ponyville,” Pinkie shouted, “On your mark, get set…. GO RACERS GO!”

Rainbow took off, she was fast.

John pushed the throttle down and the jet accelerated forward. Rainbow still held the lead.

“I thought you said that hunk of junk was fast, hotshot,” she taunted.

“Oh, it is,” John pushed the throttle down more and the jet began gaining on Rainbow. Soon they were neck and neck. John looked out the canopy at Rainbow. She was blushed slightly as he waved.

“Ok, I admit that that thing is giving me a challenge. First real competition I’ve had in a while,” she huffed. Her face showed signs of exertion as she began to pull ahead.

“But your still going to lose, hotshot,” she taunted as she pulled ahead of the jet.

“Oh really? You wanna make a bet on that?” John answered.

“Yeah, when I win, you have to do something for me. Whatever I ask, I haven’t decided yet,” she panted.

“And if I win?”

“I don’t know; what do you want?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

And with that, John pushed the throttle down and accelerated the plane past the sound barrier, leaving Rainbow Dash in the dust.

As he pulled ahead he could have sworn he saw Dash’s jaw drop in the wake of the boom.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4. Job hunting and memories. Warning. Small War Violence. Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 7 Minutes