We are transferred into the Osprey while it is still in the hanger. To minimize outside contact or risk of contamination they essentially backed up the VC-22 right up to the quarantine chamber. The Rangers taking the lead, with the exception of me. I'm bringing up the rear behind the civilians.

I stand at attention, my Ranger uniform snug around me, bush cap on my head with my horn rising up in front of it. If this wasn’t so terrifying I might actually think I looked cute with the bush cap on.

The LT and squad work at strapping each pony down, not so tight that they feel trapped, just enough that if bad weather hits, they are not thrown. Finally it’s my turn, and I look at Yiska as he works the straps.

“You know, you could just strap yourself in Twilight. That horn thing.” Yiska says as he gives the belts one last tug.

“I’m not sure I’m confident enough to use it like that, and the LT wants me to try and keep that a secret. Sort of an ace in the hole,” I know the LT is right about that, and the truth is, I wasn’t totally sure how I was doing it, so I didn’t know if it would fail or cut out on me.

“Good idea,” Yiska said as he sits down and straps himself in beside me.

“Thanks for the help, Rainbow.” I say without really thinking about it, then I notice his flinch. “That name bothers you doesn’t it?”

“No, yes, it’s not the name, it’s the idea of becoming…” he starts.

“Like me? A female?” I say looking up at him, “It isn’t as hard as you think, there was no pain, nothing disturbing about it, it happened while I slept. In some ways I don’t even notice it. I know I’m a mare, especially when I have to pee. But…”

“Haven’t found yourself finding stallions cute?” Yiska says offhandedly, looking at Blue Sky.

“I… that… it’s… ummm.” I stammer, starting to blush. I think back to the other day when I realized I thought a stallion was cute… “Umm, Don’t ask don’t tell.”

Yiska blinks, “Ok, ok… I just don’t know if I could deal with it, the whole idea of PMS and periods. Of getting pregnant, of having a male shove his… Twilight? Are you ok?”

Wow, I think I made it to Lighting Dust’s level of green this time. Yiskas whole line of though ripped any hope of just carrying on normally from me. Now I find myself panting, sick to my stomach, PMS. How does a horse deal with PMS?

“New topic please,” I say almost choking.

“You in a tail ribbon?” Yiska says tilting his head.

“Next.” I scowl at him for that idea.

“Spectrum?” Yiska asks.

“Next.” I shake my head, that’s a sore spot right now.

“Escape?” Yiska says, looking at the civilians.

“Escape, LT, have you got a plan for getting us out of this mess?” I ask as I turn to look at the LT.

“Naval Air Station will be our best bet. We won’t know till we see the security waiting for us there. With civilians I don’t want risk an armed conflict, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Our primary goal will be to get word to the United States Army Special Operations Command. Someone is violating the chain of command and issuing illegal orders. It has to be someone high in the Marine chain of command, but without help from USASOC, we are as good as fugitives going AWOL.”

“Once we get free, we can start looking into this on our own. One step at a time though." The LT says and looks at Yiska with a chuckle. “Ranger I’m putting you on report, your hair is too long.”

Yiska blinks and reaches up to grab a hand full of hair… “ah, dang it.”

“Well it hasn’t changed colors yet, just getting long.” I say, “So you don’t need to worry about it Rainbow.”

I blink looking over at the two other pegasi, “LT, check out the civilians.”

Almost right away he notices what I see, and becomes fascinated with it. Blue Sky and Strawberry Sunrise are both looking out the windows of the Osprey on the opposite sides. Their wings are spread slightly, flight feathers twitching as they slowly extended and retracted their wings in time with the rocking of the aircraft. Both their tails moving in unison as their bodies naturally adjust to even the slightest movements of the flight.

“Why?” The LT asks, not taking his eyes off them.

“They are flying, I don’t mean physically, but they are, in their minds. It’s something I used to do during my flight suit training. “ Yiska says quietly, “I used to do that all the time, they are changing their centers of gravity as their eyes and minds think they need to. It’s something I practiced till it was instinct for myself, if I got into a spin out or tumble in the air I could recover much faster than most others. Think of your Flight suit LT, and that’s what they are doing naturally.”

The LT looks at Yiska, a little confused, “I remember the flight suit training but not this.”

“I don’t know, it’s instinct, I look at them and I know what they are doing. “ Yiska says, shaking his head.

In response I reach up and lightly knock him on the side of his head with a forehoof, “Good morning, Rainbow Dash is a pegasus too, like them. “

“Ow, ok ok, point taken Twilight. I’m just not as far gone yet as them. “ Yiska rubs the side of his head.

“As far… gone?” I said, something about that really hurt.

“Not what I meant, sorry, I meant as far along in my change and in touch with the instinct.” Yiska says defensively, he was in trouble and he knew it.

“I don’t know,” The LT steps in. “Maybe you already were, as you pointed out, you were better in a flight suit than any other… human. It could have been some of the pegasus nature showing before you even changed. That IS however if you’re right about seeing the eyes as a child.”

“Make sure you are all strapped in back there, we are arriving at NAS Corpus Christi, please return your seats to the, full upright positions, stow any luggage or animals, and have a nice day.” The pilot yells back at us.

We come in STOL; that means we mostly land like a normal airplane rather than in a hover, and the Osprey taxies towards a smaller hanger building away from the main storage and repair buildings. Once there, the ramp is lowered, and we can see a few Marine guards waiting.

It takes a few moments to get all the ponies unstrapped. Once free though we stepped outside blinking, ugg bright light, bright light! It is already past lunch time, and the sun reflecting off the tarmac is just evil. Once inside the hanger though, we notice there has been no real preparation made, a few beds have been laid out, but there is no big decontamination setup or biocontainment.

“Dinner will be dropped off in about an hour, “ One of the guards says.

The door is shut and locked with a certain finality about it. LT is quick to motion over the civilian ponies and he kneels down, “Ok, we are going to do everything we can to keep you safe. Something else is going on here beyond just your changes, so we are going to be going for a little trip, don’t worry we will not leave you behind. Hear me.”

All ponies nod, we fan out, checking out the different windows of the structure. They all have steel fence wire over them which wasn’t the best of signs, but it is a lot better than bars, fence wire means it was never intended to be a prison and wire was there to protect from hail and maybe vandals.

“3 trucks parked on right side, Civilian.” Henry calls out.

“I have one out back, Black SUV, civilian plates.” Eric chimed in.

“Left side is clear, no road on that side.” I call out.

“Driveway and road in the front, parking lot across the street with several cars and vans.” Jay chips in.

“Lots of short term options if we need a ride. “ The LT said, “Panel van would be best.”

“Are we really thinking this LT?” Jay asked.

Turning to Jay the LT took a deep breath, “We have no choice, they are handing us off to an independent contractor that is killing people. I’d rather not end up there if we can help it. I’d also rather not hurt anyone here that’s just doing their jobs.”

“Truck pulling up.” Jay calls out loudly, “Chows here.”

We all step back as the door opens and several trays of mess food are wheeled in, under the watch of the security. It looked like typical mess food, none of those grey and green pellets we had on the ship. They are nice enough to have both veggie and non-veggie meals ready for us though.

Sitting down to eat, I look over at Yiska and giggle “You’ve gone multi-colored. Check out your hair.”

“Double crud.” He said as he sees his reflection, his mane is starting to come in nicely now, there are even the rainbow stripes starting to show. “How am I supposed to walk around like this.”

“With pride, “Eric says. “With rainbow pride.”

That did it, everyone is now laughing, and it is just what we needed at this point, it is like all of the tension has broken for the moment, and we are able to eat easier. The humans had normal Saulsberry steak and mashed potatoes, while the ponies were given baked potatoes, salad, and some extra carrots and celery stalks.

“Ok, they only have 2 guards out front,” The LT says, “I think they expect us to just follow orders, so we have a little element of surprise here. If we can get a little bit of a disturbance to draw the guards in, we should be able to take them without them firing a shot, or hurting them.”

I look around then look at the rear and side access doors “LT, if say Mia, were to kick the rear door a few times, they would likely come in, 7 rangers verses 2 marines, we can have control in a matter of moments.”

“6 of us, I want you back with the civilians Walter.” The LT says.

“LT, I can still fight.” I start to protest, then I see that look in his eyes.

“I’m counting on it, but I need them to see you back there.” The LT said, and all of a sudden I felt like I was the bait.

“Problem is, where to go.” Eric says with a huff. “I’ve got family in Missouri, I can hang low there, but I don’t know about the ponies.”

“Gallup.” Yiska says with a chuckle.

“Excuse me?” I say, feeling a touch annoyed.

“The Gallup, or White Horse Lake, I grew up there. It’s wide open lands but on a reservation, meaning FBI and such doesn’t go there. We could hold up at my grandfather’s place for a few days and finally get a chance to do some research into this on our own.”

“And your grandfather wouldn’t mind ponies?” The LT asks.

“Knowing grandfather he’d think we were the reincarnation of some pony spirits or something given human form. ” Yiska says. “It’s a Native American thing.”

Nodding once, we move into our positions, Mia, Amber Waves, takes her place at the rear door, and we look to the LT, waiting for his signal. When the team is ready he nods.

“Ok Amber, just a couple of kicks should do it, don’t hurt yourself, just make it loud enough to get their attention. It’s a steel door so it should make a good amount of noise when you kick it.” I say, looking at the heavy door. I know it would take a battering ram to get though it so this is just for the noise factor.

Amber Waves is an earth pony, crystal yes, but still an earth pony. If I had known, had any of us really known the power locked away in the legs of an earth pony, we might have considered having someone else kick the door. Anyone else, even one of the Pegasus… The resulting crash was more like an explosion, steel bending and tearing, the brick work and mortar around the lock and hinges instantly blowing apart. The door sails out the back of the building, bouncing several times before coming to rest in the field at the other end of the parking area.

The plan worked as far as the guards are concerned, they rush in to see what is going on, and are quickly disarmed. The LT handcuffs them to one of the beds, but Henry is just looking at the devastation to the rear door. With 1 mule kick Amber has done more damage than 4 men with a battering ram. It was the LT’s voice that broke us out of our daze.

“RANGERS MOVE IT!” He calls and we all make a break out the front. Yes, sound carries, but a single blast like that on an airbase was not a major attention getter, unless you are expecting trouble. It could have been mistaken for any number of things, so while destructive, it didn’t ruin our plans. The LT chooses a white panel van.

Yiska is able to put some of his shop classes to work, with Eric’s help, and they get the van running, hotwiring isn’t as easy as people say, apparently. And we are driving before any patrols are following us.

The airbase gates luckily are open, no alarms had been sounded, no one was on the lookout for anything, so a van driving off base with two uniformed soldiers in the front doesn’t even phase the gate guards. The back of the van though, it is a little crowded, with five ponies and four humans back here, we don’t have a lot of breathing room.

It is going to be a 12 hour drive, though we do plan on ditching the van before we got there. Don’t want to take the chance it is Lowjacked or has an APB out on it. For now though we simply want some distance.

I found myself looking at Yiska eyes, which had him in turn looking at me confused. “Yiska, your eye colors changed. I like it, it actually suits you.”

Yiska blinks and leans over to look at it in the rear view mirror, “Gold? I have gold eyes? That’s new.”

“They suit you with that hair.” I chuckle, but he is now fussing with it, trying to get it spiky I think.

The LT looks back and pushes Yiska to sit down again “Ok pretty boy, we have time for that later.”

“Grab my wallet, time to pool resources, how much cash do I have.” The LT says, tossing his wallet back, “everyone else check yours. Cash only, no credit cards or debit cards from this point in.”

Between all of us Rangers, we scrape together about 900 bucks, we knew the civilians had nothing but their fur and the clothing they were given. Pulling us over near an old used car dealership on the outskirts, he heads in, I really hate to think what he’d get for 900 bucks.

We were all kind of surprised when he comes back with a 20 year old Ford extended wagon. Probably had close to 300k miles on it, but, as long as it gets us 800 more miles, we are fine. Moving the vehicles side by side, the ponies are able to get in without being seen, then the LT Left the van in the a parking lot and hop in. With that, we are on the road again.

Eric, Jay and the LT take turns driving, swapping out every few hours so no one gets too tired, even when it gets dark we continue driving, and we make sure to keep to the speed limit. We don’t want to risk getting pulled over for a minor traffic violation.

Yiska lets out a loud “ACK,” and we all look over at him, he is holding his tail in his hand giving it a gentle tug. “Darn thing hurts when you sit on it.”

“Yiska, you have your ears!” I chirp in with a giggle.

Grumping, he lowers his head. “I know you went through this, all of you did, but I can still grump about it. “

Henry just can’t resist this time “Hormones.”

“And tomorrow morning I’ll be a mare… “ He sighs.

“Don’t worry about it, don’t dwell on it, I don’t know, so far it’s been kind of fun. I just feel free, right now.” I say, hoping to help him out.

The office in the pentagon is fairly dark right now, the blinds are down and drawn, as Admiral Volker relaxes in his chair. His office is typically decorated, in the traditional browns, and dark blues. The US flag and Marine flag are hanging beside the door.

A box of cigars sits beside a picture of his wife and daughter, but his daughter's face is was partly obscured by his pen holder. Looking at his computer, he watches as pictures flash by, a pre-mortem autopsy being done on a Pegasus. Apparently he was some sort of “military reserve” Pegasus, what was the term they used, in the show, a Wonderbolt? Whatever the case, Spectrum files suggested he would be a good candidate for examination.

“Admiral, Anthony Phillips with Spectrum is on line 3.” His secretary calls in.

Picking up the phone he places his hand on his bible tapping it gently “Yes Dr Phillips?”

"The 5 ponies and 6 rangers we were supposed to pick up were not there. Apparently they escaped the base. I thought you said they would follow orders.”

“It’s merely an inconvenience. We will track them down soon enough, they are AWOL after all. In the meantime, I will arrange another batch for you, you will have the assets you need. Is there any news on Tina?” The admiral asks with little emotion in his voice.

“Her condition remains… unchanged.”

“Do what you can for her. I would rather not see her like that, if need be I’d rather just remember the way she was. Before she became that thing.”

A sigh on the other side of the connection, “Understood.”

Hanging up the phone he leans back in his chair, opening the bible he reads quietly… “And God created man in his own image, and gave him dominion over the animals that walked on the land, flew in the air, and swam in the sea."

The sun is rising by the time we pull into the Canoncito Indian Reservation, it is dusty, it is dreary, it wis hot, to Yiska, it is home. I really don’t know if I wanted to wake Yiska, I knew today was going to be hard for him, but we need directions. With an evil giggle I lean over and give his ear a soft nip.

Yiska almost jumps three feet from a sleeping position and is quickly brushing both his ears with his hands, panting hard. Then he looks at me “Quit doing that, you know how it makes…”

“Huh? “ I say, confused and tilt my head, “What are you going on about I just… wait memory?”

Yiska sort of nods , “I was dreaming, I can’t remember what about though. I just… remember you chewing on my ear for some reason.”

“I chewed on your ear to wake you up… or was it in the dream I was doing it?” I ask. This could get more weird, but I hope it doesn’t.

Yiska shakes his head “Nope, no idea.” Looking outside at the sunrise he quickly eeps and puts a hand between his legs.

“Oye.” I brace for his reaction, I know the shock, the feeling of losing….

“YAHOO!!! I’m still male!!!” Yiska cheers.

“Oh come on, that’s just not fair, you should be a girl by now, rainbow dash was listed as a female, and I know you are Rainbow.” I huff and stomp a hoof.

The LT yawns “keep it down back there, don’t make me turn this truck around. I will you know.”

“Yes Daddy,” I say, still pouting.

“Ok that’s adorable, you have this cute little duck face pout with your lower lip sticking out.” Eric says with a chuckle.

Blushing, I just hide my face under my hooves. Why me? Why did I have to be the only one to go through this. The universe is just so unfair.

We park and for the first time, we all get to be out in the open again… all of us pile out of the truck at once, breathing, stretching out legs, wings, necks, arms, whatever, you got it, it needed stretching, it is stretched.

Yiska shakes himself out head and tail, cute blue ears flopping a bit as he does, before he goes in to talk to his grandfather about us. I'm not sure if he is happy, worried, or scared about this meeting but it is the only real chance we have.

“Grandfather?” Yiska calls out, “Grandfather I need your help.”

I sit on my haunches at the doorway, watching, my ear quickly locates the movement from one of the back rooms. I finally get my first look at Yiska’s grandfather. A slightly overweight man, somewhere between 60 and 1000 years old, walks in using a long piece of carved wood as a cane, scruffy white hair, yellow teeth, spots all over his face and chest. The fact that he was just wearing jeans and no shirt didn’t help the mater in my opinion.

Grandfather speaks calmly, paying no attention to me. His voice is soothing, yet, I have no idea what he is saying, my guess is he chose to speak in Navajo. “Problem with the spirits, lost child?”

“Lost child, grandfather it’s me, Yiska.” There is worry in his voice that he isn’t going to be recognized.

“I know, yet you are still lost, child. You have come through the long night, and are trying to find your way.” He says, settling down.

Yiska shakes his head, “Grandfather, this is serious. My friends and I are in trouble, we had to go AWOL. Do you know what that means?”

“It means the white man cannot see or accept what is right in front of his face. That he is will fight against the spirits, or try and control them as he always does. And now you are caught up in this fight.”

Grandfather looks in my direction then back at Yiska. “Some will choose to live with the spirits, accept what they are, what they become, others will fight against the spirits.”

“Grandfather, this is serious, we need a place to stay for a few days, to hide out, there are people whose lives are danger. Like my friend here.” Yiska said motioning to me.

“I do not see person there, I see a lost spirit, seeking to find her way. Like the spirit in you, it stands in this world, unsure, unable to get back to the spirit world. You need to rest, you need time in the medicine hut. To be cleansed of the corruption of the white man.” Grandfather nods to me, for the first time speaking English. “You are welcome to find yourself, lost one.”

The house itself was 2 stories, hand crafted, with old wooden tables and chairs, an actual cast iron stove, it seemed so out of place in the 21st century, heck it seemed out of place in the 20th century. The walls were adorned with all sorts of different spiritual items, almost none of them I could recognize but something about it made my horn tingle.

Grandfather stands, taking a pipe off the wall, and loads it with herbs while he spoke in Navajo again, “Your friends can stay, sleep up stairs, basement, or trailer, though I would recommend sleeping outside a few nights.” Lighting the pipe he offered it to Yiska, “The spirits of the night, need not always be feared.”

“Grandfather a pipe, really?” Yiska shakes his head.

Grandfather pushes it into his hands. “This is my house still, I expect you to honor it.” Yiska takes a puff before returning the pipe and Grandfather nods. Next, Grandfather walks over to me, I'm still not understanding anything really that’s been said. Even the few words spoken in English, I looked to Yiska for help.

Grandfather kneels down in front of me, taking a puff from his pipe then he blows it in my face, into my nose. I cough a few times, turning my head away and looking down, “Second hand smoke is a killer.” I say.

I look up though, and see my horn glowing for some reason. The horn shine is lighting my face and playing with the smoke.

Grandfather smiles, patting my head as he stands, clearing the pipe into the old stove, but not saying anything. Yiska looked at me slightly confused, “Are you ok?” he asks.

I shake my head to clear the smoke, my horn shine fading, and then nod, “I’m fine. That was just strange.”

“Yiska, your room is unchanged, even your computer is there. If you find you need it.” With that Grandfather got up and moves to sit in his rocking chair, in front of an old CRT TV, the idea that anyone actually had those, he needed a digital converter box, but I remember almost a decade ago the government was giving them away.

Coughing once again, I stand up and look at Yiska, we end up heading outside. “LT, it's safe, we are allowed to stay,” Yiska says, “Just expect to either get offered a smoke pipe or have smoke blown in your face. Grandfather has his traditions.”

Strawberry Sunrise was outside of the truck again, facing the sunrise, with her eyes closed. Her forelegs prancing a bit like she did a few days ago during our run in Nicaragua. I look at Yiska and he nods back as we walk over to her, “Angelina, its safe here, why not give it a try.” I say.

Looking back at me she let out a giggle, and looks up into the sky, spreading her wings wide, again I can sense the energy building in her wings, with a few pumps of her wings she leaps, her wings flapping, almost doing a summersault in the air to land on her back, sliding a few feet.

I cringe but Yiska moves up to her, helping her back on her hooves, he then gently he adjusts her wings and tail, “Your center of gravity is important, especially during takeoff, if you shift it to far forward you’ll flip.”

Blue Sky comes over to watch as well, looking at his wings, then watches as Angelina tries again, this time she makes sort of a long jump, before landing about 10 feet away. Giggling loudly, she turns and does it again landing back and skidding up to us.

“Good, see you can do it.” Yiska says as he gives her wings a little bit of a cleaning, fluffing out some of her feathers before backing up, "One more time, this time a little bit of altitude.”

Looking over I watch as grandfather leaves the house and starts driving down the road in an old pickup truck, somewhere from the 1980’s old, a serious antique. I shake my head and look back to the flight training.

Turning to the sun again she starts pumping her wings and jumps into the air, flying in a slow circle her mane and tail dancing in the breeze, her form silhouetted by the early morning sun. After a few circles she comes in for a landing and hits the ground skidding, but it didn’t seem to bother her, she lay there laughing.

Running, and trotting up to her she looks up at me, “Now I know why I’m Strawberry Sunrise, that was the greatest thing ever.”

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“My heart is pounding, my wings are on fire, I feel like I just ate a pound of dirt… I feel wonderful, flying in the morning like that feels like the greatest thing ever.” She says with a smile that just wouldn’t leave her face.

Yiska helps her up “Ok best rest now, you can try again when you’re a little more relaxed. I don’t know how much strain flying puts on your wings so best not overdo it right away. Short bursts.”

“Oh look who’s turning into the flight instructor here.” I say to Yiska with a smile.

“Oh hush you, Twilight, I’m probably going to be eating as much dirt, or more, than the next pony when I try and fly.” Yiska says with a laugh.

It wasn’t long before both Blue Sky and Strawberry Sunrise are taking turns in the air, one would fly for one or two minutes then land for a break, then the next would take to the air for one or two minutes. Each watching the other, learning from the mistakes. I helped as best I could by cleaning them off after their crashes and Henry kept checking them over for injuries.

“Pegasi seem to be able to take light crashes, I know a few landing like that would have me bruised and probably sprain something.” Henry says. “Either that, or they heal really fast from them, they would have to, I guess.”

Grandfather’s pickup drives back up, it was already mid morning, time is going by quickly. Apparently with the joy the pegasi are feeling is spreading to all of us. It seemed that the feelings were more infectious than anything else. Even the earth ponies are having fun now, having little races with each other just to stretch their legs out.

Grandfather calls out in English “I have food, Shima had some deer stew and day old bread. It is warm, good for you. For the spirit folk, I have some grain cereal, it will give you the energy you need for all the running you are doing.”

We all gather at the back of the truck as he slowly dishes out bowl after bowl of stew for the humans, then giving each of the ponies a large bowl of mixed grains and grey chunk pellets. They look much like the cubes we had been given on the ship.

Yiska grabs a bowl of stew and almost get hit with the ladle by his grandfather, “That is not for you, your spirit will not accept that Yiska.” He said.

“Grandfather, its deer stew.”

But Grandfather shakes his head, “For now you need herbs, grasses, grain, your body needs to accept the spirit, and for that it needs the right food.”

“Yiska, remember me after the beef, how green I went.” I said.

Huffing and scuffing his hoof, Yiska sits down with the grains and starts eating. “Actually, this tastes great.”

“I know, it doesn’t look like much but it tastes wonderful. What is it?” I asked looking up at Grandfather.

“Alfalfa cubes, and pellets, the cubes are big in fiber and help you digest, the pellet are very high in energy, to give you the calories your bodies need,” Grandfather says with a nod.

All of us looked down at the bowls, horse feed? Well it tasted great.