Later in evening Luna decided to raise the moon from the libraries balcony, she requested that I accompanied her once she found out about my views regarding the raising of the sun and moon. The sight was fairly remarkable in all honesty, I don't know if I fully believe that the two sisters control the sun and moon but they at least make a show of it. I explained to the Lunar Princess about the planet orbiting the sun back home with the moon itself orbiting the planet, she found the concept rather fascinating.

Once everyone was assembled in the foyer they decided to select an available bed, Luna positioned central to everyone. By the time I got downstairs everyone was in their selected beds, climbing into the last available bed I stayed sitting as I looked to the others. "So how exactly is this going to work?"

Luna smiled toward me, "All you need to do is simply fall asleep, John. I shall cast a spell which will allow me to interact with your subconscious mind, effectively letting me manipulate your dreams. I will be able to allow you to relive your memories as you dream. I shall also be able to allow the others to view the memories as I do, letting them see the events through your eyes and to have a feel of all your senses.

"All my senses?" Luna nods in response, "You do realise that you all may not like what you see. Which memories will you be looking at?"

Twilight speaks up, "Most of us want to learn about your world and the life style you lived in the army. We understand that there may be some events which we won't like, but we believe it will allow us to better understand you and why you act the way you do."

"As am I," Says Luna, "Though I will have to go through a number of memories to find the correct ones."

Nodding I lay back and pull the sheets fully over myself, "Let's just get this over with." Closing my eyes I try to fall to sleep. Over the next few minutes I can hear the occasional shuffling under covers, followed by a light snoring. Shortly afterwards sleep takes it hold as I feel a strange energy running through me.

The first thing that comes to my attention is the sound of laughter and conversation around me. When the vision returns I can see some sort of device similar to John's phone in his hand, only it is of a different design with some sort of written message being displayed. In his other hand he's holding onto a glass of cold, golden liquid which is only half full. The surroundings consisting of numerous benches underneath a gazebo with others sitting around, a cool breeze is blowing on the back of his neck confirming that I can feel any physical contact being made.

"Is she on her way, John?" Looking up he focuses on the source of the deep voice, an older looking human with a shaved head sat across from me, a red shirt with an emblem of three lions against a white shield. When I scan the outskirts of his vision there are a number of humans wearing the same shirt, some with a white variant of the top.

"Yeah, Mike she should be here ina few minutes," Bringing the glass to his lips I'm able to taste the drink, there's no mistaking what it is, a nice cold glass of cider. "She's already missed the first half of the match."

"Well, she ain't missed much, nil - nil." Mike reaches into his pocket and pulls out a packet, inside when he open it is a number of cigarettes. Holding forward the packet towards John he smiles, "Want one?"

John leans forward and takes one placing it in his mouth. Oh, for the love of Celestia please don't smoke it. I don't get such luck as John pulls out his trademark lighter and ignites the tip, inhaling the smoke it creates. The taste itself if absolutely disgusting, why he smokes them I will never know. John pulls it away from his mouth, "I'm quitting next week so I may as well have them while I can."

A more feminine voice from Johns side announced the presence of a female. "I don't see why we couldn't just watch the match back at one of ours." When John looks to her I'm finally able to see what a female human looks like. She has a slimmer figure that the men, two mounds are present on her chest hidden underneath her shirt. She has a long flowing blonde mane over the left side of her face, her blue eye being highlighted by some makeup on her eyelashes.

"Because, Beth the atmosphere is the only reason anyone comes to pubs and with the England match tonight it gets even better." A vibration against John's pocket draws his attention as he pulls out the same device, a new text message displayed on the screen. "Jess is here now anyways. Either of you two see her?"

A tapping on his shoulder causes him to turn around. Standing behind him is another female with long flowing black curled hair, emerald green eyes look down at him with admiration. John stands up and wraps her in a hug, they briefly press lips as they exchange a kiss with one another. Tastes like cherry lipstick. She sits down alongside him, her hand resting on his as she speaks to him, "Have you told them the good news?"

Beth takes immediate interest as she leans closer, "John hasn't told us a thing. Whats the good news?"

John just shrugs his shoulders as I feel a grin spread across his face, "I've been accepted to Sandhurst for the army, next month I will begin training as an officer cadet." The others all start to share their congratulations with him, his special somepony placing a kiss on his cheek.

This must have been when he joined the army, it's hard to imagine John doing anything else. As quick as this memory occurred though it soon fades into a flash of white.

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John is now located in a small room filled with a light fog, a figure stands in front of him wearing a dark green camouflage with the face covered with some kind of mask. John is currently doing some sort of exercise where he stands, doing jumps and running on the spot as he wears a similar mask against his own face.

"STOP!" The figure in front calls out, on command John immediately halts as he pants heavily, "REMOVE YOUR MASK!"

John reaches forward and rips the mask from his face. Immediately I can feel the burning sensation which hits his eyes and the back of his throat causing him to cough and sputter violently. Celestia! This burns! He attempts to stand straight as he looks to the figure, his eyes heavily watering from the mist. The man walk up to him and barks another order, "STATE YOUR RANK, NAME AND SERIAL NUMBER!"

John coughs again as he tries to speak as quick as he can, "Officer Cadet John Davies, Serial number 23971845!" I feel the gas burning his mouth as he speaks, the breathing becoming more taxing.

"DECONTAMINATE YOUR MASK AND REEQUIP IT!" Rapidly reaching for a pouch in his uniform John pulls out a container of white powder and pours it over the inside of his mask, rubbing it in as quickly as possible he lift the mask once again to his face and secures the straps before exhaling heavily. "Good, now get outside."

John quickly leaves the building and joins others sitting on the grass. Removing his mask he takes a few rapid breaths as he faces towards the wind. He mutters to nobody in particular, "Fucking tear gas... I hate that shit."

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The new memory begins as quick as the last one ended. John is marching in line with a number of other humans in the same uniform, a black outfit with red trim and a white belt around the waist. A sword is held in his right hand as the parade all march in uniform. Why does he have a sword? He uses his rifle yet for some reason he has a sword instead. Upon hearing an order they all halt, stamping down their feet in unison. They all rotate to the side and stand motionless. In front is a large number of various humans in formal clothing watching the parade.

As time goes on a number of speakers address the audience and the soldiers directly. Before long they are issued a new order and present their swords, turning again on the spot they all march towards a white building and head up the stairs entering the building. They are all addressed once they're inside by another officer, his chest covered in a collection of medals. On the order to fall out John along with the other soldiers leave the building and return to the courtyard.

Once John breaks off from the rest the voice of Jess stands out from the rest. Shouting his name she runs up to him with her arms held out wide, John speeds up as he makes his own way to her, once they close the distance he grasps her around her waist and lifts her up, spinning her around before he lowers her down again.

"So what do you think?" John steps back brushing his hand against the uniform, "You are now the proud girlfriend of REME's newest Second Lieutenant." Jess just smiles to him, stepping closer she presses a kiss against his lips. Cherry taste again, she sure does love that lipstick.

"I am so proud of you, John. You're going to become a big war hero now, aren't you?" She pulls a sly grin as she pulls her own phone from a bag she has over her arm. "Come here, we need a photo," John immediately wraps his arms around her pulling her into a hug, holding the device up it shows both of them on the glass.

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An overwhelming noise can be heard overhead, John is sitting against a seat wearing his full armour with his rifle, his focus looking down to the floor allowing me to see a different camouflage than the one he currently wears. When he scans the room I can see it's made mostly of metal, various other soldiers sit on either side as the noise deafens me.

Shortly after a light starts to appear at the end with the sound of machinery overlapping the regular whooshing, it seems to be a mechanised door at the end of the room falling to the floor. All the soldier pick up a bag set near them and walk out, once John looks back I can see a large metal carriage with a pair of metal blades on two positions on the roof. As he steps away the blades begin to move at a faster rate causing the carriage to move up into the air and move away. That thing can fly? How is that physically possible?

John is tapped on his back, a voice speaking over the sound of the blades, "John, let's head inside, mate. We've got six months to enjoy our new home." John turns to face the voice, a pale male with ruffled blonde mane and light blue eyes, "Afghanistan in all its lovely glory. We should have known once you became an ATO that we'd get sent here."

John starts to walk past him towards a set of metal gates which act as an entrance to a dirt coloured compound, "Yeah, well at least I am here with my beloved asshole and my perverted sex pest for best friends. You can't blame me when you also transferred from REME to the same regiment."

"Hey, you love me really!" Another deeper voice calls out. This male lacks a mane and has a set of chocolate coloured eyes, a metal rectangular contraption fixed on a backpack which is attached to him.

"Yeah," John calls out as he walks towards the gate, "Whatever would I do without my beloved Stanley and Williams by my side." This must be when he first got deployed to combat.

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"Alright everyone, pay attention!" Everyone is sat underneath a gazebo looking toward a wooden board filled with photos and various pieces of information, an officer in front of the board looking towards everyone. "At twenty-two hundred hours tonight we will be attacking a compound, hopefully, we shall catch Terry Taliban with his pants down. The target is an IED factory, being used to construct then place IED's along supply routes. We will enter under radio silence where our ATO Second Lieutenant Davies will blow open the gate."

John just gives a shake of his head, his friend Williams patting him on the shoulder from alongside him. The officer continues his briefing, "Once the gates are open we will make our way in and shoot any fucker who moves. Bravo and Charlie section will provide overwatch from the rear of the compound to ensure they don't bring along any friends or make a run for it. Nobody touches anything inside unless it has been cleared by the ATO, we don't need anyone losing an arm."

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It's now dark outside, John is positioned alongside a metal door with Williams and Stanley to his right. John has already fitted a number of tubing with wires on the hinges of the door, he is currently in the process of placing a larger one on the centre. With a wire connecting them all he begins to back peddle to a further wall with the wire being extended across the floor, both his squad mates are following with their rifles pointed towards the door and walls.

Once John is in position, he attaches the wire to what appears to be a small switch. Pausing he presses down on the switch which is immediately followed by a loud bang, dropping the switch he raises his rifle from his side and aims around the wall towards the door. The door itself has now been removed from its position, smoke pluming from where it once stood. Other soldier moves past him and enter the doorway, firing their rifles as they make their way inside.

John follows shortly after, heading down the left route with the initial soldiers going to the right. Proceeding down the narrow passage with his rifle raised a figure comes out a doorway pointing something towards him, within seconds I can feel Johns finger pulling on his rifle.

PHAT PHAT PHAT

The new target falls backwards, dropping what I now realise is another rifle. The noise John's rifle made was tremendous, I could feel it push back against his torso as it operated. When John steps over the body I can see the damage his weapon causes, blood is running from three circular wounds on his chest. That is what his rifle does? We can't allow the Griffin Militarists to get hold of these.

John continues down into a doorway which splits down to the right. He points to the right instructing his men to head down that route, opening the door John makes his way inside the room. Upon entering I feel a pain shoot through his head as something makes contact with his helmet. Rolling on his back another figure is attempting to swing down on him with a metal pipe. John rolls to the side and rapidly gets up, his rifle left behind on the floor. Sprinting forward he wraps his arms around the attacker's chest tackling him to the ground, landing on top John delivers a series of punches to the enemy's face, I can feel the pain shooting through his hand as he makes contact with the target.

Agony shoots across his face when he's struck again by the pipe, making contact with his cheek causing him to collapse to the side. The enemy climbs on top and tries striking down on John, acting on instinct he uses his arms to shield the blows causing torturous pain to shoot down his arms. I can feel Johns heart race as he fights for his life, his adrenaline rushing throughout his body as I can see the attacker look down upon him with the intent of killing him. John manages to buck his hips flicking the attacker over him. Rapidly John crawls over to his rifle and spins back to the enemy who is attempting to rise.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

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The night continued as we relieved John's memories, it must have been torture for him to relieve some of this pain. Many of these memories will plague my mind, watching his friend burning alive whilst he was powerless to help, learning that his special somepony was unfaithful to him when he was on his second deployment to conflict, attempting to treat his friend who was gravely injured only for him to die as John attempted to revive him, John having to attempt to disarm many devices which would just have likely killed him, and finally the day where his best friend may have died and John was dragged into our world.

How he has coped with all of this pain is beyond me. Through great pain and troubles, he has fought on doing his best to protect the soldiers under his command. I know Princess Luna wishes to deploy myself and Night Chaser under his command, and in all honesty, I don't think there is anypony I would rather serve under.