We got set up in the entrance of the castle for the first night, we gathered some wood to make a fire to last the night. I drew first watch, I was sitting down looking towards the outside of the castle, gun in hand. I stood up and took a stroll around the room to stay awake when I heard a noise from the throne room.
I peeked over a piece of rubble we put in the doorway to anything out. I could see a shadow moving around, occasionally a green light would appear. I leveled my gun and took aim, trying to keep an eye on it. The shadow entered the light and watched as the timberwolf walked around. I've only seen them once, but this one looked disfigured. It had sometime of fungi on it back and sides and was moving in an erratic pattern.
"Is it rabid?" I quietly said aloud. That wouldn't make sense, it's a pile of wood, but it clearly has something wrong with it. I leveled my gun with the wolf's chest and started shooting. I barely noticed the little burst of fire as each bullet left the barrel. The wolf began running around but only lasted a few seconds before collapsing to the ground. I turned around to see everyone awake.
"What was that for?" Michael asked
"Timberwolf in the throne room. It's back was covered in some fungus and acting odd. Anyone know what's up with that?" I received silence. I made a mental note to shoot any more like that one on sight.
"Alright. Just go back to sleep."
***
It was nearing 4 a.m. and the end of my watch. I couldn't help draw parallels to here and Afghanistan, excpet for the fact that I don't have to worry about being shot on night watch.
I roused Michael for him to take over watch. He rolled and looked at me, letting out a quiet grunt.
"My turn?" He asked
"Yep"
***
Michael POV
I stood up and popped my back. A stone floor isn't a comfy place to rest.
"Gute Nacht" I said
"No, I don't know where the Jews are." He said, I rolled my eyes at the Nazi joke. I remember reading something that most of the U.S. military liked Trump.
"I'll tell you where the Muslims are." I said
"Jokes on you, that's the one of the few things I don't support him on."
"Damn." I said, I sat down looking at the fire, listening for anything to appear. The nice thing about being in the Lutwaffe was essentially sitting around for missions, which is also where the jokes from. There was always someone from NATO watching or going on patrol. We would usually get a call and be sent out, us or any of the dozen countries with planes sitting around.
I sat there, thinking on how to work on my project and what I need for it. I was visualizing it all on the ground, building a small 3-D model on my mind with my imagination. I would need need a large amount of wood, some sort of fabric and an engine or two. Probably two. Then I would have to put it all together and hope for the best.
I sat there for an hour working on my plan. I would probably get some sort of rough feeling cloth, something that potato sacks are made of and wood from a local lumber yard. The engines would obviously be tricky to find.
I looked out a broke part of the castle and at the night sky. I've always loved space, the thought of something else out there was always fascination when I was a kid. Although everyone excepting something from Independence Day and not ponies on two legs and speak English. I was actually thinking about trying to join the European Space Agency at some point.
I watched the sun rise front doors of the castle, considering this place is over a thousand years old, it's in good condition. I've seen castles in worse condition than this one and those are only a few centuries old. They also have seen a good amount of fighting. With the sun up, I woke up Big Mac and he took over until most of us woke up.
***
Dan POV
Six days and seven nights. That's how long we were in that castle. It wasn't all bad, on the third day several guys showed up talking about their hiding spot was found. We had a few more mouths to feed but nothing we couldn't sneak into town if worse came to worse. Michael and I did a little fishing and caught a few. I don't fish enough to tell what they were, even if they did have a counterpart on Earth and was the first time we had meat in a week.
The fourth and fifth day a storm rolled in and parked over us. By then we were out of the main room and in bedrooms further in the castle. We did some exploring and found some cool stuff. Some more pieces of art and some armor and weapons scattered throughout. It didn't take long for us to put some armor on and begin fighting. It's kinda like being a kid with foam swords, but these were made of metal and actually would take an arm off.
What's the worse than would've happen?
It was the morning of the seventh day, we packed up and prepared to leave. I personally kept a knife and tucked it away. It was a nice dagger, made of steel and reminded me a Bowie Knife, a nice long blade with a handle made of maple. We didn't take any art on account we didn't have much room for thirty foot long banners.
The drive back was equally uneventful, although some timberwolves showed up and wanted to challenge us. We drove them over and kept rolling.
In the world of rock, paper, scissors; metal beats wood.
We arrived back at Sweet Apple Farms or whatever the name was, I've only heard it once. Michael and I parked the tanks on the farm and all of us started to walk back. Everyone else slowly broke off from the group.
Michael and I arrived at the castle and walked in.
"We're back." Michael called out.
"We're in the dining hall!" Spike called out.
"We're just gonna drop our stuff off." I said. I dumped my clothes on the bed and my gun and spare magazines on the desk. I should probably clean my gun at some point. I walked back out and bumped into the Russian.
He was Michael's height, hazel eyes and bleached hair. He looked at me for a second and hugged me blabbering in Russian. I stared at him for a few moments before I hugged him back. I'm used to giving hugs to people, usually those oppressed by the Taliban.
"They said there were more, but I not trust them." He said in half-broken English.
"What's your name?" I asked
"David." He said, pronouncing it 'Die-vid'.
"Do you know what's going on downstairs?"
"No. I not speak English well. I knew a little from music and movie." He said "I know tall ponies are here." I assumed he meant the princesses. Michael walked out and noticed us. He looked at me and mouthed 'English', I gave him a thumbs down. I patted David on the back to let him know to let go. He turned and saw Michael and did the same.
"I'll be downstairs when you guys finish up." I said. I walked back downstairs to the dining hall to find Spike, Twilight and the princesses.
"Why do I feel like I missed something?" I said looking at them.
"You didn't. Rather you are in time." Princess Celestia said. I was tempted to say the last time I was on time was when I received shrapnel in my back. "Next week the Royal Navy is christening their latest ship. The H.M.S Magic, a Harmony class battleship."
I couldn't help but notice she already gave the ship the prefix they use. The U.S Navy generally refer to the ship just the name. Like the Gerald R. Ford carrier.
I turned towards Twilight, "It must be nice to have a ship name after you. Sorta."
"It's kinda weird to be honest." She said, blushing a little.
"I also kinda wanted to go to one. I guess I'm going to have to sneak in."
"We'll just increase the security around the celebration." Twilight shot back "I'm a princess, I can do that. Right?" She said looking at Princess Celestia.
"You could throw a parade if you wanted to, altough a reason helps ease taxpayers."