//------------------------------//
// Crule joke 
// Story: Where am I? 
// by zombiesurvivor123 
//------------------------------//



Rawlings running began to slow as he headed farther into the Ever Free forest. The cool fall air blew past him, stirring  up a leaves that were strewn across the ground. Calls of birds sounded from the lower branches of the pine trees. He observed the surrounding plant life, and noticed a pretty blue flower. He bent down and picked the flower from the earth	.


“My girl would love flowers like you”, he said. 



Tossing the flower aside, he continued down the old, beaten path, not having a clue as to where he was going. A few minutes into the walk, he began to feel a slight pain in his head. At first it was small, barley noticeable, but it's intensity grew, and he began to feel both lightheaded and nauseous. His mind began to slip away, and the world went dark.


Rawlings woke up in the air field. His sense of relief was short lived though. The hangers and barracks were on fire, a dogfight was going on about two thousand feet above the air field, and his side was losing. His friend, Ar Marshal Pyle, ran out into the open. 


“Rawlings, what the hell are you doing down here? We need as many men as we can to fight off the bloody Krauts. Get up there”, he ordered. 


Just then, the Black Eagle swooped down in his jet black Tri-plane and shot at both of them. Rawlings dived to cover, but Pyle wasn't as fortunate. One of the IMG O8 Machine gun rounds flew through his throat. Blood shot out as both major blood vessels were severed. He squirmed on the ground, suffocating on his own blood for a brief moment before the life left his body. Rawlings stared in both shock and disbelief. No true pilot ever shot a soldier on the ground. He glared upward, and saw the Black Eagle flying in circle formation with three other pilots. In between the three Tri-planes was a German bomber. 


“Those bastards”, he shouted.


Running over to his plane, he saw a single soldier cowering in a nearby tent.


“Hey come help me fire up the engine”, he shouted at the soldier, motioning for him to hurry over. The soldier stayed put, in to much fear of what was going on around them. 


“That's an order soldier!”, he commanded, even though he was in no position to give out orders.



The soldier obeyed this time and ran over to Rawlings' plane. Rawlings briefly instructed him on what to do when he gave the signal. There soldier nodded, keeping an eye on the dogfight above them. Rawlings ran over to the cockpit, climbed in, and gave the signal. 


“Contact!”, he yelled as the soldier gave one big tug on the propped. The engine roared to life, a puff of smoke being emitted.


The soldier ran back to cover as Rawlings taxied his plane out onto the runway, upped the throttle, and took to the air. Within three minutes, he had joined the dogfight. Sighting in his first target, he aimed just ahead of the Jerry and opened fire. The .303 caliber rounds quickly took down the plane. Two Tri-planes quickly got on his tail and opened fire. Bullets whizzed around Rawlings' aircraft. Several hit his wings, filling them with holes. One of the Jerrys got a lucky shpt, causing the engine of Rawlings' aircraft. The engine thankfully didn't catch on fire, but the propeller to stop.

“Dammit”, screamed Rawlings as his plane began to lose altitude.


As he fought for control, the ground grew closer. He desperately tried to pull up, but the stick wasn't responding. Within a few seconds before his collision with the ground, he thought of the last time he would ever see his girlfriend. He collided with the ground , and the world went dark.


Rawlings opened his eyes. What he saw wasn't hell, like he had expected, but appeared to be what looked like a per-war cottage, Only, smaller. He glanced around the room, but even the smallest movement caused him to get a killer migraine. A pegasus pony, yellow with a pink mane, walked up to him slowly. 


“ Um, mister, are you awake?”, she asked. 


'So it was a nightmare', thought Rawlings as he took in a deep breath.


“Yeah, I'm awake”, he responded. His response caused her to jump back in fright. She slowly stepped forward.


“Um, your hoof was pretty infected, so I cleaned it out. I mean, if that's OK”, she said quietly.


“Thanks. By the way, this isn't a hoof, its a hand”, he said while holding up his right hand, flexing the fingers. “Much more useful.”


“Anyway”, he continued. “I'm Rawlings. What's your name?”


Um, I'm Fluttershy”, she said VERY quietly.


“Well, Fluttershy, thanks for every thing, he said, standing up. This however, turned out to be a huge mistake. He fell to his knees immediately. 

“Oh no, you need to rest before you go”, she said nudging him back to the wool mat he had been lying on. “Fine”, he said, laying back down. She left the house to go feed the chickens. As he closed his eyes, Rawlings felt a sense of peace. Maybe this place isn't so bad after all.