//------------------------------//
// An Ice Cage for a Princess 
// Story: Spike's Little Unsung War 
// by Penguifyer 
//------------------------------//

A harsh beeping noise tickled Spike’s ear. His mind lingered in a haze. Did he fall asleep again? He slowly opened his eyes, seeing a blinking digital alarm clock on a nightstand beside him.
Wait, digital? He jolted up in his bed and looked around. Around him was a simple room with nothing but a bunk bed, a desk, a single-seat couch, and a small dresser. Behind him was a large window with a pure white glow from outside. It looked somewhat familiar.
He brought a hand to his face. “Is this…” He looked down, seeing a pale and fleshy hand, a human hand. He jumped out of bed and ran to the door, gripping the jumpsuit hanging on a door hook. After a quick search, he found a patch.

Spike gasped at the sight of the patch. It was real, at least it felt real. Looking to the side, he saw another patch with the words “Blaze.” He wasn’t just a part of Wardog Squadron. He was Blaze, the legendary ace. His spine shivered with excitement. This couldn’t be real, a part of him believed it still wasn’t, but here he was in Blaze’s place.
He recollected his thoughts and went over what he could remember before waking up here. It was his birthday and Twilight gave him a glass of tea. Then something blinded him and he woke up here. The more he thought about it, the situation resembled that of the Power Ponies incident he had with Twilight’s friends. He swore he didn’t buy another enchanted comic though. Still, he wanted to make the most of the time he had.
He found a small mirror next to his dresser and got a look at himself. Green and purple highlights accented his darker hair and contrasted against his pale face. He didn’t know how to describe his complexion, but it looked strong and somewhat chiseled. He could get used to this.
A note on the mirror caught his eye reading “Briefing at 0600.” He glanced over at the clock, reading 5:50, and mumbled “shit.” Throwing his uniform on and quickly adjusting his hair, he dashed out the door and jogged down the hallway. Instinctually, as if he already knew where to go, he ran the steps to the main floor and found the briefing room.
Inside, he found two of his squadmates waiting for him. Chopper (or Lt. Davenport, as the higher-ups called him) reclined in his seat with hands behind his head and Grimm slouching over in his chair. His heart almost stopped seeing the two of them in person. Yet, something was missing.
“Where’s Edge?” Spike asked, looking around the room.
“I was about to ask you,” Chopper blurted aloud.
Spike looked at Grimm who just shrugged.
“Kinda strange considering her record. I guess everyone slips up from time to time,” Chopper continued.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll check real quick.” Spike dashed away and back up the stairs. As he bounced from room to room checking for Edge, some faint yet nonexistent memory brought him to a random room in the hallway. Betting on it, he knocked on the door.
“Spike?”
Shivers went down his spine. Was that Twilight’s voice?
The door opened, the head of a woman poking through. A woman with purple hair just like Twilight. “Spike?”
“Twilight?”
“Spike!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room before shutting it behind them. She turned around and relaxed, sliding down the door. “So, Spike?”
Spike stood there staring at her. Unlike her form in the human world, her skin was pale and her head significantly smaller. She was already in her jumpsuit, Spike catching a glimpse at the badge on it. “What?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Would you mind TELLING ME WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!” She shouted, causing Spike to stumble back. “Here I am stuck in another comic I haven’t read and all you can say is ‘what?!’”
“Your badge…”
“And now something about my badge that’s apparently so important that I…”
“You’re Edge.”
Twilight paused and stared at Spike. “I’m what now?”
Spike pointed to the bag on her chest. “You’re Wardog Two. You’re one of my wingmen.”
“How do you know that I’m…”
“Wardog Three and Four are waiting in the briefing room. I’m Wardog One, callsign Blaze. You’re Wardog Two, callsign Edge.”
She froze, surprised by his control of the situation. “Spike.”
Spike lifted his hands and gestured for her to calm down. “Listen to me, Twilight. The briefing for our next mission is in a few minutes. Follow me to the briefing room and don’t say a word. I’ll explain everything after. You’re Edge now.”
She hesitated and then nodded.
“You enchanted the comic?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Not right now.”
“Fine then,” He insisted, pointing at the door.
Spike led her through the halls, down the stairs, and to the briefing room. Although he couldn’t recall what any place looked like, he somehow knew where to go as if he had done it a hundred times. It both perplexed and bothered him a tad, making him wonder exactly how the enchantment affected him.
Spike opened the door two Chopper and Grimm exactly where he left them. He knew he was only gone for a couple of minutes, but even that surprised him.
“Spike, Twilight, you’re…”
The harsh voice stunned Spike for a second. He glanced over and saw Colonel Orson Perrault in all of his bitter and fat glory. And damn did he look uglier in the flesh.
Perrault glanced at the clock and gritted his teeth. Spike glanced at it after him. They were one minute early.
Chopper smiled. “Ha, even when she’s late she’s on time.”
“Cut your yapping. We’re about to get this briefing started.”
Twilight and Spike found two chairs behind a table as the Perrault dimmed the lights. A low hum emanated from a monitor on the wall as it booted up and displayed a map of the world. A voice played out of the speaker.
“Our ground offensive is continuing its fast-paced push into Yuktobanian soil. A POW internment camp was discovered during the offensive, and a team of marines has attacked and captured the camp.”
“POW?” Twilight whispered.
“Prisoner of war,” Spike whispered back into her ear.
The voice went on. “The marines have secured the camp´s radio room, and a flight of helicopters is en route to retrieve prisoners. Your mission is to provide close air support for this rescue and retrieval operation.”
Chopper smiled as Grimm relaxed in his seat. The mission didn’t seem so hard now. Spike wondered why they even needed Wardog squadron for this.
The screen shifted to a terrain view of the mission space with four triangles representing their squadron. “The radio room could be retaken by the enemy at any moment. If it is, the enemy will report the attack and the mission will end in failure. Find and shoot down all enemy aircraft in the local airspace, and secure air superiority across the entire area.”
Twilight winced upon hearing “shoot down.” Like it or not, war was not in her DNA. Spike couldn’t say it was in his, but this is just a fake world in a comic.
After an extra bit of briefing regarding their flight plan, Perault dismissed them and they headed out to the hangar. As they reached the door to the hanger, Twilight pulled Spike aside and glared at him. “You said you’d explain this?”
“Oh, yeah… give me a sec.” He paused. How should he explain this? “So, what exactly do you not get?”
“How about we start with WHY IS THERE A WAR GOING ON RIGHT NOW!!”
Spike shushed her, pointing to a couple of mechanics who stopped, stared at them for a sec, and moved on.
Twilight sighed, one of her eyes twitching. She shot back with a harsh whisper. “Answer the question if you mind.”
“Sorry, Twilight. Just trying not to make a scene. During a patrol, our squadron was attacked by some mysterious planes. Then Yuktobania declared war on us; the country across the ocean. One thing led to another and all of it escalated. Two carrier submarines were sunk, a giant spaceship was outfitted with a laser, a ground invasion, yadda yadda… you get the point.”
Twilight paused, dumbfounded. “Huh?”
“Just go with it, okay?”
“Fine, fine, nothing a little friendship lesson can’t fix.”
“Actually,” Spike trailed off.
“What now?”
“If this is just like the Power Ponies comic, we have to finish the story.”
Her face dropped. “Oh…” She stepped away and paced around in a circle. Her breathing stuttered on the brink of a panic attack. Another circle and she stopped. “Actually, there might be a way.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a little difficult since I’m in human form, but if I can tap into my magic, I might be able to alter or even undo the enchantment. At the least, it’d be nice to have my horn for any magic we might need.”
“But, Twilight…”
“What now?”
Spike nodded to the hanger. “We sortie now.”
“Sortie?”
“Deploy on our mission.”
Twilight froze.
Spike dashed inside. “Save it for later. We gotta go.”
Twilight reached out for him. “But, but…”
Spike grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
Inside, two F-14 Tomcats stood still covered by a dozen mechanics, each inspecting and adjusting the parts of the aircraft. While in the comic they looked cool, the sheer size of the planes shivers down Spike’s spine. Capable of outpacing Rainbow Dash in speed, delivering ordinance on the other end, and pulling over seven and a half g’s in a dogfight, the planes were a marvel to finally see in person. Something about a giant metal machine being able to fly felt wrong to Spike yet fascinated him at the same time.
“Um, how are we supposed to fly?”
Spike pointed at the planes. “With those.”
“But they’re too heavy and…”
Spike cut her off. “Not if you fly really, really fast.”


—	—	—


“Wardog One, callsign Blaze, you are cleared for takeoff.”
Those words rang like music to Spike’s ears. “Roger Sand Island, Blaze taking off.” He gripped the control stick and gradually added thrust to the throttle. The dual jet engines spun up to power, their whining adding texture to the music. He released the gear break and the plane jolted forward, pushing him into his seat. After pages of checklists, this moment felt like heaven.
The airspeed indicator rose steadily. Wind rushed past the cockpit as the afterburners blasted out the back. The wings bent slightly as the plane lifted off the ground and ascended into the sky. The power of the machine gave it a sense of dominance over the sky. And with the sealed cockpit, there was no wind to obscure the buildings and trees flying by.
“Altitude restrictions lifted, Blaze. Continue with your sortie. Good luck out there.”
“Roger, Sand Island. I’ll make sure to come back.”
“You better,” the ATC snarked back at him.
Spike tilted the aircraft, initiating a turn. His body pressed into the seat, the power of the plane outdoing any force he experienced in Equestria. “Hey, Twi… Edge. How are you holding up?”
Twilight’s plane taxied onto the runway. “You left out the part about the checklists.”
Spike didn’t know about them either and he’d admit they were annoying. Still, somehow they didn’t bother him. He plowed through them as if he did them a hundred times. “Can’t say I knew either. I bet you took to them quickly.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Edge, you are cleared for takeoff,” the ATC interjected.
“Uh, copy, Edge taking off.”
The afterburners of Twilight’s plane revved up, blasting scorching hot air as the plane accelerated down the runway. Picking up speed, the plane tilted back and cut into the air.
“Spi… Blaze, can I ask you some…”
“Edge, let’s test the backup radio channel.”
“Uh, okay. Testing the backup radio channel.”
Spike reached down to his left and turned the frequency dial. “Hello?”
“I hear you…”
Spike rolled his eyes. “What now, Twilight?”
“How can I fly this thing? I’ve never even touched a plane before. This isn’t even an unintended stimulus. Like, I know that I improved the enchantment but this is completely…”
“Twilight?”
She paused. “Sorry, Spike.”
He sighed. “I get it. It’s kinda weird actually.”
“Actually…” another pause “…it might make sense.”
“Huh?”
“If you consider that it gave us magic powers before and that it’s even better at responding to unintended stimuli now, it’s not all that crazy. Moreover, if I can figure out what’s me and what’s the enchantment, I might be able to separate myself from it and even control it.”
Just the idea she might take another opportunity away from him yet again stung. “Twilight, we got a job to do. Those POWs are depending on us.”
“You know they’re not real.”
“Let me have my moment,” he murmured.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, you probably shouldn’t mess with the spell when you’re in an expensive jet flying near the speed of sound.”
“Actually, I only see two hundred knots at the moment.”
A glimpse of depression fell over him. He needed this one moment. “I’m switching back to the main channel.”
“Copy that.”
Spike readjusted the dial. “Sorry for the wait. Took a bit to check everything out.”
“Hey, it was getting a bit boring without the two of you,” Chopper snarked.
Spike smiled at the voice. Even for just a moment, he couldn’t miss this.


—	—	—


“This is Archer. Captain, can you see the POW camp?”
Spike looked out of his window. White, gray, and black filled the landscape with no recognizable structures in sight. “All I see are trees and snow.”
“I wouldn’t blame you,” Chopper shot back.
Grimm continued. “You think the Captain… uh… I mean… Captain Bartlett, you think he’s in there?”
Chopper responded. “I bet he is…”
“Who?” Twilight interjected.
Two seconds of awkward radio silence followed.
“You know, our former Captain before Blaze?” Chopper teased.
“Don’t you remember Bartlett?” Grimm’s voice echoed worry.
Spike jumped in, trying to steer the conversation away. “He’s probably giving the other pilots a hard time if you know what I mean.”
“I guess that is a limitation of the enchantment,” Twilight noted.
A new voice came over the radio. “Fighters, I can hear the roar of your engines approaching. Uh… this is Sea Goblin. Yeah, I thought if I joined the Marines I’d get to work on tropical beaches all of the time. We safely recovered the POWs, guess our copter is not here yet.”
“You’re gonna have to babysit them a little longer,” Chopper noted.
Even in the harsh blizzard, a couple of dark blips appeared on Spike’s radar. These were real enemies, at least as real as the enchantment could make it. “Bandits on radar. You’re gonna have to give us a bit.”
“Roger,” Sea Goblin affirmed. “You’re that squadron from Sand Island, right?”
“We are?” Twilight muttered.
“I’ve heard of you guys. Can’t wait to see you do your stuff.”
The radar blips drew near. Spike pushed the throttle forward, engaging the afterburners of the plane. Two black dots appeared within the gray backdrop. “Tally on the bandits. Edge, Chopper, Archer, move to engage.”
“Roger,” Chopper and Grimm responded simultaneously with Twilight awfully quiet.
As the dots passed above him, Spike pulled on the control stick, pulling the plane up and into a half loop. The g meter spiked as the force of the turn slammed Spike into his seat. A grunt escaped his mouth as unknown instincts kicked in. Once behind the bandits, Spike flipped the plane rightside up and listened to the Sidewinder growl. With a constant, shriek tone, he uncaged a missile seeker onto the bandit. A slight hesitation hit him as his finger laid on the trigger. He shoved it into the back of his mind. This was just an enchantment after all.
“Fox two!” Spike yelled, pulling the trigger and a missile at the dot in front of him. The enemy plane banked to the right and tried to turn, but the missile caught up and detonated quickly. After a bright flash and a slight thud, the plane trailed smoke and gradually descended. As Spike caught up to it, he looked to the side and eyed the smoking plane. The white of the blizzard obscured the cockpit making it impossible to see inside. Hopefully the pilot ejected already.
Spike shook his head and knocked his helmet. What did it matter? None of this was real anyway. Nopony would hold him accountable for anything that happened here. He might as well enjoy the moment while he can.
“Fox one,” Chopper called out, sending a missile flying past Spike and into the other bandit in front of him. Another bright flash and low thud and the bandit descended with the first. “Don't lose your focus in the snow, easy way to get shot.”
Chopper was right. Regardless of everything else around, Spike knew he was still real. It was too risky to learn if dying here would actually kill him. “Thanks, Chopper,” Spike nodded as Chopper broke off. “Keep it in mind too, Edge.”
“I uh… I understand.” Her plane sped up and flew past Spike.
A group of three bandits appeared behind him as a beep rang throughout his cockpit. “Nails on my six.”
“Behind you. I'll cover you,” Grimm called out.
The beep oscillated and sawed at Spike's ears. “Shit, spike.” The beep quickened as a light flickered on the radar warning receiver panel. “Missile!”
“Break, Blaze!” Grimm shouted.
Spike turned the plane to the right and pulled on the stick. The g meter shot up again as his body compressed and squeezed into the seat. The plane shook as the wind and snow battered the wings. Out of the corner of his eye, Spike saw the missile shoot past him and wander into the blizzard. A bright flash beside him, a thud, and a bandit, now hostile, descended from the sky.
“Splash on the bandit that went after Blaze.”
Spike sighed in relief. “Thanks, it's great having friends like you guys.”
“Don’t stroke his ego too hard,” Chopper teased, causing Spike to chuckle.
Another voice cut through the radio. “This is Sea Goblin, does it seem like the enemy craft have noticed our infiltration?”
“Welp, the patrol aircraft do at least. Hopefully the word hasn’t spread through the blizzard yet,” Spike noted.
“We’ve cut off their communications here. It’s just unsettling…”
Twilight cut him off. “Stay low and be ready to go when your ride arrives. We won’t have time to wait.”
“Ha, roger that. Once the taxi arrives, we’ll ditch in no time.”
“You know what, Spike?” She continued.
Spike paused for a second, unsure what that meant. “Uh, what?”
“You’re gonna need me, won’t you?”
“I mean…” He fumbled over his words. He didn’t want to push Twilight and make her do something she’ll want to forget. But he didn’t know if this was life or death or not. “Yes… probably… I mean…”
The roar of her F-14’s afterburners cut him off. A bright stream of fire shot past Spike and towards two new radar contacts. Within seconds, she caught the trail of a bandit and shouted “Fox Two” over the radio. With a stream of white smoke and another bright flash, another bandit fell from the sky.
With every member of the squadron engaging and splashing bandits, Spike grinned and pushed the throttle to afterburner. It was time to get back into the fight.
Only a few additional enemy planes were in the area. Within thirty seconds, all bandits were shot down and the airspace sanitized.
“Call in the taxi now,” Chopper ordered as the last bandit crashed into the ground.
“Roger, moving into position now,” the helicopter affirmed.
“This is Sea Goblin, combat has broken out in the camp! We’re gonna get everyone out of here.”
Blips of enemy radio transmissions interrupted the radio. “Don’t let them retrieve the POWs!”
“Uh, Sea Goblin here. The ground is still crawling with weapons installations so they can’t land. Can you clear them out for us?”
 “On it, preparing unguided bomb,” Twilight called as her plane swooped around and pointed at the assortment of SAMs and AA guns around the camp.
“I’ll back you up. UGB on standby,” Chopper chimed, swooping in to trail her.
Smirking, Spike pulled up and followed them. He couldn’t let his wingmen do all of the work. “Count me in too.”
After diving towards the ground and a few seconds of steadying and aiming, the three of them each released a bomb as if on cue. As they pulled away from the dive, Spike tilted his plane to the side and watched the camp. Three bright flashes illuminated the snow, creating black plums of smoke contrasting against the gray snowdrop.
A random soldier’s radio on the ground cut through. “Yeah, allied planes and helicopters are flying above us!”
Sea Goblin’s escort cut through. “This is the gunship. We’re gonna sweep the south end of building B with gatling fire!”
Spike circled around the camp and looked in. Bright lights spewing from the helicopter lit up the camp and the surrounding snow as a low hum accompanied the wind.
“Bring the helicopter into our position,” a marine commanded.
“Keep the landing area secure until they’re on!”
“They’re landing at the designated site. Hurry up and get over here!”
“You got it, now get going!”
Spike smiled at the shouts of marines escorting POWs to the helicopter over the radio. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t real. It felt real enough for him.
Twilight broke his thought. “I wonder what it’d be like, Spike.”
He paused. “Huh?”
“To be one of them. Imagine what it’d be like to break out of a camp you’ve been locked up in for weeks. They must be ecstatic.”
Twilight’s plane dipped and circled around, getting a closer look.
“All right, everyone’s in the helicopter,” Sea Goblin noted.
A few seconds of strange silence followed.
“Um, Captain?” Grimm spoke up. “I feel like we’re forgetting something.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Are we? I don’t think… Oh yeah, Bartlett! I wonder if he made it on the copter.”
“Bartlett?” Twilight chimed. “Oh, you mean you—our former cap…”
She stopped.
Spike glanced at the ground, seeing a bright flash and trailing smoke approaching Twilight’s plane. Spike froze.
“Agh, dammit Twilight!” Chopper cursed.
“Spike, something's going…”
“Break, Twilight. Break!” Spike shouted.
As the gunship fired a rocket at the offending SAM, Twilight banked hard and pulled into a circle. The flash and trail of smoke darted closer to her plane as she struggled to keep away. “Not this. All I wanted was to…”
In a last ditch effort, she pulled up as the flash disappeared and the smoke trail ended. Spike held his breath. Her plane climbed into the sky.
A bright flash.
Her plane fell from the climb as a puff of smoke shot off from the canopy.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted. Nothing in this enchantment had any consequence. Nothing, except for this.
“I’m all right,” Twilight assured him, still panting.
“Oh, thank sweet Celestia!” Spike relaxed, letting out a long sigh.
“Almost forgot this thing had an ejection seat. Guess that’s why it was there.”
The radio buzzed Spike’s ear. “Sea Goblin to gunship, we’re taking our guests home now. Can you guys rescue her?”
“Roger, weather conditions are getting worse. We better step on it.”
Spike circled the plane around and tried to peer through the endless gray around him. A black dot hovering over blurry trees below poked through.
“Landing point confirmed. Roger, heading in to pick her up.”
The black lowered into the sea of trees, blending into the dark gray waves. Spike stared down for a moment, unable to discern anything above the trees. Suddenly, a bright flash poked through the gray.
“The gunship crashed!” Grimm shouted.
“What!?” Spike froze.
“Dammit! The storm’s too strong!” Sea Goblin joined.
“We can’t just leave her behind?”
Spike slammed the side instrument panel of the cockpit. “No! We’re not gonna leave her behind. Sea Goblin, swing around and pick her up.”
“Negative, Blaze. I'm having a hard time keeping myself in the air as it is.”
“You kidding me!? Chopper? Grimm?”
“Look, I hate it too but…”
“You hate it too!? We’re leaving her to die!”
“Do you trust her, Spike? Do you trust Twilight?”
Spike teared up underneath his helmet. “But…”
“If we can’t come back, there won’t be a chance.”
Spike leaned over the yoke and cried as he banked the plane away from the camp. “Dammit…”
“You said it,” Sea Goblin agreed.


—	—	—


Spike stood behind Grimm and Chopper at the debrief. Although he stared at the screen watching the AWACS recording of the operation, his mind drifted to Twilight deep in Yuktobanian forests.
“The POW rescue operation was a success and both the marines and our friends held in the camp were safely recovered. As for Captain Twilight Sparkle, who was attacked and bailed out during this operation, Coronel Perrault will issue orders on her behalf. Central command will be replacing Captain Sparkle’s plane that was lost in the crash.”
Perrault continued where the speaker left off. “None of the rescued POWs saw Bartlette at the internment camp. Now where could he be, I wonder. Upon more favorable weather conditions, we will carry out a rescue operation for captain Twilight.
A grin struck his lips. “That’s right, you’ve all been promoted yet again. You guys are burning through the ranks, you know that? You can thank high command for that.”
Spike muttered a soft “pfft” and stormed out of the room. No amount of promotions or praise could make up for leaving Twilight behind.