The Celestia and the Reignaria were finally allowed to set sail back to Equestria now that the seas had returned to their normal behavior. Instead of risking the fate of our ships, we decided to allow the Marina navy to escort us around to reigns. The area around camp quickly turned into a madhouse as now that the Marina army was no longer under the control of King Typhoon, they were now aware of what was happening around the world. Ponies were being questioned, wondering if they had any memories of orders directed from King Inferno, each time being a swift answer of no.
Soarin, Spitfire, Asteroid Run, Universae and I decided to do something rather out of the ordinary, since we were going to take a day off from duty in celebration of freeing Marina. Now that King Inferno had a draw back since King Typhoon was no longer in power, more a less alive, he had lost about half of his force. Even though he still maintained control of the stealth alicorns, a lot of things now had to be changed for him, so everyone was taking a break from the fighting. So where were we?
“Cannonball!” shouted Soarin as he jumped flank first into the sea. He then violently came bobbing up to the surface gasping for air. “Oh crud, I forgot I can’t swim! Help!”
Asteroid Run and I looked at each other, and we were pretty much shaking our heads. “Didn’t he learn from the last experience back in the Everfree River?” I asked looking down at the bobbing Soarin.
“No,” said Asteroid Run. “Don’t worry I got him this time.” He then dove straight into the frigid cold waters, and went out to get Soarin. I took this as an opportunity to spend some time with Spitfire and Universae he were sitting on the beach enjoying a small lunch in the mid-day sun.
“Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches?” I asked picking up a sandwich.
Universae nodded. “That’s right,” he said taking another bite into his sandwich. “Did you want hay fries as well? Oh wait we’re in war not a fancy restaurant.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re lucky that you’re one of the commanders,” I said staring him down.
Spitfire then gave me a gentle nudge. “Oh calm down,” she said. “Enjoy some time off of the Battlefield. Don’t you like spending time with me?”
I looked at her and put my arm around her, “Of course I do,” I said. “It’s just this war of ours has only been going on for roughly a month, and it has all happened so fast, it’s almost not even a war.”
Spitfire then gently kissed me to get me to stop talking. “Oh Ace,” she said with a small giggle, “You think too much.”
We had almost completely forgotten that Universae was sitting nearby watching the whole love scene play out. When we realized this, it was a little embarrassing. “How long have you two been together?” he asked.
“Not that long, about 3 weeks,” Spitfire smiled. “Do you have a special some pony Universae?”
Universae took a bite of his sandwich and shook his head in denial. “Not yet,” he said. “I’ve had my eyes on a unicorn who is an artist. She lives in Ponyville but I think she already has one. I don’t know.”
“Why haven’t you asked her?” asked Spitfire looking at Universae with a confused look.
“I live in Canterlot,” he answered, “Besides that I am a prince. I just don’t think that it would work out, but who knows. Someday we’ll see, first we have to finish this war so that we can protect our home.”
Spitfire and I couldn’t agree any further.
~~~
“Alright everypony,” called Cloud Storm unraveling a map in the center of the mess hall, “Astounding work on freeing Marina from the grip of a tyrant. You should all be proud, also get some time to meet some ponies from the Marina army, as they will be fighting alongside us for the rest of the war. Now then, down to business.” He then projected an image of the map using magic once again, this time, a mountain range stood in between Marina and Reigns. The Neighsa Mountain Range was one of the harshest mountain ranges in the world, and there was no real easy way through the mountains, which made the job much more difficult. “Unfortunately, to get into Reigns, we have to cross the Neighsas. As you all are probably aware, the Neighsas are the most dangerous mountain range in the world. We can’t go over it, we can’t go around it, and we have to go through it. Marina and Reigns currently had a railroad which traveled through this range with tunnels; however the tunnels were blasted by King Inferno’s scouts when they heard of the overthrow of King Typhoon. So as of right now, we’re sitting here until the tunnels can be cleared. It will take about a week to get the tunnels blasted and new tracks laid, but once that is taken care of, we will begin our advance onto Reigns and Gaia Castle. According to what we know as of right now, between Gaia castle and where we will be positioned is a large stretch of land. It is expected to be the largest battle of the war. As of right now, sit back, relax, and be ready to move in case we get the go ahead. You are dismissed.”
“Yes Sir!”
~~~
Spitfire and I finally had some time alone. In the middle of the week, we finally had a day where it was just us. Everyone in Charlie 9 had gone out to take care of some last minute problems in Atlantis, so that left me and Spitfire a day, and a night, alone to ourselves. We lay under the stars that night and enjoyed the silence as we lay next to each other. We didn’t say much, the silence said it all for most of the night. Spitfire at last looked over at me, and I looked over at her. She had a look of worry in her eyes, but I didn’t know why.
“Ace?” she asked.
“What is it Spitfire?” I asked.
“When this war is over,” she said looking down at the grass, “What will happen to us?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I mean, what will happen to us being together, when we go back to our regular lives. The way that we have been playing a lot of major roles, it’s obvious that we are destined for some promotions, big time promotions. We won’t be able to see each other as often.” A tear began to well up in her eyes. “I don’t want to lose you…”
I had never really thought about it like that. Spitfire actually was right, what we were going to do once we went back to Equestria was very uncertain. We were destined for promotions; that was the obvious, but would we still hold on to this relationship of ours if we couldn’t be with each other all the time? Could we possibly become something more in this crazy reality of ours? I then turned and looked at her with a promising expression in my eyes.
“You won’t lose me,” I said with a smile. “It’s just once we get back to our regular everyday lives, we have to see how things are going okay?”
Spitfire then finally rolled over and relaxed looking at the stars. A smile crossed her snout as she closed her eyes and mover hoof close to mine and grabbed it. “Okay Ace,” she said. She then rolled over and put her hoof on my cheek. She then looked at me with a loving expression in her eyes. “I love you Ace, never forget that.”
I could only smile looking at the mare that I loved dearly. “I love you too,” I said as we shared a brief kiss under the stars.
~~~
The rest of the week flew by rather quickly as word eventually came in concerning clearing the railway towards Reigns. There was simply no other choice but to wait for the builders to finish clearing and repairing the damage done by King Inferno’s forces. At last, word came from the front lines that the railway line was clear through the mountain, and now all that had to be done was the final mission briefing. Cloud Storm once again stood in the center of the mess hall, and showed the map once again using magic.
“Alright everypony,” he said pointing out markers on the map, “This is it. This is the final mission to finally end this war once and for all. This operation is not going to be stealth, and we’re not ringing the doorbell or sneaking in, we’re kicking the door down. While we are ripping through the defenses of Gaia castle, another pegasi division will fly into the castle, find King Inferno, and kill him, and finally end this war for good. Remember everypony, this isn’t just for us; this is for everypony that we lost during this war. This is for all of us, this is for Equestria, this is for Celestia, and this is for the whole world. We leave tomorrow at dawn. It has been a pleasure serving with you, and being your commander. Good luck everypony. You’re dismissed.”
“Yes Sir!”