What a Wonderful Life

by Dustchu

The Drive, Luna's Plan, and Rainbow's Secret Letter

It was a few minutes after landing at Adams Air Force Base in the United States, and Fluttershy was terrified of the place. It was not so much the cloudy unrestrained weather patterns, nor the sounds of soldiers training or even the imposing sights of the walls surrounding the place... no, it was the soldiers themselves, she remembered the ones back at Appaloosa, the men and women dressed in their armor, walking around the airfield. They were friendly, and very nice when she met them.

However, the ones in the base, were radically different. They weren't outright hostile to her, but when she held eye contact with a few of them... she saw anger in their eyes, she could sense the sadness in their hearts. They weren't like the animals back home, but she had a good eye for sensing when someone or something was feeling sad. And some of the soldiers sitting by or standing to the side watched her, and she could sense they were troubled somehow.

Aside from the humans, the building she was passing by was huge, several stories tall and colored a dark gray. The base itself lacked any vibrant colors, and had mostly dark grays, greens and red. She saw aircraft being prepared on the runway behind here, where they were going and what for she wasn't sure.

Fluttershy was sitting in the back of the jeep, a vehicle that was taking her to another vehicle which was going to drive her across the commonwealth and to her home in the town of Springvale. Samuel was sitting beside her, carrying a large green bag that held some of his personal effects. Driving the jeep was a man who introduced himself as Major Thomas, he didn't talk much, only greeting the two before driving them towards the front of the building.

As they drove, the pegasus thought about what her home would like, she didn't know what human homes looked like. Were they big? Small? Made of steel and glass, or crafted from wood and metal? Were they underground or above ground like most human buildings she's seen? She didn't know, but she would find out soon. Up ahead She spotted a gate, a large one with a few soldiers standing around it, and a small booth on either side and several stop signs.

The jeep pulled up to the gate, and they went through a small checking process. Fluttershy was scanned with some strange device that scared her to no end, with all of its beeping and whirring, she thought it was going to explode for a second. But after a bit, they stopped and they were allowed through. Driving through the gate, the three came up to the front of the base, which was different then Fluttershy thought it as going to be. There was grass in a small rotunda in front of the base, along with a statue of some planes and a bunch of street lights. Humans dressed in both combat gear and suits walked across the sidewalks, going into and out of some of the buildings, cars were driving up and passing by them slowly.

And at the very front, there was a large vehicle, the bus, Fluttershy figured. The bus was large, and bulky looking, and on the sides were the words City Liner. It had four wheels in the front, and four in the back covered by metal. The windows were tinted and small, and on the side in between the city liner was a large door that was open. The jeep drove up to the bus and stopped the breaks squealing slightly as they came to a stop.

"Here's your stop." Thomas told them, biting on the end of a cigarette.

Fluttershy timidly hopped out, hitting the ground with a clop of her hooves, she looked up at the bus, it was huge and the engine rumbled like a manticore ready to pounce on its prey. She gulped, Maybe its not too late to go back home! She thought, turning around and hoping to see the Jeep... which was now gone from sight. She gulped down a knot in her throat, that was just her luck. Sammy walked up to her, duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"You ready to go?"

A sigh, then she nodded as she was herded onto the bus.

---

-ooo000=+=000ooo-
In Equestria - Princess Luna

---

Trotting through the streets of Canterlot was Princess Luna, she was dressed in her regalia as per usual, By her sides walked two of her night guards, outfitted in armor that shone a nice dark blue color. Luna was on a mission, one she gave to herself ever since she talked to her sister on the matters of what the humans were doing. It had been an hour or so, but that was more then enough time for her to contact a certain human she had met some time ago during the peace summit between both races.

She had met the man during the summit, both were bored during the talks and had met during a walk, they hit it off actually and managed to actually talk about some things regarding the war with the Chinese forces and life in general. And, while she didn't like the majority of humans, this one was the exception. After her talk with her sister, she had sought him out and contacted him for the purpose of starting something that would help Equestria in the coming days.

"Princess! Over here!" The lunar mare heard from nearby.

She perked her ears up, looking over at one of the shops she spotted her friend, the man was sitting at one of the tables and donning a clean black suit. A smile graced her face as she trotted over. "Mr. John! I'm so glad you came!" She smiled brightly as the man stood up, bowing slightly and taking the hoof she offered and giving it a shake.

The man nodded, saying, "Well when you called me up, I just couldn't resist." John smiled back as he pulled out a chair for her to sit down in, which she took graciously as he scooted her forward. He took his own seat, sitting across from her as her guards stood off to the side, giving the two their privacy. John clasped his hands together, smiling slightly, "care for anything?" He asked, "I'm having coffee myself."

Luna hummed in thought for a moment, taking a moment to look at the offerings the establishment sold. "I think I will have some tea." She said, John nodded his head and alerted a waitress over. After seeing it was Princess Luna, the worker quickly retrieved their refreshments, bringing them back and asking if they would like anything more. "Hm, no, I am good." John also nodded his head.

"So, Princess," John started, before Luna raised her hoof.

"Please, we are friends, John, you may call me Luna." She told him, getting a light laugh from the man.

"Or course, of course." A sigh from the man, before he took a quick sip of his coffee. He made a Mmm sound, setting his cup down and saying, "This is why I love this nation, you make some damn good coffee." He chuckled.

A nod from Luna as she sipped her tea, "I hope that my asking for you to come here wasn't too troublesome, how was the trip?" She asked, she wasn't sure how their aircraft worked, but it was a fast way for ground bound species to travel. It was innovative, and quite creative from what she was able to understand of human aircraft.

"Oh, quite bumpy I must say," John informed her, his smile ever present. "The flight was quite bumpy, but the carriage ride to this city was lovely." He told her, looking out at the city with an excited look. "Canterlot sure is a marvelous place, one of the more well received cities by the American Elite." He told her with a slight frown, before it turned back into a smile. "But the trip on land was enjoyable, I saw many fine places, one of which was a farm I believe was called Sweet Apple Acres?" He asked, getting a nod from the princess.

"Yes, Sweet Apple Acres is one of the mass producers of Equestria's apple stocks," Luna smiled, "there are none like it in the world as far as I know."

"Ohoho, I can attest to that fact," John held up his cup in a true story fashion. "They are very sweet, but not by much, perfect for making pies with, or other apple related goodies!"

The two shared a nice hearty laugh, it lasting for a good minute before they both stopped. John took one last sip from his cup before sitting it down, Luna did as well.

The time for small talk was over.

"So, Luna." John started, clasping his hands in front of him. "I read your message over and over on the way here... and... are you sure about doing such a thing?" He asked, giving her a concerned look. "I mean, I understand the idea behind it, but..." He was cut off when Luna raised her hoof, gently placing it on the table in front of them.

"I... am fully aware of the consequences of such actions," She said, flashing a look at her guards. The bat ponies were no doubt listening in, but she could trust them to not reveal anything. They were trained from a young age, loyal and dependable, much like Rainbow Dash in a way. "Going under my sister's radar, but... I feel this must be done to ensure Equestria's future, and I need your help with doing this."

John sighed, frowning thoughtfully. He was also aware of what would happen should he be caught doing such a thing, even though Equestria and America were allies, the pony nation did little to nothing to help with the war effort. That didn't help with america's opinions of the ponies either, allies that did nothing to help. "Alright, Luna... I will help you, but..."

"This will all be kept under wraps until the time is right, dear friend." Luna promised, getting another sigh, and a small smile from him. "How soon can we begin?"

"From what I understand of our request," John tapped the table in thought, "a month, two tops. We already have a facility built that can be used for this, all I need to do is gather some trustworthy staff, both of us need to."

Luna smiled. "Splendid."

---

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In Equestria - Applejack

---

Applejack hummed to herself as she walked through Ponyville, hat tilted back and blocking out the sun. She was headed to nowhere in particular, just out for a nice walk. Angel, surprisingly was on her back, having perched himself there after Fluttershy had left. He refused to go with anyone else, mainly because of certain aspects. Rarity was too clean and near, and he disliked the cat, Pinkie Pie was too hyper, Rainbow lived in the clouds, so that was out, Twilight could barely take care of herself. So that left Applejack, he liked her, because she was brutally honest, dependable, and he was good friends with Winona, who was also trotting by AJ's side.

The three were just out for a walk, well... two, anyway, the third was lounging on the first's back. It was a nice day, and it was about to get... interesting.

Applejack saw Rainbow Dash walking through town as well, and just when she was about to say howdy, when the mare saw her, and had disappeared into an alley. AJ furrowed her brows in thought, trotting over to the alleyway, only to see at a prismatic tail vanish out of sight. "Rainbow?" She said, mostly to herself, where was she headed? She followed her friend, curiously wondering where she was going.

Applejack's movement seemed to have annoyed Angel a tad, and he was about to reprimand her, when he had caught sight of Rainbow sneaking around. He was curious as well, as to the Rainbow pony's motives for being sneaky. He allowed this to happen, and went along with the pony. He had no choice in the matter regardless.

They followed Rainbow through some of the paths, watching as she crept through some of the alleys, past stalls and other unsuspecting ponies. AJ noted she had her saddlebags on, and she seemed to be... super sneaky about whatever it was she was doing. The pegasus kept glancing behind her, keeping an eye out for AJ, figuring the apple pony was following her. However, Applejack was staying well hidden, taking cover behind carts, bushes, and even a flabbergasted pony or two.

Where's she headed? Applejack wondered as they came into sight of the Postal office. She mailing something? Why's she being so sneaky about it? Applejack had no idea what was going on. "What are you up to, Dash?"

They watched as Rainbow went up to the postal officer, and Derpy came out, spotting the mare. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash!"

A nervous chuckle from Dash, "hehe, yeah, hi Derpy." Rainbow greeted as Derpy flew over to her. "Um... can you mail this for me?" Dash asked as she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a letter before hoofing it to Derpy. "I'd... appreciate it a lot."

Derpy smiled her lovable smile then took Rainbow's letter. "Sure Dashie! Boy, you sure have been mailing a lot of these lately," She noted, not even noticing the blush on her face, or AJ's somewhat poor hiding choice. "Got a special somepony you writing to~?"

"W-what?! No, I'm... just writing a friend! That's all!" Dash huffed, turning away with a flip of her mane. "Can you just mail it for me?"

Seemingly unfazed by Rainbow's outburst, the mailmare nodded her head before heading back to the postal office. "Anything else you want to mail?" Derpy asked as she ascended the steps, turning only to look back at the mare... only she was gone. "Huh..." With a shrug, Derpy went back into the postal office.

AJ had watched and heard the entire thing, she rubbed her chin with a hoof in thought. She's writing somepony, well that ain't nothing too strange... I suppose, but why is she being so secretive about it?

Angel seemed to pick up on her thoughts, bopping heron the back of the head and getting her attention. When AJ looked back at him, he gave her a series of gestures with his paws, pointing to Rainbow's cloudhouse in the distance. AJ looked towards the house as Angel gave her a suspicious look, pointing again.

"What? You think th' letter's something important?" She asked him, getting a firm nod and a frown from him. "Ah... suppose its a bit odd bu-" Angel shushed her, making a sneaky gesture with his body, then a cupped his paws over his eyes and squinting. "You want us to spy on her?" Another nod.

AJ thought about that for a second, was she really willing to spy on her friend?

...

"Eh, why not."

---

-ooo000=+=000ooo-
Back with Fluttershy in America

---

Fluttershy expected a lot of things when she climbed on board the bus, she expected the road to be somewhat like the base she had just left. Dark and cold, a lonely road of shadows. However, she was pleasantly surprised to see it was nothing like that, in fact it was quite colorful. There were plenty of green trees, lush forests on either side of the road complete with grass and even a few odd flowers. She could see some birds flying through the trees, and she smiled.

I wasn't expecting this at all. She admitted to herself, watching as the forest passed them by. Other vehicles passed them on the road, small cars with large bubbletops and three wheels, and others with sleek bodies that roared like a manticore as they passed the bus. The bus itself was quiet, save for an almost quite rumble from within the vehicle. Samuel sat by her side, tapping his feet to some some unknown beat and patting his knees in tune to it.

There were few people on the buss itself, she had seen a woman in the back, reading from a book of sorts. Across from her was the only other passenger, a tall looking human donning a black suit and glasses, he was looking down at a newspaper. She wondered if they were as friendly as Samuel, however, when the man glanced up at her, cold steel blue eyes locked with her own and she looked away.

That was different. She noted, she had never seen eyes as blue as his, pony eyes were pretty colorful and some human eyes tended to be rather bland but still very pretty in her opinion. But that man's, they were an impossible shade of blue.

A bump in the road jolted her and she tugged onto the seat, she was no stranger to bumpy rides, but she hoped they didn't crash or anything.

Turning to Samuel, Fluttershy asked, "Um... Samuel?" The human turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Um... the town we're going to... its not... like the buildings back there, is it?" She dearly hoped that wasn't the case, those buildings were, dark, scary and quite depressing to see, especially since she is supposed to be staying here for who knows how long.

"Oh no no no, its nothing like the base, trust me on that one." Samuel told her with a calm happy tone of voice, "I've been there several times, its a really nice neighborhood, it has a school, plenty of nice views, and I even hear a Vault was built out that way."

"I'm s-sorry, what's a Vault?" Fluttershy wondered, tilting her head in a totally not cute way.

Reaching to the side, Samuel rummaged around some papers before pulling out a small piece of folder paper and handed it to her. "Vaults are these massive underground shelters, they're built as a means to protect our population in the even of an attack." He explained to her, getting a shocked look from her.

"A-attack?!" She squeaked, looking at the paper she was given, the Vault Boy was on front, flashing a thumbs up and holding out a piece of paper that said; Sign up now for a spot in the fabulous Vault! Vault-Tec, your safety is guaranteed! For some reason she felt like trusting those words, and these Vaults... while she wasn't sure what they were, they sounded safe from what the paper told her. "Um... is there going to be an attack?"

At that, Samuel gave her a smile. "Of course not, its just in case."

If one looked into his eyes... they could have seen the fear...

Author's Note:

I...I'm not even going to try and fathom how that kind of debate started in the last chapter hahaah, enjoy this chapter

Apologies for not updating sooner.

Comments

[batran]

Debate in last chapter? Oh yeah that one ...

<_<

[Americanwastelander]

Fluttershy is in for a very interesting time. Excellent chapter

[Dustchu]

6736052
Yeah, that one Jesus Christ I never thought a story I wrote would spawn such a conversation :P quite interesting to read.

6736092
Oh yes, yes she is, hehehe.
Thank you kindly.

[Ebonyglow]

Hey dustchu, just wanted to let you know that I'm Maxsonny101 but I just changed my name. Just wanted to let you now bai!

[Dustchu]

6944941 Hehehe,thanks for letting me know man, nice name change.
I changed my avatar, if you didn't notice right away :P heheh.