Tea, Chats, and Bats
Chapter 7: Tea, Chats, and Bats Part 1
Luna watched as the human named Brad slid the door quietly closed as he departed the room.
“Alright let’s talk,” Chaos said breaking the creeping silence and garnering the attention of both sisters.
“Very well but first, I imagine this discussion would be more pleasant if we were seated,” Celestia said as she scanned the room, “Ah, there we are!”
Having found what she was looking for, Celestia beckoned with her wing for Chaos and Luna to follow her to a round table near the tall vaulted windows on the far side of the room. Taking a seat on a small cushion closest to the window, Celestia merely flashed an expectant smile to Chaos before she conjured a small worn white and gold tea set that she carefully set upon the table.
“Do you enjoy tea, Major?” Celestia said as said as she watched Chaos awkwardly adjust himself as he took a seat across from her.
“Sure, although I’m more of a coffee drinker myself, but I am from the South so as long as it’s sweet I’ll enjoy it.” Luna perked up at the mention of coffee.
“Verily? I, myself prefer coffee, perhaps during your time here we could share a cup Major-” Sensing a repeating pattern Chaos cut in.
“You guys really don’t care for my nickname do you?” Luna and Celestia both tensed a little expecting they had done something culturally wrong.
“No, I suppose we do not Major,” Celestia responded after a few awkward moments.
“Then please, just call me Josh, although I’m a little curious about why my nickname and not the others' bothers you. Does it have something to do with that mural you showed me about Discord?” Celestia and Luna shared a glance before Celestia smiled wanly.
“It… certainly, plays a part, but perhaps any discussion of Discord could wait; tonight I wanted to talk about other matters.”
“Just as well, I’ll admit I had a few things I wanted to go over myself.”
“I had thought you might Josh. Before we continue, if there is anything you or your crew find that you need, my staff would be more than happy to provide it for you.”
“I appreciate it, Princess, I might take you up on that…” Anxious to move the conversation along, Chaos drummed his fingers on the table before continuing. “I may not be a real diplomat, and I can’t say I’ve known you long, but even I can tell when someone is stalling. So what is it you really want to discuss?” In response, Celestia sighed before using her magic to pour a cup for the three of them.
“You’re certainly not one for small talk are you?” sensing that it was a rhetorical question Chaos decided not to respond, “I want to know more about your aircraft.”
“Anything specific you’d like to know about it?” Chaos’ congenial expression had descended into a somewhat scowling facade while each word was individually punctuated with the slightest bit of chill that took both Princesses off guard.
Celestia’s mask fell neutral as she pushed forward with a topic she hoped to cross sooner than later, “What military purpose does your aircraft serve?”
Chaos let out a brief sigh before he took a deep whiff of the tea provided by Celestia as he scanned the grand window and the moon beyond it for the right answer. On the one hand, he wanted to keep his cards close to his chest, but as confident as he was in his crew he knew how easy it was for them to let pride slip into discretions realm. He was torn, the majority of his aircraft’s capabilities were no secret to anyone in his world with a search engine, on the other hand, this wasn’t his world.
He couldn’t help but feel the capabilities of his aircraft were inherently dangerous to how his crew would be perceived, and potentially to how they’d be treated going forward. He knew one thing, however, eventually he’d have to come clean by circumstance and that he’d make no friends by not relinquishing at least a bit of the truth.
“Initially all C-130’s were cargo planes, the airframe itself, however, was popular and versatile enough that it didn’t take long for members of the military and private sector to experiment with less... conventional ideas about how to use it.” Chaos stopped for a moment as he watched a few stars twinkle in the moonlit sky.
“And I suppose the munitions I overheard Brad mention were one of the less than conventional additions to these cargo planes,” Celestia mused. To which Chaos simply nodded while he drew a sip from his cup,
“Pray tell, what are these munitions?” Luna asked as she jumped in.
“That’s precisely what I was hoping to find out, they’re not the small weapons you wielded earlier today, otherwise I assume Brad wouldn’t have bothered whispering about them.”
“Wielded?” Luna inquired.
“A minor misunderstanding Luna, I’ll fill you in later.”
“If you say so...” Luna grumped.
Chaos politely cleared his throat to gain the two sisters attention, “You're right in your assumption; we do have other weapons.”
“And you didn’t dain to inform our sister earlier... because?” Luna asked as she arched a brow.
“Because… because I wasn’t sure if I should. You have to understand how... discombobulating this all has been for me, a few hours ago I was on my own world, and suddenly I arrive on yours mysteriously, and to top it off I now have a damaged plane and an injured crew member. I was simply doing what I thought best at the time with no guidance given.”
“It sounds to me like you omitted the truth…” Luna responded neutrally.
Chaos polished off the last of his tea before observing his hosts, Celestia appeared disappointed and if the ear flicking coming from Luna was any indication he would guess she was agitated.
“I suppose I did, but I don’t expect either of you to understand the precariousness of my position.”
“Meaning?” Luna questioned.
“Both of you are leaders of your country, I, well I’m just an officer. I don’t get the benefit of exercising the same level of discretion that both of you probably yield, I have responsibilities and they order like this: Crew, Aircraft, Nation. I had reason to fear and still have reason to fear that I might accidentally break my responsibility to one or all of those. When I omitted the truth it was because I was trying to honor my responsibilities with the best information available. When you arrived I had just finished talking with Brad, do you know what we discussed?”
To their negative response, he continued. “We were actually weighing the merits of full disclosure against the cons, it was a stalemate. Understand that we are not diplomats; however, given the circumstances, fate has decided that we must play the role… So, I’m willing to give a little in good faith, but you must respond in kind and trust my judgment on what I decide is safe to disclose going forward. I want this to work... because I do not know what else I can do. But if you push the issue, I don’t care what you’ve done for us so far. I’ll take my crew and we’ll find somewhere else to go to sort out this whole mess.”
After Celestia shot a quick a glance to Luna she decided to proceed. “If you promise not to keep anything pertinent from us, I believe we can accept that.”
Nodding Chaos continued. “Good, my aircraft is called a gunship-”
“And what pray tell is a gunship?” Luna cut in.
“I was getting to that…” Chaos said as he scanned them to see if they’d let him continue, satisfied he went on. “The 4th Special Operations Squadron to which we belong employs the third generation of gunships known as the AC-130U Spooky gunship. It has three cannons: a 105mm, a 40mm, and 25mm cannon. We’re a close air support platform designed to engage ground targets from the air. Wait. Do you know what a cannon is?”
“Of course,” Celestia replied.
“Oh good, but just to make sure we’re on the same page here, you mind going over what a cannon is to you?”
Celestia couldn’t help but quirk a brow at the question, “A simple device that uses cast-iron projectiles and a poured in propellant to lob the round out of the tube.”
“Yeah, I’d say that sounds similar…except our rounds have their own self-contained propellant, our barrels are rifled for greater accuracy, and of course, our rounds are explosive with different functions of the ogive and fuzes to adapt it to specific scenarios.”
“Should we be concerned that these weapons are currently in our capital?” Luna ventured.
“No, the rounds themselves cannot be armed unless they are fired. Without setback and rotation, the rounds are effectively inert, essentially just large metal slugs. Though I would suggest a cordon, if a fire were to break out on the aircraft you’d want a designated perimeter in place.”
With just a little concern Celestia ventured the only question on her mind, “How large of a cordon?”
“About four thousand feet to be safe.”
“How large is a feet?” Luna quipped.
“A foot is about this big,” Chaos said as he held up his hands to demonstrate as both Alicorns in front of him went bug-eyed.
“Sister… four thousand of those lengths would be half our garden.” Luna said breathlessly.
Trying to head off any fears Chaos interceded, “I know that probably is a bit frightening but I assure you, with my crew on fire guard the chances of anything catastrophic happening are minimal. I’m merely suggesting it as a precaution.”
Luna was the first to recover, “if the council gets word of this, we’ll have a nightmare on our hooves.”
“Let me worry about the council Luna. I have a few favors I can call in and with any luck, the reconstruction of changeling damage will be of enough distraction to give us time to prove our new guests are safe.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
“Both?” Celestia responded, “besides I’ve already called an emergency meeting of the Council of Nobles, in part to address the recent invasion but also to introduce our new guests.”
“What do you mean 'introduce'?” Chaos asked apprehensively.
“Merely an acknowledgment of your arrival here, do not worry Josh, your crew's presence won’t be required...yet. I’m merely going to gauge the nobles' reactions so I can get an idea of how to proceed.”
“Is this necessary? I’d rather keep our presence here a secret until I can get a chance to figure out how damaged our aircraft is.” Celestia could tell from his tone and facial features that the idea didn’t sit well with him.
“You have my word that you’ll be safe here. Besides, there’s no way the Crown can hope to keep this a secret for long. Ponies talk, and if I’ve learned anything in my reign, it’s that keeping something like this a secret only invites greater trouble.” Luna who had spent the last few moments massaging her temple with a hoof snorted as she recomposed herself.
“I think you’re forgetting something here, when the press receives word of this they’ll have a field day. I wouldn’t put it past some of the less reputable journals from questioning whether your fight with the changeling Queen knocked a few screws loose, as it were, and I might be liable to agree with them.”
“I will schedule a press conference to head that off Luna; one in which we can introduce the journalists to the humans so they can judge for themselves whether there is anything to be concerned about.”
“I think this is a bad idea sister, but I’ve known you long enough to know when you’ve set your mind to something.”
Struggle blew a puff of smoke out of the side of his mouth as he watched the two ponies scrunch up their muzzle at the smell. “You know if you guys hate it that much you could move a bit farther away. I won’t be offended.” When they didn’t move, he grunted before he dropped the cigarette into the dirt before crushing it with the heel of his boot.
“Are you going to pick that up?” The female guard he’d chatted briefly with enquired to which he chuckled dryly.
“Oh yeah, my bad,” he said as he bent down to pick it up. Standing back up, he pocketed it to dispose of later as he saw both guards ears swivel towards a hedge. Grabbing his M4 from the bench, he waited to see what they heard before Brad rounded the hedge escorted by a couple of guards.
“Hey, Struggle,” Co said as he picked up his pace to meet him, “you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to retrace my steps in the dark. Lucky for me I ran into the next shift of ponies heading this way.”
“A wonder anyone trusts you to fly a plane…” Struggle muttered. To which he saw both guards in front of him swivel their ears.
“What was that?”
“Nothing just glad to see you is all, plane's all locked up. I’ll let you have it from here.” Struggle said as he thrust the M4 into the Co’s hands before turning towards the hedge while grabbing his backpack.
“Wait,” Co said to which Struggle looked over his shoulder. “...nevermind, see you in the morning.” Struggle nodded in affirmation before leaving with both Crescent Sentry and Silver Shield following.
“One second if you don’t mind,” Silver said stopping their little troop as he trotted over to the two night guards before saluting them.
“Private Shield, report,” A gravely sounding mare replied as she dropped her salute.
“All’s quiet on the perimeter, Lieutenant. We did our last sweep about thirty minutes ago,” before he dropped to a conspiratorial whisper just loud enough to be heard by his superior. “These humans are jumpy. I couldn’t get a real good look inside their craft before that one behind me ‘shooed’ us away.”
Nodding she continued, “probably best you didn’t, Private. The Princesses’ are personally handling this matter. Enjoy your night.” They both saluted again before Silver rejoined Struggle and Crescent.
“Alright, we’ll show you back to the castle now, Struggle.”
“Good. I need a stiff drink and some sleep.” Struggle said as he rounded the hedge following his escort.
“Hey, Struggle…” Crescent chimed in.
“Yeah?”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why does it seem like you don’t like that other human?”
“Who, the Co? Don’t really know him enough to not like him, it’s just tradition to give the new guys a hard time.”
“Why? Has he not gone through all the training to be a part of your outfit?”
“Sure he has. But just because he has the knowledge doesn’t mean he has the attitude. It takes quite awhile to get where he is now, it's an accomplishment that can be a powerful and foolhardy validation for some.”
“I’m not sure I understand, shouldn’t he be proud if it's an accomplishment?”
“Sure, and we give them a pat on the back for it… for a minute anyways. But, we have to set up an idea that they have to prove themselves to us, a few of the guys I went through with, myself included, wanted to change the way things were done. We treated the new guys like one of us straight out the gate…”
“And?”
“And we learned why things were done the way they were for so long: failed physical fitness tests, failed flight evaluations, poor attitudes, and critical mistakes. We did them a disservice by not treating them in just the right way to make them push themselves to be accepted.”
Scrunching up her muzzle she replied, “sounds a little cruel.”
“Yeah, but it works for us,” though they couldn’t see him, Struggle couldn’t help but crack a smile and roll his eyes as he tried to walk faster to keep from lagging behind them.
Brad watched as his two new guard friends flew circles around the courtyard their gunship rested in, stopping only long enough to scrutinize a few bushes here and there. In the darkness, he struggled vainly to keep sight of them amidst the backdrop of darkness. He lost track of them in the pitch black after a few minutes only to be jolted when one landed behind him.
“Jesus! You scared me,” To which the night guard cocked her head.
“The area is secure, you have no reason to be frightened.”
Not really knowing what to say Brad tugged at the ends of his sleeves in apprehension before attempting to make small talk. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it? Miss…”
“Lieutenant Starry Glade, just Star if you’d like,” she said as she tipped her head before throwing out a hoof to the side and cracking a wide smile at Brad’s confusion until the other bat pony guard touched down next to her. “And this is my partner Sergeant Blue Moon.”
“Aye, but just call me Blue laddy. E’erypony does.” He said with a smile that was just a bit too wide.
“Brad, nice to meet you both,” he said as he took a seat on the bench Struggle had occupied earlier. “Shoot...” He mumbled as he made a mad scramble around his pockets.
“Lose something?” Star asked.
“Yeah, I was going to get something out of my bag on the plane...too bad you might have liked it too,” Brad said before letting out the most pitiful sigh.
“Why can’t you?” Star asked as her ears twitched at the thought of what alien contraption he might have wanted to get.
“Must have left my flashlight on the plane, it’d be a nightmare fumbling around in the dark for it.”
“You can’t see in the dark laddy?” To which Brad simply looked in their direction before shaking his head.
“Not as well as I assume you two can.”
A few hushed whispers passed between the two equines before Star cleared her throat.
“If you promise not to tell anyone, we’ve got something you might find interesting too,” she said as Brad tried seeing what she was digging for underneath her armor. After a few moments of rustling, Star produced a small object that Brad could barely make out to be a small bag.
“What is it?”
“Something very special. It’s the crushed powder from a rare night orchid that only grows in the caves of the Thestral mountains.” Digging just a small amount onto her hoof she lifted it up for Brad to see, he was immediately hypnotized by how it faintly pulsed yellow in the darkness.
“Whoa that’s cool, what's it used for?” he said looking back to Star.
“Here let me show you,” she exclaimed before gently blowing the powdered plant directly into Brad’s nose and eyes sending him into a sneezing fit.
“Gah! Why’d you do that? Oh god, you’ve drugged me, haven’t you?!? Is it lethal? Please tell me there’s a cure!” he said as he furiously rubbed at his eyes in a vain attempt to get the powder out.
Alarmed, both bat ponies had taken to the air and were now hovering a foot from Brad looking on in concern. “Calm down now, laddy. Taint no drug. Jus’ open your eyes and see fer yourself.”
Still panicking Brad followed Blue’s instructions much to the protest of his watering eyes. As he slowly opened them, he was floored by what he saw. Where before he’d seen only the stars in the night sky and the moon, he saw galaxies twirling in the cosmos, and down to earth he saw all the crisp shapes of the plants in the garden surrounding the aircraft. What surprised him the most was that even though he could tell it was night still, he could also just barely make out colors with whatever heightened vision he now had.
“Wow…” To his grin, both guards relaxed, no longer fearing any reprisal for alarming the princesses’ guest.
“It’s not as good as the real thing, but it gives you an idea of what we see.”
“This is amazing, why would you want to keep something like this a secret?” To which both guards sighed in unison.
“The plant is endangered. There’s a bit more to the story than that but, the short of it is we’re only given a little bit of it for guard work. When we work with the day guards it helps them keep up with us in the dark, or sometimes we’ll give it to informants to give them an edge in undercover work.”
“So your superiors wouldn’t be happy about you sharing is what you're saying?”
“That they wouldn’t, laddy,” Blue said with a shrug. “But let’s just call it a welcoming present from us thestrals and keep it between us.” To which Brad nodded before thinking about how to repay the gift.
“So what’s the story on the flower?”
Scuffing the ground with a hoof Star gazed up into the sky. “It doesn’t matter. No pony wants to hear about Thestral history these days-”
“Oh come on...please, I want to hear it.” To which Brad punctuated it with the most genuine smile he could muster.
Shrugging, Star decided to dive into the folklore she could remember. “Back before the days of Equestria and the Friendship Fire, the lands were covered in darkness and snow. If you don’t know, pegasi control the weather, so when the windigos started manipulating all their hard work, they were furious. A group set out to take on the windigos and wrestle control of the weather back from them...and it didn’t work.”
“They flew to a mountain range rumored to be the Windigos' home and encountered a massive snow storm that iced their wings and sent them plummeting to earth; when they came down they were trapped in the mountain range now known as the Thestral Mountains. With no food and no way to brave the storm, they went into the caves to find solace in their defeat. There they found a flower; one that fed them but also gave them the gift of enhanced sight. They stayed there for years in the hopes of finding a way to defeat the Windigos so they could return to their brethren with their honor intact...but they never did.
“Some of us still live there, but the truth is we would probably still be holed up in those mountains wallowing in our defeat if it weren’t for Princess Luna finding us in our dreams and convincing us that our failure was a gift that we could use to restore our honor. And well, here we are.” Brad sat in silence for a time trying to parcel out what could be myth or reality in this strange world before something about the story felt off.
“You said Princess Luna, how long ago was this?”
Tapping her chin Star turned to Blue, “it was about twelve hundred years ago right?”
“Aye,” he said with a nod.
“Twelve hundred years…” Brad said breathlessly. “Wait, wait, wait… Princess Celestia said Luna was her sister.”
“She is,” Star said with her head just a bit cocked.
“Are you telling me that they're over a thousand years old?”
“Yeah, why is that odd laddy?”
“The oldest human ever was barely more than one hundred and twenty… Jesus, they’re older than the Crusades.”
“What were the crusades?” which earned an unintended grimace from Brad at the two's curious expression.
“Ugh, you know what? I think now would be a good time to get what I wanted from the plane.”
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Greetings everyBEE! I’m terribly sorry for the delay! I have used my disguise as an ordinary wasp-themed superhero by day, to sent Azriel a package chock full of BEEES and a note telling him to get on with it. He never knew what hit him. Sadly, since we reside on the other side of the globe of each other and my newest comic isn’t making me any money, it took some time getting to him.
7870629 I was wondering who sent me a box full of dead bees, mystery solved I guess.
7870637 Curses! Foiled again! I always forget the holes!
Isn't this just a similar story to that movie about a plane that gets teleported to WW2 or something? Sounds an awful lot like the plot to that movie. Could just be me, though.
Is what he wants stashed alcohol? I'm pretty sure it is.
They should fire Rainbow from the main canon. That'd be the best shell every. Incoming Rainboom Shell!!
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/AC-130_gunship_firing_broadside_at_dusk.jpg
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8a/56/f9/8a56f93781c0630b794176dc078c6734.jpg
Evasive and generic as best they can, small, medium and large cannon, with suporting rapid fire guns, difference between gun and cannon with being seen? depending on if the plane can be scanned?
Hope that magic and delicate nitrogen bonds dont have intresting reactions.
Twilight, why is there a large hole in the garden? All I did was a standard atomic level magic scan.
7870671 Not sure about a plane going back to WW2, but there is the movie Final Countdown where a U.S aircraft carrier gets sent back to just before Pearl Harbor. Wasn't a great movie and I certainly wasn't trying to imitate it.
7870673 you'd be right.
7870671
I thought it was an entire battleship that got sent back to Pearl Harbor.
7870731 Oh lord no I wasn't accusing you of such a thing. And no that's not the movie I'm thinking of. It's like, an airliner plane with loads of passengers on it that gets teleported back to the days of the WW2. I think it was called 1942 or something like that. Really cheap budget sort of movie. It was...alright, as far as b-list movies go i suppose.
No, i wasn't accusing you at all. The plot just sounded similar and I thought you were basing your story around a similar concept or something. Even if I was accusing you your story was a lot more interesting anyway. XD
7870731 great, now im thinking about how a final countdown/mlp crossover would work
It was a bit hard keeping track of the conversation at places, as I sometimes had no clue if it was a human or pony that was talking. A few more said tags and some added descriptions would help clear that up.
Ah, an update! I loved this chapter, the dialogue felt real natural. I always love the "explaining advanced air force shit to ponies" parts of stories like these.
7870731
It's not contraband booze, it's social lubricant and helps normalize relations with the native authorities. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it!)
I wonder if ponies have anything like disposable pens or smooth and very white paper? Mundane stuff to us that would blow their minds (technology that replicates magic you'd need an artisan unicorn for). At least the non-unicorns would be impressed...
p.s. Love the world building!
7870752 Oh I didn't think you were accusing me of anything
, just wanted to clear it up that it wasn't a source of inspiration. Glad you're enjoying it so far.
7870774 If I'm not mistaken there is a story about a carrier coming into Equestria I think it only had one chapter though.
7870776 Thanks for the input I'll read it over and add some more clarification on who is talking and throw a bit more description in.
7870792 I'm glad you thought it was natural I scrapped the chapter more times then I care to say because of how forced I thought some interactions were.
7870806 I know that pain. I once tried my hand at a military human in Equestria fic and... eugh. It's a very, VERY hard balance to get right.
7870734 If you're thinking of the film "The Final Countdown", it wasn't a battleship. It was the USS Nimitz, a freaking aircraft carrier, with a full compliment of F-14s.
Alas, they didn't change history. Just ensured their own.
Anyway, new chapter! Yay!
The one problem I can point out is the run-on sentences. Google what a run-on sentence is and how to avoid it, implement that into this fic and the writing quality will spike massively.
So, they don't know what feet are, but no question about milimeters? Does this mean they use the metric system, or the question of just how big a 105 milimeter cannon is didn't occur to them? And what is this story building up to? You've captured my attention, but surely you didn't just decide to write a story about a gunship crew becoming diplomats and teaching the ponies about human military hardware, right? Guess I'll just see what comes next.
Awesome, wasn't expecting this when I checked my notifications!
7870731 I think he's talking about a b-movie, an airliner went through a storm and was thrown into a WW2 that the Germans were completely owning and about to invade Britain who didn't have radar, and they had to get it from the airliner itself.
7870975 is that some thing like the Enola Gay?
7870806
The AC-130 is not called the Spooky, its called the Spectre. The Spooky is the AC-47.
Also, this is an interesting concept, and oddly similar to an idea I have had swimming around in my head for a few weeks. It's bacicly this, but with a Silverplate B-29 replacing the AC-130.
And if any of you know anything about sliverplate B-29s, you know it can only be carrying one thing...
7871055
Maaaaaaybe...
*Evil Laughter*
Brad
7870673 im thinking a smartphone. Or flashlight/lazer pointer or something else of the comon to us but. Unreal to ponies. Typ of thing.
7870678
http://skyrings.deviantart.com/art/Atomic-Rainboom-263723088
Re Luna the racist: according to the show, she's right, at least in the case of Dragons and Griffins (we only have seen one Minotaur, so we can't say if Iron Will is typical). Griffins are greedy self-centered critters who will only help others if paid for it and have let their main city decay into a giant slum: Dragons are also greedy, cruel jerks, and both species need to be taught about Friendship by Ponies, being apparently unable to come up with the idea on their own. [1] The portrayal of Diamond Dogs isn't exactly flattering, either.
[1] "Sullen peoples, half devil and half child?"
Well, at least the Ponies don't feel they need to colonize to spread their obviously superior morality. 
7871399 counter point, the same could have been said about the changelings, then thorax. what we have here is a classic case of not enough information
Always good to see this awesome story update!
7870824 Yeah, it's not a great genre to try and write for. But I think it's making me a better writer for sticking to it.
7870969 Yeah, I've always had a issue with punctuation. I'm slowly getting better at it.
7870984 No, it wont be just about them being diplomats, I'm just in the beginning arc to the story is all.
7871120 I appreciate the attempt at a correction and you are correct to a degree. The AC-47 was the first gunship and the first to be named Spooky, and the first AC-130 eventually became the AC-130H(after it went through the A and E designation with different weapon load outs) known as the Spectre. But the second AC-130(and I use that lightly since technically there was the A, and E model) known as the AC-130U was named Spooky II. When the AC-130U came online they wanted to pay homage to the first gunship. So the 4th SOS is a heritage Squadron that took the old units callsign and became the direct descendant of the 4th Air Commando Squadron, both are Spooky.
7870673 Oh disregard, I got confused. Brad isn't getting booze off the aircraft.
7872674 You are a stronger man than I, in that regard.
7872674
Yea, I realised that after looking at Wikipedia after I commented, sorry :/
Also, I just want to point out that the AC-130 is called the Spectre, Spooky, Ghostrider and Stinger II. Thanks, USAF, for making things really confusing. As far as I know, this is the only aircraft they do this confusing name-changing with different versions with.
7870752 Hi Unique. Is this film the one you're thinking of? Or could it be another film? I haven't seen it myself, but a quick search pulled this one up.
I do recall something about a time-traveling flight (aside from "The Final Countdown" that was already mentioned), but it wasn't the one linked above. Or perhaps I'm just incorrectly recalling a Twilight Zone episode where the crashed crew of a WWII bomber was stranded in the Sahara and the period shown was in the 1960s....?
There might be others...?
7872939
In light of Shinzo Abe's attempts to strengthen the JSDF and maybe expand their overseas missions and the backlash from the public, I recommend this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipang_(manga)
7871120 Spooky is the designation for those two gunships actually.
7871204 it was confirmed to be stashed alcohol
edit: never mind
Dang, i so would have liked to try out that flower.
7873207 Hmmm. Sounds like a good story (& anime) to check out. Thanks!
I swear to God, if I was part of the team putting together the manga, I would've sneaked in someone in the background saying, "I thought that thing was supposed to have a wave-motion gun."
I hate double-posts
7872101
Thorax is of course the One Good Changeling, who knew from the start that he was "different", and apparently Changelings in all their history have never thought of sharing loving with each other, it takes a Pony to think of it. And becoming Good Guys apparently = no longer being ugly, because ugly=evil. And apparently includes some sort of brainwashing, because none of them remain loyal to their queen and possibly universal mother (if we go with the insect theme) after their transformation. There's a lot that's problematic in those episodes.
7872939 THAT'S THE SON OF A BITCH THERE! YOU FOUND IT!
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7873624 Glad I could help. Was it fairly good enough to be worth looking into?
Human history in a Nut Shell
It Haunts us.
7873750 Quite hit and miss really, to be honest.
7873965 Okay. Thanks for letting me know.
Cheers.
Yeah, I'll keep tabs on this. It's a refreshing change of pace for a "Military/Soldier in Equestria" type story.
7870984 I personally, having just blitz-read through this in a single night, have basically just stopped wondering what's going to end up happening and lived in the moment, as it were. If It does turn out to be some kind of slice of Life kind of thing without an overarching plotline or enemy for the Crew to join the fight against, then I'll be perfectly fine with that; at least I'll get to learn a little about US Air Force practices.
7870804 I'll definitely get a little into what both species have that amazes the other, but, it will honestly be a little light compared to most HIE fics since most of those tropes have been exhausted by this point in the fandom. Also, I'm glad you enjoy the world building.
7873368 As a night owl I'd confirm that I'd also love to try it haha
7872602 Always great to see a repeat reader as well!
7873903 I got more entertainment out of that video then I really should have, but my humor is as black as the way I drink my coffee.
7877485 You binge read my fic? *manly tear shed* I don't usually pick favorites, but if I did, you would be near the top of the list just for that comment!
7877485 I'm not opposed to it being slice-of-life. Just seems like it would be a big setup for that kind of story. Besides, if you're going to drop an AC130 into a story, you can't just turn it into a garden decoration. You gotta let that thing spread its wings and have some fun. ;)