E*Q*U*E*S*T*R*I*A 4077

by Prismfire Productions

Visions of the Things to be...

It had been a few days since Twilight left the 4077, and since that fateful encounter, morale was up. Every mealtime in the mess hall buzzed with conversation and, at the dinner following Twilight's departure, everyone joined in a unanimous chorus of "If I Knew you were Coming" and led by none other than Hotlips on vocals. It was not just chow time that was different, however, the air itself felt lighter. Off hours, the unit had started doing various group activities ranging from full tackle football to Charles bringing the chess board out of the Swamp to host a tournament.

Yet, despite the boost, deep down every single one of the unit missed Twilight, to varying degrees. Hotlips missed, in her opinion, one of the best nursing assistants she ever had. Radar missed his paperwork buddy. Charles missed the most talented chess opponent he had the pleasure of facing. Hawkeye, however, had taken the departure the hardest. He had developed a deep bond with the unicorn in a short time, the care and compassion she showed reminding him of his wife back home. When she left back for Equestria, Hawkeye found himself back in the cruel reality he had been placed in.

He was in Korea, and Korea did not give a damn about him.

He knew that she could not have stayed even if she wanted to. The United States government would have taken her away the first chance they got. Just thinking about that cruel reality was enough to comfort Hawkeye's troubled mind and heart, for she was back home where she belonged, just like he hoped to be one day soon. Away from the troubles of war. Away from having to do operations and amputations. Away from a hellscape in which each second could be his last. Yet, as he sat on his cot, he had no idea what was lurking on the horizon.

Col. Potter, like most mornings, was in his office looking through the latest news from the front, and in his opinion, the news looked promising. South Korean and United States forces were driving back the enemy in waves, a frontal assault that reminded him of how the Germans raced across France and ended up capturing Paris. The grizzled war veteran found cruel irony in the fact the same tactics that were condemned several decades prior were now being used to ensure victory for South Korea. It humbled him, but before he could descend further down the mental rabbit hole, Radar came bursting through the door.

"Morning Radar," Potter said, sitting up straight in his chair as he looked the young lad in the eyes. "What got you jumpier than a cowboy with a snake in their boot?"

"Sir, more choppers are coming," Radar said, the telegram from the front lines in his hand, wrinkled from his sudden movement. "Need to get everyone to the OR and into gear. It is going to be a long and busy day for us all."

"More already? We just got done treating the last group of wounded," Potter let out a deep sigh, one of both tiredness and frustration. He was slightly surprised that a new wave was coming so soon, and knew it was going to probably be right from not having a resupply yet. "Though, why come straight to me instead of going to Trapper first? There must be something else in that telegram for you to come in here before him."

"There is sir, this is THE LAST wave we will ever get. The war is over, see for yourself" Radar said, handing the telegram over and watching the news slowly registering to his commander. "This is it, we can finally rest and go home."

"Well I'll be…" Potter said, rubbing his chin as he handed the telegram back to the respondent "Have Trapper read this out over the intercom, then start to prepare to slowly breakdown camp. You know, all the nonessential stuff since we will still have some wounded here for a bit. It will make things run smoother once they leave, and speed up the packing."

"Right away sir!" Radar saluted and walked out of the office, once he was gone, Potter slumped in his chair and softly sighed. Reaching into one of his desk drawers, he pulled out a long-forgotten bottle of alcohol and poured himself a shot as a tear ran down his cheek. "I guess we will never see her again, but this is for you Henry. We won."

"Attention, attention all personnel," Trapper's voice coming over the intercom made the whole camp pause, everyone from the cooks to the nurses listening to what had to be said. "More wounded are on the way, but this will be the last group we will ever get since the war is now over. North and South Korea have reached a peace treaty, and we will be leaving in 5 days. When all the wounded are operated on, they will be shipped out for us to begin teardown. That is all."

At that moment a cheer echoed through the camp, but B.J, Charles, and Hawkeye were not cheering. They were in the O.R. doing a follow up procedure on a young soldier's gunshot wound when the announcement was heard. While the announcement itself was positive, with a couple of the newer nurses leaping for joy, the trio and Hotlips merely looked at each other, with most of the glances being at Hawkeye.

"Man," Hawkeye said, his shoulders sinking and avoiding eye contact with Hotlips as she took his scalpel and gloves. "I haven't felt this bad since Henry died. Don't get me wrong, I hope Twilight lives a long happy life, and she taught me friends come in all shapes, forms, species, and universes. Still, that does not change the fact that I will miss her."

"Same here." B.J. said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Friends may come and go, but the bonds they forge and lessons they teach stay with you."

"Yeah," Charles added as they finished patching the patient up, "Not going to lie, I would give up anything to see her again. She beat me in that chess match because I underestimated her, but I want a rematch."

"What is in the past can't be changed, but the future is a mystery that eludes us all. Who knows?" Almost by fate, as soon as Hotlips finished a bright light flashed through the entire camp and when it died down, a familiar figure was standing by the flagpole. "Well, the timing was too good to be true, but that just made my point…"

"No...way..." Hawkeye said in shock as he, B.J., and Charles joined Radar and Potter outside. It wasn't long before the entire camp had formed a circle around their lavender-furred friend, but it was him that took the steps to address her. "Twilight? Is that really you?"

"Hey Hawkeye!" Twilight said with a grin as she lept on him, tackling him to the ground and giving him a light nuzzle. "Did you miss me?"

"Oof, easy there Twilight, your tackles hurt." Hawkeye chuckled, giving Twilight a head pat before managing to get back onto his feet. "I missed you too, we all did as a matter of fact. Say, did you get bigger?"

"Not by much, but yeah I did, I also got these." Twilight said, spreading her wings and giving a few poses with them. "You know what that means, think about how Celestia looked."

"I think I know," Radar didn't even hesitate, having spent enough time around her and hearing her stories, he knew. Despite Celestia having spent less time than Twilight in the camp, the majestic princess’ features had engraved themselves into his brain. "Since you kept your horn, are you now a princess Twilight?"

"Indeed I am," Twilight beamed, making Radar give a smile that matched her own. "And that is part of the reason I came back, Equestria is at war with three of the evilest creatures we have ever faced because they want me. Considering I am now an alicorn, me being their prisoner would ensure that the Elements of Harmony could not be used against them, which would allow them a better chance at taking control. I need everypony… sorry, everyone, to come back to Equestria with me so that we have a stable means of tending to the wounded. We leave in two days.."

"Um, Twi, we have more wounded coming," Charles said, putting a damper on Twilight's enthusiasm and reminding her just where she was. "Besides, this is the last batch, the war is over. As soon as we heal the wounded, they are going to be shipped out and we have to start tearing down camp to return home."

"You really going to ignore an order from a princess?" Twilight's authoritative tone gave everyone pause, even Col. Potter did not dare to speak up against it as the choppers came into earshot. "Now here is what is gonna happen, just like last time, I am gonna stay in the Swamp until you give all the wounded that special gas, then I will come in and help with the surgeries and post-op. The sooner we get done, the sooner they can leave, and the sooner we can prepare to go back to Equestria, are we clear or do I need to zap something with magic to make my point clear?"

Nobody shook their head no, and with her statement made, she teleported into the Swamp. Much like her prior visit, it was a mess and in disarray. The still invoked an unpleasant shudder from the harshness of her previous taste experiment, her taste buds screaming in revolt to ignore it at all costs. Clothes were everywhere, no doubt the result of having to spend a lot of time in Or, but the sight of it triggered her personal complex, not unlike coming across a book or three that had been left out of place in the library.

"Since I got a few minutes, I might as well tidy up. I am sure they won't mind." Twilight thought to herself as her horn lit up and got to work. Time passed, twenty-five minutes from the hands on the clock, and she was done cleaning. Laying on Hawkeye’s bunk, she watched as the last of the wounded got carried into the OR, which made her start to mentally prepare for what she was about to witness and do. However, a sound registered in Twilight's ears that made her eyes go wide in fear and her fur pale a little. "Wait, I know that sound, it is the same one that… Oh.sweet.Celestia.no."

She looked outside as the first few mortars hit, the first one barely missing the mess hall as the second destroyed the outhouse. Teleporting outside into the middle of the camp as the next wave started, a bunch hit the dirt but one blew up a jeep causing a fire that was quickly contained. Col. Potter ran outside as a mortar bounced along the hard clay and stopped a few feet from Twilight, who stood there motionless but had a calm look on her face. Closing her eyes as a pinkish-purple hue surrounded her horn, the next thing anyone knew, a force field had surrounded the camp.

"Have everyone hurry, I do not know how long I can keep it up." Twilight said, looking up at Potter. The man nodded and rushed into the O.R. About 3 hours later, the surgeries were completed and the shelling had stopped, making Twi drop the force field and teleport back onto her bed in the Swamp as Hawkeye, B.J., and Charles came in.

"Twilight are you- wait, did you clean up?" B.J. said in shock. The three doctors looked around, everything was spotless, the beds were made and tidy and everything had been put in its proper place. “Well, thanks for that, but are you alright is the biggest question.”

"Yeah, and I am gonna be fine, just need a few hours rest," With a light yawn, Twilight soon dozed off. Her dreams, however, were far from pleasant. She stood tall in the middle of a battlefield, Ponyville a smoldering husk in the distance as it was consumed by fire. All around her, the bodies of ponies that she had come to be close friends with lay empty, vacant of the spark of life that was their souls. It was not just ponies either that made her look in horror, her new friends of the M*A*S*H unit were there too as Triek and Chrysalis stood across from her, a mock laugh ringing in her ears. It was a laugh that made her angry, and she could feel dark magic starting to surge in her body as she started to step forward. Before she could get to them, the dream ended, snapping her awake in alarm. A quick glance around made her relax, but the concerned looks of her three friends was enough to make her recenter. “What time is it?”

"1945 hours," Charles said flatly, leaning back on his bed with his arms crossed. “Bad dream?”

"Yeah, a very realistic one,” Twilight shuddered, the details still echoing around her mind llike dust in the wind. “Or, perhaps, it was a possible vision of things to come? Princess Celestia has a known ability to see glimpses of the future, I just hope that it doesn’t come to pass. However, that is future Twilight’s problem, for now I want to know is it ok if one of you can fix me a salad?”

"Yeah, I will fix it,” Hawkeye said as he got up, heading for the door. “But first, tell us what will be our role in your war."

"Same as here...triage, O.R., and recovery," Twilight said slightly aggravated, but remembered that the hectic events of the day were an easy excuse to have forgotten her explanation. "Tomorrow will be used to get the wounded transferred, then the day after we will be leaving for Equestria. Rest well tonight, my friends, for peace will not be easy to come by.”

Comments

[Charlie_K]

Quick question. Why does Winchester's dialogue sound like something we'd be hearing from Hawkeye or BJ? There's no refinement in his manner of speech and conduct, he doesn't sound like himself at all.