Spark

Chapters

Encounter
Conspiracy
Decoy
Breakout
Journey
Night
Bright Future
Sonata
Righteous Thunder
The Badlands
Site Echo
Spark
Metamorphosis: Part I
Metamorphosis Part II
Loose Ends
Prologue
Epilogue

Encounter

The tall, blue Unicorn pushed frantically through the bustling crowd of downtown Manehattan as she made her way towards the city’s center- Starswirl Plaza. It wasn’t what locals might have called a friendly night by far. Rain drizzled down onto a sea of umbrellas as ponies rushed every which way, disregarding the downpour as they made their way to work. The Unicorn nearly tripped over a family hurrying to cross the street, not even acknowledging their presence. There were more important things at stake today; her kind was dying out.

The Unicorn, who went by the name of Silky Sunset, was one of the few remaining members of the Awakening- an organization that nearly vanished after the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna. Sunset and her compatriots had tried, unsuccessfully, to return Nightmare Moon to power in the place of Princess Luna in an attempt to cast eternal darkness over Equestria. The media painted them as evil terrorists, and Sunset realized that she couldn’t exactly blame them. Certain members had carried out horrific acts, such as the bombing of Starswirl Plaza the previous year. Manehattanites were still reeling over that.

Sunset wasn’t proud of these actions, of course, and she suspected that the perpetrators of the acts weren’t aware of the Awakening’s true goal: to unite Equestria under darkness. She was certain they had pursued the Awakening’s agenda for a rush, or perhaps to satisfy some inner feelings of rebellion, when in reality her organization was supposed to benefit the country. Equestria would benefit from having a stronger hoof in charge- in fact, it could still benefit with such a thing, even with two monarchs. Silky Sunset had nothing against either princess, but like the rest of her companions, she felt they had grown soft. Equestria needed a new leader, and if such a change had to be made forcefully, then so be it.

Turning down a dark, rain-slicked alleyway, Sunset stopped. This was it- the rendezvous point. She turned around and, as she had been briefed, a Pegasus was standing behind her.

“Evening, Silky Sunset,” the Pegasus said.

Sunset nodded, “glad you could make it, Ribbon Spin.”

Sunset handed Ribbon one of her two saddlebags, which the Pegasus immediately took. “Crummy weather, isn’t it?” he remarked.

Sunset sighed. “Ribbon, this is an important mission. Our cause is dying as more and more ponies lose faith, and you want to talk about the weather?”

Ribbon winced. Silky Sunset had a way with words, or at least considerable skill in using them to guilt trip ponies. “Right,” he said, “sorry. I just…” he looked at Sunset and took a deep breath before continuing. “I just want you to remember every once and a while that there’s more to life than our little organization. Why don’t you go get a coffee or something? I’ll get this job done, don’t you worry.”

“No,” Sunset said, scowling, “our organization needs us now more than ever, and that means devoting as much of ourselves as we can. I’m not touching food or drink until you get that package up to the Seaside Broadcast Tower.”

Ribbon shook his head. “Whatever you say. I’ll just get-“ the pony froze, staring in shock at something directly behind Sunset.

“What?” Sunset said, “what is it?” Reading the expression on her companion’s face and realizing the gravity of the situation, she turned around quickly. Standing behind them, clad from head to hoof in a Royal Equestrian Air Force flight suit, was an Aviator.

“Evening, you two,” the Aviator said, voice muffled by his mask, “I really was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this the hard way. Would you care for a chat?”

…

Storm Runner circled over Manehattan, keeping an eye on the events unfolding below. As newly commissioned Aviators, he and his friend Nimbus were being put to work daily to thwart Awakening actions. So far, they’d stopped two assassinations, thirteen counts of vandalism, and five robberies. Not bad for only two months on the job. Yet despite what they’d encountered, they very rarely saw any real action. After Nightmare Moon’s defeat, it seemed most of the Awakening had become demoralized, which made capturing them almost intolerably dull. Every so often one stuck by his or her commitment and led a halfway-decent chase, but it wasn’t often enough. Storm descended five hundred feet, just above rooftop level now, to get a better view. Nimbus had cornered the two Awakening ponies they’d been following on a tip since noon.

“How’re you doing?” he radioed down, “are they armed?”

Below, the transmission shattered the tense atmosphere, and Nimbus sighed. “Negative, neither appears armed. I’m gonna try to talk this one through.”

“Whatever you say,” Storm Runner replied. Nimbus faced the ponies again, who had scarcely dared to move.

“Look,” he said finally, “I get it. You’re both convinced you’re doing the right thing. And with this helmet on, I’m probably projecting the perfect image of the faceless, soulless automaton you undoubtedly see me as. But when I take this off-“ Nimbus removed his helmet, holding it at his side, “I’m just like you. I’ve got a family, a little brother, hobbies, I like to read… Can’t we just for once talk about this from one pony to another?”

Sunset backed up, warily eyeing Nimbus. “I know your face,” she said, “you’re the one who murdered our best flier.”

Nimbus felt his heart plummet. Storm Runner was monitoring radio chatter and could hear every word that was said. He quickly shut off his receiver, knowing exactly what would come next.

“You mean Sun Blaze?” Nimbus said, drowning out Storm Runner’s requests to contact him, “I did not kill her. She killed herself. Your idol was so obsessed with killing Celestia and entombing Luna in Nightmare Moon’s power that living in a world without Eternal Night was unbearable. If you’d been there, you would have seen that instead of giving up the fight when she had the chance, she poured every last ounce of life she had into trying to destroy Celestia. Is that what your organization condones? Cold-blooded murder?”

Sunset could feel the weight of the object inside her second saddlebag- the failsafe. Plan B. Perhaps if Nimbus continued to ramble, she might have a chance to further the plan. All it would take would be a quick magical spark to the fuse…

“We do not murder, Nimbus. Those who die at our hooves deserve their fate. While I do not generally condone violence, it has its place.”

Nimbus shook his head. “I can’t believe it. Every time I meet you guys, it’s always the same. You follow a dying cause blindly, not even stopping to ask if you’re really trying to change this country for the better.”

Ribbon snorted. “You’re one to talk about blind faith, soldier. All of your orders come from the chain of command- a chain that starts at Celestia and Luna. I’ll bet you’ve never once questioned an order.”

Yeah, that’s not gonna work, Nimbus thought, recalling the night he, Storm Runner and his teacher, Polaris deliberately disobeyed an order to take shelter in order to bolster Canterlot’s defenses against the Awakening.

“I’ve heard enough,” Nimbus said, “under the Royal Equestrian Air Force’s acting authority granted by the Manehattan Police Force, I am obligated to place you both under arrest.”

Silky Sunset winced. It was now or never. Quickly, she levitated a spherical object out of her saddlebag and lit its fuse, tossing it into the air between her and Nimbus.

“I’ll die first,” she said calmly.

To Nimbus, it was one of those rare moments when time seems to break down. He could see the sparking fuse and knew it was a bomb, meant to take him and the two Awakening ponies out. He’d switched off his receiver, so Storm Runner wouldn’t know about the bomb until after the detonation. He flared his wings and shot forward, straight into Silky Sunset, shoving her back into her partner and tossing them both out into the street. Nimbus had time to spare one glance back before the bomb exploded. REAF flight suits were manufactured to protect against indirect fire, but the explosion was close, and the insulation wasn’t entirely strong enough to keep Nimbus from feeling the sharp burn that accompanied the fireball. He winced as the concussion knocked him head over hooves, but rolled upright as the shockwave died down. With his world returning to normal, Nimbus switched his communications back on.

“Storm, targets are hostile,” he spat, “engage the Pegasus, and I’ll get the Unicorn.”

Silky got to her feet and recovered, sprinting down another alley while Ribbon Spin took to the skies, pursued by Storm Runner. Nimbus shook his head and bolted into the air, flying down the alleyway Silky had taken. He spotted the Unicorn halfway down the alley, and dove towards her, but she ducked into another passageway. Nimbus tensed his wings and ripped around the ninety-degree turn. Such maneuvers were getting easier for him- with the practice he’d been receiving, it hurt much less to break the standard flight envelope. He leveled himself just in time to see a magically levitating trash can in his path. He collided with the receptacle, seeing bright stars in front of his eyes, and slammed to the ground. Through blurred eyes, he saw Sunset climbing a fire escape to the roof of an apartment building at the end of the alley. Finally, a chance to engage in the open sky.

Nimbus leaped to his hooves again, double checking his helmet targeting system. His heads-up display flickered occasionally, but it had apparently survived the blast in relatively good condition. Convinced everything was fine, he took off, accelerating up through the buildings in a sheer vertical climb. Silky was already at the edge of the apartment, leaping towards the next nearby building. Nimbus had underestimated her- the Unicorn was quite athletic. He accelerated towards her again, wings beating furiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Storm Runner chasing Ribbon Spin. The Pegasus was making a break for the Seaside Broadcast Tower, but Storm Runner was right on his tail, and gaining. On the roof ahead, Silky was throwing whatever she could find towards Nimbus, but the Pegasus was prepared for levitation magic this time, rolling out of the way as debris flew towards him. Silky was backpedaling, keeping her eyes focused on Nimbus as she moved, and it was then that Nimbus saw her fatal mistake. With every hoofstep she took, she came closer to the building’s edge. She was so focused on Nimbus, that he knew she’d never see it in time. No longer dodging, he simply plowed through the projectiles, heading straight for Sunset. The Unicorn, realizing that her attacks were no longer keeping her pursuer at bay, turned around and put on a burst of speed, which forced her right off the building’s edge.

“Dammit,” Nimbus swore, diving down at Silky from above. The ground was rapidly rushing up to meet both of them. Nimbus knew he’d survive the impact, though it would hurt worse than a bucket of Manticore stingers, but the more fragile body of Silky would be a different story. He had to hurry. With only a few feet left, he dove underneath Sunset and pulled up sharply. He forced air into his lungs against the g-forces, pulling level just above the pavement. On his back, Sunset immediately passed out. Unlike Nimbus, and indeed the entire Pegasus race, her body was not strengthened against high-g maneuvers, and the sudden deceleration was too much for her. Nimbus slowed down and landed, rolling Silky Sunset off his back.

“I have the Unicorn,” he said to Storm Runner. A few moments later, Storm Runner replied.

“Roger, the Pegasus is in custody now. Squawk 6800 for the authorities, they should be there shortly.”

Nimbus switched his transponder frequency over to 6800- the Manehattan police alert frequency- and almost immediately heard the sound of galloping hooves as the nearest police cart approached. Behind him, Silky stirred, regaining consciousness.

“I’m… I’m alive,” she moaned.

“You are,” Nimbus said evenly. “I’m not a murderer, and neither are my friends and comrades. Maybe you should consider that.”

Silky Sunset laughed slowly. “Maybe not now,” she said, “but you will be. When the orders come your way, you will be. As for me, I’m sure the Princesses have policies on how to handle my kind, too. Perhaps an afternoon of some slow torture for me, or solitary confinement for the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll even get death.”

“Are you that ignorant?” Nimbus hissed, “do you and your kind really think that’s how our country works? You call us the enemy without visible justification, yet I’ve seen no reason to believe the Awakening isn’t the true evil. It’s over for you. Equestria is at peace now, and it breaks my heart to see good ponies like you turning to some cause as foul as this over ideals that are over a millennia old.”

Police ponies had arrived on the scene, and several took Sunset, cuffing her front hooves together. She didn’t resist as they hauled her away, but stared at Nimbus with her piercing, blue eyes as she was set inside the police cart. Her next words chilled Nimbus to the bone.

“You switched your comms off when I mentioned Sun Blaze,” she said. “You haven’t told Storm Runner you killed her yet… have you?”

Nimbus stared, heart beating faster than it had in months. Silky Sunset smiled as the carriage pulled away.

“It’s only beginning, Nimbus,” she said, “your little secret won’t be secret for long, and as for me- we’ll return. You can count on it.”

Nimbus stood in the middle of the street as the cart sped out of sight. At the sound of hooves touching down next to him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Storm Runner.

“Jumpy much?” Storm asked.

Nimbus held his chest. “Dear Celestia, Storm, you nearly scared me to death.”

“Well, we all had a bit of a scare today. I talked to the cops- looks like our perps will be downtown overnight. They’ll be doing some light questioning, but they let me take this back.” Storm Runner handed Nimbus an audio recorder. “No clue what’s on there, but I figure we should let Colonel Cloudsplitter have a listen. The Pegasus was trying to get this to the Broadcast building for some reason.”

“Yeah,” Nimbus said, “sounds good.”

“By the way,” Storm added as he adjusted his flight helmet for the trip back to Manehattan Airbase, “you had a comm failure back there a while ago. I couldn’t hear anything on your end. Everything alright?”

Nimbus nodded, “it’s fine. Darn helmets aren’t completely reliable.”

“Okay then,” Storm Runner said, raising an eyebrow, “well, let’s head back to base. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“You and me both,” Nimbus agreed as the two lifted off into the night sky. Even as they flew away, though, Nimbus spared a glance back at the city. Silky Sunset’s words still haunted him. What was only beginning? The Awakening was supposed to be dying, wasn’t it? Whatever the case, Nimbus flew on with a feeling of gnawing unease. If Sunset was right, something big was coming, and he could only hope it could be prevented.

Conspiracy

The amber lights of Manehattan Air Base glowed steadily in the ever-darkening night. By the time Nimbus and Storm Runner entered the traffic pattern, the sun’s last rays disappeared from the sky, and when their hooves finally touched tarmac, every trace of light above was gone.

Nimbus was still feeling shaky from Silky Sunset’s comment earlier, but he was slowly recovering. Storm Runner hadn’t heard a word of the conversation about Sun Blaze, and he seemed to have bought his story about the comm failure. Still, he made a mental note to be more cautious in the future. He and Storm Runner trotted off the runway and towards the squadron building of the 132nd Aviator Squadron, or “Windigo” as its members referred to it. The squadron’s patch, bearing a steely-eyed Windigo, bore down on them from above as they passed through the doors.

“Evening, Lieutenants,” a Pegasus called from down the hall. It was Cyclone Sprint, the squadron’s third newest Aviator ahead of Nimbus and Storm Runner. The pony, as far as Nimbus could tell, considered himself practically invincible. He was a stereotypical Aviator- cocky, brash, competitive, good-looking, and generally despised while his back was turned. What made the situation worse was that as a First Lieutenant, he was one rank senior to Nimbus and Storm, who were only Second Lieutenants- a fact he never made them forget. Still, he wasn’t bad in the air- probably his only somewhat redeeming feature.

“Good evening, sir,” Nimbus said, very slightly stressing the “sir” with a hint of distaste. Evidently Cyclone never picked up on the audial cue and puffed himself up a bit.

“Got two Griffons over the Bay today,” he said, keeping pace with the two Aviators as they headed down the hall to Colonel Cloudsplitter’s office, “I’m guessing they were going for our cargo ships again, harassing them and whatnot… anyway they saw me coming and turned tail. Pretty sure they cut their travel time back to the Griffon Kingdom in half.”

“Well, that’s cool,” Storm Runner mumbled, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Me and Nimbus foiled a probable Awakening plot.”

Cyclone was staring off into space throughout Storm Runner’s comment, and when it finally registered that the pony had said something, he faked a yawn. “Well, that’s… not really as exciting as my day, but I guess they don’t slap the good jobs on new Lieutenants.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Storm Runner said, “we’re reporting to the Colonel now. Could be something big.”

“Doubt it,” Cyclone snorted, “but hey- whatever floats your boat. See you two tomorrow.”

“Yeah, later,” Nimbus sighed as he and Storm stopped in front of the oak door to Cloudsplitter’s office. Both were nothing short of apprehensive. They’d only reported to the Colonel on their inprocessing day, and while she appeared to do her best to seem approachable, her vastly superior rank made talking to her considerably daunting.

“So are you gonna knock, or should I?” Storm Runner asked.

“I dunno,” Nimbus said, “maybe we should-“

“I can hear you two out there, you know,” a voice called from inside the office, “and before you ask, yes you have permission to enter.”

Nimbus swallowed a lump that felt the size of a watermelon in his throat and opened the door slowly. The door made a faint creaking sound that, to Nimbus, seemed like the wail of a banshee, heralding incoming doom. Both ponies trotted in and immediately snapped to rigid attention. Nimbus reported in.

“Ma’am, Lieutenant Nimbus and Lieutenant Storm Runner report as ordered.”

“Seats, please,” Cloudsplitter said, pushing two seats out from behind her desk towards the two Aviators. Nimbus carefully took his seat, sitting down in the position of attention.

“At ease,” Cloudsplitter said, “you two look like you’ve seen a ghost. For Celestia’s sake… am I that scary?”

Storm Runner coughed.

“Right,” Cloudsplitter said, “well, I certainly can’t blame you two. You’ve only been here a few weeks. Now, the mission you two were tasked with today- I was debriefed on the matter by the Manehattan Chief of Police. He said you two prevented an Awakening plan of some sort- so our intel was obviously correct- and that you’d managed to catch the perpetrators alive. I must say- well done for your first non-patrol sortie.”

Nimbus swelled with pride, though he tried his best not to show it. It was true- he and Storm Runner had been assigned rather ordinary harbor patrols since they’d arrived. It wasn’t until the day’s mission came up that Cloudsplitter made the decision to send them, in order to evaluate their usefulness and potential for future tasks.

“The chief also mentioned something about minor property damage, which I’ll just gloss over. It’s not like either of you lit that bomb,” she looked between Nimbus and Storm Runner, “…right?”

“Yes ma’am,” Storm Runner said, eliciting a swift kick from Nimbus, who interrupted.

“No, ma’am.”

Cloudsplitter’s gaze shifted from Nimbus to Storm Runner and back, confused. The situation was awkward, to say the least.

Storm Runner shook his head. “What we mean, ma’am, is that neither of us blew up the bomb.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cloudsplitter said, “what interests me is the device that I’m assuming you two brought back- the Chief mentioned it was an audio recorder?”

Storm Runner produced the recorder and set it on her desk. “This is it, ma’am. The police, as far as I understand, figured the Pegasus they’ve got in custody tried to broadcast this nationwide. That’s why he targeted the broadcast tower.”

“Hmm,” Cloudsplitter said, turning the device over in her hooves and examining it, “well, normally I’d check to make sure your clearance level is good for this, but… I’m just gonna go ahead and play this thing. You two found it, you ought to know what’s on it, too. Odds are it’s just some more Awakening blather.”

Without further ado, she rewound the recorder and pressed the play button on it. Immediately, a gruff voice launched into a short announcement.

“Ponies of Equestria, you thought us gone. For most of our organization, this is in fact true. Our numbers have thinned, and you undoubtedly think us weak because of this. This is far from the truth. Our numbers are few, but our resolve is strong. Nightmare Moon is gone, but our goal remains the same. Celestia and Luna must step down. We know now that negotiation is impossible, and have turned to our only other option. There remains one way to cleanse Equestria forever. Prepare yourselves, ponies, for in a few weeks’ time, we will unleash the power contained within Site Echo upon this nation. Perhaps then you will truly know our power. Sleep tonight, but remember- we are not gone. And we will not fade away.”

Cloudsplitter frowned. “Eerie, full of revolutionist buzzwords, and on top of it all, it’s referencing an urban legend. They really are desperate.”

“Urban legend, ma’am?” Storm Runner said.

“That’s right. Supposedly Site Echo was a weapons development facility during the Great Griffon War. The story goes that whatever they built in there was destroyed forever after the war, but some believe it still exists- the site that is. I think it’s a load of manure. I’ve got top secret clearance and I haven’t seen a shred of proof that the site ever existed in the first place.”

“But the Awakening seems convinced it exists,” Nimbus said, “to the point that they were willing to broadcast a recording about it. I guarantee they’ll be going after it.” He paused. “If, hypothetically, this ‘Site Echo’ were real, how much trouble would we be in if they managed to find it?”

“Hm,” Cloudsplitter said, “big trouble. Supposedly whatever’s in there would devastate life in Equestria, or perhaps all over the world if discovered. The common belief is that it’s a superweapon. Like I said- not something we’d want the Awakening to get their hooves on.”

“Well, then we should go after it,” Nimbus said, standing up from his chair. Suddenly he felt empowered, no longer held back by his rank. “If there’s any chance that Site Echo really exists- even a slim one- then we can’t let the Awakening get to it first.”

“Well, you won’t get any argument from me on that,” said Cloudsplitter, “but you have to realize that the taxpayers might think otherwise. Across the ocean, we’ve got Griffons dropping in daily, and while none of them have fired on us yet, things are pretty tense. We’re not the only squadron within fifty miles of Manehattan, but we’re the fastest-deploying one. If we pull out on some wild Cockatrice chase, there’s no telling what could happen while we’re gone, and if our mission turns out to be fruitless, it’s entirely possible we could be shut down. Besides- I don’t even know where we’d begin. I have some contacts that might… agh, good grief. I need time.”

She turned to Nimbus and Storm Runner. “You two are free to go- don’t bother with reporting out. I need some time to think about this. Standby, and be prepared for anything when you show up tomorrow. I’m not saying we’re going on this mission, but it’s definitely a possibility. You two get some rest. I’ll expect you back on base at 0745 tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am,” Nimbus said, saluting and turning sharply around. Storm Runner did the same, and both walked out the door in perfect marching cadence. Cloudsplitter sighed and shook her head. Rookies would be rookies. Everypony had been there once. The two new Aviators were just what the squadron needed. They added a bit of stability and spirit to the mix. Cyclone Sprint was intolerable ninety percent of the time, and Star Burst… she shuddered. Now was not the time to think about Star Burst. There was important work to be done. She grabbed some paper and a pen- time to put the base’s mail phoenix to good use…

…

“That wasn’t at all what I expected,” Nimbus said as he and Storm Runner turned toward the building exit.

“What, you thought she’d just decide to go chase down an urban legend?” Storm Runner said, “come on, she’s smarter than that.”

“No, I agree,” Nimbus said. “I’m just surprised we both got out of there alive after bringing up such a ridiculous idea.”

“Well it’s not like she’s a demon from Tartarus,” Storm pointed out, “the Colonel’s pretty chill most of the time. I think it’s cool that you respect her, but to be honest, I don’t see any reason to fear her.”

“I don’t fear her,” Nimbus replied, “I fear her rank. Guess that’s just a problem with- hey!”

Nimbus was shunted into a wall as an olive and yellow Pegasus stumbled right into his path. At the collision, papers flew into the air and the Pegasus started collecting them. “Oh my, oh dear Celestia, I’m so sorry,” he said.

“Let me help you with that, sir,” Storm Runner said, bending down and collecting whatever papers he could.

“Thanks you two,” the Pegasus said. It was Star Burst, probably the squadron’s most enigmatic officer. The pony was a Captain, and had a strong history of decorated service, yet nopony knew much of anything else about him aside from the record. He’d never shared details of his personal life, and tended to keep to himself. Nopony seemed to mind that either, as Star Burst just came across as a little… awkward at times.

“How’d your first real mission go?” the pony asked with a waver in his tone that Nimbus felt almost bad about classifying as borderline neurotic.

“Oh, you know,” Nimbus said, tapping his front hooves together awkwardly, “it wasn’t bad. Storm and I got the job done and found about some place called Site Echo.”

Star Burst’s right eye twitched. “You said Site Echo?”

“Yeah, we think that’s where the Awakening’s headed,” Storm said, picking up the rest of the papers and passing them back to Star, who stuffed them into his saddlebag.

“Please tell me you’re not actually going to look for it.”

Nimbus cocked an eyebrow. “You believe it exists?”

Star Burst snorted. “Are you kidding me? Ever look at the big budget holes that came up during the latter half of the Griffon War? The evidence is there… nopony wants to believe it, though. Trust me- I say it exists, and I hope the rumors that it wasn’t destroyed are wrong. Whatever’s out there-“ he fixed Nimbus and Storm Runner with a serious glance as he slowly backed away, “-will doom us all. Mark my words. You two have a good night.”

Nimbus blinked absently, watching the odd pony leave. Storm Runner hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Well, okay then,” Storm said at last, “you wanna remind me just how that nutjob reached Captain again?”

“Well he does have an impressive reco-“

“I’m leaning towards luck,” Storm continued, cutting Nimbus off as the two left the building and stepped into the crisp, cool night. Nimbus couldn’t wait to get back to his apartment and sink into bed. He could practically feel the warm covers around his body now…

“Hey,” Storm Runner said, breaking Nimbus’s daydream, “so maybe this mission tomorrow will be the end of us running missions for the cops, too.”

Nimbus paused to think about this. Storm had a point- lately, the Manehattan police force had been somewhat short of personnel after the Summer Sun Celebration fiasco, at least compared to the rising number of new threats coming out of the woodwork each day. Enter the Royal Equestrian Air Force, which agreed to support local police operations for a while. With the majority of said operations now focusing on the Awakening, it was highly possible that, if this mission toppled the Awakening for good, the police would let the Aviators go about their usual missions.

“I suppose it’s possible,” he said aloud, “but that’s assuming we even get to launch this mission. I don’t know who Cloudsplitter’s going to run this one by for permission, but chasing an urban legend’s going to be hard for anypony to swallow.”

“Suppose so,” Storm said, nodding as he split off towards his own apartment building. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, then. And don’t lose hope- there’s always a chance somepony’ll see this situation like we do.”

“Have a good night,” Nimbus said, turning away. Enemies, conspiracies, and high-ranking officers- today had been just a mess of events. Yawning, he headed for home. It was time for sleep.

…

The holding cell wasn’t too shabby, Silky Sunset admitted to herself. It was clean, and it had a working sink. The bed was practically new as well. Maybe they were taking pity on her; anything was possible. A few hours earlier, the police had spent a while questioning her about her actions. She simply told them the Awakening would rise again. It wasn’t some big secret by far. She was simply relaying the message the audio recorder had been intended to deliver. During the entire interview, she’d remained quite calm- to a point that she could sense her interviewer’s discomfort. It had been almost pleasing.

Outside the cell, the door to the station’s waiting room opened and a tan Earth Pony walked in, escorted by a police officer.

“You have five minutes,” the officer said, then left, closing the door behind him. Outside, he turned and focused his eyes on the stallion. If his intentions were to free Sunset, his efforts would be foiled before they barely began. The stallion took a seat on a bench just outside the cell.

“Sunset,” he said, “I bring news for you.”

Sunset frowned. “You risked exposing yourself, on my behalf, brother. Why?”

“Rising Star was captured in Canterlot today,” the pony said, “instead of being imprisoned, he took his own life. You were his deputy, and you know what that means.”

Silky Sunset shook with a shiver of excitement and apprehension. Rising Star was the Awakening’s leader. Now that he was dead, it was her place to claim.

“Brother, I am unable to lead from this cage,” she said at last. “You must choose somepony else.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the Earth Pony said, “We have a plan, and all you’ll have to do is remain here until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Go on…” Sunset said, a very faint smile playing about her face.

From outside the soundproof cell, the officer had no idea what was being spoken between the two, but the ever-widening smile on Sunset’s face unnerved him. When it was finally time for her visitor to leave, he escorted the pony out. Before closing the door, he turned to Sunset.

“Good night,” he said. He never liked playing the bad cop, and wishing prisoners a good night, he felt, was a simple, trust-building gesture.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Silky Sunset said, fixing him with her gaze.

The officer backed out and closed the door, never breaking eye contact. He’d seen insane prisoners, psychopaths, and even some that just seemed purely evil. This was completely different from anything he’d seen before. The mare’s gaze seemed to pierce his soul. He locked the door and turned, nodding to the station’s receptionist as he left the building and trotted out into the street. It was high time to go home and forget this ever happened.

Decoy

“I’m not ready for this… not ready at all.”

Octavia Melody bustled about her apartment room, throwing folders of sheet music here and there as she frantically dug through her traveling bag. The grey Earth Pony mare was feeling more jittery than she’d ever felt before. Today was her big chance, and if she couldn’t find a simple bow tie…

“Tavi?”

A white Unicorn with a blue mane and tail entered the room, looking perplexedly at Octavia. The grey mare whirled around in response with an almost psychotic twitch in her eye.

“What is it, Vinyl?!”

“Um… it’s just a concert. No need to-“ Vinyl stopped when she noticed Octavia’s unamused expression. “Hey, it’s cool. Never mind. By the way, are you looking for this?” Vinyl levitated a white and purple bowtie over to her friend. Octavia simply stared at it in disbelief.

“Thank you so much, Vinyl,” she said at last, “I just couldn’t bear thinking of…” she let her sentence fade out as she collapsed onto the small bed in her room. “Thank you, Vinyl,” she said after her breathing slowed down, “I have no idea how you put up with me like this, but I really do appreciate it.”

Octavia was a musician, plain and simple, though for her to speak of her profession, one would quickly discover that there was nothing plain and simple about her at all. She was more than just a cellist. When she played, the music from her instrument was sweeter than a siren’s call, and to top it off, she wasn’t simply a cellist, either. Octavia could play just about any instrument invented. She’d discovered this talent during her early childhood years- a time that she scarcely tried to remember. Her parents, while kind enough, had done their best to convince her that music was simply not a useful interest. “Nopony ever made a living off of playing a concert every month,” her father had liked to remind her. Octavia usually countered this by pointing out that there was a lot more to music than just playing at concerts, but she was often dismissed. By the time she was nineteen, the arguments became unbearable, and often explosive. Finally, fed up with the direction her parents wanted her to go, Octavia left her home and headed for Canterlot, where she auditioned for, and was accepted to, the Royal Concert Orchestra. From there, she pursued musical studies at the Canterlot Institute of Fine Arts. While there, she met Vinyl, a freelance DJ. The two became close friends and split an apartment after a few months. Now, here she was- a twenty-two year old mare with four music degrees and an internship with the Manehattan Philharmonic Orchestra, and today, that internship was hitting its high point- she would play alongside several of the Philharmonic’s best musicians for some of Manehattan’s dignitaries. What made this occasion even more amazing was the fact that the concert would take place on an airship circling Manehattan. It’d be hard to focus with such an impressive view, but that wasn’t what Octavia was worried about. Today was basically an audition, to see if she had what it took to play with the best under pressure. If Vinyl hadn’t come across her trademark bowtie when she had… she shuddered to think of what would’ve happened.

Vinyl pushed a tray with two coffee mugs on it into the room and sat down on the bed next to Octavia. She slid one mug towards her friend and started drinking her own.

“You’re up early,” she remarked, “you do realize that the concert’s over six hours away, right?”

“What do you mean?” Octavia said, “what time is it?”

Vinyl held up Octavia’s bedside clock, which read six o’clock.

“It’s a noon concert, and judging by the way you’ve been playing recently, there’s no reason you’re going to need six hours of practice and warm-up time.”

Octavia sighed, rubbing her bleary eyes with the blanket. “I can’t help it, Vinyl. This is a big deal- probably the most monumental event in my life.”

“More monumental than birth?” Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow.

Octavia stared at Vinyl with a deadpan expression. “It’s six in the morning. Humor isn’t helping things much.”

“Ah, but that, my friend, is where you’re wrong,” Vinyl countered. “Just drink your coffee, Tavi. You’ve got a big day ahead, and I for one am looking forward to seeing it unfold.”

…

Nimbus had been standing in the lobby of the Windigo Squadron building since 0700. He frequently made it a point to be early to reporting times, and today was a special occasion. He was curious to see whether last night’s crazy mission would actually be executed. It almost made the forty-five awkward minutes of trying not to stare at the receptionist bearable. Almost.

At 0744 and thirty seconds, Storm Runner walked through the door, executing his usual routine of being on time… but just barely. Nimbus had stopped trying to convince him to do otherwise, and as long as he kept reporting in on time, there technically was no issue with his habit.

“You know what I just realized?” Storm said as he hung up his saddlebag, “this is the first time I’ve reported in before Cyclone Sprint. It seems like every time I come here he’s already arrived, and waiting to ambush me with the latest daily self-promotion. It’s kind of a nice change of pace.”

“You’re telling me,” Nimbus said, “it’s- room, tench-hut!”

Both Nimbus and Storm Runner snapped to attention as Colonel Cloudsplitter entered the lobby.

“At ease,” Cloudsplitter said, and the two immediately relaxed. Cloudsplitter definitely looked tired, but she was trying her best not to show it. Nimbus didn’t even want to consider how little sleep she’d probably managed to get the night before.

“So,” she said, yawning, “the mission to go after the Awakening and prevent them from discovering the secret of the mythical Site Echo…”

Nimbus and Storm Runner unconsciously leaned a bit closer, waiting with baited breath.

“…is not going to happen. General Spear Point sent me an-“ she grimaced “-awesome letter early this morning. He said, and I quote ‘the Royal Equestrian Air Force does not have the personnel, nor the funding to waste time chasing down fairy tales. Let the Awakening find out for themselves that the place doesn’t exist.’ While I still don’t agree one hundred percent with this, orders are orders. Sorry.” She sighed, rubbing her temples. “But, since you’re both here and looking sunny and chipper, I do have a few patrols that need doing.”

“Yes ma’am,” Nimbus said, his heart sinking. The mission wasn’t going to happen after all, then. He couldn’t say he was surprised, but that wasn’t to say he wasn’t disappointed. If the site was real, and the Awakening got to it first, Equestria’s armed forces would have a serious problem on their hooves, but that apparently paled to the potential to waste taxpayers’ bits. Oh well, he thought, Patrols aren’t so bad, I suppose.

He’d only been doing them for the past few weeks, after all.

…

The Sol- eight hundred feet of majestic airship housing only the finest of Equestria’s comforts, was commissioned and built two years prior to the return of Princess Luna. The craft was built in response to a city accomplishment competition. Manehattan’s entry was the Sol, and the airship took the competition by storm. With twin gas envelopes and polished oak and mahogany trim, the ship was the most majestic thing in the sky, rivaling even the famed airships of Canterlot. She was well-armed, too. As a dignitary vessel, she carried six cannons (tastefully concealed in the lower section of the gondola, of course) and mounts for crossbows along the center deck. This made her extremely adaptable. For example, the ship could be outfitted with full weapons to transport VIP’s, or have everything removed and decorated to show off the airship’s sleek lines. Its docking port was magnificent, too- the ship was anchored to Starswirl Tower- Equestria’s tallest building. Boarding it took considerable nerve, as all that separated the passengers from a dizzying, fifty story fall was an enclosed, wooden bridge. It was this bridge that Octavia now found herself on, suddenly starting to wonder if there were bigger things to worry about than simply messing up a few notes during her concert.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked as she nervously crossed the bridge one hoof at a time with Vinyl urging her on from behind.

“Totally,” Vinyl answered, “how many ponies have you seen plummet from this thing on a daily basis?”

“None,” Octavia admitted, forcing herself not to look down.

“Exactly,” Vinyl said, “so get going! You’re nearly halfway there already!”

Swallowing hard, Octavia set yet another trembling hoof down. Only a few feet left to go, now.

“You know,” she said, three-quarters of the way across now, “maybe I should just… I don’t know- call it off? There are other internships…”

“That’s the phobia talking,” Vinyl said, smirking, “where’s the inner musician in you that’d stop at nothing for this gig, huh? Release the beast already!”

Octavia stepped back, and suddenly her hoof collided with solid deck. She turned around, and her jaw dropped. She’d made it! Looking back at Vinyl, she gave a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Vinyl. I still have no idea what I’d do without you.”

Vinyl Scratch smiled back. “Don’t mention it- now go have some fun! I’ll see ya later!”

Octavia waved to her friend and trotted back onto the ship, getting as close to the middle of the gondola as possible. While this was more secure than a bridge, she still wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with being this high above the ground.

“Deep breaths, Tavi,” she whispered to herself, “it’s scary, yes, but it’s not the scariest thing you’ve done in your life…” Her breathing began to slow and she took out her music as she waited for the others to show up. Nothing like a little music to distract oneself from a fear of heights, after all.

…

“Windigo One, comm check.”

Two thousand feet above the Manehattan skyline, Nimbus and Storm Runner were beginning their patrol. Personally, Nimbus didn’t mind running patrols. It gave him an excuse to be Windigo One or Two instead of somewhere lower down the chain. Storm Runner was a different story, though- patrols became routine long ago, and as a result, he was bored as usual.

“Two here,” Storm Runner replied, a few inches away from Nimbus’s wingtip, “I hear you loud and clear.”

“Check is good,” Nimbus replied, “Entering pattern for sector one.”

To the Royal Equestrian Air Force, Manehattan was divided into sectors, each of which merited a five to ten minute patrol. Sector one was the bay, usually the hotspot for illegal activity or Griffon intercepts, and as a result, this was the primary focus for Aviators. It was here that Nimbus and Storm Runner started their patrol, flying along in tight formation and scanning for any discrepancies below, always keeping an eye on their madar displays as well.

“Oh look,” Storm Runner said drily, “beachgoers. How threatening.”

“Come on,” said Nimbus, “it’s not that bad.” This was, of course a lie. Inside, Nimbus was positively fuming. While they ran patrols, the Awakening was probably already dispatching ponies to Site Echo, all because some general couldn’t be troubled to switch around a few missions.

“Alpha flight, this is Windigo Actual.”

Nimbus cocked his head up, suddenly paying attention. Colonel Cloudsplitter was on the other end of the radio. If she had contacted them directly, something big was up.

“This is Alpha, go ahead Actual.”

“Change of plans. Divert to sector three as soon as you can. I’ll brief you en route.”

Nimbus nodded to Storm Runner and rocked his wings, signaling an imminent turn. Then he banked smoothly to the left, leveling out headed straight towards the city. Sector three was Starswirl Tower, a rather fun sector to cover, and he didn’t mind the swap.

“ Windigo Alpha is inbound, Actual,” Nimbus replied.

“Good. Here’s the situation. We’ve got an airship loaded with VIPs departing from Starswirl Tower in five minutes. The airship was supposed to receive an escort from the 66th Aviator Unit, based just north of here. However, they were grounded. You two are going to pick up the slack. You can contact the airship, callsign Sol, at 119.75. They’ve already been briefed that you are replacing their escorts. Looks like a nice day, and I don’t expect you’ll have any problems. You two did well together on your last mission, so I’m expecting the same today. Look sharp, stay in contact, and please don’t let the VIPs, Celestia forbid, crash or something. You think I’m joking- I’m not. They did something similar last year, and the airship pilot left his post for some of the champagne they were serving onboard. When he finally took the wheel again, the airship was lodged in an apartment building tighter than a Manticore’s… well, you get the picture. Just do your task and set a shining example for Windigo.”

“Roger, Actual,” Nimbus replied, “I have a visual on the Sol. Switching active frequency to 119.75.”

“Good luck, Alpha.”

Nimbus switched his frequency over to the proper number, keeping an eye on the approaching airship. It was beautiful, to say the least. While they weren’t maneuverable, Nimbus felt that airships had a certain grace that was unique to them.

“Wow, look at that fat flying slug.”

Storm Runner, obviously, felt different.

“Do you want to contact them?” Nimbus said, sighing.

“Yeah, I’ve got this,” Storm Runner said. “Sol, this is Windigo Two. We have a visual on you and are inbound.”

“Roger, Windigo,” Sol’s captain replied quickly, “glad to have you with us. We’re casting off now- shouldn’t be in the air for more than an hour and a half. We really appreciate this, and we want to add that one of our dignitaries mentioned that drinks will be on him when you land, if you’re interested.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Cloudsplitter cut in over the airwaves.

“Thank you, but we’re on duty- we’ll pass,” Nimbus relayed to the airship.

“Fair enough. Steer clear, then, because we’re setting off.”

Nimbus watched the airship slowly pull away from the tower as he and Storm Runner fell into formation behind it. Securing lines fell away, and were immediately reeled back in by ponies on the rooftop, a job that Nimbus had to admit looked harder than anything he’d ever seen. Most of the ponies were flightless, and spent a good portion of their time looking over the ledge while pulling in their ropes. The height must have seemed dizzying to them; Nimbus couldn’t even fathom the rush such a view might give.

“Skydock cleared,” Sol’s captain said, “beginning preplanned course with escorts.”

Nimbus felt a rush of excitement at his words, nearly forgetting the disappointment that he and Storm Runner had faced when their proposed mission had been rejected. This was a real sortie, and these ponies actually relied on them. He felt important; he felt needed.

“Let’s give ‘em a show,” Storm Runner said suddenly, “we might not get another chance like this.”

“What?” Nimbus said, “I’m not sure we can-“

“Just this once,” Storm Runner pleaded.

Nimbus sighed. “One quick pass, one roll. That’s it.”

Storm Runner pumped his hoof triumphantly. “It’ll be fun, trust me.”

Nimbus and Storm Runner dashed forward, breaking into a slow, lazy roll as they pulled even with the Sol’s observation deck. They were met with a few cheers, and applause, which they acknowledged with a nod. Then they flared their wings and dropped back behind the airship. Nimbus smiled. Maybe they weren’t in harm’s way going after the Awakening, but he had to admit- that felt awesome.

“Windigo,” the Sol cut in again, “we’re tracking two incoming unknowns. They’re not squawking IFF codes, and they’re headed our way. Probably just some civilians, but we’d like you two to go check it out and see if you can lead them away. The sky looks clear otherwise.”

“Roger, Sol,” Nimbus said, bringing up his madar display and banking away from the ship, “we’re en route.”

“Sweet, a little action,” Storm Runner said, and Nimbus nodded in agreement. It was better than nothing.

…

On the deck, Octavia was setting up for the concert. She had, of course, found the time to wave at the Aviators as they passed, and appreciated that they were trying to liven up what she assumed was a boring escort mission. When they pulled away, she began to feel uneasy. Why had they suddenly left?

“Octavia, please try to stay focused,” the musician next to her said, “your eyes should be on the music, not the sky.”

Octavia snapped her attention back to the musician, realizing that she’d been following the Aviators.

“They just left,” she said, “why?”

The musician shrugged. “Not our problem. We have our job, they have theirs.”

Another movement caught Octavia’s eye, and she turned her head back to the city. Initially, she thought it might be a flock of birds, but as they approached, she wasn’t so sure.

“Octavia,” the musician said warningly, “please! I need your attention here.”

Octavia’s heart beat faster as she suddenly began to recognize what she was seeing. “You think those Aviators leaving isn’t our problem?” she said, pointing to the rapidly approaching cluster of Pegasi rising up from the city below, “then what do you call that?”

Then they hit.

…

As the two Aviators approached the madar hits, they soon found two rather confused Pegasi, as expected. They advised them to leave, vectoring them in a safe direction, and the Pegasi followed their directions, veering away.

“Well, that was cake,” Storm Runner said, “so much for exciteme-“

All at once, multiple madar hits appeared right below the Sol. Nimbus’s heart nearly stopped.

“My madar’s glitching,” he said, hoping he was correct, “are you seeing this?”

“If yours is, then so’s mine,” Storm Runner said. Nimbus turned his attention back in the direction of the ship. The two Pegasi they had just escorted away were now veering back towards the airship, but at this point, he hardly cared. Over fifteen Pegasi were rising up from the streets of Manehattan towards the Sol. In horror, Nimbus finally realized that he and Storm Runner had been tricked into leaving the Sol open for attack.

“Dear Celestia,” he breathed, pouring as much strength into his wings as possible as they rushed towards the ship, “we’ve been tricked.”

Breakout

Two minutes; for two minutes they’d left the Sol alone, and now it was under attack. They’d been fooled by decoys- the oldest trick in the book. Now Nimbus and Storm Runner were trying their hardest to make it back to the ship- to fend off its attackers- but they knew already, as they watched Pegasi land on the deck, dropping off their non-flying companions, that they were too late.

“Windigo, we need help now!” the Sol’s captain called out.

“We are engaging now,” Nimbus said, making sure to transmit to both the Sol and the base.

“Wait a minute- you’re engaging?” Cloudsplitter called back, “what’s going on up there?”

“Decoys,” Storm Runner said, breaking right to pursue an evading Pegasus. “We were sent to escort two unidentified Pegasi, and while we were gone they came up from below madar. Probably launched right off the street; that’s why we didn’t detect them until they were airborne.”

There was a groan of frustration on the other end before Cloudsplitter came back on.

“Dammit, you two. Engage the targets and don’t let them take that ship.”

“Roger,” Nimbus said, targeting a Pegasus carrying a Unicorn to the deck. He fired a few short bursts from his shoulder-mounted CAL-2 charged air launcher, most of which the Pegasus evaded. With no other choice, he rammed the enemy just as he threw his Unicorn companion onto the gondola below. Nimbus shifted his focus as his foe regained control, moving towards another Pegasus flying towards the captain’s cabin. Below, the deck was a scene of pure chaos. Guards were quickly overpowered by the enemy’s sheer numbers as ponies rushed around, trying to get below, to the airship’s quarters. Aggressors were already rounding some of them up, taking them towards the gondola’s prow. It was a hostage operation.

“Windigo Actual,” Nimbus called, locking up his target’s wings with a well-placed burst, “multiple bogeys are on the ship’s deck. We can’t engage without hitting VIPs.”

“What? Argh, just- okay, you two circle the ship for now. Prevent anypony else from boarding it. The Manehattan Police are already scrambling on the ground. Hopefully they can take care of the hostage aspect.”

“Roger,” Nimbus said, following another target over the airship’s gas envelopes and taking care not to hit the flammable structures with a stray shot. His target rolled inverted and pulled hard, arcing over the ship and diving towards the buildings below. Nimbus gave chase, folding his wings in for speed and closing the gap. The pony tried pulling up, but Nimbus resumed the dive, flaring his wings at the last second.

“Just- leave- us- alone!” he said through gritted teeth as he smashed the Pegasus into the street below. He wouldn’t be waking up from that one for a few hours.

“Windigo One, there’s a bit of a problem up here,” Storm Runner called out. Pushing himself off the street and back into the air, Nimbus went into a steep vertical climb.

“What is it, Storm?” he asked, clearing rooftop level.

“The Sol’s changing course.”

Nimbus’s eyes widened as he saw the humongous airship rotating in place and descending, heading straight for the center of town.

“I can’t stop it,” Storm Runner continued, forming up off Nimbus’s wing, “and even if I could, the hostages are still on that ship.”

A sharp crackling sounded over both ponies’ radios, followed by static and a few chirps. When the white noise died away, a new voice took its place.

“This is the Awakening. Aviators following this airship- I suggest you back off immediately, lest you witness the true strength and commitment of our ponies. We have taken everypony on this airship hostage, and no amount of negotiating will get them released. We will continue to hold them in captivity, as insurance. You and your armed forces stay away from us, and we won’t harm them.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Nimbus radioed back.

“I expect nothing, but I also know that you have no choice in this matter. You will do as I say, or ponies will die. It is that simple.”

Nimbus growled and shook his head. Things couldn’t possible get any worse, could they?

…

Silky Sunset hadn’t slept all night. They were coming, she knew, but she had no idea when. Therefore, she had made it a point to be awake when the time came. Hours of silent solitude had started her thinking- she was the leader of the Awakening now. Where and how could she succeed where so many of her predecessors had failed? She couldn’t lead as the pony she once was- it was clear to her now that she had to be stronger. She had tried to meet the Aviator the previous day- the one called Nimbus- without violence, but in the end, he had forced her to attack. It was his fault… he made the first move.

Standing up, Sunset began to pace. Yes, everywhere they went, it seemed, the Awakening was faced with violence. They had no choice but to retaliate. Society painted them as bloodthirsty revolutionaries without a real cause- they were wrong. The Awakening was being driven to violence. If Equestria wasn’t ready to listen to them, then it would be forced to hear their message, and if spreading such a message required violence, well then… Sunset shook her head, collapsing onto her bed. Violence wasn’t her way. She couldn’t bring herself to justify killing… she snapped her head up. She’d had the courage to attempt to kill the Aviator yesterday. She was capable of violence, if necessary. She’d made the step- she’d grown. She knew now that she was ready, and when the time came, she would have no hesitation to threaten Equestria with whatever power lay in the mysterious site Echo. As her breathing slowed and she began to calm down, Silky Sunset smiled. She was going to be the one- she alone would herald a new era for Equestria- one of equality and complete order. The rise of the Awakening was coming. She could almost see it.

A steady drone of propeller blades filled the air outside, slowly growing louder, and Sunset smiled again. Soon, very soon, her voice would be heard.

…

Things had quieted down on the airship, from the looks of things, but it didn’t make Nimbus any less uneasy. A few of the passengers and guards were sitting on the deck, circled by Awakening ponies with crossbows. Below, police were following the airship anxiously. They were below rooftop level now, and headed towards the city center. It was still unclear as to what exactly the Awakening were planning on doing- they were completely surrounded. Eventually, they’d have to give up.

“This is pointless,” Storm Runner said, “they’re just prolonging the inevitable.”

“I know,” Nimbus said, “and that’s what makes me uneasy. I mean look at what they’ve done in the past. The majority of their strikes against us have been a bit more… subtle. It’s like they’re just asking to be taken in.”

“Well, speak of Cerberus…” Storm Runner said in amazement, suddenly staring straight ahead, “I think they’re taking themselves in. Look!”

Nimbus followed Storm Runner’s gaze. The Sol was headed straight for Manehattan’s police station. It didn’t make any sense. Why? In disbelief, he engaged communications with the base again.

“Windigo Actual, this is Windigo One with an update.”

“Go ahead, One,” Cloudsplitter replied, her voice edged with stress.

“The Sol is headed for the city police department. I have no idea why, but in all honesty, this looks like a mass surrender.”

There was silence on the line for a moment. Then Cloudsplitter finally spoke again, haltingly. “A mass surrender after a hostage operation? That makes no sense. Why else would they be headed there? Didn’t you send two ponies there yesterday?”

“Well yes,” Nimbus admitted, “but they were errand lackeys- nothing more. I don’t see why they’d be significant.”

“Right, well let’s assume this has something to do with them. I want you two to draw in closer. If anything strange starts happening-“ she sighed, “-I want you to fire on the Sol. Just sever one of the envelopes. Without it, she’ll fall relatively slowly.”

Nimbus nodded, “understood.”

“Understood?” Storm Runner said, “what are you even saying, Nimbus? If we start shooting, those crossbows will find their targets a hay of a lot faster than the police will get there.”

“Not if one of us sweeps the deck first. We go in with low intensity charge and hit everything on that deck. We’ll knock everypony out, even the friendlies, but it’s better than losing hostages.”

The radio buzzed to life again as the Awakening came back into contact.

“This is the Awakening. We’ve noticed that you two Aviators have been rather persistent.”

“Give the hostages back,” Nimbus said, “they’ve done nothing to you.”

“You really don’t know how to bargain, do you?” The voice chuckled as the airship slowed to a halt in front of the police station. Below, dozens of crossbows were aimed at the ship, while Unicorns trained their horns on it. This operation was over.

“You can’t honestly think you’re in an advantageous situation,” Nimbus said, “you’re surrounded, you have no support, and-“

“Fix your little eyes on the observation deck, then, my dear Pegasus.”

Nimbus obeyed. Below, four ponies where wheeling out what looked like a metallic dish on a rolling stand. As he watched, they positioned the dish facing towards him.

“That, Aviator, is an ADS, otherwise known as an Aggressor Denial System. Ships use them to keep Sea Serpents at bay, but they do just fine against soft targets like you two as well.”

“He’s bluffing,” Cloudsplitter said, “those are hard to come by. What do you see?”

“Four ponies and a dish,” Storm Runner said, “the dish is silver.” Cloudsplitter’s response was immediate.

“Get out of there now! I’m pulling you two back. Fly away as fast as you can, and hug the terrain. You do not want to be out in the open when that thing hits!”

Nimbus had heard of Aggressor Denial Systems before. They worked by producing a 360 degree magical shockwave, which discouraged larger sea predators from taking chunks out of merchant vessels. They were extremely expensive, and illegal for civilian sale. Why these ponies had one, he didn’t know, but the threat was very real. He punched Storm Runner, who was staring in horror at the device, in the shoulder, and the two dove to the ground, wings pounding the air as they clawed for more speed.

“Fly home, little Pegasi,” the voice said, laughing, “if you survive, you’ll remember this day- the day you learned that you cannot truly defeat us.”

Nimbus spared one glance back as he took off down the street, barely clearing the rough asphalt below. There were three Unicorns directing magical beams into the dish, which was beginning to glow red. Cloudsplitter was on the radio with the police forces, screaming at them to take cover. Then everything seemed to slow down. The first thing Nimbus noticed was the absence of any sound. It was completely silent, like being in a vacuum. Then the device discharged, with a sound he could only describe as some unholy cross between a tuba and a sheet of metal that had been dropped, only this sound was ten times more amplified. The shockwave that followed was raw fury incarnate. Nimbus struggled to keep from impacting the ground as the waves of magical energy bombarded him and Storm. Then, as quickly as it started, the blast subsided. Nimbus and Storm Runner formed up in a hover several blocks away.

“Windigo, confirm you’re alive please,” Cloudsplitter radioed.

Nimbus shook his head, coughing and panting- his sides felt as if they were about to split. “Actual, Windigo One and Two survived. We’re fine.”

“Return to base,” Cloudsplitter said, voice weary with what Nimbus was shocked to discover was defeat, “we’ve been beaten.”

…

Octavia sat on the hard wood deck, huddled against her trembling colleagues, feeling the ropes that bound them together biting into her skin. The ponies on board the airship had protected them with magical shields, but the blast from the ADS was still traumatic. Below, the police were already retreating, and all that was left of the station itself was a pile of wreckage.

“She’s alive!” she heard a pony from the front of the deck shout, “get the rope!”

Moments later, several more ponies appeared and secured a rope to the deck, which they then threw down towards the station. Less than a minute later, a blue Unicorn boarded the airship. Once all four hooves were on deck, the airship started to lift off. The Unicorn fixed the hostages with a glance, and for a moment, Octavia saw a shred of hesitation. Then her brow furrowed and she approached them, circling the group as she spoke.

“Manehattan’s elite and the handful of musicians who support them…” she began, and smirked. “Such gluttonous wealth together in one place is sickening, but now I have the chance to do something about that. I am Silky Sunset, the leader of the Awakening. Doubtless you already know who we are, but if you need a refresher, this is our purpose: to cleanse Equestria of its corrupt rulers and restore peace and order through equality.”

“You liar! You betrayed Princess Luna in a heartbeat!”

Sunset turned towards the pony who spoke, and in an instant one of the nearby Awakening guards bucked him across the face, knocking him unconscious.

“We never betrayed Luna because she was never our leader,” Sunset continued, “we served Nightmare Moon. Now that she is gone, and Night Eternal is impossible to achieve with both royal sisters alive, we have been forced to seek… new means of obtaining control.”

By now, the city was rapidly falling away, and the airship was making its way towards the clouds above. Escape was completely impossible.

“You lucky few will be among the first to see our country’s biggest lie- Site Echo,” Sunset went on, “legend states that during the Griffon War, a weapons program by the name of Project Spark was under development there. Our government quickly covered it up, claiming the place was destroyed. Many say it wasn’t however. Until today, nopony has dared approach it. We are going to change that.”

Octavia struggled against her bindings, attracting the attention of Sunset.

“Trying to escape? I’ll bet you miss your comfy estate back home already.”

Octavia glared at her. “For your information, I’m a cellist, and I live in an apartment.”

Sunset raised her hoof as if to strike. “Do not talk back to me, hussy! Don’t forget who controls whether you live or die here.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Octavia retorted, “you reek of incompetence, and I doubt you even have the courage to hit me.”

“So sure?” Silky Sunset snarled, “just yesterday I was unprovokedly attacked by two Aviators, so if you think I won’t hit another mare, you’re sorely mistaken. Chivalry is dead, my dear cellist. Welcome to the modern world.”

Sunset’s hoof collided with the side of Octavia’s face. She was out cold before she even hit the deck.

“Now, barring any more interruptions, let’s get this journey underway,” Silky said, “guards, I want this cellist locked in the cargo hold for tonight. She will earn her freedom with compliance.”

Sunset watched as the guards dragged the Earth Pony away. Part of her, the old part, was screaming at her that everything she’d just done was wrong, and that she’d acted completely contrary to her personality. She quickly quelled her thoughts, though. That was the old Silky Sunset. She was a leader now, and hard choices had to be made. Sunset turned her attention back to the airship gondola’s prow. The sooner they found Site Echo, the better.

Journey

Nimbus and Storm Runner slipped into the landing pattern for Manehattan Air Base, both weary and distracted by their own troubled thoughts. Only a few miles away, the Awakening were making their escape. For the first time in a very long time, Nimbus realized, the good guys had lost.

“Windigo, cleared to land runway Two Six,” the base’s air traffic control pony called, “and you’re both ordered to report to Colonel Cloudsplitter immediately upon landing.”

“Great,” Nimbus said, flaring his wings and touching down a tad rougher than usual, “we’re done, aren’t we Storm? We screwed up.”

“I don’t know what to say, Nimbus,” Storm Runner said, shaking his head, “I mean- we were trusted with protecting that airship. Are we- are we going to get fired for this?”

“Who can say?” Nimbus said, making sure his slightly worn flight suit was at least passable for reporting in. “Let’s just get this over with.”

The atmosphere inside the squadron building wasn’t helping. The receptionist was gone, and everything was eerily quiet. Nimbus and Storm Runner shared an anxious glance, then headed for Cloudsplitter’s office. Inside, Cyclone Sprint and Star Burst were already waiting. Star Burst, who was casually sitting by the Colonel’s desk, nodded as they walked in, but Cyclone, who had been pacing frantically, immediately cornered Nimbus and Storm Runner.

“What were you two thinking?!” he yelled, “you left that airship alone, and look how long it took the whole situation to go to manure! If I were in your position, I would have-“

“Oh you’re really one to see the side from our point of view, aren’t you sir?” Storm Runner shot back.

“Storm, no. Please-“ Nimbus said, putting a hoof in front of his friend. The Pegasus pushed him away and approached Cyclone.

“No, Nimbus. I’m done taking this crap. You, sir, are above us by one rank, and frankly, that’s not a lot of experience-“

“It’s more than enough to know that you two royally screwed up this time! If I was in charge, you’d both be out the door in five minutes!”

“But you’re not,” Storm Runner growled, “and you weren’t there, either. We were ordered to pursue two unknown potential hostiles when the airship was attacked. We were doing our job!”

A movement out of the corner of his eye forced Nimbus to turn his head, and he immediately paled. Cloudsplitter was standing by the doorway, watching while Storm and Cyclone went on, completely oblivious.

“You failed in the line of duty! You are two of the most- no, you are the most incompetent Aviators I’ve ever seen, and I don’t want you two in my squadron!”

“That’s enough!” Cloudsplitter snapped, storming into the room. Both Storm and Cyclone nearly jumped out of their skin in shock.

“Room, tench-“ Cyclone started.

“Don’t bother with it,” Cloudsplitter growled, “I’ve got a potential national threat and a very real hostage crisis on my hooves, so as you can imagine, I’m just a bit on the edge right now. The last thing I want is formality.” She sat down at her desk and glared up at Cyclone Sprint.

“Lieutenant Cyclone Sprint, you and Star Burst are dismissed for the moment. Wait outside for your brief.”

“But-“ Cyclone began.

“That was an order,” Cloudsplitter snarled, “are you questioning it?”

“No, ma’am,” Cyclone said, performing a sharp about-face and fixing Storm Runner with a glare as he passed. Star Burst simply passed by, nodding quietly to the two Aviators. When the door finally closed, Nimbus felt isolated. It was like being in a cage with a Manticore, covered in Canterlot’s finest seasonings. In other words, things were hopeless.

Cloudsplitter sighed. “I hope you two understand the gravity of what’s going on here.”

“Ma’am, I-“ Nimbus said.

“Please, Nimbus- I’m tired. Let me finish.”

Nimbus immediately shut up, practically trembling over every square inch of his body as his commanding officer continued.

“You two left the Sol unguarded. If you’d done this of your own volition, I would have you fired right here and now. You’ll notice, however, that there are no discharge papers on my desk. There are several reasons for this. First, I can’t say you two didn’t try warning me about this. The hostage operation was carried out by the Awakening, probably in direct support of the goal they tried to state last night. Secondly, as I said, you two were under orders. One might say to blame the wielder, not the instruments, and you two actually handled the situation as best you could. Third, and probably most importantly, I’ve been convinced by an outside source to redeploy you two.”

Nimbus and Storm Runner glanced at each other, confused, and Cloudsplitter picked up on this.

“I didn’t think this would be a good idea- after experiencing what you saw today, I thought you two would need a rest- but two certain ponies brought up your ‘off the record’ records, if you catch what I’m saying. I’d heard rumors about you two of course; word travels fast among the Aviator community. Now, however, I have proof to back up what I know.”

“Ma’am, if I may ask, who told you?” Nimbus said.

“The ponies who are about to be our guests,” Cloudsplitter said, “and they should be arriving-“ she checked her wall clock “-in about five seconds to brief you two.”

Nimbus barely had time to react before a bright flash filled the room. Dazed, he almost missed Cloudsplitter call the room to attention. He started bringing his hooves together for the proper position, but as soon as he saw who had just appeared, he tripled his speed and straightened up as tightly as he could. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood near Cloudsplitter’s desk.

“At ease, Aviators,” Celestia said softly. Nimbus tried relaxing, but even so he was on edge. If the princesses were here, things were really serious.

“We shall take the briefing from here,” Luna said with a hint of uncertainty in her tone. Nimbus felt sympathy- Luna was dealing with a multitude of challenges. She’d been gone over a thousand years, and had returned to a much different world than the one she’d left. On top of this, she was readjusting to being a ruler, while still trying to deal with the public perception that, as Nightmare Moon, she’d tried to take over the nation only a few months prior. Nimbus did not envy her at all.

“You have the floor, Your Highnesses,” Cloudsplitter said, saluting and returning to the at ease position.

Clearing her throat, Celestia stepped forward. “My sister and I were informed just today that you two discovered evidence that the Awakening were looking for Site Echo, am I correct?”

“Yes ma’am,” Nimbus replied, “yesterday.”

“That information was not relayed to me,” Celestia said, “I’m sure it was held up somewhere on the chain of command. While I’m sure many of your superiors consider it to be a myth, and believe that searching for it would be a waste of time and money, I’m here today to tell you different. Site Echo exists.”

Storm Runner shot Nimbus a quick glance that seemed to say “well, that was easy.” Nimbus countered by shaking his head ever so slightly.

“Site Echo,” Celestia continued, “was created during the Great Griffon War as a research facility. Towards the end of the war, the facility’s chief scientist, Doctor Bright Future, informed me that he had begun work on a new weapon capable of bringing the war to a complete halt for the Griffons, and if necessary, provide a contingency plan if our country ever fell. The weapon sounded powerful, and I immediately grew wary considering what such a weapon in the wrong hooves could do, yet he insisted that I allow him to continue. I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life then and there- I agreed. I was foolish to assume that I could simply read his mind and discover for myself whether or not his project, which he called “Spark,” was safe enough to be in development at all. However, Bright Future is one of the greatest minds to grace this land since Starswirl the Bearded himself. He kept his actions hidden from me, and with the Griffon War drawing to a close, I felt that every day he continued testing and production, the more potential for danger his weapon gained. To that end, I shut down funding to the site and ordered its demolition. I had assumed that the area was long gone, but if there is any chance I’m wrong, and the Awakening get their hooves on whatever lies inside Site Echo, I fear for the worst.”

“Then we have to get there first,” Storm Runner said, “where exactly is Site Echo?”

Celestia and Luna shared an anxious glance.

“We don’t actually know,” Celestia admitted. “The site was constructed outside of my jurisdiction by a private firm, and Bright Future kept its location a secret as well. However, I was able to find out that it lies somewhere in the Badlands.”

“Which means that if the Awakening knows where to go, they’ll be heading south,” Cloudsplitter concluded. “A normal route would take them directly over Fillydelphia and Baltimare, so they’ll have to divert east to avoid drawing attention. They may have an ADS, but those only work so well against sheer numbers. I doubt they’d want to test their luck.”

“Correct,” Luna said, “which would put them over the Foal Mountain Range and the Hayseed Swamps. Going over the mountains will take time as well, so we have estimated at least three days until they reach the Badlands.”

“That,” Celestia said, nodding to Nimbus and Storm Runner, “is where you two come in. I know you two were just commissioned, but there are two primary reasons you are ideal choices. The first is that despite your lack of recorded combat experience, you two showed yourselves to be more than capable during the off-record events of the Summer Sun Celebration earlier this year. Also, you two were the first Aviators to discover these plans. To most, Site Echo is a myth, and it should stay that way. The less ponies who know about the place, the better.”

“I understand,” Nimbus said, “when do we deploy?”

“In ten minutes,” Cloudsplitter answered, “but here’s the kicker- you can’t fly under REAF control. You’re doing this as civilians.”

“Wait, what?” Nimbus blurted out, immediately regretting doing so as the three senior ponies in the room fixed their eyes on him. Cloudsplitter chuckled.

“Well, you’re clearly enthusiastic about being an Aviator, and I respect that. However, Princess Celestia is right. We’ve already found out that you can’t be funded for this operation through the Air Force, and if we chose to just ignore the chain of command and send you two out on a mission that, at this point, could either save Equestria or be a big waste of money, it could mean the end of our operations as a whole out here.”

“I see,” Nimbus said, “but what about gear and communications?”

Cloudsplitter tossed two unmarked flight suits with helmets towards the two Pegasi. “As far as anypony else is concerned right now, you two are mercenaries. Also, keep in mind that for all intents and purposes, this is a combat sortie. You are cleared to engage the enemy when you have a chance, but how you do so will be at your own discretion.”

“Heh, cool,” Storm Runner breathed, “so what’s our first step?”

“Locate Bright Future,” Celestia answered. “He’s retired, living on an estate on an island off the coast of Baltimare. He’ll know where to go.”

“We cannot stress enough how important this undertaking will be,” Princess Luna added. “Thine objectives will be to bring back the Sol and the hostages, as well as stopping the Awakening. We have full confidence in your ability to succeed.”

“We have to be going now,” Celestia said, nodding to Luna, “but before we leave, I wish you luck, and remember- no matter what you see in Site Echo, no matter how much Bright Future might beg you to do otherwise, do not hesitate to destroy Site Echo if it is, in fact, still operational.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nimbus said.

“Let thine flight be true, Aviators,” Luna said, bowing slightly. Nimbus, unsure of what to do, saluted her in response.

“Thank you, your Highnesses,” he replied. The sisters took two steps back, nodded, and disappeared in a flash of light as quickly as they’d appeared. Nimbus and Storm stared at Cloudsplitter for a moment; the entire situation had been nothing if not surreal. Cloudsplitter quickly broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Well? What are you two still standing around for? Star Burst, Cyclone Sprint and I will hold down the coast- we’ve been doing it for nearly a year before you two got here. Scramble!”

“Roger that, ma’am!” Storm Runner said enthusiastically. Cloudsplitter stared at him for a moment, then facehoofed.

“No, no, no, I can’t let incorrect radio phraseology go uncorrected. Roger is for radio transmissions only. If you want to imply that you will do as I ask, either say affirmative or wilco. Celestia have mercy on your soul if you say wilco to me outside of radio usage though…”

“Right, er… affirmative, ma’am!” Storm Runner said, snapping to attention and popping off a sharp salute. Cloudsplitter rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Dismissed, Aviators. Go kick some flank for me. I’ll expect you to get in contact via a civilian radio frequency daily. The frequency is 118.5.”

“We’ll be in contact, ma’am,” Nimbus said, making note of the frequency and heading for the door.

“Good luck,” Cloudsplitter said as the two left her office. “You may very well need it.”

The two Aviators headed down the hall for the runway exit, and as they passed by the waiting Star Burst and Cyclone Sprint, Storm Runner couldn’t help but shoot Cyclone a smug grin. The irate Pegasus was completely speechless. Star Burst, meanwhile, approached Nimbus.

“You destroy that site, you hear?” he said, “it’s still there, I guarantee it. Equestria can’t know…”

“That’s the plan, sir,” Nimbus said, a bit uncomfortably. Star Burst had that effect on most ponies.

Star Burst nodded silently and dropped back. Alone again, Nimbus and Storm Runner donned their flight suits and helmets, and pushed open the door to the runway and tarmac.

“You ready?” Nimbus asked.

“Let’s do this,” Storm Runner replied, setting hoof on the runway’s edge.”

“Nimbus and Storm Runner,” the tower called, “you are cleared for takeoff. Celestia’s light guide you and Luna’s night shield you.”

Nimbus shivered with excitement as he and Storm Runner took off in formation. Maybe it was the fact that he and Storm Runner had been addressed by name, maybe it was the fact that this was their first combat sortie, perhaps it was due to the nature of the mission, or, possibly, it was a combination of all three. Either way, Nimbus considered as he banked to the south in perfect formation, his career was about to finally get serious.

Night

Octavia’s return to consciousness was slow and painful. Her world drifted in and out of focus, with colors of flashing pain woven in. She would have marveled at how surreal the whole situation was if she hadn’t been in so much agony. As her vision began to clear, she thought about sitting up. Her head felt like it was about to explode, but she had to find out where she was. Slowly, wincing, she raised herself up and almost immediately fell back down as a splitting throb racked her head. Gritting her teeth and groaning, she pulled herself up and stumbled over to a wall, which she collapsed against. Getting accustomed to the pain, she slowly turned her head to observe her surroundings. The floor, walls, and ceiling were polished hardwood, and there were several shelves and racks nearby. She concluded that she was in the Sol’s cargo hold, which- luxurious as it might have been compared to other cargo holds- was not a good thing.

At that moment, the memories began to resurface; talking back to Silky Sunset, getting bucked in the face… the pieces were falling into place now. Octavia got up on her hooves and slowly began walking around the hold. Escape would be stupid. They were isolated on an airship thousands of feet above the ground. There was nowhere to go. Her stomach growled loudly and Octavia almost sank back down again. She’d clearly been out for a great deal of time. Perhaps there was food down here…

As Octavia turned over a few empty crates looking for a snack, she found it interesting that she hadn’t been bound or shackled. For a hostage situation, this was probably the strangest one she’d ever heard of. Being unbounded wasn’t making solitary confinement much more enjoyable, of course, but it was better than nothing.

The door handle clicked suddenly, and Octavia, startled, bolted back to the wall and sat down. Silky Sunset entered the room, looking considerably calmer than she had earlier. She nodded to the pony who followed her.

“You may leave us now,” she said, taking a seat as her companion left, closing the door behind him. Silky stared at Octavia for a few moments as the grey mare glared up at her. Finally, she spoke.

“You probably think I enjoy this, don’t you?”

“What do you think?” Octavia snapped, “none of us want any part of your little cult.”

Silky visibly bristled at the mention of the word “cult,” but controlled her anger.

“You’ve probably wondered by now why you’re unbound.”

“I have,” Octavia answered evenly, “and it’s obvious- there’s nowhere for me to run.”

“Precisely,” Silky said, “and I don’t feel the need to cause any unnecessary suffering, and so long as nopony mutinies, I think a peaceful flight can be arranged.” Noting Octavia’s persistent expression of disgust, Silky went on.

“I’m trying to teach you something, you wealthy little-“ she stopped and composed herself. “I am not a monster, contrary to what most ponies say. I really do care about you and the others, believe it or not.”

“Then why do you insist on holding us here?” Octavia said, “I’m going to be blunt- your cause is long dead. Nightmare Moon is a thing of the past.”

Silky sighed, and for once, Octavia could see something else in her expression: sadness.

“Is that what you really think we’re all about?” she said finally, “you think we wanted to put a tyrant on the throne?” She cracked open the door to the cargo hold, briefly considering her actions, then opened it all the way. “Come with me, cellist. There’s something you need to see.”

Hesitantly, Octavia took a few steps forward, then followed Silky out the door. The two ascended a short flight of stairs and emerged onto the deck, where the moon was now high in the night sky. The celestial body’s soft white light cast an ivory glow across the deck of the ship, and for a brief moment, Octavia almost forgot that she was still, in fact, a hostage.

“This is what your country fought to stop,” Silky said, gesturing to the void of night, “this is peace. Do you hear the commotion of day below you? Of course not- night is true peace. And look at the two of us- a Unicorn and an Earth Pony- how different are we in the dark of night? Our differences are minimal outside of the light of day. Night is truly better for all of us, and you prevented it from being eternal.”

“I agree that night has its place,” Octavia said, “but-“

Silky was building up steam now, and barely even heard Octavia speak. “And look what happened. Your military ruined it for us all. We could have had centuries of peace under Nightmare Moon, but you stopped us. As it stands now, our only option is the use of force to get what we want. So petty.”

Octavia snapped herself out of her state of calm, glaring at Silky. “You know, for a moment there I thought you might have been a noble pony. Flawed, yes, but noble. Now, though, I can see what you really are. You’re no different from what you wish to overthrow. You’re not afraid to resort to violence. In fact, now you see it as the only option. It’s disgusting, and I don’t want any part of this!”

For a brief moment, Silky only stared at Octavia, completely dumbfounded. Then she began to tremble, her brow furrowing and a grimace spreading across her face. “You snake,” she growled, “I thought maybe I could show you the truth, but no matter what I do, you reject what I say.”

“I reject it because it’s wrong!” Octavia cried out, “kidnapping innocent ponies is not the first step in changing the nation!”

She wasn’t even listening anymore. Silky could feel her new self rising to the surface, pushing away the kinder side she’d just tried to show. She never tried to stop it- being angry had never felt this good before.

“I tried convince you,” she said again, “but you didn’t listen. You never do. You just go on blindly accepting the world as it is. You don’t try to change it, you don’t question it, you just continue on like the brainless automaton you and your friends here are, and… you know what? I’ll tell you the truth right now. Everyone on this airship is nothing more than a- a meat shield to me! If the Aviators show up again, I’ll execute every one of you without hesitation.”

“I’d love to see you try,” Octavia shot back, “you’re such an incompetent leader you think you have to prove yourself to your own hostages. I will never side with you, and I can never excuse the things your organization has done to further its goals. If you have a problem with that, then just throw me over the ledge right now!”

Sunset glowered at Octavia, eye twitching with rage. “Guards,” she snarled, “Escort this cellist back to solitary. I want her out of my sight right now.”

From behind, two stallions took hold of Octavia and forced her away, but just before she disappeared below deck, Octavia faced her captor one more time.

“I knew you wouldn’t do it,” she said finally. Then the hatch closed and she was gone, leaving Silky alone on the deck with only the moon and stars as company.

…

Once the door was shut and her captors were gone, Octavia buried her face in her hooves. The tears were flowing freely now, unrestricted by the need to show strength in the face of adversity. Her captor had tried to be kind, to show her the brighter side of her organization, and she had returned the favor by breaking her down. It was so uncharacteristic, so…

“So mean,” she said aloud between sobs. She hadn’t directed such venom-laced words at another pony since she’d left her home, and using them again after all this time hurt. But as terrible as it had been, she’d found out what she had to. She was in no danger of execution, and when it came down to it, as long as Silky was in charge, nopony else on the airship was in danger, either. There was a strategy to her actions, and it was cruel but effective. With her self-confidence lowered, Silky could be emotionally compromised more easily, and if there was any chance of taking control of the situation, this was the way to do it. She was doing the right thing, Octavia knew, but Celestia as her witness, it definitely didn’t feel like the right thing.

…

Silky Sunset absently stared at the airship’s control wheel, resting her hooves on it in reflection. Only moments ago, she’d exploded at her hostage, and while at the time it had felt immensely satisfying, now it just left a pit in her stomach. She was the leader of the Awakening; such things weren’t supposed to happen to her. Guiltily, Sunset had to admit to herself that she felt weak and incompetent, and the cellist had called her out on it. If things were going to improve, she’d need to shape up.

“Ma’am, we’re ready to launch,” a Pegasus said, entering the ship’s bridge and saluting. Sunset nodded.

“You are cleared to launch. Bring the target back alive, but if retrieval is impossible, find any indication of where the site is. Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be caught by the authorities.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the pony said, nodding.

“May the night guard you,” Sunset added as the pony left the room. Sunset watched as he and two others, all wearing stolen Aviator gear, dove off the deck of the Sol towards Baltimare below. Sunset had utter confidence in the team’s ability to succeed- they had been hoof-picked for this operation. Still, one thing nagged at her. Thus far, this operation had gone almost unsettlingly well, and as experience had taught her, no course of action was destined to be perfect. Something was bound to happen, and she only hoped that when it did, she would finally have the courage to do what may be necessary.

Bright Future

After staying awake all night, Nimbus concluded that once yawning actually became painful, you’d been awake too long. He and Storm Runner had been flying non-stop since their deployment time the previous day, and by the time they finally saw the faint, twinkling lights of Baltimare, both were having trouble staying awake. It wasn’t that they hadn’t been up late before- in fact, Pegasi running presence sorties (flying up and down the Griffon coast to remind Equestria’s former enemy not to start another war) often flew for nearly twenty-four hours straight. Nimbus and Storm, however, had been in the middle of a dogfight and a hostage crisis in the past few hours, and had then gone straight to a cross-country flight, while presence missions dictated at least ten hours of sleep before launch.

As Storm Runner began to drift off and nearly collided with Nimbus for the third time in the last hour, Nimbus decided to take action.

“Hey,” he said, nudging his friend and indicating the lights ahead, “we’re nearly there.”

“Wha-?” Storm Runner gurgled, “oh yeah- lights. That’s… that’s really cool.”

“Do you want to radio Cloudsplitter, or shall-“

“Go for it,” Storm Runner yawned, lazily waving his hoof at Nimbus.

“Right then,” Nimbus said, shrugging and swapping to the civilian frequency they’d been given. “Raider One and Two broadcasting on civilian frequency, any monitors?”

“So, you’re Raider now, huh?” Cloudsplitter replied almost instantly.

“Yes, ma- I mean affirmative,” Nimbus said, remembering not to affiliate himself with the REAF over the radio.

“You will then refer to me by callsign Cicada, clear?”

“Clear,” Nimbus confirmed, “as requested, we are starting our initial report. Baltimare is below us.”

“Excellent,” Cloudsplitter replied, “I’m not going to sleep on you two yet, then. Find Bright Future- I’ve got enough Morningstar coffee here to last me another couple of hours.”

Nimbus’s mouth watered. Morningstar was practically Equestria’s go-to coffee house, and their coffee was legendary. Most Aviators swore by it.

“Now that sounds amazing,” Storm Runner spoke up.

“None for you two- finish your task first and report back to me. Then you can do what you want.”

“Roger,” Nimbus said, “Raider out.”

“Cicada out.”

The ponies circled above the gleaming city below, and Nimbus felt mesmerized by the lights. While Baltimare was nowhere near as large as Manehattan, there was still a lot to it, and while Manehattan had its share of penthouses and luxury suites, it was nothing next to the almost obscene wealth of Baltimare. Many large estates bordered the city, set apart by their cleaner-looking pure white lights. Nimbus had always wondered why somepony would actually want to live in such a giant house, but there were those out there who enjoyed that sort of thing, he supposed.

“Let’s descend,” he said to Storm Runner, “we’re looking for an island just off the coast.”

“Roger,” Storm Runner said, entering the coordinates they’d been given before leaving. Once both Pegasi had them punched in, a green circle appeared on each’s HUD, indicating the location of their target, and hopefully, Bright Future.

“Let’s wrap this up,” Nimbus said, tucking his wings in and initiating a dive to pick up speed, “it’s early and I want my coffee.”

“No arguments there,” Storm Runner said as the two banked towards their target, slipping through the slowly brightening morning sky. Nimbus would later observe that if they’d flown just a few knots faster, they would’ve been able to prevent what was to happen next, but as it usually is with fate, this thought didn’t occur to either of them at the time. So, the Pegasi continued onward, oblivious to what was to come.

…

The Aviators-in-disguise alighted on the front lawn of a gargantuan estate and removed their helmets to take in the fresh air. With all four hooves on dry land, Nimbus marveled at the building’s sheer size. It was three stories tall, and the lateral area of it made him dizzy.

“Three bronze fountains,” Storm Runner said, shaking his head in amazement at several of the courtyard’s unique features, “who the hay has the money to do that?”

“Apparently Bright Future does,” Nimbus answered, taking a few steps towards the house. Something didn’t feel right- everything was simply too quiet. It took a moment for his sleep-deprived brain to make sense of what was out of place, but when he did, the hair on his mane rose and a chill racked his body. He’d initially thought that the front door was simply ajar, but upon closer examination he could see that this was not the case. The entrance to the house was open, but the front door was lying in the dew-soaked, manicured lawn almost ten feet away. This was a break-in.

“Look sharp,” he whispered to Storm Runner, “we’re not alone here.”

Nimbus heard a sharp intake of breath as Storm Runner saw the same thing and motioned with his hoof to enter. Both Pegasi slipped in through the door, taking care to make as little noise as possible. Inside, it was more of the same- somepony else had definitely been here. Furniture was haphazardly scattered everywhere, a few priceless paintings lay on the floor, vases were smashed… whoever had been here had not been careful.

“Look for blood,” Storm Runner said when he’d regained his calm. “Only way to find out what really happened is to see what degree this violence went to.”

Nimbus nodded. “Keep helmets on- we’ll stay in radio contact. I’ll check out the ground floor if you want to go upstairs.”

“Good luck,” Storm Runner said, giving his wingpony a punch on the shoulder as Nimbus headed for the living room. Nimbus smiled faintly, then turned to his work as Storm Runner made his way upstairs. The living room was full of furniture, and several pieces were flipped. What instantly caught Nimbus’s eye, though, was that it appeared as if somepony had been searching for something. In fact, there was no evidence of an actual struggle down here at all. Shaking his head in perplexity, Nimbus made ready to move to the kitchen when his radio squawked.

“Nimbus, it’s Storm-“

“You found something?” Nimbus radioed back.

“No,” Storm hissed, “Nimbus… don’t move. Stay away from the window.”

“Why?” Nimbus said hesitantly, the hair of his mane rising.

“I see two ponies crossing the yard,” Storm Runner replied, “and they’re headed for the house. Both Pegasi.”

Nimbus didn’t dare risk exposing himself to look out the window, but they were in a bad predicament. Soon, the Pegasi would be inside the house with them, and the last thing they needed was a confrontation.

“The window will be out of their sightline in a few seconds,” Storm Runner added, “find a place to hide!”

Nimbus scanned the room frantically. There wasn’t much he could use for concealment Most everything was overturned or too small to be an effective hiding place. A squeak nearby indicated that the front door had opened. There were only seconds left.

“Hide!” Storm Runner hissed.

Nimbus had almost resigned himself to preparing for a fight when he saw it- a gap between one of the cabinets and the wall- just big enough to squeeze behind. He bolted towards it and slid behind the furniture, desperately hoping the rasp of his uniform against the wood wouldn’t be enough to give him away. As he sat frozen behind the cold wood furniture, he heard hoofsteps and three distinct voices.

“Well he’s obviously not here,” one of the voices said, “we’ve covered every square inch of this property.”

“Think he knew we were coming?” another asked.

“Hardly,” the third answered, “he’d have no way of knowing. This thing is time-critical, so we can’t afford to just wait for him to show up. We need some way to get to Site Echo.”

“How about this?” the first voice said, followed by the rustling of paper.

“Where the hay did you get that?” voice two said.

“I got it upstairs- there was a panel in the back of his dresser. I think it’s a map.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us this just a bit earlier?”

There was a slight pause. “I, uh… the thought didn’t really cross my mind.”

“Wave Racer,” voice three sighed, “you are an idiot.”

“We have what we came for, more or less,” two cut in, “maps don’t try to fight back. I say we head back to the Sol immediately.”

“I concur,” three agreed.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Wave Racer said, followed by what Nimbus decided was most definitely the sound of a facehoof.

“What’s going on down there?” Storm Runner whispered. Nimbus adjusted the volume in his helmet. It was unlikely the ponies could hear Storm, but it never hurt to be cautious.

“They have a map,” Nimbus answered, “and I think they’re leaving.”

“Oh, this is bad,” Storm said, “we need to intercept them! If they get that map back to the Sol, they won’t need Bright Future.”

“If you say so,” Nimbus said as the hoofsteps started again, heading for the front door. “In that case, I’m engaging now.”

Without a doubt, Nimbus had the element of surprise, but he was also outnumbered three to one. His priority would have been the map carrier, but since he had no way of knowing who that was, he tackled the first pony he saw. The Pegasus barely had time to display a look of utter shock before he crumpled to the ground. Nimbus didn’t waste time trying anything fancy- he went right for a buck to the face. The other pony, however, was ready, and countered his attack. A whooshing sound overhead told Nimbus that Storm had joined the fray as well, and another pony went down. The third escaped, heading for the sky. Nimbus stood up to pursue him, but was knocked down again by his aggressor.

“Oh come on!” he growled, rolling to avoid the pony’s powerful hooves as they impacted the floor inches away from his head. As the two grappled, Nimbus couldn’t help but remember his experience with hoof-to-hoof combat at Field Training. Storm Runner had pretty much helped him through the two-week course, and when it was finally over, Nimbus had gone away wondering just how the things he’d learned would ever be applied in a career where most of the fighting took place in the air.

He was feeling awfully stupid about that now.

As his opponent reared up to bring his hooves in for another strike, Nimbus finally saw his chance. With both front hooves high in the air, balancing on his back legs, the pony was in a fairly unstable position, and more importantly, his belly was exposed. In a fraction of a second, Nimbus brought his back legs in and bucked his aggressor in the stomach. The force of the kick sent the pony into the air, and he doubled over in pain. Nimbus braced himself, anticipating that his attacker would fall on top of him, but nothing happened. In fact, he heard no impact at all.

Opening his squinting eyes, Nimbus saw the Pegasus enveloped in a field of blue magic, frozen. His eyes wandered over to the front door, where he was surprised to see a Unicorn standing with his horn glowing and pointing at the levitating Pegasus, looking rather displeased.

“I leave for one hour to grab some breakfast downtown and my house turns into a battlefield?” he said, quite calmly. Before anypony could answer, he threw Nimbus’s attacker into a wall, knocking the pony unconscious.

“Sir,” Nimbus said carefully, slowly standing up, “are you… Bright-“

“Bright Future, yes,” the pony said, irritated, “and I’d like to know why two Royal Equestrian Air Force Aviators have decided to show up at my house and start a miniature war.”

Nimbus and Storm Runner exchanged glances. “We’re not REAF, sir,” Storm Runner said, “we’re mercenaries for the… National… Airspace Defense Company.”

“The what now?”

“It’s a multinational air force for hire,” Nimbus said, “you probably haven’t heard of us. We’re relatively new.”

“That’s funny,” Bright Future said, “never heard of them. Also, when did TA-4B flight suits make it to the international market? I thought they were just out of the prototype stage.”

“I, um, we-“ Storm Runner stuttered.

“Look, let’s be honest- I know you’re both REAF Aviators, I know that whatever’s going on, the Air Force doesn’t want their name on it, and I know you were after the ponies that were just in my house,” he nudged one of the unconscious Pegasi with his hoof, “so the only question I have is- why?”

“They’re after you, and Project Spark,” Nimbus said simply. Bright Future nodded.

“Fair enough. Why don’t you two tie these ruffians up, and I’ll get some coffee going. I think we’ve got some things to talk about.”

…

Silky Sunset anxiously paced back and forth on the deck of the Sol. Daylight was upon them, and her retrieval team still hadn’t made it back yet. If the Air Force was getting involved again, which by now seemed like a distinct possibility, she would be expected to take stronger action. She wanted to avoid doing so at all costs.

A lone Pegasus appeared over the clouds about a mile out. As he neared, her heart began to beat faster. Where were the other two? The Pegasus landed on the deck, and hastily rushed over to her.

“Ma’am, there are other forces involved. We were attacked by ponies with unmarked flight suits. I don’t know who they work for, but… the rest of my team is down there. I managed to retrieve this, though.”

The pony held up what looked like a map, and Sunset took it. “Good,” she said, “our comrades knew the risks going in. We must leave them and continue our journey as soon as possible if we are to succeed. Excellent work, Wave Racer.”

The Pegasus nodded and headed below deck. Sunset, meanwhile, made her way to the airship’s control bridge. They were far from safe, with a new group of ponies chasing them, and if they were going to have any chance of finding what they were looking for, they would need to set out immediately.

…

Nimbus looked down at the steaming hot cup of coffee in front of him, his mouth watering- Morningstar brand. It was exactly what he’d wanted an hour ago. Anxiously, he had a sip, and was rewarded with a scorched tongue for the trouble. He made a point to let his beverage cool for a little while before sipping it again.

Bright Future set his own coffee mug down on the table and took a seat opposite Storm Runner and Nimbus.

“Thank you,” Storm Runner said, “I can’t tell you just how much we needed this coffee.”

“You’re welcome,” Bright Future said, placing a binder on the table. “My turn to ask something from you, though- why are the armed forces expressing interest in Project Spark?”

“We’re not,” Nimbus answered, “but those ponies who ransacked your house- the Awakening- are very interested.”

“Ah yes, the Awakening. I’ve read the papers, I know who they are.”

“Yes, well they seem to believe that Project Spark, or at least some part of it, still exists at Site Echo,” Storm Runner said.

“So that brings us to the question- is it worth pursuing them? Is there any chance that Site Echo wasn’t destroyed?” Nimbus asked. Bright Future didn’t respond at first, instead staring off into space. Finally, he clapped his hooves together.

“I knew it wasn’t finished,” he said at last, “I knew I shouldn’t have written it off.”

“Wait- are you saying you didn’t destroy the site?” Storm Runner asked, eyes widening, “that was a royal order! You could face charges of treason for that!”

“For what- preserving the security of Equestria? You don’t even know what happened there. Once Celestia found out that we were in the process of developing a biological weapon-“

“Which is against the law,” Nimbus pointed out. “Biological weaponry is unnecessarily cruel, and excessive. The Binational Conference explicitly states that.”

“I know about the Conference,” Bright Future said, “a bunch of ponies and Griffons with no idea about how to conduct a war. Let me ask you something- what do you suppose would have happened if the Griffons won the last war?”

“Well it would have been terrible,” Storm Runner answered, “the Griffons are known to be ruthlessly territorial. Equestria would have been under their rule in months.”

“Precisely,” Bright Future replied, “and that is why Spark was developed. If there was any danger of a prolonged war, or any possibility that Equestria might fall, we would unleash it- the spark to ignite a wildfire- that wildfire being the destruction of the Griffon Empire. An aptly named project, don’t you think?”

“But still, biological weapons are unpredictable,” Nimbus said, “unleashing it on Equestria in the event of an invasion would have been disastrous.”

“Wrong again,” Bright Future said, “this weapon was unique- the first fully-controllable biological weapon. Zero civilian casualties.”

“Then why would Celestia order the site’s destruction?” Storm asked.

“Because what we were working on, Aviator, was power. Pure power. Power frightens authority figures when it’s beyond their control.”

Storm Runner shook his head. “Figures. Maybe we can get this project back on track after this, then. I’d vouch for you.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I can’t say I support this,” Nimbus said, “but since you say the site exists, and still holds Spark, we need to make an effort to get there and secure Spark before the Awakening does, and if possible, rescue the hostages.”

“Hostages?” Bright Future asked.

“Yeah, they took an airship full of musicians,” Storm Runner said.

“Then we must leave at once.”

“Wait-“ Nimbus said, sipping his coffee, “what do you mean ‘we’? With all due respect, sir, you can’t fly. It’ll be faster if we clear this up ourselves.”

Bright Future stood up suddenly, his horn glowing with pulsing, blue light. As the two Aviators watched, two translucent blue wings- magical projections- grew from his back. His spell complete, Bright Future fixed his gaze back on Nimbus and Storm.

“I can fly just fine, and I’d assume you’ll want someone to help you past the various anti-intruder measures the site contains. Plus, that Pegasus that managed to escape took my map, so it doesn't look like we have much of a choice. Just say the word, and I’m ready to launch.”

Finishing his coffee, Nimbus picked up his helmet. “Okay, then. We launch outside in five minutes, and we’ll brief Cicada in-flight.”

“Excellent,” said Bright Future, “and by the way- I didn’t get your names…”

“Second Lieutenant Nimbus-“

“And Second Lieutenant Storm Runner,” Storm finished.

“Nimbus and Storm Runner,” Bright Future said, nodding to himself. “Glad to meet you. I think this could be the start of one hay of an adventure.”

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long to publish. As it turns out, I got halfway through it before my computer wiped the whole thing. I took the opportunity to revise a bit of it, and, well, here it is! Happy reading!

Sonata

The piece was beautiful, a flowing, melodic chorus of instruments in perfect time. High strings trilled, and the lower-octave sounds filled the music with a deep, but inviting warm thrum, and all the while the conductor drove the band on, not urging, but guiding the musicians as they continued.

In Octavia’s mind’s eye, this was a reality.

The truth, though, was that she was nearing the end of day two on this accursed airship, and she was still locked in solitary confinement. Her captors were becoming less hostile, of course, but tensions were still high. With nopony to talk to, Octavia had resorted to composing music in her head, a tactic which made a surprisingly effective distraction.

If only I had a pen and paper, she thought as she finished a particularly complex concerto. It was a talent of hers- composing music. Most ponies assumed that her treble clef cutie mark had been earned simply because of her skill with instruments, but in truth, Octavia was an excellent composer as well. Perhaps it was because of this that she could at least tolerate this isolation.

As she lay back on the floor, the door creaked open and a very tired-looking pony walked in with a plate of biscuits.

“Dinner,” he said gruffly.

Octavia sighed. “Thank you, as always.”

The pony said nothing, as Octavia had come to expect, and turned around, closing the door behind him. Any second now, the lock would click and Octavia would be on her own again. She eyed her dinner with relative distaste. Having the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two days straight was hardly appetizing. Still, it was better than eating nothing, so…

She paused, one biscuit halfway to her mouth. Something was off- the lock hadn’t clicked. It had to be some kind of trick. There was no way her captor would willingly leave her door unlocked. The practical side of her mind told her to stay where she was and eat her meal, but part of her also saw a chance at escape, or at least an attempt at calling for a rescue. Curiosity eventually got the best of her. Octavia set down her cold biscuit and headed for the door. Slowly, quietly, Octavia pushed the door open. She winced as the metal hinges creaked, and paused for a moment. Then she went to work once more, inching the door open just slightly enough to peek through the crack.

There was nopony outside. Even though night had cast its shadow over the airship, Octavia could see down the small hallway quite clearly. She opened the door a little more, looked both ways down the hall, and stepped out. A chill ran down her spine- she was, at least for the moment, free.

A moment like this wasn’t going to last- Octavia knew that. Sooner or later somepony would realize that her door had been left unsecured. With that in mind, she grabbed a saddlebag from the wall and draped it over her, covering her cutie mark and erasing her most identifying feature. The airship traveled under blackout conditions, to avoid being seen by any watchful ponies on the ground, and Octavia would have to rely on this if she was caught. From a distance, in the dark, it was possible she could pass as one of the Awakening.

Deciding that it would be best to simply not find out, Octavia crept up the stairs to the main deck. The trapdoor opened flawlessly, with barely a perceptible creak. Sighing in relief, Octavia clambered out of the hatch and up into the starry night. She paused for a moment, watching in awe as the Sol passed through a puffy, white cloud. It was majestic, inspiring, and… concealing? The musician watched as the cloud overtook the deck. She could barely see her own hooves in front of her. Nature was on her side tonight, it seemed.

As quickly and quietly as possible, Octavia made her way towards the control bridge. She had an idea- one of the points that had been stressed during the safety presentation she’d received before setting hoof on the Sol was that the main cabin always had backup radios in case of a communications failure. All of the radios had emergency frequencies listed on them, and one of them would be just small enough to easily conceal in her “cell.” If she could manage to smuggle one back with her, calling for a rescue would be simple.

It was only a few hoofsteps to the control bridge, but utter stealth would be required, something Octavia wasn’t sure she was ready for. Gathering every ounce of courage she could muster, she stepped towards the entrance to the bridge, sticking as close to the wall as possible. Two Awakening ponies passed by above, on the observation deck, but Octavia forced herself to keep moving. If she stopped, or ceased to act natural, the entire escape would be for nothing. Nopony was on the stairs leading up to the bridge, and the door was ajar. She peeked inside and immediately drew her head back in. She hadn’t considered there would be a pony at the controls. Mentally reprimanding herself, she considered her options- she could go below deck and forget about the whole plan, or she could continue on and hope she wasn’t spotted.

Stealing one more quick glance, Octavia made up her mind. The pony at the controls was fixated on his route. If she was lucky, he’d never even know she was there. Taking a deep breath, Octavia carefully and quietly tiptoed into the room. The radios were on a wall right behind the pony. Carefully, she reached towards the first radio she could see…

“Hey, what’s going on?” the pony asked nonchalantly. Octavia froze in her tracks, every instinct telling her to run. Instead, she turned her back to the other pony.

“Grabbing one of these radios,” she said, trying to make her voice just a bit lower in case her voice was recognized, “Silky Sunset said they might need one.”

“Sounds good,” the pony said, sighing, “for a moment there, I thought I was being relieved of my post. Can you let her know I’ve been up here for the past five hours?”

“I’ll tell her,” Octavia said.

“Excellent. Night cloak you, sister.”

Octavia winced. There had better not be some specific response to this, she thought.

“And you as well, brother,” she said, trotting out as quickly and quietly as possible with the radio. She made it down to the main deck when an all-too-familiar voice startled her.

“Raven Wing, get some sleep. I’ll take your post now.”

Risking a glance back, Octavia saw Silky Sunset emerge from the Captain’s cabin and approach a Pegasus on the deck of the gondola. The pony nodded gratefully and exchanged a few hushed words before heading towards the sleeping quarters. Seeing her chance, Octavia darted into the trapdoor and tried her best to close the hatch as quietly as possible. She watched through the gradually diminishing crack between the door and the deck as Sunset took in the night sky. She hadn’t turned around, and most importantly, had no idea that the trapdoor was closing. As the dim light of the crack finally died out, Octavia let it drop slightly, the old wood eliciting a light groan. Not wanting to wait around to find out if the noise was noticed, she bolted back to the storage room and shut the door, leaving it unlocked. The sound of approaching hoofsteps sent her into a panic. She could pretend to be asleep, of course, pretend she was never aware of the unlocked door, but… the saddlebag!

In her haste, she’d forgotten to hang the saddlebag she’d taken back up. Quickly, Octavia looked around the room. The hoofsteps were still approaching, and were almost at the trapdoor. She’d have no time to bring it back out to the hallway, but there were a few empty boxes in the storage room. Acting quickly, Octavia threw down the radio and saddlebag, and covered them up with one such box just as the trapdoor outside opened and the hoofsteps transitioned to the stairs. Wasting no time, Octavia collapsed to the floor and shut her eyes, forcing her breathing to slow down. She lay still, barely daring to breathe as the door to her room opened. There was silence for a few seconds, then the voice of Silky Sunset spoke.

“Idiots,” she sighed, “can’t lock up a simple door…” the hoofsteps started towards Octavia, then stopped. “At least you’re still here.” She sighed, then Octavia heard a rustling that she could only assume was Sunset sitting down.

“I guess since you’re asleep, I don’t lose any credibility for saying this, but… you were right the other day. I don’t know the first thing about leading these ponies; I was meant to follow orders, not give them. Am I even doing the right thing here? I don’t know, but I’ve started us on this journey and I don’t have a choice. I can’t just turn this airship around. I never wanted to keep you and your friends here, but my companions have expectations of me now. I can’t just throw those out the window. That’s not what scares me, though. What scares me is that a month ago, I thought Celestia and Luna were the biggest threats to this country. Now, I’m not so sure. Part of me thinks… we are.”

There was another long sigh, followed by the sound of Sunset standing up again. “Just listen to me,” she said, “if you could actually hear me now, everything would be ruined. I don’t even know where I was going with this. I’m going back outside. Maybe seeing that beautiful night sky will reinforce my old beliefs.”

Octavia wanted desperately to sit up, to say that she heard everything and understood completely, but she couldn’t. Even when the hoofsteps left the room and the door closed, she couldn’t, because the fact remained that Sunset was her captor, and she was a hostage. Even if the Awakening’s leader could be convinced to help her and the other hostages, the rest of the Awakening on the airship would quickly put a stop to any rebellion. Calling for help was still the best option.

Once she was sure that nopony was outside the room, Octavia removed the radio from beneath the box and pressed the transmit button. She was almost surprised to find that it actually worked. Spurred on by her success so far, she ran down the list of frequencies until she came down to one labeled as a Manehattan ground response emergency frequency. Quickly she tuned the radio to it. All that remained was getting the message across…

…

Colonel Cloudsplitter rubbed her tired eyes as she munched on some relatively tasteless peanuts. It was the second late night at the squadron building in a row, and she was starting to feel the effects. Things were looking up for Nimbus and Storm Runner, though. They’d made contact with Bright Future and were already less than a day away from the Badlands. What worried her, however, was what might happen to the two when they inevitably came into contact with the Sol. As Aviators, they were capable of defending themselves, but Cloudsplitter hardly wanted an airship full of dead hostages on her hooves. They would need a way to neutralize the Awakening threat, and right now that task fell to her.

As she munched a few more peanuts, the radio on her desk squawked to life. She immediately turned up the volume and slid it closer.

“…transmitting from Sol… emergency frequency…”

Cloudsplitter grabbed the radio and replied instantly. “All channels, I’ll take this.” After receiving an affirmative from the Manehattan police and fire departments, Cloudsplitter fine-tuned the radio to clear up the transmission.

“Caller from Sol, please repeat.”

“Hello? Oh thank Celestia… I’m on the Sol- the airship that was taken hostage two days ago. Who am I speaking with?”

“I’m an operative commanding a rescue mission for your airship,” Cloudsplitter replied, “you can refer to me as callsign Cicada.”

“I can’t give my real name- I don’t know who’s listening,” the voice replied, “but you can refer to me as ‘Sonata.’ All of the hostages are alive, but I don’t know where we are. How soon is your team coming for us?”

“Calm down, Sonata,” Cloudsplitter radioed back, “they are en route as we speak, but I need to know where you are. Our operatives need to be able to get in and rescue you and the others without putting you into unnecessary danger. Do you understand the seriousness of this situation?”

“Yes, of… of course.”

“Good,” Cloudsplitter said, sliding a diagram of the Sol onto her desk, “then listen carefully- remember the control bridge? The place where you found the radio, I’d assume?”

“Yes,” Octavia replied, “but if you’re asking me to go up there, that’s not possible. I only got out because somepony left my door unlocked.”

“Right…” said Cloudsplitter, “well, I need you to find a way to get out again. The best way for our operatives to find you is to track the Sol’s transponder. It’s a device that uses radio signals to report the airship’s position, and right now it’s turned off. We need you to turn it on.”

“I’m sure I can find another way to get back up to the bridge, but what am I looking for exactly?”

Cloudsplitter consulted her papers again, specifically one that detailed the panel layout. “Next to the control wheel is a radio display. At the side of the display is a yellow switch marked ‘emergency.’ The switch turns the emergency transponder on. Even if it’s only on for a second, we can pick up the signal and track your location.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Octavia responded, “I’m sorry, but I have to go now. I think I hear a patrol coming.”

“Sit tight- we’ll get you out of there,” Cloudsplitter said, closing the transmission. As soon as she was sure Sonata was through speaking, she tuned the radio back to Nimbus and Storm Runner’s frequency. The Aviators would need to know what she had just heard. Tomorrow, if everything was to go according to plan, the attack on the Sol could begin.

Righteous Thunder

Nimbus forced himself to his hooves at the insistent blaring of his alarm clock. He, Storm Runner, and Bright Future had been flying for nearly eight hours straight before they finally stopped in Red Ravine, a town just south of the Hayseed Swamps, for some rest. “Some rest” in this case was determined to be four hours by Nimbus. Surprisingly, Bright Future had agreed to this plan, though when he reminded the two that he’d frequently made a habit of staying up for days doing research, the surprise was less so. Nimbus grabbed his helmet and checked up on his companions. Bright Future had beaten the alarm and was in their small apartment’s bathroom, while Storm Runner had, as usual, slept right through the alarm. Nimbus gave his friend’s bed a good kick, and Storm Runner leaped to his hooves as if the might of the Griffon Army was bearing down upon them.

“Relax,” Nimbus said, “it’s five in the morning. Time to get a move on.”

At Nimbus’s words, Storm Runner went from alert to nearly asleep. Nimbus caught him before the stallion faceplanted onto the floor.

“Up and at ‘em, Storm. We’re launching in thirty minutes, so get some coffee into your system before that,” Nimbus nodded at Bright Future, who had just exited the restroom. Storm Runner took his place as the sound of static came from Nimbus’s flight helmet.

“Just a moment,” Nimbus said, holding up a hoof to Bright Future, “I need to answer this.” The Pegasus donned his helmet to acknowledge the transmission.

“This is Raider One,” Nimbus said, “transmitting source, please acknowledge and repeat.”

“This is Cicada, Raider. I have an update for you,” Cloudsplitter’s voice came through loud and clear. Nimbus’s heart jumped.

“Go ahead, Cicada. I’m listening.”

“We got into contact with one of the hostages on the Sol, callsign Sonata. She’s going to activate the Sol’s transponder at some point today. We’ll be monitoring for the transponder signal, but we need you in the air as soon as possible. Once we get the signal, you’ll rendezvous with the 56th Aviator Squadron, stationed out of Dodge Junction. Your new mission priority will be to cripple the Sol and stop the hostage operation. Once the Awakening is stopped, you will proceed to Site Echo, where you will ensure that the facility is destroyed completely. We don’t want this happening again.”

“Roger,” Nimbus replied, “Raider One out.” He unclipped his helmet’s mask and turned to Bright Future. The Unicorn had already projected his magic wings and was ready to go.

“Get ready to fly,” he said, “we’re departing soon.”

…

Octavia hadn’t slept more than five minutes at a time since her radio transmission- partly out of fear, and partly because she had no idea how to get back up on the top deck. Her initial thought had been to light a fire, but it was much too risky, and besides, there were few if any fire-starting materials in the room to begin with. Begging for a bit of fresh air wasn’t going to work either. As far as anypony else knew, she was probably still a liability. She guessed that it was nearly morning, if her radio contact had been serious about getting help, she’d need to act soon.

There was, of course, one option that had literally been staring Octavia in the face ever since the radio call, but she hadn’t dared consider it. An oak chair rested on the wall near the door- one heavy enough to do some significant damage, and yet another oversight on the part of her captors. Knocking out the pony who delivered her daily meal would be simple, but Octavia didn’t want to think about it. Resorting to violence was something she’d hoped to avoid, but as the minutes ticked by, she wasn’t seeing any other choice. She didn’t consider herself incapable of committing an act of violence, of course, but if there was any other way…

Hoofsteps. Octavia’s heart jumped into her throat. It was her breakfast, once again being delivered. If she was going to act, it would be now or never. Quickly she darted to the chair and took hold of it. As the door’s lock clicked and the door opened, she could hear the pony mumbling to himself.

“…not my fault the damn door was unlocked. It’s not like we all get five hours of sleep a night- what the?”

The door was open now, and Octavia was standing directly on one side of it, out of sight. To the pony delivering her breakfast, it must have appeared that the room was empty. He took just two steps inside- two steps, and Octavia acted almost entirely upon impulse, hefting the chair and bringing it crashing down on top of his head. The pony crumpled to a heap and Octavia immediately rushed to his side.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, her older, softer side taking over for a moment before she composed herself. Time was of the essence. She grabbed the unconscious pony and heaved him aside. Free of her confinement once more, she headed immediately for the stairs and peeked out the trapdoor. There were three ponies on the deck, all Awakening. She’d have to run for it.

Slow down and think about this, she thought to herself, you’re a musician. Musicians don’t just run headlong into problems like this. Go back to your room and take some time.

“No,” she whispered, “this has to be done now!”

She pushed open the hatch and tumbled out onto the deck, almost tripping over her front hooves. The noise startled the Awakening ponies, who were more than surprised to see a prisoner not only free, but resisting. Octavia took this moment’s hesitation to run, heading for the stairs. She’d scuffed a hoof in the trip, and every step was painful, but she couldn’t think about such things now- there were lives at stake. She wrenched open the door to the control bridge with several ponies now in hot pursuit, and shoved the pony at the controls aside.

“Out of my way!” she growled, flipping the transponder switch. Octavia frantically looked around the room. Her pursuers were approaching the door now, and she’d need something to block it to buy some time. A stack of communication equipment would have to do. Octavia toppled the tower of electronics in front of the door. As long as the transponder was intact, they’d be fine. She took one glance back at the pony she’d shoved away. He was getting to his hooves, and looked madder than a Manticore with a sun burn. She bucked him in the face sharply, and he collapsed again. Outside, ponies were gathering around, and Octavia ducked as she noticed three sharpshooters with crossbows on the deck, their weapons trained on the window. The door, meanwhile, began to shake and glow with blue magic, until with an earsplitting bang, it fragmented. Octavia backed away, and as the smoke cleared, Silky Sunset materialized out of the debris.

“This ends now,” she hissed. Octavia met her glare with one of her own.

“Let us go now,” she said, “this is my final warning to you.”

“You are in no position to make demands,” Silky said, advancing, “turn off that transponder now, cellist.”

Oh, if only Vinyl could see me now, Octavia thought, just like the hero in one of those action films she loves so dearly. Except in those films, the hero usually ends up in a better situation than this.

Octavia eyed the transponder switch. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll do it.” Projecting a look of defeat, Octavia slowly stepped over to the transponder. Before anypony could react, though, she drew in her back hooves and kicked it, ripping the switch off and exposing the wiring inside. At the same time, the ponies on the deck fired their crossbows, and Octavia ducked at the sound of their distinctive twangs. One bolt managed to graze her shoulder, though, making a long, thin cut. She yelped and fell to the ground, where she was seized by two Awakening guards.

“Try turning that off,” she said, coughing and wincing as the pain fought to control her.

“You want the world to know we’re here?” Silky said, bringing her face in close to Octavia’s , “let them come.” She turned towards one of the unoccupied guards nearby.

“Raven Wing, get the rest of the hostages up on the observation deck and bring this one as well-“ she gave Octavia a swift kick and the mare groaned, “have the rest of your stallions retrieve the ADS. We will eliminate any aerial opposition that comes our way.”

Raven Wing smiled and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

…

“How will those wings hold up in a dogfight?”

“What, these?” Bright Future asked, flexing his projected wings in response to Nimbus’s question, “they get me airborne, but they won’t support more than a sustained 4 g’s. I’m afraid I’ll be sitting this one out.”

“Okay,” Nimbus said, “then as soon as we have a visual on the Sol, I want you to stay well clear of the battle.”

“No arguments from me,” Bright Future agreed. It wasn’t the best day for an aerial fight- there was a light drizzle and the sky was overcast- but the conditions would be right for a sneak attack. If things went well, the fight would be over in minutes.

“Hey, there’s something on the madar display,” Storm Runner said, “looks like… it’s the Sol’s transponder signal!”

Nimbus immediately switched his attention over to the small, square display. Sure enough, the coordinates of the Sol were being transmitted to his HUD. “I have visual, Windigo,” he said, “but we do not engage until rendezvous is complete. What’s the ETA on the Dodge Junction squadron?”

A new voice cut in over the radio, thick with a southern drawl. “You talkin’ about us? This is Rustler One with the 56th AS- I’m guessin’ you’re the mercs we’re supposed to meet up with.”

“Affirmative,” Nimbus said, “have you been briefed on the mission?”

Four Pegasi, their flight suits bearing maroon leg stripes, smoothly crossed in front of the three “mercenaries” and leveled off in perfect formation.

“We’ve been told that we’re about to take down an airship,” Rustler One replied, “does this have to do with that whole Sol shenanigan that happened a few days ago in Manehattan?”

“That’s correct,” Storm Runner said, “we have one contact on the ground, callsign Cicada. She’ll be directing our operations. And if you’ll just excuse me…” he tuned Cloudsplitter’s frequency to his active slot, “Cicada, this is Raider Two. We’ve made contact with Rustler. Ready for the first attack phase.”

“Roger, Raider. Commence phase one. You’ll be briefed en route. We will begin Operation Righteous Thunder now.”

The attack on the Sol, as Cloudsplitter had detailed earlier that day, was to take place in three phases. The first phase would involve the initial engagement and attack, and would focus on disabling the airship’s Aggressor Denial System. Once this phase was complete, phase two would begin. During the second phase, the Awakenings’ control over the hostages would be diminished. During this phase, the Aviators would focus on removing the hostages from the airship while mopping up any remaining aerial resistance. Once the Pegasi were dealt with, the third and final phase could begin- the disabling of the Sol’s engines. Without them, the airship would be forced to land, and the remaining Awakening ponies on board could be taken into custody. The plan was foolproof- in theory, at least. Its actual application, however, would soon be put to the test.

“Standby, Raider and Rustler,” Cloudsplitter called, “you’re receiving a briefing from the Sol’s chief engineer- Robust Iron. Show him the respect I’d expect of you and above all, listen to him. If anypony can help you take down the Sol, it’s the guy that built it.”

Storm Runner looked over to Nimbus in awe, and Nimbus grinned. His friend had a certain fascination with engineering, and to be able to talk to such a legendary figure as the designer of one of Equestria’s most modern airships was almost too much for him to take in.

“Uh, hello Aviators,” a male voice said over the radio, gradually growing more clear, “I’m Robust Iron. I’d like you to focus on maintaining your current flight course, but I’ll be sending some schematics to your HUDs. Try not to concentrate too hard on them- they’re just visual aids. Now as I’ve been briefed, you’re trying to disable the Sol. First, What you’ll have to remember is that while the ADS has a large area of effect, it was only meant to be used in one direction- straight down. In other words, the brunt of the magical discharge has to be aimed. As long as you’re not directly in the weapon’s line of sight, and not too close to it when it goes off, you’ll survive. Also, note that it’ll take a bit of time for the Unicorns operating it to charge up their magic again. That charging time will be your critical period to attack. When you move on to the engines, things get a bit more complicated.”

As Nimbus flew on, his visor displayed a rotating image of one of the Sol’s large engine pods, complete with spinning propeller, as Robust Iron continued. “The engines were specifically designed to be shielded against lightning strikes, and since your CAL-2s fire projectiles very similar to lightning, it will be almost impossible to disable the engines with a direct hit. However, there are two access points-“ the image of the engine blew up, zooming in on the front, then moving to the sides “-the cooling intake, which draws in air to cool the engine, and the exhaust vanes, on the sides of the engine. Both are small targets, but both are also very susceptible to a focused strike. If you concentrate your attack on them, the ship will go down in no time.”

“Thank you,” Nimbus said, “and I’m sorry it has to be this way. If we could safely do this without damaging your airship-“

“Don’t worry about it,” Iron replied, “I designed the Sol, I babied her during development, and I treated her better than any of my other creations, but to see her used for evil… I can’t bear it. Take her down, and help those poor hostages.”

“Wilco, sir,” Storm Runner said, “Raider out.”

“Hey, mercs-“ one of the ponies from Rustler squadron called out, “I have a visual on the Sol- ten o’ clock high… Celestia preserve me, that thing is huge!”

Nimbus shifted his focus upwards and slightly to the left, and there it was- hovering like some great beast suspended in midair.

“Raider One to all flights,” he said, switching his weapon off safe, “cleared to engage. Initiate phase one operations against the Sol!”

Bright Future broke away from the formation as the Pegasi pulled up as one, leveling off with their target. Drawing closer, Nimbus could see ponies on the deck. Once again, the hostages were there, but this time they were simply bound. Nopony was covering them.

“I think they want the hostages to see us fail,” Storm Runner said, “how about that?”

“Ain’t gonna happen,” Rustler One said, “look sharp- they’re rolling out the ADS on the lower deck!”

“Break formation!” Nimbus said, “multiple targets will be a hay of a lot harder for them to hit.”

The ponies split off in multiple directions as a hail of small-arms fire from crossbows and magic bolts filled the air. Nimbus wrenched violently to the right as several arrows passed just over his helmet. On the deck below, the Unicorns with the ADS were already charging it, rotating it to follow two of Rustler squadrons Aviators who were flying in close proximity. Rustler one made a dive on the device from above, but had to back off as a flurry of arrows came up to meet him. Nimbus rolled and dove under the ship, then pulled up in a loop and fired, still flying inverted, at two of the archers on the deck. The first he missed, but the second one went down, rigid as the electrical energy coursed through his body. Then the humming began. Nimbus snapped his eyes over to the ADS, which was now glowing a vibrant red and was pointing off the left side of the gondola.

“ADS ready to fire, left side!” he called, “move to a safe distance!”

…

Octavia sat with her fellow hostages, bound by the hooves, and only able to watch as the brave Aviators fought to secure the airship. Several of the hostages cheered when one orange Pegasus came up from below and took out an archer, but the cheers were in vain once the ADS charged. Silky Sunset was on deck, and made the call.

“Fire it now,” she said.

“But ma’am, they’re moving too fast!” one of the Unicorns operating the device called out, “if we fire now and miss, we need time to recharge it!”

“That’s my concern, not yours. Now fire the ADS!”

With a flash of bright red and a dreadful, booming sound that made it seem as if the sky itself was tearing in two, the ADS discharged. In horror, Octavia watched as one Aviator plummeted out of the sky, disoriented.

“One confirmed down,” a Unicorn said, “preparing for the next attack.”

…

The ADS’s attack had shaken everypony, but they’d only lost one so far- a Lieutenant from Rustler squadron. The ADS would need time to charge- it was time to strike.

“Coordinated strike!” Nimbus called out, “aim for the handlers and the dish and try to weave through the projectiles!”

The ponies lined up, their respective squadrons on either side of the Sol, and dove in, weapons firing. The ponies at the ADS tried to use the device to shield themselves from the attack, but the rain of electricity came at them from all sides. One went down quickly, and had to be replaced. The squadrons met in the middle of the airship, passing each other underneath the gas envelopes just a few inches away. Seeing an opportunity, Nimbus kicked down at the ADS as he flew over it, cracking the device’s mirrorlike surface. Once clear of the Sol’s second envelope, he and Storm Runner once again split off in opposite directions as anti-air fire raked the sky.

“The ADS is damaged,” Nimbus called out, “one more pass and we’ll finish it off.” As he turned around for another run, his heart nearly stopped- the ADS was already glowing at full charge. Spurred on by the heat of battle, the operators had already managed to charge it.

“All Aviators, break now! Stay away from the Sol!”

…

Sunset swore as the Pegasi made their pass on the ADS, breaking it. The face was cracked now, but not entirely useless. The ponies charging it, however, were barely focused on the task at hoof, instead worrying about staying out of the next strafing run.

“Cowards!” she called out, pointing her horn at the device and using her own magic to charge it, “if we don’t charge the weapon, we won’t be able to repel their attacks effectively!”

“Ma’am, if we fire again, we may break the device!” one of the operators replied, “the face is cracked!”

“Better to fire once and break it than to not fire at all,” Sunset shot back, “now take out those Aviators!”

The device emitted a loud hum, and a shield went up around the hostages again.

“Fire!”

…

Nimbus clawed for distance from the airship. With a fractured surface, there was no telling where the blasts from the ADS would go, and while small, focused beams of energy would be less powerful, they’d still be more than enough to knock a Pegasus out of the air.

The booming sounded again, and Nimbus risked a look back. Beams of dispersed red energy crisscrossed the sky as the device went off yet again, but this time there was a secondary explosion. On the deck, the ADS shattered, throwing the handlers across the gondola. One of the gas envelopes was smoking as well. The ADS had ruptured it, and the loss of pressure in the envelope was causing the airship to sink slowly.

“ADS is down!” Storm Runner called, “commence attack on the Awakening and hostage rescue!”

Giving the Awakening little time to recover, two member of Rustler flight swooped down and landed, cutting the rope binding the hostages. Then they took off carrying two with them. Nimbus and Storm dove on an anti-air position, suppressing it with their attack and knocking down another two Awakening ponies. They flew low enough to hear Silky’s next command, in fact.

“Pegasi, cleared to engage!”

Five Pegasi launched from the deck of the airship, streaking vertically into the air. Nimbus and Storm turned to engage, climbing straight into the fight as the ponies’ own CAL-2s fired back at them.

“Raider to Rustler,” he called, “we’re in the furball now, engaging enemy air forces.”

“Roger,” Rustler one called back, “we’re going after the rest of the hostages now.”

Nimbus jinked left to avoid a hail of rounds from a pursuing Pegasus, then pulled up into a loose rolling scissors, planting himself right onto the tail of another pony. Without hesitation he fired, peppering the pony’s back with electrically-charged rounds. Just as expected, the pony’s wings locked up and he plummeted, falling into a flat spin and hurtling towards the ground.

“Splash one,” Nimbus said.

“One locked on my tail!” Storm Runner cried out, “he’s tight, might be tricky to shake him.”

Nimbus picked Storm Runner out of the crowd and flew towards him. “Break right on my mark, Raider Two…” he waited, watching as Storm and his pursuer were the appropriate distance, “…and mark!”

Storm Runner broke right, with the pursuer following as predicted. Nimbus, meanwhile, broke left, turning opposite Storm Runner from behind. They were executing a Thach Weave- a maneuver that would require precise timing, but one that would also be extremely effective at removing the bogey from Storm Runner’s tail. Nimbus waited until Storm crossed his boresight, then fired, the shots just missing Storm but squarely impacting the pony behind him, who immediately fell out of the dogfight.

“Appreciate it,” Storm Runner said, “looks like we’re just mopping up now.” The blue Pegasus rolled inverted to pursue another Pegasus below him, catching the stallion across the back with a well-timed burst. On the deck of the ship, only a few hostages remained. Rustler was doing an excellent job liberating the ponies and bringing them to safety, but as they left with two more, the few Awakening left on deck started moving towards the remaining hostages.

“Storm,” Nimbus said, “check out the deck when you get the chance, something’s going on down there.”

…

The Aviators’ attacks were quick, efficient, and devastating. Silky hadn’t been prepared for full combat, but this was even worse- it was a target shoot. Ten minutes in, and the deck was almost clear of the hostages they’d worked so hard to obtain, to say nothing of the Awakening casualties so far. They needed a plan of action.

Silky ducked under fire from two of the unmarked Aviators and frantically scanned the deck. The trapdoor! Gathering a few ponies, she briefed them on her plan.

“Get the hostages below! If we keep losing them to the Aviators, they’ll have no qualms about blowing us out of the sky. Grab a crossbow and move!”

The other ponies nodded in agreement and Sunset charged her horn with magic, addressing the hostages, now free of their bonds.

“If any of you so much as moves, we will not hesitate to kill you! Get below deck right now!” She forcefully picked up Octavia, shoving her down through the trapdoor just as the Aviators came around for another pickup. The others disappeared below deck, too, and Sunset managed to get a glancing shot on one of the Aviators. He wavered a bit, but kept flying. Sunset turned to the remaining Awakening around her.

“We defend this airship as long as it takes,” she said, “everypony grab weapons- this isn’t over yet!”

…

“Rustler one to Raider, they’ve got the hostages below!”

“Dammit!” Nimbus swore, “initiate phase three, then. We’ll bring the airship down and clear it out on the ground.”

One Pegasus remained in the air, and had thus far managed to evade all of the Aviators’ attacks. He occasionally dove on the Pegasi, harassing them from above, but as far as Nimbus could tell, he wasn’t a threat. Keeping this in mind, Nimbus turned to engage him, calling out his next order.

“Target the engines. I’ll take the last aerial threat.”

“Understood, Raider One,” the Rustler lead called, “keep him off our backs. We’re starting our run.”

As the remaining Pegasus dove on the Aviators again, Nimbus pulled up, climbing to meet him. Taking note of this, the Pegasus altered his course, charging straight for Nimbus. It was a suicide run, plain and simple, but Nimbus wasn’t about to partake in it. Just before impact, he twisted his wings, performing a loose barrel roll. The diving pony was unable to change directions fast enough and plowed right past. As he brushed past him, Nimbus pulled back again, nearing the threshold of even his wings’ capabilities, and settled onto the tail of his rapidly descending foe. The Pegasus was fighting for airspeed, and his steep dive assisted him, but he couldn’t descend forever. Nimbus breezed past his allies, who were already making several passes at the airship’s massive, plated engines under a hail of magic and crossbow fire from the ponies on the deck. Below, the Pegasus was beginning to pull up and enter a right turn. Nimbus started his own turn while descending, rapidly closing the gap as the two’s paths converged.

Glancing back, the Pegasus saw Nimbus gaining and quickly rolled to the left and pulled back above treetop level, changing directions quickly, but Nimbus followed the maneuver, firing a burst at him. The pony loosened his turn, forcing the burst to overshoot, and dove into a gap between the trees themselves. Shaking his head once, Nimbus followed. The gap between the trees was only about two wingspans wide, meaning there wasn’t much horizontal maneuvering room. Nimbus’s opponent attempted to compensate for this by moving up and down in erratic patterns. Nimbus gave up on trying to track him, instead using the speed lost by his target’s up and downward movements to get closer still. When he was only a few feet away, the Pegasus pulled back up, attempting a hard immelpony maneuver. Anticipating such a maneuver, Nimbus pulled back harder, cutting brilliant white wingtip vortices in the air and leading the target with his boresight. Nimbus fired a constant stream of projectiles, which ran squarely from the target’s head to tail. The Pegasus fell out of the sky without so much as a struggle, wings rigid. Nimbus disengaged, heading back towards the Sol. Time to put an end to this.

…

With every pass of the Aviators, the tension grew below deck. There were only two others left with Octavia- the rest had been rescued.

“What do you think’s going on up there?” one pony asked, “every time we hear them pass by, that terrible grinding sound happens.”

There was another whoosh- the Aviators passing by- and as before, there was a loud grinding noise, as if metal was being ripped apart. Then silence again as they no doubt lined up for another pass.

“They’re tearing apart the airship,” the other said, “they don’t care that we’re on here, they’re going to kill us all!”

“No, no, no, they can’t!” Octavia said, “they know we’re here, and they’ll rescue us. Trust me. We just have to hold out.”

Octavia looked up at the ceiling, trying not to let the apprehension show. Somepony had to remain strong, and if she’d been the one to resist the Awakening, it only made sense that she couldn’t crumble now.

The Aviators passed by again, their attack rocking the airship, and Octavia closed her eyes. Whatever the outcome, this would all be over soon.

…

This was getting frustrating, Nimbus had to admit. The Aviators had made five passes at the engines by now, under fire from the main deck, and the ship was still flying out towards the badlands. They’d chosen to attack the exhaust vanes from the sides, limiting exposure to the arrows and magical bolts from the Awakening, but it was starting to look like the only way to hit the engines would be to attack head on, firing at the air intakes.

After yet another unsuccessful pass, Nimbus finally gave in. “All squadrons, attack from the front. Looks like the intakes are the only vulnerable area. Try to suppress the fire from the deck as you fly over. Good luck.”

“Roger, Raider. We’ll take this floating behemoth down one way or another,” Rustler One replied. The squadrons split, regrouping in formation and heading straight towards the airship. On the deck, the few ponies left kept firing. Magic and arrows flew towards them, but the Aviators pressed on, only weaving slightly to avoid direct hits.

“Steady…” Storm Runner called out, “keep your targets locked in. Ready… fire!”

The ponies fired their rounds off, several glancing off the well-shielded intakes. A few made it inside, but as the squadrons regrouped and flew out of range to view their handiwork, it became clear that the attack had done nothing.

“What the hay are we supposed to do?” Rustler Two asked. Nimbus gritted his teeth and racked his brain.

“I don’t know, I-“

Make one more pass.

Nimbus shook his head. It was almost like what had happened months ago over Canterlot. Telepathy. But who could possibly-

Gather together and make another pass. Clear the deck and give me a clear frontal shot.

“Okay,” Storm said, “that was definitely telepathy. I recognize the voice, too. I…”

“It’s Bright Future!” Nimbus said, “come on, we’ll make one more pass. Aviators, hit the soft targets on the deck and clear out immediately. We’re trying one more thing.”

Inspired, Nimbus took up point as the Aviators gathered for their attack run. The ponies on the deck noted the change in their strike angle, and began searching for any cover they could find, but it was to no avail. Nimbus poured on the rounds, along with the rest of his comrades, and everypony on the deck dropped in seconds.

“Targets are down, pull out!” Nimbus called. The Aviators pulled out just in time for Nimbus to see a very familiar Unicorn appear, charging the Sol from the front, magically-projected wings fully extended. Once everypony was clear, a thin, intense beam of blue light fired from his horn, hitting and penetrating the left engine. In a gout of flame and smoke, the forged steel engine fragmented, tearing free of its supports. Without propulsion on one side, the ship began to yaw slightly to the left, starting a lazy graveyard spiral towards the ground. Nimbus slowed to a hover just off to the side of the intact envelope.

“She’s going down,” he said, smiling, “we did it. We actually did it!”

“Yeehaw!” Storm Runner whooped, arcing over the airship and rolling at the apogee of his maneuver. Then realization hit Nimbus.

“We just shot down the Sol…” he breathed, “my dad’s favorite airship. He’s gonna kill me.”

…

The electricity that had coursed through her body initially surprised Silky Sunset. She had assumed, and prepared for, an incomprehensible pain. What happened was completely different. Despite the intensity of the charge, her body simply felt as if it were covered in pins and needles. Then she lost control of her limbs and was face-down on the deck. That was it. No brutality, no death. She could sense movement, and knew the Sol was slipping slowly down to the earth below. It was over, and though she knew she should have felt some sort of rage, some burning drive to carry on what she’d started, she was surprised to find she felt relieved.

Her neck came back to her first. Inch by inch, she moved it, craning it to look back at the control bridge. Behind it, she could see the smoking remains of the left engine. The majestic airship was in its final death throes. It was almost sad. What had she done?

Next to her, one of the Unicorns on the deck moved his front hoof. He looked up thoughtfully at the Aviators, then down at the control bridge, then over to Sunset.

“It’s not over,” he said, “that’s what you said to me a moment ago. I think we can finish this.”

“Rest, brother,” Sunset said slowly, “the fight is done. There is nothing more we can do.”

“But there is! We can crash this ship and take the hostages with us.”

“No,” Sunset said, shaking her head as much as she could, “no, this is not the time! Just lie still and accept this!”

“You… hypocrite!” the Unicorn snarled, getting up shakily onto his hooves, “you say you can lead us, but you don’t mean it. You never did. I’m going to finish this, and I dare you to just try and stop me.”

Before Silky could say anything further, the Unicorn slipped away, heading for the bridge. The Aviators never even saw him. Moments later, the nose of the Sol dipped down and the craft began to pick up speed. Sunset closed her eyes.

“This is how it ends,” she said softly, “so be it.”

…

Nimbus formed up with Storm Runner and the others just above the slowly falling craft. “I’ll call it in if the rest of you want to get whatever hostages are left on that airship.”

“Sure thing,” Rustler One called, “we lost one guy today, but if you two weren’t here, it could have been worse. Much worse. Swing by Dodge Junction on your way back- we’ll cover the drinks.”

“I appreciate it,” Nimbus said, “but our work isn’t done just yet.” He turned away and tuned his comms back to Cloudsplitter’s frequency. “Cicada, this is Raider One. Righteous Thunder was successful. Repeat. Righteous Thunder was a succe-“

“Raider One, get down here!”

“Standby,” Nimbus said, turning back towards the others. As soon as he saw why he’d been summoned, his stomach plummeted. Seconds ago, the Sol was in a slow, turning descent. Now it was diving towards the ground, picking up speed.

“Stabilize that ship!” Nimbus called out, “get to the control bridge, let’s try to reverse this!”

Storm Runner landed on the deck, making his way towards the control bridge. Nearby, Silky Sunset started to move.

“Stay down!” Storm Runner yelled.

“I can help…” Sunset said.

“You can help by not moving,” Storm Runner shot back, climbing the stairs to the bridge. As soon as he reached the top, he saw a problem. The door was down, but there was an Awakening pony at the controls, and he’d sealed off the area with a magical barrier. The pony fixed him with a look of grim determination. Storm Runner scowled back.

“What’s going on?” Nimbus called out, landing on the deck.

“There’s a pony at the controls,” Storm Runner replied, “we won’t make it through in time.”

Nimbus took in the rest of the airship, considering his options. If he remembered correctly, the control surfaces on the craft were controlled via cable. If one were to break that connection to the bridge…

“New idea,” Nimbus said, gathering the Rustler squadron ponies, “Rustler Two, go below deck and make sure the hostages that are left are taken care of. Bright Future, get on the ground and look after the ponies that have already been rescued. Rustler One, you’re with Storm and I. We’re going to cut the control cables and fly this ship ourselves.”

“How?” Storm Runner called down from outside the bridge.

“Leave that to me,” Nimbus replied, flinging himself off the deck. Underneath the gondola, he pulled up, and snap-rolled into place behind one of the gondola’s massive stabilizing fins. The cause of the dive was immediately apparent- the fin was deflected completely up, instigating the sharp pitch down. Nimbus searched the point connecting the fin to the gondola frame- one wire connected it to the control wheel in the bridge.

Wasting no time, Nimbus kicked the cable, popping it free of the wing surface. The ship’s dive began to become more erratic, as left yaw mixed with right roll. The right stabilizer was no longer under operator control.

“Do the same to the rest of the fins,” Nimbus radioed, “we need to deflect the front of these things down to stabilize the descent.”

A few moments later, a faint popping indicated that the others had done the same. The ship was now in a forty-degree dive- an extreme angle for such a large craft. “Storm, pitch the backside of your control fin up!”

“Roger,” Storm replied, pushing up on the back of his fin just as Nimbus did.

“Rustler One, you have control of the vertical stabilizer. Neutralize our yaw and we’ll try to guide her straight into that clearing ahead.” Nimbus pointed to an empty spot amidst several trees about the length of a department store. With a slow-moving craft, it was unlikely they’d be able to make it to the flat ground of the badlands before impact, and the clearing was the best option in the immediate vicinity.

As the Pegasi forced the ship back out of its dive, the stresses on the massive frame finally started to take effect. Great chunks of wood cracked and flew away from the airship in a deadly debris storm towards the Pegasi in the back. Nimbus couldn’t even afford to flinch as a piece of trim flew past his face by a scant few inches. The resistance against his efforts to keep the fin upright was immense, and his wings and legs burned with the effort. On the other side of the craft, Storm Runner took a brief look upwards.

“Raider One, we’ve lost one envelope completely,” he said. Almost immediately the airship started to roll to the left.

“Right,” Nimbus said, “okay Storm, think about this like a giant Pegasus wing. Ease up on your stabilizer until we’re level again.”

Storm Runner obeyed, cutting back on his upward pressure, and the ship settled back into a smooth descent. Worryingly enough, more pieces of the ship were perforating the envelope above Nimbus. Without it, the ship would lose the only thing keeping it in the air. They were close, though. The clearing was only about a quarter mile away. With his hooves shaking from the strain, Nimbus finally made the call as the ground neared the fins.

“All Pegasi, break off!” he said. The three Aviators beneath the gondola broke away just as the ship plowed into the ground, tearing the soft grass and throwing dirt and dust into the air. Nimbus’s flight path fluttered as he readjusted to flying on his own, then he half-landed, half-collapsed onto the clearing. Storm Runner fell beside him, patting his friend on the back.

“We did well today, Nimbus,” he gasped, “I think, all things considered, we did pretty darn well.”

“Roger that,” Nimbus coughed, getting back on Cloudsplitter’s frequency. “Cicada, Operation Righteous Thunder is… complete.”

“Well done,” Cloudsplitter radioed back, “round up those hostages and whatever Awakening you managed to take, and get to Site Echo. You’re halfway done. Cicada out.”

…

Silky Sunset had finally regained control of her body, and aside from a persistent ringing in her ears, she considered herself lucky. The first indication that things were returning to normal was the sensation of the soft rain from above caressing her face. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the Aviators had successfully foiled her plans, she was not angered. They'd saved the lives of everypony on board the ship, something she hadn't prepared herself to see them do. Even more surprisingly, they'd saved her. She was about to get up, to congratulate the Aviators despite their status as enemies, when a hoof pressed down against her throat. It was the Unicorn who’d taken control of the ship.

“You have no place in the Awakening,” he grimaced, “and I will kill you, here and now, for your treason. You are a disgrace to-“

A blue pulse of magic impacted the Unicorn in the side. His eyes shot wide open, then glazed over as he fell down at Sunset’s side, dead. In disbelief, Silky Sunset sat up and saw another Unicorn standing a few feet away. She immediately recognized him as the one traveling with the Aviators.

“Thank you,” she rasped.

“Don’t thank me yet. You have a lot to answer for. I’m Bright Future, the pony you and your lackeys tried kidnapping. I don’t think I have to tell you that we’re not on the best of terms right now.” Bright Future paced over to the side of the gondola and called out. “Aviators, I have one live Awakening prisoner here!”

Nimbus and Storm Runner hurried over and instantly surrounded Silky Sunset as Rustler Two emerged from below deck with the last three hostages. Almost instantly, the grey Earth Pony mare among them ran over to the Aviators.

“Thank you so much,” she said, “I was in contact with your commander, callsign Sonata. Your quick response was much appreciated.”

“You got in contact with us while in captivity?” Nimbus asked impressed, “sweet Celestia, that must have taken guts. What’s your name?”

“Octavia,” the mare said.

“Well, Octavia, you should go join your companions. I think you’ve earned some rest.”

The mare smiled. “Thank you.”

As Octavia headed back to her companions, Bright Future looked to the Aviators and pointed to Silky Sunset.

“So she’s the leader of the whole thing? She’s the one that lead the Awakening here? That stole my map?”

“That’s right,” Storm said, glaring at Sunset, “and when we get her back to Manehattan, she’ll pay for everything she’s ever done.”

“I’m not so sure,” Bright Future said, helping Sunset to her feet.

“Bright Future, with all due respect,” Storm Runner said, “please don’t touch the prisone-“

A field of blue magic surrounded both Unicorns, repelling the Aviators. Nimbus looked up, dazed, as Bright Future looked down on them with an unnervingly disturbing grin.

“This, Aviators, is where we part. Canterlot cannot see the need for what lies in Site Echo, but I can. I won’t let you destroy it. In time, everypony will see that what I did there was justified. I’d threaten to kill you, but the only pony who knows where the site is located is now in my possession. Try to follow me, and the Badlands will do a better job killing you than I ever could.” He turned to Silky Sunset, “Come, my dear. You wanted to be a part of something better, and now you’ll finally get the chance.”

In a bright flash of blue, both Unicorns were gone. Nimbus and Storm stared dumbfoundedly at where they’d once stood, then turned to the Aviators of the 56th Squadron.

“Take the ponies we found here back to Dodge and get them home as soon as possible,” Nimbus said, his voice seething with barely containable rage, “we’re going after Bright Future.”

“No, wait!” a voice cried out from the crowd. Nimbus recognized the Canterlot accent. It was the grey mare who had helped them. She approached, looking hesitant to say what was to come next.

“I want to go home as much as any of those ponies,” she said, “but Bright Future is about to do the same thing I was taken hostage for. I risked my life trying to stop this from happening once. If there really is a threat at Site Echo, then my actions were in vain…” Octavia took a deep breath, composing herself, “I’m coming with you.”

“Ma’am,” Storm Runner said, “I understand your commitment, but we can’t allow it. You’re a-“

“A civilian?” Octavia said, “a mare? What does it matter? My resolve is as strong as yours, and on top of that-“ the mare reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a large sheet of old paper, “I have the only map in existence.”

Nimbus and Storm Runner looked at each other, then back to Octavia. She had all the cards- all they could do was play along now.

“Well, alright then,” Nimbus said, sighing, “Miss Octavia, as long as you voluntarily commit yourself to this journey, we’ll take you aboard. Now prepare yourself- we’ve got a long journey ahead across Equestria’s harshest terrain, and it starts now.”

Author's Note

Whew. That was easily the longest mid-story chapter I've ever done. I drew inspiration from several sources for the fight against the Sol, but my biggest motivator in writing this chapter was music, specifically the music of Ace Combat. I listened to "Excalibur," "Stonehenge," and "Comona" numerous times while writing up this piece, and the mood each of the pieces conveys has a place somewhere in this chapter, I feel.

That or they're just really cool pieces of music that go well with writing aerial battles.

Anyway, so ends Part 1 of this book. Now we can look forward to things taking a significantly darker twist, as it's revealed soon that there's a lot more to what looks like a cut-and-dried cover-up than there initially appears to be.

The Badlands

“Okay, that’s it,” Storm Runner said, stretching and collapsing onto a warm desert rock, “I need a break.”

“We have no food or water, Storm,” Nimbus said, “as much as I hate to say it, we need to continue on to the facility. If we stay out here too long, we’re toast, and I pretty much mean that in the literal sense of the word.”

“No, I think he’s right,” Octavia spoke up, “if we keep going, we’ll just be that much more susceptible to exhaustion or heatstroke.”

Nimbus picked a spot in the shade of a shallow ravine and sat down, admittedly relieved to no longer be slogging through hot, dry desert sand. “Fine,” he said, “but only for ten minutes. We need to hurry. Er… Octavia, was it?”

Octavia nodded, and Nimbus motioned with his hoof for her to come closer.

“Can you bring me the map, please? Might as well use this chance to check up on where we are.”

“Of course,” the mare said, approaching Nimbus and spreading the map in front of him. Nimbus pinned down the corners with four stones before tracing their path with his hoof.

“So who are you two?” Octavia asked.

“We already mentioned that,” Nimbus replied absently, “we’re mercenaries.”

“Right, the cover story,” Octavia sighed rolling her eyes, “you’re Aviators, aren’t you? You both look a touch too professional to be hired hooves.”

Storm Runner looked over from his rock. “Looks can be deceiving, my friend.”

“Truth be told,” Nimbus said, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for what he was about to say, “we are Aviators. We were sent here to-“

Storm Runner’s hoof fell over Nimbus’s shoulder as he addressed Octavia. “I’d like to speak to my colleague alone for a moment, please.”

Storm Runner rushed Nimbus over to his rock, seething. “What was that, Nimbus? You just blew our cover!”

“Yes, I did,” Nimbus shot back, “and to be honest, I don’t see a problem. If Octavia’s going to tag along on this little excursion, we’re going to need to be completely honest with her. We need to build trust. You trust me, right?”

“Of course I do, Nimbus, but-“

“And when she trusts us both, we’ll be that much stronger, Storm. It's basic group cohesion.”

Storm Runner shook his head, returning to his rock. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” he sighed.

Ignoring him, Nimbus sat down next to Octavia and went back to the map.

“So, can I get your names at least?” Octavia pressed. Nimbus mentally kicked himself; he’d meant to give the mare his and Storm’s names from the start anyway, but fixation on his goal of finding Bright Future had forced him to completely forget.

“Absolutely,” he said, “I actually meant to tell you before. I’m Nimbus, and my partner over there-“ he pointed to the blue Pegasus now sunning himself on the rock “-is Storm Runner.”

“Well, I’m pleased to meet you both,” Octavia said, “now with the formalities out of the way, how much farther will we be walking?”

“Not too far,” Nimbus said, checking out the site’s location on the map, “we’re near the Palomino Plateu right here,” he pointed to a mark on the map, near which was a crudely-sketched “x.” A classic x-marks-the-spot. “That ‘x’ is our destination. It’s only about four or five more hours of walking. The problem’s going to be finding it when we get there.”

“Why’s that?”

Nimbus rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “well, it’s entirely possible that the entrance to the facility has been collapsed. We’ll either have to locate the site of the collapse and dig through it or find another way in…” he looked thoughtfully at Octavia, “listen, ma’am-“

“Just call me Octavia,” the mare replied.

“Right, Octavia- I don’t mean to pry, but why are you here?”

“Well, I supplied the map,” Octavia said, “and I volunteered. What else is there to know?”

“No, not what I meant,” Nimbus said, folding up the map and leaning back against a rock, “the other hostages were grateful to be free, to go home and see their families. Don’t you have a family waiting for word about your condition?”

Octavia lowered her head, fixating on the dust. This was a question she’d been hoping to avoid for years, and the first pony to finally ask it, other than Vinyl, was a total stranger.

“Listen,” she said at last, taking a deep breath, “you were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you. I’m a musician, Nimbus. Though I try to keep up a sophisticated appearance, I am far from the top of the financial ladder. My parents never understood why I’d want to pursue such a career. They never once considered that I wasn’t doing it for the money. I never cared about the money to begin with. I left home years ago- my father practically drove me out. What scares me to this day is that I was closer than ever that night to changing my career plans…”

A tear rolled down his face, and Nimbus felt a pang of hurt. He hadn’t meant to touch a nerve with his question. “Octavia, if the question’s making you uncomfortable, you don’t have to-“

“No,” Octavia went on, “it just feels like my whole life I’ve either been disappointing somepony or being trampled on. I’m done with it. I thought I could get away from it by being a musician, but it followed me there from time to time, too. I’m going to help you two bring this to a close because I know I can. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll finally be able to look in the mirror and see a stronger pony staring back at me.”

Nimbus nodded slowly, sympathetically. Suddenly his own problems seemed ridiculously small by comparison. Breaking the mood, Storm Runner got up and moved into the group.

“Alright, rest’s over,” he said, “I’d say we’re all refreshed enough to keep going for another few hours.”

“Roger that,” Nimbus said, helping Octavia to her hooves and giving her back the map.

“Thanks… for listening,” Octavia said, “not a lot of ponies have the patience for my story.”

Nimbus smiled. “No problem, Octavia. We’ll get through this thing, and when we do, I hope you’ll remember that our actions here would never have been possible without your help.”

Nimbus nodded to Storm Runner- the signal to move out- and with that, the ponies turned back towards the desolate scrublands ahead. There were many miles left to travel, but each was fueled with a new resolve to stop Bright Future.

None truly knew what waited for them.

…

Panting, Bright Future stopped at the edge of a canyon and looked down into it. Beside him, Silky Sunset had no choice but to follow. Her body was encased with a thin field of magic that, Bright Future had assured her, was fully capable of crushing her if she attempted to escape. She had no intentions of testing his honesty.

“There,” the Unicorn said, squinting through sand-blasted eyes towards the bottom of the canyon where a massive rockslide had fallen and lay dormant for what Silky could only guess had been many years.

“Come on,” Bright Future said, skirting the edge of the canyon, “we’re going down there.” Normally, he would have simply teleported to the canyon floor, but even his magic had limits. He’d only had enough to teleport them two hours at most ahead of the Aviators. If he attempted a spell with the magical strength he had left now, there was no telling what might happen. He’d heard plenty of gruesome stories about exhausted Unicorns attempting teleportation only to find themselves stuck in a wall, or worse, when they reappeared.

Finding a suitable descent point, Bright Future began to climb down into the canyon, but stopped when he heard Sunset fall to the ground behind him. He turned around to see the mare face-down in the sand, sides heaving as she took in deep breaths.

“Come on, get up!” he urged, pushing Silky back upright.

“Just… kill me now, and- and get it over with,” she croaked.

Bright Future shook his head, a fanatical twitch in his eye now. “No, I can’t let you give up, don’t you see? This is for your benefit, too! We can change Equestria, you and I!”

“I’m done with the Awakening,” Sunset said, coughing as tears of exhaustion streamed down her face, “why can’t you see that?”

“You think this is about the Awakening?” Bright Future said, “no, this is far greater. The Awakening was simply the catalyst to set in motion a much bigger event- one I knew would come someday. You must accompany me!”

“No,” Silky said through gritted teeth. Bright Future dipped his head, pointing his horn straight at her, and suddenly it felt as if every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Sunset collapsed to the ground in a heap, writhing as the pain slowly subsided.

“I’ll repeat myself- you will come with me,” Bright Future said, “I shudder to think what might happen if you don’t.”

Silky Sunset picked herself up again shakily, glaring at Bright Future with a look of pure loathing.

“All this time I thought Celestia and Luna were the evil we fought so hard to eradicate. Now I know the truth. It’s ponies like you who are the real monsters.”

Chuckling, Bright Future pulled Sunset down onto his ledge. “Monster? When you see what went on here, I think you’ll change your mind.”

Sunset said nothing as they set off down the winding path into the canyon. There was nothing left to say. Resistance would get her nothing, save for more pain. She could only hope that whatever lay down this narrow, twisting path turned out to be as fictional as everypony said it was. Even as Bright Future managed to levitate away a few rocks, exposing an old steel door, she held out hope. Maybe it was just a military outpost, or some underground geological facility. These ideas clung on for life as the two made their way inside, feeling the cool, yet stagnant air of the facility upon their coats, and Sunset desperately wanted to believe them…

But the moment the lights turned on, every ounce of hope she’d had was gone.

Bright Future smiled as a look of pure horror fell over Silky Sunset’s face. “Welcome to Site Echo. The future is in my hooves now.”

Site Echo

“See anything up there?” Nimbus called out, his throat feeling like sandpaper from hours of exposure to the hostile environment that was the Equestrian Badlands.

Storm Runner craned his neck and held a hoof up to block out the light of the setting sun as he surveyed the surrounding terrain. Below, Octavia was patiently reclining on the ground, drawing lazy circles in the sand with her hooves out of sheer boredom. The Badlands had that effect on most ponies.

“No, I- wait a minute.” Storm peered harder into the quickly fading light. Ahead, he could barely make something out- like a gaping wound in the unbroken skin of the desert. He looked back down at Nimbus.

“Hey, you said we were looking for a canyon, right?”

“Yeah,” Nimbus called up, anxiously tapping his hooves together. They were running out of daylight rapidly, and Bright Future’s teleportation spell had undoubtedly set him at least an hour ahead, “see one?”

“Almost directly to our west,” Storm Runner replied, adding sarcastically, “which is awesome because that means the sun’s in my eyes. Can I come back down already?”

“Come on down, Storm,” Nimbus said with a slight chuckle; even in the face of adversity Storm’s dry humor shone through.

Ugh, “dry humor,” he thought, bad pun given our current location. “let’s get a move on,” he sighed, “before my mind decides to start cracking off bad jokes.”

Storm Runner raised an eyebrow at his friend’s odd comment, but said nothing, settling back down roughly on his hooves and kicking up a slight cloud of dust with his wingwash. Nimbus coughed, waving the fine grit away from his face. “Easy there, Storm. I’d rather not choke to death with our objective in sight.”

“I can’t believe it actually exists,” Storm said.

“Well, we don’t know for sure,” Octavia pointed out, “all we saw was the canyon.”

“Even so, a canyon is good shelter,” Nimbus said, starting towards the crack in the earth with the other two in tow. The sun was dipping lower on the horizon, and as its rays pierced through the atmosphere, the sky turned a brilliant shade of red and orange. Cottony clouds seemed to soak up the fading day’s light, turning even more vibrant than the sky around them. It was nothing like Nimbus had ever seen before.

“Won’t see a sunset like that in Manehattan,” he said to the others, his thoughts turning towards home. It occurred to him, then, how strange this whole situation really was. Here he was, trekking across the desert with two other ponies under constant threat of mortal danger, while only a few hundred miles away his family was watching the same sunset, probably eating hayburgers on the patio with no idea of what he was doing at the moment.

“It’s beautiful,” Octavia agreed. If she hadn’t been in the middle of a delicate operation, she would have been inspired by the sight to compose a piece of music, but since she was part of such an operation, she simply took in the sun’s beauty as it set, followed swiftly by the appearance of the stars, pinpoints of light dotting the sky.

A full moon, she noted, how long has it been since I’ve even seen the moon? Two, three days? She couldn’t even remember. On the airship, she’d lost sense of time due to her confinement. As her mind drifted to thoughts of her time in captivity, Octavia couldn’t help but think about her time spent as a hostage. There was no doubt about it- the pony that stepped off that airship was a different Octavia from the one that got on. After facing adversity, and looking evil in the eye, the mare realized that her own problems were actually small in comparison. She had courage now, something she realized she’d never fully experienced before. Would she have enough to face her parents upon her return? That remained to be seen. Right now, she could only focus on surviving long enough to make it back to them.

“Night’s falling,” Storm Runner observed, “might want to pick up the pace. I don’t want to stick around to find out whether desert fauna’s friendly to ponies or not.”

“Sounds good to me,” Nimbus said, a sudden, brisk breeze chilling him. He couldn’t have agreed more. The desert at night could be a creepy place, after all.

…

Silky Sunset’s lungs burned as she galloped, faster than she’d ever run before. How? How could things have gone wrong so quickly? At breakneck pace she raced through the dark corridors- the lights had gone dim long ago- trying hard to outrun it- the voice. The voice was everywhere; inside her head, all around her, urging her to return, to descend again, but she’d seen enough. She knew what lay in wait for her in the bowels of Site Echo. She would not return.

As she climbed the last stair and tumbled over into the main lobby, she heard a sound that made her blood freeze- a faint clicking. The weapon was here- a biological force that she now knew was more than capable of tearing Equestria apart. She forced herself to run faster, to escape Spark. Adrenaline surged through her, turning her speed and agility to near superpony levels. Ahead, she saw light- the exit. It was so close now, so close…

“Don’t you dare leave me!” she heard, “don’t you dare leave me behind! You’re a part of this too!”

Bright Future. So he was still alive, then. Sunset didn’t even want to think of how. She just diverted all of her energy to survival, fleeing as quickly as possible. The Aviators might try to kill her; they’d at least take her into custody. Regardless, she had to warn them. Site Echo was not safe.

And with Bright Future’s cries behind her, she ran onward.

…

Following Bright Future’s and Silky Sunset’s hoofsteps, Nimbus, Octavia, and Storm Runner descended into the canyon, each of them keeping their eyes peeled for something out of the ordinary.

“Check it out,” Storm said, nodding towards one of the canyon walls, “a rockslide. And the hoofprints lead right to it.”

Nimbus scratched his head, confused. “Really? It’s like he doesn’t care whether we find him or not.”

“For some reason, that worries me most of all,” Octavia said. “From what I gathered, Bright Future is smart; very smart. If he didn’t want to be found, chances are we wouldn’t have found him.”

“Or he picked tonight to go on a stupid streak,” Storm Runner mumbled, shrugging, “which would be lucky for us.”

“But highly unlikely,” Nimbus added. “We need to be careful. Follow those hoofprints; they should lead us right to the entrance.”

The ponies trotted across the sand to the rockslide. The night had begun in earnest now, and Nimbus shivered. Normally, he wasn’t bothered by the possibility of danger, but there was something… off about this place, something that felt unsettlingly out of tune with nature. He put his fear out of his head, trying to maintain a professional separation as he approached the point where the hoofsteps disappeared into the rockslide. Several rocks had already been moved, it appeared, by levitation.

“Sloppy work again,” Storm said, “didn’t even bother resealing the entrance.” He approached the entrance, where a dark hole stood, and peeked in. “Interesting. Bright Future must have preserved the facility by sealing it inside the canyon wall. The rockslide would have been enough to convince any witnesses that the site was destroyed. That sneaky son of a Manticore probably committed treason right under royal supervision.”

“What do you see in there?” Octavia said, completely unaware that she was whispering. Storm Runner waited a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He could hear a tapping sound, and it almost appeared that something was moving in-

“Gaaah!” Storm yelled as a blue blur impacted him at high speed. The two forms tumbled head over hooves, kicking up sand and stones in a cloud of dust. Storm instinctively punched, assuming he’d been attacked. To his surprise, his assailant didn’t attempt to resist. His punch flipped the creature immediately off of him, and he scrambled to his hooves, prepared for a counterattack. As the dust cleared, however, he stopped, eyes wide.

It was a pony, and at first glance, it appeared to be Silky Sunset. But as the three ponies looked on, all believed that there was no chance that the shivering, huddled, frightened wreck in front of them was at all the same pony that had been so strong and confident earlier that day.

“Please, please don’t hurt me,” she gasped through ragged sobs.

Storm Runner’s eyes narrowed. “What is this, some kind of trick? Where’s Bright Future?!”

“Bright Future… I don’t know… what’s… how could anypony be cruel enough to create a weapon like that?”

“The weapon exists?” Nimbus said, turning to Storm Runner, “this is serious. If Bright Future’s got his hooves on it, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“How do we know she’s not working with him now?” Storm Runner said, “when we last saw them, Bright Future took her hostage. You think he’d just let her go? I think this is a trap.”

Octavia looked up at the two Aviators as she knelt at Sunset’s side. The Unicorn was convulsing now, and sweating profusely. “She’s going into shock! Whether she’s with Bright Future or not, we can’t just let her die!”

Nimbus glanced from Storm Runner back down to Silky Sunset, snapping himself out of his argument. Octavia was right- petty disagreements would get them nowhere right now. He knelt down next to Octavia, and Storm did the same. Looking Sunset in the eyes, Nimbus spoke.

“Silky Sunset, I want you to focus on me. Slow your breathing, calm down… we want to help you.”

Sunset’s eyes traveled upward, meeting Nimbus’s- enemy to enemy- only now Nimbus was doing his best to save her.

“Good,” he said, watching the rising and falling of her chest begin to slow, “good, just focus.”

“Sunset, what’s this weapon you’re talking about?” Storm Runner pressed. Silky’s eyes shot over to him, and her breathing rate began to increase again. Octavia held up a hoof, telling Storm Runner to stop, and the Pegasus relented. Silky Sunset blinked slowly, then exhaled.

“I don’t- I don’t want to talk about what I saw in there,” Sunset said haltingly, “mostly because I’m not sure I even saw what it was. Bright Future is gone, but I think he’s still alive. Project Spark is… there’s much more to it than the Awakening thought. Spark isn’t just a weapon. I think it’s an entire program.”

“Why should we trust you?” Storm Runner said as Sunset started to stand, “you still haven’t given us a good reason to believe anything you’ve said.”

“I know,” Sunset replied, “but whether you believe me or not, I know you Aviators were deployed with the purpose of shutting this place down for good, and after careful consideration, I’ve decided that you’re right.” Sunset started to rock back and forth on her hooves nervously. “I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me, but you have to understand that what I saw in there was very real, and it poses a significant threat to all of us; both those allied with the Awakening and those who support the sisters.”

Nimbus sighed. “I really want to believe you, Silky Sunset, but Storm Runner’s right. We have no reason to trust you. To that end, as much as I hate to do this, you’re going to have to come in with us. We can’t risk you escaping, and if there is, in fact, a trap for us in there, we’ll expect you to let us know.”

Silky stared at the dark entrance to the site, trembling. “There must be some other way…” she said.

“No,” Octavia said sternly, “while you may be with us now, there is no question that you were against us before. I agree with the Aviators. We’re not taking the risk of letting you escape.”

“Very well,” Sunset said, gulping, “just know that if we see Bright Future in there, no matter what he says, do not listen to him. Something about him has changed.”

For some reason, these last words chilled Nimbus’s blood most of all. Suddenly Site Echo seemed considerably more sinister. It was becoming clearer and clearer to him that whatever was inside the facility was more than just a weapon, and for the first time in his career, he was afraid of what he’d find.

…

The main lobby was dark, save for a few flickering emergency lights. In the darkness, the ponies could make out simple shapes, but nothing concrete. To Nimbus, the total darkness combined with the eerie stillness and quiet was a warning sign- the facility telling him just one time to turn back around before things got really serious. Doing his best to ignore his feelings, Nimbus tapped on the wall.

“That’s got to be at least two feet of reinforced steel. This place could stop a magical bombardment if it had to.”

“We need to get some lights on,” Storm Runner said, grunting as he tripped over what he guessed was a swiveling chair.

“They won’t work,” Sunset said, “Bright Future tried turning them on, but they went down again just before he disappeared. You don’t want to know what’s in here with us anyway.”

The hair of Nimbus’s mane rose and he could feel goosebumps form at Silky’s statement.

“Silky... what exactly is in here with us?”

The Unicorn said nothing. Instead, she pointed her horn at the ceiling and let her magic flow into it. Gradually, her horn began to illuminate the room, and as Nimbus’s eyes swept over the facility, he became more and more convinced that something here had gone terribly wrong. All across the room, dotting the floor, walls, and ceiling, were transparent, greenish things that Nimbus could only describe as pods. They looked organic, and delicate- most definitely not created by any pony, and as far as he could tell, not made by any creature known to ponykind. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement in one of the pods. Hesitantly, Nimbus beckoned to Sunset and walked over to it.

“Give me some light on this pod,” he said.

Sunset winced, shining her horn on the green object. Nimbus peered through the casing into what looked like cloudy fluid inside. Suddenly, the object inside shifted, coming into view for a brief second.

It was a face.

Nimbus doubled back, head reeling. He heard Storm Runner retch nearby. There was no doubt about what he’d seen- there was something alive inside the pod.

“Dear Celestia,” he rasped, “I think… I think that was a pony.”

“But why?” Storm Runner groaned, recovering, “and what the hay is this stuff anyway?”

“Say what you will,” Octavia said shakily, “but that looks a great deal like a cocoon to me.”

“Do you know what did this?” Nimbus asked turning to Sunset who looked quite pale.

“Project Spark…” she said, “Bright Future said it had something to do with Project Spark.”

“Hey,” Storm Runner called out, taking a folder off of a desk, “I’ve got a file with Bright Future’s name on it. Might shed some light on this.” The Pegasus cracked it open and gave it a quick read-through.

“Memorandum for new researchers- welcome to Project Spark. Your work here will not only assist in creating the greatest deterrent force the world has ever known, it will also help us to create the perfect soldier. The official title for our work is ‘biological weapon,’ but I can assure you that Project Spark is much more than this. As you are all well aware, you are sworn to secrecy about what goes on in this facility. This is purely in the interest of national security, which I know you all appreciate. Welcome once again; together we can pave the way for a new, powerful Equestria.” Storm Runner set the memo aside. “Nothing we already knew there. What I want to know is why these ponies are… cocooned.” He took another look at the encased pony and shuddered, tilting his head away. “Let’s just figure out a way to take this place down. Might be some load-bearing points further inside.”

“Octavia, are you sure you want to come with us?” Nimbus asked, feeling a bit uneasy himself. Octavia was on edge, but she nodded anyway.

“I’m fine, Nimbus. You may need another set of hooves anyway.”

Nimbus shrugged, “then we’d best keep moving. Fortunately for us, these ponies are dormant. There’s no telling who’s side they’d be on if they were awake.” He didn’t bother saying “alive.” If there was one thing scarier than being in a room full of cocooned ponies, it was being in a room of cocooned dead ponies.

Storm Runner gave Silky Sunset a rough shove. “Take point, Unicorn. You have the magic, which makes you our only source of light.”

“Oh please, no-“

“And you’re a wanted criminal, so I really don’t care what you have to say.”

Nimbus glared at Storm Runner but didn’t bother making a comment. Silky had to lead, whether she wanted to or not. She was the only source of light. The group trudged through the rest of the lobby. As Nimbus’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, details became clearer. The lobby itself was nothing special- a steel, undecorated cube of a room with a few spartan desks and uncomfortable-looking chairs scattered everywhere. There were more cocoons- at least thirty of them- and all contained what looked like the shadowy figure of a pony.

“How did they do this?” Nimbus wondered aloud, “some kind of spell?”

“I’ve never seen a spell that can create a true organic substance,” Octavia said, “and that’s definitely what these ponies are imprisoned in.”

“I’m going to radio this in to Cicada,” Nimbus said, taking out his helmet. He donned it and tuned in the appropriate frequency. He was met with some static, but attributed this to interference. “Raider One to Cicada, do you read me?” There was a pause, followed by more static. “Raider One, here. Cicada, do you read me?”

After the second burst of static, Nimbus shoved his helmet back into the saddlebag, frustrated. “These things work fine most of the time, must be a magical jammer somewhere in the facility.”

“Don’t mind it,” Silky said, defeated, “come on- there’s much more to the facility than what you see here.”

The ponies followed Sunset through a doorway, hanging from which was a heavy, barred steel door. The next room was a hallway. Protective suits hung from the walls on either side, looking for all the world like motionless ponies in the dark.

“There’s a sign,” Octavia said, heading over to the wall, “looks like it’s a precautionary statement. ‘Full body protection must be worn at all times while dealing with Spark subjects due to the possibility of revival.”

“Revival of what?” Nimbus asked.

Octavia shook her head, “doesn’t say.”

The lights in the hallway clicked on suddenly, and everypony jumped. “Who did that?” Storm Runner called.

“We were all here, in the middle of the hallway,” Nimbus said, “nopony’s near a light switch.”

Welcome to Site Echo.

The voice of Bright Future rang out over an old, scratchy-sounding PA system, catching the group off guard.

“Bright Future, stop this,” Nimbus called, “I don’t know what happened here, but you will be held responsible. Is that what you want? Those ponies in the lobby- if they’re dead, their blood is on your hooves.”

There was a brief chuckle- a dark, dry sound, then Bright Future continued.

We knew the sisters would close down the site once they found out about it, so we worked right up to the deadline. I knew we could benefit Equestria with what we were doing here, so instead of destroying the site, I contained it, collapsing the entrance only. Just before the collapse we had a… containment issue. We had no choice but to leave some of our scientists inside. It’s lucky they stayed, actually. Thirty-two years without sustenance has a way of thinning out the samples, and Spark is as valuable to me today as it was all those years ago.

“You monster,” Nimbus hissed.

“But what is it?” Storm Runner yelled, “what is Spark?”

Do you recall, dear ponies, the legends of the Dark Ones?

“Myths,” Nimbus shot back, “they’re myths. And I’ve heard about them, yes. They were evil creatures that fed on love and could change form at will. Why?”

Bright Future snorted, Myths, hah. Maybe to some, but the idea? Very achievable. Imagine, Nimbus, the next generation of soldiers- infiltrators who could blend in with our foes, who could take them down from the inside. You see, I used to think the Dark Ones were just a story, too. Then I found one.

The PA cut out, cryptically, leaving the three ponies shivering in the hallway.

“It’s not him,” Sunset whispered, “it can’t be him. I saw him- I saw-“

“What did you see?” Octavia asked.

“There was a green light. It surrounded him, and I heard laughing, but it wasn’t Bright Future. There was somepony else with us.” Silky stopped suddenly, looking down at the floor. The memories were still fresh.

“There must be a records room,” Storm said, continuing down the hall as the others followed, “if we’re going to have any chance of finding out what exactly happened here, that’ll be our best bet.” He cracked open the door at the end of the hall, and the old metal squeaked eerily on its hinges.

“Holy…” Storm Runner’s jaw dropped and his exclamation trailed off into nothing as he took in the sight that befell him.

“What is it?” Nimbus said, rushing to his friend’s side. As soon as he saw what Storm was referring to, he also stopped dead in his tracks, taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the room ahead of them. It was huge, about the size of the Manehattan Concert Hall, if somepony had decided to place the building underground. But what was even more intriguing was the room’s content- rows stacked upon rows of glass tanks stacked one on top of the other up to the ceiling, framed by stairs and walkways. All of the tanks bore a murky liquid, similar to the ones they’d seen in the cocoons, though these looked a touch more artificial. The place was sterile, almost medical in appearance, but this tidiness was a drastic contrast to what lay at the end of the room- a huge, gaping hole that looked big enough to swallow a house. Inside, the darkness only became murkier, but Nimbus could see the outlines of even more cocoons within. A strange humming sound seemed to resonate throughout the entire room as well, and it felt as if it penetrated through the ponies’ skin. There was no doubt in Nimbus’s mind now that they were looking at the central area of operations for Project Spark. One could almost feel the presence of evil in the room.

“This is where it happened,” Silky Sunset whispered, “this is where they took Bright Future away.”

“Ponies,” Nimbus said slowly, “I think we’ve found Project Spark.”

Author's Note

Special thanks go to Sky Shocker, who helped me out with the editing process for this chapter!

Spark

“Lights,” Nimbus said, “can we get the lights on in here?”

Storm Runner stood in the center of the room, next to a large, circular desk. Several monitors surrounded the desk, the lights blinking on and off occasionally. “Looks like the electronics here are running. Whatever cut the power to the front lobby might not have taken out the backup breakers in here.” The Pegasus dove under the desk, tearing up a few tiles. “There’s one such generator right here, let me just… there we go!”

With a snap, followed by a flickering sound, the lights turned on, illuminating the massive room. The ponies in the tubes were motionless, and the only movement Nimbus saw was the occasional rise of bubbles through the viscous liquid. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the ponies brushed against the side of the tank, revealing its profile. Nimbus turned his head. Something was off about this one.

“Storm, I’m going to check out one of the tanks…” Nimbus said, beating his wings and lifting up into a hover. As he neared the tube, he knew exactly why the profile had caught his eye. Floating in the tank was a pony with both a horn and set of wings. An Alicorn, perhaps?

From what the three pony races knew, Alicorns were a mysterious bunch. Only three confirmed Alicorns walked among them, though others had been allegedly seen. Nopony had ever been granted the chance to study an Alicorn, and out of respect, none had even considered it. What the races knew, however, was that despite their similarities to ponies, Alicorns were an almost entirely different species. They had the strength of Earth Ponies, the wings of Pegasi, and the magical capabilities and horns of Unicorns. They were so rare, that seeing one other than the royal sisters was usually chalked up to delusions, yet the creature Nimbus stared at, clear as crystal through the glass tank, at first glance appeared to be an Alicorn.

After closer examination, though, Nimbus’s blood ran ice-cold. The being in the tank was jet-black in color. While it had a horn and wings, the horn was jagged, and the wings were a translucent green color, and looked more like the wings of a dragonfly than anything else. Parts of the creature’s body were covered with iridescent, greenish-black growths that looked almost like pieces of an insect’s shell. Nimbus hovered closer- one final detail remained to be examined. There was something odd about the creature’s mouth. As he drew closer, he shuddered. While he supposed what he saw could be attributed to a trick of the light, he wasn’t so sure. Sprouting from the creature’s upper jaw were two needlelike fangs.

“Hey!” Octavia called from below, “I’ve got some reports that seem to describe what went on here.”

“Well whatever happened,” Nimbus said, “it wasn’t just ponies that were involved. There’s something up here- a… creature of some sort.“

“Kind of like a cross between a pony and an insect?” Octavia called back.

“Well… yeah,” Nimbus said, gliding down next to Octavia, “why do you ask?”

Octavia cleared her throat and paged through the file she was holding. Silky Sunset, meanwhile, was off in a corner, pacing nervously. “From what I gather, according to these files, Bright Future led a team to an undisclosed location in the northern reaches of Equestria almost forty years ago. He discovered what is identified here as a previously unknown species. From this point in the files, they’re referred to as ‘Changelings,’ an alternate name for the ‘Dark Ones’ Bright Future described earlier. Apparently all of the Changelings they found were frozen in magical stasis, which he theorizes was the result of some battle. They only managed to find eight “samples,” but…” Octavia grimaced at the word “samples,” “that doesn’t explain where all of the rest came from.”

“No kidding,” Storm Runner whispered, head spinning as he took another look around, “there are upwards of fifty specimens in here easily.”

Octavia held up a hoof to her mouth as a look of disgust fell over her. “Ugh, I think I know why,” she gasped.

“What?” Nimbus pressed, “what is it?”

“They… converted willing subjects.”

“Come again?” Storm Runner asked, peering over Octavia’s shoulder at the files.

“Somehow they managed to revive and contain one of the Changelings, a female by the looks of it. They kept her in a large tank located right where the cave entrance is now, and they were able to manipulate her through what I can only guess was torture, forcing her to cocoon whatever subjects they chose for the experiments, of which, I might add, there were quite a few.”

“Such as?” Nimbus said, tapping his hoof on the floor. Staying around in this place was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Their primary focus was on creating a hybrid- a pony with the Changeling’s ability to alter form at will. Like Bright Future said, they were creating an infiltrator. Another application was the study of the Changelings’ Alicorn features, which they simply used to research Alicorn biology, or at least get a close approximation. The final experiments are easily the most disturbing. They detail what Bright Future calls the ‘Last Resort,’ a hypothetical situation in which Equestria had lost, or was about to lose, the Griffon War. In the case of such an event, an army of Changelings under mind control would infiltrate and wreak havoc upon either the Griffon Kingdom or Griffon-controlled Equestria.”

“A last-ditch effort,” Nimbus said softly, “an option that disregarded casualties on both sides in order to achieve a final goal.” He turned to Storm Runner, fixing him with a look of dead seriousness. “Still think Bright Future’s plan to create a deterrent force was a good one?”

“Oh come on,” Storm snorted, “I thought he had a real weapon, not these… things,” he gestured around the room at the tanks. “This flies in the face of ethics. I don’t support it in any way, now let’s grab those files and take this place down!”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Silky Sunset said as she joined the group. Her voice wavered, but now Nimbus could hear a sort of faint determination in it, too. Slowly he was coming to realize that she was genuinely as concerned about Project Spark as they were. Trust was being earned.

“There are four arching support beams that meet in the middle of the ceiling,” Silky continued, pacing and directing the magic light from her horn upward. “If we take them down, we’ll initiate a collapse. I could probably do it with magic, but we’d need to be standing in the doorway when the beams go down. That’ll maximize our chances of getting out alive.”

“No,” Octavia said, shaking her head, “there must be another way.”

“Well if you have any ideas, cellist, I’m all ears,” Silky shot back, a bit of her former self showing through the scared exterior.

“Don’t call me cellist,” Octavia snarled, advancing on Silky, “I’ve had enough of your-“

“Stop it now!” Nimbus yelled. The two ponies froze, staring at him.

“If we keep bickering among ourselves, it’ll only make things worse. Silky, take the beams down. Octavia, grab the files. We’re getting out of here.”

“And Bright Future?” Storm Runner said, stepping in front of Nimbus, “what about him?”

Nimbus shook his head. “From what Silky says, he’s far beyond our help. The collapse will probably kill him.”

You assume there’s actually going to be a collapse, Aviator. Perhaps you forget that it is you who are in my control here, not the other way around.

“Wonderful,” Nimbus said, rolling his eyes, “Bright Future’s back.”

“Why don’t you show yourself, you miserable excuse of a Unicorn?!” Storm Runner growled, turning to face the gaping cave in the wall, “I’m sick of this! Come and fight us and we can end this now!”

Amusing. In time I will, but for now, there is so much more for you to see. Like me, if you tread the path ahead, perhaps even you four can reach… enlightenment.

“You’re dead!” Sunset yelled suddenly, startling the group, “and if you’re not, then you will be soon! This thing talking… it can’t be you!”

Oh, but it is, Silky Sunset. It is. Something was off about his voice, Nimbus noted. Bright Future’s tone wavered somewhat. Was it just audio distortion, or was Sunset right? Was it possible that something much more sinister was going on?

“Maybe we should back out,” Octavia said hesitantly, taking a few steps back, “if we just get some fresh air, we might be able to plan out-“

Behind the ponies, the door shut violently, and Bright Future laughed again.

Like I said, there’s so much more to see. But your desire to leave brings me doubt. Perhaps you are not quite ready to be enlightened. What you require first is a test… Good luck, ponies. I’ll be watching.

The lights of the room suddenly shut down, but this time the faint glow of the tanks vanished, too. Nimbus stretched his wings and tensed his legs, suddenly on alert.

“Storm,” he hissed, “I thought you said the lights in this room weren’t connected to the main grid.”

“They weren’t,” Storm Runner insisted, “there was an alternate source under the floor. He’s got total control of the entire facility!”

“Shut up!” Silky Sunset whispered violently, dousing the light from her horn.

“Excuse me?” Storm Runner growled, whirling around to face the direction Silky’s voice had come from.

“Just listen!”

Nimbus fell silent, straining to listen in the dark room. It was all he could do to stay still; he’d never fully grown out of his fear of dark places, and in a pitch-black place such as this, where he couldn’t even see his hooves in front of his face, the fear was practically unavoidable. What was worse, though, was that Nimbus could finally hear what Silky was talking about. It was the sound of… something… scratching on glass.

“What the hay-“ Storm Runner started, but he was interrupted by a sudden, sharp, shattering sound. Instinctively, the four ponies ducked. A strange, flittering sound filled the air. The ponies all froze in place, barely breathing.

“Silky,” Octavia whispered, “can you give us a bit of light?”

As Silky’s horn began to glow, her tear-stained face came into view slowly, eyes clenched shut. She wasn’t handling this well, and frankly Nimbus couldn’t blame her. He was about to say something comforting, to tell her that as long as they stood together everything would be okay, but he stopped before the words could even get out. As the light from the Unicorn’s horn traveled upward, it illuminated dozens of small points of light. The irrational, optimistic side of Nimbus immediately thought stars! Nothing dangerous about that. Nimbus knew better. They were indoors. As vague details became clearer, it became unnervingly obvious that what they were really looking at were countless pairs of luminescent eyes.

“Run,” Silky Sunset whispered, voice wavering slightly. Despite the fear in her tone, however, she was calmer than usual. "Run to the cave and don’t look back on my signal.”

“Signal?” Nimbus said, eyeing the floating lights above.

Without answering, Sunset fired a bolt of magic into the floor where Storm Runner had found the backup breaker. The lights came back on briefly, charged by their new source of magical energy and in that instant, Nimbus saw at least thirty of the creatures he’d seen in the tanks hovering above their heads. With the sudden flash of light, the creatures emitted a harsh screeching noise and recoiled.

“Go!” Octavia yelled. Nimbus pumped his wings once, giving himself an extra burst of speed, and galloped for the cave. As the lights flickered on and off, his world became a stop-motion nightmare as the beings behind them began to recover, each flash bringing them closer and closer. Sunset stumbled behind him, and Nimbus heard the crash of her body hitting the floor.

“Run!” she yelled out, “just get out of here!”

Nimbus pulled her to her hooves despite her protests and pushed her head. They were inside the mouth of the cave now, and the smooth, tiled floor had given way to cool, slippery rock that sloped gently downhill. The buzzing sound behind them was maddeningly loud. Nimbus struck out with his hooves as a waxy, chitinous hoof touched his shoulder, and a hidden creature hissed back.

Up ahead, the cave grew somewhat brighter, illuminated by what appeared to be sources of bioluminescence, though Nimbus couldn’t quite make out what the sources were. Storm Runner and Octavia stopped, beckoning Nimbus and Silky forward. As they neared each other, the noises suddenly stopped. Panting, lungs feeling as if they were on fire, Nimbus looked around anxiously.

“Where- where did they go?”

Storm Runner shook his head. “I don’t know, but I guess those were Changelings.”

“And you would be correct.”

The ponies turned around as a familiar pony stepped out from a bend in the cave just ahead. It was Bright Future, and though he appeared more ragged, and his eyes seemed to glow with a greenish light, he was the exact same pony who’d left them just hours before.

“You’re dead!” Storm Runner yelled, rushing forward. Silky Sunset, too, prepared to attack, charging her horn to full intensity with magic. Bright Future simply chuckled, and with a wave of his horn, all four ponies were pressed into the floor, lying on their backs next to one another.

“I really appreciate the effort you’re making to kill me, I do,” Bright Future said, pacing around the group in a circle. Nimbus tried moving his legs, but the only part of his body he had any ounce of control over was his head. He didn’t feel pinned, but his limbs just seemed unwilling to cooperate.

“Do you want to know why I really invested so much of my time and money into Project Spark?” Bright Future continued, “it wasn’t about the weapons, or destroying the Griffons, or even providing a deterrent. No, Spark was going to be the gateway for the pony races- we were going to use Spark to enlighten Equestria!”

Bright Future had turned his back on the ponies now, and Nimbus saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye. It was Silky Sunset, aiming her horn towards Bright Future. Nimbus nodded in approval as the Unicorn went on with his monologue, oblivious.

“The Changelings were Alicorns, don’t you get it? Wings and horns… if we could just become like them- become Changelings ourselves, even- we could all be perfect. We could be anything we wanted to be!”

“Not on your life!”

A beam of magic shot from Silky Sunset’s horn towards Bright Future. The Unicorn whirled around, deflecting it with a counterspell, but the bolt ricocheted, slamming into the floor. Almost instantly, the ground began to shake.

“You foals,” Bright Future hissed, stepping away from the rapidly-spreading cracks in the floor below, “if this is how it must be, then you only brought this on yourselves. Prepare to meet the hive!”

The ground gave way, and just as Nimbus began to regain control of his limbs, he slammed into the floor of what he could only assume was a cave below, amidst the sounds of falling rock. He didn’t dare move as stones crashed to the cave floor around him, some hitting and bruising his body. He wouldn’t be able to dodge anything in the dark anyway, and moving around would only increase the chances of hurting himself.

Nimbus lay still for almost a minute after the noise died down. He could almost feel a layer of cave dust lining his nostrils, filling his lungs with stale, dry air with each breath.

“Can anypony hear me?” he wheezed, spitting dirt out of his mouth. A few feet away, he heard some stones shift.

“Nimbus?” It was Storm’s voice, muffled and weak, but alive.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Nimbus said, “what about Octavia and Silky Sunset?”

Storm Runner shook his head as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. “No luck- I think we’ve been separated. That or…” he didn’t say anything, but Nimbus knew exactly what he was thinking. If they hadn’t heard anything from the mares, it was entirely possible they were killed during the cave-in.

Nimbus shook his head, flexing his legs and wings. Ahead, the cave stretched onward, becoming quite narrow. It was barely taller than the two Pegasi now, as well, and seemed to be turning into a perfect circle, like a tube. It made Nimbus’s stomach turn; dark and tight spaces didn’t sit well with him.

“We’re going to have to press on,” Storm Runner whispered.

“I know,” Nimbus replied, “but that doesn’t mean I want to.”

As the ponies made their way through the cave, Nimbus had the chance to finally get a good look at the tunnel’s structure. While at first glance, the walls had appeared to be made of rock, Nimbus found quickly that this was not the case. As his eyes adjusted further to the dim light, he could see that the building material in question was shinier, almost organic in appearance. Whether this was due to the Changelings’ presence or not was up to debate, but it was enough to make Nimbus conclude that touching the walls was somewhat less appealing.

Up ahead, the cave widened, and the ponies found themselves in a massive, domelike room. The walls were covered with small pockets which contained, much to Nimbus’s dismay, more cocoons.

“Keep quiet,” Storm whispered, “we’ll just have to sneak through.”

Awaken, my subjects, Bright Future’s voice boomed through the cavern, there are those here that wish to disrupt us. Protect the hive!

The cocoons on the walls began to split, spilling viscous green liquid down the walls as they did. The insect-like hum was back, and as the creatures emerged from their pockets, Nimbus identified them immediately as Changelings.

“We’re not getting out of this one, are we?” Storm Runner said as Changelings continued to emerge from the walls all around them. Nimbus put his helmet on.

“How’s your terrain alert system?” he asked in response. Storm Runner donned his own helmet.

“I think it’s okay,” he said after a few moments as the Changelings began to advance, “why?”

“Get ready to fly,” Nimbus said, digging his hooves in for a quick launch.

Wait, subjects, hold your positions.

The Changelings stopped, glaring at the two Pegasi that they now encircled. Suddenly, Nimbus’s world exploded in shades of green and it felt as if something was stabbing into his mind, cutting him off from his own thoughts. He dropped to the cave floor beside Storm Runner, who was in just as much pain. Then, as suddenly as it began, the strange sensation stopped. Nimbus panted, trying to make out their best exit route, but Bright Future chuckled darkly, speaking again.

Oh, I have something much better planned now. You two hold such… delicious memories.

“What are you talking about?” Nimbus yelled, stepping back. Behind him, a Changeling hissed, a dry, rattling sound, and he froze.

Without a word, the Changelings each were engulfed in a burst of green magic. This effect traveled like a wave through the ranks of the dark creatures, spreading from the center outward. When the magic dispersed, standing in the place of the Changelings was a crowd of faces Nimbus had told himself he’d only ever see in his nightmares.

Sun Blazes; hundreds of them. Each was a perfect copy of the next, right down to the eyelashes. Both Nimbus and Storm Runner were paralyzed with shock and fear by the sudden change. It seemed that Bright Future had finally found the two ponies' greatest weaknesses. Slowly, the clones began to advance.

“It is time for the truth to finally be unveiled,” they said in perfect unison, matching Sun Blaze’s voice exactly. “We are your greatest fears. Your journey ends here.”

…

Farther into the cave system, Silky Sunset came to her senses, shaking what felt like pounds of cave dust from her mane. It didn’t take her long to determine that she was not alone in the pitch darkness. There was ragged breathing coming from her right side. Choosing to go silent, Sunset squinted her eyes for a better look. It was the cellist. The mare was wedged underneath a rock, and was squirming, trying to free herself despite the pain.

Presumably hearing Silky Sunset, Octavia looked up. “Silky? Nimbus? Storm Runner? Are any of you there? Please- help me out of here!”

Sunset considered her options. She was in a very advantageous position right now. If she accompanied the mare and, if they ever managed to find them again, the Aviators through the rest of the journey, she would almost certainly be imprisoned upon returning to civilization. Suddenly, fate had given her another option- she could leave the cellist and make her way back to the surface, maybe lay low again. She was done with the Awakening now, but that didn’t mean she had to suffer for her past affiliations.

Go, her Awakening side said, there’s still a chance to get out of this alive. Leave the mare behind- she was just baggage anyway. Besides, letting her die here, under that rock, is probably more merciful than what the Changelings will do to her.

Excellent points, to be sure, but on the other hoof, the mare under the rock was a pony just like her. After all she’d been through, after all Silky had done to her, she still trusted her. Did she even have the nerve to betray that trust?

“Cellist…” Silky said softly, turning back towards the struggling pony behind her.

Hearing Silky’s words, Octavia slowly raised her head, wincing as a fresh, new bolt of pain shot up her back legs. “Silky Sunset? Where are the others? Please- I’m trapped beneath this rock. Can you help me get free?”

Silky didn’t answer, but the darkness was suddenly illuminated by a soft glow from her horn. The glow encircled the rock, lifting it gingerly off of the Earth Pony. Octavia pushed herself upright, then gasped as more daggers of pain plunged into her legs.

“No, don’t move. Let me get a look at that.” Silky knelt by Octavia, keeping her horn illuminated. Octavia found she couldn’t turn her head away, though she really didn’t want to know what damage had been done.

“A lot of this is superficial,” Sunset concluded, “the skin’s been broken in several places, but I think you may only have a severe sprain. Still, we can’t have you walking on those legs. Let’s try this-“

The magic was redirected towards Octavia’s back legs, where it swirled around for a moment, before sinking below the skin. Sunset smiled.

“I think that’ll do it. I’m supporting your bones with a bit of my magic. As long as you don’t try galloping, you should be fine.”

It was then that Octavia first got a look around. She’d been too blinded by her own pain to truly perceive where they were. Now, though, with Silky’s light illuminating the place, she could see a jagged hole above them, and rough walls on all sides.

Noting her discomfort, Silky had a look for herself.

“It’s a sheer drop,” she pointed out, somewhat unnecessarily, “no wonder we haven’t seen the others yet. They must have been separated.”

“We’ll have to climb out,” Octavia said, getting to her hooves, “I think I can-“

“No, you’re not going anywhere,” Silky whispered, sitting Octavia back down, “I’m going to climb and levitate you out of here when I get to the top.” Seeing the look of unease in Octavia’s eyes, Silky added “I know you probably don’t trust me, but I did come back for you. To be honest, I actually kind of surprised myself with that.”

Octavia sighed. “Very well. It looks like that’s our only way out anyway.”

Silky’s eyes darted over the wall, scanning for any cracks or ledges that would make suitable climbing points. Settling on a moisture-slicked outcropping that was better than nothing at the moment, she began her ascent.

“Why did you come back for me?” Octavia called out from below, trying to be as quiet as possible. “You’re allying yourself with the one pony who could, and frankly should bring you to justice.”

Silky shook her head as she pushed herself further up the wall, “Cellist, I never wanted to hurt you. I was thrust into a leadership position that I didn’t want, and made some rash decisions out of pressure. Maybe you can’t understand that now, but I think in time you might.”

“That night you told me about the Awakening,” Octavia said softly, “I could almost sympathize with your cause. You all really thought you could change the world for the better, didn’t you?”

“Rrrgh, yes, we-uff- did,” Sunset groaned, slipping backwards about a foot, “but I’m starting to see that our methods just disrupted Equestria even more. With Luna’s return, Equestria is healing itself. All we’re doing is reopening old wounds.”

“So why did you join the Awakening, then?” Octavia persisted, “what would have made you ally yourself with such a controversial group?”

The Unicorn was almost at the top of her climb now, and finding fewer and fewer hoofholds. Still, she persevered. “My parents were both in the Awakening,” she said at last, “both scholars. They never participated in combat- they only sought the truth. While they never said it, I was always under the impression that they wanted me to be just like them. They would have been proud of my status as leader, but to be honest, I think they’d look on my recent actions with shame. That hostage operation was never something they would have condoned. Now, after everything I’ve done, I’m not sure I could ever see them face to face again. I’m not sure you can truly understand how that feels.”

Octavia chuckled and a very faint smile played about her face. “Actually, Silky, I can relate to that better than you might think.”

“How? And how is any of this funny to you?”

“It’s not funny, I just never realized how alike we really were. You see- my parents wanted me to do something ‘productive’ with my life. They wanted me to study business or medicine- apply myself in a field where I could be successful. Music was for the uneducated, they said. I left home a few years ago in direct violation of their requests. I think that night I finally realized that the only one responsible for our future is ourselves.”

Hanging from a ledge, Silky Sunset thought about this. Octavia hadn’t been given a choice by her parents. She, on the other hoof, had only imagined the pressure she’d felt to join the Awakening. Perhaps still, they were closer than either realized.

“I didn’t mean the cruel things I said to you back on the Sol,” Octavia continued. “You are a leader, Sunset. You’re just not capable of evil. Helping me is proof of that.”

Sunset smiled. She didn’t know what to say. All she knew was that one of her former hostages was now giving her a second chance, one that she probably didn’t even deserve. She heaved herself up over the lip of the hole, staring down.

Last chance, she thought, one more opportunity to abandon her here and get out alone.

“Silky? Everything alright?”

Silky banished the thought from her head once and for all, pointing her horn towards the mare in the hole. “Hold still, cellist. I’m getting you out of there.”

Exhausted from the day’s strain, Silky nevertheless channeled her magic into her horn, directing it at and around the Earth Pony below. Slowly, Octavia began to rise to the top of the pit. Nearing the edge, Sunset could feel her magic slipping, and struggled to keep her focus. Gritting her teeth and bearing down hard on her magic, she lifted Octavia clear of the hole, then released her magic with a loud exhale.

Octavia coughed once, throwing a cloud of cave dust into the air. “Thank you, Silky.”

Smiling, Silky Sunset helped Octavia to her hooves. “Cellist… I never got your name.”

“Octavia.”

“Well then, Octavia,” Sunset extended a hoof, which Octavia gently shook, “perhaps it’s a bit premature, but maybe this is our chance to start over. Can I perhaps call you a friend now?”

Octavia grinned. “Silky, you have more than earned that right.”

The two mares turned to face the dark tunnel ahead, knowing full well that the only way out wouldn’t be an easy one.

“Ready?” Octavia whispered.

Silky glanced at her newfound friend. “Octavia, I was never more ready than I am now.”

Metamorphosis: Part I

The Changelings continued their advance, staring down Nimbus and Storm Runner. The Pegasi were shocked, unable to move as dozens of copies of their old friend, Sun Blaze, bore down on them.

“Why, Nimbus?” Storm Runner whispered. Nimbus looked back; his friend was shaking uncontrollably, and his face was pale, “why her?”

“Because he knows we won’t fight her,” Nimbus whispered back. “Storm, if we’re going to get out of this alive, you’re going to have to do something I’d never ask you to do otherwise- you’ll have to fight back against these things.”

Storm Runner shook his head violently, “no- no, I won’t do it!”

The Changelings were less than ten feet away now and Nimbus prepared to launch. It was now or never.

“Storm!” he hissed, “snap out of it! Bright Future’s exploiting your greatest weakness! Sun Blaze is gone, Storm. These pretenders are trying to compromise you.”

“Don’t listen to him, Sugar,” one of the Changelings said seductively, “you can still be mine if you-“

Storm Runner’s left eye twitched. “Sugar… Sun Blaze would never have called me that.” His body began to shudder even more and he bent his head down towards the ground. This was it. Storm's wings twitched slightly, and anypony who had flown with the guy before would know that something big was about to happen. The pony's legs tensed, and his mouth contorted into a snarl. Without warning, Storm Runner snapped his wings open and rocketed into the air above the Changelings. “Sun Blaze never called me that!” he yelled, diving down and firing his CAL-2 into the mass of creatures below. Nimbus had to duck to avoid taking a hit himself. “Get out of my way, freaks!” Storm Runner yelled, rolling as a few Changelings took off after him, “you disgrace her memory!”

As two Changelings nearby collapsed, convulsing as Storm Runner shocked them, Nimbus saw his chance and flung himself into the air off Storm’s wing. Trying to catch up with his friend was like trying to stabilize oneself in a raging river. Storm was everywhere at once, firing and swooping wildly, and Nimbus began to wonder if his friend was being more of a danger than the Changelings were. After failing twice to keep up with his friend, Nimbus broke away to pursue another Changeling diving towards the cave floor. His CAL-2 had finally built up enough pressure to arm, and he let loose with a barrage of bolts that sent the Changeling reeling. Rather than standing back up and returning to the fight, however, the creature chose to retreat into one of the holes in the wall. The rest seemed to be doing the same.

Storm Runner ripped by overhead, shooting to kill. He’d already managed to drop five Changelings to Nimbus’s one, and was working on a sixth and seventh.

“Storm, wait up-“

“Get out of my way!” he snarled at Nimbus as he barely avoided the orange Pegasus. Nimbus recoiled, shocked by his friend’s sudden hostility, and focused on picking off some stragglers with a few well-placed shots. Teamwork apparently wasn’t going to be an option here. As Nimbus turned to engage another, he felt hooves on his back and plummeted to the floor. Flipping around on the ground, he came face to face with Sun Blaze. As he watched in horror, the mare’s face shifted, contorting back into the deformed, insect-like face of a Changeling. The creature lowered its head to Nimbus’s and hissed, spraying spittle over his face. Nimbus gritted his teeth, struggling under the adversary’s weight, all the while warily eyeing the sharp teeth in its mouth. He bucked upwards, catching the creature off guard, and rolled to his hooves just in time to be tackled by two more. They pinned him, forcing his face into the cave floor. Nimbus was breathing in dirt, trying desperately to cram air into his lungs, but he knew he couldn’t fight back against these two.

“Storm,” he wheezed, “help me!”

Storm Runner snapped his head around to where Nimbus’s voice had come from. With a cry of rage, he bashed a nearby Changeling into the wall and took off like a rocket towards Nimbus. The two Changelings never knew what hit them. Storm Runner was traveling just under Mach 1, and the sickening crack that resounded through the cave was something Nimbus knew he’d never forget. Storm stopped just a few feet short of a wall and turned around. Only one Changeling remained standing, still disguised as Sun Blaze. Nimbus got to his feet just in time to see Storm Runner leap towards the impostor, pinning it mercilessly to a wall by the throat.

“You impersonate my friend, and you mock her memory." His face held no forgiveness now; Storm had lost it completely. His eyes were wild with fury, and his face was only a few inches away from the impostor. "There are so many ways I could kill you right now, but I’ll take my time picking the slowest one possible.”

“Wait-“ the fake Sun Blaze choked, “there’s more than you know to this story.”

Storm Runner pressed harder on the Changeling’s neck. “What are you talking about, you wretched piece of filth? I think things are pretty cut and dried here.”

The Changeling shook its head, regardless of the pain it must have been feeling. “Did Nimbus ever tell you who actually killed Sun Blaze? Did you ever stop to think it might have been him?”

Nimbus froze, heart pounding. Now really wasn’t the time for the truth to be heard. Thankfully, Storm Runner didn’t seem to buy the story.

“You’re lying,” he growled, “Nimbus would never lie to me…” he turned towards his friend, “isn’t that right, Nimbus?”

Nimbus gulped, trying to think of what to say, but the Changeling cut him off.

“Think about it- run the facts through that thick skull of yours. Sun Blaze disappeared the night of the Summer Sun Celebration- the same time Nimbus fought a pony whose identity was never recovered above Canterlot. The only pony whose word you have that the one he fought wasn’t Sun Blaze is him.” The Changeling nodded at Nimbus, and Storm released pressure a bit, turning towards his friend.

“You can’t honestly believe what that thing is telling-“ Nimbus began.

“Is it true?” Storm Runner said, “Nimbus, look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t kill Sun Blaze that night.”

Nimbus hesitated, sighing. He traced a random pattern in the dirt with his hoof and brought his eyes up to meet Storm Runner’s. The Pegasus’s eyes were desperate, almost pleading that his demands could be answered. He opened his mouth, attempting to keep the lie alive, but he just couldn’t. Within a second of meeting Storm Runner’s gaze, Nimbus dropped his head back down.

“I just wanted to protect you, Storm…” he said softly.

“Protect me from what, Nimbus?” Storm Runner said softly, releasing the Changeling and turning around to face his friend. “The truth? I thought we were friends, ‘buddy.’ I thought we could trust each other to tell the whole truth, so when you tell me that Sun Blaze was killed by an Awakening ace, I fully expect you to be telling me nothing but the facts. Now I’m supposed to believe that this whole thing was a lie?!” Storm Runner’s face was gradually contorting into a snarl, and Nimbus was truly becoming frightened now. “Nimbus, was Sun Blaze a part of the Awakening? Was she the one who you fought that night?” Nimbus was silent, looking down at his hooves and unable to meet the gaze of the pony whose trust he’d just shattered.

“Answer me!” Storm Runner barked, and Nimbus jumped a bit. He’d uttered the same last words that Sun Blaze had. The truth had finally come full circle.

“Yes,” Nimbus whispered, “if that’s what you want to know, Storm Runner, then yes. I killed Sun Blaze. But you have to understand, she was-“

“I don’t care about your explanations!” Storm Runner roared, advancing on Nimbus, “you were with her; you should have found another way!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Nimbus noticed that the final Changeling hadn’t left. Instead, its horn was glowing green, and it was pointed at Storm. As he watched, a glowing green glaze seemed to form over Storm Runner’s eyes. “Look, Storm. If you want my apology, you’ll have it. But can’t you see that this is exactly what Bright Future wants? He’s turning you against me!”

Storm Runner yelled, charging forward and catching Nimbus in his stomach. Unprepared to fight back, Nimbus was helplessly pressed into the dirt as Storm Runner’s hooves closed around his neck. The stallion’s eyes were blazing with green light now; he was gone.

“I don’t want your Luna-damned excuses, Nimbus!” Storm Runner shrieked, “there is nothing you can give me that will make up for her loss, do you understand me? Nothing!”

Losing air quickly, Nimbus knew he had no other choice but to act. Storm Runner was stronger than him, and far better in hoof to hoof combat. Still, he was blinded by rage and… whatever was controlling him right now. There was a slim chance that he might be vulnerable to an unexpected counterattack. Anything was better than nothing.

Gasping for air, throat nearly closed now, Nimbus bucked upward with his back legs, impacting Storm Runner’s soft, unprotected belly. Storm instinctively recoiled, letting go of Nimbus just long enough for him to dart away, wheezing as he backed towards the other corner of the cave. Storm was already recovering, and he’d be back at him again. Nimbus had to act fast.

“I won’t fight you, Storm!” Nimbus rasped, “you’re my friend!”

“Friend?!” Storm Runner growled, darting forward and smashing into the wall as Nimbus deftly sidestepped him, “you use that term so loosely it means nothing to you!”

Nimbus jumped up into the air, holding a hover once again opposite Storm Runner. “It means everything to me! I knew you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you knew Sun Blaze had betrayed us, so I did what I thought I had to do to protect my best friend!”

Storm Runner launched himself into the air, catching Nimbus’s wingtip this time and forcing him to spiral violently down into the cave floor. Storm landed, panting. “If that’s what you think, then that makes you no better than you say she was.”

Nimbus rolled to his hooves, coughing. One of his ribs felt cracked, but he tried not to let it show. Stepping back, he winced, however, nursing his side. Storm immediately caught on to the visual cue and charged forward again, driven by rage. Nimbus was too tired to move, accepting the pain as he was smashed bodily into the cave wall. A loud snap confirmed that the rib was now broken, and white hot pain flashed before his eyes. The fight was ending after it had only barely begun, and even if he’d been capable of fighting back, Nimbus wasn’t sure he had the will to do so. The Pegasus lay on the cave floor, trembling with pain as Storm Runner’s green-glazed eyes glared down at him. Perhaps he deserved this, he thought, but regardless of whether or not this was so, the truth was finally off his chest. If he was to die here, he’d die knowing that his conscience was finally clear.

…

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Octavia asked as Silky Sunset turned down yet another dark corridor.

“No,” Silky admitted, “I don’t, but I know for certain that we’re not going back the way we came, which is better than nothing.”

Octavia nodded, ducking to avoid a slimy, dripping stalactite. “I must admit- this is not where I saw myself being today when I planned my week out only a few days ago.”

“I’d rather not reflect on what I was thinking a few days ago,” Silky said, “still, I’m with you in that I certainly didn’t expect this.”

The two mares froze as a loud booming noise echoed through the passage. Something had impacted the cave wall a short distance ahead.

“I guess we’re not alone,” Silky whispered, ducking down, “keep low- probably some more Changelings ahead.”

Octavia ducked behind a rock, clenching her mouth shut as she made an effort to keep quiet. Barely breathing, she watched as Sun Blaze peeked her head over cover.

“What is it?” Octavia breathed.

“By Luna’s stars…” Silky Sunset gasped, “it’s Nimbus and Storm Runner… they’re fighting!”

“What?” Octavia moved up, resting her hooves on the edge of the rock, and peered over just in time to see Storm Runner lift Nimbus up and send him hurtling into the cave floor.

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” Silky whispered, seeing Storm Runner’s eyes for the first time. Octavia bolted out from behind cover, heading for the fight.

“Octavia, wait! If Storm Runner’s compromised it might be dangerous in…” Octavia was already long gone, and Silky sighed, “…there. Okay, Silky. You’ve stuck your neck out, put a lot on the line recently… what’s one more time, right?” Before her practical side could say otherwise, Silky ran around the corner, galloping after Octavia. Nothing like an almost guaranteed fight with an Aviator to make one’s day complete.

…

Nimbus wasn’t sure how much more he could take. His ribs were now the least of his concern. His entire body was like one big nerve ending now, and he didn’t dare try to think about how many bones he’d broken. And yet despite the pain, despite everything that was happening to him, he still couldn’t bring himself to fight back.

“Why don’t you fight me, Nimbus?” Storm Runner roared, kicking Nimbus as the Pegasus fell to the floor again, “I’m giving you more of a chance than you ever gave Sun Blaze!”

“I told you, Storm,” Nimbus coughed, dragging himself away, “you’re my friend. I’d never hurt you.”

“Yeah? I thought Sun Blaze was your friend once, too!”

Nimbus doubled over in pain as Storm Runner kicked out again, catching him in the stomach. He snapped his head back as air rushed out of his lungs, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw a mare standing nearby, frozen in horror. Through eyes blurred by pain and exhaustion, he could swear he could make out Octavia.

It’s a hallucination, he thought, brought on by the pain- nothing more. He blinked, trying to drive the image away, but the pony just moved closer, speaking hesitantly.

“Storm Runner, stop this!”

“Octavia?” Nimbus groaned, “wha- what are you doing here?”

“Storm Runner,” Octavia said hesitantly as the blue Pegasus shifted his focus away from Nimbus, “please, stop this. There’s something else going on here…”

“I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here!” Storm Runner bellowed, moving towards Octavia now, “this pony-“ he pointed at Nimbus “-has betrayed our trust! He’s nothing but a spineless liar, and a coward! And if you’re going to side with him, then that makes you my enemy, too!”

“The Changeling…” Nimbus choked, nodding towards the creature disguised as Sun Blaze behind Storm Runner, “distract it.”

Silky took her place next to Octavia now, glaring at Storm. “Pull yourself together, Aviator. You’ve become a liability. We’re getting out of here, all of us, but we can’t do that if you won’t cooperate.”

“I deserve justice!” Storm Runner screamed, “I just want things to be right, don’t you understand?” The Pegasus charged straight for Silky. Luckily, Silky was ready and stepped aside, taking aim at the Changeling with her horn. One bolt of magic was all it took to break the creature’s concentration. As the light from its horn died out, Storm Runner collapsed to the cave floor and Octavia rushed to his aid. Silky closed in on the Changeling, pulling it away from the hole in the wall it was about to use to escape.

“Oh no,” she whispered, voice full of silent rage bottled up from the torment she'd been through earlier, “there’s no easy way out for you this time.”

Storm Runner’s eyes fluttered open and he found himself gazing at Octavia. “What… happened? I could have sworn I just attacked-“ he shifted his gaze around, and his eyes widened in horror as he perceived the crumpled form of Nimbus on the ground.

“Oh Luna, no…” he whispered.

“I’ll be fine, Storm,” Nimbus croaked. Not answering him, Storm Runner got to his hooves and walked over to the cowering Changeling, which had now taken on its true form.

“It was controlling you,” Silky said, “making you fight Nimbus.”

“I know,” Storm Runner replied, lifting the creature to its hooves and pinning it to the wall by the throat. “I’m sick of being an accessory,” he whispered, rage seething behind his quiet tone as he addressed the Changeling, “I’m done with the lies. Yes, I’m sure you must have played off of some existing feelings, but you made me hurt Nimbus. Flawed as he may be, he is…” Storm Runner winced, “he was my friend.”

“Was he really?” the Changeling hissed, “if he was really your friend, would he have hidden that truth from you?”

Storm Runner looked down at the ground. The Changeling was trying to work its way back into his mind. There was no doubt that he wondered about the same thing it had just told him, but that was a problem for him to deal with, on his own time.

“Maybe, maybe not,” he sighed, “but if there’s an issue here, it’ll be discussed between us- nopony else!” Storm Runner’s voice became tense again, and Nimbus prepared for the worst. The Pegasus’s anger was directed elsewhere though. Storm Runner released the Changeling briefly, then smashed its head into the wall behind it, leaving cracks spider-webbing over the stone.

“Now leave-“ he drove the creature’s head into the wall again, “-my friends-“ again he drove his hooves forward, “-alone!” he slammed the Changeling down into the ground. As the light left the creature’s eyes, Nimbus saw the colors of the room begin to swim around, blurring into one another as his vision lost focus. He opened his mouth to ask if anypony else was seeing what he saw, but no sound came out. The pain was leaving his body, his world was fading to black, but he didn’t feel the sensation of losing consciousness. This was something else.

…

When Nimbus’s world returned to color, he became aware that he could no longer move his wings and legs. As things became clearer, he noticed that, like before, they were in a large cavern. The only difference was that this time, the cave was clearly lit by green, bioluminescent veins running along the walls. He, Storm Runner, Octavia, and Silky Sunset were pinned to the cave wall, held by magic in the same order they’d been in when Bright Future trapped them earlier. It made no sense.

“Welcome back, ponies.”

Bright Future was back, standing with a smug grin on his face in front of the four. Behind him was a tank similar to the ones they’d seen in the main lab, only this one was much larger, and was covered with black growths. Something was inside, but exactly what it was, thus far, was unclear. Noting the looks of confusion on the ponies’ faces, Bright Future laughed; his tone a dry rattle that was beginning to sound unlike any sound a pony could create.

“Did you like it? My little world for you? It wasn’t a challenge to create my own, small mental plane of existence for you four to frolic through. And your memories… such strong emotion contained in them. I haven’t felt this young in millennia.”

“What are you talking about?” Storm Runner said, straining against the magical bonds that held him.

“Well, everything you just experienced happened in here-“ Bright Future tapped his hoof on Storm Runner’s forehead, withdrawing it quickly as Storm Runner tried snapping his head away, then turned around and paced towards the tank. “The memories were very real, however. Everything you said, everything Nimbus confessed to, all of it real.”

“You had no right to go digging around in our heads like that!” Nimbus called out.

“Shut up, Nimbus!” Storm Runner hissed.

Nimbus shrank back; he’d almost forgotten that Storm Runner knew about Sun Blaze now. Keeping silent was probably the wisest course of action right now.

“Ah, but the emotions all of you released- the strong, developing bonds of friendship between Silky and Octavia, the seething hatred unlocked in Storm Runner at Nimbus’s betrayal of trust- they’ve helped me so much.”

“When you said you haven’t felt this strong in millennia…” Octavia said slowly, hesitantly, “what did you mean? You’re a Unicorn, mortal like the rest of us. What you’ve just told us makes no sense.”

“And what if I told you, my dear, that everything you’ve seen so far was a lie? It wouldn’t be the first lie you ponies have experienced on this little adventure of yours.”

“What are you getting at?” Silky said, “I watched you as you were taken into the darkness by… something- some force. You can’t just tell me that never happened!”

“Smoke and mirrors, little revolutionary. You can’t tell me you’ve never seen a magic trick. Slight of hoof is an art form, you know, something my… race has been practicing for a very long time.”

“Who are you?” Nimbus asked, almost afraid to hear the truth.

From the tip of his horn, a green spark traveled lazily down Bright Future’s face, disappearing into his mane. His smile began to twist, contorting into a smirk, “I could tell you,” he said softly, his voice beginning to change as its pitch increased, sounding almost feminine, “but perhaps I’ll show you instead.”

More sparks began to play about Bright Future’s body, sinking into every pore of his skin until he disappeared completely behind a wall of green magic. Nimbus squinted as the flashes of light lit up the cave in direct contrast to the darkness around him. “Silky,” he groaned, “is that some kind of spell?”

“No,” Silky said, “or at least not one I’ve ever seen.”

Through the light, Nimbus could make out the faint outline of Bright Future… only now he wasn’t entirely sure he was looking at a pony at all. The stallion’s legs were growing significantly in length, but his body itself seemed to be growing thinner, as appendages sprouted from the sides. The mane and tail were growing out, and the horn became more pronounced, looking jagged. The light vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving in place something much more different than the pony they’d all seen only seconds ago. Tall, with insect-like wings and a spiky, flowing mane, the figure looked up from the ground, towards the trapped ponies. The dark creature fixed its glowing green eyes on the group, and its mouth split into a horrifying smile.

“That’s her- that’s the one,” Sunset whispered, “Project Spark.”

The tall Changeling approached the four ponies, and a dark, spiked crown materialized atop her head. “My future subjects,” she said, voice layered as if two ponies were actually speaking, “I’m so pleased to finally meet you face to face. Perhaps you’ve never heard of me, but rest assured- that will change. I am Chrysalis, queen of the Changeling race, and you will bow before me.”

Nimbus felt his body move beyond his control as he and the rest of his companions were forced onto the hard, dusty floor. Unable to do anything but watch as green magic enveloped his body, Nimbus bowed down along with his friends, under the shadow of what, until now, all of Equestria had believed a myth. The shadowy figure grinned.

“Soon, all of Equestria will be in your position. You will all bow, and there’s nothing anypony can do to stop me.”

Metamorphosis Part II

Metamorphosis: Part II

Nimbus was at a loss for what to do next. The Changeling Queen’s magical restraining spell was strong; strong enough to render any thoughts of escape fruitless. He was trapped like a fly in a spider’s web. Even if he could get out, he mused, what good could he possibly do? Chrysalis was basically an Alicorn, and considerably more powerful than himself. Even if he could charge his CAL-2 in time, he highly doubted the weapon would have any real effect on the target. No, escape was indeed impossible this time, and Chrysalis knew it, chuckling as she approached.

“Don’t be too hard on yourselves. Nopony else was able to tell the difference between the real Bright Future and me, either. Please allow me the opportunity for a bit of self-praise. That was the longest masquerade I’ve ever kept up, and apparently it held up well.”

“So what, then?” Storm Runner snarled, “are you keeping Bright Future trapped here, too?”

Chrysalis smiled, running a jagged hoof under Storm Runner’s neck. The Pegasus’s eyes widened in discomfort, but without control of his body he could do nothing. “Oh he’s here,” Chrysalis said, “but not trapped. You see, Bright Future came to me willingly, for a much different purpose.”

“And why are we here, then?” Octavia asked, “why us?”

Chrysalis shrugged as she tapped the cave wall with her horn. A sliver of glowing green magic began to snake its way up the wall, splitting off into several veins that were converging towards the center of the ceiling. “You four were simply in the right place at the right time. The Awakening sought Site Echo, Celestia’s loyal henchponies chased them down, and you, my dear,” she nodded to Octavia, “were simply swept up in the middle of it all, which, as it turned out, benefitted me greatly…” Chrysalis was back in the center of the room now, standing under the converging lines of magic. “You see, my race feeds on emotion- the stronger, the better- and when you four crossed my path, I could practically feel the potential. I clearly wasn’t wrong. I needed to feed to break the disguise I’d been keeping for over three decades now.”

“Why?” Nimbus groaned, struggling against his bonds to no avail, “if you set hoof outside of this facility, you’ll expose yourself to the might of Celestia and Luna, or even to the Elements of Harmony themselves!”

“You really think I feel threatened by them, Nimbus?” Chrysalis sneered. “I am not some petty field tactician. I’ve waited millenia for this day, and I can continue to wait. I will simply take comfort knowing that the time for my race to rise is near. And I won’t be alone in my new conquest, either.”

The sparks of magic had finally converged on the tank in the middle of the room, and the few parts of it that weren’t covered by black growths began to emit a green light and a low hum.

“Thirty-two years ago, Bright Future approached me with a dilemma,” Crysalis went on. “His superiors ordered him to destroy this facility, and terminate everything related to Project Spark; to me. His thoughts weren’t hard to read. The stallion admired me, or at least respected me. When the time came for him to shut the doors and pull the plug on his operations here, I knew he wouldn’t be able to do it. On the day Site Echo was scheduled for termination, he approached me and told me everything. I offered him a choice…”

Through the tank Nimbus was starting to see the outline of whatever was within. It was tall, almost certainly quadrupedal… suddenly he was beginning to piece together what Chrysalis was talking about.

“He’s in that tank, isn’t he?”

Chrysalis ran a hoof fondly down the surface of the tank, nodding. “I asked him to demonstrate a simple act of devotion to me, and he complied. Among the safety features of this building was a magical stasis field created to safeguard its inhabitants in the event of a breach, not unlike the field that rendered me dormant for so many years. He used it on those still inside, and helped me convert them into my subjects. In exchange, I gave him what he always wanted- perfection.”

The tube pulsed with light, then the fluid inside began to drain, being siphoned upwards and into the ceiling above. Then the glass face cracked and shattered, crumbling outwards as something rose to its hooves behind it. Thin slivers of light grew wider on what Nimbus could only guess was its face, and he realized he was looking at a pair of eyes. If this had indeed been Bright Future, there was no longer any resemblance. This observation was only confirmed when the creature’s horn began to glow, illuminating the rest of his body.

He wasn’t as tall as Chrysalis; instead, the creature that was once Bright Future seemed to still have his old Unicorn-sized body, or at least most of it. His legs had stretched, closer to Alicorn length, but noticeably out of proportion for a Unicorn, and they bore hollowed-out sections just as Chrysalis’s did. Fangs jutted out from his mouth, and his eyes glowed with a pale, bluish-green light. What was most horrifying, though, was that his transformation wasn’t entirely complete. Wisps of his old mane and tail still showed, contrasting with his new, waxy black coat, and the fading remains of what was once a cutie mark were still visible on his flank. Bright Future took several rasping breaths, then stood next to Chrysalis.

“I am awake,” he said softly with a voice so grating it seemed to penetrate Nimbus’s skull. Chrysalis nodded, then addressed the captive ponies.

“This is my new mate. Bright Future no longer exists; the being you see before you is Chitin, the evolution of ponykind.”

“Bright Future?!” Storm Runner gasped, incredulous, “so you just bought into her story? But what about the Griffons? What about your loyalty to Equestria?”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, but Bright Future cut her off.

“I was a scientist, Pegasus, my loyalties were to the betterment of ponykind. Do not think for a second that I had any specific ties to the throne or this country. If I had felt that the Griffons were the best hope for our future, I would have sided with them instead. Thanks to Chrysalis, I was able to see a better option; under the Changelings, we can be anything we want to be. Is that not perfection? Have you ever looked in a mirror and wanted to change something, however small, about yourself? Don’t you see why I did what I did now? It’s the natural next step in our evolution!”

“Sounds an awful lot like servitude to me,” Silky Sunset shot back.

“What would you know of true perfection? What would any of you know?” Chrysalis countered. “You’re trying so hard to fight us, but you don’t even know what it is we offer.”

“Maybe not, but I know it can’t be anything good,” Storm Runner said. Chrysalis frowned briefly, regarded Chitin, then smiled slowly.

“Well, I have other uses for you too, then.You see, I have so much to do and so little time to deal with such petty creatures as you. Chitin, on the other hoof…” The two Changelings exchanged brief glances, and Chitin nodded slowly, solemnly, as if he’d received a message.

“Unfortunately I cannot say with any honesty that you four will see the rise of the Changeling race,” Chitin said, stepping forward. “My queen has requested one more demonstration of loyalty from me, and in the case of you meddling outsiders, I’m more than happy to oblige…”

Chrysalis’s form was suddenly engulfed in a bright green light which quickly covered the room. Then with a loud “crack,” she was gone, and the light faded away, leaving the four ponies alone and unbound with Chitin. The ponies were free, but none dared move yet. Storm Runner nodded slowly.

“I see how it is…” the Pegasus said softly, his voice dripping with venom, “Chrysalis needs us out of the way without getting her hooves dirty, and you’ve got a convenient new body and loyalties. Shame you can’t see that you’re pretty much her b-”

Storm Runner sailed through the air, impacting the cave wall behind him before he could finish. Chitin laughed, then clicked his tongue. “Now now, little pony. Language.”

Looking back, Nimbus could see that his friend was in pain. Storm Runner’s body had taken a lot of punishment today, and getting slammed into a wall probably wasn’t helping. Without hesitation, he rushed to his friend’s side. He only managed to travel a few feet before he was flipped upside-down and thrust face-first into the dirt- Chitin’s work again.

“Not a very challenging initiation into the ranks of the Changelings, I must say,” Bright Future gloated, ignoring the mares and approaching the shaking forms of Nimbus and Storm Runner, “I mean I knew you’d be easy to take down, but this? Hardly what I’d call strenuous.”

“Hey ugly!”

Chitin whipped around. Silky Sunset was standing on the opposite side of the room, horn bared and glowing. The Changeling snarled.

“I’ll deal with you later, you impetulant insect.”

Seeing her chance, Octavia picked up a stone and hurled it towards Chitin. The rock hit him squarely in the back of the neck, and he whirled towards her, hissing. Shaking himself to his senses, Nimbus saw his chance. Nodding to Storm Runner, both took off, blasting past Chitin as he lunged for Octavia. The Changeling turned to strike them, only to be met with a blast of magic from Silky’s horn. As he prepared to attack Silky, charging his own horn, Nimbus and Storm circled around, charging in and bucking Chitin’s exposed sides. Any of the calm, commanding presence the Changeling had was gone now, replaced with an animalistic rage that was terrifying to behold. Green sparks danced about his body as he started firing bolts of magic wildly in every direction.

“You can’t hit us all,” Octavia called out as Nimbus flew past Chitin’s front legs, almost tripping him up. “Admit it,, Chitin- you’re out of your league!”

As Chitin became angrier and angrier, Nimbus could see the sparks around him intensifying, and at the conclusion of Octavia’s comment, he prepared for the worst. He wasn’t exactly disappointed. With a cry of “enough!” Chitin’s magic erupted outwards in all directions, scattering the ponies to all sides of the cave. The friction from the cave floor burned against Nimbus’s skin as he fought to stay upright, but against the blast he had no protection, and was catapulted head over hooves into the wall.

“Changelings, hive-dwellers, hear me and awaken!” Chitin called out. Nimbus shook the stars out of his eyes and waited, listening for a response. Just as it seemed Chitin’s awe-inspiring declaration might be a contestant for biggest failure of the year, the humming from before began to fill the cavern. Nimbus didn’t even need to ask what it was. Chitin was smart- using powers he’d only just acquired to take down four targets was unwise, but unleashing the full fury of the hive would give him the protection he needed, if nothing else. The drone became a steady thrum until Nimbus could feel his chest shaking. Chitin simply smiled as the walls began to crack and debris fell from the ceiling. The Changelings would be here any second now.

“Go!” Nimbus yelled to the others, charging for Chitin again. Chitin swiped at him with a magical beam, forcing him to divert, but Nimbus dove back in again, yelling “get out while you have a chance! I’ll catch up!”

“Got your back, Raider One,” Storm Runner called out, “and I’m going to assume I can trust you with mine for the moment.”

The words stung, but at least they were confirmation that Storm Runner was going to help. Nimbus nodded as he strayed clear of another blast. Octavia and Silky got to their hooves and began running for the cave exit ahead.

“No!” Chitin yelled, preparing to fire. Storm Runner came up from his side, landing a blow directly to the Changeling’s face as his horn fired. The bolt of magic impacted the ceiling where, on contact with the veins of green magic, it exploded, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the stone. Nimbus paused a moment. There was an opportunity to be had here.

“Get ready to go pick up Silky and fly like mad, Storm!” Nimbus yelled over the clamour of Changeling wings.

“What, why?” Storm Runner called back.

“You’re going to have to trust me.”

Storm Runner shook his head in disdain, but altered his course as Nimbus darted up to the ceiling above Chitin’s head. The Changeling’s face contorted into a frightening smile as his horn began glowing again. Nimbus flexed his wings, then swiftly leapt out of the way as the bolt hit the stone… right in the middle of a thick vein patch Nimbus had been concealing. The roar from the blast was deafening, and Nimbus fought to stay in the air, but more importantly, the explosion had done its trick. Chitin was flung back, far enough away to give the ponies some breathing room. Storm was already halfway to Silky Sunset, and Nimbus diverted towards Octavia. The head-start was going to help, but he knew he couldn’t count on it, and the sound of Chitin spreading his wings behind them was more than enough confirmation. To make matters worse, Changelings were now pouring out of the cave behind them, and Nimbus had to constantly shift to keep from hitting one and slowing down.

“Hang on, Octavia,” he gasped to the mare below him as he tried to get accustomed to flying with twice his normal weight.

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Octavia replied, watching as the ground rushed by only a few inches away. Surprisingly, the ponies hadn’t actually traveled far during their dream state. After traversing a quick bend in the tunnel, they were right back at the spot where Chrysalis had trapped them. The door to the facility was dead ahead.

“Come on!” Storm Runner grunted, flapping his wings as hard as he could to gain ground, “we can still finish this!”

“Or we could just escape,” Nimbus pointed out, rolling to avoid a Changeling that had come up unexpectedly from behind. “The cat’s pretty much out of the bag now, or at least it will be!”

Octavia stole a quick glance to the rear. Chitin was angrily catching up, his horn glowing with magic again. Perhaps even more frightening, though, was the rapidly advancing cloud of Changelings swarming up to meet them.

“Nimbus, they’ll catch us,” she said, “we’re not getting out of here if we try to run. I think we should listen to Storm!”

The door was approaching quickly now, and a decision had to be made. Sighing, Nimbus gave in.

“Okay, Storm. What’s the play?”

“Brace!” Storm Runner called out, blasting the door open with his CAL-2. With a start, Nimbus realized that his own weapon was probably fully charged as well. They weren’t completely hopeless yet. The four ponies dove into the small tunnel, breezing past equipment and lockers. Nimbus could feel the rush of displaced air as he flew by; they were cutting things close.

“Okay, next step-” Storm Runner called, “Silky, I need you to target any vertical beams we run into with your magic. If I’m correct, collapsing those should at least weaken the cave, and we can go from there.”

“I’m not sure I can,” Silky said, her sanity starting to slip, ,”we’re so fast, and there are so many of them…”

“You’ve got one shot,” Storm said, ignoring her and downing a Changeling that passed by them, “don’t miss!”

A searing bolt of magic flew past Nimbus; he could feel the crackling energy from it dancing off his face. Chitin was closer now, and well within striking distance. He jinked left and right as a flurry of more bolts hurtled towards him.

“It’s over, ponies!” Chitin called, “we’ve awakened! Even now my kind is escaping into the world above; you’re too late!”

Silky twisted around in Storm Runner’s hooves, firing a shot back at the Changeling. Chitin swerved, avoiding it, but cried out in pain as he ground his side into the tunnel wall. The ponies cleared the tunnel moving into the main room, but despite the extra space, things were becoming much more complicated. Changelings were everywhere now, and even though they were no longer hostile, they were considerable obstacles. Silky scanned the room as best she could, looking for support beams. By the time she saw the first one, it was almost on top of them.

“Fire!” Storm Runner yelled, and Silky let loose with as much magical force as she could muster. The impact of the bolt upon the steel structure made a considerable dent, and with a satisfying groan, the column fell, snapping in two like a fallen tree.

“Awesome!” Nimbus called as he took down two Changelings in his path, “let’s move on!”

No sooner had he finished when a Changeling ran directly into him. Unprepared, Nimbus tried to correct, but ended up running his wing into a filing cabinet. White hot pain coursed through his wing, and Nimbus dropped a few feet. Octavia shrieked, shaking Nimbus back to his senses, and the Pegasus pulled up just in time to clear a desk. The final room was dead ahead, and as soon as they entered it, Nimbus knew there was going to be a problem.

Silky’s mouth opened wide as she finally came to realize just how many supports the main room had. at least six strong beams held up the roof, and at the ponies’ current speed, hitting them would be almost impossible. She began firing, trying to stay precise while moving past cluttered debris. One down, then two, then a third… the roof was groaning as if in pain now. A collapse was imminent, and Chitin seemed to realize this too, gritting his teeth and launching himself forward with renewed determination. Up ahead was the cave entrance; light streamed through it, promising freedom and security, but Silky wasn’t done yet. Two more pillars fell; just one left, but there wasn’t any time- Storm Runner was moving too fast.

Well then, Sunset thought, only one last trick in the book to play. Here goes nothing. Without any advance warning, she pushed Storm Runner’s hooves away just before the Pegasus cleared the entrance. The three others soared out of the cave as Silky hit the ground, rolling upright in a cloud of dust. The beam was directly ahead, and so was Chiitin. Two shots would have to do. Concentrating, Sunset hit the beam first, sending her magic through the cloud of Changelings around her. A squeal of metal was all the indication she needed that she’d landed a direct hit.

“And now for you,” she hissed, aiming her horn at Chitin as great chunks of the roof began to fall. One bolt traveled through the swarm. Chitin saw it coming, but didn’t react fast enough. The magic avoided his face, but hit his wing, crippling it. Destabilized, he plowed into the ground heading straight for Silky. The Unicorn skipped backwards as the roof fell in with a deafening roar. A cloud of dust rose up in front of her like some terrible monster, and she closed her eyes preparing for the end… then a hoof wrapped around her midsection, dragging her clear and into the sunshine.

Breathe in, breathe out.

For a moment, that was all Silky could do. She hadn’t expected a rescue, yet instead of being sealed inside of what was once Site Echo, here she was. As she opened her eyes, she saw the solemn face of Storm Runner above her.

“You?” she asked, incredulous, “you pulled me out?”

Storm Runner winced. “Yes. I know I completely turned on my personal code of honor by saving a wanted criminal, but yes I did. Please don’t make me regret that decision.”

Silky smiled as she sat up, looking around at the group. All three of them had no reason to come after her. They could have easily left her with Bright Future to die, Searching for words, she could only muster a “thank you.” The others nodded. It was all they really needed.

At the sound of shifting rocks, Octavia turned back towards what had once been the cave opening. Half of a black form still stuck out of the rocks. It was Chitin, and despite the faint stream of green blood running down the side of his face, he was clearly still alive, if only barely.

“Chitin’s still with us,” she said to the group.

Nimbus’s ears perked up. He’d barely heard Octavia, but what she’d said was more than enough to get his attention. He trotted over to the mare, who was standing near the still form of Chitin. The Changeling’s mouth had broken into a slight grin. Nimbus was about to ask Octavia if she was sure when the Changeling spoke.

“Not… over yet,” he whispered, choking, “only… begun.”

“And now that you’ve got those cliched final words out of the way,” Storm Runner said drily, “anything meaningful?”

Chitin’s eyes traveled upwards to Storm’s, and the two locked their gazes.

“You destroyed Site Echo… you th- think that makes a difference? M- my queen… my queen is free.”

“Where is she?” Storm Runner pressed. Chitin only laughed in response.

“That secret, little pony, is one I’ll take to my grave.”

And with a rattling breath, the light finally faded from Chitin’s eyes as his form went limp. Site Echo was no more, but the dreadful secret contained within was free. Nimbus wasn’t entirely sure that today had truly been a victory.

“Call it in,” Storm Runner mumbled to Nimbus. With a start, Nimbus grabbed his headset- he’d almost forgotten they were supposed to contact Cloudsplitter back at base- and checked his frequencies. Satisfied, he spoke into his helmet.”

“Raider One to Cicada, acknowledge?”

There was a moment of static before Cloudsplitter’s voice finally came through on the other end- sweet relief.

“Raider, you took your sweet time getting things done. Do you have an update?”

“Roger, ma’am,” Nimbus replied hesitantly. “Mission successful. But-”

“I’ll catch it in the debrief,” Cloudsplitter said, cutting him off.

“Yes ma’am,” Nimbus said, “we’re heading back to base, then.”

“Not necessary,” Cloudsplitter radioed back, “I’ll meet you in Dodge Junction and we’ll debrief there. You’ve done enough traveling. I’m sending some Aviators from the 56th AS your way with a carriage- the guys who helped take down the Sol. They should be there shortly.”

“Understood,” Nimbus answered, “Windi- er, Raider One out.”

Closing his comms, Nimbus sat back in relief, letting the air slowly out of his lungs. After nearly a full day of intense combat and travel, it was finally over, and when the relief team from Dodge Junction arrived, climbing on the carriage back to civilization was one of the best feelings he’d felt in a long time.

Loose Ends

Colonel Cloudsplitter’s eyes stared patiently over the rim of Nimbus’s coffee mug as the Pegasus drank down what was left of the bitter liquid. He’d come to determine that induced dream states hardly counted as actual sleep, which meant that he’d been awake for over forty hours, and he was feeling it. As commanding officer, Cloudsplitter had made sure that he and the others were fed and made as comfortable as possible- though in the case of Silky Sunset such accommodations were a bit of a stretch. The pony was required to be with a REAF escort at all times due to her criminal status.

Satisfied at last, Nimbus lowered his mug and licked his lips. Cloudsplitter smiled.

“So, the site is destroyed?”

Storm Runner nodded from the other end of the table. “Yes, ma’am.”

“But there were complications,” Nimbus added. “They were working on a biological weapon there- basically attempting to control a new species they called the Changelings. It… didn’t work out.”

“Go on.”

“Bright Future, the project’s leader, caved in a long time ago to the leader of the Changelings. She made him one of them and took his place in the real world to preserve the hive they’d grown in the facility. The Changelings can alter their form to match just about any living creature, or at least all pony species, and that’s why they were chosen for the project.”

“The Queen escaped,” Octavia added, and Nimbus nodded.

“The Queen, who calls herself Chrysalis, was able to escape with several of her subjects, though we were able to subdue Chitin- formerly Bright Future- thanks to Silky Sunset here.”

Nimbus gestured to Silky who smiled faintly at him. Cloudsplitter frowned.

“Yes, well we’re all very grateful for Ms. Sunset’s part in all this, but I don’t think I need to remind you that she is a criminal, with some very serious charges on her record to boot. I-”

“Ma’am, with all due respect,” Storm Runner started, “I think I can vouch for Silky Sunset. She saved us on numerous occasions when she could have easily turned hoof and fled. I sincerely believe she’s turned over a new leaf.”

Cloudsplitter shook her head. “You misunderstand, Lieutenants. I cannot authorize the release of Silky Sunset based on your words alone. Whether willingly or not, Sunset was involved with the Awakening when the hostage situation went down, and if my memory serves, she led the operation. Your word is just not good enough- I’m sorry.”

The room was silent as the heavy blanket of depression swept over the ponies. Nimbus sighed. Even after everything Silky had done for them, she was still a criminal, beyond hope of saving. He was about to speak, when Cloudsplitter stood up.

“At this time, I will take the prisoner Silky Sunset to a carriage down the street where she will be flown to Canterlot to stand trial.”

The ponies nodded, all comprehending the Colonel’s words perfectly.

“That said, it would be quite unfortunate if Ms. Sunset somehow managed to overpower me through her sheer magical skill and gain the ticket I’ve got in my pocket for a one-way sea trip to the Griffon Kingdom where asylum may or may not have been arranged. And if such an event did occur, I would most certainly hope that your word about this Unicorn is true.”

Nimbus was frozen, speechless. Cloudsplitter was putting her job on the line for them again! “Thank- thank you,” Nimbus stammered.

Silky stood, heading over to Cloudsplitter’s side, and nodded to the other three ponies. “Perhaps we’ll meet again someday,” she said, a genuine smile crossing her face for the first time. She then turned to Octavia. “And thank you for helping me see who I really am,” she added, “I’ll always be proud to call you my friend.”

“Likewise, Silky Sunset,” Octavia nodded.

Cloudsplitter cleared her throat. “Now if that will be all, it’s high time I left. Dismissed, First Lieutenants.”

Nimbus cocked an eyebrow, confused. “Er… ma’am? We’re Second Lieu-”

“Not anymore you aren’t,” Cloudsplitter winked. “Promotions came down from the capitol after news of your return got through. See you two back at base.” She nodded to Octavia, “and thank you for your part in this. I’ll ensure that you’re compensated.”

“Thank you,” Octavia said, blushing as she turned to open the door. Before pushing it, she looked to Nimbus, who was standing still next to Storm Runner.

“Coming?” she asked.

Nimbus looked to Storm. The Pegasus looked tired, but a faint flame of grief still flickered in his eye. The Pegasus sighed.

“Go on ahead, Octavia. I’ll catch up with you.”

Understanding, Octavia exited the Dodge Junction town hall, leaving the two Aviators alone. For a moment, the two simply breathed; Nimbus didn’t have the courage to face his friend- he knew exactly why he was here.

“Storm, I-”

“Why, Nimbus?” Storm Runner said, cutting his friend off.

“Why did I kill her, Storm? Is that what you want to know?” Nimbus said, bristling, “you want to know why I downed a threat to national security, is that it?”

“No,” Storm Runner said evenly, “I want to know why you never told me from the start where Sun Blaze’s true loyalties were.”

Nimbus considered taking a seat, then thought better of it. Sitting would make him appear weak, and if he wanted to salvage this situation, that was the last thing he needed.

“You loved Sun Blaze,” he said finally, absently tracing his hoof along the ground, “I didn’t want your last memories of her to be falsehoods. I only wanted to protect you, and to preserve the memories you already had of her. You didn’t need to know what she was like that night- the passion, the sheer rage…”

Still looking at the floor, Nimbus could see Storm Runner’s shadow as the pony shook his head. “Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you going to go on pretending she died a hero just so I could live in some perfect fantasy land?!” His voice was increasing in pitch and intensity now. “Whether I want to hear it or not, I want to know the truth, Nimbus!”

Nimbuus didn’t know what to say- Storm Runner’s accusations were spot-on. All he could do was hear out his transgressions.

“You lied to me, Nimbus. You broke our trust! Do you have any idea what that means in this career? How can I trust a liar to watch my back up there? How can I?”

Nimbus slowly lifted his head up, his eyes meeting Storm Runner’s. The blue Pegasus’s face was streaked with tears, and Nimbus almost began to cry himself. Seeing his stoic best friend suddenly reduced to this was painful.

“You can’t trust me,” Nimbus said simply. “I get that.”

“No, I can’t. You’re right.” Storm Runner sighed, and approached Nimbus. “It’s been fun, buddy, but I can’t… I honestly can’t call you a friend anymore. Find another wingpony, and don’t contact me again outside of work.” The blue Pegasus turned around and left the room, leaving Nimbus alone. Nimbus felt as if somepony had drawn a shard of glass across his heart. Storm’s accusations had all been right, but that didn’t soften the blow at all. As he watched his friend disappear, Nimbus felt, for the first time, truly alone.

…

Octavia looked up as the door to the town hall opened. The moment Nimbus stepped out it wasn’t hard to tell that something was wrong. There was a slowness in his step, and his head hung lower than usual. When she approached, he barely moved his eyes to meet her.

“Nimbus? What’s wrong?”

Nimbus winced. “Octavia, why are you still here? You have family, friends- I can take care of my problems.”

Octavia put a hoof around Nimbus and steered him over to a cafe table just outside the town hall. Once both ponies were seated, she looked him in the eyes.

“You’re not okay, Nimbus. Something’s wrong, and I can’t let the pony who saved my life just go on like this. What’s the matter?”

“It’s just…” Nimbus’s lower lip trembled a bit, and he buried his head in his hooves, to hide his anguish. “It’s just that I don’t feel like we accomplished anything at all. In fact, we’re all worse off than when we started!”

“Well that’s not true at all,” Octavia pointed out, “you gave Silky a chance to change. Bright Future’s long gone-”

“And I lost my best friend and unleashed something terrible upon Equestria,” Nimbus finished. “These things just don’t balance out.”

Octavia leaned back, smiling. “Nimbus, the Changelings would have escaped eventually anyway- it’s not as if you knew they’d get out. You did a good thing back in the desert, And Storm Runner? Well, I can tell you from experience that it’s not going to get better soon. Friendships take time to build back up, just like any relationship. Trust me- I’m speaking from experience.”

“What do you mean?” Nimbus sniffed, bringing his hooves down.

“Remember my parents? The ponies I ran away from? When I left home I swore I’d never return- that I’d never see their faces again. Now, I’m not so sure. After everything that’s happened, I think maybe I can try to work things out again. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I’m willing to try. Maybe if you work at Storm Runner, little by little, one day you two will be friends again. I could certainly see it.”

She was right, of course. Nimbus knew it. Things would be tough in the days to come, but it certainly wasn’t the end of the world. He had other options. Slowly, his frown faded as he met Octavia’s eyes.

“Thanks,” he said simply, “I really appreciate it.”

“Tavi?”

Octavia had opened her mouth to speak, but at the sound of the voice calling her name she immediately shut it and whirled around, facing the white pony with the blue mane that had spoken. As soon as she recognized who it was, she nearly died from excitement.

“Vinyl!” she shrieked, galloping over to her friend and giving her a friendly hug, “it’s so good to see you again!”

“I have to admit,” the Unicorn said, shuffling her hooves, “I knew you’d get out of that crisis situation. You are one bona fide action pony!”

“Nimbus,” Octavia laughed, gesturing to Vinly, “this is Vinyl Scratch, my roommate.”

Nimbus nodded to Vinyl, “pleased to meet you. Sounds like you two will have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Alright, how many of ‘em did you punch, eh?” Vinyl said, smirking and playfully punching her friend in the shoulder. Octavia was about to reply, but Vinyl went on.

“Acually, don’t answer that. You won’t believe who else came here to welcome you back!”

“Who?” Octavia said warily, looking around.

“Your parents!”

Octavia went white as a sheet and gasped. “They- they’re here?” she stammered.

“Uh… yeah, I kinda forgot you weren’t on the best terms with them, but I think they’re genuinely concerned for you. You should really go talk to them.”

Octavia looked back to Nimbus, and the stallion nodded.

“You said it yourself- relationships can be mended. I think maybe it’s time to mend yours. Don’t worry- I can handle myself from here on out.”

Grinning sheepishly, Octavia extended her hoof towards Nimbus.

“Well then, from one adventurer to another, I believe it is time to part ways. Thank you, Nimbus- for everything. I hope one day we’ll meet again.”

“Preferably not during a hostage situation,” Nimbus pointed out, shaking the mare’s hoof briskly. “Goodbye, Octavia- and good luck!”

The two mares turned their backs and walked away. As they did so, Octavia looked back one more time, waving at Nimbus. The stallion waved back, feeling a bit less down than he had only a few minutes ago. She was right- things could change, and if it meant getting his friend back, he was more than willing to do what he could to regain Storm Runner’s trust.

Turning around, Nimbus headed back towards the town hall to pick up his flight gear. Manehattan was calling, and though he’d just completed a mission, true Aviators were expected to be ready at all times. He wasn’t about to change that.

His gear was inside the door, and had been washed recently- evidently Cloudsplitter had been pulling a few strings to make sure her Aviators were taken care of- that or she just didn’t like unclean uniforms. Either way he was grateful. He quickly donned his flight suit and helmet and headed outside, ready to depart Dodge Junction. As fate would have it, however, there was one more pony who needed to speak to him, and it was the last pony Nimbus expected.

“You did well out there,” a familiar voice said as Nimbus adjusted his altimeter. It was Captain Starburst. The pony had managed to sneak up on him.

“Thank you, sir,” Nimbus said, starting to salute. Starburst shook his head, motioning for Nimbus to put his hoof down. The Pegasus obliged.

“I knew it was coming to this,” Starburst said, “all the signs pointed to it. And now those… things are loose upon Equestria. Not that I blame you of course,” he added quickly, “it’s just that it never hurts to be ready for the next strike.”

Noting Nimbus’s blank stare, Starburst switched topics.

“Er, right- that’s not what I wanted to see you about, though. No, I wanted to talk to you about Storm Runner.”

“What about him?” Nimbus sighed.

“I heard he’s no longer your wingpony.”

“Word travels fast,” Nimbus replied, double-checking his HUD instruments.

“Well, believe me, with tension between us and the Griffons escalating, the last thing you need is to be up in the air without a wingpony. Therefore, I’d… I’d like to offer my obviously vacant wingpony position to you.”

Nimbus winced inwardly. Starburst was not his optimal choice, but now that he’d come to mention it- he would need another to fill Storm Runner’s place, and choosing the famously pompous Cyclone Sprint was completely out of the deal. Besides- the Captain still had an impressive record That had to count for something, right? Swallowing his pride, he turned to Starburst.

“Of course, sir. It would be my honor.”

“Excellent,” Starburst said, “then I’ll make a point to let the Colonel know. It’s always good to have someone you can trust up there with you. I’d accompany you back to base, but there are some things I need to attend to in town first. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

And with a few nervous twitches that Nimbus had come to expect from Starburst, the pony was gone, leaving him with nothing but a clear takeoff space in front and an endless blue sky above. Nimbus smiled as he lowered his visor. In a world where half-truths and conspiracies were sometimes very real, it was always nice to know that some things remained constant. He pushed forward, feeling the air under his wings as he lifted off the ground, and banked away, to the northeast, until he was nothing more than a small dot disappearing into a cloudless summer sky.

Prologue

Doctor Bright Future,

By royal decree of Princess Celestia, you are hereby ordered to cease any and all work on Project Spark. Canterlot’s planners recognize your commitment to the cause, but the Griffon War is drawing to a close, and it has been decided that the continued existence of Project Spark during peacetime poses a significant potential threat to all. Once work has ceased, you are to destroy all documents which mention Project Spark or Site Echo. You will then proceed to collapse the facility. These steps are necessary to ensure that the subjects of Project Spark are never exposed to the world. Once demolition is complete, report to Princess Celestia. You will be transferred to a civilian institute for the remainder of your career. Once again, it is imperative that Site Echo is destroyed. Do not make any effort to preserve it. Such actions will be considered a blatant disregard of royal orders, and you will be convicted of treason. The Canterlot War Planning Staff thanks you for your service to Equestria in this time of need, and wishes you the best of luck in your future career.

Very Respectfully,

General Spear Point

Destroy Site Echo; those were the orders. They were clear, plain, and simple, and the consequences were clearly spelled out. Four days later, dust clouds rose into the skies over the Southern Badlands as an obscure cliff face collapsed into the valley below. Nine days later, the Griffons signed a peace treaty, marking the end of Equestria’s longest and bloodiest conflict- the Great Griffon War.

And thirty-two years later, Project Spark stirred from slumber.

Epilogue

Starburst shook his head as he watched Nimbus take off. The Pegasus had discovered the Changelings, something that had pretty much been inevitable, but he had a feeling that Nimbus had no idea just how widespread they really were, or just how much potential they had for domination.

A strange feeling suddenly washed over the pony; it felt as if his bones were shifting and cracking. He doubled over, glancing around him in a panic. Nopony could know; not now. He sprinted across the street to a little diner and bolted inside, causing several ponies to look up in surprise.

“Ma’am, do you have a bathroom?” he asked a waitress urgently. Confused, the mare pointed him to the back of the building, and Starburst made a beeline for it, almost tripping over a couple leaving their seats. When he finally made it inside, he slammed the door shut and locked it, panting. Then he made his way over to the mirror, exhausted.

“Over five hundred years,” he breathed, “and I still can’t keep a disguise up for more than a day…” As he watched, tendrils of green magic crept over his features until he was shrouded in light. When the light died down, a nightmarish black-coated green-eyed creature stared back at him from the mirror. He bared his sharp teeth and grimaced. Nimbus had agreed to become his wingpony; the first step was complete. With Chrysalis back, Starburst new it was only a matter of time before things started to roll into place. He could only hope he was ready for them when his queen finally made herself known to the world.