Ace Combat: Equestria

by TasteTheSun

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Adventure, Crossover, Wonderbolts, Main 6
Length: 21527

A crossover parody between My Little Pony and Ace Combat 4 and 6. Rainbow Dash and The Wonderbolts try to fight off an invading army of griffons.This story is told through the eyes of a desperate mother, a colt in occupied Canterlot, and Rainbow Dash

When Equestria is under attack by their griffon neighbors, one mare, along with a group of highly skilled fliers, will stop at nothing to reclaim their beloved country. Witness the war through the eyes of a young colt in occupied Canterlot, a desperate mother in search of her missing filly, and a cyan rainbow maned pegasus. Reader, you are clear for takeoff, for this is Ace Combat Equestria!

•••

I would like to thank and dedicate this inspiring story to PAK-FAace1234! Nice pic!

Published 2014-02-19 22:10:06 UTC
Last updated 2016-07-07 18:16:15 UTC

Introduction (Revised)

Ace Combat: Equestria

Introduction

Several years ago, the LunarX11S1E24 Asteroid crashed into the planet's atmosphere, causing it to break apart into large fragments, grazing the sky with an outstanding light show. Unfortunately, no pony knew where it was going to crash. The Griffon Kingdom, formally known as Griffonstone to the east, built a rail gun network called 'Gemstone' to defend themselves, and to destroy the oncoming asteroids, but it was all to no avail, considering that they needed unicorn magic to power the gems in the canons.

The kingdom suffered immense amount of damage, turning many of the griffons there into refugees. Several months later, a civil war broke out in the country. It wasn't until "The Kings" took over and helped the country in getting back up off the ground. The citizens accepted the new military led government, and in no time, they were able to build up in both their military, and their weapons. All of this was done right under the princess’ muzzles. All that was left to rebuild their broken kingdom was new territory, and they knew just the kind of territory they needed.

***

"So, why are we coming to Canterlot again?" Rainbow Dash asked, bored as usual.

"The princess requested a royal summit with all of us," Twilight said, turning towards the edge of her seat to face the cyan pegasus.

All of her friends were on the train to Canterlot to attend Celestia's Annual Royal Summit. It was then that the train was slowing down and coming to a halt. Everyone looked out to see that they had arrived at their destination.

All six ponies got off the train along with the rest of the passengers. The princess herself then greeted them. All six (including Princess Twilight) bowed at the sight of her.

"Greetings every pony, so nice to see you all again," Celestia said, as cheerful as ever.

“Thank you princess. Shall we head for the palace to begin the summit?" Twilight asked.

"Indeed, for we don't want to keep the ponies there waiting." Celestia said as they all left the station, heading towards the palace.

•••

All seven ponies arrived at the palace throne room. Princess Luna greeted them, along with several of the royal delicates. Every pony took a seat at the long table in the middle of the room. Once they were all settled. The Princess began to speak to start the summit.

"Thank you all for coming today. It means a lot to my sister and I. Now, let us begin with-"

KABOOM!!!

The princess was cut off when an explosion went off in the city. Everyone in the room ran towards the windows to see what had happened. They saw multiple flying objects in the sky, dropping bombs all over the city.

"What's going on? What are those?" Twilight asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

Celestia looked closely at the objects flying all over Canterlot. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped when she realized what they were.

"Griffons."

***

"Are you sure you have everything Marigold?" I asked my little gold, redheaded daughter.

"Yes mom. I can't wait to go see Canterlot!" She replied excitedly.

I gave her a warm, reassuring smile. All the little colts and fillies were boarding the train to the capital for a field trip today. Marigold was the last to board the train.

"Send my regards to The Princesses! And if you see your father, tell him I said hi!" I told her. She turned to me and nodded.

"Ok, and go fly with a pegasus mom!" She said before disappearing in the train as it began to roll off.

That was our way of saying goodbye. I remember how I would tell that to my husband in frustration. He's a pegasus fighter in the royal guard, which means we don't get to see him much, and whenever he'd have to leave on a mission someplace far away, I would tell him to go fly with his pegasi. Now Marigold says that a lot.

Once I got home, I looked out and even though my house is in Ponyville, I saw a perfect view of Canterlot, along with the bridge used to connect the city with the rest of the land; the same bridge that my daughter's train will be crossing.

It was a nice sunny day, and the music from the radio was a perfect match for it. As I was about to sit down on my deck chair, I hear a faint roar from a distance. It grew louder and louder until I noticed two flying objects crossing over my house. They were heading towards the bridge. One of the flying objects seemed to have dropped something on the bridge, and before I knew it, there was an explosion. Smoke covers the city before me. The bridge is gone. That's when I realized the unimaginable.

"no... no... NOOOOOO!!!!!!" I screamed. A shriek from above was loud enough to match my own.

•••

Every so often, I would tell my daughter the story of when the sky was filled with shooting stars a few years ago. My husband and I made countless wishes together. Afterwards, my husband told me about how an asteroid that disintegrated in the planet's atmosphere, rained down on our griffon neighbors. They built a canon to destroy them, but it was just to no avail. The fragments devastated their country in many ways. It even caused civil war amongst them. It wasn't until the new kings came to power to resolve the country's problems.

Now, they have gone so far as to invade Equestria. My husband, the pegasus fighter, has also not returned home.

***

A pony in armor galloped through the barrack halls immediately following the explosion. After entering one of the many rooms he reached for the microphone and switched on the intercom.

“Attention all units, our capital city of Canterlot is under attack!”

“There is widespread damage throughout the city from the attack.”

“All units, scramble and intercept all threats immediately!”

As soon as he finished speaking, all pegasus fighters took to the skies as the ground units stormed out of the barracks ready for combat.

***

"We're under attack, dispatch the royal guards at once!" Princess Celestia commanded.

"They already have," Luna replied, motioning to the pegasi fighters trying to protect their great city.

Just then, a member of the royal guard came bursting through the doors.

"Your highness, we're under attack!" he exclaimed.

"I can see that. We must evacuate the city at once." Celestia replied.

"We can't. The Griffons have closed up the main gates, as well as all the other entrances to the city. We're trapped!"

Suddenly, a group of griffons flew up towards the windows, aimed their anti-air rifles at the princesses, and opened fire.

The princesses, however, managed to put up a defensive shield around all the ponies in the room, including themselves. When they heard the clicking of the griffon’s rifles, and noticed that they've stopped shooting, the princesses dropped their shield so that the royal guard that was amongst them could take them out. Using his magic, he took out a pistol and shot it at all three of the griffon’s heads.

Everyone was in a state of shock at what happened. Fluttershy was one the worst of them all that she had practically fainted. Celestia snapped them out of it and told them to head outside. She then took Fluttershy up in her magic and carried her out as they all quickly left the throne room.

***

All units, both ground and air were in full battle. Majority of them were in surprise by the events that transpired.

“Commander Wind speaking, the enemy is expanding its field of attack so stay alert,” one of the pegasi said through the radios.

All of them were spiraling and curving through the skies in order to dodge the oncoming bullets from the enemy’s weapons It looked like dance routines from the ground.

Bellow, civilians hid indoors while others were trying to escape all of the chaos. Guards in battle carriages were firing back at the griffons on the ground. However, most of them were instantly destroyed from above.

Others were desperately trying to assemble anti air weapons, but were constantly interrupted by oncoming forces.

“Get those anti air guns ready for battle! Focus them on those bombers and don’t let them get any closer!” A sergeant commanded several guards assembling their weapons.

Over the radio, one of the DJs at the station quickly tapped into the airwaves to broadcast the current situation.

“Attention citizens of Canterlot, we are under attack by what appear to be griffons, but we have not been confirmed so. Please stay indoors and take cover. Our air force team is holding down the enemy.”

After shooting down one of the griffons, Commander wind quickly flew towards it and snatched its dog tags. Once he finished examining it, he turned his radio.

“Attention all forces, we are confirmed to be engaged with the griffons from The Griffon Kingdom, formally known as Griffonstone.”

“Griffonstone?” one pegasus fighter questioned.

“Yeah, they use to be in shambles for such a long time, not since those “kings” took over and renamed it The Griffon Kingdom. Now it seems that they’ve finally snapped,” another fighter responded.

Commander Wind and the rest of the pegasi continued trying to drive out the griffons. “So these guys think they can just barge into our house without calling us? I think not.”

“I say we teach them a lesson or two. Let’s kick them out for good.” one them exclaimed as he aimed his rifle at a nearby griffon. As soon as he pulled the trigger, the griffon went down with ease.

More and more griffons fell and were slowly being driven out of Canterlot.

“Enemy threat level is reduced, keep it up!” Wind announced.

Unknown to them, however, five griffons in red barding and helmets adorned with feathers were approaching at high speeds towards the city. Behind them was a massive amount of griffons.

One of the griffons in the red barding, the one in front of the pack turned to his radio. “Commence engaging targets. Finish them off! Canterlot will be ours for the taking.”

Back in Canterlot, Commander Wind noticed something approaching them. “What’s this… uh-oh, more griffons incoming! Wait, oh sweet Celestia, there’s hundreds of them!”

Suddenly, a wave of griffons flew over Canterlot. The five griffons in red were slaughtering every royal guard they saw.

“What the hell? Where are they all coming from?” a pegasus asked frantically.

“Don’t worry about how many there are. Evade like hell if you want out of this alive!” Wind replied.

Eventually they managed to overrun the barracks. Some guards were imprisoned while others met a crueler fate.

“These griffon scum, they want to take Canterlot.” Wind said to himself. One of the red-barded griffons broke off from the formation and was quickly behind him. Another followed as well while dropping bombs wherever he flew, destroying parts of the residential district.

As Commander wind continued evading the griffon hot on his tail, he watched as his fellow comrades were being slaughtered at the talons of the enemy. He knew they couldn’t hold out any longer.

“This is too much… we have to retreat!” he said through the radio.

“What about Canterlot?” someone asked.

“We’ll think of something, but we just got to get out of here.

After that, he made a quick tuning to his radio to contact someone.

“Captain, there’s too many of them, we can’t hold out much longer! We need to fall back now,” he said when all of something he felt a sharp pain in his back that made him cry in pain. After what seemed like eternity, he fell straight to the ground. The griffon circled around to confirm the kill before flying off.

***

The princesses and every pony else were outside of the palace. The city itself was a full-blown war zone. The guard then heard some pony calling him on his radio. He turned it on to see what it was.

"Captain...too many of them... can't hold out... longer, we need... fall back now. AAAHH!!!"

The captain quickly switched the radio off, not to let any pony hear what was happening next.

"The enemy is too strong. We are going to have to retreat." Everyone gasped at what Celestia had said.

"WHAT, you can't be serious," Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Her friends gave her a harsh look.

"I know it sounds bad, but I can't risk losing any more lives. We are going to fall back to North Pony and have our remaining forces regroup and counterattack. Captain, I want you to relay a message to the remaining royal guard and have them head towards North Pony." Celestia ordered. The captain responded with a salute before turning the radio back on.

“This is Captain Sparker to all remaining units, the princesses have ordered a full retreat. We’re giving up Canterlot. All pegasi break away from this airspace and head west to North Pony Island.”

“Are they out of their mind, we can’t give up!” a pegasi responded.

“We are militarily at a disadvantage. Comply with the order and head west.” Sparker replied.

“We’re not leaving. We’re fighting till there’s no one left!” another responded.

“Listen! This is only temporary. The princesses want us to retreat, then regroup for a counterattack. We can’t afford to lose any more lives soldier.”

After a brief silence, all remaining fighters agreed and quickly retreated west.

As soon as the guards were leaving, Celestia directed to the group. "All right every pony, gather around," the princess said as all the ponies did what she told them to do. The princesses’ horns began to glow. They grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, they all vanished in a bright flash.

***

I was just a colt when I saw the stars fall from the sky. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. I also remember how the griffons built a cannon to destroy them, but instead, the asteroids destroyed them, in turn, that was enough to bring war upon us. I didn't think much about it, considering I was just a mere colt.

One day, while on my way to school, I looked up and saw a lot of pegasi flying around with these weird creatures. I looked closely and found out that there was a battle going on in the blue skies above Canterlot. I couldn't tear my gaze away from them. They looked as if they were playing the game of cat and mouse. I noticed one of them broke away from the fight and was flying over several homes. He took out something from his pack and dropped it over one of the houses.

When the dropped object hit the house, the whole place disappeared in a huge explosion, which then turned into a blazing inferno.

That house was the same one that my family lived.

Now, they live in my memories. The world around me was fading away, soon becoming completely numb. I stared into the flames of the destroyed house, unable to tear my gaze away from it.

It wasn't until something flew right in front of me at such high speeds that snapped me out of my trance.

Despite how fast it was going; I was able to make out what it was. It seemed to have had a lion's body and an eagle's head. He seemed to have been wearing some barding the color of blood. His helmet was adorned with feathers of different colors, and on his flank was a black number one painted on it.

I will never forget this.

•••

A while later, I noticed that the remaining royal guards began disengaging the enemy and were all leaving Canterlot. The remaining citizens also tried to leave, but couldn't because the strange creatures had closed up all the exits out of the city. The Princesses retreated as well, leaving the palace empty of any royals. We were alone and trapped in the newly occupied city of Canterlot. Once the final royal guard left, the invaders began tearing down our flags and rose their own.

The allies retreated across the west of Equestria; Canterlot had fallen under the control of these creatures. I wondered if this was happening all over Equestria?

•••

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Author's Note

Dear Reader,

Some of you might wonder why I'm using ••• and ***. so to clear up any confusion, i will tell you the difference. ••• means there is a time difference. *** means a change in character telling their story. Hope this will clear up confusion. Thanks.

~From your number 1 and 03 pony
Pony 03

Mission 1: Defending North Pony

Mission 1: Defending North Pony

A flash of light appeared in a dark room, which then was replaced by The Princesses, and the mane six. They were trying to recover from the motion sickness. Luna lit up her horn to provide light and to find a light switch. After fumbling through the darkness, she managed to find one. The room was filled with light, which allowed it to reveal what kind of room it was. It was a war room.

The circular walls were covered with digital maps of Equestria and its cities. There were computers, and recorders everywhere, and in the center was a long table with a map on it. Most of the mane six was in awe at the sight. Rainbow Dash, however, didn't find it so intriguing. In no time the room was flooded with ponies in either business suits or in barding. A member of the Royal Guard approached Celestia to give her a sitrep of the current situation.

"Your highness, The Royal Guard got your message and are falling back towards North Pony, although we have had a few problems with the enemy. Some of The Guards are still trapped within most of the fallen cities."

The princess sighed at the news. "How many cities have fallen under the control of these griffons?" she asked.

"Well, since they performed a surprise attack on Canterlot, that paved the road for them to invade the nearby towns such as Cloudsdale and Ponyville. As well as all the other cities in Equestria."

All six ponies gasped at the current news about their hometown being occupied by griffons. The Princess, however, soaked in the information and began to address the guard.

"Well then, we must hurry and regroup our remaining forces and begin planning for a counterattack. For we are all Equestria has left."

"Uhm about that, several griffon air bombers have penetrated our airspace and will be here in roughly 30 minutes." He said nervously.

Both princesses face hoofed at that. "Great, why don't they just drop a mega spell and get it over with," Luna said annoyed.

"I know it seems bad Luna, but this is no time for negativity. Ok now, most of the Royal Guard are either too wounded or too exhausted to fight them off-" Celestia was cut off by the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Hey princess, let me fight them off, I'm sure once they see me, they'll be running back home to their mamas!"

"Rainbow Dash, you can't be serious,” exclaimed Rarity

"Yea, do you really want to go and fight those nasty griffons?" Pinkie Pie added.

"Oh, you know it, well Princess, what do you think?" Rainbow dash asked as she flew up towards The Princess, only to be held back by Applejack who was holding her down by her tail.

"That is very nice of you Rainbow Dash by volunteering yourself to do such a dangerous task, but, for your friend's sake, we think it's best that you stay here and help with our troops here on the ground," Luna said trying to reassure her.

Rainbow Dash fell to the ground, as well as her jaw. Normally she would start arguing about it, but she couldn't argue with a princess, not even Twilight (most of the time).

"I know you're upset about this, but trust us when we saw that we are doing it for your own good," Luna pressed on. Rainbow Dash kept her head down.

"I hate to bother, but we have a situation that needs to be taken care of, so we will discuss this later, ok," Celestia said. Rainbow nodded. The Princess smiled before turning her attention towards the guard.

"Ok, so like I was saying, we need some pony to go and take care of those bombers, and I think I know some ponies who can do just that. Private, call in The Wonderbolts!" The Princess commanded.

"Yes ma'am, I'll send them in!" The guard said as he quickly trotted out the door. Rainbow Dash got up out of her depressive slump when she heard who had been called for.

"Wait, your bringing in The Wonderbolts?" the princess nodded.

"Yes! They're the best fliers ever, next to me, of course." Everyone rolled their eyes at that.

When the guard came back, three pegasi in uniform followed right behind him. The three bowed before The Princesses in respect, and then one of them stepped up to introduce themselves.

"Captain Spitfire, the leader of The Wonderbolts, reporting for duty," she said. Rainbow stood there, frozen with glee. Celestia turned her attention back to Spitfire.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, but I hope you don't mind if ask, but how come there's just the three of you?"

"The griffon attacks took us by surprise. If it hadn't been for your order to fall back here, who knows what would have happened to us. Sadly, only Soarin, my niece Rapid Fire, and I made it out of Cloudsdale. As for the rest of the Wonderbolts, chances are they're either dead or being held, prisoner." Spitfire said with a depressed look on her face. The other two Wonderbolts, as well as the other surrounding ponies, lowered their heads out of respect, sadness, or even fear.

"I hate to hear that," said Luna

"Don't worry, well get those griffons back for what they've done. They're gunna pay!" Soarin exclaimed with such force in his tone.

"In that case, you can start by taking out the oncoming bombers heading this way," she replied. "Go to the armory and have the ponies there fit you for barding."

All three replied with a salute before heading off in the opposite direction. The Princesses turned their attention back to the other six ponies.

"Ok now, as for the rest of you, Twilight, since you too are a princess, you will be our second in command. You will also help the Wonderbolts when they are out fighting. Keep them informed on the current objectives, as well as anything else that might pop up for them to take out," Luna commanded.

"It would be my honor, your highness," Twilight said with a bow.

"Now, Applejack, Rarity, we need you to go help in the armory."

"No problem Princess, you can count on us," Applejack said, with a bit of pride in her tone. Rarity, on the other hand, grimaced a little.

"I would help when it comes to the fate of Equestria, but I really don't feel comfortable working in an armory for roughians."

"Now Rarity, I know how ya feel when it comes ta stuff like this, but like ya said, the fate of Equestria is at stake, an ya have ta do whatever it takes ta protect it. Now, if we go, maybe you can redesign the guard's barding,"

"We'll alright, but I better not get filthy while I'm helping,"

Applejack rolled her eyes at that before they both headed off towards the armory.

"Ok, now that that's over with," Whispered Celestia to make sure the two ponies was no longer in earshot. When she was sure they weren't, she continued on. Just then Fluttershy was now recovering from her ordeal back in Canterlot.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright!?" Twilight frantically.

"I think so. I just had a horrible nightmare that I saw some griffons attacking Canterlot, and I saw some of them get shot! Oh, thank goodness it was just a nightmare!" Fluttershy said rubbing her eyes, as well as her head. But once she took in her surroundings, she began to worry if her nightmare was a reality.

"Um... where are we?" She asked nervously.

Twilight was about to tell her friend the truth until Celestia placed her hoof on her shoulder.

"There's no time to explain. Fluttershy, you're good in medicine, why don't you go help the medics in healing the wounded?"

"Well, I suppose, ok," whispered Fluttershy before flying off towards the field hospital, still confused on what was happening.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down in front of the princesses. "Ooh ooh, what about me, huh, what can I do?" she asked with so much energy. Celestia smiled and placed a hoof over the pink mare's head in an attempt to get her to stop bouncing, which did work.

"Pinkie Pie, you can be Twilight's assistant. Help her in whatever ways she may need help with."

Twilight panicked at that. Pinkie pie replied with a salute and a "Yes sir, ma'am, sir." Celestia lowered her head towards Twilight's and whispered in her ear.

"Trust me, you'll thank us later."

To Twilight, that didn't ease her worries at all. All that was left was Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, you can um... Go help in the barracks with the Royal Guard. Help them with anything they might need."

Rainbow Dash only sat there with her head down in disappointment. She wanted to go and fight, but couldn't. It was tearing her apart inside. The Princesses were too busy with the situation that they didn't notice her. They motion for Twilight and Pinkie Pie to follow them. Then Rainbow Dash got an idea on how she could satisfy her will to fight. She got up and using her wings, stealthily followed The Princesses and her friends.

***

Griffons. There were hundreds of them. They have taken over Ponyville, as well as the rest of Equestria. From what I hear, they have taken over our capital city of Canterlot. The ponies here have tried to escape this place, but the Griffons have surrounded Ponyville and are not letting any pony in or out. Life here has been terrible. The constant searches of our homes, the early curfew, and the way we were being treated are only a few of the many things these monstrosities have done to us.

Fortunately, they have failed to discover my husband's radio that allows me to contact other in times of extreme emergency. My neighbor also has a radio well hidden in her house, and we would secretly contact each other on anything. Lately, she told me that the griffons were bringing large transports of materials from their country to ours. She claims that they are building something just north of here and that they're using ponies (mostly unicorns) for cheap labor.

These are some troubling times we are in, but what's worse for me is the loss of my daughter, and quite possibly my husband as well. I am losing the will to move on. I feel the empty void in my heart consuming me. Then something changes within me. As I'm waiting inside Sugarcube Corner, one of the griffons there turns on the radio to listen to the broadcasts from Canterlot. The Griffons have taken over all the airwaves.

A male griffon's voice came out of the radio and was promoting the griffon victory of taking over Canterlot.

".... And although some parts of the city are in shambles, the palace did escape unscathed."

At least the palace survived the horrible ordeal from earlier. No doubt in mind it has already been looted of its priceless treasures that once were displayed there. He also announced that The Griffon Kings have arrived at the capital.

"As The Griffon Kingdom, it is our sworn duty to govern this crumbling nation and get it back to its feet, starting right here in Canterlot. The Kings themselves said this. In other news, I found a group of foals here in front of The Grand Central Station. The area here has been reduced to nothing more than a pathetic slum. Step right on up here little filly. What do you have to say about this?"

"Go fly with the pegasi, jerk,"

"OW! Hey, you little-."

The radio was immediately switched off. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. It was my daughter, Marigold. She was still alive somewhere in Canterlot. I had to get to her, to reunite her with her mother. I have to get out here, somehow.

***

Mission Briefing:

Spitfire and her squadron were getting into their seats, although it was difficult since their barding was bothering them. They were waiting for the presentation to begin. The Princesses, as well as Twilight and Pinkie Pie, were seated next to them. The lights in the small room went off. A projector was turned on in the back. It projected an image of a map of Equestria on a white screen. A unicorn stallion in a general's uniform trotted up next to the screen.

"Here's the current sitrep in your orders for deployment, effective immediately."

"As you already know, several griffon air bombers destroyed our early warning radar network, allowing several of them to penetrate our airspace."

"In fifteen minutes, we expect this bomber formation to strike Blossomforth Airbase and then move on to targets here at North Pony to stamp us out and put an end to this thing. Obviously, our Royal Pegasi fighters are really weak at this point in time."

"It is mission critical that you kill the bombers and neutralize any hostile threats before they get past New Filly Island."

“An enemy takeover of North Pony would mean an ultimate destruction of Equestria and its citizens.

"Remember, you are the first and probably the last line of defense for North Pony, and the fate of Equestria lies in your hooves."

The map on the screen changed to a different, much smaller scale map of an island. In the center were six red triangles and four white ones.

"This is your deployment map. It shows all the primary and secondary targets in the combat zone. Of course, things can change quickly, but it should just give you an idea of what you're up against."

The projector went off, and the lights came back to life. Soarin was the first to speak.

"Well gee, no pressure, eh?" He commentated nervously.

Everyone inside was ready to leave. On the other side of the door, Rainbow Dash moved her eye away from the keyhole and quickly fled through the halls, in hopes of no pony seeing her.

•••

Mission Start

The trio was on the runway, ready to take off. Several crewmembers were making sure they were in perfect condition. Finally, a stallion's voice came on from their radios.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, you are clear for take off."

With that, they took to the skies to fight off the attacking invaders.

“Takeoff complete, good luck up there.”

In the distance, Rainbow Dash took off after them but kept a safe distance so that she wouldn't be spotted.

***

Back at North Pony, Twilight was placing her headset on her head with her magic. Once it was properly in place, she turned her attention back to the computer. On one side of the screen was a map of the surrounding area. In the center were three blue dots. They represented Wonderbolt Squadron.

Twilight was about to switch on her headset to contact the squadron when she noticed Pinkie Pie in the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that the pink mare was wearing a general's uniform, with a cap and everything.

"Pinkie, where did you get that uniform?" she asked.

"From the closet over there. Boy, it was practically overflowing with them. Oh, I got you a cap too!" Pinkie Pie got out a cap and placed it on Twilight's head.

"Ok then, why are you wearing that uniform?" Twilight asked again.

"Well, since you're supposed to be second in command, and I'm supposed to be second second in command, we might as well look the part right. At least that's what Rarity says, and besides, they look cool!" She responded excitedly.

"I think Rarity's fashion statements are starting to rub off on you, but anyway, aren't you afraid of what General Ironhoof might say?" Twilight nervously asked. Just then she noticed the general himself trotting by. When he was passing by Twilight and Pinkie Pie, he stopped, took one good look at Pinkie Pie from head to hoof.

"Hmm, looking good captain," he said while saluting Pinkie Pie. She saluted back as General Iroonhoof trotted off.

Twilight's jaw dropped to the ground. Pinkie Pie, however, was bouncing up and down with glee. "Ooohh, did you hear that? He called me captain, I'm a captain now!"

Twilight closed her jaw with her hoof and turned back to the computer. "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that." She said. She looked up at the general's cap she had been given, adjusted it with her magic, and smiled.

***

The three pegasi were already south of New Filly Island. They were creeping up on the bombers from behind.

A voice came to life from their radios. "Airborne Warning and Control System now active, this is Twilight Sparkle here, do you read?"

"Loud and clear!" Soarin replied.

"Ok good, your call signs are as follows: Spitfire One, Soarin Two, and Rapid Two. You are all under my command. Six bombers on vector 360 have passed through the mountains and are on course for New Filly Island, continue north to intercept, over."

"Roger that Twilight," Spitfire replied.

They were closing the gap between them and the griffons.

"Rapid Two, engage," she said.

"Soarin Two, engage," he said excitedly.

“This territory is all we have team. We’re in your hooves. Intercept those bombers.”

"Attention Wonderbolt Squadron, maintain formation until the bullets start flying," Spitfire commanded.

They quickly took out their AA assault rifles and were taking aim. The griffon bombers were in a two-column formation. Soarin was the first to fire at one of the back two bombers. Rapid Fire was the second to kill the other griffon. The escorts took notice and quickly went to deal with their attackers.

"We're under attack!" One griffon said over the radio.

"Don't worry, let the escorts deal with them." Another one said. "Only five miles away from the target."

"Some pony handle those bombers," Spitfire requested.

"I'll take care of those bombers, you and Rapid Two can handle those escort fighters," Soarin said as he charged up towards the remaining four bombers.

"Rapid Two, you're with me, give Soarin Two cover," Spitfire commanded.

"Copy that," replied Rapid Fire.

“Soldiers of Equestria, resistance is futile. Throw down your weapons and surrender,” a voice broadcasted through the radio.

“What bullshit is this?” Soarin asked.

“Equestrian continental forces have surrendered to the might of our armies and have admitted defeat,” it continued.

“This must be the enemy’s propaganda broadcast,” Rapid Fire replied.

"Target is approaching the city, get over there immediately," notified Twilight.

"Oh no, they don't," Soarin quickly fired at another bomber.

"Maintain formation," one of them said.

"Soarin Two, bandit at six o' clock!" Alerted Spitfire. Soarin turned around and saw a griffon flying right at him. He rammed into him and they both quickly went into a hoof fight.

The other two Wonderbolts tried to help their friend, but couldn't since the other three escort fighters were pursuing them. Spitfire managed to get a perfect shot at a griffon and was able to take it out, but she was still trying to dodge the stream of bullets.

“Our merciful government has taken it upon themselves to restore order to your former capital Canterlot, and yet you still waste away your final days playing war,” the broadcast continued.

“Damn, nothing but lies,” Soarin said.

"And.... NOW!! Bombs away!" one griffon announced. The bombers quickly released their cargo over the targets.

"This is Blossomforth Airbase, we're under attack! The runway and facilities are hit!"

"We kind of have our hooves full at the moment," Spitfire managed to reply.

***

Rainbow Dash saw the battle going on above from the airbase, but she noticed that the Wonderbolts were in trouble. She anxiously searched for a weapon. She finally found an AA assault rifle off the side of a distracted soldier. She quickly grabbed it and took to the skies.

"HEY!!!" The soldier screamed.

"I'll bring it back later, I have to help my fellow ponies." She responded.

She flew up high until she was at the same altitude as the other fighters.

She quickly took aim at the pursuing griffons. It was a bit difficult considering they were a good distance away and they were moving around a lot, but she managed to align her sights with the griffon's head and pulled the trigger. The griffon fell towards the ground dead. Rainbow Dash quickly did the same to the other griffon. It too fell to the ground dead.

"Ha, how do ya like that ya stupid birdies! Don’t be thinking you can come here and mess with us.” Rainbow boasted.

“Ok, three down, one to go," she said as she quickly headed to go aid Soarin.

“That was the fifth bomber out of the six. At this rate, we’ll get them all.” Rapid said.

“Yeah but who’s shooting?” Spitfire asked.

“How many bombers are left?” a griffon asked his buddy.

“Only one left. Just stay in formation,” he replied.

She got to a safe distance away from the two. They were rolling over each other like foals. It was bad because she didn't want to kill the wrong pony. It wasn't until Soarin bucked the griffon in the jaw, which sent him flying a few feet away from the stallion. It was Rainbow's big break. She rapidly took aim and fired.

"Alright now for the bombers."

She flew after said bombers and was able to get up behind them stealthily. She placed the gun inches way from the griffon’s head and pulled the trigger. She flew out of the sight of the other two griffons and flew behind them. She whistled to get their attention. They both turned toward the rainbows mare.

"S'up guys," she said as she opened fired on the two.

***

"Twilight, Wonderbolt Squadron, this is Blossomforth, got a visual of the downed bombers. Who's kill was that, make sure to thank them."

"I'm not sure, but I'm gunna find out," replied Spitfire

“All enemy bombers have been eliminated. Somehow we got every last one of them,” Rapid Fire added.

“Wonderbolt Squadron, enemy bomber formation is confirmed down. I have to say you guys handled things quite well.”

"That's a wrap-up, let's go on home, although all this praise is kinda making my face red," Soarin said excitedly.

"Right after we find out who just saved our skins, and if you want Soarin, I can tell them you were gunned down and MIA," Rapid Fire replied.

“Ha ha, real funny, harsh, but funny. Come on, let’s hurry so we can make it for supper. I’m starving.”

***

Rainbow Dash landed on the runway of the airbase. A group of ponies surrounded her, thanking her for her valiant efforts. The soldier who Rainbow Dash took his weapon from made his way through the crowd and stood in front of said mare. Rainbow Dash gave a light chuckle and gave the soldier's gun back. He gave her a mean glare before taking up his gun and trotted off.

Immediately after, the ponies made way for several ponies to approach the rainbow mare. Rainbow Dash cringed nervously at who was approaching her.

"In case you're wondering, we're not mad in fact, when we heard who helped us up there, we were really glad it was you, so really, we want to thank you yet again," Spitfire said.

Rainbow Dash replaced her cringing with a confused and yet a surprised look on her face. "Wait, what, really?"

"Yup, we really owe you our lives for what you did, now come on, let's get back to base," Spitfire said as all four pegasi took to the skies, on their way back to H.Q. If Rainbow Dash wasn't really worried before, then she really was now, considering what her friends might say when she arrives.

•••

All five of Rainbow Dash's friends were waiting for her outside of the runway. The princess trotted up next to the group. When Celestia noticed what Pinkie Pie and Twilight were wearing, she simply gave them a warm smile. Twilight secretly face hoofed herself at that. Just then they saw four figures coming in through several clouds. The four pegasi were coming in for a landing. They came to a stop right in front of the group.

Rainbow Dash cringed once again as all her friends gave her angry stares. After clearing the knot that formed in her throat, she managed to speak.

"Ok, before you say anything, I just want to say-"

"HOW COULD YOU GO OUT THERE AND FIGHT ALL THOSE NASTY GRIFFONS! I MEAN COME ON, DOESN'T NO MEAN ANYTHING TO YA, AND-" Pinkie Pie blurted out until Twilight used her magic to close her mouth shut.

"How could ya go back on yer word and go fightin' when
the princesses told ya no," Applejack said with a bit of a harsh tone. Rainbow Dash only kept her head down. She couldn't look at her friends, especially the princesses strait in the eye.

"Rainbow Dash, you deliberately disobeyed what was asked of you and put your friends through such worry. What do you have to say for yourself," Celestia said with a firm voice. Rainbow Dash continued starring at the ground. She felt a teardrop forming in one eye.

"Permission to speak freely," Soarin interfered.

"NO!!!" all five ponies said in perfect unison.

"Permission granted," Spitfire interjected.

Soarin puffed out his chest in an attempt to show no fear. "Listen, if it wasn't for her, then we would have surely been killed and those bombers could have probably leveled this entire island if given the chance. Why, we owe her our lives for what she did. It's not the first time she saved our skins, why if I had the authority, I'd make her an honorary Wonderbolt."

"Which is exactly what I'm doing."

"Huh?" everyone said in unison with confused expressions of what Spitfire had just said.

Spitfire pressed on at what she was getting at. "Soarin's right. If Rainbow Dash hadn't come in and saved us, who knows what would have happened back up there. And plus, it was an act of duty, and isn't that what friends are for? Helping other ponies and need? That's something you all should already know."

The five mares winced at Spitfire's words. "They are right, friends need to help their friends in need. Rainbow Dash, you've shown just that in saving all of us. We hope you can forgive us for any misunderstanding." Celestia replied with her tone now more apologetic. Rainbow Dash finally came out of her slump and stared straight at her friends who now looked ashamed.

"Hey, it's cool, and sorry for you know, kinda making you all worried sick," Rainbow Dash replied.

"Just promise us one thing Rainbow....," said Twilight. "...please be careful out there,"

"Yea, an try not ta get yourself killed. Who knows what we do without ya," Applejack joked.

"Come on newbie, let's get you fitted for your uniform," Spitfire commanded.

"ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly as she flew off toward the barracks.

•••

Mission Debriefing

“Thanks to your effort, the enemy bomber strike was averted, however, our victory will be meaningless should you fail the next mission.”

•••

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Mission 3: The Crystal Eye

Mission 3: The Crystal Eye

The war seemed to unfold in the blink of an eye, although it seemed oblivious to me, mostly because I was busy scanning the skies every day, waiting for Red Blood One to reappear, but from that moment, everything changed. The things they were teaching us at school to the way we were being treated.

I moved in with my uncle in town, who use to be a carriage puller, but ever since the griffons confiscated his carriage, they claimed that they needed it for the war efforts, all he could do was sit around the house eating donuts all day.

I earned my keep by playing the harmonica at Donut Joe's shop, the one thing I was good at. I'd play for several griffons in exchange for charity in loose change. I'd use the money to support my uncle and myself.

My uncle would always trash talk Donut Joe for catering to the griffons, but would never refuse the money I brought home, typical.

As for myself, one night, a group of foals came into the shop. Among them was a beautiful, golden, red headed filly. She seemed to be around my age. I had a big crush on her.

Another day passed, yet still no sign of the fighter, Red Blood One, in the skies above Canterlot.

***

As time went on, I soon found out what the griffons were building. They were constructing their canons north of Ponyville. That would probably explain why they were using mostly unicorns for their dirty work. Now the question is, why are they building it here. No pony knew, but I wasn't going to waste another second fumbling around doing nothing. It has been a difficult time trying to find a way into Canterlot. My daughter is still alone there and I'm going to reunite her with her mother.

***

Mission Briefing:

"Alright, before I brief you on the mission, I need to inform you on one thing. According to what our scouts have reported, the griffons are building their canons, right around here," he said, pointing at the open space in between Ponyville and Canterlot.

"Why are they building their canons there, last I checked, they wouldn't work without... Uh no," said Celestia. Her mood turned from confusion to worry.

The General continued on. "Ever since the kings came to power, they requested the canons to be studied, to see what other uses it might have besides shooting down asteroids. What they found isn't good. Apparently, they found out that the guns could be used as an anti air weapon, capable of wiping out an entire army of pegasi fighters."

"Then we have to go and destroy that thing!" Rainbow Dash said flying out of her seat. Twilight wrapped her friend in a tight magical grip and set her back down into her seat.

"I'm afraid we can't do it at the moment. Enemy resistance is too strong in that area. For now, we need to push our way back towards the mainland. Also, with this weapon, they have complete air superiority in the skies above the mainland."

"How far are the canons affective range?" Spitfire asked.

Ironhoof took a moment analyzing a some data inside a folder before giving Spitfire her answer. "Almost all of Equestria. Although, it seems that it doesn't reach the west cost, and the Crystal Mountains. Which is perfect when why try to reclaim the mainland."

"Ok, now that I got that out of the way, it's time for the mission briefing," he said before clearing his throat.

"Our forces are retreating, and it seems that our survivors are gathering in the Crystal Empire."

"What's strange is that according to the guards there, they haven't seen a lot of signs of any griffons attacking."

"It seems that the griffons are unaware of the Empire's existence," Celestia added.

"Now, the radar facilities atop the Crystal Mountains provide tactical support to the enemy, which puts our evac mission in jeopardy."

"If our troops can successfully evacuate and regroup at North Pony, they will become a formidable force in future battles."

"Wonderbolt Squadron, your mission is to go out and destroy the radar facilities atop the Crystal Mountains, thereby blinding the enemy and hiding our troop movements."

The screen then showed the deployment map. It showed a small scale mountain range with several red dots on them that indicated the radar around the ridge.

"I don't think they've activated the radar yet, which means that I'm going to need some pony to contact Princess Cadance and Shining Armor of the current situation."

"I'll take care of that," Luna said as she bolted out the door.

"You can count on us general," Soarin replied with a salute.

"I'm now going to pass it it over to Princess Twilight Sparkle. For she has something to show you all," Ironhoof said as the lights came back on.

Twilight stepped up in front of the group of ponies with an over stuffed saddle bag on her back.

"Thank you general, now, I have been working with Applejack and Rarity, along with the rest of the Royal Guard, and we've developed a special weapon for this specific type of mission."

She took the saddlebag off and placed it on the floor. She then pulled out an oval, egg shaped object. "This here is what we call a bomb. With it, you can take out multiple ground targets in a single sweep!"

"Whoa, awesome!" Rainbow Dash said. She went and grabbed a bomb from the bag.

"CAREFUL!!! I have enough of these to take out this entire H.Q." Twilight said nervously. Rainbow Dash took the hint and placed the bomb back in the bag.

"Listen, this is a tool, not a toy. So when you start using them on the battlefield, don't get carried away,"

"Yea yea," Rainbow Dash Replied with an annoyed look on her face.

•••

Mission Start

All pegasi were flying through the mountain range of the Crystal Mountains.

"This combat area is within the enemy air space. Keep an eye out for bandits. Use vector 180 to return home after destroying the target."

"Such an amazing scenery, don't you think?" Rapid Fire said in complete awe.

"I'm freezing my ass off out here," Soarin complained.

"Quit your bellyaching and get a move on," Spitfire ordered. Soarin simply snickered at that.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, The Crystal Empire has just put up a cloaking shield to keep it hidden from enemy radar. They couldn't have asked for better timing. The Griffons have just activated it."

"Well then, lets go shut them down!" exclaimed Rainbow.

"This is Stalker Radar, we've got several bandits at vector 135!"

"Clear to engage, Rainbow One, engage,"

"Roger that Twilight," Rainbow replied.

In the distance, she could see two griffons flying right at them. She aimed down the sight on her sniper rifle and through the scope she could perfectly see the two griffons. Aligning her shot, she pulled down on the trigger and shot the first griffon. Quickly she did the same to the other.

"Shot two down," Rainbow praised.

"Don't get too excited newby, you still haven't experienced true fighting," Spitfire said, putting a damper on Rainbow Dash's praising. She rolled her eyes and kept on flying in the same direction. They were coming up one of the two radar locations. There were also several griffons patrolling the area. Spitfire ordered her squadron to halt and take over behind a nearby cloud.

"Ok, here's the situation. There are several bandits over there guarding the radar. Soarin Two and Rapid Two, you will distract them and take em' out while Rainbow One and I destroy the radar facilities," Spitfire commanded.

"Ma'am yes ma'am," Soarin responded. Both Wonderbolts gave a final salute before taking off. A few seconds later, gunshots were heard from the other side of the cloud, which was Rainbow and Spitfire's cue to move. They jumped up from behind the cloud and saw Soarin and Rapid flying in a crazy waltz while killing several griffons who dared to come close to them. It was the perfect distraction.

"Engage hostile enemy fighters and keep them from the radar." One griffon commanded over the radio.

"I got you know and... Got him!" Soarin exclaimed.

"This is Black 11, I'm wounded!" The wounded griffon said.

"One of ours went down!" Another said.

"Alright Rainbow One, hang on tight to those bombs, cuz we're gunna blow up the radar shortly!" Spitfire reminded "And remember, your greatest enemy is the ground, so don't get shot down."

"Yea yea," Rainbow Dash replied.

"The radar will be lined up along the ridge, so don't miss"

Rainbow Dash quickly took out another griffon before she placed her rifle to the side and took out a bomb from her pack. Once she was above one of the dome shaped radar stations, she armed the bomb and dropped it over the station.

"Bombs away!" She exclaimed. A moment later, a huge ball of fire emanated from where the station used to be. Both pegasi repeated the process by blowing up the rest of the radar stations until there was nothing left to blow to bits.

"Radar, do you read me? Aw shit! The radar's gone silent," a griffon said over the radio.

"Ha ha, in your face, now come on lets go relieve our friends," Spitfire said this as she pulled out her SMG. Rainbow did the same by pulling out her sniper rifle. The looked around and saw Soarin holding a griffon at point blank range. Both pegasus raced to Soarin's aid.

"Alright birdy, time to die!" he exclaimed, putting emphasis on die.

"Soarin, what in the world are you doing?" asked Spitfire.

"Well, while you and Rainbow One were having fun blowing stuff up here and there, Rapid Two and I were busy taking out all the guards here. And let me tell ya this, We were surrounded by ten of these things. Rapid only cowered behind me while I stood up against those griffons and took them all out with a single clip! Caught this one here trying to alert his buddies over at the other radar facilities."

Spitfire raised an eyebrow in suspicion and turned towards the red, black maned pegasus fighter who told her the real story.

"Soarin ran out of ammo and I had to cover him while he was trying to find an extra clip. Then when he did he dropped it. I had to give him one of mine. But he did catch this one,"

"Uhm... do I get a say in this?" the griffon asked. Spitfire ignored him and continued her attention towards her fellow Wonderbolt.

"Soarin that story is so low even for Rainbow Dash."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Sorry, this story is probably worse than the one about how you single hoofedly saved an entire village from being destroyed by that dragon that one time."

Soarin only rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever, at least it's still good enough to be believable. So what do we do with him," he said, motioning his gun to the captured griffon.

"Keep a close eye on him, he could be good for some questioning," Spitfire replied. The griffon gave a harsh glare as he kept his talons on his head and followed the four pegasi.

When they arrived at the second and final radar facility, they repeated the process. Soarin and Rapid Fire were busy distracting the griffons on guard while Rainbow and Spitfire were bombing the stations, although there was a twist. This facility had a few AA gun emplacements which made it a bit difficult.

"Ok, here's the plan. I'll take care of those guns while you finish up with those radar stations," advised Spitfire.

Rainbow nodded and the two split up. Spitfire was dropping bombs on the AA guns while trying to avoid the stream of bullets at the same time. This allowed Rainbow Dash to go in and destroy the remaining radar. They continued this until the last radar station went up in flames. The two pegasi took a moment to catch their breaths.

"The radar's been destroyed," the defeated griffon announced to the remaining griffon fighters who by now have already retreated.

"Target destroyed," Spitfire announced. Cheering came out from the other end.

"Aw yea, did you see that! I mean the place was all like BOOM and I was like YEA, EAT IT! THAT. WAS. AWSOME!!!!

The two pegasi slapped each other's wing in achievement. "Calm down newby, we still need to head back to base to complete the mission. Lets get the others and get this over with," Spitfire said, trying to calm down the overexcited rainbow mare.

"Wonderbolt Squadron here. Mission accomplished!" Rapid Fire reported excitedly.

"Hey everyone, Twilight here. Radar facilities confirmed destroyed. All pegasi fighters take vector 180 south. Use the return line on your map to exit combat area and return to base."

Rainbow Dash checked her radar map on her wrist to check and went in the direction as told.

"Fly in the right direction and you'll should see a white dotted line across your flight path. And just a heads up, those of you who need to resupply or heal up during missions need to cross this line to exit the combat area and return to base."

The four pegasi and griffon POW were flying at high speeds to hurry and get this over.

"Approaching Return Line, follow the controller's orders for landing."

Once they crossed the line, they saw the nearby friendly airbase.

"Wonderbolt squadron, perform the landing check, you are clear to land," the controller said. The five slowed down and extended their legs.

"You're on the money!" They were coming in closer and closer. They immediately cut their speeds in half. Once they were a few feet off the ground, they slowed the rate of their wings to steady beats, their hooves touched the runway. They went from galloping to trotting to a complete stop.

"Nicely done Wonderbolt Squadron, go and prepaid for your next sortie."

Several crew members went to the their aid., healing up any injuries, replacing any damaged barding and handing them ammunition. Several royal guard members came to take the griffon POW.

"Thanks Wonderbolt Squadron. What would we do without you," one of the guards said.

"No problem, and make sure you give our friend here the extra special deluxe package," Soarin said with an evil grin on how face. The griffon snickered in return.

Once they were all as good as new, Pinkie Pie approached the group. The nearby crew members stood at attention and gave a salute. Pinkie puffed out her chest and gave her best official superior look and saluted back. Once they all left and were out of earshot, Pinkie burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha, it never gets old," she said in between laughs.

"Hey Pinkie, I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get that uniform?" Rainbow dash asked confusedly.

"I got it from a closet, and boy was it overflowing with these things back at North Pony. I also gave a hat just like this one to Twilight," she replied giddy as usual.

"And you didn't get in trouble by any pony,"

"Nope, and ever since I've been wearing it, everypony's been calling me Captain Pie! Can you believe it!"

"Pinkie, you that's wrong right?"

"General Ironhoof didn't think so. When he saw me, he said I was looking good and called me captain. Oh by the way, he sent in this recorded message for you guys," she said as she pulled out a tape recorder and played it.

Hello Wonderbolt Squadron, if you are listening to this,' then that means that my trusted captain has successfully delivered this to you."

Rainbow rolled her eyes at that.

"Now allow me to inform you that with their radar out of commission, the enemy's command and control is degraded. The evac and regrouping efforts are proceeding as scheduled. Also the leaders of The Crystal Empire wish to see you."

"Well, looks like we're still not done here," Rapid Fire stated.

"Come on, lets go see what they might need, and thanks for the message, Captain Pinkie Pie" Rainbow said with emphasis before all four of them took to the skies. Pinkie Pie quickly took out a large megaphone.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!!"

"Do you think she heard me?" she asked to the nearby crew members.

"I think all of Equestria heard you," he exaggerated while wiping off the blood that was trickling down his ears.

•••

Rainbow Dash checked her radar map to find the empire. At first she saw nothing until something popped up.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, they've just lowered the cloaking shield, it should appear on your radar."

"Copy that Twilight," responded Spitfire. They continued at the same velocity until they saw the empire come up over the horizon. They continued on until they were over the city. Down below, they saw thousands of Royal Guards boarding a long massive crystal train.

"Wow, Ironhoof wasn't kidding about how they'll become a formidable force," Soarin said, surprised at the amount of troops that were going to combine with the ones already at North Pony. They flew until they landed on the balcony of the castle. The first one to greet them was Princess Cadence. They four quickly fell into attention and gave a salute in respect.

"Adise, it's great to meet you all, and I can't tell you how much I thank you for saving us in our time of need,"

"Just doing what we can to protect our friends," Rainbow Dash replied.

"Why Rainbow Dash, I did not know you were accepted into the Wonderbolts. I mean I know how much they mean to you from Twiligts letters. She says that you just go crazy about them considering your their biggest fan and-" she stopped when she noticed Rainbow Dash's face turned red from embarrassment and her, motioning Cadance to please, for Celestia's sake, stop talking with her hoof over her mouth.

"Oops, sorry, I spoke too much," Cadance said apologetically. The other Wonderbolts were trying really hard not to burst out laughing. Just then, Shining Armor came in to join the group, right by Candence's side.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, how's it going. Hey I didn't know you finally got accepted into the Wonderbolts. I mean from a the stuff Twilight talks about in her letters, I mean-" he was immediately cut off by Cadence who placed her hoof in his mouth to shut him up. All three Wonderbts couldn't hold their laughter any longer and were bursting out laughing. They fell to the floor laughing so hard they started crying.

Rainbow Dash however, fell back on her haunches and dug her face in her hooves. Her face burned red with embarrassment. She thought to herself about how she was going to confront Twilight for this.

It seemed like an eternity passed before the three laughing pegasi regain control and got back to their hooves. Rainbow Dash still sat there in embarrassment at the recent events.

"Eh, it's alright Rainbow One, I was just like you before I joined the Wonderbolts," Soarin said trying to comfort her.

"Yea, before you begged the last captain over and over again to let you join," Spitfire added.

"That did not happen,"

"Whatever,"

That did cheer Rainbow Dash up a bit. She finally got to her hooves and her face returned to its normal cyan self.

Once all the drama had passed, Shining Armor told them what he wanted to say.

"Anyway, thanks for saving us from being taken over by The Griffons. Now we can proceed with the evacuation and regrouping efforts. Tell The Princesses and The General that I'm sending a few of our castle guards to help with the war efforts. It's best for ponies here to not know much about the war, although they are getting suspicious. Not counting the thousands of royal guards at the train station."

"No problem Shining, we better be heading back to H.Q.," Spitfire responded before the four flew off the balcony.

"And Rainbow Dash, tell Twily I sad hi," called Shining.

"Will do!" Rainbow called back as she rejoined her squadron as they flew off back towards North Pony.

•••

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Mission 4: Blockage

Mission 4: Blockage

One night, a high spirited group of griffons made their way into the donut shop and chased out the sullen griffon warrior grunts, and commandeered the place. Only a few ponies, Donut Joe, the filly, and I remained. Even I knew who they were. The mark on their flanks was the mark of the airborne fighters who toke the battle to the skies, dealing with other enemy fliers. A loud mouth griffon went around, announcing each fighter's results for the day.

For those who exceeded five kills, a thorough toasting-and soaking followed. I believe it was a custom to call a fighter an "Ace", once he shot down five enemies. After completing the day's review, the same griffon-the squadron adjutant- went on to announce.

"And now for our leader's results!" he said as everyone stared at the quiet griffon who sat alone in the back corner, strumming a guitar. I felt myself being dragged to his music.

"Our Red Blood One bagged three more today, bringing his tally up to sixty-four kills!" the loud mouth said

With a tentative smile, the griffon with the guitar turned to me and asked me to accompany him on my harmonica. I brought it up to my lips and he started a new song. Although something about him that caught my eye. There was a black number one on his flank!

I had finally found "him".

But by some weird coincidence, it was me and my father's favorite song. The one we would play at the end of each day.

***

Mission Briefing:

"We've discovered The Griffons are transporting a large quantity of gems and other strategic supplies and rapid deployment troops into Vanhoover Harbor."

"Vanhoover seems to be the staging ground for an attack on North Pony."

"Why would Vanhoover be the staging ground for-... uh oh," Celestia said with a worried tone. Almost every pony in the room seemed to have the same worried expression on their faces. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie were the only ones who didn't know what they were talking about.

"Could somepony please tell me what's going on," Rainbow said.

The General cleared his throat before pressing on. "The Arell Fleet stationed here seems to be the centerpiece for this attack,"

"Ok, now what's The Arell Fleet?" She said, agitated that no one would give her a straight answer. It wasn't until Luna gave them the answer they were looking for.

"A few years back, my sister and I were talking about how we could improve on our defenses. What we came up with was The Arell Fleet. The fleet is made up of many ships, ranging from, battleships to destroyers to carriers, and not just naval ships, but airships as well. Aircraft like balloons, blimps and zeppelins. We tried to use it in fighting of the griffons, but they came so fast that we only managed to scavenge a few ships of our own before they took over the rest of the fleet. Now it seems they're going to use it against us."

It shocked all three mares. Now they knew. Just then, Rainbow Dash jumped up out of her seat. "Well than we have to go and take them out!"

It took all of Twilight's magical effort to set her other jumpy friend back down to her seat. "Rainbow, we can't barge in there just yet, and plus, we need to deal with the transport unit," she said. Ironhoof was next to speak.

"She's right, we'll take them out eventually, but for now, we need to get to them by degree. So where was I, oh yes. Now, if the griffons complete their troop preparations, and the Arell Fleet set sail, this will bring about our defeat in this war."

Rainbow Dash motioned to Twilight that what Ironhoof had just said proved her point, but Twilight motioned her back to listen.

"Your mission is to go and destroy the transport carriages and fighters in and around Vanhoover Harbor. Lets show them how vulnerable they really are." With that, the four pegasi put on a face of determination.

"Be advised, the griffons have been working on some experimental radar jammers which pretty much jams your radar network, so you might wanna rely on visual contact instead," Ironhoof forewarned. They four nodded before taking a look at the deployment map. It was a long line of red and gray triangles. Nothing the Wonderbolt Squadron couldn't handle.

•••

Mission Start

Rainbow Dash hid behind a cloud and watched the transport unit pass by. She turned on her radio so that her fellow pegasi could hear her and not the griffons.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, this is Rainbow One, got a visual on the enemy transport. Wait a minute, aw ponyfeathers! It's a whole convoy!" She loudly whispered. She could see griffons pulling transport carriages filled from gems to weapons to bombs. There were a lot of battle carriages as well, equipped with cannons and machine guns. Rainbow prayed to The Princesses that she herself had enough ammo and weapons to deal with them.

"Good work Rainbow One, move intercept, over," Spitfire replied.

"Yes ma'am." Rainbow Dash jumped up out of her cloud and went to pursue the convoy from the side. The other three Wonderbolts linked up with her and were now in a hot pursuit.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, Twilight here. You should have a visual of the transport. Move in to intercept."

"Roger that Twilight," Rainbow Dash replied.

"Try to locate the jammers to clear the radar as well. Good Luck!"

The four were coming up on the transport and were now in gun range. "Wonderbolt Squadron, engage!" Spitfire called out. Some of the escort fighters took notice of the oncoming threat and broke formation to go deal with them. Rainbow didn't hesitated when she fired on the closest target that was approaching them. The rest quickly followed her example. When she looked upon her radar, all she saw was static. More enemies kept closing in.

"This is hopeless, we'll never stop them without radar!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"Rainbow One, we'll take care of the escorts while you try to find and destroy the jammers!" Soarin commanded.

"Copy that," Rainbow replied as she broke off from her group and flew directly towards the transport. Several of the AA gun crews caught sight of her and opened fire. Rainbow Dash was capable of dodging the streams of bullets, but a few managed to dig their way into her armor. She needed to act fast.

"Ok, if I was a jammer, where would I be?" She asked herself as her eyes fell upon two antennas atop of two transport carriages. "Bingo!" Rainbow said as she dodged another stream of gunfire. She continued doing so until to her great fortune, the guns were out of ammo. It was her chance. She quickly took out three bombs from her saddlebags. Even though most ponies thought it was pointless to bring bombs to an air battle, Rainbow simply ignored them and brought them along anyway. She just enjoys watching what those little things were capable of.

She shot up into the air, and then dive bombed onto the transport. Arming all three bombs, she dropped them all over their designated targets. The jammers as well as the carriages they were positioned on went up in flames as they fell to the ground.

"They got the jammers!" a griffon said over the radio. "They're going to destroy the cargo!"

"Maintain formation," another commanded

"Radar's clear and back online!" Soarin went on to announce.

"Awesome! Alright who's next!" Rainbow though to herself when a bullet hit her right in her leg, but didn't make it's way past her armor. Ok, now I know who's getting blown up next,"

Popping out another bomb, Rainbow Dash went ahead and blew up the battle carriage. When she turned to take out the other, it was already in a ball of flames. Flying right above it, Soarin held a bomb in his hoof with a smirk on his face.

"You're not the only one who gets to do all the destroying around here you know," he called out as he took off after the remaining transport carriages. The others quickly followed behind. Once they were at a good distance away from the transport, Soarin and Rapid Fire took out their rocket launchers and aimed them at the carriages.

"Ready, aim, FIRE!!!" Soarin called out. The two fired their rockets and both flew to their designated targets. Both carriages went up in flames.

"Target is neutralized!" Soarin gloated.

"Aw hell, their gunna blow us out of the sky!" on griffon complained.

"Don't be a wimp, there aren't that many of them. Just keep moving! Get as many back to the harbor as you can!" The Griffons were frantically shouting out orders over the radio. There weren't that many of them. About three transports and two battle carriages remained. Spitfire took note of this and began to form a plan.

"Ok, here's what I want you all to do. Soarin and Rapid Two, you guys will take out the battle carriages. That will keep them distracted while Rainbow One and I go for the transport." Both pegasi nodded before they went towards their possible doom. The others followed behind, launchers at the ready.

"Are they still there?" a griffon nervously asked one of his comrades. Then he noticed a carriage blew up right next to him.

"Does that answer your question?" Another replied rhetorically.

"Stop them at all costs! Sacrifice yourselves if you have to!"

"Gees, these guys really mean business," Soarin commentated. Eventually the two griffons were engulfed into the flames of their exploding cargo.

"Nice kill!" Rainbow complimented on Soarin's shot. Finally, they managed to shoot down the remaining transport carriages.

•••

"Twilight, target is confirmed destroyed. Mission accomplished!" Spitfire reported.

"Good job everyone. Now fly back to base for debriefing."

"Roger that." With that, all four of them headed back to base.

•••

Mission Debriefing:

"The mission was a complete success. This griffon occupied air corridor has been effectively shut down."

•••

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Mission 5: Miner Pain

Mission 5: Miner Pain

North Pony's armory was in full swing. Guards kept going in and out of there. Whether it was for some armor, or weapons, or just plain old ammunition. To Applejack, it was like another day at the market. To Rarity, it was the last place she'd ever wanted to be. They were both busy helping out the guards with anything they needed, and right now, they have to fix some damaged barding a guard brought in. Even though they had no experience with fixing armor, they gave it their best shot. While Applejack was busy adding a plate of metal to the armor, she noticed that Rarity was doing something a bit different.

"Rarity, what the hayseed are you doin'?" she confusedly, and yet curiously asked.

"Oh, I'm just adding a bit of dazzle to this tacky piece of barding," she said, revealing a piece of armor adorned with gems, fabric, and sequins.

"Rarity, we're here ta help, not turn their armor inta targets."

"Well, call it what you want, but I'm sure that those griffons will fall for such an elegant and lovely piece of clothing."

"Don't remind me of them griffons. It just makes me real worried knowin that ma family are trapped by them. I sure hope they're alright."

"Yes, I know how you feel. I just hate knowing that those griffons are probably ransacking through my boutique and destroying all my hard work."

Applejack gave the mare a dirty look when she said that. One like daggers.

"Oh, and Sweetie Belle as well. Oh poor thing. I can only imagine the kind of pain, torture, and fear she is going through right now."

"Yea, that's the same way ah feel about Applebloom."

Soon after, Pinkie Pie came in, bouncing up to the two. Several of the guards there came to attention and saluted.

"At ease," the pink foney captain saluted back. The guards did what they were told and went on with their business. Applejack approached her and kept her close so that no one would hear them.

"Pinkie Pie, why are ya wearin that outfit?" Applejack critically asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh, well since I'm helping Twilight, I wanted to 'look-the-part.' At least that's what Rarity always says."

Rarity blushed at that, but Applejack ignored it and continued pressing further.

"Pinkie, don't ya know that you'll get in trouble for wearin' those duds."

"Strange, I feel like every pony has been telling me that, but don't worry, no pony seems to notice!"

"Well jus' be careful. I don't want em to do somethin' awful to ya if they found out."

"Okie dokie lokie! Oh yea, I almost forgot why I came here. I need help in making something to help Rainbow Dash. Would you be so kind if you could help me!"

"Sure thing Pinkie Pie! What do ya need help with?"

"Oh, you'll see!"

Applejack got a worried look when Pinkie said that in a suspicious tone.

•••

Mission Briefing:

"Vanhoover Harbor, home of the Arell Fleet, is completely dependent on two things for its power supply. Gems and magic."

"We know where they're getting they're magic, but the gems are a different story. You see, the gems help amplify the magic needed to power the fleet."

"Now, we've discovered that they have been mining for gems here at galloping gorge, which is fairly close to the harbor. The mine itself consists of a several storage warehouses where they keep the gems, and a network of underground tunnels, all filled with griffons, pony slaves, and even the diamond dogs."

"Whoa wait, they got those guys too?!" Rainbow Dash said, astonished by what she just heard.

The general simply continued on. "Yes, but our scouts have managed to get in contact with the slaves and have planned to rise up against the griffons and escape the mine once you four arrive."

"Your mission is to go out and destroy, or at least damage these sights. Our objective is to reduce production output of this mine to twenty percent or less."

"By cutting of the port's power supply, we will delay and disrupt the combat deployment of the Arell Fleet."

Ironhoof then showed the deployment map of both the outside and inside of the mine. "Ok, the way you're going to bring down this mine is to blow up several support beams at the very bottom. That way the rest of the mine will cave in and crumble and will no longer be of use."

"Well, no problem there," Rainbow sarcastically replied. "But how are we going to blow them up? I mean, I don't think our bombs will do a great job."

"We got that covered. You will be using satchel charges, which will only explode on your mark. Just place them at the designated targets, keep a safe distance away from them, and then BOOM!!! Get the picture?"

Rainbow Dash winced and nodded nervously at that.

"Excellent. Now, Captain Pie has something to give you all." Ironhoof said as he went to his seat, and Pinkie Pie got up to make her presentation.

"Thanks Ironhoof! Ok Wonderbolts, I have been tinkering around with Applejack and Rarity at the armory, and we've made something that will hopefully help you guys!" Pinkie took off her saddle bags and took out a pink colored tin can with her cutie mark on it and handed it to Rainbow Dash.

"Pinkie Pie, what in Equestria is this wired tin can?" Rainbow asked as she starred at the object, in hopes that this was a joke.

"It's my special party bombs! They really give you quite the surprise when they go off. Just twist the top, throw it at some enemy guy, and then run away and watch them work their magic, as long as you're at a safe distance," the pink pony giggled.

"Uh-huh" was all the rainbow mare could get out as she continued examining the pink party bombs.

"I was hoping you could try them out so that I can make more."

"Sure Pinkie." Rainbow Dash replied as she placed a bomb in her bag.

"Ooh goodie!!!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced out of the room.

"Uhm captain?!..., and she's gone," General Ironhoof said as he slumped back down in his seat.

•••

Mission Start:

"Ok, commence operation. Split into two groups and destroy targets. Inflict as much damage as possible to the complex, and reduce their output."

The sun was peaking over the eastern horizon, but it was still pretty dark outside. The four pegasi followed what they were instructed to do. Spitfire and Rapid Fire went to destroy the warehouses and other storage facilities while Rainbow Dash and Soarin went to take care of the mine.

"Lets wrap this up before dawn," Rapid Fire commented.

"You sure this is smart? We're over the bad guys," Soarin replied to Twilight's command.

"Trust me, Twilight's very smart, she hasn't stood us wrong yet, although sometimes I wonder?" Rainbow Dash added.

"Hey?!"

Rainbow chuckled as the two landed behind a large boulder just outside the mine entrance. Soarin peeked over to see if there were any guards, and sure enough, there were at least two of them.

"Ok, here's the situation. There are two guards over there, which means that we should be able to take them out at the same time,"

"Alright then," replied Rainbow Dash as they took their weapons out.

"Clear to engage,"

"On my mark, and... Now!" With that they both took out the two unaware griffons at the same time. Leaving the safety of their cover, the two approached the mine. Soarin looked at it and whistled in astonishment.

"Dang. Well, we better get a move on."

As they entered the cavern, Soarin then swapped his LMG with a shotgun while giving Dash a concerned look.

"For close encounters."

Even though there were lamps lighting up the caves, it was still very dark. Soarin and Rainbow switched on their night vision goggles as they dove in deeper. Eventually they arrived at a room filled with light, and the sound of someone talking. Soarin placed his ear on the door to listen in. He couldn't hear much since the door muffled the conversation on the other side, but what he could hear was radio static. He took his ear off the door and stood next to it, shotgun at the ready as he turned to face the rainbow mare.

"They got a radio in there. We will use it to contact our spec. ops." Soarin said in a whisper tone.

"Don't you have a radio?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I uh..."

"Let me guess, you broke it?"

"Wow! For a newby, you sure do know me well. Listen, were gunna breach in and clear out any hostiles. Got it?"

"Got it." Rainbow then stood up against the wall on the other end of the door, waiting for Soarin's mark.

"On my mark, and... NOW, BREACH!!!" Soarin broke through the door and instantly blew away three enemies with his shotgun before they could even have time to react. Rainbow Dash followed his example and shot the remaining griffons in the room until it was clear. Stepping over the dead bodies, Soarin made his way towards the radio at the other end of the room, and tuned it to their friendly channel.

"Spitfire One, we've infiltrated the mine, moving on with the next objective."

"Well done you two, I'll report your progress to Twilight. Also Soarin, what happened to your radio?" Spitfire responded.

"Oh uh, well-"

"Enough, I get it." After that, the radio went silent. Rainbow Dash smirked at what just happened while Soarin simply rolled his eyes at her as he went back to the radio. After a few seconds of tuning, he managed to reach the special agents.

"Black Op five, this Soarin Two, come in,"

"I read you loud and clear Soarin Two," someone on the other end whispered into their radio.

"Commence Operation: Jailbreak. I repeat, commence Operation Jailbreak!"

"Roger that Soarin Two."

After that, Soarin aimed his shotgun at the radio and shot it. He then went to grab another small, portable radio from a dead griffon's body. Once they left the room, Soarin gave an evil grin at Rainbow Dash.

"Watch this, in three... two... one..." Right on cue, sounds of gunfire and screams could be heard deep within the cave. Rainbow Dash was stunned at the timing of that.

"Alright, enough dilly dally, we need to set the charges and get the hell out of here!"

The two quickly sped down the cave until they made it to an elevator shaft. Moving inside, Soarin pressed the switch to take them down to the lower levels. While they went down, they were passing several levels. What they saw were ponies and diamond dogs either shooting, stabbing, or simply beating up the griffon guards. They also saw them make their way towards the other nearby elevator shafts. Only the dogs dug their way out.

At last, they made it to the lower level of the mine. Exiting the shaft, the two moved slowly through the cavern. It was pretty dark, but it didn't matter to them since they had their NVG. It was also deserted, like no one has been in there for quite a while. Rainbow Dash kept close to Soarin, never leaving his side. They moved on until they made it to the first position.

"Alright, I'll plant the first satchel here. You go and plant the other two further down," Soarin commanded. Rainbow winced, but nods and grabs the bag with the explosives and headed on, further down. She trotted slowly through the rock cavern, steadily breathing to try to keep herself calm.

Its alright Rainbow, I mean, what are you worried about? Something coming out and attacking you? This place looks abandoned and plus, Soarin is standing guard back there. I'm totally fine."

With that, she got the boost she needed and quickly arrived to the next target. She set the next satchel down on the ground and moved on. In moments, she made it to the third and the last target area. Once she laid the final charge, something hit her in the back of the head. She collapsed, vision blurry, head hurting. She tried seeing what had hit her until she spotted a rock in front of her. She gave a sigh of relief that it was just a rock that hit her. Just then, a bullet shot straight through one of Rainbow's front legs.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" cried the rainbow mare. She looked around and saw a griffon come out of the darkness. He was approaching her slowly, with a pistol in his talons and a smirk on his face.

"Big mistake pony, now you're gunna die here, and no one will ever find you," he said evilly.

"Rainbow One?" Soarin called out from the other end of the cavern. Rainbow Dash tried to scoot away, but the pain from the open hole in her leg prevented her to do so. She was losing a lot of blood. The griffon only found amusement at that and was about to pull the trigger. Rainbow clutched her eyes shut, waiting for her horrible fate. She heard the gunfire, but nothing happened. Opening her eye just a hair, she saw the griffon standing with a blank expression on his face, replacing the smirk he once had. He immediately fell face first to the ground with a bullet hole in his head.

Behind him revealed to be a diamond dog holding another pistol with his paw.

"That's for treating us like pack-mules!" he exclaimed as he spat at the dead griffon. "Are you alright pony?" he asked.

"No, it hurts really bad!" Rainbow Dash replied with tears forming in her eyes. Just then, Soarin arrived to where his friend was, wheezing from all the running he did.

"Rainbow... are... you... ok?" he said in between breaths.

"I think... we already... covered this." she replied.

"She's badly hurt, we need to get her out of here," Soarin ordered.

"I can carry her on my shoulder," the dog said as he did so.

"Perfect, now let's go!" With that, they sped down the cavern, with Soarin flying this time, and Rainbow Dash being carried by the diamond dog. They made it into the shaft. After reactivating it, it took them back up to the surface. Soarin quickly took out his radio as they went up.

"Black Op Five, this is Soarin Two, are all the prisoners out of the mine?"

"All ponies and dogs are out, mine is clear for detonation."

"Perfect. Now report to Spitfire One that we got an injured pony with us, and are in need of immediate medical attention!"

"Roger that Soarin Two." After that, the radio fell silent.

"Don't worry Rainbow One, well get you out of here." Soarin said to his injured teammate.

They finally made it to the surface. In no time, the three made it outside of the mine. The diamond dog lowered Rainbow Dash to the ground as several ponies with medical bags came to assist her. Spitfire, Rapid Fire, and as well as all the captive ponies and dogs surrounded around them, watching to see if she was going to be ok.

After a while, Rainbow's leg was bandaged up and well treated. The crowd cheered as she got up, reclined on her three good legs.

"Damn, we were really worried about you there newby," Spitfire said.

"Yea well, it takes more than one bullet to take me down! Although it does still hurt." Rainbow replied.

"Well now that the charges are set, would you like to do the honors?" Rapid Fire asked.

Rainbow Dash grinned at that. "Aw yea!"

"Every pony get back," Soarin alerted. Everyone did as they were told and headed back until they were all at a safe distance.

Once she was given the all clear, Rainbow flew up into the air with the detonator. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!"

With a press of a button, the warehouses went up into large fireballs. The mine itself shot fire out from its entrance until large boulders covered it up. After being amazed by this, Rainbow Dash flew back down as everyone cheered.

"We'll done Rainbow One!" Soarin gloated.

"Yea, now come on, we need to get these civilians out of here and back to North Pony," Spitfire went on to announce.

"Good idea," Rainbow replied. She looked around until she spotted a large mine cart. She got a brilliant idea.

"Hey, why don't we put the civies in that mine cart over there? It looks like it's big enough to hold all of them."

"Great idea Rainbow One. Alright, every pony, into that mine cart," Spitfire commanded. Every one did so. Once they all settled in, only the four remained with one question.

"So, who's going to pull it?" Soarin asked. The three mares looked at him with smug faces. He knew where this was going.

"Oh hell no!"

"Soarin, you just volunteered. Go and hook yourself to that harness over there," Spitfire ordered.

"But-"

"That's not a suggestion, that is a direct order, now GO!!!" Soarin simply snickered and grumbled to himself as he went to hook himself up to the mine car. The other three flew up around him.

"Don't worry Soarin, well give you aerial support," Spitfire advised. Soarin simply rolled his eyes as he effortlessly pulled the car with all his might.

"It's... too... HEAVY!!!" he complained.

"Come on Soarin, it's only about 100 miles away from North Pony," Rapid Fire giggled. Soarin in response moaned loudly and obnoxiously. Just then, Twilight came up on their radios.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, we have confirmed conformation that the mine has been destroyed. Well done."

"Wait a minute, what's that?!"

"Aw hell, Wonderbolt Squadron, heavy group coming in hot! It appears to be five targets in the group!"

"Tally ho on the bogies! Wait... There's five Red Bloods!" Soarin said in a panicked tone.

"What the...?" Rapid Fire exclaimed in the same tone.

In the distance, Rainbow Dash saw five small objects in a V shape formation in the air, approaching them at high speeds. "What's a Red Blood?!" Rainbow frantically asked.

"No time to explain Rainbow One. Soarin Two, you keep hauling that mine cart as much as you can. Rapid Two, help him pull while we provide covering fire," Spitfire ordered. The two replied with a salute as they did what they were told to do.

"Rainbow One, you think you can handle a little more combat?" Spitfire asked.

"Oh, you know it!" Rainbow replied with a determined expression. Spitfire nodded at that as they took to the skies.

"Wonderbolt Squadron, disengage and return to base! Head south immediately!"

"Twilight, we have a problem. We got a mine cart here filled with the captive slaves from the mine, and it's not moving fast enough. We're going to try to keep the squadron away from them long enough so that they can get out of the combat zone!" Spitfire reported.

"Well be careful, and DO NOT ENGAGE!!! We don't want to add any more oil to the fire,"

"Copy that Twilight," Spitfire replied.

The two were flying right in front of the squadron, until they made a quick turn the other direction, away from the civilians. The squadron of coarse followed right behind. They were fast, but weren't as fast as those two.

"Attention all fighters, you are clear to engage." A masculine voice announced over the radio. This was bad.

"Roger. Initiate attack on all hostile fighters," another announced.

"Oh crud, quick, try flying around as crazy as you can. Don't give them an easy target, oh and don't fly in a straight line!" Spitfire advised.

Rainbow Dash nodded and did just that, which was perfect, considering that the squadron had open fired on them. She managed to dodge the endless stream of bullets, although some did lodge their way into her armor.

•••

"Rapid Two, how far are you from the combat exit zone?" Spitfire asked as she narrowly dodged a sniper's bullet.

"We're actually just a few feet away! Trust me, once you two left, Soarin took off down the tracks in a flash out of pure fear!" She reported.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Soarin shouted out of pure rage and denial in the background.

"Ok good, Rainbow One and I will be heading that way," Spitfire said as the two turned and headed south. The five griffons were hot on their tails, but the two mares managed to out fly them. They were all traveling at unpredictable high speeds. If Rainbow Dash had gone any faster, she'd probably would have created a sonic rainboom. It wasn't long until the two saw the mine cart below. They checked their radar and noticed they were real close to the return line on their map. After a few moments, they made it across. As for the squadron, they stopped, turned, and flew in the opposite direction.

"Picture is clear. Bandits are down or no factor. Everyone return to base." With that, both pegasi finally had a moment to catch their breaths.

"Woo... oh my... that was... intense," Spitfire said in between breaths as they lowered back towards the ground. There, they met up with the rest of the gang.

"You two alright?" Rapid Fire asked.

"Yea... just... tired... and... shot up, that's all," Rainbow replied. "Who were those guys?" she asked.

"We'll tell you on the way Rainbow One, but right now, I need to rest up a bit," replied Spitfire as she hopped into the mine cart. The other two pegasi entered the cart as well.

"Alright Soarin, mush!" Spitfire commanded.

"Don't push me!" he responded annoyedly.

"I'm not pushing. You however are pulling, now get going!"

Soarin grumbled to himself as he pulled the cart filled with ponies. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a sign in the distance that read:

North Pony Island. Next 500 miles South

This made Soarin furious.

"Rapid, you said North Pony is like a hundred miles away, not FIVE HUNDRED!!!"

"Oops," Rapid replied in a soft, hushed, sympathetic tone. Soarin simply ignored it and kept on pulling under the hot mid morning sun.

•••

Mission Debriefing:

"The enemy lost five million tons of reserves and the ability to mine out two hundred fifty tons of gems daily."

"The Arell Fleet is currently and effectively immobilized and are no longer a threat."

"Unfortunately, our losses were a bit high as well. We now rely on your skill more than ever to compensate for our losses.

•••

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Mission 6: The Arell Fleet

Mission 6: The Arell Fleet

A railroad was under construction, just at the bottom of the mountain, outside of our city. I remember how some of the elite ponies use to brag about it, even though it would completely bypass our city.

The railroad became the occupation force's makeshift runway, and the tunnels their bunkers.

This was their base.

They were the elite griffon flight squadron, chosen to protect the cannon being constructed outside of Ponyville. Ironically, it was the same cannon that was created to shoot down the asteroids. It became a catalyst for the war.

But when the allied attacks no longer came in, the Squadron was assigned long-range missions that took them to distant battlefields.

•••

I thought of the words I'd use to confront him and bided my time. Although I harbored these feelings within me, I could never get close to him. His wingpony was always by his side, despite having a gentle demeanor. I could tell that the wingpony would never allow danger to get near Red Blood One, even on land. The pillar of their group, One exuded an air of invincibility. He always chose to fly a five-griffon formation. He was a griffon who prided himself not on his kill record, but on his record of never losing a squadron member.

It's difficult to describe just how good One's flying was. But I witnessed it once from the ground. The lead griffon of the five-griffon formation should have turned at the same arc with the same timing as the others, yet only he drew sharp contrails with his wings. His heart felt compassionate towards the weaker enemies he downed. Some day, if an equal appeared and challenged the limits of his skills in a fight, he would bear no resentment about being shot down. He said this himself. And so as time passed, I found a goodness of a home in their company.

Leaving them was in fact, no longer an option for me now.

***

Packing up my necessities, I finally gained the courage I need to escape Ponyville. I leave late at night so that I may use the darkness for cover. It was a good thing I picked up a few set of skills in self-defense if I ever came across a threat.

Using a flashlight, map, and compass, I navigate through the nearby forests on route to Canterlot. That's when I hear nearby voices!

Ducking behind a nearby bush, carefully listening, as the voices grow louder. Peeking through the leaves, I see a griffon patrol passing right by me. I hear them talk about how it was easy taking over our country. Oh, how it burned inside me to hear them.

I quickly take out a knife from my side. With their backs turned on each other, I grabbed the one on the right, stabbing the knife in his throat while covering his beak so as to not alert his comrade. As I laid his lifeless body down, I do the same to the other.

I move on through the woods, but as I approach a bridge that crossed the stream, I noticed the something nearby. I slowly move towards it to get a closer look. It almost looked like a body! It laid lifeless much like the griffon patrol from earlier, lying there with its face in the bush. As I approached it, I turned the body around face to face, and with that, my heart stopped.

Lying before me was the deceased body of my husband.

I fell to the ground next to him. My mind was racing. I wanted to scream, to cry, to do something, but instead, I just lie there next to him.

It seemed like an eternity passed before I finally found the strength to get up. Removing his dog tags, I used whatever I had available to make a premature grave for him. I pushed a heavy boulder next to him and placed some flowers I picked, that way when this war was all over, I would come back so that he may receive a proper burial.

With one final look, I blow a kiss goodbye before I trudge on.

•••

Mission Briefing

"We will launch a surprise attack on The Arell Fleet while it lies immobilized in Vanhoover Harbor."

"About time!" Everyone glared at Rainbow Dash after uttering that out.

"This large-scale air strike will be the largest and most strategic operation since the transfer of HQ to North Pony."

"You may need to resupply along the way, but it may not even have to come to that since this will be a quick hit and run mission."

"Remember, it is imperative that you complete the mission objective and return to base safely."

"You expect the four of us to take out an entire fleet?" Rainbow Dash asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"You will be accompanied by a lot of pegasus fighters." The general stated.

"Ok, that makes me feel a little better, I guess?"

After a quick view of the deployment map, the squadron was ready to go.

•••

Mission Start

Flying in at high speeds in the early morning hours, The Wonderbolt Squadron, along with several other pegasi fighters, were closing in on the harbor.

"Initiate attack, all units cleared to engage any and all targets," Twilight commanded over their radios. "Sink the 'invincible' Arell Fleet while they're at anchor. Good luck!"

"Time to kick some griffin butt!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. "

"That sea looks uninviting," one the fighters nervously remarked as looked down at the ocean floor.

"No kidding, the leveling can mess your day up if you're not careful," Rapid Fire informed.

The ships were coming into view just above the horizon. "Enemies entering harbor airspace," a griffon announced, after an order to engage targets. Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky before diving down towards the ships. There were roughly about seven ships in the water: four battleships, two destroyers, and a carrier.

This however frustrated the griffon leadership that was on the scene. "These are the only ships that made it outside the harbor?" one of them asked.

"Quit worrying, the ships won't sink," another griffon said.

"Are we cleared to shoot? This isn't an exercise?"

"This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill. All units report to battle stations."

Rainbow didn't hesitate to drop some bombs over the first ship closest to her, leaving behind a cloud of flames.

"Battleship sunk!" Twilight announced.

Two friendly fighters flew beside her to go give her cover while one of the gunships below fired away at them in an attempt to shoot them out of the sky. Rainbow Dash repeated the process to the other ships in the vicinity. "This is just too easy!" She quipped.

"Get those fighters in the air now!" a griffon commanded on a nearby carrier. Multiple griffons came pouring out onto the runway, but before any of them could take off, Rainbow Dash carpet-bombed the carrier with the pegasus fighters providing support, leaving only two to make it off the runway.

"Evacuate everyone. No use staying on a crippled ship, evacuate!" a griffon commanded.

"Well handle those birds, you keep attacking the fleet," one of the fighters advised.

"Roger that," Rainbow responded.

"Shoot them down!" a griffon yelled at the gunner on one of the destroyers. "Just a bit more," he said, trying to align his sights. Behind them, a pegasus fighter took quick at the two griffons heads before either of them had time to react. "Rainbow One, gun emplacement is taken out, your clear fire."

Rainbow took notice of the boat before sinking it to the bottom of the ocean. "Another one of our ships went down," the griffons called out. "Forget it, most of us never had a chance."

At last, the final ship that was out of the harbor was blown to bits, leaving Rainbow Dash to link up with the rest of her squadron. Up ahead were the hangers where most of their aircraft was stored. Fortunately, they were all still on the ground.

"Why haven't these damn blimps made it out of here?!" a griffon leader scolded at his subordinates.

"We have no power, sir, and the attacks from above have caused serious damage, and even if we could get them out, the enemy would bomb this place before we can get any aircraft out."

"... Alright fine, evacuate the facility." the commander ordered. "Yes, sir."

There, she saw Rapid Fire pinned down behind a crumbled wall, with five or six griffons slowly approaching her. Rainbow Dash descended casually next to her.

"So how you've been?"

"I've seen better days than this," Rapid replied with immense sarcasm. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to lend me a hoof?"

"Oh right," Rainbow Dash snapped back to reality as she and Rapid Fire fired back at the enemy. Many were closing in, however.

"This Rapid Two, I'm here with Rainbow One. We are pinned down near the hangers. We need support!" she called out through the radio.

In no time, several pegasus fighters came to their aid and killed off all the oppressing griffons.

"Get to the hangers, we'll cover you, GO!" one of the pegasi told the wonderbolts. Both got out and hurried towards the hangers. "Suppressing fire!" another pegasus yelled.

Rainbow and Rapid approached a nearby blimp. "I brought a bunch of C4 with me just for this occasion. Help me wire these packs onto the blimps."

While Rainbow Dash attached a C4 pack to a blimp or some other form of aircraft, Rapid Fire would wire them all to a single detonator.

Many came at them to stop them from completing their task, only to be shot by the aiding pegasi.

At last blimp, Rapid Fire was finishing wiring the charges. "Okay, that should do it. Let's get out of here." Both wonderbolts meet up with the pegasi before flying to a safe distance. "I put a little present in their fuel storage room," Rapid remarked. "Okay, in 3... 2... 1... FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!"

One by one, all of the hangers erupted into flames. Everyone was amazed at the scenery.

"I can't believe it. The Arell fleet is sinking!" one of the griffons remarked. "Our harbor facilities are being wiped out."

"Alright, let's move out," the pegasus commanded the others. Both Rainbow Das and Rapid Fire flew to another part of the harbor where there still some docked ships.

"Don't let any of those ships leave the harbor," Rapid advised. Rainbow nodded while using her remaining bombs and chucking them at the ships, destroying them on impact.

"Bull’s-eye!" Rainbow cheered.

"All able ships, attack!" the griffons were getting frantic as they kept firing at the oncoming attacks on their ships. "Hang in there, don't give up!"

Some ships that still functioned could not move due to the fact that the destroyed ones were blockading the others. "It's no use, sink it!" the griffons fired upon it, but it didn't budge. Instead, the oncoming bombs attacked them from above. "We still can't move?!" It wasn't long before the ordered to abandon ship.

"All able ships, evacuate the harbor." a commander of the griffons announced to everyone. “We've got to get out of the harbor, our ships have taken heavy casualties."

"Don't let any of the ships get out to sea," Twilight ordered to all fighting forces.

While finishing an air battle with two griffons, with her bullets pumped into them, she went back to her old business of blowing up the ships.

"Don't let 'em escape, make them fish food," Soarin called out while dropping a few grenades onto a small gunboat.

"Forget the small fry, concentrate on the larger ships," Spitfire counter remarked. Soarin smirked at that.

"Alright, the ships are sinking!" a young pegasus fighter said excitingly.

"Give 'em all you got!" Soarin remarked.

"This is bad, where are our fighters?" some griffon asked hysterically. "They're all getting shot out of the sky, now go get some ammo from the weapons bay," another griffon responded.

Everything was almost wrapped up before something rose up out of the water. Rainbow Dash took a good look before she realized what it was.

"Uh-oh. Twilight, we got a submarine hear, I am on route to destroy it, over."

"Copy that Rainbow One, you are clear to engage."

Rainbow Dash quickly acted by dropping a bomb on the submarine, destroying it.

"Rainbow One, we have confirmed reports of a submarine dock half a mile north. Proceed to deal with them.”

"Roger that Twilight."

Rainbow Dash took off to find the dock, where she found several submarines docked underneath concrete hangers. Looking at her ammo load out, she still had six bombs left. Taking in deep breaths, she whispered: "Let's hope this works." With that, she flew over the hangers and dropped her bombs. Just like before, the hangers blew up with their contents inside.

She took several deep breaths before seeing griffon fighters with their talons over their heads, taken prisoner by the pegasi fighters.

"Twilight here, enemy fleet and harbor facilities confirmed destroyed. Mission complete, all fighters RTB."

Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself, knowing she just took out nearly an entire fleet. She heard cheering coming from the other pegasi. She regrouped with both Spitfire and Rapid Fire before noticing something wrong.

"Hey, where's Soarin?" Spitfire asked. Nearby, they saw Soarin glide happily through the sky singing.

"Oh great blue skies
And emerald plains
Where freedom and justice prevail
With courage and strength
We'll fight to the end
For liberty in our land."/i]

"YAHOO!!!" Rainbow cheered happily as the four of them flew back to base.

•••

Mission Debriefing

"The Griffon's so-called "invincible fleet" has been destroyed. Their plans for delaying North Pony have been delayed indefinitely."

"Although we are still far from triumphant, this victory gave our troops a much-needed boost in morale."

•••
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Mission 2: Field of War

Mission 2: Field of War

A train came to a stop at the station in Canterlot. A griffon in uniform stepped out of the car.

A nearby soldier gave her a salute.

“Commander Gilda ma’am.”

“At ease” she said with annoyance.

The station was empty; parts of the ceilings had collapse.

Through the holes, she could see the waving flags of her country.

Deep down, she didn’t like being part of this war, especially after learning a thing or two about friendship. The only reason she was there was because of the drafting, and due to her excellent flying skills helped her rise up in ranks. Now she was an intelligence officer for their air forces.

“Boy, this place sure is a dump. At least am use to living in one my whole life,” she said. “It could be worse.”

After the long trek to the city, she sat down at a table in an abandoned food court. Nearby, she saw someone else sit down as well, setting his bags next to him.

A few feet away, a small read manned filly slowly crept up towards the bags.

Gilda watched as the filly drew closer and was able to grab a hold of it with her mouth. She quickly jerked it off the ground and bolted in the opposite direction.

She then muffled through the handle “Go fly with the pegasi!” The griffon noticed and quickly chased after her.

Gilda snickered at the hilarious sight. Suddenly, she felt a tug on the briefcase that was handcuffed to her talon.

Looking down, she saw a small colt pulling at it. She quickly jerked it away from him, stumbling him to the ground. He got up and ran off.

“Poor kid,” she sighed while rubbing her talon.

•••

Moving through the throne room, Gilda marveled at the sight. She always wondered what the throne of the palace looked like. She would have been more impressed if it hadn’t been ransacked.

Throughout the castle, all of the priceless artifacts were gone. Strangely enough, they were gone before the kings had even arrived in Canterlot.

It was a shame since every pony, including the griffons were fond of them, which may have explained why the castle went unscathed.

“Oh well, can’t say we earned everything the place had to offer,” she sighed before leaving the room.

***

Mission Briefing:

Rainbow Dash settled into her seat with her brand new uniform and barding. On one side sat her squadron members, and on the other, her friends. To her it was awesome. The lights turned off, a projector came on, and on a screen in front of them was the Equestrian map again. General Ironhoof stood up next to the screen to begin the briefing.

“The air interception op was a complete success and enemy air units around North Pony have been weakened, and we have taken a full advantage of this prime opportunity to initiate a counterattack with all participating forces.”

“It appears the enemy has a greater holding than we thought.”

“Enemy forces have established a wide-scale defensive line at filly field, consisting mostly of battle carriages.”

“Our remaining ground forces are set up to cross the river and penetrate it, and eventually regain control of New Filly and all the islands surrounding North Pony.”

“Wonderbolt Squadron, since our troops are not strong enough yet, we need you to support our advancing ground units, and eliminate all enemy forces, and be sure to pay attention to the airspace above.”

As soon as the lights went on, he went to address to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow One, I believe this isn’t the first time you were in combat, but I don’t think you’ve participated in a mission of this scale. Do you accept this task?”

“Heck yeah! Bring it on!” she exclaimed.

“Very well,” he nodded.

•••

Mission Start:

The sky was a dim gray color, with light raindrops falling down. The four pegasi were flying high in the sky. Below them were the few carriage battalions moving to the battlefront.

“This is Twilight Sparkle to all forces, we are about to engage enemy units, so get ready.”

“Warlord battalion, we’ll keep the central unit occupied while our friends in the sky help take them out,” one of the battalions called out.

“Steel tip locked and loaded,” another one said.

“Wonderbolt squadron, provide cover for our ground troops and take out all griffon forces,” Twilight ordered.

“Roger that Twilight, you heard the gal, lets move,” Spitfire responded. They were quickly approaching the river where both sides were battling out.

“They got way more guys then us, but like I said, no pressure eh?” Soarin chuckled.

“All of our remaining ground units are down there. I sure hope they’ll be able to push back the enemy,” Rapid Fire said.

“Not unless we don’t help. Lets get on it,” Rainbow said excitedly.

“Sure is the bet of a life time,” Soarin quickly took out his rifle and began picking targets. “Soarin Two, engaging.”

“Use your armor piercing rounds for this. We don’t have the proper weaponry yet to deal with these carriages,” Spitfire ordered.

“If only we had more time to prepare, we would have had them by now,” Rainbow whispered to herself as to not let the others hear her. She took her rifle out and began taking aim as well. “Rainbow One engaging.”

“Be sure to use your radar when the battle gets to heavy. It’ll help you distinguish between targets,” Spitfire addressed to the rainbow mare. She quickly looked at her radar on the side of her leg and saw multiple red dots, and very few blue dots, indicating those on her side.

Ahead of her were several griffons flying in the air. She quickly aligned her sights and immediately shot them down. The other three followed her example.

“This is Warlord, we’re being torn to shreds, but we should be able to contain the main enemy forces across the river. Be sure to blow up anything that moves,” the Warlord battalion announced.

“Steel tip here, we’re moving in to intercept the enemy, requesting support.”

Rainbow Dash heard the request and quickly turned to go aid her comrades below. Soarin quickly joined her incase she needed back up.

“Rainbow One, don’t let enemy forces reach Warlord battalion. Take them out before they cross the river bridge.”

“Copy that,” Rainbow responded. Switching to her armor piercing rounds, she opened fire on the metal plated vehicles. Majority of the bullets pierced through the metal, hitting the griffons inside. This gave the ponies on the ground to move in. While the carriages sat there not doing anything, the guards would climb up, open the hatch, and drop a few explosives in, killing anyone inside.

Others would manage to climb out of the carriages, only to be shot by royal guard.

Rainbow and Soarin continued this process until the started taking fire from bellow. They noticed some anti-air guns on the ground firing off into the air.

Both did their best efforts to evade the oncoming fire.

“This is Rainbow One! They got anti-air guns, we can’t get through!”

“Don’t let up, we must keep them back at all costs,” A griffon from the battle carriages yelled as they tried to keep back their enemies.

“There’s not much time. All battle carriages make quick work of these guys.” Steel tip battalion leader announced.

“Someone take out those AA guns so our air support can push through,” one of the ground leaders ordered.

The Warlord battalion made a quick response by moving to where the guns were.

Far off in the distance, the guns were shooting at the two pegasi fighters. Through the sights of the carriage, the squadron leader aimed at the guns.

“Ready… take aim… FIRE!!!” At the sound of his command, the crew fired a round at the gun. Upon impact, it was completely destroyed.

The gun crew for the other guns took notice and quickly but slowly moved the barrels to aim at the carriage.

“Reload,” the squadron leader commanded.

“Reloading,” the gunman replied inserting another round into the barrel.

“Ready… aim… FIRE!!!” Another gun was destroyed. The carriage battalion worked quickly to destroy the guns. They had to constantly move so that they would not become an easy target.

“At last, the last few guns were destroyed. “AA artillery destroyed. You should have minimal air resistance Wonderbolt Squadron,” the Warlord leader radioed in.

Rainbow Dash sighed with relief as she continued with her primary objective.

After a few loops in the air she made straight shots into the enemy carriages, giving the opportunity for the ground units to go in for the kill. She also aimed her sights at the griffons on the ground firing at the ponies below. She watched as one of the griffon’s head splatter upon impact of her bullet.

“Enemy forces are dropping down to fifty percent! Keep it up, we might just win this,” Steel tip battalion said.

“Those were some real fancy moves Rainbow One. Let’s hurry and take out the rest,” Soarin was impressed by the mares moves.

“Well then, you better keep up!” she made another loop around to repeat the same process.

“Come on, bury those Equestrians. Open fire,” the griffon ground unit ordered.

“Warlord here, we’re advancing across the river. Wonderbolt Squadron, do us a favor and be sure to take out these little pesks that get in our way.”

Both Spitfire and Rapid Fire regrouped with the other two members of their group.

“There’s not much resistance in the air. Rainbow One, you stay up here and help pick targets off while the rest of us go down and help our boys on the ground,” Spitfire commanded. Rainbow Dash nodded as she took off while the others headed towards the ground.

“The Warlord Battalion is a small scale unit so don’t let the enemy surround them. They’ll need all the help you got.”

With that, Rainbow took cover behind a cloud and began firing multiple shots into the carriages so that they would hit the griffons inside.

One by one the carriages stopped, eventually being destroyed.

“Keep firing, take out the oncoming battle carriage battalion,” the griffon battalion leader commanded.

“These birdies have no skills. This should be a piece of cake,” Soarin presumed as he used one of the carriages for cover while taking out multiple enemy ground units.

Both the battalions and the ground units were making progress. They were now crossing the main bridge to the other side.

“We’re almost through. Focus all of your fire power on whatever’s after the battle carriages,” Spitfire did so by firing at some griffons who were attack them.

“Finish them off as soon as we cross the bridge. Better to take them out all at ounce,” the warlord battalion leader said.

“Half of the enemy is down. I doubt they’ll be able to get through.” Rapid Fire said.

“Our fire power is far superior than ours. This is a disgrace,” the griffon said. He would choke on his own words after a bullet went through his skull.

A thought came to mind as to how Rainbow could help finish this battle quicker. Using the same tactic as before, she flew above and around so that she was behind the enemy.

After picking targets, she commenced her sneak attack and fired at the enemies below. This decimated their forces much more.

“They’re after you from behind, spread out!” the squadron leader from the ground said. All of them did just that.

Rainbow Dash made due by helping to take out the enemy units along with those on her side.

“The enemy siege is collapsing, now is our chance,” Soarin pointed out, with another push, they reached the other side of the bridge.

“All battle carriages, focus your fire dead ahead,” the leader for the Steel tip battalion ordered.

There were a lot of enemy units and battle carriages on the other side, but the ponies felt confident they could take it. It was their land, and the griffons had no right to take it from them.

“I want all remaining ground forces to spread out. We must prevent further losses,” a griffon leader announced for his comrades to follow.

Rainbow Dash was simply taking targets out with ease. This was posing a great problem or the opposing side.

“Equestrian pegasi fighter is picking off our units, we need aerial support,” with that, several griffons took the sky.

“Oh boy,” Rainbow watched as several griffons were flying at her.

“This doesn’t look good,” Steel tip battalion continued trying to hold off the enemy.

“No, we can do this,” Soarin called out amidst the sound of battle going on around him. He desperately attempted to return fire.

Rainbow Dash tried to avoid the griffon fighters and focused on the enemy carriages. Amidst her aimless firing, she seemed to have struck the gem that was powering the carriage. After a moment, the carriage blew up instantly.

Everyone took not of this. “Quick, aim for where the power gem would be,” the Steel tip leader announced. Everyone aimed at the area where the power gem was. After a while, the bullets and artillery penetrated the armor and struck the gem. Exploding the carriage.

Eventually, Steel tip battalion’s area had little resistance. “We’re taking control of this area thanks to our air support,” Steel tip leader said.

“I know we can rely on their help,” another from the battalion said. “We’re moving in to attack main enemy forces to the west.”

“They can’t handle us! Time to burn these bastards,” Soarin cried as he moved forward.

“Don’t get to cocky Soarin Two,” Spitfire remarked.

Rainbow Dash then turned to deal with the griffons after her.

“Damn this pegasus fighter, no one can shoot her down,” the griffon made a point by trying to kill his rival.

Turning to fly backwards, Rainbow shot back at the griffons, killing one in the process.

“Looks like we got a dogfight here,” she exclaimed as she looped around and shot at the second from below him. After readjusting herself she quickly fired at the third and final one.

“Enemy forces are being dealt a heavy blow. All units move in and intercept any remaining forces.”

“They’re not going anywhere. I won’t let them get away,” with that, Rainbow Dash swooped down to deal with the remaining forces.

“Rainbow One, don’t go thinking you can win this war all by yourself,” Spitfire advised. Rainbow chuckled nervously as continued on.

On the ground, the Steel tip battalion went to join up with Warlord battalion, and in perfect time two since they were about to be over whelmed.

“We’re getting shot up!” a pony from Warlord battalion called out.

“They’re trying to get us to weasel out, but not on my watch,” the Steel tip leader said.

As they continued on, a few of the royal guards crept up behind the enemy battle carriages and set off a few grenades where the power gem was, resulting in a quicker demolition.

“Damn, the enemy’s breathing down our backs,” a griffon battalion leader said.

Rainbow Dash did her best to destroy the carriages. Most of them were being destroyed because of her.

“Half of the remaining enemy forces are down.”

“We’re halfway there,” Rainbow remarked.

“I want the carriage battalion to keep up its delaying tactics. We need to fall back,” the griffon battalion leader said.

“They’re retreating! There aren’t many birdies left out here. Let’s finish them off,” Soarin said as he ran up to a nearby griffon and stabbed him in the chest with his knife.

All of the remaining forces were in full retreat with the Equestrians hot on their tails. After taking a few of them out, they managed to surround them. The majority surrendered at the hooves of their enemies.

“The area has been cleared of enemy forces.” Twilight announced. “Mission complete, everyone head back to base.”

Every pony cheered at the victory. “This is one step closer to Canterlot,” Soarin praised. Rainbow Dash descended with sweat pouring down her forehead.

“Well… how’d I do?” she asked in between breaths.

“You did all right, for a rookie,” Spitfire commented. Rainbow rolled her eyes as all of the Equestrian forces made their way back to base.

“Rainbow One, I got a hunch we’ll be going home a lot sooner with you onboard,” Soarin praised the cyan pegasus for her work out in the field.

“I hope so too Soarin Two, I hope so too.”

•••

Mission Debriefing:

“We have completed the mission successfully.”

“Equestrian forces were able to extend to the rest of New Filly Island and securing the rest of North Pony, expanding our power in the area.”

“This mission should show them what our forces are capable of.”