Convergence

“Raising pressure… sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, we are in the green zone!”

“Final flight checks complete, ready to launch at any time.”

The F/A-18F blasted down the carrier’s deck, steam snaking up from the catapult that propelled it.  The fighter’s tail was engraved with a simple black ace of spades, and its wings were loaded with all kinds of lethal ordinance.  The sleek fighter cleared the end of the deck, and pulled away into the sky.

“Cat 1, hurry up and lower the deflectors, you’ve got more coming!”

The metal plates, designed to redirect the flaming hot jet wash into the air and away from any poor crewman that might be standing behind the aircraft, slid back into the deck.  Almost immediately, another Super Hornet rolled up to the catapult.  Behind it, dozens more aircraft crowded the deck of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, as it sailed just a few miles off the coast of California.  On the other side of the deck, another catapult sent a fighter on its journey.

“Black leader, your squad is all up, you may continue to the operation area, you are cleared to engage all hostile targets.”

“Copy that Reagan, Black squadron is moving out.”

The formation of Super Hornets banked inland, heading towards the Nevada jungle.  More aircraft quickly rose from the deck of the carrier behind them.

<(^)>

Alex flicked his mane out of his face, annoyed with the strong winds that seemed to insist on messing up his hair.  The fact that he was up on top of the battlements of Canterlot probably wasn’t helping the situation much.  His eyesight restored, at least temporarily, Alex returned his focus to the purple unicorn standing in front of him.

“So essentially, our job is just to help distribute any equipment soldiers might need, or to aid any wounded troops.  Now, I’ve prepared this checklist…”

Twilight’s horn glowed softly, and clipboard bearing a piece of paper floated out of a small basket in front of her.  A quill quickly joined the levitating list.

“Now, the first item on the list is bandages, Alex, do you think we have enough of those?”

The grey unicorn looked down at the supply carts in the courtyard, slightly impressed by the virtual mountains of medical supplies.

“Um… yes?”

“Check!”

Twilight happily swiped the quill across the first item on the list.  Alex was slightly amused.  Quill pens and clipboards?  Equestria certainly progressed at an interesting pace.

“All right, now that we have that taken care of, we can work on the next item.  Let’s see, ‘complete all items on the minor weapons check list,’ hmm…”

Twilight’s horn glowed again, and another piece of paper slid out of the basket and joined the first on the clip board.  Twilight smiled.

“Well, we had better get started on this one!”

Alex groaned.  He slowly looked away from Twilight, gazing out over the preparations for the battle.  His eyes slowly settled on the F-15E parked in the side of the courtyard.  He could see the distant figures of James and Jonathan performing flight checks on the Strike Eagle.  Alex sighed.

That’s where I should be…

He was suddenly jerked from his thoughts as a hoof waved in front of his face.

“Um, hello?  Alex?  Quit daydreaming while there’s work to be done!”

Alex forced himself to look away from his old fighter, returning his attention to Twilight.

“Sorry, I guess I just got a little distracted there, where were we?”

Twilight raised the checklist again, studiously looking it over.

“I believe that we have to double check the knives to make sure that they were all stored properly, and then we get to make sure that all the positions have an adequate number of arrows.”

Twilight paused, and looked out across the distant plains.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have very much time to do it in.”

Alex followed her gaze.  A distant cloud of dust was visible.  At the base of it, many small shapes could be seen, getting ever closer.  Alex sighed.  He lacked confidence that he was going to live to see the end of the day.

<(^)>

Swiftwing walked on, his hooves bringing up small clouds of dust as they thudded against the ground.  His green coat was caked with dirt, and several drops of blood still clung to his forelegs.  The blood that was not his own.  He grunted, dismissing that thought from his mind.  He couldn’t think about that.

Swiftwing was nearing the Canterlot city limits.  He had flown most of the way, but for the last few miles, he had been too exhausted.  Hence, he marched.  Swiftwing noticed a small pond next to the road.  He paused, looking down at the filth that covered his body.  Sighing, Swiftwing let his pack drop to the ground.

Slowly, he trotted over to the water, sticking a hoof in to test the temperature.

“Hey!”

Swiftwing jumped forward, shocked at the sudden outburst.  He stretched his hooves out to land, but with one problem:  water isn’t solid.  He flared his wings, but it was too late.  With a huge splash, the pegasus found himself in the middle of the pond.

Irritated, Swiftwing craned his neck around, looking for the source of the noise.  Cautiously, he called out; “Hello?”

He looked around, not seeing anypony in the surrounding area.  He could hear faint laughter.

“Up here.”

The voice sounded closer this time.  Swiftwing inclined his head to look directly above him.  A rainbow maned pegasus hovered over the pond.  Swiftwing dragged himself out of the water, snorting.

“You know, typically ponies get mad when your introduction involves soaking them.”

The other pegasus, still laughing slightly, glided down to stand in front of Swiftwing.

“Hehheh, sorry, heh, um…  let me help you with that.”

Swiftwing raised an eyebrow.

“Um, what do you mean?”

Suddenly, before he could move, he found himself surrounded by a Rainbow colored tornado.

“WWWWWOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Swiftwing felt his hair getting sucked in every direction at once.  Then, as quickly as the cyclone had begun, it halted.  Off balance, Swiftwing stumbled forward, flopping onto his face.

“Ugh…”

He picked himself up, shaking himself off.  He suddenly noticed that his mane looked like a cubic meter of black cotton candy.  He glanced backwards.  His tail gave the same appearance, just slightly larger.

That’s going to be fun to straighten out.

Swiftwing sighed, annoyed with the strange pony.

“There you go!”

The rainbow pegasus beamed.

“My very own rainblow drier!”

Swiftwing ran a hoof through his mane, trying to straighten it out.

“Does it always have this effect on your mane?”

The other pony thought for a moment.

“Interestingly enough, yes, yes it does.  Hey, at least you’re dry, right?”

Swiftwing grunted.

“I suppose… who are you anyway?”

The rainbow pegasus majestically spread her wings, and raised her head high.

“I am Rainbow Dash, only the most awesome pony to ever live.”

Swiftwing stared at the mare, detecting a slight pride issue.

“I see…  I’m Swiftwing.  What were you trying to pull off, scaring the crap out of me back there?”

Rainbow blushed slightly.

“Well…  I didn’t really mean to startle you.  It’s just that I’m supposed to tell you, and anypony that I come across, that you need to get as far away from Canterlot as possible.”

“Really now?”

Swiftwing slowly trotted back to where his pack was lying on the ground.  He brushed off some of the dust, and slid back into it.

“And who told you to do that?”

“Well, you know, not me specifically, but me and a bunch of other pegasi.  We’re all supposed to warn everypony about a battle that’s supposed to happen.  Orders of Princess Celestia.”

Swiftwing finished securing the pack.

"I appreciate the heads up, but I get the feeling that I need to get headed toward Canterlot, not away from it.”

He started to spread his wings, feeling he had the strength to continue flying.

“Woah!  Hold on a second!”

One rainbow streak of light later, Swiftwing suddenly found himself face to face with the other pegasus.

“What gives you the big idea that you should be going towards Canterlot?  Don’t you get that there’s about to be a huge war there?”

Swiftwing rolled his eyes.

“Look, Painbow…”

“Rainbow!”

“Whatever.  Maybe if you weren’t quite as busy showing off, you might have noticed something about me.  Take a good long look.  What do you see?”

Swiftwing sincerely hoped that she didn’t reply, “A ticked stallion with a messed up mane.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flicked over Swiftwing, coming to rest on his pack.  Or more specifically, the emblem on his pack.

“Oh…  Are you in the military?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, thank you for noticing.”

Swiftwing felt his patience with this obnoxious mare running thin.

Rainbow looked at him curiously.

“So… Why didn’t you march back to Canterlot with the rest of the army?”

Swiftwing kicked the ground nervously.

“There were, complications, during the battle.”

Rainbow continued studying him, suddenly noticing a spatter of dried blood on his pack.  Hey pink eyes widened in sudden concern.

“Oh my gosh, are you hurt?  Did you get like, stabbed or something?”

Swiftwing sighed again.

“It’s not my blood… I’m alright.”

Rainbow backed off slightly.

“Oh… Ok.  Umm… Whose blood is it then?”

Swiftwing felt his heart jump inside of him.

I really don’t need to talk about this right now…

“That’s not important!”

Rainbow jumped back, alarmed at the outburst.  Her wings flared slightly, as if preparing to take off.

“Um…  Ok then.  Sorry I asked.”

Swiftwing grunted, desperately trying to clear his mind of the… incident.  Slowly, he let out a long breath, the air hissing between his teeth.  Gritting his teeth, he spread his wings.

“Anyway…  I really think I need to get back now.  Nice to meet you… sort of.”

Swiftwing said the last bit under his breath.  Rainbow nodded, spreading her own wings.

“Um… yeah.  Nice to meet you too.”

The pegasus mare looked like she was about to say more, but Swiftwing shot off, heading skyward.  Swiftwing winged his way towards Canterlot, glad to have Rainbow out of his hair.

<(^)>

“Stalker team here, preparing to engage the enemy.”

“Phoenix team here, ready to engage.”

“Phalanx team, awaiting orders, we are in position.”

Sergeant David Blackburn listened to the wild radio chatter, as dozens of platoons, squadrons, and conveys reported their status.  The chatter paused, and a much more powerful voice sounded through his headset:

“Copy all units, this is Jackpot, you are cleared to commence the operation.  Destroy all hostile targets.”

The image of the cloud city burning flashes through David’s mind.  Gulping, he adjusted the controls of his apache, flying after the other elements of Stalker team.

I can’t do this…

The lights of tracer rounds and rockets slowly began to spring into existence, all across David’s field of view.  Explosions began to rip apart the outer wall of the city.  The return fire from the defenders was weak.  Only a handful of modern weapons defended the city.  The rest of it was up to spears and arrows, a laughable defense against missiles and bullets.

“Stalker one to all Stalker flights, prepare to strafe sector zero one delta, if anything moves, shoot at it.”

The Apache squadron flew towards the designated section of the city.  Missiles and bullets began to rain downwards, immolating anything in their path.  David starting breathing harder, and perspiration dripped down his face.  The cannon on the nose of his Apache started firing as his gunner joined the fray.  David watched as a stream of munitions racked through a street, sending several bodies flying.  His hands hesitated at their controls, as David desperately tried to discern what to do.

“Stalker eight, you’re not maneuvering, is something wrong?”

“Negative Stalker one,” David panted into the microphone, “everything is operating at one hundred percent.”

David’s eyes followed the missiles as they impacted the various structures of the city.  His eyes flicked down towards his main console.  For a moment, David closed his eyes, and offered up a silent prayer.  Then he reached down, and flicked off his I.F.F.  The targeting system automatically began to identify the other Apaches as potential targets.  In the front seat of David’s helicopter, his gunner, Aaron, called back to him.

“Um, hey, Dave, I think that you might of bumped something back there.”

David’s eyes were focused on the airframe of Stalker one, quickly inputting commands to the controls.  Without a sound, his finger pulled the trigger.  The missile exploded off of the Apache, sailing through the air.  Fire and smoke trailed behind it, and air whistled softly through its fins.  The small metal tube burrowed into the tail of the lead Apache, the metal crumpling.  A split second later, an explosion lit the sky, annihilating the attack helicopter.  In the front seat, Aaron whirled around to face him, shouting.

“Have you lost your Mind?!”

Aaron froze suddenly, noting the 9mm berretta handgun that was clutched in David’s grip, pointed directly at the front seat.

“Yeah,” David replied, “I guess I have.”

Another missile shot out of the Apache, destroying another helicopter.

“Stalker eight!  That’s not the enemy!  Cease fire, repeat, cease fire immediately!”

David ignored the transmission, keeping his left hand securely on his sidearm, and his right hand on the control yoke.

Another missile, and another rewarding explosion.  David turned the chopper, lining up for another shot.

“Stalker eight, cease fire, repeat, cease fire!”

The other helicopters had begun to turn and face him.  David squeezed the trigger once more, sending forth another messenger of destruction.

“All units, Stalker eight is hostile, repeat, Stalker eight is hostile, splash Stalker eight.”

The three remaining Apaches had stopped shooting into the city now, focusing their weapons on the rogue helicopter.  David yanked the chopper hard to the left, firing another missile.  The weapon shattered the cockpit of one of the choppers, before detonating.  The two remaining attack copters started firing their 30mm cannons at the fleeing rogue.

The shells zipped past, widely missing at first, but narrowing in.  David dove towards the city, flying at building top level.  Aaron was still staring at him from the front seat.  A rapid beeping filled the cockpit, indicating that one of the other aircraft was locked onto them.  David glanced back, watching the pursuing choppers.  Two missiles arced through the sky, narrowing in on their target.  David watched as both Apaches were hit.  Critically damaged, the choppers spun wildly, colliding in midair.  A short distance overhead, an F-15E zipped past.  The fighter wagged its wings at the last remaining chopper, before banking off into the distance.

Slowly, David turned to face forward again, letting out a sigh of relief.  The relief quickly turned to panic.  Aaron had unclipped his own sidearm, and had it awkwardly pointed around the back of his seat at David.  David tightened his grip on his own gun.

“Turn the chopper around, Dave.”

Aaron was glaring at him.  David’s mind moved at a million miles an hour, desperately thinking.

“What are you gonna do Aaron?  Shoot me?  Then whose gonna fly this thing man?”

“I’ll do it, you traitor.”

David stared at the little 9mm, pointed at his face.

“You know this is wrong Aaron, this isn’t like us, this isn’t what I want to be remembered for.”

“Survival of the fittest buddy,” Aaron tried to twist himself further around, “We need this world, and we’ve got the means to take it.”

“It isn’t freaking right!  Put your freaking gun down!”

“You first.”

Both handguns fired at the same time.

David felt his head nocked back slightly, as the bullet plastered itself on the front of his helmet.  Aaron coughed, and then slumped forward.  Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.  Slowly the gun fell from David’s hand.  He stared at the body in front of him.

“Apache, this is Striker one one, we noticed that you took the liberty of destroying your squadron.  Your help is much appreciated.”

David fumbled with his headset.

“Striker one one, my gunner… is down.  I need to land immediately.”

The request was answered by a different voice.

“Apache, this is baseplate.  Proceed to the main castle courtyard, and land immediately.”

“Roger that, thank you.”

David banked the Apache forward, flying towards the courtyard.  Around the city, the battle still raged.

<(^)>

Alex dove behind the remnants of a brick wall, an explosion bathing the area in heat.  Already cowering behind the wall, Twilight had her hooves clamped firmly over her ears, blotting out the screams of the dying.

“Twilight!”

Alex grabbed one of her hooves, and pulled it off of her ear.

“We’ve gotta freaking move!  This whole area is coming down around us!”

Alex grabbed Twilight, trying to pull her to her hooves.  The lavender unicorn refused to budge.

“It’s so… awful.”

Alex snarled, desperately trying to get her to move.

“It’s a war, people die, and most of the time they don’t deserve to.  Now hurry up before you become one of them!”

Reluctantly, Twilight stood.  Alex nodded, and then shouted.

“Alright, now follow me!”

Alex charged off through the chaotic city, Twilight hot at his heels.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know!”

An explosion rocked the pair of fleeing unicorns.

“Just somewhere that’s away from here!”

Suddenly, a Humvee turned out into the street before them, its mounted gun spraying bullets everywhere.  Twilight shrieked, and Alex cursed.  He frantically began looking around, searching for an escape route, or some other option.  The turret began to swing towards them.

Alex gritted his teeth as a large stone pillar caught his attention.  The roof that it had supported was demolished.  Quickly, the pillar was engulfed in a gray glow.  As the bullets began to impact around him, the pillar tipped, smashing into the Humvee.  Alex wiped the sweat of his forehead, dodging a rolling wheel.

“Well, that’s one problem solved.”

He glanced back to Twilight, who was shaking on the ground next to him.

“I… If…  If you say so.”

Slowly, he leaned down, and helped her back up again.

“Are you ok?”

He peered into her eyes.  Twilight took a few, deep breaths.

“I… I think so.”

“Let’s keep going then.”

The pair ran through the city, dodging the incoming attacks, weaving their way through wreckage, and staying a step ahead of the invaders.  Finally, they arrived at the main castle courtyard.  Alex began to bang on the gate, while Twilight stood behind him.  Suddenly, Alex heard Twilight shriek.  He whipped around, his eyes narrowed.  A platoon of soldiers was running down the street, their rifles leveled at the ponies.  The lead soldier took aim at Twilight.

“No!”

Alex jumped as the soldier squeezed his trigger, sending forth the deadly rounds.  He landed on top of Twilight, pushing her to the ground.  He felt several small objects rip through his tail, and Twilight whimpered beneath him.  Frustrated, Alex turned to face the attackers.  Suddenly, he didn’t care what was happening.  He didn’t care what he had become, or who he was fighting.  He just knew that, more than anything, he wanted to go away.

His horn began to glow.

“Alex…”

The soldiers ran closer, firing their weapons.

“Alex!”

The light from his horn became blinding, and then, suddenly, both unicorns disappeared.

<(^)>

“What happened?”

Alex sputtered, climbing to his hooves.  He was standing in the main throne room of Canterlot, now deserted, with Twilight lying right next to him.

“You teleported us!”

Twilight stared at him, slightly amazed.

“Nopony is supposed to be able to pull off a spell like that without years of practice!”

“Well… I didn’t mean to.  I just wanted to… leave.”

“Still… It doesn’t make much sense…  Oh.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide.

“Now it does.”

“What?”

Alex looked at her, confused.  Slowly, he followed her gaze, until his eyes came to rest upon his flank.

“Oh…”

“Congratulations Alex!”

Twilight started smiling, despite the dirt and grime that sprinkled her coat.  Alex, despite the darkness of the rest of the day, began to smile too.

“Well… that was… unexpected.”

On Alex’s flank, a marking had appeared.  A small dagger sheathed in a scroll, with the six pointed star of magic in the background.  Twilight laughed, halfheartedly.

“Well… even if we get killed later on, at least that’s one less question that we’ll leave unanswered.”

“Somehow… I don’t really find that comforting.”

Alex chuckled a little though.  Then, he stopped admiring the mark, and returned his gaze to Twilight.  Outside, the sounds of battle continued, furious as ever.

“Let’s get up to the command room, and see what’s going on.”

Twilight stood, her smile quickly fading.

“Hopefully the command room is still there.”

Alex started trotting off through the castle.

“Only one way to find out!”

Twilight quickly followed after him.

<(^)>

Swiftwing landed on the castle wall, ducking down next to a friendly human soldier and a unicorn.

“What’s the situation?”

The soldier slammed a fresh clip into the breach of his rifle, and turned to face Swiftwing.

“What, you just get here or something?”

Swiftwing rolled his eyes.

“As a matter of fact…”

The soldier sighed, and then began to speak.

"Well, allow me to explain; we’re screwed.  If that doesn’t sum it up for you, then try this on for size:  We’re not outnumbered, but were outgunned.  For ever gun we’ve got, they have ten pointed back at us.  Not mentioning the fact that they have a superior number of tanks, planes, Humvees… pretty much anything that shoots or moves, they have more of it than we do.  Does that help?”

“Sort of, though I was hoping that you could give me a more optimistic outline.”

The soldier snorted, firing a few rounds over the wall.

“You want optimism?  Go watch some stupid little girl’s show.”

Swiftwing nodded, and then jumped off the wall, gliding down to the courtyard below.  Gathered around the gate, platoons of ponies and humans waited, watching as the metal giant shook with explosions.  It couldn’t hold very much longer.  Even as he watched, an explosion shook the gate, throwing it to the ground.  The closest ponies and men were crushed.

The enemy poured in, firing as they came.  Swiftwing charged forward, pulling on his hoofdaggers as he went.  He dove into the middle of the melee, his mind racing.  A soldier wheeled to face him, raising his rifle.  Swiftwing sank the dagger into his chest, watching the blood splatter.  He grimaced, ignoring his thoughts, fighting for his life, for his country.  Blood splattered his body, covering him, transforming him into a creature of death.  The screams of his enemies filled his ears.  He threw himself at the enemy, but still, they pushed them back, the ponies being overrun by the superior weapons.  Swiftwing felt himself pulled inside a door, and then it was slammed shut before him.

He glanced around.  An earth pony with a mace stared at him, shocked.

“What were you thinking?  We’re you trying to get yourself killed?”

Swiftwing ignored the pony, blood dripping from his mane.  He peeked through a slot in the wall, were humans could be seen, securing explosives to doors, preparing to breech in.  In the center of the courtyard, several vehicles were idling.

“Any units!  This is Oscar team!”

The frantic voice came from behind him.  Swiftwing turned, to see a small group of humans huddled around a radio.

“We are pinned down in the central courtyard!  We are way outgunned!  We need immediate assistance!”

The depressing sound of static was the only reply.  A human, weary from combat, resolutely pulled a grenade from his pack, preparing to use it.  Suddenly, the radio hissed.  All heads in the room turned to face it.

“Oscar, this is black leader of the United States Navy, we are bearing in hot on your location.  Standby for airstrike.”

The troops around the radio looked bewildered by the strange transmission.  As far as they knew, the only aircraft in the area were hostiles.  Swiftwing, his curiosity aroused, returned to the slot in the wall.  The humans were putting the finishing touches on their explosives, when slowly, the sound of engines began to fill the air.

“Black leader to all units, targets are marked and cleared, commence run.”

Swiftwing stared upward, as a flight of Super Hornet fighters zipped over the capitol.  Missiles rocketed from their wings, soaring down towards the forces in the courtyard.  The tanks and other vehicles in the center of the courtyard were the first to go.  The explosions of the air to ground missiles shook the courtyard, sending shrapnel and debris flying.  The soldiers not hit by the attack quickly turned tail and fled.  Swiftwing eased open the door, and stared into the sky.  Overhead, he could see more and more planes filling the air.  Some of them tangled with each other in combat, while most swooped down, making passes on the forces filling the city.

“Yellow leader, this is black three, good effect on target, coming around for another pass.”

“Splash one!  That’s a confirmed kill for Mobius squadron…”

“Bandits are dropping like flies!  Keep up the good work!”

Swiftwing turned back, listening to the radio.  All around, cheers could be heard as gray naval fighters swooped in, and helicopters dropped teams of marines and SEALs.  Swiftwing stopped suddenly, looking down at the blood on his hooves, and splattered across his coat, and then, he remembered.  Unable to think, Swiftwing collapsed to the ground, the faces of a dozen fallen foes haunting him.

“Oh God…”

Swiftwing felt tears began to fall from his eyes.  He heard a voice call from behind him;

“Wait… what the… I need a medic over here, quick!”

As the sound of hooves beating on the ground quickly grew closer to him, Swiftwing slipped from consciousness.

<(^)>

“You failed.”

The words were icy, their speaker even more so.  President Nickelson flung out his arms, dramatically throwing the mounds of paperwork off his desk.

“You failed, general Zumwald.”

The general sat across from the president, staring at his shoes.

“With all due respect sir…  The intervention of other forces was unexpected.  Had we known…”

“That’s just it; you didn’t know.”

The president stood.

“Intel is everything you fool!  You can have all the guns in the world, and it won’t matter, as long as you don’t know where the enemy is.  In this case, they were in our own freaking military!”

The president sighed.  The sounds of helicopters could be heard, flying overhead, bringing retreating forces.  He sat back down.

“We will continue to discuss this at a later date.  For now…”

The president passed the general a thumb drive.

“Prepare the strike packages, and then wait for my signal.”

The general nodded, picking up the drive.  He stood, and began to walk out of the room.

“And general.”

The general turned to face to president once more.

“No survivors.”

“Yes sir.”

The general strode out of the office.  The president picked up a stack of papers, trying to reorganize them.  Suddenly, his pager blinked.

“What is it?”

Nickelson made his irritation obvious.

“General Anderson would like to see you sir, he says it’s important.”

“Very well.”

The president leaned back.

“Send him in.”

<(^)>

Sergeant Alfred Waterfield slammed a clip into the MP5 submachine gun, huddled with several other men in the back of a dimly lit van.  Around him, the others made similar preparations.  The sergeant gritted his teeth.  They had their work cut out for them.

The van stopped moving, and the man in the back swung the rear doors open.

“Hello beautiful.”

Just a few feet away, was the open cargo bay of Air Force One.