Nothing can destroy friendship, but war will damn well try

by bucking bronco 1968

Chapters

chapter 1: A shadow decends
chapter 2 warning shots
Chapter 3 all out war
Chapter 4 the magic is gone

chapter 1: A shadow decends

Rainbow Dash was down below her cloud home washing her pride and joy. When personal aircraft had been offered to the pony population, Rainbow had went out and emptied her savings of every last bit and bought the fastest and coolest plane they had. That had happened three years ago, and she had never been happier. She ended up nicknaming the plane "Metal Dash" because what the plane could do reminded her a lot of what she did. only for the life of her no mater how hard she tried, she couldn't get the plane to brack the sound barrier. Which had ended up causing the plane to get a little worse for wear often. Because of it, she had learned a lot from a few of hear friends in Cloudsdale about how to make sure the plane didn't fall apart.

She had just started to give the engine it's monthly tune-up when she heard a loud rumbling above her. Dash knew the sound, she had become used to it from the time she spent at home pushing herself or her plane. It was the sound of a plane coming in for a landing at the Ponyvillie airport that was close to her home. In fact, the end of the runway was about 200 feet away from the space under her house something that she did regret from time to time because of waking up in to night to plane engines, but she didn't mind too much. especially scince half the traffic that used the runway was her. But because of the area betweent her house and the airport, dash had taken a second job as a volunteer rescuer for the airport if a plane crashed. This team had barely been needed except for the occasional runway runoff. Dash looked into the distance to watch the plane land. The second her eyes caught sight of the plane, she knew there was a problem.

The two engines on it's right wind were smoking and turning extremely slow. The wing they were attached to was leaking fuel and badly damaged. Rainbow's heart and mind didn't skip a beat as she flew up to her house, grabbed her gear, and flew off for the airport. Her training and and the plane where the only things on her mind. Not the fact it was her day off, not that she could get hurt, just her training and the fact that others were in danger.she had just gotten to the end of the runway when she noticed a big problem. The plane was much larger than the ones that normally landed there which posed 3 new problems, more fuel, ore ponies, and more stopping space needed. she could tell the plane would go off the edge of the runway, so she prepped her gear and got ready for what was going to happen next. then she heard the contact of the rubber on the runway and the engines cut.

She watched in as the plane came barreling at her. then it happened, she watched the plane's wheels skid off the runway hit the grass, and dig grooves into the ground. then, BOOM! The right landing gear folded under itself and tore away from the right wing, dropping the wing into the ground and causing the plane to go into a firer cart-wheel. Rainbow Dash just watched in horror as the plane broke apart into a fireball. Her heart stopped but her brain kept going as if her body was in neutral. But finally her body kicked into gear as the plane came to a grinding stop. She ran for the wreck as the first ponies stumbled out of what was left of the plane. She quickly checked them all over before she ran head first into the fiery wreckage.

Many ponies were trapped or out cold so she helped as many as she could, always keeping an eye on the still full of fuel left wing as it hung in the air She was working as quick as she could, sometimes carrying more than three ponies out of the fire at a time. Her legs hurt from all the work and she was quite pissed that the rest of her team hadn't showed up yet, but she couldn't stop, ponies lives hung in the balance. As she walked back into the flames for at least the 23 time, the flames started to make their presence through her suit as it started to melt from the constant heat. Then she heard a sound from the cockpit and ran for it. She found the lead pilot trying to crawl from the wreckage. she helped him up and as the walked out she asked, "What happened?" He weekly replied, "Flying level, normal as ever, shot at by something about ten miles back. This was the closest airport." Rainbow sat him outside with the others as she saw Fluttershy and the other medics come running to help, followed by the rest of her team.

She gave Fluttershy a quick nod and then motioned for her team, with a glare in her eyes, as she headed for the plain again, closely followed by Sorin of the wonderbolts and some of the others from the team. Her and Sorin had just entered the plane when Rainbow spotted another pony trapped under a seat. She ran for the pony as Sorin looked for others, just then he heard a violent cracking as the left wing was being heated to the point of near explosion. Sorin yelled to her but Rainbow couldn't hear him. Sorin had cleared the plane by about a foot to go worn his team that was around the plane helping some of the ponies now starting to climb out of places when BOOM, the left wing exploded behind him. He was launched into his team as he turned to see the rest explode into another ball of fire. Sorin yelled out for Rainbow Dash but she couldn't hear him.

She had just gotten the other pony out from under the seat when she heard the sound of the wing's fuel expanding and then black. The only thing she could hear through the explosion in her mind was the sound of her friends yelling for her. she continued to slip in and out of consciousness as she was dragged from what metal still remained of the plane. she could just faintly hear Fluttershy worriedly yelling at Sorin and him and two other members of the team carried Rainbow to one of the multiple waiting ambulances to be taken to the hospital. The last thing she could remember was the yelling of the two ponies in the ambulance as they worked to save her life.

chapter 2 warning shots

Twilight had been occupied with her favorite pastime, reading. Spike was over helping Rarity as he usually did on days when all Twilight planed to do was study. She had just read through The Art of the To Do List for probably the third time that month when her whole house was shaken by and explosion of in the distance. When her head stopped shaking and she could think straight, she flew out of her home off toward Ponyvillie airport and the source of the "earthquake."

When she arrived, she found Fluttershy talking with Sorin as a few other members of the emergency rescue team loaded another one of there members on a stretcher into an ambulance. She had come close enought to start to make out what Fluttershy and Sorin were saying, "I'm sorry Sorin, but there is no two ways around it. That left wing is broken and you have at least three broken ribs and a bruised lung, now please don't make me force you." Sorin grunted as he shifted on his left front leg, you could tell it was painful for him, "Alright Shy, if you say so. But when Rainbow Dash wakes up I want to be on the first to hear about it got that." Fluttershy just nodded as Twilight landed in a frenzy, "Fluttershy, Sorin, what happened? Who got loaded into that ambulance? And where's Rainbow Dash, i thought she would have been the one in charge around here."

Fluttershy looked at her friend and sighed, "A plane came in that was in rough shape, and crashed on landing. Rainbow had already gotten her and helped the first people out of the plan waiting for the rest of us to get there. Her and Sorin had went into the plane when one of the wings exploded. Sorin had been outside the plane by about a foot when the blast occurred, but Rainbow was inside the the plane helping someone when the wing exploded. From what Sorin says, she was right under the wing. When we got her out of what was left of the plane, she was in really bad shape. So we got her loaded up into an ambulance bound for the Emergency room. Now Sorin is next in line." Sorin just gave her a quick nod.

Twilight was in shock, the fact that one of her closest friends had almost died was almost to much to bear. Then a thought crossed her mind, "Shy you said the plane was in rough shape, what happened?" Fluttershy shrugged, "I couldn't tell you Twilight, i just know the right wing had a hole in it from the streaks of fuel on the runway." a voice from behind her startled the whole group, "I can tell you what happened." It was the pilot that Rainbow had helped out of the wreck. Twilight looked over to him, "So what happened that Captain?" The pilot looked up at the group, " We were flying at 12,000 feet when i heard the sound of guns going off. I didn't what was happening, then the plane jerked to the right. I struggled to keep the plane level as my mechanical officer said we were losing power in engines 3 and 4. He also told us that we were losing fuel at a fast rate. I asked the Co-pilot where the nearest airport was and here's where we ended up." it was then a truck showed up with two of Sorin's fellow wonderbolts, "Come on Sorin, time to get you to the hospital."

Sorin turned and waved good-bye to Fluttershy and Twilight as he got into the truck and it pulled away. Twilight then turned back to the pilot, "You said you heard gun shots, could you see where they were coming from?" He shook his head, "I couldn't tell you for certain, but they were coming from somewhere below us." Twilight nodded then turned to Fluttershy, "Can you handle this by yourself Shy?" Fluttershy nodded, most of the injured have been scent to the hospital or are being taken care of in the terminal." Twilight nodded at her, "Ok then, I got to go let Luna and Celestia know about this. I will be back as soon as I can to help clean up this mess." With that, Twilight's horn began to glow and a lavender aura surrounded her and with a flash she disappeared.

Celestia and Luna where walking back to there chambers as they talked about how Celestia had seen smoke in the sky heading for Ponyvillie. Luna was listening then said, "Tia don't worry. I'm sure if something was wrong, Twilight would have come here and told us." As if on cue, Twilight materialized in front of them with the hurried and worried expression on her face, "Celestia, Luna, we have had a major accident in Ponyvillie." Celestia looked over at Luna almost with an I told you so look on her face. She then turned back to Twilight, "What has happened."

Twilight took a quick breath, "A large passenger plane crash landed in Ponyvillie. From what I heard and saw when i got there, it was a horrid crash. Rainbow Dash was the one first pony on the scene and was able to pull a large number of the passengers and the pilot out of the plane before the rest of the rescue team got there. Then, they whole team went to help more survives as Rainbow and Sorin went back into the plane. Then one of the wings exploded. Sorin got out but Rainbow wasn't so lucky, she was right under the blast. I got there as they loaded her into an ambulance, she was in terrible shape.The pilot then informed us that he believed the plane was shot at about ten miles out of Equestria." The princesses stood in shock, Celestia broke the silence, "You mean to tell us that one of our countries civilian was attacked for no reason. I must look into this."

Luna turned to her sister, "If you are going anywhere i am coming with." Celestia turned back to her, "No sister, I need you to stay her and help the people through this. I have faith in Twilight but she is a new princess and i fell that she still needs time." Celestia turned to look at Twilight, "Now offence Twilight." Twilight smiled back at her, "Non taken princess, I completely understand." Celestia nodded and then turned back to Luna, "Can you do this for me Sister?" Luna nodded, "I understand Tia, I will keep the country under control." Celestia smiled, then she addressed them both, "I know you two won't let me down, I must go. When i return please inform me of the condition of Rainbow Dash and the rest of the survives." Twilight then nodded and the two alicorns watched as the older white alicorn flew off into the distance.

Twilight looked back at Luna, "So what do we do know." Luna looked back at here, "We let the ponies of Ponyvillie know what happened at the airport but nothing about why the plane crashed. We will let that come out in time." Twilight nodded as Luna spoke again, "Now go back to Ponyville and check on your friend and the others that survived the crash. Let me know how they are doing to see if some should be moved up here to Canterlot." Twilight nodded and teleported away, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts.

Rainbow Dash was groaning as she sat in her bed at the hospital, most of her body rapped in different bandages and casts. Sorin had been sitting in a chair next to the bed half asleep with his left front leg in a cast along with her wing. He woke up as Dash began to stir even worse, he hobbled over to her as Rainbow began to come to. Rainbow squinted as the light from around her came rushing in at all angles. Finally images, as blurry as they were started to come into focus, if only a little.

She could barely through hear the mild ringing in her ears, which slowly started to subside as she began to hear someone calling out to her, "Rainbow, Rainbow!" She couldn't tell who it was, but they sounded familiar. It was then her vision cleared up just enough to make out a blue pegasus hovering above her. Finally she was able to put two and two together, Sorin. Rainbow could barely speak, but she used most of her strength and muttered, "Sorin, is that you?"

When Sorin heard the quiet voice and then hugged Dash tight, "Oh Rainbow Dash, we thought we lost you. It's so good to know your ok." It was then Twilight teleported into the room, hearing the last of the conversation. "Yes Dash, it is good to see you awake." Rainbow Dash weakly smiled then passed out again. Sorin panicked but Twilight calmed him, "Don't worry Sorin, She's fine. But she is in critical state and we must keep an eye on her. I don't know when or if she'll ever fully recover."

Sorin and Twilight spent the rest of the day checking on the others who had survived. They had been told how many people who had been on the flight, 156 passengers and crew had been on the plane when it had crashed. Twilight and Sorin had been heart broken to learn that only 82 ponies including the pilot had gotten out of the plane alive. She reported this back to Luna and also informed her that there had been 19 ponies including Rainbow Dash who needed to be moved to Canterlot due to critical conditions.

Two days had passed since the incident and there was still no sight of Celestia returning from her trip to wherever the plane had been shot at. Still no one but Twilight, Rainbow, Sorin, Fluttershy, the pilot, and Luna knew the real reason why the plane crashed. And non of them either wanted to or could (in Rainbow's case) tell what the real reason was, not yet. Not until Celestia came back. It was on that Second day after her leaving that Luna found a tape left in her room marked, watch alone. She could tell this wasn't good so she summoned Twilight to the castle to view the tape with her.

When she had arrived, Luna put the tape into a vcr and played it back. The first thing they saw was just a bag with a strange metal object coming out it's top. Then a shadow moved in the background and came to the front of the shot, still staying in the shadows. then a hoof from out of the shot grabbed the bag and pulled it back. What the two alicorns saw rocked them to there core. There was Celestia, tied up and severely bruised with a metal object wrapped around her horn. Then the shadow pony spoke in a deep voice, "We have your sister and ruler. We will not kill her if you meet our demands. IF our demands our not met prepare for war." Celestia then was able to muscle out her voice, "Luna, Twilight, don't give these bastards anything, hold your ground." A new voice from of camera then yelled out, "Quiet you!" then punched the princess square in the jaw.

Luna and Twilight cringed as they saw there sister abused in front of them. The shadow voice then spoke again, "If you don't want all out war, you will step down from your positions and allow myself and my followers take the thrown." Celestia then yelled out with blood and spit coming out as she yelled, "You must give them nothing. Rally troops, bring them in from all over, just give them nothing Make them pay for me." The voice from outside the camera came again, "I said quiet!" as he reared up and bucked Celestia hard in the ribs. You could almost her the sound of a rib cracking in the video.

The shadow said one last thing before the video cut out, "You have two weeks to make your decision. We will give you one warning of war on your last day. If nothing is done, then prepare for all out war."

Then the video stopped. Twilight looked shocked at Luna who had tears forming in her eyes, "What do we do?" Then Luna put on a barred face, nothing she had ever seen the alicorn princess show before, "We're going to fight." Twilight was shocked for a moment but then nodded in agreement. Luna then contiued, "Get the Airforce and Army ready for war, I have a feeling this isn't going to go over easy when these people don't get there way." Twilight nodded and then spoke, "I have a feeling that we're going to need more for this fight. If they were able to capture Celestia they mean business." Luna only nodded, then stated, "Equestria is going to war."

Chapter 3 all out war

Sorin tossed and turned in his hospital bed as his dreams continued to trouble him. It had been a week since the airplane had crash landed in Ponyvillie and everyday since he had been having the same nightmare. He kept playing back to when they had found Rainbow Dash in the plane still in one piece, to an extent.

Ever injury was still stuck in her mind as the scene playing back again for the third time that night. Sorin and the rest of the team ran back to the still burning wreck of the plane as they looked for Rainbow Dash. It had been Sorin who had found her buried under a window frame and a section of seating. He worked with lighting speed to remove the ruble on top of her as he yelled to the others. The siring pain in his left leg didn't stop him, but what laid under the rubble did.

There were multiple holes in her legs from where shrapnel had blasted through her. Her left wing was almost completely torn off, the only thing holding it on was a small piece of bone and tendon. Random other cuts bled from all over and she was burned over the whole left side of her body. It was only once the rest of the team had gotten there did he step away. The others soon had her completely dug out and put her on the stretch board that the had brought with them. He had only rejoined the group once they were out of the plane and on there way to the ambulance.

For the fourth time that night Sorin woke up in a cold sweat, he was still breathing heavy even though he had seen the dream tree other times that night. "you got to get this thing out of your head man. It wasn't your fault, she went in to help another, you would of done the same thing. She just got unlucky that the wing exploded while she was under it. Sorin thought. He had been beating himself up over not stopping Rainbow Dash going into the plane again, he couldn't help feel that all her injuries were his fault. "You know it wasn't your fault right? So why do you keep blaming yourself for it?" A voice asked from the door behind him.

Sorin ripped his head around to find Rainbow standing in the doorway to his room, using the wall to prop herself up of her front left leg. Sorin was still in shock, then Rainbow spoke again, "I went back into that burning hulk because i knew there was more ponies in that plane that needed help. I knew that plane could go up at any moment and that was why i went back. It wasn't going to be long before the rest went boom, so i risked my life to save others. You were right there next to me and if you had followed you might have been caught up in the whole mess more than you were." These last few words dug into his heart, the dam in his mind finally broke as he went into a sobbing fit.

"I'm so sorry. If I had followed you and helped we could have gotten you out before the whole plane exploded. If i hadn't had decided to leave you alone in that section of the plane, you wouldn't look like this." he said as he motioned to the chard remains of her body. Rainbow just shook her head, "You got to stop thinking like that Sorin. What happened is done and there is nothing we can do about it now. I have forgotten about it already and you need to move on." Sorin looked shocked again, "How can you forget about what happened. You look like you just got fulled out of a camp fire and went thrown in you had half your body broken." he yelled as he continued to sob.

Rainbow Dash sighed again and walked further into the room, hobbling a little bit as she still couldn't put weight on her leg. When she finally got to his bed, she started to stroke his mane as he started to calm down. Rainbow spoke again, "You need to take it easy. There letting me out tomorrow and you are being released tomorrow as well. So why don't you and me go for a walk around Ponyvillie tomorrow. That would be nice wouldn't it."

Sorin slightly nodded then spoke, "But what about your leg?" Rainbow laughed a little, "I'll be fine, I'm more worried about the one who has been waking up every night screaming." Sorin tried to laugh, "I only screamed a few times." Rainbow just rolled her eyes then kissed him on the cheek, "Anyways, I'm going back to bed and so should you." Sorin smiled, "Night Rainbow Dash." Rainbow smiled from the door, "Good night Sorin."

She said as she walked out of the door and back down the hallway. Sorin sat back in his bed and smiled, as he slipped back to sleep, the only thing on his mind was Rainbow Dash, not the accident Dash, the one who he had fallen in love with that twelve years ago. It was about noon the text day when Rainbow and Sorin were walking around the center of town. It was the first day either of them had been outside since the plane crash, and they were enjoying it immensely. They were talking about where they would be staying while they were grounded. Rainbow head mentioned how she planed to stay with Fluttershy while Sorin was planning on staying with his uncle who lived near Applejack.

The mentioning of her name made Rainbow think, she hadn't seen most of her friends in some time. Twilight was trying to figure out what to do as a new princess of Equestria, Rarity was working harder than ever on her fashion lines, Pinkie was gone visiting with her Grandfather on his "rock farm, and Applejack was doing what she always did, bucking apples and working the farm. IT was about one o'clock when Sorin turned to Rainbow and asked, "Hey Dash, you getting hungry?"

Rainbow Dash's stomach answered the question before she could, "Yeah I guess I could go for some grub." Sorin smiled, "Well lets get some then, my treat. Think of it as a thanks for risking your life to save others lunch." Rainbow just laughed as they stopped at a little restaurant to get lunch. A while after they ordered, Sorin started to hear the loud sound of a diesel truck coming up the road. He rolled his eyes, "Here comes Duster, I swear you can hear that truck coming a mile away." Dash giggled, she knew how annoyed Sorin got when Duster showed up out of nowhere. The sound of the truck got louder and louder until the truck pulled up out front and Duster got out followed by two other stallions.

Sorin looked up to see the others and almost burst out laughing, "well i'll be damned, how did he find those two lunatics." It took Rainbow Dash a moment to recognize one of them as Sorin's brother, Cloudtramp. But the other was still a complete mystery. The group of three walked over to the two as Sorin got out of his seat, shaking his brother's and the new comer's hands, "Cloud, Bash long time no see." Cloudtramp spoke first, "Hey bro it has been a while hasn't it." He then looked over at Rainbow, "who's the chick?" Sorin laughed as Rainbow Dash shot Cloud a dirty look.

"Cloud you don't remember her? That's Rainbow Dash, you know, only Pegasus to do a sonic rainboom, ex Element of Harmony, and pony who saved 70 or so lives while risking her own the other day." The new comer, Bash, looked over at Rainbow, "I read about that, that was you?" Dash smiled, "Yeah that was me. Why else would I look like I just got pulled out of a camp fire." she said indicating the burns and chard black fur over the left side of her body. Bash and Cloud laughed with Sorin and Rainbow as their food came. Sorin looked back at the group of three, "Come on we could use the company, take a seat." Duster, Cloudtramp, and Bash smiled then joined Rainbow and Sorin at the table.

The group talked and reminisced and at most points, laughed their heads off. It was only after lunch was over did Duster put in, "You guys should come stay with us while we're in town." Bash then chimed in, "Yeah, where staying over at the old shop for the next two weeks while we're on break." Bash was referring to the fact that himself and Cloudtramp were in the Equestrian military, but were on vacation for a while. Sorin smiled, "You know that would be kind of cool. What do you think Dash, staying in an old car shop on the other side of town sound like fun?"

Rainbow smiled and giggled a little, "Yeah I think that would be great, Shy is a nice friend and all, but she can get a little boring." The group laughed again then Duster said, "Well let's go." The group got up from the table and headed out the door and got into Duster's truck. He started the monster and left for the old car shop on the east side of town. We got to the shop fairly quick since Duster was a little bit of a speeder. Rainbow Dash was amazed by the amount of old cars stationed around the yard of the garage.

Dash had seen all these cars during different parts of her life, and had always loved them because of their speed and class. Duster pulled into the garage and parked the truck next to a slightly rusted hulk of a car. Sorin got out and looked at the car next to him, "Dad's old Camaro, you finally decided to fix it up." Duster smiled, "Yeah, but my true pride and joy is what i fixed up before this. Come on follow me." They two followed as Cloudtramp went up to his room while Bash started to work on the Camaro.

Duster brought them back to a large shed behind the shop which was labeled, "The Gallery." Duster opened the door and Sorin and Rainbow Dash gasped. Inside the shed was at least 14 freshly refurbished cars and trucks ranging from big and small. Duster pointed out a few, an old Dodge power wagon, a Ford mustang, a Dodge charger, a Plymouth RoadRunner. Then Duster lead them to a car covered by a sheet, with a quick move he removed the sheet reveling a Plymouth Duster.

Sorin laughed the second he saw it, it took Rainbow a second to realize what it was, and once she did, she laughed too. "Well that makes a lot of scene. Your favorite car is the one that bares your name." Duster was about to say something when Cloud and Bash came running in. Duster looked over to them, "Could, Bash, where's the fire?" Bash caught his breath then said, "We just had a royal guard show up at the place. Apparently, Cloud and I have to go back into the service tomorrow." Sorin, Rainbow, and Duster stood in shock, Duster finally spoke, "Did he say why?"

Cloud shook his head, "He only said that it was a dire situation." Still in shock Sorin said, "Why does this week keep being such a bitch." Early the next morning, Duster drove Cloudtramp and Bash to the train station, then returned back to the shop all before Rainbow and Sorin woke up.

(It's gonna get dark after this for a while, so if you want to skip this, just what till you see something similar to this and you'll be good)

It was now only one day till the "dead line" and Luna was getting worried, the warning shot the mysterious shadow pony was talking about still hadn't been fired. She woke up that morning to find another tape sitting on the balcony. The second she saw this, her heart skipped a beat as she knew that this meant bad news. Again she called for Twilight, she needed someone to comfort her if this was going to be as bad as the first one. The tape flickered to life reveling black. Then the shadow voice cut in again, "I warned you, now the shots have been fired."

Then the black was removed to see a pony who looked exactly like Celestia with a bag over her head and a nose around her neck. Luna gasped then looked away knowing what was going to come next. The sound of a crunck and then the gargling of the gagged mare chocking slowly died out, Luna was in tears. The shadow voice then spoke one last time, "Tomorrow is war." then the tape stopped. Luna sobbed uncontrollably in Twilight's wings, she then almost shouted, "Those bastards are going to pay for this!"

Celestia sat in her cage in who knows where as the sound of the pony choking in the other room started to die out. She knew where this was going to go, and she knew that it was going to break Luna. As she sat there quietly sobbing, she thought back to what had brought her here.

She had been flying when she heard gun shots from under her, then there was a syringe pain in her wings and she lost her ability to fly, as she plummeted to the ground, she tried to guild and catch herself but the holes in her wings made it impossible because of pain and aerodynamics. She hit the ground hard and was knocked out cold. She woke up with everything in black, a object around her horn. It was then the first tape was shot.

The pony that was doing all of this still hung to the shadows as he walked up to her cage, "That will break you sister, and we will easily take over." Celestia said nothing, the broken ribs still a reminder of what happened the last time she spoke out. The shadow spoke again, "Good, you have learned well you poor excuse for a princess. But that doesn't matter anymore, by the time we're done with Equestria, they won't need you as a princess."

(if you skipped the dark part, your good know. But if you don't like the dark stuff, this story my not be the best for you.)

The next day,

Twilight stood in front of at least 230 ponies, each were a leader of a section of the military, airforce, and navy. Twilight then spoke, "Attention Generals, I know most of you were on leave, but something unexpected has come up. That is all you can tell the ponies under you for what i say next doesn't leave this room. Princess Celestia was left two weeks ago to find the reason for why a plane was shot at to the point it crash landed in Ponyvillie.

It was during this time she was kidnapped by the same group." The shocked gasps was not unexpected, after they died down she continued, "We got a video from that group telling us that if we did not step down from our royal positions in two weeks, it would be all out war. Yesterday we got another video that i can't tell you the details but long story short Celestia is....................... dead." she said lowering her voice as the room gasped again.

Twilight then spoke again a pain in her throat, "That is why we are preparing to fight. I need all air fighters fueled up and watching the skys at all edges of Equestria, the rest of you, I want you and your brigades read to be deployed to where ever the fight starts." The group in front of her saluted and started to leave. Twilight then called out, "Cloudtramp, Iron range, please come see me." Cloud and Bash looked at each other as they made there way toward the princess, "Yes your majesty?" Cloudtramp asked. "Come with me please." was all she said.

Once they were out of ear shot of the others in the room, Twilight spoke, "I need you two to do something important for me." "What's that princess?" Bash asked. Twilight rolled her eyes, "Bash how many times do i have to tell you two, if we're in private, you can just call me Twilight." Bash chuckled, "Oh yeah forgot about that, sorry Twilight." "Anyways." Twilight started, "Once this war starts, we're going to need more soldiers than we have right know.

So once we now where we need to fight, I am going to tell all of Equestria what has happened. When I do, I'm going to send recruiters to all the towns in Equestria, and I want you two to be the ones that recruit in Ponyvillie." The two nodded, then turned and left. Twilight turned around too as she mad her way to Luna's bedroom at comfort the mare in her time of need.

A few hours later

Sorin and Rainbow Dash were having fun with a Dodge truck they had borrowed from Duster. They had been having fun when the sound of multiple aircraft filled the sky. They looked up to see five P-51 fighters fly over Ponyville. At that same time, the sound of a familiar diesel truck filled the air, "That's strange, Duster left his truck in my hanger at the airport." Rainbow stated. "Yeah, I wonder who got there hands on it." Sorin put in.

Soon the truck could be seen over the hill, a familiar iron and dark blue colored pair of stallions sat inside. Bash and Cloud pulled up to the two, still dressed in their military uniforms. "He guys, what was the emergency?" Sorin asked. Cloudtramp looked over from the driver's seat, "Equestria is going to war."

High above the South East side of Equestria, Wing Gust and his brigade of five planes flew at about 6,000 feet keeping watch for any sign of attackers. it was quiet, then everything happened all at once. They were flying fine in a smooth formation when, the sound of machine guns tore through the air and two plane's out of his five head for the ground in a steep dive, obvious they had been shot down.

Wing Gust and the other two fighters quickly split up and increased in altitude as two unfamiliar fighters flew under them. Gust swung around and as he plunged at one of the fighters he radioed to control, "Control this is Gust wing squad rent, we have two unidentified bogies and we have been fired a pone. Two crafts have fallen over." he finished as he opened fire on the plane he was following. "Gust wing squad we copy, what is your position?" control radioed back. "129.7 South, 43.6 East."

Gust replied as he shot down one of the two planes, "Bogey one is down." he said, a minute later, "Bogey two down." one of the other pilots put in. Control replied, "Roger both bogies are down." Gust was about to reply when he heard the sound of more guns and engines roaring out near him, "Holy hell." he said into his mic as three bombers and at least twelve fighters came into view. He took to action as he radioed in, "Control this is Gust wing squad, we have multiple bogies inbound. Repeat three bombers and multiple fighters. We can't handle this on our own, we need help!"

He screamed into his mic as he opened fire on anything in sight. "Roger Gust wing squad, reinforcements on the way." control replied. Wing Gust was firing at one of the bombers when he saw one of the other two fighters, then the other, leaving him alone against the enemy. He was about to tell control when he felt his plane plummet. "Control this is Wing gust, I'm going down. We've been shot out." He said with a pain in his voice as he pulled hard against the column. "Planes heading toward Canterlot, vector two niiiiiiiinnnn.................." the radio went silent as it was obvious gust had crashed.

The mare in the tower had a pained look on her face as the 15 planes appeared on her radar. She quick wiped around and called out "It's starting!" Twilight was in the tower in as quick as she could teleport, "What's the story?" She asked quickly. The same mare who had handled Gust Wing squad spoke, "Gust wing squad was doing there rounds when they were fired apone. Two planes were shot down and the rest of the squad attacked the bogies. They thought it was over when three bombers and twelve fighters came out of nowhere. The rest of the squad was lost and the bogies are on a course for Canterlot.

"How long till they get in range?" was Twilight's only response. "About an hour and a half" the radar mare said. Twilight straitened up quick, "Gather every fighter and get them ready. I want them out and after this menus in 20 minutes." she said as she teleported away. "Well you heard what she said, Go!' shouted one of stallions as they scrambled to carry out their task. With only s little time left on their deadline, all the fighters still at base, about 55 in total, were taking off to protect the land they grew up on and lived on.

Within half an hour they had caught up with the incoming bombers, and the fight was on. The fighters protecting the bombers came out guns blazing and took three planes down off the bat. The remainder of the protection squad immediately went after any plane in reach. Planes were falling left, right, and center. Soon there was only two fighters, the bombers, and 24 planes from the protection squad left. But there was quiet a big problem, Canterlot was only ten minutes away, and the bombers were still flying strong.

Private Long Wing was one of those few 23 left, and he took a chance. He saw an opening an dove straight for one of the bombers, guns firing of every last round he had. When he saw that his firing did nothing, he took drastic measures. He waited till the plane was about to fly over a lake when he bailed out and dove toward the lake. His plane spun a little then slammed into the side of the second bomber tearing it nearly in half as it exploded. The explosion rocked the plane in front of it and shot shrapnel into the left wing of the bomber behind it, causing it to lose control and wing to catch fire.

Soon the whole left side of the plane was covered in flames until boom, the plane exploded sending it to the ground below. In that time, 9 more protection fighters had been shot down, the rest putting up a hell of a fight. What they hadn't realized until it was too late was that they were over Canterlot, what made them realize was the sound of the bomb doors opening. Then everything went to hell as eight bombs slipped from the belly of the plan falling toward Caterlot and the castle.

Three bombers dived and ended up catching them with their planes, destroying the bombs and the planes. The other five when on to hit their targets close to the castle but the closest hit 50 feet away. What caught the fighters off guard for the last time was the bomber dived hard and crashed into the castle in a fiery explosion. Twilight was walking back to her room in one of the castle many long hallways when she heard explosions above her and the wising of something, then more explosions as the castle rocked.

She was about to see what was happening when the ceiling above her rocked and began to collapse. She tried to run but was soon buried under a mountain of rubble. Luna came running into the hall trying to find Twilight after the castle had stopped shacking. She found the hall she had been in when she saw that almost the whole ceiling above the hall had collapsed and the remains of the bomber lay on top of that. She frantically began to dig with her magic when it faded out, she knew exactly what that meant, but she hopped she was wrong. She continued to dig with a passion when she uncovered a purple hoof.

As some guards ran past she called to them, "Help, Twilight has been buried!" They didn't skip a beat and ran to her side and continued to dig as more and more of Twilight's body was uncovered. Finally, when she was uncovered, Luna gasped, Twilight was completely mangled covered in bleeding cuts, broken looking bones, and missing fur. What made her almost break down right there was when she saw that Twilight's horn had broken off about an inch above her head.

She soon had Twilight rushed to the hospital wing as she sat by the rubble in thought. She knew what it meant if Twilight's horn had broken off. She had been lucky that it hadn't broken of at the hilt and she knew her horn would grow back. But she also knew hat with her horn gone, no unicorn or even herself could use their magic, not until it hat fully grown back. This was going to change the tide of war, and Luna knew that the fate of the country rested on her shoulders. Shoulders she had only been able to hold up with Twilight's help.

Chapter 4 the magic is gone

Rarity and Fluttershy were relaxing in the spa on their normal Thursday routine when Rarity heared the sound of explosions. "Fluttershy, what do you think was that?' Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane faintly said, "I don't know, and I really wouldn't mind not finding out."

Rarity nodded then when back to what she had been talking, "Anyways, Sweetie Belle is almost 18, and she still has her mind set on joining the Royal army with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo . I swear ever since she got that protector cutie mark she has had her heart set on this. I'm proud of her, but i just don't want to lose her if she gets shipped off into battle."

Fluttershy was about to reply as Rarity grabbed a bottle of cooling gel with her magic for the pool when the aurora around the bottle and her horn died and she dropped the bottle to the ground. Shy looked up at her, "Rarity, why did you drop the bottle?" Rarity looked back at her with a look of utter astonishment on her face, "I didn't. I had it in my magic and then my magic seemed to be gone." She tried again and again to pick the bottle back up put her magic refused to work. She looked at Shy again, "I have a bad feeling about this."

All over the lands of Equestria and beyond, Unicorns lost their ability to use their magic. None of them could figure out why they suddenly lost their magic, but from the amount of war planes flying over head and the sounds of explosions in the distance, they thought of it as the least of their worries.

Canterlot was in a wreck. Home's were destroyed, ponies dead, and Twilight sat unconscious in the hospital wing of the castle, cuts covering her body, and a large bandage around her head covering up her horn. Luna sat at her side as she doctors continued their work when they all dropped their tools at the same time as their magic died like all the other ponies of Equestria.

"Oh no, it's happened." she muttered as she realized what was going on. One of the doctors, Dr. Fleet-wood, who had been part of the castle hospital staff for 30 years looked up at Luna and said, "Oh please tell me that Twilight is not literally the princess of magic." Luna sighed and nodded, "Oh god are you bucking kidding me, so there's nothing we can do is there." Luna again nodded.

The rest of the doctors in the room just stared at the two of them, then one of the nurses, nurse Vax, was the one who broke the science, "Dr. Fleet, what's going on." Dr. Fleet-wood was about to speak when Luna bet him to it, "When we gave Twilight the title of Princess of Magic, we gave her the power to control all unicorn magic that we had come in contact with over the years. The way she controls their ability to use their magic is by channeling it through her own. Now that she can't use her own magic, no unicorn can until her horn grows back. However long that will take."

The other ponies in the room just stood there until Luna spoke again, "I must go, I have to talk to a few ponies before the end of the day. Let me know if anything for her condition changes." Dr. Fleet-wood nodded and watched as Luna walked out of the room, trying to hold back tears. As Luna walked to the meeting hall, she couldn't stop thinking to herself, why did this have to happen now. First I lose Celestia and now Twilight is in critical condition. And I'm supposed to manage this whole country during a time of war with no one to help me. Now I see why Celestia has always said I would understand her stress of when I was gone only when she is gone.

It was then she walked into the Meeting Room to find three ponies, Shinning armor, Cadance, and Sargent Black flag. Cadance came running over to her as she saw the state she was in, "Luna are you alright?" she asked. Luna looked at her, "No. I have lost Celestia and now I have lost the one person who was keeping my mind whole, Twilight."

Shining and Cadance gasped, "What happened to my little sister?" Shining asked. "She was crushed under a pile of rubble when the ceiling of the hallway she was in collapsed from the force of a large bomber crashing into the castle. She is alive, and her injuries are minor except." she left hanging, not sure how to say what needed to be said.

Cadance was the one who asked, "What is wrong with her?" Luna looked down at the floor, " Her horn has completely broken off." The three other ponies in gasped, "Oh sweet Celestia please tell me your lying. Please tell me that you didn't just say what I think you said." Shining pleaded. Luna only nodded and let her head droop down to the floor again. Cadance looked back at Luna again, "So that's why all my crystal unicorns have lost control of there magic."

Sargent Black Flag then spoke, "I know that this is a bad time, but there is more troubling news that this. It turns out that the HQ of these scum that are attacking us is buried deep in hostile griffin territory. So not only do they have there own troops on their side, they have almost all the griffin troops as well. My point is, we need more troops. It's time we set up recruitment stations in as many towns as possible. We're going to need every pony we can get."

Luna nodded, "I trust your decisions. I want you and Shining Armor to take care of the military side of this." She then looked at Cadance, "And I would like you and Shining to stay here as long as possible." Cadance nodded then hugged her aunt, "A long as you need us." was all she said.

The next day

Sorin and Rainbow Dash woke up to the shacking of Couldtramp and Bash, "Guy's get up, we need you to come with us." Rainbow slowly sat up, "Why?" she groggily wined.

Bash was the one who answered, "We have been given the job of recruiting ponies for the war, and having a few friendly faces in the crowd will help." Sorin nodded at them and then pulled himself out of bed. They talked for a little bit before getting breakfast and getting into Could's truck and heading into town.

About an hour later, Rainbow and Sorin were standing in the middle of the crowd that had gathered around town hall. They were paying attention to what Bash was saying about why they needed more ponies for the war when Rainbow heard a whisper in her ear, "Well why in tar-nation are you to her?"

Rainbow looked over to find Applejack and the teen-aged Apple Bloom standing next to them. Bash finished and the crowd started to dispersed, then Rainbow turned to Applejack, "Sorin and I were here to give Bash and Cloud support as they gave their speech, But why are you here?" Applejack smiled, "Apple Bloom and I are here to sign up for the Air Force."

Rainbow's jaw dropped, "Your doing what!" Applejack continued to smile, "Tell you the truth Dash, I thought you were here for the same reason. I mean come on Dash, Flying those planes in acrobatic moves taking your anger for that plane crash at the airport on the ones who caused it." At this point, Sorin had joined her and heard the last of what Applejack had said.

"You know she has a point Dashy. Why the hell not, what do you say?" Rainbow looked from Applejack to Sorin and back again, then she smiled, "You know what, your right, why the hell not." And with that, they made there way over to Bash to make their registration.

Twilight woke to a headache like she had been hit by a plane, and in a way she had. She sat up and was followed by multiple lines connecting her to machines. The noise alerted Dr. Fleet-wood who was on the other side of the room.

"Princess Twilight, it is good to see you up."

Twilight looked over to him, "Oh Dr. Fleet-wood, it is good to wake up to a familiar face. Speaking of which, why am I in the hospital?"

Dr. Fleet-wood chuckled, "Slight amnesia, not surprising concerning the blow your head took." Then it all came back to her, the explosions, the hallway, the collapse. "Is Luna ok?" was all she could ask. Dr. Fleet-wood smiled, "Yes she is in a way. She was very broken up when she saw what happened to your horn."

Then Twilight panicked and felt the top of her head to find only a 1 inch stub where her horn once was. "Oh no, does that mean what I think it means?" Dr. Fleet-wood's expression went from happy to down cast, "Yes, all unicorns have lost their ability to use their magic, except for Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor of course."

Twilight looked down at her bed, "How long till it grows back enough for the unicorns to get their magic back?" Dr. Fleet-wood thought for a second, "At least eight months, that's the best case scenario." Twilight nodded then winched as her headache came back full force.

"Ah, my head." was all she was able to say before she crashed back into the bed, unconscious again.

Two Months Later

Nothing much had happened in two months. A few towns had been attacked, but that was about it. Although, Rainbow and Sorin wings had healed and they were able to go back to their normal lives. Then the day came, Rainbow was at her house making lunch for herself when Sorin came flying in through on of her windows panting, "Hey Sorin take it easy, what's the rush?" she asked.

"Have.........you..........gone..........to...........get........... your............mail............yet?" He panted out. "Uh, no. I was going to get it from the post office after lunch. Why?" Sorin had finally caught his breath.

"I got mine and I got a letter saying I had to report to Canterlot in two days to start my flight training. So I grabbed yours out of your box with my spare key, and I was checking to make sure it wasn't anything you put in there since i didn't look at it."

Rainbow eyed him, then seeing how much he was worried about her, she took the mail from him and found that there was a letter from the Canterlot military. She opened it to find it detailed exactly what Sorin had described. She then found at the bottom of the page it detailed the positions that she would be trained for, top turret gunner, medic, and back-up pilot.

She then looked over at Sorin, "What position are you being trained for?" Sorin looked back at her, "Pilot. And you?" "Top turret gunner, medic, and back-up pilot." She responded. Then she looked down to a part of the page that said, to be removed only by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash removed the warning and found it told what squadron, and plane she would be a part of, Delta 7 squad, B-17 N78MV1.

"Hey did you see this warning at the bottom off your paper?" Dash asked. Sorin looked to where Rainbow was pointing on her paper, then dug out his letter and found the same label. "Well what does it say?" she asked. "Delta 7 squad, B-17 N78MV1." Rainbow's jaw dropped again, which seemed like it was happening to often lately.

"We're in the same squad on the same plane. Wow, I guess being the friend of the princess has it's perks." Sorin then remembered something, "I wonder where Applejack and Apple Bloom ended up." Rainbow smiled, "Well I got nothing better to do, let's go."

The two then took of in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. They arrived about twenty minutes later to find Applejack and Apple Bloom doing something they almost never did, just sitting around in the fields each eating an apple. The two of them landed near by, "Hey guys, how's it going." Rainbow called as her and Sorin walked up to the Apple sister.

"Oh nothing much sugercude, just getting ready for our trip to Canterlot tomorrow." Applejack replied. Rainbow smiled, "So you got your recruitment letters to I take it." The two sisters just nodded as they each took a bit of their apples.

"Well if you don't mind me asking, what are you getting trained for?" Rainbow asked. Applejack spoke first, "I'm getting put in Delta 7 squad as a mechanic."

"And I'm getting trained to be the pilot of a P-82 fighter, also in Delta 7 squad. But they didn't tell me who my other pilot was." Apple Bloom chimed in.

"So we're all going to be fighting together huh." Rainbow said with a smile. "I guess having your friend be one of the four princesses comes in handy sometime." This threw everyone into a fit of laughter, even Sorin, tho he had already heard the joke. Sorin then heard he stomach grumble, "Hey Dash, I'm kinda hungry. Do you mind if we head into town for some food?"

Rainbow turned to him, "Sure, I could go for some lunch since you made me drop the sandwich I had been making." Sorin just laughed, turned, and started walking for town. Rainbow said good-bye to the sisters and ran to catch up with Sorin. And when she did, she punched hard in the shoulder.

The two days went by with relative ease. At 4:45 a.m. that morning, Sorin crept into Rainbow's room, only to slam a pillow into the back of her head to wake her up. "Ow! What the buck Sorin!" She yelled, obvious that she was fully awake.

"We have 20 minutes to get out of here and to the train station for our ride to Canterlot." he said in an even tone. Rainbow then panicked, "Oh my gosh, we've got to go now." She then grabbed the suitcase she had packed the night before and literally flew out the door.

Sorin rolled his eyes, grabbed his suitcase and proceeded to follow in Rainbow's wake. They got to the station in about ten minutes to find, Applejack and Apple Bloom, many ponies she didn't recognize, and Scootaloo? She walked over to her, "Scoots, what are you doing here?"

Scootaloo turned to her, surprised to see her idle at the station, "Oh hey there Rainbow. I am on my way to flight training. But why are you here?" Rainbow grinned, "Same reason. Hang on let me take a guess, you're in Delta 7 squad?" Scootaloo looked a little shocked,"Yeah, I'm training to be the gunner of a P-82 fighter for Delta 7. How did you know?"

Rainbow grinned again, "Two ways. One, me, Sorin, and Applejack are in Delta 7. And two, Apple Bloom is in Delta 7 flying a P-82." Scoot giggled with glee, "So the three of us are all in Delta 7, awesome!" Rainbow was about to ask what she meant when a white unicorn appeared next to Scootaloo, "Thanks for waiting Scoots. I swear you do that again an my........"

Sweetie Bell trailed off when she sway Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, wait are you Delta 7 too?" Rainbow nodded,then stopped, "How did you guess I was in Delta 7?"

Sweatie Bell laughed, "Because everyone on this platform is Delta 7, we're shipped out in our squad. Does no one read that first paragraph before it tells you the day you need to be here?" she said as she face palmed. Rainbow just shrugged, she then took a look around her. There was at least two hundered ponies around her, and now she knew they were all for Delta 7, it was lucky that her friends were going to be close, she would need them.

Then she remembered that Sweetie had teleported to the station, "Sweetie Bell, is your magic working again?" Sweetie looked at her, "Not really. Rarity and I had to pool the magic we had, which was barely any, just to get me here." Then the call came from the engineer, "All aboard, next stop, Canterlot!" The six friends boarded the train with the others, as their journey to war began.