A Twinkle of Hope

A Twinkle of Hope - Chapter 18

Night had lost all meaning. The orange glows of a thousand weapons purged the sky of darkness. All sounds devolved into gunfire and shouts, further adding to the confused environment. Anypony less than a trained soldier would have been lost in the carnage.

Princess Luna was right; the enemy was retaliating for the damage done to the outer wall, with interest. The Liberators were outnumbered, as squadron after squadron of Republican airponies poured from the barracks. However, for all their strength in numbers, the enemy was outgunned. Having an Element of Harmony and a demigoddess do entail a certain advantage.

Rainbow Dash was zipping left and right, up and down in the face of the merciless onslaught of pegasi. Her orders were to clear the sky, but that now seemed hard to do with more and more fighters coming out. Even now on her tail were four soldiers, all aiming straight at the cyan pegasus. Bullets flew, each one desperately trying to pierce the light blue coat of Rainbow Dash, and send her falling several hundred feet below. Soldiers were the muscle of any operation, but take out and officer, and it all falls apart.

Dash weaved around and barrel-rolled for what seemed like an hour, unable to turn around and counterattack. Spitfire and the rest of the wonderbolts were weaving right beside their Captain, due to an occasional shot fired not at Rainbow. They too couldn't do anything. Too dangerous, as a split second for a turnaround could mean death. But then Captain Dash got an idea.

"Spitfire! Tell everypony to hover! Stop dead in your tracks...I...I have an idea!" Her voice could hardly be heard over the muzzle blasts of the enemy rifles. "They'll be caught off guard and won't be able to stop before we blast 'em!"

Spitfire got a smile on her face. "Good idea! Alright you heard the Cap'n! Hover!"

The unit stopped immediately, hovering above the ground, as the pursuers whizzed past, unsure as to what happened. Before they could turn around themselves, Lieutenant Spitfire laid them all down.

She turned to Rainbow Dash, a smug grin covering her face. Blowing the muzzle of her gun, "How's that, Dash? THREE seconds flat."

"I can do better!" Equestria's self-appointed best shot was not about to be beaten.

"You're on!"

The maneuver Dash orchestrated caught many other unsuspecting pursuers off guard. Within five minutes, other squadron commanders had picked it up and started using the trick with their squadrons. After some time, the skies started wearing thin of enemy pegasi. The path was clear for bombers and their escorts to help alleviated the grueling battle on the ground.

That was where Colonel Armor stood, ordering his mortars to blast those anti-air guns to oblivion. It was only 100 yards to the inner city wall. Time was of the essence. A more forceful push needed to be made. But the Colonel's ponies were started to lose morale. The enemy was too entrenched in what were once shops and cafes, now rudimentary defensive positions.

Shining Armor could only get so far with grenades. The fighting would have turned into a stalemate if the Colonel had not heard the sound of an engine coming closer from behind. At first he thought it was merely a medical convoy, picking up wounded soldiers. They made frequent trips to the command post, where surgeons would do what they could.

But cheering came from this truck, which was missing its canopy. Ten ponies sat in the bed, all carrying weapons. One other drove. The truck came towards Shining. A familiar face greeted him.

"Colonel!" The General saluted him, oblivious to the battle.

"General Cloudrunner! What are you doing here? You aren't...."

"Save it, son. You're fighting a war here. We wanted in." The Colonel could not help but admire the General's bravery.

"Nice of you to join the party, sir!" With the General's entrance, everypony was almost roused again to charge into battle. The final argument came when a bombing squadron blasted several enemy entrenchments to smithereens. The liberators ran forth, fearless and resolute. Only 100 yards to go.

Shining Armor heard the General was tenacious, but this was ridiculous. “Cloudrunner, you magnificent son of a bitch.”

The truck lead the charge, its occupants shooting every which way at enemy soldiers, amazed at their opponent's new-found morale. The near-zealous ponies conducted a full on blitzkrieg, rushing by enemy units, gunning them down and shelling them whenever they got in the way. Several tanks, much to the Colonel’s amazement, were blasted into twisted piles of scrap.

Soon the army approached the inner wall, hitting it with everything they had. Within minutes the flaks, guns, troops, everything on the wall was gone. It was now time for the second heavy bomb to be deployed.

Cloudrunner got out his radio and pressed the talk button. “Starblazer! You are clear to send in another dragonroaster!”

“Yes sir!” Starblazer turned towards his unit of bombers. “Come on troops! Let’s get the second heavy one!”

The General then addressed Rainbow. “Dash! Another heavy bomb’s comin’! You know what to do.”

Rainbow Dash called back the wonderbolts. The second wave of enemy airponies had now been stopped. The Captain whizzed to help the bombers. As the team of five pegasi lifted the gargantuan explosive up off the ground, Rainbow and her flyers stuck close, completely disregarding the concept of “personal space”.

Slowly but surely, the bomb made its way over the war-torn city. The trip took twenty minutes. During that time, the General, from his makeshift weapon platform, took out whatever enemy resistance he could find. Looking overhead, the charcoal pony saw it; the glorious steel giant looming above the inner wall. His protégé had escorted both bombs flawlessly.

“She’s gonna get a whole case of medals! Colonel! Fall back. That wall is about to go up in a plume of fire!”

“Aye sir!” He spoke into the radio. “Fall back! Bombing run over inner wall!”

And for the second time that night, the earth shook at the most powerful display of force was again conducted. The wall jettisoned itself into the air, leaving a large gaping hole, begging to be exploited by the Colonel's forces.

"Alright, ponies! Through the breach!" The army charged into the castle grounds, shooting at the garrison inside. The General told his driver to go up by the entrance to the castle, near where the dungeon was. Again he grabbed his radio. "Captain Dash! Come down here, over by the fountain. It's time to begin the extraction! Leave Spitfire in charge!"

"Yes sir! Right away! Lieutenant, take command!"

"On it Cap'n!"

This was it, the moment Rainbow Dash was looking forward to for a month. She would finally rescue her friends, her dear, sweet friends. the best friends a filly could ask for. The Element of Loyalty would fulfill her promise, and showcase her most notable attribute. Without a second to lose, she darted down towards the castle's fountain. It was once so serene and pretty. Now its waters turned red with blood.

On her way down, however, Rainbow Dash caught the eye of an anti-air gunner. He fired his cannon, Rainbow made the mistake of not paying attention. Pow! Captain Dash could feel her kneecap shatter. The hit cause her to collide into the General's truck.

She cringed and squealed in pain. Thankfully the only injury on her was the fractured knee. She could still fly. Cloudrunner jumped out of his seat, alarmed at what had just occurred.

"Give her some space, boys! Dash! You have to go back to the command post. Dr. Mend'll fix you right up! Can you still fly?"

"Owwwwww!! Yeah I can still fly. But I'm not going anywhere. I'll follow to hell and back if it means saving my friends!" She reached into her backpack and pulled out some bandages, wrapping them around her wound. Rainbow was no doctor, but it would have to do. "Ready, sir!"

Cloudrunner looked at his officer and nodded. He turned to speak to his truck-mates. “You all stay here and support the Colonel. I got business to attend to.” Immediately afterwards they both got out of the truck, and made their way to the entrance. "Alright, Rainbow-mane, we're gonna go in and find some sorry bastard, and make them tell us where they are keeping the prisoners. Leave at least one of them alive."

"After you, Cloudrunner!" The two were alone and therefore peers. The gesture was a sign of trust between the two. The General bucked open the door, ignoring his hip injury. The door swung open, revealing the long corridors descending into the bowels of Canterlot Castle.

The pair progressed in earnest, for somewhere in this dark, dank place were Celestia, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and of course Applejack. Rainbow flew slowly and cocked her gun, knowing full well she'd leave with less ammo than when she entered.