A United Land

"If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush."

                                           -Unknown

       Years passed. Ace managed to cope with the loss of Lightspeed, but he didn't stop hoping. The FB-8 had gone through many changes, including a remodeled nose, and bulges stuck up from the once clean lines, and crews called it "The Bulge." The once pleasant handling characteristics were ruined from the heavier armor. It was time for a completely new airframe. But what engine to power it? The Flim and Flam brothers had been cranking out a succession of gasoline engines, but they proved insufficient.

       It happened to be a beautiful summer afternoon when the answer hit him in the head.

       Literally.

       Sitting in his favorite spot in the Ponyville junkyard, a busted radiator fan fell off the top of the junk mound and clonked him in the back of his head. When he came to....

      "Ideeeeeaaaaa!"

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       Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle

       You have been cordially invited to the revealing of the newest line of aircraft....

      Twilight sighed. Every time it was a "new aircraft" it had only been a revised Clydesdale. She jammed her tiara on her head, and made her way the Ponyville airdrome. She sat down next to Celestia and Luna, and waited.

    Celestia leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Do you think he's ever going to come out-"

    Whoosh.....

   "You owe me money, Celly!"

   "You placed bets?"

    "If it was a new design or not, yes." Celestia answered with a grin.

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   Ace looked out the round, single piece canopy. He had spotted a glint somewhere to the east and he was making sure it wasn't anything. Not seeing anything, he shrugged and continued his routine....

   Suddenly, the air exploded with what looked like eagle heads, pegasi wings, lion paws, and spears.

   "Dear Celestia....."

   He quickly snap rolled, and got out of the griffin cloud only to see the ground rushing up at him. Looking around, he quickly realized that this was a surprise attack. Sliding behind a griffin, he fired his 20 mm cannon. In a burst of red, the hybrid began to tumble to his doom.

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   "Spike, get your ass over here!" Bright Eyes yelled over the bombs exploding. Or tried to. The noise was so loud Luna's Canterlot voice would be deafened. Hugging the ground, he went over to the baby dragon and yanked him to the bomb shelter. Those training runs with Rock Steady had really paid off.

   The two quickly activated the Crystal Armor, and in a flash of light, Spike was once again a towering fully grown dragon.

  It was not a good day for the attackers above Ponyville.

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   Nyx zoomed over the massive formation of Griffins, brandishing a sword. Shining Armor had been privately tutoring her, and she had even gained the upper hand on him in certain occasions. She rolled over and dove on the leader, slicing his head clean off. She turned back to the main formation and randomly swung the sword around randomly. There was so many Griffins that most of the swings landed on one.

   Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle soon appeared and promptly began to shoot lasers everywhere. The Royal Guards and the 14 Clydesdales stationed in Ponyville all joined into the fray, while more waves of bombers began to come in. The sky was soon filled with spears, multicolored lasers, and gunfire.

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   Ponyville was not the only town attacked that day. Throughout Equestria, Griffins descended on unsuspecting cities, destroying their aircraft and bombing civilians. Las Pegasus and Manehattan were the worst hit, with a massive airbase and the only naval base on Equestrian soil.

   The Crystal Empire was also hit badly, but not by Griffins. Before the attack, the Changelings found out about the plot and offered their assistance in attacking the Crystal Empire. This took off a lot of pressure on the Griffins, and gave a better chance of victory. The Changelings had grown strong since their Canterlot Siege, and Chrysalis had been on the lookout for revenge since. It was harder to attack the Empire, with no vehicles to destroy, but they still swept through the Empire with great efficiency. At day's end, half the territories once controlled by Shining Armor and Cadence fell to changeling hooves.

   The situation was incredibly grim for Celestia and Luna. They were outnumbered, outgunned, etc. With the new Spiteful jet, they managed to level the odds slightly, but they were still at a tactically inferior position.

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   Screech.

   Ace Nova climbed out of the metal plane and looked around. The sun was setting slowly, and it would be beautiful if there wasn't for the columns of smoke rising from around Ponyville and the rest of Equestria.

   Nyx and the other alicorns landed near him with a thump.

   "So this is how it ends."

   Ace sighed."Nyx, I know that all of us are pretty shocked at this."

   The black alicorn nodded.

   "But that does not mean that we won't fight back."

   It was pretty obvious that he meant to put more force into the sentence, but he was just too tired.

   "Here, this will help you."

   Nyx's horn glowed blue for a moment, then subsided.

   "Thanks"

   "So what now?"

   "I'm enlisting."

   "But you can't! You're the only frickin inventor in Equestria that has any leverage those griffin bastards! Do you re-"

    A silver hoof forced her mouth closed. "I am well aware of the risks, Nyx, but I can't just sit here and let the Griffins do what they want. You saw me with your own eyes. I will live, okay?"

   "Pinkie Promise?"

   "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

   The taller mare gave the colt a hug.

   "Be careful."