Shattered Skies

Chapters

Explosive Entrance
Reunion
Umbrella
Catching Up
Harvest
Early Bird
Rough Seas

Explosive Entrance

"You absolutely sure you don't want to go, Spike?"

"Positive, Twilight. I mean, it's cool over there and all, but I'm not exactly a fan of being a dog."

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she paced in front of the mirror portal that she had brute forced into working at any time. "Well, in that case, be sure to stay safe while I'm away, okay?"

Spike offered a small salute. "You can count on me, 'Princess'!"

Twilight giggled at the mock formality, and turned to face the mirror.

On the other side of that mirror, was an alternate version of her own world, complete with its own versions of all her friends. She had been there twice before, but the last time she went was about two years ago. During that time, her former enemy and now friend, Sunset Shimmer, had kept in contact with her via magical letters, but they started slowing in number, until they stopped altogether a year ago.

However, Twilight took that as a sign that she was finally making friends in the other world, and as such couldn't find time to send letters back. Still, it had been a while since she had visited, so the moment Twilight was able to get a few days off from princess duties, she planned to spend them in the other world, with her other friends- though, technically, they were still the same friends.

Just before she walked through the mirror, which seemed to ripple in response to her proximity, she turned to wave goodbye to Spike one last time. "See you in a few days!"

On that note, she took one more step forward, and instantly felt herself get pulled through, where she underwent the disorienting process of traveling across dimensions.

After what simultaneously felt like an eternity and no time at all, Twilight felt herself emerge from the other side of the portal. Just like the last two times she came here, she almost flew out of the other side, crashing unceremoniously to the ground. Unlike last time, no one was waiting for her, not that she expected someone to; she didn't send word ahead to Sunset about her arrival, in order to surprise her and the others.

Once she got used to her human anatomy again, Twilight pulled herself to her feet, and looked around. Like before, she was standing in front of a statue positioned in the courtyard of a large building: Canterlot High.

However, something seemed a bit off about her surroundings. For one, even though it should've been the middle of the day, the sky was unusually dark. Not only that, but the school looked completely abandoned.

Before she could question what was happening any further, there was a noise growing in the air not too far away. The noise gradually got louder and louder, until just as it became deafening, she saw the source of the noise.

Two large aircraft of some kind sailed overhead, almost too fast to see. Twilight whirled around to follow their path through the sky, where she saw them slow down slightly, turning in a mild circular orbit around each other.

Now that they were moving a bit more slowly, Twilight could see that the two aircraft had different emblems of some kind on the wings: the one in front had something that looked like a triangle, and the one chasing it had a circle of some kind.

Suddenly, the pursuing aircraft started firing some sort of weapon at the other, which made a rather loud buzzing sound that Twilight didn't understand, though she saw small sparks leap off the other plane.

The craft then fired a projectile, which was launched from the underside of its body, which flew straight at the other craft. It managed to avoid it, though, and when it hit the ground instead, Twilight jumped as the sound of an explosion reached her ears.

Now aware that, whatever was going on, this was incredibly dangerous, Twilight moved to a nearby vehicle (a car, if she remembered right) and took cover as she continued watching the aerial battle.

The two aircraft began to climb high into the sky, where the chasing craft once again fired a missile. This time, it connected, and the fleeing plane was engulfed into a large fireball as it exploded.

Twilight could only watch, dumbstruck, as the now-destroyed craft fell back down to the ground, where it impacted right into the front of the high school.

The other aircraft circled around, likely confirming the kill, and Twilight suddenly realized that the reason today was so dark was because there was smoke in the air.

Faced with this realization, along with the scene she just witnessed, Twilight started panicking, and ran.

She didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she had to run. Whatever was going on, people were actually getting killed- and she didn't want to join them.

As she ran, she heard the sound of distant explosions, along with a number of unfamiliar cracks. These sounds barely processed, however, as more aircraft flew overhead. Unlike the other two she saw, these seemed to be focusing on the ground, as they launched their missiles at various buildings that were out of her sight.

Twilight started running down different side streets and alleyways, but she had no idea where she was even going. To her fear-stricken mind, the only thing she could do was run.

Eventually, as she came across a group of mostly destroyed buildings, she swore she heard voices coming from inside one of them, which was right next to a stadium of some kind. In her panic, Twilight blindly advanced towards the voices.

As she got around the destroyed husk of the building, she froze as she spotted a rather large group of what looked like soldiers, all of whom were carrying weapons of some kind, though only a few of them actually held them in their hands. As she looked, she also noticed that they had the same triangular emblem that the downed craft from earlier had.

Her small gasp of surprise was noticed, even over the sounds of battle filling the city, and the soldiers whirled around to face her, weapons at the ready. However, they lowered them just as quickly upon seeing her.

"It's a civvie!" one of them from the back said.

"Wait, I thought they were already evacuated?" another added.

One of the soldiers started to approach her, weapon put away, and despite feeling an overwhelming urge to run, Twilight couldn't bring herself to move.

She could see the soldier's faces clearly now, or at least what wasn't covered by masks that some of them wore, but she didn't spot any familiar faces.

"Come on, we'll get you to safety," the one walking up to her said, and he put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the gathering. Twilight just let him, still in shock over everything that was happening.

Meanwhile, she could overhear another conversation taking place nearby.

"We need a medevac, we got wounded men and a civilian here that need immediate exfil!"

She could hear a slightly garbled voice talk over a device mounted on their helmet, but she couldn't make out what exactly was being said.

"We got Eruseans all over the airspace, and the only transport we got is a gunship! We'll be shot to pieces!"

More static came in from their devices.

The soldier swore loudly. "Alright, but we need someone to cover us from the enemy air support! Send me whoever's closest, ASAP!"

By now, Twilight had been led into the actual stadium, where another aircraft of some kind, with blades on its roof, was setting on the grass, surrounded by a number of other soldiers. They were loading other soldiers, who had wounds of varying severity, into the craft. When the soldier leading her brought her to the entrance to the craft, he pointed her to a place where she could sit. Wordlessly, she did so, and shortly after she was given a blanket to drape over herself. She wasn't cold in the slightest, but she took it, anyway.

The soldier left her after that, and soon after another came in. This one had a red cross on his helmet.

She shied away slightly when he approached, but he held up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm just gonna make sure you're alright. Any injuries?"

Despite the confusion and panic still flooding her system, Twilight shook her head.

"Alright, that's good. Listen, we'll take you back to base with us, then we'll get this all sorted out."

He started to walk away, and as he did, Twilight overheard him talking into his earpiece. "No injuries, seems like she's suffering pretty heavy shock, though..."

The sound of more aircraft flying by overhead made her jump, and apparently the other soldiers felt the same way. Her seat was next to a simple window, where she could see the soldiers scrambling to load up the craft with more wounded, though there wasn't much left.

As soon as the last one was on board, she heard the craft start up, and she couldn't help but shiver as the engines started roaring to life, and the blades overhead started spinning, loudly chopping the air as they gained speed.

From what she assumed to be the cockpit, she could overhear more voices.

"Command, what's the ETA on that air support?"

"Friendly aircraft en route, should be there any minute now."

"Look out, enemy chopper coming towards the stadium!"

Nearly everything they said was lost on the former princess, but she understood that, whatever a chopper was, an enemy one was approaching.

Turning to look out her window again, she saw the soldiers scrambling to cover, and soon after, the ominous shape of another aircraft, very similar to the one she was in, appeared over the edge of the stadium. It started to hover in place, before turning to face her, and the craft she was in.

Suddenly, a missile slammed into the flying vehicle, knocking it to the ground in a ball of fire. Just a second later, another aircraft zoomed into view, circling back around the downed craft.

She spotted that same triangle emblem on its wings, along with an oddly familiar symbol on its tail fin...

Back in the cockpit, she overheard the voices on the radio continue. "This is Storm 1, at your service!"

"Thanks, Storm 1, now keep us covered! We got a civvie on board!"

Twilight's eyes widened. That voice over the radio... It couldn't be, could it?

She almost fell out of her seat as the craft suddenly lifted from the ground, and kept ascending. She saw the city fall out of view out her window, and she couldn't help but gape at the sight.

Large amounts of the city were either on fire, or in ruins. She could see a large amount of aircraft flying over it in the distance, and occasional explosion going off below them.

She was caught in the middle of a full scale war.

Now, Twilight was no stranger to the idea of war- in history, Equestria had fought a few, after all- but this was something almost entirely different.

As she watched, the craft she was in started moving forward, drawing the view of the city across the window. The friendly aircraft drifted into view, where Twilight got a better look at the logo on the tail.

It was a picture of a cloud, with a lightning bolt coming out of it.

Shocked, she looked at the cockpit of the craft. At this distance, she could see that there was someone inside, but the most she could tell was that they were wearing a full face mask, along with a flight suit, hiding any details that could tell the identity of the person.

As she watched, the other craft suddenly banked away, revealing the missiles ready on its underside.

"Got three bandits closing in on your 6 o' clock, moving to intercept."

"Copy that, Storm 1."

By now, they were out of sight, and Twilight flinched as she heard the sounds of distant explosions coming from far off.

"That's two down, last one's making a run for it!"

Suddenly, another craft came into view, followed closely by the friendly one. The two twisted around each other, just like she saw when she first arrived here, until a missile launched from the friendly craft.

"Fox two, fox two!"

The missile collided with the enemy, making it explode into a shower of fire and metal. The allied craft flew through the wreckage, before righting itself again and coming to a cruise alongside the craft Twilight was in.

"Got no more enemy contacts on radar, good work Storm 1."

"Hey, once we get back to base, I wanna meet that civ you picked up, alright?"

"Roger that."

The rest of the flight was uneventful, which suited Twilight just fine. Her mind was abuzz with recent realizations, anyway.

At some point, she must've nodded off, because she was shook awake by the craft halting it's forward flight, and it was no longer daylight outside. The other craft seemed to have gone, too.

The craft came to a shuddering halt as it landed on the ground, and Twilight was somewhat relieved at the sound of the engines turning off.

The back of the craft opened up, and suddenly Twilight was surrounded by activity, as soldiers started getting the wounded out as fast as they could. She was also escorted out, and sent to what looked like a hospital waiting room, but with almost no decor of any kind.

"Stay here, we'll bring someone in to check on you," the soldier escorting her said. She nodded, and he left, probably to help with something else.

As the panic from earlier started to die down, it was replaced with incredible amounts of worry. Just what exactly was going on? Where was she? Would she be able to get back to Equestria?

What about her friends here?

Well, the rest of them, at least; as much as she didn't want to think about it, she more or less knew where one of them was.

The door to the room opened, making Twilight jump. "Alright, let me just get your name and everything, and we'll see about getting you back to-"

The voice suddenly stopped, as its owner stared wide-eyed at Twilight. She did the same, because she finally found a familiar face.

"Sunset Shimmer?"

"Twilight?"

Author's Note

I really need to get better at teasing my stories.

Reunion

Author's Note

Yo, Fimfic... still alive?

Reunion

The two stared at each other for a time, too shocked to do anything. Twilight found herself looking over her friend in shock.

Sunset was wearing military fatigues similar to the rest of the soldiers had worn, but hers looked less suited for actual combat. That same triangle logo was on her shoulders, as well.

Then, Twilight's brain caught up with itself, and she rushed forward, grabbing Sunset into a tight hug.

"I- I was so worried!" she stammered out. "I just- I came here, and... and-"

Sunset returned the hug, silencing her purple friend. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

For a minute or two, they hugged like that, until Twilight finally calmed down, and broke away. "Now, tell me, just what in the world is going on?"

Sunset frowned, and looked away. "Well, it started almost two years ago." She looked back at Twilight. "Pretty soon after you left, actually. Scientists had found out about an asteroid that was on a collision course with the planet. In response, several of the world's brightest minds met here, on the continent of Usea, and developed a defense against the asteroid."

As Twilight gaped, she continued. "Needless to say, it worked- though, not perfectly. The asteroid was blown to pieces, but parts of it still managed to land on the surface, causing a lot of damage to cities.

"This is where most of our problems started."

Sunset sat down in one of the chairs, and Twilight did the same in the adjacent one. "You see, the nearby country of Erusea was hit, albeit not very hard. However, while everyone was taking in refugees and doing their part to help, they eventually stopped, saying that they couldn't afford to house any more refugees.

"In response, several countries put economic sanctions on them, and soon, the Erusean economy had reached a breaking point."

While Sunset paused, Twilight thought over what she had told her. She wanted to say that this 'Erusea' deserved it, but she also felt that they had a decent reason for not continuing helping people, at least.

"Anyway, about a year ago, Erusea started invading countries left and right, shocking everyone. In response, the Independent State Allied Forces- ISAF, for short- mobilized, and tried to stop the advancing Eruseans."

She shook her head. "It wasn't enough, though. The Eruseans took over the weapon that had saved us from the asteroid, Stonehenge, and modified it for war. With it, they were able to knock our planes out of the sky effortlessly, and it wasn't long before we were pushed back to a corner of the continent, North Point."

Twilight frowned at the information. However, a question still managed to make its way to the front of her mind. "What about the others? Are they alright?"

Despite the grim atmosphere, Sunset grinned. "Oh, yeah, they're fine. Actually, I think I could easily arrange for-"

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. "Hey, that civ in here?"

Both girls turned to the source of the intrusion, and saw that is was a certain rainbow-haired girl, still in her flight suit.

Dash and Twilight locked eyes, before the former broke into a genuine smile. "I knew it! Glad to see you again, Twi!"

Her smile fell momentarily. "Well, I at least wish we could've met again under better circumstances, heh."

Part of Twilight's mind noted that Dash sounded a bit more formal than she was used to, likely due to her place in the military now, but that train of thought brought her mind back to another question she had. "You're a soldier?"

"Pilot, not a soldier. Big difference."

"Whatever. You... You've killed people?"

Dash winced. "Well, sure, I guess, but you saw how it was out there, if I didn't shoot them down, they would've gotten me. Or worse, you."

Twilight wanted to continue arguing the point, but she had to admit that she was right.

She jumped slightly as Dash pulled her into a quick hug. "Still, good to see ya again, egghead."

Despite her complaints, Twilight returned the hug, before breaking off. "What about the others?"

"Fluttershy's in the sick bay, tending to the wounded," Dash counted off on her fingers, "Applejack's probably busy in the hangar, Pinkie's in the mess hall, and I think Rarity's with Applejack, too."

Twilight tilted her head. "All of you are here?"

"Yep! Can't keep us separated, you know." She slapped Sunset on the back, who winced, but grinned through it.

A thought occurred to Twilight. "The hangar?"

Dash's face visibly brightened. "Yeah, where they keep all the planes." At Twilight's questioning glance, she continued. "Those flying things you saw out there."

Realizing that was the most she would probably get out of her, Twilight let herself be dragged along by Dash. Sunset, meanwhile, began to split off from them. "I gotta get back to command, I want to run something by them."

Dash nodded, before continuing to almost carry Twilight with her.

Soon, they came to a section of the hallway where there was a door and a large window present, and Dash stopped, before waving her arm at the window.

Twilight looked through, and was amazed by the amount of aircraft she saw inside.

"Those are the 'planes' you mentioned?"

"Planes, jets, fighters, whatever you call 'em, we fly 'em."

She looked at the sheer volume of craft from her slightly elevated position, and was stunned by the amount of mechanical craftsmanship that must've gone into each and every one of them. She spotted Dash's jet, which was being wheeled inside by a technician in a cart of some kind, along with many others, no doubt belonging to the other pilots who were milling about, inspecting their planes, or the others.

Near the back, she spotted an unmistakeable orange form, topped with a stetson, who was standing on the underside of one of the planes.

On the other side of the hangar, she spotted Rarity carefully painting something onto the tail fin of another plane.

"AJ does the more physical work, and Rarity does the fine tuning and the painting," Dash explained. "Normally, though, she just ends up painting the squadron logos, but sometimes nuggets will try and get her to customize their planes to their sometimes questionable taste."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Nuggets?"

"Newbie pilots." Her demeanor fell slightly. "Which, the way this war's going so far, we're getting a lot of."

Twilight just nodded in sympathy, as she looked over the specific emblems on the tails of the fighters. Some were as simple as a plain character of some alphabet, a number, or a sword, while others were a bit more complex, such as a snake's head, a ribbon, or a bird.

She found that her gaze kept returning to Applejack or Rarity, so she soon decided to head for the door leading into the hangar. Dash stopped her, though.

"Woah, hold on now, civilians aren't allowed in the hangar. Heck, I could probably get in trouble just from showing it to you."

"But-"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you meet the others as soon as I can. In the meantime, you should wait for what Sunset says. She's kinda in charge of any and all civilian things, here."

Reluctantly, Twilight agreed, and followed Dash back the way they came. They arrived back at the room where they first came from, where Sunset was waiting for them, a small smile on her face.

"Good news, Twilight! I was able to convince command that you could help us out around the base!"

"Uh... thanks?"

"You'll basically be helping me with civilian care and logistics, which, honestly, we don't really have to do much of, anymore."

The fact that she might be here for far longer than she originally anticipated suddenly occurred to Twilight. "Sunset, do you still have that notebook? The magic one?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, with everything that was happening, I kinda forgot to write you."

"Don't worry about that, can you get it for me real quick?"

"Um... okay."

Sunset left the two of them alone, before reappearing moments later, holding a notebook and pen. Twilight took it from her and began to write, but then realized that she still had no idea how to write using hands.

Sheepishly, she handed the book and pen back to Sunset. "Think you could help me write a letter?"

Sunset nodded, understanding her intentions, and started writing as Twilight began dictating. Once a letter appropriately explaining both the situation and that Twilight would be gone for far, far longer than expected was written, Sunset ripped it out of the book, where it began swirling into the air before rushing out, through the vents.

"That's gonna take a while to get back to the portal," Dash commented. "Anyway, Sunset, just how exactly did you convince command to let a civ join our ranks?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I miiight have called in a few favors they owed me. And I had to convince them that Twilight was in no way an Erusean spy, and was skilled with certain equipment."

"...skilled with what equipment?"

"Oh, you know, just radar and stuff." At Twilight's blank stare, she continued. "Don't worry, it's actually pretty simple, and I'll walk you through it."

Dash looked between the two. "Oh wow, you got her going up with you in AWACS? I'll be sure to fly extra careful, then."

"An ay-what now?"

"Anyway, Twilight, since you're now technically recruited, let's get you your uniform and to your bed. I bet you're tired, after all that."

Despite her nap in the helicopter, she found that she was actually pretty tired, and couldn't suppress a yawn. Ignoring Dash's smirk, she followed Sunset down the hall. After a few turns, they came into a room with a set of four bunk beds, totaling to eight places to sleep.

"Somehow, the others and I managed to get a whole room in the barracks to ourselves," Sunset explained. "I figure you'd like to sleep here, too."

"Well, of course."

The two shared a laugh, before Sunset reached under one of the beds and pulled out a folded up uniform. "Go ahead and change into this. Don't worry about your other clothes."

Sunset left her alone in the room to change, and after a few minutes, Twilight called out. "I'm done!"

Sunset reentered the room to find Twilight standing there, the fatigues fitting her a bit loosely.

"A bit big, but that shouldn't matter." Sunset checked her watch. "Well, the others should be here soon, if you want to-"

Sunset stopped talking when she looked up and saw that Twilight was already on a bed, sleeping soundly. Smiling weakly, she pulled a blanket over her, before leaving the room and turning off the light.

Twilight had a peaceful, dreamless sleep, but she could feel it slipping away as her consciousness started to return.

Not wanting to wake up just yet, Twilight pulled herself deeper into her pillow, in an attempt to grasp at sleep some more.

Her efforts proved futile, however, as shortly after the intercom in the ceiling squawked on, causing her to yelp and fall off the bed.

"All pilots and airmen, to the situation room. Repeat, all pilots and airmen to the situation room."

Groggily, Twilight looked around, finding the room empty besides herself and Sunset, who looked to already be completely awake. "Come on, sleepy head," she said.

As the past day's events rushed back to her, Twilight let herself be pulled to her feet, before Sunset started hurrying both of them through the halls. Several other people were heading out, too, until they all converged in a large room, which looked almost like a theater of sorts.

At the front of the room, a large amount of monitors showed maps of the surrounding areas, covered in colors and symbols that Twilight couldn't comprehend. Thankfully, no one seemed to be asking much of her, as Sunset simply stood at the back of the crowd, and she did the same.

She couldn't help but notice that one of the larger monitors was currently blank, though she soon saw it flash to life, showing the ISAF logo.

The logo then dissolved into another map of the continent, and a man's voice began talking over the speakers.

"Here is the current sitrep and your orders for deployment, effective immediately. Enemy agents destroyed our early warning radar network, allowing several Bear bombers to penetrate our airspace. In 15 minutes, we expect this bomber formation to strike Allenfort Air Base, and then move on to targets at North Point."

The map zoomed into an island near the northeast corner of the continent, where several red and blue triangles popped up, with several labels running off of them that Twilight couldn't read.

"Our air defense forces are extremely weak at this point in time. Hence our GHQ is a sitting duck. It is mission critical that you destroy the bombers and neutralize the threat before they get past Newfield Island. Remember, you are the first line of defense for North Point, and the fate of ISAF lies in your hands."

The screen flicked off, and one of the soldiers at the front of the crowd turned. "What are you waiting for? Go, go, go!"

The crowd then burst into action as they all hurried to the exit, and Twilight struggled to stick with Sunset. She spotted Dash at one point, but before she could say anything, the running soldiers separated them.

Sunset led Twilight to the hangar, where several planes were being prepped for takeoff, their pilots lowering themselves into the cockpits. Sunset led Twilight to one plane in particular, which had a large black protrusion of some kind on top of it.

In the midst of the growing whine of the engines and the chatter coming from the surrounding pilots and crew, Twilight couldn't hear what Sunset was saying, but judging from her gestures, she wanted her to get inside the plane.

She did so, and after some distance, arrived in a "room" with a pair of monitors and chairs, with instruments attached to both. This area was right next to the cockpit, where she could see the pilot preparing for takeoff.

He looked back and nodded at the two of them. "So, you're the one that Shimmer recruited," he said.

Before Twilight could answer, he turned back around, continuing to flip various switches. "Just make sure you don't get those planes shot down, alright? And Shimmer, she's completely your responsibility."

"Yes, sir."

Twilight gulped, and nodded, realizing too late that he couldn't see her do that, anyway. Sunset walked over to one of the consoles, so Twilight took the other.

Behind them, the ramp they entered on began to lift upwards, until the back half of the craft was closed. Surprisingly, the outside commotion was now almost entirely muffled.

The craft's engines started roaring to life, and Twilight cautiously accepted a headset from Sunset, who showed her the proper way to put it on.

Meanwhile, the screens began to boot up, showing a circle containing several blue triangles, which were moving slowly forward.

The plane lurched as it picked up speed, and Twilight soon found herself leaving the ground again. Behind her, Sunset turned around. "We still have a few minutes before we reach the operation area, so I'll give you a quick crash course on how to work the radar."

Looking at the amount of data shown on the screen, along with the confusing console, Twilight couldn't help but agree.

Just what had she gotten herself into?

Umbrella

Author's Note

Just as a reminder for those unfamiliar with the Ace Combat games: Radio conversations are delivered in colored brackets.
<> are used by friendlies.
<> are used by enemies.
<>, though rarely seen, are used by civilians.
<> are used by wingmen in the games, and will be used for Dash in this story.

Umbrella

The very quick lesson on how the plane's radar systems worked helped slightly, in that Twilight wasn't completely clueless anymore. Sunset had told her little more than the basics, which amounted to viewing different colored triangles on the radar, and occasionally viewing the on-board cameras on the other aircraft, with a smaller view of the radar in the corner.

She was reassured that, unless something went horribly wrong, Twilight wouldn't even have to speak to anyone over the radio, though she was able to if the need presented itself, thanks to the headset she was wearing now. They could also tap into some enemy communications, though it was also likely the same could be done to them.

The pilot, meanwhile, had pretty much sealed himself off in the cockpit, so Twilight could only really hear him over the radio, now.

<<AWACS here. Callsign SkyEye. Do you read?>>

A chorus of affirmatives rang out from the rest of the deployed pilots. Twilight couldn't help but change to Dash's plane's camera, hoping to keep her out of trouble.

Meanwhile, SkyEye continued.

On the radar screen, Twilight noticed a group of new triangles entering the radar range, these colored red.

As Twilight watched, the fighters started to break formation slightly as they approached the targets. Shortly after, a chorus of radio messages rang out.

Once more, SkyEye spoke.

As the friendly fighters got in range of the enemy bombers, the enemy escort craft also broke off, and a set of missiles flying from both sides marked the beginning of the battle.

As Twilight watched, one of the planes made a beeline for one of the bombers, flying almost straight at it. Once it was in range, it fired a pair of missiles, which impacted the front of the bomber, making it explode into flames.

That same plane continued down the line, firing missiles at the bombers, while Dash engaged the escort fighters, along with the others.

Another bomber was knocked out of the air.

Suddenly, as Twilight was watching, an enemy fighter managed to get behind Dash.

Thankfully, she wasn't the only one to notice. <>

As she spoke, a pair of missiles snaked out from the enemy plane, heading right for Dash.

In a feat of flying that Twilight was not expecting, Dash managed to expertly weave around the missiles, before turning to face her pursuer head on. She returned fire with her own missiles, which impacted explosively.

Twilight switched to the plane in question just in time to see it expertly dodge a pair of missiles, while firing its own at yet another bomber. A few bullets ricocheted off of the wings, but the pilot didn't seem to notice or care.

After flying by the downed bomber, the plane known as Mobius diverted slightly to target the fighter that was tailing him, easily sending a pair of missiles into its back.

Acting quickly, the rest of the friendly planes continued to tie up the escort fighters, while Dash and Mobius both started flying towards the last bomber. Once in range, they both fired missiles at the target, which took out the bomber's wings and engines, sending it on a sickening plummet to the ground.

As the escort fighters were mopped up by the rest of the squadron, Twilight let out a small sigh of relief.

She then started hyperventilating slightly. Those people who were just shot down... They likely had lives and worries of their own, and she had just witnessed them get shot down, because they happened to be on the other side of this war.

Just when she felt like she was about to panic, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Sunset giving her a sympathetic gaze.

"Don't worry," she said simply, bringing Twilight into a small hug. "It's ugly business, but it has to be done."

As the planes shifted their course to head back to base, Twilight and Sunset returned to their positions, just as the planes returned to formation. Not a single allied aircraft had been shot down, though in the chaos of the brief battle, she overheard a few reporting taking damage.

Silence was Dash's only answer as they all flew back to base.

Twilight couldn't help but notice that, throughout the whole battle, Mobius hadn't said a word; SkyEye had essentially spoken for them whenever he needed to.

She'd be sure to ask about that once they were back at base.

A small bout of laughing came through over the radio, and Twilight couldn't help but join in.

Even if she was still appalled by this war business, it almost felt like they were all just one big family of sorts, and were simultaneously watching out for each other while also giving each other grief.

Still, this was just the first step of this war. There was far more to come, later.

Twilight could only hope that she'd keep her friends safe that whole time.

Catching Up

When the plane started pulling into the hangar, Twilight got up from her seat, seeing Sunset do the same. They waited until the craft came to a complete stop, before opening the door and exiting the plane.

The hangar was filled with noise. Jet engines winding down, conversations among pilots, and the sounds of several cockpits lifting open. Twilight spotted Dash as she was getting out of her own plane, and once she got her flight mask off, she waved at them.

Suddenly, Twilight's stomach growled, which thankfully wasn't heard over the cacophony of noise around her.

Sunset seemed to notice her discomfort, however. "Hungry?"

"Well, I never really had any breakfast..." Twilight sheepishly laughed.

"Don't worry, we can get some in the mess hall. We gotta go debrief, first, though."

She started leading her back towards the situation room, a crowd of pilots and others heading the same way. Soon, they once again found themselves gathered in front of a set of monitors. Unlike this morning, however, the air was much more lively, filled with excited conversations between the pilots.

Someone stepped up to the front of the room- the base commander, Twilight presumed- and cleared their throat, sending the room into silence.

"We've successfully averted the bomber strike on our base." This got a short round of cheering from the crowd. "Now, don't get too cocky. We gotta follow this victory up with others, so I'll need you all to be sharp for your next sortie."

He smiled. "In other news, I hear one of you rookies already made ace on your first flight."

There was another round of cheering, and Twilight could see Dash smirking at a man who was still wearing his flight mask.

"Now, you know who you are, so I'm not gonna make a celebration of it." He stood up straight. "Alright, dismissed."

With that, the crowd exited the room and went their separate ways. Once Twilight and Sunset reunited with Dash, the three started walking down the hallway, towards the smell of still-mostly-warm food.

The mess hall, despite the name, was actually quite clean. Not only that, but it appeared that the rest of the pilots had eaten earlier that morning before the mission, as the place was completely deserted, save for the three girls.

They walked up to the food counter, and Sunset knocked twice. Soon after, the door leading to the kitchen opened up, and none other than Pinkie Pie strode through.

Twilight almost didn't recognize her, despite her distinctive color and hairstyle. She was wearing the same basic fatigues that everyone else on base wore, though with the addition of an apron. She was already smiling, but it tripled in size when she saw Twilight.

"Heya Twilight!" she said, as she almost leaped clear over the counter to pull her into a hug. Though caught off guard, Twilight quickly reciprocated the motion.

When they broke off from each other, Pinkie immediately began speaking. "Oh man, I got so much to tell you about! But first-" She suddenly raced back into the kitchen, before returning with a set of three trays, filled with generic looking (though good smelling) breakfast food. One of them even lacked any meat products, instead containing only bread and eggs.

"Eat up!" The three gladly accepted the trays, and went to the nearest table to sit down. "I gotta get food out to the last few stragglers," Pinkie continued, "so I'll be with you girls in just a bit!"

She once again went into the kitchen, and the three wasted no time in digging into their food. Twilight noted that it honestly didn't taste any better than the lunch food at Canterlot High, but it still managed to have that signature Pinkie pastry quality, despite not being anywhere close to a pastry.

As a few other soldiers came in to get their own food from Pinkie, Twilight nearly jumped when she felt an arm fall onto her shoulder. "Well, ain't this a nice surprise!"

Twilight turned to come face to face with that familiar stetson. "Good to see you too, Applejack!"

As she joined them at the table, Twilight noted that, despite her uniform, apparently the people in charge were fine with her wearing her usual hat. That, or they simply didn't care enough to make her not wear it.

"How you been, Twi?" she asked, breaking Twilight out of her thoughts.

"Oh, pretty good. Well, besides the whole..." her demeanor fell a bit. "...war."

"Shoot, that ain't your fault," Applejack said. "But I 'preciate you stayin' to help us out."

"Don't tell me you're all getting along without us!"

The four of them turned to see Rarity and Fluttershy walking towards them. While Rarity was in the usual uniform, Fluttershy's was unique in that it had a red cross across the back, which Twilight saw when she sat down next to her.

"Ah was wonderin' when you'd make it here," Applejack said, smirking.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "A lot of the fresher pilots keep trying to get me to paint garish emblems onto their fighters, and then not very subtly hitting on me while I do it."

Dash winced sympathetically, but still laughed.

"So good to see you again, Twilight," Fluttershy beamed, hugging her.

"Good to see you too," Twilight replied, returning the hug.

"Whee! The gang's all here!"

The sudden addition of Pinkie to the table shocked none of them, though it did make Fluttershy jump slightly.

Once they were all settled in, Applejack was the first to speak. "So, Twi, I know you have more than a few questions for us, so shoot."

Twilight was unsure what to say at first, but soon came up with something to start with. "So... why did you all join the military?"

"Better than getting drafted," Dash shrugged.

"Those uncouth Eruseans have to be stopped by someone, in any case," Rarity added.

"And who better than the best flyer in all of ISAF?" Dash said, leaning back in her chair.

Applejack laughed. "Ah dunno, RD, word goin' round is that Mobius fella's better than even you."

Dash snorted. "Beginner's luck."

"Dash, he was flyin' a Phantom, an' he got more splashes than you in your Eagle."

"Maybe I felt like giving the new guy a taste of glory, you know?"

"Suuuure you did, Dashie!" Pinkie said, trying not to break into laughter.

The others didn't do so well, and started chuckling at their friend's expense. Dash just threw her hands up and sighed.

Once the laughing died down, Twilight spoke again. "So, tell me... are wars like this... common?"

Dash quirked an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, wars break out every so often, this time it happened to us. Why?"

Sunset gave her a blank stare. "The last major conflict involving Equestria was nearly a thousand years ago."

"Oh, right, forgot, alternate dimension or something."

"But yes, war is not unheard of here," Rarity spoke. "In fact, if I recall correctly, I believe there was another large war only... ten years ago?"

"Nine," Dash corrected.

"Oh, that's right."

Twilight's eyes widened. "You guys had already seen a war back then?"

"Well, not like this one," Dash clarified. "It was over on Osea, but we still heard plenty about it over here."

Twilight tilted her head. "Osea?"

"Another continent east of our own, Usea," Fluttershy explained.

"But if it was so far away, how did you hear so much about it?"

"TV, for one," Applejack said. "Back then, couldn't go a day without at least some mention of the war."

Twilight paused as she thought. "What was the war about, exactly?"

"It was kinda like the one we're in now, actually," Sunset said. "Apparently, a country known as Belka had started invading its neighbors for resources, almost the same thing Erusea is doing now."

Twilight thought over this. "So how did the war end?"

"Belka got their butts kicked, that's what," Dash boasted, as if she was personally responsible for it. "Just when it looked like they were gonna win, boom! Everyone else teams up, and pushes Belka back to their country, then follows them in!"

"And then they surrendered?"

Dash's boisterous attitude faltered, and the others looked a bit uneasy.

This concerned Twilight. "Girls...?"

"Belka detonated six nuclear bombs on their own land in an attempt to stop the advancing armies," Fluttershy said, her voice unusually calm as she stared into the distance. "After that, a ceasefire was quickly enacted, and Belka was defeated."

"Nuclear bombs?"

"Twilight, you know what a supernova is, right?" Sunset asked.

She nodded. "A massive, immensely powerful explosion triggered by a dying star."

"Imagine that, but held within a single bomb, which can be dropped or used almost anywhere. Six times. On their own cities."

Twilight thought about it, and a horrified expression grew on her face. "B- But... That's...!"

"Absolutely dreadful, I agree," Rarity finished for her. "But, that is the past, and as terrible as it is, it ensured that no one would ever again let a war get that far."

Despite the suddenly solemn air, Twilight couldn't help but keep asking questions. "It sounds like the war really affected all of you, even if it wasn't close."

"It helps that they had family involved in the war," Sunset added.

Twilight's eyes widened. "You did?"

Rarity nodded. "We all had some family who wanted to go over and help with the war effort."

"Except me," Applejack said. "But not for lack of tryin'. Pa's eyesight was just too bad for th' Osean military to accept him, so he helped with a project to send care packages to th' soldiers from here, instead."

"My dad was a pilot in a bomber squadron," Pinkie said, her usual self noticeably slightly deflated. "He says that the war wasn't too bad, but whenever a documentary or something mentions some place called 'Hoffnung,' he gets real quiet."

A few thoughtful murmurs were traded throughout the group. Soon, though, Twilight's eyes fell on Fluttershy.

"Even you had family go to war, Fluttershy?" she asked.

"This I wanna hear," Dash added. "Because I've met your dad, Shy, and I know he's not the kinda guy to go help out in a war overseas."

"It was... my uncle," Fluttershy continued. "And you're right about my dad, but my uncle... he was a little more action-focused. He served as a pilot during the war, and even found a girlfriend for himself."

Rarity giggled. "Oh, how romantic. Even on the battlefield, love can bloom!"

Fluttershy's eyes cast down. "Unfortunately, he was shot down before he could propose to her."

"Oh..." Rarity put an arm around her friend. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy."

"It's okay. That was... a while ago." The rest could see her eyes starting to slightly tear up, though she fought them back.

The conversation drifted into silence after that, until Sunset awkwardly coughed. "So, Rarity, what about you?"

"Oh, right..." She sat up straight, almost as if addressing a classroom. "My father served in a tank battalion during the Belkan War."

Applejack couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, but I didn't expect anyone related to Rarity of all people to be doing something so 'uncouth'," she finished with an imitation of Rarity's voice, getting a laugh from the others.

"Oh ha ha, Applejack. Regardless, he earned a few medals, and he even fought during the Battle of Directus."

"Isn't that the capital of Ustio?" Dash asked.

"The very same." A strange look entered her face. "Actually, I remember something he told me about that battle... He remembered being saved from enemy aircraft by a friendly squadron, and then near the end of the battle he saw those same fighters dueling with a pair of enemy aces. He couldn't get a good look, but he swore that one of them was a blue-winged Eagle."

Applejack snorted. "Oh really, now?"

"That is what he told me. He also said that he was convinced that same Eagle was none other than him, as well."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "You don't really believe that 'Demon Lord' nonsense, do ya, Rares?" she asked. "That's just one o' them battlefield fables!"

Pinkie twitched slightly, but it went unnoticed by the others.

Rarity huffed. "I am not saying anything on the matter, I am just telling you what my father said."

Once again, the table drifted into silence, before all eyes fell on Dash. "What?"

"Well, you're the ace pilot here," Applejack started. "Surely you have someone in th' family who did the same back then."

Dash shrugged. "My dad was a pilot during the war."

There was a pause. "That's it?"

"That's all he says about it," Dash continued. "I always guessed he had some bad memories, so I never pushed the issue."

Before another topic of conversation could come up, Applejack looked at the clock, before shooting up to her feet. "Ah, hell, I gotta get back to the hangar now. Later, y'all!"

A series of farewells met her as she left the mess hall, followed by Rarity also getting up. "I suppose that is my cue to leave, as well. Ciao, darlings!"

Soon after she left, Fluttershy also took her leave, saying that some of the people in the sick bay might need some help.

Pinkie was the next to leave, since she had to start making lunch for the whole base soon. Once again, the only people in the room were Twilight, Sunset, and Dash, now-empty trays in front of them.

"So, I was wondering, how did you all get caught up in this, anyway?" Twilight asked.

Dash shrugged. "Erusea started getting all aggressive a little bit after we graduated. I was the first one to sign up to join ISAF, and it didn't take long for the others to follow."

As Twilight let out a thoughtful hum, Dash got up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go swing by the hangar, too. Heck, I wonder if I can catch that Mobius guy." She waved behind her as she left. "Later!"

Twilight and Sunset said their own goodbyes, before turning to each other. "Don't worry too much about her," Sunset finally said, "she can handle herself. You saw that for yourself today."

"I know, it's just... well, this is war. I can't help but feel worried for my friends."

Sunset nodded sympathetically. "I understand. But we're gonna survive this." She pulled Twilight into a brief hug. "All of us."

As Twilight accepted the gesture, she could only hope that she was right.

Harvest

The next month was mostly uneventful. Dash would be sent out on sorties every once in a while, but they amounted to little more than what she called "milk runs". Twilight made sure to keep her friends back in Equestria updated on her status every few days, and was even able to get a couple letters back from Princess Celestia, saying that even though they were worried about her, they had faith she would pull through.

Of course, there had to be a larger sortie at some point, which was why, one day, Twilight once again found herself sitting next to Sunset in the AWACS plane. This time, they were flying out to Rigley Air Base, where a large amount of Erusean bombers were spotted. Wanting to prevent another bombing attack before it even started, fighters were deployed.

Looking out her window, Twilight could see the actually rather small number of planes deployed on this mission. Besides Dash, there were only three other planes, one of which was none other than Mobius 1.

The whole month leading up to this left nothing but questions surrounding his nature. None of the others had seen him outside of his flight suit, so they had no idea what he looked like. Apparently, no one else around the base had, either- or if they did, they weren't talking.

These thoughts swirled around Twilight's head as she got a clear look at his iconic ribbon insignia, before she was shook out of it by SkyEye's voice.

<<Thirty miles to Rigley Air Base. Use the power lines to navigate north. The bombers should be clumped together on the ground. Take them all out!>>

As soon as he was done talking, the four fighters fell out of formation, Dash and Mobius leading the way. Notably, the latter was flying rather close to the ground, while the former was higher in the sky. The remaining two planes took up similar positions behind them.

As the aircraft traced along the power lines, a building came into view some distance away. Shortly after, a pair of red blips appeared on the radar just ahead of them.

As Mobius launched a single missile into the building, Dash engaged the two fighters head-on.

By now, Dash had already taken out one of the planes with a pair of missiles, and the other one was soon following it to the ground.

By now, they had reached the base, where Twilight could see several large planes waiting on the ground, as well as more than a few guns starting to aim towards the advancing planes. Both Mobius and Dash began firing missiles at whatever target was closest, the first run devastating the base, turning several bombers and hangars into smoking wrecks.

Some more enemy fighters managed to get off the ground, but Mobius was quick to react, taking one out before it even started to climb.

Meanwhile, Dash came in for a second pass at the base, taking out even more bombers. A round from an AA gun hit her wing, but she easily shook it off and returned fire.

Another enemy fighter fell to Mobius, which also happened to crash into another plane that was trying to take off, engulfing both in a fireball.

The enemy was cut off as one of Dash's missiles hit the control tower, replacing it with static.

Once more, Dash and Mobius started to fly just above the base, launching missiles at any bombers that were left.

Dash fell into pursuit behind the enemy craft, firing a pair of missiles. However, he shook them off, continuing to chase Mobius, who was starting to perform a somersault in order to lose the enemy.

Dash stayed close, waiting for her radar to lock on. <>

The moment she was locked on, Dash fired another pair of missiles.

Once more, the enemy shook them off, but was soon impacted by another set of missiles. Dash's pursuit gave Mobius an opening to turn the tables on his pursuer. Soon after, he swooped back down over the base, launching missiles at the last two bombers left.

All at once, the ISAF fighters started to fly back the way they came, free of any enemy pursuits.

<<...>>

The planes flew towards the sunset, the pilots eager to begin turning the tables on the Eruseans. Even Twilight found herself somewhat glad that they were starting to make a comeback, though she attributed that to the fact that they were on her friends' side.

Behind her, Sunset let out a sigh. Twilight took off her headset and turned to her friend. "Is something wrong, Sunset?"

"It's just... I dunno, it just feels like this war's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, you know?"

Twilight couldn't help but agree, but she tried to hide it. "Don't worry, I have faith in our friends, especially Dash."

"Yeah, you're right, but still... it's just a feeling, you know?"

"I understand, Sunset," Twilight said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But trust me, I'll do everything I can to make sure all of us survives this. You have my word on that."

Author's Note

I'm starting to realize that Ace Combat 4 has some of the weakest opening missions in the series.

Early Bird

After the operation at Rigley, there was a whirlwind of activity in a short span of time. Not even a week after that operation, planes were sent out to destroy a number of radar installations in the mountains. Only a couple weeks later, they were once again scrambled to take out a group of transport planes, and despite the Eruseans using radar jamming aircraft, Dash and Mobius were once again able to steal the show and cement victory.

The two seemed to have a bit of a one-sided rivalry going, Twilight noticed. Though Mobius never said a single word, Dash was quick to either offer friendly challenges before sorties, or compare results afterwards. Word about the two quickly spread not just around the base, but apparently around the rest of the ISAF forces, as well. Mobius in particular was drawing the gazes of dozens of pilots, partly from his skill and partly from his mysterious nature.

Mobius himself, however, was never seen outside of sorties, or at least if he was, no one ever recognized him. Even Rarity, who distinctly remembered painting his now well-known "ribbon" emblem, recalled that whenever she saw him, he was fully masked up and only said a select few words. Not only that, but apparently at some point ISAF command had seen fit to allow him to get a new, more advanced aircraft, as shortly after they downed the transport planes Twilight spotted his emblem on a plane almost identical to the one Dash flew.

It had been about a week and a half since the latest operation, and it was no surprise to Twilight when they were once again deployed, this time in a larger-scale offensive. The target was a refinery and a series of oil rigs: ISAF command hoped to cripple one of the Erusean fleets by preventing them from getting enough fuel out. Naturally, both Dash and Mobius were selected for the job, along with a number of other pilots.

Right after SkyEye issued the orders, the planes did so, Dash leading half of the squadron towards the shore and the refineries located there, while Mobius and his half flew towards the oil rigs.

Mobius sunk a tanker that happened to be in the way, and at the same time Twilight could see small numbers of red triangles approach both halves of the ISAF forces.

Mobius was the first one to make contact with the enemy fighters, as he flew straight at a pair of them and immediately downed one with a set of missiles.

As Mobius flew by the other plane, a friendly repeated his action on the other bogey.

By now, Mobius had reached the first oil rig, and he dropped a pair of bombs at it, taking out an AA gun, a fuel tank, a crane, and the control room.

While Mobius and his half of the forces cleaned up the waters, Dash and her half met little resistance comparatively. The air support was slightly thicker, but she was more than able to keep them tied up while the rest of the pilots dealt with destroying the refineries.

A pair of missiles snaked out from Dash's craft, each one seeking out and destroying a different fighter.

By now, Dash had managed to clear her end of the sky, and assisted in destroying the remaining facilities. At the same time, Mobius evaded a pursuer by nimbly flying through one of the oil rigs, causing his tail to crash into a crane and plummet into the water as a flaming wreck.

Minutes had passed, and whatever resistance the enemy had left was destroyed, leaving the ISAF fighters free reign over the oil facilities. Dash's end of the battle was completely destroyed, so she started flying over towards Mobius, the others following suit.

By this point, more Erusean fighters had shown up, and Mobius broke off from his bombing run to engage them, as Dash took his place.

Before the ISAF fighter could do anything to escape, the pursuing Erusean fired a pair of missiles into his back, bringing him to the water below.

Mobius was quick to avenge them, however, getting close behind the enemy fighter and lighting it up with his machine gun until it exploded.

After that, ISAF suffered no more losses, and the combined strength of Mobius and the rest of the pilots were more than enough to defeat whoever was left in the air.

At the same time, Dash finished up the last oil rig, leaving it a flaming wreck.

Twilight leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. While they had lost a pilot, thankfully no one else was hurt. She had already gotten used to the idea of friendly forces being killed in battle, but it still brought a sick feeling to her stomach. A look over to Sunset confirmed that she felt the same way.

Suddenly, Twilight heard beeping in her headset, and looked back to the radar to see five enemy fighters closing towards them, moving fast.

SkyEye clearly noticed, too. <>

By now, the enemies were in visual sight, and the closest ISAF fighter managed to get a good look at them.

While she wasn't quite sure who these "Yellows" were, the panic in the pilots' voices told Twilight all she needed to know.

The Yellows left formation as they made beelines for whoever was closest. At the same time, all ISAF fighters proceeded to travel full throttle south.

One of them was unlucky enough to get caught within missile lock range, and was quickly taken down, despite his best evasive maneuvers.

<<...understood.>>

Eventually, the ISAF fighters got far enough that the Yellows broke pursuit, and Twilight watched as they lazily circled back around, no doubt heading back to their base.

As they did so, the lead plane stuck out to her, which had a barely-visible "013" painted on the nose. In fact, she almost felt like, for a split second, the pilot had made direct eye contact with her, despite the distance.

A cloud passed between them, and just like that, they were gone, the AWACS and their fighters now well out of radar range.

<>

<<...hmph.>>

The rest of the flight back to base was filled with an uneasy silence.

As they landed back at their runway, the lead pilot couldn't stop thinking about the encounter.

Namely, two of the enemy fighters that were reportedly responsible for the majority of the damage inflicted on the oil facilities.

A storm cloud, and a ribbon...

Hopefully, one of them would prove to finally give him a worthy opponent in the sky.

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Rough Seas

Comberth Harbor was in a state of mild disarray, as almost an entire fleet of ships was stranded, no fuel available to get them running.

The moment hostile aircraft was spotted entering the area, the entire harbor went on alert, scrambling whatever fighters they had, arming defenses, and using what little fuel they had on hand to send a select few ships towards the sea, hopefully to escape the incoming offensive.

As Twilight watched from her seat in the AWACS, she couldn't help but balk at the sheer scale of things. She could see dozens of planes beginning to take off, not to mention the vast amount of ships in the water.

Of course, her fears were somewhat quelled by the matching force of ISAF planes flying alongside her, Dash and Mobius at the front, like usual.

<<Initiate attack. All aircraft cleared to engage any and all targets. Sink the "invincible" Aegir fleet while they're at anchor. Good luck!>>

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Many other ISAF pilots announced their engagements, as Dash swooped down into position to attack the fleeing ships. Mobius followed behind her, staying high to meet any interceptors head on.

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As if in answer to the enemy's boast, Dash sent a group of missiles towards the leading ship.

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The ship's AA guns could only get a small burst out before they were obliterated by the missiles, the ship itself following directly after.

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Dash picked up a tail following her strafing run, but Mobius was quick to shoot it down before it could come anywhere close to getting a lock.

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The offensive continued in this fashion, with most of the planes taking out the ships while Mobius and a few others provided air cover. There were a couple ISAF losses, but they were quickly avenged.

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Once all the ships in the open water were sinking, Dash began to turn around.

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Mobius flew deeper inland, stopping only to take out an occasionally pesky bandit. The rest of the ISAF craft followed behind him, engaging and mopping up anything that he didn't manage to destroy utterly on his own.

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At that moment, Mobius sent a cluster of missiles at the ground, where each one took out a different defense emplacement.

<>

One by one, the anchored ships met explosive ends at the armaments of Mobius 1, and the Erusians fell even more into a panic, doing their best to down the ace, but to no avail.

The closest they came was a single fighter that managed to get behind him, but it was quickly shaken off as Mobius dove between two buildings on the coast, and quickly looped back around just in time to slam a pair of missiles into the fighter head on.

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Just before a previously-hidden SAM site could fully lock on, however, it was decimated by another missile.

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As the harbor started to go up in flames, the action started to slowly move farther inland, Dash leading the way as Mobius took his own chance to get rearmed.

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By now, ISAF forces had reached the fuel tanks, which exploded spectacularly when they were bombed.

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Dash began evasive maneuvers, but did not stray from her bombing run, as she blew up enemy weapon emplacements and ships left and right.

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The fighter tailing Dash managed to get a lock and a missile out, but she was quick to swoop back into the sky, causing the missile to crash into a building instead.

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Dash took this time to begin engaging some of the Erusian air cover, confident that the rest of the ground assault was being covered. This was doubly true once Mobius returned, ready to once again start dishing out missiles.

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The onslaught continued, both sides trading blows, though with ISAF doing far more damage than the Erusians. As was now par for the course, this was largely due to the efforts of Dash and Mobius, who were starting to clean up a group of enemy submarines.

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Eventually, there were no more ships to be sunk, so the remaining ISAF forces started to clear the sky of what was left of the Erusian air support.

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After a couple minutes of dogfighting, only a handful of Erusian fighters were left, all of which turned tail and retreated towards the mainland. Mobius gave a parting shot to the slowest one, and was able to take down one more bogey, but the rest managed to slip away.

<>

All at once, the radio came alive with pilots letting out congratulatory whoops, hollers, and other such merriment. Twilight wanted to say she would've joined in, but she found her gaze constantly drifting to the destruction just out her window, marked by tall plumes of smoke from the burning fuel and ships.

She was convinced that they were doing this for the right reasons... but was this really the only way?

<>

Just as she was ruminating on this, and as the remaining ISAF planes fell back into formation, one of the pilots started singing what sounded like some sort of national anthem over the radio. It wasn't long before the others joined in, even Dash, and Twilight simply grew more puzzled. Here were the pilots, singing about justice and freedom, and yet she could still see evidence of the war painting the ground and water below, as fire engulfed the coastline.

"Hey, Sunset?" she asked. "How... how do you deal with all..." She gestured outside. "This?"

Sunset let out a sigh as she took her headset off. "Truth be told, I'm not so sure myself. I think..." Suddenly, she winced. "This is going to sound terrible, but... I think it's because war is a bit easier to deal with from up here."

Twilight had no answer to that, so Sunset kept talking. "Don't worry, once this war is over and done with, I'll do everything I can to keep things peaceful from here on. Hopefully, everyone else will, too."

"...thanks, Sunset." The two shared a small hug, but Twilight's heart was still a bit heavy.

It never really was that easy, was it?

Author's Note

Reminder that Ace Combat 7 is coming and it involves Erusia and Osea and I'm calling it now a corrupt ISAF will be the real villains and Mobius 1 will be the final boss.

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