A Night Guard's Duty (Re-Revised)
A Night Guard's Duty
I am Elita "Ellie" Fang, the Equestrian Defensive Fleet's top flyer and Commander Air Group of the frigate Ingus. I've had a long and successful career in the Second Griffin War, and risen through the ranks of Lieutenant, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and Lieutenant Commander. I wasn't always this, though. This is my story.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
Canterlot Docks on Fleet Days was always extremely crowded. Proud parents and sad children sent off their parents and friends to combat, but one single drab blue bat pony mare was the exception. She took of her officer's cap and brushed her grey mane, then returned the cap on top of her head.
She radiated a feeling of self confidence, but not in a bad way. The mare walked up the gangplank to the ship alone, brushing past other flyers and crew members.
"Are you Lieutenant Elita Fang?" The yellow earth pony held up a hoof.
"Yes, but just call me Elita. Fang...eh..."
"Oh, lovely! I'm your deck chief, Hoofy. Dear Celestia, all my fellow Deck Cheifs will all be so jealous! Elita Fang, the legend of the Academy!"
"Joy..." She went below decks, and with a long sigh, she plopped down onto a bench. The ferry boat jolted from the push off, and it nosed its way out of the harbor. "Bye, everypony...." She simply whispered.
Hoofy came down later and took out a small square device, pressing buttons.
"What's that?"
"Super Celestia Sis'. Built this myself."
"What's with the mushrooms?"
"They're based off of the Southern Swamp Toadstool Mushroom. It makes you gain an extra life in the game, but in real life, it makes you better at what you're good at. For example, if you ate one, the griffins are going to have a bad day."
The flyer gave a nod in understanding.
After several minutes, a white pegasus day guard holding a spear plopped next to her.
"Hey. You want action?" He asked. She nodded excitedly. "She'll give you action."
Youtube Video
As the gunboat Viper flew around Foal Mountain, the Ignus came into view. A massive, 600 meter frigate of the Equestrian Defensive Fleet, the Ignus was capable of outdoing what the Griffin man'o'wars could do. It was faster, used a stronger and yet lighter wood, had fifty pounder guns (the largest used on the griffin ships were twenty pounders), and she was spanking new.
The Griffin ships had just engaged the zebras; they were beaten badly, and their Griffin Pine Wood structures were weak and ready to collapse.
Sadly, that was only a theory. The Griffins had been handing the Equestrian's asses to them on crystal platters over and over for the last four years.
The gunboat E.D.F. Viper docked with the massive frigate, and allowed the ponies board the ship.
"Lieutenant, the skipper wants to meet you." A deck chief said.
"Wow. I knew I was good, but-just wow." Elita muttered as she went off to find the captain in the massive ship.
"Lieutenant Elita Fang reporting for duty, sir!"
An old pony turned around. He was a sky grey pony, with a white beard and graying mane. "Ah...good to see you, Elita. I want to discuss your flight status."
"Sir, with all due respect, I believe that I am fit for immediate combat."
"You're a cocky son of a bitch, aren't you?" He asked with a critical gaze. "Meet me at the briefing room at 0500 tomorrow. Don't be late."
She saluted, then headed back down to her cabin.
The first thing Elita noticed in the cabin was how spacious it was compared to the standard pony'o'wars she had trained on. There was no privacy on those flying death-traps; they also were powered by sails, requiring ponies to work on 20 hour shifts.
The second thing she noticed was the cheerful music.
Youtube Video
She groaned, and smashed the radio/clock.
"Hey! My favorite song was on!" Another bat pony mare with a slightly darker coat and a green mane looked up. Her wall was filled with Wonderbolt posters.
"Too bad. It's called life." She hopped onto her side of bed, and began to unpack the bag Hoofy had already brought up for her.
"Oh...sorry. Introductions are never my thing...name's Voodoo."
Elita said nothing as she put up pictures of the most notable griffin aces.
"So...how about you?"
"Elita."
"No second part?"
"Well, there's "Fang," because my dad opened the dictionary and picked the first word he saw."
"So, you could have been "Elita Bubblegum"?" She tried to joke.
"Shut up."
"Oh...okay..."
Commander Rolling Thunder stood in the flight pod, obviously waiting for something. A golden chariot descended onto the ship, carrying a lavender unicorn. Escorting it was a rainbow maned pegasus wearing gleaming golden armor. It went inside the enclosed runway, and with a muffled thump, the chariot landed. The unicorn hopped out.
"Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"
"Yes, commander. Princess Celestia has briefed me on the nature and danger of the mission."
"We'll give you two a cabin for the night. If your mission is to succeed, you must make haste."
"Very then. I will see you tomorrow."
"Briefing room, briefing room...ah, here." Elita made a right turn, and walked in.
"...but that kind of technology...it would have to be powered by magic..." Rainbow tapped a hoof under her chin.
"It's not magic, that's what they want you to think." Elita said to the pegasus. She then turned to Rolling Thunder. "Permission to barge in, sir?"
"...Granted." He gave the bat pony a deadpan stare, and she returned it with a toothy smile.
Twilight nodded at her, but Rainbow gave a scowl. "A bat pony? Really? All she'll do is suck blood. I mean, that's cool in movies and whatever, but in real life? Count me out."
"...W...wha...?" Elita raised an eyebrow. "Bat ponies feed off of tiny mammals. Only in the most desperate situations do we actually take blood from a sentient creature."
Rainbow opened a mouth to retort, but Twilight managed to defuse the situation. "This coffee...it's amazing."
"Yeah, vanilla and cocoa...my favorite." Rainbow nodded, distracted.
Elita reached for the mug, opened it, and began to chug the black liquid.
"Elita?" Twilight looked up from her mug.
She finished the drink, then set it down.
"Isn't that hot?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, extremely." She folded her hooves behind her head, and for the rest of the meeting, Rainbow didn't let out a single comment about the bat pony sitting across her.
Elita groaned as she saw the ponies she was supposed to lead. Three of them were wearing their heavy escort armor wrong, the last didn't even bother with putting on his weapons.
"Them? Is this some sick joke?" Elita groaned.
The nerdiest one looked up at her, then turned to Thunder. "Sir? Permission to beat the crap out of this mare?"
"Most definitely NOT granted." He turned to Elita to speak, but was cut off.
"How is it that you always manage to come up with the worst case scenarios for me?"
"I practice." He calmly said.
"Ah, buck me."
Elita led the escort formation half a kilometer above the chariot. They followed the chariot, soon coming across an Equestrian Offensive Fleet Brig-sloop-of-war.
As the neared, she read the name: E.O.F. Wraith. Brig-sloop-of-wars were slow, maneuverable, and only rated at 20 short barreled six pounder cannons.
They landed softly on the deck of the ship, and Elita immediately took note of the constant, very noticeable rocking of the ship. She grinned.
"You lot. As per my orders, you-"
A loud clanging suddenly sounded out, cutting the mare off. A metallic grey unicorn stallion with a leather black mane came hopping onto the deck, a bucket stuck a hind hoof.
"Bucking-geroff! I don't even-"
Twilight sighed, and tapped her horn.
"Ah thanks." He lowered his head to his hoof, and tried to use his horn to use it to pry the bucket off.
"Use your magic, you idiot."
"Oh." The bucket menace finally released from the poor chap. "Name's Deloran, by the way. Yes, it's supposed to be spelled "D-E-L-O-R-A-N" to the readers. I'm not the time travelers."
"Huh?"
"Get on the chariot. No time for explanations."
Youtube Video
The formation held once again.
In a loud bang, the left guard pulling the chariot exploded in a spray of red. The griffin anti-flyer gun had hit it's mark.
The chariot began to roll away from the escort. The escorts were still flying straight, too confused to process the scenario. This when eight elite Griffins jumped them.
Elita, who was literally trained to make millisecond decisions, did a split-s, forcing the Griffins to overshoot. The Griffins, therefore, changed their attack to Rainbow.
She watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her eyes closed, and she remembered back what happened in Manehattan.
Halberd lifted Elita up onto his back, giving his tiny foal a better view of the parade. Proud lines of white and grey day guards marched along Broadroad Avenue.
"I was once one of them, Elita."
"You were, daddy? Why did you quit?" She asked in a squeaky voice.
"Well, I technically didn't quit. You see, the reason I left the fleet was because of you."
"Aww...So it's my fault that you aren't a soldier?"
"Nonononono...you were the best thing that could have happened to me and your mother."
Elita was about to answer, but screams cut her off. Bat ponies were running from masked ponies. Halberd was knocked over, and Elita went flying.
"Daddy! You're bleeding!"
"I ain't got the time to bleed." He stood up, and began to try to defend her. The Day Guard, being the incompetent nincompoops they were, did a "tactical retreat."
One of the gangsters raised a knife over her. She drew into a tiny ball, and prayed to the moon that it would end quickly. Instead, she heard a low grunt and she peeked slightly.
Halberd was a mess. The knife had hit him squarely in the face.
"Elita...I want to tell you that I love you...Look, go save our species...and tell your mom, I'll always love her..."
Elita recovered from the memory. The griffins were nearly in firing range, and there was no way she was going to let Rainbow get killed (even though she hated the pegasus with a passion).
She pulled back up, losing a dangerous amount of speed. She gained a position over the Griffin's apex, and dove down on the leader. With a squish, the hoof-blades plunged into the soldier's back and came out his chest. The other Griffins gave a surprised yelp, but before they could react, Elita was already pulling back up.
Rainbow took advantage of the Griffin's serious mistake; they didn't notice her as they whooshed past her. She threw a knife into one of the Griffin's head. It plunged in with a crack.
The final one finally woke up. He began to weave and jinx.
Elita wasn't about to let her kill get away. She dove in on him, slowed down to his speed, and began to turn fight him. She slowly gained on him, until she could see every little detail of the disgusting bird. He was chomping on a cigar, had a white head and black body, and seemed to be scared shitless.
She pulled alongside him. After thinking for a second, she wiggled her wings, then broke off.
Twilight, Deloran, Rainbow, and the day guard sat together in a clearing. Well, not the day guard. The crash landing had knocked him out.
"She gonna come or what?"
"You're gonna say "If she doesn't come in ten seconds flat, we're leaving her," are you?" Twilight muttered. She had several twigs sticking out of her hair.
"Well..." Deloran looked up at the nearly arguing mares. "Um, can we please not fight?"
"I'm back." Elita landed and stretched, revealing some light nicks, but nothing too serious.
"Elita, look scary and take point."
After trekking through the forest for several hours, the little group found a cave to stay inside of. Elita, the most trained out of the group, built some makeshift beds for the lot.
"This tastes like chicken." She sniffed her C-rations.
"So what's wrong with it?" Rainbow asked.
"It's macaroni and cheese."
There was an awkward pause, and crickets began to chirp.
"Princess Celestia said this was everything." Twilight finally spoke.
"Oh, please! Princess Celestia's lost entire countries!"
"Lieutenant, Equestria is not in the business of interfering in other pony's affairs!" Twilight yelled.
"Since when?" Delorean raised an eyebrow.
Another pause.
"Now, I suppose this is the time for me to say something profound...Nothing comes to mind." He muttered.
The day guard came back with his C-rations. "What just happened?"
"Apparently, we said hello, insulted each other, and broke for recess." Elita looked up. "What's your name, anyways?"
"Sunbeam. Met you on the Viper, remember?"
"Ah." She paused for a second. "Are you related to Blueblood?"
"I'm his son."
"..." He received a buck to his face.
"Oh my. There is a distinct lack of optimism in this room." Deloran tried to keep things going.
"Appearances may be deceiving." Twilight quickly countered.
"One pony's ceiling is another pony's floor." Rainbow grinned at being able to contribute to the conversation.
"A fool's paradise is a wise pony's hell." Sunbeam sighed.
"Never run with...scissors?" Elita winced mentally.
And yet another awkward pause.
"It's time for Plan B."
"We have a Plan B?"
"No, but it's time for one."
Twilight followed Elita into the depths of the cave. She looked at the bat pony's cutie mark.
"Care to tell me the story of your mark?"
"Well, I got it after the Manehattan incident."
"You mean when-"
"Yes, after those gangsters murdered all those bat ponies across the city."
"Oh...touchy subject, eh?"
"Well, my dad got killed in that whole riot. No, I "don't" think it's a touchy issue. Oh, and I'm doing air quotes because its scarcasm" The pain in her voice was deep.
"What does it mean...?" Twilight asked timidly.
Elita answered with a sigh. "Wasps and other of the like are considered to be sacred, and that they bring souls into the underworld in Saddle Arabia."
"So, it means that you kill?"
"It means that I kill those who dare harm those I love."
"So how many gangsters you killed?"
"I chucked a brick at one. Then the wasp ended on my flank."
"I know some cultures that the bee means immortality."
"I highly doubt I will become an alicorn."
They continued their journey in silence. They soon reached a large, dome shaped room.
"What's this writing?"
"It's Old Equestrian. I shall translate it for you." *Ahem* "...Everything was the beginning before the beginning...the base inside of a pinnacle...the flower that goes through it's parent and it's child..." Twilight read. "...she will have vengeance and push everything into paste into strings into paste again and only she uses time to make time to make time to make time...and when she stops time is an illusion that we create at free will....Six Battles, and yet we are countless in the bodies we dwell in...our parents and most infinite children in perfect copies...the makers before the makers fall before the child...love outlasts death...what never was was never again...everything has happened before..."
"Oh dear. Prophecies." She turned around and pushed a lever... "Wonder what this does?" ...and making the five mile radius have a 4.3 scale earthquake.
"ELITA! What did you do?"
"No bucking idea. I think we should just get back to the others..."
"...before we get trapped in here." Twilight finished.
The two ponies got back to the cave entrance.
"Wow." Was all Elita could say. On the horizon, on the other side of the valley, lay a massive metal behemoth. "We need to get there now!"
"That's not our mission!"
"So? We need to extract that technology!"
"That's it, get out! OUT!" Rainbow bucked Elita out of the cave.
*bang bang roll roll roll crack bang zing pow roll roll smash bash ting boom*
Elita shrugged. At least she only had to worry about getting to the Ignus now.
*tinkle*
Twilight gave a horrified look at Rainbow. "Rainbow, you just booted out our biggest escort!"
"Hey, you got me and Sunbeam."
"Sorry, but that's not enough."
"What? But I'm the fastest Pegasus in Equestria!"
"But you're not the most trained."
"Screw you."
"U.S.S. Proteus, AC-9. Wonder what that means." Elita muttered under her breath as she flew around the strange metal machine. The bat pony landed on what she presumed to be the deck. "Hello?" The mare mentally facehooved. Why did I do that? Did I already forget basic training?
"Was zum?"
"Shit." She cursed, then, almost as if it was an afterthought, took out her knife. As she rounded the corner, she saw the two griffins, backs to her. "Here goes..." Pressing the blunt edge of her knife into the back of one of the griffin's neck, she yelled, "Don't move, or I'll kill your friend!" in Griffin. One of the several phrases she was taught in basic training.
"What did you say?" The griffin asked in...Equestrian?
"Uh..."
The bird took out it's gun and pointed it at Elita. "You kill him, you get this-" The bat pony kicked it out of his grip.
"Drhalten verstärkungen jetzt!" The other screamed. The mare slit his throat.
"Griffins to my position no-" He didn't finish. Several screeches sounded out above them. "They're already here." He smiled.
Well, today isn't my lucky day, now is it? Elita made a run for the forest line, griffins pounding on the strange metal deck of the alien ship where she stood moments before.
"Halt!"
"No!"
"Aw...."
Elita began to gain separation, but when she crashed through another bough of a Southern Live Oak tree, she suddenly realized where she was. Southern Swamp. A patch of red and white in the corner of her eye caught her attention.
Youtube Video
Sunbeam, Twilight, Rainbow, and Deloran trotted into the remote radio station in that order.
"This is certainly Griffin in design..."
Deloran took out a Haenel Model 26 .177 Single Shot Pistol. Firing off it's bullet in Twilight's direction, he quickly turned away to run off.
"Twilight!" Rainbow screamed as she saw her friend fall to the ground, wound gushing out blood.
Sunbeam turned around and put the pieces of the puzzle together- "Oh, no you don't!" -and drove his spear through the Griffin double agent. "Never would have seen that coming, a million miles off."
"Yeah, shut up and help Twilight!" Rainbow screamed. "Twilight, speak to me!" She sniffed. "My brave, brave, friend, you should not have died in vain!"
"Uh, I'm not quite dead yet, Rainbow."
"Then, you shall not have been mortally wounded in vain!"
"I think I can pull through, Dash."
Sunbeam just stared.
"No, Twilight, you have to stay here! I'll send help when we get back to friendly lines!"
"No, seriously." The alicorn dug out the bullet using her magic, then casted a healing spell. "See? Good as new."
"Aaaaand...done!" As they smashed the final component, and shook each other's hooves, Sunbeam suddenly realized that they never went to find Elita.
"What about-"
"We need to get to that weird ship thing!" Dash took charge.
"Oh, and you just realized that?" Sunbeam sighed to himself.
They walked through the forest, listening to the birds chirp, the toads croak, and the water in the nearby stream trickle.
"U.S.S. Proteus." Twilight read for the lot. "Weird name."
The group suddenly turned their attention to the left. A platoon of Griffins were running and screaming. "Quick, get to the super weapon!"
"We're a bit busy running, haven't you noticed?!"
Right! Run first, blow up Canterlot later!"
"What the-?" Sunbeam raised an eyebrow. A second later, a twenty foot Elita came into view, lumbering after the Griffins. Rainbow simply whimpered.
"Come on, go after her!" Twilight yelled. Pausing only to send out a radio message to the Ignus, Sunbeam took to the skies.
Rolling Thunder quickly turned his head around. "Get that transcription, read it out!"
"This is the force you sent out, get to the valley and meet us over the big metal ship thing!" Somepony said.
"Send a message to the E.O.F. Constellation, meet us at sector G7, execute!"
Youtube Video
As the little group got to the Proteus, griffins began to pour out from around the corner, and they began to load up their weapons.
"Come on!" Sunbeam ordered. "There's these griffin fire sticks here, everypony, grab one!" The sky began to fill up with yellow blotches as the three ponies tried to hold out.
The griffins that Elita was chasing came out of the forest, but the bat pony didn't appear.
"Where is that flyer?!" Rainbow screamed. "This is everything!"
More and more griffins began to shoot them, but whoever made the ship knew how to manufacture some really good armor; the griffin's shots all deflected.
"Where's the Ignus?!" Sunbeam gritted his teeth. "Rolling Thunder said he would be here twenty minutes ago!"
"Wait, you radioed the Ignus?!" Twilight asked wide eyed.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Well, that's why there's so many damn griffins, you idiot!"
"Shut up and start shooting!" Rainbow chided. "There's not time to fight among ourselves!"
"Right!" The two ponies went back into the brawl.
Numbers, however, were a key factor in any battle. No matter how overpowered one side was, if there was only three up against several hundred, the lesser amount was bound to fall eventually.
Soon, one after another, they ran out of things to shoot. Twilight's magic was depleted, and escape through the skies would have been suicide. They watched as the griffins descended on them. Suddenly, multiple loud bangs cut through the air in rapid succession. Several griffins fell out of the sky.
The Ignus and the Constellation had arrived. Their yellow hulls were ablaze with anti-flyer fire, and, a sight Sunbeam thought he would never forsake again, flyers swarming out of both ship's landing bays. In a matter of minutes, the skies were devoid of any griffins. The Ignus dropped several ropes, and the three began to climb up.
After Elita chased off the griffin platoon
Elita shook off the leaves on her head, then looked around. After the mushroom's effects had worn off, she had fallen unconscious.
"Well, buck." She paused. "A super weapon, hmmm?" The mare thought aloud to what she had eavesdropped in earlier. She turned to a mountain in the distance.
She soon found herself flying as fast as her aerodynamically unclean body would take her. Just above the treetops, her belly was nicked from the branches, and her eyes were set in a determined glow.
Taking a peek back, she noticed a griffin at high altitude, tailing her. It rolled over inverted, then pulled, shooting spectacularly into a high angle dive. He opened his feathers, slowing his decent towards the forest. In seconds, he was nearly in firing range.
But he didn't fire.
As Elita looked closer, she noticed he had a cigar in his mouth, his head feathers where white, and his body was black. Wait a second...
"I won't leave without Elita!" Sunbeam continued to argue with Thunder.
"The longer we stay, the less chance we have to get out of here!"
Proteus had been hooked to the two frigates, and they were slowly clawing their way to Canterlot.
"Um, guys? You might want to take a look at that." A bridge crew member called. In a distant mountain, an ungodly amount of light was being emitted.
"What is that?" The ponies all headed to the other side of the ship. However, smoke began to soon pour out of the top, and in a matter of seconds, the whole land mass was covered in black smoke. The shock wave soon hit them, blowing away anything outside that wasn't secured. Just as the ponies recovered, an unconscious grey bat pony slammed onto a window, then slid down onto the deck outside.
Five Days Later
Elita lay in the Ignus' medical ward, eyeing the doctor who was listing her injuries. "...You got severe sprains, a nasty concussion, surprisingly no bones broken..." He signed something on the clipboard and left the room. Princess Luna came in.
"Princess!"
"Tis alright, I'm am here merely for an informal meeting."
"So..."
"Uh, yes. You have found an ancient weapon, powerful beyond the griffin's imagination . They are now officially screwed."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. Commander Thunder will brief you in everything. I just want to personally congratulate you on your success. Oh, and according to their commander, the griffin government wants to reestablish trade relations with Equestria."
"I hope you diplomatically told them where to shove it."
The midnight blue alicorn left with a giggle, but Elita saw her nod at someone. Commander Thunder came in, wearing a big smile.
"Elita, I trust that you know that the mission is a complete success?"
"Success? But we didn't recover the radio's secrets!"
"Yes, but we don't need to. We've got a big ass ship that's going to kick griffin ass."
"Uh, thank you?"
"No, we should thank you. You are the reason that we are now going to win this blasted war, Lieutenant Commander."
"Huh?"
"Oh, I nearly forgot. You got a promotion, a literal crate of Purple Hearts, a Solar Cross, Lunar Cross, the Medal Of Duty, shall I go on?"
"Uh..."
"Oh, and there's a dogfighting suit with your name on it. Well, not with your name on it yet. You still need to think of a call sign."
"Hmm...Ellie would be nice."
Voodoo looked up as Elita entered the room. She quickly ducked away.
"So..um, hi..." She whispered.
Elita, using a red marker, crossed out several of the pictures lined up against her wall. "Look...sorry how I treated you earlier, okay?"
"Erm...it's fine..."
"What rank are you anyways?"
"I'm only a lowly midshipmare."
"Hmm...I think I might be able to help you with that." Elita took out a quill and a book, flipped to the first page. As she wrote, she read aloud, "I know that only Twilight does friendship letters, but this mission, I learned many lessons that would most likely help me for the rest of my life.
"For starters, I probably shouldn't be reminiscing over my father's death so much. I don't mean to be harsh, but if he's dead, he's dead. I'm pretty sure that he didn't die for me to mope around all the time.
"Another thing is teamwork. A squadron is only as fast as the slowest pony, and as good as the most inexperienced cadet.
"I also learned forgiveness. This is an important trait that every good officer needs. If an officer is unforgiving of mistakes, the ponies under his or her command may never adjust their mistakes.
"Finally, loyalty. While Rainbow Dash didn't necessarily teach me directly this, she still did. I used to hate her so much, and yet, I couldn't let her die. Loyalty can extend to the greatest of rivals; after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." She signed her name at the bottom of the page and smiled up at VooDoo. "I want you to be my wingpony."
"Really?!"
"Why would I lie?"
The Ignus pointed in the direction of the heart of the Sun, and towards another battle.
