Today was a very important day for Twilight Sparkle. She had set today aside specifically for her nationwide Celebration of Friendship. In cities all across Equestria, shops were closed, stands were set up, and everypony in the land was getting ready to Twilight's address to the citizens. Even the other princesses were out partaking in festivities. In Ponyville in particular, ponies from across Equestria and even some foreign dignitaries had come to see the decorations and hear the Princess of Friendship speak in person. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was in Cloudesdale on a three day flight class. Applejack was in Appleoosa. Apparently there was a new planting technique that Braeburn wanted to show her. Nonetheless the parties went on.
As the sun approached high noon, Twilight stepped up to her podium set in town square. As far as she could see, ponies were lined up. The square and streets were full. Ponies were packed in shoulder to shoulder. Twilight took a breath to calm herself before beginning her speech. She lined up her cards and cleared her throat. Everypony went silent.
"Good afternoon fillies and gentlecolts, griffons and hippogriffs, and all other members of our audience. Today is a day that I shall commemorate to the Celebration of Friendship in all its forms. Friendship is truely-."
A low humming seemed to emanate from somewhere. There was a short buzz sound as a building just off the square exploded in a ball of fire. Immediately panic broke out. Ponies ran for shelter. Others tried to put the fire out. The fist explosion was soon followed by several others. The pegasi took off to get away and give the earth ponies and unicorns space to move. Twilight tried to fly to help the ponies who were trying to keep order. Her tail was grabbed by one of her guards and she was pulled back to the ground. It was one of her guards.
"My apologies, Princess. We need to get you somewhere safe."
"What? No! I need to help these ponies any way I can." Twilight was acting on impulse.
Several more explosion blew up more of the buildings around Ponyville. The sky was starting to fill with smoke.
"No time to argue!"
More guards were emerging from the town. Twilight was escorted, rather forcefully, back to her castle. As soon as she was clear of the scene, two machines flew through the smoke. They had propellers on the tops of them and short wings sticking out of the sides. They were definitely helicopters, but not Equestrian made. The sides slid back revealing ponies in suits holding a weapon of some sort on a pedestal.
One of the guards called out.
"We're under attack!"
A loud, constant "Pat-Pat-Pat" was heard, as the helicopter's weapons began to shoot into the guard's ranks. Nearly a dozen fell. The guards tightened their ranks and closed gaps with shields. Their weaponry was nearly useless compared to that of their adversary. More buildings exploded as the bombardment continued.
From the ranks, several pegasi charged the helicopters. The enemies were not expecting this. Some of the soldiers fell from the sky, but most made it to their targets. The ponies on the weapons were skewered on their spears, and the pilots were ripped from their seats. The two helicopters flew out of control into the ground nearby.
The explosions had stopped. The ground grumbled, nonetheless.
The captain called to reform ranks. The ponies formed up, ready to face whatever came next. Several large vehicles bearing long cannons emerged from the smokey haze that covered the ground. These vehicle were bright red, and had massive cannons on them. There were more machine guns mounted on top. They shook the ground as they moved, on treads instead of wheels.
The tanks halted once in full view. A red pony wearing a hat and uniform poked his head out of the top of his machine.
"Greetings, Captain. You should know, it is not often I get to meet my rival face-to-face." He spoke with an accent, yet if he was foreign, he knew the language well. "I will be pleased to accept your surrender. In exchange, you and each of your troop will be granted a life in the new Equestria we will create."
The captain stood at the head of his troop. "Get your sorry plot off our land, and go back to Tartarus where you belong!"
In reply, the enemy commander grunted. "So be it."
He re-entered his tank, and the Equestrians raised their spears and shields. All three, for the road was only wide enough for three, began to fire more guns into the ranks. The shields, made of nearly two inches of solid iron, held. Every now and then, a shot would find its way through some hole in their ranks. The captain was struck down, but his last order was an all out charge on the armored opponents.
His charge was shot lived. The moment they broke rank, the lead ripped through their line. The slaughter was over. The pegasi fled to Twilight's castle, moments before the shield went up. Most of the town was crammed into the throne room.
The armor worked its way through the town, following the pegasi. They arrived and found an angry Twilight Sparkle with a scared baby dragon.
Again, the tank commander emerged from his hiding place. "Hello. Princess Celestia, I presume?"
Twilight was very angry. "Go! Just go away and leave Equestria alone!"
The commander refused. "No. You see, we're in the middle of something very important and need your co-operation. Its for the best."
"You come here, you destroy my town with fire, you kill my guards, and you expect me to just help you? You're psychotic!"
"I prefer the term, spirited. You will help us, one way or another. Alicorns are powerful, but they are just as vulnerable as any other pony."
Twilight held her head up high. The commander shrugged.
"Very well, the hard way it is. Corporal, get the drill." More tanks had lined up and nearly surrounded the castle. A new tank emerged, only instead of a turret and guns, it had a massive drill with gemstones on the blade. It approached Twilight's shield and began to spin, as it ground away.
As the day went on, Twilight began to get a serious headache. She tried to contact Celestia and Luna in Canterlot, but its shield went up almost at the same time Twilight's had. Instead, she wrote to Applejack.
The infantry finally made its appearance as well. The tanks were parked and the crews set up a camp. Rows upon rows of tents dominated the town. Hundreds of tanks were in line. The Battle of Ponyville was over. The Siege of the Castle had begun.
Rainbow Dash had spent most of the morning sitting in the back of a classroom. She was bored out of her mind. The room was pretty much in Cloudesdale style. The walls were bare, save two windows on the left side of the room. The entirety of which was made of cloud. An ancient professor was giving a lecture on the first Wonderbolts encounter with the griffons.
At first, she had tried to pay attention, but got involved in a spit-ball contest with some mare across the room. Her attention was regained, when the professor mentioned a fight that broke out. Dash's thoughts drifted to her leading the Wonderbolts in a charge against an imaginary enemy.
Her thoughts were interrupted, when sirens went of outside the windows. She was born in Cloudesdale and knew what they meant. Cloudesdale was under attack. Everypony in the room immediately got up out of their seats. Within moments, a school official burst in the door.
"Get into formation. Cloudesdale is on maximum alert. This is not a drill."
Everypony ran out the door. For nearly five minutes there was chaos outside the room. Then suddenly, silence. Outside the window, The entire city seemed to reshape. In a matter of minutes, the entire city was transformed from a tourist attraction, into an impenetrable fortress. The pegasi had not forgotten their techniques from the wars with the unicorns all those millennium ago. Nor had they destroyed all their weapons, at least Cloudesdale hadn't. Atop several spires and buildings, turrets emerged. Rainbow still did not know what to do. She didn't live in Cloudesdale, she didn't have a spot in a formation.
Her questions were answered as Spitfire, head of the Wonderbolts, appeared at the door.
"Rainbow, do you have a wingpony?
Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"Good, you'll be flying with Swift Mist. She's new. Go easy on her."
Rainbow Dash followed Spitfire out the door and down the hallway. She was still confused as the situation.
"Um, is everything alright? What's going on?
"Cloudesdale is under attack. The entire city is being mobilized. Civilians are already evacuated.
"Wow, that was quick."
"We're the best. That's why we'll pull through this."
"What do you mean?"
Spitfire stopped at the door and faced Rainbow.
"Cloudesdale is not the first city hit. Over the last day and a half, Baltimare was bombed to Tartarus. There's almost nothing left. Smoke was also seen rising from Manehatten and Fillydelphia. Vanhoover and Ponyville have been seized by hostile tanks. There's been no contact with Las Pegasus. As far as we know, we're the last sovereign Equestrian city north of Appleoosa."
Rainbow's eyes displayed pure horror. Her voice was lost in her throat. Then came disbelief.
"Wait, how do I know this? This could all be some kinda drill. I know this kind of thing isn't above Cloudesdale."
Spitfire shrugged at Rainbow Dash's response. Then exited the building.
"Those weapons on top of those towers date back more than two thousand years. We've kept them working, but just barely. If you have any more doubts, you can ask them yourself."
She gestured to a haze on the horizon, but a distant hum filled the air.
"You are to meet Swift Mist on top of that tower. She should already be there. I'll meet you and the rest of the Wonderbolts in the Coliseum after. We'll take a headcount. One more thing, she'll fly point."
"Right, I'll be there."
Rainbow Dash was giddy, nervous, sad, and scared. She didn't know quite how to feel. She flew to the tower. As Spitfire has said, Swift Mist was waiting. There was another team of Wonderbolts there too.
"Swift Mist?" Dash asked as she landed.
"That's me-. Hey! You're Rainbow Dash! I've heard of you."
"Oh, you have, have you?"
"Ohyesohyesohyes! You are one of my personal heroes. My sister lives in Ponyville. She said she sees you around. You know, it was you who inspired me to become a Wonderbolt."
"Really? Me?"
"Yeah! I saw you the the sonic rainboom thing at that flight camp that year. I decided that was what I wanted to do. I've almost done it a few times too. Though, they usually end up with my falling onto a cloud on my tail."
"Well, cool to see you're a fan."
The two Wonderbolts sitting across the tower approached them.
"Good to see you two are acquainted. Now, the way this is set up, is that we will alternate. One team takes off, the other rests. When both fliers return, the other team will go. If after an hour, or if the need arises, both teams will be airborne at the same time, got it? Do not be a hero. If you're tired, take a break. If you need to go, you go. Stay with your wingpony."
The haze on the horizon had become clearer as the figures of aeroplanes began to appear. There were hundreds. The planes were strange. Like metal birds, they seemed to fly without magic, and were propelled by a rotating rotor on the nose. The Equestrians would have to avoid this at all costs. It seemed to be their primary weapon.
As they approached, the plane's formations broke. It became a mass scramble as the dogfight began. The Equestrians leaped from their positions with weapons both old and new. The turrets began firing. Cloudesdale ponies were using blades and bows. The idea of the rotor being the main weapon was shattered as 'Pat Pat Pat' was heard from guns mounted on the wings of the planes.
It was hectic at first. The point pony of Rainbow's second team told her to "Buck the plan! Scramble!" She and Swift Mist hid behind a shallow wall, as the other team gave chase on one of the attacking planes.
"What are you doing?" Rainbow screamed over the noise of battle.
"What?"
"Go!"
"Right!"
Finally, after almost two whole minutes, Rainbow Dash and Swift Mist took to the fighting. They had small swords and small shields. They were fast though, and could out maneuver the planes if they needed to. Some of the pegasi who flew slower or were stronger with their hooves, were riding chariots. These ponies used anything from long iron poles, to broadswords, to whips of magical energy. These things were the tanks of the air. While the single fliers were getting torn up from the lead that flew from the plane's guns, most of the regular shot deflected off of the thicker iron armor.
Moments after their takeoff, a plane was hot on their tails.
"Evasive!"
They staggered their flight patterns so that the pilot couldn't get a lock. They tried to trick him out several times. He was good. Swift gave Rainbow a gesture. She responded with a nod. A simple maneuver, one that even the earliest cadets knew. Yet, this pilot was angry. They could tell by the way he was flying. Mist and Dash crossed paths. They flew upwards in a wide arc. The pilot stayed on Mist's tail. At the end of the arc, Dash and Mist crossed again. This time, Dash was flying straight at the hostile aircraft very fast. She drew her sword and rolled to the side, her blade straight down. She removed the wing of the craft, sending it spiraling downward into the Everfree forest below. They were better.
A hollow 'Clop' was heard as Swift Mist and Rainbow Dash's hooves clamped together. Spitfire saw their show and she flew by.
"Nice work. Keep it up."
Dash and Mist were a good match. They kept pace and knew similar tricks and stunts. For most of the day, the fighting was intense. Some of the planes were armed with more than the machine guns though. A few had small rockets mounted on their bellies. These were shot at the buildings. When the battle began to turn away from their favor, however they began using these on the chariots as well. By mid-afternoon, it seemed that the fighting was beginning to lighten up. Unfortunately, there also seemed to be less ponies and planes in the sky.
The two young fliers had managed to take out more that a dozen of the planes though. An impressive record, even for a Wonderbolt.
This time, it was two planes that were on their tails, and even with all their tricks, they couldn't seem to shake them. Mist led Dash and their pursuers away from the core of the fighting. They flew towards and cloud bank. Their pursuers were gaining on them in the open air. She gave another signal to Rainbow, who nodded in acknowledgement. They executed their maneuver.
Mist dove straight down, directly at the Everfree treetops. Dash broke up. Both of their pursuers followed Mist. Dash looked back over her shoulder to see Mist pull out of her dive. The point pony of the planes had leveled off slightly to intercept Mist as she came out of her dive. The second pilot maintained pursuit. As she leveled off, the point plane open fired. Dash looked back over her shoulder to see her wing pony get riddled full of holes and disappear into the Everfree.
Both planes pulled upward and took straight for Rainbow Dash. She was off like lightning, faster then she had gone all day across open sky. The planes persued her deeper over the Everfree. They both opened their throttles. They were both gaining on Rainbow Dash. She tried to shake them by flying through clouds. She even tried disappearing under the trees. They maintained the hunt. Finally, Dash went into the same dive that Mist had. The other plane leveled off to intercept her. Dash made a sonic rainboom.
The shockwave went right over the second plane, as it followed Dash's dive. The plane that was on point was ripped from the sky by the shockwave, it caught the plane under its wings and caused it to spin out. The plane exploded as the engine overloaded.
The second pilot just opened up on Rainbow, he fired out all his ammo. On one of his last shots, it hit Dash's wing dead on. She instinctively flared her wings to slow down. Out of ammo and ideas, the pilot flew on. Dash raised her hooves to grab the plane. She did, but it broke her fore-hooves. Nonetheless, she held onto the underside of the wing. The pilot thought he got his target. He started to turn around.
When a face appeared outside his cockpit, it scared him. Bad. He screamed and knocked his stick into a stall. The plane flipped backwards and down into the Everfree with the pilot inside and Rainbow Dash clutching the frame. She pulled a lever the released the cockpit. Then grabbed the pilot and leaped free of the plane.
With a broken wing, and two broken hooves, she was running on pure adrenaline. Safe, and out of the plane, Dash slowed to a glide into a small mossy clearing. When her wing snapped, she dropped the pilot. He hit his head on a rock. She flew into a tree. They both were unconscious as the plane exploded in the next clearing over.
