The Solar and Lunar war: Events of the past

by abronyshipnerd

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Scootaloo, Wonderbolts, Lightning Dust, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Other, Princess Luna, Thriller
Length: 5709

The Solar Empire has attacked the Republic. The CMC and other characters will have to face the war, and will become changed by it. May the sun and moon shine on them all

Being rewritten. This version is discontinued.
Luna and her followers succeed from Equestria, now they must try to hold onto that freedom.
Scootaloo and her squadron become symbols of hope to the ponies of the Lunar Republic, promising to protect it with their lives, for all the ponies of their great nation. To do so, she will face others much more skilled, including the top fliers of the Wonderbolts, and even her sister.
Apple Bloom must face off in trying to stop the advance of Lunar soldiers flooding into Manehattan as a sniper. She must fight to maintain the order that has lived for a thousand years. The buildings crumble around her from the attacks, and she has to try to survive while carrying out her secret mission. Not to mention trying to come to peace with knowing that Scootaloo may verywell be flying above her on the enemy's side.
Sweetie Belle must do everything in her power to stop the war. The thought that her friends and even family were fighting against each other made her sick. After months of war, she places her hoof down, along with many others. No more.
Luna must try to keep the spirits of her people high, while she knows that they are loosing the war.
Celestia must crush the rebellion. Her sister has betrayed her again, and she must stop her... Right?

Published 2016-10-15 19:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-12-22 01:59:05 UTC

Act:1 Shadow Bolt. Prologue

Act:1 Shadow Bolt. Prologue

Prologue

To start, I wish for you all to keep an open mind about reading our stories. If the events that take place and phrases used to describe the war and those apart of it offend you, please do not take it personally. This is just an account of what had happened during that meaningless war.

Now, with that out of the way, I should go into more detail as to why Luna and her follows left Equestria. Although it is true that Luna had wanted a free society so the people could speak their mind. However she did not want to rule in absolute power. Another monarchy or empire would just lead to the same problems as Equestria had, the problems she had founded a new country to avoid. So, to help this problem of absolute power, Luna decided to form the world's first Republic.

It would be run by an elected council of 7 members, while Luna resides as a permanent 8th member. Luna would still have a high place in power, and her vote would count as 3 points. This way her people would run the nation even more than she would, at the same time, she could use her experience to greatly aid the nation. A nation run by its people can become the strongest kind of nation in existence. Such was proven during the war.

One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is who was on who's side. You already know which sides me and the other CMCs chose, but our sisters and their friends had also been split.

Twilight, being Celestia’s student had gone with her without question, and would be the only one of the 6 that never even considered leaving. Celestia was like a second mother to Twilight, she would never abandon her.

Apple Jack also stayed with Celestia. Her life was run off the sun,that was how she worked. Heck, she would always wait for the sun to rise before starting any kind of work. Not to mention she felt that Luna might have secretly become Nightmare Moon again.

Rarity left for the Lunar Republic, to be honest, she didn't really expect a war to start. But she went all the way for Luna's side when the Solar Empire attacked. Knowing that the princess she had known would attack her own sister simply because she didn't agree with a choice of her’s was almost unbelievable for her. She realized she could no longer follow a tyrant pony like that. It would have been: “Uncouth.” As she described it.

Fluttershy wanted almost nothing to do with the war, alongside Sweetie belle she became one of the founders of the Peace Corps. It was created for 2 reasons. Disrupt, and if necessary, destroy all means of fighting on either side of the war. And guard the wounded.

No one really knew what happened to Pinkie Pie, when the war started and the mane 6 went their separate ways, the ones that remained loyal to Celestia practically disowned their friends that left. Pinkie’s hair went flat and deflated. Not long after she heard of the Peace Corps, she ran as fast as her hooves could carry her to their hideout.

No one really knows what happened after that.

Dash…

…

…

When I found out that Princess Luna was starting her own nation, I was excited. I came to Dash to ask if she would come with me, and guess what…

She laughed. She honestly thought it was a joke.

It wasn't. I truly wanted to go. I was going no matter what happened. It wasn't just the fact that Luna helped me get into a sisterly relationship. Luna had helped me overcome my fear, and had also offered me something I could never refuse.

The ability to fly.

One of Luna's first programs she was putting into motion was for handicapped ponies. A lot of time effort, and money would be put into this project. Because of the government system and because of the smaller size if the country, she was able to always keep a watchful eye on her subjects who were in need of her. She at times could even help directly.

Now onto the war itself.

War had almost never been seen anywhere in this world. Our technology at the start of the war consisted of basic Spears and javelins, with an occasional sword. Nothing like what some worlds had.

Celestia had ordered Twilight to gather some technology from the mirror universe. From there the war became more deadly. Twilight only brought back some minor technology, but it was enough to create a weapon we all know as a crossbow.

Celestia was winning quickly, the Republic had been losing ground faster than the sun traveled over the sky.

That was until we were able to get our own hooves on some of this tec. We made it better.

One advantage of having the princess of the night on our side was that we were able to work during both the day and night. With Luna's power over dreams, she could connect several ponies together and combine ideas while the Empire was asleep.

This played a major role in our counter attack. Soon someone came up with the idea of a repeating crossbow. Instead of having to fire one shot then reload, the string would automatically pull back, allowing the next arrow in the line to slide into place. The weapon this way would fire once every second. However it was too large to be used by a single pony.

On a battlefield, it would take a crew of six to man just one of these things. But the votes were cast, and they were put on the front lines. They did work however and started holding back the enemy forces. But we kept running into a problem.

The enemy kept a constant watch on us from the air. The wonderbolts and their team controlled the skies over our own country. We really had no way from stopping them from doing so however. We could carry crossbows; but they were small, single shot crossbows.

Once again, a crazy ‘what if’ from a random pony helped us with this problem. The solution was rather basic, but effective. We took an automatic crossbow, or AMC for short, simplified it, increased its automation, and made it smaller. This design fired mini arrows about as long as the width of one of our goggles used for when we fly.

Then we hit another problem. It was still too heavy to actually fight with. But we were making progress.

Then powered flight came into play.

It was based off of the same mechanisms used to help me fly. The wing design sucked in air at the front, pressurised it, then shot it out of triangular nozzles behind it. These nozzles would angle themselves up and down upon command, like a feather on a bird’s wing. This gave more lift, thrust, and it required a totally different style of flying.

For the first time in a long time, we controlled the skies over our territory. Shortly after, we began taking back our territory on the ground. Very slowly, we were pushing them back.

We were winning.

Even the Wonderbolts couldn't even faze the might of our air force. We now were known as the Shadowbolts. Warriors of the night, bred from darkness.

Soon, however, before we could reach our original borders, they copied our technology. Now they also had AMCs. The AMCs they had however were not as powerful, and they were prone to jam quite easily considering they had been rushed into production. But their number of ponies in their air force…

For every Shadowbolt, there were 4 wonderbolts. They kept sending them at us, wave after wave. But with our technology, and much better training on how to use such technology, it was almost a fair fight.

The age of the dog fight was born.

That brings us to now.

When I first created a name for myself.

When I visited someone that was both a friend, and an enemy.

Author's Note

Just want to say I'm sorry it took so long.
Please comment for quicker updates!
Also, I noticed that someone put my prologue story in the group "cutie marked crusaders". This would be inaccurate for these stories. It takes place sometime during season 4. So they are not marked. Also, only Scootaloo has been visited by Princess Luna for her problem. Not the other two.

Act:1 Shadow Bolt. Chapter 1

Day 42

Solar Empire

17 km west of the front lines

The bell in the tower chimed as the clock struck noon, echoing across the small town and through it's streets. Walking slowly down one of those streets, just at the exit of the town, was a detachment of soldiers carrying a casket.

At the cemetery, just outside the entrance to the small town, they laid the casket down in the recently dug grave and stood beside it. Another brave aviator dead. A lingering thought hung in the air, one that was on every pony’s’ mind. However many more? How many more lives?

“Ready! Up!” called the commander interrupting their thoughts. In response they rose their crossbows to fire off a 21 gun salute. They didn't get the chance.

Without warning, four black dots appeared in the sky above, jackknifing through the air, and diving like a hawk directly at the funeral.

The unmistakable sounds of feather engines filled the quiet atmosphere. Those attending the funeral scattered as the dots came closer, revealing the forms of a four wing squadron of Shadowbolts. The lead pony smiled to herself, nodded with an ‘I got this’ face, dropped her ‘package’ and pulled up.

The dropped package hit its mark, landing right on top of the casket. The velvet eyes of Scootaloo remained fixed on the package she had dropped. During that time, she was lost in thought, remembering the significance of who was inside that casket. She glanced forward and barrel rolled, narrowly avoiding the bell tower.

Behind her, one of the Shadowbolts saluted, another waved at the ponies below. The last simply followed the others back to the front lines. The ponies on the ground watched them fly in the direction of the front lines, and disappear beyond the horizon. After the Shadowbolts had gone, those on the ground walked back to the grave. Most had seen the package fall and now they were curious as to what it was considering it hadn't blown up.

It was a…

...

...reef?

It was a reef. The Shadowbolt had dropped a green, circular, reef. Attached to the reef was a red ribbon, sewed to the side of the ribbon, in gold letters, was a simple, but powerful message.

To Featherweight, our friend and enemy.

Scootaloo thought of this as she climbed with her squadron back through the clouds, reaching an altitude above where the clouds had been placed. They leveled out around there.

Scootaloo looked at her squadron. Next to her on her left, was her wing pony, Rumble. School-hood friend and secretly a crush. On his left was a pony named Lightning Dust. A former Wonderbolt Academy student, who was disbanded for being reckless. The accident she had caused had almost killed five ponies. Scootaloo didn't know a lot about the rest of the story, but she knew that Lightning wasn't allowed to become a leader or even a wing pony.

She was to be a squad mate, that was all she she could be at that time. As a matter of fact, Scootaloo at the moment was a higher rank than her.

But it didn't matter too much, reason being Lightning’s flying was incredible. Scootaloo could tell Lightning had learn’t from her past mistakes, whatever they had been. However Lightning was still cocky, and needed constant discipline to keep her in line.

From her right, Scootaloo heard a yawn. She turned toward the pony on that side, then proceeded to roll her eyes at the bat pony. Her name was Echo, and she was the newest member of the squadron. Like virtually all of the bat ponies, she had gone with Princess Luna immediately upon succeeding. ⅓ of the Shadowbolts recruits alone were made up of these creatures of the night.

Being a creature of the night, Echo was still adjusting to the new sleep schedule. She had adapted to it for the most part, but was still rather lethargy.

As they were flying, a noise entered Scootaloo’s ears. She had heard it many times before, but this time it was difficult to make out. The reason behind this simply was because she was currently surrounded by it. It could only be one thing.

More feather engines.

Scootaloo looked behind her towards the sun. One of the greatest stealth tactics in this type of combat was to come at your enemies from the sun. Scootaloo frowned. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Looking forward again, she cocked her starboard AMC that was attached to her chest.

She fired two bursts of two arrows, making her entire squadron look back at the sun. A few seconds later, the silhouettes of more than a dozen Wonderbolts appeared out of the path of the glowing orb in the sky. Echo looked forward again, and cocked both of her AMCs simultaneously.

The enemy started diving on them. Scootaloo smiled. The Shadowbolts split into two groups, then split again into four groups of one. As predicted, the Wonderbolts followed after them. Scootaloo signaled the rest of the squadron, and together they climbed. At the same time, they crossed paths, barely missing each other. They had practiced that technique before though.

The Wonderbolts however, did not.

At least four of the loyalist ponies collided in midair.

Scootaloo looked over at Rumble, seeing him disappear into the clouds. She smiled.

Her thoughts were interrupted as several arrows whizzed by. She turned to their source, it was a new type of fighter. It was known as a rear gunner. When going into attack mode, these fighters would fly inverted, the AMC attached to their bellies could be controlled manually. This in theory would cause a Shadowbolt to close in behind them, not realizing they would be shot.

But Scootaloo knew better than to just rush in blindly. She did a half loop, then a half roll, leveling out a distance behind the rear gunner. The said pony was letting off a never pausing spray of arrows. Trying to hit the Shadowbolt despite being obviously out of range. Scootaloo was patient, she could wait. She cocked her other AMC in the meantime.

Another Wonderbolt approached from behind, Scootaloo looked back at her. Specifically, the side of her flank. Over that spot on the uniform for both forces fighting in the war, was an image of the pony's cutie mark. And Scootaloo recognized this one, it was unmistakable.

Scootaloo frowned. She looked back at the Wonderbolt ahead of her, and dove. Gaining speed, she then pulled back up closer to the pony she was tracking. That pony tried to shoot her, but Scootaloo kept maneuvering to prevent being shot.

Then without warning, there was an obvious ‘click’ that came from the Wonderbolt’s AMC. Scootaloo smiled at the panicked look in the eyes of the pony who just ran out of ammo. She lined up her shot from the sight extending from part of her flight suit, and pulled the trigger.

The pony cried out each time an arrow made contact with his body. Scootaloo leaned slightly to the right, her spray of arrows connecting with the pony's wing. Several of the arrows fired damaged a portion of the feather engines on the pony’s wing. Smoke trailed from the damaged engines and the pony began to lose control and consciousness. The first from the damage, the latter from the pain. He took his mask off, hoping that the feeling of the wind on his face would keep him awake.

Scootaloo’s eyes followed him down, but her gazing was interrupted as she heard a war cry from behind her.

Followed immediately by several arrows whizzing past her, barely missing her body. As soon as her mind processed that, she banked to the right, trying to out turn the pony behind her. It was the same one she had noticed behind her while she was ‘hunting’ so to speak.

She bit her lip as she came to a realization. She wasn't turning hard enough to evade the opponent tailing behind her. It wasn't good news. Looking to her right, she noticed a pair of Wonderbolts approaching her head on, she set a collision course.

Just before the three of them could collide, she banked hard into a 85* bank to the right, slipping between them. This forced the pony behind her to pull back, losing her position, angle, and the overall ability to shoot her down. Scootaloo once more found her gaze set on that pony, specifically where the pony's cutie mark was. This could take a while.

But she would get her squad home.

…

29 km east of the front lines

Lunar Republic Air Force base: Nocturnal 1

The four members of the Squadron stood motionless in a line out on the landing strip used at the base. They all had slightly bemused smiles on their faces despite why they were all called out onto the field. Commander Black Knight stood before them with his back turned toward the squad. He slowly turned around, trying to keep his voice calm, but failing anyway.

“Are you all out of your minds?!”

“Yes sir,” they replied simultaneously, expressions not changed in the slightest.

“Shadow 13,” he said directly to Scootaloo, calling her by her military designation. “You risked your squadron, the last squadron we have at the front lines at this moment, to attend an enemy funeral?!”

“His name was Featherweight sir,” Rumble started. “Me and Scootaloo went to school with him. He was a good friend of ours.”

“You're talking about a Solar aviator for Luna’s sake!” The commander shot back.

“Exactly,” replied Lightning. “I’ve heard quite some things about the colt. I’m disappointed in not getting a chance to take him out myself. I could do with a good challenge. Eh Scootaloo?” She asked turning to her lead pony.

“I will agree that it is a shame he’s not with us anymore,” finished the lead pony.

The commander just shook his head when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere with the rebellious squadron before him. “Ah, what the hey?” He quietly muttered. “Dismissed,” he said turning and walking away, giving into his defeat.

Some things never changed.

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long. I hope I can update quicker, but I can't make any promises.

Act:1 Shadow Bolt. Chapter 2

20 minutes later

NLRAF Base Nocturnal 1

Hanger 2

Scootaloo finally managed to disconnect the feather engines pack from her wings. She sighed in relief, stretching her wings proper and buzzing their short frame for a moment. She kept finding it strange that the technology used to give her the gift of flight had become the trump card that the airforce used. She put her pack in her wing crate, placed the almost empty Synthetic Magical (SM) energy containers that powered the pack beside them, then shut the lid to the metal container.

Next, she pulled off her ammunition belts, placing them to the side. The remaining arrows could still be used and recycled. She detached her AMCs next and put them in the bottom of her supply locker. She stored a fresh roll of ammunition in the compartment above where she contained her AMCs. It was always a good idea to have one as close as possible in case the base fell under attack. A lesson she had learned just last week.

She then took off her flight suit, folded it and placed it on the bottom of the locker. She then took off her goggles from her head, and looked down at them. The goggles the Shadowbolts used were very different from the ones the Wonderbolts used. They were enchanted, the lenses could bend and flex with the eye; it was designed to make them as comfortable as possible while they were being worn. This also gave them their fierce appearance while they are being worn. Another advantage, and perhaps the best one, is that they have an enchantment. The enchantment is designed to take in more moon light, allowing them to see like an owl at night in almost total darkness.

Scootaloo placed them back around her head, but not over her eyes. She let out an audible sigh, before she turned back out the door.

As Scootaloo walked out, she saw a crater that had been caused by a Solar air-dropped Exploding shell that intelligence was calling a bomb. Scootaloo closed her eyes, recalling the last time the base had been under attack.

…

Day: 36

NLRAF Base Nocturnal 1

Aviator Sleeping Quarters

Room 116

Her eyes shot open, the ground and building shook all around her. For a brief second she thought it was an earthquake, that was until she saw the flashes of light originating outside of her window. They were almost impossible to miss, anyone could notice the fires as they clashed against the midnight atmosphere.

The siren went off, raising and lowering in pitch. Scootaloo didn't need it to understand the situation at hoof. She could hear ground based AMCS shooting at whatever was flying above them. The rapid fire clicks and twangs, accompanied by the whizzing of arrows was plain to hear.

She charged out of her room, climbing over the railing and using her small wings to slow her descent. She still hit pretty hard and the floor, but it didn't hurt too bad, so she charged out the door. She saw her target, Hanger 2, and ran for it. One or more bombs exploded around her along the way.

She stumbled from many of the blasts, but she managed to stay on her hooves. When she got to the hanger, she practically dove into the building as one exploded some distance behind her. She got off the ground, shook her head for a moment, then charged over to her locker before opening it. Grabbing her AMCs before attaching them to her flight suit, grabbing the ammunition belts in the compartment above.

For the briefest of moments, Scootaloo thought about how she just so happened to have put a fresh belt right there. If she hadn't, she would have to go back out to grab a belt from the armory. She didn't have time for that, she needed to get into the air now.

On that note, she galloped back out into the night. At the edge of the runway, she reached up and charged her Feather Engines Pack (FEP). For a brief moment, there was a burst of energy. Then Scootaloo ran as fast as her hooves could carry her until she pulled back with her wings.

She pushed her goggles down over her eyes, and finally got a good look at what was attacking them. There were at least a half dozen blimps in the sky, dropping as many bombs as they could carry. She could hear ponies screaming below, and she could see the fires spread across the ground.

She suddenly felt an unbearable anger at those blimps. In rage, she flew straight at the nearest target, and fired an unrelenting spray of arrows into the blimp. Five seconds, eight seconds, at twelve seconds she screamed a war cry of pure rage.

And the arrows kept flying.

…

Present Day

Scootaloo reopened her eyes, not wanting to recall the rest of the memory.

“Hey Scoot!”

From the sounds of it, she wouldn't have to. She turned toward the pony who called her name. Jogging at her was a colt a bit older than herself, his coat, wings, mane, and tail were all a jet black, flowing behind him as he moved toward her. The only exception to the color was a few streaks of bright yellow in his mane and tail, and along the leading edge of his feathered wings. A pair of perfectly round glasses were standing at the edge of his nose. Scootaloo’s eyebrow rose.

“Nightwatch? What are you doing here?”

“I just got out of training, this is where I was assigned,” he said

Scootaloo chuckled. Nightwatch returned the smile, a white reflected off the lenses of his glasses, surrounded by a blue hue. Scootaloo’s head tilted to the side.

“What’s up with your glasses?”

“I got them enchanted, it’s the same stuff our goggles use except that they don’t flex. I can see clearly at night time now too.”

“Cool. How has the Shadowbolt Academy been?”

“Barely holding together without you,” Nightwatch said sarcastically. Scootaloo just rolled her eyes.

“I heard you managed to get a rear-gunner today,” the colt complimented.

Scootaloo shook her head.

“Na, he got away. Probably made it back to base.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Scootaloo and Nightwatch turned their heads to the new voice. It was commander Black Knight, now approaching the two.

“I just got the report, a Solar rear-gunner crash landed about ten kilometers away from here.” Nightwatch smiled.

“Come on Scoot, let’s go confirm your kill!”

…

The small transport carriage came to a halt at the edge of the field. Scootaloo, Nightwatch, and a few medics piled out. They walked up to where the pony had crashed, and pulled him out of the ground. They got him back to the transport, and treated him for his wounds.

As they were riding back, Scootaloo took out a knife, and cut a circle of cloth on the pony’s flank, being careful to not injure the pony further. She pulled the cloth off, and smiled at it. This was the one.

They came to a stop inside the base’s gates. Upon which Scootaloo got out, and returned to room 116. Her room in the aviator sleeping quarters. The room was filled with posters, articles, and various other things of her life before the war. The majority of them were all based around one topic.

Rainbow Dash.

Despite being on opposite sides of the war, she still looked up to her. Rainbow Dash had been an inspiration to her, and still was. At the back of her mind, she realized there was the possibility that she could run into Rainbow in the sky, but she always pushed it back down.

Rainbow would never want to hurt her. Right?

She hung the piece of cloth up on a string that stretched across her room. It was almost time for the sun to drop beneath the horizon, and Scootaloo decided to turn in early. She could never know when she could be called to action.

She closed her eyes, and thought about Rainbow Dash. Her breathing calmed, and she slipped into a blissful sleep.

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long guys.
Please comment below! I will update quicker when people comment, it motivates me to work faster.

Act:1 Shadow Bolt. Chapter 3

Day 44

NLRAF Base Nocturnal 1

Room 116

Scootaloo was jarred awake suddenly by a harsh, desperate banging on her door. Followed by one of the guards shouting: “Get up! Emergency briefing is imminent!”

Scootaloo was instantly up out of bed, and out the door. She jumped over the railing and landed on an old mattress she had found to cushion her fall. She wasted no more time as she charged down the hall.

Not many seconds later, she crashed through the door of the briefing room, and skidded to a stop. She took her usual seat near the front, and sat down.

The atmosphere was tense. The entire squadron, what little there was of it, had been called to an emergency briefing at almost midnight.

So here they were, sitting in the room for what probably was only a minute, but felt more like an hour.

Commander Black Knight finally entered the room. Instinctively, everyone in the room instantly jumped up to attention. They returned to their seats after he said: “At ease.”

“Alright, I know you all must be wondering what this is about. So I’ll make this brief. We currently are in a campaign to take the outer ring of the Solar city of Manehattan. You will be flying escort for our aerial transports who will land our troops inside the city. Any questions?”

“Yes sir,” called out Lightning Dust. “Why are we transporting them by air? Can't they just get to the city on hoof?”

“No. The empire has turned the city into a literal fortress. They’ve built walls 10 meters high, all around the city. Every 15 meters atop the wall is a guard post. 10 kilometers in is another wall, and 5 kilometers further in is another, both have the same stats as the outer wall. An infiltration from the ground is impossible. Even if we could get inside from the ground, we wouldn't be able to get in quietly. We want to keep stealth on our side for as long as possible, we’ll have fewer casualties that way. Anyone else?”

“What are we using to transport them?” asked Nightwatch.

“A new kind of equipment named M.I.Ts. Short for Manehattan Infiltration Transports. They use tec similar to our own, except their feather engine wings are larger, and are able to go into a vertical takeoff and landing position. They carry one commando under them, plus all of their equipment. However, they don't have an incredible amount of range. That is why we have to launch them at a close range.”

“Why are we doing this now?” Scootaloo called out.

“Originally we were planning on invading after we got more of our forces together. However, we just got the message that Solar spies have stolen the plans for our invasion. Meaning we have to strike now before they can make use of the information, plus we have cloud cover tonight. Now I know this operation may sound strange to you all, however we believe that youth will outweigh experience in this situation. Which is why I will be commanding from this well hidden base… we deploy in 15 minutes. Dismissed!”

...

The sky was quiet and calm. The wind had a frosty chill to it, stinging Lightning Dust’s bare nose as she cut her way through the air. She made an audible noise as she shivered. It was a good thing these suits were insulated. The winter would be coming soon, but for now the clouds were just storm clouds. But flying above cold rain clouds in late autumn while she was escorting transports was not what she meant when she had said a while ago that she had wanted to visit the city some time.

Lightning Dust looked up. It was dark out, the moon was dim, and the stars lacked their usual bright twinkle. She was puzzled. “Hey what’s up with the sky?” she asked.

“It’s Princess Luna’s way of helping our operation. Darkening the sky to increase our stealth as much as possible. Not to mention it’ll help demoralize the Solar army when the battle begins.” It was Nightwatch speaking, flying in a trailing position behind Echo. He would watch Echo’s six o'clock while they were fighting. Scootaloo didn't like it when her squad mates went off by themselves.

“Alright guys, listen up,” Scootaloo said calling them to attention, turning her head back to the squad. “Our job here is to keep the sky sanitised while the operation is underway. Disable the enemy, but if they aren't shot down, don't bother with them. Be careful to not waste ammunition, and no single ship attacks. Stay in pairs, and stay on the lookout for Solar patrols. Understood?”

There was an unanimous: “Understood” from the squadron. Turning her head forward, she cocked her AMCs before saying: ”Alright, Nightwatch, Echo, you two cover the north west side of the city. Lightning, Rumble, cover the west side, I'll handle the south west. Engage.”

With that last order, the ponies split apart. Each one flying to their designated sections of the city.

Truth be told, Scootaloo didn't really like flying solo. But she knew that she couldn't let her other squad mates fly alone. She also knew she could handle this. The mark 1 Feather engine pack was the prototype originally designed for her just before the war started. The mark two, the current standard flight equipment, and the one she was using, wasn't that different. So she knew how to use this thing like nopony else could, having the most time to understand them.

She reached up with a hoof, feeling her AMCs, and the almost clockwork feel to them. She looked to the horizon, seeing pony-strapped spotlights shining in various directions. There were more flying than there usually would be. A regular patrol was made of a group of three, but tonight there was a group of five up in front of her. The Solar Manehattan Air Base must have realized that something was wrong with the state of the sky. It was likely that the majority of the base was currently scrambled. But Scootaloo’s orders were clear. Sanitize the air space by all means.

She frowned. It was time to go to work. She cocked both of her AMCs and quietly snuck up behind the patrol. A searchlight crossed the sky near her, but did not detect her. She eased behind them, looked down the sight, and fired.

Author's Note

Guys, please listen to me, I beg you. Read and comment. Comments are my reward to show that I did a good job. Reading the story is good, but unless people say they like the story, I start think you guys don't. SO PLEASE COMMENT. Tell me what you like about the story, what you don't like. IT CAN LITERALLY BE ANYTHING, JUST PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL!