The Acesby BlackoutChaptersThe BeginningFoul PlayThe End of the BeginningThe BeginningA stallion enters a room with all the lights shut off. He walks up to the podium in front of a congregation of talking ponies and calls for their attention. The room quiets down as he opens the folder in front of him marked with a classified stamp. The fact that this was on the folder always seemed funny to him. Every operation he carried out was classified. It seemed obvious to everypony that if it had to do with war, it was a secret. "Alright, as you may or may not know, the gargoyles have set up a jamming device in the mountains. This compound is holding equipment that is disrupting our communications and most of the electronics in a two hundred mile radius." He had dealt with gargoyles before. They started out by taking over a few small territories not far from Equestria but they ran out of luck when they tried to move into the kingdom. Despite their past victories, they were primitive and never stood a chance against the Royal Army or the Guard. "Our job is to go to the mountain, destroy the jammer, and its operators. We are heading out at 0800 tomorrow so get some sleep and be ready for a hike. Dismissed." The chatter started up again as the briefing room emptied and the stallion headed back to his room. The pony's name was Blackout, he is a pegasis that lead the best branch of the Royal Military: the Royal Elite, but they've gained the name the "Aces" amongst the Army boys. He had a jetblack mane and tail and dark grey fur. His mane was spikey and pointed foreward causing it to jut out slightly past his face. He had emerald green eyes and always wore a now dated M1 helmet with a net over it. "One size fits all" they said, it still seemed a bit loose but it never falls off. His body size is second only to Celestia herself but his real pride is his wings. He had one of the largest, most powerful set of wings in Equestria. Celestia may have bigger wings but lack of day to day use has made them weaker than the wings of athlete flyier. He, on the other hand, worked his wings daily on missions plus he took his time to train them to make sure they stay the way they are. The only pony that out did his speed was Mig. Mig was Blackout's best friend and second in command. They first met when the both of them came up with a scheme to bust out of a prison considered to be inescapable. He remember that day to the last detail, the eight step plan, the sacrifice the prisoners made, and the leadership of the pegasis that faught by his side through the entire ordeal. But what really impressed him was the pony's speed. He was the only pony Blackout knew to have ever pulled off a sonic rainboom. Despite his smaller wingspan, he was MUCH faster than Blackout. Mig's wings were stronger than his and Mig was smaller than him. Even if only by a little, Mig still had areodynamic superiority over Blackout. Mig sported a dark brown mane and light brown fur. He wore an Ushanka with goggles attached to them and had sky blue eyes. His mane was short and pointed up and away from his forehead. Despite the history of his ethnicity being associated with drinking and simplicity he was a geneous. Which would also describe the final member of the group, Gear Head. Gear Head was the youngest of the group and as his name implies, he was a gearhead. Blackout recruted him when the need for armored ground transport rised. A call to everypony who invented anything close to what they needed was sent out, and that's when he showed up. First thing he did was bring in a prototype of what would now be a steam engine. They had never seen anything like it but when he fired it up, the eggheads lit up like Manehattan's Time Square. The fact that this pony had been making things like this already excited everypony. He was instantly appointed head of enginering and when he showed promise on the battle field, Blackout recruted him. He was average sized with an Irish accent. He had green fur and a messy blond mane that stuck out from under his blue cap, which had a headset around it that he used for his radio set. With him, we managed to put together one of the top military weapons today, a gun. He also managed to perfect long range, portable radios, cars, and computors. But the most impressive project was his pride and joy, the helicarrier. It was a massive flying structure that was kept aloft by four massive propellers and engines. This served as the Aces base of operations. Though it wasn't made with stealth in mind, it had everything they needed. Plus it didn't need to be stealthy if it could reach hieghts only the strongest fliers could reach. "Why do we have to fight with the Army." Gear Head griped, "I thought we were on a mission, not babysitn'." "I guess the princess wanted to have an equal share of the action" answed Blackout, "Just try your best to put up with them." "I'll try, but I can tell you now, I won't like it." He retorted before going to sleep. As much as the Colonel tried to tell himself the same thing, Gear was right. He couldn't stand how slow they were, but it wasn't there fault. They had no experiance seeing how his team takes every operation that comes up. The reason why his team was created was to keep war a secret. Equestrians have been living in peace for over 1,000 years as far as they know. If the princess wants to deal with something quietly, she comes to the Aces. "Why are we hiking up this mountain again, we are all pegasis, you know?" Blackout hears one of the greenhorns complain as he led the platoon up the mountain. "Well first, if we fly, we'll be detected, and second, this is a big mountain, near the top the air thins and more power is needed to stay in the air, plus you'll pass out. Oh and Gear Head isn't a pegasis." "Oh." was the only thing the ignorant soldier could say. Blackout was bothered that he didn't know this. These types of things should taught in training, but there was no time to teach them. Most of the troops are sent right to the areas that the gargoyels normaly attack. He could feel the air thinning and ice was starting to form on his cold weather clothing. It provided balistics protection, camoflage, and personal shelter from the cold, up to -60 Fahrenheit. They finaly reached the peak, nothing. "What the hay, there's nothing here!" the Colonel heard a soldier shout. "If this was a drill then I'm goin' AWOL." another pony said. "Calm down, this is just our rally point." Blackout explained. "Well were's the compound?" "Its over there." He points to a drop off and most of the ponies move near the edge to get a look. It was on a ledge about one hundred yards down the slope. It had a concrete building in the middle with a dish on top, which was transmitting the signals that were messing with their comms. It had few small barracks around them and the entire facility was surrounded by fifteen foot tall walls, and to top it off, the gate had two towers guarding it, and a tower at each corner of the wall. The gate was facing away from the direction the "team" came. It was facing a path down the other side of the mountain. Though this path would have been easier, the group would have baisically been walking up the mountain to meet a group of cannon barrels pointed at their heads. The gargoyels didn't have actual guns. They could make cannons but thats it, which is why he found them easy to kill. "So what do we do, go down there and bust a hole in the wall?" "No, we post a few snipers on this ridge, then we go down and bust a hole in the wall. Hey you." Blackout pulled a soldier over to him, "Get the sniper team over here." "Yes, sir." The kid came back with a group of six ponies, each holding a gun larger than his. "Sir, Corporal Quick Scope of the fourth sniper divi..." "Cool story." Blackout cut him off. "I need you and your men to line up on the ridge so that each sniper has a view of every tower." "Yes, sir." "When I give the signal, your team will take out the cannon operators, got it?" "Yes, sir, what's the signal?" "When you hear a boom, after that you open fire, when were inside all hostile targets are fair game." "Understood." "Assualt team, on me." he shouted, "We're heading down the cliff to the compound, stay quiet until the wall is blown, then we storm the compound. Stay out of sight, if were caught, it'll only get harder." He lead the platoon down the cliff in three groups. One led by him, another by Mig, and the other by Gear Head. The plan was to flank the compound, having one team destroy the barracks, one team provide support, and another to draw most of the fire. Unfortunatly, his team was the bait. He would set off the first explosion and by the time he was surrounded, two more would go off, simple as that right? They made it to the wall, the side facing the cliff, and attached the explosives to it. It was something Gear had come up with, said it was a plastic explosive, only way to detonate it was by a chemical reaction that set off via radio signal, which helped him with staying calm considering he had over a pound of the stuff on his back. He had waited a while to make sure that everypony was in position, not having any comms was pretty difficult but only posed as a minor detour. Taking a deep breath, Blackout slowly squeezed the detonator. BOOM Foul PlayHis ears are ringing from the sound and his chest feels preassurized from the shock wave, which blows snow over him and his men. "Damnit Colonel, give us a warning before you set off something like that!" the soldier behind him shouts. He had forgoten to give them a warning, normaly he didn't have to, but these men havn't been able to adjust to the loud sounds of explosions going off in thier face. "GO!" Blackout commands as his team rushed through the opening he blasted. Everything would have gone off without a hitch if it wasn't for the introduction of sound that made his eyes go wide. It was indeed gun fire, but unlike the rapid bang sound of his rifles, this was a popping sound. This was the signature sound of a Kalashnikov rifle, a Grimlin gun. Grimlins were known to have extensive knowledge in technology but never associated with anyone, unless it was to cause trouble, and if that was the case then what are Gargoyles doing with thier guns? But he pushed aside this thought as he realised that his men would be in trouble. As the last pony moves through the wall, Blackout turned to find bodies of both sides on the ground, and around them are white puffs of snow jumping from bullet impacts. He rushed to the nearest available cover, behind the hole he just blew open. This was bad, a team of young soldiers who didn't know how to fight against armed Gargoyle warriors, and nothing solid to stay behind. Blackout quikly realises that the team is thinning to only about ten ponies. In an act of despiration and in dire need of help, he shout out a command at the top of his lungs to blow the wall. To the relief of Blackout, his shout was followed by a loud roar, and another shockwave, and another wall of snow to cover the Colonel and his men. Soon another boom went off, and another shockwave, and more snow. The rapid bang sound of Equestrian rifles invaded Blackout's ears, only to be drowned out by the popping of the Grimlin made weapons. He was still out-gunned, but he wasn't dead yet. He would not let the death of the young stalions be in vain. Drawing his knife from under his left arm and pulling his pistol from the holster on his hip he ran strait into the frey. Maby it was just dumb luck but every time he pulled this reckless stunt, he emerged alive and still able-bodied. In a confusing scene of stabs, slashes, pot shots, and punches, Blackout's colleagues had followed suite. The valliant act had mad progress but hit a dead end when the gunfire stopped and the three leaders were backed against each other, covered in blood, not even knowing whom it belongs to, and breathing heavily from the glorified mosh pit they created. They became surrounded by Gargoyles with barrels aimed at them, a single move and thier dead. Equestrian soldiers were pushed into the middle of the circle, some already bound in ropes. An opening in the circle is made for a rather intimidating looking Gargoyle with nicley decorated armor, a sword, and a Grimlin pistol at his hip. He had a smug grin on his his face as he slowly walked up to the now captured ponies. "That was very brave of you, running into the battle like that." he said as he spoke to Blackout, now bound and pushed on his knees. "I'm afraid that bravery can get a pony so far before he hits a wall." "So what are you going to do, throw us in the Gulag?" Mig said sarcasticly. "I'm afraid I don't take prisoners, and I've always wanted to kill and Ace, now I can kill all three of you." "Just one minute." said Blackout, "I've got a question. Why do you have Grimlin guns?" "Ah yes, these contraptions he calls a gun, well Mr. Kalashnikov was very eager to get his invention out to the world, and we gargoyles have made a good sum of coin from our past victories. We used these new funds to buy these weapons and fortunatly it encouraged the Grimlins to become a little more social, in a good way." "So, you've been buying things from the Grimlins." "Yes Colonel I" the Gargoyle stoped, "we have." The stuter caused Blackout to ponder why this living building decoration use "I" when he was a Brigadier, he was no General, or one of thier Prime Ministers. "Enough talk, soldiers!" the Gargoyle comanded "Take these ponies to a proper execution site and line them up with the Aces last." The soldiers complied and brought everypony to thier hooves then proceeded to move them to a clear spot and lined them down with the three Aces at one end. There's the gate, just run for it. Blackout mused to himself, but he knew that escape by those means would be suicide, and disloyal. He would rather die with his friends then run off alone and fail the mission. The three watched helplessly as the Brigadier went down the line, looking into each soldier's pleading eye's with his own, beady, souless ones, and pulling the trigger of his pistol. With each gunshot the three grew more angry, angry that this smug bastard is mercilessly killing the young ponies that Celestia herself entrusted thier safety with them. They had to act, or think, or do something to get them out. Ten ponies left, one bullet left in the gun, three soldiers to the left, two to the right. Blackout's mind raced with observations as he planned his attack. Through facial expressions, body motion, and lip talking, the Aces managed to form a quick plan they would try while the Gargoyle was reloading his gun. "Now!" Blackout shouts and the three rise up, thier hooves were tied in front of them so they could still use them. Mig and Gear Head threw thier arms around the necks of the two soldiers on the right and Blackout reach for his knife with his mouth. He proceeded to clumsily cut the rope until it snapped and his hooves were free. The guards on the left had little time to draw thier weapons as the now free Aces gunned them down. The Brigadier took off before they could get a shot at him and entered the compound. Ignoring the cowardly leader, the Aces then turned thier attention to the remaining Gargoyles surrounding them. "Take care of the men, I'll destroy the compound." Blackout shouted over the gunfire. With that statement, he bolted for the large concrete structure. Smashing through the front door and shooting any ressistance in the room. Taking the time that an empty room can offer, he takes anything he can use to get to that murderer that is now hiding in the building. Reloading the Grimlin rifle in his hooves he slowley opened the door to the next room. Two hostile targets, he observed as he shot one in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He turned to aim at the next Gargoyle and shot him twice in the head, killing him. The Gargoyle on the ground pointed his gun at Blackout but wasn't fast enough and had another bullet enter his chest, piercing his heart. With another room cleared, Blackout moved down a hall into the next room, which had machines spread out. Ten targets. Quickly Blackout reach for a grenade he picked up from a dead Gargoyle. He held it for two seconds before tossing it into the center of the room. He dove to the ground and faced away so any shrapnel wouldn't hit his face. The explosion went off and smoke and dust was force up while sparks and electricity from the machines flew. Blackout snapped back to his bipedal position and raised his rifle, scanning for any survivors, none. To the left of the hall was a metal door that led to lower levels. "Great there's more." Blackout said to himself. "At least this means he didn't away." Checking his ammo, he walked up to the door and slowly opened it. The End of the BeginningA metal creak could be heard and it echoed through the hall behind him and down the stairs before him. Blackout slowly made his way down a series of stairs that almost never ended. After what seemed like one hundred steps he came across a big metal door, this one looked thick and had Grimlin writing on it. He took the time to try and listen through it but it was too thick and sealed shut. Giving up, he decided to open it but was not expecting the noise to be so loud. Tumblers rolled, hinges grinded, and gears moved at once to create a symphony of metal racket. The door swung open on its own, revealing the single dark pony with a look that said "oops." There had to be at least twenty Gargoyles in the large room that had steam releasing out of preassure valves everywhere. There were tubes on the ground that was pumping some type of liquid through it. Crates were stacked on top of each other and dim workshop lights hung off the high cieling. "How did you get in here!?" The cowerdly Brigadier said in shock of his preasence. Unsurprisingly he ran and just about everybody in the room raised thier guns to him. Acting quickly, he rolled to the nearest crate before they opened fire. Bullets bounced off the metal walls and sparks popped here and there. The major mistake was they all opened fire at the same time and would in turn reload at the same time. Taking the oprotunity of cease fire, Blackout popped up from his cover and shot three rounds into the nearest targets chest. Moving like clockwork, he picked a target and shot three rounds into it. In five seconds he managed to take down seven targets before they reloaded thier weapons. The new volley of projectiles forced Blackout behind more crates. While waiting for another oprotunity he spots something. It was the Brigadier entering whta looked like a large cylinder on train tracks. They had three big cones on the back and those pipes with fluid were hooked up to the side of this thing. "So long Colonel." he called to Blackout. "For your sake, I hope you know how to work these things." he continued as he entered the cylinder. The cones on the back soon spat flames and the large steel can began moving. Great, he got away. But his problems didn't end there. The room became illuminated with a red flashing light and a klaxon alam blared and echoed through the tunnel the rocket cylinder moved through, a light from the flames could still be seen. This didn't happen many times but he figured that red lights, alarms, and fleeing soldiers usualy ment a bomb. He didn't waist a moment, he sprinted up the stairs as the other round vehicles departed. The climb up seemed longer than the one down now that he was running for his life and not to end another's. He finaly made it up the large flight of stairs and put all of his explosives on the walls of the main level just to be safe. The only problem was that if the place was going to explode, by self destruct of course, then how will they get away. The room downstairs was huge, probably covered in explosives, running down the road past the gates wouldn't cut it. Then it hit him. The cliff! The idea popped in his head like a lightbulb. Wasting no time he sprinted on all fours out of the facility to find it compeletly captured by the remaining Equestrians. "Lets go, this whole cliff will go up in flames any moment now!" "Were do we go?" a now paniced soldier asked. "Off the cliffside, jump off!" "Are you crazy?!" a familiar looking pony questioned. "You said we are all pegasis right?" and with haste Blackout rushed past the wall gesturing for the rest of the ponies to follow. "Are you su..." his sentence was cut off when Blackout shoved him off the cliffside. "What are you starin' at? GO!" the rest of the ponies shrug and jump off. Blackout signals the sniper team to move down the mountain. He waited for them to jump off before signaling the other two Aces to jump off, then he followed suite. Jumping in the air over the edge he met a cold rush of air hit his face, which would only get colder as he gained speed. Even over the howling of the wind in his ears he could hear the massive explosion behind him. Everything was finaly going his way, he was even having fun, until he heard something zip by his head. Turning in mid air he spotted about six Gargoyles falling behind him. No longer having the rifle he had earlier, he pulled out his pistol and fired a shot at the target in front. The sound of the gun shot was muffled from the wind and the cartridge headed towards the remaining five targets. He then fired two shots at the next target. One managed to hit him in the shoulder and the other missed. Firing with your arms moving due to the wind was a challenge for Blackout, he never did this before. He fired one more round and it connected with his wing, crippling it, no use wasting another bullet, he would die from the fall. He shot another in the foot, then the head. The next target fired and hit Blackout's chest, the pain was familiar, but due to the jacket he was wearing it did not pierce his skin. Blackout returned fire, shooting twice, hitting the attacker in the head. Two left, he fired the last three rounds in the clip. The Gargoyle was killed but that left one more. Thinking quickly he grabed the empty clip and let go of it when it was below the remaining soldier's head. The heavy metal case struck him in the eye with great force and he convulced in pain, directing him away from the group. When he turned around, he found the group had left, already back in the skies, and he was still plummeting to his death. He paniced to shed his restricting CWC gear. With moments to spare he tore off the winter gear and spread his wings. The downward momentum shot him to break-neck speeds as a vapor cone formed around him. He'd seen this when Mig did his rainbooms but looked diferent on the inside. He was brought back to reality when his face met the cold snow of another mountain. "Well looks like another job well done, eh laddie?" Gear Head said smiling at the buried pony. "With a price though." responded a snow covered Blackout. "I knew it was a bad idea." "We all did, we can't fix that now." "Aye, it'd be best to move on." "I guess we better get back to base then huh?" "Well I don't know, your the commander, arn't ya?" "Right, back to base for debrief." two months later "Tell me again why I'm in this thing?" asked a nervous Blackout "Because it would be a great honor to be the first living thing in space." Gear Head replied. Things seemed to have calmed down since the last raid two months back, and Gear Head used this time to set a milestone: space travel. It was a command, well more of an idea, that Celestia gave to him. "But I never volunteered for this, you just put me in this heavy suite and shoved me in the tin can." "You may not have volunteered, but somepony decided to do it for you." "And could you tell who this pony is so I can kick thier flank?" before he could get a responce he heard snickering from the mechanic. "It was Celestia." he responded, "She said to me that the only pony she wanted to use this thing was you." "Well I don't appreciate this honor of her's. I'm getting out." "Oh, you don't want to do that." "And why not." "Because your going to space in five..." Oh crap. "four..." "You better not." "three..." "Your bluffing, I know it." "two..." Crap, he's not bluffing. "one. We have lift off, I repeat we have lift off." Blackout managed to slip into his seat before what felt like a mattress smashed him into it. The force was keeping Blackout from moving, even his head was pressed firmly againt the cusioned seat. He didn't know how fast he was going, and he didn't want to. The ship rattled and shook from the thick atmosphere breaking across the coned nose of the rocket. He could feel the preassure start to ease before he heard Gear's voice come on the radio, "Stage one complete, stage two engage." Blackout was kicked back into his seat as the primary rockets broke off and the secondaries fired. It eased off again, and Gear's voice came on again, "Stage two complete, breaking off. Ok Blackout, I'm going to steer this thing so your put into the moon's orbit, I'm also opening the cockpit window, from what I undestand it should be quite a view. Oh yeah, and your free to move around as well." Blackout finaly relaxed as the metal panels covering the thick glass windows slid down, revealing an unbelievable sight. Stars, clearer than they are at night, dottet the sky and moon, larger than life, sat before the Colonel. "Wow. Hey Gear you should see this, Gear?" Blackout called but only recieved static through the radio. Soon after the cabin darkened, and a red light was all that illuminated the controls. "Hey whats going on?" "It's OK, you'll be fine." assured a calming voice. "I shut down most of the electronic in the ship so I could talk to you in private "Celestia?" "Yes, I have something of the utmost importance to tell you." "What just happened, I've lost all connections with Blackout!" asked a panicked Gear Head. "I don't know, sir. We're running diagnostics as we speak but nothing foreign is showing up, whatever is interfering with the ship, its not electronic!" "You see that moon your orbiting?" "Yes." "It contains one of the biggest threats to Equestria, and the World." "But how?" "Have you ever heard about Princess Luna?" "Princess Luna?" "She was my sister, before she became possesed by a powerful evil called the Nightmare. It caused my sister to become jealous of my position as raiser of the sun and with the power of the Nightmare, she threatened to keep the sun down and have only night." "That's it, I mean that's horrible!" "Yes it is." "So, what do you want me to do? Blow up the moon?" "No!" she shouted, startling him. "As you may know the Summer Sun Celebration is comming up." "Ah yes, the solstice." "It was the day of the summer solstice that I imprissoned Luna in the Moon for one thousand years." "So, she's coming back?" "Yes, I need you to keep guard of my student Twilight Sparkle." "You mean that purple book worm, I mean librarian." "She is my best student and I have faith that she can stop Nightmare, I need you to protect her and any friends she makes while she is in Ponyville." "You can count on me Princess." "Good, looks like your running out of fuel, better not get you trapped in orbit, that would be disastrous." The ship shook as it was magicaly directed back towards Earth. The cabin lit up again as the ship regained power. "Blackout are you there, what happened?" Gear Head called from the control room. Blackout had to come up with an excuse and fast, the only reason Celestia would spend this many bits on a project she would sabotage was to share something nothing could hear. "Uh, solar interferance?" "Umm... Ok. Its seems your heading back to Equestria but because of the disruption your not head to the intended landing spot, your current trajectory shows that your heading to a small town called Ponyville." "What about the landing, there's nothing but rock down there?" "Don't worry, the hull can take it and I designed special shock absorber in your suite and the cabin. I can't talk to you due to rentry so contact me when you land, you'll have to find a way out of there." "Will do, wish me luck." the radio went to static as you hit the atmosphere with a thud. Fire surrounds the ship as it speeds to the ground. Finaly the vessle touches down, well more like crashed down. "Hey Gear, are you there?" "Yeah, you landed?" "Yep, how do I get out of here?" "Head to the back of the ship, your locker is there." Blackout navigated his way up the verticle halls untill he hit a wall, opposite to the wall was his locker. "Ok, I'm here." "Good, in the locker you'll find your stuff and what may look like a metal pipe." "Um, Ok, what is it?" "A high-powered laser! It should cut through the hull and create an opening. Just aim it and press the red button on the side." Complying Blackout pointed it at the metal wall and pushed the button. The laser began to shake as small yet powerful generators worked to build energy and soon after a visible red stream shot out and melted the metal in front of him. Moving it in a sloppy circle, he cut a hole in the ship and finaly freed himself from the metal death trap. It wasn't very bright out side, with the trees blocking the sun, and nobody was around, except for a small, frightened, purple pony.
The BeginningA stallion enters a room with all the lights shut off. He walks up to the podium in front of a congregation of talking ponies and calls for their attention. The room quiets down as he opens the folder in front of him marked with a classified stamp. The fact that this was on the folder always seemed funny to him. Every operation he carried out was classified. It seemed obvious to everypony that if it had to do with war, it was a secret. "Alright, as you may or may not know, the gargoyles have set up a jamming device in the mountains. This compound is holding equipment that is disrupting our communications and most of the electronics in a two hundred mile radius." He had dealt with gargoyles before. They started out by taking over a few small territories not far from Equestria but they ran out of luck when they tried to move into the kingdom. Despite their past victories, they were primitive and never stood a chance against the Royal Army or the Guard. "Our job is to go to the mountain, destroy the jammer, and its operators. We are heading out at 0800 tomorrow so get some sleep and be ready for a hike. Dismissed." The chatter started up again as the briefing room emptied and the stallion headed back to his room. The pony's name was Blackout, he is a pegasis that lead the best branch of the Royal Military: the Royal Elite, but they've gained the name the "Aces" amongst the Army boys. He had a jetblack mane and tail and dark grey fur. His mane was spikey and pointed foreward causing it to jut out slightly past his face. He had emerald green eyes and always wore a now dated M1 helmet with a net over it. "One size fits all" they said, it still seemed a bit loose but it never falls off. His body size is second only to Celestia herself but his real pride is his wings. He had one of the largest, most powerful set of wings in Equestria. Celestia may have bigger wings but lack of day to day use has made them weaker than the wings of athlete flyier. He, on the other hand, worked his wings daily on missions plus he took his time to train them to make sure they stay the way they are. The only pony that out did his speed was Mig. Mig was Blackout's best friend and second in command. They first met when the both of them came up with a scheme to bust out of a prison considered to be inescapable. He remember that day to the last detail, the eight step plan, the sacrifice the prisoners made, and the leadership of the pegasis that faught by his side through the entire ordeal. But what really impressed him was the pony's speed. He was the only pony Blackout knew to have ever pulled off a sonic rainboom. Despite his smaller wingspan, he was MUCH faster than Blackout. Mig's wings were stronger than his and Mig was smaller than him. Even if only by a little, Mig still had areodynamic superiority over Blackout. Mig sported a dark brown mane and light brown fur. He wore an Ushanka with goggles attached to them and had sky blue eyes. His mane was short and pointed up and away from his forehead. Despite the history of his ethnicity being associated with drinking and simplicity he was a geneous. Which would also describe the final member of the group, Gear Head. Gear Head was the youngest of the group and as his name implies, he was a gearhead. Blackout recruted him when the need for armored ground transport rised. A call to everypony who invented anything close to what they needed was sent out, and that's when he showed up. First thing he did was bring in a prototype of what would now be a steam engine. They had never seen anything like it but when he fired it up, the eggheads lit up like Manehattan's Time Square. The fact that this pony had been making things like this already excited everypony. He was instantly appointed head of enginering and when he showed promise on the battle field, Blackout recruted him. He was average sized with an Irish accent. He had green fur and a messy blond mane that stuck out from under his blue cap, which had a headset around it that he used for his radio set. With him, we managed to put together one of the top military weapons today, a gun. He also managed to perfect long range, portable radios, cars, and computors. But the most impressive project was his pride and joy, the helicarrier. It was a massive flying structure that was kept aloft by four massive propellers and engines. This served as the Aces base of operations. Though it wasn't made with stealth in mind, it had everything they needed. Plus it didn't need to be stealthy if it could reach hieghts only the strongest fliers could reach. "Why do we have to fight with the Army." Gear Head griped, "I thought we were on a mission, not babysitn'." "I guess the princess wanted to have an equal share of the action" answed Blackout, "Just try your best to put up with them." "I'll try, but I can tell you now, I won't like it." He retorted before going to sleep. As much as the Colonel tried to tell himself the same thing, Gear was right. He couldn't stand how slow they were, but it wasn't there fault. They had no experiance seeing how his team takes every operation that comes up. The reason why his team was created was to keep war a secret. Equestrians have been living in peace for over 1,000 years as far as they know. If the princess wants to deal with something quietly, she comes to the Aces. "Why are we hiking up this mountain again, we are all pegasis, you know?" Blackout hears one of the greenhorns complain as he led the platoon up the mountain. "Well first, if we fly, we'll be detected, and second, this is a big mountain, near the top the air thins and more power is needed to stay in the air, plus you'll pass out. Oh and Gear Head isn't a pegasis." "Oh." was the only thing the ignorant soldier could say. Blackout was bothered that he didn't know this. These types of things should taught in training, but there was no time to teach them. Most of the troops are sent right to the areas that the gargoyels normaly attack. He could feel the air thinning and ice was starting to form on his cold weather clothing. It provided balistics protection, camoflage, and personal shelter from the cold, up to -60 Fahrenheit. They finaly reached the peak, nothing. "What the hay, there's nothing here!" the Colonel heard a soldier shout. "If this was a drill then I'm goin' AWOL." another pony said. "Calm down, this is just our rally point." Blackout explained. "Well were's the compound?" "Its over there." He points to a drop off and most of the ponies move near the edge to get a look. It was on a ledge about one hundred yards down the slope. It had a concrete building in the middle with a dish on top, which was transmitting the signals that were messing with their comms. It had few small barracks around them and the entire facility was surrounded by fifteen foot tall walls, and to top it off, the gate had two towers guarding it, and a tower at each corner of the wall. The gate was facing away from the direction the "team" came. It was facing a path down the other side of the mountain. Though this path would have been easier, the group would have baisically been walking up the mountain to meet a group of cannon barrels pointed at their heads. The gargoyels didn't have actual guns. They could make cannons but thats it, which is why he found them easy to kill. "So what do we do, go down there and bust a hole in the wall?" "No, we post a few snipers on this ridge, then we go down and bust a hole in the wall. Hey you." Blackout pulled a soldier over to him, "Get the sniper team over here." "Yes, sir." The kid came back with a group of six ponies, each holding a gun larger than his. "Sir, Corporal Quick Scope of the fourth sniper divi..." "Cool story." Blackout cut him off. "I need you and your men to line up on the ridge so that each sniper has a view of every tower." "Yes, sir." "When I give the signal, your team will take out the cannon operators, got it?" "Yes, sir, what's the signal?" "When you hear a boom, after that you open fire, when were inside all hostile targets are fair game." "Understood." "Assualt team, on me." he shouted, "We're heading down the cliff to the compound, stay quiet until the wall is blown, then we storm the compound. Stay out of sight, if were caught, it'll only get harder." He lead the platoon down the cliff in three groups. One led by him, another by Mig, and the other by Gear Head. The plan was to flank the compound, having one team destroy the barracks, one team provide support, and another to draw most of the fire. Unfortunatly, his team was the bait. He would set off the first explosion and by the time he was surrounded, two more would go off, simple as that right? They made it to the wall, the side facing the cliff, and attached the explosives to it. It was something Gear had come up with, said it was a plastic explosive, only way to detonate it was by a chemical reaction that set off via radio signal, which helped him with staying calm considering he had over a pound of the stuff on his back. He had waited a while to make sure that everypony was in position, not having any comms was pretty difficult but only posed as a minor detour. Taking a deep breath, Blackout slowly squeezed the detonator. BOOM
Foul PlayHis ears are ringing from the sound and his chest feels preassurized from the shock wave, which blows snow over him and his men. "Damnit Colonel, give us a warning before you set off something like that!" the soldier behind him shouts. He had forgoten to give them a warning, normaly he didn't have to, but these men havn't been able to adjust to the loud sounds of explosions going off in thier face. "GO!" Blackout commands as his team rushed through the opening he blasted. Everything would have gone off without a hitch if it wasn't for the introduction of sound that made his eyes go wide. It was indeed gun fire, but unlike the rapid bang sound of his rifles, this was a popping sound. This was the signature sound of a Kalashnikov rifle, a Grimlin gun. Grimlins were known to have extensive knowledge in technology but never associated with anyone, unless it was to cause trouble, and if that was the case then what are Gargoyles doing with thier guns? But he pushed aside this thought as he realised that his men would be in trouble. As the last pony moves through the wall, Blackout turned to find bodies of both sides on the ground, and around them are white puffs of snow jumping from bullet impacts. He rushed to the nearest available cover, behind the hole he just blew open. This was bad, a team of young soldiers who didn't know how to fight against armed Gargoyle warriors, and nothing solid to stay behind. Blackout quikly realises that the team is thinning to only about ten ponies. In an act of despiration and in dire need of help, he shout out a command at the top of his lungs to blow the wall. To the relief of Blackout, his shout was followed by a loud roar, and another shockwave, and another wall of snow to cover the Colonel and his men. Soon another boom went off, and another shockwave, and more snow. The rapid bang sound of Equestrian rifles invaded Blackout's ears, only to be drowned out by the popping of the Grimlin made weapons. He was still out-gunned, but he wasn't dead yet. He would not let the death of the young stalions be in vain. Drawing his knife from under his left arm and pulling his pistol from the holster on his hip he ran strait into the frey. Maby it was just dumb luck but every time he pulled this reckless stunt, he emerged alive and still able-bodied. In a confusing scene of stabs, slashes, pot shots, and punches, Blackout's colleagues had followed suite. The valliant act had mad progress but hit a dead end when the gunfire stopped and the three leaders were backed against each other, covered in blood, not even knowing whom it belongs to, and breathing heavily from the glorified mosh pit they created. They became surrounded by Gargoyles with barrels aimed at them, a single move and thier dead. Equestrian soldiers were pushed into the middle of the circle, some already bound in ropes. An opening in the circle is made for a rather intimidating looking Gargoyle with nicley decorated armor, a sword, and a Grimlin pistol at his hip. He had a smug grin on his his face as he slowly walked up to the now captured ponies. "That was very brave of you, running into the battle like that." he said as he spoke to Blackout, now bound and pushed on his knees. "I'm afraid that bravery can get a pony so far before he hits a wall." "So what are you going to do, throw us in the Gulag?" Mig said sarcasticly. "I'm afraid I don't take prisoners, and I've always wanted to kill and Ace, now I can kill all three of you." "Just one minute." said Blackout, "I've got a question. Why do you have Grimlin guns?" "Ah yes, these contraptions he calls a gun, well Mr. Kalashnikov was very eager to get his invention out to the world, and we gargoyles have made a good sum of coin from our past victories. We used these new funds to buy these weapons and fortunatly it encouraged the Grimlins to become a little more social, in a good way." "So, you've been buying things from the Grimlins." "Yes Colonel I" the Gargoyle stoped, "we have." The stuter caused Blackout to ponder why this living building decoration use "I" when he was a Brigadier, he was no General, or one of thier Prime Ministers. "Enough talk, soldiers!" the Gargoyle comanded "Take these ponies to a proper execution site and line them up with the Aces last." The soldiers complied and brought everypony to thier hooves then proceeded to move them to a clear spot and lined them down with the three Aces at one end. There's the gate, just run for it. Blackout mused to himself, but he knew that escape by those means would be suicide, and disloyal. He would rather die with his friends then run off alone and fail the mission. The three watched helplessly as the Brigadier went down the line, looking into each soldier's pleading eye's with his own, beady, souless ones, and pulling the trigger of his pistol. With each gunshot the three grew more angry, angry that this smug bastard is mercilessly killing the young ponies that Celestia herself entrusted thier safety with them. They had to act, or think, or do something to get them out. Ten ponies left, one bullet left in the gun, three soldiers to the left, two to the right. Blackout's mind raced with observations as he planned his attack. Through facial expressions, body motion, and lip talking, the Aces managed to form a quick plan they would try while the Gargoyle was reloading his gun. "Now!" Blackout shouts and the three rise up, thier hooves were tied in front of them so they could still use them. Mig and Gear Head threw thier arms around the necks of the two soldiers on the right and Blackout reach for his knife with his mouth. He proceeded to clumsily cut the rope until it snapped and his hooves were free. The guards on the left had little time to draw thier weapons as the now free Aces gunned them down. The Brigadier took off before they could get a shot at him and entered the compound. Ignoring the cowardly leader, the Aces then turned thier attention to the remaining Gargoyles surrounding them. "Take care of the men, I'll destroy the compound." Blackout shouted over the gunfire. With that statement, he bolted for the large concrete structure. Smashing through the front door and shooting any ressistance in the room. Taking the time that an empty room can offer, he takes anything he can use to get to that murderer that is now hiding in the building. Reloading the Grimlin rifle in his hooves he slowley opened the door to the next room. Two hostile targets, he observed as he shot one in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He turned to aim at the next Gargoyle and shot him twice in the head, killing him. The Gargoyle on the ground pointed his gun at Blackout but wasn't fast enough and had another bullet enter his chest, piercing his heart. With another room cleared, Blackout moved down a hall into the next room, which had machines spread out. Ten targets. Quickly Blackout reach for a grenade he picked up from a dead Gargoyle. He held it for two seconds before tossing it into the center of the room. He dove to the ground and faced away so any shrapnel wouldn't hit his face. The explosion went off and smoke and dust was force up while sparks and electricity from the machines flew. Blackout snapped back to his bipedal position and raised his rifle, scanning for any survivors, none. To the left of the hall was a metal door that led to lower levels. "Great there's more." Blackout said to himself. "At least this means he didn't away." Checking his ammo, he walked up to the door and slowly opened it.
The End of the BeginningA metal creak could be heard and it echoed through the hall behind him and down the stairs before him. Blackout slowly made his way down a series of stairs that almost never ended. After what seemed like one hundred steps he came across a big metal door, this one looked thick and had Grimlin writing on it. He took the time to try and listen through it but it was too thick and sealed shut. Giving up, he decided to open it but was not expecting the noise to be so loud. Tumblers rolled, hinges grinded, and gears moved at once to create a symphony of metal racket. The door swung open on its own, revealing the single dark pony with a look that said "oops." There had to be at least twenty Gargoyles in the large room that had steam releasing out of preassure valves everywhere. There were tubes on the ground that was pumping some type of liquid through it. Crates were stacked on top of each other and dim workshop lights hung off the high cieling. "How did you get in here!?" The cowerdly Brigadier said in shock of his preasence. Unsurprisingly he ran and just about everybody in the room raised thier guns to him. Acting quickly, he rolled to the nearest crate before they opened fire. Bullets bounced off the metal walls and sparks popped here and there. The major mistake was they all opened fire at the same time and would in turn reload at the same time. Taking the oprotunity of cease fire, Blackout popped up from his cover and shot three rounds into the nearest targets chest. Moving like clockwork, he picked a target and shot three rounds into it. In five seconds he managed to take down seven targets before they reloaded thier weapons. The new volley of projectiles forced Blackout behind more crates. While waiting for another oprotunity he spots something. It was the Brigadier entering whta looked like a large cylinder on train tracks. They had three big cones on the back and those pipes with fluid were hooked up to the side of this thing. "So long Colonel." he called to Blackout. "For your sake, I hope you know how to work these things." he continued as he entered the cylinder. The cones on the back soon spat flames and the large steel can began moving. Great, he got away. But his problems didn't end there. The room became illuminated with a red flashing light and a klaxon alam blared and echoed through the tunnel the rocket cylinder moved through, a light from the flames could still be seen. This didn't happen many times but he figured that red lights, alarms, and fleeing soldiers usualy ment a bomb. He didn't waist a moment, he sprinted up the stairs as the other round vehicles departed. The climb up seemed longer than the one down now that he was running for his life and not to end another's. He finaly made it up the large flight of stairs and put all of his explosives on the walls of the main level just to be safe. The only problem was that if the place was going to explode, by self destruct of course, then how will they get away. The room downstairs was huge, probably covered in explosives, running down the road past the gates wouldn't cut it. Then it hit him. The cliff! The idea popped in his head like a lightbulb. Wasting no time he sprinted on all fours out of the facility to find it compeletly captured by the remaining Equestrians. "Lets go, this whole cliff will go up in flames any moment now!" "Were do we go?" a now paniced soldier asked. "Off the cliffside, jump off!" "Are you crazy?!" a familiar looking pony questioned. "You said we are all pegasis right?" and with haste Blackout rushed past the wall gesturing for the rest of the ponies to follow. "Are you su..." his sentence was cut off when Blackout shoved him off the cliffside. "What are you starin' at? GO!" the rest of the ponies shrug and jump off. Blackout signals the sniper team to move down the mountain. He waited for them to jump off before signaling the other two Aces to jump off, then he followed suite. Jumping in the air over the edge he met a cold rush of air hit his face, which would only get colder as he gained speed. Even over the howling of the wind in his ears he could hear the massive explosion behind him. Everything was finaly going his way, he was even having fun, until he heard something zip by his head. Turning in mid air he spotted about six Gargoyles falling behind him. No longer having the rifle he had earlier, he pulled out his pistol and fired a shot at the target in front. The sound of the gun shot was muffled from the wind and the cartridge headed towards the remaining five targets. He then fired two shots at the next target. One managed to hit him in the shoulder and the other missed. Firing with your arms moving due to the wind was a challenge for Blackout, he never did this before. He fired one more round and it connected with his wing, crippling it, no use wasting another bullet, he would die from the fall. He shot another in the foot, then the head. The next target fired and hit Blackout's chest, the pain was familiar, but due to the jacket he was wearing it did not pierce his skin. Blackout returned fire, shooting twice, hitting the attacker in the head. Two left, he fired the last three rounds in the clip. The Gargoyle was killed but that left one more. Thinking quickly he grabed the empty clip and let go of it when it was below the remaining soldier's head. The heavy metal case struck him in the eye with great force and he convulced in pain, directing him away from the group. When he turned around, he found the group had left, already back in the skies, and he was still plummeting to his death. He paniced to shed his restricting CWC gear. With moments to spare he tore off the winter gear and spread his wings. The downward momentum shot him to break-neck speeds as a vapor cone formed around him. He'd seen this when Mig did his rainbooms but looked diferent on the inside. He was brought back to reality when his face met the cold snow of another mountain. "Well looks like another job well done, eh laddie?" Gear Head said smiling at the buried pony. "With a price though." responded a snow covered Blackout. "I knew it was a bad idea." "We all did, we can't fix that now." "Aye, it'd be best to move on." "I guess we better get back to base then huh?" "Well I don't know, your the commander, arn't ya?" "Right, back to base for debrief." two months later "Tell me again why I'm in this thing?" asked a nervous Blackout "Because it would be a great honor to be the first living thing in space." Gear Head replied. Things seemed to have calmed down since the last raid two months back, and Gear Head used this time to set a milestone: space travel. It was a command, well more of an idea, that Celestia gave to him. "But I never volunteered for this, you just put me in this heavy suite and shoved me in the tin can." "You may not have volunteered, but somepony decided to do it for you." "And could you tell who this pony is so I can kick thier flank?" before he could get a responce he heard snickering from the mechanic. "It was Celestia." he responded, "She said to me that the only pony she wanted to use this thing was you." "Well I don't appreciate this honor of her's. I'm getting out." "Oh, you don't want to do that." "And why not." "Because your going to space in five..." Oh crap. "four..." "You better not." "three..." "Your bluffing, I know it." "two..." Crap, he's not bluffing. "one. We have lift off, I repeat we have lift off." Blackout managed to slip into his seat before what felt like a mattress smashed him into it. The force was keeping Blackout from moving, even his head was pressed firmly againt the cusioned seat. He didn't know how fast he was going, and he didn't want to. The ship rattled and shook from the thick atmosphere breaking across the coned nose of the rocket. He could feel the preassure start to ease before he heard Gear's voice come on the radio, "Stage one complete, stage two engage." Blackout was kicked back into his seat as the primary rockets broke off and the secondaries fired. It eased off again, and Gear's voice came on again, "Stage two complete, breaking off. Ok Blackout, I'm going to steer this thing so your put into the moon's orbit, I'm also opening the cockpit window, from what I undestand it should be quite a view. Oh yeah, and your free to move around as well." Blackout finaly relaxed as the metal panels covering the thick glass windows slid down, revealing an unbelievable sight. Stars, clearer than they are at night, dottet the sky and moon, larger than life, sat before the Colonel. "Wow. Hey Gear you should see this, Gear?" Blackout called but only recieved static through the radio. Soon after the cabin darkened, and a red light was all that illuminated the controls. "Hey whats going on?" "It's OK, you'll be fine." assured a calming voice. "I shut down most of the electronic in the ship so I could talk to you in private "Celestia?" "Yes, I have something of the utmost importance to tell you." "What just happened, I've lost all connections with Blackout!" asked a panicked Gear Head. "I don't know, sir. We're running diagnostics as we speak but nothing foreign is showing up, whatever is interfering with the ship, its not electronic!" "You see that moon your orbiting?" "Yes." "It contains one of the biggest threats to Equestria, and the World." "But how?" "Have you ever heard about Princess Luna?" "Princess Luna?" "She was my sister, before she became possesed by a powerful evil called the Nightmare. It caused my sister to become jealous of my position as raiser of the sun and with the power of the Nightmare, she threatened to keep the sun down and have only night." "That's it, I mean that's horrible!" "Yes it is." "So, what do you want me to do? Blow up the moon?" "No!" she shouted, startling him. "As you may know the Summer Sun Celebration is comming up." "Ah yes, the solstice." "It was the day of the summer solstice that I imprissoned Luna in the Moon for one thousand years." "So, she's coming back?" "Yes, I need you to keep guard of my student Twilight Sparkle." "You mean that purple book worm, I mean librarian." "She is my best student and I have faith that she can stop Nightmare, I need you to protect her and any friends she makes while she is in Ponyville." "You can count on me Princess." "Good, looks like your running out of fuel, better not get you trapped in orbit, that would be disastrous." The ship shook as it was magicaly directed back towards Earth. The cabin lit up again as the ship regained power. "Blackout are you there, what happened?" Gear Head called from the control room. Blackout had to come up with an excuse and fast, the only reason Celestia would spend this many bits on a project she would sabotage was to share something nothing could hear. "Uh, solar interferance?" "Umm... Ok. Its seems your heading back to Equestria but because of the disruption your not head to the intended landing spot, your current trajectory shows that your heading to a small town called Ponyville." "What about the landing, there's nothing but rock down there?" "Don't worry, the hull can take it and I designed special shock absorber in your suite and the cabin. I can't talk to you due to rentry so contact me when you land, you'll have to find a way out of there." "Will do, wish me luck." the radio went to static as you hit the atmosphere with a thud. Fire surrounds the ship as it speeds to the ground. Finaly the vessle touches down, well more like crashed down. "Hey Gear, are you there?" "Yeah, you landed?" "Yep, how do I get out of here?" "Head to the back of the ship, your locker is there." Blackout navigated his way up the verticle halls untill he hit a wall, opposite to the wall was his locker. "Ok, I'm here." "Good, in the locker you'll find your stuff and what may look like a metal pipe." "Um, Ok, what is it?" "A high-powered laser! It should cut through the hull and create an opening. Just aim it and press the red button on the side." Complying Blackout pointed it at the metal wall and pushed the button. The laser began to shake as small yet powerful generators worked to build energy and soon after a visible red stream shot out and melted the metal in front of him. Moving it in a sloppy circle, he cut a hole in the ship and finaly freed himself from the metal death trap. It wasn't very bright out side, with the trees blocking the sun, and nobody was around, except for a small, frightened, purple pony.
