Ember sat on the ground, idling with a 30 caliber shell on the grass. The fire in the Everfree was finally extinguished, but it was still devastated.

She sighed, before looking at her wing. Nurse Redheart and the American medic had checked her wing for infection and told her something that scarred her for life.

"You may never fly again."

Ember blinked away a tear and sniffled. She'd never cried in her whole life, and she was not about to start now.

A Russian soldier sat down near Ember, and lit a cigarette, before inhaling and exhaling softly.

"Ahh...", he sighed.

Ember looked over at the Russian. "Do you have any more of those?", she asked.

The Russian looked over at Ember, before taking out another cigarette, lighting it, and offering it to her.

Ember put the cigarette in her mouth, and inhaled. She coughed for a bit, choking for a brief second, but the carcinogens soon hit. She smiled and sighed, exhaling the smoke.

"Thanks.", she said.

"Izvinite?", the Russian asked.

"Right...", Ember muttered.

In the Crystal Empire, Cadence sat at one end of the room, while Shining Armor lay in the middle of the throne room. two long excruciating days had passed, both giving each other the silent treatment. None of them had noticed that Flurry Heart was missing, they were in their own forms of depression.

Jack laughed as Flurry Heart flew around him, cooing in the most adorable way to him.

"Uhh, sir?", Din said.

"You remind me of my daughter.", Jack said, as he caught the baby alicorn, tickling her.

"Sir.", Din repeated, more urgently this time.

"Yes?", Jack said. Din pointed outside with his Gewehr, and Jack walked over to the door.

Several Vickers tanks, loaded with infantry, were rolling towards the empire. Two Flammpanzers were on the edge of town, with a squad of Germans aiming at them. The Frozen North winds were making it hard to see, but the Flammpanzers were shooting bursts of fire that extinguished the cold weather every once in a while.

The Stug III was readying its artillery cannon, when Jack and Din ran out.

"Feuer nicht!!", he yelled. He ran to the edge of town and waved his hands. "Halte es!!", he yelled.

The soldiers lowered their weapons, as the Finnish tanks stopped in a horizontal line outside the empire. The tanks were covered in snow, but no ice, strange enough.

The soldiers got off the tanks, shivering as the cold got to them.

"Is this a good idea?", Ahti whispered to Thorax.

"Trust me, changelings have been a lot friendlier. I made sure of that.", Thorax whispered back to the commander, smiling. He trotted...err...walked towards the Germans.

"We come in peace! We're lost and-", Thorax began to say, before a Flammpanzer on the left fired a burst of flame that nearly cooked him alive.

Thorax yelped and practically flew back to Ahti. "OK then, never mind.", he said.

"Wait!!"

Jack ran towards them, his Flammenwerfer in his hands. "What happened out here?", he demanded.

"We-we're looking for shelter, b-b-but-", Ahti said, shivering in the cold, before Jack cut him off.

"Say no more. We will assist.", Jack said. He held up a hand, and the infantry and tanks moved back, opening a path into the warm empire. The Crystal ponies stared at the humans and vehicles outside the empire, surprised at how they weren't getting affected.

Ahti and Thorax shrugged, before they, and the Finnish forces, entered.

In the sky, Lena was getting chased by several 262 jets, MK 108 cannons blazing. A 30 mm round grazed her wing, causing her to spiral, before gaining control again.

She drew her crossbow, and turned to fire, only for the jets to race past. When she turned around again, she was met with more aircraft fire.

She dove towards the ground, dodging clouds and bullets. The several other jets chased her, firing their cannons.

Lena reached the ground, and pulled up, before racing towards a certain village surrounded by American and German vehicles. "Gotta get to safety!", she said, flying at top speed.

The lead German pilot blinked, when he saw Tigers and Shermans on the outskirts of the devastated town.

"Amerikaner! Angriff abbrechen, wir haben ein neues Ziel.", the pilot said, before all seven planes veered off. Lena stared in amazement as they picked up speed.

"As if they weren't fast enough.", she muttered, before she herself picked up speed.

In the town of Ponyville, Twilight was talking to Rainbow Dash.

"What happened? Did you get to Cloudsdale for help?", Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash slowly rubbed her head. "Cloudsdale is...gone...", she said.

Twilight's eyes widened.

Flashback

Spitfire and Rainbow Dash walked around, looking for Soarin. All of Cloudsdale was full or injured or shellshocked Pegasi after the savage attack by the Luftwaffe's bomber fleet.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash turned and gasped.

Soarin was lying on a cloud, bandages wrapped around his hoof. Blood stained the whole bandage, and the hoof. If Spitfire was right, and he really did have a hole in his hoof, she didn't wanna know.

"Hey, are you OK?", Rainbow Dash asked.

Soarin nuzzled Rainbow Dash, surprising her. "I missed you.", he said. "Are you OK?"

"I-I'm OK.", Rainbow Dash said, blushing slightly. Soarin chuckled, before getting tackled by Spitfire.

"SOARIN!! YOU'RE OK!", Spitfire cried, hugging her wingpony tightle, not caring how she looked to everypony else. Soarin nuzzled her back, tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I haven't been able to help you fight off those-", Soarin said.

"Shh, you've been hurt. I wasn't about to let you hurt yourself over us.", Spitfire reassured. Soarin wiped a tear with his good hoof and hugged Spitfire again.

Rainbow Dash quickly tapped Spitfire on the shoulder. The Wonderbolt captain turned to the rainbow named Pegasus.

“Uhh...I originally came to ask for help, but I see you’ve kinda got your hooves full. But...well...there was-“, Rainbow Dash said.

“What is it?”, Spitfire asked.

“Umm, Ponyville is-“, Rainbow Dash said.

Suddenly, a big chunk of cloud city was destroyed, a puff of black smoke in its place.

“What was that?!”, Soarin said.

Suddenly, chunks of Cloudsdale exploded, clouds and ponies flying. Down below, several trucks with Flak 38 guns were firing on the giant city.

Flashback end.

Twilight’s eyes were wide. “Oh no.”, she said.

“I broke off, flew back here. Two of those things chased me. I’d never been so scared of a machine...”, Rainbow Dash said. Normally, she wouldn’t ever admit something like being scared. But those flak guns ignited a terror so great inside her that all her pride went out the window.

“Rainbow...”, Twilight muttered. Then several roars filled the air.

The seven jets had reached the town, and everyone scrambled. The 262s opened fire on a building, blowing up the whole structure. Two soldiers were sent flying, as the soldiers all scrambled in panic.

"Incoming!", Edward yelled, firing his BAR in the air. The roars of the jets deafened everyone as they shot around in different directions.

A jet bombarded a house, instantly blowing it up. A soldier was caught in the blast, and was immediately disintegrated.

Twilight, a soldier, and Applejack shot towards Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hid with a squad of soldiers at the town square. Jones and Rarity ducked under Carousel Boutique's rubble.

Two 50 Calibers on a Sherman and a Hellcat opened fire on the sky, a jet flying past.

The flak guns filled the sky above the town square with shrapnel and smoke, making the town square a no-fly zone.

A jet strafed the ground, killing two more soldiers. Otto and Dieter ducked behind a Kübelwagen, while an American on the Kübelwagen fired its MG-42.

Pinkie Pie ducked under a house and grabbed her party cannon. She stuffed a load into the cannon and aimed it in the sky.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!", Pinkie Pie yelled. She fired a cluster of fireworks into the air, sparks and fire exploding in the sky as a spectacular scene.

The screams and pops of the fireworks was deafening, and everyone covered their ears.

"What the hell?!", Jones cried. The only ones who weren't covering their ears were Edward and the soldiers manning guns against the jets.

A firework flew into the jet engine of a 262, and exploded. The whole wing went up in flames, and the jet spiraled towards the ground.

"Maifeiertag!!", the pilot cried, before he quickly ejected out of the jet, his parachute inflating as he floated down to safety. (FYI, they had ejection seats back then)

Twilight looked up, to see the jet flying towards Sugarcube Corner. Her eyes widened in horror, and she turned to see Applejack and the soldier pushing a table as a barricade against the door.

"Look out!!", Twilight cried. She teleported herself and Applejack out of the store, but the soldier was left behind.

"Wait!!", he cried, before the jet impacted against the store.

A massive explosion demolished the bakery, a humongous cloud of smoke rising. The force of the explosion was enough to send all the jeeps, both American and German, tumbling. Otto and Dieter crashed against a wall, as the American MG gunner was flung onto a roof. Edward and a soldier flew into the side of a Tiger, and a jeep fell on its side in front of them, shielding them from any incoming debris. The gunners on the tanks fell off, as the 50 Calibers stop

The pilot landed on the ground, as he grabbed his MP-40. He stared at the fire, before he came to his senses and ran to cover.

Pinkie Pie stared at the burning building that was once her home. Her mane instantly deflated, becoming smooth and flat.

Edward slowly recovered from the blast, to see Pinkie Pie just staring at the burning wreck.

The soldier slowly crawled out of the fire, his clothes on fire. He tried to get up, only to fall dead on the ground, the fire slowly eating away at his body.

Pinkie Pie stared up at a jet, its main guns firing at her.

A round hit the ground near her, dirt flying on her mane. Edward grabbed the frozen pony and ran back to cover.

He jumped over the jeep, and set Pinkie down. "Hey, you good?", he asked.

Pinkie slowly stared over at him. A grin slowly etched its way onto her face. "Everything's fine...", she said.

Edward just nodded. "Good, now let's get going. We have to get out of the open before this cover's done for.", he said. He peeked out from behind the jeep, watching out for more jets or any other potential threats.

He didn't see Pinkie with the butcher's knife in her hoof, aiming down the back of his neck.

Author's Note

Cliffhangers, yay.