Churning Tides

by Midnight Sky2

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad, Main 6, Other, Princess Luna, Original Character, Princess Celestia
Length: 7109

Six years ago, the once peaceful land of Equestria was plunged into a brutal Civil War between the New Lunar Republic in the north, and the Solar Empire in the south. Both sides refuse to back down and the Elements are divided between the two nations. The future of Equestria is uncertain.

Alliances will be formed, friendships will be tested, battles will be fought, an old foe will rise, and the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.

Here is war from the eyes of those living it. From the lowest private, to the world leaders.

Warning: if you do not like war fics do NOT read.
Other Characters not tagged that will appear are as follows:

Trixie, Spike, Octavia, Big Mac, Cutie Mark Crusaders, several OC's, and Zecora

Published 2012-12-19 14:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-07 02:14:23 UTC

A Storm is Brewing

Canterlot, Solar Empire. 1100 Hours. Royal Palace.
Twilight Sparkle POV

My hooves made an echoing, clopping sound on the hard marble floors of the empty hallway as I made my way through it. As usual, I was on my way to see my mentor, Empress Celestia, the true ruler of Equestria. It had been five months since I had seen her last; I couldn’t help but wonder if this plan of hers was actually going to work. But she was the empress, and was never wrong.

I glanced to my right as I strolled along the seemingly endless hall towards the throne room. The walls were lined with portraits of great military commanders from both ancient Equestria, as well as the modern era. They were expertly painted and were extremely life like, almost as if you could touch them and feel their coats. Their faces were solemn and stoic; that is what the Empress had to say anyway. She thought that they looked like the stone-faced watchstallions ready to defend their country and Empress. I thought that they looked rather menacing to be honest.

Their portraits were hung in ornately carved cherry wood frames which stood out from the plain white walls of the palace. The pale light coming from the crystal chandeliers served make the paintings look even more intimidating and lifelike than they already were.

I paused as I came to my portrait. The mare depicted in the painting looked exactly the way I did now despite the fact that I had been six years younger at the time of the painting. I was in the same uniform that I was in now-a brilliant white dress shirt with a black sash and golden buttons. The sleeves of my shirt had six golden bars to represent each of the Elements of Harmony and ended in red cuffs. I also had a white peaked cap with a black visor and a red brow; it boasted Empress Celestia’s cutie mark on the center of the brow. I wore a pair of white leather, high heeled boots with scarlet buckles on my back hooves. I thought that it was some of Rarity’s best work.

I took in my fill and hurried to meet the Empress. I was actually feeling rather giddy to be honest. Imagine if you hadn’t seen the pony that practically raised you and taught you everything that you know in five months. But duty had called me to other cities in the Empire to oversee the Empress’ secret project. My parents had died in the incident that the history books call, “The Great Lunar Rebellion”, in which Princess Luna had formed her own separate nation, so Empress Celestia became my adopted mother.

Actually, Empress Celestia was practically the ONLY family I had now, I lost track of Spike when we got caught up in a riot on our way to the Canterlot Archives three days before the Rebellion; the police had opened fire on the protesters. I have good reason to believe he was one of the forty-six killed. My mom and dad were killed on the day of the initial rebellion when Luna and her army forced their way out of Canterlot. Shining Armor and Cadence had been killed by an airstrike in a friendly fire incident during the war that ensued for two years after the initial rebellion. I have no idea what happened to Pinkie Pie, Applejack, or Fluttershy. Though I believe Fluttershy is probably alive hiding somewhere deep in the forest. Rainbow Dash is a Captain in the Pony’s Solar Air force. She had refused a higher rank because she would not have been able to be a pilot otherwise. Rarity was Chief Treasury of the Solar Empire. It suited her well and she enjoyed it, especially when she got to handle the jewels in the Royal Treasure Room. Aside from being in charge of the vast majority of the Solar Empire’s economy she also designed all of the uniforms for the military. If you know Rarity, then I probably don’t have to tell you that that is her absolutely favorite part of the job.

I was happy that I still had a family, believe me. But even after four years of cease fire and a Cold War between the two nations, I was still angry and bitter. I could barely go a week without tears. Can you imagine if everything and everyone that you loved and where close to were suddenly ripped from you? Nothing could describe the depths of my sadness. I would make the New Lunar Republic pay for what they did to me, my friends, and ponies all over the world. Princess Luna would pay for this treachery against Equestria.

I came out of the Hall of Heroes and entered a great circular chamber. The walls were a brilliant white, like the rest of the palace. The roof was bowl shaped, and painted on the ceiling was the flag of our glorious Solar Empire. It was a rather simple design, just a red banner with Empress Celestia’s cutie mark in the center of it. On the opposite side of the chamber from me stood two huge oaken doors, which were stained dark brown. I had no idea how old they were, but they had been made in ancient times, even before the Empress, who was now in her 3,600th year.

On either side of the doors stood enormous marble statues of the Empress rearing on her hind legs as if to crush an enemy beneath her powerful hooves. Their wings, spread wide, formed a kind of canopy over the doors where their tips touched. They stood silently with emotionless expressions on their stony white faces, like two eternal watchmares of the ponies, ready to protect them from any threat. It seemed as if their eyes followed me as I strode across the grand hall.

In front of the statues stood four REAL guards. They stood on two legs using their forelegs to hold their black Ak-74’s across their chests so that the barrels pointed up at an angle. Their armor was covered in grey-blue and steel gray camouflage; on their right shoulders was a small patch, the flag of the Solar Empire. I could only see their eyes because they were wearing black face masks; although, I could tell just by their eyes that one of them was a mare and the others were stallions. One of them was a unicorn, two were earth ponies, and the other, the mare, was a pegasus.

“Supreme Commander Sparkle!” they shouted simultaneously as they snapped their hooves together and stood at attention saluting me, their weapons held firmly at their sides. I giggled; every time I came by, they always acted like I was going to have them executed or something.

“All right, all right. At ease you four.” I laughed. “Do we really have to go through this every time I visit my teacher?”

“It’s protocol Ma’am,” grunted one of the stallions. Even though his face was hidden under his mask and helmet, I could tell exactly who he was by looking at his eyes; he was Applejack’s cousin, Red Delicious.

“Fine, fine do what you will,” I said in response as I rolled my eyes. Military ponies are all so stiff, especially the Solar Guard. I was growing weary of military protocol.

Using my telekinesis, I opened the massive wooden doors and stepped inside the Throne Room. Nothing had changed since the Lunar Rebellion except for a massive flag that hung from the lofty ceiling behind Empress Celestia’s throne.

A red carpet, with ivy embroidered along its edges with a golden thread that seemed to glow with the very light of the sun, ran from where I was standing to Empress Celestia’s throne. Marble pillars supported the massive roof. Other than that, the room was pretty much open. It was lit by giant stained glass windows depicting my teacher’s battles in the distant past including a struggle with Nightmare Moon. At night, it was lit by iron cast lamppost made into the shape of serpents. When they were lit, the light from the ruby colored flames that emanated from their mouths would dance on the walls like spirits of fire; it was a beautiful spectacle, and yet, at the same time it created a dark and rather tense atmosphere.

My amethyst eyes met those of my teacher as she descended from her throne and strode regally towards me. Her fiery red mane dancing with glee at the very sight of me, her flaming tail cascaded behind her like a waterfall of fire and light. She smiled proudly at me and I ran forward to meet her. I was filled with joy but was slightly intimidated by her at the same time.

“Empress Celestia!” I cheered as I pressed my neck against her leg (I could not reach any higher). She put her neck over me in a firm and affectionate hug.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student,” she said proudly as she released me from her grip. I looked into her emerald eyes; they were filled with great pride but there was something else there, but I was unable to determine what it was.

“How is everything proceeding?” she asked, cutting right to the point of our whole meeting.

“Very well I am happy to report,” I said smiling, the Empress smiled back. I knew she was proud of me. “All units completed transfer yesterday at 0900 hours,” I continued, “all thirty five tank battalions, fifty fighter and bomber squadrons, including a SU-37 squadron, fifteen regiments of short range vehicle launched missiles, fifty attack helicopter squadrons, and seventy infantry battalions are in place and awaiting your orders.”

My teacher raised an eyebrow and gave me a look of expectancy. Oh for buck’s sake! I had forgotten something! “What about the artillery?” she asked, still giving me a look of disapproval.

“Oh yes,” I replied blushing slightly. I had forgotten something, something very important. “All forty artillery battalions completed transfer as well.” I wanted to facehoof. How could I embarrass myself in front of my mentor like that? I felt like an idiot.

“Good,” She said bluntly as she turned away from me to gaze at the massive windows. The rainbow colored light that shown through them danced along the walls like a joyous spirit. I could tell that the Empress was deep in thought. Her deep emerald eyes stared, as if in a trance, at the epic battle depicted on the prismatic mural. “I don’t want anything to go wrong. My plan must be executed flawlessly.” she said after a long pause. “Maybe now we can finally end this stalemate. But I wonder,” she mused turning towards and looking down upon me, “how long will it take for those Lunar Rebels to fall?”

“The Ibex Empire fell before our might in no more than three months.” I began with a smirk. The victory over the Ibex Empire was my handiwork. I had engineered the brilliant scheme that had resulted in that victory, I was rather proud of it actually. The enemy had practically given themselves to us and Solar flags now flew over their capital city. “So shall the Republic.”

“Hmm yes.” The Empress nodded as she turned back to the mural in deep contemplation. “But what if we sped up the process a bit?” she asked smiling devilishly. I could tell she had something in mind, something that would bring a swift end to the Republic and Princess Luna….. permanently.

“What do you have in mind Empress?” I asked her raising my eyebrow. I was curious to see where this conversation would lead. “They are very…..strong willed, I highly doubt it would take less than three months to beat them into submission. And even then, we would probably have to worry about resistance groups.”

“Resistance groups do not worry me Twilight.” She dismissed my comment with a wave of her hoof and a toss of her mane. “But you are correct in your statement that they are strong willed. Rgh! Why can’t they just accept my leadership? Do they have no intelligence at all?”

I trotted up to her side. I could tell she had something planned. It was something big. I waited patiently for my beloved mentor to finish her monologue. She seemed to be very worked up, and I couldn’t blame her. Her sister had betrayed her and all of Equestria after all.

“Of course not.” She continued as the scowl on her regal face melted into a devious smile. “So we need to educate them as to what happens when you come against us.” She turned back to me, her emerald eyes glowing with pride. “That is why I must delay our assault for three days.” She dead panned.

I was dumbstruck. This attack had been no less than four years in the planning, and now the Empress expected me to wait again? I was eager to get my revenge. I craved it. I NEEDED it. I lusted after the satisfaction of destroying the one that had taken everything from me. A voice called out from within the depths of my spirit, urging me against these feelings. I didn’t care; I needed my revenge; I threw the voice to the back of my mind and locked it away. I shook my head and rid myself of the nagging feeling of guilt that my conscious had laid upon me. Empress Celestia had turned her gaze back to me; she looked as though she had noticed my internal struggle. I couldn’t help but notice how awe inspiring she looked with the warm glow of the sun shining onto her brilliant white coat.

“Why?” I found myself saying without meaning to. My eyes locked with hers. I felt fear wash over me at my mistake…. I had just questioned the ruler of the most powerful empire on Equis.

“Because,” she began. I sighed. I was dead. “I have added an additional piece to the plan.” She put her foreleg around me and smiled. I was confused. Why wasn’t she mad at me for questioning her?

“And what is that?” I asked sheepishly. If she wasn’t mad at me, then I might as well go with it and be happy she hadn’t banished me…or worse.

“I have decided to attack them on two fronts. The other forces are to advance from Ponyville, Las Pegasus, and the former Crystal Empire as planned. But the navy will attack Nebulon Island at the same time that your forces make their strike.”

“Nebulon Island!?!” I gasped. I couldn’t believe that the Empress would suggest that the navy pull a move so bold. Nebulon Island is a large island off of the northern coast of Equestria. It had been a small, semi-autonomous region until the Rebellion; after which, it had joined with the Republic and had become a major shipping port as well as the main base of operations for the Republican Navy. In comparison to the NLR, our navy was relatively weak, if our attack force was detected, the plan would be completely ruined.

“Indeed, my dear student.” She continued. Her eyes flashed and she grinned like a ravenous wolf that had cornered a defenseless rabbit. “It is, as you know, their main base of naval operations. In one crushing blow, we shall wipe their pathetic little fleet off the face of Equis!”

“But Empress,” I began again, “what if they detect us before we strike? And it’s a military outpost, what’s to stop them from launching a counter offensive? Their troops will simply regroup and launch an air assault.” I was failing to see the logic in the Empress’s plan. This was a fortified military outpost, not some city we could just march into.

The Empress chuckled slightly and patted me on my back. This put me at ease somewhat, but she wasn’t finished yet. “My dear Twilight,” she cooed, “the Pony’s Imperial Navy and Air Force will land ground forces as well as launch strategic strikes to destroy their planes while they are still on the ground. Their troops will be spread far too thin, they won’t have air cover, and their mainland forces will be too preoccupied with trying to stop our main invasion to do anything about it. Nebulon Island will be overrun in no time. Then we can launch our own forces onto the mainland from the island and crush the Republic between two fronts. They will be completely surrounded with no way out.” She took a short pause and chuckled. “They will have to surrender.”

“That’s a really good strategy Empress,” I said smiling. She was right. The plan was foolproof! Unless our attack force was detected, it was an almost guaranteed victory. “So I’ll just calculate that into my strategy and…” With a wave of her hoof the Empress silenced me from my monologue.

“You needn’t worry about it.” She began as she strode across the vast chamber towards her throne. “It is already under the supervision of a very capable pony.” She said as she sat down on her marble throne, her mane and tailed waving about her like a stream of fire.

“Who?” I asked curiously raising an eyebrow, before I realized that I was speaking out of turn…again. Today was just not my day. I bit my bottom lip, again expecting swift correction from my teacher. But none came; she simply smiled at me, apparently noticing my nervousness.

“Grand Admiral Trixie,” she said nonchalantly.

“What?” I asked softly. My blood boiled, as my breath left me. I could feel my face heating up, both from anger and grief. My teacher, adopted mother, had chosen another pony to lead a critically important mission, AND TRIXIE NONE THE LESS!

“You-you don’t think I’m capable?” I asked, beginning to tear up. I was distraught. I felt betrayed. I just stood there before her. I covered my eyes with my sleeve so that she wouldn’t see my tears. I felt like a foal.

“It’s not that Twilight.” I heard Empress Celestia’s soothing voice say. I felt her warm breath on my neck. She put her hoof on my shoulder and I looked into her deep emerald colored eyes. They were filled with compassion and love. I wiped a tear from my eye with my sleeve as she began to speak. “You are very capable. You’ve been here for it all. You built the army and the air force, and you are my best and most trusted student. But you’re only one pony. You have more than enough on your plate though. You need to focus on the main invasion and let somepony else handle Nebulon Island. You simply need to coordinate the strikes so that they happen simultaneously. Okay?”

“Okay.” I said as we both rose to our hooves. I had stopped my little emotional episode and had fully regained my composure. The Empress again towered over me and headed back to her throne to sit.

“Goodbye Twilight Sparkle, you are dismissed.” she said looking down upon my tiny figure.

I saluted and went to walk back out through the massive doors from which I had come when she once again called out to me. I turned back to face her. She looked quite majestic. The flags and carpet matched her flowing mane and tail perfectly. This was the way she was meant to be, ruling Equestria with an iron hoof from the comfort of Canterlot.

“Do me a favor will you?” she asked. “Rainbow Dash has her heart set on leading the attack on New Everfree City, but I cannot let her do that. Her expertise is needed for the attack on Nebulon. I need you to tell her to report to Canterlot International Airport at 1800 hours this evening.”

“Will do,” I said with false enthusiasm, trying to put on my best fake smile. Rainbow Dash was so headstrong. She was not going to be happy with this news. But I outranked her, and being the Element of Loyalty, she wouldn’t turn her back on a direct order.

“And Twilight,” she began again as I turned to leave again. I faced her once more; her visage was now much more serious and urgent. “It is imperative that this mission succeeds. This is the final battle for Equestria. Failure is not an option. I know that you have a compassionate heart Twilight, and I admire that, but these rebels are not worthy of it. Princess Luna and her ponies will show us no mercy, so remove all traces of it from your heart.”

Once again I saluted and turned to go, but this time she did not try to stop me. My boots once again made a clopping sound on the cold, hard floor. I knew the Empress was right. I would show no mercy.

thanks for hanging in there for the first chapter. as you can tell the main purpose of this chapter was to set the stage and give ya'll an idea of what to expect. war, sadness, guts, blood, and high-tech weapons. also I know that it may seem a little weird. crazy Celestia....red mane....wtc? much will be revealed in time

Lunar Princess, Rainbow Soldier

Everfree City, New Lunar Republic. 1300 Hours. Princess Luna’s Balcony
Princess Luna POV

It was a warm, gentle spring day in Everfree City. I stood on my balcony to get a breath of fresh air. Despite being Princess of the Night, I still enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun against my dark blue coat.

I could hear many sounds emanating from the surrounding city. The honk of motor cars, ponies talking, somewhere overhead a jet propelled aircraft streaked past; the crafts destination was probably the nearby air force base. However, one sound in particular captured my interest, the sound of foals laughing.

I directed my gaze toward a small playground near the castle courtyard. There, a small group of foals were enjoying themselves on various multicolored structures, the nature of most I was unfamiliar with. They played freely, without a care, under the watchful eyes of their parents. The innocence that they possessed touched me. They were far too young to remember the brutal events that transpired during the formation of the Republic. These foals were a product of the peace and prosperity I had labored for so long to build.

For my entire life I had only desired the safety and admiration of my subjects. My dissention into darkness and my transformation into the monster known as Nightmare Moon had ruined any chances that I had at gaining the love and admiration of the citizens of Equestria, or so I thought. In the past eight years, an entire nation had repeatedly proven their love for me.

Together we had accomplished what should have been the impossible. We had succeeded in breaking away from the shackles that my sister, Princess, (now Empress) Celestia, would have us live under…but it came at a steep price. Hundreds of thousands of ponies had died on both sides. However, their sacrifices were not in vain, these foals were the proof of it. Out of the fires of war, came the beauty of a free life.

Another sound roused me from my thoughts. It was a primal sound, one that reminded me how fragile this paradise was. I directed my gaze to a field that was directly adjacent to the playground. There, a group of twenty soldiers, more than likely new recruits judging by their soft appearance, were performing hoof to hoof combat drills. They were attired in all black; on their shoulders were the insignia of the New Lunar Republic, a dark blue banner on which an upturned crescent moon with wings on each side and a single star in the centre was displayed in silver.

The sequence that they performed was designed to restrain an assailant. One pony would attempt to strike another. The pony that was on the defensive would then deflect the attack with his right hoof and bend his attacker’s foreleg behind his or her back while using his or her other hoof to push the attacking ponies head down to the ground and pin them there. The two ponies would then switch places and perform the drill again. This interested me to some extent.

After the trainees had performed these drills for five or six times, a whistle was blown. I then noticed three officers, three captains that were obviously overseeing the exercises. The one that had blown the whistle was a pegasus mare, smaller than most. Her coat was white as snow and her mane and eyes were red as fire. Her mane was rather long down her back but was shorter in front. I recognized her as Captain Silver Tongue of the NLR Air Force. To her right stood a rather large unicorn stallion. He looked to be about her age. His mane was a similar style to hers but was black as jet, his coat was a light grey color, like ash. I recognized him as Captain Carnage of the NLR Army. On the mare’s left stood another unicorn stallion. He was the same stature as his counterpart but was significantly thinner. His coat was dark purple. His mane and tail were light purple with black streaks. His mane covered the right side of his visage and ended in a point just past his chin. I recognized him as Captain Midnight Sky of the NLR Navy.

From what I understood these three officers were notorious trouble makers. Many a time I had heard an upset commander complain about their various antics. There behavior may be disruptive but most agreed that they were fine officers all the same and were extremely dedicated to our cause. However, that did not excuse certain behaviors such as taking tanks for frivolous activities. If I recollected correctly their respective commanders had assigned them to train this set of recruits as punishment. I did not understand why this task was assigned as a punishment but judging by the scowls on their faces it seemed to be having the desired effect.

It was ponies like these that gave us the freedom that we enjoyed. My sister had pushed for political, military, social, and economic reform. The policies that she attempted to enact were unacceptable, I warned her that if she did not cease her actions that I would form my own nation and take with me those that wished to live under Equestrian’s original laws.

Unfortunately, she did not desist. However, I was no fool when it came to military strategy. I knew that is was impossible to develop military weapons with haste and have them still be affective. I was also aware of my sister’s greed whenever it came to economics. She would summon arms manufacturers from all over Equestria to compete for the honor of having their implements added to the repertoire of weapons in the Equestrian Armed Forces. However, she usually chose the most inexpensive models and had the others discarded. I, however, knew that if I had to separate the ones truly loyal to Equestria, we would require the very best and nothing less. Therefore, I consulted with the companies privately and procured the best equipment I could afford, without Celestia noticing, and had it hidden. We now had one of the most advanced militaries in the known world, even if its size was nowhere near that of the Solar Empire’s. Of course, I was not able to replace everything and The Empire and the Republic still share much of the same equipment in our air forces.

I also constructed a network of soldiers and civilians loyal to me and informed them of my plans. Unfortunately, I could not risk informing the Elements of Harmony, especially not the Element of Laughter for she would have not been able to keep her mouth shut about the matter.

The night came when I would inform my sister of my decision. The memory fills me with anguish. I feel as if I have betrayed her, but she betrayed her country and the citizens that looked upon her for guidance. I began to cry as I remembered that night. I strode nervously into her private chambers and informed her of my decision. Her reaction was as I predicted, she forbade me to carry out my plan with rather strong language and looked upon me with disgust. I left her chambers and gave the order. Thousands of ponies all across Equestria began to make their way into the north, the intended location of our new nation. I had, of course, a smaller number of ponies and would not divide the nation in half; I would only take one fourth. Everfree City, Baltimare, Stalliongrad, Nebulon Island, and the Crystal Empire. My breath came in broken sobs as I recalled what happened next. Celestia attacked us as we attempted to evacuate Canterlot. I ordered my troops to capture as much equipment as they could and run for Everfree City. So many ponies, including many innocent foals, were killed. I remember watching in horror as a stray tank shell ripped an orphanage apart.

Fortunately, my plan succeeded. Our equipment, especially our tanks, proved to be far superior. The early model of the T90 Dragon Fire proved to be no match for the M1A2 Manticore in one on one battles, however, we were vastly outnumbered and many were lost. Battles erupted in cities all across the land, and in the end, we survived. A two year civil war ended in a cease fire, no peace treaty was signed. I had protected those that wished to join me, but at a terrible price, the price of nearly five hundred thousand lives.

This four year cease fire has brought prosperity upon our nation. We have made great leaps in the fields of medicine and technology. We had the largest navy in the known world; we had made allies with nations across the ocean, including the nation of Zebrica. But we had failed to obtain the complete list of cities that I had hoped for. The Crystal Empire was now part of the Solar Empire.

But always my mind is with my sister, she has changed so much. I retreat into my chamber and throw myself on my bed in sorrow. I roll in the soft, silken covers, hoping to drown my sorrows. Celestia had lied to her citizens. She told them that I had relapsed, and transformed into Nightmare Moon once more. Her propaganda videos often depicted a desolate and dead land ruled by the night, or Nightmare Moon eating foals, or Republican soldiers killing innocent civilians. It ripped my heart into pieces to think that my sister would portray me in such a way. It hurt more than my exile on the moon. It was the most excruciating emotional pain I have ever known. Soon, my tears stopped, I had tired myself with my sobbing, sleep came quickly upon me and I entered the world of dreams.

Ponyville, Solar Empire. 1500 Hours. SU-37 Cockpit.
Rainbow Dash POV

What a rush! I pushed hard on the throttle and broke through the sound barrier leaving a sonic rainboom behind me. The acceleration threw me back in my seat. This wasn’t REALLY flying though. There was no wind in my mane; my wings weren’t doing any of the work, and I was trapped in this stupid jet. But it was much faster than me which was awesome. Empress Celestia had even given me an upgraded model SU37 and awesome custom paint job; it was blue with rainbow wingtips that matched my mane and my cutie mark on the body, just below the cockpit and on the tailfins. I was on patrol but it was all so boring, nothing ever happened on these border patrols. The NLR would not be stupid enough to start another war.

I decided to have some fun and perform some awesome aerial stunts. I pulled hard back on the flight stick and the plane stood nearly straight up but it kept moving forward instead of up. This was the cobra, a move that I had invented. Of course there were other pilots that could do it, but they were nowhere near my level.

“C-c-captain Dash.” Came the whining voice of my wing-stallion. “D-do you r-really think you should be doing on a patrol?” he asked in his usual fun killing manner.

“Pipe down Rift Wing; nothing ever happens on these boring patrols anyway. It’s not like the Republic would pull anything, especially not with me around.” I said, trying to stop him from nagging me. It worked and he shut up.

We were nearing the end of our patrol. We had to fly a two hundred mile stretched of border nearest to the New Lunar Republic’s capital city. It was Empress Celestia herself that put me on this route so I promised to do my best. No NLR fighter dared to fly against me, I would crush them.

“Rainbow Leader this is control tower, you have clearance to land, over?” came the mechanical voice of the flight control officer. I was certain that mare was a robot. She never had any fun, never laughed, she never smiled, she was just so…boring.

“This is Rainbow leader, I am coming in.” I said with a smile. I was happy to have this task behind me. I gazed down at the grey buildings below. I was over Canterlot now and hundreds of ponies were moving about everywhere; they looked like ants from where I was, little, multi-colored ants.

I banked past the capitol building (the palace) at low level, Rift Wing followed. I watched as many ponies stopped what they were doing and I streaked overhead. I would have loved to show off my skills but I had something even more awesome in mind. As I banked right, past the palace, a vast expanse of grey concrete buildings, electrified barbed wire fences, guard towers, tanks, and a massive runway with about fifty hangers appeared in front of me. The base was almost two miles long and a mile wide.

I noticed several tanks training in a field flanked by APCs; they looked like giant turtles or tortoises moving across the battlefield. Smoke grenades and controlled explosions were set off as pretend enemy artillery and they kept advancing towards a row of buildings. Infantry came up behind them. I decided to have my fun with them before I landed. I dove in low so that I could see their faces and I did a barrel roll. I laughed my flank off as I saw the looks on their faces. Their eyes were wide with fear and many of them dove to the ground and covered their heads. I pulled back up and decided to pull one last prank before I finally landed. Oh, if only Pinkie were here for this!

‘C-captain, the commander said to return to base a-and that we are in BIG trouble.” whined my wingstallion before I could do anything else.

“Ugh. Fine…” I said with a heavy sigh. Commander Clover was always killing my fun. It wasn’t like I was disloyal. Why did she always have to be such a stick in the mud?

I banked left towards the runway and saw many planes being pulled from their hangers. Something was going on and I wanted to know what. “Tower, Tower, this is Rainbow Leader, I’m coming in!” I said with a laugh.

“Why don’t you ask permission like the other pilots.” came the tired voice of a mare in the control tower. She did not seem happy with me.

“Because I do things MY way.” I explained, sticking my tongue out at her, even though I knew she couldn’t see me.

“Runway 1-3” she said with a heavy sigh. I snickered because I could just see the poor old hag slamming her face on her desk and asking Why me?.

“Roger.” I said with a smile and dropped my landing gear. I lined my plane up with the white markers on the drab, grey asphalt. The really need to use brighter colors. I thought to myself. I took the plane done lower and lower. I slowed down and with a thud, a jolt, and a poof of black smoke, I was on the ground again. I was pushed forward by the force of the plane decelerating. I felt pressure across my chest as the safety belt kept me from being thrown into the controls.

After a few seconds, the plane came to a complete stop. I looked out over the grey tarmac at the other planes coming and going. I saw my wing stallion taxiing towards a hanger. My plane had just been hooked up to a tractor like thing and was pulled into my hanger. It was dark and smelled funny. The only light came from a few dim bulbs and the air vents that were supposed to keep the building cool. That didn’t work very well; it was always hot in this blasted place.

Several ponies came running towards the place with all sorts of black and grey hoses. They were all dressed in grey uniforms with grey caps. The caps had the imperial crest on them, Empress Celestia’s cutie mark in gold over a red shield. Their shoulders had their assigned unit and job on a white patch with black print. Rarity called them fashion disasters but the Empress only let her design dress uniforms for the military.

A ladder was pushed towards my cockpit so that I could climb out. As if I needed it. I pressed my hooves against the canopy and slid it backwards; I unfastened my safety belt, took off my oxygen mask and helmet with a click, and rocketed out of the plane up to the ceiling of the hanger under my own power. It felt great to stretch my wings after being cramped in that plane for two hours.

“Good afternoon Captain.” sounded the thick, Cottish voice of the ground crew chief from below. His name was Sergeant Grey Clover. He was an earth pony stallion and was smaller than most, about the size of the average mare, but he was tough as nails. His mane was short, spiky, and a dark green and his coat was steel gray. I looked down to see him smiling warmly at me, a brown clipboard in his hoof. He tilted his cap at me. “Uneventful flight?” he asked, still grinning at me. I think he had a crush on me but I wasn’t completely sure.

“Hey guys” he said with a wave of my hoof to the ground crew as they scurried around and refueled and disarmed my plane. “Unfortunately it was uneventful; I want to see some action!” I said pouting, floating in midair like I was sitting in a chair. I was really bored with these patrols, I want to shoot down some enemy planes, become an ace, prove

“You’ll get er soon enough lassie.” he chuckled and went back to supervising the other ponies “If ya scratch even one part of this plane I’ll make ya paint the whole ting over again!” he barked at two of the six ponies working on my plane. They were having trouble with the fuel hoses; they couldn’t seem to connect them in the right way. They nearly jumped out of their skins and started working like crazy to try and fuel my baby up. I couldn’t help but laugh, it was priceless, absolutely priceless. If only they could have seen the looks on their faces.

“Rainbow Dash!” growled a voice that caused ME to jump to attention. I was so surprised that I darted up like a bullet and smashed my head against the ceiling. That was painful! I gritted me teeth and heard the crunch of my skull against metal. I almost blacked out for a second and ended up falling down to the floor with a thud. I was now sore from head to hoof. I sat upright and rubbed my aching head and felt a rather large knot where I had made contact with the reinforced ceiling. My vision was blurry and I could have sworn that I saw stars floating around my head.

A loud snap near my rear legs brought me back to earth. I looked up and smiled sheepishly at the pony before me. The mare had a scowl on her face fierce enough to make a dragon run in terror. Her emerald eyes seemed to pierce my soul. She had a grey and green mane and a solid grey body, like ash.

“Hehe, hello Commander Clover.” I chuckled nervously with a huge nervous smile on my face.

“Can it!” she ordered. She was never in a good mood but this time she was seriously pissed at me. “You interrupted a training exercise and nearly damaged your bird. Do you have any idea how much that thing costs?!” she roared. My ground crew had since run for cover leaving me to face this monster alone. Typical. But she insulted my skills as a pilot and I wouldn’t let her get away with that, no matter what rank she was.

“Hey!” I shouted, getting up and leaning against the nose of my plane. “I would never do anything to damage Loyalty!” I felt the anger rising in me. Who did this punk think she was telling me how to fly my plane? She wasn’t even a pilot!

She raised an eyebrow at me, still glaring at me. “Loyalty?” she asked with a sneer.

“Yeah, Loyalty” I spat. “That’s what I named her.” I turned and looked at the decal of my cutie mark that my head was next to; one of two on either side of the nose.

Commander Clover rolled her eyes and snarled. “Just don’t do it again or I’ll put you UNDER the runway, got it?” she threatened. But I was an element; she couldn’t AFFORD to lose me.

“And take this.” She said, tossing me an envelope. It had Twilight’s seal on it, her cutie mark in red ink. I caught it in my teeth and used my teeth to tear it open. A large piece of paper with the words “Top Secret” written across the top fluttered out of it and onto the ground in front of me. I was shocked and disappointed upon reading it.

“What?” I said aloud. “The navy?”

END Chapter 2