Just outside of ponyville
03/07/20
Dakota POV

Today was the day that my plan would be put into motion. We would fly north in 12 B52 Stratofortress bombers and unleash a JDAM run on the crystal empire. The planes were already lined up and the runway and ready to take off. The bombers were like a birthday gift for me since today was actually my birthday. Celestia and aqua were somewhat angry about this as I never told them when my birthday was and they never got me anything. I wasn't too concerned about it as it just meant that I had one year less to live and it was just another day of the year. I had asked rarity to make some flight suits when we came to ponyville a couple of days ago and to have them ready by today. I already had helmets ready for use so that wasn't an issue. I put my helmet on and boarded the front B52 and started the engines. My friends followed suit and did the same. I was given the clearance needed to take off and firewalled the throttle and started rolling down the runway. At 180 knots, I pulled back on the stick and lifted off. The runway was facing south so I had to turn around and fly north. While turning, I saw seven of the other B52's lift off and the other five rolling down the runway. This new airstrip was made into an airforce base as well since we had given equestrian scientists some fighter jets, bombers, and helicopters to take apart and reverse engineer.

Celestia informed us that friendly fighter support would link up with us once we reached the border and escort us all the way to our target and back until we were safe. After departing our yet to be named airfield, we got into formation and flew north towards the empire. We were flying at an altitude of 35000 feet above sea level and maintaining this altitude all the way to the target and back. We were flying for about 45 minutes now and I could see cloudsdale down below as I looked out the window. The city of clouds was still about 19000 feet below us as we passed over and I could see Pegasi flying about below us pointing as we flew past. After another 30 minutes of flying, we reached the crystal mountains and shortly afterwards, the pony versions of F22 fighter jets showed up as our escort group and got next to us. I switched radio frequencies and signaled the pony jets. “Equestrian fighters, this is bomber squadron Icarus, radio check, over.” I said into my headset mic while awaiting a response. “Bomber squadron Icarus, this is Raptor 2-1, we read you loud and clear over.” I heard one of the equestrian pilots say back to me. “Rodger that Raptor Squad, maintain heading 05 north and fly above us until we reach the target. After that maintain position and take heading 175 south and follow us back to the airfield, over.” I instructed them. “Be advised, enemy air defenses could be active in the AO, maintain awareness and be on the lookout for enemy fighters. ETA Time on target 40 mikes over.” I instructed.

30 minutes later

We had passed over the crystal mountains and were now 10 minutes away from our target. I could see the empire off in the distance and a lot has changed. Black and blood red crystal structures could be seen all around the castle as well as a faint force field. The city surrounding the castle had grown substantially since we were last there. More of those crystal structures had been built around the city. They would soon cease to exist. We had already evacuated the crystal ponies from the city when we went to try and kill Sombra before he launched a counter-attack. The crystal ponies had taken up residence in cloudsdale, ponyville, canterlot, Baltimare, manehatten, and other major cities. The destruction of the crystal empire would no doubt anger the whole population but their homes could be rebuilt.

“Equestrian pilots, this Icarus 1. We are 5 mikes away from the target. We need you to scout ahead for any hostile fighters and AA emplacements. We will proceed on target once we know the way is clear, over.” I told the pilots. “Icarus 1, we got you covered. Raptor 2-2 and Raptor 2-3 are already breaking off to scout ahead, over.” The fighter pilot told me

Even with the drafting for the military, mares still outnumbered stallions 3 to 1 in the armed forces. Something about this did not feel right at all but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. We were still five minutes away from Our target. We were told that the way was clear. Multiple shadow ponies and changelings took flight and tried to intercept us but couldn’t reach us because of how high up we were.

“Alright guys this it. Get into a V formation on me and open your bomb bay doors. We will slowly deviate away from each other during the bombing run to ensure maximum coverage. After that, we will turn around and fly back to the airbase. Any questions?” I announced.

“No”

“Nada”

“Nope”

“Negative”

“None here”

“Not a chance”

“Not at all”

“No, lets do this”

“Let’s get this fucker!”

“Time to party!”

“Nope, ready to unleash hell”

“Time to go to work”

Everyone answered back to me with enthusiasm. We were now less than three minutes away from our target. Our B52’s were outfitted with JDAM’s attached to the wings and the bomb bay’s loaded with them as well. Each B52 also had a FOAB in it as well. We were coming for Sombra with 1200 neighborhood destroying bombs and we would not give him a chance to retaliate. His army would be knocked out on the home front and wouldn’t be able to recover for months. “Alright guys this it, get ready to drop. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, DROP!!” I ordered.

The JDAM’s on the wings were the first to release. We released one JDAM each every half second. When we were over the center of the city, we released the FOAB’s and watched them fall to the ground. It was a full minute after dropping the bombs when they started to detonate. We dropped altitude to get a better view of the destruction. When we were at 15000 feet, I saw a flash brighter than all of the others. I instantly knew that it was a FOAB. More and more of the FOAB’s detonated as they hit the ground. The explosions finally stopped after 5 minutes and we dropped altitude once again to 5 feet and got into formation. There was barely anything left of the city except for the castle and some buildings on the outskirts of the city. There were fires burning everywhere. I could see troops in disarray, shock, and trauma on the ground as they had no idea what just happened. Bodies littered the streets and dying troops were dragging themselves to try and get help. They looked up to see our bombers flying over and stared at us in fear as they had never seen a B52 before, much less 12 of them at the same time flying in formation.

We had just left what remained of the city and began to gain altitude again. Many enemy soldiers took to the skies and tried to take us down but they couldn't keep up with a jet bomber. We had reached 20000 feet above sea level and maintained this altitude all the way back to ponyville along with our fighter escort. I changed frequencies and signaled canterlot informing them of the results.

"Canterlot command, this is bomber squadron Icarus, the target has been destroyed, repeat the target has been destroyed, the mission was successful, very few survivors detected. We are RTB at this time." I said. "Icarus 1, copy that. You are cleared to return to base at this time and land."

A voice on the other side said. I switched frequencies once again and tried to signal Celestia and aqua. "Tia, Aqua, come in over." I said "We read you loud clear Dakota, were you successful?" I heard Aqua's voice on the other end. "Affirmative aqua. Very little remains of the crystal empire. Is tia there with you?" I asked her "I'm standing right next to her. I hope this was a wise decision you made. Sombra won't take this lightly." I heard Celestia say. "He isn't going to be able to counter attack any time soon. Most of his troops were on the ground and died when the bombs started detonating. It could take years for him to fully rebuild his army. This just gives us an advantage to further grow our ranks and develop new weapons to give us an advantage over Sombra with. Trust me, He won't be able to recover for a long time after what we just did." I replied to her. "Also, our one-year anniversary as a Herd is in a couple of weeks. I want to do something nice for both of you. I made reservations at a certain top-end restaurant that just opened up in canterlot and just so happened to notice that you two have been really wanting to try the place out." I said to them. "You...you really managed to get a reservation for all 3 of us at Bistro en la trot?" I heard aqua ask sounding quite shocked. "Yep. Its the least I could do for you 2 since you both mean a lot to me. Also, sorry for not telling you guys that today was my birthday." I replied. "its fine. Next time just give us a heads up so we can get you something on time." I heard celestia reply. I don't know what she meant by "on time" but I would figure it out later.

2 hours later

The runway was in sight. I would be the first to land so I had begun the landing procedures while everyone else went into a holding pattern around the airfield. I received the clearance to land and throttled down the engines to just 15 percent. I deployed the landing gear, pushed the flaps, and tilted the nose up. I was now only about 50 feet above the ground and was gradually bringing the plane closer to the ground. The automated gws callouts kept alerting me about altitude and told me to pull up but I was landing, not in the middle of transit. "50, 40, 30, 20, Retard" I moved the throttle all the way back to the idle position when it said that. I knew what it meant by "Retard" but I still felt offended by it. I finally touched the ground and applied the brakes in the landing gear and deployed the parachute to help slow it down. I finally came to a stop halfway down the runway and began to taxi off to the hangers that were built to store the planes when not in use. I parked in hanger one as I watched another B52 move to hanger 2 followed by a third B52 touching the runway. It took about 30 minutes for everyone to land and get in their hangers before we finally exited our planes. I was sitting for about 6 hours straight and my ass was completely numb from sitting for so long that I honestly thought it had slipped into a coma. I finally stepped down from my bomber and stretched out and popped my joints as I saw Celestia and Aqua walking over to me as I was walking around to get the blood flowing back in my legs again. I flipped my visor up and unhooked my oxygen mask as they reached me.

"I guess this could be considered a birthday gift since You both summoned this plane to Equestria and I get to keep mine so I feel like this was the perfect gift. Also, that place I booked for us will be special for you both, I asked the manager nicely." I told them. "That sounds nice, but as far as your birthday goes, We planned something special for you tonight, Its going to be a memorable one, I promise you that. Celestia said as Aqua finished the other half of her sentence. "Something special huh, I wonder what it could be? I hope I'm not gonna get tied down and have my organs harvested or get molested. If only two special mares could save me from my impending doom." I humorously mocked as I continued to stretch out and pop my back. "It will be special, and all of your friends are invited. Trust us, we know that you will like what we have planned for you, mister evil fighter." Aqua replied with her own mock humor. I just laughed at these two as I finished popping my joints. I noticed that my truck was parked by the entrance to the hangar. I remember leaving it parked behind the hangar, not inside. Celestia used her magic to levitate my keys over to me as she just winked at me. I knew that it had to be her that decided to try and take my ford for a joy ride. I just grabbed my keys and walked over to the truck and got inside allowed them to get in as well. I started the engine and pulled out of the hangar and started the short drive back home to canterlot. I saw my friends following behind me as I left the hangar. "First thing Im doing when we get back to the castle is taking a nap. Im tired after flying for 6 hours straight." I told them. I don't know how air force pilots put up with that type of flight time.

We finally arrived back at canterlot castle after driving for about another hour. I parked up, went inside and went straight to my room. I finally made it back and locked the door behind me. I took off my flight suit and the clothing underneath until I was wearing just a tanktop and my boxers. I turned on the pedestal fan next to my dresser and got under the blankets and got comfortable. I finally fell asleep after about 10 minutes and enjoyed the silence. I don't know what Celestia and Aqua got planned for tonight but I would find out soon enough. I just enjoyed the time I had to rest and slept peacefully. Tonight was going to be fun, that much I knew.

Author's Note

plot twist. B52 Stratofortress bombers level the crystal empire and lay waste. Im sure this was a lengthy chapter. enjoy it.