Equestria At War - In the Shadow of the Sun

Howling winds haunted the streets of Fillydelphia - winds that one could no longer differentiate from distant screams. Whether these were the screams of the few living left, or the ghosts of the hundreds of dead...nobody could figure.

The distant claps of gunfire rang through. Defiant rebels who popped out of cover to engage the foe, Solarists who blindly fired in fear at what they suspected to be a threat - and the occasional poor soul who opted to point the barrel at themselves instead.

Deep in Dragon Town, which was largely unharmed, stood a comic book store. It was previously abandoned, but the signs of somecreature taking shelter inside...were clear. And it did not go unnoticed by a duo of Solarist troops tasked with clearing the buildings.

Inside the store, the corporal sighed as he stood by his sergeant. "Sir, they're just teenagers."

"..." The sergeant sighed as he looked down at the brown, teenaged earth pony, and the pink-haired dragon beside her. The soldier had a job, but the job had its limits before it took a toll on his mental health. "What's your names?"

"B-Babs Seed..." The teenaged mare replied.

"Mina..." The young dragon softly spoke - lucky that she still passed for a teen.

The sergeant kept looking at the two, and the building he was in. He took a moment to stare at a comic book rack, temporarily mesmerized by a few editions of his favorite childhood series. He snapped out of it and sighed, before turning to the two. "Look, either stay here, or have your local Fillydelphia documents on you before you head out. In six hours, they're going to deploy a large garrison with strict martial law and curfew. I can see you're rebels - but frankly I don't want two kids dying or being jailed. You have any weapons in here - throw them out. Got it?"

"Y-Yes, sir..." Babs gulped nervously.

"..." Mina tilted her head a little. "H-How'd you know?"

"Bruise around your armpit." He told them. "Recoil does that with most solid or skeletal stocks. Get some concealer on it. Don't make a sound. If you need food, head to the takeout store. It's not open, but the owner - he's in there. Might be stocked enough to get you something. Otherwise - don't make a peep."

The two girls could only shake...and nod.

The sergeant looked at her, and nodded. "Corporal, next building." He said, and the two soldiers left.

"..."

"...Okay, six hours." Babs repeated.

Mina clicked her tongue, and a small flame emerged at the tip, which allowed her to light a lamp. The two went behind the counter, and pulled a handle of a hatch, entering the basement of the comic store.

In the basement, a little more than a dozen ponies sat. Colton and his team, the crew of Sunset Shimmer's tank, Trixie, and a few other ELF members that were present at the briefing, such as Vapor Trail. To pass the time, they would either eat MRE's, treat their wounds - and those who didn't feel like sleeping enjoying the variety of literature they had borrowed from above. Mina didn't mind - she missed having creatures reading her comics.

"Six hours for us to get the hell out." Plymouth muttered, having heard everything through the floorboard as he put away the Lake City shounen manga.

"How?" Cipher groaned, rubbing his face in the middle of the future sci-fi he was reading. "They're going to have patrols everywhere. And...Damn it, Raz..."

Colton leaned in to get Cipher's attention. "Raz will be fine. She has a knack for surviving these things. For all we know she might've evaded them entirely and returned to the landing strip."

A sigh came from the earth pony as he went back to the comic.

...

"...How is she?" Vapor Trail softly whispered as she looked at the changeling in the room.

Chari blinked with tension in her gaze. She sat beside a blanketed figure, along with three other ponies. Using her changeling abilities, she was more or less able to treat the injured mare. The question remained - what to do with her missing hoof...The hoof that - either way - disappeared in the debris of her tank.

Sunset Shimmer was in a grave state. Stabilized, but weak. With a missing eye to boot along the missing limb, it was hard to tell what part of this injury was "minor" - as she claimed on the radio. A spell had been fired at her tank during the onslaught, and the blast & shrapnel maimed her body so. Yet, Sunset was able to keep calm, and keep very healthy - because the moment she discovered that her crew were alive and mostly unharmed, she stopped having any panicked movements, and rested.

"Holding up." Was all the changeling said. "Damn it all, what was that? They were fast enough to catch up to a supersonic jet, deadly enough to wipe out companies in seconds...Who were they?"

"I don't know." Colton admitted in defeat. "Was that Vividvale...?"

"We can speculate corelation, but..." Cipher shook his head. "It may not be it. For all we know Daybreaker has more tricks up her sleeves."

...

"We need to send the FEA information back to headquarters. Or at-least to Twilight Sparkle." Colton declared. "But I doubt there's any contemporary method that won't get intercepted - not all the way from here...We need to use magic."

"Magic?" Trixie blinked. "To send a letter all the way across the ocean? That's ridiculous...May as well have made some kind of artifact that's able to send live messages between two different dimensions."

"What do you propose?" Umfuni frowned as he helped treat the gunshot wounds of an unconscious mare. "Technology can be intercepted. No radio is a safe conduit for such sensitive information. Anything else could be too slow."

All quieted as they heard pained, quiet laughter.

"So lucky...I got just the thing..." Groaned the wounded Sunset Shimmer as she sat up with the help of Hellcourt's crew, albeit they had protested her doing so. All turned to her, and she met them with a weak, yet cheeky grin...As with her last good hoof, she pulled out a book that had the symbol of her cutie mark on it - though one side was colored purple rather than orange. "I..." She took a deep breath from pain. "I didn't...write to her for...some time. I didn't want to worry...her. This book - everything you write...Is delivered to a copy that Twilight Sparkle has with her. It even notifies her. Use it...And...Don't tell her what happened. Please..." She asked, as her last hoof extended over to the closest pony apart from her crew - Chari.

The changeling sighed, and passed it on to Cipher.

The earth pony frowned deeply, and extended his organic hoof to take it. He knew what Sunset felt like - and he relived the sorrow of losing a limb. He would take the book into his hoof, and looked at Colton.

Colton nodded. Cipher knew what to relay.

***

It took only a minute for the string of text to be written in Fillydelphia, and appear in New Mareland.

Princess Twilight Sparkle's eyes scanned over the text that was freshly written. That hoofwriting wasn't Sunset's - and alarm took over. Cipher's words however explained much - yet left out the details that prevented Twilight from feeling even more sick with worry than she already was.

The princess would run down the hall, and knocked on the door to Fluttershy's room.

***

"...Professor Paradise Gem..." Fluttershy sighed as she sipped her tea. The pegasus no longer fit her name - for the events that took place left her jaded, more straightforward and much more blunt. A coping mechanism that wiped out a good portion of her shyness. "Remember when the Tomorrow went on their rampage in Equestria?"

"How could I forget...?" Twilight stared down at her tea as she slowly stirred it. "Our little project to protect the world from nuclear annihilation...gone awry because we made too good of a case."

Fluttershy nodded. "I...feared they suspected Paradise Gem may have had information on nuclear weaponry." She softly sighed. "She wasn't part of my science team, but I contacted to help develop potential countermeasures against destructive nuclear weapons - such as bombs and missiles. And, well, as a result she learned a great deal about the mechanisms of such potential weapons."

"And you provided her with a safehouse in Griffonia, right?"

"Mhm." Fluttershy sipped her tea. "And she refused. When the Tomorrow attacked the lab, she locked herself in a supply closet with a revolver. She wasn't on the list of personnel, so she was never searched for. Still, if she wanted to flee Equestria, she'd go that place."

"And where is the safehouse...?"

Fluttershy chuckled. "You'd be surprised."

"Try me." Twilight chuckled.

"The safehouse is in Vartai. Right next door to Starry Night's administration. As safe and secure as it gets."

"...You did surprise me." Twilight stopped blinking at the spoon, and instead blinked at the pegasus. "...Vartai? But...Why?"

"Paradise Gem claimed that Western and Eastern Griffonia had enough scientists. If she were to leave Equestria, she wanted to help contribute to a country willing to fund her so that she could develop the local science base and pursue some projects. Starry Night offered to give her good conditions and resources in the event she moved - arguably even better than what she had here in Equestria."

"Are you in touch with her?"

"Yes, actually." Fluttershy smiled. "She's been doing quite well, from what I've read in our letters. We last wrote to each other two weeks ago. According to her, they've been doing a lot of research in airliner and cargo plane safety. And she's mentioned that she has a little side project in sight-restoration."

"Quite a challenge for a mere side project..." Twilight mused.

"Paradise has always been like that..." Fluttershy chuckled. "Strips away pieces of her own health and sanity to make things that improve the lives of others."

"...We'll be going to Vartai in a few days ourselves - with Jet Set." Twilight mused. "Maybe we could ask Gem to come with us?"

Fluttershy slightly nodded, and sipped more tea. In the meantime, Twilight opened the journal, and began to use her quill to write back to Cipher.

...

"Twilight?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Why do you think the world crashed down into...this? Things were so wonderful and peaceful when we met...weren't they?" The pegasus sadly smiled at her friend.

"Must be the wings. Everything went bad since I got my wings, right?" Twilight joked with a snort-laugh.

Fluttershy kept smiling at her - warmly, patiently, and curiously.

This prompted the alicorn to give a soft sigh as the smile melted off. "...I had a theory." She stated. "There must be many worlds. Worlds where guns were never invented, for example. Worlds where either Chrysalis or Nightmare Moon reign over Equus. Worlds where maybe things are a little bit better, a little bit worse..." She thought out-loud. "We drew a shorter straw. Not the shortest, but, short. Otherwise we wouldn't have had any hope. And, well...We're dealing with the force of fate; the fact that of all the different worlds, this is ours. Our fight. Our sins to face. Our struggle."

"A world where guns were never invented..." Fluttershy laughed. "Good riddance - I can see it. Us six, and Spike, going on adventures..."friendship quests", not having to worry about a single war or politics..."

"You'd have a sanctuary for sure. Feel like you could find a partner too - someone chaotic and unpredictable. You seem to like those types." Twilight chuckled.

"Harr." Fluttershy stuck her tongue out. "And alicorn biology considered, I expect you to be tall enough to tell the weather." The pegasus teased, and thought for a bit. "...Oh! Pinkie would have a kid with a stallion that's basically a copy of her." Fluttershy giggled.

"...I feel like Rainbow and AJ would start dating." Twilight remarked as she took another sip of her tea.

"We call that a singularity in your alternate worlds theory." Fluttershy scoffed...And thought, for a long, long time - before blushing.

"Hm? Something about Rarity?" Twilight tilted her head.

"One word." Fluttershy sipped her tea briefly with a soft, cute lip smack. "MILF."

"..." Twilight looked at Fluttershy.

"..." Fluttershy looked at Twilight.

"T-That's four words!" Twilight blurted out.

"Oh come on!" Fluttershy bumped her teacup on the table in frustration.

***

Paradise Gem is in Vartai. - Was written on the page of Sunset's book. What's the plan?

We're stuck in Equus. Looking for a way out. We need Paradise Gem to make contact with the SIB and share what she knows on Vividvale. Can you help?

Yes, I understand. I'll do what I can. What happened, is everything okay, Cipher? Where's Sunset?

Minor injury. - It was slowly, slowly written. She's okay. Alive, stable, breathing. And how are things on your end? - Cipher wrote trying to change the topic.

Speaking of the devil, we will be going to Vartai to talk with Starry. Beyond that...lots of secret discussions and shadow diplomacy. It's...honestly making me sick and tired.

Us nerds can't fathom prolonged social interaction. - Cipher laughed softly as he wrote.

Ain't it the truth...Please be safe. Do you need the SIB to help?

Gonna be hard to coordinate with the SIB to launch a rescue op so deep in Solarist territory. At-least in Yucoltan we had enough of a mess to escape. Here, we're not far from some of their badest. Don't worry about us. Look, I'm also going to write some other information. Somepony was able to discover information linked to Vividvale. I'll start writing it on the back pages, okay?

Okay. Go ahead. I'm going to go for now. Please stay safe.

You got it ma'am.

As Cipher opened the back of the book, he would see what appeared to be a collage of pictures and drawings...They were odd shapes. They looked like half centaurs, with hands and fingers, and bipedal body structures. They looked a great deal like the Elements of Harmony...Curious - but polite, Cipher didn't want to intrude on Sunset's personal life. He instead opted to write the information just a few pages back. Twilight would understand.

...

"...So, what now?" Gomer sighed, getting away from the wall he was leaning against. "We ought to get a move on - one way or another. But what's our objective?"

There was a short five second silence - a long time to think by Colton's standards. "...We need to find Raz." He stood up. "Then, we're returning to headquarters."

There was a sudden shuffle of movement from the other side of the basement.

"Wait!" Trixie sprung up. "Listen, I beg you, before you leave, help me. I need to make sure Starlight is okay." She said. "S-She hasn't been responding. I...I need to get to her. She's still in Drosera, s-so it's not far! Please, I--"

"Lady..." Plymouth interrupted her, and sighed with a shake of his head. "We can't help you much. We need to return home and continue our mission."

"Please, I...I'm begging you!" Trixie cried out. "She's...all I have left! You need to understand--"

"Lady, damn it." Plymouth scowled at her. "We're not getting your marefriend back. We're dealing with the fact Daybreaker might know how to wipe continents off this planet, and we need to act fast. Starlight's not our priority. Besides, if leading failed invasions is her thing, then maybe she's not worth the--"

Trixie was never good at magic.

But something at those words was enough to trigger the skills of like she never had before - and soon enough, Plymouth found himself blasted with concussive magic that threw him against the wall, dust settling onto his mane.

A furious scream came from the blue unicorn as her horn began to charge. "IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN, I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL REALLY KILL YOU!" Trixie shouted.

"B-Bitch! I'm gonna fucking--" Plymouth yelled - stumbling and charging up his horn. The blue unicorn was being restrained by Vapor Trail and Chari, while Plymouth had to be held back by Umfuni and Sunset's gunner.

"Everypony step the fuck down!" Colton shouted. "You really wanna make noise with Solarist patrols outside!? Fuck!"

Cipher, despite the tension, did not let himself get distracted - a mechanism of his metallic hoof allowed him to write very quickly - he needed this information delivered. Gomer joined Colton - being in the middle to get the two to back off.

"Listen!" Gomer shouted as much as he could in a hushed tone. "The least we can do is reach a point we can separate once we reached our goal! You can get to Starlight, and we get Raz and fuck off. We need to get out of the city one way or another, so why don't you dumbasses take a moment to think about that!?"

By now, the tension in Trixie's and Plymouth's bodies reduced, allowing those who restrained them to calm down and allow peace to return to the basement.

"Well..." Cipher sighed as he finished transcribing all the information onto the magical journal, before giving it to Sunset - who mustered up the consciousness to safely put it somewhere safe and sound on her person. He then turned back to the group. "The most important step is for us to slip out of Fillydelphia with all those patrols outside. I doubt we'll have an easy time blending in with civilians - not to mention we need our guns and gear. How do we do it?"

...

Lots of head scratching and thoughtful humming ensued.

...

The dragon girl blinked forward - first in thought...then, as she looked at Cipher - in determination. Mina stepped forward. "Dragon Town." She stated. This got a curious look from the other ponies and creatures in the room, and understanding all eyes were on her, the dragon gave a quick sigh. "I can guide you through Dragon Town. I know these streets like the back of my claws. There's a way to get into the metro tunnels, and then to the railway station. It's a hidden way that Dragons used to keep movements out of authority eyes, during a curfew that took place years ago. You can use it to get a train out!"

Looks were exchanged in the room. This was not a bad idea at all.

"Okay - but we'll go ourselves." Gomer insisted. "You stay here in your shop with the others. It's safer for you to just wait it out here."

"You won't find your way through!" Mina exclaimed. "I'll get you through the tracks, and then I'll quickly slip past back here. It's gonna be easy, I've done it before!"

"..." Gomer sighed. "I'm not going to let you lead us through it all, especially if you plan to return to your store.'

"Why not!?" The dragon angrily exclaimed.

"Well, damn it all..." The griffon groaned as he shot her a look. "I am not letting a kid die. Okay!?"

"I'm not a kid!" Mina yelled. "I'm doing my part to fight for Equestria! To fight for freedom! You can't deprive me of--

"Okay, not a kid - civilian! Whatever!" Gomer yelled back. "You're not soldiers!" He yelled - not just at Mina, but at Babs. At Vapor Trail. At Trixie. At all the other rebels that were in this room. "Stop risking your lives pointlessly! Glory and freedom!? You really care about that when you have families? Loved ones!? Hopes and ambitions!?" He exclaimed.

"What do you think we're doing!?" Babs stepped up beside Mina to yell back. "We're fighting Daybreaker to avoid dying a slow death under her regime!"

Gomer grunted in frustration, looking aside. "Listen, you imbeciles. Back in '08, Blackrock launched an extensive raid campaign into East Griffonstone. Marauders and rapists were going in by the hundreds, and worst is that someone was even helping them. Somehow, the spade-faced bitch got tanks, automatic weapons, even some planes. Our defenses were penetrated, and we had to scramble to fight them back."

Now, all was quiet. He had their attention, and continued.

"I was stranded behind the enemy advance. My unit was wiped out - but a sniper helped me. He explained that as painful as it was not to fight, we had to play it smart. While at day they kept killing our troops, they slept at night. We would strike then, when we knew it was most effective to do so. We saw a tank rolling west to our border. Did we shoot it? No. We played it smart - put traps on the road to disable it, then killed the crew once they popped out."

"Hah." Laughed Hellcourt's gunner. "So you were watching your own countrymen get killed to get the glory - that's what you're saying?"

"Fuck you." Gomer snapped at him. "You can't keep your commander safe. How did this whole thing end for you? You're a humiliated, pathetic mess." The griffon said with spite. "I spent six years in Blackrock, doing everything I could to make the war more difficult for those bandit cunts. Guess what? It worked. Every night I tried to sabotage them how I knew. Put landmines, blew up their equipment, killed officers - and I did that when I knew I had an opening. What I'm trying to fucking say is that you fight only when you know you can fight - be effective and make a difference."

...

The rebels kept looking at him - even his own team was a bit caught by his words.

"...If you die now..." Gomer sighed, understanding that he had been too rough on these youngsters. "Your corpse is gonna be put on a dictionary as the example for the word "futility". I don't want you risking your life for nothing."

...

Mina looked at him, and furrowed her brows. "Mister, I respect you for what you did. I think what you did is badass - it sounds crazier than all the action comics I have in this store. Crazier than all that Lake City-imported manga I used to sell here, too." She told him. "But I don't agree with you. At all."

Gomer sighed - he folded his card, knowing there was no way to convince her...But the girl continued with her case.

"I'm doing this because I don't want to risk the lives of others." She said, pointing at Sunset. "We need to get her to safety fast. We need to get Trixie to Starlight - fast. We need to get you out of Equus and stop Daybreaker - even faster." She explained. "Life is precious. And you're right - it shouldn't be thrown away. And you're right that you must only act when you know you can be effective. And this is exactly it. Now, I am effective." Mina said. "I don't care what happens to me. I want to help others. I have a chance to save lives - even if at the risk of my own. I'm not doing this for glory, mister. I'm doing this because...I want to help them."

...

Gomer looked her in the eyes - and was unable to withstand long without giving her a proud smile.

Colton sighed. "I'm tired of these poetry contests. Let's get a move on. I'll take command. Any objections?"

Trixie shook her head. "I do not think the art of sneaking out of a locked down city is my expertise, compared to black ops. Helms' all yours - the Great and Powerful Trixie will take the backseat."

"Help Sunset." Colton commanded. "We need to carry her out of here but make sure her injury's contained. Mina - you're navigating, but we're taking point."

"Aye aye." The dragon giggled.

"We're moving as such..." Colton began. "Half of my team is going up front - half is behind. All rebels, especially the wounded, are in-between. You'll have opportunities to run if we're compromised."

"A-And...if we find any other rebels?" Vapor Trail asked.

"We're gonna help them too - but if the group gets too big, we'll need to figure out how to split. We can't have our movements noticed nor tracked."

The sounds of shuffling came - the most coming form Sunset, as unicorns did their best to levitate her, but all worked on ensuring they had the most mobile, yet stable way of doing so - to make her body feel as if she was still laid down and comfortable.

"Everyone ready?" Colton finally asked.

Nods came - no disagreement.

...

"...Let's do it." Mina nodded - and the hatch to the basement was opened.

***

...

She was fast asleep. Her body was so, so heavy. It felt as if she was at-least twelve, if not thirteen - fourteen times heavier than she really was. She could barely breathe - oxygen low and the pressure making it hard to open her eyes...

Raz gasped - shock waking her up. Her eyes shot open, and her hooves immediately grabbed the stick once again - saving the F105 as it was descending towards the ground, and saving herself from a blast of magic that was flying towards her. It was a curving maneuver that straightened the plane out - just above the ground. She would need to fly without the ability to lower her altitude.

She cursed. She could count the amount of times she passed out from G-force in single digits. She took this personally. Nothing could have made her pass out - not her most extreme maneuvers. But now, she was avoiding two enemies. She was still being tailed - by the two ponies that were somehow able to follow her speed.

Raz was able to take a closer look. They really appeared like alicorns - their wings and horns somewhat transparent, but clearly made of fire. And all their colors - white with fiery manes. Like Daybreaker.

Raz cursed. This game of cat and mouse - in the clouds at high altitudes - has been ongoing for how long, now? How much fuel did she have left? She tried to shake them off. Was it an hour? Several hours? She had no idea how she managed this long. How the damage she took was minimal. Somehow, no damage was taken to the fuel tanks - and that was fortunate considering that they were not self-sealing.

She had to do something. She tried yo-yo maneuvers, speed reductive maneuvers, anything. About half an hour ago she was able to get several 20mm rounds into these ponies. How were they still alive? How the hell were they still alive?

...

Fuck it.

Raz understood what was wrong. She was predictable. They expected to fight a pilot - they expected her to do what she did. They were prepared for her maneuvers. They knew that this - for her - was a war of attrition. But they could take their time, they could play.

"If you wanna play..." She grinned. "Let's play, motherfuckers."

A speed reductive maneuver - raising her nose up. Then, came the flick of a button.

She had two fuel tanks which were detachable. She needed to eject one. A button was flicked - and the large cylinder jumped out from underneath her wing. One of the hostile ponies saw an opportunity - flying underneath to try and get in-front of the plane. It was a pincer attack.

But Raz did not continue to reduce speed. Instead - she pointed her nose forwards again...And pointed her 20mm canon at the fuel tank that had just a bit more speed and momentum than the plane.

She licked her lips, and pulled the trigger.

The fuel tank had erupted - and evaporated the back of the pony that was trying to pincer her from the front. The blast however had tore a hole in the canopy, and now Raz had to deal with air rushing in to meet her. The other pony had been stunned by the action and had to break off from their tailing...

The pony who was caught in the blast would now glide towards the ground - magic barely able to keep them afloat. It was a sitting duck - as the F105 swooped in with a strafe of her gun, and reduced the target to mush. She would now keep flying past, and accelerated as fast as possible.

Only for a massive beam of magic to zip past her, as minor turbulence saved her life as it made the jet unsteady. She cursed, and accelerated further into the clouds - chased by an angered, angered pony who just lost their sibling. She was unaware that she was heading west - deeper into Solarist land.

She had to take steep, steep high-G turns to climb this quickly...Pressure built in her body.

Wouldn't it be nice to close her eyes again?