Author's Note

It's Fireflower again with the eighth installment of my first My Little Pony fanfic going beyond the typical oneshots I'd made from before and already using canon characters as human beings instead of their normal forms; however, this is nonetheless a Mature fimfic for this chapter here will deal with certain subject matters considered unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated.

In addition, I would like to take this time to inform you this chapter is only a nightmare but it can't and won't bring shock, awe, and outrage out of you in ways too horrible to imagine: it's tame to a fault so there's no need to skip to another chapter like I'd offered in the past, a common choice of my own free will so to speak; nevertheless, you won't like how it goes, especially considering the track record recently all the same.

Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can withstand this chapter now and stay tuned for future chapters later on then again, you won't like how it'll be written all the same: besides, had any of you readers been aware of my works in the past, you'll find them to be a breather for the things to arrive hot and ready so to speak of; either way, consider yourselves warned all the same, especially since it'd taken so long to finish this chapter all the same so I'll apologize for the delays.

Moonshot

The world as it’s known was now the color of night, fine–tuned for the most advanced darkness shown to its inhabitants, sleeping and otherwise. At the very least, peace and quiet was found in every corner imaginable no matter how uneasy is was to eyes and ears, untrained and beyond as is. Unspeakably safe and sound as it were, one could assume there was nothing to observe and/or report as it’d be the same the other way around.

Suddenly without any warning whatsoever, but somehow as if on the cuff required, and perhaps collar opted, brass barrage began: it was fast and sharp, shaking away the golden silence with experience points from pastimes yet resonating into the present world; not only that, the darkness was vanquished instantaneously, all thanks to an abundance of photons in a singular area alone. In this place, concrete and steel had provided the area with much structure, its background being self–sustaining enough to hold: around its limited airspace were a series of bunk beds resting abaft pillars with lights above in betwixt the red carpeting used; in addition, large lockers were holding them in place, standing against while facing the shutters closed off to the outside world. The main point of contention were the inhabitants scrambling about in a haphazardly manner, awaken to the noise out of sync; despite this, not only were they able to keep their comforters neat and clean, they’d also found the time to wear a jumpsuit too: it was predominately blue with some goldenrod thunderbolts covering up almost the entirety of their wearers’ bodies altogether.

Walking between themselves was a man in a similar uniform, a wide–brimmed hat and shirt colored in blue with a black necktie matching his pants and boots: the integuments were just as dark but borne more of a lighter shade and hue than the primal darkness from afore, not that it’d mattered in the slightest for many of them at large the way his hazel orbs could see it all clearly.

“Sir…!” was all that the people in blue could say to him walking down their way collectively, a collection of sounds both masculine and feminine in every octave possible on a perfect note so to speak; either way, the air of anticipation was awash over themselves as far as he was concerned in general altogether.

In the lonely man’s eyes, everyone on both sides held their own right hands in a firmed salute, prompting him to reply at once, “at ease, Bolts…! Alright, grunts, listen up: you’ve all been called back from breakfast because we have an emergency situation going on and I need you all at your best; we’re not a hundred percent filled in on exactly what’s going on as the situation is developing but you’ll be given your orders when you reach the LZ which is on base; this is not a training exercise. Remember the rules of radio discretion and I’ll be in contact and coordinating the remaining aviation auxiliaries; then, Sergeant Wilcox will be coordinating the military mission: good luck, everyone…”

Afterwards, he’d left the room in silence, its inhabitants almost stuck in place yet otherwise breathing freely all throughout; out of the personnel in question, one woman in particular stuck out and about for the rest to be aware of in the meantime as is: her skin was like jasmine, bright and colorful, while her thin turquoise tresses matched both eyes as she’d observed her environs.

“What was he talking about: we’d just woken up and we haven’t been to breakfast yet; more importantly, what’s going on…?” she’d cerebrated about as her feet broke rank from the rest and had started following after him almost immediately in the process, “I haven’t even been able to finish basic training yet and I’m already in the barracks with the others; who exactly is he…?”

“Raindrops…!” a feminine contralto escaped into the jasmine listener’s ears, prompting the latter to face the former as soon as an exit was made.

Face–to–face with the titular tenant was another female in uniform, darker than the former but lighter than the man from earlier: the latter’s tresses were as white as a cloud out of perhaps many traversing the sky of mornings, past, present, and future all alike; staring back at turquoise orbs were that of brilliant cherries freshly picked from its herbages of the now and current world.

It didn’t take much for the jasmine traveler to respond all the same, considering the situation, “Fleetfoot…?”

“The Commander wants you at the briefing ASAP; this is a Prerogative Order from high up, courtesy of the Crown, I’m afraid…” the eponymous eyewitness said to Raindrops rather instantaneously, gently pulling the latter aside from the egress in question, “your colleagues will arrive as well; since you’re close to the ground in Ponyville, this should pique your interest…”

“How…?” the jasmine traveler asked her tanned onlooker.

Fleetfoot wasted no time answered Raindrops all the same no less, “she’ll tell you everything all the same; I’m not at liberty to discuss it all here: we can’t take any chances after what had happened years ago…”

“I understand then…” the jasmine pedestrian said as she was led out into the open world by her tanned onlooker already, “lead the way…”

Raindrops could now see the darkness above herself and Fleetfoot in due time, far more colorful than the one from her place of origin overall. For starters, a sea of stars were shrinking away due to daybreak fast approaching yet the crescent moon still stood out and about in quicksilver. The other things that were providing illumination in the still present nocturne happened to be an abundance of lampposts filled by electricity. Yet, all that the jasmine pedestrian could see was an empty landscape of the same materials she been in the process of departing from earlier.

“It’s right down this trail to the left: they’re all waiting at the Tactical Operation Command on the first door to the right as soon as you enter; they’ll start in about several minutes so move…” the tanned onlooker commanded Raindrops firmly yet flexibly, approaching a sign in amidst the curvy fork in the rocky road: one leading to the aforementioned area; the other, more opened.

Either way, the jasmine pedestrian walked down this side of the pathway, promptly presented by a set of glass doors up in front: adjacently nearby was a green square flashing about in a slightly larger rectangle imprinted into the stony edges altogether as is; in any case, she’d end up pressing it inward, splitting the barrier in two as her presence became welcomed by nothingness.
It wasn’t long until Raindrops became reacquainted with a bare–bones environment from before, this time presented by doors: unlike the beds she’d stood in between, there were only a few doors, each of which were already painted in the brilliant green; out of them, her hand had rested upon one of its knobs, turning it around slightly to hear a small click instantaneously so to speak.

As soon as the jasmine pedestrian had opened the door, she was quick to hear another contralto, this time gruffer on the flipside, “okay, listen up, people; we have an extremely hostile situation on our hands: recon has not been able to determine the amount of opposition so let’s keep this tight. As you may all know, it’s been seven years since Equestria had went into open warfare, initially against foreign threats but also hidden ones as well: of them, the perpetrators whom had attacked the capital city have been known for using their magic to blend in with locales more easily to the point of mimicking anyone and anything to their hearts’ content, or in their case lack thereof. Still, this is a completely separate issue, especially since we’d not heard of the changelings in any shape or form whatsoever; although we like nothing more than to pay them back for the crimes they committed in Canterlot, that’s not why we’re here now: since the end of the war, a new threat has, for the lack of a better term, taken root in an old location familiar to all of us. Insider sources working on behalf of an Iorian publishing company had stumbled across a series of events within Everfree Forest: this area was known to people in and out of Ponyville as the site of the first major firebombing in said war, claiming so many lives; oddly enough or not, depending on how you all look at it, it’d regrown much quickly compared to Whitetail Woods. To put it simply, ever since the tragedy and its speedy recovery, the locals have begun to notice the carcasses of its own fauna; each of them had been all found abandoned more frequently since the first year anniversary in such certain haphazard instances: dismembered appendages, eviscerated abdominals, extracted brains, and disemboweled entrails, all of except for the hearts. I know for a fact it’s disgusting to hear about this, much less see it outright in a photograph, compared to the real thing here: considering you’d all been pulled out of bedtime and into uniform, we’d hoped to feed you after briefing to spare you the strife; nonetheless, it’s extremely imperative that we must do a quick reconnaissance all the same for the good of the town anyway. Considering the reality of the situation at hand, we need to approach the issue of Everfree Forest with utmost caution all the same: both the Princesses have been hounded with complaints by neighboring communities and the tribe living inside are at wits end; Thicket’s King Aspen is having a harder time trying to shield his son Bramble and his fiancée Skystar for their sanity.”

“The Everfree Forest… I’ve not heard of that place since that day years ago; as a matter of fact, I’d never even been near it at all…” Raindrops ruminated as she’d found herself entering the room to find more of her kind already in attendance, seated upon the chairs, “come to think of it, didn’t Fluttershy happen to have lived near it; not only that, wasn’t there a foreigner inside too?”

“Ah, Raindrops, you made it: your friends were all wondering when exactly were you going to show up; but enough jokes anyways, please hit the lights since there’s info to be shown here…!” the source within barked at the jasmine pedestrian from a small platform nearby a white screen: a bright skinned ginger with darker eyes as far as the former can see clear as the day which begun.

Although startled by the inhabitant’s appearance, the titular tenant wasted no time find a switch on the wall with affirmation, “yes, ma’am…!”

“As you can see here in these photos, Everfree Forest has seen better days since the postwar period, despite our history…” the bright ginger stated bravely, even as most of the lights above them subsided into the darkness unlike the dawn outside of it, “even though it’s recovered from all the fire damage, it’s safe to believe that whatever layout was there has changed dramatically. Even with Zecora’s journal and the map provided, we can’t expect this excursion to be so simple and straightforward so to speak: as far as Equestria is concerned, it’s still too dangerous because of how many strange organisms have populated themselves here; not even the Bearers of Harmony can go in there alone, not that they ever would after what this war had done to them. To insure there won’t be any further unpleasantries between Equestria and their allies nearby, it’s vital that we must put a lid on it: a simple search and destroy won’t cut do since it’d only took less than a month for the problem to worsen, especially for civvies; the woodcutter mentioned hearing hundreds of screams late at night for two whole hours, too similar to the likes of people. Henceforth, locales in Ponyville were advised to stay away from Everfree, especially at night considering the ongoing events: of course, this wasn’t enough for the screaming to stop as far as the patrols were concerned the following morning so to speak; as a matter of fact, they were reported missing the day after their formation, vanished without a trace overall or so it seems. Either way, the town’s police department had been on edge for several years since their disappearances as well as others: their attempts to remedy the situation, though admirable, had led to near destruction, leaving a sole survivor from twenty–seven; however, another unit also returned, obtaining critical information courtesy of a photograph taken of a third–party entity. Recently, its involvement, however minimal, has been confirmed to be hostile as well as anthropoid but here’s the kicker: despite bearing the appearance of a person, it’d made up of both metallic parts and some wood pieces, hence species unknown; as a result, us Wonderbolts and the Royal Marine have been searching for this individual supposedly responsible for all of it. Even though it hasn’t been found yet, we’ve made it an effort to undergo quarterly patrols ever since the patrols’ absences here: up until now, all that was found were nothing more than ten dismembered animal bodies and a townsperson’s cadaver overall; speaking of which, that body was the only thing of interest to both local and provincial authorities, hoping for a link therein. Afterwards, it was all quiet for the rest of Ponyville in spite of the ghastly discoveries, no new vanishings of any kind at least; however, everything changed this season when we’d all received a report of the first quarterly reconnaissance over Everfree: twenty–six fatalities, vehicles destroyed at a loss of over a million bits, all thanks to the return of this third–party in particular. Looking at what we’d gathered today, the last thing Ponyville need is another round of people ended up MIA or worse already; as such, the Princesses have decided to send out a small unit of Wonderbolts to engage the entity in lieu of another ground unit: the operation’s name is Ackerman, a search and destroy mission to ensure that the people will be safe from harm again.”

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am…?” the jasmine observer stuttered a bit, her turquoise orbs widened at the sight of a smiling steely skeletal subject already plastered on display so to speak of.

It didn’t take long for Raindrops’ commander to reply, “granted…”

“Ma’am, I may have not been up–to–date with the life and times of Ponyville ever since the war though I need to know anyway…” the jasmine observer said to the bright ginger for the others to hear loud and clear, gathering up some resolve from within overall, “if what they’re saying is true, then how come this thing hasn’t gone all–out on Ponyville more often than afore recently?”

“It’s believed that this entity’s planning to build an army with small soldiers of some sort, either alone or assisted, using the limbs and organs for reasons unknown but it’s as far as I know…” the commander answered as the lights came back on, this time from another man in a similar uniform to the one everyone in the room including Raindrops was wearing all the same no less.

Like the bright ginger, his skin was on par yet stuck between the likes of the jasmine observer and the darker officer recently: although the tresses were blue, they were darker and richer to the point of being compressed like a still ocean, warm and liquid; additionally, both orbs were but an emerald splash, focusing in onto the former with steadfast and straightforward stare so to speak.

As far as the uniformed man was concerned, he was quick to walk over to the platform and give the commander a small folder with a whisper, “ma’am…”

“What’s up…?” the bright ginger asked as she’d opened it gently, surveiling the contents quickly yet carefully at large, “I see then; everyone, we’ve just receive some intel from the Crown: another set of bodies were found nearby the forest in the Pet Cemetery just recently. Our mission is to locate and eliminate the hostile residing at Everfree: head on out to Ponyville and recon with the auxiliaries; under no circumstances are we to let this sick son of a bitch escape into the heart like before. The reason you folk were chosen for this operation is simple and plain: seven years ago, you were civilians whom had lived in Ponyville with the rest of your neighbors, including the Bearers of Harmony themselves; although, the sights and smells will be hypothetically gruesome as shown on display, your training as Wonderbolts helped process the past memories all the same. As such, I expect nothing more but the best from you as the rest of this country does from each and every single Wonderbolt: be mindful that teamwork is key to our success and survival so I don’t need, want, or like any Blue Falcons in the making; everyone fights, nobody quits, you fuck this up, better hope I let you live it down in peace so here, do y’all get me loud and clear?”

“WE GET YOU, MA’AM…!” everyone had shouted, standing at attention with little warning whatsoever.

This alone was enough to put a smile on the commander’s face as she’d said softly, “welcome to the Wonderbolts…”

“EQUESTRIA’S WONDERBOLTS…!” hollered almost all of the people afore the bright ginger, including Raindrops herself of all, “EYUP…!”

“ALRIGHT, LET’S MOVE IT OR LOSE IT: THE FATE OF PONYVILLE RESTS ON OUR HANDS; IT’S ABOUT TIME THAT WE RETURN THE FAVOR FOR OUR HEROES…!” their commander had barked as she’d quickly headed out the other door onto her right, leaving it opened wide for every single one of the others still in attendance to follow suit no less.

The jasmine observer was no exception as her blue boots stomped down the metal stairs into a fluid lockstep with colleagues: they couldn’t do much but make a sharp right turn into another wider doorway, entering the corridor before shifting on left; after finding another similar pair, they were now treated to the sights and scents of the outside world she’d traversed thru earlier. At long last, they could see the sunrise taking place right up in front of them on the log horizon but it wasn’t the main focus here; instead, it was lines of aircraft resting around the runway as they were adjacent to their collective position closing inwardly overall: each of them all matched the color scheme of their uniforms but the frontal region resembled grimacing dentitions herein. Underneath the lampshade hanging directly from the stonewalls were open crates of the deepest green present and accounted for: the people whom were already there were handing off backpacks to those approaching them into a single file despite their agility; as soon as it’d now quickly touched their back, they were all in a rush to run up to the machines almost immediately. Raindrops still proved to be no exception whatsoever as she’d climbed a ladder held up against it, taking her off of solid earth: it didn’t take much for her to notice the manifold buttons making up the majority of the interface she’d gotten acquainted with; in addition, a helmet and some goggles were also found on the leftmost side, prompting their equipment to take place altogether. Upon covering the hair and eyes, the jasmine occupant had pressed one of the smaller shapes up in front of her without hesitation: sure enough, the canopy above herself had begun to close in on her, shutting away much of the fresh oxygen around the aircraft; nevertheless, another apparatus was also within the line of eyesight, picked up by the very same hands as it’d bore a tubular trail. Soon, she was breathing into the mask covering her muzzle as she’d smelled the air going in and out of her nostrils already as is; after taking a deep breath, her fingers made contact with another button, this time slightly larger in circumference, all the same: this had caused the machine she was in to move slowly, something that many others were doing right in front of her eyes at once.

Raindrops first took sight at one of it already moving down the runway as she’d composed herself, watching as a line was beginning to form while she’d thought about the situation at hand, “of all the reasons to go fighting, this is most scary; why did it have to be like this: a monster in Everfree skinning alive people and animals alike as if they were nothing to them? Nobody normal, not even Zecora, would go around doing something like this just to attract some attention from the others here; perhaps this is just some old face looking to seek revenge for the first firebombing there, if not at Whitetail Woods, but whom: even if it were Fluttershy, how exactly would she even go through with the first step, especially given her own past reputation This wouldn’t even be the work of terrorists, much less the changelings, as far as we’d been told recently considering the details; we haven’t even heard about them for the past seven years ever since they’d taken a shot at Princess Celestia of all people: it wasn’t enough for Cadance to die in front of all of us at her own wedding, they’d the utter nerve to attack her too and all for what?! Over a millennium of peace had been maintained by the likes of the two Princesses ever since their very coronation altogether: Equestria has survived so much since then, especially considering Nightmare Moon’s return of all things, not to be surprised; now, we can’t even take care of some deranged desperado who may as well have lure us here with various carcasses?!”

Suddenly, another source of light appeared before the jasmine pilot, surpassing the intensity of the rising sun in the distance as it'd overwhelmed her and her peers without any kind of warning. The solid earth underneath themselves had shaken to and fro as the line of aircraft she was currently in wobbled out of place, most of which struggled to stay in their shared lanes no less. Although the proximity between the illumination and its viewers was scarce to a fault, it didn't stop any of the trembling from causing damage directly and otherwise, especially with her kind. Now it was time for the sky above the port to become the color of an electronics' screen, tuned to a dead channel as the stars within faded in the light faster than its all natural rays from the giant. Despite being locked inside the cockpit, the crisp air all throughout themselves had become more hot and heavy for their skin and fabrics to tolerate, especially considering the metal around it all. Such was the case for Raindrops as her ears were now assaulted with but a cacophony of pitches emanating from the interface afore, each more noisome than the last as they vied for dominance.

"EVERYONE OUTTA OF THE JETS; SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THEM: THE INTERFACE IS ON THE FRITZ…!" the jasmine pilot heard amidst the noise, garbled up to a fault as the static mesh was closing in on it altogether as it were, "OH, CELESTIA, I CAN'T EJECT AT ALL; THE EJECTOR SEAT ISN'T EVEN LETTING ME OUT OF HERE…!

It didn't take long for the cold inertia to strike against her warm body instantaneously, something that many would relate to here: the sudden contact became inevitable as the surface area increased, closing the distance in betwixt the initial cut and them; of which, she was taking note of how it's boundaries were moving off into their direction as sparks had flew around the canopy Afterwards, everyone and everything was getting caught in the beam's linear pathway, no doubt something that can't be averted: it'd all started when the smallest debris was being reduced to atoms, but the size of input alone was soon increasing in due time; after all, Raindrops could see the same machine she was in becoming disintegrated by the concentrated photons immediately. Needless to say, more were following suit, like it or not, most of which its pilots tried to avoid but couldn't get out of the way: this was enough to break the jasmine eyewitness' resolve as she, too, had struggled to escape the impending onslaught anyways; nevertheless, it was to no avail, even with her hands and feet beating against the curving surface area over her helmet altogether.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!" she cried as the initial impact had reduced her to nothingness all so neatly and pristine to the bitter end; now, all that had remained in her place was a line imprinted into the ground smoldering about as the wreckage took up vacancy in seconds when the nearby building cracked.