Unquenchable Fire

The Evacuation of Manehatten

(Radio transcript, provided courtesy of the Equestrian Air Force)

Observation Post: Command, this is Crystal Post, over.

Command: Command, go ahead Crystal Post, over.

Observation: Command, we’ve picked up unidentified bogeys approaching from the North. Our Unicorns detected them about two minutes ago. The reports we received were of a massive squadron of black Pegasi inbound from the North. Were any mass sorties launched recently? Over.

Command (after brief pause): Negative, Crystal Post, no such sorties were launched. We’re scrambling a squadron of Pegasi to intercept, over.

Observation: Roger, tell them to intercept near Manehatten. That looks like where the Pegasi are headed. Crystal Post out.

Command: Roger. Command out.

“You should have visual contact on Cockatrice Squadron by now.”

Nimbus swept his gaze to the right, listening to command and locking his eyes on the approaching squadron of roughly thirty Pegasi.

“Roger,” he said into his com, “I have a visual. I’m rendezvousing now.”

“Roger. Switch your com channel to 34.”

Nimbus did as he was told, adjusting his channel with his hoof. The radio chatter of his squadmates was loud and clear now.”

“Cockatrice Squadron, this is Cockatrice four checking in,” Nimbus said.

After a few moments, a familiar dark blue Pegasus rolled out of formation and formed up by Nimbus’s side.

“Howdy, Nimbus!” Stormchaser said, raising his visor.

Nimbus grinned. “Stormchaser, what’s up?”

“Oh, you know- same old, same old. I was just minding my own business when they sent for me. Looks like the EAF’s out to save Equestria, eh?”

“I sure hope it hasn’t come to that,” Nimbus said, “but if Equestria’s really in peril… Did you hear what happened in Canterlot today?”

“I didn’t,” Stormchaser replied, “I missed the briefing. Care to fill me in?”

“Yeah,” Nimbus said, grimly, “I was there. An attempt was made on Princess Celestia’s life.”

“What?!” said Stormchaser, all traces of humor gone, “but that’s- that means…”

Nimbus nodded. “It means that if this event we’re responding to isn’t some kind of freak coincidence, Equestria may be in some hot water.”

“No kidding,” said Stormchaser. “Let’s wrap this up quickly, then. Suddenly, I really want to head home.”

“You’ve got nothing but agreement from me,” Nimbus replied, flipping down his visor as a call from the lead Pegasus came through.

“Cockatrice Squadron, I have a visual on Manehatten. ETA is five minutes. Visors down and blades out. Prepare to enter the city.”

Nimbus followed his orders and watched as all of the other Pegasi did the same, extending the blades from their leg-mounted sheathes. In five minutes, he’d see the first real squadron combat he’d been in in his life. He turned to Stormchaser again.

“We stick together,” he said, “and we’ll pull out of this just fine. You with me?”

Stormchaser nodded and Nimbus turned back to his flight path, steeling himself for what was to come.

…

After Nimbus left, Princess Luna turned to Twilight Sparkle, who was still at her teacher’s side.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said softly, “thou must follow us.”

Twilight looked up at Princess Luna with bloodshot, tear-stained eyes, almost pleading. “Please, can I stay just a little longer?”

Luna felt a pang of hurt in her heart. It was hard enough that her own sister was injured, but for Twilight, seeing Celestia like this must be like losing a parent. She’d looked up to Celestia all of her life, and now to see her like this… Still, ‘Tia had arranged protocol to deal with a situation such as this, and it had to be enacted as soon as possible.

“We are sorry, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said finally, “but this is a matter most urgent. Thou must accompany us.”

Slowly, Twilight stood and followed Luna out the door. The rest of her friends watched her go, none daring to say a word.

When they were in the hallway, Luna began to speak.

“In the wake of the Changeling attack during the wedding of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, our sister realized that the possibility of her defeat was very real. With this in mind, she created a plan to deal with such an occurrence.”

“Celestia knew this might happen?” Twilight asked as they walked down the stairs and into the hospital’s lobby.

“Correct,” Luna said, “and her plan involves you. As such, I must take you back to Canterlot Palace to fulfill your role.”

“What’s my role?” Twilight asked, following Luna out the door and into the Princess of the Night’s waiting carriage.

“We do not know,” Luna said, settling into her seat as the guards took off. “Celestia wanted this only to be revealed if it became necessary.”

“I see,” Twilight muttered as the carriage left for the palace. Whatever Celestia had planned for her, she knew she would do her best to fulfill, but she couldn’t help but feel apprehensive about what was to come. If she knew Celestia, then her task would not be an easy one, and she could only hope that she’d be able to carry out her mentor’s orders with success.

…

Cockatrice Squadron was now only a minute away from Manehatten, and all ponies were making their final preparations for attack.

“Listen up, Cockatrice,” the lead Pegasus said over the radio, “our rules of engagement are to avoid using lethal force unless our targets are identified as hostile. That means unless there’s property damage or they attack us, you are not to attack. Am I understood?”

“Roger,” Nimbus responded, along with the rest of the squadron. He turned to Stormchaser.

“Remember the plan. Neither of us lets the other out of his sight. We clear?”

“You bet,” said Stormchaser, “I’ve got some leftover Jalapeno Hayburgers at home with my name on ‘em.”

Nimbus nodded as the lead’s voice came through again.

“Prepare to intercept in five, four, three, tw-“

A searing blast of green magic ripped through the air from between the buildings of Manehatten, shearing one of the lead Pegasus’s wings clean off. Without so much as a cry, he instantly dropped out of formation and hurtled towards the ground, trailing blood.

“This is Cockatrice 2! Cockatrice 1 is down! Targets are now declared hostile- prepare to take evasive action!”

“This is Cockatrice 5!” said Stormchaser, “I have a visual on the bogeys!”

Nimbus followed his partner’s gaze and sure enough saw several dark shapes flying out from the buildings to greet them, flinging green magical projectiles like a deadly hail. Instantly, he and Stormchaser rolled and dove for the ground to avoid the threat.

“Cockatrice, engage!”  Cockatrice two screamed.

Nimbus’s helmet’s targeting system was going crazy, locking on to target after target. There were simply too many aggressors, and they were all moving too quickly to get a good ID. He and Stormchaser dove into the buildings in attempt to thin out their pursuers. Here, their training took over as they weaved in and out of structures. Then, rounding a corner, Nimbus finally got a good look at the enemy. Hovering about one hundred feet above an intersection was a flight of four Changelings. Nimbus felt his heart sink. Changelings had been responsible for the attack on Celestia, too. This was not a coincidence.

Upon seeing the approaching Pegasi, the Changelings immediately gave chase, and that was when Nimbus saw what distinguished this group of four from their kin. Instead of bearing their natural, translucent wings, these Changelings had painted their wings a vibrant shade of green.

“Hey Nimbus,” Stormchaser’s voice crackled over the com, “looks like we got us some showboaters here. Ever heard of individualistic Changelings?”

“Can’t say I have,” Nimbus replied, following Stormchaser, “and that means these ones must be special for some reason.” Suddenly, an ordinary Changeling swooped in front of Nimbus and headed for Stormchaser’s tail, trying to get the right angle for a magical blast.

“You’ve got a bogey on your tail,” Nimbus said to Stormchaser, “I’ll brush him off.”

Nimbus surged forward and cleanly impaled the Changeling, who slid lifelessly off his blade and tumbled into the streets below, where masses of panicked civilians were already scrambling for cover.

“Thanks,” said Stormchaser, “that was a bit close for my liking.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nimbus said as something below caught his eye. It was a small group of Changelings, firing into the crowds.

“Dear Celestia,” Nimbus breathed, “they’re attacking indiscriminately.”

He swerved towards the aggressors with Stormchaser behind. Seeing the Pegasi, the Changelings broke formation, scrambling in every direction.

“One on your tail,” Stormchaser said.

Nimbus looked back and saw the creature flying right behind him.

“Can you take him?” Nimbus asked Stormchaser.

“Negative. I’ve got two of the insects on my own back to deal with. He’s all yours.”

“Roger,” Nimbus said. “I suppose I could use some maneuvering practice anyway,” he thought. Without warning, he opened his wings and performed an extremely tight kulbit maneuver. Nimbus’s skidding loop put him right over the Changeling, and halfway through the maneuver, he stuck his blades downward, severing the Changeling’s spine. The creature went limp and fell instantly. Nimbus resumed his normal flight just in time to see Stormchaser perform a quick roll, confusing the Changelings behind him into colliding.

“Nice kill,” Nimbus said, watching the rest of the EAF fliers sweeping through the streets in pursuit of the other Changelings. “Looks like we’re just about done.”

“I don’t think so,” Stormchaser replied. “Look up.”

Nimbus did as he was told and gasped. Above were the four Changelings with the green wings from before, and approaching from behind them was a massive, cloud-like formation of countless other Changelings. The shadow from the approaching force was already falling over Manehatten.

“Horse apples,” Nimbus swore. At the moment, it was all he could say.

…

At the palace, Twilight and Luna had just entered Celestia’s room, and Luna was hurriedly digging through her sister’s belongings.

“There!” she said triumphantly, lifting a scroll framed with gold leaf from one of Celestia’s drawers. “This is what we must read. I’m afraid we don’t have time to bring it to the throne room, so we may as well open it here.”

Luna opened the scroll, causing a cascade of cake crumbs to fall from it. Luna sniffed and blinked away a tear. “Oh ‘Tia, always so fond of thine cake, weren’t thou?”

Luna began to read aloud.

“I, Princess Celestia, hereby proclaim that upon my death or incapacitation, my student, Twilight Sparkle, is to succeed me on the throne-“

Twilight immediately froze. She’d been expecting something with considerably less… influence. Running Equestria? What was her mentor thinking?

“-Twilight has many friends capable of aiding her, and I expect my sister, Princess Luna, to help her adjust to her new role any way she can. If Equestria is in a state of conflict at this time, then chief war powers fall under the jurisdiction of Princess Luna and the Honorable Twilight Sparkle. May the hearts and minds of Equestria be with them.”

Luna glanced up from the scroll. “Then our suspicions are confirmed. Celestia has appointed thou as her successor.”

“There must be a mistake,” Twilight said, “there’s no way she could have wanted me to have the throne.”

“On the contrary,” said Luna, “she would have had it no other way.” Luna paused and glanced back down towards the throne room.

“We must hurry,” she said, “as thou already knows, Manehatten is under attack. We are aware that thine friend, Nimbus, is among the city’s defenders. Thou must speak to him and decide whether an evacuation is necessary or not. We will assist thou as much as we can.”

“I… okay,” Twilight said. “If this is what Celestia wanted, then I’ll try my best.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Luna, ushering down the stairs. “Now let us get to work. The ponies of Manehatten are counting on us.”

…

Nimbus swerved around a lamppost, flying only a few feet above the ground. Since the swarm had hit in full, he and Stormchaser had had their hooves full trying to deal with the attackers. Radio chatter had already confirmed that fifteen Pegasi were down. Only half the force remained. Nimbus dispatched the Changeling following him with a swift kick and stab, then continued following Stormchaser. Suddenly, his com crackled to life with a very familiar pony on the other end.

“Nimbus, can you hear me? This is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight?” Nimbus asked, puzzled, “I’m a little busy right now. How’d you get this frequency?”

“I don’t have much time to explain. I’ve been placed temporarily in Celestia’s position, and I need to know if an evacuation of Manehatten is necessary.”

“Necessary?” Nimbus asked, flying through streets as buildings around crumbled from unrelenting Changeling magic attacks. “Yeah, it’s definitely necessary. We’re not going to be able to fight off all of these Changelings with the forces we have now.”

“Alright,” Twilight said, “I’ll notify the Mayor and send for a reinforcement squadron. Once the evacuation sirens go off, you should have about twenty minutes before the reinforcements arrive. Can you manage?”

Nimbus ducked under a falling sign, which crushed a nearby Changeling.

“Yeah, I think I can do that. Hurry, though.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Nimbus sensed someone next to him and turned just in time to see Stormchaser form up beside him. He didn’t look good. He had a long gash down his side, and his flight was unsteady.

“You okay?” Nimbus asked Stormchaser.

“Yeah,” Stormchaser said over the radio, “I’m good. I’ve gotta get home and have my hayburgers after this, remember?”

“Hang in there,” Nimbus said, patting his partner on the back, “reinforcements are coming in twenty minutes.”

Stormchaser nodded. “Sounds good to me. Let’s take down as many as we can before that happens.”

Suddenly, several loud horns began to blare, emanating from rooftops and startling the Changelings- the signal to begin evacuation. Nimbus silently thanked Twilight. With civilians out of the area, the EAF could operate without fear of collateral damage. The scales would finally tip in favor of the Pegasi. At that moment, a sharp, chattering screech sounded, and all Changelings in the vicinity of Nimbus and Stormchaser cleared out.

“What was that?” Nimbus asked, “are we really that scary?”

Stormchaser never had time to answer, because when the two ponies glanced back, they saw the green-wings, back again. This time, however, the Changelings attacked.

“Not good,” Nimbus said, diving and rolling to avoid the Changelings’ initial bursts of magic.

“Tell me about it,” Stormchaser replied, pulling into a loop. “Those reinforcements better get here quick, or these guys are going to turn us into swiss cheese!”

…

Below, Caramel Swirl had just left her apartment with her parents. They’d come running up to her as soon as the Changelings attacked. She’d left her piano upstairs; there was simply no way to move it. Now the top floor of her apartment was burning. She’d never see the instrument again. She looked left and right as her parents ushered her through the crowds. Thick smoke was everywhere, and all around, Changelings and Pegasi flew, locked in combat.

“Come on!” her father said, pushing her towards an alley. “We’ll be safe here. Crowds can be just as dangerous as an attack like this!”

Caramel Swirl didn’t argue with her father. It seemed a few other ponies shared their idea, and were heading for the alley as well. Suddenly, several ponies began to scream. Caramel Swirl looked back to see a Changeling heading straight for her. She froze and covered her face just as an orange Pegasus swooped down from above, slicing the Changeling almost in half. The Pegasus was being pursued by two other Changelings with green wings, but he found the time to snap a salute to her, which Caramel Swirl gratefully returned.

“Move!” a pony in front of her called. Caramel Swirl sidestepped right into a running pony and fell to the ground.

“Mom, dad!” she called. Faintly, she heard her parents reply, but she couldn’t tell where. She decided to make her way back towards the alley where her parents had been headed. Then the crowd began to press harder, and she found herself shoved forward, no longer moving under her own power. When she turned back to see what was causing the sudden surge, she screamed.

No less than twenty Changelings were approaching.

And all of their horns were glowing green.

“Get down, Caramel!”

Caramel Swirl looked up just in time to see her father push her to the ground. She hit the pavement hard, and her vision began to grow dark. Slowly she faded into unconsciousness…

But not before she saw the flashes and explosions of green magic impacting all around as everypony around her was mercilessly struck down.

…

“Ten minutes,” Twilight said over Nimbus’s radio.

“Ten?” Nimbus said, “Oh, thank goodness. We’re barely holding up here.”

“Listen, I have an idea that might buy you some time.”

“I’m all ears,” Nimbus said.

“Good. Is Stormchaser there with you? You’ll need his help.”

“Roger that,” Nimbus replied, grinning. Stormchaser’s wound hadn’t slowed him down in the slightest.

“Outstanding,” said Twilight, “then listen carefully. I’ll patch this conversation through to Stormchaser as well. At the city’s center, there’s an electrical plant. I need you and Stormchaser to get to that plant and cause an overload. I’ll talk you through the procedure when you get there.”

“Okay,” Nimbus said, inverting and pulling into a Split S to chase down a target, which he dispatched quickly, “but what good will this do us?”

“If Changelings are anything like insects, they’ll be drawn to the light of the displaced electricity. We can turn the plant into a giant bug zapper, essentially.”

Nimbus grinned. “You know what? That just might work.” He turned to Stormchaser. “Follow me. We’ve got some royal orders to carry out.”

The ponies streaked through the sky, scanning the ground for their target.

“There’s the plant,” Nimbus said, spotting a blue building with a lightning bolt on the side, “let’s go.”

He and Stormchaser headed straight for an upstairs window, curled up, and crashed through into a dark room.

“We’re in,” Nimbus said, “second floor. We’re in a dimly-lit room with some red emergency lighting.”

“Alright," said Twilight. That means you must be in the control room. Perfect. Now I want you to go over to the big panel with all the buttons on it.”

Nimbus glanced around the room. “You’ll have to be more specific than that.”

“Yeah,” Stormchaser said, “there are a lot of buttons in here.”

“Specifically, then, I want you to find a big, red and white-striped handle. That’s the generator control lever. It should be set for about fifty percent. That’s a safe level. I want you to crank it all the way up. When you’re done, throw the fire alarm. When that water dumps, you won’t have a ton of time, so get out as fast as you can.”

Nimbus hurried over to the lever Twilight had described. “Okay, I’m throwing the lever now.” He shoved the lever to its uppermost position, and instantly, crackling sounds could be heard below, in the generator room. Stormchaser then hit the fire alarm on the wall.

“Done,” Nimbus said amidst the blaring of emergency buzzers, “now we’re getting out of here!”

The two Pegasi flew out through the window and glanced back as the building turned into a mass of dancing blue sparks. Instantly, Changelings began to flock towards it.

“Here they come,” Stormchaser said.

Like moths to a flame, the Changelings attached themselves to the side of the building and instantly fell away, convulsing.

“It’s working,” Nimbus said, “we’re buying the citizens time.”

Then he looked behind him and realized that not all of the Changelings had fallen for the trap. The green-wings were back again.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Stormchaser said, “how many times are we gonna run into these guys?”

“Two minutes until reinforcements,” Twilight said.

“Let’s not tussle with them,” Nimbus said, “we need to focus on defending the evacuees.

The Pegasi dove towards the streets below, clearing Changelings left and right. Ponies were exiting the city rapidly now, and it seemed that once they were past the city’s borders, they were safe. Others were escaping on boats, and Nimbus could see multitudes of watercraft leaving at top speed. Gazing at the ocean, he saw the setting sun and almost forgot where he was for the moment. He’d never seen a Manehatten sunset like this before, and it made him realize just how ordinary everything had been before now.

Then a bolt of magic ripped by Nimbus, singeing his flight suit.

“Contact!” he yelled to Stormchaser. The dark blue Pegasi heard him and banked upwards as Nimbus braked and dove to pursue one of the green-wings. The Changelings simply wouldn’t let him be today, it seemed.

“Oh, this is not good,” Nimbus heard Stormchaser say, “three of ‘em are on my tail, and they’re just lobbing magic like crazy. Can I get some assistance?”

Nimbus’s heart skipped a beat. In the time it had taken him to pursue the green-wing, he’d taken his eyes off of Stormchaser for just a few seconds- long enough, it seemed, for the Changelings to take advantage of his absence. Nimbus realized too late what had happened as he sped towards the lone blue Pegasus, trying to shake his pursuers. The green-wing he’d chased had been a distraction. Nothing more.

“One minute,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Hurry those reinforcements up!” Nimbus yelled, desperately. He was closing now, but so were the Changelings.

“Hang in there, Stormchaser,” he said.

“I’m- ngh- doing my best, but these guys are good!”

“Dammit,” Nimbus swore, pushing his wings to the limit. Then the unthinkable happened. A single magical projectile from one of the green-wings impacted Stormchaser squarely in the chest. Nimbus was close enough to see the expression of shock and surprise on his friend’s face before Stormchaser’s eyes rolled closed forever. The blue Pegasus gracefully plummeted down, to the ground, where his body was instantly swarmed by Changelings.

“No!” Nimbus yelled, diving into the multitudes of the enemy, hacking and stabbing wildly.

“Reinforcements have arrived, Nimbus,” Twilight said, “what’s your situation?”

“Stormchaser is down,” Nimbus said shakily between tears, “and these bastards are going to pay for him!”

“Nimbus, you need to fall back now.”

“Not now,” Nimbus said grimly, slicing through two Changelings.

“I wasn’t asking you,” Twilight replied. “That’s an order.”

With a scream of rage, Nimbus pulled up out of the tumult, rolled level, and turned to head home as his EAF comrades renewed the fight. The remainder of Cockatrice squadron- six ponies- formed up by Nimbus and followed him. As he left the battle, Nimbus spared one more glance back at the once-proud city of Manehatten, now crumbling and burning- its citizens scrambling for refuge.

“I could have done more,” he said over the radio to Twilight, sobbing softly, “you should have let me stay in. Damn you, Twilight Sparkle.”

He thought of his friend, lying lifelessly on the streets of Manehatten.

“Damn you.”

…

“Come home safely, Nimbus,” Twilight said quietly, shutting off her radio and terminating her link to Nimbus. She looked up at Luna with wide eyes.

“Did I do the right thing?” she asked, “or have I just caused countless needless deaths?”

Luna looked at her new student with a new kind of wisdom. “Yes,” she said finally, “thou did the right thing.”

“But if I could have scrambled those Pegasi earlier-“

“Thou alerted them as soon as possible. They could not have been informed any earlier.”

Twilight hung her head and began to walk away.

“Where art thou going?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “anywhere but here. I need to rest.”

“Twilight,” Luna said, “listen to us. Leadership is never easy. Thou will always have to make hard decisions. Thou must remember that thine best interests should be for the good of the majority. Stormchaser knew what he faced when he entered that battle, and he died honorably.”

“Thank you, Princess Luna,” Twilight said, “I… I feel better now.”

“Please,” Luna said, “just call us ‘Luna.’ Now rest. The night is our domain. We will handle everything from here. Thou hast had a trying day.”

Twilight nodded and silently left the throne room, heading for her room. When she reached it, she looked out towards the east, in the direction of Manehatten. The day, she knew, was over, but in the back of her mind, she knew that something much bigger had just begun.