Aces of the North

Chapters

A key to the past
Cleared to Engage
An Unfair Fight
Actions and Consequences
An unexpected honor

A key to the past

On a disputed border between the Zebra and Griffin Territories....

In a small, hidden valley just beyond a mountain that long ago housed a mighty dragon's keep, lies a ruin of a time when this land once belonged to Equestria, during the era before the rise of Nightmare Moon. The stone structures of the ruin were overgrown with climbing vines, and beautiful blooming wildflowers, all of them except for one. The structure that had once been the meeting hall for the village still laid completely intact, except for the statue of Princess Luna that adorned the front of the hall, which time, and the weather had worn down, and left with only one extended wing and three legs. Within the ancient stone walls of the hall, a small fire crackled softly under a quickly heating kettle of water. On one side an older looking white Unicorn buck, with a fiery red mane, soft crystal blue eyes, his body was shrouded by a black cloak, and all around his midsection were wrapped magical healing bandages. The older buck looked over the flames at a much younger looking Pegasus mare pensively, her blue coat and dazzling long white mane bathed in the orange light of the fire, leaving her cutie mark of a quill and scroll in shadow. Next to her laid a tape recorder, a notebook and a pencil. She stared at him for a seemingly endless moment, knowing for certain this was the buck she had been searching for.

“Crimson Wing.... Haven't heard that name in a long time.” The buck said, a nostalgic longing in his voice as a small smile crept onto his face.
“So you are the one I've been looking for.” The young mare eagerly said as she readied her recorder and pencil.
“Listen Ms... Quickstudy was it? I'm not sure how you found me, and I'm not sure I want to know..” He said as he lifted a small bundle of sticks with his magic, and poked the embers a bit before adding them to the fire, his face growing serious again. “I doubt I'm the one you seek, my name is Ace High, not Crimson Wing. Besides if I were him, then I'd be a Pegasus with a red wing, not a unicorn.” He said rolling his eyes at the young mare, and her expression grew sad. “but I was attached to his unit, and I could show you what really happened... Keep in mind, this isn't the history you'll find in some library in Canterlot, or some museum in Manehattan; this is not the approved historical record.” He said flatly as he looked in her eyes, studying her.

The ancient building fell silent save for the soft crackling of the fire as Quickstudy set her pencil on the table, and stared the older buck down. He frowned a bit, expecting to hear the young mare come back with the prepared academic answer to a statement like that, a dismissive “scrolls don't lie”, “who are you to question the princesses' records?”, or his favorite a sarcastic “So you're saying all those professor ponies deliberately lied and only you know about it?”. He almost couldn't believe his ears when he heard her catily respond.

“If I wanted the approved historical record I would have stayed in Canterlot and reread my scrolls aga-” She started, only to be cut off mid sentence.
“Except when you really think about it, that version of history doesn't quite add up does it?” He asked, his expression softening again.
“Ace High, I want to know the true history of the Northern Incident.” Quickstudy said firmly, but kindly as she readied herself to take notes once more.
“Northern Incident... That's what they call it now? A full scale Griffon invasion of our northern lands, all those battles, all those lives lost, all that destruction, we nearly wiped the griffons out completely, and now its just called the Northern Incident..... as if it were some minor faux pas, amazing what some ponies will do to protect their interests.” Ace High sighed disappointedly as he hung his head and shook it a bit.
“The truth of the matter is that it was a war, a real war, the likes of which Equestria hadn't seen in generations, and before their unit showed up, we were loosing, badly. We just didn't have the pony power to stop them, the Royal Equestrian Air Force was completely overwhelmed. The griffins were simply far better fighters.” Ace high continued, his voice having an almost bitter undercurrent.
“That's when they brought in the “Equestrian Volunteer Corps”.... They were basically a bunch of mercenaries under the control of the REAF; most of them were low lives who couldn't make the cut in the REAF, and were meant to be cannon fodder thrown into the grinder to dull the griffin's talons, but that unit, and those two in particular... They were better than anything the REAF could have produced.” Ace High explained as he stared into the flames, the fire licking at the bottom of the kettle as steam started to rise from the dinged brass spout.
“Who were they?” Quickstudy asked, her pencil at the ready.
“Crimson Wing and Blazing Glory, along with their unit the Gale Team. They were the ones who turned the tide in our favor, and they were also the ones who were nearly responsible for the end of us all.” He said as his horn began to glow, and he leaned over to Quickstudy touching her on the forehead with it.

In an instant the world faded away and the two ponies sat in a void, surrounded by little sparkles of beautiful light, like tiny diamonds floating in the otherwise bleak endless seeming expanse. Ace High's horn began to glow, and the shimmering lights drew closer, and arranged themselves into neat little lines and columns. Quickstudy tried to focus on the lights, but she couldn't make out the source the brilliant glow.

"What are those, Ace High? Where are we?" She asked, having never experienced anything like this before.
"We are inside of my mind, and these balls of light are memories." He explained, as he touched his horn to one, and drew a line of light between two of the shimmering memories.
"I've never seen a memory spell like this before, usually they're instantaneous and much simpler spells." She said as she marveled at the sparkling sea of light.
"Because this spell is classified, its a top secret spell used by the Royal Equestrian Intelligence Service to keep records. All memories of battle are extracted before a pony who has seen action is sent home. Those memories are stored in the minds of unicorns like myself." Ace explained as he continued connecting the memories.
"So to keep the secrets of the war a secret, they removed the memories of everypony involved?" She asked.
"Well that and to keep the veterans sane." He said as he drew a few more over, placing them within the web of interconnected memories.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, looking at him with a puzzled look.
"Ponies have fairly fragile psyches when it comes to trauma, some of our kind have had complete mental break downs over being tardy, how do you think we'd handle having memories of war?" He asked with a small chuckle as he finished connecting the memories.
"Well I guess that makes sense." She replied, as she stepped closer to the stallion.

She looked down at his flank, within his mind he was no longer covered in the cloak that obscured his body and she could see his cutiemark, 5 aces one of each suit fanned out, although the one in the center did not bear a standard mark, but instead bore the image of two pegasi rearing back in a fighting stance, back to back.

“See Something you like?” He asked as he caught her staring, to which she responded with a shy squeak.
"Are you ready?" He asked her, a little smiling on his muzzle.
"Y-yeah, so who's memories are all of these?" She asked, praying that he wasn't mad at her for staring so obviously at his flank.
"Everypony's." He said and raised a hoof and waved it over the complex interwoven web of memories.
"Wha...?" She whispered in disbelief.
"Seeing it from any one perspective would not give you the full truth of what happened, so I have taken every memory stored in my mind, from ponies, griffins, dragons, and even imprints from the data recorder spells in their armors, and connected them so that you may see things how they truly happened without compromise. We will see all they saw, hear what they heard, know their thoughts, feelings, and desires." He said as he put his hoof on her shoulder, pulling her close to him.
"I'm ready, let's do this." She said shakily, wanting to get started. before she lost her nerve.
"Then let us begin." He said simply and the blackness was suddenly bathed in the most dazzling and brilliant of lights, and they were gone.
..................................................................................................................
The bed in the barracks wasn't the most comfortable bed in the world, but after a hard night out it felt wonderful on Blazing Glory's tired body. As he laid there under the blanket he felt so pleasantly warm and comfortable, the kind of perfect half asleep feeling that always seem to end rudely and abruptly.
"Blaaaze, wake up sleepy head." A soft male voice cooed.
"Mmmmm ah don't wanna go to school today." Blaze groggily responded as he turned over in the bed.
“Hmmmm, well I tried being nice.” The voice said once again before its owner snickered evilly.

The next thing Blaze knew the warm blanket had been torn from his grasp, and the warm embrace of the heavy wool blanket was replaced with the sharp cold of a snowball being smashed into his sensitive underbelly, making him jump clear out of the bed, and shoot up so high he nearly bashed his head off the ceiling. The silver coated pegasus shook his head, sending his fiery red and orange mane flowing into his face, as he glared down at the other pegasus who had given him such a rude awakening. Below him, snickering wildly at Blaze's over the top reaction, stood a slightly older buck. His coat was a soft cream color, his mane and tail both being sky blue with a white stripe down the middle, and emblazoned upon his flank were the outlines of two pegasi hoof to hoof fighting. His wings were flared a bit as he looked up at Blaze, putting his single bright crimson wing on full display. It was such a sharp contrast to the soft colors that made up the rest of his body, that even his gentle blue eyes could not draw ones attention away from it.

“Crimson you asshat! What did you do that for?!” Blaze yelled down to the snickering buck below him.
“Well maybe if somepony hadn't spent all night having a bit more than he can handle, he would have gotten up when I asked nicely the first time.” Crimson replied, in an almost singsong voice.
“I can handle my liquor just fine.” Blaze replied as he landed back on the bed, the shock of the cold having finally past.
“Suuure and that's why you were trying to make out with me while I dragged your drunken flank back here last night.” Crimson responded in a cocky “i gotcha” tone, while blaze stood on the bed, his face so flush it looked almost as red as crimsons wing.
“Why do you always say stuff like that?” Blaze asked, clearly a bit bothered by what Crimson had said.
“I'll stop saying it when you stop doing it buddy.” Crimson responded as he threw blaze an insulated flight suit, which he quickly put on.
“Show me some proof, and I'll believe you.” Blaze replied as he put a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses over his ruby red eyes.
“That's it, next time you do it I'm gonna take you up on it, and then in the morning when your flank is sore, you'll have all the proof you need.” Crimson said, in an obvious joking tone, as he wrapped a leg around Blaze's shoulder.
“Fine, but you better at least buy me breakfast in the morning.” Blaze replied, and the two friends shared a hearty laugh as they stepped out into the frigid cold of the early morning snow.

The freezing cold wind whipped hard against the two pegasi as they trotted between the rows of barracks toward the large stone building complex that dominated the relatively small base that sat upon a large outcrop, halfway to the summit of Mount Horntip. Upon the side of the building sat slightly obscured big brass letters that spelled out "Morninglight Airbase". A tall spire with arcane sensory arrays on top rose from the center where the command and control ponies orchestrated the pegasi, wagons, and airships that were constantly coming and going from the isolated station.
"C-c-couldn't they just let it be sunny f-for one day around here?" Crimson asked as he shivered, a thin layer of frost breaking free from his wings as he moved them to shield his face.
"But then the Griffins would figure out this base, that they watched the entire time they were building it, is actually still here." Blaze replied with a sarcastic gasp as he heard his friend's teeth begin to chatter.
"A- At least Tealeaf got some more of that Ginseng Green Tea with the Powdered Berry Blend I like yesterday." Crimson said, his voice trailing off dreamily as he described his favorite tea.
"Ewwww, I still don't understand how you stomach that stuff." Blaze said, contorting his face and shaking his head as if he had tasted something bitter.
"Not everypoony can stay a foal forever and just drink hot chocolate to warm and wake up." Crimson replied, and tussled Blazes mane a bit.
"Hey when it stops tasting so good I'll stop drinking it, deal?" Blaze shot back and stuck his tongue out him playfully.
"That's what you said about that Cider and Bourbon last night, and well, were I not such an honorable stallion that could have ended happily for me." Crimson said with smug little snicker as Blazes wings flared strait up sending a bit of snow flying off the tips as he blushed again.
"I thought I told you to cut that out!" Blaze whinnied as he nearly fell over into a drift of snow as he slipped on the ice coated ground, his cheeks fully flush.
"I'll make you a deal, learn your limits with the drink, stop having such a cute flank, and stop drunkenly offering it to me on a silver platter, and I'll stop ripping on you in the morning for it." Crimson replied, chuckling a bit while Blaze silently mumbled something as they approached their destination.
The converted barracks was no grand 5 star restaurant, but the food was far tastier, the selection broader, and for the volunteer corps, it was far cheaper than eating at the mess hall with the REAF regulars. The tables were weathered, the couches were second hoof, and the bar had little dings and chips taken out of it, but the little bar and restaurant, that bore the Airbase's nickname, was beloved all the same by everypony in Morninglight. The two uniformed pegasi gingerly stepped in past the hanging sign that perpetually whipped in the wind that read "Camp Frozen Flank Canteena, come on in and warm up". They were greeted by the delightful smells of a busy kitchen at breakfast time and the quick and alluring melody of a Spanish guitar having its strings plucked and strummed skillfully by a small framed unicorn buck at a corner table. He was flanked on one side by a very large framed pegasus buck who was chewing his grass flapjack and rocking his head along with the beat, and on the other by a slightly annoyed looking dark gray coated pegasus mare, who was blowing bubbles in her orange juice and trying to ignore the unicorn. Two earth pony mares, both wearing the uniform of the maintenance team stared at him dreamily, as if under the spell of the music. Crimson and Blaze put in their orders then took their places around the table just as the unicorn's song ended.
"What do ya call that one Radar?" Blaze asked as he shivered a little, still chilled from the blizzard outside.
"I dunno, I was just playing to play, not any song in particular." He replied as he set the instrument down and levitated his hot cider up to take a sip.
"Well looks like somepony has some fans." Blaze said as the two earth pony mares waved at him, making him shyly sink into his seat.
“So Where are Sunrise and Cloudburst? They're usually the first ones up in the morning.” Crimson asked as he tuned his head too and fro looking for the missing members of his unit.
“Well, it was their anniversary last night boss.” The olive drab coated large framed pegasus responded, his voice deep and booming compared to the rest.
“That would explain why you're even more chipper than usual Misty.” Blaze said sarcastically and she looked up at him with slightly bloodshot eyes.
“They were at it until zero three hundred this morning, I don't even know how two fillies could do that for five hours strait.” She said and slammed a hoof down on the table, quickly followed my her head, her mane drifting over her eyes as she fell asleep, leaving the rest of the table snickering.
“Alright well we'll give them until zero nine thirty hours, if they aren't here by then they're going to have to sit today's mission out.” Crimson said, as he looked over his watch before taking a sip of his tea.
“Hmmmm, five strait hours of doing it loud enough to keep Misty up, sleeping in the morning after, and not having to fly through the blizzard barrier, and all they miss out on is a normal patrols worth of pay... Which one of us is getting the raw deal again? Ooooh!! Hot chocolate!!” Blaze pondered before his hot chocolate was set before him, the tiny marshmallows already halfway melted in the piping hot frothy beverage.

The rest of the unit aside Misty, who was still passed out on the table, rolled their eyes in amusement as Blaze sipped deeply from the cup getting the frothy chocolatey mix all over his muzzle.

“What are we gonna do with you Blaze?” Heavy Lift asked, shaking his head a bit at the chocolate muzzled pegasus.
“Buy me another hot Chocolate?” He promptly replied with an eager smile, giving the whole unit a little chuckle as Heavy facehoofed.

Cleared to Engage

Sunrise and Cloudburst didn't make it out of bed until past noon, and only left each others hooves because both of their bellies were angrily growling for food. By the time they made it to the Frozen Flank Canteena everypony was long gone, and they decided to enjoy their unscheduled day off rather than try and report in late, they knew Crimson would understand. While the two lovebirds were busy basking in the afterglow the rest of Gale Team sat in one of the briefing rooms of the Morninglight command hub. The unicorn mare giving the briefing was clearly a desk officer, her uniform was too clean, too well pressed, neither her lavender mane or tail had a single hair out of place, and her peach colored coat had clearly seen a spa treatment recently. Her voice was soft and melodic as she clicked through the slides, the display went through a series of maps, charts, and pictures as she explained in great detail the objectives of the flight. Meanwhile, Gale Team seemed thoroughly uninterested by the rather stale and dry briefing. They had heard this all before, it was the same briefing almost every single patrol, and by now they knew it nearly word for word.

“Major Blossom, I hate to interrupt, but is there any new intelligence on the griffins? Not to be disrespectful, but we've done this patrol four times this week; we know the details of the route and what to watch out for.” Crimson said respectfully as the rest of Gale Team quickly brought their attention back to the screen.
“Well, I suppose I have gone over this information before.” She said with a sigh and flipped through all the standard slides quickly until she got to the newer ones.
“We have been studying the Griffins’ battle armor, and we believe we have found a coloration between their armor, their rank, and fighting prowess. In Griffin culture the most skilled warriors are given high positions of power within the military. These high positions of power are reflected in the ornate, and often rather gaudy, armors that they wear.” She explained, and flipped to a picture of a griffin general flying through the sky, his armor adorned with ornate gold carvings and bejeweled with gemstones all over.
“So...” Misty said, still half asleep, her groggy state impairing her ability to put two and two together.
“The shiner and more expensive looking the armor the more dangerous the griffin is, that simple enough?” Major Blossom asked in a very annoyed tone as she glared at the half awake mare, clearly irked that she was forced to dumb down her explanation.
“Shiny equals dangerous, got it.” Misty replied, her hoof on her chin the only thing keeping her from smashing face first into the desk.
“Any further questions?” Major Blossom asked, quickly regaining her composure, and melodic tone.
“No Ma'am.” Gale Team responded in unison.
“Dismissed, get your gear and move out.” She replied as she levitated a small stack of files beside her and left the room.

Gale Team gathered their mission documents up and trotted down the busy hallways of the command hub trying not to get run over by the ponies of the support staff, who rushed through the halls as if their tails were on fire, making the inner passages chaotic to say the least, but they were still better than leaving the dryness and warmth of the building to reach the hangar bays. Hangar bay three may have been the smallest of all the hangars on site, but it was still enormous compared to the claustrophobic passages of the command hub. This was the hanger designated for the volunteer corps, and every single inch of the walls going up to the ceiling was utilized to store the gear and personal effects of everpony in the corps. As Gale Team gathered their armor and other gear from their storage cages, a few maintenance ponies scurried around the bay grabbing parts and making repairs to the various devices damaged by battle, or simply by the cold. The armor and weapons of the volunteer corps were all second hoof gear that was deemed no longer fit for service by the REAF, and on most of the gear it was easy to see why.

“Ya know, given how old and worn this armor is, do you really think it would stop anything?” Blaze asked as he strapped on his battle barding.
“At least yours doesn't have any holes in it.” Radar chimed in as he slipped his on, the set clearly missing a couple of the armored plates it once held, leaving the fabric to sag as if they were unused pockets.
“Like it even matters, honestly when was the last time any of us even saw a griffin around here, let alone fought one. We're a rear area base, we'll be lucky if we get a shot at some parasprites.” Misty said after downing a can of Buck Yeah energy drink, perking her right up.
“Well maybe if you all stopped blowing all your bits so impulsively, you could afford some better armor.” Crimson Wing replied bluntly as he landed in the middle of his unit.

Unlike the rest of the members of Gale Team Crimson Wing's armor wasn't some shotty piece of crap or a shot up left over the REAF handed down. His armor was new, crisp, tight, and far more advanced than any other set in Hanger three. His armor was a glistening silver with red trim all over, emblazoned upon his red winged side in bright red letters read “Captain Crimson Wing”, and just behind it, where his cutiemark would have been were eight decals of griffin claws, signifying how many confirmed kills he had to his name. He was the only member of Gale Team who had seen real action, and he was only two kills away from being a double ace. Whenever he put on that armor it was as if he was a different pony, gone was the mischievous buck that had been ribbing Blaze all morning, and in his place stood a confident, serious, battle hardened, and skilled warrior and leader who could handle any challenge that came his way. The Armory was the next stop for Gale Team, and the unicorn in the armorers cage's face lit up when she saw Crimson Wing approaching, knowing that the Captain had a nice fat pouch of bits for her, to pay for all the custom work she had done on his Pegasus Integrated Combat System. Crimson stepped into the arms bay, and the unicorn strapped on the heavily enchanted weapon system that seamlessly integrated itself in with his armor, all the advanced enchantments making the heavy weapons, sensor and tracking systems, as well as the defensive systems feel feather light. On each side of him protruded the six gleaming barrels of his brand new Skyshredder machine guns, select fire two, four, or six thousand rounds per minute, voice activated, and with a recoil dampening enchantment so the massive firepower didn't knock him off course when it opened up. As if that weren't enough the Skyshredders had been paired with two six pack style miniature missile launchers, one on each side.

“Guns...” Crimson whispered and the two rotating barrel assemblies spun up smooth as silk.
“Linked, balanced and installed to your specs, Crimson.” The bubbly pink coated unicorn with the ammo bandoleer cutie mark said as she smiled proudly.
“You do beautiful work. Tell High Proof she can bill your drinks to my tab tonight.” He said with a smile after setting down a nice fat sack of bits, which made the unicorn squeal in delight.

Crimson exited the bay looking like a one pony army, leaving the rest of Gale Team feeling rather poorly equipped. Their weapons were either obsolete, or cobbled together from two or three broken weapons the REAF had cast aside. Their primary armaments were light machine guns that were not designed for pegasi to use in aerial combat, and ironically were nearly as heavy as the rest of their flight gear put together. Although Blaze and Heavy lift had it the worst. Blaze had the unhappy task of also having to carry a full size single shot rocket launcher that was a slightly modified earth pony weapon, and the bulk and weight of the weapon seriously restricted his movement. Heavy Lift on the other hoof, had a whole different kind of burden to carry. His task was to carry the skywagon that held their long range arcane spell booster array dome, as well as its operator, Radar. With everypony ready, the rag tag team of ponies made their way outside to the flight line, and prepared for take off.

“Morninglight Control this is Captain Crimson Wing, Gale Team requesting immediate take off.” He said confidently as his heads up display finished its final checks.
“Gale team this is Morninglight Control, you are clear for take off, vector 020 out of the blizzard barrier then continue as planned, good hunting.” The controller chimed back, and Gale Team lifted of in unison.

The snow was nearly blinding as they passed through the blizzard barrier, but as soon as soon they pierced it the sky immediately cleared. The skies were a beautiful blue, the bright sunlight washed over them making the ice crystals on their armor and PICS glisten, before they melted away. The beautiful white capped, purple mountains of the Dragonsback range stretched out as far as the eye could see, clear into the griffin territories. A low deck of clouds obscured all the little mining towns and villages that mined the northern lands rich gem supplies, which they were tasked with defending. Heavy Lift and Radar broke off from the formation, and climbed up high to scan the area while the rest of Gale Team scanned the peaks, hoping to spot something that would liven up the dullness of the routine patrol. Not five minutes later, their hopes were answered with a soft crackle of their radios.

“Pegasus Warning and Control System Wind-Walker to Gale Team. Several unidentified contacts detected seven miles out from you, and closing.” Radars voice nervously chimed over the radio.
“Are there any other patrols up right now?” Blaze asked, the nervous excitement of a soldier who had never seen battle riling up inside of him.
“No... Wait, we have an urgent message from Morninglight control, patching them through.” Radar said as he magically amplified the signal so it could reach Gale team clearly.
“Gale Team we have confirmed reports that a Griffin Airship as well as a full flight of escorts is inbound to attack Morninglight Airbase, move to intercept them!” The controller said frantically with the sound of chaotic scrambling in the background.
“Do we have any support scrambling?” Blaze asked, his excitement starting to mix uncomfortably with the butterflies that had formed in his stomach.
“Negative, there are no other teams that will be able to scramble in time, you're on your own.” The controller said and the line went dead silent.
“I figured you were going to say that, this is going to cost you extra.” Crimson said with a confidence that bordered on cockiness.

Blaze and Misty looked forward at their captain with a smile, his confidence growing infectious as the three flew off toward the enemy formation. The safeties came off, and they fell into battle formation as they drew in close to their target.

“Dive below the cloud deck and hit them from below, that will catch them off guard. We need to hit them hard and fast while we have the element of surprise.” Crimson said calmly as he quickly formulated his plan.

The three pegasi dove below the layer of clouds, weaving back and fourth as they skimmed the side of the mountains. They waited until they could hear the roar of the airship's engines right above them before bursting through the deck all guns blazing. The airship was different than any Blaze had ever seen, instead of resembling a sea faring vessel with a large balloon strapped to it instead of a sail, this was completely different. The airship had two cigar shaped armored balloons nestled against the fuselage with long wings spanned out on both sides and twin tails coming out the back of each balloon that connected in the rear via a long span that served as the rear elevator controls. The imposing airship was via a massive pusher prop at the rear of the body of the aircraft that sat between the two tails. The mighty airship had a three tiered design with one deck above and one below the main body. On the upper tier were the smaller guns used to pick off airborne threats as well as space for the griffin fliers to perch themselves, while the underbelly held the six massive fortification destroying cannons in three armored turrets, that would have looked more at home on a battleship than anything to grace the skies, paired with smaller automatic cannons. As soon as Gale Team caught sight of it, they knew that this was not a standard Harbinger class airship. The underside of the airship had a mural upon it of a griffin clad in the one of the most ridiculous looking, gaudy, gold plated armors Blaze had ever seen locked in mortal combat with a dragon. The massive cannon barrels were tipped with claws to make it look like the massive weapons were arms with outstretched talons, ready to strike, and the rest of the ship had gilded ornamental carvings and artistic lines making it seem more of a work of art than a warship.

"Guns..Fox two, Fox two!" Crimson yelled into his mic as his HUD gave him the locked on tone, and two missiles erupted forth from his PICS as his Skyshredders spun up and unleashed a hailstorm of lead at the propeller of the mighty ship.
“Don't bother aiming for the balloons, they're more than those guns can puncture, aim for the prop; if we damage that we can slow it down.” Crimson said after his two companions had bitten down on their triggers and released a burst into the balloons.
The two rookie pegasi bit down on their triggers again, and once more fired a wild burst, the recoil from the non-enchanted weapons making them incredibly hard to aim while trying to quickly climb. As they climbed up past the bottom deck Crimson quickly came up with step two of his by the strap of his saddle plan.
“Misty you're with me, we'll draw as many of them off the ship as we can, Blaze you land up top and try to sink that rocket into their powder magazine, that should be enough to fireball the whole airship.” Crimson said in a calm but intense tone as the three pegasi cleared the top deck.
The Griffins couldn't believe their eyes as the three ponies zoomed up from below them, until mere moments before they had thought that they had the element of surprise, but now they were dead in the clouds and had lost their engine to only three ponies without being able to fire a single shot to stop them. The griffin soldiers puffed out their chests proudly, and let out a roar in unison before taking off after Crimson and Misty as the two flew high above the ship, before turning and opening fire on the exposed flight deck, catching a few griffins as they were just lifting off. The burst from above tore into the meticulously polished hardwood flight deck sent splinters of broken wood flying as Blaze landed, on the stern of the ship. His mane itched, and a shiver raced up and down his spine as he crept forward along the side of the ship, wishing that he could find a sign that said something like "Danger do not launch a rocket into this hole or you'll blow up the ship.". The ship shook and rocked a bit as every gun on the upper tier that could be aimed high enough opened fire, trying to swat Crimson and Misty from the skies. He grew hopeful as he approached an open hatch that would let him down into the bowels of the ship, but these hopes were short lived. He felt like someone had pumped ice water into his veins as a cold feeling shot down from his ear tips to his hooves, as he saw the tall furred and feathered form emerge from the hatch. The female griffin was dressed head to claw in heavy glossy black metal armor with sterling silver trim, in a blur of feathers she turned to him and wrapped her razor sharp claw around his throat. Blaze whinnied and flailed as he felt her claws slice through his neck armor and start to dig into his tender flesh, he felt his warm blood start to trickle down as her claw tips pricked into his neck. He stared up into her cold angry eyes terrified, and bit down on the trigger of his light machine gun. The griffon’s eyes went wide, and her final sight was her own terrified expression reflected in the black mirrored visor of his helmet, an instant before the muzzle flash.

"Guns! Aaah fuck! Flares! Flares!" Crimson shouted into his headset, and the Skyshredders roared and a second griffin, his tenth kill, fell limp from the sky, followed by two bright red flares falling away from his armor, diverting a missile launched from the airship.
“Captain there's too many of them!!” Misty screamed into her headset before biting down on the trigger of her PICS sending a burst of automatic fire into another griffin, and nearly sending her into a spin with the recoil of the weapon.

The griffins swarmed all around them, taking any opportunity they could to unleash a volley of bolts from their drum fed automatic crossbows. The bolts scraped deep gouges in Crimson's armor as they ricocheted off of his advanced suit. Misty was not so lucky, the bolts that hit her armor shattered the poorly aged brittle armor plates sewn into her battle barding. She was starting to slow down, her body was aching from the bruises that now covered her body from every deflected shot. She began to shake as she felt the strain of every flap of her wings. Her armor felt heavier by the second, and her vision began to blur; she had never flown this hard with so little rest before and she was at her limit. Then it happened, a bolt hit her helmet, the world went black for a moment, and she came to a hover, her body refusing to do anything more. The griffin that had been tailing her took sharp aim, and pulled the trigger. A volley of three bolts flew free from the weapon, and they flew straight and true. Misty's eyes shot open as she felt her body recoil in searing pain as the three bolts pierced her armor, and buried themselves into her soft flesh. One had pierced her wing, sending her immediately into a dive, another hit home in her chest, just behind her left foreleg, and the final bolt found its mark in her thigh just below her cutiemark. She let out a sharp scream into her mouthpiece, and she began to fall towards the jagged rocks below. Crimson's pupils went wide as he heard that scream, he banked sharply, and spotted Misty falling, as well as the griffin who had shot her as he took aim at the falling filly. With a soft spoken angry word he let loose one of his missiles, and a moment later the griffin exploded. Only a scant few singed feathers, and an empty helmet were left to fall back to the ground.
“Pop your cloud ,Misty!” Crimson screamed, his voice pained as he watched her fall, unable to do anything to help or he too would be skewered.
“I'm hit bad captain.....I don't know if I can reach it.” She squeaked, her voice sounding pained, followed by a very wet cough he knew was full of blood.
“You have to try, Misty! Don't you dare give up on me!” He yelled to her, as he flew in a serpentine pattern, firing wildly at any griffin that came into his line of sight to try and draw them away from her.

The wounded pegasus winced and whined as her every movement sent jolts of sharp pain coursing through her body. She slowly clicked open a cover on her harness, and tapped the big red button under it before her leg fell limp, refusing to move another inch. A split second later she felt a soft puffy cushion below her, and she slowed to a stop before the puffy white enchanted cloud enveloped her, giving her a chance to take an emergency healing potion to stabilize herself. With Misty out of immediate danger Crimson turned his attention to the group of Griffins that had given chase. He narrowed his eyes and darted forward, pouring on the speed, and easily pulling ahead of the heavily laden griffins. Then once he had put nearly half a mile between himself and his pursuers, he looped up and came around one hundred and eighty degrees and started flying directly at them. His heart raced, his wings flapped as hard and fast as they could, as his pupils darted back and fourth over each of them while his PICS identified each griffin as a little red box on his HUD.

“Guns...”

An Unfair Fight

Chapter 3: An unfair fight

"Pony on the deck! Take it down!" A Griffin soldier yelled, as he pointed an outstretched claw at Blaze.
"Fuck, so much for the element of surprise." Blaze thought as he darted behind the nearest cover he could find.
"Face us you coward!" Another soldier squawked, as she unleashed a volley of bolts that embedded themselves in the panel Blaze was crouching behind.
"Why don't you g-whoa!" Blaze yelped, after firing a burst at them, as he barely got behind cover again in time.
"Fuck I'm pinned.... come on there's gotta be something I can do. Think Blazing Glory think." He thought to himself as he tapped his hooves off the side of his helmet.

Blaze cautiously peered out from behind the armor plate he had hidden behind, and was shocked at what he saw. There was half a dozen griffins clumped together in a group not 20 feet away, and all of them were wounded. Their wings were punctured, their armor pierced, and one was even missing her entire wing. The tenacity of the griffins was something to behold, they were severely wounded, and bleeding out on the deck of the airship, and yet they were determined to fight on till they breathed their last. Blaze was running out of options, if he tried to flee he would be shot to pieces, and if he jumped out and opened fire for more than a second he would also be shot to pieces. He slammed his hoof against the armor plate that was protecting him and realized that it was the mount for a large cannon that he could only assume was for dragon slaying. He frantically fiddled with the controls for the anti-dragon cannon, and managed to swing the cannon around toward the griffin soldiers. Bolts from their crossbows pinged off the barrel and mechanism as the cannon swung down, aiming right at the center of the squad. The single winged griffin began to scream something as blaze bucked both his rear hooves against the trigger lever, breaking the safety that normally would have prevented it from firing at that angle, and with a deafening report, the cannon fired. The airship shuddered violently, and listed to the side as an enormous hole in the wing now stood where the wounded squad once had, not a feather, nor glistening shard of armor remained. Just as Blaze reached up to wipe the panicked sweat from his brow, he heard a loud whining cracking noise that gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked at the hole again, and watched a wide splintering crack snake across what was left of the wing, and the span began to sag. Blaze galloped as fast as he could toward the gap, and lifted off just as the wing gave way sheering cleanly from the rest of the ship and falling down end over end onto the jagged rocks below.

"Hey buddy, you still alive down there?" Crimson calmly and confidently inquired, his voice crackling a bit in the cheap headset inside of Blazing Glory's helmet.
"Yeah, you okay up there? What happened to Misty? I heard her scream, then the connection fizzled, is she okay?" Blaze asked as fast as he could, his heart was still racing, and his breaths were short and quick as he looked back at where moments before an entire wing, and a heavy anti-dragon cannon had once been.
"Misty got hit... guns... she popped her cloud though, she's gonna be okay, it’s us I'm worried about." Crimson replied, his skyshredders opening up on another griffin upon his command.
"I just took out a squad of ‘em, and you're picking them off left and right, we've got this Crimson." Blaze boasted, trying to emulate Crimson's confidence, but then he heard a roar come from the main deck of the ship, and looked up to see the biggest griffin he had ever laid eyes on, wearing a set of armor that looked eerily similar to the one the griffin painted on the underbelly of the ship was wearing, and it was even shinier than it looked in the mural.
"I'm gonna have to call you back..." Blaze said with a gulp as he and the enormous griffin locked eyes.

The griffin reared up, and flared his wings out wide, making it clear he was at least one and a half times bigger than the biggest griffin Blaze had ever seen. His armor was plated with gold and platinum, which gleamed and glistened in the sunlight, almost seeming as if the light were emanating from him rather than just reflecting off of him. The leading edge of his wings had razor sharp blades upon them from wing base to wingtip, and his tail tip had a multi-bladed mace over it. The griffin’s armor looked like it could shred anything it touched, with blades and sharp edges covering nearly every inch of the armor. It made him look almost demonic, and that look coupled with his size, and that intimidating roar had Blaze wishing he had that anti-dragon cannon once more. Then he looked down at his side, and realized he still had something he could use, the rocket launcher. Blaze flipped the safety off, and took careful aim at the massive griffin just as he lifted off the deck, flying straight for him. He squeezed the trigger between his teeth, and felt a little jerk at his side as the rocket roared out of the tube and streaked across the sky, flying straight and true right for the heavily armored behemoth. The griffin narrowed his eyes, and with a near effortless swing of his wingblades deflected the rocket sending it toward the aft section of the airship, where it blew off part of the tail section. Blaze’s eyes went wide, and his pupils shrunk as he watched his only rocket be so easily deflected, not even phasing the griffin. As if the armor, which Blaze was certain could puree him if the griffin simply bumped into him, was not enough, after deflecting the rocket he unsheathed a long, slender, and gently curved sword that had an odd red glow that ran up the engravings upon the blade. Blaze regained his composure just in time to leap out of the way of the first slash, which sliced the rocket launcher free from his PICS, and trimmed several of his feathers far too close for comfort.

“Do you know who you have insulted this day? Do you have any idea who I am you cowardly pony?!” The Griffin spat out in his booming deep voice as he swung at Blaze again.
“Nope, not a clue, you know in my country we introduce ourselves before asking somepony a question. My name is Blazing Glory!” Blaze said in a cocky tone, trying to get the griffin angry enough to make a mistake, before firing off a burst at him. “What’s yours?”
“I am Jarl Razorwing of the clan Goldentalon, and you shall show me respect you whelp!” Razorwing responded, unfazed by the burst from Blaze’s light machine gun.
“Ooooh is Jarl griffin speak for barber, I’ll have a shave and a haircut please.” Blaze said and tossed out two bits, hitting the griffin in the beak, which made his face turn bright red with fury.
“You dare disrespect my regal title?!” the Jarl squawked angrily, and then drew his sword back as far as he could and swung as hard as he could.
“Now Now, that’s no way to treat a guest.” Blaze cockily retorted, as he ducked the swing from Razorwing’s sword, which embedded itself in the mount of one of the smaller cannons.
“You disrespectful, featherbrained, inferior....pony” He growled as he tried to yank his sword free from the mount.
“So you’re running out of names to call me already? Jeez, and here I thought this was going to be an intense battle of wits.” Blaze said dismissively, and blew a raspberry at the infuriated griffin.
“I shall skin you alive! Tan your pelt! Then wear you as a belt!!” He yelled in a half feral roar.
“You know that sounded alright until the part about being a belt, now if you were gonna make me into a hat that would have been awesome, but a belt? Now I have to kill you.” Blaze sarcastically said as the griffin nearly dislodged the sword from the mount.

Blaze reared up and firmly planted both of his hooves on the griffins face knocking him away from the sword and onto his back a few feet away. Razorwing shook his head, dazed and shocked that the pony had actually laid a hoof upon him. His anger rose higher as he felt the small caliber rounds pinging off of his thick armor plate. Blaze took notice of how long it took him to get up with all of that heavy armor on, and hoped that he would live long enough to exploit this weakness as the griffin lunged at him again.

“Skyshredder ammunition reserves almost depleted.” Crimson’s PICS chimed into his ear causing him to swear under his breath as he dodged a flurry of bolts from the griffins on his tail.
“I haven’t got enough ammo to take all of them.... gonna have to get creative.” Crimson thought to himself as he scanned the skies around him, ant then inspiration struck him.

He saw a group of large grey clouds floating nearby, and a small grin appeared on his face as he saw his opportunity. He poured on the speed as he flew towards the storm clouds then landed on the closest one and ducked down, hoping that his armor would deflect the bolts he was sure to take as the griffins closed in. Shot after shot deflected off his armor taking deep gauges out of it, and bruising him up even worse, as he sank into the cloud. The griffins surrounded the cloud and aimed their auto crossbows in, thinking that they had Crimson cornered and cowering, and were determined to finish him. Crimson smiled and sent up a silent prayer that his plan wouldn’t backfire horribly before kicking the cloud from within, sending lightning arcing out in every direction at the metal armor clad griffins. They squawked and shuddered violently as the electricity coursed through their bodies, and half of them fell unconscious, their armors scorched black. One of the few who didn’t fall pulled the trigger and held it down, spraying the cloud with bolts. So many bolts at such close range was too much for even Crimsons armor to handle, and one of them pierced his armor, and buried itself into his hip, making him yelp loudly in pain and jump out of the cloud. Just as it looked as if Crimson was about to become a living pincushion, a burst of fire rung out from on high ending the griffin that had put the bolt in Crimson’s thigh. The griffins all looked up, and they saw the lumbering form of Heavy Lift as he descended upon them firing a long burst from his PICS, while radar chimed in with the mounted medium machine gun mounted on his PWACS skywagon. Two more griffins fell from the sky, and the final one fled for his life down into the cloud layer.

“Sorry we’re late boss, had to pick up a little extra cargo.” Heavy lift said and nodded his head back to the wagon, where radar was performing first aid magic on misty.
“You alright Misty?” Crimson asked as he studied the wounded mare.
“I’ll live, but I’m going to kill Sunrise and Cloudburst... well kill em or make em include me in the next all nighter... Where’s Blaze?” She said with a small smile as the boys chuckled a bit.
“Why won’t you fucking die?!” The four of them heard crackle over the radio at once, Blaze’s voice was beginning to sound desperate, and the sound of gunfire, and a low angry roar filled the background.
“Gale Team move out!” Crimson ordered and shakily took off toward the airship, Heavy lift following close behind.

Blaze ducked and strafed around Razorwing, firing at every opportunity as he tried to find a chink in the griffin’s magnificent armor. He began to grow worried when he noticed the griffin was no longer an easily dodged ball of barely aimed fury, he was calmer now his strikes were getting closer and oddly enough he even seemed to be enjoying himself.

“That’s it, hit me whelp! Show me what you’ve got! Make me work for it!” He yelled as he swiped a scant inch away from Blaze’s muzzle.
“You asked for it!” Blaze yelled, and faked going to the left, then darted right and landed another buck right into the griffin’s exposed face, and blood began to trickle down his beak.
“You even managed to wound me, finally one of your kind worth my time!” He almost jubilantly yelled as he swung his wingblades low, cutting Blaze’s leg guards off cleanly, and leaving a deep gash in his right foreleg.
“Agghhh! Sweet Celestia... fuck..” Blaze yelped and began to limp backwards a bit, before aiming his last few rounds up at Razorwing’s exposed face, the final shot grazing his face, and leaving a shallow but quickly bleeding wound upon his cheek.
“You even managed to give me a battle scar, you have proven yourself a worthy warrior, but this game is over!” Razorwing growled and reached out, talons extended and grabbed Blaze by what little of his battered battle barding remained.

The powerful griffin cut away Blaze’s weapon and tossed it overboard, leaving the pegasus with only the shreds and loose plates that were left of his armor to protect him. Blaze was cut up, bruised all over, and all that was keeping him from falling limp in the griffin’s grasp was pure adrenaline. His heart pounded and he panted hard, sweat rolling down his neck and back as he literally stared death in it’s bloodied face, and yet he could not understand why Razorwing hadn’t finished him yet. Then he began to speak.

“A worthy opponent is such a rare find among your kind, found my weaknesses and used them against me. Used your superior speed to outflank and even bloody me... I am almost tempted to throw you back to the winds so we may fight again.” Razorwing calmly said, showing a note of respect Blaze was not expecting in the slightest.
“W-what?” Blaze asked, dumbfounded.
“It is a shame such a powerful warriors spirit was born into such an inferior body. You could have made a fine griffin... I shall make it quick.” Razorwing said with a twinge of regret and raised his talon.
“Wait!” Blaze yelled.
“If you dishonor yourself by pleading for your life, I shall make this slow and painful.” Razorwing growled.
“Might I have a last request, since I.... was such a worthy opponent?” Blaze asked with a little smile, his lip bloodied.
“Speak.” Razorwing replied.

Blaze’s eyes darted all over, to the griffin’s sachel he had slung over his shoulder, to the open hatch they stood before, and he very quickly formed the most haphazard plan he had ever slapped together.

“Could I have a smoke?” Blaze asked.
“A smoke?” Razorwing asked in response, the request catching him off guard.
“I’ve heard that the tobacco of your land is the richest in all the world. I always wanted to give it a try, and I guess this is my last chance.” Blaze said, trying to keep his calm smile.
“I can allow this, you shall have one of the finest in all of the world, a cigarette i rolled myself, using stock from the high king’s private reserve.” Razorwing said as he reached his free talon into his sachel, and blaze saw the cluster of high powered blasting sticks, their fuses all tied neatly together at the top.
“So... that plan B?” Blaze asked as he nodded down to the wired up explosives.
“This was my plan A, I wasn’t even going to use the cannons. I wanted to fight my way to the center of the complex myself, and destroy it the old fashion way.. I prefer to look my foe in the eye when I end them.” He said, as he pulled his lighter out as well.

Blaze bit the cigarette between his teeth and Razorwing lit it, the very tip of it sparking wildly as he took a nice long drag. Blaze bit the tip off of the hand rolled smoke, and took some of the bitter tobacco into his mouth as felt Razorwings grip tighten, and he knew it was now or never. He spit the still burning cigarette into the satchel, lighting the blasting sticks. Razorwing’s eyes went wide and he glared at Blaze, who then spit a mix of the bitter griffin tobacco, blood, and smoke into the griffins eyes, blinding him. He dropped Blaze to the deck, and brought his talons up to his eyes trying to rub the irritating mix from his eyes, only to receive a swift two hoofed buck to the face, sending him reeling down the stairs into the powder magazine of the airship. Blaze shakily stood up just as Heavy Lift landed the skywagon on the deck of the ship, Crimson hovering beside the landed cart.

“Go Go Go We need to get out of here now!” Blaze frantically screamed at the large Pegasus buck pulling the wagon as Radar helped Blaze into the wagon.
“What about that big guy ya just bucked down into the hold?” Heavy Lift asked.
“He just fell into the powder magazine with a satchel full of lit blasting sticks... We need to go now!” Blaze said and flailed his forelegs around frantically trying to get him moving faster.

Heavy didn’t need to hear another word, with a flap of his powerful wings the buck lifted himself, and the heavily laden wagon off the deck. He flew as fast as he could toward the nearest mountain, trying to put something solid between them and the eminent explosion. Deep in the bowels of the airship Razorwing sat up, and watched as the fuses disappeared into the blasting sticks.

“What have you done?! You Fool!” He screamed in his final seconds.

The explosion was so powerful, that the shock wave slamming against the mountain they hid behind caused an avalanche. Shards of the airship rained down upon the roof of the skywagon, as the ponies inside held their hooves over their heads. Including one very interesting bit that sliced right through the roof of the skywagon, and embedded itself in the floor. Razorwings ornate enchanted sword vibrated as it stood strait up between the three of them. Despite being violently blown free of the airship, it glimmered in the sunlight coming through the hole it made, and looked remarkably undamaged.

“Dibs!” Blaze cried as he wrapped his hooves around the hilt, then passed out over it.

Actions and Consequences

Chapter 4: Actions and Consequences

By the time Gale Team returned to base everypony was riding with Radar in the PWACS skywagon, they were all wounded, but stable, thanks to Radar knowing some basic healing magic. They were met on the airstrip by a quarter of Morninglight's medical ponies who quickly rushed the three wounded pegasi to the infirmary. When they arrived, they were surprised to see that the infirmary was already full of wounded ponies, and nearly every single one of them were REAF soldiers. The vast majority of them appeared to be suffering from shrapnel wounds, and severe burns. The unpleasant smell of seared pony flesh, burnt hair, blood, and sanitizer filled Blaze's nose, as a sea-foam unicorn with a bone-saw cutiemark examined him.

"What happened Doc? Why are all these other ponies here?" Blaze asked, as the doctor pony checked over all of his vitals.
"There were several explosions in the REAF hangar bays, ninety percent of out standing force is laying in here." He replied, his voice sounding old and haggered.
"Explosions? How is that possible? We got the griffins..." Blaze asked as he felt the unicorns powerful healing magic washing over him, dulling the pain and filling his body with an odd tingling sensation.
"Nopony is certain of what happened yet, but I've heard whispers flying around that it might have been an inside job." The unicorn replied, a grim worried look on his muzzle.
"A...spy?" Blaze weakly asked, as he felt his eyes start to get very heavy.
"Shhhh, I'm gonna put you under for a little bit so I can fix you up. Just close your eyes, and you can worry about that when you're patched up enough to do something about it." The buck said in a soft comforting voice as Blaze's vision clouded up.

The doctors voice slowed and changed pitch wildly as Blaze's body succumbed to the anesthetic spell. His body felt incredibly heavy and alien to him in the final moments, and in the back of his mind he wondered if this is what it was like to die. He awoke several hours later in a daze, his body had a gentle tingling sensation all over that felt almost like somepony was tickling him from within. His eyes still felt heavy, and he struggled a bit at first to open them. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared up enough to see where he was, and was surprised to see that he wasn't in the infirmary. He was back in the room he shared with Crimson in the barracks. Crimson was sitting on his bed opposite Blaze, and was reading a book that Blaze couldn't quite make out the title to. His flank was wrapped up tight with healing bandages, but aside that he only appeared a bit bruised up. He turned his head and smiled warmly upon seeing his friend awake again.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Crimson said with a relieved tone as he closed his book.
"I feel like I got punched by a dragon or something." Blaze replied with a soft, almost whining groan as he started to regain the feeling all over his body.
"I'd prefer if you didn't tempt fate by mentioning a dragon, we’ve had enough bad luck." Crimson replied, and Blaze could hear light cracks and pops as he shifted his body.
“Yeah you’re probably right.” Blaze replied, and laid his head back on the pillow, getting comfortable again.

He closed his eyes again, keeping them open felt like a chore in his battered state. He felt over his body as he laid there, feeling over all the spots he had been wounded. The magically healed skin felt different somehow as he traced his hoof over it, he grimaced at the odd feeling, hoping that it would normalize once he was fully healed. He then heard the soft click of the door shutting, followed by a second, much more substaintial click that he could only assume was the deadbolt locking in place. Blaze was a bit confused as to why his roomate had closed and locked the door, but shrugged it off and assumed Crimson was going to sleep and didn't want to be disturbed. This thought however was shortlived, and his mind began to race with new ideas, some of which turned his cheeks rosy, as he felt the bed shift when Crimson plopped himself down on it.

"Crimson? Uhmmm buddy, what are you doing?" Blaze nervously asked as he sat up in bed again.
"We need to have a little talk." Crimson replied, as he scooched up to Blaze and gave him a gentle rub on his shoulder.
“Uhm, you know, I’m not really feeling up to having a serious talk right now.” Blaze stammered back, then quickly laid back down, faking a yawn and acting like he was falling asleep.
“Well that’s too bad, because I do feel like talking, and I’m still your superior officer, so you don’t have much of a choice in the matter.” Crimson said, in a serious tone, sounding more like he did on the flight line than he usually did on his down time.
“I really hate when you pull rank on me like that...” Blaze replied with a sigh as he sat up again, an annoyed look on his face.
“I don’t like having to do it, but sometimes it’s the only way I can get you to listen to me, and this is serious.” Crimson said, before leaning down and pulling back the covers.
“Look Crimson, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be a killjoy, but I just don’t think my barn door swings that way!” Blaze said as he pushed the older buck back a bit and pulled the covers back on top of himself.
“Oh shut up, I already know for a fact that it does, so stop trying to deny it! Besides, this isn’t about wanting to fiddle around, even if I wanted to I’m too bandaged up down there.” Crimson said, and Blaze noticed the softer more comfortable tone beginning to return into his voice.
“Well if this isn’t about your unhealthy obsession with my flank, then what is it?” Blaze asked, gently ribbing Crimson, a bit.
“Well actually, it sort of is about your flank... You see, during the battle you got some of the worst of it out of the three of us. You may not have even felt it, but at some point you took a bolt to your right flank that hit one of the plates in your armor just right and it sent a bunch of tiny slivers into your flank. Not the worst blow you took all day, but probably the hardest to fix...” Crimson explained.
“Buddy, my legs feel fine to me, what in Equestria could be the problem? See look!” Blaze said and kicked his legs around in the bed.
“Yeah, Scalpel fixed your leg right up, she does great work, you could probably even walk a short way on it if you needed to, and it should be good as new in a few days.” Crimson answered, much to Blaze’s relief.
“Okay, so if I’m not crippled, my leg isn’t coming off, and you’re not trying to come on to me, then why are you being like this? Couldn’t we have talked without you feeling me up, and pulling rank on me?” Blaze asked, feeling very confused.
“Because, when he performed the operation.... your cutie mark peeled right off....” Crimson said, now looking at Blaze with eyes like he still could not believe what he was saying, despite staring right down at irrefutable evidence.

Blaze felt like his blood had transformed into ice water and his body shook all over as he looked up at Crimson, unsure of what he could possibly say to him. Crimson had a look of betrayal in his eyes, and Blaze knew if he lied again now, he would likely loose his friend’s trust, and loose him forever. He let out a soft sigh, and looked down at his hooves then back up to Crimson’s eyes.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Crimson asked flatly, but Blaze just whimpered in response.
“Well?! Were you?! Answer me, Celestia damn you!” Crimson screamed at him and started to shake the freshly healed pegasus.
"So you'd be all proud and chatty about being a full grown stallion with a blank flank?!" Blaze asked, his eyes teared up, and his voice quivering.
"Are you even a full grown stallion? Or are you just a little colt that outgrew his classmates, and never got his mark?" Crimson asked him, unable to believe that somepony could be full grown without their mark.
"I didn't lie about my age, I am a full grown stallion! I just never discovered my special talent...” Blaze replied, and lowered his head in shame.
"Okay, well then how exactly did you get a false cutie mark put on your flank?" Crimson asked curiously, his anger having fallen seeing how distraught Blaze was.
"One of my friends back home was a unicorn, she specialized in appearance alteration spells. She used the same spell the actor ponies use to change their marks to give me a fake one...” Blaze said as he slid out of the bed, walking over to the dresser.

Blaze sighed as he pulled his clothes from the dresser, tossing them into a duffel bag carelessly as he emptied his drawers. Crimson raised an eyebrow as he watched Blaze cleaning out his dresser, and wondered what he was doing.

“What are you doing Blaze?” Crimson asked, as he moved to stand up on his bed.
“Packing my stuff up...I’m gonna be kicked out of the corps for this, may as well pack my things now...” Blaze replied in a defeatist tone.
“Really? What makes you think I’m going to let you out of this so easily?” Crimson asked, in a very comforting tone, with a tiny smile on his face.
“W-what do you mean?” Blaze asked, falling back onto his haunches as he looked up at his friend and commanding officer.
“What makes you think I’m going to let you off the hook? Let you just walk away with your tail tucked between you legs?” Crimson inquired, his expression changing from a comforting one to a playfully devious one.
“What are you saying Crimson?” Blaze asked, giving crimson a look similar to that of a lost and scared puppy.
“I’m saying that I’m not going to report you, I’m not going to have you kicked out of the unit, in fact I’m going to make sure Scalpel keeps his mouth shut so that absolutely nopony else learns about this.” Crimson said confidently, then climbed down off the bed and sat down next to him on the floor.
"You'd really do that for me?" Blaze asked, hoping this wasn't a cruel joke as crimson started putting his uniforms back into the dresser.
"Eyup, that's what I'm gonna do." Crimson replied, a devious little grin on his muzzle.
"What's the catch?" Blaze asked with a sigh, dreading the conditions of keeping him quiet.
"Well condition number one is that you take most of that money you earned from this last mission and get some decent equipment instead of wasting it on booze and a visit to Manehattan or somethin’." Crimson started, giving Blaze a look that told him this point wasn't negotiable.
“Fahne... what else?” Blaze replied, his voice sounding a bit annoyed at this.
“Second off you’re paying for my drinks tonight.” Crimson added as he licked his muzzle.
“Alright, you don’t drink that much anyways.... anything else?” Blaze asked as he closed his drawer.
“Yeah, one last thing,” Crimson started, then planted a quick peck on Blaze’s cheek. “keep an open mind.”

He left Blaze sitting on the floor in the middle of their room, his muzzle hanging open slightly as he felt the blast of cold air rush over him upon Crimson’s departure. He could not believe it, he had discovered his deepest darkest secret, and he was just letting it go. He could have had him kicked out of the Corps for this, he could have probably had him arrested for lying on his enlistment papers, but instead he was even going to make sure the doctor kept his muzzle shut. He had taken it so much better than Blaze could have ever imagined that he would.
Then he traced his hoof over where crimson had kissed him and his cheeks grew a deep crimson hue. Crimson had actually kissed him! He had teased him about colt cuddling for as long as he had known him, but he never thought that he really meant any of it. Now he knew that all those flirtatious little passes he had taken at him were probably all real, and at first he wasn’t really sure how to feel about that. He had never even considered thinking about bucks like that before, and he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to think about them that way either. On the other hoof he had just been kissed by another buck and his stomach wasn’t turning over or anything over it. Blaze shakily climbed back up onto the bed and laid looking up at the ceiling, counting the cracked ceiling tiles as he weighed up his options. After giving the matter a bit of thought, he decided that he didn’t need to make any definite decisions, he would simply let the bits fall where they may, and not worry about it. Besides, he had much more important things to think about, like getting paid. Meanwhile in the shattered burned out remains of hanger one two figures sat amongst the twisted metal and scorched equipment of the destroyed hanger.

“You have my compensation?” The mare asked, keeping her voice as low as she could.
“The operation was not a success, you have earned nothing.” The other figure, a smaller framed griffin in a flowing white flying cloak responded.
“I followed my instructions to the letter, it’s not my fault that your attack force couldn’t handle half a flight of volunteers!” She protested, stamping her hoof down and shattering the charred remains of a helmet.
“The operation as a whole was a failure, and therefore your services were not required.” He retorted, shifting slightly under his cloak.
“That’s not fair!” She protested once more, demanding what she was promised as she pulled a pistol.
“Fine, you shall receive your just reward for your hard work...” He said, trailing off as he pulled a bag of gold from his cloak.

The mare’s eyes lit up, and she dropped the pistol. She imagined the bright lights of Manehattan, seeing the finest shows, wearing delightful gowns designed by Hoity Toity himself, and never having to see this dreadful place ever again. She was only right about one of those things, in a movement swifter than her mind could even process the griffin reached up and effortlessly broke her neck as if it were made of balsa wood. She fell to the ground lifeless and the griffin picked one of the coins up from the bag and unwrapped it, taking a bite of the chocolate inside, and smiling at his handiwork before grabbing the sack and placing it back onto his belt. He pulled a large piece of sheet metal down and placed it on top of her, hoping they would write her off as a casualty of the building’s collapse, before disappearing into the blizzard that cloaked the base.

An unexpected honor

In the very heart of the Griffin homeland laid a vast, beautiful green valley, where mighty trees were groomed into sections for hunting, streams diverted and merged into a fast flowing crystal clear river for fishing, and standing in the middle of it all was the imposing capitol of the proud Griffin Empire. The city was surrounded on all sides by a high stone wall that had stood for centuries, with massive palisades that were constantly garrisoned by elite "Immortal" unit of Griffins, who were under the direct control of only high king Golden Talon. Within the walls stood a modern city where the high casts of Griffin society resided. This was the home of the Generals, the leaders of industry, and those of noble blood that had not been given a land of their own to rule. Having even a humble dwelling within the city was considered a greater sign of status and position than having an enormous palace anywhere else in the empire. This was a city where there was never a shortage of meat or mead, even despite the ongoing hostilities. Upon a high plateau that the rest of the city was built around stood the castle of the high king, Golden Talon. The architecture was nothing like anything in Equestria, the central hub of the building was a great hall with high vaulted ceilings tall enough for one on one airborne combat exhibitions that were often held by the best the griffin army had to offer where they would show off their fighting prowess in hopes they would be selected to join the Immortals. The centerpiece of this hall was a table that stretched over a quarter mile long with the throne of High King Golden Talon at the head of it. This hall was the center of power for all of the Griffin Empire, and this day the hall was silent. The many imposing nobles and generals sitting at the large table looked toward the throne, where a very angry, very scary looking grizzled griffin, with a scar over his right eye, and wearing a treasury’s worth of gilded armor. In his talon was a mighty battle axe, that any of the others would have needed both talons to even raise, that glowed a deep purple from the grooves and designs engraved into the weapon.

“Has he returned yet?” The king asked, his voice booming through the entirety of the hall.
“N-no sire, we haven’t had any word from him yet.” The noble closest to the king responded, and closed his eyes, half expecting to meet the business edge of the axe.
“This does not ma-” The king began, but was interrupted by the heavy doors of the hall being flung open.

In tumbled the sole survivor of Razorwing’s attack force, who quickly flew to the foot of the kings throne, which made everyone in the room gasp in shock at this common soldier’s boldness. The soldier was shaking in his armor as he looked up at his king, and he began to speak.

“M-my king-” He started, but was quickly cut off by the kings thunderous shout.
“You had better have a good reason for approaching me uninvited whelp!!” The king shouted as he rose from his throne, his wings flared out wide.
“My king, I bring news of Jarl Razorwing’s attack upon the Equestrians.” He shakily said as he bowed down, his beak touching the floor.
“I gave him no such permission! That rash, thoughtless, glory seeking fool stole my personal airship and went on some foolhardy mission to end the war himself!” He snarled and screamed, shaking with fury as he descended from his throne.
“You’re highness, he told us he had your blessing.” The soldier whimpered, nearly at the point of wetting himself.
“Let me guess, he sent you back to report he has crushed all resistance and that the way is clear for our forces to descend upon Canterlot?” High King Golden Talon asked, his tone calming a bit.
“N-no my king, I must report th-that the Jarl’s attack has failed, and the royal harbinger has been destroyed..” He replied, his beak still on the floor.
“Why are you here? Where is my son? Where is Razorwing?” The king frantically and angrily asked the soldier, his vision blurring with fury and grief, for in his heart he knew.
“J-Jarl Razorwing met an honorable end upon the field of battle.” The griffin whimpered in reply before receiving a swift kick to the side from the king.
“Who did this?! Who killed my son?!” The king raved as his feathers ruffled and his chest puffed out.
“The one had a mane that looked as if it were made of fire, and the other had a single red wing my king!” He desperately replied as he held his side, three of his ribs now shattered.

The king was completely overwhelmed his anger and grief flooding his mind until he was in a blind homicidal fury, he looked down at the pathetic whimpering pile of flesh and feathers before him, the sole survivor of the attack, and the messenger of the grim news. This one should not have survived, why him and not his son? He had abandoned him and left him to die. This griffin was a coward and should be punished. All these thoughts flowed through his mind like a raging river about to burst its banks, and the enchanted markings upon his axe began to glow brighter with each passing second. Then with one merciless savage motion the massive griffin brought the enchanted battle axe down upon the terrified soldier. Rather than simply cleaving him in two when the axe made contact with him, it caused him to shudder and pop, as if he were an overfilled water balloon, leaving only a bloody mess where the griffin had once laid. The king took a deep breath and looked out at his stunned subordinates.

“We are going to make them wish they had bowed before us. I want their princesses slaughtered, their kingdom burned, their cities pillaged, and picked clean. I will not take this lying down! We shall show them the true power of our nation! I want our factories to turn out weapons that will make them surrender at their mere mention! I don’t care about the cost, I don’t care about the traditions, I don’t care how you do it! I want their technology! I want their magic! Then take it all and make it better than they ever could! Above all else I want those Ponies that killed my son to die slow painful deaths! Now go! Your king commands you!” The king ranted and raved as he paced back and forth through the puddle of what was left of the soldier he had annihilated.

All at once everyone at the table took off and flew off to go do whatever they could to attempt to appease their grieving leader. In less that a minute the king was alone in the great hall and he dropped back down onto his throne, heartbroken and blind with fury. He closed his eyes, still shuddering violently in his armor. He knew that if he went through with what he had planned he might very well be the harbinger of the Apocalypse, but that no longer mattered to him. They had murdered his son, and he was going to have his vengeance. When he opened his eyes they glowed and sparkled with a mix of midnight blue and a deep dark purple for just a moment before returning to normal.

“and someone clean up this mess before it starts to smell!” He squawked, then downed a stein of rich mead, the thought of Equestria in ruins between his talons bringing a faint grin to his beak.

After a few days of laying in bed Blaze had finished every single book in the Adventures of Daring Doo series, and was quickly growing bored and restless.

"I wonder why all the good stories are written about mares, hasn't a stallion ever done anything worth writing about?" Blaze wondered to himself as he set the book down on top of the pile of others he had already finished.

He laid there tossing and turning for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, before deciding that he was well enough to at least trot down to the Frozen Flank to get something to eat. Blaze had a little trouble slipping his uniform back on, due to his body still being very sore from a combination of the recent injuries, and from the stiffness of laying in bed the past few days. He raised his wings to shield his face from the strong icy winds and trotted as quickly as he could toward the cantina, a twinge of regret tingling through him as he began to miss the warmth of his blanket. He stumbled in and took a seat at the bar, his throat was dry, and he could smell the sweet aroma of fresh cider. He licked his muzzle in anticipation as Sour Mash floated over a tall warm mug of spiced cider for him. He wrapped his hooves around the mug and drank deeply from it, the warm liquid quickly chasing the cold from his body. He smiled as a shiver went up and down his spine, and his wings flared out a moment and his tail flicked as the sensation rushed through it. Just as he lifted the mug to take another sip he felt a pair of hooves slap him on his back. The unexpected smacks, though not painful, made his wings forcefully flare out. The sudden wingboner sent a root beer float, one of the waitress was carrying, flying into the air. Most of it came down on the bar and made a sticky foamy mess all over it, and the scoop of ice cream fell on top of his head sinking into Blaze's fiery mane. Blaze smiled nervously then flicked his head up sending the scoop of ice cream back into the air, then caught it, and gulped it down in one bite. Sour Mash rolled his eyes and wiped up the mess on the bar before trotting over to help a pair of unicorns down at the other end of the bar.

"Sorry Blaze." Cloudburst started as she wiped some of the mess from his mane.
"We didn't mean to startle you." Sunrise said, finishing her marefriend's sentence.
"It's alright girls, really, so did you enjoy your morning off?" Blaze asked in a sarcastic tone, and the two mares looked a bit embarrassed, and rubbed the back of their necks in unison.

Blaze chuckled and leaned back against the bar as he marveled at the two of them. He watched as they both realized he wasn't really mad at them, and a relieved grin shot onto their faces. Sunrise's bubblegum pink coat and blonde mane looked rather silly paired with the olive drab flight uniform, while her marefriend's dark blue coat and white mane seemed to fit the look a bit better. Similarly their special talents were about as polar opposite as Celestia and Luna's. Sunrise had a unique talent for creating pristine conditions for amazingly colorful sunrises, and had even created such picturesque scenery for artists to use as backgrounds. Cloudburst on the other hoof was a master at creating powerful downpours, and storms of all kinds. Despite them being nearly total opposites in these respects they acted in unison as if they were one pony, and most would guess non-identical twins before they would ever guess they were marefriends.

"Aren't you still supposed to be laid up in bed?" Cloudburst asked.
"Yeah Captain said you'd be on bed rest for at least a few more days." Sunrise added.
"Yeah, well I uhh, ran out of books and got bored." Blaze said with a big cheesy smile before downing another mug of cider.
"Crimson isn't gonna like this." Sunrise said, having already seen him enter the cantina.
"Yeah he's gonna be mad you're out of bed before you're supposed to be." Cloudburst added, the two of them trying to hide their snickers as Crimson snuck up behind Blaze.
"Oh stop worrying you tw-... He's right behind me isn't he?" Blaze asked, and the two mares nodded in reply.
"Well, glad to see you listen to doctors about as well as you listen to me when I tell you you've had enough." Crimson said sarcastically.
"I'm all healed up buddy, never felt better." Blaze said and stretched his legs and wings out, and they made loud cracking and popping noises in protest while Crimson rolled his eyes.
"You're not in trouble, now stop that, its gross." Crimson said with a wince as his feathers ruffled out, a shiver running up and down his spine.
"Fine, so... did our bounty come in for that mission yet?" Blaze asked, then began to preen one of his wings passively.
"Yes indeedy dandy, fillies and gentlecolts, it is payday." Crimson replied, a giddy little pop in his voice as he pulled a few letters from his saddlebags.

Crimson, being Gale teams Captain, had the responsibility of making sure everypony got their pay, and dishing out the teams hard earned bits was the only administrative duty that brought him any joy. Sunrise and Cloudburst received their standard pay, just like every other week, but Blaze and Crimson weren't sure how much to expect, considering all that they had done. When they opened up their envelopes they were surprised to find a letter rather than a check.

"Where the hay is my paycheck?" Blaze asked as he looked inside the envelope, and shook it around, as if he were expecting a secret panel in the envelope to open.
"Did you even read the letter?" Crimson asked, his tone a little annoyed as he watched Blaze dissect the envelope.
"No.... what's it say?" Blaze asked as he shifted the bits and pieces of the envelope into a pile on the bar.
"It says we're supposed to report to General Shortcake's office, and we'll be paid after our formal debriefing with her." Crimson explained as he held up the formal looking letter.
"Well what the hay are we waiting for? Lets go!" Blaze said excitedly and started trotting towards the door, only to have his tail yanked between Crimson's teeth.
"Ow, w-what are you doing?" Blaze shakily asked, the slightest flash of pink rushing to his cheeks as his wings pomfed up.
"It also says when we're supposed to report to her office, and we've got an hour and a half yet before she wants to see us." Crimson said, eyeing his now heavily embarrassed friend as he pushed his wings back down.
"Well what do we do until then?" Blaze inquired, as he finally got his wings back down.
"First you're gonna sober up, then we're gonna grab Misty, Radar, and Heavy Lift, after that we're gonna patiently, and soberly wait for our appointment." Crimson replied in a firm commanding tone.
"Awwwww that's no fun." Blaze responded, sounding like a disappointed foal being forced to do his chores.
"Or I could keep teasing you till you admit you like it." He said in a much softer, almost seductive tone.
"Hurry up and wait it is." Blaze instantly replied and the two set off to gather the rest of their team, leaving Sunrise and Cloudburst confused and intrigued at what they had just witnessed.

An hour and half later the members of Gale team found themselves waiting just outside of General Shortcake's office. The five ponies fidgeted impatiently as they stared at the wall, reading and rereading the plaques on the wall that denoted the accomplishments of the commanding officers of the base, as well as the traditional portraits and devotions to the regal sisters. After a few minutes, which felt more like hours to the eager ponies, General Shortcake called them into her rather large and posh office. The small framed unicorn mare behind the massive desk looked almost as if she were just a filly who was pretending to be the boss in her mom's office, but not one of them dared say this out loud. General Shortcake was the supreme commander of all Equestrian forces in the field, and had a bit of a small mares complex due to her slight stature, but was a brilliant tactician and respected leader. She also had the distinction of being one of the only ponies to attain a position as high as hers that was not of royal blood. She hopped up on top of her desk then jumped down in front of them, landing next to a table with a large detailed map with little flags sticking up all across the length and breadth of it, indicating the position of Equestrian forces, as well as the location of any griffin forces they knew of. Gale Team gathered around the table and General Shortcake began to speak.

"I've already viewed the flight recorder spells from your P.I.C.S.s so I won't bore us all by making you recount it, I'd just like you to verify that the markers we have for the battle are accurate." Shortcake said in a serious tone, that was somewhat undermined by the fact she still sounded like she had only just gotten her cutiemark.
“These all appear to be accurate Ma’am.” Crimson replied as he traced his hoof over the map.
“Great, now that that is settled we have other matters to attend to. These maps and charts were not the only reason that I called you in here.” General Shortcake said, as she unfurled a scroll onto the table.
“What’s that? Is it how much we’re getting paid?” Blaze asked excitedly, only to receive several hooves upside the head.
“No, I’ll get to that in a moment, this is something far more valuable.” Shortcake explained.

The five ponies leaned in and examined the scroll and saw that it was a letter, from none other than Princess Celestia herself. The words were written in a beautiful calligraphy that despite all the elegant hooks and curves was still as easy to read as the simplest of printed forms. The wording was also unique, as if it were a mix of the old and new ways of writing that somehow flowed seamlessly across the page. As they read their eyes lit up, their hearts skipped a beat, and Radar nearly passed out as they read what the letter said. It formally requested that the five of them report to the Royal Castle in Canterlot, to have an audience and meal with not just one, but both of the Royal Sisters. This was an honor that none of them could have possibly thought would be bestowed upon them, especially for what they had done.

“This, is incredible...” Radar whispered, unable to believe what he had just read.
“Never thought I’d ever see the inside of that Castle mahself.” Heavy Lift added.
“What does this mean?” Crimson asked General Shortcake, taken aback by the letter.
“Well it’s nothing bad, the Princesses don’t handle punishments personally. If you were in trouble they would just have me handle your sorry hides.” She matter of factly responded.
“I know we saved everypony from getting blown to the everafter by that airship, but I never would have thought it would get us in to see the Princesses.” Blaze said.
“Might have something to do with the fact that the Jarl you did blow to the everafter was next in line to the Griffin throne; speaking of which, here is your payment.” General Shortcake said casually then floated out a check to each of them.

While all of them were substantial, and far more than any of them normally got every week, Blaze’s had a number scrawled upon it that made his eyes roll back in his head, before he hit the ground, out cold. He awoke several hours later in a bit of a dazed and confused state. He felt around a bit and realized that he was in his bed in the barracks again, and he was out of uniform. He panicked a bit as he felt himself up all over and shot up out of bed.

"You know i never get tired of how you shoot up out of bed like that." Crimson said with a nicker as he stared up at his startled friend.
"Why am I back here? Why am I naked? Where is that paycheck?" Blaze asked as he landed groggily, then fell off the bed.
"You know, one of these days you’re going to ask that, and I'm going to make up answers and see how hard I can make you blush." Crimson replied cheekily as he looked down at his friend, who's head was now buried in his own flight suit.

Blaze quickly regained his composure and Crimson informed him that their pay was already in thier accounts, and that they would be leaving for Canterlot the next morning for thier meeting with the princesses. Neither of them could believe that they had been summoned, by name, to the royal castle in Canterlot by the Princesses themselves. This was an incredible honor, especially considering they were what amounted to glorified mercenaries. As Blaze dug through his closet looking for his dress uniform a thought crept into his mind, and his cheeks lit up with a soft pink hue again.

“Uhmm, Crimson..” Blaze started as he stepped out of the closet.
“Yeah buddy, whats up?” Crimson replied as he arranged his campaign ribbons on his own dress uniform.
“I appreciate you carrying me back here and all, but why did you undress me?” Blaze asked, his wings involuntarily pomfed out.
“Well I didn’t want you to get your uniformed all wrinkled.” Crimson responded, in a tone that made it obvious that he wasn’t being completely honest.
“Did you-” Blaze began to ask, only to be cut off by Crimson.
“That’s for me to know and you to wonder about.” He said quickly, and in a giddy upbeat tone as he swished his tail playfully, and made his own wings flare out.