Days of Ruin

Starting Blocks****When history witnesses a great change,

The Elements are lost.

While the world is being rearranged,

Ponies must feel the cost.

Until demons of the sky endure the race,

Only then will the world repair.

For one shall suffer death’s embrace,

And recall the Elements to end despair.

****

Blaze slashed downward, prompting Thunder Coy to block the attack with his own blade. The brown earth pony followed up with another slash at Coy's left side, which the yellow unicorn barely deflected in time. Blaze frowned as he parried a retaliatory slash from Coy, and blocked a thrust at his chest. The Karalian officer twirled his blade in his hoof, causing it to bat Coy's saber away. Blaze softly poked the point of his own saber at the chest of a now-disarmed Coy.

"We talked about this, Coy. You can't leave your flanks open like that. You need a tighter grip on your saber and when you commit to an attack, always have follow-up moves ready to go in case you are denied. I know its different for you because you use your magic to hold your saber but you'll have no choice but to adapt. The enemy won't wait around for you," Blaze lectured his closest friend.

Blaze sheathed his officer saber and turned his back to exit the sparring chamber. The sparring chamber was actually the Aurora's cafeteria, the two Karalians merely moved the furniture against the walls.

Thunder Coy frowned and used his magic to retrieve his bladed weapon and joined Blaze's side. Coy frowned in frustration as he stomped his boot-covered hooves angrily and wiggled his flank comically.

Blaze read the sign language perfectly from years of practice and time spent with his fellow Karalian friend.

"That's no excuse for you to lose! And besides, the only reason I am now the best duelist on the continent is because the Cross wiped out all of the better ones," he joked.

He laughed, although deep down he felt there might have been truth to that statement.

"I wouldn't be half as good if the legendary Colonel Razorfire didn't train me himself. Now that pony was a duelist. His changeling body count probably quadrupled mine back then. Probably still does now," Blaze reminisced.

Coy blinked both of his eyes one by one and stuck out his tongue.

Blaze grinned.

"Reputation? You should've fought alongside him like I did. That stallion was terrifying. If you think I'm good, he was able to dispatch of me in about twenty seconds during our sparring sessions. Just about everything I know from saber dueling, I learned from him. So what if I invented a few new tricks to make my own style...I still wouldn't be a match for him. Even now, if he was still alive of course."

Thunder Coy stopped and trotted around in a small circle. After he was done, he looked back at Blaze with one of his front hooves up at a point.

"Yes, Coy. Even if I dual-wielded," Blaze answered with a light-hearted chuckle.

"Although, if we both took him on together, we might have a chance. That is, if you would listen to me when I'm training you," he smirked at his friend.

Coy responded by rolling his eyes and blowing Blaze a raspberry, a little spittle getting on Blaze's face.

"Real classy, Thunder."

The automatic doors in front of them shifted suddenly, retracting into the walls to reveal an already-uniformed Rainbow Dash with Applejack standing next to her.

"You two colts having fun?" Rainbow inquired, glancing around at the rearranged tables and chairs that lined both ends of the cafeteria.

"Y'all were sparrin' again, huh?" Applejack added, grinning in amusement at the two saber-wielding stallions.

"So, what brings you two here?" Blaze smiled back at both of them.

Coy walked up and gleefully licked both mares on the face, inciting a nervous look from Rainbow Dash.

"Stop that ya little varmint," Applejack giggled playfully, pushing Coy off of her.

Rainbow Dash turned to Blaze.

"Our unicorn friends found another signal already. I know, two days, two signals. Weird right?" Rainbow Dash explained.

"Maybe things are finally turnin' around? At least I'd like to think so..." Applejack offered.

Coy returned to Blaze's side and looked at both mares with rapt attention.

"Are we dropping soon?" Blaze asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, in two hours actually. Same deal as always. My Dragoons clear a path, your troops swarm in to reinforce, and the Aurora flies top-cover," Rainbow said, uninterested.

"Pretty standard."

"Pretty boring!" Rainbow shot back at the Karalian pony.

Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her eyes.

"We should really change things up you know. We're becoming predictable. That's never good," Rainbow added.

Blaze nodded in agreement, Coy following suit.

"I'm aware of the consequences, but we'll worry about that later. For now, we have another drop to prepare for."

****

Dust blew through the abandoned town. Roofs were split and cracked. Walls were still in decay and were crumbling, pieces breaking off from time to time. No residents or any evidence of survivors were seen from the main street that ran down the entire length of the small settlement. The silence was almost eerie, the wind ominously whistling through the cracks of the structures. As with most of the Continental Wasteland, there were no plants, no signs of successful farming of crops.

The atmosphere sent shivers up Rainbow Dash's spine. She tried to distract herself from the creepiness by double-checking the bolt of her submachinegun and making sure that it was slapped down properly. The only sounds of anything living were coming from her and her Dragoons behind her. They slowly stalked through the main road, searching for anything useful...or hostile.

"Okay. You are only three blocks from the signal. We think it might be coming from a certain building but we can't pinpoint it just yet. The Karalians will meet you there at the designated block, and then the Aurora will provide you with artillery support as needed. Can you hear me?" Twilight asked through the Lieutenant's headset.

"Yeah, everything's fine here Twi. We're not dead yet, so I guess that's a plus," Rainbow morbidly quipped through the microphone attached to her helmet.

The Dragoons continued to move as silently as they could across the town. They turned the corner of another block and scanned the area for threats. Rainbow Dash peered down and noticed all of the broken glass on the street.

"Alright Dragoons, we're gonna have to glide over this one, our forehooves aren't exactly protected by boots," she said.

They all obliged and they all moved slowly as they hovered over the street. Rainbow Dash heard the unmistakable engine of the sky destroyer as it lowered itself in for a landing a couple of blocks away.

The Karalian ponies were dropping onto the site now.

"Okay. You're almost there, Rainbow Dash. Linking up is only a matter of time," Twilight said confidently over the communicator.

Rainbow Dash nodded in response, aware that her friend wouldn't be able to see it. She was glad that the drop point wasn't too far away. After all, clearing the town was an important job after all.

She let her mind wander.

What if this was the real deal? What if one of them were really here? It would be a start, but on the other hoof, there would still be a lot of work to do. The surveyed the town as she and her team scanned for nearby threats. This place was heartbreaking site to see. Shattered windows, caved in roofs and miscellaneous debris scattered everywhere. Deep down, she felt her forlorn heart drop into her chest, feeling sorry for the ponies that once lived here. Why would the Cross target this place? It was just a small settlement, nowhere near the size of Versay, and Versay was tiny.

She was taken out of her thoughts by another transmission through her communicator.

"Blaze and his ponies have dropped," Twilight stated.

Rainbow Dash realized that, in the time that she was lost in her thoughts, the Dragoons had nearly reached the target zone. After another minute, she was on the ground, standing in front of the ship's Karalian commander.

"Did you see anything noteworthy?" Blaze asked, Thunder and Applejack standing on either side of him.

She noticed that Twilight wasn't with them.

"Thank Celestia!" she thought in relief.

The Aurora rose into the sky once more, kicking up dust and throwing air into the grounded troopers. They all covered their faces as the wind blew by them.

"No, it's a complete ghost town," she replied.

Blaze nodded.

"Good, we can search this house then," he said, gesturing to the house in front of them.

As like the others, the windows had been blasted out for quite some time and Rainbow found the fact that they were boarded up interesting. Chunks of the walls were missing, and cracks could easily be seen from the old, chipped paint. Red paint, she noticed passively as she finished her running her eyes up and down the two-story home.

One of the Karalian ponies took point by the door, a second Karalian standing on the opposite side of her, flashbang grenade in his mouth. The Karalian mare quickly opened the door at a crack, enough to let the other pony jerk his head and toss the flashbang indoors.

Everypony covered their ears.

A loud bang from inside rocked the first floor. Blaze and Rainbow Dash were the first to recover.

"GO! Now!" Blaze urged.

All of the ponies entered the first floor, two at a time. They immediately spread out and scanned for hostiles. Rainbow's Dragoons flipped on the flashlights on their submachineguns while the Karalians activated the eyepieces attached to their helmets. Green lights from the Karalians and yellow lights from the Equestrians filled the entire floor. They entered the kitchen, living room, and even found the laundry room of the abandoned abode.

So far, they found nothing.

Rainbow Dash saw what she was expecting. Furniture turned over and knick-knacks littered the floors. Dust was layered everywhere. There were cracks in the walls, allowing the little light from outside seep in. Dishes were piled up in the sink, black mold happily growing on them.

Out in the living room, she noticed something strange. She smelled something. Something she was expecting from an uninhabited house. She followed her nose, leading her to the fireplace in the middle of the living room. When the other soldiers started reporting the smell as well, she knew her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

The smell itself was sweet. Almost pleasant. If Rarity was here, she'd probably like it, Rainbow thought.

Blaze was already one step ahead of her. On top of the fireplace rested pictures of the ponies that had lived here. A unicorn family she saw. A mare and a stallion were holding and nuzzling their young foal, while the little pony had his forelegs stretched out, as if trying to grab the camera. Rainbow's heart wrenched. She quickly broke off her gaze. She didn't need to deal with that feeling right now.

Next to the pictures, was the item of interest. The item that was causing the smell. Blaze picking up the still-smoking stick and turned to the others.

"Incense...we're not alone here," he pointed out, throwing the expended stick to the ground.

Coy motioned for Drossel team to head upstairs, Applejack right behind him.

Single file, the Karalian team clopped up the stairs, Applejack and Blaze's Gorizont team following immediately afterwards. Rainbow and her team covered the rear of the advance.

When they reached the top of the stairs they swept each room. Everything seemed clear and the search was turning out to be fruitless. Not a soul other than the soldiers and Applejack were present.

"This is impossible! That incense was still burning! There has to be somepony here!" a Dragoon mare cried out.

"Maybe they stepped out?" A Karalian stallion offered, scratching his mane in bewilderment.

Both Blaze and Rainbow were standing in front of second-floor closet, trying to talk out the situation.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Blaze asked her.

Rainbow groaned in disappointment.

"Somepony was here. But now they're not. My Dragoons scouted the entire city and found nothing! This doesn't make any sense," Rainbow said.

An adorable sneeze came from the closet, followed by frightened whimpers.

Blaze and Rainbow Dash both looked at each other and back at the closet door. Applejack slowly approached the door and opened it slowly, not exactly sure what to expect.

The apple farmer peered inside and gasped at what she saw.

****

"Derpy?" Rainbow said in confusion.

A gray mare with scrambled eyes stood protectively over a huddled group of whimpering foals, wings flared out as if offering a challenge. She glared at the newcomers as she tried to appear as intimidating as possible.

"You'll never take them, you evil raiders! Get back or else!" Derpy warned.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were astonished.

They both had known this mare well back in Ponyville. What was she doing out here, in Karalia? This settlement had to be over five hundred miles from where Ponyville used to be. How had she gotten here in the first place?

Blaze trotted past them and offered a hoof to the blonde mare. Derpy backed up, her body poised to pounce, like a mother lion protecting her cubs.

"Hello there," he said with his accent.

"We are not raiders. I am a Karalian Army Officer. You can call me Blaze though. We're not going to hurt you but rather help you. We've got food, shelter, and protection. You can come with us and everything will be okay," he explained as best he could, moving his hoof closer to her.

Derpy swatted it away.

"How can I trust you? Some of those raiders wear the same uniform you do!" she pointed out.

It was then when Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped in.

"Hey, Derps. Do you remember me? From Ponyville, remember?" Rainbow said.

Derpy stared at the Equestrian lieutenant as intently as she could, at first not being able to recognize her old friend in her uniform. After a few seconds, Derpy's wall eyes grew wide with realization.

"That voice...those eyes and especially that mane..."

"Rainbow Dash?" she cried with a mix of surprise and joy.

Derpy's eyes were filled with tears as she leaped into the arms of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The gray mare silently wept into their shoulders as they both embraced her tightly.

Blaze smiled at the affectionate display. He turned to the little foals that Derpy was protecting. They were still visibly frightened, but were now a little more relaxed after witnessing Derpy's actions.

He offered his hoof to a light purple unicorn filly, wincing as he hoped for a better outcome this time.

"Hello there. My name is Blaze and you're safe now. What is your name?" he asked as gently as he could.

The filly uncomfortably gazed from side to side, her whole body shaking. She gazed at him apprehensively, looking at the Karalian as if he had two horns.

"I-I'm Dinky," she whispered, looking up at Blaze with fear evident in her eyes.

Blaze softly patted her on the head with hoof.

"There there little one. It's alright. I'm a friend," he assured, stroking her mane.

The other foals watched for another minute Dinky began to calm down in Blaze's grasp. Their frightened expressions became curious ones as they started to realize that these ponies were not there to hurt them. Soon, they all crowded around Blaze, looking up at him expectantly. Blaze watched on as they began to nuzzle and rub themselves on his legs, one filly going as far as to lick one of his hooves.

"Great. More Thunder Coys," he mused.

He turned his head to look back at his friends. Rainbow Dash seemed to be speaking to somepony in her microphone, Rarity or Twilight most likely. Derpy was giggling madly as Thunder Coy licked her face repeatedly with Applejack laughing as she looked on. He chuckled as he watched them get along, still running his hooves through Dinky's mane.

He felt something near Dinky's neck.

Curious he returned his gaze to her and took a good look at her.

Now that he focused on her more, he realized that the little filly was wearing a necklace.

Blaze's eyes grew wide in recognition.

"Lieutenant! I think you might want to see this!"

****

The operator sat nervously at her desk as Vice Captain Rarity peered over her shoulder. The monitor in front of them displayed four blips on the magical radar.

"Hmm...unknown aircraft. We haven't seen any of these in a while."

"Ma'am?" the unicorn operator asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

Rarity pursed her lips and executed an about face. She walked over to Twilight, who speaking into the mic that was attached to her headphones. Rarity cleared her throat to get Twilight's attention.

"What is it Rarity?" Twilight asked, covering up the mic with a hoof.

"We've spotted aircraft on the radar. We have no idea who they are and they are approaching Aurora at over six hundred knots. Fast-movers. Fighter jets most likely."

Twilight scrunched her face.

"Fighter jets? We haven't seen those in a long time. Try to signal them. Maybe they can help. We do have a hangar in this ship after all."

****

"I can't believe we found it!" Rainbow Dash cheered ecstatically as she held it up for everypony to see.

What she held in her hoof was a gold necklace with a single purple diamond.

"This fillies and gentlecolts, is the treasure that we have been searching for! This will help repair our world but we still need the other five. I can't believe it...it's been five years..."

Rainbow Dash sighed heavily as the weight and meaning of the object she held took her breath away. Applejack and the other Equestrians were in a similar mood. The Karalians merely looked relieved, knowing that after years of hopeless wandering, they were finally one step closer at last.

"We need to tell the others, they'll freak!" Rainbow exclaimed with a squeal of delight.

"Finally some progress. Feels like a mighty big weight just got lifted off my shoulders," Applejack said.

All of the ponies, soldier and civilian, Equestrian and Karalian, all gathered around to see the fruit of their struggles. Just maybe, there could be hope now. Now that there was a purpose. A solid goal that was no longer entrusted with tainted faith anymore but now with concrete results.

It was tangible now.

It was real.

Hope was real.

****

"Ma'am! The unknown aircraft are spiking us!" the operator yelled frantically.

Her monitor flashed red while beeping steady. The beeps increased in frequency as the screen flashed:

[Warning]

[Missile Alert]

[Warning]

[Missile Alert]

Twilight tapped her microphone as it seemed to be shorting out. Rarity trotted back over the operator and saw the alerts flashing on the screen as the warning beeps from the system increased drastically. Another operator jumped out of his seat and galloped to Rarity. His face was sweaty and he appeared to be under a lot of stress.

"What is it?" she asked him.

He caught his breath.

"Ma'am, they've opened fire on us! Two air-to air missiles are incoming!" he relayed.

Rarity bit her lip.

"Blast! We can't catch a break, can we? I was hoping they were friendly...no matter, we can't be brooding over that right now. Concentrate magical deflector shields to starboard side! Get some ponies to man the anti-aircraft cannons!" she ordered, some of the unicorns shuffling into action after hearing her, papers flying in their wake.

She turned back to Twilight, who was still fiddling with the headset.

"Urg! Did they jam us or something?"

Twilight seemed ready to rip the headset off in frustration when she heard Rainbow Dash's voice.

"Hold on, I can get them now!" she sighed in relief.

Rarity turned back to the monitor. Two small lines indicating incoming missiles, grew closer and closer.

"It'll take more than two missiles to take down this ship," she stated confidently.

****

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what Twilight was telling her. She didn't even get to tell Twilight about the Element of Generosity yet! She frowned as Twilight told her the full story. She sighed as she turned to the ponies around her, eagerly awaiting to hear what was going on.

"Bad news, guys. The Aurora just got bounced by enemy fighters."

"Dear Luna, it sounds even more ridiculous out loud," she thought.

All of the other ponies in the room looked to each other in shock. They haven't see a fighter jet in years. And now they decide to come out of hiding and attack? Right as they discover an Element of Harmony? A coincidence?

Blaze opened his mouth to say something when Rainbow headset crackled.

"This is Ofnir one. We have began engaging the target, Commander."

"Roger Ofnir Squadron. Blow that ship out of the sky."

All of the ponies listened to the captured transmission in bewilderment.

"That's the enemy's voice!" Applejack cried out.

"This is not good!" a Karalian mare said with a worried tone.

"Great! Now what do we do? We don't have any weapons to fight aircraft on us," Rainbow gritted her teeth.

The foals and Derpy looked around worriedly at the soldiers, picking up on the uneasiness that festered between them.

Blaze and Coy were both standing next to each other. Coy was whimpering like a scared puppy and Blaze was lost in thought.

"Ofnir...now I *know** I've heard that name before! And that commander's voice...it seems...so familiar..."*

Blaze tried to scramble his brain through his years of experience in the Karalian Army for answers.

His eyes popped open.

"Wait...of course! Ofnir!" he shouted in understanding.

Everypony in the room turned to him.

"Those were the Demons of the East! Rainbow, you gotta tell Twilight right now! Those were the deadliest pilots in the Karalian Air Force!"