Ace combat: Shattered Rainbows

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 7B
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Chapter 5

Chapter 2

It was mid-day and In the gym located inside Headquarters, Rainbow Dash was busy venting her anger. A swift buck to a punching bag sent it swinging up, hitting the ceiling. She then ducked out-of-the-way as it swung back at her; quickly spinning, she bucked again, causing the bag to detach and fly across the room. Upon it in an instant, she started punching it with her hooves until she finally slumped against it, panting heavily.

She was still angry about the mission yesterday. Angry at the gryphons for starting this stupid war. Angry that they shot down Lightning Spark. Angry she couldn't get back at them. Angry because... She couldn't think up anything else, but was angry also because of that. Ruffling her mane in frustration, she laid on the floor and simply looked at the ceiling, letting herself calm down.

"What could I have done to save him? I'm a good pilot, but not that good to take on fifteen other aircraft-- " A grey stallion interrupted her thoughts by clearing his throat with a cough. He wore a blue jacket with the letters "MP" on his left shoulder. His voice was disciplined and deep as he stood at attention.

"Rainbow Dash? Princess Luna has requested to speak with you. I'm ordered to take you to her chambers."

Standing up, Rainbow was sore from over-exerting herself after the bouts of anger. "Fine, let's get this over with." They walked through the hallways of LRAF headquarters. The stone floors and walls were polished spotless and the ceilings had several light-fixtures that gave off a pure white light, giving it a sanitary feeling. Passing by the Cafeteria they ran into pegasus three and gave each other a solemn nod. Several more turns and more rows of glaring light fixtures later, Rainbow Dash stood in front of two redwood polished double-doors.

"Mind what you say, Miss." The guard said, a hint of caution in his voice. He knocked twice on the left door and they immediately swung in, surrounded by a dark blue aura of magic. The doors quietly shut with a click soon as Rainbow entered. She saw Luna laying on a couch inside the plush, violet carpeted room. Several small tapestries hung on the walls, the most prominent was an image of Celestia and Luna posing together.

Luna’s starry mane billowed majestically around her face as a single, teal eye noticed Rainbow Dash. "Greetings. We hope you fare well?"

"I’m Fine,” Dash stated simply, her nerves still on edge. “Sorry Princess. I’m still trying to get over my anger with the last mission.”

Luna waved a hoof. “It’s quite alright. When I heard what happened we were furious as well, but we have learned to hide it perfectly. ‘One must stay composed, else everything falls to chaos’ my sister once told me.” Standing up from the couch, she gave a small smile. “But we’re not here to trade wisdom of course, we wish to show you something.”

Walking over to a coffee table, she motioned at something sitting on it. Rainbow joined the Princess across from the table and spotting the odd rectangular device. Looking at it closer, one of the buttons was lit up, waiting to be pressed. Cautiously pressing it with a soft click, immediately Luna's voice came from the device.

"Is your report ready, Mist?"

"Yes, but It's been going poorly, your highness. After several duels, I would like to concluded that none of this weeks recruits have potential to be aces."

"This is most disheartening news to us, Mist. Art thou positive this is all you have to report?"

"No, your majesty. I fear it's not their skills in question, but their will to fight."

There was a long pause before Luna answered. "Explain."

Mist cleared her throat. "The pilots are losing their focus on the war, Princess. Every day I see gloom in their eyes and frowns on their faces. I surprised myself when it starting to affect me. I've had dark thoughts of wanting to give up and let the gryphons have our homeland."

"Mist, what you speak is the talk of a traitor!" Her voice far from amused.

"I know, but think through the minds of us ponies. This is the first most of us have been in a war; some have never even heard of it. We are at the brink of being snuffed out, Princess. Our moral is in the toilet and the gryphons continue to advance toward us. What's the point of fighting if our hope of winning is only a dream?"

There was more to the recording, but Luna shut it off with a glow of her horn. "I recorded this tape a week before she met Mobius, and later, Talisman. Whenever flying they both inspired the other pilots that hope still existed; by carving swathes of justice wherever we sent them. They both performed their duty admirably and to this day are preventing the gryphons from advancing on this base.” Sighing, she hung her head. “Unfortunately, three aces are not enough, So when I heard there was a fourth possible candidate, I jumped at the thought of their very own wing.” Her mood continued to sadden. “Then things started to fall apart after the enemy shot Mist down and now with Lightning Spark gone, hope is starting to fall out of reach.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows’ shot up. “S-she was shot down? Lightning Never told me that.”
“At least that explains why he’s reluctant to talk about her,” she mused

Luna looked at her. “I’m not surprised, he usually keeps that sort of thing to himself.” Her head cocked to the side thoughtfully. “We are curious why he opened up to you about it, he must really trust you.”

She hid her slight blush, looking away uncomfortably. “I just listened to his story instead of judging him after his... Episode.”

“Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Luna said with unease. “He was diagnosed with it the day after the last mission with her.”

“So, you just let him continue to fly in this state? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’s horrible, we know, but it was his decision to keep flying. Only certain events seem to trigger the memories; mentioning pegasus Two or Mist around him would almost always set it off, that’s why every pony has agreed to never speak of her again.”

Talking about the losses of another started to spark Rainbows’ anger again. Suddenly, a bold idea formed in her head. "Let’s go rescue Lightning Spark!”

Luna raised an eyebrow in skepticism as she sat back down on the couch. "A very brave, but foolish thing to do."

"I'm more brave than foolish," Rainbow boasted.

A laugh escape Luna's lips as she held a hoof up. "I know some ponies who would believe that." Her face turned immediately serious as her tone dimmed. "But are you really that determined to save him? They transported him to the most high-security prison known in Equestria; now controlled by gryphons, making it that much more dangerous. "

"I will not sit on my hooves and do nothing. He made a promise that we would both come back safely and I plan to finish it for him."

Luna sighed in relief, before smiling at her. "We know that look in your eye when a friend is in trouble. It is good to see the Element of Loyalty still shines brightly, even in these dark times.” She paused, the only sound was the ticking of a clock on the wall behind where she sat; her face hid behind a mask of concentration when in deep thought. “Very well, we will tell you where he is being held, only if you promise to do everything in your power to return to us, even if you return empty hoofed."

Rainbow Dash stood up proudly. "You have my word, Princess."

A glow of her horn and a map popped into the room above, settling on the coffee table. She pointed a hoof at a city near the eastern mountainside, opposite of where Canterlot lay. "He's at the Stalliongrad detention Center."

Rainbow Dash galloped down the hallways toward the armory, where Luna said a special gift was waiting for her. Running down the white hallways, she passed by the barracks; hearing soft crying coming from one of the rooms to her left. Twitching her ears around to find where it was coming from, she stopped in front of a simple wood door. The tiny slot where it showed who bunked there made Rainbow completely forget about the armory as she softly knocked on the door twice. The crying abruptly stopped inside as the sound of steps were shuffling around the room. Several minutes passed before the door finally opened, with Fluttershy peeking around the door, her eyes obviously red from crying.

"Oh, hello Rainbow. Is there something you want?" Her voice interrupted by several tiny sniffles.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Rainbow Dash requested, a hint of worry in her eyes.

Sniffling again, the yellow pegasus fully opened the door and moved out-of-the-way for her friend to enter and closed the door behind her. Inside there were two bunk beds, one against opposite sides of the room. Each piece of furniture had been placed to look exactly the same on the other side. The only light came from slightly opened blinds in the center of the room behind Fluttershy, giving the entire room a gloomy feeling.

"Fluttershy, are you--" Rainbow didn't get a chance to finish as Fluttershy decided to get assertive and cry openly on her shoulder. Putting a hoof around her neck, she held her close, slowly hoof-brushing her pink mane. They stood there until her sobbing turned into trembling before she dared speak again. "Is this about our first mission together?"

She nodded against Rainbow, not letting go as she rubbed a hoof across her eyes to futilely wipe away the pouring tears. “It’s just so horrible. Why would any pony want to hurt another. Why would the gryphons--” A sob interrupted her sentence.

She did her best to choose her words carefully. "I know it hurts to see our friends... Go away, but this is war. You can't save every pony."

She broke the embrace and looked at the floor., like it had all the answers. "W-why not?"

"Because you're just one pegasus, Fluttershy. You can't be everywhere at once. I’m sure you did the best you could." The yellow mare hung her head, tears soaking the floor.

“If my best isn’t good enough then I shouldn’t have joined. I’m a horrible pony for letting those pilots die when another could’ve done better.” She held her head in her hooves, he pink mane hiding her face completely.

"Good job Rainbow Crash, you better think of something fast." The blue pegasus mentally face-hoofed. “Fluttershy... please, look at me."

She slowly looked up at her, tears again flowed freely and a slight drip was coming from her nose.

"Uh, hold that thought." Going to the bathroom, she grabbed some tissues and proceeded to talk while cleaning up her friend’s face. "As I was saying... While you’re only one pony, that doesn't mean you're by yourself in this. I'm here for you Fluttershy, and so is your AWACS team. You’re letting the burden fall all on your shoulders when us as a team should be helping each other out.”
Finishing up wiping her nose, Rainbow Smiled. “Don't ever think you're alone, okay?"

A small smile crossed her face. "I'm sorry Rainbow, you're right. I should have talked with my friends about it." She gave one more hug to her best friend. “Thank you.”

"Hey, what are friends for."

With the sadness long gone, they both spent the next couple of minutes casually chatting until a knock came from the door. "Oh! that must be Flare Chaser. We were going to have coffee togeth--." She caught herself as if she said something wrong. "Um, I'm sorry. Did you want to join us? I can brew enough for three, if that's alright with you?"

Rainbow shook her head, the armory was still waiting for her. "I need to get going, if I wasn’t in a hurry I would join you both."

"Oh, okay. See you later Rainbow, and thank you again."

Before she left, they both enjoyed a third hug together. Opening the door, she made a quick greeting to a surprised Flare Chaser, before galloping toward the armory.

Opening a grey steel door, she noticed a drastic change of scenery. First was the sound of dull gunfire coming from the padded firing range. The metallic floor clanked noisily as she walked across it. In front from her was the pony she was supposed to see. He glanced up from a particular saucy magazine featuring a tall white mare with a flowing pink mane.

“Rainbow Dash, right? Took ya long enough.” He hid the magazine under the desk. “I was about to go win the war myself.”

She grimaced at his demeaning, rough accent, but ignored it. “Luna said she had something for me to pick up?”

"Yeah, yeah, let me go get it." As he wandered somewhere in the backrooms, Rainbow Dash stared at the collection of gear behind the metal fencing where his shop was behind. There was everything from simple flight-suit replacements to something that looked like a wide-mouthed rocket launcher covered in cake icing. Rainbow continued to eye the amount of backroom inventory when Silver Shine threw a black latex suit in front of her.

She inspected it, lifting a sleeve."Uh, why does it look like a Wonderbolt uniform?" Noticing the streaks of yellow symbolizing lightning.

"Because it is, silly filly. It’s something Luna cooked up during the war. We treated it with a special substance to absorb energy waves usually sent by radar or other means of detection, making you practically invisible! plus it looks cool as buck.”

“This thing makes me invisible? That's awesome!" she gushed in excitement.

"Whoa filly, not exactly. You can still be seen the ol' fashion way." He pointed a hoof toward his eyes. "Which is why it's usually worn during the night." His eyes shot up as he realized something. "Oh! speaking of darkness... " Rummaging underneath the wide counter he was behind, he pulled out a pair of goggles. "You're going to need these if you want to see clearly at night; they're enchanted with magic to allow you to see like it was daylight. Just don't put them on while in any source of light, unless you want to be blind of course."
Rainbow caught herself before putting them on and nervously chuckled, placing them back down.

"Luna also wanted me to tell you transportation is waiting for you, so don’t dawdle too long. I don't know what you and The Princess had planned with this stuff, but be careful out there."

“Don’t worry about it, I can handle myself." Grabbing the gear, she rushed to put the suit on. She easily got her front hooves and head covered, but after a minute of struggling with half her body in the suit, she shot an annoyed look at Silver. "Uh, a little help?" Over at the counter, Silver was laughing his head off as he watched her struggle.

“I forgot to mention, it takes two ponies to put on.” Wiping his eyes, he walked around the counter to help Rainbow.

“Just don’t do any funny business, I got my eye on you.” Several stretches and snaps of latex later, she was finally covered in the stealth suit. “Awesome! how do I look?”

“Very intimidating, but remember, darkness and speed are your best defenses with that on.”

Nodding, she spoke in a hurry. “Got it. I better get going, my transportation is probably wondering where I am.” Grabbing the goggles with her teeth, she galloped out the door.

“Yeah... have fun, I guess.” Trotting back behind his counter he took out the magazine, flipping through it slowly.

“Rainbow Dash?” The pilot trotted up to introduce herself, yelling over the helicopter’s rapidly spinning blades. “My name is Spring Heart, I’ll be flying you over Stalliongrad today. I hope you have all your gear ready?”

“You bet! let’s get this show on the road!” She lead her toward the strange aircraft, noticing the entire thing painted black as night, with the LRAF symbol on the tail. The middle of the helicopter had a huge rectangular opening to easily climb in and out both sides. Quickly jumping inside, she strapped herself in one of several seats. The helicopter slowly took to the air and turned north, before leaning forward and flying toward Stalliongrad.

After over an hour of flying, they finally reached their destination. “You sure we’re over Stalliongrad?!” Rainbow Dash yelled over the whipping winds as she hesitantly looked out the side of the helicopter. She saw multiple spotlights swirling around, casually watching for enemy targets. Spring responded from the intercom stuck in Rainbow’s ear.

“You bet we are! so I suggest you get going before we get spotted by those lights, and I prefer not getting shot down. Good Luck Rainbow Dash, you’re going to need it!”

“I’ll need more than luck.” Hesitantly glancing down toward Stalliongrad again, she dove out with her wings folded, rocketing toward the detention center.

“I’m coming Lightning, just hang on.”

Lightning Spark struggled with his bonds, feeling the rope cut off circulation to his hooves. His flight-suit had been torn off, leaving his cutie mark--two bolts of lightning with one flipped upside-down--for all to see. He was inside a blank, white cell room with only a bed and toilet to keep him company. The gryphon’s were not kind to him, already several cuts and bruises covered his face from the several interrogations he was forced to do.

Feeling the rope finally starting to slip off, he increased his efforts. The faint sound of talons clacking on the cold stone floor outside caused him to immediately stop and glance up toward the door. The patrolling gryphon slid the metal bar out-of-the-way and glanced inside his cell. Lightning could feel his lungs burning from holding his breath as he stared at the gryphon. Finally not seeing anything out of the ordinary he slid the bar closed and continued his patrol. Finally Letting out his held breath, he continued to slide out of the bonds.

“Come on, almost there... “

“Just what do you think you’re doing?!”

His eyes shot up as he saw the same gryphon had opened the slider again. Cursing himself, he remembered not hearing him walk away from his door. “Just trying to scratch an itch, that’s all.” He lied, smiling sheepishly.

The gryphon opened the door and walked in wielding a large spear, tipped with an obsidian arrowhead. “An itch, huh? I think I can help you with that.” Taking his spear, he smacked the pony across the face with the blunt side of the arrowhead, causing him to fall on his side. “There, is the itch gone yet?”

Struggling to stand back up, he felt another bruise coming on as he nodded slowly, glaring at the ground. “Yes.”

“Good, don’t let me catch you with any more... Itches again.” Laughing, he puts his bonds back in place and tightened them even more, before slamming the door shut and walking away.

Lightning slumped against the bed, tired just from getting back up. He didn’t know how long he’s been in here and the amount of sleep from falling unconscious and endless interrogations didn’t help either. Closing his eyes, he fell sleep from sheer exhaustion.

“Get up you lazy pony!”

Lightning felt something poking his flank as he lifted his head, looking through the drowsiness of half-open eyes. Another gryphon had come to his cell, most likely to take him to another interrogation session. He felt his bonds gone as he held a moment of bliss being able to stretch his hooves.

“I said up, get up!” The gryphon poked his flank again, almost drawing blood.

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” Slowly getting up off the floor, he begrudgingly followed the gryphon. The detention center was a nightmare outside. Cells lined the walls three stories high, crying could be heard as he passed by them and screams were coming from deeper inside the facility. He wanted to be angry and rebel, but they kept a close watch on their prisoners and he wasn’t fit for fighting. The interrogations were held in block D, north of the holding cells, which is block C; he didn’t know what was in blocks A and B, but it couldn’t be any better than here.

The gryphon escorting him stood at attention next to the door leading to Block D. “Have fun, little pony.” She laughed as Lightning went through the wooden door cautiously.

The entirety of Block D was one large mass of cubicals, each one fitted with windows for watching in privacy and a single chair with a table for the interrogatee. He watched as a teal unicorn was dragged past him, unconscious and bruised, back to Block C.

He simmered in anger. “How can they get away with this without punishment? Do they not know the pacts of war on how to treat prisoners?”

A formal tone broke the silence. “Lightning Spark, is it?”

Looking toward the doorway the teal unicorn just came from, a gryphon wearing a white coat motioned him over.

He glanced at the guards standing around the hallway who glared back at him to get moving. Sighing, he walked over and stopped in front of the coated gryphon.

“Let’s see... “ He had a clipboard out as he casually gleaned over his earlier interrogations and information gained. “Lightning Spark, Leader of pegasus Wing One, Serial Number LRAF 32582...” The way his brow scrunched as he read out loud next made the pegasus chuckle inside. “... Favorite snack is chocolate chip coo--who the flock interrogated you?” He was certainly not amused with this information.

Lightning Spark shrugged as he joked. “A gryphon that was hungry?”

“Well I am not hungry, nor incompetent enough to write such trivial information.” He ripped the interrogation report from the clipboard and crumpled it, before throwing it over his shoulder, unintentionally beaning a guard in the face. “Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation?” He pointed a talon toward the room.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Heavily sighing, Lightning trudged inside and steeled his mind for what was about to happen next. He plopped down in the chair with his fore-hooves on the table, blankly staring at the “mirror” across from him. The gryphon who was his third interrogator, paced in front of him for a moment.

“Mr. Spark, please tell me what you plan to gain with all this... Stubborness?” He frowned when he didn’t get a response. “You’re in one of the most high-security detention centers known to ponies and gryphons alike.” He whispered in his ear as he walked around in back of him. “There is no hope for you here except to tell us everything you know about the LRAF.”

Lightning stared at the reflective glass ahead of him and repeated what he told the other interrogators. “My name is Lightning Spark, Leader of 1st pegasus Wing, Serial Numb--” The clipboard the gryphon was carrying slapped against the table, making him flinch slightly, but he continued. “--er 32582.”

“I already know that, you dolt!” Snapping at him as he glared at Lightning from across the table, his talons firmly gripped to it. “You will obey my requests or I will use force.”

A slight chill went down the pony’s spine as he remembered the last beating he received. They used riding crops and were hitting so hard they were snapping in half, but he didn’t break and he didn’t plan to now. He decided to finally say something so profound it blew the gryphon’s mind. “No.”

Pulling out a small radio from his coat pocket, he pressed a button. “Bonebeak, come here please.”

The door to Lightning’s right opened up as a huge Gryphon entered the room, brimming with muscle. His voice was slightly agitated and held a strange accent. “What do you want? I was about to enjoy snapping unicorn’s horn off.”

“This one refuses to speak no matter what I tell him. Why don’t you... Have a go at him.” He smiled.

After not being stuffed and binded inside a cell for so long, Lightning could feel his strength and senses slowly coming back. His body tensed as he felt an inhale of breath as the bulky gryphon took a whiff of him. “What the hay is he doing?”

“Hm, you not scared, not even bit.” He sniffed again. “I smell defiance... Stubborness? You will be interesting foe to break, little pony.” He was about to take another smell, when he felt a hoof connect with his bottom beak, cracking it.

“I swear to Luna, that was the creepiest thing I’ve ever had to experience.” Lightning jumped away from the chair and was in a defensive stance, his hooves spread out to dodge.

“Little pony, your bravery is admirable, but do you think to defeat Bonebeak? That only brings me laughter.” Using his wings, he sprung forward, swiping a talon for Lightning’s throat. “Die!” Lightning jumped backwards, easily dodging the attack, but felt his strength drain quickly.

“I need to finish this soon.” He mused grimly.

“Careful, you idiot! I prefer to keep him alive!” The coated gryphon yelled.

“Quiet, Gilford. Let this one enjoy his prey.” Bonebeak threw the chair at Lightning and readied himself to pounce where he was going to dodge. “You are mine!” he pounced at the pony as Lightning jumped away from the chair. The pony awarded him with a buck to the beak as Lightning used his fore-hooves to bounce back toward the gryphon; hitting the same spot where his beak had cracked, snapping it off entirely.

The wail of pain that echoed in the room caused every one to flinch in pain. Guards entered the room only to be angrily shoved away as Bonebeak left the room, his beak still on the floor. Staring dumbly at the beak, Lightning felt his hooves go weak as he slumped to the floor.

“He... Should have... Stopped smelling me.” He said between gulps of air.

Gilford also stared at the beak before looking at the guards behind him. Lightning couldn’t hear him, but they immediately rushed to do whatever he ordered. Brushing and straightening his coat haughtily, he glared at him.

“That was most impressive Mr. Spark, but as you see I still have... Shall we say, an Ace up my sleeve.” Lightning rolled his eyes at the cliché bad guy saying.

“You brought this upon yourself after all,” he finished with a snap of his talon. The door opened as two gryphons roughly brought in an unconscious pony with a bag over its head. Walking over to the pony, he held its head as if it was his own child. “It’s very interesting what one can do with a name. When we told this one you were here, she demanded to see you. I’m sure you might recognise her, Mr. Spark.” Reaching for the wool bag, he pulled it off.

Lightning’s felt goosebumps all over as his steeled mind melted. In front of him, laying on the floor unconscious was a light-red pony with blue mane; the same pony so long ago he thought dead... Mist Dancer.

“Start Talking Mr. Spark. Or I might have to hurt your little friend here.”

Chapter 3

Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash rolled to dodge a spotlight as she continued her descent toward Stalliongrad’s Detention Center. The goggles she received from the armory easily let her spot the guards on the roof. Most of them were busy watching around the side of the building for intruders, not noticing her in the air. Silently landing on the building, she dove in the darker shadow of two large air conditioners as a gryphon patrolled by.

“Come on, focus Rainbow. Remember your hoof-to-hoof training.” Peeking around the corner, she spotted the guard had stopped next to the doorway leading downstairs, Its back pointed toward her.
“Really? Just my luck.” Putting out a hoof, the gravel on the roof made a soft crackle, but the loud whirring coming from the air conditioners easily drowned it out. Slowly sneaking behind the gryphon, she lunged for Its neck, twisting as hard as she could.

The way the body suddenly sagged under her hooves gave her mixed emotions of triumph and queasiness. Dragging the body behind the air conditioners, she got a better look at the guard. He wore a dark green vest with several front pockets; his pistol was still holstered. Checking the vest for anything useful, she felt something jingle. Opening the flap, she found a small key-chain with two keys on it; one of them was conveniently labeled “Rooftop Entrance”.

“I take that back, I like my luck.”

Cautiously reaching the door, she found the key fit perfectly. Quickly entering before some pony spotted her, she quietly closed the door behind her and slumped against it. Pulling her goggles up to her forehead, she looked at her new surroundings. She was standing in a white-painted spiral stairwell; on a nearby wall, the number three showed she was on the third floor. She scrunched her face in distaste.

“With how big the building looked while flying here... This might take a while.” A sudden burst of static from a nearby speaker nearly scared the cutie mark off of her flank.

“Attention! guards needed in block D. Uncooperative pony is in need of detainment.” With a click, the intercom turned off.

“Well, at least I have an idea where he might be.” Going down to the first floor, she stopped in front of a door leading deeper into the building. Pressing down the metal bar slowly, she poked her head through the small opening. The empty hallway was dark, only several light fixtures that flickered gave off any light. This part of the building seemed abandoned, paint flaked off the walls and the floor had spots missing tile. Putting her goggles back on, she snuck against the wall, trying to look as small as possible. Upon reaching a four-way cross-section, she threw a glance each way. To the left was another empty hallway, in front a simple door, and to the right were metal double doors. Trying her luck she turned right toward the metal double doors; the faint sound of conversation came from the other side. Very carefully pushing it open, she lifted her goggles and peered through the crack of light she made.

An anger welled up inside her as she saw a cafeteria packed with ponies who had been captured. Up above, a gryphon carefully watched the mass for any trouble-makers. The room was bright with florescent light, making sneaking impossible. Hastily slipping inside and staying behind a low wall, she scanned the room for more enemies. She counted at least four, plus a bored cook as she served some nasty smelling slop which Rainbow could smell from here.

“If I attack one, the others will likely try to set off the alarm.” A crazy idea popped in her head, one she hoped would work. Looking around the low wall, she tried to get some pony’s attention. “Psst! psst!” Finally catching a glance from a brown earth pony, his eyes widened when he noticed the dark figure. She did her best to mouth what she was trying to say. “Spread the word, start a food fight to distract the guards.”

The winged stallion peered closely, having trouble trying to see what she was trying to convey, but finally understood. Leaning toward the pony next to him, he whispered the message for it to be passed along. After several minutes of waiting for the message to spread, suddenly a voice yelled out in the cafeteria. A blue unicorn jumped on a table, his tray in one hoof as he threw it at one of the guards. “Food fight!”

Every pony threw their trays at the four guards, covering them in the disgusting smelling slop. Springing out of cover, Rainbow Dash leaped toward the nearest guard who was about to assault a prisoner. Flying above the gryphon and spinning around, she bucked the back of his head, causing him to fall unconscious. Several cheers could be heard as she continued to the next guard, grabbing the slop covered neck, she wrestled against the guard before snapping it. “Still effective,” she noticed grimly, still feeling queasy doing it. Several prisoners joined in fighting as they pony-piled on one of the guards, holding it down by sheer numbers. The last gryphon made a bee-line for the alarm, but Rainbow Dash was faster and managed to slam the guard over a table as prisoners piled on top of him also.

As the battle died down, the prisoners immediately began to free their wings and horns from their bindings and anti-magic covers. The earth pony who spread the word to start the food fight walked up to Rainbow Dash, a shocked look on his face. “Y-You’re Rainbow Dash! I know that mane anywhere!” The other ponies had gathered around, noticing as well and gave thanks and generally gushed at meeting her. Rainbow dash eagerly soaked up the spotlight. “What are you doing here?”

She snapped out of her ego-trip. “I’m actually here to find a pilot named Lightning Spark, do you know where I could find him?”

The male pony shook his head. “Can’t say I’ve heard the name, but if I had to guess, he’s either being questioned in Block D, or in his cell at Block C. You can reach both blocks by going through that door.” He pointed at another set of double doors across the room. “But you’ll have to go through Block C, and it’s full of more guards.” A grin crept on his face. “Need help?”

The stealth mission had turned into an all out brawl as ponies who were able to fight in the cafeteria joined Rainbow Dash to re-take Block C. The gryphons were lightly armed with spears and pistols, which were easily wrenched from their talons with the help of unicorn magic. It didn’t surprise any pony that the alarm was blaring as the entire Detention Center was now at full alert. Half of the prisoners agreed to stay behind in Block C to hold off any gryphons and open the remaining cells while Rainbow Dash, along with the other half of prisoners, stood in front of the doorway leading to Block D.

“I’ll enter here, the rest of you go around and direct them away from me so I can find Lightning Spark.” Recieving a mix of nods and enthusiastic cheers, they ran in another direction while she opened the door and slipped silently through.

Lightning Spark stood still as stone, his eyes watching Gilford’s talon fearfully as he brushed Mist’s mane; even him touching her like that made it hard to stifle his anger. “Fine, what do you want to know?” He said between his teeth. “Just don’t hurt her.”

The gryphon grinned as his mood perked up considerably. “Just what I wanted to hear. Are you familiar with the project created by Celestia a year ago, when technology was at its peak before the war?”

“Yes, project Alicorn... What about it?” He cautiously asked.

“It’s said to grant one the powers of an alicorn through transferring a portion of it’s own essence to another; thereby creating a second, weaker form. I found it an interesting subject to share with my queen and she agreed to create this detention center for me to find information on how it works.”

Lightning laughed, even in this situation he found the entire idea hilarious. “So let me get this straight, you interrogate unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasai to find information on Alicorns? You might want to double-check your notes, you’re wasting your time.”

“And you need to study more on what they are.” Throwing an annoyed look at Lightning. “They embody the three... Lesser ponies so to speak, meaning your kind has a third of the secret to becoming an alicorn. Now tell me the same that Mist told you, word for word.”

“What are you talking about? Mist has been uncon--”

“No! your friend imparted a special saying to you in the past. Something strange that didn’t make sense when you first heard it. A secret word or sequence is hidden in each sentence, one given to each of your kind that unlocks the ability for an alicorn to transfer her power. With or without their consent, if I may add. I have already acquired the Earth Pony and Unicorn sayings, that just leaves... You.”

“Well, I don’t know--” Lightning started a lie, only to be cut short.

“You dolt, she already told me about passing it on to you. The only reason I’m asking you is because she refuses to speak for herself.” Turning his attention toward Mist, he rubbed a talon against her cheek. “And seeing how weak-willed you are when she’s in danger... I was hoping you would tell me.”

“I’ll tell you... Only if you hand over Mist.”

Gilford looked up, an amused expression on his face. “You have no right to bargain, pony.”

“You’re right, I don’t, but where can I go? Like you said, I’m stuck inside here forever. Let me... Hold her at least once, at least let me have that.” He pleaded.

“Hmph, very well.” Dropping Mist’s limp body to the floor, he backed toward the doorway. Stepping forward, Lightning sat on his haunches to pick her up off the floor; to his surprise she slightly stirred in his hooves.

“Well? What did she tell you?” He impatiently waited, tapping a talon on his shoulder as he sat upright with his arms crossed.

Looking down at her, he suddenly felt at peace as he repeated the saying. “With our wings we fly, but through our hearts will others soar.” He hugged her closer. “I failed to protect you in the past, Mist. I don’t know how you survived the plane crash, but I will not pass up this second chance to be with you.” He pressed his forehead against hers, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I love you.”

Suddenly the room turned red as alarms blared throughout the Detention Center. Gilford glanced outside as a guard appeared near the doorway.

“Mr. Gilford, we need to leave. The prisoners are uprising against us and they’ll be swarming in here shortly.”

Looking down at the two ponies, Gilford grimaced. “Very well... but take care of these two, they know too much for their own good.”

The guard pointed his spear at Lightning who Raised his head, glaring up at the guard through furious, tear-stained eyes that would make Fluttershy faint. His gaze meant only one thing:

You shall not take her away from me.

The guard froze in place, wide-eyed in shock. Suddenly a black figure came from behind and wrapped a hoof around the guard’s neck. Struggling to pull the figure off, he slowly went limp as his lack of air knocked him unconscious. Breaking off from the body, the figure stopped in front of the two other ponies on the ground.

His eyes softened as he looked at the dark figure.Seeing the rainbow mane and tail sticking out, he let out a small grin. “Hello Rainbow Dash.”

“Thank Celestia I found you! I’ve come to get you the hay out of here!” Her head tipped down, looking at the pony he was holding. “Is that who I think it is?” Lightning nodded, stroking Mist’s frazzled, blue mane.

“We need to get out of here. Do you have transportation away from this Luna forsaken place?”

“I have a helicopter waiting for us outside of Stalliongrad. I can give her a yell to meet up with us on the rooftop.”

“Please do.” Slowly placing Mist on the ground, he slowly stood up. “Do you think you can carry her? I’m weak enough as is.” Rainbow nodded before kneeling down to roll Mist on her back. Standing back up, she trotted out the door with Lightning following next to her. As they walked down the hallway, they both watched as ponies ran everywhere, searching for stray threats or friends in trouble. Several threw a cheer at Rainbow Dash as they ran by, which she returned gladly. “Uhh... Rainbow, what did you do?”

“Oh, just a little uprising to tidy the place up,” letting out a cheeky smile. “Too much gryphon, not enough pony.” Upon reaching Block C, cheers and hollers of victory welcomed her back; the Detention center was finally taken over and every pony was free.

“I hope you have enough helicopters for all these prisoners, Rainbow.” Lightning stared up at the ponies cheering on the railings.

“That won’t be necessary.” A brown earth pony greeted them both. “The gryphons only controlled the detention center. Now with it under pony control, the rest of Stalliongrad will rise up as well.” He smiled at the both-of-them. “You made a lot of friends this day, Rainbow Dash. We hope you will accept us to fight alongside you and the LRAF against the gryphons.”

“Heh, that’s not my call, but I would be honored for you all to join us. I’ll tell Luna about what happened here when we return to base.” Shaking each others hooves, they left Block C, backtracking the way she snuck in. Quickly trotting up the stairs toward the rooftop, Rainbow relaxed upon seeing the guards were gone, leaving the three of them alone. “Give me a second while I radio spring.” Gently setting Mist down on a metal box, she walked away to call for transportation. “This is Pegasus two, to Spring Heart. Are you there, Spring?” No response came, so she tried again. “Spring Heart come in, this is Pegasus Two ready for extraction! where the hay are you?”

A yawn came from her earpiece. “Yeah, yeah I hear ya. Didn’t think you would finish so quickly! I look forward to hearing how you did it.”

“Just get your flank over here, I’m tired as buck and just want to go back to bed.”

Spring chuckled. “Yeah, aren’t we all. I’ll be there soon so hang tight.”
A minute later, the sound of helicopter blades could be heard coming from the south. Circling around the building once, Spring found a landing spot near the northern edge of the roof. Rainbow Dash picked up Mist once more and walked over to roll her on the helicopter. Spring carefully settled her in one of the seats, strapping her in safely while Rainbow and Lightning jumped inside. Strapping himself in next to Mist, Lightning wrapped a hoof around hers as if she was going to fall out if he didn’t. Spring glanced at the two lovers and blushed a bit before turning around back to the cockpit. Rainbow joined her, settling in the co-pilot seat. Flicking several switches and pulling on the control stick, they lifted off into the night.

“Wake me up when we get to the base, I’m going to take a nap.” Rainbow Dash leaned her head back and quickly fell asleep, today’s mission finally wearing her out. Lightning looked at Mist with half-lidded eyes, mostly out of dreamily looking at the mare next to him than being tired. He still couldn’t believe she was still alive and feared he might be dreaming. Fixing his grip on her hoof, he accidental tugged it, causing her head to lean against his shoulder. He tensed up as his heart beat immediately quickened. She must’ve heard he heartbeat and on instinct, snuggled closer. That didn’t help his blood pressure at all. Looking down at her and seeing how happy she looked, he relaxed. Exhaustion finally wash over him; leaning his head over hers, he quickly dozed off.

“Good night, Mist.”

Chapter 4

“You sure you want to relax in this dump?” Gilda peered at several ponies who were staring at the two gryphon pilots on vacation. After the queen gave the order to take several days off, they packed lightly and flew their jets to Talon AFB, located just outside of Ponyville. They checked in at a tavern called “The Golden Apple”, known for not having prejudice against gryphons.

Several pilots were already checked in when they got there. They immediately knew who they were and asked questions about their previous flights. One pilot hit on Gilda, but only managed to receive a punch to the beak, which quickly disheartened the others from trying. Razorwing kept telling her to relax and enjoy herself, but all this place did was bring up bad memories of a certain rainbow maned pegasus.

Razorwing was busy buying several long silvery trout. Throwing several bits the sellers way, he returned to her side. The fish vendor was a new addition to Ponyville after the gryphon kingdoms took over. What most ponies didn’t know was gryphons really disliked the taste of pony. The abundance of gossip about the subject didn’t help with trying to calm any pony from their beliefs. Snapping up one of the fish, he smiled at Gilda.

“This place is not a dump, my friend. I’ve heard good things about this quaint little town. You just need to warm up to it.” Throwing another fish to snap up, another talon grabbed it out of the air.

Gilda held the fish up and lightly smacked him on the beak. “I already told you, I’ve been here before and didn’t like it then. What makes you think I’ll like it now?”

Sighing, he stopped to fully look at her. “Why must you be so close minded, Gilda? Not all ponies are bad. Have you spoke to the bartender at the tavern we stay at? He’s quite the talkative one.” Gilda didn’t say anything and just kept walking, leaving Razorwing alone in the marketplace. She kept walking until she reached the town limits. Looking to the sky, she spotted Rainbow Dash’s cloud house, still in good condition.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this.

Flying up to the front door, she hesitated to knock. "What am I doing? It's not like she lives in this place anymore.“ Pushing the door open, she walked inside the living room.

“Hey gilda! what’s up?”

Hearing the familiar greeting Rainbow usually gave her in the past, she looked around the room, but didn’t see any one with herself. “Great, now I’m hearing voices.” She rubbed a talon across her face in agitation. The place seemed untouched, except a fancy rainbow styled dress and several magazines littered the floor. A trophy case was displayed on a wall to her left, filled to the brim with a variety of trophies. Examining several of the awards, she stopped to eye a photograph among them. It was Rainbow Dash and herself posing with the rest of their class in Junior Speedster Flight Camp. She was giving her a noogie just when the camera flashed, making them seem out-of-place. On reflex, she looked at the same talon she used to give the noogie, flexing it slowly.

“Was I really that bad of a friend, Dash?” The nostalgia was starting to get too much as she started to get misty eyed. Rubbing away the tears, she replaced the sadness growing in her heart with anger. Clenching her fist, she punched the trophy case and smashed the picture inside. The glass from the photo and case, cut into her fist and arm, but she didn’t care, the anger easily overwhelmed the pain.

Going over to the kitchen, she washed her hand to clean out any specks of glass and small amount of blood that seeped out. Throwing ice-cold water on her face, she roughly dried her hand and face with a small towel hanging on a rack. She was about to leave it on the ground, but decided instead to neatly hang it back up. Leaving her once-best-friend’s house, she shut the door. "Why did I go in there? Was I hoping to find something? Shaking her head, she dove off the side of the cloud, back toward ponyville.

The day had gone by rather quickly as the sun began to set. “The golden Apple” was packed with customers, gryphon and pony alike. Razorwing had taken a booth in the corner with three other pilots and shared several stories about where they were from and what they might do when the war was over. He spotted Gilda enter the tavern and motioned her over to join him, but she just gave a head shake before heading upstairs.

“Is she OK, Razorwing? Usually she’s all... Angry.” The gryphon to his left, Cloudcutter, asked.

Letting out a sigh, he set down his mug of cider. “If you want to find out, by all means, go right ahead.” He was starting to get worried if Gilda was really all right. She was a tough gryphon to break under stress, but recently he started to have doubts.

All the pilots exchanged looked at each other. “Uh... I’m sure she’s fine.” Clyde, a gryphon sitting on the other end of the booth said nervously.

A female gryphon sitting right next to him decided to play it smart and quickly change the subject. “So, Razorwing, is it true you play the guitar on your free time?” Sylph asked, her talons holding her head; her eyes held a sultry gaze toward him.

Ever since he came to Ponyville, she always had that dreamy look on her face when they ran into each other. He found it rather annoying, but kept his opinions to himself. That's not to say he didn't enjoy the attention of a female, but right now the war crushed such things. Nodding his head, he took a sip from his mug of cider.

“Yes, before I was old enough to join the service, I found music a favorite hobby of mine. I haven’t played it in so long, I’m probably out of practice.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that wide smile on her face. “Here it comes... “

“Well, why don’t you play us a song or two?” Clyde suggested, which surprised Razorwing slightly, expecting Sylph to say it first.

Razorwing sighed, motioning for Clyde to let him out of the booth to go upstairs. Stopping in front of the door nearest the stairway to the right, he knocked on it, knowing Gilda was probably in there. After no response from a second knock, he turned the doorknob and walked in. The room was dark, but the hallway light let him see Gilda fast asleep on her bed in front of him. She didn't even bother to go under the covers and flopped on the bed.

Not wishing to wake her up, he quietly pushed the dufflebag out from under his bed and reached under. Feeling his talon bump against something, he grabbed on and gently pulled out his acoustic guitar. Pushing the dufflebag back under, he started to go downstairs, but stopped at the small hallway in their room. Gilda began muttering in her sleep.

“... I wish... Cool as you... Dashie... “

Razorwing smiled and quietly closed the door, leaving his friend to dream. Heading back downstairs the other pilots greeted him back. The booth didn’t have enough room for him to play so he grabbed a stool and sat in front of the group. Putting his arms across the guitar in his lap, he eyed the group of pilots. “So, what should I play first?” He listed off a couple of songs he remembered, but no one seemed to like them.

“Didn’t know my fellow hunters in the air were so... Picky,” he frowned. The bell from the tavern doorway rang as some pony entered. It wasn’t the bell that interested him, but the noise coming from outside. Placing his guitar down on the stool, he opened the door again to find two fillies putting on a show in front of the tavern. The white one was singing beautifully, while the orange one had a harmonica in her hooves. Both of them suddenly stopped and went wide-eyed upon seeing him stare down at them.

The orange pegasus filly with a short, purple mane spoke up first. “I’m sorry, we both didn’t mean to... “ She stuttered. “We were just trying to get our cutie marks and make some money. We’ll go someplace else, come on Sweetie Belle.” The two fillies started to get up and leave.

Razorwing held up a claw to stop them. “Wait, I didn’t mean to scare either of you. I was just curious, where did you learn that tune? I haven’t played that song in a long time.”

The white filly with a purple and pink mane visibly perked up, but warily watch his claw. “Scootaloo and I learned it from a strange cowpony that came to town a month ago. He didn’t say much, just gave Scootaloo this harmonica and the lyrics; said to never give up trying. While we still haven’t gotten our cutie marks playing the song, it’s kinda relaxing.” Scootaloo agreed, nodding her head.

Smiling, an idea for came up. “I was about to play my guitar inside, but no songs could be agreed upon. Would you both care to join me inside for a trio?”

“Idunno... “ She eyed Razorwing warily. “You promise not to eat us up when we’re not looking?”

Slightly offended, he puffed out his chest. “I don’t eat ponies, little one.”

“I told you that gossip Rarity keeps telling you isn’t true!” Scootaloo whispered.

Giving an exasperated glance at her friend, she looked back at Razorwing. “Fine.”

Sweetie Belle went inside first while the gryphon kept the door open for the little fillies. Snickering could be heard coming from the booth his fellow pilots were sitting, but he ignoring them. Grabbing two more stools, he placed them next to his. As the two fillies jumped up, he sat down in the middle, tweaking his guitar. “Forgive me, if I’m a bit rusty. I haven’t played this thing in a long time.”

When they began, the entire tavern went silent; all eyes stared at Razorwing, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The song started off awkward at first, but slowly they started to synchronize as one.

Your hooves upon
A deadpony's gun and you're
Looking down the sights
Your heart is worn,
And the seams are torn
And they've given you reason to fight...

And you're not gonna take what they've got to give
And you not gonna let them take your will to live
Because they've taken enough and you've given them all you can give
And luck won't save them tonight
They've given you reason to fight

And all the storms you've been chasing
About to rain down tonight
And all the pain you've been facin'
About to comin' to the light

Your hooves upon
A deadpony's gun and you're looking down the sights
Your heart is worn,
And the seams are torn
And they've given you reason to fight.

And all the storms you've been chasing
About to rain down tonight
And all the pain you've been facin'
About to comin' to the light

As the last note slowly died out, Razorwing glanced around the room. Silent tears ran down the cheeks of gryphons and ponies alike; the bartender had stopped cleaning glasses to listen as well. In front of him, his fellow pilots had their mouths hanging open in amazement.

“You think they liked it?” Scootaloo whispered.

A single cheer came from behind them, followed by a loud uproar as the packed-to-the-brim tavern broke out of the trance the song gave.

“Yeah... Yeah, I think they did.” Razorwing smiled.

As night slowly fell over Ponyville, the customers thanked Razorwing and the fillies for an amazing performance. Before each of them left, they threw bits into a bucket the bartender let them borrow. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gaped at the amount of bits they earned and thanked Razorwing for letting them perform together.

“Not a problem, I had as much fun as you two.” Helping with keeping the door open, he watched the fillies balance the heavy bucket on their backs and leave the tavern. Letting out a content sigh, he went back to the corner booth and sat down. Seeing the empty mug left when he picked up his guitar, he casually spun it in place on the wood table. The creak of floorboards made him look up as he noticed Gilda had come back down and sat down at the end of the booth. The sullen expression she had, kept his mouth shut as he crossed his arms; waiting for her to speak.

"Your performance woke me up." She grumped

"Sorry," he apologized. "It was a good song though, every one in the tavern enjoyed it."

Gilda shrugged. "It was all right, I guess."

Rubbing his arms slightly in thought, he sighed. "I'm not one for drama, but this--"

“I know what you're going to say Razorwing. I've been acting a bit weird ever since we've been in Ponyville and you at least deserve to know why."

Nodding, he leaned back in his seat. "You read my mind, Gilda."

Taking a deep breath, she let it all out. She explained who Rainbow Dash was; what happened in Ponyville and the party where she lost her best friend; why she joined the Gryphon Army and to seek revenge at Rainbow Dash; and finally her visit to Rainbow Dash's house and that it may be her fault they seperated.

After she finished, the bar was silent except the slight squeak of the bartender cleaning mugs; serving the sparse amount of customers still awake. Razorwing decided to finally break the suffocating awkwardness.

"That's quite a lot to take in and to be honest, I'm flattered you decided to tell me this. Although I don't know why."

"You're the only one down here who had a chance of actually caring." She joked, chuckling lightly." She looked at the several ponies still in the bar casually.

"I always listen to any problems my fellow hunters have. Distractions just get in the way during flights."

“Mind if I ask you something?"

He rolled his eyes. "Gilda, were you not listening when you first joined Feather Squadron? It's an open door's policy. So by all means, speak your mind."

"Why did you join the Gryphon Air Force?"

Relaxing a bit, he sat back. It was an easy enough question. “To serve the queen of course. I’ve always been loyal to our monarch ever since I became old enough to fight.” He cocked is head to the side, interested where she was going with this.

“So you’re loyal to Queen Steelfeather. Not our recent queen, Goldwing?”

“I’m loyal to whoever holds the crown, Gilda.” Leaning his arms on the table again, he looked at her. “Why? What is this all about?” He noticed her fidgeting and felt she was slowly showing another side of herself he's never seen before.

“I’m... I’m having doubts about this war. Like I said, I only joined because of my anger toward Rainbow Dash and that was so long ago.” The plumes on the top of her head hid her face, but he could hear the sadness in her voice. “She made a fool out of me, Razorwing. I hated her so much, but after thinking about it for so long, I'm starting to finally realize... It was all my fault. I wanted to impress her by being cooler than her, but all I did was make myself look like a big jerk.” She stayed silent while Razorwing thoughtfully rolled his jaw, having trouble knowing what to say. He let out a sigh.

“By the queen, I’m not good at this sappy stuff... “

“What you did in the past doesn’t matter... " He narrowed his brow when she looked away, trying to hide her crying. "Gilda, I know you’re crying and I’m not going to judge you over it. Now please, look at me.”

Lifting her head, Razorwing got a good at her. The usual mask she wore when acting “cool” was long gone; the Gilda hiding under it was broken and bitter. “You need to face Rainbow Dash again and ask for her forgiveness, Gilda. I hate seeing you like this." He felt the need to hold her talons in his, but felt she wouldn't accept the gesture. "I’m going to ask you something and I want the queen’s honest truth.” He looking her dead in the eye and she didn't look away. ”Do you not want to be a part of Feather Squadron any longer?”

The question stabbed at her pride, but that was long gone when she came down and fell apart in front of him. Nodding her head, she turned away, not wanting to see his reaction for her decision.

“I see... While this isn’t a formal discharge, it is still within my power to do so.” Getting up from the booth, he walked next to Gilda, his palm displayed in front of her. “Your badge, please.” Still looking away from him, she ripped the badge from her flight-suit and dropped it into his palm. Looking at the small golden feather, he closed it around his fist. “As leader of Feather Squadron of the Gryphon Kingdoms, you are hereby... Discharged.”

The bartender was wise to keep his business to himself and focused on cleaning the place, his back turned away from the two pilots. Gilda flinched at the last word, but said nothing. Putting her head on the table, she covering it with her arms. Seeing it as a sign to leave her alone, he went back upstairs. Before he did, he looked at her one more time, sadness obvious on his face.

“I’m so sorry, Gilda.”

Gilford walked through the white hallways of Canterlot Castle, toward a large ante-chamber. Flanking him were two gryphons in silver ceremonial armor, covered in gold filigree. The steel polearms they carried had the same look, but it was all for show anyway. Reaching the large room ahead, he spotted Queen Goldwing pacing back and forth in front of two large copper doors. Her assistant, Bluntbeak, looked ready to pass out.

“Your sense of time is atrocious, Bluntbeak!” The queen yelled, obviously mad at him yet again. “I was having a nice, formal dinner with several of the--might I be so bold--handsome generals when you show up and ruin it. He better be here soon, or I swear I’ll--” Her rant was cut short as Gilford decided to come to his rescue by letting out a loud cough.

“Good Evening, my queen.” He did a overly-flourished bow, which brought a smile to her face.

“Ah, hello Mr. Gilford.” Straightening herself from her previous bout of anger. “How was your stay at the detention center? I hope you took it to your liking?”

“It was fun while it lasted.” Letting out a coy smile.

“What are you talking about? That place is nearly impenetrable. You can’t say we lost Stalliongrad.” She laughed at the thought. Looking at the smile the gryphon was still giving her, she frowned. “Well at least tell me you got what you needed from there.” A hopeful look in her eye.

Nodding slowly, he pulled out a small notebook from his coat pocket and handed it to her. Taking it gently and opening it, a wicked grin formed on her face. If she received word that the entire gryphon kingdom had exploded, that wouldn’t have stopped the laugh she produced. It echoed though the entire castle, sending shivers down every gryphons spine.

“Most excellent, Mr. gilford. I should have you become my new assistant!” Throwing a look at Bluntbeak which made him cower. “We shall begin immediately!” Walking toward the double copper doors behind her, she ordered the guards next to them to throw them open. Behind the doors was a simple circular room. The floor had several glowing runes carved around a gloomy pillar of darkness in the center of the room. Reaching the entryway into the room, several gryphons were hard at work keeping the runes from failing. Goldwing walked up to one of the gryphon runemasters and cleared her throat.

“You have returned, my Queen. Have you brought the three secrets to complete the pact?” Not taking his eyes off the rune. His voice sounded hoarse, yet he did not slump or show any sign of fatigue.

“Yes, yes. I brought it.” Waving the notebook in the air, the rune-master smiled.

“Then we may begin.” Releasing his hold on the rune, its power slowly faded away. The other gryphons followed suit, causing the pillar of dark to fade away also. “I suggest we begin while it is still dark. We wouldn’t want to have the princess gather strength under the sun again.”

All the gryphons looked at the tall white Alicorn slumping in chains. Her once flowing colorful mane around her hooves in a puddle, it’s vibrancy long gone. Opening her eyes, she got up and looked at them, a mix of defiance and sadness in her eyes.

Looking at the small notebook, Goldwing felt her heartbeat increase. “Soon I will have my wings back. Soon... I will become the most powerful queen in the known world!”

Chapter 6

Lightning’s eyes cracked open as he took in his surroundings. He was still in bed, with Mist Chaser still snuggled against his chest. The sunlight through the blinds meant it was still daylight. Looking at the small radio, it showed the time was 1:30 P.M.

“Oh good, it wasn’t another hallucination.”

He wasn’t sure why Mist suddenly started getting comfortable being with him, not that he was complaining. She usually turned down any intimacy he showed and pushed him away until the war ended. He could only guess Mist changed after what happened at the detention center.

Snuggling closer to Mist, he felt he could lie here forever. That wasn’t going to happen to his disappointment. He watched Mist sleepily wiggle under his right fore-hoof, trying to turn on her stomach. Lifting his hoof, she succeeded and looked at him in the slightly lit room.

“Mmm... Morning.” She rubbed her closed eyes for a bit, trying to get rid of the sleep.

“Morning?” Lightning chuckled. “It’s the afternoon, half-hour past one to be exact.”

Laughing a bit at what she said, Mist got off the bed and stretched. “That was probably the best sleep I’ve had in quite awhile.”

“Agreed!” His mind still feeling a bit foggy as he also got up from the bed, stretching his limbs. “Ooh... yeah that feels good.” After popping several joints and relatively waking himself up, he opened the blinds to look outside. He regretted doing that as he was momentarily blinded.

The window was facing the runways and jet hangers, giving a clear view of this afternoon’s group of jets taking off. Lightning watched each one race down the runway, before lifting off toward the sky.

Mist poked his flank with a hoof. “Come on, let’s head to the cafeteria. I could really use a cup of coffee.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned around toward Mist. “After what has been happening over these past few days? I’ll take five cups, extra strong of course.”

Opening the door, they both trotted out and made their way toward the cafeteria. He was slightly disappointed when he got there. He was craving breakfast, pancakes and hay bacon to be exact. Too bad it was lunch time. ”Maybe tomorrow,” he pouted.

Helping themselves to an array of lunch items, they found a small table and sat down across from each other. Mist had a delicious looking double-daisy sandwich with hay fries. He had grabbed a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup with toast, along with a red apple. The smell alone was daring him to dunk his head in the soup bowl.

Taking a bite of the juicy red apple, he almost lost his self-control there. Taking his time chewing, savoring the sweet flavor, he swallowed. “Yep, a lot better than the crap served at the detention center.”

Mist was busy munching on two hay fries when she looked up. “You can say that again.” Lifting her small cup of coffee and taking a sip, she washed down the food.

Looking down at the empty spot where the coffee should be, he frowned. “I forgot my coffee!” he yelled, getting odd stares at the ponies around him. Quickly getting up from the round table, he trotted back up to the kitchen. Helping himself to a mug, he went over to the hot drink dispenser.

A grey mare with blonde mane was busy trying to figure the machine out. A small size paper cup was resting under it, ready to catch any of the bitter consumable fuel to pour out. Scrunching her muzzle, she pressed several buttons. A low hum came from the machine as her cup was filled, then began to spill over. Lightning could only watch in horror as the coffee began covering the floor. The machine sputtered as the coffee came to a abrupt stop, running out of the precious fluid.

One of the kitchen assistants came out with a mop. While he quickly cleaned up the mess, the grey Pegasus began apologizing profusely. “I’m so sorry! I just don’t know what went wrong!” She turned around, looking at the pony in back of her. Her face was still scrunched up and one of her eyes slowly slid out of place. One looking at Lightning, while the other admired the ceiling.

Lightning felt his eye start to slide out of place and shook his head. “Whoa, that felt weird.”

“I’m so sorry mister!”

Calming his nerve not to yell at her, he sighed. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just get some hot chocolate instead.” Glancing at her flight-suit, he noticed the mobius symbol on her shoulder. He felt the hairs on his back stand up. “Oh my gods. It’s Mobius One!”

“Are you sure? You can have my coffee if you want.” She offered the cup, slightly spilling from being so full and without a plastic cover.

Lightning didn’t know what to say really, since he was in shock. He always admired what Mobius and Talisman did for Equestria; their actions were known everywhere. Though he never imagined one of Equestria’s top aces had a lame eye. He didn’t find it strange or horrifying, but surprising how a pony with no control of their eyes could be so good at flying. The thought only reinforced his admiration for this pony.

“It’s alright. You probably need it more than I anyway. Though may I ask your name?”

She smiled for being allowed to keep the coffee. “I’m Derpy! Though some call me by my call-sign, Mobius One.”

Watching her eyes slowly drift again, Lighting couldn’t help but find the mare adorable. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Derpy. If you’re not busy, would you like to meet my friend? I’m sure she would love to meet you.”

The mare stared at him for a bit before shaking her head and placing the cup on her head. “Sorry, got a secret mission I have to do. It’s from Luna herself!” She said excitedly. Quickly putting a hoof to her mouth, she realized she might have said too much. “Oops!” Spreading her wings, she took off.

Lightning watched in amazement as she perfectly balanced the coffee, not spilling a drop. Turning back around, he noticed the assistant had finished mopping the floor and put a floor sign. Walking around it, he looked over the list of small buttons on the hot drink machine.

Finding what he needed, he pressed “Small” then “Hot Chocolate”. Once again the hot drink dispenser whirred as his cup was filled to the brim, the smell of chocolate filling the air. Popping on a lid to prevent too much spilling, he took it and went back to his seat.

Mist Chaser was already done with her meal and was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. “Everything alright Lightning? Or did you have to wrestle the machine for each drop?”

“Yeah, just ran into... oh I don’t know... Mobius One.” Plopping down in his seat, he swore she teleported as she was sitting next to him now.

“Really!? I haven’t run into Derpy in a while now. It would be nice to see how she’s doing. Is she with you still?” She looked around the cafeteria.

“Nope. Said she had to do some special, super secret mission.” He chuckled, “not very secret now that I know of it.”

Smiling at him, she patted him on the shoulder. “I’m going to head out and meet up with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Busy munching on the apple, he spoke between bites. “See you later then. I’ll probably check on Rainbow Dash.” Waving goodbye, he dug into the bowl of soup, no spoon necessary.

Inside Luna’s war room, several officers discussed among each other. The room was covered in dark purples and blues. No windows could be seen, so the room was lit up with a single chandelier. The room was descent in size, able to host a small party. In the middle of the room was a large table with a map of the known world. A charcoal grey pony put his hooves on the table, looking at the Princess.

“Are you sure this is wise, Luna? Ponyville is dangerously close to Canterlot. If they send any reinforcements... ”

They have been planning this mission on Ponyville ever since the questioning with Lightning Spark was over. The plan was to send the best pilots they had to quickly take back the town, before Canterlot could act. Stalliongrad had a major part in this mission, by acting as a distraction. If everything went according to plan, Canterlots’ force’s will be too busy fighting off the attacks to their east; thus leaving Ponyville up for the taking.

“We are very aware of the dangers with this mission, Mr.Breezy, but these times are getting desperate. We only have two days to save... my sister.” She lowered her head, saddened at the thought.

Worry showed on Breezy Storm’s face. “Is everything alright, Princess Luna?”

Exhaling shakily as if crying, she responded. “No. We miss my sister very much. I would rather be on the moon for another thousand years, if it meant her freedom.”

The other officer’s in the room were too busy talking over the coming battle, not noticing Luna in slight distress. Breezy loudly cleared his throat and the others immediately stopped talking.

“Every pony misses her, Princess, but please do not lose yourself to this... depression. We will win this war, even if I have to go to the front-lines myself.” He stomped a hoof loudly in emphasis.

The other officers paused for a moment, then began to agree with him, nodding their heads.

The loud hoof stomp snapped her out of the depression. Hiding her misty eyes, she wiped them away. “I’m sorry for you all to see me like this.” Looking at Breezy, she smiled. “Your bravery is noted. I may just take you up on that.”

“It would be a honor, nonetheless.”

Luna nodded, her mood brightened up a bit. “Yes, let’s continue. When should the attack begin?”

“Rainbow Dash, you in there?” He knocked on a door where Fluttershy’s bunk was, but no answer came. “Where the heck are you...” Muttering to himself. The gym, all twelve hangers, and the cafeteria were already checked. Fluttershy’s bunk-room was his last guess, but was surprised to find her missing as well.

Walking away, he spotted two military police looking at him. “Hey, have either of you seen Rainbow Dash? I can’t find her anywhere!”

“Her, along with five others, have been summoned by Luna. We’re here to take you to her as well. Please, follow us.”

Nodding his head, he soon found himself standing inside the war room. Luna was looking over a map on a table. Mist, Derpy, Fluttershy, Flare Chaser and Rainbow Dash was busy talking amongst each other. A sixth pony he never met was standing with them. He noticed every pony else were mares. “If there wasn’t a war going on and not already in love, i would be in heaven.”

Rainbow Dash noticed him and started to wave him over. “Hey Lightning spark! Did you meet Talisman before? Spitfire was one of the wonderbolts back before the war started.”

Walking up to the group, he quickly shook hooves with Spitfire, thanking his mind from not going into shock. “Pleased to meet you.”

“And it’s a pleasure to meet the Leader of Pegasus Wing One.” She smiled knowingly.

He was about to speak about his capture, but Luna spoke first.

“All of you, please come around the table. We have much to discuss.” As the pilots gathered around, she continued. “We have come up with a plan to take back Ponyville. With the help of Stalliongrad, they have agreed to attack Canterlot as a distraction, to stave off reinforcements. All of you will be the attacking force. Your main target is the air force base located on the outskirts of Ponyville.” She dragged a black and white photo over to Spitfire, who passed it around for the pilots to see.

It was smaller compared to the air base they were in. Only a runway, three hangers, and a control tower made up the air base. Looking at it closely, he could make out the blur of several aircraft lined up next to the runways.

“Expect strong resistance, if possible, lead the enemy aircraft away from the town. It would be best to not have stray armaments or jets land in Ponyville. You will all be leaving in one and a half hours... “

An officer pony whispered in her ear, which brought a smile to her face. Floating over a large polished, wooden box, she opened it. “In the past you have all been working alone. From now on, you will be not. You will all be working as a team under the call-sign Rainboom from now on.” Floating out the small Rainbow Dash cutie mark pins, she gave one to each pilot, except Rainbow who already had one.

“Rainbow Dash will be Leader of Rainboom Squadron. Lightning spark, you will be Rainboom Two. Following will be Spitfire as Rainboom Three, Mist as Rainboom Four and Derpy as Rainboom Five. Fluttershy and Flare Chaser’s team will still be called Shyeye. They will be your AWAC support and stay with you in all future sorties.”

“What about my previous Squadron, Pegasus three and four?” Lightning spoke up.

“They will be transferred to another squadron, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about them.”

Pleased with her answer, Lightning looked at Rainbow Dash. She was smiling as if she just got tickets to see the Wonderbolts. She was the leader of her own wing now and he remembered himself grinning like an idiot after his promotion. To be honest, he didn’t know if she would make a good leader. She did start a riot in Stalliongrad, but that wasn’t in a jet. He could only trust Luna’s judgment and accept her decision.

Putting the box away, Luna looked at each of the pilots as she spoke. “I would wish you all the best of luck, if such a thing existed. Please return to us in one piece. You are all dismissed.”

When the last pilot left the war room, Luna let out a sigh. “Pinkie how long have you been hiding behind that curtain?”

A pink bundle of energy fell over, ripping the cloth off the hanger. “Whoops!” Fumbling under the curtain, she climbed out. “I was there the whole time! I am the hide and go seek world champ you know.”

“We also know it is a bad practice to eavesdrop on some pony’s conversation.” She stared at Pinkie Pie, who frowned.

“I’m sorry. I was curious where you were taking Dashie and Fluttershy.

“We noticed you have been more... Bouncy lately and understand your anxiety. She is in good hooves with the other pilots. I’m sure they will be fine. Now please leave us, before a guard sees you.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” She dove back under the folds of cloth, hidden from sight.

“Pinkie, we mean leaving the room.” Using magic to lift the cloth, she found her not there. “What strange magic... “

Rainboom Squadron was ready to go and began heading to their hangars. As Rainbow Dash and Lightning went in their hangar, their mouth gaped at the new planes.

Lightning ran over to his, mouth open wide in shock. Someone painted both of their F-16’s sky blue. On the outside of each tail-wing had his cutie mark. “What the hay...” He heard Rainbow Dash squeal in excitement.

“This is so awesome! It has my cutie mark!”

Floating above the plane to get a better view. He noticed a bright rainbow was painted across the left wing, the marking for Rainboom Squadron. “Now that I look at it... it’s not too shabby.”

“Told you so!”

“Yes, yes, I was wrong.” He rolled his eyes before opening the canopy and getting inside. Putting on his helmet, he went through the very familiar process of preparing for take-off.

Several minutes later and his wing-dings were on and everything checked out. Saluting off the flight-crew, he watched Rainbow Dash leave the hanger first. Following her outside the hanger, he noticed the sun was beginning Its descent. Looking at the time it read: 5:13 P.M.

“Slightly ahead of schedule, very nice.”

“This is control tower, Rainboom One you are cleared for take off. Happy hunting."

Watching Rainbow’s aircraft take off down the runway, he lined up his plane to wait for the tower.

“Rainboom Two, you are clear for take off. Sir... it’s good to have you back.”

A smile spread on his face. “Thank you control tower.” Increasing his throttle, he joined with Rainbow Dash in the sky.

They were in the usual tight “v” formation whenever flying in packs. Fluttershy’s jet was higher in the air, almost the size of a bird in the vast sky. They were given a minute warning until Ponyville was in sight and that didn’t help Lightning’s sudden anxiety, it was starting to suffocate him.

He opened a private channel with Mist’s plane. “Mist... are you sure you want to do this mission? I... “ He growled, his heart felt like it was being strangled. “Just be safe, alright? I don’t want to lose you again.”

Not getting a response, he sadly shut off the channel. The other pilots were quiet compared to the other’s he would usually fly with. Even Rainbow Dash would at least say something. “We may be going to battle, but that doesn’t mean we have to be solemn about it.”

“Hey Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Isn’t your home in Ponyville?”

“Yeah, I have a cloud house nearby. Why, what’s up?”

“Nothing, just trying to make small talk. This silence is starting to get to me.”

There was a pause before she answered. “I do sort of miss my friends. I mean, I know where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are, but... “

“I’m sure we’ll find them. The gryphon’s may be ruthless, but they don’t outright kill ponies unless they fight back.” Not getting a response after saying her name again, he gave up.

“Good job, Cloud-for-brains,” he muttered. Seeing a small town far in the distance, Shyeye gave off a warning.

“Rainboom Squadron, you have three blips coming straight for you out of Ponyville. Spread out and begin combat. Remember, lead them away from the town to minimize collateral damage.”

Watching the other plane’s break off formation, he followed. Spotting three enemy aircraft in the distance, he noticed they weren’t the camouflaged plane’s he fought before. Immediately, three missiles with trails of white left his squadron, taking out the enemy aircraft easily. Finally the battle to retake Ponyville has begun.

Chapter 7

Razorwing sat inside the Golden Apple Inn, staring at the wooden table and enjoyed a mug of cider. He had awoken this morning to find Gilda, her belongings, and her jet long gone. He asked around if any one saw her leave, leading only to shrugs and plenty of "I don't knows".

He spent the rest of the day chatting with fellow pilots and enjoying the wonderful clear weather. The gryphons he drank with last night greeted him over lunch, asking if he knew where Gilda was. He shrugged and explained he looked all over for her. Not taking the answer very well, they accused her of being a traitor and a coward.

Grabbing Cloudcutter by the neck, he pulled him close. "She didn't leave out of cowardice, you feather-brain. I dismissed her from duty for reasons you don't have a right to know. Now get out of here." Throwing him back, he sat down and took another bite of the meal.

Cloudcutter held his neck and stumbled away while the others stared at him and followed behind. Sylph stayed behind with worry in her eyes. For once, he enjoyed her staring at him.

"Razorwing..."

Sighing he put down his fork and offered her a seat. "Alright, fine. You seem like the only one with common sense to keep a secret anyway. I'll tell you what happened only if you keep it to yourself, all right?" Nodding quickly, she took the seat across the table. He spilled everything that happened last night with Gilda, including what he heard when he grabbed his guitar.

"Dashie? What an odd name for a gryphon." Sylph rubbed the bottom of her beak thoughtfully.

Razorwing shrugged, "I never looked into her past. She was a great flier and that's all I cared about." Looking at Sylph, he smiled. "Thanks for not quickly judging her."

She smiled back. "No problem, I'll see you later." Winking slyly, she got up and flew away.

Feeling a twang in his chest, he ignored it and finished off the last bite of fish. Staring at his empty plate, thoughts drifting back to Gilda. "Was I too harsh on her? It felt like the right thing to do, but when I look back... I feel like an idiot."

"Hey Razorwing!" Two voices shouted in unison.

Snapping out of his thoughts and looking over the table, he noticed the two fillies who played with him during the triplet last night. "Oh, hello little ones." He noticed a third one was with them. She had red hair with a pink bow in it and a yellow coat. "Who is this?"

"Ahm Applebloom, nice to meet you!" putting on a wide smile.

"Same to you, Applebloom. Was there something you three needed?"

Sweetie Belle got nervous as she spoke. "We were wondering if you could show us your jet."

Raising an eyebrow, he leaned forward on the table. "May I ask why?"

"Well we asked other pilots, but they only glared at us," Scootaloo said, ears drooping. "I always had trouble flying and I was curious how jets do it. If I can learn their secret, maybe I can finally fly."

"So you want to attach a jet engine to your back?" Finding the conversation amusing, he chuckled. Glancing at a clock, it read 4:56 P.M. "Very well, let's go." He got up from his seat, and held the door for the fillies.

The three fillies shouted in unison. "Hurray!" Before running out the door, with the pilot leading the way.

"Are you out of your mind Razorwing? Letting the enemy walk around our base."

Glaring at the gryphon pilot, he poked him in the feathered chest. "They're children, you dolt. Besides, they're under my supervision, I doubt they'll cause any trouble."

He wished he was right. The three fillies somehow got inside the canopy of his jet and were bouncing around inside. Bolting over and throwing the canopy open, he grabbed each of them out and placed them next to the jet. "Do that again and this field trip is over," he stared down at the little ponies.

"Aw," They said in unison.

His eyes softened. "Come on, want me to show you the inside of the tower instead? If you're nice enough, I'll show you the jet again." Seeing their frowns immediately disappear into smiles, he took that as a yes. Walking over to the entrance he walked inside with the three ponies close behind. "Just be careful, the gryphons up here can be a bit..." The three ponies tried finishing his sentence.

"Angry?"

"Weird?"

"Boring?"

He laughed, "yeah you could say he's all three of those things actually." Going up the spiral of stairs they reached the top. "Hey Static."

A gryphon who looked like he just came out of a dryer spun in his seat, staring at Razorwing. "Afternoon," he simply said before turning back toward his console. "Mind telling me why you brought those three pets with you?"

"We're not pets!" scootaloo yelled, earning several stares from the other tower controllers. "Why does every gryphon have to be so mean?"

"He's just cranky all the time. The fact we're at war with Equestria only make us hate every pony as an enemy, even children."

"Why is that? We didn't start the war!" Applebloom looked up at him, confused about the conversation.

"Your right, you didn't. Our queen started this war for reasons I do not know, but I follow her law nonetheless."

"How come? Your queen sounds like a big jerk if you ask me." Applebloom stomped a hoof.

Razorwing found is funny that she already hates his queen. "Some may say that, but she did more for our people than any gryphon thought possible. We were in a stage of depression before the war and... "

"Ugh, I thought we came up here to press random buttons, not have a history lesson." Scootaloo ran toward one of the consoles. On it was a large green circle with a line rotating around it. "What's this?"

Frowning at the interruption, he looked at what she was pointing at. "That's a radar. Those dots on the screen each represent an aircraft. It's very useful for days where visibility is limited."

After what seemed like hundreds of questions about what each and every button, switch and knob did, they finally left the tower satisfied. "You three sure are a curious bunch."

"Thanks!" they said together.

"Okay, the way they talk all at once is starting to get creepy"

"What are these?"

Razorwing's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as he watched Scootaloo bounce on top of several bombs being carted. The gryphon who was pushing the cart was seen fleeing the scene, afraid they could explode at any moment. Running over, he grabbed the orange pony. "Stop bouncing on those!"

Suddenly air raid sirens blared across the base and the three ponies looked around fearfully, holding their ears. "W-what is that sound?!"

Looking up in the sky, Razorwing scowled . "I think you three should head back to Ponyville... now."

Opening his wings and taking to the sky, he glided over to the small barracks which held his brown flight-suit, helmet, and other gear. Zipping up the suit, he walked out to find the base in full alert and gryphon's going to their jets. Flying over to his camouflaged jet, he jumped into the canopy and closed it. "This is Feather Thirteen, prepping for take-off. What's the situation, tower?" Speaking into the microphone built into his helmet.

"Did you get rid of those annoying pests?"

Letting out an agitated sigh, he responded. "Yes static, they're gone."

"Good. We have six enemy aircraft a minute out, coming from the south."

After a minute of checking that everything was working properly, he started the line up his jet for take-off. "Roger that tower, ready for take-off on your go."

"Feather Thirteen cleared for take-off. Good luck up there."

Taking off down the runway and speeding past other jets lining up, he lifted off into the air. Tilting left, he circled the base, waiting for the other pilots.

"Feather Thirteen, we just lost our air patrol at the southern outskirts of Ponyville. Engage the enemy and keep them busy. We'll send all other patrols to assist."

"Roger, tower. Engaging the enemy." Breaking off from his circling, he turned his jet south. He saw six jets speeding toward him. To his left and right were six allied jets, three on each side. Turning on communications, he began to issued orders.

"This is Feather Thirteen of Feather squadron, do not fight over Ponyville. Lead them away from the town and engage the enemy."

One of the pilots spoke up. "You're kidding right? I could care less about that stupid town."

"Do it or I'll gladly show your own stupidity for disregarding my order," he growled. The pilot was silent for a moment before giving up.

"Yes sir."

Without another word, he watched the enemy jets far ahead break apart and fly in different directions, one heading straight for him. Already the other five jets were dog-fighting and several of his allies were turned into fireballs within a couple of seconds. "By the queen, who are we fighting?"

Turning his jet to the east, he watched the blue jet follow his movements. "Yes, just like that. Follow the birdie." Hearing the rapid beep of a radar lock, he cursed and increased the throttle to outpace the enemy jet. The beeping finally ceased and he was well away from the town. Bleeding speed, he made a tight u-turn and faced back toward the enemy plane.

"I know this dance too well. Let's see if you can keep up." He began to radar lock the jet in front of him.

"Come on you two! we need to get to the shelter!" Sweetie Belle yelled over the sirens still going off. The three crusaders had finally made their way back to Ponyville as the first couple of missiles were fired off around the town.

Buzzing could be heard as one of the blue jets fired upon a grey one, shredding the wing and causing it to snap off, falling from view behind one of the buildings.

Jumped excitedly, Scootaloo pointed a hoof at a camouflage painted jet.. "Look! There's Razorwing's jet. Wait, where's he going?" They watched him turn and speed off away from the town, one of the blue jets following behind. Bolting down the road, she followed the direction where the two jets flew.

"Scootallo, it's too dangerous. We need to get to the shelter!"

Ignoring her friend's distress, she ran to the outskirts of town and under a tree. In front of her up in the sky, the two planes were already exchanging gunfire. Her friends caught up and tackled her. "Come on, you're going to get yourself hurt!"

"But I want to watch!"

Struggling under the weight of her two friends, they suddenly stopped when a loud boom came from above. All of them looked up to see Razorwing's plane smoldering, but still flying. The blue jet fired its guns, but Razorwing rolled left and did a dizzying loop, getting right behind the other jet.

They traded spots getting behind one another for several minutes. Both planes were in terrible shape and started to smoke. They flew at each other for the sixth time, two buzzes filled the air as both planes fired their guns. Bullets peppered the camouflage jet, tearing apart the wings. After they passed each other, both wings snapped off and the fuselage finally began to tilt into a rapid descent.

Sweetie Belle panicked. "W-what is he doing? Isn't he going to get out?!"

"Razorwing, eject!" They yelled as if he could hear them, but it was no use as he disappeared behind a hill. The thundering boom that came afterwards shook the tree above them. Several autumn colored leaves flew around them as they looked blankly at the hill.

Tears started to form in Scootaloo's eyes as smoke billowed in the air ahead of them. She tried to hold it in and act tough, but she just hung her head a let the tears fall on the ground. Sweetie Belle joined her and they both cried on their shoulders, knowing their friend would be gone forever.

Applebloom felt her own tears coming up for seeing her friends cry. Looking up, she saw the blue jet flying back toward Ponyville. Even through misty eyes, she thought she could see Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on the back wing.

Chapter 7B

Chapter 8

This guy is good, I’ll give him that. Rainbow Dash spun her plane into a corkscrew to shake off the one following her. She leveled her plane after two spins and looked behind. “Finally lost him, but where is he?” Looking around in her canopy, she found him above her. She rolled her plane, dodging most of the bullets he fired, but several tore into the right wing of her aircraft. Buck, that was close.

Rainbow Dash quickly chased after him when he passed. Getting close to his plane, she welcomed the high-pitched tone meaning she had radar lock and fired a missile. Being such a short distance didn’t give much time to evade the missile, causing it to smash into the middle-left side of the enemy aircraft. Several pieces of metal flew off, but to Rainbow’s amazement, his plane still flew. Oddly, he wasn't moving his plane at all and just lazily flew forward.

A gruff voice entered Rainbow's headset. “That was a pretty good move you did there.”

“What? How did you find this... Never mind, Hold still while I finish you off.” Rainbow lined up her guns on his engine, all she had to do was fire. She tried to squeeze the trigger, but something in her mind told her not to. Why would he open a channel with the pilot who just fired a missile at him?

“What do you want?” Rainbow said quickly.

“To simply talk, that’s all. If it helps, my call-sign is Feather Thirteen, but you can call me Razorwing.”

Rainbow found it strange how calm he was handling the situation. He’s staring death in the face and he wants to have a small chat with another pilot?

“Well start talking, before my gun starts shooting,” Rainbow bluffed. She didn’t plan on shooting him yet. She still wanted to know where he was going with this conversation.

“No need to get violent. You won the battle fair and square. I just wish to know something before I die.”

A gryphon’s dying wish? What could he possibly want to know?“ Fine, but don’t think I’m going to answer.”

“I realize you don’t trust my race because of the war, so I thank you for listening. All I wish to know is your name.”

“Simple enough. It’s Rainbow Dash.”

She heard Razorwing chuckled lightly, “Figures. Gilda would find this quite ironic.”

How does he know about her? Did she join the enemy forces as well? “You know Gilda?”

“Aye, she was a part of Feather Squadron. She was quite a fine pilot.”

“Why are you telling me this, Razorwing?”

“Because I discharged Gilda out of Feather Squadron last night. I don’t know where she went, but I believe she’s looking for you, Rainbow.”

“What? After what happened at Ponyville, our friendship was over.” Gilda you feather-brain, what are you thinking.

“I don’t know what happened between the both of you, but she’s torn up about it. Nevertheless, I got to say what I wanted." He shot away from Rainbow's jet and turned around, facing her. "Now Rainbow. shoot me down and give me what honor I have left!” His jet rocketed toward Rainbow's in one last game of chicken.

Rainbow eagerly accepted and flew toward Razorwing. They both fired off their guns, tearing through each other's jets. The enemy jet was already in worse shape and easily fell apart from her barrage. She watched his jet slowly begin to fall.

“What are you doing? Just eject from the plane!”

“No, Rainbow Dash. I realized something while talking to Gilda. This whole war is a fight for power, a fight that I don’t want to become a part of anymore. My queen is wrong to have started this war and must be stopped. After following her orders for so long and killing so many ponies... I at least deserve to be shot down by you.”

“I see... It was an honor to talk with you, Razorwing.”Rainbow Dash watched the jet quickly descend and crash in a dip between two hills. A loud explosion shook nearby tree’s as smoke billowed over the crash-site. A smear of metal and fuel lie across the ground, the last remains of Feather Thirteen.

With nothing else to do, Rainbow Dash took off back toward Ponyville.

I have to find Gilda...

Chapter 8

The battle to retake Ponyville lasted not more than an hour and most gryphons surrendered on the spot after losing half their forces. Soon after the battle, Shyeye had informed headquarters about the successful mission and Rainboom Squadron was allowed some rest in Ponyville. They would have to report back to duty at eight in the morning.

Rainbow Dash looked at Ponyville Air Base below her. Most of the buildings were gone, but luckily the runway was still in good enough condition for landing. She descended toward the runway with Rainboom squadron following behind her. Ponies were already gathering around Rainbow’s jet as she parked next to several bombed, blackened hangars. The crowd was cheering and stomped their hooves, applauding for the liberation from the gryphons. Rainbow Dash jumped out of her jet and quickly soaked in the attention, puffing out her chest.

The rest of the Squadron joined Rainbow and they received their share of praise. Rainbow turned toward them, a huge grin on her face. “This is my kind of greeting!”

Spitfire chuckled lightly. “Kind of reminds me of my past days as a Wonderbolt, except now I’m saving Equestria,” she said toward nopony in particular.

Lightning walked beside Rainbow and nudged her. “Hey, what happened up there? We couldn’t find you anywhere and thought you bailed on us.”

Rainbow seemed lost in thought for a moment. She snapped out of her reverie and looked at Lightning when he nudged her again. “I was chasing after and shot down one of those camouflaged planes we fought during my first mission.”

Surprise showed on Lightning’s face as he eyes widened. “Wow, how did you manage that?”

“I’ll tell you, but let’s talk about that later. Right now, I really need a drink.” Rainbow increased her pace, leaving a confused Lightning Spark behind her.

Most of the crowd gave off their last thanks, some going far as to hug and innocent pecks on the cheek toward the pilots. Lightning felt a uncomfortable urge grow in his chest after a mare looked at him with half-lidded eyes and winked at him. A quick jab in the stomach from Mist broke him out of his daze.

He chuckled lightly, mostly to try and brush off the feeling of dread he felt after staring at the winking mare. Glancing toward Mist, he felt himself sweating under her unapproving gaze. “D-Don’t worry Mist, you’re the only mare for me.” Lightning gave off a sheepish smile, doing his best to disarm the situation.

Mist seemed satisfied as she smiled, closed her eyes, and nuzzled his shoulder. His uneasy smile became more natural and he nuzzled back, before following the crowd into the tavern to celebrate their victory.

***

“... and then bam! took out five enemy jets like they were flies,” Rainbow Dash boasted. She chugged down the rest of her cider and slammed the mug down, exhaling loudly. “That hit the spot.”

Lightning shook his head as he chuckled. He couldn’t bring himself to say she was exaggerating and didn’t want to interrupt Rainbow’s ego trip. Already several ponies were listening to her in awe, sitting in the chairs surrounding their booth. The tavern was busy today, but most of the customers were here just to greet their saviors on a mission well done.

Several hours passed of enjoying each other’s company over drinks. The crowd had dispersed, either pleased or bored of Rainbow’s tales. Lightning laughed at Rainbow who decided to snooze on the table next to their booth, her legs twitching a bit from a dream.

“I think it’s time to hit the hay everypony.” He felt his neck feel weak as his head sagged forward. Snapping his head back up, he forced his eyes open to prevent himself from faceplanting into the comfortable looking table.

“I’m going to agree with Lightning,” Spitfire said, standing out of the booth. “We will need to get as much sleep as possible for tomorrow.” Everypony knew what tomorrow held and they nodded solemnly.

“We’ll definately need to be at our best Tomorrow,” Mist added. She looked at Rainbow’s prone form and couldn’t stop a smile forming on her lips. “So who wants to show Rainbow to a bed?”

Lightning raised a hoof to get Mist’s attention. “I won’t have a problem buying a second room for her.”

Spitfire had other plans in mind as she was already putting Rainbow on her back. “She has a cloud house just above Ponyville so a room here won’t be necessary. She would probably prefer sleeping in her own bed anyway.” Spitfire quickly trotted out of the room and took to the sky.

Lightning looked at Derpy who had been quiet the whole time they’ve been in Ponyville. She seemed distracted, occasionally staring off into the distance, deep in thought. Saying her name brought her back from whatever she was thinking.

“Need something Lightning?” her small smile she always wore came back as she looked at him. Her right eye slowly slid out of place.

“Do you have a place to stay? If not, you can take my bed and I’ll rent another room.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I have my own house in Ponyville.” Derpy said her goodbye’s and left the tavern as well.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me,” Mist said, staring at Lightning intently. Her hoof softly brushed the side of his face and slowly went down his chest. “How about we go celebrate our victory in our own way, hm?”

Lightning was frozen stiff at what she was suggesting. Sure, his body was yelling at him for hesitating such a request, but his mind had other plans. I still haven’t asked why she has been acting like this ever since the detention center incident. Then again, if I asked about it, that might break the mood, leading to no...

His thoughts were cut short as Mist kissed him on the lips. It lasted only a couple of seconds, but the message it sent across made Lightning’s doubts fade away. Mist left the booth and made her way upstairs, giving a wink beforehand.

Lightning took little time as he zoomed up the stairs. He heard a chuckle behind him from the barkeep, but ignored him. Going down the small hallway, he opened the door to the room they rented. It was dark as the lights weren’t on.

He instinctively flicked on the light switch and almost had a heart attack. Mist was laying on the bed in front of him seductively, her flight-suit thrown on the ground. She was on her side with her tail moved out-of-the-way, giving him a good look at her flanks. Her “come hither” eyes sealed his fate as he turned off the lights and pounced toward her.

***

Rainbow Dash slept soundly in her bed, the light sound of snoring coming from her. A beam of light came through a nearby window and landed on Rainbow’s closed eyes. Waking up slightly, she stirred in the bed and flipped over to go back to a deep sleep. A small smile spread on her lips as sleep started to slowly take her.

Her dozing off was interrupted as a loud clang came from outside her bedroom. Groaning in annoyance, she waited to listen for anymore noises. She could hear shuffling as if somepony was walking around. Opening her eyes she shot up in bed and finally noticed she was in her bedroom.

The shuffling sound outside her door got louder as whoever was out there was approaching her bedroom. The door opened, showing Spitfire in a “kiss the cook” apron. The smell of fresh cooked pancakes emanated downstairs. “Good morning Rainbow,” Spitfire said with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind, but I decided to help myself to your kitchen. I just came up to see if you want to join me for breakfast.”

Rainbow rubbed her eyes, her mind not registering that a Wonderbolt was in her home and just cooked her breakfast. Stumbling out of bed, she nodded, her eyes still slightly closed from waking up. They both went downstairs, Rainbow sitting down at a table while Spitfire stacked the steaming pancakes on two plates, three for each of them. Tossing the apron on the kitchen counter, Spitfire placed a plate in front of Rainbow and took her seat across the table.

“Thanks Spitfire, you didn’t have to do this.” Rainbow blinked several times, looking at Spitfire sitting across the table as she slowly realized the situation she was in. Thinking back when she was at the tavern, she remembered vaguely sleeping on a table. Spitfire must've taken me home and is now in my house, making me pancakes. The thought floated in her mind a bit and she barely held back a fangirl squeal.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sound Rainbow made and chuckled lightly. “You must be really enjoying this. Not everyday you have a Wonderbolt in your home making you Breakfast.” She took a bite of her pancake after pouring a bit of syrup on it. “So what do you think of my cooking?”

Asking for the syrup, Spitfire slid it across the table. Rainbow squeezed a descent amount to at least cover the pancakes and cut a large portion with her fork. Stuffing the entire slice into her mouth, her eyes lit up at how delicious it was. She quickly swallowed the rest of the pancakes in seconds. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Rainbow Dash looked at Spitfire who had her mouth hanging open at what she just saw.

Spitfire shook her head to clear away the shock. “I’ll take the way you ate those pancakes as a compliment to my cooking.”

Rainbow felt her face grow warm and she laughed nervously. “I guess I was more hungry than I thought.”

They both spent the next several minutes discussing the days before the war. Spitfire said the rest of the Wonderbolts were in Canterlot when it was first attacked. She doesn’t know where they are right now or if they even survived. Every one of them were close friends to Spitfire and she hoped they would be all right.

The reminiscing made Rainbow dash think of her friends who carried the Elements of Harmony and felt a urge to find her friends. Grabbing the plate, she placed it in the sink and walked toward the front door. “Thanks for the breakfast, Spitfire. I’m going to wander around Ponyville for a bit.”

Spitfire placed her plate in the sink as well. “That’s fine, I need to do a check-up on my jet. I think it took some gun fire yesterday.”

“All right, see you later.” Rainbow Dash thanked Spitfire for the pancakes again and went out the front door. Spitfire followed and closed the door behind her before taking off toward the runway.

Rainbow looked at the town below, relieved how peaceful it still looked up here, as if no war was going on. Good thing everypony fought away from Ponyville, else this place would be a disaster. She spotted a three familiar fillies running down a street toward the tavern they partied at yesterday afternoon. Wonder where they’re going. Hm, maybe Sweetie Belle knows where Rarity went. Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash zipped away from her home toward the tavern.

Landing outside the front door of the tavern, Rainbow tucked her wings to her sides and trotted inside.

“Ahm tellin you, I saw Rainbow dash’s cutie mark on that blue plane that shot down our friend, Razorwing!” Applebloom said.

Rainbow’s eyes went wide in panic. She dove for a nearby booth out of sight from the three fillies. Several of the early morning customers gave strange looks, but said nothing. Thankfully the Crusaders didn’t notice her and she pressed against the booth wall, listening intently.

“Even if it was Rainbow Dash, I’m sure she had a good reason of doing it,” Sweetie Belle replied. Her voice tinged with sadness.

Scootaloo piped up, “Agreed, we don’t want to jump to concloosheunz.”

“I think you mean ‘conclusions’ Scoot,” Sweetie Belle corrected.

“Gesundheit.”

Applebloom let out a tiny sigh. “I still miss him. This place seems empty without Razorwing, and he seemed pretty nice for a gryphon.”

The three fillies didn’t say anything more and Rainbow could hear small slurping noises as they drank their juice boxes. Buck me, why didn’t Razorwing just eject from the stupid jet. Rainbow ruffled her mane in frustration. I don’t think I can make it to the door without them noticing me. Taking several deep breaths to calm her nerves, Rainbow stepped out of the booth to greet the fillies.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sat with their backs toward Rainbow as she approached. Scootaloo sat across from them and noticed her first. “Oh, hey Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said quietly.

Probably best to pretend I didn’t hear anything. “Hey Scoot,” Rainbow said with a grin. “What’s up?”

“Just sitting around... enjoying our juice boxes. Not talking about you of course, right Applebloom?”

“Yeah, this juice sure is good, Hehe.”

“Okay... Anyway, Sweetie Belle have you seen Rarity at all?”

The white filly looked up from the table at Rainbow. “The last time I’ve seen her was when the war started. She said something about helping Twilight with something in Canterlot.” She paused for a moment, looking at her juice box. “I really miss her. She may get angry at me sometimes, but she’s my sister. I love her no matter what.” Her eyes started to turn misty. “If it’s not too much trouble, can you look for her if you’re ever in Canterlot? Please tell her that I miss her very much.”

Rainbow nodded slowly, feeling ashamed for saying something that made her cry. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m trying to find the rest of my friends in Ponyville.”

Applebloom’s eyes widened a bit. “Applejack is still in Ponyville. Most of our farm is just fine. She should still be back home with Big Mac ah think.”

“Really? Thanks applebloom, I’ll head over there right now!” Rainbow ran out of the tavern and spread her wings. About to take off into the sky, she heard Scootaloo’s voice behind her.”

“Rainbow wait up!”

“Huh? What is it squirt?”

Scoot pawed the ground nervously. “Do you fly a blue jet with your cutie mark on it?” Rainbow could barely hear her repeat, “Please say no.”

Rainbow desperately wanted to lie, but she knew it would hit her in the flank sooner or later. She sat on the ground and nodded her head, “I do.”

Scootaloo looked away, her purple mane hiding her face as if somepony just slapped her. “Why... Why did you shoot him down?”

“I didn’t have a choice, Scoot. If I didn’t, he would’ve done the same to me.”

“You don’t know that!” she yelled, getting several looks from passing ponies. “You could’ve tried... talking to him... at least,” she said between sobs. “Now he’s gone because of you.”

“Scootaloo, we’re at war! Diplomacy was chucked out the window the moment the gryphon kindgom’s attacked.“ A small group were already gathering, watching the two pegasai argue. They were smart enough to keep their distance.

“But he was different Rainbow. He was the nicest gryphon I’ve ever met, and I used to hate them ever since you brought Gilda here. He showed me not everypony is evil just because their leader is.” Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow in anger, wiping away her tears. “I don’t know what happened that made you so uncool, but I don’t think you’re my idol anymore.” She slowly walked back toward the tavern and slammed the door closed.

Rainbow sat in the middle of the road with her head hung, staring at the ground. She wanted to scream in frustration that Scootaloo didn’t understand what she was talking about. Sitting on her hind legs, she looked at her fore-hooves as if they held the answer to all her questions. What has the war turned me into? Am I really as bad?

Not getting an answer back, Rainbow glared at the crowd and they went back to minding their own business. She silently took into the sky and headed toward Sweet Apple Acres, hoping Applejack would help her out.

Chapter 9

Sweet Apple Acres looked exactly the same. The trees were a variety of oranges, reds, and yellows, their branches still plentiful with fruit before the winter season. The land below her had no scarring of war. As Rainbow Dash got closer to the house and noticed the barn that used to stand next to it wasn’t there. All that remained was specks of blackened ground and sparse clumps of grass.

Rainbow Dash felt a sense of relief knowing her friends were still okay. She couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to lose somepony close. What if somepony in my squadron is shot down? That thought made her head shake to clear such ideas. They would all make it back when the war is over. She continued to say that to herself until she reached the front door of Applejack’s home.

The home had several blackened marks splayed across the same side where the barn would’ve been. It looked as if somepony randomly painted small streaks of black paint across that side of the house. Rainbow Dash knocked on the front door.

The door quickly swung open with an angry orange pony looking at her. “Go away ya varmint! For the last time ahm... not... “ Applejack stood in the doorway with her mouth hung open a bit in shock. “Rainbow, is that you?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Applejack’s reaction. “If there’s somepony else with a rainbow mane, let me know. Otherwise--“ Applejack drew her into a tight hug, cutting her short.

“By golly it is you. I’ve been scared sick wondering where mah friends have been.”

Rainbow dash wanted to return the gesture, but was too busy flailing from Applejack’s foreleg pressing against her windpipe. Luckily Applejack noticed the discomfort and withdrew, blushing a bit. “Sorry about that. I’ve just been going out of mah mind this past week.”

Taking in several deep breaths, Rainbow Dash regained her composure. “It’s good to see you too Applejack. Mind if we go inside? I’d like to tell you what’s been going on.”

“Sure thing, sugarcube. I’ll let Big Mac heat up an extra pie for ya.”

Rainbow Dash trotted inside the house and Applejack followed behind, shutting the door behind her.

“Ah still can’t believe this is happening,” Applejack said across the dining table to Rainbow Dash. They each had just finished off a big apple pie and decided to talk while waiting for their meal to digest.

They both caught up on what they’ve been up to. Nothing had really changed after Rainbow left. The gryphons were smart enough to leave the farm alone and let them work. Applejack had thought about joining the war, but couldn’t deal with leaving Big Mac and Applebloom. She felt a need to protect her family. Rainbow Dash had asked about Granny Smith, but the sudden gloom on Applejacks face said everything.

Poor Granny Smith had taken a nasty piece of shrapnal after a bomb hit their barn. Applejack wasn’t sure why they bombed their barn, possibly to scare them. She asked for a moment of silence, to remember the loss of their family member.

As the sadness slowly dissipated, Rainbow explained everything that has happened since joining the air force. Including her battles and the rescue at the detention center. The reactions she got from Applejack bounced between sadness and outright horror.

“I’ve had my moments where I needed a reality check. Can’t believe I did some of those things.”

“What’s bugging me is how you act so normal after all you’ve been through. If ah went through all that, I’d probably be nuttier than a squirrel.”

“A flying squirrel more like it.

“What?”

“One of Fluttershy’s creatures she used to take care of. I met him when I found Tank.”

“Oh. Speaking of little creatures, how’s Fluttershy doing? I may no know what all that military mumbo-jumbo you spouted off meant, but I know she’s not the bravest pony.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the grains on the wood table. “Fluttershy didn’t take it very well on her first mission. After the gryphons captured lightning and most of our planes shot down, I found her crying in her room.” The thought of her best friend crying almost made her tear up. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes to stop herself from getting misty eyed. “It’s never easy seeing her cry. She’s so...“

“Innocent?” Applejack guessed.

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess that’s the best word for it. I just feel that war isn’t our thing. Ponies in general, I mean,” waving a hoof in the air lazily. “When I shot down my first plane I was excited. Mostly because I wanted to show what I could do and prove myself to the other pilots. I didn’t see the enemy as another living thing. They had family, desires, dreams, maybe somepony they loved. I took that all away from them.”

Rainbow crossed her hooves on the table and laid her head on top. “The reason I’m saying this is because I lost somepony who admired me. I shot down a gryphon over Ponyville named Razortalon. Scootaloo and I met a while ago and I found out the gryphon was a friend of hers.”

Applejack gave Rainbow a stern look. “Scootaloo made friends with a gryphon? Well ah never... They’re the worse kinda friends to have. You would know that more than anypony else after getting rid of Gilda.”

“You would think that, but Scootaloo said ‘He was the nicest gryphon I’ve ever met.’ Makes me feel bad. I’ve always thought if one gryphon is a jerk, the other’s must be,” Rainbow hung her head in shame.

Applejack got up from her seat and put a comforting hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “This has been eatin you up that badly, huh?”

“I’ve been doing my best not thinking about it, but it hurts anyway. I’m killing others Applejack and it’s as simple as breathing to me. I don’t think about the consequences, I just do it.”

“Well, why do you do it?”

“I told you, I wanted to prove myself... “

“No, Rainbow. I mean, why did you join the air forces in the first place?”

Rainbow blinked several times trying to remember what she said when leaving Ponyville. “I wanted to protect Equestria. To protect everypony from the gryphons.”

“Do you feel that you aren’t doing that, hun? They started this war in the first place after all. If you didn’t kill those gryphons, they would’ve continued hurting ponies. They could’ve hurt you!”

Rainbow sighed, avoiding eye-contact. “I guess so.”

“Don’t guess so, Rainbow. Know so!” Applejack said as she stomped a hoof, getting Big Mac’s attention, who was still in the kitchen. “This isn’t the Rainbow Dash ah know! Don’t blame yourself for doing what has to be done. While ah don’t like the idea of killing somepony, your heart was in the right place in doing so. Your doing this to protect equestria. Isn’t that enough of a reason?”

“Y-You’re right Applejack. I can’t give up now when we’re so close to ending the war. I just hope Scootaloo would forgive me someday.”

“‘Time heals all wounds,’ as they say. I’d let Scootaloo simmer down before speakin with her.”

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “Thanks Applejack. My mind has been really mixed up this past week. I can’t wait for this war to be over.” She glanced at a clock hanging on the wall behind Applejack’s chair. “Uh oh, I gotta get going! My team is probably wondering where I am at the tavern.” Jumping out of her chair, Rainbow Dash gave Applejack a quick hug and another thanks before bolting out the door.

Meanwhile, thirty minutes ago...

“Ugh, my head.” Lightning Spark sat up and sleepily opened his unfocused eyes, his eyesight slowly becoming clear. The two-bed room he had rented in the tavern was cheap in price for having such modest accommodations. There were two beds, a closet with an iron and board for pressing clothes, a television, and a bathroom.

Memories of what happened last night flashed through his mind. The good parts were firmly stuck in his mind, but the back of his head felt sore as he remembered hitting his head on the backboard. Ah, so that’s why it feels like I got bucked in the head.

His ears flicked slightly as he heard soft singing and running water coming from the bathroom. Heaving himself out of the bed, he managed to stand upright and walk toward the room the noise was coming from. Pressing his ear against the door, he could barely hear parts of the song over the shower.

“My little pony...”

“...friendship could be...”

“…with me.”

Huh, never knew Mist was such a good singer. The running water and singing abruptly stopped, causing Lightning to panic. He hurried over to the bed and focused on tucking in the bed sheets. Just relax, Its not like she’ll know you were listening anyway. He heard the door to the bathroom slowly open and the sound of hooves slowly approaching behind him.

Mist rested a hoof on his back as she spoke teasingly. “You’re the worst at sneaking, you know that?”

The light touch on his back pinned him in place as he slowly turned his head toward her. Her mane was wrapped up in a towel above her head. Her coat was still damp and Lightning could feel a wet spot were her hoof was touching. “Yeah, hooves on wooden floors don’t exactly help either.”

They were quiet for a moment as Lightning felt Mist drawing a little circle on his back with her hoof. “Mist, can I ask you something?”

“You just did, silly.”

Lightning chuckled lightly. “Okay, can I ask you two things?”

“Of course. What’s on your mind?” Mist sat down on the bed.

“It’s pretty obvious we love each other,” Lightning stated, recieving a quick nuzzle from her when he said love. “But I’m curious, why the sudden affection? I’m not saying I don’t enjoy it, I love being with you. It’s just been nagging at me since you always ignored my advances before you were... ‘captured.’”

Mist stared at the floor as she spoke slowly. “When I was in the detention center, they treated me like dirt and I lost hope of getting out of there alive. I... I thought I was going to die.” Her voice started to crack upon saying this. “I thought I couldn’t deal with such feelings while the war is going on. That’s why I denied your advances. Now I finally realize how short and fragile life really is and if you love somepony, you can’t take your time.” Mist threw her forehooves around Lightning’s neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t say this earlier.” Her eyes started to form tears and she laid her head into his chest.

Mist stunned Lightning from this information, but he hugged her back as he felt himself getting misty eyed. “It’s all right, Mist.” He gently broke the embrace and nuzzled her neck. “I think I understand now. You didn’t want such feelings to get in the way during the war, fearing the enemy might take advantage of you.” He remembered Gilford doing the same tactic to him when he wanted the secret saying. Gilford using Mist as leverage was one of the most evil things he’s ever seen anypony do.

“I’m glad that you understand. I sometimes wish this war never started in the first place, but then I remember where we first met.” Mist let out a small laugh as she cleaned away the rest of her tears. “You were such a terrible pilot back then. Remember when you nose-dived straight into one of the hangars?”

Lightning stared at her with a blank, unamused look. “Really? You still remember that after all this?”

Mist let out another giggle. “Oh come now, Lightbulb. How can anypony not forget something like that? The instructor was so furious, I swear his face would’ve cooked an egg.”

Lightning cringed at the pet name. He got it after trying to impress her with a lightning show. Everything seemed to be going well until a stray bolt hit the side of headquarters, shorting out the entire east wing’s lights. He had to replace every light by himself the next day. “Yeah, considering he was right in my face after he found out I survived the crash.”

“Azure always seemed to care about the plane’s more than the pilots,” Mist stated.

“And I always cared about a certain pilot while having a minor concussion,” Lightning replied, putting a hoof to her chin and lifting her head so their eyes met. He gave her a quick kiss and a stupid grin formed on his face. “Come on, we should meet the others downstairs before they get ideas.” Lightning proceeded to put on his flight-suit.

After properly dressing, Lightning and Mist made their way downstairs to find the rest of Rainboom Squadron waiting for them. Rainbow Dash was the first to spot them and didn’t hold back embarrassing them as she let out a wolf-whistle.

Lightning decided to play along and pulled Mist into his hooves. Holding her under him, he gave her a deep, passionate kiss. He glanced up and saw Rainbow’s face turn beet read as her wings fully sprung open. Placing Mist back on her hooves, she stumbled at bit, a goofy smile on her face.

Spitfire rubbed a hoof on her forehead. “While I’m happy they are together, can we focus please? Unless you all forgot we have a crazed gryphon queen wanting to turn into the next Celestia in the next twelve hours. “ Everypony muttered an apology and Spitfire took the moment to continue.

“While I was busy taking care of my jet, a messenger from Hoofington gave me an urgent message from Luna herself.” She pointed with a hoof at the small scroll laying on the table they sat around. “I got it about two hours ago. Apparently Luna has decided to throw everything we have at taking back Canterlot. Even Luna will be joining in the battle. It will take our forces several hours to reach Ponyville. Once they do, we are to randevu with them and join in the assault.”

Lightning sat down next to Derpy who smiled at him, her right eye busy admiring the wood table. “It took us about three hours to get here from Hoofington, and that was roughly seventy miles away. Canterlot is barely half that distance. I don’t understand why they aren’t trying to take back Ponyville.”

“Because of Stalliongrad, remember?” Mist piped up. “They’re having the gryphons focus on their city while we gather our forces to push. It’s quite heroic of them to face the full brunt of their forces. I just hope we can hurry up and relieve them.” Everypony gave their agreement on that last statement, knowing they were giving their lives for them to strike.

Several minutes passed of them discussing enemy forces stationed in canterlot. Lightning was the most pessimistic about it. He guessed the entire city wall would be lined with anti-air and the skies full of enemy aircraft. Rainbow Dash was the opposite and said they would just fly away with their tails between their legs.

The tavern doorway opened as a biege pony with light-red mane entered. He ran over to their table and gave a quick salute, which Rainbow Dash saluted back. “Is there a problem?” Rainbow asked.

“Luna would like to see you all. She’s waiting for you back at base,” the pony said. “I’ll gladly lead you to where she is.”

“Lead the way then,” Rainbow requested as everypony else got up from their seats.

They passed by several ponies waving at the pilots and they gave friendly, acknowledging nods or waves back. It didn’t take long at their pace to reach the outskirts of the air force base. They noticed the base was already under repair and their plane’s were still lined up next to the still burnt hangars. The guide finally stopped in front of several make-shift shelters made of camouflaged netting and dark-green cloth.

Under one of them, Luna was talking with several officers around a simple wooden table. She shoo’d them away when she saw Rainbow Dash and her squadron. “Hello Rainboom Squadron. We are happy to see you again on this important day. The day we take back Canterlot.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Rainbow said, puffing out her chest with pride. “My group is ready whenever to attack, just say the word.” The rest of the group standing behind her shouted their enthusiastic responses with Rainbow’s.

“Please, join us at the table. You all will wish to know how the war is going.” Luna motioned all of them over and they surrounded the table. The officer’s previously occupying it left when Luna greeted Rainbow Dash. “We have been keeping up to date on Stalliongrad’s progress and they seem to be holding their own, but I don’t know for how much longer.”

“Then we should attack now!” Rainbow said, putting her forehooves on the table.

“We would agree with you, but I’ve been getting strange reports of enemy troops retreating all over Equestria. They seem to be focusing their defenses at Canterlot as a final foothold and I fear they know of our plans to attack. There’s a silver lining to this however. Towns who were under their control have started joining us, nearly doubling our forces in a day.”

Spitfire spoke up. “That’s amazing news, Princess, but do we even have enough supplies for such a surge of troops?”

“Most of them are reporting to Stalliongrad,” Luna said simply. “Now that you all have a quick idea of what is happening, I have something else to announce. You will be having a new member of your team.”

Rainbow glanced at the rest of her team. “No offense, but I’m pretty sure we’re strong enough with just the five of us.”

“I understand if you don’t want to accept her, but you must be open minded.”

“I’m not quite understanding what you mean. We’ll gladly accept another member if you really want us to,” Lightning spoke up.

“We’ll find out when she--Ah, there she is now,” Luna lifted her head slightly to motion their new member was behind them.

Everypony followed Luna’s gaze and gasped upon seeing a gryphon being escorted by two guards. She was in a green-brown flight-suit with a small hole torn near the chest. She glanced at the members of her new team, stopping finally at Rainbow Dash who returned her look with a deadly glare.

“What the hay are you doing here, Gilda?”

Chapter 10

Gilda sat on her hind legs with her arms crossed. “I know you probably still hate me, but we have more important things to worry about right now.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. You come out of nowhere and expect us to just trust you? Tough luck, Gilda. “We have your crazed queen trying to take over Equestria. Yeah, I already figured that out. Nevertheless, as leader of this squadron, I still say you aren’t in.”

“Why, Dash?” Gilda questioned, her mood turning sour. “Is it because you still see me as the enemy? I didn’t become a traitor to my country just to save my own hide. I plan to fight back and help you win this war, but you need to trust me.”

Rainbow peered at Gilda, not believing her. “You haven’t changed at all Gilda. Even if your queen is crazy, you turned your back on your own country and that doesn’t sit well with me.” She pointed a hoof back toward Ponyville. “This conversation is over.”

Gilda smacked down Rainbow’s hoof, startling her. “Fine I won’t be a part of your little party. Have fun overthrowing Goldwing without me.” After that being said, she stomped away.

Finally, Rainbow sighed, glad she was gone for good. She turned around to find everypony staring at her. Luna didn’t seem very pleased with what happened, but kept her mouth shut and returned to her advisors. Spitfire took a step forward, a furrow on her brow.

“Rainbow, why did you turn her down? Even if she’s a gryphon, we need as much help as we can get. Even with all this,” motioning a hoof toward the gathering of troops that had been steadily showing up. “There’s still the chance of defeat.”

“Whoa there, Spitfire,” Lightning frowned as he walked up to her.” Don’t need to be pessimistic about it. We got this far didn’t we?”

Spitfire scoffed, “when you overhear reports from our scouts reporting in, you try to stay optimistic about this war.”

“That’s quite enough!” Luna seethed. She had heard the entire conversation, but finally decided to intervene. She glared at Spitfire as she continued in a low tone for the other troops nearby not to hear. “The last thing we need is doubt to cloud everypony’s mind. You will be silent about those reports. Is that clear?”

“Y-Yes your highness,” Spitfire bowed quickly not to see Luna’s penetrating gaze.

“Princess... ” Lightning began. “Is it that bad?”

Luna turned her gaze toward Lighting, a look of worry now across her visage. Letting out a sigh, she still kept her voice to a whisper. “We apologize for snapping at you, Spitfire. Please understand we hate hiding such information from the others. If they found out the gryphon forces doubled ours in this battle... “

“You would have a demoralized army in your hooves,” Lightning finished.

Luna nodded slightly as she looked off in the distance as if thinking about something. The conversation died after that and Luna returned to the huddled officers around a table.

Everypony was quiet as they gathered in front of Luna who was flanked by several armed guards. She glanced at the large group of ponies, a troubled look on her face.

“My loyal subjects,” she began, slight hesitation as she spoke. “We have come a long way after the gryphons have pushed us from our homes... from our families.” Her voice started to rise in volume. “For too long we have kept the gryphons in our lands. When they first attacked, we didn’t have the force to fight back. Now we have the power to take what is rightfully ours!” Stomping a hoof in emphasis, the crowd did the same and several cheered.

“I will not lie to you, my ponies. They are in a corner as this is their strongest foothold they have. If we take this, we will no doubt win this terrible war.” Luna scanned over the crowd, a small smile form on her lips when she spotted Rainbow Dash and her squadron. “I believe in each and every one of you. So make your princess... nay, your nation proud, for today we shall take back Canterlot! For Equestria!” Luna raised a hoof in the air and the crowd followed suit as cheers rang out.

Rainbow went the extra mile and flew above the crowd, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Let’s kick some flank!”

After Luna gave her plan of attack and a good luck, everypony ran to their stations. Some jumped into their planes while others had vehicles that had large propellers on top, armed to the teeth. One of them, ironically, had teeth on the front and was painted to look like a manticore.

Rainbow Dash was already inside her plane before everypony else. . She glanced out the left side of her canopy and watched several more vehicles with twin propellers began loading ground troops.

Luna sure isn’t pulling any stops this time, Rainbow thought as she got into the very familiar procedure of take-off. Thoughts of her first mission and how much she’s changed filled her mind. She chuckled at the thought of how she got so excited every take-off. Now there was no sense of giddiness hid in her chest, nor the excitement of flying stuck in her mind. The once adrenaline inducing experience was now no more special than breathing or eating. She hated not feeling that surge of euphoria.

How she even managed to survive eluded her. One missile, one volley of bullets, or one mistake could have ended it all. Weather it was pure skill, luck, or the princesses themselves watching over her, she didn’t know. What she did know was this war was about to end, and she would live to see it happen. A determined grin formed on her lips at the thought.

An annoyed, static filled voice entered her helmet. “Rainboom One, I say again, you are cleared for take off.”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow’s plane shuddered slightly as she throttled forward and into the sky.

“Jeeze, hold up the war why don’t you,” Lightning joked and let out a small chuckle. Mist must’ve thought he was serious and being a pain in the flank, so she started berating him. Rainbow couldn’t catch most of it, but it involved something along the lines o “not getting any of this when the war was over.” His response involved muttering, followed by a sincere apology.

It took awhile for everypony to get their jets into the air, but once they were, it was a formidable sight. Rainbow counted twenty-five silver-grey planes behind her, along with the four sky-blue jets of Rainboom Squadron. Below her she spotted troop transports being escorted by several attack helicopters.

The plan of attack was going to be on two fronts from what Luna said earlier. Ground forces were to focus on the city itself with the attack choppers for support. The jet pilots were to destroy any enemy jets that got in their way and help with priority targets if they appear e.g., Queen Goldwing. Of course, every plan only looked well on paper.

The top of the mountainside where Canterlot resided started to come into view. As the horizon slowly started to show the capital itself, Rainbow Dash’s mouth gawked at what she saw. Canterlot had been turned into a fortress on the side of a mountain, instead of the once majestic city it used to be. The once tall white towers were now grey plated and lined with anti-aircraft guns. The outer walls of the city, as well as the walls around the castle itself also had the AA guns. Thankful, yet oddly, no enemy aircraft were seen flying above Canterlot.

Something doesn’t feel right, Rainbow Dash thought. Where are their jets?

“Rainbow Dash, you seeing what I’m seeing?” Spitfire spoke up over her headset.

“Yeah, where is their air forces?” Rainbow thought for a moment and an idea came up. “Spitfire, remember those reports you were told not to speak out loud?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“How long ago was that? Do you know who sent them?” There was a brief pause before she responded.

“An hour before we started this attack. As for whom sent them, I have no clue.”

That was three hours ago since this flight took two hours, Rainbow mused. This changes everything in our favor, but we should be cautious anyway. If they’re not in Canterlot, are they hidden behind the mountain? Where is Stalliongrad’s forces also?

“All right everypony, listen up,” Rainbow began speaking to everypony. “We may be flying into a trap. You will all continued with the original plan, but keep your eyes open for enemies. Rainboom Squadron is breaking off to scout ahead as they may be hiding behind the mountain.” Hearing several confirmations from the other squadron leaders, Rainbow Dash tilted her plane slightly left and slowly left formation, the other blue jets following close behind.

“What are you planning, Rainbow?” Lightning spoke up, curiosity in his voice.

“You don’t find this strange at all? We receive reports of a enemy force twice as large as ours, but all we find is a heavy pinch of double-A guarding Canterlot. Somepony is messing with us and I intend to find out who.”

Rainbow Dash lead her squadron around the tall mountain, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. All she saw were patches of fir tree’s and snow capped mountains.

Mist decided to break the silence. “With all due respect, Rainbow, I think we’re on a wild goose chase. Maybe they retreated back to their borders?”

“Doubt it. They’re stubborn when it comes to their pride and honor. Telling a gryphon to retreat would be like telling Derpy not to eat a muffin.”

“Muffin? Where?” Derpy spoke, her plane doing a barrel roll as if her jet was looking around for it.

Lightning cleared his throat before somepony could speak. “I’m not an expert on smoke signals, but that large pillar of smoke to the east can’t be a good thing.”

Rainbow looked to her left. Sure enough several thick pillars of smoke could be seen coming from the east. “But... the only thing able to make that much smoke would be a large forest. Or... “

“Stalliongrad is burning,” Lightning said grimly.

Rainbow’s face blanched at his statement. “On the double ponies! Let’s find out what the hay is going on!” Rainbow Dash turned toward the pillars of smoke and maxed out her throttle. Her squad-mates followed slightly behind from Rainbow’s sudden change of speed. The land below steadily turned from thick firs to flowing glass lands. The pillars of smoke slowly got bigger and started to separate into individual stacks. She followed the smoke until she found the source.

“By the godesses,” Mist gasped.

Stalliongrad was indeed burning. The only thing remaining were the larger buildings, and they were still collapsing from the fires raging across the city. Rainbow thought she could make out the detention center in the sea of orange.

“I don’t understand,” Mist’s voice cracked. “Why... who would do this?”

“I don’t know, but there’s nothing we can do now,” Rainbow said glumly as she turned her plane back toward Canterlot. “Come on, let’s head back and help take--” Rainbow was interrupted as a frantic, familiar voice spoke up.

“This is Twilight Sparkle of the 3rd Magic brigade. Do not, I repeat, do not liberate Canterlot. You need to get out of here before It’s too late!”

Rainbow Dash fumbled a bit to respond, surprised to hear her friend’s voice. “Holy buck Twi, is that you? Where are you?”

“Rainbow Dash! Thank goodness-- I’m in canterlot with Rarity and several other unicorns as a resistance force,” she answered quickly. “Look, as much as I’m ecstatic to hear from you, you need to get out of here!”

“What are you talking about? We can’t just get up and leave. We’re so close to winning this war.”

“Yes, you would’ve won... but it’s too late now,” Twilight mumbled the last set of words.

Rainbow pounded a forehoof on her console, “Dangit, Twilight, give me a straight answer. What’s wrong? What’s too late?” Her ears flicked under her helmet as she could hear what sounded like explosions from Twilight’s side of the radio.

“Goldwing is already loose! From my calculations, it should’ve taken her at least several more hours for the draining ritual to complete. I managed to stay hidden with an invisibility spell and heard she was going to finish this war once and for all. Who knows where she could be now.”

“Twi, We have twenty-five allied aircraft attacking Canterlot’s defenses already. I’m sure we can handle a single gryphon.”

“Right, a gryphon who stole the powers of Celestia herself.”

Rainbow could picture Twilight rolling her eyes as she said that. They were halfway back to Canterlot, just finishing going around the mountainside. “Look, we’re continuing with the attack. So just--’ A loud explosion that sounded like a sonic Rainboom made her jet shudder. “What the hay was that?”

As Canterlot came back into view, Rainbow noticed a gryphon flying above the city. Its wingspan was massive compared to Its body. White feathered wings flapped with as much grace as Celestia herself. The gryphon’s body was also a pure white, standing out from the grey rock of the mountain behind her.

“Rainbow Dash, that’s her! That’s Goldwing!”

Kinda figured that out on my own. It didn’t take long for her allies to notice the priority target and began firing upon her with everything they had. Goldwing didn’t move as missiles hit dead on. The amount of missiles being fired started to form a sphere of black smoke around the gryphon queen.

“Holy your fire, everypony. I’m pretty sure we’ve got her,” one of the squadron leaders said.

The smoke around goldwing was shunted away soon as the firing stopped, revealing a purple force field surrounding her. The shield fell as a haughty laugh escaped her beak. She immediately dove like a bullet toward one of the closest airplanes, landing on top of it. Using her talons to keep herself from being tosses off, she dug her left one into the wing of the plane, tearing through the metal like paper mache. She then jumped off and clung to the underside of another plane, repeating the process.

“Holy buck she’s on me, get her off!”

“Holy your fire, you’re going to hit our own!”

“We need to get out of here!”

The radio chatter over her headset disturbed Rainbow. Their planes were not meant to take on something so small and fast and she didn’t know what to do. “Lightning, any ideas how to fight this gryphon?”

“Not a darn clue, Rainbow, but we better do something, and fast.”

Twilight returned over the radio. “Rainbow, you need to bring your team and come down here.”

“We’re a little busy up here, Twilight. What is it?”

“I may have an idea to stop Goldwing, but I need your help.”

Rainbow didn’t like the idea of leaving her allies to fight Goldwing, but she didn’t have any idea how to fight such a foe. “All right, but from here it looks like the air base is destroyed. Is there somewhere else we can land?”

“Not that I know of, Rainbow. You would have to eject from your jet and fly to me.”

Ditch my jet? Is she out of her mind? Rainbow respected Twilight and her decisions in the past, but this was becoming too much. “Are you sure, Twilight? I don’t want to lose my jet and find out your plan is going to flunk out on us.”

“I can’t say for sure, but it’s the best bet we’re got. I’ll gladly explain more when you get down here, but right now my friends and I have fighting of our own.” Gunfire could be heard in the background as a pony yelled in pain. “Please Rainbow, else we lose this war. We're holding out inside the throne room.”

Rainbow looked down at the ejection handle below her seat. It showed in yellow lettering ‘pull here’. “Are all of you okay with this?” She asked her squad-mates. “You don’t have to follow me if you wish.”

“I will follow you,” Lightning stated simply.
“As will I,” said Mist.

“This is pretty risky to be doing this... ah what the hay, I always enjoyed danger. I’m in,” Spitfire said.

“Yeah, lets go save Equestria! For muffins!” Derpy yelled happily.

Smiling at the support her friends gave, Rainbow Dash grabbed the ejection lever without hesitation and pulled. Several things happened at once when she did. The sides of her canopy exploded and was pushed away by the high-speed winds. She grabbed onto a rail above her seat to keep her forehooves out of the way. Then she felt herself shoot out of the jet as the rocket inside her seat activated.

“Wheeeeeeeee!” Derpy yelled as she ejected out of her jet as well.

Rainbow removed the harness around her chest and spread her wings, jumping away from the ejection seat. She spotted her squad-mates not having any problems with their seats and quickly joined with her in the sky.

Lightning shook his head a bit. “Whew, think I got a kink in my neck after that one.”

Smirking at his slight discomfort, Rainbow motioned to follow her with a hoof. “Come on, let’s go figure out what Twilight has planned.”

Let’s just hope Twilight’s plan is a good one.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"This is getting weirder and weirder," Lightning said as he flew through Canterlot's streets.

They had flown into the grand city without a hitch. The wall's anti-air turrets were not firing, letting them wander it without resistance. The city was dead silent, save the occasional gunshot in the distance. The buildings were in good shape, although some had parts of their walls broken. Far ahead of them, the white castle that was once majestic, now a former shadow of its beauty. Several of the castle's spires were broken. The grey plating that covered it in patches did little to help regain its beauty.

"No kidding. Its as if they packed their things and left." Rainbow said as she dodged a broken cart in the middle of the street.

"Just be patient, I'm sure Twilight will have all the answers." Mist reassured Rainbow.

Above them, the battle with Goldwing only got worse. Their forces had turned from twenty-five jets, to just ten, and Goldwing was already tearing to wing off one of them. Rainboom Squadron could only hope she didn't spot them traversing Canterlot's streets, else this would be all over.

They finally reached the second set of walls where the castle resided and sped through the lowered gate without any resistance. Spotting the large double doors leading inside the castle, they stopped in front of it and pushed both of them open. The doors created a loud thud as they swing inward and slammed into the walls, making it obvious somepony had entered. Rainbow continued to lead the way, flying up the sets of stairs ahead of them, reaching a long carpeted hallway, with another pair of double doors.

"This should be the throne room," Rainbow stated, pressing herself against the door to open it. The rest of her squadron helped as well and it easily slammed open just like the first one. They all took in the surroundings and discovered who they were looking for.

"Rainbow!" Twilight ran up and gave her a brief hug. "Thank Celestia you made it, I feared Goldwing might have gotten to you first."

"Yeah about her," Rainbow said. "What's going on? Where are all the enemy forces? Do you know what happened to Stalliongrad? Is Celestia alright?" Twilight let out a chuckle from all the questions she was throwing her way.

"You're starting to sound just like me when I'm under stress, Rainbow." She let out another giggle, before motioning the party to follow her. The room was mostly intact, minus the tapestries that littered the floor that once hung around the room. The glass windows were mostly unbroken. Some had chipped away, sunlight showing through the broken spots unhindered.

"Now then," Twilight began as they walked toward the throne slowly. Several other ponies could be seen guarding other doorways leading out. "To answer your first question, it's simple. They actually retreated north after Goldwing finished draining Celestia's power. They must've thought that the battle was won just having Goldwing finish us off." She had a grimace on her face when she said 'draining', a tone of sadness in her voice. Rainbow couldn't blame her though, she just lost her mentor, a friend, and possibly a motherly figure. "Stalliongrad, I don't know much about as I've been cooped up in here for days with Rarity. Why? What happened?"

"It's gone, Twilight," Rainbow said sadly. "The entire city was burning when we got there." Unfortunately Rainbow said it too loud as several ponies were listening, let out shocked gasps. Twilight had joined them, letting out a gasp of her own.

"Oh my, that's terrible! Why would..." she tapped a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "It was probably Goldwing's doing, trying her new power over a city. Just the thought makes me so angry!" Twilight stomped a hoof. "Celestia always used her power for good. To see it being abused just... just..." She sat down a started sobbing, looking at the smooth white marble. "This is all starting to become too much," she said between sniffles. "I just wish Celestia could make this all go away." Rainbow didn't miss a beat as she embraced Twilight in a hug, which she gladly accepted.

"I know how you feel Twilight. I don't like this war either, but," she said, breaking the embrace and looking at her. "We have to be strong. You're not alone in this war, always remember that. Alright?" Twilight somberly nodded and rested her head on Rainbows chest for a moment. The moment turned into minutes and she started to worry about her. "Uh, Twilight? Twilight!"

"I wonder how much sleep she's gotten," Lightning mused out loud. "Poor thing looked ready to sleep at any moment. Good thing she picked you, eh?" Nudging Rainbow with a hoof, causing a slight blush show on Rainbow's face. Twilight stirred after his nudge.

"Huh, what?" Lifting her head off Rainbows chest, she rapidly looked around in panic. "A-are we under attack? Is Goldwing here?" She started to calm down after seeing no breaches in their lines. "I-I'm sorry Rainbow, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, Twilight," Rainbow reassured. "Friends always help others to act as pillows." The teasing cause Twilight to look away, blushing in embarrassment. "Anyway, what was this plan you came up with?"

"It might make more sense if I showed you" Twilight walked around the throne to one of the walls and nodded to one of the unicorns guarding it. He was wearing the usual golden attire all royal guard had. It was improved upon as years passed by however and small changes could be seen. So of course with the technology of firearms, he had a pistol holstered to his side, hidden behind a white drape that stopped halfway to the floor.

With a glow of his horn, the wall started to shimmer as a large wooden door replace it. He also opened the door for everypony to go through. Twilight gave a quick thanks as she trotted inside with Rainboom squadron following behind.

"Where are we going, Twilight?" Rainbow asked as she looked at the small corridor they were going through. As she passed a torch, she saw the walls looked old and crumbled. The small amount of light made her question what part of the castle this was. Not getting an answer from Twilight, she sighed and kept quiet until she saw the end of the corridor.

They were inside a large room with a dome of glass above them, letting the bright sun illuminate the room. There wasn't anything that caught Rainbow's eye except a pair of copper double doors ahead of her. The group filed in and they stopped in front of the doors. Twilight turned around, he eyes showing a mix of sadness and anger.

"Please, don't let what you're about to see make you think any less of Celestia. They were not... gentle." Turning back around before they could answer, she used her magic to shove the doors open.

"Oh my goodness," Spitfire said under her breath.

Celestia was laying on an array of different kinds of pillows, cushions, and anything else to ease her weak, frail body. Her wings were open, slumped on the floor, several feathers were strewn across the white marble that would've matched her coat. It was dull, as if somepony rubbed dust into it. Her once majestic, billowing mane was limp on the ground as well, turned into a dull, multicolored puddle. Several unicorns were with her, giving what power they could to relieve her exhaustion. It was useless however as they were filling a water tower using only a drinking cup.

Twilight ran toward her mentor and carefully stepped over her wing to nuzzle her neck. Celestia stirred and opened an eye, smiling at her student. Her gaze shifted from Twilight, to the group behind her and a smile formed on her lips.

"I see you brought your friends with you," she said quietly, her voice still holding its motherly tone. "Please tell them to come closer, I don't wish to raise my voice any louder than this." Twilight followed her request and motioned the rest of the party forward. They made sure not to bump into her wing as well and sat down in a half-circle around Celestia's head.

"Hello, Princess," Rainbow greeted as she bowed.

"Hello, Rainbow. It's good to see you are alright." She shifted her gaze toward the others. "You seem to have made many friends in your travels."

"They are actually part of my squadron, but we've all becomes close friends as well." Rainbow returned the smile when she looked toward the ponies around her. "Luna had me become leader of Rainboom squadron." Celestria's eye lit up at the mention of her sister.

"Please tell me she's alright," she pleaded.

"Luna is safe, Princess," Lightning said. "But I fear all will be lost if we don't hurry." Twilight saw this as a sign to tell her plan.

"Celestia and I may have found a way to beat Goldwing." Twilight stated quickly. "Project Alicorn was meant to be used as a fail-safe in case the Princesses could no longer hold their position as leaders." She glanced at Celestia and frowned. "This means that an alicorn cannot use this spell, except to give it to another who is not of alicorn descent." A grin formed on her face as she continued. "There's also nothing that says we can't steal it back from Goldwing." Princess Celestia lifted her head slightly to nod it.

"She is correct. However both parties have to hear the three sayings else it will not work."

"With all due respect, Princess," Lightning began. "But how are we going to get that close without being beaten to a pulp? My allies outside are barely holding together against Goldwing as is. They're giving their lives just so we can have this conversation!" He earned a glare from Twilight, but Celestia rubbed a hoof against her back to calm her down.

"I'm sorry to hear that Lightning and you are right, it sounds like a foalish thing to do, but what other choices do we have?" She grunted as she turned to sit up.

"Princess! please-" Twilight pleaded, but was cut short from Celestia.

"I'm alright," she comforted. She looked at the unicorns around her who were startled to see her moving. "Please leave us, and thank you dearly for giving me strength." The unicorns deeply bowed and left the room, closing the copper doors behind them. "I'll tell you the other sayings, but you need to promise me you will use this power for good. Power corrupts, my subjects. Goldwing is one who have fallen to such thoughts."

"You have my word, Princess," Rainbow said as she bowed before her. The rest of the part followed suit, saying the same thing.

"Very well." Princess Celestia was silent in contemplation before she spoke. Her tone was chanting, the words she said sounded powerful, yet pure.

"From the earth does our strength reside, but within ourselves, it does hide."

"Our magic is mysterious and enthralling, and without it we are nothing." She looked at Rainbow Dash and let out a smile as the next one was for her.

"With our wings we fly, but through our hearts, only will we soar." Celestia seemed to slump after speaking the three sacred saying. Twilight stood closer to her, ready to help in any way she could. Celestia managed to drape a wing over her student and pull her into a hug, earning a gasp from her. "My faithful student... " she mumbled.

"Yes?" Twilight responded, worry in her eyes.

"You must go with them, Twilight," her voice was getting quieter. She rested her head on the pillows and let her wings go limp again. "Please, you must stop... Goldwing."

"I won't leave you! Princess... I-I can't." She nuzzled her face into Celestia's neck and sobbed. Celestia however didn't respond to her touches and laid still. "Princess?" Twilight nudged her body, but still no response. She yelled out her name to no avail, only causing her voice to break after saying it the third time.

"Twilight, I think... " Rainbow couldn't say it, she dared not say it in front of Twilight.

"No!" Twilight was splayed out across Celestia's neck, openly crying into her coat. "She can't be." She coughed from her throat being dry and red from yelling. "G-get the unicorns back in here. Maybe they can still do something... anything." Rainbow nodded and zipped down the corridor they came from. She couldn't find the unicorns as they had decided to blend with rest of the crowd, helping wherever they could. She did the only thing she could think of to get their attention.

"You unicorns better get your flanks back to Celestia right now, or I swear I'll buck you in the head so hard you'd rather fight Goldwing!" It certainly did the job as every unicorn in the room ran into the corridor. She followed behind them to find her friends had backed away, including Twilight who was sobbing on Mist's shoulder in a hug. Rainbow landed next to Lightning as the unicorns surrounded Celestia and started to once again pour their strength into her. It was hard to tell if it was working or not, and she could only hope it was not too late. Lightning leaned next to her and started whispering.

"I know this is a bad time Rainbow, but we need to hurry. Goldwing could be advancing upon us at any moment. We need Twilight to focus." Rainbow nodded and slowly walked toward Twilight and mist. She stared for a moment, before joining in the hug.

"Twilight," Rainbow began in a whisper. "I know this must be hard for you to lose somepony so close to you, but Goldwing isn't going to wait for us." Twilight nodded slowly, still burying herself in Mist's blue mane. Rainbow quietly sighed and looked at Mist, motioning her to bring Twilight with her. She nodded back and reluctantly broke the embrace, leading Twilight slowly to the throne room.

The rest of the party left the room as well, leaving Rainbow alone with the unicorns who were still focusing with all their power to awaken their Princess. She squinted as she looked above at the glass dome, the sun high in the sky.

Goldwing is going to pay for this...

Goldwing laughed as she tore into another aircraft, the pilot inside wide-eyed with fear. She stared at him with amusement before breaking the canopy and pulling him out of the seat. She lunged off the plane and let it fall toward Canterlot, not caring where it crashed. The pony in her grasp struggled in futility, her talon holding his chest in a vice-like grip.

"What's the matter, little pony. Are you not happy to see your queen?" she pressed her beak against his face, causing him to flinch. To her surprised, he managed to stutter out something.

"Y-you're no queen." Goldwing frowned upon hear that and was about to squash the little insect for saying such thing, but was stopped when a dark-blue aura surrounded her talon. The pony let out a squeak as it was wrested from her, landing safely somewhere in Canterlot below.

"Who dares-" she spun around to find an alicorn staring her down from above, her horn aglow. Her voice startled her as she yelled in full volume of the Canterlot voice.

"Fiend! You dare take my sisters power to attack her subjects! Only a foal would attack somepony weaker than themselves." A cruel grin formed on her lips as she flew toward her. "We shall finish you off once and for all!" Luna pointed her horn at Goldwing, releasing a bolt of magic her way. She yelped in surprised and rolled, avoiding it. The alicorn followed her attack, by attempting to spear Goldwing with her horn, but she dodged to the side and grabbed her wing.

Fearing that she was going to snap her wing off, Luna quickly swung her horn toward Goldwing's face. It connected with her cheek, cutting like a well-kept blade. Screaming in pain, the gryphon queen shoved her away and held her cheek, looking at the blood on her talon. Pure rage formed on her face as she dove after Luna.

"Little whelp. I was going to make this quick, but now you will die slow and painfully!"

Twilight was on the floor with a small pillow Rainbow had brought her. She was exhausted after seeing what happened to her mentor and quickly fell sleep. The rest of the party was talking amongst themselves, figuring out how to defeat Goldwing.

"You saw how she tore that jet's wing off, Lightning," Spitfire said fearfully. "I don't want her doing that to my wings."

"Look. I'm scared too, but it's either fight or stuck under gryphon rule forever. I don't know about you, but I'd rather die then..." Mist glared at him for saying such a thing, causing his head to slump. "The point is, we need to join together for this to work. Possibly everypony in this room will need to help." He looked at the array of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi around the room.

"Isn't Luna still outside with our forces?" Mist asked, looking at the double doors leading to the main stairway. "Surely she would be a great help." Lightning shook his head in doubt.

"She's probably the reason we haven't been attacked yet. Either that or she doesn't know about this little sanctuary." As he said that a prim voice caught his attention from behind. turning his head around, he saw a white unicorn eying his group.

"Hello, dears," she greeted in a friendly tone. "I hope you are all alright. I did my best cleaning up the place, but one unicorn can only do so much." She laughed dainty at he modest comment.

"Hey, Rarity." Rainbow Dash piped up, walking over to her. "Everything is fine, though I wish Twilight was in higher spirits." Her ears folded back as she looked at the spot where Twilight was sleeping peacefully. Rarity followed her look with sadness on her face.

"I heard what happened with Celestia. I... We will all miss her dearly." She said, wiping away a tear with a hoof. "I also hear you all plan to bring Goldwing to justice with the help of everypony here. All I have to say is I will gladly bring that that... that... " She kept her growing anger in check as she thought of a proper term to call the gryphon. "Stuck-up, feather-brained, no-good, waste-of-space false queen!"

"Good to hear," Lightning commented with a laugh. "Before we begin, we'll have to gather everypony. Can all of you have them gather in front of the throne, I'll explain our plan to them afterwards." The group around him nodded their heads and sped off to gather who they could. Lightning walked toward the front of the throne, standing on the first elevated platform as he waited.

Rarity easily gathered the earth ponies and several unicorns, making Lightning wonder if they saw her as a leadership figure. His squad-mates gathered the pegasi as well, while Rainbow Dash woke Twilight. Placing her pillow in front, Twilight plopped down while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Lightning sat down with Mist beside him. Around him, his squad-mates took their own seats while Rarity stood with the crowd. He scanned over their faces, seeing mixed curiosity, fear, and apprehensiveness. Clearing his throat to get rid of the lump from nervousness, he began his speech.

"Everypony, my friends and I have come up with a plan to rid ourselves of Queen Goldwing. With the help of Celestia, she has given us the knowledge to finally put this plan into action." Murmurs and gasps could be heard throughout the crowd. "I won't hold anything back, this plan sounds crazy, but it may be the only way to defeat her. It is your job to distract her and hold her down while we prepare a spell to take the power she stole."

"You want us to hold down a gryphon, who is possibly more powerful then us combined? Madness!" A unicorn yelled out.

"I know you all have your doubts, but what other choice do we have? She plans to take over all of Equestria and possibly the entire world. Is that what you want?" Several more murmurs and quiet "Yes's" came from the crowd. "Fine! if you do not want to be a part of this, run away as a coward. Go right ahead!" He challenged, pointing toward the doors on the other side of the room. Nopony moved so he continued.

"You must put away your fear and stand with your fellow unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Our nation has lost so much..." his speech hesitated as he remembered how much he's gone through to get here. He couldn't give up now. He had too much to live for. Too much to fight for. He glanced at mist who had leaned against him, giving him the comforting strength to continue.

"All I ask is your help in this battle. Not for me or my friends. Not even for yourselves. This fight is for Equestria and our very survival as an independent nation. Will you answer my call?"

The crowd was quiet as they stared at him. Somewhere in back, somepony stomped his hooves to applaud. It steadily grew as they raised their voices in cheers. "I will join you!" Another pony said. The crowd seemed to fully break out of their trance and pledged their lives to fight. Even if it meant their demise, they would join. Rainbow grinned at Lightning, who sheepishly smiled back as the crowd continued cheering.

The cheering turned into screams of fear as one of the glass windows shattered. The broken glass luckily pelted the group of ponies with only several nicks and cuts. Everypony snapped their attention to the noise to find what caused it to shatter.

On the ground was a dark-blue alicorn, laying still on the ground. Her starry mane laid flat like a deflated balloon. Her body was covered in red lines as if she had been scratched by a group of manticores. The regalia she always wore was broken and barely hanging onto her form. The crowd gasp in shock upon realizing who it was; some running to her aid.

They were pushed back by an unseen force as another figure entered, landing next to luna. She gazed down at the prone form of the moon princess and let out a cackle. Her gaze slowly shifted to the array of ponies in front of her and a grin formed on her face. Her beak was cracked in several places. Dark splotches could be seen on her body from her fight with Luna, but she seemed unphased.

"Hello my little ponies," she said in a mocking voice as she stepped over Luna. "How nice of you to all be here in the same room. It should make killing you that much easier!" Everypony backed away as Goldwing advanced upon them. Lightning and the rest of the party stood their ground near the throne, looking at her with hate in their eyes. "Oh, what have we here? Ponies who still think fighting is worth dying for? How cute." When she finished, everypony went wide-eyed when a certain wall-eyed pegasus got in her face.

"T-That's not nice Ms. Goldwing! Why do you have to be so mean to us ponies!" Goldwing was almost surprised from this pegasus getting so close to her and smiled.

"You must be either really brave, or very stupid to come this close to me." She looked at her eye that was busy admiring something to her left. "I'm going to guess stu-" She didn't get the chance to finish as a rainbow blur flew toward her and bucked her in the chest, knocking her back several feet.

"Don't you dare call any of my friends stupid! and there's more where that came from!" Goldwing held her chest for a moment to regain her composure, glaring daggers at Rainbow Dash.

"You both are stupid! All of you are!" She stood on all fours and pounced toward the two pegasai, ready to slash her claws at them. Bringing her talon down, she was again surprised as a purple shell protected the two from being harmed. "Wha-" Twilight Sparkle stood with her friends, glaring at the dumbfounded Queen.

"That is enough out of you!" A purple glow appeared around one of Goldwing's arms and was thrown to the ground, held in place. "How dare you start this war!" She proceeded to hold down her other arm. "How dare you hurt so many ponies!" The bubble surrounding the two pegasai lifted and they stood next to her. "How dare you harm Celestia!" Twilight's eyes started to glow white as she lifted off the ground. Goldwing watched in fear as she couldn't even move her body under the terrifying gaze of this little purple pony.

"L-let me go this instant!" she demanded, but cowered when Twilight Sparkle clamped her beak shut. The crowd had started cheering at this show of immense power.

"Do what has to be done, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as she glared at the prone form of Queen goldwing. The rest of Rainboom Squadron snapped out of their staring after seeing what had occurred and walked next to the gryphon. "Take her power! No longer will ponies fear such a display of arrogance!" They stood as one, staring down at the pathetic white gryphon before them. They spoke the saying together in a chant, just as Celestia did.

"From the earth does our strength reside, but within ourselves, it does hide!"

Goldwing's eyes grew wide in terror as she knew what was about to happen. She struggled against her bonds, but nothing seemed to work.

"Our magic is mysterious and enthralling, and without it we are nothing!"

She continued to struggle, noticing the purple pony was actually started to weaken. Grinning madly, she heaved with all her might. Twilight Sparkle cringed at her attempts to escape.

"With our wings we fly, but through our hearts will others soar!"

As the last words were said, Goldwing shattered the bonds Twilight put on her. The unicorn fell to the floor unconscious as she ran toward the window in fear. She felt a tugging at her very soul as the words fell on her ears. She took to the air to escape the spell, but it was no use. When she jumped, her legs buckled and she fell back to the marble floor with a crack. Her powers she had stolen were slowly being ripped from her, like how a child would open a present on their birthday.

What followed was the immense pain as her wings dropped and fell to the ground, disappearing in a fine white mist when they touched the floor. Her form shrank back to its original size and the once pure white feathers, were back to a golden/brown. She lied on the floor, curled in pain, as the last bits of power was taken.

Everypony stared in awe as the white light that was Celestia's power swirled around the five ponies who chanted the sacred sayings. It slowly swirled around them as if inspecting its saviors from the evil queen. Lightning held his breath as the light flowed around his legs.

It continued to swirl around them and the group was starting to get confused why it wasn't entering their bodies. As if sensing this, the mist gathered in front of the group and took the form of a very familiar princess.

"Hello, my little ponies," it said in a soft and comforting tone, like a warm blanket on a cold night. "Which of you deem yourselves worthy to harness my power?" The group didn't respond and only looked slack-jawed at the form in front of them. The figure let out a giggle and moved closer to the group. "Come now, there's no need to be stunned. One of you must want this power." The group broke out of the revere one at a time and spoke in whispers so it couldn't hear them.

"I say we take this chance!" Spitfire said excitedly. "Think about it. Having a horn and wings!" Rainbow Dash stared at her, unimpressed.

"This power belongs to Celestia, Spitfire. I don't think we should take it."

"I'm going to agree with Rainbow," Mist said quickly. The rest of the group agreed with Rainbow Dash and they all turned back toward the mist. It looked at them, awaiting an answer.

"None of us wish for your power," Lightning said firmly. He looked at the group to confirm it and they nodded. The mist seemed disturbed by this as she paced back and forth.

"Why not? You could become a prince or princess. Just think of all the possibilities!" Once again, Lightning shook his head.

"I don't want power, to become a prince, or any of those things. I'm happy with who I am," he said as he glanced at Mist. "I'm happy with who I'm with." The mist sat on her misty rump and crossed her hooves in disappointment.

"Well who do I give myself to then? I can't stay like this all day you know."

"Is it not obvious, Ms. Mist Celestia?" Derpy questioned. "We want you to go back to Celestia. She needs you the most!"

"A-are you sure?" The mist seemed saddened upon hearing this, but the group of pegasai repeated their answer. "Very well... let us go to Celestia." The mist turned back into its ribbon of white and flowed out of the room and through the hallway that the Princess resided.

Lightning looked at Luna's prone form and saw she was already being watched over by several ponies. To his surprise, her chest was slowly rising and falling.

"Rainbow, pick up Twilight. Let's go see if Celestia is okay." Even though Rainbow was leader, she followed his order and placed the exhausted pony on her back. With their passenger in tow, they trotted down the dark corridor again. Lightning thought about something and let out a sigh.

"Lightning," Mist began, curiosity in her voice. "What's wrong?" Her lover looked at her and smiled.

"Guess I didn't need to do a uplifting speech after all." He admitted, looking back at Twilight Sparkle draped over Rainbow dash's back. Rainbow looked back at him and returned the smile.

It's finally over.

The war is finally over.

Everypony filed inside the large circular room where Princess Celestia was seen laying upon the ground. The mist circled around her form, waiting for everypony to enter. When the last one entered, the mist dove into Celestia's body.

They stood still, like any sudden movements would break their chances of the Princess from awakening. It however proved fruitless as her body continued to lie on the ground. Minutes passed by and slowly the ponies began crying for their Princess. She had sacrifice herself so long ago so Luna could retaliate against Goldwing. It was the heaviest price anypony could pay: Their own life.

As the minutes stretched on, ponies bowed in front of the still form of Celestia and gave their respects. Pegasai would pluck their feathers and leave it in front of her. Unicorns allowed what strength they had left to enter her body as well, even though it was useless, they dreamed it would be enough. Earth pony's gave what they could, ranging from horseshoes to strands of their own mane as gifts to their Princess.

By this time Luna had awoken to come limping inside. She stopped in front of her sister's neck and draped herself over it, hugging her closely. She sobbed as she nuzzled her neck, tears staining her pure-white coat.

Wait...

Luna looked at her sister's coat once more, even with her eyes blurry she could see her sister's coat regaining color. Her eyes grew wide as she felt a very faint, but steady thump as she held her neck. Overjoyed, but still cautious else she might lose her, she ran over to Celestia's horn. She knew it could be painful with her horn snapped, but it was worth the risk if she could save her sister. Touching her sister's horn, she sent the smallest amount of magic she could, immediately hating the pain that followed.

She cringed her teeth as what felt like a overwhelming brain freeze hit her mind. She yelped out in pain as everypony watched in horror. She didn't stop as she sent another jolt through, making the pain worse and giving her a massive migraine.

"P-Princess!" Mist yelled, catching the attention of ponies who were leaving.

"No! We will not give up on our sister!" she sent another jolt and screamed in pain. Now most of the ponies that had left were back, staring in awe at what was happening. Some of the unicorns got the idea and joined. Even if some of them fell unconscious from overexerting their magic, they continued. They loved their Princess and would not stop until she was safe.

Lightning felt useless. He couldn't do anything, but watch them struggle to keep Celestia alive. If only he could give what strength he had left. Realization slammed into him as he remembered one of the third sayings.

"I-I think I understand," Lightning sputtered out. "The three sayings! They can help us in this!" Not really sure what he was doing, he ran toward the nearest unicorn and, to the unicorns dismay, hugged her.

"What are you doing?" Mist ran up to him to stop this nonsense, but stopped when the unicorn's horn grew brighter. "W-What is going on?"

"I finally understand it, Mist." Lightning said while hugging the unicorn. "Like the saying goes, 'With our wings we fly, but through our hearts will others soar'. I know it sounds cheesy, but pour your heart into a unicorn, they're the only one's who can send it to her. That goes for you earth ponies as well!"

They looked at him skeptically, but when a line formed from the unicorn Lightning was hugging to Celestia's, everypony gasped. Every unicorn was quickly forced into a group hug by earth pony and pegasus alike. No sooner had they done so, that each unicorn's horn grew bright and shot into Celestia's horn. A bright light began building at the tip of her horn. When the last trail of what some believe to be love for their princess stopped, the Princess's horn was glowing brightly. It traveled down her horn and disappeared into her skull.

Everypony was laying on the ground in exhaustion as they watched Celestia's form. To everyony's surprise, her mane slowly rose from the floor and billowed ever so slowly in the air. The ruffled feathers on her wings slowly turned smooth and her coat was bright as ever.

Celestia cracked open an eye and came face-to-face with her sister, Luna. The moon princess looked into her sister's eyes and started bawling in front of her. Out of instinct, Celestia wrapped her hooves around her sister and held her close.

"I'm here sister," she soothed. "There's no need to worry anymore."

Chapter 12

Goldwing shifted on the marble floor and let out a low groan. Her entire body felt tired and had a burning sensation from being so sore. The most she was able to do was crack open an eye and take in her surroundings. She wished she hadn't.

Surrounding her were four pegasai and a unicorn, and they were all staring at her. She was afraid they were here to finish her off, but they made no move to do so. After several seconds being awake, they finally looked somewhere else. More specifically, a royal white Alicorn who was slowly walking toward her. She knew who it was. She stole her power after all.

The Princess stopped in front of the five ponies that surrounded the Queen and gave a brief smile to each of them. When she looked at Goldwing, her smile faded. Instead it was filled with a small frown, confusing Goldwing greatly. She expected the Princess to be furious or just kill her on the spot for her actions. What she did next caught everyone off guard.

"Take our guest to an empty guest room to rest," Celestia stated quietly. "She's to be treated like everypony else unless I say so. Is that understood?" One of the unicorns, who was dressed in tattered pieces of golden armor, saluted before lifting Goldwing up with magic.

She gazed back at the Alicorn as a blue pegasus flew above the others, yelling at Celestia. Celestia responded calmly, but couldn't make it out as she was too far away and tired to hear clearly. The last thing she saw were a pair of double doors opening and the archway above as she blacked out in exhaustion.

"What the hay, Princess!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she sprung into the air in anger. "Why did you do that? She should be getting her flank kicked for what she's done!"

"What is wrong with you? Did you forget who you're speaking to?" Twilight hissed at Rainbow for talking like that to the Princess. She stopped when Celestia cleared her throat softly.

"I'm sorry if my choice angers you Rainbow dash, but look at it this way. Would I be any better to kill her while she's in such a state? Would any of us be to lash out at another in anger?" Rainbow Dash slowly dropped to the ground and sat on her rump thoughtfully upon hearing this.

"N-no. I guess not," Rainbow stated bitterly. She really wanted to get her anger out on the queen, but also wished to not disappoint Celestia. "Then what are we supposed to do?" She added hopefully.

"One does not start a war without purpose, Rainbow Dash." Celestia replied. "Goldwing clearly wanted power, but I do not know fully why." Twiilght caught a hint at something the Princess said as her eyes widened.

"Excuse me, Princess, but what do you mean when you say 'fully'? Do you know something about her past?"

"I have seen fragments of her past when we connected while they drained my power," she admitted. "What I saw is possibly one of the reasons she is being spared. If you wish, I could share the fragments with you, but the images are not... pleasant.".

"I don't like to be left in the dark, so I will see these memories." Lightning Spark stated, with a hint of uncertainty. Spitfire, Mist and Derpy declined and stepped back while Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood with him.

Celestia smiled warmly at the three ponies' courage and lowered her horn. After a tap on their forehead, each pony fell to the floor, fast asleep
.

"Oh my, she has your eyes."

Rainbow Dash felt her head look up at hearing the voice. Two gryphons were looking back at her with tender smiles on their faces. She felt confused and very tired, yet her original mind was telling her she was Goldwing as a newborn. As quickly as the image appeared, it faded into another.

Her family had moved to Trottingham due to problems finding work in the Gryphon Kingdoms. The school she went to didn't seem to accept her race very well and gladly showed it as she felt herself get pushed over. Her beak hit the ground head-on, causing it to crack slightly as tears started to blur her vision. She watched two ponies walk by and they laughed as they passed.

"Stupid chicken, needs to watch where she's going." Rainbow picked herself up and sat in the middle of the playground, holding her beak in pain.

Another vision appeared. She was higher off the ground and Rainbow's mind guessed she was a lot older now. She was still in a school, but also appeared to be the only gryphon in sight. Her thoughts were drowned out at the feeling of giddiness as she spotted a pink note sticking out of her locker.

She had learned about most of the different holidays and traditions ponies had and at first didn't look forward to hearts and hooves day. This small note changed all of that. She was to meet a secret admirer after school under the bleachers. The thought of whoever this admirer had in mind made her blush under her feathers.

A part of her feared it was all a joke, just a way to get her alone. Her doubts were relieved when she met a pegasus who actually loved her. Rainbow felt it was the happiest moment of her life as the image faded of her hugging the pegasus.

Pain. All Rainbow felt was terrifying pain jolting up her wings. She was in a hospital now, laying face-first on a table while a doctor inspected them. She felt her head twist to look up at her wings. If she had control of her jaw, it would've fell to the floor. Both of her wings were broken in several places and barely any feathers hung on.

Apparently several ponies didn't approve of Goldwing dating a pony and decided to do something about it. Rainbow Dash was thankful that that memory wasn't a part of the fragment she was now in. However, what happened next made both Rainbow's and Goldwing's face go pale.

"I'm sorry, miss, but we'll have to amputate both of your wings." He looked down at her with sadness in his eyes. I'm... so sorry."

"Rainbow Dash, wake up!" A commanding, yet serene voice yelled.

Rainbow jolted awake and snapped her eyes open. They zipped around, soaking in where she was. After realizing this wasn't another memory fragment, she laid back on the floor. Her eyes and face felt damp with tears from reliving Goldwing's past. She saw Celestia looking down at her with obvious worry on her face. Twilight and Lightning were already up, in the same confused state as she was.

"I'm deeply sorry for having you three experience that, Celestia apologized. Twilight ran up and gave her a hug, which she returned. Whatever tension she held started to melt away. "I can only hope it opened your mind as much as it did for me."

Before anypony could speak, another alicorn interrupted their conversation. "Sister," Luna began as she landed beside Celestia. "It is already getting late and you have yet to fully recover." She glanced at the group before her as she continued. "You all should rest your eyes as we have a big day planned tomorrow." With that said, she jumped into the air and left through the broken window she was tossed into earlier today.

Celestia slumped at bit, still feeling weak while nodding at Luna's words. "The wing where the guest rooms are located are over there," she pointed with a hoof. "They should be intact as they are located deep in the castle." Giving one more loving squeeze to the pony near her forelegs, she motioned for Twilight to leave her side. "I will see you all tomorrow when I raise the sun." She stated while turning around. Two pegasai joined her side and escorted her down a hallway, closing the door behind them.

Rainbow glanced around and saw the other ponies were slowly dispersing as well. With nothing else to do until morning, they left through the door where Goldwing was carried through. The hallway behind it lead deep into the castle and split into a cross section far ahead. Several inscribed wooden doors lined the halls, behind each held accommodations that would put a high-class hotel's efforts to shame.

The group decided to take the four doors nearest to the one's leading to the throne room. Derpy, Spitfire, and Rainbow Dash took a room for themselves. Lightning and Mist decided to share one, despite the suggestive look Rainbow was giving them.

"I better not wake up in the middle of the night hearing you both-"

"Knock it off, Rainbow." Mist said with a hint of agitation. "I'm not in the mood for your teasing and I'm definitely not in the mood for that." A barely audible "aw" came from Lightning, but she ignored it. "Now if you would kindly go to your room, we'll be going to sleep." She grabbed Lightning and pushed him inside the room before closing the door and locking it behind her.

Lightning got up from the floor and dusted himself off after being handled roughly by Mist. "What the hay!" he exclaimed before turning around. "At least warn me nex-" He didn't finished his sentence as Mist was close enough to his face that he could feel her breath tickling his coat. "Urk," he grunted, feeling a blush coming on.

"You do know I was lying about all of the things I told Rainbow, right?" Mist asked as she looked at Lightning with half-lidded eyes. Lightning blinked as he slowly registered where this was going.

"Oh... oh!" Mist stifled a giggle and nuzzled his chest. Glad that her lover was up to speed on the situation, she pressed herself against him.

"Took you long enough," she teased. Lightning rubbed a hoof against her cheek and slowly lowered his head to kiss her.

Just... a little... closer... He was practically an inch away, when the moment shattered instantly.

"What the hay did I just say!" A muffled voice yelled across the hallway, causing Lightning to accidentally drop Mist.

"I'm so sorry!" Lightning helped his lover up, but she lightly pushed him away and trotted to bed. He sat on the floor as he poked his hooves together nervously. "D-does this mean no-"

"Yes," Mist stated angrily and pulled the covers tightly around herself. Lightning hung his head and laid down on the other side of the bed. Unfortunately, Mist had grabbed all the covers, leaving him to sleep without them.

"Stupid Rainbow Dash," Lightning muttered before falling asleep.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Bright sunlight shone through the tall window on left, placing itself on Lightning's prone form. His flight-suit was one the floor and he was curled in a ball with no sheets. Mist was still comfortable under the bundle of blankets she kept for herself. The room had a tranquil quietness and the sound of a bird's chirping could be heard outside. It was a wonder that there was a war going on not too long ago.

The door leading into their room creaked open and a pony made its way toward the side of the bed Lightning slept on.

"Lightning, wake up!"

Lightning mumbled something close to a "go away" before putting a foreleg over his muzzle. Receiving a sharp jab to his unprotected flank, no thanks to Mist hogging the blankets, he cracked open an eye to glare at whoever awoke him. "What do you want, Rainbow?" The grin on her face didn't help his thoughts of throwing her out the door and going back to bed. Though seeing Rainbow in her flight-suit made him raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Princess Celestia has a mission for you and I. She wants us to meet her in the throne room in one hour." Satisfied her message got through, she began to leave the room. "Oh, and I suggest you take a shower. To be frank, you smell terrible. Just don't take too long," she added before shutting the door behind her.

"Yeah, sure. A sap," Lightning mumbled, mind still fogged from waking up. Not wishing to find out what happens to ponies who ignored a Princess's summons, he got out of bed and headed for the washroom. Soon as he entered, he took Rainbow's suggestion and started the shower.

Let's see how Mist likes waking up to my singing.

"By Celestia, what is that noise?" Mist groaned to no one in particular. Unless the pillow her head was firmly planted into wished to have a conversation. She looked toward the bathroom and saw the door was closed with the faint sound of running water. It was drowned out from a verse to the song Lightning was singing. While she admired his song choice, its once wonderful melody was ruined by bad pacing and wavering pitch.

Bringing home the southern birds
A Pegasus' job begins...
... let the sunshine in
We move the clouds
And we melt the white snow...

She couldn't take it anymore. If he continued, she would have a headache for the rest of the day, and possibly have the song stuck in her head. Throwing the blankets off, she trotted around the bed and knocked loudly on the door. "Lightning, I swear to Celestia if you don't stop that singing..." To her surprise, the singing abruptly stopped.

"Or what Mist Dancer? Barge in here and stop me? I'm indecent!" He said over the running water, which stopped after his statement.

Mist face-hoofed in response. "What's the difference. We don't wear clothes anyway so..." She shook her head for getting side-tracked. "Just no more singing." With nothing left to say, she walked back to the bed and flopped down on top of it. Behind her, she heard the bathroom door open.

"Very well then," Lightning stated in a mock hurt expression. "Guess you won't get none of this after we return from Celestia's mission."

Mist didn't need to look to know the gestures Lightning was doing. Though her ears perked up at the mention of a mission. "Celestia has a mission for us?"

"Only me and Rainbow Dash apparently," Lightning admitted as she heard the ruffle of him putting on his flight-suit. "Don't know any of the details except to be there in one hour."

"Well you better get going," Mist stated, her face buried under the blankets. "I'll be up in a bit. Been a long time since I could sleep without worrying about being under attack."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you later." Mist caught a hint of sorrow in Lightning's voice and tossed the cover off to look at him. She had a good guess at what the problems was and planned to fix it.

"Lightning, come here," she firmly stated. Lightning trotted over with a inquisitive expression, which was quickly changed when Mist threw her forelegs around his neck. "I'm sorry about what happened last night. Rainbow just ruined the mood. Plus dropping me didn't help either, even if I know you didn't do it on purpose." She nuzzled under his chin. "I'll tell you what, when you get back from your mission, I'll make it up to you. Alright?"

Lightning relaxed in her embrace and sat down, returning the gesture. He made a small nod and let out a content rumble. "I'll be back soon then," he stated as he broke the embrace. Looking into her eyes, he gave a small peck before getting up and leaving the room. Opening the door, he stopped through the archway and looked back at Mist. "I'm looking forward it," he added before shutting the door behind him.

Thank Celestia for being a patient Princess. The line was enormous, but Lightning managed to get a quick bite to eat at the still running cafeteria. The place was bustling with excitement, mostly those celebrating about the war being over. He had caught sight of several ponies dancing on the tables in their jubilation. There was a wide selection of foods to pick over, free of charge for just today. Helping himself with two sandwiches filled with cheese and several greens, he quickly ate one and trotted out the door with the other in his mouth.

While walking down the marble hallway, he took a curious peek outside the tall stained glass window to his left. He was surprised that the city was bustling with activity. He could catch several cheers and hollers from where he was through the shattered openings in the window. He continued down the hallway toward his destination, eventually finding two guards next to a large doorway. As he approached, the doors swung inward and he immediately spotted Rainbow Dash pacing in the middle of the room.

"Lightning! What the hay took you so long? It's already ten minutes past an hour." He rubbed a hoof at the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry, Rainbow. The line at the cafeteria took longer than I thought," Lightning apologized. Rainbow stared at him with a furrow on her brow, making him feel more uncomfortable. "So... what's this mission we're need for anyway?"

"Don't know yet. The Princess plans to tell us when we got here." They both looked at at Celestia who was smiling at them. They bowed low, receiving a chuckle from Celestia.

"Rise both of you. I will be brief as I have another matter to attend to." Her uncovered eye glanced toward the doorway leading to the guest rooms for a moment. "As you may have noticed, there is a great celebration happening across Equestria. While I enjoy seeing everypony having a good time, I feel it's necessary to keep an eye out for... troublemakers.

"With all due respect Princess," Rainbow began. "What kind of trouble should we be expecting? You want us to handle anypony who gets out of control from too much partying?" She ended it with a chuckle, which Celestia joined with him.

"No Rainbow, nothing like that. I just wish for my mind to be at ease with a quick patrol, nothing more. Could you both please do that?'

Lightning and Rainbow glanced at each other before looking back at the Princess. Lightning spoke up this time. "Of course, your highness. We would be honored." The smile on Celestia's face brightened.

"Thank you both. I've arranged two jets for you to take on your flight. If you wish, fly low enough to get the attention of everypony. It should raise their spirits that much higher. Have fun you two."

With nothing left to say, Lightning and Rainbow bowed to the Princess and she lowered her head in response. They both left through the door to their right, toward where their jets would be waiting. As they crossed the hallway, the loud whine of a jet engine could be heard coming from the door ahead of them. Pushing on the door, it swung open easily and they entered.

The enormous room they entered reminded Lightning of a hanger, but five times in size. The floor was charcoal black. It was impossible to slide over it and felt like hard rubber, probably to give the jets lined up in the large hanger traction. There were several ponies lounging around, likely wanting to either avoid the noise going on in the city, or focus on their work.

Continuing toward the entrance of the hangar, he caught sight of one pony lounging on a striped blue beach chair. She had a black mane that stopped below her eyes and brushed to the side to not hinder her eyesight. Her brown eyes seemed busy looking through a blue book. Lightning was able to clearly glance at the title 'A Blue Dove for the Princess', without drawing attention to himself.

Hm, what an interesting title.

A nudge to his ribs drew his attention as Rainbow pointed out the jets they would be flying. "Dibs on the one on the left," Rainbow stated.

"Still wish we hadn't dropped ours over the edge of Canterlot like that." Lightning said as they made their way to the jets.

"I know how you feel. I thought it was crazy, but it was necessary since there was nowhere to land anyway. Hopefully we can get new ones soon." They made their way into the cockpits and started the tedious tasks of preparing for take off.

Princess Celestia walked down the hallway where the guest rooms were located. She was flanked by two guards in their famous gold armor, watching for any dangers to their Princess. Although at this point, most guards were either off-duty or keeping the party outside in check.

The Princess stopped in front of one of the doors to her right and raised a hoof to knock. The door opened and a servant looked at her for a moment before moving to the side with a bow of his head. "Guards," Celestia firmly said, earning an at attention stance from the guards beside her. "Please wait outside, but don't hesitate to enter if you believe something is amiss." They responded with a bow of their head and stood on either side of the doorway.

She entered the room and glanced around. It was like all the guest rooms, nothing special. The special occupant sitting on the bed, however, was what Celestia came for. The door shut behind her as she slowly walked toward the bed and sat in front of Goldwing.

She looked up at Celestia's face not out of hate or anger, but of curiosity. "Why am I still alive?" She asked flatly.

Celestia stared outside, silently enjoying the sun she would rise every day. Sighing through her nostrils, she looked back at Goldwing. "I want to know more about you." Goldwing clearly wasn't expecting that answer as her brow shot up in surprise

"More about me," Goldwing repeated. "Why would a Princess of Equestria care about my past? The past of a gryphon who almost destroyed your nation?"

"Because, my special guest," Celestia said with a smile. "It would be unfair of me to put you on trial without knowing your motives. I've seen a glance at your past when you... borrowed my powers. What I saw changed my look upon you and I wish to know more."

"So I'm just a tool to sate your curiosity?" Goldwing snapped. "My past should be none of your business. Just judge me guilty and get the trial over with."

Celestia clenched her jaw to retain her composure, else lose her entire reason for coming here. "I'm not here for something so trivial. I saw how those ponies treated you in your younger years. I saw their prejudice and it disappointed me that ponies such as those exist in Equestria." She stared at her with a saddened expression. "You will be killed immediately if I don't intervene. Is this what you truly want, Goldwing?" She laid down with her hooves tucked under her so she was at eye level with Goldwing. "Why do you want to give away your life so easily?"

"You wouldn't understand," Goldwing muttered.

"Try me," Celestia challenged. The room was silent as the former queen and Princess stared at each other. Only the faint sound of a songbird could be heard outside the window. Finally Goldwing huffed and looked at the floor.

"Tell me, have you ever lost someone you loved dearly? Someone who would love you no matter what you did?"

Celestia nodded slowly, but noticed Goldwing still had her head low. "I am hundreds of centuries old. I have had my share of loss whenever I find somepony I enjoy company with. It is... never easy to watch them fade away," she added sadly.

Goldwing hesitated, not sure if she should bother continuing. She started her story several years after she lost her wings. After graduating from school, to her relief of surviving that horrible place, her coltfriend stayed with her. Even when she traveled back to the gryphon kingdoms.

"When I returned to my homeland, I found out how much they hated the pony I loved. It was as if we switched sides and he was taking the prejudice I had to endure. Eventually I had enough and tried to get audience with Queen Steelfeather. She was a kind and just ruler, so I believed she would help me." Goldwing clenched her fist to control her building anger. "But no. She refused to help because her people would frown upon helping a pony! She was too scared of her own people to do what was right."

Goldwing shook her head as she continued. "I thought things couldn't get any worse, but then... " her voice broke and she clenched her eyes shut to stop herself from crying. Taking several deep breaths, she was able to at least control it enough to continue. "My love took a rock to the temple while he was getting groceries. He was an amazing cook, while I couldn't even make burnt toast." She chuckled lightly to ease her sadness a bit. "After I found out what happened, I completely lost it. I was so furious, I did what every gryphon thought was crazy to do. In my anger, I challenged Steelfeather's rule."

"Was Steelwing that bad of a leader?" Celestia inquired. "I've known her as a very kind gryphon and was loved by her people."

"Only because she was a doormat for the people to wipe their talons off of." Goldwing responded quickly in anger. "I'd love to tell you how I truly feel about her, but that isn't a part of my past." She added with a hint of disappointment. "Anyway. If you know the traditions of such a challenging, then you realize what kind of situation I was in."

Celestia nodded her head. "It's quite an odd way to find leadership, but effective. I believe you have three days to prove that your rule is greater than the previous leader, correct?"

"Indeed," Goldwing responded simply. "The previous leader would step down and allow the challenger a chance. If they fail however, they are killed on the spot for their treachery. I'm sure you can figure out what happened three days later."

"So how did you win over your people?" Celestia got a short laugh from Goldwing at her question.

"To be honest? I had no idea what to do first. Steelfeather was probably laughing her tail off at me for challenging her at the worst possible time. Her scheduled was booked full and it was going to be a busy three days.

"What do you mean was?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know the other rules of the challenge, Princess?" Receiving a head shake, she continued. "It states that as ruler for three days the challenger has complete control as if he/she was the actual ruler. That also includes military control. Unfortunately, this is where my... decline... started." Goldwing said not very excitedly. "You see, I found a loop hole in the challenge. After the three days, the previous leader would ask the people for their votes and he or she would decide in their favor. However, it does not say anything about Steelfeather suddenly, shall we say... disappearing. So to put it simply, I was the one who killed Steelfeather. In her sleep. Funny how there were no guards around to see it either."

Celestia rubbed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "So by default you were the new Queen?"

"Precisely, but I wasn't done yet. I still had a nation to punish for killing the one I loved."

"You can't be serious!" Celestia said sternly, and a bit louder than she wanted to. She continued in a hushed voice else the guards may burst in. "You cannot justify punishing a nation over a small group who hate ponies."

"No, I couldn't," Goldwing admitted. "but I did it anyway out of spite. My anger blinded me while my hunger for power was sated as the new queen. 'Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely', as the saying goes. The more powerful I felt, the more the gryphons began to fear me. I loved that thrill of having so much power over others." goldwing glared at the floor for a moment. "Though no matter what I say, it won't change the fact I committed those horrible acts," she finished.

"This is a lot to take in, goldwing." Celestia said slowly. "I'm frankly surprised that you told me all of this."

"There's one more thing you need to know if you truly wish to help me." Celestia's brow rose at the serious tone Goldwing had. "You are aware of what happened to Stalliongrad?"

Celestia's visage turned grim upon hearing about the city that got burned to cinders. "I am very aware of that act, Goldwing. Why do you bring it up?"

"I didn't destroy Stalliongrad." Goldwing held up a talon to silence Celestia's argument. "Please, let me finish. Not many know about this, but while you had 'Project Alicorn', we had our own One of my most prized projects was called 'Project Kingdom'. To put it simply, it is a weapons platform used to reign destruction anywhere in the known world. A superweapon, if you wish to call it that."

"Why would you build such a thing, Goldwing?" A hint of fear in Celestia's voice. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Fear has always been my favorite weapon when I was drunken in power as queen. Such a weapon that could strike from anywhere would surely bring fear in their hearts." Goldwing's face had a mixture of sadness and fear as she continued. "As to why I'm telling you this, I would like to say I'm sorry."

Celestia tilted her head in confusion. "What are you sorry for?"

Goldwing looked at Celestia's uncovered eye. "Because Project Kingdom's next target... is Canterlot."

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rainbow's and Lightning's jet had been lazily flying across Equestria, enjoying the view of the towns and cities who celebrated their victory. Every settlement they flew over they would lower their speed and waved down at anypony looking up, doing so by tilting their planes left and right. They just passed over Trottingham AFB when they were being hailed over their headset. Cheering could be heard in the background as the pony tried to talk over the noise.

"Hey Rainbow, hey lightning! we received word you would be flying over. I got a request that anyone not having plans to meet in the briefing room. Wondering if you could join after your patrol?"

Lightning let out a groan as he recognized that voice. "No can do Dusk Shine. Already on orders by Princess Celestia and need to head back to Canterlot." Plus I really don't want to meet you right now.

Dusk always had a grudge with him after that cake slice he stole so long ago. Lightning wasn't sure if he still held it, but he rather not deal with the awkwardness about such a silly grudge.

"Mission?" Even from all the noise in the background his laugh was heard clearly. "No way, we're having a party in there." He paused for a moment. "Look, I'm sorry about that silly grudge I've had for so long about the cake you took. I was a foal about it. I hope there's no hard feelings."

Lightning could sense in his tone he was smiling again. "Plus, I was going to ask if pumpkin pie is alright for a dessert? Don't worry, no cake this time." He chuckled a bit at his small joke.

Letting out his own chuckle, Lightning shook his head with a smile on his face. "He doesn't sound like such a bad pony after all, Lightning mused. "I'll take you up on that invitation, Dusk. Maybe I can convince Rainbow to join me."

"You hear that everypony? We just got two pilots from Rainbow Squadron to join in!" The cheering erupted, but was cut off shortly with a flick of Lightning's hoof.

"Glad I got a say in it," grumbled Rainbow.

"Don't be sad, Rainbow." Lightning comforted. "Pumpkin Pie is delicious!"

They continued the flight across their homeland. It was quiet between the both of them, just soaking in the magnificent view from so high in the sky. Technically the war was still going on, but from their view it was clear that no attacks were going to come. When the sun was half-way to its peak did they finally begin their patrol back to Canterlot.

"Been awhile since I've just flown a jet just for the fun of it." Lightning said.

"Or flown with just your wings," Rainbow point out. "You can't believe how long I've waited to just fly carelessly across Equestria. Maybe I'll do another patrol, without the jet this time."

"That sounds like a good idea," he replied enthusiastically. Their conversation was cut short as they were hailed by Canterlot's control tower.

"This is Canterlot control tower, I see you both and you're cleared for landing. Welcome ba-" His instruction was interrupted by shouting behind him. Lightning couldn't understand a word, but it sounded urgent. "Rainboom One and Two we have five small blips showing on our radar, but don't appear to be too small for aircraft. They are due north-northwest, ten miles out and at an altitude of ten-thousand feet. Request that you check it out to be sure of an attack."

"Roger that tower. Checking it out," Rainbow groaned. "Come on Lightning, let's get this over with. Probably some pegasai fooling around."

They both shot up in the direction the tower gave them, coming upon Rainbow's long-time friends. Large puffy clouds dotted sparsely around them as they searched for the strange blips. The only thing they spotted was the land beneath them and the blue sky above them. As they reached half-way to their destination, they spotted five unknown objects in front.

"Those don't look like pegasai," Lightning pointed out. "In fact, I'd say those are..."

"Missiles!" Rainbow blurted out, finishing his sentence. She zoomed ahead of him to intercept the invading armaments. Lightning following close behind while taking little time to warn the control tower.

"Control tower, come in! this is Rainbow Two. We have five fairly large missiles heading straight for Canterlot! I say again. Those five blips are missiles!"

"Roger that Rainbow Two, control replied hastily, with a hint of panic in his voice. "We have more jets getting ready to take off. You are green to shoot down those missiles!"

Lightning half-heard his response, but got the obvious go ahead to shoot down the missiles. Getting behind one of them, he locked onto the heat signature and fired his own missile. "One down!" He saw Rainbow had already taken down two of them, leaving only two left. Moving on to another, he finished it off as well with another missile just as Rainbow used her gun to take out the last one.

"Good job, Lightning," Rainbow's breathing was heavy and Lightning felt his chest fluttering from the sudden rush. Their rest didn't last long as their headset speaker turned on.

"Rainboom one and two, I'm getting three more... no wait. Seven, ten, fifteen more missiles! They're ten miles out and closing. We are doing our best to send jets to assist, but you're on your own for now. Don't let any of them get past you!"

Lightning looked to the north and sure enough, black specks began appearing in the sky. "Rainbow, you work on the left side and work your way right, I'll do the opposite. Go!" He tilted his plane right and flew below the missile at the eastern fringe. As it passed by, he did a flip to get behind it. Rainbow didn't say a response, but followed the order as she was seen at the western edge, starting the process of taking the missiles out.

While the terrifying thought of Canterlot getting hit by the missiles made Lightning's heart race, the fact they were flying in a straight line made them easy to shoot down. Their destination was coming into view as they worked down to five more. Lightning and Rainbow continued to finished off another pair, leaving only three left as the altitude was going down to six-thousand feet. The capital was around five-thousand feet on the side of the mountain. At this point, both pilots were out of missiles and had to rely on their guns to shoot down the last three. Lightning silently cursed to whoever armed their planes with only eight missiles each, when they could have as many as twelve.

Rainbow shot down the one of her side, while Lightning took a bit longer lining his up. Eventually shooting down his, leaving one left. They were dangerously close to Canterlot that if they fired their gun at the missile, they risked causing casualties. As he saw Rainbow take aim, his face went pale

"Are you crazy, Rainbow? We can't risk hurting somepony!"

"It's better than having the missile impact!" she shot back quickly. Without another word, she spurted out a short burst of bullets. They impacted the fins of the missiles and got it to start spinning uncontrollably. "Buck, that's not good!"

Lightning started to panic and at this point, anything seemed like a good plan if it meant keeping that missiles from hitting its target. He couldn't tell Rainbow his grim idea else she would get in the way. "Rainbow get out of the way, I have an idea!"

"Alright, but do it fast," she yelled while breaking away.

At this point he was so close above Canterlot he could see ponies staring at him, oblivious to what was about to happen if he didn't stop that missile. Time seemed to slow down as he flew lower than the missile, risking his jet to crash into the buildings below. Like how one would catch a egg and try not to break the shell, he slowly brought his plane up until the missile connected with his jet.

He cringed when it finally did. The resounding clash of metal on metal made his teeth jar and he repeatedly thanked the powers at be that kept the missile from landing on its trigger. Panicking, he was forced to increase his thrust and zoom above Canterlot, his plane low enough that it caused strong winds to knock ponies down. Looking frantically for the missile, he found it had bounced off his plane and spiraled back to the sky. Shortly after, it was shot down by Rainbow Dash when she passed over.

Slumping his shoulders and sighing in relief, he looked forward. His eyes went wide as he saw his jet was about to crash into Celestia's castle. Spreading his wings with the wingding controls, his jet tilted up and barely managed to keep himself from crashing into one of the tall glass windows. When he was safely above Canterlot and not risking to crash into the city, he leaned back in his chair. His mouth felt dry as he took in several rapid breaths to calm his fluttering heart. By Celestia, I hope I don't have to do that again.

"What the hay was that, Lightning!" Rainbow yelled over her headset. "You could've gotten yourself killed."

"We were too close to fire our guns and I couldn't allow anypony to get hurt, so I did the first thing that came to mind. I placed my plane between the city and the missile." Rainbow didn't respond and kept silent as they headed back to the airfield. They saw several other silver jets flying around Canterlot as they approached to land.

"Amazing job taking out those missiles you two! Thankfully I'm not seeing any more on radar, but we're not taking any chances. We have birds in the air and have more patrols going. You're done for today and cleared to land."

"Roger tower, Rainboom two coming in to land." Lightning couldn't help feel that Rainbow was going to have a word with him when they landed.

Celestia reared back in shock as a jet zipped by the window she was looking out after hearing several explosions outside. Black dots of smoke trailed from high in the sky and got closer to Canterlot. One of them was right above the city itself.
She had sent one of the guards outside the door after Goldwing mentioned about the superweapon and asked to prepare more patrols for an attack. She was surprised when the guard came back to report the missiles were already near Canterlot airspace. If her magic was still functioning fully, she would gladly flick the missiles away. Sadly, such a feat would require at least several more days of rest. While her body was mostly recovered from the ordeal, her magic would need more time.
The feeling of helplessness Celestia felt as the missiles got closer to her beloved city was terrifying, though she did her best to hide it. She had already warned about an attack and had to rely on any defenses her little ponies could muster. It was quite a surprise when she spotted two lone jets destroy every missile except one.
Her breath was held as the last missile began to tumble toward the city. Then went wide-eyed as one of the jets did something she thought was either completely crazy or amazingly brave. The jet went under the missile and bounced it against its plane.
"Was that the superweapon you were talking about, Goldwing?" She looked down at the gryphon who had joined her side after the jet flew by.

"Yes. I'm actually quite surprised your pilots managed to shoot down all of them. I"m glad they did too. It would've been a shame to destroy such a beautiful city."

A smile spread on Celestia's face that Goldwing was slowly starting to feel comfortable around her. However, it disappeared as she still felt the tension from the attack. "Where is operation kingdom located?"

"It's a fortress located far to the north," Goldwing replied quickly. "If you had a map of the known world I could point it out to you." Upon request and a glow of Celestia's horn, a cloth map popped into existence in front of them. With help from the alicorn to float it in front of Goldwing, she pointed with a talon at the location. "It's located here, on a long island near the polar bear's homeland."

The island was far away from any large land masses and would be the perfect spot for something secret to be built there. Celestia measured the distance to be about several hundreds of miles from Equestria and surrounded by the Bearing sea. "How big is it?"

"As big as the island itself actually" Goldwing said matter-of-factly. "It houses at least several hundreds of gryphons who operate the facility. If under attack it has AA and can launch aircraft to defend itself. To my sparse knowledge of the subject, its considered impenetrable."

Celestia had slightly worry on her face when she heard this. "Several hundreds? I thought the gryphon kingdoms offered peace and wished the war to end after hearing of your defeat."

"I haven't heard much about what has been happening after my... fall, The Gryphon Kingdom doesn't control it. It's the airbase of Feather Squadron and home to tons of scientists, thinkers, and inventors." Goldwing slowly shook her head with a sigh. "And under the watchful gaze of Professor Gilford."

"Its leadership is run by a scientist?" Celestia inquired with a eyebrow raise. "He must be quite the leader."

"More a tyrant then any scientist I've ever known, which is why he was one of my favorite gryphons to look up to if I wanted things done. He wasn't afraid to torture, kill, or terrorize whoever he wanted to get what he wanted. It scares me that I worked with him now that I'm normal. Although an excuse like that doesn't change anything."

Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up. "You're right, the things you did were horrible." Goldwing flinced at hearing that. "However, its not too late for you to save innocents. If there's anything else you can tell me about Project Kingdom..."

After Celestia took her hoof off Goldwing's shoulder did she put a talon to her chin thoughtfully. Her eyes brightened as she thought of something. "I received word that a Feather Squadron pilot defected sometime after the raid on Stalliongrad's prison. She was stationed at Ponyville. Beforehand I had her settled at the island for a month before transferred to the Gryphon Kingdoms to help with attacks on Equestria. Her name is Gilda. If we could find her, she might know something about it."

"Have you not visited the island once?" Celestia questioned, making Goldwing shake her head.

"I was too busy keeping my kingdom in check. Gilford kept any information, other than what I already told you, close to himself."

Celestia could sense she was telling the truth, her body language and keeping eye contact solidified any suspicions. Wasn't Gilda the gryphon Rainbow Dash was friends with long ago? Their conversation was cut short as a knock came from the door. "Come in," she commanded gently.

The door opened and a guard entered through it. With a quick bow of his head he stated his business. "Princess, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Spark have returned from their patrol. They would like to speak with you. If you wish, they await in the throne room." He stood at attention to wait for Celestia's response.

"I will go see them," Celestia replied to the guard. "Goldwing, I would appreciate if you joined me. They need to hear what they had just prevented." Goldwing responded with a quick nod and they were escorted by the three guards back to the throne room.

Lightning Spark shrank back as Rainbow leaned forward, glaring at him. "You can't believe how lucky you are, Lightning. What if that missile wasn't a dud? You're always doing something stupid and risking your life. You could've-" She was cut short as Lightning pushed her back with both forehooves.

"I could've what? Died? There were innocents at stake if I didn't do something, Rainbow. It was a split second decision. How was I supposed to know the damn thing was a dud?" Lightning shot back. "I joined the air force to not let ponies die. Sure, I can't save everypony, but Luna help me I'm going to do my damnedest to try. If you got a problem with how I act, then maybe I shouldn't even be a part of your squadron anymore!" He snapped, quickly shutting his mouth as he realized he said something stupid.

Rainbow's mouth went ajar in surprise at his outburst. "Yeah? Well maybe I'll do just that!" Her eyes getting teary from a mixture of emotions. "From here on out, you're gone from Rainboom Squadron!" She pointed a hoof in a random direction for emphasis.

"Rainbow... I didn't mean to-"

"I don't want to hear it," Rainbow growled. "What would Mist say if you had gotten yourself killed? Do you think it's funny scaring her every time you risk your life like that? And before you say it, this is completely different from our previous missions. You stupidly put yourself in danger." Rainbow let out a sigh as Lightning just stared at her dumbly, not giving any other responses.

"You're making me do this out of spite, but I also don't want you to lose your future with Mist." Rainbow started to calm down, though her voice was still tinged with annoyance. "You're throwing away your relationship with her because of your actions. I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. You're dismissed, Lightning."

Lightning felt ashamed as he realized Rainbow had a very good point. All he had done to rescue Mist would've been for nothing if he threw his life away so easily. He tried to think of a silver lining to his actions, but the pilot side of him also disagreed. He was one of the best pilots Equestria had and he was going to sacrifice it over a dud missile. It wasn't like he knew it was a dud, but now that he did, it didn't make swallowing the facts any easier.
Without another word, Lightning unceremoniously took off his badge and tossed it casually to the marble floor. It clacked and bounced across, landing in front of Rainbow Dash as he spread his wings and left through the doors leading to the guest rooms. As soon as the door closed, one more opened behind Rainbow. She turned around to find Celestia and Goldwing entering. The Princess had a perplexed look on her face as she stared at Rainbow.

"Where is Lightning Spark?"

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rainbow Dash felt a cold chill after hearing Celestia's voice behind her. She cursed under her breath for having to explain herself so early.

Would the Princess ever agree with my choice in kicking Lightning out of the squadron? He saved innocent lives with his actions. What right did I have to punish him for it?

"Rainbow Dash?" The serene voice behind her repeated.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Rainbow turned around to face the Princess. "Sorry your highness. I was lost in my own thoughts." She let out a sheepish smile to helplessly get rid of the uneasiness building in her chest.

"Oh? May I ask what you were thinking about?" Celestia inquired. Her raised eyebrow seemed to give off a feeling that she already knew what was going on. Like a mother who caught her foal in the cookie jar, but played ignorance to tease the foal.

"Uh..." Rainbow spoke hesitantly. "Sure, but can I ask a question first?" A quick nod from the Princess let her continue. "What do you tell somepony who throws themselves at danger just to save a life? Even if it meant getting them..." Rainbow swallowed hard. "... killed?"

Celestia's stern expression didn't help Rainbow's uneasiness. "Lightning Spark was the one who stopped that missile with his plane wasn't it?" Rainbow let out a barely heard affirmative. "I see. The answer is not a easy one to swallow. If he hadn't stopped that missile, it would've killed many innocents."

"It was a dud," Rainbow explained. "The only reason it exploded was from my gunfire after it was safely in the air.

"There couldn't have been a way to know that, Rainbow." Celestia said calmly. She sat down in front of the pegasus with a frown on her face. "It's terrible for your friend to risk his life, but war leads to such decisions. His actions saved many others and that makes him a hero. Did you dismiss him because of that?"

"No, I don't care if ponies see him as a hero or not. He's my friend and I don't want to lose him." Rainbow admitted finally as she hung her head. "I'm scared to lose my friends."

Celestia slowly wrapped one of her wings around Rainbow Dash and pulled her into a hug. She returned the affection by laying her head against Celestia's chest as a small whimper left her throat.

"Please Rainbow, you must stay strong. You've faced every obstacle in your way to get here, now is not the time to give up. If you truly wish for Lightning Spark to stay here and it will ease your mind, than I have no objections." They stayed like this until Rainbow Dash controller her emotions and cleared the wetness around her muzzle. Celestia broke the embrace by tucking her wings back to her sides. "Feeling better?"

Rainbow nodded and finally noticed Goldwing hiding to the left of Celestia. "What is she doing here?" Rainbow asked, a hint of sadness in her voice. Though she tried to sound angered for seeing the enemy leader still alive.

"Calm yourself, Rainbow. Goldwing has been a great help in discovering where the attack came from. Before I continue, we need the rest of your... oh, here they are now."

Spitfire and Mist trotted toward the group. Derpy was with them as well, but was clinging to Spitfire in fear.

"Derpy, the attack is over. You can let go of me." Spitfire stated, causing Derpy's face to scrunch in distaste.

"No way, there might be another attack!" Derpy looked around the room, her eyes not focusing on anything in particular. Thankfully, for spitfire's sake, Celestia used her magic to pry the frightened pegasus off to calm her down.

"You have a lot to answer for, Rainbow Dash." Mist Dancer glared.

"That will have to wait," Celestia intervened before the an argument started. She set down Derpy who smiled up at her before trotting back to her squadron. With a flashed of her horn, the map she had left in Goldwing's room blinked into existence to rest on the floor in front of everypony. "Goldwing and I had a discussion about who attacked. It is a group of gryphons who are not a part of the Gryphon Kingdoms lead by a Professor Gilford."

Celestia's eyebrow raised for a second when Mist Dancer shuddered from hearing that name. "From what I could gather, I believe we're dealing with a massive weapon of some sort located near the arctic circle." She poked a hoof at the location on the map. "Even from there, they are capable of attacking Equestria. As you have no doubt noticed."

"How long until another barrage?' Spitfire asked, looking at Goldwing.

"I cannot say," Goldwing spoke truthfully. "I haven't visited the place myself as I've only heard news about it. If we wish to know more about it, we will need the help of a ex-feather pilot named Gilda."

Rainbow Dash's left ear flicked in annoyance. "Gilda? Why the hay would we want to speak with her?"

"Because she has been inside the installation personally," Goldwing explained. "With her help, we might know a way to destroy Project Kingdom for good."

"Well the last place I saw her was in Ponyville. She may or may not still be there." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Which is why you're going back to there find her," Celestia said with a smile. "In the mean time, the rest of us will prepare for the coming battle. Good luck Rainbow Dash. I hope you can mend the friendship you both once had."

I hope you can mend the friendship you both once had.

What Celestia said bounced around in Rainbow Dash's head as she flew her jet toward Ponyville. It had been so long when she left Gilda for her other friends, but the memory was still clear. Gilda made a complete ass of herself over some silly pranks. It wasn't like she set them to embarrass Gilda. It was pure chance that she happened to trigger every one in a row.

An enormous dark cloud hovered over Ponyville while Rainbow Dash approached. She toggled her strobe lights on the wings of her jet so the control tower could see her plane. It was going to be difficult to see anything with these buckets of rain coming from the sky. The torrent hit her jet with the sound of a stampede over her canopy. She immediately lost vision all around her. Only seeing the white streaks of rain racing across her canopy and grey everywhere.

Thankfully the bright magic torches than lined every landing strip was still glowing bright as ever, cutting through the grey. She lowered her landing gear as a voice spoke through her headset.

"This is control, we see your strobe Rainboom One. Welcome back to Ponyville."

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied quickly. Even with the torches, the landing would be rough at best. The jarring impact of the jet's wheels slamming into the tarmac told her she had come in steeper than anticipated. Thankfully the jet stayed on course and came to a complete stop.

"Go ahead and pick any hangar except number three. Its already being occupied by a feather squadron jet."

"Roger, I'm taking hangar number one." Rainbow turned her jet toward her hangar. She looked to her right at hangar three with interest. "That must be Gilda's jet," Rainbow Dash thought out loud to herself. "Probably staying until this storm clears up."

Rainbow Dash parked her jet into the hangar. When she climbed out, several ponies soaked to the bone gave a small salute to her before preparing the jet for its next flight. She stood at the edge of the large wooden door, a hoofstep away from the full brunt of the storm. The wind had started to pick up soon as she left the hangar, putting a frown on Rainbow dash's face.

"Guess I'm hoofing it..."

Rainbow Dash walked toward the beacon of light ahead of her. The weather was terrible enough flying with a jet, so the idea of using her wings was turned down. Her rainbow mane flopped limply from being soaked with rainwater. The gusts of wind sent shivers down her spine. Having her flight suit drenched did little to help with that problem.

The sound of boisterous laughing came from the inn as she approached the door. Pushing on it with a hoof, it easily opened and she quickly walked in before the warmth in the room could escape. The establishment was indeed busy as every seat seemed taken. The same bartender was behind the counter. One of his hooves was busy at work cleaning one of the mugs with a small towel.

Looks like nothing has changed since I left, Rainbow thought with a chuckle. The small bit of sound she made caught the attention of a nearby patron who went wide-eyed.

"R-Rainboom One?" The sudden outburst from the stallion caused the rest of the room to look her direction. The inn was deathly silent for several seconds before an uproar of cheers came from the crowd.

"Hey everypony," Rainbow Dash waved. Not out of friendliness, but because she wanted to get this over with. Right now the only thing on her mind was finding Gilda and possibly a hot shower to get rid of this rain water. Trotting past several patrons, she greeted the bartender with a smile. "Hey, do you remember several days ago some gryphon pilots staying here in Ponyville?" The bartender stopped cleaning the mug with one last squeak before turning toward her.

"Yeah, they weren't the kind to forget easily." The bartender pointed a hoof toward the stairs. "One of them left a bunch of stuff in his room. I've kept it locked so nopony could steal it." He took a key under the counter and tossed it to Rainbow Dash. The number three was in red print on a tag attached to the keyring. "I'm starting to feel he's not coming back, so go ahead and look around."

"Uh, thanks," Rainbow Dash looked at the keyring before stuffing it in one of her flight jacket's pockets. Giving small nods and smiles at several friendly ponies, and ignoring the too friendly ones, she went up the stairs. Using the key on the matching door with the number three, she opened the door and shut it behind her. The room was pitch black. A flick of the light switch quickly fixed that.

The room was generally clean as if unused. A window between the two beds showed the terrible weather outside. Underneath one of the beds was a duffel bag and beside it was a acoustic guitar. She pulled out the bag and set it on the bed sheets to open it up. Inside there didn't seem to be anything special. She took out several items for grooming, fiction literature, and a spare brown flight suit. The feather squadron symbol was stitched on the shoulder.

Rainbow Dash continued to rummage through the duffel bag when she felt something metallic on the bottom. She felt around it and it seemed to be a square object, but she couldn't seem to grab it. There were no zippers or flaps inside the bag so she looked around the outside of it. Flipping it over, she found a velcro flap hidden underneath. Quickly opening the flap, she found a silver rectangle device about three inches thick. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself.

A Laptop! This thing must be packed full of information.

A commotion downstairs got her attention for a moment, but Rainbow ignored it. "Probably somepony getting too drunk and causing a scene," Rainbow thought to herself. Setting the laptop on the bed, she examined it closely and found it could be opened with a small button in the front. It immediately came to life as a screen turned on, the feather squadron symbol once again showing as the background image.

Steps could be heard going up the stairs as she examined the contents the laptop contained. There were two symbols located on the bottom-left of the screen. One of them was a document since it showed a small piece of paper. The other was a image which was shrunk to a barely visible size. Using the track pad, Rainbow Dash was about to click the document file when the door behind her burst open.

"Rainbow Dash! what the- what are you doing here?"

Quickly shutting the laptop, Rainbow Dash glared at whoever entered the room. Though she already knew who it was from the voice.

"I came looking for you, Gilda. We need your help destroying Project Kingdom." Rainbow Dash stated very bluntly.

Gilda's eyes squinted in suspicion upon hearing that. "How do you know about that? That has been a close kept secret, even from gryphons. How could a pony know about it?"

"Goldwing herself told me," Rainbow replied matter-of-factly.

"Bird feathers," Gilda cursed. "Everyone knows she died during the attack on Canterlot. That's all I've been hearing ever since this stupid storm."

News sure travels fast, Rainbow Dash mused.

"Believe me or not, It doesn't matter. Right now, we need you to help with the attack on the super weapon before another barrage of missiles come. Like I said, Goldwing herself requested-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Gilda interrupted. "Missiles? Super weapon? Project Kingdom wasn't supposed to be used as a weapon. When I was over there, it was full of scientists and junk." Gilda waved a claw nonchalantly to show how much she didn't care about the subject. "We were researching our own technologies to keep to ourselves. Away from pony eyes and ears."

"Well, that research must've been either a hoax or finding out new weapons. Either way, this laptop might have something of use." She opened the device again while Gilda slowly padded behind Rainbow Dash to look as well.

"Rummaging around Razorwing's stuff even after you shot him down? Way to show how much you care about the dead."

"There will be more dead if there is something of use in this laptop," Rainbow Dash shot back with a glare.

Putting the small white arrow on the document, she clicked it.The logo for Micropony word appeared across the screen, then disappeared as the screen flashed white. The entire document was blank except three lines of text on top.

Keep this information safe, Razorwing. I cannot trust this in the talons of any one here or in the kingdoms.

Long live Queen Goldwing!

Prof. GT

"The T is his last name. Professor Gilford Talon," Gilda pointed out.

Rainbow Dash nodded, half paying attention as she closed the text document and hovered over the picture. With a click, it expanded across the entire screen in blue. White lines covered the entire thing with numbers and measurements neither Rainbow Dash or Gilda could make out.

"This is..." Gilda's voice trailed off. Her beak hung open, eyes wide in shock.

What stood out was a long pair of lines jutting over the island in what seemed like a large cannon. The words "Project Kingdom's ascension" was in bold text on the top-left corner.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"A giant cannon?" Rainbow Dash guessed while they both stared at what was on the laptop.

"Looks like it," Gilda replied while still staring at the monitor as well. "They must've started building it when I left for the Gryphon Kingdoms since I've never seen it while I stayed there."

'How long ago was that?"

"About a month. Plenty of time to build something like this," Gilda responded quickly.

There was a short pause as they both stared at the screen, trying to figure out the schematics for themselves. The sound of rain still pounded outside the window to their left, but it seemed to be lessening. Finally Rainbow Dash stood up.

"We need to get going. Are you helping us destroy this thing, Gilda? We can't let Gilford have control of something so destructive." Gilda continued to stare at the blue screen before nodding her head.

"I'm still pissed at you for declining my earlier offer to help." Gilda switched her gaze at Rainbow Dash, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "However, this is something bigger than both of us. I met Gilford once while posted there. He was downright crazy, so I expect him to be planning something like world domination or something stupid like that." Gilda waved a talon in a circle. "So, yes. I'll help you."

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash looked outside and noticed the rain had died down to a light patter. "And not a moment too soon. The weather seems to be clearing up. We better get going."

She shut the laptop and found a nearby brown saddlebag to put it in. Securing it to herself, she began to make her way out the door. She then noticed Gilda was still inside the room looking at the acoustic guitar in the corner.

"Gilda, you coming?"

"Yeah, just... just saying goodbye to a friend."

Gilda's eyes were closed with her head held high as if in prayer. Rainbow Dash stepped back inside the room and sat down next to Gilda to join her. She wasn't sure who Gilda was thinking of, but Rainbow had a certain gryphon on her mind. Not sure what to really say, she just thought whatever came to mind.

I'm sorry we had to meet like that, Razorwing. The short time we talked, you seemed like a cool guy to be with. It's a shame we were enemies. I hope you will be with us when we take the fight to Gilford. That sack of feathers won't know what hit him! This war needs to finally come to an end. Goodbye, Razorwing. Wherever you may be.

Rainbow Dash cracked open an eye and heard Gilda exhaled through her nose then open her eyes. Her face held a small sense of longing, which quickly vanished when she stood up and turned toward Rainbow.

"Let's get going," Gilda stated quietly.

Giving a small smile at Gilda, Rainbow Dash lead the way downstairs. She was immediately greeted by the patrons again, still having a good time. Several threw small jeers her way. It suddenly disappeared and the room went deathly silent upon seeing Gilda come down the stairs.

"Did you hear? Canterlot was attacked by the gryphons again." A nearby pony whispered.

"Serves those gryphons right for losing the war." Another said quietly.

Several more condescending whispers could be heard and Rainbow Dash's anger just kept rising. Finally she had enough and she stood on her hind legs and stomped both her hooves on top of a nearby table. The mugs that rested on it jumped in the air and spilled its contents across the table and on several patrons, but she didn't care.

"Enough!" Rainbow yelled.

If the stomp she created didn't startle everypony, her shouting did. The already quiet atmosphere amplified the commotion she created.

"Gryphon's are no different from you and I. We both have feelings, families, and plans for the future. Being a condescending ass just degrades yourself."

"Pff," a nearby stallion responded. He quickly learned his mistake as he was pushed to the ground with an angry Rainbow Dash staring down at him.

Have you ever killed before?" Rainbow asked loudly. Not getting a response, she repeated herself. "Have you ever killed?" Each word punctuated.

"N-no," the stallion said quietly.

"I have," Rainbow admitted. "I killed until it has become as simple as breathing. In fact, I could kill you right now without a second thought."

The stallions eyes widened in fear upon hearing this.

"But I won't, because you have a life to live. I've killed gryphons who had families back home. Gryphons who might have planned to visit their child when the war was over. Do you think I enjoy taking something like that away? That I enjoy this happening between two countries?"

Rainbow lifted her head to look at the crowd for a moment, waiting for an answer. All that came was the sound of her own hammering heart.

"My point is: everypony loses something in war," Rainbow continued in her normal tone, "So you go ahead and hide behind your drinks and celebrations. After the war, I'll be mourning the loss of a currently burning Stalliongrad." Everypony gasped when they heard that.

Rainbow was slightly surprised that they were. She guessed news about it was never released to not spread fear to the other cities. This was possibly the only news about Stalliongrad they had received ever since it was burned to the ground.

No other words were said as a still simmering Rainbow Dash and stunned Gilda left the inn and made their way back to their jets. Only after getting into their planes did they speak.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Gilda," Rainbow apologized. "It wasn't right for them to think like that about the war. Especially in front of you." Rainbow saluted to a crewpony and steered her jet to the runway.

"Eh, I would've beaten that pony to a pulp, but we have bigger fish to fry. Maybe I'll come back when this is over and do just that," Gilda added with a thoughtful hum.

"Skies have cleared up enough to safely fly. Don't know how you landed earlier, but that's Pegasus squadron for ya. Rainbow heard the male voice of the control tower chuckle at his statement. "Rainboom One, you are cleared for take off. Good luck."

"Copy that tower. Rainboom One taking off."

Gilda watched Rainbow's jet soar through the sky as she placed her jet on the runway. She waited for the go ahead from control. A small grin spread on her beak as the stallion in the tower gave a customary gryphon send-off for pilots.

"Feather Fourteen, talons out. Good hunting.

"Roger control. Talons out and taking off."

The flight over to Canterlot was quiet and uneventful. When they reached their destination, the sun was at its peak. Rainbow Dash landed with a warm welcome back from Canterlot's control tower. Gilda however only received orders to land and where to put her jet. Thankfully the other ponies in the large hangar were too busy prepping for the coming battle to care about the gryphon wandering around.

However, the guards weren't so aloof upon seeing Gilda enter the long hallway leading to Celestia's throne room. They said it was standard procedure, but Rainbow wanted to call their bluff. They were about to search the saddlebag Rainbow Dash carried when Celestia decided to rescue them. The double doors the guards were standing beside flung in and behind them stood a slightly disappointed white alicorn.

"That's quite enough. Thank you for doing your jobs, but there's no need to harass a guest." Celestia looked at Gilda with a warm smile on her face. "Come both of you, we are having a discussion in the throne room."

The guards bowed respectfully as Rainbow Dash and Gilda followed Celestia inside. The door behind them clicked softly as it closed. Inside it seemed everypony was a part of the discussion.

Spitfire, Luna, Celestia, Mist, Twilight, Fluttershy, Flare, Derpy, Rarity, and goldwing all stood around a large table with a map splayed on top. Fluttershy spotted Rainbow Dash and ran over to give a tight hug.

"I'm so glad to see you're alright, Rainbow. I was worried something might've happened after fighting Goldwing."

"What happened anyway? It's like you fell off the face of Equestria when the attack began."

Fluttershy blushed in embarressment from Rainbow's question. To her relief, Flare Chaser spoke up for her.

"One of the darn crewpony's forgot to fill the tank reserves after our last flight. We had to fly back before we crashed into Canterlot," she said angrily.

"It's good to see you will both be a part of this fight though," Rainbow pointed out with a grin. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Quite," Goldwing spoke up. She walked around the table to get a better look at Gilda. "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, Gilda."

"It has," Gilda agreed simply.

"I understand you are angry at me for my actions and I will hide nothing. However, let us focus on the more important task at talon." Goldwing motioned with a talon to gather and rested both of them on the table. "We have spoke amongst ourselves for a plan of attack and have come up with a crude idea, but we have been waiting for your input. You have been there personally and your outlook would be priceless."

"Very well."

Gilda put her talons on the table and looked at the map. Across it were several ideas on what forces to bring and general ideas on how to win this fight. The look on her face clearly showed her thoughts. She didn't like what she saw.

"You would all be killed within several minutes," Gilda stated bluntly.

"What?" Luna said in a raised voice. "We have conducted reasonable guesses on the forces on the island. We even sent several scouts to observe its defenses. You cannot tell me-"

"Rainbow Dash," Gilda interrupted, receiving a glare from the moon goddess. "This would be a lot easier with the information on the laptop. Do any of you have a projector?"

Celestia's eyes lit up after hearing Gilda's request. Her horn glowed and a roll of thick parchment descended on the opposite side of the table from the throne. She got several odd stares from the others in the room and she smiled sheepishly in response.

"What? Luna and I like to enjoy a movie every now and then," Celestia admitted.

Rainbow Dash took the laptop out of the saddlebag and let go when Celestia's magic grabbed hold. She levitated it over to a black rectangle beside her throne. Several muttered curses and tugging of cables later, she managed to connect it. After fiddling with the projector to turn on and finding the blueprint did everypony finally stare in awe.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mist spoke up.

"A giant cannon built above the facility we're about to attack? Yes."

"That would explain how they're able to launch their attacks from so far away," Luna pointed out, a hoof rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"All of these lines look overlapped, like somepony stacked tracing paper. Is there some way to separate them?" twilight Sparkle asked.

Celestia eyes the laptop and noticed several small buttons on the bottom of the screen. Apparently it wasn't a picture at all, but a program. Pressing a button that looked like stacks of paper at a angle, the lines suddenly shifted into organized floors.

The top-most was obviously the cannon. The others showed individual floors along with any defenses build into the facility. There were five floors above ground for everything from cafeterias to officer's quarters. two more floors below acted as a basement for storage and a standard barracks. The floor that was level with the island opened up into a runway in front of the facility. Something particular caught Twilight's eye.

"Princess, can you zoom closer to the left. See those three boxes that are away from the main facility?" The picture zoomed in on where Twilight was pointing out. On the boxes the words "cooling station" showed on each one. "There seems to be three more on the other side of the facility, and four others located around the cannon itself."

"The island itself is mostly a giant glacier." Gilda explained, mostly speaking to herself. If that cannon needs that many cooling units..." She trailed off.

"It would fall into the ocean if destroyed, melting the glacier from the massive heat," Luna finished. "Sounds simple enough." Spitfire let out a guffaw at Luna calling this operation simple.

"Oh yeah, cause flying through forty gun emplacements sounds simple." Spitfire spoke sarcastically."

"We'll just have to deal with them when we get there, Spitfire." Rainbow Dash replied. "I don't like it either, but hey, we're the best there is. We'll handle it."

Rainbow Dash felt the familiar sense of doubt fill her mind. She knew this fight had as much of a chance for failure as success. She couldn't show her fear though. As leader of Rainboom Squadron, she had to be stoic in the face of danger, else risk spreading fear to the others.

She took small comfort in knowing her friends would be with her in this. Even in the face of danger, they would stand against Gilford.

"It seems the cooling units have a covering of some sort to prevent it from being attacked. The controls would probably located somewhere inside the facility, most likely... here." Twilight pointed to a square located on the third floor in the middle of the blueprint."

"Very observant, my student," Celestia praised. Twiligth beamed back at the Princess with a smile. "I believe we have all the request information to perform an attack." Returning to the table, she sat down next to her sister. "Luna, would you like to begin?"

"Of course!" Luna stated happily. "We will continue with our original plan of attack, though slightly changed with this new information. With the help from the royal guard, they will lead a ground attack inside the facility. Their objective is to open the panels covering the cooling stations so our air forces can take them out. Air forces are to destroy all other targets until the ground forces are able to complete their objective."

"Ground forces will involve three battalions with a mix of earth and unicorns from militia's all over Equestria. Air forces will consist of twenty-two jets, plus Rainboom Squadron and their AWAC team. Most of them are from Canterlot, but due to a strain in our defenses, we asked the assistance of pilots from Manehatten, Trottingham, and Hoofington."

"How will the ground forces get to the island?" Mist asked.

"We have transport helicopters being prepared as we speak, along with all of our other forces. I will give the battalion and squadron leaders the new orders, so they're not left in the dark." Luna gave Celestia a small smile, which she received one in return." I suggest we go meet them sister. I'm sure you have something to say to them before they depart?"

"I do. Come everypony, they're waiting for us in the hangar."

That's a lot of ponies. Rainbow Dash thought as she admired the crowd behind her. She was standing with her friends in the hangar, with front row seats for the coming speech. All of them had some form of clothing on. Unicorns had dark-purple vests, while earth pony's wore beige versions of the same thing, only heavier looking.

A grin broke out on her face when everypony cheered upon seeing Celestia, happy to see their Princess alive and well. She walked toward the small pedestal with a microphone waiting for her. Celestia tapped once on the device, causing a loud thud to echo through the room.

"Hello everypony," Celestia began in her usual motherly tone. "I wish I could tell how much I love each and every one of you for defending this great nation, but I must keep this short. You are all about to make history as you embark on this journey to destroy an evil foe."

"I will not keep it a secret that some of you may not return, but know that you will not be forgotten. Look upon your leaders, friends, and colleagues among you. Only together will you accomplish this task, for not even war itself can break the bonds of friendship!"

Everypony stomped their hooves in approval. She thought she heard somepony in the back yell they loved her too, which brought a warm smile to Celestia's face.

"Goodbye my ponies, and good luck."

With that said, everypony broke off to their designated groups. Unicorns and Earth pony's could be seen lining up in front of several black choppers, while a sparse amount got into jets of their own. Rainbow Dash immediately recognized the choppers. It was the same one used during her rescue at Stalliongrad's detention Center.

She moved through the crowd until she found the rest of her squadron near the entrance of the large hangar. Gilda was with them and they were all standing in front of their jets. Giving a quick nod to each one, they flew toward their respective aircraft. Rainbow Dash placed her helmet on and heard several voices chatter over the speakers while going through the same routine.

"Shyeye, you are cleared for take off."

"Oh. Uhm, okay," Fluttershy said timidly.

The loud whir of the AWAC aircraft's four engines momentarily drowned out all other noise as it took off down the runway.

"This is blackbird one, we're full and ready to lift off. Waiting for all other blackbirds.

Rainbow Dash saw the area in front of her jet clear and she began to inch her plane forward.

"This is Rainboom One, is it clear to move out for take off?" There was a short pause before she got a response.

"Runway is clear, Rainboom One. Steer out and prep for take off.

Most of the hangar was clear of the crowd that was there earlier, making the small drive to the tarmac easy. The crewpony's were smart enough to stay out of the way as they ran last minute armaments to equip to the other jets waiting their turn.

Rainboom One steered to the front with the rest of her squadron, and Gilda, in back in a "V" shape. The tarmac was large enough for each plane to spread out far enough so they were clear of the jet engine in front of them. Rainbow Dash waited for the tower to give the go ahead.

"Rainboom Squadron, you are cleared for take off. Good luck out there and be safe."

"Don't worry, we will." Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she increased her thrust.

The jet lurched forward immediately. Spreading her wings in the Wingdings, she took off into the air with her squadron following close behind, already in formation. They circled around Canterlot several times as they waited for the other jets to take off. It took several painfully long minutes until finally the last one, Sun Sqaudron, took to the air.

"Gilda, your callsign is Rainboom Two. Due to, uh...complications, he won't be joining us." Rainbow Dash swore she could feel Mist glaring at her through the canopy and shivered a bit.

"Roger," Gilda accepted with a quick answer.

"All aircraft! You are given to go ahead to attack! For the Princesses! For Equestria!"

The long white hallways around the facility was quiet, except the steady rap of talons on the sterile floors. A lone gryphon with a pressed white coat walked down the hallway with a stoic expression on his face. Turning left after facing a cross-way, he walked up to a pair of doors. Straightening his coat with a tug down, he opened them both and stepped into the room.

Lines of computers filled the room with gryphons sitting in swivel chairs in front of them. Three large monitors in front of the room formed into a larger screen, showing a map of the known world. Already Canterlot and Stalliongrad had red "X's" marked over them.

"Gilford!" a lanky gryphon ran to his side, carrying a worn touch pad. He was busy showing how much he used it with several rapid taps on it as he stopped next to him. He had a bright smile to his face as he showed what was on it. Several bars moved slowly down, turning from red to blue the further they went.

"Our improvement to the cooling system has allowed the heat to dissipate 20 percent faster. We could improve it even more if we-urk!"

"I don't care about that!" Gilford yelled as he grabbed the other gryphon by the neck, bringing him closer. Already the other gryphons in the room were watching silently. "All I want is reports on casualties. I want to know the destruction this wonderful weapon I have constructed has wrought to those damn ponies. Is that clear?" He Punctuating each final word.

Gilford let the gryphon go who took a step back and nodded furiously. He clutched his datapad like a child would hug their favorite stuffed animal as he quickly walked out of sight. The coated gryphon looked at the others in the room and saw they were still busy at work. With a annoyed grunt, he continued to a door to his left which held the elevator.

Damn scientists and their useless information, Gilford muttered as he pressed the first floor button inside the elevator. The doors closed silently and the feeling of descent disoriented him for a moment. After two bells from the floor indicator above him and the elevator coming to a stop, the doors opened to reveal a large hangar made of stone.

He stood on the catwalk high above, quietly observing the spectacle below. the hangar was full of gryphons, crew members and pilots alike. A few members of Feather Squadron were seen preparing their aircraft for their usual mid-afternoon patrol.

"Gilford..." A female voice spoke from behind.

He already knew who it was just from the voice. Turning around and facing the lab coated gryphon, she held a disappointed look on her face. She held up a notepad, showing a distraught message from the lanky gryphon he had grabbed.

"You really need to stop frightening my subordinates. The last thing I need is another one offing himself because he's scared out of his wits."

Gilford let out a heavy sigh. He always wondered why he put up with Sam's disagreements. The thought of killing her had crossed his mind, but he couldn't do it. She represented a little bit of himself. She was relentless in her research and wasn't afraid to get her talons dirty if need be. Sadly she wouldn't kill unless it involved science, which disappointed him greatly.

"Don't have your little pets get in my way then. Unless it has something to do with it's success," holding his talons up to bask in his creation. "I could care less how its maintained. Now, if there's anything that's actually important you'd like to bring to my attention..."

"No," Sam growled.

"Good!" Gilford beamed. "Now, I must bid you-"

He felt a steady buzz on his chest and reached into a coat pocket to take out a small black device. With the press of a button, a gryphon showed on the screen with panic in his eyes.

"This better be good. I already had enough distractions today."

"Yes, of course, Gilford. Though you may want to come up to the observation deck yourself."

Sighing, Gildford turned back to the elevator.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Gilford asked as Sam joined him inside the small cube.

"What? Can't a lady sate her curiosity," she teased. She pressed the button that lead to the observatory on floor four and stood beside him as the door closed.

Gilford silently stared forward at the elevator door, ignoring the insistent sparking for conversation from Sam. Several pain staking seconds later, the doors opened and Gilford hurried forward to get sam out of sight. A gryphon with a pair of glasses hurried to meet him and bowed deeply.

"Report, Sharpeye."

"Of course, Gilford." He motioned both of them forward.

The entire room was like a giant green house. Thick bulletproof windows covered everything but the floor, giving a clear view of the blue ocean around the island. While the view was beautiful, what got Gilford's attention was the radar system Sharpeye stood beside.

"What am i looking at?" Gilford asked. "Don't tell me the little pony's are actually coming here."

"I... wish I was lying, Sir. We haven't sent any planes out except the two jets that were about to do their afternoon patrol. Looking at the mass of those pings, they're sending everything they've got."

Gilford chuckled at the thought that they would have the gall to attack his facility head on. His chuckle quickly turned into outright laughter which got the attention of everyone in the room. Prodding Sharpeye out of the way, he slammed down a button where a microphone was located next to the radar.

"This is Gilford speaking," his voice echoing through the loudspeakers across the entire facility. "We have unexpected guests coming to join us to the south. I want all guns manned for when they come, please give them a very warm welcome." He let go of the button to think if that would be enough.

"Eh, why not." He pressed the button down again. "Feather Squadron, I want all of your planes to prep for take off. You're going to have some fun today."

"Sir?" Sharpeye said, pressing up his glasses after they slid down from hearing Gilford's orders. "Isn't that..." he gulped, scared he might annoy him. "Overkill?"

Gilford said nothing and turned back toward the elevator with a purposeful stride. When he entered the elevator, he stared at Sam and Sharpeye for a moment, a smile on his face.

"But of course! After all, overkill is the best way to kill."

With that said, the elevator doors shut.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Lightning Spark jolted up from his slumber in a cold sweat. After taking several deep breaths, he threw the covers off and laid back down until he calmed down. Looking outside, he noticed the sunlight coming from outside showed it was still around early to mid-afternoon.

Why are these terrible visions returning?

He turned over in bed with the sheets piled behind him so his body could cool off quickly. Staring at the far wall blankly, his thoughts drifted toward dream that just occurred. Ever since Rainbow Dash kicked him from the squadron they would sporadically appear in his mind's eye. He was taken surprised when he went to sleep. The vision in his mind was so clear it was hard to tell if it was real or not.

He was flying alone without a jet over what seemed like an endless sea. The sky was dark with overcast and gave an ominous presence as he flew to his unknown destination. The cold northern wind chilled his face to the bone. After what seemed like hours of travel in his mind, he would always meet the same thing waiting for him at sea.

He guessed it must've been his mind forming what was happening up north as he saw a giant fortress resting on an iceberg twice its size. Equestrian and Gryphon jets could be seen doing their dance above it, some getting shot down as he approached. The battle wasn't going well as the massive amount of AA tore apart his allies jets with deadly efficiency, as if they were made of paper mache.

Below were several transport helicopter dropping off earth ponies and unicorns as they breached the fortress itself. They were having just as much luck as their pegasai counter-parts in the sky as they were pinned down at the front doors. Several chopper wrecks could be seen jutting out of the ground from being shot down.

To say the mission had turned FUBAR would've been a compliment.

He felt an intense longing to join the battle and have the surge of adrenaline go through his body. He knew Rainbow Dash ordered him to not join, but instinct told him otherwise. His friends were in danger and here he was in bed waiting for the battle to end.

I risked my life to protect Canterlot's citizens. Rainbow Dash may have proved my brash actions were frowned upon, but she shouldn't have kicked me out of the Squadron. Did she ever think what may happen to them if I wasn't there to help? What if Mist Dancer got shot down?

Shuddering at that last thought, he crawled out of bed and stretched. He decided it would be best to take a hot shower to remove the feeling of sweat on his coat. Maybe even clear his head on what is happening with his mind. He turned on the water and stood, with his face down, under the shower head while in deep thought.

Is it because of my fear to lose Mist Dancer again that my nightmares are returning? It Can't be. These dreams are different. They're too vivid to be normal and too calm to be considered a nightmare. So why are they appearing?

After taking several minutes to clean himself, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel. His thoughts continued while rubbing it through his mane.

Perhaps Luna may know something about this. She is the princess of the moon after all. Doesn't she, in a way, represent sleep and dreaming? Either way, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

While rummaging around the drawers in the bathroom, he decided to go along with his idea... as soon as he located the brush to tame his ruffled, damp mane.

"The Princesses will be with you shortly." A royal guard notified Lightning sharply.

Lightning furrowed his brow in confusion. He only asked to speak with Luna, why would Celestia join her? He brought this up with the guard, but was only talking to the shut door that closed behind him. Letting out a sigh, he patiently waited for the two Princesses to enter the throne room.

He decided to take this alone time to think over what to say. To him it was slightly unnerving to call upon the Princesses for something so trivial as dreaming.

"Hello, Princesses. I'm having bad dreams... No, that sounds like a foal with their parents. Might as well add: can I sleep with you and bring my stuffed teddy?" He joked. A soft pop sounded in front of the throne as Celestia and Luna appeared.

"Good afternoon, Lightning," Celestia and Luna greeted one at a time in front of the throne. Although Luna left his name out of her greeting. Lightning did a quick bow of respect then returned to his original position.

"What is it you request of us?" Luna spoke up once more.

"I was hoping to speak to you, Princess Luna. It has to do with my... condition."

"I thought you were cured from those visions. Are they returning?" Celestia quickly asked with a tinge of concern. While Lightning appreciated the sentiment, he silently wished to speak with Luna alone on the subject.

"Yes and no. I'm now having these strange dreams. Although they're not frightening like the ones I had in the past. They have a strange clarity that seems so real. Every dream I've had in my life had never been so clear, including the nightmares I've had before Mist... you know." Celestia nodded her head. Her smile disappearing quickly at the notion of losing somepony you love.

"Lightning, do you think those dreams were real?" Celestia asked.

They sure as hay felt and looked real.

"They happened when I was asleep. I doubt they're real since it's all in my mind."

"I would agree with you. However, what you described was something we discussed no more than five minutes ago." Celestia stared at Lightning for a moment like she was accusing him of eavesdropping. "Ponies in the past have experienced particularly vivid dreams that seemed close to reality. To put it simply: An out-of-body experience to another location somewhere in the near future. It is difficult to understand these visions as they can lead to good or evil acts from the pony who see's the vision. Please, tell me more about it."

So, it was real? That means my friends are about to get torn apart up there? He thought frantically until a loud cough broke him out of it.

"Please, Lightning. we only wish to help you," Celestia urged once again.

"Sorry," Lightning apologized on reflex. While he wanted to get into the nearest plane and go north, he didn't wish to ignore Celestia's request.

He started slowly as he recalled what happened. He told about how he was alone in the middle of a vast ocean without a jet. How it would take hours for him to finally find something other than water, and explain the fortress he saw. He didn't leave a detail out, even telling about how cold it was and the overcast weather. When he was done, Celestia had disappointment on her face, which made him uncomfortable since she always held a figurative mask over it.

"Now it's starting to make sense," Celestia muttered sadly. Lightning however managed to hear her.

"Princess, what are you-" Lightning stopped when Celestia held a hoof up.

"I was curious about that fierce gleam in your eyes," Celestia continued, her voice low in disappointment. "You plan on joining the battle, regardless of Rainbow Dash's orders. Don't you?"

"Y-yes your highness," Lightning lowered his head, daring to not make eye contact. He knew disregarding a superiors orders was frowned upon, even if it came from a friend.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that. Rainbow Dash had a point in keeping you away from this battle. You may do something brash that may end your life. I cannot risk you doing something like that again." Lightning managed to glance up and saw her with a sad expression. "So as Princess of this kingdom, you are ordered to remain here until I say so. For your own safety."

"Princess, you can't be ser-"

"Is that understood, Lightning Spark?" Celestia's face and tone became stern. Enough to turn a royal guard's knee's into jello.

"She can't be serious! My friends are in bucking danger and she's keeping me away like I'm a foal being grounded by their parents. I don't care if I die. If I lost Mist Dancer, I'll never be the same again." He put on his own stern expression and glared at Celestia.

"No," Lightning responded simply. Celestia put a hoof on the side of her forehead in frustration.

"Lightning Spark, please see reason in what you're doing. Need I remind you that if you try to leave, I won't hesitate to have the royal guard stop you?" Seeing his fierce demeanor lessen, she pushed further. "Now, I can forget this conversation ever happened if you just go back to your room. How about it?" Celestia offered hopefully.

Lightning shook his head. "I'm sorry, Princess. For all you've done for Equestia, I was hoping you'd understand how important my friends mean to me. Goodbye." With that said, he bolted for the door leading toward the hangar. Immediately, the two guards near it advanced upon him. Waiting until they were a fair distance from the door, he easily soared over them and landed next to the doorway. The fact they were earth ponies made it that much easier.

He only had several minutes before the entire guard would be on him to stop his escape. As he ran down the hallway, the two guards near the hangar doorway spotted him.

"Halt! You will not pass so long as-" Two forehooves to the muzzle quickly shut up the pegasus guard and knocked him out. The golden helmets the guards wore thankfully weren't full-plate. The guard next to him charged at Lightning and toppled him over, planning to overtake him in a grapple. Lightning was able to tuck in his back hooves and push the guard off, sending him flying over his head. Jumping on his hooves, he quickly brought them down on the side of the guards helmet, knocking him out as well.

Lightning took this moment to catch a breath. Guards with their armor on weren't exactly the lightest things in Equestria. Opening the doorway ahead of him with a crack, he peeked through it.

"... And You four, watch the runway. I don't want this pegasus getting away from us!"

Several guards were in the room with what seemed to be their commander giving orders. They were far enough that they didn't see the door open, but close enough that he heard a beep come from the commander. Lightning recognized it as a radio, and he had pressed down the button to speak.

"Report, Hallway Three." To Lightning's horror, he heard the same voice repeat over the radio in the guards helmet behind him. The commander repeated it again, but seemed to give up after getting nothing but static.

"Dew, Shield, go check on the hallway leading to the throne room."

Lightning backed away from the doorway. He only had a minute or less before they barged into the room. He looked around the hallway for a way out, but nothing showed except the two double-doorways. He could fly back to the throne room, but he doubted Celestia would let him get away again. As to how he managed to get away from Celestia and Luna the first place, when they could've used magic, eluded him.

Pacing in front of the guards in frustration, his eye caught a silver glint under one of the unconscious guards. Pushing the guard's weight off the object, a smile formed on his lips as an idea formed in his mind.

Dew sprinkle kicked the door in several moments after hearing gun shots coming from the hallway ahead of them. She immediately spotted the two guards on the ground and rushed to make sure they were still alive. Shield Shine had his own firearm readied in his mouth, warily looking around the hallway while his partner check on their life signs.

"Are they alright?" Shield asked, his voice muffled a bit from the pistol in his grip. He kept his gaze searching the room in case somepony wanted to catch them by surprise.

"Yes, they're fine." Dew noticed one of the guards had the side of his helmet dented to the point of being uncomfortable to wear. "Is our culprit in the hallway?"

"No," shield said with a sigh. He walked further in the hallway and heard his hoof crunch on something. Looking down, he found colored glass shards everywhere. Looking at the windows on either side of him, he spotted the one on his right had a large hole in it. "But I know where he might be."

"This is Cloud Two, requesting to land for refuel." Cirrus swirl stated as he flew around Canterlot to line up his plane to the runway.

"Canterlot control tower. Runway is clear. We have trucks ready and waiting for you."

"Many thanks. Coming in to land." Cirrus landed his jet and watched a large vehicle with warning signs plastered all over it warning the contents were unstable. He didn't need to do anything on his side so he just relaxed in the cockpit and waited for the process to be over.

After about a minute, a steady beep in his cockpit told him his tanks were full. He watched the ponies who filled his jet start to part away and he gave them a thankful salute. Just when he did, he saw the canopy of his jet suddenly open.

"What the hay-"

"Sorry about this," a yellow with black mane pony said quickly. Before Cirrus could say another word, he was promptly unbuckled from the jet and thrown out of it. Unfortunately, he couldn't spread his wings due to the wingdings and hit the tarmac head-first.

"I'll do my best to return your jet to you!" The strange pony yelled out as he shut the canopy and started to turn onto the runway.

You better... Was the last thing Cirrus thought as he fell unconscious from hitting the tarmac.

"Shut down your jet this instant! You are under arrest for-"

"I got a lot else to worry about besides my arrest, Control," Lightning retorted. His jet had just lined up and he quickly increased the thrust of his jet. He was sure his escape was perfect. Until he saw the line of guards right outside the hangar.

"Oh, buck!" It didn't take him long to know what they were holding in their mouths. Lightning quickly ducked his head down as severals bullets turned the canopy into swiss cheese. To make things worse, the jet was going fast enough for take off, but his stick was bent forward from having to take cover. His jet was starting to bounce across the runway like a pony playing hop scotch.

Quickly fixing the problem by pulling his stick back, his jet took to the air, leaving the royal guards and Celestia with one less jet to guard Canterlot. Sighing in heavy relief, he looked at the condition of his jet.

Several warning lights were telling him he was running low on fuel, which he could only guess his fuel tank had several new holes in them. He thanked whatever powers that be they didn't explode from stray sparks.

He still had full control of the jet. However, it felt odd using his hooves to steer instead of using wingdings.
A small part of him was grateful he wouldn't need to fly the jet into battle. Only as far as the quickly diminishing fuel tank would take him. Then he would ditch it into the ocean.

"And leave me flying without a jet. Just like my dream..." Lightning realized.

Pointed his jet north and turning on the autopilot, he started the long flight. Ready for whatever awaited him to the north.

Celestia eyed the line of guards in front of the hangar as their commander chewed them out for letting a single pegasus get away. She let her gaze wander toward Luna who was busy looking at the sky.

"Thank you for giving him a vision of what will be happening up north, Luna," Celestia whispered to her sister. Luna looked back at her sister with a small smile on her face.

"It was not a problem for us, dear sister. It was you who told him what it was and played 'overprotective' ruler to make him rebel. He has quite the spirit when it comes to being with his friends," Luna commented mostly to herself.

"I can only hope they will all return safely," Celestia said sadly. Luna leaned on her sister to comfort her. Celestia nuzzled her little sisters mane and followed her gaze back up to the north sky.

"We as well, Celly... We as well."

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Rainboom One, you have two missiles coming to your left. Evade! Solar two, assist Lunar three. He's getting swarmed on by enemy jets. Blackbird three has been shot down, somepony please destroy that bucking AA near our choppers!"

Flare Chaser continued to spout off updates. The other ponies in the AWAC were huddled over their own computers, sending their own orders. All of their skills were being tested to keep their pilots alive and Flare could feel her throat turning a tad dry from all the speaking. She swore they would've put the ponies who spout off the legal crap at the end of commercials to shame.

"This is Lunar four. Most of the eastern defenses of the fortress have been destroyed."

"Good job, Lunar Four." She had earlier ordered him, along with two others to focus on those defenses. She was impressed they were almost finished after several minutes. "When you're done go help Sun squadron with the southern defenses. Until our ground forces can break through to open up the cooling vents, you're all stuck up there."

"Roger, heading to--Got a plane on me... buck, missile incom..."

The indicator that showed Lunar four's position went out with a wink. Flare Chaser stomped a hoof against the panel, causing it shake slightly, but no permanent damage. Her actions startled a yellow pegasus across the other side of the plane, who was busy talking to another pilot.

Apologizing to Fluttershy for startling her, she looked back at her screen. Her brow raised in curiosity as the blip of a friendly jet appeared to the south. It quickly disappeared when she noticed it.

"Damn radar better not be on the fritz again," she muttered. Her small opening from the distraction of her radar was risking a pony getting shot down. Solar three gladly stated his distress.

"I got a enemy jet right on my tail! Somepony please get him off! As if to emphasize his dire situation, there was the sound of bullets ricocheting off his plane. "Somepony, anypony!"

Flare chaser drew a blank on who to get help. Everypony else was either dealing with evading gunfire, fighting off their own pursuers, or helping shoot down said pursuers. For the first time in her career, she didn't know what to do. The pegasus' flying was turning so erratic that they were leaving combat airspace and slowly drifting south. The green and red blips indicating friendly and enemy danced around each other for several seconds before the red one strangely disappeared.

"Holy buck. Thank for the... huh? Who assisted me?"

"Celestia herself apparently," Flare Chaser joked to herself. "Worry about that later Solar Three. The rest of your squadron needs help with several enemy jets strafing our ground forces."

"Roger that! Solar Three promptly complied.

Flare Chaser continued what she was previously doing. Even with the help of seven other ponies in the AWAC the job felt overwhelming. While spouting off a command to Rainboom Three, a small part of her started to wonder who really helped Solar Three.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Lightning repeatedly thought

Half of it was toward himself for losing the pistol he escaped Canterlot with. He reasoned it was forever lost the moment his plane ran out of fuel. He had more important things to worry about besides his belongings, unless he wanted to live in the ocean. The other half was toward the guards for shooting his plane as way to to stop him. Or at least he thought they were trying to capture him alive.

The only possessions he had was the blue flight-suit he always seemed to wear, and his weaponized black storm cloud. Which he unimaginatively named 'Zappy'. Zappy was happy to show its worth when Lightning Spark bucked the small cloud and sent a bolt at an offending enemy plane that broke off from the main battle. Sadly he had to ditch the cloud since it was only small enough to fire one bolt, but it was enough to do this job.

Finally at his destination, he took in his surroundings closely. The fortress itself looked even more imposing with his own eyes rather than in his vision. Spots of billowing smoke could be seen dotting the vast amount of grey it had. Spots that used to be anti-aircraft guns. There were still a sizable amount firing at his allies, but they were able to evade most of their gunfire.

The two long parts of the fortress that looked like arms rested in front of the main building like how an animal would lay on its belly. Both main entrances were located at the end of each "paw", which the ground forces were steadily advancing through. Lightning spotted one pony who stood out from the rest near the right "paw". She apparently also spotted him as she was busy bouncing outside the entryway with a smile on her face.

"P-Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?" An exasperated Lightning Spark asked when he landed next to her.

"I took one of the choppers silly!" She responded like it was obvious. Lightning look to the sky and closed his eyes for a moment as if to pray to Celestia.

"Okay. that's how you got here, but why are you here?" A bullet bounced off a metal plate and went through pinkie's frizzy mane, creating a small hole. Lightning raised an eyebrow as the hole disappeared, the mane returning back to normal.

"Well, I couldn't just sit on my rump and twiddle my hooves all day. That would've been so boring. Sure, there was partying going on all over Equestria and who doesn't like a good party, but we could be doing better things like stopping the rest of these meanie-pants gryphons from destroying Canterlot! That's why I brought this baby!"

"Pinkie! Why did you bring a baby to a warzone?" Lightning yelled as Pinkie held in her hooves a yellow foal.

"Oops! Sorry, wrong baby. Hiding it behind her back, she whipped out what looked like a rocket launcher covered in frosting.

"What is Celestia's name is that?" Lightning deadpanned.

"It's my Cake-zooka! or maybe I'll call it a Bake-zooka? Oh, how about Easy bake launcher! Or how about-mpphth!" A hoof covering her mouth promptly stopped her.

"I get it, but wouldn't it make more sense to have something that fires... maybe... explosives?"

"Don't be silly, Silly. Everypony knows how deadly pastries are." When she said that, another bullet flew by and buried itself into a earth pony who was rushing into the doorway. A medic ran over and quickly dragged him away from the gunfire to be treated.

Lightning noticed he dropped a small device on the ground. Picking it up, it was the ear radio they all wore under their helmets. Looking back at the wounded pony, he was laying still while the medic watched over him. While he hated stealing, it wouldn't do much good now that the previous owner was out of commission. He tucked the radio into his ear and turned back to Pinkie.

The first thing he noticed was her hair had gone limp. The second was the sad look in her eyes as she stared at the injured pony.

"Pinkie, are you-" He cut himself off as she muttered something, but couldn't hear it. "What did you say?'

"They hurt my friend..." She looked at Lightning as she started to get misty eyed. T-They..." Pinkie and Lightning stared at each other. He slowly noticed her visage started to change into something more malicious. "Think I'll return the party favor," she growled.

"You don't plan on..." before he could finish his sentence, Pinkie had already bolted through the doorway. "... Yep, she is." He was confused why the nearby gunfire had suddenly stopped, but the gryphons were still firing. Glancing around the corner, his mouth hung open.

Pinkie Pie had run out into the kill zone. It was a straight corridor covered in grey metal plates. To reach the gryphon lines required ten seconds of galloping, and there was no cover in-between. To everypony's and the gryphon's surprise, she didn't need it since she was half-way to her goal. She seemed to know exactly when to change direction as bullets pinged against the floor where she should've been.

When she was several feet near the gryphon line, she jumped in the air and whipped out her weapon. With steady aim, she popped each gryphon in the head with a variety of pies, before landing back on her hooves. After finishing her one pony assault, she trotted back to the others with a smile on her face. Her mane back to its frizzy self.

"Alright everypony, let's get going!"

"Stay still you stupid..." Rainbow Dash muttered as she kept close behind an enemy jet, waiting for a good position to fire. She had been following her prey through every flip, corkscrew, and any other tricks to lose her, but she wouldn't give up that easily. She caught a lucky break when another friendly jet took several pot shots at her target, forcing it to fly straight. Just long enough for Rainbow dash to line up her shot.

Her jet let out a low hum as a streak of bullets flew through the sky and made a neat line of holes into the right wing. The speed they were flying caused the wing to tear off like a page from a notebook. Rainbow gave a salute to the pilot as the gryphon bailed out of the jet. A part of her was glad the enemy pilot is still alive.

"Your welcome," Gilda said as her jet matched speed next to rainbow's jet. She gave a mock salute toward her before breaking off to chase after another enemy.

"Rainboom One here. Have our ground forces breached into the fortress yet? I don't know how much more we can take." The mix of anti-air and enemy jets was slowly taking its toll on the pony pilots as one would get shot down every couple of minutes. If this continued their air forces would be taking heavy losses.

"This is Flare Chaser. I'll patch you through with our ground force's radio to listen for yourself."

Soon as she said that, gunfire and somepony shouting could be heard over her headset

"This is Leader of Apple platoon. We managed to break through the right entrance. Any luck from Dragon platoon on their side?"

"They're dealing with tough resistance, but they're slowly advancing," an unknown voice spoke from the AWAC. "Suggest you hold off until they are able to join you on the second floor."

"Most of my squad is still alive. We can't afford more time to open those cooling panels, else risk more of our pilots getting shot down. We're going in with or without Dragon Squad.

There was a short pause of thought before the AWAC member responded.

"Very well. Remember that the control room is most likely on the third floor. Focus on reaching there first to open the heat sink's panels.

"You heard the lady. Two flights of stairs ain't gonna kill you, so get going!"

Lightning huffed while going up the second flight of stairs. Apparently whoever made the floor plans for this place didn't know what they were doing. The hangar, and any rooms next to it counted as floors 1A-1B, and it took two flights of stairs to cover one floor due to how tall the rooms were. He took a shot in the dark that it was build this way to allow gryphons to fly through the hallways.

It must've been a gift from Celestia herself when he spotted an elevator while moving toward the next flight of stairs. He Nudged Pinkie on the shoulder and pointed at it with a smile on his face. She got the same idea and, while nopony watched them, bolted into the small elevator. Scanning the array of buttons, he pressed the correct one which had a black three on it..

Call me lazy. I don't give a buck!

Meanwhile, Pinkie was giggling like crazy.

"Just wait to see the looks on their faces when they see there was an elevator the whole time!" She couldn't take it anymore and burst into louder laughter.

Lightning would be joining in her laughter, but he felt uneasy being around a laughing pony who can annihilate an entire group of gryphons with pie. He found out later after inspecting her handiwork that the launcher was loaded with stale pastries.

The light above the doorway dinged, showing they had reached the second floor. Eventually the constant giggling from Pinkie broke him from his serious shell and he joined her. He had to admit, he began to also looked forward to seeing their faces as well. When the light switched to the three, they both took a step toward the door, expecting it to open. However, it did not. Instead, the speaker on the elevator turned on and a small camera in a corner spun, zooming up to get a good look at him.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" A familiar voice said through the speaker that chilled Lightning's spine. "Lightning Spark, of all ponies. What a pleasant surprise." The camera shifted to his left, looking at Pinkie. "Though I've never seen your friend before." Lightning shook off the chill and took a fighting stance, spreading his hooves out as he stared at the camera.

"Cut out the movie bad-guy act, Gilford. It's getting old. Where are you so I can pummel your beak in." Gilford responded with a disappointed 'tsk.'.

"Straight to the point, hmm? Don't worry, we'll be seeing eye-to-eye very soon." The speaker turned off with a loud click.

Lightning pressed the open door button on the elevator panel and wasn't surprised it wouldn't work. Instead the elevator jerked upward, heading to the fourth floor. He responded by pressing against the right side of the elevator.

"Stay against the other side, Pinkie. Who knows what Gilford has waiting for us."

"Okie Dokie!" Pinkie replied cheerily, oblivious to the dangers that might lie ahead. She pressed against the left side of the elevator and they both stayed still until the elevator reached the fourth floor. The doors slid slowly open and...

Nothing. No gunfire came through the doorway. No explosions rocked the elevator. No angry gryphons yelling at him to leave their cover. Peeking around the corner, all he saw was a coated gryphon with his talons leaning on the console in front of him. Cautiously exiting the elevator, he looked around to make sure there wasn't any hidden enemies.

Outside the clear windows that covered most of the room, he saw the desperate battle going on around the fortress. When he took several more steps toward Gilford, he took a talon off the console. Above him were several large monitors which showed cameras watching the entire facility. He stopped mid-step when Gilford spoke.

"That's far enough, Lightning Spark," Gilford said quickly. He turned his head to looking at Lightning. "I wouldn't want to accidentally press the button on this detonator, now would I? Be quite a shame for those ponies entered the control room." Pressing a button on the console behind him, it switched to a full-screen view of Apple squad securing the room. He motioned with his free talon at Pinkie Pie.

"Go back in the elevator and shut the door behind you. I want to have a private chat with your friend here." Pinkie Pie glared at him for a second before responding.

"Okie dokie lokie," she growled slowly before backing up into he elevator. She still glared at the gryphon as the elevator door closed.

"You have some interesting friends," Gilford point out calmly as he watched Pinkie make her exit.

"What in Tartarus do you want, Gilford? I didn't come all the way here to have a chat." He took a step back as Gilford's calm attitude did a complete u-turn.

"Revenge toward your squadron, Lightning. Starting with you of course. Your group ruined everything I had planned, and now you dare destroy my greatest work!" Gilford pointed a shaking talon at Lightning. "Ever since I met you at the detention center I hated you. Your race just doesn't know when to keel over a die!"

Gilford gently placed the detonator on the console behind him and tore off his coat. Underneath, his body wasn't exactly bulging with muscle, but it did show he was in fit shape. He flexed his wings for a moment to enjoy the feeling without his coat ruffling his feathers.

"Sorry if I seem a little rusty. I haven't killed with my own talons in a long time, so you can imagine how I've longed to wring your sorry little neck." Gilford crouched low and paced counter-clockwise around Lightning. "Now, let us see how good you are without your jet!" Before Lightning could respond, Gilford lunged at him, swiping his talon down as he plunged.

Lightning responded by flapping his wings and propelling himself backwards to avoid the blow. Gilford growled as his tugged to free his talon, which got stuck in the tile floor. Seeing an opening to attack, Lightning hopping in the air and dove at him.

Gilford grinned and waited until he was within arm reach. His talon wasn't stuck at all as he easily pulled it out and grabbed Lightning by the throat. He squeezed hard enough that blood trickled where the ends of his talons met his neck.

"Pity that you have hooves and I have talons. Makes the duel unfair don't you think?" He suddenly felt all the air expel from his lungs as Lightning used is back hooves to buck him in the chest. He could've sworn he heard a rib or two snap as he landed on his back and skidded across the floor.

"While you can slice all you want, you can't change the fact I can still beat your face to a pulp!" Lightning retorted as he pounced on top of Gilford and proceeded to do just that. Every punch he dedicated it to somepony.

"This one's from Rainbow Dash! This one's from yours truly! This one is for just being that ugly!"

He was about to deliver a fourth one when Gilford knocked it aside and headbutt Lightning. He took the second of disorientation to roll him over and sit on his chest so he couldn't buck him off. He stared down at him, his face bloody and bruised.

"You forget that I have something else I have besides my talons to inflict pain."

Lightning went wide-eyed as Gilford threw his head back and dove his beak down to tear into his face. Rolling his torso to the left, he managed to redirect it from his face to his left foreleg. He screamed as jolts of pain shot through his body.

"Hmph, I don't see why ponies think we eat you all the time. You taste horrible." He spat on the pony under him, causing him to wince. "Now hold still, I'll make this quick." He leaned back to gouge him again. Unfortunately, he forgot about his back legs again.

Kicking his legs out, Lightning managed to lock both hooves around Gilford's neck and began to strangle him. He responded by lifting one of his talons to free himself and Lightning used that moment to punch Gilford in the chest again. The exact the same spot he bucked earlier. He was rewarded with Gilford rolling off of him and clutching his chest.

At this point they laid there to catch their breath. Gilford steadily stood up clutching his chest with one talon. He coughed loudly and spat out blood. Lightning rolled over on his stomach and got up as well, holding his bleeding and torn foreleg.

"D-damn you. I was hoping to make this quick," Gilford groaned as he limped back toward the console. "but it looks like you will have to watch as your friends below die."

Lightning took several deep breaths to fight through the pain he was feeling before slowly chasing after him. Steadily closing the distance with his foe, he was several feet behind so he took the chance to dive forward. He managed to land directly on Gilford's tail, earning him a pained screech from the gryphon. Now that he had several more seconds before he reached for his goal, he tapped his 'borrowed' earpiece.

"This is toward Apple platoon on the third floor. You need to get out of there immediately! I'm doing my best to stop Gilford from detonating that room. This is not a joke, get out of there no-!" The headset clattered across the floor when Gilford pulled it out of his ear and tossed it. He then kicked Lightning off his tail and took the next several steps to reach the detonator.

"You fool. I knew better than to have such an obvious target be its only weakness. I prepared this moment long before you even knew about this place. This little tidbit of information was only kept away from you so I could see the laughable hope you had in your eyes. There is no way to stop this super weapon from firing again, even if your plan to overheat the gun succeeded, I already entered the code to have this gun fire regardless of its status. By the time the automated systems have overheated, your nation will be nothing more than a burning husk!"

With that said, he pressed the button on the detonator.

He smiled as everything went expected. He heard the sound of the explosion and felt the violent shaking of the fortress. What he didn't expect was the floor under him suddenly buckling, sending him and Lightning down an entire floor. The equivalent height of falling down two flights of stairs.

"This is to Apple platoon on the third floor. You need to get out of there immediately! I'm doing my best to stop Gilford from detonating the room. This is not a joke, get out of there no-"

Mist Dancer's eyes shot open as she knew who was speaking through everypony's communications. Her face grew pale when Apple platoon doubted Lightning's advice.

"This had got to be a joke. We're so close to-"

"That's no joke," Mist interrupted. "Follow his order and get out of there or you're all going to die!" Mist Dancer yelled. The voice that came through her headset next shot a strong chill down her spine.

"You fool. I knew better than to have such an obvious target be its only weakness. I prepared this moment long before you even knew about this place. This little tidbit of information was only kept away from you so I could see the laughable hope you had in your eyes. There is no way to stop this super weapon from firing again, even if your plan to overheat the gun succeeded, I already entered the code to have this gun fire regardless of its status. By the time the automated systems have destroyed itself, your nation will be nothing more than a burning husk!"

Communications turned dead silent for several seconds to any pony who had listened to their radio at the time. He had just torn apart whatever hope the pony forces held onto without even knowing he had done so. What happened next kept the moment of shock lasting several seconds longer.

The third floor of the fortress suddenly exploded, sending loose pieces of rubble and glass around the entire facility. Flames shown coming from inside the fortress, threatening to consume anypony or gryphon crazy enough to traverse it. Fluttershy was the first one to break from the shock of these latest events.

"Y-you think what he said was true?

"I don't know, but why would he lie about something like that? I doubt he knew Lightning's radio was still transmitting. Rainbow let out an angry sigh. "This changes everything!

"Flare chaser to Apple platoon. Are you alright? Please respond. There was static for several seconds before something came through.

"... Fire everywhere... lost half my... evacuating the... at first floor..." The rest of just static, but those few words were enough to frighten and ease her mind.

Mist Dancer desperately tried to understand why Lightning Spark was inside the fortress. Why would he go against Rainbow dash's order to stay in Canterlot? While she was happy he was safe with the princesses, she felt an emptiness without him with her in the squadron. She hesitantly spoke, hoping for a response.

"Lightning Spark, please answer," She asked almost pleadingly. All that came was static, but that didn't stop her as she grew angry. She always knew he joked around during stressful moments. "Damnit, I order you to answer me!" Her emotions started to tear her apart at the implications of what just happened. "Lightning Spark!" She screamed out in desperation.

"Lightning Spark!"

Who the buck is yelling at me?

Lightning Spark felt sharp pain all over his body. He groggily opened his eyes to take in the bleak surroundings.

Huh, so that's why I felt warm. The tiredness and his mind's natural reaction to joke around during stressful moments keeping his thoughts calm.

Nearby flames seemed to reach for him, threatening to consume his prone body. The spinning red warning lights and fire were the only light source available. All the fluorescent lights had shattered from the explosion. Steadily getting on his fore hooves, he got away from the fire and to get a better look at where he was.

If somepony had built a giant hole in the ground with a slight incline and placed him at the bottom, it would be a good comparison to exactly where he was. Except replace the dirt with metal, concrete and other materials that was on fire. To his disappointment, the only escape was block off by more rubble.

Lightning took several seconds to recollect his thoughts. He remembered Gilford pressing the detonator then went blank when the floor beneath him broke apart. He berated himself for not using his wings, but the floor caught him by surprise. Though he began to wonder where Gilford was as he was nowhere to be seen.

He went along with the idea that he was buried under the rubble. Right now he had to find a way out before the flames killed him or the rest of the building collapsed. Testing his wings, they were a bit sore, but shouldn't be too much of a problem to fly back upstairs. Spreading his wings, he flapped them to ascend upward.

Landing on a small part of the floor that didn't fall, he found the elevator doors were ajar. Putting both hooves, one of each door, he shoved it open and peered into the elevator shaft. A small fire at the bottom of the shaft quickly told him it was permanently out of order.

To the side of the doorway, he spotted a red ladder leading toward any of the floors. Carefully reaching out with a hoof, he looped it around one of the bars and pulled himself out into the shaft. He pushed thoughts out of his mind that involved slipping and falling to his death. Even with his wings, the shaft was too tight and the cables would get in the way of his wings to spread fully.

Holding onto the ladder that much tighter, he took the next several steps carefully and reached the second floor doorway. He thanked his luck that it was open fully. Pressing against the ladder, he pushed himself off and flew through the doorway. He slid about a foot before coming to stop on the polished floor

I'm never taking elevators ever again.

Looking at the white hallway he was now in, he trotted briskly, wincing every time he had to step with his left foreleg. He reached a T-section at the end and glanced both ways. There were a flight of stairs leading only downward to his left. The right was hard to tell where it lead as several of the lights were shattered or flickering, giving a spooky feeling.

Following his "not go through the spooky area cause ghosts might be real" sense, he went down the stairs. After several flights, he came across a grey unmarked door with a push-lever. Pushing it open, he was met with the sound of silence.

Carefully shutting the door behind him to not make any noise, it still managed to slam loud enough anyway to alert any enemies who simply looked up. Seeing that no gryphons were trying to kill him, he examined the area he had wandered into.

He was standing on a catwalk in what appeared to be a very large hangar. Possibly bigger than the one located in Canterlot. Looking over the catwalk railing, he saw several enemy jets lined up. Two jets were pointed outside, one on each runway that started inside the hangar itself.

They all must've left when the explosion occurred, Lightning deducted. Something caught his eye inside one of the jets pointed outside.

"Gilford!" Lightning yelled, his voice echoing throughout the hangar. Even with the canopy closed, his shout caused the gryphon to snap his head up to look at him. A grin formed on his face as his engine flared to life and shot out the door and down the runway. Frantically lunging over the catwalk railing, he dove toward the other enemy jet pointing outside and climbed inside.

Shutting the canopy and putting on the helmet inside, a smiled formed when he noticed the jet was already set for take off. He guessed the pilot hadn't arrived when the alarms went off to evacuate the fortress. Glancing down at the controls, it took him a bit longer to figure out the similar, yet different set-up in front of him. After feeling comfortable with where everything was, he pushed forward on the thrust and shot down the runway after Gilford.

After the large explosion, the double-A on the fortress abruptly stopped. Gryphons were evacuating the building and being rounded up by ground forces as orderly as possible. Seeing the very thing they were trying to protect sent enemy morale down the toilet. Any enemies still in the air either ejected or kept fighting honorably. The latter were shot down shortly after refusal to surrender.

Even more terrifying than the explosion was the large gun above the fortress. It had suddenly come alive and had been firing every couple of minutes. Desperate to stop it, everypony fired everything they had against it. Bullets and missiles tore at the thick metal plating, but nothing seemed to severely damaging it. After several minutes of firing, the only thing they had done was create a large bundle of smoke.

"I don't get it, this thing should be a pile of rubble after that kind of beating!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"I'm out of ideas. How do you destroy something that can't be destroyed?" The sound of Flare chaser's head hitting the console with a dull 'thud' came afterwards. "What this? Oh, great. We have two more enemy jets leaving the fortress," she said with a slight annoyed expression. "Rainboom squadron, take care of them. We're stuck until we can figure out how to stop this thing. I'll look over the blueprints again, but I get the feeling it's for naught.

"Roger that," Rainbow Dash responded grimly. She spotted the two jets as they started to ascend their altitude. "I see them. Hang on,... why is one of them opening fire at the other?"

"What? Can you get a visual of who's inside those jets?"

"That's impossible at the moment with the way they're flying, Flare. Can you open communications with them?"

"Actually, yes. Give me just a second... and... there we go. You should be able to speak with them now."

"This is Rainboom One to enemy aircraft. You have twenty seconds to comply to my instructions or you-"

"Rainbow Dash? Now is really not the time to play policepony with me. Can't you see Gilford is getting away?"

"L-Lightning? Mist sputtered.

"Hey, Mist. I'll gladly explain everything once this is over, but we need to stop him!"

"Actually the fortress is top priority as a threat, Lightning Spark." Flare Chaser pointed out. "Gilford is no longer considered a threat now that he has been expelled from his 'throne.' I suggest you come back and-"

"No!" Lightning yelled. "He helped start this damned war and I'm going to make sure he pays for it!" The thick tone of anger in his voice made Rainbow's spine shiver.

"Lightning, please calm down," Mist Dancer soothed. "Your anger is clouding your judgement."

Heavy breathing could be heard coming from Lightning. Over time it slowly started to die down to long, deep breaths. He kept his voice calm as he spoke.

"I'm sorry. You're right Flare. While I hate to admit it, focusing on the fortress is more important than my grudge with Gilford. Too bad there isn't a way to stop it. Lightning Spark made a u-turn and joined with his fellow pilots. They flew lazily around the fortress since the only dangerous thing was the giant cannon firing every couple of minutes.

"Yeah, we heard after you warned Apple platoon about the bomb. We already tried using brute force, but the thing is like trying to break a turtle shell with only your hooves. Don't ask how I know this. I tried it once," she admitted quickly.

"Do any of you have a clue how to stop this thing?" Lightning asked desperately.

"I may have found something interesting..." Flare Chaser began. "Looking at the cannon blueprints, the entire thing is crafted with fifteen inch steel plating. So outside intervention is out the window. There's another opening above the cannon to vent any smoke build-up. Gilford said the entire thing is automated so the necessities to fire the gun are inside the hull itself."

The long pause of silence meant that whatever she was trying to point out flew over everypony's heads.

"Meaning that all the explosives are located there also!" Only the pony sitting next to Flare could see her eyes roll when the collective response of "oh" came from everpony. "Anyway, if we could get a missile in there, we could cause a big enough explosion, to detonate the entire payload inside the cannon."

"Yeah I saw this in a movie once. Not it." Spitfire spoke up.

"What?"

"Oh, there was this movie about a fighter pilot who had to fly through a building to destroy power generators of something like that."

"What happened at the end?"

"He crashed into a wall and died, she told nonchalantly. "Pretty grim story now that I think about-"

"Not helping!" Lightning Spark added.

"Either we do that or wait for the weapon to destroy itself." Flare stated, slightly annoyed at their bickering. "It's pretty obvious we do the former."

Rainbow Dash looked at the cannon as they passed in front of it, low enough as to not get hit if it fired. The opening looked too small for her jet to even enter. A pegasus would have to fly in there and detonate them. Even if a pegasus could fly in there, their chance of escaping the explosion was slim to none. She slowly began to realize what she had to do.

And she didn't like it at all. Pulling a sonic Rainboom in the clear sky was one thing. Doing it while flying down a cannon and timing it right to detonate the tons of explosives inside was something different all together. But she couldn't let it destroy her home. Even though she was frightened beyond measure if she failed to perform the sonic rainboom, she had to try.

"I'll do it," Rainbow dash said with forced courage. "I'll destroy the weapon."

"Rainbow, don't be crazy. You're going to get yourself killed!

"And thousands of ponies will die if somepony doesn't stop this thing! I don't know if it will work or not, but I have to at least try." Reaching for the ejection lever, she took a deep breath and pulled on it.

"Rainbow Dash what the hay are you doing?" Flare Chaser yelled.

"Just watch," Fluttershy said quietly.

Rainbow Dash flew high in the air. Higher than the cannon itself as she needed to pick up enough speed to ease the horizontal part of her flight. If she could stay at the edge of the barrier when entering the barrel, she could increase her speed by that small amount to break it and hopefully fly out to safety. This all looked like a good plan, but of course this plan was "on paper" as they say. And they don't always go according to plan.

She floated in the air, starting at the cannon below her. The air seemed to pick up occasionally, blowing her mane haphazardly. Since each shot took several minutes to fire, she had plenty of time before the risk of the gun going off while she was in the barrel. She impatiently waited for the cannon to fire again before beginning the sonic rainboom run.

The loud explosion as the cannon fired was like the gunshot of a race. Rainbow Dash immediately bolted downward at a sixty degree angle. The cold wind stung at her face and her ears quickly went numb. After several seconds of flying, she felt the same resistance whenever she went this fast. Slowly the barrier began bending at a right angle. It wasn't enough though. She had to push the cone in front of her into a tight funnel.

She was reaching the point where she had to fly into the barrel when the cone started to close in on itself. When she flew into the tunnel, the sound of the swirling wind around her seemed to echo off the metal, created a loud noise that sounded like she was in a wind tunnel. Ahead of her, she could see the next missile wasn't loaded in the chamber.

Come on wings, don't let me down now!

Her entire face had gone numb at this point. Her mouth was pushed back like a dog sticking its head out the window of a car. Rainbow knew she was just at the edge of breaking the barrier. Every time she was about to break the barrier her head felt light from all the blood rushing back.

It was a split second decision when she reached the point the missile would rest before firing. Giving her wings that final push, the barrier in front of her snapped like a branch. Her speed increased two-fold and she had less than a second to change her course in another direction before she turned into a pegasus pancake.

The Sonic Rainboom managed to suceed in exploding inside the room. Almost immediately, the nearest missile exploded, all the smaller warheads exploding as well like large firecrackers. The other missiles followed suit at a dangerous rate, threatening the flying pegasus stuck inside the room, looking for the roof exit out.

Buck, there's a giant fan blocking he exit! Her speed had slowed down dramatically by now from all the turning she had to do in the cramped cannon. Seeing plan A out the proverbial window, she bolted back toward the barrel. The rapid amount of explosions behind her was the best coach she had in her life. Her wings pumped as fast as they could go as she knew any slower might be her death.

She was halfway down the barrel when the back of her hooves started to feel uncomfortably hot. The yellow tint that surrounded the metal barrel around her acted like a rear-view mirror as she could already guess what was literally 'hot on her tail'. She didn't know if she would make it as she was forcing her lead wings to keep its pace.

Too focused on pumping her quickly tiring wings, Rainbow Dash didn't even notice she was clear of the barrel. She continued to fly until the cool wind greeted her singed flank. She lazily floated down onto a nearby cloud and flopped on top of it in exhaustion.

"I-I did it... I actually did it." Rainbow's sides heaved as she took in deep breaths to calm her hammering heart. Sitting up on the cloud, she look back at the Fortress.

The barrel of the cannon had turned into a stub, the rest had fallen down and rested on the runway below. The hull of the cannon, even with the fifteen inch thick plates, had popped open like a bag of popcorn left in the microwave for too long.. Every once and awhile, an "unpopped kernel" shot out of the cannon and exploded seconds later, harmlessly in the air.

The Sonic Rainboom apparently didn't stop with destroying the cannon. It spread across the sky, pushing away the overcast clouds like a giant broom. The late afternoon sun greeted her to the east, bringing a sense of calm to her mind. It felt nice to feel Celestia's sun again give warmth from the cold wind, as if thanking her for a job well done.

Laying on her back, she watched the sky with half-lidded eyes. Finally, it was over. Even if Gilford got away, where would he go? His nation would hate him for starting the war. Goldwing would most likely hunt him down as well to give her people justice. He would get caught sooner or later.

The sound of a jet interrupted her thoughts. Looking up to the sky, she saw her squadron pass by. They were close enough that she saw them waving and cheering her on. Her face broke out in a smile as she waved back enthusiastically. She broke out in tears of joy as thoughts of seeing all her friends back together made her smile even wider.

"It's over... the war is finally over," She whispered to herself.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Two years later...

Dear Princess Celestia,

How are you toda-

Lightning Spark was hunched over a writing desk inside a sunlit room coming from a window too his left. He crumpled up the parchment he had just scribbled on and tossed it over a shoulder toward the wastebasket that held several other attempts at writing. The small room he liked to call a study was large enough to fit his desk and a small bookcase while not feeling cramped.

He ran a hoof over his mane in frustration while sliding a fresh piece on his desk. "Come on Lightning, think. What would Twilight write if this was one of her friendship reports..." Sudden insperation flickered in his mind and he placed the quill's tip on the parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It's hard to believe all that has happened these past two years after the war. Thankfully my nightmares and episodes have disappeared after settling down with Mist in Trottingham. Although the memories are still fresh in my mind like they happened just yesterday. I can still feel the sting of Mist's slap when we returned from the fortress.

Their arrival back to Canterlot was a dull one. The hangar was devoid of anypony as the forces that attacked the fortress came back home. A camouflaged plane stood out from all the other silver ones as they parked inside the hangar. Lightning Spark quickly climbed out from the enemy plane and took a moment to enjoy the several jeers from other pilots for completing their mission. Lightning scanned through the other jets until he spotted Rainbow Dash entering without her plane. She landed in front of him with an unamused look.

"You better explain yourself, Lightning." Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at him. "I'm not trying to be a hard-flank, but you scared Mist Dancer half to death with your actions. She probably thought you died when you didn't respond over the radio."

Lightning's ears folded back as he looked away, feeling uncomfortable looking Rainbow in the eye. "I couldn't live with myself knowing my friends were in harms way while I was stuck here in safety." Feeling brave enough, he looked her in the eye. "What would you have done if you were in my hooves? Would you stay and twiddle your hooves while your friends risk their lives?" He quickly brushed way his inner smirk when her eyes softened.

"Alright, you have me there," Rainbow Dash admitted. "I guess I'm just being too overprotective of my friends. Heck, if I had the choice, I would've went there without the rest of my squadron."

"More targets for you I guess," Lightning joked. They both shared a laugh until he spotted Mist Dancer moving toward both of them. Lightning trotted forward ready to embrace her, but heard a sharp slap and felt a sting on the left side of his face. The first thing that went through his mind was confusion for what just happened. It quickly changed to realization, then sadness. He tried to apologize, but a hoof softly touched his lips.

"That's for making me worried sick for several hours!" She slid the hoof slowly down until it laid on his chest. "And this is for getting back at Gilford and making him fly away with his tail between his legs." She leaned forward and gave him a deep passionate kiss.

Lightning stopped for a moment to cherish the fond memory, mostly the kissing part, before returning to the letter.

It was quite a surprise for you to join us at the wedding. Even when I insisted to keep it small, she probably sent an invitation to every pony in Equestria. It was a good thing Pinkie Pie thought ahead and brought along those extra sets of chairs. I wonder how she knew to do that. Though it was nothing compared to the look on her face when I proposed. Priceless.

Also, I hope Rainbow Dash is still with the air force. It was sad for the both of us to leave, but we still keep in touch and visit. I'm happy she's finally found something she can truly enjoy. Showing off at the air shows around Equestria must be quite a bonus for her. Maybe I'll watch her latest show starting over at Manehatten!

"What? You're both leaving?" Rainbow Dash yelled in shock. The three of them stood outside Hoofington Air Base. Lightning And Mist had their things packed in dufflebags behind them, and neither of them had their uniform on.

Lightning Spark nodded his head slowly. "I'm afraid so, Dash. Now that the war is over, me and Mist decided to uh... settle down for a bit." He received a light nuzzle from Mist, which he responded in kind.

Rainbow Dash's eyes grew in desperation. "B-but we've been wingpony's since forever! Why can't you stay in Rainboom squadron and be with Mist?" She hung her head in defeat.

"You know full well being in your squadron involves staying away from home most of the time, Rainbow." Getting only a stubborn grunt from her, he put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "Look, I'm not disappearing off the face of Equestria. There's nothing stopping you from visiting us in Trottingham or writing to us. We may not be a part of your squadron, but you'll always be our friend. No matter how far away you may be. Alright?"

"Alright," Rainbow sniffed. She tried to hide her dampened muzzle. Seeing it was useless, she extended her hoof between Lightning and Mist. "Best aces in Equestria?"

Mist and Lightning looked at the hoof for a moment before returning the gesture. Mist's eyes started to turn misty as well from the tender moment. They both spoke in unison. "Best aces in Equestria."

Speaking of visiting others. Thank you for sending the reports to see how goldwing is doing. I wish I could pity her for caving in for her thirst for more power. I suppose you could relate it to being drunk, only that you remember everything you've done. However, I'm glad she's been given a second chance, even if her people don't trust her. I suppose 'time heals all wounds'.

Goldwing looked over this months taxes with boredom in her eyes. "I should hire a gryphon who can actually understand these reports," she muttered while flipping through the hundred-plus pages on her desk. Then an idea came to mind. "Blunt beak!"

The personal assistant for Goldwing stumbled in the room with the grace of a blind manticore. "Y-you called, your highness?" He started to sweat when she just stared at him as if contemplating how to punish him for no reason.

"I was wondering if you could help me with these taxes. I know you do them all the time so I was hoping you could 'show me the ropes' as they say."

"Yes, of course Queen. I'll do everything--huh?"

A smile formed on Goldwing's beak as she continued to explain. "I said would you be willing to join with me to finish this month's taxes?"

Blunt Beak repeatedly opened his mouth like a gasping fish. "A-are you well my Queen?" He was utterly confused that she wasn't shouting or threatening to hurt him.

Goldwing lowered the page she was reading to look at Blunt Beak "I learned much during the war and I plan to do my best to make amends. Every gryphon may not trust me now, but I hope they will open themselves with time. That, or another may try to take my place." Even after explaining herself, her servant still seemed skeptical. With a sigh she curled a single talon repeatedly to move toward her.

He did as he was told and went around the wide desk to sit next to her. When he was within armsreach, she wrapped an arm around him and gave a small hug, ignoring the small flinch he made. "I wish to apologize for treating you so badly in the past. Even as queen I shouldn't treat those under me with such disdain. Can you ever forgive me?"

She felt his tense body loosen up after hearing that and his shoulders slumped. "Of course, my Qu-" He was interrupted when she held up a talon.

"Please, just Goldwing. Until I can fully earn the trust of my citizens."

A small smile formed on his face and he did a small bow. "Of course, Goldwing."

"Thank you." She turned back toward the papers and sorted through the stack. "Now, let's start with the bigger collections and work our way down from there..."

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your request from your previous letter with Goldwing's reports. To be honest, I had to give it some thought and I hope you are pleased with my friendship report.

I learned that not even war can break the bonds of friendship. It can takes other shapes as well. Ponies I haven't met in my life trusted me and I felt the same towards them. Not because we were friends, but due to having similar goals and knowing we had to work together. When ponies focus on a single goal, we can achieve so much more by working together. Kingdom Fortress is real proof of that fact.

We all had our fears and doubts every battle. Would we die? Would you be victorious? We never knew, but we ran anyway head-first into an unknown outcome. We had to be better than our fears. Better than our nightmares. We had to face the worst, to prove we were the best. That was our reality.

Yours,

Lightning Spark

P.S. Any clue as to what happened to Gilford?

Two years ago, unknown desert, 0200 hours

A lone camouflage-painted jet flew across the vast desert, barely visible in the pitch darkness. The plane's gear lowered and started to slowly dip as if preparing to land. When it was about to crash into the sands, a long strip of sand ahead wavered like water, and the plane passed through unscathed. The sand then turned solid once again, leaving no traces behind.

THE END...?

Chapter 1

Ace Combat: Shattered Rainbows

Over the past several years, scientists in Canterlot had discovered amazing breakthroughs in technology and magic. Following these breakthroughs brought many new inventions, one of them being the jet engine. This technology easily brought a golden age to Equestria's borders. The Princesses, Celestia and Luna, saw the many economic advantages with this technology. They Immediately used it for transportation of ponies and goods across the known world, thus solidifying itself as the fastest growing nation in the world.

Months after these discoveries, Equestria found itself under attack by the Gryphon Kingdoms up north. The Gryphons managed to steal and use their once peaceful technology to advance their borders with military might. Unable to fight against such a foe without their own aircraft, Celestia quickly formed the branch known as "The Equestrian Royal Air Force", or ERAF.

Equestria was forced to further develop their military to prevent the gryphon invasion forces and funding skyrocketed as the war continued. While Equestria developed their jet fighters, the gryphons were already upon Canterlot. It took several days, but the capital of Equestria started to fall. As a last desperate action, Celestia offered herself as a prisoner. In exchange they would not hurt her little ponies, allowing them to retreat south. The gryphons agreed on the terms, shackling the sun princess while her subjects and Luna reluctantly retreated to the south.

A month had passed as the invading nation seemed sedated for capturing Equestria's capital. Luna, along with everypony who retreated and followed her, settled at Hoofington air base located far to the south. With the scientists with her, they continued their developement of a fighter jet to counter the gryphons.

Luna knew sooner or later the gryphons wouldn't be happy with just half the nation. They continued their conquest across Equestria during the spring. She was pleased however that their own aircraft was ready for deployment and sent them against the enemy. With a way to fight back, both nations found themselves at a stalemate. Wherever the enemy would attack, they were met with fierce resistance from Luna's fighters.

After several weeks of no sucess in advancing further, a cease-fire was ordered by the Gryphon Kingdoms. Surprised, but pleased the war had ceased momentarily, Luna agreed on the terms. She could only hope for a diplomatic solution...

"Amidst the blue skies,

a link from past to future,

The sheltering wings of the protector... "

Lightning Spark always awoke at 4:00 A.M. on the dot. He would then take a quick shower and afterwords get dressed into his cleanly pressed Navy blue flight-suit. His living quarters had been fitted for his tastes; mainly focusing on the necessities. Anything else he needed could be easily located on-base.

After finished with zipping up his suit, he stepped outside and stood in front of the auxiliary barracks. It was made from stone, just like the main barracks located inside Headquarters. The only difference was instead of bunk beds, it had single beds. Getting one of the rooms was considered a luxury, since privacy was so rare.

The cool Autumn breeze blew several leaves passed him, ruffling his black mane and tickled wherever his flight-suit wasn’t covering his yellow coat. Hoofington Air Force base was usually quiet this early, leaving him to do whatever he pleased for roughly two hours, occasionally spending his time at the gym or the small library.

He learned recently that a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was to thank for the little sanctuary of literature. One of the off-duty guards who joined him in the library mentioned she was from Ponyville when the gryphons attacked. She risked her life to recover these books before they burned down her entire collection. Lightning had asked where Twilight Sparkle was now, but the guard merely shrugged.

Today was not a time for leisurely pursuit's however. He had received an order by his superiors to wait in front hangar one, which contained his jet. It was odd they left him with an order without a reason. While he followed the “I say jump, you say how high” rule, it didn’t make sense to just leave him alone outside. An idea started growing in his mind.

Maybe this is punishment for something I’ve done? I don't think I did anything wrong. Lightning then remembered the order was given to him by an infamous officer named Dusk Shine.

Dusk was always uptight, always wishing to impress his own superiors. Even if it meant trampling over some pony, it was worth it to him. Lightning didn't like him at all and sometimes wanted to kick his flank, but always held his hoof back. Better to just follow orders and blend in with the rest of the pilots.

He thought up other ideas. “Maybe he’s getting back at me for stealing that last piece of cake during Cloud Runner’s birthday? He was saving it for himself after all... but he already had two slices during the party! His imagination wasn’t helping as the ideas got more dreadful.

“Oh gods, could it be another jet inspection? Maybe Luna is coming personally! I haven’t cleaned my jet for a while now." Thinking for a moment, he shook his head. "No that wouldn’t make sense, I already had my inspection this month. Come to think of it... I Still don’t know who put those bags of sun chips in the cockpit.”

While deep in thought of other terrifying scenarios that awaited him, he visited the cafeteria for a cup of coffee to help calm his nerves. Most ponies swore on the stuff, treating it like a holy nectar. Lightning wasn’t acquainted of where the pungent liquid came from. It was pretty abundant though compared to tea leaves. Most forms of caffeine were from tea farms all over Equestria before the war. Unfortunately, being at war stresses luxuries inside the borders, and tea--especially the rare brews--was being treated like gold.

After strolling out to the front of his Hangar, he took a sip of his coffee as the edge of the sun appeared over the horizon, welcoming every pony the beginning of a new day. The base was just beginning to slowly bustle with activity as ponies woke up. Aircraft periodically took off and landed on the many runways next to the HQ in front of him. From behind stood Hangar One, along with eleven other wood hangars, each filled with several military aircraft. Finishing the small paper cup of coffee, he trotted over and tossed it in the nearest recycle bin before returning to his spot.

He pondered if it would hurt to get another cup, since there were no pony around keeping an eye on him. The only ones he saw were officers, but they were too busy talking amongst one another to even care. or the occasional lone Pegasus flying above, simply to stretch their wings. No, it was too risky. The last thing he wants is to get chewed out over a silly reason as getting a cup of coffee. Looking toward the sky, he closed his eyes; silently asking the cool air how much longer he had to wait.

“Hey! are you Lightning spark?”

Snapping out of his reverie, he looked up at the pale-blue mare who was hovering above him. “Yes, that’s my name. Do you need something, Miss?” He blinked several times, staring at her rainbow mane. “That has got to be dyed. Is dying your mane even allowed here?”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash and I’d prefer you drop the Miss. You’re making me feel old.” Landing in front of Lightning, she noticed him staring at her mane. “And no, It’s not dyed. All natural baby!”

“Uh-Huh.” Unamused, he glanced at her mane once more before continuing. “Anyway, you still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”

“Don’t get your mane in a bunch, flycolt. I’m just here to greet my new partner.” Still slightly grinning, her eyes gauged him up and down as if he challenged her to a race.

Lightning mentally smacked himself. He completely forgot the base had been looking for a replacement after his late partner, Pegasus Two, was shot down. “Oh no.” He cringed as a painful memory came back to him in a vivid flashback, causing his head to slump forward.

It was a trap. They had lost ten pilots during the skirmish over Ponyville and the situation didn’t look good. Locked in combat with numbers larger than theirs, he saw his best friend and partner get shot down.

“Eject Mist, eject!” he yelled into his helmet, purple smoke billowed out of the plane as it descended into the Everfree forest. He couldn’t see the plane after it entered the woods, but the line of smoke moving across showed it sliding a great distance before coming to a stop. Several seconds later, his partner’s plane let out a loud thundering boom as something finally triggered the magical fuel. All he could remember afterward was the sore throat as he screamed out her name.

- - - -

His mental scream followed him back as he snapped out of the flashback. “Mist!” he gasped.

“Whoa. Lightning, you alright?” Rainbow’s face had a mix of confusion and apprehension as she took a step back. Lightning slumped after the sudden disorienting flashback ended. “I-I’m fine. Just the images are becoming more vivid. I’m sorry if I startled you, please don’t let this get in the way of our conversation.” He rubbed his forehead slowly, waiting for the slight dizziness to dissipate. “Where were we? Something about cupcakes, right?” He pathetically tried to change the subject.

She continued to stare at him, then raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re alright? You were standing there, looking at the ground for a good minute. Who’s Mist?”

Lightning stopped rubbing his forehead and glared into Dash’s eyes, which only made her glare back into his. “Everything is fine.”

“Oh, sorry. I guess a pony acting strange, then suddenly being angry for being asked a question is normal?”

“Yes... yes it is.” He didn’t want to tell her about his handicap. It would only make him weird in her eyes. The strange looks his friends gave him after telling them didn’t help.

“Look, either you tell me or I’ll talk with some pony to get you some... help.”.

“Stubborn mule,” he muttered, before letting out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but only if you promise to not tell any pony about my side of the story. There’s certain parts of this story I’d like to be kept secret.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Following it up with a hoof in her closed left eye, Rainbow repeated the odd secret swear.

Furrowing his brow at the strange motion, he continued. “I first met Mist Dancer during flight duels on base, said we had to do it to keep moral up or some other reason. We used some of the older jet models and paint-balls for ammo, nothing lethal of course; officers prefer to keep their pilots alive. At the finals, both of us were the only pilots left. We were more like rivals than friends back then and I’m not bragging when I say I ‘shot her down’ easily. She set herself up to falling unconscious by ejecting out of the plane during a high-g turn. After ditching my plane and catching her did I learn she was testing me; trying to find out if I’m more then another skilled pilot who kills. I remember her telling me, ‘With our wings we fly, but through our hearts will others soar’. We became good friends after that and watched each others backs in future sorties.” He let out a chuckle. “To this day, I still wonder what she meant by that.”

“So what then?” Rainbow Dash had made herself comfortable by sitting down while listening to his story.

Smiling, Lightning shook his head. “I appreciate that you’re listening to my past, but maybe I’ll tell you the rest later. Besides, I still need to introduce you to your jet.” Turning around and trotting to the Hangar door, he decided to spark casual conversation. “So how did your training go? I hope you learned something useful.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah I learned a little bit of this and that. Too bad the classes were as boring as watching clouds dissipate.” Her mouth let out a smirk. “Not like the best flier in Equestria needs training anyway.”

Lightning turned his head around. “Best flier in Equestria? I highly doubt that.”

Her jaw hung for a second before recovering. “I can’t believe ponies still have never heard of me. I invented the sonic rainboom for Celestia sake!”

Rolling his eyes and leaning down, he bit the door handle. The Hangar door creaked as Lightning slowly shifted it to the side. Finally opening it enough to get a good look at the jets inside, he spat out the handle. “So, what do you think?”

Both jets had the color of dark grey with a lighter shade on the bottom; the jet to the left looked in pristine condition, as if brand new. If she stood under it, she would have found each wing would be slightly larger than her full wingspan. The icon of the Lunar Royal Air Force--Luna’s cutie mark--was painted proudly on the right side of the vertical fin. The jet on the left had the number “Zero-Two” in bold font below it, while the jet on the right had the number “Zero-One”.

She glanced at the two airplanes and was immediately disappointed. "Lightning, why are they so... Dull looking?” She pointed a hoof at his plane. “There are cooler colors besides grey.”

“We’re in the ERAF, Rainbow, not arts and crafts class.”

The aircraft was most likely part of her training, but he thought it would be best to continue introductions anyway. Walking up next to his jet, he put his hoof on the wheel. “This is the F-16 Pegasus, it’s the most widely used fighter jet in Equestria. As a multi-role fighter, this baby can be fitted with anything from missiles to bombs, allowing it to complete any mission given.” Looking at the expression on Rainbow Dash’s face, it’s current objective of looking cool, was not going well.

“I still think it could be cooler.”

Putting a hoof to his forehead, he gave out a heavy sigh. “There’s more to jets besides dressing it up to look cool. A new paint job isn’t going to save you from a missile to the flank. In fact, you’ll just draw attention to yourself if your plane is different from the others. The last thing you want to do is get pointed out by the enemy.”

“Jeeze, you sound like the instructor in my flight class,” she groaned. “I prefer to go with a shock and awe approach. When they see my plane, they know who’s flying against them.”

“I admire your spirit Rainbow, but you have to get a reputation first. Have you ever heard the pilot call signs Mobius or Talisman?” He gave Rainbow a disapproving stare when she shook her head. “And she wonder’s why I’ve never heard of her before,” he thought.“I heard Mobius was the first Pegasus to take out a plane using his hooves after his aircraft was shot down. Talisman managed downing five enemy aircraft by himself, without a dent on him. What have you done besides whine about your plane?” His agitation was getting the best of him.

Rainbow Dash glared daggers at her partner. “Yeah well, I’ve yet to show what I can do. I’m full of potential, just you wait. I can fly just as awesome as any of those ponies!” she exclaimed loudly, shaking her hoof at him in anger.

As he stared at the hoof in his face, Lightning berated himself. She had a point after all. Mobius and Talisman started off just like her, a lowly rookie. Although, he did not think they were known for boasting their skill; he could only hope her ego was as good as her piloting. “I’m sorry Rainbow, I got kinda carried away there. You’re right, you still have time to prove yourself. I look forward to having you as a partner.”

Caught off guard by his change of attitude, she smirked. “Glad you’re finally starting to see things my way!”

“Let’s just say you beat your awesome into my noggin.” Bonking his own head, they both shared a short laugh. “I would gladly introduce you to Pegasus Two and three, but they’re probably still waking up. Is there anything else about my team you’re curious about?”

“Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know if I have any questions. Besides, I plan to meet Fluttershy at Hangar five after this.”

“Friend of yours, I assume?”

“Yeah, she joined the ERAF about a week ago and no pony told me. She’s very timid and easy to frighten.” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, nervously. “Actually, I’m hoping to make her leave. She’s not exactly military material and I fear something might happen to her.”

“Hm.” Putting a hoof to his mouth thoughtfully. “You don’t mind If I join you? I was going to the cafeteria, but my stomach can wait for now. Besides, maybe I can help change her mind.”

“A stallion who doesn’t put his stomach as priority? That’s a first,” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Sure just be careful, she’s really shy around strangers. Just don’t do any sudden movements... Or look at her... Or say Hi... Actually just stand still and not say anything at all.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Lightning reassured her, already making his way to Hangar five. “If she had the heart to join the ERAF, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Hearing a loud sigh behind him, Rainbow followed along-side.

“I said you’d scare her. She doesn’t take strangers very well.” Rainbow Dash planted a hoof on her face.

“I was just trying to be--”

“By coming up behind her like that? Look how that turned out,” she interrupted, pointing at the yellow and pink ball hiding behind another pony. Sighing, Rainbow walked up to her. “Fluttershy, he’s a friend. You need to stop being scared of every pony you meet.” She groaned when no response was given. “Lightning, go... stand over there.” Shoving her wing leader a couple hoof-steps back, it seemed to help as the timid mare peeked around the pony she was taking cover behind.

“Oh, OK.” Cautiously leaving her cover, she threw a nervous glance at Lightning. “Hello, Rainbow. How are you?”

"Great! though if Mr.Cloud-for-brains would’ve listened to me he would not of scared you so much.” She shot an irritated look Lightning’s way.

Lightning returned the look, but said nothing, else he might scare the timid Pegasus again.

“It’s all right, he was just being friendly. I was so busy talking with my friend here that I didn’t notice him behind me.”

Rainbow and Lightning both looked at her friend, who decided to place herself right next to Fluttershy. She had a bright red mane tipped with orange and a tan coat; her teal eyes were busy switching between them curiously. Rainbow was the first to speak. “And you are...?”

Fluttershy’s eyes shot up. “Oh! I’m so sorry for not introducing you. This is Flare Chaser, she was with me in my classes yesterday.”

Flare Chaser, nodded. “Pleased to meet you both. Fluttershy told me all about you Rainbow Dash.” She looked sideways at Lightning. “I don’t believe I’ve met you before though.”

“Lightning Spark, leader of 1st Pegasus wing, and I believe I’ve heard your name before. You’re part of the recently created AWACS team, correct?”

Her eyes lit up when he mentioned the acronym. “Yes, actually. That’s why I was speaking to Fluttershy here. She did an amazing job yesterday, I just wanted to congratulate her myself.” She glanced over at the pink maned pony who looked away and blushed.

Rainbow tipped her head in confusion. "A whack what now?"

"AWACS stands for Airborne Warning And Control System." Fluttershy quietly mumbled, still slightly red from all the praise she had gotten from Flare.

"Correct. She’ll be with my team to fly in that baby over there." She pointed a hoof at the large airplane outside of Hangar five, a strange protruding disc above it. "We use it as a mobile command and information center during missions. It receives and sends important mission updates to pilots directly from HQ, letting them have a vast advantage over the enemy.”

"Tending to so many animals in the past helped my multi-tasking skills, which I hear is very important for this job.” Fluttershy piped up. "I like to think each pilot I work with is an animal to care for. Knowing I'm always watching out for them, making sure they return home."

“Odd, I don’t see any weapons to defend itself. You sure this is safe?” Rainbow Dash was busy looking the large plane over.

Flare nodded. "My AWACS team is usually high in the air, far away from combat airspace. If any enemy planes try to attack, our allies have plenty of time to shoot them down.”

“I really look forward to working with this team, Rainbow. I hope you’re not mad at me for doing this.” Fluttershy stared at the ground somberly. “I know how you hate your friends being in harm’s way.”

Rainbow Dash gave her a stunned look, which caused her to fidget uncomfortably. "No, Fluttershy I’m not mad. To be honest, I came over trying to make you leave the ERAF, but now I see this is something you really want to do. I don’t want to keep you from doing something you really want to do.”

Fluttershy let out a bright smile. “Thank--”

Suddenly, loudspeakers across the base turned on, static filled the air before a voice spoke up. "Attention! wings one and two, please report to the briefing room." Obvious tension was in the pony’s voice as the loudspeaker continued to repeat the message. With a click, the voice and static ended.

Flare Chaser nodded at both jet pilots. "That’s your cue. It was nice meeting the both of you."

"Yeah, same here." Rainbow chuckled. "See you both later. Come on Lightning, let’s see what this is all about." They took to the air, zipping over to headquarters where the briefing was being held. “I’m sure it’s just a drill.”

"This isn't a drill every pony." A beige unicorn in dark-blue officers uniform and slacks was pacing in front of a projector in the dark. The image of Equestria's borders’ displayed on the far wall. All of the Northwest was under gryphon control. They were also pushing far east, making Hoofington AFB completely cut off from eastern Equestria via land. The image did not make the war effort look in their favor.

Rainbow Dash casually leaned against a wall, listening halfheartedly. Most of the seats were empty, since it was meant to hold all six wings in one briefing. She looked casually around the darkness and spotted Lightning sitting across the room.

"At about oh-six-hundred, one hour ago, we received an alert from Canterbury air force base to the east. We immediately sent two response scout aircraft to investigate. Once they were over Canterbury airspace, we immediately lost radio contact with them." Slight murmuring filled the room, which died down as the projector switched to a new image.

It was an aircraft, but Lightning sure as hay never seen it before. It's entire frame was sleek and long. Painted dark green and brown in the pattern of camouflage netting. What really stood out of the picture was the symbol on the tail fin. A long golden feather, surrounded with white border and black background. The number four in black bold underneath.

"This image was sent from one of our scouts, just before losing contact with them. It only proves our worst fears. The gryphon Kingdom has finally broke their own cease-fire pact." There was a pause in his speech as he let realization settled into every pony's mind. "You'll all be leaving for Canterbury Air Force Base in one hour.” Turning off the projector, he turned on the lights. "All of you, get suited up and be prepped for take-off in one hour. Good luck pilots.”

Rainbow Dash returned from the briefing to find Lightning in front of their Hangar, waiting for her. Slight fear tinged in her voice. "Hey Lightning, do you really think the gryphons are finally attacking?"

He shrugged, seeming to take the briefing as normal news. "It was bound to happen sooner or later.” He glanced at the equipment she had gathered. “You all set?"

"Yeah, yeah,” waving a hoof disarmingly. “Just like one of our drills right? Except... “ swallowing hard, “live combat." She could feel her heart racing, deep down she hoped this was all a sick joke or false alarm.

"Don't let your nerves get to you Rainbow. Just follow my lead and we'll both make it back safe and sound. I promise, Alright?" He let out a small smile which she returned.

"Yeah, let's get flying!"

They both flew up into their designated aircraft, going through routine checks to make sure everything was working properly. Crew-pony’s ran around their planes, doing last-minute inspections. One pony stood next to each open canopy, each carrying two teardrop shaped metal coverings. Rainbow Dash had learned about the strange devices in class. Called Wingdings, they kept her wings slightly open while surrounded by several soft elastics to keep them from getting tired or sore. Any movement her wings made, the plane responded. If she pulled her wings toward her body, the plane would go down. If she spread them, the plane would go up. Turns were slightly tricky. She could tilt the plane by having the corresponding wing expand, but then had to open her other wing to pull up.

The rest of the controls involved two pedals below her that allowed for precise horizontal movement, a throttle lever to the left for acceleration and at last the control stick to her right. It was simple compared to the devices on her wings. Front trigger fired guns, missiles were fired using the button covered by a safety switch on top. Usually the plane’s control stick controlled movement, but had been disabled since pegasai used wingdings.

After the pony secured the devices over her wings and connected it to the aircraft, she gave him quick thanks. Leaning back into the soft chair, two indents in back kept the devices from feeling uncomfortable; she was surprised how snug the entire plane felt, like it was an extension of herself. Seeing everything ready on the inside, both canopies were sealed.

Lightning was the first to leave the Hangar with Rainbow close behind as they entered the runway. Putting on her helmet, the speakers turned on as the control tower instructed pilots using the runways.

"Pegasus One, you are cleared for take-off. Good Luck sir.”

The back of Lightning's jet immediately roared even louder as he throttled the engine. Zooming down the runway and into the sky. Rainbow dash slowly steered her plane in place, excitement boiling over.

"Pegasus Two, the sky is yours."

“Don't I know it,” Rainbow Dash grinned, Strapping the helmet's oxygen mask over her mouth, she pushed the thrust lever forward. The plane shook slightly from the sudden movement as she sped down the runway. Halfway down she slowly pushed her wings open as the plane took off into the sky. She could feel her heart fluttering. After so many drills and training, she still loved the feeling of take off; even if she could not feel the wind in her mane. Watching the altitude indicator on her screen increase steadily, it began to close in on one-thousand feet. Pulling in her wings to even out her pitch, she flew into formation right next to Lightning sparks’ aircraft.

His voice spoke up over the head-set. “Wait until every pony has taken off then we'll all go at once. From what I hear, your friend Fluttershy will be joining us today on this flight."

“Yeah, yeah, Proper procedure and all that.” She looked out her canopy as they banked to the right. Several more aircraft were waiting to take-off and they soon would be making their way east. A shiver ran up her spine. She did not know if it was the excitement of flying or their mission, but something felt wrong. She repeated in her mind what Lightning said, to calm herself down. “Just follow his order’s and we’ll make it back. Sounds easy enough.”

Finally, all planes were in the air. Rainbow Dash counted eight jets total. After circling twice around the base, they all formed into a tight 'V' formation toward Canterbury.

“So I says, ‘Answer that and stay fashionable’.” Pegasus Eight had repeated the joke at least five times during the flight and it wasn’t getting any funnier.

Pegasus Seven spoke up. “It’s not funny anymore, Rain.”

“Both of you, cut the chatter.” The leader of wing group two, Pegasus Five, had had enough.

Rainbow Dash opened a private channel with Lightning. "Always breathtaking to be up this far, huh?" Rainbow glanced out the left side of her canopy. Far away, she could barely make out the southern tip of the mountain range over the horizon where Canterlot lie. To the right was endless sea and below several spots of cloud cover hid the bay called Bridle shores.

"Every time." Lightning responded simply.

“Got a long flight ahead of us... “ Rainbow nudged, hoping for him to continue that story of his.

“That we do.”
Rainbow was starting to get frustrated with his short answers and decided to take a direct approach. “Look, we don’t have anything better to do. Why don’t you continue your story about you and Mist?”

“Oh... Oh!“ He slowly said, realization creeping into his mind. “Sorry, didn’t get the hint. I suppose I can tell a little bit more.” Setting the aircraft to autopilot, he thought for a moment where he left off. “After several skirmishes against the gryphons I noticed we were getting... closer. You know that feeling you get when you see something you want, but you cannot take it? Well, that’s how I felt every time I saw her, but I couldn’t tell her, not yet at least. I remember being stupid and over-stepping my bounds once. ‘We’re in a war Lightning, romance is the least of my priorities’, she said to me. Though that look she gave me, meant something else entirely.”

“Whoa, Lightning. Settle down with the steamy romance. I’d like to see outside of my jet.”

“Sorry, just she sure was something. It’s too bad... “

Rainbow noticed the sadness in his voice. “What’s too bad?”

He couldn't tell her. Why couldn’t he tell her? “It’s so simple idiot. just open your mouth and say, she’s dead Rainbow! dead! I couldn’t save the one pony I loved because I wasn’t good enough. I’m not some ace pilot she thought she saw in me!” He thought up other stupid reasons to hate and loath himself, but pushed them away and tried to calm himself down. After several deep ragged breaths, he succeeded. Looking at his hooves he said quietly, “what’s wrong with me?”

“What the hay are you going on about now?” Rainbow asked, starting to get irritated in not getting a straight answer.

A familiar soft voice piped up before he could respond. "A-Attention all wings. My name is Fluttershy of the 1st AWACS team. Just want to say how happy we are to be joining you today on your mission. Good luck every pony!" Her voice dimmed, as if she sounded far away. “Was that loud enough?”

Glad that there was some pony else to talk to, Lightning cleared his throat. "Glad to have you with us Fluttershy. What is your teams’ name if we need to get in contact with them?"

"Oh, um, Shy Eye."

"Understood, stay safe Shy Eye."

Looking up, Rainbow Dash spotted the large plane flying over them higher in the sky. "Hey Flutter--Shy Eye, this is your first mission, isn’t it?"

"Oh, yes. Flare Chaser said it would be a good way to show what I can really do out in the field. I hope I don't let any pony down."

Rainbow Dash sympathized. “Yeah, same here. I'm sure we’ll both do great."

Several more minutes of quiet flying and the mountain ranges were far behind them. The clouds below became more dense, preventing any pony from seeing them at ground level. They would be in Canterbury airspace soon.
.
Flare Chaser spoke this time. "Canterbury AFB will be at range in thirty seconds. Prepare for possibility of aerial combat every pony."

All planes loosened formation, widening across the sky as they approached their destination. Rainbow Dash double checked armaments to take her mind off the expected battle. “Guns, check. Missiles, check. Flares, OK--”

"All planes, evasive maneuvers! missiles incoming!"

Rainbow froze up at the sound of a missile lock coming from her console. Several long white objects with grey smoke trails started rapidly approaching below. Training suddenly kicking in, she released flares and pointed her plane nose up to avoid it. They immediately lost their lock and exploded harmlessly into the sky behind her. "Where did those come fr--?!" A loud explosion rocked her plane, interrupted her thoughts. Looking toward the explosion, one missile managed to hit a target. The jet turned into a fireball as it plummeted, disappearing into the thick cloud cover.

"Pegasus Six has been shot down! her voice was distant now, talking to the rest of her crew. "Find who is firing at our planes. why are they not showing up on our radar?!"

As if being called out, a camouflage colored plane shot through the cloud cover below and began opening fire on Pegasus Seven, ripping the aircraft to shreds. The enemy aircraft flipped and began to fly back into the clouds.

"Come on Rainbow, we're going after him." Lightning's voice tinged with anger as his airplane zoomed down, with Rainbow close behind. The enemy aircraft reached below the clouds as they slowly began closing the distance between them. As soon as they broke through the clouds, another enemy aircraft strafed from the side. It’s gun buzzing, missing Rainbow’s plane by inches.

Lightning fired off orders to his wing. "Pegasus Two, split off and engage the new aircraft; I'll join after dealing with this one. Pegasus Three and four, they may be baiting us away from the AWACS. Stay above the clouds and protect them.” He pressed a button, switching communications to Wing Leader Two. “Pegasus Five, can you follow us below the clouds with the rest of your wing?”

“What’s left of it.” Wing leader two said grimly.

“It looks like more are coming from the north, count maybe three. Think you and Pegasus Eight can handle them? We’ll assist when we’re done with these targets.”

“Roger, Pegasus One. Breaking cloud cover... now.”

Lightning saw Wing leader two and Pegasus Eight burst from the cloud cover above and immediately shred two of the planes; the last one bugged out, retreating.

“Nice use of their own medicine Pegasus Five!”

It was the beginning of the fight and already two of their eight planes were shot down. Following Lightning's earlier order, Rainbow nodded to herself. The sleek jet that strafed her was turning to make another run. Facing her plane toward his, she began to play chicken. The familiar beep of some one locking another missile began to ring out in her cockpit. Keeping the plane in sight, her own missile began to lock-on, but it was too late. The loud whine of the enemy finally locking to her plane, followed by a missile, forced her to fire flares and roll out of the way. After the plane flew by, she lowered her thrust and made a high-G turn. The turn made her suddenly feel light-headed, but she was where she wanted to be, right behind the enemy plane. Her jet began the process of a missile lock again as the jet quickly began flying out of range. “Come on... Come on!”

The plane was about to leave range when a small red square on her screen surrounded the enemy aircraft. “Pegasus two, Fox One!" I always wanted to say that. Using her hoof deftly to flick the safety up on her control stick, she firmly pressed down the button. The enemy aircraft fired off flares and rolled out of the way, but he did so too early. The flares separated from the enemy aircraft before her missile could track them. As a last futile effort, the enemy banked sharply hoping to avoid it and failed as it smashed into the top back of the aircraft. "Aw yeah!" Rainbow Dash threw her hoof in the air victoriously, but the feeling was cut short as Lightning spoke up in a panic.

"Rainbow, I could use some help!” He spiraled his plane to avoid gunfire coming from behind.

Rainbow Dash looked for her partner’s aircraft and spotted him in the distance, still chasing his target. Two more camouflage aircraft chased after him, opening fire on his jet. "Hang on Lightning, I'm coming!" Increased her thrust, she quickly got behind the first of the two planes. Gripping the control stick, she pressed down on the trigger. A loud hum vibrated her plane as it let loose a stream of bullets. She missed, but it was enough of a distraction for the enemy to break off. She repeated the action on the other plane and hit this time, bullet holes cut through the left-wing and moved down across the aircraft into the engine. The wing immediately snapped off and the rest of the plane began to smoke, descending into a spiral.

With the two enemies gone, Lightning managed to lock-on the aircraft in front of him and fire off a missile, turning it into a giant fireball falling out of the sky. "Thanks Rainbow,” he gasped. “They almost had me there."

"I suggest you hold off on celebrating." Flare's voice was dull and quiet. "Fifteen more aircraft showed up on our radar after you engaged with the enemy. Wing two is gone... All of them."

Rainbow Dash felt a lump grow in her throat, almost choking her. "What about our wing? Are they OK?"

"They’re retreating with us, we’re a minute’s flight away from combat airspace. I've been trying to get your attention but you both were too busy focusing on the battle. You need to leave immediately.”

"Come on Rainbow." Lightning's airplane flipped over, pointing back toward Hoofington base, Rainbow Dash followed close behind.

"All fifteen aircraft are closing in on your position from the north. They went under the cloud cover soon as I they came up on radar, so you might be able to avoid them if you hurry. I'm sorry, but we couldn’t stay with you any longer without risking getting shot down ourselves. Good luck you two."

"Roger that." Lightning said grimly, knowing they were cutting it close. "Split off and don't stop for anything until we reach home." Both of them separated away from each other and accelerated their planes. Not far ahead, fifteen aircraft headed their direction to the right. “Buck! they’re already about to cut us off!”

Rainbow heard the annoying beep of yet another missile locking to her plane. Shortly after, five missiles were seen heading straight for her. Lightning was in the same situation, as several missiles were coming at him also. They both let loose their flares and shot up into a ninety degree ascent, into the clouds. The bright sun blinded her momentarily, but the annoying beeping finally ceased and Rainbow sighed. "We better pass over them before they fire on us again. They won’t stay under that cloud cover for long."

"Agreed--aw crap!" A lone plane had come up behind them and launched a missile heading straight for Lightning. He tightly swerved to the right, avoiding the missile. Gunfire was heard shortly after as his aircraft's tail-wing was completely removed.

"Lightning, are you OK?!"

Grunting could be heard as he struggled with the now tail-wingless aircraft. "What are you doing? When I mean don't stop for anything, I mean it!"

"But... "

"But nothing! I won’t be able to get back to base now in this condition." Another volley of bullets fired, tearing into the engine, thick purple smoke billowed out the back of his aircraft from the magic infused fuel. "Get going Rainbow!” his tone turned quiet as he continued. “I’d rather become a prisoner than risk losing you too."

The enemy plane flew by and Rainbow Dash got a glimpse of the tail insignia; the picture she saw during the briefing flashed in her mind. “It's the same plane.“ Anger welled up inside her, but reality quickly snuffed it out. She could not possibly take on that many enemies, it was suicide. “Alright, but I promise you Lightning. I will come back to get you.”

He chuckled darkly. “I’ll set up the party for your arrival.” Cutting off communication, he slammed down on a button beside his seat, popping off the canopy. Quickly grabbing the rail above him, his seat shot out of the plane, shortly following a parachute opening. He looked down as he saw the broken, peppered husk of his F-16 plummet into the water below. Sighing heavily, he looked back up as Rainbow’s jet flew back west. Thankfully the enemy jet that shot him down seemed content with its prize.

As he landed roughly on a high grassy hill near the coast, he took off his helmet and threw it angrily into the bay. Sitting down in the grass, he stared down at the tiny stalks. “I’m so sorry, both of you, I truly am. Why did I promise Rainbow Dash something so stupid. I bet I jinxed it when I said we’ll both make it back. I really need to know when to keep my mouth shut.” Burying his head in his hooves, he heard the sound of wings flapping and something snickering as it approached. “Time to go,” he muttered bitterly.

Queen Goldwing laid down in the throne room with several soft red pillows with gold lacing surrounded her. The only formal wear she chose to put on today was a simple, yet elegant fox-fur cloak. She was told the orange matched her eyes, but she ignored such things. The only outward appearance she cared about was fear. Fear and total obedience from all her subjects.

The grey stone walls looked grim compared to the rows of golden chandeliers lining the sides of the room. A thick purple carpet connected a pathway from the doorway to the pedestal where the queen would lay. Subjects would continually enter and exit the well used door, but today she wished to be undisturbed. Her best hunters were sent south to a pony town she knew nothing about and was about to meet them for a debriefing. Her orders were simple, get the attention of any enemy forces and let them feel the griffon’s aerial dominance once more. It was a simple mission, one that was performed many times over, she expected nothing less than perfection.

The entire room was empty except the queen and one of her close subjects, Blunt Beak. He was an obedient servant, but his constant nervousness usually kept him on her bad side. "You're trying my patience, Blunt Beak." The Queen growled, staring uninterested at the gryphon in front of her. "I do not like to be kept waiting.”

Bluntbeak bowed quickly, his small red servant cap almost falling off his head.“P-please forgive me your majesty. I’m sure there’s a reason they’re late. Maybe they--”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses.” She began raising her voice. “I will give them one more minute. If they do not come through that door–.” The large doors on the other side of the room creaked open as several gryphons in brown flight-suits filed in. Her face took on a bored, disappointed expression. "It seems your death will have to wait another day." Shooing away the pathetic servant, he quickly bowed before speeding off far away from sight.

The gryphon pilots filed in silently and stood before her, bowing their heads.

Her mood perked up at the sight, though not enough to deal with BluntBeak again. "Rise, my hunters. How did the mission fare?"

One of them stepped up, his head still slightly toward the ground. "My queen, the mission was a... success."

The queen narrowed her eyes at the pilot, even when not looking at her he began to shy away. She could sense the hesitation in the pilot’s voice. "Well, what is it? Come on now, there's no need to hide anything from your queen." Her words were as smooth as velvet, hiding her true intentions of bad news. She peered closer and noticed fewer pilots in front of her after the hunt.

"My queen, please forgive us--forgive me, when I say some of our own were shot down."

Figures. She kept her anger in check for now. Hiding it behind months of practice and a well placed pillow. "I see. How many planes and pilots did we lose?"

"Five for both categories, your majesty.”

“And how many did our enemy they send to their deaths? Twenty? Thirty?" She idly rubbed her talons together polishing the already gleaming ends.

There was a long pause before he stumbled out an answer, scared out of his feathers what he was about to say meant life or death. His eyes locked to her talons fearfully. "E-eight, your highness. Three of them managed to e-esca--"

If the queen was still hiding her anger, she was obviously having trouble as she threw the pillow at him. "I send twenty of you to handle a simple hunt and I find five of you were stupid enough to get shot down? Our aircraft are far ahead of their flying scrap heaps. Each pilot rigorously trained to handle any situation.” She was now leaning over the pedestal, looking down on the pilots; If she still had her wings, they would be extended to compliment her anger. “All that work and here you come telling me a fourth of you failed. A cub would've performed better!"

The entire row of pilots, except one, cowered in fear of the tongue lashing their queen was giving them. She cocked her head to the side, mentally counting the hunters in front of her again. “You dare lie to me? There are only fourteen of you, where is--"

The door behind them creaked open again as a lone gryphon made her way forward. She stood in front of the other pilots, looking up at Goldwing. "Sorry I’m late. Had to help drop off a prisoner we captured during our mission.”

"Ah, hello Feather four. I'm not surprised you were not one of the five who disappointed me this day.”

”No prob, glad to not be a disappointment,” she chuckled. “They didn't deserve to be a part of feather squadron anyway." Knowing the queen talon-picked each pilot for this special squadron, it was a brazen thing to say.

The queen gave a mirthful laugh at Feather Four’s backhanded comment. She always found her change of attitude refreshing compared to the other pilots. She picked at the gold lacing on the pillows thoughtfully. “I am quite curious, what made you think this pony was worth saving?"

“To be honest? I don’t know, but all hunters are trained to trust their instinct and mine said to keep this one alive. At least for now.”

"Indeed, instinct is something that should not be looked over.” Cocking her head to the side, she glanced at another not cowering with the others. “What about you Feather thirteen? Do you have an opinion for her actions?”

The gryphon under her gaze placed himself next to feather four. Three thin, jagged scars ran across his face, ending from his left ear to the right side of his beak. His voice was deep and held a formal tone as he spoke. “I trust Gilda’s actions as much as I trust yours, your majesty. You of all gryphons should know that we have trusted each other ever since the war started.”

“Hm, yes I’ve noticed,” Her voice slightly muffled behind another pillow she grabbed. She lowered it to continue. “Your report is finished, all of you may leave my sight.” As she watched them leave her presence, she thoughtfully ground her beak for a moment. “Gilda, Razorwing, go ahead and take some rest, you deserve it after all. I”ll see you both in a couple of days.”

As the last pilot left the large room, she got off the many red pillows and stretched, lifting her wing stubs into the air. She didn’t want that nervous wreck in her presence now, but time was valuable to her. “Bluntbeak! prepare transportation to Canterlot. I have a princess to visit.”

Chapter 5

The sun was starting to rise when Spring Heart’s helicopter reached Hoofington Base. As they landed on the giant yellow “H”, several military police pony’s greeted them. Helping them get off the helicopter, one guard carried Mist as they walked toward headquarters.

The hallways were eerily quiet and the only sound was their hooves against the white tile floors. Two guards took position in front of them, barring their escort from moving ahead, while two were in back. Something felt wrong, were they in trouble for what happened in Stalliongrad? Does word spread that fast?

Lightning had to fight an urge to tackle the pony carrying Mist toward the medical wing. He didn’t want to lose sight of her, but was for the best to see if she needed medical attention. It was odd that she had not woken up yet. The thought sparked his imagination of terrible things that might have happened to Mist while at the detention center.

“What if they injected her with something or performed surgery on her?” He didn’t see any medical rooms for that kind of stuff and he doubted the gryphons would care about sanitation while doing surgery on a pony. His blood started to boil as he remembered all the horrible things the gryphons did to him and the prisoners.

His head bumped into the guard pony’s flank, interrupting his thought. Receiving an eyebrow raise from the guard and a stifled laugh from Rainbow Dash, he felt blood rush to his head in embarrassment and admired the white wall to his left. The precession had stopped in front of the doorway leading to the cafeteria.

Lightning managed to mumble, “while I’d love to get a bite to eat, I’m quite tired.“ Seeing the guards break into a grin didn’t ease the strange situation he was in. As the two guards quickly opened the double doors, he gaped at all the ponies inside who immediately turned toward him and Rainbow Dash.

“Uhm... What the hay is--”

“SURPRISE!”

A ball of confetti exploded over both of their heads, covering them in the small pieces of colorful paper. Doing his best to brush most of it off, the confetti cleared and he spotted the culprit, who was immediately in Rainbow Dash’s face.

A pink pony was bouncing in place as she spoke to her. “Hi Rainbow! when I heard you were the one for rescuing me and every pony in that dusty ol’ detention center, I just had to come over!”

Rainbow’s mouth hung in shock. “Y-You were a prisoner in there?”

“Yeah it was horrible in there with all those meanie McMeanie pants gryphons bossing us ponies around, but I was too much of a hoof-full for them to handle so they stuck in Block A by myself so I didn’t have any pony to talk to and I was going crazy in there since you can’t have a party by yourself or rather you can but it wouldn’t be a very fun party and there would be all this cake and punch that no pony would eat and thphh--”

Rainbow Dash quieted her down by shoving a hoof in her mouth. “Slow down Pinkie, just tell us what is going on.” Removing her hoof, the pink pony thankfully talked normally.

A wide grin spread on the energetic pony’s face. “It’s a party silly! when my pinkie sense started acting up, I knew I had to come over and throw one for you!”

“Pinkie... Sense?” Lightning spoke up, terribly confused at what was going on.

“It’s a long story--” Pinkie Pie butted Rainbow out-of-the-way as she poked noses at Lightning, causing him to step back in reflex.

She was back to her energetic talking. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ve never met you before so that means this party is for you also--oh my gosh, double the partying!” She bounced high in the air, wiggling her hooves in excitement. “I throw any pony who I don't know a welcome party in Ponyville, but ever since those mean ol’ gryphons took it I can’t make this an official Ponyville Welcome party so I guess this is a Hoofington Base Welcome party!”

Rainbow dash got up from the floor and leaned next to Lightning, whispering. “Save yourself, Lightning. I’ll meet up with you later.”

Gratefully nodding, he left the two mares to continue their conversation. Wandering toward the snack table, he helped himself to the red punch bowl and a delicious sprinkled cupcake.

“If I’m not going to get any sleep soon, I might as well wake up with a sugar rush.” Finishing the snack and drink, he felt the weight around his eyes lift. His limbs still felt sore, but at least he didn’t risk falls asleep on the floor. Hearing some pony clear her throat behind him, he turned around to meet Luna and several royal guards. Quickly bowing before her, he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

“There’s no need for that, Lightning. Please rise.”

Apologizing, he noticed Luna had an exotic dark blue dress which had short white folds of cloth draped in front of her, covering the chest. Small specks glinted in the dress, like stars during a clear night. To say she looked magnificent was an understatement. “Y-you look wonderful your highness.”

Smiling, she patted the frilly folds of cloth. “That’s very kind of you. Though we believe it might be too much since this is a simple celebration and not something like a gala...” Finished batting around the dress, she returned her attention to the yellow pony. “But enough about me, we are hoping to have a talk with you about what happened during your capture. After the party of course, with Rainbow Dash joining us.”

“Of course, Princess. Although I wouldn’t mind talking about it now. I don’t know how long this sugar high will last and I’ll probably fall asleep on the spot when it fades.”

Smirking at his predicament, Luna turned toward a set of doors on the other side of the room. “Very well.” She motioned to one of her guards. “Kicker, please retrieve Rainbow Dash and meet us in our chambers.” The guard quickly nodded and left her side as they trotted out another pair of double doors.

Taking a sip of her tea, Luna placed the cup back on the tray. “Let’s start with you Rainbow Dash. How did your mission go?”

Rainbow and Lightning had made themselves comfortable in Luna’s chambers. She could already guess Luna knew what happened at the detention center since the party obviously gave it away. “It was easy, I had it under control the whole time.” She boastfully rubbed a hoof on her chest, like she was polishing it.

“Agreed, but what you did in Stalliongrad out-played our greatest expectations. You freed an entire city-worth of ponies, along with Mist and Lightning, from the enemy. No amount of celebrating or praise could express how happy we are with this victory.”

Rainbow blushed a bit, rubbing the back of her neck. “I appreciate it, Princess, but there must be another reason we’re here besides telling me how awesome I am.”

“Yes, of course.” Pulling out a small black box, she floated it in front of Rainbow. “Doing such a feat has Its rewards.”

Gingerly taking the box, she opened it. Inside was a small white cloud pin with a rainbow lightning bolt under it, just like her cutie mark. “W-what is this for?”

A smile spread on Luna’s face. “Your reward of course. You showed an amazing amount of bravery and leadership taking that detention center. So it is with our greatest honor that you are no longer a part of Lightning Spark’s Wing.” She held up a hoof before Rainbow Dash could speak.

“You will still be working with Lightning Spark, but you are now your own pilot and may do whatever you wish.” Closing the box, she placed it next to her on the couch. “Congratulations on the promotion, Rainboom One. If there’s nothing else you wish to speak about, go ahead and get some rest.”

Gaping over what she just heard, she shook her head and thanked Luna. Putting the small box on her back, she left the room. When the door clicked shut, Lightning spoke first.

“I suppose you want my side of the story? It doesn’t get good until my... fourth interrogation? I lost count from all the blackouts.” The way he said it nonchalantly gave Luna a horrified look. “Oh! I’m sorry your highness, that didn’t come out right. I won’t lie, I was scared for my life during the interrogations. I wouldn’t want to go through something like that again.”

A knowing smile spread of the princesses lips as she teased him. “Really? Even if your dear Mist Dancer might be in trouble?”

Lightning felt his face grow warm. “Y-you know about that, huh?” Letting out a nervous chuckle.

“We are the Princess of the night, dear Lightning; that includes seeing other pony’s dreams. Besides, before Mist’s... false death, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. Every pony on the base probably knows your crush.”

“Ugh, let’s hope I don’t get teased about it.” He put a hoof to his face. “I might have flashbacks of my school years,” he joked.

Luna frowned at that comment. “Your condition is nothing to laugh about.”

“Actually ever since I found Mist, my disorder seems to have vanished. All that fear of her being... dead... must have really been getting to me.” He remembered that helicopter ride for a moment and a smile crept on his face.

“That’s wonderful news, but we have something else that needs discussion.”
Luna sat up as she stared down at him like a mother who caught her colt’s hoof in the cookie jar. “Project Alicorn.”

His eyebrows shot up at Luna mentioning the project. “W-What about it?”

“During your interrogations, did they mention anything about it? Any hints about why they needed to learn it? This is very important Lightning.”

Lightning poked his hooves together as his ears folded back nervously. “Well... The only one who seemed really interested in it was a gryphon named Mr.Gilford.” She seemed troubled by this and frowned.

“What did he say?”

“He kept asking about some special saying or sentence needed. He said he already had two of them and needed the third. Apparently I was the third holder.”

The room seemed to have gotten cold, but there were no windows. Luna’s disposition become sullen as she stared at the floor, her hair covering her face. “Lightning... “ Her voice sent a shiver down his spine, it seemed void of emotion as it echoed in the room. “... Did you tell him the third sacred message?”

Letting out a small whimper for what might happen to him, he steeled himself. “Y-yes?” He couldn’t prepare himself for what came next as she dragged him in front of her face. Her eyes twisted in contempt for what he said. “Yep... I”m dead.”

Her royal Canterlot voice was at full volume as she spoke. “Do you not know what you have done, foal?! With that knowledge in their possession, they have the power to take Celestia’s power for themselves. You have doomed us! what do you have to say for yourself?”

Lightning had stopped struggling in her magical grip and slumped like a rag-doll. His eyes full of sadness, but anger welled up inside him. His condition came back as he saw himself back in the detention center, still being interrogated. Luna was replaced with Mr. Gilford, that smug grin on his face as he held the one he loved in his talons.

But... Rainbow Dash rescued me. Am I still in the detention center and it was all a dream? Or am I hallucinating again? He didn’t know which was true, but the gryphon holding him felt real. He clenched his teeth as his anger threatened to overwhelm his sense of reason.
“No!” he yelled out, holding his head. “This is not real. This can’t be real!” He Repeated it to himself as he struggling furiously in the gryphon’s grip.

“Oh it is very real.” His mind told him, disguised at Gilford. “Of course you are to thank for dooming your entire race. It was quite entertaining seeing you fall apart when I brought your love interests into play.”

“You’re horrible! how can you do this to us? All this suffering and pain you caused--”

“Was for a great cause, little pony.” Finishing his sentence. “The gryphon kingdoms will take over the known world with this new power.”

Lightning’s imagination and condition got worse as the room suddenly burst into flames, covering the entire room. Gilford didn’t seem unphased as he began laughing like a maniac. The flames felt so real as they licked at his hooves, threatening to consume him.

“Let me go, this isn’t real! He cried, tears starting running down his face. The gryphon’s grip didn’t loosen as he felt the flames growing hotter, consuming the room around him.

Gilford’s face was sneering at him and pressed his beak against his muzzle. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop--”

“Let him go.”

Another familiar voice came in, interrupting the gryphon. It was calm and cool, brushing away the flames in his mind that threatened to consume him. Gilfod’s face contracted in pain as the last flame died out and his grip loosened. Falling to the ground, Lightning gulped in the now cool air, before looking up at who spoke.

The false image had mostly faded as he stared at Mist Chaser, glaring on Gilford. The last bit of hallucination fell as he saw Luna looking back at her.

“Mist! you’re finally awake. We were worried--”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She walked over toward Lightning’s prone form, still glaring at Luna. “What gave you the right to interrogate one of your own pilots, Princess?”

“This isn’t an interrogation, dear. I was simply questioning.”

“By yelling at him with your royal voice? That hardly seems like a simple questioning.”

Luna’s face turned into a scowl. “You were not here when he admitted to telling the gryphons the secret saying! They already have all three of them. Do you not know what this means?!”

“It means, we have roughly forty-eight hours to strike Canterlot before she becomes the next Celestia.” She said matter-of-factly.

Luna rubbed her forehead. “A direct assault on Canterlot would be an all or nothing attack. If we lose... “

“We will not, Luna.”

Her determined attitude brought a smile to Lightning’s face as he slowly got up. His head felt heavier than it should have and his legs wobbled at bit. “Hello Mist, it’s good to see you.” The smile she gave him almost made him black out.

“Hello Lightning, it’s good to see you too.” She looked back toward Luna. “This... Interrogation is over. I’m escorting Lightning back to the barracks.”

Luna only nodded slowly and looked away, motioning the conversation officially over.

“Here, let me help you.” Mist lifted him up and let him lean on her side as they left Luna’s chambers and down the long, white hallways. Lightning’s sugar high was long gone and The comfortable position he was in, didn’t help him from not dozing off.

“You might want to hurry, else I might just sleep on you.” Lightning’s mind was foggy and content.

Mist chuckled, but said nothing as she lead him toward her bunk-room. Opening the door, she didn’t see any pony else inside. The blinds were closed, making the room dark except the light coming from the hallway.

"Here, you can sleep in my bunk for now." Guiding him toward her bed, he flopped on top of the blankets with a sigh.

“Thanks Mist. We’ll talk after I get some shut-eye, all right?” He quickly started to doze off until he felt himself being pushed across the bed and another form lie down next to him. Feeling her back press up against his chest, he put a hoof over her shoulder and held her close. Nuzzling her blue mane and breathing in her scent, he finally fell asleep.