*SOLARFLARE 0600 HOURS*
“Lieutenant general Sparkle! Status report!” Princess Celestia had changed so much since the beginning of the war; her hair no longer blew in the seemingly ever-present wind that only affected her. She never smiled. She was still upset from that day. She always put up a front in front of her soldiers. But most of them knew better. None more than her top ranking generals, namely Twilight sparkle, Applejack and Pinkie Pie
“Yes princess, the Lunar Eclipse seems to be headed for Manehattan as well, and at this rate they will arrive before us” The intercom crackled as Twilight read the constantly updating data being fed onto the screens in front of her. She marveled at how far they had come in the few short years since the civil war started, shooting them decades ahead of any other nation on the planet in terms of technology. In the short time she had served in the military she and her closest friends, the ones that stayed that is, quickly ascended the ranks of the solar empire.
“Send Spitfire and her Wonderbolts ahead. Have them secure the perimeter for our arrival. And if they can, keep the Lunar Republic out of Manehattan until we arrive with the rest of the forces. We need to take Manehattan if we have any hope of winning this war. If the Lunar Republic take Manehattan and control the warehouses we’re done for. If we control the Manehattan warehouses we will be able to further mass-produce weapons and armor for our troops stationed farther away from the capital”
“At once princess”, Twilight responded and quickly changed the channel on her intercom, “Spitfire, Come in Spitfire”
“I hear you Twilight, Calm down” Spitfire responded, still feeling groggy from the flight to meet the Solar Flare en-route to the city of Manehattan.
“Direct orders from the princess Spitfire.” Twilight responded, drawing a slight gasp and a crash on the other side of the intercom. “Gather your Wonderbolts and get to Manehattan and secure the perimeter of the city, just out of reach of their defenses and do your best to keep the Lunar Republic out.”
“YES MAM, RIGHT AWAY MAM” Spitfire saluted to no one, causing he to laugh at herself and how flustered she seemed to get whenever the princess or an element holder gave her an order. At this point she had no reason to be skittish around the princess, she’d met her on countless occasions before the war had started. And even now, one of the top 10 under Celestia herself she still felt small around her, as if she was powerless, although she new better. She was the best shot outside the magic users. Gabbing her pistols she ran to alert the rest of her crew and headed to the hangers, determined not to fail her princess. Hoping that he wouldn't have another run-in with Soarin, Ex-second in command to the old Wonderbolts and now the leader of the Shadowbolts, the Lunar Republics response to the Her and her crew, therefore the biggest threat the Wonderbolts could face, other than Luna herself or the other half of the element holders. She paused and thought about one in particular. Rainbow dash. Second in command to Luna herself, also a better pilot than her or any of here team, former or otherwise. The sheer skill with which she pulled off the maneuvers at such speeds was incredible. Although being an element holder odds are should wouldn’t be flying today, rather escorting Her leader to the heart of the city. But if all went according to plan with her mission she wouldn’t have to worry about Luna or the other three element holders who sided with the moon princess. She had to admit. Luna had done well in preparing to declare war against her sister. The preparation and sneaking required to raise an army large enough to try and take Canterlotte like that. Luna had balls she’d give her that.
“Equrestria to Spitfire..... hellooooooooo” Spitfire snapped out of her daze at the sound of Fleetfoot, new second in command of the Wonderbolts trying to get her attention. “You told us that we have orders direct from the princess?”
Spitfire looked up to see what was left of her group standing before her. they were all waiting for her to relay the mission information to them. Collecting herself, she began telling them just what they had to do.
“WE HAVE TO DO WHAT?” Fleetfoot was freaking out. “The Lunar Eclipse is gonna be there. We don’t have the firepower to defend against that, especially after getting through whatever defenses Manehattan has set up around the walls!”
“Fleetfoot, you forget, we’re the best pilots Celestia has. We’re the best chance. We will be able to do it. We have the ships to do it. We have the ability to do it. WE ARE THE WONDERBOLTS!”
*LUNAR ECLIPSE 0700 HOURS*
“Rainbow dash! Where is the Solar Flare in relation to Manehattan and us? Princess Luna stood on the bridge on the Lunar Eclipse clad in her battle armor. The same armor she had worn during the battle for Canterlotte. Which in the end didn’t go over so well. But she had weakened the Celestia and her army substantially. Aiding in her and her higher ranking officials in their get away from the city and into The sprawling network of tunnels that served as her base of operations at that time. It wasn't much, but it aided in hidden travel and surprise attacks and raids on the newly formed Solar Empire. Everything went fairly well after that. That is until Twilight Sparkle found an entrance to their caves nearby Canterlotte. Sparking another large scale battle that ended with half of Canterlotte lying in ruins and the Lunar republic yet again retreating, this time however they claimed most of Southern Equestria basing themselves in Hoofington with a few outposts in Fillydelphia and Mareheim Forming a limbo like area between Ponyville and said outposts, BUT. None of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was her deal with Fancypants. If he held up his end, a seat of power was to be saved for him in the New Lunar Order.
“The Solar Flare is just over 50 miles away from Manehatten and 75 away from us, we should arrive in the city way ahead of them….Oh Horseapples!”
“Rainbow, What do you see?”
“ They've sent the Wonderbolts ahead Princess”
“Get Soarin. Now!” Luna snarled, her usually calmly flowing hair flaring behind her.
“Y-yes Princess, right away” Rainbow had never seen Luna so upset before, wasn't it expected of Celestia to send the Wonderbolts in to set a perimeter? It couldn't be all that surprising could it? Then again, allot had changed since the beginning of the war, especially in the ones who joined the Lunar Republic in hopes of becoming important in someway, Rainbow herself couldn't have planned it better herself, her only competition in the sky was Spitfire, who was heading the Wonderbolts for Celestia, and soon, if everything went according to plan, would be dead. And she would be the best flyer in Equestria! After pausing for a second she decided she should go out and deal with Spitfire herself. “Princess, shouldn't I go with them? I honestly doubt that Soarin and the rest of them have what it takes to beat them”
“Oh rainbow”, the dark colored alicorn laughed, “Who said they were fighting the Wonderbolts?”
Taking a step back from her ruler she struggled to speak again. “B-but Princess, if they aren’t fighting them… What ARE they doing going ahead of us?” Rainbow was confused to say the least. Why send them ahead if not to fight?
“You’ll know soon enough Rainbow dash, just get them up here”
“Yes Mam”
“Rainbow?”
“”Y-yes?” The Rainbow headed girl turned back to her princess, nervously biting the inside of her cheek.
“Don’t call me Mam”
“Sorry ma—Princess” Rainbow visibly hid her face as she walked away, opening the door with a wing; she departed.
Leaving the Princess alone in the bridge. Sighing in contempt, she turned to the intercom behind her, leaning down to dial Rarity and Applejack’s wrist coms. She was greeted first by Applejack “jus’ who d’yall be thinking you is, wakin’ me up at this here hour?” Giggling softly to herself she waited for Rarity to answer, knowing the coming spat would be interesting to say the least. “I woke you up? Applejack! Of the absurd outlandish things you could do. THIS IS THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” A crash was heard on the other end of the com, most likely Rarity falling into her bed.
Luna decided it was time to make her presence known, noting that they should get some way to determine who it is that’s calling who. But then again, this was pretty funny. “Girls, Calm yourselves.” The princess made her presence known, drawing a squeak of embarrassment from Rarity and a suppressed chuckle from Applejack. She wasn’t sure why, but applejack was the only element holder that wasn’t terrified of offending her at every turn. “Shoot princess, sorry ‘bout talking to y’all like that, I get a little grumpy cramped in this here ship all the time.”
Rarity was a little slower to answer, surely trying franticly to brush out her hair before even speaking to the princess. “Aheh-heh… Terribly sorry princess”
“Girls, girls no-need, all that I ask is that you two meet me up here asap. I have a mission of sorts for you two. ”YES MAM” the two answered immediately.
“Good, I’ll be seeing you shortly, Luna out.”
“Princess?..... Ah good, she’s gone. AAAHHH MY HAAAIIR I where are my curlers!”
“Rarity, Y’all forgetten ahm still here.”
“Applejack you un-couth ruffian! When I see you I’m going to…”
Applejack decided it was best just shut off her wrist com before Rarity could finish her sentence. For a lady she sure had a large vocabulary of not so pleasant words. She chalked it up to something commanding an entire platoon of troops could do to a lady, male magic users weren’t exactly known for being wholesome. Very much unlike the Troops she looked after, the sturdiest group of soldiers she could ask for, sure they didn’t have wings and couldn’t use magic, but that didn’t stop them from being deadly on the battlefield. Being able to keep a steady flow on bullets flying towards the enemy, with each of them partnered with one of rarity’s men they were the deadliest force on the ground, outshooting some of Celestia’s finest shooters after their defeats in Canterlotte, The New Lunar Republic came to realize that training and organization were necessary to take down the Solar Empire and take control of Equestria. With the power of the elements all but useless at this point the only reason they were kept was for the protections they provided their wielders overtop of the armor they wore, stopping them from being killed except by another wielder of an element, thus adding another element of strategy to the war. The Blond haired farm girl was interrupted from her thoughts by a very impatient Rarity outside her door. “Applejack! Get out here NOW! The princess wanted us as soon as possible. WHICH WAS 10 MINUTES AGO!”
She opened the door to find a very red faced Rarity glaring at her. “It’s about time! A Lady never keeps her company waiting.”
“I ain’t no lady, and neither are you anymore”, Applejack replied bluntly, “Ahm a war general who just wants to end the war, too much life has been lost over this.”
Rarity’s face stayed red, although now it was for a different reason. Applejack was telling the truth. None of the element holders were who they used to be. Her gem finding spell had helped with the gathering of wealth needed to support the large war force, Rainbow Dash had robbed many banks and shops, and Applejack had provided a place to hide it all before it could be put to use. The three of them kept their actions secret from the other half of the element holders
Too shocked to reply, Rarity simple nodded, beginning her assent to the bridge of the ship, towards the awaiting princess. Towards the meeting that could determine much of the fate of Equestria.