//------------------------------// // The Dance of Tom Mayflower // Story: Wings // by Silent Bob //------------------------------// "All forces! This is it!" Captain Harness blared over the radio. "Remember your training, and remember that every Jerry plane we shoot down is one less bomb falling on Cardiff!" Tom shivered. His plane shivered. And he was pretty sure the rest of his squadron was doing so as well. He glanced over towards his friend Arty next to him, who gave him a wink and a thumbs up, yet even his face seemed to be unnerved. "Pick a plane closest to your crosshairs! Fighters only! Fire only when I tell you too!" Captain Harkness barked. "No later, and definitely no sooner or you're going to be wasting pepper!" Harkness' voice was tense as well, but professional, despite the looming wall of spinning blades heading towards him. He saw twelve fighters. Fighters filled with husbands and patriots: fighters who wanted his blood, most likely. It was unfortunate that at this moment he didn't want their own... However, the Doctor was right. He was no part of this cycle of hatred. He had joined a side, and now it was his responsibility to fight for them, not back down. The British may not have been his people, but he had vowed to protect them. Every fighter he shot down could mean one more bomber shot down which could save countless lives before... 'And remember Tom, if the Nazis get a foothold in Britain... they will control the seas. Imagine the economic repercussions if they were to bother American shipping... do you want to live through another depression?' Tom slammed a fist against his dashboard. War. It was the worst answer but sometimes the only one. He narrowed his eyes, even as he could see the muzzle flashes of the ME-109's blaring, followed by tracer fire that whizzed about them. Immediately, his radio went wild. "Taking fire!" "Permission to perform evasive action-" "Hold steady!" Captain Harkness snapped. "Only fall out if your plane takes a hit. 109 cannons suck at long ranges. Wait for my single... five seconds!" Tom gritted his teeth. He gulped. He held onto the memories of his father, his mother, and Dashie. She would be proud of him, wouldn't she? He was fighting for a noble cause, not one out of vengeance anymore. To protect the islands of Britain from a menacing juggernaut. What would Dashie think of him for doing this?! On the other the gates, in Equestria. Rainbow held her breath as she stood upon the Airship Nocturnal Thunder, the flagship of Princess Luna. She was the pride of the Equestrian sky navy, a brilliant beast of war that was now flying high over the eastern seas. However, it was not alone. As Rainbow gulped and shuddered, a formation of two-hundred and fifty griffins flew towards the ship parallel to her decks, their eyes filled with bloodlust. "All hands!" roared the princess of the night. "By now you can see them, and they can see you! By now you are fearing them, and the same is true for them! Neither of us has that advantage in that regard, but I will tell you how we're better than them!" Luna then thundered down from the captain's wheel to join the fifty or so pegasi scattered on her deck, including a number of Wonderbolts decked out in slightly sleeker uniforms. "We are better than them because we are natural! Whether you believe in divine creation or evolution, we were meantt for this world. However, they are merely pawns of a long-dead race. Created by neither gods or the land before us. We have honor! We have beauty! And we are intelligent! Intelligent enough to know..." She took a deep breath. "That sometimes, mercy must be put aside for the greater good. Spare the wounded, but take down as many as you can." "Understood, ma'm!" "The night smiles upon you!" she beamed. "Equestria smiles upon you! And I smile upon you. Bring swift wrath upon our enemies. No changeling nor griffin nor vaetir shall stand in our way!" "HOORAH! "Spitfire, this is your cue." "Yes ma'm," the stern, now active-duty wonderbolt growled. The combat pegasi gathered around her on deck, and as Rainbow did so, a multitude of Earth Ponies took position alongside mounted crossbows on the side of the deck. Some took the crossbows, others placed rocks into position they intended to buck at the enemy. Applejack was among one of them, looking as if she was struggling to keep her nerve in check. High above, she spotted Twilight Sparkle preparing a spell for use along with the rest of the unicorn compliment, most of them sitting on the various nests hanging about the ship. Luna, however, merely took her position at the helm, gazing at the preparations with silent contemplation. "Alright, mother buckers!" Spitfire shot, her voice wild and uncontrolled. "You heard the lady of the night! The plan is simple: we kill enough Celestia forsaken griffins that they give up the idea of reinforcing their beachhead. Follow me in a tight V formation, above the mounted crossbows in hope it'll give them an easy shot. The unicorns will cover us as we move, but don't rely on those pansies for anything." "What was that?!" an angry Rarity snarled from above. "Nothing!" she chuckled, along with the rest of the group, save for Rainbow. Her tone turned serious once again. "One last thing before we fly, however. You bitches remember our motto?" "The faster the crossbow, the faster the bolt!" "Damned straight. Let's show these lion wannabes why we are the protectors of Equestria. HOORAH!" "HOORAH!" "AND INTO THE BLOODY BLACK YONDER! HOOOOOHAHAHAHA!" Rainbow cringed. Ever since the start of the war... and the death of someone close to her, Spitfire had become more and more blood fueled. Slowly, but surely, her idol was turning into someone she once knew... "Tom..." Rainbow whispered. With that, the maniac Spitfire took off into the night, the rest of the pegasi doing so. Rainbow gave a gasp. She wasn't ready for this. She held her crossbow to her chest, hugging it as if it would provide a bit of security, though all it did was remind her that she would soon be taking lives. "Good luck Rainbow, we've got you covered here!" Applejack called as she took took the air. "Y-Yeah, thanks, Applejack!" she shuddered. With a few tense flap of her wings, she was off, following the massive pegasi formation as they thundered towards the griffins. Two waves ready to slam into each other, with none looking the same afterward. "They deserve it, though..." she hissed. "They do... they really do... they're nothing but monsters- she would make them-" "I will make them pay. I'll shoot down every last plane! I'll burn every last tank! I'll run down every last soldier!" She winced. A few tears formed in her eyes. "M-My god..." "Gilda doesn't seem so bad... she just needs a friend. A stranger in a strange land, ya know?" "What?! She's a lousy griffin! How could I-" "And my people once cut out the hearts of each other for religious sacrifices, but am I so bad?" "Y-You're right, I suppose..." "Ugh, why is this happening to me now?! Why?!" Rainbow cried. "Right now I figure out I'm a hypocrite?! Why do I have to think about this now?! I'm going to get myself killed!" "Why can't you just stay out of my mind, Rainbow!" Tom shouted. "Leave me alone!" "You're just a stupid human! You don't mean anything! You might not have even been real!" "All forces, enemy volley incoming!" Spitfire shouted. "A s-stupid human who was my best friend," she whimpered, her ears sagging. "Why couldn't I have figured this out sooner?! If there was someone I could talk to who could understand me..." "Mayflower! You've got a ME-109 barreling right for you. Keep him in your sights and get ready to pull up once you strafe em'!" "Why aren't you here to help me..." "-A little encouragement... I'm not ready for this..." "All pegasi! Load bolts!" Spitfire roared. And fifty crossbows were loaded. "Dagger squadron, fire in three seconds! This is it! Three! Two! One..." Tom gripped the firing button, his teeth gritted. The Germans surged forward, their cannons still ablaze. "Take aim!" Fifty crossbows aimed towards a griffin force five times their size. "Fire!.!.!" And in two dimensions, two battles began.