Road to Gracemareia
May 15 2023
18:32 hours.
"Try it", Chrissy said to Moondancer. She turned the car's ignition, but it failed to start.
"Dammit," she replied. Moondancer got out of the car.
"I'll push it while you try to start it," she said. They didn't have anything to lose so they tried it. Even though it was a small one, it wasn't easy for Moondancer to get it rolling alone. After around a hundred feet of pushing it started.
"Yes!" Chrissy yelled. And Moondancer got back in and they drove on. It wouldn't be for long though.
"We need to find a place to stay for the night," Chrissy said. Both of them kept their eyes open for anything that might work.
"Over there," Moondancer said, pointing to an old rundown barn a short distance from the road. They opened it and only found a few old farm implements inside, so they drove the car in and closed the doors. Hopefully it would start again in the morning.
"Well I guess that's our beds," Chrissy said, looking at some piles of hay. And soon they were asleep.
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Bloodstone Fortress
19:02 hours.
The Crystal Empire Army was busy getting the fortress back in shape, clearing debris and removing dead changelings.
While some did that, others were working on their tanks and other weapons, getting them ready for the next push. One tank commander was a little bored though.
"Well here we are. Finally making a push against the Changees. After losing our old tank at that bridge and being forced to evacuate, we're finally kicking their asses. Though the air force has been getting most of the credit so far. Sure they're taking out the airborne and ground threats to us, but we're the ones who rout the little bastards out of their hiding places.
We've got a long boring road ahead of us, unless Mosley over there isn't making that story up. Supposedly before he joined the army he was running with a group of thieves, and he discovered there were numerous secret tunnels under and around the castle that only a scant few ponies knew about. Apparently one came within a few feet of the National Bank's vaults. The tunnels had long been sealed, but Mosley and his crew managed to access one, and they started digging towards the vault. Then two of them got busted on other thefts, and the group disbanded.
If there is a tunnel to the vaults, we need to get out of here and get it before the Changees get their hooves on it. We will be breaking out of here towards Oured soon, and we might just have to take a detour to Gracemareia once they're been pushed back further."
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Chrysalis's palace
Changeling Kingdom
19:11 hours.
With no sign of the crystal heart, Chrysalis returned to her palace in the Changeling Kingdom. Her forces still hadn't found it.
A single changeling entered Chrysalis's throne room.
"I have a sit rep for you your highness," he said.
"What's the damage?" she replied.
"Not good. We've lost control of Bloodstone fortress and the pass, and over 30 aircraft," he replied.
"Shit," she replied while hitting her hoof on her throne. "how good is their air cover anyway?"
"With the aid from Equestria it's good, and as we speak they're getting the Empire replacement planes also."
Chrysalis was disgusted. "I guess we need to get more missiles in there. So do we know what their next move is?"
The changeling grabbed a map. "With that pass under their control, they could try attacking Gracemareia from the North, but since we control Oured and the surrounding area I don't think they'd try it. If they try to take Oured they'll be within range of both of the missile launchers."
"Very well. Keep me updated."
"Yes your highness," and he left.
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Stalliongrad AFB
Situation room
May 16, 2023
09:00 hours.
The squadrons had gathered in the situation room for the briefing of the days mission. Slugger took the stand.
"OK pilots. This is the first major push of the war. With the capture of Bloodstone pass, our forces are ready to come up North from there to take Oured. What they don't know is a second larger combined force of Equestrian and Crystal Empire army and marines will land Northwest of the city. This landing force will be supported by two battle groups consisting of warships from both countries. Battle group A will be led by the NLR carrier LRS Aurora and Battle group B by the Solar Empire carrier HSMS Spirit. The ships will provide air and missile strikes, and long range bombardment."
Citrina then took over.
" We're expecting a lot of air resistance so be ready. The navy and air forces will be providing SAM suppression for the operation. If there is a burst missile attack, we will have a nasty little surprise waiting for them high above you."
"Woo hoo I love surprises!" Surprise yelled, getting laughs from everypony. After it died down Slugger listed the assignments.
"This is going to be a MASSIVE air campaign involving six branches among both countries. They are as follows:
For ground support CEAF squadrons Tornado, Golden Eagle, Lightning, Diamondback, and Skylark, NLRAF Thunderbolt, Razorback, and Poltergeist, NLR Navy 11th, and 13th fighter squadrons, Empire Navy 3rd and 4th, and NLR Marine squadrons 6 and 10.
SAM suppression will be CEAF Striker, NLRAF Night Owl and Mage, NLR Navy 10th, and SEAF Raider squadrons."
Slugger took a drink of water before continuing.
"Finally air cover will be CEAF Garuda, Redler, Pteras, and Shadow Knight, NLRAF Nightmare, Ocelot, and Warpony, NLR Navy 9th and 12th, and Empire Mist and Ruby. In addition the NLR Air Force will provide their Hologram squadron for defense against missiles, and the Navies anti submarine warfare since we haven't seen much out of the Changeling's naval forces.
"Why didn't you just say we're sending everything but the kitchen sink?" cracked Heart Throb, earning a few chuckles. Citrina just shook her head while looking up.
"That's all we've got. Good luck everypony," Slugger said, and the pilots headed out to suit up. This mission had some meaning to Maverick as Oured was his hometown.
"This mission sounds like fun," Black Widow said.
"As long as they keep the burst missiles away," Replied Kiwi.
"So what is this "surprise" over us, and the Hologram squadron?" Nightshade asked Maverick.
"Pretty sure the surprise is the Arkbird. It's laser is fully capable of taking out the missiles, and the Hologram squadron is made up of the last plane you flew," he replied.
"Wait what? You've got the Falken now?" she asked with a surprised look.
"Yep. It was a NLR idea you know. Discord just borrowed it," he replied.
"So why hasn't Equestria just been using the Arkbird to deal with the Changees? Stormy asked.
"It's an orbiting spacecraft which means it can't stay in one place for very long," Maverick replied. "Also the laser can only be fired so many times before more supplies have to be sent up to replenish it."
"Well at least it will be with us on this run," commented Tornado.
------------------------
East of Sibley, Crystal Empire
13:23 hours.
The various squadrons had refueled and taken up their holding patterns near Sibley, and the landing force was ready off the coast to the Northwest of Oured. All were waiting for the signal to start the attack.
"Come on Ice we're chomping at the bit here," Black Widow said.
"Hey I'm waiting for the go ahead just like you," he replied.
"Hey Mist Two. How's the new job working out?" Heart Throb asked Vinyl, who had returned to Mist squadron for this battle.
"Job? What other job? This is my job right here," she replied, as the pink pegasus expected.
"It's nice not having to babysit her as much," replied Mist One.
"Har har Sheba," Vinyl replied.
A few minutes later they finally got the call.
"Sky Eye to all planes: Jump the river."
"Roger. Let's go everypony!" Maverick replied, and the planes headed for the targets. The SAM suppression aircraft flew ahead to take care of them. At the same time dozens of cruise missiles launched from the battle groups, and battleships from the New Lunar Republic Navy began bombarding shore and inland positions. LCAC's and landing craft streamed from the amphibious ships towards shore guarded by the NLR Navy's Pegasus class hydrafoils. Meanwhile columns of tanks, artillery, APC's, IFV's and mobile air defense platforms were streaming up from the South. Chrysalis soon got the news.
"Your highness! The enemy is launching a massive attack on our forces around Oured!"
"Land, sea, or air?" she asked.
"All three!" he replied.
"GRRRR. And I'm sure Equestria is helping them," she said slamming a glass on the floor. "See what our main forces can do first. If we start losing order missile attacks."
"But it could damage our troops and the city too."
"We have to take that risk," she replied.
"Sky Eye to all planes: You don't want to know how many reds are coming from the Northeast."
"Three dozen?" Maverick asked.
"Close. 28 at angels 8."
"Roger. Ground support aircraft start your runs. Hologram stay over the advancing troops and wait for any missile attacks. Nightmare, Ocelot, Mist, follow us," Maverick said, and they sped off to the intercept.
13 minutes later they picked up the bandits on radar.
"Tally ho on 34 bandits," Tornado said.
"Oh shit more showed up," commented Black Widow.
"Roger, replied Maverick. "Muffin Hunter your squadron's up first. Flip em' the birds."
"Roger Garuda One," she replied, and the Ocelots locked their Phoenix missiles onto the entire group. Each tomcat had four.
"Oooooh this is going to be awesome!" Surprise yelled.
"We've got them locked," Ocelot One said.
"Open fire!" replied Maverick, and missile after missile flew from the planes. Their smoke trails almost turning into a solid cloud.
"So... Awesome..." Vinyl said.
The missiles headed out to their targets. Plane after plane exploded. The result was 17 BVR kills for the Ocelots. Every pilot got at least one.
"WOO HOOOOO NOW THAT'S A PARTY!" Surprise yelled. She then did a barrel roll.
"Holly shit! I've never seen a BVR shoot that successful before!" Nightshade commented.
"It's a good thing I don't have wings," added Octavia.
"What'd they do? Send some pilots straight out of flight school?" Replied Nightmare One.
"Who knows," replied Maverick. "Now it's close in time for the others." And the battle was on. He flew past and reversed his turn to identify the bandits.
"Fulcrums, J-10's, and Viggens." He got behind a MiG, and after a few minutes of rolling and turning got a lock and fired, taking it down.
Heart Throb had trouble shaking a J-10 off her tail, so Nightshade took care of it for her with a Sidewinder.
"Thanks Venom," she said.
"No prob," she replied. And she peeled off to find another target.
Derpy got a Viggen, followed by Black Widow, Vinyl, and Nightmare Three clearing out the rest of the MiG's.
Meanwhile the landings had begun. Troops and armor began pouring onto the beaches, and the ground forces from the South were well on their way to Oured and had already encountered some resistance. Air and missile strikes had wiped out the air defenses and radars, and were decimating ground targets. A flight of J-10's and SU-34's came up from the Southeast, but were quickly brought down by the other air defense squadrons.
Back at the furball, Kiwi was on the tail of the last bandit, with Nightshade and Black Widow covering her.
"Come on, stay still," she said as she tried to get a sidewinder locked on. Finally the growling lock tone sounded.
"Thank you," she said as the pulled the trigger. The missile found it's mark and sent it down.
"Sky Eye to all planes, scope is clear. Superb job. Especially you Ocelots."
"No more planes? Hmmmm that sounds too easy," Maverick said. "Be alert for missile attacks everypony."
And it wasn't long before his suspicions came true.
"Sky Eye to all planes! Three missiles inbound from the East, get above 5,000!"
Many were already heading for the safe zone after hearing Maverick's comment, so It didn't take long. Then Sky Eye called out two more coming from more to the northeast.
"Wait... From two different directions? There's two launchers?" Tornado asked.
"We're not sure," replied Sky Eye.
"We'll we're ready," Maverick announced.
"First pair 15 miles out and closing." Shortly after that a huge laser shot from the sky and destroyed all three missiles.
"Woah! Was that the Arkbird?" Nightshade asked.
"Yep. Our defense is here," replied Sky Eye.
"Awesome!" replied Kiwi.
The other two missiles made it to within 10 miles of the group at which point they were destroyed by smaller lasers shooting horizontally.
"And that would be the Falkens," Tornado said.
"Scope is clear. Get back in it everypony!" announced Sky Eye.
The Changeling commander got word of the failed attack.
"Are you kidding? DAMMIT!" he yelled.
"What do we do sir?"
"Tell them to keep firing. Swamp them with missiles!"
The ground attack planes were back in full swing, decimating troops and armor around the city. A few squadrons had expended their weapons and returned to Sibley or the carriers for re-arming. The landing force was now fully on the beach and heading inward, and the Southern force half way to Oured, where they would wait until the landing forces reached it.
Then another group of bandits appeared.
"Sky Eye to all planes: We've got eight more bandits approaching from the East. Looks like aircraft."
"Roger, we're on the way," replied Maverick.
"Need any help? Nightmare one asked.
"We should be able to handle it. Stay around here in case they try sneaking more in from another way," he replied. And they headed after the bandits. Several minutes later they appeared on their radars.
"They've seen us. Six of them are charging ahead which means the other two are bombers," Maverick announced. "Do a five three split," which meant five of them would go after the fighters, and three after the bombers. Nightshade, Stormy, and Heart Throb were the three.
"They've got missiles off Evade!" yelled Tornado. And they split into the two groups. The bomber interceptors dived low under the approaching fighters.
"Trancer 5 and 6, go after those heading for the bombers!" the Changeling flight lead said. Unfortunately for them this gave Garuda the upper hand.
"That was pretty smart," Black Widow said sarcastically.They soon had an ID on the planes. More Flankers. Kiwi got on the tail of one.It only took about four minutes for her to lock it up and down it with a radar guided.
At the same time the other group had reached the bombers, but first had to deal with their tails.
"Oh that's smart. Send two after three," Nightshade said. She pulled a cobra and made him overshoot. As he flashed by she saw him look at the tail of her plane.
"That's right cockroach. This used to be one of yours," she said as she nosed over and got a sidewinder locked onto him.He tried to evade, but the missile's all aspect capability allowed her to keep the lock, and he went down.
"Nice. Pick off the bombers, we'll take care of this one," Heart Throb said to her.
Though her R-77M already had tone, she closed to within a mile of the two TU-160's before firing to reduce their evasion time.
"Gotcha." She fired, blowing the tail off of it and sending it down. She locked up the next one with a heat seeker. The bomber dodged the first one with flares, and the second hit it in the right engines, sending it down. Suddenly the image of the burning bomber triggered the flashback again. She saw it heading for her village.
"NO!" She yelled. she dived after it, but it suddenly exploded right in front of her. She snapped out of it in time to pull up and avoid hitting the wreckage.
"Venom what the hell was that about?" Stormy asked.
"Oh. Nothing," she replied.
Heart Throb took out the other fighter, so they formed up and headed back to the main battle. Maverick and them already had the Changelings down to two planes though.
Then Sky Eye came on.
"All planes, Missiles inbound 50 miles out!"
"Do they even care about their own pilots?" Tornado said.
"Sky Eye how many?" Maverick asked.
"Three... no wait...four, five, six from two different directions!"
"All planes climb to safety. Nightshade we'll get the last two," he announced.
"Roger let's go!" And they dived after them. Maverick got a gun kill on the first one. Then he tried for the second, but it did a cobra and got behind him. Nightshade was there to shoot him off his tail. The missiles were now ten miles out.
"Gun it up!" He yelled, and they hit the afterburners and climbed almost straight up, quickly getting above five thousand. No sooner than they did the lasers started firing. All but one were brought down.
"Brace for impact!" Sky Eye announced. The missile exploded, but there was no damage.
"OK back to it," Maverick announced, but then Sky Eye came on with some info.
"All planes and ground units: The missiles are coming from two different locations. One towards the East, and one towards the Northeast."
"They do have two launchers," Tornado asked.
"Definitely. But that would put the Northeast launcher out to sea," he replied.
"Sky Eye this is NLR Navy S-3's Hunter One and Two. We are in the area and heading towards there to check."
"Roger. Let us know what you find. Garuda, Diamondback, and Ocelot: Head out that way in case backup is needed. Garuda One you're in charge."
"We're on the way," Mav' replied, and they were off.
Soon another wave of fighters and bombers appeared, but they were quickly taken care of by Mist and Ruby squadrons. The ground forces were converging on Oured when the third round of missiles appeared.
"All planes, more missiles from both directions! It- It... Oh crap. 12 MISSILES INBOUND! Three are heading for the battle groups!" Obviously there was no way the Arkbird and Falkens could handle that many.
"Arkbird to Hologram Squadron: We'll take the ones going for the battle groups," the commander said.
"they won't be able to get all of them," Nightshade said to Maverick.
"I know. We may be in trouble this time," he replied.
Then there was an unusual call.
"Mist Two to Sky Eye: Does the army have drones flying around this area?"
"I don't know. Ground forces commander do you?" Sky Eye asked.
"We've got one, but we just landed it to refuel."
"Why Mist One?"
"I'm tailgating one right now. Come to think of it it doesn't look like one we have."
"Hmmm," Ice thought about it for a moment.
"Sky Eye to Mist Two, take it out."
"Consider it done!" And with that Vinyl fired a cannon burst at it, destroying it.
Meanwhile the five Falkens had closed to within firing range of the 9 missiles heading for Oured. They fired, hitting five of them. They then turned around and fired at the others before they got away, but they only hit two. Both exploded just North of the city, taking out a few ground forces and choppers, and causing damage to the city's North side.
"DAMN THEM!" yelled Mist One. Now the other three missiles were approaching the battle groups. The Arkbird was now in range.
"Target acquired."
"Fire!"
The laser fired, striking the first one. It was then moved slightly to hit the second, but ran out of power before it could hit the third.
"Third one miss!" the Arkbird commander yelled. The last hope was a Solar Empire cruiser that had locked onto it with it's Sea Dart missiles.
"Open fire!" the XO said, and two were launched. Unfortunately by the time the missiles reached it, the warheads had separated, and the battle group took some hits.
"Battle group B has been hit!" Diamondback One yelled.
"Son of a bitch! Battle group B commander what's the damage!?" Sky Eye yelled.
"We've got two ships sinking and three on fire! And we've lost twelve aircraft!"
Then there was a call.
"Hunter One to Sky Eye: We have located the Northeast source of the missiles. Looks like a sub. We will identify and then try dropping depth bombs."
"Roger. Maverick get your squadrons in there," replied Ice. Five minutes later they were in the target area.
"Garuda One to Hunter One: What's the status?"
"Our depth bombs failed. It appears to be a very large sub. It almost reminds me of something."
"Arkbird to Hunter One, requesting sonobuoy data link."
"Oh, roger, stand by," he replied surprised.
"What do you think they're up to?" Heart Throb asked.
"I have no idea," replied Maverick.
7 minutes later it became clear.
"Arkbird to all aircraft: Stay out of the target area." then two minutes later: "firing in 3-2-1-firing." The Arkbird shot it's laser into the water.
"No freaking way," Black Widow said.
"Arkbird this is hunter One: Enemy sub has been hit. It's surfacing!"
"Garuda One to all planes, get ready to pounce," announced Maverick.
"There it is!" yelled Tornado.
The sub slowly surfaced. What they saw shocked them.
"That's the Sea Demon!" Hunter Two yelled.
"No it's the Changee's ripoff of it," replied Maverick.
"God damn Luna and Celestia better find out who's leaking that shit to them," snapped Nightshade. Soon there was radar lock warnings and aircraft launching.
"Yaks? Seriously?" Diamondback One said.
"Forget them look at those drones," added Surprise.
Diamondback Two tried firing a Maverick at the sub, but it got taken out by it's defenses.
"I haven't seen any SAMs come out of the missile tubes. Looks like it's just burst missiles there," Derpy said.
"This is Hunter One and Two: If you can take out their defenses we can try launching our Harpoons at it."
"Roger. Diamondback: Take out their defenses from directly above. We'll take care of the planes and drones," Mav' announced.
"Roger we're on it," Diamondback One replied.
So while Diamondback took care of the sub's defenses, Ocelot and Garuda took on the planes and drones. Heart Throb tried to get behind a drone and get a lock, but it was hard.
"Try evading bullets," she said as she hit it with cannon fire.
Diamondback Three succeeded in destroying a gun mount with a maverick, then Black Widow, Surprise, and Ocelot Five each took out a Yak. Then Nightshade and Black Widow came in low and strafed the defenses on one side of the sub and their radar, taking them out.
"Nice you two!" Tornado said.
The XO of the sub gave the news to the captain.
"Sir! We've lost almost all of our aircraft and defenses!"
"Fire some missiles!" he replied.
"But we could get damaged!"
"We don't have a choice. Fire!" And missiles began shooting out of the launchers at the back. Altogether they had eleven remaining.
"Missiles!" yelled Kiwi.
"They're nuts! It'll damage them!" replied Tornado.
"Start climbing everypony!" Maverick yelled.
"Impact in 2 min.... Nevermind," Sky Eye said as the Arkbird destroyed them.
"They destroyed them. Launch the remaining missiles!"
"Garuda One to Hunter squadron now's your chance!"
"Roger," Hunter one Replied. And they launched their four Harpoons at the sub.
"Seven more missiles!" Hunter One announced.
"Come on, hit," Maverick said to himself. All four hit the port side of the sub, blowing several holes in it.
"Aww yeah!" Derpy yelled.
"Arkbird to all planes: We're firing again." The planes got out of the way and they fired again. The laser struck the conning tower and moved down to the missile silos, which hadn't completely emptied yet. The resulting explosion ripped the back of the sub off.
"WOO HOO!" yelled Surprise.
"Garuda One to Sky Eye it's going down!" Maverick announced. "Now back above five thousand guys!"
"This is Hologram Squadron, we have arrived and have the missiles locked." And with that they fired, hitting five of them. The other two exploded, damaging the sub a little more before it slipped beneath the waves.
"And good riddance," snapped Nightshade.
"Sky Eye to all planes: No more missiles have been launched from the East. The scope is clear for now. Super job!"
Then came more good news.
"Ground command to Sky Eye: We have taken Oured." Cheers erupted over the radio.
"Sweet! This is a major accomplishment!," commented Heart Throb.
"Well looks like I've got something to do when I get back home," Vinyl said.
Then Sky Eye came back on.
" All planes low on ammo or fuel you may return to base. Garuda and Diamondback: This may be the last tme you return to Stalliongrad now that we have another airbase to use."
"And hopefully we'll be back home soon," added Tornado.
Then there was a call.
"Hologram One to Sky Eye:" We just picked up a weak transmission from a Blue Mountain Air Force Base. Apparently the base and Stallionshire is still under Crystal Empire control, though the forces have been cut off by the Changelings at the pass."
"Woah really? The Changees must have been jamming the signals from there," replied Sky Eye.
"This is ground command. We can confirm the destruction of a jamming center East of Oured."
"Roger. We'll get someone in there to check."
"Did you hear that Spade?" Nightshade asked him.
"Yes. If we can free them that could be a huge boost on our push to take back Manechester," he replied.
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Road to Gracemareia
14:34 hours.
Moondancer and Chrissy were suddenly forced to stop on their trip. Ahead of them was a Changeling checkpoint.
"We're sunk," Moondancer said.
Chrissy paused for a bit, then spoke.
"No we're not."
"What can we possibly do?" the unicorn replied with a scared look.
"There's one thing you don't know about me yet. If you want to get to Gracemareia don't freak out on me."
"What is it?"
Suddenly Chrissy disappeared in a green cloud. It cleared to reveal a changeling in the driver's seat now. Moondancer gasped loudly.
"Wh...Wh..."
"I moved to the empire for a change of scenery and to go to a better college. I'm disgusted with what my country has done to this one. I still can't believe our queen would do this."
"An-and this pony you're trying to find?" Moondancer asked in a shaky voice.
"He's a changeling also. In the air force." Both of them sat in silence for a bit until Chrissy spoke again.
"There's some rope in the back seat. Can you tie yourself up?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I'll say you're a prisoner. That should get us by."
"OK." And so Moondancer tied her front hooves up, and they got back onto the road and headed to the checkpoint. It worked, and the guards let her go by. Once they were out of sight she removed the rope.
"It worked," Moondancer said with a sigh of relief
"It probably won't be the last time so get ready to do it again at the drop of a hat," replied the changeling.
It was then the unicorn realized Chrissy really was a friend now.